Acts 13:7

which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the Word of God.

Barnabas and Saul, being sent forth by the Holy Spirit, their visible separation had taken place before and in the name of the congregation, but they had been designated by a special revelation of the Spirit, and therefore the call proceeded from the Spirit and was merely transmitted through the congregation and its officers. With this certainty in mind, the missionaries of our days, having received the call of the Lord through the congregation or its representatives, may set out upon the work of their ministry just as cheerfully and confidently as the two men who left Antioch in Syria early in that eventful year of 46 A. D. Traveling first of all down to Seleucia, the port of Antioch, which was situated at the mouth of the Orontes, they embarked for the island of Cyprus. They crossed the arm of the Mediterranean Sea, a distance of some sixty miles, and landed at Salamis, a harbor on the southeastern coast. John Mark was with them as a servant, as a younger brother that might very well aid them in any clerical work, while having the benefit of their instruction. At Salamis the two missionaries made arrangements at once to proclaim the Word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. That was the rule which they observed: first the Jews, then the Greeks. In this way they journeyed slowly through the entire island, which at that time was thickly settled. It was a distance of some hundred miles to the western end of the island, to the capital, Paphos, where', there was a famous shrine devoted to the heathen goddess Venus, and where, therefore, idolatry was practiced to a frightful extent. Here resided the proconsul of the island, Sergius Paulus by name, a prudent man, clear-sighted, possessed of a good measure of common sense. Note: The reliability of Luke as a historian has been vindicated against foolish attacks in regard to this passage. Cyprus had anciently been governed by a propraetor, but in 22 B. C. it had been transferred by Augustus to the senate, and therefore proconsul is the correct title. A peculiar character was attached to the household of the proconsul in the person of one Barjesus, a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet, a kind of court-sage, magician, and confessor. People of his kind were found in many of the courts in those days and often wielded great influence over their masters. But Sergius Paulus was evidently tired of the spiritual food which this Jewish magician was able to dispense, and the oracles and auguries, after all, did not satisfy one that wanted a sound basis for belief. So he sent for Barnabas and Saul and earnestly desired to hear the Word of God. It is probable that he plied them with questions concerning the Word and their service in its interest, and while he was by no means predisposed to the acceptance of the Gospel, he by no means ridiculed its preaching before examining its claims. If the people of our day and age that claim for themselves both a thorough education and a fair degree of common sense and open-mindedness would but follow the example of the Cyprian proconsul and make a frank examination of the merits of the Gospel, the chances are that their natural prejudice would quickly be removed.

The Trustworthiness of Luke as a Historian

The Bible and its contents are not in need of vindication. To us Christians the Bible in all its parts is the inspired Word of God, whose foolishness is wiser than men. In taking this standpoint, we do not throttle reason, well knowing that the doctrines of Scriptures are not, strictly speaking, against human reason, but simply above and beyond reason. In studying the Bible, therefore, we make use of our reason in a very decided fashion, but always so that we take it captive under the obedience of Christ. For this reason, also, we welcome all research in history and archeology which will throw additional light on Bible lands, Bible customs, Bible language, and all other questions pertaining to a better understanding of the Word of salvation. For this reason we feel a great deal of satisfaction in the fact that the trustworthiness of Luke as a historian, aside from the fact of inspiration, has been established most gloriously by recent investigations.

A number of years or decades ago, especially at the time when the rationalistic theological literature had reached the crest of its flood and its criticism was accepted by a large part of Christendom without question, there were several charges registered against Luke as a historian. It was stated that there were several mistakes in his account of the nativity of our Lord. It was said that Cyprus, in the days of the Apostle Paul, had been a praetorian, not a consular, province, and that therefore Sergius Paulus was incorrectly called proconsul. It was alleged that Luke's geographical knowledge of Asia Minor must have been extremely hazy, to express it mildly, that he did not know into which province the various cities belonged, and that therefore his geographical notes were altogether unreliable. It was charged that his calling the city of Philippi a colony was an obvious mistake.

But in each single point the holy writer has been vindicated so completely that the opponents are forced to retire in utter dishonor. This is due to the untiring zeal and to the indefatigable exertions of a number of scholars, among whom were Duchesne and Collignon, Hamilton, Waddington, but, above all, Sterret in his book Epigraphical Journey in Asia Minor in 188 4, and Sir W. M. Ramsay, in his series of monographs, among which the Historical Geography of Asia Minor, St. Paul the Traveler and Roman Citizen, Pauline and Other Studies, Was Christ Born in Bethlehem, The Cities of St. Pau l, and The Bearing of Recent Research on the Trustworthiness of the New Testament should receive mention. The results of these researches have been ably summarized by Cobem, in his The New Archeological Discoveries

The fact that Sergius Paulus was, not propraetor, but proconsul of Cyprus, has been shown both directly and indirectly, as noted above. The fact that Paul had entered into the district of Lycaonia in going to Iconium, and that this city was incidentally, administratively considered, reckoned with the cities of South Galatia, has received confirmation which takes away all reasonable doubt. The fact that Philippi was a colony in the time of St. Paul has been demonstrated by the finding of a coin which stated this fact, in short, the very stones are crying out in vindication of the Scriptural account and of the truth of the Gospel-story, as any one may convince himself if he will go to the delightful trouble of consulting the books mentioned above. And each new discovery, bringing further witness of the truth of the Bible account, aids in stopping the mouths of the gainsayers, if not in convincing them of the truth of Scriptures, and thus the glory of the exalted Christ is further increased.