The Acts of the Apostles.
Our only canonical book of acts.
Attributed author(s).
Luke the physician.
Text(s) available.
Acts
(on site, Greek only).
Online
Greek Bible (Greek only).
Bible
Gateway (English only).
HTML Bible: Acts (Greek and English).
HTML Bible: Acts
(Latin Vulgate only).
Zhubert (Greek and English).
Kata Pi: Acts (Greek and English).
Sacred Texts: Acts (polyglot).
Useful links.
Acts at the NT Gateway.
Acts at Early Christian Writings.
Acts by Daniel Wallace.
Acts in the Catholic Encyclopedia.
Acts at Kata Pi (R. M. Grant).
ECW e-Catena: Acts .
Patristic tradition attributes
the Acts of the Apostles to Luke, an associate of the apostle Paul
(Colossians 4.14; 2 Timothy 4.11; Philemon 24). Also attributed to Luke
is the gospel by that same name, which
we can tell at least by its preface (Luke 1.1-4) to have been written
by the same individual as the book of Acts (refer to Acts 1.1-2), which in turn claims
by its use of the first person (Acts 16.9-18; 20.4-16; 21.1-18;
27.1-28.16) to have been written by a sometime travelling companion
of Paul.*
* In the western text of codex D and at least a
couple of Old Latin manuscripts, there is another we passage
in Acts 11.28. The standard text speaks only of Agabus standing up
and prophesying a famine, but this western variant reads:
Ην
δε
πολλη
αγαλλιασις,
συνεστραμμενων
δε
ημων
εφη
εις
εξ
αυτων
ονοματι
Αγαβος
σημαινων
δια
του
πνευματος...
(and there was much rejoicing, and while we were gathered
together one of them, Agabus by name, said, signaling through the
spirit...).
From Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.13.3:
Si quis igitur diligenter ex actibus apostolorum
scrutetur tempus de quo scriptum est ascendisse Hierosolymam propter
praedictam quaestionem, invenient eos qui praedicti sunt a Paulo annos
concurrentes. sic est consonans et velut eadem tam Pauli annuntiatio quam
et Lucae de apostolis testificatio.
If, therefore, anyone shall diligently scrutinize from
the Acts of the Apostles the time concerning
which it is written that he went up to Jerusalem on account of the forementioned
question,* they will find those years which were mentioned by Paul concurring.
Thus the announcement of Paul is consonant with and is, as it were, identical
with the testimony of Luke also concerning the apostles.
* Id est, the journey to Jerusalem discussed in
Galatians 2.1-2, 5.
Irenaeus, Against
Heresies 3.14.1-2:
Quoniam autem is Lucas inseparabilis fuit a
Paulo et cooperarius eius in evangelio ipse facit manifestum, non glorians,
sed ab ipsa productus veritate. separatis enim, inquit, a Paulo,
et Barnaba et Iohanne, qui vocabatur Marcus, et cum navigassent Cyprum:
Nos venimus in Troadem. et cum vidisset Paulus per somnium virum Macedonem
dicentem: Veniens in Macedoniam opitulare nobis, Paule: Statim, ait,
quaesivimus proficisci in Macedoniam, intelligentes quoniam provacavit
nos dominus evangelizare eis. navigantes igitur a Troade,
direximus navigium in Samothracen. et deinceps reliquum omnem ipsorum usque ad
Philippos adventum diligenter significat, et quemadmodum primum sermonem locuti
sunt: Sedentes enim, inquit, locuti sumus mulieribus quae convenerant; et quinam*
crediderunt, et quam multi. et iterum ait: Nos autem navigavimus post dies
azymorum a Philippis, et venimus Troadem, ubi et commorati sumus diebus septem.
et reliqua omnia ex ordine cum Paulo refert, omni diligentia demonstrans et loca
et civitates, et quantitatem dierum, quoadusque Hierosolymam ascenderent, et
quae illic contigerint Paulo, quemadmodum vinctus Romam missus est, et nomen
centurionis qui suscepit eum, et parasema navium, et quemadmodum naufragium
fecerunt, et in qua liberati sunt insula, et quemadmodum humanitatem ibi
perceperunt, Paulo curante principem ipsius insulae, et quemadmodum inde Puteolos
navigaverunt, et inde Romam pervenerunt, et quanto tempore Romae commorati
sunt. omnibus his cum adesset [Lucas], diligenter conscripsit ea, uti neque mendax
neque elatus deprehendi possit, eo quod omnia haec constarent et seniorem eum esse
omnibus qui nunc aliud docent neque ignorare veritatem. quoniam non solum
prosecutor sed et cooperarius fuerit apostolorum, maxime autem Pauli, et ipse
autem Paulus manifestavit in epistolis, dicens: Demas me dereliquit et abiit
in Thessalonicam, Crescens in Galatiam, Titus in Dalmatiam; Lucas est mecum solus.
unde ostendit quod semper iunctus ei et inseparabilis fuerit ab eo. et iterum
in ea epistola quae est ad Colossenses ait: Salutat vos Lucas medicus dilectus.
Si autem Lucas quidem, qui semper cum Paulo praedicavit, et dilectus ab eo est
dictus, et cum eo evangelisavit, et creditus est referre nobis evangelium, nihil
aliud ab eo didicit, sicut ex verbis eius ostensum est, quemadmodum hi qui
nunquam Paulo adiuncti fuerunt gloriantur abscondita et inenarrabilia didicisse
sacramenta?
* W. Wiggan Harvey, from whom I transcribed this
text, has quinam here, but it looks to me like
quidam would fit better.
