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Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 26:6-8

The hope of the promise. It is a thing of deepest interest and significance that we can note so clearly, so repeatedly, what it was ever lay so close to the heart that craved the better, that was not dead, that reached towards light. It was ever that one transporting hope that grows out of the death and resurrection of Jesus, the hope of future and eternal life, the vista of an abiding city, a heavenly Canaan, and for their behoove "an house not made with hands," We learn here that,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 26:8

Why is it judged incredible with you, if for why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that, A.V.; doth for should, A.V. Why is it judged , etc. The use of d is somewhat peculiar. It cannot stand for ὅτι , but it is nearly equivalent to "whether," as in Acts 26:23 . The question proposed to the mind is here whether God has raised the dead; and in Acts 26:23 whether Christ has suffered, whether he is the first to rise. In the latter case St. Paul gives the answer... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 26:8

The credibility of the resurrection. If it be an incredible doctrine, it must be so because to raise men from the dead is physically impossible or morally unlikely in a very high degree. But— I. IT IS NOT PHYSICALLY IMPOSSIBLE . 1. The continuance of the spirit in existence after death is certainly not impossible; indeed, it is the discontinuance which has seemed so impossible that to many thinkers its permanency appears to be a necessity. The difficulty, to many minds,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 26:8

Resurrection in the light of revelation. "Why should it be thought," etc.? Grounds of the incredible. Contradiction of reason. Contradiction of experience. Absolute isolation of a fact. A statement is credible because it is rational, because it has been predicted, because it is analogous to and harmonious with experience, because it is morally and practically serviceable to humanity. I. THE APPEAL TO FAITH . You believe so much; why not this? The Jewish Scriptures contained... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 26:8

The incredibility of the resurrection. This sudden appeal appears to be made for two reasons. 1. Because Agrippa professed to believe in the Scriptures, which certainly contained records of resurrections (see 1 Kings 17:17-23 ; 2 Kings 4:18-37 ). 2. Because the Sadducee party was the one which was most active against the apostle, and they were chiefly offended by his preaching the doctrine of the resurrection, based upon the resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah. Possibly St. Paul... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 26:9

I verily . He gently excuses their unbelief by confessing that he himself had once felt like them, and insinuates the hope that they would change their minds as he had, and proceeds to give them good reason for doing so. Contrary to the Name ( Galatians 1:13 ; 1 Timothy 1:13 ). Jesus of Nazareth . By so designating the Lord of glory, he avows himself a member of "the sect of the Nazarenes" (see Acts 2:22 ; Acts 3:6 ; Acts 4:10 ; Acts 10:33 , etc.). read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 26:9-10

Gradations in guilt. The old notion that, as sin is committed against an infinite God, it must itself be an infinite evil, and that, therefore, all sins are equally heinous and offensive, is held no longer. Its logic is unsound, and our moral sense contradicts the theory. The fact is that the degrees of human guilt in the multitude of actions men perform, under a vast variety of conditions, are indefinitely numerous. Only the Omniscient can possibly discriminate and compute them. But there... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Acts 26:8

Why should it be thought ... - The force of this question will be better seen by an exclamation point after why τί ti. “What! is it to be thought a thing incredible?” etc. It intimates surprise that it should be thought incredible, or implies that no reason could be given why such a doctrine should be unworthy of belief.A thing incredible - A doctrine which cannot be credited or believed. Why should it be regarded as absurd?With you - This is in the plural number, and it is evident that Paul... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Acts 26:9

I verily thought - I indeed μὲν men supposed. Paul here commences the account of his conversion, and states the evidence on which he judged that he was called of God to do what he had done. He begins by saying that it was not because he was originally disposed to be a Christian, but that he was violently and conscientiously opposed to Jesus of Nazareth, and had been converted when in the full career of opposition to him and his cause.With myself - I thought to myself; or, I myself thought. He... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Acts 26:8-11

Acts 26:8-11. Why should it be thought a thing incredible (It was thought so by Festus, Acts 25:19, to whom Paul answers as if he had heard him discourse;) that God A Being of infinite perfections, and the original author of the human frame; should raise the dead And continue their existence in a future state? Will not his Almighty power enable him to do it? and will not the honour of his moral attributes be hereby illustrated and vindicated? And if it be credible, is it not important... read more

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