ACTS, SPURIOUS OR APOCRYPHAL, treatises or sentences purporting to have been written by or concerning Christ, the apostles and other disciples. Many of these are now known only through the statements of ancient authors. Others are extant. I. One class profess to be words of Christ, and are supposed by some writers to have been derived from early accounts concerning him, of which many bad been written before the gospel of Luke (i. 1). Some of them, in all probability, were merely inaccu rate quotations from the genuine gospels; others have no external testimony to establish their genuineness and no merit to make them worthy of regard. The beautiful words, not recorded in the gospels, which Paul quoted to the Ephesians as words of Christ, "It is more blessed to give than to receive," are not properly included in the class now described, for they are vouched for as genuine words of Christ, by an inspired apostle who had many ways of learning the truth about them, and have always had a place in an undisputed book of the New Testament. II. Many spurious treatises called Acts of the Apostles were written at now unknown dates. Of some of these little more is known than that they once existed; of others fragments remain, and several are extant entire. A selection was printed at London in 1821 under the title, Apocryphal New Testament. They abound in fabulous, puerile, and visionary statements which are unworthy of notice. III. Among the treatises of this general class, the A. of Pilate deserves to be singled out as probably genuine and valuable. It is well known that accounts of all important events that occurred at Rome were carefully preserved either in the Acts of the Senate or the Daily Acts of the People. In like manner it was the duty of
the governors of provinces to send to the senate or the emperor reports of their adminis tration, including accounts of the remarkable transactions that occurred in their region. These were called the "acts" of their government, and were not published for general perusal, but deposited among the archives of the empire, as are state papers now, for in formation to historians. There is every reason to believe that Pilate sent such a report of his administration to Rome, and that it included an account of Jesus who was called Christ. And it is certain that the primitive Christians, in defending their faith, appealed to these A. of Pilate as to testimony which could not be denied. Justin Martyr, in his first defense of the Christians, presented, 140 A.D., to the emperor and senate, baying mentioned the crucifixion of Jesus and sonic of the events connected with it, says: " That these things were so done, you may know from the acts made in the time of Pontius Pilate." And again, having recounted some of the miracles of Jesus, such as healing diseases and raising the dead, lie adds: "And that these things were done by him you may know from the acts made in the time of Pontius Pilate." Tertullian, also, in his defense of Christianity, 200 A.D., says: "Of all these things relating to Christ, Pilate himself sent an account to Tiberius, then emperor."