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 1 
 
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 S 
 
 6 
 
THE 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL, 
 
 BY 
 
 D. H. TAYLOR 
 
 " I press toward the mark for the prize of 
 the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." 
 
 — Phil. iii. 14. _ 
 
 J, , , 
 I' * 
 
 ^3. 
 
 \l»- 
 
 ! 1 
 
 \ 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 D. LOTHROP AND COMPANY. 
 
 1884. 
 
 .'.\ ''■' /■*■ -«^ . "JV 
 
 U I'W WW *'' ^'' '"**' ' ''' ' ' * - -' **'*''' *-''''*' ^^ 
 
Copyright, 
 
 By D. LOTHKOP AND COMPANT, 
 
 18«3. 
 
 
 t 
 
 BOSTON STKKEOTYPE FOUNDRY 
 146 HIGH eTREET. ' 
 
 'I 
 
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 1 
 
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 './ 
 
 €0 tf)t fflemcrg 
 
 OP THAT MOST SCHOLABLV. CATHOLIC. AND KEVKEEXl 
 
 STUDENT AND TEACHER OF THE 
 
 WORD OF GOD, 
 
 PROF. H. B. HACKETT, D.D. 
 
 THIS LITTLE HOOK 13 AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED 
 BY ONE OF HIS LATEST PUPILS. 
 
 ■«m,";t» 
 
 f 
 
 '"!p j » HH » *t) li MmiiH»miii tt 
 
' i 
 
 ^ 
 
INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 
 
 <K 
 
 The following pages are an attempt to 
 present a picture of the life of Paul, and of 
 the scenes through which he passed, within 
 such limits that every person who desires to, 
 may become familiar with at least the outline 
 of that grand career. The writer has nothing 
 new to say, unless it be those old things that 
 are always? new and true and good. Other 
 men have labored, and he has entered into 
 their labors, availing himself, as far as he 
 has been competent to do so, of the latest and 
 best results of their work. Care has been 
 taken to secure historical as well as exegetical 
 accuracy. The writer believes that the book 
 is truthful, and he hopes that it may do good. 
 
 Jamaica Plaix, December, 1888. 
 
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 m 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 i 
 
 •"^ 
 
 /: 
 
 PART FIRST. 
 
 ilreparation for f^is HiU-WLoxK 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. — School-days 16 
 
 II. — The Martyrdom of Stephen 26 
 
 III. —Saul's Conversion 39 
 
 IV. —The Convert's First Six Years . ... 56 
 
 V. — Antioch OF Syria . 66 
 
 VI. — The First Ten Years after Christ . . 76 
 
 VII. — The Work and the Man 86 
 
 PART SECOND. 
 
 JTfje jFirst iHigiSionaro Sourneg. 
 
 VIII. —The Start 105 
 
 IX. — Barnabas and Saul on Cyprus .... 116 
 
 9 
 
 spas 
 
 iTiTTin7iHT3rw»JBi?-.gTr "^ 
 
i , I 
 
 ^i 
 
 I 
 
 'I 
 
 I 
 
 .11 
 
 10 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 X. — Paul and Barnabas at Antioch in 
 
 PiSIDIA 127 
 
 XI. — IcoNiuM, Lystra, and Derbe .... 141 
 
 XII. — The Council at Jerusalem 162 
 
 XIII. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 XV. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 PART THIRD. 
 
 Wiit Secont) iEisdionarg Journeg. 
 
 Through Asia Minor 167 
 
 Up to Philippi 178 
 
 On to Attica . 194 
 
 In Templed Athens 203 
 
 Two Years at Corinth 217 
 
 PART FOURTH. 
 
 Cfie CfjirtJ JHiggionatg JJcumeg. 
 
 XVIII. — Ephesus and Apollos 235 
 
 XIX. — Ephesus and Paul 245 
 
 XX. — A Flying Journey 262 
 
 \ 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 11 
 
 127 
 141 
 152 
 
 1;< 
 
 PART FIFTH. 
 
 ^mgt, Exial, limmisianmtnt 
 
 CHAPTER ^ p^Og 
 
 XXI. — The Arbest at Jerusalem 281 
 
 XXII. — The Pbisoner at Cssarea 299 
 
 XXIII. — The Stormy Voyage and Shipwreck . .316 
 
 XXIV. — The Prisoner at Rome 336 
 
 XXV. — The Last Years 354 
 
 Table of Paul's Epistles 302 
 
 Some Books on Paul 3Q3 
 
 lNJ>Ex 305 
 
 
 *ii:«(S4i5S5S5t»i'iSi" 
 
 :xsiaetrvim:;sm«m m 
 
I 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAOI 
 
 The Ship on the Fifteenth Morning . . . Frontispiece 
 
 Map — Saint Paui's Journeys 31 
 
 Gardens in Damascus 43 
 
 Straight Street, Damascus 51 
 
 Elymas Struck Blind 123 
 
 Paul Preaching at Athens 213 
 
 The ^oean Shore, Smyrna 269 
 
 A BOMAN Soldier 287 
 
 Saint Paul's Bay, Malta 329 
 
 Entrance to Rome 343 
 
.;5 
 
 ^. 
 
 4L 
 
 PART FIRST. 
 
 ^vcpnv^tion tor gis gife^lSlavn. 
 
 ?S " i i i 4mii i iw i»iwiii 
 
•^K^m^mr 
 
 ^^ 
 
 ~f- 
 
 -Jl.. 
 
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 r 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 (T 
 
 A 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 SCHOOL-DAYS. 
 
 " A citizen of no mean city." — Acts xxi. 39. 
 
 "The thought!* of youth are long, long thoughts." 
 
 H. W. Longfellow. 
 
 AWAY up, almost at the extreme northeast 
 - corner of the Mediterranean, there is a 
 Turkish city called Tersoos, the most impor- 
 tant city of eastern Asia Minor. It is situated 
 twelve miles from the coast, on the western 
 bank of the Cydnus, — a cold mountain stream, 
 which tumbles down from the perpetual snows 
 of the Taurus, and makes its way rapidly across 
 the Cilician plain to the sea. This plain is 
 described as beautiful and fertile. In the sum- 
 mer its grain-fields gleam in the sunshine, and 
 the meadows are so luxuriant that ripplfng 
 under the wind they look from a distance like 
 a billowy ocean. The plain, however, is nar- 
 row, being invaded, not many miles back of 
 where Tersoos stands, by the foot-hills. In 
 these hills roam the flocks of goats whose long 
 
 15 
 
 , 
 
16 
 
 I 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 coarse hair save tho » ^'^'^' ** 
 
 ""s .e.sort of flocL If/ k f^P'*- Over 
 
 «»owv peaks of the T~2t ^'"'"'"''^ •'«« the 
 
 the northern wall of cS "^' "'"r'' '»"'^- 
 
 «"nous pass, the CilioiaToJ .^^ '*^ "'"^t 
 
 o-osscsfromTersoos oIL? f; '^^ ^'S^'^'^y 
 
 «'« West. The eas e „ iTI ^''^ ^'"°'' -«l 
 
 eastward from Tersoo?Li ""''"«'• gw«g 
 
 "- Cydnus thro :h tht ?!•' '"' """^^ 
 ,7"»ge of Adana over th '^^''^ '" ""e 
 
 everywhere. There .•/ ''"'''°'" "'^ound 
 
 thirty thousand,, o cu^e^d' hf v"""" "' "^-' 
 «"me in agriculture, sofnein "' ''''^"^' - 
 
 '»"k«? 'opes and sick, ""■""«' °*'""-« -n 
 h»"- «till others intul ^"'^ °*' ««"'«' 
 fr«". wool, goats hir.:5,T, '^^"'"'^ ^'-n. 
 "»t«. and such other Z^^ a th'' """' »"•"- 
 y country aiTords ^vMe ' «»rround. 
 
 ''•■'•V« i" i.H.ole„ce and thirty'"' '""'' ""«"' 
 
 -«i» 
 
 -1^ 
 
i 
 
 ^h- 
 
 SCHOOL-DAYS. 
 
 17 
 
 L Tersoos is very ancient. Long ago it was the 
 most illustrious city of Cilicia. Tradition re- 
 lates that it was founded about a hundred years 
 after the time of Solomon, by Sardanapalus, king 
 of Assyria. -Pour centuries before the Christian 
 era Xenophon wrote that it was large and pros- 
 perous. z.Here Cicero made his residence while 
 governor of the province of Cilicia. It was 
 here that Mark Antony summoned Cleopatra 
 to explain some of her political movements. 
 This Venus of the Nile "sailed up the river in 
 a magnificent galley, its stern covered with 
 gold, its sails of purple, its oars of silver."' 
 The queen lay under a golden canopy, fanned 
 by boys dressed as Cupids, while the sailors 
 appeared as Nereids and Graces. The river 
 banks were black with the wondering crowds, 
 who, in their admiration at the advent of the 
 supposed goddess, made the air fragrant from 
 burning incense. Antony himself was so fas- 
 cinated with the beauty of this wonderful crea- 
 ture, and with the luxury which surrounded her, 
 that instead of becoming Cleopatra's judge, he 
 became her lover and facile slave. 
 . '- At this time Tersoos, or, as it was then called, 
 Tarsus, ranked among the first cities of the 
 world. It was one of the busiest mercantile 
 ports of the Mediterranean ; while in scholar- 
 
 • Plumptie : " St. Paul in Asia Minor," p. 15. 
 
 
 1 
 
 •eit^Mtm 
 
I' I 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 s'"P and tlio fino n,-t^ ;, 
 
 . Alexandria ,.i,d A,i et 7 "■''"""'' ""'^ '>y 
 
 . -hiC, ,.„„„„ ,„,„ „.„„ • J^^'- »e.-o .schools to 
 
 t"W, " was as f,,]] „,■ " , ^"™«. ' we are 
 «t Tarsus as of ,1 T' "'"' '""' ''«"" trained 
 Alexandria, and e . ^'edM'"'.'^" *™'-^ »' 
 a passport to the post "f t^ft ".''"^ "^ "'"^h 
 
 "ther." The Ian!," !o 1 t"' "'■,'' '■^^''"- '•'« "^e 
 'vas Greek, -a C^^"* " ". ™'*'^*"<''' «'"««es 
 
 tte,r native dialect 'J,^'' "'"»'> ret-^ined 
 Jews and persons „f ^''•''.\ ^^''"■« "Iso a,a„y 
 their ho„,es and ;j;, J^^l" ''."-ent who in 
 
 -hools used the J.rnX^rthT'''"'^"^"*^ 
 •"•ew. There w.as i Z •? ''"*'^'''' He- 
 
 offon„.ofworsC;Mr5,:''-^"»--or 
 '•e«'ly to adopt the fom. ^""P''' '^«'-e 
 
 Soman government I.u "o "'"''"'■"'''' ''>■ ^he 
 <levotion to the d ties of r '"""*''"""' *«»■ 
 J»ng to the tmditio„: : .-S'f '7''"^ "''-- 
 Jewish residents, however^hTld ,f '^•'"'- '^''« 
 their own faith and form J ^^"^•O'^'^fy to 
 read their scripturl, 1? T, ^''^'^'P- They 
 children ; the/i" n 1- "^'" ""*"» *° ^eir 
 _ ^ ■"<"'" *he„. synagogues on the 
 
 "I all a e practical system, the StJ- ? ' '"'"' *« ra™t serious 
 
 Asia Miuor/'—j p ., ' "" '•<>". is itlenti/ie,| witl, ii,.. 
 
 ' ''"="'' Education," p. i3g 
 
 
Birth.] 
 
 SCHOOL-DAYS. 
 
 19 
 
 v 
 
 Sabbath and worshipped with th^ir faces to- 
 ward Jerusalem. 
 
 It was in such a city, among such a people, 
 that, a few years after the birth of Christ, Saul 
 was born. We know little about his parents, 
 except that they were Jews, and Pharisees, and 
 that his father was a Roman citizen. We know 
 also that ^e had one sister ; but whether there 
 were any others — sisters or brothers — we are 
 not told. There is no doubt that while Saul was 
 a small boy he was taught to read the Hebrew 
 Bible, and instructed in the history and religion 
 of his nation. As he grew older he probaoly 
 attended the schools of Tarsus, where he would 
 study geography and mathematics, poetry, and 
 even metaphysics. Sometime too, while yet a 
 boy, he learned the trade of tent-making (at 
 which in later life he frequently worked to earn 
 a living) ; for every Jewish boy was required to 
 learn some trade, no matter whether his parents 
 were poor or rich. It is also quite probable 
 that Barnabas, then a boy, was sent from his 
 home in Cyprus to the excellent schools in 
 Tarsus, and that here sprang up that friendship 
 which on several occasions in later life drew the 
 two men together. We think of the boy Saul 
 at this period as studious, devout, rather im- 
 petuous and fiery in his disposition, and in- 
 clined to obstinacy and pride — a burly littl^ 
 
 .,^^*V. 
 
 ^--snaasHp-- 
 
20 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 6. 
 
 V 
 
 Jew. He was very much such a boy, probably, 
 as the boys of the best families in Tarsus are at 
 the present time. He saw too the same luxuri- 
 ant fields, played upon the ])anks of the same 
 mountain stream, lay on the ground in the 
 shade of the same species of trees, picked the 
 same kinds of flowers, listened to the same bird- 
 notes, watched the cloud-shadows drifting across 
 the same snowy peaks in the distance. 
 V But the schools of Tarsus, excellent though 
 they may have been, were not adapted to the 
 training of a Jewish boy. Young Saul's par- 
 ents saw that he was likely to be something 
 more than an ordinary man, and they were 
 anxious to give him the best possible ^lucation. 
 For this purpose he must go to Jerusalem. It 
 is not improbable that his parents entertained 
 the hope that their son might be a Scribe or 
 Teacher of the Law. The most famous school 
 in which to prepare for this profession was that 
 of Gamaliel.' . To this boys were admitted at 
 the age of thiiteen, provided they were able to 
 pass the enterjng examination. The curriculum 
 for those who took the full course lasted from 
 fifteen to seventeen years. 
 
 We can imagine Saul making preparation to 
 exchange his home-life for that of the school in 
 Jerusalem. His thoughts would naturally 
 
 1 " The University of Jerusalem," Lewiu, i. 9. 
 
 .1 
 
 ^ 
 
JET. 13.] 
 
 SOHOOL-DAYS. 
 
 21 
 
 .>. 
 
 
 he occupied with the future. That city of 
 David, of which he had read, about which his 
 mother had tokl him so many fascinating stories, 
 of whose walls and towers and palaces and 
 Temple he had often dreamed, he was going to 
 see ! Hope was keen in the young Pharisee. 
 His mother, we may ])elieve, had taken pains 
 that everything should ])e rcjidy fi»r his depart- 
 ure. Perhaps his father had put into his hand, 
 with a word of timely advice, a few Roman 
 coins. At the last moment father and mother 
 bid him good-by, and in a few hours he is on 
 board ship, and feeling, possibly for the first 
 time, the swell and roll of the sea. The eager 
 boy takes a farewell look at the shores of Cili- 
 cia, sees the familiar moufltains fading from 
 view, and then turns his face toward the new 
 shores, — the shores of that promised land, 
 visions of which had been filling his young 
 mind. 
 
 Palestine at this date was no longer the home 
 of a distinct nation. Rome had become " mis- 
 tress of the world." Other nations were only 
 provinces under the sway of her magnificent 
 empire, which, enthroned in the city of Romulus, 
 was ordering the affairs of al'^ mankind ; and 
 Palestine was merely a small and remote part 
 of one of the most distant provinces of the 
 empire, namely, Syria. Jerusalem, the ancient 
 
22 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 19. 
 
 1/ 
 
 cupitiil of PalostiMc, was three hundred miles 
 from Antioch, the ilhistrious capital of Syria. 
 Saul must have como to Jerusalem about the 
 time of the death of the great and much 
 loved Augustus, when Tiberius became em- 
 peror. 
 
 We should remember that while Palestine 
 was a part of the province of Syria, it main- 
 tained, on account of the peculiar difficulties in 
 controlling the Jewish population, and for other 
 political reasons, a i)artial independence. The 
 whole province of Syria was under the rule of a 
 governor, or proconsul^ residing at Antioch. 
 Palestine also had its own governor, or procura- 
 tor^ residing at Ctesarea, appointed directly by 
 the emperor, and in the main independent of 
 the governor of Syria. Valerius Gratus was 
 made procurator of Palestine on the accession of 
 Tiberius, and continued in office until A.D. 26, 
 when he was succeeded by Pontius Pilate. 
 
 The Romans had made great changes in Pales- 
 tine. They had built at least two new cities, 
 Coesarea and Tiberias, and they had almost 
 transformed Jerusalem. Herod, a petty king 
 by the gi-ace of the emperor, had erected here 
 a palace famed for its grandeur ; had enlarged 
 and strengthened the fortress and named it 
 Antonia ; had built and adorned a theatre, and 
 had also rebuilt the Temple on a scale of magni- 
 
JSt. 13.] 
 
 SCHOOL-DAYS. 
 
 23 
 
 ficence far surpassing the vork of Solomon. So 
 that while Saul, as a p.itriofip young Jew, 
 would be disturbed that his beloved fatherland 
 should be under the yoke of a foreigo j^overn- 
 ment ; yet in all its external aspect the entire 
 country, and its one great city, presented a finer 
 appearance than it ever had presented before 
 the Roman conquest. 
 
 Already there are several other boys in Pales- 
 tine who will some day be great men ; and with 
 whom, later in life, Saul will have much to do. 
 There is one whose name is John, living with 
 his aged parents somewhere in the hill-country 
 of Judea. There are others in Bethsaida, who, 
 scarcely old enough yet to manage a fishing-boat 
 on the Lake of Galilee, are no doubt busy part 
 of every day drying and mending the nets, and 
 washing and drying the fish their fathers have 
 caught, who will yet be brothers to Saul. And 
 at the village of Nazareth there lives one Jesus 
 with his father, Joseph the carpenter, and his 
 mother Mary, whom, as Saul grows to manhood, 
 he learns to despise and hate with great bitter- 
 ness. At length, however, he learns to love this 
 Jesus so well that life is too small to give Him, 
 and death is sweet for His sake. Probably none 
 of these boys were in circumstances to attend 
 the great school at Jerusalem. Saul's school 
 companions prided themselves on being of an 
 
■.aHU.. mm 
 
 24 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 19. 
 
 entirely diflferent class. Most of them belonged 
 to the aristocracy of the Pliarisees. 
 
 Z' During the fifteen years that Saul was at Je- 
 rusalem we know only that he sat " at the feet 
 of Gamaliel, taught according to the perfect 
 manner of the law of the fathers." We may feel 
 sure that he followed the whole course of studies 
 laid down in the school, that he was a diligent 
 student, and was among the best scholars. His 
 vacations were most likely spent in Tarsus rest- 
 ing at his father's, or perhaps working at his 
 
 V trade^/ or possibly on pleasant days going down 
 the Cydnus to the seaside, or away to the 
 mountains to ramble among their tremendous 
 solitudes. 
 
 There developed in Saul during this period a 
 strong, active, independent character. The im- 
 petuosity and wilfulness of the boy had been 
 tamed and disciplined into force and fearlessness. 
 He was proud of his nationality, and looked with 
 scorn upon all who were not Jews. His days 
 were spent in rigid conformity to the Jewish 
 law, while he observed with scrupulous care 
 all the rites and ceremonies which that law 
 imposed, attending the religious festivals, sub- 
 mitting to the fasts, oftering the sacrifices, pay- 
 ing the fees, making and fulfilling the vows, 
 reciting the Hebrew scriptures, and both in 
 private and in public repeating long prayers. 
 
 
 T 
 
Mr. 30.] 
 
 SCHOOL-DAYS. 
 
 1$ 
 
 , 
 
 Before he had arrived at the age of thirty he 
 was one of the foremost young Scribes in Jeru- 
 salem, looked upon by the older Jews as a pillar 
 of orthodoxy, and put forward as the champion 
 of their venerable religious creed. ^ 
 
 ' " We infer, from the wliole bcaiin^r of the Apostle, that he was 
 bred to all those amenities of tlie higher circles of life, which so 
 stood him in stead when he was compelled to deal with men of high 
 rank or culture. Through all the vicissitudes of his eventful life 
 he seems always to have borne 
 
 * without abuse 
 The grand old name of gentleman.' " 
 
 W. T. Burns. 
 
 •' We may assume, as a matter of course, that he took the de- 
 gree of Rab, the first step to honor among bis countrymen ; and 
 that he afterwards became a Rabbi, the second step amongst the 
 learned doctors. The diploma of Rabbi, conferred by the Univer- 
 sity of Jerusalem, was of the greatest service to Saul in his subse- 
 quent labors ; for it enabled him to address his countrymen in the 
 synagogues abroad, and to command, from his rank, their respect* 
 ful attention." — I.ewin, i. 13. 
 
 ■W;*i' - 
 
i 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE MARTYRDOM OF STEPHEN. 
 
 '• Foremost and nearest to His throne, 
 By perfect robes of triumph known, 
 And likest him it. }ook and tone, 
 
 The holy Stephen kneels, 
 With steadfast gaze, as when the sky 
 Flew open to his fainting eye. 
 Which, like a fading lamp, flash'd high, 
 
 Seeing what death conceals." — Keblb. 
 
 " The first Apostle who died was a traitor, the first disciples of 
 the Christian Apostles, whose deaths are i-ecorded, were liars and 
 hypocrites. The kingdom of the Son of Man was founded in 
 darkness and gloom. But a heavenly light reappeared with the 
 martyrdom of Stephen." — J. S. HowsoN. 
 
 XT7HILE Saul is yet at Jerusalem, events 
 ' ^ occur which give direction to all his sub- 
 sequent life. That John, who had been brought 
 up in the hill-country of Judea, commences 
 preaching about the city, and at last estab- 
 lishes himself in the vicinity of the River Jor- 
 dan, where many go to hear him. He is telling 
 the people that they must repent and live holier 
 lives, and that very soon the Messiah will be 
 among them to call out His followers and set 
 up His kingdom. Many out of the listening 
 crowds are persuaded by John's burning words, 
 26 
 
 t 
 
 .L 
 
iET. 31.] THE MARTYRDOM OF STEPHEN. 
 
 27 
 
 1 
 
 t 
 
 ^ 
 
 X 
 
 and, as a sign of their penitence and reforma- 
 tion, are baptized in the river. One day there 
 appeared among the people a new face. Jesus, 
 the son of Joseph the cai'penter, has come down 
 from Nazareth, and he also is baptized. Very 
 soon Jesus himself commences to preach, and 
 one by one gathers a little company of disci- 
 ples, with whom for three years and a half he 
 goes through the towns and villages and cities 
 of Palestine, healing the sick, speaking with 
 authority, rebuking the religious formalists, 
 and offering eternal life to all who believe the 
 words he speaks. At length the Jews are so 
 irritated by the claims of Jesus that he is vio- 
 lently arrested while at prayer, hurriedly tried, 
 falsely condemned, and impiously crucified. 
 
 While these remarkable events were taking 
 place Saul was probably at Jerusalem, or, if 
 absent for the time, he must have heard of 
 them ; for he was so patriotic as a Jew, and so 
 prominent in the political and religious life of 
 his nation, that he was not likely to be ignorant 
 of the character and teaching of Jesus ; of the 
 accusations made against him, of his death, and 
 the report of his resurrection. By this time 
 we must think of Saul not as a student in 
 Gamaliel's school, but as an active Scribe or 
 teacher. As a lawyer ho has been "admitted 
 to the bar" ; and, more than that, has been ap- 
 
 pmnv"*"—" 
 
I' 
 
 rt 
 
 28 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 37. 
 
 pointed one of the seventy-two judges, and 
 occupies a seat on that supreme bench called 
 the Sanhedrim. 
 
 During the three or four years immediately 
 following the death of Christ there were several 
 remarkable events, which need only to be men- 
 tioned in this connection, since they have merely 
 an incidental bearing upon tlie life of Saul. 
 
 The first was that miraculous occurrence on 
 the day of Pentecost, ten days after the ascen- 
 sion of our Lord, when, as Luke tells us, His 
 disciples being all together in one place, "Sud- 
 denly there came a sound from heaven as of a 
 rushing mighty wind, and it tilled all the house 
 where they were sitting. And there appeared 
 unto them cloven tongues as of fire, and it sat 
 upon each of them. And they were all filled 
 with the Hol}^ Spirit, and began to speak with 
 other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utter- 
 ance."^ 
 
 In the autumn of the same year Peter cured 
 a man, who had been a helpless cripple all his 
 life, at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, by 
 simply taking him by the hand and bidding him, 
 "in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise 
 up and walk." - A great crowd gathered to listen 
 while Peter and his companion John explained 
 the means by which the lame man was made to 
 
 1 Acts ii. 2. 
 
 ^ Acts iii. 6. 
 
 m 
 
i 
 
 Mr. 31.] THZ MARTYRDOM OF STEPHEN. 
 
 29 
 
 walk, and the result was that a large number 
 were converted. The Saddueees, however, made 
 complaint, caused the arrest of the apostles, and 
 brought them before the Sanhedrim ; but, not 
 beinff able at this time to substantiate their 
 charge against them, were obliged to let them 
 be dismissed. After this, the apostles were 
 arrested, tried, and imprisoned ; at one time 
 released from prison by an angel in answer to 
 the united prayer of the assembled church ; at 
 another, escaping death only by the temperate 
 advice of Gamaliel.* 
 
 Another event in the record is the startling 
 and terrible death of Ananias and of his wife, 
 Sapphira.2 These two secretly agreed upon a 
 falsehood which they would tell to make the 
 apostles believe that they had given away all 
 that they possessed, while in reality they were 
 keepihg back one half. But " lying lips are an 
 abomination to the Lord." They both fell dead, 
 neither knowing the other's miserable end. 
 
 Four years have passed since the crucifixion 
 of Christ. They were years crowded with 
 activity and development on the part of Chris- 
 tianity. The disciples, who had been scattered 
 at the death of Christ, ca»^^e toijether aarain 
 immediately after His resurrection, and from 
 that time exhibited such intensity of devotion 
 
 1 Acts V. 34. 
 
 2 Acts V. 19. 
 
 f 
 
■n 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 37. 
 
 to Him and His memory that their cause at- 
 tracted the attention of all classes in Jerusalem. 
 It was a time when religion was at a low ebb. 
 Attention enough was given to the formalities 
 of worship ; but there was \ery little in either 
 the teaching or the example of any of the relig- 
 ious leaders to satisfy the cravings of the people 
 or to incite them to good lives. Even Saul, 
 while he maintained such remarkable devotion as 
 he did to the religion of the fathers, must have 
 sometimes been less than satisfied with its uni- 
 versal dulness, coldness, and fruitlessness. This 
 state of things, however, furnished a favorable 
 opportunity for the warm., pungent, personal 
 Gospel preached by the apostles of Christ ; and 
 the people liked it, even as they had, so many 
 of them, gladly heard Jesus himself. Accord- 
 ingly, the number of Christ's followers increased, 
 not only from the poor and uneducated, but 
 also "a great company of the priests were obe- 
 dient to the faith." ^ 
 
 Among the most prominent of those who 
 believed the Gospel, and who met together to 
 worship Jesus and take counsel for their work, 
 was Stephen. 
 
 That first church had in it some poor and 
 helpless widows, who, if they had remained 
 faithful to the old Jewish religion, would have 
 
 1 Acts vi. 7. 
 
 

 Ci^tjB 
 
 y 
 
ST PAUL'S JOUIWEYS 
 
 AND TlIE PLACES WKNTIONED JH 
 IJIE .ATTS JiKD THE £PISTT.ES 
 
 2.f . Jovurtu./ 
 J ''i Jovrntjf. 
 
 . loo so 
 
 JtOft^lV ■ ■ ■ ■ I ' ■ ' 
 
 JTifiJi 
 
 'U 
 
 ^nyluk, 
 
 so 
 
 -.JI6&« 
 
 
 ^- A^ 
 
 '^i^HiiUk 
 
 Ik 
 
 20 
 
 I,oni^Jtude 3 East 
 
 26 
 
; 
 
 ') 
 
^:t. 31.1 THE MARTYHDOM OF STEPHEN. 
 
 been provided for by the Corban fund, but, hav- 
 ing left the synagogues, and meeting now with 
 the disciples, some other means must be devised 
 for their support. The first disciples of Christ 
 were generous ; but it was necessary that there 
 should be some system as well as generosity in 
 their benevolence. Accordingly, seven deacons 
 were chosen, part of whose duty it was to 
 attend to the needs of the poor. Stephen was v.^ 
 one of these. He was a young man of far more 
 than common gifts, — a Jew who had received 
 a Greek education. He was vigorous, strong 
 and bold, and, as tradition paints him, beauti- 
 ful. It was natural that such a man should 
 come quickly into notoriety. With Peter, John, 
 and Philip he was soon recognized as a leader ; ^y 
 so that he was not only a deacon to distribute 
 charity among the indigent, but also an eloquent 
 evangelist preaching the Gospel of Christ with 
 so much force and zeal that many were con- 
 verted, while, on the other hand, some were en- 
 raged. 
 
 At length there was a public discussion, at 
 "which Stephen maintained the truth of Chris- 
 tianity against chosen men from several of the 
 synagogues of Jerusalem.' 
 
 It is probable that Saul took part in this de- 
 bate ; but even with such a champion Stephen's 
 
 1 Acts vi. 9-10. 
 
 I 
 
34 
 
 LIFE or PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. nr. 
 
 enemies were not able to hold their ground 
 aguinst him. All the more was tiieir opposi- 
 tion stirred iii). They were not only opposed 
 to the truth which he preached, but Ihey were 
 alarmed at the influence which a man of such 
 ability and zeal might exert upon all classes, low 
 and high, in the city. They determined that in 
 some manner he must be got out of the way. 
 
 It happened that at that time, A. D. 37, by a 
 very exceptional combination of circumstances, 
 the power of life and death was in the hands of 
 the Jewish authorities. Pilate had been called 
 from Ctesarea to Rome, and his successor had 
 not yet arrived in Palestine. The Sanhedrim 
 is, therefore, for the time independent and 
 supreme. It is substantially the same body by 
 which Jesus was condennied, except that Saul 
 seems to have been admitted to it since that 
 time. Again, as on that former occasion, "false 
 "witnesses" are brought forward. Stephen is 
 suddenlv arrested and draorgcd into the hall 
 Gazith. P^v'erything is unfair. There is only 
 the flimsiest show of justice. There are no for- 
 mal preliminaries. The " false witnesses " give 
 their testimony — that the prisoner had spoken 
 blasphemy against the Temple and the ceremo- 
 nies and Moses. Stephen stood alone ])efore his 
 judges. He knew that like blood-thirsty wolves 
 they were determined to have his life. The 
 
 W f. 
 
^T.ni.T THE MARTYRDOM OF STErHEN. 
 
 35 
 
 ■4 
 
 i 
 
 r 
 
 eves of the wliole semicircle wen? intent I v 
 watchin<r their livinfj prey. They saw not a 
 face j)ale witii fear, nor l>lack with an«ror ; but, 
 a marvel in that hall of judgment, "as it had 
 been the face of an angel." 
 
 When the High Priest, the presiding judge 
 in this court, after listening to the testimony of 
 the " false witnesses," said to the prisoner, '' Are 
 these things so?" Stephen had the privilege of 
 defence — if the opportunity to appeal to a jury 
 who have ah-eady agreed upon a verdict is any 
 privilege. At least he could stand boldly for 
 the tnith ; and immediately he opened his lips 
 and replied to the charges brought against him. 
 It is a remarkable address, full of historic 
 illustration, cogent logic, and pathos. Its key- 
 note is, that the ]\Iosaic legislation must inevit- 
 ably make way for the coming of a better re- 
 ligion, of which Jesus Christ is the living heart. 
 This is the martyr's supreme thought as he 
 stands before his judges and pours into their 
 ears the unpleasant truth ; but at the last 
 moment, irritated into indignation by their 
 proud self-admiration, he bieaks out upon them 
 with the keen and biting charge : — 
 
 " Stiflf-necked, and uncircumcised in heart 
 and ears ! Ye do always resist the Holy Spirit, 
 as your fathers did, so do ye. ^A'hich of the 
 prophets did not your fathers persecute ? And 
 
 ? 
 
r 
 
 36 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 37. 
 
 they killed those who foretold the coming of the 
 righteous One, of whom ye have now become 
 the betrayers and murderers ; — ye who received 
 the law as ordained through anacels, and did not 
 keep it.*' 
 
 There was not a more intent man in the San- 
 hedrim that day than Saul. How' the words of 
 Stephen — the angelic face, the simple earnest- 
 ness and devotion to his master — must have 
 taken hold of him ! Foi* Saul was not a mere 
 traditionalist, who would believe and rest in the 
 teachinjys of other men without thinkinsr for him- 
 self. It coukl not l)e that in a heart so deep as 
 his there were no longings unfilled by the super- 
 ficial religious notions of so many of his own 
 people. He was a Jew outwardly, Pharisee of the 
 Pharisees, after the law blameless.' But there 
 is an inward grace without which every earnest 
 soul is •unsatisfied ; and Saul must have felt, 
 while Stephen was addressing them, that the 
 martyr possessed something to which he him- 
 self was a stranger. Uut education, custom, 
 pride, friendship, oflficial position, occupation, 
 and that personal momentum which drives one 
 
 • " Pride of birth, pride ol' intellect, pride of knowledge, and 
 though last, the deadliest and the worst of all these serpents which 
 are nurtured in the human heart, jiridc of religious profession, mis- 
 called religious pride, all raised their hydra heads against the 
 eutrance of the Lamb of God into his soul." — IIexhy Blunt: 
 •« History of St. Paul," p. 15. 
 
 -4^ 
 
iET.31.] THE MARTYRDOM OF STEPHEN. 
 
 37 
 
 1 
 
 on in the direction in which he has been going, 
 were so strong in Saul that they bore down 
 every conviction of right and duty. 
 
 " Cut to the heart," the council unanimously 
 and hastily condemned Stephen to death, 
 gnashed their teeth at him in their fury, ran 
 upon him screaming and stopping their ears so 
 that they might hear no more, dragged him out 
 of the judgment hall, along the street and 
 through the gate out into the valley of Jehosha- 
 phat. Here, " kneeling in a iinal act of love 
 and intercession, he received the ministering 
 blows of death. It was a terrible, an agoniz- 
 ing end. With liCavy thuds of torture," ^ they 
 bruised and crushed and killed his fair youth- 
 ful body, while his calm spirit gnzed into 
 heaven, and saw the Son of Man standing at 
 the right hand of the Majesty on high, and with 
 that vision was so at peace that he could pray 
 for Heaven's mercy upon his murderers, ^o 
 doubt Saul's voice was loud in the condemna- 
 tion. AVe are sure ; for not only does Luke 
 record it, but the Apostle himself afterwards 
 confesses that he stood by and '' kept the 
 raiment of them that slew^ him."^ Perhaps he 
 was "thinking with secret joy of the merits 
 which he was acquiring by participating in the 
 
 » Knox- T.ittl,' : " ^r;^n^ho<tol• Sermons," p. 236. 
 2 Acts xxii. 20. 
 
38 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 LA.ly. 37. 
 
 
 death " of this zealous follower of the despised 
 Nazarene. 
 
 So Stephen fell asleep " on the hard bier of 
 the murderous stones " ; ^ l)ut the eyes of an- 
 other great soul are soon opened in the blaze 
 of a light brighter than the sun at noonday, and 
 the work of the Lord Jesus goes on. 
 
 1 Baumgarten : " Apostolic History," i. 167. 
 
 •e^V 
 
 I 
 
 
 .iv 
 

 ( 
 
 Ujw 
 
 CHAPTER m. 
 
 SAUL'S CONVERSION. 
 
 m 
 
 ** Thou from on hijrh pcrceivcst it were better 
 all men and women should on earth be free; 
 laws tliat blaspheme and tyrannies that fetter 
 snap and evanish at the touch of Thee." 
 
 F. W. II. Myeus. 
 
 " Of Saul, what made a Paul ? Faith." — Adolpiik Monod. 
 
 " I was unbelieving in the evening, on the morrow a Christian, 
 certain with an invincible certainty. " — Lacordaire. 
 
 fT^HE martyrdom of Stephen was the signal 
 -■- for a general outbreak of persecution u})on 
 the Christians, until all of them living in Jeru- 
 salem, except the apostles, abandoned their 
 homes and hurried away to hide themselves in 
 other cities, and in obscure places in the 
 country . It was indeed a dark time for them ; 
 but they would not yield an iota in their devo- 
 tion to Jesus, though their lives were at 
 stake. 
 
 Saul seems to have been the leadin": s^^irit in 
 this persecution. Many years afterward he 
 declared, in the presence of Ilcrod Agrippa,^ 
 that he bad punished the Christians, and had 
 
 ' Acts xxvi. 9-11. 
 
 80 
 
40 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 ^ 
 
 [A.D. 37. 
 
 compelled the weak to deny their faith, that he 
 had thrown them into prison, had voted to put 
 them to death, and "being exceedingly mad 
 against them," ^ had driven them out of Jej'usa- 
 lem to other cities, and following, had continued 
 to persecute them wherever they had fled. Dur- 
 ing these years the disciples of Christ had no 
 enemy so much dreaded as this fierce Pharisee. 
 He counted their lives no better than the lives 
 of wild dogs. He had no respect for age, con- 
 dition, or sex. He thrust his bloody hands 
 into the very secrecy and sanctity of the Chris- 
 tians' homes, and dragged out both men and 
 .vomen to have them cast into prison, or, with 
 little show of justice, to be scourged or stoned 
 to death. 
 
 At length fuel for the fires of persecution 
 was almost exhausted at Jerusalem ; but the 
 zeal of the persecutor was not extinguished. 
 He had tasted the cruel delight of shedding 
 Ch/istian blood ; but his appetite was yet keen. 
 We may presume that Saul's visits had already 
 struck terror to the hearts of Christians in all 
 the principal cities of Palestine. But his eager- 
 ness carried him into "stranoje cities." 
 
 Of the large foreign cities, Damascus was 
 nearest to Jerusalem. It was less than one 
 hundred and fifty miles away, and could be 
 reached in six or eight days. It was situated, 
 
 I 
 
 «/' 
 
 i 
 
 
 ' 
 
mr. 31.] 
 
 SAUL S CONVERSION. 
 
 41 
 
 rK 
 
 <-/> 
 
 as now/ just beyond the mountains of Anti- 
 Lebanon, on the edge of the Syrian desert. 
 K , Although this oldest city of the world is nearly 
 
 surrounded on three sides by barren sands, 
 travellers vie with each other in attempting to 
 portray its beauty and fertility. Some ten or 
 twelve miles beyond the city, toward the East, 
 are two small lakes, ^ out of which no stream or 
 river runs, but the waters of which are drunk 
 by the thirsty sand and the hot Syrian atmos- 
 phere. The river Barada (or Abana) , which sup- 
 plies these lakes, flows perpetually from the 
 snowy ravines of Anti-Lebanon, and in its 
 
 1 The Damascus of to-day lies along the south side of the 
 Barada river. There is a small suhurl) on the opposite bank, 
 called Salahiyeh. The population of the city at the present time 
 is about one hundred and fifty thousand, almost the whole of which 
 are Mohammedans. There are a few fine buildings. The Great 
 Mosque is one of the handsomest structures in the possession of 
 the Mohammedans. There are son;c other religious huildinj,'s, 
 and quite an imposing hotel, built of black and white marblu. Tlie 
 principal thoroughfare is Sultany Street; which, altliough so nar- 
 row that two loaded donkeys can scarcely pass each other in it, 
 and so obstructed by bends and projecting houses that one can see 
 down it but a little way, still makes in general a direct course 
 through the city from West to East, and was formerly called 
 " Straight Street." Eighteen hundred years ago this was the fash- 
 ionable avenue of the great city. It was one hundred feet wide, 
 and was divided into three parallel avenues, — two broad pave- 
 ments on either side for pedestrians, and a central way for car- 
 riages. Two rowa of Corinthian columns stretched througli the 
 whole lengtli of the avenue. Halfway down, the street was tjpanned 
 by a splendid Roman arch, and at either end of it were tlie massive 
 threefold gates. 
 
 * Porter: "Five Years in Damascus," p. 147, and his map. 
 
» 
 
 M 
 i 
 
 42 
 
 lAYK OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 37. 
 
 course waters tliat fertile spot in which Damas- 
 cus sits. The Damascenes, like tiie Egyptians, 
 earlv learned the value of irri<>^ation. ('anals 
 were cut in all directions, and the fertilizing 
 waters were made use of at every available 
 point. Groves and gardens flourished. There 
 were trees loaded with delicious fruits of many 
 varieties, plots covered with ])rilliant flowers, 
 hedges of roses, and, spreading over all, along 
 every sparkling, melodious Avater-course, the 
 stately phune-crowned palm. In the midst of 
 such a luxuriant o-arden ilashed the " Eve of the 
 East." "Its white buildings," says Pusey, 
 " embedded in the deep green of its engirdling 
 orchards, were like diamonds encircled by 
 emeralds." ^ The Arabs sav, "If there is a 
 Garden of Eden on earth, it is Diunascus ; and 
 if in heaven, Damascus is like it on earth." 
 
 T' i)olitical condition of Damascus at the 
 period of Saul's \isit should be understood. 
 Just one hundred years before this time, the 
 city Jiad become a dependence of the Koman 
 republic, and had so continued to be. But at 
 the death of Til)erius (A.D. ^V7), the change of 
 administration i)laced Damascus in the hands of 
 Aretas, Kini»" of Arabia Petrani. Lewin sum- 
 marizes the condition of afl'airs thus : " There 
 cannot l)e a doubt that at the commencement 
 
 " ComiULUlavv un Aiiuis," i. -S. 
 
 
 r, 
 
 ,\:-' 
 
 jaaiTiiwy 
 
! ■ ' ' '■ ? > 
 
 • 
 
 ^i 
 
 V. 
 
 t*- 
 
 :) 
 
 .i I 
 
 ,!j 
 
 t •; 
 
 > 
 
 o 
 w 
 
 O 
 
 o 
 
 n 
 
 c 
 
 1' 
 
 
I 
 
 I 
 
 \ 
 
 i 
 
 
 ?i. 
 
ii 
 
 i 
 
 
 II 
 
 'i 
 
 ilET.31.] 
 
 SAUL S CONVERSION. 
 
 45 
 
 of the reign of Caligula, Aretas, by whatever 
 means he attained this dignit}', was in the 
 peaceful possession of Damascus. As a new 
 sovereign he was anxious to gain popularity 
 with all classes of his subjects, and in particu- 
 lar exhibited a conciliatory demeanor t()^vards 
 the Greeks and Jews, who formed no snuiU 
 part of the population. Aretas describ^^; him- 
 self on his coins as Lover of the Greeks ; and, 
 as regards the Jews, he accorded to IIkmu all 
 the privileges which they were allowed in cities 
 where they were most favored. Xot only w^ere 
 they allowed the free exercise of their religion, 
 but they were permitted, as at Antioch and 
 Alexandria, to govern their own community by 
 their own peculiar laws ; and the local chief 
 of their nation, or ethnarch, had authority to 
 arrest and punish any dclincjucnt amongst his 
 own people."^ 
 
 This accounts for the large number of Jews 
 resident at Damascus at this time, man}' of 
 w^hom were (Christians, and also explains why 
 the High Priest at Jerusalem could confer so 
 much authority on Saul, to be exercised in a 
 foreign city ; for Jews ever}'where and in all 
 conditions acknowledged the su})remacy of the 
 High Priest, and were subject, under penalty of 
 death, to the authority of the Great Sanhedrim 
 at Jerusalem. 
 
 > "St. Paul" I. 68. 
 
/ 
 
 46 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.P. .17. 
 
 Saul, therefore, "hrcathing out threatcnings 
 and slaughter against the diseiples of the Lord, 
 went unto the High Priest, and desired of him 
 letters to Damascus to the synaifoffues that if 
 he found any of this Avay, whether they were 
 men or women, he miaht brinof them hound to 
 Jerusalem;" and, having received the letters, 
 permitted nothing to detain him, but hurried 
 away for a long, hot journey in "midsummer"^ 
 uj) through Galilee and Samaria, and across 
 over the tedious desert roads to the eastern 
 slopes of Anti-Lebanon. He is not alone. 
 Soldiers and servants, some on horseback, some 
 on foot, v/ould be the natural attendants of such 
 a personage, sent out from the High Priest on 
 an embassy like this. 
 
 Who can tell what Saul's thoughts were 
 during this week ? The fancy may be correct 
 which' pictures him now away from the heat and 
 excitement of his cruel work, driven by the 
 length of the journey into a comparative soli- 
 tude and leisure to think about what he was 
 doing, — " forced to go up into the dark tribunal 
 of his own conscience and set himself before 
 himself," ^ — until he was filled with doubts and 
 misgivings as to whether he was right or wrong 
 in persecuting with such cruel severity such 
 people as the Christians were. Tf these were his 
 
 1 Lewin, i. 48. 
 
 2 Farrar, chap. x. 
 
 J. 
 
Mt. 31.] 
 
 Saul's conversion. 
 
 m 
 
 *it 
 
 thoughts during the journey to Damascus, they 
 would only he the natural antecedents of the 
 startling event which took place as he came 
 near the journey's end. 
 
 The siffht of his destination rouses all the 
 energy of the inquisitor. The cavalcade is push- 
 ing forward, even in the intense heat of noon, 
 at an hour when the traveller in the East is 
 accustomed to spread his tent and seek shelter 
 from the scorching sun. No rest nor halting 
 for zealous Saul so near his work. You can 
 almost see him urging to its utmost speed his 
 jaded horse, bending forward in the saddle with 
 his eyes intent upon yonder beautiful city, the 
 home of Christians treml)ling because they have 
 heard of his coming, — silent, eager, exulting, 
 — when "suddenly there shined round about 
 him a light from heaven," " above the brightness 
 of the sun." Saul is blinded and falls to the 
 ground, and lying there he hears a heavenly 
 voice tilled with sweetly-pleading reproof, say- 
 ing to him, " Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou 
 me?" In his amazement he only asks, "Who 
 art thou. Lord? " and waits listening if he may 
 hear another w^ord from that heart-conquering 
 voice. And the Lord said, " I am Jesus, whom 
 thou persecutest." Trembling and amazed he 
 asks humbly, " Lord, what wilt thou have me 
 do ? " " Arise and enter into the city, and it 
 
48 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL 
 
 lA.D. 37. 
 
 shiiU l)(^ told tlici; what tlioii must do."' See 
 yuul now I He whose wlioUi ljein«r, a litth' whiU; 
 ugo, was urij^cd on to persecute the t'()lh)wer.s 
 of this fJesUN, ri>e>one of his followers himself. 
 " He had fallen a proud, intolerant, perseeuting 
 Jew ; he rose u humble, broken-hearted, peni- 
 tent Christian." 
 
 When Saul rose from the ground to whieh he 
 hud been thrown by the sudden shock of the 
 marvellous light from heaven, he eould see 
 nothing. And his blindness made him helpless. 
 The strong man became a child. 'I'he pride of 
 this very proud Pharisee had nothing to lean 
 against. He, the leader of the compan}', with 
 letters in the inner i)oeket of his robe from the 
 High P)' est, authorizing him to hunt 't and 
 arrest Christians in Damascus, came to .^ gate 
 of the city an object of pity to all who saw him ; 
 for "they led him by the hand," and on they 
 went through the avenue, — some one leading 
 the horse on which he had ridden, some one 
 leading Saul, — observed by every passer-by, 
 until they came to "the house of Judas." 
 
 This, one would think, must have ])een keenly 
 humiliating to Saul. Hour after hour passes. 
 In all probability the best physician in Damas- 
 
 1 There are three accounts of Saul's conversion : 1. Luke's 
 simi)lc story, Acts i.\, 2. Paul's luii-rative in the Toniple-court in 
 Jerusalem, Acts xxii. 3. His statement before Festus and Agrippa 
 iu Civjsarca, Acts xxv. 
 
JET. ,11.1 
 
 !i5ACLS rOWEHSION. 
 
 40 
 
 -• 
 
 cus is suninionod : but his (li;iirn(».is reveals 
 
 n()tliin<r, and his iiostnmis produce no eftect. 
 
 Hut, unless we niisnppreheud the feelinirs of 
 
 Saul at this time, tliere was sonietiiinir trouhiiuir 
 
 him even more than tlu; t'aet of his heinir hlind. 
 
 He was, before all else, a rf^h't/ioHs man. He 
 
 believed in Ciod, and had l)een in the habit of 
 
 prayinof, and it was the chief aim of his life to 
 
 serve God in the best wav. And he thought he 
 
 had been servinti: God ; but verv suddenlv a 
 
 new light has broken in upon him, an<l lo ! all 
 
 his past life is wrong, — not only wrong, but 
 
 desperately wicked I He wonders how he could 
 
 have made such a mistake. He recalls the 
 
 words of tlic prophets, and each new sentence 
 
 makes it plainer that this Jesus must have been 
 
 the promised Messiah. He recollects the argu- '^~~ 
 
 ment of Stephen, and goes over it again in -r/v>\.^r. c^. 
 
 detail. He remembers the face, the pra3'er, the ,- ^ 
 
 patience of the youthful martyr : and the burden 
 
 of condemnation grows still heavier. What 
 
 can this blindness be but the judgment of God? 
 
 We are not surprised that he takes no food. 
 
 As the hours of bitter memorv drai; on, he 
 
 does not know but something more terrible 
 
 than blindness may be hanging over him. He 
 
 betakes himself to prayer ; and He who answers 
 
 prayer mercifully revealed to Saul's inner sight • 
 
 a vision of what was soon actuallv to occur. 
 
50 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 37. 
 
 He seemed to see u stranger coming into the 
 room wliere he was, and bv the touch of his 
 hand restorinoj his lost siiiht. 
 
 There was a disciple of Jesus in Damascus 
 named Ananias. He too was a Jew. AVhether 
 he was a native of Damascus, and had been con- 
 verted there, or, because he had l)ecome a fol- 
 lower of Christ, had been oldiged to lind refuge 
 in that distant city, we do not know. What 
 his subsequent histor}^ was, we arc equally un- 
 able to say. He is only led out of o])scurity to 
 perform one signal act, and then steps back 
 airain to oe seen no more.' 
 
 Two nights have passed since Saul was led 
 blind into the house of Judas ; and on the third 
 day, while he is praying there, the Lord speaks 
 to Ananias, telling him of the vision that had 
 been oiyen lo Saul, and commanding him to *>o 
 and make the vision real. Ananias had heard of 
 Saul and of his purpose in coming to Damascus. 
 It is no wonder, therefore, that he hesitated to 
 put himself within reach of one whose intentions 
 were so bloody ; but the command is urgent, and 
 with the command there is an assurance that this 
 
 1 Not Pctci'; or James, or John, no ^n'cat and eminent apostle 
 need be sent for to instruct the learned and hijrhly talented Saul; 
 but Ananias, some poor, simple-hearted Christian, of whom the 
 divine word has never before made mention, is fully sufficient, in 
 God's hand, to teach this most richly-endowed of all the early con- 
 verts. — Blunt : ♦' History of St. Paul," 39. 
 
I 
 
 /) 
 
 'A- 
 
 „Jm' 
 
ff *• 
 
 Vo 
 
JET. 31.] 
 
 Saul's conversion. 
 
 53 
 
 same persecutor is one of the Lord's chosen, to 
 proclaim His name to the Gentiles and kings, 
 and even to the Jews. So Ananias found his 
 way through the crooked lanes of the city, out 
 upon the broad open avenue, and coming to the 
 house of Judas, asked if there was one there 
 called Saul from Tarsus. This stranger was 
 brought to Saul, and laying his hands upon the 
 blind man's head, called him " Brother Saul." 
 That one word must have sounded very sweet 
 to Saul ; for he was friendless now in Da- 
 mascus, and everywhere else. His companions 
 on the journey had not seen Jesus in the way, 
 and could not sympathize with Saul in the change 
 of mind and purpose which he had experienced ; 
 and what would those who knew him in Jeru- 
 salem say when they heard that he had become 
 a follower of Jesus? Ananias has more to say : 
 " The Lord, even Jesus, who appeared unto thee 
 in the way which thou earnest, hath sent me, that 
 thou mayest receive thy sight, and be filled with 
 the Holy Ghost." Sight and more ! Immedi- 
 ately Saul lifted his eyes, and could see. There 
 stood the Ananias of his vision. Saul was filled 
 with gladness, because he now knew that the 
 Lord Jesus loved him. The old husk of relig- 
 ious formalism was broken and thrown away ; 
 but he had in its place a Divine Person, whose 
 voice he had heard calling him by name. 
 
'• m"^ iy *» i i .r 
 
 f'^ 
 
 > 
 
 / 
 
 / 
 
 54 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 37. 
 
 Henceforth it should be his whole purpose to 
 serve this new Master. The zeal which had 
 been exerted against Jesus and His followers 
 shall from this time spend itself in making His 
 name known, and in calling upon men to be- 
 lieve on Him. Saul at once submitted himself to 
 the initiatory rite of Christian discipleship, and 
 the waters of the Abana were sanctified anew 
 by a use to which no dou})t they had already 
 often been put. Then the three days' fast was 
 broken by a meal at which all were glad. 
 -/ We have the new man before us now, — Saul, 
 / the Christian ; and he is a much more interesting 
 character. To all the strength and force and 
 impetuosity of his natural disposition Were has 
 been added an ardent personal love. All his 
 nature is tempered by it. Before he was proud. 
 Now he is humble. Before he was revengeful. 
 Now his heart is overflowing with forgiveness. 
 Before he lived for himself. Now he is to live 
 for his fellow-men. Before he sought power 
 and renown. Now he is seeking to glorify 
 Christ. 
 
 At once we find him, where Stephen was a few 
 months l)efore, in the synagogues preaching to 
 his own people, the Jews ; and this is his theme, 
 as it was of all the apostles, "Jesus, the Son of 
 God, died for our sins and rose from the dead." 
 How those Jews at Damascus must have won- 
 
 ^^ 
 
 .V. 
 
 ►^ 
 
■ 1 
 
 ^^ 
 
 4- 
 
 JET. 31.] 
 
 Saul's conversion. 
 
 55 
 
 (lercd, — they who had never had a thought or 
 experienced a heart-throb outside the narrow 
 limits of their law and tradition, and who had 
 looked upon Saul as one like themselves ; how 
 amazed they must have been to see the Hame 
 burst from : heart which they supposed was as 
 cold as their own, toward all new things in 
 religion ! At first they would not know what 
 it meant. Might not this be some stealthy 
 masquerade, by which cunning Saul would 
 draw the Christians about him only to destroy 
 them the more easily? No, — that cannot be. 
 He is too intensely in earnest. He must mean 
 what he says. They see the man whom they 
 had expected to be their champion transformed 
 into a stronger and more positive Christian than 
 any they had ever met before. 
 
 But Saul's preaching in Damascus at this time 
 could not have continued very long. Only for 
 a little while did he bear testimony to the fact 
 that he had become a follower of the Lord 
 Jesus ; for be is not ready yet to enter upon 
 the work of an apostle. 
 
 :> 
 
 — ^ 
 
sKa 
 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE CONVERT'S FIRST SIX YEARS. 
 
 •' Paul learnt more in Arabia tlian ever he had learnt at the feet 
 of Gamaliel. None can teach like (tocI; and all who will learn of 
 him must be alone with him. 'In the desert God will teach 
 thee."' — C. H. M. 
 
 '* He who would not become a merchantman, trafficking with 
 Heaven'? richest gift in a fatal, soul-ensnaring usury, will often 
 withdraw from the crowd, as did our blessed Master ; will often, 
 like Paul, the teacher of all love's deepest lessons, retire from the 
 souls he ministers to for a season, so that he may abide with thern 
 forever." — DoKA Gheenvvell. 
 
 XTTE come now to a period in Saul's life 
 ' " about which there is room for differences 
 of opinion. If we were to read only, the ac- 
 count in the ninth chapter of the Acts of the 
 Apostles, we might think that very soon after 
 his conversion, the Jews in Damascus were ex- 
 cited by his preaching, and decided to arrest 
 and put him to death, and that thereupon he 
 fled directly to Jerusalem. But if we turn to 
 one of the letters which he wrote a number of 
 years afterward, namely, the Epistle to the Gala- 
 tians (i. 17-18), we learn that he " went into 
 Arabia," came back to Damascus, and that it 
 was " three years " before he was in Jerusalem 
 56 
 
 '\ 
 
f 
 
 iET.32.] THE CONVERTS FIRST 8IX YEARS. 
 
 57 
 
 
 again. We do not know why Luke, the writer 
 of the ActSf omitted this from his account of 
 Saul's life ; but we will be perfectly safe in in- 
 serting it, on Saul's own authority, at the pliu'e 
 where it belongs. 
 
 We see Saul, then, leaving the beautiful city 
 of Damascus, where such a change had passed 
 over his life, and making his way into Arabia. 
 How far did he go? We cannot tell. Pos- 
 sibly only out into that lonely waste, not many 
 days' journey to the southeast of Damascus, 
 where he would be safe from his new enemies, 
 and at the same time would find undisturbed 
 retirement for retlection and meditation. Pos- 
 sibly he may have been impelled away to the 
 south, across many leagues of uninhabited and 
 inhospitable desert, to the barren ridges and 
 gloomy defiles of Sinai. Here the law was 
 given to Moses. Hither Elijah fled to be taught 
 of God, by "the still, small voice." Is it too 
 presumptuous to suppose that Saul, the Great 
 Apostle of the Xew Dispensation, might also 
 seek this ma<»:nificent and awful sanctuarv to 
 learn laore clearly, b}^ prayer and meditation, 
 God's purposes for him? 
 
 Nor are we able to decide with certainty how 
 long a time Saul was nwav in Arabia. Three 
 years intervno botwoon his conversion and his 
 return to .Jerusalem ; an. I it Is probable that but 
 
 ^-,. 
 
r 
 
 / 
 
 / 
 
 ! ■ I 
 
 58 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 38. 
 
 11 small part of this period was spent in Damas- 
 cus. When, however, he returns to this city 
 again, he is stronger an<l more ])ositive tlian ever 
 in his attitude as a Christian. For some months 
 probably he continued to i)reach and teach tho 
 people about Jesus. His reasoning became more 
 and more conclusive. There was no one al)le to 
 stand aijainst the flood of his enthusiastic ar^u- 
 ment and eloquence. The most learned Scribes 
 were no match for him. But defeat of this kind 
 will ever be more exasperating than convincing 
 to cold, hjird hearts ; and it was not long Ijefore 
 it began to be whispered about in the higher 
 circles of Jewish society in Damascus, " This 
 man is destroying the religion of the fathers. 
 Is he not worthy of death ? " And at last the 
 lesser Sanhedrim (which was the criminal court 
 in all Jewish connnunities away from Jerusalem) 
 was called together, and, after short consultation, 
 voted to arrest Saul, and put him to death. 
 
