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The book of Acts was not written in a vacuum. It grew up in the latter part of
the first century in the midst of real life politics and literature, history and
traditions, religion and commerce. Thus, to fully appreciate Acts, one must look
up from the pages of Scripture and see what surrounded Luke as he wrote. This
collection of sources cites relevant literature from all over the Mediterranean,
pointing out the interesting and profitable connections between the literature
of Luke's day. This is a huge collection of the primary source material cited in
my commentary (Commentary on Acts, Joplin, College Press, 2011). It is arranged in the order in which it is found in the commentary.
Because this is such a large section, it has been broken down into references
for each of the 28 chapters of Acts.
Chapters: Acts Chapter 28
28:1-10
t. Sanh.
8.3
A. Why
did he say so?
B. So
that [the witnesses] should not say, "We saw him running after his fellow,
with a sword in his hand. [The victim] ran in front of him into a shop. And
then the other went after him into the store. We went in after them and
found the victim slain on the floor, with a knife in the hand of the
murderer, dripping blood."
C. "Now
lest you say, ‘If not you, then who killed him'" -[you must be admonished
that this is not valid evidence].
D. Said
Simeon b, Shatah, "May I [not] see consolation, if I did not see someone run
after his fellow, with a sword in his hand, and [the pursued man] went
before him into a ruin, and the [pursuer] ran in after him, and then I came
in right after him, and found [the victim] slain, with a knife in the hand
of the murderer, dripping blood. And I said to him, ‘You evil person! Who
killed this one? May I [not] see consolation if I did not see him [run in
here]. Either you killed him or I did! But what can I do to you? For you r
case is not handed over to me. For lo, the Torah has said,
At the testimony of two witness or at
the testimony of three witnesses shall he who is on trial for his life be
put to death (Deut. 17:6)
E.
"‘But He who knows the thoughts of man will exact punishment from that man.'
He did not move from the spot before a snake bit him and he died."
Plutarch, Lysander 4.1-3
When he learned that Cyrus, the King's son, was come to Sardis, he went up
to confer with him and to accuse Tissaphernes, who, though he was
commissioned to aid the Lacedaemonians and drive the Athenians from the sea,
was thought to be remiss in his duty, through the efforts of Alcibiades,
showing lack of zeal, and destroying the efficiency of the fleet by the
meager subsidies which he gave. [2] Now Cyrus was well pleased that
Tissaphernes, who was a base man and privately at feud with him, should be
accused and maligned. By this means, then, as well as by his behavior in
general, Lysander made himself agreeable, and by the submissive deference of
his conversation, above all else, he won the heart of the young prince, and
roused him to prosecute the war with vigor.
[3] At a banquet which Cyrus gave him as he was about to depart, the prince
begged him not to reject the tokens of his friendliness, but to ask plainly
for whatever he desired, since nothing whatsoever would be refused him.
"Since, then," said Lysander in reply, "thou art so very kind, I beg and
entreat thee, Cyrus, to add an obol to the pay of my sailors, that they may
get four obols instead of three."
Plutarch, Pericles 7.1
As a young man, Pericles was exceedingly reluctant to face the people, since
it was thought that in feature he was like the tyrant Peisistratus; and when
men well on in years remarked also that his voice was sweet, and his tongue
glib and speedy in discourse, they were struck with amazement at the
resemblance. Besides, since he was rich, of brilliant lineage, and had
friends of the greatest influence, he feared that he might be ostracized,
and so at first had naught to do with politics, but devoted himself rather
to a military career, where he was brave and enterprising.
Pindar, Olympian 6.98-99
May time not creep up and disturb his prosperity, but may he with loving
friendliness welcome the victory-procession of Hagesias as it comes to one
home from his other home within the walls of Stymphalus,
Josephus, Jewish Wars 1.6.1 §122
Hereupon they were reconciled to each other in the temple, and embraced one
another in a very kind manner, while the people stood round about them; they
also changed their houses; while Aristobulus went to the royal palace, and
Hyrcanus retired to the house of Aristobulus.
