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CONGRUITIES AND INCONGRUITIES BETWEEN THE BIBLE AND THE QUR'AN |
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The authorship of the Acts is attributed to St. Luke, the writer of the third Gospel who was also a physician. Luke said that he had not been an eye witness to the acts of Jesus Christ but that he had committed to paper what he had been transmitted by those who had been witnesses, adding that despite the existence of many a Gospel, he had done his best to write what he had heard correctly and in detail. He dedicated his Gospel to a Greek by the name of Theophilus: « Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word. It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus.» (Luke 1/3).
Christian sources state that the Gospel according to St. Luke was written in 61 A.D. The contemporary biblical scholars and Mircea Eliade are of the opinion that it had been penned 5-10 years after the Gospel according to St. Matthew circa 80-90 A.D.
St. Luke, the author of the third Gospel and the Acts, was physician and a close friend of Paul. Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you (Colossians 4/14). Paul with his pupil and collaborator had traveled along with Luke and was incarcerated with him. There salute thee Epaphras, my fellowprisoner in Christ Jesus; Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my fellowlabourers. (Philemon 23/24) Paul had narrated many of his experiences to Luke, his close friend as can be seen in the Acts, such as (Acts 9/3-8, 15, 17-18).
« “From the very first line one can see all that separates Luke from the 'scribbler' Mark to whose work we have just referred. Luke's Gospel is incontestably a literary work written in classical Greek free from any barbarisms….Luke was a cultivated Gentile convert to Christianity. His attitude towards the Jews is immediately apparent. They give us the version of Jesus' words that is adapted to the point of view of their own community. Commentators wishing to be objective, such as those of the Ecumenical translation of the Bible Luke is he most sensitive and literary of the four evangelists; he has all the qualities of a true novelist” »
« St. Luke benefited from the following sources: eye witnesses, the Gospel according to St. Mark, the original Gospel of the Jewish-Christians (Nazarenes) and the letters of Paul, his teacher and friend. Although he had drawn on the Gospel according to Mark like St. Matthew, he is acknowledged to have benefited from it on a larger scale than St. Matthew. “ »(Bucaille, ibid, p.66)
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO St. JOHN