^'■ 
 
 If V 
 
FOOTPRINTS OF THE APOSTLES 
 
FOOTPRINTS OF 
 
 THE APOSTLES 
 
 AS TRACED BY 
 
 ^aint luke in tfje act0 
 
 Being Sixty Portions for Private Study and 
 Instruction in Church 
 
 A SEQUEL TO 
 
 FOOTPRINTS OF THE SON OF MAN 
 
 ajt ttaceu bp Saint f^ati 
 
 BY y/ 
 
 HERBERT MORTIMER LUCKOCK, D.D. 
 
 DEAN OF LICHFIELD 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES 
 VOL. IL 
 
 LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 
 
 39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON 
 
 NEW YORK AND BOMBAY 
 
 1897 
 
 ^11 rights reserved 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 VOL. II. 
 
 CH. VEK. PAGE 
 
 XXXI. "Clvc Vision of Qtornditis, The Acts x. i-8 i 
 
 XXXII. "^ht lisian of cS. ?ft«r an the 
 
 I^OUSe-tOp, .... X. 9-48 10 
 
 XXXIII. ^ke g^flinninfl of tlw Olcntiic 
 
 Cbttrch, xi. 1-24 21 
 
 XXXIV. "Hht (gariiest Resignations of 
 
 Christ's JFoUotoers, . . xi. 26-30 30 
 
 XXXV. ^wob's ^uswittion of the 
 
 apostles, .... xii. 1-25 38 
 
 XXXVI. i;h£ (Dpmng of cS. i^aul's dfirst 
 
 clfomgn (fission, . . . xiii. 1-12 49 
 
 XXXVII. (S. i^anl's ^rcafhing at Jlntioch • 
 
 in ^isibia xiii. 13-52 61 
 
 XXXVIII. ^. ^anl at icottittm anb lljstra, xiv. 1-20 72 
 
 XXXIX. ^hc ODi-iination of fibers 
 
 thronghottt the dLhnxchts, . xiv. 20-28 80 
 
vi Table of Contents. 
 
 CH. VER. PAGE 
 
 XL. %hz Jirst <Ssn0ii ai \\xt OThurcIt, 
 
 The Acts xv. 1-21 91 
 XLI. %h.z ^edsiott at Va.t cSgnoti, xv. 22-41 loi 
 
 XLII. ^k£ (Direnins ai <S. iaul's 
 
 (Seconb Jf^mfin Jftission, xvi. i-io 112 
 XLIII. ^. ^aul at phiiip^pi, . . . xvi. n-40 125 
 XLIV. tS. ^aul .it "Chessalonicrt nni 
 
 1§ZX1t1i xvii. I -14 136 
 
 XLV. ^S. ?attl at Athens, on Jlars' 
 
 l^iil, xvii. 15-34 145 
 
 XLVI. 5S. ^atti at Corinth, . . . xviii. 1-22 156 
 XLVII, ^. Raul's (Entrjj upxin his 
 
 %\dxis Jfouign ^ijiisiott, xviii. 23— xix. 20 168 
 XLVIII. "ilhc l^ttmnit at ffipl&^sas, xix. 21-41 177 
 
 XLIX. (S. Paul at ^roas, . . xx. 1-12 192 
 
 L. jS. Raul's Jlbiuss to the (£lii£rs at 
 
 clftikttts, .... XX. 13-35 201 
 LI. Jfrom JftiUttts to Jwttsaknr, xx. 36-38; xxi. 1-14 208 
 LIL (S. ^Sttl bef^ttis hims^ll against 
 
 the Asiatic J^tos, xxi. 15-40; xxii. 1-22 219 
 Lin. ^. ^anl bffor^ the (Sanh^brim, 
 
 xxii. 23-30; xxiii. 1-24 231 
 
Table of Contents. vii 
 
 CH. VER. PAGE 
 
 LIV. ^. Jpaul on his %xvi\\ at the QTourt 
 
 xrf JfHix, The Acts xxiii. 25— xxiv. 1-27 243 
 
 LV. ^. Paul before Jfesttts, xxv. 1-12; xxvi. 24, 25 255 
 
 LVI. ^. Paul iefenlis Christianity before 
 
 ping ^grippa, xxv. 13-27 ; xxvi. 1-32 264 
 
 LVII. i;hc Ixrgvtgc to ^ome, . . . xxvii. 1-26 277 
 
 LVIII. ^he cShipiorcck anb i^anbing at 
 
 tMalta, . xxvii. 27-44; xxviii. i-io 289 
 
 LIX. ^he Jfonrnci) \a glome, . . xxviii. 11-29 300 
 LX. ^hc Close of the JVpostle's 
 
 (ittintstrg, .... xxviii. 30-31 310 
 
 MAPS 
 
 Map of S. Paul's First Foreign Mission, . 55 
 
 Map of the Second Foreign Mission, . . 117 
 
 Map of the Third Foreign Mission, . . 181 
 
 Map of the Voyage and Journey to Rome, . 279 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
VOL. II. 
 
 FROM THE CONVERSION Of CORNELIUS 
 
 TO THE CLOSE OF S. PAUHS FIRST 
 
 IMPRISONMENT A T ROME. 
 
XXXI. 
 
 %^t Wii^ion of Cociteliugf* 
 
 The Acts x. i-8. 
 
 I. There was a certain man in 
 Cassarea called Cornelius, a cen- 
 turion of the band called the Italian 
 band, 2. a devout man, and one 
 that feared God with all his house, 
 which gave much alms to the people, 
 and prayed to God alway. 3. He 
 saw in a vision evidently about the 
 ninth hour of the day an angel of 
 God coming into him, and saying 
 unto him, Cornelius. 4. And when 
 he looked on him, he was afraid, and 
 said. What is it, Lord ? And he said 
 unto him, Thy prayers and thine 
 alms are come up for a memorial 
 
 before God. 5. And now send men 
 to Joppa, and call for one Simon, 
 whose surname is Peter : 6. he 
 lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, 
 whose house is by the sea side : he 
 shall tell thee what thou oughtest to 
 do. 7. And when the angel which 
 spake unto Cornelius was departed, 
 he called two of his household ser- 
 vants, and a devout soldier of them 
 that waited on him continually ; 8. 
 and when he had declared all these 
 things unto them, he sent them to 
 Joppa. 
 
 We have now arrived at a new and most eventful 
 epoch in the spread of the Faith. It is the birthday 
 of an Universal Christendom, for the light which was 
 " to lighten the Gentiles " has shone into the heart 
 of the first Christian convert from the heathen 
 world, the first, at least, who had not passed 
 through an intermediary stage of Judaism, and 
 
 VOL. II. A 
 
2 The Vision of Cornelius, l^hap. x. 
 
 accepted the rite of circumcision.^ S. Peter, with 
 the rest of the Apostles, had heard the Lord's com- 
 mand to " make disciples of all nations " ; but he 
 waited no less than six years before an opportunity 
 offered to carry it into effect. 
 S.Augustine, Some expositors have fancied that they could 
 contm ^^ see a distinct type of this event in the history of 
 Paganos. 38. jo^ah's missiou in the Old Testament. That it was, 
 like many typical persons and things, only another 
 form of direct prediction, cannot be certainly main- 
 tained;^ but the coincidences, if undesigned, are 
 very remarkable. Look at some of them. Both 
 messengers started from the same place. It was 
 from Joppa that the prophet set sail for Nineveh ; 
 from Joppa that the Apostle was summoned to 
 Csesarea. Nineveh, when Jonah was sent to it, 
 was the city of the King of Assyria, the king of 
 kings, as the Orientals called him, the representa- 
 tive power of the heathen Avorld, Csesarea, at the 
 time that S. Peter visited it, was the residence of 
 the Imperial delegate of the Cfesars, and the very 
 centre and focus of worldly society in Palestine. 
 Again, if it was Jonah who preached to the Nine- 
 
 1 This is considered more fully a little later. 
 
 2 Our Lord's reference to "the sign of the jirophet Jonas" 
 points to the typical character of his history. S. Matt, xii. 39 
 xvi. 4 ; S. Luke xi, 29. 
 
V. 1-8.] The Vision of Cornelius. 3 
 
 vites, it was Bar-Jonah by whom Cornelius was 
 brought into the kingdom of God. 
 
 Quite possibly the one event was a purposed 
 foreshadowing of the other in the Divine counsel ; 
 it had, at least, we must confess, a very striking 
 similarity, and, regarded in this latter light alone, 
 it is an interesting parallel to the thoughtful 
 student. 
 
 The first convert to Christianity from the Gentiles 
 was a man of birth and position, and of a godly life ; 
 born of a noble family, which counted among its 
 sons Sulla and Scipio, and a host of others whose 
 names have been famous in Roman History. 
 
 In rank he was an officer in the army, a centurion Biscoe, On 
 in a regiment of volunteers levied in Italy,^ and cruter, 
 chosen, as more to be relied upon for their loyalty ^"^"'P' ^'^'*- 
 than the native soldiers, to form the Bodyguard of 
 the Governor in Syria. 
 
 It is calculated to impress us very favourably 
 with the discipline of Roman military life, that all 
 the centurions of whom mention is made in the 
 
 1 The famous Italian Legion, so often mentioned in Tacitus and 
 elsewhere, was not enrolled till some years later, in the reign of 
 Nero. It was the custom in Roman Provinces to levy troops from 
 the natives, though, to provide against disaffection, there was 
 always an admixture from home ; just as we leaven the Sepoys in 
 India with English regiments. 
 
4 The Vision of Cornelius. [Chap. x. 
 
 New Testament, were highly spoken of for their 
 goodness and general character. The centurion at 
 s. Matt. Capernaum was marked by a profound humility, 
 viH 5, 8, 9. gg^j,jjgg|. faith, and implicit obedience to duty ; and 
 he combined with these qualities a great reverence 
 for religion, for he built the Jews of the place a 
 s. Luke magnificent synagogue at his own expense.^ It 
 ^"" ^ redounds to the honour of the centurion who stood 
 
 at the foot of the Cross that, in the face of very 
 adverse circumstances, he was filled with admira- 
 tion for the manner in which the Great Sufferer 
 s. Matt. met His death, and was not ashamed to confess 
 openly his conviction of His Divine Sonship. 
 Cornelius, the centurion at Csesarea, was one who 
 gave liberally of his goods to feed the poor, and 
 was inspired with a deep sense of awe aud rever- 
 ential worship. He is described as " a devout man, 
 and one that feared God with all his house, which 
 gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God 
 always." The earlier part of the description sug- 
 
 1 Ty\v <jvv(x'^ij}'-^r\v avrbs (pKodofitjO'ev ijfuv. S. Luke vii. 5. avrbs 
 and T7}v are both very signiticaut, and point to the above con- 
 clusion. The remains of the Synagogue — one of unusual size and 
 beauty— have been discovered at -Tell-HUm. This is one of the 
 most valuable and interesting of the discoveries made by the 
 Palestine Exploration Society. For its connection with the dis- 
 course recorded in S. John vi., cf. Footprints of the Son of Man, 
 ch. vi. 
 
 xxvii. 54. 
 
V. 1-8.] The Vision of Cornelius. 5 
 
 gests at once that he was a proselyte \ but this 
 sense of the word has been rightly rejected here 
 because it would destroy the accepted belief that 
 he was the first non-Jewish convert. There were, 
 however, two kinds of proselytes — (i.) "of right- 
 eousness," such as Indich, the Ethiopian eunuch, 
 who were incorporated by circumcision into the 
 Jewish Covenant, and shared all its responsibilities Gai. v. 3. 
 and most of its privileges; and (ii.) "of the gate," xxiii. 8. 
 who having renounced idolatry, adopted Mono- ^iichoth 
 theism, and worshipped tlie true God ; but they ^^"^- ^- 9- 
 were so far from being admitted into the Jewish 
 Covenant, that they were accounted as aliens, and, 
 technically at least, unclean. They bound them- 
 selves, however, to observe the Seven Precepts of 
 Noah, i.e. to abstain from blasphemy, idolatry, 
 murder, theft, fornication, disobedience to magis- 
 trates, and from things strangled, prohibitions 
 which have an undying interest for all Christians 
 from the adoption of four of them into the decrees Actsxv. 20. 
 of the First Synod of the Church. There are 
 some reasons for concluding that Cornelius belonged 
 to the second class of proselytes, and was not, 
 therefore, strictly speaking, a pure and simple 
 heathen, though regarded as little better by the 
 Jews, The chief are these : he feared and wor- 
 
6 The Vision of Corne/itcs. [Chap. x. 
 
 shipped the true ^ God : he was " of good report 
 among all the nation of the Jews " ; his alms were 
 bestowed in abundance upon the Jews ; 2 and lastly, 
 he adopted the Jewish hours of prayer. It was 
 about the ninth hour that the vision was vouch- 
 safed to him ; i.e. the time of the evening sacrifice. 
 The very figure, also, under which the angel ex- 
 pressed God's acceptance of his prayers and alms 
 is taken from Jewish sacrifice ; they are " come up 
 for a memorial before God " ; ascending, like the 
 smoke of the burnt-off'ering,^ to put God in mind of 
 the total surrender, body, soul, and spirit, of the 
 ofi'erer. All these considerations dispose us to. 
 believe that he was " a proselyte of the gate," one, 
 i.e. who was attracted by Jewish ideas and customs, 
 but held back from actual incorporation into the 
 Covenant. 
 
 Cornelius was bidden by the angel to send "to 
 
 Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname 
 
 was Peter." Had he known that Christ had 
 
 s. Matt. conferred on this Apostle first the privilege of 
 
 xvi. 19. 
 
 1 TOP Oe6v, the definite article seems to be purposely inserted, 
 to distinguish Him from a heathen god. 
 
 2 iroiQi' eXeT) fio (TV v as voWas ri^ Xaip, i.e. the Jewish inhabit- 
 ants of Cassarea, cf. xxvi. 17, 23, xxviii. 17, in all of which places 
 the expression is distinguished from to. eOvTj, the Gentiles. 
 
 3 The Hebrew n?'y is from a root signifying ' to go up.' 
 
V. 1-8.] The Vision of Cornelius. 7 
 
 opening to the Gentiles the door of admission into 
 the Christian Church, it would have caused no sur- 
 prise that he should at once obey the command ; 
 but as he could not possibly have known anything 
 of the Divine purpose in this respect, his prompt 
 obedience in having recourse to human means when 
 there was an angel at hand to instruct him, is the 
 strongest evidence of the power of his faith. 
 
 Now the mention of his faith revives the memory 
 of long and animated controversies touching his 
 relationship to the Article on " Works done before i.uther on 
 Justification";^ where it is said that "works done s. Augustine, 
 before the grace of Christ and the inspiration of 
 His Spirit, are not pleasant to God, forasmuch as 
 they spring not of faith in Jesus Christ . . . yea, 
 rather for that they are not done as God hath 
 willed and commanded them to be done, we doubt 
 not but they have the nature of sin." 
 
 Now we observe at the outset that the substance 
 of the Article does not bear out the statement at 
 the head of it ; ^ for that does not contain a word 
 
 1 Art. xiii. 
 
 2 This is not the only instance. Perhaps the most striking is 
 that of Art. xxix. ; in which the Heading speaks "of the wicked 
 which eat not the Body of Christ " ; whereas the substance 
 teaches only that "they are not partakers of Christ," which is 
 certainly not a synonymous term. For a discussion of this, cf. 
 The Divine Liturgy, ch. xxiii. 
 
8 The Vision of Cornelius. [Chap. x. 
 
 about " justification " ; and it is obviously the 
 teaching, not the descriptive summary, of the Ai'ticle 
 by which we are bound. All that this asserts 
 in explanation is, that works must be done by 
 Divine grace, and spring from faith, in order to 
 win acceptance from God. 
 
 We need not therefore try to bring ourselves to 
 the belief that Cornelius was " justified " in order 
 to vindicate the teaching of the Article ; we are 
 sure that he had received grace and was inspired 
 by the Holy Spirit to do what he did, and we 
 have abundant evidence of his faith, and either of 
 these is sufficient guarantee that no sin could be 
 imputed to him for works done under such condi- 
 tions. We are perfectly clear, then, that his was 
 not at all a case contemplated in the framing of the 
 Article. Those who composed it had in their mind 
 the good works of the heathen, which, however 
 praiseworthy in themselves, were not prompted by 
 the Spirit, but done from unworthy motives — done, 
 perhaps, in accordance with Pagan tradition or 
 customs: to sustain the reputation of a race or 
 family : to gain popularity, or to foster pride. " It 
 Kaye on IS uot Sufficient that an action is right ; its object 
 i2z,"26. *" ^"^ ^^"^ must also be right." If it could be shown 
 that Cornelius really came under the condemnation 
 
V. 1-8.] The Vision of Cornelius. 9 
 
 of the Article, it would be high time for Christians 
 to consider the necessity of its revision; but we 
 are satisfied that it cannot; and therefore we 
 accept the Article without any misgiving. 
 
 The case of Cornelius is one of those where 
 God, having designed that a person should one day 
 embrace the Faith, prepared him for it, and where 
 he yielded to the preparation with an obedience that 
 is worthy of all imitation. He gives us a striking 
 illustration of a great and encouraging principle in 
 the growth and development of the spiritual life; 
 to have and use to the utmost inferior privileges, 
 is a certain stepping-stone to the attainment of those 
 that are higher and greater ; for " to every one that s. Matt. 
 
 XXV. 29. 
 
 hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance. 
 
XXXII. 
 
 %l)t Wii0ion of »). ^etec on tljc ^ou0c=top* 
 
 The Acts x. 9-48. 
 
 9. On the morrow, as they went 
 on their journey, and drew nigh 
 unto the city, Peter went up upon 
 the house-top to pray about the 
 sixth hour : 10. and he became 
 very hungry, and would have eaten : 
 but while they made ready, he fell 
 into a trance, ii. and saw heaven 
 opened, and a certain vessel descend- 
 ing unto him, as it had been a great 
 sheet knit at the four corners, and 
 let down to the earth : 12. wherein 
 were all manner of fourfooted beasts 
 of the earth, and wild beasts, and 
 creeping things, and fowls of the 
 air. 13. And there came a voice to 
 him. Rise, Peter ; kill, and eat. 14. 
 But Peter said, Not so. Lord ; for 
 I have never eaten any thing that 
 is common or unclean. 15. And the 
 voice spake unto him again the 
 second time, What God hath 
 cleansed, that call not thou com- 
 mon. 16. This was done thrice : 
 and the vessel was received up again 
 into heaven. 17. Now while Peter 
 doubted in himself what this vision 
 which he had seen should mean, 
 behold, the men which were sent 
 from Cornelius had made inquiry 
 for Simon's house, and stood before 
 the gate, 18. and called, and asked 
 whether Simon, which was sur- 
 named Peter, were lodged there 
 10 
 
 19. While Peter thought on the 
 vision, the Spirit said unto him. 
 Behold, three men seek thee. 20. 
 Arise therefore, and get thee down, 
 and go with them, doubting no- 
 thing : for I have sent them. 21. 
 Then Peter went down to the men 
 which were sent unto him from 
 Cornelius ; and said. Behold, I am 
 he whom ye seek : what is the cause 
 wherefore ye are come? 22. And 
 they said, Cornelius the centurion, 
 a just man, and one that feareth 
 God, and of good report among all 
 the nation of the Jews, was warned 
 from God by an holy angel to send 
 for thee into his house, and to hear 
 words of thee. 23. Then called he 
 them in, and lodged them. And on 
 the morrow Peter went away with 
 them, and certain brethren from 
 Joppa accompanied him. 24. And 
 the morrow afier they entered into 
 Caesarea. And Cornelius waited for 
 them, and had called together his 
 kinsmen and near friends. 25. And 
 as Peter was coming in, Cornelius 
 met him, and fell down at his feet, 
 and worshipped him. 26. But Peter 
 took him up, saying. Stand up; I 
 myself also am a man. 27. And as 
 he talked with him, he went in, and 
 found many that were come together. 
 28. And he said unto them. Ye 
 
ch. X. 9-48.] The Vision of S. Peter. 
 
 1 1 
 
 know how that it is an unlawful 
 thing for a man that is a Jew to 
 keep company, or come unto one 
 of another nation ; but God hath 
 showed me that I should not call 
 any man common or unclean. 29. 
 Therefore came I unto you without 
 gainsaying, as soon as I was sent 
 for : I ask therefore for what intent 
 ye have sent for me ? 30. And 
 Cornelius said, Four days ago I was 
 fasting until this hour ; and at the 
 ninth hour I prayed in my house, 
 and, behold, a man stood before me 
 in bright clothing, 31. and said, 
 Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and 
 thine alms are had in remembrance 
 in the sight of God. 32. Send 
 therefore to Joppa, and call hither 
 Simon, whose surname is Peter ; he 
 is lodged in the house of one Simon 
 a tanner by the sea-side : who, 
 when he cometh, shall speak unto 
 thee. 33. Immediately therefore I 
 sent to thee ; and thou hast well 
 done that thou art come. Now 
 therefore are we all here present 
 before God, to hear all things that 
 are commanded thee of God. 34. 
 Then Peter opened his mouth, and 
 said. Of a truth I perceive that God 
 is no respecter of persons : 35. but 
 in every nation he that feareth Him, 
 and worketh righteousness, is ac- 
 cepted with Him. 36. The word 
 which God sent unto the children 
 of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus 
 Christ : (He is Lord of all :) 37. 
 that word, / say, ye know, which 
 was published throughout all Judaea, 
 and began from Galilee, after the 
 baptism which John preached ; 38. 
 
 how God anointed Jesus of Na- 
 zareth with the Holy Ghost and 
 with power : Who went about doing 
 good, and healing all that were 
 oppressed of the devil : for God was 
 with Him. 39. And we are witnesses 
 of all things which He did both in 
 the land of the Jews, and in Jeru- 
 salem ; Whom they slew, and hanged 
 on a tree : 40. Him God raised up 
 the third day, and showed Him 
 openly ; 41. not to all the people, 
 but unto witnesses chosen before of 
 God, even to us, who did eat and 
 drink with him after He rose from 
 the dead. 42. And He commanded 
 us to preach unto the people, and 
 to testify that it is He which 
 was ordained of God to be the 
 Judge of quick and dead. 43. To 
 Him give all the prophets witness, 
 that through His Name whosoever 
 believeth in Him shall receive re- 
 mission of sins. 44. While Peter 
 yet spake these words, the Holy 
 Ghost fell on all them which heard 
 the word. 45. And they of the 
 circumcision which believed were 
 astonished, as many as came with 
 Peter, because that on the Gentiles 
 also was poured out the gift of the 
 Holy Ghost. 46. For they heard 
 them speak with tongues, and 
 magnify God. Then answered 
 Peter, 47. Can any man forbid 
 water, that these should not be 
 baptized, which have received the 
 Holy Ghost as well as we? 48. And 
 he commanded them to be baptized 
 in the Name of the Lord. Then 
 prayed they him to tarry certain 
 days. 
 
 The national prejudices of "the peculiar people" 
 of God were so strong, that when the time drew 
 
12 The Vision of S. Peter [Chap. x. 
 
 near for the abolition of their special prerogative, 
 and the admission of the heathen to an equal 
 fellowship in the Divine Covenant, God thought 
 fit to interpose a series of miraculous revelations. 
 He prepared the first Gentile^ who was to be 
 admitted into the kingdom by the visit of an angel ; 
 and the Apostle, by whom the door of admission 
 was unlocked, was thrown into a trance^ and 
 supernaturally taught by what he saw that it was 
 in accordance with the Divine purpose. 
 
 The Holy Spirit has borne witness to the tre- 
 mendous import of the event by moving S. Luke 
 to record it with unwonted abundance of detail as 
 well as reiteration, for the vision of S. Peter is 
 twice told, that of Cornelius thrice. 
 
 Like the more devout Jews, the Apostle set apart 
 Dan. vi. lo. a time for prayer not only in the morning and the 
 evening, but also at mid-day ; and whilst he was on 
 the roof of the house of Simon the tanner, at 
 Joppa, about noon, kneeling upon his knees with 
 his face towards Jerusalem, he was suddenly over- 
 
 1 Other Gentiles had been admitted, but not directly; they 
 all passed through an intermediary stage of Judaism, and were 
 circumcised. 
 
 2 Cornelius was awake and saw the angel as an objective 
 reality ; S. Peter was rapt and saw only subjectively with the eye 
 of the mind. The Jews accounted the trance or ecstasy as the 
 highest degree on record in which God revealed His will to man. 
 
 Ps. Iv. 17. 
 
V. 9-48.] on the House-top. 1 3 
 
 taken by unconsciousness. It was such an ecstasy 
 as Abraham was plunged into when the future 
 history of his children was unfolded before him, or Gen. 
 as S. Paul experienced when in his rapture he heard ^^' '' ^' 
 unspeakable words which it was unlawful ^ for him 2 Cor. xii. 3. 
 afterwards to repeat. 
 
 As the Apostle lay entranced he saw heaven 
 opened, and a great sheet let down containing a 
 multitude of living creatures, clean and unclean, 
 and heard a voice telling him to kill and eat ; but 
 his Jewish instinct revolted ; like Daniel and Dan. i. 8, 12. 
 
 2 Mace. 
 
 Eleazar and the Maccabean mother, he felt that he vi. 18, 19; 
 
 would rather starve than run the risk of cere- ' '' ^' 
 
 monial uncleanness. He had never broken the 
 
 Mosaic law, which laid it down with such clear 
 
 distinction what meats alone it was legitimate for 
 
 a man to eat. But the Spirit of God told him that 
 
 henceforward all such distinction had been abolished; 
 
 " what God hath cleansed, that call not thou 
 
 common." It may be there came back to him at 
 
 that moment what his Master had said when He 
 
 condemned Pharisaic externalism by the sweeping 
 
 assertion that " whatsoever thing from without s. Mark 
 
 entereth into the man, it cannot defile him ; because 
 
 1 More probably it means "impossible"; when he was once 
 more "in the body," he could not describe what was purely 
 spiritual. 
 
1 4 The Vision of S. Peter [Chap. x. 
 
 it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, 
 and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats." ^ 
 Then, perhaps, the significant symbolism of the 
 vessel let down from heaven, and received up again 
 into heaven, impressed his mind ; for " there shall 
 
 Rev. xxi. 27. in no wise enter into it anything that defileth." All 
 these things combined must have convinced him 
 that what had hitherto been unclean in Jewish eyes 
 
 1 Tim. iv. 4. was unclean no longer, but that " every creature 
 of God was good " for food, provided only that " it 
 be received with thanksgiving." 
 
 This, however, did not by any means exhaust the 
 full teaching of the vision, and S. Peter realised 
 that there was something beyond, though, what it 
 was, he " doubted in himself " ; and in his per- 
 plexity he may have remembered the original 
 purpose of the Mosaic distinction. 
 
 Lev. xi. In Leviticus, where the law respecting the animal 
 
 creation was laid down in detail, and the Israelites 
 were forbidden to eat aught of those which were 
 pronounced unclean, the ground of the obligation 
 was made unmistakably clear. It was to be "a 
 great typical mark" of the peculiar people, some- 
 
 1 The reading of the best Mss. is the masculine KaOapl^wv, 
 implying that it was Christ, the Speaker, Who thus cleansed all 
 meats. 
 
V. 9-48.] on the House-top. 15 
 
 thing which should separate them from all other 
 nations. 
 
 If men say that this principle of distinction in 
 food was not confined to the Jews, we must ob- 
 serve that wherever it was recognised, it was only 
 for the priesthood or some small section of the 
 people possessed of spiritual privileges of some 
 kind.^ The application of this by God not only to 
 the family of Aaron, but to the entire community, 
 indicated that in His eyes every one of the race was 
 holy ; that, as a nation, they were " a kingdom of Exod. xix. 6. 
 priests." " I am the Lord your God, Which have 
 separated you from other people. Ye shall therefore 
 put difference between clean beasts and unclean. . . . Levit. 
 And ye shall be holy unto Me ; for I the Lord am ''''• "*' '^' 
 holy, and have severed you from other people, that 
 ye should be Mine." The law entered so deeply 
 into the life of the Jew that it creates no surprise 
 that many speculations should have been made at Origen, 
 different times to explain the basis upon which the P°""'' ^^'^' 
 legislative distinctions were grounded. By some it Michaeiis, 
 
 Law of 
 
 has been maintained that it was purely sanitary : Moses, ccii. 
 that such flesh was allowed as experience has proved de Legibus 
 to be most wholesome ; others have thought that it Mlimonides 
 was regulated by the natural instinct of man, which ^°''- 
 
 ° '' ' Nevochin, 
 
 1 E.g. the Egyptians, Arabians, and Brahmins. '"• "t^' 
 
1 6 The Vision of S. Peter [Chap. x. 
 
 revolts of itself from certain creatures ; others again 
 insist that the line of demarcation was drawn by 
 the arbitrary will of the Divine Legislator, It is 
 interesting to speculate, but the only conclusion 
 which admits of no doubt is that with which we are 
 concerned, viz., that God designed thereby to 
 separate His peculiar people from the rest of the 
 world, and that He associated the distinguishing 
 mark with the food they ate, rather than with some 
 occasional act, in order that they might be reminded 
 of it every day and hour of their lives. 
 
 While S. Peter was meditating upon this, one 
 of those remarkable coincidences happened, which 
 often occur in the lives of men, and largely influence 
 their conduct. Some unexpected messengers arrived 
 to summon him to the house of the centurion Cor- 
 nelius, and the Spirit of God told him that it was 
 his duty to go, for they had been sent by Himself. 
 Then the whole meaning of the vision flashed upon 
 him ; not only Avas it designed to show him that 
 the ceremonial distinction of divers kinds of food 
 was abolished, but that the middle wall of partition 
 between Jew and Gentile, which that distinction 
 had so long emphasised, was broken down. Hence- 
 forward he was free not only to eat and drink 
 whatever he chose, but also to mingle indiscrimi- 
 
V. 9-48.] on the House-top, 17 
 
 nately with every nation under heaven, and to 
 regard them as fellow-heirs with himself of all 
 spiritual privileges. 
 
 He hastened to comply with the messengers' re- 
 quest, and on the morrow, taking with him some 
 chosen witnesses, he went to Csesarea. The meeting 
 between the Apostle and Cornelius was a very 
 momentous one. The expectation of seeing a per- 
 son who, we have reason to believe, will bring some 
 much-desired help and relief, was intensified in the 
 mind of the centurion by all that he had passed 
 through. There was first the supernatural visit of 
 the angel, and then the despatch of his attendants 
 to Joppa, and lastly the return and the fulfilment 
 of his object. It had all filled him with so much 
 awe and wonderment, that when the Apostle came 
 he threw himself prostrate at his feet and worshipped 
 him. No sooner had S. Peter rejected the proffered 
 homage, and assured him that he was only a human 
 agent come by the inspiration of God to help and 
 guide him, than he explained by what means he 
 had been directed to repudiate the traditions^ of 
 
 1 S. Peter used a strong expression before, ". . . it is an un- 
 lawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company or come 
 unto one of another nation." There is no direct prohibition in 
 the Law, but the greatest objection to it was felt. Cf. Josephus, 
 contra Apmi, ii. 29 ; Tacitus, Hist. v. 5 ; Juvenal, Sat. xiv. 103. 
 
 VOL. XL B 
 
1 8 The Vision of S. Peter [Chap, x. 
 
 his race, and convinced that henceforward there was 
 no distinction between Jew and Gentile. Then 
 S. Peter opened his mouth and declared, in the hear- 
 ing of them all, the great end of the Incarnation of 
 Jesus Christ, which was the salvation of all men, 
 and the acceptance, in accordance with the word of 
 prophecy, of whosoever believeth in Him — what- 
 ever his nation or language — for the remission of 
 sins. 
 
 His declaration was immediately sealed with the 
 Divine approval, for the old Jewish belief which 
 had become stereotyped as a proverb, that " the 
 Holy Ghost never fell upon a Gentile," was at once 
 disproved, and the mixed multitude of Gentiles at 
 Csesarea received the supernatural gift, as the Jews 
 had received it at Jerusalem, and burst out in an 
 ecstatic utterance of praise and thanksgiving. It 
 was, as it has been well called, " the Gentile Pente- 
 cost." For the greater confirmation of Cornelius, 
 and for the conviction of those " of the circumcision," 
 who were still in doubt, the appointed order for the 
 bestowal of the Divine gift of the Holy Ghost was 
 inverted ; " except a man be born of water and of 
 the Spirit" — Baptism first and then the effusion 
 of spiritual gifts — but " God is not bound," i and 
 
 1 It is a theological maxim : Deus non alligatur sacramentis. 
 
V. 9-48.] on the House-top. 19 
 
 though it is " not ordinarily His will to bestow the 
 grace of sacraments on any but by the sacraments," Hooker, 
 
 Kccl Pol 
 
 He can, if reason calls for it, do it otherwise ; and ^, i^jj ^ ' 
 it is no depreciation of a Divine Ordinance if from 
 time to time God acts upon the souls of men with- 
 out it. 
 
 It is not, however, by any means clear that the 
 gift of the Holy Spirit which these converts re- 
 ceived was identical with that which is usually 
 consequent on Baptism ; the gift of tongues is not 
 synonymous with that Baptismal grace which is 
 understood by " being born of the Spirit." It indi- 
 cates, doubtless, the special favour of God ; it 
 pointed in their case to their having been prepared 
 by Him for the reception of the fullest measure of 
 Christian privilege ; and as soon as S. Peter saw it 
 he said, " Surely, no one ^ will now venture to 
 withhold the Baptismal water." Instead, then, of 
 appealing to this circumstance to detract from the 
 necessity of Sacraments, where signs of true conver- 
 sion are manifest, it would be far wiser, and certainly 
 safer, to recognise the absolute obligation of sub- 
 mitting to the external Rite, and seeking admission 
 
 1 The form of interrogative here used (/i^rt) has the same force 
 as astrong negation. Again, it is not simply, as in A.V. , " water," 
 but " the water," that which is the usual accompaniment of " the 
 Spirit," 
 
20 The Vision of S. Peter. [Ch. x. 9-48. 
 
 into the Covenant of Christ's Church through " the 
 laver of regeneration." To doubt its necessity is to 
 impugn the wisdom of God, who does nothing 
 Ephes. without reason but "worketh all things" de- 
 liberately, and " after the counsel of His own 
 will." 
 
 1. ir 
 
XXXIII. 
 
 %\)z Beffinninff of tlje (Bcntile Cljucclj, 
 
 The Acts xi. 1-26. 
 
 I. And the apostles and brethren 
 that were in Judaea heard that the 
 Gentiles had also received the word 
 of God. 2. And when Peter was 
 come up to Jerusalem, they that 
 were of the circumcision contended 
 with him, 3. saying, Thou wentest 
 in to men uncircumcised, and didst 
 eat with them. 4. But Peter re- 
 hearsed t/ie matter horn, the begin- 
 ning, and expounded it by order 
 unto them, saying, 5. I was in the 
 city of Joppa praying : and in a 
 trance I saw a vision, A certain 
 vessel descend, as it had been a 
 great sheet, let down from heaven 
 by four corners ; and it came even 
 to me : 6. upon the which when 
 I had fastened mine eyes, I con- 
 sidered, and saw fourfooted beasts 
 of the earth, and wild beasts, and 
 creeping things, and fowls of the air. 
 7. And I heard a voice saying unto 
 me. Arise, Peter ; slay and eat. 8. 
 But 1 said. Not so, Lord : for no- 
 thing common or unclean hath at 
 any time entered into my mouth. 
 g. But the voice answered me 
 again from heaven, What God hath 
 cleansed, that call not thou com- 
 
 mon. 10. And this was done three 
 times : and all were drawn up again 
 into heaven. 11. And, behold, 
 immediately there were three men 
 already come unto the house where 
 I was, sent from Csesarea unto me. 
 
 12. And the Spirit bade me go with 
 them, nothing doubting. Moreover 
 these six brethren accompanied me, 
 and we entered into the man's house. 
 
 13. And he showed us how he had 
 seen an angel in his house, which 
 stood and said unto him. Send men to 
 Joppa, and call for Simon, whose 
 surname is Peter ; 14. who shall tell 
 thee words, whereby thou and all 
 thy house shall be saved. 15. And 
 as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost 
 fell on them, as on us at the begin- 
 ning. 16. Then remembered I the 
 word of the Lord, how that He said, 
 John indeed baptized with water ; 
 but ye shall be baptized with the 
 Holy Ghost. 17. Forasmuch then 
 as God gave them the like gift as He 
 did unto us, who believed on the 
 Lord Jesus Christ ; what was I, that 
 I could withstand God? 18. When 
 they heard these things, they held 
 their peace, and glorified God, say- 
 
 21 
 
2 2 The Beginning of [Chap. xi. 
 
 ing, Then hath God also to the Gen- which was in Jerusalem : and they 
 
 tiles granted repentance unto life, sent forth Barnabas, that he should 
 
 19. Now they which were scattered go as far as Antioch : 23. who, 
 
 abroad upon the persecution that when he came, and had seen the 
 
 arose about Stephen travelled as far grace of God, was glad, and ex- 
 
 as Phenice, and Cyprus, and An- horted them all, that with purpose 
 
 tioch, preaching the word to none of heart they would cleave unto the 
 
 but unto the Jews only. 20. And Lord. 24. For he was a good man, 
 
 some of them were men of Cyprus and full of the Holy Ghost and of 
 
 and Cyrene, which, when they were faith : and much people was added 
 
 come to Antioch, spake unto the unto the Lord. 25. Then departed 
 
 Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus. Barnabas to Tarsus, for to seek Saul: 
 
 21. And the hand of the Lord was 26. and when he had found him, he 
 with them : and a great number be- brought him unto Antioch. And it 
 lieved, and turned unto the Lord, came to pass, that a whole year 
 
 22. Then tidings of these things they assembled themselves with the 
 came unto the ears of the church church, and taught much people. 
 
 The proverb that " the blood of the martyrs is 
 the seed of the Church " received a notable illustra- 
 tion from the death of S. Stephen. Unable to 
 remain at Jerusalem, the first converts carried 
 abroad the message of salvation, and proclaimed to 
 distant lands the cause for which he had died. 
 *' They that were scattered abroad went everywhere 
 preaching the word " ; such was S. Luke's comment 
 upon Saul's persecution ; and now he reverts to it, 
 taking up the very words which he had used before, 
 and tells us whither they went : " Now, they which 
 were scattered abroad upon the persecution that 
 arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, 
 and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word." The 
 hand of God must have shaped their course, for no 
 greater scope for mission enterprise could have been 
 
V. 1-26.] the Gentile Ckttrck. 23 
 
 found ; first for work among the Jews, and after- 
 wards among the Gentiles. 
 
 Phoenicia was the ancient Canaan, or Lowland 
 (so called) in contradistinction to the Highlands of 
 Arun or Syria. The Greeks gave it the new name, 
 as the Land of Palms. The language of the Phoe- 
 nicians was only another dialect of the Hebrew ; ^ 
 and at this time there was a large population of 
 of Jews in the country. 
 
 Cyprus, the Chittim of Old Testament History ,2 Ezek. 
 was colonised from Phoenicia, and like it largely '"""'" ' 
 peopled by the Jews, who had settled there in the i Mace. 
 time of the Maccabees, if not before. It was the ^^' ^^* 
 birthplace of Barnabas and Mnason. But by far 
 the most interesting of the three places is Antioch. 
 After Jerusalem, it is more closely associated with 
 primitive Christianity than any other spot in the 
 world. In this book we shall see the new com- 
 munity of Christian converts rapidly becoming the 
 mother Church of Gentile Christendom ; it is an 
 
 1 It has been found in many inscriptions in Cyprus, at Siclon, at 
 Malta and Athens, but the most important is that of the Stele 
 of Mesha or Moabite Stone, discovered at Dibon about thirty 
 years ago. 
 
 2 ' ' The island of Cethima ; it is now called Cyprus ; and from 
 that it is that all islands and the greatest part of the seacoasts 
 are named Cethim by the Hebrews." — Joseph. Ant. i. vi. 1. Cf. 
 also, Epiph. Hcer. xxx. 25. 
 
2 4 The Beginning of [Chap. xi. 
 
 ever- recurring city in all the records of S. Paul's 
 work, the starting-point of every missionary journey, 
 and not least, it is the place where the Christians 
 first acquired their undying and most valued 
 denomination. In after-history it has its place of 
 honour as the home of Ignatius and Chrysostom; 
 and it shares with Rome and Constantinople, and 
 Alexandria and Jerusalem the highest distinction as 
 one of the five great Patriarchates of the Church. 
 
 Though Christianity was first preached there to 
 
 Jews only, as soon as the wall of partition was 
 
 broken down between Jew and Gentile, preachers 
 
 found in it a sphere of very special attraction. It 
 
 Muiier's was the third city in the Eoman Empire, with no 
 
 Ant'ioche^nffi. ^®^^ than half a million of inhabitants. In the beauty 
 
 Julian, of jj;g natural situation it was almost unrivalled, 
 
 Misopogon. 
 
 walled in from incursion by noble mountains, and girt 
 
 about on every side by the groves and forests of 
 
 Daphne, with a street or corso extending for almost 
 
 Joseph. five miles along the banks of the Orontes, with 
 
 xvi. V. 3. splendid arcades the whole of its length, and a 
 
 pavement of the whitest marble, on which we are 
 
 Renan, Les told " all day loug rollcd the waves of a population, 
 
 p. 221. ' empty, frivolous, fickle, and turbulent." Antioch 
 
 was the gayest, the most brilliant, and perhaps the 
 
 most wicked and profligate city in the East, shar- 
 
V. 1-26.] the Gentile Chttrch. 25 
 
 ing with Pergamos the right to be described as 
 
 " Satan's seat." When the Eoman Satirist wished to Rev. ii. 13. 
 
 paint in its most vivid colours the depravity of Rome, 
 
 he gathered all that he wished to say into one preg- juvenai, 
 
 nant sentence, " the Orontes had poured its waters 
 
 into the Tiber " ; and Gibbon has rivalled Juvenal in 
 
 the terseness of his estimate : " Of all Oriental cities, 
 
 Antioch was at once the greatest and the worst." 
 
 We are not surprised that this stronghold of 
 Pagan wickedness should have been assailed by the 
 Christian Missionaries, when once they were satisfied 
 that Greeks ^ as well as Jews were eligible for sal- 
 vation. Their first efforts were crowned with 
 such success that tidings of it reached Jerusalem. 
 S. Peter had lately been summoned thither by the 
 indignant remonstrances of a narrow-minded party 
 in the Church, and called to account for his new 
 departure in admitting the heathen Cornelius into 
 the fold of the Church without first submitting to Acts 
 the Rite of Circumcision ; and his vindication had '^'' ^ '^' 
 so fully convinced them that God had " granted to 
 the Gentiles also repentance unto life," that they 
 
 1 " Grecians," or Hellenists, is the reading which has the most 
 external evidence in its favour ; but it is so manifestly contradic- 
 tory of the whole sense of the passage, that the Revisers have not 
 hesitated to place it in the margin and insert "Greeks" in the 
 text, xi. 20. 
 
26 The Beginning of .[Chap. xi. 
 
 manifested no serious impatience at what they heard 
 from Antioch. All that the Mother Church did was 
 to take steps for the due control of the movement, 
 so as to prevent the Gentile community from grow- 
 ing up in independence of the central authority. 
 It shows at an early stage the Apostolic conception 
 of ecclesiastical government, and its purpose to keep 
 the Church united in all its divers spheres of opera- 
 tion as one organic whole, as the Body of Christ. 
 
 Whether they chose one only or two delegates, it 
 was a very wise selection that they made. S. Paul 
 is not mentioned in the commission, but this may 
 have been because he was absent from Jerusalem, 
 and it was not absolutely certain whether he would 
 be able to join in it. In a matter of such momentous 
 import, it is hardly likely either that they would 
 have appointed Barnabas alone or have left him 
 entirely free to select a colleague on his own respon- 
 sibility. We assume, therefore, that both S. Bar- 
 nabas and S. Paul were named for the office by 
 the Church at home. The former was by birth 
 a Cypriot, and probably known to some of the 
 preachers at Antioch who are mentioned as having 
 come from Cyprus. He had, moreover, personal 
 qualifications for the work of no ordinary kind, 
 and bore in his very name the credentials of a 
 
V. 1-26.] the Gentile Church. 2 7 
 
 preacher — the son of exhortation.^ S. Paul, whose 
 name was in all likelihood suggested by S. Barnabas xxii. 18, 21. 
 from the special interest he had taken in him, and as 
 revealed in the Temple trance, from his destiny to 
 be the Apostle of the Gentiles, was alike by his 
 character and his calling the very man for the work. 
 The terms of the commission are not recorded, 
 but it may be gathered from the history of what 
 took place that S. Barnabas' special attention was 
 directed to the need of careful investigation; it 
 would seem also that he was not sanguine of the 
 result. The notice of the joy and satisfaction which 
 he felt when he saw with his eyes manifest proofs 
 of God's approval ^ of what had been done, in the 
 lives of the Gentile converts, is indicative of some- 
 thing different from what he had expected. At all 
 events, if he had had any suspicions, he at once laid 
 them aside and began himself to further the cause 
 by exhorting ^ the people to persevere and not be 
 
 1 It gives too restricted a meaning to vapd.K'K'rjcns to translate 
 it after the Viilgate, "consolation." Either "exhortation" or 
 "inspired preaching," according to the Hebrew, is more correct. 
 N33 in the Niphal voice, to be made to overflow, to bubble over, 
 implying that the agent was moved by the power of another ; 
 inspired to prophesy. 
 
 2 A. V. " When he had seen the grace of God." It is more ex- 
 pressive in the original — not simply x«/'»' QeoO, bnt t7]v x^-P^" '''V" 
 rod Qeov : "the grace which was (evidently) that of God." — Alford. 
 
 2 Trape/cdXet, the word is nsed in reference to his designation 
 vlos irapaKXrjaeus, and in the imperfect tense to indicate that he 
 began to do it or that he continued doing it for some time. 
 
2 8 The Beginning of [Chap. xi. 
 
 shaken in their new resolve to follow Christ. As 
 the result of his preaching, " much people was added 
 unto the Lord." No sooner had he satisfied himself 
 that "a great door and effectual" was opening 
 before him, than he determined to delay no longer 
 in obtaining the assistance of his colleague. His 
 determination to go in person and search him out 
 suggests that the means hitherto adopted to acquaint 
 him of the commission had failed in some unac- 
 countable way. The last occasion on which S. Paul 
 had been mentioned in the history was when " the 
 brethren," of whom S. Barnabas was one, " brought 
 him down to Csesarea and sent him forth to Tarsus." 
 He would most likely be there still, waiting for a 
 call to his appointed work. It was a place that had 
 always been dear to him, but, if Strabo is right in 
 saying that as a school of heathen philosophy and 
 literature it surpassed even Athens and Alexandria, 
 we can well understand his resorting to it at such a 
 crisis, to prepare himself by intellectual study for the 
 work to which he had been destined by God. 
 
 S. Barnabas succeeded in his search, and brought 
 back his colleague to Antioch, where they con- 
 tinued a whole year ; and under their guidance and 
 instruction the Gentile Church rapidly grew and 
 multiplied. 
 
V. 1-26. J the Gentile Church. 29 
 
 Now what was it that gave such success to the 
 labours of the first preachers to the Gentiles at 
 Antiochl It would have been impossible to find 
 a more unpromising field for missionary enterprise. 
 Apart from the vast population of heathen, abandoned 
 to self-indulgence and vices of the worst kind, the 
 most determined opposition of the Jews had to be 
 encountered, for they formed one - fourth of the 
 population. When, then, we look at the magnitude 
 of the difficulties to be surmounted, we are com- 
 pelled to acknowledge that nothing but what S. 
 Luke says can account for it. He explained it all 
 in a single line : " the hand of the Lord was with 
 them." God gave a signal illustration at the very 
 outset of what was to be the true secret of all the 
 Church's success in the world ; it was the Super- 
 natural working behind the natural; the hand of God 
 hidden where the hand of man was laid ; the voice 
 of the Spirit speaking by human lips. It was a 
 striking fulfilment of the Divine promises to the 
 Apostles and all who should succeed to their Ministry 
 in the Church, and it must have strengthened and 
 encouraged those who witnessed it ; " Go ye and s. Matt, 
 teach all nations . . . and lo ! I am with you 
 alway, even unto the end of the world." 
 
XXXIV. 
 
 ^l)e earliest 2De0ie:nation0 of Cljn^t*^ 
 follotoer0* 
 
 The Acts xi. 26-30. 
 
 26. And the disciples were called world : which came to pass in 
 
 Christians first in Antioch. 27. the days of Claudius Csesar. 29. 
 
 And in these days came prophets Then the disciples, every man ac- 
 
 from Jerusalem unto Antioch. 28. cording to his ability, determined to 
 
 And there stood up one of them send relief unto the brethren which 
 
 named Agabus, and signified by dwelt in Judaea : 30. which also they 
 
 the Spirit that there should be did, and sent it to the elders by the 
 
 great dearth throughout all the hands of Barnabas and Saul. 
 
 The Evangelist's notice of the first introduction 
 of the name of " Christian " opens up a question of 
 deep interest touching the diflFereut designations by 
 which those who embraced the Faith of Christ in 
 early times were known. It will be found at the 
 same time to be very instructive, for there is much 
 to be learned both from the names given to them by 
 others, and from those which they took of their own 
 selves. 
 
 If we confine our consideration to the most 
 important, we find that two names were given to 
 
 30 
 
ch. XI. 26-30.] Designations of Christians. 3 1 
 
 them by the Jews, one by the Gentiles, and four 
 were adopted in their own nomenclature. 
 
 The first is " Galilseans." The Apostles with one 
 exception came out of Galilee, but the title of 
 Galilsean was eagerly seized upon by their enemies, 
 because it carried with it the idea of contempt. 
 " Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth % " s. John 
 expresses very forcibly what it was to be described Acts ii. 7. 
 as a Galilsean ; and when in later times our Lord's 
 miracles were explained away by unbelievers, 
 the Author of them was derisively called " a 
 Galilsean impostor, to emphasise their ridicule." 
 But perhaps the title was never used with more 
 scornful derision than when the Apostate Julian Greg. Naz. 
 took up the Jewish opprobrious title and cried soc. Hist. 
 with his dying breath, "0 Galilsean, Thou hast ?^'JX;;_'- 
 conquered." "'• ^s- 
 
 Another title given to the Christians was 
 " Nazarenes," not only because their Founder was 
 brought up at Nazareth, but for the reason that it 
 was a recognised term of reproach, there being no 
 lower type of men in the East than those who lived 
 in Galilee, of which Nazareth was perhaps the most 
 obscure village. " He shall be called a Nazarene " 
 is said to have been the prediction of the prophets ; s. Matt, 
 and in the absence of such a definite prophetical "' ^^' 
 
32 The Earliest Designations [chap. xi, 
 
 designation in the Old Testament, it finds a possible 
 Ps. xxii. interpretation ^ in the despised condition under 
 which He was expected. 
 
 Tertullus, whom the High Priest had retained to 
 prosecute S. Paul, after heaping upon him several 
 contemptuous accusations, brings them to a climax 
 Acts xxiv. 5. by calling him " a ringleader of the sect of the 
 Nazarenes," The designation became so rooted in 
 the Jewish vocabulary that it still retains its place ; 
 and in the Arabic language it is the term commonly 
 employed to denote a Christian. During the Indian 
 Mutiny it was often heard, for the Mahometans, to 
 incite rebellion, made much use of an ancient pro- 
 phecy that "the Nazarenes would be driven out 
 when they had occupied the country a hundred 
 years." 
 
 The name of " Christians " originated at Antioch, 
 and in all probability with the Eomans ; there were 
 many Jews in the city, but they would be the last 
 to admit that the new Religion had any claim to 
 such a title, for it implied that its professors were 
 followers of the Messiah, or Christ, which they 
 wholly disallowed. There were Greeks also, but 
 
 1 This has been accepted by such commentators as Eosen- 
 miiller, Ebrard, Lange, and others ; but its derivation from Netser, 
 a branch, finds many supporters ; cf. Jer. xxiii. 15, xxxiii. 15, and 
 Zech. ill. 8. 
 
V. 26-30.] of Christ's Folloivers. 2)Z 
 
 the form of the word is distinctly Roman in its 
 termination,^ Hitherto the Gentiles had been 
 satisfied to regard Christianity as a phase of 
 Judaism, but when converts were made without 
 first accepting the Law or Rite of Circumcision, 
 a new designation became necessary, and as the 
 Name of " Christ " was always on the lips of their 
 preachers, the people of Antioch ^ called them in 
 ridicule " Christians." 
 
 Though there is no trace of Christians designat- 
 ing themselves by the title in Apostolic times it 
 was not long before they came to glory in it, 
 and there was no prouder utterance than that of 
 the martyr, as he faced death in the amphitheatre, 
 " I am a Christian." 
 
 The names which they themselves preferred to 
 be known by were four : " the brethren," " the 
 disciples," " the faithful," and " saints." 
 
 "Brethren" had in it an inherent attraction, and 
 bespoke their fellowship and union as members of 
 one family. It recurs again and again in the 
 Epistles, and became so common that it was laid 
 
 1 Like Pompeiani, Scellani, Vitelliani, Herodiani, and others. 
 
 2 It has been often said that they were fond of "inventing and 
 giving nicknames and turning their wit into channels of ridicule." 
 Conybeare and Howson, i. 148, quote Julian's Misopogon and 
 Procopius' Persian Wars in support of this. 
 
 VOL. II. C 
 
34 The Earliest Designations [Chap. xi. 
 
 hold of by their enemies and made indirectly the 
 ground of most unjust and abominable accusations.^ 
 There is just one passage where "sister" is used as 
 a Christian, but commonly quite misunderstood. 
 " Have we not power," says S. Paul,^ " to lead 
 about a sister, a wife?" He does not claim the 
 general privilege, as is so often imagined, of taking 
 with him a sister, or wife, on his missionary 
 journeys ; but he limits such companionship by the 
 important restriction that, whatever her relationship 
 to himself, she should belong to " the brotherhood 
 of Christians." 
 
 " Disciples " was a description they loved because 
 it reminded them of the Master, at Whose feet the 
 first generation had been taught ; it was moreover 
 what He had commanded when He gave His part- 
 ing commission to the Apostles, to "make disciples"^ 
 of all nations. 
 
 "Believers," or "the faithful," was another 
 common appellation ; but as it has been often 
 
 1 OlSiirddetoi fJ-'^^eis, or incestuous connections, was one of the 
 hateful charges brought against the Christians in consequence of 
 their speaking of themselves so commonly as brothers or sisters, 
 and from their holding their religioixs meetings under cover of 
 night in times of persecution. 
 
 2 1 Cor. ix. 5. 
 
 3 iJLadT]Tev(raTe, not simply "teach" but make them ixad-qral, 
 disciples. 
 
V. 26-30.] of Chrisfs Followers. 35 
 
 misinterpreted in these later days, it requires a 
 longer notice. It would not have been used in the 
 early days of Christianity for any who had faith in 
 Christ, unless they had also been baptized into His 
 Church. The significance of the title, as a proof 
 that those who received it had been made members 
 of Christ by Baptism, is shown by its frequent 
 occurrence in the inscriptions of the Catacombs 
 over infants and young children. It indicated at 
 once that they had died in the pale of the Church. 
 As a simple synonym for " the baptized," it is 
 familiar to us in the expressions, " the Prayer of 
 the faithful," or " the mass of the faithful," ^ that is, 
 that from the use of which the unbaptized were 
 debarred. The ignorance of this technical meaning 
 of the term has led Nonconformists and others to 
 hold that faith and not Baptism is the necessary 
 qualification for membership of the Church; but 
 when the Article says "the Church is a body of 
 faithful men," ^ it means, as the Latin original 
 clearly shows, men who have professed the faith, 
 not necessarily those who have been constant to it. 
 
 1 Oratio fidelium, or the Lord's Prayer, was not taiight to 
 catechumens till the eve of their baptism. Missa fideliicm was 
 that part of the Liturgy to wliich none but the baptized were 
 admitted, as distinct from missa Catechumenvnim. 
 
 2 Coetus fidelium — not credentitcm. Art. xix. 
 
36 The Earliest Designations [Chap. xi. 
 
 Acts ix. 13, The last, and perhaps most important, of all the 
 xxvi.'io. designations is that of " Saints." Just as "faithful " 
 Rom.xvi. 15. ^jj(j jjQ^ ^<^ f^j.gl^ imply personal apprehension of and 
 constancy to the Faith of Christ/ so " saint " carried 
 with it no necessary idea of personal holiness. The 
 word came from the Old Testament, in which all 
 Exod. the Jews were called, even by God Himself, " a holy 
 
 '"^' ^' ^' nation," ^ by reason of their dedication to Him. 
 The phraseology was admitted into the New Testa- 
 I s. Pet. ii. 9. inent and applied indiscriminately to all the baptized, 
 because, like the Jews, they had been set apart as 
 the people of God. Now, let us see how much the 
 Church has lost in later days by confining the 
 designation to those only who have attained to the 
 highest standard of personal sanctity. How many 
 modern preachers address their congregations as 
 though they were heathen ! They make no refer- 
 ence to the great fact of their baptism, which, 
 together with its blessings, entailed large responsi- 
 bilities, and they often call upon them to become 
 regenerate or God's people. 
 
 Suppress the title which bespeaks a man's 
 Christian obligation — treat him as a pagan, and he 
 
 1 It could not do so in the case of infants and young children. 
 - For the distinction between 07405, dedicated, and ocnos, per- 
 sonally holy, of. Trench's N. T, Synon. 
 
V. 26-30.] of Chrisfs Followers. 2>7 
 
 will not be slow to accept the position, and act 
 accordingly. S. Paul was too wise and far-sighted 
 to make any such mistake. No matter how bad, 
 how far fallen from grace and sunk in sin, he never 
 kept back the truth, but based the whole force of 
 his appeal upon the great fact that by their very 
 calling they were saints,^ and that, unless they 
 would cast away their privileges and ignore their 
 responsibility, they must determine to make their 
 " calling and election sure." 
 
 Men say it is a dangerous thing to dwell much 
 upon the doctrine of Baptismal Regeneration ; but 
 we need have no fear of enforcing what the Apostle 
 was so careful to emphasise in the Churches which 
 he had founded. Let us, then, bring up our 
 children in the constant recognition of their high 
 prerogative; and remind them that their bodies 
 have been made temples of the Holy Ghost ; and 
 our appeal will come home with greater force, when 
 we bid them keep themselves " unspotted from the 
 world," and " walk worthy of the vocation where- Ephes. iv. 
 with" they "are called." 
 
 1 One illustration will suffice. He does not hesitate to address 
 the Corinthians as "saints," even in a letter to a Church in which 
 there were strife and divisions, fornication and incest, drunken- 
 ness, and even unnatural crime. Cf. 1 Cor. i. 2, "called to be 
 saints," iii. 3, v. 1, vi. 9, 10, 11. 
 
XXXV. 
 
 ^etoti'0 ^ec^ecutioix of tlje ^po0tle0. 
 
 The Acts xii. 1-25. 
 
 I. Now about that time Herod 
 the king stretched forth kis hands to 
 vex certain of the church. 2. And 
 he killed James the brother of John 
 with the sword. 3. And because he 
 saw it pleased the Jews, he pro- 
 ceeded further to take Peter also. 
 (Then were the days of unleavened 
 bread.) 4. And when he had appre- 
 hended him, he put him in prison, 
 and delivered kim to four quater- 
 nions of soldiers to keep him ; in- 
 tending after Easter to bring him 
 forth to the people. 5. Peter there- 
 fore was kept in prison : but prayer 
 was made without ceasing of the 
 church unto God for him. 6. And 
 when Herod would have brought 
 him forth, the same night Peter was 
 sleeping between two soldiers, bound 
 with two chains : and the keepers 
 before the door kept the prison. 7. 
 And, behold, the angel of the Lord 
 came upon /;/;«, and a light shined 
 in the prison : and he smote Peter 
 on the side, and raised him up, say- 
 ing. Arise up quickly. And his 
 chains fell off from his hands. 8. 
 And the angel said unto him, Gird 
 38 
 
 thyself, and bind on thy sandals. 
 And so he did. And he saith unto 
 him. Cast thy garment about thee, 
 and follow me. 9. And he went out, 
 and followed him ; and wist not that 
 it was true which was done by the 
 angel ; but thought he saw a vision. 
 10. When they were past the first 
 and the second ward, they came unto 
 the iron gate that leadeth unto the 
 city ; which opened to them of his 
 own accord : and thej' went out, and 
 passed on through one street ; and 
 forthwith the angel departed from 
 him. II. And when Peter was come 
 to himself, he said. Now I know of 
 a surety, that the Lord hath sent His 
 angel, and hath delivered me out of 
 the hand of Herod, andyVowz all the 
 expectation of the people of the 
 Jews. T2. And when he had con- 
 sidered the thing, he came to the 
 house of Mary the mother of John, 
 whose surname was Mark ; where 
 many were gathered together pray- 
 ing. 13. And as Peter knocked at 
 the door of the gate, a damsel came 
 to hearken, named Rhoda. 14. And 
 when she knew Peter's voice, she 
 
Ch. XII. 1-25.] 
 
 Herod's Persecution. 
 
 39 
 
 opened not the gate for gladness, 
 but ran in, and told how Peter stood 
 before the gate. 75. And they said 
 unto her. Thou art mad. But she 
 constantly affirmed that it was even 
 so. Then said they, It is his angel. 
 
