Chapter I: Preface

This volume contains an exposition of the Acts of the Apostles down to, but not including, the conversion of St. Paul and the baptism of Cornelius. There is a natural division at that point. Prior to these events, the inspired narrative is engaged with what the late Bishop Lightfoot of Durham called great "representative facts," prophetical or typical of the future developments of the Church, whether among Jews or Gentiles;[1] while the subsequent course of the history deals almost entirely with missionary work among the heathen and the labours of St. Paul.[2]

[1] See the treatise on the Christian Ministry in his
_Philippians_, p. 186.

[2] Dr. Goulburn, in his _Acts of the Deacons_, suggested this
view of the Acts of the Apostles nearly thirty years ago.

We are dependent for the story of these earliest days of the Church's life upon the Acts of the Apostles. I have endeavoured, however, to illustrate the narrative by copious references to ancient documents, some of which may appear of dubious value and authority, such as the _Acts of the Saints_ and the writings of the mediæval Greek hagiologist, Simeon Metaphrastes, who lived in the tenth century.[3] The latter writer has been hitherto regarded as more famous for his imagination than for his historical accuracy. This age of ours is a noted one, however, for clearing characters previously regarded as very doubtful, and Simeon Metaphrastes has come in for his own share of this process of rehabilitation. The distinguished writer just referred to, Dr. Lightfoot, as we have shown in a note on p. 218, has proved that Metaphrastes embodied in his works valuable early records, dating back to the second century, which in critical hands can shed much light upon primitive Christian history.[4] In fact, students of Holy Scripture and of early Christianity are learning every day to look more and more to ancient Greek, Syriac, and Armenian writers, and to the libraries of the Eastern Churches, for fresh light on these important subjects. It is only natural we should do so. Writers like Simeon Metaphrastes and Photius, the student Patriarch of Constantinople, lived a thousand years nearer the apostolic times than we do. They flourished in an age of the highest civilization, when precious literary works, in hundreds and thousands, which are no longer known amongst us, lay all around them and at their command. These men and their friends gathered them up and extracted them, and common sense alone teaches that a critical study of their writings will reveal to us somewhat of the treasures they possessed. The libraries of the East again form a great field for investigation. During the last fifty years we have paid some little attention to them, which has been amply rewarded. The recovery of the complete works of Hippolytus and of Clement of Rome, the discovery of the _Teaching of the Apostles_ and of the _Diatessaron_ of Tatian, are only specimens of what we may yet hope to exhume from the dust of ages.

[3] For an account of Simeon Metaphrastes the English reader
should consult Dr. Schaff's valuable _Encyclopædia of Historical
Theology_.

[4] See Professor Ramsay on "The Tale of Saint Abercius" in the
_Journal of Hellenic Studies_, vol. iii., p. 338, for a full
account of this new source of early Church history which his
travels and excavations have brought to our notice.

The testimony, too, borne by these finds has been of the greatest importance. The _Diatessaron_ alone has formed the most triumphant reply to the argument against the Gospels, specially against St. John's Gospel, formulated some years ago by the author of _Supernatural Religion_. And the process of discovery is still going on. I have said something in the notes to the final lecture of the present volume concerning the latest discovery of this kind which throws some light upon the composition of the Acts. I refer to the lost _Apology_ of Aristides, which has just been brought to light. Let me very briefly tell its story and show its bearing on the age and date of the Acts. Eusebius, the historian of the fourth century, mentions in his _Chronicle_, under the year 124, the two earliest apologies written in defence of Christianity; one by Quadratus, a hearer of the Apostles, the other by Aristides, a philosopher of Athens. Now this year 124 was about twenty years after St. John's death. These apologies have hitherto been best known by this historian's notice, though Eusebius says they were widely circulated in his time. The _Apology_ or defence of Aristides has often been sought for. In the seventeenth century it was said to have been extant in a monastery near Athens,[5] but no Western had ever seen it in a complete shape in modern times. Two years ago, however, Professor J. Rendel Harris, M.A., of Cambridge and of Haverford College, Pennsylvania, discovered it in a Syriac version in the library of the convent of St. Catharine on Mount Sinai, whence he has published it with an English translation in a new series of _Texts and Studies in Biblical and Patristic Literature_, the first number of which has appeared at Cambridge within the last few weeks.[6]

[5] Ceillier, _Hist. des Auteurs Ecclésiastiques_, i., 403.