1 Q20 20:29
So I prayed [for him] … and I laid
my hands on his [head]; and the scourge departed from him and the evil
[spirit] was expelled [from him], and he lived.
Sirach 38:1-2
1Cultivate
the physician kin accordance with the need of him,
For him also hath God ordained.
2
It is from God that the physician getteth wisdom,
And from the king he receiveth gifts.
Cicero, Ad Fam. 16.9
TO TIRO (AT PATRAE)
BRUNDISIUM, 26 NOVEMBER
CICERO and his son greet Tiro warmly. We parted from you, as you know, on
the 2nd of November. We arrived at Leucas on the 6th of November, on the 7th
at Actium. There we were detained till the 8th by a storm. Thence on the 9th
we arrived at Corcyra after a charming voyage. At Corcyra we were detained
by bad weather till the 15th. On the 16th we continued our voyage to
Cassiope, a harbor of Corcyra, a distance of 120 stades. There we were
detained by winds until the 22nd. Many of those who in this interval
impatiently attempted the crossing suffered shipwreck. On the 22nd, after
dinner, we weighed anchor. Thence with a very gentle south wind and a clear
sky, in the course of that night and the next day we arrived in high spirits
on Italian soil at Hydrus, [Note] and with the same wind next day—that is,
the 24th of November—at 10 o'clock in the morning we reached Brundisium, and
exactly at the same time as ourselves Terentia (who values you very highly)
made her entrance into the town. On the 26th, at Brundisium, a slave of Cn.
Plancius at length delivered to me the ardently expected letter from you,
dated the 13th of November. It greatly lightened my anxiety: would that it
had entirely removed it! However, the physician Asclapo positively asserts
that you will shortly be well. What need is there for me at this time of day
to exhort you to take every means to re-establish your health? I know your
good sense, temperate habits, and affection for me: I am sure you will do
everything you can to join me as soon as possible. But though I wish this, I
would not have you hurry yourself in any way. I could have wished you had
shirked Lyso's concert, for fear of incurring a fourth fit of your seven-day
fever. But since you have preferred to consult your politeness rather than
your health, be careful for the future. I have sent orders to Curius for a
douceur to be given to the physician, and that he should advance you
whatever you want, engaging to pay the money to any agent he may name. I am
leaving a horse and mule for you at Brundisium. At Rome I fear that the 1st
of January will be the beginning of serious disturbances. I shall take a
moderate line in all respects. It only remains to beg and entreat you not to
set sail rashly-seamen are wont to hurry things for their own profit: be
cautious, my dear Tiro: you have a wide and difficult sea before you. If you
can, start with Mescinius; he is usually cautious about a sea passage: if
not, travel with some man of rank, whose position may give him influence
over the ship-owner. If you take every precaution in this matter and present
yourself to us safe and sound, I shall want nothing more of you. Good-bye,
again and again, dear Tiro! I am writing with the greatest earnestness about
you to the physician, to Curius, and to Lyso. Good-bye, and God bless you.
28:11-16
Pliny, Natural History 2.122
Accordingly the spring opens the seas to voyagers; at its beginning he West
winds soften the wintry heaven, when the sun occupies the 25th
degree of Aquarius; the date of this is Feb. 8. This also practically
applies to all the winds whose positions I shall give afterwards, although
every leap-year they come a day earlier, but they keep the regular rule in
the period that follows. Certain persons give the name Chelidonias to the
West wind on the 19h February, owing to the appearance of the swallow but
some call it Ornithias, from the arrival of the birds on the 71st
day after the shortest day, when
it blows for nine days.
Vegetius, On Military Affairs 4.39 (see on 27:9-12)
Euripides, Electra 1238ff
The Dioskouroi appear from above.
Dioskouroi
Dioskouroi
Son of Agamemnon, listen; the twin sons of Zeus, your mother's brothers,
[1240] Castor and his brother Polydeuces, are calling you. Having just now
calmed the swell of the sea, terrible for ships, we have come to Argos when
we saw the slaying of our sister, your mother. Now she has her just reward,
but you have not acted justly, [1245] and Phoebus, Phoebus—but I am silent,
for he is my lord; although he is wise, he gave you oracles that were not.
