The traditional view is that the Gospel of Luke and Acts were written by the physician Luke, a companion of Paul. Many scholars believe him to be a Gentile Christian, though some scholars think Luke was a Hellenic Jew.[3][4] This Luke is mentioned in Paul’s Epistle to Philemon (v.24), and in two other epistles which are traditionally ascribed to Paul (Colossians 4:14 and 2 Timothy 4:11).
The view that Luke-Acts was written by the physician Luke was nearly unanimous in the early Christian church. The Papyrus Bodmer XIV, which is the oldest known manuscript containing the ending of the gospel (dating to around 200 AD), uses the subscription “The Gospel According to Luke”. Nearly all ancient sources also shared this theory of authorship—Irenaeus,[5]Tertullian,[6] Clement of Alexandria,[7] Origen, and the Muratorian Canon all regarded Luke as the author of the Luke-Acts. Neither Eusebius of Caesarea nor any other ancient writer mentions another tradition about authorship.[8]
In addition to the authorship evidence provided by the ancient sources, some feel the text of Luke-Acts supports the conclusion that its author was a companion of Paul. First among such internal evidence are portions of the book which have come to be called the “we” passages (Acts 16:10–17; 20:5–15; 21:1–18; 27:1–28; 28:1-16). Although the bulk of Acts is written in the third person, several brief sections of the book are written from a first-person perspective.[9] These “we” sections are written from the point of view of a traveling companion of Paul: e.g. “After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia”, “We put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace”[10] Such passages would appear to have been written by someone who traveled with Paul during some portions of his ministry. Accordingly, some have used this evidence to support the conclusion that these passages, and therefore the entire text of the Luke-Acts, were written by a traveling companion of Paul’s. The physician Luke would be one such person.
BARRICKLOW 