March 30, 2018—Luke, from the New Testament

The next meeting of Great Books KC group will be March 30, 2018. We'll be discussing the book Gospel of Luke from the New Testament Bible.

Meeting Information:

          Location: Plaza Branch Kansas City Public Library

                           Small Meeting Room

          Date: March 30, 2018

          Time: 7:00 pm

          Address: 4801 Main Street

                           Kansas City, MO

Description of Book:

Luke is the first part of a two-volume work called Luke-Acts (our group's discussion will cover only the Luke portion). Scholars estimate that the most probable date for the composition of Luke-Acts is around 80–110 AD, and there is evidence that it was still being revised well into the 2nd century. According to Church tradition the author was Luke the Evangelist, the companion of Paul, but the scholarly consensus doubts this authorship because of the many contradictions between Acts and the authentic Pauline letters. 

Forty-one percent of Luke is similar to textual material found in the book of Mark, twenty-three percent shares "sayings of Jesus" that are common with Matthew, and thirty-five percent is unique to Luke. The portion of Luke taken from Mark has been expanded and the Greek grammar and syntax improved. Some passages from Mark, notably most of Mark Chapters 6 and 7, are eliminated entirely. Despite this, Luke follows Mark's plot more faithfully than does Matthew.