 16. But Peter continued knocking : 
 and when they had opened the door, 
 and saw him, they were astonished. 
 
 17. But he, beckoning unto them 
 with the hand to hold their peace, 
 declared unto them how the Lord 
 had brought him out of the prison. 
 And he said, Go show these things 
 unto James, and to the brethren. 
 And he departed, and went into 
 another place. 18. Now as soon as 
 it was day, there was no small stir 
 among the soldiers, what was be- 
 come of Peter. 19. And when Herod 
 had sought for him, and found him 
 not, he examined the keepers, and 
 commanded that they should be put 
 to death. And he went down from 
 
 Judaea to Caesarea, and there abode. 
 20. And Herod was highly dis- 
 pleased with them of Tyre and 
 Sidon : but they came with one 
 accord to him, and, having made 
 Blastus the king's chamberlain their 
 friend, desired peace ; because their 
 country was nourished by the king's 
 country. 21. And upon a set day 
 Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat 
 upon his throne, and made an ora- 
 tion unto them. 22. And the people 
 gave a shout, saying. It is the 
 voice of a god, and not of a man. 
 23. And immediately the angel of 
 the Lord smote him, because he 
 gave not God the glory : and he was 
 eaten of worms, and gave up the 
 ghost. 24. But the word of God 
 grew and multiplied. 25. And Bar- 
 nabas and Saul returned from Jeru- 
 salem, when they had fulfilled their 
 ministry, and took with them John, 
 whose surname was Mark. 
 
 Herod Agrippa, who imbrued his hands in the 
 
 blood of S. James and imprisoned S. Peter, had 
 
 passed himself through strange vicissitudes — from 
 
 prosperity to adversity, from palace to prison, and 
 
 from prison to palace.^ At this epoch he was high 
 
 in imperial favour, and apparently so secure in 
 
 his position that he had nothing to fear. He is 
 
 accurately described as " the king," though he had 
 
 not been long in possession of the title, and it 
 
 ' Tiberius imprisoned him for an unguarded expression of a 
 disloyal kind, but Caligula, whom Herod had praised, on succeed- 
 ing to the throne, immediately "changed his iron chain for one 
 of gold." 
 
40 Herod's Persecution [Chap. xn, 
 
 ceased at his death, very shortly after; it was 
 Joseph. given to him by Caligula, together with the 
 xviii. vi. lo. tetrarchies, which had been held by Philip and 
 Lysanias. Subsequently, Claudius added Judsea 
 A.D. 41. and Samaria ; ^ and at this time he ruled over a 
 Joseph. dominion as large as that of his grandfather, Herod 
 xix. V. 1. the Creat. The desire to please the Jews, spoken 
 of by S. Luke, was illustrated in many ways. In 
 religion he rigorously observed their rites and 
 customs ; he earned the gratitude of the nation for 
 persuading the Emperor to repeal the impious decree 
 id. xviii. for the erection of his statue in the Holy of Holies ; 
 he laid the foundation of a wall which, it was 
 expected, would make Jerusalem perfectly impreg- 
 nable. 
 
 His rigorous adherence to the Mosaic Law, and 
 the tidings which had lately reached him that the 
 Christians had begun to ignore its obligations, led 
 to his execution of S. James, the first of the 
 Apostles to suffer martyrdom. He probably singled 
 him out because, from his well-known vehemence 
 and enthusiasm as one of the " sons of thunder," he 
 would be recognised as " a ringleader of the Sect." 
 What is here told by S. Luke has a special interest, 
 for, though nearly all the Apostles were martyrs, 
 1 Persea had beeu previously handed over to him. 
 
V. I-2S.] of the Apostles. 41 
 
 S. James is the only one, the time and manner of 
 whose death is recorded in sacred history. It took 
 place in the year 44 A.D., and he died by the sword. 
 Four kinds of capital punishment were in vogue Lightf. 
 
 Gxcrcit. Ill 
 
 among the Jews ; but the most disgraceful in their Acta, App. 
 eyes was that of beheading. They had laid down a '" °'^°' 
 rule, that in any great effort to seduce converts 
 from the Jewish religion, the mode of death should 
 be by decapitation. The infliction of it here shows 
 how Herod had been stirred up by the Jews, 
 because of the activity of the Apostles. 
 
 We are told by Eusebius with what fortitude 
 S. James met his death, and of its eff'ect upon one 
 of his accusers, " The man who led him to the Euseb. EccI. 
 judgment-seat, seeing him bearing his testimony to '^ " "' ^' 
 the Faith, and moved by the fact, confessed himself 
 a Christian, and both were led away to die. On 
 the road he entreated James to grant him forgive- 
 ness, and when the Apostle had replied, ' Peace be 
 to you,' and given him the kiss of reconciliation, 
 they were beheaded together." 
 
 Seeing " that it pleased the Jews," Herod " pro- 
 ceeded further to take Peter also." Political ex- 
 pediency and love of popularity — how many crimes 
 must be laid at the door of these, is known only to 
 Him to Whom the hearts of kings and rulers are 
 
42 HerocTs PerseaUion [Chap.xh. 
 
 bare and open. " If thou let this Man go, thou art 
 not Caesar's friend " ; — it made Pilate release Barab- 
 bas instead of Jesus ; it stained Herod's hands with 
 blood, and compelled Felix, against his conscience, 
 to leave S. Paul in bonds. S. Peter was arrested, 
 but as the Passover was at hand, and Herod was 
 anxious to respect the traditions of the people,^ he 
 threw him into prison, to await his trial after the 
 Feast. Perhaps he had heard of the Apostle's 
 
 Acts previous escape, for he took unusual precautions to 
 
 make assurance doubly sure. Four quaternions of 
 soldiers were placed in sentry over him, one for 
 
 s. Mark each watch of the night,^ to secure watchfulness. 
 But all his preparations were frustrated ; the Evan- 
 gelist shows tlieir futility when he sets over against 
 them the prayers of the Church. " Man proposes, 
 but God disposes." There was a familiar proverb 
 among the Jews, founded upon their early history, 
 
 Gen. " Whenever Jacob's voice is heard in the Synagogue, 
 
 Esau's hands are stayed." It was acted upon by 
 
 1 That the time was too solemn to be interrupted by the inflic- 
 tion of capital punishment. That it was disregarded in the case 
 of our Lord is another proof of their determination to compass His 
 death at all costs. 
 
 2 It is generally said that the Jews originally divided the night 
 into three watches, and that these were changed to four under the 
 Eoman supremacy ; but it is not borne out by the Talnnxd. Cf. 
 Footprints of the Son of Man, ch. xxx., last note. 
 
 XXXU. II. 
 
V. 1-25.] of the Apostles. 43 
 
 the Christians, and the meditated violence of Agrippa 
 was averted. 
 
 " Prayer was made," according to the Authorised 
 Version, " without ceasing " ; it should rather be 
 " fervently," for the word implies intensity much 
 more than continuity ; and, inasmuch as the object 
 prayed for was in accordance with God's will, the 
 prayer was granted, and the prison doors were 
 supernaturally opened. 
 
 The deliverance of the Apostle is here said to 
 have been effected by an ^ angel of the Lord ; and 
 it is Avorthy of notice that S. Luke makes very 
 frequent mention of angelic agency in this Book. 
 There is, moreover, a significant irony in the fact 
 that the purpose of the Sadducean Herod should 
 have been defeated by one of those spiritual agents, 
 whose very existence his creed compelled him to 
 deny; "For the Sadducees say that there is no Acts; 
 resurrection, neither angel nor spirit." The Sad- 
 ducean doctrine has reappeared in later times, and 
 a number of critics have contended that S. Luke 
 only spoke here after the manner and phraseology 
 of the Jews, who commonly attributed any extra- 
 ordinary operation of Nature to angelic agency, as, 
 for instance, the destruction of the firstborn, or of 
 ^ There is no defiaite article in the original, as the A. V. implies. 
 
44 Herod's Persecution [Chap. xn. 
 
 Exod. xH. 23. the Israelites, in the days of David, by pestilence, 
 xxiv"i5, 16. o^ ^^ ^^® army of Sennacherib. Now, it may be 
 2 Kings quite true that in all these cases death was due 
 
 XIX. 35. ^ 
 
 immediately to physical causes ; but this fact does 
 not in any way exclude the intervention of agents, 
 who, themselves unseen, employed natural means to 
 execute the purpose of God. But in this record of 
 S. Peter's escape there is an essential difference ; no 
 operations of nature, such as an earthquake or 
 thunderstorm opening the prison doors, are even 
 hinted at ; but each circumstance in the whole 
 sequence of events, which terminated in his deliver- 
 ance, is attributed to a distinct personal interven- 
 tion. The narrative finds its only satisfactory 
 explanation in the acceptance of the inspired 
 declaration, that the angels are indeed and in truth 
 Heb. ;. 14. " ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them 
 who shall be heirs of salvation." 
 
 The miraculous escape of the Apostle is rapidly 
 followed by the death of his persecutor, and this too 
 is accomplished under the hand of an angel.^ Herod 
 left Jerusalem on the termination of the Feast, and 
 went to his palace at Csesarea. It brought him into 
 
 1 It is possible that in this case it is only a Jewish figure of 
 speech. There are no such indications of a personal agency as in 
 the deliverance of S. Peter, 
 
V. 1-25.] of the Apostles. 45 
 
 the neighbourhood of Tyre and Sidon, the citizens 
 of which jDlace much exasperated him. As they 
 feared for their commercial relations, especially 
 lest a continuance of his displeasure might lead to 
 a stoppage in the supply of their grain, which, 
 in the prospect of a predicted famine, would be 
 serious, they sent an embassage to seek recon- 
 ciliation. Herod, desiring to impress them with his 
 greatness, received the deputies with much pomp 
 and magnificence ; and they on their part paid him 
 almost divine honours, which he seems to have 
 accepted with satisfaction and pride. But his 2 Mace. 
 triumph was only short-lived, for he was struck with ^o^^IL 
 a terrible disease,^ which is said to have often ^"'"^•. 
 
 XVll. VI. 5. 
 
 attacked persecutors and cruel tyrants, and he died Herodotus, 
 
 iv. 305. 
 
 Within a few days in great suflfering. Euseb. EccI. 
 
 Now there is an expression in the earlier part of 
 
 S. Luke's narrative which must not be passed over, 
 
 for it suggests the consideration of a very attractive 
 
 topic. When the servant in " the house of Mary 
 
 1 JosephiTS gives a full account of all the circumstances attend- 
 ing his death, mentioning especially a bird of evil omen which 
 settled above his head, and led him to believe that his end was 
 near. He does not, however, name the sickness further than to 
 speak of his internal pains {Ant. xix. viii. 2). S. Luke, who 
 spent much time at Caesarea, may have learnt medical particulars 
 from the doctors who attended him, and he describes the disease 
 as intestinal mortification. For medical notices of "worms" in 
 disease of. Hobart's Medical Language of S. Luke, 42. 3, 
 
46 HerocTs Persecution [Chap. xh. 
 
 the mother of John, whose surname was Mark," ^ 
 recognised the sound of S. Peter's voice, and ran back 
 with joy to tell the assembled Christians that he 
 was standing at the door, they exclaimed, " It is his 
 angel." It was a natural outcome of the belief of 
 the Jews that individual human beings were as- 
 signed to the guardianship of individual angels. 
 They believed, moreover, that if they manifested 
 themselves it was in the shape and likeness of the 
 persons whose guardians they were.^ But neither 
 the belief of the Eabbis nor of the Christians is any 
 proof of the truth of the doctrine, unless it is sup- 
 ported by Holy Scripture, There does not seem to 
 be sufficient evidence in this to make it an absolute 
 certainty, though there is enough to justify our 
 holding it as "a pious belief" There are two 
 passages which seem to bear upon it; the first is 
 found in connection with the precepts given by 
 
 1 There is a general consensus of opinion that he is to be identi- 
 fied with the Evangelist. S. Peter was evidently a familiar guest 
 at his mother's house, and not improbably Mark was converted 
 by him, and hence was called his son (1 S. Pet. v. 13). This 
 gathering together of Christians by night was necessitated at first 
 through fear of the Jews ; the habit was continued after j)ersecu- 
 tion ceased, from self-denial ; hence the nocturns in the Rule of 
 S. Benedict. 
 
 2 Lightfoot quotes from the Deharim Rahba an illustration of 
 this : " Bar Kaphra said, an angel descended in the shape of 
 Moses and made him flee ; and they that came to lay hold on 
 Moses thought the angel to be Moses." — Exercit. in loco. 
 
V. I-2S.] of the Apostles. 47 
 
 " the Preacher " in the name of Solomon ; " neither 
 
 say thou before the angel, that it was an error."^ Eccies. v. 6. 
 
 A breach of vows followed by excuses is rebuked, 
 
 and the deterrent is certainly stronger if we suppose 
 
 the transgressor to be here reminded that the angel 
 
 who watches over him is cognisant of it. 
 
 The other passage is much clearer ; it is our Lord 
 Who speaks : " Take heed that ye despise not one of s. Matt. 
 these little ones ; for I say unto you. That in heaven 
 their angels do always behold the face of My Father 
 "Which is in heaven." We should have based our 
 argument most probably on their innocence or their 
 helplessness, — as the strongest claim upon our con- 
 sideration; or, it might have been, that we should 
 have pleaded their undeveloped capacities, and the 
 uncertainty of what they might one day become ; 
 but His thoughts are not our thoughts, and He 
 alleged a more powerful reason. He knew (if we 
 are right in our interpretation) that there were in 
 heaven, standing before God's throne, their best 
 protectors, the angels, whose appointed office it was 
 
 1 Those who assign a late date to Ecclesiastes translate it "mes- 
 senger," and assert that it means "the priest" or ambassador of 
 God, supporting their view by Malachi ii. 7. But apart from the 
 obvious distinction between the two cases, for in Malachi both 
 names are given to the same person, a confession is made "to," 
 not " before," a priest. The definite article points to a particular 
 
48 HerocCs Persecution. [Ch. xn. 1 25. 
 
 to protect them from harm, and execute vengeance 
 upon those who wronged them. 
 
 Now the Jewish belief that there was a likeness 
 between the angel and the person whose guardian 
 he was, as well as what is here said of tlie angel's 
 deliverance of S. Peter, reminds us of the obligation 
 to be like them in doing God's will both in earth 
 and in heaven ; ministering here to those who are 
 in difficulty and danger, in want and necessity, 
 rescuing souls from the bondage of Satan, relieving 
 the sick and feeding the hungry ; and hereafter, in 
 the full likeness which we have thus striven to 
 attain, joining with angels and archangels to serve 
 God day and night in His temple in heaven. 
 
XXXVI. 
 
 91^10010 n* 
 
 The Acts xiii. 1-12. 
 
 I. Now there were in the church 
 that was at Antioch certain prophets 
 and teachers ; as Barnabas, and 
 Simeon that was called Niger, and 
 Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, 
 which had been brought up with 
 Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2. 
 As they ministered to the Lord, and 
 fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate 
 me Barnabas and Saul for the work 
 whereunto I have called them. 3. 
 And when they had fasted and 
 prayed, and laid t/iez'r hands on 
 them, they sent i/ie»i away. 4. So 
 they, being sent forth by the Holy 
 Ghost, departed unto Seleucia ; and 
 from thence they sailed to Cyprus. 
 _ 5. And when they were at Salamis, 
 they preached the word of God in 
 the synagogues of the Jews : and 
 they had also John to t/ieir minister. 
 6. And when they had gone through 
 the isle unto Paphos, they found a 
 certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a 
 Jew, whose name mas Bar-jesus : 7. 
 which was with the deputy of the 
 
 country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent 
 man ; who called for Barnabas and 
 Saul, and desired to hear the word 
 of God. 8. But Elymas the sorcerer 
 (for so is his name by interpretation) 
 withstood them, seeking to turn 
 away the deputy from the faith, g. 
 Then Saul, (who also is called 
 Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, 
 set his eyes on him, 10. and said, O 
 full of all subtilty and all mischief, 
 thou child of the devil, thou enemy 
 of all righteousness, wilt thou not 
 cease to pervert the right ways of 
 the Lord? 11. And now, behold, 
 the hand of the Lord is upon thee, 
 and thou shalt be blind, not seeing 
 the sun for a season. And imme- 
 diately there fell on him a mist and 
 a darkness ; and he went about seek- 
 ing some to lead him by the hand. 
 12. Then the deputy, when he saw 
 what was done, believed, being 
 astonished at the doctrine of the 
 Lord. 
 
 We now turn over a new and very important 
 page in the history of the Primitive Church; it 
 VOL. n. D 
 
50 The Opening of S. Pazd's [Chap. xm. 
 
 opens with the organisation of a systematic Mis- 
 sion for the conversion of the heathen. The starting- 
 point of the Mission is Antioch. So far Jerusalem 
 has been the basis of all the Church's operations; 
 henceforward it falls comparatively-speaking into 
 the background, and all eyes are fixed on Antioch, 
 which rapidly rises to be the metropolis of Gentile 
 Christendom. 
 
 S. Paul had learnt with unmistakable distinct- 
 ness the purpose of God concerning himself; he had 
 heard the voice of the Lord speaking to him on the 
 Acts road to Damascus ; Ananias had told him of 
 
 fx''^'' 7 ' the supernatural revelation of his destined work ; 
 xxii. 17. g^j^jj ^]^g message fell once more upon his ears, as 
 he lay " entranced " in the precincts of the Temple. 
 He had waited, as the Apostles had done ; and the 
 Holy Ghost came to him, as He had come to them, 
 to give him his great commission. 
 
 There are circumstances of a very special charac- 
 ter associated with the " separation " of Saul for his 
 Apostolate, and also of Barnabas, for they are 
 closely linked together in their appointed work, 
 and are almost the only ministers of the Church 
 outside " the Twelve," who were distinguished by 
 the sacred title of " Apostle." ^ 
 
 1 Its use is fully discussed in Lightfoot's Comm. on the 
 Hpistle to the Galatians, pp. 89-97. 
 
V. I-I2.] First Foreign Mission. 51 
 
 It would seem that S. Luke was anxious that 
 the supernatural character of their consecration 
 should not be lost sight of, for the direct agency of 
 the Holy Spirit is much emphasised. It is no 
 natural event in the orderly development of the 
 ministry, in which the Church prayed for guidance 
 and then proceeded to act without any manifest 
 intervention of the Holy Ghost, as, for example, 
 when the first deacons were ordained ; but the Acts 
 whole initiation, as well as the final commission, is 
 the distinct work of the Spirit, for though the 
 officers of the Church upon the spot co-operated by 
 prayer and the imposition of hands, it was at the 
 bidding of the Holy Ghost ; and when this was 
 done, the Evangelist is careful to tell us that Saul 
 and Barnabas were " sent forth by the Holy Ghost." 
 The ministers of the Church who joined in the 
 investiture were only "prophets" or " teachers," ^ i Cor. 
 holding offices subordinate to the Apostolate \^ 
 though, therefore, they were permitted to share in 
 the setting apart, S. Luke guards against the 
 
 1 Some commeutators, looking upon this as a regular consecra- 
 tion, imply that the highest office was represented in the Church 
 at the time : e.g. "There is reason to believe that S. Peter may 
 have been at Antioch, and that Euodius was Bishop of Antioch 
 at that time." " No argument may be drawn from what perhaps 
 some may call omissions in their history." (Cf. Wordsworth, on 
 ix. 23 andxiii. 2.) 
 
52 The opening of S. Paurs [Chap. xm. 
 
 supposition that the bestowal of the Apostolic office 
 
 could have come, even indirectly, from them. The 
 
 Church has always acted upon the fundamental 
 
 principle that no order of her ministry can confer 
 
 that which it has not itself received. 
 
 Henceforward Saul assumes not only a new office 
 
 but a new name. S. Luke describes him at the 
 
 outset of the Mission as " Saul who is also called 
 
 Paul " ; it is the point of transition from his active 
 
 work among Jews to that among Gentiles. It was 
 
 common enough for Jews to bear two names, the 
 
 one taken from their native language, the other 
 
 foreign, whether Persian, Greek, or Roman.^ The 
 
 Apostle's second name was Paulus, marking, j)erhaps, 
 
 his membership of the great gens, of the ^milian 
 
 Pauli, as a Roman citizen from his birth. The 
 
 place in which he sojourned, or the role he was 
 
 playing at the time, would determine by which 
 
 name he wished to be designated. To the Jews he 
 
 became a Jew and was known as Saul ; but to the 
 
 Roman proconsul he presented himself as Paul. 
 
 When once he had embarked upon his Apostleship 
 
 to the Gentiles, though he does not forget the 
 
 associations of the past, he places in the forefront 
 
 1 Coiiybeare and Howson give illustrations, Belteshazzar, Philip, 
 Crispus, and others (cf. Jesus, Justus, Col. iv. 11). The idea that 
 the Apostle took his name from Sergiiis Paulus is quite untenable. 
 
V. I-I2.] First Foreign Mission. 53 
 
 that which reminds him of his special call, and the 
 sign-manual of every Epistle, and the salutation of aXhess. 
 saints and churches, is invariably that of Paul, 
 
 There is a further change in the very marked 
 position of precedence into which he suddenly steps. 
 Up to this moment his subordination to Barnabas 
 has been constantly apparent; henceforward, with Acts ix. 27; 
 the rarest exceptions, it is Paul who takes the lead. xiii. 1/2. 
 If he yields his new distinction at the Council of w. 12, 25. 
 Jerusalem, it is only in deference to the con- 
 servatism 1 of Jewish Christians, or if at Lystra xiv. 12. 
 Barnabas is named first as Jupiter, and Paul next 
 as Hermes, it was probably because the more com- 
 manding presence of the former attracted the 
 Lycaonians. Another reason, however, has been 
 assigned for the preference. It is said that "the 
 Oriental mind considers the leader to be the person 
 who sits still and does nothing, while his sub- 
 ordinates work and speak for him." It was then 
 that "the more statuesque figure of Barnabas was 
 taken by the Orientals (of Lystra) as the chief god, 
 and the active orator, Paul, as his messenger, com- 
 municating his wishes to men." ^ 
 
 1 Jews held rigidly to seniority of age or office in order of pre- 
 cedence : e.g. in the arrangement of the Sanhedrim. Cf. Foot- 
 prints of the Son of Man, Ixxi. 
 
 - Eamsay's St. Paul, the Traveller and the Roman Citizen, iv. § 3. 
 
54 S. Paurs First Mission. [Chap. xm. 
 
 But not only in his relationship to his brother 
 Apostle, but in everything that is done in the 
 Gentile Church, to the end of the book S. Paul is 
 second to none. 
 
 Now this and the following chapters record the 
 history of S. Paul's First Missionary Journey.^ 
 The course of it should be carefully followed, but 
 here we can only notice the places and incidents of 
 especial interest. The first of these is Seleucia, the 
 port of Antioch, which is attractive if only because 
 after so many centuries the exact site may be iden- 
 tified where the Apostle embarked. The massive 
 stones of the two ancient piers still remain, and 
 they preserve in their names ^ the record of the 
 Mission. Crossing over to the island of Cyprus, 
 they opened their work at the historic Salamis, but 
 preached there only to Jews. It was not till they 
 reached Paphos that they came in contact with the 
 Tac. Hist, heathen. There the impure worship of Venus had 
 Clem. Alex, taken its deepest root, and the worst of the human 
 
 Cohort, ad 
 Gentes, iv. 
 
 1 The geographical order from Antioch of the places visited is 
 as follows ; Seleucia, Cyprus, with the two towns of Salamis and 
 Paphos, Perga, Antioch in Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe, 
 which was the farthest point. The return journey only varied 
 slightly, taking them to Attalia on the coast, and back to Antioch 
 without revisiting Cyprus. 
 
 2 They are called after S. Paul and S. Barnabas. Cf. Yates, in 
 Musemn of Class. Antiq., Pocock, Chesney, and others. 
 
V. I-I2.] S^. Paul' s First Mission. 57 
 
 passions had been deified ^ by the people. At this 
 time Paphos was the seat of the heathen Govern- 
 ment, where the Roman " deputy " or proconsul 
 held court. 
 
 The word by which the Evangelist describes his 
 office supplies incidentally important evidence of 
 his remarkable accuracy ^ as an historian. When 
 the Emperor Augustus divided the Eoman Provinces cc. 27. 
 into two classes, he kept under his own control all 
 those where the inhabitants were turbulent and 
 rebellious, or wheresoever the presence of Roman 
 legions seemed desirable, and his viceroy received 
 the title of propraetor ; the more peaceful countries 
 he handed over to the Senate, whose delegate or 
 " deputy " was called a proconsul. Now, at the 
 original division Cyprus was retained as an imperial 
 province, and is noticed as such by ancient his- 
 torians. S. Luke, however, indicates that it was a 
 senatorial one, for he speaks of Sergius Paulus by 
 the senatorial title; and he was strictly accurate, 
 for an exchange was made subsequently, by which 
 
 1 tV iwiOv/jLiav deowoiTjaavTes TrpoaKvvouai. Athan. contr. 
 Grtecos, quoted in C. and H., p. 189. 
 
 2 The qualification of "accuracy" is claimed by him in S. 
 Luke, i. 3, though it is obscured by the A.V. "having had perfect 
 understanding." E.V. "having traced the course of all things 
 accurately." 
 
58 The opening of S. PauVs [chap. xm. 
 
 Dio Cass. the Emperor resigned his authority over the island. 
 
 liii. 12 ; 
 liv. 4. 
 Akerman's 
 Numismatic 
 
 At the beginning of the Christian era there was a 
 
 general decay of belief in the religions of Greece and 
 
 iiiustr. of Eome, and the more educated classes were turn- 
 p. 41. 
 
 ing with satisfaction to Oriental superstitions. The 
 
 influence of Magianism and the practice of " curious 
 arts " was widely felt at Rome under the Republic 
 and the Empire. It does not surprise us, therefore, 
 to read that Sergius Paulus had among his retainers 
 at Paphos " a certain sorcerer, a false prophet." 
 His fears for the loss of his position, if the Apostles 
 should gain over his master, led him to confront 
 them in argument. The scene recalls the contest 
 between Moses and the magicians at Pharaoh's 
 court, and, as there, so here, the cause of the true 
 God prevailed. S. Paul has sometimes been con- 
 demned for the severity of his language, but all that 
 he said or did was under a special inspiration, as S. 
 Luke is careful to mention, " having been filled " ^ 
 for the occasion with the Holy Ghost. To speak in 
 language of such terrible condemnation, and then 
 to follow it up by the infliction of an awful punish- 
 ment, would have been quite impossible except 
 under a Divine command. That he regretted its 
 
 1 He uses the aor. participle TrXriadfis, not the adject. rr'Ki^prjs, 
 such as we find to indicate a general spiritual influence. Cf. S. 
 Luke iv. 1 ; Acts vi. 4. 
 
V. I-I2.] First Foreign Mission. 59 
 
 necessity we can hardly doubt. To remember how 
 his Master, amidst countless miracles of healing, 
 had only twice exercised His power to destroy, and 
 in neither case for the hurt or punishment of man, 
 and then to feel that he was opening his Mission 
 with the severest judgment upon one of his fellow- 
 creatures, must have been, indeed, a bitter dis- 
 appointment; but he was not wholly without 
 consolation. The blindness Avith which he was 
 smiting the false prophet was only " for a season," 
 and he must have hoped that, as it had been Avith Acts ix. o. 
 himself, the awful solitude in which he would be 
 cut off from all material sights might throAV his 
 thoughts wholly upon God, and make him realise a 
 sense of sin. 
 
 The language in which he addresses the sorcerer 
 reveals a supernatural insight into his character : it 
 Avas one of extraordinary wickedness — '* full of all 
 subtilty, all mischief, the enemy of all righteousness " 
 — the thrice repeated " all " is terribly significant. 
 The sin, however, which, more than anything else, 
 dreAv upon him such a withering rebuke Avas his 
 deliberate imposture ; he was a Jew, and he traded 
 upon the name for a sordid end, and practised the 
 very rites which Judaism denounced. His whole 
 life at the Court of the Governor was a prolonged 
 
6o S. PauVs First Mission. [Ch. xm. 1-12. 
 
 system of conscious fraud and hypocrisy; he pre- 
 tended to know the ways of the Lord, and then 
 persistently perverted them. S. Paul only echoed 
 his Master's scathing condemnation of such conduct 
 when he pronounced that direful " woe " upon him. 
 Whether that stern awakening was followed by 
 anything more than a remorseful sense of dis- 
 comfiture we are not told ; but, at least, it emanci- 
 pated his victim from the toils which his sorcery 
 had woven about him, and, rejoicing in his liberty, 
 Sergius Paulus accepted the Faith and service of 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
XXXVII. 
 
 »)> ^mV0 ^ceacljing: at Sintiotl) in ^i^itiia. 
 
 The Acts xiii. 13-52. 
 
 13. Now when Paul and his com- 
 pany loosed from Paphos, they came 
 to Perga in Pamphylia : and John 
 departing from them returned to 
 Jerusalem. 14. But when they 
 departed from Perga, they came to 
 Antioch in Pisidia, and went into 
 the synagogue on the sabbath day, 
 and sat down. 15. And after the 
 reading of the law and the prophets 
 the rulers of the synagogue sent 
 unto them, saying, Ve men and 
 brethren, if ye have any word of 
 exhortation for the people, say on. 
 16. Then Paul stood up, and beckon- 
 ing with /lis hand said. Men of 
 Israel, and ye that fear God, give 
 audience. 17. The God of this 
 people of Israel chose our fathers, 
 and exalted the people when they 
 dwelt as strangers in the land of 
 Egypt, and with an high arm 
 brought He them out of it. 18. 
 And about the time of forty years 
 suffered He their manners in the 
 wilderness. 19. And when He had 
 destroyed seven nations in the land 
 of Chanaan, He divided their land 
 to them by lot. 20. And after that 
 He gave unto them judges about 
 
 the space of four hundred and fifty 
 years, until Samuel the prophet. 
 21. And afterward they desired a 
 king : and God gave unto them Saul 
 the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of 
 Benjamin, by the space of forty 
 years. 22. And when He had re- 
 moved him, He raised up unto them 
 David to be their king ; to whom 
 also He gave testimony, and said, 
 I have found David the son of Jesse, 
 a man after Mine own heart, which 
 shall fulfil all My will. 23. Of this 
 man's seed hath God according to 
 His promise raised unto Israel a 
 Saviour, Jesus : 24. when John had 
 first preached before His coming the 
 baptism of repentance to all the 
 people of Israel. 25. And as John 
 fulfilled his course, he said, Whom 
 think ye that I am? I am not He. 
 But, behold, there cometh One after 
 me. Whose shoes of His feet I am 
 not worthy to loose. 26. Men and 
 brethren, children of the stock of 
 Abraham, and whosoever among 
 you feareth God, to you is the word 
 of this salvation sent. 27. For they 
 that dwell at Jerusalem, and their 
 rulers, because they knew Him not, 
 61 
 
62 S. PaiiVs Preaching at [Chap. xm. 
 
 nor yet the voices of the prophets 
 which are read every sabbath day, 
 they have fulfilled them in condemn- 
 ing Him. 28. And though they 
 found no cause of death in Hitn, 
 yet desired they Pilate that He 
 should be slain. 29. And when 
 they had fulfilled all that was written 
 of Him, they took Hitn down from 
 the tree, and laid Him in a sepul- 
 chre. 30. But God raised Him 
 from the dead : 31. and He was 
 seen many days of them which 
 came up with Him from Galilee to 
 Jerusalem, who are His witnesses 
 unto the people. 52. And we de- 
 clare unto you glad tidings, how 
 that the promise which was made 
 unto the fathers, 33. God hath ful- 
 filled the same unto us their chil- 
 dren, in that He hath raised up 
 Jesus again ; as it is also written in 
 the second psalm, Thou art My 
 Son, this day have I begotten Thee. 
 34. And as concerning that He 
 raised Him up from the dead, nom 
 no more to return to corruption. He 
 said on this wise, I will give you the 
 sure mercies of David. 35. Where- 
 fore He saith also in another /^a/;;/. 
 Thou shalt not suffer Thine Holy 
 One to see corruption. 36. For 
 David, after he had served his own 
 generation by the will of God, fell 
 on sleep, and was laid unto his 
 fathers, and saw corruption : 37. 
 but He, Whom God raised again, 
 saw no corruption. 38. Be it 
 known unto you therefore, men 
 and brethren, that through this 
 Man is preached unto you the for- 
 giveness of sins : 39. and by Him 
 all that believe are justified from all 
 things, from which ye could not be 
 justified by the law of Moses. 40. 
 Beware therefore, lest that come 
 
 upon you, which is spoken of in the 
 prophets ; 41. Behold, ye despisers, 
 and wonder, and perish : for I work 
 a work in your days, a work which 
 ye shall in no wise believe, though 
 a man declare it unto you. 42. And 
 when the Jews were gone out of the 
 synagogue, the Gentiles besought 
 that these words might be preached 
 to them the next sabbath. 43. Now 
 when the congregation was broken 
 up, many of the Jews and religious 
 proselytes followed Paul and Bar- 
 nabas : who, speaking to them, 
 persuaded them to continue in the 
 grace of God. 44. And the next 
 sabbath day came almost the 
 whole city together to hear the 
 word of God. 45. But when the 
 Jews saw the multitudes, they were 
 filled with envy', and spake against 
 those things which were spoken by 
 Paul, contradicting and blasphem- 
 ing. 46. Then Paul and Barnab.^s 
 waxed bold, and said. It was neces- 
 sary that the word of God should 
 first have been spoken to you : but 
 seeing ye put it from you, and judge 
 yourselves unworthy of everlasting 
 life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. 47. 
 For so hath the Lord commanded 
 us, saying, I have set thee to be a 
 light of the Gentiles, that thou 
 shouldest be for salvation unto the 
 ends of the earth. 48. And when 
 the Gentiles heard this, they were 
 glad, and glorified the word of the 
 Lord : and as many as were or^ 
 dained to eternal life believed. 49 
 And the word of the Lord was pub 
 lished throughout all the region. 50- 
 But the Jews stirred up the devou 
 and honourable women, and the 
 chief men of the city, and raised 
 persecution against Paul and Bar- 
 nabas, and expelled them out of 
 
V. 13-52.] Antioch in Pisidia. 6 2, 
 
 their coasts. 51. But they shook And the disciples were filled with 
 off the dust of their feet against joy, and with the Holy Ghost, 
 them, and came unto Iconium. 52. 
 
 The second stage of S. Paul's Mission opens with 
 a painful episode. John Mark, the cousin of Bar- 
 nabas, who had started with them from Antioch 
 in some subordinate capacity/ suddenly made up 
 his mind to return to Jerusalem. 
 
 It is a characteristic of S. Luke that he very 
 rarely gives reasons for the facts that he speaks of, 
 so that we are left to conjecture what the motive 
 may have been which prompted this desertion. 
 Two suggest themselves as especially worthy of 
 notice, either of which seems to satisfy the con- 
 ditions. The journey inland, through Pamphylia, 
 was clearly a departure from the original plan ; 
 John, who had been converted by S. Peter, and had 
 left his mother at Jerusalem, where he knew she 
 was liable to persecution, may have been disap- 
 pointed about S. Paul's evident intentions to make 
 the Gentiles the main object of his care, and plead- 
 ing filial duty as an excuse, determined to return 
 
 1 He is called "minister"; probably deacon, or cbaplain, who 
 combined the secular business of the Mission with such sjiiritual 
 functions as baptizing converts. In Col. iv. 10, A.V. wrongly 
 renders it "sister's son," i.e. nephew; and possibly this has led 
 people to dwell on his youth. If he was the young man of S. 
 Mark xiv. 51 he would have been about thirty-five at this time. 
 Cf. Footprints of the Son of Man, Ixvii. 
 
64 ^S". PauVs Preaching at [Chap. xm, 
 
 home. Perga, as the entrance of one of the great 
 highways to the important Galatian^ centres of 
 trade and commerce, would be frequented by 
 merchantmen, and, it may be, the presence in the 
 harbour of a vessel bound for Joppa proved irre- 
 sistible, and he took his passage home. Such an 
 explanation accounts for the fact that Barnabas was 
 divided in his feelings towards the deserter. His 
 relationship to and sympathy with the mother of 
 John would lead him to appreciate the motives for 
 Acts XV. his cousin's return ; while in the eyes of S. Paul he 
 was without excuse. 
 
 The more generally received theory, however, is 
 that the influence which made him abandon the 
 Mission was simply a failure of courage. If S. 
 Paul had kept to the Cilician coast, there would 
 have been no danger, but to penetrate into the 
 interior was a most perilous enterprise.2 Between 
 Perga and Pisidian Antioch the country was in- 
 habited by a wild and lawless people, given up to 
 violence and brigandage, for which the rugged 
 mountain passes off'ered a favourable opportunity. 
 
 1 i.e. in its Eoman sense, including Phrygia, Lycaonia, and 
 Pisidia. For a consideration of the Galatians addressed by S. 
 Paul, cf. Lightfoot's Epistle to Qalatians, Introd., and Ramsay's 
 Church of the Roman Umpire. 
 
 2 Ramsay lias given interesting testimony to tlie danger, taken 
 from Professor Sterret's Epigraphic Journey, p. 166. 
 
V. 13-52.] Antioch m Pisidia. 65 
 
 There were, in addition, dangers from swollen 
 rivers and torrents. There can hardly be a doubt 
 that S. Paul's journeys through Pamphylia were 
 uppermost in his mind when, in gathering up his 
 past experience, he told the Corinthians how he 
 had been " in perils of waters, in perils of robbers." 2 Cor. 
 But what the Apostle, with his perfect fearlessness 
 and heroic endurance, eagerly embraced, the half- 
 hearted timid " deacon " was unable to face. 
 " Departing from them he returned to Jerusalem." 
 
 What induced S. Paul to leave Perga without 
 preaching to the people, and to hasten to Antioch, 
 we are not told. Perga, like Paphos, was a centre 
 of heathen idolatry ; but perhaps, as he arrived 
 there about June, he found the population migrat- 
 ing en masse to the highlands of the Taurus district. 
 It is said to have been their usual custom.^ 
 
 Or, again, it may have been a sudden attack of 
 malarial fever,^ to which he is supposed to have 
 been liable; no better or more obvious treatment 
 
 1 This, though assumed by C. and H., and followed unhesitat- 
 ingly by Farrar, has been disputed by Ramsay, who accepts the 
 second reason which I have given. 
 
 2 "The thorn in the flesh" was a recurrent disease ; and it is 
 possible to trace from his Epistles different attacks. It was also 
 a physical ailment, but whether epilepsy (Lightfoot), or fever 
 (Ramsay), or ophthalmia, as I think with many others, cannot be 
 decided positively. 
 
 VOL. II. E 
 
66 S. PauVs Preaching at [Chap. xm. 
 
 for such a malady could have been adopted than a 
 journey to the high table-land of the neighbourhood 
 of Antioch.^ If Antioch was included in what S. 
 Paul meant by Galatia, it is not an improbable 
 theory, for "the evangelisation of the Galatian 
 Gal. iv. 13. churches was due to ' an infirmity of the flesh.' " 
 
 The journey to Antioch would occupy a little 
 more than a week, if there was no delay on the 
 road. On the Sabbath-day after their arrival Paul 
 and Barnabas went into the synagogue, and took 
 their seats with the congregation. 
 
 It will interest us to follow the course of the 
 service in which they took part; indeed, it has a 
 very special attraction, as everything connected 
 with Jewish worship must have, if only because 
 that of the Christian Church was so largely 
 developed out of it. The service which was held 
 in the Synagogues was of course non-sacrificial ; 
 and, like our Daily Offices of Matins and Even- 
 song, it was composed of the three elements, praise, 
 prayer, and instruction. The Apostles, doubt- 
 less, joined in the Psalms,^ and "the eighteen 
 
 1 It is 3600 feet above the sea, and sheltered from the north and 
 east. 
 
 2 These would form the bulk of the first part. The titles of 
 several Psalms given in the LXX. point to their use in Public 
 Worship, e.g. xcii. xciii. xciv. The Talmud assigns the follow- 
 ing to the successive days of the week, beginning with the first ; 
 xxiv. xlviii, Ixxxii. xciv, Ixxxi. xciii. xcviii. 
 
V. 13-52.] Antioch in Pisidia. 67 
 
 prayers," ^ for the use of these is abundantly testified 
 to by tradition. S. Luke passes them by in silence, 
 having uppermost in his mind the element of 
 instruction, with which S. Paul was so intimately 
 concerned. He tells us that they heard a portion 
 of the Law read as the First Lesson, probably the 
 first chapter of Deuteronomy, and then a passage 
 from the Prophets, which, if the first conjecture be 
 right, would be from the beginning of the Scroll 
 of Isaiah. 2 There is internal evidence ^ in the Bengeis 
 
 .. i'ir>n 11 1 • Comm. and 
 
 exposition which followed that these sections were on xiii. 
 appointed for the day. In the Jewish Lectionary Bux^orfs 
 they are assigned to the forty-fourth Sabbath. u "hh'^ ^^^' 
 
 It was the invariable habit for a Rabbi to sit Thesaur. 
 when he taught or preached ; S. Paul, who was 
 
 1 i.e. Shemoneh Ezreh. It is thonglit that our Lord formed 
 "The Lord's Prayer" out of these, with the exception of the 
 clause, " Forgive us," etc., which was new, and is therefore ex- 
 plained by Him. 
 
 2 For the Lessons the Law was divided into fifty-four Parashahs 
 (lit. sections), the Prophets into a lilie number of Haphtarahs 
 (lit. masses), from a word signifying to "dismiss." These were 
 generally followed by a " deresh," or explanation — given fre- 
 quently by a stranger. 
 
 3 In Greek the words eTpo<po(pbpriaev, xiii. 18, which is the 
 correct reading — "carried them as a nurse carries a child" — not 
 "suffered he their manners " (A.V.), and vxpwcrev, v. 17, "brought 
 them up," not "exalted" (A.V.). Both occur in these Lessons, 
 the former in Dent. i. 31, the latter in Isa. i. 2. Farrar says the 
 sermon is "such a masterly application of these two passages as 
 we should expect from such a preacher." 
 
22-31 
 
 68 .S*. Paul's Preachiiig at [Chap. xm. 
 
 invited to address the congregation on this occasion, 
 followed the Greek rule, and stood. What he said 
 is of undying interest, because it is the first and only 
 recorded sermon of his to the Jews, as that which he 
 delivered on Mars' Hill at Athens is the only one 
 Acts xvii. extant of all that he preached to the heathen. Men 
 have found it difficult to understand how the ser- 
 mon could have made such a " deep and thrilling 
 impression " as S. Luke implies in his notice, that at 
 its close the people crowded round the speaker and 
 entreated him to preach again at the first oppor- 
 tunity ; and that the next Sabbath-day " the whole 
 city " flocked to the synagogue. Precisely the same 
 difficulty has been felt in regard to S. Peter's address 
 at Pentecost. We must not forget that in those early 
 days of Christianity much must have been due to 
 the direct operation of the Holy Spirit ; and apart 
 from this supernatural influence, the voice and ges- 
 ture and impassioned fervour of the preacher, which 
 we miss in reading the report, all contributed to 
 move the audience ; yet, further, it is impossible to 
 imagine the full force of the whole discourse, when 
 little more than the bare outline is left us to judge 
 from. 
 
 S. Paul began his address to the Pisidian Jews 
 by recounting God's goodness to their nation at 
 
V. I3-S2.] Antioch iiz Pisidia. 69 
 
 every stage of its history ; He had watched over 
 them in Egypt, and delivered them from bondage ; 
 He had tended them with all the loving care of a 
 nursing- father,! amid their wanderings in the wil- 
 derness, and then had driven the Canaanites out 
 of the promised land and planted them in, and 
 appointed judges,^ who ruled over them till Samuel 
 the prophet. 
 
 Then he passed to the Monarchy ; first God gave 
 them a king such as they would have desired, but 
 after he had failed, He chose David a king after His 
 own heart. This brought the Apostle to the main 
 object of his sermon, to set forth the fulfilment of 
 their Messianic hopes in the advent of David's Son, 
 of the preparation for whose coming by the preaching 
 of the Baptist, they had often heard. Then he 
 dwelt upon His Death and Burial, and declared how 
 " God raised Him from the dead," and how the resur- 
 rection confirmed His Divine Sonship as well as the 
 
 ^ It seems impossible to suijpose that S. Paul would have used 
 such an expression as, "bore with their manners," when he was 
 eager to conciliate them. It is an instance where it seems justi- 
 fiable to disregard the preponderance of ms. authority. 
 
 2 In saying that the judges ruled 450 years, S. Paul must have 
 followed some traditional chronology, different from that of 1 
 Kings vi. 1. It is surely better to recognise the difficulty as inex- 
 plicable with our present means of information than to attemj)t 
 such "reconciliations " as are utterly unworthy of sound criticism. 
 For the chief difficulties, consult Alford and Wordsworth. 
 
70 S. Paul '5 Preachmg at [Chap. xm. 
 
 holy promises which had been given so often and 
 surely to David, that his throne should be estab- 
 lished for ever. And then he pointed out how the 
 great end of the Incarnation was attained, and by 
 faith in Him forgiveness of sins was offered to all 
 the world. 
 
 Such is the barest abstract of what he said. The 
 immediate result upon his hearers was unquestion- 
 ably very remarkable ; but there is just one sentence 
 which makes us feel that S. Paul was not without 
 fears that it would prove only transient ; for both he 
 and Barnabas tried again and again ^ to " persuade 
 them to continue in the grace of God." Their 
 worst fears were realised ; it was at Antioch as it 
 had been at Jerusalem ; the Jews were fickle as the 
 wind. To-day it is their King in glory, and loud 
 hosannahs fill the air ; before a few more suns have 
 set, it is the cross of shame, and they are crying on 
 every side, " Crucify Him ! Crucify Him ! " " The 
 disciple is not above his master " ; " If they have 
 persecuted Me, they will persecute you" ; and so at 
 Antioch the eager welcome and enthusiasm of one 
 Sabbath-day was converted on the next to envy, 
 contradiction, and blasphemy. No alternative was 
 any longer left ; the Jews had rejected the offer of 
 ^ ^ireiOov : it is tlie imperfect, implying continued effort. 
 
V. I3-S2.] Antioch in Pisidia. 71 
 
 salvation, nothing now remained but to turn to the 
 Gentiles ; so in obedience to their Lord's command, s. Mark 
 "they shook off the dust of their feet against them," s. Matt. 
 and then fled to Iconium. ^- '■*' *s- 
 
XXXVIII. 
 
 fe>. Paul at 3Iconium anti Hp^tra. 
 
 The Acts xiv. 1-20. 
 
 I. And It came to pass in Iconium, 
 that they went both together into 
 the synagogue of the Jews, and so 
 spake, that a great multitude both of 
 the Jews and also of the Greeks be- 
 lieved. 2. But the unbelieving Jews 
 stirred up the Gentiles, and made 
 their minds evil affected against the 
 brethren. 3. Long time therefore 
 abode they speaking boldly in the 
 Lord, Which gave testimony unto 
 the word of His grace, and granted 
 signs and wonders to be done by 
 their hands. 4. But the multitude 
 of the city was divided : and part 
 held with the Jews, and part with 
 the apostles. 5. And when there 
 was an assault made both of the 
 Gentiles, and also of the Jews with 
 their rulers, to use them despite- 
 fully, and to stone them, 6. they 
 were ware of it, and fled unto Lys- 
 tra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, 
 and unto the region that Ileth round 
 about : 7. and there they preached 
 the gospel. 8. And there sat a cer- 
 tain man at Lystra, impotent in his 
 feet, being a cripple from his mother's 
 womb, who never had walked : 9. 
 the same heard Paul speak : who 
 stedfastly beholding him, and per- 
 
 ceiving that he had faith to be 
 healed, 10. said with a loud voice. 
 Stand upright on thy feet. And he 
 leaped and walked. 11. And when 
 the people saw what Paul had done, 
 they lifted up their voices, saying in 
 the speech of Lycaonia, The gods 
 are come down to us in the likeness 
 of men. 12. And they called Bar- 
 nabas, Jupiter ; and Paul, Mer- 
 curius, because he was the chief 
 speaker. 13. Then the priest of 
 Jupiter, which was before their city, 
 brought oxen and garlands unto the 
 gates, and would have done sacrifice 
 with the people. 14. Which, when 
 the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, 
 heard of, they rent their clothes, and 
 ran in among the people, crying out, 
 15. and saying. Sirs, why do ye 
 these things? We also are men 
 of like passions with you, and 
 preach unto you that ye should turn 
 from these vanities unto the living 
 God, Which made heaven, and earth, 
 and the sea, and all things that are 
 therein : 16. Who in times past 
 suffered all nations to walk in their 
 own ways. 17. Nevertheless, He 
 left not Himself without witness, in 
 that He did good, and gave us rain 
 
ch. XIV. 1-20.] S. Paid at Iconium. Jt, 
 
 from heaven, and fruitful seasons, Iconium, who persuaded the people, 
 
 filling our hearts with food and glad- and, having stoned Paul, drew him 
 
 ness. i8. And with these sayings out of the city, supposing he had 
 
 scarce restrained they the people, been dead. 20. Howbeit, as the 
 
 that they had not done sacrifice unto disciples stood round about him, he 
 
 them. 19. And there came thither rose up and came into the city. 
 certain Jews from Antioch and 
 
 S. Paul and Barnabas fled in haste from An- 
 tioch, and made for Iconium, the capital of Lycaonia ; 
 a city not very celebrated then, but which rose to 
 fame as Konieh in the middle ages, and is memorable 
 in the Crusades for the siege by Godfrey of Bouillon. 
 It has been thought that the Apostles travelled by 
 the great " Trade Route," which ran from Ephesus 
 to the Euphrates, but as this lay some miles to the 
 north of Antioch, and could only be reached by Kiepen's 
 crossing a mountain pass 4000 feet above the city, Renan's 
 it seems an unlikely road for him to have chosen in ^" ^^"'' 
 his hasty flight. The "Royal Road," which the 
 Emperor Augustus had made between Antioch and 
 Lystra to facilitate his military movements and 
 overawe Pisidian freebooters, would certainly be the 
 more natural course to take. It is both shorter and 
 easier than the northern route. Furthermore, tra- 
 dition favours it, for in the Acts of Paul and Thekla ^ 
 
 1 Written in the second centiiry (cf. Tert. de Bapt. 17). It was 
 founded on a local legend and connected with an historical person 
 who lived at the time when S. Paul visited this region. It may- 
 well have preserved a true tradition. Cf. Grabe's Siiicilegium, 
 i. 95. 
 
74 'S- Pct^l cii Iconium [Chap. xiv. 
 
 it is said that Onesiphorus, hearing of the Apostle's 
 flight, went out along the " Royal Road " and waited 
 for him at the junction, where it divides for Iconium 
 and Lystra. 
 
 S. Paul made it his invariable rule to remember 
 the Divine command, " to the Jew first," and so, 
 even as the Apostle of the Gentiles, wherever he 
 went, if possible, he began his preaching in the 
 synagogue. At Iconium a great multitude of 
 Greeks, that is, proselytes of the gate,^ as well as 
 Jews, flocked to hear him, and were converted by 
 his words. His mission eventually created so much 
 agitation and discord that the whole population 
 was split up into two great factions; and as the 
 unbelievers were the stronger party they prepared 
 for acts of violence. No actual assault was made, 
 but there was such a decided movement^ in that 
 direction, that the Apostles deemed it prudent to 
 make their escape from the gathering storm, and 
 they fled to Lystra, about forty miles to the south- 
 east. This was inhabited by a purely heathen 
 population ; lying in a wild and uncivilised region 
 at the foot of an extinct volcano.^ All its surround- 
 
 1 Unless they had shown some inclination towards Judaism 
 they would not have been admitted into the synagogue. 
 
 2 bpi).y\, a passionate impxilse, the first stir and impetus rather 
 than the actual attack implied by A.V. 
 
 3 Now identified with Bin-Bir-Kilisseh, "The 1001 churclies," 
 
V. 1-20.] and Lystra. 75 
 
 ings are thoroughly Pagan ; there is no trace of a 
 
 synagogue, and for once the Apostle was obliged to 
 
 turn directly to the Gentiles. On one occasion his 
 
 attention was arrested by the sight of a poor 
 
 cripple, who was eagerly listening to his words, and 
 
 fixing upon him that searching gaze, of which we 
 
 read so often, to see if he had faith to be healed, 
 
 S. Paul called upon him to stand up upon his feet. 
 
 His word was obeyed ; and in awe of the miraculous 
 
 cure the people broke out in their native tongue, 
 
 crying aloud, " The gods are come down to us in the 
 
 likeness of men." 
 
 There was a widespread belief in many parts of 
 
 the world that the gods from time to time became 
 
 incarnate, and paid personal visits to men. It 
 
 enters largely into the mythology of Greece and Hom. od. 
 
 Rome, and it had found expression in the neigh- Hes. Op. et 
 
 bourhood of Lystra in the poetic legend of the ^'^^' ^"^^^ 
 
 epiphany of Jupiter and Mercury to Philemon and ^^^ Met. 
 
 Baucis. It IS not unlikely that in consequence of 
 
 this divine visit they had placed their city under the 
 
 protection of the chief of these gods, and had built 
 
 a temple to their tutelary deity before the gates.^ 
 
 so called from the numerous sacred ruins of a late date. The 
 mountain is Karadagh. 
 
 1 Zei)s IIpoTryXos was the title he would receive. There is no 
 ellipse of hpov, though the temple of the Patronal God was usually 
 so placed. 
 
76 
 
 S. Paul at Iconmni [Chap. xiv. 
 
 S. Chrysos. 
 Horn. XXX. 
 
 Ewald's 
 
 Geschichte 
 
 des Apostol- 
 
 ischen 
 
 Zeitalten, 
 
 426. 
 
 The rude people in their excitement at seeing 
 such a miraculous cure at once concluded that the 
 gods were amongst them, and that they were the 
 same who had visited them before. Barnabas, the 
 older of the two, the more dignified in appearance, 
 must, they thought, be Jupiter ; Paul, the chief 
 speaker, could be none other than his constant 
 companion. Mercury, the herald of the gods.^ If it 
 be true that the memory of the fabled visit to 
 Philemon and Baucis had been perpetuated by an 
 annual festival at Lystra, this outburst of enthusiasm 
 is more easily explained. 
 
 S. Luke gives us a touch of nature, when he says 
 that the people cried out " in the speech of Lyca- 
 onia." S. Paul was almost certainly preaching in 
 Greek, and they must have understood what he 
 said ; ^ but men do not express their most excited 
 and enthusiastic feelings in a foreign language. 
 What the mother-tongue of the Lystrians was we 
 have no means of knowing. One word of the 
 Lycaonian dialect, and one only, has been preserved.^ 
 
 1 We have given above (p. 53) another reason for the people's 
 selection. 
 
 2 It was the language of intercommunication between all parts 
 of the province of Asia. 
 
 3 Stephanus Byzantius, who lived in the fifth century, mentions 
 that Delbia (the Greek Derbe) was Lycaonian for &pKevdos, a 
 juniper-tree. Divers opinions have been held tliat it was Celtic, 
 Assyrian, or Syriac. 
 
V. I.20.] and Lystra. yy 
 
 The use of it, however, here, and the attendant 
 circumstances, have an importance in interpreting 
 the nature of " the gift of tongues." ^ Had the 
 Apostles understood the language, it is quite im- 
 possible that they should not at once have repudiated 
 the homage of the people. Could the memory of 
 what they had heard at Jerusalem of the fate that 
 befell Herod, when he accepted Divine honours, Acts xii. 22. 
 have allowed them to hold their peace even for a 
 single moment 1 Their silence admits of only one 
 explanation : it was not till the j)resence of the 
 priest with his victims and preparations for sacrifice 
 opened their eyes, that they realised that the 
 people believed them to be gods. It was not their 
 words but their actions which revealed the impiety 
 of their intentions. 
 
 The impassioned speech in which the Apostle 
 disavowed the proffered homage is full of interest, 
 if only for its undesigned coincidence with other 
 Pauline utterances. As he claims to have been 
 " all things to all men," he illustrates here his 
 capacity for dealing with the heathen by basing his i^ 
 argument entirely upon natural theology. It was 
 the same appeal that he made to the idolatrous 
 
 Athenians, and it finds its echo in what he wrote to Acts xvii. 
 
 22-28. 
 1 Cf. supra, ch. viii. 
 
78 S, Paul at Iconium [Chap. xiv. 
 
 Rom. iii. the Eomans to prove that atheists were without 
 excuse. 
 
 We know that it was a special feature in our 
 Lord's teaching that He seized upon something in 
 His immediate surroundings, and used it to inculcate 
 a practical lesson. It is almost certain that His 
 Apostle imitated His example before the idolaters 
 of Lystra. His speech closes with what reads like 
 the words of a hymn : ^ " He gave us rain from 
 heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with 
 food and gladness " ; it speaks of just those par- 
 ticular blessings which the heathen attributed to 
 Jupiter, and it may well have been sung in the 
 Apostle's hearing by the priest and people in pre- 
 paration for their sacrifice.^ It was only with the 
 greatest difl&culty that he was able to divert them 
 from their purpose ; but they were a fickle people, 
 and under the persuasive arguments of some malig- 
 nant Jews, who dogged the Apostles' steps ^ to 
 injure their cause, they came to the conclusion 
 that if the miracle on the lame man was not a sign 
 4f of their divinity, it must have been due to sorcery 
 
 1 Humphry on the Acts shows its metrical character. For 
 further notice cf. Denton's Comm. ii. 51. 
 
 2 His application of this to a higher purpose finds a parallel in 
 the turn which he gave to the inscription " to the unknown god" 
 at Athens. 
 
 3 Those from Pisidian Antioch had come more than 130 miles. 
 
V. 1-20.] and Lystra. 79 
 
 or witchcraft. The Jews in our Lord's time had s. Matt. 
 not hesitated to assign His miracles to the agency 
 of Beelzebub, and in their present temper the 
 Lystrians would listen readily to the charge if 
 repeated against the Apostles. As Barnabas had 
 taken no active part they left him alone ; but they 
 stoned Paul, and drew his body out of the city, 
 when, as they thought, life was extinct. It was the 
 only occasion in his career of persecution that he 
 experienced that cruel form of punishment ; though 
 he was three times beaten with the lictors' rods, he 2 Cor. xi. 25. 
 was stoned but once. 
 
 His recovery reads like a supernatural restora- 
 tion ; his enemies quite believed that he was dead, 
 and his friends gathered round him in silence, 
 without making any effort to bring him back to 
 life ; but he suddenly recovered consciousness, and 
 so far from being exhausted by what he had gone 
 through, he was able shortly after to walk twenty 
 miles. All that we knoAV for certain is that he 
 survived the shock ; that he took fresh courage, and 
 by the memory of his own experience, " persecuted, 
 but not forsaken ; cast down, but not destroyed," he 2 Cor. iv. 9. 
 encouraged his converts to realise that they " must 
 through much tribulation enter into the kingdom 
 of God." 
 
XXXIX. 
 
 %\)z Cttimation of Clticr^ tljrougljout t^e 
 C|)urcl)e0. 
 
 The Acts xiv. 20-28. 
 
 20. And the next day he departed And after they had passed through- 
 
 with Barnabas to Derbe. 21. And out Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia. 
 
 when they had preached the gospel 25. And when they had preached 
 
 to that city, and had taught many, the word in Perga, they went down 
 
 they returned again to Lystra, and into Attalia : 26. and thence sailed 
 
 io Iconium and Antioch, 22. con- to Antioch, from whence they had 
 
 firming the souls of the disciples, been recommended to the grace of 
 
 ami exhorting them to continue in God for the work which they ful- 
 
 the faith, and that we must through filled. 27. And when they were 
 
 much tribulation enter into the king- come, and had gathered the church 
 
 dom of God. 23. And when they together, they rehearsed all that God 
 
 had ordained them elders in every had done with them, and how He 
 
 church, and had prayed with fast- had opened the door of faith unto the 
 
 ing, they commended them to the Gentiles. 28. And there they abode 
 
 Lord, on Whom they believed. 24. long time with the disciples. 
 
 Derbe, the frontier city of the Eoman Province, 
 
 was the most eastern limit of the Apostle's mission. 
 
 He was unmolested in his preaching there and made 
 
 many disciples. The temptation to return home 
 
 through Cilicia must have been very strong ; ^ but 
 
 1 It is generally supposed that he was only debarred from it by 
 the difficulty of crossing the Taurus, the passes of which would 
 probably have been bloclced with snow at the time. As his mis- 
 sion was so successful he could well have continued a few months 
 longer in the neighbourhood till the passes were open. I believe 
 the reason given above was deemed paramount in his eyes. 
 80 
 
ch. XIV. 20-28.] The Ordination of Elders. 8i 
 
 there was one consideration which outweighed every 
 other and determined his return by the way that he 
 came. He was so persecuted that he had been com- 
 pelled to fly precipitately from almost every place 
 without establishing any organisation to secure the 
 permanence of the Church. It seems at first sight 
 that he was courting danger by revisiting towns 
 from which he had barely escaped with his life; 
 but even if the magistrates who had expelled him 
 were still in office/ he had less to fear because his 
 intention was not to preach a crusade ^ against the 
 religion of the people, but simply to confirm his 
 followers and to provide an ordained ministry for 
 their future needs. 
 
 With this object in view, he returned again to 
 Lystra and Iconium and Pisidian Antioch, and 
 after diverging from Perga to Attalia he took ship 
 and reached home after an absence of about little 
 less than two years. So ended his first mission. His 
 action in ordaining elders in every church brings us 
 to another stage in the development of the ministry. 
 
 When our Blessed Lord ascended, the only order 
 
 1 It is said that in a Eoman Province they vacated ofl5ce annu- 
 ally, and not unfrequently in the autumn. There is much of 
 interest on the magisterial question in Ramsay's Church in the 
 Roman Empire, ch. iii. 
 
