Introduction To Luke Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Introduction To Luke - Term Paper Example To begin with, it must be noted that there is no clear indication that the above mentioned text was written by Luke. It is the tradition of Church that attributes the Gospel to this apostle. However, there are several indications which contribute to acknowledgement of his authorship: Luke was a highly educated person for his time, had a personal acquaintance with the Biblical characters, respected people who belonged to a lower class and was wealthy enough to devote time to create a Gospel (Bock, 1994, 138). Similar to the authorship, there is not a direct indication of date. Just like many of the ancient texts, the originals were lost and the researchers are able to work with the copies which were created afterwards. According to one approach, the Gospel of Luke should be dated 80 or 90 Common Era; however, some researchers tend to move the creation of the text a decade further. In addition that that, some scholars point out that mentioning of various contemporary events, such as conflict in the manuscript families or heresy of Marcion, provides enough basis to move the time of the creation of the scripture even further. The question of sources is another interesting one when it comes to evaluation of the Gospel in question. The main basis for the narration is the Gospel of Mark which was written roughly a decade before. However, since this text featured more factual information, Luke uses the so called Q source in order to present the complexity of the teachings of Jesus. Finally, there a part of the Gospel, around one third, that is unique to Luke. The structure of the Gospel in question is traditionally divided into six sections. The first part is the formal introduction, containing address to Theophilus. The next section is the description of birth of Jesus and his boyhood. Afterwards there is a part which tells the readers about baptism of Jesus and his fight against the