Dating The Canonical Acts of the Apostles

The dating of the authorship of the canonical book of Acts (aka Lukan-Acts) is an intriguing endeavor.  Scholarship offers a variety of theories, based upon a number of considerations.  The most common dates range from 80-130CE.

The nature of the content is revealing in and of itself, yet such is likewise a matter of debate.  Up until the 19th CE, Lukan-Acts was widely regarded as a historical narrative.  The sciences of textual and historical criticism have since yielded alternative perspectives..  

I myself interpret the biblical book of Acts as a mythical narrative, which appears to have been written for the general purpose of manufacturing a history which would be favorable to the 2nd CE Orthodox Church.  In the process, the author of the canonical Acts of the Apostles envisioned Judean roots for the Orthodox Church, while at the same time incorporated Paul; “the apostle of the heretics”, into the fold of the faithful.

That said, contrary to the most common dating of the authorship of the book of Acts, I personally regard such to have taken place even later yet.  My reasoning is based upon a number of observations:

1. The thoroughness of the diaspora of the Christians from Jerusalem as described in Acts 8, seems to refer to the historic diaspora of the Jews from the same city in135CE. I acknowledge that such may refer to 70CE, but  the diaspora so described in Acts 8 was so complete as to disperse and relocate everyone (except the seemingly immortal Apostles), and was so thorough as to seemingly end an era.  For just as the Jewish independent movement finally came to a bitter end in 135CE; the embryonic church era in the womb of Jerusalem comes to an end in Acts 8.

2. Lukan Acts seems to utilize the primary Pauline letters without actually referencing them. Such appears to have been for the purpose of mapping out Paul's historically unconfirmed missionary journeys; whereas the failure to reference the same is consistent with the author's recreation of the feisty and independent “epistle Paul" in the image of the Orthodox Church. Thus, the stubborn and uncompromising Paul of Galatians is transformed within the pages of Acts into a conciliatory and sometimes Jewish Law abiding Church Missionary (21:20-26; cf Gal 2:3-5).  Hence, the dating of Acts would seem to depend upon the dating of the Pauline letters, and the Pauline letters were not even known to exist until the mid 2nd CE.

3.  For that matter, the conciliatory relationship between Paul and Peter as described in Acts was unknown within the Orthodox Church until mid to late 2nd CE. Even then there were those who questioned and criticized the concept of the self proclaimed apostleship of Paul (cf Tertullian; of particular note see Book V).

4.  The persecution/martyrdom theme of Acts (14:22; 21:13) may likewise indicate a mid to late authorship of the canonical Acts of the Apostles.  Such claims were representative of that era within  the history of the Orthodox Church.

5.  The fact that the Acts of the Apostles was unknown of until the latter 2nd CE could be an indicator of a later composition than is traditionally theorized.

6.  The addressee;  the “most excellent Theophilus” (cf Luke 1; Acts 1) may actually be Theophilus of Antioch, a highly skilled mid 2nd CE Apologist of the Christian religion. (cf his Apology to Autolycus)

Conclusion:

All items considered, it seems to me that there are no indications that the canonical Acts of the Apostles was written any earlier than the mid 2nd CE.