 2 Perga is the only place where he preached on his return, but 
 he had not done it when he was there before. 
 
 VOL. II. J- 
 
82 The Ordination of Elders [Chap. xiv. 
 
 of ministers which He left was the 'Apostolate. It 
 gathered up into itself all the authority of legisla- 
 tion, government, and ministry which the commis- 
 sion of " the keys " involved. No doubt during 
 Acts i. 3. the forty days, in " speaking of the things pertaining 
 to the kingdom of God," He gave to the Apostles 
 directions for the delegation of their duties to other 
 orders, for it is difficult to imagine any subject upon 
 which Divine direction would be more necessary. 
 If we may judge by their subsequent action, they 
 were told to watch the rising needs of the Church, 
 and proceed in the organisation of a subordinate 
 ministry, as the Holy Spirit should guide them. 
 We shall see that the three orders of Bishops, 
 Priests, and Deacons were " a gradual growth of the 
 first hundred years, draAvn out step by step through 
 the changing circumstances of the Church," " the 
 Holy Ghost teaching the infant Church how to deal 
 with those circumstances as they arose." ^ 
 
 The first need was that which led to the institu- 
 tion of the Diaconate, fully described by S. Luke 
 in the sixth chapter. That which resulted in the 
 establishment of the Presbyterate or Priesthood 
 has found no place in the sacred history. All that 
 
 1 This is brought out very forcibly in a chapter on the ' ' Twofold 
 teaching of the Ordination Collects" in Bp. Woodford's Great 
 ' Commission, c. x. 
 
V. 20-28.] throughout the Churches. 83 
 
 we can fix, and that only approximately, is the 
 time. It has been suggested that as the persecu- 
 tion, in which Stephen suffered, followed directly 
 upon the appointment of the new office of Deacons, 
 so that in which James was beheaded and Peter 
 imprisoned was the immediate consequence of the 
 first ordination to the Priesthood. Nothing would 
 be watched by the Jews with greater jealousy than 
 the organisation of the new community. If, then, 
 this be correct, the date of the second step in the 
 development of the ministry would be some time in 
 the year 44 A.D. ; and the place where it was taken, 
 the Church at Jerusalem. 
 
 S. Luke tells us of the rapid spread of the order 
 in Asia, where Paul and Barnabas " ordained them 
 elders in every church." 
 
 For a time, how long cannot be determined, the Acts 
 "elders," or presbyters, were also called "bishops"; xitusl. 5,7. 
 it may be that, primarily at least, though not ex- \ '^\ ^^'' 
 clusively, the one title bespoke their position ^- ^'*'"- 
 and dignity, the other their office.^ They were 
 appointed, one or more according to the require- 
 ments of the case, and were left in pastoral charge 
 by the Apostles, wherever they organised a church, 
 having first received by the laying on of Apostolic 
 1 Consult Gore's Tlie Church and the Ministry, ch. v. vi. 
 
84 The Ordination of Elders [Chap. xiv, 
 
 hands those priestly gifts, which qualified them to 
 s. James " minister the Doctrine and Sacraments and the 
 s Clem discipline of Christ " as the Lord had commanded.^ 
 ad Cor. 44. Yvi. the absence of the Apostles they were the 
 
 Didache xv. 
 
 1 Thess. recognised heads of the communities ; they were 
 Rom', xiii. I. " over " the flock as " presidents " ; they were their 
 
 "rulers." 2 They had, however, no power to convey 
 " the gift of orders " ; for though we read of their 
 "laying on of hands," it was only as assessors to 
 the Apostles,^ representing the assent and co-opera- 
 tion of the Church. S. Paul is careful to point out 
 that the Apostles, not they, were the source of the 
 
 2 Tim. i. 6. ordination gifts ; " stir up the gift of God, which is 
 
 in thee by the laying on of my hands." It is, 
 therefore, of no consequence that they were called 
 " bishops," for when they received this title, they 
 did not exercise those functions which attached to 
 the episcopal office in later times, when that name 
 was taken up from the second order and appro- 
 priated to those who took the place of the Apostles. 
 
 1 All of this is not expressly stated in Scripture, but the require- 
 ments of churches necessitated it. The deacons certainly did not 
 consecrate the Eucharist or minister Discipline, and the Apostles 
 only visited the churches at rare intervals. They are called " pas- 
 tors," Acts XX. 28, 31, which involves both governing and feeding. 
 
 2 irpoicTTafievovs. Trpoi(7Td/j,€vos. 
 
 ^ The use of the prep, yuerd in 1 Tim. iv. 14 implies that the 
 presbyters did not themselves convey the gift. 
 
V. 20-28.] thro2igJiout the Churches. 85 
 
 So, in like manner, it does not follow from their 
 bearing the name of " elders " that we are to inter- 
 pret their functions by the Jewish associations with 
 that title. If it had been intended that the ancient 
 significance of presbyter or elder should be per- 
 petuated in the new community, we should have 
 looked for a continuance also of the qualifications 
 for the oflSce ; and the Christian presbyters would 
 have been chosen, like the senators at Rome or the 
 elders of Israel, not for any aptitude for pastoral 
 care, but simply by age and seniority. Names and 
 titles are " not fossils, which, transplanted from one 
 bed to another, preserve their primeval form from 
 age to age ; but rather like fluid atoms, they are 
 ever running into fresh shapes and combinations." 
 In studying, then, the development of Church 
 organisation, it must also be remembered that it 
 is not so much a question of names as of things ; 
 not what ministers were called, but what they Avere 
 appointed to do and what history testifies to their 
 having doue.^ 
 
 At the time of which we are writing there were 
 
 in the Church three orders of the ministry, each 
 
 with its appropriate functions, viz., Apostles, Elders 
 
 or Priests, and Deacons ; another step had to be 
 
 1 Cf. The Divine, Liturgy, pp. 46, 47. 
 
86 The O Inclination of Elders [Chap. xiv. 
 
 taken before the organisation should be finally 
 settled. As the Apostles themselves would soon be 
 unable to exercise the highest functions of the 
 ministry through the wide extension of the Church, 
 as well as from the inevitable diminution of their 
 numbers by death, it became necessary that they 
 should transmit the power to send forth others, as 
 
 s. John the Father had sent their Lord, and as He had sent 
 them. They had to provide, in short, for that 
 Apostolical Succession which Avas essential for the 
 continuance of a valid Ministry. A preparation for 
 the devolution of their highest functions had been 
 made by the appointment of S. James, our Lord's 
 brother, who was not one of *' the Twelve," to be 
 " Bishop " of Jerusalem in the later sense of the 
 ,. ^ j^^j. title.^ Possibly, however, he may have received his 
 
 ixxviii. appointment at the hands of our Lord Himself, 
 
 Chrys. Horn. ^ ^ 
 
 xi. in when He appeared to him during the forty days. 
 
 1 Cor! XV. 7. The first undisputed transmission of the office on 
 record is that by S. Paul to Timothy and Titus, to 
 be exercised respectively over the Churches of 
 Ephesus and Crete. They had not, at the beginning, 
 any distinguishing title, but they differed from all 
 
 1 Bishop Liglitfoot says, ' ' As early as the middle of the second 
 century all parties concur in representing him as a Bishop, in the 
 strict sense of the term." — Ep. to Phil. Comm., 206 ; and he quotes 
 in support Hegesippus, Clement, Horn., and the Apost. Consiit. 
 
V. 20-28.] throughout the Churches. 87 
 
 other elders in that they were commissioned to 
 ordain. There is reason to believe that they were 
 still subordinate to S. Paul, but they form the con- 
 necting link with the full and independent Episco- 
 pate which was matured during the half-century 
 following the destruction of Jerusalem. 
 
 Now we gather from what S. Luke tells us of the 
 Apostle's action in ordaining elders on his Mission, 
 in the face of great difficulty and danger, that his 
 aim was not only to make converts from the heathen, 
 but to establish and organise churches. About 
 twenty years ago, when missionary enterprise was 
 much failing, the Bishop of Bombay wrote a letter 
 to the Primate of England, in which the burden of 
 his complaint was, that the Mother Church had 
 been sending out to his diocese men who were 
 satisfied to preach what they so unfairly charac- 
 terised as " the Gospel," and had done little to build 
 up the Kingdom of Christ. He explained how the 
 Hindu mind can never be touched by mere abstract 
 teaching, that it craves for something tangible, and 
 will only be moved by the witness of such a visible 
 organisation as the Catholic Church is able to pre- 
 sent, with its Apostolic Ministry, its grand but 
 simple worship, and its great brotherhood of com- 
 municants. 
 
88 The Ordination of Elders. [Ch.xiv. 20-28. 
 
 It was that letter which so stirred the heart of 
 the Church at home that it led to the institution of 
 the Day of Intercession for Foreign Missions. 
 
 One instance, though doubtless there are many, 
 will suffice to illustrate the value of the Bishop's 
 advice. Perhaps there is in this generation no part 
 of the great mission field upon which, with all its 
 tale of sacrifice and death, the blessing of God has 
 been so richly poured as Central Africa; and we 
 would fain believe it is in no small degree due to 
 the fact that every one who works in the Mission, 
 from the humblest mason to the Bishop at the head, 
 is inspired with the belief that it is his paramount 
 duty to help to build up the Church after the Apo- 
 stolic model as the kingdom of Christ. 
 
APPENDIX ON BISHOP LIGHTFOOT'S 
 ESSAY ON THE CHEISTIAN MINISTRY. 
 
 It is so often and so hastily asserted that the late Bishop 
 Lightfoot did not hold the doctrine of the Catholic Church 
 in regard to her threefold Orders, that it seems necessary 
 to quote a few passages from his later utterances to show 
 that the general drift of his Essay has been misunder- 
 stood. In his preface to the sixth edition of the Commen- 
 tary on the Epistle to the Philippians, in which the Essay 
 occurs, in 1881, he writes : — "The object of the Essay was 
 an investigation into the origin of the Cliristian ministry. 
 The result has been a confirmation of the statement in the 
 English Ordinal, 'It is evident unto all men diligently 
 reading the Holy Scripture and ancient authors that from 
 the Apostles' time there have been these orders of ministers 
 in Christ's Church — bishops, priests, and deacons.'" In 
 his latest work he set forth, in a few clear and concise 
 sentences, what he claimed to have proved in the Essay on 
 The Christian Ministry here referred to. "It is there 
 shown," he writes, " if I mistake not, that though the New 
 Testament itself contains as yet no direct and indisputable 
 notices of a localised Episcopate in the Gentile Churches, 
 as distinguished from the moveable Episcopate exercised 
 by Timothy in Ephesus, and by Titus in Crete, yet there 
 
90 Appendix 
 
 is satisfactory evidence of its development in the later 
 years of the Apostolic age ; ... if the evidence on which 
 its extension in the regions east of the ^gean at this epoch 
 he resisted, I am at a loss to understand what single fact 
 relating to the history of the Christian Church during the 
 first half of the second century can be regarded as estab- 
 lished, for the testimony in favour of this spread of the 
 Episcopate is more abundant and more varied than for any 
 other institution or event during this period, so far as I 
 recollect." ^ 
 
 If further proof of what Bishop Lightfoot really taught 
 is needed, let me quote from his inaugural sermon preached 
 before the Church Congress at Wolverhampton in 1887, 
 "Is the Anglican community to be blamed because she 
 retained a fonn of Chvirch government which had been 
 handed down in unbroken continuity from the Apostolic 
 times?" 2 
 
 He is said also to have more than once described this 
 princijjle as " the historic backbone of the Church." 
 
 1 Axiostolic Fathers, Part II. vol. i. 376-7. 
 
 2 Cong, Rep., p. 12. 
 
XL. 
 
 Cl)e f ic^t ^^nou of tte Cljurdj* 
 
 The Acts xv. 1-21. 
 
 I. And certain men which came 
 down from Judsea taught the 
 brethren, and said, Except ye be 
 circumcised after the manner of 
 Moses, ye cannot be saved. 2. 
 When therefore Paul and Barnabas 
 had no small dissension and disputa- 
 tion with them, they determined 
 that Paul and Barnabas, and cer- 
 tain other of them, should go up to 
 Jerusalem unto the apostles and 
 elders about this question. 3. And 
 being brought on their way by the 
 church, they passed through Phenice 
 and Samaria, declaring the con- 
 version of the Gentiles : and they 
 caused great joy unto all the breth- 
 ren. 4. And when they were come 
 to Jerusalem, they were received of 
 the church, and 0/ the apostles and 
 elders, and they declared all things 
 that God had done with them. 5. 
 But there rose up certain of the 
 sect of the Pharisees which believed, 
 saying. That it was needful to cir- 
 cumcise them, and to command 
 them to keep the law of Moses. 6. 
 And the apostles and elders came 
 together for to consider of this 
 matter. 7. And when there had 
 
 been much disputing, Peter rose 
 up, and said unto them. Men and 
 brethren, ye know how that a good 
 while ago God made choice among 
 us, that the Gentiles by my mouth 
 should hear the word of the gospel, 
 and believe. 8. And God, which 
 knoweth the hearts, bare them wit- 
 ness, giving them the Holy Ghost, 
 even as He did unto us ; 9. and put 
 no difference between us and them, 
 purifying their hearts by faith. 10. 
 Now therefore why tempt ye God, 
 to put a yoke upon the neck of the 
 disciples, which neither our fathers 
 nor we were able to bear? 11. But 
 we believe that through the grace of 
 the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be 
 saved, even as they. 12. Then all 
 the multitude kept silence, and gave 
 audience to Barnabas and Paul, 
 declaring what miracles and won- 
 ders God had wrought among the 
 Gentiles by them. 13. And after 
 they had held their peace, James 
 answered, saying. Men a»(/ brethren, 
 hearken unto me ; 14. Simeon hath 
 declared how God at the first did 
 visit the Gentiles, to take out of them 
 a people for His Name. 15. And to 
 91 
 
92 The First Synod [Chap. xv. 
 
 this agree the words of the pro- beginning of the world. 19. Where- 
 
 phets ; as it is written, 16. After fore my sentence is, that we trouble 
 
 this I will return, and will build not them, which from among the 
 
 again the tabernacle of David, which Gentiles are turned to God : 20. but 
 
 is fallen down ; and I will build that we write unto them, that they 
 
 again the ruins thereof, and I will abstain from pollutions of idols, and 
 
 set it up : 17. that the residue of from fornication, and from things 
 
 men might seek after the Lord, and strangled, andy^-iJW blood. 21. For 
 
 all the Gentiles, upon whom My Moses of old time hath in every city 
 
 Name is called, saith the Lord, Who them that preach him, being read in 
 
 doeth all these things. 18. Known the synagogues every sabbath day. 
 unto God are all His works from the 
 
 A GREAT crisis occurred between S. Paul's First 
 and Second Missionary Journeys, which threatened 
 a serious disruption in the unity of the Early 
 Church. It was so grave that, acting under Divine 
 Gal. i. 2. guidance,^ the authorities determined to submit the 
 question at issue to the arbitrament of the central 
 authority at Jerusalem. For this purpose a Synod ^ 
 was summoned, the first of the kind, at least in its 
 technical sense ; and, like all first things, especially 
 if they are followed by momentous consequences, it 
 has attracted to itself the keenest interest and 
 observation. Let us look, then, at its origin, its 
 
 1 lu saying this I accept tlie conclusion of the most important 
 commentators that this visit is identical with that mentioned in 
 the Epistle to the Galatians. The difficulties of separating them 
 seem to me insuperable. Cf. Lightfoot's Galatians, lOD, 110. 
 
 2 It can hardly claim the title of Council, for only one Church 
 was represented in the members of it. It was not even a Pro- 
 vincial Synod, but though differing widely in important points 
 from the great Assemblies which have settled most important 
 questions, it at least foreshadowed them. 
 
V. I-2I.] of the Chtirch. 93 
 
 deliberation, and its decision. It originated from a 
 difference of opinion as to the true relationship of 
 Christianity to Judaism — whether the Gospel super- 
 seded the Law, or was only supplementary to it. 
 The concrete form in which it came before the 
 Church Avas the proper mode of receiving Gentile 
 converts. 
 
 At first no conversions took place directly from 
 heathendom ; the earliest Christians were either 
 Jews or proselytes ; if any Gentile was moved to 
 embrace the Faith of Christ, he was first circum- 
 cised as a necessary preliminary to baptism. The 
 vision of S. Peter, followed by the admission of 
 Cornelius into the Church without having under- 
 gone the Jewish Rite, was interpreted by that 
 Apostle as a Divine indication for the future of 
 the Church's entire freedom and independence of 
 Judaism. He had gone himself to Jerusalem, and Acts xi. 
 apparently fully satisfied the disciples there that 
 such was the will of God ; but ten years had elapsed 
 since his visit, and his arguments had been forgotten. 
 The Christians at Jerusalem had no such constant 
 personal experience of the working of the new 
 principle as they had in Autioch, where, under 
 the preaching of Paul and Barnabas, the heathen 
 were being daily baptized into the Church. Tlieir 
 
94 The First Synod [Chap. xv. 
 
 conservative instincts led them to the conclusion 
 that, inasmuch as the Rite of circumcision had been 
 Gen. xvii. 13. declared to be the sign of an everlasting covenant, 
 and had never been formally repealed, it was the 
 safer course to regard the case of Cornelius as one 
 of those exceptions which prove the rule, and to 
 teach that every convert to Christianity must first 
 pass through the gate of Judaism, Holding these 
 views, the Pharisaic party, who, from their peculiar 
 training, would feel most strongly in the matter, 
 determined to send some of their number to try 
 and counteract the new teaching at Antioch, the 
 headquarters of its leading supporters. They were 
 confronted by Paul and Barnabas, but not before 
 they had done much mischief, for at first they 
 worked secretly. S. Paul speaks of them under 
 Gal. ii. 4. the figure of spies or traitors, introducing them- 
 selves into the enemy's camp. It would seem, too, 
 that they claimed to have their credentials^ from 
 the Mother Church, which would no doubt lend 
 weight to their views. It is not without interest 
 Epiphanius, that a widespread tradition has made the famous 
 s jefome"''' Ceriuthus their leader, who, having first rebuked 
 and Theo- g Peter for his action in receiving Cornelius, went 
 
 doret. ° 
 
 1 The care with which this was repudiated by S. James in 
 verse 24 is significant. 
 
V. I-2I.] of the Chttrck. 95 
 
 forth to confront S. Paul for following his example, 
 and admitting the heathen without circumcision, 
 and, at a later period, for bringing Greeks into the 
 Temple, and thereby polluting it. Whether true Acts xxi. 
 or not, his later views as an Ebionite are in striking 
 consonance with, and a natural development of, 
 those which the party from Jerusalem were so 
 eager to inculcate. 
 
 S. Paul recognised the gravity of the situation, 
 for he had long realised that if Christianity was to 
 be the religion of the world, it must be delivered 
 from the restrictions of Jewish bondage. In his 
 eyes catholicity and freedom were inseparable, and 
 there could be no freedom if the necessity of cir- 
 cumcision still remained. The mere temporary 
 inconvenience of submitting to that initiatory 
 ordinance might, perhaps, be put up with ; but 
 every Jew believed and taught that whoever was 
 circumcised became " a debtor to do the whole Cai. v. 3. 
 Law." Circumcision could not, therefore, stand 
 alone, but carried with it all the burdensome 
 obligation of a stern and exacting system. It was, 
 then, in the Apostle's eyes a matter of most vital 
 moment, one on which depended the very liberties 
 of the Gospel : and when he saw how seriously his 
 life's work was being imperilled, he consulted with 
 
qu. in 
 
 Denton's 
 Comm. 
 
 96 The First Synod [chap. xv. 
 
 his brethren at Antioch, and agreed to submit for 
 direction to the Mother Church at Jerusalem. Such 
 were the circumstances which led to the summoning 
 of the Synod. S. Luke only gives us a bare outline 
 of what took place in the Council-chamber. There 
 is no doubt, however, that S. James, " the Bishop " 
 Clem. Alex, of Jerusalem, was the President ; at least four 
 au. in'^'^^°^ others, who bore the title of Apostle, took part in 
 it ; tradition says many more did so ; the elders of 
 the Church, perhaps also of the neighbourhood, 
 joined in the proceedings. There is sufficient 
 ambiguity ^ in what is said of the laity to make it 
 just possible, though it is hardly probable, that 
 they shared in the debates and voted on the decrees. 
 After the questions before the Assembly had 
 been debated by the less important members of the 
 two parties, S. Peter intervened, and we listen to 
 his speech with the greater interest, because it is 
 the last occasion in this history in which he comes 
 before us. We have only an epitome of his argu- 
 ment, but it shows that he had on his side the logic 
 of facts ; God had convinced him by a supernatural 
 
 1 The expression "with tLe whole Church," instead of "and 
 the whole," etc., verse 22, and the true reading of v. 23, omitting, 
 as in A, B, C, D, the art., and rendering it "The Apostles and 
 elder brethren" (R.V.), seems to place the laity on quite a 
 different footing. 
 
V. I-2I.] of the Church. 97 
 
 revelation that all distinctions of the Jewish Law 
 touching the position of the Gentiles had been 
 abrogated ; that it was his duty to admit Cor- 
 nelius and others direct from heathendom, and 
 that when he did it God had sealed his action, by- 
 giving to his uncircumcised converts the gift of the 
 Holy Spirit which Jewish converts had received 
 at Pentecost. 
 
 His speech made a deep impression, and awed 
 the assembly into silence, which was only broken 
 when Barnabas and Paul were called upon to speak. 
 In a Jewish assembly the senior took precedence, 
 hence the order of the names, with which we have 
 become so familiar, is changed. There is an indi- 
 cation that they spoke at length,^ but the narrative 
 only tells very briefly how they took up S. Peter's 
 line of argument, and proved out of their own 
 experience that God had signified His approval 
 of their action in accepting the heathen without 
 imposing the yoke of circumcision, by signs and 
 miracles. Such an appeal would have peculiar s. Matt. 
 force with that portion of their hearers which had xvi. i. ' 
 been drawn from the Pharisees, and whom they ^ 
 most desired to influence. 
 
 No more speakers rose, and the President, after 
 
 1 The imperfect iJKovov implies this. 
 VOL. II. G 
 
98 The First Synod [Chap. xv. 
 
 summing up the argument!?, gave his decision in 
 favour of the freedom for which the liberal party 
 at Antioch had so vigorously contended. He exer- 
 cised a wise judgment in dwelling upon the views 
 which S. Peter had expressed, because he was one 
 with whom the Judaising party were, generally 
 speaking, far more in sympathy than with S. Paul, 
 It bespeaks too his thoughtfulness and tact that he 
 referred to his authority under his Hebrew name of 
 Symeon. In support of that Apostle's argument he 
 adduced a passage from the prophecies of Amos. 
 We are surprised to find that he must have 
 quoted the Greek Version of it ; ^ possibly because, 
 out of deference to the Antiochians,^ he was speak- 
 ing in the Greek language, or more probably because 
 the point which he wished to enforce Avas not so 
 clearly brought out in the original language. 
 
 Upon the main point at issue, viz., the right to 
 dispense with circumcision, which was inseparably 
 linked with Judaism, the decree was absolute ; 
 
 1 The final clause reads in the Hebrew, " tliat they may possess 
 the remnant of Edom, and of all the Gentiles that are called by 
 My Name." Nothing is said of the need of circumcision, but he 
 meant it to be understood that if they were admissible to the 
 Church, as the prophecy implied, they should have no restricting 
 burdens imposed. 
 
 2 Though there were Jewish converts at Antioch, the larger 
 number were Gentiles, and the deputies were almost certain to 
 have been such. 
 
V. I-2I.] of the Church. 99 
 
 but there were minor points in which charity might 
 well claim concessions to Jewish prejudice. It was 
 undesirable, if it could be avoided, that the Gentiles 
 should be hurting the consciences of Jewish converts 
 in certain non-essentiaP matters, upon which the 
 latter were constantly reminded, that Law " being 
 read in the synagogues every Sabbath-day." ^ 
 
 It is clear from the whole conduct of the debate, 
 as well as from the readiness with which all 
 present accepted S. James's ruling, that the first 
 great Christian Assembly owed much to the judg- 
 ment and character of its President. There was a 
 possibility that, if men of divergent views upon the 
 Mosaic Law such as S. James and S, Paul came into 
 dispute, the prospect of an amicable agreement 
 might be endangered ; but the debate was begun, 
 continued, and ended in a most peaceable spirit. 
 S. James, above all things, was pre-eminently a 
 man of prayer ; it is said that " he was often found 
 
 1 The reason why fornication was joined with these will be con- 
 sidered in the next chapter, when we consider the terms of the 
 decree. 
 
 2 Most commentators interpret this as giving the reason why 
 directions were sent to the Gentiles and not to the Jews. The 
 latter had no need to be told their duty by the Council. I do not 
 think it is likely the Council would have concerned itself with 
 Jews generally. They were dealing only with converts. It should 
 be remembered that Jewish converts did not abandon either the 
 Temple or the Synagogue till the destruction of Jerusalem. Cf. 
 Acts ii. 46, iii. 1, xiii, 14, xviii. 4. 
 
lOO First Synod of the Church, [Ch.xv.i-2i. 
 
 alone in the Temple, interceding for the forgive- 
 ness of men, so that his knees became hard and thin 
 as a camel's, in consequence of his habitual sup- 
 plication and kneeling before God. Indeed, on 
 account of his exceeding piety, he was called the 
 Hegesippus Just and Oblias, which signifies the Bulwark of 
 
 in Euseb. i -n i 
 
 Ecci. Hist, the JPeople. 
 
 "■ ^^" It is the man of prayer, not the one who relies 
 
 upon his own unassisted efforts, who becomes strong 
 in action. The habit of trusting in the guidance of 
 a higher power than his own gives him confidence, 
 in circumstances of doubt and difficulty, that God 
 will inspire him with a right judgment. It was 
 this conviction that made S. James " great in counsel 
 and mighty in work," and enabled him to assert of 
 his verdict, what under other conditions would have 
 seemed an unwarrantable presumption, " It seemed 
 good to the Holy Ghost and to us." 
 
XLT. 
 
 The Acts xv. 22-41. 
 
 22. Then pleased it the apostles 
 and elders, with the whole church, 
 to send chosen men of their own 
 company to Antioch with Paul and 
 Barnabas ; natnely, Judas surnamed 
 Barsabas, and Silas, chief men 
 among the brethren : 23. and they 
 wrote letters by them after this 
 manner ; The apostles and elders 
 and brethren send greeting unto 
 the brethren which are of the Gen- 
 tiles in Antioch and Syria and 
 Cilicia : 24. Forasmuch as we have 
 heard, that certain which went out 
 from us have troubled you with 
 words, subverting your souls, say- 
 ing, Ye must be circumcised, and 
 keep the law : to whom we gave no 
 such commandment: 25. It seemed 
 good unto us, being assembled with 
 one accord, to send chosen men unto 
 you with our beloved Barnabas and 
 Paul, 26. men that have hazarded 
 their lives for the Name of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ. 27. We have sent 
 therefore Judas and Silas, who shall 
 also tell you the same things by 
 mouth. 28. For it seemed good to 
 the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay 
 upon you no greater burden than 
 
 these necessary things ; 29. that ye 
 abstain from meats offered to idols, 
 and from blood, and from things 
 strangled, and from fornication : 
 from which if ye keep yourselves, 
 ye shall do well. Fare ye well. 
 
 30. So when they were dismissed, 
 they came to Antioch : and when 
 they had gathered the multitude 
 together, they delivered the epistle : 
 
 31. %vhich when they had read, 
 they rejoiced for the consolation. 
 
 32. And Judas and Silas, being 
 prophets also themselves, exhorted 
 the brethren with many words, and 
 confirmed theiii. 33. And after they 
 had tarried there a space, they were 
 let go in peace from the brethren 
 unto the apostles. 34. Notwith- 
 standing it pleased Silas to abide 
 there still. 35. Paul also and Bar- 
 nabas continued in Antioch, teach- 
 ing and preaching the word of the 
 Lord, with many others also. 36. 
 And some days after Paul said unto 
 Barnabas, Let us go again and visit 
 our brethren in every city where we 
 have preached the word of the Lord, 
 and see how they do. 37. And 
 Barnabas determined to take with 
 
 101 
 
I02 The Decision of the Synod. [Chap. xv. 
 
 them John, whose surname was and so Barnabas took Mark, and 
 
 Mark. 38. But Paul thought not sailed unto Cyprus ; 40. and Paul 
 
 good to take him with them, who chose Silas, and departed, being 
 
 departed from them from Pamphylia, recommended by the brethren unto 
 
 and went not with them to the the grace of God. 41. And he went 
 
 work. 39. And the contention was through Syria and Cilicia, confirm- 
 
 .so sharp between them, that they ing the churches, 
 departed asvinder one from the other : 
 
 No sooner had the judgment of S. James been 
 accepted by the Synod than steps were taken to 
 communicate it to the Churches more immediately 
 concerned. If we look only at what S. Luke has 
 left us we should be disposed to give to the decision 
 all the weight of a formal judicial decree ; but Avhen 
 we recognise that the Church of Jerusalem alone, 
 albeit the most honoured of all, was represented in 
 the Council, and especially, that in after-debates on 
 the same subject its authority was not appealed to 
 I Cor. viii.-x. as dccisive, it is perhaps safer to regard it as " little 
 more than the wise recommendation of a single 
 Synod, addressed to a particular district, and pos- 
 sessing only a temporary validity." ^ The question 
 whether circumcision should be imposed as an obli- 
 gation upon Gentile converts was decided in the 
 negative. There, for the pacification of the Jewish 
 Christians, certain other Mosaic rules were named 
 
 1 Dean Farrar, in The Life of S. Paul, argues very forcibly 
 against the conciliar character of the Assembly, heading the 
 chapter, "The Consultation at Jerusalem," i. xxii. Hefele, how- 
 ever, regards it as "the first Christian Council," the "type and 
 model of all others." — Hist, of Ch. Councils, i. 77 (tr.). 
 
V. 22-41.] The Decision of the Synod. 103 
 
 and enforced, the observance of which would tend 
 to facilitate friendly intercourse and religious com- 
 munion ^ between the two parties. These were 
 abstinence "from meats offered to idols, and from 
 blood, and from things strangled " ; and there was 
 added to them a moral prohibition, against sins of 
 impurity. 
 
 The heathen ate the flesh of victims slain in sacrifice 
 partly in the temples, partly in their own houses. 
 If they continued to do the latter after their conver- 
 sion, social intercourse between them and Jewish 
 converts would be impossible, for the Mosaic Law was 
 peremptory in its prohibition. Again, in the eye of 
 a Jew the fact that in sacrifice it was the blood Exod. 
 
 XXX. T5. 
 
 that maketh " an atonement for the soul," constituted 
 any partaking of it, whether by simply drinking it, 
 or by eating of an animal, in the killing of which 
 it had not been poured out, nothing less than sacri- 
 lege. On these points, then, the Synod decided 
 that for the sake of charity, and as a concordat 
 between the contending parties, temporary con- 
 cessions were necessary ; though in the light of 
 S. Peter's vision and the abolition of the old Jewish 
 distinction between clean and unclean meats, it 
 
 1 Especially in the Agapte, which entered so largely into the 
 life of the early Christians. 
 
1 04 The Decision of the Synod. [Chap. xv. 
 
 would have been extremely difficult to enforce them 
 had the counsel been resisted. S, James was in- 
 fluenced by the same principle as S. Paul, when 
 1 Cor. X. 28. he subsequently wrote, " If any man say unto you, 
 This is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not, for 
 his sake that shewed it, and for conscience' sake." 
 Both followed the rule of charity. 
 
 It is interesting to observe in what light the 
 decisions have been interpreted in history. The 
 Apostoi. Greek Church failed to see their restricted applica- 
 Counciiof ^^*^°' ^^^ ^^'^ always regarded them as binding. 
 Gangra and "pho Westem Church has ignored them, considering, 
 Truiio. as Hooker says, that they were not imposed on the 
 s. August. Gentiles " with bond of necessary and perpetual 
 
 contr. Faust. . . 
 
 xxxii. 13. observation, but only in respect of the conveniency 
 Ecci. Pol. ^rid fitness for the present state of the Church as 
 '^- '''• § 5- then it stood." 
 
 One of the decrees, however, all branches of the 
 Church have agreed in accepting as permanent, viz., 
 the prohibition of fornication.^ Nothing could be 
 more natural than that the Church should seize such 
 an opportunity for inculcating the great laws of 
 
 . 1 Commentators have interpreted it in a variety of ways, espe- 
 cially as idolatry or marriage with the heathen, being perplexed by 
 its introduction among a number of ceremonial matters ; but it 
 may bear its literal significance when we remember its a.ssociation 
 with heathen worship. 
 
V. 22-41.] The Decision of the Synod. 105 
 
 purity, which the Gentiles had set completely at 
 defiance. It was impossible for Christians to deal 
 with the subject of heathen sacrifices without having 
 their thoughts turned instinctively to the terrible 
 profligacy with v/hich they had become inseparably aMacc. vi. 4. 
 
 Rev. ii. 14. 
 
 combined. Indeed, in some of the temples^ the 
 very priestesses were harlots, and the indulgence of 
 the worst passions became a necessary part of their 
 so-called sacred rites. S. James knew how difficult 
 it would be for the Gentile converts to dissociate 
 themselves altogether from their former licence, the 
 continuance of any trace of which would shock the 
 Jewish conscience ; he knew also that the Church of 
 Antioch was in especial danger from its proximity to 
 the temple and grove of Daphne, the very centre of 
 heathen sensuality ; ^ and for this reason, he super- 
 added to the decrees on ceremonial observance one 
 in defence of the eternal obligation of purity and 
 self-restraint. 
 
 After the Synod was dissolved, Paul and Barnabas 
 returned to Antioch, and with them were sent two 
 commissioners, Judas and Silas, men of position and 
 weight, to " deliver the epistle " and commend it by 
 
 1 In that of Aphrodite at Paphos and Antioch. 
 - Of. Gibbon's Decline and Fall, xxiii. xxiv. Most of the con- 
 versions from heathendom had taken ]3lace in this neighliourhood. 
 
1 06 The Decision of the Synod. [Chap. xv. 
 
 their personal testimony to the acceptance of the 
 Churches of Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. 
 
 It gave S. Paul a fresh impetus in missionary 
 work ; though he had never wavered in his preach- 
 ing on the absolute freedom of the Gospel from 
 Jewish bondage, he must have felt that his hands 
 had been enormously strengthened, and that the 
 door of admission into the Church must seem wider 
 than before. His hopes, however, were dashed for 
 the moment by a most unexpected embarrassment.^ 
 It arose out of a visit from S. Peter. On his arrival, 
 and for some time afterwards, acting upon the 
 principles which he had so urgently advocated in 
 the Synod, he mingled freely with the Gentile con- 
 verts of the place ; but suddenly, under the influence 
 of certain representations of the Jewish conservative 
 party, who disagreed with the spirit of the recent 
 decree, he began to vacillate, and eventually " with- 
 drew and separated himself," ^ in direct contradiction 
 to the Apostolic decree ; and all this under the very 
 eyes of S. Paul. It was a critical moment, for others 
 
 1 S. Luke passes it over, but S. Paul records it iu writing to the 
 Galatians. The people who influenced him came " from James " ; 
 it can only mean, from the Church over which he presided, not 
 as invested with his a\ithority, as there is no trace of his having 
 changed. Gal. ii. 12. 
 
 2 The first figure implies a strategical movement, something of 
 a deceptive character. The second an nndisgixised action. 
 
V. 22-41. J The Decision of the Synod. 107 
 
 Avere shaken by his example ; even Barnabas was 
 carried off his feet, and in danger of being swept 
 away. S. Paul, however, rose to the emergency, 
 and, before the whole Church, withstood the incon- 
 sistent Apostle to his face,^ and by the very force 
 of his rebuke convicted him of his error, and sue- g--»1- 
 ceeded in restoring the public confidence. 
 
 One more disappointment was in store for him 
 before he found himself free to carry out his purpose 
 and re-enter upon his missionary labours. When he 
 and Barnabas came to make arrangements for the 
 expedition, a preliminary difficulty arose, which be- 
 came so serious that the two companions " departed 
 asunder one from the other." S. Barnabas wished 
 to take Mark with them ; S. Paul refused, because 
 he had previously been tried and failed. No fault 
 can be found with either of them for the motives by 
 which they were influenced. Barnabas was a man 
 of a mild, conciliatory character, and of much natural 
 affection. We can almost hear him pleading his 
 cousin's ^ cause ; attributing his former wavering to 
 his thoughtlessness and the inconstancy of his untried 
 
 1 It is difficult to imderstand how it coiTld ever have been sup- 
 posed that the dispute was not real, but only simulated to give 
 greater force to the Pauline doctrine ; yet it has had such advo- 
 cates as Origen, Jerome, and S. Chrysostoni. 
 
 2 dve^Los is wrongly translated "sister's son" in Col. iv. 10. 
 It is properly cousin, so R.V. 
 
io8 The Decision of the Synod. [Chap. xv. 
 
 youth ; and it may be that he was ready with his 
 illustrations to prove that no man ought to be con- 
 demned for a single failure ; even Peter himself had 
 had his commission renewed ; and Mark's desertion 
 and cowardice were as nothing in comparison with 
 his. Then, there was at the bottom of all his 
 arguments the natural longing to see a near kinsman 
 approving himself as a faithful minister in the great 
 Missionary cause. On these grounds Barnabas was 
 quite justified in wishing to give his cousin an- 
 other trial. 
 
 S. Paul, however, looked at the case with other 
 eyes. He was a man of a stern, unbending sense of 
 duty, of unflinching courage, of a whole-hearted de- 
 votion to anything that he took in hand. He knew 
 too, by a hard experience, what tremendous diffi- 
 culties confronted those who undertook to preach 
 the Gospel in heathen lands ; and he felt that this 
 was just a case where his Master's verdict must be 
 s. Luke rigidly enforced : " no man having put his hand to 
 the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom 
 of heaven." With such an estimate as this of the 
 all-exacting nature of the work before him, no one 
 can condemn S. Paul's decision. 
 
 But there is one point upon which both he and 
 Barnabas have laid themselves open to a just 
 
V. 22-41.] The Decision of the Synod. 109 
 
 censure ; it is that they quarrelled over their dis- 
 agreement, S. Luke implies that it led to such an 
 exasperation ^ of bitter feeling, that nothing could 
 compose their strife, and they were obliged to sepa- 
 rate. It must, however, always be remembered that 
 though the sun was allowed to go down upon their 
 anger, the breach was eventually healed; for not 
 only did S. Paul speak of Barnabas in later times 
 with respect and commendation, but in some of his 
 last words he showed that Mark was completely 
 reinstated in his confidence, and his usefulness as a 
 colleague — the very thing which he had previously 
 doubted — readily acknowledged. It was perhaps a 
 late reconciliation; but such an unqualified com- Coi.iv. io,n 
 mendation must have amply atoned for all his ^ 
 previous harshness and severity. 
 
 Now, the record of this unworthy quarrel is not 
 without its value in the confidence which it creates 
 in the perfect truthfulness and candour of the sacred 
 historian. If we take up any uninspired biography 
 of some eminent saint, it is too often a tale of unin- 
 terrupted virtue and goodness ; and we cannot but 
 feel either that he had little in common with our- 
 selves, or else that his faults have been glossed over ; 
 
 1 irapo^vdixbs cannot be interpreted as nrach less than this : it 
 indicates irritation and loss of temper. 
 
1 1 o The Decision of the Synod. [Chap. xv. 
 
 and so we miss the most useful lesson to be learnt 
 from the lives of holy men, viz., how the sins and 
 infirmities of a fallen nature may be corrected and 
 overcome. 
 
 The reading world has lately been startled by a 
 striking departure from the common course. A 
 great man died, and because his biographer i showed 
 him to be less saintly and less perfect than he was 
 generally thought to have been, there was at once 
 an outcry, and his friends said that " such things 
 ought never to have been published," and it is even 
 rumoured that attempts were made to withdraw the 
 book from circulation. 
 
 To accept their view is to lose the true value of 
 biographies. What we want is to see, with no dis- 
 guise, no intentional hiding of defects, how men of 
 like passions with ourselves have met their tempta- 
 tions, and, if they failed, how they recovered them- 
 selves and gained the favour of God. 
 
 If the Bible had been written by uninspired men, 
 we may depend upon it we should have heard little 
 or nothing of the sinful lust of David, or the base 
 denial of S. Peter, or the doubt and incredulity of 
 S. Thomas, or this miserable outbreak of temper 
 in S. Paul and Barnabas ; but as it is, the Holy 
 1 The Life ofCardincd Manning, by E. Purcell. 
 
V. 22-41.] The Decision of the Synod. 1 1 1 
 
 Spirit guided the writers to present sin to us in all 
 its deadliness, attacking the strong as well as the 
 weak, that being warned by their example we may 
 be saved from the same transgression. Think how 
 much poorer the world would have been had the 
 historian left no record of David's shameful sin 
 with Bathsheba ! We should never have understood 
 the secret which underlies the great Miserere of the 
 fifty-first Psalm, But we know the history, and 
 there is the confession, so plain that " he may run 
 that readeth it," and the penitent concludes from 
 it that no matter how deeply he has fallen there is 
 mercy with God, and if only he will repent as 
 David did he will receive the selfsame pardon and 
 peace. 
 
XLII. 
 
 tirtje €)penm0: of »>♦ ^mV0 »>econti iforeiffit 
 
 The Acts xvi. i-io. 
 
 I. Then came he to Derbe and 
 Lystra : and, behold, a certain dis- 
 ciple was there, named Timotheus, 
 the son of a certain woman, which 
 was a Jewess, and believed ; but his 
 father 7vas a Greek : 2. which was 
 well reported of by the brethren 
 that were at Lystra and Iconium. 
 3. Hina would Paul have to go forth 
 with him ; and took and circumcised 
 him because of the Jews which were 
 in those quarters : for they knew all 
 that his father was a Greek. 4. And 
 as they went through the cities, 
 they delivered them the decrees for 
 to keep, that were ordained of the 
 apostles and elders which were at 
 Jerusalem. 5. And so were the 
 churches established in the faith. 
 
 and increased in number daily. 6. 
 Now when they had gone through- 
 out Phrygia and the region of Gala- 
 tia, and were forbidden of the Holy 
 Ghost to preach the word in Asia, 
 
 7. after they were come to Mysia, 
 they assayed to go into Bithynia : 
 but the Spirit suffered them not. 
 
 8. And they passing by Mysia came 
 down to Troas. 9. And a vision 
 appeared to Paul in the night ; 
 There stood a man of Macedonia, 
 and prayed him, saying. Come over 
 into Macedonia, and help us. 10. 
 And after he had seen the vision, 
 immediately we endeavoured to go 
 into Macedonia, assuredly gathering 
 that the Lord had called us for to 
 preach the gospel unto them. 
 
 The Apostles' quarrel was happily overruled for 
 the good of the Church. Two Missions were 
 organised instead of one. Barnabas took Mark and 
 started at once, glad, no doubt, to try and forget 
 
ch. XVI. i-io.] wS. Paul's Second Mission. 113 
 
 tlie untoward circumstance amid new scenes and in 
 active work, S. Paul would find difficulty in the 
 unexpected task of deciding upon a colleague. The 
 choice of a fellow-traveller is always attended with 
 more or less of anxiety ; for nothing tests the 
 strength of friendship more severely than being 
 thrown constantly together under the trying con- 
 ditions of foreign life. The difficulty is vastly 
 increased when the main object of travel is a very 
 exacting one, demanding absolute unanimity, together 
 with a whole-hearted enthusiasm for the success of 
 the undertaking. S. Paul was fortunate in meeting 
 with just what he wanted ; for Silas had very 
 special qualifications for Missionary work. The 
 Apostle had so far confined his labours to countries 
 and cities under the Roman Government, and he 
 was intending to revisit them ; ^ Silas, like himself, 
 was a Roman citizen. It might stand him in good 
 stead if the authorities were troublesome.^ He was 
 in entire accord too upon the crucial question of the 
 relationship of Christianity to the Law — a subject 
 which they would have to deal with almost daily in 
 
 1 His " conception of Christianity as the Religion of the Roman 
 Empire." "His preference for centres of Roman life and influ- 
 ence." Cf. Ramsay's Ch. and Rom. Em^i. 70. 
 
 2 "How often," says Cicero, "has the cry 'I am a Roman 
 citizen ' broiaght aid and safety. " — Cic. Verr, 2. 67. 
 
 VOL. II. H 
 
114 The Opening of S. PaiU's [Chap. xvi. 
 
 the work before them. But above all, his preaching, 
 for he was " a prophet," ^ would be invaluable. 
 
 Now, for the full appreciation of this last 
 qualification, it is necessary to study the meaning 
 of " the prophetic gift," as it is spoken of under the 
 New Dispensation. 
 
 From the first Pentecost of the Church, when 
 S. Peter declared that the ancient prediction was 
 Joel ii. 28. fulfilled : " I will pour out of My Spirit upon all 
 flesh ; and your sons and your daughters shall 
 prophesy," the office of " prophet " became a potent 
 factor in the spread of Christianity. We are apt 
 to think so exclusively of the influence of the 
 Apostles in preaching the Gospel, that we have 
 need to be reminded that the prophetic gift was 
 a co-existent power of tremendous import. 
 
 The first idea we receive of the prophet's function 
 
 is gathered from the title that he bore ; a prophet was 
 
 one who interpreted the mind of another ; as Aaron 
 
 Exod. vii. I. was said to be the prophet of- Moses, that is, his 
 
 1 The primary meaning of ■irpo(priT7)s is one who speaks for 
 another. The poets in classical Greek were MovaQv 7rpo<f>7JTai, Cf. 
 ^sch. jEum. 19. One who predicted was rather fiavm. The New 
 Testament prophets were inspired preachers, who sometimes had 
 the gift of foresight, as Agabus, xi. 28, xxi. 11. When the extra- 
 ordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit ceased, the office was merged in 
 the ministry generally without the power of prediction or inspira- 
 tion. There is a very interesting article on the subject in 
 Plumptre's Biblical Studies, p. 323. 
 
V. i-io.] Second Foreign Mission^ 115 
 
 spokesman ; and in the New Testament he was 
 appointed to speak for God, and reveal His Will 
 to men. He spoke not merely as the preacher 
 speaks to-day, with eloquence, wisdom, and earnest- 
 ness, but with a supernatural insight, able to read 
 his hearer's secret thoughts. So S. Paul said, under 
 his searching penetration "falling down on his face, iCor.xiv. 25. 
 he will worship God, and report that God is in you 
 of a truth." 
 
 Then, further, the prophet's eyes were opened to 
 see the things that were behind the veil ; for after 
 S. Paul had said, " Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, i Cor. ii. 9. 
 neither have entered into the heart of man, the 
 things which God hath prepared for them that love 
 Him " ; he added, " But God hath revealed them 
 unto us by His Spirit." Now we can imagine what 
 a help this ever-present vision must have been, 
 inspiring the pioneers of the Faith with courage to 
 meet all the dangers and persecutions, the trials 
 and disappointments, inseparable from their daily 
 work. 
 
 It is only when we realise all this that we are 
 able to measure the joy that S. Paul must have felt 
 when "the prophet" Silas consented to share his 
 labours. To have found such a companion must 
 have gone far to compensate him for what he had lost. 
 
ii6 S. PatiVs Second Mission. [Chap. xvi. 
 
 Acts xi. 25. 
 
 Xenoph. 
 Anab. i. 4. 
 Arrian ii. 7. 
 Cic. Ep. ad 
 Att. V. zo. 
 Michaud's 
 Hist, des 
 Croisades, 
 i. 141. 
 
 There can be little doubt which side the Christians 
 at Antioch had taken in the quarrel. They let 
 Barnabas and Mark depart without any manifesta- 
 tion of feeling, but a special service of benediction 
 was held to wish S. Paul " God-speed " on his way. 
 
 The ties of home and kin are strong ; and so, 
 while Barnabas sailed for his native island, S. Paul 
 turned his face towards Cilicia. The first place of 
 importance that he would reach Avas Tarsus, where he 
 was born. After confirming the churches which he 
 must have founded in the neighbourhood before 
 Barnabas summoned him to Antioch, he determined 
 to cross the Taurus, and see how his converts fared 
 in Derbe and Lystra. If, as we are constrained to 
 believe, he chose the shortest route, he would go 
 through the " Cilician Gates " — a mountain-pass of 
 almost unequalled historic interest before and since 
 — made memorable by the footsteps of Cyrus and 
 Alexander and Cicero — and in Christian annals, 
 when the Crusaders, in "remembrance of its preci- 
 pices and dangers called it by the more awful name 
 of the " Gates of Judas." ^ 
 
 As on his previous visit, so on this, nothing is 
 told us of what he did in Derbe ; but Lystra, the 
 
 1 A very full descriiJtion of the wliole scenery is given in 
 Coiiybeare and Howson's L^fe of S. Paul, ch. viii. 
 
. 2, IS. 
 
 m. i. 1. 
 
 V. i-io.] S. Paurs Second Mission. 119 
 
 next stage of his journey, is associated with an 
 event of almost incalculable interest, personal to 
 S. Paul, as well as general to the Church, Two 
 years before, while staying in the house of Eunice, 
 he had won her son Timothy to the Faith, and now, 
 at his second visit, the Apostle is drawn at once to 
 the young convert, who was destined to be an 
 almost inseparable friend and companion for sixteen 
 years, even to the end — yea, more than friend, for i xim 
 the terms in which he is described show that they J xi 
 were to each other as father and son. For the ^^''" "" '^'^ 
 Church at large his conversion has an undying 
 interest; for it is to him that the Letters were 
 addressed which have been the very charter of the 
 Christian Ministry ; and he himself formed a con- 
 necting link between the Apostolate and that later 
 form of the Episcopate which has been accepted as 
 the only valid channel for the transmission of 
 ministerial grace. 
 
 It has caused much needless perplexity that he 
 should have subjected Timothy to the rite of cir- 
 cumcision, and he has been often charged with incon- 
 sistency because he determinately refused to allow 
 Titus to submit to the same. Now Titus was a pure 
 Gentile, and to have laid upon him the burden of 
 the Mosaic Rite would have been to infringe the 
 
I20 The Opening of S. PauVs [Chap. xvi. 
 
 liberties of Gentile converts, and to defy the 
 authority of the Church, as it had been expressed 
 at the Jerusalem Synod. To have yielded under 
 the circumstances would have been to sacrifice 
 l^rinciple. It would moreover have certainly tended 
 to hinder the free course of the Gospel. 
 
 But Timothy was not a pure Gentile ; his mother 
 was a Jewess, and by strict Jewish law,^ unless the 
 father interposed his veto, her child would be 
 brought up in her religion. Probably the father 
 was now dead ; ^ at all events no objection was any 
 longer raised at home. S. Paul knew that Timothy 
 was going to be ordained, and would, therefore, 
 share his missionary work ; and to have taken him 
 among the Jews, who were always at least his first 
 care, without having been admitted to the covenant, 
 would have been not only to place him at a 
 disadvantage ; it would inevitably expose him to 
 persecution, and shut every door against him. He 
 sacrificed no principle, for circumcision was no- 
 where disallowed, except for heathen converts; and 
 acting on prudential grounds he did what he did 
 for the furtherance of the Gospel. 
 
 1 " Partus sequitur ventrem " was the Jewish law, as Wetstein 
 testifies. 
 
 2 S. Aug. says that some Latin Mss. read after "a certain 
 woman," viduae. 
 
V. i-io.] Second Foreign Mission. 1 2 1 
 
 After leaving Lystra they went " throughout 
 Phrygia and the region of Galatia"; it is impos- 
 sible to decide what is meant by that sentence, 
 though it would help us to understand much that 
 is uncertain if it could ever be cleared up, whether 
 it is only the Koman Province of Galatia, which 
 might also be called Phrygia, or whether it indicates 
 the two great regions which cover the heart and 
 central space of Asia Minor.^ If it was at this 
 time that he founded the Galatian Churches he 
 must have tarried in the region for a lengthened 
 period ; considering the strength of S. Paul's 
 attachment to them, it is difficult to account for 
 the curious manner in which S. Luke hurries over 
 this part of the Mission. Whatever was the sphere, 
 the Apostle left it with the intention of evangelising 
 Proconsular Asia. This was that strip of territory 
 fronting the u:Egean, which bears nearly the same 
 relationship to the great continent of Asia Minor, 
 stretching " from sea to sea," as Portugal does to 
 Spain ; but his plan was frustrated by an interposi- 
 
 1 It will suffice to show the difficulty to say that Lightfoot 
 maintains very strongly that it is the former, while Prof. Ramsay 
 combats his theory and as strongly condemns it. In the map 
 I have marked the route according to the former, which is at 
 least more generally held. Lightfoot, Ep. to the Galatians, and 
 ^a.m&a.y' s, Church and Roman Empire, and aS*. Paul, the Traveller. 
 Cf. the Preface of this book. 
 
12 2 The Opening of S. Paul ^s [Chap. xvi. 
 
 tion of the Holy Spirit. He then purposed to go 
 into Bithynia, but again his progress was preter- 
 naturally hindered, the Spirit of Jesus ^ impelling 
 him westwards, and he turned aside to Troas. 
 At Troas two events occurred of the greatest 
 consequence. The first was his meeting with 
 S. Luke. It is not at all improbable that in the 
 first instance he made his acquaintance profes- 
 sionally. ^ During his preaching in Galatia his 
 "thorn in the flesh" had been very troublesome; 
 whether it was ophthalmia, or some other painful 
 physical disease, it had lately attacked him with great 
 Gal. iv. 13. severity ; and we can easily understand how eagerly 
 Ep. ad Gal. ^6, hearing of S. Luke the physician being at Troas, 
 22, 167, 173. ^Q^l(J have sought his advice to help him in regain- 
 ing his broken strength. When he left to go into 
 Macedonia he took him with him ; if only in a 
 professional capacity, it would account for their 
 separating again at Philippi. The sea-voyage had 
 had the desired effect and his previous prostration 
 had quite passed away. The importance, however, 
 
 1 This is the reading of all the best Mss. , but it has been 
 altered, perhaps because it is found nowhere else. That it was 
 not appealed to in the controversy on the Procession of the Holy- 
 Ghost is thought to be due to the fact that the text had been 
 altered jDreviously. 
 
 2 He may have seen him before at Autioch ; but it is far from 
 certain. 
 
V. i-io.] Second Foreign Mission. 123 
 
 of the meeting lay in the fact that it may have been 
 the beginning of that friendship ^ which lasted 
 through life, and was a joy and help in all his vicis- 
 situdes, and to which the Church owes the present 
 record of his Apostolic labours. 
 
 The other event was the heavenly vision : " There 
 stood a man of Macedonia and prayed him, saying, 
 Come over into Macedonia and help us." The Jews 
 
 believed that angels were assigned to different Dan. x. 
 
 13, 20, 2: 
 kingdoms as their special protectors ; they be- 
 lieved also that if they manifested themselves, it 
 was in the form and likeness of the people whose 
 guardians they were. It may, then, have been an 
 epiphany of the angel of Greece, beckoning the 
 Apostle to go thither to make known the way of 
 salvation. 
 
 Three times in almost as many verses the 
 Apostle receives supernatural direction, which 
 altered at once all his preconceived purposes. He 
 longed to preach in the populous towns of Asia, 
 but was prevented, and others did what he was 
 then forbidden to do ; before the century closed, 
 however, no less than seven churches had been Rev. ii. 
 established in the very centre of the district. 
 
 1 In the first chapter, I have suggested that they may have heeu 
 educated together at Tarsus ; but the above is commonly accepted. 
 
124 S. PauV s Second Mission, [ch. xvi. i-io. 
 
 Again, he made his plans to evangelise Bithynia, 
 with its great colonies of Jewish settlers, but God 
 had work for him to do elsewhere. He must have 
 heard, however, with satisfaction that his purpose 
 had been indirectly accomplished, for the record of 
 the life of the early Bithynian converts from a 
 heathen pen is one of the most precious testimonies 
 which time has preserved. 
 
 God watches over the continuance and progress 
 of the Church with the same providence under 
 which its foundations were laid ; the only differ- 
 ence is, that the original builders were guided, 
 whenever guidance was needed, either by Urim 
 and Thummim, or vision or prophecy ; whereas now 
 those who build must copy the pattern of their 
 work, where it can be read with more difficulty, 
 perhaps, but with no less certainty, in His "Written 
 Word, under the teaching and direction of His ever- 
 present Spirit. 
 
XLIII. 
 
 ^. Paul at taijilippi. 
 
 The Acts xvi. 11-40. 
 
 II. Therefore loosing from Troas, 
 we came with a straight course to 
 Samothracia, and the next day to 
 Neapolis ; 12. and from thence to 
 Phihppi, which is the chief city of 
 that part of Macedonia, and a 
 colony : and we were in that city 
 abiding certain days. 13. And on 
 the sabbath we went out of the city 
 by a river side, where prayer was 
 wont to be made ; and we sat down, 
 and spake unto the women which 
 resorted thither. 14. And a certain 
 woman named Lydia, a seller of 
 purple, of the city of Thyatira, 
 which worshipped God, heard us : 
 whose heart the Lord opened, that 
 she attended unto the things which 
 were spoken of Paul. 15. And when 
 she was baptized, and her house- 
 hold, she besought us, saying. If ye 
 have judged me to be faithful to the 
 Lord, come into my house and abide 
 there. And she constrained us. 16. 
 And it came to pass, as we went to 
 prayer, a certain damsel possessed 
 with a spirit of divination met us, 
 which brought her masters much 
 gain by soothsaying : 17. the same 
 followed Paul and us, and cried, 
 
 saying. These men are the servants 
 of the Most High God, which show 
 unto us the way of salvation. 18. 
 And this did she many days. But 
 Paul, being grieved, turned, and 
 said to the spirit, I command thee 
 in the Name of Jesus Christ to come 
 out of her. And he came out the 
 same hour. ig. And when her 
 masters saw that the hope of their 
 gains was gone, they caught Paul 
 and Silas, and drew them into the 
 marketplace unto the rulers, 20. 
 and brought them to the magistrates, 
 saying. These men, being Jews, do 
 exceedingly trouble our city, 21. 
 and teach customs, which are not 
 lawful for us to receive, neither to 
 observe, being Romans. 22. And 
 the multitude rose up together 
 against them : and the magistrates 
 rent off their clothes, and com- 
 manded to beat them. 23. And 
 when they had laid many stripes 
 upon them, they cast thetn into 
 prison, charging the jailer to keep 
 them safely : 24. who, having re- 
 ceived such a charge, thrust them 
 into the inner prison, and made 
 their feet fast in the stocks. 25. And 
 125 
 
126 S. Paul at Philippi. [Chap. xvi. 
 
 at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, 
 and sang praises unto God : and 
 the prisoners heard them. 26. And 
 suddenly there was a great earth- 
 quake, so that the foundations of 
 the prison were shaken : and imme- 
 diately all the doors were opened, 
 and every one's bands were loosed. 
 27. And the keeper of the prison 
 awaking out of his sleep, and seeing 
 the prison doors open, he drew out 
 his sword, and would have killed 
 himself, supposing that the prisoners 
 had been fled. 28. But Paul cried 
 with a loud voice, saying, Do thy- 
 self no harm : for we are all here. 
 29. Then he called for a light, and 
 sprang in, and came trembling, and 
 fell down before Paul and Silas, 30. 
 and brought them out, and said, 
 Sirs, what must I do to be saved ? 
 31. And they said. Believe on the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt 
 be saved, and thy house. 32. And 
 they spake unto him the word of the 
 Lord, and to all that were in his 
 house. 33. And he took them the 
 same hour of the night, and washed 
 their stripes ; and was baptized, he 
 
 and all his, straightway. 34. And 
 when he had brought them Into his 
 house, he set meat before them, and 
 rejoiced, believing in God with all 
 his house. 35. And when it was 
 day, the magistrates sent the Ser- 
 jeants, saying. Let those men go. 
 
 36. And the keeper of the prison 
 told this saying to Paul, The magis- 
 trates have sent to let you go : now 
 therefore depart, and go in peace. 
 
 37. But Paul said unto them. They 
 have beaten us openly uncondemned, 
 being Romans, and have cast us 
 into prison ; and now do they 
 thrust us out privily ? nay verily ; 
 but let them come themselves and 
 fetch us out. 38. And the Serjeants 
 told these words unto the magis- 
 trates : and they feared, when they 
 heard that they were Romans. 39. 
 And they came and besought them, 
 and brought them out, and desired 
 ihevi to depart out of the city. 40. 
 And they went out of the prison, and 
 entered Into the house ^Lydia : and 
 when they had seen the brethren, 
 they comforted them, and departed. 
 
 When S. Paul and his companions landed at 
 Neapolis they were the first Christians to set foot 
 on European shores. It is not certain that they 
 realised the importance of the event, for there was 
 constant intercommunication between Greece and 
 Asia ; but it is difficult for us in the light of history 
 to come to any other conclusion than that God's 
 great purpose in diverting the Apostle's plans in 
 Asia was, that there might be no more delay in 
 
V. II-40.] S. Paul at Philippi. 127 
 
 carrying the glad tidings of the Gospel towards 
 the West, 
 
 Neapolis was the landing-place for Phili})pi, and 
 the starting-point of the Egnatian Koad, the great 
 military route by which the soldiers of Rome passed 
 homewards from the East. It is difficult to be sure 
 of the exact meaning of S. Luke's description of 
 Philippi : " the chief city of that part of Macedonia, 
 and a colony." Literally, it is "first city," but 
 this it was not, neither geographically nor politi- 
 cally. Perhaps, according to the testimony of 
 inscriptions, it was one of a number of cities 
 which were dignified with the title of " chief " or 
 "principal"; or.it may be that it should be 
 rendered chief city of " the border land ^ of Mace- 
 donia," lying on the confines between it and Thrace. 
 Apart from its Christian associations, it has an im- 
 perishable name as the scene of one of " the decisive 
 battles of the world," where the army of Augustus 
 and Antony gave the deathblow to the Eepublic a.d. 42. 
 of Eome. 
 
