Who is Theophilus? Discovering the original reader of Luke-Acts

Abstract

The aim of this article is to investigate the nature of Theophilus as the original reader of Luke-Acts. A lexical and grammatical analysis of Luke 1:1–4 and of the broader literary context of the Luke-Acts narrative provided the basis for discovering the identity of Theophilus. This article proposes that Theophilus was a man of prominent position: a Gentile who had received some introductory teachings about Christ and who needed factual verification of the events surrounding the emergence of Christianity. Die doel van hierdie artikel is om Theophilus, as die oorspronklike leser van Lukas-Handelinge, se identiteit te ondersoek. ’n Leksikale en grammatikale ontleding van Lukas 1:1–4, asook ’n ontleding van die breër literêre konteks van die Lukas-Handelinge-narratief, bied die basis vir die ontdekking van Theophilus se identiteit. Hierdie artikel stel Theophilus voor as ’n man met ’n prominente posisie: ’n nie-Jood wat basiese Christusonderrig ontvang het en wat die bevestiging van die gebeure rondom die opkoms van die Christendom voorop gestel het.

Journeys without End: Narrative Endings and Implied Readers in Acts of the Apostles and Philostratus’ Life of Apollonius of Tyana

“…Furthermore, it has been suggested that Theophilus serves not as a representative of Acts' implied readership, but as the patron of Acts' author (on Theophilus, see, e.g., Alexander 1993, pp. 187-200;Creamer et al 2014). Given the ambiguity that surrounds Theophilus, reconstructions of Acts' implied readership should not start from this figure but be based on elements recovered from elsewhere in the text of Acts.…”