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C^e OBo^leti lecturer 1880
THE
EVIDENTIAL VALUE
OF THE
Acts of the Apostles
BY THE
VERY REV. J. S. HOWSON, D.D.

DEAN OF CHESTER, ENGLAND

Delivered in the Church of the Holy Trinity, Phila
delphia, in April, 1880

NEW YORK
E. P. DUTTON AND COMPANY
713 Broadway 1880

THE JOHN BOHLEN LECTURESHIP.

John Bohlen, who died in this city on the 26th
day of April, 1874, bequeathed to trustees a fund of
One Hundred Thousand Dollars, to be distributed
to religious and charitable objects in accordance with
the well-known wishes of the testator.
By a deed of trust, executed June 2, 1875, the
trustees under the will of Mr. Bohlen transferred and
paid over to ' ' The Rector, Church Wardens, and Ves
trymen of the Church of the Holy Trinity, Phila
delphia," in trust, a sum of money for certain desig
nated purposes, out of which fund the sum of Ten
Thousand Dollars was set apart for the endowment
of The John Bohlen Lectureship, upon the fol
lowing terms and conditions: —
The money shall be invested in good substantial and safe
securities, and held in trust for a fund to be called The John
Bohlen Lectureship, and the income shall be applied annually
to the payment of a qualified person, whether clergyman or
layman, for the delivery and publication of at least one hundred
copies of two or more lecture sermons. These Lectures shall
be delivered at such time and place, in the city of Philadelphia,
as the persons nominated to appoint the lecturer shall from time
to time determine, giving at least six months notice to the

The Bohlen Lectureship.

person appointed to deliver the same, when the same may con
veniently be done, and in no case selecting the same person
as lecturer a second time within a period of five years. The
payment shall be made to said lecturer, after the lectures have
been printed and received by the trustees, of all the income for
the year derived from said fund, after defraying the expense of
printing the lectures and the other incidental expenses attending
the same.
The subject of such lectures shall be such as is within the
terms set forth in the will of the Rev. John Bampton, for
the delivery of what are known as the "Bampton Lectures,"
at Oxford, or any other subject distinctively connected with
or relating to the Christian Religion.
The lecturer shall be appointed annually in the month of
May, or as soon thereafter as can conveniently be done, by the
persons, who for the time being, shall hold the offices of Bishop
of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Diocese in which is
the Church of the Holy Trinity; the Rector of said Church; the
Professor of Biblical Learning, the Professor of Systematic Di
vinity, and the Professor of Ecclesiastical History, in the Divinity
School of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Philadelphia.
In case either of said offices are vacant the others may
nominate the lecturer.

Under this trust the Veiy Rev. J. S. Howson, D. D. ,
Dean of Chester Cathedral, England, was appointed to
deliver the lectures for the year 1880.
Philadelphia, Easter-tide, 1880.

CONTENTS. LECTURE I.
PAGE
General Characteristics of the Book  7
LECTURE II.
The Relation of this Book to the Gospel History ... 49
LECTURE III.
The Book of the Acts in Connection with the Apostolic
Epistles  97
LECTURE IV.
The Usefulness of the Book for Instruction and Edification . 135

LECTURE I.
General Characteristics of the Book.

THE EVIDENTIAL VALUE OF THE
ACTS OF THE APOSTLES.

LECTURE I.
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BOOK.
' I "'HE invitation which has brought me across
the Ocean, to associate myself once more
with religious thought in America, was very
welcome when I received it. After a little
hesitation, chiefly connected with a sense of
my inadequacy for the task proposed to me,
I gladly and thankfully consented to come. I
am very conscious indeed that I cannot ri
val, either in depth or in breadth of thought,
the three who have preceded me in this lec
tureship : and, instead of precisely following
their steps, I think I shall take a wiser esti
mate of my own ability, and shall show a
truer respect to my audience and the trustees,
if I only attempt a superficial treatment of
things familiar.
The ground of the Acts of the Apostles is

io The Evidential Value
that part of the large and varied field of the
Bible which my footsteps have most frequent
ly trod. There are indications too of a sense
in the Church at large that this book has
hardly received all the attention it deserves.
Chrysostom complained that in his day it was
too much neglected. In our own day it would
not be unreasonable if a similar complaint were
made. Among the recent indications of an in
creasing interest in the book I class the com
mentaries of two authors of your own, Alex
ander and Hackett, one of whom I had the
honor of knowing personally, while the other
I have learnt to respect through some ac
quaintance with his writings. There are va
rious circumstances, too, which appear to show
that this book supplies teaching peculiarly use
ful in our present state of" thought. Moreover
it must, in the very nature of the case, be es
sentially bound up with the historical basis
of Christianity. And it has been assailed in
our time, if with some degree of perverseness
yet with great ingenuity; while, on the other
hand, it has received new confirmatory illus-

of the Acts of the Apostles. ii
trations of high value during the last fifty
years. For all these reasons the book seems
to press for itself a claim on our attention,
which previously was not felt to be so urgent.
Thus I propose for our subject the eviden
tial value, or, to state the same thing in a
more German fashion, the apologetic worth of
the Acts of the Apostles. I ask you to join
me in examining this book, with the view of
seeing how, in itself and in its relation to oth
er things, it justifies its sacred position; how it
comes to us with a divine recommendation on
its face; how it stands a close scrutiny with
out being harmed; how it holds out its hands
and amicably clasps, on the one side, the
Gospel history, and on the other side the
writings of the Apostles. These two rela
tions of this book with contiguous parts of
the New Testament, on either hand, will
form the subjects of the second and third
lectures. The fourth will deal with the prac
tical benefit, as to instruction and edification,
which is to be derived from this part of Holy
Scripture. The present introductory lecture

12 The Evidential Value

may fitly have re-" d for the most pirt to
some of its gern ai characteristic ~>f
those features of the book, which win our
confidence, simply as we look upon them.
The best way j lb estimate the value of a
treasure is to inouire what our position would
be if we ce?^jico possess it. A good ques
tion to ask ourselves, when we are reading
some particular book of the Scriptures is this:
What si..,,. L we lose, and what would the
Church lose, if this particular book of the
Bible which I am reading were wanting ?
Suppose, for the sake of illustration, before
we proceed further, that we apply this test to
that earlier writing of St. Luke, the Gospel
which bears his name. What would be our loss,
if this third Gospel were to become a blank, if
mankind had never seen it, or if mankind were
absolutely to forget that it ever existed ?
For a ready answer to this question, our
thoughts rush at once to the special con
tents of this Gospel. But before giving this
answer in detail, let us pause for a moment
(it is not irrelevant to our subject) to see if

of the Actswf the Apostles. 13
there is not another part ^the answer which
ou- suggest to us vraana power quite
as great as a'ny conviction that- comes through
the intellect. There are two ways of study
ing the biographies of our Lord and Saviour.
We may either combine them, so as to ob
tain a complete picture of thc'.ox-^aracter and
influence and power of That Sacred Life: and
this is the common way in which the im
pression of Christ is made upon-'.^dd world;
or we may separate the four evangelists, so
as to mark how they differ from one another:
and it is this kind of study and observation
to which the question just asked invites us.
But before we turn to that separate analysis,
are we not conscious of what we owe to St.
Luke, even if we are contemplating the general
result of the combined and complete picture ?
In a great and successful portrait there are
many varied touches which make it what it
is, and which are essential to the expression
of the whole. Now in St. Luke there is a
certain tenderness of tone, a certain charm
of delicate coloring, a cheerful atmosphere, a

14 The Evidential Value
bright encouragement, a human light, as it
were, on those Divine Features, without which
the picture would not be what it is. It would
be easy to analyze this and to explain it, if
this were our point for the moment; and I
just name, in explanation, two special char
acteristics of this Gospel by the way. These
are the sympathetic mention of widows and
the honorable mention of Samaritans in this
book. My wish, however, at this point is to
invite attention to the fact that we cannot
rightly estimate the value of St. Luke's Gospel
without considering how his work blends with
the other three. If we had these three alone
the world would not simply be the poorer, but
it would be liable to that kind of error which
arises from lack of completeness. Thus much
may fairly be said, evidentially, on the general
impression derived from St. Luke's Gospel, ir
respective of its special contents.
And now, if we are to give the answer
which is derived from a consideration of the
contents of this Gospel, we are at no loss,
and a very few words will suffice. It is

of the Acts of the Apostles. 15
not possible here to do more than to se
lect some specimens. In St. Luke, at the
beginning, we have those hymns of the New
Testament, connected with the Nativity of our
Lord, which make every English Christmas
joyous; and an English Christmas is part of
the inheritance of America. In St. Luke, at
the end, we have the story of that journey to
Emmaus, which Cowper, perhaps less frequent
ly read now, both in America and in England,
than he ought to be, has brought, "in his
charming manner, into most practical con
nection with our home-life. From St. Luke
only have we those encouragements to prayer,
which are supplied in the Parables of the
Midnight Traveller and the Unjust Judge.
In St. Luke only have we the lessons of deep
humility, and of mercy to the penitent, in the
Parables of the Pharisee and Publican and of
the Prodigal Son. Luke only tells us of the
welcome given ' to the converted malefactor,
who was crucified by the side of Christ. This
is the Gospel of large toleration, of tender sym
pathy, of cheerful hope, of joyous thanksgiv-

1 6 The Evidential Value

ing. Good reason indeed we have, through
out the ages, to be grateful to him, who
under God, from his own point of view,
wrote these things "in order" to the "most
excellent Theophilus," that we too in distant
lands, might know "the certainty of those
things, in which we have been instructed."
And if from "the former treatise" we turn
to the second and ask ourselves — following
the same method of thought — what is the
special value to us of the Acts of the Apos
tles, — if we ask ourselves, what we should
lose, and what our Christianity would lose,
supposing this book to be obliterated from
our Bibles, the mere proposing of the ques
tion makes us almost start at the contem
plation of the magnitude of the treasure which
we here possess. I have spoken above of its
connection with the Gospels on one side and
with the Epistles on the other. What if this
book were not here ? What a chasm would
then yawn, to bewilder and alarm us, be
tween these two very diverse parts of the
New .Testament ! The Gospels on the one

of the Acts of the Apostles. 17
side, and the Epistles on the other, and
nothing between — what a vacant space to be
peopled with all manner of fancies and ap
paritions ! what a difficulty for even discreet
minds to establish the true connection be
tween the writings of St. Paul and the records
of the Evangelists ! Even with this solid con
nection established, and with all the sober col
oring which rests upon it, we have seen what
wild speculation can do to build up theories
and to suggest inconsistencies. • But, hav
ing this book for a perpetual possession, the
Church has all that it really needs, as re
gards this subject, if not for full satisfaction,
yet for full benefit. The mere fact that the
want is supplied, that, we possess this treasure,
seems to me a proof that it is Divinely given.
"Every good and perfect gift comes from
above, from the Father of lights, with whom
is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."
Though I am writing evidentially, I am ad
dressing Christians; and from them this argu
ment will meet an immediate response.
And what if the contents, the arrangement,

1 8 The Evidential Value

the limitations, of this book are somewhat dif
ferent from what we should a priori have ex
pected ? This is our state of mind in regard
to the whole of the Bible. And indeed of all
God's gifts it is true that they are different
from what we might have anticipated. We
might perhaps, following our impulsive rea
soning, have looked in this great intermediate
treatise for something more systematic in the
definitions of Doctrine and in rules of Disci
pline, and considerably less in the form of
mere personal incident. As regards its re
markably biographical character, this it has in
common with the rest of the Bible ; and so
far there is an argument in its favor derived
from consistency. But, speaking generally,
there are, it is true, many things in the Acts
of the Apostles different from what we should
have anticipated. For instance, we might wish
that we had a symmetrical account of each of
the twelve Apostles, after the manner of the
fabled origin of the sentences of the Apostles'
Creed. We may be disappointed that we learn
nothing of that diffused work of St. Peter

of the Acts of the Apostles. 19
which produced in the East effects co-ordinate
with and correlative to the results of St. Paul's
preaching in the West. And when, leaving
the former Apostle behind, we encounter in
this book the great personality of St. Paul,
we may wonder why so large a space is given
to a voyage and a shipwreck, where the very
name of God is but scantily mentioned, while
we long in vain for full details of his mis
sionary and pastoral work during the eigh
teen months at Corinth or the three years at
Ephesus. But it does not follow, because
there are some things in the gift which sur
prise us, that therefore the gift is not good.
The supreme wisdom of the Giver is, to the
devout mind, the measure of its thankfulness.
Again, let us mark this important feature
of the case, that the book before us is quite
unique. If we were to lose it from the Bible,
there is no book else that could stand in its
place. There is none other at all like it, or
that covers any part of the same ground. If
one of the four Gospels were lost, we should
have still three Gospels remaining, and a

20 The Evidential Value
CHRIST, familiar and dear to us, whom we
could reverence and adore. If even two or
three Apostolic Epistles were to vanish, still
more than a dozen such documents would re
main in our hands, to tell us what Christianity
is, and to insist upon its claims. But if the
Book of Acts were gone, there would be
nothing to replace it : and we may go further
and say that the Christian Scriptures would
then lie before us in two disjointed fragments:
The complete arch would not be built. In a
very true sense it may be asserted that the
Book of the Acts is the keystone of this part
of the Bible. The very perfection thus given
to the structure seems to show that the struct
ure itself is not accidental. The Divine gift
of the New Testament appears to us all the
more Divine, because the Acts of the Apos
tles make it complete in all its parts.
Negatively then, even in regard to our in
stinctive consciousness of its value, this Book
of the Acts comes to us with high claims on
our confident welcome and grateful allegiance.
And we can adopt moreover another neo-a-

of the Acts of the Apostles. 21
tive mode of putting an estimate on its worth.
There are certain Apocryphal Acts of the
Apostles, not very much known to the Chris
tian world at large, but yet copious and varied,
which we can place side by side with the Ca
nonical Acts; and we are in some degree able
to appreciate the worth of the former by com
parison with the latter. This Apocryphal lit
erature of the second and third centuries has
been recently brought to view more than for
merly; and the most has been made of it by
those who are disposed to make the least of
our Authentic Scriptures. Leaving all the
rest of this literature aside, I will just name
three of the documents which it contains, the
"Acts of Paul and Thecla," the "Clementine
Homilies," of which the hero is Peter, and
thirdly, the "Acts of Peter and Paul," with
the view of pointing out what kind of impres
sion our familiar and venerable history of
these two Apostles makes on our minds, in
comparison with those other Acts.
The scene of " the Acts of Paul and Thecla,"
is laid chiefly at Iconium. Names of places

22 The Evidential Value
and persons suggested by the New Testament,
such as Daphne, Lystra, and Myra on the one
hand, and Onesiphorus, Tryphaena, and Demas
on the other, seem to be put together in this
document very much at random. Even its
geography forms a strong contrast with the
geography of St. Luke's history. No very
clear distinction is drawn between the Pisid-
ian Antioch and the Syrian Antioch; and
Lystra is put in its wrong place as regards
the former city. But especially must be noted
its utter want of dignity, as constituting a
strong contrast with the Evangelist's elevat
ing narrative. Two of the chief features of
this Apocryphal work are a fantastic love-
story, and a form of asceticism quite different
from what is inculcated in the New Testament.
And let it not be said that it is waste of time
to make mention of a document now obsolete
and forgotten. Once these Acts of Paul and
Thecla were publicly read in church. What
if they had now been recognized as part of
the New Testament ? We can appreciate the
value of such an escape, when we think what

of the Acts of the Apostles. 23
it would have been, if we were compelled to
view the story of Bel and the Dragon as part
of the Old.
A much larger space in literature is filled
by what we know as the " Clementines." We
are acquainted with them in two forms — the
"Homilies," of which the Greek text is extant,
and the " Recognitions," of which we possess
only a Latin translation. The theory on
which they are based is not simply that there
was a long continued antagonism between the
disciples of St. Peter and the disciples of St.
Paul, but that there was a sharp antagonism
between those Apostles themselves — a theory
which has now been actively revived; and the
general drift of this production is to glorify the
former at the expense of the latter. It may
suffice here to quote Baron de Bunsen, who
was by no means restricted and narrow in his
orthodoxy. He regards these Acts of Peter as
a pure fiction, and protests against the modern
attempt of Baur to supplant history by means
of a novel. This subject of the Pseudo-Cle
mentines, must be referred to hereafter. All

24 The Evidential Value

that need be said on the general subject here
is that because there were antagonistic parties
afterwards appealing to the names of Peter
and Paul, it does not follow that those two
Apostles were opposed. We see their unity
in the Acts of the Apostles. If on the as
sumption of their antagonism it is concluded
that the Acts of the Apostles were written
to produce an imaginary reconcilement of such
antagonism — by this kind of reasoning any
theory in the world might be constructed.
The best answer to such fancies is to note the
transparent truthfulness and noble tone of the
Acts of the Apostles, their direct singleness
of purpose, and the absence from them of
all dreamy speculative discussion ; and these
are the features of the book on which I am
now laying stress. Judging by mere impres
sion it is easy to say confidently — on a com
parison of the two documents — that the Acts
represent reality and that the Pseudo-Cle
mentines are a romance.
A third Apocryphal document, which is not
altogether destitute of dignity and beauty, is

of the Acts of the Apostles. 25
entitled the "Acts of Peter and Paul." That
this document is a random composition is
evident from its geographical inaccuracy. In
the authentic account of St. Paul's voyage
from Malta to Puteoli, it is distinctly said
that the ship staid one day at Rhegium; and
this statement is expressly connected with a
change of wind, which admitted of no delay;
and it is added that they arrived at Puteoli
the "next day"; whereas .in these Apocry
phal Acts it is stated that Paul went across
from Rhegium to Messina, and there ordained
a bishop. We see here most distinctly the
traces of a later period. On the other hand
we have in this document the most express
recognition of the unity of Peter and Paul in
their spirit and their teaching. Thus one set
of Apocryphal Acts may be used as a counter
poise to others.
On the whole there is no reason to regret
that great pains have lately been taken to
bring all literature of this class more fully to
view than of old. The more, it seems to me,
that such Apocryphal Acts are read, the bet-

