Luke

Here's another great article written by Wayne Jackson. This appeared in the August, 1978 edition of The Christian Courier. It was published by the East Main Street Church of Christ in Stockton, California and edited by Jackson.

Luke was the author of two New Testament books. He penned the Gospel account which is called after his name and he also wrote the book of Acts (Acts 1:1). Unlike some of the other New Testament writers who were without formal scholastic training, Luke was highly educated in numerous areas. A close study of his writings reveals that this New Testament pensman was a marvelous depository of talent and God utilized that knowledge and ability in giving us the verbally inspired documents of the Gospel of Luke and Acts.

Luke the Physician - By training Luke was a doctor. Paul refers to him as the "beloved physician" (Colossians 4:14). Throughout the Gospel account and Acts there is a keen interest in sickness and the sick. In 1882 W.K. Hobart published his work, The Medical Language of St. Luke, in which he attempted to show that the author of Luke and Acts used phraseology, "which from habit and training a physician would be likely to employ" (p. xxx). Though H.J. Cadbury somewhat weakened the force of Hobart's argument ("Style and Literary Method of Luke," Harvard Theological Studies, VI, 39ff), there is much evidence of medical interest in Luke's writings. For example, compare Luke's precise descriptions of afflictions (Luke 4:38; 5:12; 8:44) with the parallel accounts by other New Testament writers. Also, it is interesting to note that when Paul and his companions departed from Philippi on that second missionary trip, Luke remained behind as indicated by the use of the third person, plural "they...departed" (Acts 16:40). There might be a logical reason why Luke was chosen to remain. Philippi, "had a famous school of medicine, which was connected with one of the guilds of physicians which sent its adherents throughout the Hellenistic world" (Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia, IV, p. 762).

Luke the Linguist - Luke was the most literary of the Gospel writers. In those narratives where he writes independently as an historian, he uses a pure Greek, "which compares favorably in style with the prefaces of Herodotus and Thucydides, and surpasses them in combined modesty and dignity" (Philip Schaff, Theological Propaedeutic, pp. 132, 133). He had a tremendously rich vocabulary. He employed a great number of words (about 312 in Luke and 470 in Acts) that are not used elsewhere in the New Testament.

Luke the Historian - Sir William Ramsey declared that Luke, "should be placed along with the very greatest of historians" (Luke the Physician, p. 222). This companion of Paul was a careful and meticulous historian. For instance, in Acts he mentions 32 countries, 54 cities and 9 Mediterranean islands. He also mentions 95 persons in Acts, 62 of which are not named elsewhere in the New Testament (Bruce Metzger, The New Testament, Its Background, Growth and Content, pp. 171, 172). He is familiar with political conditions (Augustus, Tiberius, Claudius Caesar, Quirinius, the Herods, Felix and Festus are named). The final two chapters of Acts are said to furnish more information of ancient navigation than any single document of antiquity (Schaff, loc, cit.). Truly this many who authored more than one fourth of the bulk of the New Testament was an instrument in the hand of the Lord.