 There was no synagogue in the place for S. Paul 
 to resort to according to his wont. It bespeaks a 
 
 1 TrpiiiTT] ttJs nepldos ttJs MaKedovta^ 7r6Xty. Coins exliibit this 
 title at such cities as Ephesus aud Smyrna, /u^pts in Hellenic 
 Greek is often used for frontier. 
 
X. 23 
 
 128 S. Paul at Philippi. [Chap. xvi. 
 
 great paucity of Jewish inhabitants/ and it is 
 corroborated by the entire absence of men from 
 the Sabbath gathering in the oratory in the open 
 air which had been marked out by the river side 
 Tert. de after the manner of the people. Here for the first 
 joseplJ time in Europe the Apostle preached, and Lydia 
 Ant. XIV. ^g^g converted. She had gone to Philippi from 
 Thyateira, probably as an agent or partner of a 
 guild of dyers,^ to sell the purple stuffs for which 
 the eastern town was famous. It was an impor- 
 tant event, for she was a woman of position 
 and influence, and augured well for the success of 
 the mission ; but shortly afterwards an incident 
 happened which dashed the hopes of the Apo- 
 stolic band, and brought upon them the violent 
 cruelty of the Romans. It was the first of a long 
 series of Pagan persecutions, Avhich shed the blood 
 of so many martyrs, and was only closed when 
 the conversion of Constantine put the sword of 
 heathen oppression into its sheath. The circum- 
 stances were these : a poor female slave, possessed 
 with a spirit of divination, was kept by a company 
 of masters as a great source of profit, for under the 
 
 1 Wherever there were ten wise men, they built a synagogue. 
 Lightfoot, Eor. Heb. on S. Matt. iv. 23. 
 
 ■- Bojckli in his Greek Inscriptions quotes one which commemo- 
 rated oi ^a<j)eh. 
 
V. II-40.] S. Paul at Philippi. 129 
 
 — ^ 
 
 influence of Python she broke out at times in frantic 
 cries, which were regarded as oracular; and the 
 superstitious people of the neighbourhood had 
 recourse to her to learn their future destinies, 
 and to discover things which they had lost, and 
 th-e solution of their difficulties. When she heard 
 S. Paul, the evil spirit within her, as did the 
 possessed demoniacs in the Gospel, bore testimony s. Mark i. 25. 
 to the true God ; but the Apostle, no less than his ■^^, 3" ^ 
 Master before him, refused the profl"ered homage 
 from unbelieving lips. It may be that he read in 
 her confession an attempt to appear to be confeder- 
 ate with them, in the hope of deceiving the people 
 and continuing her impostures with greater success. 
 And S. Paul, grieved and indignant — grieved with 
 pity for the victim, and indignant with Satan, who held 
 her bound — rebuked the evil spirit and cast him out. 
 As soon as her owners discovered that their pro- 
 fitable trade was lost, they began to vent their rage 
 upon those who had been instrumental in taking it 
 away. They told the magistrates ^ that they were xac. Ann. 
 Jews, propagators of a forbidden religion,^ come into "" ^' 
 
 1 06 (TTpaTriyoL, called duumvirs in a Roman province, but claim- 
 ing in preference the title of praetors. The original title is pre- 
 served in the modern stradigo. 
 
 2 Neauder says that circumcision was forbidden to the Romans 
 with heavy penalties. — Ch. Hist. i. 123 (Ed. Bohn). 
 
 VOL. II. I 
 
VI. 39- 
 
 1 30 S. Paul at Philippi. [Chap. xvi. 
 
 their midst to turn the city upside down, and do in 
 Philippi what they had been doing with such dis- 
 astrous eflfect in Rome.^ The whole town was 
 aroused, officials and private individuals alike, and 
 the offenders were beaten with the lictors' rods ^ and 
 thrown into prison. We can only measure their suf- 
 ferings when we divest ourselves of the modern con- 
 ception of a prison, A Roman dungeon, even in the 
 Euseb. V. i. capital, was a terrible place ; in the provincial towns 
 often of inconceivable noisomeness and horror — " a 
 pestilential cell, damp and cold, from which the 
 light was excluded, and where the chains rested on 
 the prisoners' limbs." Nevertheless the Apostles 
 were able to bear it, and to find comfort in prayer 
 and the praises of God; and He to Whom they 
 appealed in their affliction, sent them a mighty de- 
 liverance. Using, as so often, for the execution of 
 His purpose, the operations of nature, He caused a 
 great earthquake, which shook the door-posts and the 
 stones of the cell to which the bolts and chains were 
 fastened, and the prisoners were set free to escape 
 if they would. The jailer, fearing that the punish - 
 
 1 In consequence of the disturbances at Rome, Claudius had 
 shortly before issued an edict for their expulsion, and it created a 
 stir over the whole empire. 
 
 2 It was one of the three occasions of S. Paul being beaten, of 
 which the other two are unrecorded, 2 Cor. xi. 25, 
 
V. II-40.] S. Paul at Philippi. 131 
 
 ment to which they were condemned would fall 
 upon himself, was only saved from suicide by the 
 sudden interposition of S. Paul, who stayed his 
 hands by the assurance that none of the prisoners 
 had fled. 
 
 What followed in the prison hardly needs to be 
 repeated ; he asked to be shown the way of salva- 
 tion ; he did what he was bidden, and himself and 
 all that were his were admitted into the kingdom of 
 God. There is a touching picture in the words that 
 tell us how he, who had been so eager to enforce to 
 the utmost the cruel orders of the magistrates, that 
 he plunged them into the deepest recess of the 
 dungeon, and tortured their feet in the stocks, now 
 bathed their lacerated limbs with his own hands ; 
 and in that " washing of them from their stripes, he s. Chryso- 
 was himself washed from his sins." When we com- ^j^°™j l^' 
 pare this story with what the prophet says, " with 
 His stripes we are healed," it shows " how near 
 humanity may approach to the Divine example, and 
 how far it must fall short. For the sufferings of 
 Paul and Silas occasioned the conversion of indi- 
 viduals ; but Christ's sufferings were the meritorious 
 cause of universal redemption." Humphry. 
 
 Now, the answer which S. Paul gave to the jailer's 
 eager inquiry, " What must I do to be saved ? " has 
 
132 S. Paid at Philippi. [Chap. xvi. 
 
 been appealed to as the very charter of those who 
 place their hopes in the exercise of a purely subjec- 
 tive faith, and insist that nothing can be simpler 
 than the way of salvation, for it is all comprehended 
 in two words, " Only believe." Nothing more has 
 come down to us than the Apostle's assurance, 
 " Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt 
 be saved, and thy house " ; but we must not lose 
 sight of the fact that we have in this chapter no- 
 thing but the briefest outline or summary both of 
 what was said and of what was done. Had S. Luke 
 given a full report, it may be that many mistakes 
 would ha,ve been avoided ; but, inasmuch as the Holy 
 Spirit did not move him to record the whole, we 
 cannot but believe that the omission of what seems 
 to us of such great importance, was according to the 
 counsel of the Divine will. That will is perfectly 
 revealed in those Holy Scriptures which are able to 
 2Tim. Hi. 15. make us "wise unto salvation," but man must 
 search them diligently in all their parts before he 
 can grasp the fulness of truth. 
 
 How, then, are we to interpret what S. Paul said 
 about belief in Jesus Christ being the one thing 
 necessary for man's salvation 1 In the historical nar- 
 rative of his preaching we see only a rudimentary 
 sketch of the Faith ; but in those expositions of 
 
V. II-40.] S. Paid at Philippi. 133 
 
 doctrine, which he addressed to the churches which 
 he founded, he has left the picture in its perfect 
 development. His stirring exhortation to the Eo- Ro'"- x"- ^^ 
 mans, in which he reminds them that " prophecy " 
 must be "according to the proportion of the Faith," ^ 
 could never be satisfied by the preaching of those 
 who emphasise the simplicity of the Gospel and 
 dwell only upon a single article. What he there 
 insisted upon was the whole body of Christian Irene, i. 2. 
 doctrine, which had been " once delivered to the s. jude 3. 
 saints " ; all, he said, must be taught and with a con- 
 stant regard to the law of proportion. 
 
 Again, his prayer for the Ephesians, that they 
 "may be able to comprehend with all saints what Epies.iii. is. 
 is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height," 
 is not the language of one who felt that he could 
 gather the whole duty of the believer into a single 
 sentence. Indeed, we know of nothing in all his 
 Epistles which could lend the very least counten- 
 ance to such a theory; but the whole tenor of all 
 that he wrote, which may be read on page after 
 page, teaches that in his eyes the Faith was " not 
 one doctrine or two doctrines, but a marvellous 
 variety of high and awful truths, all uniting into 
 
 1 Kara rV ava.\oyia.v t^s Trtcrrews : i.e. the Faith, as iu Eph 
 V. 13. 
 
134 S. Paul at Philippi. [Chap. xvi. 
 
 a mighty whole." ^ It was nothing but this con- 
 ception which made him dwell so much upon the 
 mystery of Faith, the mystery of godliness, the 
 mystery of God's will, and the mystery of Christ. 
 
 If, then, we would comprehend what S. Paul meant 
 when he told the awakened jailer to "believe in Jesus 
 Christ," we must never forget what he afterwards 
 said about " the mystery of Christ." The initial step 
 in the belief was, doubtless, a simple one, and if 
 taken firmly and trustfully, as the jailer took it, 
 would fit him for the reception of baptism " for the 
 remission of sins." But we are told also that the 
 Apostle " spake to him the word of the Lord," and 
 in that we feel sure that he revealed far more for his 
 after acceptance. He must have unfolded to him at 
 least the great principle of the Incarnation ; to believe 
 in Christ involves a belief in the Incarnation ; and 
 this of necessity carries with it a belief in the Sac- 
 raments ; for it is these by which Christ has willed 
 to extend its benefits to each generation of men, as 
 they come into the world. To take then one aspect 
 of the Faith, viz., that which is suggested by the 
 jailer's baptism, belief in Christ and belief in His 
 
 1 All this is brought out in a remarkable sermon on the " Dimen- 
 sions and Proportions of the Church," by one of the most thought- 
 ful divines and powerful preachers of this generation, the late 
 Bishop Woodfoi'd. Occasional Sermons, No. viii. 
 
V. II-40.] S. Paul at PItilippi. 135 
 
 Sacraments are not antagonistic, as is sometimes 
 supposed, and to preach the Sacraments is to " preach 
 Christ," and to depreciate them is to dishonour Him 
 by Whom they were ordained for man's salvation. 
 It will surely be wiser for us, instead of teaching 
 that salvation is a simple thing, to think more of 
 the mystery with which the Holy Spirit has invested 
 it ; and if we are ever perplexed by what seem to a 
 finite intelligence to be conflicting doctrines, let us 
 be content to wait ; and it may be, when our eyes 
 are purged from earthly mists, we shall see them 
 " meet behind the veil," and, like righteousness and 
 peace, " kiss each other beneath the shadow of God's 
 throne." 
 
XLIV, 
 
 ^. ^aul at ^lje00alonica anti Beccea, 
 
 The Acts xvii. 1-14. 
 
 I. Now when they had passed 
 through Amphipolis and ApoUonia, 
 they came to Thessalonica, where 
 was a synagogue of the Jews : 2. and 
 Paul, as his manner was, went in 
 unto them, and three sabbath daj's 
 reasoned with them out of the scrip- 
 tures, 3. opening and alleging, that 
 Christ must needs have suffered, 
 and risen again from the dead ; and 
 that this Jesus, Whom I preach unto 
 you, is Christ. 4. And some of them 
 believed, and consorted with Paul 
 and Silas ; and of the devout Greeks 
 a great multitude, and of the chief 
 women not a few. 5. But the Jews 
 which believed not, moved with 
 envy, took unto them certain lewd 
 fellows ofthe baser sort, and gathered 
 a company, and set all the city on 
 an uproar, and assaulted the house 
 of Jason, and sought to bring them 
 out to the people. 6. And when 
 they found them not, they drew 
 Jason and certain brethren unto the 
 rulers of the city, crying. These that 
 have turned the world upside down 
 are come hither also ; 7. whom 
 Jason hath received : and these all 
 
 do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, 
 saying that there is another king, 
 one Jesus. 8. And they troubled 
 the people and the rulers of the city, 
 when they heard these things. 
 9. And when they had taken security 
 of Jason, and of the other, they let 
 them go. 10. And the brethren im- 
 mediately sent away Paul and Silas 
 by night unto Bercea : who coming 
 thither went into the synagogue of 
 the Jews. 11. These were more 
 noble than those in Thessalonica, in 
 that they received the word with all 
 readiness of mind, and searched the 
 scriptures daily, whether those things 
 were so. 12. Therefore many of 
 them believed ; also of honourable 
 women which were Greeks, and of 
 men, not a few. 13. But when the 
 Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge 
 that the word of God was preached 
 of Paul at Beroea, they came thither 
 also, and stirred up the people. 
 14. And then immediately the breth- 
 ren sent away Paul to go as it were 
 to the sea : but Silas and Timotheus 
 abode there still. 
 
 When S. Paul found himself in Europe, with his 
 face set westwards and his feet on the Egnatian 
 
 136 
 
ch. XVII. I-I4.] S. Paul at Thessalonica. 137 
 
 Eoad, the road that united the East to Rome,^ the 
 capital of the world, we can imagine that his hopes 
 of one day reaching " the Eternal City " took definite 
 shape. It does not tell us, it is true, that he then a^s xix. 21. 
 resolved that he " must see Rome " j but from what Rom. ;. 13. 
 he said to the Romans of his oft-formed purpose to .w. 22. 
 visit them, and of the repeated hindrances that pre- 
 vented him from carrying it out, we feel sure that at 
 such a juncture his expectation must have been 
 greatly quickened. 
 
 The first stage after leaving Philippi was Amphi- 
 polis ; in some respects it must have been an impor- 
 tant place, for no less than nine different roads 
 radiated from it; but the Apostle pushed on to 
 Apollonia, which also he hurried past. He was 
 evidently anxious to get to Thessalonica, which he 
 knew would open to him a larger field of labour. 
 It is one of the few cities visited by him which has 
 lost little, if any, of its ancient importance. It was 
 then the largest of the four capitals of Macedonia ; 
 and now, under the name of Saloniki, it is the 
 second city of European Turkey. The Christian 
 history which began with this visit of S. Paul was 
 one of unbroken interest for many centuries, and 
 the part that the Church there played in the defence 
 1 It was a continuation of the great Ajipian Way. 
 
138 S. Paul at Thessalonica [Chap. xvn. 
 
 and proijagation of the Faith won from the mediaeval 
 chroniclers its claim to be entitled " the orthodox 
 city." There is just one terrible stain upon its 
 annals; the amphitheatre at Thessalonica was the 
 
 A.D. 390. scene of the most cruel massacres ever perpetrated 
 in the name of a Christian, when Theodosius, in an 
 ungovernable passion, sacrificed no less than seven 
 thousand lives to vindicate his imperial dignity. 
 It witnesses, however, to the tremendous power of 
 the Church that the Bishop of the province should 
 have subjected the perpetrator of the crime, regard- 
 less of his position as " the legislator of the world," 
 to an ignominious penalty, and kept him, for half a 
 year, a penitent suppliant for pardon and absolution 
 without the gates of his cathedral. It would seem 
 that S. Paul was especially attracted to Thessalonica 
 by its large population of Jewish settlers ; and 
 before them, according to his custom, he opened his 
 preaching. On three successive Sabbath-days ^ he 
 joined with them in the synagogue-worship, ex- 
 pounding the Scriptures, and dwelling particularly 
 
 S.Luke upon the sufferings of the Messiah, which the 
 
 XXIV. 25, 26. ^ o ' 
 
 prophets foretold as the necessary precursor of his 
 
 1 It only means that his preaching was confined to the Jews for 
 this time ; after that he turned also, and indeed mainly, to the 
 Gentiles. His longer stay has been clearly proved, as also the fact 
 that the bulk of his converts were heathen rather than Jewish. 
 
V. I-I4.] and Beroea. 1 39 
 
 after-glory; and then, having established this, he 
 showed how all had been fulfilled in the Person of 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 His preaching reached the hearts of many — so 
 many, that those who remained unconvinced were 
 afraid lest they should be outnumbered ; and they 
 gathered round them the idle and worthless loiterers 
 in the Agora, and made a tumult in the city. They 
 attacked the house of Jason, where the Apostles 
 were lodging, but failing to discover the immediate 
 objects of their search, they dragged their host 
 before the magistrates, and tried to make him 
 answerable for the seditious speeches of his friends. 
 At Philippi the charge which was brought against 
 the preachers was that they were upsetting the 
 religious customs of the people, and trying to bring 
 in a forbidden worship. But this was in a Eoman 
 colony, where the laws of the mother city were 
 recognised as equally binding upon her colonists ; 
 Thessalonica, on the other hand, was a free city, 
 where Eoman laws had no force ; it would have 
 been idle, then, to take up the same accusation. 
 They had heard, however, the Apostle repeatedly 
 foretelling the coming of Christ's Kingdom,^ and 
 
 1 This may be gatliered from many passages in S. Paul's Epistle 
 to tlie Thessalonians, especially from 2 Thess. ii. 5. 
 
140 S. Paid at Thessalonica [chap. xvn. 
 
 this they unscrupulously perverted as treason to the 
 Empire. The charge was one which the magistrates 
 could not be indifferent to, and they deemed it prudent 
 to bind the prisoner over by surety not to disturb 
 the peace any further, before they released him. 
 
 Before we pass from Thessalonica it is worth 
 while to notice, as we have done before, the strict 
 accuracy of the sacred historian — an accuracy which 
 is all the more remarkable because he was only in 
 part an eye-witness of the scenes that he describes.^ 
 At Philippi he Avas one of the Apostles' company ; 
 it is not surprising, then, that he should be ac- 
 quainted with the exact names of the official rulers, 
 and describe correctly their whole mode of pro- 
 cedure;^ but he was not at Thessalonica, and yet 
 he knows that the authority lay with " the popular 
 assembly," ^ and that its legal executive were not 
 Acts XV. praetors or duumvirs, but politarchs.* Either, then, 
 
 1 This consideration is valuable in meeting the arguments of 
 those who maintain that the Acts is the composition of a forger in 
 the second century. 
 
 2 This can only be fully appreciated by reading the original 
 language. 
 
 3 o.'ya.y^'iv els rbv driixov, — i.e. not the mob, which is oxXos ; of. 
 V. 8. 
 
 ^ ol woXiTOipxai- There has been found on an arch at Thessa- 
 lonica an ancient inscription, on which are the names of the seven 
 politarchs of the time. Bceckh's Co7'2^. Inscrip. No. 1967. The 
 
 tie is only found once elsewhere. 
 
V, I-I4.] and Serosa. 141 
 
 he received his report from the lips of S. Paul, or 
 else the Holy Spirit guided him " into all truth." 
 
 The brethren of Thessalonica were afraid to let 
 S. Paul and Silas remain while the city was in such 
 an excited state, so they fled, and leaving, as soon 
 as they could, the frequented route, they turned 
 southwards and made for Beroea. The choice of 
 this place of refuge was a wise one, and for the first 
 time in his missionary journeys he met with a wel- 
 come from his countrymen. The Jews of Beroea 
 will never be forgotten for their exceptional treat- 
 ment of the Apostle. S. Luke says they were 
 " more noble " than those who would have done him 
 violence at Thessalonica. They were less prejudiced, 
 with minds open at least to investigate the subjects 
 which he broached, and to see whether the Scrip- 
 tures did or did not bear out what he said. Many 
 found convincing evidence on the two main points 
 of his preaching, viz., that the Messiah would be 
 put to death, and rise again from the dead, as was 
 fulfilled in Jesus Christ ; and they joined themselves 
 to the company of believers. But besides these, a 
 large number of Greeks, both men and women, 
 some of them high in social rank, were added to the 
 Church. The success, however, of the Apostles' 
 work was soon interrupted, as it had been so often 
 
142 S. Paid at Thessalonica [Chap. xvn. 
 
 before, by his enemies in one city following up his 
 flight to another, and stirring fresh persecutions 
 against him. It was done at Beroea, and again his 
 friends were constrained to take him away. 
 
 Now we are not surprised that the subject of the 
 Apostle's preaching should have called forth such 
 strong opposition. The very idea of humiliation 
 and suffering in the Person of the Messiah was at 
 this time quite abhorrent to the Jewish mind. In- 
 deed, it has been disputed whether any Rabbi was 
 ever bold enough to teach the doctrine of a suffering 
 Messiah.^ 
 
 When our Blessed Lord broached the subject of 
 s. Matt. what awaited Him at Jerusalem, the answer of 
 S. Peter shows how completely the disciples had 
 failed to understand that page of prophecy in which 
 it was foreshadowed : " Then Peter took Him and 
 began to rebuke Him, saying, Be it far from Thee, 
 Lord ; this shall not be unto Thee." They had yet 
 to learn the whole of the hard lesson, that Christ's 
 Kingdom would have its very foundations laid in 
 humiliation and suffering. 
 
 The Jews repudiated the doctrine because it was 
 
 so alien to their conceptions of the Messiah as the 
 
 1 Cf. Die Leiden des Messias, by Aug. Wiinsche, in which he 
 tries to prove the contrary ; but it is not considered to be at all 
 clearly made out. 
 
 XVI. 21. 
 
V. I-I4.] and Beroea. 143 
 
 restorer of the temporal power of the nation. 
 When the predictions of the prophets were pressed 
 home they adopted many expedients to explain 
 them away, and at last invented' the fiction of two 
 Messiahs as the only possible way of escape : one Xaim. 
 who was destined to reign as king was the Son of jg^i. "x. °" 
 David— the Malcha Meshika— the other, who would ^dersheim 
 
 ' "• 434- 
 
 come as a warrior, suffer defeat and die, the Son of ^pp- '^■ 
 Joseph, The latter, the Rabbis said, would gather 
 together the lost tribes, march to Jerusalem at the 
 head of a great army, receive the submission of the 
 former, and eventually be defeated and put to death 
 by Gog and Magog, the representatives of the 
 heathen power, as a sacrifice for the sins of Jeroboam 
 and the rest of the people. After his humiliation 
 and death the Son of David would be left in pos- 
 session of the kingdom, 
 
 Now the sufferings of the Christ have always 
 been emphasised by Christians, because they have 
 had no difficulty in realising that, as our Lord said, 
 His kingdom was never intended to be "of this 
 world." 
 
 It is enough for us that Christ has declared that 
 suffering was inseparable from His office ; and apart s. Luke 
 from its primary purpose as incidental to the atone- is^pef'i „ 
 ment, it has proved a very potent help to men in 
 
144 '^- Pci'^l ctt Thessalonica. [CH.xvn.1-14. 
 
 enabling them through the power of His example 
 to convert the original curse into a blessing. It is 
 the testimony of every saint, who has been called 
 to pass through the furnace of affliction, that 
 nothing purifies so surely as pain and suffering, if 
 only they can be borne with the resignation of 
 Christ. 
 
 To the Jews of Thessalonica and Beroea there 
 
 could be no connection between the cross and the 
 
 crown ; but in the Christian's eyes they can never 
 
 Tim.ii.12.be separated; for if we do not suffer with Him 
 
 here we shall not reign with Him hereafter. 
 
XLV. 
 
 &. Paul at Sitlitm, on Sl^ac^' "^iiU 
 
 The Acts xvii. 15-34. 
 
 15. And they that conducted Paul 
 brought him unto Athens : and re- 
 ceiving a commandment unto Silas 
 and Timotheus for to come to him 
 with all speed, they departed. i6. 
 Now while Paul waited for them at 
 Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, 
 when he saw the city wholly given 
 to idolatry. 17. Therefore disputed 
 he in the synagogue with the Jews, 
 and with the devout persons, and in 
 the market daily with them that met 
 with him. 18. Then certain philoso- 
 phers of the Epicureans, and of the 
 Stoicks, encountered him. And 
 some said, What will this babbler 
 say? other some. He seemeth to be 
 a setter forth of strange gods : be- 
 cause he preached unto them Jesus, 
 and the resurrection. 19. And they 
 took him, and brought him unto 
 Areopagus, saying. May we know 
 what this new doctrine, whereof 
 thou speakest, is? 20. For thou 
 bringest certain strange things to 
 our ears : we would know therefore 
 what these things mean. 21. (For 
 all the Athenians and strangers 
 which were there spent their time 
 in nothing else, but either to tell, or 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 to hear some new thing.) 22. Then 
 Paul stood in the midst of Mars' 
 hill, and said, Ve men of Athens, I 
 perceive that in all things ye are too 
 superstitious. 23. For as I passed 
 by, and beheld your devotions, I 
 found an altar with this inscription, 
 TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. 
 Whom therefore ye ignorantly wor- 
 ship. Him declare I unto you. 24. 
 God that made the world and all 
 things therein, seeing that He is 
 Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth 
 not in temples made with hands ; 
 25. neither is worshipped with 
 men's hands, as though He needed 
 any thing, seeing He giveth to all 
 life, and breath, and all things ; 26. 
 and hath made of one blood all 
 nations of men for to dwell on all 
 the face of the earth, and hath de- 
 termined the times before appointed, 
 and the bounds of their habitation ; 
 27. that they should seek the Lord, 
 if haply they might feel after Him, 
 and find Him, though He be not far 
 from every one of us : 28. for in 
 Him we live, and move, and have 
 our being ; as certain also of your 
 own poets have said. For we are also 
 
146 S. Paul at Athens, [Chap.xvu. 
 
 His offspring. 29. Forasmuch then unto all vien, in that He hath raised 
 
 as we are the offspring of God, we Him from the dead. 32. And when 
 
 ought not to think that the God- they heard of the resurrection of the 
 
 head is like unto gold, or silver, or dead, some mocked : and others 
 
 stone, graven by art and man's said, We will hear thee again of 
 
 device. 30. And the times of this this matter. 33. So Paul departed 
 
 ignorance God winked at ; but now from among them. 34. Howbeit 
 
 commandeth all men everywhere to certain men clave unto him, and 
 
 repent : 31. because He hath ap- believed : among the which -was 
 
 pointed a day, in the which He will Dionysius the Areopagite, and a 
 
 judge the world in righteousness by woman named Damaris, and others 
 
 that Man whom He hath ordained ; with them. 
 •whereof He hath given assurance 
 
 "They that conducted Paul " — it bespeaks some- 
 thing more than an ordinary escort, and points to 
 another attack of the disease which so sorely im- 
 paired his eyesight, under which he needed a closer 
 guidance. This aggravation of his physical infirmity 
 must have diminished the excitement of his visit to 
 Athens. Every traveller testifies to the intensity 
 of interest that is inevitably quickened at the 
 anticipation of seeing for the first time the ruins of 
 so much that was beautiful beyond comparison in 
 connection with art and literature. And, if S. Paul 
 had not been suff'ering from pain and sickness, we 
 are quite sure that he would have looked with eager 
 expectation to what he would see and hear. We 
 may not forget that he had been brought up at 
 Tarsus, where he must have studied those philo- 
 sophies^ which had their home in the schools of 
 
 1 Besides his early education in an University where philosophy 
 was much taught, it was to prepare to conihat these that he 
 
V. 15-34] on Mars Hill. 1 47 
 
 Athens, " the University of the world." It is true 
 S. Luke has made no reference to any such feelings, 
 but it can only be because of the extreme brevity 
 of his narrative, and a desire to concentrate our 
 attention upon that with which the Apostle's visit 
 will ever be associated, viz., the scene on Mars' 
 Hill. 
 
 Wherever S. Paul Avent he saw little but temples 
 and " objects of devotion " ; the sacred buildings 
 and porticos were crowded with statuary ; the streets 
 were lined with pillars and columns on which 
 statues and busts of gods and heroes and deified 
 virtues and passions stood, like sentinels, to guard 
 the city. We have almost contemporary evidence 
 in the writings of a famous traveller,^ who quite 
 corroborates the Apostle's description that the city 
 was " full of idols " ; - while the Roman satirist 
 indulges in the significant sneer that it was easier 
 to find a god in Athens than a man.^ 
 
 made his stay at Tarsus before he was summoned to Autioch, 
 Acts xi. 25. The three great Universities were Tarsus, Alexandria, 
 and Athens. 
 
 1 Pausanias in the following century visited and described 
 Athens before its destruction, cf. 'EXXdSos nept7}7?;crts. 
 
 2 "Given to idolatry" does not at all express what is meant. 
 He testifies to the habits of the people later in ver. 22. 
 
 3 Petronius's /Sa^mco/i, 17.. It is a strange fai-rago, and abounds 
 in unpleasant verse, but its testimony to the above is striking. 
 He died about 66 a.d. 
 
*i48 S. Paul at Athens, [Chap. xvn. 
 
 The sight of all this stirred S. Paul to the very 
 depths of his soul. It was nothing to him that 
 many of those statues were the very masterpieces 
 of sculpture; he could not detach his mind from 
 their debasing use, to uphold a false religion, and 
 minister often to an impure worship ; and he set 
 himself to the task of proving the whole system 
 to be mistaken and vain. But, before he began 
 to combat the idolaters of Athens he preached to 
 the Jews, who even in this centre and focus of 
 heathen life, as elsewhere, claimed and received 
 his first ministrations. They were, hoAvever, so 
 few in number that before long he " turned to the 
 Gentiles." 
 
 The Athenians were a people who lived much 
 in the open air, and they gathered in knots to 
 Demosth. discuss the latest news in the Agora or market- 
 place, which was to them what the Piazza of 
 S. Mark is to the Venetians or the Boulevards of 
 Paris are to the Parisians. 
 
 Thither the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers 
 resorted, and from time to time expounded their 
 special theories of life and duty ; and S. Paul, after 
 their custom, preached to the crowds that daily 
 gathered about him on "Jesus and the Resurrection." 
 It almost seems as though they imagined that the 
 
 Philippic. 1. 
 
V. 15-34] 011 Mars Hill. 149 
 
 latter was a goddess,^ for they were wont to deify s. chrysos- 
 abstract things as well as persons; and it is expressly l^^' g" 
 said that they accused him of setting forth " strange 
 gods, because he preached unto them Jesus and the 
 Resurrection." 
 
 Mars' Hill was not far distant, and reached by 
 sixteen steps from the market-place. It was the site 
 on which the most august and solemn tribunal in 
 the ancient world held its sessions, the judges sitting 
 on rock-hewn seats beneath the open sky ; and Words- 
 before this Court the philosophers, disconcerted by Athens and 
 his doctrine, brought the Apostle, not, it would ^""^^' 73- 
 seem, for a formal trial, but that the wisest of the 
 Athenians might decide whether the charge of intro- 
 ducing new divinities was likely to be substantiated 
 or not, if judicial proceedings should be instituted. 
 " Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' Hill, and 
 said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things 
 ye are too superstitious." "Too superstitious" — it 
 would have been inconsistent with the Apostle's 
 wonted courtesy and conciliation to have opened his 
 address with words of condemnation. He wished 
 to let them see that he was alive to their chief Josephus 
 
 against 
 
 characteristic of religious awe, and could praise Apion, ii. 12. 
 
 Soph. Qidip. 
 1 dvdffracns, a fern, noun, whicli might be deified as much as Col. 1060. 
 Faith, or Shame, or Truth. It may, however, be objected that 
 S. Paul would be careful to guard agaiust such a misconception. 
 
150 S. Paul at Athens, [Chap. xvn. 
 
 them for it, though he would gladly make it a 
 stepping-stone to something higher. The word 
 that he used can only be imperfectly translated; 
 it is literally, "more demon-fearing," demon being 
 understood in a good sense ; perhaps " exceeding 
 reverential " or " unusually religious," ^ would most 
 nearly represent what he meant. 
 
 We can only understand the full force of his 
 
 speech when we realise that it was directed to the 
 
 Athenians in general, but more especially to the 
 
 Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. 
 
 Diogenes, The teucts of the Epicureans, with which he came 
 
 Laertius, Jj^|.q conflict, werc the creation of the world, the 
 
 Lib. X. ' 
 
 Joseph. doctrine of Providence, and man's responsibility. 
 
 Ant. .\. xi. 7. 
 
 They believed that matter was self-existent, and that 
 the world assumed its present form by a " fortuitous 
 concourse of atoms," a series of accidental combina- 
 tions ; that the gods did not concern themselves 
 with the affairs of men ; that pleasure was the chief 
 good, that man should do deliberately what the 
 brute creation did by instinct, and that, inasmuch as 
 Lucret. the gods Were indifferent to his actions, he had no 
 '■ ^^ ''^^' reason to fear them ; and as the soul would be anni- 
 hilated by death, there could be no future judgment 
 
 1 The iioiin is used in xxv. 19 in a good sense. " Superstition " 
 is invariably used in a bad one. 
 
V. 15 34] on Mars' Hill. 1 5 1 
 
 or retribution. The Epicureans were practically 
 Atheists. 
 
 The Stoics were Pantheists, denying that the 
 world was made by any personal God, for God was 
 Himself " the soul of the world " ; that there was 
 no Divine Providence, because everything was fixed 
 by an unbending fate; that, having no free will^ 
 man had no moral responsibility. 
 
 Now, all this teaching S. Paul set himself to 
 counteract in a single speech ; and though we have 
 only the briefest abstract, we are amazed at the com- 
 prehensiveness of its scope and the completeness 
 and force of his logic. He had seen, he told the 
 Athenians, all that was wanting in their religion, 
 in two words which he had found engraved on one 
 of their altars. Once when the people were suffer- 
 ing from a sore pestilence, Epimenides had arrested Diog. Laert. 
 the plague by sacrificing " to the appropriate god," Epimenidis 
 the unnamed-deity by whom it had been sent ; and phHostratus 
 in after-times they sought deliverance from public 7'^^ ^?°^' 
 
 " '^ -1 lonu. VI. 3. 
 
 calamities, whose cause they knew not, by building Pausan. 
 
 Attic, i. I. 4. 
 
 an altar and propitiating the author under the title of 
 " The Unknown God." ^ In his wanderings through 
 their temples and shrines, the Apostle's eye had fallen 
 
 1 There is no def. art. in the original, but it was often omitted 
 in Inscriptions. 
 
152 S. Pcml at Athens, [Chap. xvn. 
 
 on one of the " anonymous altars," and giving to 
 it a " Name Which is above every name," he made 
 it the text of his sermon. 
 
 It vs^as, he said, that God Who had " made the 
 world and all things therein " ; the same in Whom 
 " we live and move and have our being," Who " hath 
 determined the times appointed and the bounds of 
 their habitation " ; Who also " hath appointed a 
 day in which He will judge the world," and Who 
 "now commandeth all men everywhere to repent"; 
 and in these few sentences he struck at the very 
 root of Epicurean and Stoic doctrine on those three 
 points — the creation. Providence, and human re- 
 sponsibility — which they denounced as inconsistent 
 with their creed. 
 
 For the Athenians in general, he dealt a severe 
 blow at the national pride, when he asserted that 
 God had " made of one blood all nations of men to 
 dwell on all the face of the earth " ; ^ for the Greeks 
 professed a profound contempt for every one but 
 Plato Poiit. their own people, and divided the world by an im- 
 passable barrier between "Greeks and Barbarians." 
 
 1 The Speaker's Commentary quotes the testimony of Sir Charles 
 Lyell, that there is "no sound objection " to the belief that all the 
 human races sprang from one pair : but longer time for the 
 development into varieties is required than the popular system of 
 Chronology allows. 
 
 262 D. 
 
V. IS-34-] on Mars HilL 153 
 
 All national exclusiveness, he thought, was done 
 away in the one great family of God. 
 
 Then he reminded them that there was far more 
 than they had realised, in the testimony of their 
 poets that they were "the offspring of God." 
 Pointing, no doubt, to the statues around them, he 
 argued the impossibility that these could be the gods 
 whose sons they were. No " gold or silver or stone, 
 no image of art and man's device," could ever repre- 
 sent the Godhead. 
 
 The more educated Athenians, it is true, had risen 
 above such a degraded conception, and only used 
 their idols as helps to devotion ; but to the mass of 
 the people the gods had such bodies, parts, and 
 passions as their statues portrayed. 
 
 His speech closed with a vision of the final 
 judgment, at the tribunal of a Man Whom God had 
 ordained for the purpose, and Whose rising from 
 the dead set the seal to His commission. Thus 
 he closed with that which had been his daily theme 
 in the market-place, " Jesus and the Eesurrection." 
 
 And what was the result? A certain number 
 were won by his words, but of the great majority 
 some broke out into open scoffing, and the rest, with 
 their curiosity quickened but hearts unmoved, post- 
 poned their decision to an occasion which never 
 
154 S. Paul at Athens, [Chap. xvn. 
 
 came. The Apostle left the city never to see it 
 again, only once to speak of it in all his letters, and 
 then, in remembrance of his isolation, intensified by 
 1 Thess. iii.i. his alienation from the whole spirit of the place, " at 
 Athens alone." 
 
 Now there is a point in S. Paul's speech which 
 needs to be especially emphasised in this genera- 
 tion ; it is that which touches one's belief in Divine 
 Providence. It is one of the results sometimes 
 claimed for the scientific investigation of Nature, 
 that after all, the belief of the Stoic is true, and the 
 Universe, and all that is in it, is regulated, not by a 
 Personal God, but by fixed laws and the inexorable 
 order of mechanical force. Science, it is said, has 
 succeeded in binding the Creator in fetters, "as 
 Force and Strength bound Prometheus to the rock 
 of Necessity," so that He cannot move hand or 
 foot to regulate the actions or control in any way 
 the lives of men. 
 
 There are many fatal hindrances to the acceptance 
 of such a mechanical theory of the Universe. One 
 is, it is contradicted by the teaching of Him Who 
 claimed to be the Truth, which we can only reject 
 at the cost of our faith. To quote but a fragment 
 s. Matt. of what He said: "If ye, then, being evil, know 
 x.'sp'so, 31. l^ow to give good gifts unto your children, how much 
 
V. 14-34-] on Mars' Hill. 155 
 
 more shall your Father Which is in heaven give good 
 things to them that ask Him ? " " Are not two 
 sparrows sold for a farthing 1 and one of them shall 
 not fall on the ground without your Father ] But 
 the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear 
 ye not, therefore, ye are of more value than many 
 sparrows." Herein Christ taught the doctrine of 
 Divine Providence so plainly that he may run that 
 readeth it, and, though some teachers of Science 
 may contradict Him, others regard the facts of Nature 
 as the acts of God, and see His hand everywhere. 
 
 The second hindrance is raised by the best 
 instincts of the heart, which rise in mutinous 
 rebellion against such teaching. If our concep- 
 tions of the Deity are to respond to the wants of 
 humanity, nothing can satisfy us short of a Personal 
 God, Who can be touched with a feeling of our 
 infirmities. Who is able out of His own fulness to 
 supply all that we need, in health and sickness, in 
 prosperity and adversity, in every circumstance and 
 condition of life, ready to help all that look to Him. 
 It was to such an one that S. Paul turned the 
 Athenians, when he told them of that God, in 
 Whom " we live and move and have our being." 
 
XLVI. 
 
 ^* Paul at Corintl). 
 
 The Acts xviii. 1-22. 
 
 I. After these things Paul de- 
 parted from Athens, and came to 
 Corinth ; 2. and found a certain 
 Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, 
 lately come from Italy, with his wife 
 Priscilla ; (because that Claudius had 
 commanded all Jews to depart from 
 Rome :) and came unto them. 3. 
 And because he was of the same 
 craft, he abode with them, and 
 wrought : (for by their occupation 
 they were tent-makers.) 4. And he 
 reasoned in the synagogue every 
 sabbath, and persuaded the Jews 
 and the Greeks. 5. And when Silas 
 and Timotheus were come from 
 Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the 
 spirit, and testified to the Jews that 
 Jesus was Christ. 6. And when 
 they opposed themselves, and blas- 
 phemed, he shook his raiment, and 
 said unto them. Your blood be upon 
 your own heads ; I atn clean : from 
 henceforth I will go unto the Gen- 
 tiles. 7. And he departed thence, and 
 entered into a certain wan's house, 
 named Justus, one that worshipped 
 God, whose house joined hard to the 
 synagogue. 8. And Crispus, the 
 chief ruler of the synagogue, be- 
 156 
 
 lieved on the Lord with all his 
 house ; and many of the Corinthians 
 hearing believed, and were baptized. 
 
 9. Then spake the Lord to Paul in 
 the night by a vision, Be not afraid, 
 but speak, and hold not thy peace : 
 
 10. for I am with thee, and no man 
 shall set on thee to hurt thee : for I 
 have much people in this city. 11. 
 And he continued the7-e a year and 
 si.x months, teaching the word of 
 God among them. 12. And when 
 Gallio was the deputy of Achaia, 
 the Jews made insurrection with one 
 accord against Paul, and brought 
 him to the judgment-seat, 13. say- 
 ing, 'V\\\s /ellciv persuadeth men to 
 worship God contrary to the law. 14. 
 And when Paul was now about to 
 open his mouth, Gallio said unto the 
 Jews, If it were a matter of wrong 
 or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, 
 reason would that I should bear 
 with you : 15. but if it be a question 
 of words and names, and 0/ your 
 law, look ye to it ; for I will be no 
 judge of such ;«a//^rj. 16. And he 
 drave them from the judgment-seat. 
 17. Then all the Greeks took So- 
 sthenes, the chief ruler of the syn- 
 
ch. XVIII. 1-22.] S. Paul at Corinth. 157 
 
 agogue, and beat him before the with the Jews. 20. When they de- 
 judgment-seat : and Gallio cared for sired him to tarry longer time with 
 none of those things. 18. And Paul them, he consented not ; 21. but bade 
 after this tarried there yet a good them farewell, saying, 1 must by 
 while, and then took his leave of all means keep this feast that cometh 
 the brethren, and sailed thence into in Jerusalem : but I will return 
 Syria, and with him Priscilla and again unto you, if God will. And 
 Aquila ; having shorn his head in he sailed from Ephesus. 22. And 
 Cenchrea ; for he had a vow. 19. when he had landed at Caesarea, 
 And he came to Ephesus, and left and gone up and saluted the church, 
 them there : but he himself entered he went down to Antioch. 
 into the synagogue, and reasoned 
 
 From Athens to Corinth was a vast transition. 
 Not far distant from each other geographically, but 
 in all else widely separated : — The one a seat of 
 learning and philosophy ; the other a centre of 
 industry and commerce. The former a city of 
 idle tattlers, who whiled away their days in in- 
 dolent curiosity; the latter a mart of bustling 
 activity and enterprising traffic. In their standard 
 of morals wide as the poles asunder : the Athenians, 
 as a people, devoutly religious; the Corinthians 
 profligate and sensual. The deity which presided 
 over Athens was Minerva, the goddess of wisdom, 
 placed on the summit of the citadel. The worship 
 which dominated Corinth was that of Venus, 
 whose temple was conspicuous above the city ; her 
 thousand priestesses infamous for immorality ; her 
 precincts unclean in consequence almost as the 
 Augean Stable. Indeed, such was the baneful 
 influence of this unhallowed worship, that Corinth 
 
158 S. Paul at Corinth. [Chap. xvm. 
 
 is acknowledged to have been the most licentious 
 city in the world. ^ 
 
 It was to such a place, steeped in impurity, that 
 S. Paul passed from Athens, with a burning desire 
 to proclaim the eternal principles of Him Who is of 
 purer eyes than to behold iniquity. What the vices 
 of the people were is told in the frightful description 
 
 Ron, ;. of Paganism which he drew from Corinth in his 
 
 ^'■2^' letter to the Eomans. 
 
 At Athens he had been compelled to labour 
 alone, with no one to encourage him, but at Corinth 
 he was cheered on his arrival by the welcome of 
 sympathising helpers, with the bond of a common 
 trade, and, we would feign believe, a common faith ; 
 for it is extremely improbable that an unbelieving 
 Jew would have given him a home. Aquila may 
 have embraced Christianity ^ under the teaching of 
 those "strangers of Rome" who returned thither 
 after the outpouring of Pentecost. He had been 
 one of a vast multitude of Jews who had flocked 
 to Eome for mercantile purposes, and became so 
 numerous that they formed a large Jewish settle- 
 
 1 Kopw^tdfecr^at, became a synonym for playing the harlot. 
 Cf. Aristop. Cocalus, Fr. 133. 
 
 2 The arguments in favour of Aquila and Priscilla being already 
 Christians are far weightier than those which make them converted 
 by S. Paul. 
 
V. 1-22.] S. Pmd at Corinth. 159 
 
 ment "across the Tiber." The historian tells us 
 that owing to constant disturbances, which were 
 "cUie to the action of Chrestus,"^ the Emperor 
 Claudius issued an edict for their expulsion. It 
 was this that drove Aquila and Priscilla out of 
 Eome. Possibly they may have intended to re- 
 turn to Pontus, Aquila's native place, and going by 
 the ordinary maritime track across the Isthmus, they 
 stopped at Corinth on finding a favourable opening 
 for trade. At all events, Aquila was established 
 there on S. Paul's arrival, and offered him employ- 
 ment in his workshop. 
 
 It was the custom of the Jews in all conditions 
 of life to have their children instructed in some trade 
 or mechanical art. Rabbi Judah, the holy, said, " He 
 that does not teach his son a trade, does the same 
 as if he taught him to become a thief." Manual 
 labour was regarded as a great safeguard against a Pirke 
 large class of temptation to sin. It proved a ^° '"' 
 distinct advantage to the Apostle also in his 
 spiritual work that he was able to support him- 
 self by his handicraft, especially at Corinth; for 
 though he asserted that they "who preach the 
 
 1 " Judffios impulsore Chresto assidue tunuiltuautes Roma ex- 
 pulit." — Suetonius, Vita Claud, xxv. There was frequently a 
 confusion between Christo and Chresto in early times. Tac. 
 Apol. 3. Lactant. de vera Sap. iv. 7. 
 
i6o S. Paul at Corinth. [Chap. xvm. 
 
 Gospel " have a legitimate claim to " live of the 
 Gospel," he certainly gained in the eyes of the 
 Corinthian converts, in a place where everything 
 was done for the sake of lucre, by showing himself 
 independent of their maintenance. In the churches 
 of Macedonia there was no danger of his motives 
 2 Cor. xi. 7. being misunderstood, and he gratefully accepted 
 
 Phil. iv. 15. ,, . , , •! • 
 
 their seasonable contributions. 
 
 It is commonly supposed that the tents which he 
 made were of cloth woven with the hair of Cilician ^ 
 goats, but the more common material was leather, 
 and S. Chrysostom says that " Paul, after working 
 miracles, stood in his workshop at Corinth, and 
 stitched hides of leather together with his hands ; 
 and the angels regarded him with love and the 
 devils with fear." ^ 
 
 S. Paul had not been long at Corinth before 
 Silas and Timotheus joined him, and their com- 
 panionship gave a new impulse to his preaching. 
 S. Luke says " he became engrossed in the word " ; ^ 
 I Cor. ii. 3. and the " weakness and fear and much trembling," in 
 
 1 Cilician is frequently used for sucli cloth by Cicero and Livy. 
 Cilicia being S. Paul's native country, may have suggested the view 
 that he used it. 
 
 2 Quoted by Gloag in loco. 
 
 3 ry X6y^ has the authority of all the important MSS. 
 " Pressed in the spirit " of the A. V. is much less forcible. 
 
V. 1-22.] S. Paul at Corinth. i6i 
 
 which the Apostle confesses elsewhere that he had 
 begun his ministry, were changed into energy and 
 boldness. The Jews, to whom he first addressed 
 himself, opposed his ministrations so vehemently 
 that he abandoned the synagogue, and opened a 
 mission-room, in close proximity to it, in the house 
 of Justus. It afterwards developed into a church ; 
 and although it is narrated that the disciples 
 gathered together in the upper chamber, and in 
 Mary's house at Jerusalem, this was the first place 
 we read of as being set apart for public worship in 
 a heathen city ; and it was probably this which 
 S. Paul speaks of as the "church," or "the church j cor. 
 of God." Here he won over to the Faith Crispus, '''• '^' "• 
 who followed the Apostle, having repented of the 
 treatment to which the Jews had exposed him, and 
 for which, as ruler of the synagogue, he felt in a 
 great measure responsible. Two other converts of 
 note, Stephanas and Gains, are mentioned elsewhere; 
 and S. Paul, departing from his custom, baptized i Cor. 
 them all with his own hands. The conversion of '' ^'^' ' ' 
 Crispus led to serious consequences, though more 
 than a year elapsed before they were felt. The loss 
 of their leader, his baptism, and the establishment 
 of a rival place of worship so near to the synagogue, 
 exasperated the Jews, but they were held in check 
 VOL. II. L 
 
1 62 S. Paul at Corinth. [Chap. xvm. 
 
 through fear of the civil authority. At length a 
 change of government and the appointment of 
 Gallio encouraged them to attack the Apostle, 
 whom they dragged before the Proconsul's Tribunal. 
 Now, I think that the conduct of Gallio has been 
 misunderstood, and his name unfairly aspersed. 
 There is little to justify the common belief that he 
 betrayed his post as the representative of judicial 
 authority through careless indifference and a mere 
 worldly policy of non-interference. 
 
 Two things are recorded of him in this history ; 
 the first, that he refused to sanction a trial which 
 had been formally claimed; and the second, that 
 he allowed the mob to take the law into their own 
 hands, and punish a man who had given them 
 offence. Both are true, but in the one case his 
 action may be legally vindicated, in the other 
 morally. 
 
 The indictment brought by the Jews against 
 S. Paul was that he preached doctrines contrary 
 to the Law of Moses. Now, though it is quite 
 true that the Roman Government were bound by 
 the principles of the nation to tolerate the Jewish 
 religion,^ there was no legal obligation whatever to 
 protect, still less to befriend or promote it. The 
 
 1 Judaism was a licita religio, i.e. licensed by the State. 
 
V. 1-22.] S. Pmtl at Corinth. 1 6 
 
 o 
 
 Proconsul had received uo commission to adjust the 
 religious differences of the people who came under 
 his jurisdiction ; it was his duty, he said, to adjudi- 
 cate, if his services were invoked, either to redress 
 a private injury or punish a moral crime ; ^ but the 
 charges made by the Jews convinced him that the 
 case was not one within the scope and cognisance 
 of his tribunal, and he stopped the proceedings. 
 
 It would seem that, when Gallio ordered his 
 lictors to clear the Court, the Jews became trouble- 
 some, and in the confusion the mob,^ whose natural 
 animosity had, doubtless, been aggravated by their 
 malicious attack upon an innocent man, seized the 
 opportunity of showing what they thought of their 
 conduct. They laid hold of their ruler and chief, 
 and handled him roughly. It does not seem that 
 there is any real cause for censure, that Gallio did 
 not interfere ; we do not know whether matters 
 proceeded to extremities ; all that S. Luke says is, 
 
 1 The distinction is variously made — a civil or criminal action. 
 ddiKr]fj.a is lit. "a deliberate wrong done to any one," — while 
 pci8iovpy7]/j.a is " a reckless crime." 
 
 2 The best Mss. read "all," as some think, implying that 
 they were Jews, and that they punished Sosthenes because they 
 thought he had not supported the charge adequately ; but it is 
 better to take it of the mass of people present. A few mss. add 
 "the Greeks." The Jews were naturally hated by the Eomans, 
 as is evidenced by constant reference in contemporary writers. 
 
1 64 S. Paul at Corinth. [Chap. xvm. 
 
 that " they began to strike him." ^ If we had seen 
 what Gallic had seen of Jewish malignity, we should 
 probably have agreed with him that a little casti- 
 gation of this rough and ready kind would read the 
 Jews a wholesome lesson for their future conduct. 
 No more vexatious charges were made against S. 
 Paul ; and in gratitude for his deliverance he took 
 upon himself a Nazarite vow. This act must not 
 
 Acts. xxi. 23. be misunderstood ; both here and on a later occa- 
 sion he did not hesitate to do what he would have 
 done before he became a Christian, because it 
 involved nothing inconsistent with his new pro- 
 fession, and was a public acknowledgment of his 
 
 Joseph. sense of the signal goodness of God in bringing him 
 
 Wars, 
 
 ii. XV. I. out of danger. 
 
 yi"r^i8. After remaining in Corinth about a month, he 
 
 started homewards, staying at Cenchrea, the eastern 
 port of the city, to polP his hair, in accordance 
 with the requirements of his vow. The completion 
 of the vow always took place in Jerusalem ; but 
 when it had been made in a foreign land, the hair 
 was cut at the expiration of the thirty days, and 
 
 1 'irviTTov — it is the imperfect teuse. 
 
 2 The application of this to Aquila, though supported by some 
 commentators, is very forced, and there is no reason to be found 
 why S. Luke should mention it. KeipaaOai differs from ^vpeiaOai, 
 shave, which belongs to the final act at Jerusalem. 
 
V. 1-22.] S. Paul at Corinth. 165 
 
 kept to be burnt in the Temple at such time as the 
 Nazarite was able to go up. 
 
 From Cenchrea he sailed to Ephesus, a town 
 which he had been debarred from visiting on his 
 outward journey, and which now, to his disappoint- 
 ment, he could only see in passing. His stay was, 
 apparently, only Avhile the ship was discharging its 
 cargo. A necessity was laid upon him to be at 
 Jerusalem, not only to complete his vow, but to be 
 in time for the Feast,^ when a "great door and 
 effectual " would be opened unto him to preach to 
 his countrymen. From Jerusalem he "went down 
 to Antioch." Now, what were the chief results of 
 this his second missionary journey % For himself, 
 the unspeakable joy and satisfaction of having 
 enjoyed opportunities such as he could never have 
 looked for in his most sanguine expectations, of 
 preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ to men 
 of every condition of life, from the Lycaonian 
 peasant to the Athenian philosopher. He had, 
 moreover, made or cemented many friendships — 
 for most people an object of travel second only to 
 that of increasing knowledge ; and in the Apostles' 
 
 1 Sailing began at the beginning of March, and Passover was 
 March 22 in a.d. 53, so it may have been this and not Pentecost, 
 as is more commonly supposed. 
 
1 66 S. Paul at Corinth. [Chap. xvm. 
 
 case, to have bound to himself S. Luke^ and 
 Timothy, and Aquila and Priscilla, by the closest 
 ties, was, we know, a more than ordinary gain. As 
 their names will always be associated with the 
 second mission, so also will be the churches which 
 he founded in Philippi, Thessalonica, and Corinth. 
 The Letters that he wrote to them were stamped 
 with the seal of inspiration, and have been read and 
 re-read to the edification and comfort of the Catholic 
 Church all through her history. 
 
 In the midst, however, of so much to cheer him 
 in the retrospect, his visit to Athens must have left 
 disappointing memories. It was followed by no 
 such immediate results as his efforts would have 
 seemed to justify, and his after-silence ^ creates at 
 least a suspicion that he regarded it as a failure. 
 We, who are able to see farther than he was per- 
 mitted to do, can recognise in his work there the 
 truth of the proverb that the bread which is cast 
 upon the waters is often found after many days. 
 S. Paul's teaching was a potent factor in the final 
 overthrow of Paganism in the seat of its highest 
 
 1 In the opening chapter I have suggested that they may have 
 been known to each other earlier ; but from this time they became 
 fast friends. 
 
 2 He only once mentions even the name of the place. 1 Thess. 
 iii. 1. 
 
V. 1-22.] S. Paul at Corinth. 167 
 
 culture and greatest attraction. Yet further, the 
 speech which he delivered on Mars' Hill will remain 
 as " a possession for ever," not only for the guid- 
 ance of those who carry the Gospel to heathen 
 nations, but for the confirmation of all who cling, 
 despite the " opposition of science, falsely so called," 
 to the belief that God not only created us, but that 
 in Him we continue to " live and move and have 
 our beins:." 
 
XL VII. 
 
 ^. ^aul'0 (Entcp upon l)igi i:i)irti iForeign 
 9^i0gfiom 
 
 The Acts xviii. 23 — xix. 20. 
 
 23. And after he had spent some 
 time there, he departed, and went 
 over a// the country ofGalatia and 
 Phrjfgia in order, strengthening all 
 the disciples. 24. And a certain 
 Jew named Apollos, born at Alex- 
 andria, an eloquent man, a«if mighty 
 in the scriptures, came to Ephesus. 
 
 25. This man was instructed in the 
 way of the Lord ; and being fervent 
 in the spirit, he spake and taught 
 diligently the things of the Lord, 
 knowing only the baptism of John. 
 
 26. And he began to speak boldly in 
 the synagogue : whom when Aquila 
 and Priscilla had heard, they took 
 him unto them, and expounded unto 
 him the way of God more perfectly. 
 
 27. And when he was disposed to 
 pass into Achaia, the brethren wrote, 
 exhorting the disciples to receive 
 him : who, when he was come, 
 helped them much which had 
 believed through grace : 28. for he 
 mightily convinced the Jews, and 
 that publickly, showing by the 
 scriptures that Jesus was Christ. 
 
 1C8 
 
 XIX. I. And it came to pass, 
 that, while Apollos was at Corinth, 
 Paul having passed through the 
 upper coasts came to Ephesus : and 
 finding certain disciples, 2. he said 
 unto them. Have ye received the 
 Holy Ghost since ye believed ? And 
 they said unto him. We have not so 
 much as heard whether there be any 
 Holy Ghost. 3. And he said unto 
 them. Unto what then were ye 
 baptized? And they said, Unto 
 John's baptism. 4. Then said Paul, 
 John verily baptized with the bap- 
 tism of repentance, saying unto the 
 people, that they should believe on 
 Him Which should come after him, 
 that is, on Christ Jesus. 5. When 
 they heard this, they were baptized in 
 the Name of the Lord Jesus. 6. And 
 when Paul had laid his hands upon 
 them, the Holy Ghost came on them ; 
 and they spake with tongues and 
 prophesied. 7. And all the men 
 were about twelve. 8. And he went 
 into the synagogue, and spake 
 boldly for the space of three months. 
 
ch. xviii. 23— XIX. 20.] Third Mission. 
 
 169 
 
 disputing and persuading the things 
 concerning the kingdom of God. 
 9. But when divers were hardened, 
 and believed not, but spake evil of 
 that way before the multitude, he 
 departed from them, and separated 
 the disciples, disputing daily in the 
 school of one Tyrannus. 10. And 
 this continued by the space of two 
 years ; so that all they which dwelt 
 in Asia heard the word of the Lord 
 Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. 11. 
 And God wrought special miracles 
 by the hands of Paul : 12. so that 
 from his body were brought unto 
 the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, 
 and the diseases departed from them 
 and the evil spirits went out of them. 
 13. Then certain of the vagabond 
 Jews, exorcists, took upon them to 
 call over them which had evil 
 spirits the Name of the Lord Jesus, 
 saying. We adjure you by Jesus 
 Whom Paul preacheth. 14. And 
 
 there were seven sons of one Sceva, 
 a Jew, and chief of the priests, 
 which did so. 13. And the evil 
 spirit answered and said, Jesus I 
 know, and Paul I know ; but who 
 are ye? 16. And the man in whom 
 the evil spirit was leaped on them, 
 and overcame them, and prevailed 
 against them, so that they fled out 
 of the house naked and wounded. 
 17. And this was known to all the 
 Jews and Greeks also dwelling at 
 Ephesus ; and fear fell on them all, 
 and the Name of the Lord Jesus was 
 magnified. 18. And many that 
 believed came, and confessed, and 
 showed their deeds. 19. Many of 
 them also which used curious arts 
 brought their books together, and 
 burned them before all men : and 
 they counted the price of them, and 
 found it fifty thousand pieces of 
 silver. 20. So mightily grew the 
 Word of God and prevailed. 
 
 S. Paul on the return from his second mission- 
 ary journey had left his friends and companions 
 in trade, Aquila and Priscilla, at Ephesus, and 
 there, as at Corinth, they carried on the double 
 occupation of working and teaching. Shortly after 
 their arrival they went to hear a great preacher, 
 Apollos by name, who had created no little stir by 
 his remarkable eloquence and enthusiasm. His 
 sermons were full of the Life and deeds of our 
 Blessed Lord, but the only baptism which he had 
 received or heard of was that of John. 
 
 Aquila and Priscilla invited him to their house, 
 
170 S. Pmir s Entry upon his [Chap. xvm. 
 
 and filled up what was wanting, explaining how 
 Jesus Christ had not only become Incarnate, but 
 had left the Sacraments to perpetuate His presence 
 among men through the agency of His Holy Spirit. 
 
 S. Paul remained only a short time at Antioch ; 
 he was so completely carried away with a passion for 
 
 A.u. 54. Missionary enterprise that he determined to make 
 a third journey to distant parts without delay. S. 
 Luke does not often repeat himself, and so he 
 passes over all the earlier stages — Tarsus, the Syrian 
 and Cilician Gates, the Churches of Lycaonia and 
 Galatia,^ which he had previously visited — and brings 
 him rapidly to Ephesus, 
 
 AVe can imagine the Apostle's delight in the 
 realisation of hopes so long deferred, that he could 
 at last settle down in a city of so much promise. 
 It was the starting-point of many great lines of 
 communication with the East ; and in the immediate 
 neighbourhood there was a cluster of thriving 
 towns, all of which it would be easy for him to 
 
 Rev. ii. iii. rcach and influence, and the " Seven Churches of 
 Asia," witness to the success of his labours.^ 
 
 1 "The Upper coasts." It is difiBcult to see how he could have 
 gone into Northern Galatia, especially as he was eager to reach 
 Ephesus. Ramsay argues strongly for the hill-route which was 
 "higher" and shorter, by the Lake Anava and Seiblia, direct to 
 the coast. — Ch. and Rom. Emp., Ch. v. 
 
