THE UNIYERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY "2 "2532 P28 I8T°) Return this book on or before the Latest Date stamped below. University of Illinois Library n r* ^ ir=5 THE "•""E^s-ry Of ,umo,s LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. BY THE Rev. W. J. CONYBEARE, M. A., LATE FELLOW OP TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRILGEI AND TEE Eev. J. S. HOWSON, M.A., DEAN OF CHESTER. NEW YORK: PUBLISHED BY T. Y. CEOWELL. 744 Broadway o*" Wright & Potter Printing Compaay, 79 Milk Street, Boston. PZ8 imm Of THE 7~ 1934 ^^EBSITY OF ILLINO/S £ LIFE AND EPISTLES ' OF THE ^ APOSTLE PAUL. 885GG7 " It is very meet, right, and our bounden duty that we should at all times and in all places give thanks unto thee, 0 Lord, Holy Father, Almighty, Everlasting God, through Jesus Christ our Lord, according to whose most true promise the Holy Ghost came down from heaven, lighting upon the apostles, to teach them and to lead them to all truth ; giving them boldness with fervent zeal constantly to preach the gospel to all nations; whereby we have been brought out of darkness and error, into the clear light and true knowledge of thee, and of thy Son Jesus Christ." — Proper Preface to the Trisagium for Whitsunday, "'A^evre? Tovs ciAAovs airavTaq, HavXov TrpocTrjawjae^a fxovov Tov Xoyov (rvvtcTopa, Kav TOVTU) ■&e«iprjcro)iJ,€v olov iaTi. r^vx'^v €7ri/ixeAeta. 'fls av 6e p^ara touto YvoiTj/xev, tl Uav\o^ auToj Trept IlavAov r)(Tiv clkovcuu^v. . . . No/io^eret fiovAoi? Koi fieo"7rdTat?, apxovai Koi apxofxivoi^f avSpdcri. koX yvvai^ii/, of Paul's Journeys 752 THE LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. CHAPTER I. GREAT MEN OF GREAT PERIODS. — PERIOD OF CHRIST^S APOSTLES. — JEWS, GREEKS, AND ROMANS. — RELIGIOUS CIVILIZATION OF THE JEWS. — THEIR HISTORY, AND ITS RELATION TO THAT OF THE WORLD. — HEATHEN PREPARATION FOR THE GOSPEL. — CHARACTER AND LANGUAGE OF THE GREEKS. — ALEXANDRIA.— ANTIOCH AND ALEXANDRIA. — GROWTH AND GOVERNMENT OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. — MISERY OF ITALY AND THE PROVINCES. — PREPARATION IN THE EMPIRE FOR CHRISTIANITY. — DIS- PERSION OF THE JEWS IN ASIA, AFRICA, AND EUROPE. — PROSE- LYTES. — PROVINCES OF CILICIA AND JUD^A. — THEIR GEOG- RAPHY AND HISTORY. — CILICIA UNDER THE ROMANS. — TARSUS. — CICERO. — POLITICAL CHANGES IN JUD^A. — HEROD AND HIS FAMILY. — THE ROMAN GOVERNORS. — CONCLUSION. The life of a great man, in a great period of the world's history, is a subject to command the attention of every thoughtful mind. Alexander on his Eastern expedition, spreading the civilization of Greece over the Asiatic and African shores of the Mediterranean Sea, — Julius Caesar contending against the Gauls, and subduing the barbarism of Western Europe to the order and discipline of Roman government, — Charlemagne compressing the separating atoms of the feudal world, and reviving for a time the image of imperial unity, — Columbus sailing westward over the Atlantic to discover a new world which might receive the arts and religion of the old, — Napoleon on his rapid campaigns, shattering the ancient 11 12 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. system of European states, and leaving a chasm between our pres* ent and the past, — ^these are the colossal figures of history, which stamp with the impress of their personal greatness the centuries in which they lived. The interest with which we look upon such men is natural and inevitable, even when we are deeply conscious that, in their cha- racter and their work, evil was mixed up in large proportions with the good, and when we find it difficult to discover the providential design which drew the features of their respective epochs. But this natural feeling rises into something higher if we can be as- sured that the period we contemplate was designedly prepared for great results, that the work we admire was a work of unmixed good, and the man whose actions we follow was an instrument specially prepared by the hands of God. Such a period was that in which the civilized world was united under the first Eoman emperors ; such a work was the first preaching of the gospel; and such a man was Paul of Tarsus. Before we enter upon the particulars of his life and the history of his work, it is desirable to say something, in this introductory chapter, concerning the general features of the age which was pre- pared for him. We shall not attempt any minute delineation of the institutions and social habits of the period. Many of these will be brought before us in detail in the course of the present work. We shall only notice here those circumstances in the state of the world which seem to bear the traces of a providential pre- arrangement. Casting this general view on the age of the first Roman em- perors, which was also the age of Jesus Christ and his apostles, we find our attention arrested by three great varieties of national life. The Jew, the Greek, and the Eoman appear to divide the world between them. The outward condition of Jerusalem itself, at this epoch, might be taken as a type of the civilized world. Herod the Great, who rebuilt the temple, had erected for Greek and Roman entertainments a theatre within the same walls and an amphitheatre in the neighboring plain. His coins, and those of his grandson Agrippa, bore Greek inscriptions : that piece of money which was brought to our Saviour (Matt. xxii. ; Mark xii. ; Luke xx.) was the silver denarius, the image" was that of the emperor, the "superscription'' was in Latin; and at the same time when the common currency consisted of such pieces aa JEWS, GREEKS, AND ROMANS. 13 these, since coins with the images of men or with heathen symbols would have been a profanation to the " treasury/^ there might be found on the tables of the money-changers in the temple shekels and half shekels with Samaritan letters, minted under the Macca- bees. Greek and Eoman names were borne by multitudes of those Jews who came up to worship at the festivals. Greek and Latin wwds were current in the popular "Hebrew" of the day; and while this Syro-Chaldaic dialect was spoken by the mass of the people with the tenacious affection of old custom, Greek had long been well known among the upper classes in the larger towns, and Latin was used in the courts of law and in the official corre- spondence of magistrates. On a critical occasion of Paul's life (Acts xxi., xxii), when he was standing on the stair between the temple and the fortress, he first spoke to the commander of the garrison in Greek, and then turned round and addressed his coun- trymen in Hebrew; while the letter (Acts xxiii.) of Claudius Lysias was written, and the oration (Acts xxi v.) of Tertullus spoken, in Latin. We are told by the historian Josephus that on a parapet of stone in the temple area, where a flight of fourteen steps led up from the outer to the inner court, pillars were placed at equal distances with notices, some in Greek and some in Latin, that no alien should enter the sacred enclosure of the Hebrews. And we are told by two of the evangelists (Luke xxiii. 38 ; John xix. 20) that when our blessed Saviour was crucified "the super- scription of his accusation was written above his cross " in letters of Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin." The condition of the world in general at that period wears a similar appearance to a Christian's eye. He sees the Greek and Roman elements brought into remarkable union with the older and more sacred elements of Judaism. He sees in the Hebrew nation a divinely-laid foundation for the superstructure of the Church, and in the dispersion of the Jews a soil made ready in fitting places for the seed of the gospel. He sees in the spread of the language and commerce of the Greeks, and in the high per- fection of their poetry and philosophy, appropriate means for the rapid communication of Christian ideas, and for bringing them into close connection with the best thoughts of unassisted human- ity. And he sees in the union of so many incoherent provinces under the law and government of Rome a strong framework which might keep together for a sufficient period those masses of social 14 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. life which the gospel was intended to pervade. The city of God is built at the confluence of three civilizations. We recognize with gratitude the hand of God in the history of his world ; and we turn with devout feelings to trace the course of these three streams of civilized life, from their early source to the time of their meet- ing in the apostolic age. We need not linger about the fountains of the national life of the Jews. We know that they gushed forth at first, and flowed in their appointed channels, at the command of God. The call of Abraham, when one family was chosen to keep and hand down the deposit of divine truth, — the series of providences which brought the ancestors of the Jews into Egypt, — the long captivity on the banks of the Nile, — the work of Moses, whereby the bondsmen were made into a nation, — all these things are represented in the Old Testament as occurring under the immediate direction of Almighty power. The people of Israel were taken out of the midst of an idolatrous world, to become the depositaries of a purer knowledge of the one true God than was given to any other people. At a time when (humanly speaking) the world could hardly have preserved a spiritual religion in its highest purity, they received a divine revelation enshrined in symbols and ceremonies, whereby it might be safely kept till the time of its development in a purer and more heavenly form. The peculiarity of the Hebrew civilization did not consist in the culture of the imagination and intellect, like that of the Greeks, nor in the organization of government, like that of Eome, but its distinguishing feature was Beligion, To say nothing of the Scrip- tures, the prophets, the miracles of the Jews, — their frequent festi- vals, their constant sacrifices, — everything in their collective and private life was connected with a revealed religion; their wars, their heroes, their poetry, had a sacred character, — their national code was full of the details of public worship, — their ordinary employments were touched at every point by divinely-appointed and significant ceremonies. Nor was this religion, as were the re- ligions of the heathen world, a creed which could not be the common property of the instructed and the ignorant. It was neither a recondite philosophy which might not be communicated to the masses of the people, nor a weak superstition controlling the conduct of the lower classes and ridiculed by the higher. The religion of Moses was for the use of all and the benefit of all. The RELIGIOUS CIVILIZATION OF THE JEWS. 15 poorest peasant of Galilee had the same part in it as the wisest rabbi of Jerusalem. The children of all families were taught to claim their share in the privileges of the chosen people. And how different was the nature of this religion from that of the contemporary Gentiles ! The pious feelings of the Jew were not dissipated and distracted by a fantastic mythology, where a thousand different objects of w^orship, with contradictory attributes, might claim the attention of the devout mind. ^* One God,'' the Creator and Judge of the world and the Author of all good, was the only object of adoration. And there was nothing of that wide separation between religion and morality w^hich among other nations was the road to all impurity. The will and approbation of Jehovah were the motive and support of all holiness ; faith in his word was the power which raised men above their natural weakness; while even the divinities of Greece and Eome were often the personifications of human passions, and the example and sanction of vice. And still farther : the devotional Scriptures of the Jews express that heartfelt sense of infirmity and sin, that peculiar spirit of prayer, that real communion with God, with which the Christian, in his best moments, has the truest sympatliy. So that, while the best hymns of Greece are only mythological pictures, and the literature of heathen Rome hardly produces anything which can be called a prayer, the Hebrew psalms have passed into the devotions of the Christian Church. There is a light on all the mountains of Judaea which never shone on Olympus or Parnassus; and the "Hill of Zion," in which "it pleased God to dwell," is the type of "the joy of the whole earth" (Ps. xlviii. 2; Ixviii. 16), while the seven hills of Rome are the symbol of tyranny and* idolatry. " He showed his word unto Jacob, his statutes and ordinances unto Israel. He dealt not so with any nation ; neither had the heathen knowledge of his laws " (Ps. cxlvii. 19, 20). But not only was a holy religion the characteristic of the civili- zation of the Jews, but their religious feelings were directed to something in the future, and all the circumstances of their national life tended to fix their thoughts on One that was to come. By types and by promises their eyes were continually turned towards a Messiah. Their history was a continued prophecy. All the great stages of their national existence were accompanied by effusions of prophetic light. Abraham was called from his father's 16 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. house, and it was revealed that in him "all families of the earth should be blessed." Moses formed Abraham\s descendants into a people by giving them a law and national institutions ; but while so doing he spake before of Him who was hereafter to be raised up " a prophet like unto himself." David reigned, and during that reign, which made so deep and lasting an impression on the Jewish mind, psalms were written which spoke of the future King. And with the approach of that captivity, the pathetic recollection of which became perpetual, the prophecies took a bolder range, and embraced wdthin their widening circle the redemption both of Jews and Gentiles. Thus the pious Hebrew was always, as it were, in the attitude of expectation. And it has been well remarked that, while the golden age of the Greeks and Romans was the past, that of the Jews was the future. While other nations were grow- ing weary of their gods, — without anything in their mythology or philosophy to satisfy the deep cravings of their nature, — with religion operating rather as a barrier than a link between the educated and the ignorant, — with morality divorced from theology, — the whole Jewish people were united in a feeling of attachment to their sacred institutions, and found in the facts of their past history a sure pledge of the fulfilment of their national hopes. It is true that the Jewish nation again and again, during several centuries, fell into idolatry. It is true that their superiority to other nations consisted in the light which they possessed, and not in the use which they made of it ; and that a carnal life con- tinually dragged them down from the spiritual eminence on which they might have stood. But the divine purposes were not frus- trated. The chosen people was subjected to the chastisement and discipline of severe sufferings ; and they were fiUed by a long training for the accomplishment of that work to the conscious performance of which they did not willingly rise. They were hard l^ressed in their own country by the incursions of their idolatrous neighbors, and in the end they were carried into a distant captivity. From the time of their return from Babylon they were no longer idolaters. They presented to the world the example of a pure monotheism. And in the active times which preceded and followed the birth of Christ, those Greeks or Romans who yisited the Jews in their own land where they still lingered at the portals of the East, and those vast numbers of proselytes whom the dispersed Jews had gathered round them in various THE GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION OF JUDiEA. 17 countries, were made familiar with the worship of one God and Father of all. The influence of the Jews upon the heathen world was exercised mainly through their dispersion ; but this subject must be deferred for a few pages, till we have examined some of the developments of the Greek and Eoman nationalities. A few words, however, may be allowed in passing upon the consequences of the geograph' teal position of Judaea. The situation of this little but eventful country is such that its inhabitants were brought into contact successively with all the civilized nations of antiquity. Not to dwell upon its proximity to Egypt on the one hand, and to Assyria on the other, and the influ- ences which those ancient kingdoms may thereby have exercised or received, Palestine lay in the road of Alexander's Eastern ex- pedition. The Greek conqueror was there before he founded hia mercantile metropolis in Egypt, and then went to India, to return and die at Babylon. And again, when his empire was divided, and Greek kingdoms were erected in Europe, Asia, and Africa, Palestine lay between the rival monarchies of the Ptolemies at Alexandria and the Seleucidse at Antioch, — too near to both to be safe from the invasion of their arms or the influence of their cus- toms and their language. And finally, when the time came for the Romans to embrace the whole of the Mediterranean within the circle of their power, the coast-line of Judgea was the last remote portion which was needed to complete the fated circumference. The full effect of this geographical position of Judsea can only be seen by following the course of Greek and Roman life till they were brought so remarkably into contact with each other and with that of the Jews; and we return to those other two nations of antiquity, the steps of whose progress were successive stages in what is called in the Epistle to the Ephesians (i. 10) "the dispen- sation of the fulness of time." If we think of the civilization of the Greeks, we have no diffi- culty in fixing on its chief characteristics. High perfection of the intellect and imagination, displaying itself in all the various forms of art, poetry, literature, and philosophy — restless activity of mind and body, finding its exercise in athletic games or in subtle disputations — love of the beautiful — quick perception — in- defatigable inquiry — all these enter into the very idea of the Greek race. This is not the place to inquire how far these qualities were 2 18 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. due to an innate peculiarity, or how far they grew up, by gradual development, amidst the natural influences of their native country, — the variety of their hills and plains, the clear lights and warm shadows of their climate, the mingled land and water of their coasts. We have only to do with this national character so far as, under Divine Providence, it was made subservient to the spread of the gospel. We shall see how remarkably it subserved this purpose if we consider the tendency of the Greeks to trade and colonization. Their mental activity was accompanied with great physical rest- lessness. This clever people always exhibited a disposition to spread themselves. Without aiming at universal conquest, they displayed (if we may use the word) a remarkable catholicity of character, and a singular power of adaptation to those whom they called Barbarians. In this respect they were strongly contrasted with the Egyptians, whose immemorial civilization was confined to the long valley which extends from the Cataracts to the mouths of the Nile. The Hellenic tribes, on the other hand, though they despised foreigners, were never unwilling to visit them and to culti- vate their acquaintance. At the earliest period at which history enables us to discover them we see them moving about in their ships, on the shores, and among the islands of their native seas ; and, three or four centuries before the Christian era, Asia Minor, beyond which the Persians had not been permitted to advance, was bor- dered by a fringe of Greek colonies ; and Lower Italy, when the Boman republic was just beginning to be conscious of its strength, had received the name of Greece itself. To all these places they carried their arts and literature, their philosophy, their mythology, and their amusements. They carried also their arms and their trade. The heroic age had passed away, and fabulous voyages had given place to real expeditions against Sicily and constant traffic with the Black Sea. They were gradually taking the place of the Phoenicians in the empire of the Mediterranean. They were, indeed, less exclusively mercantile than those old discoverers. Their voyages were not so long. But their influence on general civilization was greater and more permanent. The earliest ideas of scientific navigation and geography are due to the Greeks. The later Greek travellers, Pausanias and Strabo, will be our best sources of information on the topography of Paul's journeys. With this view of the Hellenic character before us, we are per- ALEXANDRIA AND ANTIOCH. 19 pared to appreciate the vast results of Alexander's conquests. He took up the meshes of the net of Greek civilization which were lying in disorder on the edges of the Asiatic shore, and spread them over all the countries which he traversed in his wonderful campaigns. The East and the West were suddenly brought together. Separated tribes were united under a common government. New cities were built, as the centres of political life. New lines of communication were opened, as the channels of commercial activity. The new culture penetrated the mountain-ranges of Pisidia and Lycaonia. The Tigris and Euphrates became Greek rivers. The language of Athens was heard among the Jewish colonies of Babylonia, and a Grecian Babylon was built by the conqueror in Egypt, and called by his name. The empire of Alexander was divided, but the effects of his campaigns and policy did not cease. The influence of the fresh elements of social life was rather increased by being brought into independent action within the spheres of distinct kingdoms. Our attention is particularly called to two of the monarchical lines which descended from Alexander's generals, — the Ptolemies, or the Greek kings of Egypt, and the Seleucidae, or the Greek kings of Syria. Their respective capitals, Alexandria and Antioch, became the metropolitan centres of commercial and civilized life in the East. They rose suddenly, and their very appearance marked them as the cities of a new epoch. Like Berlin and St. Peters- burg, they were modern cities built by great kings at a definite time and for a definite purpose. Their histories are no unimport- ant chapters in the history of the world. Both of them were con- nected with Paul — one indirectly, as the birthplace of Apollos; the other directly, as the scene of some of the most important passages of the apostle's own life. Both abounded in Jews from their first foundation. Both became the residences of Roman governors, and both were patriarchates of the primitive Church. But before they had received either the Eoman discipline or the Christian doctrine, they had served their appointed purpose of spreading the Greek language and habits, of creating new lines of commercial inter- course by land and sea, and of centralizing in themselves the mer- cantile life of the Levant. Even the Acts of the Apostles remind us of the traflSc of Antioch with Cyprus and the neighboring coasts, and of the sailing of Alexandrian corn-ships to the more distant harbors of Malta and Puteoli. 20 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. Of all the Greek elements which the cities of Antioch and Alexandria were the means of circulating, the spread of the lan- guage is the most important. Its connection with the whole system of Christian doctrine — ^with many of the controversies and divisions of the Church — is very momentous. That language, which is the richest and most delicate that the world has seen, became the lan- guage of theology. The Greek tongue became to the Christian more than it had been to the Eoman or the Jew. The mother- tongue of Ignatius at Antioch was that in which Philo composed his treatises at Alexandria, and which Cicero spoke at Athens. It is difficult to state in a few words the important relation which Alexandria more especially was destined to bear to the whole Chris- tian Church. In that city, the representative of the Greeks of the East, where the most remarkable fusion took place of the peculiari- ties of Greek, Jewish, and Oriental life, and at the time when all these had been brought in contact with the mind of educated Romans, a theological language was formed, rich in the phrases of various schools, and suited to convey Christian ideas to all the world. It was not an accident that the New Testament was written in Greek, the language which can best express the highest thoughts and worthiest feelings of the intellect and heart, and which is adapted to be the instrument of education for all nations ; nor was it an accident that the composition of these books and the pro- mulgation of the gospel were delayed till the instruction of our Lord and the writings of his apostles could be expressed in the dialect of Alexandria. This, also, must be ascribed to the fore- knowledge of Him who " winked at the times of ignorance," but who " made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and determined the times before appointed and the bounds of their habitation" (Acts xvii. 30, 26). We do not forget that the social condition of the Greeks had been falling, during this period, into the lowest corruption. The disastrous quarrels of Alexander's generals had been continued among their successors. Political integrity was lost. The Greeks spent their life in worthless and frivolous amusements. Their re- ligion, though beautiful beyond expression as giving subjects for art and poetry, was utterly powerless, and worse than powerless, in checking their bad propensities. Their philosophers were sophists ; their women might be briefly divided into two classes — those who were highly educated and openly profligate on the one SPREAD OF THE ROMAN POWER. 21 Bide, and those who lived in domestic and ignorant seclusion on the other. And it cannot be denied that all these causes of degradation spread with the diffusion of the race and the language ; like Sybaris and Syracuse, Antioch and Alexandria became almost worse than Athens and Corinth. But the very diffusion and development of this corruption w^as preparing the way, because it showed the neces- sity, for the interposition of a gospel. The disease itself seemed to call for a Healer, And if the prevailing evils of the Greek population presented obstacles, on a large scale, to the progress of Christianity, yet they showed to all future time the weakness of man's highest powers if unassisted from above; and there must have been many who groaned under the burden of a corruption which they could not shake off, and who were ready to welcome the voice of Him who " took our infirmities and bare our sick- nesses." The Greeks" who are mentioned by John as coming to see Jesus at the feast were, we trust, the types of a large class ; and we may conceive his answer to Andrew and Philip as express- ing the fulfilment of the appointed times in the widest sense, "The hour is come that the Son of man should be glorified." Such was the civilization and corruption connected with the spread of the Greek language when the Roman power approached to the eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea. For some centu- ries this irresistible force had been gathering strength on the west- ern side of the Apennines. Gradually, but surely and with ever- increasing rapidity, it made to itself a wider space — northward into Etruria, southward into Campania. It passed beyond its Italian boundaries. And six hundred years after the building of the city the Eoman eagle had seized on Africa at the point of Carthage, and Greece at the Isthmus of Corinth, and had turned its eye towards the East. The defenceless prey was made secure by craft or by war ; and before the birth of our Saviour all those coasts, from Ephesus to Tarsus and Antioch, and round by the Holy Land to Alexandria and Cyrene, were tributary to the city of the Tiber. We have to describe in a few words the characteristics of this new dominion, and to point out its providential connection with the spread and consolidation of the Church. In the first place, this dominion was not a pervading influence exerted by a restless and intellectual people, but it was the grasping power of an external government. The idea of law had grown up with the growth of the Romans; and wherever they went they 22 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. carried it with them. Wherever their armies were marching or encamping, there always attended them, like a mysterious presence, the spirit of the city of Eome. Universal conquest and perma- nent occupation were the ends at which they aimed. Strength and organization were the characteristics of their sway. We have seen how the Greek science and commerce were wafted, by irregular winds, from coast to coast ; and now we follow the advance of legions, governors, and judges along the Roman roads, which pursued their undeviating course over plains and mountains, and bound the city to the farthest extremities of the provinces. There is no better way of obtaining a clear view of the features and a correct idea of the spirit of the Eoman age than by con- sidering the material works which still remain as its imperishable monuments. Whether undertaken by the hands of the govern- ment or for the ostentation of private luxury, they were marked by vast extent and accomplished at an enormous expenditure. The gigantic roads of the empire have been unrivalled till the present century. Solid structures of all kinds, for utility, amusement, and w^orship, were erected in Italy and the provinces, — amphitheatres of stone, magnificent harbors, bridges, sepulchres, and temples. The decoration of wealthy houses was celebrated by the poets of the day. The pomp of buildings in the cities was rivalled by astonishing villas in the country. The enormous baths by which travellers are surprised belong to a period somewhat later than that of Paul ; but the aqueducts which still remain ih the Cam- pagna were some of them new when he visited Eome. Of the metropolis itself it may be enough to say that his life is exactly embraced between its two great times of renovation — that of Au- gustus on the one hand, who (to use his own expression) having found it a city of brick left it a city of marble, and that of Nero on the other, when the great conflagration afforded an opportunity for a new arrangement of its streets and buildings. These great works may be safely taken as emblems of the mag- nitude, strength, grandeur, and solidity of the empire; but they are emblems, no less, of the tyranny and cruelty which had pre- sided over its formation, and of the general suffering which per- vaded it. The statues with which the metropolis and the Eoman houses were profusely decorated had been brought from plundered provinces, and many of them had swelled the triumphs of con- querors on the Capitol. The amphitheatres were built for shows MISERY OF ITALY AND THE PROVINCES. 23 of gladiators, and were the scenes of a bloody cruelty which had been quite unknown in the licentious exhibitions of the Greek theatre. The roads, baths, harbors, aqueducts, had been con- structed by slave labor. And the country villas, which the Italian traveller lingered to admire, were themselves vast establishments of slaves. It is easy to see how much misery followed in the train of Rome's advancing greatness. Cruel suffering was a characteristic feature of the close of the republic. Slave wars, civil wars, wars of con- quest, had left their disastrous results behind them. No country recovers rapidly from the effects of a war w^hich has been conducted within its frontier ; and there w^as no district of the empire which had not been been the scene of some recent campaign. None had suffered more than Italy itself. Its old stock of freemen, w^ho had cultivated its fair plains and terraced vineyards, w^as utterly worn out. The general depopulation was badly compensated by the establishment of military colonies. Inordinate wealth and slave- factories were the prominent features of the desolate prospect. The words of the great historian may fill up the picture : " As regards the manners and mode of life of the Eomans, their great object at this time was the acquisition and possession of money. Their moral conduct, which had been corrupt enough before the Social War, became still more so by their systematic plunder and rapine. Immense riches were accumulated and squandered upon brutal pleasures. The simplicity of the old manners and mode of living had been abandoned for Greek luxuries and frivolities, and the whole household arrangements had become altered. The Roman houses had formerly been quite simple, and were built either of brick or peperino, but in most cases of the former material; now, on the other hand, every one would live in a splendid house and be surrounded by luxuries. The condition of Italy after the Social and Civil wars was indescribably wretched. Samnium had become almost a desert, and as late as the time of Strabo (vi. p. 253) there was scarcely any town in that country which was not in ruins. But worse things were yet to come." This disastrous condition was not confined to Italy. In some respects the provinces had their own peculiar sufferings. To take the case of Asia Minor. It had been plundered and ravaged by successive generals, — by Scipio in the war against Antiochus of Syria, — by Manlius in his Galatian campaign, — by Pompey 24 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. in the struggle with Mithridates. The rapacity of governors and their officials followed that of generals and their armies. We know that Cilicia suffered under Dolabella and his agent Verres ; and Cicero reveals to us the oppression of his predecessor Appius in the same province, contrasted with his own boasted clemency. Some portions of this beautiful and inexhaustible country revived under the emperors. But it was only an out- ward prosperity. Whatever may have been the improvement in the external details of provincial government, we cannot believe that governors were gentle and forbearing when Caligula was on the throne and when Nero was seeking statues for his Golden House. The contempt in which the Greek provincials themselves were held by the Eomans may be learnt from the later correspond- ence of the emperor Trajan with Pliny, the governor of Bithynia. We need not hesitate to take it for granted that those who were sent from Eome to dispense justice at Ephesus or Tarsus were more frequently like Appius and Verres than Cicero and Flaccus, — more like Pilate and Felix than Gallio or Sergius Paulus. It would be a delusion to imagine that when the world was re- duced under one sceptre, any real principle of unity held its different parts together. The emperor was deified, because men were enslaved. There was no true peace when Augustus closed the temple of Janus. The empire was only the order of external government, with a chaos both of opinions and morals within. The writings of Tacitus and Juvenal remain to attest the corruption which festered in all ranks, alike in the senate and the family. The old severity of manners, and the old faith in the better part of the Roman religion, were gone. The licentious creeds and practices of Greece and the East had inundated Italy and the West ; and the Pantheon was only the monument of a compromise among a multitude of effete superstitions. It is true that a re- markable religious toleration was produced by this state of things; and it is probable that for some short time Christianity itself shared the advantage of it. But still, the temper of the times was essentially both cruel and profane ; and the apostles were soon exposed to its bitter persecution. The Roman empire was destitute of that unity which the gospel gives to mankind. It was a kingdom of this world ; and the human race were groaning for the better peace of " a kingdom not of this world." Thus, in the very condition of the Roman empire and the miser- GRECIAN INFLUENCE IN ROME. 26 able state of its mixed population we can recognize a negative preparation for the gospel of Christ. This tyranny and oppression called for a Consoler, as much as the moral sickness of the Greeks called for a Healer ; a Messiah was needed by the whole empire as much as by the Jews, though not looked for with the same con- scious expectation. But we have no difficulty in going much farther than this, and we cannot hesitate to discover in the cir- cumstances of the world at this period significant traces of a positive preparation for the gospel. It should be remembered, in the first place, that the Eomans had already become Greek to some considerable extent before they were the political masters of those Eastern countries where the language, mythology, and literature of Greece had become more or less familiar. How early, how widely, and how permanently this Greek influence prevailed, and how deeply it entered into the mind of educated Romans, we know from their surviving writings and from the biography of eminent men. Cicero, who was gov- ernor of Cilicia about half a century before the birth of Paul, speaks in strong terms of the universal spread of the Greek tongue among the instructed classes ; and about the time of the apostle's martyrdom Agricola, the conqueror of Britain, was receiving a Greek education at Marseilles. Is it too much to say that the general Latin conquest was providentially delayed till the Eomans had been sufficiently imbued with the language and ideas of their predecessors, and had incorporated many parts of that civilization with their own ? And if the mysterious wisdom of the divine pre-arrangements is illustrated by the period of the spread of the Greek language, it is illustrated no less by that of the completion and maturity of the Roman government. When all parts of the civilized world were bound together in one empire, — when one common organization pervaded the whole, — when channels of communication were everywhere opened, — when new facilities of travelling were pro- vided, — ^then was "the fulness of times" (Gal. iv. 4), then the Messiah came. The Greek language had already been prepared as a medium for preserving and transmitting the doctrine; the Roman government was now prepared to help the progress even of that religion which it persecuted. The manner in which it spread through the provinces is well exemplified in the life of Paul : his right of citizenship rescued him in Judaea and in Mace- 26 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. donia; he converted one governor in Cyprus, was protected by another in Achaia, and was sent from Jerusalem to Eome by a third. The time was indeed approaching when all the compli- cated weight of the central tyranny and of the provincial govern- ments was to fall on the new and irresistible religion. But before this took place it had begun to grow up in close connection with all departments of the empire. When the supreme government itself became Christian, the ecclesiastical polity was permanently regulated in conformity with the actual constitution of the state. Nor was the empire broken up till the separate fragments, which have become the nations of modern Europe, were themselves por- tions of the Catholic Church. But in all that we have said of the condition of the Eoman world one important and widely-diffused element of its population has not been mentioned. We have lost sight for some time of the Jews, and we must return to the subject of their dispersion, which was purposely deferred till we had shown how the intellectual civilization of the Greeks and the organizing civilization of the Eomans had, through a long series of remarkable events, been brought in contact with the religious civilization of the Hebrews ; it remains that we point out that one peculiarity of the Jewish people which made this contact almost universal in every part of the empire. Their dispersion began early, though, early and late, their attach- ment to Judsea has always been the same. Like the Highlanders of Switzerland and Scotland, they seem to have combined a tend- ency to foreign setlements with the most passionate love of their native land. The first scattering of the Jews was compulsory, and began with the Assyrian exile, when, about the time of the building of Eome, natives of Galilee and Samaria were carried away by the Eastern monarchs ; and this was followed by the Babylonian exile, when the tribes of Judah and Benjamin were removed at different epochs — when Daniel was brought to Babylon and Ezekiel to the river Chebar. That this earliest dispersion was not without influ- ential results may be inferred from these facts: that about the time of the battles of Salamis and Marathon a Jew was the min- ister, another Jew the cupbearer, and a Jewess the consort, of a Persian monarch. That they enjoyed many privileges in thia foreign country, and that their condition was not always oppress- ive, may be gathered from this — that when Cyrus gave them per- DISPEESION OF THE JEWS. 27 mission to return, the majority remained in their new home in preference to their native land. Thus that great Jewish colony began in Babylonia the existence of which may be traced in apostolic times (1 Pet. v. 13), and which retained its influence long after in the Talmudical schools. These Hebrew settlements may be followed through various parts of the continental East, to the borders of the Caspian, and even to China. We, however, are more concerned with the coasts and islands of Western Asia. Jews had settled in Syria and Phoenicia before the time of Alexander the Great. But in treating of this subject the great stress is to be laid on the policy of Seleucus, who in founding Antioch raised them to the same political position with the other citizens. One of his successors on the throne, Antiochus the Great, established two thousand Jewish families in Lydia and Phrygia. From hence they would spread into Pamphylia and Galatia, and along the western coasts from Ephesus to Troas. And the ordinary chan- nels of communication, in conjunction with that tendency to trade which already began to characterize this wonderful people, would easily bring them to the islands, such as the Cyprus and Ehodes. Their oldest settlement in Africa was that which took place after the murder of the Babylonian governor of Judaea, and which is connected with the name of the prophet Jeremiah. But, as in the case of Antioch, our chief attention is called to the great metropolis of the period of the Greek kings. The Jewish quarter of Alexandria is well known in history, and the colony of Hel- lenistic Jews in Lower Egypt is of greater importance than that of their Aramaic brethren in Babylonia. Alexander himself brought Jews and Samaritans to his famous city; Ptolemy Lagus brought many more; and many betook themselves hither of their free will, that they might escape from the incessant troubles which disturbed the peace of their fatherland. Nor was their influence confined to Egypt, but they became known on one side in Ethi- opia, the country of Queen Candace, and spread on the other in great numbers to the " parts of Libya about Cyrene." Under what circumstances the Jews made their first appearance in Europe is unknown ; but it is natural to suppose that those islands of the Archipelago which, as Humboldt has said, were like a bridge for the passage of civilization, became the means of the advance of Judaism. The journey of the proselyte Lydia from Thyatira to Philippi (Acts xvi. 14), and the voyage of Aquila and 28 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. Priscilla from Corinth to Ephesus (Acts xviii. 18), are only speci- mens of mercantile excursions which must have begun at a far earlier period. Philo mentions Jews in Thessaly, Boeotia, Mace- donia, ^tolia, and Attica, in Argos and Corinth, in the other parts of Peloponnesus, and in the islands of Euboea and Crete; and Luke, in the Acts of the Apostles, speaks of them in Philippi, Thessalonica, and Beraea, in Athens, in Corinth, and in Eome. The first Jews came to Rome to decorate a triumph, but they were soon set free from captivity, and gave the name to the "Synagogue of the Libertines" in Jerusalem. They owed to Julius Caesar those privileges in the Western capital which they had obtained from Alexander in the Eastern. They became influ- ential, and made proselytes. They spread into other towns of Italy ; and in the time of PauPs boyhood we find them in large numbers in the island of Sardinia, just as we have previously seen them established in that of Cyprus. With regard to Gaul, we know at least that two sons of Herod were banished about this same period to the banks of the Ehone ; and if Paul ever accom- plished that journey to Spain of which he speaks in his letters, it is probable that he found there some of the scattered children of his own people. We do not seek to pursue them farther, but, after a few words on the proselytes, we must return to the earliest scenes of the apostle^s career. The subject of the proselytes is sufficiently important to demand a separate notice. Under this term we include at present all those who were attracted in various degrees of intensity towards Juda- ism — from those who by circumcision had obtained full access to all the privileges of the temple-worship, to those who only pro- fessed a general respect for the Mosaic religion and attended as hearers in the synagogues. Many proselytes were attached to the Jewish communities wherever they were dispersed. Even in their own country and its vicinity the number, both in early and later times, was not inconsiderable. The queen of Sheba, in the Old Testament ; Candace, queen of Ethiopia, in the New ; and King Izates, with his mother Helena, mentioned by Josephus, are only royal representatives of a large class. During the time of the Maccabees some alien tribes were forcibly incorporated with the Jews. This was the case with the Ituraeans, and probably with the Moabites, and, above all, with the Edomites, with whose name that of the Herodian family is historically connected. How far PROVINCES OF CILICIA AND JUD^A. 29 Judaism extended among the vague collection of tribes called Arabians we can only conjecture from the curious history of the Homerites, and from the actions of such chieftains as Aretas (2 Cor. xi. 32), But as we travel towards the West and North, into countries better known, we find no lack of evidence of the moral effect of the synagogues, with their worship of Jehovah and their prophecies of the Messiah. "Nicolas of Antioch" (Acts vi. 5) is only one of that " vast multitude of Greeks " who were attracted in that city to the Jewish doctrine and ritual. In Damascus we are even told by the same authority that the great majority of the women were proselytes — a fact which receives a remarkable illus- tration from what happened to Paul at Iconium (Acts xiii. 50). But all further details may be postponed till we follow him into the synagogues, where he so often addressed a mingled audience of " Jews of the dispersion and " devout " strangers. This chapter may be suitably concluded by some notice of the provinces of Cilicia and Judcea. This will serve as an illustration of what has been said above concerning the state of the Roman provinces generally ; it will exemplify the mixture of Jews, Greeks, and Eomans in the east of the Mediterranean, and it will be a fit introduction to what must immediately succeed. For these are the two provinces which require our attention in the early life of the apostle Paul. Both these provinces were once under the sceptre of the line of the Seleucidse, or Greek kings of Syria ; and both of them, though originally inhabited by a "barbarous" population, received more or less of the influence of Greek civilization. If the map is con- sulted, it will be seen that Antioch, the capital of the Greco-Syrian kings, is situated nearly in the angle where the coast-line of Cilicia, running eastward, and that of Judaea, extended north- ward, are brought to an abrupt meeting. It will be seen also that, more or less parallel to each of these coasts, there is a line of mountains not far from the sea which are brought into contact with each other in heavy and confused forms near the same angle ; the principal break in the continuity of either of them being the valley of the Orontes, which passes by Antioch. One of these mountain-lines is the range of Mount Taurus, which is so often mentioned as a great geographical boundary by the writers of Greece and Rome; and Cilicia extends partly over Taurus itself, and partly between it and the sea. The other range is that 30 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. of Lebanon — a name made sacred by the Scriptures and poetry of the Jews ; and where its towering eminences subside towards the south into a land of hills and valleys and level plains, there is Judma, once the country of promise and possession to the chosen people, but a Eoman province in the time of the apostles. Cilicia, in the sense in which the word was used under the early Boman emperors, comprehended two districts of nearly equal extent, but of very different character. The western portion, or Bough Cilicia as it was called, was a collection of the branches of Mount Taurus, which come down in large masses to the sea and form that projection of the coast which divides the bay of Issus from that of Pamphylia. The inhabitants of the whole of this district were notorious for their robberies, the northern portion, under the name of Isauria, providing innumerable strongholds for marauders by land, and the southern, with its excellent timber, its cliffs, and small harbors, being a natural home for pirates. The Isaurians maintained their independence with such determined obstinacy that in a later period of the empire the Eomans were willing to resign all appearance of subduing them, and were con- tent to surround them with a cordon of forts. The natives of the coast of Eough Cilicia began to extend their piracies as the strength of the kings of Syria and Egypt declined. They found in the progress of the Eoman power, for some time, an encourage- ment rather than a hinderance; for they were actively engaged in an extensive and abominable slave-trade, of which the island of Delos was the great market ; and the opulent families of Eome were in need of slaves, and were not more scrupulous than some Christian nations of modern times about the means of obtaining them. But the expeditions of these buccaneers of the Mediter- ranean became at last quite intolerable; their fleets seemed innu- merable ; their connections were extended far beyond their own coasts ; all commerce was paralyzed ; and they began to arouse that attention at Eome which the more distant pirates of the Eastern Archipelago are beginning to excite in England. A vast expedi- tion was fitted out under the command of Pompey the Great; thousands of piratical vessels were burnt on the coast of Cilicia and the inhabitants dispersed. A perpetual service was thus done to the cause of civilization, and the Mediterranean was made safe for the voyages of merchants and apostles. The town of Soli, on the borders of the two divisions of Cilicia, received the name of THE CITY OF TARSUS. 31 Pompeiopolis, in honor of the great conqueror, and the splendid remains of a colonnade which led from the harbor to the city may be considered a monument of this signal destruction of the enemies of order and peace. The Eastern, or Flat Cilicia, was a rich and extensive plain. Its prolific vegetation is praised both by the earlier and later classical writers, and even under the neglectful government of the Turks is still noticed by modern travellers. From this circum- stance, and still more from its peculiar physical configuration, it was a possession of great political importance. Walled off from the neighboring countries by a high barrier of mountains, which sw^ecp irregularly round it from Pompeiopolis and Eough Cilicia to the Syrian coast on the north of Antioch, — with one pass leading up into the interior of Asia Minor, and another giving access to the valley of the Orontes, — it w^as naturally the high-road both of trading caravans and of military expeditions. Through this country Cyrus marched to depose his brother from the Persian throne. It was here that the decisive victory was obtained by Alexander over Darius. This plain has since seen the hosts of Western Crusaders, and in our own day has been the field of operations of hostile Mohammedan armies, Turkish and Egyptian. The Greek kings of Egypt endeavored long ago to tear it from the Greek kings of Syria. The Romans left it at first in the pos- session of Antiochus, but the line of Mount Taurus could not permanently arrest them ; and the letters of Cicero are among the earliest and most interesting monuments of Roman Cilicia. Situated near the western border of the Cilician plain, where the river Cydnus flows in a cold and rapid stream from the snows of Taurus to the sea, was the city of Tarsus, the capital of the whole province, and **no mean city'' (Acts xxi. 39) in the history of the ancient world. Its coins reveal to us its greatness through a long series of years — alike in the period which intervened between Xerxes and Alexander, and under the Roman sway, when it exulted in the name of Metropolis, and long after Hadrian had rebuilt it and issued his new coinage with the old mythologi- cal types. In the intermediate period, which is that of Paul, we have the testimony of a native of this part of Asia Minor, from which we may infer that Tarsus was in the eastern basin of the Mediterranean almost what Marseilles w^as in the western. Strabo says that in all that relates to philosophy and general education 32 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. it was even more illustrious than Athens and Alexandria. From bis description it is evident that its main character was that of a Greek city, where the Greek language was spoken and Greek literature studiously cultivated. But we should be wrong in sup- posing that the general population of the province was of Greek origin or spoke the Greek tongue. When Cyrus came with hid army from the western coast, and still later, when Alexander penetrated into Cilicia, they found the inhabitants ^'barbarians." jSTor is it likely that the old race would be destroyed or the old language obliterated, especially in the mountain-districts, during the reign of the Seleucid kings. We must rather conceive of Tarsus as like Brest in Brittany, or like Toulon in Provence, a city where the language of refinement is spoken and written in the midst of a ruder population, who use a different language and possess no literature of their own. If we turn now to consider the position of this province and city under the Eomans, we are led to notice two different systems of policy which they adopted in their subject dominions. The purpose of Rome was to make the world subservient to herself ; but this might be accomplished directly or indirectly. A governor might be sent from Rome to take the absolute command of a province, or some native chief might have a kingdom, an ethnarchy, or a tetrar- chy assigned to him, in which he was nominally independent, but really subservient, and often tributary. Some provipces were rich and productive, or essentially important in the military sense, and these were committed to Romans under the senate or the emperor. Others might be worthless or troublesome, and fit only to reward the services of a useful instrument or to occupy the energies of a dangerous ally. Both of these systems were adopted in the East and in the West. We have examples of both in Spain and in Gaul — in Cilicia and in Judsea. In Asia Minor they were so irregularly combined, and the territories of the independent sovereigns were so capriciously granted or removed, extended or curtailed, that it is often difficult to ascertain what the actual boundaries of the provinces Avere at a given epoch. Not to enter into any minute history in the case of Cilicia, it will be enough to say, that its rich and level plain in the east was made a Roman province by Pompey, and so remained, while certain districts in the western portion were assigned at different periods to various na- tive chieftains. Thus the territories of Amyntas, king of Galatia. CICERO IN CILICIA. 33 were extended in this direction by Antony when he was preparing for his great struggle with Augustus— just as a modern rajah may be strengthened on the banks of the Indus in connection with our wars against Scinde and the Sikhs. For some time the whole of Cilicia was a consolidated province under the first emperors ; but again, in the reign of Claudius, we find a portion of the same western district assigned to a king called Polemo II. It is need- less to pursue the history further. In Paul's early life the political state of the inhabitants of Cilicia would be that of subjects of a Roman governor, and Roman officials, if not Roman soldiers, would be a familiar sight to the Jews who were settled in larsus. We shall have many opportunities of describing the condition of provinces under the dominion of Rome, but it may be interesting here to allude to the information which may be gathered from the writings of that distinguished man who was governor of Cilicia a few years after its first reduction by Pompey. He was entrusted with the civil and military superintendence of a large district in this corner of the Mediterranean, comprehending not only Cilicia, but Pamphylia, Pisidia, Lycaonia, and the island of Cyprus ; and he has left a record of all the details of his policy in a long series of letters, which are a curious monument of the Roman procedure in the management of conquered provinces, and which possess a double interest to us from their frequent allusions to the same places which Paul refers to in his Epistles. This correspond- ence represents to us the governor as surrounded by the adulation of obsequious Asiatic Greeks. He travels with an interpreter, for Latin is the official language ; he puts down banditti, and is saluted by the title of imperator; letters are written on various subjects to the governors of various provinces — for instance, Syria, Asia, and Bithynia; ceremonious communications take place with the independent chieftains. The friendly relations of Cicero with Deiotarus, king of Galatia, and his son, remind us of the interview of Pilate and Herod in the Gospel, or of Festus and Agrippa in the Acts. Cicero's letters are rather too full of a boastful commenda- tion of his own intregity ; but from what he says that he did we may infer by contrast what was done by others who were less scru- pulous in the discharge of the same responsibilities. He allowed free access to his person ; he refused expensive monuments in his honor ; he declined the proffered present of the pauper king of Cappadocia ; he abstained from exacting the customary expenses 34 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. from the states wliicli he traversed on his march ; he remitted to the treasury the moneys which were not expended on his province ; he would not place in official situations those who were engaged in trade ; he treated the local Greek magistrates with due considera- tion, and contrived at the same time to give satisfaction to the publicans. From all this it may be easily inferred with how much corruption, cruelty, and pride the Romans usually governed, and how miserable must have been the condition of a province under a Verres or an Appius, a Pilate or a Felix. So far as we remember, the Jews are not mentioned in any of Cicero's Cilician letters ; but if we may draw conclusions from a speech which he made at Rome in defence of a contemporary governor of Asia, he regarded them with much contempt, and would be likely to treat them with harshness and injustice. That Polemo II. who has lately been mentioned as a king in Cilicia was one of those curious links which the history of those times exhibits between heathenism, Judaism, and Christianity. He became a Jew to marry Berenice, who afterward forsook him, and whose name, after once appearing in sacred history (Acts xxv., xxvi.), is lastly associated with that of Titus, the destroyer of Jeru- salem. The name of Berenice will at once suggest the family of the Herods and transport our thoughts to Judaea. The same general features may be traced in this province as in that which we have been attempting to describe. In some respects, indeed, the details of its history are different. When Cilicia was a province it formed a separate jurisdiction, with a governor of its own immediately responsible to Rome; but Judsea, in its pro- vincial period, was only an appendage to Syria. It has been said that the position of the ruler resident at Csesarea in connection with the supreme authority at Antioch may be best understood by comparing it with that of the governor of Madras or Bombay under the governor-general who resides at Calcutta. The com- parison is very just; and British India might supply a further parallel. We might say that when Judsea was not strictly a prov- ince, but a monarchy under the protectorate of Rome, it bore the same relation to the contiguous province of Syria which the terri- tories of the king of Oude bear to the presidency of Bengal. JudiDa was twice a monarchy, and thus its history furnishes illus- trations of the two systems pursued by the Romans, of direct and indirect government. POLITICAL CHANGES IN JUD^A. 85 Another important contrast must be noticed in the histories of these two provinces. In the Greek period of Judaea there was a time of noble and vigorous independence. Antiochus Epiphanes, the eighth of the line of the Seleucidse, in pursuance of a general system of policy by which he sought to unite all his different territories through the Greek religion, endeavored to introduce the w^orship of Jupiter into Jerusalem. Such an attempt might have been very successful in Syria or Cilicia ; but in Judaea it kindled a flame of religious indignation which did not cease to burn till the yoke of the Seleucidse was entirely thrown off; the name of An- tiochus Epiphanes was ever afterward held in abhorrence by the Jews, and a special fast was kept up in memory of the time when the "abomination of desolation" stood in the holy place. The champions of the independence of the Jewish nation and the purity of the Jewish religion were the family of the Maccabees or Asmonseans ; and a hundred years before the birth of Christ the first Hyrcanus was reigning over a prosperous and independent kingdom. But in the time of the second Hyrcanus. and his brother the family of the Maccabees was not what it had been, and Judaea was ripening for the dominion of Eome. Pompey the Great, the same conqueror who had already subjected Cilicia, appeared in Damascus, and there judged the cause of the two brothers. All the country was full of his fame. In the spring of the year 63 he came down by the valley of the Jordan, his Roman soldiers occupied the ford where Joshua had crossed over, and from the Mount of Olives he looked down upon Jerusalem. From that day Judaea was virtually under the government of Eome. It is true that after a brief support given to the reigning family a new native dynasty was raised to the throne. Antipater, a man of Idumaean birth, had been minister of the Maccabaean kings ; but they were the Eois Faineants of Palestine, and he was the Maire du Palais, In the midst of the confusion of the great civil wars the Herodian family succeeded to the Asmonaean, as the Carlo- vingian line in France succeeded that of Clovis. As Pepin was followed by Charlemagne, so Antipater prepared a crown for his son Herod. At first Herod the Great espoused the cause of Antony, but he contrived to remedy his mistake by paying a prompt visit after the battle of Actium to Augustus in the island of Rhodes. This sin- gular interview of the Jewish prince with the Roman conqueror in 86 LIFE AND EP1STJ.es OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. a Greek island was the beginning of an important period for the Hebrew nation. An exotic civilization was systematically intro- duced and extended. Those Greek influences which had been begun under the Seleucidse, and not discontinued under the Asmonseans, were now^ more widely diffused ; and the Eoman customs, which had hitherto been comparatively unknown, were flow made familiar. Herod was indeed too wise, and knew the Jews too well, to attempt, like Antiochus, to introduce foreign institutions without any regard to their religious feelings. He endeavored to ingratiate himself with them by rebuilding and decorating their national temple ; and a part of that magnificient bridge which was connected with the great southern colonnade is still believed to exist — remaining, in its vast proportions and Roman form, an appropriate monument of the Herodian period of Judaea. The period when Herod was reigning at Jerusalem under the protectorate of Augustus was chiefly remarkable for great architectural works, for the promotion of commerce, the influx of strangers, and the increased diffusion of the two great .languages of the heathen world. The names of places are them- selves a monument of the spirit of the times. As Tarsus was called Juliopolis from Julius Csesar, and Soli, Pompeiopolis from his great rival, so Samaria was called Sebaste after the Greek name of Augustus, and the new metropolis which was built by Herod on the sea-shore was called Csesarea in honor of the same Latin emperor; while Antipatris, on the road (Acts xxiii. 