Editing Gospel of Luke (section)

===Audience and authorial intent===
The Gospel of Luke is unique among the canonical gospels for declaring the purpose and method of his work in a prologue, trying to render the Christian message in a higher literary plane. The author both classifies himself as among the many who previously attempted to write narratives of Christ while claiming his work is better and more reliable. Luke’s claims of careful investigation, orderly writing, and access to accounts handed down to his community by eyewitnesses is intended to demonstrate his gospel’s superiority to its predecessors.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bovon |first=Francois |title=Luke 1: A Commentary on the Gospel of Luke 1:1-9:50 |publisher=Fortress Press |year=2002 |isbn=9780800660444 |pages=21-22}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Keith |first=Chris |title=The Gospel as Manuscript: An Early History of the Jesus Tradition as Material Artifact |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2020 |isbn=978-0199384372 |pages=155}}</ref> Luke was written to be read aloud to a group of Jesus-followers gathered in a house to share the [[Eucharist|Lord's Supper]].{{sfn|Balch|2003|p=1104}} The author assumes an educated Greek-speaking audience, but directs his attention to specifically Christian concerns rather than to the Greco-Roman world at large.{{sfn|Green|1995|pp=16–17}} He begins his gospel with a preface addressed to "[[Theophilus (biblical)|Theophilus]]":<ref>[[Luke 1:3]]; ''cf.'' [[Acts 1:1]]</ref> the name means "Lover of God", and could refer to any Christian, though most interpreters consider it a reference to a Christian convert and Luke's literary patron.{{sfn|Maier|2013|p=417}} Here he informs Theophilus of his intention, which is to lead his reader to certainty through an orderly account "of the events that have been fulfilled among us."{{sfn|Green|1997|p=35}} He did not, however, intend to provide Theophilus with a historical justification of the Christian faith – "did it happen?" – but to encourage faith – "what happened, and what does it all mean?"{{sfn|Green|1997|p=36}}