Luke the Evangelist is one of the Four Evangelists—the four traditionally ascribed authors of the canonical gospels.
The Early Church Fathers ascribed to him authorship of both the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles.
Prominent figures in early Christianity such as Jerome and Eusebius later reaffirmed his authorship, although a lack of conclusive evidence as to the identity of the author of the works has led to discussion in scholarly circles, both secular and religious.
The New Testament mentions Luke briefly a few times, and the Epistle to the Colossians refers to him as a physician (from Greek for 'one who heals'); thus he is thought to have been both a physician and a disciple of Paul.
Since the early years of the faith, Christians have regarded him as a saint.
He is believed to have been a martyr, reportedly having been hanged from an olive tree, though some believe otherwise.
The Catholic Church and other major denominations venerate him as Saint Luke the Evangelist and as a patron saint of artists, physicians, bachelors, notaries, butchers, brewers, and others; his feast day is 18 October.
Many scholars believe that Luke was a physician who lived in the Hellenistic city of Antioch in Ancient Syria, born of a Greek family, although some scholars and theologians think Luke was a Hellenic Jew.
While it has been widely accepted that the theology of Luke–Acts points to a gentile Christian writing for a gentile audience, some have concluded that it is more plausible that Luke–Acts is directed to a community made up of both Jewish and gentile Christians since there is stress on the scriptural roots of the gentile mission (see the use of Isaiah 49:6 in Luke–Acts).
DNA testing on what Christian tradition holds to be his body has revealed it to be of Syrian ancestry.
Whether Luke was a Jew or gentile, or something in between, it is clear from the quality of the Greek language used in Luke-Acts that the author, held in Christian tradition to be Luke, was one of the most highly educated of the authors of the New Testament.
The author's conscious and intentional allusions and references to, and quotations of, ancient Classical and Hellenistic Greek authors, such as Homer, Aesop, Epimenides, Euripides, Plato, and Aratus indicate that he was familiar with actual Greek literary texts.
This familiarity most likely derived from his experiences as a youth of the very homogeneous Hellenistic educational curriculum (ἐγκύκλιος παιδεία) that had been, and would continue to be, used for centuries throughout the eastern Mediterranean.
Luke's earliest mention is in the Epistle to Philemon, chapter 1, verse 24.
He is also mentioned in Colossians 4:14 and 2 Timothy 4:11, both traditionally held to be Pauline epistles (see Authorship of the Pauline epistles).
The next earliest account of Luke is in the anti-Marcionite prologue to the Gospel of Luke, a document once thought to date to the 2nd century, but which has more recently been dated to the later 4th century.
Epiphanius states that Luke was one of the Seventy Apostles (Panarion 51.11), and John Chrysostom indicates at one point that the "brother" that Paul mentions in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians 8:18 is either Luke or Barnabas (Homily 18 on Second Corinthians on 2 Corinthians 8:18).
If one accepts that Luke was indeed the author of the Gospel bearing his name and the Acts of the Apostles, certain details of his personal life can be reasonably assumed.
While he does exclude himself from those who were eyewitnesses to Jesus' ministry, he repeatedly uses the word we in describing the Pauline missions in Acts of the Apostles, indicating that he was personally there at those times.
The composition of the writings, as well as The Range of vocabulary used, indicate that the author was an educated man.
A quote in the Epistle to the Colossians differentiates between Luke and other colleagues "of the circumcision."
"10My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. 11Jesus, who is called Justus, also sends greetings. These are the only Jews among my co-workers for the kingdom of God, and they have proved a comfort to me.[...] 14Our dear friend Luke, the doctor, and Demas send greetings."
This comment has traditionally caused commentators to conclude that Luke was a gentile.
If this were true, it would make Luke the only writer of the New Testament who can clearly be identified as not being Jewish.
However, that is not the only possibility.
Although Luke is considered likely to have been a gentile Christian, some scholars believe him to have been a Hellenized Jew.
The phrase could just as easily be used to differentiate between those Christians who strictly observed the rituals of Judaism and those who did not.
Luke's presence in Rome with the Apostle Paul near the end of Paul's life was attested by 2 Timothy 4:11: "Only Luke is with me".
In the last chapter of the Book of Acts, widely attributed to Luke, there are several accounts in the first person also affirming Luke's presence in Rome, including Acts 28:16: "And when we came to Rome..."
According to some accounts, Luke also contributed to the authorship of the Epistle to the Hebrews.
Luke died at age 84 in Boeotia, according to a "fairly early and widespread tradition".
1975
The earliest manuscript of the Gospel (Papyrus 75 = Papyrus Bodmer XIV-XV), dated AD 200, ascribes the work to Luke; as did Irenaeus writing AD 180, and the Muratorian fragment, a 7th-century Latin manuscript thought to be copied and translated from a Greek manuscript as old as AD 170.
The Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles make up a two-volume work which scholars call Luke–Acts.
Together they account for 27.5% of the New Testament, the largest contribution by a single author.
Most scholars understand Luke's works (Luke–Acts) in the tradition of Greek historiography.
Luke 1:1–4, drawing on historical investigation, identified the work to the readers as belonging to the genre of history.
2014
According to Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos, Greek historian of the 14th century (and others), Luke's tomb was located in Thebes, whence his relics were transferred to Constantinople in the year 357.
The Gospel of Luke does not name its author.
The Gospel was not, nor does it claim to be, written by direct witnesses to the reported events, unlike Acts beginning in the sixteenth chapter.
However, in most translations the author suggests that they have investigated the book's events and notes the name (Theophilus) of that to whom they are writing.