 Saul is now almost thirty-five years old, in the 
 very prime of life. It may seem to many not 
 a little remarkable that he should have made 
 the choice which he did, — abandoning all those 
 prospects of advancement and success and popu- 
 larity, which are so dear to the hearts of strong 
 and active young men, to accept the compan- 
 ionship of a small and despised sect, and to 
 incur the deadly enmity of his old friends, who 
 
 r 
 
 ^ 
 
r 
 
 JET. 35.] THE CONVERTS FIRST SIX YEARS. 
 
 59 
 
 
 1 
 
 were still in power. But it only shows how 
 strong tin intluencc love for Christ may exert. 
 Saul loved Jesus, and he could not love Ilini 
 and his old pursuits too. He must make a 
 choice, and so he chose, as another great 
 man did, "rather to suffer affliction with the 
 people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of 
 sin.'"^ From this time to his death — thirty'^ 
 years — Saul labored continually for one object, 
 to make Christ known ; and did it in the face 
 of incessant opposition ; for the spirit of Jewish^ 
 hatred pursued him everywhere, until at last, 
 but not before his Avork was finished, it com- 
 passed his death in martyrdom. 
 
 This first sentence of death made it necessary 
 for Saul to fiy from Damascus. Through some 
 friend he had heard that the warrant had been 
 issued for his arrest. No doubt he was willing, 
 if need be, to die for Christ's sake ; but the 
 other disciples did not think it at all necessary 
 that he should fall into the hands of his enemies, 
 and they persuaded him, if possible, to leave 
 the city. Upon the representation of the Jews 
 to the authorities that Saul was a disturber of 
 the peace, guards had been set at all the gates, 
 so that no one might go out of the city unchal- 
 lenged. There was another way, however, to get 
 out of Damascus. 
 
 • 1 Heb. xi. 25. 
 
 h 
 
I f 
 
 ■K3is 
 
 ;i 
 
 60 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 41. 
 
 The high wall, which in Saul's day sur- 
 rounded the city, is still standing, though par- 
 tially in ruins. Close against this wall some 
 of the houses of the city were built, many of 
 them reaching al)ove the wall, and some of them 
 having bay-windows projecting over it. Through 
 such a window, after dark, w hen all was still and 
 there was no one to observe his escape, Saul's 
 friends put him into a basket and lowered him 
 to the ground outside the wall. 
 
 We can imagine the Christian disciples gath- 
 ered in that upper room waiting for the hour 
 when it would be safe to put Saul out. Ana- 
 nias is there. Some one is watching at the 
 window to see when the guard is at a safe dis- 
 tance. They are all talking hastily and eagerly 
 together, though scarcely a])ove a whisper. 
 What will the Jews say when they discover that 
 Saul has escaped? What if they should pur- 
 sue and catch him on the morrow ? Which way 
 shall he go? Saul wants to see Peter, and for 
 that reason decides to go directly to Jerusalem. 
 
 It was at noon-day that Saul, — Rabbi, 
 Pharisee, Persecutor, — on horseback, with a 
 considerable retinue, had approached Damas- 
 cus. He leaves it under cover of night, alone 
 and on foot, creeping away condemned, as a 
 criminal worthv of death, bv that same law 
 which before he had so zealously obeyed. 
 
 r 
 
 -L 
 
I. 
 
 •f 
 
 .*:x. 35.J THE CUNVEKTJ5 F1U«T SIX YEARS. 
 
 61 
 
 i 
 
 T 
 
 The most direct roa ^ to Jeriisjilein must have 
 been the one l)y which Saul went to Djimascus. 
 Pickiuij: his way, then, from tlic i)hicc where he 
 v/:i« let down to the ground, across the gardens 
 and orchards and tields, perhai).s leai)ing or 
 wading some of those irrigating canals that ran 
 all about the city, he would be likely, as «oon 
 as it was safe, to strike the hi<diwav. Before 
 dawn he was climbing the slopes of Anti-Lebanon, 
 and when the sun rose over Damascus no doubt 
 he turned to take a farewell look at the city, 
 " decked in its robes of shining green," which 
 had been to him the scene of the beijinniniif of 
 a new life, and almost the place of his death. 
 
 But we must not let inia"fi nation lin2:er too lonff 
 with Saul on this journey. We do not know what 
 regretful memories ciune up as he retracted the 
 steps he had taken three years before ; and, in- 
 deed, we may believe that they did not occupy 
 his thoughts very much. They must have been 
 crowded out by the stirring ho}K>s and eager 
 purposes with which his devotion to Christ had 
 tilled his mind. When he came near to Jeru- 
 salem, though, the recollections of the old asso- 
 ciations must have swept in upon him ; for 
 Saul had a warm heart, and the ties of friend- 
 ship are always dear to such. Ilis old com- 
 panions, Scribes and Pharisees ; the High Priest, 
 whose letters he carried awav with him; his 
 

 I r 
 
 . M 
 
 G2 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 41. 
 
 beloved and now vencral)lo teacher, Gamaliel, 
 — what would they all say of him ? They would 
 despise him, of course, as a turncoat ; and they 
 would kill him, if they could. This he knew 
 well enough. But even if they did desi)ise 
 him, there were some others in Jerusalem who 
 would welcome him. The disciples of Christ 
 there would receive him as a brother. So, back 
 to the city of his fathers' God he comes, past the 
 place where Jesus was crucitied, and the spot 
 where Stephen was stoned, and into the streets 
 with which he was so familiar. His steps do 
 not turn toward the Temple. He is looking for 
 Peter. He inquires of one and another. He 
 attempts to make the acquaintance of some 
 who he knows are followers of Christ, but 
 they are all afraid of him ; and even, when he 
 tells them that he has become a disciple him- 
 self, they wiU not believe him. At length 
 he found his oid friend and school-fellow, Bar- 
 nabas, who had been a disciple of Christ for 
 several years, and who had given his money 
 generously for the spread of the Gospel. He, 
 knowing that Saul could not be a hypocrite, 
 listened with joy to the story of his conversion, 
 and at once took him to the house of Peter, 
 who at that time was pastor of the church at 
 Jerusalem,^ and who, with his generous, enthu- 
 
 1 " Smith's Bible Dictionary," iii. 2451. 
 
 I 
 
 t 
 
 'l\ 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
JET. 35.] THE CONVERTS FIRST SIX YEARS. 
 
 63 
 
 .n 
 
 siastic disposition, welcomed Saul as his guest. 
 Fifteen short days Saul spent here. He met 
 James, who seems to have been the onlv other 
 apostle in Jerusalem at this time ; hut most of 
 the time was spent with Peter. It would he a 
 delight to hear from Peter about Jesus ; for 
 Peter had been with Ilim so nmch. Prol)ably 
 during this visit Saul acquired most of that 
 familiaritv with the tcaehino^s of Jesus, which 
 afterward made his own preaching and writing 
 so clearly a repetition and development of what 
 Jesus himself had said. 
 
 Here, though, as in Damascus the Sabbath 
 found Saul in the synagogues. " The same zeal 
 which had caused his voice to be heard in the 
 Hellenistic synagogues in the persecution against 
 Stephen now led Saul in the same sj-^nagogues 
 to declare, fearlessly, his adherence to Stephen's 
 cause. The same fury which had caused the 
 murder of Stephen now brought the murderer 
 of Stephen to the verge of assassination."^ 
 The Jews would not let Saul live and preach 
 Christ. His influence was too great. They 
 could endure James, for he was unenthusiastic. 
 They would let Peter preach, for he belonged 
 to the common people, and was uneducated ; 
 but Saul had been an aristocrat, and was ac- 
 quainted by education with the strength and 
 
 1 Howson : '• St. Paul," l. 103. 
 
 i 
 
64 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 LA.D. 41. 
 
 weakness of Judaism. Here was a knight with 
 trenchant sword, who knew how to wield his 
 sword, and who also was acquainted with every 
 flaw in his opponent's armor. Such a knight 
 must not l)e allowed in tlic lists. ''They went 
 about to slay him." 
 
 Saul was not easily driven from a work which 
 he earnestly wanted to do. He had persecuted 
 the disciples of Christ before in Jerusalem, and 
 he was anxious now to do all he could for their 
 cause. But the Lord's ways arc not always 
 man's ways,' and Saul would rather do what the 
 Lord wanted him to than to follow out his own 
 inclinations. In a speech that he made twenty 
 years afterward,^ while standing on the castle 
 stairs in the Temple-court, he related how he 
 came to leave Jerusalem on this occasion. He 
 was praying in the Temple, — probably that he 
 might leain what his next step ought to be. 
 While praying, he says, he fell into a trance, 
 and the Lord spoke to him : "Make haste ; 
 leave Jerusalem ; the people here will not be- 
 lieve what you have to say." But he still 
 wanted to remain, and he parleyed with the 
 divine comnuind until it was repeated briefly 
 
 ' Very different arc the intentions of God respcctinjr our future 
 disposal from the intentions cf ourselves and our friends. Saul, 
 perhaps, expected to spend many years at Jonisalcm ; the Almiphty 
 had appointnl lliat lie shouM ronr.iin tlicre fiftci'ii day-. — Hn'NT: 
 " Histoiy of St. Paul," 71. * Act?* xxii. 
 
 •(It 
 
MT.Xi.] THE CONVERT*S FIRST SIX YEARS. 
 
 c,h 
 
 and emphatically. "Go I for I will send thoe 
 far iiwiiy to the Gentiles." Then he was per- 
 suaded. Some of the Christian brethren went 
 with him down to ('{vsarea, and saw him on 
 hoard ship for his native city, Tarsus, where, 
 for the present, we must leave him. 
 
 Jj 
 
 I 
 
 i4 
 
 ».•. 
 
 f 
 
■ K 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 ANTIOCII OF SYIUA. 
 
 " It is probal)lc that no popuhitions have ever been move 
 abandoned than those of Oriental Oreek cities under the Roman 
 Empire ; and of these cities Antiocii was the greatest and the 
 worst." — J, S. IIowsoN. 
 
 " O thou, resort and mart of all the earth, 
 Chequer'd with .all complexions of mankind, 
 And spotted with all crimes; in which I see 
 Much that I love, and more thpt I admire, 4 
 
 And all that I abhor; thou freckled fair, 
 That pleases and yet shocks nic, I can lanK'h 
 And I can weep, can hope and can dc>pond, 
 Feel wrath and pity, when I think on tiiee ! " 
 
 \Vm. CoWPER. 
 
 AVTHILE S;iul is jit Tarsus we turn our 
 * * fuees toward another city, Antioch, the 
 capital of Syria. 
 
 In the snowy ravines of that same mountain 
 ranije of Anti-Lebanon in which the Abana of 
 Damascus takes its rise we find the sources of 
 another river, on whose banks we trace the 
 footsteps of the great Apostle. This river, the 
 Orontes, runs almost due north for two hundred 
 miles, until, near that analc where the northern 
 and eastern shores of the Mediterranean meet, 
 it makes an abri^ turn around Mount Sil^ius, 
 
II 
 
 Mt. 350 
 
 ANTIOCH OF SYRIA. 
 
 67 
 
 an 
 he 
 
 j^ 
 
 and fulls rapidly in a southwesterly direction 
 to the sea. There is an old fal)le that the bed 
 of this river was formed by the writhing of 
 the snake-legged giant, Tjphon, when he was 
 stmck with a thunderbolt by Jupiter, and that 
 the source of the river in the Anti-Lel)anon is 
 the hok through which Typhon escaped into the 
 earth. Sixteen miles from the Mediterranean, 
 the Orontes is a river one hundred and twenty- 
 five feet wide. At this point its course is 
 through a fertile valley, which on the south 
 side rises tirst gradually, but soon very sharply, 
 to the mountain Silpius, the overhanging crests 
 of which are from one to two miles from the 
 river. In this vallev. between the mountain 
 and the river, and hugging closely the low bank, 
 is Antakieh, " a shrunken and miserable place," 
 studded "with s(|ualid hovels of mud and straw." 
 Mr. Bavard Tavlor visited Antakieh in June, 
 185i. He had ))een skirting the eastern coast 
 vi the Mediterranejui in a Syrian yacht ; and 
 alqppin^ at Suediali at the mouth of the 
 Orontes, rode up to the ancient capital. His 
 desi^ription of that ride is so vivid that it almost 
 transports the reader to the bank of the rippling 
 river, and Trav^^she:? him with the sights and 
 sounds :uid od*)r8 of another paradise ; while 
 tile simgle realistic toucli with which it closes 
 sets a?s in ti*e heart of the Turkish town. 
 

 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 41. 
 
 I i« 
 
 I 
 
 "Our way was ovorlmni^ witli hedges of 
 poniegnmate, myrtle, oleander and white rose, 
 in blossom, and occasionally with (juince, fig, 
 and carol )-trees, laced together with grape-vines 
 in frai>:rant bloom. Sometimes this wilderness 
 of color and odor met above our heads and 
 made a twilight ; then it opened into long, 
 dazzling, sun-bright vistas, where the hues of 
 the oleander, pomegranate and white rose made 
 the eye wink with their gorgeous profusion. 
 The mountains we crossed were covered with 
 thickets of myrtle, mastic, da})hne and arbutus, 
 and all the valleys and sloping meads w^aved 
 with fig, nudberry and olive-trees. Looking 
 towards th<» sea, the valley broadened out be- 
 tween mountain ranges whose summits were 
 lost in the clouds. Though the soil was not so 
 rich as in Palestine, the general aspect of the 
 country was Tnu<h wilder and more luxuriant. 
 
 "So, by this glorious scene, over the myrtled 
 hills and d-^wn into valleys, whose l)ed was one 
 hue of rose from the blossoming oleanders, we 
 travelled for fivt^ hours, crossing the low range 
 of hills through \\ liiv'h the Orontes forces his way 
 to the sea. At last we reached a height over- 
 looking the vallc\ of the river, and saw in the 
 east, at the foot of the mountain-chain, the long 
 line of barracks built by Ibrahim Pasha for the 
 defence of Antioch. Behind them the ancient 
 
Mr. 38] 
 
 ANTIOCH OF SYRIA. 
 
 69 
 
 i I 
 
 
 
 wall of the city clomb the mountains, whose 
 crest it followed to the last peak of the chain. 
 From the next hill we saw the city, — a large 
 extent of one-story houses with tiled roofs, 
 surrounded with gardens and half buried in the 
 foliage of sycamores. It extends from the 
 river Orontes, which washes its walls, up the 
 slope of the mountain to the crags of gray rock 
 which overhang it. We ci'ossed the river by a 
 massive old bridge, and entered the town. 
 Ridins: alon^r the rills of filth which traverse 
 the streets, forming their central avenues, we 
 passed through several lines of bazaars to a 
 large and dreary-looking khan, the keeper of 
 which gave us the best vacant chamber, — a 
 narrow place, full of fleas."' 
 
 This Antakieh, then, is only another low, 
 flat-roofed, filthy Oriental town, in which five or 
 six thousand children of the sun spend their 
 lazy days under the bright Syrian sky, the nar- 
 row streets of which are the common lounginff- 
 place of ba))ies, beggars, dogs, and donkeys. 
 To be sure, it is surrounded with scenery pleas- 
 ant to look upon, and the soil is good. Anta- 
 kieh, however, produces almost nothing but a 
 small quantity of indifferent leather, some to- 
 bacco, and a few nmlberry-trees. But the An- 
 tioch of the first Christian century was the 
 
 1 *• The Lauds of the Saracens," chap. xiv. 
 
 \! 
 
li 
 
 70 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 41. 
 
 
 second, and almost the third, city of the world 
 for the wealth of its citizens, the magnificence 
 of its architecture, its social, intellectual, and 
 political standing. It was one of the many 
 cities founded by that Seleucus Nicator who, 
 about 300 B. C, became the king of Syria, and 
 established the dynasty, which, from that time 
 to its close, is known by his name, — the Seleu- 
 cidiB. This prince must have had a passion for 
 building cities. He l)uilt six Laodiceas, and 
 named them in honor of his mother ; one Apamea, 
 in honor of his wife ; nine Seleucias to bear his 
 own name to posterity ; and sixteen Antiochs to 
 immortalize the name of his father. Two of these 
 Antiochs of Seleucus occupy places in the career 
 of Saul ; but this one on the Orontes far sur- 
 passed all the others. From the ])eginning its 
 growth was rapid. This was due at first, 
 no doubt, largely to its situation, which had 
 been fortunately selected ; for it stood on the 
 most crowded thorouofhfare between the East 
 and the West. The valley of the Orontes above 
 Antioch afforded a passage through the moun- 
 tains always open for hoavily-laden caravans from 
 Persia and Arabia, while the harbor at the river's 
 mouth furnished a spacious receptacle for the 
 merchandize of Alexandria, Italy, and Greece. 
 Besides, many rich and luxurious families were 
 attracted by the delightful climate to select the 
 
 ■m^ 
 
ts 
 
 Mr. 35.] 
 
 ANtlOCH OF SYRIA. 
 
 71 
 
 growing city as a place of residence. In these 
 ways it came about in the course of years, that 
 Antioch was a large city, when at the time 
 of the Roman conquest, B. C. 65, it received 
 the finishin": touches of magnificence under the 
 hands of the Roman emperors. A prodigious 
 wall, fift}^ feet high, and many miles in length, 
 carried up and along the precipitous crest of 
 Mount Silpius, encompassed the city. Its ruins 
 stand out to-day on the ridge of the mountain 
 against the southern sky like the tremendous 
 battlements of some giant's castle. " The Great 
 Corso" traversed the city from east to west, 
 nearly parallel with the river. This, after the 
 fiishion in ancient Oriental capitals, consisted of 
 two covered colonnades. Between these ran a 
 broad avenue, two miles of which, or nearly 
 half its length, was paved with white mar- 
 ble. There was an aqueduct and public baths, 
 theatres, temples, palaces, and fortresses. The 
 population of Antioch at the beginning of 
 the Christian era is estimated at about half a 
 million. 
 
 But the pride and boast of Antioch was out- 
 side the city- walls. Let us take our place on 
 that fashionable promenade through the city, 
 with our faces toward the west. Renan's de- 
 scription of Daphne will help us to comprehend 
 our surroundings. "The Great Corso, which 
 
 I ' 
 
imm 
 
 T* 
 
 12 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 lA.n. 41. 
 
 ! I 
 
 i I 
 
 traversod the city, was like u theatre, in which 
 all day long rolled the waves of a poi)ulation 
 empty, frivolous, tickle, turbulent, sometimes 
 witty, absorbed in songs, parodies, pleasant- 
 ries, and impertinences of every description." ' 
 Moving along with the crowd, we pass out of 
 the city at the Gate of the Cherubim, or jms- 
 sibly at the Golden Gate. A well-tra\elled 
 avenue, down which bowls many a chariot car- 
 r^'ing Roman pleasure-seekers, (Jreek voluptu- 
 aries, and Syrian girls,^ stretches along the river 
 bank about five miles to the famous suburb 
 of I)ai)hne. Thitherward we are borne, and 
 reaching the destination of the multitudes, our 
 eyes are greeted with a view of one of the most 
 perfect paradises that nature and art ever com- 
 bined to make. Any new attempt to describe 
 Daphne to one who has read the description in 
 the twenty-third chai)ter of the " Decline and 
 Fall " must at best be a partial failure. 
 
 " At the distance of live miles from Antioch, 
 the Macedonian kings of Syria had consecrated 
 to Apollo one of the most elegant places of de- 
 votion in the Pagan world. A magnificent 
 temple rose in honor of the god of light ; and 
 his colossal figure almost filled the capacious 
 
 1 Farrar; " Life of Paul," i 29-1, note. 
 
 2 "Those Syrian women were always strange creatures, dis- 
 puted for by God and Satan, and oscillating between the saint and 
 the demon," —Renan ; " Apostles," p. 248. 
 
 ' 
 
«T. 33.] 
 
 ANTIOCH OF SYRIA. 
 
 73 
 
 sanctuary, which was enriclied with ji^old and 
 gems, and adorned by the skill of the Grecian 
 artists. Tiic deity was represented in a l^end- 
 ing attitude, with a golden cup in his hand, 
 pouring out a libation on the earth. ... In 
 the adjacent fields a stadium was built . . . 
 the Olympic games were celebrated at the ex- 
 pense of the city, and a revenue of thirty thou- 
 sand pounds was annually applied to the public 
 pleasures. The perpetual resort of pilgrims 
 and spectators insensibly formed, in the neigh- 
 borhood of the temple, the stately and poi)ulous 
 village of Daphne, which emulated the splendor, 
 without acquiring the title, of a provincial city. 
 The temple and the village were deeply-bosomed 
 in a thick grove of laurels and cypresses, which 
 reached as far as a circumference of ten miles, 
 and formed in the most sultry summers a cool 
 and impenetrable shade. A thousand streams 
 of the purest water, issuing from every hill, 
 preserved the verdure of the earth and the 
 temperature of the air ; the senses were grati- 
 fied with harmonious sounds and aromatic 
 odors ; and the peaceful grove was onsecrated 
 to health and joy, to luxury and love. The 
 soldier and the philosopher wisely avoided the 
 temptation of this sensual i)aradise ; where 
 pleasure, assuming the character of religion, 
 imperceptibly dissolved the firnmess of manly 
 
T\ 
 
 74 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 41. 
 
 virtue. Hut the groves of Daphne continued 
 for many ages to enjoy the veneration of natives 
 a?Kl strangers ; tlie privileges of tlie holy ground 
 were enlarged hy the munificence of succeeding 
 eniperors ; and every generation added new 
 ornaments (o the splendor of the temple." 
 
 Antioch swarmed with a cosmopolitan popu- 
 lation, a considerable proportion of which were 
 according to the flesh, children of Al)raham, 
 who possessed here equal rights with men of 
 other nations. Of course the wealthy CI reeks, 
 whose fathers and grandfathers hfid made An- 
 tioch what it was, with the civil and military 
 officials, who constituted the Koman court and 
 its append es, Mere the aristocracy <»f the city, 
 while the native Syrians — men, women, boys, 
 and girls — made up the working class and slaves. 
 All this, — her situation on the river among the 
 mountains, yet near the sea ; her luxurious, 
 enervating climate ; her prosperity in trade ; her 
 increasing wealth ; her extravagance ; her hete- 
 rogeneous i)()pulations, the great social sep- 
 aration between aristocrats and slaves on the 
 one hand, and their indiscriminate mingling on 
 the other; her brutalizing sports and lewd 
 dramfitic exhibitions : her sensuous religious 
 ceremonials and festivals, — all combined to pro- 
 duce in the beautiful vallev of the Orontes the 
 worst and most poisonous s[)ot of moralcorrup- 
 
^T. 35.1 
 
 ANTIOCII OF .<VUIA. 
 
 75 
 
 
 tion that h;is oxqv hioken out upon tho face of 
 the earth. Nor did the literary and intellectual 
 activity of the city iini)rove this condition : but 
 rather heated and stimulated the festering im- 
 morality, ''(rod u'ffs not ill all th'iv (/iou(//itSy" ' 
 and atheism in su«h a h()ll)cd l)ore onlv its 
 native fruit. Frivolity and profligacy held 
 unceasing carnival, — "a perpetual festival of 
 vice." 
 
 It was necessary that we should delay our 
 attention through these few pages in order to 
 present to ourselves a view of the charactei 
 of that city which stands second only to Jeru- 
 salem in the annals of Christianity. Meanwhile 
 Saul has been in the region of Svria and Cilicia, 
 with his headquarters at Tarsus, among the 
 acquaintances of his youth. AVe will take up 
 the thread of his life asxain ; after first noticing 
 the series of events that resulted in his coming 
 from Tarsus to Antioch. 
 
 1 Psalm X. 4. 
 
 ^>f ' 
 
7 
 
 7" 
 I' 
 
 ! ! 
 
 ' i! 
 
 ■\ 
 
 
 
 ^ f 
 
 ! 
 
 ■ 1 
 
 ' r 
 
 '1 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 i 
 1 
 
 m. 
 
 11 
 \1 
 
 m 
 
 ■ 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE FIRST TEX YEARS AFTER CHRIST. 
 
 " The liffht tliat jflcamcd on Jiula's hills, 
 First kindled by the touch ol" God, 
 Now all the dome of nature fills, 
 And heralds truth where error trod." 
 * Axon. 
 
 " Even with so soft a surpc and an increasing, 
 drunk of the sand and thwarted of the clod, 
 stilled and astir and checked and never-ceasing 
 spreadcth the great wave of the grace of (iod." 
 
 F. W. II. MVERS. 
 
 A CT8 xi. 19-21 furnishes an excellent start- 
 -^^ ing-point for a brief account of the first 
 spreading movement of Christianity. "They 
 therefore who Avere scattered abroad upon the 
 tribulation that arose about Stephen travelled 
 as far as Phoenicia, and Cyprus, and Antioch, 
 speaking the word to none save only to Jews. 
 But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and 
 Cyrene, who, when they were come to Antioch, 
 spake unto the Greeks also, preaching the Lord 
 Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with 
 them : and a great number that believed turned 
 unto the Lord." 
 Following Lewin's chronology, we may assume 
 
 76 
 
^T. 35.] FIRST TEN YEARS AFTER CHRIST. 
 
 77 
 
 that the death of Stei)licn occurred four years 
 after the crucitixion of our Lord, during which 
 time the growth of Christianity seems to have 
 been confined entirely to Jerusalem and its 
 innnediate vicinity. The events, as related by 
 Luke in the first five chapters of Acts, are, the 
 selection of ^latthias to be an apostle in the 
 place of Judas, i. 1 5-2(5 ; the miraculous mani- 
 festation of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pen- 
 tecost followed by Peter's preaching and the 
 conversion of three thousand, ii. 1-47 ; the 
 curing of a cripple at the Gate Beautiful, iii. 1- 
 11 ; the arrest, examination, and threatening of 
 Peter and John, iv. 1-22 ; their continual preach- 
 ing with additional converts among whom ap- 
 pears for the first time Barnabas of Cyprus, iv. 
 23-37 ; the lies and sudden deaths of Ananias 
 and Sapphira, v. 1-10 ; the performance of 
 many miracles by the Apostles, v. 15-16 ; their 
 second arrest when, after being put in prison, 
 they w^ere delivered by an angel, v. 17-23 ; their 
 third arrest when having been beaten they 
 were delivered by the advice of Gamaliel from 
 the intention of the severer members of the San- 
 hedrim to put them to death, v. 24-40 ; their un- 
 conquerable zeal in that " they ceased not to 
 teach and preach Jesus Christ," v. 42. All 
 this took place at Jerusalem ; but it was not 
 the intention of Jesus that his followers should 
 
78 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D, 41. 
 
 i 
 
 1 i 
 
 1)C only Jews or residents oC Palestine. Other 
 countries, ind people of other tongues, nuuiy 
 who had not heard the IIel)re\v serii)tures, 
 or known the Mosaic law, must hear and be 
 hlessed hy the words of Christ. The Aj)ostles 
 themselves did not understand this at first. 
 Peter even was slow to learn it. James and 
 the other leaders were still slower to admit 
 that the Gentiles mio:ht receive the favor of 
 God. So the Apostles settled, very well con- 
 tent with the result of their work, in the city 
 of their fathers. The opposition with which 
 they had to contend for the first four years was 
 not of so severe a type as to raise the question 
 of selecting some other field for preaching. 
 
 But the cruel blow which killed Stei)hen 
 (chaps, vi. and vii.) scattered the flaming l>rands 
 to kindle beacon-fires upon many a distant hill- 
 side. At first all the disciples, except the 
 Apostles, were scattered through Judea and 
 Samaria, vi. 1. Of these was Philip (not the 
 Apostle, l)ut the deacon, cf. vi. 5). We see 
 him north of Jerusalem in the city of Samaria, 
 telling even the luited Samaritans about Jesus ; 
 then south on the way to Gaza, where an 
 Ethiopiai. eunuch is converted and baptized ; and 
 soon at Azotus, from which he preaches through 
 the tov;ns and villages until hi' comes to Ceesarea. 
 The Gospel is spreading toward the Gentiles. 
 
 |l 
 
 V 
 
 ■dt-.tti 
 
/Er. :i5.] FIHST TEN YEAU8 AFIEU CHRIST. 
 
 79 
 
 Alrcacl}' at tho end of three yeiirs from Stc- 
 plien's (lentil, when Saul came hiwk from Da- 
 mascus to Jerusalem, there were '"churches" all 
 through Judea, Samaria, and (ialilee, ix. 31. 
 Still the middle wall is nor iu'oken down. 
 The Samaritans were Samaritan Jews ; the 
 Ethio})ian was a Jewish proselyte, who was 
 readini; the prophet Isaiah at the time of his 
 conv^'rsion. Tiiere was a manifest tendency to 
 extend the hlessiniifs of the (iosi '. hevond the 
 strictest sect of Jews ; but the entire l)readth of 
 Christ's purpose had not yet dawned upcm the 
 Apostles. 
 
 After Saul's second visit to Jerusalem and 
 de[)arture to Tarsus, Peter made a tour of the 
 riuirchcs in Palestine, and came around to 
 Joppa, the most ancient seaport of the Eastern 
 Mediterranean, where he spent some tiiue in the 
 house of Simon, a tanner. Thirty miles north 
 of tloppa was the new and beautiful city of 
 Cit'sarea, built by llerod the (Jreat, about B.C. 
 20. It was the Roman capital of the province 
 (►f Palestine, the official residence of the Ilvrods, 
 and the principal military post in the })rovince. 
 Festus, B^elix, and other Roman <>()vernors of 
 Palestine also made tiieir resi(U'nce here. Ciusa- 
 rea had a fine harbor, protected by an artilicial 
 breakwater of magniticent [)roportions. which 
 added to its mercantile importance. There 
 
so 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 I [i I 
 
 ! i 
 
 I 
 
 M 
 
 r I 
 
 M.I>. 41. 
 
 were luiiny handsome I,uil,Iin„. . 
 
 them, l,o„ever, erect.-d !„'"'"' "" "^ 
 
 ofa„ entirely l,e«the„d!--.,i''", "''"""•""ee 
 follo,ve<i Suul, when 2,; , i""'*-' "''''""'^ 
 
 pa.s.secl tln-ous, C es .'o.! > '^^' '""'"'"P'^' •>« 
 
 'ncIie.-.tion,s of (|,,t „ ' ' '" '*"""' "*' "'e 
 
 >•«" one .sn..h event oe e;, ^ ^""'' '" ^ '»■«'- 
 
 ^r'-''""t only maw ';I^7::;7"V ';'"''' 
 
 nsmg wave „f ci,,,- „• , ', ' '" "'"^■'' the 
 J^^'tcr is still in f , '"■ ^''^'''''-''''lism. 
 
 «'"^v his .1;^ ;:;;r;;;-' ,;;:;^'«'; to., 
 
 tl.e threshold ,,r ";"■''"'''''''• "•-'- 
 ft't l-ere ho i ::V;"f •'"'""'' '■•'»''- 
 
 ' ' " "'''"■' ^^^''■•""l''^'' of an Eastern 
 
 'Wullcsuii: "Si. 1-„„|,",,. 88. 
 
 -■\\\"^' 
 
Mr. 35. 
 
 FIRST TEN YEARS AFTKR THHIST. 
 
 81 
 
 house) to pray. ^^^ do not know what great 
 thoughts of the kingdom of Christ may be press- 
 ing upon him, what (|uesti()ns lie may ]>e long- 
 in^- to solve, what plans for the churches and 
 their spread and growth he may be maturing, 
 nor what obstacles are l)efore him. We may 
 be sure, though, that the care of the churches 
 is upon him as he goes up to pray. Furrar 
 sketches, in his inimitable way, the scene upon 
 which Peter gaz(Ml from Simon's housetop : 
 "A small Oriental town, with the outline of its 
 flat roofs and losv S(|uare houses relieved by trees 
 and gardens ; a line of low dunes and sandy 
 shore ; a sea stretching far away to the Isles of 
 the Gentiles. ... It is a meeting-point of the 
 East and West. Behind us lie Philistia and 
 the Holy Land. Beyond the Jordan, and be- 
 yond the purple hills which form the eastern 
 ramparts of its valley, and fi.r away beyond 
 the Euphrates, were the countries of those im- 
 memorial and colossal desi)otisms — the giant 
 forms of empires which had passed long ago 'on 
 their way to ruin:' before us — a highway for 
 the nations — are the inhmd waters of the sea 
 whose shores durin" lonjr affes of historv have 
 been the sc^ne of all that is best and greatest in 
 the progress of mankind." ' 
 
 Here Peter prayed, and while he waited, 
 
 1 "St. Paul," I. 270. 
 
I 
 
 t i 
 
 if 
 
 j*llll 
 
 I 
 
 82 
 
 LIFK OF PAl'L. 
 
 [A.D. 41 
 
 hungiy, he slept or fell inio :i trance, and saw a 
 vision, — a sheet let down tVoni heaven, and in 
 it all kinds of four-footed beasts, creeping things, 
 and birds, clean and unclean, hut the touch of 
 the unclean polluting for a Jew, even thai which 
 otherwise would have been clean, (iazing upon 
 this strange sight, he heard a voice, that said, 
 " Rise, l?eter, kill and eat." " What ! I, a Jew, 
 to satisfy my hunger, eat that which the law 
 pronounces unclean I Not so, Lord ; for I have 
 viever eaten anything that is common or un- 
 -^lean." He was faithful to that j)art of the 
 Jetter of the law which he com],)rehended ; hut 
 he must have forgotten or failed to understand 
 many things which Jesus had said in his hear- 
 ing ; for this legal fc,crui)ulosity })ronounced not 
 only certain kinds of food which (ientiles ate 
 unclean, but also that the Gentiles themselves 
 were unclean and not t>> be associated with by 
 Jews. Peter, however, s naturally generous ; 
 and this tradition nuist have seemed to him an 
 inconvenient restriction rather than a covetable 
 distinction. It stood in the way of the spread 
 of the Gospel ; and the ( ios})el , we may presume, 
 was rapidly rising in Peter's mind above the 
 law of ]Moses and the tradition of the Elders. 
 Here, then, while praying, the Lord taught this 
 Ai)ostlethat linal lesson of Christian brotherhood 
 and fellowship, " What God hath cleansed, that 
 
 i 
 
 I ' ', 
 
 f 
 
Mr. 3«.l FIUST TEN YEARS AFTER CHRIST. 
 
 83 
 
 call not thoii common." It wus so sudden tlmt, 
 at the very tirst, he coiUd not (luitc l)elieve it; 
 but nipidly and ghully he let it tianstbnn his 
 heart. 
 
 While l\'ter is praying id ,Iot)pa there is 
 another })rayinii- in tashionahle, gay Ciesarea. 
 This man is a Roman aristocrat, an army offi- 
 cer, connnander of a .select regiment stationed 
 at this courl-citv. We nuist remember that 
 rhilij) had visited Civsarea,^ and that it is not 
 imi)robal)le that this officer, Cornelius, had heard 
 
 mn 
 
 pi 
 
 each. At any rate, Cornelius was a nuui 
 
 of prayer and of good works. An angel bade 
 him send to Jopj)a for Peter. Three men, — two 
 servants and a devout soldier, — hastened away, 
 travelliu": all nii>ht, and reached Simon's house 
 before Peter had come down from the housetop. 
 AVhen Peter reached Ciesarea he found a large 
 number gathered at the house of Cornelius to 
 see and hear him. lie met them graciously and 
 magnanimously, and, after relating the circum- 
 stances by which he had been led to lay aside 
 the scruples which heretofore had prevented his 
 associatinir with Gentiles, he told them about 
 Jesus, and liis readiness to forgive sins. The 
 result is described by Luke in a few simple 
 words : " While Peter yet spake these words, 
 the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard 
 
 1 See page 78. 
 
84 
 
 LIFE OF PAITL. 
 
 [A.D. 42. 
 
 I 
 
 the word. And tliey of llic ircunicision which 
 believed were jiina/ed, us many as came with 
 Peter, because that on the (ientih's also was 
 poured out tiie gift of tlie Holy (ihost. For 
 they heard them speak with tonuues and mag- 
 nify (lod. Then, answered Peter, Can any man 
 for])id water, that these should not be baptized, 
 which have received the IIolv (irhost, as well as 
 we? And he conunanded them to be baptized 
 in the name of flesus Christ." 
 
 The news of this remarkable act of Peter jflew 
 to Jerusalem, and as soon as he returned there 
 he was called uj)on by the Jewish Christians 
 for an explanation of his conduct. He rehearsed 
 all, and their hearts too were touched and 
 opened ; their objections were removed ; they 
 "glorified (Jod, saying, then to the Gentiles 
 also hath (iod granted repentance unto life." 
 The Gospel has spread to the Gentiles. 
 
 Another movement still farther north com- 
 pletes llie chain of events which prepared the 
 way for SauPs work. The discii)les Mdio had 
 fled from .Jerusalem preached the Gospel to 
 Jews only ; but there were some great souls. 
 Christian men, whose names we do not know, 
 from the Island of Cyprus, and from the rlcy 
 of Cvrene, a thousand miles awav on the north- 
 ern shore of Africa, who came to Antioch, and 
 there proclaimed to Jews and Greeks alike the 
 
iET. 36.] FIRST TEN VEARS AFTER CHRIST. 
 
 85 
 
 ''glml tidings of great joy.'' What a field for 
 the Gospel ! Luxury Jind sin are not long 
 satisfactory. There were in the Syrian capital 
 thousands of sin-stained, disappointed, dis- 
 couraged, brokoif hearts ; thousands of ami)i- 
 tious, unsatisfied souls ; tliousands of eager 
 seekers after a better way of life, to whom the 
 Gospel came as the l^est news they had ever 
 heard. It is little wonder that extraordinary 
 success attended the preacliing of the Word, 
 and that very many became the followers of 
 Jesus. When the church at Jerusalem heard 
 this good news they inmiediately sent Barnabas 
 to Antioch to help on the work and to assist 
 (for which he was admirably fitted both by his 
 natural disposition and his experience) in in- 
 structino; and or2:anizin<2: the hiv<XQ number of 
 new converts just out of the most depraved 
 lieathenism. But on his reaching the city, the 
 magnitude of tlie movement was such that Bar- 
 nabas did not feel adequate alone to assume tlie 
 responsibility of leadership. He was a " son of 
 exhortation ; " and, beins: verv irlad to see in this 
 city, long famous for its i)ndc and corru})tion, 
 so many followers of the pure and lowly Jesus, 
 "he exhorted them all that with purpose of 
 heart they Avould cleave unto the Lord.'" Then 
 he went to Tarsus to fiud Saul. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 'r 
 
 THE WORK AND THE MAN. 
 
 ** The sun cannot he hid 
 The lieavcns uiuid. 
 The sun is seen, hecauso ho sliincs, 
 And the sun sliines, hccause lie is the sun." 
 
 Wm. C. Wilkinson. 
 
 "The first knowlcdifo that the popuhition of Aiilioch liad of the 
 presence of him whom we knowastiu- (inat A|M).-.ile was that a new 
 sliop had hccn opened hy a rilician -Few for tlic sale of tents and 
 sackcloth." — E. II. I'LirMi'Titc. 
 
 TTK v.lio aiTiiniics tlio order of cvont.s, and 
 -*--'- ordains tliat cortuin chosen men arc to do 
 certain delinite work, never makes a mistake. 
 
 Saul has heen a( Tarsus tliree years, and (he 
 world outside of Cilieia knows nolhinir about 
 liim. ITis v<'r\ exist<Miee is almost f()r«rotten. 
 Gamaliel probahly, as he lhiid<s over his former 
 pupils, wonders what has Ixieome of that hoy 
 Saul, who ])romi.;e<l so well, l)ul tuined out so 
 badl}'. There arc; certain (lirislians at Damas- 
 cus, who recall him as a meteor that shot across 
 their sky. Jamc and Peter at Jerusjdem, and 
 Barnabas, who has just gone down to Antioch, 
 have rarcd} mentioned his name. They have 
 been very nuich eniiaii"e<l with their great Avovk 
 119 
 
 
JRt. 3«.1 
 
 THE WOUK AN J) TIIK MAN. 
 
 ai 
 
 X 
 
 of spreadiiiff the (jospol ; and l)U.sy men, though 
 they may not forget, do not talk mucli, about 
 the al)sent. But we nuist ])elieve that it mat- 
 tered little to Saul whether t\u) world had 
 forgotten him or not. lie wms not panting 
 after popularity : hut he wtis eager to make 
 Christ known. If he went hack to Tarsus a 
 disci})!*' of Christ, it was not to let his light he 
 hid under a l)ushel. His father and mother, if 
 they were still living, were probably grieved that 
 their son should have departed from the belief 
 of his eountrvmen, and should have yielded 
 to the persuasion that J(»sus of Nazareth was 
 the expected Messiah. And there were doubt- 
 less many neighl)ors and acquaintances who 
 sympathized with them in their disappointment. 
 All this was not easy for Saul to meet on his 
 return to his native citv. Besides, he came 
 back as a fugitive seeking a hiding-place. In 
 no city where he had been since his conversion, 
 had his life been set-ure a da}' from the plottings 
 of the Jews, who thought it would be doing God 
 service to j)ut him to death. An ordinary man 
 would have suffered ver}' ])itter dejection when 
 he reflected that these were the results of bc- 
 /'oming a follower of Christ. But it did not 
 take Saul long to recover himself, even if he 
 were cast down. Ffe never doubted that he was 
 riofht. "I know whom J have believed," was 
 
I : 
 
 I i 
 
 :i 
 
 \u 
 
 
 \\\ 
 
 88 
 
 LIFE OF PATTL. 
 
 r.V.n. 44. 
 
 from tlie first liis M'jitchword. AVo an; not sur- 
 
 (l.then, to find, a fe 
 
 lat( 
 
 his life » 
 
 prised, then, to nnd, a lew years later ni nis in 
 a reference made to eliurehes existini>- in "Syria 
 and Cilieia," the origin of Avhieh can only be 
 accounted for l)y supposing that Paul's sojourn 
 at Tarsus at this time was passed in preaching the 
 Gospel to the people of that city, and in the 
 towns and villajjes for manv miles jiround. 
 
 Saul is now nearly forty years old, and has 
 already had a large experience. In the city and 
 in the country, in the Avorkshop and in the school- 
 room, among the illiterate and among the most 
 highly-educated, a Scribe, a lawyer, a judge, 
 an exhorter in the synagogues, an envoy of the 
 Sanhedrim, with power of life and death, a fugi- 
 tive hunted from city to city, — in every way 
 Saul had learnt the sharp lessons of life. 
 
 There are two things about Saul that at this 
 poi^it — just as we are starting out with him 
 for his twenty years of missionary life — we 
 would all like to know, viz., how he looked,^ 
 and what his natural disposition or character 
 
 1 Acts xvi. 41. 
 
 '^ "If he had been pointctl out 1o us iu sonic corner of Corinth, 
 Athens, or Home, we could scarcely have believed our eyes. 
 What! — we should say, perhaps — that man, so inconsiderable iu 
 appearance, so fearful and trembling ; that man, with a body so 
 feeble, his language common, his speech contomptil)le; that man, 
 who drags from place to place tliat grievous thorn in his flesh, — 
 is Saint Paul, is the Apostle of Apostles r " 
 
 Adolphe Monod: "Saint Paul," p. 119. 
 
 t 
 
 li 
 
 i 
 
 ysx. 
 
mt. 38.) 
 
 THE WOJIK AM) TIIK MAN. 
 
 89 
 
 ' 
 
 I, 
 
 was. On the first of these points wo have but 
 little information, and most of this is unsat- 
 isfactory. There are several intimations in 
 2 Cor. X. that the Apostle wa> a small man. 
 Chrvsostom ealU'<' him "the three-cubit man." 
 In the Vatican lii'iars in Home there is a bronze 
 medal which was lound in the Cemetery of Dom- 
 itilla and which i, isi have been made within 
 tifty years of SauTs death. I'he heads of Peter 
 and Paul are on it, and they arc presumed to 
 be fairly correct likenesses. " That of Paul 
 in particular," says Lewin, describing the por- 
 traits, "is distinguished by solemnity and dig- 
 nity, and the thoughtful and wrinkled brow 
 indicates the high intellect that so remarkably 
 characterized the man." There is a striking 
 resemblance between this and the head of the 
 Apostle painted by Kaphael. There are two 
 descriptions t)f Saul's personal appearance, both 
 of which are (juotcd by Lewin, as well [is by 
 Farrar. The first is from the pen of John of 
 Antioch : "Paul was in person round-shouldered, 
 with Ji sprinkling of gray on his head and beard, 
 with an aquiline nose, meeting eyebrows, with a 
 mixture of pale and red in his complexion, and 
 an ample beard. With a genial expression of 
 countenance, he was sensible, earnest, easily 
 accessible, sweet, and inspired with the Holy 
 Spirit." 
 
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M 
 
 ^1' I 
 
 11 . 
 
 M 
 
 i 
 
 ! i 
 
 90 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 44. 
 
 The second is from Nicephorus, and was 
 written in the tifteenth century : — 
 
 "Paul was little and dwarfish in person, and 
 slightly crooked and somewhat stooping ; his 
 face was fair and comely; l)ald-headed, with 
 light blue eyes ; the nose hooked ; the ))oard 
 long and thick, with white hairs well sprinkled 
 over both head and beard." 
 
 In addition to these intimations, there is a 
 tradition that the Apostle's " light blue eyes ' 
 were atlected by a disease not uncommon in 
 Eastern countries, and that at times, consequent 
 upon over-exertion or exposure, he was liable 
 to severe and painful attacks, which not infre- 
 quently rendered him entirely blind, and which 
 may have been that " thorn in the tiesh '' from 
 which he prayed in vain to be delivered. 
 
 The physical proportions, however, and per- 
 sonal appearance of such a man ao Saul are of 
 less interest than the traits of his natural dispo- 
 sition, and the elements of his character as de- 
 veloped by faith in, and obedience to Jesus 
 Christ. And for the investigation of this point, 
 there is abundant opportunity and a fruitful 
 field. While we have such a scarcity of mate- 
 rial for reproducing a picture of his outward 
 form, no man of antiquity has spread out his 
 very heart for the gaze of the whole world as 
 Saul has. In the thirteen letters that have 
 
 f 
 
 ii^ 
 
a 
 
 J 
 
 ^.T. 38.] 
 
 THE WORK AND THE MAN. 
 
 91 
 
 been preserved, and in the speeches that he 
 made at different times, wliich are reported in 
 the Acts of the Apostles, he tells us, no doubt 
 without intending to, what kind of man he was. 
 A\'e do not have to read between his lines to 
 discover the character of Saul.^ 
 
 We have some glimpses of what that charac- 
 ter must have been before his conversion. And 
 we must place first of all, because it was the 
 grand controlling element of his whole career, 
 even before he became a follower of Christ, his 
 thorough conscientiousness. Whatever else Saul 
 of Tarsus was, he was a }'outh who reverenced 
 God, and, so far as he knew, chose to do what 
 was riffht in His sight. There was no lack of 
 thorough-going principle in his conduct. He 
 was resolute^ firm, rigid, in his adherence to 
 what he conceived to be his duty. His educa- 
 tion had led him to believe that the law of 
 Moses and the Jewish ritual were the highest 
 expressions of right. These formed a wall 
 over which he could not see until after his con- 
 version ; but inside that narrow life he would 
 have suftered death rather than to have been 
 disobedient to what he conceived to be the will of 
 
 1 The meie titles of Howson's chapters, in his " Character of 
 St. Paul," arc instructive : 
 
 I. Tact and Presence of ^lind ; If. Tcndcrncis and ^vmpathy; 
 III. Conscientiousness and TntCiiiity; IV. Thanksgiving and 
 Prayer; V. Courage and Persevt'rance. 
 
 
92 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 44. 
 
 ■I,. 
 
 God. Now if we add to this tniit of conscien- 
 tiousness another, viz., ambition , we shall have 
 described the two great features of his char- 
 acter. There is no doubt that it was the dream 
 of Saul's ])oyhood to do some great thing, and 
 to become famous. It was this that pushed 
 him out ahead of his fellows. It was his eager 
 ambition, coupled with his conscientiousness, 
 which, when no other young Jew in Jerusa- 
 lem cared to undertake it, spurred on Saul to 
 request a special commission of persecution 
 against a sect which he verily believed was 
 blaspheming the Law, the Temple, and his 
 God. 
 
 But in his life after conversion, there appears 
 a very rich cluster of ripening fruits. All that 
 clear conscientiousness and forceful ambition, 
 all the energy of his will, the uncommon quick- 
 ness of his thought, the depth and tenderness 
 of his feeling, the strength and force of his 
 reasoning, his discernment of men, and his mas- 
 terly method,^ were consecrated to the service 
 of Christ, and became beautiful. Then we see 
 his rare devotion to the I^ord, carrying him 
 away from all his former life, until he can say, 
 out of a glad heart, too, tbjit he counts every- 
 thing else worthless if he can only have Christ ; ^ 
 
 1 W. T. Resser : 
 
 2 Phil. iii. 4-11. 
 
 " St. Paul the Apostle," p. 5. 
 
 I 
 
 W tri 
 
 .1 
 
44. 
 
 JET. 38.] 
 
 THE WORK AND THE MAN. 
 
 93 
 
 [ve 
 
 ir- 
 
 his ambition no longer satisfied with a corrupti- 
 ble crown, but reaching out after an incor- 
 ruptible crown, "the prize of the high calling 
 of God in Christ Jesus." ^ 
 
 It has often been that a strong and brilliant 
 character has shone out through a weak and 
 suffering body. Saul says of himself that his 
 bodily presence was weak and his speech con- 
 temptible.^ How hard, then, for him to under- 
 take those journeys by sea and land, and to 
 thrust himself forward into every crowded syn- 
 agogue and into the presence of governors and 
 philosophers, with his message of the truth. 
 He knew that he was only "a small and ugly 
 Jew," " physically infirm, constitutionally nerv- 
 ous, painfully sensitive."^ He remembered this 
 often and spoke of it ; but his zeal for Christ 
 made him self-forgetful at other times, or made 
 him boast of his infirmities ; because they formed 
 a background ao-ainst which mij^ht be seen more 
 clearly the manifold grace of God. He was 
 willing to ])e an earthen vessel of the common- 
 est clay, if only he might be filled with the 
 riches of Christ. There was no vanity, there- 
 fore , in Saul .** He spoke and wrote freely of him- 
 self, but only to magnify the grace and mercy of 
 
 1 Phil. iii. 14. 2 2 Cor. x. 10. 3 Fiiimi-: " St. Paul," i. 341. 
 
 * " Throughout his Epistles there is not one word that savors 
 of vanity, nor is any action recorded of him in which the least 
 mark of it appears." — G.L. Lyttelton: " Observations," p. 47. 
 
 
94 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 44. 
 
 '.I I 
 
 ■ ' I 
 
 \J 
 
 God.i We must set clown humility, then, as 
 one of his Christijin chju'iicterlstics. But hu- 
 mility may degenerate into weakness if it is 
 not accompanied w lih. pet'severance and courage. 
 These two Saul had. Christ called him to be 
 an apostle. He could wait for the divine inti- 
 mation that the hour had come for him to pro- 
 ceed ; but from that hour to the end of life, 
 nothing but chains or imprisonment could deter 
 him from carrying forward the work committed 
 to him. Add now to these qualities that sym- 
 pathy which drew him out toward every soul 
 that was in any distress or darkness ; ^ that ten- 
 derness which, thouo-h sometimes he was car- 
 ried away by the torrent of his zeal, made him 
 always mindful of the feelings and pains of 
 others ; that warmtJi of heart and affedionateness 
 which made him long for the companionship of 
 his brethren, and drew from him those expres- 
 sions of love which, like goodly pearls, deck 
 the logic of his Epistles ; ^ that abounding grati- 
 
 1 Howsoi) : '♦ Character of St. Paul," p, 107. 
 
 2 " One in whose character commanding ability, simple and 
 unswerving purpose, uuflagglny energy, unselfish enthusiasm, and 
 warm and wide and sunny sympathy were combined in a degree 
 unrivalled in the history of our race." — Knox Little: "Man- 
 chester Sermons," p. 259. 
 
 3 " \iy a rare privilege of nature (sliaU I term it ?) or of grace, 
 Saint Paul, combin'ng opposite qualities in himseli", and tempering 
 force l>v gentleness, pv. jscssed one of the tenderest hearts that ever 
 heat Ijonciith the sky. I do not say merely a warm heart, but a 
 feeling heart, with tender attai huiciit>, lively emotion.;, and quick 
 
f 
 
 ^T. 38.1 
 
 THE WORK AND THE MAN. 
 
 05 
 
 tude to God for the grand life he was living, 
 and for the hope of iiiiniortality which he pos- 
 sessed, and we have at least an outline of the 
 character wjiich, under the direction of the Lord 
 Jesus, made Saul of all men "the greatest l)ene- 
 factor of our kind.'* ^ 
 
 Such, then, was the man who was waiting and 
 working at Tarsus ten years after the cruci- 
 fixion of Christ. When, therefore, Barnabas, 
 having made inquiry as to Saul's whereabouts, 
 hurried away either to the place where he was 
 preaching, or to the shop where possibly he 
 was busy making and mending tents out of the 
 bristling goats' hair, and, having come in where 
 the great man was patiently performing the task 
 that Divine Wisdom had assigned him, looked 
 into his face, and told him of the crowds in 
 Antioch who were eager to hear the Gospel, 
 Saul recognized the well-known voice of his 
 friend and brother, and was more than glad to 
 see him. At the same time he welcomed the 
 call to a larger field of activity, and the pros- 
 pect of speedier and more abundant results. 
 By ship from the mouth of the Cydiuis to Se- 
 leucia, or by foot or on horseback across the 
 plain of Cilicia and through the Syrian Gates, 
 
 to weep; — so far \v;h lii-; ^rciitiioss from having any element of 
 pride, or his enerjiy unv element of harslmc.-d." — Adolpue 
 MoNoi): " Saint Paul," n. liO. 
 i Monod, Ibid, p. 14. 
 
96 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 44. 
 
 1 '' 
 
 I' i 
 
 ii I 
 
 they made all haste to that great and wicked 
 city where the power of Christ had been mani- 
 fested in the conversion of many to holy and 
 happy lives. This is the second time that Bar- 
 nabas has taken Saul by the hand and led him 
 up to a higher and l^etter work. Into the life 
 of festering immorality, fashion, gayety, and 
 iiTcligion, where every avenue was lined with 
 the plague-smitten children of vice, passed the 
 calm, earnest spirit of the Greatest Apostle, with 
 quick-seeing eye, with ready hand, with ear- 
 nest life, and a heart beating high with deter- 
 mination to bring some of these people upon 
 their knees into the presence of the Great Physi- 
 cian and Saviour of men. 
 
 There were already three other preachers at 
 Antioch : Lucius, Manahem, and Simeon Niger, 
 about whom we know almost nothing except 
 their names, and that Lucius was a Jew from 
 Cyrene ; Manahem, probably a Jew, who had 
 been brought up in the household of King 
 Herod ; and that these three were the recognized 
 leaders of the young church. They were quite 
 readv, however, to welcome Saul and Barnabas 
 
 4, 7 7 , 
 
 as helpers, and, indeed, to place in their hands, 
 as long as they remained with them, the man- 
 agement of the affairs of their community. 
 
 We can readily imagine how insignificant 
 Lucius, Manahem, and Simeon Niger must have 
 
44. 
 
 JEt. 38.] 
 
 THE WORK AND THE MAN. 
 
 97 
 
 felt themselves to be in the presence of two 
 such towering cliuracters as Barnabas and Saul. 
 What graciousness of speech, what courtesy of 
 manner in Barnabas ! AVhat keen, cogent 
 argument, what torrent-like, earnest appeal in 
 Saul ! Saul was greatest tiiere, even as his 
 subsequent career reveals. 
 
 A year or more was passed in Antioch, the 
 record of which, with the exception of two inci- 
 dents, is given in a single word, '* they assembled 
 themselves with the church and taught much 
 people." These two incidents, though, are 
 vital. 
 
 It was hero in Antioch about this date, 
 while the activity of the disciples of Christ was 
 stih ulated by the presence of Barnabas and 
 Saul, tnat thev received for the first time that 
 name which has ever since stood for all that is 
 greatest and best. Up to this point they had 
 called themselves " disciples," " believers," 
 "brethren," "saints," "holy ones of the way," 
 that is, the way of eternal life. The unbeliev- 
 ing Jews had flung after them in derision the de- 
 spised title, "Nazarene." But they had not ye. 
 received their new name, which was forever ^ 
 distinguish the followers of Christ as His peculiar 
 people. It is remarkable too that this name, the 
 only one that could properly characterize the 
 followers of Christ, — the one that by its very 
 
It 
 
 1)8 
 
 LIFE OF PAT'L. 
 
 [A. I). 44. 
 
 ck'i'lvation is tJn' ihihk' wliioh evcrv Ix^liovcr 
 jigrees he ought to ))o knovni hy, — should 
 have ])een chosen hy the sneering vohi})tu{iries 
 of Antioch to dcscrihe those who were 
 always talking about the C/trisf. Ponipey 
 had l)eon in Antioch, and his followers 
 were called Poiupelcoii. The party of Marius 
 was known as Mariani, It was only natural 
 that ti ose who called Christ Master and Lord 
 should he hailed Christlcn}!. !' Not in Jeru- 
 salem, the city of the old Covenant, the city of 
 the people who were chosen to the exclusion of 
 all others, but in a heathen city, the Eastern 
 centre of Greek fashion and Roman luxury, and 
 not till it was shown that the New^ Covenant was 
 inclusive of all others, — then and there we were 
 first called Christians, and the church received 
 from tlie world its true and honorable name."^ 
 But the disciples were slow to adopt the new 
 name. Only twice is it used in the New Tes- 
 tament, and in both cases as applied to the 
 disciples by those who w^ere not Christians 
 themselves.^ 
 
 The other incident illustr.ates the spirit of 
 benevolence which from the first moved the 
 early Christians. Among those who from time 
 to time visited Antioch from Jerusalem was a 
 
 iConybeare and Howson: " St. Paul," i. 120. 
 2 Acts xxvi. 28 ; 1 Pet. 4 ; IG. 
 
