Short answer: The Book of Acts was written by Luke, the physician and traveling companion of the apostle Paul, who also wrote the Gospel of Luke. The book never names its author, but the opening lines, the "we" passages and the testimony of the early church all point to him. Acts is the second volume of a two-part work, Luke and Acts, addressed to a man named Theophilus.
In This Article
Acts is the only book in the Bible that tells the story of the early church from its first days to Paul's imprisonment in Rome. It is a hinge between the Gospels and the letters, so who wrote it, and how close that person stood to the events, matters. A careful reader will want to know why we trust the traditional answer.
The honest starting point is that the author does not sign his name. Like the Gospels, Acts is anonymous. What we have is a trail of internal clues and early testimony that agree with each other, and that is worth walking through step by step.
Why Do Scholars Say Luke Wrote Acts?
Three lines of evidence meet at the same name.
The books share an author. Acts opens by referring back to an earlier book addressed to the same person.
In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach
Acts 1:1 (NIV)
The Gospel of Luke is addressed to Theophilus too, and its own opening explains the writer's method.
With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus
Luke 1:3 (NIV)
The vocabulary, style and interests of the two books match closely, and Acts picks up the story exactly where the Gospel ends, with the risen Jesus and the ascension. Almost everyone who studies the question agrees that the same person wrote both.
The early church said so. From the second century on, Christian writers consistently name Luke as the author of both volumes. Irenaeus, who wrote around the year 180, is one of the first to say it clearly, and no rival name was ever put forward in the ancient church. That agreement is striking for a book that nowhere names its writer.
The "we" passages. This is the clue that does the most work, and it deserves its own section below.
Who Was Luke?
Luke was not one of the twelve apostles. Look at the list in Luke 6:13-16, and his name is not there. That is worth saying plainly: he was a servant of the gospel, not an eyewitness disciple of Jesus' ministry. That is exactly what his own preface says, because he writes about gathering what eyewitnesses handed down.
What we know of him comes from a few short mentions in Paul's letters.
Our dear friend Luke, the doctor, and Demas send greetings.
Colossians 4:14 (NIV)
So Luke was a physician. Paul also lists him as a fellow worker in Philemon 1:24, and near the end of his life, writing from prison, Paul says in 2 Timothy 4:11, "Only Luke is with me." That is a quiet but moving detail. When others had left, Luke stayed.
Luke's training shows in his writing. His Gospel pays careful attention to healings and to the specific details of illness, and he writes in some of the most polished Greek in the New Testament. A physician in the first century was an educated man, and the care taken in both books fits that picture. I would not build too much on it, because it is a fit and not a proof, but it sits comfortably with the rest.
What Are The "We" Passages?
Most of Acts is told in the third person: "they" did this, "he" said that. But in several sections the narrator suddenly says "we." The change is easy to miss if you are reading fast.
After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia
Acts 16:10 (NIV)
The "we" sections run through parts of Paul's second and third journeys and, most vividly, the voyage to Rome in Acts 27 and the arrival in Acts 28. The natural reading is that the author is signalling he was there, traveling with Paul. If Luke was Paul's companion, this is exactly what we would expect from his pen.
Some scholars have argued that "we" is a literary device common in ancient sea voyage stories, or that the author borrowed a diary kept by someone else. Those are fair proposals, and I do not dismiss them. But they have to explain why the device appears in these particular places and nowhere else, and why a writer who wanted the effect would leave his own name out. The simplest explanation stays the strongest: a companion of Paul wrote down what he saw.
When Was Acts Written?
Christians who take the traditional view disagree among themselves about the date, and I will be plain that nobody can be sure.
One view places Acts in the early 60s of the first century. The reasoning is that the book ends with Paul under house arrest in Rome, preaching openly (Acts 28:30-31), and says nothing about what happened to him next. It also does not mention the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, a catastrophe that would have been hard to leave out. On that reasoning the book was finished before those events, and the Gospel of Luke came earlier still.
Another view puts it later, in the 70s or 80s, on the grounds that Luke used Mark's Gospel and that his Gospel looks back on Jerusalem's fall. Under that view the abrupt ending is a literary choice: Luke had carried the gospel to Rome, which was his goal, and he stopped there.
