What means did they use? They may have

? healed in more than one manner; but only one is mentioned. St. Mark tells us that they used Unction — "they anointed with oil many that were

— sick, and healed them."

One other instance of a healing commission is to be found in the New Testament, that, namely, in the Appendix to St. Mark, which we have as Mk. 16 9-20. It is almost certainly not the original ending to the Gospel, which may have been lost through the destruction of the last leaf of the MS.; but it is of early date. Possibly it was added by a disciple or successor of St. Mark; in any case it is considered by scholars to embody a true apostolic tradition. It, therefore, very probably preserves a genuine saying of Christ, a saying indeed the general drift of which could hardly have been invented; 2 and if this be denied, then at least it is extremely valuable as illustrating the opinion of the Church in the second century —

44A Mk. 16 17 “And these signs shall follow them that

believe: in my name shall they cast out dæmons; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall in no wise hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the ing the word by the signs that followed.”

Thus, at the time when this Appendix was written, it was believed that the grace of Christian faith could confer immunity from poison; and the method of healing the sick, which tradition then seemed to contemplate, was the laying on of hands.

CHAPTER XIX

THE RECORD OF THE ACTS

List of the Miracles: The Persons who Healed;

Faith in the Name; Methods Employed

We are now ready to pass to a consideration of the miracles recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, They all concern us here, since all, as has been already said, are the works upon the body, and none are cosmic in character.

LIST OF MIRACLES IN THE ACTS OF THE

APOSTLES.

45

43 2

46

47

5 12

48 49

THE APOSTLES: “Many wonders and signs

were done by the apostles.” 2
32 PETER AND JOHN: The Lame Man at the

Gate Beautiful.
THE APOSTLES: “By the hands of the Apos-

tles were many signs and wonders wrought

among the people.' 5 15 PETER: A Multitude. The shadow of Peter.

STEPHEN, full of grace and power, wrought

great wonders and signs.” 2 87 PHILIP in Samaria. Many with unclean spir

its, and many that were palsied and lame. Philip: Simon Magus PHILIP:

continued with Philip, and beholding signs and great powers wrought, he was amazed.”

68

50

51

8 13

17

91

32 9

37

19

12

52 ANANIAS restores his sight to Saul. 53

PETER heals Æneas of palsy. 54 9 PETER raises Dorcas. 55 1434 PAUL AND BARNABAS at Iconium: Granting

signs and wonders to be done by their

hands." 56 148 Paul: The Cripple at Lystra. 57 14 PAUL recovers from Stoning. 58 15 PAUL AND BARNABAS rehearse the “signs and

wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them.” Nos. 55 and 56 are instances

of them at two of the cities in their journeys. Paul: Exorcism of the Maid with a Spirit of

Divination. 60 19 11 PAUL: "Special powers by the hands of Paul

handkerchiefs or aprons.” Failure of the Jewish exorcists.

PAUL: Restoration of Eutychus. 62 28 3 Paul and the Viper.

Paul heals Publius of fever and dysentery. 64 28 9 Paul: “ The rest also which had diseases in

the Island came, and were cured."

59 16 18

13

60A 19 61 20

9

63 28 8

Two cases, not of healing, which yet illustrate the influence of spirit on body, are omitted from this list. One is that of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts

. 5 1-11), as to which even extreme negative critics like Baur and Weizsäcker admit that a genuine tradition underlies the narrative. The other is that of Elymas, the Sorcerer (Acts 1311), on whom blindness fell at the word of St. Paul, though indeed here there was the element of recovery, since it was only " for a season.” To these two the death of Herod (Acts 1223) should perhaps be added. On the other hand I have included the incident of St. Paul and the Viper (No. 62), unlike all the other instances though it be, because the writer evidently regards it as remarkable that Paul suffered no harm from the serpent's fangs: we may, I think, safely attribute the Apostle's immunity to what we should nowadays call the self-suggestion of one who was full of the grace of God. I have also included as a work of healing the recovery of St. Paul from Stoning (No. 57); whether the writer means to imply that the disciples who came and stood round about him were agents in his recovery must be doubtful, but the incident can hardly be other than miraculous as it is related. One instance of failure (No. 60A) will be noticed: this incident of the strolling Jewish exorcists who tried to use the name of Jesus may be classed with Nos. 17A and 42A in the Evangelical narrative.

The Persons who Healed

1

Here then we have twenty instances, of which no less than half refer to multitudes; or, if we add the cases from the Gospels mentioned in the last chapter (including the Appendix to St. Mark), we have a total of twenty-four instances of healing effected by the followers of Christ, of which thirteen refer to multitudes. In the Gospels we had one instance of healing by a non-disciple, one by the Apostles, one by the Seventy Disciples, and the instance of the Apostles after the Resurrection in the Marcan Appendix. In the Acts, two instances are referred to the Apostles in general, one to Peter and John,4 three to Peter, one to Stephen, two to Philip, one to Ananias, two to Paul and

2

6

7

8