The Truth of Christianity: Being an Examination of the More Important Arguments For and Against Believing in That ReligionTurton, W. H. (William Harry)
Religion
The Truth of Christianity: Being an Examination of the More Important Arguments For and Against Believing in That Religion
Turton, W. H. (William Harry)
Apologetics
Moreover, inscriptions discovered there have confirmed the narrative
to a remarkable extent. They have shown that the _theatre_ was the
recognised place of public meeting; that there were certain officers
(who presided at the games, etc.) called _asiarchs_; that another
well-known Ephesian officer was called the _town-clerk_; that
Ephesus had the curious designation of _temple-keeper_ of Diana
(long thought to be a difficulty); that _temple-robbing_ and
_blasphemy_ were both crimes which were specially recognised by the
Ephesian laws; and that the term _regular assembly_ was a technical
one in use at Ephesus.[252] The reference to the _town-clerk_ is
particularly interesting, because what is recorded of him is said to
agree with the duties of the town-clerk at Ephesus, though not with
those of the same official elsewhere.[253] All this minute accuracy
is hard to explain unless the narrative came from one who was
present during the riot, and recorded what he actually saw and
heard.
[Footnote 252: _Comp._ Acts 19. 29-39; with inscriptions found in
the Great Theatre. Wood's Discoveries at Ephesus, 1877, pp. 43, 47,
53, 51, 15, 39.]
[Footnote 253: Harnack, The Acts of the Apostles, translated by
Wilkinson, 1909, p. 63.]
(3.) _The agreement with St. Paul's Epistles._
Our third example shall be of a different kind. It is that if we
compare the biography of St. Paul given in the Acts with the letters
of that Apostle, many of them written to the very Churches and
persons described there, we shall find numerous _undesigned
agreements_ between them. And these, as before explained (Chapter
X.) form a strong argument in favour of the accuracy of both. Take,
for instance, the Epistle to the Romans. Though not dated, it was
evidently written at the close of St. Paul's second visit to Greece;
and therefore, if mentioned in the Acts, it would come in at Chapter
20. 3. And the following are two, out of the numerous points of
agreement.
The first is St. Paul's saying that he was going to Jerusalem, with
alms from Macedonia and Achaia for the poor in that city. Now in the
Acts it is stated that St. Paul had just passed through these
provinces, and was on his way to Jerusalem, though there is no
mention about the alms there. But it happens to be alluded to some
chapters later, without, however, mentioning then where the alms
came from.[254] The agreement is complete though it is certainly not
designed.
[Footnote 254: Rom. 15. 25, 26; Acts 19. 21; 24. 17.]
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