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Misquoting Jesus Podcast

Why Should We Think Luke and Acts Have the Same Author?

October 15, 2024 · 46 min · Watch on YouTube →

GospelsNew Testament

Show notes

Episode Outline:
– Introducing Luke and Acts as a two-volume work
– When Bart first learned about Luke and Acts
– Why scholars think Luke and Acts have the same author
– What we know about the author of Luke-Acts
– Who was Theophilus?
– Are Luke and Acts the same genre?
– How Acts echoes the Gospel of Luke
– Luke-Acts, Jewish Scripture, and Gentile salvation
– Why Gentiles found the Christian message persuasive
– Where did the author get his information?

Episode Description
The Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles are widely understood to be a two-volume set, written by a single author. Given that we’ve spoken before on Misquoting Jesus about how difficult it is to identify authors of ancient texts, why are scholars so sure that these two texts share the same author? Who was that author, and why write two books when they could have written one?!

Also watch these episodes:

Does Acts Portray Paul the Way Paul Portrays Paul?
Does Acts Portray Paul the Way Paul Portrays Paul?

The Genius of the Gospel of Luke
The Genius of the Gospel of Luke

Megan asks Bart:

- Do you remember when you first learned about the relationship between the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles?

- Biblical scholars think that the two are written by the same author - what is it about the texts that lead them to this conclusion?

- What can we say about the writer of these books?

- Do we know anything about Theopholis?

- Are the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles the same genre of text?

- Why would the author have chosen two different genres for such closely-related books?

- As a two-work set, how do the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles complement one another?

- What message is this continuity being used to convey?

- Why was this continuity such an important thing for early Christians?

Go deeper on this topic

Online course Genius of Acts of the Apostles In this course, we consider how to understand the book of Acts. Is it a disinterested, objective description of what really happened in those years? Has the author… Bart Ehrman · 8 lessons Free courseFree Did Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John Really Write the Gospels? A free lecture on who actually wrote the Gospels, and how scholars can tell. Bart Ehrman · 1 lesson

Related episodes

Podcast Was Luke Written by Luke? And Why Should We Care? Podcast Does Acts Portray Paul the Way Paul Portrays Paul? Podcast The Genius of the Gospel of Luke

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Article Who Wrote the Book of Luke, the Wordsmith Behind the Pen Who Wrote the Book of Luke: Seeking Authorship Clues Article Who Wrote the Book of Acts? (And When Was Acts Written?) Find your path New to the gospels?

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