Gospel of Luke

[Stephanie Pewitt]

I've been studying the authorship of the Gospels. I know that the Gospels of Matthew and John have their own account of Jesus' ministry. Mark used Peters account, but Luke used Pauls. Paul was not one of the 12 and was converted 4-5 years after the resurection...so how does he have such an intimate knowledge of Jesus' ministy?

[Mike Miller]

Luke wrote both the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts. He states in Luke 1:1-4 that he endeavored to compile information gleaned from "those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word." He was also a very intelligent and educated man, evident by his writing, so it seems that he did a lot of research, conducting interviews with those who were eyewitnesses, including, but not limited to, Paul. Further, since Luke regularly uses "we" language in Acts, we know that he was a traveling companion of Paul's. I would imagine that if I were to travel with Paul for several years, I would learn a great deal about Jesus and the birth of the early church. Yes, Paul was converted after the resurrection of Christ, but he likely witnessed some of Jesus' life and ministry, and He was definitely in the inner circle of the apostles.