Introduction to Acts The book of Acts, summarizing the growth of
the Christian church in the first century, is universally
acknowledged to have been written by Luke, the author of the
Gospel of Luke, beloved physician and companion of the Apostle
Paul. Like his gospel, Luke addressed the book of Acts to “the
most excellent Theophilus,” and it is essentially a continuing
record of the things that “Jesus began both to do and teach”
(Acts 1:1) in the days of His flesh. Although Jesus had returned
to heaven, He sent His Holy Spirit to indwell, guide and empower
His disciples as they were to scatter around the world preaching
His saving gospel. Since Acts ends on a positive note, with no
hint of the intense persecution and eventual execution which
Paul would encounter just a few years afterward, it is evident
that Luke must have written Acts soon after the events of the
last chapter, probably about A.D. 62 (the great fire of Rome,
which Nero used as an excuse to initiate his intense persecution
of Christians, occu