Jensens survey of the old testament adam 393

accounts of the gospel story written by other authors were inadequate or de cient, but rather that he also was led to write an account, of the kind identi ed by his words of purpose.. Al

accounts of the gospel story written by other authors were inadequate or de cient, but

rather that he also was led to write an

account, of the kind identi ed by his words

of purpose And his reporting, inspired by the Holy Spirit, became part of the twenty-seven-book New Testament canon

All survey and analytical study of the Bible text involves (1) what the Bible says

(content) and (2) how it says it (form) Our

survey of this third gospel will focus therefore on both of the following, which Luke had in mind as he wrote: (1) the content of exact truth and (2) the form of consecutive orderliness Before doing that, however, we will study the background and setting of this inspired work, to better appreciate and understand its message

I P REPARATION FOR S TUDY

Review Chart 18, page 108, which shows comparisons of the four gospels Luke is one

of the three synoptic gospels Note especially how it is compared with Matthew and Mark, which you have just surveyed in the preceding chapters Among other things, the writer Luke is identi ed as a litterateur,

a man of letters, for he was gifted and probably trained in the art of composition

We may expect to observe evidences of this training as we survey his book

Think more about content (what the Bible says) and form (how it says it) The Holy

Spirit moved in the heart and mind of each author of Scripture as he wrote, without dictating what the author should write.3 We

do not know the exact process used by the Holy Spirit to guide each writer, but we know that the end product — the Scripture itself — is the authoritative Word of God The human author’s choice of words, style,

and plan of composing re ects his own personality, training, and background Does this process of inspiration account for

di erences in the four gospels? If so, what kind of differences?

To what extent do you think Jews, living

at the time of Jesus’ birth, knew of and looked for the promised coming of Jesus as their Messiah? After you have thought about that, read Luke 2:22-38 and observe the expectations of two saints, Simeon and Anna

To know the writer of this gospel is to appreciate more fully the book he has written From the sparse biographical data about Luke contained in the gospels and Acts, an unusually full portrait of the man can be composed The following pages are about the man Luke Careful study of the descriptions is good preparation for your

survey studies.

II B ACKGROUND

This gospel was inspired and written according to divine design and schedule, eventually to be listed as the forty-second book of the sixty-six-book library in the Bible Let us see how it came to be

A THE MAN LUKE

1 Birth and early life Luke was born of

Greek parents, a heritage that made him probably the only Gentile writer of the New Testament He was born at about the same time as Jesus and Paul Two possible birthplaces are Antioch of Syria and Philippi

of Macedonia His parents gave him the name of Lucas, a shortened form of the Roman name Lucanus He studied for the