'PREACH' occurs more frequently in the eighth chapter than in any other chapter of the Acts of the apostles. I have found it only three times in the first seven chapters; and of the thirty-eight occurrences in the twenty-eight chapters seven are in the eighth. It may, therefore be appropriate to note a few things respecting preaching before we proceed to the consideration of the conversions recorded in Acts 9. Preaching occupies such a prominent place in connection with conversion that it will not be unsuitable to devote this chapter to it.

appear numerous and varied. Occasionally it is affirmed that there was preaching, without any mention being made of what was preached, as in chapter 8:40; but generally the theme of preaching is named. Here is a list of the subjects of preaching in the Acts of the Apostles.

1. The gospel, evangel, good news, or joy-producing tidings (chap. 8:25; 14:7,21; 16:10). 'Gospel' does not tell the subject-matter of the good message; it only declares that the nature of the message is such as to cause gladness, joy.

2. The kingdom of God (20:25; 28:31). It is God's reign or government of the sons of men.

3. The things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ - those matters which pertain to the divine government as conducted by Jesus Christ (8:12; 28:31).

4. Jesus (8:35; 17:3; 19:13). The word means Saviour. It was given to the Son of God because of His mission being to save men from the practice of sin (Matt. 1:21; Acts 3:26).

5. Christ (8:5). 'Messiah,' 'Christ,' and 'anointed' are one. They are from three different languages, but have one meaning. Philip preached the Christ - the specially anointed One. He was preached as the Son of God (9:20).

6. Jesus Christ (3:20; 5:42). The apostles preached that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ, the promised Messiah, the anointed Saviour.

7. Lord Jesus (11:20). Lord implies authority, rule sovereignty. Jesus is the theme of the gospel and the God-appointed King in the kingdom.

8. The resurrection (4:2). It is the still future raising of mankind from the grave. It is predicted to take place through Jesus.

9. Jesus and the resurrection (17:18). The theme was Jesus having been raised from the dead, and the general resurrection through Him.

10. Forgiveness (13:38). It is the pardon of all the black past, and this complete absolution is "through this man," Christ Jesus.

11. Peace (10:36). There is quietness, tranquillity, harmony, the opposite of war and turmoil, sent from God through Jesus Christ. It is a development of the good news of peace on earth proclaimed at the Saviour's birth.

12. The word (8:4; 11:19; 14:25; 16:6). It will be observed by the attentive reader that "the gospel" and "the word" are the phrases most frequently employed to describe the subject of preaching; and yet these two phrases only occur four times each. The two following have the added words "of God" and "of the Lord."

13. The word of God (13:5; 17:13).

14. The word of the Lord (8:25; 15:35,36). "The doctrine of the Lord" seems another title for the word of the Lord (13:12). It is the teaching given by the Lord, or the teaching respecting Him. "The faith" of chap. 13:8 is another description of the same thing. Faith is here applied to the evidence upon which faith rests - the things believed, as in Jude 3.

15. To turn (14:15). The evangelistic message of Paul and Barnabas was, that the idolaters turn from their degrading worship to the worship of the living Creator. But it may be that what was spoken about was not alone or chiefly the turning, but good news designed to result in their turning. See Revised Version.

16. Baptism (10:37; 13:24). It is the baptism taught and practised by John in both passages, explained in one of them as the baptism of repentance.

17. Moses (15:21). The verse seems to assert that Moses was preached by being read.

In the phraseology of these subjects there is marked variety, but it is a diversity amid unity. The two last subjects may be eliminated as having no direct bearing on the subject of preaching under the commission for all nations. The reading of Moses and the baptism of John were alike designed for the Jews, and were prior to the founding of Christianity. The other fifteen subjects belong to Christianity. A brief glance at these will satisfy the reader that they all have more or less reference to Jesus. In several of them he is distinctly named, and not one of them could be properly spoken upon without speaking of Him. The gospel, as it comes before us in our present study, is good tidings respecting Christ. In the kingdom of God the Lord Jesus Christ has all authority. Forgiveness, peace, and the resurrection are through Him. The word of God in the New Testament is concerning Him. And it is under His instruction and rule that men are enabled to turn from vanities to God. In the preceding list we have different phases of the one large many-sided theme - the Lord Jesus Christ: His salvation and kingship. The theme of apostolic preaching was one, but it included so much that in one book of the New Testament there are at least fifteen titles to it.

The reader should observe the limits within which the preceding list of subjects is contained. It is derived exclusively from the Acts of the Apostles, and only those passages in Acts which contain 'preach' have been included. Other subjects, or phases of the same subject, or titles, are found with other words denoting speaking. The following are named as examples:- "The wonderful works of God" (chap. 2:11); "The words of this life" (5:20); "The way of salvation" (16:25). It will be a useful exercise to the reader to make a more complete list for himself.

