What are the Acts of the Apostles?
Awaiting theological review
What you will understand today
What the book of Acts tells, how the Church spread from Jerusalem, and why it matters today.
In simple words
The Acts of the Apostles is the second volume of Luke's work, after his Gospel. It begins with Jesus' Ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and ends with Paul preaching in Rome.
Jesus' last words before the Ascension are like a table of contents for the whole book: you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Acts follows that path.
Along the way we meet the first community sharing everything, Stephen the first martyr, the conversion of Paul, the baptism of the first pagans, and the first council of the Church in Jerusalem.
Key Bible passage
Jesus' promise and mission before he ascends: the plan of the whole book.
8But you shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the uttermost part of the earth.
Acts of the Apostles 1:8 · Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
- JerusalemPentecost, the first community
- Judea and SamariaStephen, Philip
- The nationsCornelius, Paul's journeys
- RomeThe heart of the empire
Go deeper
The Catechism says that on the day of Pentecost the Church was openly displayed to the crowds, and the spread of the Gospel among the nations began. The Holy Spirit is the real protagonist of Acts; some have called it the Gospel of the Holy Spirit.
Peter dominates the first half of the book, Paul the second. Their stories mirror each other — healings, imprisonments, miraculous escapes — to show that the same Spirit works through both.
Some passages in Acts are written in the first person plural — we — which many readers take as a sign that the author travelled with Paul on parts of his journeys.
Questions people ask
Who wrote Acts?
The same author as the third Gospel, who addresses both to a certain Theophilus. Early tradition names him Luke, Paul's companion and physician.
What was the Council of Jerusalem?
A meeting of the apostles and elders, around the year 49, which decided that pagans who believed in Christ did not have to be circumcised and keep the whole Law of Moses (Acts 15).
Is Acts history?
Luke writes as a careful historian of his time and much of what he describes fits what is known of the first century, while his purpose is also to proclaim the faith.
Read more in the Bible
- Acts of the Apostles 2:1–13 — Pentecost
- Acts of the Apostles 2:42–47 — The life of the first community
- Acts of the Apostles 15:6–29 — The Council of Jerusalem
Did you know?
Acts ends abruptly: Paul spends two whole years under house arrest in Rome, receiving all who come and preaching the Kingdom of God without hindrance. Luke does not tell how his trial ended.
Acts of the Apostles 28:30–31A common misconception
The first Christians were a perfect community with no problems.
In fact
Acts is honest about conflicts: Ananias and Sapphira's lie, complaints about the care of widows, and a sharp dispute over the pagans, settled at the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15).
A question to take with you
Acts never really ends — the story continues. Where is your part in it?
One small thing for today
Read Acts 2:42–47 and pick one thing the first Christians did that you could do this week.