But it is necessary to accept these things. As to what remains, you must do
what Fate and Zeus have accomplished for you.
Give Electra to Pylades as his wife to take to his home; [1250] but you
leave Argos; for it is not for you, who killed your mother, to set foot in
this city. And the dread goddesses of death, the one who glare like hounds,
will drive you up and down, a maddened wanderer. Go to Athens and embrace
the holy image of Pallas; [1255] for she will prevent them, flickering with
dreadful serpents, from touching you, as she stretches over your head her
Gorgon-faced shield. There is a hill of Ares, where the gods first sat over
their votes to decide on bloodshed, [1260] when savage Ares killed
Halirrothius, son of the ocean's ruler, in anger for the unholy violation of
his daughter, so that the tribunal is most sacred and secure in the eyes of
the gods.
Pausanias 1.18.1
The sanctuary of the Dioscuri is ancient. They themselves are represented as
standing, while their sons are seated on horses. Here Polygnotus1 has
painted the marriage of the daughters of Leucippus, was a part of the gods'
history, but Micon those who sailed with Jason to the Colchians, and he has
concentrated his attention upon Acastus and his horses.
Herodotus, Hist. 2.43.2-3
…and moreover to prove that the Egyptians did not take the name of Heracles
from the Hellenes, but rather the Hellenes from the Egyptians,--that is to
say those of the Hellenes who gave the name Heracles to the son of
Amphitryon,--of that, I say, besides many other evidences there is chiefly
this, namely that the parents of this Heracles, Amphitryon and Alcmene, were
both of Egypt by descent, and also that the Egyptians say that they do not
know the names either of Poseidon or of the Dioscuroi, nor have these been
accepted by them as gods among the other gods; whereas if they had received
from the Hellenes the name of any divinity, they would naturally have
preserved the memory of these most of all, assuming that in those times as
now some of the Hellenes were wont to make voyages and were sea-faring folk,
as I suppose and as my judgment compels me to think; so that the Egyptians
would have learnt the names of these gods even more than that of Heracles.
Thucydides, Peloponnesian War 3.75.3
He had no sooner consented, than they began to enroll their enemies for the
ships; and these fearing that they might be sent off to Athens, seated
themselves as suppliants in the temple of the Dioscuri.
Seneca, Epistle 77.1-2 (see on 27:6)
Josephus, Jewish Wars 2.7.1 §104
So he landed at Dicearchia [Puteoli], and got very large presents from the
Jews who dwelt there, and was conducted by his father's friends as if he
were a king; nay, the resemblance in his countenance procured him so much
credit, that those who had seen Alexander, and had know him very well, would
take their oaths that he was the very same person.
Josephus, Antiquities 17.12.1 §328
So he made haste to Rome, and was conducted thither by those strangers who
entertained him. He was also so fortunate as, upon his landing at
Dicearchia, to bring the Jews that were there into the same delusion; and
not only other people, but also all those who had been great with Herod, or
had a kindness for him, joined themselves to this man as to their king.
Cicero, Ad Atticum, 2.10
Please admire my consistency. I am determined not to be at the games at
Antium: for it is somewhat of a solecism to wish to avoid all suspicion of
frivolity, and yet suddenly to be shown up as travelling for mere amusement,
and that of a foolish kind. Wherefore I shall wait for you till the 7th of
May at Formiae. So now let me know what day we shall see you. From Appii
Forum, ten o'clock. I sent another a short time ago from Three Taverns.