•Kt. ;::i.l 
 
 THK WORK. AND THE MAS'. 
 
 !>9 
 
 Christian Jew, whose name was Agu])us. This 
 A<^ahus was a propliet, who 1)V divine inspira- 
 
 tion was able to read in advance the signs of the 
 times, and he urged upon tlie attention of 
 Barnal)as and Saul and the rest the fact that a 
 famine was to occur over all the world, and 
 that the disciples at .Jerusalem were likely to 
 suffer from the hard times certain to attend 
 it. This startling i)rediction would not fall in 
 very naturally with the habits and customs of 
 luxurious and extravagant peoj)le like those in 
 the Syrian ca[)ital. It is all the more remark- 
 able, therefore, that the hearts of these Christians 
 were moved at once to make up a generous 
 collection, and to send it to Jerusalem, so as to 
 anticipate the distress that might otherwise 
 come ui)on their brethren there. The church at 
 Jerusalem had almost impoverished itself by its 
 generosity in formei years. They had given 
 all they possessed to promote the spread of 
 the Gospel ; and the Christians at Antioch Avere 
 now reaping blessings from the seed of that 
 self-sacrifice. It was onl}' just that — "every 
 man according to his ability " — they should out 
 of their abundance, (for many of them no doubt 
 were wealthy), send alms to Jerusalem. This 
 was a work, too, into which Saul must have 
 entered with all his heart, for he was not 
 merely a preacher of doctrines. With all his 
 
I 
 
 1/ 
 
 100 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 . [A.D. 45. 
 
 eagerness to persuade tlie people to believe on 
 Chri.sf, lie never ceased to remind them that 
 they m list add to their faith virtuous and honest 
 and truthful lives, and that they should, even as 
 C.'hrist did, deny themselves in order to do good 
 to otliers. Saul connnenced here at Antioch 
 what hr continued all throuiifh his life as a mis- 
 sionary, — the work of collecting money from 
 those who could give it, and of redistributing it 
 to those who were in need. To him alone we 
 owe the jireservation of those precious words of 
 our Saviour, " // is more blessed to (five than to 
 receive.''^ • 
 
 The collection was made, — possibly not all 
 at once ; perhaps on the first day of every week, 
 as they met to worship, something was added to 
 it, — and then Barnabas and Saul were chosen 
 to take it to Jerusalem. 
 
 The two apostles reached Jerusalem at a time 
 when the church there was in greater troul)le 
 than would be caused hy scarcity of money or 
 even of food. That Herod who, at the height 
 of his glory, fell a prey to a loathsome disease 
 and sudden death soon after at Caesarea, had 
 just celebrated his unprincipled devotion to the 
 religion of the Jews by beheading one of the 
 most active of the Apostles, James, the older 
 of the sons of Zebedee, who with his brother 
 
 1 Acts. XX. 35. 
 
 V 
 
Mr. 39.1 
 
 THE WOUK AND THE MAN. 
 
 101 
 
 John had l)eeii ji follower of Christ ever since 
 they were first culled while Hshing on the Lake 
 of Galilee, seventeen years before. It was at 
 the Passover; and James and Peter, who 
 ordinarily may have been preaching through 
 tlie towns of Palestine, have come to Jeru- 
 salem to observe the feast, and at the same time 
 to address the people as they could find oppor- 
 tunity. Herod also was there to attend the 
 festival. Something, perhaps, that this " Son 
 of Thunder" said vexed the king. His ven- 
 geance was swift and keen and terrible. Peter, 
 too, the " Rockman," he would dispose of. Him 
 he threw into prison, — it was an afterthought, 
 — intending, as soon as the Passover was cele- 
 brated, to put him to death also. But Peter 
 was delivered by divine interposition. The 
 tears of the church, however, did not cease to 
 fall for the memory of the zealous James. 
 
 Barnabas had an aunt,^ Mary, living in the 
 city. She was a godly ^voman, and one of 
 the most active members of the band of 
 Christian disciples. She seems to have used 
 her wealth with the same generosity that her 
 nephew had used his for the benefit of the 
 Christian work. Her house was open at all 
 
 I The"NewVcrsion," — Col.iv. 10; Lewin, ii. 272; Farrar, i. 
 358, agree in calling Barnabas aud Mark " cousins." Howson and 
 Hackett are undecided 
 
102 
 
 LirE OF I'AUL. 
 
 [A.D. 45. 
 
 i I 
 
 hours, aiiu to her door, therefore, the steps 
 of Barnjibas and Saul would be most likely 
 to turn on their arrival at Jerusalem. Here 
 too was another young Christian, her son, 
 Mark ; and at this time of persecution many 
 trembling followers of Christ Ifad come to- 
 gether at this house to s.^engthen each other 
 by one another's presence, and to pray together 
 for deliverance from the cruelty of the t^jfint 
 king. It was while they ^vere praying — and 
 it is not improbable that Saul and Barnabas w^ere 
 there with them — that Petev knocked for ad- 
 mission, and after relating to them how he was 
 delivered from prison, and telling them to make 
 his escape known to James, the pastor of the 
 church, and the rest, left the city. 
 
 So fiir as we know, Saul and Barnabas, very 
 soon after delivering the alms they came to 
 bring, returned to Antioch and took ^lark with 
 them, his anxious mother no doubt verv willing 
 that her son should go away with his older 
 cousin Barnabas, for a while at least, until the 
 lives of Christian men should be safe in Jeru- 
 salem. 
 
 \ 
 
 
 t ?' 
 
 
 U 
 
mr* 
 
 i 
 
 PART SECOND. 
 
 SHe ^IvBt ^issiomv^'^onvmnj. 
 
 f 
 
 
l\ 
 
 
 m 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE START. 
 
 " Men of a thousand shifts and wiles, look here ! 
 
 See one straightforward conscience put in pawn 
 To win a world ; see the ohedient sphere 
 
 By bravery's simple gravitation drawn." — 
 
 J. R. LOWELI. 
 
 •* A flash of light from Syria, illuminating almost at once the 
 three great peninsulas of Asia Minor, Greece, and Italy, and soon 
 followed by a second, which extended over nearly the whole Medi- 
 terranean seaboard, — such was the first apparition of Christianity." 
 
 Rbnan. 
 
 " That noble missionary river, whose streams are now fertilizing 
 the world, had its little fountain-head in Antioch." — 
 
 J. R. Macduff. 
 
 O OME +ime after Barnabas and Saul had re- 
 *^ turned to Antioch, at a special service* of 
 prayer and fasting, the Holy Spirit brought to 
 the minds of the Christians present the convic- 
 tion that these two men ought to go away to 
 preach the Gospel to the Gentiles. The mother- 
 church at Jerusalem had been the means of 
 spreading the Gospel in Palestine and even to 
 Antioch ; but her powers early began to wane. 
 It was reserved for the Syrian capital to become 
 
 1 Farrar, I. 324. 
 
 VM 
 
 ,..<'■-, 
 
i!! 
 
 V \ 
 
 / 
 
 106 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 46. 
 
 "the starting-point of Christian missions, and 
 for the first century their head(iuarters."^ Ac- 
 cordingly we read that, "when they had fasted 
 and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they 
 sent them away." 
 
 It was not a great event to the people of An- 
 tioch.2 The Christians in the city would miss 
 the two great Apostles, and at the same time 
 would exult that they had gone to carry the 
 " glad tidings " to other peoples ; but to the gay 
 and worldly heathen the departure from their 
 city of two men who had been spending a y«ar 
 or two there, advocating the claims of a crucified 
 Jew, would be an entirely insignificant matter. 
 Mark went with his cousin Barnabas ; and we 
 can easily imagine them taking leave of Lucius, 
 Menahem, Niger, and the rest, starting out, 
 probably on foot, crossing the bridge which 
 spanned the Otrontes, and following the regular 
 highway over the hills, twelve or fifteen miles 
 down to Seleucia by the sea, where they were to 
 embark for Cyprus. 
 
 What are these men undertaking? Do they 
 know how desperately'' wicked the cities and 
 towns are, and how the people everywhere are 
 worshipping gods of wood and stone and brass 
 
 1 Renan : " Apostles," 43. 
 
 2 •' They left Autioch with no flourish of tnunpets ; but with the 
 calm earuestness of thoughtful men." — W. M. Taylor: '* Paul 
 the Missionary," p. 90. 
 
 f 
 
i«HMI 
 
 ma 
 
 I 
 
 JEt. 40.1 
 
 THfi START. 
 
 107 
 
 and gold ? Yes ; and because they know it, 
 they are eager to tell the people about the true 
 God and of a better way of life. 
 
 The populations of the various parts of the 
 Roman empire in the first century were perhaps 
 the most corrupt that have ever existed. Almost 
 the universal drift was in the wrong direction. 
 Politics was a trade, at which men served as 
 brief an apprenticeship as possible, to learn 
 how to snatch most of the spoils. Art was de- 
 graded into sensualism, and religion was made 
 a slave in chains, and compelled to perform the 
 debasing services of unchastity and infanticide. 
 We have seen what the moral condition was in 
 Damascus and Antioch in the East, and the cities 
 of the West were not perceptibly better. " The 
 western regions, towards which the course of 
 missions took its way, were prevalently Greek/ 
 and Roman ; but it was a conquered Greece and 
 a coiTupted Rome. It was a Greece which had 
 lost its genius and retained its falsity ; a Rome 
 which had lost its simplicity and retained its 
 coarseness. It was Greece in her lowest stage 
 of seducer and parasite ; it was Rome at the / 
 epoch of her most gorgeous gluttonies and 
 her most gilded rottenness." ^ It is not im- 
 probable that there were exceptions to the 
 general degradation of morals. Indeed, his- 
 
 1 Farrar, i. 331. * 
 
 y 
 
it 
 
 108 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 46. 
 
 tory is not wholly barren of the names of 
 both men and women who were high-minded 
 and pure, so that while the majorities every- 
 where "had sounded the lowest depths of in- 
 famy," ' there were some rare souls in whom 
 "good nature, conjugal fidelity, probity, and 
 the domestic virtues " ^ might be found ; but 
 there were not many such. The people who 
 retained most of morality and sobriety in the 
 l'^ general looseness were undoubtedly the Jews, 
 who were scattered in every city and town of 
 the empire. 
 
 / The Jew had his faults. He was bigoted, ex- 
 [/ elusive, niggardly, ignorant, possibly supersti- 
 tious ; at the same time he was but very rarely 
 a murderer, an adulterer or a glutton. He was 
 proud of his rigid adherence to the Mosaic law, 
 and of his faith in an absolutely holy God, whom 
 he could not see. "It was his object to keep 
 himself puro, so fiir as ho possibly could, from 
 all ceremonial, as well as from all moral cor- 
 ruption." ^ Jewish colonists were looked upon 
 with aversion. Greeks, Eomans, and Syrians 
 alike, hated the very sight of them. Still 
 they maintained their separate, independent 
 existence and worship, uttering thereby their 
 eternal protest against the unchaste misce- 
 
 1 Renan : " Apostles," 160. 
 
 2 Rawlinson ; " Paul in Damascus," p. 52. 
 
 
^T. 40.] 
 
 THE START. 
 
 109 
 
 [ 
 
 genation, and the sensuous religious rites of 
 paganism. 
 
 We mus not forget that Barnabas and Saul 
 are Jews, " two poor Jews," * "of obscure 
 name, of no position, without rank, without in- 
 fluence." Naturally they would have felt just as 
 other Jews felt toward Gentiles. They would 
 neither have mingled with them nor have cared 
 for their conversion. But these apostles were 
 no longer the members of a mere Jewish sect, 
 bigoted and exclusive, but the disciples of 
 the Son of Man, whose mission was to save all 
 men ; and in both mind and heart they had em- 
 braced the idea of the brotherhood of humanity. 
 They went out, therefore, to preach the Gospel 
 to men, not to Jews alone. It may be true as 
 Renan suggests that, "the Christian preaching 
 seems to have followed a road already laid out, 
 and which is no other than that of the Jewish 
 emigration," ^ but it would have been equally 
 true if the Apostles had gone into Syria, Ara- 
 bia, and Egypt, instead of into Asia Minor, 
 Greece, and Italy ; for there were Jewish com- 
 munities wherever there were people of other 
 nationalities ; and the result proves that Saul 
 and Barnabas found it more difficult to persuade 
 their own brethren to believe in Christ than 
 they did to persuade Gentiles. 
 
 1 Fan-ar, I. 337 ; Ibid, 333. 
 
 2 << 
 
 Apostles," 240. 
 
m I 
 
 110 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 46. 
 
 For these apostles were Jews, but perverts ; 
 Jews, but schismatics, who preached that the 
 great Kabbis and the High Priest at Jerusalem 
 had profaned the Holy City by putting to death 
 the ^Messiah. This would render them odious to 
 the very orthodox Jews. But, on the other hand, 
 the fact that they were Jews would only midve 
 it rnore difficult for them to address Gentiles, 
 and that, all the more, because they were travel- 
 ling: as reli<;ious teachers. It is well known 
 that the women of those times, as of any cor- 
 rupt age, were the greatest sufferers ; and that 
 quite frequently one of these, whose life had be- 
 come burdensome under the defilements of 
 paganism, would take refuge in the arms of the 
 comparatively pure, at least virtuous, Judaism.^ 
 This " was an open condemnation of the men, 
 who adhered to the old religion as shameless 
 profligates," 2 and would naturally aggravate their 
 hatred, especially against Jews like the apostles, 
 whose declared purpose it was to draw whom- 
 ever they could out of " that vast weltering 
 mass of idolatry and corruption,"^ to believe in 
 the Christ whom they preached. 
 
 As we shall see, however, there is one fact 
 that secured to Barnabas and Saul, and after- 
 
 ' Rawlinson : " St. Paul in Damascus," 71 ; Conybeare and 
 Howson, I. 194. 
 
 2 Rawliusou : " St. Paul in Damascus," 72. 3 Farrar, i. 329. 
 
 
 s 
 
I 
 
 
 a 
 
 r 
 
 Mr. 40.] 
 
 THE START. 
 
 Ill 
 
 ward to Saul alone, or with Luke and Silas, 
 an opportunity to reach the people with the 
 Gospel everywhere in the Konian eini)ire. That 
 empire, in granting liberty of thought and 
 speech, had done what the old kingdoms had 
 never permitted. Scientific, philosophic, and 
 religious opinions were held and taught with 
 entire freedom, so far as the Roman law was 
 concerned.' So the Apostles, although fre- 
 quently set upon by Jews, alwa^ s felt sure of 
 the protection of the Roman oflScials, at least so 
 far as those oflBcials were uncorrui)ted by bribery 
 or popularity. It was only years afterward, 
 when Christianity came into conflict with prac- 
 tical politics, that Christians were persecuted, 
 not for their faith, but for the political attitude\/ 
 which they were obliged to assume. 
 
 If now we take all this into consideration, — 
 how much wickedness there was, how few per- 
 sons there were who were dissatisfied with 
 their condition, how diflScult it was to gain 
 access to that few, and if we remember the 
 hardships of travelling in those days, and the 
 dangers hy sea and by land, — is it not remark- 
 able that these two Jews should start out " on 
 foot, staff in hand, to convert the world to 
 Christ? "2 They must have been brave men; 
 but more, they were divinely commissioned. 
 
 L/' 
 
 > Renan: "Apostles," 259. 
 
 » Fanar, i. 337. 
 
 vv^r- 
 
112 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 46. 
 
 Saul hiid been waiting (with what holy impa- 
 tience!) these four years for the fulfilment of 
 that promise made to him in Jerusalem, "I will 
 send thee far hence unto the Gentiles."^ He 
 knew the difficulties ; but they did not terrify 
 him. All the more need why the Gospel 
 should be preached. He was like the racer 
 who sees the crown at the goal, 3'et is kept 
 chafing behind the barrier. But now the word 
 has been spc ken, and with an eager bound he 
 enters the course, from this time to keep " reach- 
 ing forth unto those things which are before," 
 until he receives the incorruptible crown. ^ 
 \ Seleucia, to which they came, was one of the 
 best and busiest ports of the Mediterranean. 
 It was five miles north of the mouth of the 
 Orontes, close to the shore, clustering around 
 the base, and climbing up the slopes of Mount 
 Coryphaeus, the steep heights of which over- 
 hung the city. The harbor was entirely arti- 
 ficial, and consisted of an inner "basin," cover- 
 ing about fifty acres, and an outer one of less 
 extent, protected by two magnificent piers, ex- 
 tending into the sea, and at the outer extremity 
 meeting and overlapping each other, but so as 
 to allow vessels to enter. It is a curious fact 
 that one of these piers — the ruins only remain 
 
 1 Acts xxii. 2L 
 
 2 Phil. iii. 13. 
 
 11 
 
* 
 
 Mj.iO.] 
 
 THE START. 
 
 113 
 
 — is called by the name of Saul, while the other 
 bears the name of Barnabas.^ 
 
 Inside the harbor, sheltered from the inces- 
 sant surge of the sea, rode "many gallant 
 vessels from all parts of the Mediterranean," ^ 
 while on the wharves, lined with storehouses, 
 might have been heard " the din of commerce " 
 in a Babel of tongues ; for Seleucia, as already 
 observed, was one of the principal seaports of 
 the Mediterranean, located on the direct line of 
 communication from the East to the West, — a 
 line which commerce in our own day has pro- 
 posed to re-open by rail through the valleys of 
 the Orontes and the Euphrates. 
 
 The missionaries did not delay here longer 
 than was necessary to find among the outward- 
 bound vessels one that was going to Cyprus, 
 for they" had decided to make that island their 
 immediate destination. We do not read of 
 their preaching at Seleucia at all. Therefore > 
 we may be sure, that their stay was brief. But 
 now the two brave men stand upon the deck, 
 the moorings are cast oflf, the prow turns away 
 to the southwest, "the apostolic barque has 
 spread her sails ; the wind breathes low, and 
 only aspires to bear upon its wings the words 
 of Jesus ; " ^ the treacherous sea is kind, and 
 
 » Malleson : " St. Paul," 130. 
 
 a Macduff: ♦• Footsteps of St. Paul," 106. 
 
 ' Farrar, i. 338. 
 

 114 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 46, 
 
 bears them swiftly away from the shores of 
 Syria. The mountains astern sink gradually to 
 the horizon, while in the distance the hills of 
 Cyprus rise above the cloud-banks to extend 
 their welcome to these godly men who come, 
 not to erect new altars upon them, but to plant 
 here the Christian standard, and unfurl the 
 banner of the King of Peace. The vessel speeds 
 on past Cape Andre.'is, the northeastern extrem- 
 ity of the island, — a quick run of a few hours 
 between dawn and sunset from Seleucia,' — and 
 soon its keel touches the sandy shore in front of 
 Salamis, and "the second idyl of Christianity " 
 is commenced. 
 
 1 The distance from Seleucia to Salamis is about one hundred 
 miles. 
 
 2 "The Lake of Tiberias and its fishing-banks had furnished the 
 first. Now a more powerful breeze, aspirations towards more dis- 
 tant lands, draw us into the open sea." — Renan : " St. Paul," 
 p. 36. 
 
 tl 
 
M 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 CYPRUS. 
 
 " Know ye the land where the cypress and myrtle 
 Arc emblems of deeds that are done in their clime ; 
 Where the rage of the vulture, the love of the turtle. 
 Now melt into sorrow, now madden to crime." — Byron. 
 
 " During the generation which elapsed from the year 35 to the 
 year 65, the Roman empire was sown with a seed of eternal life, 
 wliich comprehends the germ of a total revolution, not only moral, 
 but domestic, civil, political, and even material." — Adolphe 
 MONOD. 
 
 " For first must die in him the man called Saul, 
 That grace supreme might live and reign in Paul." 
 
 IT must have been with peculiar interest that 
 Barnabas and Mark greeted the first distinct 
 view of Cyprus ; for it was the native place of 
 the former,' and probably thej' both had rela- 
 tives still living there. Indeed, this may have 
 been the reason why Cyprus was selected as the 
 first place to which the missionaries should go ; 
 although it is probable that the facts, that it was 
 one of the nearest points accessible, that there 
 were already a few Christians there and many 
 Jews, and that vessels were likely to have been 
 passing frequently between the island and Se- 
 
 1 Acta V. 36, 
 
 116 
 
 i 
 
116 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 46. 
 
 leucia, aflford suflScient reason for the first apos- 
 tolic journey taking this direction. 
 
 Within a few years the world has taken a 
 new interest in the Island of Cyprus. In 1878, 
 through the shrewd diplomacy of Lord Bea- 
 consfield, it became a dependency of the British 
 crown, and it is to be presumed that its future 
 fortunes will be an improvement upon the uni- 
 versal neglect and desolation consequent upon 
 three centuries of Turkish misrule. And, even 
 befoie England had become the owner of 
 Cyprus, popular attention had been called to it, 
 by the excavations and discoveries of General 
 di Cesnola, x'^.merican consul, whose collection 
 of Cyprian antiquities, now fortunately ^ depos- 
 ited in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New 
 York, consisting of a vast quantity of Assyrian, 
 Phoenician, Cypriote, and Greek inscriptions, 
 coins, vases, statues, bas-reliefs, sarcophagi, 
 engraved gems, amulets, terra-cotta lamps, and 
 a great variety of ornaments in gold, silver, 
 copper, bronze, alabaster, and rock-cry stal,^ 
 reveals the history of ages of ancient prosperity 
 and civilization. 
 
 The general features of the island were the 
 same when Saul and Barnabas landed on the 
 pier at Salamis as they are to-day. The coast- 
 
 1 A writer Id the Encyclopsedia Britannioa, •' Cyprus," saya " un- 
 fortunately." 2 Cesnolu'S) *' Cyprus," p. 453. 
 
 •J 
 
 / 
 
 
Mt. 40.] 
 
 CYPRUS. 
 
 117 
 
 line was the same, as were also the mountain 
 ranges, the valleys, and the rivers. But the 
 mountain sides, and all the central portion of 
 the island were, in those days, covered with 
 dense forests, while the lowlands between the 
 mountains and the sea teemed with luxuriant 
 vegetation. There were rich copper and silver 
 mines here, which, it is quite probable, have not 
 yet been exhausted. The forests for many 
 years supplied the Greeks with timber for 
 ship-building, — much of which, it is only fair 
 to presume, may have been carried on upon 
 the banks of the Pedaeus at Salamis. There 
 was, in Saul's day, only one other city on 
 Cyprus besides Salamis, namely, Paphos, at 
 the western end, although there were a number 
 of small towns and villages.^ The inhabitants 
 of the island were, in the main, Greeks. These 
 constituted the permanent population. A con- 
 siderable number of Jews,^ however, resided here 
 with more or less permanency, but without be- 
 coming a constituent part of the body politic. 
 
 Venus, "Aphrodite Anadyomene," had for 
 many generations been the embodiment of all 
 that was divine to the Cyprians. Hither, as, 
 
 "From the sea 
 She rose and floated in her pearly shell, 
 A laughing girl," 8 
 
 1 Lewin, i. 120. 
 
 • Homer, quote J by Farrar, i. 349. 
 
 3 Acts xiii. 6. 
 
I !.i 
 
 } 
 
 i 
 
 Mi 
 
 118 
 
 LIFE OF Paul. 
 
 [A.D. 48. 
 
 she came ; and here, in one of the groves of the 
 Cyprian Olympus, was "the most famous of 
 her temples," — the chief " of all the luxurious 
 bowers devoted to her worship."^ This was at 
 Paphos, and accordingly in this city the annual 
 festival and procession in her honor was cele- 
 brated. But the worship of Venus did not 
 promote virtue. The moral atmosphere of 
 Cyprus was little better than that of Antioch, 
 whose religious rites were presided over by the 
 voluptuous Daphne.^ 
 
 Our three missionaries, leaving the vessel at the 
 dock, entered the streets of Salamis. Barna- 
 bas knew the way, and soon found acquaint- 
 ances, to whom he introduced Saul and his 
 cousin Mark. On the Sabbath they went to 
 worship ; and all that we know of their stay or 
 doings in the city is summed up in one sen- 
 tence, " They preached the word of God in the 
 synagogues of the Jews." ^ From this, however, 
 we discover that there were Jews enough in 
 Salamis to require more than one synagogue, 
 and also, inferentially, that at this beginning of 
 their work, the apostles limited their preaching 
 to the Jews. They may have remained there 
 
 1 Lewin, i. 120. 
 
 2 " The pictures which they [i. e. Herodotus and later historians] 
 draw of the fjrand festival to the goddess at Paphos leave little for 
 the imajfination of man to invent, one would think, in the way of 
 gross indulgence. " — Cesnola's " Cyprus," p. 8. 
 
 B Acts xiii. 5. 
 
 ¥3 
 
 11 
 
^T. 40.) 
 
 CYPRUS. 
 
 119 
 
 days, weeks, or months. It is stated, in this 
 connection, that they had John (Mark) as 
 their minister ; and this has been understood to 
 imply that there may have been many converts, 
 to l)aptizc whom was the duty of Mark.^ 
 
 When they left Salamis, they would naturally 
 turn their faces toward the southwest, and, pass- 
 ing through "a widespread plain, with corn- 
 lields and orchards," ^ would stop at the first town 
 or village to which they came to preach the 
 good news of the Gospel. In this way, pass- 
 ing from town to town, " they went throughout 
 the whole of the island,"^ until they finally 
 reached the capital, Paphos, which by the 
 direct road was not more than a hundred 
 miles from Salamis. 
 
 The Roman governor of Cyprus, Sergius 
 Paulus, resided at Paphos. He was an acute and 
 intelligent official, who, in addition to attending 
 to the affairs of his province, was accustomed 
 to break up the monotony of this insular resi- 
 dence by investigating the claims of philoso- 
 phy and religion ; * though, up to the time of our 
 
 1 Farrar, i. 345 ; Lewin, i. 127 ; Conybeare and Howson, i. 141 ; 
 Hackett: Com. on Acts, xiii. 5. 
 
 2 Conybeare and Howson, 1. 140. 
 8 Lewiu, I. 127. 
 
 * They found the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man dissatisfied 
 with all that philosophy and the popular religion could offer for his 
 religious wants, and anxiou" to receive everything which pre- 
 sented itself as a new eounnunication from Heaven." — Nbander, 
 •' Planting and Training," p. 112. 
 
120 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 (A.D. 48. 
 
 r 
 
 history, with little satisfaction. This " prudent" 
 Roman kept in his service a Jew, — one of those 
 "wise men," who at that time were looked 
 upon as possessing more than human wisdom — 
 whom, no doubt, he consulted not only for 
 amusement, but in order that his choices and 
 decisions might be more thoroughly in harmony 
 with the purposes of the gods. This "wise 
 man " was one of a large class of religious im- 
 postors, who made a trade of revealing, as they 
 pretended, things which common mortals could 
 not otherwise find out. Their methods were as 
 various as their names, — " augurs, haruspices, 
 Babylonians, mathematici, astrologers, magi- 
 ans, soothsayers, casters of horoscopes, fortune- 
 tellers, ventriloquists, dream-interpreters," ^ and 
 they were employed and consulted on all occa- 
 sions in which issues of sufficient importance 
 were involved ; and by all classes, from the 
 maid who dropped a farthing into the "wise 
 man's " palm to have her fortune told, to the 
 Emperor surrounded by his " herd of Chal- 
 deans," listening to some "divine revelation" in 
 regard to matters of imperial policy. So that 
 we are not to condemn Sergius Paulus without 
 reserve because he kept hanging about him this 
 man Bar- Jesus. In later times, every one who 
 could afford the expense, kept a court-fool. At 
 
 1 Fanar, i. 351. 
 
^T. 40.] 
 
 CYPRUS. 
 
 121 
 
 that time, rich and influential heathen retained a 
 " court wise man." At any rate, this governor of 
 Cyprus was evidently not a slave of that fanatic 
 faith which, 
 
 " Once wedded fast 
 To some dear falsehood, hugs it to the bst" ^ 
 
 No sooner had he heard of Barnabas and 
 Saul preaching in the synagogues and possibly 
 in the streets^ of his capital than, hoping that 
 these men might have some new truth to tell 
 him in addition to the miserably insignificant 
 tale which he had drawn out of Bar- Jesus, he 
 sent a messenger, bidding them come to his resi- 
 dence, and then invited them to speak to him 
 " the word of God." This they did, and suc- 
 cessfully. Bar- Jesus, however, or Ely mas, as 
 he called himself, thinking, just as many another 
 man has, that a more honorable name would add 
 to his dignity, had no intention of permitting 
 Barn has and Saul to be preferred to himself in 
 the good graces of the governor. He was the 
 private religious adviser of Sergius Paulus, had 
 been engaged for the year probably, and he was 
 eager, with an impostor's headlong zeal, to retain 
 the position he had gained. With all the arts 
 of his trade and force of bitter denunciation he 
 tried to silence the apostles, and to persuade the 
 
 1 Thos. Moore : " Lalla Rookh." 
 
 a Macduflf : '• Footsteps of St. Paul," p. 108. 
 
I i 
 
 
 
 122 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.I>. 46. 
 
 governor that this new religion was false, and 
 that the way of truth lay with him and his sor- 
 ceries. But Saul — not Barnabas — here Saul, 
 for the first time, stands out alone as the cham- 
 pion of the faith. And it is just at this point 
 that Luke drops the name, Saulf and henceforth 
 calls the great Apostle by his new name, Paul.' 
 Paul, full of the wisdom and power of God, 
 turned upon him his searching glance, and Avith 
 the well-aimed re))uke of his indignation crushed 
 the worthless, wicked coward. Such tremen- 
 dous words, spoken face to tace, have rarely been 
 uttered : " O full of all guile and all villany , 
 thou son of the devil, thou enemy of all right- 
 eousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right 
 ways of the Lord? And now, behold ! the hand 
 of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be 
 blind, not seeing the sun for a season." The 
 lips of Bar- Jesus are trembling with rage. 
 He will fling back this insult to his dignity as 
 the Magian of the court of Sergius Paulus. But, 
 alas ! true to Paul's words, a misty veil floats 
 before his eyes : Paul, Barnabas, the governor, 
 the hangings of the walls, all fade away from 
 his vision ; the darlmess which only the blind 
 know thickens about him, and he cries for some 
 one to take him by the hand and lead him away. 
 We see this wretched man no more ; but we 
 may feel sure that Paul thought of him with 
 
 1 See note on the change of name on page 126. 
 
> 
 
 VI 
 
 H 
 
 n 
 
^F^ Ji 
 
 - 
 
 'l ■ ' i i 
 
 : I' ' 
 
 (yi 
 
iSUB 
 
 JET. 40,] 
 
 CYPRUS. 
 
 125 
 
 compassion, and regivtted his stubborn opposi- 
 tion to the truth, which made this severe infliction 
 necessary. He was to be blind only "for a 
 season." Let us hope that the judgments of 
 (jod led him to repentance. 
 
 The miracle, however, produced an immediate 
 effect upon the mind of Sergius Paulus. He 
 saw the minister of his gods instantaneously 
 struck blind at a word from the Apostle of 
 Christ ; and the proof was efficient. He 
 believed. Nor do we hear of him again. Ces- 
 nola discovered at Soli a marble slab on which 
 this man's name appears.' We have reason to 
 hope that it is also in the " Book of Life." 
 
 The work in Cyprus in all probability had 
 been attended with encouraging success ; but 
 it was never Paul's intention to remain very 
 long in any one place. It was his large pur- 
 pose to visit every accessible point in the world 
 with his message of truth. So, very soon, his 
 urgent spirit is looking with impatience across 
 the water to the shores of i^sia Minor. The 
 three men are ai>ain stop})ing from the dock ; 
 the cordage rattles ; the southern breeze fills the 
 sails ; the aposth^s wav© farewell to their now- 
 made friends at Paphos ; and, after a few hours' 
 sail, are at anchor in the Cestrus, before Perga, 
 the capital of Pamphylia. 
 
 1 •« Cyprus," p. 229. 
 
126 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 46. 
 
 Note. — Up to this point I have used the name Saul. 
 Hereafter I shall speak of the Apostle to the Gentiles 
 by his well-known name, Paul. I make this change in 
 the name simply for the sake of conformity lo the his- 
 torian of the Acts of (he Apostles, who uses "Saul" up 
 to this circumstance at Paphos, and " Paul " invariably 
 after it. As to the actual change of name by which he 
 was called, it probably did not occur as suddenly as the 
 narrative in the Acts seems to imply. It is not remark- 
 able, however, that he should have two names. He may 
 have borne both from childhood, — Saul Paul. Why not? 
 His early associations as a Jew would naturally fix upon 
 him that name of the two which was more peculiarly Jew- 
 ish, so he was called Saul in Tarsus and in Jerusalem. 
 But now he has ceased to be merely a Jew. Ho sails from 
 Paphos fully committed to the life of a cosmopolitan ; and 
 the cosmopolitan, or, what was the same in that age, the 
 Roman name, comes into use. Farrar quotes a sentence 
 from Augustine ' which shows how the change of name 
 indicates the change in all the conditions of the Apostle's 
 life; and Howson, in a striking passage, emphasizes the 
 reasons why the use of the new name was commenced at 
 this particular point.^ 
 
 1 " « Paul suffers what Saul had inflicted ; Saul stoned, and Paul 
 was stoned ; Saul inflicted scourgings on Christians, and Paul five 
 times received forty stripes save one ; Saul hunted the Church of 
 God, Paul was let down in a basket ; Saul bound, Paul was bound ' " 
 — "St. Paul," I. 356, 
 
 2 " ' The heathen name rises to the suiface at the moment when 
 St. Paul visibly enters on his office as the Apostle of the Heathen. 
 The Roman name is stereotyped at the moment when he converts 
 the Roman governor. And the place where this occurs is Paphos, 
 the favorite sanctuaiy of a shameful idolatiy. At the veiy spot 
 which was notorious throughout the world for that which the Gos- 
 pel forbids and destroys, — there, before he sailed for Perga, hav- 
 ing achieved his victory, the Apostle erected his trophy, as Moses, 
 when Amalek was discomfited, • built an altar, and called the name 
 of it Jehovah-Nissi, — the Lord my Banner.' " — " St. Paul," 1. 153. 
 
 ^.: 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 ANTIOCH IN PISIDIA. 
 
 " These lingered not for song of bird, nor stayed 
 To mark what hues the glittering insect glossed, 
 That dipt across their path from sun to shade." 
 
 Dora Ureenwell. 
 
 " In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, 
 in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in 
 perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness." — 2 CoR. xi. 26. 
 
 ^HE Oestrus was the highway by which 
 -■- Paul the missionary made his triumphal 
 entrance into the borders of the heathenism 
 of Asia Minor. The ancient city, Perga, of 
 which there is nothing to be seen now but 
 a few prostrate and indistinct ruins, scattered 
 about in a pasture that lies in a valley and on 
 two opposite hillsides on the eastern bank of the 
 river, was, at the time when Paul and Barnabas 
 were there, the focus of the enterprise and fashion 
 of Pamphylia. Later, Attalia was built directly 
 on the coast with a good harbor ; the Oestrus 
 became innavigable, and Perga was gradually 
 deserted for its more prosperous rival. 
 
 The country of Asia Minor, which we are 
 now entering with the apostles, demands at 
 
 127 
 
128 
 
 LTFK OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.n. 46. 
 
 •> 
 
 least ti few seiiteiites of dcseriptioii. It was 
 an excecdin«,Hy loui^Ii country, broken in all 
 directions by inountani-eluiins, torn by torrents, 
 bristlin;!:: willi dense forests, infested by wild 
 beasts, and ocon[)ied in ni:my portions by a 
 thoron«rbly barbarous population. The coasts 
 were lined with cities and civilization ; and 
 at certain points, such as Antioch in Pisidia, 
 Ancyra in Galatia, Lystra, and Philadelphia, 
 was felt tlie influence of that life which was 
 touched by the thousand lines of communication 
 that crossed and recrossed the Mediterranean. 
 The country was divided into seven provinces. 
 Pamphylia., into which we have entered, and 
 which is l)ut a small strip of valley, lay 
 between the Taurus and the sea. On the 
 east of this was Cilicia. These two provinces 
 covered all the southern coast of Asia Minor, 
 with the exception of the extreme western end. 
 North of Cilicia stretched away, over forest and 
 mountain to the Euxine, the two provinces of 
 Cappadocia and Pontus. North of Pamphylia 
 lay Galatia and Bithynia. The western 
 portion, from the Mediterranean to the Bos- 
 phorus, and looking out up< n the islands of 
 the ^Egean, was known in Paul's day as Asia. 
 But while the provinces were located in the 
 positions above indicated, it must not be 
 supposed that the divisions were exact or the 
 
 1 r 
 
 / 
 
 K\X 
 
 ; 
 
a:t. 40.] 
 
 ANTIOCH IN PISIDIA. 
 
 lL':» 
 
 lines of separation very distinct. It was not 
 always easy to tell where one province stopped 
 or another coninienced. These j)rovinces were, 
 moreover, an arbitrary division, made under the 
 empire. Meantime many of the old names of 
 tribes and of tribal territories were retained, so 
 that we have such names as Phrygia, Lycaonia, 
 and Lydia to describe parts of Asia Minor. 
 All of these designations are used in the Acts 
 of the Apostles. The population of Asia 
 Minor " was broken up into numerous com- 
 munities, varying in manners, language, and 
 religion, and ruled partly hy Roman prefects 
 and partly by petty kings and potentates, the 
 feudatories of Rome." * Seventeen nations, 
 many of them speaking different languages or 
 dialects, were scattered over this small country. 
 In the west, or Asia Proper, Greek was almost 
 exclusively spoken, and so far as persons of 
 cultivation Avere to be met with anywhere 
 they could use this language ; but the people 
 at large spoke in the dialects to which they 
 were born. The religion of these provinces 
 was the prevalent idolatr}^ every considerable 
 city or district selecting its own special deity, 
 to whom a temple was erected, a statue 
 dedicated, festivals and processions celebrated, 
 and in whose temple such rites were observed 
 
 1 Lewin, 1. 131. 
 
130 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 46. 
 
 1 r 
 
 as m'^de the conscience easy, while they excused 
 crime, and provided for the gratification of 
 passion. 
 
 Now for three men unprotected to push into 
 the interior of such a country as this, with the 
 announced purpose of setting the stone rolling 
 which should break down these false religions, 
 required no little self-denial and boldness. Ac- 
 cordingly we are not very much surprised to 
 read that at this point, while the apostles are at 
 Perga., making such arrangements as may have 
 been necessary for their journey into the moun- 
 tains, John Mark's determination to be a mis- 
 sionary failed, and he " departed from them 
 and returned to Jerusalem." ^ He lacked the 
 vigorous determination of a Paul. The dark 
 mountains of Galatia were not very inviting, and 
 his zeal for preaching the Gospel was not strong 
 enough to carry him through them. He had no 
 taste for martvrdom. " Either he did not like 
 the work, or he wanted to go and see his 
 mother." 2 This one "disheartening incident "^ 
 was all that occurred at Perga. Paul and Bar- 
 nabas immediately turn their faces toward the 
 mountains, ha/ing selected Antioch in Pisidia 
 as their destination. 
 
 t»i 
 
 1 Actr; xiii. 13. 
 
 2 Matthew Henry : •' Commentary on Acts," xiii. 13. 
 8 Fanar, i. 358. 
 
^T. 40.] 
 
 ANTIOCH IN PISIDIA. 
 
 131 
 
 It has been assumed that this journey was 
 made in the month of May,^ 
 
 "The floweiy May, who, from her green lap, throws 
 The yellow cowslip and the pale primrose," * 
 
 and that the apostles hurried away from Perga 
 because they found that the annual summer 
 exodus from the hot, low plain, to the cool 
 heights of the mountains was in progress, that 
 the absence of so many people would interfere 
 with their work there, while the season would 
 be most propitious to visit the higher districts. 
 It would be safer, too, for them to travel with 
 those who were going up to their summer resi- 
 dences ; for these mountain-paths were infested 
 with robbers and brigands, who were the terror 
 of travellers. We imagine, then, Paul and Bar- 
 nabas making the journey on foot. Starting out 
 in the early morning, before the intense heat 
 comes rolling through the valley of the Oestrus, 
 they are soon climbing the zig-zag path up the 
 mountain-side, while the sun pours its rays upon 
 them. " As the path ascends," to quote the fine 
 sentences of Dean How son, " the rocks begin to 
 assume the wilder grandeur of mountains, the 
 richer fruit-trees begin to disappear, and the 
 pine and walnut succeed ; though the palm- 
 tree still stretches its wide leaves over the 
 
 1 Conybeare and Howson, i. 165. 
 3 Milton : « Song on May Morning." 
 
a' 
 
 132 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 46, 
 
 wm^ 
 
 strejim which dashes wildly down the ravine, 
 crossing and recrossing the dangerous road. 
 The alteration of climate which attends on the 
 traveller's progress is soon perceptible. A few 
 hours will make the difference of weeks or even 
 months. When the corn is in the ear on the 
 lowlands, ploughing and sowing are hardly well 
 begun upon the highlands. Spring-flowers may 
 be seen in the mountains by the very edge of 
 the snow, w4ien the anemone is withered in the 
 plain, and the pink veins in the white asphodel 
 flower are shrivelled by the heat. When the 
 cottages are closed juid the grass is parched, 
 and everything is silent belou^ in the purple haze 
 and stillness of midsummer, clouds are seen 
 drifting among the Pisidian precipices, and the 
 cavern is often a welcome shelter from a cold 
 and penetrating wind." ^ Up such a mountain- 
 road our travellers pressed. But long before 
 they reached the highest roll of this mountain- 
 range, they pass the summer villas and tents in 
 which the Paiaphylian vacationers are enjoying 
 the equable temperature of the highlands. It 
 is not for these apostles of Christ, though, to 
 delay here for an hour even of recreation. Five 
 or six days from J*erga they ire crossing that 
 table-land which stretches inward from the Pisi- 
 dian mountains, described by travellers us teera- 
 
 1 Conuyljcare and llowsou, i. l(iG. 
 
JET. 40.] 
 
 ANTIOCH IN PISIDIA. 
 
 133 
 
 ing with interest and beauty of great variety ; 
 but " the steps which were ever on the golden 
 streets of the New Jerusalem trod heedlessly "^ 
 through the most fascinatino^ vistas of natural 
 scenery, as over the most richly-stored fields of 
 classic antiquity, without even a reference being 
 made to them in letter or in speech. Paul was 
 too intent on reaching the people in yonder city 
 to muse on the scenes by the wayside. 
 
 The Sal)bath after the arrival of Paul and 
 Barnabas in Antioch finds them with their fel- 
 low-countrymen in the synagogue. The Jew- 
 ish synagogues, built by these devoted people 
 in every town where there were enough of them 
 to support one, were generally plain stone 
 buildings, with very little ornamentation. The 
 regular worship consisted of prayers, of which 
 there were more thnn twenty prescribed for the 
 Sabbath ritual, and reading tlie Law and the 
 Prophets. Singing, except as the Psalms and 
 prayers may have been recited in a monotonous 
 sing-song, did not form a part of the worship ; 
 and if there was any speaking it was by special 
 permission of the Rulers, and was in addition to 
 the prescribed ritual. ^ If we could have looked 
 into that synagogue at Antioch in Pisidia on 
 any Sabbath, we should have seen it filled with 
 men, women and children, — Jews, and Gentile 
 
 1 Farrar, i. 363. 2 Geike : " Life of Christ," i. 192. 
 
!*"JP 
 
 •mmm 
 
 134 
 
 LITE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 46. 
 
 i^ 
 
 \ 
 
 proselytes, who had adopted the Jewish form 
 of worshipping the one true God, — all devoutly 
 standing, uniting in some of the prayers, re- 
 sponding " Amen " to some others, listening while 
 the Reader read the section of the Law or fif- 
 tieth part of the five books of Moses, and giving 
 attention to whoever might be invited to speak 
 in exposition of the lesson that had been read. 
 The people on this Sabbath are expecting to 
 hear a new voice ; for it is already known that 
 two brethren, one of whom at least is a Rabbi 
 from the school of Gamaliel, are in the congre- 
 gation. After the reading is finished, therefore, 
 an invitation is given to them by the Ruler of 
 the synagogue : " Brethren, if ye have any 
 word of exhortation for the people, say on." 
 They had something to say, — a word that 
 was burning in their very hearts for utterance. 
 " This pair of men never wanted words to 
 speak." ^ It is Paul, however, who responds to 
 the invitation. The "Son of Consolation" must 
 rarely have spoken in public ; but Paul possessed 
 the natural poise and force, the quick mind and 
 ready tongue of a public speaker. At once he 
 rises and addresses the congregation : ^ — - 
 
 1 Bengal : " Gnomon," Acts xiii. 15. 
 
 s *'■ This discourse, the first of Paul's discourses reported at any 
 length, dwells on three points : the prior history of the people, and 
 its connection with the advent ; then the Mcssiahship of .Jesus, and 
 its proofs; and lastly, the solemn application nt' the truth to them- 
 selves.— JoHK Eadie : "Paul the Preacher," y. 74. 
 
Mr. 40,1 
 
 ANTIOCH IN PISIDIA. 
 
 135 
 
 
 "Listen, men of Israel, and you also who 
 worship our God. The God of this people, 
 Israel, chose our fathers and raised them up 
 to be a mighty nation, even out of bondage in 
 Eg3^pt, anrt with a strong arm brought them out 
 of that country ; and for about forty years he 
 carried them safely in his arms through the 
 wilderness. And when He had destroyed seven 
 nations in the land of Camian, He gave their 
 country to His people for about four hundred 
 and fifty years, after which he gave them judges 
 until the time of Samuel the Prophet. Then 
 they desired a king, and He appointed Saul the 
 son of Kish for them, a man of the tribe of Ben- 
 jamin, to rule them forty years And when He 
 had removed Saul He prepared David to be 
 their king, to whom also He bore testimony, 
 saying : I have found David, the son of Jesse^ 
 a man after my own heart, who shall do all my 
 ivill. 
 
 " Of this man's descendants, God, according to 
 His promise, has brought to Israel a Saviour, 
 Jesus, after John had first preached the baptism 
 of repentance to all the people of Israel. And 
 as John was finishing his ministry he said: 
 Wliom do you think I am f I am not He. 
 But behold, there is One coming after me whose 
 sandals I am not worthy to take off. 
 
 " Brethren, children of Abraham, and all you 
 
136 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 46. 
 
 h 
 
 $ 
 
 who worship our God, to us has been sent this 
 word of salvation ; for those who live in Jeru- 
 salem, and their rulers, because they knew Him 
 not, nor ".nderstood tlio sayings of the i)rophets 
 which .'.c read in tlieir hcuriiig every Sahliath, 
 fulfilled the prophecies by condemning Iliin. 
 And though they did not find him guihy of 
 death, still they requested Pilate to put liini to 
 death. Aral when they had fulfilled all things 
 that were written concerning Him they took Him 
 ouwn from^ the tree and laid Him in a tomb. 
 But God raised Him from the dead ! And He 
 was seen for many days by those who had come 
 up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who 
 are now his witnesses to the people. 
 
 "And we bring to you here the glad tidings 
 of the promise made unto the fathers, how that 
 God has fulfilled the same unto us, their chil- 
 dren, in that he raised up Jesus from the dead, 
 as also it is writtc" in the second Psalm, T/iou 
 art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. And 
 as concerning that He raised him from the dead, 
 no more to return to corruption, He has spoken 
 in these words, The blessings of David will I 
 give you, even the blessings tvhic^ stand fast 
 in holiness. Wherefore it is written also in 
 another psalm. Thou ivilt not suffer thine Holy 
 One to see corruption. For David, after he had 
 been a faithful servant of God in his own gener- 
 
Mr. 40.] 
 
 ANTIOCH IN PISIDIA. 
 
 137 
 
 ation, fell asleej), and was laid away with his 
 fathers, and saw corruption ; but He whom God 
 raised from the dead saw no corruption. 
 
 "Know, therefore, brethren, that through this 
 man Jesus is proclaimed unto you the forgive- 
 ness of sins ; and by Hira every one who be- 
 lieves is for<?iven all those transofressions from 
 which you could never escape by the Law of 
 Moses. Beware, therefore, beware, lest that 
 come upon you which is spoken in the Prophets, 
 Behold, ye des^nsem, and ivonder, and perish ; 
 for I icork a ivork in your days, a work xchirli 
 ye shall not believe, though a man declare it to 
 you ! " 
 
 Rarely has a sermon or address fallen with 
 such thrilling impression upon the listeners as 
 this first recorded sermon of Paul's made upon 
 Jews and Gentiles alike. At the close of the 
 service they gathered around the apostles, and 
 earnestly requested them to preach on the same 
 subject again the next Strfjbath ; and some of 
 them were so deeply interested that they accom- 
 panied Paul and Barnabas to the place where 
 they were lodging, and declared their purpose 
 to be followers of Christ, and tlie apostles " urged 
 them to continue in the grace of God." 
 
 The following week must have been a busy 
 and anxious one ; for the missionaries would want 
 to follow up the impression they had made, by 
 
■■I 
 
 t ! 
 
 1 
 
 138 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 46. 
 
 personal convorsation with all who were inter- 
 ested in what they had said. We can easily 
 imagine how rapidly the news would spread, 
 that a JeAv from Tarsus, a keen and eloquent 
 speaker, had come to the Pisidian capital with 
 an entirely new religion, and that he was likely 
 to speak again on the next Sabbath. Every- 
 body was anxious to get into the synagogue. 
 Not a seat was empty, and still the crowd tried 
 to press in at the narrow door. The Psalms 
 are intoned, the prayers recited, and the Law 
 and the Prophets read. But Paul is not asked to 
 speak to-day. The ruler of the synagogue calls 
 upon other Jews, and as they rise to speak, 
 jealous and angry that such a crowd of Gentiles 
 should have come to hear " this dubious stran- 
 ger," ^ they undertake to contradict what Paul 
 had said, and to ridicule and revile it. It was 
 evident that further preaching in the synagogue 
 would be out of the question. Paul and Bar- 
 nabas, therefore, availing themselves of their 
 privilege as Jews, spoke out boldly : " It was 
 necessary that the word of God should first be 
 spoken to you Jews ; but since you throw it 
 aside, and consider yourselves unworthy of 
 eternal life, lo ! we turn now to the Gentiles." 
 And they quoted a passage from the Jews' own 
 sacred Book to show that their decision was in 
 
 1 Fanar, i. 374. 
 
 
 
 m 
 
iET. 40.] 
 
 ANTIOCH IN PISIDIA. 
 
 139 
 
 harmony with that, — " For so hath the Lord 
 commanded us, / have set thee for a light to the 
 Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation 
 to the ends of the earth.'' ^ 
 
 This pleased the Gentiles, and they praised 
 the Book from which Paul had quoted, and be- 
 lieved. Proba])ly they soon gathered in some 
 other place. The work went on until all the 
 country round was talking of the new way of 
 salvation. 
 
 But all the more were the Jews enraged. 
 They would not have these Gentiles entering into 
 the kingdom of God without submitting to the 
 Mosaic rites. " This was always the sin of the 
 Jewish people. Instead of realizing their posi- 
 tion in the world as the prophetic nation for the 
 good of the whole earth, they indulged the self- 
 exalting opinion that God's highest blessings 
 were only for themselves."^ They resorted to 
 contemptible means of prevcuting the work of 
 Paul and Barnabas. They worked upon the 
 minds of certain women who v/ere Gentile 
 proselj^tes, and through them upon other Gen- 
 tile women who had influential husbands, but 
 who had not been attracted to Paul's preaching ; 
 and these, by their position, soon brought influ- 
 ences into operation which compelled the apos- 
 tles to abandon their work and leave Antioch. 
 
 1 Is. xUx. 6. 
 
 2 Conybeare and Howson, i. 179. 
 
 i"i 
 

 f 
 
 140 
 
 IJFR OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 4rt. 
 
 They shook the (hist of the hijifhway off their 
 feet toward the city, " as a sign that their 
 enemies, and not themselves, were to bhime,"^ 
 and started out for Iconium, leaving the newly- 
 converted disciples, not in tears, but "filled 
 with joy, and with the Holy Ghost." 2 
 
 1 Lewiu, I. 114. 
 
 2 Acts xiii. 52. 
 
 h 
 
 i'- 
 
 » i 
 
 : I I 
 
 k.A 
 
 i 1 
 
CHAPTER Xi. 
 
 ICONIUM, LYSTRA, AND DERBE. 
 
 " Once was I stoned."— 2 CoR. xi. 25. 
 
 ••Paul returned from this journey a shattered man." — F. W. 
 Farkar. 
 
 FIFTY years ago, an English explorer ^ dis- 
 covered on a mountain-slope in Pisidia a 
 few mounds of broken masonry, the foundation 
 of some large building, — synagogue, theatre, 
 or Christian church, — and twenty-one consecu- 
 tive arches stretching across the plain, — the 
 supports of an ancient aqueduct. These identi- 
 fied the s'ite of Antioch. There is nothing 
 else left of the city against which the apostles 
 shook the dust. This Antioch was on the great 
 Roman highway which crossed Asia Minor from 
 east to west, connecting Antioch on the Orontes 
 with Ephesus. When Paul and Barnabas came 
 up here from Perga on the coast, they had in 
 mind, no doubt, to inject into this great artery, 
 through which so much of the life-blood of the 
 empire was bounding, the quickening, thrilling 
 Word of eternal life. Their work at Antioch 
 
 1 See Arundel's •' Asia Minor." 
 
 141 
 
•T"" - ]f;jTT"*"" "f*""'"""^' -.— 
 
 P 
 
 i\ 
 
 *M i 
 
 142 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 40. 
 
 for the present, at least, was ended. They 
 kept, however, to this highway and set out for 
 the next city toward the East. . 
 
 Iconium, al)out sixty miles from Antioch, " is 
 pleasantly situate on the western verge of the 
 largest plain of Asia Minor, and, therefore, like 
 Damascus, is an oasis in the desert." ^ Three 
 days' journey, through a mountainous, dreary, 
 and uninhabited country, lay before the apos- 
 tles. What conversations about the work in 
 which they were engaged ; what prayers at night 
 before they lay down in some cave or travel- 
 lers' hut to sleep ; what weariness, what dis- 
 couragements, what hopes ! At length they 
 enter the gates of another city, and without de- 
 lay introduce themselves vmd their mission to the 
 people. Again we see them in the synagogue 
 speaking to the Jews with much the same words 
 as those spoken in Antioch, but with more clearly 
 marked success. One little word in Luke's ac- 
 count, ^ " so," — " so that a great multitude, both 
 of the Jews and also of the Greeks, believed," — 
 describes their preaching. It must have been 
 in harmony with the Old Testament, for the 
 Jews believed. It must have appealed to rea- 
 son, for the Greeks accepted it. '* Jesus" was 
 the one thought which all Paul's preaching had in 
 view. Me never spoke to the people except to 
 
 ' Lewin, I. 145. 
 
 2 Acts xiv. 1. 
 
 A'- 
 
 
■au 
 
 JET. 41.1 ICONIUM, LYSTR.i, AND DERBE. 
 
 143 
 
 try to persujule them to ])elicve that Jesus was 
 the Messiali, the Son of God, who had come into 
 the world to be the Saviour of men. But there 
 were some who would not believe this; and the 
 most obstinate and bitter of these were Jews, 
 who, always envious of the success of any new 
 sect, were afraid that this one, unless vigorously 
 opposed, would weaken, if not overthrow, their 
 synagogue. Accordingly they set themselves 
 to work among those Gentile proselytes who were 
 interested in the i)roaching of the Christian mis- 
 sionaries, and succeeded in alienating and em- 
 bittering them. But Paul and Barnal)as kept 
 on preaching. The local government of Ico- 
 niuin was different from that of Antioch, and 
 the Jews could not secure social and political 
 influences here to exclude the preachers. For 
 a long time they continued from Sabbath to 
 Sabbath to speak fearlessly and l)oldly, and God 
 also bore testimony to ^e truth of what they 
 said by enabling them to perform miracles. 
 This, however, did not last. The whole city was 
 aroused by the preaching of the sturdy, deter- 
 mined. God-fearing Christian Jew. The popu- 
 lace fell apart into two factions, — some for 
 the apostles, some for the Jews ; and the ex- 
 citement ran so high that there was a plot to 
 kill the two devout men. This their friends 
 discovered, and, hurrying to them with the 
 
I 
 
 
 I I i 
 
 144 
 
 Infori 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 41 
 
 iition, Paul and Jianiabas escaped as fugi- 
 tives from this city, where, for several iiciithp,* 
 they had been giving to the people the greatest 
 blessings of life. 
 
 " When the}^ persecute you in this city, flee 
 into the next," our Lord had told the first 
 r;A>stles Avhom he sent out.^ Whether or not 
 Paul had ever heard these words from any of 
 those Intimate companions of Jesus, we do not 
 kno;v ; but the spirit of them certainly was in 
 his sou] . He was entirely committed to preach- 
 ing the fjospel as long as his life might be 
 spared. As a matter of course, therefore. He 
 went with Barnabas directly on to the small 
 mountain-town of Lystra. There were but few 
 Jews in this place, and no s3^nagogue. The 
 true God wns scarcely known. The people 
 worshipped Jupiter,^ to whom they had erected 
 a rude temple near the entrrmce-gates of their 
 little town. But Paiifibould proclaim the glad 
 tidings without a synagogue ; and we may im- 
 agine that he would feel some relief in being 
 away fiom the persecutions of the Jews. 
 
 On one occasion as Paul was speaking, he 
 noticed, sitting in the audience before him, a 
 man who had been carried there by some friends, 
 
 1 Hackett, in loc. 2 Matt. x. 23. 
 
 3 At Antioch on the Orontes Daphne was tlie presiding deity ; 
 in C; j)i '.s, Venus ; in Pcr^'a, Oiaiiii; in Aiitiocli of Pisidia, the 
 Moou ; iu Lystni uud Uerbe, Jupiter. 
 
 I 'HI 
 
 ■BiTT 
 
Mr. 41.1 ICONIUM, LYSTRA, AND DERBE. 
 
