The evidence of the medical jargon in the gospel of luke by reuben a. Theophilus, whose name is greek and means loved of philus god theo, was a gentile government official. Carson and douglas moo note that both luke and acts are anonymous, the prologue to lukeacts alludes to an author who is well educated, not an apostle, versed in the old testament, and knowledgeable of first century society, which all align with a current understanding of luke. It is true that the gospel which bears his name, as well as the book of acts. Where did luke get the information for his writings. In fact, many have called the book of acts part 2 of the gospel of luke. Much of the material about paul that is contained in acts is quite inconsistent with what paul wrote about. In acts 2, when people asked peter what they should do to be saved, what was his reply. He was an educated man, and we learn in colossians 4. It is filled with all the drama, thrills, adventure and suspense. The book of acts tells the story of both the glorious and tumultuous early years of the church. The opening sentence of acts addresses the same person luke was written totheophilusand references my former book, which makes a pretty convincing case that luke and acts were written by the same person. Therefore, theophilus like luke would have some firsthand knowledge of some of the events and like luke, his perspective with regard to those things is different than in the first book. Luke wrote two works, the third gospel, an account of the life and teachings of jesus, and the book of acts, which is an account of the growth and expansion of christianity.
Why didnt luke include the deaths of paul, peter and james in the book of acts. Why did luke write the acts of the apostles answers. The gospel of luke, as well as the book of acts, is. Lukes second letter to theophilus is what we today call the acts of the apostles, and by the he wrote it, luke and theophilus. Luke is credited with writing two books in the new testament.
Even though we arent told within the text that luke wrote acts and the gospel that is attributed to him there is ample evidence that he is in fact the author. For me, thats enough to secure lukes and acts historical reliability, for we have traveled back to the earliest stages of the gospel traditions, back to the words and voice of jesus himself. The gospel that bears his name and the book of acts are two parts of one comprehensive work. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. But for those who read its words more purposefully, they will find blessing and encouragement, as they take in the powerful events that would begin to shape the church into the mighty organism that it is. Acts with book summary versebyverse bible commentary. Luke, the physician, is its authorthe same man who wrote the gospel by his name. In both books luke is writing so that theophilus will know the exact truth of what he was taught. The authorship of the gospel of luke and the acts of the apostles, collectively known as luke acts, is an important issue for biblical exegetes who are attempting to produce critical scholarship on the origins of the new testament. Luke uses it, of what we should call the several books or portions of his histories. Yet another theory about the identity of theophilus is that he was the roman lawyer who defended paul during his trial in rome. Much of the material about paul that is contained in acts is quite inconsistent with what paul wrote about in his own epistles, which rules out authorship by paul but also rules out authorship by luke, a close associate of paul. Acts of the apostles was written for a man named theophilus, telling of the beginning of the church and the spread of the gospel.
If this theory is correct, lukes writings were designed to. It was written by luke and the content flows with the gospel of luke really well. Luke, also called saint luke the evangelist, flourished 1st century ce. In the latter portion of acts, luke recorded three rejections of the jews to pauls overtures of salvation. Neither paul nor luke really wrote acts of the apostles. Now we know luke was with paul in jerusalem at that time and in his company more than any others, yet the jews did not get upset about luke, evidently knowing or believing that he was a jew. The story of the storytellers the gospel of luke from.
Nor should we be surprised that luke would write the definitive history of the early decades of the church the book of actsduring which time it crossed languages and cultures to reach out to gentiles. The book of acts was written by an author who apparently knew pauls epistles. Since luke is the author of acts, any date between ad 60 and 100 is reasonable as conzelmann points out. In fact we seem to have parts of lukes travel diary reproduced in, for example, acts 21, where the writer suddenly starts to talk about what we did, rather than using the third person narrative. Luke helps us here with a clearly stated aim in both his gospel and in acts luke 1. The testimony of the early christian church is virtually unanimous in ascribing the authorship of acts to luke, the companion of paul and writer of the third gospel.
Tradition has it that the author of the gospel of luke and acts of the apostles were written by the same individual, and that is by, luke the beloved physician. The date of the gospel must be in the early 60s due to the necessity of acts being completed by ad 64. Furthermore, there are linguistic and theological similarities between the gospel of luke and the book of acts. Some skeptics, however, claim that luke is probably not the author of acts because the theology of paul. Especially when you consider the similarities in style, language, and themes throughout. Thus, lukeacts is certainly early enough to have contained eyewitness testimony. The purpose of the book of acts is governed by the jews response to peter and paul. Luke is the only gentile writer of the new testament. Lucas was a doctor who accompanied paul on some of his travels. Lukes involvement with the gospel of lukeacts is documented by justin martyr, irenaeus, papias, and others. Written by the same author and for the same purpose, both were addressed to a christian named theophilus and were designed for the purpose of presenting to him a complete and well authenticated narrative of the early history of the christian movement.
The book of acts ends with paul in house arrest waiting to. Concerning the composition location, marshall writes, it must be. Together with the gospel of luke and the letter to the. In addition, luke wrote the book of acts and served as a missionary and early church leader. The book of acts, also called acts of the apostles, does not specifically identify its author. In the first verse of the book of acts the author mentions the fact that he has already written an earlier report concerning all things which jesus began both to do and to teach, until that day in which he was taken up. He valued the eyewitness testimony of those who had followed jesus from the beginning. The book of acts is sometimes called the 5th gospel because of this.