 2 They were all situated within a radius of 100 miles. 
 
23— XIX. 20.] Third Foreign Mission. 1 7 1 
 
 The opening of his work at Ephesus is marked 
 by a very singular episode ; he found there a small 
 "ascetic community" of men, who, like Apollos, 
 had received only the baptism of John. They 
 were living a life of austerity and penitence, 
 strangers to the "joy and peace of the Holy Ghost " ; 
 but when the Apostle baptized and laid his hands 
 upon them, they received such a large measure of 
 spiritual gifts that "they spake with tongues and 
 prophesied." 
 
 At first S. Paul confined himself to the Syna- 
 gogue, but after three months, finding the Jews still 
 hardened, he " turned to the Gentiles," and hired as a 
 place of teaching and worship the lecture-room of one 
 Tyrannus.^ During a ministry of two years he was 
 brought face to face with the magic and superstition 
 of Asia, which was all concentrated in Ephesus ; and 
 as a counterpoise to its influence, God enabled him 
 to work miracles of no common order. Even his 
 clothes, like the hem of our Lord's garment, Avere s. Mark 
 invested with supernatural virtue, and, whenever "'' ^^' 
 the people had faith to be healed, they were made 
 
 1 It has been suggested with some show of probability that he 
 was a physician, a friend of S. Luke, and that it was from him 
 that the Evangelist received the account of the scenes at Ephesus. 
 A heathen philosopher would hesitate to have his school" used for 
 doctrine to which he was adverse. 
 
172 5". Paul's Entry tipon his [chap. xvm. 
 
 the medium by which a cure was wrought or reason 
 restored. 
 
 Now there were in the place seven sons of 
 an apostate priest/ who made their living by the 
 practice of magic and incantation. On the image 
 of Diana,^ which was regarded with such superstition 
 that the people believed it had come direct from 
 heaven, there were many unintelligible devices or 
 symbols, which gave rise to the famous *' Ephesian 
 letters," and were widely used as charms^ or spells, 
 especially over those Avho were possessed by evil 
 spirits. The study of these created a large amount 
 of mystic literature, treatises, and manuals of a 
 cabbalistic nature for the guidance of those who 
 practised " the black art." 
 
 On one occasion the sons of Sceva, struck no 
 doubt by the power of the Apostolic invocations, 
 combined with their wonted formula of exorcism 
 
 1 High priest probably here for one of the heads of the Courses. 
 Codex Beza gives the reading as priest. Perhaps they went about 
 in a body, as the number seven was regarded superstitiously. 
 
 2 She was not represented in the familiar form of a huntress but 
 rather as an Egyptian idol, the crown, cincture, and feet being 
 covered with hieroglyphics. Cf. Coins ofEphcsus, Akerman, 49. 
 
 3 Philostratus, in his Life of the famous Apollonius of Tyana, 
 gives many illustrations of their use. The "letters" were inter- 
 preted by Androcydes the Pythagorean, and Clem. Alex, gives 
 his interpretations in the Stromafa, v. viii. (not 45, as stated in the 
 Speaker's Com.). 
 
23— XIX. 20.] Third Foreign Mission. 173 
 
 the Name of Jesus ; but there was no response. 
 The utterance, which was so potent on the lips of 
 S. Paul, fell powerless from the lips of men who in 
 heart blasphemed it. Indeed, so far from being 
 cast out, the evil spirits were roused to unwonted 
 energy, and the possessed man, putting forth that 
 superhuman strength which accompanies possession, s. Mark 
 attacked the pretenders^ with such violence that 
 they " fled out of the house naked and wounded," 
 
 The effect of this signal defeat of the imposture 
 was so great that not only the immediate actors in 
 the scene but a crowd of magicians out of the city 
 and neighbourhood were converted, and, in the 
 language of the historian, " came and confessed, and 
 showed their deeds ; many of them also which used 
 curious^ arts brought their books together, and 
 burned them before all men ; and they counted the 
 price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of 
 silver," 3 
 
 If the estimate seems to us an exaggerated one 
 
 1 Instead of a.vr(i3v most of the old Mss, read afKporipwv, imply- 
 ing that only two of the seven took part in the exorcism, 
 
 2 Treplepyos is one who busies himself in others' concerns : a 
 meddler or busy-body. It was used especially of one who pries 
 into things beyond the sphere of human knowledge — a magician. 
 
 3 The coin was the drachma or denarius, not shekel ; its value 
 at this time was between eight and nine pence — thus making a 
 total of about £1770. 
 
1 74 S. Pau/'s Entiy upon his [Chap. xvin. 
 
 we must not forget that circumstances were very 
 different eighteen centuries ago from what they are 
 now; no literary work could be multiplied then 
 without very considerable skill and labour. The 
 books were manuscripts — written, we may be sure, 
 as anything connected with the exercise of a super- 
 natural power would be, with immense care ; it is, 
 moreover, extremely probable, that with a certain 
 class of people they would have a fictitious value far 
 beyond that of their intrinsic worth. 
 
 Modern history has furnished a remarkable 
 parallel to the scene. When Savonarola with his 
 burning zeal and eloquence had stirred the worldly- 
 minded Florentines to the very depths of their being, 
 and made them realise the awful value of heaven 
 and heavenly things, he bade them give proof of the 
 strength of their convictions, as the Ephesian 
 magicians had done ; and at once men and women, 
 artists and musicians, rushed with their pictures 
 and ornaments, and costly dresses, and burnt them 
 in one great conflagration in the Piazza. 
 
 Now there can be little doubt that in both cases 
 the primary object of the destruction was to make 
 a public recantation ; it was an open acknowledg- 
 ment, alike in Ephesus and Florence, that those 
 who had surrounded themselves with such things of 
 
23-xix. 20.] Third Foreign Mission. 175 
 
 earthly beauty, or who had collected mystical 
 writings and books of magic, had made an altogether 
 wrong and mistaken use of them ; but we can 
 hardly doubt, at the same time, that they were bent 
 on destroying every trace of the arts and works 
 by which they had been ensnared. 
 ■ The temptation of the Ephesians to recant with- 
 out destroying the valuable books must have been 
 very strong. They might so easily have sold them, 
 and in a wealthy place like Ephesus the sale would 
 have realised an enormous sum \ and if it should be 
 suggested that they would have a baneful influence 
 on the purchasers, the answer was obvious : they 
 who were initiated into their secrets, the sole inter- 
 preters of their mysteries, had renounced the practice, 
 and consequently no harm could possibly be done. 
 But they determined to run no risks, and, though 
 it cost them wellnigh two thousand pounds, they 
 threw them bodily into the flames. It has been 
 well said that they received the due reward of their 
 sacrifice, for when " Ephesus burnt its wicked works, Bengei, 
 it became in turn a very storehouse for sacred [?i"oco°" 
 books." There is one Letter, distinguished from all 
 the others which S. Paul wrote in its mode of deal- 
 ing with Divine mysteries; saving perhaps a few 
 pages of S. John's Gospel, it is the grandest out- 
 
I ']6 Third Mission. [Ch. xvm. 23— xix.20. 
 
 pouring of heavenly wisdom by the Holy Spirit 
 upon the children of men. And to whom was it 
 addressed % To the Ephesian converts. It was upon 
 men who had renounced their pretended power to 
 penetrate the secrets of the other world that the full 
 light of eternal truth was so richly bestowed. If 
 what they did and what befell them is recorded for 
 our admonition, then, whatever we forego for God, 
 we shall gain in the end, for " there is no man that 
 s. Matt. hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or 
 sl^Luke children, for the Kingdom of God's sake, who shall 
 not receive manifold more in this present time, and 
 in the world to come life everlasting." 
 
 XVlll 
 
XLVIII. 
 
 €|)E tumult at Cplje^u^. 
 
 The Acts xix. 21-41. 
 
 21. After these things were ended, 
 Paul purposed in the spirit, when he 
 had passed through Macedonia and 
 Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, 
 After I have been there, I must also 
 see Rome. 22. So he sent into 
 Macedonia two of them that minis- 
 tered unto him, Timotheus and Eras- 
 tus ; but he himself stayed in Asia 
 for a season. 23. And the same 
 time there arose no small stir about 
 that way. 24. For a certain man 
 named Demetrius, a silversmith, 
 which made silver shrines for Diana, 
 brought no small gain unto the 
 craftsmen ; 25. whom he called to- 
 gether with the workmen of like 
 occupation, and said. Sirs, ye know 
 that by this craft we have our wealth. 
 26. Moreover ye see and hear, that 
 not alone at Ephesus, but almost 
 throughout all Asia, this Paul hath 
 persuaded and turned away much 
 people, saying that they be no gods, 
 which are made with hands : 27. so 
 that not only this our craft is in 
 danger to be set at nought ; bvit also 
 that the temple of the great goddess 
 Diana should be despised, and her 
 magnificence should be destroyed, 
 
 VOL. II, 
 
 whom all Asia and the world wor- 
 shippeth. 28. And when they heard 
 these sayings, they were full of 
 wrath, and cried out, saying. Great 
 is Diana of the Ephesians. 29. And 
 the whole city was filled with confu- 
 sion : and having caught Gaius and 
 Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, 
 Paul's companions in travel, they 
 rushed with one accord into the 
 theatre. 30. And when Paul would 
 have entered in unto the people, the 
 disciples suffered him not. 31. And 
 certain of the chief of Asia, which 
 were his friends, sent unto him, de- 
 siring him that he would not adven- 
 ture himself into the theatre. 32. 
 Some therefore cried one thing, 
 and some another : for the assembly 
 was confused ; and the more part 
 knew not wherefore they were come 
 together. 33. And they drew Alex- 
 ander out of the multitude, the Jews 
 putting him forward. And Alex- 
 ander beckoned with the hand, and 
 would have made his defence unto 
 the people. 34. But when they 
 knew that he was a Jew, all with 
 one voice about the space of two 
 hours cried out, Great is Diana of 
 
 M 
 
lyS The Tumult at Ephesiis. [Chap. xix. 
 
 the Ephesians. 35. And when the Wherefore if Demetrius, and the 
 
 townclerk had appeased the people, craftsmen which are with him, have 
 
 he said, Ye men of Ephesus, what a matter against any man, the law 
 
 man is there that knoweth not how is open, and there are deputies : let 
 
 that the city of the Ephesians is a them implead one another. 39. But 
 
 worshipper of the great goddess if ye inquire any thing concerning 
 
 Diana, and of the image which fell other matters, it shall be determined 
 
 down from Jupiter ? 36. Seeing then in a lawful assembly. 40. For we 
 
 that these things cannot be spoken are in danger to be called in question 
 
 against, ye ought to be quiet, and to for this day's uproar, there being no 
 
 do nothing rashly. 37. For ye have cause whereby we may give an ac- 
 
 brought hither these men, which are count of this concourse. 41. And 
 
 neither robbers of churches, nor yet when he had thus spoken, he dis- 
 
 blasphemers of your goddess. 38. missed the assembly. 
 
 In the British Museum, among its unrivalled 
 works of art and interest, may be seen one of the 
 first-recovered relics of a very splendid building of 
 the Ancient World. ^ It is the drum of a marble 
 column, one of a hundred, twenty-seven of which 
 were presented by as many kings or princes, to 
 form the peristyle of Diana's Temple at Ephesus. 
 If we may measure the beauty of the whole by the 
 exquisite workmanship of a part, the judgment of 
 antiquity was not much in fault when it said that 
 the sun saw nothing more beautiful in its course. 
 
 The Ephesians believed that through the preach- 
 ing of S. Paul their Temple was in danger, and the 
 anticipation of its overthrow filled them with the 
 
 1 The site of the Temple was quite unknown till Mr. Wood 
 discovered it some twenty years ago. The record of his labours. 
 Discoveries at Ephesus, by J. T. Wood, F.S.A., full of illustra- 
 tions, was published in 1877, 
 
V. 21-41.] The Tumult at Ep he sus. 179 
 
 utmost fear and confusion. It was not unnatural, 
 for they were proud of it beyond description, and 
 they venerated deeply the goddess to whom it was 
 built, and they also lived by it. Their pride in 
 " the glory of Asia " was such that when Alexander Strabo 
 offered all the spoils of a campaign if only his 
 name might be inscribed upon its walls, they at 
 once refused. Viewed on the side of its architectural 
 splendour, and the wealth of enrichment in sculpture 
 and painting, the works of Praxiteles and Phidias 
 and Apelles, as well as for the almost unparalleled 
 stores of jewels and silver and gold that were laid 
 up within its treasuries, there was nothing to com- 
 pare with it, and it was universally recognised as by 
 no means the least of the seven wonders of the 
 world. Anything, therefore, which detracted from 
 its greatness would touch at once the national pride 
 of the inhabitants, and be certain to arouse most 
 violent opposition. 
 
 But they were jealous for it, not only as a thing 
 of unspeakable beauty; they honoured it above 
 everything as the shrine of one whom not only all 
 Asia, but the world worshipped. It was true that 
 in itself the image of Diana, which it contained, had 
 nothing to kindle the enthusiasm of the worshipper ; 
 it was almost repulsive in the coarseness of the de- 
 
1 80 The Tumtdt at Ephesus. [Chap. xix. 
 
 sign, and most rude in workmanship — "a figure 
 swathed like a mummy, and covered with monstrous 
 breasts " — but its origin was prehistoric, so impos- 
 sible to trace that the people had learnt to believe 
 that, like the statue of Minerva at Athens, or of 
 Venus at Paphos, it was made in heaven and had 
 fallen from the sky. 
 
 Yet, further, the Temple had made Ephesus the 
 metropolis of superstition, and besides the multitude 
 of priests and priestesses and ministers of every de- 
 scription who waited at the altar, a great trade had 
 grown up in the city to meet the needs of the 
 countless pilgrims who flocked to visit it. The 
 very livelihood, then, of the inhabitants was im- 
 perilled. 
 
 S. Paul was on the eve of departing from Ephesus 
 when the long-suppressed murmurs and indignation 
 s. John of the city broke out in open rebellion at his teach- 
 Acts^x.2; ing: "There arose," S. Luke says, "no small stir 
 concerning the Way." (R.V.) One of the leading 
 manufacturers, Demetrius by name, who made 
 models of the Temple and images of Diana, in silver 
 and other metals, for the pilgrims to carry away as 
 memorials of their visit, and struck medallions, 
 which they wore as amulets, called together the 
 different guilds of artisans, in which history tells us 
 
 XXIV. 22. 
 
V. 21-41.] The Tztmult at Ephestis. 183 
 
 Ephesus abounded, as well as the small shopkeepers 
 by whom their works were sold, and made a most 
 inflammatory speech upon the impending danger. 
 Like all such agitators, he appealed in the first 
 instance to the self-interest of his audience. It has 
 been often said, even the hint at pecuniary loss of a 
 serious nature will sometimes make a reasonable 
 man wild with excitement. Here it filled a vast 
 multitude with uncontrollable frenzy. Not only at 
 Ephesus was the expedient tried, but again and 
 again in the earliest age, and with no little success ; 
 for there was no comparison between the material 
 advantages that idol-worship, with all its pomp and 
 circumstance, and Christianity, in its primitive 
 simplicity, had to off'er to their respective adherents. 
 Demetrius was true to the instincts of a fallen 
 nature when he based his appeal upon personal gain 
 or loss ; and only when he had carried the people 
 with him did he proceed to speak of what was 
 right. Their first consideration was their means of 
 subsistence; it was only a secondary matter, whether 
 those means were just and lawful. In his eyes they 
 undoubtedly were so, but he had not sufiicient 
 courage to tell them first, that the honour of their 
 goddess was at stake, and that it was their bounden 
 duty to rise up in her defence ; he would run no 
 
1 84 The Tumult at Ephesus. [Chap. xix. 
 
 risk of failure, and so he began his speech with the 
 cry, " By this craft we have our wealth," and this 
 " our craft is in danger to be set at nought." His 
 appeal had the desired effect. They ran through 
 the streets crying, in a tumult of excitement, " Great 
 is Diana of the Ephesians," and the shout was 
 caught up by the crowd, so that "the whole city 
 was filled with confusion." 
 
 The scene was often repeated in the early ages of 
 Christianity — a Pagan Festival the occasion for an 
 Boeckh, outbreak of persecution.^ It was the month of April 
 inscrip. or Artemision,^ as it was called, and it had been 
 decreed by the Ephesians that it should be given up 
 entirely to the feast of the goddess ; the people 
 poured in from the surrounding towns, and even 
 from the more distant parts of Asia. Every kind of 
 attraction was provided, sacred and secular ; in the 
 Temple there were gorgeous services and countless 
 sacrifices ; in the theatre, often spoken of as one of 
 the largest in the world,^ scenic representations, 
 
 1 e.g. at Smyrna, and at "Vienna and Lyons, in the second 
 century. 
 
 2 Most probably it extended from the end of March to the end of 
 April, though Lewis, Conybeare and Howson identify it with 
 May. Artemis was another name of Diana, and is used in the 
 Greek. 
 
 3 It has even been pronounced capable of holding more than 
 50.000 people, but Wood places the number as little more than 
 half. 
 
 2954- 
 
V. 21-41.] The Tumult at Ep he stts. 185 
 
 athletic exhibitions, gladiatorial combats, and, the 
 most popular of all, the brutalising spectacle of men, 
 slaves and criminals, fighting with wild beasts, ' Cor. 
 
 XV. 32. 
 
 The whole population was roused to a pitch of 
 excitement and fanaticism by the prolonged revelry, 
 so that when once the spark was applied, the flames 
 spread with rapidity. The company of artisans 
 made for S, Paul's lodging, but, unable to find him, 
 they secured two of his companions. Gains and 
 Aristarchus, and hurried them to the theatre. The 
 Apostle heard of it, and hoping to be able to save his 
 friends, was preparing to follow, when his disciples 
 stopped him ; and the Asiarchs,^ the stewards of the 
 Festivities, " the chief of Asia," not converted, it is Euseb. Hist. 
 
 Eccl. iv. 15. 
 
 true, to the Faith which he professed, but filled with 
 admiration from what they had seen of his life, even 
 sent a special messenger to dissuade him from his 
 purpose. It may be, too, though we are not here 
 told it, that this was the occasion when Aquila and 
 Priscilla " laid down their necks " to save his life. Rom. xvi. 4. 
 
 The scene in the theatre baffles description : 
 " some cried one thing, some another," and at last, 
 in the midst of the confusion, the Jews, who found 
 
 1 Every important city in Asia appointed one delegate, and the 
 whole body selected ten to hold office for the year. They provided 
 large sxims of money for the games, and were therefore always 
 chosen from the rich. They were not unlike the Roman .^diles. 
 
1 86 The Tunndt at Ephesus. [Chap. xix. 
 
 themselves confounded with the Christians, and 
 fearing the consequences, put forward one of their 
 number, Alexander the coppersmith,^ and a popular 
 sjDeaker, to clear them of all complicity. But the 
 people refused to hear him, seeing in his features 
 unmistakable evidence of his nationality. Their 
 inborn hatred of the Jewish race burst out, and they 
 drowned his voice with the excited shout, " Great 
 is Diana of the Ephesians ! " For two whole hours 
 there was no cessation ; at last, when nature was 
 exhausted, a lull came, and the chief magistrate, the 
 town-clerk, or recorder,^ who was responsible for 
 order, intervened to pacify the crowd. His speech 
 is one of singular tact, though not strictly ingenuous. 
 He appealed first to their pride : the whole world 
 knows what a close relationship Ephesus bears to 
 Diana ; her worship is perfectly safe in the keeping 
 of the Ephesians ; it will require far more than the 
 preaching of a few strangers to imperil the position 
 of the goddess, which is rooted in the deepest re- 
 ligious instincts of the city, by the very title that 
 
 1 The identification with Alexander mentioned in 2 Tim. iv. 14 
 is not universally allowed, but seems most probable. Cf. Ewald's 
 Geschichte der Apost. Zeitalten, p. 484. 
 
 2 He had charge of the archives of the city, and also of the 
 treasures of the Temple. He was the most important officer after 
 the military authority. 
 
V. 21-41.] The Tuimdt at Ephesiis. 187 
 
 she claims, her sacristan and guardian.^ From this 
 he went on to prove that they had mistaken what 
 S. Paul and his companions had done. No one had 
 ever heard them blaspheme the goddess ; they had 
 not even mentioned her name. They may have 
 said that " they be no gods, which are made with 
 hands " ; that, however, does not affect Diana, for it 
 is known by all that no man made her image, but 
 that it was fashioned in heaven, and "fell down 
 from Jupiter." 
 
 It was literally true, and it served his purpose in 
 disarming hostility ; but though the Apostle, neither 
 here nor at Athens, the very city of idols, ever 
 denounced one of them by name, his whole preach- 
 ing was the inculcation of principles which struck 
 at the root of idolatry. The people, however, were 
 satisfied ; and when the Recorder went on to advise 
 the original agitators to bring the offenders to justice 
 in the legal way, either at the Public Assizes, or in 
 the lawful Assembly, and pointed out that a con- 
 tinuance of the uproar would certainly bring them 
 into serious trouble, as a violation of the Roman 
 laws, which punished the instigators of riot with Seneca, 
 death, the great crowd dispersed, and order was li;. s. 
 restored. 
 
 1 New/copos, lit. temple-sweeper. 
 
1 88 The Tuimdt at Ephesus. [Chap. xix. 
 
 Now it is impossible to pass over this episode 
 without dwelling upon the striking evidence which 
 the record of it furnishes of the historian's accuracy. 
 We have frequently noticed it before, but nowhere, 
 in so small a compass, are so many proofs of it to be 
 found : some of them all the more interesting because 
 they have only come to light at a time when his 
 credibility has been most called in question, 
 
 A few illustrations will suffice. The speech of 
 Demetrius has received remarkable confirmation 
 from inscriptions lately discovered in the ruins of 
 Wood's Ephesus ; one especially describes the dedication of 
 coi.6, p. 37. a large number of silver images of Diana, pointing 
 to the extent and the lucrative nature of the trade, 
 upon which the silversmith lays so much stress. 
 Further, his assertion that " all Asia " and " all the 
 world " worshipped Diana is borne out by the de- 
 scription of the Temple " as the common possession 
 of Asia," and by coins and inscriptions showing 
 that wherever the Asiatic merchants traded in Spain 
 and France and elsewhere, they cai'ried with them 
 •-. their native worship. 
 
 The " town-clerk," again, though neither in Greek 
 nor English significant of the chief magistracy, is 
 shown by numerous inscriptions to have held the 
 position here indicated, not only as the most im- 
 
V. 21-41.] The TtiTnult at Ephesus. 189 
 
 portant civil authority, but as associated with the 
 Temple. He is spoken of as custodian of the images wood's 
 of the goddess, and therefore qualified to assure the cor"p. It. 
 people, as he here does, that they had not been 
 sacrilegiously handled or robbed ^ by the Apostle. 
 
 Again, the peculiar title which the town-clerk 
 claims for Ephesus, as Neocwus, temple-warden, or ouhi, 114. 
 guardian, frequently occurs in the Ephesian tablets Numbm.' 
 and coins. ^""^"^- ^s- 
 
 Then, lastly, there is an expression, often cavilled 
 at by hostile critics, " there are deputies," literally 
 proconsuls, which in the light of later investigation 
 involves no difficulty. S. Luke speaks of them in 
 the plural number, though history records nowhere 
 else more than one holding office at once in the 
 same place. 
 
 It might be objected that this is the refinement 
 of criticism, for it would hardly be thought incon- 
 gruous, if we reminded an offender that " there are 
 Judges," although only one was ever known to sit 
 in Coui't at once. There are, however, reasons to 
 believe that it is a strictly accurate statement, and 
 that it testifies to wholly exceptional circumstances, xac. Ann. 
 Agrippina, the mother of Nero, had poisoned the Lewin's 
 proconsul Julian, by the hands of Celer and -^lius, ^^^"' ^""^^ 
 
 r ^ J ' Biscoe on the 
 
 1 " Robbers of churches," A.V., is an niifoi'tunate translation. '^'^'^' ■2^2-^. 
 
190 The Tumult at Ephesus. [Chap. xix. 
 
 who assumed and exercised a joint authority for 
 some time after his removal. The murder had 
 been perpetrated shortly before this riot at 
 Ephesus. 
 
 The moral of all this is easy to point. Be not 
 hasty in accepting conclusions where the authority 
 of Holy Scripture is at stake. Again and again 
 prophets and evangelists have been charged with 
 error, in consequence of apparent discrepancies, and 
 men's faith has been shaken ; and then, quite unex- 
 pectedly, an accidental discovery in history, archaeo- 
 logy, or topography, has cleared it all up. We 
 shall not, of course, have all difficulties removed in 
 this way, but they will not greatly perplex if we 
 are careful to recognise the true province of the 
 sacred writer. It is not to teach the mysteries of 
 science ; it is not, of necessity, to write with historic 
 accuracy; provided no argument or conclusion 
 depends upon it, he may accept what is commonly 
 believed. In the case, however, of S. Luke we have 
 a right to expect nothing but what is absolutely 
 correct, because he is the chosen historian of Christ's 
 Church at a most critical period, when every detail 
 is of momentous interest ; and it is a cause of no 
 little joy and satisfaction to receive, year by year, 
 renewed proofs that he was guided by the Holy 
 
V. 21-41.] The Ttimiilt at Ephesus. 1 9 1 
 
 Spirit "into all truth." With confidence, then, 
 may every faithful student of this Book say, in the 
 language of the Psalmist, " Lord, Thy word is Ps. cxix. 140. 
 tried to the uttermost, and Thy servant loveth 
 it." 
 
XLIX. 
 
 ^. Paul at ^toa0* 
 
 The Acts xx. 1-12. 
 
 1. And after the uproar was 
 ceased, Paul called unto /n'ju the 
 disciples, and embraced them, and 
 departed for to go into Macedonia. 
 
 2. And when he had gone over those 
 parts, and had given them much 
 exhortation, he came into Greece, 
 
 3. and there abode three months. 
 And when the Jews laid wait for 
 him, as he was about to sail into 
 Syria, he purposed to return through 
 Macedonia. 4. And there accom- 
 panied him into Asia Sopater of 
 Berea ; and of the Thessalonians, 
 Aristarchus and Secundus ; and 
 Galus of Derbe, and Timotheus ; 
 and of Asia, Tychicus and Trophi- 
 nius. 5. These going before tarried 
 for us at Troas. 6. And we sailed 
 away from Philippi after the days 
 of unleavened bread, and came unto 
 them to Troas in five days ; where 
 we abode seven days. 7. And upon 
 the first day of the week, when the 
 
 disciples came together to break 
 bread, Paul preached unto them, 
 ready to depart on the morrow ; 
 and continued his speech until mid- 
 night. 8. And there were many 
 lights in the upper chamber, where 
 they were gathered together. 9. 
 And there sat in a window a certain 
 young man named Eutychus, being 
 fallen into a deep sleep : and as Paul 
 was long preaching, he sunk down 
 with sleep, and fell down from the 
 third loft, and was taken up dead. 
 10. And Paul went down, and fell 
 on him, and embracing him said, 
 Trouble not yourselves ; for his life 
 is in him. 11. When he therefore 
 was come up again, and had broken 
 bread, and eaten, and talked a long 
 while, even till break of d.ay, so he 
 departed. 12. And they brought the 
 young man alive, and were not a 
 little comforted. 
 
 S. Paul left Ephesus shortly after the disturbance 
 among the silversmiths had subsided, but it is not 
 easy to follow his movements. The historian to 
 
 192 
 
ch. XX. I-I2.] S. Paul at Troas. 193 
 
 whom we owe so much was not with him, and we 
 can only gather details from what he says himself 
 of his journeys in the Epistles that were written 
 at this time. He made first for Macedonia, hoping 
 to meet with Titus on the way ; for he had urged 
 him to bring some report of the effect which his 
 letter had produced on the Corinthian Church. 
 But Titus did not come, and he was bitterly dis- 
 appointed. It would seem, too, that he was suffer- 
 ing from an attack of his special malady, so that 
 he despaired almost of his life. At Philippi he 
 was cheered by the companionship of S. Luke,^ 
 and the long-expected messenger from Corinth at 
 length arrived. His tidings were of a very mixed 
 nature, as may be seen from the second Epistle, 
 which he wrote at once and sent, intending to 
 follow slowly himself. His stay at Corinth lasted 
 three months, and then he determined to take ship 
 and sail to Antioch in Syria, but a conspiracy of 
 the Jews to seize him in the harbour led to a 
 change of plans ; and he went by land into Mace- 
 donia, where he fell in with a large number of 
 fellow-workers and friends. After keeping Easter 
 at Philippi, he embarked on a merchant vessel for 
 
 1 S. Luke had been labouring there ; he now joins S. Paul, as 
 we see from the change to "we " in verse 6. From this point he 
 is a constant companion. 
 
 VOL. IL N 
 
194 S. Paul at Troas. [Chap. xx. 
 
 Csesarea. It called at Troas, and during his 
 enforced stay of seven days an event occurred 
 which opens up some points of interest in connec- 
 tion with the early worship of the Church, espe- 
 cially relating to Sunday observance, the ordinance 
 of preaching, and the time of day for celebrating 
 the Eucharist. 
 
 The disciples came together " upon the first day 
 of the week." 
 
 The meeting-place was a large room on the third 
 story of a private dwelling-house. One event, 
 which happened whilst it was being held, has long 
 been impressed on our minds through the vivid 
 description of an eye-witness. If we pass over the 
 accident that befell Eutychus, it is only because 
 it is impossible to give to the reader any more 
 graphic realisation of what happened. Whether, 
 however, the young man was actually dead and 
 restored to life, or whether it was only a resuscita- 
 tion of suspended animation, is not clear. The 
 Apostle's declaration, " his life is in him " does not 
 contradict the historian's statement that " he was 
 taken up dead " ; for it was only uttered after 
 S. Paul had adopted means to restore him. On 
 the other hand, it may find its explanation in the 
 parallel announcement of our Lord, " Tlie damsel is 
 
V. I-I2.] S. P mil at Troas. 195 
 
 not dead, but sleepeth," though her life had really s. Mark 
 departed. In both cases the speaker knew that ^' ^^' 
 death would be only a temporary suspension of life. 
 
 Now this is the first direct mention of a religious 
 assembly being held on Sunday. There are indi- 
 cations before this, as, for instance, when the 
 Apostles met in the Upper Chamber, possibly also s. John 
 in S. Paul's advice to the Corinthians to lay by i con'xvi. 
 contributions on this day ; but here we have the 
 worship of the Church fully described. 
 
 " The first day of the week " received its original 
 consecration from the Resurrection, and it was 
 shortly afterwards hallowed also by the Descent 
 of the Holy Spirit. There is no written enactment 
 in Apostolic times for its dedication to the service 
 of God, or for its supersession of the Sabbath ; but 
 when we realise how the obligation of the latter, 
 with its countless restrictions, was wrought up into 
 the whole network of Jewish life, we cannot but 
 feel that the Apostles must have learnt the mind 
 of Christ upon the subject, when He spoke " of 
 the things pertaining to the kingdom of God." Acts i. 3. 
 Heathen converts would begin this new life at 
 once, in recognition of the sanctity of " the first 
 day " ; they had no historic associations to bind 
 them to " the seventh " ; but Jewish Christians, at 
 
196 S. Paul at Troas. [Chap. xx. 
 
 least for a time, kept both days holy, just as they 
 Acts ii. 46. observed Jewish worship side by side with Christian 
 till the Temple was destroyed. There was, how- 
 ever, a broad distinction between the spirit in 
 which the two days were kept; the rules for Sab- 
 bath observance were for the most part negative. 
 Cod. Justin, those for Sunday were positive. In lapse of time 
 CodTheod. the Spirit of prohibition crept in, and under the 
 viii. viu 1, 2. jj^pg^ia^i edicts restrictive enactments went far 
 Constant. towards assimilatins; the new to the old. 
 
 iv. 18. '=' 
 
 In the mode of observing the Lord's Day at 
 Troas we have a good illustration of the primitive 
 idea : it was a day of worship, and worship which 
 found its centre in the Holy Eucharist. So it con- 
 Ep. xcvi. tinned all through the early ages ; Pliny, in his famous 
 A.D. 100. letter to Trajan, bears witness to it. The Emperor 
 had set on foot a persecution of the Christians, and 
 orders were issued to the governors of the pro- 
 vinces to see that it was carried out. Pliny felt 
 difficulties in doing this in Bithynia, where the 
 Christians under his jurisdiction were leading 
 peaceable lives, and had evidently impressed him 
 by their moral character and goodness ; and before 
 taking any definite action he wished his master to 
 hear about them. This, he said, was all that his 
 informers could tell him : " The whole of their fault 
 
V. I-I2.] S. Paid at Troas. 197 
 
 lay in this, that they were wont to meet together 
 on a stated day, before it was light, and sing among 
 themselves alternately a hymn to Christ as God, 
 and to bind themselves by a Sacrament, not to the 
 commission of any wickedness, but not to be guilty 
 of theft or robbery or adultery, never to falsify their 
 word, not to deny a pledge committed to them when 
 called upon to return it. When these things were 
 performed it was their custom to separate, and then 
 to come together again to a meal, which they ate in 
 common without any disorder." This, however, 
 he added, they had discontinued since the publica- 
 tion of his edict, which, according to the Imperial 
 commands, prohibited assemblies. 
 
 Justin Martyr in the middle of the second cen- 
 tury describes in detail the mode of celebrating 
 it : — " On the day called Sunday all who live Apoi. i. Mi. 
 in cities and in the country gather together in 
 one place, and the memoirs of the Apostles^ 
 and the writings of the prophets are read as 
 long as time allows ; then when the reading has 
 ended, the president instructs orally, and exhorts 
 
 1 This doubtless means the Gospels, and the whole passage 
 points to the usage found afterwards in the Liturgy of S. James : 
 " Then the sacred oracles of the old covenant and of the prophets 
 are read consecutively, and the Incarnation of the Son of God," 
 i.e. the Gospels. 
 
1 98 S. Paul at Troas. [Chap. xx. 
 
 to the imitation of these good things. Then 
 we all rise together and pray, and when one prayer 
 is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, 
 and the president in like manner offers up prayer 
 and thanksgiving, according to his power,^ and 
 the people assent, saying Amen ; and there is a 
 distribution to each, and a partaking of that over 
 which thanks have been given, and to those who are 
 absent a portion is sent by the deacons." Again, 
 he says : " Sunday is the day on which we all hold 
 one common assembly, because it is the first day 
 on which God, having wrought a change in the 
 darkness and in matter, made the world; and 
 Jesus Christ our Saviour on the same day rose 
 from the dead." Even so all early notices are in 
 harmony with the idea that Sunday was emphati- 
 cally regarded as a day of Eucharistic joy. The 
 second point of interest is the association of 
 preaching with the celebration. In the Jewish 
 use it had been relegated to the non-sacrificial 
 worship of the Synagogue, such preaching as had 
 gone on in the Temple being wholly independent 
 of service or sacrifice. With the exception of 
 
 1 6'o-77 Si^fa/its a\)Tb^. It has been much disputed whether it 
 refers to his ability for extempore praying, or to his authority as 
 a priest. It is impossible to form a certain conclusion. 
 
V. I-I2.] S. Paul at Troas. 1 99 
 
 Rome/ most of the early Churches regarded it 
 as an integral part of the Eucharistic Office. 
 
 The third point' is the relationship of the Holy- 
 Communion to the primitive Love-Feast. Originally, 
 in imitation of the Last Supper, it was celebrated 
 during, or at the close of, a common meal ; but this 
 led to such a total disregard of its sanctity, that S. 
 Paul was compelled to admonish the Corinthians ^ Cor. xi. 23 
 by letter, and to promise to make some definite 
 arrangements when he came in person. We may 
 gather from this celebration at Troas, immediately 
 following his visit to Corinth, what these were, at 
 least in one important particular. He placed the 
 Holy Eucharist before, instead of after, the Love- 
 Feast; for we read that when "he was come up 
 again, and had broken bread, and eaten ... he 
 departed." In the original it is, " had broken the 
 bread " ; in the oldest Syriac Version it is, " had 
 broken the Eucharist,^ and had eaten," or rather 
 " had made the meal," that is the subsequent Agapse 
 or Love-Feast. It is interesting to find from history 
 that the entire " separation " soon followed ; and 
 when once the connection had been severed, the 
 practice became general of celebrating the Eucharist 
 at an early hour of the day. 
 
 1 It is said to have had no jjlace at Rome till the fifth century. 
 
 2 It is the same also in Acts ii. 46. Eucharist is not translated, 
 but treated as a title, and only written in Syriac letters. 
 
200 S. Paul at Troas. [ch. xx. 1-12. 
 
 In some places Evening Communions have been 
 introduced during this later generation. No one 
 can deny that it is a violation of the custom which 
 has obtained in the Church for eighteen centuries. 
 Apart from the ancient rule of fasting, the Canons 
 for which in the English Church have never been 
 repealed,^ there is grave cause for anxiety lest the 
 spirit of self-denial which the old practice fostered 
 should be suffered to yield to the self-indulgence of 
 modern times. We should try to realise that if it 
 does cost ease and comfort to rise early to receive 
 the Holy Mysteries, yet sacrifice is an essential 
 principle of the Service, for in it we off'er " our- 
 selves, our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, 
 holy, and lively sacrifice," and the more closely we 
 dissociate from it all idea of self-indulgence, the 
 greater good we shall gain. 
 
 1 e.g. the Canons of Edgar: "that no man take the Housel 
 after he hath broken his fast, excejit it be on account of extreme 
 sickness." Johnson, vol. i. p 419. "This Sacrament should be 
 received fasting. 3 Counc. of Carthage, can. 29. And so was 
 the practice of the universal Church, says S. Aug. Epist. 118, 
 which is authority enough (in things of this nature, namely, cir- 
 cumstances of time, etc.) to satisfie any that do not love con- 
 tention, 1 Cor. xi. 16." Bishop Sparrow, Rationale of the Common 
 Prayer, p. 395, Ed. 1668. 
 
L. 
 
 fe». ^mV0 mtivz00 to t|)e (EltiersJ at 
 
 The Acts xx. 13-35. 
 
 13. And we went before to ship, 
 and sailed unto Assos, there intend- 
 ing to take in Paul : for so had he 
 appointed, minding himself to go 
 afoot. 14. And when he met with 
 us at Assos, we took him in, and 
 came to Mitylene. 15. And we 
 sailed thence, and came the next 
 day over against Chios ; and the 
 next nVij/ we arrived at Samos, and 
 tarried at Trogyllium ; and the next 
 day we came to Miletus. 16. For 
 Paul had determined to sail by 
 Ephesus, because he would not 
 spend the time in Asia : for he 
 hasted, if it were possible for him, 
 to be at Jerusalem the day of Pente- 
 cost. 17. And from Miletus he 
 sent to Ephesus, and called the 
 elders of the church. 18. And 
 when they were come to him, he 
 said unto them. Ye know, from the 
 first day that I came into Asia, 
 after what manner I have been with 
 you at all seasons, 19. serving the 
 Lord with all humility of mind, and 
 with many tears, and temptations, 
 which befell me by the lying in wait 
 
 of the Jews : 20. and how I kept 
 back nothing that was profitable 
 jinto you, but have showed you, and 
 have taught you publickly, and from 
 house to house, 21. testifying both 
 to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, 
 repentance toward God, and faith 
 toward our Lord Jesus Christ. 22. 
 And now, behold, I go bound in the 
 spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing 
 the things that shall befall me 
 there : 23. save that the Holy 
 Ghost witnesseth in every city, say- 
 ing that bonds and afflictions abide 
 me. 24. But none of these things 
 move me, neither count I my life 
 dear unto myself, so that I might 
 finish my course with J05', and the 
 ministry, which I have received of 
 the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel 
 of the grace of God. 25. And now, 
 behold, I know that ye all, among 
 whom I have gone preaching the 
 kingdom of God, shall see my face 
 no more. 26. Wherefore I take you 
 to record this day, that I am pure 
 from the blood of all men. 27. For 
 I have not shunned to declare unto 
 201 
 
202 S. Paurs Addi^ess to [Chap. xx. 
 
 you all the counsel of God. 28. brethren, I commend you to God, 
 Take heed therefore unto your- and to the word of His grace, which 
 selves, and to all the flock, over the is able to build you up, and to give 
 which the Holy Ghost hath made you an inheritance among all them 
 you overseers, to feed the church of which are sanctified. 33. I have 
 God, which He hath purchased with coveted no man's silver, or gold, or 
 His own blood. 29. For I know apparel. 34. Yea, ye yourselves 
 this, that after my departing shall know, that these hands have mini- 
 grievous wolves enter in among you, stered unto my necessities, and to 
 not sparing the flock. 30. Also of them that were with me. 35. I 
 your own selves shall men arise, have showed you all things, how 
 speaking perverse things, to draw that so labouring ye ought to sup- 
 away disciples after them. 31. port the weak, and to remember the 
 Therefore watch, and remember, words of the Lord Jesus, how He 
 that by the space of three years I said. It is more blessed to give than 
 ceased not to warn every one night to receive, 
 and day with tears. 32. And now. 
 
 After a sojourn of seven days at Troas, S. Paul 
 determined to start on his journey to Jerusalem, 
 which he was most anxious to reach in time for 
 Pentecost. For some unrecorded reason he 
 separated himself from S. Luke and his other 
 companions, and decided to make the first stage, 
 about twenty miles, on foot and alone. It has been 
 conjectured that he had been spiritually exhausted, 
 and thought that he would thereby gain more 
 refreshment than was possible amidst the discom- 
 forts of a crowded ship, " Prayer and meditation 
 are necessary for maintaining the religious life even 
 of an Apostle. That Saviour to Whose service he 
 was devoted had often prayed in solitude on the 
 mountain, and crossed the brook Kedron to kneel 
 under the olives of Gethsemane. And strength and 
 
V. 13-35-] the Elders at Miletus. 203 
 
 peace were sought and obtained by the Apostle from 
 the Eedeemer as he pursued his lonely road that 
 Sunday afternoon in spring among the oak woods 
 of Ida." 1 
 
 The ship called in due time at Assos, having 
 taken S. Paul on board, and sailed for Miletus. The 
 proximity of that port to Ephesus, where he had 
 laboured so long, filled the Apostle with an intense 
 longing to see the elders of the Church ; and he 
 sent a messenger bidding them come with haste, 
 that he might speak with them once more. The 
 distance was little over thirty miles, and they 
 responded with alacrity to the invitation. The 
 address which he made to them was probably taken 
 down by S. Luke, who has recorded, if not the Rom. vH. 25. 
 
 1 . „ . . , xii. II, viii. 
 
 whole, yet the important part or it, in the very 16, xv. 14. 
 words that were used, for it abounds with Pauline Gai°iv.'^i4r 
 phraseology and characteristics both of thought ^- 3- 
 and expression.^ It has been sometimes criticised 
 for the stress which the Apostle lays upon his own 
 personal action and preaching ; but the very exigency 
 of circumstances necessitated it. Unjust charges 
 had been laid against him, and propagated to the 
 
 1 Conybeare and Howson, ii. 259. 
 
 2 "It is a treasure-house of words, idioms, and sentiments 
 peculiar to the Apostle himself." Cf. Alford, who gives many 
 illustrations in loco. 
 
204 ►S". PauVs Address to [Chap. xx. 
 
 injury of the Faith ; the Churches of Galatia and 
 Corinth had been seriously undermined by the 
 calumnies of his adversaries ; if Ephesus was to be 
 saved from this baneful influence, his teaching must 
 be vindicated. Whatever reports might reach them, 
 the sum and substance of his preaching in every 
 place was simply this : " repentance toward God and 
 faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." 
 
 From this he passed on to speak with sadness of 
 his approaching final separation from them ; he 
 knew not for certain; he had received no super- 
 natural revelation of the future himself, though 
 certain prophets had told him their fears, and he 
 felt oppressed with an overwhelming presentiment 
 of coming trouble. He had, however, nerved him- 
 self for the work. His last words to them, he 
 determined, should be a call to realise their minis- 
 terial responsibility, and to be ready to meet the 
 trials that awaited them both from without and 
 within. And so they parted amid circumstances 
 of almost tragic pathos. 
 
 There are two verses in the speech that deserve 
 fuller notice before we close ; the first is that which 
 witnesses to the Godhead of Jesus Christ : " Take 
 heed . . . to feed the Church of God, which He hath 
 purchased with His own blood." The genuineness 
 
V. 13-35] the Elders at Miletus. 205 
 
 of the text has been much disputed ; ^ but while it 
 may be difficult to decide upon external evidence, 
 which is as nearly as possible equally balanced, for 
 and against, the internal testimony is overwhelmingly 
 in favour of the Keceived reading. " The Church 
 of the Lord " which is the alternative, is a phrase i Cor. i. 2. 
 wholly unknown in Pauline language ; whereas *' the i xhess. 
 Church of God " recurs again and again. S. Paul "' \^'. 
 
 o o Gal. 1. 13. 
 
 having a strong conviction that in Jesus Christ coi. ii. 9. 
 " dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily," 
 emphasised his belief by using a theological figure, 
 under which the properties of the Human nature 
 in our Lord are transferred to the Divine.^ The 
 mode of speech became very common after the 
 Apostolic age, and the Fathers did not hesitate to 
 speak of " the Blood of God," or " the Passion of ig"'it- ad 
 
 Rom. 6. 
 
 God " ; though God is a Spirit and hath not flesh and Tertuii. ad 
 blood, and the Blessed Virgin was on the same concii" ^ 
 principle called " the Mother of God " ; for though ^p**^'- 
 she had borne oijly the Humanity, she was the 
 Mother of One Who was both God and Man. 
 
 1 In favour of d\i, God, we have J<, B, and a number of cursive 
 Mss. , the Syr. and Vulgate versions ; Ignatius and TertuUian also 
 support this indirectly. In favour of kv, Lord, A, C, D, a smaller 
 number of cursives, the Armen. and Copt, versions, and Irenaeus. 
 
 2 Called communiadio idiomatum. It expresses a result of the 
 Hypostatic Union of the two Natures in the One Person. It had 
 been sanctioned by Christ Himself in S. John iii. 13. 
 
2o6 ^S*. Patil's Address to [Chap. xx. 
 
 The other verse is more practical than doctrinal. 
 
 It contains one of the utterances of our Lord, which 
 
 has no place in the Gospel record. "It is more 
 
 blessed to give than to receive." S. John has 
 
 S.John assured us that the history of His deeds would 
 
 xxi. 25. 
 
 fill more pages than the world could contain ; it 
 would be no less true of the words which He spoke, 
 and yet how few comparatively have been pre- 
 served ! 1 We have often wondered how it was 
 that, though the Apostles must have cherished 
 many reminiscences of blessed converse with Him, 
 Who spake as man had never spoken before, yet 
 they found so small a place in their after preaching 
 that tradition has only recorded a very few. More- 
 over the greater part of these fail to inspire us with 
 confidence in their genuineness. The following, 
 which seem to bear on their face the Divine stamp, 
 are worthy of mention. " Show yourselves tried 
 money-changers."^ It finds a partial echo in S. 
 Paul's exhortation to the Thessajonians, to "prove 
 iThess.v. 21. all things, hold fast that which is good " \ and in the 
 Clementine Homilies it is more closely preserved : 
 "test My words as silver before money-changers."^ 
 
 1 Collections of them have been made by Bishop Westcott in 
 Appendix C, Introd. to the Study of the Gospels, by Bunsen, 
 Auger, and others. 
 
 2 ylveade Tpaire^iraL 56ki/j.0(.. Original in Johann. xix. 
 
 Tovs \6yovs fiov ws ap-yipiov eiri Tpawe^lTUv 8oKi./ji.dffai — iii. 61. 
 
V. 13-35- ] the Elders at Miletus. 207 
 
 Two other sayings express, only with greater 
 force than belongs to the Scriptural references, 
 the belief which has been the stay and comfort of 
 those who are called to suffer affliction and trial : 
 " They who desire to see Me and to lay hold on My 
 kingdom must receive Me by tribulation and suffer- 
 ing";^ and again, "He who is near Me is near the ignat. ad 
 
 _ Longum, 4 
 
 fire ; he who is far from Me is far from the kingdom."^ 
 The one saying which the Apostle has here per- 
 petuated has not only the seal of inspiration but the 
 witness of universal experience to confirm its teach- 
 ing. What the immediate circumstances were which 
 evoked it the Apostle does not tell us. The senti- 
 ment is such, however, that it would never have 
 been out of place, for it illustrates the ruling prin- 
 ciple of all that He did, from the time when He 
 gave up the glory of heaven till the moment when 
 He laid down His life for the brethren, coming 
 "not to be ministered unto, but to minister." Even 
 so S. Paul always strove to catch his Master's spirit 
 of disinterested self-sacrificing service ; and he left it 
 as his parting exhortation to the Elders at Miletus : 
 " Be ye followers of me, as I also am of Christ," Who i cor. xi. i. 
 said, " It is more blessed to give than to receive." 
 
 1 01 OeXovris fie IdeTv Kal aipaadai /xov ttjs l3a<n\eLas ocpeiKovai. 
 6\t^ii>Tes Kal TraOSvres \aj3e?v //.e. — S. Barnab. Ep. 7. 
 
 2 6 6771^5 fiov eyyii's rod irvpSs' 6 d^ jxaKpav air' e/xov /laKpap a,Trb 
 TTJs jSaffiKeias. — Didym. in Ps. 88. 8, 
 
LI. 
 
 jfrom ^iletu0 to Jerusalem, 
 
 The Acts xx. 36 — XXI.-14. 
 
 36. And when he had thus spoken, 
 he kneeled down, and prayed with 
 them all. 37. And they all wept 
 sore, and fell on Paul's neck, and 
 kissed him : 38. sorrowing most of 
 all for the words which he spake, 
 that they should see his face no 
 more. And they accompanied him 
 unto the ship. 
 
 XXI. I. And it came to pass, 
 that, after we were gotten from 
 them, and had launched, we came 
 with a straight course unto Coos, 
 and the day following unto Rhodes, 
 and from thence unto Patara : 2. 
 and finding a ship sailing over unto 
 Phenicia, we went aboard, and set 
 forth. 3. Now, when we had dis- 
 covered Cyprus, we left it on the 
 left hand, and sailed into Syria, and 
 landed at Tyre : for there the ship 
 was to unlade her burden. 4. And 
 finding disciples, we tarried there 
 seven days : who said to Paul 
 through the Spirit, that he should 
 not go up to Jerusalem. 5. And 
 when he had accomplished those 
 days, we departed and went our 
 way ; and they all brought us on 
 our way, with wives and children, 
 208 
 
 till we were out of the city : and we 
 kneeled down on the shore, and 
 prayed. 6. And when we had 
 taken our leave one of another, we 
 took ship ; and they returned home 
 again. 7. And when we had finished 
 our course from Tyre, we came to 
 Ptoiemais, and saluted the brethren, 
 and abode with them one day. 8. 
 And the next day we that were of 
 Paul's company departed, and came 
 unto Caesarea : and we entered into 
 the house of Philip the evangelist, 
 which was one of the seven, and 
 abode with him. 9. And the same 
 man had four daughters, virgins, 
 which did prophesy. 10. And as 
 we tarried there many days, there 
 came down from Judjea a certain pro- 
 phet, named Agabus. 11. And when 
 he was come unto us, he took Paul's 
 girdle, and bound his own hands and 
 feet, and said. Thus saith the Holy 
 Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jeru- 
 salem bind the man that owneth this 
 girdle, and shall deliver him into the 
 handsof the Gentiles. 12. And when 
 v/e heard these things, both we, and 
 they of that place, besought him not 
 to go up to Jerusalem. 13. Then 
 
ch. XX. 36— XXI. 14.] Miletus to JeriLsalem. 209 
 
 Paul answered, What mean ye to Name of the Lord Jesus. 14. And 
 
 weep and to break mine heart 7 for when he would not be persuaded, 
 
 I am ready not to be bound only, we ceased, saying, The will of the 
 
 but also to die at Jerusalem for the Lord be done. 
 
 Graphic pictures have often been drawn of 
 scenes in Avhicli spiritual pastors have taken leave 
 of their flocks, but nothing more pathetic was ever 
 written than the few brief sentences by which S. 
 Luke describes the Aj)ostle's farewell to the elders 
 at Miletus. The final prayer and commendation to 
 God, the sore weeping and lamentation, the over- 
 whelming affection ^ of the last embrace, the painful 
 struggle to tear themselves apart ^ — it all makes up 
 a picture of sadness and sorrow, often, no doubt, 
 equalled but rarely surpassed. 
 
 It must have made him waver for a moment in 
 his long-cherished determination to see Jerusalem 
 once more, and in all the joy and gladness of the 
 Pentecostal Feast ; but the temptation was resisted, 
 and again "he set his face steadfastly," like his 
 Master, towards the Holy City, and the vessel on 
 which he embarked soon carried him out of the 
 sight of his friends. 
 
 1 KarecpiXovv avrov, " kissed him," in the A.V. omits the force of 
 Kara, which in the compound implies intensity, repetition ; "they 
 kissed him again and again," so S. Luke vii. 38 ; cf. Kareadiu, 
 KaraTrivu}. 
 
 - a-n-oa-iracfOevTas air' airOiv loses all its force in the A.V., 
 " when we had gotten from them." 
 
 VOL. n. o 
 
2IO From Miletzis [chap. xx. 
 
 The next place at which they touched was Coos. 
 It had not much interest for S. Paul, but his com- 
 panion, the beloved physician, could not have passed 
 it by with indifference, for it was the site of a great 
 medical school, hardly less famous than that of 
 Tarsus. There also Hippocrates, "the Father of 
 Medicine," was born ; and, if the tradition that 
 S. Luke was a painter be true, he could not fail to 
 be excited in seeing the birthplace of Apelles. It 
 may have just reminded S. Paul of the greatest 
 picture he had ever seen, painted by him, of 
 Alexander grasping the thunder, which hung in 
 the Temple of Diana at Ephesus.^ 
 
 From Coos they sailed to Ehodes, but "the 
 
 wonder of the world" which every sailor gazed 
 
 at with amazement, the colossal statue of the Sun 
 
 strabo xiv. 2. which had long risen over the city, as that of Carlo 
 
 Hist. Nat. Borromeo looks down upon Arona,^ was then a 
 
 wreck and ruin. 
 
 From Rhodes they went to Patara and they were 
 compelled to disembark ; the ship had either reached 
 its destination, or was proceeding in the wrong 
 direction ; but S. Paul by a fortunate coincidence 
 
 1 It was said to have fetched the highest price ever given in 
 ancient times, viz. about £5000 of modern value. 
 
 2 The height of the two statues is the same, a little over 100 
 feet. 
 
 XXXIV. 10. 
 
36— XXI. 14.] to Jerusalem. 211 
 
 fell in with another that was bound direct for 
 Phoenicia. They made a long stoppage at Tyre, 
 where the cargo was unloaded. S. Paul lost no time 
 in searching for disciples, for though he might never 
 have preached there himself,^ he knew that our 
 Blessed Lord had reached " the coasts of Tyre s. Matt. 
 and Sidon," and no doubt had left some converts ; s. Mark 
 at least the Syrophcenician woman and her "'" '^^' 
 daughter had made known the power of His 
 Name. Isaiah too had predicted that Tyre should i»ai. xviii.ts. 
 come to know the Lord. At all events he would 
 make inquiries 3 ^ and the search was successful. 
 He found them not only ready to receive him, but 
 full of anxiety for his safety, for in anticipation of 
 his visit, the Holy Spirit had revealed to them the 
 trouble that awaited him in Jerusalem. The know- 
 ledge of this, combined with the blessing of seven 
 days' companionship, so endeared the Apostle to 
 them that they were most reluctant to let him 
 go ; and the scene of Miletus was re-enacted on 
 the sea-beach at Tyre. 
 
 Another short voyage brought them to Ptolemais, Jud. i. 31. 
 the Accho of ancient times, the Acre of the 
 Crusades and modern European history ; and there 
 
 1 XV. 3 is too vague to rely upon. 
 
 2 a.vevpbvm implies more than the A. V. " finding disciples." 
 
2 1 2 From Miletus [Chap. xx. 
 
 they left the ship, and proceeded by land to 
 Csesarea. 
 
 At Csesarea the Apostle found an eager welcome 
 iu the house of Philip, one of the seven deacons, 
 here described as an " evangelist," because, after his 
 office in " serving tables " at Jerusalem was fulfilled, 
 he had gone forth to declare " the glad tidings " of 
 salvation. For some time he had preached in 
 Samaria, but had finally established himself in 
 Caesarea, a city which from its Gentile associations 
 must have offered him a congenial sphere of Mis- 
 sionary work. We can imagine the anxiety with 
 which S. Paul would question him on the success 
 of his efforts to break down the terrible barrier of 
 Jewish prejudice in the expansion of the Church ; 
 for he knew that they were of one mind in their 
 determination to open the door of admission as 
 widely as possible, and bridge over the gulf be- 
 tween Jew and Gentile. 
 
 Again S. Luke, no less than S. Paul, would 
 rejoice to find himself under Philip's roof; but for 
 a different reason. Long before this he must have 
 conceived the design of writing the history of his 
 companion's labours and all those events in the 
 Church which had preceded his conversion. No 
 one had influenced the Apostle in his teaching 
 
36— XXI. 14.] to Jerusalem. 213 
 
 more than S. Stephen, and S. Philip and S. Stephen 
 had been ordained together, and were like-minded 
 in all their views of the Catholicity of the Church, 
 S. Luke would seize the opportunity of learning from 
 his lips much that none other could tell him. Fore- 
 most in the history of his time was that striking 
 episode, traditionally reported, no doubt, but known 
 to S. Philip in all the details which an eyewitness ^ 
 alone can give, the conversion and baptism of the Acts viii. 
 Ethiopian eunuch. It was the grandest event in " ''°' 
 " the evangelist's " life and work, and the memory 
 of it, with no little vividness, and, we feel sure, 
 Avith manifest pleasure, was imparted to his visitor. 
 Such was the natural delight felt from the inter- 
 course of S. Paul and his companions with this 
 congenial spirit, that it has been suggested as the 
 cause why their departure was left to the very 
 latest moment; just before, we read that " he Couibum's 
 hasted, if it were possible to be at Jerusalem," Dg^^^cons 392 
 and yet when the final stage was reached, it is 
 said that "he tarried at Caesarea." 
 
 It must have been a very remarkable family in 
 which S. Paul sojourned. Nothing is said of the 
 mother, but there were four daughters, dedicated 
 
 1 The indicatiou.s of thi.s are numerou.s : e.g. the running of 
 Philip ; the invitation to go up into the chariot ; the eagerness of 
 the inquirer, " I pray thee, who does the prophet speak of? " 
 
214 
 
 From Miletus 
 
 [Chap. xx. 
 
 I Cor. 
 xiv. 34. 
 
 I Cor. to a life of virginity, that tliey might share their 
 
 Rou^th's father's labours with a whole-hearted devotion.^ 
 Rehq. Sacr. ^hey had received in their own person the fulfil- 
 ment of Joel's prediction, " your sons and your 
 joeiii. 28, 29. daughters shall prophesy, . . . and upon the hand- 
 maids in those days I will pour out My Spirit." 
 It does not follow that they were exercising their 
 gift in violation of the Apostolic command, " Let 
 your women keep silence in the churches," for they 
 would find abundant opportunities of "speaking 
 for God " in private, especially among the women, 
 who, in Eastern countries, were often inaccessible 
 to the ministrations of men. 
 
 It is not said that they received the power of 
 prediction, as others had done, in foretelling the 
 dangers which awaited the Apostle, but Agabus, 
 who came to visit them from Jerusalem, did so, 
 and in a most striking and emphatic manner. In 
 imitation of the ancient prophets, who were wont 
 to " dramatise their prophecies," and give vividness 
 to their words by symbolical acts, cutting off the 
 hair of their head and beard, or putting a yoke 
 upon the neck, or going naked and barefoot before 
 the people, Agabus seized the Apostle's girdle or 
 
 1 It Las been stated on the authority of Eusebius that two of 
 them married, but there is manifest confusion between the Evan- 
 gelist and the Apostle. Eccl. Eist. iii. 30. 1. 
 
 Ezek. V. I. 
 Jerem. 
 xxvii. 2. 
 Isai. XX. 3. 
 
36— XXI. 14.] to Jerusalem. 215 
 
 sash, and wrapping it tightly about his own ^ hands 
 and feet, declared that the Jews at Jerusalem would 
 so bind its owner, and then deliver him up to the 
 Gentiles. It was all so terribly dramatic, the 
 prophet's credentials so indisputable,^ his actual 
 knowledge gained on the spot, perhaps, through 
 undisguised and open threats, that there was no 
 longer any room for doubt; even S. Luke's heart 
 gave way, and he joined in the general petition to 
 S. Paul that he would abandon his purpose. But 
 the Apostle Avas inexorable ; and his friends, realis- 
 ing that further remonstrance was useless, and, 
 perhaps, convinced that it was ordained of God, 
 left the matter in His hands, saying, " The will of 
 the Lord be done." ^ 
 
 Now, S, Paul has often been blamed for not 
 listening to the voice of warning so distinctly and 
 repeatedly uttered in his ears. It has seemed to 
 some nothing less than obstinate and self-willed 
 conduct, a deliberate thwarting of the Divine pur- 
 pose, to court dangers and cut short his career of 
 
 1 This is the best reading. 
 
 2 They had an illustration in the fulfilment of the prediction of 
 a famine, which he had uttered some years before, xi. 28. 
 
 3 Not a few writers (Alford, Wordsworth, and others) have 
 supposed that they were quoting from the Lord's Prayer, and use 
 it as an evidence of the early iise of this, but it is surely a general 
 Christian sentiment. 
 
