^c 1 Forasmuch as many [of whom we know nothing and have even no tradition] have taken in hand to draw up a narrative concerning those matters which have been fulfilled [completed, or accomplished according to the divine will] among us, 2 even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses [the apostles were necessarily such and there were some few others -- Acts i.21-23] and ministers of the word [the apostles were ministers, and not ecclesiastical dignitaries] , 3; it seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all things accurately from the first [and being therefore thoroughly fitted to write the gospel], to write unto thee in order [not in chronological, but in topical order], most excellent Theophilus [Luke also dedicated the Book of Acts to this man. Nothing is known of Theophilus, but he is supposed to have been a Greek of high official rank]; 4 that thou mightest know the certainty [might have a fixed written record, and not trust to a floating, variable tradition or a treacherous memory] concerning the things [the gospel facts] wherein thou wast instructed.

[1] * NOTE.--The four Gospels are respectively represented in this volume by the superior letters a, b, c, and d; and variations in the readings of the four Gospels are inserted in braces, thus: { }.