Luke-Acts is the name usually given by Biblical scholars to the composite work of the
Gospel of LukeThe Gospel of Luke is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. It details his story from the events of his birth to his Ascension...
and the
Acts of the ApostlesThe Acts of the Apostles is the fifth book of the New Testament. It is commonly referred to as Acts and outlines the history of the Apostolic Age...
in the
New TestamentThe New Testament is the name given to the second major division of the Christian Bible, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament, both terms being associated with Supersessionism...
. Together they describe the
Ministry of JesusAccording to the Canonical Gospels, the ministry of Jesus began when Jesus was around 30 years old, and lasted a period of 1–3 years. In the biblical narrative, Jesus' method of teaching involved parables, metaphor, allegory, sayings, proverbs, and a small number of direct sermons...
and the subsequent lives of the Apostles and the
Apostolic AgeThe Apostolic Age of the history of Christianity is traditionally the period of the Twelve Apostles, dating from the Crucifixion of Jesus and the Great Commission until the death of John the Apostle...
. In some editions of the Bible, Luke-Acts has been presented as a single book.
Both the books of Luke and Acts are anonymous narratives written for a person named
TheophilusTheophilus is the name of a person or an honorary title to whom the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles are addressed . Most scholars agree that both Luke and Acts were originally written in Koine Greek, and that "θεόφιλος" , as it appears therein, means friend of God or loved by God or...
. The book of Acts starts out with: "The former treatise have I made“ (referring to Luke) , and the author probably intended both books to be read together.
Luke-Acts is the name usually given by Biblical scholars to the composite work of the
Gospel of LukeThe Gospel of Luke is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. It details his story from the events of his birth to his Ascension...
and the
Acts of the ApostlesThe Acts of the Apostles is the fifth book of the New Testament. It is commonly referred to as Acts and outlines the history of the Apostolic Age...
in the
New TestamentThe New Testament is the name given to the second major division of the Christian Bible, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament, both terms being associated with Supersessionism...
. Together they describe the
Ministry of JesusAccording to the Canonical Gospels, the ministry of Jesus began when Jesus was around 30 years old, and lasted a period of 1–3 years. In the biblical narrative, Jesus' method of teaching involved parables, metaphor, allegory, sayings, proverbs, and a small number of direct sermons...
and the subsequent lives of the Apostles and the
Apostolic AgeThe Apostolic Age of the history of Christianity is traditionally the period of the Twelve Apostles, dating from the Crucifixion of Jesus and the Great Commission until the death of John the Apostle...
. In some editions of the Bible, Luke-Acts has been presented as a single book.
Both the books of Luke and Acts are anonymous narratives written for a person named
TheophilusTheophilus is the name of a person or an honorary title to whom the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles are addressed . Most scholars agree that both Luke and Acts were originally written in Koine Greek, and that "θεόφιλος" , as it appears therein, means friend of God or loved by God or...
. The book of Acts starts out with: "The former treatise have I made“ (referring to Luke) , and the author probably intended both books to be read together. Most scholars believe that they were written by the same person.
A traditional view holds that they were written by
LukeLuke the Evangelist was an Early Christian writer who the Church Fathers such as Jerome and Eusebius said was the author of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles....
named in Colossians , a doctor and follower of
PaulPaul of Tarsus, also called Paul the Apostle, the Apostle Paul, or Saint Paul, Paul of Tarsus, also called Paul the Apostle, the Apostle Paul, or Saint Paul, Paul of Tarsus, also called Paul the Apostle, the Apostle Paul, or Saint Paul, ...
, but some doubt this view; a date of between 50 and 150 CE is considered likely for the work's composition. The work is Hellenized and written for a
gentileThe term Gentile refers to non-Israelite tribes or nations in English translations of the Bible, most notably the King James Version....
audience. It is not known when it was separated into the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts. Marcion did not use Acts, perhaps he was unaware of it;
IrenaeusSaint Irenaeus , was a Christian Bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul, then a part of the Roman Empire . He was an early church father and apologist, and his writings were formative in the early development of Christian theology...
is the first to use and mention Acts, specifically against
MarcionismMarcionism is an Early Christian dualist belief system that originates in the teachings of Marcion of Sinope at Rome around the year 144. Marcion believed Jesus Christ was the savior sent by God and Paul of Tarsus was his chief apostle, but he rejected the Hebrew Bible and Yahweh...
.