Luke-Acts

A two-volume work, a gospel followed directly by a history of the early church (Acts of the Apostles), sharing a single author, prologue structure, and theological argument: that the movement beginning with Jesus in Galilee was always meant to extend, in an unbroken line, from Jerusalem outward to Rome and the Gentile world. Like Matthew, its gospel volume draws on Mark and a hypothesized shared sayings source, but adds distinctive material, including well-known parables such as the Prodigal Son and the Good Samaritan, and a pronounced concern for the poor, women, and social outsiders. The place of its composition is genuinely disputed, with Rome, Antioch, Achaea, and Ephesus all proposed by different scholars, and Acts remains the primary, though not disinterested, narrative source for the earliest decades of the Christian movement, including Paul's missionary career.