2 1 6 From Milehis [Chap. xx. 
 
 usefulness. This, we think, is a total misconception 
 of his motives. It is quite true that on previous 
 occasions he had not hesitated to avoid impending 
 peril ; when he heard that the Jews were lying in 
 
 Actsix.23-z5. wait to kill him at Damascus, he had no hesitation 
 in availing himself of the means of escape which 
 his friends provided ; again, at Ephesus. he listened 
 
 Acts xix. 31. to the entreaties of the Asiarchs, not to " adventure 
 himself into the theatre " ; why, then, did he not 
 show the same prudence in regard to Jerusalem % 
 The deterring influences seem to have been stronger ; 
 
 Acts XX. 23. he confessed himself that " the Holy Ghost wit- 
 nesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflic- 
 tions abide me." The disciples at Tyre, as well as 
 the prophets and friends at Csesarea, had all inter- 
 preted the Divine Message as intended to deter him 
 from venturing to encounter the perils, whereas he 
 himself had a profound conviction that God meant 
 
 s. Chrysos. him to facc them, and only sent His messenger to 
 
 Horn, on the ^ ■ e ^ 1 • tj. • ii 
 
 Actsxiv. prepare him tor what was coming. It is more than 
 probable that this conviction v.'as based upon a 
 Divine revelation, which regulated all his plans and 
 action from the time that he left Ephesus. He 
 " purposed in the spirit," he tells us, he was " bound 
 in the spirit," to go to Jerusalem. Possibly he did 
 not mean that the Spirit of God had intervened 
 
36— XXI. 14.] to Jerusalem. 2 1 7 
 
 directly to create his purpose or bind his will ; but 
 
 he could not mean less than that this was the 
 
 prompting of the highest part of his own nature,^ 
 
 through which he communed with the Holy Spirit. 
 
 One who lived, as S. Paul did, in entire dependence 
 
 upon God, is justified in believing that through 
 
 such communing he will be taught what is right. 
 
 Now, at the Apostle's conversion, Ananias would 
 
 not fail to tell him of what the Lord had declared 
 
 was His will concerning him : " I will show him ^'^'^ '•''• 'S- 
 
 how great things he must suffer for My Name's 
 
 sake " ; and we find from his Epistles how the 
 
 necessity of suffering was always present to his 
 
 mind, and even welcomed as something which 
 
 brought him nearer to the likeness of Christ. Thus 
 
 it was that, so far from shrinking from the trials 
 
 and afilictions which Agabus predicted, the very 
 
 language in which his prediction was shaped, that 
 
 the Jews would bind him and deliver him up to 
 
 the Gentiles, quickened his expectation. It was 
 
 an exact repetition of what had happened to his 
 
 Lord; and it was the wish of his heart that he 
 
 might know " the fellowship of His sufferings, Phil. iii. 10. 
 
 being made conformable to His death." If amidst 
 
 1 In the tripartite nature of man, irvevfji.a, ^vxh, and adp^, 
 the first is that by which he is brought into contact with to 
 Ayiou T[veviJ.a. Cf. 1 Thess. v. 23. 
 
2 1 8 Miletus to Jerusalem. [Ch. xx. 36— xxi. 14. 
 
 the many' temptations that befell him to draw back, 
 he had ever wavered, he must have rejoiced in the 
 end through the blessed assurance of his Lord and 
 Master, when He stood by him in the vision of the 
 Actsxxiii. II. night, and said, "Be of good cheer, Paul: for as 
 thou hast testified of Me in Jerusalem, so must 
 thou bear witness also at Rome." It was the 
 voice of approbation for what he had done. Had 
 he listened to the dissuasions of his friends, it might 
 have been changed into one of censure. 
 
LIT. 
 
 ^. ^ml Defenti0 Ijimsiielf against ttje 
 
 The Acts xxi. 15-40— xxii. 1-22. 
 
 15. And after those days we took 
 up our carriages, and went up to 
 Jerusalem. i6. There went with 
 us also certain of the disciples of 
 Csesarea, and brought with them 
 one Mnason of Cyprus, an old 
 disciple, with whom we should 
 lodge. 17. And when we were 
 come to Jerusalem, the brethren 
 received us gladly. i8. And the 
 day following Paul went in with us 
 unto James ; and all the elders were 
 present. 19. And when he had 
 saluted them, he declared particu- 
 larly what things God had wrought 
 among the Gentiles by his ministry. 
 20. And when they heard it, they 
 glorified the Lord, and said unto 
 him. Thou seest, brother, how many 
 thousands of Jews there are which 
 believe : and they are all zealous of 
 the law : 21. and they are informed 
 of thee, that thou teachest all the 
 Jews which are among the Gentiles 
 to forsake Moses, saying that they 
 ought not to circumcise their chil- 
 dren, neither to walk after the cus- 
 toms. 22. What is it therefore ? 
 the multitude must needs come to- 
 
 gether : for they will hear that thou 
 art come. 23. Do therefore this 
 that we say to thee : We have four 
 men which have a vow on them ; 
 24. them take, and purify thyself 
 with them, and be at charges with 
 them, that they may shave their 
 heads : and all may know that those 
 things, whereof they were informed 
 concerning thee, are nothing ; but 
 that thou thyself also walkest or- 
 derly, and keepest the law. 25. As 
 touching the Gentiles which believe, 
 we have written and concluded that 
 they observe no such thing, save 
 only that they keep themselves from 
 things offered to idols, and from 
 blood, and from strangled, and from 
 fornication. 26. Then Paul took 
 the men, and the next day purifying 
 himself with them entered into the 
 temple, to signify the accomplish- 
 ment of the days of purification, 
 until that an offering should be 
 offered for every one of them. 27. 
 And when the seven days were 
 almost ended, the Jews which were 
 of Asia, when they saw him in the 
 temple, stirred up all the people, 
 219 
 
2 20 S. Paul defends Himself [Chap. xxi. 
 
 and laid hands on him, 28. crying 
 out, Men of Israel, help : This is 
 the man, that teacheth all tnen 
 every where against the people, 
 and the law, and this place : and 
 further brought Greeks also into 
 the temple, and hath polluted this 
 holy place. 29. (For they had seen 
 before with him in the city Tro- 
 phimus an Ephesian, whom they 
 supposed that Paul had brought 
 into the temple.) 30. And all the 
 city was moved, and the people ran 
 together : and they took Paul, and 
 drew him out of the temple : and 
 forthwith the doors were shut. 31. 
 And as they went about to kill him, 
 tidings came unto the chief captain 
 of the band, that all Jerusalem was 
 in an uproar. 32. Who immediately 
 took soldiers and centurions, and 
 ran down unto them : and when 
 they saw the chief captain and the 
 soldiers, they left beating of Paul. 
 33. Then the chief captain came 
 near, and took him, and commanded 
 him to be bound with two chains ; 
 and demanded who he was, and 
 what he had done. 34. And some 
 cried one thing, some another, 
 among the multitude : and when 
 he could not know the certainty for 
 the tumult, he commanded him to 
 be carried into the castle. 35. And 
 when he came upon the stairs, so it 
 was, that he was borne of the sol- 
 diers for the violence of the people. 
 36. For the multitude of the people 
 followed after, crying, Away with 
 him. 37. And as Paul was to be 
 led into the castle, he said unto the 
 chief captain. May I speak unto 
 thee ? Who said. Canst thou speak 
 Greek? 38. Art thou not that 
 Egj^ptian, which before these days 
 madest an uproar, and leddest out 
 
 into the wilderness four thousand 
 men that were murderers ? 39. But 
 Paul said, I am a man %vhich am 
 a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, 
 a citizen of no mean city : and, I 
 beseech thee, suffer me to speak 
 unto the people. 40. And when he 
 had given him licence, Paul stood 
 on the stairs, and beckoned with 
 the hand unto the people. And 
 when there was made a great silence, 
 he spake unto them in the Hebrew 
 tongue, saying, 
 
 XXII. I. Men, brethren, and 
 fathers, hear ye my defence which 
 I make now unto you. 2. (And 
 when they heard that he spake in 
 the Hebrew tongue to them, they 
 kept the more silence ; and he saith,) 
 3. I am verily a man ivhich am a 
 Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cili- 
 cia, yet brought up in this city at 
 the feet of Gamaliel, and taught 
 according to the perfect manner of 
 the law of the fathers, and was 
 zealous toward God, as ye all are 
 this day. 4. And I persecuted this 
 way unto the death, binding and 
 delivering into prisons both men 
 and women. 5. As also the high 
 priest doth bear me witness, and all 
 the estate of the elders : from whom 
 also I received letters unto the 
 brethren, and went to Damascus, 
 to bring them which were there 
 bound unto Jerusalem, for to be 
 punished. 6. And it came to pass, 
 that, as I made my journey, and 
 was come nigh unto Damascus 
 about noon, suddenly there shone 
 from heaven a great light round 
 about me. 7. And I fell unto the 
 ground, and heard a voice saying 
 unto me, Saul, Saul, why perse- 
 cutest thou me? 8. And I an- 
 swered. Who art Thou, Lord ? And 
 
I5-40— XXII. 1-22.] against the Asiatic J eivs. 221 
 
 He said unto me, I am Jesus of 
 Nazareth, Whom thou persecutest. 
 9. And they that were with me saw 
 indeed the light, and were afraid ; 
 but they heard not the voice of Him 
 that spake to me. lo. And I said, 
 What shall I do. Lord? And the 
 Lord said unto me. Arise, and go 
 into Damascus ; and there it shall 
 be told thee of all things which are 
 appointed for thee to do. ii. And 
 when I could not see for the glory 
 of that light, being led by the hand 
 of them that were with me, I came 
 into Damascus. 12. And one An- 
 anias, a devout man according to 
 the law, having a good report of all 
 the Jews which dwelt there, 13. 
 came unto me, and stood, and said 
 unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy 
 sight. And the same hour I looked 
 up upon him. 14. And he said, 
 The God of our fathers hath chosen 
 thee, that thou shouldest know His 
 will, and see that Just One, and 
 shouldest hear the voice of His 
 mouth. 15. For thou shalt be His 
 witness unto all men of what thou 
 
 hast seen and heard. 16. And 
 now why tarriest thou ? arise, 
 and be baptized, and wash away 
 thy sins, callins; on the Name of the 
 Lord. 17. And it came to pass, 
 that, -when I was come again to 
 Jerusalem, even while I prayed in 
 the temple, I was in a trance ; 18. 
 and saw him saying uijto me, Make 
 haste, and get thee quickly out of 
 Jerusalem: for they will not receive 
 thy testimony concerning Me. ig. 
 And I said, Lord, they know that 
 I imprisoned and beat in every 
 synagogue them that believed on 
 Thee : 20. and when the blood of 
 Thy martyr Stephen was shed, I 
 also was standing by, and consent- 
 ing unto his death, and kept the 
 raiment of them that slew him. 21. 
 And He said unto me, Depart : 
 for I will send thee far hence unto 
 the Gentiles. 22. And they gave 
 him audience unto this word, and 
 then lifted up their voices, and 
 said. Away with such a fellow from 
 the earth : for it is not fit that he 
 should live. 
 
 S. Paul had reached the final stage of his third 
 missionary journey ; it had been marked chiefly by a.d. 58. 
 his long residence in Ephesus. He elected to 
 remain there owing to the great importance arising 
 from its central position, as the meeting-place of 
 Eoman and Greek, Jew and Oriental; and he 
 hoped to lay there the firm foundation of a Mother 
 Church for Asia. His work prospered : " the word 
 of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed." 
 
2 2 2 6". Paul defends Himself [Chap. xxi. 
 
 It is impossible, however, not to realise the 
 change which seems to have come over him in this 
 journey, and cast a shadow upon his life and 
 2 Cor. iii. I ; labours ; there was first the violent personal attack 
 2 Cor. upon his authority, even touching at times his 
 
 '■ '^' ^^' character for constancy, and courage, and self- 
 devotion; then the persistent determination to 
 undermine his influence with the Jewish converts, 
 by unjust accusations of contempt for the Law of 
 Moses and all that they held dear in the covenant 
 of their fathers ; and lastly, after he had left 
 Corinth and turned his face towards Jerusalem, 
 there was the never absent conviction, strengthened 
 by the repeated predictions of friends, that some- 
 thing was impending, which might destroy his 
 cherished hope of reaching Eome. 
 
 Pentecost was only three days off, and longer 
 delay at Csesarea was out of the question, for 
 Jerusalem was more than seventy miles distant, 
 judg. They " took up their carriages," that is, they packed 
 
 their baggage, and, perhaps, having^ left the bulk of 
 it at Philip's house, purposing, if Grod willed that 
 they should return, to pick it up at the harbour 
 before embarking for Rome, they hasted on their 
 
 1 diroffKevacrd/xevoi, packed away, leaving it in store, according 
 to the Eeceived Text, but iiricKevacT&fievoi has the aiithority of 
 the best Mss. 
 
 XVlll. 21. 
 
15-40— XXII. 1-22.] against the Asiatic Jews. 223 
 
 journey. We read that on reaching the Holy City 
 they went to lodge with Mnason. The attraction 
 seems to have been that he was " an old disciple," 
 probably one of the earliest converts, whose remin- 
 iscences of the first Christian Pentecost Avould have 
 a peculiar fascination for S. Paul at such a time ; 
 but after the long absence and all the perils of sea 
 and land through which the Apostle had passed, it 
 is very surprising that he should not have found a 
 home with his own sister, for it is generally believed 
 that she was living at Jerusalem, Perhaps the Actsxxiii. 16. 
 explanation is, that she was still unconverted, and 
 S. Paul felt that, at least on the very birthday of 
 the Church, he must have unrestrained religious 
 sympathy. 
 
 At S, Paul's last visit to Jerusalem, when James 
 and Cephas and John had given him the right 
 hand of fellowship, and bidden him "go unto 
 the heathen," they had laid upon him the duty of Gai. ii. 9, 10. 
 remembering the poor, and he had never forgotten 
 it. He had the offerings of the Churches for " the 
 poor saints at Jerusalem," and we feel sure that his 
 first business would be to deliver it to the proper 
 authorities. Notice was sent, no doubt, on the 
 evening of their arrival, to the Bishop^ of the 
 
 1 "As early as the middle of the Second Century, all parties 
 concur in representing him (S. James) as a Bishop in the strict 
 
224 S. Pa2il defends Himself [Chap. xxi. 
 
 Church, and on the morrow the deputation was 
 received : " Paul went in with us unto James; and 
 all the elders were present." S. Luke, though in 
 company with the Apostle on the occasion, has 
 passed this incident over ; it was so completely over- 
 shadowed l3y the momentous announcement from 
 the President, that it was left wholly unrecorded. 
 S. Paul had been sorely tried by the misrepre- 
 sentations that he had heard in Ephesus and else- 
 where about his supposed denunciations of Mosaic 
 rites ; but he was not prepared to learn, at the very 
 centre of authority, how widespread the belief was. 
 Making every allowance for Oriental exaggeration, 
 the many myriads — in the original it is not 
 "thousands" (A.V.), but ten thousands — who gave 
 evidence to the accusation must have implied 
 infinitely more than he had ever imagined; and 
 when the Bishop told him that his presence at the 
 feast, with its assembled multitudes of adversaries, 
 amidst all the environment of the Temple and its 
 inspiring associations, was an element of serious 
 danger, he saw the wisdom of accepting a suggestion 
 for disarming hostility. Unless something was done 
 a conflict was inevitable. The expedient proposed 
 
 sense of the term." Hegesipp. in Euseb. H.E, ii. 23, iv. 22; 
 CUm. Horn, xi. 35; Lightfoot, Philippians, 106. 
 
I5-40— XXII. 1-22.] against the Asiatic J eivs. 225 
 
 by S. James was eminently practical, for it would 
 afford positive proof tliat the Apostle had not 
 advocated the abrogation of the Law ; his own 
 personal action would contradict it. It so happened 
 that there were at the time several men, Jewish 
 Christians, who had taken the Nazarite vow to 
 mark their gratitude for a deliverance from perils 
 by sea or land, or from sickness or accident, but 
 from want of means to supply the requisite victims 
 for sacrifice, they could not shave their heads and Numb. 
 complete their obligation. Under such circum- 
 stances it was not uncommon for those who could 
 afford it, to " be at charges with " poor Nazarites, and Joseph. 
 to take upon themselves the necessary expense in xix. vi. i. 
 their behalf. S. James gave the Apostle to under- 
 stand that, if he saw his way to such an inter- 
 position, all danger would be avoided. It was not 
 only regarded as a distinctly patriotic action, and 
 therefore calculated to enlist the sympathy of the 
 people ; but it would give the direct lie to the 
 special accusations which had been so freely made 
 against his teaching. At the same time, the Bishop 
 made it perfectly clear that he would not compro- 
 mise the freedom of his action in regard to Gentile 
 converts, for that was secured by the decree of the 
 Synod, which was as binding then as when itwas made, ^'^'^j'^' 
 VOL, II, p 
 
2 2 6 S. Paul defends Himself [Chap. xxi. 
 
 If S. Paul had felt any misgivings that he was 
 yielding his liberty to coercion, they must have been 
 silenced by this last assurance ; and with this, to 
 safeguard his principles, he readily accepted the 
 suggestion. 
 
 Personally he considered all Jewish observances 
 of this kind a matter of indifference ; to bind them 
 upon a Gentile convert would be to violate Christian 
 liberty ; to allow them to a Jewish convert, when 
 they had never been prohibited by Christ, would 
 be contrary to all that he believed and taught. 
 The rule of charity was his only guide in such 
 matters, as he had told the Corinthians when he 
 I Cor. ix. 20. said, " Unto the Jews I became a Jew, that I might 
 gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, 
 as under the law, that I might gain them that are 
 under the law." He gave a striking illustration of 
 it in his consent to identify himself with the Jewish 
 converts under the Nazarite vow. 
 
 S. James must have rejoiced in his acquiescence, 
 and have anticipated the best results, but all his 
 expectations were rudely frustrated. Among the 
 Jews who had come up to Jerusalem to keep the 
 Feast were some from Asia, who knew S. Paul well, 
 and had probably often withstood him at Ephesus, 
 but had been thwarted in their determination to 
 
IS-40— XXII. 1-22.] against the Asiatic Jews. 227 
 
 silence his voice. During their stay they had 
 frequently seen him in the Temple ; the Nazarite 
 obligation enforced frequent attendance ; they had 
 also seen him in the streets with Trophimus, an 
 uncircumcised Gentile, and, with no proof whatever, 
 they rushed to the conclusion that he had taken Joseph. 
 him also within the sacred enclosure, and set their xv. xi! 5. 
 exclusive prerogative at defiance. This was their ^"■^'-''-'i- 
 opportunity : " Men of Israel," they cried, " here is 
 the man who has not only gone about everywhere 
 teaching men to despise all that we hold most dear, 
 but he has acted out what he teaches, and has with 
 his own hands polluted this holy place. Come at 
 once to the rescue, rise up and defend your Temple. 
 Men of Israel, help." The excited appeal had the 
 desired effect. The Apostle was seized and dragged 
 outside the barrier which shut off the alien from 
 the sacred court, and the "gates were immediately 
 closed. The utmost tumult prevailed. It was one 
 of those disturbances which the troops in the 
 adjoining fortress of Antonia were so often called in 
 to quell at the great Feasts ; and, as soon as the 
 sentry on the Tower gave the information to the 
 officer in charge, an armed force interposed. S. 
 Paul was at once placed under arrest, probably to 
 secure him from further violence, as the captain 
 
2 28 S. Paid defends Himself [chap. xxi. 
 
 seems to have had no knowledge of the charges 
 against him, though he had an idea that he was an 
 Egyptian outlaw, Avho had excited sedition a few 
 Joseph. weeks before, and had escaped himself, when many 
 XX. viii. 6. of his adherents were put to the sword. The Apostle 
 ^j'?"^^ "■ soon assured him that he had no connection with 
 Euseb. H. E. jj^j-^y g^g]-^ person, but that he was a Jew of Tarsus : 
 
 ii. 21. 
 
 and he craved permission to address the mob. It 
 was granted, and, turning round, as he ascended the 
 steps leading into Antonia, he began to speak, to 
 the amazement of the soldiers, amidst a breathless 
 silence. His defence was the story of his life and 
 Actsix. conversion. We have dwelt upon it at length, 
 where, with the exception at least of a single 
 passage, it was first recorded. S. Luke said nothing 
 of the vision in the Temple, which God had vouch- 
 safed to him when he fell into a trance in the ecstasy 
 of prayer. 
 
 Up to the mention of this he had spoken to the 
 people without interruption ; the language in which 
 he chose to speak, not the familiar Greek, but their 
 much-prized Hebrew, his claim to the spirit of 
 patriotism, his splendid courage and composure in 
 the face of an infuriated populace, all combined to 
 pacify their excitement, and hold them spell-bound 
 by his influence; but at last, when he told them 
 
is-40— XXII. 1-22.] against the Asiatic J eivs. 229 
 
 that God had chosen him to bear His message to the 
 Gentiles, and that He had actually spoken to him 
 within the precincts of the Temple, all their passion 
 broke out afresh, and they cried, "Away with such 
 a fellow from the earth ; for it is not fit that he 
 should live." 
 
 " The disciple is not above his master." " The 
 servant is not greater than his lord. If they have s. John 
 persecuted Me, they will also persecute you." This ^^' "°' 
 prediction received many illustrations in the early 
 history of the Church ; but none more striking in 
 the closeness of the comparison than in the incident 
 before us. When our Lord told the Jews that the s. Luke 
 message of Elijah and Elisha to the widow of Sarepta '^' ^^ '^' 
 and Naaman the Syrian was only the first note of 
 that which was destined to reach the whole Gentile 
 world, " they were filled with wrath, and rose up and 
 thrust Him out of the city, and led Him unto the 
 brow of the hill on which their city was built, that 
 they might cast Him down headlong." 
 
 Even so when S. Paul took up the theme, and 
 told them that the God of their fathers had ap- 
 peared to him, and, surrounding the vision with all 
 the solemnity that the Holy Place could impart to 
 it, had bidden him " go far hence to the Gentiles," 
 there was the same outburst of indignation and 
 
2 ;^o S. Pati/'s Defence. fCn. xxi. 15— xxn. 22. 
 
 anger, the same desire to put him to death : " Away 
 with such a fellow from the earth"; and then, turning, 
 perhaj)S, in disappointed rage on the chief captain, 
 who had stayed their hand, they cried out that 
 his life ought never to have been spared, for " it 
 was not fit ^ that he should live," and they would 
 have put him to death themselves, if their will had 
 not been thwarted. Only a few more drops were 
 needed to fill up the cup of their iniquity ; and then 
 God's salvation would be made over to the Gentiles, 
 and the Catholic Church arise out of the ashes 
 of the Jewish destruction. 
 
 1 ov KadyjKev, imperfect — he ought not to have lived, has the best 
 MS. authority. The failure to understand the reference to the 
 action of the people before the arrest led to the reading of the 
 Received Text. 
 
LIU. 
 
 »)♦ Paul Utou tf)e »)an|)eDcim. 
 
 The Acts xxii. 23-30 — xxiii. 1-24. 
 
 23. And as they cried out, and 
 cast off i/iei'r clothes, and threw 
 dust into the air, 24. the chief cap- 
 tain commanded him to be brought 
 into the castle, and bade that he 
 should be examined by scourging ; 
 that he might know wherefore they 
 cried so against him. 25. And as 
 they bound him with thongs, Paul 
 said unto the centurion that stood 
 by. Is it lawful for you to scourge 
 a man that is a Roman, and uncon- 
 demned? 26. When the centurion 
 heard i/tai, he went and told the 
 chief captain, saying. Take heed 
 what thou doest : for this man is a 
 Roman. 27. Then the chief cap- 
 tain came, and said unto him. Tell 
 me, art thou a Roman? He said, 
 Yea. 28. And the chief captain 
 answered, With a great sum ob- 
 tained I this freedom. And Paul 
 said, But I was_/?r£ born. 29. Then 
 straightway they departed from him 
 which should have examined him : 
 and the chief captain also was 
 afraid, after he knew that he was a 
 Roman, and because he had bound 
 him. 30. On the morrow, because 
 he would have known the certainty 
 wherefore he was accused of the 
 
 Jews, he loosed hini from Az's bands 
 and commanded the chief priests 
 and all their council to appear, and 
 brought Paul down, and set liim be- 
 fore them. 
 
 XXIII. I. And Paul, earnestly 
 beholding the council, said. Men 
 and brethren, I have lived in all 
 good conscience before God un- 
 til this day. 2. And the high 
 priest Ananias commanded them 
 that stood by him to smite him 
 on the mouth. 3. Then said Paul 
 unto him, God shall smite thee, t/iou 
 whited wall : for sittest thou to judge 
 me after the law, and commandest 
 me to be smitten contrary to the 
 law? 4. And they that stood by 
 said, Revilest thou God's high 
 priest? 5. Then said Paul, I wist 
 not, brethren, that he was the high 
 priest : for it is written. Thou shall 
 not speak evil of the ruler of thy 
 people. 6. But when Paul perceived 
 that the one part were Sadducees, 
 and the other Pharisees, he cried 
 out in the council, Men and breth- 
 ren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a 
 Pharisee : of the hope and resurrec- 
 tion of the dead I am called in 
 question. 7. And when he had so 
 231 
 
232 S. Paul before [Chap. xxn. 
 
 said, there arose a dissension be- 
 tween the Pharisees and the Saddu- 
 cees : and the multitude was divided. 
 8. For the Sadducees say that there 
 is no resurrection, neither angel, nor 
 spirit : but the Pharisees confess 
 both. 9. And there arose a great 
 cry : and the scribes that were of 
 the Pharisees' part arose, and strove, 
 saying, We find no evil in this man : 
 but if a spirit or an angel hath 
 spoken to him, let us not fight 
 against God. 10. And when there 
 arose a great dissension, the chief 
 captain, fearing lest Paul should 
 have been pulled in pieces of them, 
 commanded the soldiers to go down, 
 and to take him by force from among 
 them, and to bring him into the 
 castle. II. And the night following 
 the Lord stood by him, and said, 
 Be of good cheer, Paul : for as thou 
 hast testified of Me in Jerusalem, so 
 must thou bear witness also at 
 Rome. 12. And when it was day, 
 certain of the Jews banded together, 
 and bound themselves under a curse, 
 saying that they would neither eat 
 nor drink till they had killed 
 Paul. 13. And they were more 
 than forty which had made this con- 
 spiracy. 14. And they came to the 
 chief priests and elders, and said. 
 We have bound ourselves under a 
 great curse, that we will eat nothing 
 until we have slain Paul. 15. Now 
 therefore ye with the council signify 
 to the chief captain that he bring 
 him down unto you to-morrow, as 
 though ye would inquire something 
 more perfectly concerning him : and 
 we, or ever he come near, are ready 
 to kill him. 16. And when Paul's 
 
 sister's son heard of their lying in 
 wait, he went and entered into the 
 castle and told Paul. 17. Then Paul 
 called one of the centurions unto 
 him, and said, Bring this young 
 man unto the chief captain : for he 
 hath a certain thing to tell him. i8. 
 So he took him, and brought hitn to 
 the chief captain, and said, Paul 
 the prisoner called me unto him, and 
 prayed me to bring this young man 
 unto thee, who hath something to 
 say unto thee. 19. Then the chief 
 captain took him by the hand, and 
 went with him aside privately, and 
 asked him, What is that thou hast 
 to tell me? 20. And he said. The 
 Jews have agreed to desire thee that 
 thou wouldest bring down Paul to- 
 morrow into the council, as though 
 they would inquire somewhat of him 
 more perfectly. 21. But do not thou 
 yield unto them: for there lie in 
 wait for him of them more than 
 forty men, which have bound them- 
 selves with an oath, that thej' will 
 neither eat nor drink till they have 
 killed him : and now they are ready, 
 looking for a promise from thee. 
 22. So the chief captain then let the 
 young man depart, and charged hi?it. 
 See thou tell no man that thou hast 
 showed these things to me. 23. 
 And he called unto him two cen- 
 turions, saying, Make ready two, 
 hundred soldiers to go to Caesarea, 
 and horsemen threescore and ten, 
 and spearmen two hundred, at the 
 third hour of the night ; 24. and 
 provide them beasts, that they may 
 set Paul on, and bring hijii safe 
 unto Felix the governor. 
 
 The chief captain or tribune realised at once the 
 peril in which the life of his prisoner was placed by 
 
23-30— XXIII. 1-24.] the Sanhedrim. 233 
 
 the outburst of uncontrolled anger from the crowd ; 
 and he ordered the soldiers to hurry him out of their 
 reach within the walls of the barracks. It would 
 seem that he had not understood the Apostle's 
 speech, which was made in Aramaic, and conse- 
 quently was ignorant of the nature of the offence 
 which he had given ; and he adopted the usual Eoman 
 process in provincial administration of subjecting a 
 prisoner to the scourge to extort some confession. 
 
 S. Paul, either through his father, or some more 
 remote ancestor, had inherited " the freedom of the 
 city" which the chief captain represented; it had 
 stood him in good stead, when he invoked its pro- 
 tection, to the dismay of the Philippian magistrates ; Acts xvi. 37. 
 and in perfect certainty that it would have a similar 
 effect upon the centurion in the castle of Anton ia, 
 he asked him the question, " Is it lawful for you to 
 scourge a man that is a Eoman, and uncondemned % " cic pro 
 It was enough ; the Roman birthright was a pri- in Verrem. 
 vilege which none could infringe with impunity.^ Sueton. 
 Lysias was informed of the prisoner's appeal, and, ^'^"'^^ ^ ^^■ 
 unable to believe it, asked him in contempt, " Are 
 you,2 you whom I see in such a miserable plight, 
 
 1 It was one of the chief charges brought against Verres, the pro- 
 prietor of Sicily, by Cicero in his famous Orations, "Facinus est 
 vincire civem Romaiium, scelus verberare." Cic. in Verr. v. 66. 
 
 2 ffi/'Fu/jLoios d ; the pronoun is emphatic. 
 
2 34 S. Paid before [Chap. xxn. 
 
 really a Roman citizen like myself? It cost me a 
 heavy price to purchase my citizenship ; how could 
 you in your poverty possibly have bought it 1 " "I 
 did not buy it," answered S. Paul ; " I inherited it 
 by my birth." Like the Philippian prsetors, the 
 Roman tribune trembled for the consequence. Are 
 we surprised that no doubts were expressed as to 
 the truth of the prisoner's claim % The reason was, 
 Sueton. no doubt, because the heaviest penalty, even that of 
 
 Claud. § 25. 
 
 death, was inflicted on any one who pleaded falsely 
 to such a privilege. 
 
 Lysias would have no further responsibility, but 
 
 determined to hand him over to the jurisdiction of 
 
 the Sanhedrim. The Council was summoned, and 
 
 the tribune formally presented the Apostle for trial. 
 
 Taim. Bab. The prcsencc of a Gentile in the Council-chamber is 
 
 Sanhed. 
 
 5, foi. 41- an indirect testimony to their removal from the 
 
 Aboda zara, . iini- 
 
 I, foi. 8. time-honoured place 01 assembly, tor this was 
 situated within the more sacred precincts of the 
 Temple. It has been said that the change was 
 made for the express purpose of allowing this very 
 presence and intervention of the Roman authorities ; 
 
 Taim. Bab. but Jewish Writers insist that they removed from 
 the Temple of their own accord. 
 
 The scene must have aroused in S. Paul's mind 
 the saddest memories. Nearly a quarter of a cen- 
 
23-30— XXIII. 8-24.] the Sanhedrim. 235 
 
 tury before, he had sat as a member of the Court/ 
 when S. Stephen was placed at the bar where he 
 himself was then standing. The earnest look at the 
 judges, the searching scrutiny of their faces, was 
 prompted no doubt by the curiosity to see if any 
 of his old colleagues were still in their seats ; and 
 then, without further preliminary, he began his 
 defence : " Brethren, I have lived in all good con- 
 science before God." He remembered that he had 
 once been a Sanhedrist, and he claimed the right to 
 call them his brothers ; and whether he had made 
 mistakes of judgment in his public life, or had 
 sinned in any way, he had done it in ignorance, and 
 his conscience acquitted him. 
 
 There was something in these opening words that 
 greatly irritated the President of the Council, whose 
 own conscience bore witness to the very reverse in Joseph. 
 all that he had done, for both in public and private xx. viH. 8 ; 
 he had gained a reputation for the worst iniquities, wmj, 
 Appealing to the bailiff of the Court, who was I^'J^"" ^' 
 standing behind the prisoner, he ordered him p^^^^^-s?''- 
 " to smite him on the mouth " and silence his 
 
 1 Acts xxvi. 10 implies this, but there are some who think that 
 he could not have been, because marriage was a necessary qualifi- 
 cation, and S. Paul seems to speak of himself as single. In 1 Cor. 
 vii. 8 some have interpreted ''the unmarried" as of widowers, 
 and S. Paul classes himself with them. 
 
236 S. Paul before [Chap. xxn. 
 
 voice. It was a wholly illegal act, and, stung with 
 
 indignation, S. Paul turned upon his judge, and 
 
 s. Matt. taking up his Master's scathing designation of the 
 
 xxiii. 27. 
 
 hypocrites of the day, he uttered the dire prediction, 
 Joseph. afterwards fulfilled to the letter, " God shall smite 
 
 Antiq. 
 
 ii. xvii. g. thee, thou whited wall." His conduct certainly 
 contrasts strongly with that of his Lord under 
 similar provocation, and " Who," as S. Jerome says, 
 
 s. John "so gently asks the smiter, ' If I have spoken evil, bear 
 witness of the evil ; but if well, why smitest thou 
 
 Hieron. adv. jvie % . . , Wlio, Suffering in the flesh, reigns above the 
 
 Pelag. iii. i. 
 
 wrong and frailty of the flesh.' " If such indignation 
 and indignant anger cannot claim the vindication 
 of righteousness, it is at least to be pardoned in the 
 light of the regret which he immediately expressed. 
 Had he known, he said, that it was the High Priest 
 Lightfoot, who had spoken,^ or, if he had not felt that there 
 
 Michael is, 
 
 oishausen werc the gravest doubts that he had a right to the 
 office he claimed, he would not and could not have 
 said what he had said, for the Law, which he made 
 the rule and guide of his life, forbade the least dis- 
 respect to the Ruler of the people. 
 
 1 Many explanations have been given, but either this, or that 
 which I have given here as the alternative, is least free from objec- 
 tions. If thi.s, then the reason may have been that his defective 
 eyesight and the prevailing confusion prevented him from dis- 
 tinguishing the actual speaker. 
 
 in loco. 
 
23-30— XXIII. 1-24.] the Sanhedrivi. 237 
 
 Now the method which the Apostle took to con- 
 found his judges, by diverting their anger from 
 himself, and setting them at variance with each 
 other, has been characterised as unworthy and dis- 
 ingenuous. In our judgment the skill with which Farrar, The 
 
 Life of 
 
 he prevented that violence, of which he had ex- s. Paul, 
 perienced a foretaste, from prevailing over justice, "' ^^ ' 
 and being used to his destruction, is indicative of 
 the controlling influence of the Spirit of Wisdom, 
 giving him in that critical moment what he should 
 speak. It was, it is true, " a strategic act," but 
 strategy is not of necessity associated with craft and 
 deception. He knew that there was just one tenet 
 upon which he and probably the majority of his 
 judges were agreed ; and it was a fundamental one. 
 If he could convince them that his belief in this was 
 the real ground of the accusation against him, it 
 would, he hoped, secure their suffrages in his favour, 
 while it would be equally certain to ensure a vote 
 of condemnation from the Sadducean party. It was 
 not, however, a mere doing of evil that good might 
 come, no sowing of discord among his judges simply 
 to turn away their anger from himself, but it was 
 at the same time an open declaration of the great 
 principle of all his preaching, Jesus and the Resur- 
 rection ; and that our Blessed Lord approved of his 
 
238 S. Paul before [Chap. xxn. 
 
 action is placed beyond question by the supernatural 
 vision, in which He set His seal to the testimony 
 that he had borne before his adversaries at this very 
 trial. " Be of good cheer, Paul," are words that no 
 man can wrest from their obvious purpose. They 
 
 Actsxviii. 8. were the echo of the Divine Voice which had been 
 his stay and support amidst the opposition and 
 blasphemy of the Corinthian Jews ; and they were 
 
 Acts x.wdi. destined to nerve him again in the dire distress of 
 storm and shipwreck. S. Paul's manifesto, " I am 
 a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee ; of the hope and 
 resurrection of the dead I am called in question," 
 was followed by such a tumult and violent com- 
 motion, that Lysias, " fearing lest Paul should have 
 been pulled in pieces of them, commanded the 
 soldiers to go down, and to take him by force from 
 among them, and bring him into the castle." It 
 rescued him from circumstances of the greatest 
 peril, but only for the moment. So determined 
 were his enemies to compass his destruction, and so 
 bitterly disappointed at the frustration of their 
 purpose, that no less than forty of them bound 
 themselves by the strongest obligation possible that 
 they would not touch food till they had killed him. 
 It was a Jewish maxim that assassination was more 
 than justified for apostasy from the Law of Moses. 
 
23-30— xxiii. 1-24.] the Sanhedrim. 239 
 
 It might even become a duty. Such was the view 
 of the conspirators against the Apostle. Their 
 deep-laid plot, however, was defeated ; the numbers 
 who took part in it were too great for the secret to 
 be kept ; and, unfortunately for their purpose, one 
 of the first persons to whom it was betrayed was 
 S. Paul's nephew; who at once went to Antonia, 
 and gaining access to his uncle, reported what he 
 had heard. As no time was to be lost, S. Paul sent 
 him at once to headquarters, where he was kindly 
 received by the chief captain, who, after binding his 
 informant to the strictest silence, took immediate 
 steps to place his prisoner beyond all danger. A 
 large escort, numbering no less than four hundred 
 and seventy soldiers and spearmen,^ was ordered to 
 be in readiness to start that night to convey the 
 prisoner to the governor at Caesarea. Such a for- 
 midable force was deemed necessary for a variety 
 of reasons, the number of the conspirators, the com- 
 plicity of the chief rulers of the Jews, the facility 
 of enlisting the services of the Sicarii,^ who abounded 
 
 1 de^ioKd^ovs is a word not easily explained. Our translation 
 is taken from the Vulgate, lancearios. In MS. it is de^iojSdXovs, 
 men who throw with the right hand. Some have interpreted it of 
 military lictors. 
 
 2 These were becoming a source of terror in the city. A few 
 years later they filled Jerusalem with rapine and mui'der in the 
 final siege. 
 
240 5*. Paul before [Chap. xxn. 
 
 in the city, and also the fact that the roads were 
 infested with brigands. Lysias was determined 
 that his last effort to save his prisoner from violence 
 should not fail through want of precaution. All 
 was carried out as he wished, and in due course 
 S. Paul was delivered up to Felix, the Governor. 
 How he fared at the tribunal we shall see here- 
 after. 
 Rom. ii. 15, Now there is a fact Avhich, though expressed 
 
 xiii. 5. 
 
 I Cor. iv. 4, again and again in S. Paul's writings, is emphasised 
 
 1 Tiiii. i. s. ill such a very marked manner, both in this speech 
 
 2 Tim. 1. 3. |jgfQj.g ^]^g Sanhedrim, and in his trial at the court 
 
 of Felix, which immediately follows, that it deserves 
 especial notice. It is that which he made the law 
 of his life, the supremacy of conscience. " I have 
 lived in all good conscience before God until this 
 Actsxxiv. 16. day"; and again, "Herein do I exercise myself to 
 have always a conscience void of offence both toward 
 God and toward men." 
 
 In both these cases it is not without significance 
 that he associates his conduct with the revelation 
 of an important doctrine. It was on the ground 
 that God had declared to him a definite truth ; it 
 was in the hope and fear of the Resurrection, that 
 he had determined to live with a clear conscience, 
 in order that he might be prepared to meet the 
 
23-30— XXIII. 1-24.] the Sanhedrim. 241 
 
 returning Judge. In his eyes a doctrinal basis was 
 the best foundation for a godly life. 
 
 Now if we would realise what a happy and 
 blessed thing it is to have such a conscience as 
 S. Paul rejoiced in, we have only to think of the 
 curse and misery which its opposite entails. We 
 all know the weird story of the Jew who was 
 doomed to wander through the earth, haunted by 
 the never-absent vision of the Cross. It confronted 
 him at every step ; in the masts of the ship ; in 
 the branches of the tree ; in the uplifted arms of 
 his fellow-creatures ; now cast as a shadow before 
 his feet ; now lifted up, luminous in the ever- 
 changing shapes of the clouds ; wherever he went, 
 there was no escape. 
 
 The legend was intended, as so many of the 
 mediaeval stories of a like kind, to embody in a 
 romantic and poetic form, altogether alien to the 
 spirit of these prosaic times, a true and living prin- 
 ciple. It aimed at putting before men a graphic 
 description of the unspeakable misery of an awak- 
 ened conscience, which can find no relief from the 
 sense of sin. 
 
 How different from this is the happy consumma- 
 tion of which S. Paul speaks, " a conscience void of 
 offence toward God and toward men " ! According 
 
 VOL, II. Q 
 
242 Before the Sanhedrim, [xxn. 23— xxm. 24. 
 
 to the exact figure in his mind, it was a conscience 
 stretching back through life, like a smooth and level 
 road, with no obstacles, no memories of falsehood 
 and wrong, of corrupting imaginations and un- 
 resisted temptation, to stumble against or trip over 
 in the retrospect. The same may be ours, if, like 
 S. Paul, we will exercise ourselves, and practise the 
 I Cor. ix. 27. discipline,^ the asceticism of the Christian athlete, 
 and keep under our bodies and bring them into 
 subjection to the law of Christ. 
 
 1 o-CKeiv is the word wliicli lie uses, and it Implies the training 
 and self-restraint and mortification which was practised by those 
 who contended for athletic prizes. 
 
LIV. 
 
 ^. ^aul on 1)10 %vml at tl)e Court 
 of ^tUx* 
 
 The Acts xxiii. 25 — xxiv. 1-27. 
 
 25. And he wrote a letter after 
 this manner : "26. Claudius Lysias 
 unto the most excellent governor 
 Felix sendeih greeting. '27. This 
 man was taken of the Jews, and 
 should have been killed of them : 
 then came I with an army, and 
 rescued him, having understood 
 that he was a Roman. 28. And 
 when I 'woidd have known the 
 cause wherefore they accused him, 
 I brought him forth into their 
 council : 29. whom I perceived to 
 be accused of questions of their law, 
 but to have nothing laid to his 
 charge worthy of death or of bonds. 
 30. And when it was told me how 
 that the Jews laid wait for the man, 
 1 sent straightway to thee, and gave 
 commandment to his accusers also 
 to say before thee what they had 
 against him. Farewell. 31. Then 
 the soldiers, as it was commanded 
 them, took Paul, and brought hun 
 by night to Antipatris. 32. On the 
 morrow they left the horsemen to 
 go with him, and returned to the 
 castle : 33. who, when they came to 
 Caesarea, and delivered the epistle to 
 the governor, presented Paul also 
 before him. 34. And when the 
 governor had read the letter, he 
 asked of what province he was. 
 
 And when he understood that he 
 was of Cilicia ; 35. I will hear thee, 
 said he, when thine accusers are also 
 come. And he commanded him to 
 be kept in Herod's judgment hall. 
 
 XXIV. I. And after five days Ana- 
 nias the high priest descended with 
 the elders, and tuith a certain orator 
 7iavied TertuUus, who informed the 
 governor against Paul. 2. And 
 when he was called forth, Tertullus 
 began to accuse /!?>«, saying, Seeing 
 that by thee we enjoy great quiet- 
 ness, and that very worthy deeds 
 are done unto this nation by thy 
 providence, 3. we accept it always, 
 and in all places, most noble Felix, 
 with all thankfulness. 4. Notwith- 
 standing, that I be not further 
 tedious unto thee, I pray thee that 
 thou wouldest hear us of thy clem- 
 ency a few words. 5. For we have 
 found this man a pestilent fellow, 
 and a mover of sedition among all 
 the Jews throughout the world, and 
 a ringleader of the sect of the Naza- 
 renes : 6. who also hath gone about 
 to profane the temple : whom we 
 took, and w ould have judged accord- 
 ing to our law. 7. But the chief 
 captain Lysias came upon us, and 
 with great violence took hhu away 
 out of our hands, 8. commanding 
 243 
 
244 
 
 S. Paul on his Trial [Chap. xxm. 
 
 his accusers to come unto thee : by 
 examining of whom thyself mayest 
 take knowledge of all these things, 
 whereof we accuse him. 9. And the 
 Jews also assented, saying that these 
 things were so. 10. Then Paul, after 
 that the governor had beckoned unto 
 him to speak, answered, Forasmuch 
 as I know that thou hast been of 
 many years a judge unto this nation, 
 I do the more cheerfully answer for 
 myself: 11. because that thou may- 
 est understand, that there are yet 
 but twelve days since I went ujj to 
 Jerusalem for to worship. 12. And 
 they neither found me in the temple 
 disputing with any man, neither 
 raising up the people, neither in the 
 sj'nagogues, nor in the city : 13. 
 neither can they prove the things 
 whereof they now accuse me. 14. 
 But this I confess unto thee, that 
 after the way which they called 
 heresy, so worship I the God of my 
 fathers, believing all things which 
 are written in the law and in the 
 prophets: 15. and have hope toward 
 God, which they themselves also 
 allow, that there shall be a resur- 
 rection of the dead, both of the just 
 and unjust. 16. And herein do I 
 exercise myself, to have always a 
 conscience void of offence toward 
 God, and toward men. 17. Now 
 after many years I came to bring 
 alms to my nation, and offerings. 
 t3. Whereupon certain Jews from 
 Asia found me purified in the temple, 
 neither with multitude nor with 
 tumult, 19. who ought to have 
 
 The official letter ^ which the Roman Tribune 
 wrote to His Excellency the Governor of the Pro- 
 
 been here before thee, and object, 
 if they had ought against me. 20. 
 Or else let these same here say, if 
 they have found any evil-doing in 
 me, while I stood before the council, 
 21. except it be for this one voice, 
 that I cried standing among them, 
 Touching the resurrection of the 
 dead I am called in question by 
 you this day. 22. And when Felix 
 heard these things, having more 
 perfect knowledge of that way, he 
 deferred them, and said, When 
 Lysias the chief captain shall come 
 down, I will know the uttermost 
 of your matter. 23. And he com- 
 manded a centurion to keep Paul, 
 and to let hijii have liberty, and 
 that he should forbid none of his 
 acquaintance to minister or come 
 unto him. 24. And after certain 
 days, when Felix came with his wife 
 Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he 
 sent for Paul, and heard him con- 
 cerning the faith in Christ. 25. And 
 as he reasoned of righteousness, 
 temperance, and judgment to come, 
 Felix trembled, and answered. Go 
 thy way for this time : when I have 
 a convenient season, I will call for 
 thee. 26. He hoped also that money 
 should have been given him of Paul, 
 that he might loose him : wherefore 
 he sent for him the oftener, and 
 communed with him. 27. But after 
 two years Porcius Festus came into 
 Felix' room : and Felix, willing to 
 show the Jews a pleasure, left Paul 
 bound. 
 
 1 The technical designation of such a document was elogium. 
 It was a written abstract or specification of the case for trial. 
 
25-35— '^xiv. 1-27.] at the Couri of Felix. 245 
 
 vince was couched in language calculated to pre- 
 judice the judge in favour of the prisoner, wliile 
 it gave quite a false impression of the writer's 
 action respecting him. Pretending that he had 
 taken special precautions to secure his safety, 
 because he knew that he was a Roman, he con- 
 cealed the fact of his negligence in having first 
 ordered him to be scourged, and thereby laid 
 himself open to a serious penalty. From what he 
 had heard of his trial before the Sanhedrim he said 
 that he had formed a very definite opinion that he 
 was innocent of any crime which could render him 
 amenable to a Roman Court ; but finding that his 
 life was in imminent peril from a conspiracy of the 
 Zealots, he had deemed it prudent to send him 
 under escort to the headquarters of the provincial 
 authority. 
 
 Such was the purport of the written statement 
 of the case, the public reading of which usually 
 opened proceedings in court. Felix saw at a 
 glance that it was not a case of urgency; but he 
 promised to give it a full hearing in due course, 
 and ordered the prisoner meanwhile to be detained 
 in his palace, and treated with all the leniency 
 which the law allowed. 
 
 The first preliminary was to summon his accusers. 
 
246 S. Pmd on his Trial [Chap. xxm. 
 
 Csesarea was distant from Jerusalem about seventy 
 miles, and five days elapsed before they arrived. 
 They consisted of Ananias, the High Priest, who 
 had presided when the Court had broken up in 
 confusion, and a deputation of Sanhedrists, and 
 they brought with them a Roman advocate or 
 barrister, TertuUus, who had been practising in 
 Jerusalem, where the Jews, from their ignorance 
 of Jewish law and forms of procedure, found him 
 Humphry abundant occupation. Cicero tells us that the 
 
 on the- Acts. ... 
 
 cic.pro promising young lawyers, who aspired to forensic 
 
 « 10, c. jo. (jjgi^jj^QtiQj^ g^^ Rome, were wont to prepare tliem- 
 
 selves by the practice of provincial courts. The 
 
 prosecution was prefaced by a very skilfully con- 
 
 Gioag, from trivcd panegyric, according to one of " the first 
 rules of rhetoric, to secure the goodwill of the 
 judge by praising him." TertuUus pressed into the 
 front one indisputable benefit which Felix had con- 
 ferred upon the nation by his administration, and 
 under cover of this credited him with other worthy 
 deeds or reforms ^ which he was careful to leave 
 undefined. 
 
 Save in this one particular, profane history flatly 
 
 ■'■ The right interpretation depends upon the reading, Karopdoifia, 
 res prseclare facta, a distinguished action, civil or military ; or 
 Siopdu/JLCL, supported by the Vulg. and Syr., an amelioration or 
 reform. 
 
25-35— XXIV. I-27'] cLt the Cotirt of Felix. 247 
 
 contradicts the impression conveyed by the speech. 
 
 Tacitus says that there was no iniquity which he 
 
 did not commit, and that nothing but Court influ- Tac. Ann. 
 
 ence 1 protected him from the consequences ; that he v. 9. 
 
 combined the tyranny of a king with the servility 
 
 of a slave ; and his maladministration, we are told, Joseph. 
 
 Antiq. 
 
 was such that at last it made his recall irapera- .\x. viii. 9. 
 tively necessary. There was, however, considerable 
 truth in what the advocate said of " the great quiet- 
 ness " which the provinces had enjoyed through 
 him ; for he had completely cleared the country Joseph. 
 
 Wars 
 
 of brigandage, which had been the terror of the n. xiil. 2. 
 people for twenty years, and made life and property 
 insecure. 
 
 With this eulogy he proceeded to allege the 
 charges on which the prisoner was arraigned. 
 They were three : sedition, schism, and sacrilege ; 
 the first, that he was guilty of high treason, and 
 had fostered rebellion throughout the Eoman Em- 
 pire.- It was put in the forefront, as likely to 
 create a prejudice against him ; for the Romans 
 were constantly suspecting the Jews of aiming 
 at the overthrow of their supremacy. They had 
 
 ^ He alluded to the iuflueuce wliicli Pallas, Felix's brother, had 
 over Nero. 
 
 2 Ko,Tk TYju olKovixeurju. In a Roman court it would be at once 
 understood in the limited sense of the Roman dominions. 
 
XXIU. 2, 5. 
 
 248 S. Paul on his Trial [Chap. xxm. 
 
 brought the selfsame accusation against our Blessed 
 Lord : He perverts the nation, " forbidding to give 
 s. Luke tribute to Csesar." " He stirreth up the people." 
 S. Paul, in his reply, made a respectful acknow- 
 ledgment of Felix's position, expressing his satis- 
 faction that he had been so long conversant with 
 the affairs of the province, that he could make 
 no possible mistake in his adjudication through 
 ignorance ; and he then went on to rebut the 
 charges one by one. He said there would be no 
 difficulty in establishing or refuting them ; for the 
 offences alleged were said to have been lately com- 
 mitted — in fact, some of them within the last few 
 days. To the charge of exciting rebellion and 
 popular tumult ho gave an emphatic denial. To 
 that of sacrilege, he said that it was simply impos- 
 sible ; for his sole object in visiting the Temple 
 was " to worship " ; worship and sacrilege were 
 incompatible with each other ; and on the third 
 count, so far from being a schismatic, under the 
 form which they called " sectarian," ^ he said that 
 he worshipped the God of his fathers and theirs. 
 
 1 A. V. "heresy," but S. Paul is merely taking ujj the word used 
 in the charge — "the sect " (A. V.)of the Nazarenes. In both cases 
 it is aipecTis. TertuUus had used it in a bad sense, and the Apostle 
 explains it. The accusation certainly implied what we mean by 
 sect rather than heresy. 
 
25-35— XXIV. 1-27-] cit the Court of Felix. 249 
 
 He was, it was true, a Christian, or, as they con- 
 temptuously called him, a Nazarene; but he was 
 a Jew at the same time, for Christianity was the 
 development of Judaism, and not antagonistic s. Matt. 
 
 V. 17. 
 
 to it. 
 
 The charge which seems to have most galled him 
 was that of profaning the Temple ; and he dwelt 
 more fully upon it, because it was capable of de- 
 finite refutation and disproof. He had even taken 
 offerings and sacrifices to the Temple, and had 
 completely identified himself Avith the most devout 
 Jews in helping them to discharge the obligations 
 of the law of purification. The only ground on 
 which they could accuse him with any show of 
 justice was, that he held a doctrine which a portion 
 of the nation, the Sadducean party, disbelieved ; 
 but the Pharisees and the bulk of the nation also 
 allowed it, " that there shall be a resurrection of Dan. xii. 
 the dead, both of the just and unjust." Herein he 
 was so convinced of the truth that he had trained 
 himself to order his whole life to a conscientious 
 fulfilment of all the duties which such a doctrine 
 involved. 
 
 Felix was evidently satisfied that Lysias had 
 formed a right opinion of the prisoner's innocence ; 
 and after giving the Sanhedrists to understand 
 
250 S. Paul 071 his Trial [Chap. xxm. 
 
 that he knew more about the Christian religion, 
 or what men had taken to call " the Way," than 
 they imagined,^ he determined to adjourn the case 
 for fuller consideration at a future time. It was 
 only a pretext ; he shrank from an acquittal, 
 because it would displease the Jews ; and he 
 thought he saw in postponement at least a possi- 
 bility that a bribe might be offered to secure his 
 liberation. His avaricious instincts and expecta- 
 tions had probably been quickened by what S. Paul 
 had said about his having been the bearer of " alms 
 and offerings " ; either he or his friends had money 
 at their disposal. So it was that the first stage in 
 the trial at Csesarea was quite inconclusive. The 
 governor, if he had any qualms of conscience, 
 allayed them by mitigating the severities of the 
 " military custody," ^ under Avhich he placed the 
 Apostle. Under ordinary circumstances a prisoner 
 of this class, awaiting a trial, would have been 
 bound by a chain to the soldier in charge of him ; 
 
 1 cLKpilSeaTepov eiSdos ; the comparative does not admit of any 
 other interpretation so satisfactory, though many have been given. 
 
 2 There were in the Roman Empire three kinds of imprison- 
 ment : 1st, the public i^rison, ctisiodia publica, in which S. Paul 
 and Silas were placed ; 2nd, custodia militaris, in which the 
 prisoner was usually chained to a soldier, at least at times ; 3rd, 
 custodia libera, which would correspond to our " release on bail." 
 Some have thought that Felix subjected the Apostle only to the 
 third, but the second is far more likely. 
 
23-35- ^^>^iv. 1-27] cit the Court of Felix. 251 
 
 S. Paul was exempted from such cruel durance, if 
 not altogether, at least for the most part ; and he 
 enjoyed free liberty in receiving visits from his 
 friends, amongst whom were S. Luke, and Aris- 
 tarchus, and S. Philip's family. 
 
 From time to time curiosity and the hope of 
 receiving money for his release prompted Felix to 
 summon him to his presence. On one occasion he 
 was brought before him when one who is called 
 " his wife " was sitting at his side. The Apostle 
 knew her shameful history ; he knew how she had Joseph. 
 been married to Azizus, the king of Emesa, who xx. vii. 1,2. 
 in his great love for her had even embraced the 
 Jewish religion ; and how she had yielded to the 
 enticements of a Cyprian magician to forsake her 
 lawful husband, and to sell her soul to the pro- 
 fligate Felix ; and the Apostle's indignation was 
 roused. He saw in Felix, sitting there in a chamber 
 of his palace, no longer the judge in the chair of 
 authority, and all the feelings of respect, which his 
 official dignity in the court of justice had prompted, 
 changed into a flaming desire to rebuke his sinful 
 life ; and he reasoned with him "of righteousness, 
 temperance, and judgment to come." 
 
 Of righteousness : — it is to be true and just in all 
 our dealings ; it is to do unto others as we would 
 
252 S. Paul on his Trial [Chap. xxm. 
 
 that they should do unto us ; it is to give to all 
 their due, " to render unto Caesar the things that 
 be Caesar's, and to God the things that be God's." 
 And then, perhaps without the name, the Apostle 
 drew a vivid picture of a ruler, whom his people 
 branded as unjust, cruel, tyrannical, and avaricious ; 
 and seeing his own face drawn to the very image in 
 the mirror before him, " Felix trembled." 
 
 Of temperance : — it is the virtue of self-restraint ; 
 it is that which holds passion in a leash, and enables 
 a man to keep his body in soberness and chastity ; 
 it is the power to seize the reins, and guide all the 
 lower appetites in subjection to the law of God. 
 And as he thought thereon the Apostle saw before 
 his eyes Felix and Drusilla, two persons who knew 
 nothing of all this : the slaves of passion ; given 
 up " to uncleanness through the lusts of their own 
 hearts " ; with the works of the flesh, adultery, 
 fornication, and lasciviousness, manifest in their 
 lives ; and in God's Name he denounced it all ; and 
 again "Felix trembled." 
 
 Of judgment to come — of the final Assize, 
 when all earthly wrongs and inequalities shall be 
 redressed, when the Ancient of Days shall 
 descend in the company of archangels and angels, 
 and the quick and dead, both small and great, 
 
25-35— XXIV. 1-27.] cit the Cotirt of Felix. 253 
 
 shall stand at the Tribunal of God to be judged, 
 not with man's judgment, but with the unerring 
 verdict of Him to Whom " all things are naked 
 and open," and to receive the due reward of 
 their deeds ; and, stung with the pangs of an 
 awakened conscience, " Felix trembled." 
 
 It was, however, only a passing fear ; he dismissed 
 from his presence the man who had created it ; "Go 
 thy way for this time, when I have a convenient 
 season I will call for thee," and with his dismissal 
 his fear and trembling ceased. He had been con- 
 victed, but not converted, made conscious of his 
 danger, but his consciousness had inspired no 
 longing to be delivered from it ; and the reason was 
 because his besetting sin of avarice held domination 
 over him ; for it is added with a terrible significance, 
 " he hoped also that money should have been given 
 him of Paul, that he might loose him." What an 
 insight it gives us into the power of habitual sin ! 
 As the Apostle reasoned with him of righteousness, 
 all his avarice and overreaching had stood out in 
 relief before him, but the lightning flash, that had 
 revealed it, passed, and, instead of abandoning it for 
 ever, he planned the means for a fresh indulgence 
 even on the very spot. And all went on as before ; 
 no second peal of thunder startled him in his sinful 
 
254 Paul on his Ti'ial. [Ch. xxm. 25— xxiv. 27. 
 Joseph. life J his opportunity had been offered to him and 
 
 Antiq. 
 
 x.v. viii. 9. lost ; and at last degradation from his office closed 
 the door for the gratification of his besetting sin, 
 while it left him with the old desire still unoon- 
 quered. It would be difficult to imagine a more 
 miserable lot in the present, or one more hopeless 
 for the time to come. 
 
LV. 
 
 »>♦ ^aul before jfe^tug?. 
 
 The Acts xxv. 1-12 ; xxvi. 24, 25. 
 
 I. Now when Festus was come 
 into the province, after three days 
 he ascended from Caesarea to Jeru- 
 salem. 2. Then the high priest and 
 the chief of the Jews informed him 
 against Paul, and besought him, 
 3. and desired favour against 
 him, that he would send for him 
 to Jerusalem, laying wait in the 
 way to kill him. 4. But Festus 
 answered, that Paul should be kept 
 at Caasarea, and that he himself 
 would depart shortly thither. 3. 
 Let them, therefore, said he, which 
 among you are able, go down with 
 vie, and accuse this man, if there be 
 any wickedness in him. 6. And 
 when he had tarried among them 
 more than ten days, he went down 
 unto Caesarea ; and the next day 
 sitting on the judgment seat com- 
 manded Paul to be brought. 7. 
 And when he was come, the Jews 
 which came down from Jerusalem 
 stood round about, and laid many 
 and grievous complaints against 
 Paul, which they could not prove. 
 8. While he answered for himself, 
 Neither against the law of the Jews, 
 
 neither against the temple, nor yet 
 against Csesar, have I offended any 
 thing at all. 9. But Festus, willing 
 to do the Jews a pleasure, answered 
 Paul, and said, Wilt thou go up to 
 Jerusalem, and there be judged of 
 these things before me? 10. Then 
 said Paul, I stand at Csesar's judg- 
 ment seat, where I ought to be 
 judged : to the Jews have I done no 
 wrong, as thou very well knowest. 
 
 11. For if I be an offender, or have 
 committed anything worthy of death, 
 I refuse not to die : but if there be 
 none of these things whereof these 
 accuse me, no man may deliver me 
 unto them. I appeal unto Caesar. 
 
 12. Then Festus, when he had con- 
 ferred with the council, answered, 
 Hast thou appealed unto Csesar? 
 unto Caesar shalt thou go. 
 