26 The Evidential Value
ter. The . more carefully such -writings are
placed all around the Scriptural narrative
and compared with it, the more does that
narrative tower above them all, like a moun
tain above lower hazy heights, with a golden
light ever upon its summit.
Thus far the argument for the value of the
Acts of the Apostles has been negative. In
the remainder of our time we must look at its
positive side. And here I am disposed, in
the first place, to lay great stress on broad
and general characteristics. What an honest,
healthy tone there is in the book ! Its spirit
is altogether wholesome throughout. It is
like the fresh breezy air of the mountains
or the sea. There is nothing morbid in it
from beginning to end. No one can study it
without being made better. How bright too
and encouraging are these early annals of
Apostolic adventure and success ! How like
they are, in this respect, to the Gospel of
St. Luke ! The book has been termed an
Evangelical Odyssey. We can hardly accept
this description as altogether correct: for the

of the Acts of the Apostles. 27
book throughout is intensely serious and sol
emn : but we ought not to overlook that
freshness and cheerfulness which suggested
the description.
And in order to give definiteness to an im
pression of which we all must be conscious, I
am inclined to fix on two characteristics of
the book ; first its transparent truthfulness,
secondly the noble generosity of its tone.
As to its truthfulness, I think we might easi
ly test this without any minute criticism. And
this, in some respects, is better than any oth
er test. How artless is the narrative ! While
minute and full of detail, how simple is the
telling ofthe story; how remote from any show
of contrivance; how free from any nervous anx
iety to justify or excuse itself, or to prove its
own consistency ! For instance, how honestly
are recorded the inconsistencies of the early
Church and the faults of some of its leading
men. The mean selfishness of Ananias and
Sapphira are related at the very fore-front.
The historian is not ashamed to say that the
first organization of a Christian ministry arose

28 The Evidential Value
out of a dispute among some widows. Again,
it is not concealed that the wider diffusion
of missionary work was developed in conse
quence of a quarrel between Barnabas and Paul
through the defection of Mark. So again at
Ephesus, Luke chronicles the shame as well as
the glory ofthe Church, and tells us that some
of its members, while joining in its sacred rites,
associated themselves also with the occult arts
of necromancy. As regards the great Apostle
himself, his hasty angry answer to the high
priest is recorded with as much straightfor
ward simplicity as his speech to the Lystrians
and his defence before Festus. And to turn
to another aspect of truthfulness, how admira
ble are some of the descriptions, as for instance
in the accounts of the mobs at Ephesus and
Jerusalem ! What an air of reality pervades
these two stories ! In the sagacious appeasing
of the tumult by the town-clerk in the former
instance, and in the adroitness with which the
Apostle, after speaking in Greek to the Ro
man officer, turns round to address the an
gry crowd in Hebrew,— in both these cases

of the Acts of the Apostles. 29
we might almost say that there is a touch of
humor. Or to take two other parallel scenes
of a totally different kind. Twice St. Paul is
described as among untutored heathens, who
spoke some language which was neither Greek
nor Latin: and in each case the story is singu
larly true to nature. On one occasion, after
the working of a miracle, there is an attempt
to worship him as a god, and then under the
influence of fanatical Jews he is stoned. On
the other occasion, because a viper fastens
upon his hand, he is believed to be a mur
derer, and then because the viper does not hurt
him, he is believed to be a god. How thor
oughly natural too are the touches of char
acter which we find in various parts of the
book ! Take, for instance, the manifest false
hood introduced into the letter of Claudius
Lysias, when he finds that he has been tri
fling with S.t. Paul's Roman citizenship, or
the equally manifest falsehood in the speech
of Tertullus, when he is retained as counsel by
the Jews, to secure, if possible, St. Paul's con
demnation. And, to give just one more ex-

30 The Evidential Value
ample, how thoroughly like what we should
expect from a Roman official, in the presence
of angry fanatics and of religious questions
which he does not understand, is the conduct
of Gallio at Corinth ! Nothing is said here of
the correspondence of his conduct with the
character which is given of him in history.
That subject will properly belong to the. last
lecture. I am speaking here of what is true
to nature, not of what is true to historic fact.
All that is pointed out here, is the honesty
ofthe Acts of the Apostles, as gathered from
what we see on the very surface of its narra
tion. And I will just add this remark, that a
general impression of this kind, ranging over
a great number and variety of incidents, is of
a high value.
Here, however, we are partly engaged in
an evidential inquiry: and it is desirable for
a few moments to look below the surface.
Moreover an instinctive impression of natural
truthfulness ought to stand the test of criti
cisms. An impression of this kind can be
submitted to cross-examination. We feel a

of the Acts of the Apostles. 31
narrative to be naturally and truthfully told;
and we ask ourselves what are the marks by
which we can examine and justify such an
impression. I will invite you then to join me,
while I apply this method of close criticism
to one selected passage of the Acts of the
Apostles. There are two accounts of the conversion
of Cornelius; one given by St. Luke in the
direct narrative of the tenth chapter; the other
by St. Peter, when defending himself before the
apostles and elders at Jerusalem, as recorded
in the eleventh. I suppose the general im
pression of most readers, as to this reitera
tion, would be this, that, the occasion being
very important, it is intentionally made em
phatic in this way. And to this view I should
see no objection, if we had simply a case of
reiteration before us. The Bishop of Lincoln
devoutly says here that the Holy Spirit, in
the structure of Scripture, does not disdain
to use repetition : Reuss says that we have
here a specimen of the Oriental style of nar
ration; and neither of these opinions need be

32 The Evidential Value
blamed, nor are they inconsistent with one
another. But, as I have implied, we have in
this place not to deal with a case of mere re
iteration. On the second occasion, when the
conversion of Cornelius is related, St. Peter is
speaking under apologetic conditions. He ad
dresses himself therefore to the emergency, as
any sensible man would do, speaking at such
a moment under a serious sense of responsi
bility. The expostulation was — " Thou went-
est in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with
them." His task (and it was a difficult one)
was to convince those who, under deep-rooted
prejudice, so expostulated. Hence he omits
certain things which appear in St. Luke's nar
rative, but which are of no moment to his
argument. Certain points again in that nar
rative he repeats with care, and lays special
stress upon them. Certain other things he
adds; and we should not have known them
at all, were it not that Sr. Peter was called
upon thus to justify and defend himself before
his fellow-apostles and others. Let us look
at his speech under these three heads.

of the Acts of the Apostles. 33
He does not say that when the vision came
to him he was on the housetop, or that it was
midday, or that he was hungry, or that they
were preparing his meal when the sheet de
scended, or that he "came down" from the
roof to meet the messengers. All these things,
though most interesting in the narrative, and
indeed important for the natural telling of
the story, were of no argumentative value in
the serious effort of the moment. Again, he
does not say any thing about that animated
part of the story, in which the messengers are
described as inquiring their way to " the house
of Simon the tanner." All such particulars
were outside his own experience; and it would
have heen unreal, perhaps suspicious, to have
named them. But, again, he does not say that
Cornelius was a centurion. He calls him sim
ply "the man" at Caesarea. The fact that he
was a Roman soldier would not predispose any
Jew to regard him with complacency. Nor
does Peter describe the admirable character
of Cornelius, which is made so prominent in
the direct narrative. For the exercise of moral
3

34 The Evidential Value
persuasion upon him at Joppa, in reference to
the extraordinary summons he was receiving
to go to Caesarea, this description was of high
importance. One of the lessons he was to
learn was that God's distinctions between one
man and another rest on moral grounds, and
that it is possible for a heathen to be drawn
by the grace of God towards the highest good
without any Judaism intervening. But such
a view presented abruptly to " the apostles
and elders " at that moment might have cre
ated a prejudice in their minds, and made them
reluctant to listen. They were not disposed
as yet to think that any high virtues could
exist, irrespective of Judaic conditions.
But on certain things named by the .direct
historian St. Peter does lay special stress,
knowing that they will tell upon the convic
tion of his hearers. Thus he says that he was
praying, when the vision came. Whatever lin
gering prejudice there might have been in the
minds of the Apostles, they knew what their
Lord had said concerning prayer and the an
swer to prayer. Again Peter noted strongly

of the Acts of the Apostles. 35
the remarkable coincidence as to time and cir
cumstance, in this wonderful experience; and
they had the fullest belief (and they would
have had the fullest belief, even if they had
not heard the Sermon on the Mount) in the
minute guiding of Special Providence. Again,
he laid emphatic stress on that voice of the
Holy Ghost, which since the day of Pentecost,
in fulfilment of the promise, had- become to
them an articulate voice. Once more, though
he does not disturb the minds of his hearers
by speaking of the character of Cornelius, he
does tell them expressly that " an angel " had
appeared to him. This fact brought the occur
rences in his house within the range of those
recognized Divine communications, of which
they had had familiar instances in the history
of the Old Testament. And still once again,
though he does not give unimportant details
of place and person (does not say, for instance,
that he was lodging " in the house of Simon
the tanner") he does specify most strongly
the personal form of the message which came
from Caesarea. " Simon, which is surnamed

36 The Evidential Value
Peter" — four times in this whole narrative of
the Conversion of Cornelius does this signifi
cant phrase occur. They well knew that the
Lord had given to him this surname. The re
iteration too (for here is reiteration) made
the surname very definite to their minds, as
it had been made to his. Moreover it ex
pressed his strong personal conviction that
he had received a call to a special mission, so
that, to quote words used by himself long af
terwards, the Gentiles "by his mouth" were
first to hear directly of Christ. All these
things touched them very closely, and must
have gathered gradually into an irresistible
argument. And now, in the third place, let me point
out certain things which Peter, while telling
his own story, added to the circumstances re
lated by St. Luke. He says that the voice
came to him "from heaven." He says that
the sheet gradually approached to him and
came near to him. He says that he looked
upon its contents intently and gazed deliber
ately. All this is part of the natural vividness

of the Acts of the Apostles. 37
with which a man gives the account of what
has happened to himself. But moreover it
tended to show to his hearers that the teach
ing which came to him through this vision,
was no mere vague impression, but a very de
liberate conviction, seriously accepted. And
finally mark how he calls attention to the
witnesses and the companions of his jour
ney to Caesarea. " Moreover these six breth
ren accompanied me." But for this pointed
and lively reference in his speech we should
not have known that there were "six." Nor
should we have known from what is related
in the direct narrative that he took these six
men with him to Jerusalem (in itself a most
important and convincing fact) to attest the
truth of this great transaction. Above all,
when he comes to speak of the descent of the
Holy Ghost at Caesarea, he describes the pro
cess ofhis own mind. "Then remembered I
the word of the Lord." They too had heard
the same word of the Lord. I shall have oc
casion to refer to this point again in the next
lecture, as an illustration of the connection

38 The Evidential Value
between the Acts and the Gospels. Here I
adduce it only as an indication of natural
truthfulness. This analysis of the relation between the
tenth and eleventh chapters of the Acts of
the Apostles is not by any means exhaustive.
It might be pursued even more minutely and
might be made more complete. But enough
has been said for my present purpose; and I
think it will be admitted that we have here
not by any means a case of mere bald reitera
tion, but on the contrary a most real and
artless specimen of the re-telling of a story
with such variations of emphasis and informa
tion as exactly fit the occasion. And will any
one say that all these minute differences and
correspondences were ingeniously invented, in
order, on examination, to produce the impres
sion of an early and contemporary date in a
document really composed and put together
long afterwards ? In answer to this question
I will only make two remarks. I will ask you
first what your own impression would be on the
appearance of such phenomena in an examina-

of the Acts of the Apostles. 39
tion of documents in a court of justice. And
next I will take the liberty of adding, that,
though I have a moderately good acquaint
ance with commentaries on the Acts of the
Apostles, I never saw this argument definitely
laid hold of, until I thought of it independ
ently myself. Seventeen centuries is a long
time to wait for the ingenuity of a forger in
Alexandria or in Rome to find its reward here
in Philadelphia.
I pass now to the other point — from the
truthfulness which wins our confidence to the
generosity which moves our hearts. Truthful
ness and generosity — the two qualities are
very nearly allied, whether in the individual
character or in the religious tone of a book.
If we see them then in conjunction here, each
strengthens the evidence supplied by the oth
er. There is presented to us all through the
Acts of the Apostles a high, noble, and un
selfish standard of Christian living. A gen
erous self-effacement is the feature of those
whom we see there acting as the chief char
acters. And this in itself is a Divine mark

40 The Evidential Value
on the book which Christian hearts at least
will readily recognize.
There is first the instinct and the habit of
large and liberal giving for the relief of the
poor and the distressed. I use the words "in
stinct" and "habit," because we see this feat
ure of the Christian life both at the beginning
and the end of the book. No sooner is the
excitement of Pentecost over, than this sym
pathy and this spirit of mutual help show
themselves in lavish giving. We may say, if
we will, that in the first method of practically
manifesting this feeling there was a kind of
communism, which it would not have been
wise to continue. But even at this early
stage of the history there appears no senti
mental weakness. The terrible rebukes given
to Ananias and Sapphira and to Simon Magus,
must not be overlooked. Such indignation is
the dark background, which is necessary in
order to present true benevolence in its prop
er bright relief. We must mark too the pains
and trouble that were taken afterwards in dis
tributing the gifts of charity and in choosing

of the Acts of the Apostles. 41
suitable agents. The road between Antioch
and Jerusalem was trod and re-trod by the
footsteps of those who conveyed these gifts.
And now, if we follow the course of St.
Paul's life, we find him working with his
own hands, both at Corinth and Ephesus,
and saying that he did this, that he might
furnish an example of helping others through
our own self-denial. At the latter of these
cities we mark how the inconsistent disci
ples, named above, who had tampered with
sorcery, manifested, when touched in con
science, their true Christian repentance by
giving up their " fifty thousand pieces of sil
ver"; and we can read between the lines and
see the indignation of St. Paul and St. Luke
against the sordid selfishness of Demetrius
and his craftsmen, who opposed Christianity,
because it was likely to undermine their prof
its. Above all we hear the Apostle quoting
that saying of Christ: " It is more blessed to
give than to receive," — that golden proverb,
of which we should have known nothing,
were it not for the Acts of the Apostles.

42 The Evidential Value
And finally we find him saying, at the close
of his last missionary journey, that he had
come to Jerusalem "to bring alms to his
nation," an intimation which, as we shall see,
is an invaluable link with the Epistles. Here
I adduce it simply in illustration of a gen
eral characteristic of the Acts.
It is the enumeration of such instances
which justifies and explains our general im
pression of the tone of the book. And before
I quit this topic I am tempted to go back
to an earlier portion of the Acts, and to re
fer particularly to the scene in the house of
Tabitha. For my own part I am inclined to
think that "the widows," both here and in
the account of the institution of the deacons,
were widows enrolled, not for the receiving
of relief, but for the administration of relief.
It is remarkable that the first organization
of the deacons, the earliest -named part of
the establishment of a Christian ministry,
arose out of questions connected with prac
tical charity. It is to be noted also that
the first mention of the presbyters occurs

of the Acts of the Apostles. 43
in connection with this very subject. If the
suggestion I have ventured to make is a
sound one, we reach a further point on the
same line of thought ; and we see that
the very earliest ministry in the Church of
Christ," under the Aposflfes, was a ministry
of women for the exercise of sympathetic
help. But not only generosity and charity, in re
spect of money and the relief of want, are
characteristics of this document; but gener
osity and charity in the widest sense. The
spirit of self-effacement is conspicuous through
out. How readily the Apostles seem to stand
aside, that they may give place to Stephen and
even to Philip ! But let us fix this portion of
the Acts in our minds by reverting specially
to the example of Barnabas. The Bible is so
biographical in its structure, that in adopting
this course, we are acting in true harmony with
its spirit. Not only is Barnabas the great ear
liest example of lavish giving in the Church,
and the great and bright contrast to the grudg
ing meanness of Ananias and Sapphira; not

44 The Evidential Value
only is it to his hand that the alms of others
are afterward confided to convey and distrib
ute; but he it is who introduces Paul to the
Apostles at one of the most critical moments
ofhis life; he it is who trusts, when all others
are distrustful, and removes a prejudice, which
otherwise would have hindered and clogged,
at its very outset, the career of the Apostle
of the Gentiles. He it is who, when tidings
came of the extraordinary success of the Gos
pel among the heathen at Antioch, was " sent
forth " that he might go thither. Why was he
elected ? I imagine it was because he was felt
to be the man most fitted for the enterprise by
large-heartedness and generosity of character.
He it is, who, "when he came to Antioch and
had seen the grace of God, was glad": and it is
added: " for he was a good man." Why is this
added as a reason for what precedes ? The
word "good" here does not mean merely that
he was a man of earnest religious character.
This we know from the general context; nor
would this help us to the meaning of the con
necting particle. The reason is given, why he

of the Acts of the Apostles. 45
unfeignedly rejoiced in what he saw at Anti
och. There may have been misgivings and
suspicions at Jerusalem: but in his generous
heart there were none. At this point of the
history we reach the climax of this charming
example. He departed to Tarsus to seek the
newly-converted Paul ; at that time in ob
scurity, and " when he found him he brought
him to Antioch." He brought to that place
of active thought and active work, one whose
career was sure to supersede and eclipse his
own. Renan, with all his strange inconsist
encies and wild theories, sometimes displays
extraordinary sagacity in seizing the true im
port of salient points in the apostolic history :
and his remarks concerning Barnabas are very
acute and happy. He says that "Christianity
has been unfair towards this great man in not
placing "him in the first rank among its found
ers," that "every just and generous thought
had Barnabas for its patron." As to the par
ticular point before us, the bringing of Saul
to Antioch, Renan says: " To gain this mighty
soul, to make himself its inferior, to prepare the

46 The Evidential Value
field most favorable for the development of its
activity, while forgetting himself, this is surely
the highest point which virtue ever reached.
The credit of St. Paul's career is due to the
modest man, who put him forward on all oc
casions, obliterated himself in his presence,
discovered what he was worth, placed him in
the light, perceived beforehand the irremedia
ble mischief which contemptible personalities
might do to the work of God." I do not adopt
Renan's words precisely; but they contain not
a little truth. Well may St. Luke feel evi
dent delight in describing such a character as
that of Barnabas; and the Divine mark is on
this part of the Acts of the Apostles, not only
because of the noble standard it sets before
us, but because it gives us an example capable
of commonplace imitation.
Even thus the instances are not exhausted
which give to this Book of the Acts such an
impress of noble generosity. Some of the hea
then, who are prominently mentioned there,
themselves set this bright and cheerful ex
ample. Cornelius "gave much alms to the

of the Acts of the Apostles. 47
Jewish people": the Asiarchs at Ephesus be
friended St. Paul: Julius "treated his prisoner
courteously" and allowed him to go on shore
for refreshment among his friends. The un
lettered people in Malta "shewed no little
kindness '' to the shipwrecked crew and pas
sengers, both on their first reaching the shore,
and on their leaving the island three months
afterwards. Publius too, "the chief man of
the island " manifested the same spirit. These
are touches in the picture, singularly in har
mony with the spirit of St. Luke's Gospel; and
they ought not to be overlooked. Of course
the feeling of charity within the Christian
brotherhood is and ought to be more intense,
and from this warm centre it radiates most
effectually outwards. This thought of broth
erhood comes naturally into my mind as I
conclude. The name of this great city, in
which I am now permitted to lecture, ought,
I think, to be accepted as an encouraging
omen for the future of, this world. Phila
delphia — in the deepest spiritual sense — esto
perpetua. However separated we may be by

48 Evidential Value of the Acts.
intervals of space, and by differences of oc
cupation, however much we may be tried by
those who seek to divide us in things secu
lar and things sacred, " let brotherly love
continue."

LECTURE II.
The Relation of this Book to the
Gospel History.

