the acts of the apostles is a genre of early christian literature, recounting the lives and works of the apostles of jesus. the "acts" (latin: "acta", greek: πράξεις "práxeis") are important for many reasons, one of them being the concept of apostolic succession. they also provide insight into the valuation of "missionary activities among the exotic races," since some of them feature missionary work done among, for instance, the cynocephaly.