Things Most Surely Believed

I’ve been reading some introductory material on the Gospel According to Luke. One particular, highly recommended work has spent over 100 pages musing on whether or not Luke wrote the gospel, whether Luke was a reliable historian, and how one should view Luke’s accounts of what really happened. Which could be useful to know for apologetic purposes, understanding modern objections, but it seems to me to be more in the spirit of 2 Timothy 3:7, “Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” It’s not saying much if the foundation of a commentary is based on speculation, doubt, and sitting as a judge over the Word of God. The more I read of the modern works, the more I appreciate the old guys.

Luke doesn’t write the gospel so you can walk away less sure about what you are reading. The point of Luke’s gospel is that you would, “know the certainty of those things” (Luke 1:4). It was refreshing to read a newer work, that takes the Bible for what it says it is and doesn’t stand over the Scriptures as a judge and critic, taking as his foundation, the inspriation and divine authorship of ALL of Scripture.

“We believe precious truths about Jesus through the witness of the Old Testament and through the witness of the apostles. The Spirit uses both mediums to reveal Christ to believers, impressing on them the trustworthiness of their content. So the more we read the Old Testament, and, in our case, the Gospel of Luke, the more our faith and confidence in Christ matures. Christians have always lived in a world of competing truth claims, but due to the plethora of false teaching on the internet and social media, we are far more aware of it than ever before. We are pushed and pulled from every conceivable angle. Believers need to read the Bible more, not less. Only then will we be convinced of the truthfulness of Christ’s life and compelled to tell the world about him.” Gladd, Benjamin L. From the Manger to the Throne: A Theology of Luke. 2022.