Authorship of Luke-Acts

There are two quite dissimilar views as to the author's purpose in his narratives. The first subscribes to the belief that "Luke" serves as an historian of the early church, while the second places him in squarely the role of a theologian. The particular view which one takes may have a profound impact upon the exegesis and analysis of the text, and may result in an errant interpretation of the message of both the Gospel and the Acts.

The Gospel is an account of the ministry of Jesus Christ, from the preparatory efforts of John the Baptist through the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. The Acts seems to pick up within a forty day period between Christ's resurrection and his ascension --a minor textual-critical problem if Luke is acting in the capacity of theologian, for this would merely be an amplification of Jesus' ministry to his disciples; a major textual-critical problem if Luke is cast in the role of historian, because the two-volume history is not entirely complementary at this juncture.

. . .
unity. Beyond this, however, he finds Gentiles who are Godfearers (who are acknowledged as being permitted to attend synagogue functions), and "pure" Gentiles ("goyim") who are also regarded as "the pagans." For Jervell, the early Christian church was comprised of Jews and Jewish Gentiles (proselytes) and Godfearers--only the pagans have no place in Luke's church or heavenly kingdom. Sanders manages to discount salvation for the Jews on the basis of his interpretation that Acts reflects a pervasive Jewish hostility toward the purposes of God. . . (and) that the hostility of the Jews to the gospel is part of God's plan, it being his will to offer salvation to the Gentiles and to accomplish that by the means of the Jewish rejection of the gospel. But how does this economy make allowance for the Apostles, all of whom were Jewish, and for those Jews who were converted on several occasions throughout Luke-Acts, since Sanders asserts that "the standard theme of Jewish rejection . . . is hardly less prominent in the Gospel than in the Acts." In reply to this, it is important to turn to Salmon. Just as Jervell sees Gentile distinctions, so, too, does Salmon see Jewish distinctions in Luke-Acts. In order for Luke to
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Jews Christ, John Baptist, Jewish Gentiles, Jews Acts, Pharisees Sadducees, Gospel Acts, , Testament Despite, Christians Jews, Salmon Salmon, jewish people, minneapolis augsburg, nonbelieving jews, luke-acts jewish, jewish people joseph, joseph tyson, people joseph, tyson ed, augsburg 1988, ed minneapolis, gospel acts, luke-acts jewish people, people joseph tyson, joseph tyson ed, tyson ed minneapolis,
Approximate Word count = 1705
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

More Essays on Authorship of Luke-Acts