Why did Acts end so abruptly?

[tonychanyt]

Ac 28:

28Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.” 30 He lived there [in Rome] two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, 31 proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.

This ending feels open-ended. It does not resolve Paul's fate or the spread of the gospel beyond Rome westward. Why?

Luke’s goal was not to provide a biography of Paul but to document the growth of the nascent church and the spread of the gospel. Paul's arrival in Rome meant the gospel reaching the heart of the Roman Empire, fulfilling a crucial part of God’s plan to spread the gospel. Rome was singularly the most important Gentile city to be evangelized in Paul's time.

The open ending was intentional. It leaves the reader with a sense of ongoing momentum "without hindrance". The job is not finished. The mission of spreading the gospel is ongoing, and every generation has a role to play. It invites Christians to continue the story of Acts in our own lives, carrying the gospel forward to new generations and places. We are the sequels to the Book of Acts.

 

[RamiC]

I want to know where Revelation fits with this. Isn't Revelation the real end of the story?

 

[tonychanyt]

I want to know where Revelation fits with this. Isn't Revelation the real end of the story?

Right. Revelation recorded eschatology but Acts recorded history.

 

[Hoping2]

Ac 28:


This ending feels open-ended. It does not resolve Paul's fate or the spread of the gospel beyond Rome westward. Why?

Luke’s goal was not to provide a biography of Paul but to document the growth of the nascent church and the spread of the gospel. Paul's arrival in Rome meant the gospel reaching the heart of the Roman Empire, fulfilling a crucial part of God’s plan to spread the gospel. Rome was singularly the most important Gentile city to be evangelized in Paul's time.

The open ending was intentional. It leaves the reader with a sense of ongoing momentum "without hindrance". The job is not finished. The mission of spreading the gospel is ongoing, and every generation has a role to play. It invites Christians to continue the story of Acts in our own lives, carrying the gospel forward to new generations and places. We are the sequels to the Book of Acts.

I like your "take" on it.

 

[DragonFox91]

I thought it ended abruptly for a long time too, but then in church we discussed it ends w/ Paul having reached Rome itself.

I trust it also ends where it does b/c that was the history up to that point. If I read a history book that was written in 2020, it won't have anything in 2025 in it, & will seem like it ended abruptly.

I like this idea tho, in church one time we discussed that's why Mark ends the way he does, "what do you think you s/ do about this & what does it mean for you?'

 

[Hoping2]

I thought it ended abruptly for a long time too, but then in church we discussed it ends w/ Paul having reached Rome itself.

I trust it also ends where it does b/c that was the history up to that point. If I read a history book that was written in 2020, it won't have anything in 2025 in it, & will seem like it ended abruptly.

I like this idea tho, in church one time we discussed that's why Mark ends the way he does, "what do you think you s/ do about this & what does it mean for you?'

We should be living out lives like we are the ones being written about, by today's apostles and prophets.
By heeding the exhortations, admonissions, and warnings, we can show the glory of the Lord in the vessels we have been left with, until the day of Christ's return in glory.
We have been given grace, so give grace to others.

 

[DragonFox91]

Isn't some of it too they could only fit so much on a scroll?

 

[RamiC]

Isn't some of it too they could only fit so much on a scroll?

Could they not have used more than one scroll? Or a longer one?

 

[tonychanyt]

why Mark ends the way he does

There were two different endings, depending on the manuscript.

 

[DragonFox91]

Could they not have used more than one scroll? Or a longer one?

I wonder if he did use more than one & the first one was Luke? I'm not sure if Acts was written much later.

The First 5 Books of the Bible are all meant to be one book but divided by scroll, I believe, same w/ Samuel, Kings, & Chronicles, so it's not unheard of to use more than one scroll.

Also most of the Bible's books end abruptly w/out big 'in conclusion' so not unusual Acts does too.

 

[RamiC]

Also most of the Bible's books end abruptly w/out big 'in conclusion' so not unusual Acts does too.

"He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen". Revelation 22 20-21 NIV

We are supposed to be expecting more, the Bible is about a whole new start for the human race.

 

[Lukaris]

I wonder if St. Paul’s execution influenced St. Luke to end Acts as he did.

 

[Free2bHeretical4Him!]

)

I want to know where Revelation fits with this. Isn't Revelation the real end of the story?

I used to think so also, then the following passage caught my attention. To me it’s not really one or the other. The below passage appears to me as the orderly consummation of all things subjugated to the authority of the Son, and hence along with himself, handed over to the Father. I am currently viewing The Revelation of Jesus Christ to be an amalgamation, not necessarily in chronological order, of that subjugation, falling in to place according to the will of the Father; unto the Praise and Glory of Jesus The Christ. Then ultimately thus handed over to God the Father who will become all in all. At least that is currently my path of understanding but in no wise am I holding to this with any degree of dogma. Again, just how I am currently seeing things and wanted to share.

blessngs

”But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.“
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭15‬:‭20‬-‭28‬ ‭NIV‬‬

1 Corinthians 15:20-28 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in A | New International Versio

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in A

bible.com

 

[RDKirk]

Ac 28:


This ending feels open-ended. It does not resolve Paul's fate or the spread of the gospel beyond Rome westward. Why?

Luke’s goal was not to provide a biography of Paul but to document the growth of the nascent church and the spread of the gospel. Paul's arrival in Rome meant the gospel reaching the heart of the Roman Empire, fulfilling a crucial part of God’s plan to spread the gospel. Rome was singularly the most important Gentile city to be evangelized in Paul's time.

The open ending was intentional. It leaves the reader with a sense of ongoing momentum "without hindrance". The job is not finished. The mission of spreading the gospel is ongoing, and every generation has a role to play. It invites Christians to continue the story of Acts in our own lives, carrying the gospel forward to new generations and places. We are the sequels to the Book of Acts.

There is one pastor who is also a lawyer who believes that Luke wrote both his gospel and Acts as "depositions" to a sympathetic Roman official who had a voice in Caesar's court. In that use, Acts ends where it necessarily would: At what was their present day. Some interesting characteristics of the writing lend some credence to that use, as Luke is very careful to characterize Paul's actions as law-abiding and politically non-threatening to Caesar's regime.

"Theophilus" might have been a proper name, but was more likely an honorific title.