LECTURE II.
THE RELATION OF THIS BOOK TO THE GOSPEL
HISTORY.

TN accordance with the plan briefly laid down
in the last lecture, our occupation now is
to consider this Book of the Acts in its con
nection with the Gospels, and to consider the
subject in such a way as to keep in view any
evidential results which appear as arising from
this connection.
The point of meeting of St. Luke's First and
Second Treatises is the Ascension of Christ.
Let us mark this fact. There is a wonderful
fitness in this arrangement of the Bible. Noth
ing could be more beautiful — nothing more full
of meaning — nothing in more obvious harmony
with the appointed transition from what Christ
did on earth, to what He now does from heaven.
We approach our subject by going up to the

52 The Evidential Value
Mount of Olives: and we gaze from thence back
upon the Gospel-time. To my mind there is
an evidential value in the very poetry of this
scene of the Ascension. Of course such a
thought cannot be pressed very far. But let
us pause upon it for a moment. It is edify
ing and consoling. There is a charm in the
very season of the year when this event oc
curred. The variation of the Calendar never
disturbs its connection with the spring: and
the spring, whether in England or America,
is always beautiful, always full of hope. The
whole scene of the Ascension is rich in en
couragement. This was evidently felt by the
Apostles, though we are surprised that it could
be so. It is part of that cheerfulness of the
Acts of the Apostles, which we noted in the
last lecture as characteristic of this book. We
trace this feature in it from the very first.
Though bereaved as no men ever were be
reaved before (for they had lost from earthly
sight such a friend as no men had ever lost
before) the Apostles returned " with great
joy." Such a state of feeling, the existence

of the Acts of the Apostles. 53
of which we perceive on combining together
what St. Luke says at the end of his " former
treatise" and the beginning of the second,
quite startles us as we pass over the transi
tion-line from the Gospel history: and this
contrast of feeling is one of the points of con
nection on which we ought to dwell: for con
trast is a true connection, if by previous state
ments we have been led to look for it.
All this gives forth a very special claim for
the observance of Ascension Day: and the
claim comes upon us with additional force,
if we view the Ascension as a binding together
of the Gospels and the Acts, as a testimony to
the coherence of Scripture. I know not how
the day is observed in this country. In Eng
land we have larger congregations on this
day than we used to have; there is a deep
er feeling on the subject through the land;
in our Cathedrals we have more music ap
propriate to the Festival; the conviction is
stronger that the compilers of our Prayer Book
showed a true instinct in appointing special
portions of the service to mark the day when

54 The Evidential Value
our Lord " in the sight of all the Apostles as
cended up into heaven to prepare a place for
us, that where He is, thither we might also
ascend, and reign with Him in glory." We all
know the value of embodying a principle in an
institution. Your Thanksgiving Day is a great
institution, as I had an opportunity of observ
ing, when I was in America before. This is
one of the Thanksgiving Days of the Catholic
Church; and its careful observance is a per
petual assertion of a cardinal truth, while it
impresses us with a deeper consciousness of
the evidential value of the Acts of the Apos
tles. From the Ascension of Christ let us now
look back in thought to the Resurrection of
Christ. In another way this great fact is a
strong link (in a very true sense it may be
said to be the strongest link) between the
Gospels and the Acts. The Ascension is sub
ordinate to the Resurrection. The Ascension,
in fact, may very correctly be viewed as the
culminating point of the Resurrection — as
merely an essential part of it, however truly

of the Acts of the Apostles. 55
it has a distinctive character of its own,
worthy of separate commemoration. In the
very nature of the case the Resurrection must
be consummate in its importance. Think of
what it is that one should rise from the dead.
Even now, with the light of Christianity round
us, and the faith of all the past Christian ages
resting upon us, we find a difficulty in be
lieving it. What a feeling of wonder and per
plexity there was in the minds of the disciples,
in regard to this subject, during the Gospel
time! What confidence there is in the same
minds here! But a true connection between
two consecutive parts of the Bible resides in
this change. What was said above of contrast
in regard to the Ascension is still more true
and forcible here in regard to the Resurrection.
A conviction of the truth of the Resurrection
sends a thrill through the whole Book of the
Acts, and gives to it life and expression and
power. Can any thing be more incredible than
that a mere delusion, a mere sentimental hys
teria, should have communicated such nerve
to the book, such meaning to all its chapters,

56 The Evidential Value
such vigor to its words, such strong consis
tency to the Acts it records ? The very form,
the very substance of the book is a testimony
to the fact of the Resurrection: and surely we
may argue conversely, that, if we believe this
fact, our faith rightly diffuses a feeling of radi
ant confidence over the whole of the book.
To make this instinctive impression more
definite, and to give a reason for it, let us
look at some of the facts of the case. I take
eight instances, four relating to the work of
Peter, four relating to that of Paul. They
are drawn from the midst of occasions and
scenes extremely different from one another:
yet they are all harmonious in the unity of
the great truth I am noting. I will name them
in chronological order, adding such reflections
as they naturally suggest.
Hear how on the day of Pentecost St. Peter
speaks of the Resurrection ! He has been
quoting one of the Psalms of David: "Thou
wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt
thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption."
This, says Peter before all the people, can

of the Acts of the Apostles. 57
not refer to David. That prophet's tomb was
near them, perhaps in their very sight, as
Peter preached. "This the prophet spoke,"
said Peter, "of the resurrection of Christ, that
His soul was not left in hell, neither His flesh
did see corruption: this Jesus hath God raised
up, whereof we all are witnesses." What I
mark here is St. Peter's confident and complete
theological teaching on the subject. Once he
had been full of all sorts of doubts and diffi
culties in reference to this question, and even
he had been guilty of disrespectful expostula
tion with his Lord, when He predicted His
dying and rising again. Now the whole the
ological range of the subject seemed present
to his mind and to be held with the firm
grasp of unhesitating conviction. He had
often heard his Master quote the Old Tes
tament. Now he does the same. This is a
topic on which it is well worth while to
pause very carefully. Is it not evident that
the promise has been fulfilled — that the Holy
Spirit has "taken of the things of Christ and
shown them unto him " — that " all things have

58 The Evidential Value
been brought to his remembrance, whatever
Christ had spoken to him " ?
Now turn to another occasion, which speed
ily followed. Peter and John have been to
gether in the Temple; and there, at the pub
lic gate, in the name of Christ, have healed
a man who was lame from his birth. This
appearance of these two disciples side by
side, here and afterwards on the mission to
Samaria, is itself an expression of the har
mony of the Acts with the Epistles. To
gether they had been in the first interview
with Jesus near the Jordan. Together they
had been with Him among the nets on the
Sea of Tiberias. Probably they were com
panions when the disciples were sent forth
two and two. Certainly they were selected as
companions, when preparation was to be made
for the Passover. Certainly they were to
gether immediately after the Resurrection and
again at the solemn moment of the pastoral
commission. Their friendship is a most touch
ing part of the Gospel history; and we are
struck by the naturalness, so to speak, of

of the Acts of the Apostles. 59
their appearing here together at the opening
of the apostolic history. The point before us
is their assertion regarding the Resurrection,
to which certainly they were able to bear
special testimony. "Ye denied the Holy One
and the Just, and desired a murderer to be
granted unto you; and killed the Prince of life,
whom God hath raised from the dead; where
of we are witnesses." These were their words
in Solomon's Porch. How different had the
conduct of these two disciples been, soon
after the time when the last mention of Solo
mon's Porch occurred ! How full of fear were
they then ! How unflinching in courage are
they now ! And as we pursue the narrative,
we find that the Sadducees, "vexed that these
men. were teaching the people and preaching
through Jesus the resurrection from the dead,"
brought them before the authorities; and still
the same confident language is used: "Be it
known unto you, that by the name of Jesus
Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom
God raised from the dead, even by Him doth
this man stand before you whole;" and it is

60 The Evidential Value
added, with great emphasis, that "they marked
the boldness of Peter and John." We remem
ber how it had been with these two Apostles,
a short time before, in connection with the
suffering, the death, and resurrection of Christ.
Both had slept in the Garden of the Agony:
both had forsaken the Lord in fear, and Peter
had done worse: both, when the news came
of the open tomb, had been filled with fear
and doubt. Now the change is marvellous.
Their fearless confidence is so great that noth
ing could surpass it; and Peter, in witnessing
of the Resurrection, as truly proves by his
new courage the power of the Holy Ghost, as
he had proved it by his theological teaching
on this great subject.
Before long a fresh series of incidents suc
ceed, but still with the same witnessing to
the truth of the Resurrection of Christ. Many
miracles were wrought by the Apostles, so
as to produce a solemn and reverential awe
among those who beheld them, Peter being
named as the central figure in these scenes.
Again the Sadducees are filled with " indig-

" of the Acts of the Apostles. 61
nation"; and the Apostles are put in prison.
They are miraculously delivered and return to
their office of public teaching. When brought
before the Council, we read that Peter and
the other Apostles "answered and said: We
ought to obey God rather than man: the God
of our fathers raised up jesus, whom ye slew
and hanged on a tree: Him hath God raised
with His right hand to be a Prince and a Sa
viour . . . and we are witnesses of these
things." The thoughts which this scene brings
into the mind are somewhat different from the
thoughts suggested by the preceding. Then
we saw St. Peter in companionship with his
early friend St. John: the biographies of the
two men are blended together, as we have
seen them blended on earlier occasions; and
Peter appears, with his friend, as the great ex
ample of courage. Now we see Peter with the
general group of the Apostles, their spokes
man, their representative, witnessing, in their
name as well as his own, to the Resurrection
of Christ. This truth is to be the doctrine,
the living power, the assuring comfort, of the

62 The Evidential Value
Universal Church. This testimony is the as
sertion of the great Catholic truth, which we
proclaim in such glorious words at the close
of the Nicene Creed: "I look for the resurrec
tion of the dead, and the life of the world to
come." The last instance selected from the testi
mony of Peter concerning the Resurrection de
serves peculiar attention. They are the words
addressed to Cornelius. " Him God raised
from the dead and ¦ showed Him openly — not
to all the people, but to witnesses chosen
before of God — even to us," he adds, "who did
eat and drink with Him after He rose from
the dead." I can imagine a question arising
in thoughtful minds, when we read here that
Jesus Christ, after His Resurrection, was not
shown openly to all the people, but only to se
lect witnesses. Is not this somewhat strange ?
it might be asked. Is not the evidence of the
Resurrection in this way somewhat attenuated ?
Was not the effect of this great event upon
the minds of the people made somewhat less
tha/i it might otherwise have been ? I think

of the Acts of the Apostles. 63
:hat a little reflection will show that there is
:rror in these thoughts. The very fact that
.10 public recognition of the risen Saviour is
recorded, though at first it might seem to
detract from the evidence of His Resurrec
tion, now really serves to enhance it: for it
shows how free the witnesses of this event
were from a disposition to make their case
stronger than it was in fact. And, after all,
the conviction of mankind in all ages, as to
this fact, must rest on the testimony of a
few at this particular time. But chiefly I
think we should remember that this reserved
manifestation to a few chosen disciples, ap
pointed to be His witnesses afterwards, was
more in keeping with the dignity and glory of
the risen Saviour, which would now have been
lowered and made common by that promiscu
ous and unrestricted intercourse with men,
which was necessary to His previous minis
try. One feeling which we ought to foster
with the utmost care, in the contemplation
of this great event, is the feeling of solemnity
and reverence; and this is promoted by the

64 The Evidential Value
manner in which the Lord manifested Himself
after the Resurrection to St. Peter and a chosen
few. Provision has been made, not only for
our belief in the Resurrection, but for our think
ing of it in the right manner: and this fact
has, to the Christian mind, a strong evidential
force. The four instances of testimony to Christ's
Resurrection, selected from St. Paul's life, may
be more rapidly enumerated; and a rapid enu
meration brings all the more distinctly to view
the extraordinary variety of scene and circum
stance in the midst of which this unwavering
testimony is consistently traced.
First there is the witness in the synagogue
of Antioch in Pisidia, a country town in the
centre of Asia Minor. After a historical and
prophetical preamble, similar to that in St. Ste
phen's speech (and we must remember that he
had heard that speech) the Resurrection of
Christ is the point to which St. Paul steadily
works onward. He quotes the same Psalm
which St. Paul quoted at Pentecost. This
too is a correspondence to be well marked.

of the Acts of the Apostles. 65
He puts in sharp contrast before his hearers
what man had done in regard to Christ, and
what God had done. "When they had ful
filled all that was written of Him, they took
Him down from the tree and laid Him in a
sepulchre: but God raised Him from the dead
the promise that was made unto the fathers,
God hath fulfilled the same unto us their chil
dren, in that He hath raised up Jesus again."
We should observe too how he says: "He was
seen many days of them which came up with
Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His
witnesses unto the people." This mention of
Galilee is significant, as we shall see after
wards. He knits here his testimony with
theirs : and in so doing (we may lawfully
add) he knits together the Acts and the
Epistles. The seventeenth chapter of this book con
tains two very marked and two very distinct
examples of St. Paul's testimony to the Resur
rection. At Thessalonica the occasion was
perhaps not very different from that which
has been noticed at Antioch in Pisidia. The

66 The Evidential Value
scene to which our attention is called is still
a synagogue. The place, however, and the
character of the population by which St. Paul
is now surrounded, is very different. He has
now crossed from Asia into Europe: the great
council and the public meeting with St. Peter
have taken place; and he is now in a great em
porium of commerce by the sea. Still we ob
serve that his testimony is unchanged and
unwavering. Still it is the Resurrection of
Christ which gives living power to his words,
bringing to conversion those who were after
wards addressed in the Epistles to the Thes
salonians, and in the case of others resulting in
the persecution which urged the Apostle on
ward to Berea, and thence to Athens.
Turning now to this new scene we find our
selves entirely removed from the old doc
trinal ground which was taken in addressing
the Jews. The Apostle's argument is now not
theological but philosophical. Still, however,
it is th£ Resurrection from the dead which "in
the market place" causes the commotion in
the minds of the Stoics and Epicureans. " He

of the Acts of the Apostles. 6j
seemeth to be a setter-forth of strange gods,
because he preached unto them Jesus and the
Resurrection." Still it is the same topic which
closes the great speech on Areopagus. "God
hath appointed a day in the which He will
judge the world in righteousness by that Man
whom He hath ordained, whereof He hath
given assurance unto all men, in that He hath
raised Him from the dead — and when they
heard of the Resurrection of the dead, some
mocked; and others said, We will hear thee
again of this matter."
The last selected occasion is that on which
Paul stood before Festus and Agrippa. It is
very startling to think of him as proclaiming
before the Roman Governor the Resurrection
of one whom Pilate, that officer's predecessor,
had crucified. Contrast does indeed here form
a vivid connection between the Gospels and
the Acts. Leaving on one side all that was
especially addressed to Agrippa regarding the
Resurrection, let us pass at once to the culmi
nating point of the speech: " Having obtained
help of God I continue unto this day, wit-

68 The Evidential Value
nessing both to small and great, that Christ
should suffer and that He should be the
first that should rise from the dead." At
this point occurs the sudden incredulous in
terruption of Festus : " Paul, thou art be
side thyself: much learning hath made thee
mad" — with the Apostle's famous reply: "I
am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak
forth the words of truth and soberness." The
Roman officer could not understand St. Paul's
enthusiasm or his belief in the Resurrection.
What, however, is especially suggested to us
at this point is the combination of this en-
. thusiastic belief with the utmost sobriety of
character. No one can study the records of
St. Paul's life without observing his strong
good sense and his freedom from fanaticism.
That to such a man faith in Christ's Resur
rection should have been the living power
which moved and directed his conduct is a
fact to arrest any thoughtful mind.
But, to return to the remark made above,
what a variety of incident is here ! what a suc
cession of scenes and persons to stimulate our

of the Acts of the Apostles. 6g
thought ! what an animated and diversified
history! Yet how strong and fresh flows the
stream of steady and uniform assertion of the
Resurrection of Christ ! And is it not quite
evident that both Apostles attested what they
personally knew to be true ; one from what he
had personally seen, the other from what eye
witnesses had told him ? The evidence is con
temporary. On the edge of this stream of tes
timony we find ourselves in all varieties of
scenery : but the living stream that flows past
is one.
Some have laboriously brought together all
the tendencies of thought, the accidental move
ments of opinion, the inevitable social changes,
which before the close of the second century
combined in forming Christianity and the Chris
tian Church. There is no reason to deny these
tendencies or the reality of these progressive
changes. But add them all together: and they
do not explain Christianity and the Church.
The living power is wanting. As well might
we explain physical life by enumerating and
describing gelatine and fibrine, lime and oxy-

yo The Evidential Value
gen, and the like. These ingredients are there,
with the laws which operate on them and con
trol them; but all together they do not make
the living man: something is still wanting
which baffles science. So it is here with the
criticism which leaves out the Resurrection.
It can analyze the ingredients: but it cannot
explain the life. It seems to .me, too, that
this fresh early spirit of strong belief, which
we have seen alike in St. Peter and St. Paul,
could not have been represented naturally by
a late compiler or by an inventor. It would
have been impossible either to have forged it
or reproduced it. The very manner in which
the Resurrection was proclaimed joins togeth
er by an indissoluble bond the Acts and the
Gospels. As we have moved back already from the
Ascension to the Resurrection, so let us now
move back from the Resurrection to the earthly
life, to the works and words of Christ. For
this purpose we may be content to fix our po
sition in one single place. We will take our
stand upon the narrative of the Conversion of

of the Acts of the Apostles. 71
Cornelius, and limit ourselves to that ground.
Previously — in the last lecture — we took a sur
vey of this ground in its tendency to establish
the artless veracity of the Acts. Now I in
vite attention to it for a different reason. I
think I see in this section of the history three
places of close organic connection between the
Acts and the Gospel-events. They are all
parts of fhe living experience of St. Peter:
which indeed is precisely what we should look
for. We should perhaps hardly expect any
evidence of this kind in connection with St.
Paul. He had never lived with Christ. But
with Peter personal memories of the Lord must
have been ever in his mind; and we are in
stinctively prepared for indications of them
to appear. The order in which we consider
these three indications is of little moment. I
will take the earliest first, then the latest, then
the intermediate one.
Our Lord once spoke a parable to this ef
fect: "Not that which entereth into a man,
by his mouth, defileth him: but that which
cometh from within, out of the heart, that