The foregoing table of subjects, and the remarks thereon, are based upon the Authorised Version. The revisers have made some alterations. In seventeen instances they have replaced 'preach' by other words. They have substituted 'proclaim' in eight of these cases, 'speak' in five, 'discourse' in two, and 'bring good tidings' in one. In the remaining instance they adopted a different reading in Greek. The reason of the less frequent use of 'preach' is a commendable attempt on the part of the revisers to distinguish between

Seven Greek words had been occasionally translated by one word - 'preach.' Preachers, so called, are prone, perhaps pardonably, to talk about preaching. But in the translation of God's word there ought not to have been such a preference for one word as to make it a representative of seven from another language. These words have mostly an easily distinguished meaning.

Dialegomai, the word employed in Acts 20:7,9 means to discourse, reason, argue, dispute. It is the word from which we obtain 'dialogue.' In chap. 17:17; 19:8,9; 24:12, 'dispute' represents the same word. We cannot think of disputing as ever confined to one person. There was exchange of thought between different parties. "Disputing with any man," in the last passage named, seems clearly to imply that more than one would take part in the reasoning spoken of. To 'reason' is the best rendering generally, but 'dispute' is a necessary rendering occasionally (Mark 9:34; Jude 9). On that memorable night of dialoguing in Troas, while Paul was the chief speaker, it does not necessarily follow that he was the only speaker. It is much more natural to think of many questions being raised by the brethren, upon which Paul gave needful information. At any rate, 'preach' is an inappropriate translation.

Laleo simply means to speak. Out of sixty-two occurrences of this word in the Acts of the Apostles, forty-seven are translated 'speak,' ten to 'tell,' 'say,' or 'talk.' Why should the verb be translated by preach five times (chap. 8:25; 11:19; 13:42; 14:25; 16:6), when speak, say, tell, and talk, represent it in fifty-seven passages, and would suitably represent it in the other five? The revisers give 'speak' instead of 'preach' in these five passages.

Parreesiazomai means "to speak with freedom or boldness; to speak boldly." Of nine occurrences in the New Testament, seven of which are in the Acts of the Apostles, only once is 'preach' used as a translation (Acts 9:27). That of itself invites a scrutiny. If 'preach' is required at all, why is it required only once? If it is only needed once, what is there special to necessitate it in that one instance? When we see that in the twenty-ninth verse of the same chapter we have the same Greek word, and another one which means 'to speak,' together rendered 'speak boldly,' it is difficult to imagine what rule guided the translators. It looks simply a whimsical variation to say that Paul preached boldly in Damascus and spoke boldly in Jerusalem, seeing that Luke employs one word to describe Paul's action in both towns. The revisers have made the two verses consistent, but in inserting 'preach' in these verses they have made a retrograde movement, and are inconsistent with their own translation in the other seven passages.

Evangelizomai is to declare good tidings (Acts 13:32). It is generally translated to preach, or to preach the gospel. It is so translated in fourteen of the fifteen occurrences in the Acts. But neither of these is an adequate representation of the meaning. 'To preach the gospel' is too definite. What gospel, or good news, was preached is not told by the word itself. The word only tells that good news about something was being told. On the other hand, 'to preach' is too vague. 'To bring good tidings' is much more accurate, expressive, and exhilarating than 'to preach.' Gabriel was sent 'to show glad tidings'; and the angel said to the shepherds, "I bring you good tidings" (Luke 1:19; 2:10). To say that Gabriel preached to Zacharias, and that the angel preached to the shepherds, would be a sad impoverishing of the record. But if 'preach' as a translation of evangelizomai is weak, vague, and consequently inaccurate, when it represents the work of an angel, it is equally defective when it represents the work of mortals. When we have Jesus Christ, peace through Him, the word, the word of the Lord, Jesus and the resurrection, and the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, all spoken of as preached, without the slightest intimation that the historian employed a word which denotes that each of these themes was spoken of as good tidings, it looks like deliberately paying a higher price than is necessary for the transfer of thought from Greek to English. It seems a robbing of the English reader of the gladdening thought conveyed by the original word. The passages in which this is done in Acts are chap. 5:42; 8:4,12,35,40; 10:36; 11:20; 14:15; 15:35; 17:18. The fact of the verb being used transitively in most of these instances is not an insurmountable difficulty to accurate translation. 'To deliver the glad message' is Rotherham's translation in all these verses.