[6] Mr. Harris's discovery is not the first find of this ancient
apologist in modern times. The Armenian Mechitarites of Venice
published what they called two sermons of Aristides in 1878; which
Cardinal Pitra, the learned librarian of the Vatican, reprinted in
1883, in his _Analecta Sacra_, t. iv., pp. x, xi, 6-11, 282-86.
One of these sermons was a fragment of the _Apology_ of Aristides,
which the Mechitarites scarcely at first recognised as such. M.
Rénan, in his _Origines de Christianisme_, vol. vi., p. vi (Paris,
1879), scoffed at this fragment, declaring that, from the
technical theological terms, such as Theotokos, therein used, it
was evidently posterior to the fourth century. Doulcet, in the
_Revue des Questions Historiques_ for October 1880, pp. 601-12,
made an effective reply with the materials at hand at the time;
but Mr. Harris's publication of the complete work triumphantly
demonstrates that M. Rénan's objections were worthless (see
Harris, pp. 2, 3, 27). It is another proof that Christians have
everything to hope and nothing to fear from such discoveries of
early documents. Mr. Harris's preface is specially interesting,
because it shows that we have had the _Apology_ of Aristides all
the time, though we knew it not, as it was worked in the
quasi-oriental tale of Barlaam and Joasaph printed among the works
of St. John of Damascus.

I need not go farther into the story of the recovery of this document, which raises high our expectations of others still more interesting. The _Apology_ of Quadratus would be even more important, as it bore direct testimony to the miracles of our Lord. The brief extract from it which Eusebius gives in his _History_, book iv., chap. 3, proves how precious would be the complete work. "The deeds of our Saviour, says Quadratus, were always before you, for they were true; those that were healed, those that were raised from the dead, who were seen, not only when healed and when raised, but were always present. They remained for a long time, not only whilst the Saviour was sojourning with us, but likewise when He had been removed. So that some of them have also survived to our own times."

In the _Apology_ of Quadratus we should obtain a picture of the popular theology of the Church during that dark period which elapsed between the days of Clement of Rome and Ignatius, and those of Justin Martyr. The _Apology_ of Aristides which has been found reveals something indeed in the same direction, but is more occupied with an attack upon paganism than in a statement of the Christian faith. Here, however, consists its bearing on the Acts of the Apostles, not directly, but by way of contrast. Let me explain what I mean. In lecture xvii., when treating of the story of Simon Magus, I have shown how the simple narrative of the Acts concerning that man became elaborated in the second century till it formed at last a regular romance; whence I conclude that if the Acts had been written in the second century the story of Simon Magus would not be the simple matter we read in St. Luke's narrative. Now our argument for the date of the Acts derived from the _Apology_ of Aristides is of much the same kind. This document shows us what the tone and substance of second century addresses to the pagans were. It is the earliest of a series of apologies extending over the whole of that century. The _Apology_ of Aristides, the numerous writings of Justin Martyr, specially the _Oratio_ and the _Cohortatio ad Græcos_ attributed to him, the _Oration_ of Tatian addressed to the Greeks, the _Apologeticus_ and the treatise _Ad Nationes_ of Tertullian, the _Epistle to Diognetus_, the writings of Athenagoras, all deal with the same topics, the theories and absurdities of Greek philosophy, the immoral character of the pagan deities, and the purity of Christian doctrine and practice.[7] If the Acts of the Apostles had been composed in the second century, the address of St. Paul to the Athenians would have been very different from what it is, and must necessarily have partaken of those characteristics which we find common to all the numerous treatises addressed to the heathen world of that date. If the Acts were written in the second century, why does not the writer put arguments into St. Paul's mouth like those which were current among the Christian apologists of that time? The philosophical argument of Aristides, which is followed by Justin Martyr[8] and the later apologists, when contrasted with the simplicity of St. Paul, is a conclusive proof of the early date of the composition of the Acts.[9] But this is not the only argument of this kind which modern research furnishes. Aristides shows us what the character of Christian controversy with the pagans was in the generation succeeding the Apostles. We can draw the same conclusion when we examine Christian controversy as carried on against the Jews of the same period.

[7] The apologists of the second century will be found in a
collected shape in Otto's _Corpus Apologetarum_, in nine vols.
(Jena, 1842-72). Most of those mentioned above will be found in an
English shape in Clarke's Ante-Nicene Library. See also Harnack in
_Texte und Untersuchungen_, bd. i., hft. i. (Leipzig, 1882).