72 The Evidential Value
defileth the man." We know the meaning of
this parable, as regards the superstition of
mere outward things on the one hand, and
the terrible pollution of sin in the heart on
the other. But the parable has a wide range
beyond the mere individual, and lays doKvn
the broad universal basis upon which religious
communion in the Church of Christ is built.
In our general recollection of the parable there
is nothing to associate it specially with Peter,
or to suggest any intimate link here between
the Gospels and the Acts. But on reading
carefully we soon see its personal connection
with this Apostle; and critical inquiry reveals
the link which in this place connects the
Gospels and the Acts.
Both St. Matthew and St. Mark tell us that
the disciples afterwards privately asked the
meaning of the parable. But one of them in
forms us of the place where this conversation
occurred; the other tells us who asked the
question that led to Christ's answer. St. Mat
thew says that it was " when He was entered
into the house from the people " that this pri-

of the Acts of the Apostles. 73
vate conversation took place. That was the
house of Simon and Andrew. But St. Mark
tells us (observe that it is St. Mark) of some
thing more definite and personal. "Peter said
unto Him, Declare unto us this parable." Pe
ter, as usual, is ready with his words; and while
honestly, doubtless, eager for instruction, is
impetuous and impatient. We may thank him
for this eagerness and impetuosity, for it has
brought down to us from that conversation
at Capernaum the most solemn of all warnings,
that foul desires, which come from within, de
file us morally and spiritually.
Here is the connection with St. Peter: and
even this is a bond between the Acts and the
Gospels; for we have thus vividly before us the
personality of the man who was appointed to
secure the conversion of Cornelius. But exact
criticism reveals to us, in this conversation
at Capernaum, a distinct organic connection
with that great subsequent occurrence. For
according to the true reading of the manu
scripts, what St. Mark adds at the close of this
Gospel story is as follows: "This He said —

74 The Evidential Value
this the Lord said — cleansing all meats — pro
nouncing all meats pure." It was an anticipa
tion — a strictly verbal anticipation — of what
was said at Joppa — "What the Lord hath
cleansed, that call not thou common." We
often blame the critics; but we have frequently
good reason to thank them. The fact of the
true reading may be stated very confidently.
And can we doubt that a remembrance of his
Lord's words came into St. Peter's mind in con
nection with the case of Cornelius, if not with
the flash of a sudden conviction, yet with a
gradual and in the end irresistible persuasion,
during the vision at Joppa, or in conversation
at Caesarea ? The Lord had spoken the words
in answer to a pointed question. The question
too had been asked by himself. It had been
asked too and answered in that house, which had
been familiar to him from early days, and which
must ever have seemed full of the presence
and instruction of Christ. We should note,
too, that the identical Greek word for cleans
ing, or declaring pure, is employed in the
two cases. Finally we must observe that this

of the Acts of the Apostles. 75
general remark concerning the Lord's mean
ing in the parable is found in St. Mark, in
that Evangelist who was termed in the early
Church "the interpreter of Peter." In order
to establish quite confidently the reality of
this connection, we have only, it seems to
me, to take into account the ordinary laws and
operations and associations of human thought.
And yet the connection is delicate and subtle,
not likely to have come into existence in the
development of a vague late tradition; and
not likely to have been the invention of a
forger; for a forger thinks of that which is
palpable and obviously adapted to strike his
reader immediately.
I now turn to a second bond of connection
between this part of the Acts of the Apostles
and passages of the Gospel history. In one por
tion of the narrative of the Conversion of Cor
nelius St. Peter distinctly says that he went
through a conscious reminiscence. When the
crisis came, when the Holy Ghost fell upon
those who were assembled in the house of
Cornelius, " then," says Peter to the Apostles

76 The Evidential Value
and Elders, before whom he is defending him
self, "then remembered I the word of the Lord,
how He said, John indeed baptized with water:
but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost."
I referred in my last lecture to this artless
statement of a conscious reminiscence as an
indication of natural truthfulness in the history
of the Acts. Now I refer to it for a different
reason, for the purpose of calling attention to
the fact that we here have a specimen of
natural organic connection, so to speak, be
tween the Acts and the Gospels. It is true
indeed that the words most nearly resembling
those which St. Peter says that he remembered
on this occasion, are found in the first chapter
of the Acts themselves. But other words,
nearly identical, were spoken by our Lord on
other occasions. One part of His training was
clearly to connect in the minds of the disciples
the remembrance of John the Baptist and the
expectation of Pentecost. Thus we are at this
point, so to speak, on a line of communication
which runs through more parts than one of the
Gospels and more parts than one of the Acts.

of the Acts of the Apostles. yj
But I am especially laying stress here on
the value of this personal reminiscence, as es
tablishing a link of biographical connection be
tween these two parts of the New Testament.
There is something wonderfully vivid in Peter's
account of his recollection. We call to mind
indeed what St. Paul said at Miletus of " re
membering the word of the Lord Jesus, how
He said, It is more blessed to give than to
receive." But there is a difference in the
tone and feeling of the two occurrences; and
I think it is easy to see in the one case
and not in the other the direct action of
personal memory. St. Paul quotes what had
been related to him. St. Peter gives the
words which his own ears had heard. The
Apostles too, who were listening to him,
had heard the same words spoken. The ar
gument must thus have been of the weigh
tiest kind ; and it had an immediate effect.
How far this kind of reference to the past is
likely to have been introduced into a document
not authentic, I must ask thoughtful men to
judge. To my mind what we read here has

78 The Evidential Value
an air of thorough reality and naturalness; so
that I see before me here a rivet, so to speak,
strong and unmovable between the Gospels
and the Acts.
In this instance St. John the Baptist is
named. So it is in the third instance, to
which I now turn. I shall have occasion to
revert to the Baptist again, before the con
clusion of this lecture. Let me ask attention
to the words which Peter is recorded to have
addressed to Cornelius: "That word ye know,
that went through all Judea, beginning from
Galilee, after the baptism which John preached,
Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him
with the Holy Ghost and with power, who
went about doing good. . . . and we are wit
nesses of those things." " Who went about doing
good." There is extraordinary beauty in this
phrase; and note that it is Peter who uses it —
Peter, who had been with Jesus from the first.
Peter, who saw all those Galilean miracles. I
do not think that St. Paul would have said pre
cisely this. We should hardly expect it from
him; for he had not lived day by day in perso-

of the Acts of the Apostles. 79
nal intercourse with Christ. Just so I do not
think St. Paul would have written what we find
in St. Peter's first epistle: " Whom not having
seen ye love." Peter had seen and had heard,
while in both cases he is addressing those who
had not seen and heard. In each case the
language is perfectly true to nature. In each
case our confidence grows as we read and
study. In each case Palestine is the truthful
background of what is immediately before us.
In the instance under our particular considera
tion here, there is both the charm of surprise,
and the suggestion of most solemn thought.
We perceive how Capernaum connects itself
by a Divine prearrangement with Caesarea.
I believe we might follow the same method
of inquiry further and find other examples of
visible association with the Gospel-time, even
if we were to limit ourselves to the occurrences
connected with Cornelius. Does it not natu
rally strike us that in what was said and done
in reference to the centurion at Capernaum
there was an anticipation of certain things that
regard the centurion at Caesarea, and a latent

80 The Evidential Value
instruction likely to revive in St. Peter's mind ?
Prejudices are not easily loosened; but they
may be loosened gradually and imperceptibly,
and preparation may be made long beforehand
for a change of mind and conduct very decided,
when it comes. It is difficult to believe that
St. Peter can have been brought to his con
clusion at Caesarea without calling to mind
the centurion whose servant was healed at Ca
pernaum. The admirable character of the two
men must have produced similar impressions
upon his mind. The testimony, too, of the
Jews was remarkably similar in the two cases.
In the former instance they besought the Lord
earnestly that He would grant the centurion's
request, " saying that he was worthy for whom
He should do this; for he loveth our nation,
and hath built us a synagogue." In the latter
instance the messengers who came from Caesa
rea to Joppa bear testimony to Peter that
Cornelius is " a just man, and one that fear
eth God, and of a good report among all the
nation of the Jews." Nothing could be more
likely to prepare Peter for the work which he

of the Acts of the Apostles.

was destined to do afterwards at Caesarea than
the occurrence which took place at Caper
naum. He had heard his Lord say of a hea
then soldier that " He had not found so great
faith, no, not in Israel, and that many should
come from the East and West, and sit down
with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, in the
kingdom of God." And now the Lord had
taught him, through the operation of the
Holy Spirit and through providential guiding,
what these words meant for the whole world;
choosing him as the instrument for beginning
the great change in the history of mankind.
But I pass now to another of those inter
connections between the Gospels and the Acts
of the Apostles, which are not very obtrusive
at first sight, but which, when observed, have
an argumentative value in such an inquiry as
the present. I find this in the frequent men
tion of Galilee in the earlier part of the Acts
of the Apostles, and in-' the manner of its men
tion. Even St. Paul names Galilee when ad
dressing the Jews in the synagogue at Antioch
in Pisidia; and this, I think, is worthy of ob-
6

82 The Evidential Value
servation. "God raised Him from the dead;
and He was seen many days of them which
came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem;
who are His witnesses unto the people." There
is an echo of the Gospel-time in this mention
of Galilee: and occurring, as it does, in a
speech by St. Paul in Asia Minor, it is, as I
have said, worthy of observation. Probably
up to this time he had had very little to do
with Galilee. Afterwards, indeed, he was in
its close neighborhood, when he spent two
years at Caesarea, and then it is quite possi
ble that he cooperated with Luke in gather
ing together notices of Gospel incidents con
nected with Galilee; but that part of this
Apostle's life was not yet come. Thus this
local framing of his Gospel instruction is re
markable; and I think we do not transgress
the bounds of reasonable speculation, if we fan
cy that we see here a result of that early fort
night, spent in close communion by St. Paul
and St. Peter together, of which I have spoken
above. Certainly they conversed of the Res
urrection. Certainly they conversed of Galilee.

of the Acts of the Apostles. 83
With St. Peter himself the reminiscence
of Galilee was the most intimate kind that
is possible. The local influences that sur
rounded him from the first, the character
that originally belonged to him, were Gali
lean. His early training too, under Christ,
was in Galilee. There he had learned to
know and love his Master. There he had
listened to His discourses. There he had been
a witness of His miracles. Part of his Master's
reproach too, which it was his glory to bear,
was connected with this despised region. If
the proud question was asked: "Doth Christ
come out of Galilee ? " it was natural that the
disciple should be asked: "Art thou also of
Galilee?" This being so, it is interesting and
important to observe how the remembrance
of Galilee colors both the later associations
of Peter with Christ in the Gospel-time, and
also the earlier parts of the Apostolic history
• — for consistency between these two consecu
tive parts of the New Testament is confirmed
by the continuous and natural use of a geo
graphical term. This mark is indelibly fixed

84 The Evidential Value
on the sad story of the denial: "Thou art a
Galilean: thy speech betrayeth thee." The
same allusion is mingled with the joy of the
Resurrection: "Tell His disciples and Peter,
that He goeth before you into Galilee." The
renewed lesson drawn from the fisherman's
craft, the command to feed the sheep and
lambs of Christ, were given in Galilee. And
turning now to the Acts of the Apostles, we
find Galilee made conspicuous at three very
marked moments of St. Peter's life; and, we
may add, made naturally conspicuous, with
out any suspicion of ingenious design. On
Mount Olivet when the disciples are gazing
upward, the words of the angel are, "Ye
men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into
heaven ! " How these words seem to con
nect together this great consummation with
the early days of Bethsaida and Cana ! At
the outpouring of the Holy Ghost, the ex
clamation was, "Are not all these which
speak Galileans ? " And now again, at the
other great critical moment of Peter's mission
to the world, he sets the Gospel before Cor-

of the Acts of the Apostles. 85
nelius as " the word which was published
throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee!'
It seems to us that it was hardly needful to
have named Galilee on this occasion; but the
old days came back upon Peter's memory as
he spoke, and he could not omit the allusion,
when speaking of Him "who went about doing
good." At the second Pentecost, as at the
first, the speaker who stands before us is still
"the pilot ofthe Galilean lake." We must not
exaggerate the importance of a consistency
of this kind. Its argumentative value consists
partly in the fact that it is very natural, and
partly in its power of easy combination with
other evidences of the same kind. This re
mark too may be permitted, that in the _Apoc-
ryphal Acts there is apt to be a hierarchical
complexion, corresponding with the late date
at which they were composed, whereas we
have here blowing over us the fresh healthy
air of the early companionship with Jesus.
Another very important subject in the in
terlacing, so to speak, of the Acts with the
Epistles, is the occurrence of the mention of

The Evidential Value

John the Baptist. If the name of that Great
Forerunner of Christ had not occurred at all
in the Book of the Acts, such a circumstance
might have been suspicious. And yet now
that these preparatory days are over, and the
Gospel is entering upon its mature mission,
a too prominent mention of the Baptist might
in another way have excited suspicion. In
this matter again we must take into account
the words both of St. Peter and of St. Paul.
The grand shadow of the Baptist is thrown
over the whole range of* the Acts of the Apos
tles. As to the mention of the Great Fore
runner in connection with St. Paul's life and
work, two circumstances are worthy of re
mark, because they are perfectly natural. It
was probable, from the character and noto
riety of John's preaching, that traces of his
discipleship would be found in distant places,
affected partly by the return of pilgrims who
had heard him in Palestine, partly by the dif
fusion of his influence through intermediate
channels. And this we do find, and in places
very likely for such discipleship to be promi-

of the Acts of the Apostles. 87
nent, namely in Alexandria and Ephesus. We
remember how Apollos, who came from the
former place, " knew only the baptism of
John," and how, when more fully instructed
by St. Paul's friends, Aquila and Priscilla, he
passed on to Corinth, to exercise a most useful
ministry there. We remember too how Paul
himself soon afterwards encountered at Ephe
sus " certain disciples," as they are termed,
who "knew only John's baptism." All this
is perfectly natural; and just so far it tends to
bind together the Acts and the Gospels, that
we find in the Gospels the .explanation of
what we read here in the Acts. The other
point of interest is this, that when St. Paul,
names this subject, he employs his own char
acteristic style. He is well acquainted with
the Mission of John the Baptist, he knows the
Gospel in its prelude, and of this prelude he
apprehends the full importance. The Bap
tist's Mission is part of his teaching, when
he speaks to unconverted Jews. We should
hardly expect this topic to appear in his Epis
tles written to organized Christian Churches.

88 The Evidential Value
But in the synagogue at Antioch in Pisidia
he opens the Gospel-message thus: "God ac
cording to His promise hath raised unto Israel
a Saviour, Jesus, whom John had preached
before his coming the baptism of repentance
to all the people of Israel." But, as I have
said, St. Paul uses here his characteristic style.
"As John fulfilled his course, he said, whom
think ye that I am ? I am not He. But be
hold there cometh One after me, whose shoes
of His feet I am not worthy to loose." "As
John fulfilled his course!' It is a metaphor
from the footrace in the Greek games. This is
his way of expressing energy, directness and
perseverance. It is just the language which
he uses of himself, both elsewhere in the Acts
and in the Epistles. " I count not my life
dear unto myself, that I might finish my course
with joy"; and again — "/ have finished my
course: I have kept the faith." It is most in
teresting thus to see blended together the
lively imagery of the Greek games and the
very words uttered in the wilderness and by
the banks of the Jordan — to see the Great

of the Acts of the Apostles. 89
Forerunner and the Apostle of the Gentiles,
as it were, side by side.
In Peter's reference to John the Baptist the
interest is of a different kind. In this case
there is the freshness of a personal recollec
tion. " Then remembered I the word of the
Lord, how He said, John indeed baptized
with water : but ye shall be baptized with the
Holy Ghost." He describes his own state of
mind. Paul could not have said this. He
had not heard what Christ the Lord said
of John : and at Antioch in Pisidia he was
addressing those who had not directly heard,
though the fame of John the Baptist had
reached them. Just so there is the life of
a personal recollection in the words used to
Cornelius: "That word ye know, which was
published throughout all Judea, and began
from Galilee, after the baptism which John
preached!' I have already remarked on this
sentence as regards the mention of Galilee.
Now let us observe it as regards the mention
of John the Baptist. If not literally a dis
ciple of the Baptist, it was within the range

90 The Evidential Value
of the Baptist's influence, and apparently in
his actual presence, that Peter had his first
interview with Christ and received his new
name. Nor are these the only instances, in
the Acts of the Apostles, where we find Peter
making allusion to those early days, to which
his later days were bound by gradually grow
ing and expanding experience. He says at
the very outset, when a successor to Judas is
to be chosen: "Of these men that have com
panied with us all the time that the Lord
Jesus went in and out among us, beginning
from the baptism of John, unto that same
day that He was taken up from us, must one
be ordained to be a witness with us of the
resurrection." The retrospect of the Gospel-time, which,
standing on the ground of the Acts of the
Apostles, we have thus taken, from the Ascen
sion of Christ to the mission of John the Bap
tist, suggests a thought that should be very
present to our minds, when we are consid
ering the relation of these two portions of
our early sacred history. The Gospel-time

of the Acts of the Apostles. 91
was a period of training for the Apostles. This
fact gives to us a principle of continuity of
which we ought never to lose sight. With
this fact fresh in our memories we trace con
nection in various instances where otherwise
it would not be perceived. It is one thing
to read the Gospels, as of course we do read
them, for perpetual and direct instruction ;
quite another thing to see in the words and
incidents recorded there a schooling of the
Apostles for that future work, select speci
mens of which are given in the Book of
Acts. The links which we trace by this
method may, in some cases, be minute; but
perhaps they are all the more valuable on
that very account. They may not be clear
to the eye at first sight; but this really en
hances their testimony if only they are dis
tinctly visible when they are discovered.
And we observe that, on this view of the
matter, Peter is the personal link which chiefly
binds together the early part of the Acts of
the Apostles with the Evangelic history. This
must, in the nature of the case, be so. Peter

92 The Evidential Value
is in the Evangelic record the most conspic
uous person among the disciples of Christ.
Whatever training the other Apostles received
was concentrated, as it were, in him. And on
the other side, Peter is the conspicuous figure
on the canvas on all the early part of the Acts
of the Apostles. The primitive formation of
the Church, so far as it is recorded, is personi
fied, as it were, in him. Hence in travelling
along the line of his personal biography we
pass easily from the one ground to the other.
Does not the devout mind feel instinctively
that we have here the proofs both of- a natural
truthfulness and of a divine prearrangement ?
In this way we are led to do more justice
to St. Peter than has always been accorded
to him. In modern times, as it seems to me,
the claims of this great Apostle on our theo
logical and literary work have been in some
degree overlooked. There was indeed a pe
riod, when, for long ages, Peter was placed
upon a solitary pinnacle which he was never
intended to occupy. During the last half cen
tury, throughout the Reformed parts of Chris-

of the Acts of the Apostles. 93
tendom, there have been profuse illustrations
of the life and character and work of St. Paul.
Meanwhile the life and character and work of
St. Peter have been somewhat in the shade.
The time seems now to be come for some
compensation for this comparative neglect,
some correcting of this anomaly. The true
relative position of Peter and Paul is side by
side; and in no way do we become more con
scious of this than when we remember that
these two inspired men are respectively the
links between the Acts of the Apostles with
the Gospels on the one side and with the
Epistles on the other.
This leads to a concluding remark. I have
said that the true relation of Peter and Paul
is side by side. In this book we see them
placed thus together. One great feature of
the Book of the Acts is that it is the meet
ing ground of these two Apostles. I spoke
in my last lecture of the view held by some
that there was not only a long-continued an
tagonism in the Church between the School
of St. Peter and the School of St. Paul, but

94 The Evidential Value
a sharp antagonism between these two Apos
tles themselves, and that this book was put
together at a comparatively late period with
a partisan purpose and to indicate a sup
posed reconciliation. The theory takes differ
ent forms; or rather there are more theories
than one, some being contradictions of the
rest. And it seems to me that it would be
very easy to construct diverse theories of this
kind and to put explanations on various parts
of this book accordingly. The simplest ex
planation, however, is the best. The old true
representation of this subject will live and
edify the world, when a great variety of new
speculations have had their day. The result
of these speculations, and of their conflict
with one another, will be to make men
realize more and more the inspired unity of
St. Peter and St. Paul. Whatever antago
nism there may have been among those who
used their names, it never had their sanction.
They meet in this book, not, like Laban and
Jacob, for a great separation, but for perpet
ual and sacred union. At the Apostolic Coun-

of the Acts of the Apostles. 95
cii, which may be termed the central place
in this book, we see them hand in hand.
They are one in faith, one in love, one in
mutual confidence, one in the proclamation
of great principles. The Acts of the Apos
tles assert the same unanimity, as that which
we find asserted in the Epistles. "Whether
it were I or they, so we preached and so ye
believed."

