The Identity of Luke the Physician

 

Luke was probably from Antioch, Syria.  He was the writer of the Gospel of Luke and was a gentile Christian who never personally met Jesus. He became a Christian after Paul taught him about the gospel. Using his scientific approach learned as a physician, his two scriptural books, Luke [κατὰ Λουκᾶν; According (to) Luke] and The Acts of the Apostles [Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, Acts (of the) Apostles], are the result of his numerous interviews of surviving first-generation Christians. In Luke :1-4, he says that he has carefully investigated everything before recording it. 

He was with Paul on several journeys and was present when Paul met with James and the elders (Acts 21:17-20) in Jerusalem.

Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15:6, mentions “more than 500 brothers” to whom Jesus appeared after his resurrection and that most of them were still alive. The mention of 500 witnesses to the risen Jesus was meant as a challenge to people living at the time Paul wrote the passage to check it out if they wanted to. Luke’s careful investigation probably included interviews with many of the elders and many of the 500 brothers. Luke 34:33.

Luke may be the Lucius mentioned in Acts 13:1. Lucius in Romans 16:21 may also be the same man. Because they are named together in 2 Timothy 4:10-11, Titus and Luke may have been brothers. 2 Corinthians 8:18.

The Inferior Five

The Inferior Five are a comic book superhero team made up of persons who are not what one would expect of such a team. They are Merryman, a 98 pound weakling who wears a jester’s costume and is very smart; Awkwardman, who is super strong but very clumsy; The Blimp, who floats in the air rather than flying. He literally needs a wind to blow behind him. He is blown about by every wind (Ephesians 4:14); White Feather, who is a skilled but emotionally insecure archer; and Dumb Bunny, who is “strong as an ox and almost as intelligent.”

The Inferior Five always win the day. They are truly superheroes. Instead of Inferior, they might more correctly be named the Unlikely Five.

God always choses the unlikely person, the unlikely nation, the unlikely way. His ways seem like foolishness to the world.

He chose, not a powerful empire, but the Jews, to be the nation which He used to reveal and explain Himself to the world. 

He chose a shepherd boy to become the greatest king of Israel and a man after God’s own heart. This man also committed adultery and ordered the murder of a loyal friend.

He chose a woman who was essentially being held as a sex slave by a brutal king. Her assignment was to protect His people from extermination by a scheming government official.

He chose uneducated fisherman, a hated tax collector, a little boy, a cuckolded husband, the wife of a wardrobe keeper, a sheep-herder, and a cousin of the King of Judah, to become His prophets and apostles. 

He chose a Gentile trained in the science of the day to write the first history of the church which began as an exclusively Jewish movement.

He chose a vicious persecutor of His church to become its greatest intellectual and the first great explainer of Christian doctrine. 

Many of us feel that we have no talents, that we have nothing to offer. We fail to remember that God has chosen each one of us and has given each of us the particular abilities we need to perform whatever duties He has for us to perform. He has equipped us to be, and expects us to be, on His unlikely team.

Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian.   Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, of their orthodoxy or lack of it, or of their actions.  Some of those listed may surprise you.  Readers are encouraged to suggest persons who should be included on this list.  This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Elizabeth Cranach: Daughter of Augustin Cranach (d. 1595), a German painter.  Elizabeth married Polykarp Leyser the Elder.

Polykarp Leyser the Elder: (b. 1552, Germany – d. 1610) Lutheran theologian and university professor.

Polykarp Leyser II: (b. 1586, Germany – d. 1633) Lutheran theologian and university professor.  Son of Polykarp Leyser the Elder.

Polykarp Leyser III: (b. 1656, Germany – d. 1725) Lutheran theologian, orientalist, and university professor. Grandson of Polykarp Leyser the Elder and a nephew of Polykarp Leyser II.

Polykarp Leyser IV: (b. 1690, Germany – d. 1728) Lutheran theologian, physician, lawyer, historian, and university professor.  Son of Polykarp Leyser III.

