The Acts of the Apostles

MIRACLES AND WORKS OF THE SPIRIT 159
story of the last days of our Lord according to a
recension which, though originating in Jerusalem,
coincided in important points with the Johannine
type. It was not until afterwards that he accepted
the myth of the forty days and of the visible Ascen-
sion, and gave his vote for it in the Acts of the
Apostles. This myth belongs to the by no means
small number of those myths in which Israelitish and
Hellenic ideas encounter one another. Those who
suppose that the legend of the Ascension of our Lord
took form on the soil of Gentile Christianity and in
dependence upon the myths of the apotheosis of
heroes and emperors are certainly mistaken, and yet
it is no wonder that these legends when they reached
the genuine Hellene were especially welcome, and
therefore regarded as especially worthy of credence.
Now for the first time, according to his view of
things, the story of the Saviour of the World whose
birth had been celebrated by the angelic choirs had
received its appropriate finale ! Therewith all earlier,
more or less unsatisfying, " conclusions "" were set
aside.
It is true, therefore, that stories of miracles in the
first fifteen chapters of the Acts include, in the story
of the Ascension, a tertiary legend, indeed a myth,
although St. Luke was originally better informed and
also knew well what was written in the gospel of
St. Mark ; yet his reason for exchanging his better
knowledge for the worse admits of very easy explana-
tion. All the other stories of miracles occurring in
these chapters, including the story of Ananias and
Sapphira, can be ascribed to primary tradition, even