Community Origins: Luke/Acts

Sources: Luke: Graham Stanton, The Gospels and Jesus (Oxford, 1989); David Wenham and Steve Walton, Exploring the New Testament: A Guide to the Gospels and Acts (IVP, 2001); Paul J. Achtemeier et al., Introducing the New Testament: Its Literature and Theology (Eerdmans, 2001); Darrell L. Bock, "Luke, Gospel Of," in Joel B. Green et al., eds., Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels (IVP, 1992), 495-510.
Acts: Raymond E. Brown, The New Testament: an Introduction (Doubleday, 1997); Bart Ehrman, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, 3d ed. (Oxford, 2004); I. Howard Marshall et al., Exploring the New Testament: A Guide to the Letters and Revelation (IVP, 2002), chapter 21.

The Shape of the New Testament
The dual volumes of Luke-Acts reflect, or provide, the shape of the New Testament.
The New Testament also reflects the (adjusted) shape of the Tanakh:

Torah: the ‘gospel’ of Israel’s creation and freedom and its rules for enjoying them.	The Gospels: Four accounts of his life, death, and resurrection, each of which has its own flavor and insight, yet presenting in common our Jesus.
Writings: Israel’s worship and contemplation of the God it was coming to know in this life, this death, and this bright distant future.	Acts and letters: Jesus’ story continued, through the activities of the Church that received his Spirit, chronicled by Luke and collected as church correspondence, especially the letters of Paul and other leaders, providing ‘inside information’ of our people's life of worship and contemplation.
Former and Latter Prophets: the subsequent, tragic, story of Israel leaving God, along with messengers’ warnings of the consequences and assurances that God would see Israel through and bring it back despite those consequences.	Acts and prophecy: Acts records the subsequent story of the Church inhabiting Christ's mission as it 'enters' the ends of the earth. Revelation tells the story of the church’s continuing struggles to stay faithful under pressure in our world, and God’s determination to see it through every trial.

This biblical structure suggests a whole 'Israelology' (vision of the two communities' relationships).

Luke-Acts, then, preserves the origins and character of the new community of the Church of Jesus Christ.

A Very Connected Gospel: Contexts of the Gospel of Luke
Cultural: embracing and rising to the rhetorical standards of Greco-Roman history (1:1-4, cf. Josephus, Contra Apionem 1.1.1-3, 2.1.1-2).
Social: is the author a companion of Paul ('we' passages in Acts 16:10ff)?

Ecclesial: an orderly account of the fulfillments of Theophilus' catechesis (1:1-4).
Missional: framed by preaching the Kingdom and teaching the Lord Jesus Christ at the beginning and end.
Geographical (with travels rather than teaching blocks as in Matthew):

Introduction at Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem (1:1-2:52).
Preparation at Jordan and the wilderness (3:1-4:13).
Ministry and revelation in Galilee (4:14-9:50).
Rejection on the Way to Jerusalem (9:51-19:44, the 'travel narrative').
Vindication of innocence at Jerusalem (not Galilee; 19:45-24:53)....
(And from there to all Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth; Acts 1:8.)

Revolutionary: reversing social strata, explaining new (especially Jewish-Christian) relations in light of Jesus' life (Luke 9-13, 22-23).
Temporal: written after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 (19:41-44, 21:20-24, cf. Mark 13:14-20)? or before Paul's death in the late sixties (Acts 28:30-31) or even James' in 62?
Political: events are constantly situated in Roman imperial context (2:1-2, 3:1).
Salvific: Jesus' life is located within Israel's saga (Luke 1, cf. Acts 1).
Eschatological: Jesus fulfills old and new prophecies (9:21-22, 44, 18:33 and 24:6-8, 44) and equips his disciples to wait for the kingdom's appearing (17:20-37, 18:1-8, 19:11-27).
Cosmic and theological: Jesus is 'son of Adam, son of God' (3:23-38).
The result is a gospel accessible to Romans, and the 'glue' of the NT and liturgical year.

The Acts of the Apostles (especially Peter and Paul) and the Holy Spirit
Acts' main characters are still Jesus (1:1), the Spirit (1:4-5), and the Apostles (1:8).
Acts chronicles several transformations with remarkable subtlety:

In Jerusalem — from Jesus to Peter (Luke 24-Acts 2).
Judea and Samaria — from Peter to others (chs. 6-8).
To the ends of the earth — from others to Saul/Paul (chs. 9-15).

Major themes:

The Church is apostolic Israel (ch. 1, cf. 3:25-26, Acts 24:10-21, Acts 26:1-23, Paul's farewell speech in 20:16-38).
The power of the Church is the Spirit of Jesus (2:1-42, 3:1-10, 8:4-17, 8:18-24, 19:1-20).
The good news is the apostles' preaching (sermons in 1:16-20, 2:14-39, 3:12-26, 4:8-12, 5:29-32, 10:34-43, 13:16-41 [and 4:24-30, 7:1-53, 17:22-31, 20:18-35?]) and interpretation (8:26-40).
The way of the cross is the Church's politics (4:1-31, 5:12-42, 6:8-8:3, 21:1-36, 22:22-26:32).
The Church is one (2:41-46, 4:32-37, 6:1-7) holy (5:1-11) fellowship.
The Church is universal (mission to Samaritans in 8:4-17 and Gentiles in 10-11/13:13-52/17:16-34 and ramifications for all in 15:1-31/21:20-26).
The way is transformative for persons (Paul's conversion in 9:1-31, 14:8-20) and the world (16:16-40, 19:21-41, 28:1-10).
Mission continues (1:6-11, 28:14b-31's anticlimax).

An interpretive question: Over the course of (Luke-)Acts, is the fellowship the same? changing? progressing? evolving? apostasying?