What complicates matters is the case of Luke’s work is that it consists of two volumes, the second of which is not (despite some valiant arguments to the contrary) self-evidently biography. Acts does not focus on a single character (despite the prominence of Peter and especially Paul); although parallels between these characters and Jesus in the Gospel do allow for comparisons with the ancient biographic genre of “parallel lives,” the lack of a single figure dominating the entire second volume renders unlikely the claim that the volume is biography per se (though it may be biographic history, or a combination of these genres). Acts closes not with Paul’s death as a biography should but, more positively, with his carrying his mission to the heart of the Empire.
This content is by Dr. Craig Keener, but edited and posted by Defenders Media.
For more, please check out Dr. Keener’s book Between History and Spirit.
