New Testament

Commentary on Revelation by William Henry Simcox

Commentary on Revelation by William Henry Simcox 1The Reverend William Henry Simcox was the Rector of Harlaxton in Lincolnshire. This is his contribution to the Cambridge Bible for Schools series on the Book of Revelation.

My thanks to Book Aid for providing a copy of this public domain title for digitisation.

William Henry Simcox [1843-1889], The Revelation of S. John the Divine with Notes and Introduction, 2nd edn. The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1910. Hbk. pp.176. [Click to visit the download page]

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Text and Notes
  3. Appendices

Introduction: Authorship and Canonicity

In the case of some of the books of Scripture, the questions of their authorship and of their canonical authority are quite independent of one another. Many books are anonymous, many have their authors known only by a post-canonical tradition; and the rejection, in any case where it may be called for, of this tradition need not and ought not to involve a denial of the divine authority of the book. Even in cases where the supposed author is named or unmistakeably indicated in the book itself, it does not always follow that the book must either be written by him, or can owe none of its inspiration to the Spirit of truth: the person of the professed author may be assumed dramatically without any mala fides. On the other hand, there are books which plainly exclude any such hypothesis, and must either be forgeries, more or less excusable but hardly consistent with divine direction, or else must be accepted as genuine and inspired works of their professed authors.

Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles in 2 Volumes – Thomas M. Lindsay

Thomas M. Lindsay [1802-1866], The Acts of the Apostles with Introduction, Notes and Maps, Volume 1This is Thomas Martin Lindsay’s 2 Volume commentary on Acts. Lindsay is best known for his writings on the Reformation (see here and here for some examples).

My thanks to Book Aid for making these public domain works available for digitisation.

Thomas M. Lindsay [1802-1866], The Acts of the Apostles with Introduction, Notes and Maps, Volume 1. Chapters I-XII. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, [1884]. Hbk. pp.143. [Click here to visit the download page]

Thomas M. Lindsay [1802-1866], The Acts of the Apostles with Introduction, Notes and Maps, Volume 2. Chapters XIII-XXVIII. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, [1884]. Hbk. pp.165. [Click here to visit the download page]

Introduction

In the more important MSS. of the New Testament, the title ls not ” The Acts of the Apostles,” but “Acts of Apostles,” and in one very important MS., the Sinaitic, the book is called simply “Acts.” These titles describe the book much better; it does not contain all the acts, nor even the principal acts of all the Apostles, but only a few selected deeds of some of the Apostles. It is a record of Apostolic Acts, not of the Acts of the Twelve Apostles. In this respect, the book may be fitly compared to the Gospels. They are not, nor do they pretend to be, a complete record of that Life of untiring activity which found “no leisure so much as to eat” (Mark vi. 31). They were written that the readers “might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God….

Commentary on Hebrews by F.W. Farrar

Frederic William Farrar [1831-1903], The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the HebrewsF.W. Farrar, latterly Dean of Canterbury Cathedral, is probably best known of his Life of Christ (1874). The title is somewhat misleading, being taken from title given to the letter by the KJV and Revised Version. In fact, Farrar argues at length that Apollos, rather than Paul, is the best known authorial candidate (see extract below).

My thanks to Book Aid for providing a copy of this public domain title for digitisation.

Frederic William Farrar [1831-1903], The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews. The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1902. Hbk. pp.196. [Click to visit the download page]

Table of Contents

I. Introduction.

  1. Character, Analysis, and Object of the Epistle to the Hebrews
  2. Where was the Epistle written? and to whom?
  3. The Date
  4. Style and Character of the Epistle
  5. Theology of the Epistle
  6. The Author of the Epistle
  7. Canonicity

II. Text and Notes

III. Index

Introduction, pp.48-49.

Apollos meets every one of the necessary requirements. (1) He was a Jew. (2) He was a Hellenist. (3) He was an Alexandrian. (4) He was famed for his eloquence and his powerful method of applying Scripture. (5) He was a friend of Timotheus (6) He had ·acquired considerable authority in various Churches. (7) He had been taught b· an Apostle. (8) He was of the School of St Paul; yet (9) he adopted an independent line of his own (1 Cor. iii. 6). (10) We have no trace that he was ever at Jerusalem; and yet, we may add to the above considerations, that his style of argument-like that of the writer of this Epistle was specially effective as addressed to Jewish hearers. The writer’s boldness of tone (Acts xviii. 26) and his modest self-suppression (1 Cor. xvi. 12) also point to Apollos. The various allusions to Apollos are found in Acts xviii. 24-28; 1 Cor. iii. 4-6, xvi. 12; Tit. iii. 13; and in every single particular they agree with such remarkable cogency in indicating to us a Christian whose powers, whose training, whose character, and whose entire circumstances would have marked him out as a man likely to have written such a treatise as the one before us, that we may safely arrive at the conclusion either that AP0LLOS wrote the Epistle or that it is the work of some author who is to us entirely unknown.