The Acts of the Apostles

INTRODUCTION xv
of the book, in that they cannot see the wood for
the trees. Direct touch with the recorded facts
—
this alone explains such a history as lies before us
in the " Acts of the Apostles." Even so the performance
is quite astounding. What religious movement
of that epoch, whether of ancient origin or
newly born, produced, or even aimed at producing,
anything similar ? Did the religion of Mithras or
of Magna Mater ? Had not the author approached
the task as—to a certain extent—a biographer of
St. Paul, qualified thereto by personal knowledge of
the apostle ; had he not possessed in this knowledge
a guiding principle of his work, how is it even con-
ceivable that he could have mastered, or even thought
of mastering, the enormous bulk of unwieldy, chaotic
material that lay before him ? Even so he was com-
pelled to bring to bear upon his task an unusual
measure of that glorious gift—the birthright of the
genuine Hellene—the sense for form and arrange-
ment, and the art of right selection.
But the second part of his intention is even more
astounding. The author, St. Luke, has actually appended
this history of his as a continuation to the
" Gospel-book " created by St. Mark and modified by
himself.^ He therewith elevated his subject to the
1 It follows from this—a thing, indeed, probable in itself—that
this kind of narrative of the history of our Lord was not yet
formally regarded as " sacred." If I am right, * St. Matthew,'*
who does not mention himself^ was the first to make the book of the
Gospel a hook of the Church, and accordingly quasi sacred. From,
St. Matthew this sacred character was imparted also to St. Mark and
St. Luke. "St. Matthew" by his first words, *' B//3\os yeviaeui
'Ii/croi; Xpurrov," has connected his work with the Old Testament,