The first readers of Luke-Acts were introduced to a panoply of individuals who would have appeared in the life of the cities, villages, and rural outposts of the Roman empire. The characters mentioned by Luke include individuals of every contemporary ethnic and political community. Furthermore, in his narrative Luke introduces shepherds, vinedressers, fisherfolk, tanners, silversmiths, purple-dye sellers, charismatic leaders and their followers, priests and scribes, prostitutes, tax-collectors, beggars, Roman soldiers of every rank, slaves and freemen, landowners, tenant farmers, stewards, representatives of Roman authority, local non-Roman officials, rich and poor, men, women, and children. These dramatis personae represent every position on the social scale, suggesting that it may be appropriate to use modern sociological terminology when studying Luke-Acts.

Social stratification

“Social status,” “rank,” and “class” are concepts that are often used indiscriminately; however, they should be more clearly distinguished. “Class” denotes a group of people who, from the standpoint of specific interests, have the same economic position. “Status” is a “quality of social honor or lack of it and is, in the main, conditioned as well as expressed through a specific style of life.” Hence, class is a term which more strictly defines economic earning power.

Social status is a term which possesses wider connotations denoting various levels of prestige, not limited in its definition by economic factors.