Gospel of Luke

Authorship
 External evidences
 Muratorian Canon (late 2nd Century CE): “The Third gospel according to Luke. After the
ascension of Christ, Luke, whom Paul had taken with him as an expert in the way, wrote under
his own name and according to his own understanding…”
 Eusebius: Luke was from Antioch
 Irenaeus
 Anti-marcionite prologue to Luke
 Eusebius – “Luke, who was by race an Antiochian and a physician by profession”

 Internal evidences:
 Travelling companion of Paul? (Col. 4:14; Phlm. 24;) Luke, the beloved physician (Col 4:14;
Phlm 24; II Tim 4:11) “We sections” (Acts 21.17). Luke shows the theology of Paul, so must
have been a pupil of Paul (universalism, 4:27; 24:47; faith, 8:12; 18:8; etc.)
 Luke was a Gentile Christian – he does not know the geography of the land and hardly uses any
semitic expression. Luke was a Gentile Christian: knowledge of Synagogue, Hellenism and
LXX
 Time and Place of Writing
 Many scholars assert that Luke-Acts were written at the end of the sixties
 Decisive against the early date is the fact that Luke looks back on the fall of
Jerusalem – in 70 CE (Lk.13:34 f.; Lk. 19:43; 21:20, 24)
 Probable date of Luke’s composition is between 70 and 90.
 Mention by Ignatius, Clement, Justin Martyr, etc. show a pre-90 date.
Destination/Addressees
 Theophilus – “representative of a wide circle of readers – i.e., if possible of all Christians.”
(Kuemmel)
 Luke was mainly written for Gentile Christians -

 Suggestions for the place of writing are Caesarea, Achaia, the Decapolis, Asia Minor and
above all, Rome.
 Literary Character and theological purpose of Luke
 Non-markan material includes approximately three-fifiths of the entire Gospel and more
than one-third of Luke has no parallels in Mt. So, Mark may not have been the “basic
source” of Luke, who, according to Streeter, used proto-Luke and expanded Mark.
 The so-called “travel narrative” (9:51 – 19:27) is a creation of Luke.
 In the prehistory, Luke more closely approximates the LXX style than in the rest of the
Gospel.
 Luke has placed the history of Jesus in a recognizable link with the history of his own time
(2:1f; 3:1f; 11:28; 18:2; Acts 26:26; etc.)
 Luke places the history of Jesus as the beginning of the ongoing history of the church
(19:11; 21:8)
 Luke is eager to prove the political innocence of Jesus in the eyes of the Romans, esp.
Pilate (23:4, 14, 20, 22; 23:47)
Major theological emphases
 Luke is writing redemptive history:
 Time of law (Israel)
 Time of Preaching (Jesus)
 Time of the Church (Holy Spirit)
 Luke is:
 Gospel of the Holy Spirit
 Gospel of the Gentiles
 Gospel for the poor and oppressed
 Gospel of Women and Children
 Gospel of Joy
 Gospel of Prayer