u FEB 5 1916 ji m BS 2505 .D8 1911 Dudley, Carl Hermon. St. Paul's friendships his friends Dm and St. Paul's Friendships and His Friends BY CARL HERMON DUDLEY Author of ''And This Is War" BOSTON RICHARD G. BADGER THE GORHAM PRESS 1911 COPYRIGHT 191 1 BY CARL HERMON DUDLEY All Rights Reserved THE GORHAM PRESS, BOSTON, U. S. A. TO MY SISTER SARAH DUDLEY ROBBINS Without whose help, inspiration and encouragement in years that have fled, this little book could never have been written In far off days thy hopes were high But to thy dreams thou saidst goodbye For an orphaned brood claimed toilsome days Of a spirit framed for stateliest ways But now they haste with glad acclaim To crown each victory with thy name FOREWORD OMITTING the names of Peter and John, the friends of Paul were men of far higher ability and culture than the rest of the Twelve. As far as the New Testament rec- ords permit us to judge, their lives and labors were more closely interwoven with the great world- stream of early Christian achievement and triumphs. By this is meant that movement of Christianity in Apostolic times whereby, instead of continuing a mere Jewish sect of Judea and Galilee, it swept first northward to Antioch where it became Gentile and Missionary; then westward through Asia Minor, everywhere establishing churches and planting gar- risons; then crossed the Hellespont and overran Macedonia and Greece, and about the same time reached Rome where it became the religion of all civilized nations and races — cosmopolitan, imperial, universal. In this victorious march of Christianity from the gates of Antioch to the gates of the Impe- rial City, St. Paul was the Commander-in-Chief, his friends the Field Marshals and Corps Commanders. While it would not be at all fair or defensible to assume that the work of the lesser nine of the Apostles of our Lord was of small moment, yet very little is definitely known about their labors and achievements. Here, then, is a strange anomaly. We are per- fectly familiar with the names of the Twelve, and yet have only the vaguest information concerning their services to Christianity. On the other hand 6 FOREWORD the New Testament furnishes us many references to the services of Paul's friends, but still the names of the great majority of these fall strangely on our ears. We deeply regret our scanty knowledge of the after lives of the Twelve; but we ourselves are wholly to blame if we know nothing about the names and labors of the friends of St. Paul. Shall we not, then, be introduced to them one by one ? If so, we shall meet men well worth knowing ; and also at the same time get a new insight into the deeper things of Paul's own heart, which we can gain in no other way. Likewise we shall acquire new outlooks and vantage points whereby to con- template and measure his transcendent genius. It but remains for me gratefully to acknowledge my deep indebtedness to my former instructor in New Testament, Prof. James S. Riggs, D. D., of Auburn Theological Seminary, and to my classmate of the same institution. Rev. Harry Lathrop Reed, D. D., Professor of New Testament Language and Criticism, both of whom carefully read the manu- script of this work and gave me invaluable sugges- tions and criticisms by which I was guided in the final revision. CARL HERMON DUDLEY, CONTENTS Chapter Page Foreword 5 I Paul's Genius for Friendship 9 II Barnabas — The Discoverer of St. Paul 23 III John Mark — The Man Who Forfeited AND Afterwards Regained the Con- fidence OF St. Paul 51 IV Silas — The Man St. Paul First Trained in Missionary Work 71 V Timothy — Paul's Best Loved Friend... 87 VI Luke — The Biographer of Paul 112 VII Aquila and Priscilla — Paul's Fellow Craftsmen and Fellow Evangelists. 138 VIII Apollos — The Man Whose Career Proves There Was No Jealously in Paul's Friendships 153 IX Titus — The Most Efficient of Paul's Friends 174 X Aristarchus — Paul's Friend Who Was But His Friend 187 XI Epaphras — Paul's Fellow Servant and Fellow Prisoner 194 CONTENTS Chapter Page XII Epaphroditus — Paul's Friend Who Counted Not His Life Dear Unto Himself 202 XIII Onesimus — The Highest Example of THE Transforming Power of Friend- ship WITH St. Paul 211 XIV Philemon — A Slaveholder Whom Paul Dared Appeal to in the Name of Friendship 220 XV Tychicus — Minister of Christ and Mes- senger OF St. Paul 2o6 XVI Onesiphorus — A Friend Who Was Not Ashamed of Paul's Chain 246 XVII Postscript — A Last Glance at Chris- tianity's Imperial Friend and Em- pire Builder 255 Appendix 273 Saint Paul's Friendships and His Friends CHAPTER I PauVs Genius for Friendship FOR 1900 years the Christian world has looked up to Paul as a unique and inspired personality. Men have studied, admired, marvelled, at his manysidedness. They have analyzed his varied gifts, — mental, moral, and spiritual. They have tried to estimate his influence as a world force. They have endeavored to con- ceive what Christianity would be like today had he never lived or never been converted; and they have staggered at the appalling conception. Uncounted volumes have been put forth in every civilized lan- guage dealing with special aspects of his career. Men have studied him as persecutor and preacher, as pastor and orator; they have studied him as author and theologian, as missionary and martyr. It would be difficult to discover anything new to say on any of these phases of his career. It would be well-nigh impossible to say anything on them better than has already been done. But not yet, even with all that has been said and written for 1900 years, has the world, in my judgment, sufficiently recognized Paul's geuius for friendship. While nearly all writers have touched upon this- phase of his character, yet none, as far as I know,. 