Luke’s Acts as a Historical Source for Paul

The Acts of the Apostles is critical to historians for establishing (a) the connection between Jesus and earliest Christianity, and (b) a chronology of the life of Paul and its relationship with his letters. In this brief paper we will direct our attention to (b).

During the twentieth century, however, four criticisms have been directed against the usefulness to historians of the book of Acts for providing a historical and chronological basis for the life and ministry of Paul (see R. Riesner, Paul’s Early Period Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998, 3-28). Read more