Acts of the Apostles

📜 Introduction

The Acts of the Apostles is the bridge between the Gospels and the letters: it tells of the Church's first thirty years, from Pentecost to Paul's arrival in Rome.

🏛️ Historical context

Written by Saint Luke as the continuation of his Gospel. The Roman Empire, with its peace, roads and common language (Greek), helped Christianity spread quickly.

🕰️ Timeline

1. Around AD 30Ascension and Pentecost
2. Around AD 34Stephen's martyrdom; Paul's conversion
3. Around AD 46-48Paul's first missionary journey
4. Around AD 49The Council of Jerusalem
5. AD 49-52Second journey: the Gospel reaches Europe
6. AD 53-57Third journey: Ephesus
7. Around AD 60-62Paul a prisoner in Rome

🧭 Comparison chart

💡 Why it matters

It shows the model of every Christian community: prayer, Eucharist, the apostles' teaching, fellowship and mission. It explains the context in which Paul wrote his letters.

📖 How to read these books

Read with a map of Paul's journeys. Follow the plan of Acts 1:8: Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, to the ends of the earth. Notice how the Spirit guides every step.

🔎 One work in two volumes

Luke wrote his Gospel and Acts as a single work dedicated to Theophilus. The Gospel goes from Galilee to Jerusalem; Acts, from Jerusalem to Rome. The main actor in both is the Holy Spirit, who guides Jesus and then the Church.

🔎 Saint Paul's missionary journeys

Acts tells of the great journeys through which the Gospel spread across the Mediterranean:

🔎 The Council of Jerusalem

Around AD 49 the apostles and elders met to decide whether pagan converts had to keep the Law of Moses. Peter and James, with Paul and Barnabas, concluded that salvation comes through the grace of Jesus (Acts 15:11). It is the model for the Church's councils.