PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Expositor's Bible: The Acts of the Apostles, Vol. 2
Stokes, George Thomas · 158,059 words · 178 reading sections
_St. Paul In Greece._
[164] This important work may be most easily consulted in Shilleto's translation, published in Bohn's Classical Library, Bell & Sons, London, 1886. Thus we are told in words just quoted that St. Paul found "the city full of idols," and this provoked his spirit over and above the usual provocation he received whereve…
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[166] Any one wishing to consult the writings of this contemporary of St. Paul can find Philo's works translated into English in 4 vols. in Bohn's Library of Ecclesiastical Antiquity. A comparison of St. Paul's writings with those of Philo will show us the wondrous superiority of those of the Christian Apostle, owi…
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[169] That period of retirement at Tarsus may have been utilised by St. Paul in studying classical literature and Greek philosophy by way of preparation for that life's work among the Gentiles, to which he was appointed at his conversion. [170] There are frequent notices of the altars to the unknown gods in ancien…
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St. Paul then proceeds to enunciate his own doctrines. He lightly touches upon, as he did previously at Lystra (ch. xiv. 16), a subject which neither the time at his disposal nor the position of his hearers would permit him to discuss. He glances at, but does not attempt to explain, why God had postponed to that late d…
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[174] Few biblical characters have been so surrounded with a haze of fable as Dionysius the Areopagite. All that we certainly know about him is from this passage in the Acts, and from two notices by Eusebius, _H. E._, iii. 4, and iv. 23. In the _Acta Sanctorum_ the Bollandists bestow an immense quantity of space on…
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St. Paul did not stay long at Athens. Five or six weeks perhaps, two months at most, was probably the length of his visit, time enough just for his Berœan guides to go back to their own city two hundred miles away, and forward their message to Thessalonica fifty miles distant, desiring Timothy and Silas to come to him.…
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[178] This expulsion of the Jews from Rome by Claudius, which in the providence of God brought Aquila and Priscilla into contact with St. Paul, is mentioned by the Roman historian Suetonius, _Claudius_, 25, in the following suggestive words: "He expelled the Jews who were continually creating tumults, Chestus impel…
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[180] In vol. i., p. 270, I have pointed out that in Corinth the Christians probably adopted, not only the name, but the organisation of the synagogues. Gallio, a brother of the celebrated philosophic writer Seneca, had been sent to it as proconsul, and the Jews thought they now saw their opportunity. Gallio, whose …
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[181] Cicero, in his oration Pro Flacco, ch. xxviii., shows how troublesome and dangerous, even to the very highest persons, the Jews at Rome could be one hundred years earlier than Gallio's day. The attempt of the Jews marked the termination of St. Paul's work in Corinth. It was at least the beginning of the end. H…
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"Paul, and with him Priscilla and Aquila, came to Ephesus, and he left them here: but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews. And when they asked him to abide a longer time, he consented not; but taking his leave of them, and saying, I will return again unto you, if God will, he set sail …
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[182] Jeremy Taylor, in his _Holy Living_, in his chapter on Prayer, has some wise remarks on vows. He includes them under the head of Prayer: "A vow to God is an act of prayer and a great degree and instance of opportunity, and an increase of duty by some new uncommanded instance, or some more eminent degree of du…
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II. Now we come to the foundation of the Ephesian Church some time in the latter part of the year 54 A.D. Here it may strike some reader as an extraordinary thing that more than twenty years after the Crucifixion Ephesus was as yet totally untouched by the gospel, so that the tidings of salvation were quite a novel sou…
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[185] Meyer, in his Commentary on ch. xix. 5, enunciates the following extraordinary theory about Apollos, which plainly shows that, valuable as may be his textual criticism, his conception of Christian doctrine and of Apostolic Church life is very defective: "We may not infer from this passage that the disciples o…
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[186] The movement instituted by St. John the Baptist was perpetuated into the second century, and in some measure developed into, or connected itself with, the sect subsequently called the Hemerobaptists. The history of this movement from apostolic days is elaborately traced by Bishop Lightfoot in his Essay on the…
