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The Jesus Chronicles #3
Luke's Story: By Faith Alone
Unlike the other gospel writers, Luke never met Jesus. His was a belief built on faith alone, much like that of modern believers. His gospel, filled with stories of Jesus' divinity, speaks to the hearts of today's Christians. In Luke's Story, we follow him as he rises from Greek slave to university-educated physician. Along the way, he meets Saul of Tarsus, a formidable Hebrew debater who becomes both Luke's role model and greatest competitor. Luke is intrigued, but skeptical, when he hears stories of a man who performs great miracles of healing. But the dramatic conversion of Saul, and the miraculous healing of one of his own patients by prayer, irreversibly changes Luke's spiritual life. Luke pledges himself to Christ and makes a life-changing he will write a Gospel based on years of interviewing believers about their conversions, and hearing stories of Jesus' life. The result is a scripture rich in the miraculous stories of Jesus that touches people all over the world today.
554 pages, Library Binding
First published February 17, 2009
113 people are currently reading
1196 people want to read
About the author
Tim LaHaye
779 books2,283 followersTimothy "Tim" F. LaHaye was an American evangelical Christian minister, author, and speaker, best known for the Left Behind series of apocalyptic fiction, which he co-wrote with Jerry B. Jenkins.
He has written over 50 books, both fiction and non-fiction.
He has written over 50 books, both fiction and non-fiction.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 97 reviews
August 9, 2018
"Luke's Story: By Faith Alone" shows marked improvement in story development by Mssrs. La Haye and Jenkins. You still have the wonderful Scriptural background that the authors' first book, "The Story of John" was noted for, but this time, the reader is treated to a more detailed and fascinating portrait that is Luke.
In this story, we learn of Luke's rise from a slave to becoming a physician. Ultimately, Luke becomes a Christian when receiving his evangelical witness from the Apostle Paul. Most importantly, we feel the characters are written with greater dimension, and come to appreciate why Luke was compelled to write his Gospel with such care and specificity.
This book was a pleasant improvement over the first in the series, "The Jesus Chronicles".
In this story, we learn of Luke's rise from a slave to becoming a physician. Ultimately, Luke becomes a Christian when receiving his evangelical witness from the Apostle Paul. Most importantly, we feel the characters are written with greater dimension, and come to appreciate why Luke was compelled to write his Gospel with such care and specificity.
This book was a pleasant improvement over the first in the series, "The Jesus Chronicles".
March 9, 2012
Written by a pastor, Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, chair of the Moody Bible Institute, these two authors have collaborated on many religious books. This one is 3rd in the Jesus Chronicles. The beginning third of the book was fun to read though not well written. Probably it was conjectured, but the story of Luke (Bible New Testament Luke and Acts) growing up as a slave who was favored by his rich master and therefore taught to read and tutored was a good read. The book remains interesting as it moves on to Luke's college period as a medical and stoicism student. (His college seems a little too similar to today's college experiences.) Luke, a Greek, enjoyed a friendship with a Jew until the man who intended to be a Rabbi realized he was not to fraternize with people other than Jews. Of course, in the conversion to Christianity section of the book, they rejoin their friendship.
As the book gets into the period of conversion and writing the gospel and trips in the service of God and friendship with Paul, it begins using Luke's gospel as its' words and substitutes preaching for story. I got bored and gave up with reading as this part was sufficiently familar. I should have known it would be. The book ends with Luke's segments of the Bible and Acts.
As the book gets into the period of conversion and writing the gospel and trips in the service of God and friendship with Paul, it begins using Luke's gospel as its' words and substitutes preaching for story. I got bored and gave up with reading as this part was sufficiently familar. I should have known it would be. The book ends with Luke's segments of the Bible and Acts.
August 12, 2009
So while this one wasn't a great book, I thought it was fine. The problem comes b/c a few years ago, I read "Dear and Glorious Physician" by Taylor Caldwell, also discussing Luke, and it was so much better. After Caldwell's version, this one kind of felt like the Cliff Notes version for kids. Good, but VERY basic.
It also kind of bothered me that they modernized it too much - I mean, thanks for not writing everything in Greek, but the other measurements of time and distance could have been more appropriate.
If you are looking for somewhere to start learning about Luke - this one might work. If you want something more in depth, read Caldwell's book.
PS Thought it was a little bit of overkill to have the Gospel of Luke and Acts in the book as well...especially since they covered all the events listed in the first half of the book.
