by Matthew W. Bassford<\/p>\n
Like the other historical books of the New Testament, neither Luke nor Acts explicitly identifies its author. However, it is evident from the introduction to each book and the style used throughout each that both were written by the same hand. The first identification of this writer that we still have comes from Irenaeus, who wrote during the second century AD and attributed both books to Luke, the companion of Paul.<\/p>\n
Not surprisingly, generations of scholarly skeptics have challenged Luke’s authorship. After all, the later a work is, the less reliable it is as a record of the miraculous events of the New Testament era. In particular, people who want to challenge the historicity of the resurrection must insist on a late date for Luke and Acts.<\/p>\n
However, a major problem exists in Acts for those who want to make this claim. Acts 16:10-17 and Acts 20:5-28:16 are written in first-person plural. Taken at face value, these passages are written by an eyewitness who traveled with Paul from Troas to Philippi, then from Philippi to Rome some years later. This is consistent with Irenaeus’ attribution of Acts to Luke, and even if Luke wasn’t actually the author, another first-century companion of Paul’s was. This pushes the composition date for both Luke and Acts much earlier than any Biblical skeptic wants it to be!<\/p>\n
In reply, such skeptics make two counterarguments. Some claim that the “we” passages are an older narrative inserted into Acts by a later editor (“Luke”). However, this isn’t consistent with the way that “Luke” operates elsewhere. In Luke 1:1-4, he acknowledges that he uses eyewitness testimony from others in his narrative. However, nowhere else does he use first-person narrative without attribution.<\/p>\n
In the gospel of Luke, at least, he seems to cite eyewitnesses by mentioning their names. For instance, in the Emmaus narrative of Luke 24:13-35, even though the two disciples who see Jesus are equally important, the only one whom “Luke” names is Cleopas. This implies that Cleopas is “Luke’s” source. Nonetheless, this eyewitness testimony is presented in the third person, along with most of Luke-Acts. To break this pattern, especially when doing so creates the false impression that “Luke” is an eyewitness, is utterly at odds with the skill and care with which he writes.<\/p>\n
Others have suggested that the entirety of Acts is a forgery, and the “we” passages are inserted into it to lend verisimilitude. Though theoretically possible, this scenario is extremely implausible. For one thing, it’s not consistent with the way that forgers of the era operated. Others who wanted to add credibility to their false gospels inserted a major early-church figure (Peter, James, Thomas, etc.) to do it. They didn’t switch to first-person plural and hope somebody noticed.<\/p>\n
Second, if a forger wanted to write himself into Luke-Acts, why do it there? The “we” passages are travel narratives with an occasional miracle sprinkled in. They are among the least doctrinally significant portions of both books. Why make yourself an eyewitness to the journey from Chios to Samos, but not an eyewitness to the empty tomb? Why put yourself on the Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy but not in the upper room? Even lying about having seen the Ascension would have been more meaningful!<\/p>\n
By far the most reasonable explanation for the “we” passages is that they are what they seem to be: the travel diary of a first-century Christian who happened to be a companion of Paul during part of his travels and, consequently, happened to be kicking around in Palestine for two years a couple of decades after the crucifixion. None of this is terribly significant on its own, but it reveals Luke as an early historian of the most important events of human history.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Matthew W. Bassford Like the other historical books of the New Testament, neither Luke nor Acts explicitly identifies its author. However, it is evident from the introduction to each book and the style used throughout each that both were written by the same hand. The first identification of this writer that we still have…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[568,144,690],"class_list":["post-43252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-accuracy-of-the-bible","tag-acts","tag-luke"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":88508,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/an-introduction-to-the-book-of-acts\/","url_meta":{"origin":43252,"position":0},"title":"An Introduction to the Book of Acts","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 9, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeff Arnette The book of Acts is a favorite of many in the church. It is perhaps the most widely taught and read book in the churches of Christ. Much of our doctrine and practice stems directly from this 28-chapter narrative history. The truth is that Acts is a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":84654,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/matthew-mark-luke-and-john-old-testament-or-new-testament\/","url_meta":{"origin":43252,"position":1},"title":"Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John: Old Testament or New Testament? (Robinson)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 17, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Garland M. Robinson If you reject the Gospel records of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (including Acts 1) being any part of the Lord's New Testament, then you have to accept the conclusion that nothing the Lord said or taught while on earth is valid for the church today.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54393,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/notes-on-the-verification-of-mark-169-20\/","url_meta":{"origin":43252,"position":2},"title":"Notes on the Verification of Mark 16:9-20","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 18, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The text of Mark 16:9-20 is consistent with inspired text found in the rest of the New Testament Mark 16 Claims Verified 9 He had risen early on the first day of the week Matthew 28:1-4; Luke 24:1; John 20:1 He first appeared to Mary Magdalene John 20:14ff From whom\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Notes","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/notes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12721,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/baptisms-of-the-new-testament\/","url_meta":{"origin":43252,"position":3},"title":"Baptisms of the New Testament","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 10, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Ephesians 4:1-6 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0How is it that Paul talks of one baptism in Ephesians 4:5 when the New Testament speaks of more than one? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Baptism means immersion \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0You can have different baptisms depending on what medium something is being immersed into, who administers the baptism,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":59357,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-roman-catholics-1486-ad-and-the-title-page-argument\/","url_meta":{"origin":43252,"position":4},"title":"The Roman Catholics, 1486 AD, and the “Title Page” Argument","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 16, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry W. Benton The Argument: \"..the Roman Catholic church in 1486 AD arbitrarily placed the four books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John --before the cross -- (MMLJBC) in the New rather Old Testament by placing an erroneous New Testament \"title page\" between the books of Malachi and Matthew.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":57686,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-jesus-came-to-israel-only-argument\/","url_meta":{"origin":43252,"position":5},"title":"The “Jesus Came To Israel Only” Argument","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 5, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry W. Benton The Argument Stated: \"MMLJ -- before the cross -- was taught only to the Jews of Israel.\" I keep seeing the argument expressed that Jesus spoke only to the lost sheep of Israel, or only to Israel. The conclusion drawn from that fact is that \"therefore\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43252"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43252\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}