The Enigma of Saint Luke

We live in a time of great turmoil and uncertainty. The United States government may default in the payment of its obligations. In such times, we cherish the self evident truths, such as, the Gospel of Luke was written by a Gentile physician to an unknown Gentile, possibly a slave in Rome. Cadbury obtained his PhD by taking away Luke's MD and so began a slippery slope of critical cut and paste analysis of words and deeds of limited value. it was not that long ago that people believe that Jesus and all of his followers were all Gentiles. The critical analysis was necessary but perhaps a bit extreme in its undertaking.

There is a paradigm shift occurring not only in Washington DC but also in the thinking of Biblical scholars and everyday Christians. Luke is not only a Jew, he may even be a priest, and most excellent Theophilus is a high ranking appointed Roman official who served as High Priest in Jerusalem. Having said this, we can appreciate that to a long list of descriptive titles, such as Luke as the Gospel of women, Gospel of prayer, we can Luke as the Gospel of irony.

I am reading a very good book on my Kindle by Bruce W. Longenecker wishing it had been available when I was struggling with my book, Who are Johanna and Theophilus?: The Irony of the Intended Audience of the Gospel of Luke. I probably would have cited it in support of several of my arguments. I am also comforted by the fact that I am not the only author confronted by Kindle formatting problems. Introducing Romans: Critical Issues in Paul's Most Famous Letter is a very well written book and I will have more to say about it when I finish reading it and another book Longenecker authored, Remembering the Poor which is not available as an ebook.

Problems with Kindle formatting will past, the debt crisis will be resolved, problems will be solved by people with common sense but lacking PhDs and the way we receive information and the way we think about debt and the Gospel of Luke will dramatically change.