Who Wrote the Book of Acts?

Q: Who wrote the Acts of the Apostles?

A: Luke is the author of Acts. It forms a continuation of the Gospel account he composed for the same Theophilus he addressed in the Gospel: “It seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus. (Lk 1:3)” As he continued, he wrote in Acts 1:1, “In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach.” Thus whoever authored the one also wrote the other. While he never claimed authorship within the Biblical text, the author includes himself as a traveling companion of Paul in several places by using “we” and “us” language. We know from Acts and from his Epistles that Luke was Paul’s companion during these times.

Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version™, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles.

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Walter Snyder is the pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Emma, Missouri and coauthor of the book What Do Lutherans Believe.