Is it possible Theo ulus could be Greek for God's friends?
Thus he would be addressing any single or all friends of the Wordd?
https://www.thebump.com/b/theophilus-baby-name
Theophilus is a boy’s name of Greek origin, meaning “love of God” or “loved by God.” If your faith is important to you, choosing this distinguished-sounding name for baby could be a lovely way to share that with them! Variants of this name include Teófilo, Theophilos, Theophil, and Theofelus, with Theo and Phil as possible nicknames. A famous bearer is American rapper and singer Theophilus London.
http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2305-08532014000100009
Introduction
The Luke-Acts narrative comprises nearly 26% of the New Testament. Considering the extensive research involved, it is likely that Luke spent several years producing the two-part document that was dedicated, at least initially, to an audience of one: Theophilus. In his monograph,
The significance of Theophilus as Luke's reader, Roman Garrison (2004) notes that the original reader of the Luke-Acts narrative has been overlooked by scholars:
Many scholars have disregarded the significance of Theophilus as the intended reader of those books (treating him as irrelevant) and instead have given attention to a generalized Gentile audience that came to read Luke-Acts. (p. 22)
Garrison orients his thesis around the significance of Theophilus in relation to the inevitable choices that Luke would have had to make regarding what material to include or not to include in his writings, rather than on the identity of Theophilus. This article seeks to present primary source material that will help us to answer the foundational question: 'Who is Theophilus?'
Is Theophilus a real person? Johnson (1991:28) allows for the possibility that Theophilus may be a symbolic reference to any reader, since the name means 'lover of God'. Many scholars including Bruce (1990:98); Bock (1994:15, 65); Green (1997:xxxix); Garrison (2004:97); Garland (2011:55-56) and Thompson (2011:428) maintain that Theophilus is indeed a real person. Loveday Alexander (1993:188) notes that the existence of fictional prefaces in some works of Hellenistic literature does not prove that Luke 1:1-4 is also a fictional preface. An examination of lexical and grammatical evidence from the preface will show that Luke intends to present a carefully researched historical document. To understand Theophilus as a general reference to any reader is to ignore the description of a specific person in a specific context (Garrison 2004:26). For the purposes of this article, 'original reader' should be understood as the man, Theophilus, who was the personal recipient of the dedication in the prologue to Luke (Hengel 2012:536). In the pages that follow, lexical, grammatical and literary contexts from the prologue of Luke will be examined as well as contexts from the broader themes of Acts that point to the existence of Theophilus as a real person. We will conclude that Theophilus is a man of position, that he had previously received some introductory teaching about Jesus, and that he needed factual verification of matters pertaining to Jesus and the rise of Christianity.
Most excellent Theophilus
What kind of person might Theophilus be? Luke addresses his reader, κράτιστε Θεόφιλε [most excellent Theophilus]
1 in the prologue to his gospel (Lk 1:3). The term κράτιστος [most excellent] appears in three other places in the New Testament, solely in writings by Luke. In Acts 23:26, Claudius Lysias begins his letter of appeal on Paul's behalf with 'to the most excellent (τω κρατίστω) governor Felix, greetings'. In Acts 24:3 Tertullus addresses Felix in a court setting with the honorific title 'most excellent Felix' (κράτιστε Φήλιξ). Likewise, Paul addresses Festus as 'most excellent' (κράτιστε Φήστε) in an official court setting (Ac 26:25). These texts show that the honorific title
most excellent may be used both in and out of court settings. In every instance in Acts, the term is used in connection with an explicit identification of the person's official status as a Roman governor (also Bock 1994:63).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theophilus_(biblical)
Theophilus /θiˈɒfɪləs/ is the name or honorary title of the person to whom the
Gospel of Luke and the
Acts of the Apostles are addressed (
Luke 1:3,
Acts 1:1). It is thought that both works were written by the same author, and often argued that the two books were originally
a single unified work.
[1] Both were written in a refined
Koine Greek, and the name θεόφιλος ("Theophilos"), as it appears therein, means
friend of God[2] or
(be)loved by God or
loving God[3] in the Greek language. The true identity of Theophilus is unknown, with several conjectures and traditions around an identity. In
English Theophilus is also written "Theophilos", both a common name and an honorary title among the learned (academic)
Romans and
Jews of the era. The life of Theophilus would coincide with the writing of
Luke and the author of the Acts.