9 10 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS has devoted an entire volume to its discussion; nor in what they have said on the topic have they lifted it to the summit to which its inherent worth and significance entitle it. They have treated his genius for friendship as only one among the manifold phases of his character. It is such, and also is some- thing more besides. A careful study of Paul's friendships and a just estimate of their rightful sig- nificance to him personally, and their place in his career during his life and after his death, sets before us the totality of the man, and his statesmanship as an organizer of churches and as one of the founders of Christianity, as perhaps nothing else can. Probably the average Bible student thinks of Paul in almost any other light than as the great type of human friend. In short, the world is wont to depre- ciate the humanity of the great Apostle. He is set on a pedestal apart from the every day feelings and emotions. If not regarded as originally devoid of such, yet it seems to be felt that the overmastering sway of his great mission in life dwarfed, or at least suppressed, the activity of his feelings as a man among his fellow men. He is often regarded as entirely "other worldly." It is thought by many, and not infrequently boldly stated, that he lightly esteemed the domestic relations, if, in fact, he did not put a stigma upon marriage itself. None would challenge his supreme love for Christ. Perhaps none would deny that he loved men for the sake of their souls; but it is apparently believed by many that he loved them for the sake of their souls only, PAUL'S GENIUS FOR FRIENDSHIP 11 that he did not love them for their own sakes. The general view would appear to be that his interest in men as men went no farther than his desire to snatch them as brands from the burning. Of course there are many significant exceptions to this estimate of the Apostle; but I hazard the opinion that this is the average lay conception of his outlook upon men and life. Nothing could do Paul a greater injustice. No man ever loved his fellows more passionately for their own sakes. He loved men as men. No man in all Scripture had so many personal friends as St. Paul. None in all Scripture gave expression to such intense affection for his friends. None had friends among such varied nationalities, nor from such extremes of social gradations. None called forth such answering love, nor evoked such unselfish hero- ism and sacrifice. The contemplation of this aspect of his life human- izes our view of his imperial character; puts him on a plane of sympathy and feeling with our com- mon humanity; and, at the same time, exalts our conception of his genius. Such a study will mag- nify our appreciation of Paul in four particulars. I 7^ Will Reveal to Us the Intensity of His Domestic Affections That Paul was never married is the almost univer- sal assumption. The reason is generally believed to be his coldness toward the marriage state and domes- 12 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS tic relationships. In my opinion nothing could be farther from the truth. I believe he was in many- ways one of the most lonely-hearted men that ever lived. Whether he ever distinctly analyzed the feeling or not, I believe his yearning for home and fireside was great beyond words. I believe few men ever lived who were capable of lavishing a tenderer affection upon wife and children and home. I regard his abstinence from marriage as one of his supreme sacrifices for the cross of Christ, one of the things included in his general statement where he uses this language concerning his devotion to Christ — ''for whom I have suffered the loss of all things." That Paul thoroughly considered the question of his own marriage is evidenced to me by his ques- tion — ''Have not we the right to lead about a wife that is a believer, even as the rest of the Apostles, and the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas? Or I only and Barnabas, have we not a right to forbear working?" From these questions several conclu- sions may safely be drawn: that the other Apostles were married, and their wives accompanied them on their missionary journeys; and that at times they rested from their labors, probably for domestic reasons of some kind ; that