St Luke: The Imitator of Greek Romance?

[0:00] Good morning. Good to be back. Thank you for having me once again. It's always a privilege and being honored to be here, especially everyone who has gone in their faith far advanced and far mature than I am.

[0:20] So hopefully with the studies that I'm doing at Regent College and training that I'm doing at Artizo, that I may shed some light onto this topic of Acts, Book of Acts, Acts of the Apostles, especially the last two chapters of the book.

[0:37] So before we begin, can we pray? Heavenly Father, we thank you for this morning, especially thank you for your word.

[0:49] I cannot imagine the New Testament books without Book of Acts or Acts of the Apostles because you have shown through Luke and Luke's account how you have worked through the Apostles and your people to make us your people by your grace and mercy.

[1:11] So God, I ask that as we look into chapter 27 and 28 of Acts of the Apostles, help me to be clear, help me to make some sense out of the studies that I've been doing here.

[1:26] And I ask that you will continue to be glorified through what we do here in our church and in our ministries, in our lives, Lord. We thank you for this morning and pray these things in Christ's name. Amen.

[1:41] My interest in Book of Acts, especially my interest in studying Paul, Apostle Paul, has begun here at St. John's when we were going through the Acts of the Apostles.

[1:54] I think it was last year, last year before that, we went through the Book of Acts. So as we were doing some studies at small groups called home groups, and as we were going through the sermon series at our church, my interest in Book of Acts has begun.

[2:15] And this morning, there's a study that I'm doing, or a study that we're going to be doing. It's on Acts 27 and 28, where Paul and his companions take on their journey to Rome.

[2:30] And many times, or most often since the 19th century, end of the 19th century, this account has been accused to be Greek novel, part of historical fiction by many New Testament authors, or New Testament scholars.

[2:45] Scholars. So, that has been around for a while. So, I'm going to ask that question here. That's why the title looks like that.

[2:56] And he'll ask me if I'm serious. Yes, I am serious about the question. And I would like to engage with this question, and engage with some of the New Testament scholars with this question, as we look at Acts chapter 27 and 28.

[3:14] So, this is not a sermon. This is not going to be some sort of Bible study. But I'm going to engage with some of the New Testament scholars who are experts in the Book of Acts, and see what they say, and how credible they are, and how we can learn from what they're doing, whether they're critical about the Book of Acts or not.

[3:37] So, if there is an MVP, most valuable player in the New Testament, who would you say? There was a slap here.

[3:49] This is Vancouver, so I thought this would be interesting. Who would you say? I mean, most people would think that it would be Apostle Paul, because he did write many letters in the New Testament.

[4:02] But you have to think about Luke, the evangelist, because his amount of the writing that he did is almost as one-third of the New Testament.

[4:16] So, wait a minute. That's not the Luke that I'm looking for. This is the Luke that I'm looking for. So, if there's an MVP of the New Testament, it has to be Luke for his massive contribution to the New Testament books.

[4:31] Luke, Gospel of Luke, and Acts. Luke, the only Gentile author, writer, did not only write a substantive amount of text, but we should also notice his excellent incorporation of history, literary art, and theology into the writings of Luke Acts.

[4:49] And the Acts of the Apostles, as some scholars have emphasized, is considered to be a creative theological literature. Also, it is widely received that whether one takes the writings of Luke to be historically reliable or not, the literary artistic and theological aspects of the books, both Luke and Acts, have to be taken seriously for the study of these two books.

[5:17] Especially towards to the end of the book, which is Acts 27 and 28, which we are interested in this morning, these two chapters demonstrate Luke's brilliant literary skills with significant theological points, as one New Testament scholar from the past century, F.F. Bruce has observed, Acts 27 and 8, is the most vivid pieces of descriptive narrative in the whole book.

[5:43] So the aim for the talk this morning is to examine and discuss three aspects of Acts 27 and 28, historical, literary, and theological.

[6:01] I will argue that Luke, as a historian, has employed the elements of ancient historiography, both Jewish and Greek, or Greek, or Greek Roman, into his narrative, placing Paul as a central figure, and as a literary artist, Luke's literary structure, which has the correspondence both to the Gospel of Luke, and other ancient literatures, suggests that the climax of Acts, the climax of Acts, has been carried out onto this last part of the book.

[6:34] And lastly, as a theologian, the central motif of salvation to all, in both Luke and Acts, culminates here at the end of Acts, as Luke portrays Paul with an abrupt, perpetual ending, in Luke's account, of salvation history.

[6:59] So, I have to tell you that, this is going to be more engagement, with some of the scholarly works, that past history has done, or more recent history.

[7:11] So, I will engage with more scholarly works, in the book of Acts. So, first thing, Acts 27 and 28, as history.

[7:23] Many scholars have noticed, that Acts 27 and 28, is similar to many of the ancient narratives, that involved with storm, and shit-rack, such as, Odyssey of Homer, Historia of Herodotus, Tokars of Lucian, Jonah of Hebrew Scripture, and Life of Josephus, and many others.

[7:46] These are some of the Greek ones, some of many. And, these are, some of the Roman literature, Jewish, and Christian.

