The book of Acts name comes from the Greek word praxis, a word often used in early Christianity to describe the great deeds of the apostles or other believers. The Book of Acts is a series of vignettes chronicling the lives of Peter and Paul in the beginning Christian generational era after the resurrection of Christ.

Luke is believed to be the author of Acts because of how the Book of Acts easily picks up events after the gospel according to Luke left off.  The Book of Acts unfolds with Peter and ending with Paul. Luke even began to speak in the first person plural in the latter portion of Acts, as he traveled the Roman Empire alongside Paul (Acts 16:10).

The Book of Acts ends with Paul in prisoned in Rome, waiting to bring his appeal before Caesar.  One historical observation in the early Christian church, Luke does not mention Paul’s death (AD 64–68) nor the persecution of Christians that broke out under Nero (AD 64). It is believed Luke completed the book of Acts before either of these events occurred, sometime between AD 60 and AD 62, while Paul sat in prison, awaiting the resolution of his appeal.

Acts is the only biblical book that chronicles the history of the church after the ascension of Jesus. Acts provides accounts of how the church was able to grow and spread from Jerusalem into the rest of the Roman Empire. In approximately 30 years the remnant that Jesus left to continue His work.  The remnant consisted of  frightened believers in Jerusalem who transformed into an empire-wide movement of people who had committed their lives to Jesus Christ. To the point of Paul on the verge of taking the gospel to the highest government official in the known world, the Emperor of Rome.