78 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



volume lie discusses fully the nature and value of the narrative 

 contained in the Acts of the Apostles, and he pronounces the fol- 

 lowing decided opinions as to the authorship of that book, and its 

 connection with the Gospel of St. Luke (page x sq.) : 



One point which is beyond question is that the Acts are by the same author as 

 the third Gospel, and are a continuation of that Gospel. One need not stop to 

 prove this proposition, which has never been seriously contested. The prefaces at 

 the commencement of each work, the dedication of each to Theophilus, the perfect 

 resemblance of style and of ideas, furnish on this point abundant demonstrations. 



A second proposition, which has not the same certainty, but which may, how- 

 ever, be regarded as extremely probable, is that the author of the Acts is a disciple 

 of Paul, who accompanied him for a considerable part of his travels. 



At a first glance, M. Renan observes, this proposition appears 

 indubitable, from the fact that the author, on so many occasions, 

 uses the pronoun " we," indicating that on those occasions he was 

 one of the apostolic band by whom St. Paul was accompanied. 

 "One may even be astonished that a proposition apparently so 

 evident should have found persons to contest it." He notices, 

 however, the difficulties which have been raised on the point, and 

 then proceeds as follows (page 14) : 



Must we be checked by these objections ? I think not ; and I persist in be- 

 lieving that the person who finally prepared the Acts is really the disciple of Paul, 

 who says " we " in the last chapters. All difficulties, however insoluble they may 

 appear, ought to be, if not dismissed, at least held in suspense, by an argument so 

 decisive as that which results from the use of this word " we." 



He then observes that MSS. and tradition combine in assigning 

 the third Gospel to a certain Luke, and that it is scarcely conceiv- 

 able that a name in other respects obscure should have been 

 attributed to so important a work for any other reason than that 

 it was the name of the real author. Luke, he says, had no place 

 in tradition, in legend, or in history, when these two treatises were 

 ascribed to him. M. Renan concludes in the following words: 

 " We think, therefore, that the author of the third Gospel and of 

 the Acts is in all reality Luke, the disciple of Paul." 



Now let the import of these expressions of opinion be duly 

 weighed. Of course, M. Renan's judgments are not to be regarded 

 as affording in themselves any adequate basis for our acceptance 

 of the authenticity of the chief books of the New Testament. The 

 Acts of the Apostles and the four Gospels bear on their face cer- 

 tain positive claims, on the faith of which they have been accepted 

 in all ages of the Church ; and they do not rest, in the first in- 

 stance, on the authority of any modern critic. But though M. 

 Renan would be a very unsatisfactory witness to rely upon for 

 the purpose of positive testimony to the Gospels, his estimates of 

 the value of modern critical objections to those sacred books have 



