Theophilus, which is Greek for
“Friend of God,” is not a common name today,
although it was one of Mozart’s baptismal names.
Theophilus Cibber was a Shakespearian actor of the
eighteenth century until he drowned off the Scottish coast.
Theophilus Van Kannel of Philadelphia invented and patented
the revolving door in 1888. Theophilus Connor was the
segregationist Commissioner of Public Safety in Alabama who
preferred to be called “Bull” Connor, and there
is a “Hip-Hop” singer from Brooklyn named
Theophilus London. The eponymous character in Thornton
Wilder’s novel Theophilus North may have been
based in part on the author himself. Farther back, there
were: a Benedictine monk named Theophilus who wrote volumes
on metallurgy and painting in the eleventh century; an
iconoclastic Byzantine emperor in the eighth century; and a
fourth-century Patriarch of Alexandria, Egypt. Lastly, a
lunar impact crater on our moon is named Theophilus. What
matters is that Saint Luke addressed his version of the
Gospel and his Acts of the Apostles to
Theophilus.
Who was
he? If he was the Sadducean high priest Theophilus ben
Ananus, brother-in-law of the high priest Caiaphas,
co-conspirator in the Crucifixion, this would explain some
of Luke’s emphases on the temple rites and his
emphasis on bodily resurrection, which the Sadducees denied.
Theophilus — “Most Excellent” as St. Paul
uses it — was a form of address to Roman officials:
St. Paul addresses Festus that way, as does a certain
Tertullus speaking to Felix (Acts 26:25; 24:2). This
“Most Excellent” Friend of God could have been
Titus Flavius Sabinus II, an older brother of the future
Emperor Vespasian and a relative of Pomponia Graecina, wife
of the general, Aulus Plautius, conqueror of Britain and its
first governor. She evidently converted to Christianity and
used her political connections to assist Paul in prison when
Luke was with
him.
Or, Luke may have just been using Theophilus to stand for anyone who wants “an orderly account” from this man who had “followed all things closely for some time past” (Luke 1:3). This meticulous history makes clear that these events happened, woven in and out of the daily drama of existence and changing the world. Luke had the singular advantage of having the Mother of God as his most important research assistant, along with Peter who was one with Luke in sticking to the facts. “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty” (2 Peter 1:16).
I write
this as I drink tea from a mug inscribed with Blessed John
Henry Newman’s words from his Development of
Christian Doctrine: “To be deep in history is to
cease to be a Protestant.” That applies to everyone
who wants to be shown the true sources and progress of the
Church. Whoever Theophilus is, or in whatever generation he
lives, Luke uses history to show him the Lord of History.
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