His areas of research include Gnosticism and the Nag Hammadi library, the ancient Coptic Church and Coptic language documents, the influence of Hellenistic philosophy on early Christianity and Gnosticism, and Jewish Christian sects including the Elcesaites and the religious community that influenced Mani.
He was educated at the Catholic University of Nijmegen from 1964 to 1969 where he studied theology, Koine Greek, and the New Testament.
He also spent 1968 to 1969 learning classical Coptic at the University of Münster, studying under Martin Krause.
Luttikhuizen had a fellowship at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences in 2001–2002.
[3][2] He took emeritus status in 2005 and retired from teaching, although he continued to publish articles and research.