(continued)
In my last article concerning all things Episcopal, I included where the word came from, its use to describe the leadership of the church, and The Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States and its form of worship. My efforts in this article will address the name of the local congregation (Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church) and a short history of what we know about Saint Luke and his writings: the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles*.
Like other Gospels, Luke’s authorship is anonymous. It does not indicate who wrote it, or where or when it was written. However, according to early traditions that can be traced to the second century, Luke, the physician and companion of Paul, wrote both the Gospel Luke and the Acts of the Apostles as mentioned above. The New Testament provides little information about Luke, but Philemon lists Luke “amongst Paul’s fellow workers” (see Philemon 24). Colossians, which was probably written about the same time, names Luke among Paul’s companions and identifies him as the “beloved physician” (see Colossians 4:14). Second Timothy, which was probably composed later by one of Paul’s associates, reports of Paul’s final imprisonment, “only Luke is with me (2nd Timothy 4:11). The “we” passages in the Book of Acts (see 16:10 – 17; 20:5 – 15; 21:1 – 18; 27:1 – 28:16) have contributed further to the tradition of Luke’s association with Paul. In these verses, the writer shifts from 3rd person to 1st person and for this reason has been interpreted in various ways: as evidence that the author was present with Paul on these occasions or that he wrote in the 1st person at this point to heighten interest, to follow a literary convention, in the reporting of Paul’s voyages. If we take the New Testament references to Luke and that the “We” sections report Luke’s first handwritten experiences, it still does not tell us how much Luke was influenced by Paul‘s thought. Since Luke is listed among the greeters in Colossians 4:14 and Philemon 2:4, we may presume that Luke knew Paul’s letter writing. Nevertheless, we do not know that Luke read Paul’s letters or how long he was with Paul or how familiar he was with Paul’s theology and preaching. So, we must read the Gospel of Luke on its own terms and not against the background of Pauline theology. There are references we have to Luke’s authorship found in the writings of Irenaeus and Tertullian. Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons (c. 130 – 200) wrote: “Luke also, the companion of Paul, recorded in a book the Gospel preached by him.” This tradition was also similar to the reporting of Papias. Valuable as all this testimony is, it seems that Irenaeus, our earliest witness, tells us no more than is found in the New Testament references. A New Testament Apocrypha writing, probably dating from the 3rd century in its final form, contains a biographical prologue. The first part of this prologue reads as follows: “Luke is a Syrian of Antioch and a doctor by profession, who was a disciple of the apostles and later followed Paul until his martyrdom. He served the Lord, without distraction, unmarried, childish, and fell asleep at the age of 84 in Boetia, full of the Holy Spirit.” Clearly, Luke was as outstanding person as his Gospel indicates, and our congregation is proud to honor him as our patron and namesake of our church. His life is celebrated annually on October 18th. We will celebrate it on October 22nd, with an invitation to the community to celebrate with us.
*Summarized from the New Interpreters Bible; Volume IX; dated 1995.