Church Growth in Acts

Abstract

As Luke traces the progress of the Gospel from Jerusalem to Rome, and the displacement of Israel by the Church as the true people of God in the Messianic Era, his penchant for detail focuses more on the inclusiveness of the multiplying congregations than on accurate growth statistics. Uncharacteristically, Luke's overall pattern is to record numerical expansion in approximations and general terms, although he deliberately gives specific figures to underscore the rapid initial growth of the church in Jerusalem. Professor Copeland's study maintains that growth was Luke's dominant theme. He shows that this growth was numerical, geographic, cultural, heterogeneous and qualitative.