 145 
 
 because he could not walk. He had nevor had 
 any strength in his feet. Paul's words, what- 
 ever they were, went to that lame man's heart, 
 and a gleam of hope and faith came into his face 
 as he heard of Jesus. Maybe Paul was relat- 
 ing some of those incidents of healinfy in which 
 Jesus himself appeared as the Great Physician, 
 and this Lystrian cripple, by some sigh or ex- 
 clamation of regret that he had not been where 
 Jesus was, attracted the preacher's attention. 
 Paul at once singled him out, and in the presence 
 of that idolatrous congregation said to him, in a 
 voice loud enough for all to hear, " Stand up- 
 right on thy feet ! " Immediately he leaped to 
 his feet and walked. A shout went up from 
 the crowd in the hybrid patois of the district 
 of Lycaonia : " The gods are come down to us 
 in the likeness of men ! " " Yes," they said one to 
 the other, " that small one who speaks so easil}'' 
 and eloquently must be Mercury, the messen- 
 ger of heaven ; and the larger one, with such a y/ 
 benign and mild countenance, must ')e Jupiter, 
 the father of the gods." Among the legends of 
 the early history of the Lycaonians was the 
 story that many years before, Jupiter and Mer- 
 cury hid come from heaven to visit them. This 
 legend had been handed down from father to son, 
 end no doubt many of them believed it was true. 
 It was not unnatural for them, therefore, when 
 
I I 
 ! I 
 
 i 
 
 '■ I I 
 
 : 
 
 . I 
 
 9 I 
 
 I I 
 
 146 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 47. 
 
 they saw the miracle performed by the apostles, 
 to think that they must be the gods come again. 
 It was a o-reat ev< iit for those credulous and 
 superstitious people. There was a wild and glad 
 excitement in the village. The priest at the 
 temple of Jupiter hurriedly puts on his robes to 
 offer sacrifice. The fattest and best oxen are 
 driven in. Garlands of evergreen and flowers 
 are made. All the people come together, — 
 men from their work in the fields, mothers with 
 babies in their arms, old people who have not 
 been out for months, come tottering along, until 
 the shops and market and houses are deserted ; 
 for everybody must see the two gods just come 
 from heaven. How discouraging such a result 
 of their preaching must have been ! To see the 
 people carried away by an entirely wrong im- 
 pression ! Just as soon as Paul and Barnabas 
 understood what the townspeople were doing, 
 they rushed into the crowd and cried out that 
 they were not gods, but only men like the rest 
 of them, and implored them to abandon their 
 worthless religion, and to worship the one true 
 God. It was only with great dilficulty that they 
 persuaded the people not to offer sacrifices to 
 them. 
 
 But very soon "the wind blew from another 
 quarter." ^ Some of those jealous Jews, who had 
 
 1 Lewio, I. ISO. 
 
^T. 41.] 
 
 ICONIUM, LYSTRA, AND DERBE. 
 
 147 
 
 driven the apostles out of Antioch and Iconium, 
 not satisfied with doing that, took pains to come 
 all the way down to Lystra, and made the Lys- 
 trians believe that they had been deceived, — that 
 these two men who they thought were gods, 
 were impostors. The people are excited again. 
 Paul, because he had taken the lead, was caught 
 and stoned ; and then, when they thought he was 
 dead, was dragged out of the village and thrown 
 by the road-side. There were a few who be- 
 lieved what Paul had been preaching. These 
 disciples, among whom in all probability was 
 Timothy,^ and his mother, Eunice, and his grand- 
 mother, Lois, stood weeping around the bruised 
 and apparently lifeless body. " Barnabas would 
 have all the sad thoughts of preparing a grave 
 for his honored friend in this far-off pagan city, 
 and of a return back alone to Jerusalem with 
 the terrible tidings — ' Paul is dead ! '" ^ 
 
 But the work of the Great Apostle was only 
 begun. He had been " cast down, but not de- 
 stroyed." He had been stunned and was well 
 nigh dead ; but, under the tender care of loving 
 hands, he rose up again, and found a refuge 
 that night possibly at the house of Eunice, whose 
 husband was a Greek. The next morning, 
 " while the city was yet asleep," ^ though sore and 
 weak, he left Lystra, and went to Derbe, twenty 
 
 1 2 Tim. iii. 10. 2 Macduff, " Footsteps," 135. ' Farrar, i. 38. 
 
H 
 
 i , 
 
 lii 
 
 
 1 I. 
 
 i 
 
 \ 
 
 148 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 4T. 
 
 miles farther to the eastward. It is possible 
 that the enemies of Paul at Lystra did not know 
 of his recovery and escape, but that they sup- 
 posed him dead. We do not read of their fol- 
 lowing him to Derbe. At that town, beside the 
 river and the lake, the missionaries preached the 
 Word, apparently without opposition, and with 
 cheering success. Among the " many disciples " 
 there, was one who himself afterward became a 
 missionary and companion of Paul, — " Gains 
 of Derbe." ' 
 
 We have reached now the end of this first 
 journey. It may seem a little surprising that 
 from Derbe Paul did not go down to Tarsus, for 
 it was not many miles away ; but when we re- 
 member that his whole object was to preach the 
 Gospel and establish Christian churches, and 
 that he had already spent three years at this 
 work in and about Tarsus, we shall not wonder 
 that they returned to visit again those who had 
 recently been converted in the cities through 
 which they had lately come. This was a brave 
 determination ; but back they went, knowing that 
 it could scarcely be less than death for them to 
 fall again into the hands of the Jews. Far- 
 rar suggests that " precautions of secrecy they 
 doubtless took, and cheerfully faced the degrad- 
 ing necessity of guarded movements, and of en- 
 
 1 Acts XX. 4. 
 
 r 
 
 
m 
 
 w 
 
 ^T.41.] ICONIUM, LYSTRA, AND DERBE. 
 
 149 
 
 tering cities, perhaps in disguise, perhaps only 
 at late nightfall and early dawn."i There is 
 no preaching in the synagogues on this return 
 journey ; no miracles, no mobs, no persecution. 
 Quietly they meet those already Christians, 
 teach them more fully about Christ, and so es- 
 tablish them in the faith, exhort them to per- 
 severe, and at the same time candidly assure 
 them that "all tliat would live godly in Christ 
 Jesus shall sufter persecution." 2 As they met 
 each little company of Christians in Lystra, 
 Iconium, and Antioch, they ordained elders^ to 
 watch over and take care of the church, and 
 then with fasting and prayer they took affection- 
 ate leave of them and passed on to the next. 
 In this way they passed from Derbe to Lystra, 
 twenty miles; from Lystra to Iconium, forty 
 miles ; from Iconium to Antioch, sixty miles, 
 and from Antioch across the bleak and frigid* 
 table-land asfain, down through the n^ountain- 
 gorges, the plain of Pamphylia, and the valley 
 of the Cestrus to Perga, one hundred and twenty 
 
 1 " St. Paul," I. 389. 2 2 Tim. iii. 12 
 
 8 " The term in plunil, because each church had its college of 
 elders." — Hackett : " Commentary on Acts," xiv. 23. 
 
 * Conybeare and Ilowson assume (Vol. I. 200) that the apos- 
 tles " went up from Pcr^a in the sprinj,^ and returned at the close 
 of the autumn, and spent all of tlic hotter months of the year in 
 the elevated districts." It is not impossible that the work of evan- 
 gelizing these cities occupied a year and a half. 
 
150 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 47. 
 
 »\ 
 
 miles, having travelled through a wild and dan- 
 gerous wilderness, though part of the way by 
 the main road, a distance of nearly five hundred 
 miles. 
 
 At Perga they find the inhabitants returned 
 from their summer resorts, and avail themselves 
 of the opportunity to preach to them about 
 Jesus, but without any marked results. From 
 there, instead of taking ship down the Cestrus, 
 as they came up, they walked across to Attalia, 
 sixteen miles southwest of Perga and directly 
 on the coast, from which port — " for they never 
 seem to have lingered among the fleeting and 
 mongrel populations of these seaport towns " ^ 
 — they sailed to Seleucia, and were soon again 
 with the Christian brethren in Antioch on the 
 Orontes, telling them "all that God had done 
 with them," — how they had preached in the 
 synagogues of Salamis ; how Bar-Jesus had been 
 made blind, and Sergius Paulus converted ; how, 
 after many Jews and Gentiles had been con- 
 verted in Antioch, they were driven out to Ico- 
 niuni to win more converts to the Christian faith ; 
 how, still pressed by opposition, in Lystra, the 
 power of God was manifested ; and how, in Derbe 
 many believed. This was the good news they 
 brought back. Perhaps Paul spoke of their 
 
 1 Farrar : •« St. Paul," i. 390. 
 
JET. 41] ICONIUM, LY8TRA, AND DERBE. 
 
 151 
 
 hardships by the way, their persecutions, and 
 the manner in which the Lystrian mob almost 
 stoned him to death ; but he was more b'kely to 
 tell of the victories that had been won in the 
 name of Christ. 
 
CHAPTER XH 
 
 [* 
 
 i?i 
 
 il 
 
 t);i 
 u: 
 
 i I; 
 
 t 
 
 THE COUNCIL AT JERUSALEM. 
 
 " It was a great crisis in the history of the church, and of man- 
 kind." — Neander. 
 
 " There is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumci- 
 sion, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free ; but Christ is all, and in 
 aU." — CoL.iii. 11. 
 
 A MONG the first persons who came to Jesus 
 •^^ was " a man of the Pharisees, named Nico- 
 demus."! He seems to have wanted to be a 
 disciple of Jesus ; but his position was never 
 clearly defined. It may be diflScult in our day 
 to appreciate the obstacles that would stand in 
 the way of one who had always been a strict 
 Pharisee becoming a follower of Christ. And 
 yet, of those ^vhose names appear in the annals 
 of early Christianity, a considerable number were 
 from that "most straitest sect." All the great 
 leaders in the establishment of the first churches 
 were Pharisees, — men who had been born and 
 trained to exclusiveness in religion, who believed 
 that only Jews could be pleasing to God ; that 
 circumcision was the only badge of salvation 
 
 1 John iii. 1. 
 
 152 
 
 inff^VneSSliiimimm 
 
iET.42.] THE COUNCIL AT JERUSALEM. 
 
 153 
 
 that would be recognized in heaven ; and that 
 not one .out of all the myriads of the Gentiles 
 could become an heir of eternal life, who refused 
 to submit to the least requirement of their law 
 and tradition, no matter how distasteful, how 
 opposed to reason, how contrary to nature, that 
 requirement might seem to be. Bigotry and 
 narrowness were held as high Pharisaic virtues. 
 We can see how, sooner or later, the teach- 
 inffs of Christ must either revolutionize or else 
 come into direct contact Avith this spirit in those 
 Pharisees who became Christians. Paul had 
 been revolutionized. In him the change from 
 a strict, punctilious, sectarian Jew to a Great- 
 heart, to a most philanthropic and wide-minded 
 citizen of the world, and brother of all men, was 
 instantaneous and complete ; but there were 
 other Pliarisees in whom the change was slow. 
 This was especially the case in the church at 
 Jerusalem, which must have been almost en- 
 tirely composed of Jews, the larger part of 
 whom were Pharisees, though there were some 
 Sadducees, and others also who could not strictly 
 be classed with either sect. All these ori<>i- 
 nally held opinions which were antagonistic to 
 the principles of Christianity ; and it is not sur- 
 prising that they were many years in learning 
 the folly of their trjulitionnl and inherited ^eliefs, 
 and in coming into the largeness and light of 
 
,• 
 
 I' > 
 
 \' 
 
 ■ ' 
 
 f\ 
 
 154 
 
 LIFE or PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 49. 
 
 the Gospel. We have seen how Peter was 
 taught by a vision that an Italian might be as 
 much a child of God as a Jew, and how the con- 
 version of certain Samaritans opened the eyes 
 of the Jews at Jerusalem. But it was not until 
 Gentiles had been admitted into the church at 
 Antioch in Syria on equal terms with Jews, and 
 Paul had returned from his first missionary tour 
 declaring that God " had opened the door of 
 faith unto the Gentiles " ^ in Cyprus and Asia 
 Minor, that the time was ripe for the final set- 
 tlement of the question regarding Jewish exclu- 
 siveness in the Christian church. 
 
 Some time after Paul and Barnabas came back 
 to Antioch, certain brethren from the church at 
 Jerusalem who knew more about Moses than 
 they did about Christ, but who, nevertheless, 
 desired to be leaders of opinion in the churches, 
 visited Antioch, to set in order there some 
 things which they thought were wrong. They 
 asserted that one could not become a Christian 
 who was not already a Jew. To belong to this 
 peculiar people, and to share in its religious 
 privileges, however, it was not absolutely neces- 
 sary that one be born a Jew. Gentiles who 
 bound themselves by solemn vows to observe 
 the seven precepts : ( 1 ) against idolatry ; 
 (2) against blasphemy ; (3) against blood- 
 
 1 Acts xiv. 27* 
 
 F 
 
 k 
 
 [ I 
 
 ■^^iii:' 
 
JET.43.] THE COUNCIL AT JERUSALEM. 
 
 155 
 
 shed; (4) against unclcanness ; (5) against 
 theft; (6) of obedience; (7) the "prohibi- 
 tion of flesh with the blood thereof."^ wer^ ad- 
 mitted as proselytes of the gate. This, though, 
 was only the first step, and by the strictest 
 Jews it was considered of very little significance. 
 Full admission required formal separation from 
 the old life, — submission to the rites of both cir- 
 cumcision and immersion, and offering sacrifice. 
 In this way were made proselytes of righteous- 
 ness, who stood ceremonially, at least, on an 
 equal footing with the native Jew. But Paul 
 and Barnabas had received into the Christian 
 churches persons who were neither proselytes 
 of righteousness nor even proselytes of the gate. 
 Behold, then, the prejudice of these Jewish 
 Christians in Jerusalem ! To them the uncir- 
 cumcised Gentiles were entirely outside of the 
 covenant and promises of God, and it would be 
 neither faithful to the law nor fair to the Gen- 
 tile Christians themselves to suffer them to be 
 deceived into supposing that they were saved, 
 when there could bo no salvation without cir- 
 cumcision. This seems to be about the way the 
 matter stood in the minds of those men who 
 came to Antioch, declaring to the Christians 
 there, "Except ye be circumcised after the 
 maimer of Moses, ye cannot be saved." It was 
 
 1 Smith's Bible Dictionary, iii. p. 2606. 
 

 IT 
 
 ^ 
 
 156 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 80. 
 
 not merely ti question as to whether Jews who 
 had become Christians and Gentiles who had 
 become Christians, were to meet together as 
 equals or to remain apart as two castes, — the 
 Jews always being the superior order, while 
 the Gentiles must be satisfied with a more 
 humble attitude, — but whether Gentiles could 
 1)0 Christians at all or not. This was the 
 question which these Judaizing interlopers 
 stirred up in the church at Antioch. But Paul 
 and Barnabas met them squarely with the truth 
 as Jesus taught it, " He that believeth on 
 me hath everlasting life." * The church, how- 
 ever, was divided ; and it seemed as if the very 
 foundations of Christianity were to be shaken to 
 pieces, even before they were completed. It 
 was especially perplexing to the Gentiles who 
 had become Christians, to see those to whom 
 they had looked as guides contending over a 
 question of such vital importance. Many of 
 them must have believed ihvi not only their 
 standing in the Christian church, but their eter- 
 nal life, depended upon the settlement of the 
 debate. It was an occasion of great anxiety for 
 the church at Antioch. They preferred, how- 
 ever, to have the matter thoroughly examined, 
 and settled upon an indisputable basis. Ac- 
 cordingly they agreed to send a deputation to 
 
 1 John vi. 47. 
 
 L 
 
iET.44.] THE COUNCIL AT JERUSALEM. 
 
 157 
 
 Jerusalem to confer with the pastors and apos- 
 tles there in regard to it. Barnabas, Saul, and 
 Titus, ^ — 11 young Greek Christian, who himself 
 had not been circumcised, — with others, were 
 appointed for thi.^ i)urpose. 
 
 The journey overland from Antioch to Jeru- 
 saleUi would occupy nearly a month. The 
 apostles followed the coast-road, traversing a 
 narrow strip of beautiful country that lay be- 
 tween the chain of Lebanon and the sparkling 
 sea, passing on their way through fertile grain- 
 fields and luxuriant orchards, and halting in 
 every town and village to tell the Christians, 
 who would hastily gather to listen to them, how 
 the Gentiles had been converted ; for already 
 there were Christian churches all along this 
 coast, and Paul wanted them to know the good 
 news. In this way they passed through Phoe- 
 nicia and Samaria, gladdening all hearts, until 
 they reached the ever-famous city sitting on its 
 two hills, and crowned with that temple which 
 looked from a distance like " a mount of snow, 
 fretted with golden pinnacles." ^ 
 
 James, Peter, and John were the represen- 
 tatives of the mother-church ; and with them 
 Paul, Barnabas, and Titus held their first con- 
 ference, and apparently these six men came to 
 
 1 Acts XV. 2; Gal. ii. \. 
 
 » Milman: "History of the Jews," ii. 343. 
 
i 
 
 J 
 
 y ! 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 \. 
 
 ill ! 
 
 1 I;! 
 
 ' \ 
 
 1 
 
 158 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. BO. 
 
 a mutual understanding. But they were not 
 competent to decide authoritatively upon the 
 questions at issue ^v^ithout consulting the church. 
 A public meeting was called, and, as was inevita- 
 ble, but not necessarily harmful, there followed 
 considora jle sharp questioning and discussion ; 
 and the Christian Pharisees again asserted, 
 what had already l»een declared with great 
 positiveness at Antiocb, that the Gentile Chris- 
 tians must be circumcised and keep the law of 
 Moses, ^t length Peter rose to speak. He 
 reminded them that God had taught him to 
 make no distinctions of this kind ; that, as a 
 matter of fact, even there in Palestine, Gentiles 
 had been converted, and that Jews as well as 
 they might hope to be saved only " through the 
 grace of the Lord Jesus Christ." The great 
 audience was silent. Peter's argument was un- 
 answerable. In a few moments Barnabas ad- 
 dressed the assembly and also Paul, both of 
 whom related the wonderful things God had 
 done through them on their recent missionary 
 tour in Pisidia and Lycaonia. 
 
 But there was still another whose opinion wf s 
 waited for by the multitude, — the pastor of the 
 Jerusalem church, "James the Just." 
 
 God uses for the progress of His work both 
 men of extreme and of radical opinions, and also 
 men of moderate views, — middle men, who, 
 
JET. 44.] THE COUNCIL AT JERUSALEM. 
 
 159 
 
 on occasions when the church is divided into 
 factions, can stand between, and, reaching a 
 hand toward each, can draw the two parties to- 
 gether. Such a man was James. The Phari- 
 saic Christians respected his judgment, as did 
 also those who hjid adopted the larger and more 
 spiritual view of Christianity. This man " now 
 came forward, and solemnly pronounced that the 
 Mosaic rites were not of eternal obligation," * 
 and that the Gentile Christians ought not to be 
 troubled about them ; that if they abandoned 
 the worship of idols and the immoral practices 
 to which thev had been accustomed, and be- 
 lieved on the Lord Jesus, it was enough. This 
 carried the assembly, and immediately a vote 
 was passed unanimously adopting the following 
 letter as the expression of the mother-church 
 tf) all the mission-churches ; and Judas and Silas, 
 "chief among the brethren," were appointed 
 the accredited messengers to accompany Paul 
 and Barna])as and Titus on their return to An- 
 tioch as the officii 1 bearers of the decree of the 
 Council. 
 
 ''The Apostles anx the HhUrs and the Brethren, to the 
 
 Gentile Brethren in Atttiofh and Syria and Cilicia. 
 " Greeting : '^ 
 
 " Whereas we have h«aM tha* <?«rtain men who went 
 out from us have troubled you witii words, and unsettled 
 
 1 Conybeare and Howson, i. 216. 
 
 2 Compare Conybeare and liU/wson, i. 221, 
 
t 
 
 
 \ R i i 
 
 I f 
 
 160 
 
 LIFE Of PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 50. 
 
 your souls by telling you to circumciso yourselves and 
 keep the Law, although we gave them no such commis- 
 sion: 
 
 "It has been determined by us, being assembled with 
 one accord, to chose some from ..mongst ourselves, and 
 send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 
 men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ. We have sent, therefore, Judaa and 
 Silas, who themselves also will tell you by word the 
 same which we tell you by letter. 
 
 " For it has been determined by the Holy Ghost and 
 by us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these nec- 
 essary things : That ye abstain from meats oflFered to 
 idols, and from blood and from things strangled and 
 from fornication. Wherefrom if ye keep yourselves it 
 shall be well with you.i Farewell." 
 
 This letter went to the churches a messenger 
 of wisdom and peace. It lifted a great burden 
 from the hearts of the Grentile Christians, while 
 at the same moment it set definite bounds for 
 their conduct on the side toward heathenism. 
 See, in the assembly of Christians at Antioch, 
 what eagerness sits upon every face while they 
 wait for the reading of the letter ! Not one 
 word is lost ; but there may have been some 
 
 1 Paul adds, in tlie second chapter of the Epistle to the Gala- 
 tians, three facts, not mentioned ])v Luke : 1. That Titus, who ac- 
 coTipanied them from Antioch, though a Greek, was not circum- 
 cised (v. 3). 2. Tlisit John, who had been silent in the Council, 
 united with James and Peter in jrivinfr Barnabas and him the hand 
 of fellowship on their departure (v. 9). 3. That the brethren in 
 Jerusalem urged him in hi^ future travels amosp the weallliy 
 Gentiles not to forget the poor saints at Jerusalem (v. 10). 
 
 J\'' 
 
JEt.H.] the council at JERUSALEM. 
 
 161 
 
 things not clearly understood until Judas and 
 Silas explained more fully just what the church 
 at Jerusalem meant. Where now are those 
 busy bodies who in the first place stirred up this 
 trouble by asseiting that the Gentiles must be 
 circumcised-' They have entirely disappeared. 
 The iitronir and clejir statement of the truth has 
 been like a i-isinir tide, which cleanses the sands 
 and buri'^s in its l>eautiful depths many an offen- 
 sive mass of death and decay. 
 
 The two men who went from Jerusalem to 
 Antioch with the letter to the churches soon 
 afterward returned ; but .Silas had become so 
 much interested in Paul and his work that 
 not long after he is in Antioch again, and after- 
 ward went with the Great Apostle to visit the 
 churches in Asia Minor, and accompanied him 
 into Greece. 
 
 All these men, Paul, Barnabas, Titus, Silas, 
 Mark, with perhaps thoise first ministers in 
 Antioch, Simeon Niger, Lucius, and Meimhem, 
 and no dou som^ others whose names are un- 
 known, continued to preach Christ to the peo- 
 ple of the great and wicked cky. But the good 
 work of God never moves on with special suc- 
 cess without meeting some obstacles ; and on 
 this occasion the obstacle arose in an. unex- 
 pected quarter. Peter also was at the Syrian 
 capital, and had apparently been ifiignged in the 
 

 i !; 5I 
 
 ll fl 
 
 162 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. BO. 
 
 work of the Gospel with the rest. ^ In harmony 
 with the decree of the Jerusalem council, and 
 also with his own conduct at Caesarea, ^ he 
 mingled freely with the Gentile Christians, even 
 to eating with them. This he continued to do, 
 until some of those Jewish Christians of James' 
 church, who had not yet leained l>y heart that 
 " God is no respecter of persons," came and saw 
 how free and liberal he was. At once they com- 
 menced to find fault and ridicule and argue with 
 him, and to protest against such questionable 
 conduct. Peter was always a vacillator, and 
 under the pressure of these men he weakly 
 yielded, and withdrew from the fellowship of the 
 Gentile Christians. Others went off with Peter, 
 and even Barnabas was carried away by the 
 false reproscntations, to deny to the Gentiles 
 that larger liberty which lie had advocated and 
 practised in Cyprus and Lycaonia, and, "in re- 
 memberincT that he was a Levite forgot that he 
 was a Christian."^ This was a thrust at the 
 truth from one of its friends , which Paul must 
 parry. In public, therefore, on some occasion 
 when Peter was prenent, the holy indignation of 
 this younger ])ut truer man broke out in rebuke 
 of the one who had been so much longer a dis- 
 ciple, and who had enjoyed personal companion- 
 
 
 1 Gal. ii. 11-21. 
 
 8 Furrar: "St. Puul," i. 441. 
 
 2 Acts X. 34, 35. 
 
 I * : \.\ 
 
iET.44.] THE COUNCIL AT JERUSALEM. 
 
 163 
 
 ship for three or four years with the Lord 
 himself, but who had through fear denied the 
 truth. 
 
 It may be that this was the beginning of that 
 alienation of Barnabas from Paul, which ended 
 very soon in their final separation as mission- 
 aries. But between Peter and Paul there was 
 no quurrel. It is more than probable that Peter, 
 with his natural susceptibility, was convinced of 
 his error on the spot and acknowledged it. We 
 read the generous, loving words he wrote years 
 afterward, "owr beloved brother Paul";^ and 
 with them in mind can throw the cloak of 
 charity over the mistake of this impetuous, 
 large-hearted servant of our Lord, and, think- 
 ing of our own faults, can pray for a spirit of 
 repentance as quick and as thorough as his. 
 
 1 2 Peter, iii. 15. 
 
^p^^--^ 
 
 PART THIRD. 
 
 gltje »tcon& '^is^iomx^ ^onxntvi. 
 
( 
 
 ' 
 
 
CHAPTER Xin. 
 
 A 
 
 THROUGH ASIA MINOR. 
 
 " For thine own pui-posc, thou hast sent 
 The strjlc and the discouragement." 
 
 H. W. Longfellow. 
 
 " Awalie ! why lin;j:er in the gorgeous town, 
 Sworn liegemen of tlie Cross and thorny crown ? 
 
 Keble. 
 
 GAIN peace reigned in the Antioch 
 churches ; and, as soon as this was evi- 
 dent to him, "the old mission-hunger seized the 
 heart of Paul," and he must be away to the 
 regions beyond. He could not remain at 
 Antioch, where there were so many others 
 who could do the work. His heart was turn- 
 ing toward the little churches Barnabas and he 
 had gathered in Asia Minor. To Barnabas, 
 therefore, he made the proposal that they go 
 and visit the brethren in every city where they 
 went before, and see how they do.^ It was 
 about five years before that these two men 
 left Antioch to go to Cyprus, taking John 
 Mark with them. That young man did not 
 
 1 Acts XV. 36. 
 
 167 
 
i-i 
 
 I 
 
 ' 
 
 \\ 
 
 168 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 45. 
 
 prove to be a very bold champion ; and so, 
 when Ba'( liabas proposed to try him again, and 
 insisted even that they should take him, Paul 
 objected. To P:uil friendship and relationship 
 were of small impoilancc compared with the 
 success of the Gospel; and he feared that, 
 instead of l)eing helped, they would only he 
 hindered, !)y a companion who at a critical 
 moment might desert them. There was a 
 *' sharp contention " between the missionary 
 pioneers. It is not to be wondered at that 
 these two great positive characters could not 
 always agree upon subordinate matters. The 
 same (jJod who made them great also made them 
 different ; and we can now see how their separa- 
 tion may have resulted in great good than 
 their continued companionship might have, for 
 by this means two lines of operation instead of 
 one were opened. Barnabas would not re- 
 linquish the idea of taking his cousin Mark 
 with him. He took him, therefore, and, 
 leaving Antioch, went to Cyprus, his native 
 island ; and whatever sphere of usefulness he 
 may have filled in the churches there, either at 
 ISaiamis or Paphos, the history from this point 
 onward never mentions his name, nor makes 
 the slightest reference to his work. On the 
 contrary, Paul chose Silas ; and, while Bar- 
 nabas and Mark went away unnoticed, these 
 
 \\ 
 
 xy 
 
;Rt. 4/5. 
 
 THROUGH ASIA MINOR. 
 
 1«9 
 
 two receive at their depMrturo the distinguisli- 
 ing honor of heinir "commended by the breth- 
 ren to tha grace of tlie Lord." 
 
 Paul's iirst object was to visit the churches 
 which Barnabas and he had organized in Cikcia 
 and Lycaonia and Plirygia, and to carry to 
 them the letter sent from the tJerusalem church. 
 With Sihis, therefore, he left Antioch, and 
 prol)ably took the road directly to the north 
 across A Fount Amanus by the Syrian Gates, at 
 the northern exit of which they came to the 
 town of Alexandria, and a few miles farther 
 to Issus. Still pushing on, they "would soon 
 turn their faces toward the west, descend into 
 the plain of Cilicia, cross the rivers Djihan and 
 Seihun, pass through Mopsuestia, Adana, and 
 the rich, beautiful country lying around these 
 towns, to the swift-running Cydnus and to Tar- 
 sus, the great missionary's native city. This 
 was a spot dear to Paul. He had preached in 
 Tarsus three years, and doubtless there was a 
 Christian church here. It was still a heathen 
 city, " the temples and statues of false gods lin- 
 inor its streets ; " ' but the ffood seed had been 
 planted and was bearing fruit. 
 
 The upper vallej^ of the Cydnus, into the 
 snowy Taurus, and by the cliff-guarded Cili- 
 cian Gates, opened a liighway to the table- 
 
 » Macduff; " Footsteps of St. Paul," 169. 
 

 I 
 
 ! 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 r\ 
 
 ! t 
 
 I 
 
 170 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. SI. 
 
 land of Centml Asia Minor, and by this road 
 the apostles go, — Paul again braving the 
 dangers and hardships of a wild and robber- 
 infested country. Three or four days from 
 Tarsus would bring the travellers to that little 
 mountain-town of Derbe, the last point which 
 Paul and Barnabas reached in their former 
 journey from the opposite direction. Their 
 coming now must have been a delightful 
 surprise to the Christians. In the absence 
 of historical statements we are left to wonder, 
 Was Gaius the pastor of the little flock ? * Did 
 they press inquiries upon Paul about Barna- 
 bas, why he did not come again? Did they 
 welcome Silas ? Did they make a contribution 
 for the poor saints in Jerusalem? Had they 
 kept the faith? 
 
 They came next to Lystra, where Paul had 
 been stoned and carried out supposed to be dead. 
 It was strange that in this obscure town, away 
 back of the mountains, Paul should have found 
 the one Christian heart whom he loved more 
 than any other, — the one whom, from this time 
 to the end of his life, he distinguished by the 
 afl:*ectionate titles : "My own son in the faith," 
 "My beloved son," "Son Timothy," "My 
 brother," "My work-fellow." ^ There was no 
 one, in the Great Apostle's estimation, like Timo- 
 
 1 Acts XX. 4. 
 
 3 Fhil. ii. 20. 
 
Mr. 45.1 
 
 THROUGH ASIA MINOR. 
 
 171 
 
 ^'^.^i' 
 
 thy. " Pie was, more than any other, the altei- 
 ego of the Apostle. Their knowledge of each 
 other was mutual ; and one whose yearning and 
 often lacerated heart had such deep need of a 
 kindred spirit on which to lean for sympathy, 
 and whose distressing infirmities rendered nec- 
 essary to him the personal services of some 
 affectionate companion, must have regarded the 
 devoted tenderness of Timothy as a special gift 
 of God to save him from being crushed by over- 
 much sorrow."* 
 
 Probably, on entering the town, Paul and Silas 
 went directly to Timothy's home, and their 
 wants were provided for by his mother, Eunice, 
 while the aged grandmother, Lois, conversed 
 with them of all the wonderful things that God 
 had done the last twenty years, and the youth, 
 Timothy, listened. Already Paul, seeing that 
 he possessed the spirit of a missionary, had 
 set his heart upon him, and he would take him 
 away to the work. Timothy's mother was a 
 Jewess ; but their residence in this heathen dis- 
 trict, where there was no Jewish synagogue, 
 had resulted in the neglect of circumcision. 
 This rite having been performed, because Timo- 
 thy was a Jew, and "because of the Jews 
 which were in those quarters," "the gentle boy 
 of Lystra " was formally ordained to the minis- 
 
 1 Farrar: "St. Paul," 1.459. 
 
 / 
 
 r 
 
172 
 
 LIFK OF PAUL. 
 
 tA.n. 5l. 
 
 try, henceforth to endure hardships as a good 
 soldier of the cross of Christ. 
 
 From Lystra the Apostle with his two com- 
 panions proceeded to Iconium, and on to An- 
 tioch in Pisidia. This was the end of the mis- 
 sion Paul had purposed when he left Antioch 
 on the Orontes ; but the " mission-hunger '* 
 would not let him rest. There was still a vast 
 and widening circle where the Gospel had not 
 been preached ; so that, after they had visited all 
 the fields where tlic Word had been spoken, and 
 had seen the churches settled upon good foun- 
 dations, he set his face toward the wildest and 
 most neglected district of Asia Minor, feeling 
 that the peoi)le there most of all needed the 
 knowledge of JesMs the Saviour. 
 
 Antioch lay in the northern corner of Pisidia, 
 hugged around, north, east, and west, by the 
 province of Phrygin . Into this province, then, the 
 apostolic band went, crossing the mountain-ridge 
 Paroreia to the town of Philomclium, where they 
 would strike the main road. The New Testa- 
 ment gives us no particulars at all of this jour- 
 ney, except that they went through Plirygia and 
 the region of Galatia.^ We are obliged, there- 
 fore, to content ourselves with following what 
 would b(^ the most natur? i course for them to 
 take in traversing these provinces. This course, 
 
 ' Acts :ivi. 6. 
 
 
Mt. 45.] 
 
 THROUGH ASIA MINOR. 
 
 173 
 
 probably, brought them to the largest cities of 
 these districts, — to cities many of which are 
 known now only by their riiius : Synnada, 
 Docymeum, Doryleum, IMidaMum and Tricomi.'i,^ 
 until they came, a. they travelled east through 
 Phrygia, to the horders oi' Galatia. 
 
 Galatia has a special interest for us, on account 
 of the letter which Paul afterwards wrote to the 
 churches there, and of the warm aHection he 
 maintained for those whom he met on this first 
 visit. Its history is curious. In the first place, 
 the name GaJiitm takes our thoughts back to 
 ancient Gaulywhkh Coesar conquered, and which 
 in our day is France. The Gauls were a brave 
 and pushing race of people ; but they did not 
 possess the spirit or genius of permanent local- 
 ized nationality. 
 
 Their migrations and constant wars with the 
 surrounding nations scattered them. Some re- 
 mained upon the original territory, and were 
 the progenitors of the modern French. A rem- 
 nant of them found their way into the north of 
 Scotland, to become the fathers of the Gaels, and 
 to develop the Gaelic dialect. Another branch 
 is seen in Wales, originally called Wallia, or 
 Gallia; still another appears in Ireland ; while 
 one pushed south through the Pyrenees, swarmed 
 across northern Italy into Macedonia, leaped the 
 
 • Lewiu, I. 177, and map, p. 164. 
 
 / 
 
 \ 
 
174 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.n. 51. 
 
 Hellespont, spread their tents for a little time in 
 the plains around ancient Troy, pillaged and 
 desolated the less warlike countries of Asia 
 Minor, until finally, hy the consolidation of other 
 tribes, they were driven back to a limited terri- 
 tory in the heart of the peninsula, to which was 
 given the name Galatia. This territory was 
 originally divided between three tribes having 
 three capitals : Pessinus, Ancyra, and Tavium. 
 When, in B. C. 25, Gahitia became a Roman 
 province, Ancyra — possibly on account of its 
 central position — was made the capital of the 
 whole province. 
 
 Paul and hi las and Timothy would come first 
 to Pessinus. This liad been for centuries the 
 religious heart of ( ialatia. Here the " Xature- 
 Nvorship which found its centre in Cybele, the 
 great mother of the gods,"^ had been main- 
 tained, and it was not entirely dead in Paul's 
 day. At Ancyra (the bright, busy, modern 
 city of Angora) they saw " the gorgeous temple 
 of white marble,'"^ built in honor of Augustus, 
 to whom divine rites were here celebrated. 
 Still farther east was Tavium, the connnercial 
 emporium of this part of Asia Minor. Five 
 great roads centred in this city, which, in addi- 
 tion to the fact that it was situated on the banks 
 
 ' Pliiniptre : " St. Paul iu Asia Minor," p. 155. 
 - Lcwiii, I. Ib3. 
 
^T. 48.] 
 
 TIIISOrOH ASIA MINOR. 
 
 175 
 
 of one of the tributaries of the Halys, are suf- 
 titient evidence of the amount of traffic which 
 passed through Tavium. To each of these 
 "ifli?" the missionaries went with the story, so 
 riuii und strange to the jK^ople, of the 8s ur. 
 Je«^s ; and in each of tiiem, probaldy, Christian 
 churches were at this time organized.* 
 
 Paul's letter, written to these churches from 
 Corinth several years afterward, speaks from the 
 herirt the memory of his tirst rece})tion by the 
 Galatians."-* He seems to have been ill on his 
 arrival there or soon after, and this may have 
 obliofed him to remain lontror than he otherwise 
 would. Leu in and Farrar assume that this 
 *' iiitirmity of the tiesh " was "acute ophthalmia, 
 accompanied, as it often is, by violent cerebral 
 disturbance, "3 which was so severe as "not only 
 to injure the vision, but also to render him a 
 distressing object to every beholder."'* The 
 Apostle's condition appealed to the sympathy of 
 the warm-hearted Oalatians, and they treated 
 him with enthusiastic devotion. Many of them 
 had received the word of eternal life from his 
 lips : and, as he reminds them in his letter, they 
 
 1 Oncol' I lie leading churches of the first centuries was that at 
 Ancyra. Coimcils couvcneil there in A.D. 314 and 358. Sec Mil- 
 man's " History of Christianity," ill. Book iv. chap. 1. 
 
 -' Gal. iv. 12-1-), 
 
 3 Farrar : " St. Paul," l 467. 
 Lewin, i. 186. 
 
 /■^ 
 
■^"^Ti»9r?r 
 
 jl li 
 
 17« 
 
 LIFE OF PArL. 
 
 [A.D. f)2. 
 
 i f 
 
 Mi 
 
 t 
 
 ■ ' 
 
 would lijive (lu<i^ out their own eves and i£\\\,a 
 thcni to him, if it had been pos.sible. 
 
 We must, however, hasten out of this interior 
 province, following the restless footsteps of the 
 huirylng herald and iiis companions, as they 
 flv from one cfreat centre to another with the 
 glad tidings. "The world was to be Chris- 
 tianize<l by a few fishermen from Galilee and a 
 tent-m.dver from Tarsus, and it was neces- 
 sarv that their labors should be so husbanded 
 that the (Christian ministry might be the most 
 effective." ' 
 
 We see them going through Phrygia, appar- 
 ently with the intention of turning southwest 
 into the province of Asia, to visit all the rich 
 country and flourishing cities in the valley of 
 the ]\Iseander, and of making P^phesus the ter- 
 mination of their journey ; but "the inward guid- 
 ance, in wliicli they recognized the teaching of 
 the Spirit," 2 turns them from this purpose. 
 They push on to the borders of Mysia, thinking 
 that they will go north into Bithynia ; '4 again 
 a true and strong conviction is borne a upon 
 their ininds that this is not just the course which 
 will best promote the Kingdom of Christ, and 
 they keep straight on, until they come into that 
 classic ground Ivini; in the morning-shadow of 
 Mount Ida, where, — 
 
 1 Lewiu, 1. 192. 
 
 •^ Plumptrc, p. 173. 
 
M.T. 46.) 
 
 TIinOlJUll*A^A MINOIf. 
 
 177 
 
 " When both iirniies were arniycd for wnr, 
 Eiioh with its ships, the Trojan iin,t moved on 
 With shouts and chuiH: of arms, as wlion the cry 
 Of cranes is in the aii', that, llyin;,' south 
 From winter and its mighty hrtadth of rain, 
 Wing their way over oeeau, and at thuvn 
 Bring feailid Itattle lo l^ic pigmy race, 
 Bh)odshed and death. Hut silently the Greeks 
 Went forward, l)reatliing valor, mindful still 
 To aid each other iu the coming fray." t 
 
 Having passed jiroiind the southern spur of 
 Mount Ida, they went down its western slopes, 
 befoi-e them in the distance the " blue waters of 
 the ^^gean " bathing Tenedos, Imbros, Lemnos, 
 and Saniothracia, while at their feet lay Alexan- ^ 
 dria Troas, — a port at whose docks they Avere 
 quite sure to find vessels waiting to carry them 
 back to Antioch, to Jerusalem, or forward to 
 Athens, io Rome, or to any other point on the 
 Mediterranean where they might decide to go. 
 In this city the footsore travellers tind a lodging- 
 place. The soft wings of night are spread over 
 them. They commit themselves to the care 
 and guidance of Him who never leaves nor for- 
 sakes His followers ; and blessed sleep comes to 
 the weary eyes of Paul and Silas and Timothy 
 in this strange city, while they do not know 
 what their next step will be. 
 
 1 Iliad, Biyaut^s trausl., iii. 110. 
 
 /, 
 
i, 
 
 
 
 li 
 
 fv X 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 UP TO PHILIPPI. 
 
 •' Go ye, therefore, and make (Jisciples of all nations." — Matt. 
 xxviil. 19. (Revised Version.) 
 
 " And we f^rlode fast o'er a pellucid plain 
 Of waters, a/.iirc with the noon-tide ruy. 
 Ethereal mountains shone around : a fane 
 Stood in the midst, heyond {jreen isles which lay 
 On the blue, sunny deep, resplendent far away." — Shkllet. 
 
 " Thrice was I beaten with rods." — 2 CoR. .\i. 25. 
 
 T CAN never picture to myself without emo- 
 -*- tion," said a great French preacher, "the 
 moment when St. Paul reached the seashore 
 at Troas, and for tlie tirst time stood gazing 
 across the blue waters of the Hellespont towards 
 Europe. Already, in the first rapture of his 
 missionary ardor, had he traversed the entire 
 Western Asia, proclaiming Jesus Christ. . . . 
 But . . . beyond tlio sea rolling at his feet he 
 sees Greece, with her arts and her divinities, 
 which had charmed the world ; he sees Rome, 
 the mistress city, with all peoples kneeling 
 before her ; ho takes in this world with thft 
 \1 broad glance of his apostolic ambition ; he 
 178 
 
^T. 46.] 
 
 UP TO PHILIPPI. 
 
 179 
 
 dreams this dream, strange, extravagant, of 
 subjecting it to Jesus Christ." ' 
 
 Not a day seems to have been spent at Troas. 
 That night in a vision tho form of a Macedonian 
 stood before Paul and said, ''Come over into 
 Macedonia and help us ! " ^ This he understood 
 to be, as it no doubt vvas, the divine direction; 
 and with devout promptness he o])eycd the com- 
 mand of his Lord, delivered l)y the lips of a man 
 from Macedonia, and at once in the early morn- 
 ing the apostles might have been seen on the 
 wharves inquiring about the sailings of different 
 vessels, and securing their passage for Ncapolis 
 in the northern province of Greece. 
 
 Another figure appears at this point in the 
 apostolic group, — " Luke the beloved physician." 
 This is indicated by the single word " we," by 
 which the writer of the history modestly intro- 
 duces himself with the other three as they are 
 leaving Troas. Up to this point he has invari- 
 ably used the pronoun "they." Luke was a 
 resident of Antioeh in Syria, and Paul and he 
 probably began i" that city the acquaintance 
 which, during the great missionary's life, aflforded 
 him so much comfort ; for there vvas no one, ex- 
 cept Timothy, to whom Paul was so much at- 
 tached as to Luke. It has been assunied that it 
 was probably not by mere accident that they left 
 
 / 
 
 i Eugene Bersier ; " St. Paul's Vision." ■^ (Jol. iv. 14. 
 
u 
 
 I 
 
 ' f 
 
 180 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 52. 
 
 Troas to<?ether ; Init that Paul's health was in such 
 a condition that ho needed the care of some ex- 
 perienced and loving hand. Luke accompanied 
 them to Philipi)i, where they parted company 
 to meet again after several years, when on the 
 third missionary journey Paul once more re- 
 turned to this city.^ 
 
 The vessel on leaving the dock at Troas 
 turned her dancing prow straight to the north- 
 west ; and, while the south wind filled her sails 
 and the glad sailors sanir a rolling sonff in time 
 with her quick movement, she sped on from 
 shore to shore a hundred miles or more, till (ho 
 plains of Troy sunk out of sight and Mount 
 Ida grew dim hcliind a purple veil. Gliding 
 around Tenedos and Imbros, she anchored for 
 the night under the northern lee of Samothrace, 
 from far above whose snow-crowned j^eak 
 (from which, as Homer tells, Ne})tune watched 
 the battles of the Greeks and Trojans before the 
 gates of Troy) the Infinite God watched over 
 the little vessel with its precious freight, rock- 
 ing by the shore. In the morning the first ray 
 
 1 "The natural inference i>, that during- the interval Luke had 
 continued at his post in T'liilippi. It was probably durinir this pe- 
 riod that liUke composed lii:? (Jospel lor the (Jrceks, as Matthew had 
 done lielbre I'or the Hebrews, and as Mark did aftiT\\ard.> for the 
 Latins. When Taul returned to Phili|)pi, in A.I). r)7, and wrote 
 the Second Epistle to tlie ( (iriiiiiiians, tlie tiospel of Luke had 
 been recently publi'^hcd, foi Paul sjnak'; nf him as 'the brother 
 whose nruise is iu the Gospel' [2 Lor. viii. 18J." — LEWliN, I. 22L 
 
^•r.46.] 
 
 UP TO nilLIPPI. 
 
 181 
 
 of sunlight thsit shot across the waves saw them 
 leaving tluMi* anchorage at this island, and car- 
 ried forward by a most favora))le breeze. Soon 
 they arc watching the mountainous coast of 
 Macedonia, and l)cibre nightfall they pass be- 
 tween Thasos and the mainland and run into the 
 harbor of Neapolis. 
 
 The apostles of Christ are now upon tiic soil of 
 the most remarkable and farthest- famed country 
 of the world. At that date (ircccc wms cut up into 
 a number of Koman provinces ; but her glory iiM 
 life had not departed. She was Greece still,— 
 the Greece of Homer and Demosthenes and Peri- 
 cles and Alexander. Her name was then, as it 
 has been ever since, the talismanic symbol for 
 all that is most ideal in literature and art. Her 
 cities were the most beautiful in all the world, 
 and her citizens were the proudest of their citi- 
 zenshij). They had good reason for their dig- 
 niiied pride. "There were never any better 
 soldiers ; never any ))etter sailors ; never any 
 better colom'zers and traders : never anv better 
 sculptors, pjiinters, arcliitocts ; never an}' better 
 orators, poets, historJMns, critics, rlietoricians, 
 philosophers, mntlicmaticians ; never any better 
 leaders, statesmen, diplomatists ; never any bet- 
 ter gymnasts, any Ix'ttcr gent lemon, any bet- 
 ter wits, than vou will find among the ancient 
 Greeks; juid ccrtaiidy, in proj.ortion to the 
 
 A 
 
 / 
 
 I 
 
 
182 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.n. 52. 
 
 V 
 
 \J 
 
 number of the whole j)coplc, never so many 
 eminent, in the various ways thus indicated." * 
 We may add to this that, with the excci)tion of 
 one small nation, there were no people in the 
 first century whose ideas of religion were in ad- 
 vance of those of the most devout Greeks, Yet 
 how far they were from the worship of tlic true 
 God, one might learn by going from city to city, 
 and observing the myriad statues which lined 
 their streets, and the myriad altars to deities, 
 known and unknown, which crowded heir tem- 
 ples. The most advanced religious thought of 
 Greece did not dare to entertain a conception of 
 deity higher than Olympian Jove, with all his 
 weakness and wickedness. This country, rich 
 in literature and art, rich in the memories of 
 heroes and the stories of diviiiititjs, was yet ig- 
 norant of the love and patience of the Father in 
 Heaven, and of the Gospel of His only-begotten 
 Son. What a field for the seed which is the 
 word of God ! 
 
 The Egnatian Road, the great thoroughfare 
 which cro>sed Macedonia from east to west and 
 tied together the four capitals of its four great 
 divisions, had its eastern terminus at Xeapolis. 
 From here it crossed the pass of Pangteus, back 
 of the port, and descended on the opposite slope 
 to Philippi, about ten miles. Then turning to 
 
 IW. C. Wilkinson ; '* Preparatory Greek Course," p. 9. 
 
XT. 46.] 
 
 UP TO PHILIPPI. 
 
 18a 
 
 the southwest it reached Thessalonica throii«^li 
 a (liHtance of a hundred miles over mountains 
 and valleys. From Lerc, })assing westward, the 
 next capital. Pella, was tnken in, aul last, 
 Pi-:LA(i()MA or IIkijaclka, in the interior of the 
 province, after Icvr ing which the great road 
 made as straight a course as was possible in 
 those days to Apollonia on the \\ estern coast. 
 It was a passage of only a few hour- from Apol- 
 lonia to Brundusium, where the iraveller lo 
 Rome set foot upon the Appian Way. 
 
 When then Paul and his eonipanions landed 
 at Neapolis they were on the highway to the 
 Imperial city ; and if it had been the purpose of 
 the Apostle to go directly there, and on the way 
 to preach the Gospel in the cities of Macedonia, 
 his first steps would have been the very ones he 
 took. They went directly to Philippi. 
 
 We might linger for hours delighted along 
 this road going out of Neapolis, and climbing 
 the steep hills. We would often stop and look 
 back at the town below, — the forest of masts, the 
 beautiful bay, and in the distance the summits 
 of Samothrace, Thasos, and Athos. At length 
 the top of the ridge is reached, when another 
 view opens, — a valley stretching from east to 
 west, across which the cool Gangas ' streams. 
 
 1 See Lewin, l. 208, and llii-kctt, "Commentary on Acts," 
 XTi. 13; called by Farnir "Gangitcis"; by Uowson, " Gaggitas." 
 
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184 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 62. 
 
 The background is dark, forest-covered moun- 
 tains, on the southern slope of which lies a city, 
 the present destination of our four missionaries. 
 "One feels himself," so Reiian writes, "in an 
 atmosphere similar to that which gave birth to 
 the bucolic and sentimental poetry of Virgil. 
 The plain, ever-verdant, presented the varied 
 cultivation of vegetables and flowers. Fine 
 springs, gushing out from the foot of the moun- 
 tain of golden marble, spread, when well- 
 directed, richness, shade, and freshness. Groups 
 of poplars, willows, fig-trees, cherry-trees, and 
 wild vines, breathing out the most delicious 
 odor, hide the streams which flow on every side. 
 Elsewhere, fields inundated, or covered with 
 high reeds, contained herds of buffalo, with dull, 
 white eyes and enormous horns, their heads 
 alone above the water ; while bees and swarms 
 of black and blue butterflies whirl about the flow- 
 ers. The Pangaeus, with its majestic summits co*^- 
 ered with snow till the month of June, advances 
 as if to cross the marsh and join the city. Beau- 
 tiful chains of mountains close in the horizon 
 Oil all the other sides, only leaving one opening 
 through which the sky escapes, and shows us in 
 the clear distance the basin of the Strymon."^ 
 
 About four centuries earlier than the period 
 which we are studyinsr, Philip of Macedon, in 
 
 i"St. P;uil,"i). 112. 
 
 tarer-'-r.-^iK 
 
iET. 46.] 
 
 UP TO PHILIPn. 
 
 185 
 
 the first flush of his victorious career, in order 
 to protect liis northern border, seized the little 
 town of Crenides, erected a strong fortress on 
 the overhanging mountain, and re-named it after 
 himself, Phiiippi. By contiimed patronage 
 Philip raised the insignificant town into a large 
 and prosperous city, — an eminen',.*e which it 
 maintained through all the varied fortunes of the 
 next four centuries, until Augustus conferred 
 upon it the privileges of a free Koman colony, 
 with exemption from taxes and with local self- 
 government. At the same time he settled there 
 a colony of native Italian soldiers. Phiiippi, 
 therefore, was another liome on a small scale. 
 It was peopled by Romans, its citizens spoke 
 the Roman tongue, and prided themselves in 
 Roman manners and customs. There were very 
 few Jews in the city, and there was no syna- 
 gogue. 
 
 The apostles arrived two or three dnys before 
 the Sabbath, — days which, we may presume, 
 were spent to good purpose in making the ac- 
 quaintance of those who were inclined to the 
 worshipof Jehovah. When the Sabbath morning 
 came they went to the place or house " where 
 prayer was wont to be made." This place was 
 outside the city-walls, toward the west, not far 
 from the Kirnatian Rond. nnd on the l)ank of the 
 Gangas. If Paul's vision at Troas of "a man " 
 
186 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 52. 
 
 ' I ! 
 
 / 
 
 calling for help ; if the work of the four mis- 
 sionaries during the days before the Sabbath 
 had led them to expect a congregation of men, 
 they must have been disappointed, for they 
 found women only. Women only ! But where, 
 since Christ was born, have not w^men been 
 readiest to receive the Gospel and most zealous 
 that others should be blessed by its message ? 
 There are men in our day who cannot quite un- 
 derstand that a woman is in every way as im- 
 portant a factor in the cause of truth as am.'. 
 Paul, eighteen hundred years ago, understood 
 this thoroughly. It was with no fainthearted- 
 ness, on account of the supposed insignificance 
 of the occasion, that he spoke the word of life 
 that day. There was one, at least, and possibly 
 more, whose names are not mentioned, who 
 listened to catch every word ; for she wanted to 
 know a better way of life. Lydia had been for 
 some years in Philippi, engaged in the business 
 of importing purple goods from Thyatira for 
 the Philippian market, and had become inde- 
 pendently rich. Her heart the Lord opened. 
 She accepted the salvation offered through the 
 death of Jesus, and sealed her profession of 
 faith by being baptized. Lydia's " household," 
 too, whether servants or children, ])elieved with 
 her and followed her example. 
 
 And then we are presented with a picture of 
 
 1 
 
 \ 
 
 X 
 
^T. 46.] 
 
 UP TO PHILIPPI. 
 
 187 
 
 Christian hospitality in that remote Macedonian 
 city which shines like a gem of purest ray. 
 These men of God had ))rought gi'eat joy to 
 Lydia ; and it would be only an additional 
 pleasure to take them to her home and share 
 it with them as long as they remained in the 
 city. This she insisted upon doing, until the 
 four missionaries, leaving the lodging-house 
 where they had found such meagre accommoda- 
 tions as they could afford to pay for, accepted 
 the comforts of this Christian home. So the 
 sun shone upon the commencement of the mis- 
 sion in Europe, and comfort and joy gladdened 
 the hearts of teachers and disciples. But it is 
 not in this way that the work always goes on. 
 The true soldier is not surprised when sum- 
 moned to " endure hardness " ; and to this Paul 
 was soon called. 
 
 Among the evil practices of the old days was 
 a pretension, on the part of certain men, that 
 they were able to discover the divine wishes 
 and intentions, and the mysteries of the future, 
 which were a scaled ])()()k to ordinary mortals. 
 AVe have already seen one such pretender, — Ely- 
 mas of Cyprus. Here in Philippi some men, 
 two or more, owned a maniac girl, — possessed 
 with an evil spirit, — whose wild ravings they 
 palmed off upon the credulous people for the 
 utterances of Apollo ; and the people gladly paid 
 
 
 0: 
 
188 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 62. 
 
 : ' 
 
 I ■ ' 
 
 for the imposition. One cltiy, as the apostles 
 were going along the street to the place of 
 prayer and worshi}), this girl met them, and 
 turning a])out followed them, and with frantic 
 gestures screamed after them : " These men are 
 the servants of the Most High God, who shew 
 unto you the way of salvation." Day after day, 
 as they passed by, she repeated this exhibition. 
 It was very much the same as that which oc- 
 curred on several occasions in the presence of 
 Jesus. " Unclean spirits, when they saw him, 
 fell down before him and cried, saying : Thou 
 art the son of God.^ " And at length Paul did 
 for her that which our Lord had done for many 
 similarly afflicted. It troubled him sorely, — not, 
 we may believe, on his own account, but for 
 her sake, that she should be in such a debased 
 condition. The word was put into his mouth ; 
 and the authority to speak it was thrust upon 
 him, as he turned and said to the frantic spirit 
 that possessed the girl : " I command thee, in 
 the name of Jesus Christ, to come out of her." 
 The ravings ceased. She came to herself. But 
 when the evil spirit came out of this slave her 
 owners' hope of gain came out too. Their 
 purses were touched and their fury was let 
 loose. As soon as they heard of the event, 
 therefore, they violently seized Paul and Silas 
 
 1 Mark iii. 11 ; Matt. viii. 29 ; Luke iv. 41 ; viii. 28. 
 
 \ 
 
iET. 46.] 
 
 UP TO PHILIPPI. 
 
 189 
 
 and dragged them before the magistrates in the 
 market-place or forum. It was a new excite- 
 ment for the ordinarily quiet city ; and it did 
 not take long for a crowd to gather of those 
 who were most likel}^ to be in sympathy with 
 the owners of the exorcised slave. The charge 
 brought against them was i?i three counts : 
 they were Jews, they were making trouble in 
 the city, they were teaching unlawful religious 
 rites. To these charges the crowd unanim- 
 ously agreed ; and the pusillanimous magistrates, 
 carried away by the shout of the multitude, 
 without giving the apostles an opportunity to 
 defend themselves, ordered the li(!tors to scourge 
 them. See the two holy men, hurried into the 
 open Agora amid the hisses of the mob, their 
 hands tied to a post, and their clothes torn from 
 them until their backs are bared ! See the lie- 
 tors loosening their fasces, testing the tough elm- 
 rods, and then laying on the sharp, whistling 
 blows, till the quivering flesh is lifted in ridges, 
 and the blood runs ! But this cruei indignity is 
 not enough to satisfy these men for the loss of 
 their infatuated, gain-producing slave. Near at 
 hand is a frowning prison, in the most safely- 
 guarded ward of which is an inner prison, where 
 lie the stocks. Away to the inner prison with 
 these disturbers of the pagan peace of our city I 
 
190 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 52. 
 
 .•• . 1 
 
 t ! 
 
 Wedge their feet fast in the stocks ! Double- 
 bolt the prison-door ! 
 
 Such treiitment was not only unjust and 
 cruel ; it was unlawful , for Paul and Silas were 
 no ordinary wandering Jews. They were both 
 Roman citizens. This fact the magistrates may 
 not have known ; and it would have been almost 
 impossible for Paul or Silas (who at this time 
 at least probal)ly could not speak Latin) to 
 make them understand, in the hi ste and con- 
 fusion of the arrest and condemnation, that they 
 possessed equal rights with the magistrates 
 themselves. 
 
 Midnight has settled in upon the city. Mount 
 Pangceus towers over it, black and portentous. 
 There is silence in the market-place and every 
 street. The injudicious magistrates, the hard- 
 hearted lictors, the shouting mob, are all asleep. 
 Silence reigns around the grim old prison. The 
 guards are drowsy, the jailer is sleeping. But 
 there are two men in Philippi this midnight 
 awake. The soft echoes of trustful, pleading 
 prayer arc heard from "the inner prison," 
 followed by two manly voices in unison, sing- 
 ing praises to God " for his goodness and for 
 his wonderful works to the children of men." 
 It was a new sound within those walls. Curses 
 and groans and threats had often made the 
 nights there terrible, and disturbed those who 
 
 
^T. 46.] 
 
