Acts

Acts is a history book, written by Luke to complement and continue the record begun in his Gospel.  In Acts, Luke demonstrates how Jesus’ apostles faithfully and obediently put the Great Commission into practice, beginning “in Jerusalem, and then into all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8).  Acts is also indispensable for the introductions it provides to so many of the people encountered elsewhere in the New Testament:  Peter, Paul, Barnabas, Silas, Timothy, Luke, Apollos, Priscilla and Aquila, and others. The Restoration Movement has consistently treated Acts as a history book, but also as a type of unbiased How-To manual for the church. 75% of the New Testament books find their historical backdrop in Acts.  Knowing when the churches in the Galatian region or in the cities of Ephesus or Thessalonica were planted is important to interpreting the epistles bearing their names.  Knowing the circumstances of Paul’s life during the period when he penn