It also kind of bothered me that they modernized it too much - I mean, thanks for not writing everything in Greek, but the other measurements of time and distance could have been more appropriate.
If you are looking for somewhere to start learning about Luke - this one might work. If you want something more in depth, read Caldwell's book.
PS Thought it was a little bit of overkill to have the Gospel of Luke and Acts in the book as well...especially since they covered all the events listed in the first half of the book.
December 26, 2009
Too much of this novel quotes almost verbatim from Scripture. I highly doubt Paul went around speaking like his letters read. An interesting idea, could have been better written.
January 31, 2022
What fun to imagine what Luke’s life might have been like. I really enjoyed it and reading how the authors thought Luke might have ended up writing Luke and Acts.
February 19, 2017
Three stars for the first half, one star for the last half. I read this book to try and better understand the incredible success of the Left Behind series without actually have to read it. I found the movie totally laughable and didn't think I could be very objective about the book. I thought the first half of this book was fine, although as one who has read some scholarly commentaries on Luke and Acts, it was obvious to me how ignorant the authors were about what we can know about Luke from a critical study of his writings. Most of it is pretty inconsequential to the story, but for some reason it really bothered me that the authors would think that neither Paul nor Luke would know the meaning of the common Greek proverb, "It is hard to kick against the goads." That would be like a fluent English speaker having trouble figuring out what "That's the way the cookie crumbles" means.
I think my annoyance at this is two-fold. First, the common evangelical belief of the uniqueness of the Bible as to originality (clearly, to "kick against the goads" was not an original saying of Jesus), and the idea that one can understand the Bible fairly well without at least a moderate understanding of the Greek language and culture. Christians do not seem to understand in the same way that Muslims and Jews do that when they are reading translations of their scriptures, much is lost.
The second half of the book really wasn't even worth reading. Here we switch from "Luke's story" to first a story about Paul, and then a story about Mary, Jesus's mother. Paul's story basically just follows portions of Acts narrated by Paul with generous quotes from Acts and the Pauline epistles. I borrowed this book from the library, but if I had bought it, I would have wanted half my money back. I already have plenty of Bibles I can read. The authors missed out on the opportunity to creatively weave the events from Acts from Luke's point of view. I was particularly disappointed to lose out on the expected narration of the sea voyage in Acts 27-28. In fact, the author's don't even have Luke on the ship with Paul, even though these chapters are a part of the famous "we" sections of Acts!
Furthermore, I was bothered by the occasional deviations from quoted scripture that I found in these sections despite the notice that "scripture is from the New King James Version." Particularly I was bothered by "Faith comes by hearing the word of God (a misquotation of Rom 10:17) and that Jesus came "to seek and to save the lost (a misquotation of Luke 19:10).
I think my annoyance at this is two-fold. First, the common evangelical belief of the uniqueness of the Bible as to originality (clearly, to "kick against the goads" was not an original saying of Jesus), and the idea that one can understand the Bible fairly well without at least a moderate understanding of the Greek language and culture. Christians do not seem to understand in the same way that Muslims and Jews do that when they are reading translations of their scriptures, much is lost.
The second half of the book really wasn't even worth reading. Here we switch from "Luke's story" to first a story about Paul, and then a story about Mary, Jesus's mother. Paul's story basically just follows portions of Acts narrated by Paul with generous quotes from Acts and the Pauline epistles. I borrowed this book from the library, but if I had bought it, I would have wanted half my money back. I already have plenty of Bibles I can read. The authors missed out on the opportunity to creatively weave the events from Acts from Luke's point of view. I was particularly disappointed to lose out on the expected narration of the sea voyage in Acts 27-28. In fact, the author's don't even have Luke on the ship with Paul, even though these chapters are a part of the famous "we" sections of Acts!
Furthermore, I was bothered by the occasional deviations from quoted scripture that I found in these sections despite the notice that "scripture is from the New King James Version." Particularly I was bothered by "Faith comes by hearing the word of God (a misquotation of Rom 10:17) and that Jesus came "to seek and to save the lost (a misquotation of Luke 19:10).
June 26, 2023
There are two main fiction books dedicated to the life of Luke: this one by LaHay and Jenkins, and Taylor Caldwell’s, “Dear and Glorious Physician”.
Compared side by side, Dear and Glorious Physician is a far superior book in terms of interest, plot, and characters.
