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The book of Acts is unique of its type in the New Testament: neither gospel, nor letter, nor prophetic writing, it describes the first expansion of Christianity after the death and resurrection of Jesus. Writing an apostles' (Apostle/Disciple) story after that of Jesus is a unique act in Christian antiquity: no one did it before Luke, and no one was to repeat it after him.Luke’s Second VolumeThe Gospel of Luke (Luke, Gospel of) and the book of Acts form a literary unit with two components whose literary and theological homogeneity is evidenced. A Sequel to the GospelInternal data attest t…

[German Version] I. New Testament – II. History – III. Ethics I. New Testament The summary descriptions in Acts paint a picture of the first Christian community in Jerusalem in which the ¶ unanimity of the believers finds expression in the community of goods (2:44f.; 4:32–35). This community is depicted as free, not forced (5:4), and not egalitarian: The goods offered to the community were divided according to the needs of each individual (2:45; 4:35). The community of goods is only an element of the koinōnía of worship, prayer and Eucharist that charact…

[German Version] The rare term “Hellenists” appears in the Acts of the Apostles and in a number of patristic texts from the post-Nicean period. It is derived from the verb ἑλληνίζειν/ hellēnízein and designates a group that belongs to the Greek culture. The Lukan usage is not entirely clear: Luke applies the term sucessively to a Christian community in Jerusalem (Acts 6:1), to Jews that are hostile to Paul (Acts 9:29), and to the non-Jewish population of Antioch (Acts 11:20); however, his intention throughout is to emphasize …