Of all the gospels, Luke is in many ways the most suited for an attempt to win over th hearts and minds of educated gentiles. Cite an idea from Luke 1, 16, and 24 that might have been useful to later apologists in their attempts to defend Christian faith.
In the Gospel of Luke, Luke uses logic to convince his readers that Jesus is the Messiah. He emphasizes many times, especially in Ch. 24, that both Jesus and the Prophets who wrote the Old Testament books predicted specifics about the life of the Messiah that match up perfectly with Jesus' life. Luke makes the point that logically, reasonably, there can be no other reason for how perfectly they align. The process of reasoning it out appeals to the educated nature of his audience. Claire DeMilia
ReplyDeleteThe readings used prophecy similar to, but not from the Old Testament to foretell the birth of John, who will play an important role late in the scriptures.
ReplyDeleteThere is a use of story, or parable, to teach lessons in ethics and proper living. This is common in Judaism not a unique element for the early Christian movement.
Jerry Taylor
Luke 24:7: "The Son of Man must be ... crucified, and third day rise again." Two angels spoke those words to followers of Jesus who came to His grave, only to find His body gone. Later, when Jesus appeared before His disciples, He referenced Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms, saying things like, "it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day." I think educated gentiles would've been aided by the knowledge that was prophesied did in fact happen.
ReplyDeleteThe book of Luke is a great book for people. It gives many believers hope of Jesus and the good he did throughout his life. Luke was a Gentile too. Gentiles during those times were persecuted for their faith especially with the Romans. In the book Luke uses many Parables or stories that Jesus has told to his followers. One that i enjoy is The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. This story is about a rich man who didn't show pity and let Lazarus who was dying food or anything, and once they both died Lazarus was with Abraham and the Rich Man was burning in hell. This story basically is showing us as Christians that we need to be kind and offer our food as well as taking care of others. Many people who are against this religion say that you shouldn't have to give your stuff to the less fortunate because they must of deserved it or even a criminal who had nothing but stole from people. Luke gives this Story so that Christan's are able to combat this with the everlasting love God has for us and that we are to give that love to others.
ReplyDeleteAn example from Luke chapter 1 is when Mary went to visit Elizabeth. "In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord." This example would be useful for later apologists in their attempts to defend the Christian faith because it tells of phenomena that hasn't happened since that day. This would be a good encounter to have on your side.
ReplyDeleteThe second example from Chapter 16 would be, "And the Lord said, "If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you." This example would be good to have to defend Christianity because it would encourage people to focus on their faith and make them better Christians.
The third example from chapter 24 is, "Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen clothes by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened." This example would be good because it shows the aftermath of the resurrection of Jesus. It also would be good because it is connected to the story of resurrection.
For mine, I chose to write on Luke chapter 1; however, to properly get to where I wish, I will use Luke 1-3. For background information, Luke would have been acting as a reporter and trying to gather information and details about the life and origin of Christ to give the Gentiles what they desired and looked for in their leaders. That is indeed a God; even in their rulers, they were expected to be of inherited decent from Gods of pagan myths. That is why in these chapters, I would argue that Luke lays the scene of showing a birth from a non-pagan God to give Jesus Christ his authority and kingdom ship.
ReplyDeleteThe gentiles of this time would have found this information to be of the utmost importance. Some details include the prophecy of Jesus to come and the immaculate birth of Christ. From there, the storytelling and narrative only strengthen. Explaining all the elements that show Christ is the same as God. I stop at the end of Luke 3 because here would have been one of the most crucial pieces the lineage, which can be traced from God to Adam, the first man to Jesus Christ. He was of man origin but placed immaculately inside of Marry, giving Jesus the blood of man but having been one with God from the beginning. This would have allowed Gentiles to accept Jesus as Christ, which means the anointed or chosen one in Hebrew.
Tanner Simon