acts of the apostles

The Acts of the Apostles is a genre of early Christian literature, recounting the lives and works of the apostles of Jesus. The Acts (Latin: Acta, Greek: Πράξεις Práxeis) are important for many reasons, one of them being the concept of apostolic succession. They also provide insight into the valuation of "missionary activities among the exotic races," since some of them feature missionary work done among, for instance, the Cynocephaly. Examples The canonical Acts of the Apostles Only one work in this genre is included in the New Testament canon, entitled the Acts of the Apostles, sometimes called the Book of Acts or simply Acts, and primarily concerns the activities of Saint Peter, John the Apostle, and Paul the Apostle, who converts to Christianity in chapter 9 and becomes the main character. It is presumably the second part of a two-part work, the Canonical Gospel of Luke being the first part, with both works being addressed to Theophilus, and sharing a similar style. Almost all scholars believe that they were written by the same person. The book narrates how the resurrected Jesus makes the apostles his witnesses, and instructs them to convert all peoples to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). Through the Holy Spirit, God then empowers the apostles in their missionary work, with the ability to perform miracles such as healing the sick, casting out demons and raising the dead, while spreading Jesus' gospel. Problems such as anti-Christian persecutions, and conflicts about whether converts should first become Jewish before they can become Christians, are overcome.