Roger Stronstad’s book The Charismatic Theology of St. Luke opens wide the vast work of the Holy Spirit within Luke’s two-part book Luke/Acts and points out Luke’s intent to present the full activity of the Holy Spirit from beginning to end. In fact, Stronstad writes, “[The] concentration of references to the Holy Spirit in the Gospel of Luke demonstrates that the topic of the Spirit is historically and theologically of more interest to Luke than it is to the other evangelists” (Stronstad 39-40). Furthermore, Stronstad pushes against the notion that Luke was simply a historian, but rather a theologian. He states, “Modern research has emphasized that he was a theologian…His view of theology led him to write history” (Stronstad 9). Luke’s theology of the Holy Spirit is overwhelmingly evident in the way Stronstad presents the continuation of Holy Spirit’s activity from the Old Testament to the New Testament, the Holy Spirit’s purpose in completing God’s mission and the means in which the Spirit is received. First of all, Stronstad walks back through the Old Testament to create a foundation of who the Holy Spirit is and what his purpose is. In doing so, he reveals Luke’s did not have a new understanding of the Holy Spirit in the time of Jesus; yet rather, Luke viewed the Holy Spirit as the same one who was working in the Old Testament. Also, Stronstad reveals Luke’s in-depth understanding of the Old Testament, including the Greek Bible—the Septuagint (Stronstad 8), gave him the
The Gospel of Luke was also written around eighty CE, written somewhere outside of Palestine (Tatum, 1999, p.34). The author may have been Luke the Gentile Christian, writing to another Gentile, Theophilus. Like Matthew, Luke is strongly believed to be written after Mark, with references from him, “Q” and “L” if following the Two (Four)-Document Hypothesis. The authors of Luke and Matthew are believed to be written during the same time without the knowledge of knowing. As mentioned before, Luke is about fifty percent longer than Mark is, making it important source since it contains more information about the historic life of Jesus. There is also a second part to Luke which is the book Acts, but is separate in Bible. Both include the beginnings
Ryrie has organized his book clearly with various sections in bold letters. He utilized some diagrams for the reader to better teach on the Holy Spirit. These organizational methods helps the reader to better understand the points that Ryrie is trying to get across about the Holy Spirit. The book includes discussion on who the Holy Spirit is. It focuses on the Holy Spirit’s part in creation, revelation, and inspiration. The book focuses on the Holy Spirit of both the Old and the New Testaments. It covers grace, gifts, and the activities of the Holy Spirit. It covers the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the future and concludes with the history of the Doctrine of
The Book of Acts in the Holy Bible was a documentation of the actions of Jesus’ disciples in the continuation of the salvation ministry began by Jesus. The Book of Acts was written by Luke whose work goes a long way in bringing out the presence of the Holy Spirit manifesting through the Apostles; Luke was both a theologian and a historian as per his writings documented in the holy bible. Through the book of Acts Luke emphasizes about baptism through the Holy Spirit, it is through the Holy Spirit that God fills the people. According to Luke’s documentation of the work of Christ’s apostles in the Roman Empire, the Holy Spirit
Luke wrote the Acts of the Apostles as a follow-up to his Gospel account of the life of Christ. The Acts should be seen as a description of the ongoing work of Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit through His apostles and followers. Luke’s aim is to give an historical record of the early church from its birth in Jerusalem to how it reached around the world with the Gospel. Through this work Luke reveals that everything that was said previously about Jesus Christ was absolute truth. The book of Acts can be split into two main parts: 1. The birth of the Church 2. The missionary journeys of the apostles The book begins with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the waiting disciple (120) in the
In the first part of Dr. Timothy McGrew's discussion on the dependability of Acts and Luke as an author, McGrew shows and proceeds to interact with the opposing view held by Dr. Bart Ehrman. McGrew respectfully goes through each of Ehrman's negative and misguided beliefs on the contradictions and errors Erhman believes there to be in the book of Acts.
Luke was a medical doctor, a missionary, and evangelist, a historian, a researcher, and the writer of the third Gospel. The book of Luke was written in a formal literacy introduction noting his purpose in writing, his methodology, and the attempts others had made in such writing. Luke is the author of the book and it was written in AD 60 in Caesarea. According to Hindson and Elmer Luke’s purpose is to give “an orderly sequence” of the events about Christ’s birth, life, and sacrificial death followed by his resurrection and ascension back to heaven. The occasion calling for Luke to write his Gospel was that Theophilus, and other new believers like him, needed a clear account of the life and ministry of Jesus as an aid to confirm his faith
Readers of the Gospel of Luke often try to identify Luke’s intended audience. Understanding Luke’s intended audience can provide insight into how Luke used current culture to strategically spread the word of God. Specifically, we can look at the period of Hellenization, along passages, to interpret Luke’s Gospel as intended for a Greco-Roman audience.
