Bible Dictionary Project

Bible Dictionary Project (New Testament)

Book

The book of Luke is a part of the New Testament. The book was written by Luke in AD 60. Luke was a medical doctor, missionary, an evangelist, a historian, a researcher and the author of the third Gospel. (Hindson and Towns – 2013) It was written for the Most Honorable Theophilus (this was an honorary title among Romans and Jews at the time and is translated as the “Friend of God”). Thus the book is written to all Christians, who believe in Jesus. It was written to give Christians an orderly sequence of events concerning the birth, life and death of Jesus.

The story takes place in the Caesarea; it is a small town located in Israel. It is located half way between Tele Aviv and Haifa. The town was originally built by Herod the Great, between 25 – 13 BC. It was originally known as the port city of Caesarea Maritima. It was named Caesarea in honor of Augusta.

With his usual magnificence Herod lavished adornments on the city. He erected sumptuous palaces and public buildings, a theater, and amphitheater with prospect to the sea; while a spacious system of sewers under the city secured cleanliness and health of the city. But the greatest work of all was a magnificent harbor which was always free of waves. Herod had a gigantic break wall constructed to protect the harbor from the ocean waves. It was by all accounts a magnificent city.

Persons

Jesus - Jesus the son of God. He is also referred to as Jesus of Nazarene. He lived between 6-4 BC and 30 – 33 AD. It readily agreed by modern scholars that Jesus existed historically. In Christian beliefs, Jesus was the son of God and he is the awaited Messiah of the Old Testament.

It is generally agreed that Jesus was a Galilean Jew born of the Virgin Mary and her husband Joseph around the first century. Jesus was born in a manger in the city of Bethlehem, to which his parents traveled to be counted as part of census. When Mary and Joseph...