§ 5. PLACE m THE CANOJI Eusebins places in the forefront of his list of books generally aclmowledged as portions of Holy Scripture (/Jµ.oAoyovµ.Eva, 8Euu ypa<f,a[), the four Gospels and "the Book of the Acts of the Apostles ( ~ rwv 7rpa.~Ewv rwv 'A7rouroAwv ypa<f,~) ; " and again he says, "Luke has left us a proof of his skill in spiritual healing in two inspired books-his Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles" (' Hist. Eccl.,' iii. 11, 25). It was probably from eh. xxi. 8, 9, that Papia.~ derived his knowledge of the daughters of Philip; and from eh. i. 23 that he knew of "Justus surnamed Barsabas," though he may, of course, have known of both from tradition (Eusebius, 'Hist. Eccl.,' iii. 39). The passage in Clement's First Epistle-" What shall we say of David, so highly testified off to whom God said, I have found a man after my own heart, David the ,on of Jesse "-if compared with eh. xiii. 22 (especially as regards the words in italics), will be seen to be certainly taken from it. The words rce µ.Eµ.ap- np71µ.b,'l!, compared with the µ.aprvp~ua,; of eh. xiii. 22, and the Tov rov 'IEuual with the same phrase found in the Acts but not found in Ps. Ix:ri::r. 20, are very strong evidences of Clement's acqnaintance with the Acts. And this evidence is confirmed by another distinct verbal quotation from eh. :x:x. 35: "Ye were all of you humble-minded, more willingly giving than Teceiving "• (St. Clement, eh. ii. and xviii. See also i. 34, ~µ,E'i.i; lJµ.ovoL<f i-:r, TO aw-a rrovax8lvroi;, compnred with eh. ii. 1). There is a less certain reference to eh. v. 41 in Hermas (' Simil.,' iv. sect. 28); but Ignatias's saying in the Epistle to the Smyrneans (iii.), that Christ, "after his resurrection, did eat and drink with them," is an evident quotation from eh. x. 41. So e.lso his saying in the Epistle to the Magnesia.ns (v.), " Every man must go to his own place," must be taken from eh. i. 25; and the phrase rn-l To avro, coupled as it is with µla. ,rpouru'X!I µ.w. obJu,i;, and with the description of Church unity in the same Epistle ( sect. vii.), must be taken from eh. i. 15; ii. 1, 44 ; as also that of Polycarp, that the apostles " are gone t.o their own place (di; Tov 84,ul..6µ.&ov awoi:i; To7rov)." There is also another verbal quotation in Polycarp ( sect. i.), "Ov ~ELpEV ;, ®Eo', Avua,; TO.', woi:va,; TOV.ASov, from eh. ii. 24, where the substitution of • Aoov for 8a.va.Tov is probably caused by 6ava.Tov having immediately preceded. Dean Alford Wa.\l of opinion that there are not "any references in Justin Martyr which, fairly considered, belong to this book"(' Proleg.,' eh. i. sect. v.); but thero is such a close similarity 1 See Dean Howeon'e • Evidential Value of the Aote of the Apostles,' leot. iv. 1 " Bishop Lightfoot" o.nd "all commentators, Bishop Jacobson, Ha.:rnaok, eto., recog- nize this as a dietinot allusion to the pauage in the Acts" (Introduction to Act.a ill 'Speaker's Commentary,' p. 333). ,·iii IN'l'RODUCTION TO
