The scholarly view in the nineteenth century was that "Luke" was a poor historian and geographer who had no first-hand knowledge of the region he wrote about. But this view came from armchair archaeologists who themselves had no first-hand knowledge of the region. Their claims were effectively challenged by Sir William Ramsay, who spent his career in first-hand studies of Asia Minor.
Your authority on history and archaeology died in 1939? Do you not think the fields of history and archaeology have come some way since 1939? The one link you provided is a book published in 1908!
This link is worthless
Short article re Luke and Ramsay
Looking at his website shows he is clueless about a vast array of subjects.
The only place I can find any of the cites are on fundie and apologist websites.
The last lines are a fine example of the quality of the information posted.
quote:
When reviewing the research and writings of Saint Luke, Famous historian A.N. Sherwin-White declares:
In all, Luke names thirty-two countries, fifty-four cities, and nine islands without error. 8
For Acts the confirmation of historicity is overwhelming. . . . Any attempt to reject its basic historicity must now appear absurd. 9
This is written to make it seem Sherwin-White wrote both lines. He did not. The first is by Norman Geisler in Baker Encyclopedia of Apologetics, Baker Books, 1999, 47. The cite is correct but there is no mention of Geisler in the article. The writer of the article seems to want to camouflage that it was said by Geisler. I can see why.
Sherwin-White's specialty was Rome and roman law. He was not a biblical specialist. His prime issue was with form-criticism. I think he may not have understood it.
Geisler is an evangelical scholar, and the author or coauthor of over fifty Christian books defending the Christian faith through logic, evidence, and philosophy. He has also authored many articles and theses on other Christian topics. Dr. Geisler has taught at the university and graduate level for over forty years. Geisler's work Baker Encyclopedia of Christan Apologetics has been well received and is considered a systematic and comprehensive work of Christian apologetics.
Source
Geisler has no training in history or archaeology. To present him as an expert in the field is laughable. He is an apologist, nothing more.
The majority of cites are to this.
Pat Zukeran, Archaeology and the New Testament, 2000, 4,
Archaeology and the New Testament
This is an article on a fundie website. I think if someone wants to be taken seriously they should use serious scholarship.
Probe Doctrinal Statement
quote:
We explicitly affirm our belief in these basic Bible teachings:
1. There is one true God, eternally existing in three persons-- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit--each of whom possesses equally all the attributes of Deity and the characteristics of personality (Matt 28:19; John 10:30; Acts 5:3,4; 2 Cor 13:14).
2. God the Father, Creator of heaven and earth, is the functional head of the Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit). He sent the Son to obtain satisfaction for divine justice and to proclaim reconciliation. The Spirit He sent to teach truth. He is spoken of as the Father of all creation, of angels, of Israel, of believers, and of Christ (John 14-17, 20:17; Job 1:16; Psalm 103:13).
3. Jesus is God, the living Word, who became flesh through His miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit and His virgin birth. Hence, He is perfect Deity and true humanity united in one person forever. He lived a sinless life, and voluntarily atoned for the sins of men by dying on the cross as their substitute, thus satisfying divine justice and accomplishing salvation for all who trust in Him alone. He rose from the dead in the same body, though glorified, in which He lived and died. He ascended bodily into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God the Father, and there He, the only mediator between God and man, continually makes intercession for His own (Matt 1:16,20,23; Luke 1:34; Heb 4:15; 2 Cor 5:21; 1 Cor 15; Acts 1:9-11; 1 Peter 2:5-9; 1 John 2:1).
4. The Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity, has come into the world to reveal and glorify Christ and to apply the saving work of Christ to men. He convicts and draws sinners to Christ, imparts new life to them, continually indwells them from the moment of spiritual birth, baptizes them into the body of Christ, and seals them until the day of Redemption (John 16:8-11; Titus 3:5; 1 Cor 6:19; Rom 8:9b; 1 Cor 12:13; Eph 5:18; Gal 5:22-23).
5. Man was originally created in the image of God. He sinned by disobeying God; thus, he was alienated from his Creator. The historic fall brought all mankind under divine condemnation. Man's nature is corrupted, and he is thus totally unable to please God. Every man is in need of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit (Gen 1:26-27; Eph 2:1; Rom 1:18, 3:20, 7:21-25, 5:12).
6. The salvation of man is wholly a work of God's free grace, and is not the result, in whole or in part, of human works or goodness or religious ceremony. God imputes His righteousness to those who put their faith in Christ alone for their salvation, and thereby justifies them in His sight (Rom 6:23; Eph 2:8,9; John 3:16; Titus 3:5-8).