Moreover, that this Luke was inseparable from Paul
and was a fellow worker of his in the gospel he himself made manifest,
not glorifying himself, but led forth by the truth itself. For, when both
Barnabas and John, who was called Mark, had separated from Paul, and when they
had navigated to Cyprus, he says: We came to Troas. And when Paul saw in his
sleep a Macedonian man who was saying: Come to Macedonia and help us, Paul,
he says: Immediately we sought to proceed into Macedonia, understanding
that the Lord had called us forth to evangelize them. Navigating, therefore,
from Troas, we directed our navigation to Samothrace. And then he diligently
indicates all the rest of their journey as far as Philippi, and how they
spoke their first sermon; he says: For we sat down and spoke unto the women
who had convened. And some believed, even a great many. And again he says:
But we navigated from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and we
came to Troas, where we also remained seven days. And he recounts all the
remaining things from his course with Paul, demonstrating with all diligence
both places and cities, and quantity of days, until they went up to Jerusalem,
and what things befell Paul there, how he was sent bound to Rome, and the
name of the centurion who took him, and the signs of the ships, and how they
made shipwreck, and the island upon which they were liberated, and how they
received humane treatment there, Paul healing the prince of that island,
and how they navigated thence to Puteoli, and from there arrived at Rome, and
how much time they remained at Rome. Since he was present at all these
things, he diligently wrote them down, so that he can be caught out neither
as a liar nor as boastful, because all these things proved both that he was
senior to all those who now teach otherwise and that he was not ignorant of
the truth. That he was not merely a follower but also a fellow worker of the
apostles, but especially of Paul, Paul himself has made manifest in the epistles,
saying: Demas abandoned me and went away to Thessalonica, Crescens to Galatia,
Titus to Dalmatia. Luke alone is with me. Whence he shows that he was always
joined to and inseparable from him. And again he says in that epistle which
is to the Colossians: Luke, the beloved physician, salutes you. But surely if
Luke, who always preached with Paul, and is called beloved by him, and evangelized
with him, and was entrusted to recount a gospel for us, learned nothing
otherwise from him, as has been shown from his words, how can these men
who were never joined to Paul glory that they have learned hidden and
unspeakable sacraments?*
* Refer to Acts 15.39; 16.9-10, 13; 20.5-6; 27.1; 28.11;
2 Timothy 4.10-11; Colossians 4.14.
Quoniam autem Paulus simpliciter quae sciebat haec et docuit,
non solum eos qui cum eo erant verum omnes audientes se ipse facit manifestum.
in Mileto enim convocatis episcopis et presbyteris qui erant ab Epheso et
a reliquis proximis civitatibus quoniam ipse festinaret Hierosolymis
Pentecosten agere, multa testificans
eis et dicens quae oportet ei Hierosolymis evenire adiecit: Scio quoniam
iam non videbitis faciem meam. testificor igitur vobis hac die quoniam
mundus sum a sanguine omnium. non enim subtraxi uti non adnuntiarem
vobis omnem sententiam dei. adtendite igitur et vobis et omni gregi
in quo vos spiritus sanctus praeposuit episcopos regere ecclesiam
domini quam sibi constituit per sanguinem suum. dein significans futuros
malos doctores dixit: Ego scio quoniam advenient post discessum meum
lupi graves ad vos, non parcentes gregi. et ex vobis ipsis exsurgent
viri loquentes perversa uti convertant discipulos post se. Non subtraxi,
inquit, uti non adnuntiarem omnem sententiam dei vobis, sic apostoli
simpliciter et nemini invidentes quae didicerant ipsi a domino haec
omnibus tradebant, sic igitur et Lucas nemini invidens ea quae ab eis
didicerat tradidit nobis, sicut ipse testificatur, dicens: Quemadmodum
tradiderunt nobis qui ab initio contemplatores et ministri fuerunt
verbi.
But that Paul taught with simplicity what he knew, not only to
those who were with him but also to those who heard him, he does himself make manifest.
For, when the bishops and presbyters who came from Ephesus and the other cities
adjoining had assembled in Miletus, since he was himself hastening to Jerusalem to
observe Pentecost, after testifying many things
to them and declaring what must happen to him at Jerusalem he added: I know that you
shall see my face no more. Therefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure
from the blood of all. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of
God. Take heed, therefore, both to yourselves and to all the flock over which the holy
spirit has placed you as bishops, to rule the church of the Lord which he has acquired
for himself through His own blood. Then, referring to the evil teachers who should arise,
he said: I know that after my departure shall grievous wolves come to you, not sparing
the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw
away disciples after them. I have not shunned, he says, to declare unto you all the
counsel of God.1 Thus did the apostles simply, and without respect of persons,
deliver to all what they had themselves learned from the Lord. Thus also does Luke,
without respect of persons, deliver to us what he had learned from them, as he has
himself testified, saying: Even as they delivered them unto us, who from the beginning
were ey-witnesses and ministers of the word.2
1 Refer to Acts 20.15-38.
2 Refer to Luke 1.2.
From Clement of Alexandria, Miscellanies
5.12:
...καθο
και
ο
Λουκας
εν
ταις
πραξεσι
των
αποστολων
απομνημονευει
τον
Παυλον
λεγοντα·
Ανδρες
Αθηναιοι,
κατα
παντα
ως
δεισιδαιμονεστερους
υμας
θεωρω.
...as Luke also in the Acts
of the Apostles makes mention that Paul was saying:
Athenian men, I see that with respect to all things you are quite
superstitious.
Refer to Acts 17.22.
|