Authorship of Luke and Acts

The authorship of the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts is commonly attributed to Luke, supposedly a doctor and companion of Paul. However, there is no clear evidence to support this attribution. The books themselves do not explicitly name their author. The traditional connection between Luke and Paul is based on the assumption that Luke was the companion mentioned in a few passages in the Book of Acts. However, there are inconsistencies between what Acts says about Paul and what Paul himself says in his letters. Some scholars argue that the author of Luke and Acts may have had second, third, or fourth-hand information about Paul, rather than being a direct companion. The attribution of Luke as the author has persisted largely due to the authority of early Christian figures and the lack of viable alternatives.