Weymouth New Testament in Modern Speech: Preface and Introductions | Page 6

close association with the great Apostle--an association to which the record in the Acts and also the Pauline Letters bear testimony--at once warrants and explains the ancient assumption that we have here a writing as truly coloured by the influence of Paul as that of Mark was by Peter. This is especially the Gospel of gratuitous and universal salvation. Its integrity has recently been placed beyond dispute. Marcion's edition of it in 140, A.D., was a mutilation of the original!
The Good News as Recorded by John
In spite of its rejection by Marcion and the Alogi, the fourth Gospel was accepted by most Christians at the end of the second century as having been written by the Apostle John. In the present day the preponderating tendency among scholars favours the traditional authorship. On the other hand the most recent scrutiny asserts: "Although many critics see no adequate reason for accepting the tradition which assigns the book to the Apostle John, and there are several cogent reasons to the contrary, they would hardly deny that nevertheless the volume is Johannine--in the sense that any historical element throughout its pages may be traced back directly or indirectly to that Apostle and his school."
As regards the date, no more definite period can be indicated than that suggested by Harnack--between 80, A.D., and 110, A.D. But that it was written in Ephesus is practically certain, and there is evidence that it was composed at the request of Elders and believers belonging to the Churches of Roman Asia.
The special characteristics which render the book unique in literature are unmistakable, but scarcely admit of brief expression. It is manifestly supplementary to the other Gospels and assumes that they are known and are true. The differences between the fourth Gospel and the other three may be easily exaggerated, but it must be acknowledged that they exist. They relate, (1) to the ministry of Christ, and (2) to His person. As to the former it is impossible to correlate all the references to distinct events, for whilst the Synoptics appear to contemplate little more than the life and work of a single year, from John's standpoint there can scarcely have been less than three years concerned. As to the person of Christ, it must be owned that although the fourth Gospel makes no assertion which contradicts the character of Teacher and Reformer attributed to Him by the Synoptics, it presents to us a personage so enwrapped in mystery and dignity as altogether to transcend ordinary human nature. This transcendent Personality is indeed the avowed centre of the whole record, and His portrayal is its avowed purpose. Yet whilst the writer never clearly reveals to us who he himself is, it is equally manifest that his own convictions constitute the matrix in which the discourses and events are imbedded, and that there is nothing in this matrix to render that which it contains unreal or untrustworthy.
The Acts of the Apostles
The authorship of this book has been much discussed, but it may now be affirmed with certainty that the writer of our third Gospel is also the author of "the Acts," and that he speaks from the standpoint of an eye-witness in the four we sections (16:10-17; 20:5-15; 21:1-18; 27:1--28:16), and is known in Paul's Letters as "Luke the beloved physician" (Col 4:14; 2Ti 4:11; Phm 1:24). The date necessarily depends upon that of the third Gospel. If the latter was written before the destruction of Jerusalem, then Luke's second work may well have been issued between 66 and 70, A.D. But the tendency, in the present day, is to date the Gospel somewhere between 75 and 85, A.D., after the destruction of the city. In that case "the Acts" may be assigned to any period between 80 and 90, A.D. The latter conclusion, though by no means certain, is perhaps the more probable.
The familiar title of the book is somewhat unfortunate, for it is manifestly not the intention of the writer to describe the doings of the Apostles generally, but rather just so much of the labours of Peter and Paul--and especially the latter--as will serve to illustrate the growth of the early Church, and at the same time exhibit the emancipation of Christianity from its primitive Judaic origin and environment.
It is plain that the writer was contemporary with the events he describes, and although his perfect ingenuousness ceaselessly connects his narrative with history, in no case has he been proved to be in error. The intricacy of the connexions between this record and the Pauline Letters will be best estimated from a study of Paley's Horae Paulinae. We know nothing definite as to the place where the Acts was written, nor the sources whence the information for the earlier portion of the narrative was obtained. But it may be