LECTURE III.
The Book of the Acts in Connection
with the Apostolic Epistles.

LECTURE III.
THE BOOK OF THE ACTS IN CONNECTION
WITH THE APOSTOLIC EPISTLES.

T T^HEN it had been decided that I was
to deliver these lectures, and I be
gan to revolve their substance and arrange
ment in my mind, the thought of my early
boyhood came vividly over me. I recalled that
western part of Yorkshire, with its green open
pastures, its gray limestone cliffs, its trout
streams and hazel woods, where I used then
to live. And with this memory fresh and
active, it seemed to me the strangest thing
in the world that I should be preparing to
lecture here, on the opposite side of the At
lantic. Fifty years ago, when even railroads
were hardly known, the separation caused by
the Ocean had a reality, especially to rural

100 The Evidential Value
people, which now has almost ceased to be
appreciable. Why do I make this personal allusion ? Not,
I hope, from a feeling of personal importance,
as regards myself; but for a good and suffi
cient reason. That village in Craven, the
western district of Yorkshire, was the native
place of Paley. Over those green pastures
he used to wander. Up those limestone cliffs
he used to climb. Those hazel woods and
trout streams were as familiar to him, when
he was a boy, as to me when I was a boy.
His father in extreme old age was my fa
ther's schoolmaster. I was brought up, when
a child, in the midst of anecdotes of Paley
and his family. It is not then unnatural that
I should take a peculiar interest in his works.
Of the three great works of Paley,- the
" Moral Philosophy," the " Evidences of Chris
tianity," and the " Horae Paulinae," the last
mentioned is by far the most original and
the most permanently valuable: and it has a
special value even on this account, that it is
eminently characteristic of the man. Never

of the Acts of the Apostles. 101
did an author more truly reproduce himself
than Paley in this book. He was singularly
fond of circumstantial evidence. When he was
a young man, it was his delight to spend much
time in law courts, listening to the cross-ex
amination of witnesses ; and the method of
this book might correctly be termed a cross-
examination of St. Luke and St. Paul.
But again this method of obtaining evidence
never loses its value, whatever changes may
take place in human opinion or human sci
ence. Other kinds of argument in defence of
Christianity are forced to modify and adapt
themselves, as the human world advances.
But this method, in the nature of the case,
' can never be obsolete. Again some parts of
the argument in the "Horae Paulinae" maybe
overstated, some may be erroneous. But this
does not affect the rest. In certain modes of
argumentation, if one part is unsound, all the
remainder falls with it. Not so in this case.
There may be mistakes, here and there, in
specimens brought forward as "undesigned co
incidences." But if they fall prostrate, the rest

102 The Evidential Value
stand upright. Moreover the example set by
Paley in this work can be imitated, as it has
been imitated, by others. It is surprising how
the Bible yields new results, if this mode of
inquiry is applied to its sacred pages.
Now it is to be observed that the method
of the "Horae Paulinae," the search for "unde
signed coincidences," — /. e., coincidences that
tend to prove the consistency of two things
which we are comparing, because they are
true coincidences, while yet they have not
been introduced by design, — this method is
often applicable to the comparison of different
parts of the same document, as well as the com
parison of documents of different kinds. Pa
ley's great task is to compare the Epistles of
St. Paul with the Acts of the Apostles, so as
to bring to view points of agreement, in which
there is no suspicion of design, and thus to es
tablish the independence, the authenticity, and
the honesty of the letters on the one hand,
and of the history on the other. But the same
method might be applied to different parts of
the same letter. In this way, especially if

of the Acts of the Apostles. 103
the notices of person and place and circum
stances are abundant enough to give good
opportunity, forgery can often be detected.
Paley himself deals in this manner with the
Epistle to the Philippians, as regards the no
tice of Epaphroditus. How far he is quite
successful in this particular instance is a ques
tion which we need not raise. I am only il
lustrating a mode of procedure.
This method is similarly applicable to vari
ous parts of the Acts of the Apostles, taken
as one document by itself, and especially to
two parts. The earlier of these was dealt with
in my first lecture. There are two accounts
of the Conversion of Cornelius; and I endeav
ored to show that in this case we have by no
means to do with mere repetition, but that a
minute comparison made with careful refer
ence to the circumstances under which the
two accounts are given, brings to view latent
coincidences, which have escaped the notice
of commentators. Peter tells his story un
der apologetic conditions: and the variations
which we find in his story, while strictly in

104 The Evidential Value
harmony with the other account, are just such
as might be expected to occur under the cir
cumstances of the case, while yet they show
no trace of ingenious design. This tends to
give confidence in that part of the Acts of
the Apostles. But there is another part of
the book, to which the same method is still
more applicable. There are three accounts
of St. Paul's Conversion, one given directly by
St. Luke in the ninth chapter, the others by St.
Paul himself, as related in the twenty-second
and twenty-sixth chapters, under apologetic
conditions, but conditions extremely different
from one another. Here then, in this three
fold comparison, we have excellent opportuni
ties for detecting forgery, if forgery exists, or
for dispersing the mists of legend, if these ac
counts are legendary. On the other hand, if
we find variations in St. Paul's mode of tell
ing his story which involve no inconsistency
with one another, or with St. Luke's account,
while yet they correspond with the character
of the man and the circumstances in which
he is placed, and while, at the same time

of the Acts of the Apostles. 105
there is clearly no contrivance in these dif
ferences and resemblances, then we acquire
great confidence in the veracity of the book
which is before us. Let us give a short time
to this analysis, before we proceed to the re
marks which arise on a general comparison
of the Acts with the Epistles.
The first apologetic statement by St. Paul
is before an angry mob in the Temple Court
at Jerusalem, the second before Festus the
Governor and Herod Agrippa II. In each
case he is obliged to be polemical and yet
persuasive. In each case he has to speak,
under difficult circumstances, to hearers who
are not very willing to be convinced. He him
self terms these addresses "defences." Hence
we might expect that on these occasions cer
tain things would be omitted, which, though
important in the direct narrative, had at these
times no apologetic value; and, on the other
hand, that certain things would be added
likely to be specially persuasive to the audi
ences respectively addressed. And this we
find to be the case. Thus it was very impor-

106 The Evidential Value
tant, on both occasions, for St. Paul to point
out the emphatic nature of the miracle. Hence
he says that the light which appeared to him
was "a great light": he says that it was
"about noon" — "at mid-day" — and that it
exceeded the brightness even of the sun at
that time. Thus to the fact that the Apostle
was speaking apologetically on these occa
sions we are indebted for some information on
the subject, which otherwise we should not
possess. The omissions too in the accounts
given by St. Paul are equally observable. It
has been correctly remarked that St. Luke,
as is natural to a physician, observes symp
toms, as for instance in the narrative of the
healing of the lame man at the Temple gate,
and the coming of blindness on Elymas at
Paphos. So, in his history of St. Paul's Con
version, he mentions "the falling, as it were,
of scales " from the Apostle's eyes. But it
would have been beside the mark for St. Paul
to have referred to this in either speech. Nor
would it have been to his purpose to have in
troduced the exact topographical details con-

of the Acts of the Apostles. 107
nected with his conversion, — " the house of
Judas "and the "Straight Street," — or to have
mentioned the fact that he spent "three days"
without food, the naming of which things is
quite natural to the direct historian. It will
be seen at once, I believe, that we are here
on a line of thought, which supplies a very
decisive test as to the reality and truthfulness
of what we read in the Acts of the Apostles
concerning St. Paul's Conversion.
Let us now compare the defences with one
another. Of course they have the apologetic
character in common: and this we have con
sidered. But, as I have said, they were spo
ken under circumstances extremely different.
If they were true to the circumstances under
which they are alleged to have been uttered,
and true likewise to the character of the
speaker as a man of good judgment and fine
tact, they must exhibit corresponding varia
tions. Speaking to the angry Jewish mob in
the Temple Court, it was essential that St.
Paul should be conciliatory, by presenting his
subject as much as possible on the Jewish

108 The Evidential Value
side, and keeping back as long as possible
that mention of the Gentiles which was pe
culiarly offensive to them. This he does with
remarkable skill. He has only a few moments
at his disposal, while he keeps the mob at
bay. But he employs these moments well.
He speaks in Hebrew: he uses the most
acceptable introduction, naming his hearers
"brethren and fathers": he tells them that
he was nurtured in that selfsame Sacred City,
Jerusalem, where he is speaking: he tells them
that he was educated by that famous and
honored teacher, Gamaliel. Were it not for
this speech, we should not have known that
St. Paul was "brought up" in youth "at the
feet of Gamaliel." He terms the law in which
he had been brought up "the law of the
fathers." When he says that he was formerly
zealous in this cause, he adds " as ye all are
this day." He says not simply, as St. Luke
does, that he asked for letters to Damascus,
but that he obtained them, and that too (here
adding to St. Luke) "from the whole body of
the elders," some of whom were probably

of the Acts of the Apostles. 109
present at the moment. When he speaks of
the persecuting Jews at Damascus, he calls
them "brethren"; and of Ananias he does
not say that he is a Christian brother or a
Christian disciple, but that he is "a man
pious according to the Jewish law": and he
adds, just as the messengers to Peter made a
similar addition regarding Cornelius, that "he
had a good report of all that dwelt there."
The coming of Ananias, and his standing
over him, and his own looking up into the
face of the visitor, should be noted as speci
mens of the vivid language of one who is
telling his own story. Under this head of
vivid reminiscence may be classed too the
instinctive naming of Damascus four times in
the speech. The words in which Ananias is
quoted as saying " The God of our fathers
hath chosen thee " is, once more, an indica
tion of the conciliatory skill with which the
Apostle speaks, as is his withholding the ex
press mention of the Gentiles, when Ananias
says, " Thou shalt be His witness unto all men!'
But especially we must mark the introducing

no The Evidential Value
of his vision in the Temple, of which, but for
this speech, we should have known nothing.
In that very same sacred place where he was
now standing, God had spoken to him and
given him his commission to " the Gentiles."
At that detested word the uproar began again,
and they would hear him no longer. But he
had gained his point. He had told the story
of his conversion to those who were most un
willing to listen. Our part, as critics, in the
scrutiny of this speech, is to observe how all
the omissions, the additions, the variations of
emphasis, on comparison with the direct nar
rative, fit the occasion, and also harmonize
with what we know from other sources of St.
Paul's versatility, tact, and presence of mind.
If next we turn to the speech before Festus
and Agrippa, we find the story of his conver
sion told with what might be termed a strong
Gentile coloring; and this was in harmony with
the occasion and quite according to the tone
and habit of St. Paul's mind and character.
Here he speaks under less constraint and with
no fear of a violent interruption. Hence he

of the Acts of the Apostles. - in
can take a wider scope and can dwell more
largely upon doctrine; and this he does ad
mirably. A creed or a catechism might be
constructed from this speech at Caesarea. He
has the religious interests of Festus, too, to
consider; and it is his duty so to speak as to
persuade him, if possible, as well as Agrippa.
He appeals strongly to personal conscience.
It is his best policy to take distinctively Chris
tian ground. He says at the outset that
"Jews" are his accusers; and he adds, in a
later part of the speech, "for which hope's
sake I am accused by Jews." He speaks of
them as hostile to him, not as friends. He
places them, as it were, outside of the posi
tion on which he himself stands. On the other
hand, he does identify himself with the Chris
tians at Damascus, calling them "saints":
and he says that he endeavored to force them
"to blaspheme." No such language would
have been possible before the Jewish mob; or
at least, if he had used it, the interruption and
uproar would have been hastened. The omis
sions too which we observe, -on comparing

112 . The Evidential Value
this speech with the other, are very signifi
cant, and thoroughly in accord with the con
trast of the two occasions. At Caesarea he
does not mention Ananias at all, on whom he
had laid so much stress at Jerusalem — nor does
he say any thing of his own vision in the Tem
ple. The authority of an obscure Jew of Da
mascus could have had no weight with Agrip
pa; and the mention of a vision might have
provoked the ridicule of Festus. Throughout
we observe that the mission to the Gentiles is
made conspicuous. And to close this imperfect
comparison of the two speeches by noticing
one particular, which at first sight is very triv
ial, but which really contains a great deal of
evidential force, he says here that the voice
on the Damascus road spoke to him "in the
Hebrew tongue." He did not state this while
addressing the mob in the Temple Court; and
for two reasons this difference is entirely nat
ural. He was then speaking in Hebrew: he
is now speaking in Greek.
Now this dissection, if I may use such a
term, of these parts of the Acts of the Apos-

of the Acts of the Apostles. 113
ties, reveals the lineaments of an internal
structure, which are not apparent on the sur
face. It is like the dissection of a leaf, which
outwardly may seem very smooth and uniform,
but which within has vegetable fibre and
tissue, delicate but systematic, and giving
beauty and coherency to the whole. This
kind of evidence, too, if it can be sustained in
fact, is, I imagine, peculiarly strong. This I
infer from the determined way in which it
is neglected, or only very slightly noticed,
by those who have theories to construct re
garding the origin and texture of the Acts of
the Apostles. By developing out of our own
thoughts a bold general theory of the inten
tion of this book, and by leaving out of view
the minute evidence of the facts of the case,
we might make any thing of the book. I will
give an illustration of what I mean. One
writer (I am sorry to add that he is an Eng
lish writer), assuming that the intention of
the author of the Acts is to establish for St.
Paul an honorable parallelism with the older
apostles, says this: "The personal appear-

114 The Evidential Value
ance of Christ to the older apostles being a
prominent feature," to balance this "the story
of the Conversion of St. Paul is related three
times." Now what is the best mode of deal
ing with a criticism of this kind ? I imagine
that no plan is better than to show, by care
ful inspection and analysis, that we have, as
a matter of fact, in the case before us, some
thing very.much more than a mere repetition
of the same things for the sake of emphasis.
If indeed there were in this instance, mere
reiteration on the part of St. Paul, in impor
tant speeches, of a previous narrative of a
most momentous event, we should have no
ground for feeling difficulty or for casting
any imputation upon the authenticity of the
Acts of the Apostles. But, in truth, there is
much more than reiteration in this case. The
same story is indeed told more than once; but
it is so re-told as to have in the re-telling a
distinct relation with both the speaker and
the audience.
The attention which we have given to the
three accounts of St. Paul's Conversion has in

of the Acts of the Apostles. 1 15
some degree invaded the ground of the prop
er subject of this lecture, which is the com
parison of the Acts with the Epistles, so as
to mark their independence of one another
and their consistency with one another, and
hence the confirmation which each derives
from the other. We have however been strict
ly within the range of the method of the
"Horae Paulinae." And, after all, to attempt
to put forth any thing like the full details
of this comparison, would be to repeat the
"Horae Paulinae" or to give their substance
in another form. To do the first would be
impossible : and as to the second course, the
form of Paley's presentation of his subject
could not possibly be improved. It seems best
to limit ourselves to some general thoughts
which arise on a comparison of the Acts with
the Epistles, taking the details of the ques
tion for granted. It may be hoped that most
of those who read these pages are well ac
quainted with the book to which I have made
such frequent allusion.
As to the action and reaction of the Acts

116 The Evidential Value
and Epistles on one another, and the mutual
confidence, so to speak, which results from
this action and reaction, note how two great
subjects, which have been before our attention,
in the last lecture and in this, appear con
sistently in each. These subjects are the Res
urrection of Christ and the Conversion of St.
Paul. As regards the former subject, the broad
fact is obvious that what is conspicuous in
the one section of the New Testament is con
spicuous in the other, and that the same feel
ing in reference to it is manifested in both.
Throughout the Acts and the Epistles alike
faith in the Resurrection of Christ is an ever-
present practical force. It was remarked how
the testimony borne to the Resurrection and
the manner of bearing that testimony, both
by St. Paul and by St. Peter, constitute an
indissoluble bond between the Acts and the
Gospels. But the same testimony of these
two Apostles moves on, with the same vehe
ment power and life, through the Acts into the
Epistles. I need only refer to the opening of

of the Acts of the Apostles. Wj
the Epistle to the Romans — "Jesus Christ
our Lord, declared to be the Son of God with
power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by
the Resurrection from the dead," — and to the
opening ofthe first Epistle of Peter — "Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, which according to His abundant mercy
hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by
the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."
And these are only specimens. Whatever ar
gument, as regards the unity of Scripture, is
derivable from the witness of these two Apos
tles to the Resurrection in the Acts, is very
much augmented in strength, when we ob
serve that the witness, in force and in char
acter, is precisely the same in the Epistles.
The cord is " threefold," and " cannot easily
be broken."
And next, as regards St. Paul's perpetual
recollection of his Conversion, we have been
discussing the question of reiteration — and so
far he does reiterate, that he evidently desires to
express in the most emphatic manner the fact
and the significance of this great change. Just

118 The Evidential Value
as he chose it for his main topic in addressing
the mob in the Temple Court and in plead
ing his Master's cause before Festus and
Agrippa, so is it when he writes to the Cor
inthians — "I am not meet to be called an
Apostle, because I persecuted the Church of
God: but by the grace of God I am what I
am" — and when he writes to Timothy — "A
blasphemer before, a persecutor and injuri
ous, I obtained mercy ... for this cause
I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus
Christ might show forth all long-suffering."
The remembrance of this great change vi
brates through St. Paul's Epistles, as through
all the latter part of the Acts. In both we
feel that we have the living personality of
the man and the intensity of an ever-present
conviction to bind them for us together.
Another general remark which arises out of
a comparison of the Acts and the Epistles is
this, that the same character of the Apostle
Paul comes to view on an examination of
both. The proofs may be somewhat delicate
and minute; but they are very conclusive.

