Theophilus: Lover of God, a Christian, probably a Roman, to whom Luke dedicated
both his Gospel
(Luke 1:3) and the Acts of the Apostles
(Acts 1:1)
Nothing beyond this is known of him. From the fact that Luke applies
to him the title "most excellent", the same title Paul uses in
addressing Felix
(Acts 23:26; 24:3) and Festus
(Acts 26:25) it has
been concluded that Theophilus was a person of rank, perhaps a Roman
officer.
