<P> Acts was read as a reliable history of the early church well into the post-Reformation era . By the 17th century, however, biblical scholars began to notice that it was incomplete and tendentious--its picture of a harmonious church is quite at odds with that given by Paul's letters, and it omits important events such as the deaths of both Peter and Paul . The mid-19th - century scholar Ferdinand Baur suggested that the author of Acts had re-written history to present a united Peter and Paul and advance a single orthodoxy against the Marcionites . (Marcion was a 2nd - century heretic who wished to cut Christianity off entirely from the Jews). Baur continues to have enormous influence, but today there is less interest in determining the author of Acts' historical accuracy (although this has never died out) than in understanding his theological program . </P> <P> Luke was written to be read aloud to a group of Jesus - followers gathered in a house to share the Lord's supper . The author assumes an educated Greek - speaking audience, but directs his attention to specifically Christian concerns rather than to the Greco - Roman world at large . He begins his gospel with a preface addressed to Theophilus, informing him of his intention to provide an "ordered account" of events which will lead his reader to "certainty". He did not write in order to provide Theophilus with historical justification--"did it happen?"--but to encourage faith--"what happened, and what does it all mean?" </P> <P> Acts (or Luke--Acts) is intended as a work of "edification ." Edification means "the empirical demonstration that virtue is superior to vice," but is not all of Luke's purpose . He also engages with the question of a Christian's proper relationship with the Roman Empire, the civil power of the day: could a Christian obey God and also Caesar? The answer is ambiguous . The Romans never move against Jesus or his followers unless provoked by the Jews, in the trial scenes the Christian missionaries are always cleared of charges of violating Roman laws, and Acts ends with Paul in Rome proclaiming the Christian message under Roman protection; at the same time, Luke makes clear that the Romans, like all earthly rulers, receive their authority from Satan, while Christ is ruler of the kingdom of God . </P> <P> Acts has two key structural principles . The first is the geographic movement from Jerusalem, centre of God's Covenantal people, the Jews, to Rome, centre of the Gentile world . This structure reaches back to the author's preceding work, the Gospel of Luke, and is signaled by parallel scenes such as Paul's utterance in Acts 19: 21, which echoes Jesus's words in Luke 9: 51: Paul has Rome as his destination, as Jesus had Jerusalem . The second key element is the roles of Peter and Paul, the first representing the Jewish Christian church, the second the mission to the Gentiles . </P>

How many chapters are there in the acts of the apostles