THEOPHILUS (Θεόφιλος “friend of God”). — The person to whom the Evangelist St. Luke dedicated his books (the Third Gospel, the Acts of the Apostles).
Some have supposed that T. was a fictitious name, collectively designating the Christian, the friend of God; but the title “most excellent” (χράτιον, Vulgate optima), attributed to T. in the Gospel (Lk. 1:3) and in Acts to the Roman procurators Felix (Act. 23:26; 24:3) and Festus (ibid. 26:25), leads one to regard him as an illustrious and authoritative personage. T., however, is unknown. The conjectures identifying him with some Roman governor or with some distinguished citizen of Antioch are futile. From the absence of the title χράτιον in the address of Act. 1:1, some suppose that, in the interval between the composition of the Third Gospel and that of Acts, T., initially a catechumen, received Baptism. Pietro De Ambroggi