81) between the old capital and the new, still commemorated tlie name of the king's Idumaean father. We must not suppose that the internal change in the minds of the people was proportional to the magnitude of these outward improvements. They suffered much, and their hatred grew towards Rome and towards the Herods. A parallel might be drawn between the state of Jud[ea under Herod the Great and that of Egypt under Mahomet Ali, where great works have been successfully accomplished, where the spread of ideas has been promoted, traffic made busy and pros- perous, aT)d communication with the civilised world wonderfully increased, but where the mass of the people has coutinvied tQ l>e jniserable and degraded, After HerpcJ's (Jeatji the same influences still continued to operate in Judaea. Archelaus persevered in bis father's policy, though destitute of his father's energy. The same inay be said of ROMAN GOVERNORS. 37 the other sons, Antipas and Philip, in their contiguous principali- ties. All the Herods were great builders and eager partisans of the Roman emperors ; and we are familiar in the Gospels with that Ccesarea (Csesarea Philippi) which one of them built in the upper part of the valley of the Jordan and named in honor jf Augustus, and with that Tiberias on the banks of the Lake of Gennesareth which bore the nam^e of his wicked successor. But while Antipas and Philip still retained their dominions under the protectorate of the emperor, Archelaus had been banished, and the weight of the Roman power had descended still more heavily on Judaea. It was placed under the direct jurisdiction of a gov- ernor residing at Csesarea by the Sea, and depending, as we have seen above, on the governor of Syria at Antioch. And now we are made familiar with those features which might be adduced as characterizing any other province of the same epoch, — the prteto- rium (John xviii. 28), — the publicans (Luke iii. 12 ; xix. 2), — the tribute-money (Matt. xxii. 19), — soldiers and centurions recruited in Italy (Acts x. 1), — Caesar the only king (John xix. 15), — and the ultimate appeal against the injustice of the governor (Acts XXV. 11). In this period the ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ took place, the first preaching of his apostles, and the conversion of Paul. But once more a change came over the political fortunes of Judsea. Herod Agrippa was the friend of Caligula, as Herod the Great had been the friend of Augustus, and when Tiberius died he received the grant of an independent principality in the north of Palestine. He was able to ingratiate himself with Claudius, the succeeding emperor. Judaea was added to his dominion, which now embraced the whole circle of the territory ruled by his grandfather. By this time Paul was actively pursuing his apostolic career. We need not, therefore, advance beyond this point in a chapter which is only intended to be a general introduction to the apostle's history. Our desire has been to give a picture of the condition of thp world at this particular epoch, and we have thought that no groiip* ing would be so successful as that which should consist of Jew3, Greeks, and Romans. Nor is this an artificial or unnatural ar- rangement, for these three nations were the divisions of the civilized world. And in the view of a religious mind they were more than this. They were ^'the three peoples of God's election — two for things temporal, and one for things eternal. Yet even in the things 38 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. eternal they were allowed to minister. Greek cultivation and Roman polity prepared men for Christianity." These three peoples stand in the closest relation to the whole human race. The Chris- tian, when he imagines himself among those spectators who stood round the cross, and gazes in spirit upon that "superscription^^ which the Jewish scribe, the Greek proselyte, and the Eom.an soldier could read, each in his own tongue, feels that he is among those who are the representatives of all humanity. In the agea "which precede the crucifixion these three languages were like threads which guided us through the labyrinth of history. And they are still among the best guides of our thought as we travel through the ages which succeed it. How great has been the honor of the Greek and Latin tongues ! They followed the fortunes of a triumphant Church. Instead of heathen languages, they gradually became Christian. As before they had been employed to express the best thoughts of unassisted humanity, so afterward they became the exponents of Christian doctrine and the channels of Christian devotion. The words of Plato and Cicero fell from the lips and pen of Chrysostom and Augustine. And still those two lan- guages are associated together in the work of Christian education, and made the instruments for training the minds of the young in the greatest nations of the earth. And how deep and pathetic is the interest which attaches to the Hebrew ! Here the thread seems to be broken. " Jesus, King of the Jews," in Hebrew characters ! It is like tlie last word of the Jewish Scriptures — the last warning of the chosen people. A cloud henceforth is upon the people and the language of Israel. " Blindness in part is happened unto Israel till the fulness of the Gentiles be come in." Once again Jesus, after his ascension, spake openly from heaven "in the Hebrew tongue" (Acts xxvi. 14), but the words were addressed to that apostle who was called to preach the gospel to the philosophers of Greece and in the emperor's palace at Rome. CHAPTER II. j:ewish origin of the chukch.— sects and parties of the jews. — pharisees and sadducees. — paul a pharisee. — hellenists and aramieans.— paul's family hellenistic, but not hellenizing. — his infancy at tarsus. — the tribe of benjamin. — his father's citizenship.— scenery of the place. — his childhood. — he is sent to jerusa- lem. — state of jud^a and jerusalem. — rabbinical schools. — gamaliel.— mode of teaching. — synagogues. — student-life of paul. — his early manhood. — first as- pect of the church. — stephen. — the sanhedrin. — ste- phen the forerunner of paul. — his martyrdom and PRAYER. Christianity has been represented by some of the modern Jews as a mere school of Judaism. Instead of opposing it as a system antagonistic and subversive of the Mosaic religion, they speak of it as a phase or development of that religion itself— as simply one of the rich outgrowths from the fertile Jewish soil. They point out the causes which combined in the first century to produce this Christian development of Judaism. It has even been hinted that Christianity has done a good work in preparing the world for receiving the pure Mosaic principles which will at length be universal. We are not unwilling to accept some of these phrases as expressing a great and im^^ortant truth. Christianity is a school of Judaism, but it is the school which absorbs and interprets the teaching of all others. It is a development, but it is that devel- opment which was divinely foreknown and predetermined. It is the grain of which mere Judaism is now the worthless husk. It is the image of truth in its full proportions, and the Jewish remnants are now as the shapeless fragments which remain of the block of marble when the statue is completed. When we look back at the apostolic age we see that growth proceeding which 39 40 IJFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. separated the husk from the grain. We see the image of truth coming out in clear expressiveness, and the useless fragments fall- ing off like scales under the careful work of divinely-guided hands. If we are to realize the earliest appearance of the Church, such as it was when Paul first saw it, we must view it as arising in the midst of Judaism ; and if we are to comprehend all the feelings and principles of this apostle, we must consider first the Jewish preparation of his own younger days. To these two subjects the present chapter will be devoted. We are very familiar with one division which ran through the Jewish nation of the first century. The Sadducees and Pharisees are frequently mentioned in the New Testament, and we are there informed of the tenets of these two prevailing parties. The belief in a future state may be said to have been an open question among the Jews when our Lord appeared and " brought life and immor- tality to light.'' We find the Sadducees established in the highest office of the priesthood, and possessed of the greatest powers in the Sanhedrin, and yet they did not believe in any future state nor in any spiritual existence independent of the body. The Sadducees said that there was no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit." They do not appear to have held doctrines which are com.monly called licentious or immoral. On the contrary, they adhered strictly to the moral tenets of the Law as opposed to its mere formal technicalities. They did not overload the sacred books with traditions, or encumber the duties of life with a multitude of minute observances. They were the disciples of reason without enthusiasm, — they made few proselytes, — their numbers were not great, and they were confined principally to the richer members of the nation. The Pharisees, on the other hand, were the enthusiasts of the later Judaism. They compassed sea and land to make one proselyte." Their power and influence with the mass of the people were immense. The loss of the national independence of the Jews, — the gradual extinction of their political life, directly by the Ko- mans, and indirectly by the family of Herod, — caused their feel* ings to rally round the Law and their religion as the only centre of unity which now remained to them. Those, therefore, who gave their energies to the interpretation and exposition of the Law, not curtailing any of the doctrines which were virtually contahied in it, and which had been revealed with more or less clearness, but rather accumulating articles of faith and multiplying the require- PAUL A STRICT PHARISEE. 41 ments of devotion, — who themselves practised a severe and osten- tatious religion, being liberal in almsgiving, fasting frequently, making long prayers, and carrying casuistical distinctions into the smallest details of conduct, — who consecrated, moreover, their best zeal and exertions to the spread of the fame of Judaism and to the increase of the nation's power in the only way which now was practicable, — could not fail to command the reverence of great numbers of the people. It was no longer possible to fortify Jeru- salem against the heathen, but the Law could be fortified like an impregnable city. The place of the brave is on the walls and in the front of the battle, and the hopes of the nation rested on those who defended the sacred outworks and made successful inroads on the territories of the Gentiles. Such were the Pharisees. And now, before proceeding to other features of Judaism and their relation to the Church, we can hardly help glancing art Paul. He was "a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee,'^ and he was educated by Gamaliel, " a Pharisee.'' Both his father and his teacher belonged to this sect. And on three distinct occasions he tells us that he himself was a member of it. Once, when at his trial before a mixed assembly of Pharisees and Sadducees, the words just quoted were spoken, and his connection with the Pharisees asserted with such effect that the feelings of this popular party were immediately enlisted on his side : And when he had so said, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees; and the multitude was divided. . . . 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." The second time was when, on a calmer occasion, he was pleading before Agrippa, and said to the king in the presence of Festus, "The Jews knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee." And once more, when writing from Kome to the Philippians, he gives force to his argument against the Judaizers by telling them that if any other man thought he had whereof he might trust in the flesh, he had more — " circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the Law a Pharisee." And not only was he himself a Pharisee, but his father also. He was ''a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee." This short sentence sums up nearly all we know of Paul's parents. If we think of his earliest life, we are to conceive 42 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. of him as born in a Pharisaic family, and as brought up from his infancy in the ''straitest sect of the Jews' religion." His child- hood was nurtured in the strictest belief. The stories of the Old Testament — the angelic appearances, the prophetic visions — to him were literally true. They needed no Sadducean explanation. The world of spirits was a reality to him. The resurrection of the dead was an article of his faith. And to exhort him to the prac- tice of religion he had before him the example of his father, praying and walking with broad phylacteries, scrupulous and exact in his legal observances. And he had, moreover, as it seems, the memory and tradition of ancestral piety, for he tells us in one of his latest letters (2 Tim. i. 8) that he served God *^from his fore- fathers." All influences combined to make him " more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of his fathers" (Gal. i. 14), and "touching the righteousness which is in the Law, blameless (Phil. iii. 6). Everything tended to prepare him to be an eminent member of that theological party to which so many of the Jews were looking for the preservation of their national life and the extension of their national creed. But in this mention of the Pharisees and Sadducees we are far from exhausting the subject of Jewish divisions, and far from enumerating all those phases of opinion which must have had some connection with the growth of rising Christianity, and those elements which may have contributed to form the character of the " apostle to the heathens." There was a sect in Judsea which is not mentioned in the Scriptures, but which must have acquired con- siderable influence in the time of the apostles, as may be inferred from the space devoted to it by Josephus and Philo. These were the Essenes, who retired from the theological and political distrac- tions of Jerusalem and the larger towns, and founded peaceful communities in the desert or in villages, where their life was spent in contemplation and in the practices of ascetic piety. It has been suggested that John the Baptist was one of them. There is no pro>of that this was the case, but we need not doubt that they did represent religious cravings which Christianity satisfied. Another party was that of the Zealots^ wdio were as politically fanatical as the Essenes were religiously contemplative, and whose zeal was kindled with the burning desire to throw ofi'the Roman yoke from the neck of Israel. Very different from them were the Herodians, twice mentioned in the Gospels (Mark iii. 6 ; Matt. xxii. 16), who ARAM^ANS AND HELLENISTS. 43 held that the hopes of Judaism rested on the Herods, and who almost looked to that family for the fulfilment of the prophecies of the Messiah. And if we were simply enumerating the divisions and describing the sects of the Jews, it would be necessary to mention the Therapeutce, a widely-spread community in Egypt, who lived even in greater seclusion than the Essenes in Judaea. The Samaritans also would require our attention. But we must turn from these sects and parties to a wider division, which arose from that dispersion of the Hebrew people to which some space has been devoted in the preceding chapter. We have seen that early colonies of the Jews were settled in Babylonia and Mesopotamia. Their connection with their brethren in Judsea was continually maintained, and they were bound to them by the link of a common language. The Jews of Palestine and Syria, with those who lived on the Tigris and Euphrates, inter- preted the Scriptures through the Targums or Chaldee paraphrases, and spoke kindred dialects of the language of Aram ; and hence they were called Aramcean Jews. We have also had occasion to notice that other dispersion of the nation through those countries where Greek was spoken. Their settlements began with Alex- ander's conquests, and were continued under the successors of those who partitioned his empire. Alexandria was their capital. They used the Septuagint translation of the Bible, and they were comr monly called Hellenists, or Jews of the Grecian speech. The mere difference of language would account in some degree for the mutual dislike with which we know that these two sections of the Jewish race regarded one another. We are all aware how closely the use of a hereditary dialect is bound up with the warmest feelings of the heart. And in this case the Aramaean language was the sacred tongue of Palestine. It is true that the tradition of the language of the Jews had been broken, as the continuity of their political life had been rudely interrupted. The Hebrew of the time of Christ was not the oldest Hebrew of the Israelites, but it was a kindred dialect, and old enough to command a reverent affection. Though not the language of Moses and David, it was that of Ezra and Nehemiah. And it is not unnatural that the Aramaeans should have revolted from the speech of the Greek idolaters and the tyrant Antiocbus — a speech which they associated, moreover, with innovating doctrines and dangerous speculations. For the division went deeper than a mere superficial diversity of 44 ^IFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. speech. It was not only a division, like the modern one of German and Spanish Jews, where those who hold substantially the same doctrines have accidentally been led to speak different languages, but there was a diversity of religious views and opinions. This is not the place for examining that system of mystic interpretation called the Cabbala, and for determining how far its origin might be due to Alexandria or to Babylon. It is enough to say, gen- erally, that in the Aramaean theology Oriental elements prevailed rather than Greek, and that the subject of the Babylonian influ- ences has more connection with the life of Peter than that of Paul. The Hellenists, on the other hand, or Jews who spoke Greek, who lived in Greek countries and were influenced by Greek civilization, are associated in the closest manner with the apostle of the Gentiles. They are more than once mentioned in the Acts, where our English translation names them " Grecians," to distinguish them from the heathen or proselyte " Greeks." Alexandria was the metropolis of their theology. Philo was their great representative. He was an old man when Paul was in his maturity; his writings were probably known to the apostle, and they have descended with the inspired Epistles to our own day. The work of the learned Helle- nists may be briefly described as this: to accommodate Jewish doctrines to the mind of the Greeks, and to make the Greek lan- guage express the mind of the Jews. The Hebrew principles were " disengaged as much as possible from local and national conditions, and presented in a form adapted to the Hellenic world." All this was hateful to the zealous Aramaeans. The men of the East rose up against those of the West. The Greek learning was not more repugnant to the Eoman Cato than it was to the strict Hebrews. They had a saying, Cursed be he who teacheth his son the learn- ing of the Greeks ! " We could imagine them using the words of the prophet Joel (iii. 6) : The children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them from their border ;" and we cannot be surprised that even in the deep peace and charity of the Church's earliest days this in- veterate division reappeared, and that " when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews" (Acts vi. 1). It w^ould be an interesting subject of inquiry to ascertain in what proportions these two parties were distributed in the difierent countries where the Jews were dispersed, in what places HELLENISTS NOT ALL HELLENIZERS. 45 they came into the strongest collision, and how far they were fused and united together. In the city of Alexandria, the emporium of Greek commerce from the time of its foundation — where since the earliest Ptolemies literature, philosophy, and criticism had never ceased to excite the utmost intellectual activity, where the Septuagint translation of the Scripture had been made, and where & Jewish temple and ceremonial worship had been established in rivalry to that in Jerusalem — there is no doubt that the Hellenistic element largely prevailed. But although (strictly speaking) the Alexandrian Jews were nearly all Hellenists, it does not follow that they were all Hellenizers. In other words, although their speech and their Scriptures were Greek, the theological views of many among them undoubtedly remained Hebrew. There must have been many who were attached to the traditions of Palestine, and who looked suspiciously on their more speculative brethren ; and we have no difficulty in recognizing the picture presented in a pleasing German fiction, which describes the debates and struggles of the two tendencies in this city, to be very correct. In Palestine itself we have every reason to believe that the native population was entirely Aramaean, though there was no lack of Hellenistic synagogues (Acts vi. 9) at Jerusalem, which at the seasons of the festivals would be crowded with foreign pilgrims and become the scene of animated discussions. Syria was connected by the link of language with Palestine and Babylonia, but Antioch, its metropolis, commercially and politically resembled Alexandria; and it is probable that when Barnabas and Saul were establishing the great Christian community in that city (Acts xi. 25, etc.) the majority of the Jews were " Grecians " rather than " Hebrews." In Asia Minor we should at first sight be tempted to imagine that the Grecian tendency would predominate ; but when we find that Antiochus brought Babylonian Jews into Lydia and Phrygia, we must not make too confident a conclusion in this direction ; and we have grounds for imagining that many Israelitish families in the remote districts (possibly that of Timotheus at Lystra, Acts xvi. 1 ; 2 Tim. i. 5) may have cherished the forms of the tradition- ary faith of the Eastern Jews, and lived uninfluenced by Hellenistic novelties. The residents in maritime and commercial towns would not be strangers to the Western developments of religious doctrines; and when ApoUos came from Alexandria to Ephesus (Acts xviii. 24) he would find himself in a theological atmosphere 46 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. not very different from that of his native city. Tarsus in Cilicia will naturally be included under the same class of cities of the West by those who remember Strabo's assertion that in literature and philosophy its fame exceeded that of Athens and Alexandria. At the same time we cannot be sure that the very celebrity of its heathen schools might not induce the families of Jewish residents to retire all the more strictly into a religious Hebrew seclusion. That such a seclusion of their family from Gentile influences was maintained by the parents of Paul is highly probable. We have no means of knowing how long they themselves or their ancestors had been Jews of the Dispersion. A tradition is men- tioned by Jerome that they came originally from Giscala, a town in Galilee, when it was stormed by the Romans. The story in- volves an anachronism and contradicts the Acts of the Apostles. Yet it need not be entirely disregarded, especially when Ave find Paul speaking of himself as a "Hebrew of the Hebrews," and when we remember that the word " Hebrew " is used for an Aramaic Jew as opposed to a "Grecian" or "Hellenist." Nor is it unlikely in itself that before they settled in Tarsus the family had belong- ed to the Eastern Dispersion, or to the Jews of Palestine. But, however this may be, Paul himself must be called a Hellenist, because the language of his infancy was that idiom of the Grecian Jews in which all his letters were written. Though, in conformity with the strong feeling of the Jews of all times, he might learn his earliest sentences from the Scripture in Hebrew, yet he was familiar with the Septuagint translation at an early age. For it is observed that when he quotes from the Old Testament his quo- tations are from that version, and that not only when he cites its very words, but when (as is often the case) he quotes it from memory. Considering the accurate knowledge of the original Hebrew which he must have acquired under Gamaliel at Jerusalem, it has been inferred that this can only arise from his having been thoroughly imbued at an earlier period with the Hellenistic Scriptures. The readiness, too, with which he expressed himself in Greek, even before such an audience as that upon the Areopagus at Athens, shows a command of the language which a Jew would noty in all probability, have attained had not Greek been the lan- guage of his childhood. But still the vernacular Hebrew of Palestine would not have been a foreign tongue to the infant Saul ; on the contrary, he may Paul's infancy at tarsus. 47 have heard it spoken almost as often as the Greek. For no doubt his parents, proud of their Jewish origin and living comparatively near to Palestine, would retain the power of conversing wdth their friends from thence in the ancient speech. Mercantile connections from the Syrian coast would be frequently arriving whose conver- sation would be in Aramaic; in all probability there were kinsfolk still settled in Judsea, as we afterward find the nephew of Paul in Jerusalem (Acts xxiii. 16). We may compare the situation of such a family (so far as concerns their language) to that of the French Huguenots who settled in London after the Eevocation of the Edict of Nantes. These French families, though they soon learned to use the English as the medium of their common inter- course and the language of their household, yet for several genera- tions spoke French with equal familiarity and greater affection. Moreover, it may be considered as certain that the family of Paul, though Hellenistic in speech, were no Hellenizers in theology ; they were not at all inclined to adopt Greek habits or Greek opin- ions. The manner in which Paul speaks of himself, his father, and his ancestors implies the most uncontaminated hereditary Judaism. "Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I." — "A Phar- isee'' and "the son of a Pharisee." — "Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews J ^ There is therefore little doubt that though the native of a city filled with a Greek population and incorporated with the Eoman empire, yet Saul was born and spent his earliest days in the shelter of a home which was Hebrew, not in name only, but in spirit. The Eoman power did not press upon his infancy ; the Greek ideas did not haunt his childhood ; but he grew up an Israelitish boy, nur- tured in those histories of the chosen people which he was destined so often to repeat in the synagogues with the new and wonderful commentary supplied by the life and resurrection of a crucified Messiah. " From a child he knew the Scriptures," which ultimately made him " wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus," as he says of Timothy in the Second Epistle (iii. 13). And the groups around his childhood were such as that which he beau- tifully describes in another part of the same letter to that disciple, where he speaks of " his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice." (i. V.) 48 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. We should be glad to know something of the mother of Paul. But, though he alludes to his father, he does not mention her. He speaks of himself as set apart by God "from his mother's womb," that the Son of God should in due time be revealed in him, and by him preached to the heathen (Gal. i. 15.). But this is all. We find notices of his sister and his sister's son (Acts xxiii. 16), and of some more distant relatives (Eom. xvi. 7, 11, 21), but we know nothing of her who was nearer to him than all of them. He tells us of his instructor Gamaliel, but of her who, if she lived, was his earliest and best teacher, he tells us nothing. Did she die like Rachel, the mother of Benjamin, the great ancestor of his tribe, leaving his father to mourn and set a monument on her grave, like Jacob, by the way of Bethlehem? (Gen. xxxv. 16-20; xlviii. 7). Or did she live to grieve over her son's apostasy from the faith of the Pharisees, and die herself unreconciled to the obedience of Christ? Or did she believe and obey the Saviour of her son? These are questions which we cannot answer. If we wish to real- ize the earliest infancy of the apostle, w^e must be content with a simple picture of a Jewish mother and her child. Such a picture is presented to us in the short history of Elizabeth and John the Baptist, and what is wanting in one of the inspired books of Luke may be supplied, in some degree, by the other. The same feelings which welcomed the birth and celebrated the naming of a son in the hill- country " of Judsea (Luke i. 39) pre- vailed also among the Jews of the Dispersion. As the " neighbors and cousins " of Elizabeth " heard how the Lord had show^ed great mercy upon her, and rejoiced with her," so it would be in the household at Tarsus when Saul was born. In a nation to which the birth of a Messiah w^as promised, and at a period when the aspirations after the fulfilment of the promise were continually becoming m.ore conscious and more urgent, the birth of a son w^as the fulfilment of a mother's highest happiness ; and to the father also (if we may thus invert the words of Jeremiah) ''blessed was the man who brought tidings, saying, A man child is born unto thee; making him glad" (Jer. xx. 15). On the eighth day the child was circumcised and named. In the case of John the Bap- tist ''they sought to call him Zacharias, after the name of his father. But his mother answered, and said. Not so; but he shall be called John." And when the appeal was made to his father, he Bignified his assent, in obedience to the vision. It was not unusual, JEWISH FAMILY TEACHING. 49 on the one hand, to call a Jewish child after the name of his father, and on the other hand it was a common practice, in all ages of Jew'ish history, even without a prophetic intimation, to adopt a name expressive of religious feelings. When the infant at Tarsus received the name of Saul, it might be "after the name of his father,'' and it was a name of traditional celebrity in the tribe of Benjamin, for it was that of the first king anointed by Samuel. Or w^hcn his father said his name is Saul,'' it may have been intended to denote (in conformity yAth the Hebrew derivation of the word) that he was a son who had long been desired, the first- born of his parents, the child of prayer, who was thenceforth, like Samuel, to be consecrated to God. " For this child I prayed," said the wife of Elkanah ; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him ; therefore also I have lent him to the Lord ; as long as he liveth he shall be lent unto the Lord." Admitted into covenant with God by circumcision, the Jewish child had thenceforward a full claim to all the privileges of the chosen people. His was the benediction of the 128th Psalm : " The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion : thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life." From that time, whoever it might be who watched over Saul's infancy, — ^vhether, like King Lemuel, he learnt " the prophecy that his mother taught him," or whether he ^vas under the care of others, like those who were with the sons of King David and King Ahab, — we are at no loss to learn what the first ideas were with which his early thought was made familiar. The rules respecting the diligent education of chil- dren which were laid dow^n by Moses in the sixth and eleventh chapters of Deuteronomy were doubtless carefully observed ; and he was trained in that peculiarly historical instruction spoken of in the 78th Psalm, which implies the continuance of a chosen people, with glorious recollections of the past and great anticipations for the future : The Lord made a covenant with Jacob, and gave Israel a law which he commanded our forefathers to teach their chil- dren; that their posterity might know it, and the children which were yet unborn ; to the intent that when they came up, they might show their children the same : that they might put their trust in God, and not to forget the works of the Lord, but to keep his com- mandments" (ver. 5-7). The histories of Abraham and Isaac, of Jacob and his twelve sons, of Moses among the bulrushes, of Joshua and Samuel, Elijah, Daniel, and the Maccabees, were the 4 50 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. stories of his childhood. The destruction of Pharaoh in the Red Sea, the thunders of Mount Sinai, the dreary journeys in the wil- derness, the J and that flowed with milk and honey, — this was the earliest imagery presented to his opening mind. The triumphant songs of Zion, the lamentations by the waters of Babylon, the \ prophetic praises of the Messiah, were the songs around his cradle. Above all, he would be familiar with the destinies of his own illustrious tribe. The life of the timid patriarch, the father of the twelve; the sad death of Eachel near the city where the Messiah was to be born ; the loneliness of Jacob, who sought to comfort himself in Benoni, "the son of her sorrow,'^ by calling him Ben- jamin (Gen. XXXV. 18), "the son of his right hand;" and then the youthful days of this youngest of the twelve brethren, the famine, and the journeys into Egypt, the severity of Joseph, and the wonderful story of the silver cup in the mouth of the sack,— these are the narratives to which he listened with intense and eager interest. How little was it imagined that, as Benjamin was the youngest and most honored of the patriarchs, so this listening child of Benjamin should be associated with the twelve servants of the Messiah of God, the last and most illustrious of the apos- tles I But many years of ignorance were yet to pass away before that mysterious providence which brought Benjamin to Joseph in Egypt should bring his descendant to the knowledge and love of Jesus, the son of Mary. Some of the early Christian writers see in the dying benediction of Jacob, when he said that " Benjamin should ravin as a wolf, in the morning devour the prey, and at night divide the spoil" (Gen. xlix. 27), a prophetic intimation of him who in the morning of his life should tear the sheep of God, and in its evening feed them as the teacher of the nations. When Paul was a child and learnt the words of this saying, no Christian thoughts were associated with it, or with that other more peaceful prophecy of Moses, when he said of Benjamin, " The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him : and the Lord shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders" (Deut. xxxiii. 12). But he v/as familiar with the prophetical words, and could follow in imagination the fortunes of the sons of Benjamin, and knew how they went through the wilderness with Rachel's other children, the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, forming with them the third of the four companies on the march, and reposing with them at night on the west of the encampment DATE OF Paul's birth. 51 He heard how their lands were assigned to them in the promised country along the borders of Judah (Josh, xviii. 11), and how Saul, whose name he bore, was chosen from the tribe which was the smallest, when "little Benjamin'' became the "ruler'' of Israel. He knew that when the ten tribes revolted Benjamin was faithful ; and he learnt to follow its honorable history even in the dismal years of the Babylonian captivity, when Mordecai, " a Benjamite who had been carried aw^ay " (Esth. ii. 5, 6), saved the nation, and w^hen, instead of destruction, "the Jews" through him " had light, and gladness, and joy, and honor ; and in every prov- ince, and in every city, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the land became Jews ; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them." Such were the influences which cradled the infancy of Paul, and such w^as the early teaching under which his mind gradually rose to the realization of his position as a Hebrew child in a city of Gentiles. Of the exact period of his birth we possess no authentic information. From a passage in a sermon attributed to Chrysos- tom it has been inferred that he was born in the year 2 of our era. The date is not improbable, but the genuineness of the sermon is suspected; and if it w^as the undoubted work of the eloquent Father, we have no reason to believe that he possessed any certain means of ascertaining the fact. Nor need we be anxious to pos- sess the information. We have a better chronology than that w^hich reckons by years and months. We know that he was a young man at the time of Stephen's martyrdom (Acts vii. 58), and therefore w^e know what were the features of the period and what the circumstances of the world at the beginning of his event- ful life. He must liave been born in the later years of Herod or the earlier of his son Archelaus. It w^as the strongest and most flourishing time of the reign of Augustus. The world was at peace, the pirates of the Levant were dispersed, and Cilicia was lying at rest or in stupor, with other provinces, under the wide shadow of the Eoman power. Many governors had ruled there since the days of Cicero. Athenodorus, the emperor's tutor, had been one of them. It was about the time when Horace and Maecenas died, with others whose names will never be forgotten ; and it was about the time when Caligula was born, with others who were destined to make the world miserable. Thus is the 52 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. epoch fixed in the manner in which the imagination most easily apprehends it During this pause in the world's history Faul was born. It was a pause, too, in the history of the sufferings of the Jews. That lenient treatment which had been begun by Julius Ciesar was continued by Augustus, and the days of severity were not yet come, when Tiberius and Claudius drove them into banishment and Caligula oppressed them with every mark of contumely and scorn. We have good reason to believe that at the period of the apostle's birth the Jews were unmolested at Tarsus, where his father lived and enjoyed the rights of a Eoman citizen. It is a mistake to suppose that this citizenship was a privilege which be- longed to the members of the family as being natives of this city. Tarsus was not a mimicipium,, nor was it a colonia, like Philippi in Macedonia (Acts xvi. 12) or Antioch in Pisidia, but it was a "free city" [urbs libera), like the Syrian Antioch and its neighbor-city, Seleucia on the Sea. Such a city had the privilege of being gov- erned by its own magistrates, and was exempted from the occupa- tion of a. Eoman garrison, but its citizens did not necessarily pos- sess the civitas of Rome. Tarsus had received great benefits both from Julius Caesar and Augustus, but the father of Paul was not on that account a Eoman citizen. This privilege had been granted to him or had descended to him as an individual right ; he m.ight have purchased it for a " large sum " of money ; but it is more probable that it came to him as the reward of services rendered during the civil wars to some influential Roman. That Jews were not unfrequently Roman citizens we learn from Josephus, who mentions in the AnUqiiities some even of the equestrian order who were illegally scourged and crucified by Florus at Jerusalem, and (what is more to our present point) enumerates certain of his countrymen who possessed the Roman franchise at Ephesus in that important series of decrees relating to the Jews which were issued in the time of Julius Coesar and are preserved in the sec- ond book of the Jewish War, The family of Paul were in the same position at Tarsus as those who were Jews of Asia Minor and yet citizens of Rome at Ephesus ; and thus it came to pass that while many of his contemporaries were willing to expend " a large sum'' in the purchase of '*this freedom,'' the apostle himself was " free-born." The question of the double name of " Saul " and " Paul " will SOCIAL POSITION OF PAULAS FAMILY. 63 require our attention hereafter, when we come in the course of our narrative to that interview with Sergius Paulus in Cyprus coinci- dently with which the appellation in the Acts of the Apostles is suddenly changed. Many opinions have been held on this subject, both by ancient and modern theologians. At present it will be enough to say that we cannot overlook the coincidence, or believe it accidental, yet it is most probable that both names were borne by him in his childhood — that Saul " was the name of his Hebrew home, and Paul " that by which he was known among the Gentiles. It will be observed that PauluSjthe name by which he is always men- tioned after his departure from Cyprus, and by which he always designates himself in his Epistles, is a Roman not a Greek word. And it will be remembered that among those whom he calls his "kinsmen" in the Epistle to the Eomans, two of the number, Junia and Lucius, have Roman names, while the others are Greek (Rom. xvi. 7, 11, 21). All this may point to a strong Roman con- nection. These names may have something to do with that honor- able citizenship which was an heirloom in the household ; and the appellation " Paulus " may be due to some such feelings as those which induced the historian Josephus to call himself " Flavins," in honor of Vespasian and the Flavian family. If we turn now to consider the social position of the apostle's father and family, we cannot on the one hand confidently argue, from the possession of the citzenship, that they were in the enjoy- ment of affluence and outward distinction. The civitas of Rome, though at that time it could not be purchased without heavy expense, did not depend upon any conditions of wealth where it was be- stowed by authority. On the other hand, it is certain that the manual trade which we know that Paul exercised cannot be ad- duced as an argument to prove that his circumstances were narrow and mean ; still less, as some have imagined, that he lived in abso- lute poverty. It was a custom among the Jews that all boys should learn a trade. " What is commanded of a father towards his son ? " asks a Talmudic writer. " To circumcise him, to teach him the Law, to teach him a trade." Rabbi Judah saith, " He that teach- eth not his son a trade does the same as if he taught him to be a thief ;" and Rabban Gamaliel saith, " He that hath a trade in his hand, to what is he like? he is like a vineyard that is fenced." And if, in compliance with this good and useful custom of the Jews, the father of the young Cilician sought to make choice of a 54 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. trade whicli miglit fortify his son against idleness or against adver- sity, none would occur to liim more naturally than the profitable occupation of the making of tents, the material of which was hair- clotlt^ supplied by the goats of his native province and sold in tlie markets of the Levant by the well-known name of cilidum. The most reasonable conjecture is that his father's business was con- cerned with these markets, and that, like many of his dispersed countrymen, he was actively occupied in the traffic of the Medi- terranean coasts; and the remote dispersion of those relations whom he mentions in his letter from Corinth to Rome is favorable to this opinion. But whatever might be the station and employ- ment of his father or his kinsmen, whether they were elevated by wealth above, or depressed by poverty below, the average of the Jews of Asia Minor and Italy, we are disposed to believe that this family were possessed of that highest respectability which is worthy of deliberate esteem. The words of Scripture seem to claim for them the tradition of a good and religious reputation. The strict piety of Paul's ancestors has already been remarked ; some of his kinsmen embraced Christianity before the apostle himself, and the excellent discretion of his nephew will be the subject of our ad- miration when we come to consider the dangerous circumstances which led to the nocturnal journey from Jerusalem to Caesar ea (i^.cts xxiii). But though a cloud rests on the actual year of Paul's birth, and the circumstances of his father's household must be left to imagination, we have the great satisfaction of knowing the exact features of the scenery in the midst of which his childhood was spent. The plain, the mountain, the river, and the sea still re- main to us. The rich harvests of corn still grow luxuriantly after the rains in spring. The same tents of goat's hair are still seen covering the plains in the busy harvest. There is the same soli- tude and silence in the intolerable heat and dust of the summer. Then, as now, the mothers and children of Tarsus w^ent out in the cool evenings and looked from the gardens round the city or from their terraced roofs upon the heights of Taurus. The same sunset lingered on the pointed summits. The same shadows gathered in the deep ravines. The river Cydnus has suffered some changes in the course of eighteen hundred years. Instead of rushing, as in the time of Xenophon, like the Rhone at Geneva, in a stream of two hundred feet broad through the city, it now flows idly past it THE BOYHOOD OF PAUL. 55 on the east. The channel whicli floated the ships of Antony and Cleopatra is now filled up, and wide unhealthy lagoons occupy the place of the ancient docks. But its upper waters still flow, as formerly, cold and clear from the snows of Taurus, and its water- falls still break over the same rocks when the snows are melting, like the Ehine at Schaffhausen. We find a pleasure in thinking that the footsteps of the young apostle often wandered by the side of this stream and that his eyes often looked on these falls. We can hardly believe that he who spoke to the Lystrians of the " rain from heaven'* and the " fruitful seasons,'* and of the " living God who made heaven and earth and the sea" (Acts xvi. 17, 15), could have looked with indifference on beautiful and impressive scenery. Gamaliel was celebrated for his love of nature, and the young J ew who was destined to be his most famous pupil spent his early days in the close neighborhood of much that was well adapted to foster such a taste. Or if it be thought that in attributing such feelings to him we are writing in the spirit of modern times, and if it be contended that he would be more influenced by the realities of human life than by the impressions of nature, then let the youth- ful Saul be imagined on the banks of the Cydnus, where it flowed through the city in a stream less clear and fresh, where the wharves were covered with merchandise, in the midst of groups of men in various costumes, speaking various dialects. Basil says that in his day Tarsus was a point of union for Syrians, Cilicians, Isaurians, and Cappadocians. To these we must add the Greek merchant and the agent of E-oman luxury. And one more must be added — the Jew, even then the pilgrim of commerce, trading with every nation and blending with none. In this mixed company Saul at an early age might become familiar with the activities of life and the diversities of human character, and even in his childhood make some acquaintance with those various races which in his manhood he was destined to influence. We have seen what his infancy was : we must now glance at his boyhood. It is usually the case that the features of a strong character display themselves early. Plis impetuous, fiery disposi- tion would sometimes need control. Flashes of indignation would reveal his impatience and his honesty. The affectionate tenderness of his nature would not be without an object of attachment, if that sister who was afterward married (Acts xxiii. 16) was his playmate at Tarsus. The work of tent-making, rather an amuse- 66 LIFE AND EPI1STL1^:S OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. ment than a trade, might sometimes occupy those young hands which were marked wdth the toil of years when he held them to the view of the elders at Miletus. His education was conducted at home rather than at school ; for, though Tarsus w^as celebrated for its learning, the Hebrew boy would not lightly be exposed tc the influence of Gentile teaching. Or if he went to a school, it was not a Greek school, but rather to some room connected with the synagogue, where a noisy class of Jewish children received the rudiments of instruction, seated on the ground with their teacher, after the manner of Mohammedan children in the East, who may be seen or heard at their lessons near the mosque. At such a school, it may be, he learnt to read and to WTite, going and returning under the care of some attendant, according to that custom which he afterward used as an illustration in the Epistle to the Galatians (and perhaps he remembered his own early days while he wrote the passage) when he spoke of the Law as the slave who conducts us to the school of Christ. His religious knowledge as his years advanced was obtained from hearing the Law read in the synagogue, from listening to the arguments and discussions of learned doctors, and from that habit of questioning and answering w^hich was permitted even to the children among the Jews. Familiar with the pathetic history of the Jewish sufferings, he W'Ould feel his heart fiHcd with that love to his own people which breaks out in the Epistle to the Eomans (ix. 4. 6), — to that people *Svhose were the adoption and the glory and the covenants, and of w4iom, as concerning the flesh, Christ was to come,^' — a love not then, as it was afterward, blended with love towards all man- kind, *Ho tlie Jew first, and also to the Gentile,'^ — but rather united wdth a bitter hatred to the Gentile children whom he saw around him. His idea of the Messiah, so far as it was distinct, would be the carnal notion of a temporal prince — a " Christ known after the flesh — and he looked forward with the hope of a Hebrew^ to the restoration of "the kingdom to Israel." He would be known at Tarsus as a child of promise, and as one likely to uphold the honor of the law against the half-infidel teaching of the day. But the time was drawing near when his training was to become moro exact and systematic. He was destined for the school of Jerusa- lem. The educational maxim of the Jews at a later period was as follows: "At five years of age let children begin the Scripture ; at ten, the Mischna ; at thirteen, let them be subjects of the Law.'' PAUL SENT TO JERUSALEM. 67 There is no reason to suppose that the general practice was very different before the floating maxims of the great doctors were brought together in the Mischna. It may therefore be concluded, with a strong degree of probability, that Saul was sent to the Holy City between the ages of ten and thirteen. Had it been later than the age of thirteen, he could hardly have said that he had been " brought up " in Jerusalem. The first time any one leaves the land of his birth to visit a foreign and distant country is an important epoch in his life. In the case of one who has taken this first journey at an early age, and whose character is enthusiastic and susceptible of lively impressions from without, this epoch is usually remembered with peculiar distinctness. But when the country which is thus visited has furnished the imagery for the dreams of childhood, and is felt to be more truly the young traveller's home than the land he is leaving, then the journey assumes the sacred character of a pilgrimage. The nearest parellel which can be found to the visits of the scattered Jews to Jerusalem is in the periodical expedition of the Mohammedan pilgrims to the sanctuary at Mecca. Nor is there anything which ought to shock the mind in such a compari- son ; for that localizing spirit was the same thing to the Jews under the highest sanction which it is to the Mohammedans through the memory of a prophet who was the enemy and not the forerunner of Christ. As the disciples of Islam may be seen at stated seasons flocking towards Cairo or Damascus, the meeting- places of the African and Asiatic caravans, so Saul had often seen the Hebrew pilgrims from the interior of Asia Minor come down through the passes of the mountains and join others at Tarsus who were bound for Jerusalem. They returned when the festivals were over, and he heard them talk of the Holy City, of Herod and the new temple, and of the great teachers and doctors of the law. And at length Saul himself was to go — to see the land of promise and the city of David, and grow up a learned rabbi "at the feet of Gamaliel." With his father, or under the care of some other friend older than himself, he left Tarsus and vv^ent to Jerusalem. It is not probable that they travelled by the long and laborious land- journey which leads from the Cilician plain through the defiles of Mount Amanus to Antioch, and thence along the rugged Phoeni- cian shore through Tyre and Sidon to Judsea. The Jews, when 58 LIFE AND EPISTLES OP THE APOSTLE PAUL. they went to the festivals or to carry contributions, like the Mohammedans of modern days, would follow the lines of natural traffic; and now that the Eastern Sea had been cleared of its pirates, the obvious course would be to travel by water. The Jews, though merchants, were not seamen. We may imagine Saul, therefore, setting sail from the Cydnus on his first voyage in some Phoenician trader, under the patronage of the gods of Tyre or in company with Greek mariners in a vessel adorned with some mythological emblem, like that Alexandrian corn-ship which sub- sequently brought him to Italy, "whose sign was Castor and Pollux" (Acts xxviii. 11). Gradually they lost sight of Taurus, and the heights of Lebanon came into view. The one had sheltered his early home, but the other had been a familiar form to his Jewish forefathers. How histories would crowd into his mind as the vessel moved on over the weaves and he gazed upon the furrowed flanks of the great Hebrew mountain ! Had the voyage been taken fifty years earlier, the vessel would probably have been bound for Ptolemais, which still bore the name of the Greek kings of Egypt, but in the reign of Augustus or Tiberius it is more likely that she sailed round the headland of Carmel and came to anchor in the new harbor of Csssarea, the handsome city which Herod had rebuilt and named in honor of the emperor. To imagine incidents when none are recorded, and confidently lay down a route without any authority, would be inexcusable in writing on this subject. But to imagine the feelings of a Hebrew boy on his first visit to the Holy Land is neither difficult nor blamable. During this journey Saul had around him a different scenery and different cultivation to what he had been accustomed to — not a river, and a wide plain covered with harvests of corn, but a succession of hills and valleys, with terraced vineyards watered by artificial irrigation. If it was the time of a festival, many pilgrims were moving in the same direction with music and songs of Zion. The ordinary road would probably be that mc^n- tioned in the Acts, which led from Coesarea through the town of Antipatris (xxiii. 31). But neither of these places would possess much interest for a '^Hebrew of the Hebrews." The one was associated with the thoughts of the Komans and of modern times: the other had been built by Herod in memory of Antipater, his Idumsean father. But objects were not wanting of the deepest interest to a child of Benjamin. Those far hilltops on the left THE FIRST VIEW OF JERUSALEM. 59 were close upon Mount Gilboa, even if the very place could not be seen where "the Philistines fought against Israel, . . . and the battle went sore against Saul, . . . and he fell on his sword . . . and died, and his three sons, and his armor-bearer, and all his men that same day together" (1 Sam. xxxi. 1-6). After passing through the lots of the tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim the traveller from Csesarea came to the borders of Benjamin. The children of Rachel were together in Canaan as they had been in the desert. The lot of Benjamin w^as entered near Bethel, memorable for the piety of Jacob, the songs of Deborah, the sin of Jeroboam, and the zeal of Josiah. Onward a short distance was Gibeah, the home of Saul when he was anointed king (1 Sam. x. 26), and the scene of the crime and desolation of the . tribe which made it the smallest of the tribes of Israel ( Judg. xx. 43, etc.). Might it not be too truly said concerning the Israelites even of that period, " They have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gibeah : therefore the Lord will remember their iniquity, he will visit their sins " ? (Hos. ix. 9). At a later stage of his life such thoughts of the unbelief and in- iquity of Israel accompanied Paul wherever he went. At the early age of tw^elve years all his enthusiasm could find an adequate object in the earthly Jerusalem, the first view of which would be descried about this part of the journey. From the time when the line of the city wall was seen all else was forgotten. The farther border of Benjamin was almost reached. The rabbis said that the boundary -line of Benjamin and Judah, the two faithful tribes, passed through the temple. And this city and temple were the common sanctuary of all Israelites: "Thither the tribes go up, even the tribes of the Lord : to testify unto Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the Lord. There is little Benjamin their ruler, and the princes of Judah their council, the princes of Zebulon and the princes of Naphtali: for there is the seat of judgment, even the seat of the house of David." And now the temple's glittering roof Avas seen, with the buildings of Zion crowning the eminence above it, and the ridge of the Mount of Olives rising high over all. And now the city gate was passed with that thrill of the heart which none but a Jew could know. "Our feet stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem. Oh pray for the peace of Jerusalem : they shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, and plenteous- ness within thy palaces. O God, wonderful art thou in thy holy 60 LIFL AND ICPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. places: even the God of Israel. He will give strength and power unto his people. Blessed b6 God.'' And now that this young enthusiastic Jew is come into the land of his forefathers, and is about to receive his education in the schools of the Holy City, we may pause to give some description of the state of Judoea and Jerusalem. We have seen that it is impossible to fix the exact date of his arrival, but we know the general features of the period ; and we can easily form to ourselves some idea of the i3olitical and religious condition of Palestine. Herod was now dead. The tyrant had been called to his last account, and that eventful reign, which had destroyed the nation- ality of the Jews while it maintained their apparent independence, was over. It is most likely that Archelaus also had ceased to govern, and was already in exile. His accession to power had been attended with dreadful fighting in the streets, with bloodshed at sacred festivals, and wuth wholesale crucifixions; his reign of ten years was one continued season of disorder and discontent; and at last he was banished to Vienna on the Rlione, that Judsea might be formally constituted into a Roman province. We sup- pose Saul to have come from Tarsus to Jerusalem when one of the four governors v.dio preceded Pontius Pilate was in power — either Coponius, or Marcus Ambivius, or Annius Ilufus, or Valerius Gratus. The governor resided in the town of Coesarea. Soldiers were quartered there and at Jerusalem, and throughout Judaea wherever the turbulence of the peo])le made garrisons necessary. Centurions were in the country towns (Luke vii. 1-10), soldiers on the banks of the Jordan (Luke iii. 14). There w^as no longer the semblance of independence. The revolution of which Herod liad sown the seeds now came to maturity. The only change since his death in the appearance of the country v>^as that everything became more Eoman than before. Roman money was current in the markets ; Eoman words were incorporated in the popular language ; Roman buildings were conspicuous in all the towns. Even those two independent principalities w^hich two sons of Herod gcverned, between the provinces of Judi)ea and Syria, exhibited all the general character of the epoch. Philip, the tetrarch of Gaulonitis, called Bethsaida, on the north of the Lake of Gennesareth, by the name of Julias, in honor of the family wdio reigned at Rome; Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee, built Tiberias on the south of the OF THP THE RABBINICAL SCHOOLS, 61 same lake, in honor of the emperor who about this time (a. d. 14) succeeded his illustrious father. These political changes had been attended with a gradual alter- ation in the national feelings of the Jews with regard to their religion. That the sentiment of political nationality was not extinguished was proved too well by all the horrors of Vespasian's and Hadrian's reigns ; but there w^as a growing tendency to cling rather to their Law and religion as the centre of their unity. The great conquests of the heathen powers may have been intended by Divine Providence to prepare this change in the Jewish mind. Even under the Maccabees the idea of the state began to give place, in some degree, to the idea of religious life. Under Herod the old unity was utterly broken to pieces. The high priests were set up and put down at his caprice, and the jurisdiction of the Sanhedrin was still more abridged ; and high priests were raised and deposed, as the Christian patriarchs of Constantinople have for some ages been raised and deposed by the sultan, so that it is often a matter of great difficulty to ascertain who was high priest at Jerusalem in any given year at this period. Thus the hearts of the Jews turned more and more towards the fulfilment of prophecy — to the practice of religion — to the interpretation of the Law. All else was now hopeless. The Pharisees, the Scribes, and the lawyers were growing into a more important body even than the priests and Levites, and that system of rabbinism '* was beginning "which, supplanting the original religion of the Jews, became, after the ruin of the temple and the extinction of the public worship, a new bond of national union, the great distinctive feature in the character of modern Judaism. The apostolic age was remarkable for the growth of learned rabbinical schools, but of these the most eminent were the rival schools of Hillel and Schammai. These sages of the Law were spoken of by the Jews, and their proverbs quoted, as the Seven Wise Men were quoted by the Greeks. Their traditional systems run through all the Talmudical writings, as the doctrines of the Scotists and Thomists run through the Middle Ages. Both were Pharisaic schools, but the former upheld the honor of tradition as even superior to the Law; the latter despised the traditions wlien they clashed with Moses. The antagonism between them was so great that it was said that "Elijah the Tishbite would never be able to reconcile the disciples of Hillel and Schammai.'