The School of the Apostles 263 



thousand souls&quot;; &quot;that a great company of 



priests&quot; the arch-enemies of Christ, &quot;were Acts vi:7 



obedient to the faith&quot;; that the &quot;multitude of&quot; 



Samaria, the hereditary foes of everything Jewish, Acts viii:6 



&quot;gave heed with one accord unto the things that 



were spoken by Philip&quot;; that the Ethiopian A cts vm:38 



Eunuch listened, believed, and was baptized; 



that companies of believers were gathered out, 



in Antioch, the moral sewer of the Roman Empire ; 



in Alexandria, the pride of Egypt; in Derbe, 



Lystra, Smyrna, Ephesus, cities of Asia Minor; 



in Phillippi, and other centres of Macedonia; in 



Corinth and other homes of Greek intellect and 



learning; in Rome, the imperial seat of the Caesar, 



the concourse and resort of all the &quot;rich fools&quot; Luke xii: 16-21 



who thought of nothing so much as the business 



of pulling down their barns in order that they 



might build greater, and of saying to their souls, 



&quot;Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many 



years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.&quot; 



Facts, great or small, require adequate ex 

 planations. What is the explanation for such a 

 series of similar facts, springing up in the midst 

 of such diverse and varied conditions ? 



Two explanations, only, are possible; the first T w Expian- 

 concerns a lie, the second concerns the truth. ations, only 



The first is the Apostles invented a lie, and 

 then proclaimed it with such assumed sincerity 

 that others believed it ; or that they fell victims to 

 a soul-possessing delusion, and the like results 

 followed. 



The second is that they believed a jaci, and 