[8] St. Jerome, in _Ep._ 70, addressed to Magnus, a Roman
rhetorician, expressly says that Justin Martyr imitated Aristides.
The _Cohortatio ad Græcos_ attributed to him is much liker the
treatise of Aristides than Justin's admitted first and second
apologies.

[9] Overbeck, Zeller, and Schwegler fix the composition of the
Acts between 110 and 130, the very date of the _Apology_ of
Aristides. See Zeller's _Acts of the Apostles_, p. 71 (London:
Williams & Norgate, 1875).

We have a number of treatises directed against the Jews by Christian writers of the second century: the _Dialogue_ of Justin Martyr with Trypho the Jew, of Jason and Papiscus, and the treatise of Tertullian directed _Ad Judæos_. When compared with one another we find that the staple arguments of these writings are much the same.[10] They were evidently framed upon the model of St. Stephen's address at Jerusalem, of St. Paul at Antioch in Pisidia, and of the Epistle to the Galatians. They deal with the transitory and temporary character of the Jewish law, they enter very largely into the fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy, and they notice Jewish objections. The second century works are, however, elaborate treatises, dealing with a great controversy in a manner which experience had showed to be far the most effective and telling. The Jewish controversy in the Acts, whether in the mouth of St. Peter, St. Stephen, or St. Paul, is treated in a much simpler way. The speakers think, speak, write, like men who are making their first essays in controversy, and have no experience of others to guide them. Had the Acts been written in the second century, the writer must have composed the addresses to the Jews as well as those to the Gentiles after the model of the age when he was writing. The more carefully, however, we examine and contrast these two controversies, as conducted in the Acts and in the writings of the second century respectively, the more thoroughly shall we be convinced of the apostolic date of St. Luke's narrative, of its genuine character, and of its historic worth.

[10] For an account of the Jewish controversy in the second
century see Gebhardt and Harnack's _Texte_, bd. i., hft. 3
(Leipzig, 1883), where Harnack seeks to critically restore the
substance of the dialogue between Jason and Papiscus. An article
on "Apologists" in the _Dictionary of Christian Biography_, vol.
i., pp. 140-47, and another on "Theophilus" (13) in the same work,
vol. iv., p. 1009, should be consulted.

I have written this book from my own standpoint as a decided Churchman, but I hope that I have said nothing which can really hurt the feelings of any one who thinks otherwise, or which may tend to widen those differences between Christians which are such a terrible hindrance to the cause of true religion and its progress in the world.

I have tried to use the Revised Version consistently throughout my expositions, but I fear that my attempt has been but vain. In my formal quotations I think I have succeeded. But then, in commenting upon Scripture, a writer constantly refers to and quotes passages without formal reference. Here is where I must have failed. The Authorized Version is so bound up with all our earliest thoughts and associations that its language unconsciously colours all our ideas and expressions. Any one who at present makes such an attempt as I have done will find illustrated in himself the phenomena which we behold in writings of the fifth and sixth centuries. St. Jerome published a Revised Version of the Latin translation of the Scripture about the year 400 A.D. For hundreds of years afterwards Latin writers are found using indiscriminately the old Latin and the new Latin translations. St. Patrick's _Confession_, for instance, was composed about the middle of the fifth century. Quotations from both versions of the New Testament are found in that document, affording a conclusive indication of its date; just as the mixture of the Revised and Authorized Versions will form a prominent feature in theological works composed towards the close of the nineteenth century.

I have to acknowledge the kind assistance of the Rev. H. W. Burgess, LL.D., who has patiently read all my proofs, and called my attention to many a solecism or mistake which might have otherwise disfigured my pages; and of Mr. W. Etienne Phelps, B.A., deputy keeper of Primate Marsh's Library, who has compiled the index.

GEORGE T. STOKES.

ALL SAINTS' VICARAGE, BLACKROCK,
_May 27th, 1891_.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

THE ORIGIN AND AUTHORITY OF THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES.

ACTS i. 1, 2.