Suetonius, Tiberius 2
It appears from record, that many of the Claudii have performed signal
services to the state, as well as committed acts of delinquency. To mention
the most remarkable only, Appius Caecus dissuaded the senate from agreeing
to an alliance with Pyrrhus, as prejudicial to the republic. Claudius Candex
first passed the straits of Sicily with a fleet, and drove the Carthaginians
out of the island. Claudius Nero cut off Hasdrubal with a vast army upon his
arrival in Italy from Spain, before he could form a junction with his
brother Annibal. On the other hand, Claudius Appius Regillanus, one of the
Decemvirs, made a violent attempt to have a free virgin, of whom he was
enamoured, adjudged a slave; which caused the people to secede a second time
from the senate. Claudius Drusus erected a statue of himself wearing a crown
at Appii Forum, and endeavoured, by means of his dependants, to make himself
master of Italy. Claudius Pulcher, when, off the coast of Sicily, the
pullets used for taking augury would not eat, in contempt of the omen threw
them overboard, as if they should drink at least, if they would not eat; and
then engaging the enemy, was routed. After his defeat, when he was ordered
by the senate to name a dictator, making a sort of jest of the public
disaster, he named Glycias, his apparitor.
The women of this family, likewise, exhibited characters equally opposite to
each other. For both the Claudias belonged to it; she, who, when the ship
freighted with things sacred to the Idaean Mother of the Gods, stuck fast in
the shallows of the Tiber, got it off, by praying to the Goddess with a loud
voice, "Follow me, if I am chaste;" and she also, who, contrary to the usual
practice in the case of women, was brought to trial by the people for
treason; because, when her litter was stopped by a great crowd in the
streets, she openly exclaimed, "I wish my brother Pulcher was alive now, to
lose another fleet, that Rome might be less thronged." Besides, it is well
known, that all the Claudii, except Publius Claudius, who, to effect the
banishment of Cicero, procured himself to be adopted by a plebeian, and one
younger than himself, were always of the patrician party, as well as great
sticklers for the honor and power of that order; and so violent and
obstinate in their opposition to the plebeians, that not one of them, even
in the case of a trial for life by the people, would ever condescend to put
on mourning, according to custom, or make any supplication to them for
favor; and some of them in their contests, have even proceeded to lay hands
on the tribunes of the people. A Vestal Virgin likewise of the family, when
her brother was resolved to have the honor of a triumph contrary to the will
of the people, mounted the chariot with him, and attended him into the
capitol, that it might not be lawful for any of the tribunes to interfere
and forbid it.
Horace, Satires 1.5
Having left mighty Rome, Aricia received me in but a middling inn:
Heliodorus the rhetorician, most learned in the Greek language, was my
fellow-traveler: thence we proceeded to Forum-Appi, stuffed with sailors and
surly landlords. This stage, but one for better travelers than we, being
laggard we divided into two; the Appian way is less tiresome to bad
travelers.
Pliny, Natural History 3.9
Inland there are the following colonies:—Capua, so called from its champaign
country, Aquinum, Suessa, Venafrum, Sora, Teanum surnamed Sidicinum, Nola;
and the towns of Abella, Aricia, Alba Longa, the Acerrani, the Allifani, the
Atinates, the Aletrinates, the Anagnini, the Atellani, the Affilani, the
Arpinates, the Auximates, the Abellani, the Alfaterni (both those who take
their names from the Latin, the Hernican and the Labicanian territory),
Bovillæ, Calatia, Casinum, Calenum, Capitulum of the Hernici, the Cereatini,
surnamed Mariani, the Corani, descended from the Trojan Dardanus, the
Cubulterini, the Castrimœnienses, the Cingulani, the Fabienses on the Alban
Mount, the Foropopulienses of the Falernian district, the Frusinates, the
Ferentinates, the Freginates, the old Frabaterni, the new Frabaterni, the
Ficolenses, the Fregellani, Forum Appî, the Forentani, the Gabini, the
Interamnates Succasini, also surnamed Lirinates, the Ilionenses Lavinii, the
Norbani, the Nomentani, the Prænestini (whose city was formerly called
Stephané), the Privernates, the Setini, the Signini, the Suessulani, the
Telesini, the Trebulani, surnamed Balinienses, the Trebani, the Tusculani,
the Verulani, the Veliterni, the Ulubrenses, the Urbinates, and, last and
greater than all, Rome herself, whose other name the hallowed mysteries of
the sacred rites forbid us to mention without being guilty of the greatest
impiety. After it had been long kept buried in secrecy with the strictest
fidelity and in respectful and salutary silence, Valerius Soranus dared to
divulge it, but soon did he pay the penalty of his rashness.
