The question has been asked, were Ananias and Sapphira really struck down by God? The answer to that question for each individual depends on what their belief is about the inspiration of the Bible. If one believes that the whole Bible is the inspired Word of God, then there should be no question that this event truly took place. I will site some information to back up this claim as we continue this discussion throughout the article.
In order to find the answer to the above question, we first need to find out if something similar happened somewhere else in the Bible. There are other passages where God destroyed people because of their wickedness. A prime example of this is the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis chapter nineteen. We are told that these two cities were destroyed because of their wickedness before God. There are also cases of individuals or groups in other places. In Numbers chapter sixteen we find the story of Korah. Korah challenged the authority of the high priest Aaron. God caused Korah and his followers to dies as an example to the nation of Israel to not challenge the authority of God's anointed. We can find the story of Gehazi in II Kings chapter five. This servant of Elisha tried to profit from the work that God had done in healing Naaman. Because of this the prophet Elisha told him that the leprosy of Naaman would cling to him. Gehazi would eventually die from that leprosy because of what he did. So as we can see, there are other similar stories in the Bible.
Secondly we can answer the question by looking at the way that Jesus told stories during his time on earth. We find that when he was simply trying to teach a lesson he would not use names. An example of this is the rich man in Luke chapter twelve. Jesus used a story to illustrate a point he was trying to make. In other passages we find that Jesus used names. This is the case in Luke chapter sixteen when he mentions lazarus. Jesus set the example that if a specific name was mentioned, then it was a true story.
Ananias and Sapphira had lied to God. Peter tells them that the property was theirs to do with as they pleased. The rest of the church had been selling things to provide for the poor. These two wanted to look good by saying that they were giving the whole price of the property to the church. This was not a requirement and Peter made it clear that they could have given whatever portion they wanted to the church. They chose to lie in order to make themselves look better. Peter tells them they did not lie to him but to God. God always knows the truth and it is never a good idea to try to lie to God.
As you can see, if you believe that the whole Bible is the Word of God, then you need to also believe that this story is true.