The Development of the Mission of the Church in Acts 1-15

This study was undertaken so that the writer would achieve a greater understanding of the development of the mission of the church as portrayed by Luke in the Acts of the Apostles. Casual reading of Acts reveals many councils, disputes, and discussions. One could get the impression that the early apostles were a diverse lot, and that the church only developed as it did because the strongest wills won the battles. Revelation is a prominent feature in Acts. To what extent did that influence the direction taken? Is it true as some have claimed that Acts can only be trusted insofar as it can be verified by Paul\u27s epistles, or can Acts be seen in a more positive light? Such questions prompted the writer to undertake a detailed study of the development of the Christian church in the first two decades of its existence