New Testament critics tend to regard the speeches in the book of Acts either as primarily accurate accounts or as primarily inventions of the author. In either case, the evidence in the speeches proves these simple categorizations false unless they are heavily qualified. The main hypothesis of this thesis is that the twin goals of artistic and historical appropriateness are suitable and useful conceptual tools for the study of speeches in ancient writers, including those speeches in the book of Acts. This 'two-pronged' appropriateness, suggested by a study of the statements of method in ancient secular writers, seems to account more neatly and comprehensively for the evidence in at least the mission speeches of Paul than alternative understandings of the literary device.