Josephus, Antiquities 7.11.5 §276
Now the principal men of the country came to Gilgal to him with a great
multitude, and complained of the tribe of Judah, that they had come to him
in a private manner, whereas they ought all conjointly, and with one and the
same intention, to have given him the meeting. But the rulers of the tribe
of Judah desired them not to be displeased if they had been prevented by
them: for, said they, "We are David's kinsmen, and on that account we the
rather took care of him, and loved him, and so came first to him;" yet had
they not, by their early coming, received any gifts from him, which might
give them who came last any uneasiness.
28:17-22
Ignatius, Eph. 12
I know both who I am, and to whom I write. I am the very insignificant
Ignatius, who have my lot with those who are exposed to danger and
condemnation. But ye have been the objects of mercy, and are established in
Christ. I am one delivered over [to death], but the least of all those that
have been cut off for the sake of Christ, "from the blood of righteous Abel"
to the blood of Ignatius. Ye are initiated into the mysteries of the Gospel
with Paul, the holy, the martyred, inasmuch as he was "a chosen vessel;" at
whose feet may I be found, and at the feet of the rest of the saints, when I
shall attain to Jesus Christ, who is always mindful of you in His prayers.
Irenaeus, Against Heresies 4.34.4
If anyone, however, advocating the cause of the Jews, do maintain that this
new covenant consisted in the rearing of that temple which was built under
Zerubbabel after the emigration to Babylon, and in the departure of the
people from thence after the lapse of seventy years, let him know that the
temple constructed of stones was indeed then rebuilt (for as yet that law
was observed which had been made upon tables of stone), yet no new covenant
was given, but they used the Mosaic law until the coming of the Lord; but
from the Lord's advent, the new covenant which brings back peace, and the
law which gives life, has gone forth over the whole earth, as the prophets
said: "For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from
Jerusalem; and He shall rebuke many people; and they shall break down their
swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks, and they
shall no longer learn to fight." [549] If therefore another law and word,
going forth from Jerusalem, brought in such a [reign of] peace among the
Gentiles which received it (the word), and convinced, through them, many a
nation of its folly, then [only] it appears that the prophets spake of some
other person. But if the law of liberty, that is, the word of God, preached
by the apostles (who went forth from Jerusalem) throughout all the earth,
caused such a change in the state of things, that these [nations] did form
the swords and war-lances into ploughshares, and changed them into
pruning-hooks for reaping the corn, [that is], into instruments used for
peaceful purposes, and that they are now unaccustomed to fighting, but when
smitten, offer also the other cheek, [550] then the prophets have not spoken
these things of any other person, but of Him who effected them. This person
is our Lord, and in Him is that declaration borne out; since it is He
Himself who has made the plough, and introduced the pruning-hook, that is,
the first semination of man, which was the creation exhibited in Adam, [551]
and the gathering in of the produce in the last times by the Word; and, for
this reason, since He joined the beginning to the end, and is the Lord of
both, He has finally displayed the plough, in that the wood has been joined
on to the iron, and i has thus cleansed His land because the Word, having
been firmly united to flesh, and in its mechanism fixed with pins, [552] has
reclaimed the savage earth. In the beginning, He figured forth the
pruning-hook by means of Abel, pointing out that there should be a gathering
in of a righteous race of men. He says, "For behold how the just man
perishes, and no man considers it; and righteous men are taken away, and no
man layeth it to heart." [553] These things were acted beforehand in Abel,
were also previously declared by the prophets, but were accomplished in the
Lord's person; and the same [is still true] with regard to us, the body
following the example of the Head.
Tertullian, Of the Soldier's Crown, Chapter XI.