^ 62 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. Of these two schools, that of Hillel was by far the most influen- tial in its own day, and its decisions have been held authoritative by the greater number of later rabbis. The most eminent orna- ment of this school was Gamaliel, whose fame is celebrated in the Talmud. Hillel was the father of Simeon, and Simeon the father of Gamaliel. It has been imagined by some that Simeon was the same old man who took the infant Saviour in his arms and pro- nounced the Nunc Dbnitiis (Luke ii. 25-35). It is difficult to give a conclusive proof of this, but there is no doubt that this Gamaliel was the same who wisely pleaded the cause of Peter and the other apostles (Acts v. 34-40), and who had previously educated the future apostle, Paul (Acts xxii. 3). His learning was so eminent and his character so revered that he is one of the seven who alone among Jewish doctors have been honored with the title of rab- ban.'' As Aquinas, among the Schoolmen, was called Doctor An- gelicus, and Bonaventura Doctor Seraphicus, so Gamaliel was called the " Beauty of the Law and it is a saying of the Talmud that "since Eabban Gamaliel died the glory of the Law has ceased." He was a Pharisee, but anecdotes are told of him which show that he was not trammelled by the narrow bigotry of the sect. He had no antipathy to the Greek learning. He rose above the prejudices of his party. Our impulse is to class him with the best of the Pharisees, like Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. Candor and wisdom seem to have been the features of his character ; and this agrees with what we read of him in the Acts of the Apostles, that he was " had in reputation of all the people," and with his honest and intelligent argument when Peter was brought before the council. It has been imagined by some that he became a Christian ; and why he did not become so is known only to Him who understands the secrets of the human heart. But he lived and died a Jew, and a well-known prayer against Christian heretics was composed or sanctioned by him. He died eighteen years before the destruction of Jerusalem, about the time of PauFs shipwreck at Malta, and was buried with great honor. Another of his pupils, Onkelos, the author of the celebrated Targum, raised to him such a funeral pile of rich materials as had never been known except at the burial of a king. If we were briefly to specify the three eflects which the teaching and example of Gamaliel may be supposed to have produced on the mind of Paul, they would be as follows : candor and honesty TEACHING IN THE RABBINICAL SCHOOLS. 63 of judgment, a willingness to study and make use of Greet autliors, and a keen and watchful enthusiasm for the Jewish law. We shall see these traits of character soon exemplified in his life. But it is time that we should inquire into the manner of communicating instruction, and lea.rn something concerning the places where in- struction was communicated, in the schools of Jerusalem. Until the formation of the later rabbinical colleges which flou- rished after the Jews were driven from Jerusalem the instruction in the divinity schools seems to have been chiefly oral. There was a prejudice against the use of any book except the Sacred Writings. The system was one of 'scriptural exegesis. Josephus remarks at the close of his Antiquities that the one thing most prized by his countrymen was power in the exposition of Scripture. They give to that man,'' he says, '4he testimony of being a wise man who is fully acquainted with our laws and is able to interpret their meaning.'' So far as we are able to learn from our sources of in- formation, the method of instruction was something of this kind: At the meetings of learned men some passage of the Old Testament was taken as a text, or some topic for discussion propounded in Hebrew, translated into the vernacular tongue by means of a Chaldee paraphrase, and made the subject of commentary ; various interpretations wxre given ; aphorisms were propounded ; allegories suggested ; and the opinions of ancient doctors quoted and discussed. At these discussions the younger students were present to listen or to inquire, or, in the sacred words of Luke, ''both hearing them and asking them questions ;" for it was a peculiarity of the Jewish schools that the pupil was encouraged to catechize the teacher. Contradict- ory opinions were expressed with the utmost freedom. This is evident from a cursory examination of the Talmud, which gives us the best notions of the scholastic disputes of the Jews. This remarkable body of rabbinical jurisprudence has been compared to the Eoman body of civil law, but in one respect it might suggest a better com- parison with the English com.mon law, in that it is a vast accumu- lation of various and often inconsistent precedents : the arguments and opinions which it contains show very plainly that the Jewish doctors must often have been occupied with the most frivolous questions; that the niint, anise, and cummin" were eagerly dis- cussed, while the ''weightier matters of the law" were neglected; but we should not be justified in passing a hasty judgment on ancient volumes, which are full of acknowledged difficulties. 64 LIFE AND EPISTLES OP THE APOSTLE PAUL. What we read of the system of the Cabbala has often the appear- ance of unintelligible jargon, but in all ages it has been true that the words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies." If we could look back on the assemblies of the rabbis of Jerusalem, with Gamaliel in the midst and Saul among the younger speakers, it is possible that the scene would be as strange and as different from a place of modern education as the schools now seen by travellers in the East differ from contem- porary schools in England. But the same might be said of the walks of Plato in the Academy or the lectures of Aristotle in the Lyceum. It is certain that these free and public discussions of the Jews tended to create a high degree of general intelligence among the people; that the students were trained there in a system of ex- cellent dialectics ; that they learnt to express themselves in a rapid and sententious style, often with much poetical feeling, and ac- quired an admirable acquaintance with the words of the ancient Scriptures. These "Assemblies of the Wise were possibly a continuation of the " Schools of the Prophets," which are mentioned in the his- torical books of the Old Testament. Wherever the earlier meet- ings were held, whether at the gate of the city or in some more secluded place, we read of no buildings for purposes of worship or instruction before the Captivity. During that melancholy period, when they mourned over their separation from the temple, the ne- cessity of assemblies must have been deeply felt for united prayer and mutual exhortation, for the singing of the " songs of Zion," and of remembering the " word of the Lord." When they re- turned, the public reading of the Law became a practice of uni- versal interest, and from this period we m.ust date the erection of sy7iagogues in the different towns of Palestine. So that James could say, in the council at Jerusalem, " Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day." To this later period the 74tli Psalm may be referred, which laments over ^'the burning of all the synagogues of God in the land." These buildings are not mentioned by Jose- phus in any of the earlier passages of his history. But in the time of the apostles we have the fullest evidence that they existed in all the small towns in Juda3a and in all the principal cities where the Jews were dispersed abroad. It seems that the synagogues often consisted of two apartments — one for prayer, preaching, and the THE POSTURE OF THE SCHOLARS. 65 offices of public worship; the other for the meetings of learned men, for discussion concerning questions of religion and discipline, and for purposes of education. Thus the synagogues and the schools cannot be considered as two separate subjects. No doubt a distinc- tion must be drawn between the smaller schools of the country villages and the great divinity schools of Jerusalem. The syna- gogue which was built by the centurion at Capernaum was no doubt a far less important place than those synagogues in the Holy City where "the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, with those of Asia and Cilicia,'' rose up as one man and disputed against Stephen. We have here five groups of foreign Jews — two from Africa, two from Western Asia, and one from Europe — and there is no doubt that the Israelites of Syria, Babylonia, and the East were similarly represented. The rabbinical writers say that there were four hundred and eighty synagogues in Jerusalem ; and though this must be an exaggeration, yet no doubt all shades of Hellenistic and Aramaic opinions found a home in the connnon metropolis. It is easy to see that an eager and enthusiastic student could have had no lack of excitements to stimulate his religious and intellectual activity if he spent the years of his youth in that city at the feet of Gamaliel.'^ It has been contended that when Paul said he was "brought up" in Jerusalem " at the feet of Gamaliel/^ he meant that he had lived at the rabban's house and eaten at his table. But the words evidently point to the customary posture of Jewish students at a school. There is a curious passage in the Talmud, wdiere it is said that " from the days of Moses to Rabban Gamaliel tliey stood up to learn the Law; but when Eabban Gamaliel died, sickness came into the world, and they sat down to learn the Law.'' We need not stop to criticise this sentence, and it is not easy to reconcile it with other authorities on the same subject. " To sit at the feet of a teacher" was a proverbial expression, as when Mary is said to nave " sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word." But the proverbial expression must have arisen from a well-known custom. The teacher was seated on an elevated platform or on the ground, and the pupils around him on low seats or on the floor. Maimonides says, " How do the masters teach ? The doctor sits at the head, and the disciples around him like a crown, that they may all see the doctor and hear his words. Nor is the doctor seated on a seat^ and the disciples on the ground : but all are on seats, or all on the 6 66 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. floor." Ambrose says, in his commentary on the the First Epistle to the Corinthians (xiv.), that ''it is the tradition of the synagogue that they sit while they dispute ; the elders in dignity on high chairs, those beneath them on low seats, and the last of all on mats upon the pavement." And again, Philo says that the children of the Essenes sat at the feet of the masters, who interpreted the Law and explained its figurative sense. And the same thing is expressed in that maxim of the Jews, " Place thyself in the dust at the feet of the wise." In this posture the apostle of the Gentiles spent his schoolboy days, an eager and indefatigable student. " He that giveth his mind to tlie law of the Most High, and is occupied in the meditation thereof, will seek out the wisdom of all the ancient and be occupied in prophecies. He will keep the sayings of the renowned men ; and where subtle parables are, he will be there also. Pie will seek out the secrets of grave sentences, and be conversant in dark parables. He shall serve among great men, and appear among princes : he will travel through strange countries ; for he hath tried the good and the evil among men " (Eccles. xxxix. 1-4). Such was the pattern proposed to himself by an ardent follower of the rabbis ; and we can- not wonder that Saul, with such a standard before him and with so ardent a temperament, "made progress in the Jews' religion above many of his contemporaries in his own nation, being more exceed- ingly zealous of the traditions of his fathers" (Gal.i. 14). Intellect- ually, his mind was trained to logical acuteness, his memory became well stored with hard sentences of old, and he acquired the facility of quick and apt quotation of Scripture. Morally, he was a strict observer of the requirements of the Law; and, while he led a careful, conscientious life, after the example of his ancestors, he gradually imbibed the spirit of a fervent persecuting zeal. Among his fellow-students, who flocked to Jerusalem from Egypt and Babylonia, from the coasts of Greece and his native Cilicia, he was known and held in high estimation as a rising light in Israel. And if we may draw a natural inference from another sentence of the letter which has just been quoted, he was far from indiflerent to the praise of men. Students of the law were called " the holy people ;" and we know one occasion when it was said, " This people who knoweth not the Law are cursed." And we can imagine him saying to himself, with all the rising pride of a successful Pharisee, in the language of the Book of Wisdom, " I shall have Paul's student-life. 67 estimation among the multitude and honor with the elders, though I be young. I shall be found of a quick conceit in judgment, and shall be admired in the sight of great men. When I hold my tongue, they shall bide my leisure ; and when I speak, they shall give good ear unto me." While thus he was passing through the busy years of his student- life, nursing his religious enthusiasm and growing in self-right- eousness, others were advancing towards their manhood, not far from Jerusalem, of w^iom then he knew nothing, but for whose cause he was destined to count that loss which now was his high- est gain. There was one at Hebron, the son of a priest " of the course of Abia," who was soon to make his voice heard throughout Israel as the preacher of repentance ; there were boys by the Lake of Galilee, mending their father's nets, who were hereafter to be the teachers of the world ; and there was One at Nazareth for the sake of whose love they, and Saul himself, and thousands of faith- ful hearts throughout all future ages, should unite in saying, ^^He must increase, but I must decrease." It is possible that Gamaliel may have been one of those doctors with whom Jesns was found conversing in the temple. It is probable that Saul may have been within the precincts of the temple at some festival when Mary and Joseph came up from Galilee. It is certain that the eyes of the Saviour and of his future disciple must often have rested on the same objects — the same crowd of pilgrims and worshippers, the same walls of the Holy City, the same olives on the other side of the Valley of Jehoshaphat. But at present they were strangers. The mysterious human life of Jesus was silently advancing towards its great consummation. Saul was growing more and more famil- liar with the outward observances of the Law, and gaining that ex- perience of the spirit of bondage" which should enable him to understand himself, and to teach to others, the blessings of the spirit of adoption." He was feeling the pressure of that yoke which in the words of Peter " neither his fathers nor he were able to bear." He was learning (in proportion as his conscientiousness increased) to tremble at the slightest deviation from the Law as jeopardizing salvation," whence arose that tormenting scrupulosity which invented a number of limitations in order (by such self- imposed restraint) to guard against every jDossible transgression of the Law." The struggles of this period of his life he has himself described in the seventh chapter of Romans. Meanwhile, year 68 LIFE AND KPISTLES UE THE APOSTLE PAUL. after year passed away. Jolm the Baptist appeared by the waters of the Jordan. The greatest event of the world's history w^as finished on Calvary. The sacrifice for sin was offered at a time when sin appeared to be most triumphant. At the period of the crucifixion three of the principal persons who demand the histo- rian's attention are — the emperor Tiberius, spending his life of shameless lust on the island of Capreoe, his vile minister, Sejanus, revelling in cruelty at Eome, and Pontius Pilate at Jerusalem, mingling with the sacrifices the blood of the Galileans. How re- freshing is it to turn from these characters to such scenes as that where John receives his Lord's dying words from the cross, or where Thomas meets him after the resurrection to have his doubts turned into faith, or where Stephen sheds the first blood of mar- tyrdom, praying for his murderers! This first martyrdom has the deepest interest for us, since it is the first occasion when Saul comes before us in his early manhood. Where had he been during these years which we have rapidly passed over in a few lines — the years in which the foundations of Christianity were laid? We cannot assume that he had remained continuously in Jerusalem. Many years had elapsed since he came, a boy, from his home at Tarsus. He must have attained the age of twenty-five or thirty years when our Lord's public ministry began. His education was completed, and we may conjecture, with much j)robability, that he returned to Tarsus. When he says in the first letter to the Corinthians (ix. 1), Have I not seen the Lord?" and when he speaks in the second (v. 16) of having " known Christ after the flesh," he seems only to allude in the first case to his vision on the road to Damascus, and in the second to his carnal opinions concerning the Messiah. It is hardly conceivable that if he had been at Jerusalem during our Lord's public ministration there he should never allude to the fact. In this case he would surely have been among the persecutors of Jesus, and have referred to this as the ground of his remorse, instead of expressing his repentance for his opposition merely to the Saviour's followers. If he returned to the banks of the Cydnus, he would find that many changes had taken place among his friends in the interval which had brought him from boyhood to manhood. But the only change in himself was that he brought back with him, to gratify the pride of liis parents if they still were living, a mature know- ledge of the Law, a stricter life, a more fervent zeal. And here, FIRST PROCLAMATION OF THE GOSREL. 69 in the schools of Tarsus, he had abundant opportunity for becom- ing acquainted with that Greek literature the taste for which he had caught from Gamaliel, and for studying the writings of Philo and the Hellenistic Jews. Supposing him to be thus employed, we will describe in a few words the first beginnings of the apostolic Church, and the appearance presented by it to that Judaism in the midst of which it rose, and follow its short history to the point where the "young man whose name wasSauf reappears at Jeru- salem, in connection with his friends of the Cilician synagogue, " disputing with Stephen.'^ Before our Saviour ascended into heaven he said to his disciples, " Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judsea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth." And when Matthias had been chosen, and the promised blessing had been received on the day of Pentecost, this order was strictly followed. First, the gospel was proclaimed in the city of Jerusa- lem, and the numbers of those who believed gradually rose from one hundred and twenty to five thousand. Until the disciples were "scattered,'' "upon the persecution that arose a.bout Stephen," Jerusalem was the scene of all that took place in the Church of Christ. We read as yet of no communication of the truth to the Gentiles nor to the Samaritans — no hint even of any apostolic preaching in the country parts of Judsea. It providen- tially happened, indeed, that the first outburst of the new doc- trine, with all its miraculous evidence, was witnessed by "Jews ard proselytes" from all parfs of the world. They had come up to the festival of Pentecost from the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates, of the Nile and of the Tiber, from the provinces of Asia Minor, from the desert of Arabia, and from the islands of the Greek Sea; and when they returned to their homes they carried with them news which prepared the way for the glad tidings about to issue from Mount Zion to " the uttermost parts of the earih." But as yet the gospel lingered on the Holy Flill. The first acts of the apostles were "prayer and supplication" in the "upper room," breaking of bread " from house to house," miracles in the temple, gatherings of the people in Solomon's cloister, and the bearing of testimony in the council-chamber of the Sanhedrin. One of the chief characteristics of the apostolic Church, con- sidered in itself, was the bountiful charity of its members one towards another. Many of the Jews of Palestine, and therefore 70 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. many of the earliest Christian converts, were extremely poor. The odium incurred by adopting the new doctrine might under- mine the livelihood of some who depended on their trade for support, and this would make almsgiving necessary. But the Jews of Palestine were relatively poor compared with those of the Dis- persion. We see this exemplified on later occasions in the contributions which Paul more than once anxiously promoted. And in the very first days of the Church we find its wealthier members placing their entire possessions at the disposal of the apostles. Not that there was any abolition of the rights of property, as the words of Peter to Ananias very well show. But those who were rich gave up what God had given them in the spirit of generous self-sacrifice, and according to the true principle of Christian communism, which regards property as entrusted to the possessor, not for himself, but for the good of the whole com- munity, to be distributed according to such methods as his charitable feeling and conscientious judgment may approve. The apostolic Church was, in this respect, in a healthier condition than the Church of modern days. But even then we find ungenerous and suspicious sentiments growing up in the midst of the general benevolence. That old jealousy between the Aramaic and Hellen- istic Jews reappeared. Their party feeling was excited by some real or apparent unfairness in the distribution of the fund set apart for the poor. ^'A murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews,'' or of the Hebrews against the Grecians, had been a common occurrence for at least two centuries, and notwithstanding the power of the Divine Spirit, none will wonder that it broke out again even among those who had become obedient to the doctrine of Christ. That the widows' fund might be carefully distributed seven almoners or deacons were appointed, of whom the most eminent was Stephen, described as a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost," and as one who, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people." It will be observed that these seven men have Greek names, and that one was a proselyte from the Greco-Syrian city of Antioch. It was natural, from the peculiar character of the quarrel, that Hellenistic Jews should have been appointed to this oflice. And this circumstance must be looked on as divinely arranged. For the introduction of that party, which was most free from local and national preju- dices into the very ministry of the Church must have had an OPPOSITION TO THE NEW FAITH. 71 important influence in preparing the way for the admission of the Gentiles. Looking back, from our point of view, upon the community at Jerusalem, we see in it the beginning of that great society, the Church, which has continued to our own time, distinct both from Jews and heathen, and which will continue till it absorbs both the heathen and the Jews. But to the contemporary Jews themselves it wore a very different appearance. From the Hebrew point of view, the disciples of Christ would be regarded as a Jewish sect or synagogue. The synagogues, as we have seen, were very numerous at Jerusalem. There w^ere already the Cilician synagogue, the Alexandrian synagogue, the synagogue of the Libertines, and to these are now added (if we may use so bold an expression) the Nazarene synagogue or the synagogue of the Galileans. Not that any separate building was erected for the devotions of the Chris- tians, for they met from house to house for prayer and the breaking of bread. But they were by no means separated from the nation ; they attended the festivals ; they worshipped in the temple. They were a new and singular party in the nation, holding peculiar opinions and interpreting the Scriptures in a peculiar way. This is the aspect under which the Church would first present itself to the Jews, and among others to Saul himself. Many different opinions were expressed in the synagogues concerning the nature and office of the Messiah. These Galileans would be distinguished as holding the strange opinion that the true Messiah was ths.t notorious malefactor'^ who had been crucified at the last Pasv*- over. All parties in the nation united to oppose, and if possible to crush, the monstrous heresy. The first attempts to put down the new faith came from the Sadducees. The high priest and his immediate adherents belonged to this party. They hated the doctrine of the resurrection ; and the resurrection of Jesus Christ was the corner-stone of all Peter's teaching. He and the other apostles were brought before the Sanhedrin, who in the first instance were content to enjoin silence on them. The order was disobeyed, and they were summoned again. The consequences might have been fatal, but that the jealousy between the Sadducees and Pharisees was overruled, and the instrumentality of one man's wisdom was used by Almighty God for the protection of his servants. Gamaliel, the eminent Pharisee, argued that if this cause were not of God it would come 72 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. to nothing, like the work of other impostors, but if it were ef God they could not safely resist what must certainly prevail ; and the apostles of Jesus Christ were scourged, and allowed to "depart from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.'' But it was impossible that those Pharisees whom Christ had always rebuked should long con- tinue to be protectors of the Christians. On this occasion we find the teacher, Gamaliel, taking Peter's part: at the next persecution Saul, the pupil, is actively concerned in the murder of Stephen. It was the same alternation of the two prevailing parties, first oppos- ing each other, and then uniting to oppose the gospel, of which Saul himself had such intimate experience when he became Paul. In many particulars Stephen was the forerunner of Paul. Up to this time the conflict had been chiefly maintained with the Aramaic Jews, but Stephen carried the war of the gospel into the territory of the Hellenists. The learned members of the foreign synagogues endeavored to refute him by argument or by clamor. The CUician synagogue is particularly mentioned (Acts vi. 9, 10) as having furnished some conspicuous opponents to Stephen who " were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit with which he spake." We cannot doubt, from what follows, that Saul of Tarsus, already distinguished by his zeal and talents among the younger champions of Pharisaism, bore a leading part in the dis- cussions which here took place. He was now, though still " a young man" (x\cts vii. 58), yet no longer in the first opening of youth. This is evident from the fact that he was appointed to an important ecclesiastical and political oflace immediately afterward. Such an appointment he could hardly have received from the San- he(|rin before the age of thirty, and probably not so early, for we must remember that a peculiar respect for seniority distinguished the rabbinical authorities. We can imagine Saul, then, the fore- most in the Cilician synagogue, "disputing" against the new doc- trines of the Hellenistic deacon in all the energy of vigorous manhood and with all the vehement logic of the rabbis. How often must these scenes have been recalled to his mind when he himself took the place of Stephen in many a synagogue and bore the brunt of the like furious assault, surrounded by "Jews filled with envy, who spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming" ! (Acts xiii. 45). But this clamor and these arguments were not suflicient to convince or THE SANHEDRIN. 73 intimidate Stephen. False witnesses were then suborned to accuse him of blasphemy against Moses and against God, who asserted, when he was dragged before the Sanhedrin, that they had heard him say that Jesus of Nazareth should destroy the tem- ple and change the Mosaic customs. It is evident, from the na- ture of this accusation, how remarkably his doctrine was an an- ticipation of PauPs. As an Hellenistic Jew he was less entangled in the prejudices of Hebrew nationality than his Aramaic breth- ren, and he seems to have had a fuller understanding of the final intention of the gospel than Peter and the apostles had yet attained to. Not doubting the divinity of the Mosaic economy, and not faithless to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, he yet saw that the time was coming — yea, then was — when the ^'true worshippers" should worship him not in the temple only or in any one sacred spot, but everywhere throughout the earth, "in spirit and in truth ; " and for this doctrine he was doomed to die. When we speak of the Sanhedrin^ we are brought into contact with an important controversy. It is much disputed whether it had at this period the power of inflicting death. On the one hand, we apparently find the existence of this power denied by the Jews themselves at the trial of our Lord ; and on the other we apparently find it assumed and acted on in the case of Stephen. The Sanhedrin at Jerusalem, like the Areopagus at Athens, was the highest and most awful court of judicature, especially in matters that pertained to religion ; but, like that Athenian tribunal, its real power gradu- ally shrunk, though the reverence attached to its decisions remained. It probably assumed its systematic form under the second Hyrcanus, and it became a fixed institution in the commonwealth under his sons, who would be glad to have their authority nominally limited, but really supported, by such a council. Under the Herods and under the Komans its jurisdiction was curtailed ; and we are in- formed on Talmudical authority that forty years before the destruc- tion of Jerusalem it was formally deprived of the power of inflicting death. If this is true, we must consider the proceedings at the death of Stephen as tumultuous and irregular. And nothing is more probable than that Pontius Pilate (if indeed he was not absent at the time) would willingly connive, in the spirit of Gallio at Corinth, at an act of unauthorized cruelty in " a question of words and names and of the Jewish Law," and that the Jews 74 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. would willingly assume as much power as they dared when the honor of Moses and the temple was in jeopardy. The council assembled in solemn and formal state to try the blas- phemer. There was great and general excitement in Jerusalem. " The people, the scribes, and the elders " had been " stirred up by the members of the Hellenistic synagogue. It is evident, from that vivid expression which is quoted from the accusers' mouths, this place this holy place, ^ that the meeting of the Sanhedrin took place in the close neighborhood of the temple. Their ancient and solemn room of assembly was the hall Gazith, or the " Stone Chamber," partly within the temple court and partly without it. The president sat in the less sacred portion, and around him, in a semicircle, were the rest of the seventy judges. Before these judges Stephen was made to stand, confronted by his accusers. The eyes of all were fixed upon his countenance, which grew bright as they gazed on it with a supernatural radiance and serenity. In the beautiful Jewish expression of the Scripture, They saw his face as it had been that of an angel." The judges, when they saw his glorified countenance, might have remembered the shining on the face of Moses, and trembled lest Stephen's voice should be about to speak the will of Jehovah, like that of the great lawgiver. Instead of being occupied with the faded glories of the second temple, they might have recognized in the spectacle before them the Shechinah of the Christian soul, which is the living sanctuary of God. But the trial proceeded. The judicial question to which the accused was required to plead was put by the presi- dent: "Are these things so?" And then Stephen answered, and his clear voice was heard in the silent council-hall as he went through the history of the chosen people, proving his own deep faith in the sacredness of the Jewish economy, but suggesting here and there that spiritual interpretation of it which had always been the true one, and the truth of which was now to be made manifest to all. He began, with a wise discretion, from the call of Abraham, and travelled historically in his argument through all the great stages of their national existence — from Abraham to Joseph,-- from Joseph to Moses, — from Moses to David and Solomon. And as he went on he selected and glanced at those points which made for his own cause. He showed that God's blessing rested on the faith of Abraham, though he had " not so much as to set his foot on " in the land of promise (v. 5) ; on the piety of Joseph, though STEPHEN THE FORERUNNER OF PAUL. 75 he was an exile in Egypt (v. 9) ; and on the holiness of the burn- ing bush, though in the desert of Sinai (v. 30). He dwelt in detail on the lawgiver in such a way as to show his own unquestionable orthodoxy, but he quoted the promise concerning " the Prophet like unto Moses" (v. 37), and reminded his hearers that the Law, in which they trusted, had not kept their forefathers from idolatry (v. 39, etc.). And so he passed on to the temple, which had so prominent a reference to the charge against him, and while he spoke of it he alluded to the words of Solomon himself, and of the prophet Isaiah, who denied that any temple " made with hands could be the place of God's highest worship. And thus far they listened to him. It was the story of the chosen people, to which every Jew listened with interest and pride. It is remarkable, as we have said before, how completely Stephen is the forerunner of Paul, both in the form and the matter of this defence. His securing the attention of the Jews by adopting the historical method is exactly what the apostle did in the synagogue at Antioch in Pisidia. His assertion of his attachment to the true principles of the Mosaic religion is exactly what was said to Agrippa : " 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." It is deeply interesting to think of Saul as listening to the martyr's voice as he antedated those very arguments which he himself was destined to reiterate in synagogues and before kings. There is no reason to doubt that he was present, although he may not have been qualified to vote in the Sanhedrin. And it is evident, from the thoughts which occurred to him in his subsequent vision within the precincts of the temple, how deep an impression Stephen's death had left on his memory. And there are even verbal coincidences which may be traced between this address and Paul's speeches or writings. The words used by Stephen of the temple call to mind those which were used at Athens. When he speaks of the Law as received by the disposi- tion of angels," he anticipates a phrase in the Epistle to the Gala- tians (iii. 19). His exclamation at the end, Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart, . . . who have received the Law . . . and have not kept it," is only an indignant condensation of the argu- ment in the Epistle to the Romans: "Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the Law, and makest thy boast of God, and knowest his will . . . Thou, therefore, that makest thy boast of 76 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. the Law, through breaking the Law dishonourest thou God ? . . • He is not a Jew which is one outwardly ; neither is that circum- cision which is outward in the flesh ; but he is a Jew which is one inwardly : and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of man, but of God" (ii. 17-29). The rebuke which Stephen, full of the Divine Spirit, suddenly broke away from the course of his narrative to pronounce was the signal for a general outburst of furious rage on the part of his judges. They "gnashed on him with their teeth" in the same spirit in which they had said, not long before, to the blind man who was healed, "Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us?" But in contrast with the malignant hatred which had blinded their eyes, Stephen's serene faith was supernaturally ex- alted into a direct vision of the blessedness of the redeemed. He whose face had been like that of an angel on earth was made like one of those angels themselves, "who do always behold the face of our Father which is in heaven." " He being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God." The scene before his eyes was no longer the council-hall at Jerusalem and the circle of his infuriated judges, but he gazed up into the endless courts of the celestial Jerusalem, with its "innumerable company of angels," and saw Jesus, in whose righteous cause he was about to die. In other places, where our Saviour is spoken of in his glorified state, he is said to be not standing, but seated, at the right hand of the Father. Here alone he is said to be standing. It is as if (according to Chrysostom's beautiful thought) he had risen from his throne to succor his persecuted servant and to receive him to himself. And when Stephen saw his Lord — per- haps with the memories of what he had seen on earth crowding into his mind — he suddenly exclaimed, in the ecstasy of his vision, " Behold ! I see the heavens opened and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God ! " This was too much for the Jews to bear. The blasphemy of Jesus had been repeated. The follower of Jesus was hurried to destruction. "Thoy cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accor.l." It is evident that it was a savage and disorderly condemnation. They dragged him out of the council-hall, and, making a sudden rush and tumult through Stephen's martyedom and' peayee. 77 the streets, hurried him to one of the gates of the city, and some- where about the rocky edges of the ravine of Jehoshaphat, where the Mount of Olives looks down upon Gethsemane and Siloam, or on the open ground to the north which travellers cross when they go towards Samaria or Damascus, with stones that lay without the walls of the Holy City this heavenly-minded martyr was murdered. The exact place of his death is not known. There are two tradi- tions — an ancient one, which places it on the north, beyond the Damascus Gate ; and a modern one, which leads travellers through what is now called the Gate of St. Stephen to a spot near the brook Kedron, over against the Garden of Gethsemane. But those who look upon Jerusalem from an elevated point on the north-east have both these positions in view, and any one who stood there on that day might have seen the crowd rush forth from the gate, and the witnesses (who according to the Law were required to throw the first stones) cast off their outer garments and lay them down at the feet of Saul. The contrast is striking between the indignant zeal which the martyr had just expressed against the sin of his judges, and the forgiving love which he showed to themselves when they became his murderers. He first uttered a prayer for himself in the words of Jesus Christ, which he knew were spoken from the cross, and which he may himself have heard from those holy lips. And then, deliberately kneeling down, in that posture of humility in which the body most naturally expresses the supplication of the mind, and which has been consecrated as the attitude of Christian devotion by Stephen and Paul himself, he gave the last few mo- ments of his consciousness to a prayer for the forgiveness of his ene- mies ; and the words were scarcely spoken when death seized upon him, or rather, in the words of Scripture, "he fell asleep.'' " And Saul was consenting to his death.'' A Spanish painter, in a picture of Stephen conducted to the place of execution, has rep- resented Saul as walking by the martyr's side with melancholy calmness. He consents to his death from a sincere though mis- taken conviction of duty ; and the expression of his countenance is strongly contrasted with the rage of the baffled Jewish doctors and the ferocity of the crowd who flock to the scene of bloodshed. Literally considered, such a representation is scarcely consistent either with SauFs conduct immediately afterward or with his own expressions concerning himself at the later periods of his life. But 78 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. the picture, though historically incorrect, is poetically true. The painter has worked according to the true idea of his art in throw- ing upon the persecutor's countenance the shadow of his coming repentance. We cannot dissociate the martyrdom of Stephen from the conversion of Paul. The spectacle of so much constancy, so much faith, so much love, could not be lost. It is hardly too much to say with Augustine that ^' the Church owes Paul to the prayer of Stephen.'' Si Stephanus non orasset, Ecclesia Paulum non haberet. Note on the " Libertines " and the " Citizenship of Paul" Since this chapter was sent to press, the writer has seen Wie- seler's Chronologie des ApostoHschen Zeitalters (Gottingen, 1848), a work of which both the text and the notes are of great importance. Dr. Wieseler argues (note, pp. 61-63) that Paul was probably a Cilician Libertinus, Great numbers of Jews had been made slaves in the civil wars, and then manumitted. A slave manumitted with due formalities became a Eoman citizen. Now, we find Paul taking an active part in the persecution of Stephen ; and the verse which describes Stephen's great opponents (Acts vi. 9) may be so trans- lated as to mean "Libertines" from "Gyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia, and Asia." Thus it is natural to conclude that the apostle, with other Cilician Jews, may have been, like Horace, "libertino patre natus." The two passages from Tacitus and Philo which prove how numerous the Jewish Libertini were in the empire will come under notice hereafter in connection with Eome. CHAPTER III. FUXEHAL OF STEPHEN. — SAUL'S CONTINUED PERSECUTION. — FLIGHT OF THE CHUISTIANS. — PHILIP AND THE SAMARI- TANS. — SAUL'S JOURNEY TO DAMASCUS. — ARETAS, KING OF PETRA. — ROADS FROM JERUSALEM TO DAMASCUS. — NEAPOLIS. — HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF DAMASCUS. — THE NARRATIVES OF THE MIRACLE. — IT WAS A REAL VISION OF JESUS CHRIST. — THREE DAYS IN DAMASCUS. — ANANIAS. — BAPTISM AND FIRST PREACHING OF SAUL. — HE RETIRES INTO ARABIA. — MEANING OF THE TERM ARABIA. — PETRA AND THE DESERT. — CON- SPIRACY AT DAMASCUS. — ESCAPE TO JERUSALEM. — BARNABAS. — FORTNIGHT WITH PETER. — CONSPIRACY. — VISION IN THE TEMPLE. — SAUL WITHDRAWS TO SYRIA AND CILICIA. The death of Stephen is a bright passage in the earliest history of the Church. Where, in the annals of the world, can we find so perfect an image of a pure and blessed saint as that which is drawn in the concluding verses of the seventh chapter of the Acts of the Apostles? And the brightness which invests the scene of the martyr's last moments is the more impressive from its contrast with all that has preceded it since the crucifixion of Christ. The first apostle who died was a traitor. The first disciples of the Christian apostles whose deaths are recorded were liars and hypocrites. The kingdom of the Son of man was founded in darkness and gloom. But a heavenly light reappeared with the martyrdom of Stephen. The revelation of such a character at the moment of death was the strongest of all evidences and the highest of all encouragements. Nothing could more confidently assert the divine power of the new religion ; nothing could prophesy more surely the certainty of its final victory. To us who have the experience of many centuries of Christian history, and who can look back, through a long series of martyr- doms, to this, which was the beginning and example of the rest, 79 80 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. these thoughts are easy and obvious; but to the friends and associates of the murdered saint such feelings of cheerful and confident assurance were perhaps more difficult. Though Christ was indeed risen from the dead, his disciples could hardly yet be able to realize the full triumph of the cross over death. Even many years afterward, Paul the apostle wrote to the Thessalonians concerning those who had ^'fallen asleep" more peaceably than Stephen, that they ought not to sorrow for them as without hope ; and now, at the very beginning of the gospel, the grief of the Christians must have been great indeed when the corpse of their champion and their brother lay at the feet of Saul the murderer Yet amidst the consternation of some and the fury of others, friends of the martyr were found who gave him all the melan- choly honors of a Jewish funeral, and carefully buried him, as Joseph buried his father, "with great and sore lamentation." After the death and burial of Stephen the persecution still raged in Jerusalem. That temporary protection which had been extended to the rising sect by such men as Gamaliel was now at an end. Pharisees and Sadducees, priests and people, alike in- dulged the most violent and ungovernable fury. It does not seem that any check was laid upon them by the Roman authorities. Either the procurator was absent from the city, or he was willing to connive at what seemed to him an ordinary religious quarrel. The eminent and active agent in this persecution was Saul. There are strong grounds for believing that if he was not a mem- ber of the Sanhedrin at the time of Stephen's death, he was elected into that powerful senate soon after — possibly as a reward for the zeal he had shown against the heretic. He himself says that in Jerusalem he not only exercised the power of imprison- ment by commission from the high priests, but also, when the Christians were put to death, gave his vote against them. From this expression it is natural to infer that he was a member of that supreme court of judicature. However this might be, his zeal in conducting the persecution was unbounded. We cannot help observing how frequently strong expressions concerning his share in the injustice and cruelty now perpetrated are multiplied in the Scriptures. In Luke's narrative, in Paul's own speeches, in his earlier and later Epistles, the subject recurs again and again. He "made havoc of the Church," invading the sanctuaries of domestic life, " entering into every house ;" and those whom he thus tore FLIGHT OF THE CHRISTIANS. 81 from their homes he "committed to prison," or, in his own words at a later period, when he had recognized as God's people those whom he now imagined to be his enemies, " thinking that he ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth, . . . in Jerusalem ... he shut up many of the saints in prison." And not only did men thus suffer at his hands, but women also — a fact three times repeated as a great aggravation of his cruelty. These persecuted people were scourged — " often" scourged — " in many synagogues." Nor was Stephen the only one who suffered death, as we may infer from the apostle's own confession. And, what was worse than scourging or than death itself, he used every effort to make them blaspheme" that holy Name whereby they were called. His fame as an inquisitor was notorious far and wide. Even at Damascus, Ananias had heard "how much evil he had done to Christ's saints at Jerusalem." He was known there as "he that destroyed them which call on this Name in Jeru- salem." It was not without reason that in the deep repentance of his later years he remembered how he had " persecuted the Church of God and wasted it," — how he had been "a blasphemer, a persecutor, and injurious," — and that he felt he was " not meet to be called an apostle," because he "had persecuted the Church of God." From such cruelty, and such efforts to make them deny that Name which they honored above all names, the disciples naturally fled. In consequence of " the persecution against the Church at Jerusalem, they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria." The apostles only remained. But this dispersion led to great results. The moment of lowest depression was the very time of the Church's first missionary triumph. "They that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word." First the Samaritans, and then the Gentiles, received that gospel which the Jews attempted to destroy. Thus did the provi- dence of God begin to accomplish, by unconscious instruments, the prophecy and command which had been given : " Ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth." The Jew looked upon the Samaritan as he looked upon the Gentile. His hostility to the Samaritan was probably the greater in proportion as he was nearer. In conformity with the economy which was observed before the resurrection, Jesus Christ had said 6 82 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. to his disciples, "Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not; but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Yet did the Saviour give anticipa- tive hints of his favor to Gentiles and Samaritans in his mercy to the Syrophoenician woman and his interview with the woman at the well of Sychar. And now the time was come for both the " middle walls of partition" to be destroyed. The dispersion brought Philip, the companion of Stephen, the second of the seven, to a city of Samaria. He came with the power of miracles and with the news of salvation. The Samaritans were convinced by what they saw; they listened to what he said; "and there was great joy in that city." When the news came to Jerusalem, Peter and John were sent by the apostles, and the same miraculous testimony attended their presence which had been given on the day of Pente- cost. The divine power in Peter rebuked the powers of evil which were working among the Samaritans in the person of Simon Magus, as Paul afterward, on his first preaching to the Gentiles, rebuked, in Cyprus, Elymas the sorcerer. The two apostles returned to Jerusalem, preaching as they went " in many villages of the Samaritans" the gospel which had been welcomed in the city. Once more we are permitted to see Philip on his labor of love. We obtain a glimpse of him on the road which leads down by Gaza to Egypt. The chamberlain of Queen Candace is passing southward on his return from Jerusalem, and reading in his chariot the prophecies of Isaiah. Ethiopia is "stretching out her hands unto God," and the suppliant is not unheard. A teacher is provided at the moment of anxious inquiry. The stranger goes " on his way rejoicing," a proselyte who had found the Messiah, a Christian baptized "' with water and the Holy Ghost." The evangelist, having finished the work for which he had been sent, IS called elsewhere by the Spirit of God. He proceeds to CiBsarea, and we hear of him no more till, after the lapse of more than twenty years, he received under his roof in that city one who like himself had travelled in obedience to the divine command, "preaching in all the cities." Our attention is now called to that other traveller. We turn from the "desert road" on the south of Palestine to the desert road on 'he north, from the border of Arabia near Gaza to its border near Damascus. " From Dan to Beersheba " the gospel is rapidly ARETAS, KING OF PETRA. 83 spreading. The dispersion of the Christians had not been con- fined to Judsea and Samaria. On the persecution that arose about Stephen" they had "travelled as far as Phoenicia and Syria.'' ^' Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord/' determined to follow them. " Being exceedingly mad against them, he persecuted them even to strange cities." He went of his own accord to the high priest, and desired of him letters to the synagogues in Damascus, where he had reason to believe that Christians were to be found. And armed with this "authority and commission," intending " if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women," to bring them "bound unto Jerusalem to be punished," he journeyed to Damascus. The great Sanhedrin claimed over the Jews in foreign cities the same power in religious questions which they exercised at Jerusa- lem. The Jews in Damascus were very numerous, and there were peculiar circumstances in the political condition of Damascus at this time which may have given facilities to conspiracies or deeds of violence conducted by the Jews. There was war between Aretas, who reigned at Petra, the desert metropolis of Stony Arabia, and Herod Antipas, his son-in-law, the tetrarch of Galilee. A misunderstanding concerning the boundaries of the two princi- palities had been aggravated into an inveterate quarrel by Herod's unfaithfulness to the daughter of the Arabian king and his shame- ful attachment to "his brother Philip's wife." The Jews gene- rally sympathized with the cause of Aretas, rejoiced when Herod's army was cut off, and declared that this disaster was a judgment for the murder of John the Baptist. Herod wrote to Eome, and obtained an order for assistance from Vitellius, the governor of Syria. But when Vitellius was on his march through Judsea from Antioch towards Petra, he suddenly heard of the death of Tiberius (a. d. 37), and the Eoman army was withdrawn before the war was brought to a conclusion. It is evident that the relations of Ihe neighboring powers must have been for some years in a very unsettled condition along the frontiers of Arabia, Judsea, and Syria; and the falling of a rich border-town like Damascus from the hands of the Romans into those of Aretas would be a natural occurrence of the war. If it could be proved that the city w^as placed in the power of the Arabian ethnarch under these particu- lar circumstances, and at the time of Paul's journey, good reason 84 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. would be assigned for believing it probable that the ends for which he went were assisted by the political relations of Damas- cus. And it would indeed be a singular coincidence if his zeal in persecuting the Christians were promoted by the sympathy of the Jews for the fate of John the Baptist. But there are grave objections to this view of the occupation of Damascus by Aretas. Such a liberty taken by a petty chieftain with the Eoman power would have been an act of great audacity, and it is difficult to believe that Vitellius would have closed the campaign if such a city was in the hands of an enemy. It is more likely that Caligula — who in many ways contradicted the policy of his predecessor, who banished Herod Antipas and patronized Herod Agrippa — assigned the city of Damascus as a free gift to Aretas. This supposition, as well as the former, will perfectly explain the remarkable passage in Paul's letters where he dis- tinctly says that it was garrisoned by the ethnarch of Aretas at the time of his escape. Many such changes of territorial occupation took place under the emperors which would have been lost to his- tory were it not for the information derived from a coin, an in- scription, or the incidental remark of a writer who had different ends in view. Any attempt to make this escape from Damascus a fixed point of absolute chronology will be unsuccessful ; but from what has been said it may fairly be collected that SauFs journey from Jerusalem to Damascus took place not far from that year which saw the death of Tiberius and the accession of Caligula. No journey was ever taken on which so much interest is concen- trated as this of Paul from Jerusalem to Damascus. It is so criti- cal a passage in the history of God's dealings with man, and we feel it to be so closely bound up with all our best knowledge and best happiness in this life, and with all our hopes for the world to come, that the mind is delighted to dwell upon it, and we are eager to learn or imagine all its details. The conversion of Saul was like the call of a second Abraham. But we know almost more of the patriarch's journey through this same district from the north to the south than we do of the apostle's in an opposite direction. It is easy to conceive of Abraham travelling with his flocks and herds and camels. The primitive features of the East continue still unaltered in the desert, and the Arabian sheikh still remains to us a living picture of the patriarch of Genesis. But before the ROADS FROM JERUSAI.EM TO DAMASCUS. 85 first century of the Christian era the patriarchal life of Palestine had been modified, not only by the invasions and settlements of Babylonia and Persia, but by large influxes of Greek and Roman civilization. It is difficult to guess what was the appearance of Saul's company on that memorable occasion. We neither know how he travelled, nor w^ho his associates were, nor where he rested on his way, nor what road he followed from the Judsean to the Syrian capital. His journey must have brought him somewhere into the vicinity of the Sea of Tiberias. But where he approached the nearest to the shores of this sacred lake — whether he crossed the Jordan where, in its lower course, it flows southward to the Dead Sea, or where its upper windings enrich the valley at the base of Mount Hermon — we do not know. And there is one thought which makes us glad that it should be so. It is remarkable that Galilee, where Jesus worked so many of his miracles, is the scene of none of those transactions which are related in the Acts. The blue waters of Tiberias, with their fishing-boats and towns on the brink of the shore, are consecrated to the Gospels. A greater than Paul was here. When we come to the travels of the apostles the scenery is no longer limited and Jewish, but catholic and widely extended, like the gospel which they preached ; and the sea w^hich will be so often spread before us in the life of Paul will not be the little Lake of Galilee, but the great Mediterranean, which washed the shores and carried the ships of the historical nations of antiquity. Two principal roads can be mentioned, one of which probably conducted the travellers from Jerusalem to Damascus. The track of the caravans, in ancient and modern times, from Egypt to the Syrian capital, has always led through Gaza and Pamleh, and then turning eastward about the borders of Galilee and Samaria, has descended near Mount Tabor towards the Sea of Tiberias, and so crossing the Jordan a little to the north of the lake by Jacob's Bridge, proceeds through the desert country which stretches to the base of Antilibanus. A similar track from Jerusalem falls into this Egyptian road in the neighborhood of Djenin, at the entrance of Galilee ; and Saul and his company may have travelled by this route, performing the journey of one hundred and thirty-six miles, like the modern caravans, in about six days. But at this period that great work of Roman roadmaking which was actively going on in all parts of the empire must have extended, in some degree, 86 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. to Syria and Judsea; and if the Roman roads were already con- structed here, there is no doubt that they followed the direction indi- cated by the later itineraries. This direction is from Jerusalem to Neapolis (the ancient Sychar), and thence over the Jordan to the south of ihe lake, near Scythopolis, where the soldiers of Pompey crossed the river, and where the Galilean pilgrims used to cross it at the time of the festivals to avoid Samaria. From Scythopolis it led to Gadara, a Roman city, the ruins of which are still remaining, and so to Damascus. Whatever road was followed in SauFs journey to Damascus, it is almost certain that the earlier portion of it brought him to Neap- olis, the Sychar of the Old Testament and the Nablous of the modern Samaritans. This city was one of the stages in the itine- raries. Dr. Robinson followed a Roman pavement for some con- siderable distance in the neighborhood of Bethel. This northern road went over the elevated ridges which intervene between the valley of the Jordan and the plain on the Mediterranean coast. As the travellers gained the high ground, the young Pharisee may have looked back, and when he saw the city in the midst of its hills, with the mountains of Moab in the distance, confident in the righteousness of his cause, he may have thought proudly of the 125tli Psalm : ^' The hills stand about Jerusalem : even so standeth the Lord round about his people, from this time forth for ever- more." His present enterprise was undertaken for the honor of Zion. He was blindly fulfilling the words of One who said, " Who- soever killeth you will think that he doeth God service." Passing through the hills of Samaria, from which he might occasionally obtain a glimpse of the Mediterranean on the left, he would come to Jacob's Well at the opening of that beautiful valley which lies between Ebal and Gerizim. This, too, is the scene of a Gospel history. The same woman with Avhom Jesus spoke might be again at the well as the inquisitor passed. But as yet he knew nothing of the breaking down of the " middle wall of partition." He could indeed, have said to the Samaritans " Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship ; for salvation is of the Jews." But he could not have understood the meaning of those other words: "The hour cometh when ye shall neither in Jerusalem, nor yet in this mountain, worship the Father : the true worshippers shall worship him in spirit and in truth." His was not yet the spirit of Christ. The zeal which burnt in him was that of James DAMASCUS. 