The Acts of the Apostles

INTRODUCTION xxxi
of the work shows that it was addressed to a man
who was an instructed Christian, and there are no
indications that St. Luke had heathen readers in
his mind as he wrote. We need not assume that
he excluded these, but they were not distinctly in his
view. If in spite of this he has laid so much stress
upon showing that the Gospel was proclaimed before
magistrates, proconsuls, and kings, and that these
adopted towards it on the whole a not unfriendly
attitude, this fact does not necessarily imply some
political tendency of a special character on the part
of the author. With every new religious movement
the attitude of the public very quickly becomes a
question of the deepest interest, and the public is in
the first line represented by the authorities. In this
case, moreover, the interest must have been deepened
by the contrast between the behaviour of the Roman
authorities and those of the Jews. What St. Luke
tells us in this connection simply answered to the
facts ; and if, beginning with Pilate, he regards
hostile behaviour on the part of the Roman autho-
rities as far more pardonable than similar behaviour
on the part of the Jewish authorities, surely no
Christian could judge otherwise. Besides he is as
far from suppressing instances of unfriendliness and
hostility on the part of the Roman and civic police
authorities as he is, on the other hand, from keeping
silence concerning friendly behaviour on the part of
the Jews (vide supra).
Whilst the first half of the first part of the Acts
(chaps, i.—V.) captivates the reader with its record of
the mighty deeds and the great sermons by which