Who are the people of God? Luke's purposes in the Acts of the Apostles are to identify the church, to establish the legitimacy of its gospel and to demonstrate that God was an active force in history. He wanted to show that the communities of Jewish and Gentile Christians are the true heirs of God's promises to Israel. He gives the history of the early church from the last decades of the first century as the communities become separated from their Jewish origins, and Paul plays the lead role. Acts offers an apologetic for the mixed mission of the church: to Jews and Gentiles. Luke was an eyewitness to some of what he reports, but his authorship and views have been questioned. This is a theological interpretation of the history of the church within history: Luke is an artist, a narrator rather than a systematic theologian, but writes about the roles of God, Christ and the Holy Spirit, and of the church.

"Jervell's book presents todays Catholic reader with a twofold challenge....Jervell's argument is cognent and deserves serious consideration." J. Terence Forestell, The Canadian Catholic Review

"...it is a perceptive and provocative study, well worth reading and pondering." John T. Carroll, Anglican Theological Review

"This book is a useful summary of the views of an importnat scholar who has provoked and continues to provoke debate on significant issues in the interpretation of Acts." Robert C. Tannehill, Journal of Biblical Literature

"Jervell's perspective on Acts as Luke's theological interpretation of the history of the church within world history is a helpful one, and there is much to learn from this synthesis of the theology of Acts. His book helps to fill an important lacuna in Acts-studies...." Joel B. Green, Ashland Theological Journal

"...gracefully presented and worth the read." Currents