Beyond Acts - EyeWitness (2024)

Theopolis

Peter

John Mark

Luke

Lydia

Stephen

Timothy

Priscilla

Holy Spirit

James

Barnabas

Paul

Tabitha

Acts is the history of the development of the first churches and the spread of Christianity. For about the first decade after the death of Jesus, Christianity existed almost exclusively among the Jews. The first part of Acts portrays the meaning of Christianity, how it was shared, and how it was lived out in a closed community of Jews whose common culture was based on the Old Testament.

After about the first decade, Christianity started growing in other people groups and cultures having beliefs and understandings quite different from the Jews. Much of Acts deals with keeping a consistent and complete Gospel message, how it is shared, and how it is lived out in different people groups and cultures. The lessons learned from Acts are applicable to modern Christians and churches, and are also essential when trying to understand Paul’s letters (which comprise much of the New Testament).

A purpose of the Acts Series is to tell some of the information of the book of Acts from different vantage points. Luke said that he made a careful investigation of the facts before writing Luke and Acts. His three primary sources of information probably were: his own experiences, written sources, and talking to people who were personally involved. Acts Series illustrates the stories that he might have heard from a dozen of the characters featured in his book of Acts.

Beyond Acts

The book of Acts abruptly ends with Paul possibly still being imprisoned in Rome. What happens then?

There is no direct information in the Bible about what happens to Paul after the end of Acts. From 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, and church traditions, many scholars have surmised that Paul was released from prison after two years, then actively evangelized for another five years before being martyred by Nero.

This may the case, but there is still a little mystery about the cause of his death even if it is later. Apparently, the Christians were relatively small in number, were being peaceful, and were not doing anything illegal. Why would the Roman rulers have been intent on executing Paul?

Church historians seldom talk enough about the First Jewish-Roman War, which is surprising since the Romans probably placed the Jews and Christians in the same category. The war began in 66 AD over disputes concerning taxation and Roman incursion into the Temple. The conflict quickly escalated, and the Romans sent Vespasian and Titus to quell the rebellion. They used sieges and force to slowly take control of all Judea. While Jerusalem held out for many months, it was finally captured in 70 AD, when the Temple was destroyed. Isn’t it possible that the Christian leaders—including Paul—got identified with this rebellion?

In this episode, Theophilus surmises there may be only about 10,000 Christians in 62 AD. This is a much lower number than most modern Christians think because of there being 5,000 a shorttime after Jesus’ death. However, at the time of Paul’s jailing, consider how many churches were mentioned in the Bible, and how many members each church had. Unfortunately, we have no hard information about the numbers of Christians existing as the church grew.

Downloads:

Characters:

Theophilus

Primary Scriptures:

Acts 28

Story Summary:

Some thoughts about what happens after Acts ends

Location:

Roman Empire

Time:

AD 30 Jesus crucified and resurrected; Pentecost; Holy Spirit arrivesAD 46 First Missionary Journey startsAD 48 – 51 Second Missionary JourneyAD 52-57 Third Missionary JourneyAD 57-59 Paul arrested in Jerusalem; Paul imprisoned in CaesareaAD 59-62 Paul sent to Rome and imprisoned for two yearsAD 66 Start of First Jewish-Roman WarAD 70 Destruction of the Temple

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