Luke

Gen. xxxix. 14, 17.LUKE. Saint Luke the Evangelist is by some ancient Authors called Lucas, Lucius, or Lucanus. He was a Syrian, a Native of Antioch, and by Profession a Physician.¹They who believe him to be called Lucius, in the Epistle to the Romans, must acknowledge 1 Rom. xvi. 21.likewise, that he was Saint Paul’s Kinsman: Lucius and Jason — my Kinsmen. It is not agreed whether he was by Birth a Jew or Heathen. They who maintain² that he was one of the Seventy Disciples, believe that he was also a Jew both by Religion and Extraction, for none but such were chosen by our Saviour. Epiphanius thinks, that he was one of those who left Jesus Christ, upon hearing these Words from him: He who cateth not my Flesh, and drinketh not my Blood, is not worthy of me; but that he returned to the Faith upon hearing Saint Paul’s Sermons at Antioch. Gregory the Great³, and some others in Theophylact, believe Saint Luke was Cleophas’s Companion, and went with him to Emmaus, when Jesus Christ joined them. In an Addition which we find at the End of Saint Jerom’s Treatise of Eminent Men, we find that Saint Luke lived always a single Life, having had neither Wife nor Children.

He was Saint Paul’s Companion in his several Journeys, when he went about 2 Tim. iv. 11. Philemon. V. 23, 24. Coloss. iv. 14.preaching the Gospel; but in what Place and at what Time they first came together, we cannot tell. They who maintain that he was converted by Saint Paul at Antioch, believe that after that Time, he never forsook him. Others will have it, that they met at Troas; and Saint Luke himself favours this Opinion, when he expresses Acts xvi. 8, 9, 10.himself in the Acts: Immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia from Troas. He begins in this Place to speak in the first Person, as being then one of Saint Paul’s Company. It is commonly believed, that Saint Luke was a Painter, and in some Places there are Pictures of the Virgin shewn of his Drawing, or at least Copies taken from Originals by his Hand. The Ancients knew nothing of Saint Luke’s being qualified in this Manner, and Nicephorus is the first Author who made Mention of it. But if he did not paint the Virgin’s and her Son’s Faces, he has left us many Particulars concerning the Blessed Virgin, and the Infancy of Jesus Christ, from which we may judge, that he had seen and was acquainted with this admirable Person, and that he had even a Share in her Confidence⁴.

Epiphanius believes⁵, that he preached the Gospel in Dalmatia, Gaul, Italy, and Macedonia. Metaphrastes will have it, that he preached in Egypt, Libya, and Thebaï. Some are of Opinion that he survived Saint Paul many Years, and that he died in Achaia⁶, in a good old Age, being eighty, or eighty four Years old. Nicephorus⁷ says, that he died at Thebes in Bœotia, where still at this Day there is a Tomb to be seen, which is believed to be Saint Luke’s. Hippolytus⁸ informs us, that he was crucified at Elea in the Peloponnesus. Dorothæus in his Synopsis, tells us, that he died and was buried at Ephesus. Bede, Usuard, Ado and the Roman Calendar agree, that he died in Bithynia. There are several Opinions concerning what kind of Death he died. Some⁹ believe that he suffered Martyrdom; and the modern Greeks affirm, that he was crucified upon an Olive-Tree. Elias of Crete¹⁰, on the contrary, supposes it as a Point very clear, that he did not die a violent Death; and many of the Moderns are of this Opinion.

Besides the Gospel of Saint Luke, and the Acts of the Apostles, some other Works are ascribed to him, such as the Translation, or even the Composition, as to the Style at least, of the Epistle to the Hebrews. Clemens of Alexandria¹¹ believes him to be the Author of the Disputation between Jason and Papiscus; which is not now in Being. Others¹² inform us, that even the Gospel of Saint Luke was properly Saint Paul’s Gospel; that this Apostle dictated it to Saint Luke, and that when Saint Paul speaks of his Gospel¹³, he means the Gospel of Saint Luke. But Saint Irenæus¹⁴ says no more than that Saint Luke digested into Writing what Saint Paul preached to the Gentiles; and Gregory Nazianzen, that the Evangelist wrote with the Help of Saint Paul. It is certain that Saint Paul generally quotes the Gospel according to Saint Luke¹⁵; but Saint Luke no where says that he was assisted by Saint Paul. He addresses the Gospel and the Acts to one Theophilus, of whom we have no Knowledge; and many of the Ancients themselves have taken this Name in an appellative Sense, for one who loves God. The Marcionites received only the Gospel of Saint Luke; and even this they curtailed in many Places, as Tertullian¹⁶ and Epiphanius¹⁷ have observed.

As to the Acts of the Apostles, we have already spoken of them in another Place under the Article Acts. Saint Luke’s Style is generally purer than that of the other Evangelists: Notwithstanding several Expressions are remarked in it peculiar to the Hellenistical Jews, several touches which have some Resemblance to the Genius of the Syriac; and, in Grotius’s Judgment, even to the Latin Tongue. See M. de Tillemont concerning the Life of Saint Luke, and our Preface to his Gospel, and the Acts of the Apostles.

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