of the Acts of the Apostles. 119
To scatter the names of persons and places
at random over a forged history or over
forged letters, would be a very hazardous
proceeding: for detection would be almost
sure to result on comparison. But to ex
hibit character is more hazardous still, unless
there be truth in both the history and the
letters. Character reveals itself in small in
cidents and indirect notices. Of course char
acter, and the indications of character, can
be invented, as we see in every book of fic
tion. But this, I think, must be admitted by
all, that the writer of the Acts does not set
himself deliberately to the task of describing
the mental and moral features of St. Paul,
and that St. Paul's purpose in his Epistles is
not to give a picture of himself. In each case
whatever comes to view in this way must come
to view without design.
The discussion which has preceded, concern
ing the. three accounts of St. Paul's Conver
sion, sets clearly before us that he was a man
of fine tact and great versatility; and this
¦ point might be illustrated by various pas-

120 The Evidential Value
sages in his letters. But I select another
aspect of character for our present purpose.
Let us take his sympathetic nature under con
sideration and see how it manifests itself alike
in the history and in the letters.
This quality of sympathy is perhaps best
shown in small matters, and very particularly
when small matters are in close contact with
great. " Use a little wine for thy stomach's
sake and thine often infirmities." To write this
in the midst of injunctions on lofty religious
subjects would be natural to some men and
not to others. It was evidently natural to St.
Paul. We observe precisely the same feeling
and the same combination in the Epistle to
the Philippians, where reference is made to the
health of Epaphroditus. " Indeed he was sick,
nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him;
and not on him only, but on me also, lest I
should have sorrow upon sorrow : " and pres
ently he adds, "Receive him in the Lord with
all gladness; and hold such in reputation: be
cause for the work of the Lord he was nigh
unto death." Something of the same kind is

of the Acts of the Apostles. 121
observed in the shipwreck. During the height
of the storm he had said these noble words:
" There stood by me this night the angel of
God, whose I am and whom I serve, saying,
Fear not, Paul; . . . . lo, God hath given
thee all them that sail with thee:" and now,
when immediate steps are to be taken for get
ting safe to land, he says, "This is the four
teenth day that ye have tarried and contin
ued fasting, having taken nothing: wherefore
I pray you to take some meat, for this is for
your health: for there shall not a hair fall
from the head of any of you." To take an
other instance, what a kindly human sympa
thy he shows with the Lystrians, when he
tells them how " God gave them rain from
heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling their heart
with food and gladness ! " By no mark, per
haps, is a sympathetic nature more surely re
vealed than in an earnest craving for the sym
pathy of others. This too is conspicuous in
St. Paul, and conspicuous everywhere. At
Troas " he had no rest in his spirit, because
he found not Titus his brother." At Appii

122 The Evidential Value
Forum and the Three Taverns, " when he
saw the brethren, he thanked God and took
courage." The former of these sentences is in
an Epistle, the latter is in the Acts. He is
constantly referring to his own sufferings. It
was "because of sickness" he tells the Gala
tians, that he staid among them at the first.
He reminds the Macedonians that they knew
how he had been " shamefully treated" at
Philippi. He reminds the Ephesian elders,
in the speech of Miletus, how from the day
that he came into "Asia," he had been among
them at all seasons " serving the Lord with
all humility of mind, and with many tears!'
The tone of this speech is in strict harmony
with the Epistles, in most of which, as Paley
has justly remarked, in closing his observa
tions on the Epistle to Philemon, are "such
pathetic effusions, drawn, for the most part,
from his own sufferings and situation."
This close yet delicate correspondence (and,
let me add, undesigned correspondence) be
tween the Acts and Epistles, in the matter of
St. Paul's character, might be traced in other

of the Acts of the Apostles. 123
particulars: and I will ask attention to two
of them, before I turn to a topic of a differ
ent kind. These are St. Paul's strict consci
entiousness and his unswerving tenacity of pur
pose. They exhibit to us the sterner sides
of that varied personality which in its many
aspects, yet with strict consistency, is set be
fore us alike in the Acts and the Epistles.
Speaking before Felix St. Paul says: "Here
in do I exercise myself, to have always a con
science void of offence toward God and tow
ard men." This is a strong statement. Alike
toward God and toward men he says he had
striven to do his duty: and the addition of
the word " always " is very characteristic of
his style. He says too that he made this a
matter of self-discipline, of systematic train
ing. He uses here a metaphor from the Greek
games. With this should be compared what
he says before the Sanhedrim, " Brethren, I
have lived in all good conscience before God
until this day," and what he says to Festus,
"I thought I ought to do many things con
trary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth."

124 The Evidential Value
And now, if we turn to the Epistles, we
find him saying to Timothy, "I thank God,
whom I serve from my forefathers with pure
conscience," and saying to the Corinthians,
" My rejoicing is this, the testimony of my
conscience, that in simplicity and godly sin
cerity I have my conversation in the world"
— and again, " I know nothing against myself —
nothing is on my conscience — ": for this would
be a most correct rendering of the passage.
And all this is illustrated, not only by his
frequent injunctions to the sedulous care of
conscience, but by his own sensitive honor
with regard to money matters. " I have cov
eted no man's silver or gold." This he says
in his speech to the elders of Ephesus. " If
he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee ought,
put that on my account: I, Paul, give thee
a written promise with my own hand: I will
repay thee." This he says in the letter to
Philemon. — And these are only instances of
the proofs of St. Paul's strict sense of honor
and duty, which could easily be multiplied.
That tenacity of purpose, for which he is em-

of the Acts of the Apostles. 125
inently conspicuous, strikes us the more forc
ibly, when placed side by side with the sym
pathy and tenderness, of which I have spoken
above. Again to begin with instances from
the Acts, I take simply two from the return-
journey at the close of the Third Missionary
Expedition. The scene of one is at Miletus, of
the other at Caesarea. On the former occasion
he anticipates danger and difficulty : a cloud
of sad foreboding is on his spirit; but he says:
"None of these things move me, neither count
I my life dear unto myself, so that I might fin
ish my course with joy and the ministry which
I have received of the Lord Jesus." On the
second occasion, when he was earnestly "be
sought not to go up to Jerusalem in the face
of clearly-predicted dangers, "then Paul an
swered, What mean ye to weep and to break
mine heart ? for I am ready not to be bound
only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the
name of the Lord Jesus." The possession of
mere physical courage is not here in question.
It may very rightly be left undecided whether
St. Paul did possess this quality. We have

126 The Evidential Value
before our attention a much higher quality of
mind and heart. It is the rising above dis
couragement, the persevering in spite of dif
ficulty, which constitutes St. Paul so noble
an example of tenacity of purpose. In the
passages • to which reference has been made,
especially when they are taken in combination
with the contemporary Epistles, there is abun
dant proof of depression of spirits. But this
depression did not hinder the most deter
mined perseverance. And what we see here
we see everywhere throughout the record of
St. Paul in the Acts. If he is struck down
by stoning at Lystra, he immediately re
sumes work elsewhere. If difficult questions
arise at Antioch, he goes up to Jerusalem,
that they be thoroughly discussed. If he is
hindered from preaching the Gospel in Bi
thynia, he proceeds into Europe. There,
when persecuted at Thessalonica, he moves
on to Berea. He never rests. He is ever
entering upon new ground, ever cheerfully un
dertaking one task after another, while ever
devoted to one purpose. And is not this

of the- Acts of the Apostles. 127
manifestly the same man whom we see in
the Epistles ? His very style shows the iden
tity of the man. There is no need for quoting
illustrative instances in detail: and we must
now pass to other topics. I will only add,
while passing from the present topic, that
this identity of character in the two sections
of the New Testament which relate to St.
Paul will bear a very close scrutiny, and that
this fact, considered as a testimony of truth
fulness has very great argumentative force.
I turn now to another general remark, aris
ing out of a comparison of the Acts with the
Epistles of St. Paul to the Corinthians, to
the Galatians and the Romans. These four
Epistles are, even by the most destructive
critics, viewed as undoubtedly St. Paul's. Let
us consider what this means. This conces
sion is really momentous, both in itself and
in the results which logically follow from it.
In these four Epistles we have Christianity.
This would of course be a very scanty Bible,
compared with that which we have the hap
piness of possessing. Still we have here the

128 The Evidential Value
assertion of a Divine revelation, with copi
ous instructions regarding both doctrine and
practice. But now from this point we can
logically advance further. Having this Chris
tianity, we acquire confidence in God, and we
believe that He would not deceive us. This
tends to spread a feeling of confidence over
the rest of the New Testament. What are
the results to which this conviction reason
ably leads us ?
First it is to be observed that there are
other Epistles claiming to be St. Paul's, be
sides the four. If we take the four as our
starting-point, we have at once a good stand
ard for comparison. Looking over these Epis
tles easily and naturally, what do we find?
We find unequivocally the same character of
the man: we find also the same doctrine, and
not merely the same doctrine, but the same
manner of presenting it. I confidently say
that the evidence derived from this mere gen
eral comparison is so overwhelmingly strong
that it outweighs all nibbling objections di
rected against points of detail. This, how-

of the Acts of the Apostles. 129
ever, is an argument altogether irrespective
of the Acts of the Apostles.
But if we bring the Acts into combina
tion with Epistles, our position becomes im
mediately firmer and more commanding. A
fortress already impregnable receives a still
further accession of strength. These four
Epistles connect themselves, by most dis
tinct and minute evidence, with the Third
Missionary Journey of St. Paul, as recorded
in the Acts. Three of them were undoubt
edly written during that journey, and the
fourth almost certainly. The circumstances
of time and place and person in the letters
to the Romans and Corinthians are such as
to furnish a proof which is almost mathemati
cal. The case of the letter to the Galatians
is of a different kind; but, for my own part, I
think the evidence in this instance as conclu
sive, as in the others. In these documents
then we obtain a solid ground under our
feet — a central table-land, as it were, from
whence we can survey the rest of the Epis
tles. And presently we find them also to

130 The Evidential Value
be connected by close links with the Acts of
the Apostles. Thus we obtain, by this kind
of comparison, the conviction of a concatena
tion among the different parts of the New
Testament, which leads to results far beyond
the starting-point of the argument. A table
land is not an island. We can pass from it to
connecting ridges. We can pursue streams
and survey landscapes, all having an essential
relation to the structure of the ground on
which we are treading. In short, if we pos
sess these four Epistles as undoubtedly St.
Paul's, we possess much more. This conclu
sion is reached by a comparison of the Epis
tles generally with one another: but it is
largely aided by bringing together the epis
tolary writings with St. Luke's history.
And one other thought of the same general
character may conclude this lecture. These
epistolary writings are in relation with va
rious parts of Asia Minor, with Northern
and Southern Greece, and finally with Rome,
the centre of the Empire. In them we see
the Gospel on its great missionary progress,

of the Acts of the Apostles. 131
attacking many points in succession and al
most simultaneously. For example, St. Paul
in writing to the Corinthians mentions the
plans which he had adopted in Galatia: his
Epistle to Colossoe and Philippi are sent nearly
at the same time. And with this general char
acteristic of the Paulinae epistolary writings
the Acts are entirely correspondent. The
whole air and feeling derivable from the one
class of documents is similar to that which
we derive from the other. In St. Luke's nar
rative there is all the impression of a world
wide enterprise: and this impression becomes
stronger and more life-like at the end. In
comparing the Acts with the Gospels, refer
ence was made to the Hebrew back-ground,
which was then necessarily present to our
thoughts. I spoke of the Mount of Olives
as one natural place of transition. But the
voyage of the Apostle from Caesarea to Pute-
olis introduces us to associations of a totally
different kind. Not Judaea and the Sea of Gal
ilee are the subjects before us now, but the
wide Mediterranean and Europe to the far

132 The Evidential Value
west. The mere fact that Caesarea was on
the sea-coast is a prophecy of the future.
We are vividly conscious of this, whether we
think of St. Peter or of St. Paul in connec
tion with that place. But with the planting
of St. Paul's footsteps upon that mole at
Puteoli, large fragments of which still re
main as though in conscious memory of the
fact, a new era for the world began. Thence
forward the onward view of Christian mis
sionary hope was without limit. That often-
quoted line, which is now, I believe, inscribed
on the portals of a University on the shores
of the Pacific,
"Westward the course of empire holds its way,"
that famous line receives its highest mean
ing when it is applied to the progress of the
Gospel : and all this progress is involved in
that voyage which is recorded in the Acts.
I have not thought it necessary to enter
upon any disquisitions regarding the precise
plan and purpose of the Acts of the Apos
tles; the reasons why its particular form was

of the Acts of the Apostles. 133
given to it and its particular limitations im
posed upon it. Two things indeed are very
clear, first that whereas St. Luke's former trea
tise describes the Lord's working on earth,
this reveals to us His manner of working from
heaven, and secondly that only select speci
mens of this working are given to us in the
Acts, the greater part being left in obscurity.
But I may end here with a phrase which is
really full of meaning, though it can hardly
be accepted, as it has sometimes been pro
posed, for a complete definition of the purpose
of the book. The phrase, to which I refer,
is simply this — "from Jerusalem to Rome."
That sentence of St. Paul carried with it the
best hopes of future times and of Western
lands, when he said, in the midst of his Third
Missionary Journey — " After I have been at
Jerusalem, I must also see Rome."^

LECTURE IV.
The Usefulness of the Book for
Instruction and Edification.

LECTURE IV.
THE USEFULNESS OF THE BOOK FOR INSTRUC
TION AND EDIFICATION.

T TAVING now looked back, so to speak,
from the Central Table Land of the
Acts of the Apostles, so as to trace the con
nection of this book with the Gospels, and
having looked forward from it along the line
of the Associated Epistles, we may now in
this last lecture revert to such general views
of the value of the book, as occupied our
attention in the first lecture — with this dif
ference, however, that then we considered
certain features of it, which commended it,
almost at first sight, as a Divine gift, infi
nitely worthy of our thankful acceptance, —
whereas now we are to examine closely the
benefits which the Church derives from it in
useful instruction and spiritual edification.

138 The Evidential Value
And first, I suggest that we take notice of
its connection with history, its exact yet un
premeditated correspondence with the real
facts of the case, as regards events and per
sons and places, in the time to which its
narrative belongs. I am disposed to lay very
much stress upon this characteristic of the
book as a ground for our confidence. I think
I have observed that very scanty attention
is paid to this kind of evidence, when an
endeavor is made to show that this docu
ment is a comparatively late composition, to
be almost classed with the Apocryphal Acts.
But such evidence is really an argument of
the utmost force, especially when we take
account not only of the historical details
with which we come in contact in this book,
but of the manner of this contact. For the
manner shows that the writer was contem
porary with the circumstances which he hap
pens to mention. He not only relates the
history, but he personally touched it.
It has been said by the present Bishop of
Durham that "no ancient work affords so

of the Acts of the Apostles. 139
many tests of veracity; for no other has such
numerous points of contact in all directions
with contemporary history, politics, and ty
pography, whether Jewish or Greek or Ro
man." This is a strong statement, but it is
no exaggeration; and it is important that we
should mark it; for every one of these points
of contact is a point of danger, unless there
is very exact truthfulness and an easy nat
uralness in the mode of their appearance. Of
course this aspect of the matter before us
must be illustrated by a selection of exam
ples ; and the selected examples cannot be nu
merous. I will slightly notice, in the first in
stance, four places and four persons; the places
shall be Thessalonica and Ephesus, Lasaea
and Phcenix. The persons shall be Gamaliel,
Herod Agrippa I., Gallio, and Bernice. As
regards the first two places, let it be ob
served that political geography, if it is true
to the facts of the period, is a decisive cor
roboration of political history. The second
two places are examples of very recent con
firmation by discovery. As respects the per-

140 The Evidential Value
sons I have named, it will be noted that
one is strictly Jewish, another strictly Im
perial and Roman, while the two others are
members of the Herodian family. In the Acts
of the Apostles we are on the line of inter
section between Jewish history and Roman
history: and on that line the Herodian fam
ily occupy a position of extraordinary interest.
In St. Luke's notice of Thessalonica there
is an incidental confirmatory fact so remark
able that it is almost startling; and I have
often wondered that more heed has not been
given to it. In describing the tumult caused
there by the Jews in the matter of Paul and
Silas, the historian uses (quite naturally, and
without raising any question) a very strange
word for those who appear in our Authorized
Version as the "rulers of the city." The
word is politarchs. It is not found in any
ancient writer. But travellers within the pres
ent century have seen and read this word
politarchs conspicuously cut on stone in an
cient inscriptions among the surviving remains
of the place. No evidence could possibly be

\

of the Acts of the Apostles. 141
stronger; and the peculiarity of the word en
hances its value.
As regards the second city named above,
Bishop Lightfoot remarks again, " We are
justified in saying that ancient literature has
preserved no picture of the Ephesus of Impe
rial times comparable for its life-like truthful
ness to the narrative of St. Paul's sojourn
there in the Acts." Two features of the
case which come forth to view on an exam
ination of a profuse number of inscriptions
recently discovered and arranged, are that
the worship of "the Great Goddess Diana"
was the predominant enthusiasm of the place,
and that "the Theatre," under the open sky,
was the customary centre of excited popular
crowds. These inscriptions too (illustrated by
abundant coins) set before us, in remarkable
combination, the title of the "Town Clerk,"
the mention of the " lawful assembly," the
" chief of Asia," or the Asiarchs who pre
sided over the games, and the fact that the
province of "Asia" was governed by "dep
uties " or proconsuls. That remarkable word

142 The Evidential Value
too, neocoros, rendered "worshipper" in the
English version, but more correctly trans
lated "temple-warden" or "temple-sweeper,"
in which Ephesus gloried, comes conspicu
ously before our eyes in these ancient, yet
fresh and eloquent, testimonies. Even em
perors boasted that they were (to use an
equivalent translation) " sacristans " of the fa
mous local Divinity.
I now come to the mention of Lasaea. It
will be -remembered that the naming of this
place occurs quite casually, so to speak, in
the Acts of the Apostles. Under stress of
weather, in the course of the voyage towards
Rome, the Alexandrian cornship, which had
the Apostle on board, came into the road
stead of Fair Havens, " nigh whereunto was the
city of Lasaea." St. Luke was probably con
scious of no special reason for mentioning the
place. It may be presumed that the town at
tracted the attention of the passengers as the
ship entered the roadstead, and that inter
course with it was frequent afterwards through
the bringing of supplies to the people on

of the Acts of the Apostles. 143
board. Thus the naming of Lasaea became a
natural part of the historian's description.
Certainly he did not deposit this local name
in his narrative as a riddle to be solved after
many centuries by a party of Scotch travel
lers. The point of interest is that while Fair
Havens is -perfectly well known and has al
ways retained the same designation, Lasaea
was never till lately identified, except by very
precarious conjecture, not to speak of tam
pering with Greek manuscripts, for the sake
of procuring identification. A quick eye, from
the deck of a yacht, some twenty-five years
ago, discerned some ruins in precisely the
right spot; and on landing, a question asked
from a shepherd obtained the immediate an
swer, " The place is called Lasaea."
With the identification of Phoenix I can
connect, if I may be allowed to say so, almost
a personal interest. It is at the moment of
leaving Fair Havens for the westward that
this harbor of Phoenix is named in St. Luke's
narrative. It might be said on a superficial
view that we have really no concern with

