In Luke 1: 3-4, the author states that he decided to “ write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the truth concerning the things about which you have been instructed .” Theophilus is Greek for lover of God and it is suggested that he may either be an individual who recently converted to the faith or a Roman official of whom the church is seeking acceptance from.

It is has been argued that Luke may be writing: a letter of apology ( traditionally a defense for one ’ s beliefs ), a letter of legitimation for Christian beliefs, a letter to equip the church to function amidst the Roman Empire, or a letter that is apolitical.

Of course, some scholars believe Luke ’ s work may be fulfilling more than one purpose and thus may side with more than one of the claims that are presented here.

Supporters of this view believe that “ to a hypothetical outside reader, presents Christianity as enlightened, harmless, even beneficent .” Some believe that through this work, Luke intended to show the Roman Empire that the root of Christianity is within Judaism so that the Christians “ may receive the same freedom to practice their faith that the Roman Empire afforded the Jews .” Those who support the view of Luke ’ s work as political apology generally draw evidence from the facts that Christians are found innocent of committing any political crime ( Acts 25: 25 ; 19: 37 ; 19: 40 ) and that Roman officials ’ views towards Christians are generally positive.

Whereas the claim above suggested that Luke was writing to Rome, this view proposes that Luke may be writing to the church in order to convince the saints of his own view that Rome is not a threat to the church.

Some scholars believe that the apologetic view of Luke ’ s work is overemphasized and that it should not be regarded as a “ major aim of the Lucan writings .” While Munck believes that purpose of Luke ’ s work is not that clear-cut and sympathizes with other claims, he believes that Luke ’ s work can function as an apology only in the sense that it “ presents a defense of Christianity and Paul ” and may serve to “ clarify the position of Christianity within Jewry and within the Roman Empire .” Pervo disagrees that Luke ’ s work is an apology and even that it could possibly be addressed to Rome because he believes that “ Luke and Acts speak to insiders, believers in Jesus .” Freedman believes that Luke is writing an apology but that his goal is “ not to defend the Christian movement as such but to defend God ’ s ways in history .”

Pervo sees Luke ’ s work as a “ legitimizing narrative ” because it makes “ a case by telling a story ( or stories )” and serves to legitimate either “ Pauline Christianity ( possibly in rivalry to other interpretations ) or generally as the claim of the Jesus-movement to possess the Israelite heritage .” On the other hand, some scholars greatly disagree with the view of legitimation because they believe that it “ mirror-reads ” Luke ’ s work attempting to uncover the circumstances surrounding Luke ’ s work by over-arguing something that may not be that valid.

The author opens with a prologue, usually taken to be addressed to an individual by the name of Theophilus ( though this name, which translates literally as " God-lover ", may be a nickname rather than a personal appellation ) and references " my earlier book "— almost certainly the Gospel of Luke.

For a uniform polyhedron, the face of the dual polyhedron may be found from the original polyhedron's vertex figure using the Dorman Luke construction.

Luke may also have drawn from independent written records.

In fact, “ Luke perceives himself to be a Jew .” Finally, Rebecca Denova concludes her book with these words: “ Luke-Acts, we may conclude on the basis of a narrative-critical reading, was written by a Jew to persuade other Jews that Jesus of Nazareth was the messiah of Scripture and that the words of the prophets concerning ‘ restoration ’ have been ‘ fulfilled .’” Finally it should be noted that Strelan in 2008 not only concluded that Theophilus was Jewish but also that Luke was a priest.

Paul described Luke as “ the beloved physician ”, leading Hobart to claim in 1882 that the vocabulary used in Luke-Acts suggests its author may have had medical training.

Schweitzer found many New Testament references to apparently show that 1st-century Christians believed literally in the imminent fulfillment of the promise of the World's ending, within the lifetime of Jesus's original followers, He noted that in the gospel of Mark, Jesus speaks of a " tribulation ", with his coming in the clouds with great power and glory " ( St Mark ), and states when it will happen: " This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled " ( St Matthew, 24: 34 ) ( or, " have taken place " ( Luke 21: 32 )): " All these things shall come upon this generation " ( Matthew 23: 36 ).

Evidence for this is found in the prologue to the Gospel of Luke, wherein the author alludes to his sources by writing, " Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word.

Though the preface initially states Luke ’ s intentions for writing, by closely examining the contents of the work as a whole, scholars have surmised that Luke ’ s purpose is much more complex.

In fact, Fitzmyer believes that the preface of Luke should only be “ the starting point in the discussion of the aim of Luke-Acts .” Because the author ’ s intended purpose for the Book of Acts is not that straightforward, scholars have put forth four main claims to address this.

Other scholars have even said that Luke wrote this apology in order to support Christians who were becoming allies with local Roman officials.

Isaiah 52: 13 – 53: 12, the fourth of the " Suffering Servant " songs, was interpreted by the earliest Christians as a prophecy of the death and exaltation of Jesus, a role which Jesus himself seems to have accepted ( Luke 4: 17 – 21 ).

These groups, along with other Christians opposed to capital punishment, have cited Christ's Sermon on the Mount ( transcribed in Matthew Chapter 5 – 7 ) and Sermon on the Plain ( transcribed in Luke 6: 17 – 49 ).

He argues against the idea that Christians should reject their family for an ascetic life, which stems from Luke, contending that Jesus would not have contradicted the precept to " Honour thy Father and thy Mother " ( Exodus ), one of the Ten Commandments.

When Justin quotes the synoptic Gospels, he tends to do so in a harmonised form, and Helmut Koester and others conclude that Justin must have possessed a Greek harmony text of Matthew, Luke and Mark.

