Nihlo

Hi there, can any of you help me out? I've heard that the book of Acts was composed around AD 62, and that this conclusion is supported by the fact that the book of Acts doesn't mention anything that happened between AD 60 and 70. Is that correct?

CX

That is the orthodox position, but the argument is pretty weak and unconvincing in the face of other text critical evidence. Contemporary scholarship dates Acts to the end of the first century (between 90 & 100 C.E.) The argument for this date is twofold.

Firstly it is presumed that Acts was written by the same author as the Gospel of Luke placing it after Luke in the chronology of textual development. The Gospel of Luke is generally dated to the 90's for reasons of its own.

Secondly according to Udo Schnelle (see History and Theology of the New Testament Writings for the full argument and footnotes p.259) Thus the nature of the text itself places it in a context of a Xian community some 60 years after the ministry of Jesus.

Nihlo

Thank you very much for your help.