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Luke-Acts+Paul as Foundational Authorities

Foundational Authorities of the New Testament

Updated 9/12/2023

Luke-Acts + Paul as Foundational Authorities

Luke-Acts + Paul are sufficient for conveying the minimum information needed for one to be a believer. Integrity Syndicate affirms the condensed list of Tier 1, which exhibits the highest level of historical reliability, should be considered foundational as the basis for defining core beliefs.  While others may consider additional books or all the books in the traditional New Testament Canon to be authoritative, we expect, that at the very minimum, Christians should agree that the books in Tier 1  are indeed central authorities. 

Tier 1 is sufficient for conveying the core essentials of the Gospel message for bringing people into the body of Christ with the hope of an inheritance in the Kingdom of God. It is this list of Foundational Authorities that new or prospective believers should be focused on. 

Making internal distinctions within the traditional canon

The table provides useful distinctions with respect to the traditional NT Canon, for indicating what books should be prioritized as foundational vs. supplemental. Tier 1 constitutes 51% of the Greek words in the New Testament, and Tier 2 is 49%. Not everyone may agree with the listing of Foundational Authorities, but Christians should at least not dispute that they are adequate for conveying the core essentials, although they may desire to add additional books to the list.

The New Testament in Two Volumes

The table below shows a revised ordering of NT manuscripts for separating the books into a two-volume readers edition. 

Why Luke-Acts Primacy?

  • The author followed all things carefully and set the record straight, Luke 1:1-4
  • The author of Luke-Acts is the first Christian historian who took a critical approach to examining all the source material and testimony so that the reader may have an accurate account of the ministry of Jesus and that of the apostles. 
  • Luke-Acts contains the only Gospel that is a chronological historical narrative and that exhibits the highest degree of the historical reliability of all the Gospels.
  • Luke-Acts spans from the birth of Christ to the ministry of Paul with full continuity between the ministry of Christ and the Apostles.
  • By volume, the author of Luke is the writer who wrote the largest part of the New Testament. The Gospel According to Luke and the Acts of the Apostles are two of the longest books; together, they constitute about 27.5% of the New Testament.
  • Luke-Acts contains all the essential information about the Gospel message, including who Christ is and what he and his apostles preached. It is the only section of the New Testament that can stand on its own to convey the core witness of Christianity, including the preaching of the Apostles and the history of the early church.
  • Luke contains corrections (more original readings) regarding Mark and Mathew. 
  • The other gospels have significant issues. 
For more information, see the following Sites:

https://lukanpriority.com/ – Establishing that Luke is the most primitive Gospel
https://lukeprimacy.com/ – The basis for Luke-Acts as the primary witness of Apostolic Christianity
https://issueswithmark.com/ – Understanding the issues with Mark
https://issueswithmatthew.com/ – Understanding the issues with Matthew
https://issueswithjohn.com/ – Understanding the issues of John