Why Luke is a Reliable Historical Source
Luke’s role in establishing the historic facts of Christianity.
Introduction
History plays a vital role in the apologetics of Christianity. Luke is valuable as a historian because he builds up a historical case which defends the truth-claims of Christianity. Since Christianity is rooted in real world events that occurred within distinct points of history, the truth of Christianity is bound in the reality of these historical events.
If these historic facts are disproved, Christianity becomes disproved; if these facts are verified, so is Christianity. [1] This is because Christianity is much more than a code of ethics or a philosophy — it is the real-time restoration of humanity to God through the historic death and resurrection of God-incarnate Jesus Christ.
Luke as a Historian
Luke is widely regarded as a historian among the ranks of Josephus, Herodotus, and others. [2] Tradition points to the physician Luke as being the author of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. The Gospel of Luke is interesting in that its genre is that of a Greco-Roman biography, narrating the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. [3]
Such ancient biographies presented the ethos of an individual by recounting the nature of the person and their lifestyle. The gospel accounts have this in common with other ancient biographies, making Luke similarly credible to other historical biographies written at the time.
An important difference between the gospel accounts and other ancient Greco-Roman biographies is that the gospels go beyond simply describing the events surrounding Jesus by adding in theological motifs. [4] The addition of theology does not subtract from the historical validity of the biography.
The Historical Facts
What historic facts about Jesus does Luke the historian provide the modern reader through his Gospel of Luke and Acts of the Apostles? And how do Luke’s historic facts support the Christian apologetic? Luke testifies to the fact that:
- Jesus Christ was a real person who was born into this world (Luke 2:7,21)
- Jesus died after being crucified on a Roman cross (Luke 23:46)
- Jesus’ dead body was buried in a tomb (Luke 23:53,55)
- The tomb was found empty (Luke 24:3)
- People claimed to have seen Jesus alive after all previously stated events (Luke 24:34, 36–41, Acts 1:3)
- The disciples genuinely came to believe in Christ’s resurrection from the dead and ascension (Acts 1:9)
The actual resurrection of Jesus Christ is the hypothesis which is best at explaining these indisputable historic facts. The probability of Jesus’ empty tomb having been a result of a conspiracy by his disciples (or that Jesus had not actually died despite being crucified, or that it was a different tomb that was found empty, or that Jesus’ body was displaced) is less than that of Jesus actually resurrecting. [5] Thus, this is the position that must be taken.
Possibility of Miracles
Whether one accepts or denies credible historical data supporting Biblical miracles seems to be a result of one’s predisposition as being either (a) naturalist or (b) supernaturalist. In other words, one either believes that (a) “every effect in the world is brought about by causes which are themselves also part of the natural order”, [6] or (b) there can be effects in the world which are brought about by causes outside of the natural order.
Historically, these causes outside of the natural order have been called “miracles”. Miracles are, by definition, “extraordinary events that manifest divine power, that are wonders to human understanding, and therefore what human beings perceive as signs from God.” [7]
If someone holds a belief in God, they are very likely to also accept miracles as a reality (and therefore the valid historical evidence pointing toward them), thus accepting the gospel accounts, thus accepting Christ, thus accepting the Spirit into their hearts. If someone does not hold a belief in God but are open to Him, then the historical evidence pointing toward Christ’s resurrection miracle may be enough to convince them to accept Christ.
If, on the other hand, someone completely rejects the reality of God, they are very likely to also reject miracles as a reality (and will therefore reject the valid historical evidence pointing toward them), this rejecting the gospel accounts, thus rejecting Christ.
Commenting on how presuppositions affect whether or not one accepts miracles, C.S. Lewis states:
“If anything extraordinary seems to have happened, we can always say that we have been the victims of an illusion. If we hold a philosophy which excludes the supernatural, this is what we always shall say. What we learn from experience depends on the kind of philosophy we bring to experience. It is therefore useless to appeal to experience before we have settled, as well as we can, the philosophical question.” [8]
Historical study has shown Christian claims of events to be credible. One’s acceptance of the credible historical data seems to rely on whether or not they are predisposed in believing the reality of miracles, which in turn relies on whether or not one believes in God. Showing historical evidence of miracles in order to validate the Christian faith is effective if one is not predisposed towards rejecting supernatural occurrences in history.
Conclusion
The historic biography of Jesus Christ recounted by Luke are valuable for Christian apologetics because they established facts which are best explained by the Christian belief that Jesus Christ died and resurrected from the dead. Christianity, being a faith based on historic events, is affirmed because of the verification of these facts. Luke is valuable as a historian because he builds up a historical case which defends the truth-claims of Christianity.
Works Cited:
[1[ William Lane Craig, Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2008), 207.
[2] Mark Allan Powell, Introducing the New Testament: A Historical, Literary, and Theological Survey, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: BakerAcademic, 2018), 161.
[3] Joel B Green, “Gospel of Like,” essay, in Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, ed. David Noel Freedman (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2000), 829.
[4] René A. López, “New Testament Theology: The Synoptic Problem In The Gospels,” Journal of Dispensational Theology 15, no. 44 (2011), https://resources.wcbc.edu:2050/article/jodt15-44-04?highlight=Greco\-Roman%20biography, 42.
[5] William Lane Craig, Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2008), 371–377.
[6] William Lane Craig, Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2008), 238.
[7] Seung Ai Yang, “Miracles,” essay, in Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, ed. David Freedman (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Freedman Publishing Company, 2000), 903.
[8] C. S. Lewis, Miracles (London, UK: Collins, 2012)