PAGE

Title--Apocryphal Acts--Paul and Thecla--Evidence of
Tertullian--His Chronological Position--Modern
Analogies--Muratorian Fragment and Bobbio--Epistle from
Lyons--Pothinus an Apostolic Man--Marcion and St.
Luke--Defects of German Criticism--Growth of New Testament
Canon--Newly-discovered Second Century Documents--
Scillitan Martyrs--Primitive Christians and Biblical
Criticism--Advantages of Uncertainty on Theology--
Theological Accuracy of St. Luke 1-22

CHAPTER II.

THE CONVERSATIONS OF THE GREAT FORTY DAYS.

ACTS i. 6-9.

Subject-Matter Revealed in the Acts--Our Lord's
Post-Resurrection Appearances--Apostolic Curiosity--
Messianic Idea among Jews--Books of Enoch and of
Jubilees--Evidence for Inspiration of New Testament--
Christianity a Practical Religion--Contrast with
Paganism--Mithraism--Spiritual Blessing of Christ's
Reticence concerning the Future--Antinomies in
Scripture--Bad Effects of Human Curiosity--At
Thessalonica--In the Middle Ages--In Last and Present
Centuries--Irvingism--Holy Ghost alone the Source of
Spiritual Power 23-42

CHAPTER III.

THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST, AND ITS LESSONS.

ACTS i. 9.

Position of Doctrine of Ascension in Epistles--And in
Apostolic Teaching--Curious and Foolish Questions about
it--_The Unseen Universe_--Fitness of the Doctrine--And
Necessity if the Church was to rise out of Judaism into
Christianity--Illustrations, London and the Papacy--Rénan's
Theory--The Ascension Glorified Human Nature--Paganism
Degraded It--Gladiatorial Shows and Story of the Monk
Telemachus--Tacitus and Slavery--Cato the Censor and the
Treatment of Slaves--The Ascension and Darwinism 43-60

CHAPTER IV.

THE ELECTION OF MATTHIAS.

ACTS i. 24-26.

Expectation Days--Principle of Divine Delay--Christian
Seasons and Judaism--Pentecost and Sinai--Continuity of
the Divine Purposes--Christian Chronology--Tatian's
_Oration_--The Apostles and the Upper Room--Narratives
of Epiphanius and Cyril of Jerusalem--Christianity
Supra-local--Last Notice of the Blessed Virgin--Doctrine
of the Assumption--Self-restraint of Scriptural Writers--
Choice of New Apostle--St. Peter's Proposition--His
Character--_Privilegium Petri_--Reasons for the Election--
The Christian Ministry and the Resurrection--C. Leslie's
_Short and Easy Method_--History of St. Matthias--
Apocryphal Gospels--Papias on Fate of Judas Iscariot 61-81

CHAPTER V.

THE PENTECOSTAL BLESSING.

ACTS ii. 1-4.

Origin and History of Pentecost--Gnosticism and Antinomianism--
Modern Aspect of Ancient Heresies--Ancient Union and
Modern Divisions of Christendom--Jeremy Taylor's Prayer--
The Fiery Tongues--Protest against Persecution and Penal
Laws in Religion--Ussher and Baxter, Mistakes of--
Death-Scene of Queen Caroline--Importance of Corporate
Aspect of Christianity--Clergy and Laity in Apostolic
Church--Gift of Tongues and Irvingism--Modern Theories
about Pentecost--Hypnotism--Greek and Latin not Universal
Languages in Apostolic Times--Ramsay's _Geography of Asia
Minor_ 82-106

CHAPTER VI.

ST. PETER'S FIRST SERMON.

ACTS ii. 14.

Reports of Ancient Sermons, how Derived--Use of
Shorthand among Ancients--St. Peter's Auditory--Celts
of Britain at Crucifixion--Jews in Arabia--Homerite
Martyrs--St. Peter's Conduct at Pentecost an Evidence
for the Resurrection--Contrast with his Action at
Antioch--St. Peter's Universal Conceptions and
Language--A Protest against Ebionism and Unitarianism--
St. Peter and Christ's Descent into Hades--
Apollinarianism and the True Doctrine of Our Lord's
Humanity--David's Sepulchre and Christ's Resurrection--
Jewish Traditions 107-126

CHAPTER VII.

THE FIRSTFRUITS OF PENTECOST.

ACTS ii. 37-39.

