Unity in Acts

Abstract

"This article will respond to the tendency in some Lukan studies to assume that the presence of the theme of unity in Acts necessarily entails an unrealistic idealization of the unity of the church.1 Following a summary of the material in Acts that highlights the theme of unity, this article will briefly note those studies that regard this material as evidence of unrealistic idealization, then several assumptions about the nature of historicity relevant to the theme of unity in Acts will be clarified. The article will then argue that the evidence of ancient discussions of unity and the narrative of Acts itself indicate that it is misreading Luke to assume his portrait of the unity of the Christian community is simply unrealistic idealization"