The Acts of the Apostles

WRITl^EN OR ORAL SOURCES 239
cially where a sacred text was concerned) ; rather it was
thought that exegesis approached nearer to the truth,
and was the more edifying, the more things—often
quite heterogeneous—it read into the text and the
more it combined together things quite distinct from
one another.
Chapter ii. suffers much from obscm-ity. It is not at
all clear whether the event narrated took place on the
day of Pentecost or shortly beforehand, nor is it clear
where the scene of action is placed ; there is obscurity as
to the character of the miracle ; it is doubtful whether
the Spirit fell only upon the Apostles or upon all the
Christians ; it is not clear what became of the natives
of Jerusalem (only Jews of the Dispersion dwelling
in Jerusalem are spoken of; yet see verse 14); it is
not explained how the phenomenon could have been
brought to the notice of several thousand persons ; it
is not clear how St. Peter could speak of great cosmic
miracles, which certainly did not occur, nor are they
mentioned afterwards in the narrative—many other
things also are obscure. But to attempt to clear away
these obscurities by assuming a written source, contain-
ing none of these faults, which has been spoiled by the
correction of an editor—the editor is always a simpleton—
is a strange way out of the difficulty. It is ever
so much more natural to suppose that we have here
a worked-up narrative of a character that of itself
forbids close examination into the clearness and de-
finiteness of its details, because throughout one single
point is kept in view. The unprejudiced reader does
not notice these instances of obscurity—on the other
hand, the essential point of the narrative stands out