Acts - Introduction

      TIME AND PLACE OF WRITING.-- Acts could not have been completed before the year A. D. 63, as it is continued at the time at which Paul had closed his second year of imprisonment at Rome, which is placed in that year, and it must have been completed before the year 68, as it makes no mention of his death, which did not occur later than that year. The closing chapters were no doubt written in Rome, as Luke was there in attendance upon Paul ( Col. 4:14 ) but it is probable that the greater portion might have been written during the two years' imprisonment of Paul in Cæsarea under the immediate direction of the great apostle. While the two years of Paul at Rome were busied with epistles to the churches, and preaching the gospel in Rome, the records are silent how his time was occupied while confined at Cæsarea. It would be impossible for such a man as Paul to be idle, and as his friend had full access to him, there is strong reason to believe that at this period Luke, his constant companion, under his direction, not only prepared his Gospel, but by the aid of such men as Philip the Evangelist, who had his home in Cæsarea, and Cornelius, the first Gentile convert, aided by the records preserved in the church at Jerusalem, prepared the history of Acts to the period of the departure to Rome. From the apostles themselves, no doubt, were obtained the accounts of the ascension, the preaching and founding of the church on the day of Pentecost, the acts of Peter, the dispute between the Hellenists and the Hebrews, the martyrdom of Stephen and of the Apostle James. And there was also the information which he could obtain from the Church of Cæsarea; in that city he met with Philip the Evangelist, ( Acts 21:8 ,) and perhaps also with Cornelius, the devout centurion. From this source he would derive his information concerning the evangelistic labors in Samaria, the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch, the visions made to Peter and Cornelius, and the particulars connected with the death of Herod Agrippa. That portion of the history in which Paul is the principal figure would require no other source of information than the great apostle could furnish himself.

      THE OUTLINE.-- I. Preaching the Gospel "in Jerusalem" and Judea. (1) Preparation for the work ( 1:1-26 ). (2) Events of Pentecost ( 2:1-47 ). (3) The Church unfolding in miracle and endurance of persecution ( 3:1-4:37 ). (4) The Church unfolding in penal power ( 5:1-16 ). (5) The Church in the second persecution ( 5:17-42 .) (6) The Church forming its economy ( 6:1-8 ). (7) The Church in last struggle and dispersion ( 6:8-8:4 ). II. Preaching the Gospel "in Samaria" and about Palestine. (1) The deacon Philip evangelizes Samaria ( 8:5-25 ). (2) The new Apostle of the Gentiles called ( 9:1-30 ). (3) Gentile induction; new Christian center, Gentile Antioch ( 10:1-11:30 ). (4) Desolation of Jerusalem Church by Herod; its avenging ( 12:1-25 ). III. Preaching the Gospel "in the Uttermost Parts of the Earth". (1) Paul's first mission from Antioch ( 13:1-14:28 ). (2) Jerusalem Council on Circumcision ( 15:1-34 ). (3) Paul's second mission from Antioch ( 15:35-18:23 ). (4) Paul's third mission from Antioch ( 18:23-21:17 ). (5) Paul in council with James--Arrest--Sent to Cæsarea ( 21:18-23:35 ). (6) Paul's two years at Cæsarea ( 24:1-26:32 ). (7) Paul en route for Rome; at Rome ( 27:1-28:31 ).