 UP TO PHILIPPI. 
 
 101 
 
 would sleep ; but " that hymn, falling and 
 swelling, with its strange mnsic and foreign 
 words," ' produced an impression upon the 
 listening prisoners such as they had never 
 experienced before. From cell to cell, and 
 through every corridor, the song of praise is 
 floating, when " suddenly " there comes crashing 
 under and through the ground a roaring earth- 
 quake, shaking the foundations of the prison, 
 and loosening the prisoner's chains "from the 
 staples in the wall."'^ The song ceases. The 
 prayer is answered. The arrest, the scourging, 
 the few hours in prison, the prayer, the song, 
 the earthquake, are so many stages in the 
 progress of the Gospel to greater conquests. 
 See! "The jailer, roused out of sleep, and 
 seeing the prison-doors open, drew his sword 
 and was about to kill himself, supposing that 
 the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried out 
 with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm : 
 for we are all here. And he called for lights, 
 and sprang in. and, trembling for fear, fell 
 down before Paul and Silas, and brought them 
 out, and said. Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 
 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus, and 
 thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house. And 
 they spoke the word of the Lord unto him, with 
 
 
 i 
 
 1 Eadie: "Paul the Preacher," 158. 
 
 2 Farrar : " St. Paul," i. 499. 
 
>ii; 
 
 
 ••STti^ 
 
 iif 
 
 if 
 
 ! tl 
 
 ■ n 
 
 i 
 
 f 
 
 
 192 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 52. 
 
 iill that were in liis house. And he took theui 
 the same hour of the night, and washed their 
 stripes ; and was baptized, he and nil his, im- 
 mediately. And he l)rought them up into his 
 house and ot food before them, and rejoiced 
 greatly, with all his house, having l)clievod in 
 God."i 
 
 In this way the remainder of that sleepless 
 night was passed. When morning dawned 
 there came a message to the jailer from the 
 magistrates, ordering the release of the pris- 
 oners. With an o^erflowina- heart the <rlad new 
 convert carried the word in to Paul : " The 
 magistrates have sent to let you go." But it 
 was unwelcome. "Sent to let us go?" said Paul. 
 "No, no, — that is not the way in which men 
 should be treated who possess the rights of 
 Roman citizenship, as we do. Tell them that we 
 are Romans ; that they have publicly scourged us 
 without legal condemnation or trial ; that we have 
 been thrown into prison contrary to the Roman 
 law. Tell them that, if they desire to escape the 
 disgrace that will follow them by our appealing 
 to the emperor, or to the proconsul at Thes- 
 salonica, they will do well to come here them- 
 selves." This reply startled the magistrates. 
 They had abused the occasion, partly intention- 
 ally and partly through ignorance of what these 
 
 1 Acts vri. 27-34. 
 
Ml. 46.] 
 
 UP TO niiLirpi. 
 
 193 
 
 
 men were. "They were liable to an action for 
 damages, or might ])e criminally indicted, and 
 it' convicted would become infamous and in- 
 capable of again serving in the magistracy."^ 
 Very humbly, therefore, they came down to the 
 prison, apologized to the apostles, and besought 
 them to go (juietly out of the city. But even 
 this the ai)()stles were not ready to do. Leaving 
 the prison they went back to Lydia's, and once 
 more before their departure saw and spoke with 
 those who had become the followers of the 
 Lord Jesus. 
 
 1 Lewin, i. 221. 
 
it 
 
 I 
 
 V. 
 
 Ml! 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 ON TO ATTICA. 
 
 " The Apostle while al Thcssalonica was at one and the same 
 time the Christian advocate and the indusci-ious artisan." — Lewin. 
 
 '* The mountains look on Marathon, 
 And Marathon looks on the sea ; 
 And musing there an hour alone, 
 I dreamed that Greece might still be free." 
 
 Byron. 
 
 rpHESSALONICA is seen to best advantage 
 -*- from the har])oi'. It lies upon the slope of 
 a hill, the foot of which sinks into the blue 
 waters at the northern extremity of the Ther- 
 maic Gulf. The city is surrounded by "serried 
 battlements and projecting towers," which climb 
 the limestone hills on either side, and stand 
 along their crest behind it in grim guardianship. 
 Inside this uneven circuit of walls, on the heights 
 above, stands the fortress. On the circle of the 
 Gulf project the busy docks ; while between 
 the fortress and the docks warehouses and resi- 
 dences are huddled together picturesquely, 
 though not conveniently ; among which appear 
 clumps of foliage, and in some places the gray, 
 194 
 
;Rt. 46.] 
 
 ON TO ATTICA. 
 
 UK) 
 
 hiird faces of the limestone rock. "The travel- 
 ler who approaches it by sea on a summer 
 morning might think he was coming to one of 
 those cities of enchantment which he had read 
 of in Eastern romances." ' 
 
 The population of Thessalonica was composed 
 in the main of two classes, manufacturers and 
 mariners. The looms of Greece were at the 
 head of the Tlicrmaic Gulf. The working 
 flassos of the city knew how to card and spin 
 and weave. Agriculture received but little atten- 
 tion. The valleys of the Axius, Haliacmon, and 
 the Strymon allbrdcd pasturage for herds of 
 sheep and goats > whose fleeces kept thousands 
 of hands busy, and in the markets of the 
 world brought ready money to the Thessalo- 
 nian weavers. Manufacture involved traffic, 
 ant' accordingly the harlK)r of Thessalonica was 
 alive with vessels from numy ports coming in 
 and going out, and the streets near the wharves 
 were frequented by sailors, and lined w'tli ship- 
 ping offices and warehouses. These two classes 
 gave the city its character. There was no pre- 
 dominantly wealthy aristocracy of retired mer- 
 chants as at Corinth ; none of the pride of learn- L ' 
 ing which characterized Athens. The people 
 were "industrious handicraftsmen," thoughtful, 
 accessible, and not so much in love with the 
 
 Davies ; " St. Paul in lireece," p. 122. 
 
I 
 
 I 
 
 196 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 52. 
 
 present world that they could not think ear- 
 nestly of a better. Besides, there were many 
 Jews in Thessaloniea. We found few at Phil- 
 ippi ; but in this city they are at least strong 
 enough to maintain a synagogue, — the syna- 
 gogue, p bably, for all the surrounding coun- 
 try. Although the Jews were frequently the 
 bitterest opponents that the apostles had to con- 
 tend against, yet thoir religious faith was so 
 far in advance of heathenism that the fact of 
 there being confiderable numbers of them in any 
 heathen city must have been a help in intro- 
 ducing the Gospel there. Some of these Jews 
 were waiting for the fulfilment of the promise 
 that a Messiah should come. Their preaching, 
 or synagogue exhortation, was colored with the 
 hope of a coming One, and had prepared the 
 minds of the people to give attention to Paul 
 preaching that He had come. 
 
 Bidding farewell to those whose " fellowship 
 in the Gospel " ^ had been of so much comfort 
 in the Jays of afiliction, Paul and Silas and 
 Timothy left Philippi. Luke remained behind. 
 Following still the Egnatian Road, the}' came, at 
 the evening of the first day, over a distance of 
 thirty-three miles, to Amphipolis. Tarrying only 
 for necessary rest they pushed on the next day 
 thirty miles farther to Apollonia ; and the day 
 
 iPhil. i.5. 
 
 t 
 
-^r. 46.] 
 
 ON TO ATTICA. 
 
 197 
 
 following, lifter making forty good miles, they 
 came in the deepening twilight to Tliessiilonicu, 
 and, inquiring the way to Jason's house, found 
 a cordial welcome and a temporary home. 
 
 These missionaries were without money ; but 
 they preferred to be independent. Their tirst 
 object, then, was to find employment by which 
 to support themselves. Paul was as much at 
 home among the weavers and the tent-makers 
 of Thessalonica as in the company of the learned 
 Areopagites of Athens. Accordingly, in all 
 probability, he went to work at the trade which 
 he learnt when a boy in Tarsus, and so labored, 
 sitting at " the creaking* and straining loom " 
 during the hours of the day when he could not 
 be preaching, and late into the night. lie re- 
 minded the Thessalonians of this in the first 
 letter ^ he wrote them after his departure, as a 
 proof of the ardor of his zeal for their conver- 
 sion. We should remember, too, in this connec- 
 tion, that those aflfcctionato discii)los in Philippi 
 did not forget the man who had led them to 
 Christ. With tearful ej'es they had seen him 
 go away sore and sick from the cruel treatment 
 he had received at the hands of the Roman mag- 
 istrates ; and they were not slow to send after 
 him the aid which delicacy, perhaps, would not 
 permit them to urge uj)on him while with them. 
 
 i 1 Thcs. i. 9. 
 
1 1 
 
 198 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 52. 
 
 I' ! 
 
 ^: 
 
 " In Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto 
 my necessity," ' 
 
 For three Sabbaths, at least, Paul preached in 
 the synagogue of the Jews at Thessalonica. 
 We may suppose that the place was crowded ; 
 that not only Jews, but proselytes of the 
 Greeks and Romans, and others who were 
 curious to hear what might be said, came 
 together. But Paul directed his words to the 
 people of his own nation, and, using their 
 scriptures, Sabbath after Sabbath, by reasoning 
 and appeal, endeavored to show them that the 
 Christ of the Prophets must suffer ; that he must 
 rise from the dead, and that, therefore, Jesus 
 whom he preached must be the Christ. The 
 argument was unanswerable. " Some " of the 
 Jews, "a great multitude" of the Gentiles, and 
 " not a few " of the leading women believed the 
 word preached, and declared themselves on the 
 side of Paul as followers of Jesus the Christ. 
 But there were many Jews, who, "slow of heart 
 to believe all that the Prophets had spoken," ^ 
 rejected the testimony of Paul. Besides, they 
 were envious that he should have secured so 
 large a following. Their jealousy led them to 
 adopt desperate and contemptible means for 
 retaliation. They had lost their hold upon the 
 Greeks and the leading women, and in their 
 
 1 Phil. iv. 16. 
 
 2 Luke xxiv. 25. 
 
\ 
 
 JET. 46.] 
 
 ON TO ATTICA. 
 
 199 
 
 madness they determined to make use of the 
 mob. There were plenty of lazy loafers in the 
 city who lived by dirty work, whom money 
 could hire to do anything. Even a Jew would 
 scatter his gold to protect his fanatic taith. So 
 they drew to them "the scum that gathered 
 about the shallowest outmost waves of civili- 
 zation," " roughs and scoundrels," ^ and raised a 
 mob. Every idler in the city was in the crowd 
 that, surging and shouting, pushed down the 
 street to Jason's house, burst open the door, 
 scattered the frightened servants, and swarmed 
 through every court and hall and chimber, 
 looking for Paul, Silas, and Timothy. But 
 these men were not to be found. Jason 
 himself, however, was there, and some friends 
 of his who had recently become Christians. 
 Not being able to secure its prey, the mob 
 seized Jason and the brethren who were with 
 him, and dragged them away to the magistrates. 
 The charge preferred against these citizens of 
 Thessalonica liy their fellow-citizens was, that 
 they were guilty of complicity with certain 
 seditious disturbers of the public peace, who 
 had already made great disturbance in other 
 places, and had come here for a similar pur- 
 pose. Jason had received them into his house, 
 and had invited his friends to meet them there, 
 
 1 Fanar : *' St. Paul," i. 513. 
 
 ■II 
 
200 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 52. 
 
 V 
 
 and to listen to such revolutionary speeches 
 as this : "There is another king, — one Jesus." 
 What a desperate character this Jason must 
 have been, and how dangerous these others who 
 associated with him I The magistrates, how- 
 ever, do not seem to have been deeply impressed 
 with these charges against Jason. They re- 
 quired only that he and his friends give secur- 
 ity, after which they let them go. 
 
 That night Paul and Silas left Thessalonica. 
 They had already accomplished the purpose 
 they had in coming to this city. A strong 
 body of believers had been gathered, and one 
 of the most promising of the Apostolic churches 
 had been organized. In his first letter to them, 
 written within two or three months from the 
 time he left the city, Paul speaks of them in 
 the highest terms of commendation : " Ye ^veve 
 ensamples to all that l^elicve in Macedonia and 
 Achaia. For from you sounded out the word 
 of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, 
 but also in every place your faith to Godward 
 is spread a1)road." * With joy, therefore, at 
 the success of their mission, the apostles 
 accepted the proposal of Jason and his friends, 
 and turned their faces inland toward the town 
 of Berea, situated fifty miles west of Thessalon- 
 ica, on the eastern sloi)e of that famous range 
 
 1 1 Thes. i. 7. 
 
 1^: ' 
 
^T. 46.] 
 
 ON TO ATTICA. 
 
 201 
 
 of mountains which is crowned by Olympus, 
 the home of the twelve great gods of Greece. 
 
 It is remarkable that in this mountain-town, 
 under the very shadow of the majestic sanctuary 
 of Jupiter and his peers, people should be 
 found eager to search the word of God. 
 " These were more noble than those in Thessa- 
 lonica." How delightful to the missionaries, 
 after their experiences at Philippi and Thes- 
 salonica, to meet here daily these true-hearted 
 Bereans, who were willing to search the Scrip- 
 tures to lind out the truth about Jesus ! What 
 wonder that many were persuaded and believed ? 
 But peace did not last long. Those Jews at 
 Thessalonica, who had tried without success 
 to take Paul, heard of his preaching at 
 Berea. Very soon their emissaries are in 
 the quiet town, working secretly to prejudice 
 the people against the preacher. Again the air 
 is full of warning. Paul is informed. He 
 must leave the peaceful companionship, the 
 choice fellowship of those who love the Scrip- 
 tures, and go away to a strange people. Leav- 
 ing Timothy and Silas, but accompained by 
 friends from Berca, he hurries directly to the 
 sea-coast, probably to the port Dium. There 
 they find a ship bound to Athens. 
 
 Farewell, Macedonia! Farewell, Olympus, 
 crowned with snow and ice, home of gods ! 
 
I 
 
 II-'. 
 
 f 
 
 202 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 46. 
 
 Farewell, beloved fellow-disciples in Philippi 
 and Thessalonica and Berea ! Farewell, ye 
 who seek the poor life of this chief of sinners ! — 
 who yet lives, by the grace of God, to tell of his 
 Saviour's love. 
 
 i: 
 
 t 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 IN TEMTLED ATHENS. 
 
 " And trust mc, while I tuni'il the page, 
 And track'cl you still on classic ground, 
 I grew in gladness til! I found 
 My spirits in the golden age." — Tennyson. 
 
 " There were more statues in Athens than in all the rest of 
 Greece put together." — Pausanias. 
 
 *' Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanuess." — Bom. 
 i. 24. 
 
 SOUTHERN Greece had two great cities, 
 '^ Athens and Corinth, — one, the intellectual, 
 the other, the commercial centre. They were 
 about fifty miles apart, separated ])y the Saronic 
 bay. With the tirst of these cities Paul had 
 little to do ; with the other, very much. 
 
 If Paul left Macedonia by ship, as in all prob- 
 ability he did, he nmst have spent three or four 
 days on the ^l^gean sea, skirting the eastern 
 shores of Greece. The first day he would lose 
 sight of Mount Olympus, pass Ossa and Pe- 
 lion ; then on by the long island Euboea, and 
 into the archipelago, where, turning toward 
 the west, he would soon see the temple of 
 Athena perched on the Sunian promontory, 
 
 203 
 
 / 
 
 1 
 

 i; 
 
 V« 
 
 I 
 
 204 
 
 tiFfi Oi' PAtJt. 
 
 [A.I>. 52. 
 
 the modern Cape Colonna. After beating 
 around Cape Sunium, the Apostle was upon 
 the far-famed waters of the Gulf of ^gina, 
 while around him lay those shores so rich in 
 classic art and story. 
 
 In a few hours the ship had run in past 
 -^gina and Salamis, and dropped her anchor 
 in the harbor or made fast to the dock at Pi- 
 raeus, the principal port of Athens. 
 
 We will understand Paul all the better if we 
 stop here in port Piraeus, for a brief glance at 
 the province and the city which he is about to 
 enter. 
 
 In all the world there is not another spot so 
 remarkable as the little province of Attica. For 
 hundreds of years before Paul's time, Greece 
 had held the highest position among the nations, 
 and Attica had always been the throne and 
 crown of Greece. If we attempt to discover 
 the reasons for this extraordinary distinction, we 
 may not be entirely satisfied. The country in 
 itself, certainly, would not be considered favor- 
 able to the development of a mighty people ; 
 unless, indeed, it be granted that natural obsta- 
 cles are conducive to such development. Attica 
 was, as it is still, a broken ridge of limestone, 
 thinly covered with a sterile soil. Mountains, 
 hills, and gorges were everywhere. There were 
 but few spots available for cultivation, — neither 
 
 -^ 
 
 1 
 
iEx. 40.] 
 
 IN TEMPLED ATHENS. 
 
 205 
 
 '4 k 
 
 forests nor vincyartls nor grjiin-fields nor pas- 
 tures. In such a barren country as tliis a [)eo- 
 ple sprung up, whose vitality leaped out along 
 every possiI)le avenue oi' activity until il touched 
 all people and all times.' 
 
 The children of the mountains are always 
 brave and enterprising. The very barrenness of 
 their country pushed the natives of Attica out 
 after the spoils of other lands, while it oflered 
 little inducement to inunigrants or migratory 
 plunderers. jNloreover, these people were born 
 patriots. When they became rich they i)referred 
 still to reside in their own native hills and 
 walled cities; and when, after many years, the 
 triremes of Greece sailed in all the navigable 
 seas, and her phalanxes marched through all 
 countries, and encamped around the gates of the 
 most powerful cities, and her statesmen sat as 
 kings on all the golden thrones, still Attica was 
 
 1 " There is no re<rion of the civilized world which is not breathed 
 on by the air of Attica. Its influence makes itself felt in the 
 thoughts, and shows itself in the speech of men ; and it will never 
 cease to do so: it is not enough to say that ii lives in the inspira- 
 tions of the Poet, in the eloquence of the Orator, and in the specu- 
 lations of the Philosopher. It exhibits itself everywhere invisible 
 shapes; it animates the most beautiful creations of Art. The works 
 of the Architect and of the Scnli)t(>r, in every (piarter of the globe, 
 speak of Athens ; even our manufactures are imprinted with her 
 ornaments; the galleries of Princes and States, the temples and 
 palaces, the libraries and council-rooms of capital cities pay homage 
 to Athens, and will do so for ever."— Woudsavorth : " Greece," 
 p. 132. 
 
 A 
 
 f 
 
 ■V 
 
iii 
 
 I 
 
 
 206 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 52. 
 
 their fatherland, and they considered all their 
 conquests as tributaries to her. So Attica be- 
 came the world's heart. 
 
 Standing at Piraeus with Paul, with our faces 
 toward the northeast, we look awav five miles 
 to the capital of Attica, Athens, — 
 
 "The Eye of Greece, mother of ai*t3 
 And eloquence." 
 
 The most conspicuous object in the city, and 
 one upon which Pau^s eye must have rested, as 
 he sailed up the bay, was the Acropolis. The 
 flat, oblong rock which constituted the Acropo- 
 lis was about three hundred feet high. On this 
 height stood that supcrbest specimen of archi- 
 tecture, the Parthenon, or the temple of the 
 Virgin Goddess, Minerva, the Erechtheum, and 
 the colossal Statue of Minerva, made of bronze 
 by the great master, Phidias. This was seventy 
 feet in height, armed with a long lance and an 
 oval shield, and wearing a helmet, all of which 
 flashed so brightly in the sunlight as to be visi- 
 ble many miles at sea. 
 
 A little to the west of the Acropolis stood the 
 Hill of Mars, or the Areopagus. It was an 
 abrupt, rugged rock, rising steeply on the south- 
 ern side, and sloping gradually toward the north. 
 On this hill sat the venerable and sacred Court 
 of the Areopagus, whose province was to legis- 
 late upon all religious questions , to confer relig- 
 
 \ 
 
1 
 
 At. 46.1 
 
 IN TKMI'LKI) ATIIKNS. 
 
 20; 
 
 s 
 
 ious honors upon heroes, and to weigh and 
 decide upon the claims of the gods. Steps, 
 cut in the limestone rock, provided a way of 
 ascent from the Agora, or "market,"* to the 
 Areopagus. In that Agora were shops, tem- 
 ples, statues, arches, porches, colonnades. It 
 was the resort of the busy and the idle, phi- 
 losophers and gossips. Two schools of philoso- 
 phers especially — the Stoics, disciples of Zeno, 
 and the Epicureans, followers of P][)icurus — 
 had their principal places of meeting in the 
 Agora. 
 
 Leaving now the Piroeus with Paul, we start 
 for the city at which we have been looking. 
 There is a straight avenue the entire distance, 
 on either side of which lie the ruins of the 
 " Long Walls " that fori lerly made this t^ thor- 
 oughly-guarded and safe transit from the port 
 to the city, or rather m-ide it virtuall^^ an elon- 
 gated extension of the city. Through this Paul 
 walked to the Pirseic Gate. 
 
 In the streets of Athens nothing would attract 
 the eye of a stranger so much as the magnificent 
 temples and the myriads of statues. The latter 
 especially would be likely to impress a Jew 
 brought up in Jerusalem, where the existence 
 of a statue would have been a direct violation 
 of the Law. In Athens, on the contrary, the 
 
 1 Acts xi. 17. 
 
208 
 
 LIFE OF TAIL. 
 
 tA.l>. B'J. 
 
 hiw required that stiitues of the gods should 
 jidorn the public s(|uare.s and streets as well as 
 the inner sanctuaries of the temples. There 
 were more than three thousand of these beauti- 
 ful marble figures, made by the best artists of 
 Greece, and dedicated to gods, goddesses, demi- 
 gods, and heroes. Some of the streets must 
 have been galleries of statuary, finer indeed 
 than any modern galleries. But all this beauty 
 and artistic skill had been perverted to bad 
 uses. The statues were not only dedicated to 
 the gods, but they represented them. Devout 
 Athenians prayed before them, made vows to 
 them, and brought them gifts of gold, silver, 
 flowers, and fruits. All this idolatry was de- 
 l)asing to the people. The statues of Athens, 
 beautiful though they were, were the means of 
 her religious and moral degradation. 
 
 We might well wonder, therefore, whether 
 Paul, the moralist, the reformer, the man who 
 was giving his whole life to making Jesus known 
 as the only One who had revealed and represent- 
 ed the true God, would not turn with grief and 
 pain from the lifeless statues of innocent white 
 marble which the foolish Greeks worshipped as 
 devoutly as he worshipped Christ. We might 
 wonder, if we did not read that "his spirit was 
 stirred within him " by the sight. Along those 
 magnificent avenues lined with beautifully-fash- 
 
 \ 
 
iET. 46.1 
 
 tN TEMPLED ATHENS. 
 
 209 
 
 \ 
 
 ioned l;ut morally ruinous deities, in and out 
 among the gay and chatty men and women 
 who lived in this proud eit}', and who si)ent 
 much of their time in the clear and pleasant 
 outdoor air. passed the sober and earnest Chris- 
 tian Jew. From their heights the snowy Parthe- 
 non and Erechtheum and the statue of Minerva 
 looked scornfully upon him. The brave man, 
 though, was not silenced l)y the magnificence of 
 this heathenism. At once he sought a syna- 
 gogue, — for there were Jews in Athens as in 
 every other city. These were his countrymen. 
 They would recognize him as a son of A])raham. 
 To them first, therefore, he brought the word 
 of salvation through Jesus the Christ. 
 
 But Paul could do more than preach to Jews. 
 There were congregations in the synagogue only 
 occasionally, — probably not oftener than once 
 a week. It was the custom in Athens, though, 
 for those who had anything to say to the peo- 
 ple to go to the Market-place, or Agora. This, 
 as we have noticed, was the resort of the best 
 classes, the most thoughtful portion of the 
 population. It ^vas the great " exchange " for 
 news and opinions. It was at the same time a 
 busy, noisy market. Here were the shop- 
 keepers' booths, the stands loaded with fruit 
 and flowers and honey ; there the auction-block, 
 where there was a slave-auction every day ; at 
 
 > ij 
 
* I 
 
 \ 
 
 \ 
 
 210 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 52. 
 
 other places, shelves s[)r(':i(l with purchnienls ; 
 at still others, the tables of the money-ehangcrs. 
 
 To the men lounoinir and stroUin"; in the Acora 
 the philosopliers were accustomed to address 
 themselv^es, to tell their latest conclusions, and 
 to display their ingenious rhetoric. People and 
 philosophers " spent their time in nothing else 
 but either to tell or to hear some new thing." 
 Paul availed liimsoU' of the opportunity which 
 the custom of the city ollered, and spoke in 
 the Agora. He attracted attention. From a 
 half dozen his audience grew. The shopkeep- 
 ers came ; the impatient customers stopped to 
 see and hear, the slaves stood up and strained 
 their ears to catch the words of the distant 
 speaker ; the Epicureans and the Stoics even 
 condescended to approach the crowd and listen 
 to the swift, eager words of the apostolic evan- 
 gelist. If Paul was familiar with Athenian 
 philosophy and theology, he did not care to 
 display his knowledge of those su])jects ; but 
 preferred rather to hold himself exclusively to 
 preaching Jesus and the resurrection. 
 
 Every day Paul kept on preaching to the 
 people in the Agora. No doubt the common 
 people listened with great comfort to the new 
 hopes he held before their imagination. How 
 dreary the future must have looked t^ them, 
 with such poverty of hope as their own relig- 
 
 ' 
 
 : 
 
^T. 40.] 
 
 IN TEMPLED ATHENS. 
 
 211 
 
 . 
 
 ' 
 
 ion aflbrded ! But the philosophers, who were 
 accustomed to receive the devout admiration 
 of the i)eople, could not have hcen pleased to 
 see a foreigner receiving popular attention. 
 Some of them were curious to hear a delinite 
 statement from him Ci)ncernini2: the new God 
 he declared, while some others were disposed to 
 ridicule him as a foolish, hare-brained fanatic. - 
 
 From the Agora a flight of steps, cut in the 
 rock, led up to the Areoi)!igus. Up these Paul 
 was taken, whether by invitation ^ or by force, ^ 
 is not altogether clear. No doubt there were some 
 serious men in Athens, v;ho would welcome new 
 truth if thev could be certain that it was truth. 
 But most of those who led or followed Paul from 
 the Agora to the open court of the Areopagites 
 were too deeply settled in the mud of their own 
 superstitions ; their worldly interests were too 
 much involved in their philosophic positions ; 
 their patriotism was too closely allied to the 
 worship of their gods, for them to think other- 
 wise than curiously or scofhngly of a preacher 
 of new and foveiirn doctrines. 
 
 Paul, however, was ready to preach Christ to 
 the philosophers of Athens. But what a con- 
 ffreffation ! How (nft'erent from those in wicked 
 Antioch of Svria, or those in Galatia, or in 
 
 1 Conybearo and Ilowson : " St. Paul," i. 374. 
 
 2 Farrar: " at. Paul," 1.539. 
 
212 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 52. 
 
 Philippi, or in Berea or Thessalonica. The men 
 who listened hereon tlic Areopagus assumed to 
 be judges. They would have laughed to scorn 
 the man who had intimated that they needed a 
 Saviour. Such a cono^reijation will alwavs be 
 the severest test of the preacher's al)ility and 
 heart. They did not wait for Paul to speak, 
 but, inquisitor-like, put a plain and direct ques- 
 tion, " May we know what this new teaching is, 
 which is spoken by thee? For thou bringest 
 certain foreign things to our ears ; we would 
 knov7, therefore, what these things mean." The 
 position is very significant. One lonely man, 
 with a new and incredible Gospel, stands in a 
 city famous for its wisdom and wealth, among 
 the cleverest representatives of its most sacred 
 religious faith, in the presence of its grandest 
 temples and marble gods, to give a reason of 
 the hope that is in him.^ Strange, indeed, that 
 those temples should become mere ruins, and 
 that the whole religious fabric of Greece should 
 have so entirely passed away, while the religion 
 which Paul preached, at once became the con- 
 trolling force in history, shaping the fortunes 
 of nations and turning the world upside down. 
 Paul's reply to the assembled sages of Athens 
 was wise and strong, beginning with a well- 
 known object that he had seen while passing 
 
 1 1 Peter iii. 15. 
 
 u 
 
 , *^^w 
 
u 
 
 I ' 
 
 I 
 
 ! I 
 
 ?MI' 
 
i'' 
 
 JET. 46.] 
 
 IN TEMPLED ATHENS. 
 
 215 
 
 through the city, and leading right on to the 
 theme of all his preaching : — 
 
 "Men of Athens: Everything which I see bears 
 witness to your very great zeal for religion. For as I 
 passed along the street yonder and observe the ob- 
 jects of your worship, I perceived one altar with this 
 inscription : ' To the Unknown God.' This One, tliere- 
 fore, whom you worship, though you do not know Ilim, 
 I make known to you. The God who made the world 
 and all that is in it, since he is Lord of Heaven and earth, 
 does not dwell in temples made with hands. Neither is 
 he served by the hands of men, as though he needed any- 
 thing ; for he himself gives to all men life and breath, 
 and all things. He also made of one blood all the na- 
 tions of mankind to dwell upon all the face of the earth, 
 having determined their appointed seasons and the 
 bounds of their habitation, that they should seek God, if 
 possibly they might feel after Him, and find Him, though 
 He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live, 
 and move, and have our being ; as certain also of your 
 own poets have said : — 
 
 ** ' For we are also His offspring.' 
 
 " Being, then, ourselves the offspring of God, we ought 
 not to think that the Godhead is like gold or silver or 
 stone, shaped by the art and skill of man. The times 
 of ignorance, however, God overlooked; but noAV He 
 commands all men everywhere to repent, inasmuch as 
 He has appointed a day in which He will .judge the 
 world in righteousness, by the Man whom He has or- 
 dained, whereof He has given assurance unto all, in that 
 He has raised Him from the dead." ' 
 
 The preacher was suddenly intermpted. 
 That one word, ''resurrection" was hostile to 
 
 1 Acts xvii. 22-31. 
 
216 
 
 LIFE OF TAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 62. 
 
 the worldly-hearted Athenians. They would 
 not think of anv other world than this. Some 
 of them hurst out laufjhinff at Paul for mention- 
 ing such a thing in their presence ; while others 
 said, " Some other time, Stranger ; some other 
 time, but not now, we will hear you again." 
 
 That was the close of Paul's work among the 
 Athenians. He left them then, havmg been in 
 Athens probably three or four weeks. Not much 
 had been accomplished — at least, to the human 
 view. One of the Areopagite judges believed, 
 and a woman whose name was Damaris, and also 
 a few others. But the Apostle left no church 
 in that city. His thoughts do not seem to have 
 gone back very often to the disciples there. 
 He never visited them again, nor, so far as we 
 know, ever even addressed a letter to them. 
 
 ,'^ 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 TWO YEARS AT CORINTH. 
 
 " Not every man can go to Corinth."— Old Proverb. 
 
 " Paul depai*ted from Athens, and came to Corinth." — Acts 
 xviii. 1. 
 
 V 
 
 'T^HE next city which Paul visited played an 
 -*■ important part in his great life-work. On 
 this first visit to Corinth, he spent nearly two 
 years there. From there the two letters to the 
 Thessaloniuns were >yritten at this time. Two 
 letters also were sent to Corinth a few years 
 afterwards, — one from Ephesus, the other from 
 some point in Macedonia. Five years later we 
 will find the Apostle back in Corinth again. 
 
 Corinth was the capital city of the province of 
 Achaia, which, under the Romans, included the 
 whole of Southern Greece. The character of 
 this city was very different from that of Athens. 
 Athens was the repository of the culture of 
 Greece, — the quiet home of her learning, the 
 school of her philosophy, and the temple of her 
 religion and of her arods. Corinth was the resi- 
 dence of tlie Roman court, — the proconsul 
 
 217 
 
. 
 
 I 
 
 : 
 
 218 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL 
 
 [A.D. 53. 
 
 or governor, and his {ittondant legions. Here 
 was the home of wealth and fashion, the mart 
 of commerce, and the resort of ga3'ety. Athens 
 was aristocratic ; Corinth democratic. Athens, 
 was wise — at least in her own conceit ; — r 
 Corinth was filled with folly. Athens was cold 
 and reserved ; Corinth was social and passionate. 
 
 At the present day the site of ancient Corinth 
 is occupied by a small and insignificant village, 
 composed of forty or fifty wretched hovels. 
 Scarcely a vestige remains of the glory of that 
 city which in Paul's day was the centre of 
 beauty, brilliance, and sin of the Roman 
 province of Achaia. Seven fluted columns 
 still stand erect, the remains of a temple that 
 once adorned the city. Several miles to the east 
 may be seen the remnants of the Stadium, or 
 Race-course, " the shell of a theatre," and the 
 rock-hewn seats of an ancient amphitheatre.^ 
 These are the most significant memorials of 
 Corinth's former grandeur. 
 
 In this year, A.D. 53, Corinth was moving 
 on in her career of magnificence. She had 
 entirely recovered from the destruction with 
 which she had been visited by the conquest. 
 Her position between the two seas, with the 
 port of Cenchrea inviting the traffic of the 
 East, and the port of Lechoeum open to the 
 
 1 Wordsworth, " Greece," p. 447. 
 
 . 
 
^T. 47.] 
 
 TWO YEARS AT CORINTH. 
 
 219 
 
 commerce of the West, gave her great natural 
 advantages. These advantages her citizens 
 were not slow to use for the prosperity of the 
 city. She became the most prosperous nnd the 
 wealthiest city of Greece. Wealth blossomed 
 into grand nvoiiuos and :*ine buildings. Corinth 
 was beautiful. Corinthian architecture was the 
 most finished and tasteful that the world had 
 seen. The religious element, however, was not 
 prominent among the Corinthians. Indeed, the 
 growth of irreligion and immorality kept pace 
 with the increase of riches. The very temples 
 were little more to the people than club-houses, 
 where vices were deified. There was a large 
 foreign population in Corinth.^ The city stood 
 in the highway of travel. Men with money, 
 and women with vanity and ambition, thronged 
 the streets, and met in the luxurious palaces. 
 The rich set the fashion for the poor. Sailors, 
 slaves, and the so-called priestesses, with the in- 
 termingling of all classes, constituted a population 
 as bad, if possible, as that which rolled under 
 the frowning battlements of the Syrian Antioch. 
 Lucius Junius Annasus Gallio was sent out 
 
 1 " The multitude of sailors drawn together by the two ports had 
 made Corinth the last sanctuary of Venus Pandemos, — a remnant of 
 the ancient Phoenician establishments. The great temple of Venus 
 contained more than a thousand sacred courtesans. The entire 
 city was like a vast evil resort, where numerous strangers, above 
 all sailors, went to spend their fortunes foolishly."— Renan : " Life 
 of Paul," p. 146. 
 
i i 
 
 220 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL, 
 
 [A.D. B3. 
 
 from Rome as proconsul of Achaia while Paul 
 was at Corinth. He was a man of remarka])le 
 placidity of disposition, — a gentleman with all 
 the dignity and cultivation that result from 
 good education and choice companionship, and 
 with that fine sense of justice combined with 
 firmness which was so strikingly characteristic 
 of the older Romans. 
 
 When Paul arrived at Corinth he was alone, 
 as he had been most of the time while at Athens. 
 When he left Troas, Luke, Silas, and Timothy 
 accompanied him. Luke was left behind at 
 Philippi, Timothy at Thessalonica, Silas at 
 Berea. Timothy, indeed, in obedience to Paul's 
 urgent request sent back from Athens, had 
 hastened to meet Paul there ; but his represen- 
 tation of the condition of things in the church 
 at Thessalonica ^ was such as to persuade Paul 
 to deny himself the consolation of this be- 
 loved brother's company, and to send him 
 back to establish and comfort the little church 
 he had left. 
 
 But there were new friends for the lonely 
 Apostle in this great city. There was a man 
 and his wife, natives of Pontus up by the Eux- 
 ine, who, being Jews, had been expelled from 
 Rome by a recent edict of the emperor, and had 
 sought Corinth, because it was a good place to 
 
 1 1 Thes. iii. 1-2. 
 
 - 
 
Mt. 47.] 
 
 TWO YEARS AT CORINTH. 
 
 221 
 
 carry on their business ; for they were tent- 
 makers ; and because there were already a great 
 many of their countrymen in this city. Paul, 
 too, was a tent-maker ; and we may ])e sure that, 
 finding himself in such a city as Corinth, and 
 desiring with all his heart to recommend the 
 Gospel to the people, his first aim would be to 
 make himself independent by the labor of his 
 own hands. He was looking for work at his 
 trade, perhaps, when he fell in with Aquila, 
 and found employment in his shop. Priscilla, 
 too, — 
 
 " Spinnings and spinning, 
 Never idle a moment, but thrifty and thoughtful of others," 
 
 who worked at the same trade with her husband, 
 welcomed the preacher-tentmaker to her home 
 and table. This became one of the sacred 
 places that Paul called home, like the house of 
 Lydia at Philippi. It could not have been long 
 after their first acquaintance with Paul before 
 both of these excellent people, Aquila and Pris- 
 cilla, were converted to Christ, and became 
 " helpers in Christ Jesus." ^ 
 
 Six days of the week Paul worked in the shop ; 
 but on the Sabbath he went with the breth- 
 ren of his own nation to the synagogue, where 
 Jehovah was worshipped, and where the people 
 knew at least the name of Messiah. Every 
 
 1 Rom. xvi. 3. 
 
222 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 03. 
 
 Sabbath, as opportunity was given, Paul spoke 
 to the congreijation. Unquestionably his mes- 
 sage was concerning Him wiio had already come 
 as Messiah, — Jesus. But it did not ring out 
 with the accustomed apostolic clearness ; for the 
 Apostle was weary and lonely and disheartened, 
 on account of his experience at Athens, and by 
 the absence of the brethren. Not numy weeks, 
 however, passed before Silas and Timothy re- 
 joined Paul at Corinth ; and that was a happy 
 reunion. 
 
 Timothy had come directly from Thessalonica, 
 where he had been acting as pastor of the church. 
 Paul would have many questions to ask about 
 the Christians there, whom he had been com- 
 pelled to leave so soon after their conversion. 
 It was a good report, on the whole, that Timo- 
 thy had to make of the church ; though there 
 were some things in it which made the Apostle 
 wish that he could be back in Thessalonica for 
 a few days, to gather the church around him, 
 and, as they had done at Berea, search the 
 Scripture together. A return to Thessalonica, 
 however, at this juncture was out of the ques- 
 tion. But Paul was not entirely prevented from 
 warning and encouraging and instructing the 
 disciples. Since he could not go to them, he 
 would write them a letter. This was the occa- 
 sion of his writing the First Epistle to the Thes- 
 
 ■ * » 
 
\ 
 
 Mr. 47.] 
 
 TWO YEARH AT COKINTH. 
 
 223 
 
 j» » 
 
 salonia >!.'<. The Second Epistle to the T/iesau- 
 Ionian^ followed soon afterward. 
 
 But these Kpisties, though they have exerted 
 so great an inlluence since Paul's day, and in 
 our own time are read with so much profit, were 
 only incidental to the work which he was in 
 Corinth to accomplish. He was there to preach 
 Christ crucified to her citizens. Encouraged 
 by the presence of Timothy and Silas, and 
 relieved from his daily work ))y a contribution 
 sent for his sui)port by the churches of ]\Iace- 
 donia ^ Paul could give himself more entirely to 
 the work of preaching. Up to this time he had 
 si)oken only on the Sabbath and in the syna- 
 gogue. Now he can preach wherever he finds 
 listeners, and every day of the week. He also 
 spoke more positively than before. Before he 
 reasoned and argued. Now he affirmed and 
 declared. He no longer apologized for Jesus, 
 but asserted that he was the Christ. The Jews 
 bore with him w^hile he reasoned merely. In- 
 deed, they very likely enjoyed that dialectic 
 exercise ; but, when he opened ihe floodgates of 
 his heart and bore teslinionv to what he knew 
 about Jesus, and witliout qualification declared 
 that this very same Jesus of Nazareth was the 
 Messiah-king foretold by the Prophets, the 
 Jews became very angry, and strenuously op- 
 
 1 2 Cor. xi.d. 
 
224 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 6S. 
 
 posed him. When Paul saw that the same old 
 obstinacy that had appeared in the Jews wher- 
 ever he came in contact with them was stronsr 
 and bitter in them here also, he withdrew from 
 them. 
 
 But the burning words that he had already 
 spoken had kindled fires in many hearts. Jews 
 and Greeks were interested and convinced. 
 " Many of the Corinthians hearing, believed, and 
 were baptized."' Of those who believed, 
 Epsenetuswas the first.^ Crispus, also, chief of 
 / the Jews, and Ruler of their synagogue, with his 
 entire family, became Christians. This is the 
 first whole family of Jews the conversion of 
 which is reported.^ There must have been a 
 high excitement in Corinth, especially among 
 the Jewish popuhition, when Crispus with his 
 wife and children went over to the Christian 
 church.- There were two other significant con- 
 versions about this time, — those of Gains and 
 St?phanas. Crispus and Gains Paul himself 
 baptized,'* contrary to his usual custom ; for 
 Paul (possibly on ac ount of some infirmity) 
 rarely baptized.^ Paul also baptized the family 
 of Stephanas, and some others, whose names are 
 not mentioned. There was at least one man of 
 
 m 
 
 1 Acta xvi"i. 8. * Rom. xvi. 6. 
 
 8 Baumgarten, " Apostolic History," ii. :214. 
 4 1 Cor. i. 14. 6 Ibid. i. 17. 
 
jEt. 47.] 
 
 TWO TEARS AT CORINTH. 
 
 225 
 
 1: 
 
 » 
 
 1 
 
 some financial ability among those converted, 
 namely Justus. His house was beside the syna- 
 gogue where Paul had preached; and, when the 
 rupture occurred l)et\veen Paul and the Jews, 
 this was the man who opened his doors and in- 
 vited the Christians to hold their public meet- 
 ings in his house. It is probable that Paul con- 
 tinued to preach in that house as long as he 
 staj^ed in Corinth, while he made his home with 
 Aquila and Priscilla. 
 
 This was the beginning of a great work ; but, 
 lest the servant should not appreciate the extent 
 of the Master's purposes here, the Master spoke 
 to the apostle one night in a vision : " Be not 
 afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace ; for I 
 am with thee, and no man shall attack thee to 
 harm thee, for I have much people in this city." 
 So encouraged nnd commanded, Paul kept right 
 on for a year and a half, until he had gathered 
 the people and laid the foundations for a strong 
 Christian church. 
 
 It was about this time that the new proconsul, 
 " the sweet Gallio," came to Corinth. The hatred 
 of the Jews against the Gospel which Paul 
 preached, and their envy at the steadily increas- 
 ing number of its adherents, grew so strong and 
 fierce that they at length determined to take 
 steps towards silencing him altogether. They 
 presumed upon the inexperience and good- 
 
226 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 53. 
 
 nature of Gallic so far as to imagine that he 
 would give a favorable hearing to a complaint 
 preferred by so large a body of citizens as they 
 were. Therefore, soon after tlTfe proconsul's 
 arrival, the Jewish citizens of Corinth, led by 
 Sosthenes, the Ruler of the synagogue since the 
 conversion of Crispus, brought Paul before Gal- 
 lio with the charge, " This man persuades the peo- 
 ple to worship God contrary to the Law." But 
 Gallio was not deceived ; for, while the Roman 
 government allowed freedom of worship to the 
 Jews, it did not require its represcn stives to 
 settle disputes among the Jews themselves. 
 The proconsul, therefore, was only just in re- 
 fusing to have anything to do with this accu- 
 sation.^ 
 
 Paul was about to speak in self-defence, but 
 Gallio prevented him and made short work of 
 the case, — "I will not be judge of such mat- 
 ters ; " and so, having given the Jews the final 
 word, because they persisted in clamoring in the 
 court-room, he forcibly drove them out. 
 
 1 " Gallio acted with firmness and with justice. He at u:.v j 
 perceived the frivolity of the charge ; did not even call upon ibc 
 apostle for hl:^ defence ; but stating decidedly that he was set there 
 to be administrator of Roman law, and to preserve public order, 
 and not to be an interpreter of Jewish laws, he contemptuously 
 dismissed the charge. Ke has, by a singular misinterpretation of 
 the sense of the whole incident, been held up as a type of an ' in- 
 different Christian.' What he really seems to have been was a 
 just and impartial heathen." — Da vies, "St. Paul in Greece," 
 p. 173. 
 
 . 
 
mt. 47.J 
 
 TWO YEARS AT CORINTH. 
 
 227 
 
 . 
 
 A crowd of sport-loving Greeks had observed 
 the proceedings. These Greeks despised the 
 Jew, both because he was miserly and because 
 he was virtuous ; and they were always ready to 
 ridicule or maltreat him. Encouraged by the 
 forcible ejectment of the Jews from the judg- 
 ment-seat, the Greeks crowded around Sosthe- 
 nes, the leader and head of the Jewish party, 
 dragged him away from his friends, and beat 
 him. Gallio did not interfere. Taking into 
 consideration the troublesomeness of the Jewish 
 population in Roman communities, it may not 
 be too much to suppose that he " looked through 
 his fingers and enjoyed the scene." ^ 
 
 All this was helpful to the Christian cause in 
 Corinth. The Jews were defeated, and Paul 
 found himself on the people's side. The posi- 
 tiveness i nd boldness of his convictions won for 
 him the sympathy of the Corinthians. They 
 saw that he was no penurious Jew. They must 
 have admired the man, even though they did 
 not all believe his doctrine. If he had preached 
 the philosophy of Epicurus, instead of forgive- 
 ness of sins through Christ crucified, half of 
 Corinth would have been at his feet. The 
 Apostle continued a considerable time — "3'et 
 many days" — after the encounter with the Jews. 
 It is probable that during these days Sosthenes 
 
 1 Hackett, " Commentary on Acts," xviii. 17. 
 
ii 
 
 228 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. M. 
 
 became u Christian.' Maybe the beating he 
 received for leadins^ an accusation atjainst Paul 
 started a train of reflection that brou2:ht him to 
 see his need of a Saviour. Maybe Paul Avent 
 to him with his great heart of brotherly sympa- 
 thy, and by that sweet pressure coini)elled him 
 to be a brother with him in Christ. 
 
 But the time came for Paul to bid farewell to 
 the beloved friends he had made in Corinth. 
 He turns his face once more toward Palestine, 
 determined to go to Jerusalem. We see him 
 taking leave of the brethren, and, accompanied 
 by Aquila and Priscilla, leaving Corinth for 
 Cenchrea, the port, where they iind an eastern- 
 bound vessel. Before eml)arkinir, however, an 
 incident is mentioned that shows how Paul re- 
 mained a devoted Jew after he became a thor- 
 ough Christian. It had been for fifteen hundred 
 years the custom for devout Jews on special 
 occasions, such as recovering from severe sick- 
 Tiess or escaping from any calamity or danger, 
 to take upon themselves special vows. The 
 law concerning vows may be read in the sixth 
 chapter of Num])ers. Abstinence for a definite 
 length of time from certain luxuries of food, 
 
 1 "As Paul was himself unable to write his own letters, and 
 always employed a scribe-, it is more than likely Sosthenes penned 
 that Christian epistle [I Cor.] from Ephesiis to his old iellow- 
 citizens of Corintli ! " — Macduff ; " Footsteps of St. Paul," p. 241. 
 See also 1 Cor. i. 1. 
 
^T. 48.] 
 
 TWO YEARS AT CORINTH. 
 
 229 
 
 \ 
 
 allowing the hair to go uncut for the same time, 
 and offering special sacrifices at the Temple in 
 Jerusalem, constituted the principal features of 
 most vows. At the expiration of the period 
 covered by the vow, if the person was at Jeru- 
 salem, the head must be shaved and the hair 
 burned upon the altar with the peace-offering. 
 If, however, the person Avas not able to reach 
 the sacred city, the hair might be cut off and 
 preserved until such time as the devotee reached 
 the Temple, when the ceremony should be com- 
 pleted by shaving the head, burning the hair, 
 and offering the vowed sacrifices. It appears 
 likely, that while at Corinth, for some reason, 
 Paul made a vow, the time of which expired 
 while he was at Cenchrea. 
 
 The journey to Palestine bears the marks of 
 haste. The Apostle's chief olyect is to be at 
 Jerusalem to observe the " feast." A qui la and 
 Priscilla, and perhaps Timothy and Silas,' em- 
 bark with him at Cenchrea. ^^'^e watch their 
 vessel pushing across the sunny sea among the 
 beautiful islands waving with forests, and rich 
 in legendary and mythological lore, by Patmos 
 and Samos, until her anchors cleave the tide in 
 the harbor of Ephesus. Onl}' a ])rief stop here, 
 
 1 *'Paul, SiliH, Timothy, aiul Titus made the whole voya;,'e 
 from Ephesus to Jiulca ; i)ut Aquila and rri^cilla, haviii<4- no call 
 to Jeni^ali'iu. rcniaineil at Ephesus, and continued there until 
 the Apostle joined them ayaiu." — Lewin, i. 302. 
 
I !■ 
 
 f 
 
 / 
 
 230 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 54. 
 
 until another vessel shoi Id sail to the East. 
 During this short, forced vis/t Paul is in the 
 synagogue a '>n, speaking co the Jews. But 
 they cannot jXiSuade him to remain with them. 
 For some especial reason which is not men- 
 tioned, and whi3h we cannot surmise, — unless 
 it were on accouit ol his vow, — Paul must 
 keep the approach" ^g feast at Jerusalem. "But 
 I will return agai unto you, if God will," was 
 his pnrting word. He landed at Csesarea, but 
 making no delay, hurried immediately up to 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 This is the fourth time Paul has been in 
 Jerusalem since his conversion : Once when he 
 came back from Damascus ; again, when he 
 brought a contribution to the poor Christians 
 from the generous souls in Antioch in Syria ; 
 and once when, as delegate with Barnabas and 
 others, he came to attend the council in which 
 the mutual relations and privileges of Jewish 
 and Gentile Christian^ were determined. But 
 Jerusalem had never a warm welcome for the 
 Apostle to the Gentiles. James and his people 
 did not more than half approve of his work in 
 foreign countries. They were still a little fear- 
 ful that the Gospel would be made too common. 
 Paul "salutes the church," but there is no wel- 
 come to him. He is only a foreign missionary ! 
 
 But there was one warm-hearted city where 
 
 v.. 
 
mr. 48.] 
 
 TWO YEARS AT CORINTH. 
 
 231 
 
 the brethren would be very glad to see Paul. 
 Straightway he went to Antioch, where, among 
 those who had first heard the Gospel from his 
 lips, and who had been, under his persuasion, 
 brought to Christ, and who had labored and 
 suffered and rejoiced with him, he spent some 
 time in the peace and fellowship of the Christian 
 Church. 
 
\ 
 
 T 
 
PART FOURTH. 
 
 $ltt ^Txlvd UMsslonavij ^onxntv^. 
 
CHAPTER XVIIl. 
 
 EPHESUS AND APOLLOS. 
 
 — " the first and greatest metropolis of Asia." — Inscription in 
 THE Temple of Diana. 
 
 "Remember, therefore, from whence thou art fallen." — 
 Rev. ii. 5. 
 
 f\^ the last clay of December, 1869, the buried 
 ^-^ ruins of the great templo of Diana of the 
 Ephesians were discovered. Mr. J. T. Wood 
 had been employed for nearly seven years 
 exploring the site of the ancient city. Step 
 by step he had advanced, until, late on the 
 day mentioned, a workman whom he had set 
 to sink a trial-hole, laid bare the white marble 
 pavement about twenty feet below the surface. 
 This, one of the most interesting discoveries 
 of modern times, was due entirely to the 
 shrew^d calculations and unflagging determi- 
 nation of Mr. Wood.^ It corrected all former 
 impressions of the plan of Ephesus, and of 
 the location of the temple. 
 
 The temple of Diana stood outside the city- 
 walls, at a distance of about a mile and a 
 
 1 "Discoveries at Ephesus," especially p. 155. 
 
 235 
 
236 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 53. 
 
 quarter from either of the two great gates, 
 the Coressian and the Magnesian. The site 
 was not on an elevation ; ])ut in an open plain 
 of low, flat ground, lying in the angle where 
 two streams almost meet, just before they fall 
 into the sluggish Cayster. Here a temple, 
 probably the original one, was erected about 
 B.C. 500. This building, according to Mr. 
 Wood's account,' must have been either de- 
 stroyed, removed, or enlarged, so that in B.C. 
 356, a second temple stood over the same spot. 
 This is the temple with which the name of 
 Herostratus, "the ambitious youth who fired 
 the Ejihesian dome," will always be re- 
 membered. After that wa n destruction, 
 the Ephesians set to won. eagerly to re- 
 construct the shrine of their deity on a 
 still grander scale. The work was rapidly 
 pushed to completion. "The ladies of the 
 city sold their jewelry, and neighboring cities 
 sent contributions, many of the massive col- 
 umns being the gift of kings." No finer model 
 of Ionic architecture was ever erected. It 
 was a magnificent structure. The white 
 marble platform on w^hich it stood measures 
 nearly four hundred and twenty by two 
 hundred and forty feet, — or exactly four 
 hundred and eighteen feet, one inch, by two 
 
 " Discoveries," p. 262-3. 
 
 y 
 
Mr. 47.] 
 
 EPHESU8 AND APOLLOS. 
 
 237 
 
 [ 
 
 1^ 
 
 hundred and thirty-nine feet, four and a half 
 inches, — on each of the four sides of which, 
 extending the entire length and breadth, was 
 a fligiit of fourteen steps. One hundred Ionic 
 columns, six feet in diameter, and fifty-tive feet 
 in height, stood in a double row of majestic 
 beauty around the temple proper, and supported 
 the mammoth and magnificent roof. 
 
 The interior of the temple was very fine. 
 The columns were decorated with the exquisite 
 work of the finest sculptors. Rich ornamen- 
 tation hung from the lofty capitals. Threads 
 of gold formed delicate tracery in the white 
 marbl . Brilliant colors adorned the walls. 
 Pavements of unrivalled design and beauty 
 were spread through every corridor, hall, 
 court, chamber, and open space. Paintings 
 and sculpture, by the best artists, were brought 
 in profusion to the walls and niches of this 
 greatest temple. Jewels and treasure of al- 
 most incredible value were stored in the coffers 
 dedicated to the great goddess Diana. 
 
 And what was this Diana of the Ephesians? 
 Was it something beautiful, chaste, elegant? 
 If we had been admitted into the gorgeous 
 temple, and passed on from one stately court 
 to another, until we came to the inner sanctuary, 
 which was held most sacred by the Ephesians, 
 and then had been allowed to lift the rich, 
 
M 
 In, 
 
 i 
 
 238 
 
 MFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 83. 
 
 embroidered, purple curtain which screened 
 from vulgar gaze the strange goddess, we 
 would have been almost startled by the hideous 
 " ugly wooden idol." This roughly-hewn and 
 disfigured block, with the head and breasts of 
 a woman, was the deity of Ephesus, " which 
 fell down from Jupiter," as thc3 people had been 
 told, and as they prol)ably l)elieved. No one 
 knows where the image came from, nor when 
 it was made. Enouijh that it was there, the 
 central object in one of the most wonderful 
 fanes the sun shone on, and worshipped by 
 ipyriads of people. 
 
 Around the temple, enclosing a spa^je of a 
 half-mile in diameter, stretched the peribolus 
 wall. It is said that Mithridates stood on a 
 cornel of the roof of the temple and shot an 
 arrow , having declared beforehand that the spot 
 where the arrow fell would mark a l)oundary, 
 inside which should be "asylum." No mat- 
 ter what crime a person had committed, in- 
 side that wall, even the Justice of the law could 
 not touch him. Of course this place soon be- 
 came a resort of all the worst criminals, until, 
 under the very shadow of the shrine of the 
 goddess, lay the densest and darkest criminal- 
 ity. This became so bad that later emperors 
 limited the privileges of asylum, until the peri- 
 bolus wall was built by Augustus. 
 
JET. 47.] 
 
 EPHESUS AND APOLLOS. 
 
 239 
 
 
 At the head of the harbor of Ephesus, and 
 inside the city-walls, though a mile and a half 
 or more from the Temple of Diana, was located 
 the immense Theatre. It was excavated from 
 the side of Mount Coressus, and was the largest 
 structure of the kind erected by the Greeks. 
 The ruins have been uncovered from their long 
 burial, and circular seats are disclosed, capable 
 of seating fifty thousand spectators. This is 
 the theatre referred to in Acts. 
 
 If we could look into the life of ancient 
 Ephesus, we would find it, in its general aspect, 
 much like that of the other great cities we have 
 already visited. The population consisted of 
 Asiatics, Greeks, Romans, and Jews. It has 
 already been noticed ^ that Ephesus was the 
 western terminus of the great Roman highway 
 which connected the Eastern countries of the 
 empire with the capital. Her port was one of 
 the busiest in the world, and the stream of 
 commerce which was incessantly running through 
 the city, and away across the sea to other ports, 
 not only made profitable activity for many 
 hands, but left in its passage the customary 
 deposit of wealth. 2 
 
 Its highest ;\nd most famous art was the pro- 
 duction of shrines and images of Diana. This be- 
 came an important branch of manufacture, upon 
 
 1 P. 141. 
 
 2 Lewin, pp. 319-324. 
 
I I 
 
 240 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. S3. 
 
 which M large number of artisans were depend- 
 ent for their daily bread. Those who made 
 the greatest pretensions to learning were sor- 
 cerers and miracle-workers, of whom there was 
 an unusually large proportion in the population 
 of the vast metropolis. 
 
 The decline of this ancient city from its for- 
 mer glories and vanities to the deserted ruin 
 that now lies in the plain, was due to two 
 causes. The first cause, undoubtedly, was the 
 building of an extensive mole at the mouth of the 
 river Cayster, with the hope of improving the 
 harbor. It produced the oi)posite result. The 
 currents were so aftected that the river gradu- 
 ally filled up, and in Paul's time it was scarcely 
 possible for vessels to reach the city at all. The 
 consequent interruption of commercial traffic, 
 of course, very rapidly drew away the wealth 
 and population of the city. Moreover, the 
 checking of the currents, and the filling of the 
 river-bottom with the wash from the upper 
 country, produced marshes, which in time bred 
 malaria. Ephesus soon became unhealthy. 
 The second cause, and the one which resulted in 
 her complete overthrow was the sacking of the 
 city by the Goths in A. D. 262. These Van- 
 dals pillaged and burned the city, and killed or 
 enslaved or put to flight the inhabitants. Ephe- 
 sus has been nothing since then, although sev- 
 
^T. 47.] 
 
