Summary:
The Gospel of Luke is credited to Luke the companion of Paul.
Luke was a gentile who became a believer through the ministry of Paul.
He was likely Greek by birth, a physician by profession (Colossians 4:14) and an historian by avocation.
Luke was not an eyewitness of the life of Jesus, as were Matthew and John.
Description:
The Gospel of Luke is a record of Jesus' life and ministry as seen through the eyes of the early disciples.
It is inscribed by Luke the close companion of Paul.
Authorship
Based on biblical scholarship, the Gospel of Luke is credited to Luke the disciple.
Its authorship is based on the following inferences and references:
The language and structure of the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts are remarkably similar.
The Book of Acts is meant to be a continuation of the Gospel of Luke (Acts 1:1).
A reference to Theophilus is found in each book (Luke 1:3, Acts 1:1).
For this reason, the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts were likely written by the same author.
The Book of Acts is likely written by Luke, the close companion of Paul.
The personal pronoun "we" is used in many places in the Book of Acts to suggest the
author was with Paul on his second missionary journey (Acts 16:10-28:16).
Paul's second missionary journey was in 49 AD.
Paul directly refers to Luke as a companion in Philemon 24 and Colossians 4:14.
In Irenaeus' Against Heresies Book III [REF-IRE01], he mentions that "Luke was inseparable from Paul, and his fellow-laborer in the Gospel" and that
"Luke was present at all these occurrences, he carefully noted them down in writing".
According to church tradition, the consensus was that Luke authored the third gospel.
There are explicit references to Luke's gospel in the Muratorian Fragment 170 AD [REF-MUR01]
and by Irenaeus (180 AD) [REF-IRE01]. Other references are made by
Clement (Eusebius's Church History 6.14.5-7),
Tertullian (Against Heresies 5.1),
Origen (Eusebius's Church History 6.25.14) and
Jerome (Illustrious Men 7).
Luke drew from many sources, most notably the synoptic Gospel of Mark and Jesus' original twelve disciples.
1 Many people have set out to write accounts about the events that have been fulfilled among us.
2 They used the eyewitness reports circulating among us from the early disciples.
3 Having carefully investigated everything from the beginning,
I also have decided to write an accurate account for you, most honorable Theophilus,
4 so you can be certain of the truth of everything you were taught.
(Luke 1:1-4 NLT)
In this passage we learn that many disciples were attempting to write accounts of the events of Jesus' ministry.
These accounts were eyewitness by Jesus' original disciples.
They included both oral and written accounts.
Luke makes a special point to say that he thoroughly investigated all accounts to ensure they were accurate, trustworthy and authoritative.
Therefore, Luke's account of Jesus' life and ministry is trustworthy.
Dating
If the Book of Acts was written in 62 AD (before the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD), then
the Gospel of Luke must have been written beforehand.
Scholars believe the Gospel of Luke to be written in 59-62 AD.
This is roughly 26-29 years after Jesus' ascension.
According to Geisler and Turek [REF-GEI01], Luke's Book of Act is historically, geographically and archaeologically accurate.
Based on Colin Hemer's research [REF-HEM01], they cite 84 passages that have been painstakingly attested by historical, geographical and archaeological discoveries.
The assumption is that if the Book of Acts is highly accurate, so is the Gospel of Luke.
The evidence presented regarding the eyewitness testimony of early disciples as recorded by Luke attests to the trustworthiness of the record concerning Jesus' life and ministry.
Resources:
I Don't Have Enough FAITH to Be an ATHEIST (REF-GEI01)
Irenaeus of Lyons; Against Heresies, Book III (REF-IRE01)
The Book of Acts in the Setting of Hellenistic History (REF-HEM01)
The Muratorian Fragment (REF-MUR01)
×Resource ID: REF-GEI01 Resource: I Don't Have Enough FAITH to Be an ATHEIST Authors: Norman L. Geisler, Frank Turek Publisher: Crossway Publish Date: 2004 ISBN 10: 1-58134-561-5 ISBN 13: 978-1-58134-561-2
×Resource ID: REF-GEI01 Resource: I Don't Have Enough FAITH to Be an ATHEIST Authors: Norman L. Geisler, Frank Turek Publisher: Crossway Publish Date: 2004 ISBN 10: 1-58134-561-5 ISBN 13: 978-1-58134-561-2 Page: 256-260
×Resource ID: REF-IRE01 Resource: Irenaeus of Lyons; Against Heresies, Book III Authors: Irenaeus of Lyons Publisher: Early Christian Writings Publish Date: A.D. 180 URL:Click Here
×Resource ID: REF-HEM01 Resource: The Book of Acts in the Setting of Hellenistic History Authors: Colin J. Hemer Publisher: Eisenbrauns (Winona Lake, Ind.) Publish Date: 1990 ISBN 10: 0931464587 ISBN 13: 978-0931464584
×Resource ID: REF-MUR01 Resource: The Muratorian Fragment Authors: Bobbio, L.A. Muratori Publisher: Early Christian Writings Publish Date: A.D 170 URL:Click Here
