The Accuracy of Luke’s Writing

In the book of Acts, Luke’s account is exceptionally accurate. Sir William M. Ramsay ranked the author of Acts, Luke, among “historians of the first rank.” He explained this by saying, “The first quality of a great historian is truthfulness. His words must be reliable.”

Biblical critics have often criticized Luke’s use of the title “proconsul” (Acts 13:7) for the governor of Cyprus. They argued that since Cyprus was an imperial province, the official’s title should have been propraetor, not proconsul. However, archaeologists later discovered that Cyprus was under direct imperial rule until 22 BCE, when it was transferred to the Roman Senate and governed by a proconsul. In 1877, archaeologists discovered an inscription north of Paphos that read “proconsul Paulus,” dated around 54 AD.

From Iconium, it is only 30 kilometers southwest to Lystra. Some historians have argued that Iconium should have been considered part of the Lycaonian region, along with Lystra and Derbe, and therefore accused Luke of an error. However, later archaeological discoveries proved that in Paul’s time, Iconium belonged to the Phrygian culture and its people spoke Phrygian, not Lycaonian. This once again proved the accuracy of Luke’s Gospel.

Bible critics had previously questioned Luke’s accuracy because the term Politarchs had not been found in other Greek literature to refer to local officials. The later discovery of this inscription on an archway in the ancient city of Thessalonica, which listed the names of several officials called Politarchs, confirmed the accuracy of Luke’s writing.

This inscription is a letter from Emperor Claudius that mentions Proconsul Gallio’s recent report about the desire to revitalize Delphi. The letter is dated between April and July 52 AD. From this, it can be inferred that Gallio also served as the proconsul of Achaia the previous year (a term was for one year). This places Paul’s 18-month stay in Corinth (Acts 18:1-11) as including the year 51 AD. The account of Proconsul Gallio in Acts 18:11-16 was previously unsupported by historical records and was a popular topic for biblical critics for centuries until the discovery of the Gallio Inscription in 1905, which proved the precision of Luke’s writing.