While both books attempt to create a reasonably realistic albeit fictitious narrative for Luke, I found “Luke’s Story” more “fluff” than Taylor Caldwell’s more intricately detailed story. The authors pull Paul’s language directly from the Book of Acts and his many letters to the churches. One could argue that using Biblical quotes adds to the truth of the narrative, but if this is the case, why not just read the Acts of the Apostles and Paul’s letters rather than Luke’s Story?
Luke’s Story is written at perhaps a 6th or 7th grade level, easy to breeze right through, but for me, not compelling at all. In contrast, Dear and Glorious Physician spins an extremely detailed, interesting, and at times fascinating narrative, that is at a high school or collegiate level.
For me, Luke’s Story became predictable and therefore boring about a third of the way into the book. I struggled to finish it. Considering the last third of this book is the actual gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts, there truly isn’t much to this narrative that expands beyond the aforementioned Biblical books. If this is the “best” of the four books in this series, as some reviewers have written, then I have no interest in reading the stories of Matthew, Mark, or John.
If the interested reader desires a more challenging read, Dear and Glorious Physician is the obvious choice.
Compared side by side, Dear and Glorious Physician is a far superior book in terms of interest, plot, and characters.
While both books attempt to create a reasonably realistic albeit fictitious narrative for Luke, I found “Luke’s Story” more “fluff” than Taylor Caldwell’s more intricately detailed story. The authors pull Paul’s language directly from the Book of Acts and his many letters to the churches. One could argue that using Biblical quotes adds to the truth of the narrative, but if this is the case, why not just read the Acts of the Apostles and Paul’s letters rather than Luke’s Story?
Luke’s Story is written at perhaps a 6th or 7th grade level, easy to breeze right through, but for me, not compelling at all. In contrast, Dear and Glorious Physician spins an extremely detailed, interesting, and at times fascinating narrative, that is at a high school or collegiate level.
For me, Luke’s Story became predictable and therefore boring about a third of the way into the book. I struggled to finish it. Considering the last third of this book is the actual gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts, there truly isn’t much to this narrative that expands beyond the aforementioned Biblical books. If this is the “best” of the four books in this series, as some reviewers have written, then I have no interest in reading the stories of Matthew, Mark, or John.
If the interested reader desires a more challenging read, Dear and Glorious Physician is the obvious choice.
July 22, 2016
Since there's a book named Luke in the Bible it's easy to forget that he wasn't actually present during Jesus' ministry. He wrote one of the most detailed accounts, but he did so from collecting eye witness accounts and studying scrolls that were made from people who were there.
This book's story was so-so, but the historical and biblical knowledge of the book was very good, so I settled on a 3 rating. Tim LaHaye created a story to weave in all of the known historical knowledge of Luke's life and his gospel. Some of it was pretty cool, other stuff was kind of boring, and some you weren't sure if it was fictionalized or not. I guess that's what I didn't like was trying to separate the wheat from the chaff in what he made up and what was historical fact.
After the story of his life and the writing of his gospel, the author then includes the entire gospel of Luke at the end of the book. Kind of cheating, in my opinion, like copying 100 pages into your book for free, and only having to write half a book. But hey, it was cool to compare what you just finished reading to the actual gospel and see how he found a way to include every story into the narrative.
This book's story was so-so, but the historical and biblical knowledge of the book was very good, so I settled on a 3 rating. Tim LaHaye created a story to weave in all of the known historical knowledge of Luke's life and his gospel. Some of it was pretty cool, other stuff was kind of boring, and some you weren't sure if it was fictionalized or not. I guess that's what I didn't like was trying to separate the wheat from the chaff in what he made up and what was historical fact.
After the story of his life and the writing of his gospel, the author then includes the entire gospel of Luke at the end of the book. Kind of cheating, in my opinion, like copying 100 pages into your book for free, and only having to write half a book. But hey, it was cool to compare what you just finished reading to the actual gospel and see how he found a way to include every story into the narrative.
March 9, 2009
This was an awesome book for those who believe in the Gospel and desire a deeper understanding of the Bible. I learned a great deal about Luke that I had never learned before.
Luke was a slave to Theophilous, that his master paid for him to go to university for medical and history studies. Luke had great compassion for people that were hurt or ill even before he completed his studies, that was his driving force. That Luke went to university and met Saul there, they became friends for awhile until a disagreement about Saul being close to a mere slave. Later Paul told of all the things that had happened to him on the Damascus Road, the miracles he had seen. After he bacame a believer, Luke was able to help Saul who became known as Paul after his conversion. How Luke traveled with Paul and helped in his mission and how Luke gathered all the historical facts of Jesus and completed his work; the book of Luke. You should read it, it was great!!!