It is the privilege of all who are born again of the Spirit to be assured of their salvation from the very moment in which they trust Christ as their Savior. This assurance is not based upon any kind of human merit, but is produced by the witness of the Holy Spirit, who confirms in the believer the testimony of God in His written Word. The Holy Spirit's fullness, power, and guidance are appropriated in the believer's life by faith (Rom 5:9-10, 8:1, 29- 30, 38-39; John 5:24, 10:27-30, 14:16; 1 Tim 1:12; Phil 1:6; Heb 7:25; Jude 24).
Every believer is called to live so in the power of the indwelling Spirit that he will not fulfill the lust of the flesh, but will bear fruit to the glory of God. The Scriptures set out the principles and rules of the Christian life (Rom 12:1,2; Gal 5:16- 26; 2 Cor 6:14).
7. Jesus Christ is the head of the Church, His Body, which is composed of all men, living and dead, who have been joined to Him through saving faith. God admonishes His people to assemble together regularly for worship, for participation in ordinances, for edification through the Scriptures, and for mutual encouragement (1 Cor 12:12-13; Col 1:18; Eph 2:15-16).
8. At physical death, the believer enters immediately into eternal, conscious fellowship with the Lord and awaits the resurrection of the body to everlasting glory and blessing (1 Cor 15:12ff; 2 Cor 5:1-10; Phil 1:23; John 12:26).
At physical death, the unbeliever enters immediately into eternal, conscious separation from the Lord and awaits the resurrection of the body to everlasting judgment and condemnation (Eph 2:12; Rom 3:23, 5:12; Matt 25:31-46; Rev 20:11-15).
Jesus Christ will come again to the earth--personally, visibly, and bodily--to consummate history and fulfill the plan of God (Rev 19:11-16; Zech 14:4-11; 1 Thess 1:9-10).
9. The Lord Jesus Christ commanded all believers to proclaim the gospel throughout the world and to disciple men of every nation. The fulfillment of that Great Commission requires that all worldly and personal ambitions be subordinated to a total commitment to "Him who loved us and gave Himself for us" (Matt 28:19; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:47-48).
Yeah I can see real objectivity from them.
There is also a cite to Apologetics Press
Here is the belief statement for Apologetics Press.quote:
What We Believe
The following principles of truth are accepted by those who actively participate in this work:
1. God exists, and man can know that God exists, by means of His manifold revelations, both in nature and through the inspired Word of God, the Holy Bible.
2. The entire material Universe was specially created by this almighty God in 6 days of approximately 24- hours each, as revealed in Genesis 1 and Exodus 20:11.
3. Both biblical and scientific evidence indicate a relatively young Earth, in contrast to evolutionary views of a multi-billion-year age for the Earth.
4. Both biblical and scientific evidence indicate that many of the Earth’s features must be viewed in light of a universal, catastrophic flood (i.e., the Noahic Flood as described in Genesis 6-8).
5. All compromising theories such as theistic evolution, progressive creationism, threshold evolution, the gap theory, the modified gap theory, the day-age theory, the non-world view, etc., are denied and opposed as patently false.
6. Christianity is the one true religion; Jesus Christ is the only divine Son of God, resurrected Lord, and Savior of all who lovingly obey Him.
7. The 66 books of the Bible are fully and verbally inspired of God; hence, they are inerrant and authoritative, and a complete guide for moral and religious conduct.
8. Salvation is by means of obedience to the Gospel system, involving faith in God and Christ, repentance from sin, confession of faith, and immersion in water for remission of past sins, coupled with a life of growing consecration and dedication.
9. Those enjoying salvation are members of the one true church, which is the body of Christ.
Yeah they are going to be objective.
The final cite is also to a fundie website.
If you are going to post something and expect me to take it seriously maybe you should not post things from fundie/apologist sites that just use other fundie/apologist sites as their source.
oh could you provide evidence for this statement?
The scholarly view in the nineteenth century was that "Luke" was a poor historian and geographer who had no first-hand knowledge of the region he wrote about.
I find it mentioned on many fundie/apologist websites but have never seen any backing for the argument. It may very well be true, but I would like to see some evidence that backs the statement.
Now back to my original problem with your post. You admit that there is
As you say, current scholarship is not unanimous on this point.
But in your original post you state such things as facts. Also, it seems quite obvious that stating.
Correct; it was written by Luke, a careful documenter and a part-time companion of Paul.
is very much not universally accepted. You speak in absolutes. You make statements expecting that since they a bible based others will just accept them as is. What you accept as fact is in fact not universally accepted and there is a lot of dissent on the subject.
Edited by Theodoric, : Link to doctrinal statement, spelling
Facts don't lie or have an agenda. Facts are just facts
™ Version 4.2
