The Apostles (Elgar) the disciples of Jesus and their reactions to the extraordinary events they witness. Despite arranging the commission in December 1901, Elgar paid little attention to "The Apostles "until July 1902, when he had finished composing and rehearsing his "Coronation Ode", Op. 44. Elgar's planning of the libretto included a long immersion in theological writings, as well as Wagner's sketch for "Jesus von Nazareth", and Henry W. Longfellow's poem "The Divine Tragedy". He assembled his libretto from verses of scripture, as had been the pattern for many of the most influential oratorios, including Handel's "Messiah" (1741) and Mendelssohn's "Elijah" (1836). After
Historical reliability of the Acts of the Apostles the origins of Christianity are the "Antiquities of the Jews" by the Roman-Jewish historian Josephus, and the "Church History" of Eusebius. Josephus and Luke-Acts are thought to be approximately contemporaneous, around AD 90, and Eusebius wrote some two and a quarter centuries later. Historical reliability of the Acts of the Apostles The historical reliability of the Acts of the Apostles, the principal historical source for the Apostolic Age, is of interest for biblical scholars and historians of Early Christianity as part of the debate over the historicity of the Bible. Archaeological inscriptions and other independent sources show that Acts contains