Luke 1

Luke 1 is the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It describes the events leading up to the birth of Jesus. It is written to Theophilus, who could be a real person or could simply mean a fellow Christian as theo philus is Greek for God lover. It could be both, addressed to a specific person, whether their name was that or not, and also meant for others as well. (Brown 227) Acts of the Apostles begins addressed the same way in 1:1.

Luke says:

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. Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught. (1-4)

It thus claims to be an accurate history, although skeptics would dispute this. It is meant to confirm the things that Theophilus has already been taught about Jesus, being written by a believer for the purpose of confirming belief. (Brown 227)

Luke clearly states there are other accounts about Jesus circulating and he is aware of them. He also states he is not an eyewitness but belongs to another generation that received its information from "eyewitnesses" to these events in a previous generation. Some argue Luke thus states that he is getting his information from the disciples and Apostles, which the tradition about Luke being a follower of Paul accords with. Luke however does not say explicitly that he knew or interviewed Jesus' disciples, at least in the Gospel, and so some think "handed down to us" means the traditions and other documents about Jesus that came from witnesses of the previous generation, which Luke carefully researched, not necessarily from someone Luke actually knew. (Brown 227) Sections of Acts however have the author relating events with the author and Paul together, such as 20:5-7, :13-15

According to Robert J. Karris "Luke alone of the evangelists introduces his work with a finely crafted, periodic Greek sentence." (Brown et al. 678) The first sentence gives the "since" clause, the main clause is given in the first part of the second sentence, and the purpose clause is given by "so that you may know...". Luke uses the word epeidēper to start the book, a literary word that only occurs here in the Greek Bible. He uses diēgēsis for "an account", which taken alone seems to mean a personal storytelling, but when compared to other usages at the time, such as with the works of Josephus, is to be taken as meaning a well planned account, although he might use it in the original meaning in Luke 8:39. He uses the word kathexēs for orderly account, which would mean a logical, spatial, or chronological account. Karris argues that the use of the word as well in Acts indicated that Luke is composing in a logical sequence, with Luke building a logical argument for his view of God fulfilling his promises through Jesus. (Brown et al. 678) Many scholars have seen parallels between this style and the openings to the Greek histories of Herodotus and Thucydides as well as scientific manuals and treatises of the Hellenistic world. (Brown 227)