87 and John before their illumination, when they wished to call down fire from heaven, even as Elias did, on the inhospitable Samaritan village. Philip had already been preaching to the poor Samari- tans, and John had revisited them, in company with Peter, with feelings wonderfully changed. But Saul knew nothing of the little Church of Samaritan Christians, or if he heard of them and lingered among them, he lingered only to injure and oppress. The Syrian city was still the great object before him. And now, when he had passed through Samaria and was entering Galilee, the snowy peak of Mount Hermon, the highest point of Antilibanus, almost as far to the north as Damascus, would come into view. This is that tow^er of " Lebanon which looketh towards Damascus." It is already the great landmark of his journey as he passes through Galilee towards the Lake of Tiberias and the valley of the Jordan. Leaving now the "Sea of Galilee,'^ deep among its hills, as 9 sanctuary of the holiest thoughts, and imagining the Jordan to be passed, we follow the company of travellers over the barren up- lands which stretch in dreary succession along the base of Anti- libanus. All around are stony hills and thirsty plains, through which the withered stems of the scanty vegetation hardly pene- trate. Over this desert, under the burning sky, the impetuous Saul holds his course, full of the fiery zeal with which Elijah travelled of yore on his mysterious errand through the same wilderness of Damascus" (1 Kings xix. 15). *'The earth in its length and its breadth, and all the deep universe of sky, is steeped in light and heat." When some eminence is gained the vast horizon is seen stretching on all sides like the ocean, without a boundary except where the steep sides of Lebanon interrupt it, as the promontories of a mountainous coast stretch out into a motionless sea. The fiery sun is overhead, and that refreshing view is anxiously looked for — Damascus seen from afar within the desert circumference, resting like an island of Paradise in the green enclosure of its beautiful gardens. This view is so celebrated, and the history of the place is so illustrious, that we may well be excused if we linger a moment that we may describe them both. Damascus is the oldest city in the world. Its fame begins with the earliest patriarchs, and con- tinues to modern times. While other cities of the East have risen and decayed, Damascus is still what it was. It was founded before Baalbek and Palmyra, and it has outlived them both. While 88 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. Babylon is a heap in the desert and Tyre a ruin on the shore, it remains what it is called in the prophecies of Isaiah, " the head of Syria.'' Abraham's steward was " Eliezer of Damascus," and the limit of his warlike expedition in the rescue of Lot was "Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus." How import- ant a place it was in the flourishing period of the Jewish mon- archy we know from the garrisons which David placed there and from the opposition it presented to Solomon. The history of Naaman and the Hebrew captive, Elisha and Gehazi, and of the proud preference of its fresh rivers to the thirsty waters of Israel, are familiar to every one. And how close its relations continued to be with the Jews we know from the chronicles of Jeroboam and Ahaz and the prophecies of Isaiah and Amos. Its mercantile greatness is indicated by Ezekiel in the remarkable words ad- dressed to Tyre : Syria was thy merchant by reason of the mul- titude of the wares of thy making : they occupied in thy fairs with emeralds, purple, and broidered work, and fine linen, and coral, and agate. Damascus w^as thy merchant in the multitude of the wares of thy making, for the multitude of all riches ; in the wine of Helbon, and white wool." Leaving the Jewish an- nals, we might follow its history through continuous centuries, from the time when Alexander sent Parmenio to take it, while the con- queror himself was marching from Tarsus to Tyre, to its occupa- tion by Pompey, — to the letters of Julian the Apostate, who describes it as *'the eye of the East," — and onward through its golden days, when it was the residence of the Ommiad caliphs, and the metropolis of the Mohammedan world, — and through the period when its fame was mingled with that of Saladin and Tam- erlane, — to our own days, when the praise of its beauty is cele- brated by every traveller from Europe. It is evident, to use the words of Lamartine, that, like Constantinople, it was a " predesti- nated capital." Nor is it difficult to explain why its freshness has never faded through all this series of vicissitudes and wars. Among the rocks and brushwood at the base of Antilibanus are the fountains of a copious and perennial stream, which, after running a course of no great distance to the south-east, loses itself in a desert lake. But before it reaches this dreary boundary it has distributed its channels over the intermediate space, and left a wide area behind it rich with prolific vegetation. These are the " streams from Lebanon" which are known to us in the ima- DAMASCUS. 89 gerj of Scripture — the "rivers of Damascus" which !N"aaman not unnaturally preferred to all the "waters of Israel." By Greek waiters the stream is called O-^-vsorrhoas, or "the river of gold." And this stream is the inestima'> j unexhausted treasure of Damas- cus. The habitations of must always have been gathered around it, as the Nile has inevitably attracted an immemorial population to its banks. The desert is a fortification round Da- mascus. The river is its life. It is drawn out into watercourses and spreads in all directions. For miles around it is a wilderness of gardens — gardens with roses among the tangled shrubberies, and with fruit on the branches overhead. Everywhere among the trees the murmur of unseen rivulets is heard. Even in the city, which is in the midst of the garden, the clear rushing of the current is a perpetual refreshment. Every dwelling has its foun- tain, and at night, when the sun has set behind Mount Lebanon, the lights of the city are seen flashing on the waters. It is not to be wondered at that the view of Damascus when the dim outline of the gardens has become distinct, and the city is seen gleaming white in the midst of them, should be univer- sally famous. All travellers in all ages have paused to feast their eyes with the prospect, and the prospect has been always the same. It is true that in the apostle's day there were no cupolas and no minarets : Justinian had not built St. Sophia, and the caliphs had erected no mosques. But the white buildings of the city gleamed then, as they do now, in the centre of a verdant, inexhaustible paradise. The Syrian gardens, with their low walls and water- wheels and careless mixture of fruits and flowers, were the same then as they are now. The same figures would be seen in the green approaches to the town — camels and mules, horses and asses, with Syrian, peasants and Arabs from beyond Palmyra. We know the very time of the day when Saul was entering these shady avenues. It was at mid-day. The birds were silent in the trees. The hush of noon was in the city. The sun was burning fiercely in the sky. The persecutor's companions were enjoying the cool refreshment of the shade after their journey, and his eyes rested with satisfaction on those walls w^hich w^ere the end of his mission and contained the victims of his righteous zeal. We have been tempted into some prolixity in describing Damas- cus. But in describing the solemn and miraculous event which took place in its neighborhood we hesitate to enlarge upon the 90 LIFE AND EPISTLES OP THE APOSTLE PAUL. words of Scripture. And Scripture relates its circumstances in minute detail. If the importance we are intended to attach to particular events in early Christianity is to be measured by the prominence assigned to them in the sacred records, we must confess that next after the Passion of our blessed Lord the event to which our serious attention is especially called is the conver- sion of Paul. Besides various allusions to it in his own Epistles, three detailed narratives of the occurrence are found in the Acts. Once it is related by Luke (ix.) — twice by the apostle himself, in his address to his countrymen at Jerusalem (xxii.), in his de- fence before Agrippa at Csesarea (xxvi.). And as, when the same thing is told in more than one of the holy Gospels, the accounts do not verbally agree, so it is here. Luke is more brief than Paul. And each of Paul's statements supplies something not found in the other. The peculiar difference of these two statements, in their relation to the circumstances under which they were given, and as they illustrate the apostle's wisdom in pleading the cause of the gospel and reasoning with his opponents, will be made the subject of some remarks in the later chapters of this book. At present it is our natural course simply to gather the facts from the apostle's own words, with a careful reference to the shorter nar- rative given by Luke. In the twenty-second and twenty-sixth chapters of the Acts we are told that it was about noon " — at mid-day " — when the " great light" shone "suddenly" from heaven (xxii. 6; xxvi. 13). And those who have had experience of the glare of a mid-day sun in the East will best understand the description of that light, which is said to have been "a light above the brightness of the sun, shining round about Paul and them that journeyed with him." All fell to the ground in terror (xxvi. 14) or stood dumb with amazement (ix. 7). Suddenly surrounded by a light so terrible and incomprehensible, "they were afraid." "They heard not the voice of Him that spake to Paul" (xxii. 9), or if they heard a voice "they saw no man" (ix. 7). The whole scene was evidently one of the utmost confusion, and the accounts are such as to express in the most striking manner the bewilderment and alarm of the travellers. But Avhile the others were stunned, stupefied, and confused, a clear light broke terribly on the soul of one of those who were prostrated on the ground. A voice spoke articulately to him whict A REAL VISION OF JESUS CHRIST. 91 to the the rest was a sound mysterious and indistinct. He heard what they did not hear. He saw what they did not see. To them the awful sound w^as without a meaning: he heard the voice of the Son of God. To them it was a bright light which suddenly sur- rounded them: he saw Jesus, whom he was persecuting. The awful dialogue can only be given in the language of Scripture. Yet we may reverentially observe that the words which Jesus spoke were "in the Hebrew tongue." The same language in which during his earthly life he spoke to Peter and John, to the blind man by the walls of Jericho, to the woman who washed his feet with her tears, the same sacred language was used when he spoke from heaven to his persecutor on earth. And as on earth he had always spoken in parables, so it was now. That voice which had drawn lessons from the lilies that grew in Galilee and from the birds that flew over the mountain-slopes near the Sea of Tiberias, was now pleased to call his last apostle with a figure of the like significance : " Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me ? It is hard for thee to kick against the goad." As the ox rebels in vain against the goad of its master, and as all its struggles do naught but increase its distress, so is thy rebellion vain against the power of my grace. I have admonished thee by the word of my truth, by the death of my saints, by the voice of thy conscience. Strug- gle no more against conviction, "lest a worse thing come unto thee." It is evident that this revelation was not merely an inward impression made on the mind of Saul during a trance or ecstasy. It was the direct perception of the visible presence of Jesus Christ. This is asserted in various passages, both positively and incidentally. In his first letter to the Corinthians, when he con- tends for the validity of his own apostleship, his argument is, "Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus Christ, the Lord?" And when he adduces the evidence for the truth of the resurrec- tion, his argument is again, "He was seen . . . by Cephas, ... by James, ... by all the apostles, . . . last of all by me, ... as one born out of due time" (xv. 8). By Cephas and by James at Jerusalem the reality of Saul's conversion was doubted (ix. 27), but " Barnabas brought him to the apostles, and related to them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and had spoken with him." And similarly Ananias had said to him at their first meeting in Damascus, " The Lord hath sent me, even Jesus who appeared to 92 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. thee in the way as thou earnest" (ix. 17). "The God of our fathers hath chosen thee that thou shouldest see that just one, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth (xxii. 14). The very words which were spoken by the Saviour imply the same important truth. He does not say, I am the Son of God — the Eternal Word — the Lord > of men and of angels ; " but " I am Jesus " (ix. 5 ; xxvi. 15), " Jesus of Nazareth" (xxii. 8). " I am that man, whom not having seen thou hatest, the despised prophet of Nazareth, who was mocked and crucified at Jerusalem, who died and was buried. But now I appear to thee, that thou mayest know the truth of my resurrec- tion, that I may convince thee of thy sin and call thee to be my apostle." The direct and immediate character of this call, without the in- tervention of any human agency, is another point on which Paul himself, in the course of his apostolic life, laid the utmost stress, and one, therefore, which it is incumbent on us to notice here. " A called apostle," " an apostle by the will of God," an apostle sent not from men, nor by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead," — these are the phrases under which he describes himself in the cases where his authority was in danger of being questioned. No human instrumentality intervened to throw the slightest doubt upon the reality of the communication between Christ himself and the apostle of the heathen. And as he was directly and miraculously called, so was the work immediately indicated to which he was set apart, and in which in after years he always gloried — the work of " preaching among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." Unless indeed we are to consider the words which he used before Agrippa as a condensed statement of all that was revealed to him, both in his vision on the way and afterward by Ananias in the city : " I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest : 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 which I will appear unto thee, delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may re- ceive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are Banctified by faith that is in me." But the full intimation of all the labors and sufferings that were PAUL I]\ DAMASCUS. 93 before him was still reserved. He was told to arise and go iato the city, and there it should be told him what it had been ordained that he should do. He arose humbled and subdued, and ready to obey whatever might be the will of Him who had spoken to him from heaven. But when he opened his eyes all was dark around him. The brilliancy of the vision had made him blind. Those who were with him saw, as before, the trees and the sky and the road leading into Damascus. But he was in darkness, and they led him by the hand into the city. Thus entered Saul into Da- mascus — not, as he had expected, to triumph in an enterprise on which his soul was set, to brave all difficulties and dangers, to enter into houses and carry off prisoners to Jerusalem — but he passed, himself like a prisoner, beneath the gateway and throui^h the street called " Straight,'^ where he saw not the crowd of those who gazed on him ; he was led by the hands of others, trembling and helpless to the house of Judas, his dark and solitary lodging. Three days the blindness continued. Only one other space of three days' duration can be mentioned of equal importance in the history of the world. The conflict of Saul's feelings was so great, and his remorse so piercing and so deep, that during this time he neither ate nor drank. He could have no communion with the Christians, for they had been terrified by the news of his approach. And the unconverted Jews could have no true sympathy with his present state of mind. He fasted and prayed in silence. The rec- ollections of his early years, — the passages of the ancient Scrip- tures which he had never understood, — the thought of his own cruelty and violence, — the memory of the last looks of Stephen, —all these crowded into his mind, and made the three days equal to long years of repentance. And if we may imagine one feeling above all others to have kept possession of his heart, it would be the feeling suggested by Christ's expostulation : *^ Why persecutest thou ME?" This feeling would be attended with thoughts of peace, with hope, and with faith. He waited on God, and in his blind- ness a vision was granted to him. He seemed to behold one who came in to him — and he knew by revelation that his name was Ananias — and it appeared to him that the stranger laid his hand on him that he might receive his sight. The economy of visions, by which God revealed and accom- plished his will, is remarkably similar in the case of Ananias and Saul at Damascus, and in that of Peter and Cornelius at Joppa 94 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. and Csesarea. The simultaneous preparation of the hearts of Ananias and Saul, and the simultaneous preparation of those of Peter and Cornelius — the questioning and hesitation of Peter, and the questioning and hesitation of Ananias, — the one doubting whether he might make friendship with the Gentiles, the other doubting whether he might approach the enemy of the Church, — the unhesitating obedience of each when the divine will was made clearly known, — the state of mind in which both the Pharisee and the centurion were found, each waiting to see what the Lord would say unto them, — this close analogy will not be forgotten by those who reverently read the two consecutive chapters in which the baptism of Saul and the baptism of Cornelius are narrated in the Acts of the Apostles. And in another respect there is a close parallelism between the two histories. The same exact topography characterizes them both. In the one case we have the lodging with Simon the tanner" and the house "by the seaside" (x. 6) ; in the other we have "the house of Judas" and "the street called Straight" (ix. 11). And as the shore where " the saint beside the ocean prayed " is an unchanging feature of Joppa, which will ever be dear to the Christian heart, so are we allowed to bear in mind that the thoroughfares of Eastern cities do not change, and to believe that the "Straight street" which still extends through Damascus in long perspective from the Eastern Gate is the street where Ananias spoke to Saul. More than this we do not venture to say. In the first days of the Church, and for some time afterward, the local knowledge of the Christians at Damascus might be cherished and vividly retained. But now that through long ages Christianity in the East has been weak and degraded, and Mohammedanism strong and tyrannical, we can only say that the spots still shown to travellers as the sites of the house of Ananias and the house of Judas, and the place of baptism, may possibly be true. We know nothing concerning Ananias except what we learn from Luke or from Paul. He was a Jew who had become a "dis- ciple" of Christ (ix. 10), and he was well reputed and held to be "devout according to the Law" among "all the Jews who dwelt there " (xxii. 12). He is never mentioned by Paul in his Epistles, and the later stories respecting his history are unsupported by proof. Though he was not ignorant of the new convert's previous . character, it seems evident that he had no personal acquaintance PAUL PREACHING IN DAMASCUS. 95 with him, or he would hardly have been described as " one called Saul of Tarsus lodging in the house of Judas. He was not an apostle nor one of the conspicuous members of the Church. And it was not without a deep significance that he who was called to be an apostle should be baptized by one of whom the Church knows nothing but that he was a Christian ^'disciple'' and had been a devout " Jew. Ananias came into the house where Saul, faint and exhausted with three days' abstinence, still remained in darkness. When he laid his hands on his head, as the vision had foretold, immediately he would be recognized as the messenger of God even before the w^ords were spoken, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.'' These w^ords were followed, as were the words of Jesus himself when he spoke to the blind, wdth an instantaneous dissi- pation of darkness: ^' There fell from his eyes as it had been scales : and he received sight forthwith" (ix. 18) ; or, in his own more vivid expression, the same hour he looked upon the face of Ananias" (xxii. 13). It was a face he had never seen before. But the expression of Christian love assured him of reconciliation with God. He learnt that the God of his fathers" had chosen him "to know his will"— "to see that just One" — "to hear the voice of his mouth" — to be "his witness unto all men." He was baptized, and "the rivers of Damascus" became more to him than "all the waters of Judah" had been. His body was strengthened with food and his soul was made strong to " suffer great things " for the name of Jesus, and to bear that Name " before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel." He began by proclaiming the honor of that name to the children of Israel in Damascus. He was "not disobedient to the heavenly vision" (xxvi. 19), but "straightway preached in the synagogues" that Jesus was "the Son of God," and "showed unto them that they should repent and turn to God and do works meet for re- pentance." His rabbinical and Pharisaic learning was now used to uphold the cause which he came to destroy. The Jews were astounded. They knew what he had been at Jerusalem. They knew why he had come to Damascus. And now they saw him contradicting the whole previous course of his life, and utterly discarding that "commission of the high priests" which had been 96 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THJ^. ^POSTLE PAUL. the authority of his journey. Yet it was evident that his conduct was not the result of a wayward and irregular impulse. His con- victions never hesitated, his energy grew continually stronger, as he strove in the synagogues, maintaining the truth against the Jews and "arguing and proving that Jesus was indeed the Messiah." The period of his first teaching at Damascus does not seem to have lasted long. Indeed, it is evident that his life could not have been safe had he remained. The fury of the Jews when they recovered from their first surprise must have been excited to the utmost pitch, and they would soon have received a new com- missioner from Jerusalem armed with full powers to supersede and punish one whom they must have regarded as the most faithless of apostates. Saul left the city, but not to return to Jerusalem. Conscious of his divine mission, he never felt that it was necessary to consult "those who were apostles before him, but he went into Arabia, and returned again into Damascus" (Gal. i. 17). Many questions have been raised concerning this journey into Arabia. The first question relates to the meaning of the word. From the time when the word " Arabia" was first used by any of the writers of Greece or E-ome it has always been a term of vague and uncertain import. Sometimes it includes Damascus ; some- times it ranges over the Lebanon itself, and extends even to the borders of Cilicia. The native geographers usually reckon that stony district of which Petra was the capital as belonging to Egypt, and that wide desert towards the Euphrates where the Bedouins of all ages have lived in tents as belonging to Syria, and have limited the name to the penisnula between the Eed Sea and the Persian Gulf, where Yemen, or " Araby the Blest," is secluded on the south. In the threefold division of Ptolemy, which remains in our popular language when we speak of this still untravelled region, both the first and second of these districts were included under the name of the third. And we must suppose Paul to have gone into one of the former, either that which touched Syria and Mesopotamia, or that which touched Palestine and Egypt. If he went into the first, we need not suppose him to have travelled far from Damascus. For though the strong powers of Syria and Meso- potamia might check the Arabian tribes and retrench the Arabian name in this direction, yet the gardens of Damascus were on the verge of the desert, and Damascus was almost as much an Arabian as a Syrian town. PAUL tiETIRES INTO ARABIA. 97 And if he went into Petrsean Arabia, there still remains the question of his motive for the journey and his employment when there. Either, retiring before the opposition at Damascus, he went to preach the gospel, and then in the synagogues of that singu- lar capital, which was built amidst the rocks of Edom, whence " Arabians " came to the festivals at Jerusalem, he testified of Jesus, or he went for the purpose of contemplation and solitary communion with God, to deepen his repentance and fortify his soul with prayer ; and then perhaps his steps were turned to those mountain-heights by the Eed Sea which Moses and Elijah had trodden before him. We cannot attempt to decide the question. The views which different inquirers take of it will probably de- pend on their own tendency to the practical or the ascetic life. On the other hand, it may be argued that such zeal could not be restrained, that Saul could not be silent, but that he would rejoice in carrying into the metropolis of King Aretas the gospel which his ethnarch could afterward hinder at Damascus. On the other hand, it may be said that with such convictions recently worked in his mind he would yearn for solitude, — that a time of austere meditation before the beginning of a great work is in conformity with the economy of God, — that we find it quite natural if Paul followed the example of the great lawgiver and the great prophet, and of One greater than Moses and Elijah, who after his baptism and before his ministry, "returned from Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.^' While Saul is in Arabia, preaching the gospel in obscurity or preparing for his varied work by the intuition of sacred truth, it seems the natural place for some reflections on the reality and the momentous significance of his conversion. It has already been remarked, in what we have drawn from the statements of Scrip- ture, that he was called directly by Christ without the intervention of any other apostle, and that the purpose of his call was clearly indicated when Ananias baptized him. He was an apostle " not of men, neither by man,'' and the Divine Will was to work among the Gentiles by his ministry." But the unbeliever may still say that there are other questions of primary importance. He may suggest that this apparent change in the current of Saul's thoughts, and this actual revolution in the manner of his life, were either the contrivance of deep and deliberate imposture or the result of wild and extravagant fanaticism. Both in ancient and 7 98 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. modern times some have been found who have resolved this great occurrence in the promptings of self-interest or have ventured to call it the offspring of delusion. There is an old story mentioned by Epiphanius, from which it appears that the Ebionites were con- tent to find a motive for the change in an idle story that he first became a Jew that he might marry the high priest's daughter, and then became the antagonist of Judaism because the high priest deceived him. And there are modern Jews who are satisfied with saying that he changed rapidly from one passion to another, like those impetuous souls who cannot hate or love by halves. Can we then say that Paul was simply an enthusiast or an impostor f The question has been so well answered in a celebrated English book that we are content to refer to it. It will never be possible for any to believe Paul to have been a mere enthusiast who duly considers his calmness, his wisdom, his prudence, and, above all, his humility — a virtue which is not less inconsistent with fanati- cism than with imposture. And how can we suppose that he was an impostor who changed his religion for selfish purposes ? Was he influenced by the ostentation of learning ? He suddenly cast aside all that he had been taught by Gamaliel or acquired through long years of study, and took up the opinions of the fishermen of Galilee, whom he had scarcely ever seen and who had never been educated in the schools. Was it the love of power which prompted the change? He abdicated in a moment the authority which he possessed for power " over a flock of sheep driven to the slaughter, whose Shepherd himself had been murdered a little before ; " and all he could hope from that power was to be marked out in a particular manner for the same knife which he had seen so bloodily drawn against them." Was it the love of wealth? Whatever might be his own worldly possessions at the time, he joined himself to those who were certainly poor, and the prospect before him was that which was actually realized, of ministering to his necessities with the labor of his hands. Was it the love of fame? His prophetic power must have been miraculous if he could look beyond the shame and scorn which then rested on the servants of a crucified Master to that glory with which Christen- dom now surrounds the memory of Paul. And if the conversion of Paul was not the act of an enthusiast or an impostor, then it ought to be considered how much this wonderful occurrence involves. As Lord Lyttelton observes, CONSPIRACY AT DAMASCUS. 99 *'The conversion and apostleship of Paul alone, duly considered, is of itself a demonstration sufficient to prove Christianity to be a divine revelation." Saul was arrested at the height of his zeal and in the midst of his fury. In the words of Chrysostom, " Christ, like a skilful physician, healed him when his fever was at the worst ; " and he proceeds to remark in the same eloquent sermon that the truth of Christ's resurrection and the present power of Him who had been crucified were shown far more forcibly than they could have been if Paul had been otherwise called. Nor ought we to forget the great religious lessons we are taught to gather from this event. We see the value set by God upon honesty and integrity, when we find that he "who was before a blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious obtained mercy because he did it ignorantly in unbelief." And we learn the encourage- ment given to all sinners who repent, when we are told that " for this cause he obtained mercy that in him first Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering, for a paHern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting." We return to the narrative. SauFs time of retirement in Arabia was not of long continuance. He was not destined to be the evangelist of the East. In the Epistle to the Galatians the time from his conversion to his final departure from Damascus is said to have been three years," which, according to the Jewish way of reckoning, may have been three entire years^ or only one year with parts of two others. Meantime, Saul had " returned to Da- mascus, preaching boldly in the name of Jesus" (ix. 27). The Jews, being no longer able to meet him in controversy, resorted to that which is the last argument of a desperate cause: they resolved to assassinate him. Saul became acquainted with the conspiracy, and all due precautions were taken to evade the danger. But the polit- ical circumstances of Damascus at the time made escape very difficult. Either in the course of the hostilities which prevailed along the Syrian frontiers between Herod Antipas and the Romans on one side, and Aretas, king of Petra, on the other, and possibly in consequence of that absence of Vitellius which was caused by the emperor's death, the Arabian monarch had made himself master of Damascus, and the Jews, who sympathized with Aretas, were high in the favor of his officer, the ethnarch. Or Tiberius had ceased to reign, and his successor had assigned Damascus to the king of Petra, and the Jews had gained over his officer and his soldiers, as 100 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. Pilate's soldiers had once been gained over at Jerusalem. Paul at least expressly informs us that " the ethnarch kept watch over the city with a garrison, purposing to apprehend him." Luke says that the Jews " watched the city gates day and night,' with the intention of killing him." The Jews furnished the motive, the ethnarch the military force. The anxiety of the " disciples " was doubtless great, as when Peter was imprisoned by Herod, "and prayer was made without ceasing of the Church unto God for him." Their anxiety became the instrument of his safety. From an un- guarded part of the wall, in the darkness of the night, probably where some overhanging houses, as is usual in Eastern cities, opened upon the outer country, they let him down from the window in a basket. There was something of humiliation in this mode of escape ; and this, perhaps, is the reason why, in a letter written " fourteen years" afterward, he specifies the details, "glorying in his infir- mities," when he is about to speak of " his visions and revelations of the Lord." Thus already the apostle had experienced of " perils by his own countrymen, and perils in the city." Already "in journeyings often, in weariness and painfulness," he began to learn " how great things he was to suffer " for the name of Christ. Preserved from destruction at Damascus, he turned his steps towards Jerusalem. His motive for the journey, as he tells us in the Epistle to the Gala- tians, was a desire to become acquainted with Peter. Not that he was ignorant of the true principles of the gospel. He expressly tells that he neither needed nor received any instruction in Chris- tianity from those who were "apostles before him." But he must have heard much from the Christians at Damascus of the Galilean fisherman. Can we wonder that he should desire to see the chief of the Twelve, the brother with whom now he was consciously united in the bonds of a common apostleship, and who had long on earth been the constant companion of his Lord ? How changed was everything since he had last travelled this road between Damascus and Jerusalem ! If, when the day broke, he looked back upon that city from which he had escaped under the shelter of night, as his eye ranged over the fresh gardens and the wide desert how the remembrance of that first terrible vision would call forth a deep thanksgiving to Him who had called him to be a " partaker of his sufferings " ! And what feelings must have attended his approach to Jerusalem ! " He was returning to it from HIS RETURN TO JERUSALEM. 101 a spiritual, as Ezra had from a bodily, captivity, and to his renewed mind all things appeared new. What an emotion smote his heart at the first distant view of the temple, that house of sacrifice, that edifice of prophecy ! Its sacrifices had been realized, the Lamb of God had been offered: its prophecies had been fulfilled, the Lord had come unto it. As he approached the gates he might have trodden the very spot where he had so exultingly assisted in the death of Stephen, and he entered them perfectly content, were it God's will, to be dragged out through them to the same fiite. He would feel a peculiar tie of brotherhood to that martyr, for he could not be now ignorant that the same Jesus who in such glory had called him had but a little while before appeared in the same glory to assure the expiring Stephen. The ecstatic look and words of the dying saint now came fresh upon his memory with their real meaning. When he entered into the city, what deep thoughts were suggested by the haunts of his youth, and by the sight of the spots where he had so eagerly sought that knowledge which he had now so eagerly abandoned ! What an intolerable burden had he cast off*! He felt as a glorified spirit may be sup- posed to feel on revisiting the scenes of its fleshly sojourn." Yet not without grief and awe could he look upon that city of his forefathers, over which he now knew that the judgment of God was impending. And not without sad emotions could one of so tender a nature think of the alienation of those who had once been his warmest associates. The grief of Gamaliel, the indig- nation of the Pharisees, the fury of the Hellenistic synagogues,— all this, he knew, was before him. The sanguine hopes, however, springing from his own honest convictions, and his fervent zeal to communicate the truth to others, predominated in his mind. He thought that they would believe as he had believed. He argued thus with himself: that they well knew that he had ''impris- oned and beaten in every synagogue them that believed in Jesus Christ;" and that "when the blood of his martyr Stephen was shed, he also was standing by and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him ;" and that when they saw the change which had been produced in him, and heard the miraculous history he could tell them, they would not refuse to "I'eceive his testimony." Thus, with fervent zeal and sanguine expectations, "he attempted to join himself to the disciples " of Christ. But as the Jews hated 102 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. him, so the Christians suspected him. His escape had been too hurried to allow of his bringing "letters of commendation.'* Whatever distant rumor might have reached them of an appa- rition on his journey, of his conduct at Damascus, of his retire- ment in Arabia, they could not believe that he was really a dis- ciple. And then it was that Barnabas, already known to us as a generous contributor of his wealth to the poor, came forward again as the " Son of Consolation,'^ " took him by the hand," and brought him to the apostles. It is probable that Barnabas and Saul were acquainted with each other before. Cyprus is within a few hours' sail from Cilicia. The schools of Tarsus may naturally have at- tracted one who, though a Levite, was a Hellenist; and there the friendship may have begun which lasted through many vicissitudes till it was rudely interrupted in the dispute at Antioch. When Barnabas related how "the Lord" Jesus Christ had personally ap- peared to Saul, and had even spoken to him, and how he had boldly maintained the Christian cause in the synagogues of Da- mascus, then the apostles laid aside their hesitation. Peter's argu- ment must have been what it was on another occasion : " Foras- much as God hath given unto him the like gift as he did unto me, who am I that I should withstand God?" He and James, the Lord's brother, the only other apostle who was in Jerusalem at the time, gave to him " the right hands of fellowship." And he was with them, " coming in and going out," more than forgiven for Christ's sake, welcomed and beloved as a friend and a brother. This first meeting of the fisherman of Galilee and the tent- maker of Tarsus, the chosen companion of Jesus on earth and the chosen Pharisee who saw Jesus in the heavens, the apostle of the circumcision and the apostle of the Gentiles, is passed over in Scripture in a few words. The divine record does not linger in dramatic description on those passages which a mere human writ- ing would labor to embellish. What took place in the intercourse of these two saints, — what was said of Jesus of Nazareth who suffered, died, and was buried, and of Jesus the glorified Lord who had risen and ascended and become "Head over all things to the Church," — what was felt of Christian love and devotion, — what was learnt, under the Spirit's teaching, of Christian truth, — has not been revealed and cannot be known. The intercourse was full of present comfort and full of great consequences. But it did not last long. Fifteen days passed away, and the apostles were HIS VISION IN THE TEMPLE. 103 compelled to part. The same zeal which had caused his voice to be heard in the Hellenistic synagogues in the persecution against Stephen now led Saul in the same synagogues to declare fearlessly his adherence to Stephen's cause. The same fury which had caused the murder of Stephen now brought the murderer of Stephen to the verge of assassination. Once more, as at Damascus, the Jews made a conspiracy to put Saul to death, and once more he was rescued by the anxiety of the brethren. Reluctantly, and not without a direct intimation from on high, he retired from the work of preaching the gospel in Jerusalem. As he was praying one day in the temple, it came to pass that he fell into a trance, and in his ecstasy he saw Jesus, who spoke to him and said, " Make haste and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem ; for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me." He hesi- tated to obey the command, his desire to do God's will leading him to struggle against the hinderances of God's providence, and the memory of Stephen, which haunted him even in his trance, fur- nishing him with an argument. But the command was more peremptory than before : " Depart ; for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles." The scene of his apostolic victories was not to be Jerusalem. For the third time it was declared to him that the field of his labors was among the Gentiles. This secret reve- lation to his soul conspired with the outward difiiculties of his situation. The care of God gave the highest sanction to the anx- iety of the brethren. And he suffered himself to be withdrawn from the Holy City. They brought him down to Csesarea by the Sea, and from Caesa- rea they sent him to Tarsus. His own expression in the Epistle to the Galatians (i. 21) is that he went " into the regions of Syria and Cilicia." From this it has been inferred that he went first from Cicsarea to Antioch, and then from Antioch to Tarsus. And such a course would have been perfectly natural, for the commu- nication of the city of Caesar and the Herods with the metropolis of Syria, either by sea and the harbor of Seleucia or by the great coast-road through Tyre and Sidon, was easy and frequent. But the supposition is unnecessary. In consequence of the range of Mount Taurus, Cilicia has a greater geographical affinity with Syria than with Asia Minor. Hence it has existed in frequent political combination with it from the time of the old Persian satrapies to the modern pashalics of the sultan ; and " Syria and l04 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. 'Cilicia^^ appears in history almost as a generic geographical term, the more important district being mentioned first. Within the limits of this region Saul's activities were now exercised in study- ing and in teaching at Tarsus, or in founding those churches which were afterward greeted in the apostolic letter from Jerusalem as the brethren in Antioch, and Syria, and Cilicia," and which Paul himself confirmed after his separation from Barnabas, trav- elling through "Syria and Cilicia." Whatever might be the extent of his journeys within these limits, we know at least that he was at Tarsus. Once more we find him in the home of his childhood. It is the last time we are distinctly told that he was there. Now, at least, if not before, we may be sure that he would come into active intercourse with the heathen philosophers of the place. In his last residence at Tar- sus, a few years before, he was a Jew, and not only a Jew, but a Pharisee, and he looked on the Gentiles around him as outcasts from the favor of God. Now he was a Christian, and not only a Christian, but conscious of his mission as the apostle of the Gen- tiles. Therefore, he would surely meet the philosophers, and prepare to argue with them on their own ground, as afterward in the "market" at Athens with "the Epicureans and the Stoics.'* Many Stoics of Tarsus were men of celebrity in the Koman em- pire. Athenodorus, the tutor of Augustus, has been already men- tioned. He was probably by this time deceased, and receiving those divine honors which, as Lucian informs us, were paid to him after his death. The tutor of Tiberius also was a Tarsian and a Stoic. His name was Nestor. He was probably at this time alive, for he lingered to the age of ninety-two, and in all likeli- hood survived his wicked pupil, whose death we have recently noticed. Now, among these eminent sages and instructors of hea- then emperors was one whose teaching was destined to survive when the Stoic philosophy should have perished, and whose words still instruct the rulers of every civilized nation. How far Saul's arguments had any success in this quarter we cannot even guess, and we must not anticipate the conversion of Cornelius. At least he was preparing for the future. In the synagogue we cannot believe that he was silent or unsuccessful. In his own family we may well imagine that some of those Christian "kinsmen" whose names are handed down to us — possibly his sister, the playmate of his childhood, and his sister's son, who afterward saved his Saul's vocation recognized. 105 life — were at this time by his exertions gathered into the fold of Christ. Here this chapter must close, while Saul is in exile from the earthly Jerusalem, but diligently occupied in building up the walls of the Jerusalem which is above." And it was not with- out one great and important consequence that that short fort- night had been spent in Jerusalem. He was now known to Peter and to James. His vocation was fully ascertained and recognized by the heads of the Jud?ean Christians. It is true that he was yet " unknown by face" to the scattered churches of Judaea. But they honored him of whom they had heard so much. And when the news came to them at intervals of all that he was doing for the cause of Christ, they praised God and said, Behold ! he who was once our persecutor is now bearing the glad tidings of that faith which formerly he labored to root out ;" and they glorified God in him." CHAPTER IV. WIDER DIFFUSION OF CHRISTIANITY.— ANTIOCH.— CHRONOLOGY OF THE ACTS. — REIGN OF CALIGULA. — CLAUDIUS AND HEROD AGRIPPA I.— THE YEAR 44. — CONVERSION OF THE GENTILES. — PETER AND CORNELIUS. — JOPPA AND CJESAREA. — PETER'S VISION. — BAPTISM OF CORNELIUS. — INTELLIGENCE FROM AN- TIOCH. — MISSION OF BARNABAS.— SAUL WITH BARNABAS AT ANTIOCH. — THE NAME ''CHRISTIAN." — DESCRIPTION AND HIS- TORY OF ANTIOCH. — CHARACTER OF ITS INHABITANTS. — EARTHQUAKES. — FAMINE. — BARNABAS AND SAUL AT JERUSA- LEM. — DEATH OF JAMES AND OF HEROD AGRIPPA. — RETURN WITH MARK TO ANTIOCH.— PROVIDENTIAL PREPARATION OF PAUL. — RESULTS OF HIS MISSION TO JERUSALEM. Hitherto, the history of the Christian Church has been con- fined withii> Jewish limits. We have followed its progress beyond the walls of Jerusalem, but hardly yet beyond the boundaries of Palestine. If any traveller from a distant country has been ad- mitted into the community of believers, the place of his baptism has not been more remote than the '' desert" of Gaza. If any " aliens from the commonwealth of Israel" have been admitted to the citizenship of the spiritual Israelites, they have been " stran- gers" who dwell among the hills of Samaria. But the time is rapidly approaching when the knowledge of Christ must spread more rapidly, — when those who possessed not that Book which caused perplexity on the road to Ethiopia will hear and adore his name, and greater strangers than those who drew water from the well of Sychar will come nigh to the Fountain of Life. The same dispersion which gathered in the Samaritans will gather in the Gentiles also. The ^'middle wall of partition" being ntterly broken down, all will be called by the new and glorious name of Christian." And as we follow the progress of events, and find that all move- 106 CHRONOLOGY OF THE ACTS. 107 ments in the Church begin to have more and more reference to the heathen, we observe that these movements begin to circulate more and more round a new centre of activity. Not Jerusalem, but Antioch, not the Holy City of God's ancient people, but the profane city of the Greeks and Romans, is the place to which the student of sacred history is now directed. During the remainder of the Acts of the Apostles our attention is at least divided between Jerusalem and Antioch, until at last, after following Paul's many journeys, we come with him to Eome. For some time Constanti- nople must remain a city of the future, but we are more than once reminded of the greatness of Alexandria; and thus evenin the life of the apostle we find prophetic intimations of four of the five great centres of the early catholic Church. At present we are occupied with Antioch, and the point before us is that particular moment in the Church's history when it was first called Christian." Both the place and the event are remark- able ; and the time, if we are able to determine it, is worthy of our attention. Though we are following the course of an individual biography, it is necessary to pause on critical occasions to look around on what is passing in the empire at large. And, happily, we are now arrived at a point where we are able distinctly to see the path of the apostle's life intersecting the general history of the period. This, therefore, is the right place for a few chronological remarks. A few such remarks, made once for all, may justify what has gone before, and prepare the way for subsequent chapters. Some readers may be surprised that up to this point we have made no attempts to ascertain or to state exact chronological details. But theologians are well aware of the difficulties with which such inquiries are attended in the beginnings of Paul's biography. The early chapters in the Acts are like the narratives in the Gospels. It is often hardly possible to learn how far the events related were contemporary or consecutive. It is impossible to determine the relations of time which subsist between Paul's retirement into Arabia and Peter's visit to the converted Samari- tans, or between the journey of one apostle from Joppa to Ca3sarea and the journey of the other from Jerusalem to Tarsus. Still less have we sufficient data for pronouncing upon the absolute chro- nology of the earliest transactions in the Church. No one can tell wliat particular folly or crime was engaging Caligula's attention when Paul was first made a Christian at Damascus. No one can 108 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. tell on what work of love the Christians were occupied when the emperor was inaugurating his bridge at Puteoli or exhibiting his fantastic pride on the shores of the British Sea. In a work of this kind it is better to place the events of the apostle's life in the broad light cast by the leading features of the period than to attempt to illustrate them by the help of dates, which, after all, can be only conjectural. Thus we have been content to say that he was born in the strongest and most flourishing period of the reign of Augustus, and that he was converted from the religion of the Pharisees about the time when Caligula succeeded Tiberius. But soon after we enter on the reign of Claudius we encounter a coincidence which arrests our attention. We must first take a rapid glance at the reign of his predecessor. Though the cruelty of that reign stung the Jews in every part of the empire, and pro- duced an indignation which never subsided, one short paragraph will be enough for all that need be said concerning the abominable tyrant. In the early part of the year 37 Tiberius died, and at the close of the same year Nero was born. Between the reigns of these two emperors are those of Caligula and Claudius. The four years during which Caligula sat on the throne of the world were miser- able for all the provinces, both in the West and in the East. In Gaul his insults were aggravated by his personal presence. In Syria his caprices were felt more remotely, but not less keenly. The changes of administration w^ere rapid and various. In the year 36 the two great actors in the crime of the crucifixion had disappeared from the public places of Judaea. Pontius Pilate had been dismissed by Vitellius to Eome, and Marcellus sent to govern in his stead: Caiaphas had been deposed by the same secular authority, and succeeded by Jonathan. Now, in the year 37, Vitellius was recalled from Syria, and Petronius came to occupy the governor's residence at Antioch. Marcellus at Csesarea made way for Marullus, and Theophilus was made high priest at Jeru- salem in the place of his brother Jonathan. Agrippa, the grand- son of Herod the Great, was brought out of the prison where Tiberius had confined him, and Caligula gave a royal crown, with the tetrarchies of two of his uncles, to the frivolous friend of his youth. And as this reign began with restless change, so it ended in cruelty and impiety. The emperor, in the career of his blas- phemous arrogance, attempted to force the Jews to worship him HEROD AGRIPPA T. 109 as God. One universal feeling of horror pervaded the scattered Israelites, who, though they had scorned the Messiah promised to their fathers, were unable to degrade themselves by a return to idolatry. Petronius, who foresaw what the struggle must be, wrote letters of expostulation to his master ; Agrippa, who was then in Italy, implored his patron to pause in what he did ; an embassy was sent from Alexandria, and the venerable and learned Philo was himself commissioned to state the inexorable require- ments of the Jewish religion. Everything appeared to be hopeless w^hen the murder of Caligula, on the 24th of January in the year 41, gave a sudden relief to the persecuted people. With the accession of Claudius (a. d. 41) the Holy Land had a king once more. Judaea was added to the tetrarchies of Philip and Antipas, and Herod Agrippa I. ruled over the wide territory which had been governed by his grandfather. With the alleviation of the distress of the Jews proportionate suffering came upon the Christians. The "rest" which in the distractions of Caligula's reign the churches had enjoyed " throughout all Judsea, and Galilee, and Samaria " was now at an end. " About this time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the Church." He slew one apostle, and, " because he saw it pleased the Jews," he proceeded to imprison another. But he was not long spared to seek popularity among the Jews or to murder and oppress the Christians. In the year 44 he perished by that sudden and dreadful death which is recorded in detail by Josephus and Luke. In close coincidence with this event we have the mention of a certain journey of Paul to Jerusalem. Here, then, we have one of those lines of intersection between the sacred history and the general liistory of the world on which the attention of intelligent Chris- tians ought to be fixed. This year, 44 A. D., and another year, the year 60 A. D. (in which Felix ceased to be governor of Judiea, and, leaving Paul bound at Csesarea, was succeeded by Festus), are the two chronological pivots of the apostolic history. By help of them we find its exact place in the general history of the world. Between these two limits the greater part of what we are told of Paul is situated and included. LTsing the year 44 as a starting-point for the future, we gain a new light for tracing the apostle's steps. It is evident that we have only to ascertain the successive intervals of his life in order to see him at every point in his connection with the transactions of the 110 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. empire. We shall observe this often as we proceed. At present it is more important to remark that the same date throws some light on that earlier part of the apostle's path which is confessedly obscure Eeckoning backward, we remember that "three years" intervened between his conversion and return to Jerusalem. Those who assign the former event to 39 or 40, and those who fix on 37 or some earlier year, differ as to the length of time he spent at Tarsus or in " Syria and Cilicia." All that we can say with cer- tainty is, that Paul was converted more than three years before the year 44. The date thus important for all students of Bible chronology is worthy of special regard by the Christians of Britain, for in that year the emperor Claudius returned from the shores of this island to the metropolis of his empire. He came here in command of a military expedition, to complete the work which the landing of Caesar, a century before, had begun or at least predicted. When Claudius came to Britain its inhabitants were not Christian. They could hardly in any sense be said to have been civilized. He came, as he thought, to add a barbarous province to his already gigantic empire, but he really came to prepare the way for the silent progress of the Christian Church. His troops were the instruments of bringing among our barbarous ancestors those charities which were just then beginning to display themselves in Antioch and Jerusalem. A new name^^ was faintly rising on the' Syrian shore which was destined to spread like the cloud seen by the prophet's servant from the brow of Mount Carmel. A better civilization, a better citizenship, than that of the Roman empire was preparing for us and for many. One apostle at Tarsus was waiting for his call to proclaim the gospel of Christ to the Gen- tiles. Another apostle at Joppa was receiving a divine intimation that "God is no respecter of persons, but that in every nation he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him." If we could ascertain the exact chronological arrangement of these passages of apostolical history, great light would be thrown on the circumstantial details of the admission of Gentiles to the Church, and on the growth of the Church's conviction on this momentous subject. We should then be able to form some idea of the meaning and results of the fortnight spent by Paul and Peter together at Jerusalem. But it is not permitted to us to CONVERSION OF THE GENTILES. Ill know the manner and degree in which the different apostles were illuminated. We have not been informed whether Paul ever felt the difficulty of Peter, — whether he knew from the first the full significance of his call, — whether he learnt the truth by visions or by the gradual workings of his mind under the teaching of the Holy Spirit. All we can confidently assert is, that he did not learn from Peter the mystery " which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it was now revealed unto God's holy apostles by the Spirit — that the Gentiles should be fellow- heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel." If Paul was converted in 39 or 40, and if the above-mentioned rest of the churches was in the last years of Caligula (A. D. 39-41), and if this rest was the occasion of that journey to Lydda and Joppa which ultimately brought Peter to Caesarea, then it is evi- dent that Paul was at Damascus or in Arabia when Cornelius was baptized. Paul was summoned to evangelize the heathen, and Peter began the work, almost simultaneously. The great transac- tion of admitting the Gentiles to the Church was already accom- plished when the two apostles met at Jerusalem. Paul would thus learn that the door had been opened to him by the hand of another ; and when he went to Tarsus the later agreement (Gal. ii. 9) might then have been partially adopted, that he should '*go to the heathen" while Peter remained as the apostle of " the cir- cumcision." If we are to bring down the conversion of Cornelius nearer to the year 44, and to place it in that interval of time which Paul spent at Tarsus, then it is natural to suppose that his conversations prepared Peter's mind for the change which was at hand, and sowed the seeds of that revolution of opinion of which the vision at Joppa was the crisis and completion. Paul might learn from Peter (as possibly also from Barnabas) many of the details of our blessed Saviour's life. And Peter, meanwhile, might gather from him some of those higher views concerning the gospel which pre- pared him for the miracles which he afterward saw in the house- hold of the Roman centurion. Whatever might be the obscurity of Paul's early knowledge — whether it was revealed to him or not that the Gentile converts would be called to overleap the ceremo- nies of Judaism on their entrance into the Church of Christ — he could not fail to have a clear understanding that his own work was 112 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. to lie among the Gentiles. This had been announced to him his first conversion (Acts xxvi. 17, 18) in the words of Ananias (Acts ix. 15) ; and in the vision preceding his retirement to Tarsus (Acts xxii. 21), the words which commanded him to go were, Depart, for I will send thee far hence to the Gentiles.'' In considering, then, the conversion of Cornelius to have hap- pened after this journey from Jerusalem to Tarsus, and before the mission of Barnabas to Antioch, we are adopting the opinion most in accordance with the independent standing-point occupied by Paul. And this, moreover, is the view^ which harmonizes best with the narrative of Scripture, where the order ought to be reverently regarded as well as the words. In the order of Scrip- ture narration, if it cannot be proved that the preaching of Peter at Caesarea was chronologically earlier than the preaching of Paul at Antioch, it is at least brought before us theologically as the beginning of the gospel made known to the heathen. When an important change is at hand, God usually causes a silent preparation in the minds of men, and some great fact occurs which may be taken as a type and symbol of the general move- ment. Such a fact was the conversion of Cornelius, and so we must consider it. The whole transaction is related and reiterated with so much minuteness that if we were writing a history of the Church we should be required to dwell on it at length. But here we have only to do with it as the point of union between Jews and Gentiles and as the bright starting-point of Paul's career. A few words may be allowed which are suggested by this view of the transaction as a typical fact in the progress of God's dispensations. The two men to whom the revelations were made, and even the places where the divine interferences occurred, were characteristic of the event. Cornelius was in Csesarea and Peter in Joppa — the Roman soldier in the modern city which was built and named in the emperor's honor — the Jewish apostle in the ancient seaport which associates its name with the early passages of Hebrew his- tory — with the voyage of Jonah, the building of the temple, the wars of the Maccabees. All the splendor of Csesarea, its buildings and its ships, and the temple of Borne and the emperor which the sailors saw far out at sea, — all has long since vanished. Herod's itnagnificent city is a wreck on the shore. A few ruins are all that temain of the harbor. Joppa lingers on, like the Jewish people PETER AND CORNELIUS. 