To begin with the real ground of the military crown, I think we must first
inquire whether warfare is proper at all for Christians. What sense is there
in discussing the merely accidental, when that on which it rests is to be
condemned? Do we believe it lawful for a human oath to be superadded to one
divine, for a man to come under promise to another master after Christ, and
to abjure father, mother, and all nearest kinsfolk, whom even the law has
commanded us to honor and love next to God Himself, to whom the gospel, too,
holding them only of less account than Christ, has in like manner rendered
honor? Shall it be held lawful to make an occupation of the sword, when the
Lord proclaims that he who uses the sword shall perish by the sword? And
shall the son of peace take part in the battle when it does not become him
even to sue at law? And shall he apply the chain, and the prison, and the
torture, and the punishment, who is not the avenger even of his own wrongs?
Shall he, forsooth, either keep watch-service for others more than for
Christ, or shall he do it on the Lord's day, when he does not even do it for
Christ Himself? And shall he keep guard before the temples which he has
renounced? And shall he take a meal where the apostle has forbidden him? And
shall he diligently protect by night those whom in the day-time he has put
to flight by his exorcisms, leaning and resting on the spear the while with
which Christ's side was pierced? Shall he carry a flag, too, hostile to
Christ? And shall he ask a watchword from the emperor who has already
received one from God? Shall he be disturbed in death by the trumpet of the
trumpeter, who expects to be aroused by the angel's trump? And shall the
Christian be burned according to camp rule, when he was not permitted to
burn incense to an idol, when to him Christ remitted the punishment of fire?
Then how many other offences there are involved in the performances of camp
offices, which we must hold to involve a transgression of God's law, you may
see by a slight survey. The very carrying of the name over from the camp of
light to the camp of darkness is a violation of it. Of course, if faith
comes later, and finds any preoccupied with military service, their case is
different, as in the instance of those whom John used to receive for
baptism, and of those most faithful centurions, I mean the centurion whom
Christ approves, and the centurion whom Peter instructs; yet, at the same
time, when a man has become a believer, and faith has been sealed, there
must be either an immediate abandonment of it, which has been the course
with many; or all sorts of quibbling will have to be resorted to in order to
avoid offending God, and that is not allowed even outside of military
service; or, last of all, for God the fate must be endured which a
citizen-faith has been no less ready to accept. Neither does military
service hold out escape from punishment of sins, or exemption from
martyrdom. Nowhere does the Christian change his character. There is one
gospel, and the same Jesus, who will one day deny everyone who denies, and
acknowledge everyone who acknowledges God,—who will save, too, the life
which has been lost for His sake; but, on the other hand, destroy that which
for gain has been saved to His dishonor. With Him the faithful citizen is a
soldier, just as the faithful soldier is a citizen. A state of faith admits
no plea of necessity; they are under no necessity to sin, whose one
necessity is, that they do not sin. For if one is pressed to the offering of
sacrifice and the sheer denial of Christ by the necessity of torture or of
punishment, yet discipline does not connive even at that necessity; because
there is a higher necessity to dread denying and to undergo martyrdom, than
to escape from suffering, and to render the homage required. In fact, an
excuse of this sort overturns the entire essence of our sacrament, removing
even the obstacle to voluntary sins; for it will be possible also to
maintain that inclination is a necessity, as involving in it, forsooth, a
sort of compulsion. I have, in fact, disposed of this very allegation of
necessity with reference to the pleas by which crowns connected with
official position are vindicated, in support of which it is in common use,
since for this very reason offices must be either refused, that we may not
fall into acts of sin, or martyrdoms endured that we may get quit of
offices. Touching this primary aspect of the question, as to the
unlawfulness even of a military life itself, I shall not add more, that the
secondary question may be restored to its place. Indeed, if, putting my
strength to the question, I banish from us the military life, I should now
to no purpose issue a challenge on the matter of the military crown.
Suppose, then, that the military service is lawful, as far as the plea for
the crown is concerned.
