York: Crossroad, 1997) 2–3, Talbert, for example, argues for the unity of the two books based on the similar prefaces, the architecture of the two books, and the theological themes. See also Hengel, 37, “Acts cannot be separated from the Third Gospel: both books must be understood as a historical and theological unity.”
68 Mark Allan Powell, What Are They Saying about Acts? (New York: Paulist, 1981) 32–33.
69 Krodel, 111.
70 See note 57 above.
71 Munck, xxxv.
72 Ibid., xxxiv. See also, Merrill C. Tenney, New Testament Survey (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1961) 231, “The reliability of Acts has often been challenged, but it has never been successfully impugned.”
73 Ibid., xxxiii.
74 Hemer, 308.
75 Neil, 18.
76 Luke 1:2.
77 Squires, 20–21.
78 Neil, 22.
79 A. J. Mattill, Jr., “The Date and Purpose of Luke-Acts: Rackham Reconsidered,” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 40 (1978) 335.
80 Ibid., 336.
81 Hemer, 408.
82 Ibid., 376–78.
83 Ibid., 338.
84 Carson, Moo, and Morris, 192, “Would not Paul’s execution have made a fitting parallel to the execution of James earlier in Acts (12:2) and brought Acts to a similar climax as the gospel of Luke, with its narrative of Jesus’ death?”
85 Mattill, 336.
86 Ibid., 338–39.
87 J. Dawsey, “The Literary Unity of Luke-Acts: Questions of Style—A Task for Literary Critics,” New Testament Studies 35 (1989) 48.
88 John A. Hardon, “The Miracle Narratives in the Acts of the Apostles,” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 16 (1954) 305–6.
89 Craig A. Evans, Luke, New International Biblical Commentaries, (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1990) 5.
90 Bruce, The Book of the Acts, 29–30, “Such dedications were common form in contemporary literary circles.” See also, Evans, 17–19.
91 John Drury, Tradition and Design in Luke’s Gospel (Atlanta: John Knox, 1976) 49. See also J. L. Houlden, “The Purpose of Luke,” Journal for the Study of the New Testament 21 (1984) 62, Houlden says of Luke that, “he is at home in the language and content of the Septuagint and perhaps other Jewish literature.”
92 Leon Morris, The Gospel according to St. Luke, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974) 27. See also Hengel, 52, “Luke is evidently influenced by a firm tradition with a religious view of history which essentially derives from the Septuagint. His imitation of the style of the Septuagint shows that he wants quite deliberately to be in this tradition.”
93 Ibid., 46.
94 C. F. Evans, Saint Luke, Trinity Press International New Testament Commentaries (Philadelphia: Trinity, 1990) 318–19, Evans feels that Luke is drawing a deliberate parallel here between Jesus praying before selecting His apostles, and the account of Matthias being added to the Eleven in Acts 1:14-26. Matthias was chosen during a time of corporate prayer.
95 Arrington, xlii.
96 Williams, 212. Acts 12:5, informs the reader that the church was praying “fervently” for Peter’s release. This is reminiscent of Jesus praying “fervently” in Gethsemane in Luke 22:44.
97 Marshall, The Acts of the Apostles, 271, “The prayers offered may have been simply of praise to God; there is no suggestion that the prisoners prayed for release . . .”
98 C. F. Evans, 85, “The Spirit occupies a crucial position in the structure of the two volumes.”
99 Arrington, 21, According to Arrington, this outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost became the pattern for how the church would move forward. The church would only continue to grow as the believers walked in the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
100 Roger Stronstad, The Charismatic Theology of St. Luke (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1984) 34–35. See also, F. F. Bruce “The Holy Spirit in the Acts of the Apostles,” Interpretation 27 (1973) 168, According to Bruce, the difference between the Holy Spirit’s ministry in Luke’s Gospel and Acts is the fact that in the Gospel, the Holy Spirit’s works are, “seldom explicitly mentioned, but they are implied throughout.” In Acts, however, with Jesus physically gone, the Holy Spirit has a much more prominent role in the lives of the believers.
101 Morris, 41–42.
102 C. F. Evans, 98, “From his sources Luke inherited a double strand of teaching about the kingdom- that it was to come in the future, and that it was already operative in the activity of Jesus.” See also, Ralph P. Martin, “Salvation and Discipleship in Luke’s Gospel,” Interpretation 30 (1976) 373, “The ministry of Jesus centers on the proclamation of God’s kingdom.”