113 dejected but not destroyed. Csesarea has perished, like the Eoman empire which called it into existence. And no men could well be more contrasted with each other than those two men, in whom the heathen and Jewish worlds met and were reconciled. We know what Peter was — a Galilean fisherman, brought up in the rudest district of an obscure province, with no learning but such as he might have gathered in the synagogue of his native town. All his early days he had dragged his nets in the Lake of Gennesareth. And now he was at Joppa, lodging in the house of Simon the tanner, the apostle of a religion that was to change the world. Cornelius was an officer in the Eoman army. No name was more honorable at Rome than that of the Cornelian House. It was the name borne by the Scipios, and by Sulla, and the mother of the Gracchi. In the Roman army, as in the army of modern Austria, the soldiers were drawn from different countries and spoke different languages. Along the coast of which we are speaking many of them were recruited from Syria and Judsea. But the corps to which Cornelius belonged seems to have been a cohort of Italians separate from the legionary soldiers, and hence called the "Italian cohort.'' He was no doubt a true-born Italian. Educated in Rome or some provincial town, he had entered upon a soldier's life, dreaming perhaps of military glory, but dreaming as little of that better glory which now surrounds the Cornelian name, — as Peter dreamt at the Lake of Gennesareth of becoming the chosen companion of the Messiah of Israel, and of throwing open the doors of the catholic Church to the dwellers in Asia and Africa, to the barbarians on the remote and unvisited shores of Europe, and to the undiscovered countries of the West. But to return to our ppoper narrative. When intelligence came to Jerusalem that Peter had broken through the restraints of the Jewish law, and had even "eaten" at the table of the Gentiles, there was general surprise and displeasure among "those of the circumcision." But when he explained to them all the trans- action, they approved his conduct and praised God for his mercy to the heathen. And soon news came from a greater distance which showed that the same unexpected change was operating more widely. We have seen that the persecution in which Stephen was killed resulted in a general dispersion of the Christians. Wherever they went they spoke to their Jewish brethren of their faith that the promises had been fulfilled in the life and resurrection 8 Il4 LIFE AND EPISTLrrS or xfTE aP05T1.E PAUL. of Jesus Christ. This dispersion and preaching of the gospel extended even to the isle of Cyprus and along the Phoenician coast as far as Antioch. For some time the glad tidings were made known only to the scattered children of Israel. But at length some of the Hellenistic Jews, natives of Cyprus and Cyrene, spoke to the Greeks themselves at Antioch, and the Divine Spirit gave such power to the word that avast number ^'believed and turned to the Lord." The news was not long in travelling to Jerusalem. Perhaps some message was sent in haste to the apostles of the Church. The Jewish Christians in Antioch might be perplexed how to deal with their new Gentile converts ; and it is not unnatural to suppose that the presence of Barnabas might be anxiously desired by the fellow-missionaries of his native island. We ought to observe the honorable place which the island of Cyprus was permitted to occupy in the first work of Christianity. We shall soon trace the footsteps of the apostle of the heathen in the beginning of his travels over the length of this island, and see here the first earthly potentate converted and linking his name for ever with that of Paul. Now, while Saul is yet at Tarsus men of Cyprus are made the instruments of awakening the Gentiles: one of them might be that"Mnason of Cyprus" who afterward (then "a disciple of old standing") was his host at Jerusalem; and Joses the Levite of Cyprus, whom the apostles had long ago called " the son of consolation," and who had removed all the prejudice which looked suspiciously on Saul's conversio», is the first teacher sent by the mother-Church to the new disciples at Antioch. " He was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith." He rejoiced when he saw what God's grace .was doing ; he exhorted all to cling fast to the Saviour whom they had found, and he labored himself with abundant success. But feeling the greatness of the work, and remembering the zeal and strong character of his friend, whose vocation to this particular task of instructing the heathen was doubtless well known to him, " he departed to Tarsus to seek Saul." Whatever length of time had elapsed since Saul came from Jeru- salem to Tarsus, and however that time had been employed by him, — whether he had already founded any of those churches in his native Cilicia which we read of soon after (Acts xv. 41), — whether he had there undergone any of those manifold labors and THE NAME "CHRISTIAN." 115 sufferings recorded by himself (2 Cor. xi.), but omitted by Luke, — whether by active intercourse with the Gentiles, by study of their literature, by travelling, by discoursing with the philosophers, he had been making himself acquainted with their opinions and their prejudices, and so preparing his mind for the work that was before him, — or whether he had been waiting in silence for the call of God's providence, praying for guidance from above, reflecting on the condition of the Gentiles, and gazing more and more closely on the plan of the world's redemption, — however this may be, it must have been an eventful day when Barnabas, having come across the sea from Seleucia or round by the defiles of Mount Amanus, suddenly appeared in the streets of Tarsus. The last time the two friends met was in Jerusalem. All that they then hoped, and probably more than they then thought possible, had occurred. " God had granted to the Gentiles repentance unto life" (xi. 18). Barnabas had ''seen the grace of God" (xi. 23) with his own eyes at Antioch, and under his own teaching "a great multitude " (xi. 24) had been " added to the Lord." But he needed assistance. He needed the presence of one whose wisdom was higher than his own, whose zeal was an example to all, and whose peculiar mission had been miraculously declared. Saul recognized the voice of God in the words of Barnabas, and the two friends travelled in all haste to the Syrian metropolis. There they continued " a whole year," actively prosecuting the sacred work, teaching and confirming those who joined themselves to the assemblies of the ever-increasing Church. As new converts in vast numbers came in from the ranks of the Gentiles, the Church began to lose its ancient appearance of a Jewish sect, and to stand out in relief as a great self-existent community in the face both of Jews and Gentiles. Hitherto it had been possible, and even natural, that the Christians should be considered — by the Jews themselves, and by the Gentiles whose notice they attracted — as only one among the many theological parties which prevailed in Jerusalem and in the Dispersion. But when Gentiles began to listen to what was preached concerning Christ, — when they were united as brethren on equal terms, and admitted to baptism with- out the necessity of previous circumcision, — when the Mosaic features of this society were lost in the wider character of the New Covenant, — then it became evident that these men were something more than the Pharisees or Sadducees, the Essenes or Herodians, 116 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. or any sect or party among the Jews. Thus a new term in the vocabulary of the human race came into existence al Antioch about the year 44. Thus Jews and Gentiles who under the teach- ing of Paul believed that Jesus of Nazareth was the Saviour of the world '^were first called Christians." It is not likely that they received this name from the Jews. The "Children of Abraham" employed a term much more expressive of hatred and contempt. They called them " the sect of the Naza- renes." These disciples of Jesus traced their origin to Nazareth in Galilee, and it was a proverb that nothing good could come from Nazareth. Besides this, there was a further reason why the Jews would not have called the disciples of Jesus by the name of " Chris- tians." The word " Christ " has the same meaning with Messiah." And the Jews, however blinded and prejudiced on this subject, would never have used so sacred a word to point an expression of mockery and derision ; and they could not have used it in grave and serious earnest to designate those whom they held to be the followers of a false Messiah, a fictitious Christ. Nor is it likely that the " Christians " gave this name to themselves. In the Acts of the Apostles and in their own letters we find them designating themselves as "brethren," "disciples," "believers," "saints." Only in two places do we find the term " Christians ;" and in both in- stances it is implied to be a term used by those who are without. There is little doubt that the name originated with the Gentiles, who began to see now that this new sect was so far distinct from the Jews that it might naturally receive a new designation. And the form of the word impRes that it came from the Romans, not from the Greeks. The word " Christ " was often in the con- versation of the believers, as we know it to have been constantly in their letters. " Christ was the title of Him whom they avowed as their Leader and their Chief. They confessed that this Christ had been crucified, but they asserted that he was risen from the dead, and that he guided them by his invisible power. Thus, " Christian " was the name which naturally found its place in the reproachful language of their enemies. In the first instance, we have every reason to believe that it was a term of ridicule and derision. And it is remarkable that the people of Antioch were notorious for inventing names of derision and for turning their wit into the channels of ridicule. And in every way there is some- thing very significant in the place where we first received the name THE CITY OF ANTIOCH. 117 we hear. Not in Jerusalem, the city of the Old Covenant, the city of the people who were chosen to the exclusion of all others, but in a heathen city, the Eastern centre of Greek fashion and Boman luxury, and not till it was shown that the New Covenant was inclusive of all others, — then and there we were first called Christians, and the Church received from the world its true and honorable name. In narrating the journeys of Paul it will now be our duty to speak of Antioch, not Jerusalem, as his point of departure and return. Let us look more closely than has hitherto been necessary at its character, its history, and its appearance. The position which it occupied near the abrupt angle formed by the coasts of Syria and Asia Minor, and in the opening where the Orontes passes between the ranges of Lebanon and Taurus, has already been no- ticed. And we have mentioned the numerous colony of Jews which Seleucus introduced into his capital and raised to an equal- ity of civil rights with the Greeks. There was everything in the situation and circumstances of this city to make it a place of con- course for all classes and kinds of people. By its harbor of Seleu- cia it was in communication with all the trade of the Mediterra- nean, and through the open country behind the Lebanon it was^ conveniently approached by the caravans from Mesopotamia and Arabia. It united the inland advantages of Aleppo with the mar- itime opportunities of Smyrna. It was almost an Oriental Eome, in which all the forms of the civilized life of the empire found some representative. Through the first two centuries of the Chris- tian era it was what Constantinople became afterward, ''^the Gate of the East." And indeed the glory of the city of Ignatius was only gradually eclipsed by that of the city of Chrysostom. That great preacher and commentator himself, who knew them both by familiar residence, always speaks of Antioch with peculiar reve- rence as the patriarchal city of the Christian name. There is something curiously prophetic in the stories which are told of the first founding of this city. Like Eomulus on the Pala- tine, Seleucus is said to have watched the flight of birds from the summit of Mount Casius. An eagle took a fragment of the flesh of his sacrifice and carried it to a point on the sea- shore a little to the north of the mouth of the Orontes. There he founded a city, and called it Seleucia, after his own name. This was on the 23d of April. Again, on the 1st of May he sacrificed on the hill 118 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. Silphius, and then repeated the ceremony and watched the auguries at the city of Antigonia, which his vanquished rival, Antigonus, had begun and left unfinished. An eagle again decided that this was not to be his own metropolis, and carried the flesh to the hill Silphius, which is on the south side of the river, about the place where it turns from the north to the west. Five or six thousand Athenians and Macedonians were ordered to convey the stones and timber of Antigonia down the river, and Antioch was founded by Seleucus and called after his father's name. This fable, invented perhaps to give a mythological sanction to what was really an act of sagacious prudence and princely ambi- tion, is well worth remembering. Seleucus was not slow to recog- nize the wisdom of Antigonus in choosing a site for his capital which should place it in ready communication both with the shores of Greece and with his Eastern territories on the Tigris and Eu- phrates ; and he followed the example promptly and completed his work with sumptuous magnificence. Few princes have ever lived with so great a passion for the building of cities; and this is a fea- ture of his character which ought not to be unnoticed in this narra- tive. Two at least of his cities in Asia Minor have a close con- nection with the life of Paul. These are the Pisidian Antioch and the Phrygian Laodicea — one called by the name of his father, the other of his mother. He is said to have built in all nine Seleucias, sixteen Antiochs, and six Laodiceas. This love of commemorating the members of his family was conspicuous in his works by the Orontes. Besides Selucia and Antioch, he built in the immediate neighborhood a Laodicea in honor of his mother, and an Apamea in honor of his wife. But by far the most famous of these four cities was the Syrian Antioch. We must allude to its edifices and ornaments only so far as they are due to the Greek kings of Syria and the first five Csesars of Rome. If we were to allow our description to wander to the times of Justinian or the Crusaders, though these are the times of An- tioch's greatest glory, we should be transgressing on a period of history which does not belong to us. Strabo, in the time of Au- gustus, describes the city as a tetrapolis, or union of four cities. The two first were erected by Seleucus Nicator himself in the sit- uation already described, between Mount Silphius and the river, on that wide space of level ground where a few poor habitations still remain by the banks of the Orontes. The river has gradually I^ESriilPTION ANTIOCH. 119 changed its course and appearance as the city has decayed. Once it flowed round an island, which, like the island in the Seine, by its thoroughfares and bridges and its own noble buildings, became a part of a magnificent whole. But in Paris the old city is on the island ; in Antioch it was the new city, built by the second Seleu- cus and the third Antiochus. Its chief features were a palace and an arch like that of Napoleon. The fourth and last part of the tetrapolis was built by Antiochus Epiphanes where Mount Sil- phius rises abruptly on the south. On one of its craggy summits he placed, in the fervor of his Eomanizing mania, a temple ded- icated to Jupiter Capitolinus, and on another a strong citadel, which dwindled to the Saracen castle of the first Crusade. At the rugged bases of the mountain the ground was levelled for a glori- ous street which extended for four miles across the length of the city, and where sheltered crowds could walk through continuous colonnades from the eastern to the w^estern suburb. The whole was surrounded by a wall which, ascending to the heights and re- turning to the river, does not deviate very widely in its course from the wall of the Middle Ages, which can still be traced by the fragments of ruined towers. This wall is assigned by a Byzantine writer to Tiberius, but it seems more probable that the emperor only repaired what Antiochus Epiphanes had built. Turning now to the period of the empire, we find that Antioch had memorials of all the great Komans whose names have been mentioned as yet in this biography. When Pompey was defeated by Csesar, the conqueror's name was perpetuated in this Eastern city by an aque- duct and by baths, and by a basilica called Caesarium. In the reign of Augustus, Agrippa built in all cities of the empire, and Herod of Judaea followed the example to the utmost of his power. Both found employment for their munificence at Antioch. A gay suburb rose under the patronage of the one, and the other con- tributed a road and a portico. The reign of Tiberius was less re- markable for great architectural works, but the Syrians by the Orontes had to thank him for many improvements and restora- tions in their city. Even the four years of his successor left be- hind them the aqueduct and the baths of Caligula. The character of the inhabitants is easily inferred from the in- fluences which presided over the city's growth. Its successive enlargement by the Seleucidse proves that their numbers rapidly increased from the first. The population swelled still further 120 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. when, instead of the metropolis of the Greek kings of Syria, it became the residence of Roman governors. The mixed multitude received new and important additions in the officials who were connected with the details of provincial administration. Luxu- rious Romans were attracted by its beautiful climate. New wants continually multiplied the business of its commerce. Its gardens and houses grew and extended on the north side of the river. Many are the allusions to Antioch in the history of those times as a place of singular pleasure and enjoyment. Here and there an elevating thought is associated with its name. Poets have spent their young days at Antioch, great generals have died there, emperors have visited and admired it. But for the most part its population was a worthless rabble of Greeks and Orientals. The frivolous amusements of the theatre were the occupation of their life. Their passion for races, and the ridiculous party-quar- rels connected with them, were the patterns of those which after- ward became the disgrace of Byzantium. The Oriental element of superstition and imposture was not less active. The Chaldean astrologers found their most credulous disciples in Antioch. Jew- ish impostors, sufficiently common throughout the East, found their best opportunities here. It is probable that no populations have ever been more abandoned than those of Oriental Greek cities under the Roman empire, and of these cities Antioch was the greatest and the worst. If we wish to realize the appearance and reality of the complicated heathenism of the first Christian century, we must endeavor to imagine the scene of that suburb, the famous Daphne, with its fountains and groves of bay trees, its bright buildings, its crouds of licentious votaries, its statue of Apollo, where, under the climate of Syria and the wealthy patron- age of Rome, all that was beautiful in Nature and in Art had created a sanctuary for a perpetual festival of vice. Thus, if any city in the first century was worthy to be called the heathen queen and metropolis of the East, that city was An- tioch. She was represented in a famous allegorical statue as a female figure seated on a rock and crowned, with the river Orontes at her feet. There is no excuse for continuing our description to the age of Vespasian and Titus, when Judsea was taken and the western gate, decorated with the spoils, was called the ^'Gate of the Cherubim,'^ or to the Saracen age, when, after many years of Christian history and Christian mythology, we find the " Gate of FAMINE IN THE REIGN OF CLAUDIUS. 121 St. Paul" placed opposite the " Gate of St. George," and when Duke Godfrey pitched his camp between the river and the city wall. And there is reason to believe that earthquakes, the constant enemy of the people of Antioch, have so altered the very appear- ance of its site that such a description would be of little use. As the Vesuvius of Virgil or Pliny would hardly be recognized in the angry neighbor of modern Naples, so it is more than probable that the dislocated crags which still rise above the Orontes are greatly altered in form from the fort-crowned heights of Seleucus or Tiberius, Justinian or Tancred. Earthquakes occurred in each of the reigns of Caligula and Claudius. And it is likely that when Saul and Barnabas were engaged in their apostolic work parts of the city had something of that appearance which still makes Lisbon dreary, new and handsome buildings being raised in close proximity to the ruins left by the late calamity. It is remarkable how often great physi- cal calamities are permitted by God to follow in close succession to each other. That age, which, as we have seen, had been visited by earthquakes, was presently visited by famine. The reign of Claudius, from bad harvests or other causes, was a period of gen- eral distress and scarcity " over the whole world." In the fourth year of his reign we are told by Josephus that the famine was so severe that the price of food became enormous and great numbers perished. At this time it happened that Helena, the mother of Izates, king of Adiabene, and a recent convert to Judaism, came to worship at Jerusalem. Moved with compassion for the misery she saw around her, she sent to purchase corn from Alexandria and figs from Cyprus for distribution among the poor. Izates himself (who had also been converted by one who bore the same name with him w^ho baptized Paul) shared the charitable feelings of his mother, and sent large sums of money to Jerusalem. While this relief came from Assyria, from Cyprus, and from Africa to the Jewish suiTerers in Judaea, God did not suffer his own Christian people, probably the poorest and certainly the most dis- regarded in that country, to perish in the general distress. And their relief also came from nearly the same quarters. While Barnabas and Saul were evangelizing the Syrian capital, and gathering in the harvest, the first seeds of which had been sown by " men of Cyprus and Cyrene," certain prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch, and one of them named Agabus 122 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. announced that a time of famine was at hand. The Gentile disci- ples felt that they were bound by the closest link to those Jewish brethren whom, though they had never seen, they loved; **for if the Gentiles had been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty was also to minister unto them in carnal things.'' No time was lost in preparing for the coming calamity. All the members of the Christian community, according to their means, ^' determined to send relief,'' Saul and Barnabas being chosen to take the contribution to the elders at Jerusalem. About the time when these messengers came to the Holy City on their errand of love a worse calamity than that of famine had fallen upon the Church. One apostle had been murdered, and another was in prison. There is something touching in the con- trast between the two brothers, James and John. One died before the middle of the first Christian century, the other lived on to its close. One was removed just when his Master's kingdom, concern- ing which he had so eagerly inquired, was beginning to show its real character; he probably never heard the word " Christian " pronounced. Zebedee's other son remained till the Antichristian enemies of the faith were " already come," and w\as laboring against them when his brother had been fifty years at rest in the Lord. He who had foretold the long service of John revealed to Peter that he should die by a violent death. But the time was not yet come. Herod had bound him with two chains. Besides the soldiers who watched his sleep, guards were placed before the door of the prison. And ^' after the Passover" the king intended to bring him out and gratify the people with his death. But Herod's death was nearer than Peter's. For a moment we see the apostle in captivity and the king in the plenitude of his power. But before the autumn a dreadful change had taken place. On the 1st of August (we follow a probable calculation, and borrow some qircumstances from the Jewish historian) there was a great commemoration in Csesarea. Some say it was in honor of the emperor's safe return from the island of Britain. However this might be, the city was crowded, and Plerod was there. On the second day of the festival he came into the theatre. That theatre had been erected by his grandfather, who had murdered the Innocents ; and now the grandson was there, who had murdered an apostle. The stone seats, rising in a great semicircle tier above tier, were covered with an excited multitude. The king came in RETURNS WITH MARK TO ANTIOCH. 123 clothed in magnificent robes, of which silver was the costly and brilliant material. It was early in the day, and the sun's rays fell upon the king, so that the eyes of the beholders were dazzled with the brightness which surrounded him. Voices from the crowd here and there exclaimed that it was the apparition of something divine. And when he spoke and made an oration to the people, they gave a shout, saying, " It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.'' But in the midst of this idolatrous ostentation the angel of God suddenly smote him, and on the 6th of August he died. This was that year 44 on w^hich we have said so much. The country was placed again under Eoman governors, and hard times w^ere at hand for the Jews. Herod Agrippa had courted their favor. He had done much for them, and was preparing to do more. Josephus tells us that "he had begun to encompass Jeru- salem with a wall, which, had it been brought to perfection, would have made it impracticable for the Romans to take it by siege ; but his death, which happened at Csesarea before he had raised the walls to their due height, prevented him." That part of the city which this boundary was intended to enclose was a suburb when Paul was converted. The work w^as not completed till the Jews were preparing for their final struggle with the Romans ; and the apostle, when he came from Antioch to Jerusalem, must have noticed the unfinished wall to the north and west of the old Damascus Gate. We cannot determine the season of the year when he passed this w^ay. We are not sure whether the year itself was 44 or 45. It is not probable that he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, when Peter was in prison, or that he Avas praying with those anxious disciples at the "house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark." But there is this link of interesting connection between that house and Paul, that it was the familiar home of one who was afterward (not always without cause for anxiety or reproof) a companion of his journeys. When Barnabas and Saul returned to Antioch, they were attended by "John, whose surname was Mark." With the love of Abraham for Lot, his uncle Barnabas withdrew from the scene of persecution. We need not doubt that higher motives were added — that at the first, as at the last, Paul regarded him as " profitable to him for the ministry." Thus attended, he willingly retraced his steps towards Antioch. A field of noble enterprise was before him. He could not doubt that God, who had so prepared him, would work by his means 124 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. great conversions among the heathen. At this point of his lifo we cannot avoid noticing those circumstances of inward and out- ward preparation which fitted him for his peculiar position of standing between the Jews and Gentiles. He was not a Sadducee, he had never Hellenized, he had been educated at Jerusalem: ev- erything conspired to give him authority when he addressed his countrymen as a " Hebrew of the Hebrews." At the same time, in his apostolical relation to Christ he was quite disconnected with the other apostles ; he had come in silence to a conviction of the truth at a distance from the Judaizing Christians, and had early overcome those prejudices which impeded so many in their ap- proaches to the heathen. He had been long enough at Jerusalem to be recognized and welcomed by the apostolic college, but not long enough to be known by face " unto the churches in Judaea." He had been withdrawn into Cilicia till the baptism of the Gentiles was a notorious and familiar fact to those very churches. He could hardly be blamed for continuing what Peter had already begun. And as if the Spirit of God had prepared him for building up the united Church of Jews and Gentiles, and the providence of God had directed all the steps of his life to this one result, we are called on to notice the singular fitness of this last employment, on which we have seen him engaged, for assuaging the suspicious feeling which separated the two great branches of the Church. In quitting for a time his Gentile converts at Antioch, and carry- ing a contribution of money to the Jewish Christians at Jerusalem, he was by no means leaving the higher work for the lower. He was building for after-times. The interchange of mutual benevo- lence was a safe foundation for future confidence. Temporal comfort was given in gratitude for spiritual good received. The Churches first days were christened with charity. No sooner was its new name received in token of the union of Jews and Gentiles than the sympathy of its members was asserted by the work of practical benevolence. We need not hesitate to apply to that work the words which Paul used after many years of another col- lection for the poor Christians in Judaea : " The administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God ; whiles by the experiment of this ministration they glorify God for your professed subjection unto the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal distri- bution unto them." CHAPTEE V. SECOND PAET OF THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. — EEYELATION AT ANTIOCH. — PUBLIC DEVOTIONS. — DEPARTURE OF BARNABAS AND SAUL. — THE ORONTES. — HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF SELEUCIA. — VOYAGE TO CYPRUS. — SALAMIS. — ROMAN PROVIN- CIAL SYSTEM. — PROCONSULS AND PROPR^TORS. — SERGIUS PAU- LUS. — ORIENTAL IMPOSTORS AT ROME AND IN THE PROVINCES. — ELYMAS BARJESUS. — HISTORY OF JEWISH NAMES. — SAUL AND PAUL. The second part of the Acts of the Apostles is generally reckoned to begin with the thirteenth chapter. At this point Paul begins to appear as the principal character, and the narrative, gradually widening and expanding with his travels, seems intended to describe to us in minute detail the communication of the gospel to the Gentiles. The thirteenth and fourteenth chapters embrace a definite and separate subject ; and this subject is the first journey of the first Christian missionaries to the heathen. These two chapters of the inspired record are the authorities for the present and the succeeding chapters of this work, in which we intend to follow the steps of Paul and Barnabas in their circuit through Cyprus and the southern part of Lesser Asia. The history begins suddenly and abruptly. We are told that there were in the Church at Antioch ^'prophets and teachers,'' and among the rest Barnabas," with whom we are already familiar. The others were Simeon, who was surnamed Niger," and "Lucius of Cyrene," and "Manaen, the foster-brother of Herod the tetrarch," and "Saul," who still appears under his Hebrew name. We observe, moreover, not only that he is men- tioned after Barnabas, but that he occupies the lowest place in this enumeration of "prophets and teachers." The distinction between these two ofiices in the apostolic Church will be discussed hereafter. At present it is sufiicient to remark that the " proph- ecy" of the New Testament does not necessarily imply a know- 125 126 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. ledge of things to come, but rather a gift of exhorting with a peculiar force of inspiration. In the Church's early miraculous days the prophet" appears to have been ranked higher than the " teacher." And we may perhaps infer that up to this point of the history Barnabas had belonged to the rank of '^^rophets," and Saul to that of ^' teachers ;" which would be in strict conformity w^ith the inferiority of the latter to the former, which, as we have seen, has been hitherto observed. Of the other three who are grouped with these two chosen mis- sionaries we do not know enough to justify any long disquisition. But we may remark in passing that there is a certain interest attaching to each one of them. Simeon is one of those Jews who bore a Latin surname in addition to their Hebrew name, like " John, whose surname was Mark," mentioned in the last verse of the preceding chapter, and like Saul himself, whose change of appellation will presently be brought under notice. Lucius — probably the same who is mentioned in the Epistle to the Romans — is a native of Cyrene, that African city which has already been mentioned as abounding in Jews, and which sent to Jerusalem our Saviour's cross-bearer, Manaen is spoken of as the foster- brother of Herod the tetrarch : this was Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee ; and since we learn from Josephus that this Herod and his brother Archelaus were children of the same mother, and afterward educated together at Rome, it is probable that this Christian prophet or teacher had spent his early child- hood with those t^vo princes, who were now both banished from Palestine to the banks of the Rhone. These were the most conspicuous persons in the Church of Antioch when a revelation w\as received of the utmost importance. The occasion on which the revelation was made seems to have been a fit preparation for it. The Christians were engaged in religious services of peculiar solemnity. The Holy Ghost spoke to them as they ministered unto the Lord and fasted." The word here trans- lated " ministered " has been taken by opposite controversialists to denote the celebration of the " sacrifice of the mass " on the one hand, or the exercise of the office of " preaching " on the other. It will be safer if we say simply that the Christian community at Antioch were engaged in one united act of prayer and humiliation. That this solemnity would be accompanied by words of exhortation, and that it would be crowned and completed by the holy com- THE LAYING-ON OF HANDS. 12T munion, is more than probable; that it was accompanied with fasting we are expressly told. These religious services might have had a special reference to the means which were to be adopted foi the spread of the gospel, now evidently intended for all ; and the words, *^ Separate me now Barnabas and Saul for the work where- unto I have called them/' may have been an answer to specific prayers. How this revelation was made — whether by the mouth of some of the prophets who were present, or by the impulse of a simultaneous and general inspiration ; whether the route to be taken by Barnabas and Saul was at this time precisely indicated ; and whether they had previously received a conscious personal call, of which this was the public ratification — it is useless to inquire. A definite work was pointed out as now about to be begun under the counsel of God ; tv/o definite agents in this work were publicly singled out; and we soon see them sent forth to their arduous un- dertaking with the sanction of the Church at Antioch. Their final consecration and departure were the occasion of another religious solemnity. A fast was appointed and prayers were offered up; and with that simple ceremony of ordination which we trace through the earlier periods of Jewish history, and w^hich we here see adopted under the highest authority in the Christian Church, " they laid their hands on them, and sent them away.'' The words are wonderfully simple, but those who devoutly reflect on this great occasion, and on the position of the first Chris- tians at Antioch, will not find it difficult to imagine the thoughts which occupied the hearts of the disciples during the first "Em- ber Days " of the Church, — their deep sense of the importance of the work which was now beginning, — their faith in God, on whom they could rely in the midst of such difficulties, — their suspense during the absence of those by whom their own faith had been fortified, — their anxiety for the intelligence they might bring on their return. Their first point of destination was the island of Cyprus. It is not necessary, though quite allowable, to suppose that this partic- ular course was divinely indicated in the original revelation at Antioch. Four reasons at least can be stated which may have in- duced the apostles, in the exercise of a wise discretion, to turn in the first instance to this island. It is separated by no great distance from the mainland of Syria ; its high mountain-summits are easily seen in clear weather from the coast near the mouth of the Orontes ; 128 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. and in the summer season many vessels must often have been pass- ing and repassing between Salamis and Seleucia. Besides this, it was the native place of Barnabas. Since the time when ^'Andrew found his brother Simon, and brought him to Jesus," and the Sa- viour was beloved in the house of " Martha and her sister and Laz- arus," the ties of family relationship had not been without effect on the progress of the gospel. It could not be unnatural to suppose that the truth would be welcomed in Cyprus when it was brought by Barnabas and his kinsman Mark to their own connections or friends. Moreover, the Jews were numerous in Salamis. By sailing to that city they were following the track of the synagogues. Their mis- sion, it is true, was chiefly to the Gentiles, but their surest course for reaching them was through the medium of the proselytes and the Hellenizing Jews. To these considerations we must add, in the fourth place, that some of the Cypriotes were already Christians. No one place out of Palestine, with the exception of Antioch, had been so honorably associated with the work of successful evange- lization. The palaces of Antioch were connected with the sea by the river Orontes. Strabo says that in his time they sailed up the stream in one day ; and Pausanias speaks of great Eoman works which had improved the navigation of the channel. Probably it was navigable by vessels of some considerable size, and goods and passengers were conveyed by water between the city and the sea. Even in our own day, though there is now a bar at the mouth of the river, there has been a serious project of uniting it by a canal with the Euphrates, and so of re-establishing one of the old lines of commercial intercourse between the Mediterranean and the Indian Sea. The Orontes comes from the valley between Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, and does not, like many rivers, vary caprici- ously between a winter torrent and a thirsty watercourse, but flows on continually to the sea. Its waters are not clear, but they are deep and rapid. Their course has been compared to that of the Wye. They wind round the bases of high and precipitous clifis, or by richly cultivated banks, where the vegetation of the South, the vine and the fig tree, the myrtle, the bay, the ilex, and the arbutus, are mingled with dwarf oak and English sycamore. If Barnabas and Saul came down by water from Antioch, this was the course of the boat which conveyed them. If they travelled the five or six leagues by land, they crossed the river at the north SELEUCIA BY THE SEA. 129 side of Antiocli, and came along the base of the Pierian hills by a route which is now roughly covered with fragrant and picturesque shrubs, but which then doubtless was a track well worn by travellers, like the road from the Pirseus to Athens or from Ostia to Eome. Seleucia united the two characters of a fortress and a seaport. Tt was situated on a rocky eminence, which is the southern extremity of an elevated range of hills projecting from Mount Amanus. From the south-east, where the ruins of the Antioch Gate are still conspicuous, the ground rose towards the north-east into high and craggy summits, and round the greater part of the circumference of four miles the city was protected by its natural position. The harbor and mercantile suburb were on level ground towards the west; but here, as on the only weak point at Gibral- ter, strong artificial defences had made compensation for the weak- ness of Nature. Seleucus, who had named his metropolis in his father's honor, gave his own name to this maritime fortress; and here, around his tomb, his successors contended for the key of Syria. Seleucia by the Sea " was a place of great importance under the Seleucidae and the Ptolemies, and so it remained under the sway of the Eomans. In consequence of its bold resistance to Tigranes when he was in possession of all the neighboring country Pompey gave it the privileges of a " free city ; " and a contem- porary of Paul speaks of it as having those privileges still. The most remarkable work among the extant remains of Seleucia is an immense excavation — probably the same with that which is mentioned by Polybius — leading from the upper part of the ancient city to the sea. It consists alternately of tunnels and deep open cuttings. It is difficult to give a confident opinion as to the uses for which it was intended. But the best conjecture seems to be that it was constructed for the purpose of drawing off the water which might otherwise have done mischief to the houses and ship- ping in the lower part of the town, and so arranged at the same time as, when needful, to supply a rush of water to clear out the port. The inner basin or dock is now a morass, but its dimensions can be measured and the walls that surrounded it can be distinctly traced. The position of the ancient flood-gates, and the passage through which the vessels were moved from the inner to the outer harbor, can be accurately marked. The very piers of the outer harbor are still to be seen under the water. The southern jetty 9 130 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. takes the wider sweep and overlaps the northern, forming a secure entrance and a well-protected basin. The stones are of great size, some of them twenty feet long, five feet deep, and six feet wide," and they were fastened to each other with iron clamps. The ma- sonry of ancient Beleucia is still so good that not long since a Turkish pasha conceived the idea of clearing out and repairing the harbor. These piers were unbroken when Saul and Barnabas came down to Seleucia, and the large stones fastened by their iron clamps pro- tected the vessels in the harbor from the swell of the western sea. Here, in the midst of unsympathizing sailors, the two missionary apostles, with their younger companion, stepped on board the vessel which was to convey them to Salamis. As they cleared the port the whole sweep of the Bay of Antioch opened on their left, the low ground by the mouth of the Orontes, the wild and woody country beyond it, and then the peak of Mount Casius, rising sym- metrically from the very edge of the sea to a height of five thou- sand feet. On the right, in the south-west horizon, if the day was clear, they saw the island of Cyprus from the first. The current sets northerly and north-east between the island and the Syrian coast. But with a fair wind a few hours would enable them to run down from Seleucia to Salamis, and the land would rapidly rise in forms well known and familiar to Barnabas and Mark. Until recently we have not been in possession of accurate charts of the coast near Salamis. Almost every island of the Mediter- ranean, except Crete and Cyprus, has been minutely surveyed and described by British naval officers. The soundings of the coast of Crete are as yet comparatively unknown, but the charts of Cyprus are on the eve of publication. From Cape St. Andrea, the north- eastern point of the island, the coast trends rapidly to the west till it reaches Cape Grego, the south-east extremity. The wretched modern town of Famagousta is nearer the latter point than the former, and the ancient Salamis was situated a short distance to the north of Famagousta. Near Cape St. Andrea are two or three small islands, anciently called "The Keys." These, if they were seen at all, would soon be lost to view. Cape Grego is distinguished by a singular promonotory of table-land. The rough, lofty, table- shaped eminence " which Strabo mentions in his description of the coast has been identified with the Idalium of the classical poets. The ground lies low in the neighborhood of Salamis, and the THE CITY OF SALAMIS. 131 town was situated on a bight of tlie coast to tlie nortli of the river Pediseus. This low land is the largest plain in Cyprus, and the Pediseus is the only true river in the island, the rest being only winter torrents, flowing in the w^et season from the two mountain- ranges w^hich intersect it from east to w^est. This plain probably represents the kingdom of Teucer, which is familiar to us in the early stories of legendary Greece. It stretches inward between the two mountain-ranges to the very heart of the country, where the modern Turkish capital, Nicosia, is situated. In the days of historical Greece, Salamis was the capital. Under the Eoman empire, if not the seat of government, it was at least the most importiant mercantile towm. We have the best reasons for believ- ing that the harbor was convenient and capacious. Thus we can form to ourselves some idea of the appearance of the place in the reign of Claudius. A large city by the seashore, a widespread plain with cornfields and orchards, and the blue distance of moun- tains beyond composed the view on w'hich the eyes of Barnabas and Saul rested when they came to anchor in the Bay of Salamis. The Jews, as we should have been prepared to expect, were numerous in Salamis. This fact is indicated to us in the sacred narrative, for we learn that this city had several synagogues, while other cities had often only one. They had doubtless been estab- lished here in considerable numbers in the active period which succeeded the death of Alexander. The unparalleled productive- ness of Cyprus, and its trade in fruit, wine, flax, and honey, would naturally attract them to the mercantile port. The farming of the copper-mines by Augustus to Herod may probably have swelled their numbers. One of the most conspicuous passages in the his- tory of Salamis was the insurrection of the Jews in the reign of Trajan, when a great part of the city was destroyed. Its demo- lition was completed by an earthquake. It was rebuilt by a Chris- tian emperor, from whom it received its medinevil name of Constantia. It appears that the proclamation of the gospel was confined by Barnabas and Saul to the Jews and the synagogues. We have no information of the length of their stay or the success of their labors. Some stress seems to be laid on the fact that John (?*. e, Mark) "was their minister." Perhaps we are to infer from this that his hands baptized the Jews and proselytes who were con- vinced by the preaching of the apostles. 132 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. From Salamis tliey travelled to Paphos, at the other extremity of the island. The two towns were probably connected together by a well-travelled and frequented road. It is indeed likely that even under the empire the islands of the Greek part of the Medi- terranean, as Crete and Cyprus, were not so completely provided with lines of internal communication as those which were nearer the metropolis and had been longer under Eoman occupation, such as Corsica and Sardinia. But we cannot help believing that Roman roads were laid down in Cyprus and Crete after the man- ner of the modern English roads in Corfu and the other Ionian islands; which islands, in their social and political condition, present many points of resemblance to those which were under the Eoman sway in the time of Paul. On the whole, there is lit- tle doubt that his journey from Salamis to Paphos, a distance from east to west of not more than a hundred miles, was accom- plished in a short time and without difficulty. Paphos was the residence of the Roman governor. The ap- pearance of the place (if due allowance is made for the differences of the nineteenth century and the first) may be compared with that of the town of Corfu in the present day, with its strong gar- rison of imperial soldiers in the midst of a Greek population, with its mixture of two languages, with its symbols of a strong and steady power side by side with frivolous amusements, and with something of the style of a court about the residence of its governor. All the occurrences which are mentioned at Paphos as taking place on the arrival of Barnabas and Saul are grouped so entirely round the governor's person that our attention must be turned for a time to the condition of Cyprus as a Roman province, and the position and character of Sergius Paulus. From the time when Augustus united the w^orld under his own power the provinces were divided into two different classes. The business of the first emperor's life was to consolidate the imperial system under the show of administering a republic. He retained the names and semblances of those liberties and rights w^hich Rome had once enjoyed. He found two names in existence, the one of which was henceforth inseparably blended with the im- perial dignity and military command, the other with the author- ity of the senate and its civil administration. The first of these names was "prsetor," the second was "consul." Both of them were retained in Italy, and both were reproduced in the provinces ROxMAN PROVINCIAL SYSTEM. 133 as propraetor'' and " proconsul." He told the senate and peo- ple that he would relieve them of all the anxiety of military pro- ceedings, and that he would resign to them those provinces where soldiers were unnecessary to secure the fruits of a peaceful admin- istration. He would take upon himself all the care and risk of governing the other provinces, where rebellion might be appre- hended and where the proximity of warlike tribes made the presence of the legions perpetually necessary. These were his professions to the senate, but the real purpose of this ingenious arrangement was the disarming of the republic, and the securing to himself the absolute control of the whole standing army of the empire. The scheme was sufficiently transparent, but there w^as no sturdy national life in Italy to resist his despotic innovations, and no foreign civilized powers to arrest the advance of imperial aggrandizement; and it thus came to pass that Augustus, though totally destitute of the military genius of either Cromwell or Napo- leon, transmitted to his successors a throne guarded by an invin- cible army and a system of government destined to endure through several centuries. Hence we find in the reign not only of Augustus, but of each of his successors from Tiberius to Nero, the provinces divided into these two classes. On the one side we have those which are supposed to be under the senate and people. The governor is appointed by lot, as in the times of the old republic. He carries with him the lictors and fasces, the insignia of a consul, but he is destitute of military power. His office must be resigned at the expiration of a year. He is styled " proconsul," and the Greeks, translating the term, call him dvOvirarog. On the other side are the provinces of Caesar. The governor may be styled " propraetor," or avTLaTpdrrjyog^ but he is more properly " legatus," or Trpeodevryg^ the representative or " commissioner " of the emperor. He goes out from Italy with all the pomp of a military commander, and he does not return till the emperor recalls him. And to complete the symmetry and consistency of the system, the subordinate districts of these imperial provinces are regulated by the emperor's " pro- curator " {kmrpoTTOQ)^ or ^' high steward." The New Testament, in the strictest conformity with the other historical authorities of the period, gives us examples of both kinds of provincial admin- istration. We are told by Strabo and by Dio Cassius that Asia" and " Achaia" were assigned to the senate, and the title which in 134 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. dach case is given to tlie governor in the Acts of the Apostles is " proconsuL'' The same authorities inform us that Syria was an imperial province, and no such title as "proconsul" is assigned by the sacred writers to " Cyrenius, governor of Syria," or to Pilate, Festus, and Felix, the procurators of Judaea, v/liich, as we have seen, was a dependency of that great and unsettled province. Dio Cassius informs us, in the same passage where he tells us that Asia and Achaia were provinces of the senate, that Cyprus was retained by the emperor for himself. If we stop here, we naturally ask the question — and some have asked the question rather hastily — How comes it to pass that Luke speaks of Sergius Paulus by the style of proconsul " ? But any hesitation con- cerning the strict historical accuracy of the sacred historian^s language is immediately set at rest by the very next sentence of the secular historian, in which he informs us that Augustus re- stored Cyprus to the senate in exchange for another district of the empire — a statement which he again repeats in a later passage of his work. It is evident, then, that the governor's style and title from this time forward would be " proconsul." But this evidence, however satisfactory, is not all that we possess. A coin distinctly presents to us a Cyprian proconsul of the reign of Claudius ; and the inscription which will be found at the end of this chapter supplies us with the names of two additional governors who were among the predecessors or successors of Sergius Paulus. It is remarkable that two men called Sergius Paulus are de- scribed in very similar terms by two physicians who wrote in Greek — the one a heathen, the other a Christian. The heathen waiter is Galen. He speaks of his contemporary as a man inter- ested and well versed in philosophy. The Christian writer is Luke, who tells us here that the governor of Cyprus was a "pru- dent " man, ^vho " desired to hear the w^ord of God." This gov- ernor seems to have been of a candid and inquiring mind ; nor will this philosophical disposition be thought inconsistent with his connection with the Jewish impostor whom Saul and Barnabas found at the Paphian court by those who are acquainted with the intellectual and religious tendencies of the age. For many years before this time, and many years after, impos- tors from the East, pretending to magical powers, had great influ- ence over the Roman mind. All the Greek and Roman literature of the empire, from Horace to Lucian, abounds in proof of the ORIENTAL IMPOSTORS IN ROME. 135 prevalent credulity of this sceptical period. Unbelief, when it has become conscious of its weakness, is often glad to give its hand to superstition. The faith of educated Komans was utterly gone. We can hardly wonder when the East was thrown open — the land of mystery, the fountain of the earliest migrations, the cradle of the earliest religions — that the imagination both of the populace and the aristocracy of Rome became fanatically excited, and that they greedily welcomed the most absurd and degrading supersti- tions. Not only was the metropolis of the empire crowded with hungry Greeks," but "Syrian fortune-tellers'^ flocked into all the haunts of public amusement. Athens and Corinth did not now contribute the greatest or the worst part of the " dregs of Rome, but (to adopt Juvenal's use of that river of Antioch we have lately been describing) ^' the Orontes itself flow^ed into the Tiber." Every part of the East contributed its share to the general superstition. The gods of Egypt and Phrygia found unfailing votaries. Before the close of the republic the temples of Isis and Serapis had been more than once erected, destroyed, and renewed. Josephus tells us that certain disgraceful priests of Isis were cruci- fied at Rome by the second emperor, but this punishment was only a momentary check to their sway over the Roman mind. The more remote districts of Asia Minor sent their itinerant sooth- sayers; Syria sent her music and her medicines; Chaldcea her Babylonian numbers " and " mathematical calculations." To these corrupters of the people of Romulus we must add one more Asiatic nation — the nation of the Israelites ; and it is an instruc- tive employment to observe that while some members of the Jewish people were rising by the divine power to the highest position ever occupied by men on earth, others were sinking themselves, and others along with them, to the lowest and most contemptible deg- radation. The treatment and influence of the Jews at Rome were often too similar to those of other Orientals. One year we find them banished (Acts xviii. 2), another year we see them quietly re-established (Acts xxviii. 17). The Jewish beggar-woman was the gypsy of the first century, shivering and crouching in the out- skirts of the city, and telling fortunes, as Ezekiel said of old, "for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread." All this catalogue of Oriental impostors, whose influx into Rome was a characteristic of the period, we can gather from that revolting satire of Juvenal 136 LIFE AND EPISTLES OP THiJ APOSTLE PAUL. in which he scourges the follies and vices of the Eoman women. But not only were the women of Rome drawn aside into this varied and multiplied fanaticism, but the eminent men of the declining republic and the absolute sovereigns of the early empire were tainted and enslaved by the same superstitions. The great Marius had in his camp a Syrian, probably a Jewish prophetess, by whose divinations he regulated the progress of his campaigns. As Bru- tus, at the beginning of the republic, had visited the oracle of Delphi, so Pompey, Crassus, and Caesar at the close of the repub- lic, when the oracles were silent, sought information from Oriental astrology. No picture in the great Latin satirist is more power- fully drawn than that in which he shows us the emperor Tiberius "sitting on the rock of Capri with his flock of Chaldaeans around him." No sentence in the great Latin historian is more bitterly emphatic than that in which he says that the astrologers and sor- cerers are a class of men who "will always be discarded and always cherished." What we know, from the literature of the period, to have been the case in Eome and in the empire at large, we see exemplified in a province in the case of Sergius Paulus. He had attached himself to "a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Barjesus," and who had given himself the Arabic name of " Elymas," or " the Wise." But the proconsul was not so deluded by the false prophet as to be unable or unwilling to listen to the true. " He sent for Barnabas and Saul," of whose arrival he was informed, and whose free and public declaration of the " word of God " attracted his inquiring mind. Elymas used every exertion to resist them and to hinder the proconsul's mind from falling under the influence of their divine doctrine. Truth and falsehood were brought into visible conflict with each other. It is evident, from the graphic character of the narrative — the description of Paul " setting his eyes " on the sorcerer, " the mist and darkness " which fell on Barjesus, the "groping about for some one to lead him " — that the opposing wonder-workers stood face to face in the presence of the proconsul, as Moses and Aaron withstood the magicians at the Egyptian court; Sergius Paulus being in this respect difierent from Pharaoh, that he did not " harden his heart." The miracles of the New Testament are generally distinguished from those of the Old by being for the most part works of mercy ELYMAS BARJESUS. 137 and restoration, not of punishment and destruction. Two only of our Lord's miracles were inflictions of severity, and these were attended with no harm to the bodies of men. The same law of mercy pervades most of those interruptions of the course of Nature which he gave his servants, the apostles, power to effect. One miracle of WTath is mentioned as worked in his name by each of the great apostles, Peter and Paul ; and we can see sufficient reasons why liars and hypocrites like Ananias and Sapphira, and powerful impostors like Elymas Barjesus, should be publicly punished in the face of the Jewish and Gentile worlds, and made the examples and warnings of every subsequent age of the Church. A different passage in the life of Peter presents a parallel which is closer in some respects with, this interview of Paul with the sorcerer in Cyprus. As Simon Magus — who had "long time bewitched the people of Samaria with his sorceries'' — was denounced by Peter "as still in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity," and solemnly told that " his heart was not right in the sight of God," so Paul, conscious of his apostolic power and under the impulse of immediate inspiration, rebuked Barjesus as a child of that devil who is the father of lies, as a worker of deceit and mischief, and as one who sought to pervert and distort that which God saw and approved as right. He proceeded to denounce an instantaneous judgment, and, according to his prophetic word, the " hand of the Lord " struck the sorcerer as it had once struck the apostle himself on the way to Damascus ; the sight of Elymas began to waver, and presently a darkness settled on it so thick that he ceased to behold the sun's light. This blinding of the false prophet opened the eyes of Sergius Paulus. That which had been intended as an opposition to the gospel proved the means of its extension. We are ignorant of the degree of this extension in the island of Cyprus. But we cannot doubt that when the proconsul was converted his influence would make Christianity reputable, and that from this moment the Gentiles of the island, as well as the Jews, had the news of salvation brought home to them. And now, from this point of the apostolical history, Paul ap- pears as the great figure in every picture. Barnabas henceforward is always in the background. The great apostle now enters on his work as the preacher to the Gentiles, and simultaneously with his 138 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. active occupation of the field in which he was called to labor his name is suddenly changed. As ^^Abram" was changed into '^Abraham'' when God promised that he should be the father of many nations," as Simon " was changed into " Peter " when it was said, "On this rock I will build my Church," so *'Saul " is changed into "Paul" at the moment of his first great victory among the heathen. What "the plains of Mamre by Hebron" were to the patriarch, what " Csesarea Philippi " by the fountains of the Jordan was to the fisherman of Galilee, that was the city of Pai3hos on the coast of Cyprus to the tentmaker of Tarsus. Are we to suppose that the name was now really given him for the first time, that he adopted it himself as significant of his own feelings, or that Sergius Paulus conferred it on him in grateful commemoration of the benefits he had received ? or that " Paul," having been a Gentile form of the apostle's name in early life conjointly v/ith the Hebrew " Saul," was now used to the exclusion of the other to indicate that he had receded from his position as a Jewish Christian to become the friend and teacher of the Gen- tiles? All these opinions have found their supporters both in ancient and modern times. The question has been alluded to be- fore in this work. It will be well to devote some further space to it now, once for all. It cannot be denied that the words in Acts xiii. 9, " Saul, who is also Paul," are the line of separation between two very distinct portions of Luke's biography of the apostle, in the former of which he is uniformly called "Saul," while in the latter he receives, with equal consistency, the name of " Paul." It must also be observed that the apostle always speaks of himself under the latter desig- nation in every one of his Epistles, without any exception ; and not only so, but the apostle Peter, in the only passage where he has occasion to allude to him, speaks of him as ^' our beloved brother Paul." We are, however, inclined to adopt the opinion that the Cilician apostle had this Eoman name, as well as his other Hebrew name, in his earlier days, and even before he was a Christian. This adoption of a Gentile name is so far from being alien to the spirit of a Jewish family that a similar practice may be traced through all the periods of Hebrew history. Beginning with the Persian epoch (b. c. 550-350) we find such names as "Nehemiah," " Schammai," " Belteshazzar," which betray an HISTORY OF JEWISH NAMES. 