Origen, Against Celsus 5:33
The remarks which we have made not only answer the statements of Celsus
regarding the superintending spirits, but anticipate in some measure what he
afterwards brings forward, when he says: "Let the second party come forward;
and I shall ask them whence they come, and whom they regard as the
originator of their ancestral customs. They will reply, No one, because they
spring from the same source as the Jews themselves, and derive their
instruction and superintendence from no other quarter, and notwithstanding
they have revolted from the Jews." Each one of us, then, is come "in the
last days," when one Jesus has visited us, to the "visible mountain of the
Lord," the Word that is above every word, and to the "house of God," which
is "the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth." And
we notice how it is built upon "the tops of the mountains," i.e., the
predictions of all the prophets, which are its foundations. And this house
is exalted above the hills, i.e., those individuals among men who make a
profession of superior attainments in wisdom and truth; and all the nations
come to it, and the "many nations" go forth, and say to one another, turning
to the religion which in the last days has shone forth through Jesus Christ:
"Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the
God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in them."
For the law came forth from the dwellers in Sion, and settled among us as a
spiritual law. Moreover, the word of the Lord came forth from that very
Jerusalem, that it might be disseminated through all places, and might judge
in the midst of the heathen selecting those whom it sees to be submissive
and rejecting the disobedient, who are many in number. And to those who
inquire of us whence we come, or who is our founder, we reply that we are
come, agreeably to the counsels of Jesus, to "cut down our hostile and
insolent ‘wordy' swords into ploughshares, and to convert into pruning-hooks
the spears formerly employed in war." For we no longer take up "sword
against nation," nor do we "learn war any more," having become children of
peace, for the sake of Jesus, who is our leader, instead of those whom our
fathers followed, among whom we were "strangers to the covenant," and having
received a law, for which we give thanks to Him that rescued us from the
error (of our ways), saying, "Our fathers honored lying idols, and there is
not among them one that causeth it to rain." Our Superintendent, then, and
Teacher, having come forth from the Jews, regulates the whole world by the
word of His teaching. And having made these remarks by way of anticipation,
we have refuted as well as we could the untrue statements of Celsus, by
subjoining the appropriate answer.
28:29-31
Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. 2.22
Chapter XXII. Paul Having Been Sent Bound from Judea to Rome, Made His
Defense, and Was Acquitted of Every Charge.
1. FESTUS was sent by Nero to be Felix's successor. Under him Paul, having
made his defense, was sent bound to Rome Aristarchus was with him, whom he
also somewhere in his epistles quite naturally calls his fellow-prisoner.
And Luke, who wrote the Acts of the Apostles, brought his history to a close
at this point, after stating that Paul spent two whole years at Rome as a
prisoner at large, and preached the word of God without restraint.
2. Thus after he had made his defense it is said that the apostle was sent
again upon the ministry of preaching, and that upon coming to the same city
a second time he suffered martyrdom. In this imprisonment he wrote his
second epistle to Timothy, in which he mentions his first defense and his
impending death.
3. But hear his testimony on these matters: "At my first answer," he says,
"no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be
laid to their charge. Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and
strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all
the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion."
4. He plainly indicates in these words that on the former occasion, in order
that the preaching might be fulfilled by him, he was rescued from the mouth
of the lion, referring, in this expression, to Nero, as is probable on
account of the latter's cruelty. He did not therefore afterward add the
similar statement, "He will rescue me from the mouth of the lion"; for he
saw in the spirit that his end would not be long delayed.
5. Wherefore he adds to the words, "And he delivered me from the mouth of
the lion," this sentence: "The Lord shall deliver me from every evil work,
and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom," indicating his speedy
martyrdom; which he also foretells still more clearly in the same epistle,
when he writes, "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my
departure is at hand."
6. In his second epistle to Timothy, moreover, he indicates that Luke was
with him when he wrote, but at his first defense not even he. Whence it is
probable that Luke wrote the Acts of the Apostles at that time, continuing
his history down to the period when he was with Paul.
7. But these things have been adduced by us to show that Paul's martyrdom
did not take place at the time of that Roman sojourn which Luke records.
8. It is probable indeed that as Nero was more disposed to mildness in the
beginning, Paul's defense of his doctrine was more easily received; but that
when he had advanced to the commission of lawless deeds of daring, he made
the apostles as well as others the subjects of his attacks.
Quintilian 2.13.12-13
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