 EPHESUS AND APOLLOS. 
 
 241 
 
 eral attempts have been made to restore lier 
 to her position among the great cities of the 
 world. Iler grandeur and pride, like that of 
 Corinth and Antioch and other cities of the 
 Orient, is only a nitjlancholy remembrance. 
 
 Paul will soon l)e in E[)hesus again ; but be- 
 fore he comes we nuist make the acquaintance 
 of another Christian teacher. Since our Apos- 
 tle's brief visit to Ephesus, one has come to the 
 city whose name is soon upon the lips of many. 
 All the Jews have become acquainted with him ; 
 for he is one of their own nationalitv, and he 
 has spoken eloquently and clearly in their syna- 
 gogue. This Jew, Apollos, had recently come 
 from Alexandria, his native city, at the mouth of 
 the Nile. He was a deeply religious man, and 
 thoroughly devoted to the ^work of spreading 
 the truest and highest conceptions of religious 
 life that he knew. The schools of Alexandria, 
 (which was one of the most famous university- 
 cities of the world at that time) had given to 
 Apollos, while yet a youth, an excellent educa- 
 tion. At that time, too, he had heard of the 
 preaching of John the Baptist, or possibly he 
 may have been up to Jerusalem while John was 
 preaching, and have gone out with the crowds 
 that gathered by the Jordan to hear the new 
 Elijah. Evidently he had been greatly moved 
 by the ideas which John endeavored to impress 
 
^^^ 
 
 i ! 
 
 I 
 
 242 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 53 
 
 upon his hearers, — that the people must repent, 
 forsake wrong-doing, and prepare to welcome 
 the Messiah, who was to come. It is twenty 
 years or more since »T()hn p 'cached the coming 
 of Messiah, and during that time Jesus has 
 come and preached and died, has risen from the 
 grave, and ascended to heaven, and sent the 
 Holy Spirit. But for some cause, of which we 
 are ignorant, Apollos knew only what John had 
 preached, and was ignorant of what Jesus had 
 done. He came to Ephesus, therefore, preaching 
 only what John had said, though he preached 
 this with all the grand eloquence and earnest- 
 ness of which he was capable. 
 
 We have seen already that twc disciples of the 
 Lord, Priscilla and her husband, Aquila, who 
 were familiar with the full Gospel story, having 
 been associated with Paul for two or three years 
 at Corinth, came to Ephesus with Paul on his 
 last eastward journey, and remained in that city. 
 This devoted couple heard Apollos with great 
 pleasure. They were enchanted by his fervid 
 zeal and brilliant oratory. At the same time 
 they felt that there was a great lack in his preach- 
 ing. He urged repentance and good works, which 
 was excellent, so far as it went ; but it could not 
 do the Jews at Ephesus, nor any other people, 
 much good to be told of their sins, unless they 
 were also told of a Saviour from sin. Such a per- 
 
 ^ 
 
Mt. «.] 
 
 EPHE8LS AND AP0LL08. 
 
 243 
 
 Bon as a real Saviour they had never thought of. 
 Priscilhi and A(|uihi, though, knew that tlie »Jesus 
 whom the Jews had crucified was tlie very Sa- 
 viour they all needed. So, earnestly desiring to 
 show ApoUos a more excellent way, not only for 
 his own srke, but also for the sake of those who 
 were attracted by his words, and seeing that he 
 was of such a spirit as to receive what they 
 might say to him, and to give it due consideration, 
 this devoted Christian wife and husband took 
 ApoUos to their home, and explained to him the 
 word of God in tlie light of the Gospel of Christ. 
 There is no doubt but that Apollos, became, in 
 the true sense, a believer in Christ. It was 
 perhaps right there in the humble lodgings of 
 Aquila and Priscilla, where their work of goats' 
 hair and tent cloth lay about on the floor, that 
 the "eloquent"' Apollos, mighty in the Scrip- 
 tures ; the preacher of repentance and right- 
 eousness, found out Him who was mighty and 
 ready to save all who would put their trust in 
 Him. 
 
 Soon after this conference with Priscilla and 
 Aquila, Apollos decided to go across to Greece, 
 especially to Corinth in Achaia ; and that he 
 might be at once received by the Christians 
 there, those in Ephesus who had learned to 
 admire him so much, and who had such entire 
 
 I Acts 18 : 24 
 
i i 
 
 i 
 
 244 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 83. 
 
 coiiHdence both in his ability and good spirit, 
 gave him letters of introduction to the church at 
 Corinth. Arriving in tiiat city, from Avhich 
 some months before Paul had departed, ApoUos 
 at once ffave himself to the work of encourasrinir 
 and teaching the disciples who had been left 
 without an apostle to lead them. His preaching 
 was with great power. The Jews especially 
 were borne down by its persuasion. He "might- 
 ily convinced" them, by interpreting the very 
 Scriptures which they heard every day in their 
 synagogues, and showing that Jesus of Nazareth 
 was the Messiah whom the Prophets forelold. 
 
 We know little more of Apollos than this. 
 From 1 Cor. iii. 4-6, it seems that henmst have 
 remained in Corinth long enough, at least, to 
 attach many of the Corinthian Christians to him. 
 There was a Paul party and an Apollos party in 
 the church there. That Apollos subsequently 
 left Corinth, is evident from the last chapter of 
 the same epistle in which Paul, writing from 
 Ephesus, tells the Corinthians that Apollos will 
 come to them, " when he shall have convenient 
 time."^ His name is mentioned once more in 
 Titus iii. 13, and that is all. What part he 
 took in the establishing and developing of the 
 early Christian churches can probably never be 
 known. 
 
 1 1 Cor. xvi. 12. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 EPHESUS AND PAUL. 
 
 *• Paul having passed through the upper coasts, came to Ephe- 
 8U8." — Acts xix. 1. 
 
 "Now by St. Paul the work goes bravely on." — Colley 
 Gibber. 
 
 TTrE left Paul at Antioch, restin^j, after the 
 ^ " severe strain of his last missionary jour- 
 ney, with the beloved friends whom in former 
 years he had brought to Christ. He spent 
 " some time " in this city, until his physical 
 energies having been restored, the old consum- 
 ing zeal for the Master's glory would permit him 
 to remain no longer. He directed his steps again 
 towards the west It is the last time that the 
 disciples at Antiich will see him. He never re- 
 turns again after this to the scene of his early 
 and wonderfully successful labors. 
 
 "\ Whether Paul was alone or not when he left 
 Antioch, we can only conjecture. Farrar says 
 that he was " cheered in all probability by the 
 companionshipof Timothy and Titus, and perhaps 
 alsoof Gaius, Aristarchus, and Erastus." ^ How- 
 
 ' "St. Paul" II. 6. 
 
 245 
 
 ?!• 
 
il I 
 
 i!!l 
 
 246 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 54. 
 
 son thinks that Titus may have travelled with 
 Paul and Timothy through the earlier part of the 
 journey. 1 Lewin aflSrms that Paul " took Titus 
 with him, but by whom else he was accorapanied 
 we have no data upon which to form even a con- 
 jecture."^ And Renan agrees with this. "He 
 set out from Antioch, probably accompanied by 
 Titus." 3 
 
 The journey took the Apostle through his 
 native city, Tarsus, across the familiar Taurus 
 by the Cilician Gates, descending from which 
 he may have visited Derbe and Lystra and 
 Iconium. We know that he went into Galatia 
 and Phrygia to revisit the churches which were 
 formed there three years ago, and which, left 
 without a leader, had not kept themselves 
 entirely free from heresy of doctrine and im- 
 morality of conduct. The visit was made 
 rapidly, however ; for Paul was eager at 
 last to be among the seething population of 
 Ephesus. 
 
 It was a long and wearisome journey that, 
 all the way from the Orontes across the entire 
 length of Asia Minor, six hundred miles or 
 more. But Paul was a brave man, who thought 
 not of Yv^eariness when there was good work to 
 be done. He has come to the last stage. The 
 road has left the high and bleak table-lands, and 
 
 1 " St. Paul," II. 11. 
 
 2 1. 310. 
 
 8 •• St. Paul," 204. 
 
 \ 
 
^T. 48.] 
 
 EPHESUS AND PAUL. 
 
 247 
 
 runs down the vtilley of the Lycus, past Co- 
 lossai and Hierapolis and Laodicea, where Chris- 
 tian churches ah'eady exist, or are soon formed, 
 along through the fertile meadows >»'atered by 
 the Mceander, until it reaches Magnesia, where 
 it turns toward the northwest, skirls Mount 
 Prion, which it passes on the eastern spur, and 
 brings the traveller out into full view of the 
 capital of Asia Minor, with its towering gates 
 and battlemented walls. A mile and more to 
 the north, gleams, like a star in the sunshine, 
 the white marble Temple of Diana. Down 
 there, in front of the city, bej^ond its avenues 
 and residences, beyond the great Stadium, and 
 the fifty thousand rock-hewn seats of the Thea- 
 tre, lies the artificial harbor, in which, a mile 
 away from the sea, are huddled the masts of 
 ships from every port of the Mediterranean. 
 
 The first incident mentioned in connection 
 with Paul's eventful stay of three years in 
 Ephesus was his meeting with a dozen men who 
 seem to have occupied precisely the same posi- 
 tion in regard to John and Jesus that Apollos 
 had ; that is, they accepted John's teaching, and 
 expected that Messiah was soon to come. It is 
 possible, indeed, that they may have taken a 
 step farther than this, and hoped that Jesus, 
 about whom, perhaps, they had heard in gene- 
 ral terms, was to come again, then to appear 
 
248 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 55. 
 
 I!- I 
 
 as Messiah. Certainly they knew only John's 
 baptism ; and, as for the promise of the Holy 
 Spirit, they admitted that they had never so 
 much as heard that there was such a person. 
 These men Paul instructed, and they were bap- 
 tized in the name of the Lord Jesus, and received 
 the Holy Ghost, through whom was given to 
 them the gifts of tongues and prophecy.' 
 
 It is altogether likely that Paul lived in about 
 the same manner in Ephesus as he had lived in 
 Corinth. Aquila and Priscilla were here ; and 
 it is only fair to suppose that he made his home 
 with them again, and that he worked^ part of 
 the time, at least, making tents. On the Sab- 
 bath he went with the faithful Israelites to the 
 synagogue, and addressed the congregation. He 
 was bold here, as he always was, and patient 
 too ; for he had confidence that the seed he was 
 sowing would in due time bring forth fruit. 
 For three months, accordingly, he pursued this 
 method, in order that the field might be as wide 
 and as fertile as possible among the people of 
 
 r - 
 
 * " And thus tliose twelve men, who came forward so abruptly in 
 our history, disappear as suddenly, leaving us in doubt whence 
 they came, where they had been, and, in some respects, what particu- 
 lar phase of religious l)olief they represented. The episode is one 
 of strange interest from the very fact of its suggesting so many 
 questions, the solution of which our imperfect knowledge of the 
 first Christian age has put beyond our reach." — HACi^TT : " Com- 
 mentary on Acts," xix. 7. 
 
 2 1 Cor. iv. 11, 12; Acts xx. 34. 
 
JEv. 49.] 
 
 
 EPIIESUS AND PAUL. 
 
 240 
 
 his own nation ; for he loved his own, — that pe- 
 
 culiar 
 
 people, 
 
 to whom had been 
 
 entrusted the 
 
 word of God, and from whom, according to the 
 flesh. Christ sprung. Moreover, they lind urged 
 iiiin. on his former visit, to remain amonff them. 
 \\'ith " onset of argument " and persuasion kind 
 he plied his listeners Sabbath after Sabbath. 
 But the result was as usual. Many of them were 
 only the more obdurate and stubborn against 
 the claims of the Gospel the more they heard 
 of it. Pride tilled their hearts, — the pride of 
 aristocratic exclusivencss, — and left no place 
 for faith in the Friend of sinners. They broke 
 out against Paul, and publicly, before the con- 
 gregation, derided and ridiculed the way of 
 salvation which he preached. 
 
 Further progress in that direction being im- 
 practicable, the Apostle turned aside from the 
 Jews, forsook the s3^nagogue, carrying with 
 him all who believed in the Lord Jesus, and, 
 having secured the lecture-room of Tyrannus, — 
 a philosopher, probably, who, having been con- 
 verted, had no other use for the place where his 
 former pupils met, — spoke there every day to 
 the people. Here Paul's work continued two 
 years, — only a brief pastorate, but productive 
 of iri'eat results. 
 
 During these years, what a faithful pastor he 
 was 1 With what earnestness did he preach in 
 
250 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 65. 
 
 I. 
 
 ■}J- 
 
 
 public, and go "' from house to house " ' teach- 
 ing the way of salvation ! His " tears " ^ tell of 
 the tenderness of his heart, and his longing for 
 the conversion of the Ephesians to Christ. He 
 left no means untried. With large and confi- 
 dent hope he worked on, feeling sure that his 
 labor would not ])e in vain in the Lord* And 
 in due time the Lord prospered the work. Nor 
 is it probable that Paul confined himself to the 
 city. There were other smaller cities, not far 
 away, and the surrounding country teeming 
 with people. All the province rang with the 
 words of the messenger of the Gospel, until 
 every ear had heard the glad news. 
 
 One remarkable incident occurred some time 
 during these two years, which resulted in help- 
 ing forward the cause of the Gospel at the ex- 
 pense of its enemies. The Ephesians believed 
 in an I practised the arts of magic. No city in 
 the world had so many magicians in it as 
 Ephesus. Astrology, sorcery, charms, exor- 
 cism, and the black art constituted one of the 
 liberal professions, — practised, not by wander- 
 ing gypsies merely, but by men and women of all 
 classes, from the lowest to the highest. Now 
 God gave Paul special power at Ephesus to per- 
 form miracles ; and he did not hesitate to use 
 the power given him. The sick were cured, 
 
 1 Acts XX. 20. 2 Ibid. 31. 
 
 .^-^; 
 
^T 49. 
 
 EPIIESU.S AND PAUL. 
 
 251 
 
 and evil spirits were east out. Even tlie hand- 
 iierchief ho carried and tlio apron he wore when 
 at work were made the means of carrying super- 
 natural eflScacy and healing to those wlio were 
 at a distance. We might think that the im- 
 mediate result of such manifestation of power 
 would have been the convincing of all observers ; 
 but it was quit<) different. The people, accus- 
 tomed to magical performances, were ready at 
 once to attribute these miraculous acts also to 
 magic. Besides, some strolling Jews, who them- 
 selves had professed to be able to cure those 
 who were possessed with evil spirits, or who 
 were insane, seeing that Paul really accom- 
 plished, l)y using the name of Jesus, what they 
 only i)retended to do, undertook themselves to 
 use the same formula, — "We adjure you l»y 
 Jesus, whom Paul preacheth." 
 
 There was a Jewish chief priest, an old man, 
 whose name was Sceva. This man had seven 
 sons, who had dcseiled the I'cligion of their 
 father, and the holy city of Jerusalem, and 
 were wandering about the world together, mak- 
 ing a living by magic and exorcism. These 
 fellows agreed together to make use of the holy 
 name of our Lord, as Paul iiad done, to drive 
 an evil spirit out of a certain man. Hut the man 
 only scroamcd wildly nt tiiem, "Jesus I know, 
 and Paul 1 know; but who are you?" Then, 
 
'. r 
 
 WB 
 
 252 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 55. 
 
 before they could get away, he leaped upon 
 them, and, with the ferocity of a madman, tore 
 off their clothing and struck right and left, so 
 that when they did escape they were "naked 
 and wounded." Such a scene could not be 
 kept a secret in Ephesus. Evcrjbody, Jews 
 and Greeks alike, knew and talked about it. 
 
 It would have been ludicrous if it had not been 
 very serious. But it was serious, indeed. God, 
 the Almighty, had come into P^phesus, and had 
 allowed himself to be called by the name of 
 Jesus. This was what they thought. Fear 
 settled down upon them. They did not dare 
 any longer to meddle with the mummeries and 
 arts of magic. INIany of these magicians made 
 open confession of the ways in which they had 
 deceived the people, and brought together costly 
 books, in which were the secrets of their wicked 
 trade, and made .1 bonfire of them in an open 
 square. It is an indication of the depth of the 
 current of feeling which was running among the 
 Ephesian magicians that these men were willing 
 to sacrifice so niuch that was of real value ; 
 for the books they burned might have been sold 
 for "fifty thousand pieces of silver," or more 
 than ten thousand dollars. A mighty revival 
 followed. So docs God make the wrath of man 
 to praise him. 
 
 There were at Ephesus at this time a large 
 
Mt. 49.] 
 
 EPHESUS AND PAUL. 
 
 2r)3 
 
 \ 
 
 number of leading Christian men, whose nainos 
 have come down to ii8. Paul was the leader 
 and inspiiation of them all. With him we 
 may associate Timothy, Titus, Aquila and his 
 wife ; Apollos, Gaius, and Aristarciius, Sos- 
 THENES "our lu'other,"^ who was whinped by 
 the Jews in Corinth, Tropiiimus, ' a i ^phe- 
 sian,"2 and Tyciiicus and Erastu.- \a the 
 neighboring city of Colossse were Epaphroditus, 
 Archippus, Nymphas, Philemon, and Onesi- 
 Mus. These, with the many faithful helpers 
 whose names are known only in hejwen, consti- 
 tuted a strong force for the evanfjeliziniy of the 
 city and neighboring country. The work spread 
 rapidly. Paul himself, during the three years at 
 Ephesus, nuist have visited the cities that Avere 
 within easy rench of the capital, and preached 
 to the people the Gosi)el concerning Jesus. 
 Very soon a belt of Christian fortresses lay 
 around Ephesus. Six of these are mentioned 
 in the second and third chapters of Revelation, 
 — Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Phila- 
 delphia, and Laodicea. 
 
 I^aodicea was one of three cities — Laodicea, 
 |fi*>rapolis, and Colossjv — which were situated 
 on th« banks of the Lvcus, a tributary of the 
 Mseander. These three cities wer(> within a 
 drcuit of twelve miles of each other, and about 
 
 I 
 
 i 1 Cer. i. I. 
 
 2 Acts xxi. 29. 
 
W— WPWW 
 
 254 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 lA.D. 66. 
 
 II |i 
 
 :i hundred and fifty miles cast of Ephesus. 
 "Laodicea and Hierapolis stand face to face, 
 being situated respectively on the southern and 
 northern sides of the valley, at a distance of 
 six miles, and within sight of each other, the 
 river lying in the open plain between the two. 
 The city of Colossa3 is somewhat higher up the 
 stream, at a distance of perhaps ten or twelve 
 miles from the point where the road from Lao- 
 dicea and Hierapolis crosses the Lycus. . . . 
 The three cities lie so near to each other that 
 it would be 'quite possible to visit them all in the 
 course of a single day." ^ Paul, prol)ably, passed 
 through these cities on his last journey west- 
 ward. He may have visited them again during 
 his stay in Ephesus. If not, he had sent others 
 tliere to preach. He was so closely attached to 
 the Colossian Christians that he wrote them a 
 letter several years afterward from his prison in 
 Rome, in which he refers also to Laodicea and 
 Hierapolis. 2 
 
 It is possible, also, — though the information 
 is so scant that we cannot be certain about it, — 
 that at some time while at Ephesus the Apostle 
 made a hurried trip to Corinth. We are at 
 least sure that he wrote a letter to the Christians 
 
 1 Lightfbot : " The Churches of the Lycus." Intro, to Com- 
 mentary on "Colossians. 
 •i Cokommm IV. 13. 
 
^T. 50.] 
 
 EPHESUS AND PAUL. 
 
 255 
 
 in that city, — The First Epistle to the Corinth- 
 ians ^ — which was forwarded by the hand of Titus. 
 It was some time after this, that, liaving in mind 
 to go very soon himself through Macedonia and 
 Greece, and then l)ack to Jerusalem, he sent in 
 advance two of his best workers north across the 
 ^gean sea to Thessalonica, Berea, and Philippi. 
 These were Timothy and Erastus. Paul may 
 have received some message from Macedonia 
 that convinced him that there was need of the 
 immediate presence of some one who was able 
 to counsel and direct the churches, or he may 
 have had some special message of his own which 
 he desired to communicate. He was not quite 
 ready to leave Ephesus himself. "A great door 
 and effectual" had been opened in that city, and 
 he work was not yet completed. His purpose, 
 however. wa.s to get away soon after Pentecost.^ 
 From this d^e, it is natural to presume, that 
 liie last weeks of Paul's stay in Ephesus were 
 those preceding Pentecost. It was probably in 
 the month of May. Eleven years ago in May 
 we were with Paul and Barnabas as they hurried 
 arway from the low plains of Pamphylia to the 
 Pisidian mountains. We are with him now in 
 the heated city. He has seen strange experi- 
 «»ee^ m eeven years. He has had much to en- 
 dnire, as w^ll as much to encourage him. 
 
 ' 1 Cor. xvi. 9. 
 

 «■ 
 
 ;l 
 
 It, 
 
 ill 
 
 iii 
 
 1 I 
 
 256 
 
 Life of paul. 
 
 [A.T>. M. 
 
 The whole of May was dedicated l)y a special 
 decree to the Ephesian Diana, and the month 
 was called on that account Arteniision, or the 
 month of Diana. " It is enacted, that the 
 whole month Arteniision in all the days of it 
 shall be holy, and that throughout the month 
 there shall be a continued celebration of feasts 
 and the Artemisian festival and the hierrnenia, 
 seeing that the entire month is sacred to the 
 goddess." So ran the decree. It was a festive 
 moon that hung over Ephesus in May. The 
 balmy da^'^s and the soft, still nights of the 
 Levantine spring were given up to indulgence 
 in every -sort of festivity, frivolity, and sin. 
 Sports and games, processions and races and 
 theatrical performances, drinking and dancing, 
 and revelry and debauch made the city gay 
 and wicked. Ten men, elected annually, 
 called Asiarchs, "Chiefs of Asia,"^ had charge 
 of these festivities, and were responsible for 
 the entire expense ; so that all the enter- 
 tainments and amusements were public and 
 free. Peo})lc flocked to the capital in Arte- 
 mision from all parts of the province. Fairs 
 were o]ien, and trade was brisk. There was 
 one branch of trade that was particularly 
 profitable while this festival was running; 
 namel\ , the sale of images of Diana and of 
 the temple. 
 
 ^ Acts xix. 31. 
 
Mt.S\.] 
 
 EPHESUS AXD PAUL. 
 
 257 
 
 The thousands of visitors to the city from 
 distant rural districts, and other cities and 
 towns, were accustomed to purchasing these 
 im.'iges as sacred mementos and souvenirs of 
 the festival. But this year, A. D. 57, pur- 
 chases had fallen far below what the}^ usually 
 had been. Three years of preaching the Gos- 
 pel had produced positive results. The people 
 at large had begun to see the folly of worship- 
 ping the ugly image that fell down from Jupiter. 
 There was a popular movement away from 
 Diana, and there was "no small stir" about 
 Christianity. It is always an encouraging in- 
 dication when religion affects business. Paul 
 had the privilege of observing an effect of this 
 kind from his teaching. 
 
 The silversmiths and coppersmiths of Ephe- 
 sus were the ones who suffered. They had on 
 hand a large stock of silver and copper rep- 
 resentations of Diana and of the great temple, 
 for which they had expected to find a market 
 during Artemision. When, however, the 
 month was drawing to a close, and the people 
 were scattering, — while the traders' shelves 
 were still loaded with wares for which they 
 were likeh^ to find no purchasers, — there was 
 no little fault-finding over the changed state 
 of affairs. And Paul — that Jew who was in- 
 cessantly talking about Christ, and telling the 
 
U ■■ ■! 
 
 Ill ir'Mii 
 
 258 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 67. 
 
 people that they were no gods which were 
 made by men's hands — was the object upon 
 whom all the muttered vexation centred. 
 
 At length Demetrius, a silver-manufacturer, 
 who employed a large number of workmen, 
 called a public meeting — "a trades-union 
 meeting"^ — of silversmiths and apprentices, 
 his own workmen and others, and addressed 
 them : — 
 
 " Gentlemen ; You know very well that our 
 income is dependent upon this business. You 
 see and hear, too, how, not only in Ephesus, 
 but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul has 
 persuaded and turned away a great many 
 people, saying that they are no gods which are 
 made with hands. Now, not only is there 
 danger that this trade of ours may fall into 
 disrepute, but also that the very temple of the 
 great goddess Diana may be ignored, and that 
 even she herself shall l)e deposed from her mag- 
 nificence, whom all Asia, ay, the whole world, 
 worships."^ 
 
 This outspoken word was enough. The men 
 cheered Demetrius to the echo ; and, with one 
 unanimous shout, " Great is Diana of the Ephe- 
 sians ! " the meeting broke up. The crowd 
 surged through the street. There was the 
 utmost confusion, no plan or concert of ac- 
 
 1 Fanar :^"St. Paul," ii. 36. 
 
 2 Acts xix. 25-27. 
 
 
^T. 51.] 
 
 EPHESUS AND PAUL. 
 
 259 
 
 tion having been determined upon. Two of 
 Paul's companions, Cliristians, were unfortunate 
 enough to be ui)on the street, and to fall in with 
 the mob as it rushed on pell-mell toward the 
 theatre. The crowd at once seized and carried 
 these two men along with it, — very likely 
 with the wild intention of adding to the Arte- 
 misian festival a scene that would outrival all 
 the rest, and would show to the people of Ephesus 
 the color of Christian blood. Paul was soon 
 informed of the disturoance, and of the danger 
 in which his two friends stood. It was like the 
 brave Christian that he was, to hasten to their 
 rescue, or at least to lay down his life in the 
 attempt ; but other, if not wiser, counsels pre- 
 vailed. The disciples who were about him, and 
 who knew better, perhaps, than he himself did, 
 the value of his life, would not permit him to 
 go into that angry crowd. Some of the Asi- 
 archs, too, — those rich men who provided for 
 the expenses of the festival, — " being his 
 friends," sent an urgent message to him not to 
 encounter any such risk. 
 
 Meantime, the mob that swarmed through the 
 fifty thousand sittings of the vast theatre were 
 shouting in confusion. Most of the people did 
 not know what they were there for, nor what was 
 to be done. One side rang with one thing, the 
 other echoed something else. There were Jews 
 
260 
 
 LIFE OF PAl^L. 
 
 [A,D. M. 
 
 in tlie crowd ; mikI tiicy, luiving found out what 
 was the cause of the disturbance, and fearing 
 thatthev^ miirht he identitied witli the Christians, 
 — for l*aul the Christian was a Jew, — pushed 
 forward a coppersmith of their own nationality, ' 
 on^! Alexander, to speak for them. This man 
 h.ad scarcely stretched out his hand to invite the 
 attention of tlie assembly, when, turning their 
 eyes upon him, they saw the unmistakable 
 Jewish features. No Jew should be heard 
 that day. They drowned his foreign accent in 
 their popular cry, " Great is Diana of the Ephe- 
 sians ! Great is Diana of the Ephesians ! " 
 
 They kept up this monotonous and wild 
 shouting for about two hours, until the City 
 Recorder, " the legitimate president of the as- 
 sembly, and, as such, entitled to respectful atten- 
 tion," ^ poured oil upon the troubled waters in 
 a very adroit and unansAverable speech, in which 
 he assured them that the dignity and magnifi- 
 cence of their goddess were above the possibil- 
 ity of reproach, and, moreover, that they had 
 dragged up two men, Gains and Aristarchus, 
 who were not guilty of any sacrilege against 
 Diana. Then he turned upon Demetrius, the 
 instigator of the movement, and reminded him 
 that if he or his friends had any grievances, 
 
 1 Farrar, " St. Paul," i. 40; Lewin, " St. Paul," i. 410. 
 
 2 Lewin, i. 411. 
 
^T. 61.] 
 
 EPHESUS AND PAUL. 
 
 261 
 
 they must settle them in the coui'ts, and not by 
 a mob. Finally, he declared that the concourse 
 was a violation of the law, for which they might 
 be called to account. 
 
 The assembly broke up, and in a short time 
 the theatre was empty. The tumult accom- 
 plished nothing at all. The tide of truth con- 
 tinued to rise. Ephesus became one of the 
 most influential centres of Christianity in the 
 world. 
 
 But Paul's work there was finished. Once 
 more he gathered the disciples about him, — 
 probably in the school of Tyrannus, the hall 
 where they had been accustomed to meet for 
 nearly three years, — exhorted them to stand 
 firm in the faith they had accepted, and then 
 bade them farewell. 
 
i "K 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 t 
 
 i( ! 
 
 
 li 
 
 If 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 A FLYING JOURNEY. 
 
 " The care of all the churches." — 2 CoR. xi, 28. 
 
 " So (lay by day and week by week, 
 In sad and weary thought, 
 They muse, wlioiti God Iiath set to seek 
 
 The souls liis Christ hath bought." - Keble. 
 
 X^TTHEN Paul left Ephesus he had a definite 
 *' purpose, namely, to visit the churches 
 alread organized in Macedonia and Greece. 
 He had at lea.st two specific objects in making 
 such a visit. One of these objects was to in- 
 struct and direct th'i Christians in those churches, 
 for some of them were very ignorant of the 
 obligations and privileges of the Christian life. 
 He also felt it necessary to correct certain 
 abuses that had arisen, and to institute a healthy 
 course of discipline for persistent and impeni- 
 tent wrong-doers. A second object was to take 
 a collection from these Gentile churches to aid 
 the poor Christians of Judea. He may also 
 have bad in mind, as a third object, to select 
 from the various churches certain representative 
 disciples, who should accompany him lo Jcrusa- 
 262 
 
Mr. 61.) 
 
 A FLYING JOURNEY. 
 
 263 
 
 lom, for the purpose of showing to the aristo- 
 cratic Christians of Judea that the grace of God 
 had really reached to the Gentiles.^ 
 
 From Luke's account, and from letters Paul 
 wrote while on this circuit, we ohtain the follow- 
 ing outline : — 
 
 "Paul d( parted [from Ephcsus] to go into 
 Macedonia."' ^ " Whon I came to Troas to preach 
 Christ's Gospel, and a door was opened unto me 
 of the Lord, I had no rest in my spirit, because 
 I found not Titus, my brother, but, taking my 
 leave of them, I ^vent from thence into Mace- 
 donia."^ "When we were come into Macedo- 
 nia . . . God . . . comforted us by the coming 
 of Titus.'"* "When he had gone over those 
 parts" . . . "round about unto Illyricum I have 
 fully preached the Gospel " ^ . . . " he came into 
 Greece, and there abode three months." ^ 
 
 Troas was about one hundred and tifty miles 
 north of Ephesus. Thither Paul directed his 
 steps, expecting soon to meet at that point Titus, 
 who, a few weeks before, had ])een despatched 
 to Corinth with instruction to johi the apostolic 
 company at Troas. Paul had been in this city 
 five years before, but not to stay, however ; for a 
 vision of a man from Macedonia had called him 
 
 1 Baum<,'arten, "Apo-iolic History," ii. 316. 
 
 2 Acts XX. 1. 5 Rora. XV. 19. 
 
 3 2 Cor. ii. 12. 6 Acts xx. 3. 
 * 2 Cor. vii. 6. 
 
 II 
 
2(54 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. r.7. 
 
 immediately ucrosn the ^T^]gean. But, Titus does 
 not come, and Paul is anxious to hear how matters 
 arc going in the church at Corinth. Hoping to 
 meet the messenger sooner, there tore, he passes 
 over to Neapolis and up to Philippi. Here he 
 finds Luke, who was left at Phili})pi several years 
 before ; and here, also, Titus comes with a 
 message from Corinth. This news was, on the 
 whole, good ; though there were some of the 
 members of the church in Corinth who would 
 not submit to the Christian rule. Paul wrote 
 another letter, — the Second Epistle to the Cor- 
 inlhians ; and Titus, accompanied by two others, 
 and bearing this letter, hurried away again to 
 Corinth. 
 
 For several months Paul remains in Macedo- 
 nia, — at Philippi with his "6e.vMoved church," 
 at Thessalonica among the Christian spinners 
 and weavers, at Berea v»'ith disciples who 
 " searched the scriptures daily," and far away 
 to the northwestern boundary of the province, 
 preaching the Gospel, gathering new churches, 
 and increasing the collection for Jerusalem. 
 
 It was in the early winter when he went south 
 to Corinth. He had with him Timothy, his 
 long-time companion, Tychicus and Trophimus 
 of Ephesus, Sopater of Berea, Gaius of Derbe, 
 Aristarchus and Secundus of Thessalonica. 
 " All these formed a sort of apostolic caravan 
 
Mt. 51.1 
 
 A FLYINO JOURNEY 
 
 265 
 
 of :i very imposln*; sispect."' Titus and the 
 two other bretliren were uhoudy at Corintli. 
 Paul was the guest of ri.'iius,^ on this visit, as he 
 had l>een the guest of Aquila on the former. 
 
 For three months now the Apostle is very 
 busy in Corinth. The chureli had not made the 
 progress during four years that it ought to have 
 made. Soon after Paul's departure it had fallen 
 into divisions, — Apollosites, Cephasites, Paul- 
 ites, — after which, questions about the genuine- 
 ness of the Christian iaith were thrust in among 
 them by envious Jews ; then came conformity 
 of life to the heathen, and with this, gross im- 
 moralitv. In addition to the care and disci- 
 pline and edification of the Corinthian church, 
 Paul suffered an additional trial by the news that 
 came from Galatia, that the Christians there 
 also had grown careless in the absence of the 
 pastor who first led them to Christ. This news 
 was the occasion of his writing the Epistle to 
 the Galatiaiifi. About the same time, while the 
 Apostle is still at Corinth, the Epistle to the 
 Romans was written, and sent to Rome by 
 Phoebe, a Christian woman, who resided at Cen- 
 chrea, about seven miles from Corinth, and who 
 was going to Rome to attend to some business 
 matters of her own.*^ 
 
 1 Rcnan : '• St. Paul," 272. 
 •i Rom. xvi. 23. 
 
 B Rom. xri. 2. 
 
' !i 
 
 266 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 68. 
 
 ^ i 
 
 After this, Paul decided to return once more 
 to Jerusalem. He wanted to celebrate the 
 Feast of Pentecost that year in the courts of the 
 Temple in the city of his boyhood's dreiims. It 
 was part of his piMii, evidently, to go directly l)y 
 sea, sailing from Ccnchrea. But those old en- 
 emies, the Jews, who on his former visit had 
 failed so entirely to drive him out of Corinth, 
 laid a secret plot to assassinate him on the road, 
 and at tlie same time to rol) the messengers of 
 the churches who accompanied him with the col- 
 lection. But Paul was informed of their inten- 
 tion, and with his accustomed rapidity of move- 
 ment changed his plans, sending Timothy and 
 some of the rest off by sea to Troas ; while he 
 himself, with some others, made the journey 
 overland to Philippi, which was reached just 
 before the Passover. 
 
 From this point and date we are able to trace 
 the Apostle through the days of the month and 
 of the week, until his arrival in Jerusalem at 
 Pentecost.^ 
 
 March 27, 
 
 Monday, 
 
 Passover at Philippi commenced. 
 
 April 3, 
 
 (( 
 
 Passover at Philippi closed. 
 
 " 4, 
 
 Tuesday, 
 
 Paul went to Neapolis. 
 
 " 8, 
 
 Saturday, 
 
 Arrived at Troas. 
 
 " 16, 
 
 Sabbath, 
 
 Preached at Troas. 
 
 " 17, 
 
 Monday, 
 
 Walked to Assos, and sailed that 
 evening to Mitylene. 
 
 1 See Lewiu : " St. Paul,"ii. chap. ii. 
 
 ii ' 
 
jEt. 62.] 
 
 A FLYING JOURNEY. 
 
 267 
 
 April 
 
 18, 
 
 Tuesday, 
 
 Left Mitylene. 
 
 (( 
 
 19, 
 
 Wednesday, 
 
 Arrived at Samos. 
 
 (( 
 
 20, 
 
 Thursday (afternoon), Reached Milntus, and 
 
 
 
 
 sent messengers to Ephesus. 
 
 (( 
 
 23, 
 
 Sunday, 
 
 Dclv Ration came from Ephesus. 
 
 (( 
 
 24, 
 
 Monday, 
 
 Sailed from Miletut'. 
 
 (( 
 
 25, 
 
 Tuesday, 
 
 At IJliodes. 
 
 (( 
 
 26, 
 
 Wednesday, 
 
 At Patara. 
 
 (( 
 
 27, 
 
 Thursday, 
 
 Passed Cyprus. 
 
 (( 
 
 30, 
 
 Sunday, 
 
 Readied Tyre, and remained one 
 
 week. 
 
 May 
 
 8, 
 
 Monday, 
 
 Sailed to Ptolemais. 
 
 <( 
 
 10, 
 
 Wednesday, 
 
 Came overland to Caesarea. 
 
 (< 
 
 15, 
 
 Monday, 
 
 Started on the journey up to Jeru- 
 salem. 
 
 (< 
 
 n, 
 
 Wednesday, 
 
 Arrived at .Jerusalem in time for 
 the Pentecost at 8 p.m. 
 
 that 
 
 This is an outline of the rapidest journey 
 Paul ever made. The delays before he reached 
 Palestine were, apparently, only such as were 
 necessary. At Philippi he stopped, as any de- 
 vout Jew Avould be ^ikely to have done, during 
 the Passover. Between l*hilip])i and Troas the 
 passage must have been lengthened by heavy 
 weather and head-winds. At Troas we may 
 presume that they were waiting for a vessel 
 bound I^ast. The week there, however, was 
 not spent without earnest preaching and good 
 results. 
 
 On the last Sabbath at Troas, in the evening, 
 the whole church came together to listen to Paul, 
 who was to preach to them for the last time, and 
 
2fi8 
 
 LIFE OF P^JLL. 
 
 [A.Dl 58. 
 
 :ni!! 
 
 
 ' ! 
 
 
 ;i •< 
 
 
 * 
 
 to administer the Lord's supper. They were as- 
 sembled in a room in the third f?torv. Althouich 
 the night was dari^ outside, the i)lace where this 
 meeting was held was well-lighted with lamps. 
 Paul preached a very long sermon that evening. 
 The streets of Troas had become perfectly still. 
 The lights in the houses were out long ago ; l>ut 
 still Paul kept on an unbroken stream of intentrC 
 speech until midnight, and the people listened 
 with unflaiTffinff attention. There was a lad, 
 however, who, not being able to find a seat in 
 the crowded room anywhere else, sat on the sill 
 of the open window. He could not listen so 
 long ; but got very sleepy. His eyes would close ; 
 his head nodded. No one seems to have noticed 
 him, until, falling fast asleep, he leaned over so 
 iir that he lost his l)alance, and with a scream of 
 cerror tumbled out of the v/imdow to the irround 
 below. The people rushed down the stairs, and 
 the poor boy Eutychus, — for that was his name, 
 — was picked up dead. Paul came down with 
 the rest. There was great himentation ; ])ut Paul 
 had power given him, as he had to heal the sick 
 in Kpliesus, and to cure Publius, also to bring 
 this boy to life Mgain. After quieting the peo- 
 ple with a comforting Avord, — "Weep not, for 
 he is alive," — PmuI went up jigain to the unper 
 room, and the meotinir. so suddenlv intc: ./ced, 
 was resumed. The Lord's supper was observed, 
 
as- 
 
 Mt. 52,] 
 
 A FLYING JOURNEY. 
 
 269 
 
 after which thoy ('(^iiti'nned to talk together 
 until dawn. Then Paul left them and started 
 across the country alone, nineteen miles to 
 Assos, wher .^c vvas to meet his companions 
 who had already sailed for the same point around 
 the Cape. Their good ship sailed away south 
 from Assos as the sun set Monday evening ; and 
 in the afternoon of Thursday, havin<>- touched at 
 
 
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 -7' ^-^ ,- - I 
 
 Mvtilene on Leshos, and at Chios, and crossed 
 the harbor of Ephesus, so close to the city where, 
 a year before, there had been such confusion and 
 danger, and passed safely through the narrow 
 gut between Samos and the rocky pron\ontory 
 of Troofilium, where they were obliwd to anchor 
 for a night, they ran into the port of Miletus, 
 some thirty-six miles south of Ej)hesus. It 
 was likclv to be several davs before they could 
 continue their journey ; and Paul, anxious 
 to see some of the Christians trom Ephesus, 
 sent word to them, that if they would make 
 haste he might see them at Miletus before he 
 sailed again. 
 
'^ ililiiili 
 
 270 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 88. 
 
 !ii 
 
 i!!i| 
 
 li:!; 
 
 There uns a strange prcsentiiiieiit in Paul's 
 mind durini:- this journev. He felt tlutt he was 
 eoni[)elled, by some authority sui)erior to his own 
 will, to go to JerusahMu, while all th(^ time he 
 did not know what a melancholy fate might he 
 preparing for him there. He was quite sure, 
 though, that whatever happened he was not 
 likely ever to see his E})hesian brethren again ; 
 and he wanted once more to re})oat to them the 
 plain truth of the Gos})el, and to warn them of 
 the enemies of their souls, who would creep in 
 among them, ''not sparing the fiock." 
 
 When the men came from Ephesus to Miletus, 
 Paul addressed them in these familiar and 
 earnest words : — 
 
 " You know, from the first dnv I set foot in 
 Asia, the manner of my life among you all 
 the time, — how I served the Lord with hu- 
 mility, and with many tears and trials which 
 come upon mu^ by the plots of the Jews ; and 
 how I withi. d nothing that would be helpful 
 to you, but taught you both pul>licly and from 
 house to house, testifying to both eTews and 
 Greeks their need of repentance towards God, 
 and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And 
 now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto 
 Jerusalem, not knowing wiiat may happen to 
 me there, except as the Holy Spirit testifies to 
 
M. 
 
 Mt. S2.1 
 
 A FLYTNO JOtlRJfEY. 
 
 271 
 
 1110 in every city that bonds and altlictions are 
 waiting for inc. Hut none of tliese things 
 troul)le ine ; nor do 1 count even my life dear, 
 if only I can tinisli my course with joy, and the 
 ministry wliich I have received of tlie Lord 
 Jesus to declare the jj^hid lidintrs of the i>race of 
 God. And now, behold, I know that a- of 
 you, among whom 1 have gone preaching the 
 kingdom of (iod, shall see my face no more. 
 A\' here fore I take 3'ou to witness this day that 
 I am pure from the blood of all ; for I have 
 not shrank from declaring unto you the whole 
 counsel of God. Be watchful, therefore, of 
 yourselves, and of all the flock for which the 
 Holy Spirit has made you pastors ; that you 
 feed the church of God which he purchased 
 with his own blood. For of this I am sure, 
 that after my departure atrocious wolves shall 
 come in among you, who will not spare the 
 flock ; and from your own num))er men will 
 arise who will speak perverted words that 
 they may lead away the disciples. Therefore, 
 be watchful, and remember that for three years 
 I ceased not to warn every one of you, night 
 and day, with tears. And now I commend 3'ou 
 to God, and to the word of his grace, which is 
 able to build up and to give an inheritance 
 among all them that are holy. When I was 
 

 I i 
 
 I1 
 
 272 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 tA.D. 58. 
 
 with you, I coveto no man's silver or gold or 
 clothing. You know yourselves that these 
 hands worked to provide the necessities of life 
 for mj^self and for those who were with me. In 
 all this I gave you an example, to show you 
 that so laboring we ought to support the help- 
 less, and to remember the words of the Lord 
 Jesus, — how he said, * It is morehlessed to give 
 than to receive.^ " ^ 
 
 At the close of this touching speech they all 
 together fell upon their knees, and Paul prayed. 
 His heart was overflowing, and, as the last 
 word of the earnest prayer passed from his lips, 
 they gathered about him and fell upon his neck 
 and kissed him and wept, grieved most of all at 
 that ono sad sentence, " You shall see my face 
 no more." 
 
 It was with no little diflSculty that the apos- 
 tolic ])and tore themselves away from the cling- 
 ing hearts of these Ephesian disciples, who 
 must go back to the city of Diana alone. But 
 the ship was ready to weigh anchor, and when 
 all had hurried aboard, she sped rapidly south, 
 past Cos and Rhodes to Patara. Hero the pas- 
 «enjrers to Judea are obli<yed to chang-e vessels 
 again, and, finding one bound for Tyre in Phoe- 
 nicia, they engage passage in her. It is about 
 three hundred and fifty miles from Patara to 
 
 1 Acts XX. 18-35. 
 
Mr. 62.] 
 
 A FLYING JOURNEY. 
 
 273 
 
 Tyre, — a voyage with a fair wind of from two 
 to four days. The open sea lies before the 
 vessel as she leaves Patara. It is the evening 
 of April 26, and the moon is full.' Day and 
 night the green waves fall away from the bows 
 of the vessel, and rush hissing along her hurry- 
 ing keel. Cyprus is sighted on the left, and 
 passed rapidly. The next land in sight is the 
 lofty range of Lel)anon, and in a few hours 
 more they are at anchor in the harbor of the 
 capital city of PhcKnicia. 
 
 Tj're, the capital of Phoenicia, was splendidly 
 situated at the head of a peninsula which jutted 
 out into the jNIediterranean. The extremity 
 of this peninsula was, until later centuries, an 
 island, between which and the mainland the 
 sand has been carried by the currents, until the 
 channel has gradually been entirely filled. The 
 city at the present time is only a miserable 
 ruin, in which two or three thousand Orientals 
 drag out an existence. The glory of Tyre has 
 departed. There is nothing to remind the trav- 
 eller of the riches and brilliance of the ancient 
 city, — of its far-famed arts and manufactures, 
 and of the extensive trade it hold with the 
 Eastern and the Western worlds, both by land 
 and sea. 
 
 1 Conybeare and Ilowson : " St. Paul," ll. 227. 
 
 1 
 
*- 
 
 ii!! 
 
 '!'i 
 
 »il1 
 
 S74 Life of VAXit, • [a.d.bs. 
 
 "Dim is her ^l<ii\ , ^<>iu lior liiiiic, 
 
 Her l)ou^^tell wealtli has tied ; 
 On her proud rock, tilas ! her shame, 
 
 The lislierVs net is spread. 
 The Tyrian harp has slumbered long, 
 
 And Tyria's mirth is low ; 
 The timbrel, dulcimer, and song 
 
 Are hushed, or wake to woe." * 
 
 In all probaljility Paul had visited Tyre be- 
 fore, on some of his journeys going to or return- 
 ing from Jerusalem ; and he may have organized 
 the Christian church in this city. It is very 
 likely, too, that Jesus hhnself had preached 
 there. It was only thirty miles from the little 
 town of Nazareth, where Jiisus lived most of 
 his life, and lie may Often have gone there while 
 yet an unknown carpenter ; 2 jjud during his 
 ministry, if he did not enter the city, he was 
 in its neighborhood, where he performed some 
 of his miracles.^ 
 
 The ship that brought the Apostle and his 
 companions from Patara had to discharge her 
 cargo at Tyre. This would take several days. 
 While the .ship-hands are ])usy removing the 
 grain or wine from the hold of the vessel to 
 the docks and warehouses, Paul and the rest go 
 up into the city to find the Christians who live 
 in Tyre. According to our previous reckoning 
 
 1 W. M. Thomson ; " Central Palestine," p. 627. 
 
 2 Smith's Bible Diet,, in. 3335. 
 8 Mark vii. 24. 
 
Mr. &2.1 
 
 A FLVIN(J .lOUUNEV. 
 
 275 
 
 they arrived at Tyro on Sunday, and remained 
 there seven whole (hiys, until the Monday of 
 the following week. During this time the 
 Tyrian Christians urged Paul to stay away from 
 Jerusalem. They had a premonition that it 
 was a dangerous place for him. 
 
 Their shij) is ready to wing her way south 
 again. She is already in the oflSng. How 
 affectionate the farewell ! The missionaries 
 have been here only a week ; but that is long 
 enough for hearts to knit closely. The Chris- 
 tians, — men, women, and children, — all to- 
 gether, followed them out of the city, and down 
 to the shore. There, upon the beach, under 
 the open sky, while the sea-breeze cools the 
 summer morning, they kneel and pray ; then 
 say "Good-bye," and "God bless you," one 
 and all. The travellers go on board, and the 
 Christians of Tyre watch them with tear- 
 diumied eyes, and then return to their homes. 
 
 That Monday afternoon Paul and his compan- 
 ions landed at Ptolemais, the modern Acre, and 
 the long voyage was ended. One day only is 
 spent in this i)lace. On Wednesday they made 
 the journey, about forty miles, overland to 
 Cwsareu, the political capital of Palestine. 
 
 Philip the Kvangelist, that ])rave man, who, 
 though driven out of »Terusalem by the perse- 
 cutions set on foot by aristocratic and narrow- 
 
p 4 
 
 m 
 
 III 
 
 i\' 
 
 i, 1 
 
 III 
 
 i.i!:' 
 
 >ii 
 
 270 
 
 MFK OF PAl L. 
 
 [A.n. M. 
 
 minded Jews, dared, nevertheless, to baptize an 
 Ethiopian eunuch, and to preach the Gospel to 
 the Samaritans and to the Philistines, resided 
 at Cjesarea. Philip was as large-hearted as he 
 was brave. He was well-known in the city, 
 having lived there many years. To his house 
 the missionaries all go, and receive the welcome 
 of warm Christian hospitality. Paul has now 
 several days to spare ; tor it will ))e a week be- 
 fore the Pentecost, and three days are ample 
 time for tiie journey from Cajsarea to Jerusalem. 
 He prefers to spend these days with Philip and 
 his family. The Evangelist had four daugh- 
 ters, all of whom had inherited their father's 
 zeal, and "had devoted to the service of the 
 Gospel their virgin lives." ' It was a sunny, 
 earnest, Christian home. What a comfort for 
 Paul, weary, and anxious for the future, to 
 have these four days of loving companionship 
 and peaceful rest with persons of opinions and 
 feelings so nmch like his own. 
 
 While these pleasant daj-s were passing, the 
 prophet Agabus cauK* down from Jerusalem, 
 and found his way also to Philip's house. He 
 met Paul. Taking the Apostle's girdle he 
 quickly tied it around his own hands and feet, 
 and said in his abrupt and positive manner, 
 knowing very well that he was utteiing the 
 
 1 Farrar : " St. Paul," II. 289. 
 
JET. 52.] 
 
 A FLYING JOURNEY. 
 
 277 
 
 truth: "So speaks the Holy Spirit. In this 
 way shall tho Jews at Jcrujsulcm l)iii(l the man 
 who owns this L'irdle, and deliver him to the 
 Gentiles." This was no more than Paul :dready 
 suspected, if he did noi know it as well as 
 Agabus (lid. He was making this Journey, 
 although willingly, yet under the shadow of 
 very dark ipprehensiDUN. His friends, alarmed 
 by the wan iig of Agabus, united in endeavor- 
 ing to persuade him iliat he should not go to 
 Jerusalem. Paul however remained firm to 
 his purpose. The Divine finger pointed onward. 
 No human voice t'ould ;illure him back. "What 
 do you mean?" he cried, "to weep and break 
 my heart? for I am ready not only to be bound, 
 »»ut even to die at Jerusalem for tho name of 
 the Lord Jesus." They said no more, except 
 to add that one word of Christian resignation, 
 "The will of llie Lord be done." 
 
 We like to linger with Paul at Philip's home, 
 these few quiet days ; for we will never see him 
 again under such peaceful circumstances. We 
 dread the ine\ itable hour when he nuist pack 
 up his baggage, and start on his journey across 
 the country to Jerusalem. But the days move 
 relentlessly on. Monday morning dawns after 
 a Sabbath of blessed Christian communion. 
 Wednesday evening at six o'clock tho opening 
 service of the Feast of IVntecost commences. 
 
 
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 278 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 58, 
 
 A large number of Jews are going up from 
 Csesarea, and some also of the Christian Jews. 
 Paul and his company leave the city attended 
 by disciples who love him too well to let him 
 go alone. He will return to C^ssarea in a few 
 days ; but with a different kind of escort, and 
 to be the guest of a very different host from 
 Philip the Evangelist. 
 
[A.D. 58. 
 
 ^ from 
 Jews, 
 tended 
 3t him 
 a few 
 't, and 
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 PART FIFTH. 
 
 ^vttstr S^al^ %mpxisjoinmmu 
 
S'i^^'^^'''' ■ 
 
 ; 
 
 ■Ml 
 
 i/i| 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 THE ARREST AT JERUSALEM. 
 
 "TheyshciU lay their hamls on you, and shall persecute you, 
 deliverino^ you up to the synafjogues anil prisons, bringing you 
 before kings and governors for my name's sake." — Luke xxi. 12. 
 
 '* Why, let him do it ! — 1 am here, prepared 
 For all things and their pangs." — Mrs. Browning. 
 
 A LL the loveline.ss of opening summer covers 
 -^^ the plain of Sharon, through which the 
 road pas.-;es from Ctestireii to Jerusalem. The 
 early corn is rustling in the tields, the hills and 
 meadows are mantled with green, the roadsides 
 are sprinkled with bright flowers. At this sea- 
 son of the year. Nature is extravagant in her 
 display of luxuries throughout Palestine ; and no 
 part of Palestine is more beautiful than Sharon. 
 "The rose of Sharon," the lilies of the valleys, 
 the forests, the flocks, all are of the sweetest, 
 fairest, grandest, best. 
 
 Through this scene of beauty and freshness 
 an old man is passing, — not a very old man in 
 years, indeed, but one worn with care and travel 
 and exposure and suffering. He is accomivmied 
 by friends who know and hvc him well. All 
 
 2«1 
 
 
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 282 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 58. 
 
 who really knew Paul loved him. There is 
 little conversation as the}^ move along. Paul 
 is silent. A great anxiety about the result 
 upon his work of this visit to the Christians at 
 Jerusalem absorbs all his thoughts. He de- 
 sires most of all, now, to heal the wounds and 
 bind up the separations that have always ex- 
 isted between the Jewish and Gentile believers 
 in Jesus. This is his purpose in going to Jeru- 
 salem. This is why he has with him the repre- 
 sentatives of the Gentile churches. It is for 
 this purpose that they come bringing the gen- 
 erous contributions of the Christians in Asia and 
 Macedonia and Greece. 
 
 On their arrival at Jerusalem, Wednesday, 
 they are conducted by their friends from CaB- 
 sarea to the house of one who had been a disci- 
 ple many years, — Mnason, a Cj'prian, who 
 was well-known as a heartv Christian and a 
 genial host. Here they received a warm wel- 
 come from Mnason himself, and from other 
 brethren who assembled as soon as they knew 
 that Paul had arrived. 
 
 The next day, the Day of Pentecost, James, 
 the venerable pastor of all the churches ot «ieru- 
 salem, with the "conclave of ordained ministers "^ 
 of the city, came together to receive, in a more 
 formal and public manner, the Great Apostle and 
 
 1 Lewin, ii. 139. 
 
[A.D. 58. 
 
 JEW oL-.] 
 
 THE AKHEST AT .lEIlUSALEAI. 
 
 9^'i 
 <i<~»> 
 
 lere is 
 
 Paul 
 
 result 
 
 ians at 
 
 le de- 
 
 ds and 
 
 ys ex- 
 
 ilievers 
 
 ) Jeru- 
 
 repre- 
 
 is for 
 
 le gen- 
 
 sia and 
 
 lesday, 
 in Cse- 
 disci- 
 who 
 and a 
 ni wel- 
 otlier 
 r knew 
 
 Tames, 
 fjeru- 
 sters " ^ 
 a more 
 tie and 
 
 his companions. This meeting was the point to 
 which Paul had been looking forward. The 
 first thing to do wjis to present the money col- 
 lected from the Gentile Christians. One after 
 anoth<^rtlie delegates stepped forward, and, tak- 
 ing from under their girdles the leathern bags, 
 poured their contents upon the table. The whole 
 made a handsome pile of gold coins, and 'the 
 eyes of James and his comi)ani()n Jewish minis- 
 ters glistened and ijrew larg-e at the sio-ht. Then 
 Paul recounted to them all that he had done and 
 experienced while away these last four years. 
 They were interested to hear about cities and 
 churches that could furnish such contributions ; 
 and some of them rejoiced to know, that under 
 the preaching of the Gospel, so many had been 
 induced to believe on Christ. When Paul had 
 finished, they praised the Lord ; but their praise 
 was feeble, and verv soon it turned into a cold 
 criticism of the Lord's faithful servant. 
 
 "Do not think, brother, that the Gentile 
 Christians are cver\' thing. See how many 
 thousands of Jews there are which believe, — 
 Jews who at the same time are zealous to ob- 
 serve all tlie law of Moses ! AVe hear — is it 
 true? — that you teach all the Jews which are 
 amono' the Gentiles that thcv need not observe 
 the law. What nuist happen then? Every- 
 body will soon know that you are in the cit\ ; 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
; 
 
 
 1^' 
 
 ! II 
 
 .i,,t 
 
 ll'f-'^l 
 
 
 mi 
 
 "'Hi;:; 
 
 
 284 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [a.d.58. 
 
 and when u is known that you are here, then 
 look out ! Take our advice. Here are four 
 Christian Jews who have a vow upon them ; 
 but they are so ]ioor that they are not able to 
 discharge it. 'I'akc thoso men, i^o with ihcm to 
 the priest, and tell iiini that you will t'lunish 
 tho necessary sacritices, — will sul)niit with 
 them to the ceremony of purification, jind will 
 remain in the Temple, in the Xaza ,tes' ( 'hani- 
 ber, for a week, until the time for otferinii the 
 sacritices and shaving the heads. Then the 
 peoi)le will believe that 3^ou are as careful to 
 obey tiie law as they themselves are, and 
 further criticism will be disarmed." * 
 
 All this Paul was willing to do, in order to 
 secure peace and union. The charge made 
 agamst him was wholly false. He was not 
 there, however, to defend himself, but to do 
 the best thing he could for the cause of the 
 Master. 
 