139 Oriental origin, and show that Jewish appellatives follow^ed the growth of the living language. In the Greek period we encounter the names of " Philip " and his son " Alexander," and of Alex- ander's successors, "Antiochus," "Lysimachus,'' "Ptolemy,'' ''Antipater the names of Greek philosophers, such as "Zeno'' and "Epicurus;"' even Greek mythological names, as "Jason" and " Menelaus." Some of these words w^ill have been recognized as occurring in the New Testament itself. When we mention Eoman names adopted by the Jews, the coincidence is still more striking. " Crispus," "Justus," " Niger," are found in Josephus as well as in the Acts. "Drusilla" and "Priscilla" might have been Roman matrons. The "Aquila" of Paul is the counter- part of the " Apella " of Horace. Nor need we end our survey of Jewish names with the early Roman empire, for, passing by the destruction of Jerusalem, we see Jews in the earlier part of the Middle Ages calling themselves "Basil," "Leo," " Theodosius," " Sophia," and in the latter part "Albert," " Benedict," " Crispin," " Denys." We might pursue our inquiry into the nations of mod- ern Europe, but enough has been said to show that as the Jews have successively learnt to speak Chaldee, Greek, Latin, or Ger- man, so they have adopted into their families the appellations of those Gentile families among whom they have lived. It is indeed remarkable that the !^ separated nation " should bear, in the very names recorded in its annals, the trace of every nation with whom it has come in contact and never united. It is important to our present purpose to remark that double names often occur in combination — the one national, the other foreign. The earliest instances are " Belteshazzar-Daniel " and " Esther-Hadasa." Frequently there was no resemblance or natu- ral connection between the two words, as in " Herod-Agrippa," " Salome- Alexandra," " Juda- Aristobulus," "Simon-Peter." Some- times the meaning was reproduced, as in " Malich-Kleodemus." At other times an alliterating resemblance of sound seems to have dic- tated the choice, as in " Jose- Jason," " Hillel- Julus," Saul-Paulus^* — " SomI, who is also FauU^ Thus it seems to us that satisfactory reasons can be adduced for the double name borne by the apostle, w^ithout having recourse to the hypothesis of Jerome, who suggests that, as Scipio was called Africanus from the conquest of Africa, and Metellus Creticus from 140 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. the conquest of Crete, so Saul carried away his new name as a trophy of his victory over the heathenism of the proconsul Paulus, or to that notion which Augustine applies with much rhetorical effect in various parts of his writings, where he alludes to the literal mean- ing of the word " Paulus,^^ and contrasts Saul, the unbridled king, the proud, self-confident persecutor of David, with Paul, the lowly, the penitent, who deliberately wished to indicate by his very name that he was the least of the apostles" and "te than the least of all saints." Yet we must not neglect the coincident occur- rence of these two names in this narrative of the events which happened in Cyprus. We need not hesitate to dwell on the asso- ciations which are connected with the name of "Paulus," or on the thoughts which are naturally called up when we notice the critical passage in the sacred history where it is first given to Saul of Tarsus. It is surely not unworthy of notice that, as Peter^s first Gentile convert was a member of the Cornelian Home, so the sur- name of the noblest family of the JEmilian House was the link be- tween the apostle of the Gentiles and his convert at Paphos. Nor can we find a nobler Christian version of any line of a heathen poet than by comparing what Horace says of him who fell at Cannae — animce magnce prodigum Paulum^^ — with the words of him who said at Miletus, " / count not my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and .the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus." And though we imagine, as we have said above, that Saul had the name of Paul at an earlier period of his life, and should be inclined to conjecture that the appellation came from some con- nection of his ancestors (perhaps as manumitted slaves) with some member of the Eoman family of the jiEmilian Pauli, yet we cannot believe it accidental that the words which have led to this discus- sion occur at this particular point of the inspired narrative. The heathen name rises to the surface at the moment when Paul visibly enters on his ofiice as the apostle of the heathen. The Poman name is stereotyped at the moment when he converts the Roman governor. And the place where this occurs is Paphos, the favorite sanctuary of a shameful idolatry. At the very spot which was notorious throughout the world for that which the gospel forbids and destroys, there, before he sailed for Perga, having achieved his victory, the apostle erected his trophy; as Moses, when Amalek A GREEK INSCRIPTION. 141 was discomfited, " built an altar and called the name of it Jehovah- nissi — the Lord my banner." KAAYAini KAI2API SEBASTQI rEPMANIKI2I APXIEPEI MEPISTm AHMAPXIXH2 EE0Y2IA2 AYTOKPATOPI HATPI HATPIAOS KOYPIEfiN H HGAIS AHO TfiN nPOKEK[P]lMENn[N Y]nO lOYAIOY KOPAOY ANeYHATOY A0YKI02 ANNI02 BA2[202 AN©]Y HATOS KAeiEPfiSEN- IB. DfSCKIPTION FOUND AT CURIUM, IN CYPEUS (SEE PAGE 134). CHAPTEE VI. OLD AND NEW PAPHOS. — DEPAHTUPvE FROM CYPRUS. — COAST OP PAMPHYLIA. — PEEGA. — MARK'S RETURN TO JERUSALEM — MOUNTAIN-SCENERY OF PISIDIA. — SITUATION OF ANTIOCH. — THE SYNAGOGUE. — ADDRESS TO THE JEWS. — PREACHING TO THE GENTILES. — PERSECUTION BY THE JEWS. — HISTORY iiND DESCRIPTION OF ICONIUM. — LYCAONIA. — DERBE AND LYSTRA. — HEALING OF THE CRIPPLE. — IDOLATROUS WORSHIP OFFERED TO PAUL AND BARNABAS. — ADDRESS TO THE GENTILES.— PAUL STONED. — TIMOTHEUS. — THE APOSTLES RETRACE THEIR JOURNEY. — PERGA AND ATTALEIA. — RETURN TO SYRIA. The banner of the gospel was now displayed on the coasts of the heathen. The glad tidings had "passed over to the isles of Chittim," and had found a willing audience in that island, which^ in the vocabulary of the Jewish prophets, is the representative of the trade and civilization of the Mediterranean Sea. Cyprus was the early meeting-place of the Oriental and Greek forms of social life. Originally colonized from Phoenicia, it was successively sub- ject to Egypt, to Assyria, and to Persia ; the settlements of the Greeks on its shores had begun in a remote period, and their in- fluence gradually advanced till the older links of connection were entirely broken by Alexander and his successors. But not only in political and social relations, by the progress of conquest and commerce was Cyprus the meeting-place of the Greeks and the East. Here also their forms of idolatrous worship met and became blended together. Paphos was, indeed, a sanctuary of Greek religion ; on this shore the fabled goddess first landed when she rose from the sea; this was the scene of a worship celebrated in the classical poets from the age of Homer down to the time when Titus, the son of Vespasian, visited the spot with the spirit of a heathen pilgrim on his way to subjugate Judsea. But the polluted worship was originally introduced from Assyria or Phoenicia; the Oriental form under which the goddess was worshipped is 142 OLD AND NEW PAPHOS. 143 represented on Greek coins; the temple bore a curious resemblance to those of Astarte at Carthage or Tyre; and Tacitus pauses to describe the singularity of the altar and the ceremonies before he proceeds to narrate the campaign of Titus. And here it was that we have seen Christianity firmly established by Paul — in the very spot where the superstition of Syria had perverted man's natu- ral veneration and love of mystery, and where the beautiful crea- tions of Greek thought had administered to what Athanasius, when speaking of Paphos, well describes as the deification of lust." The Paphos of the poets — or Old Paphos^ as it was afterward called — was situated on an eminence at a distance of nearly two miles from the sea. Neiu Paphos was on the sea-shore, about ten miles to the north. But the old town still remained as the sanc- tuary which was visited by heathen pilgrims ; profligate proces- sions at stated seasons crowded the road between the two towns, as they crowded the road between Antioch and Daphne; and small models of the mysterious image were sought as eagerly by strangers as the little "silver shrines'* of Diana at Ephesus. Doubtless the position of the old town was an illustration of the early custom, mentioned by Thucydides, of building at a safe distance from the shore at a time when the sea was infested by pirates, and the new town had been established in a place con- venient for commerce when navigation had become more secure. It was situated on the verge of a plain smaller than that of Sala- mis, and watered by a scantier stream than the Pediseus. Not long before the visit of Paul and Barnabas it had been destroyed by an earthquake. Augustus had rebuilt it, and from him it had received the name of Augusta, or Sebaste. But the old name still retained its place in popular usage, and has descended to modern times. The "Paphos" of Strabo, Ptolemy, and Luke be- came the " Papho" of the Venetians and the " Baffa" of the Turks. A second series of Latin architecture has crumbled into decay. Mixed up with the ruins of palaces and churches are the poor dwellings of the Greek and Mohammedan inhabitants, partly on the beach, but chiefly on a low ridge of sandstone rock about two miles from the ancient port, for the marsh which once formed the limit of the port makes the shore unhealthy during the heats of summer by its noxious exhalations. One of the most singular features of the neighborhood consists of the curious caverns ex- 144 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. cavated in the rocks, which have been used both for tombs and for dwellings. The port is now almost blocked up, and affords only shelter for boats. "The Venetian stronghold at the ex- tremity of the western mole is now fast crumbling into ruins. The mole itself is broken up, and every year the massive stones of which it was constructed are rolled over from their original position into the port." The approaches to the harbor can never have been very safe, in consequence of the ledge of rocks which extends some distance into the sea. At present the eastern en- trance to the anchorage is said to be the safer of the two. The western, under ordinary circumstances, would be more convenient for a vessel clearing out of the port and about to sail for the Gulf of Pamphylia. We have remarked in the last chapter that it is not difficult to imagine the reasons which induced Paul and Barnabas, on their departure from Seleucia, to visit first the island of Cyprus. It is not quite so easy to give an opinion upon the motives which directed their course to the coast of Pamphylia when they had passed through the native island of Barnabas from Salamis to Paphos. It might be one of those circumstances which we call accidents, and which, as they never influence the actions of ordi- nary men without the predetermining direction of Divine Provi- dence, so were doubtless used by the same Providence to determine the course even of apostles. As Paul many years afterward joined at Myra that vessel in which he was shipwrecked, and then was conveyed to Puteoli in a ship which had accidentally wintered at Malta, so on this occasion there might be some small craft in the harbor at Paphos bound for the opposite Gulf of Attaleia when Paul and Barnabas were thinking of their future progress. The distance is not great, and frequent communication, both political and commercial, must have taken place between the towns of Pamphylia and those of Cyprus. It is possible that Paul, hav- ing already preached the gospel in Cilicia, might wish now to extend it among those districts which lay more immediately con- tiguous, and the population of which was, in some respects, similar to that of his native province. He might also reflect that the natives of a comparatively unsophisticated district might be more likely to receive the message of salvation than the inhabitants of those provinces which were more completely penetrated with the corrupt civilization of Greece and Kome. Or his thoughts might COAST OF PAMPHYLIA. 145 be turning to those numerous families of Jews whom he well knew to be settled in the great towns beyond Mount Taurus, such as Antioch in Pisidia and Iconium in Lycaonia, with the hope that his Master^s cause would be most successfully advanced among those Gentiles who flocked there, as everywhere, to the worship of the synagogue. Or, finally, he may have had a direct revela- tion from on high, and a vision, like that which had already ap- peared to him in the temple or like that which he afterward saw on the confines of Europe and Asia, may have directed the course of his voyage. Whatever may have been the calculations of his own wisdom and prudence, or whatever supernatural intimations may have reached him, he sailed, with his companions Barnabas and John, in some vessel, of which the size, the cargo, and the crew are unknown to us, past the promontories of Drepanum and Acamas, and then across the waters of the Pamphylian Sea, leav- ing on the right the cliffs which are the western boundary of Cili- cia, to the innermost bend of the Bay of Attaleia. This bay is a remarkable feature in the shore of Asia Minor, and it is not without some important relations with the history of this part of the world. It forms a deep indentation in the general coast-line, and is bordered by a plain which retreats itself like a bay into the mountains. From the shore to the mountains, across the widest part of the plain, the distance is a journey of eight or nine hours. Three principal rivers intersect this level space — the Catarrhactes, which falls over the sea-cliffs near Attaleia in the waterfalls which suggested its name, and farther to the east the Oestrus and Eurymedon, which flow by Perga and Aspendus to a low and sandy shore. About the banks of these rivers and on the open waters of the bay, whence the eye ranges freely over the ragged mountain-summits which enclose the scene, armies and fleets had engaged in some of those battles of which the results w^ere still felt in the day of Paul. From the base of that steep shore on the west, where a rugged knot of mountains is piled up into snowy heights above the rocks of Phaselis, the united squadron of the Romans and Rhodians sailed across the bay in the year 190 B, c, and it was in rounding that promontory near Side on the east that they caught sight of the fleet of Antiochus, as they came on by the shore, with the dreadful Hannibal on board.^ And close to the same spot where the Latin power had defeated the Greek king of Syria another battle had been fought at an earlier period, ia 10 146 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. which the Greeks gave one of their last blows to the retreating force of Persia, and the Athenian Cimon gained a victory both by- land and sea; thus winning, according to the boast of Plutarch, in one day the laurels of Platsea and Salamis. On that occasion a large navy sailed up the river Eurymedon as far as Aspendus. Now the bar at the mouth of the river would make this impossible. The same is the case with the river Oestrus, which Strabo says was navigable in his day for sixty stadia, or seven miles, to the city of Perga. Ptolemy calls this city an inland town of Pam- phylia, but so he speaks of Tarsus in Oilicia. And we have seen that Tarsus, though truly called an inland town, as being some distance from the coast, was nevertheless a mercantile harbor. Its relation with the Oydnus was similar to that of Perga with the Oestrus, and the vessel which brought Paul to win more glorious victories than those of the Greek and Roman battles of the Eurym- edon came up the course of the Oestrus to her moorings near the temple of Diana. All that Strabo tells us of this city is that the temple of Diana was on an eminence at some short distance, and that an annual festival was held in honor of the goddess. The chief associations of Perga are with the Greek rather than the Roman period, and its existing remains are described as being " purely Greek, there being no trace of any later inhabitants.'' Its prosperity was probably arrested by the building of Attaleia after the death of Alexander in a more favorable situation on the shore of the bay. Attaleia has never ceased to be an important town since the day of its foundation by Attalus Philadelphus. But when the trav- eller pitches his tent at Perga, he finds only the encampments of shepherds, who pasture their cattle amidst the ruins. These ruins are walls and towers, columns and cornices, a theatre and a stadium, a broken aqueduct encrusted with the calcareous deposit of the Pamphylian streams, and tombs scattered on both sides of the site of the town. Nothing else remains of Perga but the beauty of its natural situation, " between and upon the sides of two hills, with an extensive valley in front, watered by the river Oestrus, and backed by the mountains of the Taurus." The coins of Perga are a lively illustration of its character as a city of the Greeks. We have no memorial of its condition as a city of the Romans, nor does our narrative require us to delay any longer in describing it. The apostles made no long stay in Perga. mark's return to JERUSALEM. 147 This seems evident, not only from the words used at this point of the history, but from the marked manner in which we are told that they did stay on their return from the interior. One event, how- ever, is mentioned as occurring at Perga, which, though noticed incidentally and in a few words, was attended with painful feelings at the time and involved the most serious consequences. It must have occasioned deep sorrow to Paul and Barnabas, and possibly even then some mutual estrangement ; and afterward it became the cause of their quarrel and separation. Mark " departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work." He came with them up the Oestrus as far as Perga, but there he forsook them, and, taking advantage of some vessel which was sailing towards Palestine, he " returned to Jerusalem," which had been his home in earlier years. We are not to suppose that this implied an abso- lute rejection of Ohristianity. A soldier who has wavered in one battle may live to obtain a glorious victory. Mark was afterward not unwilling to accompany the apostles on a second missionary journey, and actually did accompany Barnabas again to Oyprus. Nor did Paul always retain his unfavorable judgment of him (Acts XV. 38), but long afterward, in his Eoman imprisonment, com- mended him to the Oolossians as one who was a fellow-worker unto the kingdom of God" and "a comfort" to himself; and in his latest letter, just before his death, he speaks of him again as one " profitable to him for the ministry." Yet if we consider all the circumstances of his life we shall not find it difficult to blame his conduct in Pamphylia, and to see good reasons why Paul should afterward, at Antioch, distrust the steadiness of his character. The child of a religious mother who had sheltered in her house the Ohristian disciples in a fierce persecution, he had joined him- self to Barnabas and Saul when they travelled from Jerusalem to Antioch on their return from a mission of charity. He had been a close spectator of the wonderful power of the religion of Ohrist ; he had seen the strength of faith under trial in his mother's home ; he had attended his kinsman Barnabas in his labors of zeal and love ; he had seen the word of Paul sanctioned and fulfilled by miracles; he had even been the "minister" of apostles in their successful enterprise ; and now he forsook them when they were about to proceed through greater difficulties to more glorious suc- cess. We are not left in doubt as to the real character of his departure. He was drawn from the work of God by the attraction 148 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. of an earthly home. As he looked up from Perga to the Gentile mountains his heart failed him and turned back with desire towards Jerusalem. He could not resolve to continue persevering "in journeyings often, in perils of rivers, in perils of robbers." " Perils of rivers " and " perils of robbers — these words express the very dangers which Paul would be most likely to encounter on his journey from Perga in Pamphylia to Antioch in Pisidia. The lawless and marauding habits of the population of those moun- tains which separate the table-lands in the interior of Asia Minor from the plains on the south coast were notorious in. all parts of ancient history. Strabo uses the same strong language both of the Isaurians, who separated Cappadocia from Cilicia, and of their neighbors the Pisidians, whose native fortresses were the barrier between Phrygia and Pamphylia. We have the same character of the latter of these robber tribes in Xenophon, who is the first to mention them, and in Zosimus, who relieves the history of the later empire by telling us of the adventures of a robber chief who defied the Romans and died a desperate death in these mountains. Alexander the Great, when he heard that Memnon's fleet was in the ^gean, and marched from Perga to rejoin Parmenio in Phryg- ia, found some of the worst difficulties of his whole campaign in penetrating through this district. The scene of one of the roughest campaigns connected with the wars of Antiochus the Great was among the hill-forts near the upper waters of the Oestrus and Eurymedon. No population through the midst of which Paul ever travelled abounded more in those " perils of robbers " of which he himself speaks than the wild and lawless clans of the Pisidian highlands. And if on this journey he was exposed to dangers from the attacks of men, there might be other dangers, not less imminent, arising from the natural character of the country itself. To travellers in the East there is a reality in perils of rivers " which we in America are hardly able to understand. Unfamiliar with the sudden flooding of thirsty watercourses, we seldom comprehend the full force of some of the most striking images in the Old and New Testaments. The rivers of Asia Minor, like all the rivers in the Levant, are liable to violent and sudden changes. And no district in Asia Minor is more singularly characterized by its "water-floods'' than the mountainous tract of Pisidia, where rivers burst out at the bases of huge clifls or dash down wildly Paul's journey in pisidia. 149 through narrow ravines. The very notice of the bridges in Strabo, when he tells us how the Oestrus and Eurymedon tumble down from the heights and precipices of Selge to the Pamphylian Sea, is more expressive than any elaborate description. We cannot determine the position of any bridges which the apostle may have crossed, but his course was never far from the channels of these two rivers ; and it is an interesting fact that his name is still tra- ditionally connected with one of them, as we learn from the infor- mation recently given to an English traveller by the archbishop of Pisidia. Such considerations respecting the physical peculiarities of the country now traversed by Paul naturally lead us into various trains of thought concerning the scenery, the climate, and the seasons. And there are certain probabilities in relation to the time of the year when the apostle may be supposed to have jour- neyed this way which may well excuse some remarks on these subjects. And this is all the more allowable because we are abso- lutely without any data for determining the year in which this first missionary expedition was undertaken. All that we can assert with confidence is that it must have taken place somewhere in the interval between the years 45 and 50. But this makes us all the more desirous to determine, by any reasonable conjectures, the movements of the apostle in reference to a better chronology than that which reckons by successive years — the chronology which furnishes us with the real imagery round his path, the chronology of the seasons. Now, we may well suppose that he might sail from Seleucia to Salamis at the beginning of spring. In that age and in those waters the commencement of a voyage was usually determined by the advance of the season. The sea was technically said to be "open'' in the month of March. If Paul began his journey in that month, the lapse of two months might easily bring him to Perga, and allow sufficient time for all that we are told of his pro- ceedings at Salamis and Paphos. If we suppose him to have been at Perga in May, this would have been exactly the most natural time for a journey to the mountains. Earlier in the spring the passes would have been filled with snow. In the heat of summer the weather would have been less favorable for the journey. In the autumn the disadvantages would have been still greater, from the approaching difficulties of winter. But again : if Paul was at 150 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. Perga in May, a further reason may be given why he did not stay there, but seized all the advantages of the season for prosecuting his journey to the interior. The habits of a people are always determined or modified by the physical peculiarities of their country; and a custom prevails among the inhabitants of this part of Asia Minor which there is every reason to believe has been unbroken for centuries. At the beginning of the hot season they move up from the plains to the cool basin-like hollows on the mountains. These yailahs or summer retreats are always spoken of with pride and satisfaction, and the time of the journey antici- pated with eager delight. When the time arrives the people may be seen ascending to the upper grounds, men, women, and children, with flocks and herds, camels and asses, like the patriarchs of old. If, then, Paul was at Perga in May, he would find the inhabitants deserting its hot and silent streets. They would be moving in the direction of his own intended journey. He would be under no temptation to stay. And if we imagine him as joining some such company of Pamphylian families on his way to the Pisidian mountains, it gives much interest and animation to the thought of this part of his progress. Perhaps it was in such company that the apostle entered the first passes of the mountainous district, along some road formed partly by an artificial pavement and partly by the native marble, with high cliffs frowning on either hand, with tombs and in- scriptions, even then ancient, on the projecting rocks around, and with copious fountains bursting out "among thickets of pomegranates and oleanders." The oleander, "the favorite flower of the Levantine midsummer," abounds in the lower watercourses ; and in the month of May it borders all the banks with a line of brilliant crimson. As the path ascends the rocks begin to assume the wilder grandeur of mountains, the richer fruit trees begin to disappear, and the pine and walnut succeed, though the plane tree still stretches its wide leaves over the stream which dashes wildly down the ravine, crossing and recrossing the dangerous road. The alteration of climate which attends on the traveller's progress is soon perceptible. A few hours will make the difference of weeks or even months. When the corn is in the ear on the lowlands, ploughing and sowing are hardly well begun upon the highlands. Spring flowers may be seen in the mountains by the very edge of the snow when the anemone is withered in the plain TABLE-LAND OF ASIA MINOR. 151 and the pink veins in the white asphodel flower are shrivelled by the heat. When the cottages are closed and the grass is parched, and everything is silent below in the purple haze and stillness of midsummer, clouds are seen drifting among the Pisidian precipices, and the cavern is often a welcome shelter from a cold and pen- etrating wind. The upper part of this district is a wild region of cliffs, often isolated and bare, and separated from each other by valleys of sand, which the storm drives with blinding violence among the shivered points. The trees become fewer and smaller at every step. Three belts of vegetation are successively passed through in ascending from the coast — first, the oak woods, then the forests of pine, and lastly the dark scattered patches of the cedar-juniper; and then we reach the treeless plains of the in- terior, which stretch in dreary extension to the north and the east. After such a journey as this, separating we know not where from the companions they may have joined, and often thinking of that Christian companion who had withdrawn himself from their society w^hen they needed him most, Paul and Barnabas emerged from the rugged mountain-passes and came upon the central table- land of Asia Minor. The whole interior region of the peninsula may be correctly described by this term ; for, though intersected in various directions by mountain-ranges, it is, on the whole, a vast plateau, elevated higher than the summit of Ben Nevis above the level of the sea. This is its general character, though a long journey across the district brings the traveller through many varieties of scenery. Sometimes he moves for hours along the dreary margin of an inland sea of salt ; sometimes he rests in a cheerful, hospitable town by the shore of a fresh-water lake. In some places the ground is burnt and volcanic, in others green and fruitful. Sometimes it is depressed into watery hollows, where wild swans visit the pools and stork are seen fishing and feeding among the weeds ; more frequently it is spread out into broad, open downs like Salisbury Plain, which afford an interminable })asture for flocks of sheep. To the north of Pamphylia the elevated plain stretches through Phrygia for a hundred miles from Mount Olympus to Mount Taurus. The southern portion of these bleak uplands was crossed by Paul's track immediately before his arrival at Antioch in Pisidia. The features of human life which he had around him are probably almost as unaltered as the scenery of the country — dreary villages with flat-roofed huts and cattle- 152 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. sheds in the day, and at night an encampment of tents of goat^s hair, tents of cilicium — a blazing fire in the midst, horses fastened around, and in the distance the moon shining on the snowy sum- mits of Taurus. The Sultan Tareek, or Turkish royal road, from Adalia to Kiu- tayah and Constantinople, passes nearly due north by the beautiful Lake of Buldur. The direction of Antioch in Pisidia bears more to the east. After passing somewhere near Selge and Sagalassus, Paul approached by the margin of the much larger though perhaps not less beautiful Lake of Eyerdir. The position of the city is not far from the northern shore of this lake, at the base of a mountain- range which stretches through Phrygia in a south-easterly direction. It is, however, not many years since the statement could be confi- dently made. Strabo, indeed, describes its position with remark- able clearness and precision. His words are as follows: *'In the district of Phrygia called Paroreia there is a certain mountain- ridge stretching from east to west. On each side there is a large plain below this ridge, and it has two cities in its neighborhood — Philomelium on the north, and on the other side Antioch, called Antioch near Pisidia. The former lies entirely in the plain, the latter (which has a Eoman colony) is on a height." With this description before him, and taking into account certain indications of distance furnished by ancient authorities, Colonel Leake, who has perhaps done more for the elucidation of classical topography than any other man, felt that Ak-Sher, the position assigned to Antioch by D'Anville and other geographers, could not be the true place : Ak-Sher is on the north of the ridge, and the position could not be made to harmonize with the Tables. But he was not in possession of any information which could lead him to the true position, and the problem remained unsolved till Mr. Arundell started from Smyrna in 1833 with the deliberate purpose of dis- covering the scene of PauPs labors. He successfully proved that Ak-Sher is Philomelium, and that Antioch is at Jalobatch, on the other side of the ridge. The narrative of his successful journey is very interesting, and every Christian ought to sympathize in the pleasure .Tith which, knowing that Antioch was seventy miles from Apamea and forty-five miles from Apollonia, he first succeeded in identifying Apollonia, and then, exactly at the right distance, per- ceived in the tombs near a fountain and the vestiges of an ancient road sure indications of his approach to a ruined city ; and then PISIDIAN ANTIOCH. 153 saw across the plain the remains of an aqueduct at the base of the mountain ; and finally, arrived at Jalobatch, ascended to the eleva- tion described by Strabo, and felt as he looked on the superb ruins around that he was " really on the spot consecrated by the labors and persecution of the apostles Paul and Barnabas.'^ The position of the Pisidian Antioch being thus determined by the convergence of ancient authority and modern investigation, we perceive that it lay on an important line of communication, west- vrard by Apamea with the valley of the Maeander, and eastward by Iconium w^ith the country behind the Taurus. In this general di- rection, between Smyrna and Ephesus on the one hand, and the Cilician Gates which lead down to Tarsus on the other, conquer- ing armies and trading caravans, Persian satraps, Roman procon- suls, and Turkish pashas have travelled for centuries. The Pisid- ian Antioch was situated about halfway between these extreme points. It was built (as we have seen in an earlier chapter, IV.) by the founder of the Syrian Antioch, and in the age of the Greek kings of the line of Seleucus it was a town of considerable import- ance. But its appearance had been modilied, since the campaigns of Scipio and Manlius and the defeat of Mithridates, by the intro- duction of Roman usages and the Roman style of building. This was true to a certain extent of all the larger towns of Asia Minor, but this change had probably taken place in the Pisidian Antioch more than in many cities of gi'eater importance; for, like Pliilippi, it was a Roman colonia. Without delaying at present to explain the full meaning of this term, we may say that the character im- pressed on any town in the empire which had been made subject to military colonization was particularly Boman, and that all such towns were bound by a tie of peculiar closeness to the mother-city. The insignia of Roman power were displayed more conspicuously than in other towns in the same province. In the provinces where Greek v/as spoken, while other towns had Greek letters on their coins, the money of the colonies was distinguished by Latin super- scriptions. Antioch must have had some eminence among the eastern colonies, for it was founded by Augustus and called Cresarea. Such coins as those described were in circulation here, though not at Perga or Iconium when Paul visited these cities; and, more than at any other city visited on this journey, he would hear Latin side by side with the Greek and the ruder Pisidian dialect. Along with this population of Greeks, Romans, and native 154 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. Pisidians a greater or smaller number of Jews was intermixed. They may not have been a very numerous body, for only one syna- gogue is mentioned in the narrative. But it is evident from the events recorded that they were an influential body, that they had made many proselytes, and that they had obtained some consider- able dominion (as in the parallel cases of Damascus recorded by Josephus, and Beroea and Thessalonica in the Acts of the Apostles) over the minds of the Gentile women. On the sabbath days the Jews and the proselytes met in the synagogue. It is evident that at this time full liberty of public worship was permitted to the Jewish people in all parts of the Roman empire, whatever limitations might have been enacted by law or compelled by local opposition as relates to the form and situation of the synagogues. We infer from Epiphanius that the Jewish places of worship were often erected in open and conspic- uous positions. This natural wish may frequently have been checked by the influence of the heathen priests, who would not willingly see the votaries of an ancient idolatry forsaking the temple for the synagogue, and feelings of the same kind may probably have hindered the Jews, even if they had the ability or desire, from erecting religious edifices of any remarkable grandeur and solidity. No ruins of the synagogues of imperial times have remained to us, like those of the temples in every province from which we are able to convince ourselves of the very form and size of the sanctuaries of Jupiter, Apollo, and Diana. There is little doubt that the sacred edifices of the Jews have been modified by the architecture of the remote countries through which they have been dispersed and the successive centuries through which they have continued a separate people. Under the Roman empire it is natural to suppose that they must have varied, according to circumstances, through all gradations of magnitude and decoration, , from the simple jorosewc/ia at Philippi to the magnificent prayer- houses at Alexandria. Yet there are certain traditional peculiari- ties which have doubtless united together by a common resemblance the Jewish synagogues of all ages and countries. The arrangement for the women's places in a separate gallery or behind a partition of lattice-work ; the desk in the centre, where the reader, like Ezra in ancient days, from his pulpit of wood'' may "open the book in the sight of all the people, . . . and read in the book the Law of God distinctly, and give the sense, and cause them to understand WORSHIP IN THE SYNAGOGUE. 155 the reading;" the carefully closed ark on the one side of the building nearest to Jerusalem for the preservation of the rolls or manuscripts of the Law ; the seats all round the building, whence " the eyes of all them that are in the synagogue " may be " fastened " on him who speaks; the "chief seats/' which were appropriated to the "ruler'' or "rulers" of the synagogue according as its organization might be more or less complete, and which were so dear to the hearts of those who professed to be peculiarly learned or peculiarly devout, — these are some of the features of a syna- gogue which agree at once with the notices of Scripture, the descriptions in the Talmud, and the practice of modern Judaism. The meeting of the congregations in the ancient synagogues may be easily realized, if due allowance be made for the change of costume, by those w^ho have seen the Jews at their worship in the large towns of modern Europe. On their entrance into the building the four-cornered Tallith was first placed like a veil over the head or like a scarf over the shoulders. The prayers were then recited by an officer called the "angel" or "apostle" of the assembly. These prayers were doubtless many of them identically the same with those which are found in the present service-books of the German and Spanish Jews, though their liturgies in the course of ages have undergone successive developments, the steps of which are not easily ascertained. It seems that the prayers were sometimes read in the vernacular language of the country where the synagogue was built, but the Law was always read in Hebrew. The sacred roll of manuscript was handed from the ark to the reader by the ehazan, or " minister ;" and then certain por- tions were read according to a fixed cycle, first from the Law and then from the Prophets. It is impossible to determine the period when the sections from these two divisions of the Old Testament were arranged as in use at present, but the same necessity for translation and explanation existed then as now. The Hebrew and English are now printed in parallel columns. Then, the reading of the Hebrew was elucidated by the Targum or the Sep- tuagint, or followed by a paraphrase in the spoken language of the country. The reader stood while thus employed, and all the congregation sat around. The manuscript was rolled up and returned to the chazan. Then followed a pause, during which strangers or learned men who had "any word of consolation" or exhortation rose and addressed the meeting. And thus, after a 156 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. pathetic enumeration of the sufferings of the chosen people or an allegorical exposition of some dark passage of Holy Writ, the wor- ship was closed with a benediction and a solemn "Amen." To such a worship in such a building a congregation came to- gether at Antioch in Pisidia on the sabbath which immediately succeded the arrival of Paul and Barnabas. Proselytes came and seated themselves with the Jews, and among the Jewesses behind the lattice were "honorable women'' of the colony. The two strangers entered the synagogue, and, wearing the Tallith, which was the badge of an Israelite, "sat down" with the rest. The prayers were recited, the extracts from " the Law and the Proph- ets" were read, the "book" returned to the minister;" and then we are told that "the rulers of the synagogue" sent to the new- comers, on whom many eyes had already been fixed, and invited them to address the assembly if they had words of comfort or instruction to speak to their fellow-Israelites. The very attitude of Paul as he answered the invitation is described to us. He "rose" from his seat, and with the animated and emphatic gesture which he used on other occasions "beckoned with his hand." After thus graphically bringing the scene before our eyes, Luke gives us, if not the whole speech delivered by Paul, yet at least the substance of what he said. For into however short a space he may have condensed the speeches which he reports, yet it is no mere outline, no dry analysis of them, which he gives. He has evidently preserved, if not all the words, yet the venj words uttered by the apostle; nor can we fail to recognize in all these speeches a tone of thought, and even of expression, which stamps them with the individuality of the speaker. On the present occasion we find Paul beginning his address by connecting the Messiah whom he preached with the preparatory dispensation which ushered in his advent. He dwells upon the previous history of the Jewish people for the same reasons which had led Stephen to do the like in his defence before the Sanhedrin. He endeavors to conciliate the minds of his Jewish audience by proving to them that the Messiah whom he proclaimed was the same whereto their own prophets bare witness, come not to destroy the Law, but to fulfil, and that his advent had been duly heralded by his predicted messenger. He then proceeds to remove the prejudice which the rejection of Jesus by the authorities at Jeru- salem (the metropolis of their faith) would naturally raise in the ADDRESS TO THE JEWS. 157 minds of the Pisidian Jews against his divine mission. He shows that Christ's death and resurrection had accomplished the ancient prophecies, and declares this to be the "glad tiding" which the apostles were charged to proclaim. Thus far, the speech contains nothing which could offend the exclusive spirit of Jewish nation- ality. On the contrary, Paul has endeavored to carry his hearers with him by the topics on which he has dwelt — the Saviour whom he declares is **a Saviour unto Israel;" the Messiah whom he announces is the fulfiller of the Law and the prophets. But having thus conciliated their feelings and won their favorable attention, he proceeds in a bolder tone to declare the catholicity of Christ^s salvation and the antithesis between the gospel and the Law. His concluding words, as Luke relates them, might stand as a summary representing in outline the early chapters of the Epistle to the Romans, and therefore, conversely, those chap- ters will enable us to realize the manner in which Paul would have expanded the heads of argument which his disciple here records. The speech ends with a warning against the bigoted rejection of Christ^s doctrine which this latter portion of the ad- dress was so likely to call forth. The following were the words (so far as they have been preserved to us) spoken by Paul on this memorable occasion : "Men of Israel, and ye, proselvtes of the Gentiles, who' Ai phets by caus- sent the tidin^y of this salvation, which Jerusalem hath cast the death , . ol Jesus. out: for the inhabitants thereof, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read in their synagogues every sabbath day, have fulfilled the scriptures in condemning him. And though they found in him no cause of death, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain. And when they had fulfilled all which was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre. " But God raised him from the dead. pis resurrec- tion. " And he was seen for many days by them who came up Attested by with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his Sf^^^ witness- witnesses to the people of Israel. "And while they proclaim it in Jerusalem, we declare ^\^^ , , ingot the apos- unto you the same glad tiding concerning the promise ti^^ i« the an- ° ° ox- noun cement which was made to our fathers; even that God hatli fiil- that ciuisfs I'l'iT •! Ill resurrection nllea the same unto us their children, m that he hath luid fulfilled raised up Jesus from the dead; as it is also writen in the ises/ p^*^"^" second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. And whereas he hath raised him from the grave, no more to return unto corruption, he hath said on tliis wise, The blessings of David will I give you, even the blessings which stand fast in holiness. Wherefore it is written also in another psalm. Thou, shall not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Now David, after he had ministered in his own generation to the Avill of God, fell asleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption; but He whom God raised from the dead saw no corruption. "Be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this Jesus is declared unto you the forgive- clnist's saiva- ness of sins. And in him all who have fixith are justified S^between the from all transgressions, wherefrom in the Law of Moses ye l^w*!^ ^^^^ could not be justified. "Beware, therefore, lest that come upon you which is Final warning, spoken in the prophets. 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 youP PREACHING TO THE GENTILES. 159 This address made a deep and thrilling impression on the audi- ence. While the congregation were pouring out of the synagogue many of them crowded round the speaker, begging that " these words," w^hich had moved their deepest feelings, might be repeated to them on their next occasion of assembling together. And when at length the mass of the people had dispersed, singly or in groups, to their homes, many of the Jews and proselytes still clung to Paul and Barnabas, who earnestly exhorted them (in the form of ex- pression w^hich we could almost recognize as PauPs from its resem- blance to the phraseology of his Epistles) to abide in the grace of God.'' With w^hat pleasure can we fancy the apostles to have observed these hearers of the word, who seem to have heard it in such earnest! How gladly must they have talked with them — entered into various points more fully than w^as possible in any public address — appealed to them in various ways which no one can touch upon who is speaking to a mixed multitude ! Yet, with all their pleasure and their hope, their knowledge of man's heart must have taught them not to be over-confident, and therefore they would earnestly urge them to continue in the grace of God, to keep up the impression which had already outlasted their stay within the synagogue, to feed it, and keep it alive, and make it deeper and deeper, that it should remain with them for ever. What the issue was we know not, nor does that concern us; only we may be sure that here, as in other instances, there were some in whom their hopes and endeavors were disappointed ; there were some in whom they were to their fullest extent realized.'' The intervening week between this sabbath and the next had not only its days of meeting in the synagogue, but would give many opportunities for exhortation and instruction in private houses ; the doctrine would be noised abroad, and through the proselytes would come to the hearing of the Gentiles. So that "on the following sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God." The synagogue was crowded. Multi- tudes of Gentiles were there in addition to the proselytes. This was more than the Jews could bear. Their spiritual pride and exclusive bigotry were immediately roused. They could not endure the notion of others being freely adm.itted to the same religious privileges with themselves. This was always the sin of the Jew- ish people. Instead of realizing their position in the world as the 160 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. prophetic nation for the good of the whole earth, they indulged the self-exalting opinion that God's highest blessings were only for themselves. Their oppressions and their dispersions had not destroyed this deeply-rooted prejudice, but they rather found corn- fort under the yoke in brooding over their religious isolation ; and even in their remote and scattered settlements they clung with the utmost tenacity to the feeling of their exclusive nationality. Thus, in the Pisidian Antioch they who on one sabbath had list- ened with breathless interest to the teachers who spoke to them of the promised Messiah, were on the next sabbath filled with the most excited indignation when they found that this Messiah was "a light to lighten the Gentiles'' as well as '^the glory of his people Israel." They made an uproar, and opposed the words of Paul with all manner of calumnious expressions, "contradicting and blaspheming." And then the apostles, promptly recognizing in the willingness of the Gentiles and the unbelief of the Jews the clear indications of the path of duty, followed that bold course which was alien to all the prejudices of a Jewish education. They turned at once and without reserve to the Gentiles. Paul was not unprepared for the events which called for this decision. The prophetic intimations at his first conversion, his vision in the temple at Jerusalem, his experience at the Syrian Antioch, his recent success in the island of Cyprus, must have led him to expect the Gentiles to listen to that message which the Jews were too ready to scorn. The words with which he turned from his unbelieving countrymen were these : " It was needful that the word of God should first be spoken unto you; but inasmuch as ye reject it, and deem yourselves unworthy of eter- nal life, lo ! we turn to the Gentiles." And then he quotes a pro- phetical passage from their own sacred writings: "For thus hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation to the ends of the earth." This is the first recorded instance of a scene which was often re-enacted. It is the course which Paul himself defines in his Epistle to the Romans, when he describes the gospel as com- ing first to the Jew and then to the Gentile, and it is the course which he followed himself on various occasions of his life — at Corinth, at Ephesus, and at Home. That which was often obscurely foretold in the Old Testament, that those should " seek after God who knew him not," and that PERSECUTION BY THE JEWS. 161 he should be honored by " those who were not a people/' — that which had already seen its first fulfilment in isolated cases during our Lord's life, as in the centurion and the Syrophoenician woman, whose faith had no parallel in all the people of ^'Israel," — that which had received an express accomplishment through the agency of tw^o of the chiefest of the apostles, in Cornelius the Roman ofiicer at Csesarea, and in Sergius Paulus the Eoman governor at Paphos, — began now to be realized on a large scale in a whole community. While the Jews blasphemed and rejected Christ, the Gentiles rejoiced and glorified the word of God.'' The counsels of God were not frustrated by the unbelief of his chosen people. Anew "Israel," a new "election," succeeded to the former. A church was formed of united Jew^s and Gentiles, and all who were destined to enter the path of eternal life were gathered into the catholic brotherhood of the hitherto separated races. The syna- gogue had rejected the inspired missionaries, but the apostolic instruction went on in some private house or public building be- longing to the heathen. And gradually the knowledge of Chris- tianity began to be disseminated through the whole vicinity. The enmity of the Jews, however, was not satisfied by the ex- pulsion of the apostles from the synagogue. What they could not accomplish by violence and calumny they succeeded in effecting by a pious intrigue. That influence of women in religious ques- tions to which our attention will be repeatedly called hereafter is here for the first time brought before our notice in the sacred nar- rative of Paul's life. Strabo, who was intimately acquainted with the social position of the female sex in the towns of Western Asia, speaks in strong terms of the power which they possessed and exercised in controlling and modifying the religious opinions of the men. This general fact received one of its most striking illus- trations in the case of Judaism. We have already more than once alluded to the influence of the female proselytes at Damascus, and the good services which women contributed towards the early prog- ress of Christianity is abundantly known both from the Acts and the Epistles. Here they appear in a position less honorable, but not less influential. The Jews contrived, through the female pros- elytes at Antioch, to win over to their cause some ladies of high respectability, and through them to gain the ear of men who occu- pied a position of eminence in the city. Thus a systematic per- secution was excited against Paul and Barnabas. Whether the 11 162 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. supreme magistrates of the colony were induced by this unfair agitation to pass a sentence of formal banishment we are not in- formed, but for the present the apostles were compelled to retire from the colonial limits. In cases such as these instructions had been given by our Lord himself how his apostles were to act. During his life on earth he had said to the Twelve, " Whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily, I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judg- ment, than for that city." And while Paul and Barnabas thus fulfilled our Lord's words, shaking off from their feet the dust of the dry and sunburnt road in token of God's judgment on wilful unbelievers, and turning their steps eastward in the direction of Lycaonia, another of the sayings of Christ was fulfilled in the midst of those who had been obedient to the faith : " Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad : for great is your reward in heaven ; for so per- secuted they the prophets which were before you." Even while their faithful teachers were removed from them and travelling across the bare uplands which separate Antioch from the plain of Iconium, the disciples of the former city received such mani- fest tokens of the love of God and the power of the "Holy Ghost" that they were "filled with joy" in the midst of per- secution. Iconium has obtained a place in history far more distinguished than that of the Pisidian Antioch. It is famous as the cradle of the rising power of the conquering Turks. And the remains of its Mohammedan architecture still bear a conspicuous testimony to the victories and strong government of a tribe of Tartar invaders. But there are other features in the view of modern Konieh which to us are far more interesting. To the traveller in the footsteps of Paul it is not the armorial bearings of the Knights of St. John carved over the gateways in the streets of Rhodes which arrest the attention, but the ancient harbor and the view across the sea to the opposite coast. And at Konieh his interest is awakened not by minarets and palaces and Saracenic gateways, but by the vast plain and the distant mountains. These features remain what they were in the first century, while PAUL AT ICONIUM. 163 the town has been repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt and its archi- tectural character entirely altered. Little if anything remains of Greek or Roman Iconium, if we except the ancient inscriptions and the fragments of sculptures w^iich are built into the Turkish w^alls. At a late period of the empire it was made a colonia, like its neighbor, Antioch, but it was not so in the time of Paul. There is no reason to suppose that its character was different from that of the other important towns on the principal lines of com- munication through Asia Minor. The elements of its population would be as follows : a large number of trifling and frivolous Greeks, whose principal places of resort would be the theatre and the market-place ; some remains of a still older population, coming in occasionally from the country or residing in a separate quarter of the town ; some few Roman officials, civil or military, holding themselves proudly aloof from the inhabitants of the sub- jugated province ; and an old-established colony of Jews, who exercised their trade during the week and met on the sabbath to read the Law in the synagogue. The same kind of events took place here as in Antioch, and almost in the same order. The apostles went first to the syna- gogue, and the effect of their discourses there was such that great numbers both of the Jews and Greeks {i,e. proselytes or heathens, or both) believed the gospel. The unbelieving Jews raised up an indirect persecution by exciting the minds of the Gentile popula- tion against those who received the Christian doctrine. But the apostles persevered, and lingered in the city some considerable time, having their confidence strengthened by the miracles which God worked through their instrumentality in attestation of the truth of his word. There is an apocryphal narrative of certain events assigned to this residence at Iconium ; and we may inno- cently adopt so much of the legendary story as to imagine Paul preaching long and late to crowded congregations, as he did after- ward at Assos, and his enemies bringing him before the civil authorities with the cry that he was disturbing their households by his sorcery, or with complaints, like those at Philippi and Ephesus, that he was "exceedingly troubling their city" and ''turning away much people." We learn from an inspired source that the whole population of Iconium was ultimately divided into two great factions (a common occurrence, on far less important occasions, in these cities of Oriental Greeks), and that one party 164 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. took the side of the apostles, the other of the Jews. But here, as at Antioch, the influential classes were on the side of the Jews. A determined attempt was at last made to crush the apostles by loading them with insult and actually stoning them. Learning this wicked conspiracy, in which the magistrates themselves were involved, they fled to some of the neighboring districts of Lycaonia, where they might be more secure and have more liberty in preach- ing the gospel. It would be a very natural course for the apostles, after the cruel treatment they had experienced in the great towns on a frequented route, to retire into a wilder district and among a ruder population. In any country the political circumstances of which resemble those of Asia Minor under the early emperors there must be many dis- tricts into which the civilization of the conquering and governing people has hardly penetrated. We have an obvious instance in the Indian presidencies, in the Hindoo villages which have retained their character without alteration, notwithstanding the successive occupations by Mohammedans arid English. Thus, in the Eastern provinces of the Roman empire there must have been many towns and villages where local customs were untouched, and where Greek, though certainly understood, was not commonly spoken. Such, perhaps, were the places which now come before our notice in the Acts of the Apostles — small towns with a rude dialect and primitive superstition — ''Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia." The district of Lycaonia extends from the ridges of Mount Taurus and the borders of Cilicia on the south to the Cappadocian hills on the north. It is a bare and dreary region, unwatered by streams, though in parts liable to occasional inundations. Strabo mentions one place where water was even sold for money. In this respect there must be a close resemblance between this country and large tracts of Australia. Nor is this the only particular in which the resemblance may be traced. Both regions aff()rd excellent pasture for flocks of sheep, and give opportunities for obtaining large possessions by trade in wool. It was here, on the downs of Lycaonia, that Amyntas, while he yet led the life of a nomad chief before the time of his political elevation, fed his three hundred flocks. Of the whole district Iconium was properly the capital, and the plain round Iconium may be reckoned as its great central space, situated midway between Cilicia and Cappa- LYCAONIA. 