The remaining three Greek words may be translated 'preach' and 'proclaim,' as the revisers have generally done.

The distinction of the words, which has been pointed out in the preceding paragraphs, if faithfully observed in translating, would reduce the occurrences of 'preach,' in the Acts of the Apostles, from thirty-eight to ten. The precision thereby gained would be a great advantage. And as the usage of the word in translation ought thus to be restricted, so in our common speech respecting addresses on Scripture themes its employment might be advantageously diminished. Altogether it holds an unwarrantable monopoly. That its privileges and labour may be very much reduced and profit accrue therefrom, will be seen by taking note of

in the Acts of the Apostles. The apostles were witnesses (1:8; 10:39,41; 13:31; 22:15). They testified repentance, faith, the gospel of the grace of God, the kingdom of God, that Jesus was the Christ, and that he was the appointed Judge (10:42; 18:5; 20:21,24; 23:11; 26:16). They were ministers of the word (6:4; 26:16). They and their co-workers showed by the Scriptures that Jesus was Christ (18:28), the way of salvation (16:17), and that all should repent and turn to God (26:20). The disciples declared glad tidings (13:32). They opened and alleged (17:3); they expounded (18:26; 28:23), reasoned (17:2), disputed (9:29), taught (5:21,25), and persuaded (19:8). They said, talked, told, spoke. By all these words, some of them of frequent occurrence, it is indicated that the word of the Lord was published (13:49). With such a variety of words, all employed respecting the first Christian workers in their efforts to disseminate the gospel, there is no necessity to be restricted to 'preach,' or even to use it frequently. The desirability of curtailing its sphere is felt more forcibly, when there is taken into account

Preaching, in its modern acceptation, is restricted to public addresses from platform or pulpit; whereas New Testament preaching included the communicating of intelligence to one person - Philip preached to the eunuch. Modern preaching is a formal address at a fixed time; New Testament preaching consisted in going about and telling the news, as the common people today would circulate among themselves any piece of wonderful intelligence. Modern preaching is chiefly professional - carried on by trained and paid officials; whereas New Testament preaching was engaged in by the whole brotherhood, irrespective of remuneration - "they that were scattered abroad went about preaching the word." The practice of modern preachers is to speak from a text - a verse, a line, or a word; the first Christians gave a summary of what God had done. Modern preaching is characterised by theorising, often of the most fanciful nature; the first Christians rehearsed facts, and accompanied the rehearsal with clear injunctions respecting what should be done. Modern preaching is almost invariably in the interest of some denomination; the first disciples had no denominations to defend. Modern preaching is bewildering, partly owing to denominational divisions, partly owing to the theorising nature of the speaking, and partly to its being made a profession; the preaching of the early Christians set the minds of all classes immediately at rest in the enjoyment of salvation, by producing faith in the Son of God and obedience to His behests. It is difficult to estimate the difference - the positive contrast - between apostolic and modern preaching. It is of such a nature that the one word cannot accurately represent both. If we use 'preach' in the Scripture sense, we cannot, without great mental reservation, or a process of evolution which amounts to a change of the meaning of the word, employ it in the modern sense. If we employ it with the meaning attached to it in the Queen's English, we cannot carry back that meaning and graft it into New Testament phraseology without hiding something of the simplicity and divine effectiveness of New Testament preaching. In these circumstances what are we to do? It seems folly to talk antiquated English; it would not be understood. And yet it is worse than folly - it is unfaithfulness - to hide one iota of New Testament teaching, or even to speak in such a way that some part of the teaching is made obscure. I dare not use an ambiguous word, especially when the honour of God's teaching and the salvation of men are at stake. Without doubt 'preaching' is ambiguous. It may be intended to denote the ancient practice of Christians in speaking publicly or privately, in set address or by conversation, the facts of God's dealings with men; or it may be used to denote the formal address of a dogmatic theologian in defence of some opinion of his own or of his party. The ambiguity or inappropriateness of 'preach' comes further into view when we recognise that primitive preaching was a proclamation of a new message, whereas our business is not to announce anything new, but to reason from the Scriptures, and teach the people what we find therein.

What can be done to hold fast the form of sound words received from apostles, and to eschew the phantasies of polemical theologians? Use the term preach sparingly. Avoid it altogether, when there is any danger of being misunderstood; and when employing it, make sure by explanation or by clear implication that you are using it so as to elucidate the Word of God. Of other words and phrases, as we have seen, there is no scarcity. To those quoted from the Acts of the apostles may be added 'address,' 'lecture,' 'argue,' 'discuss,' 'converse,' 'interpret,' 'explain,' all capable of describing New Testament evangelising work.