 XXVI. 24. And as he thus spake 
 for himself, Festus said with a loud 
 voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself ; 
 much learning doth make thee mad. 
 25. But he said, I am not mad, most 
 noble Festus ; but speak forth the 
 words of truth and soberness. 
 
 Felix, dreading the result of his recall from the 
 government of the province, made a final effort to 
 save himself from the worst consequences ; and, like 
 
 255 
 
xx. vii. 9, 
 
 256 S. Paid before Festus. [Chap. xxv. 
 
 Pilate before him, he sacrificed a prisoner, of whose 
 
 innocence he was clearly convinced, in order to 
 
 secure the favour of the Jews. He hoped by leaving 
 
 the Apostle in prison to ingratiate himself with the 
 
 enemies of Christianity, and enlist their sympathy, 
 
 if evidence should be sought as to the justice of his 
 
 administration. It is a satisfaction to know that 
 
 the effort failed ; for the Jews followed him to 
 
 Joseph. Rome, and brought such heavy charges against him, 
 
 that he only escaped condign punishment through 
 
 the intrigues of his relations, Avho were high in 
 
 favour at the Imperial Court. 
 
 He was succeeded by Porcius Festus, whose public 
 
 character was marked by great administrative skill, 
 
 uprightness, and energy, which placed him in strong 
 
 contrast to his predecessor. No sooner had he 
 
 taken formal possession of his official residence at 
 
 Csesarea, the seat of civil government, than he 
 
 hastened to visit Jerusalem, the national capital and 
 
 centre of the religion of the people. The High 
 
 Priest ^ and other members of the Sanhedrim seized 
 
 the opportunity of reviving their efforts to compass 
 
 the death of the man whom they so cordially hated, 
 
 their hatred for whom had been aggravated by the 
 
 1 It was Ishmael, the son of Phabi, whom Agrippa had lately 
 appointed to succeed Ananias. The reading of the best mss. gives 
 the plural, which must include those who had previously held 
 the office. 
 
V. I-I2.] S. Patd before Festtis, 257 
 
 many attempts which Felix had invariably frus- 
 trated. The new appointment rekindled their 
 hopes; if they asked for his extradition from 
 Csesarea as a personal favour, Festus would hardly 
 deny it for fear of prejudicing the authorities of the 
 capital, and creating an adverse impression at the 
 outset of his career ; possibly he would raise no 
 objections, as they only asked that justice might be 
 done, and that the man should be tried by what the 
 Governor would recognise at once as the most com- 
 petent tribunal to deal with such a case. It would 
 seem, however, that they had misjudged the char- 
 acter of Festus. At all events his suspicions were 
 aroused ; why, if it was so obviously right, was it 
 sought " as a favour " 1 Their request was refused, 
 but a promise given that, as the Apostle was ^ in 
 custody at Csesarea, the earliest opportunity should 
 be taken, after his return, of bringing him to trial. 
 Meanwhile they would do well, as they were evi- 
 dently deeply interested in the case, to choose out 
 their ablest ^ men to put forth and substantiate the 
 grave charges which they had to make. 
 
 1 T7]peL<T9a.i cannot be as A.V. renders it, "that he should be 
 kept" ; Festus merely stated that he had reason to know that he 
 was safe. 
 
 2 01 €v vfuv Swaroi, not as A.V. implies, those who can make it 
 convenient to go, but the men of greatest weight and influence. 
 
 VOL. II. R 
 
258 ^. Paul before Festus. [Chap. xxv. 
 
 Baffled in their expectations of a successful issue 
 to their petition, they determined to accept the 
 Governor's decision ; and the delegates of the San- 
 hedrim made ready to start the very day of his 
 departure ; indeed, they must have almost travelled 
 together.^ The promptitude with which the Court 
 was summoned encouraged them greatly; no new 
 charges were made out ; sedition, schism, and sacri- 
 lege formed a heavy indictment, and they poured 
 out a torrent of invective, with no attempt, howevei', 
 to support their accusations by witness ; and, as no 
 details were alleged, S. Paul contented himself with 
 a categorical and emphatic denial. 
 
 At this stage Festus interposed. He had defi- 
 nitely refused the request of the Jews for a peremp- 
 tory citation of the prisoner to Jerusalem, and his 
 refusal had no doubt offended them ; if, however, 
 the Apostle expressed his willingness ^ to be tried 
 there, it would be quite different. What he had 
 witnessed in court of the rancorous hatred of the 
 Sanhedrists must have satisfied him that S. Paul 
 would not, willingly at least, commit himself to the 
 tender mercies of such a tribunal, but he guarded 
 
 1 (TvyKaTa^dvTes can hardly mean that the able men went to- 
 gether, which would not have called for notice. 
 
 2 The option is clearer in the Greek, (?e\ets, "are you willing ? " 
 than in the A.V. "wilt thou?" 
 
V. I-I2.] S. Patil before Feshis. 259 
 
 himself against what might seem a wholly unreason- 
 able proposal by promising, if he assented, to 
 guarantee his personal presence at the trial as a 
 security for strict justice. At any rate, whether 
 the suggestion was accepted or not, it would impress 
 the Jews in his favour, and give at least the appear- 
 ance of a conciliatory spirit ; so, turning to the 
 prisoner, he asked him the definite question, " Are 
 you willing to go up to Jerusalem and there be 
 judged of these things in my presence % " ^ All that 
 he had experienced at the hands of the Jews left 
 not a shadow of doubt on his mind that a fair trial 
 was absolutely impossible; and so he answered 
 without hesitation, " There is no accusation against 
 me which is not cognisable by the Roman Law : I 
 am a Roman citizen, and as such I claim to be tried 
 in a Roman court. You know, better^ perhaps 
 than you like to allow, that I have not wronged the 
 Jews, and if you, as the representative of Caesar, do 
 not feel able to adjudicate on the charges laid 
 against me, there is no alternative, I must go to a 
 
 1 en-' kix,ox) is somewhat ambiguous : it must at the very least 
 imply, " in my presence." 
 
 2 ws KoX (7v kclWiov €TnyivwaKei.s. More is implied than the 
 A.V. expresses, "as thou very well knowest." The comparative 
 suggests, "better than you are prepared to admit," or something 
 of this nature. 
 
2 6o S. Paul before Feshis. [chap. xxv. 
 
 higher Court, I must claim a hearing from the 
 
 Emperor in person, I appeal unto Csesar." Festus 
 
 Sueton. was Surprised, and possibly not a little dismayed, 
 
 Tiber. 33. i • t i i i 
 
 Gaiba, 19. by his decision, for he immediately proceeded to 
 Wars, gather his assessors round him, to advise upon the 
 
 11. XVI. 1. course to be taken. There was, however, no room 
 for doubt ; the prisoner's claim to an appeal had 
 Julian, i^ggjj made ; it could not be disallowed, for it was 
 
 Valerian, 
 
 Porcian, and the Very birthright of citizenship, admitted and se- 
 
 Sempronian . 
 
 Laws. Livj', curcd by a long succession of legal enactments. We 
 Pliny, Epfad cau imagine what the feelings of the Apostle must 
 Traj. X. 97. j^g^^g \iQQVi whcn Fcstus returned from conferring 
 with his council, and gave his verdict : " you have ^ 
 appealed unto Csesar: unto Caesar you shall go." 
 S. Paul must have known well what the character 
 of Caesar's Court was. He had experienced two 
 bitter years of unjust treatment at the hands of 
 Felix, but Felix was far outstripped by Nero in all 
 the qualifications of an unrighteous judge. No 
 doubt he had counted the cost ; on the one side he 
 had set the certainty of standing at the tribunal of 
 a cruel tyrant, the oppressor of all that was noble 
 and true, with no sense of justice to enable him 
 even to wish to redress a wrong or reward the 
 
 1 There is no interrogative, as in A. V. He merely states the 
 fact. 
 
V. I-I2.1 S. P mil before FestiLS. 261 
 
 upright ; in the other scale he threw the promise of 
 
 God- as a guide His Word was paramount, "Be of Actsxxiii.n. 
 
 good cheer, Paul ; for as thou hast testified of me 
 
 in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at 
 
 Rome." Whatever the consequences, it was the 
 
 will of God that he should stand before Csesar in 
 
 the great capital of the world ; and he believed that 
 
 the Holy Spirit would teach him in that hour what 
 
 he ought to speak, and disarm the tyrant ; and so, 
 
 with confidence in the Divinity of his mission, and 
 
 without fear even of Nero, he had made his final 
 
 appeal. 
 
 Once more before his departure for Csesar's 
 Tribunal the Apostle and Festus are brought face to 
 face. The scene belongs to a later stage in the 
 history, but may be more conveniently noticed here. 
 It was when S. Paul was called upon to answer for 
 himself in the presence of Agrippa, that he unfolded 
 the marvellous story of the supernatural vision on 
 the road to Damascus, and the consequent conversion 
 of the great persecutor of the Christians into the 
 witness and Apostle of Christ, to bear his message 
 to the Gentiles ; that he told in burning words, 
 and with the fire of his strong conviction, of his 
 commission to illumine the dark places of heathen- 
 dom with the light of revelation, and turn the 
 
262 S. Paul before Festus. [Chap. xxvi. 
 
 hearts of Greek and Roman, with all their boasted 
 civilisation and knowledge, and bring them into 
 subjection to the Law of the Crucified, And as he 
 spoke, the cold-hearted and unimpassioned sceptic 
 was amazed at what he heard. All that the speaker 
 said was visionary and fanatical, so impracticable 
 and extravagant, so wholly unlike the ways of the 
 world in which he moved, that Festus could brook 
 the extravagance no longer ; there was only one 
 conclusion to be drawn from all this wild outpouring 
 and jargon about visions and revelations and resur- 
 rections from the dead ; the speaker's mind must 
 have been unhinged, and so he interrupted him in 
 his speech with the startling accusation, " Paul, you 
 must be mad. You have been reading and studying 
 so much that your brain is being turned." ^ 
 
 Then came the calm, respectful, self-possessed 
 reply, in its very calmness and dignity the best 
 refutation of the charge — "I am not, as you 
 imagine, a misguided pretender or visionary en- 
 thusiast; I speak none but words of truth and 
 soberness." 
 S.John Perhaps it was the resemblance of what he had 
 
 heard of a similar accusation made against " One 
 
 1 eis fiaviav irepLTpitreL. The present perhaps implies a tempo- 
 rary derangement. 
 
V. 24. 25-] S. Paul befo7^e Festus. 263 
 
 Who spake as never man spake," '' Say we not well 
 that thou art a Samaritan and hast a devil ? " and 
 His gentle rejoinder, "I have not a devil, but I 
 honour My Father, and ye do dishonour Me," that 
 checked the Apostle's indignation, and prompted 
 his unresenting answer. 
 
 Then was fulfilled the prediction of Wisdom : 
 " The righteous man shall stand in great boldness wisdom 
 before the face of such as have afflicted him, and 
 made no account of his labours " ; but whether 
 the sequel was also fulfilled no man knows ; history 
 has left no trace of Agrippa's repentance or con- 
 version, and we dare scarcely hope that he ever 
 lived to make the confession, as he looked back 
 on his treatment of S. Paul, " This was he, whom 
 we had sometimes in derision, and a proverb of wisdom 
 reproach : we fools accounted his life madness, ^' ^' '*' 
 and his end to be without honour : how is he 
 numbered among the children of God, and his 
 lot is amons: the saints ! " 
 
LVI. 
 
 »»* Paul tiefenti0 Cljri^tianitp liefoa 
 
 The Acts xxv. 13-27 — xxvi. 1-32. 
 
 13. And after certain days king 
 Agrippa and Bernice came unto 
 Cassarea to salute Festus. 14. And 
 when they had been there many 
 days, Festus declared Paul's cause 
 unto the king, saying. There is a 
 certain man left in bonds by Felix : 
 15. about whom, when I was at 
 Jerusalem, the chief priests and the 
 elders of the Jews informed me, 
 desiring to have judgment against 
 him. 16. To whom I answered, It 
 is not the manner of the Romans to 
 deliver any man to die, before that 
 he which is accused have the 
 accusers face to face, and have 
 licence to answer for himself con- 
 cerning the crime laid against him. 
 17. Therefore, when they were come 
 hither, without any delay on the 
 morrow I sat on the judgment seat, 
 and commanded the man to be 
 brought forth. 18. Against whom 
 when the accusers stood up, they 
 brought none accusation of such 
 things as I supposed : 19. but had 
 certain questions against him of 
 their own superstition, and of one 
 264 
 
 Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul 
 affirmed to be alive. 20. And be- 
 cause I doubted of such manner of 
 questions, I asked hi?n whether he 
 would go to Jerusalem, and there 
 be judged of these matters. 21. But 
 when Paul had appealed to be re- 
 served unto the hearing of Augustus, 
 I commanded him to be kept till I 
 might send him to Cassar. 22. Then 
 Agrippa said unto Festus, I would 
 also hear the man myself. To- 
 morrow, said he, thou shalt hear 
 him. 23. And on the morrow, when 
 Agrippa was come, and Bernice, 
 with great pomp, and was entered 
 into the place of hearing, with the 
 chief captains, and principal men of 
 the city, at Festus' commandment 
 Paul was brought forth. 24. And 
 Festus said. King Agrippa, and all 
 men which are here present with us, 
 ye see this man, about whom all the 
 multitude of the Jews have dealt 
 with me, both at Jerusalem, and 
 also here, crying that he ought not 
 to live any longer. 25. But when 1 
 found that he had committed no- 
 
XXV. 13-27— XXVI. 1-32.] S. Paurs Defence. 265 
 
 thing worthy of death, and that he 
 himself hath appealed to Augustus, 
 I have determined to send him. 26. 
 Of whom I have no certain thing to 
 write unto my lord. Wherefore I 
 have brought him forth before you, 
 and specially before thee, O king 
 Agrippa, that, after examination 
 had, I might have somewhat to 
 write. 27. For it seemeth to me 
 unreasonable to send a prisoner, and 
 not withal to signify the crimes laid 
 against him. 
 
 XXVI. I. Then Agrippa said unto 
 Paul, Thou art permitted to speak 
 for thyself. Then Paul stretched 
 forth the hand, and answered for 
 himself: 2. I think myself happy, 
 king Agrippa, because I shall answer 
 for myself this day before thee touch- 
 ing all the things whereof I am 
 accused of the Jews : 3. especially 
 because I knotu thee to be e,xpert in 
 all customs and questions which are 
 among the Jews : wherefore I be- 
 seech thee to hear me patiently. 4. 
 My manner of life from my youth, 
 which was at the first among mine 
 own nation at Jerusalem, know all 
 the Jews ; 5. which knew me from 
 the beginning, if they would testify, 
 that after the most straitest sect of 
 our religion, I lived a Pharisee. 6. 
 And now I stand and am judged for 
 the hope of the promise made of God 
 unto our fathers : 7. unto which 
 promise our twelve tribes, instantly 
 serving God day and night, hope to 
 come. For which hope's sake, king 
 Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews. 
 8. Why should it be thought a thing 
 incredible with you, that God should 
 raise the dead ? 9. I verily thought 
 with myself, that I ought to do 
 many things contrary to the name 
 of Jesus of Nazareth. 10. Which 
 
 thing I also did in Jerusalem : and 
 many of the saints did 1 shut up in 
 prison, having received authority 
 from the chief priests ; and when 
 they were put to death, I gave my 
 voice against them. 11. And I 
 punished them oft in every syna- 
 gogue, and compelled them to blas- 
 pheme ; and being exceedingly mad 
 against them, I persecuted them even 
 unto strange cities. 12. Whereupon 
 as I went to Damascus with authority 
 and commission from the chief 
 priests, 13. at midday, O king, I 
 saw in the way a light from heaven, 
 above the brightness of the sun, 
 shining round about me and them 
 which journeyed with me. 14. And 
 when we were all fallen to the earth, 
 I heard a voice speaking unto me, 
 and saying in the Hebrew tongue, 
 Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me ? 
 it is hard for thee to kick against 
 the pricks. 15. And I said. Who 
 art thou. Lord ? And he said, I am 
 Jesus Whom thou persecutest. 16. 
 But rise, and stand upon thy feet : 
 for I have appeared unto thee for 
 this purpose, to make thee a minister 
 and a witness both of these things 
 which thou hast seen, and of those 
 things in the which I will appear 
 unto thee ; 17. delivering thee from 
 the people, zxiA from the Gentiles, 
 unto whom now I send thee, 18. 
 to open their eyes, and to turn them 
 from darkness to light, ^-nA/rom the 
 power of Satan unto God, that they 
 may receive forgiveness of sins, and 
 inheritance among them which are 
 sanctified by faith that is in me. 19. 
 Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was 
 not disobedient unto the heavenly 
 vision : 20. but showed first unto 
 them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, 
 and throughout all the coasts of 
 
266 S. Paul defends [Chap. xxv. 
 
 Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, 
 that they should repent and turn to 
 God, and do works meet for repent- 
 ance. 21. For these causes the Jews 
 caught me in the temple, and went 
 about to kill me. 22. Having there- 
 fore obtained help of God, I continue 
 unto this day, witnessing both to 
 small and great, saying none other 
 things than those which the prophets 
 and Moses did say should come : 23. 
 that Christ should suffer, and that 
 he should be the first that should 
 rise from the dead, and should show 
 light unto the people, and to the 
 Gentiles. 24. And as he thus spake 
 for himself, Festus said with a loud 
 voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself; 
 much learning doth make thee mad. 
 25. But he said, I am not mad, most 
 noble Festus ; but speak forth the 
 words of truth and soberness. 26. 
 For the king knoweth of these 
 things, before whom also I speak 
 
 freely : for I am persuaded that 
 none of these things are hidden from 
 him ; for this thing was not done in 
 a corner. 27. King Agrippa, be- 
 lievest thou the prophets? I know 
 that thou believest. 28. Then 
 Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost 
 thou persuadest me to be a Christian. 
 29. And Paul said, I would to God, 
 that not only thou, but also all that 
 hear me this day, were both almost, 
 and altogether such as I am, except 
 these bonds. 30. And when he had 
 thus spoken, the king rose up, and 
 the governor, and Bernice, and they 
 that sat with them : 31. and when 
 they were gone aside, they talked 
 between themselves, saying, This 
 man doeth nothing worthy of death, 
 or of bonds. 32. Then said Agrippa 
 unto Festus, This man might have 
 been set at liberty, if he had not 
 appealed unto Csesar. 
 
 We often wonder how S. Paul could have con- 
 trolled his indignation on finding himself time after 
 time brought for trial before judges who, alike by 
 their public actions and private life, had forfeited 
 every lawful claim to sit on the seat of judgment. 
 It must at least have taught him how sorely the 
 world stood in need of a moral regeneration, and 
 made him long for the spread of the great message 
 of righteousness and purity, which it was his office 
 to deliver both to Jew and Gentile. 
 
 In his own nation the Presiding Judge of the 
 Supreme Court had violated the first principle of 
 law, even in the act of administering the law. The 
 
13-27— XXVI. 1-32.] Christianity. 267 
 
 Eoman Felix had earned a reputation for every 
 vice that can be covered by rapacity and adultery, 
 Festus had, it is true, a desire to be just, but was 
 too weak of will to resist the strong, and he sacrificed 
 justice to expediency.^ And as for Agrippa — the 
 very idea of being tried at his tribunal must have 
 almost made his pure soul shudder : for men said 
 that he had an incestuous alliance with the pro- 
 fligate Bernice, who sat by his side. 
 
 But yet with the knowledge of all the sin 
 and shame that disgraced the name of justice, he 
 struggled with himself, and, on the whole, success- 
 fully, to recognise " the powers that be " and to up- Rom. xiii. i. 
 hold authority. If, thrown off his guard for a 
 moment, he "spake unadvisedly with his lips," 
 and called the High Priest a "whited wall," ^ he Acts xxiii. 3. 
 at once apologised, and explained that he had 
 done it in ignorance of his office. If at another 
 time he was seized with a determined resolve to 
 rebuke the sinful life of Felix, who was living in 
 open adultery, and reason with him " on righteous- 
 
 1 In his desire " to do the Jews a pleasure " he refused to acquit 
 Paul on the evidence before him, and offered him an alternative 
 which the prisoner knew would be fatal. 
 
 2 Ananias, which was the High Priest's name, was notorious for 
 many crimes that he had committed. He gathered round him, 
 Josephus says, wicked servants, who conspired with desperadoes 
 of the people to rob the priests and take away their tithes. 
 Antiq. xx. ix. 2. 
 
268 S. Pmd defends [Chap. xxv. 
 
 ness, temperance, and judgment to come," it was 
 not in the presence of the public, or even, as far as 
 we are told, before his subordinates, but in one of 
 those frequent and private interviews, when Felix 
 hoped that he might be bribed to release him, with- 
 Mishn. Sota. out any one knowing it. Before Agrippa he even 
 
 viii. 8. 
 
 acknowledged a sense of satisfaction in having a 
 Joseph. judge whose great personal knowledge of Jewish law 
 XX. y. 2. and customs gave him the one qualification of being 
 Pesach. ^ ^^^^ ^^ Understand the questions at issue.^ 
 foi. 107. 2. gQ £g^j, g^g ^jjg company or audience went, the hear- 
 ing before King ^ Agrippa was the most important 
 that Christianity ^ had yet received. Agrippa was 
 a Herod, and love of display was a notorious char- 
 acteristic of the Herodian dynasty. Festus in 
 return for the king's complimentary visit,* made 
 a great effort to gratify his peculiar weakness. 
 
 1 One of the offices with which he was intrusted, was the 
 guardianship of the Temple. He appointed the High Priests. 
 He had also been brought up in the Jewish religion. He had, 
 however, greatly offended the people by the Palace which he 
 built overlooking the Temple. 
 
 - Claudius gave him certain tetrarchies, formerly held by Philip 
 and Lysanias, together with the title of King. Josephus, Antiq. 
 XX. vii. 1. 
 
 3 It must be noticed at the outset that S. Paul's speech before 
 Agrippa was not so much a personal defence, as a defence of 
 Christianity. This will be seen as we proceed. 
 
 ■* It was a congratulatory visit to Festus on his taking formal 
 possession of oifice, according to the usual custom. 
 
13-27— XXVI. 1-32.] Christiiinity. 269 
 
 Arrangements were made for a function of unusual 
 magnificence. As tlie Imperial representative he 
 was himself attended by all the State officers ; his 
 august visitors brought in their train a vast retinue 
 in all the splendour of Oriental pomp ; while the 
 tribunes of the five cohorts which were always Joseph. 
 
 Wars, 
 
 quartered at Csesarea, the municipal authorities, iii. iv. 2. 
 and the leading citizens, filled the Court. xix.7x. 2. 
 
 Now it must be noticed that the Apostle was '^^'^"" "'^'' 
 
 '■ V. I. 10. 
 
 not called up for a formal trial. His appeal to 
 the Supreme Tribunal put a stop to all judicial 
 proceedings against him in the province ; but 
 Agrippa had expressed a wish to hear in person 
 the prisoner about whom so much had been said ; 
 and Festus had little doubt that he would raise no 
 objection to appear before him. 
 
 In their private conversation Festus had told 
 the king that the main charge against him turned 
 upon the fact that " One Jesus, which was dead," 
 was affirmed by Paul " to be alive." If Agrippa's 
 heart had not been hardened, the bare mention of 
 the Name would have stirred unpleasant memories. 
 It was James, an Apostle of Jesus, whom his father ^ 
 had beheaded ; it was Peter, another Apostle of 
 the same Jesus, whom he had cast into prison ; 
 and immediately after those two events he had 
 
270 S. Paul defends [chap. xxv. 
 
 gone down from Judaea to Csesarea, and there, 
 probably in the very hall where they were then 
 assembled, not twenty years before, while he was 
 
 Acts xH. 23. making an oration to the people, " immediately the 
 angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not 
 God the glory; and he was eaten of worms, and 
 gave up the ghost." The persecution of the 
 followers of Jesus and the first Agrippa's death 
 had been, we should imagine, inseparably linked 
 together in history : and it is strange indeed that 
 the second Agrippa should not have been dismayed 
 by the recollection of his father's terrible end ; but 
 he showed no trace of fear or even disquiet. 
 
 As soon as S. Paul appeared before them, Festus 
 explained the course which he had taken ; how his 
 summary execution had been urgently pressed by a 
 good number of the Jews, and at a critical moment 
 in the proceedings the prisoner had appealed to 
 
 Lex Julia be tried by Caesar himself. He had no alternative 
 
 de Appel- 
 
 latione. by Koman law but to grant the appeal ; but he 
 intimated that he himself was placed thereby in 
 an awkward position, because in his own mind 
 he was convinced of his innocence. If innocent, 
 why had he not been released % If the case was 
 remitted to the Emperor's jurisdiction it implied 
 something extraordinary ; he must show cause, 
 
 Pliny, Ep. 
 x. 97. 
 
13-27— XXVI. 1-32.] CkrLstLiunty. 271 
 
 therefore, to justify the appeal. It was quite 
 unreasonable, yea, it would lay him open to cen- 
 sure, " to send a prisoner, and not withal to signify 
 the crimes laid against him." 
 
 Festus had confessed to Agrippa that he was un- 
 able to do this ; " I have no certain thing to write 
 unto my Lord." Now in this confession there is an 
 undesigned coincidence which bears testimony to a 
 point upon which we have often dwelt, viz., the 
 remarkable accuracy of the sacred historian. The 
 designation of " Lord " had been strongly pressed 
 upon the earlier Caesars, but unsuccessfully. Augus- 
 tus, the historian says, " always abhorred the title Tertuii. 
 as offensive and of ill omen ; and he would not Sutton!* 
 suffer himself to be so addressed, even by his own ^"sust. 53. 
 children, either in jest or earnest." Tiberius also id. Tib. 27. 
 repudiated it, and " being once called Lord, he 
 desired that he might not be so affronted again." 
 They considered it too expressive of the relationship 
 of master and slave. Their successors, however, did 
 not feel the same objection, and it was now becoming 
 a recognised mode of address.^ The introduction of 
 the title in the report of the speech of Festus bears 
 
 1 Domitian stereotyped it, and in the reign of Antoninus Pins 
 it was engraved on the coinage. It is said that Julian tried 
 in vain to get it discontinued. 
 
272 S. Paul defends [Chap. xxv. 
 
 witness to the writer's knowledge of the secular 
 
 history and usage of the time. No sooner had 
 
 Festus concluded his explanation than Agrippa told 
 
 Paul that he had permission to speak for himself.^ 
 
 Stretching forth his unchained ^ hand, he began the 
 
 story of his life. In the main it was a repetition of 
 
 Acts xxii. what he had said to the multitude at Jerusalem, as 
 1-21. 
 
 he stood on the stairs of the castle of Antonia, and 
 
 in part, of the history of his conversion as told by 
 
 ix. 1-22. S, Luke. 
 
 There was no prosecution or accusation of any 
 kind made against him, because it was in no sense 
 a legal trial. S. Paul, then, would have been quite 
 within his rights had he declined Agrippa's pro- 
 posal ; but, no doubt, he remembered how his Lord 
 
 s. Matt. had predicted that His Apostles should " be brought 
 before Governors and Kings " for His sake, and had 
 told them that it would be an opportunity " for a 
 testimony against them and the Gentiles." The 
 coincidence must have struck him; for the first 
 time he found himself in an assembly where all 
 
 1 Not h-Khp ffeavTOV as in Text. Rec. to make a personal defence, 
 but trepl (TeavTOv, whicli is at least not so definite. A comparison 
 of this speech with that in xxii. will show that it is not so much a 
 defence from distinct charges as that was. 
 
 - Though Felix had relaxed the durance of his custody, it seems 
 that he was in chains when he appeared before Agrippa— " except 
 these bonds," in verse 29, almost necessitates it. 
 
 X. I 
 
13-27— XXVI. 1-32.] Christianity. 273 
 
 three were represented : the Governor of the Pro- 
 vince, the Herodian king, together with the Eoman 
 soldiers and court officials of Csesarea. The oppor- 
 tunity might never occur to him again ; so he did 
 not hesitate for a moment, but preached to them 
 " Jesus and the Eesurrection." He told them how 
 he in common with his nation had lived in all the 
 fulness of Messianic hope ; a hope which had 
 inspired the Twelve tribes ^ all their life long with 
 a zeal for religion, which nothing could destroy or 
 weaken; "instantly serving God day and night." 
 The only point upon which he differed from them 
 was, that they believed the Messiah was still to 
 come, he believed that He had already come, and 
 that He Avas none other than Jesus of Nazareth, 
 Whom God had raised from the dead. Then 
 followed a statement of the means by which he had 
 been preternaturally convinced of this fact on the 
 road to Damascus ; and of the commission which he 
 had received from the Risen Messiah to bear witness 
 to His Death and Eesurrection, both to his own 
 nation and to the Gentile world. 
 
 The Apostle spoke with such impassioned earnest- 
 
 1 This title was preserved after the Return from Captivity, 
 because members of the different tribes returned with Judah or 
 Benjamin, though the majority of the Ten Tribes remained behind 
 or were lost. James i. 1 ; Ezra vi. 17, viii. 35. 
 
 VOL. II. H 
 
2 74 S. Paul defends [Chap. xxv. 
 
 ness that the cold apathetic Festus failed altogether 
 to understand the drift of his argument, and 
 thought that the only intelligible explanation of his 
 conduct was, that he was a fanatical enthusiast, if 
 not altogether mad. The fervid Christian saw that 
 he had made no impression upon the Roman sceptic, 
 and turned more hopefully to Agrippa. At least he 
 could understand him ; he knew the history of the 
 Jews ; he had heard of the Crucifixion and Eesurrec- 
 tion, they could not possibly have escaped his notice, 
 they had taken place not in some obscure corner 
 of the world, but in Jerusalem, and at the Passover 
 when they could not be hid. He had read the 
 prophets too, where all this was foretold exactly as 
 it had come to pass ; and then, perhaps, carried 
 away by his sanguine temperament, he gave him 
 credit for more than he deserved, and said, " I know 
 that in your heart of hearts you believe what the 
 prophets have written." Agrippa answered, accord- 
 ing to our translation, " Almost thou persuadest me 
 to be a Christian." The interpretation which must 
 be put upon this reply will depend upon the fact 
 whether the Apostle had misunderstood him or not. 
 If he had, then his answer is ironical and sarcastic, 
 and means. Do you think, Paul, that I can be so 
 easily persuaded, in so short a time, or with such 
 
13-27— XXVI. 1-32.] Christianity. 275 
 
 little pains on your part, to become a Christian % ^ 
 The strict usage of the Greek equivalent for " almost " 
 naturally suggests this interpretation.^ It accords 
 too, more nearly with the whole life and conduct of 
 the king both before and after, for there is nothing 
 to indicate that what he had seen and heard left 
 any impression upon him. We are obliged, however, 
 to give weight to considerations of an opposite 
 tendency. The translation of the English version s. Cj-rii 
 
 • 1 T~> • • 11 • of Jerus. 
 
 is not Without ratristic and other support ; it s. chrysost. 
 indicates that he was moved by the Apostle's appeal, version 
 and spoke in earnest; and it certainly seems by 
 what S. Paul said in reply that he so understood 
 him, and without doubt he had a better opportunity 
 of judging than we can have. The plain pathos of 
 his prayer must have enlisted the sympathy of those 
 who heard it, even if it did not convert them ; I 
 would to God — my heart's desire and prayer is — 
 that not only you. King Agrippa, but Festus and 
 all this august assembly, were both almost and 
 altogether such as I am, in spirit and soul emanci- 
 pated from the bondage of Satan, and in full 
 
 1 There is another reading iroiTJaat for yeveadai : i.e. so per- 
 suading as to make me a Christian. 
 
 2 oXiyov, generally 6X1701; Self, the usual phrase for almost. 
 iv oKiyi^ of the text seems to suggest the omission of ttoj'w or 
 XP^f'V' I^ Ephes. iii. 3, "in a short compass." 
 
276 S. Paurs Defence. [Chap. xxv. 
 
 possession of the liberty with which Christ has made 
 me free; only in one respect can I wish you a 
 better lot than my own, — it is that in your bodies 
 you may never be bound with the prisoner's 
 chains. 
 
LVII. 
 
 %\)t (Eo^ap to Eome* 
 
 The Acts xxvii. 1-26. 
 
 I. And when it was determined 
 that we should sail into Italy, they 
 delivered Paul and certain other 
 prisoners unto 07!e named Julius, a 
 centurion of Augustus' band. 2. 
 And entering into a ship of Adramyt- 
 tium, we launched, meaning to sail 
 by the coasts of Asia ; one Arist- 
 archus, a Macedonian of Thes- 
 salonica, being with us. 3. And the 
 ne.xt t^ay we touched at Sidon. And 
 Julius courteously entreated Paul, 
 and gave /ii'in liberty to go unto his 
 friends to refresh himself. 4. And 
 when we had launched from thence, 
 we sailed under Cyprus, because the 
 winds were contrary. 5. And when 
 we had sailed over the sea of Cilicia 
 and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, 
 a city of Lycia. 6. And there the 
 centurion found a ship of Alexandria 
 sailing into Italy; and he put us 
 therein. 7. And when we had sailed 
 slowly many days, and scarce were 
 come over against Cnidus, the wind 
 not suffering us, we sailed under 
 Crete, over against Salmone ; 8. and, 
 hardly passing it, came unto a place 
 which is called The fair havens ; 
 nigh whereunto was the city of 
 
 Lasea. 9. Now when much time 
 was spent, and when sailing was now 
 dangerous, because the fast was now 
 already past, Paul admonished them, 
 10. and said unto them. Sirs, I per- 
 ceive that this voyage will be with 
 hurt and much damage, not only of 
 the lading and ship, but also of our 
 lives. II. Nevertheless the centurion 
 believed the master and the owner 
 of the ship, more than those things 
 which were spoken by Paul. 12. 
 And because the haven was not com- 
 modious to winter in, the more part 
 .advised to depart thence also, if 
 by any means they might attain to 
 Phenice, and there to winter ; which 
 is an haven of Crete, and lieth to- 
 wards the south-west and north-west. 
 13. And when the south wind blew 
 softl)', supposing that they had ob- 
 tained their purpose, loosing thence, 
 they sailed close by Crete. 14. But 
 rot long after there arose against it 
 a tempestuous wind, called Eurocly- 
 don. 15. And when the ship was 
 caught, and could not bear up into 
 the wind, we let her drive. 16. And 
 running under a certain island which 
 is called Clauda, we had much work 
 277 
 
278 The Voyage to Rome. [Chap. xxvu. 
 
 to come by the boat : 17. which 
 when they had taken up, they used 
 helps, undergirding the ship ; and, 
 fearing lest they should fall into the 
 quicksands, strake sail, and so were 
 driven. 18. And we being exceed- 
 ingly tossed with a tempest, the next 
 day they lightened the ship ; ig. 
 and the third day we cast out with 
 our own hands the tackling of the 
 ship. 20. And when neither sun nor 
 stars in many days appeared, and no 
 small tempest lay on us, all hope 
 that we should be saved was then 
 taken away. 21. But after long ^ 
 abstinence Paul stood forth in the 
 midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye 
 
 should have hearkened unto me, and 
 not have loosed from Crete, and to 
 have gained this harm and loss. 22. 
 And now I exhort you to be of good 
 cheer : for there shall be no loss of 
 any }>ia?is life among you, but of the 
 ship. 23. For there stood by me 
 this night the angel of God, Whose I 
 am, and Whom I serve, 24. saying. 
 Fear not, Paul ; thou must be 
 brought before Caesar : and, lo, God 
 hath given thee all them that sail 
 with thee. 25. Wherefore, sirs, be 
 of good cheer : for I believe God, 
 that it shall be even as it was told 
 me. 26. Howbeit we must be cast 
 upon a certain island. 
 
 At last, after all his long waiting and weary im- 
 prisonment at Csesarea, the Apostle realised that his 
 much desired visit to Eome was within measurable 
 distance. Again and again his expectations had 
 been baffled ; but now he heard that the order 
 had been issued by the Governor, and his passage 
 actually taken. The officer charged with his 
 custody was Publius of the Augustan Cohort. He 
 treated his prisoner with so much courtesy and con- 
 sideration, that we would gladly know more about 
 him; but all is uncertain; even the regiment to 
 wieseier, whicli he bclongcd cannot be identified. Till quite 
 Wordsworth, lately, it was thought most likely that he was a 
 Tac. Ann. Prefcct of the Praetorian Guard, one who had accom- 
 
 xiv. 15. 
 
 panied Festus from Rome as part of his military 
 escort, when he went to take possession of his 
 
V. 1-26.] The Voyage to Rome. 281 
 
 province ; and that the Governor availed himself of 
 his return to commit to his care such a distinguished 
 prisoner. This view is favoured by the fact that 
 provincial prisoners on their arrival at Rome were 
 usually handed over to the Praetorian Guard,^ A 
 modern historian, however, of considerable celebrity, Professor 
 claims to have established the fact that Publius °'^"^^'^"- 
 was an officer of a special Foreign Service corps, 
 employed to maintain communication between the 
 Emperor and his provinces, with peculiar duties 
 such as belong to spies and police.^ In Rome their 
 quarters were an " encampment " on the Cselian Hill, 
 and the officer to whom Publius surrendered the Acts 
 
 11 1 • 1 ••11 T xxvlii. 16. 
 
 prisoner is called in the original " the commander 
 
 of the camp." If this be correct, it is "an interest- Ramsay, 
 
 .,,',„ S. Paul the 
 
 mg fact, elsewhere unattested, but m perfect con- Traveller, 
 formity with known facts." ^^^' 
 
 In addition to S.Paul, there was a convoy of prisoners, 
 but from what S. Luke says, of a different class ; ^ 
 
 ^ Cf. " Vinctus mitti ad prtefectos prtetorii mei debet." Pliny, 
 Ep. X. 65. 
 
 2 Professor Eamsay, accepting Monimsen's theory, concludes that 
 S. Luke designated the corps, "the Augustan Cohort," not be- 
 cause it was its official or technical title, but that by which it was 
 familiarly known by the people with whom he mixed in society. 
 
 3 T'Lva.% eripovs, not aWovs ; the distinction may have been 
 intended, but not necessarily so. Cf. S. Mark xv. 41 ; S. Luk 
 viii. 3. 
 
282 The Voyage to Rome. [Chap. xxvn. 
 
 possibly they were numerous, as a detachment of 
 soldiers was told off to guard them on the voy- 
 age. The Apostle, however, had two friends, in 
 whose companionship he would greatly delight 
 under the circumstances ; one mentioned by name. 
 Acts xix. 29, Aristarchus, who had been with him at 
 
 XX. 4. 
 
 Ephesus and elsewhere, and S. Luke, who was 
 unquestionably an eye-witness of all that he 
 describes. 
 
 In what follows we shall leave the text in the 
 
 main to tell its own story, which it does very 
 
 graphically. All that is needed for an intelligent 
 
 The Voyage gpasp of the circumstauces is the correction of cer- 
 
 and Ship- 
 wreck of tain errors that have become stereotyped through 
 
 j! Smith of tihe English translation, and an occasional consulta- 
 jordanhiii, ^^^^ q£ ^^^ accompanyins map. 
 
 It was towards the end of the month of August 
 when S. Paul set sail from Csesarea. There was no 
 direct communication by sea with Rome, which could 
 only be reached by changing ships at one of the 
 commercial ports on the Asian coast. Adramy ttium 
 was the most northerly, and by consequence the 
 farthest both from Csesarea and Rome. It had, 
 however, one advantage : in case they should find 
 no vessel in the harbour bound for Rome, they 
 would be able to take an alternative route and 
 
 passim. 
 
V. 1-26.] The Voyage to Rome. 283 
 
 travel by the Egnatian Way,i which was one of the 
 great military roads from Italy to the East. 
 
 The first place at which they touched was Sidon, 
 where the centurion gave Paul leave to go ashore 
 to visit his friends, and procure necessaries for his 
 health 2 and comfort. They came next to Myi-a, 
 a port at the extreme southern point of the Asiatic 
 mainland. There they found an Egyptian merchant- 
 man, which had either been driven out of its course 
 from Alexandria, or had purposely sailed northwards 
 because of the prevailing winds. 
 
 At all events, the ship was taking temporary 
 shelter in that harbour, waiting its opportunity to con- 
 tinue the voyage to Eome with its cargo of wheat 
 for the market there, for Egypt was at this time '}^'^- ^'^'• 
 
 ^•' ^ IV. 52. 
 
 one of the chief granaries of Italy. The prisoners Sueton. 
 
 Galba, lo. 
 
 were transferred to it without delay, for the change 
 of plan would, if the weather were favourable, 
 cause a great saving of time. The prospect must 
 have cheered S. Paul, for any serious delay in one 
 of the Asian ports, owing to the lateness of the 
 season, might make it impossible to reach Rome 
 
 1 It led from Byzantium to Dyrachium on the Adriatic, and on 
 the Italian side it recommenced at Brundisium or Brindisi. 
 
 2 It has been shown that the expression here used, iiri/ieXeias 
 Tuxeif, is much employed for seeking medical relief in sickness ; if 
 so, perhaps S. Paul was suffering from an attack of his disease. — 
 Hobart, Med. Lang, of S. Luke, 269. 
 
284 The Voyage to Rojne. [Chap. xxvn. 
 
 Pliny, Nat. 
 Hist. ii. 4. 
 
 before the spring. The ship, too, was probably an 
 improvement on that which they had left, for it was 
 capable of accommodating nearly three hundred 
 persons. The voyage, however, began badly ; they 
 were met and greatly impeded ^ by the Etesian 
 winds; and, having left Cnidus, Avere obliged to 
 seek shelter under the lee of Crete. 
 
 After hugging the coast for about fifty miles, 
 or half the length of the island, they reached a 
 harbour with a name of good augury, " Fair Havens." 
 It was the farthest point they dared to venture, for 
 as soon as they should have passed Cape Matala, 
 two or three miles distant, they would meet the full 
 force of the north-west winds. The position may 
 be identified with certainty, for there is still a 
 harbour " which not only fulfils every one of the 
 conditions, but still retains the name given to it by 
 S. Luke." Here they remained a considerable time, 
 hoping, no doubt, that the wind would change. 
 Every day was of importance, for they were at 
 the end of September, and the " close season " for 
 de Re Mill- navigation, at least on the open sea, was fast 
 
 tan, V. 9. ° ' r > 
 
 approaching. It came before they were able to 
 
 Smith, 
 Voyage, 84, 
 
 Pliny, Nat. 
 Hist. ii. 47. 
 
 Vegetius, 
 
 1 "Scarce come over agaiiLst Cnidus," A.V., should rather be 
 " with difficulty," being hard jiressed by adverse winds ; they did 
 however, reach it. 
 
V. 1-26.] The Voyage to Rome. 285 
 
 make a fresh start. The Fast of Atonement came Levit. 
 and went ; it had become the recognised date for ''''"'■ ^^^ 
 vessels to take up their winter quarters.^ A con- 
 ference of a somewhat unusual nature was held on 
 board, and the naval authorities took S. Paul into 
 counsel. Though emphatically a landsman, he was 
 by no means unacquainted with nautical matters; 
 indeed, he had what was probably a unique experi- 
 ence among those on board; for he had been 
 shipwrecked no less than three times, and on one 
 occasion had only been rescued " after a night and a 2 Cor. xi. 25. 
 day in the deep." Probably he had described all 
 that he had gone through, as men are so ready to 
 illustrate out of their own lives any subject that 
 occupies attention, so that when he advised remain- 
 ing where they were, they ascribed his advice to an 
 over-caution born of past fears, and declined to 
 accept it. There was no longer any thought of 
 completing the voyage ; but the existence of the 
 harbour of Phoenice,^ distance only forty miles, with 
 better anchorage and other advantages, seemed to 
 
 1 Wordsworth gives a parallel illustration from the custom of 
 the Athenians, who dated their sailing weather from the great 
 Feast of the Dionysia. — Theophrast. Char. 3. 
 
 2 The A.V. "which lieth towards the south-west and north- 
 west," if the harbour is to be identified with the modern Lutro, as 
 most geographers are agreed, must be interpreted not as facing 
 these quarters, but looking the way which those winds blew. 
 
2 86 The Voyage to Rome. [Chap. xxvn. 
 
 justify some risk being incurred to attain to it; 
 and the naval officers agreed. 
 
 The wisdom of their decision was apparently 
 vindicated, for a southerly wind sprang up soon after- 
 wards, and they weighed anchor in the best of spirits, 
 thinking that their purpose was practically accom- 
 plished. At first they kept as close ^ as possible to 
 the shore, but, just as they were putting out to 
 double the cape, the wind suddenly veered com- 
 pletely round, and with all the force of a hurricane, 
 Euroclydon, or, by the name more familiarly known 
 to sailors, Euraquilo,^ sweeping down from^ the 
 highlands of Crete, so completely overpowered the 
 ship, that the sailors were obliged to leave it at the 
 mercy of the gale. 
 
 After scudding before the wind for some distance, 
 they got into smooth water under the lee of a small 
 island, and seizing the opportunity of securing the 
 boat, which was doubtless waterlogged, they hoisted 
 
 1 The Greek d.(Tcov, which is an adverb, has been frequently 
 taken as a proper name in the ace. Assos ; it was so understood 
 by the English Versions before 1611, also by Erasmus, Luther, and 
 others. 
 
 2 Euroclydon is not anywhere "called" so ; but Euraquilo was 
 a compound name often given by Roman sailors to the wind which 
 the Greeks called KaiKi'as, i.e. E.N.E. 
 
 3 Kar' avT7]s cannot be " against it" as in A. V., for the ship is 
 neuter ; cf. KarcL tov KpyjfjLvov in S. Matt. viii. 32. 
 
 f 
 
V. 1-26.] The Voyage to Rome. 287 
 
 it on board, and then proceeded to " frap " the ship 
 by fastening strong cables round the hull to enable 
 its timbers to bear the strain without starting. 
 
 The danger which immediately threatened was 
 that they might be driven by the northerly winds 
 on the African Syrtis. To avoid this they did not 
 "strike sail," as the English translation suggests, 
 for, as it has been said by sailors, that would have 
 deprived them of the only possible means of avoid- 
 ing the danger they feared and driven them to cower, 
 destruction ; but they got down on deck the top- slamrn.°" 
 yards and gear, and then with storm-sails set, ^^'P' ^' 
 sufficient to control the course of the ship, they let 
 it scud before the storm. For several days they 
 were in imminent peril, and only saved themselves 
 by throwing overboard all that could be spared. 
 Then a new danger set in, for they had no compass, 
 nothing but the stars to steer by, and these were 
 completely hidden ; this last calamity plunged them 
 into despair. There was, however, one man whose 
 heart never failed, because it was stayed upon God ; 
 and the confidence which he displayed helped 
 largely to mitigate the distress of all on board. 
 Believing that it is necessary to help ourselves, if 
 we would be helped by God, he encouraged them all 
 to husband their strength by taking food, and then 
 
2 88 The Voyage to Rome. [Ch. xxvn. 1-26. 
 
 gave a positive assurance, founded upon a super- 
 natural vision, which he had received that very 
 night from God, that although the vessel would be 
 2 Cor. xi. 26. wrecked, the lives of all would be saved. He had 
 been often in perils, in perils of waters, in perils of 
 robbers, in perils in the city, in perils among false 
 brethren, and had survived them all. S. Luke tells 
 us what was the secret of his never-failing courage. 
 He belonged to God, " Whose," he says, " I am, and 
 Whom I serve " ; and though he knew that his 
 Lord and Master might do what He willed with His 
 own, yet in his case He had distinctly promised; 
 He had even sent a supernatural messenger to 
 assure him, that he "must be brought before 
 Csesar." It was, then, his implicit trust in God and 
 God's Word that enabled him to stand unmoved in 
 the face of danger, with none of the boasting and 
 presumption which so often hides a timid heart, but 
 in the calm confidence which casteth out all fear, 
 and at the same time to satisfy his fellow-travellers, 
 that, when God said that their lives would be 
 spared, He would be true to His promise. 
 
LVIII. 
 
 ^Ije ^tiptotrecfe anti ^lantiing; at Sl^alta* 
 
 The Acts xxvii. 27-44— xxviii. i-io- 
 
 27. But when the fourteenth night 
 was come, as we were driven up and 
 down in Adria, about midnight the 
 shipmen deemed that they drew 
 near to some country; 28. and 
 sounded, and found it twenty 
 fathoms : and when they had gone 
 a little further, they sounded again, 
 and found it fifteen fathoms. 29. 
 Then fearing lest we should have 
 fallen upon rocks, they cast four 
 anchors out of the stern, and wished 
 for the day. 30. And as the ship- 
 men were about to flee out of the 
 ship, when they had let down the 
 boat into the sea, under colour as 
 though they would have cast anchors 
 out of the foreship, 31. Paul said to 
 the centurion and to the soldiers, 
 Except these abide in the ship, ye 
 cannot be saved. 32. Then the 
 soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat, 
 and let her fall off. 33. And while 
 the day was coming on, Paul be- 
 sought thcTti all to take meat, say- 
 ing, This day is the fourteenth day 
 that ye have tarried and continued 
 fasting, having taken nothing. 34. 
 Wherefore I pray you to take some 
 meat : for this is for your health ; 
 
 VOL. II, 
 
 for there shall not an hair fall from 
 the head of any of you. 35. And 
 when he had thus spoken, he took 
 bread, and gave thanks to God in 
 presence of them all : and when he 
 had broken it, he began to eat. 36. 
 Then were they all of good cheer, 
 and they also took soine meat. 37. 
 And we were in all in the ship two 
 hundred threescore and sixteen 
 souls. 38. And when they had 
 eaten enough, they lightened the 
 ship, and cast out the wheat into 
 the sea. 39. And when it was day, 
 they knew not the land : but they 
 discovered a certain creek with a 
 shore, into the which they were 
 minded, if it were possible, to 
 thrust in the ship. 40. And when 
 they had taken up the anchors, they 
 committed thejiiselves unto the sea, 
 and loosed the rudder bands, and 
 hoised up the mainsail to the wind, 
 and made toward shore. 41. And 
 falling into a place where two seas 
 met, they ran the ship aground ; 
 and the forepart stuck fast, and re- 
 mained unmoveable, but the hinder 
 part was broken with the violence 
 of the waves. 42. And the soldiers' 
 
290 
 
 The SkipiV7'eck and [Chap. xxvu. 
 
 counsel was to kill the prisoners, 
 lest any of them should swim out, 
 and escape. 43. But the centurion, 
 willing to save Paul, kept them from 
 their purpose ; and commanded that 
 they which could swim should cast 
 thcDiselves first into the sea, and 
 get to land : 44. and the rest, some 
 on boards, and some on broken 
 pieces of the ship. And so it came 
 to pass, that they escaped all safe to 
 land. 
 
 XXVIII. I. And when they were 
 escaped, then they knew that the 
 island was called Melita. 2. And 
 the barbarous people showed us no 
 little kindness : for they kindled a 
 fire, and received us every one, 
 because of the present rain, and 
 because of the cold. 3. And when 
 Paul had gathered a bundle of 
 sticks, and laid them on the fire, 
 there came a viper out of the heat, 
 and fastened on his hand. 4. And 
 when the barbarians saw the vena- 
 7nous beast hang on his hand, they 
 said among themselves, No doubt 
 this man is a murderer, whom, 
 
 though he hath escaped the sea, yet 
 vengeance suffereth not to live. 5. 
 And he shook off the beast into the 
 fire, and felt no harm. 6. Howbeit 
 they looked when he should have 
 swollen, or fallen down dead sud- 
 denly : but after they had looked a 
 great while, and saw no harm 
 come to him, they changed their 
 minds, and said that he was a god. 
 7. In the same quarters were 
 possessions of the chief man of the 
 island, whose name was Publius ; 
 who received us, and lodged us 
 three days courteously. 8. And it 
 came to pass, that the father of 
 Publius lay sick of a fever and of a 
 bloody flux : to whom Paul entered 
 in, and prayed, and laid his hands 
 on him, and healed him. 9. So 
 when this was done, others also, 
 which had diseases in the island, 
 came, and were healed : 10. who 
 also honoured us with many hon- 
 ours ; and when we departed, they 
 laded us with such things as were 
 necessary. 
 
 For fourteen days and nights the ship had been 
 drifting westward. The greatest eflForts were made 
 to avoid being carried by the wind and currents on 
 to the dangerous coast of Africa, and happily with 
 complete success ; but nothing was left but to 
 " drift " ; the rate at which a vessel would progress, 
 when drifting, must, in a measure at least, depend 
 both upon its size and build, and on the intensity of 
 the gale. Now it has been said that " all seamen 
 
27-44— XXVIII. i-io.] Landing at Malta. 291 
 
 would agree that, under the circumstances before us, Conybeare 
 a mile and a half in the hour, or thirty-six miles in ^"ij; °^^°"' 
 twenty-four hours, may be taken as a fair average." ^^p'^'"^ 
 The distance between the islands of Clauda and m 'Clean, 
 
 Admiral 
 
 Malta is a little under five hundred miles, and it Penrose, qu. 
 was covered in thirteen days and a few hours, which 
 helps at least to identify the latter as the place of 
 shipwreck. Adria, in which they were driven up 
 and down, was for a long time supposed to mean 
 the Adriatic Sea or Gulf of Venice, and the island 
 upon which the ship was wrecked to be Meleda,^ but 
 it is now placed beyond question, that the name was 
 applied in the wider sense, by no means unfamiliar The 
 to the ancients, to designate the Ionian Sea between Pt^emy, ^"^ 
 Greece and Sicily. When, then, we are told that sS,'""'' 
 on the fourteenth night " the shipmen deemed that ^- Jerome, 
 they drew near to some country," there need be 
 no hesitation in supposing that they were off the 
 coast of Malta ; and numerous investigations have 
 further fixed the exact locality in that which is 
 traditionally known as " S. Paul's Bay." The roar 
 of the breakers, which must have sounded the note 
 
 1 In the last century this was defended by Padre Georgi in his 
 Paulus Naufragus. He was a Dalmatian monk of the monastery 
 of this island, and jealous for the honour of S. Paul's visit. 
 Others before and since have taken the same view. In the light of 
 modem discovery it needs no refutation. 
 
292 The Shipivreck and [Chap. xxvu. 
 
 of alarm, and the white foam seen through the 
 darkness, were caused by the sea as it dashed upon 
 Smith, 121. the headland, now called Koura. " No ship," the 
 author of The, Shipwreck says, " can enter the bay 
 from the east without passing within a quarter of 
 a mile of the point of Koura ; but before reaching 
 it the land is too low, and too far from the track of 
 a ship driven from the eastward, to be seen in a 
 dark night. When she does come within this 
 distance, it is impossible to avoid observing the 
 breakers." And it is added by the same writer, 
 " By a singular chance I can establish an important 
 link in the chain of evidence respecting the identity 
 of this locality, namely, that the distance at which 
 the breakers could be seen here is about a quarter 
 of a mile, and that they are seen at this distance 
 when the land itself is not seen." 
 
 The beating of the surf upon the rock startled the 
 quick and practised ear of the sailors on the outlook, 
 and at once they took their soundings, and finding 
 that they were in shallow water, and this rapidly 
 decreasing in depth, they cast out their anchors 
 without delay. They must have feared that they 
 would drag, perhaps too far to save them from 
 the rocks, but " the bottom of S. Paul's Bay is of 
 extraordinary tenacity," and "while the cables 
 
27-44— XXVIII. i-io.] Landing at Malta. 293 
 hold, there is no danger, as the anchors will never Purdy's 
 
 Sailing 
 start. Directions, 
 
 The captain determined upon the unusual method 
 of anchoring from the stern,i in order that, with the 
 wind abaft, the ship might be kept from swinging 
 round, which would make it extremely difficult to 
 run it ashore. Writers have often noticed that the 
 Admirals of the British Fleet have adopted the same Southeys 
 expedient, and, it has been said that Nelson was Nelson. 
 led to do so at the battle of Copenhagen from having 
 read in the morning the description of S, Paul's 
 shipwreck.^ 
 
 The sailors had formed a conspiracy to make their 
 own escape and leave the rest to their fate, but S. 
 Paul became privy to it and defeated their aim by 
 informing the soldiers, who alone could force them 
 to remain. He had, it is true, been assured of 
 safety, but thinking that He, Who employs human 
 means to carry out His purposes, might intend that 
 the ship should be saved through their skill and 
 instrumentality, he had their means of escape at 
 once cut off. 
 
 1 Ancora de 2)rora jacitur is the common practice, and is obvi- 
 ously more calculated to stop the progress of a ship. Anchors 
 drag more easily astern. 
 
 2 Conybeare and Howsou, ii. 414, say that this rests upon 
 authority derived only from a private source. 
 
294 ^'^^ Shipwreck and [Chap. xxvu. 
 
 As the light began to dawn, the whole crew and 
 
 all the passengers must have gathered on deck, and 
 
 we can see them straining their eyes towards the 
 
 land, eagerly wishing and waiting for day. " The 
 
 Conybeare strain both of bodv and mind, the incessant de- 
 
 and Howson, 
 
 xxiii. mand for the labour of all, the driving of the 
 
 storm, the benumbing effect of the cold and wet, 
 make up a scene of no ordinary confusion, anxiety, 
 and fatigue." In the lull that followed the realisa- 
 tion that for a time at least they were safe, S. Paul 
 came forward and urged them to reinforce exhausted 
 nature, that they might be better prepared for their 
 final effort. "And when he had thus spoken, he 
 took bread and gave thanks to God in presence of 
 them all ; and when he had broken it, he began to 
 eat. Then were they all of good cheer, and they 
 also took some meat." The Apostle's action admits 
 of two interpretations : either he gave thanks or a 
 benediction, as every pious Jew did before partaking 
 of a meal, and then encouraged the rest to eat by 
 his own example ; or else for himself and his fellow- 
 Christians he consecrated the Eucharist, performing 
 a distinctly religious rite in the presence of all, in 
 the hope that it might impress them with the 
 solemnity of the crisis. Thus he offered his thanks- 
 giving, and pleaded for his fellows through the 
 
27-44— XXVIII. i-io] Landing at Malta. 295 
 
 Sacrifice of Christ.^ The former seems at first 
 sight the more probable; but the combination of 
 expressions, for ever associated by S. Luke with the s. Luke 
 Eucharist, is most suggestive of the latter interpre- ^ cor. xi. 
 tation. ^^' ^*' 
 
 At last the daylight came, but " they knew not 
 the land." It is not to be wondered at, for though 
 sailors from Alexandria must have often touched at 
 Malta, S. Paul's Bay is several miles from Valetta, 
 the familiar harbour. In front of them they saw a 
 creek with a sandy beach, where there was every 
 prospect of their being able to run aground. The 
 cables were cut and the anchors left in the sea,^ and 
 at the same time the foresail^ was hoisted; the 
 wind carried the ship gently forward, and it was 
 " beached " on the island of Salmonetta.* 
 
 And now a fresh danger arose. By the Roman 
 Law a soldier in charge of a prisoner forfeited his 
 life if he allowed him to escape. The only certain 
 
 1 "Breaking bread" is peculiar in the New Testament to the 
 Eucharist, or that feeding in the wilderness which typified and 
 prepared for this. S. Luke draws a distinction between the bread 
 [EpTov), of which the Apostle partook, and the meat {Tpo(i>r\%) taken 
 by the rest. 
 
 - The A.V. is wholly misleading here. 
 
 3 The mainsail would have caught far too much wind for the 
 purpose. 
 
 •* The double current is still to be seen at this point, caused by 
 the sea from outside meeting the sea inside the bay. 
 
296 The Shipwreck mid [Chap. xxvn. 
 
 way of securing themselves seemed to the soldiers on 
 board to be by killing the prisoners. The centurion, 
 however, felt that he owed far too much to one of 
 them to allow the cruel proposal to be executed; 
 and he gave the order that each one must save him- 
 self; and the result was that none were lost. 
 
 They soon found from the people, who flocked 
 to the shore, that the island was Malta ; and as so 
 often happens, unless one has the misfortune to be 
 cast upon some " wreckers' coast," they were over- 
 whelmed with attention and kindness. S. Luke 
 
 Rom. i. 14. designates the islanders " barbarous " ; it only means 
 ^'"' that they were not Greeks or Romans. Something 
 remarkable almost immediately occurred, which 
 filled them with terror. A viper, which had been 
 lying torpid among the brushwood, revived by the 
 heat of the fire which they had kindled, " came out 
 of the heat and fastened on Paul's hand." Justice 
 dogs the heels of crime, and though he had escaped 
 the perils of the sea, they felt that retribution had 
 overtaken him ; and they Avere the more convinced 
 that he must have committed a crime, because there 
 was a widespread belief that " serpents were the 
 
 Stier, Reden spccial instruments of Divine punishment " ; when, 
 
 der Apost. 
 
 in loco. however, no harm came to him from the bite, which 
 they expected to be instantly fatal, their feelings 
 
27-44— XXVIII. i-io.] Landmg at Malta. 297 
 
 were completely changed, and they were ready to 
 worship him.i 
 
 Their wonder increased when the same man 
 healed the father of their Governor, " the First of 
 the Maltese," ^ who was suffering from an attack of 
 dysentery ^ aggravated by fever ; and when he added 
 to his miraculous cures by restoring others who 
 came to him, they loaded him and his company 
 with many honours. 
 
 Now, I think we may learn something on the 
 subject of miracles and prayer from the different 
 methods of deliverance used by God in saving the 
 seafarers from being lost in the shipwreck, and in 
 neutralising the efiect of a poisonous bite, or restor- 
 ing health to those "which had diseases in the 
 island." There is an important distinction to be 
 drawn between them. A definite promise was given 
 by our Lord to the Apostles that, as the credentials 
 of their Divine commission, they should exercise 
 
 1 The sudden change recalls the scene at Lystra, where the 
 people were ready to worship him as a god, and then tried to 
 murder him. Acts xiv. 11. 
 
