Luke the Evangelist

== Life ==
[[File:Evangelist Lucas.jpg|thumb|Print of Luke the Evangelist<ref name=ugent.be />]]

Many scholars believe that Luke was a physician who lived in the [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic]] city of [[Antioch, Turkey|Antioch]] in Ancient [[Syria (Roman province)|Syria]],{{efn|name=Hackett}} born of a Greek family,<ref>{{Cite web |date=August 10, 2023 |title=St. Luke |url=https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=76 |access-date=August 10, 2023 |website=Catholic Online}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=August 10, 2023 |title=BIOGRAPHY OF ST. LUKE |url=https://stlukes-parish.org/biography-of-st-luke |access-date=August 10, 2023 |website=BIOGRAPHY OF ST. LUKE |publisher=St. Luke the Evangelist Parish}}</ref> although some scholars and theologians think Luke was a [[Hellenistic Judaism|Hellenic Jew]].{{sfn|Harris|1980|pp=266–68}}{{sfn|Strelan|2013|pp=102–10}} 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).{{sfn|Koet|1989|pp=157–58}}{{sfn|Koet|2006|pp= 4–5}} DNA testing on what [[Christian tradition]] holds to be his body has revealed it to be of [[Syrians|Syrian]] ancestry.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Vernesi |first1=Cristiano |last2=Di Benedetto |first2=Giulietta |last3=Caramelli |first3=David |last4=Secchieri |first4=Erica |last5=Simoni |first5=Lucia |last6=Katti |first6=Emile |last7=Malaspina |first7=Patrizia |last8=Novelletto |first8=Andrea |last9=Marin |first9=Vito Terribile Wiel |last10=Barbujani |first10=Guido |date=6 November 2001 |title=Genetic characterization of the body attributed to the evangelist Luke |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=98 |issue=23 |pages=13460–13463 |doi=10.1073/pnas.211540498 |issn=0027-8424 |pmid=11606723|pmc=60893 |bibcode=2001PNAS...9813460V |doi-access=free }}</ref>

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 [[Authorship of Luke-Acts|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 ({{lang-grc|ἐγκύκλιος παιδεία|enkyklios paideia|label=none}}) that had been, and would continue to be, used for centuries throughout the eastern Mediterranean.<ref>{{cite book|first=Steve |last=Reece |title=The Formal Education of the Author of Luke-Acts |publication-place=London |publisher=T&T Clark |date=2022 |pages=29–50 |isbn=978-0-567-70588-4}}</ref>

Luke's earliest mention is in the [[Epistle to Philemon]], chapter 1, verse 24.<ref>{{Bibleverse|Philemon|1:24}}</ref> He is also mentioned in Colossians 4:14<ref>{{Bibleverse|Colossians|4:14}}</ref> and 2 Timothy 4:11,<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Timothy|4:11}}</ref> both traditionally held to be [[Pauline epistles]] (see [[Authorship of the Pauline epistles]]).{{sfn|Milligan|2006|p=149}}{{sfn|Mornin|2006|p=74}}{{sfn|Aherne|1910}}{{sfn|Smith|1935|p=792}}{{sfn|von Harnack|1907|p=5}} The next earliest account of Luke is in the [[Anti-Marcionite Prologues|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.{{Citation needed|date= September 2015}}

[[File:Brooklyn Museum - Saint Luke (Saint Luc) - James Tissot.jpg|thumb|upright|[[James Tissot]], ''Saint Luke'', [[Brooklyn Museum]]]]

[[Epiphanius of Salamis|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<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Corinthians|8:18}}</ref> 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.{{sfn|Bartlet|1911}}

[[File:Bodleian Library MS. Arm. d.13. Armenian Gospels-0043-0.jpg|thumb|upright|Saint Luke as depicted in the head-piece of an Armenian Gospel manuscript from 1609, held at the [[Bodleian Library]]]]

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 controversy in early Christianity|circumcision]]."

{{blockquote|{{sup|10}}My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. {{sup|11}}Jesus, 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.{{nbsp}}[...] {{sup|14}}Our dear friend Luke, the doctor, and Demas send greetings.|Colossians 4:10–11, 14<ref>{{Bibleverse|Colossians|4:10–11}}, {{bibleverse|Colossians|4:14}}</ref>}}

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 [[Hellenistic Jew|Hellenized Jew]].{{sfn|Harris|1980|pp=266–68}}{{sfn|Strelan|2013|pp=102–10}}{{sfn|McCall|1996}} The phrase could just as easily be used to differentiate between those [[Jewish Christians|Christians who strictly observed the rituals of Judaism]] and those who did not.{{sfn|Bartlet|1911}}

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:<ref>{{Bibleverse|Acts|28:16}}</ref> "And when we came to Rome..." According to some accounts, Luke also contributed to the [[authorship of the Epistle to the Hebrews]].{{sfn |Fonck|1910}}

Luke died at age 84 in [[Boeotia]], according to a "fairly early and widespread tradition".{{sfn|Butler|1991|p=342}} According to [[Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos]], Greek historian of the 14th century (and others), Luke's tomb was located in [[Thebes (Greece)|Thebes]], whence his relics were transferred to [[Constantinople]] in the year 357.{{sfn|Migne|1901|loc=cols 875–78}}