of tlmugbt a.nd expreBBion in the passe.ge in oh, vii. 20, 22, 'Ev rp ,ca.tpi ry~ M(l)<rij,; • • • iKN6wra. 8~ a.~v -lvEWITO a.&ov ~ 8vy&.rqp 4>a.pa.o, ,ca.l &..efJP""'1,T'o a.~v la.tnj ,l,; Mov- ,ca.l bnu8ru8.,, . • • Iv .,,.&.cm croif,{'l- Alyv,rT{n,v• ~v o, 8,n,«~,. 01 Xoyot,; ,ca.l '1, lpyot,; a.&ov, and the.t in the treatise of Justin, ' Ad Gnecos Cohortatio : ' Ila.p' oT,; oll,c lTlxfJ-rJ M(l)<rij,; p.orov ill«\ ,ctil r4.'"I,; Twv Alyvn-lo,v mu&vcrfui,; /U'f'4C1J(EW T][uJ,fJ.,, &a TO ~7N) fJvrya.T'po,; {3acrtXl(I),; ,1,. ffilt~os tiJKEtwcrfJcu x,f,pa.v· • • , ~ iC1'T'opovcrw oi C1'0q,,i}T'4T'OL T'WV iC1'T'optoyp&.c/lwv ol 'rOV {3tov a~•T"ov KCU Tee,; ,rp,Uns • • • d.va.yp&.v,a.crfJa,. ,rpoeMp.woL, as could hardly arise from two independent minds. The sequence of thought, the birth, the adoption, the education, the mighty works, are identical in both writers. The same may be sa.id of the two other passages adduced by Lardner from Justin; one from the 'First Apology' compared with eh. xiii. 27, and the other from the ' Dialogne' compared with eh. xxv:i. 22, 23. Here, again, this identity of thought and expression in both passages ( T'oVTov d.yvo~cravTEs compared with VfVO'IC1'a.v, and ,ra.8.,,T'OS A XptC1'T'OS compared with 1ra.B.,,T'oS YfV'IC1'0P,EVOS A Xpicrro,;) could not be accidental, and can only be 11,(lCOnnted for by J'llStin being familia.r with the Acui of the Apostles. Between the times of Justin and EnsebillB there is an abundance of direct quotations from the Acts. The first is in the Epistle of the Churches of Lyons and Vienna., given by Ensebins, • Hist. EccL,' bk. v. eh. 2, where the martyrdom and prayer of Stephen a.re expressly referred to; and there a.re many also in lrerueus, Clement of Alexandria., Tertullian, Hippolytue, Julius .A.frica.nus, Ori gen, and others, which may be found in W estcott's 'Hist. of the Canon,' and ml&rdner's • Credibility of the Gospel History.' The Book of the Acts is contained in the :Mnmtoria.n Canon in the Wat, ascribed to about A.II, 170 ; and also in the Peshito Canon in the East, of about the sa.m.e date ; in the fifty-ninth canon of the Council of Laodicea. (1..B. 363), the list in which, however, is considered spurious; in the thirty- ninth ea.non of the Council of Carthage (A.D, 397) ; in the seventy-sixth of the A.postolical Canons; in the list of Cyril of Jerusalem (A.D, 886), of Epiph.&nins of Cyprns (A.I>. 403), of Atha.na.sius, of Jerome, and thence• forth in the Canon as received by the whole Eastern and Western Churches. It is curious to add that though, as we ha.ve seen from the testimony of Eusebius, the Acts of the Apostles was reckoned among the uncontested books of Holy Scripture, it was a. book scarcely known at Constantinople in the days of Chrysoetom. The passage with which he opens hie homilies on the Acts has been often quoted: "To many persons this book is so little kn.own, both it and its author, that they are not even a.ware tha.t there is such a book in existence." And what seems yet more strange, even at Antioch (St. Luke's reported birthplace), Chrysostom tells us it was " 11tra.nge : " "Strange, and not strange. Not strange, for it belongs to the order of Holy Scripture; and yet strange, because peradventure your ears e.re not accustomed to such a subject. Certainly there are many to whom this book is not even known" (' Hom. in Princip. Act.,' preached at Antio~h),1 • Bee ' Limw, of tbt1 Fatben,' vol. JtUiii. p. 1, nott1 6. 'l'IlE AOTS OF THE APOSTLES. ix
On the other hand, St. Angnetine Speake of the book e.B "well known from being very frequently read in the Church." 1 The Book of the Acts wae, by long-eetabliehed cuetom (in the time of Chrysoetom), read in the Churches (e.e e.g. at Antioch and in Africa) from Easter to Pentecost (' Library of the Fathers,' vol. xxx.iii. p. 1, note).