 - The accuracy of S. Luke is said to have received a striking 
 proof from the fact that though this title is not given by any 
 other writer, two inscriptions are said to have been found, one in 
 Greek, one in Latin; in which it occurs. Gloag refers to Boeekh, 
 Gorjp. Inscrip. Gr. Slbi, but it is said that Smith did not succeed 
 in meeting with them. Conybeare and Howson, xxiii. 
 
 3 Cf. su;pra, chap. i. 
 
XVI. la 
 
 298 The Shipwreck and [Chap. xxvn. 
 
 s. Mark Certain supernatural powers, of which two are stated 
 to be the taking up of serpents, and the recovery of 
 the sick. When, therefore, S. Paul shook off the 
 viper which had fastened on his hand, or suddenly 
 healed the father of Publius of an obstinate sick- 
 ness, he was using a purely Apostolic gift. It was 
 an illustration of Christ's promise that they should 
 experience His Presence after His departure, mani- 
 festing itself by the same startling signs which 
 Avaited on the Incarnation, and in this form the 
 time in which the promise should be fulfilled was 
 restricted to the first age, when miracles were 
 needed as credentials of a Divine commission. 
 
 The action of S. Paul in praying for the sick 
 Maltese and healing them by the imposition of 
 hands, or in arresting the eflfect of poison, is not 
 meant for our imitation ; but his action on the 
 storm-tossed ship, which saved the lives of all that 
 were with him, is so meant ; and it gives the 
 fullest hope of corresponding results in answer to 
 our own prayers. "We often speak as though 
 S. Paul and those who sailed with him were saved 
 by a miracle ; but if a miracle is something which 
 human power cannot produce, it is quite incorrect ; 
 and it is well to remember it, because the age of 
 miracles has ceased. If, in answer to the Apostle's 
 
27-44— xxviii.i-io.] Landing at Malta. 299 
 
 prayers, the wild fury of the elements had sud- 
 denly ceased, and the waves, which the storm had 
 lashed into commotion, had been stilled, so that 
 there was a great calm, or if the timbers had been 
 endued with unwonted strength to resist the strain, 
 or the crew and passengers had been enabled, like 
 S. Peter, to walk upon the sea, then we could only 
 have concluded that it was through the exercise of 
 his miraculous power that he had wrought the 
 deliverance. Under these circumstances we could 
 have gained little encouragement to imitate his 
 conduct; but he prayed, as we may pray, and in 
 answer to his prayers God ^ put it into the hearts 
 of men to use purely human means, only with more 
 than ordinary exertion and skill, by which they got 
 within sight of shore ; and then it came to pass 
 that, as thousands of shipwrecked sailors before 
 and since, " some on boards, and some on broken 
 pieces of the ship . . . they escaped all safe to 
 land." 
 
 1 The angel of God told S. Paul that God had "granted to 
 him " the lives of those that sailed with him. It is clearly implied 
 as an answer to his prayers ; but though S. Paul knew this, they 
 never relaxed their efforts in the least, and he encouraged them to 
 use all possible means, even assuring them that if they failed to 
 do their utmost, he would not be responsible. Cf. vv. 31 , 34. 
 
LIX. 
 
 C^e Jourttep to 1K,ome» 
 
 The Acts xxviii. 11-29. 
 
 II. And after three months we 
 departed in a ship of Alexandria, 
 which had wintered in the isle, 
 whose sign was Castor and Pollux. 
 12. And landing at Syracuse, we 
 tarried there three days. 13. And 
 from thence we fetched a compass, 
 and came to Rhegium : and after 
 one day the south wind blew, and 
 we came the next day to Puteoli : 
 14. where we found brethren, and 
 were desired to tarry with them 
 seven days : and so we went toward 
 Rome. 15. And from thence, when 
 the brethren heard of us, they came 
 to meet us as far as Appii forum, and 
 The three taverns : whom when Paul 
 saw, he thanked God, and took 
 courage. 16. And when we came to 
 Rome, the centurion delivered the 
 prisoners to the captain of the 
 guard : but Paul was suffered to 
 dwell by himself with a soldier that 
 kept him. 17. And it came to pass, 
 that after three days Paul called 
 the chief of the Jews together : and 
 when they were come together, he 
 said unto them, Men and brethren, 
 though I have committed nothing 
 against the people, or customs of 
 300 
 
 our fathers, yet was 1 delivered 
 prisoner from Jerusalem into the 
 hands of the Romans. 18. Who, 
 when they had examined me, would 
 have let vie go, because there was 
 no cause of death in me. ig. But 
 when the Jews spake against it, 
 I was constrained to appeal unto 
 Caesar : not that I had ought to 
 accuse my nation of. 20. For this 
 cause therefore have I called for 
 you, to see you, and to speak with 
 yoti : because that for the hope of 
 Israel I am bound with this chain. 
 21. And they said unto him. We 
 neither received letters out of Judaea 
 concerning thee, neither any of the 
 brethren that came shewed or spake 
 any harm of thee. 22. But we desire 
 to hear of thee what thou thinkest : 
 for as concerning this sect, we know 
 that every where it is spoken against. 
 23. And when they had appointed 
 him a day, there came many to him 
 into his lodging ; to whom he ex- 
 pounded and testified the kingdom 
 of God, persuading them concerning 
 Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, 
 and out 0/ the prophets, from morn- 
 ing till evening. 24. And some be- 
 
ch. XXVIII. 11-29.] The Journey to Rome. 301 
 
 Heved the things which were spoken, and their eyes have they closed ; 
 
 and some believed not. 25. And lest they should see with their eyes, 
 
 when they agreed not among them- and hear with their ears, and under- 
 
 selves, they departed, after that Paul stand with their heart, and should 
 
 had spoken one word, Well spake be converted, and I should heal 
 
 the Holy Ghost by Esaias the pro- them. 28. Be it known therefore 
 
 phet unto our fathers, 26. saying, unto you, that the salvation of God 
 
 Go unto this people, and say, Hear- is [sent unto the Gentiles, and that 
 
 ing ye shall hear, and shall not they will hear it. 29. And when 
 
 understand ; and seeing ye shall he had said these words, the Jews 
 
 see, and not perceive : 27. for the departed, and had great reasoning 
 
 heart of this people is yaxed gross, among themselves, 
 and their ears are dull of hearing. 
 
 The spring of the year being unusually favour- 
 able, the sea was open for navigation as early as 
 the beginning of February, and the centurion seized 
 the first opportunity of continuing his voyage to 
 Rome. Another Alexandrian corn-vessel liad put 
 into Malta under stress of weather, possibly in 
 the same storm which had wrecked its sister-ship 
 three months before. The historian mentions that 
 it had for its sign " the Dioscuri," ^ painted or carved 
 on stem and stern, according to a common custom.^ 
 It would be interesting to know why the circum- 
 stance is noticed, for very many ships must have 
 
 1 AidcTKovpoi, sons of Zeus, Castor and Pollux, or the twin 
 gods. Their chief characteristic was that they were deol cruTrjpe^, 
 with a special mission to keep the shipwrecked, given them by- 
 Poseidon. 
 
 '- The insigne and tutela of a ship were not always one and the 
 same, but very frequently so. Usually the insigne was painted 
 on the prow, and the figure of the deity was on the stern, but, if 
 identical, on both. 
 
302 The Joitrney to Ro7ne. [Chap.xxvih. 
 
 borne the emblem, Castor and Pollux being the 
 Catuii. iv. 27. tutelary deities of all " that go down to the sea in 
 Ps. cv. 23. ships, and occupy their business in great waters." 
 The ship was bound for Eome, and S. Paul and his 
 company went on board ; they set sail, and soon 
 reached Syracuse, where they stopped. Malta was in 
 the Province of Sicily, and the governor, no doubt, 
 after communications had been so long suspended, 
 would naturally have despatches to send to head- 
 quarters. From Syracuse " they fetched a com- 
 Lewin, pass," either by simple " tacking," or more pro- 
 bably, if the wind was from the west, steering out 
 into the open sea to catch the breeze, which was 
 intercepted by the heights of Etna. They passed 
 the formidable Straits of Scylla and Charybdis, 
 which separated Sicily from Italy, and then, with 
 a change of wind to the south, had an uninterrupted 
 run to Puteoli. It was a port at the entrance of 
 josepk the famous Bay of Naples ; the place where pas- 
 xviirvii. 2. sengers usually left ship, in order to reach Rome 
 by road. S. Paul did this ; and it is worth record- 
 ing that thirty years later another saint, who was 
 destined, like him, to die a martyr's death at Eome, 
 desired to disembark at the same place, as he said 
 " that he might tread in the footsteps of the Apostle 
 Paul," but was disappointed in his purpose, and 
 
V. 11-29.] The Journey to Rome. 303 
 
 driven on through the violence of the wind.^ It is 
 a passing confirmation of the sacred history. 
 
 S. Paul remained a week at Puteoli. We ob- 
 served before that though he was not insensible to 
 the charms of natural scenery, he refused to gratify 
 himself when what he supposed to be duty called 
 him to Damascus by the shortest possible route.^ 
 Here, however, there were no rival claims between 
 duty and pleasure ; and though he was eager to 
 reach Rome, we are not surprised that he should 
 linger in such a delightful place, especially as the 
 brethren desired him to tarry with them. Those 
 who value historic associations have often called 
 up, as they stood upon the spot, the picture of 
 S. Paul feasting his eyes upon what has been well 
 described as " one of the loveliest of earthly 
 scenes." 
 
 The distance from Puteoli to Eome by land was 
 about a hundred and fifty miles. The route taken 
 by Julius and his prisoners would bring them first 
 to Capua. Here they joined the great Appian Way, 
 distinguished among all the Eoman military lines statius, 
 as " the queen of roads," leading from the south ^'^*' "' ^' 
 of the peninsula through Rome to Brindisi on the 
 
 1 The Martyrdom of Ignatius, cli. v. 
 
 2 Supra, pp. 224-5. 
 
304 The Journey to Rome. [Chap.xxvih. 
 
 Adriatic Gulf, and succeeded on the other side by 
 the Egnatian Way, on which S. Paul had so often 
 set foot. 
 
 The tidings of the Apostle's arrival at Puteoli 
 
 reached Rome through those passengers who had 
 
 proceeded thither directly on leaving the ship. It 
 
 could not have been expected ; for he sailed from 
 
 Csesarea by the first ship after he had appealed to 
 
 Csesar; and the joy among the brethren was such 
 
 that they determined at once to go out to welcome 
 
 him. One party, that was able to start immediately, 
 
 cic. ad Att. got about forty miles on the way, and reached Appii 
 
 Antonineand Forum ; the othcr was only a few hours behind, 
 
 itTneraries. ^^*^ ^®^ ^^® Apostle at the Three Taverns, thirteen 
 
 miles nearer Rome. 
 Acts x!x. 21. Another stage ; and then from the Alban Hills 
 the Apostle obtained his first view of the long- 
 looked-for city, the city which he had felt that he 
 must see before he died. It was not like modern 
 Rome, " impressive from its solitude, standing alone, 
 with its one conspicuous cupola, in the midst of a 
 desolate though beautiful waste." The Campagna, 
 as it stretched out before the eyes of S. Paul, was 
 "a widespread aggregate of buildings," reaching 
 with its suburbs to the very base of the hills on 
 either side ; but he was still several miles from 
 
V. 11-29.] The Journey to Rome. 305 
 
 the actual walls, which he entered at last by the 
 Capenian Gate. It was a memorable epoch in 
 sacred history, — the month of March in the year 
 of our Lord, 61, the seventh year of the reign of 
 Nero. " And when we came to Rome, the cen- 
 turion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the 
 guard." Professor Ramsay ^ holds that the officer S- Paul the 
 
 Traveller, 
 
 to whom Julius handed over the Apostle was the 348- 
 one in command of the Emperor's Foreign Service 
 Corps, which had their quarters on the Coelian 
 Hill. 
 
 Most writers, however, have believed that it was Piiny, 
 the Captain of the Praetorian Guard, and that Lightfoot, 
 S. Luke was strictly accurate in speaking of him in ^'^''' ^^' 
 the singular number. In this year Burrhus was Tac. Ann. 
 sole Prefect, but both before and after there were ^'^" ^'' 
 invariably two. The leniency and kindness, it is 
 true, which S. Paul received at the hands of his 
 custodian are most consistent with the character of 
 Burrhus ; but there is no reason why an unknown 
 officer should not have been equally lenient, espe- 
 cially as Julius was certain to praise his prisoner in 
 
 1 His argument is partly based on the title ffrpaToireddpxv, 
 here used, as unsuitable to the Prefect of the Prajtorian Guard ; 
 but the whole of this sentence, translated " The centurion de- 
 livered," etc., is wanting in the oldest mss. , X, A, B, which 
 weakens the force of his case. 
 
 VOL. II. U 
 
3o6 The Journey to Rome. [Chap. xxvm. 
 
 the highest terms, and try to bespeak for him the 
 
 same indulgence which he had himself shown. No 
 
 matter, however, whose the authority, S. Paul was 
 
 not cast into prison, but permitted "to dwell by 
 
 himself," with a single restriction upon his liberty — 
 
 beyond which relaxation never extended in " military 
 
 custody " — he might not separate from the soldiers 
 
 who kept or guarded him.^ 
 
 Rom. ;. i6. Wherever the Apostle went, he addressed himself 
 
 first to the Jews. Now there were many at Rome, 
 
 Joseph. who had formed a settlement " across the Tiber " ; 
 
 xvii. xi. I. it is said that they had no less than seven syna- 
 
 HiYt.^of*' gogues. As soon then as the Apostle had recovered 
 
 Rome,vi.257. fj.Qjj^ ^j-^g fatigues of his journey, he sent a message 
 
 to their rulers desiring to see them in his lodging. 
 
 He was anxious, in the first instance to clear away 
 
 any prejudice which might be excited, if they should 
 
 have heard that, being a Jew, he had been false to 
 
 his nation in appealing to Roman jurisdiction. 
 
 When they met, he hastened to repudiate the 
 
 charge, and showed that it was his only alternative 
 
 in the perilous crisis in which he had found himself. 
 
 No such suspicions, however, had been roused in 
 
 1 Gustodia libera would have exempted him from such durance ; 
 hut it was disallowed to custodia militaris, which was his sen- 
 tence. 
 
V. ii-2g.] The Journey to Rome. 307 
 
 their minds, for they had received no information 
 about him ; all that they knew for certain was, that 
 the sect which he had joined was evil spoken of on 
 all sides/ and they would gladly hear from his lips 
 an unreserved explanation.^ A day was appointed, 
 and they came together in increased numbers at the 
 same place. We are told the substance of what the 
 Apostle said ; he unrolled the scrolls of the Law 
 and the Prophets, and preached to them, as he had so 
 often done to others, " Jesus and the Resurrection " \ 
 and with the same result : " some believed the 
 things which were spoken, and some believed not." 
 S. Paul saw that the greater part rejected his teach- S- Matt. 
 
 xiii. 13. 
 
 ing, and in their ears he uttered the oft-repeated s. Mark 
 prediction of Isaiah, that the obdurate impenitence s. Luke 
 of the people and their self-willed blindness would ^^\^^^ 
 work their ruin, and what might have been their ''"• '^°- 
 salvation should be given to the Gentiles. All that 
 we are told of the effect of his denunciation rests on 
 
 1 We have almost contemporary evidence from the Language of 
 Tacitus, who calls Christianity "a detestable superstition," Ann. 
 XV. 44. The crimes of Christians are spoken of by Suetonius, Nero, 
 16. By the time of TertiiUian they had gathered themselves into 
 three heads : d^eiiri^s, Gu^oreta Beiirua, and Oldnrddeioi /j,l^eis. 
 Apol. 16 ; Euseb. Hist. Eccl. v. i. 
 
 2 This ignorance seems unintelligible in the face of S. Paul's 
 Epistle to the Romans, which indicates the existence of a large 
 and important Church. Possibly the Jews confined themselves to 
 their own quarters. 
 
2,oS The Journey to Rome. [Chap. xxvm. 
 
 doubtful authority ; it is that it led to great search- 
 ings of heart.^ 
 
 Whether, however, it did awake serious mis- 
 givings or not, the Jews to whom the Apostle 
 preached were true in the end to their national 
 character. It is said that they are pre-eminently 
 an unchanging people. In their resistance to truth 
 no one can deny it. Their history is one long un- 
 broken course of obduracy and impenitence ; prophet 
 after prophet was sent to them, and met with the 
 
 jer. vii. 13. game reception : " I spake unto you, rising up early 
 and speaking, but ye heard not ; and I called you, 
 but ye answered not." Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, 
 Ezekiel, and the rest — they were all rejected, and 
 so cruelly treated that S. Stephen, looking back 
 over a thousand years, could ask in indignation, 
 
 Acts vii. 52. " Which of the prophets have not your fathers per- 
 secuted]" And then came the awful doom of 
 judicial blindness ; those who persistently refuse to 
 hear, lose at last the sense of hearing ; and wilful 
 rejection of the Divine message seals the heart in 
 hopeless impenitence. 
 
 1 It is omitted in tlie oldest MSS. Alford considers it as " one 
 of the many additions which D alone of the first-class MSS. would 
 have contained had it been preserved to us." Lightfoot says it 
 does not look like an arbitrary fiction, and may contain a genuine 
 tradition, even if it was no part of the original text. — Epistle to 
 Philip2>Mns, 8, n. 
 
V. 11-29-] The Journey to Rome. 309 
 
 Then there is the correlative truth; like the 
 other, it has its application in all time ; inasmuch 
 as God's words can never be spoken in vain, what 
 one refuses another accepts : the Gentile steps in 
 where the Jew declined to tread. 
 
LX. 
 
 ^p Clo0e of tlje apogftU'0 Sl^ini^trp. 
 
 The Acts xxviii, 30-31. 
 
 30. And Paul dwelt two whole and teaching those things which con- 
 years in his own hired house, and cern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all 
 received all that came in unto him, confidence, no man forbidding him. 
 31. preaching the kingdom of God, 
 
 S. Luke has left the last page of the Apostle's 
 life unwritten, to the disappointment of the Church 
 in every age. Many reasons have been conjectured 
 to account for the fact ; the most probable seems to 
 be that his main end was accomplished when Rome 
 was reached. He was inspired to write, not so 
 much the biographies of men, however instrumental 
 in the work, as the history of the growth and de- 
 velopment of the Church ; and as he began it with 
 Jerusalem, the home and centre of Judaism, so when 
 he had traversed Samaria, Syria, Asia, and Greece, 
 he felt that he might fitly close the book at Rome, 
 the capital of the world. When once he was able 
 to report that the Apostle of the Gentiles had set 
 
ch. XXVIII. 30-31.] The Apostle s Ministry. 311 
 
 foot in that great metropolis, he was satisfied, for 
 wherever he had preached he had laid the founda- 
 tions, and in many places raised also the superstruc- 
 ture, of the Church. We, however, who have had 
 our interest quickened at each successive stage, as 
 we have followed the footsteps of this first pioneer 
 of the Faith, desire to look on to the end of his 
 earthly career ; and we cannot close this book with- 
 out first turning to tradition and other available . 
 sources of information, to fill up the page that is 
 wanting in the sacred history. 
 
 Leaving, then, for the moment the few words 
 into which the Evangelist has gathered up the two 
 years' ministry at Rome, we pass to the considera- 
 tion of what happened to S. Paul, when that period 
 came to an end. The weary expectation of the im- 
 prisonment of Csesarea was repeated at Eome. Two 
 years in captivity went by, with nothing done towards 
 hearing his appeal. It may be that there was no one 
 to bring an accusation against him; and by Roman Actsxxiv. 19. 
 law no trial could take place without the personal ^^^' 
 presence of the prosecutor. The Jews had lost heart 
 by their repeated failures, at Jerusalem, and before 
 Felix and Festus and Agrippa. All, except their 
 own Sanhedrim, had expressed their belief in the 12-25. 
 
 1 • 1 -J. 1 J. i • Acts xxvi. 
 
 prisoner s innocence ; and it was almost certain 
 
312 The Close of [Chap. xxvm. 
 
 that the Emperor would be guided by the views 
 of the Provincial Governors. Although, then, the 
 Jews feared the worst from a trial, they were 
 anxious, at any cost, to avoid his release without 
 one. They determined accordingly to defer the 
 legal issue as long as they could. One at least of 
 the charges on which he had been arrested, justified 
 a long suspension of proceedings \ it concerned his 
 
 Acts xxiv. s. conduct in many different parts of the Empire : he was 
 " a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout 
 
 Tac. Ann. the world " ; and, to substantiate such an accusa- 
 tion, witnesses must be summoned from far distant 
 countries. Whatever was the statutable limit of 
 delay, they would be sure to claim it. Added to 
 all this the Emperor, Nero, was becoming day by 
 day more self-indulgent and capricious, more indis- 
 posed to all duties of an irksome nature, amongst 
 which he would certainly place a judgment on appeal. 
 The imperial oflSce was an irresponsible one, so 
 that he was free to act in the most arbitrary 
 
 Tac. Ann. manner ; and the historian testifies to similar 
 "■ '^^' cases in which he thought only of his own con- 
 venience and left prisoners long untried. How- 
 ever, S. Paul was eventually summoned before the 
 Emperor's Court, acquitted, and released. None of 
 the actual circumstances are recorded, but the fact 
 
V. 30-31.] the Apostles Ministry. 313 
 
 that he quitted Kome before the middle of the 
 summer of 64 A.D. is beyond dispute; for it was 
 quite impossible that he could have been there in 
 the great conflagration. 
 
 All that we learn directly about the trial ^ is 
 what Eusebius has said : " after defending himself 
 successfully, it is currently reported that the Apostle 
 again went forth to preach the Gospel, and after- Hist. EccI. 
 wards came to Eome a second time." 
 
 His Letters to Timothy and Titus give evidence 
 that he revisited after his liberation some of the 
 scenes of his earlier labours. He went through i Tim. i. 3. 
 Macedonia and by the Egnatian Way to Asia, 
 staying at Troas with Carpus; he established 2 Tim. iv. 13. 
 Timothy in the Episcopate at Ephesus, but whether 
 he visited the place in person or not is unknown. 
 He had bidden the elders of the Church farewell 
 before, and expressed his conviction that they 
 should "see his face no more," but there is no Acts xx. 25. 
 reason to believe that it was an irrevocable deci- 
 sion. He certainly stayed at the neighbouring 
 Miletus ; for he mentions that he had left his 2 Tim. iv. 20. 
 companion Trophimus there sick. From Miletus 
 he sailed to Crete, where he appointed Titus to the 
 
 1 There are notices of his subsequent work and missions to 
 other parts, but this alone speaks of the trial having taken place. 
 
314 The Close of [Chap. xxvm. 
 
 Episcopate as he had appointed Timothy. So long 
 as he was himself able to bear the burden of govern- 
 ment and " the care of all the Churches," he retained 
 the powers of the Episcopate in his own hands, but 
 the time came when the mantle of authority and 
 chief superintendence must be placed on other 
 shoulders ; and Timothy and Titus were the first 
 to exercise in the fullest measure the delegated 
 functions of an Apostle, having received a commis- 
 sion, " to set in order the things that are wanting. 
 
 Tit. i. 5- and ordain elders in every city." 
 
 Two other countries S. Paul expressed his intention 
 of visiting ; Tychicus was urged to join him at Nico- 
 
 Tit. iii. 12. polls, where he said, " I have determined to winter." 
 It must have been the city of Epirus, which took its 
 name from the great battle and victory at Actium. 
 
 The second intention is recorded in his Letter to 
 the Romans, to whom he writes, "Whensoever I 
 take my journey into Spain I will come to you, for 
 I trust to see you in my journey, and to be brought 
 
 Rom. XV. 24. on my way thitherward by you." That he went 
 farther westward than Rome after his liberation, 
 there is abundant evidence to show, but we have 
 no means of deciding whether it was before or after 
 he had paid those visits in the East to which we 
 have just alluded. Some of the early writers speak 
 
V. 30-31.] the Apostle s Ministry. 3 1 5 
 
 of the country that he visited definitely as Spain \ Murat. 
 others as the "West ^ or the extremity of the West. Routh's 
 
 The tradition that he reached the shores of ^^^'J^;^^^''- 
 Britain, and was the first to preach the Gospel in S- Chrysos. 
 
 ' ^ ^ on 2 Tim. 
 
 these islands, rests on much later evidence, and con- iv. 20. 
 
 . Clem. Rom. 
 
 flicts with the largely-accredited belief which assigns i. v. 
 the introduction of Christianity to the father of Car- Amos"°8,9" 
 actacus, the famous patriot, who after withstanding 
 the Eoman arms was taken captive to Eome. There 
 he may well have heard the Gospel at the lips of the 
 Apostle, who, though he did not personally visit 
 Britain, yet was indirectly the instrument of its 
 conversion.^ 
 
 There is no hint given either in history or tradi- 
 tion which can explain the cause or motive of 
 S. Paul's second and last visit to Rome. It has 
 been thought that he was taken there under arrest,^ 
 but the condition of the Roman Christians was such, 
 that he might well have visited them of his own 
 
 1 S. Clement, writing from Rome, could not mean to describe 
 the city in which he was by this term. 
 
 2 By many writers this is thought to have been through Pudens 
 and Claudia mentioned iu 2 Tim. iv. 21. The latter was a British 
 princess, daughter of Cogidubmis. Pudens was a Roman centurion 
 who married her ; cf. Martial E;piy., iv. 13, xi. 54. In either case 
 the Gospel would be first heard from S. Paul. 
 
 ■' Perhaps the magistrates at Nicopolis arrested him on a charge 
 of having been associated with the conflagration, and sent him to 
 Rome to be tried according to law where the crime was committed. 
 
3i6 The Close of [Chap. xxvm. 
 
 accord. They had lately passed through a very 
 furnace of affliction, and, when the reports reached 
 him, he must have felt that no one needed more the 
 encouragement of his presence. 
 
 In the summer of 64 A.D. a terrible fire had 
 destroyed more than half the city of Eome. 
 There were grave reasons for supposing that it 
 was an incendiary promoted in pure wantonness 
 by the Emperor^ himself; but seeing what frightful 
 disaster and misery it had caused, he was compelled 
 to take definite measures to avert from himself the 
 anger of the populace. This he did by laying the 
 whole guilt upon the Christians, who were begin- 
 ning to draw upon themselves great unpopularity, 
 by manifesting a pretended horror at their conduct 
 in a series of unheard-of cruelties. The historian of 
 the time has indorsed this view of his motives, 
 and left at the same time a frightful description of 
 the tortures to which his victims were subjected. 
 Tac. Ann. Nothing, said Tacitus, *' could efface from the minds 
 of men the prevailing opinion, that Rome was set on 
 fire by his own orders. The infamy of the horrible 
 transaction clung to him ; in order to remove the 
 imputation, he transferred the guilt to others . . . 
 
 1 When Burrhus died, the weak Tigellinus was far too feeble to 
 thwart his passions. Evil influences increased at the Court, and 
 his licentiousness and thirst for blood developed year by year. 
 
 XV. 44. 
 
V. 30-31.] the Apostles Ministry. 3 1 7 
 
 Christians were put to death with exquisite cruelty, 
 and to their sufferings Nero added mockery and 
 derision. Some were covered with the skins of 
 wild beasts, and left to be devoured by dogs ; 
 others were nailed to the cross ; numbers were Juv. Sat. 
 
 i. 155. 
 
 burnt alive; and many were covered with inflam- 
 mable pitch and set on fire, when the daylight 
 ceased to illumine the night." 
 
 " At length," he adds, " the cruelty of these pro- 
 ceedings filled every breast with compassion." 
 
 Now, it may have been that S. Paul joined the 
 Christians at Rome voluntarily, in order to share 
 their sufi'ering and give them the moral support of 
 his own example ; all that we know is, that he did 
 fall under the Imperial displeasure, was imprisoned,^ 
 and died a martyr's death.^ 
 
 Now, having briefly traced the Apostle's career 
 from the time of his liberation from his first cap- 
 tivity at Rome, let us return to the last words of 
 S. Luke in connection with his previous labours in 
 that city. 
 
 1 The Mamertine Prison has been fixed upon as the place of 
 his confinement. 
 
 2 As a Roman citizen he was beheaded, not crucified as his 
 fellow-Apostle, S. Peter. The traditional scene is outside the 
 Ostian Gate, about two miles from the city, at the "Tre Fon- 
 tane," where it is said three springs of water rose from the places 
 which his skull touched as it bounded from his body. 
 
3i8 The Close of [chap. xxvm. 
 
 "And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own 
 hired house, and received all that came in unto him." 
 The language bespeaks greater freedom than he had 
 enjoyed at Csesarea ; indeed, had it not been for the 
 one hindrance of his chain, he Avould have felt but 
 Eph. vi. 20. little of the hardships of captivity. The conscious- 
 
 Phil. i. 13, 
 
 T4, 16. ness of this, however, seems to have been always 
 
 ' ^' ^' ^ ■ present, and how could it be otherwise % Yet, not- 
 withstanding this never-absent drawback, there is a 
 general belief that no other period of his life wit- 
 nessed more effective work and ministry. The list 
 of his converts has probably been exaggerated; 
 "the poet Lucan, the philosopher Epictetus, the 
 
 Lightfoot, powerful freedmen Narcissus and Epaphroditus, 
 
 Phil. 21. , , . . 1 T~k 
 
 the emperors mistresses Acte and Poppcea, have 
 been swept by tradition or conjecture into that 
 capacious drag-net which gathers of every kind." 
 At all events his influence was very widely felt. 
 His coupling-chain must have brought him into 
 close contact Avith a large number of the Imperial 
 troops, for the military guardsman, to whom he was 
 bound, was constantly changed, and thus one after 
 another was brought under the spell of his teaching, 
 hearing the words that fell from his lips, and seeing 
 a perpetual illustration of the true beauty of the 
 Christian life. He must have been thinking of this 
 
V. 30-31] the Apostle s Ministry. 319 
 
 wide opportunity of influence, when he said that 
 " his bonds became manifest throughout the whole 
 prsetorian guard." ^ (E.V.) But this was not the Phii. i. 13 
 limit of his influence ; from the guard it extended 
 to the Palace, and the highest functionaries as well 
 as the humblest menials of "Caesar's household" 
 swelled the number of his converts. 
 
 Not only the people about him experienced the 
 blessings of his teaching, but distant churches and 
 individuals profited by it ; for some of the most 
 beautiful of all his Letters, pre-eminently those to the 
 Ephesians and Philippians, were penned while the 
 chain of the Roman captivity was upon him. 
 
 His durance was greatly relieved by the sym- 
 pathy of attached friends and fellow-labourers. The 
 salutations which he sent in " the Epistles of the 
 captivity," and other notices in their contents, 
 disclose a goodly company, amongst whom were 
 Timothy, Luke, Tychicus, John Mark, once es- 
 tranged, but now not only restored to his friendship, 
 but acknowledged to " be profitable for the ministry," 
 and others besides. 
 
 1 A great variety of meanings has been given to eV oXcj ry 
 irpcLLTUtplci), e.g. the Royal Residence on the Palatine, the Bar- 
 racks of the Praetorian Guard, the Praetorian Camp. Lightfoot 
 has shown conclusively that the word signifies not a place, but a 
 body of men. Phil. 98, 99. 
 
320 The Close of [chap. xxvm. 
 
 S. Luke has told us what Avas the burden of his 
 preaching : " the kingdom of God " and " those 
 things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ." 
 
 He began the Book by telling how the subject of 
 Christ's teaching to the Apostles during the great 
 Acts i. 3. Forty Days had been " the kingdom of God " ; and 
 now he closes it with the picture of the Apostle 
 of the Gentiles, who had received by revelation 
 from Jesus what the other Apostles had learnt at 
 His own lips, taking up the selfsame theme, and 
 preaching in the metropolis of the world, " the king- 
 dom of God." The expression is one of far-reaching 
 significance, and capable of many applications ; but 
 the conclusion is forced upon us, that S. Luke, as 
 the historian of the Church, was thinking especially, 
 if not exclusively, of one particular meaning. It 
 was that which Christ must have intended when, 
 in view of the | future constitution and government 
 and complete organisation of the Catholic Church, 
 as well as of its glory and honour, its extent and 
 s. Matt. xiii. greatness, He felt that there was only one designa- 
 tion by which He could describe it, even that of a 
 kingdom, a kingdom of God. S. Luke knew well 
 that of all the Apostles, none had done more than 
 S. Paul to draw men into it, and thus illustrate the 
 fitness of His figure : " The kingdom of heaven is 
 
V. 30-3I.] the Apostles Ministry. 321 
 
 like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and 
 gathered of every kind " ; so it was that his last 
 words witness to the great aim of the Apostle, to 
 establish the Catholicity of the Church and " make s. Matt. 
 disciples of all nations " (R.V.). 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Abraham, i. 182. 
 
 Acre or Ptolemais, ii. 211. 
 
 Actium, ii. 314. 
 
 Acts of the Apostles, authorship of 
 
 the, 1. 1. 
 
 and Gospels compared, the, i. 12. 
 
 subject of the, i. 13. 
 
 Acts of Paul and Thekia, ii. 73. 
 
 Act of Worship, the first corporate, 
 
 i. 31. 
 Address to the Elders at Miletus, the, 
 
 ii. 203. 
 Adramyttium, ii. 282. 
 Adriatic Sea, the, ii. 291. 
 ./Eneas, healing of, i. 258. 
 yEsculapius, Temple of, i. 4. 
 Aetius, Bishop of Nicsea, i. 257 n. 
 Agabus, ii. 214. 
 
 Agency of the Holy Ghost, the, i. 11. 
 Agrippa l., ii. 39, 44. 
 II., S. Paul before, i, 233 ; 
 
 ii. 261-264. 
 Agrippina, ii. 189. 
 Aholiab, i. 35. 
 Akeldama, i. 49. 
 Alexander the Sanhedrist, i. 119, 121. 
 
 the coppersmith, ii. 186. 
 
 Alexandrians, Synagogue of the, i. 170. 
 Amos quoted, ii. 98. 
 Anchors out of the stern, ii. 293. 
 Angelic agency frequently mentioned, 
 
 ii. 43. 
 Angels, ministry of, i. 30. 
 Ananias, i. 130. 
 of Damascus, i. 230, 239. 
 
 Ananias the High Priest, ii. 235, 
 
 246. 
 Andromeda and Perseus, i. 258. 
 Annas, i. 119, 152. 
 Antioch, birthplace of S. Luke, i. 2. 
 
 mentioned, ii. 22, 23, 50, 73, 165. 
 
 in Pisidia, ii. 61, 65. 
 
 Antonia, Fortress of, ii. 227. 
 Apelles, birthplace of, ii. 210. 
 Appian Way, the, ii. 303. 
 Appii Forum, ii. 304. 
 Apollos, ii. 169. 
 
 Apostle of the Gentiles, the, i. 9. 
 Apostles, List of the, i. 36. 
 Apostles' Creed, the, i. 14, 91. 
 Apostolate of Paul and Barnabas, the, 
 
 ii. 50. 
 Apostolical Succession, the, i. 17. 
 Aquila, ii. 166, 168, 169. 
 Arabia, Saul in, i. 248. 
 Aretas, i. 222. 
 Aristarchus, ii. 185. 
 Arrest of S. Peter, the, ii. 41. 
 Artemision, the month, ii. 184. 
 Article xiii., ii. 7. 
 
 XIX,, ii. 35. 
 
 Ascended Lord, the Risen and, i. 22. 
 
 Ascension of our Lord, the, i. 27. 
 
 Asia, i. 10 ; ii. 121. 
 
 Asiarchs, the, ii. 185. 
 
 Asiatics, Synagogue of the, i. 170. 
 
 Assos, ii. 203. 
 
 Augustan Cohort, the, ii. 281 n. 
 
 Author of the Acts, his attachment to 
 
 S. Paul, i. 1. 
 
 323 
 
124 
 
 Inaex. 
 
 Authority, recognition ot, a note ol 
 
 Church life, i 90. 
 Azizus, king of Emesa, ii. 251. 
 
 Baptismal Regeneration, i. 204 ; 
 ii.37. 
 
 Barcelona, Council of, i. 50 n. 
 
 Barnabas, S., i. 19, 130, 231 ; ii. 26, 
 105. 
 
 his dispute with S. Paul, ii. 116. 
 
 Bauer on the authorship of the Acts, 
 etc., i. 9. 
 
 Beautiful Gate, the, i. 95. 
 
 Bede, the Venerable, i. 149. 
 
 Bernice, ii. 266. 
 
 Bethany, i. 32. 
 ' Bethlehem, i. 213. 
 
 Bezaleel, i. 35. 
 
 Bithynia, i. 19. 
 
 Blaspliemy, charge of, agaiust Ste- 
 phen, i. 187. 
 
 Blood of animals, abstinence from, 
 ii. 103. 
 
 Bombay, Bishop of, on Indian Mis- 
 sions, ii. 87. 
 
 Breaking of Bread, the, i. 95. 
 
 "Brethren, the," ii. 33. 
 
 Brethren of the Lord, the, i. 37. 
 
 Britain, whether visited by S. Paul, 
 ii. 315. 
 
 Bunting, Dr. Jabez, i. 17 n. 
 
 Burrhus, the Prefect, ii. 305. 
 
 - — death of, ii. 316 n. 
 
 C^sarea, i. 19, 255 ; ii. 2, 17, 44, 212. 
 
 " Cassar's household," ii. 819. 
 
 Caiaphas, i. 119. 
 
 Calvin, i. 82. 
 
 Candace, i. 215. 
 
 Capenian Gate, the, ii. 305. 
 
 Captain of the Gudrd, the, i. 118. 
 
 Capua, ii. 303. 
 
 Carpus, Ii. 313. 
 
 Caucab, i. 225. 
 
 Cenchrtca, ii. 164. 
 
 Centurion at Capernaum, the, ii. 4. 
 
 Cethima, or Cyprus, ii. 23 n 
 
 Chamber, the Upper, i. 34. 
 
 Chittim, i. 131. 
 
 Chrestus, ii. 159. 
 
 Christ's followers, how designated, 
 
 ii. 30. 
 "Christian," the name of, ii. 30. 
 Chrysostom, ii. 24. 
 Church, the kingdom of God, Ww, 
 
 \. 13 n. 
 
 the Gentile, ii. 21. 
 
 the origiiies of the, i. 20. 
 
 Oilician Gates, the, ii. 170. 
 
 Clauda, island of, ii. 291. 
 
 Claudius, the Emperor, Edict of, 
 
 ii. 159. 
 
 Lysias, ii. 232. 
 
 Close of the Apostles' Ministry, ii. 
 
 310. 
 Cnidus, ii. 284. 
 
 Communists, the Bible, i. 129. 
 Community of goods, i. 126. 
 Congregation, women in tlie, i. 30. 
 Consolation, Son of, i. 130. 
 Conspiracy of the Jews, ii. 193. 
 Contribution for the "poor saints. 
 
 i. 129. 
 Conversion of the Ethiopian, tlie, 
 
 i. 212. 
 
 of Saul the persecutor, i. 221. 
 
 Coos, ii. 210. 
 
 medical school at, i. 4 n. 
 
 Corinth, ii. 158, 169. 
 Corinthian Gate, the, i. 102. 
 Cornelius, i. 19. 
 
 and S. Peter, ii. 17. 
 
 Vision of, ii. 1. 
 
 Cosin, Bishop, i. 197, 199. 
 Council of Barcelona, i. 50 n. 
 
 Jerusalem, ii. 53. 
 
 Nicaaa, Canons of, i. 257. 
 
 Covenant of Circ.\imcision, the, i. 184. 
 Creed, the Apostles', i. 14, 91. 
 Crete, ii. 284, 313. 
 Cripple healed, the, ii. 75. 
 Crispus, ii. 161. 
 
Index. 
 
 ;25 
 
 Cyprus, i. 131, 254 ; ii. 22, 54. 
 Cyrenians, Synagogue of the, i. 170. 
 
 Damaris, ii. 156. 
 
 Damascus, i. 222, 241. 
 
 Saul's escape from, i. 252. 
 
 Daniel, ii. 13. 
 
 David, S. Peter's appeal to, i. 79. 
 
 Davidic autliorship of 110th Psalm, 
 i. 86. 
 
 Day of Intercession, when instituted, 
 ii. 88. 
 
 Decision of the Synod at Jerusalem, 
 the, ii. 101. 
 
 Demetrius the silversmith, ii. 180. 
 
 Departure of Barnabas from S. Paul, 
 ii. 107. 
 
 Diaconate, the, i. 17, 161. 
 
 Diana, image of, ii. 172. 
 
 temple of, ii. 178. 
 
 Dibon, ii. 23 n. 
 
 Dionysius the Areopagite, ii. 146. 
 
 Diospolis of Lydda, i. 257. 
 
 "Disciples, the," ii. 33. 
 
 Discrepancies, apparent, in the re- 
 cord of S. Paul's conversion, i. 230. 
 
 "Domine quo vadis?" i. 32. 
 
 Dorcas, or Tabitha, i. 258. 
 
 Dreams and visions, i. 74. 
 
 Drusilla, ii. 251. 
 
 Ebionite views, ii. 95. 
 Egnatian Way, the, ii. 283, 313. 
 El Belka, Desert of, i. 249. 
 Elders of Bphesus, the, i. IS. 
 
 at Miletus, ii. 201. 
 
 Eleazar, ii. 13. 
 
 Elijah in the Desert, i. 250. 
 
 Elogium, the, ii. 244 n. 
 
 Elymas the sorcerer, i. 7 ; ii. 58. 
 
 Epilepsy, the thorn in the flesh, i. 6. 
 
 Bphesus, ii. 165, 169, 171, 177, 221. 
 
 Timothy at, ii. 313. 
 
 Ephesian miracles and sorcery, ii. 
 
 171. 
 Epicureans, tenets of the, ii. 150. 
 
 Epimenides, ii. 151. 
 
 Epirus, ii. 314. 
 
 Episcopate, the, i. 18. 
 
 Escape from Damascus, Saul's, i. 
 
 252. 
 Ethiopian, conversion of the, i. 212. 
 Eucharistic Worsliip, i. 26. 
 Euodius, Bishop of Antioch, ii. 51 n. 
 Buroclydon, ii. 286. 
 Eusebius, i. 1 ; ii. 41, 313 
 Eutychus, ii. 194. 
 Evening Communions, ii. 200. 
 Exhortation, the Son of, i. 130. 
 
 Fair Havens, the, ii. 284. 
 
 ''Faithful, the," ii. 33. 
 
 Father of Publius healed, the, ii. 297. 
 
 of the Sanhedrim, the, ii. 173. 
 
 Felix, i. 23 ; ii. 240. 
 
 and S. Paul, ii. 243. 
 
 Fellowship, the, i. 93. 
 
 Festivals, the three, i. 56. 
 
 Festus, i. 23 ; ii. 267. 
 
 First corporate act of worship, the, 
 
 i. 31. 
 
 day of the week, the, ii. 195. 
 
 miracle, the, i. 98. 
 
 ordination, the, i. 46. 
 
 sermon, the, i. 70. 
 
 Whitsuntide, the, i. 54. 
 
 Foreign Mission of S. Paul, the first, 
 
 ii. 49. 
 
 the second, ii. 11'2. 
 
 the third, ii. 109. 
 
 Fornication forbidden, ii. 104. 
 Forty Days, the great, i. 23. 
 
 Gaius, ii. 161. 
 Galatia, ii. 170. 
 
 S. Paul's illness in, i. 24-1. 
 
 Galen, i. 7. 
 "Galileans," ii. 31. 
 Gallio, ii. 162. 
 Gate, the Beautiful, i. 102. 
 
 the Corinthian, i. 102. 
 
 of Nicanor, the, i. 102. 
 
126 
 
 Index. 
 
 Gaza, i. 123. 
 
 Gehenna, i. 82. 
 
 Gelasius, 1. 40 n. 
 
 Gentile Church, beginning of the, ii. 
 
 21. 
 Gentiles, the Apostle of the, i. 9. 
 
 the Gospel of the, i. 9. 
 
 Gethsemane, i. 31. 
 Gibbon on Antioch, ii. 25. 
 
 on miracles, i. 146. 
 
 Gift of Tongues, the, i. 58, 60 ; ii. 77. 
 Goods, community of, i. 126. 
 Gore's Liix Mundi, i. 86 n. 
 Gospel of the Holy Ghost, the, i. 11, 
 
 20. 
 Gospels and Acts compared, the, i. 
 
 12. 
 Great Forty Days, the, i. 23. 
 Grecians, or Hellenists, the, i. 163 ; 
 
 ii. 25 n. 
 Greece, i. 22. 
 Greek, S. Luke a, i. 4. 
 Guard, the Captain of the, i. 118. 
 Guardianship of Angels, the, ii. 46. 
 
 Hades, i. 82. 
 
 Hadrian, the Emperor, i. 34. 
 
 Haran, i. 183. 
 
 Hebrews defined, the, i. 163. 
 
 Hebron, i. 213. 
 
 Helena, the Empress, i. 34. 
 
 Hellenists, the, i. 163. 
 
 Herod Agrippa i., ii. 39. 
 
 his death, ii. 45. 
 
 II., ii. 264. 
 
 Hillel, i. 157. 
 Hippocrates, i. 7 ; ii. 210. 
 Hi-story of S. Luke's life, i. 2. 
 Holy Ghost, agency of the, i. 11. 
 
 and the ministry, the, i. 16. 
 
 given, the, i. 59, ii. 18. 
 
 Gospel of the, i. 11, 20. 
 
 offence against the, i. 13S. 
 
 Hooker, ii. 104. 
 
 House of Ananias, the, i. 242. 
 
 of Judas, the, i. 242. 
 
 IcoNiuM, ii. 71, 72. 
 
 Ignatius, ii. 24. 
 
 Imprisonment, Roman, ii. 250 n. 
 
 Indich, the Ethiopian, ii. 5. 
 
 Influence of Magianism, the, ii. 58. 
 
 Institution of a Diaconate, the, i. 
 
 161. 
 Intercession, Day of, instituted, ii. 88. 
 Irenseus, i. 65, 93, 149. 
 Italian Legion, the, ii. 3 n. 
 
 James, 8., his martyrdom, i. 41. 
 Jerusalem, i. 19. 
 
 Synod of, ii. 53. 
 
 visited by S. Paiil, i. 252 ; ii. 91, 
 
 165, 222. 
 Joanna, i. 41. 
 Joel, i. 57, 71. 
 
 John the Sanhedrist, i. 119. 
 John, S., apostle and evangelist, i. 28, 
 
 31, 99, 101. 
 Jonah, his mission, i. 2. 
 Jonathan, the High Priest, i. 180. 
 Joppa, i. 19, 256 ; ii. 2. 
 Joseph of Arimathaea, i. 157. 
 
 Barsabas, i. 51. 
 
 the Patriarch, i. 185. 
 
 Josephus, i. 56. 
 
 on death of Herod, ii. 45 n. 
 
 Journey to Rome, the, ii. 300. 
 
 into Spain, the, ii. 314. 
 
 Judaea, ii. 40. 
 Judas and Silas, ii. 105. 
 Justin Martyr, i. 148. 
 on Sunday, ii. 197. 
 
 Kate, Bishop, on Gibbon, i. 146 n. 
 Kingdom of God, the, ii. 320. 
 Koura, ii. 292. 
 
 Landing at Malta, the, ii. 289. 
 
 Law read in the Synagogue, the, ii. 99. 
 
 Legend of Philemon and Baucis, the, 
 
 ii. 75. 
 Letters to Timothy and Titus, the, 
 
 ii. 313. 
 
Index. 
 
 327 
 
 Libertines, Synagogue of the, i. IVO. 
 Lightfoot's Christian Ministry, ii. 88. 
 Lischath Haggazith, the, i. 119, 172. 
 List of Apostles, the, i. 36. 
 Liturgies, the Primitive, i. 26. 
 Lord, the Risen and Ascended, i. 21. 
 
 title of, applied to tlie Caesars, 
 
 ii. 271. 
 Lord's Bretliren, the, i. 37. 
 Love Feast, the, ii. 199. 
 Luke, S., author of the Acts, i. 1. 
 
 his birthplace, i. 2. 
 
 medical knowledge, i. 103. 
 
 nationality, i. 4. 
 
 S. Paul's friend, ii. 169, 193, 212. 
 
 Lycaonia, ii. 170. 
 
 speech of, ii. 76. 
 
 Lydda, i. 256. 
 
 Lysanias, the tetrarch, ii. 40. 
 
 Lysias, Claudius, ii. 232. 
 
 Maccabean mother, the, ii. 13. 
 Macedonia, ii. 193. 
 Magianism, influence of, ii. 58. 
 Malta, the landing at, ii. 289. 
 Mamertine Prison, the, ii. 317 n. 
 Manifestations of the Eisen Lord, 
 
 i. 23. 
 Mark, John, ii. 46, 63, 319. 
 Mars' Hill, ii. 149. 
 Martha of Bethany, 1. 41. 
 Martyrdom of S. James, ii. 40. 
 
 S Paul, ii. 317. 
 
 S. Stephen, i. 195. 
 
 scene of the, i. 198. 
 
 Mary of Bethany, i. 41. 
 
 Cleophas, i. 41. 
 
 of Magdala, i. 41. 
 
 — - the Mother of Jesus, i. 39. 
 
 Matala, Cape, ii. 284. 
 
 Matthew, S., i. 28. 
 
 Meats offered to idols forbidden, 
 
 ii. 103. 
 Medical diction of S. Luke, 1. 6. 
 Melchizedek, i. 16. 
 Meleda, ii. 291. 
 
 Melita, ii. 290. 
 
 Melito, Bishop of Sardis, i. 40. 
 Meroe, Court of, i. 215. 
 Mesopotamia, i. 183. 
 Miletus, i. 9 ; ii. 313. 
 
 Bphesian Elders at, ii. 201. 
 
 Ministry, the, i. 6. 
 
 of angels, the, i. 30. 
 
 close of the Apostle's, ii. 310. 
 
 Bishop Lightfoot's Christian 
 
 Ministry, ii. 88. 
 
 the Wesleyan, i. 17 n. 
 
 Miracle, the first, i. 99. 
 
 Miracles of the Early Chnrch, the, 
 
 i. 1^2. 
 
 Gibbon on, i. 146. 
 
 wrought by S. Peter, i. 256. 
 
 Mission of Jonah, the, ii. 2. 
 
 Mnason 01 Cyprus, ii. 223. 
 
 Moabite Stone, the, ii. 23 n. 
 
 Moloch, i. 190. 
 
 Moravians, the, i. 50. 
 
 Moses, referred to by S. Stephen, 
 
 i. 189. 
 Myra, ii. 283. 
 Mysia, ii. 112. 
 
 Name, Saul's change of, ii. 52. 
 Names, Jewish and Roman, ii. 52. 
 Nature of the Gift of Tongues, the, 
 
 i. 61. 
 " Nazarenes," the, ii. 31. 
 Nazarite Vow, the, ii. 225. 
 
 _ taken by S. Paul, ii. 164. 
 
 Nephew, S. Paul's, ii. 239. 
 Nero, the Emperor, ii. 312. 
 Nicfea, Canons of the Council of, 
 
 i. 257. 
 Nicanor, the Gate of, i. 102. 
 Nicephorus, i. 3. 
 Nicodemus, i. 157. 
 Nicopolis, ii. 314. 
 Nineteenth Article, the, ii. 35. 
 Nineveh, ii. 2. 
 
 Nocturns, origin of, ii. 46 n. 
 Notes of the Church, the Four, i. 89. 
 
328 
 
 Index. 
 
 Offerings for tbe " poor saints," 
 
 ii. 223. 
 Onesiphorus, ii. 71. 
 Ophthalmia, the thorn in the flesh, 
 
 i. 6. 
 Order, the Threefold, i. 16. 
 Ordination of Elders, the, ii. 80. 
 
 the First, i. 46. 
 
 Origines of the Church, the, i. 20. 
 
 Pamphtlia, ii. 63. 
 
 Paphos, ii. 54. 
 
 Parables peculiar to S. Luke's Gospel, 
 
 i. 4. 
 Patara, ii. 210. 
 Patriarchs, the, and S. Stephen's 
 
 speech, i. 17S. 
 Patriarchates, the Pive, ii. 32. 
 Paul, S., attachment of author to, i. 1. 
 
 before the Sanhedrim, ii. 231. 
 
 Festus, ii. 257. 
 
 — Agrippa, ii. 261, 264. 
 
 at Corinth, ii. 156. 
 
 — — defends himself against the 
 
 Asiatic Jews, ii. 219. 
 
 his First Foreign Mission, ii. 49. 
 
 ^ Second Foreign Mission, ii. 
 
 112. 
 Third Foreign Mission, ii. 
 
 169. 
 
 in retreat, i. 247. 
 
 his nephew, ii. 239. 
 
 and Barnabas, i. 19. 
 
 ■ at Lystra, ii. 79. 
 
 his martyrdom, ii. 317. 
 
 released from Rome, ii. 313. 
 
 on Mars' Hill, ii. 146. 
 
 his shipwreck, ii. 289. 
 
 at Troas, ii. 192. 
 
 Paul's, S., Bay, ii. 295. 
 Pentecost, i. 55. 
 
 the Holy Spirit at, i. 15. 
 
 Perfectionists, the, i. 129. 
 Perga, ii. 64. 
 
 Perseus and Andromeda, i. 258. 
 Persecution, Herod's, ii. 39. 
 
 Peter, S., i. 2, 10, 17, 42; ii. 19, 137, 
 
 165, 256. 
 
 and S. John, i. 206. 
 
 his appeal to David, i. 79. 
 
 his sermons, i. 47, 70. 
 
 his visit to Antioch, ii. 106. 
 
 Phenice, ii. 22, 285. 
 
 Philemon and Baucis, Legend of, 
 
 ii. 75. 
 Philip the Evangelist, i. 206; ii. 
 
 212. 
 
 and the Ethiopian, i. 19. 
 
 the tetrarch, ii. 40. 
 
 Philippi, ii. 193. 
 
 possible birthplace of 8. Luke, 
 
 i. 4. 
 Philo, i. 121. 
 Plato's Republic, i. 127. 
 Pliny's Letter to Trajan, ii. 196. 
 "Poor Saints," offerings for the, ii. 
 
 223. 
 Praetorian Guard, the, ii. 278. 
 Prayers, the, i. 96. 
 Precepts of Noah, the, ii. 5. 
 Priesthood, the, i. 18 ; ii. 83. 
 Priests or Presbyters, i. 18. 
 Primitive Liturgies, the, i. 26. 
 Princeites, the, i. 130. 
 Priscilla, ii. 166, 169. 
 Propraetor and Proconsul, ii. 67. 
 Proselytes, the two kinds, ii. 5. 
 Psalms in the Synagogue, ii. 66 «. 
 Ptolemais, or Acre, ii. 211. 
 Publius, ii. 278. 
 
 his father healed, ii. 297. 
 
 Pndens and Clauda, ii. 315 n. 
 Purcell's Life of Manning, ii. 110 n. 
 Puteoli, ii. 302. 
 
 Rabbans, The Seven, i. 120. 
 Rabbinical Schools, the two, i. 156. 
 Ramleh, i. 213. 
 Recorder of Ephesus, ii. 187. 
 Regeneration, Baptismal, i. 204 ; ii. 
 
 37. 
 Remphan, the god, i. 190 n. 
 
hide: 
 
 329 
 
 Renan on authorship of the Acts, 
 
 i. 1. 
 " Restoration," meaning of the word, 
 
 i. ll-->. 
 Rhodes, ii. 210. 
 
 Risen and Ascended Lord, the, i. 22. 
 Rome, converts in, ii. 31S. 
 
 fire in, ii. 316. 
 
 imprisonment at, ii. Ull. 
 
 journey to, ii. oOO. 
 
 last visit to, ii. 315. 
 
 voyage to, ii. 276. 
 
 Sabbath changed to Sunday, i. 26. 
 
 Sacrament of Baptism, the,; i. 209. 
 
 Sadducean doctrine, ii. 43. 
 
 Sadducees, anger of the, i. 117. 
 
 " Saints," the, ii. 33. 
 
 contributi07i for the, i. 129. 
 
 Salamis, ii. 54. 
 
 Salmonetta, ii. 295. 
 
 Salome, i. 41. 
 
 Samaria, i. 9. 
 
 Sanhedrim, S 8. Peter and John be- 
 fore the, i. 116, 151. 
 
 S. Paul before the, ii. 231. 
 
 Sapphira, i. 137. 
 
 Saul, i. 131, 170, 174. 
 
 his conversion, i. 221. 
 
 different accounts of it, 
 
 i. 230 ; ii. 261. 
 
 restored to siglit, i. 237. 
 
 Savonarola, ii. 174. 
 
 Savia, i. 41. 
 
 Sceva, his sons, ii. 172. 
 
 Scipio, ii. 3. 
 
 Sebaste, or Sycliar, i. 206. 
 
 Seleucia, ii. 54. 
 
 "Senate of the Sons of Israel," the, 
 i. 154. 
 
 Sergius Paulus, ii. 57. 
 
 Seven Precepts of Noah, the, ii. 5. 
 
 Shaminai, i. 157. 
 
 Shem.07ieh Ezrer, i. 96 n. ; ii. 67. 
 
 Sheol, i. 82. 
 
 Shipwreck of S. Paul, the, ii. 289. 
 
 Sliushaii, the Gate, i. 102. 
 SidoD, i. 7; ii. 44, 283. 
 Silas, i. 19 ; ii. 105, 160. 
 Simon Magus, i. 204. 
 
 the tanner, house of, ii. 12. 
 
 Simony, i. 208. 
 
 Sin, the first public, in the Churcli, 
 
 i. 134. 
 
 the, of Ananias, i. 135. 
 
 Social Union, the Christian, i. 105. 
 Solomon's Porch, i. 104, 108. 
 
 S. Peter's address in, i. 107. 
 
 Spain, S. Paul's journey into, ii. 314. 
 Spirit, the Holy, at Pentecost, i. 15. 
 State after death, Christ's, i. 78. 
 Stephen, S., i. 18, 170. 
 
 his speecli, i. 170. 
 
 martyrdom, i. 195. 
 
 scene of, i. 198. 
 
 Stephanas, ii. 161. 
 
 Stoics, their tenets, ii. 151. 
 
 Street called Straight, the, i. 241. 
 
 Subject of the Acts, the, i. 13. 
 
 Succession, the Apostolical, ii. 88. 
 
 Suicide of Judas, the, i. 48. 
 
 Sulla, i. 3. 
 
 Susanna, i. 41. 
 
 Synagogue at Antioch, the, ii. 616. 
 
 Synagogues, the Five Hellenistic, 
 
 i. 170. 
 
 Law read in the, ii. 67 n., 99. 
 
 Psalms read in the, ii. 66. 
 
 Synod of the Church, the first, ii. 91. 
 
 decision of, ii. 101. 
 
 Syracuse, ii. 302. 
 Syria, i. 9. 
 
 Syrian Gates, the, ii. 170. 
 Syrtis, ii. 287. 
 
 Tabitha, restoration of, i. 258. 
 Tacitus, ii. 247, 316. 
 Tarsus, i. 131, 254 ; ii. 170. 
 
 Temple of JJsculapius at, i. 4. 
 
 Taurus, ii. 65. 
 
 Temple of Diana, ii. 178. 
 
 " Temple-sweeper," the, ii. 187, 189. 
 
130 
 
 Index. 
 
 Tent-making, S. Paul's, li. 160. 
 
 Tertullus, ii. 32, 246. 
 
 " Theological Pliny," the, i. 3. 
 
 Theophilus, i. 1, 22, 148. 
 
 Theudas, 1. 158. 
 
 Things strangled, forbidden, ii. 103. 
 
 Thirteenth Article, the, ii. 7. 
 
 Thomas, S., legend of, i. 40. 
 
 Thorn in the flesh, the, i. 6, 243 ; ii. 
 
 65 w. 
 Threefold order, the, i. 16. 
 Three Taverns, the, ii. 305. 
 Timothy, ii. 160, 166, 819. 
 
 at Bphesus, ii. 313. 
 
 Timothy and Titus, letters to, ii. 313. 
 Titus, Bishop of Crete, ii. 319. 
 Tongues, gift of, i. 58, 61 ; ii. 77. 
 Trade route, the, ii. 78. 
 Trajan, Pliny's letter to, ii. lOG. 
 Trial of Stephen, preparation for, i. 
 
 170. 
 Troas, ii. 192, 313. 
 
 Eucharist at, ii. 194. 
 
 Trophimus, i. 68 ; ii. 227, 313. 
 Tumult at Ephesus, the, ii. 171. 
 
 Turris Stratonis, i. 255 n. 
 Tychicus, ii. 314. 
 Tyrannus, School of, ii. 171. 
 Tyre and Sidon, ii. 44, 211. 
 
 Uppeb Chamber, the, i. 34. 
 Urim and Thummim, i. 84. 
 
 Venus, worship of, ii. 54. 
 Veronica, 1. 42. 
 Viper in the fire, the, ii. 296. 
 Vision of Cornelius, the, ii. 1. 
 
 S. Peter, the, ii. 10. 
 
 Vision.s and dreams, i. 74. 
 Voyage to Rome, the, ii. 277. 
 
 Watches of the night, the, ii. 42 n. 
 
 Wesley, ii. 50. 
 
 Wesleyan Ministry, the, ii. 17 n. 
 
 Whitsuntide, the first, ii. 54. 
 
 Wise Man, the, ii. 173. 
 
 Woman's position restored, ii. 43. 
 
 Women in the Congregation, ii. 39. 
 
 Worship, Eucharist, ii. 26. 
 
 First Corporate Act of, ii. 31. 
 
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