165 docia. This plain is spoken of as the largest in Asia Minor. It is almost like the steppes of Great Asia, of which the Turkish invaders must often have been reminded when they came to these level spaces in the West ; and the camels which convey modern travellers to and from Konieh find by the side of their paths tufts of salt and prickly herbage not very dissimilar to that which grows in their native deserts. Across some portion of this plain Paul and Barnabas travelled both before and after their residence in Iconium. After leaving the high land to the north-west, during a journey of several hours before arriving at the city the eye ranges freely over a vast ex- panse of level ground to the south and east. The two most eminent objects in the view are the snowy summits of Mount Argseus, rising high above all the intervening hills in the direction of Armenia, and the singular mountain-mass called the "Kara- Dagh," or "Black Mount," south-eastward in the direction of Cilicia. And still these features continue to be conspicuous after Iconium is left behind and the traveller moves on over the plain towards Lystra and Derbe. Mount Argseus still rises far to the north-east, at the distance of one hundred and fifty miles. The Black Mountain is gradually approached, and discovered to be an isolated mass, with reaches of the plain extending round it like channels of the sea. The cities of Lystra and Derbe were some- where about the bases of the Black Mountain. We have dwelt thus minutely on the physical characteristics of this part of Lycaonia because the positions of its ancient towns have not been deter- mined. We are only acquainted with the general features of the scene. While the site of Iconium has never been forgotten, and that of Antioch in Pisidia has now been clearly identified, those of Lystra and Derbe remain unknown, or at best are extremely uncertain. No conclusive coins or inscriptions have been discov- ered, nor has there been any such convergence of modern investiga- tion and ancient authority as leads to an infallible result. We resume the thread of our narrative with the arrival of Paul and Barnabas at Lystra. One peculiar circumstance strikes us immediately in what we read of the events in this town — that no mention occurs of any synagogue or of any Jews. It is natural to infer that there were few Israelites in the place, though (as we shall see hereafter) it would be a mistake to imagine that there "were none. We are instantly brought in contact with a totally 166 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. new subject — with heathen superstition and mythology ; yet not the superstition of an educated mind, as that of Sergius Paulus, nor the mythology of a refined and cultivated taste, like that of the Athenians, but the mythology and superstition of a rude and unsophisticated people. Thus does the gospel, in the person of Paul, successively clash with opposing powers, with sorcerers and philosophers, cruel magistrates and false divinities. Now it is the rabbinical master of the synagogue, now the listening proselyte from the Greeks, that is resisted or convinced — now the honest inquiry of a Eoman oflScer, now the wild fanaticism of a rustic credulity, that is addressed with bold and persuasive eloquence. It was a common belief among the ancients that the gods oc- casionally visited the earth in the form of men. Such a belief with regard to Jupiter, " the father of gods and men," would be natural in any rural district, but nowhere should we be prej)ared to find the traces of it more than at Lystra; for Lystra, as it appears from Luke's narrative, was under the tutelage of Jupiter, and the tutelary divinities were imagined to haunt the cities under their protection, though elsewhere invisible. The temple of Jupiter was a conspicuous object in front of the city gates: what wonder if the citizens should be prone to believe that their "Jupiter, which was before the city," would willingly visit his favorite people? Again, the expeditions of Jupiter were usually represented as attended by Mercury. He was the companion, the messenger, the servant of the gods. Thus the notion of these two divinities appear- ing together in Lycaonia is quite in conformity with what we know of the popular belief. But their appearance in that particular district would be welcomed with more than usual credulity. Those who are acquainted with the literature of the Roman poets are familiar with a beautiful tradition of Jupiter and Mercury visiting in human form these very regions in the interior of Asia Minor. And it is not without a singular interest that we find one of Ovid's stories reappearing in the sacred pages of the Acts of the Apostles. In this instance, as in so many others, the Scripture, in its incidental descriptions of the heathen world, presents " un- disguised coincidences " with the facts ascertained from he«athen memorials. These introductory remarks prepare us for considering the mir- acle recorded in the Acts. We must suppose that Paul gathered groups of the Lystrians about him and addressed them in places HEALING OF THE CRIPPLE. 167 of public resort, as a modern missionary might address the natives of a Hindoo village. But it would not be necessary in his case, as in that of Schwartz or Martyn, to have learnt the primitive language of those to whom he spoke. He addrcvssed them in Greek, for Greek w^as w^ell understood in this border country of the Lystrians, though their own dialect was either a barbarous corruption of that noble language or the surviving remainder of some older tongue. He used the language of general civilization, as English may be used now in a Welsh country-town like Dol- gelly or Carmarthen. The subjects he brought before these illite- rate idolaters of Lycaonia were doubtless such as would lead them, by the most natural steps, to the knowledge of the true God and the belief in his Son's resurrection. He told them, as he told the educated Athenians, of Him whose worship they had igno- rantly corrupted, — whose unity, power, and goodness they might have discerned through the operations of Nature, — whose dis- pleasure against sin had been revealed to them by the admonitions of their natural conscience. On one of these occasions Paul observed a cripple who was earnestly listening to his discourse. He was seated on the ground, for he had an infirmity in his feet and had never walked from the hour of his birth. Paul looked at him attentively with that re- markable expression of the eye which we have already noticed. The same Greek w^ord is used as when the apostle is described as *' earnestly beholding the council" and as setting his eyes on Elymas the sorcerer.'' On this ocasion that penetrating glance saw, by the power of the Divine Spirit, into the very secrets of the cripple's soul. Paul perceived ^' that he had faith to be saved." These words, implying so much of moral preparation in the heart of this poor heathen, rise above all that is told us of the lame Jew whom Peter, " fastening his eyes upon him with John," had once healed at the temple gate in Jerusalem. In other respects the parallel between the two cases is complete. As Peter said in the presence of the Jews, "In the name of Jesus Christ of Naza- reth, rise up and walk," so Paul said before his idolatrous audience at Lystra, Stand upright on thy feet." And in this case also the word which had been suggested to the speaker by a supernatural intuition was followed by a supernatural result. The obedient alacrity in the spirit and the new strength in the body rushed together simultaneously. The lame man sprang up in the joyful 168 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. consciousness of a power he had never felt before, and walked like those who had never had experience of infirmity. And now arose a great tumult of voices from the crowd. Such a cure of a congenital disease, so sudden and so complete, would have confounded the most skilful and sceptical ph^^sicians. An illiterate people would be filled with astonishment, and rush im- mediately to the conclusion that supernatural powers were present among them. These Lycaonians thought at once of their native traditions, and crying out vociferously in their mother-tongue — and we all know how the strongest feelings of an excited people find vent in the language of childhood — they exclaimed that the gods had again visited them in the likeness of men, that Jupiter and Mercury were again in I^ycaonia, that the persuasive speaker was Mercury and his companion Jupiter. They identified Paul with Mercury, because his eloquence corresponded with one of that divinity's attributes. Paul was the "chief speaker," and Mercury was the god of eloquence. And if it be asked why they identified Barnabas with Jupiter, it is evidently a sufficient answer to say that these two divinities were always represented as com- panions in their terrestrial expeditions, though we may well be- lieve (with Chrysostom and others) that there was something majestically benignant in his appearance, while the personal aspect of Paul (and for this we can quote his own statements) was comparatively insignificant. How truthful and how vivid is the scene brought before us! and how many thoughts it suggests to those who are at once con- versant with heathen mythology and disciples of Christian theo- logy! Barnabas, identified with the father of gods and men, seems like a personification of mild beneficence and provident care, while Paul appears invested with more active attributes, flying over the world on the wings of faith and love, with quick words of warning and persuasion, and ever carrying in his hand the purse of the " unsearchable riches." The news of a wonderful occurrence is never long in spreading through a small country town. At Lystra the whole population was presently in an uproar. They would lose no time in paying due honor to their heavenly visitants. The priest attached to that temple of Jupiter before the city gates to which we have before alluded was summoned to do sacrifice to the god whom he served. Bulls and garlands, and whatever else was requisite to the per- ADDRESS TO THE LYSTRIANS. 169 formance of the ceremony, were duly prepared, and the procession moved amidst crowds of people to the residence of the apostles. They, hearing the approach of the multitude and learning their idolatrous intention, were filled with the utmost horror. They rent their clothes " and rushed out of the house in which they lodged, and met the idolaters approaching the vestibule. There, standing at the doorway, they opposed the entrance of the crowd, and Paul expressed his abhorrence of their intention, and earnestly tried to prevent their fulfilling it in a speech of which only the following short outline is recorded by Luke : " Ye men of Lystra, why do ye these things ? We also are men, of like passions with you ; and we are come to preach to you the glad tiding, that you may turn from these vain idols to the living God, who made the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein. For in the generations that are past, he suffered all the nations of the Gentiles to walk in their own ways. Nevertheless, he left not himself without witness, in that he blessed you, and gave you rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness." This address held them listening, but they listened impatiently. Even with this energetic disavowal' of his divinity and this strong appeal to their reason, Paul found it difficult to disturb the Lyca- onians from offering to him and Barnabas an idolatrous worship. There is no doubt that Paul was the speaker ; and before we pro- ceed further in the narrative we cannot help pausing to observe the essentially Pauline character which this speech manifests even in so condensed a summary of its contents. It is full of undesigned coincidences in argument, and even in the expressions employed, with Paul's language in other parts of the Acts and in his own Epistles. Thus, as here he declares the object of his preaching to be that the idolatrous Lystrians should "turn from these vain idols to the living God/' so he reminds the Thessalonians how they, at his preaching, had " turned from idols to serve the living and true God." Again, as he tells the Lystrians that God had in the generations that were past suffered the nations of the Gen- tiles to walk in their own ways," so he tells the Romans that "God in his forbearance had passed over the former sins of men in the times that were gone by," and so he tells the Athenians that " the past times of ignorance God had overlooked." Lastly, 170 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. how striking is the similarity between the natural theology with which the present speech concludes and that in the Epistle to the Eomans, where, speaking of the heathen, he says that atheists were without excuse, *'for that which can be known of God is manifested in their hearts, God himself having shown it to them. For his being and his might, though they be invisible, yet are seen ever since the world was made, being understood by his works, which prove his eternal power and Godhead." The crowd reluctantly retired, and led the victims away without offering them in sacrifice to the apostles. It might be supposed that at least a command had been obtained over their gratitude and reverence which would not easily be destroyed ; but we have to record here one of those sudden changes of feeling which are humiliating proofs of the weakness of human nature and of the superficial character of religious excitement. The Lycaonians were proverbially fickle and faithless, but we may not too hastily decide that they were worse than many others might have been under the same circumstances. It would not be difficult to find a parallel to their conduct among the modern converts from idolatry to Christianity. And certainly no later missionaries have had more assiduous enemies than the Jews, whom the apostles had everywhere to oppose. Certain Jews from Iconium, and even from Antioch, followed in the footsteps of Paul and Barnabas, and endeavored to excite the hostility of the Lystrians against them. When they heard of the miracle worked on the lame man, and found how great an effect it had produced on the people of Lystra, they would be ready with a new interpretation of this occurrence. They would say that it had been accomplished not by divine agency, but by some diabolical magic, as once they had said at Jerusalem that He who came to destroy the works of the devil " cast out devils "by Beelzebub the prince of the devils." And this is probably the true explanation of that sudden change of feeling among the Lys- trians which at first sight is very surprising. Their own interpre- tation of what they had witnessed having been disavowed by the authors of the miracle themselves, they would readily adopt a new interpretation, suggested by those who appeared to be well ac- quainted with the strangers and who had followed them from dis- tant cities. Their feelings changed with a revulsion as violent as that which afterward took place among the " barbarous people " of Malta, who first thought Paul was a murderer and then a god. PAUL STONED AT LYSTRA. 171 The Jews, taking advantage of the credulity of a rude tribe, were able to accomplish at Lystra the design they had meditated at Iconium. Paul was stoned — not hurried out of the city to execu- tion like Stephen, the memory of whose death must have come over Paul at this moment with impressive force, but stoned some- where in the streets of Lystra — and then dragged through the city gate and cast outside the walls, under the belief that he was dead. This is the occasion to which the apostle afterward alluded in the words "once I was stoned" in that long catalogue of sufferings to which we have already referred in this chapter. Thus was he "in perils by his own countrymen, in perils by the heathen,'' "in deaths oft,'' "always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in his body. . . . Alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in his mortal flesh." On the present occasion these last words were literally realized, for by the power and goodness of God he rose from a state of ap- parent death as if by a sudden resurrection. Though " persecuted," he was not "forsaken" — though "cast down," he was "not de- stroyed." " As the disciples stood about him, he rose, up and came into the city." We see from this expression that his labors in Lystra had not been in vain. He had found some willing listeners to the truth, some "disciples" who did not hesitate to show their attachment to their teacher by remaining near his body, which the rest of th^r fellow-citizens had wounded and cast out. These courageous disciples were left for the present in the midst of the enemies of the truth. Jesus Christ had said, "When they per- secute you in one city, flee to another," and the very " next day " Paul "departed with Barnabas to Derbe." But before we leave Lystra we must say a few words on one spectator of Paul's suff*erings who is not yet mentioned by Luke, but who was destined to be the constant companion of his after years, the zealous follower of his doctrine, the faithful partner of his danger and distress. Paul came to Lystra again after the in- terval of one or two years, and on that occasion we are told that he found a certain Christian there " whose name was Timotheus, whose mother was a Jewess, while his father was a Greek," and whose excellent character was highly esteemed by his fellow-Chris- tians of Lystra and Iconium. It is distinctly stated that at the time of this second visit Timothy was already a Christian; and 172 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. since we know from Paul's own expression, " my own son in the faith/' that he was converted by Paul himself, we must suppose this change to have taken place at the time of the first visit. And the reader will remember that Paul in the Second Epistle to Tim- othy (iii. 10, 11) reminds him of his own intimate and personal knowledge of the sufferings he had endured " at Antioch^ at Iconium, at Lystraj^ the places (it will be observed) being mentioned in the exact order in which they were visited and in which the successive persecutions took place. We have thus the strongest reasons for believing that Timothy was a witness of Paul's injurious treatment ; and this too at a time of life when the mind receives its deepest impressions from the spectacle of innocent suffering and undaunted courage. And it is far from impossible that the generous and warm- hearted youth was standing in that group of disciples who sur- rounded the apparently lifeless body of the apostle at the outside of the walls of Lystra. We are called on to observe at this point, with a thankful acknowledgment of God's providence, that the flight from Iconium and the cruel persecution at Lystra were events which involved the most important and beneficial consequences to universal Chris- tianity. It was here, in the midst of barbarous idolaters, that the apostle of the Gentiles found an associate who became to him and the Church far more than Barnabas, the companion of his first mission. As we have observed above, there appears to have been at Lystra no synagogue, no community of Jews and*proselytes, among whom such an associate might naturally have been ex- pected. Perhaps Timotheus and his relations may have been almost the only persons of Jewish origin in the town. And his " grandmother Lois " and mother Eunice" may have been brought there originally by some accidental circumstance, as Lydia was brought from Thyatira to Philippi. And though there was no synagogue at Lystra, this family may have met with a few others in ^ome proseucha^ like that in which Lydia and her fellow-worship- pers met " by the river-side." Whatever we may conjecture con- cerning the congregational life to which Timotheus may have been accustomed, we are accurately informed of the nature of that domestic life which nurtured him for his future labors. The good soil of his heart was well prepared before Paul came, by the instructions of Lois and Eunice, to receive the seed of Chris- tian truth sown by the apostle's first visit, and to produce a rich THE APOSTLES RETRACE THEIR JOURNEY. 173 harvest of faith and good works before the time of his second visit. Derbe, as we have seen, is somewhere not far from the " Black Mountain," which rises like an island in the south-eastern part of the plain of Lycaonia. A few hours would suffice for the journey between Lystra and its neighbor city. We may perhaps infer from the fact that Derbe is not mentioned in the list of places which Paul brings to the recollection of Timothy as scenes of past suffer- ing and distress, that in this town the apostles were exposed to no persecution. It may have been a quiet resting-place after a journey full of toil and danger. It does not appear that they were hindered in " evangelizing " the city, and the fruit of their labors was the conversion of " many disciples." And now we have reached the limit of Paul's first missionary journey. About this part of the Lycaonian plain, where it approaches, through gradual undulations, to the northern bases of Mount Taurus, he was not far from that well-known pass which leads down from the central table-land to Cilicia and Tarsus. But his thoughts did not centre in an earthly home. He turned back upon his footsteps, and revisited the places, Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, where he himself had been reviled and persecuted, but where he had left, as sheep in the desert, the disciples whom his Master had enabled him to gather. They needed building up and strengthening in the faith, comforting in the midst of their inevit- able sufferings, and fencing round by permanent institutions. Therefore, Paul and Barnabas revisited the scenes of their labors, undaunted by the dangers which awaited them, and using words of encouragement — which none but the founders of a true religion would have ventured to address to their earliest converts — that " we can only enter the kingdom of God by passing through much tribulation." But not only did they fortify their faith by passing words of encouragement ; they ordained elders in every church after the pattern of the first Christian communities in Palestine, and with that solemn observance which had attended their own consecration, and which has been transmitted to later ages in con- nection with ordination : 'Svith fasting and prayer" they "made choice of fit persons to serve in the sacred ministry of the Church." Thus, having consigned their disciples to Him " in whom they had believed," and who was "able to keep that which was entrusted to him," Paul and Barnabas descended through the 174 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. Pisidian mountains to the plain of Pamphylia. If our conjecture is correct, that they went up from Perga in spring and returned at the close of autumn, and spent all the hotter months of the year in the elevated districts, they would again pass in a few days through a great change of seasons, and almost from summer to winter. The people of Pamphylia would have returned from their cold residences to the warm shelter of the plain by the seaside, and Perga would be full of itfe inhabitants. The gospel was preached within the walls of this city, through which the apostles had merely passed on their journey to the interior. But from Luke^s silence it appears that the preaching was attended with no marked results. We read neither of conversions nor persecutions. The Jews, if any Jews resided there, were less inquisitive and less tyrannical than those at Antioch and Iconium, and the votaries of " Diana before the city at Perga were less excitable than those who worshipped Jupiter before the city " at Lystra. When the time came for returning to Syria, they did not sail down the Oestrus, up the channel of which river they had come on their arrival from Cyprus, but travelled across the plain to Altaleia, which was situated on the edge of the Pamphylian gulf. Attaleia had something of the same relation to Perga which Cadiz has to Seville. In each case the latter city is approached by a river voyage, and the former is more conveniently placed on the open sea. Attains Philadelphus, king of Pergamus, whose dominions extended from the north-western corner of Asia Minor to the Sea of Pamphylia, had built this city in a convenient posi- tion for commanding the trade of Syria or Egypt. When Alexander the Great passed this way no such city was in exist- ence, but since the days of the kings of Pergamus, who inherited a fragment of his vast empire, Attaleia has always existed and flourished, retaining the name of the monarch who built it. Be- hind it is the plain through which the calcareous waters of the Catarrhactes flow, perpetually constructing and destroying and reconstructing their fantastic channels. In front of it, and along the shore on each side, are long lines of cliffs over which the river finds its way in waterfalls to the sea, and which conceal the plain from those who look towards the land from the inner waters of the bay, and even encroach on the prospect of the mountains themselves. When this view is before us the mind reverts to another band THE CRUSADERS IN SYRIA. 175 of Christian warriors who once sailed from the Bay of Satalia to the Syrian Antioch. Certain passages in which the move- ments of the Crusaders and apostles may be compared with each other are among the striking contrasts of history. Conrad and Louis, each with an army consisting at first of seventy thousand men, marched through part of the same districts which were trav- ersed by Paul and Barnabas alone and unprotected. The shat- tered remains of the French host had come down to Attaleia through 'Hhe abrupt mountain-passes and the deep valleys^' which are so well described by the contemporary historian. They came to fight the battle of the cross with a great multitude and with the armor of human power ; their journey was encompassed with de- feat and death ; their arrival at Attaleia was disastrous and dis- graceful; and they sailed to Antioch a broken and dispirited army. But the crusaders of the first century^ the apostles of Christ, though they too passed " through much tribulation," ad- vanced from victory to victory. Their return to the place whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled" was triumphant and joyful, for the weapons of their warfare were not carnal." The Lord himself was their tower and their shield. CHAPTER VII. CONTROVERSY IN THE CHURCH. — SEPARATION OF JEWS AND GEN- TILES. — OBSTACLES TO UNION, BOTH SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS. — DIFFICULTY IN THE NARRATIVE. — SCRUPLES CONNECTED WITH THE CONVERSION OF CORNELIUS. — LINGERING DISCONTENT. — FEELINGS EXCITED BY THE CONDUCT AND SUCCESS OF PAUL, ESPECIALLY AT JERUSALEM. — INTRIGUES OF THE JUDAIZERS AT ANTIOCH. — CONSEQUENT ANXIETY AND PERPLEXITY. — MISSION OF PAUL AND BARNABAS TO JERUSALEM. — DIVINE REVELATION TO PAUL. — TITUS. — JOURNEY THROUGH PHENICE AND SAMARIA. — THE PHARISEES. — PRIVATE CONFERENCES. — PUBLIC MEETING. — SPEECH OF PETER. — NARRATIVE OF BAR- NABAS AND PAUL. — SPEECH OF JAMES. — THE DECREE. — CHAR- ITABLE NATURE OF ITS PROVISIONS. — IT INVOLVES THE ABO- LITION OF JUDAISM.— PUBLIC RECOGNITION OF PAUL'S MIS- SION TO THE HEATHEN. — JOHN. — RETURN TO ANTIOCH WITH JUDAS, SILAS, AND MARK. — READING OF THE LETTER. — WEAK CONDUCT OF PETER AT ANTIOCH. — HE IS REBUKED BY PAUL. — PERSONAL APPEARANCE OF THE TWO APOSTLES. — THEIR REC- ONCILIATION. If, when we contrast the voyage of Paul and Barnabas across the Bay of Attaleia with the voyage of those who sailed over the same waters in the same direction eleven centuries later, our minds are powerfully drawn towards the pure age of early Christianity, when the power of faith made human weakness irresistibly strong, the same thoughts are not less forcibly presented to us when we contrast the reception of the Crusaders at Antioch with the recep- tion of the apostles in the same city. We are told by the chron- iclers that Raymond, "prince of Antioch," waited with much ex- pectation for the arrival of the French king, and that when he heard of his landing at Seleucia he gathered together all the nobles and chief men of the people and went out to meet him, and brought him into Antioch with much pomp and magnificence, showing him 176 CONTROVERSIES IN THE CHURCH. 177 all reverence and homage in the midst of a great assemblage of the clergy and people. All that Luke tells us of the reception of the apostles after their victorious campaign is, that they entered into the city and " gathered together the Church, and told them how God had worked with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.'' Thus the kingdom of God came at the first " without observation,'' with the humble acknowledgment that all power is given from above, and with a thankful recognition of our Father's merciful love to all mankind. No age, however, of Christianity, not even the earliest, has been without its difficulties, controversies, and corruptions. The pres- ence of Judas among the apostles, and of Ananias and Sapphira among the first disciples, were proofs of the power which moral evil possesses to combine itself with the holiest works. The mis- understanding of " the Grecians and Hebrews " in the days of Stephen, the suspicion of the apostles when Paul came from Da- mascus to Jerusalem, the secession of Mark at the beginning of the first missionary journey, were symptoms of the prejudice, ignorance, and infirmity in the midst of which the gospel was to win its way in the hearts of men. And the arrival of the apostles at Antioch at the close of their journey was presently followed by a troubled controversy which involved the most momentous conse- quences to all future ages of the Church, and which led to that visit to Jerusalem which, next after his conversion, is perhaps the most important passage in Paul's life. We have seen (Chap. I.) that great numbers of Jews had long been dispersed beyond the limits of their own land, and were at this time distributed over every part of the Roman empire. " Moses had of old time, in every city, them that preached him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day." In every considerable city, both of the East and West, were established some members of that mysterious people who had a written Law, which they read and re- read, in the midst of the contempt of those who surrounded them, week by week and year by year, — who were bound everywhere by a secret link of affection to one city in the world, where alone their religious sacrifices could be offered, — whose whole life was utterly abhorrent from the temples and images which crowded the neigh- borhood of their synagogues, and from the gay and licentious fes- tivities of the Greek and Roman worship. In the same way it might be said that Plato and Aristotle, Zeno 12 178 LIFE AND EPISTI.es OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. and Epicurus, "had in every city those that preached thenu'' Side by side with the doctrines of Judaism the speculations of Greek pLxiosophers were not indeed read in connection with religious worship, but orally taught and publicly discussed in the schools. Hence the Jews, in their foreign settlements, were surrounded not only by an idolatry which shocked all their deepest feelings, and by a shameless profligacy unforbidden by, and even associated with, that which the Gentiles called religion, but also by a proud and contemptuous philosophy that alienated the more educated classes of society to as great a distance as the unthinking mul- titude. Thus, a strong line of demarcation between the Jews and Gen- tiles ran through the whole Roman empire. Though their dwell- ings were often contiguous, they were separated from each other by deep-rooted feelings of aversion and contempt. The " middle wall of partition'' was built up by diligent hands on both sides. This mutual alienation existed notwithstanding the vast number of proselytes who were attracted to the Jewish doctrine and wor- ship, and who, as we have already observed (Chap. I.), were silently preparing the way for the ultimate union of the two races. The breach was even, widened, in many cases, in consequence of this work of proselytism ; for those who went over to the Jewish camp or hesitated on the neutral ground were looked on with some sus- picion by the Jews themselves and thoroughly hated and despised by the Gentiles. It must be remembered that the separation of which we speak was both religious and social. The Jews had a divine Law which sanctioned the principle and enforced the practice of national iso- lation. They could not easily believe that this Law, with which all the glorious passages of their history were associated, was meant only to endure for a limited period, and we cannot but sympathize in the difficulty they felt in accepting the notion of a cordial union with the uncircumcised, even after idolatry was abandoned and morality observed. And again, the peculiar character of the relig- ion which isolated the Jews was such as to place insuperable obstaCiCs in the way of social union with other men. Their cere- monial observances precluded the possibility of their eating with the Gentiles. The nearest parallel we can find to this barrier be- tween the Jews and Gentiles is the institution of caste among the ancient populations of India, which, presents itself to English poll- OBSTACLES TO UNION. 179 ticians as a perplexing fact in the government of the Presidencies, and to our missionaries as the great obstacle to the progress of Chris- tianity in the East. A Hindoo cannot eat with a Parsee or a Mo- hammedan, and among the Hindoos themselves the meals of a Brahman are polluted by the presence of a pariah, though they meet and have free intercourse in the ordinary transaction of business. And so it was in the patriarchal age. It w^as " an abomination for the Egyptians to eat bread w^ith the Hebrews " (Gen. xlii. 32). The same principle was divinely sanctioned for a time in the Mosaic institutions. The Israelites who lived among the Gentiles met them freely in the places of public resort, buying and selling, conversing and disputing, but their families were separate: in the relations of domestic life it was " unlawful," as Peter said to Cornelius, " for a man that was a Jew to keep company or come unto one of another nation" (Acts x. 28). When Peter returned from the centurion at Csesarea to his brother-Christians at Jerusalem, their great charge against him was that he had " gone in to men uncir- cumcised, and had eaten with them" (Acts xi. 3) ; and the weak compliance of which he was guilty after the true principle of social unity had been publicly recognized, and which called forth the stern rebuke of his brother-apostles, was that, after eating with the Gentiles, he "withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision" (Gal. ii. 12). How these two difficulties, which seemed to forbid the formation of a united Church on earth, were ever to be overcome, — how the Jews and Gentiles w^ere to be religiously united without the en- forced obligation of the whole Mosaic Law, — how they were to be socially united as equal brethren in the family of a common Father ; — the solution of this problem must in that day have ap- peared impossible. And without the direct intervention of divine grace it would have been impossible. We now proceed to consider how that grace gave to the minds of the apostles the wisdom, discretion, forbearance, and firmness which were required, and how Paul was used as the great instrument in accomplishing a work necessary to the very existence of the Christian Church. We encounter here a difficulty, well known to all who have ex- amined this subject, in combining into one continuous narrative the statements in the Epistle to the Galatians and in the Acts of the Apostles. In the latter book we are informed of five distinct journeys made by the apostle to Jerusalem after the time of his 180 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. conversion — first, when he escaped from Damascus and spent a fortnight with Peter; secondly, when he took the collection from Antioch with Barnabas in the time of famine ; thirdly, on the occasion of the council, which is now before us in the fifteenth chapter of the Acts; fourthly, in the interval between his second and third missionary journeys ; and, fifthly, when the uproar was made in the temple and he was taken into the custody of the Roman garrison. In the Epistles to the Galatians, Paul speaks of two journeys to Jerusalem — the first being three years" after his conversion ; the second " fourteen years" later, when his own apostleship was asserted and recognized in a public meeting of the other apostles. Now, while we have no difficulty in stating, as we have done, that the first journey of one account is the first journey of the other, theologians have been variously divided in opinion as to whether the second journey of the Epistle must be identified with the second, third, or fourth of the Acts, or whether it is a separate journey, distinct from any of them. It is agreed by all that the fifth cannot possibly be intended. The view we have adopted, that the second journey of the Epistle is the third of the Acts, is that of a majority of the best critics and commen- tators. For the arguments by which it is justified, and for a full discussion of the whole subject, we must refer the reader to the note at the end of this chapter. Some of the arguments will be indirectly presented in the following narrative. So far as the circumstances combined together in the present chapter appear natural, consecutive and coherent, so far some reason will be given for believing that we are not following an arbitrary assumption or a fanciful theory. It is desirable to recur at the outset to the first instance of a Gentile's conversion to Christianity. After the preceding remarks we are prepared to recognize the full significance of the emblemat- ical vision which Peter saw at Joppa. The trance into which he fell at the moment of his hunger — the vast sheet descending from heaven, the promiscuous assemblage of clean and unclean animals, the voice from heaven which said, " Arise, Peter, kill and m/," — the whole of this imagery is invested with the deepest meani?ig when we recollect all the details of religious and social life which separated, up to that moment, the Gentile from the Jew. The words heard by l eier in his trance came like a shock on all the prejudices of his Jewish education. He had never so broken the THE FEELINGS EXCITED AT JERUSALEM. 181 Law of his forefathers as to eat anything it condemned as unclean. And though the same voice spoke to him ''a second time/' and "answered him from heaven," "What God has made clean that call not thou common/' it required a wonderful combination of natural and supernatural evidence to convince him that God is " no respecter of persons/' but " every nation" accepts him that feareth him and worketh righteousness/' — that all such distinc- tions as depend on " meat and drink/' on " holy days, new moons, and sabbaths," were to pass away, — that these things were only "a shadow of things to come," — that "the body is of Christ," — and that "in him we are complete, . . . circumcised with a cir- cumcision not made w^ith hands, . . . buried with him in bap- tism," and risen with him through faith. The Christians " of the circumcision" who travelled with Peter from Joppa to Ca3sarea were "astonished" when they saw "the gift of the Holy Ghost poured out" on the uncircumcised Gen- tiles, and much dissatisfaction was created in the Church when intelligence of the whole transaction came to Jerusalem. On Peter's arrival, his having "gone in to men uncircumcised, and eaten with them/' was arraigned as a serious violation of religious duty. When Peter "rehearsed the matter from the beginning, and expounded it by order," appealing to the evidence of the " six brethren" who had accompanied him, his accusers were silent, and so much conviction was produced at the time that they ex- pressed their gratitude to God for his mercy in " granting to the Gentiles repentance unto life." But subsequent events too surely proved that the discontent at Jerusalem was only partially allayed. Hesitation and perplexity began to arise in the minds of the Jewish Christians, with scrupulous misgivings concerning the rectitude of Peter's conduct and an uncomfortable jealousy of the new converts. And nothing could be more natural than all this jealousy and perplexity. To us, with our present know- ledge, it seems that the slightest relaxation of a ceremonial law should have been willingly and eagerly welcomed. But the view from the Jewish standing-point was very different. The religious difficulty in the mind of a Jew was greater than we can easily imagine. We can well believe that the minds of many may have been perplexed by the words and the conduct of our Lord him- self, for he had not been sent "save to the lost sheep of the house of Israel," and he said that it was "not meet to take the chil- 182 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. dren's bread and cast it to dogs." Until Paul appeared before the Church in his true character as the apostle of the uncircumcision, few understood that " the law of the commandments contained in ordinances" had been abolished by the cross of Christ, and that the ^' other sheep," not of the Jewish fold, should be freely ad- mitted into the "one fold" by the "One Shepherd." The smouldering feeling of discontent which had existed from the first increased and became more evident as new Gentile con- verts were admitted into the Church. To pass over all the other events of the interval which had elapsed since the baptism of Cor- nelius, the results of the recent journey of Paul and Barnabas through the cities of Asia Minor must have excited a great com- motion among the Jewish Christians. " A door of faith " had been opened " unto the Gentiles." " He that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of -the circumcision, the same had been mighty in Paul towards the Gentiles." And we cannot well doubt that both he and Barnabas had freely joined in social intercourse with the Gentile Christians at Antioch in Pisidia, at Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe, as Peter " at the first," " a good while ago," had eaten with Cornelius at Caesarea. At Antioch in Syria it seems evident that both parties lived together in amicable inter- course and in much " freedom." Nor, indeed, is this the city where we should have expected the Jewish controversy to have come to a crisis ; for it was from Antioch that Paul and Barnabas had first been sent as missionaries to the heathen, and it was at Antioch that Greek proselytes had first accepted the truth and that the united body of believers had first been called " Chris- tians." Jerusalem was the metropolis of the Jew^ish world. The exclu- sive feelings which the Jews carried with them wherever they were diffused were concentrated in Jerusalem in their most intense degree. It was there, in the sight of the temple, and with all the recollections of their ancestors surrounding their daily life, that the impatience of the Jewish Christians kindled into burning in- dignation. They saw that Christianity, instead of being the purest and holiest form of Judaism, was rapidly becoming a universal and indiscriminating religion in which the Jewish element would be absorbed and lost. This revolution could not appear to them in any other light than as a rebellion against all that they had been taught to hold inviolably sacred. And since there was no INTRIGUES OF THE JTJDAIZEES. 183 doubt that the great instigator of this change of opinion was that Saul of Tarsus whom they had once known as a young Pharisee at the " feet of Gamaliel/' the contest took the form of an attack made by certain of the sect of the Pharisees upon Paul. The battle which had been fought and lost in the " Cilician synagogue'' was now to be renewed within the Church itself. Some of the "false brethren" (for such is the name which Paul gives to the Judaizers) went down "from Judaea'' to Antioch. The course they adopted, in the first instance, was not that of open antagonism to Paul, but rather of clandestine intrigue. They came as " spies " into an enemy's camp, creeping in " unawares," that they might ascertain how far the Jewish Law had been re- laxed by the Christians at Antioch, their purpose being to bring the whole Church, if possible, under the " bondage " of the Jewish yoke. It appears that they remained some considerable time at Antioch, gradually insinuating or openly inculcating their opinion that the observance of the Jewish Law was necessanj to salvation. It is very important to observe the exact form which their teach- ing assumed. They did not merely recommend or enjoin, for pru- dential reasons, the continuance of certain ceremonies in them- selves indifferent, but they said, " Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot he saved.^^ Such a doctrine must have been instantly opposed by Paul with his utmost energy. He was always ready to go to the extreme verge of charitable con- cession when the question was one of peace and mutual understand- ing ; but when the very foundations of Christianity were in danger of being undermined, when the very continuance of "the truth of the gospel " was in jeopardy, it was impossible that he should "give place by subjection," even " for an hour." The "dissension and disputation" which arose between Paul and Barnabas and the false brethren from Judaea resulted in a general anxiety and perplexity among the Syrian Christians. The minds of "those who from among the Gentiles were turned unto God " were " troubled " and unsettled. Those " words " which "perverted the gospel of Christ" tended also to "subvert the souls "of those who heard them. It was determined, therefore, " that Paul and Barnabas, with certain others, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question." It was well known that those who were disturbing the peace of the Church had their head-quarters in Judaea. Such a theological 184 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. party could only be succesfully met in the stronghold of Jewish nationality. Moreover, the residence of the principal apostles was at Jerusalem, and the community over which James " presided was still regarded as the mother-Church of Christendom. In addition to this mission with which Paul was entrusted by the Church at Antioch, he received an intimation of the divine will communicated by direct revelation. Such a revelation at so momentous a crisis must appear perfectly natural to all who believe that Christianity was introduced into the world by the immediate power of God. If a man of Macedonia" appeared to Paul in the visions of the night when he was about to carry the gospel from Asia into Europe, if ^Hhe angel of God" stood by him in the night when the ship that was conveying him to Rome was in danger of sinking, we cannot wonder when he tells us that on this occasion, when he 'Svent up to Jerusalem with Barnabas," he went " by revelation." And we need not be surprised if we find that Paul's path was determined by two different causes — that he went to Jerusalem partly because the Church deputed him, and partly because he was divinely admonished. Such a combination and co-operation of the natural and the supernatural we have observed above in the case of that vision which induced Peter to go from Joppa to Csesarea. Nor need we feel any great difficulty in adopt- ing this view of Paul's journey from Antioch to Jerusalem from this circumstance, that the two motives which conspired to direct him are separately mentioned in different parts of Scripture. It is true that we are told in the Acts simply that it was " deter- mined " at Antioch that Paul should go to Jerusalem, and that in Galatians we are informed by himself that he went by revela- tion." But we have an exact parallel in an earlier journey, already related, from Jerusalem to Tarsus. In Luke's narrative it is stated that "the brethren," knowing that the conspiracy was against his life, '^brought him down to Csesarea and sent him forth ;" while in the speech of Paul himself we are told that in a trance he saw Jesus Christ, and received from him a command to depart quickly out of Jerusalem." Similarly directed from without and from within, he travelled to Jerusalem on the occasion before us. It would seem that his companions were carefully chosen with reference to the question in dispute. On the one li^ind was Barnabas, a Jew and '^a Levite" by birth, a good representative of the Church of the circumcision. MISSION OF PAUL TO JERUSALEM. 185 On the other hand was Titus, now first mentioned in the course of our narrative, a convert from heathenism, an uncircumcised "Greek." From the expression used of the departure of this company it seems evident that the majority of the Christians at Antioch were still faithful to the truth of the gospel. Had the Judaizers triumphed, it would hardly have been said that Paul and his fellow-travellers were brought on their way by the Church." Their course was along the great Roman road which followed the Phoenician coast-line, and traces of which are still seen on the cliffs overhanging the sea, and thence through the midland districts of Samaria and Judaea. When last we had occasion to mention Phenice we were alluding to those who were dispersed on the death of Stephen and preached the gospel " to Jews only" on this part of the Syrian coast. Now it seems evident that many of the heathen Syrophoenicians had been converted to Christianity ; for, as Paul and Barnabas passed through, "declaring the conversion of the Gentiles, they caused great joy unto all the brethren." As regards the Samaritans, we cannot be surprised that they who, when Philip first " preached Christ unto them," had received the glad tidings with "great joy," should be ready to express their sympathy in. the happiness of those who, like themselves, had recently been " aliens from the commonwealth of Israel." Fifteen years had now elapsed since that memorable journey when Paul left Jerusalem, with all the zeal of a Pharisee, to per- secute and destroy the Christians in Damascus. He had twice entered, as a Christian, the Holy City again. Both visits had been short and hurried and surrounded with danger. The first was three years after his conversion, when he spent a fortnight with Peter and escaped assassination by a precipitate flight to Tarsus. The second was in the year 44, when Peter himself was in imminent danger, and when the messengers who brought the charitable contribution from Antioch were probably compelled to return immediately. Now Paul came at a more peaceful period of the Church's history, to be received as the successful champion of the gospel and as the leader of the greatest revolution which the world has seen. It was now undeniable that Christianity had spread to a wide extent in the Gentile world, and that he had been the great instrument in advancing its progress. He came to defend his own principles and practice against an increasing 186 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. torrent of opposition, which had disturbed him in his distant ministrations at Antioch, but the fountain-head of which was among the Pharisees at Jerusalem. The Pharisees had been the companions of PauFs younger days. Death had made many changes in the course of fifteen years, but some must have been there who had studied with him "at the feet of Gamaliel." Their opposition was doubtless embittered by remembering what he had been before his conversion. Nor do we allude here to those Pharisees who opposed Christianity. These were not the enemies whom Paul came to resist. The time was when the Jews, unassisted by the Roman power, could exercise a cruel tyranny over the Church. Its safety was no longer depend- ent on the wisdom or caution of Gamaliel. The great debates at Jerusalem are no longer between Jews and Christians in the Hellenistic synagogues, but between the Judaizing and spiritual parties of the Christians themselves. Many of the Pharisees, after the example of Paul, had believed that Jesus was Christ. But they had not followed the example of their school-companion in the surrender of Jewish bigotry. The battle, therefore, which had once been fought without was now to be renewed within the Church. It seems that at the very first reception of Paul and Bar- nabas at Jerusalem some of these Pharisaic Christians "rose up'' and insisted that the observance of Judaism was necessary to salvation. They said that it was absolutely "needful to circum- cise" the new converts and to "command them to keep the Law of Moses." The whole course of Paul's procedure among the Gentiles was here openly attacked. Barnabas was involved in the same suspicion and reproach ; and with regard to Titus, who was with them as the representative of the Gentile Church, it was asserted that without circumcision he could not hope to be partaker of the blessings of the gospel. But far more was involved than any mere opposition, however factious, to individual missionaries, or than the severity of any conditions imposed on individual converts. The question of liberty or bondage for all future ages was to be decided, and a convention of the whole Church at Jerusalem was evidently called for. In the mean time, before "the apostles and elders came together to consider of this matter," Paul had private conferences with the more influential members of the Christian community, and especially with James, Peter, and John, the great apostles THE SPEECH OF PETER. 187 an4 "pillars" of the Church. Great caution and management were required in consequence of the intrigues of the "false brethren" both in Jerusalem and Antioch. He was, moreover, himself the great object of suspicion, and it was his duty to use every effort to remove the growing prejudice. Thus, though con- scious of his own inspiration and tenaciously holding the truth which he knew to be essential, he yet acted with that prudence which was characteristic of his whole life, and which he honestly avows in the Epistle to the Galatians. If we may compare our own feeble imitations of apostolic zeal and prudence with the proceedings of the first founders of the Church of Christ, we may say that these preliminary conferences were like the private meetings which prepare the way for a great religious assembly in our own country. Paul and Barnabas had been deputed from Antioch ; Titus was with them as a sample of Gentile conversions, and a living proof of their reality; and the great end in view was to produce full conviction in the Church at large. At length the great meeting was summoned which was to settle the principles of missionary action among the Gentiles. It was a scene of earnest debate, and perhaps, in its earlier portion, of angry "disputing but the passages which the Holy Spirit has caused to be recorded for our instruction are those which relate to the apostles themselves — the address of Peter, the narrative of Barnabas and Paul, and the concluding speech of James. These three passages must be separately considered in the order of Scripture. Peter was the first of the apostles who rose to address the assembly. He gave his decision against the Judaizers and in favor of Paul. He reminded his hearers of the part which he himself had taken in admitting the Gentiles into the Christian Church. They were well aware, he said, that these recent converts in Syria and Cilicia were not the first heathens who had believed the gospel, and that he himself had been chosen by God to begin the work which Paul had only been continuing. The communication of the Holy Ghost was the true test of God's acceptance, and God had shown that he was no respecter of persons by shedding abroad the same miraculous gifts on Jew and Gentile, and purifying by faith the hearts of both alike. And then Peter went on to speak, in touching language, of the yoke of the Jewish law. Its weight had pressed heavily on many generations of Jews, and was well known 188 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. to the Pharisees who were listening at that moment. They had been relieved from legal bondage by the salvation offered through faith, and it would be tempting God to impose on others a burden which neither they nor their fathers had ever been able to bear. The next speakers were Paul and Barnabas. There was grea^ silence through all the multitude, and every eye was turned on the missionaries while they gave the narrative of their journeys. Though Barnabas is mentioned here before Paul, it is most likely that the latter was " the chief speaker." But both of them appear to have addressed the audience. They had much to relate of what they had done and seen together, and especially they made appeal to the miracles which God had worked among the Gentiles by them. Such an appeal must have been a persuasive argument to the Jew, who was familiar in his ancient Scriptures with many divine interruptions of the course of Nature. These interferences had signalized all the great passages of Jewish history. Jesus Christ had proved his divine mission in the same manner. And the events at Paphos, at Iconium, and Lystra could not well be regarded in any other light than as a proof that the same power had been with Paul and Barnabas which accompanied the words of Peter and John in Jerusalem and Judaea. But the opinion of another speaker still remained to be given. This was James, the brother of the Lord, who, from the austere sanctity of his character, was commonly called, both by Jews and Christians, "James the Just." No judgment could have such weight with the Judaizing party as his. Not only in the vehement language in which he denounced the sins of the age, but even in garb and appearance, he resembled John the Baptist or one of the older prophets, rather than the other apostles of the new dispensa- tion. " Like the ancient saints even in outward aspect, with the austere features, the linen ephod, the bare feet, the long locks and unshorn beard of the Nazarite," — such, according to tradition, was the man who now came forward and solemnly pronounced the Mosaic rites were not of eternal obligation. After alluding to the argument of Peter (whose name we find him characteristically quoting in its Jewish form), he turns to the ancient prophets and adduces a passage from Amos to prove that Christianity is the fulfilment of Judaism. And then he passes to the historical aspect of the subject, contending that this fulfilment was prede- termined by God himself, and that the Jewish dispensation was in THE DECREE OF THE COlf^^xjLh. 189 truth the preparation for the Christian. Such a decision, pro- nounced by one who stood emphatically on the confines of the two dispensations, came with great force on all who heard ♦it, and carried with it the general opinion of the assembly to the conclu- sion that those " who from among the Gentiles had turned unto God'' should not be "troubled" with any Jewish obligations, except such as were necessary for peace and the mutual good understanding, of the two parties. The spirit of charity and mutual forbearance is very evident in the decree which was finally enacted. Its spirit was that expressed by Paul in his Epistles to the Romans and Corinthians. He knew, and was persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean of itself, but to him that esteemeth anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. He knew that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one, but all men have not this knowledge; some could not eat that which had been offered in sacrifice to an idol without defiling their conscience. It is good to abstain from everything whereby a weaker brother may be led to stumble. To sin thus against our brethren is to sin against Christ (Rom. xiv.). In accordance with these principles, it was enacted that the Gentile converts should be required to abstain from that which had been polluted by being offered in sacrifice to idols, from the flesh of animals which had been strangled, and generally from the eating of blood. The reason for these conditions is stated in the verse to which particular allusion has been made at the beginning of the present chapter. The Law of Moses was read every sabbath in all the cities where the Jews were dispersed (Acts XV. 21). A due consideration for the prejudices of the Jews made it reasonable for the Gentile converts to comply with some of the restrictions which the Mosaic Law and ancient custom had imposed on every Jewish meal. In no other way could social intercourse be built up and cemented between the two parties. If some forbearance was requisite on the part of the Gentiles in complying with such coftditions, not less forbearance was required from the Jews in exacting no more. And to the Gentiles themselves the restrictions were a merciful condition, for they helped them to disentangle themselves more easily from the pollutions connected with their idolatrous life. We are not merely concerned here with the question of social separation — the food which was a delicacy to the Gentile being abominated by the Jew — nor with the diffi- 190 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. culties of weak and scrupulous consciences, who might fear too close a contact between "the table of the Lord" and "the table of demons ; " but this controversy had an intimate connection with the principles of universal morality. The most shameless violations of purity took place in connection with the sacrifices and feasts celebrated in honor of heathen divinities. Everything, therefore, which tended to keep the Gentile converts even from accidental or apparent association with these scenes of vice, made their own recovery from pollution more easy, and enabled the Jewish converts to look on their new Christian brethren with less suspicion and antipathy. This seems to be the reason why we find an acknowledged sin mentioned in the decree along with cere- monial observances which were meant to be only temporary and perhaps local. We must look on the whole subject from the Jewish point of view, and consider how violations of morality and contradictions of the ceremonial law were associated together in the Gentile world. It is hardly necessary to remark that much additional emphasis is given to the moral part of the decree when we remember that it was addressed to those who lived in close proximity to the profligate sanctuaries of Antioch and Paphos. We have said that the ceremonial part of the decree was intended for a temporary, and perhaps only a local, observance. It is not for a moment implied that any Jewish ceremony is necessary to salvation. On the contrary, the great principle was asserted, once for all, that man is justified not by the Law, but by faith ; one im- mediate result was that Titus, the companion of Paul and Barnabas, " was not compelled to be circumcised." His case was not like that of Timothy at a later period, whose circumcision was a prudential accommodation to circumstances, without endangering the truth of the gospel. To have circumcised Titus at the time of the meet- ing in Jerusalem would have been to have asserted that he was "bound to keep the whole Law." And when the alternative was between "the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free" and the reimposition of "the yoke of bondage," PauPs language always was that if Gentile converts were circumcised Christ could "profit them nothing." By seeking to be justified in the Law they fell from grace (Gal. v. 4). In this firm refusal to comply with the demand of the Judaizers the case of all future converts from heathenism was virtually involved. It was asserted once for all that in the Christian Church there is "neither Greek nor Jew, MEETING OF PAUL AND JOHN. 191 circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond, nor free; but that Christ is all and in air' (Col. iii. 11). And Paul obtained the victory for that principle which, we cannot doubt, will hereafter destroy the distinctions that are connected with the institution of caste in India. Certain other points decided in this meeting had a more direct personal reference to Paul himself. His own independent mission had been called in question. Some, perhaps, said that he was antagonistic to the apostles at Jerusalem, others that he was en- tirely dependent on them. All the Judaizers agreed in blaming his course of procedure among the Gentiles. This course was now entirely approved by the other apostles. His independence was fully recognized. Those who were universally regarded as " pillars of the truth," James, Peter, and John, gave to him and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, and agreed that they should be to the heathen what themselves were to the Jews. Thus was Paul pub- licly acknowledged as the apostle of the Gentiles, and openly placed in that position from which " he shall never more go out," as a pillar of the temple of the " New Jerusalem," inscribed with the new Name " which proclaims the union of all mankind in one Saviour. One of those who gave the right hand of fellowship to Paul was the beloved disciple" of that Saviour. This is the only meeting of Paul and John recorded in Scripture. It is, moreover, the last notice which we find there of the life of John until the time of the apocalyptic vision in the island of Patmos. For both these reasons the mind eagerly seizes on the incident, though it is only casually mentioned in the Epistle to the Galatians. Like other incidental notices contained in Scripture, it is very suggestive of religious thoughts. John had been silent during the discussion in the public assembly, but at the close of it he expressed his cordial union with Paul in "the truth of the gospel." That union has been made visible to all ages by the juxtaposition of their Epistles in the same Sacred Volume. They stand together among the pillars of the holy temple, and the Church of God is thankful to learn how Contemplation may be united with Action, and Faith with Love, in the spiritual life. To the decree with which Paul and Barnabas were charged one condition was annexed, with which they gladly promised to comply. We have already had occasion to observe that the Hebrews of 192 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. Judaea were relatively poor, compared with those of the Dispersion, and that the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem were exposed to pecu- liar suffering from poverty ; and we have seen Paul and Barnabas once before the bearers of a contribution from a foreign city for their relief. They were exhorted now to continue the same char- itable work, and in their journeys among the Gentiles and the dis- persed Jews " to remember the poor " at Jerusalem. In proof of Paul's faithful discharge of this promise, we need only allude to his zeal in making " the contribution for the poor saints at Jeru- salem in Galatia, Macedonia, and Achaia, and to that last journey to the Holy Land when he went, " after many years," to take ^' alms to his nation." It is more important here to consider (what indeed we have mentioned before) the effect which this charitable exertion would have in binding together the divided parties in the Church. There cannot be a doubt that the apostles had this result in view. Their anxiety on this subject is the best commentary on the spirit in which they had met on this great occasion ; and we may rest assured that the union of the Gentile and Jewish Christians was largely promoted by the benevolent efforts which attended the diffusion of the apostolic decree. Thus, the controversy being settled, Paul's mission to the Gen- tiles being fully recognized, and his method of communicating the gospel approved of by the other apostles, and the promise being given that in their journeys among the heathen they would remem- ber the necessities of the Hebrew Christians in Judaea, the two missionaries returned from Jerusalem to Antioch. They carried with them the decree which was to give peace to the consciences that had been troubled by the Judaizing agitators, and the two companions, Judas and Silas, who travelled with them, were em- powered to accredit their commission and character. It seems also that Mark was another companion of Paul and Barnabas on this journey, for the last time we had occasion to mention his name was when he withdrew from Pamphylia to Jerusalem, and presently we see him once more with his kinsman at Antioch. The reception of the travellers at Antioch was full of joy and satisfaction (Acts xv. 31). The whole body of the Church was summoned together to hear the reading of the letter, and we can well imagine the eagerness with which they crowded to listen, and the thankfulness and "consolation" with which such a communi- cation was received after so much anxiety and perplexity. The THE WORDS OF THE DECREE. 