Acts is a second volume of a two volume history written by Luke, the companion of the apostle Paul. The first volume is the gospel according to Luke, and sometimes scholars refer to these books as Luke/Acts. Luke says the former account I made of O Theophilus—this is in reference to the gospel of Luke, which has a similar introduction.
The book of Luke begins with a dedication to a man whom he calls the most excellent Theophilus. Luke mentions Theophilus again in the Acts of the Apostles, as we just read, referring also to Luke's former book; and the name Theophilus means friend of God.
First we find an emphasis on the historical basis of Christianity. Luke tells Theophilus that he is going to continue the history that he began in his gospel. In Luke's earlier book, he said he had very carefully investigated the details of the life of Jesus Christ and had written them down only after this investigation. So Luke wants to continue that procedure and acts; he wants to be very careful and continue to investigate and make sure his facts are correct.
It is impossible to separate the Christ of faith from the Jesus of history; the Christ of faith that Christ presented to us in the pages of the New Testament is the Jesus of history, and there is no other. This is what Luke says as he begins both his gospel and Acts.