[7:59] So, this idea of, journey, in sea-faring journey, and storm, and shit-rack, and being saved, this is not just the act, this is not the account, or narrative, that's only in, book of Acts, but there are many, in ancient, ancient literature.

[8:17] And, this is the point, that many, New Testament, some New Testament scholars, have argued, that, book of Acts, is not historically, historically reliable.

[8:31] Luke, apparently, is familiar, with ancient, historiography. Both Jewish, and Greek, as well as the details, of sea-faring, and sailing terminologies, possibly, picked up from, many of his journeys.

[8:47] In Acts, Luke accounts, Paul's three decades, of ministry, 3,000 miles, of his journeys. However, Acts 27, and 28, has been, in scrutiny, like I said, to be fictitious, because of, its incorporation, for, we passages, I'm going to, explain that a little bit later, and, extended, narrative style, I'll also explain that, and Paul's speeches, at the end, and the salvation motif, in the narrative.

[9:20] One scholar, I have engaged, last, three or four months, he has argued, in his commentary, and I quote, Luke was not loath, to regale, his readers, with adventure, and he understood, the value of, retardation, but, from this perspective, the effort, was a failure, for the sequel, is anticlimactic, repetitive, repetitive, and disappointing, narrative, for the historical Paul, travel, was a means, for getting to one place, to another, the only, the only fact, worth narrating, was that, he got there, presuming, that his statement, was factual, Paul had suffered, more shipwrecks, than any hero, of an ancient novel, one of which, was more perilous, than, that of, Acts 27, 2 Corinthians 11, 25, to it, he devoted, five words, unquote, the commentator, is correct, to note that, the deceleration, and elaboration, of, of Sifari narrative, function, in one way, to give, reading pleasure, to his, or her audience, through, a climactic scene, episode, with a sea storm, adventure, but, on the other hand, the commentator, finds, that Luke's, anticlimactic, account, that follows, a sea storm, miracle, disappointing, he has also, precisely observed, that, unlike Luke's, narrative, in Acts 27, quote, unquote, historical Paul, in his letter, describes, his shipwreck, encounters, only, with a few words, as you can see, however, if the sole, aim, of Luke's, narrative, in Acts 27, and 28, is a, being, is, is copying, or being, a mimesis, of Greco-Roman, literature, then, the disappointment, might be, an incisive, criticism, for, this, literature, as one,

[11:26] New Testament scholar, has observed, another, New Testament scholar, Luke, is, and I quote, not a critical, historian, in the modern sense, of the word, unquote, not employees, nor, employees, solely, Greek, historiography, and literary style, from the literatures, of his time, also, the commentator, that I just mentioned, his point, on Paul's, disinterest, for the elaboration, of the shipwreck, narrative, seems to be, a categorical, and genre, error, Paul's mention, of the shipwreck, in his epistles, namely, 2nd Corinthians, 2nd Corinthians, has no purpose, for a narrative, elaboration, because he's, making a point, about the sufferings, he endures, for the sake of, the gospel, as an apostle, but in Acts, 27, and 28, Luke, narrates, in details, of what Paul's, and those, who accompanied him, including Luke himself, have experienced, in the sea, in order, to account, expansively, a culminating story, decalminating story, of, the work of salvation, as a, historical narrative, so this, point, of discrepancy, between,

[12:45] Acts, 27, and 2nd Corinthians, 11, will neither, credit, nor discredit, the historical value, or reliability, on the Luke's narrative, in Acts, 27, and 28, a, Josephus expert, Professor Steve Mason, from York University, in Toronto, has, has observed that, Josephus story, also has, shipwreck, in his, life, life, of Josephus, and it is comparable, to Luke's, or Paul's shipwreck, and notes that, the Viper incidence, on Malta, is a common motif, for Luke's, and Josephus's, days, which is, accounted in, chapter 28, he also says, this about, the prologue, of Luke, Acts, in the beginning, of the gospel, and I quote, the standard features, found in historical, prefaces, importance, of the subject, witness, of previous, treatments, unique credentials, of the, of the author, author's efforts, to secure the truth, and the author's, thesis, this, and I unquote, and this is, this is, common, characteristic, of the prologue, for, either historical account, or, or the ancient, literature, therefore, the influence, of Greek, or Hellenic, historiography, and literature, in Luke,

[14:13] Acts, or book of Acts, I should say, is widely known, and received, and it should be, noted, however, we must not, consider Acts, as a solely, Greek historiography, for Jewish characteristics, are also, prevalent, in the book, and one French, New Testament scholar, points out, that Greek historiography, is critical, as modeled, in Herodotus, while Jewish, historiography, is not, but both, Greek, and Jewish, historiography, concern, for search, for truth, while, I quote, Greek history, is illuminating, Jewish history, is confessional, I quote, and this, is the reason, why, in Jewish, historiography, the narrator, never intrudes, or addresses, directly, the reader, in his, or her, historical narrative, narrative, and this, point for Acts, makes a strong case, for Jewish influence, except, for the Prologue, which, which, which, has, so much,