Paul did not impeach the right of others to marry and rest at times at home; that he claimed the same privileges for himself; that he seriously considered taking the step, but finally voluntarily exercised the higher right of lay- ing aside all thought of home and domestic affection for the sake of completer devotion to his great com- PAUL'S GENIUS FOR FRIENDSHIP 13 mission. He thus became one of that class to whom Christ referred when he said, speaking about some refraining from marrying — "Not all can receive this saying, but they to whom it is given." Paul was one "to whom it was given." There would appear to be two specific reasons why Paul made the great sacrifice of foregoing domestic ties. One was the belief which he seems to have held, at least in the earlier years of his ministry, that Christ would speedily return to earth, and that the whole world ought to be evangelized before that great event ; and, therefore, nothing, even though it be as sacred as family relations, should be permitted to interfere in the least with a man's giving every ounce of his strength, every thought of his mind, and every throb of his heart to the proclamation of the Gospel to those who had never heard it. The other reason for his abstinence from marriage, though I deem it less decisive than the above, was the continual hardships and persecu- tions to which missionaries were subjected and his certainty that marriage would entail these same upon wives and children ; and, therefore, it was bet- ter for both men and women to remain single. We may now consider how Paul's friendships reveal to us the intensity of his domestic affections and the gnawing emptiness which lack of home and wife and children made in his great yearning heart. We are made aware of all this by the terms of domestic relationships and endearments which he lavished upon his friends. The mother of Rufus he 14 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS called his mother; Phebe was his sister; Qiiartus, Sosthenes, ApoUos, Tychicus, Epaphroditus, and Philemon were his brothers; Timothy, Titus, and Onesimus were his ''own" sons; the Galatian Chris- tians were his ''little children" and he "travailed for them in birth"; he was as "gentle" among the Thessalonians " as a nurse cherishing her children ' ' ; he "exhorted and comforted and charged" them "as a father doth his children"; as his "beloved sons" he warned the Corinthians, for though they might "have ten thousand instructors in Christ" yet they could not have "many fathers", and he had "begot- ten" them through the Gospel and like a father was "jealous" over them and wanted to "espouse them as a chaste virgin — to one husband, even Christ." And so the great Apostle with his empty home- loving heart transformed his friends into mothers, sisters, brothers, sons and daughters; and himself into a father, a mother, and a nurse, — ^begetting children, travailing in birth, caring for children in their infancy, giving daughters in marriage, sending sons out into the world with a father's warnings, counsel, and blessing. Let none, then, dare rise and charge Paul with coldness toward marriage and home. II In the Second Place the Consideration of Paul as a Friend Bears Witness to the Cosmopolitanism of His Social Sympathies arid Charm There are few men whose friends have been chosen PAUL'S GENIUS FOR FRIENDSHIP 15 from such a wide range of races, nationalities, age, sex, occupation, and social gradations as were Paul's. Perhaps no man ever had an intenser love for his own race and nation than did he. He gloried in the fact that he was a Hebrew of the Hebrews, of the tribe of Benjamin, and of the seed of Abraham. He tells us that his heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel was that they might be saved. Once in his zeal for her salvation he reached a climax of self-abnegation attained by only one other man in all Scripture, and that man was Moses when, in his prayer for this rebellious people, he used this lan- guage — "Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin, — and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of the book which thou hast written." Paul's self-crucifying love for this same people found expression in a very similar outburst of expression when he wrote — *'I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow of heart. For I could wish myself accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: who are Israelites ; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises. ' ' Note the solemn thrice repeated asseveration in the first three clauses. And yet despite all this patriotic ardor of the Apostle, his friends were chosen indis- criminately from the three dominant races of his day, — ^Hebrew, Greek and Latin. 