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PREFACE.

THE purpose and methods of this commentary on the Acts are in the main the same as those of the previous volume on Matthew; while the different character of the history, and the suggestions of various friends who have kindly examined the former work with this end in view, have led to some minor modifications.

The great object, always before me, remains unchanged, to present in the light of the latest and best scholarship, and in the side-lights of literature, the history of the Early Church as recorded in the Acts, so clearly, so simply, so practically, so suggestively, that persons of ordinary opportunity for Biblical study may possess, condensed from widely scattered sources, the substance of the best there is on the subject, with many references for those who desire further study and investigation. The goal is indeed far away. Every successive time I have been over this ground for the aid of Sunday-school teachers, new light from many and often unexpected sources has streamed upon it with fructifying power. And it will continue to do so in the future.

I agree with the sentiment so admirably expressed by Mr. Ruskin in his preface to the fifth volume of his Modern Painters, "that unless important changes are occurring in (one's) opinions continually, all his life long, not one of those opinions can be on any questionable subject true. All true opinions are living, and show their life by being capable of nourishment; therefore of change. But their change is that of a tree - not of a cloud. But in the main aim and principle of the book there is no variation, from its first syllable to its last."

So there is no change in the aim of this series to aid teachers of Bible classes, and of the Sunday-school, leaders of prayer meetings, ministers of the Gospel, heads of families, Christian workers of all denominations, as well as individual students of the Bible, in training themselves and others in the Christian life by means of the light that shines from God through the history of the Early Church.

The work is critical, but in results rather than in processes. Great pains are taken to get at the exact meaning both of words and events. Whatever light the Higher Criticism can throw upon these is utilized, to the best of our ability, for those who desire a brief but comprehensive view of the best scholarship.

At the same time, for those who wish to pursue such investigations in detail, the chief problems will be stated in the Introduction, with references to some of the latest books concerning them. And for all, help will be invoked from every source within my reach; from literature, scientific investigation, the Greek texts, history,

geography, travel, pictures, new points of view; and from the many learned scholars who have written upon the book of the Acts.

Of the three most helpful tendencies of modern Bible study, perhaps the most helpful of all is that which, without neglecting any detail, sees the history as a whole, notes the progressive steps, looks at each statement and event in its relation to the others, and to the development and results of the entire period.

The individual events are like sentences written on the sky in letters so large that we can see but a sentence at a time, though full of meaning and blessing. But there come new visions, deeper meanings, and fuller blessing when we read them in a connected message from God.

There is something in a temple, which all the separate stones cannot convey; something in a picture, which the several isolated forms and colors cannot impart. For this purpose special attention is called to the Analysis of the Book of The Acts, on page xxv, to the Table of Chronology, and to the Titles and Analyses at the beginning of each chapter.

Within the last few years more books have been written upon the Acts than upon any other book of the New Testament. They are not chiefly commentaries, but histories of the Apostolic Age, books on the life of Paul, explorations in Oriental lands, and discussions of the difficult problems connected with the book. And one may easily agree with Professor Ramsay in his remark that " enormous difficulties beset the editor of the Acts at every step, in the present unsettled state of criticism and historical illustration; " and that "Acts is at the present time the most difficult book of the New Testament to edit."

So far as any fact is proved or question settled, having a bearing upon the interpretation of the Acts, it will be used. The disputed questions, however interesting and profitable, affect the meaning and the practical teaching of only a small portion of the book; just as we enjoy the literary beauty and power of Homer without regard to the disputed questions of the gradual growth of the Iliad, or whether it was the work of several authors, or of Homer, or "of another man by the name of Homer;" and of Shakespeare without regard to the problem whether Shakespeare or Bacon wrote the plays, and without studying the great Variorum volumes written What Professor Moulton has said of his own work is true of this: :upon them. have made a point of excluding questions of historic controversy, in the belief that however important in their own sphere, historic discussions, unless in the simplest form, tend to detract from literary presentation."

"I

Thus we shall try to understand the heart of this book, to learn the divine lessons unfolded in the founding of the kingdom of Jesus Christ, and to come "into fresh and immediate contact with the most dynamic persons, incidents, and thoughts that history has produced."

The chronology followed is in the main that given in Dr. Hastings' Bible Diction ary, and very nearly the same as the chronology in the Oxford Helps. Several other schemes are given in the Chronological Tables on pp. xix-xxiv.

There are frequent quotations (1) when it is desirable to give some well-known authority for a statement; and (2) when anything is said peculiarly well by another author, giving variety and flavor beyond what is possible to any one writer.

The Text will be the combined Authorized and Revised.

The References are the new ones lately prepared with great care and expense under the auspices of the University Presses for the Revised Version.

The pronunciation of proper names will be marked according to the decisions, and with the diacritical notation used in the Oxford Self-Pronouncing Bible, which are

given on page xl.

AUBURNDALE, Mass.,
October, 1901.

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