Dr. Hemer's use of Data . . . Versus Philosophical Bias of Scholars Very relevant to the current climate in biblical scholarship, Dr. Hemer challenged the views of those influenced more by their peers than by data. "This defense of the early date may seem bold to the point of rashness in the present climate. But it is perhaps the climate rather than the evidence which is against it. . . . I am all for caution, and ready to recognize the need for it in my own attempts at reconstruction, but it should be applied in the appropriate places. The early date for Acts may indeed be offered as firmer ground amid shifting sands, tending to carry with it an earlier placing of Luke and the integrity of the Pastoral evidence rather than being disqualified by prior judgments about them. This is another case where the simple interlocking of ostensible evidence may be the index of truth." The Book of Acts in the Setting of Hellenistic History, p 409