The author of the Book of Acts is generally considered to have been Luke. It is addressed to Theophilus, the same as the Book of Luke. “Theophilus” translates to “friend of God” and because of Luke’s manner of address “the most excellent” Theophilus is thought to have been a Roman of some stature, perhaps an military officer or a high official.

Jesus has been crucified and resurrected and at the end of the four Gospels has ascended back to His home in Heaven. The Apostles, disciples, believers, observers, and religious leaders are now left to sort out what has happened and what it means.

All Bible text is from the NET unless otherwise indicated - http://bible.org

Note 1: These Studies often rely upon the guidance of the NET Translators from their associated notes. Careful attention has been given to cite that source where it has been quoted directly or closely paraphrased. Feedback is encouraged where credit has not been sufficiently assigned.

Note 2: When NET text is quoted in commentary and discussion all pronouns referring to God are capitalized, though they are lower-case in the original NET text.

Commentary text is from David M. Colburn, D.Min. unless otherwise noted.

Copyright © 2011 by David M. Colburn. This is a BibleSeven Study — Section 1 (Chapters 1-5) of the series, “Acts” — prepared by David M. Colburn and edited for bible.org in October of 2011. This text may be used for non-profit educational purposes only, with credit; all other usage requires prior written consent of the author.