Gregory E. Sterling, “Secondary Prefaces and the Composition of Luke Acts,” NTS 71 no. 2 (2025), 154-155.
How long was the interval between Luke and Acts? We do not have any way to answer this with specificity – just as we cannot speak with confidence about the length of the gap between Philo’s De vita Moysis 1 and 2. It is clear that the author did some additional research as the shift of the time of the ascension makes clear. It is also evident that the author investigated the geography of the areas he discussed – via various venues or means – and made efforts to explore different traditions. How long did this take? The firm terminus a quo is the Gospel of Luke, and the terminus ad quem is the death of the author. If Steve Mason is correct that Luke knew the works of Josephus, especially the Antiquitates Judaicae which was completed in 93/94 CE, – or heard the Jewish historian lecture – and if the author was a third-generation follower of the Way as the primary preface in Luke suggests, then the date of Luke would be in the mid to late 90s and Acts early in the second century. Unfortunately, we do not have enough information to be precise. One principle that seems reasonable is that the longer the gap, the more readily explicable the separate circulation of Luke and Acts.
The Amateur Exegete 