6. Toward a Canonical Reading of Acts & the NT Epistles

Primer on the Canonical Approach

Acts and the Shape of the NT

The book of Acts provides a remarkable level of cohesion for the shape of the NT. Luke’s narrative begins with clear ties to the story of the Gospels in general and the text of the Gospel of Luke in particular (Luke 1:1–4; Acts 1:1–8). This clear literary and theological link with the Gospels creates a natural next step for reading the NT collection. 

An important situation to note, however, is that although Acts has strong associations with the Gospels, the manuscript evidence indicates that the book of Acts never circulated as a single-volume unit with Luke (i.e., Luke–Acts). In fact, Acts is most often linked with and circulated alongside the NT letters of James, 1–2 Peter, 1–3 John, and Jude. Accordingly, both the Gospel of Luke and the books of Acts have complementary but distinct purposes.

Luke likely composed his Gospel before he wrote the book of Acts as a closely related narrative with its own compositional purpose. In this scenario, Luke writes Acts with a broad awareness of both the OT Scriptures and the burgeoning collection of the NT writings. Written with this canon-conscious outlook, the book of Acts is particularly well-suited to help us see the shape and flow of the NT canon.

Correspondence and Corresponding Collections

As the letters of the NT were written, they quickly began circulating in groupings. Paul’s Letters represent one of the earliest collections to form and function in an authoritative way for the earliest churches. The thirteen letters of Paul, along with Hebrews, form a major section of the core NT canon. The other major letter collection, known as the Catholic Epistles, consists of James, 1–2 Peter, 1–3 John, and Jude. 

There are two primary positions these letter groupings take within the ordering traditions. In English translations of the NT, Acts is followed by Paul’s Letters (Romans through Philemon), Hebrews, and finally the Catholic Epistles. In many important early manuscripts, though, Acts is followed directly by the Catholic Epistles, and then the collection of Paul’s Letters.

While this difference obviously impacts the flow of the NT to some extent, the narrative of Acts maintains an orienting function in both of these major ordering traditions. Indeed, the story of Acts connects to the story of the Gospels, carries on its storyline through the initial years of the earliest churches, and introduces the authors, recipients, and social settings behind the letter correspondences encountered in the rest of the NT collection.

While there is some diversity in the organization of this part of the NT canon, the coherence of Acts followed by these two corpora of NT epistles cannot be overestimated.

The Story of the Apostles and the Textual Communities of the Early Church

The story of Acts connects to the story of the Gospels while providing the historical, textual, and theological framework for reading the letters that follow in the NT canon. After the narrative framework provided by Acts, the Catholic Epistles and Paul’s Letters are naturally understood to be the correspondence between the churches mentioned in Acts and their apostolic leaders. The epistle genre represents a significant portion of the NT canon and has an important effect on readers. 

Structurally, the interconnections between the narratives and letters of the NT are similar to the ones at work between the prophetic history and the Latter Prophets in the OT. Though there are bits of historical information in the Catholic Epistles and Paul’s Letters, the narrative flow of the NT is essentially put on hold.

After a strong narrative beginning, the NT epistles move in many different directions with multiple apostles writing letters to a variety of churches in divergent geographic locations. An illustration of this diverse range of locations and recipients can be found in Peter’s address in 1 Peter 1:1: “To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithnya.” Similarly, James writes “to the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad” (James 1:1). Paul also addresses a broad audience when he writes in Galatians 1:1–2, “Paul . . . and all the brothers who are with me, to the churches of Galatia.” 

In light of the narrative framework previously established in the Gospels and Acts, readers can view the letters of the NT as a literary dialogue penned by the figures introduced in the historical accounts of the earlier groupings. The NT epistles function as a kind of interactive commentary on the person and work of Jesus as the Christ, the nature and rhythm of the Christian life, the importance of the believing community, and the shape of future hope in God’s plan for the world and his people.

Even as the apostles speak to specific issues in specific churches at specific locations, they speak with a broad authority, envision a broad audience for their message, and expect a broad circulation for their letters. 

Collected for Future Generations of Readers

Part of the function of these two major letter collections is to preserve and pass along this apostolic dialogue for future generations of readers. In writing these letters, the biblical authors seek to communicate their teaching and mediate their presence. Paul, for example, frequently foregrounds this mediating quality of his written correspondence.

For instance, in 2 Corinthians Paul writes, “I do not want to appear to be frightening you with my letters. For they say, ‘his letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.’ Let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent, we do when present” (2 Cor. 10:9–11; see also 2 Cor. 3:1–3, Gal. 6:11, and 2 Peter 3:15–16; though, see too 2 John 1:2). 

Even when the apostles are alive and active among the churches, their letters already begin to function as an authoritative guide for the apostolic understanding of the gospel message. The writings of the apostles guide and govern the churches even after the apostles are no longer present because of distance, detainment, or death. Both Paul and Peter anticipate their inevitable departure, but also insist that their teaching and the truth of the gospel message will endure (2 Tim. 4:6–8; 2 Peter 1:12–15).

As Paul writes from prison, “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory” (2 Tim. 2:8–10). And as Peter writes toward the end of his life, “This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles . . . But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:1–2, 13). 

This perspective is both retrospective and prospective. Rooted in the reality of gospel message that is connected to the story of the Law, the Prophets, the Writings, the Gospels, and Acts, the churches are equipped to endure until the risen Christ returns.

