Luke
a physician of Antioch, as his writings indicate, was not unskilled
in the Greek language. An adherent of the apostle Paul, and companion
of all his journeying, he wrote a Gospel, concerning which the same
Paul says, “We send with him a brother whose praise in the gospel
is among all the churches” and to the Colossians “Luke the
beloved physician salutes you,” and to Timothy “Luke only is with
me.” He also wrote another excellent volume to which he prefixed
the title Acts of the Apostles, a history which extends to the second
year of Paul’s sojourn at Rome, that is to the fourth year of Nero,
from which we learn that the book was composed in that same city.
Therefore the Acts of Paul and Thecla and all the fable about the
lion baptized by him we reckon among the apocryphal writings, for how
is it possible that the inseparable companion of the apostle in his
other affairs, alone should have been ignorant of this thing.
Moreover Tertullian who lived near those times, mentions a certain
presbyter in Asia, an adherent of the apostle Paul, who was convicted
by John of having been the author of the book, and who, confessing
that he did this for love of Paul, resigned his office of presbyter.
Some suppose that whenever Paul in his epistle says “according to
my gospel” he means the book of Luke and that Luke not only was
taught the gospel history by the apostle Paul who was not with the
Lord in the flesh, but also by other apostles. This he too at the
beginning of his work declares, saying “Even as they delivered unto
us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the
word.” So he wrote the gospel as he had heard it, but composed the
Acts of the apostles as he himself had seen. He was buried at
Constantinople to which city, in the twentieth year of Constantius,
his bones together with the remains of Andrew the apostle were
transferred.
