In a chapter he wrote for the Handbook on the Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith, Jim Sibley argued that Luke’s Theophilus was likely a Jewish high priest. In fact, he says this Theophilus may have been deposed from office in 41 AD because of his favorability toward the growing Christian movement. He also believes that Luke’s Joanna was likely the granddaughter of this same Theophilus. Dr. Sibley joins Shane to discuss these issues and more.
During this episode, Shane referenced an upcoming livestream presentation related to the prologue of Luke’s Gospel. A video recording of this webinar is now available here.
SHOW NOTES
Books
A Handbook on the Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith, Jim Sibley & others
A Handbook on the Jewish Roots of the Gospels, Jim Sibley & others
The Undercover Messiah & His Coming Kingdom, Jim Sibley
The Moody Handbook on Messianic Prophecy, Rydelnik & Blum
Luke: A Commentary, Peter G. Bolt
The Gospel According to Luke, James R. Edwards
Lukan Authorship of Hebrews (ebook), David Allen
Gospel Women, Richard Bauckham
Can We Trust The Gospels? Peter J. Williams
Testimonies to the Truth, Lydia McGrew
Luke’s Key Witness, Shane Rosenthal
Articles
Who is Theophilus? Notes to Ep. #79, Peter Bolt, Johann Michaelis, etc.
Is Luke a Trustworthy Historian? Sir William Ramsay
Can We Trust Luke’s History of the Early Jesus Movement? Shane Rosenthal
On Faith & History, Shane Rosenthal
Who is Sergius Paulus? Shane Rosenthal
Simon of Cyrene: An Intriguing Archaeological Discovery, Shane Rosenthal
The Implications of 70 AD, Shane Rosenthal
A Pre-70 Date for the Gospels & Acts, Shane Rosenthal
The Date of John’s Gospel, Revisited, Shane Rosenthal
Outside the Gospels, What Can We Know About Jesus? Shane Rosenthal
Episodes
Who is Theophilus? Episode #79 with Peter Bolt
Did Josephus Ever Mention Jesus? Episode #77 with T.C. Schmidt
Jesus in Josephus & Other Ancient Texts, Episode #78 with T.C. Schmidt
Did the Exodus Ever Happen? Episode #69 with David Rohl
Locating Golgotha, Episode #17 with David Rohl
Stories of Jesus: Can They Be Trusted? Episode. #61 with Peter J. Williams
Are the Gospels History or Fiction? Ep. #52 with John Dickson
The Gospel Creed, Episode #9
Faith Founded on Facts, Episode #15
Video
Rethinking Luke’s Prologue, a webinar by Shane Rosenthal
The Alisa Childers Podcast featuring Shane Rosenthal
Cross Examined with Frank Turek featuring Shane Rosenthal
F4F with Chris Rosebrough featuring Shane Rosenthal
Who Is Theophilus?
In his famous prologue, Luke indicates that his Gospel is addressed to a “most excellent Theophilus.” As others had done, Luke decided to write an orderly account about the things Jesus had accomplis…