[15:22] Greco-Roman, influence, and, we passages, that I'm going to talk, talk later, and there is not, any actual, authorial intent, but, but there is not, any actual, authorial intent, or authorial, direct intrusion, in, the, we passages, also, an English scholar, from the past century, C.K. Barrett, has detected, Hebrew, influence, on the literature, especially, how Luke uses, and it was, as, in Hebrew scripture, and it was, is the, narrative style, that they, the Hebrew, text, authors use, and also, for the use of, behold, for the Hebrew, use of, behold, and as you can see, there are many verses, in, in the book of Acts, that show, that Hebrew, influence, in the book of Acts,

[16:24] German scholar, who, who, who, who, who, who, was known, for gospel, and Acts, study, Martin Hangel, also, has considered, Acts, to be, analogous, to both, Jewish, and Hellenistic, historiographies, and yet, he asserts, it to be, a, I quote, revolutionary, new development, and unquote, for its, eschatological, awareness, in the earliest, Christian faith, and its, historical, and theological, unity, and the, inseparable, characteristic, with the third gospel, so, in Acts, 27, and 28, as history, while, the, fictitious, assertion, for Acts, 27, and 28, seems to be, strong one, because, Luke's, assertion, of his hero, Paul, into a common, Hellenistic, or Greek, Siphari narrative, with a complex, influence of Greek, and Jewish, historiographies, and literature, to Acts, we must consider,

[17:29] Acts, 27, 28, not as a mere, mimesis, of, Greek, Romans, or imitation, of Greek, Romans, or novel, but as a historical, monograph, that represents, a complex, multicultural, multilingual, setting, appealing, to a diversified, audience.

[17:51] Now, moving on to, Acts, 27, and 28, as literature, or Luke, as a literary artist.

[18:03] Acts, 27, and 28, can be divided, into two narratives, Siphari, shipwreck, Malta, and arrival in Rome, chapter 27, 1 through, chapter 28, verse 16, and Paul, as he arrives in Rome, and he's, the account of, what Paul does, in Rome, from chapter 28, verse 17, through, verse 31.

[18:25] The first narrative, can also be, subdivided, into introductory, concluding, with itineraries, and closing, three episodes, as I, as you can see, on the screen. But the length, of the first narrative, is noteworthy.

[18:41] This lengthy ending, in chapter 27, and 28, with a seafiring adventure, would help, the readers, to keep their interest, to what comes, next to, next, in Rome, in chapter, and, from the middle, of chapter 28.

[18:58] And as some commentators, have pointed out, Acts 27, and 28, is part excellence, when it comes, when it comes to Luke's, literary syntax, comparable, to the classical, Greek literature.

[19:11] So we can see, that he, in Greek, his, literary skill, is really excellent. Not only Luke's, literary syntax, is part excellence, his narrative, in chapter 27, verse 1, and chapter 23, chapter 28, verse 16, has given, particular details, that are distinguishable, from the other, seafiring narrative, in Acts.

[19:37] It is very usual, for Luke, to give, a detailed description, for, for some of the, major characters, such as, Julius, a centurion, of the Augustan cohort, and, Aristarchus, a Macedonian, from Thessalonica, in chapter 28, verse 1, and verse 3.

[19:57] But, it is very unusual, for him to describe, the details, of the, of the ship, of the ships, the ship, of, the ship, of, and, the Alexandrian ship, and another, Alexandrian ship, in chapter 27, verse 2, 27, 6, and 28, 11.

[20:18] This is, very unlike, from the previous, seafiring narrative. even for, Josephus, he does not, tell, his readers, any of the details, about his ship.

[20:32] But, only after, the shipwreck, in the sea of, Ageria, Josephus, mentions, the origin, of the ship, that rescued him, and others, about 80, in all, out of, 600, lives.

[20:44] Also, in chapter 27, Luke's, detailed description, of the wind, that caused, the seafiring journey, difficult, and resulted, a shipwreck, are unique, to sea storm, narrative, in this section.

[21:03] So, you can see, that Luke, deliberately, slowed, slowed down, this part, of the, of the book. Another, distinctive, literary style, in Acts 27, and 28, is, we passages, from, 27 verse 1.

[21:25] Whether, the significance, of the, we passages, in Acts, is the indication, of author's, personal presence, as an eyewitness, or, a literary convention, for telling, of sea voyage, this is so called, literary solution, but, we must note that, this is unique, to, book of Acts, in the New Testament books.

[21:53] For the scholar, that I mentioned, before, who is critical, about book of Acts, discards, the idea, of use of, diary material, as the, as itinerary style, which is similar, to travel narrative, in Luke's days, but simply, sees, the we passage, as the, as the Luke style, for incorporating, we, and sea voyage, in a conventional, way, of his days, to please, and inform, his audience, once again.

[22:22] I think, this point, should be taken seriously. However, there is more, than a mere purpose, for it to be, the we passages, to be, pleasurable, and informational, from them.

[22:36] But, before we tackle, that issue, let us consider, the issue, of the author, for Luke Acts, and the author, for we passages, or resources, whether they are, same or not.

[22:52] The Luke's, we, in each narrative, is unique to Acts, among the gospels, and Acts. If Luke, is the author, of Luke Acts, but not, of the we passages, as some scholars, some critical scholars, have argued, the literary style, of we, can possibly, be also, employed, into the post-resurrection, narratives, such as, the Emmaus, story, at the end, of the gospel of Luke, for the purpose, of same, reading, pleasure, for his audience.

[23:30] The anonymity, of the disciples, on the road, the journey motif, which I'm going to talk about later, the absence of the source, whether, he didn't get that from Mark, nor Q, the other source, and the climactic, contextual, setting of post-resurrection, are some of the characteristics, for this narrative.

[23:51] However, any incorporation, the absence of any incorporation, of we, might suggest, that the author, Luke, has deliberately, narrated, some of the narratives, with a first-person, plural perspective, in Book of Acts.

[24:10] One Canadian, New Testament scholar, Stanley Porter, has observed, that the we passages, begin, and I quote, mid-event, at a particular, particular locale, such as Troas, Philippi, Miletus, Jerusalem, Caesarea, or Malta, and I unquote, where each location, has one sea voyage, usually, and usually, a land travel, by foot, or stay on land.

[24:36] He also, has pointed out, that the we passages, correspond to the rest of, rest of Acts, as for, lexicon, and syntax, are concerned. Except, the fact, that it is, in first-person, plural.

[24:52] And many of the words, in the we passages, occur only once, in the New Testament. And besides, those two points, they are, they agree, with the syntactical, or less, syntactical, style, of Book of Acts.

[25:10] So, the syntactical, and vocabulary, statistics, can lead us, to make a strong case, that the we passages, originated, from the same author, as, that of Acts.

[25:25] Also, there are a couple of more, literary, stylistic points, from, the two we passages, of Acts 27 and 28, that, that are noteworthy here. First one is, and, this is gonna, this is gonna, transition into, the next point, that I'm gonna make, in Acts, Acts 27 and 28, as theology.

[25:44] The first one is, we passages, make an unnoticeable, transition, from, third person, to first person, and vice versa, in order to place, Paul, to a prominent, place or foreground, in each narrative.

[26:02] And secondly, because of this, transitional feature, of we passages, the focus, on the character, Paul, moves, along, with the narratives, so does, the climactic focus, along, with the character, to the, end of the book.

[26:21] And that's what I'm gonna argue. So the Luke's, literary, stylistic elements, in Acts 27 and 28, demonstrate, his competency, as a literary artist, most brilliantly, in Luke Acts, especially in Acts.

[26:38] Not only, Luke decelerates, here, to give a detailed, account of his adventure, with Paul, but his polished, syntax, which is, which is good, as some of the, classical Greek literatures, demonstrate, that Luke, with his competent, literary skills, places, Paul, to a prominent place, in the narrative, and move, the climactic mood, along, with the main character, to the, end, of the book.

[27:07] Make sure, I don't run out of time. And, finally, Acts 27 and 28, as theology.

[27:22] If we take, a sole primary, authorial purpose, of Acts, to be apologetic, the sea storm, wonder narrative, sea storm, miracle narrative, and what follows, in Acts 27 and 28, should not have, any more significance, than, no apology, for Paul's, innocence.

[27:41] But, Acts 27, 28, seems to be, doing more than that. So, in this last section, that I'll discuss, some of the major, theological themes, not all, because there are, there are just so many, but some of the, major theological themes, in Acts 27 and 28, and, the use of Old Testament, as, as I, I have done in, previously, especially, Isaiah chapter 6, that he, that, that Luke uses, in, in Paul's speech.

[28:09] And then, I'll, briefly, talk about, the ending, of, book of Acts. The first major, theological theme, in Acts 27, 28, is the journey motif.

[28:20] I don't know, if you have seen that movie, Journey to the Center of the Earth, but, in those days, in the first century, the Rome was considered, to be the center of the earth, or the center of the world.

[28:32] So, so there you go. This motif, of journey, or pilgrimage, is prevalent, throughout the scriptures, from Genesis, all the way, to the Revelation.

[28:46] And Luke, Acts, is no exception. As Luke's, we, set sail, on a seafaring journey, to Italy, in 27, verse 1, the journey motif, begins, the narrative.

[28:59] And when Paul, arrived in Rome, and was in prison, at a house, or house imprisonment, towards to the end, from chapter 28, verse 16, this journey motif, never ends.

[29:13] That's what I'm going to argue. As Luke, completes the book, he records that, Paul, received all, all who came to him, in the book.

[29:24] So the journey motif, has never ended, with a book. At the end of Acts, as Paul is in the house imprisonment, Luke records, none of his, Paul's journey, after that.

[29:35] So it might seem like, or it might seem that, the journey motif, has finished there. But actually, all who came to him, are still, on the move, coming, seeing, and hearing, the proclamation, of the gospel, by the apostle.

[29:50] As we shall see, in the Isaiah's, new Exodus motif, in Acts soon, when I talk about, Isaiah passage, in Acts, the importance, of the journey motif, in Exodus, and Luke X, should not be, minimized, and always, in view, for our readings.

[30:10] Another important aspect, we need to consider, relates, to the journey motif, what our time, does not permit us, for us to discuss, any further, is the parallel, representation, of Paul, from Acts, to Jesus, in the gospel of Luke.

[30:24] In Luke, chapter 9, through 16, Jesus is on this, it seems to be, never ending, journey to Jerusalem. And ever since, Acts 19, verse 21, Paul, makes his journey, to Jerusalem, and then, to Rome.

[30:41] Between the journey, there is of Jesus, and Paul, there are many, correspondences, as examined, and demonstrated, by the book, called, Reading Luke X, by a scholar, named Charles Talbert.

[30:54] But moving on. So there you go, all who came to see him. Sorry. Stupid. Moving on.

[31:06] The second major, theological theme, we must discuss, is salvation, in Acts 27 and 28. Salvation, or being saved, appears twice, as an adjective, in chapter 27 and 28.

[31:22] And the relative verb, being saved, also shows up, twice, in chapter 27. We must note here, then, that, from the beginning, of the gospel of Luke, God, being the savior, of his people, has been proclaimed, through Mary's, magnifica, in chapter 1.

[31:43] In Acts, salvation, appears, six times, or, the noun, salvation, appears, six times. In Luke, Acts, salvation, has been, one of the major motifs.

[31:55] One commentator, in Sight 3, has pointed out, that, the word, soteria, or salvation, in Greco-Roman, usage, is mostly, the sense of health, well-being, and, or, safety.

[32:11] And, Luke's use, of salvation, has also, this connotation, of, being, healthy, in, especially, in Acts 27, as, they are, as Paul is, encouraging, those, who are on the, in the, in the sea storm.

[32:29] Another scholar, also summarizes, his study on salvation, in Luke Acts, that Luke's use, of salvation, and, to, save, or to be saved, most often, as, as they, designate, a present reality, Jesus, has already, intervened, the era of salvation, has already begun, as, cataclysmical, peace, and joy, are, as present, throughout Acts, as they are, in the gospel, he says.

[32:59] So, all the accounts, relate, related, deliverance, in Acts 27, namely, Paul's, concern for everyone, well-being, uses word, salvation, encouraging, all to eat, in the, in the, in the storm, that none of them, will be harmed, and, Paul's, unharmed, fight for incident, on Malta, does not use, the, the, the word, salvation, but has, the theme of salvation, or being saved, and, these things, are not, random accounts, for, an entertaining purpose, but, Luke's, deliberate account, for culminating, or account, for his account, culminating, the salvation motif, either from, his memory, or his, from, from his notes, lastly, but not least, the one, one topic, that really warms, my heart, what about Luke's, or Paul's use, of, Isaiah passage, at the end, the Old Testament passage, that is in view, is Isaiah chapter 6, verse 9 and 10, in Paul's speech, some scholars, see this, as the condemning, of the Jewish people, and separating, the church, from the Jews, if the salvation motif, was flowing, through Acts 27 and 28, or book of Acts, as a whole, then why, all of sudden, does this judgment, or objuracy motif, along with judgment, appear, in the narrative, was this, all along,

[34:32] Luke's purpose, or conclusion, to separate the church, from the Jews, I wonder, Acts 28, verse 26 and 27, is not verbatim, with Isaiah chapter 6, 9 and 10, of Subtudium, which is Greek, Greek scripture, Greek text, of Isaiah, but the Isaiah passage, passage in Acts, follows closely, to that, the context, of Isaiah chapter 6, 9 and 10, in the book of Isaiah, is that, if, is that, after, Isaiah sees the vision, God calls him, God calls Isaiah, the prophet, and this is part, this is part of, part of the calling, this Isaiah 6, 9 to 10, is considered to be, the objuracy passage, in Isaiah, along with other ones, the point of, of objuracy, is that, the people, they hear, but they have no understanding, they see, but they, they're not going to know, then, their hearts will be hardened, or, literally, their hearts will be fat, and their ears, heavy, and they will be shut, as a result, these people, will not repent, and be healed, the objuracy motif, here is, most definitely, for judgment, upon, this, idolatrous people, and when, when God,

[35:59] Yahweh calls the people, not my people, but these people, this is, anti-idol, polemic language, and this same, anti-idol, polemic language, seems to be, in view, in Acts 28, as well, nevertheless, that is not all there is, for Isaiah, and Acts, another Canadian, New Testament scholar, Craig Evans, has pointed out, that, random idea, is not only, in the later, Isaiah text, as some, have, speculated, but, from the beginning, of, Isaiah's ministry, and also, an, Old Testament scholar, translates, and points out, that, Isaiah chapter 6, verse 13, this way, and I quote, the holy seed, will be the stump, is, that's the literal translation, simply, the seed of holiness, its stump, holy seed, could be, the remnant, he says, in Acts 28,

[37:08] Luke accounts, that Paul, testified, the kingdom of God, from the Old Testament scriptures, the Torah, and the prophets, persuading, the gathered Jews, concerning Jesus, in chapter 28, verse 23, then, it says, then, it says, some, were persuaded, but, some others, did not believe, in verse 24, and, this seems, to be the point, that the Isaiah chapter 6, verse 9 and 10, of the objuracy, makes, in Acts, those, those who reject, Jesus, even though, they have seen, they have heard, the gospel, would continue, not able to see, not able to hear, and know, God's salvation, but, for those Jews, who are persuaded, by what is testified, by the apostle, the very task, that Jesus commissioned, his disciples, from the book of Acts, chapter 1, verse 8, will be the remnant, among, the Jews, and this idea, of remnant, you may, be able to detect, from Romans chapter 11, so, what Isaiah passage, is doing, they are not only, just judgment, upon those, who don't believe, but it gives, those, who believe, will be the remnant, and then, will be, still, be included, in God's people, now, the ending, on the road, enigmatic, ending, of Acts 28, verse 30, and 31, carries, with itself, the culmination, of all the motifs, that I mentioned, journey, salvation, new exodus, without an actual ending, that sounds weird, but, it's true, because Paul, in the house of imprisonment, welcomes all, who come, and proclaims,

[39:09] Jesus Christ, to all, this hospitality, and the proclamation, of Jesus, have continued on, and will continue, by the Lord's church, the reconstituted, Israel, the people of Yahweh, both, Jews, and Gentiles, concluding, in one sense, the theology, in Luke Acts, can be considered, as a theological, theological history, in the sense, that it records, God's activity, even though Acts 27, and 28, for some seem, to be, not much of, God's activity, but in the other sense, in a more complex way, Luke, as a historian, a literary artist, and a theologian, he had used, and exhausted, all of his skills, known to him, from his day, to testify, the ongoing culmination, of God's work, in salvation, namely, his new exodus, for his people, the salvation, to all, who believe, which was inaugurated, in Jesus, and being carried out, by the spirit, among his people, this is what Luke, was trying to record, through a historical, monograph, called, the Acts, of the Apostle, and, one new,

[40:29] Testament scholar, and prolific writer, Professor Ben, Witherington, says, this about, Luke's, salvation, Luke's account, of salvation history, and I quote, finally, I would add, that Luke sees, the coming of Christ, as not just, another epoch, of history, but the beginning, of the eschatological age, when the dominion, or kingdom of God, breaks into human history, and the coming of the spirit, at Pentecost, is seen, as the means, by which this age, can be, properly, proclaimed, and inaugurated, as the age of salvation, for all peoples, as a light, for revelation, to the Gentiles, and for the glory, to your people, Israel, and I unquote, therefore, the Acts, of the Apostle, in a truer sense, is a historical, monograph, of salvation, history, for all, his people, thank you.

[41:27] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. The same, yeah.

[41:40] That slide you had up there, which compared with, compared the passage, with Isaiah.

[41:51] Yes. That one. in our study of Romans, we've run into this, and I would, so categorically say, after all the years, I've been, in the true church, that this is least understood, what this means, and we've all come through it, not just for the Jewish veil, that they had, we had a veil too, would you agree with that?

[42:25] Definitely, yeah. and, and, so we've struggled with this, in our Bible study, because, you know, we're studying it in Romans, but, people, I think, are too, really to pick up, the idea, that they've been pre-chosen, pre-chosen, and, destined for salvation, you know, before the event was made, that type of idea, which, seems to be suggested, but, if you read the old commentators, like Matthew Henry, he pulls away from that, very, very, very, very, sharply, and says that, the elect, are, the believers, is it one sentence, he said, that those who believe, are the elect, so all that's mixed in there, and, it looks as if God, has made, people's hearts, callous, and he's made dead, he is dead, and so forth, but, this is a result, of disobedience, isn't it?

[43:39] Definitely, yeah, yes. Would you agree with that? Yeah, if you, if you look at, the context of Isaiah, and especially, there's a, before this, there's a parable, of vineyard, that God, God is, God Yahweh, has prepared, this beautiful vineyard, for his people, but, but his people, has, trampled, and not take care of it, and, and Yahweh grieves, for, for, for disobedience, of his people, so, I think this is, I, because of their idolatry, because of their, going astray, from, from the path, or the covenant, of relationship, with God, I think, this is the result of, the judgment, result of, result of their, their idolatry, so, yeah, definitely.

[44:25] That's, isn't that the core, word Jesus, addressed to the Pharisees, yes, it is, yeah, this passage, uses over, and over again, not just here, yeah, yeah, this, it's also, as, Jesus enters, into the temple, and then as he engages, with the Jewish leaders, yes, he uses this, this passage, and, and also in Mark, if, if you, when, when, Jesus begins his parables, in the gospel of Mark, when Jesus begins his parable, the reason he begins his parable, is this, and, and he quotes this, or Mark quotes, fights this passage, and saying, the reason, the purpose of the parable, is for this, that, so that those who are idolatrous, will not hear, will not see, and will not hear, and, therefore, they'll not be able to see.

[45:13] Right, and, and, and this passage is great, is because, what Jesus, the miracles that Jesus did, if you, if you think about it, it's all, eyes are, eyes are opening, and ears are hearing, and, and, and the name walking, and all this being, being healed, and this, the salvation motif is totally, is, is in there, as, as, yeah, yeah, exactly, yeah, yeah, so this, yeah, this passage is used, over and over again, in the, in the gospels as well, I mean, once in Acts, but in the gospels as well, yeah, and, and if you think about it, I mean, what the, if, I mean, this is, this is, um, one of the, one of the points that, that, um, at Regent College, Professor Rick Watts, makes over and over again, is, what, what, what does not see, and what does not hear, what does have the callous heart, is the idol, idol, so, so what, the judgment upon, idolatrous people is, they, they're going to become like idols, they're not going to be able to see it, they're not going to be able to hear, and they're going to, they're going to have a stone heart, and, religion is like an idol, really, isn't it?

[46:16] Right, so, so, so, so what, so promise that in, in, especially in prophets, that, that what, especially God, um, Yahweh promised to, uh, Jeremiah is, is that, that God will remove the stone of heart, and then, give, um, the heart that is, that is alive, and be able to see, and hear, uh, who God is, so, so whether you be, so one, in one way you'll become like idols, or the other way you'll become like God, so that's, this, this is a passage, that's, that shows that, that God's judgment upon his people, because of their disobedience, and idolatry, is going to be, that they're going to become like idols, and they're going to be able to see, and hear, and everything, yeah, you know, so there's, there's also a reference there, when they're speaking about that, about the idols not being able to see, and hear, and everything, just like the ones that made them, exactly, the designers, mm-hmm, mm-hmm, definitely, yeah, yes, I want to thank you for this, this is absolutely fascinating, and I loved your comparisons, you know, from different points of view about this,

[47:25] I want to go back to the shipwreck, yes, both of them, mm-hmm, which one, the, the one that Paul refers to, and the one that Luke refers to, because you made the point about, you know, following a Greek model, with the amount of, well, you didn't say this, but the amount of detail, that, that, um, Luke has, you know, we took the sails down, we lost a spar, we had to lash the barrels to the deck, and then finally, we had to jettison cargo, on and on and on, I mean, you could be there, you could see the man's in danger, but Paul is dismissive, about that tragedy, or the supposed tragedy in his life, Right.

[48:02] as well as all the others, I mean, he lumps it in with having been quipped 39 times, Right. two occasions, and, and the biggest deal in his life, is a thorn in his flesh, it's not all those, external bad things, that happen to him, so, what I'd, like to get from you, if you, want to do it, is, the point of view, of these two different writers, is, is a contrast, what is the focus, of Paul's writing, in Corinthians, where he describes his, yeah, as opposed to the point of view, of Luke, would you mind, no, no, I don't, not at all, if you look at, chapter, second Corinthians, chapter 13, I believe, 11, what, what Paul is doing, especially in 2nd Corinthians, chapter 11, is that, he's, he's, he's talking about, the false teachers, the false apostles, those who, who discredit,

[49:07] Paul's apostleship, so, Paul is, saying that, I mean, if, these people in Corinth, or these false apostles, in Corinth, if they can, boast about all these things, they, they're, they're good at speech, they're, good at this, because, Paul, if you look at, if you follow 1st and 2nd Corinthians, closely, Paul is, is accused of, oh, he's, he's good at writing letters, but he's not good at speaking, like Stoics do, in, especially in Corinth and Athens, so, what Paul is here doing is, you know what, this is what I'm going to boast, because, what we are preaching is, the crucified Christ, which is, the stumbling block to the Jews, and, and, and, foolish, to the, to the Greeks, or Gentiles, he says, so, what he's going to boast about, is, is he's suffering, and then he goes on, like you said, he goes on to say, he, you know, he, he got stoned, he got beaten, and, and he, he, he was, in shit rack, it says three times in, in, in, first, in, in 2 Corinthians, so, so, so, he, what he's both in, is, is his suffering, just like,

[50:15] Christ suffered, he's suffering, because, for the sake of the gospel, I think that's what he's doing there, so he doesn't, in his letter, and this is, because this is letter, and there's a point that he's making, he doesn't have, he doesn't have to narrate, all the details of what, what went on, because he, he doesn't do that with other, other, sufferings that he experiences, and there, he just says 37 times, or three times, three times, and then three times, so, so the shipwreck, just that landed in the McMulter, you know, ultimately, may have been the biggest difficulty, that Luke experienced, it could have been, yes, it could have been, but, but Luke, if you look at, um, chapter, in Acts, uh, chapter 16, where, where all the, we passages begin, um, you'll see that Luke was, accompanied Paul, um, number of times, not just, not just, here in chapter 27, but number of times.

[51:08] But not in and out of jail, presumably. Right, right, and he, he didn't, it doesn't say that he, they experienced shipwreck there, but in 27 they did, so. I think it's a very exciting ending, myself.

[51:20] No, you didn't, I mean, in their, in their first century, if, if you're a first century audience, they'll be like, wow, this is, this is fascinating, this is, yeah, and, yeah, it is fascinating, it is a great story to hear, yes, definitely, yes.

[51:35] Thank you very much. You're welcome. Yes. The knowledge of maritime things is really tremendous. It is. If you look at, I mean, I'm an ex-maritimer, so, I see him, so I know. Right, and if you look, if you read 27, special 27.1 through 28.16 in Greek, um, his use of the sailing word, it's not just one word, he uses multiple words, and very, I mean, this is just, I don't, I mean, I don't know how he does it, but he just did it well, that, um, the use of the ancients too.

[52:04] Yeah, right, right, yeah, that's just great. Yes, sir. So, concerning the abruptness of the learning of the world, is it the feeling of, um, as far as that there must have been a follow-up manuscript, or is it possible that other histories of the day also just end when they end?

[52:26] That's a great question. Um, there, there is, uh, uh, Apocrypha, uh, outside of, uh, canonical gospels and acts, called, uh, Acts of the, not Acts of the, Acts of Paul, um, that, that accounts post-Rome, uh, for, for, for what happened to Paul.

[52:49] But, it is, it is widely received that, that accounts are, uh, pretty late in the, in, in history, that there were, there were, probably written later than second century, or possibly second century.

[53:05] Um, and also some of the accounts there, there seem, they seem to be, um, in Congress with, with what, what happens in the gospel to Jesus as well as Acts, to the apostles. So, so it's not widely received that they, there, they might, there might be some, um, that is, that could be true, but most, I think mostly it is received as, it could be made up, um, narratives or accounts.

[53:33] Um, but, that's also debated. Um, other, um, so yes, so, so scholars, I mean, they would, they would speculate, you know, there could be other documents, but we don't, in terms of canonical ones, we don't have, um, we don't have something other than Acts and the letters, but the letters give us some, some idea of what happened to Paul after, after, uh, Acts 28.

[53:59] So, I think that's all. That's, that's, that's, yeah. It is. That's, it's interesting the writing of scripture, that, if they're, if they're, um, dipping into, uh, Greco-Roman, these stories, ways, even ways of expressing things, Yes.

[54:27] for quality. Yes. Um, it reminds me of the King James Version, where they, they designed a, a noble way of expressing, without changing the truth, and it wasn't a, a language that was normally spoken, in England at that time.

[54:48] Mm. Um, would you say the same element is, is in Luke's writing, that he was looking for, a noble way, of expressing things, a dramatic way, um, in the best language, of the time?

[55:02] Would you say that, is there any evidence of that? Um, in, like, I think I mentioned this briefly, but in prologue, of, gospel of Luke, the first, um, three verses, or, first four verses, um, if you look at Greek words, there is really close to, um, like Josephus, uh, prologue, in his, uh, against Arian, um, and it's very hard Greek, to read, so, for those of us, who are taking, um, Greek, classes, I mean, it's really hard, Greek to read, there, so it really, stumbles us, um, whenever we, uh, we, came upon it, but, but, in terms of gospel of Luke, that's the only part, and then, in the book of Acts, there, mostly it's Koine Greek, but at the end, I mean, even though it's Koine Greek, which is common Greek, for, um, for, for the Linga Franca, of the day, um, but at the end, chapter 27 and 8, he uses some of the, um, classical Greek, uh,

[56:10] I guess, syntax, as well as, some, some vocabulary, but it's not, it's not just solely, as, um, classical Greek literature, so it's not as, so it is, some, some of the words that he uses, and some of the, uh, neons that he uses, yes, it is, um, in the quality of, that can, that can be comparable to classical Greek, but it is not, it's not solely that, so, I think I would say, still, um, Luke has in mind, the, the, the common people that, that he's writing to, the audience that he's writing to, that's why even though he uses, he, so it definitely shows that he, he knows the language well, both, um, both, the common language, as well as the, the, the high quality classical language, so it shows that, but, um, but I think he's, deliberately uses common language, so that he could, he could address, the common people, of his day, and, and proclaim the gospel for them, so, I think that's the, main purpose that, Luke uses.

[57:10] He's well acquainted with the poets though, because the address on Mars Hill, Hill, shows what he knows about ancient poets, or, Paul, Paul knows, yes, in, in chapter 17 of, of Acts, yes, yes, sir.

[57:25] and, if you study these things, we did, the church, do you agree, the church fathers of any Christian since, would have said, now, don't forget the basics, God is sovereign over history, he created this culture, he created this language, he created these literary genres, into which I'm putting the gospel, I mean, they weren't at war, God is doing this, and God created this literary form, and said, I'm going to put the gospel in there, yes, for them, that was common sense, wasn't it?

[57:55] Yes, yes, it was, it was in a sense that, in history, that God is sovereign, I mean, that's the belief, and faith that, that they had, but, but at the same time, there are some, I am not, I'm not too sure, who are the, the church fathers, but, or who were the church fathers, but, but there are some, who are, a little bit, embarrassing, of the language, and literary style, of New Testament, because of, how common it is, because if you look at, church fathers writings, I mean, they're, they're writing in, in very high, quality Greek, not like, New Testament authors, so it shifts, right after the, probably, first, end of the first century, the, how, how, how, how Christian literatures are written, stylistically speaking, so, so yes, I think there's a sense of, God is sovereign in history, and through the book of Acts, as well as, through the church, well, how matter, church fathers, like C.S. Lewis, right, oh, yes, Homer, is the dream, that God gives the Gentiles,

[58:57] Luke is the fulfillment, this is what, this is the real drama, on the Mediterranean, that Homer, at best, granddad, that's, that's a Lewis, that's a brilliant way, to put it, yes, that's a brilliant way, to put it, yes, that's great, yeah, so I'll, I'll say that, I mean, Acts, book of Acts, I mean, we, my, my interest in, in the New Testament studies, is, has been always Paul, but then, book of Acts, is as much as fascinating, as other, Pauline studies, especially as Acts, now, I, I, I can consider it as, you know, Luke accounts, best of his skills, using best of his skills, to, the salvation, history of God, and his people, so, I mean, that's just, that's just great, it's brilliant, way to, way to end, the book of Acts, I think, so I think that's all, it's a good note, to end, also, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you,