servant Christology. This Christology was in any case primitive and does not appear to have became a major way of viewing Jesus, at least in the Pauline communities." Witherington, op. cit., page 180.
Furthermore, in Acts 2:25-33, Peter explicitly discusses how Jesus fulfilled the Davidic prophecies concerning resurrection. The same is true in Acts 3:18, where Peter preaches that Christ had fulfilled "the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets." Such blatant reference to prophecy fulfillment is not Luke's style. "He, at all events, does not turn aside to tell us that 'Then was fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets.'" J.R. Harris, Ii>Testimonies, II, page 80. Indeed, this is one area where Matthew and Luke differ strongly. Throughout Matthew turns aside to let us know certain prophecies had been fulfilled. Not so with Luke. Yet Peter's speeches have this as one of their key elements.
3.     James' Speech and Letter Regarding the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15)
Yet another major speech in Acts reveals contact with its purported author. The speech and letter of James in Acts 15 reveals similarities to the Epistle of James. Acts 15 is the famous Jerusalem Council where the leaders of Christianity decided that Gentiles did not have to follow the full Mosaic Law. James, the leader of the church in Jerusalem, gave a speech and then, apparently, helped draft a letter to the Gentile Christians informing them of the Council's decision. There are "striking similarities between the Greek of the Epistle of James and that of the speech attributed to James in Acts 15:13-21." D. A. Carson, et al., An Introduction to the New Testament, page 410 (citing J.B. Mayor's The Epistle of St. James, pages iii-iv). Additionally, there are some impressive similarities between the speech and letter of James in Acts, and the Epistle of James in the New Testament. First, both the opening words in James 1:1 and the letter in Acts 15:23 are a distinct Greek phrase for Greeting--"chairo." No other New Testament author introduces there letter in a similar fashion. Second, the Epistle of James also uses a distinct Greek term to exhort his "Brethren" (adelphos) to "listen" (akouo) to him (James 2:5). According to Acts, James uses the same language to exhort his "Brethren" (adelphos) to "listen" (akouo) when he begins his speech in Acts 15:13.
Although neither James nor Luke used each other's writing, they both portray some common, but unique, linguistic terms and sentiments and attribute them to James, the brother of Jesus.
4.     Paul's Speech at Miletus (20:17-38)
In Acts 20:17-38, Paul gives a farewell speech to the leaders of the Ephesus church that he had worked to establish. It is dealing with a figure--Paul--for whom we have many additional sources. Also, the context of the speech is similar to the context of Paul's letters: the audience is a Christian one. Accordingly, Acts 20 presents us with the best opportunity we have to examine Luke's representation of a speech and compare it to the language and emphasis of the speaker as we know him through independent sources. It is perhaps also significant that Luke claims to have been present for this speech. As we will see, Luke has presented Paul's speech in a manner strikingly similar to how Paul addressed Christians through his letters in similar situations.
Here is a rundown of some of the similarities:
Stanley E. Porter categorizes even more similarities into three categories 1) verbal parallels, 2) biographical details, and 3) theological similarities:
The first are verbal parallels, including the following phrasing: 'being a servant of the lord' (Acts 20:19; Rom 12:11), 'with all humility' (Acts 20:19; Eph 4:2), 'Jews and Greeks' (Acts 20:21; and especially Romans), 'complete the course' (Acts 20:24; 2. Tim. 4:7), 'complete service' (Acts 20:24; 2 Tim. 4:5; Col 4;17), 'the service which we received from our Lord Jesus' (Acts 20:24; Col. 4:17), 'grace of God (Acts 20:24, 32; frequently in Paul), 'the church of God' (Acts 20:28; frequently in Paul), 'watches out for yo