Luke’s Eyewitness Accounts in Acts
February 6, 2014
Date/Time
Date(s) - 06/02/2014
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Location
Tabor College
Categories
The early church fathers claimed that Luke was the author of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles and thus wrote nearly ¼ of the New Testament. His written testimony is crucial to our knowledge of Jesus of Nazareth and the history of the early church. However, Luke was not an eye-witnesses of Jesus’ ministry. How can we know that his record is trustworthy? On Thursday the 6th of February we are going to consider what access Luke had to eye-witnesses and how he created his written record.
In most of Luke’s writings he writes in the third person. i.e., “he/she or they”. However, in Act 16 he makes a sudden switch and starts to use the first person plural, i.e., “we” or “us”. He does this nonchalantly and naturally and switches between first person and third person at distinct locations and times. It is done so casually that most readers of the Bible do not even notice that it is happening. However, it seems to strongly indicate that Luke accompanied Paul on various segments of Paul’s missionary travels. From this, we can trace Luke’s movements, when he was at various locations and whom he met. We can also know how he conducted his investigation of Jesus’ ministry.
On Thursday we will look at various passages from Luke’s writings and you can judge for yourself. Was he really present when he implicitly claims to be present? Does he seem trustworthy and reliable?
The presentation will be followed by supper and then an open discussion where all can ask questions or contribute.
Comment on this article: