This mini-lesson works through the Acts of the Apostles: the ascension, Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit, the first Christian community, Stephen, the conversion of Saul, the Council of Jerusalem and the mission of Paul. Read the first screen carefully — it explains exactly where this sits in the CCEA specification.
Work through each screen, answer the questions as you go and collect ⭐ stars. Religious Studies asks you to know beliefs and teachings accurately and to evaluate them fairly, so watch for the screens that set out a range of views. Press Start when you're ready.
CCEA's GCSE Religious Studies (4610) offers nine units, and the Acts of the Apostles is not one of them. The Christianity units are the Catholic Church, the Christian Church (Catholic or Protestant), the Revelation of God and the Christian Church (Unit 3), Matthew (Unit 4), Mark (Unit 5), Christian Ethics (Unit 6) and Philosophy of Religion (Unit 7), with Islam and Judaism as Units 8 and 9.
So why study this? Because the material sits directly under Unit 3: the ascension (Luke 24:50–53) is a set passage, Pentecost is a set festival, and the unit's whole final section is about the Christian Church — its worship, sacraments and role in society. Acts is where all of that begins. Use this lesson to deepen Unit 3, and check with your teacher which units you are entered for.
Acts opens where Luke's Gospel ends. The risen Jesus tells the disciples they will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon them, and that they will be his witnesses 'to the ends of the earth' (Acts 1:8). He is then taken up out of their sight — the ascension (also Luke 24:50–53).
Structure tip: Acts 1:8 is effectively the plan of the whole book — Jerusalem, then Judea and Samaria, then the wider world. Quote it and you have a map.
At Pentecost (Acts 2:1–4) the Holy Spirit comes upon the apostles:
Peter then preaches publicly, and a large number are baptised. Christians often call Pentecost the birthday of the Church. In churches today it is marked by wearing red and by prayers for the Spirit.
Tap an event, then tap the stage of the story it belongs to.
Acts describes the first believers devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer — and sharing their possessions so that no one was in need.
Evaluation hook: is this a blueprint for the Church today, or a description of one extraordinary moment? Christians answer differently — and both answers can be argued well.
The message provoked opposition. Stephen, one of the first deacons, was seized, tried and stoned — remembered by Christians as the first martyr. Persecution scattered the believers, and, paradoxically, spread the message further.
A young man named Saul approved of Stephen's death and set about persecuting the Church.
On the road to Damascus, Saul encounters the risen Christ in a blinding light (Acts 9). He is baptised, and becomes Paul, the most energetic missionary of the early Church.
Tap a term on the left, then its meaning on the right.
The hardest question the early Church faced: did non-Jewish (Gentile) converts have to keep the Jewish law? At the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15) the leaders decided that they did not.
Why this is a turning point: it made Christianity a faith open to the whole world rather than a movement within Judaism. Paul's missionary journeys, and finally his journey to Rome, follow from it.
Unit 3 asks about the Church in contemporary society. Acts supplies the pattern:
Questions worth being ready for:
Where it fits: Not a standalone CCEA GCSE unit — it underpins Unit 3 (ascension, Pentecost, the Church)
Acts 1:8: Witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth
Pentecost: Wind, tongues of fire, speaking in tongues; the birthday of the Church
Community: Teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, prayer, sharing of possessions
Saul to Paul: Persecutor converted on the Damascus road (Acts 9) — special revelation
Acts 15: Gentiles need not keep the Jewish law — the faith opens to the world
You have covered the story of Acts and how it supports CCEA Unit 3. Press Finish to see your score.
You've worked through Christianity through a Study of the Acts of the Apostles for CCEA GCSE Religious Studies (4610). 🎉
Your stars: 0 / 0
Next: test yourself in the Evaluate stage Confidence Quiz, then lock it in with Verify.