Acts is the sequel to Luke's gospel and tells the story of Jesus's followers during the 30 years after his death. It describes how the 12 apostles, formerly Jesus's disciples, spread the message of Christianity throughout the Mediterranean against a background of persecution. With an introduction by P.D. James

The NIV is the world's best-selling modern translation, with over 150 million copies in print since its first full publication in 1978. This highly accurate and smooth-reading version of the Bible in modern English has the largest library of printed and electronic support material of any modern translation.

The mysterious presence of Jesus haunts the whole story of Acts. Jesus is announced as King and Lord, not as an increasingly distant memory but as a living and powerful reality, a person who can be known and loved, obeyed and followed, a person who continues to act within the real world. We call the book "The Acts of the Apostles," but we should think of it as "The Acts of Jesus (II)." These studies from Tom Wright help us to do so, and to see how Jesus' acts through the apostles inform our acts today.

The Acts of the Apostles is an unjustly under-read text of the New Testament. Its story is by now old news. From its humble beginnings as a sect within Judaism, Christianity survived its first uncertain decades and emerged as one the most important world religions. Yet bypassing Acts because we know the ending misses out on the unfolding drama of the time. The first apostles struggled against the Jewish authorities and even quarreled among themselves, often with an acrimony that modern Christians find unsettling. We should think of the earliest decades of Christianity as a white hot crucible of conflict rather than a flower quietly unfolding and blooming. Putting this text in the hands of intermediate Latin students allows them to build on their years of study of a difficult language with a reading that is not only well within their grasp but is also of enduring importance.

Peterson focuses on how Luke framed his narrative and speeches as well as his theology, demonstrating that Acts was written for Christian edification and to encourage mission.

The national directory addresses the dimensions and perspectives in the formation of deacons and the model standards for the formation, ministry, and life of deacons in the United States. It is intended as a guideline for formation, ministry, and life of permanent deacons and a directive to be utilized when preparing or updating a diaconate program in formulating policies for the ministry and life of deacons. This volume also includes Basic Standards for Readiness for the formation of permanent deacons in the United States, from the bishops' Committee on the Diaconate, and the committee document Visit of Consultation Teams to Diocesan Permanent Diaconate Formation Programs.

If you could add a book to the Bible, what would it contain? Here is one answer to that question: a "sequel" to Acts, showing the later careers of the Twelve, Paul's final travels before he faces Nero, the commission of the four Gospels, Jerusalem and its temple destroyed, the importance of the family of Jesus, and how close the apostles got to "the ends of the earth" in spreading the gospel. The Apostles after Acts includes a commentary that explains how the text was reconstructed from ancient sources and historical research. Here is a creative approach to the little-known but critical period when the New Testament record stops--and Christianity is just beginning.