16 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS Nor were his friendships confined to any one city or country. We find them among all cities and nations from the Holy City of Jerusalem to Imperial Rome herself. He had friends at Antioch, Tyre, Damascus, Lystra, Ephesus, Derbe, Berea, Thessa- lonica, Philippi, Athens, Colossae, Corinth, and Cenchrea. His friends were also found scattered throughout the countries of Judea, Galilee, Syria, Galatia, Macedonia, Greece, and Italy; and in the isles of Cyprus and Melita. The friendships of some men are largely confined to those of about their own age. Paul numbered among his friends some old enough to be his parents, and others young enough to be his children. Many men confine their friendships to men only, Paul's included men and women alike. Some find their intimates exclusively among those of their own handicraft or profession, Paul found his among men of every calling. In the list of his friends we find the names of missionaries like Silas and Barnabas; ministers like Archippus and Epaphras ; prophets like Agabus ; Apostles like Peter, James, and John; evangelists like Philip; officials such as Erastus the Chamberlain of Corinth, and Publius the chief man of Melita; rulers of syna- gogues like Crispus; soldiers like Julius the centu- rion; tentmakers like Aquila and Priscilla; jailers like the Philippian; authors like Mark and Luke; slaveholders like Philemon; slaves like Onesimus; lawyers like Zenas; physicians like Luke; and cap- tains of ships like the one who commanded when he PAUL'S GENIUS FOR FEIENDSHIP 17 was carried a prisooer to Rome. Few have made friends of a wider divergence of callings and inter- ests, or won to themselves such a strangely assorted group of men. All this goes to prove, if proof were necessary, that Paul's zeal in behalf of his mission to the Gen- tiles and his championship of their rights and privi- leges in Christ and in the church, was no mere pro- fessional function on his part. It proves that he loved men as men wherever he found them, and whatever their race or station in life. Ill The Third Phase of the Apostle^s Greatness Which Is Best Exemplified by a Study of His Friendships Is the Enduring Loyalty by Which He Bound Others to Himself and to His Life Mission We have just seen how he made friends with men of every land, race, and calling. That would be con- ceivably possible without his awakening an equal affection on their part. But this was not the case; his friends loved him with the same intensity and ardor as he them. What power of heart must the man have had, what charm and attractiveness, to bind such diverse elements to himself with cords of love that no sacrifice could sever or hardship weaken. And what makes this the more remark- able is the fact that he had nothing to give them except himself, his hope in the Gospel, and a share in his labors and dangers. Again what a testimony 18 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS is this to his genius for friendship and to the innate or acquired nobility of his friends. Linking their lives to Paul's could bring them neither wealth, nor social position, nor political influ- ence. On the contrary it meant precisely the oppo- site of these things. They lived in an age abnor- mally devoted to the quest of riches, power, military fame, and sensual indulgence. Paul's friendship was a trumpet blast summoning men away from aU these. His friends heard that trumpet blast — and they were not disobedient. Many of them were men of marked ability which would have given them high success as the world defines success. Yet despite all temptations to ungodliness and unbelief, despite all social ostracism and persecution, they heard the voice of a mighty friendship calling them, and they answered with their all. The elements of personal affection and tenderness which entered into all the various friendships of the Apostle can only be hinted at here. How his heart overflowed with joy when he greeted some friend back safe and sound from a long absence! How feverishly restless and anxious he was when sepa- rated from a friend, even if only for a short time! What pulsating words he wrote about his longing to see their faces again that they might comfort each other! How he and they wept and prayed at parting! What sorrow when they looked forward to meeting no more on earth ! What beseeching let- ters he wrote to churches, imploring them to deal kindly with his friends ! What terms of endearment PAUL'S GENIUS FOR FRIENDSHIP 19 he lavished upon those whom his great love crowned with friendship 's holy name ! IV The Fourth Thing We Note in Considering PauVs Friendships Is the Manner in Which These Underscore Our Appreciation of His Intellectual Supremacy Nothing else, perhaps, does this quite so effectually. "We are accustomed to think of and call him great. And yet this has become so trite that it has lost much of its significance. But when we consider his friendships and his friends, only then do we fully grasp how peerless he was. He came into friendly relations with all the master minds of the first generation of the Christian Era. How he dwarfs them all intellectually! Not by pushing himself forward, but by sheer inherent abil- ity he everywhere and in all company speedily became the leader of leaders. None