The Acts of the Apostles Apart from the Gospels themselves, the
most important book of the New Testament is the Acts of the
Apostles. For the historian, in fact, Acts may be of even
greater consequence. Like all historical documents issuing from
a partisan source, it must, of course, be handled skeptically
and with caution. One must also be cognizant of whom the text
was written for, and whom it might have served, as well as what
end. But it is Acts, much more than the Gospels, which has
hitherto constituted the apparently definitive account of the
first years of 'early Christianity'. Certainly Acts would appear
to contain much basic information not readily to be found
elsewhere. To that extent alone, it is a seminal text. The
Gospels, it is generally acknowledged, are unreliable as
historical documents. Mark's, the first of them, was composed no
earlier than the revolt of AD 66, and probably somewhat later.
All four Gospels seek to evoke a period long predating their own
composition - perhaps by as much as s