There is no doubt that the third Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles were written by the same person – St. Luke – and that originally they were two parts of the same book. About 150 A.D. when Christians wanted the four Gospels bound in one volume, the Gospel and the Acts were separated.

There was a Greek literary custom at that time to speak of certain historical works as “Acts.” For example, we know the Acts of Hannibal, the Acts of Alexander. Thus the second part of Luke’s writing was called the Acts of the Apostles.

In the beginning of his Gospel, Luke tells us that he collected a great deal of detailed evidence from many sources. We know that this evidence related to the primitive Jerusalem community, biographical notes about individuals, the early years of the community at Antioch, Paul’s conversion and missionary journeys, Luke’s own first-hand experience of Paul’s later journeys as his companion.

Luke put all this evidence together, preserving bits and pieces of written testimonies, editing and developing the story as he understood it.

Luke’s purpose in the second part – the Acts – was to write a history of the beginning of Christianity. But it is not a complete history for it says nothing about the founding of the Church in Rome or in Alexandria,  and in it Luke confines Peter’s work to Palestine. Also, Paul is the focus of attention. What were the other Apostles doing? Luke doesn’t tell us. However, Acts is still a most precious document and a genuine gift of the Holy Spirit.

Luke is not interested in giving all the details about the spread of Christianity. The commentary in the new Jerusalem Bible points out that Luke is interested primarily in the spiritual energy inside Christianity that motivates its expansion and the spiritual doctrine he can deduce from the facts at his disposal.

The major problem of this early Christian Church was whether the Gentiles could become members of 1the Church without likewise embracing Judaism with all the observances of the Mosaic Law. This was an enormous problem for th0e first generation of Christians, all of whom were Jews. Jesus Himself was a  a Jew and He declared once that His mission was not to destroy but to fulfill the Law. The early Christians had a king-size identity crisis. 

Those early Christians must have realized that Christ could have solved the problem for them by an explicit directive during His life on earth. But He chose not to do so. They were left facing the question: How can salvation come to the Gentiles? The Apostles, Paul in particular, wrestled with this major problem. They were learning by experience, as painful as it was, how to solve the problems in this newly created Church. Their experience has been a source of strength in the Church ever since. In the Acts of the Apostles we see how the Holy Spirit intervened to give a definite, divine answer. 

  The Jerusalem Bible gives the following plan to Acts:

  Prologue 1:1-11.

1. The Jerusalem Church: 1:12-5:42.

2. The Earliest Missions: 6:1-12:25.

3. The Mission of Barnabas and Paul.; the Council of Jerusalem: 13:1-15:35.

4. Paul’s Missions: 15:36-19:20.

5. A Prisoner for Christ: 19:21-28-31.

If a person is not used to reading the Bible, the Acts of the Apostles is a good place to begin. The narrative flows quite easily. There are numerous episodes of a dramatic nature. The progress of the Church despite conflicts, both from within and from without, is a strengthening lesson for Christians living today, as it has been ever since St. Luke and the Holy Spirit wrote the account.