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[189] See pp. 32, 33 above for some remarks on this title, the Way, used in the Acts for the Gospel Dispensation or the Christian Church. Cf. also ch. ix. 2, xix. 23, xxii. 4, xxiv. 14, and the expression the Way of Life in the _Didache_. But this was not all, or nearly all, the burden the Apostle carried. He had t…
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[190] Bishop Lightfoot, _Colossians_, Introd., p. 30, has some good remarks bearing on this topic: "How or when the conversion of the Colossians took place we have no direct information. Yet it can hardly be wrong to connect the event with St. Paul's long sojourn at Ephesus. Here he remained preaching for three who…
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[191] I allude, of course, to the decree of Claudius against the Jews in A.D. 52, to which Suetonius (_Claudius_, 25) and Dio Cassius, lx. 6, refer; cf. Tacitus, _Annals_, xii. 52, and Lewin's _Fasti Sacri_, A.D. 52. [192] The story is an interesting one. It will be found in Stephens' _Life of St. Chrysostom_, p. …
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"About that time there arose no small stir concerning the Way. For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines of Diana, brought no little business unto the craftsmen; whom he gathered together, with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this business we have o…
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The interval of time covered by the two verses which I have quoted above is specially interesting, because it was just then that the First Epistle to the Corinthians was written. All the circumstances and all the indications of time which the Epistle itself offers conspire to fix the writing of it to this special date …
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[195] The student may consult on the identification of Artemis and the Oriental or Persian deity Anaïtis, the _Revue Archéologique_ for 1885, vol. ii., pp. 105-115, and Derenbourg and Saglio's _Dict. des Antiq._, s.v. Diana. [196] This argument may be pressed further. The silence which we observe in much of second…
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[198] See on the exact time of the Macedonian and Ephesian month of Artemisius, Ussher's treatise on the Macedonian and Asiatic solar year, in the seventh volume of his works Ed. Elrington, p. 425, with which may be compared Bishop Lightfoot's _Ignatius_, i. 660-700. Mr. Lewin, in his _Fasti Sacri_, p. 309, makes i…
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[201] The original sacred image, which was preserved inside a screen or curtain in the inmost temple, was a shapeless mass of wood something like the prehistoric blocks of wood or stone which were esteemed at Athens and elsewhere the most venerable images of their favourite deities: see Pausanias, _Description of G…
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[205] See vol. i., pp. 8, 9. [206] See the articles on Polycarp in the _Dict. Christ. Biog._, iv. 426, and on Martyrs of Lyons, iii. 764. As regards Polycarp, see also Lightfoot's _Ignatius_, vol. i., p. 436; and as regards the Martyrs of Lyons, see Rénan's _Marc-Aurèle_, pp. 329, 331. It is interesting to notice,…
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[207] The pagan temples were almost universally destroyed about the year 400. The edicts dealing with this matter and an ample commentary upon them will be found in the Theodosian Code, edited by that eminent scholar Godefroy. [208] An interesting confirmation of this fact came to light in modern times. In the yea…
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[210] Aristarchus is described in the Martyrologies as the first bishop of Thessalonica, and is said to have suffered martyrdom under Nero. He is commemorated on August 4th. [211] These local parliaments under the Roman Empire have been the subject of much modern investigation at the hands of French and German sch…
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The rest of the town-clerk's speech is equally deserving of study from every point of view. He gives us a glimpse of the Apostle's method of controversy: it was wise, courteous, conciliatory. It did not hurt the feelings or outrage the sentiments of natural reverence, which ought ever to be treated with the greatest re…
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[216] See Lewin's _St. Paul_, i. 337, 338. The correspondence of Pliny with the Emperor Trajan some fifty years or so later than this riot is the best commentary upon the town-clerk's speech. We find, for instance, in Pliny's _Letters_, Book X., No. 42, a letter telling about a fire which broke out in Nicomedia, the c…
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"And after the uproar was ceased, Paul having sent for the disciples and exhorted them, took leave of them, and departed for to go into Macedonia.... And upon the first day of the week, when we were gathered together (at Troas) to break bread, Paul discoursed with them, intending to depart on the morrow; and prolo…
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But this was not all, or nearly all. St. Paul was at the same time engaged in organising a great collection throughout all the churches where he had ministered on behalf of the poor Christians at Jerusalem, and he was compelled to walk most warily and carefully in this matter. Every step he took was watched by foes rea…
