Front Matter

Preface

T HE Acts of the Apostles are so rich in variety and interest that they are more frequently studied in schools than any other book of the Bible. Students turn to a historian who is picturesque, accurate, statesmanlike in appreciating vital issues, and clear-sighted enough to keep a just balance between the movement in which he himself is an actor and the other world-movements of his age. And yet, strangely enough, it is in this very wealth and variety that the danger of the study of the Acts lies, for men are tempted to linger, as it were, so long upon the outskirts of the citadel, or beneath its walls, that they fail to find the presence chamber of the King within.

The following lessons are drawn up with a view of leading teachers and pupils, whilst availing themselves of every modern research and accessory, to study the Acts as a whole instead of dwelling upon its exterior and incidental parts. If the student would find the secret of the greatest of all movements he must pass beyond the glamour of the knighthood of St. Peter and St. Paul, the civic problem of a Corinth and an Ephesus, the adventure of a stoning at Lystra and a shipwreck, to the spiritual power which awakened that knighthood, inspired the character of its leaders and taught the world what Christian love, joy and endurance might be.

In the second place, the lessons strive to show how the men who lived and walked with Jesus understood and applied the first principles of His teaching and acts to the religious and social problems of their day, to the institution of ordinances such as Baptism, the Lord's Supper and the regulation of Church discipline and organization. It is from a right understanding of the power which transformed the first century that the student gains an insight into the power that is transforming the present century, and learns how to grapple with the problems of his own day and generation.

And lastly, the lessons seek to show how these same leaders translated the teaching of Jesus, whether given in parable, paradox or precept, into the spirituality and earnest obedience of their own personal life, a spirituality which found its natural outcome in the active missionary labour of a St. Peter and a St. Paul abroad, and the no less active though quieter service of a Lydia and a Dorcas at home.

The book is intended primarily for the use of the teacher, but secondarily for the use of the pupil also, and has been divided into sections so that facts can be the more easily underlined and paragraphs studied. It has been found that the use of a text book in Scripture teaching lightens the work of note taking, insures accuracy and prepares the way for the elucidation of the chapter taken in connection with it.

In conclusion, it is only necessary to acknowledge the constant indebtedness of the Author to writers such as Ramsay, Knowling, Rackham, Shaw, Harnack, Conybeare and Howson, the Hastings' Bible, the Expositor's Bible, and very many others whose works are now held to be the classics on this subject and who lead the way not only for the preacher and theological student but also for the more preparatory work of the teacher and scholar.

HAVERGAL COLLEGE,
         October 19th, 1908.