‘I know I have the body but of a weak, feeble woman but I have the heart and stomach of a king and of a king of England too.’ We all know those words of Queen Elizabeth at Tilbury in 1588, when she uttered defiance against Philip of Spain. They are accepted by most historians as probably authentic but some are sceptical. The practice of doctoring speeches retrospectively is a familiar one. There is always the allure of improvement by afterthought.
With that thought in mind we come to the speeches in ‘Acts’. A long line of scholars has reviewed the speeches and their origin. Always it is necessary to consider both the speech-maker and the editor in our reckoning. Just as it has been suggested that a reporter made a shorthand note of what Elizabeth said at Tilbury, so it has been suggested that a reporter made a similar note of the speeches in ‘Acts’. It is not impossible. Shorthand was known in the days of Cicero. In an obituary of a diocesan bishop a few days ago his stint as a shorthand- typist was mentioned; It is just as possible that people had unexpected skills then.
It is more likely that what we have in ‘Acts’ is a potted version of what was actually said and that Luke in his editorial function prepared his version for publication. As well as being a doctor, Luke was a reporter and editor. People then, lacking the props and crutches that are available to us, made good use of their memories. This must colour our approach.
We have to remember that the speeches in Luke’s accounts of the early Church that we find in his Gospel and in ‘Acts’ were edited. The Gospels are carefully considered compositions, not untutored series of main clauses with no regard for form. (The pundits have a word for this: parataxis.) This does not affect their place as the fount and origin of the Christian faith. A concern for form makes them more readable. It side-steps the boredom trap.
It may help to consider the issue in a modern context. Newspapers began in this country with wearisome long-winded parliamentary and other reports on their pages. In quite a short time the reporting and editing became suited to the taste and capability of readers. From time to time this has degenerated into mere crowd-pleasing. The art of story-telling has its seductions as well as its merits. But in the third and fifth books of the New Testameent we have the work of an accomplished investigative reporter who knew all the principal men and women in the early Church. He knew what he was about.
HANSARD
The official report of parliamentary proceedings is named after Thomas Curson Hansard, a London printer and publisher and first official printer to parliament. It is ‘an edited and verbatim record’ with repetitions and obvious mistakes removed and the meaning preserved. It is published daily.
If you have a comment on this post please send an email to Revd John King at johnc.king@talktalk.net Edited extracts may be published. To forward this to a friend click on the chain icon below.