The following installment of The Charismatic Theology of St. Luke focuses on Holy Spirit in the Gospel of Luke and the Charismatic nature of Christ. In this chapter Stronstad examines how Luke observes the Spirit in the infancy narrative, inauguration narrative and various texts dispersed throughout his Gospel. A central motif within this section is Jesus fulfillment of Old testament prophetic trajectories. Next, Stronstad addresses the charismatic community and “The Holy Spirit at Pentecost”. He asserts: “The Pentecost narrative is the story of the transfer of the charismatic Spirit from Jesus to the disciples. [...] By this transfer of the Spirit, the disciples become the heirs and successors to the earthly charismatic ministry of Jesus” (Stronstad, 55). Additionally, he stresses the complexity of the gift of the Spirit. The event that transpired at Pentecost can be described as but not limited to a baptizing, clothing, outpouring, filling, and empowering of the Spirit.
The controversial figure of St Paul is credited with writing thirteen of the twenty-seven books in the New Testament; thus making him one of the most important figures of the Apostolic Age and in the development of the early Christian faith. Paul’s letters are some of the earliest Christian documents discovered dating to approximately 50 AD, whereas the scholarly consensus for the dating of the gospels is between 70 AD and 90 AD. Therefore, Paul’s thirteen letters reveal the earliest teachings about Jesus and the Christian faith; in particular Paul’s letter to the Romans expresses the fullest statement of how salvation in Christ is achieved (Wansbrough, 2011, P247). Thus, this essay will primarily focus on Romans and the extent it concurs with the Gospel according to Luke. In doing this, the essay will also analyse whether Paul’s letters rely on the narrative of Luke’s gospel. The overall message Paul preaches in his thirteen letters is we can be saved through Jesus’ actions, but only if we follow his teachings. However, the argument is can this message be fully understood by Christians without Luke’s gospel? Additionally, this paper will attempt to show how Paul’s preaching has altered or remained the same throughout time.
Matthew, Mark, and Luke are called the Synoptic Gospels because they include similar stories about the life, ministry and death of Jesus Christ. Although similar in material, they were written for different audiences and by men of very different occupations. Matthew was a tax collector and wrote his book directed to the Jews, and Luke, a physician, wrote his book directed to the Gentiles. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the foundational principle of the Christian faith, and no event has greater impacted history. Let’s explore the differences given in the accounts of Matthew and Luke.
In this brief journey of a lifetime for the storyline from early 1900s; inherently, represented only a partial existence in its historical context; nevertheless, found to be richly sourced from the Scripture written by authors of Old Testament and the New Testament in which both accounts are inspired by the Holy Spirit; in Luke, John, Matthew and Mark was manifested. And, markedly categorized into these three subjects: centered on the topic of Religion above all; then, to Historical accounts; and,
The Gospel According to Luke is the third and second longest of the four canonical Gospels. It tells of the birth, ministry, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. Luke is a poetic book it opens with a song and closes with a song. The purpose for the book of Luke was to present an accurate account of the life of Christian to present His as the perfect human and Savior. Luke was a doctor and a Greek Gentile Christian. He was the only Gentile author and he also wrote the book of Acts. Luke wrote this book to the Greeks.
In this article Harold Attridge examines Luke’s background, the scriptures Luke wrote, Jesus’s values, the context and purpose of Luke’s gospel and the treatment of Christians at the time of Luke’s writings. The article expresses that Luke’s Gospel was written before the destruction of Jerusalem and at a time when Christians were being persecuted for practicing their faith so consequently the purpose of his Gospel was to show an ethical example and imply that Christians could be good citizens. This source is relevant to the topic as it suggests the purpose of Luke's Gospel and the treatment of Christians before the fall of Jerusalem. A limitation of the website is that it has not been recently published, it’s publish date is April 1998 so it may not be up to date with the latest, accurate information. Nonetheless, this source is very beneficial and appropriate to the task as it provides facts and research on the chosen sacred text. This source will not be the cornerstone of my research but will add a good understanding to the purpose of the sacred text.
The gospel of Luke and John are gospels about Jesus and John the Baptist. They have several differences and similarities. The Gospel of Luke describes the conception and birth of John the Baptist and Jesus while the gospel of Luke describes their life after birth. Summaries, variances, and connections of these two gospels are discussed below.
Our source of knowledge of the apostolic work of Paul comes first from the Book of Acts. The epistles written by Paul serve to further our knowledge of his mission. These letters were written to churches that he had founded or churches that were known to him. Luke’s account of Paul introduces us to the basic facts about this important biblical figure. A more complete understanding of Paul’s journeys can be gleaned from his letters. These epistles were written almost at the time they occurred and they comprise some of the earliest works contained in the New Testament.