Contrast between Our Lord's Preaching and that of His
Apostles--Proof of Extraordinary Work of the Spirit--
Evidence of Tacitus--Spiritual Power a Different Thing
from Religious Knowledge--Character of St. Peter's
Teaching--Repentance--Modern Antinomianism--Williams,
Baxter, Stillingfleet, Wesley--St. Peter and Baptism--
Baptism in the _Didache_--Story of that Manual and its
Discovery--The Baptismal Formula--Immersion--Infant
Baptism--St. Peter and the Power of the Keys 127-147

CHAPTER VIII.

FIRST RECORDED MIRACLE AND FIRST PERSECUTION.

ACTS iii. 1-6.

The Acts a Mirror of Church History--Pause after
Pentecost, Reason of--Need of Pastoral Work--Relapses
in Mission Field--The Corinthian Case--Rest and
Spiritual Growth--Evils of Excitement--Contrast
of Christianity with the Montanists and Cynics--
True Religion not, however, Purely Contemplative--
Circumstances of First Miracle--Which was Typical
of Church's Future Work--Among the Poor and Sick--
Story of St. Crispin--St. Chrysostom's Sermons--
First Franciscans Contrasted with Early Methodists--
Medical Missions--Place of Miracle--Solomon's Porch--St.
Peter's Address Model for Preachers--Shows Divinity of
Christ--Exalts Christ--Is Bold and Prudent withal 148-172

CHAPTER IX.

THE FIRST PERSECUTION.

ACTS iv. 1-3, 5-7.

St. Peter's Teaching in Solomon's Porch and the Captain of
the Temple--The Romans and Jewish Law--Discovery of Temple
Tablet--The Sadducees and the Work of Opposition--Sadduceism
and Modern Theories--Sceptics and Religious Intolerance--
Pliny and the Martyrs--Trial of the Apostles--Constitution
of the Sanhedrin--Sadduceism and the Priesthood--St.
Peter's Defence and Christ's Promise--Afford no
Support to Unprepared Teaching in Ordinary Life--St.
Peter and the Power of Christ's Name--The Sanhedrin and
Miracles--The Jews and Magic--Reverence towards the Name
of God--Early Symbolism and Christ's Name--Salvation
through Christ and the Wider Hope 173-192

CHAPTER X.

THE COMMUNITY OF GOODS.

ACTS iv. 32-35.

The Holy Scriptures and the Errors of their Heroes--
Controversy between St. Jerome and St. Augustine--A
Mistaken View of Christ's Second Advent the Source of
Community of Goods--Communism and the Essenes--And
Anabaptists--And Plymouthism--Source of Poverty in
Jerusalem Church--Warning to Missionary Churches--
Apostolic Constitutions--And Primitive Missions--Fayûm
Documents--Evils of Indiscriminate Almsgiving--True
Christian Charity--Post Office Savings Banks--Jerusalem
Communism and Modern Legislation and Ideals--A Warning
and yet a Noble Conception--Connection of Enthusiasm
and Spiritual Power 193-210

CHAPTER XI.

HONESTY AND PRETENCE IN THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH.

ACTS iv. 36, 37; v. 1-6.

Hebrews and Hellenists in the Synagogue and in the
Church--Original Christians were Hebrews--Introduction
of Hellenists--Who became the Bridge whereby Christianity
was Communicated to the World--Barnabas and Greek
Culture--A Native of Cyprus--His Personal Appearance--And
History according to Simeon Metaphrastes--Personal
Character--Story of Ananias--His Sin and Punishment--
Proved that Christianity had a Stern as well as a
Loving Side--Dr. Vaughan's Application of this Incident 211-228

CHAPTER XII.

GAMALIEL AND HIS PRUDENT ADVICE.

ACTS v. 38-40.

The Apostles again Brought before Sanhedrin--Because of
St. Peter's Miracles--Note on the Miraculous Effects
of St. Peter's Shadow and Hypnotism--St. Peter and
Angelic Deliverances--Jortin's Theory--The Incarnation
Rendered the Age a Special Time--The Sadducees and
Materialism--Gamaliel a Pharisee--Effect of a Spiritual
Creed on the Character--His Address--Cases of Judas
and Theudas--Modern Illustrations--Gamaliel's Family
History--Gamaliel in the _Clementine Recognitions_ and
in Greek Christian Tradition--Gamaliel and Nicodemus
in the _Bibliotheca_ of Photius--Gamaliel and the
Spirit of Toleration--St. Augustine and Cornelius à
Lapide--Conduct of the Apostles 229-245