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[219] I say to Gaul, because I take it that he would have sailed to Marseilles, which was then the great port of communication with Asia Minor, as we have noted above, pp. 372-74, when treating of the worship of Diana and its extension from the East to Marseilles. After St. Paul's stay at Corinth, he determined to…
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[220] There is to this day a trace of this custom in the Book of Common Prayer in the rubric which prescribes that the collect for Sunday shall be said on Saturday evening. In colleges, too, according to Archbishop Laud's rules, surplices are worn on Saturday evenings as well as on Sundays. [221] See above, pp. 34…
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[223] Here we have an illustration of 1 Cor. xiv. 16: "Else if thou bless with the Spirit, how shall he that filleth the place of the unlearned say the Amen at the giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest?" See also ch. lxv. of Justin's same _Apology_ for another reference to the Amen, and cf.…
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[225] St. Augustine, in _Epist._, cxviii., _Ad Januar._, cc. vi. vii., was one of the first to suggest this idea. The passage is quoted by Bingham, _Antiqq._, XV. vii. 8. [226] See the exhaustive article on Agapæ in Smith's _Dict. Christ. Antiqq._, vol. i., p. 39. [227] The early Christians celebrated the Holy Com…
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We know nothing of what the particular topics were which engaged St. Paul's attention at Troas, but we may guess them from the subject-matter of the address to the elders of Ephesus, which takes up the latter half of this twentieth chapter. Troas and Ephesus, in fact, were so near and so similarly circumstanced that th…
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Let us now notice some of the topics of this address. It may be divided into four portions. The first part is retrospective, and autobiographical; the second is prospective, and sets forth his conception of his future course; the third is hortatory, expounding the dangers threatening the Ephesian Church; and the fourth…
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[230] I do not think there is any greater want in the Church of England than the revival of preaching. It is simply lamentable to see the numbers who under usual circumstances will walk out of church before the sermon, and still more lamentable to see the number of men who do not go to church at all. This I attribu…
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[232] See on this point Dr. Salmon's _Introduction to New Testament_, 4th ed., p. 445. III. This discourse, again, is hortatory, and its exhortations contain very important doctrinal statements. St. Paul begins this third division with an exhortation like that which our Lord gave to His apostles under the same circum…
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In connexion with this statement made by St. Paul concerning the source of the ministry we find a title given to the Ephesian presbyters round which much controversy has centred. St. Paul says, "Take heed unto the flock, over which the Holy Ghost has made you _bishops_." I do not, however, propose to spend much time ov…
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[234] Irenæus, however, writing in the second century, states that the bishops and presbyters of Ephesus and the neighbouring cities were assembled at Miletus, so that he distinguishes between bishops and presbyters even on this occasion: see his work _Against Heresies_, iii. 14. Dr. Hatch had an extraordinary the…
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When the Apostle had thus terminated his address, which doubtless was a very lengthened one, he knelt down, probably on the shore, as we shall find him kneeling in the next chapter (xxi. 5, 6) on the shore at Tyre. He then commended them in solemn prayer to God, and they all parted in deep sorrow on account of the fina…
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[236] Thus in ch. xxiv. 10-16 he enlarges upon the subject of "the Way which they call a sect," a topic and a name fully discussed above on pp. 32, 33. I. St. Paul, after parting from the Ephesian Church, embarked on board his ship, and then coasted along the western shore of Asia Minor for three days, sailing amid …
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[237] See Lightfoot's _Ignatius_, vol. i., p. 452, upon the presence of Jews in the towns and cities of Proconsular Asia. Antiochus the Great transported two thousand Jewish families to these parts from Babylonia and Mesopotamia. [238] Inscriptions, according to Josephus, were graven in Greek and Latin on stones f…
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[241] The Romans were always afraid of Jewish seditions. Seven years before St. Paul's imprisonment there had been a terrible outburst, in which Ananias the high priest had been himself involved, and which led to the despatch of Felix himself as procurator. He had effectually put down all disturbances, which led t…
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[244] This prophecy was not literally fulfilled. The Jews did not bind St. Paul, nor deliver him into Gentile hands. The Romans took him out of Jewish hands, and bound him for their own purposes. The Jews, however, brought this binding about, and were the cause of his captivity in Roman hands. On the question of pr…
