ACTS WAS WRITTEN BEFORE THE LETTERS OF PAUL

Although it may be interesting to consider some New Testament books as being written in the second century by authors who imitated Paul's style, I think it is important to bear in mind that credible arguments have been set out which retain the traditional view of dating and authorship. For example, a dating of Acts before 64CE is supported by the following considerations: 1. the absence of reference to events which took place from 66 - 70 CE (ie. the Jewish revolt and the fall of Jerusalem), 2. the absence of reference to the death of Paul, 3. the subject matter accords with the themes of the early church, 4. the neutral attitude of the state toward the church (Christians were persecuted from the time of Nero) 5. the author of Acts shows little or no acquaintance with Paul's epistles, which is evidence he wrote before these were collected and widely circulated. (See Donald Guthrie, New Testament Introduction).

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