Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught. (Luke 1:1–4) In this introduction to his two-volume “history of Christian origins,” Luke acknowledges three stages in the genesis of his work: the “eyewitnesses and servants of the word” who “handed down” the truth of Jesus; those “many” who have already drawn up accounts of Jesus and the early church; and Luke himself, who, having “carefully investigated” these sources, now composes his own “orderly” account. Investigation