ABSTRACT
The writer of the Gospel is an interpreter of traditions that he had received and in which Theophilus had been instructed. The preface (Luke 1:1-4) suggests that the many narratives of ‘the things that had been accomplished among us’ already had some standing, so it is really quite some claim for the author to say that he is someone who has ‘followed accurately everything from the beginning’ (parhkolouqhko,ti a;nwqen pa/sin avkribw/j) and that he is writing ‘in an orderly sequence’ (kaqexh/j) so that Theophilus can recognize the ‘safety of the words which he has learned’ (peri. w-n kathch,qhj lo,gwn th.n avsfa,leian). Luke could not have been simply a compiler or editor to do that; or at least, he did not see himself in that way. Instead, he wants to put his mark on the transmission of the ‘things concerning Jesus’.