After the four gospels, the next chronological account in the bible is known as the book of acts or the acts of the apostles. He was a greek and the only gentile christian writer of the new testament. Although it is difficult to prove with absolute certainty, there may have in fact been more than just a single source for the events recorded in the book of acts. The title of lukes gospel and acts luke appears to have given neither his gospel, nor acts of the apostles, a title. Luke wrote the gospel of luke, which emphasizes jesus christs humanity. Moreover, we do not have the identification of the author as luke until some 100 years after he wrote, in a statement by irenaeus in his book against heresies. Doctor luke paul says of luke our dear friend luke the doctor the nasb translates it luke the beloved physician. Introduction to the book of acts study resources blue letter bible.
Much of the material about paul that is contained in acts is quite inconsistent with what paul wrote about in his own epistles, which rules out authorship by paul but also rules out authorsh. Vocabulary and style are very similar in the two books. According to most scholars, luke wrote acts as a continuation of his gospel account. Theophilus who is theophilus in the bible luke and acts. Both luke and acts are addressed to theophilus, whether understood as a real person or a literary device.
Did luke write the gospel of luke and the book of acts by bart ehrman. Acts mentions luke as a traveling companion with paul. That notion is derived from the mention of luke in the book of colossians, but paul almost certainly did not write colossians. The acts of the apostles, often referred to simply as acts, or formally the book of acts, is the fifth book of the new testament. Acts and the gospel of luke make up a twopart work, luke acts, by the same anonymous author, usually dated to around 8090 ad. The gospel was originally anonymous and was only attributed to luke later in the second century, so that most new testament scholars now doubt that he really was the author of the gospel of luke.
From there luke travelled with paul to jerusalem, where paul ended up in a caesarean jail for two years before being transported to rome. Did luke write the gospel of luke and the book of acts. Having established authorship, we can move on to a related question. However, the earliest manuscripts are anonymous, and the traditional view has been challenged by many modern scholars. See introduction as to the title thus given to the book. The testimony of the early christian church is virtually unanimous in ascribing the authorship of acts to luke, the companion of paul and writer. Is there a case to be made that luke wrote the book of. And in areas where it appears the luke joined paul, acts pointofview changes from he to we, and then at points where it seems that luke may have left paul or stayed behind, pointofview then reverts back from we to he. The gospel of luke and the book of acts are closely related. The first part, the gospel of luke, tells how god fulfilled his plan for the worlds salvation through the life, death, and. Those who hold this theory believe that lukes purpose in writing luke and acts was to write a defense of christianity, somewhat akin to a legal brief.
The dating of the book of acts is important because acts was written after luke. Warner june 10, 2016 biblical reliability, writings 14,470 views in my book, cold case christianity, i attempt to evaluate the gospel accounts with the same criteria used by jurors to assess the reliability of eyewitnesses in a criminal case. Paul the apostle, and the most literary of the new. Paul does mention a companion named luke in the book of philemon, but he does not say anything at all about him not, for example, that he was a gentile or that he was a physician. If he did, the book is a sequel to the gospel of luke. Luke as author of the book of acts lives transforming. Sixth, because of the authors involvement with the book of acts, one can. Luke recorded three rejections by the jews to peter and the apostles associated with him to the message of repentance and proclamation of the kingdom. When we read the book of acts, it seems obvious luke intended to write some sort of history of the expansion of the early church from a small messianic sect of judaism in galilee and judea to an empirewide religion which included both jews and.
Almost the entire first half of the book highlights the ministry. Just as his gospel opens with a dedication to theophilus, so also does acts. If luke did not write the gospel, then there is no reason to believe that he. Unlike the writings of the apostle paul, the books of luke and acts do not. Written by the same author and for the same purpose, both were addressed to a christian named theophilus and were designed for the purpose of presenting to him a complete and well authenticated narrative of. According to church tradition, luke wrote the book of acts. Luke supplies a genealogy of jesus, a detailed account of christs birth, as well as the parables of the good samaritan and the prodigal son. His first is what we today call the gospel of luke. The goal of this study is to examine the text and its structure and reveal why luke wrote acts. Now that you bring it up, i have to say it does bring a touch of reality to the writings.
Actus apostolorum, often referred to simply as acts, or formally the book of acts, is the fifth book of the new testament. Traditionally, the text is believed to have been written by luke the companion of paul named in colossians 4. The authorship of the gospel of luke and the acts of the apostles, collectively known as. Acts continues the message begun by john the baptist, jesus, and his twelve apostles in the gospels. This conclusion is based on the idea that an author of a book of the new testament would write in a language which he knew well and which his intended audience would know well. Who was theophilus at the beginning of luke and acts. The ending of acts plays an important role in route of determining the books date. Authorship of the book of acts is attributed to luke. The bible contains two letters from luke to theophilus. The tradition from the earliest days of the church has been that luke, a companion of the apostle paul, wrote the books of luke and acts colossians 4. In luke, the purpose of the book is laid out in the introduction. Why didnt luke include the deaths of paul, peter and. Determining the location that luke wrote is a more difficult task than determining that date.
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