Did Luke know about the letters of Paul?
Posted on: May 26, 2008 - 2:31pm
Offline
Did Luke know about the letters of Paul?
I hope this is the right forum for my question.
Luke/The author of Acts dedicated over 50% of his book to Paul. According to the church Luke was the companion of Paul.
Why didn't he mentioned the letters written by Paul?
1) Didn't he know about them?
2) Was he afraid of something? (he didn't mentioned the death of Paul neither)
3) The letters weren't written at this time (Paul maybe not the author?)
I know, my English sucks. Sorry about that 
Wer sucht, der findet
Bookmark/Search this post with:
Yes, the author of Luke did know of the letters, as he was writing his Gospel, and later his Acts, against the Marcionites who were the first to collect and establish a corpus of Paul's letters, and used them to prove their brand of Christianity. Luke's intent was to unite both Greek and Jewish Christians, while making Paul more Peter-like, and Peter more Paul-like. Consider Galatians where Paul dislikes the Jewish Christians, particularly Peter, who feels is a hypocrite. Luke is reconciling these accounts, and attempting to dissuade people from believing Marcion and leaving or converting to Orthodoxy. I suggest the following books:
Richard I. Pervo, Dating Acts
Joseph B. Tyson, Marcion and Luke-Acts: A Defining Struggle
----------------------------------------
Please help me get my resources so I can finish my book more quickly.
My wish list.
Et suppositio nil ponit in esse.
"You act ridiculously," said Ion, "to doubt everything. For my part, I should like to ask you what you say to those who free possessed men from their terrors by exorcising the spirits so manifestly. I need not discuss this: everyone knows about the Syrian from Palestine, the adept in it, how many he takes in hand who fall down in the light of the moon and roll their eyes and fill their mouths with foam; nevertheless, he restores them to health and sends them away normal in mind, delivering them from their straits for a large fee. When he stands beside them as they lie there and asks : 'Whence came you into his body?' the patient himself is silent, but the spirit answers in Greek or in the language of whatever foreign country he comes from, telling how and whence he entered into the man; whereupon, by adjuring the spirit and if he does not obey, threatening him, he drives him out. Indeed, I actually saw one coming out, black and smoky in color." "It is nothing much," I remarked," for you, Ion, to see that kind of sight, when even the 'forms' that the father of your school, Plato, points out are plain to you, a hazy object of vision to the rest of us, whose eyes are weak." - Lucian, Lover of Lies
That makes sense. I will buy the book. sounds interesting. Thanks Rook
No problem. I suggest checking out the recent monograph called "Contextualizing Luke-Acts" from the SBL. Also has some really good articles in there.
----------------------------------------
Please help me get my resources so I can finish my book more quickly.
My wish list.
Et suppositio nil ponit in esse.
"You act ridiculously," said Ion, "to doubt everything. For my part, I should like to ask you what you say to those who free possessed men from their terrors by exorcising the spirits so manifestly. I need not discuss this: everyone knows about the Syrian from Palestine, the adept in it, how many he takes in hand who fall down in the light of the moon and roll their eyes and fill their mouths with foam; nevertheless, he restores them to health and sends them away normal in mind, delivering them from their straits for a large fee. When he stands beside them as they lie there and asks : 'Whence came you into his body?' the patient himself is silent, but the spirit answers in Greek or in the language of whatever foreign country he comes from, telling how and whence he entered into the man; whereupon, by adjuring the spirit and if he does not obey, threatening him, he drives him out. Indeed, I actually saw one coming out, black and smoky in color." "It is nothing much," I remarked," for you, Ion, to see that kind of sight, when even the 'forms' that the father of your school, Plato, points out are plain to you, a hazy object of vision to the rest of us, whose eyes are weak." - Lucian, Lover of Lies