Why Life Begins at Conception, Part 5

The scientific facts are not at issue.  Human life demonstrably begins at conception.  Froma Harrop, a columnist and editorial board member with the Providence (Rhode Island) Journal, has said, “the issue isn’t when life begins, but when personhood begins.”

“Personhood” has become an international issue, heavily debated by religion, philosophy, and law.  Does the fetus become a person at conception, at “quickening,” at birth, or sometime else during its intrauterine development?  When is it acceptable to “terminate” (abort) the fetus and when does it become impermissible?  Is there a set date during the fetal development or is it different for each fetus?  If it is different for each fetus, who has the legal right to determine when that date occurs?  What if the incorrect date is set?  Is termination (abortion) permissible for rape or incest or if the children carries a genetic disease?  If the date is missed, can other factors make termination (abortion) acceptable?  Is the possibility of a mistake in developmental dating a strong deterrent to termination (abortion)?

Ultimately, these issues will be decided by the secular courts in each country.  The trend in some countries is to allow abortions with increasing flexibility.  There is one faction which would allow partial birth abortion.  Some would deny medical care to infants who survive unsuccessful abortions.

Those of us who believe that personhood is established at conception may have to remain as loyal dissenters.  We may have to accept the legal reality but we do not have to remain silent.

Some may be faced with hard choices.  They may have to withdraw from the system if they are a nurse or physician who would be forced to participate in an abortion procedure.  Difficult choices may become necessary.

God Expects Us to Work

“God gives every bird its food, but He does not throw it into the nest.” J. G. Holland

Josiah Gilbert Holland (1819-1881) was an American novelist, poet, magazine editor, physician, and Methodist hymn lyricist.

God expects us to work.

““Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them.  To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey.  The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more.  So also, the one with the two talents gained two more.  But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

   “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.  The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’

  His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

 “The man with the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’

       “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

  “Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.   So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed?  Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

    “‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents.  For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.  And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’” Matthew 25:14-30

” Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.”  1 Corinthians 4:2

The Right to Refuse Based on Religious Beliefs

67 year-old Dutch civil servant Wim Pijl was fired recently in The Hague (Den Haag) for refusing to perform same-sex marriages.  Pijl cites his Christian beliefs as the reason.  “As a Christian, I learned from the Bible that there is only one marriage, between a man and a woman.”

The Hague city government dismissed Pijl because he “refused to take back his remarks.”  Pijl, one of 104 known Dutch civil servants who refuse to perform same-sex marriages, says he may take civil action against the city.

The Netherlands was the first country (2001)to legalize gay marriage.  The prime minister has guaranteed that same-sex marriages will be available coutrywide.

The issue brings into sharp focus the conflict between governmental policies and the right of government employees to refuse to act in ways which would violate their religious beliefs.  The same issue has begun to arise in the United States where the discussion is about whether physicians may refuse to perform abortions.

In the United States a person may, based on their religious belief, refuse in court to "swear on the Bible."  They are allowed instead to promise to tell the truth.  I believe that the same principle should apply in the cases above.  Surely a way short of dismissal can be found to accommodate legitimate religious objections. 

http://www.cip.nl/nieuwsbericht_detail.asp?id=25595 

http://www.persecution.org/2011/11/18/dutch-christian-civil-servant-fired-for-opposing-gay-marriage/   

Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian.   Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, of their orthodoxy or lack of it, or of their actions.  Readers are encouraged to suggest persons who should be included on this list.  This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Sun Yat-sen: b. 1866, China – d. 1925) Revolutionary, physician, President of the Republic of China, Congregationalist.

Cornel Ronald West: (b. 1953, Oklahoma) Civil rights activist, philosopher, author, actor, socialist.

Takeda Kiyoko: (b. 1917, Japan) Feminist intellectual.

John Glasgow Kerr: (b. 1824, Ohio – d. 1901) Surgeon, Presbyterian missionary to China.  One of his medical students was Sun Yat-sen.

Arthur Gostick Shorrock: (b. 1861, England – d. 1945) Surgeon, Baptist missionary to China.