The Superscript
Part Three
The Commentary on Acts
The Superscript
The title is apparently πράξεις ἀποστόλων. So B app. and πρᾶξεις of D is meant for the same. πράξεις ἀποστόλων (Lachm., Tisch., Born.). Was the title given by the writer? Ιt is first referred to, as a document, by Irenaeus Adversus Haereses iii.15. But in another passage (iii.13) the book is cited under the name Actus Apostolorum. Clement of Alexandria cites the book as αἰ πράξεις τῶν ἀποστόλων (Strom. 50.5). Tertullian calls it ‘scriptura actorum Apostolorum’ (Adv. Marc. 2.3) and again Actus Apostolorum and in the Muratorian Canon list, ‘Acts of All the Apostles.’ Origen has αἰ πράξεις τῶν ἀποστόλων. All the Fathers agree in ascribing it to St. Luke.
As for sources, they are threefold: 1) written documents (e.g. the circular letter); 2) oral information (see, e.g. Lk 1:1-4); 3) information gathered when traveling with St. Paul. There is evidence of design in the selection and arrangement of material, not in the invention of material. The source criticism also does not help us much with the issue of dating. Nothing is certain, but presumably the Gospel [was written] before the destruction of Jerusalem (not after, as Meyer) and the Acts was written after the Gospel. The termination of Acts 28 is not abrupt and provides no clue to determining the date.