THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES
a. General Information
The Book of the Acts of the Apostles begins with the ascension of Jesus to heaven as a continuation of the final chapter of Luke. The goal of the Acts is to link the words of Jesus with his acts and the actions that the disciples carried out for him. The book narrates the acts of the followers of Christ as the Holy Spirit acted through them and this allowed the expansion of Christianity in the region. The author of the text uses the Acts of the Apostles as a reflection of the events that occurred in the Gospel of Luke and this is proven by the narration of similar events in both books. For Luke, the Acts the Apostles is a continuation of the Gospels because “the church preserves and maintains the same ethical and spiritual qualities that distinguished Jesus’ career.” (Harris, 2002: 287) In other words, Luke sustains that the Church must honor the work that Jesus carried out.
The Acts of the Apostles are divided into ten sections as follows:
(1) Prologue and account of the
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Luke also highlights the behavior and deeds of certain characters as role models of Christianity. In addition, he emphasizes the innocence of Jesus and other characters against Roman accusations. The Acts are in fact, the narration of the fulfillment of God’s promises to the Israelites through the acts carried out by Jesus and his disciples. This biblical book covers the idea of universal salvation by accentuating that Christianity is a means of deliverance for all communities. On that same note, the author goes further by providing examples of God’s promises being fulfilled for non-Jewish people which began in Samaria and Syria. From chapter 13 forward, the Acts of the Apostles stresses the role of the newly emerging church. Harris states that