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The Apostle of the Reconciliation - Charles H. Welch
Index - Page 18 of 159
THE APOSTLE OF THE RECONCILIATION
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two years and three or four months. Among the items that influence a conclusion must be the character of the
district, the climate, and their effect upon travelling.
The hill country lying between Perga and Antioch in Pisidia, would not usually be crossed between December
and March. If we therefore imagine that Paul's itinerary would be arranged to suit the natural condition of the
country, the following seems to be a possible time-table. It is the one suggested by C.H. Turner as above.
Paul arrived at Cyprus in April, then went through the isle (13:6), and left Paphos in July, reaching Antioch in
Pisidia in August. Shaking off the dust of his feet against Antioch, Paul reached Iconium in November. Here the
disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost; and here also we read that Paul and Barnabas abode `a long
time'. As it was nearing winter when they arrived, the probability is that they remained there until the Passover. By
April, therefore, they would have arrived at Lystra and Derbe, and the region round about (14:6,7). They would
have begun the return journey about the beginning of July, reaching Pamphylia by October, and getting back to
Antioch and Syria by November. We shall therefore be fairly safe to assign the years A.D. 45-48 for this first
missionary journey.
Enough has been said to indicate the general chronology of the book. Perhaps the most important question of all,
viz., the chronological order of the epistles, must remain over until the subject of the churches of Galatia has been
dealt with. Until recently we thought that 1 Thessalonians was the first Pauline epistle. Recent archaeological
research has illuminated more than one obscure passage, and it will be necessary to consider the findings of the
archaeologist before we can arrive at any conclusion regarding the chronology of the epistles.
CHAPTER 3
Sorting out Material
Some writers have remarked upon the apparent lack of design or plan in the Acts, but such writers can be
dismissed as superficial students. The Acts has a literary structure comparable with any of the Epistles; an evident
plan exists, and a most effective method of carrying that plan through is adopted.
Luke himself appears to have divided the Acts up into eight sections, each section being marked by a step
forward from Jerusalem to Rome. This division of the subject must claim our attention before any other, and to this
we now address ourselves.
If we analyse this division, we shall find it suggests the two-fold theme of Acts, viz., the comparison of Peter's
ministry with that of Paul's (to be considered later), and the steady trend of the book Gentileward. The three
outstanding geographical points are:
JERUSALEM ... ANTIOCH ... ROME.
These are associated, in the narrative, with
JEWS ... JEWS AND GREEKS ... GENTILES.
Peter's ministry really ceases at the conversion of Cornelius. He comes into the story for a little longer, but adds
nothing more to the development of the theme. The Acts of the Apostles, we shall presently seek to show, is not
even the Acts of Peter and Paul. It is the Acts of Paul; and Peter is brought in for a specific purpose. Of this, more
in its place. Summarizing, therefore, the above eight-fold division we find :
a Jerusalem. The Twelve equipped.
A Peter
b Jerusalem. Dispensational Miracle.
and
Associates.
The Hellenists.
c Samaria. Samaritans and Ethiopian.
d Caesarea. Cornelius. `The word which