An Old Latin version of Tatian's Syriac text appears to have circulated in the West from the late 2nd century ; with a sequence adjusted to conform more closely to that of the canonical Gospel of Luke, and also including additional material ( such as the pericope of the adulteress ), possibly from the Gospel of the Hebrews.

The fragments given as the Commentary on Luke in the PG have been claimed to derive from the missing tenth book of the General Elementary Introduction ( see D. S. Wallace-Hadrill ); however, Aaron Johnson has argued that they cannot be associated with this work ( see “ The Tenth Book of Eusebius ’ General Elementary Introduction: A Critique of the Wallace-Hadrill Thesis ,” Journal of Theological Studies, 62. 1 ( 2011 ): 144-160 ).

Additionally, Matthew and Luke have a large amount of material in common that is not found in Mark.

In the " two-source hypothesis ," Q explains where the authors of Matthew and Luke got the material that they have in common with each other but that is not found in Mark, such as the Lord's prayer.

Despite the majority opinion that Luke was a gentile writing to other gentiles, a few authors have challenged this view.

Since Luke was not prominent there is no obvious reason that this gospel and Acts would have been attributed to him if he didn't write them.

If it is true that Mark was written around the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem, around 70, they theorize that Luke would not have been written before 70.

These scholars have suggested dates for Luke from 75 to 100.

Since Luke-Acts was originally a single work, it is important to note that the purpose of Acts is normally examined in conjunction with the Book of Luke.

Many believe " the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles originally constituted a two-volume work ", which scholars refer to as Luke-Acts.

In this view, Luke might have originally started at 3: 1, with John the Baptist.

The films establish that there was originally a Jedi Knight named Anakin who fell to the dark side of the Force ; he is also revealed to be the father of both Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa, the two main protagonists of the original trilogy.

He was originally supposed to be Gladstone Gander's father, Daphne Duck's husband and Gus's uncle, but Carl Barks later changed his mind about that matter, making Goosetave Gander ( who was originally Gladstone's adoptive father after Luke and Daphne " overate at a free-lunch picnic ") Gladstone's biological father and Daphne's husband.

* Person-to-Person A 501 ( c )( 3 ) non-profit agency originally established in 1968 by St. Luke ’ s Episcopal Church in Darien.

The unexpected appearance of the Samaritan led Joseph Halévy to suggest that the parable originally involved " a priest, a Levite, and an Israelite ," in line with contemporary Jewish stories, and that Luke changed the parable to be more familiar to a gentile audience.

Bernard Brandon Scott, a member of the Jesus Seminar, questions the authenticity of the parable's context, suggesting that " the parable originally circulated separately from the question about neighborliness " and that the " existence of the lawyer's question in and, in addition to the evidence of heavy Lukan editing " indicates the parable and its context were " very probably joined editorially by Luke.

Differences between the gospels suggest that Luke is referring to a different episode from Mark and Matthew, and Klyne Snodgrass writes that " While one cannot exclude that Luke has joined two originally separate narratives, evidence for this is not convincing.

It was assumed that this 4th century opinion represented the Christianity of the Twelve Apostles ; Paulinism was originally a heresy, and a schism from the Jewish Christianity of James and Peter and the rest ; Marcion was a leader of the Pauline sect in its survival in the 2nd century, using only the Pauline Gospel, St. Luke ( in its original form ), and the Epistles of St. Paul ( without the Pastoral Epistles ).

Over a year after the suit and Mainline discontinued operations, on September 2, 2004, a settlement was reached and approved between Luke Thompson and the state, providing that no party admitted wrongdoing or liability, and for no fines or other penalties would be paid Thompson or Mainline ; the state had originally sought $ 605, 000 in fines.

The Song was originally inspired by Luke Parry, a gentleman who resembled a teapot in his famous dance ' The Fatty Fumble '

In The Legend of Luke, a song is sung about how " St. Ninian's " is a misnomer from a sign that originally read " This ain't Ninian's !," after a mouse named Ninian refused to help his wife build a house ; some of the lettering later wore off, leaving ironically the words " s ain't Ninian's ," although the church is mentioned as having a lady chapel.

Ben Urich turned out to be right when he originally exposed the Green Goblin, as Daily Bugle research would show, and conclusively when the Green Goblin was publicly unmasked by Luke Cage and sent to jail.

Snipes was originally slated to play one of the four leads in Spike Lee's 2008 war film Miracle at St. Anna but had to leave the film due to his widely publicized tax problems ; his role eventually went to Derek Luke.

The painting originally appeared in the Saturday Evening Post magazine ; " Luke " would feature on the cover of every P. P. L.

In an interview with Dave Owen of Access All Areas and I Can't Breathe Media Luke Jenner stated that Justin Timberlake originally sang on the track " No Sex For Ben ": " We were recording with Timbaland, ' cause he beatboxes on the track and Justin was upstairs with Duran Duran and he came down and sang on the track, but when we got it back from the label someone had removed JT's vocals.

The " model " Luke and Laura originally followed consisted of action stories, romance, and obstacles for the couple to overcome.

Shows wanted to duplicate their success, and, with the exception of rape for most of the couples, started incorporating the same type of action stories, romantic themes, and tales of intrigue which had originally contributed to Luke and Laura's popularity.

Power Man and Iron Fist ( originally Luke Cage, Hero for Hire then Luke Cage, Power Man ) was a Marvel comic book featuring the superheroes Power Man and Iron Fist.

** Although many scholars originally thought of Q as a sayings gospel, a collection of teachings with no narrative content, all alleged reconstructions of Q from the common parts of Matthew and Luke include narrative about John the Baptist, Jesus ' baptism and temptation in the wilderness, and his healing of a centurion's servant.