Many scholars say that book of the Acts of the Apostles focuses on the development of Christianity. Lynch, describes in the reading, that “Christianity was a movement within Judaism” and he notes that the members of Christianity are called Jewish-Christians (38-39). A trait that Jewish-Christians held was that they still observed the Mosaic Law. For example, they still went to the temple to worship, practice circumcision and shared meals together. Luke, the author of Acts of the Apostles, describes the character of the earliest Christian community and emphasizes that Jewish-Christians experienced visions, dreams, spoke in tongues, had prophesies and could perform healings. One distinct belief that set them apart was that they believed Jesus Christ was the Messiah. Throughout the book of Acts they also discuss if you are a follower, you were encouraged to pool your property to share with other members of the community, which was considered a rare practice. In summary, Luke emphasizes to live your life for God whether that is through worship in the temple, sharing meals, performing healings and try to convert others who were not being saved.

Early on in Jewish-Christianity, gentiles or non-Jews would be avoided. This changed as Jewish Christianity developed. In Acts of the Apostles, the author Luke gives Peter and Paul significant roles. The role is to reach out to gentiles, attempt to bring the Gospel to them and join the community so that they may be saved. Luke really establishes this role in chapter 10 of Acts when the Lord encouraged Peter to interact with the Gentiles and share meals with them and that the Lord shows no partiality. Peter was the catalyst to this revolution of Jewish-Christians reaching out to gentiles because they were the source of new believers. This was definitely a turning point in the development in the history of Christianity.