144 The Evidential Value
this harbor, since the place was never really
reached. But clearly there was such a har
bor to the west of Fair Havens. The sailors
knew it well, and they described it as shel
tered from north-west and south-west winds.
The question is whether there is any such
anchorage, in the right place, which satisfies
these conditions. For a long period it was
asserted that no such anchorage was known
there. I have myself received a negative re
ply, on putting the inquiry before one well
acquainted with the south coast of Crete. But
on the arrival at the English Admiralty of
the drawings executed by the surveying offi
cers, I found at once what I was sure would
be proved to exist. I had the satisfaction of
first publishing the information that there is
here a safe harbor, with deep water, precisely
sheltered from the above named winds, and
with the name Phineka close by; and thus
the discovery of this place is to be added to
those geographical evidences of the truth of
the Bible, which have been accumulating plen
tifully during recent years.

of the Acts of the Apostles. 145
From places let us now pass to persons.
There are in the Acts of the Apostles two
notices of Gamaliel, quite independent of one
another, quite consistent with one another,
but evidently not made of set purpose to
correspond, and in each case arising quite
naturally out of the narrative. His wise coun
sel is named in an early chapter, during the
discussions on the apprehension of Peter and
the other Apostles for teaching heresy. In
a later chapter, when St. Paul is giving an
account of his early days at Jerusalem, he
states that this same man was his instructor
in Theology. Now the great Rabbi Gamaliel
is a well-known personage in the Talmudical
annals of the time. The chronology agrees
with what we read in the Acts ; and it is
equally important to add that the character
of Gamaliel agrees with what we read there :
for he was not only a Pharisee, but a man of
candor and liberal thought, and much opposed
to the bigotry of a well-known rival school.
Thus our book is found to connect itself in an
easy and unpremeditated manner with the life
10

146 The Evidential Value
of one who has been justly termed "a hero of
Rabbinic history."
And if Gamaliel correctly links this book
with Rabbinic history so does King Herod
Agrippa I. link it, in exact particulars, with
the Greek-writing Jewish annalist Josephus.
Agrippa's desire to " please the Jews " is
equally manifest in both authorities. The ac
counts of his death at Caesarea agree in vari
ous details — in the pompous display, in the
brilliant garments, in the " set day," in the
nature of the sudden and fatal disease, while
there are differences in the manner of relating
the story, which absolutely preclude the pos
sibility of any copying. Moreover the dates
are in harmony, so that in fact the death of
Herod Agrippa in the year 44 becomes one
of the pivots, which help us in arranging
correctly the chronology of the Acts of the
Apostles, The name of Gallio supplies to us a link
with general Roman history of a totally dif
ferent kind. The title given to this governor
of Achaia is correct: for at that moment

of the Acts of the Apostles. 147
it was a proconsular province, whereas at
a date very slightly different this would not
have been the case. Gallio was the brother
of Seneca, and has a conspicuous place in
that philosopher's letters, besides being known
to us through other writers. In this litera
ture he is distinctly connected with the
province of Achaia; and moreover his char
acter is described to us as amiable and easy,
such as would readily allow any difficult
questions to pass by. This is in harmony
with all that we read of what took place
at Corinth in the course of St. Paul's Second
Missionary Journey. The narrative too has
all the air of a contemporary account, with
out any trace of the exercise of ingenuity,
and is very unlike a part of a romance con
structed, a century later, for a polemical pur
pose. With Bernice we return to the Herodian
family, but in a later generation than that
to which the former reference belonged. She
was the daughter of the first Herod Agrippa,
and the sister of the second, in whose com-

148 The Evidential Value
pany she is presented to us by the writer of
the Acts. The scene comes at once very
vividly into our memory; and we mark not
only the pomp and parade with which she
and Agrippa came with Festus into the
audience hall, to hear the prisoner Paul,
but also the fact that when this brilliant
company swept out of the chamber, Bernice
is again named, as though she were the
most noteworthy of all then present. If from
this we look into contemporary history, it is
startling to observe how she appears there.
It was an age of profligate women: and
among such women the Herodian Bernice
was notorious through the empire. It is not
pleasant to write of such a subject. Her life
reads, as has been truly said, "like a horri
ble romance." But it is of high importance
to note that what we find in this passage of
the Acts of the Apostles is in harmony with
what we learn from historians and satirists,
even to the jewellery which Agrippa gave
to this shameless woman.
These instances have been very lightly

of the Acts of the Apostles. 149
touched: and in them the list of available
instances has been by no means exhausted.
Other places and other persons might have
been brought forward from the pages of the
Acts of the Apostles with similar results:
and the temptation to- linger upon this part
of the subject is so great, that I will ask
you to think, in this connection, of yet one
more place and one more person. The place
shall be Cyprus and the person Felix.
There are recent circumstances, both in
your country and ours, which give a special
animation and interest to the mention of
Cyprus. Whatever may be the import and
result of the English occupation of Cyprus,
this occupation is by no means a common
place fact. Nor is it a common-place fact
that General de Cesnola has brought to the
New World very ancient and very- precious
memorials of the religious worship of that
island. But in the midst of these topics of
conversation I wonder whether it has ever
occurred to my hearers that this island is
named on eight distinct occasions in the Acts

150 The Evidential Value
of the Apostles, and in each case in such a
manner as to suggest very useful instruction.
We are here concerned chiefly with the evi
dential aspect of these passages. I will name
simply three points of view from which we
should regard them. First, there is the strict
geographical accuracy with which the island
comes before us in all these varied and in
cidental notices. Thus it is conspicuously
in sight .from the coast near Antioch, and
it was naturally first visited on the earliest
missionary expedition: again its high ground
was sighted on the voyage from Rhodes to
Tyre, at the close of the Third Missionary
Expedition, and this is a touch in the nar
rative which could only arise from truth; and,
once more, the sailing under the lee of Cy
prus, "because the winds were contrary," is
one of the most life-like details of the early
part of that voyage to Italy, during which
the narrator was St. Paul's companion. Sec
ondly, we know from good authority that at
this period the Jews were numerous in Cy
prus. (For instance Herod the Great farmed

of the Acts of the Apostles. 151
copper-mines in the island.) This fact is well
illustrated for us by what we are told in the
Acts concerning Barnabas, by what is said
of Cypriot Missionaries in the account of the
first spread of the Gospel beyond the limits
of Palestine, and by the fact that there were
more synagogues than one at Salanis, the
first city evangelized on the first general mis
sion. Thirdly, the political designation of
Sergius Paulus is in exact correspondence
with the circumstances of the time, and has
recently received an unexpected confirmation.
It has been long known that Cyprus was at
this time, like Asia and Achaia, a procon
sular province, though earlier commentators
thought it was still, as it had been a short
time before, an imperial province; so that
St. Luke may be said to have narrowly es
caped an historical error. But, moreover,
one of the inscriptions so carefully given in
Cesnola's Cyprus, is one in which we read
the words, " in the proconsulate of Paulus,"
There seems no reason for doubting that this
is the identical Sergius Paulus of the Acts;

152 The Evidential Value
and this circumstance arrests our attention
the more, because we are here at the transi
tion-point of the Apostle's own change of
name. The presence of Felix in the history of the
Acts ofthe Apostles should be carefully noted:
for his giving place to Festus in the governor
ship of the province, in the year .60, furnishes
us with our second pivot for adjusting the chro
nology ofthe book. But this is by no means
the whole of what requires our attention in
connection with Felix. The complexion of
the social and moral state of the province,. as
indicated by the sacred historian, corresponds
with what we learn from other sources of the
utterly corrupt condition of the priestly party
at Jerusalem, and the presence of banditti and
assassins in the country. Nor must we omit to
mark the character of Felix himself. He was
mean, corrupt, and oppressive. He had once
been a slave; and hes was raised by court fa
vor to his high position, in which, to use the
strong expression of the great Latin annalist,
he " exercised the power -of a king with the

of the Acts of the Apostles. 153
temper of a slave." We thoroughly under
stand what is said by St. Luke of his hope
" that money should have been given him of
Paul;" and the circumstances under which he
was recalled from his province by Nero afford a
very good reason for his " wishing to show the
Jews a pleasure " with regard to this prisoner.
Drusilla was with him when he visited St. Paul
in prison; and his marriage with this sister of
Bernice is one of the well-known facts of con
temporaneous history. There is no stranger
event than the death of Drusilla, with the
child she bore to Felix, in the eruption of
Vesuvius near to the place where St. Paul
landed on his arrival in Italy.
In these notices of Cyprus and of Felix, the
earlier and later parts of the Apostle's voyage
have been lightly touched; and it is proper to
add that the particulars of that voyage furnish
to us some of the most important evidences of
truthfulness under this general head of histor
ical accuracy. These, however, must be left
on one side. I will simply content myself
with one quotation confirmatory of, what we

154 The Evidential Value
are told concerning the shipwreck on the coast
of Malta — a quotation all the more valuable,
because it comes from a civilian, who recently
held high office under the English Govern
ment. The name of Sir William Reid is well
known in connection with "The Law of
Storms;" and Mr. Hermann Merivale says,
in his account of a visit to Malta: — "Sir
William Reid was a great reader of Scripture,
and as some veterans are said to be specially
partial to the warlike books of Joshua and
Kings, so he, for his part, had certainly a pre
dilection for those chapters which contain the
narrative of St. Paul's tempestuous voyage.
The first place he took me to in Malta was
the well-known little bay, or rather creek,
known by the name of the Saint. Under
such guidance as his, the absolute and un
mistakable identity of the spot with that de
scribed in the Acts flashed irresistibly upon the
mind, and all sceptical notions about an Adri
atic ' Melita ' were dispelled at once. There
was the very point on which a vessel, driven
along the northern side of the island by stress

of the Acts of the Apostles. 155
of Euroclydon, and finding the precise sound
ings specified in the narrative, would natu
rally be driven. There was the ' creek with a
shore,' almost the only beach of sand on that
rocky line of coast. There was the ' place
where two seas,' caused by the protrusion of
an insulated rock just in the entrance of the
bay, ' meet ' close to the ' shore ' aforesaid.
Under his description, every incident of the
tale seemed as if enacted before the eye. We
scarcely needed, to excite our imaginations,
the singular experience which befell a friend
of mine at this spot, where a serpent dropt
from a fagot of brushwood, which he had cas
ually taken up." To what is here quoted re
garding one single part of that varied narrative
of the Voyage and Shipwreck, I will only add
this remark, that just as every part of it can be
illustrated from classical writers, so does this
narrative give us fuller information as to the
ships and navigation of classical times than
any single document that has come down to
us from antiquity.
Passing from this view of the subject, our

156 The Evidential Value
minds are led by an easy transition to set
a high value on this Book of the Acts in its
use for purposes of education. It follows from
what has been said above that its educational
usefulness must be very great, both because
the book itself is a part of general history,
and because it brings the origin of the Church
into the easiest combination with historical in
struction. It may safely be predicted that
whatever changes, social or national, take
place in the theory or practice of education,
the Greek language will ever hold its ground
in the higher linguistic teaching, and that the
annals of the Roman Empire will ever be the
magnificent background of historical teach
ing. Attempts will be made from time to
time, and justifiable and successful attempts,
to assert for other things a high place in edu
cating mankind : but the power of the Greek
language- over the human mind will revive
again and again and will survive : so too it
will be felt that there is a greatness in the
Roman Empire which belongs to no other
historical subject, at least until what is now

of the Acts of the Apostles. 157
the future becomes the past. With these two
thoughts in the mind we see the fruitful value
of the Acts of the Apostles for higher edu
cation. It has placed the origin of the Chris
tian Church, within the high sphere of the
Greek language, in dignified connection with
Roman history; and herein we are bound to
see and adore the traces of Divine providence.
But for elementary schools likewise this
Book of the Acts has the utmost value. If
the young and the ignorant are to obtain
some intelligent notions of classical antiquity,
of the spread of the Greek language, of the
institutions of the Roman Empire, there is no
better method than in the use of this book ;
while certainly it is an advantage that such
subjects should be approached in so religious
and healthy an atmosphere. Then let us call
to mind the diversified interest of the book
— its perpetual variety of incident and place
and character — its alternations of narratives
and speeches — its capability too of illustra
tion by maps and charts and coins, and by
views of 'existing remains, from the great

158 The Evidential Value
stones of the substructions of the Temple-area
at Jerusalem, above which Solomon's Porch
once stood, to the glory which still crowns
the ruins of the Acropolis at Athens, and
finally to the fragments of the pavement of
the Appian Way, upon which St. Paul's feet
undoubtedly trod when his long adventurous
voyage was over.
One of the most curious parts of this sub
ject is the contact of the History of the Apos
tles with Heathen Mythology. On two occa
sions, and in each case quite naturally, and
in a manner very unlike any thought that
would have occurred to an ingenious contro
versial composer after the event, Greek and
Roman divinities come before us in the nar
rative. It was a common belief that Jupiter
and Mercury were in the habit of visiting the
earth in companionship; and Ovid localizes
an occasion of this kind in the very neighbor
hood of Lycaonia. Nothing then could be
more true to the nature of the case, than
when we find the poor untutored heathens of
this region rushing to the conclusion that they

of the Acts of the Apostles. 159
were so visited again, as their forefathers had
been, when Paul and Barnabas came among
them : and an additional touch of reality is
given to the story, when we read that they
identified Paul with Mercury, " because he was
the chief speaker," while, if they saw some
thing majestic and benignant in the aspect
of Barnabas, this is quite in harmony with
what we know of his character. And the oth
er instance arises out of the narrative quite as
simply and unaffectedly, though in a manner
quite different. Just as Luke and his com
panions observed on entering Fair Havens the
proximity of the town of Lasaea, so, when they
left Malta for Rome, and were taken on board
another great Alexandrian cornship, they could
not fail to have their attention called to the
fact that her name was the " Castor and Pol
lux." The figures of those "great twin breth
ren," the recognized patrons of Greek and Ro
man sailors, were conspicuously before their
eyes, as they prepared to go on deck. It has
pleased God that such features should be char
acteristic of the Acts; and we ought to be by

160 The Evidential Value
no means reluctant to acknowledge them and
to feel their value, when we address ourselves
to -the instruction of the ignorant and young.
I have been led to take a profound interest
in the Sunday-school work of this country;
and all the more because in England we are
about to hold a centenary celebration of the
beginning of an institution full of blessing
to all who speak our native tongue; and I
am thankful to know that this Book of the
Acts, on either side of the Atlantic, can be
made charming and instructive by painstaking
Sunday-school teachers to multitudes of those
who will manage the world in years to come.
Next let us regard this book as a Missionary
Manual. This is an aspect of its usefulness,
upon which the highest value is to be set;
for Mission-work is the active life of the
Church. This again is a view of our subject
to which there will be an immediate response
in America. One of the happy bonds between
your country and ours, and of the cheerful
hopes for the future of the world, resides in
this fact, that in both countries during the

of the Acts of the Apostles. 161
last fifty years there has been great Missionary
activity. Speaking indeed on this subject here,
I must think of names of great men, not be
longing to our communion, such as Brainerd
and Eliot. But that which was specially in
my mind was what I observed at the Gen
eral Convention at Baltimore in 1871, and
what was doubtless equally conspicuous at
New York and Boston in 1874 and 1877, the
reports of Missionary effort and success in
various parts of the world, which were made
day by day. A Church, in which there is
this living interest in the progress of the
Gospel, must necessarily be strong.
There can be no mistake as to the Mis
sionary spirit which pervades the Acts of the
Apostles. The whole temper of the book is
aggressive, beneficently aggressive. Even like
the sunrise in the morning it insists on per
petual advance. The book means nothing at
all, if it does not mean this. It is no mere
record of an interesting phase of religious
thought, or of the useful consequences of a
benevolent life; but it is charged with a power
n

1 62 The Evidential Value
which is to affect the world, and to move on
through all future ages, and never be arrested
till limits are discovered to time and space.
Moreover, it asserts most distinctly, though
in no unsympathetic and harsh spirit, that
Christianity is not one only of many religions
possessing equal claims, but it is the one re
ligion destined to supersede the rest. From
this source then we can draw, ever fresh and
vigorous, that Missionary enthusiasm, which
is the strength of the Church and the hope
of mankind.
Not only, however, the spirit of Missionary
work, but the right methods of Missionary
work are presented to us in this book: and I
will now venture on stating a few of those
principles of Christian Missions, which come
to view on a careful study of the Acts of the
Apostles, and which ought to receive atten
tion, because they are of binding force for
all time.
First mark that the progress of the Gospel
is made to depend on personal effort. Living
religion in the heart of one man kindles liv-

of tlie Acts of the Apostles. 163
ing religion in the heart of other men. "The
man of Ethiopia," in returning from Jerusa
lem along the " desert " road near Gaza, and
"seated in his chariot," is reading "the pro
phet Esaias"; and it is said from heaven
to Philip : " Go near and join thyself to
this chariot." The consequence was that the
"Ethiopian went on his way rejoicing "; and
what results followed as to Christianity in
Africa we cannot calculate. Apollos, when
his spirit had been quickened, and his mind
instructed by Aquila and Priscilla, passed over
from Ephesus to Achaia, and "there helped
them much which had believed through grace."
Under the same head of personal exertion
must be classed all that we read concerning
St. Peter in the early part of the Acts, and
the progressive spread of the Gospel, along the
narrow coast-region of Judaea, and in the later
part concerning St. Paul and the great expe
ditions which connect his name with Thessa
lonica, Ephesus, Corinth, and Rome.
Still we should observe, in the second place,
that this missionary effort is not detached ef-

164 The Evidential Value
fort. On the contrary, co-operation is a most
distinct feature of the labor on behalf of the
Gospel described in the Acts of the Apos
tles. Peter and John are sent together to
Samaria. Barnabas takes a journey to Tar
sus to fetch Paul to .Antioch. On the First
Missionary Expedition they go together to
Cyprus, and John Mark with them. On the
Second Missionary Expedition, after there has
been a dispute and separation, Paul takes Si
las with him into the interior of Asia Minor,
and, finding Timothy there, him also " would
he have to go forth with him." On the Third
Expedition he is at Ephesus, and purposes
to go onward to Macedonia. "So," it is said,
"he sent into Macedonia," to precede him,
"two of them that ministered unto him, Tim
otheus and Erastus." We know, of course,
that if we were to allow ourselves to wander
into the region of the Epistles, this great
principle and method could be illustrated
profusely from thence.
Another point to be carefully observed in
the history of Mission-work, as related in the

of the Acts of the Apostles. 165
Acts, is that the Gospel spreads by the use
of the living voice. " Faith cometh by hear
ing; and hearing by the Word of God." This
great principle is illustrated in the recorded
history, alike of St. Peter and St. Paul. It
is probable indeed that, as a preacher, the
former was far greater than the latter. Our
overlooking of this fact is perhaps part of
that injustice towards St. Peter, of which I
spoke in a former lecture. Certainly the ef
fect of his sermons, in the multitude of con
versions which followed, is such as we do not
see elsewhere. But in the life of the other
Apostle, on the most varied occasions, at An
tioch in Pisidia, on the Areopagus at Athens,
in the audience chamber at Caesarea, the same
great principle, enunciated by himself, is abun
dantly exemplified.
At the same time another conspicuous fact of
missionary experience, as set before us in the
Acts, is to be carefully combined with that
which has just been named. This is the
appointed preparation for success in the wide
diffusion of the Greek Translation of the

