Who is luke of the gospels

In Acts 16, Luke suddenly appears to join Paul and his companions after they reach Troas:. So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.

However, Luke never claims to be from Troas, and while that clearly appears to be where he joined Paul, the evidence is ambiguous. Their names are:. Whether or not Luke was technically an apostle depends on how you define it—but most Bible scholars would say he was not an apostle.

We agree. Others use it more broadly to include the 72 disciples or important early Christian teachers. Church historians even use a special title—Apostolic Father—for important leaders like Clement of Rome , who knew the apostles personally.

So the distinction matters. Acts refers to Paul and Barnabas as apostles:. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry. Conzelmann, Acts [ Hermeneia ] ad loc.

Tertullian was an important Christian writer who lived in the second and third centuries. However, in a non-academic setting, nobody would bat an eye if you called Luke an apostle. People often use the term to describe any prominent Christian who was there in the earliest days of the church. There are only three verses that explicitly mention Luke although a fourth-century church father argued that there could be a fourth.

And so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke, my fellow workers. In a section of personal remarks before his final greetings to Timothy, Paul mentions Luke again and appears to mention John Mark, the author of Mark :. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry. More on this later. In 2 Corinthians , Paul mentions someone who is coming to visit the Corinthians with Titus, and implies that this person is well-known for their contribution to the church:.

Some indeed say, Luke, because of the history which he wrote, but some, Barnabas; for he calls the unwritten preaching also Gospel. But some have also argued that it was simply a popular convention: ancient authors inserted themselves into historical narratives. Bart Ehrman—a famous secular Bible scholar—takes this a step further and argues that it was a deliberate fabrication to lend credibility to the account recorded in Acts.

Between these two books, Luke wrote a whopping Irenaeus, a cleric who lived from around — AD recorded who wrote each of the gospels, including this one:. Moreover, because of his many travels and intimate acquaintance with almost the entire church of his day, what this witness says about the authorship of the Third Gospel must be considered of great significance.

And Origen of Alexandria, who lived around — AD, wrote about the origins of each gospel in his commentary on Matthew:. Additionally, the Muratorian fragment—possibly the oldest surviving list of the biblical canon —lists Luke as the author. Eusebius of Caesarea —the father of church history with access to countless ancient books—was arguably the best equipped to provide an alternative author, but he never suggested anyone other than Luke wrote this gospel.

And usually, if there was disagreement about something, Eusebius made note of that—even if only to scoff at people who disagreed with him. Especially when you consider the similarities in style, language, and themes throughout the two. For in walking about, and beholding the objects of your worship, I found an altar on which was inscribed, To the Unknown God. Whom therefore you ignorantly worship, Him declare I unto you.

Secular and Christian scholars agree that these books were both written by the same person, but not everyone believes it was Luke.

One would expect a close companion of Paul to get these things right. This certainly appears to be a contradiction, but the language is ambiguous. There are a few instances like this where Paul and Luke appear to contradict one another, but where the language and genre of Acts as an ancient historical narrative is ambiguous enough that there is room for interpretation.

Some believe that as a companion of Paul, Luke may have helped write some of his letters. Paul occasionally used an amanuensis —a professional writer who either wrote what Paul dictated or worked from his main points.

See for example Romans However, this argument is purely conjecture. Luke has both been praised and criticized for his accuracy and attention to detail. Luke had the opportunity to travel widely and interview many of those most closely associated with Jesus.

With that audience in mind, Luke gives special emphasis to poetry, prayers, poverty and wealth, repentance, and women. More important passages include the parable of the shrewd manager Luke , the account of the 10 lepers healed by Jesus Luke — Luke amplifies the account of the Last Supper Luke , and Jesus appears to two disciples from Emmaus Luke In many ways, this book provides a natural bridge between the four gospels and the letters by Paul and others that follow.

About 10 days after His departure, the Holy Spirit fills the believers Acts , who proclaim the Good News throughout the city Acts When persecution breaks out, most Christians scatter throughout Judea and neighboring regions, where they lead other Jews and even Samaritans to faith in Jesus Christ Acts The evangelization of Gentiles continues throughout neighboring countries, including the establishment of a vibrant church in the city of Syrian Antioch Acts From Syrian Antioch, Paul and others go out on several Christian missionary journeys to other parts of the Roman empire Acts While in Jerusalem, near the end of his third missionary journey, Paul is arrested and is eventually taken to Rome.

Along the way, he has the opportunity to proclaim the Good News to many top Roman government officials. And it is logical to think that since Mark and Luke knew each other, and Mark and Matthew knew each other that Matthew and Luke would have also met. Luke would have been exposed to many sources, and, therefore, would have based his writings on existing narratives with eyewitness accounts added in that he gathered with the help of the Holy Spirit. Luke was not trying to write a new gospel, he wanted to record the life of Jesus as accurately as possible for a wider Gentile audience, including a high Roman official named Theophilus.

In 2 Timothy 4 , Paul tells us that Luke alone remains with him. John MacArthur explains,. And frankly, many believers had fled from Rome. And, you know, they might have had a reasonable motive to do that, to carry on the preaching of the gospel. It's not that they were all just cowards. But Luke didn't go. Everybody left. And there was a lot of desertion. Demas left him because he loved the present world, verse 10 says.

And you do get the idea that some of the rest left in desertion from verse 16 , but he says, "May it not be counted against them. I don't think in my life I've ever heard a sermon about Luke. His historical narrative spans over sixty years. It starts with the birth of John the Baptist, the forerunner to Jesus, and it ends at the end of the book of Acts, which is volume two of his writings, it ends with the gospel being preached at Rome, which means the gospel has extended to the world.