 The week was almost over, and Paul had 
 not once passed out of the sacred enclosure. 
 He loved that grand Temple, although it was in 
 the hands of bigots and villains. Ananias, the 
 High Priest, was one of the very worst men in 
 Jerusalem. He had made himself rich by 
 openly robbing the inferior priests of their 
 tithes. He had no regard for human life when 
 
 1 Compare Acts xxi. 20-24. 
 
Mr. CL'.] THE AIJUEST AT .TEnrSALEM. 
 
 ^8: 
 
 it stood in his wny ; no respect for virtue ^vhen 
 it could afford hiui i)lea.sure. lie was a glutton 
 and a drunkard. Altlioujjfh High Priest for 
 eleven years, he was murdered at last by 
 assassins, who found hiui eroueiiing in a tilthy 
 sewer to hide. I*aul knew that, from this 
 villain down, there was scareely a holy man 
 among all those who served in the Temple. 
 Still he loved that sacred [)ile, just as we all 
 love the places with which memory associates 
 the scenes of pleasant past years ; jmd, as he 
 walked about through corridor after corridor, 
 and under the spacious cloisters, and looked 
 at the magnificent gates, and up to the Holy 
 Place which stood above on a broad marble 
 platform, overlooking tlie three surrounding 
 courts, no wonder if many thoughts of the 
 time when he came as a boy to the school of 
 Gamaliel, swept through his mind. 
 
 Some of those Jews who lived in Ephesus, 
 and who had failed in their attempt in that city 
 to silence Paul, are visiting Jerusalem; and, 
 passing through the court of the women, who 
 should they see, walking I)ack and forth, but that 
 Christian Jew, whom tlicy hated with all the bit- 
 terness of their vengeful hearts ! " ]Men of Israel, 
 help ! help ! See, here is that contemptible 
 heretic, — that profane preacher of lies! Seize 
 him! Crush him! Kill him!" The cry flew 
 
 
f 
 
 1 1 
 
 ml 
 
 ■ii 
 
 III ! 
 
 2S(i 
 
 IJFR OF PAIL. 
 
 [A.U. M. 
 
 from nioutli tonioutli, cclioinir across the Temple 
 area and over the l)ri(liie, until the wliole eity 
 was in an uj)roar. As James and his assistants 
 had said they woukl, the people had found out 
 that Paul was-i' »Jerusalem. There was a tre- 
 mendous rush. Paul was seized and drairired 
 out of the sacred enclosure into the court of 
 the (lentiles, throuLdi that beautiful irate, hv the 
 side of which Peter had he;ded the lame beo- 
 jrar ; and the innnense doors that always stood 
 open from dawn to sunset were closed. 
 
 The venerable missi<)narv was wholly at the 
 mercy of a bloodthirsty mob. They will not 
 wait for trial or defence. No Sanhedrim nor 
 majristrates shall come between them and their 
 prey. The tiuirers of the foremost of the in- 
 furiated gang are upon the Apostle's throat. 
 They will kill him at last. 
 
 But what comes here ? There was a castle, 
 Antonia, at the northwestern corner of the 
 Temple, maiuied by a Koman garrison ; for in 
 those days outbreaks of a similar character to 
 this one Avere not uncommon among the fanati- 
 cal and inflammable Jews. Lysias, the com- 
 mandant, informed of the disturbance, imme- 
 diately summoned a force of officers and soldiers 
 to follow him, and running down the staircase 
 forced his way into the crowd. The clatter of 
 •-oldiers imd the gleam of Roman spoars were a 
 
^tood 
 
 
 
 
 ! 
 
 ( 
 
 ■1 
 
 .I""! 
 
 i 
 
 
' '. i4/'JHj4tamili'' 
 
Mt.H'J.] TIIK AUHEST at .7EKUSALEM. 
 
 280 
 
 quick ivmi'idcr to llic people of the sljiu<^htcr 
 those same spears had made aiuonir former 
 rioters. They had little desire to repeat the 
 experience, and therefore let Paul <xo. They 
 had hcaton him cruelly. When Lvsias saw the 
 ohjeet of the people's rage, supi)o>iiiir that he 
 was an Egyptian, who, a short time before, had 
 put himself at the head of a l)and of ruflians, he 
 conunanded the soldiers to hind him with two 
 chains. Then he asked who he was, and what 
 he had done ? But there was such confusion in 
 the court, such a Babel of accusation, that 
 Lysias ordered Paul into the castle. 
 
 As Paul was hurried along toward the castle- 
 stairs between two soldiers, with a hand chained 
 to each of them, the people pressed after them, 
 yelling furiously : "Away with him ! away with 
 him ! " When they reached the top of the stairs, 
 up which the crowd would not dare to come, 
 Paul said to Lysias : — 
 
 " Allow me to say a word to you." 
 
 " What ! " said Lysias with surprise, " can 
 you speak Greek? I thought you were the 
 Egyptian robber ! " 
 
 "No, I am a Jew; a native of Tarsus, in 
 Cilicia — a citizen of no mean citv. I l)eseech 
 you let me speak to the people."' 
 
 Lysias wondered, no doul)t, what this man 
 could have to say to a crowd wl.ich a moment 
 
 
 
2i>;) 
 
 LTFK OF P.M'L. 
 
 f A.t). 5ft. 
 
 !.«'!<: 
 
 ■I. i , 
 
 i!;i'l 
 
 before had tried to kill him : but, nevertheless, 
 he gave him permission to speak ; and, that the 
 speaker might l>e more at ease, unfastened the 
 chain from one of his wrists. 
 
 Paul, standing at the hejid of the stairs before 
 that sea of up. rned faces, understood the situa- 
 tion perfectly. He knew the people, and he re- 
 membered his Lord. Never for a moment did 
 Paul plead for himself, ile would plead with 
 these his enemies, for their good, and for the 
 Master's glory. There was no way, however, 
 by which he could secure their attention so 
 quickly as by putting himself in the attitude of 
 defence. Nor was there anything he could say 
 to them so likely to impress them for good as the 
 storv of his own conversion. It was a master- 
 stroke of oratory, to be calm himself just then, 
 and able to control and command the attention 
 of that impatient tln'ong. He was equal to the 
 occasion, tliousrh. At a simple s^esture of his 
 outstretched hand, a profound silence fell upon 
 the people ; and, dropping the Greek language, 
 in which he had just been talking to Lysias, he 
 addressed his auditors in their nntive tongue, 
 Hebrew. The })eople were pleased to hear their 
 own language on the lips of an orator, — it was 
 an unusual occurence, — and listened with all the 
 more atteation. 
 
 " Men, Brethren, and Fathers," so Paul com- 
 
^T. f.2.1 THE ARREST AT .lEIllSALE.M, 
 
 291 
 
 menced. Is it not wondcrfui how courteous he 
 was to that munlerous crowd ? He goes on to 
 tell them, how, l)eing ;i native of Tarsus, he re- 
 ceived his education in eTerusalem from Gamaliel, 
 and was a thorouirh Jew, hatinsj the Christians 
 and persecuting them. He repeats, in most vivid 
 light, the story of his conversion on the way to 
 Damascus, until he comes to the Lord's word to 
 him l)v Ananias. " Thou shalt he his witness 
 unto all men," and that other message which he 
 heard right here in the Temi)le, after he had 
 returned to Jerusalem, " Make haste ; leave 
 Jerusalem, for they will not receive your testi- 
 mony concerning me. Go ! for I will send fou 
 far away to the Gentiles." 
 
 To this point they listened: Init that word, 
 "Gentiles," was too much for a Jew to endure. 
 It was like a spark to their explosive passion. 
 They were enraged to a perfect frenz}^ — tear- 
 ing their clothes and throwing them u}X)n the 
 ground, scraping the dust from the pavement, 
 and flinmnji' it into the air, and screamini!:, 
 " Away with such a fellow from the earth ! He 
 is not fit to live." 
 
 Lysias could not understand Paul's add^'css 
 in Hebrew ; but, seeing the rage of the people, 
 and supposing that he must have said something 
 particularly offensive, gave orders that he should 
 be put to the rack till he confessed his crime, 
 
\i 
 
 [:| 
 
 I i^ ' i; 
 
 (J 
 
 11 11 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 iii 
 
 : I 
 
 
 '1 
 I I 
 
 ! lillil 
 
 i 
 
 
 '■M 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. (k. 
 
 whatever it might be. The commandant him- 
 self withdrew, and left the prisorier in the hands 
 of a suboidinate officer, a centurion. Paul was 
 hrouiiht to the torture-post ; his clothes we^-e 
 strip[)cd off, and his l)ack, scarred already by 
 the beating he received at Philippi, and the 
 stoning at Lystra, was laid bare. His hands 
 are tied down to the stake, and in this stooping 
 posture he is ready to receive the stinging 
 crack of the scourge, when he asserts his right 
 of Roman citizenship. 
 
 " Does the law permit you to scourge :i 
 Roman uncondemned ? " 
 
 " What ! " cries the officer, and the descend- 
 ing lash drops l)y the executioner's side. Hur- 
 rying aAvay to Lysias, the centurion said, — 
 
 " Look out what you are doing ! This man 
 is a Roman." 
 
 The captain himself came in, and looked 
 sharply at the prisoner. 
 
 "Toll me, are you a Roman?" 
 
 "Yes, I am." 
 
 "I," said Lysias, "paid a great sum of money 
 for my Roman citizenship." 
 
 " But I," replied Paul, '' am a Roman by birth." 
 
 It was the captain's turn now to be afraid. 
 He had carelessly violated the law ; for, accord- 
 ing to the law, he had no right to scourge a 
 Roman citizen. 
 
[A.D. ft*.. 
 
 it him- 
 hands 
 ml was 
 were 
 idy by 
 nd the 
 hands 
 ooping 
 tin"jino 
 s right 
 
 urge a 
 
 escend- 
 Hur- 
 
 lis man 
 
 looked 
 
 money 
 
 birth." 
 
 afraid. 
 
 accord- 
 
 }urge a 
 
 JET. 52.] THE AKKEST AT JERUSALEM. 
 
 :1\)^ 
 
 That night Paul lay in the castle. The next 
 morning, Lysias — in order that he might find 
 out definitely the accusation which the Jews 
 made against the prisoner — issued an order to 
 the Iliiih Priest to asseml)le the Sanhedrim. 
 This was the same l)ody of Priests, lUders, and 
 Scribes, in all seventy-two, before which Stephen 
 made his nolde l)ut exasi)erating defence. The 
 same body also condenmed the Lord fFesus him- 
 self, and delivered Ilim to Pilate to be cruci- 
 fied. It was the same body, ])ut not conn)osed 
 entirely of the same persons. Paul himself had 
 formerly been one of these judges, and many 
 of them knew him well. 
 
 \Mien the Sanhedrim was ready, Captain 
 Lysias released his prisoner, and, bringing him 
 down under guard, placed him at the bar for 
 examination. At the upper end of the long 
 and dimlvMiirhted hall sat the Hi^^h Priest, — 
 the contemptilde Ananias, — while, ranged on 
 either side, in a half-circle, sat on one side the 
 Pharisees of this auofust court, and on the other 
 the Sadducees. Paul, lookinir with a searching; 
 gaze into the faces of his judges, commenced to 
 speak : — 
 
 "Brethren : I have lived before God in all good 
 conscience to this verv day." 
 
 That word, "Brethren," from a prisoner, with 
 the claim that he had lived conscientiously, made 
 
'l 
 
 ' 'T ., 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 m 
 
 LIFE OF PAITL. 
 
 [A.t). 58. 
 
 Aii.'iiiiji.s angry, and ho <xi\\v orders to the attend- 
 ants wlio stood near Paul to strike him on the 
 mouth. Paul heard the order, and, with just 
 and fearless indignation, said, — 
 
 "(iod shall strike you, you whitewashed wall I 
 Do you sit there to judge me by the law, and 
 give orders that I be struck, contrary to the 
 law?" 
 
 Paul had forijotten that it was the real High 
 Priest to whom he was speaking, until the by- 
 standers rebuked him, — ""Do you revile God's 
 High Priest?" — when he immediately apolo- 
 gized. "I did not bear in mind, brethren, that 
 he w\as the High Priest ; for it is written, 'Thou 
 shall not speak evil of the ruler of thy 
 people.'"^ 
 
 This incident, however, was a very clear indi- 
 cation of the kind of justice that Paul was likely 
 to receive before this court. Instantly, there- 
 fore, he determined to escape from that injustice, 
 upon which, if he threw himself, he was sure to 
 1)0 put to death. He took advantage, accord- 
 ingly, of the old feud between the Pharisees 
 and Sadducees, and, asserting the fact that he 
 himself was a Pharisee, claimed the sympathy 
 
 1 " Paul admits that he had been thrown off his guard ; the in- 
 sult had touched him to the quick, and he had spoken rashly. But 
 what can surpass the grace with which he recovered his self-pos- 
 session, the frankness with which he acknowledged his error ? " — 
 Hackett. — "Commeniary on Acts." xxiii. o. 
 
^r. 52.1 
 
 THE AlillEST AT JERUSALEM. 
 
 205 
 
 and protection of that side of the court. "I am 
 charged with l)elieving in and preaching the 
 resuiTcction of the dead." This was the favor- 
 ite doctrine of the Pharisees ; hut the Sadducecs 
 despised it. The two parties were ready at any 
 moment to take up arms in defence of their 
 opposite views. Very soon the two sides of the 
 council were in a clamor of debate against each 
 other. The Pharisees at once took Paul under 
 their protection, saying, "We iind no evil in 
 this man." The excitement increased ; and, when 
 mob-law was likely to prevail among these wicked 
 dignitaries of Jerusalem, Lysias, fearing that 
 they would kill the prisoner, sent down a guard 
 to take him away from them, and to bring him 
 back into the castle. 
 
 Paul was disheartened. That night, as he 
 lay on the stone floor, he could not but wonder 
 what another day might bring. But the Lord, 
 Avho knew the heart of his servant, had not 
 deserted him. In the darkness, Jesus stood by 
 the prisoner's side and said : " Be of good cheer, 
 for as thou hast testitied concerning me at Jeru- 
 salem, so must thou l)ear witness at Rome 
 also." This was encouraging. Now let come 
 to-morrow what may come. 
 
 Early in the morning, more than forty of the 
 worst Jews in Jerusalem, cree})ing around 
 through the lanes and slums of the city, bound 
 
290. 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 58. 
 
 themselves together with a terrible oath, that 
 they would neither eat nor drink again until 
 their dajrirers had been bathed in Paul's blood. 
 These men went directly to the chief priests 
 and the elderly men of influence, and told them 
 what they intended to do. They proposed that 
 the Sanhedrim should request Lysias to give it 
 another opportunity to examine the Apostle in 
 its council-room ; and, when Paul was on his way 
 down from the castle, they would lie in wait 
 near the stairs, or in the corridor, and unex- 
 pectedly rush out upon him and kill him. 
 
 Paul had a nephew in Jerusalem, who, in 
 some way or other, got wind of this bloody con- 
 spiracy, and knowing that there was no time to 
 be lost, went to the castle, and chained admis- 
 sion to see the prisoner, his uncle. As soon as 
 Paul heard the story, he beckoned to the guard 
 and said, "Take this young man to Captain 
 Lysias. He has something to tell him." Lysias 
 was anxious to learn anything that would clenr 
 up this extraordinary case. When the guard 
 introduced Paul's nephew as one whom Paul 
 had sent with a message, the captain took the 
 young man's hand in his and drew him aside, 
 where the}' could talk together without being 
 overheard, and asked him what it was he had 
 to say. The young man lold him the whole 
 story, - — how the conspirators had taken an 
 
iA.D. 58. 
 
 •Et. ->'2.] 
 
 THE ARREST AT JERUSALEM. 
 
 207 
 
 oath to kill his uncle ; how the priests had fallen 
 in with the plot, and were ready to help it on ; 
 juid how they were waiting, at (hat \ery mo- 
 ment, to see the captain, and make their arrange- 
 ments to have Paul l)rou<::ht down. That was 
 enough for Lysias. He knew what desperate 
 men he had to deal with. He dismissed his in- 
 formant, reminding him that a close mouth, just 
 then, was of the utmost necessity. 
 
 At nine o'clock in the evening, all the pre- 
 parations having been made during the after- 
 noon, while the shadows were deepening, and 
 the darkness was settling down upon country 
 and city, the rattling of horses' hoofs might 
 have been heard in the court of the castle. 
 Paul was to be sent to Ctvsarea under military 
 escort. He was a Koman, and Koman law 
 would protect him from conspiracy and nmrdcr. 
 Nearly five hundred soldiers, cavalry and infan- 
 try, marched out at the lower gate of the 
 Castle of Antonia that night, Thursday, ^lay 25,^ 
 A.D. 58, with Paul the missionary mounted 
 in the centre of the trooj), and hurrying out of 
 »Terusalem, i)assed rapidly uj) the highway 
 across the country toward the Koman capital. 
 In the morning they reached Antipatris, where 
 they made but a brief halt. Leaving part of 
 the soldiers to return to Jerusalem, the cavalry 
 
 1 Lewin . ii. 156. 
 
 I 
 
i • 
 
 298 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A. I). 58. 
 
 i I 
 
 pushed on, and arrived at Ciosarea, probably that 
 evening. Paul was taken directly to Felix, 
 the governor of the province, and the letter 
 of explanation • from Captain Lysias was pre- 
 sented. 
 
 Felix read the letter, and then inquired what 
 province the prisoner was from. Learning that 
 he was a native of Cilicia, he said to Paul: "I 
 will hear your defence when your accusers also 
 have come," and gave orders that he be kept in 
 some part of that magnificent Herodian palace 
 or castle in which the governor himself re- 
 sided. 
 
 1 Acts xxiii. 25-30. 
 
 I 
 
 »'*X.:: 
 
[A.D. K8. 
 
 ly that 
 
 Felix, 
 
 letter 
 
 ,s pre- 
 
 d what 
 ng that 
 ,ul: "I 
 rs also 
 kept in 
 palace 
 ielf re- 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 THE PRISONER IN C/ESAREA. 
 
 " As I walked through the wilderness of this world, I li<,'htcd on 
 a certain place where was a den." — John HinyaN. 
 
 "You say that you arc my judju'c. . . You iire not my judge; 
 you are my enemy ! I came from (iod : leave me to the judgment 
 of Ilim who sent me. Beware what you do; for I am in truth the 
 envoy of Clod." — Joan op Akc. 
 
 T?ELIX, in who.sc power Paul now lay, was 
 -*- governor of Jiulca, and resided in the 
 palace which Herod the Great had built at Ca?- 
 sareti. Felix was only another of the worst men 
 that ever lived. Oriirinallv ho was one of two 
 brothers who had been driven down from the 
 hills of Arcadia, sold in the market of Athens 
 or Corinth to the highest bidder, and taken to 
 Rome to serve as slaves in the household of 
 the Emperor Claudius. Here the passions of 
 the boy soon developed into crime ; but it was 
 crime which was applauded in Rome, and which 
 made him a favorite among the shameless Momen 
 of the Imperial court. Step by step he ad- 
 vanced in favoritism and influence, until he was 
 made a freedman, a soldier, an officer, and at 
 
 299 
 
 11 
 
 
300 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 58. 
 
 ! I '■ 
 
 :'ii 
 
 last, Governor of a TJoman province. He car- 
 ried with him, however, the heart of a slave and 
 the unprincipled lawlessness of a criminal. He 
 had been six years Governor of Jiidea, when 
 Paul was broujiht to (V'sarca a prisoiKM', — 
 years which he had stained with crimes of every 
 shade and name. This is the man into whose 
 hands the holy Apostle has fallen. 
 
 Twelve days, crowded with terrible events, 
 have passed since Paul left Oesarea. The 
 friends who went up with him to the Feast, 
 doubtless, have returned. Philip is back again 
 with his family. It must have been with very 
 grave sorrow that they heard that their dear 
 brother Paul was in their city again, — not now 
 their guest, but a prisoner in the guard-room 
 of Felix's palace. Luke, and Aristarchus too, 
 very probably, came from Jerusalem to Ceesarea 
 as soon as they could after Paul's hurried re- 
 moval. 
 
 The priests at Jerusalem would soon discover 
 that their prey had escaped ; but their vengeance 
 would not let him off without making a desper- 
 ate effort to get him again into their clutches. 
 When, therefore, a message came up from the 
 governor, that, if they had any accusation to 
 make against the prisoner, they should come 
 immediately to Caesarea and make it, they were 
 more than readv to jjo. To be sure, it was 
 
 I I 
 
^.D. 58. 
 
 ! cav- 
 
 e and 
 
 He 
 
 when 
 or, — 
 t'vovy 
 whoso 
 
 svents. 
 The 
 Feast, 
 aiTJiin 
 h very 
 ir dear 
 ot now 
 d-room 
 LIS too, 
 ^sesarea 
 ■led re- 
 
 liscover 
 io;eance 
 desper- 
 utehes. 
 om the 
 ition to 
 d come 
 ey were 
 , it was 
 
 .t:t. 5j.] 
 
 THE PRISONER IN C.KSAREA. 
 
 301 
 
 
 seventy miles, and to tliose priests, who were not 
 accustomed to being disturbed at all, the jour- 
 ney could only ho disagreeable ; but Ananias, 
 the chief, had not forgotten the stinging words 
 of Paul, " Y'ou whitewjished sepulchre!" lie 
 hated, with all the venom of his wicked heart, 
 the man who had thus branded him. It was only 
 five davs, therefore, before Paul stood in th(5 
 Judgment Hall in the presence of Governor 
 Felix, and face to ftice with Ananias and the 
 other «Jews from Jerusalem. They had brought 
 with them a lawyer, Tertullus. whom they had 
 emjaffod to conduct their case in the Roman 
 court, with which they themselves n'cre not 
 thoroughly familiar. 
 
 Tertullus opened the case by preferring the 
 indictment against the prisoner in three counts, 
 namely, — that Paul was a general disturber of 
 the peace ; that he was a ringleader of the Naza- 
 rene sect ; and that he had violated the holiness 
 of the Temple. After drawing out, to some 
 length, this charge, every woi'd of which was 
 false, and havin£y flattered the o-overnor, and 
 found fault with T^ysias for hurrying the pris- 
 oner away from Jerusalem to Gesarea, he ap- 
 pealed to Ananias and his companions to confirm 
 the statement which he had made. Thev unani- 
 mously assented. It was now Paul's turn to 
 speak. A nod from Felix told him that, if he 
 
302 
 
 LIFE OF I'AIL. 
 
 [A. I). (58. 
 
 liail anything to say in sclf-clc- fence, ho niiglit 
 .say on. Paul spoke witli his aceiistomed direct- 
 ness and accuracy. Al'ter expressing iiis satis- 
 faction because lie was appealing to such a judge 
 as Felix, who had resided in the country long 
 enouirh to 1)e lamiliar with its customs and with 
 the character of his accusers, he proceeded di- 
 rectly U) refute, jmint hy [mint, the charge made 
 by Tertullus. He spoke to the governor: — 
 
 " ^lost gladly do I answer to this charge 
 before your Excellency, because I am well 
 aware of ^our long residence in this country iis 
 governor and judge. 
 
 " It is an easy matter for you to ascertain 
 that it is only twelve days since I went from this 
 city up to Jerusalem to worship. During thai 
 time no man has seen me disputing with anv 
 person, or causing any disorderly disturbance, 
 either in the Temple or in the synagogues, or 
 even in the streets. They cannot prove before 
 you the charges they bring against me. 
 
 "This, indeed, I acknowledge, that after the 
 wa}', which they call a 'sect,' I worship the 
 God of our fathers, — at the same time believing 
 everything which is written in the Law and in 
 the Prophets ; and holding a hope toward God, 
 which these also hold, that there will be a res- 
 II rection both of the just and of the unjust. In 
 this faith I endeavor always to keep a conscience 
 
LI). 58. 
 
 THK I'KISONKi: IN (M.SAUEA. 
 
 :m):\ 
 
 night 
 iroct- 
 siitis- 
 jiulge 
 ' l{)ng 
 [ with 
 ccl di- 
 niiidc 
 
 uhiirgo 
 \ well 
 iitry as 
 
 certain 
 oni this 
 ,o- Ihav 
 Ih anv 
 I'bancc, 
 ucs, or 
 before 
 
 fttr the 
 up the 
 ilieving 
 and in 
 I'd God, 
 e a res- 
 ult. In 
 iscienc'C 
 
 free from self-M('('u>»ati()n in my dealings with 
 both (iod and man. 
 
 " Now, after several years I came to .Judea to 
 bring a eoUeetion and ollerings to my people. 
 I WHS presenting my ollerings in the Temple, 
 after having submitted to tlie or«linanee of 
 purification, witii no crowd and making no 
 tunudt, when some Jews IVom Asia, who 
 ought to have; heen here l)efore you themselves 
 to make a^^cusation, if they have any tiling to 
 say against me ! Or, let th(^se mcin here say 
 detinitely of what offence they found me guilty, 
 when I stood before the Sanhedrim, unless they 
 consider an offence that one sentence which I 
 used as I stood there among them crying out : 
 ' Concerninijr the resurrection of the dead, I am 
 this day called to answer.'"' 
 
 It was impossible that such a strong, straight- 
 forward, fearless defence should not make a deep 
 impression upon Felix even. But Felix was 
 not a true Roman. lie was only an Arcadian 
 slave, steeped soft in indulgence. lie was not 
 accustomed to making decisions with reference 
 to justice, but to turning all cases so that the 
 result would l)e most favorable to himself. He 
 did not care to render an innnediate decision 
 against the Jews. l>csides, he fancied that, if 
 he held Paul as a prisoner, Paul's friends might 
 
 1 Acts xxiv. 10-21. 
 
 
304 
 
 LTFK OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.n. ns. 
 
 make up a generous ransom for his release. He 
 therefore gave no verdict, but postponed the 
 case indefinitely, saying that he would settle the 
 matter when Captain Lysias should come down. 
 Tertullus, Ananias, and his followers swept out 
 of the Judgment Hall, concealing their disap- 
 pointment under a haughty bearing : while Paul, 
 with a heavy heart, though cheered by faith in 
 his Lord, heard the indejimte j^ostponement of 
 the decision. Who could tell how long he 
 misfht be obli«>:ed to wait ? The Governor ":ave 
 ordei's that he was to be held a prisoner, though 
 with certain liberties inside the castle, — anionij 
 which was the privilege of being visited by his 
 acquaintances and friends. 
 
 It was not many days before another signifi- 
 cant incident occurred. Felix had talked with 
 his wife, Drusilla, about the remarkable Jew, 
 Paul. She, ))eing a Jewess, thought she would 
 like to see and hear him speak. Drusilla was 
 a very beautiful woman, about twenty years of 
 age. She was the sister of Agri})pa, king of 
 Trachonitis, and had lived a verv reckless and 
 wicked life, — her last act of crime being the 
 desertion of her lawful husband, the king of 
 Emesa, to ])ecome the paramour of Felix. It is 
 very remarkable that these two dissolute people 
 should want to hear Paul discourse on t^? 
 Christian faith. It may have been from mere 
 
Mr. r,'2.] 
 
 THE PRISONER IN C^KSAREA. 
 
 305 
 
 ^ave 
 
 curiosity to see one whose name was fainiliar to 
 every Jew, or, possibh', from a desire for some 
 new anmsement, which they thouufiit they misfht 
 derive from listeninsr to one who had travelled 
 far, and who was also master of the arts of elo- 
 quence. 
 
 Paul liad addressed many audiences ; but 
 never before had he been asked to in'cach his 
 Gospel to such an audience as the one before 
 him. What should the prisoner say? How 
 should he carry himself before the Governor of 
 Judea and his wife ? They were rich. He was 
 poor. They were dressed regally. He was 
 clad in the coarsest cloth. They were master 
 and mistress of the palace. He was a prisoner, 
 with a chain at his wrist. The}' were the favor- 
 ites of the emperor. He had no friends of 
 inlluence. ^ Will he not temper his message to 
 the occ{;^ion? No, no! The ambassador of 
 the King of kings stands before those two guilty 
 wretches, and at once recognizes the true rela- 
 ti\e position of himself and them. They may 
 have expected compliments or sentimentalism, 
 or at most an abstract statement ; but Paul 
 thrusts the shaft of truth to their very hearts. 
 He does not even say anything about faith here, 
 so far as we know. Felix and Drusilla needed 
 far different treatment. Righteousness, tem- 
 perance, and judgment to come, — these were 
 
B06 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 60. 
 
 the high themes, awful to this man and woman, 
 upon which Paul chose to discourse. Felix 
 shook like an aspeu under the sharp torrent 
 of rebuke, and with white and trem})ling lips he 
 dismissed the preacher : " Go, leave me for the 
 present. Some other time, when it is more 
 convenient, I will send for you again." 
 
 The weary round of days and long, long 
 months ran on. Many a night Paul must have 
 hoped that the morrow would bring some change, 
 — if not release, at least a fair trial. Why does 
 not Lysias come down from Jerusalem? Why 
 does not Felix give attention to this case ? But 
 Felix does nothing, except occasionally to send 
 for Paul to come and talk with him, hoping 
 that the Apostle, wearied out with the long 
 imprisonment, will offer a bribe for freedom. 
 Paul has no intention of purchasing liberty by 
 such an indirect method. He demands only 
 justice. It is a wearing life. Whenever he 
 moves, the chain which fastens his own right 
 hand to the left hand of his guard rattles be- 
 side him. His eyes are weary with the same 
 bare stone walls, and the coarse, sensual faces 
 of the common soldiery. His ears are tired of 
 the ril)ald jest and blasphemy. He cannot even 
 go away alone to pray. We do not know what 
 Paul's occupation was during these two years 
 of prison-life ; but we feel sure that, if there 
 
Mt. 54.] 
 
 THE PRISONER IN CiESAREA. 
 
 307 
 
 long 
 
 does 
 
 Why 
 
 But 
 
 send 
 
 '6 
 
 long 
 
 was anything he could do for the good of the 
 churches he had founded, or for the soldiers 
 who guarded him, or for the wicked occupants 
 of the palace, in a part of which he was con- 
 fined, he did not fail to do it. 
 
 One day, about two years after Paul was 
 ])rought a prisoner to Felix, there was a blood}' 
 riot in the streets of Cttsarea. A collision oc- 
 curred between the Jewish and Gentile resi- 
 dents of the city. They attacked each other 
 with brutal vengeance, each hating the other 
 with old and relentless hate. The screams of 
 the wounded and the groans of the dying may 
 have I)een heard by Paul in his prison. It was, 
 of course, the duty of the governor to quell 
 such a riot ; but histeud, Felix let loose his 
 soldiers upon the Jews, with orders t( enter 
 and pillage their houses. This crowning act 
 of cruel injustice aroused the Jews throughout 
 the province ; and a charge was made against 
 the governor, which occasioned his speedy re- 
 moval to Rome to answer for the manner in 
 which he had discharged the duties of his office. 
 Felix therefore leftOesarea ; but before he went, 
 in order, if possible, to conciliate the tTews, he 
 announced that he would not release Paul (as, 
 in all justice, he ought to have done), but that 
 he would leave him as a state criminal, to take 
 his chances under the new administration. 
 
:^o^ 
 
 LIFE OF I'AUL. 
 
 [A.D.60. 
 
 Pori'ius Festus succeodiHl lo tho governor- 
 ship of Judeji. Ho hud scarcely landed with his 
 suite at the capital, when he went up to Jerusa- 
 lem to visit that city. Among the first things 
 that occurred after his arrival there was the 
 l)rcsontation to him, hy the chief priest and the 
 leaders of the Jews, of the old charges against 
 the i)risoner at Ciesarea. Paul had not lost his 
 influence, although buried from public view. 
 Xor was he forgotten. Dear friends remembered 
 him, and his enemies relaxed neither their vigi- 
 lance nor the intensity of their hate. They 
 were still bent on killing* him. With this ob- 
 ject in view, they requested the new governor 
 to send him up to Jerusalem for trial again ])e- 
 f(^re the Sanhedrim. Festus, however, assured 
 them that Paul should be kept at Ca^sarea ; 
 but that in a few days he was going back 
 to the capital, and would then gladly attend to 
 their charges, if they would come with him 
 themselves and state them there. Eight or ten 
 days later, Festus returned to Coesarea ; and on 
 the day following his return he opened the court, 
 took his seat as judge, gave command that the 
 ])risoner be brought in, and notified the Jews 
 of his readiness to listen to them. Their com- 
 plaints were numerous and severe ; but they 
 were without proof. Paul spoke for himself. 
 His words were few, and to the point, — a 
 straightforward denial : — 
 
 
[A.n.60. 
 
 ernor- 
 ith his 
 orusa- 
 thiii<rs 
 as the 
 nd the 
 igainst 
 ost his 
 view, 
 nbered 
 r vigi- 
 They 
 his ob- 
 ivernor 
 ain l)c- 
 issured 
 3sarea ; 
 ^ back 
 end to 
 h him 
 or ten 
 md on 
 court, 
 fit the 
 Jews 
 * com- 
 t they 
 mself. 
 t, — a 
 
 .1<:t r,4.] THE PRISON RH IX f'/FSAREA. 
 
 300 
 
 
 " I have committed no offence at all, either 
 against the law of the Jews or against the 
 Temple or against Cjiesar." 
 
 Festus cared little for Paul, and wished to 
 favor the Jews if he could do so without violat- 
 ing the law. He therefore asked Paul, if he 
 were willing to go to Jerusalem for trial. Paul's * 
 reply was decided : — 
 
 "I am before Cii^sar's tribunal, where a verdict 
 ought to be given. I have done no wrong to 
 the Jews, as you perceive. If I am guilty of any 
 unlawful conduct in the past, or have committed 
 any capital crime, I do not beg off from dying ; 
 but if there are no such things as these accuse 
 me of, no one may turn me over to them. / 
 apj)€al unto Ccvsarf'^ 
 
 This was the turning-point in Paul's prison- 
 life in Ctesarea. From this moment his back is 
 turned upon Jerusalem, and his face is looking 
 toward Rome. Festus delaved the court a mo- 
 ment to consult with his legal advisers in regard 
 to the prisoner's right to apj)eal from his deci- 
 sion to that of the supreme authority at Rome. 
 Then, turninij: to Paul, he cave his decision in 
 the brief, abrupt form of the law ; " To Coesar 
 you appeal. Unto Caesar you shall go." 
 
 The court is adjourned : but with what new 
 expectations does Paul follow his guard back to 
 his prison quarters ! At last going to Rome I 
 
 i 
 
310 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 60. 
 
 i I 
 
 Not, however, a free man, at his own charges 
 and independent, to preach to the citizens of 
 Rome "the unsearchal)le riches," but a pris- 
 oner, with a chain, held fast in the meshes of 
 the law to which he had been unjustly com- 
 mitted, but from which he could not, easily 
 escape. There were other prisoners to be sent 
 to Rome. All was not ready for the ship to 
 sail. Paul must wait still longer; but he had 
 learned the o;race of waitin*?. The Lord often 
 has work for those to do who wait. 
 
 After certain days, Agrippa, the Jew, king 
 of Trachonitis, and his sister, the beautiful Ber- 
 nice, came down to Ciesarea to pay an official 
 visit of welcome to the new governor. They 
 had often been here in Felix's time on social 
 visits, for Felix and Agrippa were l)rothers-in- 
 law. During tliis visit Festus talked with 
 Agrippa about the remarkable prisoner whom 
 he was o-oinsf to send to Rome. He told him 
 how he found him there as Felix had left him; 
 how the Jews renewed their accusations against 
 him, but without any evidence of crime, — only 
 charofino^ him with certain heresies, and with 
 preaching about Jesus, who was dead ; but who, 
 they said, Paul declared was alive. He told him 
 also how, being in doubt himself about these 
 religious questions, he asked Paul if he would 
 not go to Jerusalem for trial ; but that Paul 
 
JET. ,-)«.] 
 
 THE PRISONER IN C/ESAREA. 
 
 311 
 
 thereupon appealed to Ca?sar. Agrippa was 
 interested. lie had prol)ably heard ahout Paul 
 before, and now said that he would like to hear 
 the man himself. "Very well," said Festus ; 
 "to-morrow you shall hear him." 
 
 '' To-morrow " was a remarkable day. Festus 
 knew how fond Agrippa and Bernice were of 
 ostentatious display. He arranged, according- 
 ly, that there should be a ])rilliant assemblage. 
 The Praitorian Hall was prepared. The chief 
 officers of the army were ordered to ))e in at- 
 tendance. The most fashionable and wealthy 
 citizens of Ciesarea were invited. Agrippa, 
 undoubtedly, was arrayed in the purple robes 
 which were the syml^ol of his kingly rank, and 
 Bernice sparkled with jewels. He wore a 
 crown, and her forehead, too, was pressed with 
 the golden circlet, for the pleasure of wearing 
 which she had thrown away the virtues of sis- 
 terhood, and nad consented to be her brother's 
 wife. Their attendants were numerous, and 
 gorgeously dressed. When this magnificent 
 company was seated, at a gesture from Festus, 
 there came in " the poor, worn, shackled pris- 
 oner, pale with sickness and long imprison- 
 ment." ^ 
 
 Every eye was centred upon the prisoner. 
 It was to hear him plead his own cause, as well 
 
 1 Farrar: " St. Paul" ll. 354. 
 
312 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 60. 
 
 ) !v 'i 
 
 i I', , ,t , 
 
 'I I 
 
 i t- 
 
 •i!^ 
 
 1 
 
 l:i 
 
 as to pay court to the king, that all these cligni- 
 taries had assoinblcd. Fcstus introduced the 
 proceedings and the prisoner: " King Agrippa 
 and all who are here present : You see this man, 
 who all the Jews say ought not to live. I have 
 not been al)le to find that he has committed any 
 crime deserving death ; but, since he has ap- 
 pealed unto CoBsar, T have decided to send him. 
 Still, I have nothing definite to write to the 
 Emperor in regard to him. It was on this ac- 
 count, therefore, that I have summoned him to 
 appear before you, — especially before you. King 
 Agrippa, that, after an examination, I might have 
 something to write ; for it seems to me unrea- 
 sonable to send a prisoner without stating the 
 charges preferred against him." Festus fin- 
 ished speaking, and Agrippa, without any addi- 
 tional words, told Paul that he might now speak 
 for himself. This would have been a very gra- 
 cious act if Paul had been an ordinary criminal ; 
 but as it was, the graciousness was all on Paul's 
 part. Though worn and impatient with prison- 
 life and Ions: delay ; thouiifh brouijht here into 
 this assemblage to gratify the curiosity of this 
 low-lived king, w^ho Avas a stranger, both by 
 birth and position, to virtue and honor ; though 
 surrounded by the glitter and i)omp of riches 
 and power, and invited to " speak for himself," — 
 yet he does not forget that he is an Apostle of 
 
[A.D. 60. 
 
 ! digni- 
 •ed the 
 Lgrippa 
 is man, 
 
 I have 
 :ed any 
 has ap- 
 [id him. 
 
 to tho 
 this ac- 
 him to 
 UjKing 
 Tht have 
 ! unrea- 
 ;ing the 
 tus lin- 
 ly addi- 
 w speak 
 ery gra- 
 riminal ; 
 n Paul's 
 1 prison- 
 ore into 
 \[ of this 
 both by 
 
 though 
 if riches 
 iself,"— 
 lostle of 
 
 
 Mi. r.1.1 
 
 TTli: nilSONER IN r.ESAREA. 
 
 at 3 
 
 the Lord Jesus, and that he has something to 
 say to this company of men and women, of 
 greater importance than any mere self-defence, 
 lie do<?s defend himself; but at the same time 
 he speaks of his Lord and Saviour. After ex- 
 pressing his pleasure at being permitted to speak 
 before the king, — especially because, the king 
 himself being a Jew, could understand liis posi- 
 tion, he proceeded to give a detailed story of his 
 life ; of his education as a Pharisee and his 
 zealous persecution of the Christians ; of his 
 conversion and sul)scqucnt ministry of preach- 
 ing to the Gentiles that they ought to repent 
 and turn to God. "For these causes," he con- 
 tinued, "the Jews seized me in the Temple, and 
 tried to kill me. But God being my helper, I 
 still live, as a witness to small and great, saying 
 nothing but what Moses and the Prophets fore- 
 told, — namely, that Christ should suffer; that 
 He should ])e the iirst to rise from the dead ; and 
 that lie should reveal light to the people, even 
 to the Gentiles." 
 
 All listened attentively until Paul spoke of 
 the resurrection of Jesus. This seemed absurd 
 and foolish; and Festus, interrupting the im- 
 petuous stream of the Apostle's eloquence, ex- 
 claimed, "You arc insane, Paul I You have 
 studied so nuicli tliat it has turned vour head." 
 
 "I am not insane, most no])le Festus, but 
 
 ■ 
 
 if 
 
314 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 60. 
 
 m 
 
 
 :! I 
 
 speak words of truth and sol)orncss. The king 
 knows about these matters. Therefore I speak 
 freely in his presence ; for I am sure that none 
 of these things are unknown to hiin. This 
 thing was not done in a corner. KingAgrippa, 
 do you believe the Prophets ? I know that you 
 believe them." 
 
 This direct appeal to Agrippa surprised him. 
 At any other time he would have admitted at 
 once that he believed the Prophets ; but he 
 feared what Paul's next (luestion might be. If 
 he admitted that he believed the Prophets, the 
 prisoner's relentless logic might insist that the 
 Prophets then pointed directly to Christ. He 
 had wit enough to evade the whole matter with 
 an aml)iguous jest. " A little more, and you 
 Avill persuade me to become a Christian ! " No 
 wonder if a half-suppressed laugh ran over the 
 assem1)ly of gay infidels and hard-headed aris- 
 tocrats at the notion of this Agrippa becoming 
 a Christian, like the prisoner before them. But, 
 as Paul was courteous in his reply to Festus, 
 so is he the true man, earnest yet undisturbed, 
 in what he says to Agrippa. He took the 
 king's word at its best, and said : — 
 
 " Ah ! I could pray to God that sooner or 
 later, not only you, but also all these who hear 
 me to-day, wore such as I am, except" — and 
 he lifted, as high as he could, the arm which 
 
■ 
 
 \.D. 60. 
 
 king 
 speak 
 
 none 
 
 This 
 I'ippa, 
 it you 
 
 [ liim. 
 ted at 
 lut he 
 e. If 
 ts, the 
 lat the 
 D. He 
 »r with 
 id you 
 No 
 ^cr the 
 aris- 
 coming 
 But, 
 ^estiis, 
 turbed, 
 ok the 
 
 JET. 54.] 
 
 THE nilSONER AT CifiSAREA. 
 
 315 
 
 was fastened to the ever-present soldier — "ex- 
 cept these chains." 
 
 Perhaps some hearts were touched at such 
 a pathetic scene, — a courteous okl man, a pris- 
 oner with a cliaiii, so manifestly grateful to God 
 that ho is a Christian, so earnestly trying to 
 persuade the king, not to intercede in his behalf 
 with the emperor, but to seek for himself, on 
 account of his many sins, the intercession of 
 the Lord Jesus. 
 
 The assembly broke up, and, as Festus and 
 Agrippa talked the matter over in private, they 
 were agreed that Paul was guilty of no capital 
 crime ; and Agrippa even said that, if Paul had 
 not already appealed to Caesar, he might be set 
 at liberty. It was too late, however; for the 
 governor's verdict had already been given : 
 " Unto Caesar you shall go." 
 
 mer or 
 10 hear 
 — and 
 which 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 THE VOYAGE AND SHIPWRECK. 
 
 " Go ns some ship, outworn and overladen, 
 Strains for the iiarbor where her sails are furled." 
 
 F W. H. Myers. 
 
 " Thoujrh the strained mast should quiver as a reed, 
 And the rent canvas, flutterin<,', strew the gale, 
 Still must I on ; for I am as a weed, 
 Flung from the rock, on ocean's foam to sail 
 Where 'cr the surge may sweep, the tempests' breath 
 prevail." — Byron. 
 
 THE summer winds from the sea blew out of 
 the west straight into the harbor of Ceesa- 
 rea. They were cooling and refreshing to the 
 heated city. Paul was tired of the long wait- 
 ing. We can imajyine the feelino- of relief which 
 he experienced, when at last he heard that 
 there was a vessel ready to take him and the 
 other prisoners who were to go to Rome away 
 from the bloody walls of the prison in the Hero- 
 dian palace. 
 
 The ship belonged in Adramyttium, away up 
 
 on the east side of the JEscean sea, a little south 
 
 of Troas. She was on her homeward voyage, 
 
 and could take passengers some distance on their 
 
 316 
 
JE.I. W.] 
 
 THE VOYAUK AND snil'WKECK. 
 
 317 
 
 wav toward Rome. Orders haviuii- been "ivc 
 
 n 
 
 RS. 
 
 breath 
 
 )Ut of 
 
 Csesa- 
 o the 
 wait- 
 
 which 
 that 
 
 nd the 
 away 
 Hero- 
 
 ivay up 
 ! south 
 oyage, 
 wow their 
 
 for th 
 
 il of th 
 
 tor the reiuov.il ol llie prisoners, tlie}' are taken 
 on l)oard. An oflieer by the name of .lulius, a 
 centurion of Auniistus' hand,' witli a suflieient 
 body of soldiers, is put in eharire of this com- 
 pany of captives, to be responsil)k; for their safe 
 delivery in the " Kternal Cit}."' This .Iidius was 
 a man of marked kin(biess and courtesy. The 
 prisoners fared as well at his hands as they 
 could well exi)e(t to. His treatment of Paul 
 at least was considerate. 
 
 Aristarchus, the disciple who came with Paul 
 from Thessalonica to Judea more than two years 
 before, is still with him, probably a prisoner like 
 his great teacher and friend. Luke, too, — the 
 physician and the writer of the story of Paul's 
 life, — accompanies him on the voyage. 
 
 Weijrhinff anchor from Ciesarea the well-laden 
 ship takes her course northward along the Phoe- 
 nician coast, under the promontory of Carmel, 
 past Ptolemais and Tyre, until her anchors are 
 dropped again into the clear, blue waters before 
 the busy port of Sidon. Here she touched^ 
 possibly to discharge part of her cargo. Paul 
 was permitted to go ashore "to refresh himself." 
 It is quite probable that the miserable prison- 
 
 1 "It has been supposed that this band was a company of the 
 praetoriaii pnard, which may liavo l)pcn recently scut as an escort 
 with A<jiippa from Rome, ami wa« now under orders to return." — 
 Mbrivale : " St. Paul ut Rome," p. 49. 
 
 
 . 
 
, i . 'V- «-i»li , 
 
 3*^' fl 
 
 M 
 
 tw 
 
 
 [ ' . 
 
 ;m8 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 60. 
 
 life of the last two years, and the violent change 
 from that to the hold of a ship, rolling along 
 the coast under a westorl^^ wind, produced their 
 naturally bad results upon him. There were 
 Christians at Sidon, however, who would be 
 only too glad to do anything for the relief of 
 this servant of God. 
 
 It was only for a few hours, though. Again 
 they Jire all aboard, and this time the prow is 
 turned toAvard the open sea. If you will look 
 at the map, you will notice that the most direct 
 course from Sidon to the ^Egean, to which this 
 ship of Adramyttium was going, lies just south 
 of Cyprus. Luke tells us, however,' that "the 
 winds were contrary." Now we know that the 
 prevailing wind in the Mediterranean at this 
 season of the year is from the northwest, which 
 would have been tdmost dead ahead. The 
 straighter course, therefore, on this account was 
 to be avoidod. Besides, by sailing northward 
 to the east of Cyprus, the vessel would soon 
 strike, upon the southern shore of Asia Minor, 
 the current which runs strongly westward. Ac- 
 cordingly, we see them making their way through 
 the sea of Cilicia and Pamphylia, between 
 Cyprus and the mainland on the north, and 
 running up to I\Iyra. 
 
 Here they left the ship. Whether it was the 
 
 1 Acts xxvii. 4. 
 
A'A'. M.] 
 
 THE VOYAGE AND SHIPWKECK. 
 
 Mi) 
 
 was 
 
 the 
 
 on'o^iii.'il intention of Julius to have jione all tlie 
 way to Adraniyttiuni, and from there crossing 
 to Xeapolis, to have made the journey with his 
 prisoners hy land through Macedonia, we are 
 not informed. At Myra there was a grain- 
 vessel from Kgypt on her way to Italy. She had 
 prol;a!)ly been driven into this port under stress 
 of weather ; but she was now ready to continue 
 her voyage. Julius thought this a fortunate 
 opportunity, and engaged passage for his whole 
 troop of prisoner.^ and guards. 
 
 The grain-ships which ran from Alexandria to 
 the ports of Italy were the largest vessels at 
 that time. In addition to her cargo, this vessel 
 could accommodate at least two hundred and 
 seventy-six persons.^ She was, however, m all 
 proba])ility, but a clumsy tub in comparison 
 with the beautiful ships of our time. Naviga- 
 tion, too, was an unknown science in those days. 
 The sailor had neither charts nor compass. If 
 the day was fine and the night clear, and the 
 wind steady and fair, he could pick his way 
 across the ^Icditerranean ; but if the sun were 
 hid or the winds unfavorable, he was safe only 
 when in sight of land. 
 
 Whatever comforts the other passengers may 
 have enjoyed on shipboard, we are sure that the 
 prisoners would be stowed away in the most 
 
 1 Acts xxvii. 37. 
 
 1 
 
 
820 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 60. 
 
 wrelt'lied hole unoccui)iod by the cargo or the 
 crew. We have seen Ptiul in no such unpleasant 
 surroundings as these, although we have visited 
 him in the dungeon at Philippi and at the whip- 
 ping-post in the castle Antonia. The fetid hold 
 of this grain-ship, tuml)ling Ibv months through 
 the cold, storm-lashed billows of the ^Nlediterra- 
 nean ; the vulgarity and profanity of the crimi- 
 nals with whom he is lierded ; the ever-present 
 soldier, and the chain wliicli clanks at every 
 movement from the i)risoner's wrist, — must have 
 been very hard for the sensitive nature of such 
 a man as Paul. But we can readily believe 
 that even in these circumstances he thought less 
 about himself than about the condition, physical 
 and si)iritual, of those around him. His greatest 
 anxiety was, not his own comfort, nor whether 
 the ship should go to the bottom, but what waa 
 to become of the churches he had planted, and 
 who, if he failed, would preach the Gospel in 
 Rome. 
 
 Leaving ^lyra, they beat along under the 
 lee of the shore against a strong; head-wind 
 nearly a hundred and fifty miles to the island of 
 Cnidus. It would seem as if the captain in- 
 tended to make his way across the mouth of 
 the ^Egean to the southern extremity of Greece ; 
 but the wind, still blowing from the northwest 
 with great severity, he did not dare to venture 
 
 I HI 
 
XT.5i.] THE VOYAGE AND SHIPWRECK. 
 
 321 
 
 •9 
 
 out among the small islands and reefs which, he 
 knew very well, it would be almost impossible 
 to escape. Finding no safe anchorage, there- 
 fore, at Cnidus he determined to strike almost 
 directly south to Crete, on the south side of 
 which there was a safe harbor, protected from 
 the northern gales. Bounding along with a 
 whistling wind behind them, they fetch Salmone, 
 the eastern promontory of Crete, passing around 
 which they again work to windward, until they 
 reach "the Fair Havens," — "the farthest point 
 to which an ancient ship could have attained 
 with northwesterly winds." ' 
 
 We are interested in this ship, because she 
 carries Paul. If Paul were safely on shore, we 
 would not care to follow her fortunes ; but, as 
 it is, we are anxious for her, lying in this poorly 
 protected harbor, so fur from her destination, 
 and "with the season of safe navigation just 
 closing. Day after day passes while the cap- 
 tain watches the clouds and feels of the wind, 
 hoping that before a severer storm breaks, the 
 wind may shift and allow him to continue his 
 voyage. But the season is advancing with un- 
 faltering rapidity. The close of September is 
 upon them, and they arc still wind-bound. All 
 hope of seeing Rome before winter is now at an 
 end. But they must get away from Fair Havens 
 
 1 Smith's " Voyage aail Shipwreck of St. Paul," p. 77. 
 
322 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 60. 
 
 li:^ ' 
 
 i • . 
 
 t;: ■ 
 
 if possible. About forty miles farther to the 
 west, on the southern coast of Crete, is the safe 
 port of Phoenix. This they are anxious to 
 reach. 
 
 The Fast,^ or Day of Atonement, which every 
 Jew on board the ship, whethe? sailor, pas- 
 senger, or prisoner, would remember and very 
 likely observe, passed by. It occurred on the 
 24th of September. Five days later was the 
 joyous Festival of Tabernacles. It was certainly 
 time for every vessel to be safely harbored for 
 the winter. The captain and owner, however, 
 could not abandon the hope of yet getting away 
 from this poorly-protected port. It appears as 
 if they held a council composed of the officers 
 of the ship and the centurion, and that Paul also 
 was present. We do not know by what stretch 
 of courtesy in their extreme anxiety these men 
 permitted Paul, the prisoner, to express his 
 opinion. Perhaps the real greatness of his 
 character, and the fact of his piist experiences 
 on the sea (for he had been three times ship- 
 wrecked) ,2 commanded the respect of those in a 
 superior position. He advised them by all 
 means to take the lesser risk, and stay at Fair 
 Havens. 
 
 " Gentlemen," he said, " I am sure that this 
 voyage will result not only in injury and dam- 
 
 (iMl 
 
 > Acts xxvii. 9. 
 
 « 2 Cor. ii. 25. 
 
^-s 
 
 ^T. rA,] 
 
 THE VOYAGE AND SHIPWRECK. 
 
 323 
 
 . 
 
 icers 
 also 
 etch 
 men 
 his 
 his 
 noes 
 ship- 
 in a 
 all 
 Fair 
 
 this 
 Idam- 
 
 
 age to the cargo and the ship, hut also in peril 
 to our lives." 
 
 But the centurion, however nuich he respected 
 Paul, had more confidence in the judgment of 
 the captain and the owner, both of whom were 
 on board, and were no doubt experienced sea- 
 men. The result was, that the majority advised 
 to be ready with the first favorable change of 
 wind to leave Fair Havens and make around 
 Cape Matala to Port PhaMiix. 
 
 They were not obliged to wait many days. 
 The wind veered round and blew softly from the 
 south. With this breeze they could with per- 
 fect safety round the cape. All was stir on 
 deck. The officers and crew, disheartened be- 
 fore with the prospect of wintering at Fair 
 Havens, were now hopeful and merry with the 
 anticipation of being, in a few hours, in the 
 quiet harbor of Port Phoenix. But south winds 
 in October are not to be relied upon. That was 
 a treacherous breeze that lured the vessel aw^ay 
 from her moorings. Scarcely had she come off 
 Cape Matala and looked across to the coveted, 
 port, when the wind fell away, and an ominous 
 flapping of the sails made every face on deck 
 look serious. Dark clouds came up the sky 
 behind the hills of Crete, and threw their 
 gloomy shadows over the blnck waters. That 
 weird stillness, which is the precursor of furious 
 
324 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 60. 
 
 liij 
 
 itl, 
 
 :■ ■' 'I 
 
 ^ m 
 
 \i< 
 
 storms, hung over land and sea. The waves 
 crouched trenil^ling for very fear of the hish of 
 the typhoon. The storm came on. The sail- 
 ors could see it sweeping down from the hills, 
 throwing before it clouds of dust and dry au- 
 tumn leaves, and soon they felt it driving its 
 great rain-drops sharp into their faces. It was 
 only a moment. There was no time to furl the 
 clumsy sail, nor take up the boat, which had 
 been towed astern. The sailor's terror, the 
 merciless euraquilo,^ was upon them. All 
 hope of running into Port Phoenix in the face 
 of such a hurricane was at once abandoned. 
 No ship, much less the Alexandrian corn-ship, 
 could face that tempest. There was only one 
 thing to be done, and that was to turn her heel 
 to the storm and scud before it. 
 
 Twenty-three miles to leeward lay the little 
 island of Clauda. To this the ship was headed, 
 and the gale was driving her on thi'ough the roar- 
 ing sea with tremendous speed. Running under 
 the lee of the island, they hove-to, and with all 
 the alacrity of which the frightened sailors were 
 capable, took in part of their sail, hoisted the 
 boat, and, to prepare the vessel to resist the 
 
 1 The euraqnilo was a fierce east-north-easter. The translation 
 '* euroclydon," in tlic Authorized Version is incorrect. Indeed, 
 the translation of the entire account of the shipwreck is very im- 
 perfect. The Revised Version is a great improvement, and ouglit 
 to be read in this cotiuection. 
 
.D. 60. 
 
 ^aves 
 ihof 
 sail- 
 hills, 
 y au- 
 
 lor its 
 
 b was 
 rl the 
 h had 
 r, the 
 All 
 le face 
 doned. 
 ii-ship, 
 ily one 
 r heel 
 
 le little 
 leaded, 
 le roar- 
 under 
 [vith all 
 IS were 
 Ited the 
 jist the 
 
 Itranslation 
 Indeed, 
 lis very im- 
 laud ought 
 
 ^T. 
 
 THE VOYAGE AND SHIPWRECK. 
 
 325 
 
 furious storm, undergirded her with stout 
 cables.* 
 
 It was not safe to turn the vessel's prow to 
 the west again, and let her drive before the gale ; 
 for she would in this way inevitaljl}' be stranded 
 upon the sand-bars of Northern Africa. The 
 only other thing was to let her lie-to with her 
 head pretty well up to the wind. In this posi- 
 tion she would drift, almost entirely at the 
 mercy of the storm. 
 
 The night settles down, and the helpless ship 
 — freighted with Egyptian wheat for the ovens 
 of Rome, and with two hundred and seventy-six 
 men, one of whom carries in his heart and mind 
 a seed, which, dropped in the world's metropolis, 
 will bring forth a harvest of eternal life — is 
 dri/en on through a hissing sea to an unknown 
 fate. 
 
 The next morning the light crawled heavily 
 up from the east, and the tempest was unabated. 
 The vessel labored. To relieve her, part of the 
 cargo was thrown overboard. 
 
