Historical reliability of the Acts of the Apostles

Papyrus manuscript of part of the Acts of the Apostles (Papyrus 8, 4th century AD)

The historical reliability of the Acts of the Apostles, the principal historical source for the Apostolic Age, is of interest for biblical scholars and historians of Early Christianity as part of the debate over the historicity of the Bible. Historical reliability is not dependent on a source being inerrant or void of agendas since there are sources that are considered generally reliable despite having such traits (e.g. Josephus).[1]

Archaeological inscriptions and other independent sources show that Acts of the Apostles (“Acts”) contains some accurate details of 1st century society with regard to the titles of officials, administrative divisions, town assemblies, and rules of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. Acts is considered a historical narrative and second volume to Luke while Paul's letters are considered as epistolary on doctrine and ethics mainly.[2] In terms of biographies of Paul, scholars generally prefer Paul's account over that in Acts.[3]: 316 [4]: 10  However, Roman historians have generally taken the basic historicity of Acts as granted.[5]

  1. ^ Ehrman, Bart D.; Evans, Craig A.; Stewart, Robert B. (2020). Can we trust the Bible on the Historical Jesus? (1 ed.). Westminster John Knox Press. pp. 12–18. ISBN 9780664265854.
  2. ^ Cain, Seymour; et al. "Biblical literature". Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
  3. ^ Harris, Stephen (1985). Understanding the Bible: A Reader's Introduction (2 ed.). Mayfield Publishing Companylocation=. ISBN 978-0874846966.
  4. ^ Hornik, Heidi J.; Parsons, Mikeal C. (2017). The Acts of the Apostles through the centuries (1 ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. ISBN 9781118597873.
  5. ^ Licona, michael (2010). The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach. InterVarsity Press. p. 18. ISBN 9780830827190.

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