Either way, Acts was written within the lifetime of people who had known the events, and the details it gives about cities, governors and travel have long been admired by historians for their accuracy. For my part, the earlier date seems the better fit, but I hold it loosely, and nothing in the book's message changes if the later date is right.
Why Luke Wrote It
Luke wanted Theophilus, and readers like him, to be sure of what they had been taught. Acts shows the gospel moving from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria and on toward the ends of the earth, and it shows the Holy Spirit driving every step. It also takes care to show that Christianity grew out of Judaism and was no threat to Rome, and that Gentiles were welcome in it. The book moves toward Rome the way the Gospel moves toward Jerusalem.
Was Luke The Only Gentile Writer In The Bible?
This is a common question, and the careful answer is: probably, yes, among the New Testament writers, though the Bible does not state it outright.
The reason people say Luke was a Gentile is the way Paul groups his co-workers in Colossians 4. In verses 10 and 11 he names Aristarchus, Mark and Jesus called Justus and says they are the only Jews among his fellow workers who have been a comfort to him. Luke is named separately a few lines later, which suggests he was not of the circumcision. Nearly every other biblical author, from Moses to Paul and Peter, was Jewish. So Luke is regarded as the one clear non-Jewish voice, which fits the way both his books show such care for outsiders, the poor and the nations.
I would call this a strong inference and not a certainty. The Old Testament has some authors whose background is uncertain, and I would not push the point further than the evidence goes.
Who Else Wrote Pieces Of The Story?
Luke names no sources, but he tells us he investigated carefully. Much of Acts is probably built from his own travel, from conversations with Paul and with others such as Philip, Barnabas and Mark, and from firsthand reports. That is how ancient historians worked, and it does not weaken inspiration. The Spirit used a real person's real research.
If you are reading Acts for the first time, I would suggest reading it right after a Gospel. See Where To Start Reading The Bible for a simple order, and How To Understand The Bible if you want help with the background of the letters Paul wrote along the way. The idea of God's people spreading from one city to the next also ties to what the Bible says about speaking in tongues, since Pentecost is in Acts 2.
Key Bible Verses About The Author Of Acts
- Acts 1:1: Acts refers back to an earlier book written to Theophilus, which is the Gospel of Luke.
- Luke 1:1-4: Luke explains that he carefully investigated and wrote an orderly account.
- Colossians 4:14: Paul calls Luke "the doctor" and a dear friend.
- Philemon 1:24: Paul counts Luke among his fellow workers.
- 2 Timothy 4:11: Paul writes that only Luke is with him near the end.
- Acts 16:10: the narrator first says "we," placing himself with Paul.
- Acts 28:30-31: the book closes with Paul preaching in Rome.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is speaking in the book of Acts?
Luke is the narrator throughout, and he reports speeches by others. Peter preaches at Pentecost, Stephen addresses the council, and Paul speaks in synagogues, before governors and kings. In the we sections, Luke himself steps into the story as Paul's traveling companion.
How many authors wrote the book of Acts?
Acts has one author, Luke, who also wrote the Gospel that carries his name. Together the two books form a two-volume work addressed to Theophilus. Luke gathered material from eyewitnesses and from his own travels, but he wrote it as one continuous narrative.
Who was the only gentile to write in the Bible?
Luke is generally considered the only non-Jewish author of a New Testament book. The clue is Colossians 4:10 to 14, where Paul lists the Jewish co-workers and then names Luke separately. It is a strong inference, not a statement the Bible makes outright.
Which books of the Bible did Paul actually write?
Thirteen New Testament letters carry Paul's name, from Romans through Philemon. The traditional view, which I hold, accepts all thirteen as his. Hebrews is anonymous. Some scholars dispute the authorship of a few letters, and you can read their arguments while still trusting that these are inspired Scripture.
Did Jesus ever meet Paul?
Not during His earthly ministry, as far as the Bible tells us. Paul met the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus, described in Acts 9, and he lists himself among those to whom the risen Christ appeared in 1 Corinthians 15:8.
