The Book of Acts, Christianity's first book of church history, has variously been interpreted as an attempt to validate early Christianity as a viable religion in the eyes of Rome (Ernst Haenchen), as a salve to heal the internecine chafing between followers of Peter and Paul (F.C. Baur), and as the Christian community's theological response to an increasingly elusive eschaton (Hans Conzelman).

More recently, William H. Willimon has suggested abandoning these defensive motivations behind the work of Acts and understanding the book instead as a positively directed, theologically thoughtful community-oriented piece. The great "Acts of the Apostles," Willimon postulates, serve to define the second epoch of salvific history. The first epoch of prophetic promises has now given way to the Church…