Gospel Authorship: Luke

The author of the Gospel of Luke gives the story of Jesus in a way that links him to Elijah, rather than Moses as is done in Matthew.
http://www.jerusalemperspective.com/4422/

The author of the Gospel of Luke makes it clear that he was not a witness to any part of Jesus' life:
Luke 1:1 Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled[a] among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eye witnesses and servants of the word. 3 With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.
Opinion seems divided on the author, with scholars approximately evenly split between Luke and some anonymous, Hellenised Christian. As for the date, this seems likely to be 80-100 AD.
This scholarly consensus holds that the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke were composed, independently of one another, sometime in the 80s or 90s.
http://www.bc.edu/schools/stm/crossroads/resources/birthofjesus/intro/the_dating_of_thegospels.html

A date for Luke-Acts in the 90s of the first century or first decade of the second would account for all the evidence, including the alleged use of Josephus and the apparent authorship by a sometime companion of Paul. If Luke did not use Josephus, a date in the 80s is permissible.
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/luke.html

While some scholars argue for a pre-70 date for when the gospel was written, most scholars place the date ca. 80-90.
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Gospel_of_Luke#Date 


We know Luke drew heavily on Mark, so much of the gospel is therefore third-hand knowledge. We have no reason to suppose any of it is any more direct than that. For that reason, I see no point in dwelling any more on this gospel.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Southern Baptist Convention Position on Abortion

Hinman's "Argument From Transcendental Signifier"

Kent Hovind: Third wife in three years?