William

Here’s a Bible verse for a new academic year...

But [Paul and Barnabas in Iconium] found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding country. [Acts 14:6]

“Eh?”, I hear you mutter.

William was studying hard and very successfully at a time when very many people were casting doubt on the Bible. As a historian he, like them had no real time for its reliability, believing it to be the enthusiastic writings of religious wishful thinkers.

After being awarded prizes as the Best Student at university he devoted himself to the study and research that he loved so much. He had many setbacks - illnesses laid him low, one piece of research prepared over ten years was entirely lost and had to be completely rewritten (and he wasn’t using a computer!). He learned Greek and Latin in astonishing detail so that he could pursue the study of Roman and Greek culture and he delved into previously uncharted studies of these cultures, particularly in what today we call Turkey.

Such was the detail of his archaeological research that he found Luke, in writing Acts 14:6 (above), was not strictly accurate. Iconium (from which Paul was fleeing) was also in Lycaonia so Luke had been mistaken to wite 'to the Lycaonian cities of...' - Paul was in that district already.

It was a minor point to the rest of us, but William Ramsay’s research had proved, he thought, more accurate than Luke's.

Until he found out that Luke was right. Studying more deeply still, he found that Iconium had changed districts and Luke’s history was exactly right. And so it was that Acts 14:6 became William’s transformational text. If Luke was so accurate about Lycaonian geography William thought he must have been right about more important things. William Ramsay set about reading the scriptures as truth rather than fiction. He went on to fiercely defend the truth of the Bible.

Learning is not the enemy of the truth when it is honestly and open-mindedly pursued.