[77] 3. THE MAGIAN AND THE APOSTLE. To us the Roman governor is the prominent figure in this scene; and his attitude towards the new teaching is what interests us most. But in the estimation of Luke, the Magian is the most important character, next to Paul; and therefore the reader's attention is directed first upon him. His prominence is perhaps due to different estimate of historical importance: ancient views on this subject differ from modern. But is it not more probable that Luke is justified in his view? It is clear that the Magian was here the representative of a System and a religion; and that his discomfiture was in itself a wide-reaching triumph. He is Commonly said to be a magician, a mere "Jewish impostor"; [78] and he is compared to the modern gipsy teller of fortunes. Such comparisons, while having a certain element of truth, are misleading, and give a false idea of the influence exerted on the Roman world by Oriental personages like this Magian. The Magian represented in his single personality both the modern fortune-teller and the modern man of science; and he had a religious as well as a merely superstitious aspect to the outer world.

No strict line could then be drawn between lawful honourable scrutinising of the secret powers of Nature and illicit attempts to pry into them for selfish ends, between science and magic, between chemistry and alchemy, between astronomy and astrology. The two sides of investigation passed by hardly perceptible degrees into one another: and the same man might be by times amagician, by times the forerunner of Newton and Thomson (Lord Kelvin). It was not possible in the infancy of knowledge to know where lay the bounds between the possible and the impossible, between the search for the philosopher's stone or the elixir of life and the investigation of the properties of argon or the laws of biology. It was not possible then: he would be rash who would say that it is possible now. A writer may venture on many prophecies about the future of science today, for which he would have been ridiculed as an impostor or a dreamer twenty years ago; and doubtless there are things he must not say now, which will be said soon.

It is certain that the priests of some Eastern religions possessed very considerable knowledge of the powers and processes of nature; and that they were able to do things that either were, or seemed to be, marvellous. Which of these alternatives was trueis a point on which individual judgments will vary widely; but ray own experience [79] makes me believe that, sofar as influence over human or animal nature and life was concerned, their powers were wonderful. It is natural that the Magian's knowledge and powers should have made him a striking and interesting personality; and a person like the proconsul, keenly interested in nature and philosophy, would enjoy his society.

The influence of this Eastern religion-one nature with many varieties -- was widely spread; and it was inevitable that the new religion, which was strongly opposed to its methods of dominating itsvotaries and crushing their personality and individuality, should often be brought in collision with its teachers. Bar-jesus represented the strongest influence on the human will that existed in the Roman world, an influence which must destroy or be destroyed by Christianity, if the latter tried to conquer the Empire. Herein lies the interest of this strange scene; and we cannot wonder that to Luke, familiar with the terrible power of that religion, the Magian seemed the prominent figure round whom the action moved.

At Philippi, and at Ephesus also, collisions took place between the two influences, of slavery and of freedom for the human mind; but neither was so impressive as this at Paphos.

It is characteristic of the simple and natural evolution of the incidents, that no calculation of these great issues is represented as influencing the drama. Human action is swayed for the most part by trivial motives; and the Magian here was actuated chiefly by the fear of losing his prominent place in the governors train. His position as friend and associate (amicus and comes were the technical terms to denote his position) of the governor was an honourable one, gratifying at once to ambition, [80] to vanity, and to worse passions. In this position he could learn a great deal about people and events. In the East it is always believed that the governor's friend may influence his judgment; and every suppliant, every litigant, and every criminal tries to propitiate or to bribe the friend. We cannot tell in what proportion the more noble and the baser motives were mixed in the Magian's mind; but they all lie on the surface of the situation, and each had doubtless some effect on him. He saw in the new teachers mere rivals trying to supplant him; and human nature could not accept defeat without a struggle.

Another point of method to note in the narrative is that no reason is stated for the Magian's opposition. It is a general rule throughout Acts that facts alone are stated, and causes left to the reader to gather from the facts: the author sees the causes so clearly that he does not think of stating them. In this case he even omits part of the sequence of facts: he does not say that the Apostles expounded their views, but leaves the reader to understand that the proconsul's desire was obeyed; and the words of verses 8, 10 ("seeking to turn aside the proconsul from the faith,"and "pervert the right ways of the Lord") imply that the exposition was made. Then we may be certain that the Magian would not so far violate politeness and the respect due to the proconsul as to interrupt them, unless he had seen that a marked effect was produced on the governor's mind; and he interfered from fear that, if he did not put the strangers down or turn them into ridicule, they might supplant himself in the governors society.

This view of the situation lies implicit in the text; and it is put explicitly by the Bezan Reviser, who makes [81] Bar-jesus "stand forth in opposition to them, seeking to divert the proconsul from the faith, because he was listening with much pleasure to them". If the added words are a gloss, they are inserted with great skill and judgment. But to me they appear to be an addition, inserted to make the narrative simpler and easier: the author, as usual, left the reason unstated.