Luke was a slave to Theophilous, that his master paid for him to go to university for medical and history studies. Luke had great compassion for people that were hurt or ill even before he completed his studies, that was his driving force. That Luke went to university and met Saul there, they became friends for awhile until a disagreement about Saul being close to a mere slave. Later Paul told of all the things that had happened to him on the Damascus Road, the miracles he had seen. After he bacame a believer, Luke was able to help Saul who became known as Paul after his conversion. How Luke traveled with Paul and helped in his mission and how Luke gathered all the historical facts of Jesus and completed his work; the book of Luke. You should read it, it was great!!!
September 6, 2012
Here's what makes this story so fascinating. Luke's Story tells us the background and life of the gospel writer that his gospel doesn't tell us, even delving into the relationship with the twice-mentioned "Theophilus." It's a lot of conjecture and assumption. It even talks about the early education and training of the Pharisee Saul and his conversion.
The thing is, at the end of the story of Luke's life, his conversion, and his research into the life of Jesus Christ (whom he heard about in passing as a physician in Greece), LaHaye and Jenkins present both the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts as they are in the New King James Version.
After reading about the life and struggles of Luke the physician, the gospel comes alive in a way that in never had before. Suddenly the story becomes personal, with a pulse and breath and life. The gospel should have this kind of life but it suddenly became more alive for me than it ever had. This is what makes this story so amazing.
The thing is, at the end of the story of Luke's life, his conversion, and his research into the life of Jesus Christ (whom he heard about in passing as a physician in Greece), LaHaye and Jenkins present both the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts as they are in the New King James Version.
After reading about the life and struggles of Luke the physician, the gospel comes alive in a way that in never had before. Suddenly the story becomes personal, with a pulse and breath and life. The gospel should have this kind of life but it suddenly became more alive for me than it ever had. This is what makes this story so amazing.
September 14, 2018
I've enjoyed all the books in this series. I always wonder how much is historically true and how much LaHaye and Jenkins used their imagination, it's just a curiosity, not a judgement on the book. The wonderful thing about these being based on real life is the way I kept waiting for events to happen. A couple I thought they'd missed, but I just had them on the wrong timeline!
My only disappointment with the series was the stiffness of the dialogue. Much of it comes across like it was set in a lite King James England period, but since none of it is, I wish they'd have used a more conversational, less formal style. I thought Luke's Story was the best dialogue in the series; however, I still felt as though the conversation among families and slaves would have been a bit more life like.
All in all, a great book and a wonderful series. Our book club at church will be discussing this one in ten days, so we'll see what they have to say!
My only disappointment with the series was the stiffness of the dialogue. Much of it comes across like it was set in a lite King James England period, but since none of it is, I wish they'd have used a more conversational, less formal style. I thought Luke's Story was the best dialogue in the series; however, I still felt as though the conversation among families and slaves would have been a bit more life like.
All in all, a great book and a wonderful series. Our book club at church will be discussing this one in ten days, so we'll see what they have to say!
June 4, 2011
Good concept but poorly written! The authors drop large portions of Scripture into the narrative without merging the storylines or melding the register and tone. And chapter upon chapter is spent developing how characters think and feel, only to have a "dilemma" resolved in half a page in an unbelievable way for those characters. A third problem is that the authors have written this book as a thinly veiled evangelistic tract for modern, American, churched readers - so the mode of speaking, vocabulary, character interrelationships, doctrinal arguing, etc are all INACCURATE! For example, why would Paul - apostle to the Gentiles - teach a Roman Gentile using classic Hebrew theolgoy? He wouldn't!! Which you can see if you read Scripture itself.
Writing: D
Plot: A
Vocabulary: C
Worldview: Christian
Writing: D
Plot: A
Vocabulary: C
Worldview: Christian
September 11, 2019
It was not what I expected & that is why I enjoyed it as much as I did. I thought this would be yet another Christian novel that blamed the Jews for killing Jesus, portraying us in bad light & making readers hate us. I thought the aim of this book was to missionize. There were a few moments where I was a bit turned off from it, but as I continued reading I found that the book was genuine in wanting to portray the early Christian movement as something relatable. The book attempts to place Luke in a position of science & man of physical reality, having him ask questions that we ourselves ask today. Luke finds himself questioning things, & eventually this leads him to a self discovery which he calls Truth. This was a fascinating read.