among the orig- inal Apostles can be compared to him for sweep of thought, depth of reasoning, or breadth of learning ; nor for daring adventure and constructive states- manship of purpose and achievement. He came into contact and closest friendship with such authors as Mark and Luke, but his own literary fame remains undimmed. In oratory he had such friendly rivals as the gracious Barnabas and the brilliant Apollos, but his own fame in this particular field is more resplendent than that of either. Titus was a great organizer, but PauPs achievements so 20 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS far surpass those of Titus, or of any other man of the age, as to make comparison out of the question. Timothy was a great pastor but his work in this line, if compared with Paul's, pales like moonlight before the rising sun. Silas was a great missionary, but his work is all but forgotten as men gaze upon the monolithic glory of Paul's achievements. Philip was a great evangelist, but his deeds are almost wholly obscured by the far-shining victories of Paul. All these friends of the Apostle were men of great gifts in a particular field, gifts which would have secured their fame for all time had they never come into contact and comparison with a greater than they. Paul surpassed every one of them, even in their own particular specialty, as much as Napoleon did his Marshals. The telling of the story of Paul's friendships and a study of the careers of several of his friends, is amply justified by what has already been said. But all that has preceded bases the significance of this feature of the Apostle's character and career, upon reasons personal to Paul himself. The story also deserves telling for the sake of his friends. Paul we already know pretty thoroughly, his friends we know very little : with some of them we have a bow- ing acquaintance; others we know by sight; still others we scarcely know even by name. These things ought not so to be. Paul's friends were good men and true; in many ways, great men. Some of them were indispensable, all were important and useful. They had a part to play, not only in the PAUL'S GENIUS FOR FRIENDSHIP 21 career and affection of St. Paul, but also in the founding and early success of Christianity itself. The story of their lives and friendship with the Apostle is not told merely for his sake, not merely to set forth the beauty and world significance of ideal friendship, but also to lift their names up out of the obscurity into which they have been thrown by the overshadowing fame of Peter, Paul, and John; to show the eminent part they played as preachers, pastors, missionaries, authors, organizers, and evangelists; and joint-founders of Gentile churches, joint-conquerors of Europe for Christ, and joint-founders of Christianity itself. The significance of their relation to St. Paul, apart from personal love and friendship, falls into three divisions, each of which will be duly amplified in subsequent chapters. All that is required at this time is simply to state each of the three in as few words as possible. 1. Humanly speaking, it was one of Paul's friends who, several years after his conversion, gave him his first opportunity effectively to engage in his life work. 2. During his entire ministry his friends were continually as his right arm. Never as far as we know did he labor with marked success any great length of time without the companionship of one or more of his intimate friends. None of his great churches was founded without the assistance of his friends. Never did he undertake a great missionary journey alone, though he may have done some 22 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS evangelistic work at Tarsus and in Cilicia before his call to Antioch. 3. So efficient did his friends become through his example, influence, and training, and by their own diligence, fidelity, and natural ability, that after his death the work of Christianity went on without break or pause in any church or field. And so for the sake of a just appreciation of the greatness of Paul's heart and mind, and for the sake of a better acquaintance with men personally well worth knowing, and a juster estimate of their indispensable services, — it seems to me that the story of Paul's friendships and his friends deserves a little volume all by itself. CHAPTER II Barnabas — The Discoverer of St. Paul The story of Barnabas 's career is contained in the following passages :— Acts 4 :36-37, 9 :26-27, 11 :22-30, 12:25, 13:1-52, 14:1-28, 15:1-39, 1 Cor. 9:4-6, Gal. 2:1-13, Col. 4:10. IT scarcely need be stated that, in order of time» the first eminent friend of Paul whose acquaintance we should make, is Barnabas. Not alone for chronological reasons, however, but for many others as well, it is fitting that his name stand first in the long roll of honor. Perhaps it should be here stated that in these little biographical sketches I shall, in the title to the chap- ters, characterize each friend of Paul's by some descriptive word or clause