Acts

Front 1

Lukan errors

Back 1

- Quirinius
- Chronology
- Speeches
- We sections
- Miracles
- Paul

Front 2

Pepe Rodriquez:

Back 2

I remember "the first time that I read the Bible. I was very surprised by the terrible contradictions that characterized it." Have you read the stories about Jesus' birth? Matthew dates it AD 4/5, while Luke dates it 6/7 BC. Either Matthew or Luke as made an error here. "It's a good thing that there were only two canonical biographies about Jesus' infancy, and only one Spirit who inspired them."

Front 3

Jesus Seminar

Back 3

the Gospels are now assumed to be a narratives in which the memory of Jesus is embellished by the mythic elements that express the church's faith in him, and by plausible fictions that enhance the telling of the gospel story for the first-century listeners...supposedly historical elements in these narratives must therefore be demonstrated to be so.

Front 4

Gerd Ludemann

Back 4

Virgin birth? The Real Story of Mary and Her Son Jesus.
"Today we have no toher possiblity than to help to restore historical reality to life, because in the meantime almost everyone has come to know that the course of history was very different from that which the reprots fo the Bible and the church related for centuries. The tomb was full and the manger empty. Jesus' wretched tomb was full and his glorious manger was empty — that may be said to be the overall conclusion of my work. Despite the beautiful colours of the Bible, after such a prehistory holy night could only have been unholy for Mary. teh silent night was cruel, noisy, and hard. So it could not relive the pain which had been inflicted on the young woman by a pregnancy which had been imposed on her in the truest sense of the word. His tombe remained full and was not replaced by the glory of the resurrection. Nevertheless, indeed precisely because of that, he has all my sympathy."

Front 5

Attacks on the historicity of Acts

Back 5

1. WML de Wette (1780-1849)
2. FC Baur, Tubingen: Jewish party vs. Gentile party. Early Catholicism
3. Albert Schwegler (1819-1857):
4. Eduard Zeller (1814-1908): Miracles
5. Martin Dibelius (1883-1947): Speeches of Acts; diary
6. Ernst Haenchen, commentary on Acts, 1955
7. Hans Conzelmann, 1954

Front 6

Summary

Back 6

1. Given the late date of Acts, Luke was not an eyewitness and much was invented
2. Given the late date of Acts, the purpose of the book was to justify the growth of the church among the Gentiles, not Jews
3. Given that miracles are impossible, we must reject much of Acts
4. Given the differences between the Paul of Acts and Paul's letters, we should trust Paul's letters: Acts is filled with errors
5. Given the similarities of the speeches of Acts, we must conclude that they were invented and not historical

Front 7

Responses to these Challenges:

Back 7

1. Mathias Schneckenburger (1803-1843)
2. Albercht Ritschl (1822-1889)
3. James Smith
4. JB Lightfoot (1818-1889)
5. Sir William Ramsay (1851-1939)
6. FF Bruce
7. An Sherwin White
8. Colin Hemer

Front 8

Smith's concludes

Back 8

Luke's account of this voyage must be altogether authentic, for the writer si accurate in his use of nautical terms, and the events he relates correspond perfectly to ancient sailing methods. the capacities of ancient ships, and the conditions of wind and weather in the Mediterranean.

Front 9

JB Lightfoot

Back 9

Destroyed Baur's hypothesis

Front 10

Ramsay

Back 10

Luke is a historian of the first rank; not merely are his stements of fact trustworthy; he is possessed of the true historic sense; he fixes his mind on the idea and plan that rules in the evolution of history; and proportions the scale of his treatment to the importance of each incident

Front 11

FF Bruce

Back 11

Using the methods which are used to test the accuracy of other ancient outhors, luke's reputation as a historian is unsurpassed. If an author is found accurate in places where you can test him. we should not assume that he is less accurate int hose places where we cannot test him.

Front 12

AN Sherwin-White

Back 12

Any attempt to reject the basic history of acts, even in its details. must now appear quite absurd.

Front 13

Colin Hemer

Back 13

All of these perspectives have converged to support the trustworthiness of the document, through intricate details, which are interspersed throughout the narrative

Front 14

Problems in Luke2:1-5

Back 14

-The date: Josephus writes of a census in 6 or 7 AD. but there is no evidence of a worldwide census under Caesar Augustus. We should also note that Matthew tells us that Jesus was born during the time of Herod, who died in 4 BC.
- In bethlehim?
- Quirinius was governor?

Front 15

An exThe date

Back 15

- It has been shown that there were numerous censuses during that time period
- Acts 5:37
- Herod's Tax System
- Herod's last will and testament

Front 16

To Bethlehem?

Back 16

- Roman flexibility and Jewish Customs
- Sense of Tribe within Judaism
- Egypt