This video comes across as saying that the Bible in general and Luke in particular is unreliable as a source of history. That's too strong. It's true that the Biblical writer's purpose was not to write a general history, but rather to tell the story of Jesus and His church for the specific purpose of enhancing and supporting our faith. In the case of Paul in particular, he was not writing an autobiography, he writing for the purpose of leading and guiding the fledgling churches he had started in the ways of faith and morals. We should not approach Biblical writings from an attitude of disbelief in their history. We need to recognize that their organizing and editing principle was not a focus on a historical regurgitation of facts for their own sake, but instead was guided by what stories were necessary and desirable to enhance our faith. We should be alert to the lessons that the Biblical writers are inferring from the incidents that they focus on. We should be alert to what each story and saying meant to the early church and what they mean for us in our faith walk today. We would also do well when reading modern histories to remember that they too have agendas and lessons in civics that the historians want us to take from the events of the past. Nobody ever writes pure history. Victors want their own stories remembered, but they don't care about the stories of the losers.
This video comes across as saying that the Bible in general and Luke in particular is unreliable as a source of history. That's too strong. It's true that the Biblical writer's purpose was not to write a general history, but rather to tell the story of Jesus and His church for the specific purpose of enhancing and supporting our faith.
In the case of Paul in particular, he was not writing an autobiography, he writing for the purpose of leading and guiding the fledgling churches he had started in the ways of faith and morals. We should not approach Biblical writings from an attitude of disbelief in their history. We need to recognize that their organizing and editing principle was not a focus on a historical regurgitation of facts for their own sake, but instead was guided by what stories were necessary and desirable to enhance our faith. We should be alert to the lessons that the Biblical writers are inferring from the incidents that they focus on. We should be alert to what each story and saying meant to the early church and what they mean for us in our faith walk today.
We would also do well when reading modern histories to remember that they too have agendas and lessons in civics that the historians want us to take from the events of the past. Nobody ever writes pure history. Victors want their own stories remembered, but they don't care about the stories of the losers.