1 66 The Evidential Value
Ancient Scriptures. " Moses of old time hath
in every city them that preach him, being
read in the synagogues every Sabbath Day."
I will quote here some words used by the
present Bishop of Lincoln in his Introduction
to the Acts of the Apostles. Through the
Septuagint Version, he says, " Even Hea
thenism itself had been silently leavened by
the diffusion of the Hebrew Scriptures. Their
venerable antiquity, their noble simplicity,
their pure morality, had won for them the
affections of many wise and noble minds,
which were wearied and disgusted with the
jarring contradictions and the licentious prof
ligacy of Paganism, and recognized in the
religion of the Old Testament a divine echo
responsive to the voices of Nature, Reason,
and Conscience speaking in their own hearts."
Is it not evident that the same principle of
preparatory mission-work is applicable to the
diffusion of the New Testament among Hea
then nations now, and that results in the
Far East through Christian literature may
reasonably be expected, corresponding with

of the Acts of the Apostles. 167
what we find to have taken place of old in
connection with the synagogues of the dis
persed Jews ?
Another great feature of early Missionary
work, especially as regards St. Paul, is to be
found in the fact that he always aimed at
great cities. The period in which he lived
was an age of great cities. The place where
the Christian Church first received its dis
tinctive name, and where the first great
success was achieved outside Judaea, was
Antioch, which ranked third among the cities
of the Empire. On the shores of the TEgean
were three great mercantile emporiums. On
the Second Missionary Journey the prolonged
residences, of which we have a careful ac
count, were at two of them — Thessalonica and
Corinth. It was doubtless the wish to work
for Christ in Ephesus, the third, which made
St. Paul desire " to preach the Gospel in Asia."
On the Last Missionary Journey the wish
was at length fulfilled. Finally we see how
the yearning of his heart tended towards
Rome, and how some of the most signal

1 68 The Evidential Value
benefits which he rendered to the world were
done in that metropolis, partly though the
Epistle to Rome, partly through the Epistles
written from thence. And once more is there
not a close parallel here with our own times ?
We, too, live in an age of great cities. Our
part is boldly to imitate the Apostolic ex
ample. Such places as New York, Chicago,
and San Francisco, are the colossal modern
counterparts of the cities of the Roman
Empire. One other particular may close this enu
meration of Missionary principles, as presented
to us in the Book of the Acts. St. Paul was
careful to establish a local fixed ministry in
every spot where the Gospel had been planted.
At the close of the First Journey, when they
were preparing to return to Antioch, and were
revisiting their old ground, "they ordained
them elders in every city." A clear proof of
the same habit of procedure is ts be seen in
the sending from Miletus to Ephesus and
"calling for the elders of the Church"; and
long afterwards decisive corroboration of this

of the Acts of the Apostles. 169
practice is found in one of the latest Epistles.
"For this cause," he says to Titus, "I left
thee in Crete, that thou shouldest ordain eld
ers in every city."
Very closely connected with this subject
is one which very seriously and happily af
fects us all, whether we are directly engaged
in Mission-work or not. The Book of the
Acts is a series of Lessons in Providence.
How manifestly, in the course of its story,
do we see temporary evils overruled for per
manent good ! Persecution becomes the op
portunity for wider diffusion of the Gospel.
Flagrant sins, as in the case' of Ananias and
Sapphira and Simon Magus, result in solemn
admonitions recorded for the benefit of every
age. And, to pass that which was more par
ticularly in my thoughts, we see throughout
how the circumstances of life are a discipline
of dependence and an incitement to prayer.
Disengaging the movements of St. Paul
from the question of missionary progress, and
viewing him personally, I think we may re
gard the circumstances of his life as a prov-

170 The Evidential Value
idential training, and as thus furnishing both
admonition and encouragement to ourselves.
He meets with friends, just when he needs
their companionship and assistance, as, for
instance, Timotheus at Lystra and Aquila
and Priscilla at Corinth. He is not permitted
to preach the Gospel in the provinces of Asia
and Bithynia: but this results in a prosperous
entry on the evangelization of Europe. He
embarks cheerfully and hopefully on this new
enterprise; and presently he is hindered and
persecuted. On his return to Palestine from
his Last Missionary Expedition he is* kept
two years in prison. This is very mysteri
ous. We feel as if the world could not spare
"two years" from such a life. And yet it
may be that this discipline was most salu
tary to himself, as certainly it is very use
fully admonitory to us. He has long desired
to go to Rome. He does go thither: but
certainly in a manner most unexpected to
himself. On his way thither he passes through
the utmost danger, and he is shipwrecked.
Still his life is saved.

of the Acts of the Apostles. iyi
We might pursue this train of thought into
many particulars. Even the smaller incidents
are suggestive. Look for instance at that
boat which is towing behind, while "the south
wind is blowing softly," and the sailors sup
pose they have "obtained their purpose" of
reaching the harbor of Phoenix. They little
expected the furious gale, which suddenly
drove them out of their course: and under
the lee of Clauda "they had much work to
come by the boat." Still they did succeed
in taking it on board. Finally, after a fort
night, when the ship in the night, on the
coast of Malta, depends simply on her four
anchors, and is in danger of foundering, the
sailors lower the boat and attempt to leave
the ship. If they had succeeded, all the pas
sengers would have been drowned. But the
Apostle had a friend on board, and he acted
on the emergency with consummate judgment.
" He said to the Centurion and to the sol
diers, Except these abide in the ship, ye
cannot be saved. Then the soldiers cut off
the ropes of the boat and let her fall off."

172 The Evidential Value
In the end all were saved without the boat.
A profitable sermon might be preached on
the incidents connected with this boat. They
furnish to us a parable of the mysterious prov
idence, under which our human life is spent.
And to revert for a moment to Peter, with
the same thought in our minds. How re
markably he was guided, in the case of Cor
nelius, to unexpected results ! On the whole,
omitting the miraculous (and we must omit
the miraculous), we gain from this book in
struction in the reality of providential guid
ance, most comforting, most encouraging for
all our doings, and especially for our efforts
in religious work.
There is a religious lesson of another kind,
which, I think, ought not to be altogether
omitted from this brief summary of the ad
vantages derivable from this book. I will
venture to term it the lesson of Judicious
Compromise in Religion, though I am aware
that such a phrase might easily be misun
derstood. I shall best explain what I mean
by an enumeration of instances. Peter and

of the Acts of the Apostles. 173
John go to the Temple " at the hour of
prayer." They do not break rudely and sud
denly with the old institutions of their fa
thers. The Apostles show great frankness in
listening to Peter's argument regarding Cor
nelius, and in accepting the result. "Then
hath God unto the Gentiles given repentance
unto life." The attitude, again, of James at
the Council is full of candor. He accepts
well-attested truth and lays aside all preju
dice. The utmost consideration and forbear
ance are observable in the letter issued by
the Council, in which rules of diet, for the
sake of the Jewish converts and of the Jews,
are elevated for the time to the dignity of
moral principles. Once more, Paul does not
object to bind himself by a Nazaritic vow,
or to make common cause with those who
are so bound. All these things give to the
spirit of the book a decided character of for
bearance, which in the midst of ardent mis
sionary zeal, must have largely contributed,
under God, to the early success of Christianity,
while it is a perpetual example to ourselves.

174 The Evidential Value
If our limits of space made it possible, I
might have desired to dwell with some care
on two features of the Book of the Acts,
which certainly fall under the general de
scription of profitable edification and instruc
tion. These are its exhibition of single un
ceasing devotion to God and to the cause
of Christ, and its unity of religious doctrine
with that which we find in the other books
of the New Testament. They are two very
different subjects; but each of them is of ob
vious importance, when this history is treated
evidentially. As to the first point, we have this advan
tage, that a very few words will suffice to
make the fact evident. From the beginning
to the end of the book we trace, in those
who are engaged in founding Christianity, a
straightforward, unswerving, onward move
ment, in obedience to a direct commission;
and it is of the greater consequence to mark
this, because of what has been said above
regarding religious compromise. " We can
not but speak the things which we have

of the Acts of the Apostles. 175
seen and heard; we ought to obey God rath
er than men," are the words of Peter and the
other Apostles, when confronted by the un
believing Jews ; " and daily in the Temple,
and in every house, they ceased not to teach
and preach Jesus Christ ; " and as with the
earlier Apostles, so with St. Paul upon a
wider field. To the elders of Ephesus, while
he says, on the one hand, of the past: " I
have taught you publicly and from house to
house; I have not shunned to declare unto you
all the counsel of God; by the space of three
years I ceased not to warn every one day
and night with tears," — he says of the future,
which to his clear apprehension is full of
threatening danger: "None of these things
move me, neither count I my life dear unto
myself, so that I might finish my course with
joy, and the ministry, which I have received of
the Lord Jesus." Presently afterwards, land
ing at Caesarea, and met by the distinct pro
phecies of coming evil, he exclaims: "What
mean ye to weep and to break mine heart ?
for I am ready, not to be bound only, but

176 The Evidential Value
also to die for the Lord Jesus;" and to quote
one example more of this unflinching devo
tion of heart in the Apostle Paul, as set be
fore us in the Acts, it is most striking to
hear in the midst of the storm, when he can
speak only a few words, and when his en
couragement to the terrified crew would in
fact have been complete without the paren
thesis, saying of- himself "whose I am and
whom I serve." No sermon was ever so short
or so well fitted to its occasion. It is, how
ever, as a proof of unflinching devotion to his
Master, that I here bring forward this most
remarkable utterance.
The allusion, too, to the Doctrine of the
Acts of the Apostles must "be made very
briefly; but a very brief allusion will suffice
to justify what has been said of its consis
tency with the Doctrine of other parts of
the New Testament. Nothing in the teach
ing of St. Peter or St. Paul, as here recorded,
can be pointed out which is not in harmony
with the teaching of their Epistles. Even
the statement of this fact in its general form

of the Acts of the Apostles. 177
is not without its value in its relation to the
trustworthiness of the Acts. But two pas
sages of a decisive character may be adduced
with advantage, -each connected with a very
marked occasion, and each setting forth the
doctrine of free justification through faith.
St. Peter said at the Apostolic Council, " God
put no difference between us and the Gentiles,
purifying their hearts by faith. We believe
that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
we shall be saved even as they." We seem
here to have the mature teaching of St.
Peter's First Epistle. St. Paul said, in his
great sermon at Antioch in Pisidia, "Through
this man is preached unto you the forgive
ness of sins; and by Him all that believe
are justified from all things, from which ye
could not be justified by the law of Moses."
Have we not here a summary of the whole
course of thought in the Epistles to the
Romans and the Galatians ?
I have reserved to the last the topic which
appears to me of pre-eminent importance. The
constant mention of the Holy Spirit, the con-
12

178 The Evidential Value
stant recognition ofthe supremacy of the Holy
Spirit, is more characteristic of this book, as
regards religious teaching, than anything else.
So prominent, so distinguishing a fact is this,
that the book has been beautifully and truly
termed " the Gospel of the Holy Ghost." The
one most remarkable feature in the doctrine
of the book is the prominence given in it to
the work and offices of the Third Person of the
Holy Trinity. The history of the early days
of the Christian Church, as told in these
Acts, is, so to speak, a specimen of the way
in which the Lord Jesus will continue "to
do and to teach " from His Royal Throne in
Heaven, by the power of the Holy Ghost sent
down according to His own solemn words to
His disciples the night before the Cross. "If
I depart, I will send the Comforter to you.
When He is come, He will guide you into
all truth."
As to the facts of the case, I believe that
a simple condensed enumeration of them will
be more forcible than any comment. And
this enumeration may be given in two ways.

of the Acts of the Apostles. 179
First, there are the broad general features of
the case, the instances where the mention
of the Holy Spirit is evidently meant to have
a commanding position at critical parts of the
narrative. But, also, there are many minor
examples, if we may so call them, where the
same Power is shown to be consciously felt,
so that the whole tissue of the narrative is
pervaded by this influence. In combining
these two aspects of the question we per
ceive how great is the importance which it
rightfully assumes.
At the beginning of the Acts Whitsuntide
breaks on us like a sunrise. From the outset
everything works rapidly up to this point. The
Lord, after His resurrection, had, " through
the Holy Ghost," given to His Apostles com
mandments : they were to be "baptized with
the Holy Ghost " ; to receive power after that
the " Holy Ghost had come upon them."
Then came Pentecost with all its wonder and
efficacy. But, in the next place, there was a
second Pentecpst, a second Whitsuntide, at
Caesarea, in the case of Cornelius. The whole

180 The Evidential Value
account of his conversion is pervaded by the
mention of the Holy Spirit. It was the voice
of "the Spirit," as St. Luke tells us, and as
St. Peter relates afterwards, which determined
his departure with the messengers. While Pe
ter was speaking to Cornelius and his friends,
" the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard
the Word," so that those who had come with
Peter were astonished, "because that on the
Gentiles also was poured the gift of the Holy
Ghost." Then follows the question of- Pe
ter, "Can any forbid the water, that these
should not be baptized, which have received
the Holy Ghost as well as we?" And we
should mark how he urges this point when
he is justifying his conduct before the apos
tles and brethren. "As I began to speak,
the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the
beginning : then remembered I the words of
the Lord, how that He said, John indeed bap
tized with water, but ye shall be baptized with
the Holy Ghost" — and how He said long after
wards, " Ye know how that a good while ago
God made choice among us that the Gentiles

of the Acts of the Apostles. 181
by my mouth should hear the word of the Gos
pel and believe : and God, which knoweth the
hearts, bare them witness, giving to them the
Holy Ghost, even as He did unto us." And
to turn to a third point, which may well be
said to be of critical moment, the same power
of the Second Person of the Trinity is named
as presiding over the earliest formation of
the Christian Ministry. The Seven Deacons
chosen to assist the Apostles are, by author
ity, selected as "men full of the Holy Ghost";
and Stephen, the most prominent of the sev
en, is especially named as "full of the Holy
Ghost," while of the elders at Ephesus St.
Paul expressly says that "the Holy Ghost
had made them overseers " over the Christian
flock. So also when the first Apostolic Mis
sionaries were sent forth, the personal direc
tion of the Spirit is made as prominent as pos
sible : " The Holy Ghost said, separate me
Barnabas and Saul for the work unto which
I have called them : so they, being sent forth
by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia,
and from thence unto Cyprus." So also when

1 82 The Evidential Value
a solemn council is held to determine a mo
mentous point of doctrine and practice, the
decision is issued in this form, "it seemed
good to the Holy Ghost and to us." And to
complete this enumeration of what may be
termed the larger and more commanding feat
ures of the case, we may pass to the preach
ing of St. Paul on his arrival in Rome. Just
as the accusation brought against the High
Priest and Council by Stephen, in his splen
did apology for the faith, was "ye do always
resist the Holy Ghost," so is St. Paul, at the
end of the book, represented as saying to
those who believed not: "Well spake the Holy
Ghost by Esaias the prophet, saying, 'Hearing
ye shall hear and shall not understand, and
seeing ye shall see and not perceive.'" So do
the Acts of the Apostles bear testimony to
the Spirit "who spake by the prophets," bind
together for us the Old Testament and the
New, assure us of the fulfilment of the Sa
viour's promise, and introduce Christianity to
the world as the dispensation of the Holy
Ghost.

of the Acts of the Apostles. 183
And when we turn to the incidental allusions,
if indeed we may correctly draw this distinc
tion, we find them to be such as these. The
sin of Ananias and Sapphira is described as
"a lie to the Holy Ghost," as an agreement
" to tempt the Spirit of the Lord." The sin
of Simon at Samaria was that he thought that
the gift of the Holy Ghost might be " pur
chased with money." When Philip met the
eunuch on the desert road near Gaza, it was
the Spirit who said unto him, " go near ; "
and when this particular mission was ended,
it was the Spirit who " caught him away, so
that he was found at Azotus," and thence
continued his mission through the cities to
Caesarea. When Ananias at Damascus was
sent to Saul in his blindness, he declared
that he was sent that Saul might be "filled
with the Holy Ghost." When the churches
throughout Judea and Galilee and Samaria
"had rest," it is added with great beauty, that
they were " edified and walking in the fear
of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy
Ghost, were multiplied." When the prophet

184 The Evidential Value •
Agabus in the early part of the history fore
told famine, and when in the later part he
foretold St. Paul's imprisonment, in each case
it is said that he did this "by the Spirit."
When St. Paul earnestly desired to preach the
Gospel in a particular district, it is expressly
said that he was "forbidden by the Holy
Ghost," that the " Spirit suffered him not."
When at Miletus he prophetically, though
dimly, saw impending danger, his own lan
guage was: "I go bound in the Spirit to Je
rusalem, not knowing the things that shall
befall me there, save that the Holy Ghost
witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds
and afflictions abide me." Thus does the guid
ance, comfort, control, and discipline of the
Holy Spirit appear at every point of the Acts
of the Apostles, even as they are a present
Divine power in every separate Christian life.
The supremacy of the Holy Ghost, this is
the point to which I am always led upon a
careful study of the Acts of the Apostles —
the supremacy of the Holy Ghost in our
system of doctrine and in the individual life.

of the Acts of the Apostles. 185
This, too, is the inner meaning of the har
mony of this book with the Gospels on the
one hand and the Epistles on the other. If
there is one point above all others that I de
sire to express strongly at the close of the
present course of lectures it is this.
And let me be permitted to say one word
more regarding this culminating part of the
teaching of the Acts of the Apostles, the
supremacy of the Holy Ghost. It is by keep
ing this great doctrine in its prominent po
sition that we keep all other religious truths
in their right places. It is of the utmost
moment that we should not only lay hold
of the right elements of truth, but that we
should apprehend them in their due relation
and proportion to one another. It is through
forgetfulness of this great principle, through
distortion, through exaggeration in one place,
through attenuating in another, rather than
through positive error, that our Christianity
ceases to be what it ought to be, that mis
understandings arise among us, that we be
come separated from each other. This great

1 86 Evidential Value of the Acts.
central book of the New Testament sets forth
that great central truth which keeps all others
in due subordination. The Acts of the Apos
tles, with their other blessings to the Church
of Christ, come to us with the serious ad
monition that, fixing our eye on this cardi
nal point, " if we prophesy," we take heed to
prophesy "according to the proportion of the
faith."

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