Book records the spread of the Gospel
By Jason Barker
Department of Youth Ministry
A common belief is that St. Luke wrote the Acts of the Apostles in order to give a detailed history of the early Church. It is true that there is a great deal of historical information in the book, but in reality St. Luke never intended the book to be a complete history. For example, nothing is said about some of the areas in which early Christians preached and were martyred, such as St. Mark in Egypt, St. Matthew in Ethiopia, and St. Thomas in India.
The history with which St. Luke is concerned in his book is the progression of the Gospel from Jerusalem to Rome, at that time the center of the Western civilized world. St. Luke wants to demonstrate that nothing can prevent the global spread of Christianity: by depicting the progress of the Gospel from Judea to the center of Western civilization (knowing that from there it could go throughout the Roman Empire), St. Luke shows to his readers that the early Church dedicated itself to fulfill Christ’s command, ”You shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
The Acts of the Apostles does not merely record this spread of the Gospel, however - the book also contributes to this spread. The Greek used by St. Luke is not formal: he deliberately used popular (or Koine) Greek so that the greatest possible number of people would be able to read and understand his book. St. Luke did not use popular Greek exclusively for evangelism: he also used it so that Christians would be able to understand the book. Floyd Filson explains, “Luke wanted to inform and confirm and strengthen the faith of Christians who would hear this story of their church read to them in Christian gatherings…He aimed to help his fellow Christian and to win all who would listen to his story.”
St. Luke had two additional reasons for writing the Acts of the Apostles. First, St. Luke wished to show that Christianity is related to Judaism. This means both that Christianity is faithful to its Jewish roots, and thus inherits the promises God made to His people, and also that Christianity should be given the same protection by Rome that the Empire granted to Judaism. Related to this desire for protection by Rome is St. Luke’s attempt to show that Christianity was not a political threat to the Roman governmental system. While Pilate derisively posted a sign on the Cross labeling Christ as “the King of the Jews,” and Ss. Peter and Paul were often arrested and charged with rebellion, St. Luke records a number of decisions by Roman governmental officials to prove that Christians were not political subversives.