 The third day came ; but the fury of the 
 euraquilo still smote the trembling ship. She 
 
 1 To undergird " ia to pass four or five turns of a large cable- 
 laid rupe round the hull or frame of a ship, to support her in a 
 great storm, or otlierwise, when it is apprehended that she is not 
 strong enough to resist the violent efforts of tlie sea." — Quoted 
 from "Falconer's Marine Dictionary," by Smith : "Shipwreck," 
 p. 108. 
 

 i 
 
 326 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 60. 
 
 hH 
 
 must ride more lightly or be 1)roken and go 
 down. The}' threw over, therefore, " the tack- 
 ling," — very likely the main-yard, with all its 
 rigging. The prospect now is gloom\ enough. 
 Upon a dismantled ship, over which the sea is 
 incessantly breaking from stem to stern, with 
 no certainty as to her position, and little hope 
 of ever seeing land again, no wonder that no 
 one cared to eat. There was one on board, 
 however, whose faith triumphed amidst these 
 most perilous surroundings. It was for that 
 little, aged, pale, and weary Jew, that pris- 
 oner who, if he should escape from the fury of 
 the storm, was only to fall into the bloody 
 hands of Nero, to stand out during those sun- 
 less days and starless nights, when the tempest 
 lay heavy upon the doomed ship, and speak a 
 true, manly. Christian word of good cheer and 
 hope. He reminded them all that it would have 
 been l)etter if they had followed his advice to 
 remain at Fair Havens, and then assured them 
 that no harm would come to any one, though 
 the ship would be lost ; " for," he continued, 
 "there stood by me this night an angel of God, 
 whose I am, whom also I serve, saying fear 
 not, Paul : thou must stand before Ctesar, and 
 lo ! God hath granted thee all them that sail 
 v/ith thee. Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer ; 
 for I believe God that it shall come to pass just 
 
 I 
 
Mr. 54.] 
 
 THE VOYAGE AND SHU'WRECK. 
 
 327 
 
 g« 
 
 as has been told me. How])eit we must be cast 
 away upon a certain island." 
 
 For two long weeks the strained and creaking 
 ship tumbled across the rolling sea. The storm 
 may have gone down somewhat, Init the sea was 
 very heavy. About midnight of the fourteenth 
 day, the men on the lookout thought they de- 
 tected the peculiar roar of l)reakers. Imme- 
 diately the lead was thrown, and to their 
 surprise they discovered that there were only 
 twenty fathoms (one hundred and twenty feet) 
 of water. This indicated that land might be 
 near. In a little while they sounded again. 
 They had only fifteen fathoms. They were evi- 
 dently running upon some shore ; and a stormy 
 shore at midnight is certain destruction and 
 death. It was with all possible promptness, 
 therefore, that they dropped four anchors astern, 
 and brought their weather-beaten craft to a 
 stand. 
 
 Impatiently now they waited and longed for 
 the dawn. Everybody was aroused. The sail- 
 ors, afraid that the ship might go to pieces be- 
 fore morning, — under pretext of carrying an- 
 chors out from the bow, — attempted to lower 
 the boat, intending, when they struck the water, 
 to make for the shore. Paul detected their in- 
 tention, and at once informed the centurion and 
 his soldiers. "Except these sailors remain in 
 
 'u 
 
328 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 60. 
 
 ♦H ■ P. 
 
 ll'rM 
 
 ^1 
 
 the ship, you cannot be saved." Immediately 
 the soldiers severed the ropes by which the boat 
 hung at the ship's side, and let it tumble into 
 the sea. 
 
 Slowly to these anxious people the night 
 wore on. They were cold and hungry. They 
 had fasted many days. The most self-possessed 
 and the calmest man of them all was Paul. He 
 knew that when daylight came every man of 
 them would need to be at his best in order to get 
 safely ashore. He urged them, therefore, to eat ; 
 and set the example by taking bread, returning 
 thanks to the Giver of all good things, and 
 commencing himself. All were cheered, and 
 bread passed from hand to hand, until every 
 one was satisfied. With a will, then, they 
 went to work again upon the cargo, emptying 
 into the sea basket after basket of that good 
 wheat from the Nile valley. 
 
 At last daylight came ; but no one on board 
 recognized the shore. They were close to the 
 land, however, and just before them was a bay,^ 
 wind-swept, though, — for it lay open to the 
 northeast. Into this bay they decided to run 
 the ship and beach her. The small sail (the only 
 one left after the hurricane) was hoisted, the lash- 
 ings which fastened the rudders were unloosed, 
 the hawsers were cut, leavino- the anchors f which 
 
 » The present " St. Paul's Bay." 
 
 • A. 
 
[A.D. 60. 
 
 Mr. 54.1 
 
 THE VOYAGE AND SIIirWKECK. 
 
 331 
 
 liiitely 
 le boat 
 ie into 
 
 night 
 They 
 jsessed 
 I. He 
 nan of 
 L' to get 
 to eat ; 
 urning 
 ;s, and 
 d, and 
 every 
 I, they 
 iptying 
 t good 
 
 board 
 to the 
 a bay/ 
 to the 
 to run 
 le only 
 le lash- 
 loosed, 
 (which 
 
 it would hjive been impo.ssil)le to lift out of Iho 
 clay where they were bedded), and the ship was 
 run upon the clayey beach. The bov; stuck fast ; 
 but the breakers pounding with tremendous force 
 against the stern stove it in, and were likely, in 
 a very little while, to scatter the whole of the 
 shattered hulk along the shore. There was the 
 utmost confusion. Some leaped overboard and 
 swam ashore ; but the soldiers were too familiar 
 with the unyielding severity of Roman military 
 discipline to abandon their post of duty, even 
 to save their lives. Each one was responsible 
 for a prisoner, for whom, if he allowed him to 
 escape, he nmst answer with his own life. 
 Therefore, in the panic which accompanied the 
 breaking up of the wreck, the soldiers clamored 
 for an order from their centurion to kill the 
 prisoners; but Julius had no heart to stain the 
 deck of a stranded vessel with the blood of men 
 who had not ^et been tried for the crimes for 
 which they wave under arrest. Especially would 
 he spare the man Paul. He silenced the de- 
 mand of his men ; and, instead of permitting 
 such an act of barbarity, assumed the responsi- 
 bility of releasing every prisoner, and first 
 commanded those that could swim to jump into 
 the breakers and iret to the shore ; while tlie rest 
 must help themselves as best they could with 
 broken frairments of the wreck. 
 
 !i ' 
 
 i ■ 
 
 J 
 
• I 
 
 ijil 
 
 1 I 
 
 332 
 
 LIFE OF TAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 60. 
 
 Drciichud, shaking, and breathless, one hy one 
 they were carried in on the rolling surf, until 
 every one of the two hundred and seventy-six 
 soldiers, sailors, prisoners, and passengers stood 
 together on the 1)each. The rude natives of the 
 island, who had dou])tlcss ol)served the vessel 
 coming ashore, and had witnessed the struggles 
 of the shipwrecked voyagers in reaching the 
 land, gathered around them with offers of such 
 hospitality as they possessed. They called their 
 island Melita or Malta. There was no house in 
 the vicinity of the wreck, if indeed there was a 
 house within several miles large enough to ac- 
 commodate all these strangers. But they were 
 shivering in th dr drenched clothing, and a c 'd 
 rain was falling. Already the people of 
 island have kindled a tire. Paul was busy, with 
 others, gathering such brushwood and roots as 
 ■were lying about, and heaping them on the 
 blaze, when a viper, which in the cold had 
 prol)ably crept into the cavity of some half- 
 decayed root or limb, aroused by the flame, 
 darted out and fastened itself to his hand. The 
 superstitious natives ^vere amazed ; and falling 
 back, whispered among themselves that this 
 man, one of the prisoners, Avas no doubt a mur- 
 derer, who, although he had escaped from the 
 wreck, was overtaken by vengeance when he 
 least expected it. And although Paul shook 
 
[A.D. 60. 
 
 ^r. 5J. 
 
 THE VOYAfJi: AND SIIIPWIIKCK. 
 
 333 
 
 ])y Olio 
 f, until 
 iiily-six 
 L-s stood 
 s of the 
 3 vessel 
 :i'uggles 
 ling the 
 of such 
 led their 
 house in 
 re was a 
 h to ac- 
 ley were 
 d a c M 
 
 of 
 sy, with 
 roots as 
 on the 
 [old had 
 le half- 
 flame, 
 The 
 \\ falling 
 lat this 
 It a mur- 
 irom the 
 Uhen he 
 ll shook 
 
 the creature oil" into the tiro without feeling any 
 bite or sting, still they kept a sharp eye upon 
 him, expecting that the hand and arm would 
 swell, or that he would suddenly drop dead. 
 They watched in vain. The viper had not in- 
 jured him at all. When they were sure of 
 this, they were as enthusiastic in their admira- 
 tion as they had ))een (juick in their suspicion, 
 and said that Paul must surely be a god. 
 
 It woiihl have been impracticable to leave 
 Malta during* the winter. For the next three 
 months, — November, December, and January, 
 
 — therefore, the storm-bound mariners must 
 make the l)cst of their surroundings. Five or 
 six miles from the place where the vessel was 
 lost, Publius, the governor of the island, resided. 
 This man, l)eing of hospitable disposition, sent 
 an invitation for the entire company to come 
 to his town, and provided accommodations for 
 them for three da^^s. The aged father of the 
 governor was very sick. We wonder if Luke 
 
 — w^ho, it must be remembered, was still with 
 Paul, and who was a physician — would not 
 be asked to see the sick man. Luke does not 
 speak of himself, however, but ne docs say that 
 Paul went to the side of the old man's bed, put 
 his hands on him, prayed, and healed him. 
 When it was known that Paul could heal the 
 sick, the people came from all parts of the 
 

 334 
 
 LIFE OF PAXJL. 
 
 [A.D. 61. 
 
 i\t 
 
 island, beseeching him to heal them also. This 
 he was ready to do, and in turn the people con- 
 ferred marked attention and kindness upon Paul 
 and his friends. 
 
 During those tlu'ce winter months, undoubt- 
 edly, Paul preached C'lirist to the idolaters of 
 Malta; and, from the fact that at the time of 
 departure, the people loaded them with such 
 things as they needed for the remainder of the 
 voyage to Rome, we may believe that the Gospel 
 wi.,s received by many who heard it that winter. 
 
 Spring comes early in the Mediterranean. 
 Navigation was open, the storm-tossed sea was 
 at peace again, early in February. The Castor 
 and Pollux — another Alexandrian ship, more 
 fortunate than the vessel which, driven by the 
 gale, was stranded on the north side of Malta 
 — had wintered in the snug harbor of Valetta. 
 She was now waiting to proceed to Rome with 
 the first available wind. Julius engaged pas- 
 sage on her for his soldiers and prisoners. The 
 tirst day out from Valetta would bring them to 
 the shore of Sicily, directly north from Malta. 
 Here, apparently, they met a head-wind, and 
 were obliofed to run into Svracuse and wait 
 three days. The wind still being unfavorable, 
 they sailed by a circuitous route into the mouvh 
 of the straits of Messina, and, not being able to 
 pass the straits, dropped anchor in the harbor 
 
,D. 61. 
 
 JEr. 55.] 
 
 THE VOYAGE AND SHIPWRECK. 
 
 335 
 
 This 
 con- 
 Paul 
 
 oubt- 
 rs of 
 lie of 
 such 
 )f the 
 lospel 
 inter, 
 mean. 
 3a "vvas 
 Castor 
 more 
 3y the 
 Malta 
 aletta. 
 e with 
 d pas- 
 The 
 em to 
 iMalta. 
 and 
 wait 
 rable, 
 mouth 
 ble to 
 Iharbor 
 
 of Rhemum. The next day was fine. The 
 wind came in from the south. The clouds flew 
 away. The sunlight fell upon the peaks — not 
 far away — of smoking yEtna and blazing Strom- 
 boli. It was a pleasant run through the straits, 
 along the shore of Italy, to the charming bay of 
 Naples, where, — 
 
 " Not a grove, 
 Citron or pine or cedar, not a grot 
 Sea-worn and mantled with the gadding vine. 
 But hreathes enchantment. Not a cliff but flings 
 On the clear wave some image of delight, 
 Some cabin-roof glowing with crimson flowers, 
 Some ruined temple or fallen monument, 
 To muse on as the bark is gliding by." • 
 
 1 Samuel Rogers : «' Italy." 
 
 \ 
 
! 
 
 m 
 
 ',■; 
 
 ■i 
 ■( 
 
 ■a 
 ■J 
 
 ;■ < 
 
 •I! 
 
 I !■■' 
 
 ft'" 
 
 rr,f 
 
 I 
 
 H'lji 
 
 t I ■'' l! 
 
 Ki' ' P 
 
 n 
 
 * is 
 
 I '' 
 
 I 
 
 5 
 
 m m 
 
 till 
 
 Hi 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 THE PRISONER AT ROME. 
 
 " I must also see Rome." — Acts xix. 21. 
 
 " I am in Rome ! Oft as the morning ray 
 Visits these eyes, waking at once I ciy, 
 Whence this excess of joy ? What has befallen me ? 
 And from within a thrilling voice replies, 
 Thou art in Rome ! " — Rogers. 
 
 PAUL will soon be in the capital of the 
 world, the largest, richest, and most splen- 
 didly ornamented city of the first century. In 
 its external aspect the magnificence of Rome 
 would have compared favorably ^vith that of 
 modern Paris. It was not a city of temples 
 and statues like Athens ; but rather a city of 
 avenues and arches, theatres, baths, and palaces. 
 Augustus, during a long and prosperous rule of 
 nearly half a century, had rebuilt Rome, — 
 " having found a city of brick, and left one of 
 marble in its stead." 
 
 The population of the city of Rome at this 
 time is estimated to have been about two mil- 
 lions. Half of these were freemen, only a small 
 proportion of whom, however, were native Ro- 
 niMus. Even the freemen were largely foreign- 
 ers, who had secured, in one way and another, 
 836 
 
Mt. 56.] 
 
 THE PRISONER AT ROME. 
 
 337 
 
 le? 
 
 of the 
 : splen- 
 •y. In 
 Rome 
 bat of 
 emples 
 city of 
 alaces. 
 rule of 
 me, — 
 one of 
 
 at this 
 ^vo mil- 
 la small 
 ive Ro- 
 Foreign- 
 Inother, 
 
 the freedom of the state. The other half of the 
 population was composed entirely of slaves. 
 
 Slavery was the poison and curse of Rome. 
 The slave was a mere chattel. His master pur- 
 chased him at the lowest figure, allowed him no 
 personal rights at all, used him for any service 
 which he pleased, scourged him if he was disobe- 
 dient or unfortunate, killed him if he pleased, 
 or if the slave was old and worthless, drove 
 him into the street to beg or starve. Slaves 
 were cheap. Rich people owned thousands. As 
 many as twenty thousand shives belonged to a 
 single owner ; and ten was the smallest possible 
 number that a person of respectability could 
 think of keeping in attendance. One of the 
 worst features of slavery was that there were so 
 many female slaves. Young girls from every 
 part of the world, selected for their attractive- 
 ness of form and features, were brought in 
 hordes to Rome to be the slaves of rich men, 
 until ruined and made vicious and reckless, they 
 were thrown into the streets to deepen the terri- 
 ble corruption of the city's morals. "Horrors 
 such as only the most depraved imagination could 
 conceive were made possible through slavery." ^ 
 
 Religion of every kind was at its lowest ebb 
 in Rome. It was practically an irreligious city. 
 
 1 For a full account of slavery itf Rome, sec Dijllinger, "The 
 Geutile aud the Jew," i : 259-277 ; Brace, " (jicsta C'hristi," 41-70. 
 
338 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 6t. 
 
 / 1'! il. 
 
 ''m 
 
 
 There were, as there alwuvs have been, some who 
 revered the old gods, and who endeavored to do 
 right. But the most religious and purest people 
 in Rome at this time were the Jews, the larf'er 
 part of whom worshij)ped God and regarded 
 the Law of Moses. Among even this people, 
 however, there were noted cases of compliance 
 wnth the spirit of the times. There were a few 
 Christians in Rome, " faithful anioni; the faith- 
 less," though, up to the time of Prtul's arrival, 
 there may have been no organized Christian 
 church. 1 
 
 In a splendid palace on the Palatine Hill, 
 having been lifted by the circumstances of birth 
 and intrigue to rule this weltering mass of 
 " luxury and squalor, wealth and want," young 
 Nero lives. He has been emperor seven years. 
 At the age of sixteen, a year before he assumed 
 the purple, he was married to Octavia, whose 
 virtues soon becoming tedious to his fervid 
 fancy, he abandoned her, and lived on terms of 
 lawless intimacy with Acte, a Greek courtesan. 
 Acte, however, did not long hold the affections 
 of this youthful monster, but was soon displaced 
 from his embraces by the adulterous Poppaea,^ 
 
 1 Mcriviilc : " St. Paul in "Rome, " 52, 
 
 2 "This infamous woman, not content with inducino: her para- 
 mour to divorce his youngr wile Oc:;:A'ia, had demanded and obtained 
 the death of her rival ; and had gloated over the head of her mur- 
 dered victim, which was forwarded from Pandataria to Rome for her 
 inspection " — ('oxybeare and IIowsox : " St. Paul," ii. 43L 
 
A.D. 61. 
 
 JET. .VJ.] 
 
 THE PRISONER AT ROME. 
 
 339 
 
 le who 
 to do 
 people 
 larfrer 
 yarded 
 )eople, 
 Dliance 
 
 L 
 
 J a few 
 3 faith- 
 irrival, 
 iristian 
 
 e Hill, 
 :)f birth 
 ass of 
 young 
 years, 
 ssumed 
 whose 
 fervid 
 rms of 
 rtesan. 
 ections 
 splaced 
 )pp8ea,2 
 
 her para- 
 d obtained 
 
 her mur- 
 ine for her 
 i. 431. 
 
 who already had two husl)ands. Nero had 
 been a pretty boy. His principal instructors 
 were a barber and a dancinsf-rnaster. He " had 
 handsome features, was of a ruddy complexion, 
 with blue eves, and wore his liiriit hair, like a 
 girl, in tresses ; and when he visited Greece it 
 was even bound in a fiilet at the back of his 
 head. He was usuallv attired in the most 
 fantastic dress, and never put on the same robe 
 twice." ^ This fanciful and soft-lookins: fellow 
 was a fiend in disijuise. He threw one of 
 Rome's best statesmen, Narcissus, into a damp 
 dungeon to starve and die ; poisoned his un- 
 successful rival, Britannicus, at the age of thir- 
 teen ; nuirdered his own mother, Agrippina ; 
 divorced and permitted the death of his wife, 
 Octavia ; compelled Seneca to take his own 
 life, because he was so immensely rich ; to 
 gratify a mere boyish whim, is reputed to have 
 burnt a large part of the city with great destruc- 
 tion of property and life ; in a fit of passion 
 kicked Popposa, his paramour, to death ; and 
 ended his career by suicide at the age of thirty- 
 one. 
 
 It was toward such a city as this, compact 
 with every form of folly and vice, taking the 
 tone of its irreligion and immorality from the 
 example and law of such a wretch, that the 
 great Apostle to the (rontiles was moving. 
 
 1 Lcwin, ii. 227. 
 
in 
 
 m. 
 
 340 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 61. 
 
 The Casio?' and Pollux, in all probability tlic 
 first gniin-sliip that had ariivotl I'roiii Egypt that 
 spring, ran into the l)ay of Naples and up to 
 Puteoli with all her canvas set. The arrival 
 of these vessels, upon whose cargoes so much of 
 the prosperity of Italy depended, was watched 
 with eagerness ; and this tirst one of the season 
 was likely to be welcomed with a genuine ova- 
 tion. The people gathered in crowds upon the 
 wharves, and gave themselves up to the recrea- 
 tion and hilarity of a pul)lic holiday-' There 
 were Christian brethren at Puteoli, who were 
 soon made aware of the arrival of the three 
 Christian men from Judea, — especially of him 
 whose letter to Rome three years before some 
 of them had heard. Julius was quite willing 
 that his prisoners should remain in Puteoli a 
 week. Indeed, we may imagine that this officer 
 of the army, who had been compelled to pass 
 the last six months in such hardship, would have 
 a keen appetite for the pleasures and luxu- 
 ries of the gay watering-place. Paul, however, 
 would be likely to find another kind of recrea- 
 tion. It was always his highest joy under 
 whatever circumstances, to i)reach to and to 
 teach men of every class and nationality, the 
 good news of the Gospel. At the end of seven 
 days Julius was ready to move on to Rome. 
 
 1 Mori vale : " St. Paul iu Home," p. 50. 
 
JEr. M.] 
 
 THE PUISONER AT UOME. 
 
 341 
 
 The Appiiiii Way, the " Queen of Koads," 
 which connected Brundusium with the capital, 
 passed through Capua, a few miles inhmd from 
 Puteoli. Portions of the carefully-fitted pave- 
 ment of this celebrated road are still to be seen, 
 though it is more than two thofsand years since 
 it was made. This was the highway to liome. 
 We have no information in regard to the means 
 of conveyance chosen l)y Julius ; but we may 
 presume that the prisoners walked. Paul, how- 
 ever, was a good j)edestrian. We remember 
 how he preferred to walk from Troas to Assos, 
 when his companions went by ship. kSo, on 
 they " went toward Rome." ^ The Appian Way 
 presents a scene of animation at this time of 
 year. The season opens early in Italy. The 
 willows by the roadside are tossing their little 
 tufts of green in the soft air. The people from 
 the city are beginning to scatter to the hills 
 and the seaside, — to Capua, Cumpe, Formise, 
 Baia3, Neapolis, Puteoli, and Caprete. As Paul 
 and his friends go on, carriages with richly 
 attired ladies roll along the pavement ; heavy 
 wagons with grain for hungry Rome rumble by ; 
 the vine-clad Falernian hills look down upon 
 them ; the valleys are bright with coming sum- 
 mer ; the sea, which is so near at some points 
 as almost to touch the A[)])ian pavement, 
 
 1 Acts xxviii. 14. 
 
jK^tum^i,^. 
 
 J 
 
 \n )■ 
 
 lAVi: OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 61. 
 
 s|)}irkl('s !Ui(l (lancet in ils I'lvt' deliiiht. Hut 
 Pmil is a prisoner. Emperors juul gen(3rjils 
 have swept aloni*- this avenue, drairffinir thou- 
 sands of eaptives in triumphal procession to 
 Kome. Envoys from foreign courts with re- 
 splendent retimies have passed this way. But 
 here comes one, — an aml)assador of the Lord, 
 and in l>onds ! 
 
 The delay at Puteoli had been long enough to 
 permit the news of Paul's airival to reach the 
 Christian disciples in Home, one hundred and 
 forty miles away. These brethren came to 
 meet him all the way to Appii Forum, some 
 forty miles. It was a great pleasure to Paul to 
 receive such a welcome. Ten miles further, at 
 the Three Taverns, another group of Christians 
 were waiting for him. When Paul looked into 
 the eaircr faces of these, — we cannot but won- 
 der if his dear friends, Aquila and Priscilla, 
 were not among them, — he thanked God, and 
 took courasre." ^ 
 
 At last we .are in Rome. We have entered 
 by the Capena Gate, past the Circus Maximus, 
 the great race-course, under the brow of the 
 Palatine Hill,^ upon which towers the imperial 
 
 1 Acts xxviii. 1'). 
 
 2 *♦ The Paliitiiic was tlic most oonspicuous spot on the earth, 
 not mcroly for crime, hut for splendor and jiower. This was the 
 centre of all the movements of the empire. Here were heard the 
 causes of all lioman citizen-: who hml appcnlcd toCa^-ar." — CoXY- 
 BEAUB aod llowsON ; " St. raul," ii. 419. 
 
Hut 
 
 earth, 
 
 as the 
 
 ml the 
 
 CONV- 
 
i 
 
 'i I 
 
 If 
 
 •I 
 
 I 
 
 
 firn 
 
 
 i; 
 
 
 
 ! •' 
 
 m 
 
JEr. M.] 
 
 THE PiasONEU y\T nOMK. 
 
 345 
 
 paliice, around to the entrjincc of the Praeto- 
 rium or ])Jirrac'ks, where, after the eustomary for- 
 malities, the centurion relinquished his charge 
 to the officer in command, Burrus, the prefect 
 of the Prietorium. 
 
 In addition to the comparatively small barracks 
 on the Palatine, which could accommodate few 
 more than the body-guard of the emperor, there 
 was the spacious Prtetorian camp just outside 
 the walls on the northeast side of the city. 
 This camp was a large s(|uare or parade-ground 
 surrounded by the ouarters of the Pnetorian 
 cohorts, that part of the standing army of the 
 empire stationed at the capital. It is impos- 
 sible to ascertain with alisolute certainty in 
 which of these i)laces Paul was kept. We have 
 reason to believe, though, in whichever camp he 
 was, that his confinement was relieved of some 
 of the customary severity. Julius had treated 
 him with marked courtesy, and no doubt when 
 the centurion delivered his remarkable prisoner 
 to Burrus, he commended him to the special 
 kindness of that official. The Roman law 
 which required that every prisoners right wrist 
 should be chained to a soldiers left could not 
 be relaxed : but Paul could have his own apart- 
 ment in which, with the ever present guard at 
 hand, he might reside, and where he could re- 
 ceive his friends, or strangers even, who would 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 ii 
 
 H 
 
346 
 
 LIFK OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 61. 
 
 ! m^ 
 
 ■i "U 
 
 seek him for religiou.s instruction and consola- 
 tion. Probably during the Hrst days after his 
 Uirival at Home some of the Ciiristian brethren 
 were with him continually, busy securing as good 
 a room as might l)e available at the price they 
 could pay, providing such things as he would 
 need for his comfort by day and night, and 
 some of them talking incessantly of past days 
 when they had been together. 
 
 Three days passed when an event occurred, 
 for which we can discover no explanation, ex- 
 cept it be in Paul's magnanimous devotion to 
 his own people, the Children of Israel, and in 
 his hope that they might yet accept his Saviour. 
 He would make one more attempt to reach the 
 hearts of his countrymen, even here in Rome. 
 Not one of them had come near him ; but he 
 wanted to see them, to lay l)efore them the facts 
 in regard to his arrest and commitment. Ac- 
 cordingly, he sent for the representatives, "the 
 chiefs " of the Jewish c(»uimunity in Rome, ask- 
 ing them, since he could not go to them, to do 
 him the favor to come to him. When they had 
 assembled, Paul related to them how the Jews 
 at Jerusalem had seized him and delivered him 
 to the Romans ; how, upon examination, the Ro- 
 man governor discovered no offence and would 
 have acquitted him but for the persistent accu- 
 sations bv the Jews, in the face of which he was 
 
Mt. 55.] 
 
 THE PRISONEK AT ROME. 
 
 347 
 
 o])liged, in self-dofoncc, to appeal to the em- 
 peror, lie would have them know that he was 
 u prisoner, not because he had committed any 
 crime, but simply because he held that the 
 Jewish hope of a Messiah had been fulHUed in 
 Jesus of Nazareth. The reply of the Jews to 
 Paul's appeal was very gracious, if indeed it 
 but poorly concealed their purpose to be entirely 
 unmoved by his words. They had not received 
 any letters from Judea in regnvd to him, nor 
 had they heard any rumors or reports to his 
 disadvantage. They would like, however, to 
 hear his opinions ; for they had heard that the 
 sect to which he belonged was everywhere 
 spoken against. 
 
 The Jews agreed upon a day w^hen they 
 could hold a larger and a more "reneral meeting 
 of their people to listen to Paul. They pressed 
 in and packed Paul's apartment,' and he preached 
 to them, explaining the Scripture and telling 
 them about Jesus. It was an all-day meeting, 
 the results of which were good. Some were 
 not persuaded ; but some others were persuaded, 
 and believed what Paul had said. It was not to 
 be expected that all those Jews would become 
 followers of Christ. A>'e may imagine that 
 
 I It is presumed that there were not less tlian sixty thousand 
 Jewish residents, in Rome at this time. There wei-e seven syna- 
 gogues, the officers of which would probably fill Paul's lodging. 
 Farrar's " St. Paul," ll. 394. 
 
 k 
 
348 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 tA.rr 61 
 
 •vt 
 
 it' , 
 
 M'i'F 
 
 through that day, from early morning until the 
 dusk of evening, they listened, asked questions, 
 nrgued, and debated. But they could not 
 agree. When they were about to withdraw, 
 Paul spoke one more word to them, quoting 
 from the same prophet to whose writings, doubt- 
 less he had referred many times during the 
 day,— 
 
 " Well spoke the Holy Ghost through Isaiah 
 the prophet unto your fathers, saying, 
 
 ' Go thou nnto this people, ?.nd say, 
 
 ' Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand, 
 
 ' And seeing ye shall see and shall not perceive ; 
 
 ' For this people's heart has become gross, 
 
 ' And their ears are dull of hearing, 
 
 * And their eyes havo they closed, 
 
 ' Lest they should see with their eyes, 
 
 ' And hear with their ears, 
 
 ' And understand with their heart, 
 
 * And should be converted, 
 
 * And I should heal them.' 
 
 "Be it known therefore unto you, that this 
 salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles. 
 They also will hear it." 
 
 This is the last incident in the life of Paul 
 which is here recorded And is it not remark- 
 able and significant, that this clesing scene in 
 the Acts of the Apostles should have l)een a 
 formal declaration by the principal representa- 
 tive of Christianity of the facts, — that the Jews 
 
tA.B. 61 
 
 itil the 
 jstions, 
 Id not 
 hdraw, 
 juoting 
 doiibt- 
 ng the 
 
 stand, 
 iive ; 
 
 lat this 
 entiles. 
 
 )f Paul 
 emark- 
 ?ene in 
 l)een a 
 esenta- 
 Jews 
 
 ^■r. 5.-.] 
 
 THE PIJISOXET} AT HOME. 
 
 340 
 
 had wilfully and stubbornly rejected the Gos- 
 pel, and that, beer use they had so done, the 
 Gospel Avould go to the Gentiles? Henceforth 
 the Jew, wrapping himself closely in the robes 
 of his religious exdusivenoss, will stride through 
 the centuries with ears and eyes and heart closed 
 to the appeals of the Gospel. 
 
 Paul's prison-life in Rome continued through 
 two whole years. He had appealed to the 
 CiEsar, and now he nuist wait for the dilatory 
 motion of Cjcsar Nero or of his deputy, and 
 abide the incvital)le conse(juences of "the law's 
 delay." Before his trial could come on, wit- 
 nesses against him must appear. It was in the 
 autunm of A. D. 00 that he made his appeal 
 from CjBsareji, and it is not prol)a])le that the 
 Jews would do anything about sending wit- 
 nesses to Rome before the next summer,' espec- 
 ially since they could feel that the hated Apostle 
 would !)(' safe in a Roman prison, and they could 
 not be sure but that when the trial came he 
 would l»c ac(juitted and set at libert}'. So Paul 
 waited, b'!t not idly. Thanks to the kind atten- 
 tion of frieM<Js, he occupied his own apartment. 
 
 1 "Thoir 'vi'tncssps mw«f bo -iuininoned from Jmloa, from Syria, 
 from Cilicia, froin Pi^idiai. f»')in Mnoodonia; in all cities from 
 Damnsciis to Corintli, in all c'riiulno.^ from Jerusalem round aboiij 
 nnto Illvrioum, nnist tfsiimony he BOiijrht to prove the seditious 
 tui-ltulcnce of the ritixU'a<l<?i" of tin' Nuzaferies." — Conybeakk 
 and IIowsox : " St. Paul," ll. VS. 
 
 \y 
 
 • il 
 
350 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.V. 62. 
 
 ! ''i 
 
 1 1 
 
 Mere he was accessible at all times, so that, 
 while hecould nol visit the svna"()<>:ues, nor estab- 
 lish any pul^lic preaching-station ; nevertheless, 
 within his own lour wails he had the completest 
 liberty to receive, converse with, and preach to 
 all who desired to come. We are ready to be- 
 lieve that rich results came from these two 
 years, while the captive waited and labored. 
 Stone walls cannot imprison enthusiasm like 
 Paul's. He was throwing- into tlie mass of in- 
 famous innnorality, of enervating- luxury, and 
 of desi)erate philosophy at Rome, the leaven 
 which some day vould save iier from the utter 
 ruin for which she was recklessl}'' preparing 
 herself. 
 
 No doubt persons from all classes in the city 
 came under Paul's personal influence. Sober 
 men and women, who were heartily sick of 
 heathenism and waaited a l)etter religion, might 
 be found seeking out the prisoner. Some of the 
 soldiers who took their turns to guard him, 
 nn'ght have receiv-^d and scattered the truth. 
 There were, probably, thousands of slaves of all 
 grades in attendance upon the imperial palace, 
 all of whom were at liberty to visit the man of 
 the Lord Jesus Christ. Some of these ])ecame 
 Christians.^ Of this class was one for whom 
 l^aul conceived ;i vcr\ lender affection. Is it 
 
 1 Pliil. i. la, iv. 22. 
 
[A.D. 62. 
 
 >o that, 
 •r estiib- 
 theless, 
 npleteyt 
 •each to 
 Y to be- 
 sse two 
 tibored . 
 3111 like 
 s of in- 
 rv, and 
 leaven 
 le utter 
 •oparing 
 
 the city 
 Sober 
 sick of 
 , might 
 e of the 
 d him, 
 truth. 
 es of all 
 palace, 
 man of 
 l)ecame 
 r whom 
 Is it 
 
 Mt. 56.] 
 
 THE PRISONER AT ROME. 
 
 351 
 
 not surprising how a thorough conversion will 
 make a veritatjle slave to be the chosen compan- 
 ion of so great and good a man as Paul ? 
 
 One day a miserable slave found his way into 
 Paid's lodging. A sharp word startled his dull 
 conscience. The thought of his past life over- 
 whelmed him and he became a Christian. He 
 told Paul that he had belonged to Philemon, 
 one of Paul's ac(|uaintances at Colossw. He 
 ha'l robbed his master and run away. For all 
 this he was thoroughly penitent, and in his pen- 
 itence and determination to be a Christian, Paul 
 took him to his heart. "He who had been the 
 slave of Philemon is now made the 'brother' of 
 the saints He who had been a runaway thief 
 is now worthy of the highest trust."' But 
 Christianity is not merely penitence and forgive- 
 ness, but a righteous lifr and, if need be, and 
 
 — as far as possible — of restoration. Paul, 
 accordingly, sent the converted slave back to 
 kit? master, and made him the l>earer of a letter, 
 
 — the Epifitle Pu Philemon, — the briefest, the 
 most purej/ f^ersonal, and ow? of the kindest 
 aiifcd most tenderly considerate of all Paul's let- 
 tei's that we have. 
 
 While Paul was still a prisoner, Epaphras of 
 Colos.s«, probably the pastor of the cliiirch in 
 that city, caane lo Ronic Hf repm'ted thai 
 
 I Howaou : *' C umpuuicaa m bt. Ji'aul, ' Ouebimua, 156. 
 
l\ 
 
 : 'i 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 i 
 ij 
 
 •r 
 ■ j-j 
 
 352 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. 63. 
 
 dangerous heresies were creejj^ng into the 
 church. How Paul longed for liberty, that he 
 might hurry away to the Christians in Coiossoe, 
 and correct these errors ! But this he could not 
 do. His only method of reaching them was by 
 letter. "With great care and painstaking there- 
 fore, he wrote the letter, — the Epistle to the 
 Colosfd'ansj and sent it by that same Tj'^chicus 
 whom we saw with Paul once before.* 
 
 It must have been about the some time, also, 
 that Paul wrote the letter called the Epistle to 
 the Ephesians. It was a general letter, and 
 " though addressed to the Christians at Ephesus, 
 was designed for ciicuhition in all the churches "^ 
 in that part of Asia. 
 
 Still later, and near the end of the two years, 
 a most refreshing incident occurred to break 
 the monotony of Paul's life. This was no less 
 than the arrival, from that warm-hearted church 
 at Philippi, of Epa])hr()ditus, with gifts to sup- 
 ply any need that the Apostle might have. 
 Paul's circumstances were not so hopeful as 
 they had been. Burrus,, the lenient and con- 
 sidenite Pra'fect of the Pr^etorium, had re- 
 cently met death under suspicious circum- 
 Htances, and one of Nero's parasites had been 
 appointed to the office. The prospect was 
 
 ' Acts XX. 4. 
 
 2 Ellicott : Intro, to Comuicutarj- on " Ephesians." 
 
 
^T. 57.] 
 
 THE PRISONER AT ROME. 
 
 353 
 
 cheerless. Read now the Epistle to the Phi- 
 lippians, which Epaphroditus took back with 
 him (after a long detention by sickness), and 
 see how Paul prized the attention of his old 
 friends, and how Christian love and gratitude 
 glow in almost every sentence of this letter to 
 them. 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 i, 
 
 THE LAST YEARS. 
 
 " The great dcsigu unfinished lies, 
 Our lives are iucoraplete, 
 But in the dark unknown 
 
 Perfect their circles seem, 
 Even as a bridge's arch of stone 
 Is rounilcd in the stream." 
 
 H. W. LONOPELLOW. 
 
 " There is laid up for me a crown of righteousness." — 2 Tim. iv. 8. 
 
 Xjl^TE have no thoroughly reliable account of 
 ' ^ the last years of Paul's life.i If Luke 
 had written another chapter of The Acts of the 
 Apostle, we would read it now with gratitude ; 
 and why he did not write that additional chap- 
 ter, we are at a loss to comprehend. It is by 
 no means necessary, however, that our curiosity 
 on this particular point should be gratified. 
 
 The general opinion of early Christians was, 
 that after the expiration of the two years' im- 
 prisonment mentioned by Lnke, Paul was set 
 at liberty ; that he used his freedom to visit 
 many of the churches that he had founded, and 
 
 1 " At this instant, we pass from the firm and solid ground of 
 authentic and crcdil)le history, upon the quaking and insecure foot- 
 ing of legendary tradition."— MiLMAN : "History of Christian- 
 ity," vol. I, book II, chap. iii. 
 
^T. 57.] 
 
 THE LAST YEARS. 
 
 nf>:> 
 
 was, 
 
 
 also to preach in places which ho had not visited 
 1 efore ; and that after some years he was again 
 arrested, and sent hack to Home, where he was 
 tried, condemned, and beheaded. This is the 
 view taken by almost all writers on Paul. The 
 authority for it is derived mainly from two 
 sources. 
 
 In the first place, we have two Epistles, 
 First Timothy and Titus, which seem to have 
 come from Paul's hand during a time of free- 
 dom, and after he had been a prisoner at Rome ; 
 while Second Timothy bears unmistakable evi- 
 dence of having been written at Rome, and 
 apparent indications that at the date of its com- 
 position, Paul was a prisoner there for the 
 second time. There are hints and allusions 
 scattered through these letters that cannot be 
 so well accounted for in any other way. 
 
 In addition to this there are a few definite 
 statements by writers, all of whom wrote within 
 three centuries and a half of Paul's time.' 
 
 Jerome, who lived from A.D. 340 to A.D. 
 420, wrote that " Paul iras dismissed by Nero, 
 that he might preach Christ's Gospel in the 
 Westr 
 
 Chrysostom, who lived from A.D. 347 to 
 A.D. 407, said that " Paul after his residence in 
 Rome departed to Spa in. '^ 
 
 ' Conybeare and IIowsou : *' St. Taul," ii. 438. 
 
! M ' 
 
 
 m 
 r 
 
 v.. 
 
 
 li 
 
 356 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.D. «4. 
 
 Eusel>iu.s, who lived from about A.D. 264 to 
 A.D. 340, calls attention to the fact, that, 
 "«/?e/' defending himself succes.sfulli/ it is cuV' 
 rentlt/ reported that the Apostle again went forth 
 to proclaim the Gospel, and aftericarda came to 
 Rome a second time, ana ivaa martyred under 
 Nero." 
 
 We assume then, on the strength of such tes- 
 timony as this, that Paul, after living two years 
 in his own rented apartment in the Proetorium, 
 receiving all who came and faithfully preaching 
 the Word of Life to them, was, either with or 
 without a formal trial, released. We do not 
 know in which direction he first turned his 
 steps. Conybeare thinks that he may have 
 gone to Spain, and remained in that country 
 between two and three years. Lewin with great 
 confidence traces Paul's footsteps in Spain, but 
 assumes that his visit there lasted only a few 
 months. Farrar rejects entirely the supposition 
 that the Apostle ever visited Spain. There is 
 better reason for believing that, whether Paul 
 went to the West from Rome or not, a consider- 
 able part of this period of freedom was passed in 
 Greece, in Attica, Epirus, and Macedonia, — 
 where he met old friends and made many new 
 ones. In Philippi he would rejoice to be once 
 more with those Christians whose love had never 
 forgotten him, who had ministered to him once 
 
JET. 5«.] 
 
 THE LAST YEARS. 
 
 357 
 
 and again. It was perhaps while in Philippi or 
 possibly, at an earlier cliite, while in Attica or 
 Epirus, that the two letters, the First Epistle to 
 Timothy and the Epistle to Titus , pastor on the 
 Island of Crete, were written. There is a fair 
 presumption that from Macedonia Paul once 
 more crossed the iKgean to Troas, where he 
 enjoyed the hospitality of Carpus. 
 
 On the night of July 19, A.D. G4, a fright- 
 ful conflairration burst out in Rome. It was 
 discovered first in some wretched houses on 
 the northern side of the city near the Tiber. 
 There was a high wind. The buildings in that 
 part of the city were of the most combustible 
 character and, many of them being shops — 
 were stored with various kinds of woods, oils, 
 and gums.' Besides it was the dr3'est time of 
 summer. The flames swept from house to 
 house, and from street to street. Nothing could 
 check the raging tire. For nine long days and 
 nights Rome was ablaze, until at last when the 
 conflagration had exhausted itself, the terror- 
 stricken inhabitants found, as they crept through 
 the smoke and over the scorching pavements, 
 that there was left scarcely a vestige of their 
 beautiful city. The palaces of the rich and the 
 hovels of the poor alike, had gone down in the 
 burning. Rumor whispered that the emperor 
 
 1 Dttvios : ♦' St. Taiil iu Kouie," p. 143. 
 
\ 
 
 i 
 
 1 .! 
 
 < . -v 
 
 ml 
 
 358 
 
 LIFE OF PAUL. 
 
 [A.n. 68. 
 
 himself was icsponsil)!© for the fire ; that ho 
 had hiinu'd Rome in order that he might gratify 
 his vanity hy rebuilding it on a scale of surpass- 
 ing magniHeence antl splendor. It is said that 
 in order to protect himself against this charge, 
 Nero sent the report tlying through the excited 
 city, that Christians had been the incendiaries. 
 The exasperated people were (juick to catch up 
 this insinuation against the Christians. Konie 
 was in a frenzy. The wildest projects wore on 
 foot. The smarting, infuriated populace was 
 ready on the instant to wreak its revenge upon 
 those against whom suspicion had been started. 
 Christians were hunted as if 'ley had been the 
 most venomous [)ests. They were dragged out 
 of their hiding-places, kicked, scarified and 
 butchered. Some were sewed up in th'^ skins 
 of beasts and thrown to hungry dogs. Others 
 wrap[)ed in cloths, saturated with grease, or 
 smeared with wax and pitch, '^ with a stake 
 under the chin to keep them upright," were 
 placed for torches in the gardens and parks, 
 and permitted to be slowly consumed, while 
 their agonized groans and screams were drowned 
 by the vengeful shouts of those who, in this 
 grim fashion, made " a Roman holiday." 
 
 The persecution set on foot in the capital 
 spread throughout the empire. The very name 
 of Christian became hateful to Romans every- 
 
Mt. 59.] 
 
 THE LAST YEARS. 
 
 3')9 
 
 where. The sli^^litest pretext was sufficient to 
 eoiuleiim to deatli a hcliever in Christ, where- 
 CN'er he ini«j^lit Ix' louiid, or in whatever occupa- 
 tion he iniiht he eiii^'aij^ed. 
 
 Such was the popular r«'eliiig a<^ainst the 
 Clu'istians wlien in A. I). 05 I'aul came to Troas. 
 The general opinion is, that while Paul was at 
 Troas in the home of Carpus, those same Kphe- 
 sians — with whose business Paul's preaching 
 had interfered years before — heard of his 
 whereabouts, and, taking advantage of th(; 
 universal clamor against the Christians, once 
 more arrested and sent to Rome this chief and 
 head, teacher, leader, and inspiration of the 
 pestiferous Christian sect. One historian,' how- 
 ever, advances a different opinion, namely : that 
 Paul, hearing of the "Koman Church, i)erse- 
 cuted, scattered, decimated, — worse than deci- 
 mated, — by the tierce persecution," went to 
 Rome of his own accord to console and to help 
 his brethren there, and to reorganize the shat- 
 tered church. In whatever way, wliether hav- 
 ing been brought as a prisoner or having come 
 as an apostle, about the year A. D. 60 we trace 
 the prints of Paul's weary feet to the smoulder- 
 ing city. Persecution is still rife in Rome. It 
 will be remarkable if this most conspicuous tig- 
 
 1 Milman : " Histoi-y of Christianity," Vol. I., Book il, Chap, 
 iii., appemUx. 
 
300 
 
 LIFE OF PAl'L. 
 
 [A.D. 66. 
 
 uro, this zcjilous prcaclu'r of Christ's Gospel, is 
 permitted to live in Rome. Wo seem to see 
 him a prisoner again. lie writes one more let- 
 ter, — The, Second Epistle to Timothy. The 
 letter is full of strength and tenderness. "The 
 true, loving, undaunted, and trustful heart of 
 the great Apostle," ' overflows into every sen- 
 tence and word. It is a dying message, and 
 filled with the victor's triumph. He reviews the 
 past hardships only to say, "Out of them all 
 the Lord delivered me."^ He glances up at the 
 advancing fury of his enemies, and with all the 
 calmness of faith, repeats: "The Lord shall 
 deliver me from every evil work, and shall save 
 me into His heavenly kingdom."^ 
 
 And this is the end.^ The historian of the 
 fourth century wrote that Paul " was martyred 
 
 1 Ellicott: •' Commentaiy on 2 Timothy," Introduction. 
 
 a 2 Tim. iii. 11. 
 
 8 Ibid., iv. 18. ' 
 
 * •• The place of execution was not far distant ; and there the 
 sword of the headsman ended his lonpf course of sufferings, and 
 released that heroic soul from that feeble body." — Contbeaue 
 AND IIowson: " St. Paul," xi. 488. 
 
 "After the usual preliminaries, the passive martyr was blind- 
 folded and laid his head upon the block. The executioner did his 
 work, and Paul was in the world of spirits." — Lewin: "St. 
 Paul," xi. 402. 
 
 " The word of command to halt was given ; the prisoner knelt 
 down ; the sword flashed, and the life of the greatest of the Apos- 
 tles was shorn away." — Fakrar : " St. Paul," xi. 578. 
 
 " One stroke of the fatal weapon, and the soul of the glorious 
 Hero is can'ied up by angels to Paradise ! " — Macduff: "Foot- 
 steps of St. Paul," 415. 
 
^T. 60.] 
 
 THE LAST YEARS. 
 
 3fil 
 
 under Nero." Iniaginjition pictures "Paul tlie 
 aged," a criminal, with a hissing crowd at his 
 heels, led out l)y a centurion, two miles from 
 the city to a secluded hollow, where he was he- 
 headed. Tradition points out the spot, and 
 reverence for the man, who of all men was the 
 greatest benefactor of mankind, has erected over 
 it a Christian church. 
 
 v*^ 
 
I 
 
 ll 
 
 '.'III' 
 
 
 
 I i 
 
 i! 
 
 I: 
 
 f 
 
 i; 
 
 ii 
 
 TABLE OF PAUL'S EPISTLES. 
 
 Where written. 
 
 To whom. 
 
 Date. 
 
 Corinth . . 
 
 . Thessalonlans (I.) . 
 
 . . A.D. 52. 
 
 (( 
 
 . . '* (II.) . 
 
 u 
 
 Ephkbus . . 
 
 . . Corinthians. . . . 
 
 . . A.D. 56. 
 
 Macedonia . 
 
 (II.) . . 
 
 . . A.D. 57. 
 
 Corinth . . 
 
 . Galatians .... 
 
 «< 
 
 
 . Romans 
 
 ti 
 
 Rome Philemon A.D. 62. 
 
 " Colossians " 
 
 ** Ephesians " 
 
 rhilippians A.D. 63. 
 
 (( 
 
 Macedonia (?) . . Timothy (I.) . . , . . A.D. 64. 
 •' (?) . . Titus " 
 
 Rome Timothy (II.) A.D. 66. 
 
 862 
 
^s. 
 
 LIST OF BOOKS. 
 
 Date, 
 A.D. 52. 
 
 A.D. 56. 
 
 A.D. 57. 
 
 (< 
 
 A.D. 62. 
 
 t< 
 
 ' n ' 
 A.D. 63. 
 
 A.D. 64. 
 
 ♦f, 
 
 i.D. 66. 
 
 The following brief list of books may be helpful to those 
 who desire to study the life and times of Paul : — 
 
 Author. Title. 
 
 Conybcare and Uowson, Life and Epistles of St. Paul. 
 Lewin 
 
 Farrar Life and Work of St. Paul. 
 
 Malleson Acts and Epistles of St. Paul. 
 
 Macduff Footsteps of St. Paul. 
 
 Eadie Paul tlie Preacher. 
 
 Taylor Paul the Missionary. 
 
 Howson Character of St. Paul, 
 
 Companions of St. Paul. 
 
 Metaphors of St. Paul. 
 
 Smith Voyage and Shipwreck of St. 
 
 Paul. 
 
 Rawlinson St. Paul in Damascus. 
 
 Plumptre •' Asia Minor. 
 
 Davies <' Greece. 
 
 Merivale •« Rome. 
 
 Myers St. Paul, a poem. 
 
 Monod Discourses on St, Paul. 
 
 Pressense *' «< 
 
 Paley Ilora) Paulina). 
 
 
 Uackett . 
 (Jloag . . 
 Meyer . . 
 Baumgarten 
 Porter 
 Di Cesnola 
 
 Commentary on the Acts. 
 
 <( (< 
 
 << ii 
 
 Apostolic History. 
 Five Years in Damascus, 
 Cyprus. 
 
 363 
 
t £1 
 
 364 LIST OF BOOKS. 
 
 Wood Discoveries at Ephesus. 
 
 Wordjworth .... Greece. 
 
 Milman History of Christianity, 
 
 Uhlhom Conflict of Cliristianity and Pa- 
 ganism. 
 
 Dollinger The Gentile and the Jew. 
 
 Brace Gesta Cliristi. 
 
 Neandei Planting and Training. 
 
 Fisher Beginnings of Christianity. 
 
 Farrar Early Days of Christianity. 
 
 Stanley Essays and Sermons on the Apos- 
 
 tolic Age. 
 
 Amot The Church in the House. 
 
 Emma Leslie .... Glaucia. 
 
 E. F. Burr Dio, the Athenian. 
 
 Becker Gallus. 
 
 " Charicles. 
 
 •'* u 
 
and Pa- 
 
 i:n^dex. 
 
 ty. 
 ty. 
 
 the Apos- 
 ie. 
 
 Acropolis, 2nfi. 
 Adramyttimn, 'MCt, 
 Agalms, W, 27<). 
 A^ora of Athens, 'JOT, 20<». 
 Agrippii, Herod I., 2*J. 
 A^ripiKi, Herod II., ;>10. 
 Alexander, the coppersuiith, 
 
 Alexandria. Troas, 177. 
 Ami)lnpoliH. UN}. 
 Ananias of Damascus, .'»(». 
 Ananias, High Priest, 284, 2'.».">, 
 
 Wl. 
 Antioch of Syria, «»7. 
 Antioch in Hisidia, V^^'^. 
 Antonia, 28<). 
 Apollonia, VM\. 
 Apollos, li41. 
 Appian Way, Ml. 
 Appii Forum, .'{42. 
 Aquila, 221, 242, 251, 342. 
 Arabia. 57. 
 Areopagus, 20(J, 211. 
 Aretas, King, 45. 
 Aristarchus, 25;{, 2<iO, 2()4, 'M), 
 
 Ml. 
 Artemisian Festival, 250. 
 \sia Minor, 127. 
 .Wsiarchs, 25(). 
 
 Ai803, 2()9. 
 
 Athens, 20(). 
 Attn Ma, 150. 
 Attieu, 204. 
 
 Haptisni of Eunuch, 78. 
 
 Baptism of I'aiil, 54. 
 
 Uarjosus. 1'_'l. 
 
 Barnabas, l!l,i;2, 85, !*5, 105-1(18. 
 
 Bereni(;e, 'ilO. 
 
 Berea, JOI, 2(^4. 
 
 Burrus, ;>."»2. 
 
 CPBsarea, 22, 79, 209. 
 Cappadocia, 12M. 
 Captivity, :«)»5, ;i51, .360. 
 Costnr a)vl I'olbix, :m, .340. 
 Cenrhrea, 218, 2«k5. 
 (Vsnohi, IK). 
 (Miara«3t<^r. Paul's, 91-95. 
 " Ciiristiaii." !>7. 
 Ciiicia, 15. 
 Ciauda. '24. 
 Claudius Lysias, 28<). 
 Colossie, 2.5.3, o.52. 
 Cnin.^.^idDs, Epistle to, ;J52. 
 Conversion, Saul's, 47. 
 Corinth, 217, 2(k5. 
 Connthians, Epistlee to, 255, 
 
 2«^4. 
 Cornelius, 8.3. 
 Cydnus, 15, 24. 
 Cyprus, ll(j. 
 
 Damaris, 210. 
 
 Damascus, 41. 
 
 D.aphne, 71. 
 
 Demetrius, 258. 
 
 Demoniac girl, 188. 
 
 Dorbo, 148. 
 
 Diana, Temple of, 235. 
 
 Dionysius the Areopagite, 216. 
 
 Drusllla, :m. 
 
 Egnatian Road, 182. 
 Elymas, Sorcerer, 121. 
 Epaphras, u51. 
 Epaphroditus. ;i.52. 
 Eiihcshiiix, Kpistle to, 362. 
 Ephesus, 2:r)-241. 
 Epicureans, 210. 
 Eunice, 171. 
 Euracpiilo. -324. 
 Exorcists, 251. 
 
 365 
 
366 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 <H\ 
 
 Fair Havens, 321. 
 Felix, 29J). 
 Featus, 308. 
 
 friiiif^as, 183. 
 
 f ialatia, 128, 173. 
 
 (Jidiitiaiis, Epistle to, 266. 
 
 Gallio, 2ti5. 
 
 Gamaliel, School of, 20. 
 
 Gauls, 173. 
 
 Greece, 181. 
 
 Herod Agrippa I., 2*2. 
 Herod Agiippa II., 310. 
 Herostratus, 23<). 
 Hospitality, 187, 221, 276, 282. 
 
 Idolatry, 10«J, 144, 208, 238. 
 Iconium, 142. 
 
 James, " the Just," 78, 158, 281. 
 
 Jason, 197-200. 
 
 Jerusalem, 21, 62, 100, 157, 282. 
 
 Jews, 108, 110, 283. 
 
 John Mark {acr " Mark "). 
 
 Judas, house of, 48. 
 
 Julius, Centurion, 317. 
 
 Laodicea, 253. 
 
 Lois, 171. 
 
 Luke, 17S), 220, 317, 333. 
 
 Lycaonia, 129, 145. 
 
 Lyons, 253. 
 
 Lysias, 28(). 
 
 Lyslra, 144. 
 
 Macedonia, 179, 356. 
 
 ^Ifrander, 2.53. 
 
 Magicians, 120, 260. 
 
 Malta, 332. 
 
 Mark, John, 102, 106, 168. 
 
 Mary, 101. 
 
 Miletus, 269. 
 
 Minerva, 206. 
 
 Mnason, 282. 
 
 Myra, 319. 
 
 Mysia, 176. 
 
 Navigation, Ancient, 319. 
 Nazarites, 228. 
 Neapolis, 181. 
 Nero, 338. 
 Nicodeuuis, 152. 
 
 Olympus. 201, 203. 
 Onesimus, 351. 
 Orontes, ^Hi. 
 
 Pamphylia, 128. 
 
 Paphos, 119. 
 
 Parthenon, 206. 
 
 Patara, 272. 
 
 " Paul," change of name, 126. 
 
 Pentecost, 28, 282. 
 
 Perga, 127. 
 
 Peter, (12, 79-84, 1(;2. 
 
 Pharisees, 153, 2!>4. 
 
 I'hileinnn, Kpistle to, 351. 
 
 Philip, Deacon and Evangelist, 
 
 7S, 275. 
 Philippi, 183, 35<5. 
 I'/iiliiiijiiuig, Kpistle to, 362. 
 Phcebe, 2<W. 
 Phcenix, Port, 323. 
 Physician (see Luke). 
 Piraius, 204. 
 Pisidia, 128. 
 Priscilla, 220, 242, 342. 
 Proconsuls, 22. 
 Procurators, 22. 
 Proselytes, 155. 
 Publius, l^iS. 
 Punishment, 189. 
 Puteoli, IW). 
 
 Rome, S'Mi. 
 
 Romans, Epistle to, 267. 
 
 Sadducer ^,, 294. 
 
 St. Paul ^ay, 328. 
 
 Salamis, . '. 
 
 Samos, 269. 
 
 Saniothrace, 180. 
 
 .Sanhedrim, M. 
 
 " Saul," change of name, 126. 
 
 Sceva, Seven Sons of, 261. 
 
 Schools, 18, 20. 
 
 Scourging, 189, ^289. 
 
 Seleucia, 112. 
 
 Sergius Paulus, 119. 
 
 Ships, Ancient, 319. 
 
 Shipwreck, 331. 
 
 Sidon, ;{17. 
 
 Silas, 159, 168, 200, 222. 
 
 Silversmiths, 267. 
 
 Sopater, 264. 
 
 Sorcery, 251. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 367 
 
 name, 126. 
 
 ), ;35i. 
 Evangelist. 
 
 I to, 352. 
 42. 
 
 267. 
 
 Sosthenes, 263. 
 Stephen, 'X\. 
 Stoics, 210. 
 Stromboll, 3;}5. 
 Sunium, Cape, 204. 
 Synagogue Worship, 133. 
 
 Tarsus, 15-20. 
 Temple at Jenisaleui, 284. 
 Tertullus, m. 
 Theatre at Epliesus, 250. 
 Thessalonica, 194. 
 Thessalnuians, Epistles to, 222. 
 Timothy, 147, 170, 253, 
 Timothy, Epistles to, 357, 3(J0. 
 Titus, 167, 263. 
 
 Titus, Epistle to, ;157. 
 Troas, 17T, 178. 
 TrogvlUuin, 2(;0. 
 Trophimus, 253. 
 Tychicus, 2(54, ;552. 
 Tyrannus, 22<). 
 Tyre, 273. 
 
 Unknown God, 215. 
 
 Via Appia, .311. 
 
 Voyage to Home, 31(i-312. 
 
 Walls, Long, 207. 
 
 Womon, Position of, 72, 110, 
 
 t537. 
 
 name, 126. 
 of, 251. 
 
 222.