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]