Gospel of Luke

The Gospel of Luke is the third of the four canonical Gospels of the New Testament, which tell the story of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. Although the text does not name its author, the modern consensus follows the traditional view that this gospel and the Acts of the Apostles were written by the same author. The traditional view is that this author is the Luke named in the Epistle to Philemon 24, a follower of Paul.

Authorship and audience

The critical view, expressed by Udo Schnelle, is that "the extensive linguistic and theological agreements and cross-references between the Gospel of Luke and the Acts indicate that both works derive from the same author" (The History and Theology of the New Testament Writings).

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The evangelist does not claim to have been an eyewitness of Jesus's life, but to have investigated everything carefully and to have written an orderly narrative of the facts (Luke 1:1-4). The authors of the other three Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and John, probably used similar sources. According to the two-source hypothesis, the most commonly accepted solution to the synoptic problem, Luke's sources included the Gospel of Mark and another collection of lost sayings known by scholars as Q, the Quelle or "source" document.

Related Topics:
Two-source hypothesis - Synoptic problem - Gospel of Mark - Q, the ''Quelle'' or "source" document

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The general consensus is that Luke was written by a Greek for the gentile Christians. The Gospel is addressed to the author's patron, the "most excellent" Theophilus.

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