The means by which the churches will persevere to the end will be to remember both old words and new words. Paul and Peter each point to the shape of a gospel that takes two testaments to tell: Jesus, the Christ; Son of David, risen from the dead; predicted by the prophets, proclaimed through the apostles. 

Between the advents, the churches press on to maturity and press on to the end alongside of these exhortations provided by the engaging and ordered collection of NT epistles. 

Annotated Walking Tour  

Greg Goswell, “The Place of the Book of Acts in Reading the NT,” JETS 59.1 (2016): 67–82. Among the spate of article-length treatments of Acts in the NT canon, this is a good orientation to the types of issues and questions that are involved with considering the canonical function of the book of Acts. Goswell discusses the manuscript patterns, grouping arrangements, and possible theological implications of Acts as a continuation of the Gospel narratives and an orienting introduction to the NT epistles. 

Alan Thompson, The Acts of the Risen Lord Jesus: Luke’s Account of God’s Unfolding Plan (IVP, 2011).  The great value of this volume is the biblical-theological framework it provides for the interpretation of the many historical and theological features of the book of Acts. This working knowledge of the shape of Acts will assist you in considering its strategic canonical function. Thompson exemplifies one of the strengths of biblical theology as a discipline: he shows the way that this particular book continues the narrative storyline of redemptive history and the working out of God’s promises in its own distinctive way. In Thompson’s estimation, Acts narrates the “continuing story of God’s saving purposes” through allusion to OT promises and in light of the continuing reign of the resurrected Christ. The “inaugurated kingdom of God” is the framework in which the many themes of Acts can be best understood (e.g., the resurrection and ascension, the gift of the Spirit, the gentile mission, the function of Jewish institutions, etc). The simple adjustments that Thompson suggests in his biblical-theological framework are at once easily perceived and profoundly influential.  

David Trobisch, Paul’s Letter Collection: Tracing the Origins (Fortress, 1994) and Ben Laird, The Pauline Corpus in Early Christianity: Its Formation, Publication, and Circulation (Hendrickson, 2022). Both of these works examine in detail the early manuscripts that provided evidence of a distinct collection of Paul’s letters among the earliest church communities. Trobisch highlights the importance of the Jerusalem offering (1 Cor 16:1–4; 2 Cor 8:1–9:15; Rom 15:14–32) as a possible occasion for the initial gathering of Paul’s letters and observes that the existing manuscript evidence indicates that the letters of Paul rarely if ever widely circulated as independent epistles. Laird’s updated analysis of all of the relevant evidence also concludes that the letters were “published” and circulated as a collection. He also shows the ways in which the evidence could also allow for more than one initial collection of Paul’s letters which eventually combined to form the 14 letter collection (13 + Hebrews). Laird’s work is now one of the best resources for the history and significance of the Pauline corpus. 

Brevard Childs, The Church’s Guide for Reading Paul: The Canonical Shaping of the Pauline Corpus (Eedrmans, 2008). In Childs’s final monograph, he returns to the NT with a focus on the canonical function of the Pauline corpus as a whole. As Childs sees it, Romans plays a comprehensive role at the head of the collection by introducing Paul and the essence of his theology. The pastoral epistles, then, serve as a counterpart to Romans by consolidating Paul’s teaching for later generations of readers. Childs also discusses the writings that bookend the Pauline corpus in the NT canon. Acts and Hebrews set the framework in which Paul’s letters are to be read and understood. For Childs, Acts legitimizes the message of the apostles and Hebrews grounds that apostolic gospel in the broader context of the OT Scriptures. He concludes his study by offering several theological implications of viewing the Pauline corpus in the way he outlines in the previous sections. Here, he underscores the theological integrity of a canonical reading and the interpretive guidance the canon provides. This would be most beneficial to read after a study of the historical formation of the Pauline collection. 

Darian Lockett, Letters from the Pillar Apostles: The Formation of the Catholic Epistles as a Canonical Collection (Pickwick, 2017).  Lockett argues that the Catholic Epistles (James, 1-2 Pet, 1-3 Jn, Jude) are a canonically significant collection. He surveys recent work on the Catholic Epistles collection and canonical approaches, establishes several main lines of established evidence, and introduces a number of unique ways of making the case for seeing these letters in light of one another. Lockett’s follow-up volume (Letters for the Church: Reading James, 1-2 Peter, 1-3 John, and Jude as Canon) articulates the message and theology of these seven letters in light of their collection in the CE.

David Nienhuis and Robert Wall, Reading the Epistles of James, Peter, John, and Jude as Scripture: The Shaping and Shape of a Canonical Collection (Eerdmans, 2013). Nienhuis and Wall prioritize the moment of canonization among the churches (vs. their initial composition by authors) in their analysis of the Catholic Epistles as a coherent collection. They discuss both the formation of these letters into a collection and also their function as a complex but intricately related unit. They also use the rubric of the “rule of faith” in order to mine the theology of the CE. 

Other helpful resources: 

• Robert Wall, “The Acts of the Apostles in Canonical Context,” in The New Testament as Canon, 110–28.

• Darian Lockett, “Corpus Apostolicum,” in Canon Formation, 251–69.

• Randy Richards, “The Pauline Corpus,” in Canon Formation, 271–87.

• Stan Porter, “When and How was the Pauline Canon Compiled? An Assessment of Theories,” in The Pauline Canon, 95–127. 

• Wolfgang Grünstäudl, “The Wait is Worth it: The Catholic Epistles and the Formation of the New Testament,” in The Catholic Epistles: Critical Readings, 9–24. 

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