Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Biblical Studies Symposium: bartehrman.com/JoinBSS
Acts gets the politarchs of Thessalonica right. It gets the asiarchs of Ephesus right. It knows the sailing conditions of the Aegean. And it thinks Nazareth is a polis. In this video I argue that the pattern of what Acts gets right and wrong reveals exactly who wrote it, where they were, and what sources they had — drawing on the work of John Kloppenborg, Laura Nasrallah, and Steve Mason. C.J. Cornthwaite has a PhD in religious studies with a specialty in Christian origins from the University of Toronto, and can be found on YouTube @cjcornthwaite
Sources
Acts' Historical Accuracy
• Hemer, Colin. The Book of Acts in the Setting of Hellenistic History. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1989.
• Schnabel, Eckhard J. Acts. Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012.
• Schnabel, Eckhard J. "Acts and the Historical Reliability of the Gospels." JETS 54/2 (2011): 251–78. PDF
• Keener, Craig S. Acts: An Exegetical Commentary. 4 vols. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012–2015.
Critiques of Acts
• Haenchen, Ernst. The Acts of the Apostles: A Commentary. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1971.
• Pervo, Richard I. Acts: A Commentary. Hermeneia. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2009.
Josephus
• Mason, Steve. Josephus and the New Testament. 2nd ed. Peabody: Hendrickson, 2003.
Luke's Geography
• Kloppenborg, John. "Luke's Geography: Knowledge, Ignorance, Sources, and Spatial Conception." In Luke on Jesus, Paul, and Earliest Christianity: What Did He Really Know? edited by Joseph Verheyden and John S. Kloppenborg. Biblical Tools and Studies. Leuven: Peeters. - https://www.academia.edu/165328272/
• Nasrallah, Laura. "The Acts of the Apostles, Greek Cities, and Hadrian's Panhellenion." Journal of Biblical Literature 127, no. 3 (Fall 2008): 533–566.
• Schnabel's artical on fads is worth reading for the "historical authenticity" perspective - https://etsjets.org/wp-content/upload... - But my concern is that he takes historically accurate details to mean that the whole thing is accurate, which is a theological perspective, not historical method.
Biblical Studies Symposium: bartehrman.com/JoinBSS
Acts gets the politarchs of Thessalonica right. It gets the asiarchs of Ephesus right. It knows the sailing conditions of the Aegean. And it thinks Nazareth is a polis. In this video I argue that the pattern of what Acts gets right and wrong reveals exactly who wrote it, where they were, and what sources they had — drawing on the work of John Kloppenborg, Laura Nasrallah, and Steve Mason. C.J. Cornthwaite has a PhD in religious studies with a specialty in Christian origins from the University of Toronto, and can be found on YouTube @cjcornthwaite
Sources
Acts' Historical Accuracy
• Hemer, Colin. The Book of Acts in the Setting of Hellenistic History. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1989.
• Schnabel, Eckhard J. Acts. Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012.
• Schnabel, Eckhard J. "Acts and the Historical Reliability of the Gospels." JETS 54/2 (2011): 251–78. PDF
• Keener, Craig S. Acts: An Exegetical Commentary. 4 vols. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012–2015.
Critiques of Acts
• Haenchen, Ernst. The Acts of the Apostles: A Commentary. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1971.
• Pervo, Richard I. Acts: A Commentary. Hermeneia. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2009.
Josephus
• Mason, Steve. Josephus and the New Testament. 2nd ed. Peabody: Hendrickson, 2003.
Luke's Geography
• Kloppenborg, John. "Luke's Geography: Knowledge, Ignorance, Sources, and Spatial Conception." In Luke on Jesus, Paul, and Earliest Christianity: What Did He Really Know? edited by Joseph Verheyden and John S. Kloppenborg. Biblical Tools and Studies. Leuven: Peeters. - https://www.academia.edu/165328272/
• Nasrallah, Laura. "The Acts of the Apostles, Greek Cities, and Hadrian's Panhellenion." Journal of Biblical Literature 127, no. 3 (Fall 2008): 533–566.
• Schnabel's artical on fads is worth reading for the "historical authenticity" perspective - https://etsjets.org/wp-content/upload... - But my concern is that he takes historically accurate details to mean that the whole thing is accurate, which is a theological perspective, not historical method.
