1. The author of the third Gospel was also the author of the Acts of the Apostles, as appears in chap. i. 1 of the latter work, where the name of Theophilus recurs. Neither book bears the name of the writer, but uniform ancient tradition ascribes it to Luke, the companion of Paul, and by occupation a physician (Col. iv. 11). From the preface to the Gospel we gather that he had no personal knowledge of Jesus, but was entirely dependent on oral and written tradition.
2. From the prefaces of the Gospel and the book of Acts we learn that the author wrote for the immediate benefit of a single individual, apparently a man of rank, say a Roman knight. It is not necessary to infer that a larger circle of readers was not con- templated either by the writer or by the first recipient of his work.
3. The date cannot be definitely fixed. Opinion ranges from A.D. 63 to the early years of the second century. As late a date as say A.D. 90 is compatible with the writer being, in his younger years, a companion of St. Paul in his later missionary movements. The still later date of a.p. 100 or 105 would be required if it were certain, which it is not, that the writer used the Antiquities of Josephus, which were published about the year 93-94. Dr. Sanday, in his work entitled Inspiration, expresses the view that Acts was written about a.p. 80, and tne Gospei some time in the five years preceding.