THIS volume contains a printed copy of the author's class notes, by the guidance of which he gives instruction in "Acts of Apostles." These notes present the result of many changes and improvements made during an experience of twenty-four years; and they are now put in print, not because the author considers them perfect, but in order to save hereafter some labor in the class-room, to furnish former students the notes in their improved form, and to make known to other teachers the author's method.

      My method hitherto has been to lecture each day on a portion of the text, writing the notes of the lecture on a blackboard. The students copy these notes, and make any others which they may think necessary to a reproduction of the thoughts given in the lecture. In the recitation, I have required the class to recite the sacred text, one paragraph at a time; to state the divisions of the subject matter, and to answer all the questions propounded in the course of the lecture. The printed volume will save, both to professor and student, the time and labor of writing, except the writing by the student of the additional notes which each may think needful; and for convenience in writing and preserving these latter notes, every right hand page in this volume is left blank. [iii]

      The printed lines are separated by wide spaces, so that the professor may interline additional notes and questions, as they may occur to him; for the studious teacher is never entirely satisfied with his work in previous years, but is constantly discovering points at which he can make improvement. Should any teacher desire to use the notes, whose method is less thorough than my own, he can make selections to suit himself; or if his method is more thorough, the wide spaces will enable him to interline additional notes and questions. Many questions should be propounded which need not cumber the printed page.

      Lest these notes should be criticised, as too difficult for some classes, or, on the other hand, as not sufficiently exhaustive of the almost boundless field of thought and fact with which they are concerned, it is proper for me to say, that they have been prepared for the use of the Senior Class in the College of the Bible, and that they are intended to include the amount of matter which this class is found capable of mastering, by daily recitations, in a term of twenty weeks, while prosecuting the other studies usually allotted to them.

      There is no book in the whole Bible that one who preaches the gospel should study more diligently than Acts of Apostles, and the author esteems it a high privilege to furnish some aid to the successful prosecution of this study by young men.

      Lexington, Ky., September, 1889.

      NOTE.--The initials, L. of B., appended to some of the geographical questions, designate the author's "Lands of the Bible," which his classes use as a book of reference. [iv]

      This electronic edition of J. W. McGarvey's Class Notes on Sacred History has been prepared from copies of the books obtained from Philipps Memorial Library, Bethany College (Volumes I, II, IV) and the Disciples of Christ Historical Society (Volume III). The text was transcribed and formatted between December 1995 and May 1996; it was released into the public domain in 1996 as note files for the Online Bible. Archives of the files are available at the Bible Foundation e-Texts Library. The first three volumes are of the third edition; as I have not yet been able to locate that edition for the fourth volume, the first edition has been used.

      In the printed text, the questions (and answers) are presented in paragraph form; in the electronic version, they are presented in bulleted lists to facilitate reading. Pagination in the electronic version has been represented by placing the page number in brackets following the last complete word on the printed page. Inconsistencies in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and typography have been retained; however, corrections for misspellings and other accidental corruptions have been offered. Emendations are detailed in a critical apparatus.

      Throughout, the citations to "Lands of the Bible" and "L. of B." refer J. W. McGarvey's Lands of the Bible: A Geographical and Topographical Description of Palestine, with Letters of Travel in Egypt, Syria, Asia Minor, and Greece (St. Louis: John Burns, 1880; Cincinnati: Standard Publishing, 1880; Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1881; Louisville: Guide Printing and Publishing Company, 1890).

      Addenda and corrigenda are earnestly solicited.

Ernie Stefanik
373 Wilson Street
Derry, PA 15627-9770
stefanik@westol.com

Revised 24 June 1997.
Updated 3 April 1999.

      The following apparatus details the additions and corrections made in the transcription of J. W. McGarvey's Class Notes on Sacred History, Volume IV.
 Page       Printed Text [ Electronic Version
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 Part First: The Church in Jerusalem.
 p. 9:      (3) The Petition [ (3) The Petition,

 Part Second: Spread of the Gospel in Judea and Adjacent Countries.
 p. 17:     Was the ennuch [ Was the eunuch
 p. 20:     for going? [ for going.

 Part Third: Paul's Tours Among the Gentiles.
 p. 26:     route? [ route.
 p. 27:     general one. [ general one?
 p. 29:     Antiochs? [ Antiochs.
 p. 30:     JAMES  13-21. [ JAMES, 13-21.
 p. 34:     30 miles   100 miles. [ 30 miles; 100 miles.
 p. 36:     Dyonisius [ Dionysius
 p. 37:     XVIII  1-4. [ XVIII. 1-4.
 p. 48:     them " [ them,"
 p. 49:     Moses? [ Moses,
 p. 50:     Acts ix. 27. [ Acts ix. 27?

 Part Fourth: Paul's Four Year's Imprisonment.
 p. 58:     speech of Ananias? [ speech of Ananias.
 p. 60:     gover nor [ governor
 

 Part Fifth: Later Apostolic History.
 p. 75:     Acts xx. 25. [ Acts xx. 25?
 p. 80:     indicated? iv. 17, 18. [ indicated? 4, 17, 18.
 p. 81:     III. Jno. 9 10. [ III. Jno. 9, 10.

 Review by Subjects.
 p. 87:     Gentiles? [ Gentiles.
 p. 90:     Give the evidence. [ Give the evidence