Evangelist and Historian
Luke is the author of a two-volume work — the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles — which together constitute over a quarter of the New Testament. Tradition identifies him as Luke the physician, a companion of Paul mentioned in Colossians 4:14, Philemon 24, and 2 Timothy 4:11. The "we" passages in Acts (sections where the narrator switches to first person plural) have been read as evidence that the author travelled with Paul.
Whatever his identity, Luke was the most accomplished prose stylist in the New Testament. His Greek ranges from the elevated periodic style of his prologue (modelled on Hellenistic historiography) to deliberate Septuagintal pastiche in the infancy narratives. He is the only evangelist who explicitly states his method: investigating everything carefully from the beginning and writing an orderly account (Luke 1:1–4).
Luke's distinctive material includes some of the most beloved passages in the New Testament: the parables of the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son, the story of the road to Emmaus, and the infancy narrative with its canticles (Magnificat, Benedictus, Nunc Dimittis). His Gospel shows particular concern for the poor, for women, and for outsiders. Acts continues the story from the Ascension through the spread of Christianity to Rome, creating the foundational narrative of Church history.
Most scholars date the Gospel to the 80s CE, though some argue for an earlier date. Luke used Mark as a source, along with the hypothetical sayings collection Q and his own unique material.