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[245] St. Paul, writing twelve months earlier than his arrest, expressly lays down this principle in 1 Corinthians vii. 18-20: "Was any man called being circumcised? let him not become uncircumcised. Hath any been called in uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is …
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Another point which has exercised men's minds is found in St. Paul's attitude and words when brought before the Sanhedrin on the day after his arrest. The story is told in the opening verses of the twenty-third chapter. Let us quote them, as they vividly present the difficulty: "And Paul, looking stedfastly on the coun…
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[248] There is no necessity to adopt forced and unnatural explanations when an easy one lies ready to our hand, and we all have daily experience how hard it is for even a keen-sighted man to distinguish among a crowd the person who utters a brief exclamation; a fact which the debates in the House of Commons often …
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[249] Any reader who wishes to see how this question was discussed about the year 200 A. D. should turn to Tertullian's treatise _De Fuga in Persecutione_, c. 6., in his works translated in Clark's Ante-Nicene Library, vol. i., p. 364, where Tertullian admits that the apostles fled in time of persecution, but argue…
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"And when it was determined that we should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners to a centurion named Julius, of the Augustan band. And embarking in a ship of Adramyttium, which was about to sail unto the places on the coast of Asia, we put to sea, Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonic…
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I. Let us then see in what way we may regard St. Paul's imprisonment as an arrangement and outcome of Divine love. Take, for instance, St. Paul in his own personal life. This period of imprisonment, of enforced rest and retirement, may have been absolutely necessary for him. St. Paul had spent many a long and busy year…
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[252] This involves, however, the supposition that St. Luke's narrative had then obtained its more modern name of "the Gospel," which is in my opinion an anachronism. In the earliest writings which refer to apostolic narratives they are simply called the writings or memoirs or commentaries of the apostles, as in A…
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Lastly, St. Paul's imprisonment blessed the Church of every age, and through it blessed mankind at large far more than his liberty and his external activity could have done in one other direction. Is it not a contradiction in terms to say that the imprisonment of this courageous leader, this eloquent preacher, this kee…
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[255] The governors brought with them regular bodies of assessors, who assisted them like a privy council. There is a reference to this council in Acts xxv. 12 and xxvi. 30. These councils served as training schools in law and statesmanship for the young Roman nobility. See Marquardt, _l.c._, p. 391. [256] Roman c…
1,323 wordsSECTION 174Index.
[262] Romans xvi. is a sufficient witness of the intimate knowledge of the Roman Church and its membership possessed by St. Paul. We may be sure that many mentioned in that catalogue written three or four years before found a place in the two deputations who went to meet St. Paul. [263] See for proof of this Harna…
650 wordsSECTION 175Index.
Constantine, Emperor, 238, 273. _Contemporary Review_, 468. Conybeare and Howson, _St. Paul_, 46, 57. Corinth, First Epistle to, date of, 359, 387. Cornelius à Lapide, 46. Cornelius, the Centurion, chaps. v., vi. ---- baptism of, 140. Council of Jerusalem, chap. x. Councils, histories of, 219. Cramer's _Catena…
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---- _Philippians_, 173, 291-93, 417. Lightfoot, Dr. J., _Hor. Heb._, 32, 57, 441. Lipsius, R. A., 5. ---- _Apoc. Acts_, 53. Lord's Day, observance of, 393-397. Lucian's _Philopatris._, 312. Luke, St., at Philippi, 391. Lycaonia, language of, 212, 265. Lydia, 278. Lysias, Claudius, 429. Lystra, 200, 212-17, 2…
650 wordsSECTION 177Index.
Serarius, _De Rabbinis_, 13. Sergius Paulus, 201-206. Shrine-makers, Ephesian, 369. Sidon, church at, 461. Silas, 257, 325. Silence, argument from, 342, 361, 393. Simon the Tanner, 119. Singon Street, 157. Sinuessa, Council of, 144. Skelligs, 88. Slavery, 314. Smith, Mr. James, of Jordanhills, on _Voyage of …
311 wordsSECTION 178*** End Of The Project Gutenberg Ebook The Expositor'S Bible: The Acts Of The Apostles, Vol. 2 ***
* * * * * Transcriber's note: Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). Small capital text has been replaced with all capitals. Variations in spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been retained except in obvious cases of typographical error. Missing page numbers are page numbers that were not sh…
286 wordsSource & rights
Public domain in the USA; original historical text digitized by Project Gutenberg.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.