August 22, 2017
I really enjoyed this book. I love how the authors incorporated so much Scripture into the storytelling. It was beautifully done. My only problem with the book was the beginning. I enjoyed the idea of Luke's upbringing, but I wish there had been a prologue to let readers know that the events of Luke's upbringing and his relationship to Theophilus were assumptions or speculations. I felt like someone who wasn't educated in the Bible or the events of that time period may take that as factual instead of just possibilities.
Otherwise, it was wonderful! I loved imagining such a life for Luke and can't wait to ask him if it were close to that.
Otherwise, it was wonderful! I loved imagining such a life for Luke and can't wait to ask him if it were close to that.
September 6, 2020
I really did not care for this book. It starts out with the premise that Luke was a slave. Then goes to be educated and becomes a freeman and physician. He becomes friends with Saul during his education - and they part in life then he searches out for Saul and becomes part of Saul - then Paul's life and writes all the events down in what is now known as Luke and Acts of the Apostles. I just couldn't buy into the whole first 1/3 of the book. The only reason I am giving it 3 stars is that the writing is good, and concise for the last 1/2 of the book and included was the book of Luke from the bible.
April 1, 2021
This fictional portrayal of the apostle Luke's life, written from what is known about him, started out great and I really enjoyed how the first third of the book brought him to life in my mind. I felt like I got to see him as a person. The narrative & conversation were in contemporary style. I was okay with that, as it made it easier to get into than if they spoke in biblical conversation style, but about a third into the story, it shifted as they started to quote him speaking scripture more & more, until the last third of the book which is basically a recitation of the Books of Luke and Acts.
March 27, 2011
This was a book that I had seen several times at the library and finally decided to pick up. I waited awhile to actually read it. I worried that it would be really boring. I did have some trouble reading the book, due to the fact it felt like I was reading history books in school. I did learn a great deal about Paul (Saul) and Luke. I had no idea that the bible could be written to read like a book. I always had trouble figuring out who all the people were and got disctracted by the names of people and places. This was a great book for me.
July 7, 2018
We don't really know much about Luke outside of early traditions and conjecture, but I found this perspective an interesting read. I've often wondered how he came across Theophilus, what they meant to each other, how deep their friendship grew. The latter half of the book, of course, relates Luke's researching, interviews, and life with Paul, so it was largely taken from the New Testament. It was the first half of the book, the part with more conjecture and educated guesses that fascinated me more.
December 29, 2019
A very disappointing entry in the 'Jesus Chronicles' series. The beginning is very contrived and drawn out. Here Luke is presented as a slave who is virtually adopted by "Theophilus", a (non-existent) rich landowner who gives Luke a university education and favors him because...we never really know. Basically the first half is Luke moaning about how he doesn't have any friends and that the other slaves hate him, and the rest is a very unconvincing conversion.
March 11, 2021
Great historical fiction! Includes the entire 2 books that Luke wrote. Seems silly knowing the bible so well but never considering or thinking of luke as a person before. What an incredible life story and loving history so much that he tracked the entire story of jesus down and then got to heaven with Paul.
January 14, 2010
Well, they called it fiction - but I thought it would have at least some basis in scripture - nope it was pure conjecture.
I couldn't even get all the way through it, the writting was at such a low level, it read like a romance novel.
I couldn't even get all the way through it, the writting was at such a low level, it read like a romance novel.
August 12, 2010
Boring. The author was too afraid to step out on a limb to tell an interesting story. It was predictable, dull, and Luke seemed sort of like a wormy, whiny guy at times without true conflict in his life. If you're going to tell a story, make it a story worth telling.
November 21, 2019
Overall the story was good. It was an interesting conjecture on what Luke’s life may have been long. I agree with other readers who said the Gospel writing section was a bit long. I still enjoyed it though.
May 17, 2009
I was curious as to how they would depict Luke's life given we don't know much about him. It was a disappointing, somewhat boring book.
March 13, 2018
Enjoyable read!
April 20, 2018
Started off great but when it got to the point of conversion the dialogue started to feel wooden and using direct quotes from scripture didn't really come across properly as spoken dialogue
May 11, 2018
I love the author's retelling of this story. It is woven beautifully!
September 7, 2018
What a cool premise! I don't want to add spoilers, but I will just say that the way that both Paul (Saul), and Theopolis are linked to Luke is terrific.
June 1, 2021
Very good story! Would recommend!
March 2, 2022
Very plausible backstory for this writer of one of the Gospels. Interesting, thoughtful, and seemed well researched. Definitely want to read the rest of this series now.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 97 reviews