• Trustworthiness of the New Testament

I recently finished reading:

The Bearing of Recent Discovery on the Trustworthiness of the New Testament, by William Mitchel Ramsay, 1914 ^<1>

Why read a book about archeology published so long ago? Many discoveries have been made in the century or so since it was published. This book, though old, illuminates a pivotal time in Biblical archeology from the perspective of Sir Ramsay, who personally made discoveries that changed minds.

Sir Ramsay, aware of the controversies, thought it important to reveal some of his personal history:

We must therefore frankly acknowledge that a thoroughly scientific character cannot be given to the present or to any similar argument regarding historical trustworthiness [of the New Testament]; the same reasoning which convinces one, will fail to convince another ... it seems then necessary to premise a statement regarding his [Ramsay's] bent and attitude of mind, so that readers may be in a position to judge what allowance to make for his prejudices and proclivities and personal bias.

[Ram1914]The Bearing of Recent Discovery on the Trustworthiness of the New Testament by W. M. Ramsay, 1914 publisher: ForgottenBooks.com pages 4 and 5

He devotes chapter 2 (24 pages) to relating his story. Besides giving his personal background, he also showed what it was like to live in England at that time, particularly for university students.

Sir Ramsay gives a short account of what he was taught and believed at the time, about the Book of Acts:

I ... dutifully accepted the current opinion that it [Acts] was written during the second half of the second century [AD 150 to 200] by an author who wished to influence the minds of people in his own time by a highly wrought and imaginative description of the early Church ... He wrote for his contemporaries, not for truth. He cared naught for geographical or historical surroundings ...

Such was the commonly accepted view in the critical school about 1870 to 1880, when I had been studying modern opinions. It is now utterly antiquated.

[Ram1914]The Bearing of Recent Discovery on the Trustworthiness of the New Testament by W. M. Ramsay, 1914 publisher: ForgottenBooks.com pages 37 to 38

Accuracy of Acts and Luke

The first geographical detail he addresses is:

At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed ... There was a plot afoot among both Gentiles and Jews, together with their leaders, to mistreat them and stone them.  But they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding country,  where they continued to preach the gospel.

Acts 14:1-7, [NIV]HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® by Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved., Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society publisher: International Bible Society

Why is this controversial? It seems like a detail that hardly matters. However, it is part of what made people think Acts was written much later than the events it records. Everyone knew that Iconium was a city in Lycaonia, the same as Lystra and Derbe, so the author of Acts made a mistake and did not care. As Ramsay says:

Suppose a tramp came to ask help and told a pitiable story of his sufferings at the hands of an infuriated crowd of rioters in Chicago, and said that he had barely succeeded in boarding a freight-train and getting away into the state of Illinois, you would feel at once that he as inventing a story ...

Page 40 of [Ram1914]The Bearing of Recent Discovery on the Trustworthiness of the New Testament by W. M. Ramsay, 1914 publisher: ForgottenBooks.com

Sir Ramsay details the "new" evidence of the actual conditions at the time of Acts in chapter four. Iconium was a city of Phyrgia, with its own distinct language and political administration, while Lystra and Derbe were in Lyconia with their own distinct language and customs. Documents were found locating Iconium inside Phyrgia in 394 BC (by Xenophon); in AD 163 by the testimony of Hierax, a slave, during a trial; and by a council of bishops in AD 232 held in Iconium.

This and other incidental details in Acts that refer to geographical and political conditions at the time have all been confirmed. Later Ramsay turns to the Gospel according to Luke:

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.  (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.)  And everyone went to their own town to register.  So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.  He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 

Luke 2:1-5, [NIV]HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® by Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved., Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society publisher: International Bible Society

When Sir Ramsay began his work in the field and researched ancient documents, this passage was rejected as fiction, made up to add color to an impossible story. Sir Ramsay, and others, found documentation and archaeological evidence that this census was a regular occurrence; that it occurred exactly as described by Luke; and that Quirinius really was governor. It provides a good dating of the birth of Jesus, just as Luke intended.

Magic in the Ancient World

In chapters eight through eleven Sir Ramsay explains the importance of magic:

A marked and interesting fact in the society of that period was the influence of magicians and soothsayers. They were extraordinarily numerous. It may be confidently said that in the Greaco-Roman world there were few cities, if any, even of moderate size that did not possess several of them ...

People disliked the practisers of magical arts, not because they were mere impostors whose claims were false, but because they really possessed powers which they misused for evil purposes. They were hated because they were feared.

Page 106 of [Ram1914]The Bearing of Recent Discovery on the Trustworthiness of the New Testament by W. M. Ramsay, 1914 publisher: ForgottenBooks.com

Among the Jews, the teachings of Paul and the other apostles were understood in terms of prophetic messages, for example from the book of Isaiah. That is the proper background for the Christian good news. In all other cultures the activity of the apostles was misunderstood and thought to be powerful magic.

The first of several conflicts between the apostles and magicians recorded in Acts is with a man named Simon:

Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great,  and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, "This man is rightly called the Great Power of God."  They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. 

Acts 8:9-11, [NIV]HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® by Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved., Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society publisher: International Bible Society

What does "the Great Power of God" mean? It was a technical term for magic. The people, and Simon himself, were saying he was a manifestation of the divine power in human form. When Simon saw the power of Peter and John to heal people and to give them the gift of the holy spirit, he thought they were magicians far superior to himself. He tried to pay them to teach him their magical arts. This explains the harsh rebuke Peter gave him:

When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money  and said, "Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit."  Peter answered: "May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!  You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God.  Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart.  For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin."

Acts 8:18-23, [NIV]HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® by Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved., Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society publisher: International Bible Society

When the apostles healed people, they emphasized the healing was not done by them, but by God and by the faith of the healed person. They were explicitly stating that they are not magicians. They were not using secret spells or enchantments to manipulate God or people.

Summary

In this book, Sir Ramsay includes images of engraved monuments, grave stones, and mile markers he and his wife discovered while searching the paths Paul and Luke traveled. These preserve information about rulers and common people that feature in the book of Acts.

Many of his insights, such as the importance of magic in the ancient world and how it affected the spread of Christianity, were new to me. Reading this book requires patience and close attention. It was worth the effort for me. Maybe it will be for you also.