Luke

I will take this blog to focus on Luke from the content and contet of the New Testament that we learned in class this past week. The Gospel of St. Luke is the third one in the New Testament. It is commonly believed that Luke was a disciple of Jesus Christ. He was a physician who most likely attended to the apostles, and particularly traveled with Paul for a time, learning the stories of Jesus also through interviewing eyewitnesses and leaders of the Church.

He is mentioned by name only in the epistles of Paul, and it is clear from the style of writing and introductions that he wrote both the gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. Evidence from the time of the apostles indicates that the longest standard scroll for writing was about 38 feet in length from one end to the other, and that would be rolled up. Since both books are about 20,000 Greek words long, it is deduced that Luke had to use up a full scroll for each book, and that is the reason neither of the books is any longer.

We know that Luke spent time on the road with Timothy and Paul. We also know that he spent at least two years in Galilee with James the lesser, an apostle and half-brother of Jesus. This is probably why he knew so well the stories of Jesus' birth and youth, and learned of John the Baptist, too.

Luke wrote a true history, a biography, from birth to death and detailed the resurrection and ascension. He likely got his ability for history and details from his profession, where history is important, and so are the details.

One of the greatest applications of this to present day is the work of so many great scholars, compiling the truth of decades past through the publication of the Joseph Smith papers. This is their website: http://josephsmithpapers.org/Default.htm

What it contains is a detailed account in its different volumes of so many things the modern prophet and teacher touched throughout his time on Earth as the Lord's servant. Here's an excerpt:

The Joseph Smith Papers will be a comprehensive edition of extant Joseph Smith documents featuring complete and accurate transcription with both textual and contextual annotation.

They will present the earliest handwritten and published texts of the foundational documents of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including Joseph Smith’s revelations and translations. The Papers will provide insights into Joseph’s life and times through his correspondence, journals, discourses, court cases, and business dealings. In addition, the Papers will contain minutes of important church councils, reproductions of the scriptural canon as it existed during Joseph Smith’s lifetime, official histories, and records pertaining to church institutions that were under Joseph Smith’s direction or that reflect his personal instruction and involvement.

May we all learn more and more of this truth as it relates to us, and appreciate the records we have in ancient and modern scripture and history. Let's also keep a record.