which will bring into prominence a leading phase of his relationship to the Apostle. Only after I had decided upon the above heading for our study of Barnabas did I find that Stalker in his ''Life of St. Paul," had used the same phrase, so I hasten to acknowledge his priority. I Barnabas, The Man Of the early life of Barnabas and of when and how he was converted, nothing is known. There is 23 24 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS a vague, unauthenticated tradition that he was one of the "Seventy" whom our Lord sent forth on an evangelistic tour during his own earthly ministry. But the fact that he is not mentioned in any of the four Gospels makes this more than doubtful; for a man of his ability would not have been likely to remain in the background had he been personally associated with Christ. Besides this, his flaming zeal when we first make his acquaintance in the Acts w^ould lead us to believe that he was a new convert, possibly one of the number who found Christ on the day of Pentecost. We first find Barnabas at Jerusalem already a Christian, one of that number who, in those early days, having possessions, sold them and laid the money at the Apostles' feet. This gives us at the start something of an insight into his character. His conversion marked the consecration of his all. Henceforth he himself and everything he possessed was to be laid on the altar of sacrifice. In this con- nection we are informed that he was a Levite, a native of the island of Cyprus; and the inference is that his wealth was considerable and his social standing high. It later appears that he was a man of charming physical presence, for at Lystra when he and Paul were taken for gods it was he who was called Jupiter, evidently a tribute to his royal and commanding personality. This, however, was but one of his minor claims to distinction. In the graces of oratory he probably had but one rival amoni? all the New Testament BARNABAS 25 preachers, I refer to Apollos. So remarkable was his eloquence that the Apostles themselves surnamed him ''Barnabas," that is. ''Son of Exhortation" a name which was immediately and universally sub- stituted for that of Joses by which he was originally known. To magnificence of person and splendor of oratory were joined such irreproachable character and flam- ing zeal that their possessor became at once one of the mightiest forces of the early church. It is doubtful if Barnabas has, even yet, received due recognition for his indispensable services to Chris- tianity. The fame of Paul has so far overtopped his own that few measure the greatness that was his, or render him the appreciation they should. It shall be part of our task to isolate his resplendent name, count up his services, and contemplate the greatness of his achievements. In doing this we shall but ren- der him his due, and, at the same time, bring still another tribute to the greatness of St. Paul himself, whose genius tends to dwarf the fame of the eminent men with whom he labored, and whom, as friends, he took into his heart of hearts. II Barnahas's Dominant Characteristics in His Relation to Other Men — The Trust He Reposed in Them and They in Him. This might be called the keynote to his character and career. It appears at every stage of his life. It was this which made him a marked man. It was 26 SAINT PAUL'S FRIENDSHIPS this which made possible his splendid services. He acted upon this principle of confidence in his fellow men when the grounds for so doing were the slight- est ; at times, even, when it seemed unjustifiable, nay more, dangerous to himself and hazardous to the cause for which he stood. Yet trust men he would and did, whatever the cost to himself, whatever the potential menace to his career ; and in every case his judgment and confidence were justified by the event. Thus he gave other men their opportunity in life, thus made Christianity forever debtor to the mag- nanimity of his heart and splendor of his moral courage. The first exhibition of this confidence he had in others and others in him, was manifested when Paul visited Jerusalem for the first time after his con- version. Already Paul had attempted to preach at Damascus, but had speedily been driven forth from the city. Coming down to Jerusalem he at once endeavored to join himself to the little Christian community in that city. But every person in it, including the Apostles themselves, were afraid of him and would have nothing to do with him. It looked for a time as though, not the enemies of the Cross, but its friends and defenders, were to render impossible the entrance of the new convert into the Christian fold and into the field of Christian ser- vice. All men looked askance at Paul. They sus- pected his motives. They feared his designs. The last they had known of him he was their bitterest foe. He had consented unto the death of Stephen BARNABAS 27 «,nd had gone to Damascus breathing forth threat- enings and slaughter. He had made havoc of the <3hurch, persecuting its members even unto strange