193 letter, indeed, is almost as interesting to us as to them, not only because of the principle asserted and the results secured, but also because it is the first document preserved to us from the acts of the primitive Church. The words of the original document, lite- rally translated, are as follows : The Apostles and the Elders, and the Brethren, to the Gen- tile Brethren in Antioch, and Syria, and Cicilia, Greeting: " Whereas we have heard that certain men who went out from U8 have troubled you with words, and unsettled your souls by telling you to circumcise yourselves and keep the Law, although we gave them no such commission ; " It has been determined by us, being assembled with one accord, to choose some from amongst ourselves and send them to you with our be- loved Barnabas and Saul, men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who themselves also will tell you by word the same which we tell you by letter. " For it has been determined by the Holy Ghost and by us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things : that ye ab- stain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication. Wherefrom if ye keep yourselves it shall be well with you. Farewell." The encouragement inspired by this letter would be increased by the sight of Judas and Silas, who were ready to confirm its con- tents by word of mouth. These two disciples remained some short time at Antioch. They were possessed of that power of "pro- phecy" which was one of the forms in which the Holy Spirit in.ade his presence known, and the Syrian Christians were "ex- horted and confirmed" by the exercise of this miraculous gift. The minds of all were in great tranquillity when the time came for the return of these messengers "to the apostles" at Jerusalem. Silas, however, either remained at Antioch or soon came back. He was destined, as we shall see, to become the companion of Paul, and to be at the beginning of the second missionary journey what Barnabas had been at the beginning of the first. Two painful scenes were witnessed at Antioch before the apostles Btarted on that second joufhey. We are informed that Paul and Barnabas protracted their stay in this city, and were diligently occupied, with many others, in making the glad tidings of the 13 194 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. gospel known and in the general work of Christian instruction. It is in this interval of time that we must place that visit of Peter to Antioch which Paul mentions in the Epistle to the Galatians immediately after his notice of the affairs of the council. It ap- pears that Peter, having come to Antioch for some reason which is unknown to us, lived at first in free and unrestrained intercourse with the Gentile converts, meeting them in social friendship and eating with them, in full consistency with the spirit of the recent decree and with his own conduct in the case of Cornelius. At this time certain Jewish brethren came " from James,'' who presided over the Church at Jerusalem. Whether they were really sent on some mission by the apostle James, or we are merely to understand that they came from Jerusalem, they brought with them their old Hebrew repugnance against social intercourse with the uncircum- cised, and Peter in their society began to vacillate. In weak com- pliance with their prejudices he "withdrew and separated himself from those whom he had lately treated as brethren and equals in Christ. Just as in an earlier part of his life he had first asserted his readiness to follow his Master to death, and then denied him through fear of a maid-servant, so now, after publicly protesting against the notion of making any difference between the Jew and the Gentile, and against laying on the neck of the latter a yoke which the former had never been able to bear, we find him contra- dicting his own principles, and " through fear of those who were of the circumcision" giving all the sanction of his example to the introduction of caste into the Church of Christ. Such conduct could not fail to excite in Paul the utmost in- dignation. Peter w^as not simply yipMing a non-essential point through a tender consideration for the consciences of others. This would have been quite in accordance with the principle so often asserted by his brother-apostle, that *'it is good neither to eat flesh nor drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth or is made weak." Nor was this precedent a prudent and innocent accommodation to circumstances for the sake of furthering the gospel, like PauFs conduct in circumcising Timothy at Iconium, or, indeed, like the apostolic decree itself. Peter was acting under the influence of a contemptible and sinful motive — the fear of man ; and his behavior was giving a strong sanction to the very heresy which was threatening the existence of the Church — namely, the opinion that the observance of Jewish ceremonies was neces- CONTRAST BETWEEN PETER AND PAUL. 195 sary to salvation. Nor was this all. Other Jewish Christians, as was naturally to be expected, were led away by his example ; and even Barnabas, the chosen companion of the apostle of the Gen- tiles, who had been a witness and an actor in all the great trans- actions in Cyprus, in Pisidia, and Lycaonia, — even Barnabas the missionary was " carried away" with the dissimulation of the rest. When Paul was a spectator of such inconsistency, and perceived both the motive in which it originated and the results to which it was leading, he would have been a traitor to his Master's cause if he had hesitated (to use his own emphatic w^ords) to rebuke Peter "before all," and to "withstand him to the face" (Gal. ii. 14,11). It is evident from PauPs expression that it was on some public occasion that this open rebuke took place. The scene, though slightly mentioned, is one of the most remarkable in sacred his- tory, and the mind naturally labors to picture to itself the appear- ance of the two men. It is therefore at least allowable to men- tion here that general notion of the forms and features of the two apostles which has been handed down in tradition and was repre- sented by the early artists. Paul is set before us as having the strongly-marked and prominent features of a Jew, yet not without some of the finer lines indicative of Greek thought. His stature was diminutive, and his body disfigured by some lameness or dis- tortion which may have provoked the contemptuous expressions of his enemies. His beard w^as long and thin. His head was bald. The characteristics of his face were — a transparent complexion, which visibly betrayed the quick changes of his feelings ; a bright gray eye under thickly overhanging, united eyebrows; a cheerful and winning expression of countenance, which invited the ap- proach and inspired the confidence of strangers. It w^ould be natural to infer, from his continual journeys and manual labor, that he was possessed of great strength of constitution. But men of delicate health have often gone through the greatest exertions, and his own words on more than one occasion show that he suffered much from bodily infirmity. Peter is represented to us as a man of larger and stronger form, as his character was harsher and more abrupt. The quick impulses of his soul revealed themselves in the flashes of a dark eye. The complexion of his face was pale and sallow; and the short hair, which is described as entirely gray at the time of his death, curled black and thick round his temples 196 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. and his chin when the two apostles stood together at Antiocli, twenty years before their martyrdom. Believing, as we do, that these traditionary pictures have prob- ably some foundation in truth, we gladly take them as helps to the imagination. And they certainly assist us in realizing a re- markable scene where Judaism and Christianity, in the persons of two apostles, are for a moment brought before us in strong antagonism. The words addressed by Paul to Peter before the assembled Christians at Antioch contain the full statement of the gospel as opposed to the Law : " If thou, being born a Jew, art wont to live according to the customs of the Gentiles, and not of the Jews, why wouldst thou now constrain the Gentiles to keep the ordinances of the Jews? We are by birth the seed of Abraham, and not unhallowed Gentiles ; yet, knowing that a man is not counted righteous by the works of the Law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, we ourselves also have put our faith in Christ Jesus, that we might be counted righteous by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the Law. For by the works of the Law shall no man living be counted righteous.'^ These sentences contain in a condensed form the whole argument of the Epistles to the Galatians and Romans. Though the sternest indignation is expressed in this rebuke, we have no reason to suppose that any actual quarrel took place be- tween the two apostles. It is not improbable that Peter w^as immediately convinced of his fault, and melted at once into repentance. His mind was easily susceptible of quick and sud- den changes ; his disposition was loving and generous ; and we should expect his contrition, as well as his weakness, at Antioch to be what it was in the high priest's house at Jerusalem. Yet when we read the narrative of this rebuke in Paul's Epistle, it is a relief to turn to that passage at the conclusion of one of Peter's letters, where, in speaking of the "long-suffering of our Lord" and of the prospect of sinless happiness in the world to come, he alludes in touching words to the Epistles of our beloved brother Paul." We see how entirely all past differences are forgotten — how all earthly misunderstandings are absorbed and lost in the contemplation of Christ and eternal life. Not only did the Holy Spirit overrule all contrarieties, so that the writings of both apostles teach the Church the same doctrine, but the apostle who was rebuked " is not ashamed to call the attention of the Church NOTE ON THE CHRONOLOGY OF GAL. II. 197 to Epistles in one page of which his own censure is recorded." It is an eminent triumph of Christian humility and love. We shall not again have occasion to mention Peter and Paul together until we come to the last scene of all. But, though they might seldom meet while laboring in their Master's cause, their lives were united " and in their deaths they were not divided." NOTE. On the Time of the Visit to Jerusalem mentioned in Galatians (ch. ii.) To avoid circumlocution, we shall call the visit mentioned in Gal. ii. 1 the Galatian Visit, and we shall designate the visit men- tioned in Acts ix. as Visit (1), that in Acts xi. and xii. as Visit (2)^ that in Acts xv. as Visit (3), that in Acts xviii. as Visit (4), tha* in Acts xxi. as Visit (5). I. The Galatian Visit was not the same with Visit (1), because it is mentioned as subsequent by Paul. II. Was the Galatian Visit the same with Visit {2)2 The first impression from reading the end of Gal. i. and beginning of Gal. ii. would be that it was ; for Paul seems to imply that there had been no intermediate visit between the one mentioned in Gal. i. 18, which was Visit (1), and that in Gal. ii. 1, which we have called the Galatian Visit. On the other side, however, we must observe that Paul's object in this passage is not to enumerate all his visits to Jerusalem. His opponents had told his converts that Paul was no true apostle; that he was only a Christian teacher authorized by the Judsean apostles; that he derived his authority and his knowledge of the gospel from Peter, James, and the rest of "the Twelve." Paul's object is to refute this statement. This he does by declaring — firstly, that his commission was not from men, but from God ; secondly, that he had taught Christianity for three years without seeing any of the Twelve" at all ; thirdly, that at the end of that time he had only spent one fortnight at Jerusalein with Peter and James, and then had gone to Cilicia and remained personally unknown to the Judsean Christians; fourthly, that fourteen years afterward he had undertaken a journey to Jerusa- lem, and that he then obtained an acknowledgment of his inde- 198 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. pendent mission from the chief apostles. Thus we see that his object is not to enumerate every occasion where he might possibly have been instructed by " the Twelve/' but to assert (an assertion which he confirms by oath, Gal. i. 20) that his knowledge of Christianity was not derived from their instruction. A short visit to Jerusalem which produced no important results he might naturally pass over, and especially if he saw none of '^ihe Twelve'* at Jerusalem when he visited it. Now this was probably the case at Visit (2), because it was just at the time of Herod Agrippa's persecution, which would naturally disperse the apostles from Je- rusalem, as the persecution at Stephen's death did ; with regard to Peter it is expressly said that after his miraculous escape from prison he quitted Jerusalem. This supposition is confirmed by finding that Barnabas and Saul were sent to the elders [TrpecjSvripovg) of the Church at Jerusalem, and not to the apostles. A further objection to supposing the Galatian Visit identical with Visit (2) is that at the time of the Galatian Visit Paul and Barnabas are described as having been already extensively useful as missionaries to the heathen, but this they had not been in the time of Visit (2). Again, Paul could not have been, at so early a period, considered on a footing of equality with Peter. Yet this he was at the time of the Galatian Visit, Again, Visit (2) could not have been so long as fourteen years after Visit (1). For Visit (2) was certainly not later than 45 A. D., and if it was the same as the Galatian Visit, Visit (1) must have been not later than from 31 to 33 A.D. (allowing the inclusive Jewish mode of reckoning to be possibly employed). But Aretas was not in possession of Damascus till about 37. Again, if Visit (2) were fourteen years after Visit (1), we must suppose nearly all this time spent by Paul at Tarsus, and yet that all his long residence there is unrecorded by Luke, who merely says that he went to Tarsus and from thence to Antioch. III. The Galatian Visit not being identical with (1) or (2), was it identical with (3), (4), or (5)? We may put (5) at once out of the question, because Paul did not return to Antioch after (5), whereas he did return after the Galatian Visit, There remain therefore (3) and (4) to be considered. We shall take (4) first. IV. Wieseler has lately argued very ingeniously that the Gala- tian Visit was the same with (4). His reasons are — firstly, that at NOTE ON THE CHRONOLOGY OF GAL. II. 199 the Galatian Visit the apostles allowed unlimited freedom to the Gentile converts — i. e. imposed no conditions upon them, such as those in the decrees of the council passed at Visit (3). This, how- ever, is an inference not warranted by PauFs statement, which speaks of the acknowledgment of his personal independence, but does not touch the question of the converts. Secondly, Wieseler urges that till the time of Visit (4) Paul's position could not have been so far on a level with Peter's as it was at the Galatian Visit, Thirdly, he thinks that the condition of making a collection for the poor Christians in Jerusalem, which Paul says he had been forward to fulfil, must have been fulfilled in that great collection which we know that Paul set on foot immediately after Visit (4), because we read of no other collection made by Paul for this pur- pose. Fourthly, Wieseler argues that Paul would not have been likely to take an uncircumcised Gentile like Titus with him to Jerusalem at a period earlier than Visit (4). And moreover, he conceives Titus to be the same with the Corinthian Justus, who is not mentioned as one of Paul's companions till Acts xviii. 7 — that is, not till after Visit (3). It is evident that these arguments are not conclusive in favor of Visit (4), even if there were nothing on the other side; but there are, moreover, the following objections against supposing the Galatian Visit identical with (4) : Firstly, Barnabas was Paul's companion in the Galatian Visit; he is not mentioned as being with him at Visit (4). Secondly, had so important a conference between Paul and the other apostles taken place at Visit (4), it would not have been altogether passed over by Luke, who dwells so fully upon the council held at the time of Visit (3), the decrees of which (on Wieseler's view) were inferior in importance to the concordat between Paul and the other apostles which he supposes to have been made at Visit (4). Thirdly, the whole tone of the second chapter of Galatians is against Wieseler's hypothesis, for in that chapter Paul plainly seems to speak of the first conference which he had held after his success among the heathen with the chief apostles at Jerusalem, and he had certainly seen and con- ferred with them during Visit (3). V. We have seen, therefore, that if the Galatian Visit be men- tioned at all in the Acts, it must be identical with Visit (3), at which the (so-called) council of Jerusalem took place. We will now consider the objections against the identity of these two visits urged 200 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. by Paley and others, and then the arguments in favor of the iden- tity: Objections to the Identity of the Gala- TiAN Visit with Visit (3). 1. Paul in Galatians (ii. 1) men- tions this journey as if it had been the next visit to Jerusalem after the time which he spent there on his return from Damascus ; he does not say any- thing of any intermediate visit. This looks as if he were speaking of the journey which he took with Barnabas to Jerusalem (Acts xi. 30) to convey alms to the Jewish Christians in the famine, 2. In the Galatians the journey is said to have taken place Kar anoKd\v\ljLv (Gal. ii. 2), but in Acts xv. 2-4, 6-12 a public mission is mentioned. 3. In the Galatians, Barnabas and Titus are spoken of as Paul's compan- ions; in the Acts, Barnabas and others (rire? aAAot, Acts XV. 2) J but Titus is not mentioned. 4. The object of the visit in Acts xv. is different from that of the Galatian Visit. The object in Acts xv. was to seek relief from the imposition of the Mosaic Law; that of the Galatian Visit was to obtain the recognition of Paul's independent apostleship. Answei's to the Objections. 1. This objection is answered above. 2. The journey may have taken place in consequence of a revelation, and yet may also have been agreed to by a vote of the Church at Antioch. Thus, in Paul's departure from Jeru- salem (Acts ix. 29, 30) he is said to have been sent by the brethren in consequence of danger feared; and yet (Acts xxii. 17-21) he says that he had taken his departure in conse- quence of a vision on the very same occasion. 3. This argument is merely ex silen- tio, and therefore inconclusive. In the Acts, Paul and Barnabas are natu- rally mentioned, as being prominent characters in the history. Whereas in the Epistle, Titus would naturally be mentioned by Paul as a personal friend of his own, and also because of his refusal to circumcise him. 4. Both these objects are implied in each narrative. The recognition of Paul's apostleship is implied in Acts XV. 25 : j/ui.a>»' Bapi^ajSa Koi IlavAaJ av9 piliir oif; TrapaSeSwKoat ray xpyxoL*: cLVTOiu vnep tov 6v6/u.oto? tov Kvpiov rjixiov 'Irjo-ot XpiaToO. And the relief NOTE ON THE CHRONOLOGY OF GAL. II. 201 5. In Acts XV. a public assembly of the Church in Jerusalem is described, while in the Galatians only private interviews with the leading apostles are spoken of. 6. The narrative in the Epistle says nothing of the decision of the council of Jerusalem, as it is commonly called, mentioned Acts XV. Now this decision was conclusive of the very point dis- puted by the Judaizing teachers in Galatia, and surely therefore would not have been omitted by Paul in an argument involving the question, had he been relating the circumstances which happened at Jerusalem when that decision was made. from the imposition of the Mosaic Law is implied, Gal. ii. 7, i86vT€<; ort irenicrTCVixai to evayyeAtov ttj? aKpo^varia^y where the word aKpopvo-Tias shows that the apostles at the time of Paul's visit to Jerusalem, mentioned in the Epis- tle, acknowledged that the uncircum- cised might partake of to cvayye'Aiov. The same thing is shown by the fact that the circumcision of Titus was not insisted on. We must remember also that the transactions recorded are looked upon from different points of view in the Acts and in the Epistle : for Acts XV. contains a narrative of a great transaction in the history of the Church, while Paul in the Epistle alludes to this transaction with the object of proving the recognition of his independent authority. 5. The private interviews spoken of in the Epistle do not exclude the sup- position of public meetings having also taken place : and a communica- tion to the whole Church (avrois, Gal. ii. 2) is expressly mentioned. 6. The narrative in Galatians gives a statement intended to prove the recognition of Paul's independent authority, which is sufficient to ac- count for this omission. Moreover, if Paul's omission of reference to the decision of the council proved that the journey he speaks of was prior to the council, it must equally prove that the whole Epistle was written before the council of Jerusalem ; yet it is generally acknowledged to have been written long after the council. The probable reason why Paul does not refer to the decision of the council is this: that the Judaizing teachers did not absolutely dispute that de- cision; they probably did not declare 202 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. 7. It is inconsistent to suppose that after the decision of the council of Jerusalem, Peter could have behaved as he is described doing (Gal. ii. 12); for how could he refuse to eat with the uncircumcised Christians after having advocated in the council their right of admission to Christian fel- lowship ? the absolute necessity of circumcision, but spoke of it as admitting to greater privileges and a fuller covenant with God. The council had only decided that Gentile Christians need not ob- serve the Law. The Judaizing party might still contend ihi^i Jewish Chris- tians ought to observe it (as we know they did observe it till long afterward). And also the decrees of the council left Gentile Christians subject to the same restrictions with the Proselytes of the Gate. Therefore the Judaizing party would naturally argue that they were still not more fully within the pale of the Christian Church than the Proselytes of the Gate were within that of the Jewish Church. Hence they would urge them to submit to circumcision by way of placing them- selves in full membership with the Church ; just as they would have urged a Proselyte of the Gate to be- come a Proselyte of Righteousness. Also, Paul might assume that the de- cision of the council was well known to the churches of Galatia, for Paul and Silas had carried it with them there. 7. This objection is founded on a misunderstanding of Peter's conduct. His withdrawal from eating at the same table with the uncircumcised Christians did not amount to a de- nial of the decision of the council. His conduct showed a weak fear of offending the Judaizing Christians who came from Jerusalem, and the practical effect of such conduct would have been, if persisted in, to separate the Church into two divisions. Peter's conduct was still more inconsistent (see Winer, p. 157) with the consent which he had certainly given pre- NOTE ON THE CHRONOLOGY OF GAL. 11. 8. The Epistle mentions Paul as conferring with James, Peter, and John, whereas in Acts xv. John is not mentioned at all, and it seems strange that so distinguished a per- son, if present at the council, should not have been mentioned. 9. Since in the Galatians, Paul mentions James, Peter, and John, it seems most natural to suppose that he speaks of the well-known apostolic triumvirate so often classed together in the Gospels. But if so, the James mentioned must be James the Greater, and hence the journey mentioned in the Galatians must have been before the death of James the Greater, and therefore before the council of Jerusa- lem. 203 viously (Gal. ii. 7-9) to the cvayyckiov of Paul, and with his previous con- duct in the case of Cornelius. We may add that whatever difficulty may be felt in Paul's not alluding to the decrees of the council in his Epistle to the Galatians must also be felt in bis total silence concerning them when he treats of the question of €l8(,}\6dvTa in the Epistles to Corinth and Rome, for that question had been explicitly decided by the council. The fact is, that the decrees of the council were not designed as of permanent authority, but only as a temporary and provisional measure, and their authority was superseded as the Church gradually advanced toward true Christian freedom. 8. This argument is only ex silentio, and obviously inconclusive. 9. This objection proceeds on the mere assumption that because James is mentioned first he must be James the Greater, whereas James the Less became even a more conspicuous leader of the Church at Jerusalem than James the Greater had previously been, as we see from Acts xv. ; hence he might be very well mentioned with Peter and John, and the fact of his name coming first in Paul's narrative agrees better with this supposition, for James the Greater is never mentioned the first in the apostolic triumvirate, the order of which is Peter, James, and John ; but James the Less would naturally be mentioned first if the council at Jerusalem was mentioned, 204 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. since we find from Acts xv. that he took the part of president in that counciL 10. Paul's refusal to circumcise Titus 10. Timothy's mother was a Jewess, (Gal. ii.) and voluntary circumcising and he had been brought up a Jew; of Timothy (Acts xviii. 21) so soon whereas Titus was a Gentile. The afterward. circumstances of Timothy's circum- cision will be more fully discussed hereafter. Thus we see that the objections against the identity of the Galatian Visit with Visit (3) are inconclusive. Consequently, we might at once conclude (from the obvious circumstances of identity between the two visits) that they were actually identical. But this conclusion is further strengthened by the following arguments : 1. The Galatian Visit could not have happened before Visit (3), because, if so, the apostles at Jerusalem had already granted to Paul and Barnabas the liberty which was sought for the evayykT^Lov TTjQ aKpopvGTLag ; therefore there would have been no need for the Church to send them again to Jerusalem upon the same cause And again, the Galatian Visit could not have happened after Visit (3), because almost immediately after that period Paul and Bar- nabas ceased to work together as missionaries to the Gentiles whereas up to the time of the Galatian Visit they had been work- ing together. 2. The chronology of PauFs life (so far as it can be ascertained i agrees better with the supposition that the Galatian Visit was Visit (3) than with any other supposition. Reckoning backward from the ascertained epoch of 60 A. D., when Paul was sent to Rome, we find that he must have begun his second missionary journey in 51, and that, therefore, the council— i. e. Visit (3) — must have been either in 50 or 51. This calculation is based upon the history in the Acts. Now, turning to the Epis- tle to the Galatians, we find the following epochs : A. — Conversion. B. — 3 years' interval (probably, Judaically reckoned = 2 years). C. — Flight from Damascus and Visit (1). D. — 14 years' interval (probably, Judaically reckoned = 13 years). E. — Galatian Visit. And since Aretas was supreme at Damascus at the time of the NOTE ON THE CHRONOLOGY OF GAL. II. 205 flight, and his supremacy there probably began about 87, we could not put the flight at a more probable date than 38. If we assume this to have been the case, then the Galatian Visit was 38 + 13 = 51, which agrees with the time of the council — i. e. Visit (3) — as above. VI. Hence w^e need not further consider the views of those writers who (like Paley and Schrader) have resorted to the hypoth- esis that the Galatian Visit is some supposed journey not recorded in the Acts at all ; for we have proved that the supposition of its identity with the third visit there recorded satisfies every necessary condition. Schrader's notion is that the Galatian Visit was be- tween FmV(4)and Visit [5). Paley places it between Visit (S) and Visit (4). A third view is ably advocated in a discussion of the subject (not published) which has been kindly communicated to us. The principal points in this hypothesis are — that the Gala- tians were converted in the first missionary journey, that the Galatian Visit took place between Visit (2) and Visit (3), and that the Epistle to the Galatians was written after the Galatian Visit and before Vidt (3). This hypothesis certainly obviates some difficulties, and it is quite possible (see next chapter) that the Galatian churches might have been formed at the time supposed ; but we think the "fourteen years" inconsistent with this view, and we are strongly of opinion that a much later date must be assigned to the Epistle. CHAPTER VIII. POLITICAL DIVISIONS OF ASIA MINOR.— DIFFICULTIES OF THE SUBJECT. — PROVINCES IN THE REIGNS OF CLAUDIUS AND NE- RO: I. ASIA; 11. bithynia; hi. pamphylia; iv. galatia; V. PONTUS; VI. CAPPADOCIA; VII. CILICIA. — VISITATION OF THE CHURCHES PROPOSED. — QUARREL AND SEPARATION OF PAUL AND BARNABAS. — PAUL AND SILAS IN CILICIA. — THEY CROSS THE TAURUS. — LYSTRA. — TIMOTHY. — HIS CIRCUMCISION. —JOURNEY THROUGH PHRYGIA. — SICKNESS OF PAUL. — HIS RECEPTION IN GALATIA. — JOURNEY TO THE MGEA^, — ALEX- ANDRIA TROAS. — PAUL'S VISION. The life of Paul being that of a traveller, and our purpose being to give a picture of the circumstances by which he was surrounded, it is often necessary to refer to the geography, both physical and political, of the countries through which he passed. This is more needful in the case of Asia Minor, not only because it was the scene of a very great portion of his journeys, but because it is less known to ordinary readers than Palestine, Italy, or Greece. We have already described at some length the physical geography of those southern districts which are in the immediate neighbor- hood of Mount Taurus. And now that the apostle's travels take a wider range, and cross the Asiatic peninsula from Syria to the frontiers of Europe, it is important to take a general view of the political geography of this part of the Roman empire. Unless such a view is obtained in the first place, it is impossible to under- stand the topographical expressions employed in the narrative, or to conjtvture the social relations into w^hich Paul was brought in the course of his journeys through Asia Minor. It is, however, no easy task to ascertain the exact boundaries of the Roman provinces in this part of the world at any given date between Augustus and Constantine. In the first place, thes^ boundaries were continually changing. The area of the different 206 POLITICAL DIVISIONS OF ASIA MINOR. 207 political districts was liable to sudden and arbitrary alterations. Such terms as "Asia," ^* Pamphylia," etc., though denoting the extent of a true political jurisdiction, implied a larger or smaller territory at one time than another. And again, we find the names of earlier and later periods of history mixed up together in inex- tricable confusion. Some of the oldest geographical terms, such as "^olis," "Ionia," "Caria," "Lydia," were disappearing from ordinary use in the time of the apostles, but others, such as "Mysia" and "Lycaonia," still remained. Obsolete and existing divisions are presented to us together, and the common maps of Asia Minor are as unsatisfactory as if a map of France was set before us distributed half into provinces and half into departments. And in the third place, some of the names have no political significance at all, but express rather the ethnographical relations of ancient tribes. Thus, "Pisidia" denotes a district which might partly be in one province and partly in another; and "Phrygia" reminds us of the difi*usion of an ancient people, the broken portions of whose territory were now under the jurisdiction of three or four distinct governors. Cases of this kind are, at first sight, more embarrassing than the others. They are not merely similar to the twofold subdivision of Ireland, where a province, like Ulster, may contain several definite counties, but a nearer parallel is to be found in Scotland, where a geographical district associated with many historical recollections — such as Galloway or Lothian — may be partly in one county and partly in another. Our purpose is to elucidate the political subdivisions of Asia Minor as they were in the reigns of Claudius and Nero, or, in other words, to enumerate the provinces which existed, and to describe the boundaries which were assigned to them, in the middle of the first century of the Christian era. The order we shall follow is from west to east, and in so doing we shall not deviate widely from the order in which the provinces were successively incorporated as substantive parts of the Eoman empire. We are not, indeed, to suppose that Luke and Paul used all their topographical expres- sions in the strict political sense even when such a sense was more or less customary. There was an exact usage and a popular usage of all these terms. But the first step towards fixing our geographi- cal ideas of Asia Minor must be to trace the boundaries of the prov- inces. When this is done we shall be better able to distinguish those terms which about the year 50 A. D. had ceased to have any 208 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. true political significance, and to discriminate between the techni- cal and the popular language of the sacred writers. I. Asia. — There is sometimes a remarkable interest associated with the history of a geographical term. One case of this kind i3 suggested by the allusion which has just been made to the British Islands. Early writers speak of Ireland under the appellation of '^Scotia.'' Certain of its inhabitants crossed over to the opposite coast ; their name spread along with their influence, and at length the title of Scotland was entirely transferred from one island to the other. In classical history we have a similar instance in the name " Italy," which at first only denoted the southernmost ex- tremity of the peninsula ; then it was extended so as to include the whole with the exception of Cisalpine Gaul; and finally, crossing the Rubicon, it advanced to the Alps, while the name of " Gaul " retreated beyond them. Another instance, on a larger scale, is presented to us on the south of the Mediterranean. The "Africa" of the Romans spread from a limited territory on the shore of that sea till it embraced the whole continent which was circumnavigated by Vasco da Gama. And similarly the term by which we are accustomed to designate the larger and more celebrated continent of the ancient world traces its derivation to the "Asian meadow by the streams of the Cayster" celebrated in the poems of Homer. This is the earliest occurrence of the word "Asia." We find, however, even in the older poets, the word used in its widest sense to denote all the countries in the far East. Either the Greeks, made familiar with the original Asia by the settlement of theii kindred in its neighborhood, applied it as a generic appellation to all the regions beyond it, or the extension of the kingdom of Lydia from the banks of the Cayster to the Halys as its eastern boundary diffused the name of Asia as fiir as that river, and thus suggested the division of Herodotus into "Asia within the Halys " and "Asia beyond the Halys." However this might be, the term retained through the Greek and Roman periods both a wider and a narrower sense; of which senses we are concerned only with the latter. The Asia of the New Testament is not the continent which stretches into the remote East from the Black Sea and the Red Sea, but simply the western portion of that peninsula which in modern times has received the name of "Asia Minor." Whal PROVINCE OF ASIA. 209 extent of country and what political significance we are to assign to the term will be shown by a statement of a few historical changes. The fall of Croesus reduced the Lydian kingdom to a Persian satrapy. With the rest of the Persian empire this region west of the Halys fell before the armies of Alexander. In the confusion which followed the conqueror's death an independent dynasty established itself at Pergamus, not far from the site of ancient Troy. At first its territory was narrow, and Attains I. had to struggle with the Gauls, who had invaded the peninsula, and with the neighboring chieftains of Bithynia, w^ho had invited them. Antagonists still more formidable were the Greek kings of Syria, who claimed to be "kings of Asia'' and aimed at the possession of the whole of the peninsula. But the Romans ap- peared in the East and ordered Antiochus to retire beyond the Taurus, and then conferred substantial rewards on their faithful allies. Rhodes became the mistress of Caria and Lycia on the opposite coast, and Eumenes, the son of Attains, received in the west and north-west Lydia and Mysia, and a good portion of that vague region in the interior which was usually denominated " Phrygia," stretching in one direction over the district of Lycao- nia. Then it was that, as one hundred and fifty years since the margraves of Brandenburg became kings of Prussia, so the princes of Pergamus became " kings of Asia." For a time they reigned over a highly-civilized territory which extended from sea to sea. The library of Pergamus was the rival of that of Alexandria, and Attaleia, from whence we have lately seen the apostle sailing to Syria (Acts xiv. 25, 26), and Troas, from whence we shall presently see him sailing to Europe (Acts xvi. 11), were the southern and northern (or rather the eastern and western) harbors of King Attains II. At length the debt of gratitude to the Romans was paid by King Attains III., who died in the year 133, and left by testament the whole of his dominions to the bene- factors of his house. And now the province of Asia^' appears for the first time as a new and significant term in the history of the world. The newly-acquired possession was placed under a praetor, and ultimately a proconsul. The letters and speeches of Cicero make us familiar with the names of more than one who enjoyed this distinction. One was the orator's brother Quintus ; another was Flaccus, whose conduct as governor he defended 14 210 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. before the senate. Some slight changes in the extent of the prov- ince may be traced. Pamphylia was withdrawn from this jurisdiction, Rhodes lost her continental possessions, and Caria was added to Asia, while Lycia was declared independent. The boundary on the side of Phrygia is not easily determined, and was probably variable. But enough has been said to give a general idea of what is meant in the New Testament by that ^^Asia^* which Paul attempted to enter after passing through Phrygia and Galatia ; which Peter addressed in his First Epistle, along with Pontus, Cappadocia, Galatia, and Bithynia; and which embraced the " seven churches " whose angels are mentioned in the Eevelation of John. IT. Bithynia. — Next to Asia, both in proximity of situation and in the order of its establishment, was the province of Bithynia. Nor were the circumstances very different under which these two provinces passed under the Roman sceptre. As a new dynasty established itself after the death of Alexander on the north-eastern shores of the ^gean, so an older dynasty secured its independence at the western edge of the Black Sea. Nicomedes I. was the king who invited the Gauls with whom Attains I. had to contend ; and as Attains III., the last of the house of Pergamus, paid his debt to the Romans by making them his heirs, so the last of the Bithyn- ian house, Nicomedes III., left his kingdom as a legacy to the same power in the year 75. It received some accessions on the east after the defeat of Mithridates, and in this condition we find it in the list given by Dio of the provinces of Augustus; the inter- mediate land between it and Asia being the district of Mysia, through which it is neither easy nor necessary to draw the exact frontier-line. Stretching inland from the shores of the Propontis and Bosphorus, beyond the lakes near the cities of Nicsea and Nicomedia, to the upper ravines of the Sangarius and the snowy range of Mount Olympus, it was a province rich in all the changes of beauty and grandeur. Its history is as varied as its scenery, if we trace it from the time when Hannibal was an exile at the court of Prusias to the establishment of Othman's Mohammedan capital in the city which still bears that monarch's name. It was Ha- drian's favorite province, and many monuments remain of that emperor's partiality. But we cannot say more of it without leaving our proper subject. We have no reason to believe that Paul ever PROVINCE OF PAMPHYLIA. 211 entered it, though once he made the attempt. Except the passing mention of Bithynia in this and one other place, it has no connec- tion with the apostolic writings. The first great passage of its ecclesiastical history is found in the correspondence of Trajan with its governor, Pliny, concerning the persecution of the Christians. The second is the meeting of the first general council, when the Nicene Creed was drawn up on the banks of Lake Ascanius. III. Pamphylia. — This province has already been mentioned (Chap. VI.) as one of the regions traversed by Paul in his first missionary journey. But though its physical features have been described, its political limits have not been determined. The true Pamphylia of the earliest waiters is simply the plain which borders the Bay of Attaleia, and which, as we have said, retreats itself like a bay into the mountains. How small and insignificant this ter- ritory was may be seen from the records of the Persian war, to which Herodotus says that it sent only thirty ships, while Lycia on one side contributed fifty, and Cilicia on the other a hundred. Kor do we find the name invested with any wider significance till we approach the frontier of the Roman period. A singular dispute between Antiochus and the king of Pergamus, as to whether Pam- phylia was really within or beyond Mount Taurus, was decided by the Komans in favor of their ally. This could only be effected by a generous inclusion of a good portion of the mountainous country within the range of this geographical term. Henceforward, if not before, Pamphylia comprehended some considerable part of what was anciently-called Pisidia. We have seen that the Romans united it to the kingdom of Asia. It was therefore part of the province of Asia at the death of Attains. It is difficult to trace the steps by which it was detached from that province. We find it (along with certain districts of Asia) included in the military jurisdiction of Cicero when he was governor of Cilicia. It is spoken of as a separate province in the reign of Augustus. Its boundary on the Pisidian side or in the direction of Phrygia must be left indeterminate. Pisidia was included in this province, but, again, Pisidia is itself indeterminate; and we have good reasons for believing that Antioch in Pisidia was really under the governor of Galatia. Cilicia was contiguous to Pamphylia on the east. Lycia was a separate region on the west, first as an appendage to Rhodes in the time of the republic, and then as a free state under the earliest emperors ; but 212 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. about the very time when Paul was travelling in these countries Claudius brought it within the provincial system and united it to Pamphylia; and monuments make us acquainted with a public officer who bore the title of "proconsul of Lycia and Pamphylia." IV. Galatia. — We come now to a political division of Asia Minor which demands a more careful attention. Its sacred interest is greater than that of all the others, and its history is more pecu- liar. The Christians of Galatia were they who received the apostle " as if he had been an angel," — who, " if it had been possible, would have plucked out their eyes and given them to him," and then were so soon removed " by new teachers " from Him that called them to another gospel," — who began to " run well," and then were hin- dered, — who " were bewitched " by that zeal which compassed sea and land to make one proselyte, — and were as ready, in the fervor of their party spirit, to " bite and devour one another " as they were willing to change their teachers and their gospels. It is no mere fancy which discovers in these expressions of Paul's Epistle indi- cations of the character of that remarkable race of mankind which all writers from Caesar to Thierry have described as susceptible of quick impressions and sudden changes wdth a fickleness equal to their courage and enthusiasm, and a constant liability to that dis- union which is the fruit of excessive vanity — that race which has not only produced one of the greatest nations of modern times, but which long before the Christian era, wandering forth from their early European seats, burnt Eome and pillaged Delphi, founded an empire in Northern Italy more than coextensive with Austrian Lombardy, and another in Asia Minor equal in importance to one of the largest pashalics. For the " Galatia^^ of the New Testament was really the " GauV^ of the East. The " Epistle to the Galatians " would more literally and more correctly be called the " Epistle to the Gauls." When Livy, in his account of the Homan campaigns in Galatia, speaks of its inhabitants, he always calls them Gauls." When the Greek historians speak of the inhabitants of ancient France, the word they use is " Galatians." The two terms are merely the Greek and Latin forms of the same " barbarian " appellation. That emigration of the Gauls which ended in their settlement in Asia Minor is less famous than those which led to the disasters in Italy and Greece, but it is, in fact, identical with the latter of these PROVINCE OF GAL ATI A. 213 two emigrations, and its results were more permanent. The war- riors who roamed over the Cevennes or by the banks of the Ga- ronne reappear on the Halys and at the base of Mount Dindymus. They exchange the superstitions of Druidism for the ceremonies of the worship of Cybele. The very name of the chief Galatian tribe is one with which we are familiar in the earliest history of France, and Jerome says that in his own day the language spoken at Ancyra was almost identical with that of Treves. The Gala- tians were a stream from that torrent of barbarians which poured into Greece in the third century before our era, and which recoiled in confusion from the clitFs of Delphi. Some tribes had previously separated from the main army and penetrated into Thrace. There they were joined by certain of the fugitives, and together they ap- peared on the coasts which are separated by a narrow arm of the sea from the rich plains and valleys of Bithynia. The wars with which that kingdom was harassed made their presence acceptable. Nicomedes was the Vortigern of Asia Minor, and the two Gaulish chieftains, Leonor and Lutar, may be fitly compared to the two legendary heroes of the Anglo-Saxon invasion. Some difficulties occurred in the passage of the Bosphorus which curiously contrast with the easy voyages of our piratical ancestors. But once estab- lished in Asia Minor, the Gauls lost no time in spreading over the whole peninsula with their arms and devastation. In their first crossing over we have compared them to the Saxons. In their first occupation they may be more fitly compared to the Danes. For they were a movable army rather than a nation — encamping, marching, and plundering at will. They stationed themselves on the site of ancient Troy and drove their chariots in the plain of the Cayster. They divided nearly the whole peninsula among their three tribes. They levied tribute on cities, and even on kings. The wars of the East found them various occupation. They hired themselves out as mercenary soldiers. They were the royal guards of the kings of Syria and the Mamelukes of the Ptolemies in Egypt. The surrounding monarchs gradually curtailed their power and repressed them within narrower limits. First, Antiochus Soter drove the Tectosages, and then Eumenes drove the Trocmi and Tolistoboii, into the central district which afterward became Galatia. Their territory was definitely marked out and surrounded by the other states of Asia Minor, and they retained a geographical position similar to that of Hungary in the midst of its Slavonic 214 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. neighbors. By degrees they coalesced into a number of small con- federate states, and ultimately into one united kingdom. Successive circumstances brought them into contact with the Komans in various ways — first, by a religious embassy sent from Rome to obtain peaceful possession of the sacred image of Cybele ; secondly, by the campaign of Manlius, who reduced their power and left them a nominal independence ; and then through the period of hazardous alliance with the rival combatants in the civil wars. The first Deiotarus was made king by Pompey, fled before Caesar at the battle of Pharsalia, and was defended before the conqueror by Cicero in a speech which still remains to us. The second Deiotarus, like his father, was Cicero'^s friend, and took charge of his son and nephew during the Cilician campaign. Amyntas, who succeeded him, owed his power to Antony, but prudently went over to Augustus in the battle of Actium. At the death of Amyntas, Augustus made some modifications in the extent of Gala- tia and placed it under a governor. It was now a province, reach- ing from the borders of Asia and Bithynia to the neighborhood of Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe, " cities of Lycaonia." Henceforward, like the Western Gaul, this territory was a part of the Roman empire, though retaining the traces of its history in the character and language of its principal inhabitants. There was this difference, however, between the Eastern and Western Gaul — that the latter was more rapidly and more completely assimilated to Italy. It passed from its barbarian to its Roman state without being subjected to any intermediate civilization. The Gauls of the East, on the other hand, had long been familiar with the Greek language and the Greek culture. Paul's Epistle was written in Greek. The contemporary inscriptions of the prov- ince are usually in the same language. The Galatians themselves are frequently called Gallo-Grecians, and many of the inhabitants of the province must have been of pure Grecian origin. Another section of the population, the early Phrygians, were probably numerous, but in a lower and more degraded position. The presence of great numbers of Jews in the province implies that it was in some respects favorable for traflSc, and it is evident that the district must have been constantly intersected by the course of caravans from Armenia, the Hellespont, and the South. The Roman itineraries inform us of the lines of communication betwe n the great towns near the Halys and the other parts of PONTUS — CAPPADOCIA. 215 Asia Minor. These circumstances are closely connected with the spread of the gospel, and we shall return to them again when we describe Paul's first reception in Galatia. V. PoNTUS. — The last independent dynasties in the north of the peninsula have hitherto appeared as friendly or subservient to the Roman power. Asia and Bithynia were voluntarily ceded by Attains and Nicomedes, and Galatia on the death of Amyntas quietly fell into the station of a province. But when we advance still farther to the East, we are reminded of a monarch who pre- sented a formidable and protracted opposition to Rome. The war with Mithridates was one of the most serious wars in which the republic was ever engaged, and it was not till after a long struggle that Pompey brought the kingdom of Pontus under the Roman yoke. In placing Pontus among the provinces of Asia Minor at this exact point of Paul's life we are (strictly speaking) guilty of an anachronism ; for long after the western portion of the empire of Mithridates was united partly with Bithynia and partly with Galatia the region properly called Pontus remained under the government of independent chieftains. Before the apostle's death, however, it was really made a province by Nero. Its last king was that Polemo II. who was alluded to at the beginning of this work as the contemptible husband of one of Herod's granddaughters. In himself he is quite unworthy of such particular notice, but he demands our attention not only because, as the last independent king in Asia Minor, he stands at one of the turning-points of his- tory, but also because through his marriage with Berenice he must have had some connection with the Jewish population of Pontus, and therefore probably with the spread of the gospel on the shores of the Euxine. We cannot forget that Jews of Pontus w^ere at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, that the Jewish Christians of Pontus were addressed by Peter in his First Epistle, and that " a Jew born in Pontus" became one of the best and most useful associates of the apostle of the Gentiles. VI. Cappadocia. — Crossing the country southward from the birthplace of Aquila towards that of Paul, we traverse the wide and varied region which formed the province of Cappadocia, intermediate between Pontus and Cilicia. The period of its pro- vincial existence began in the reign of Tiberius. Its last king was 216 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. Archelaus, the contemporary of the Jewish tetrarch of the same name. Extending from the frontier of Galatia to the river Euphrates, and bounded on the south by the chain of Taurus, it was the largest province of Asia Minor. Some of its cities are celebrated in ecclesiastical history. But in the New Testament it is only twice alluded to — once in the Acts, and once in the Epistles. VII. CiLiciA. — A single province yet remains, in one respect the most interesting of all, for its chief city was the apostle's native town. For this reason the reader's attention was invited long ago to its geography and history. It is therefore unnecessary to dwell upon them further. We need not go back to the time when Ser- vilius destroyed the robbers in the mountains and Pompey the pirates on the coast. And enough has been said of the conspic- uous period of its provincial condition, when Cicero came down from Cappadocia through the great pass of Mount Taurus, and the letters of his correspondents in Rome were forwarded from Tarsus to his camp on the Pyramus. Nearly all the light we pos- sess concerning the fortunes of Roman Cilicia is concentrated on that particular time. We know the names of few of its later gov- ernors. Perhaps the only allusion to its provincial condition about the time of Claudius and Nero which we can adduce from any ancient writer is that passage in the Acts where Felix is described as inquiring "of what province" Paul was. The use of tlie^strict political term informs us that it was a separate province, but we are not able to state whether it was under the jurisdiction of the senate or the emperor. With this last division of the heptarchy of Asia Minor we are brought to the starting-point of Paul's second missionary journey. Cilicia is contiguous to Syria, and indeed is more naturally con- nected with it than with the rest of Asia Minor. We might illus- trate this connection from the letters of Cicero, but it is more to our purpose to remark that the apostolic decree recently enacted at Jerusalem was addressed to the Gentile Christians "in Antioch, and Syria, and Cilicia," and that Paul and Silas travelled "through Syria and Cilicia " in the early part of their progress. This second missionary journey originated in a desire expressed by Paul to Barnabas that they should revisit all the cities where they had preached the gospel and founded cluirches. He felt that he was not called to spend a peaceful though laborious life at An- VISITATION OF THE CHURCHES PROPOSED. 217 tioch, but that his true work was "far off among the Gentiles." He knew that his campaigns were not ended — that as the soldier of Jesus Christ he must not rest from his warfare, but must " endure hardness that he might please Him who had called him. As a careful physician he remembered that they whose recovery from sin had been begun might be in danger of relapse; or, to use another metaphor and to adopt the poetical language of the New Testament, he said, Come, let us get up early to the vineyards : let us see if the vine flourish." The words actually recorded as used by Paul on this occasion are these : " Come, let us turn back and visit our brethren in every city where we have announced the word of the Lord, and let us see how they fare." We notice here, for the first time, a trace of that tender solicitude concerning his converts, that earnest longing to behold their faces, which appears in the letters which he wrote afterward as one of the most remark- able and one of the most attractive features of his character. Paul was the speaker, and not Barnabas. The feelings of Barnabas might not be so deep nor his anxiety so urgent. Paul thought doubtless of the Pisidians and Lycaonians, as he thought afterward at Athens and Corinth of the Thessalonians, from whom he had been lately " taken — in presence, not in heart — endeavoring to see their face with great desire, night and day praying exceedingly that he might see their face, and might perfect that which was lacking in their faith." He was " not ignorant of Satan's devices." He feared lest by any means the tempter had tempted them and his labor had been in vain. He " stood in doubt of them," and desired to be present with them " once more. His wish was to revisit every city where converts had been made. We are reminded here of the importance of continuing a religious work when once begun. We have had the institution of presbyters and of councils brought be- fore us in the sacred narrative, and now we have an example of that system of church visitation of the happy effects of which we have still some experience when we see weak resolutions strengthened and expiring faith rekindled in confirmations at home or in missionary settlements abroad. This plan, however, of a combined visitation of the churches was marred by an outbreak of human infirmity. The two apostolic friends were separated from each other by a quarrel, which proved ^hat they were indeed, as they had lately told the Lystrians, '^men of like passions " with others. Barnabas was unwilling to under- 218 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. take the journey unless he were accompanied hy his relation Mark. Paul could not consent to the companionship of one who " departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work and neither of them could yield his opinion to the other. This quarrel was much more closely connected with personal feelings than that which had recently occurred between Peter and Paul, and it was proportionally more violent. There is little doubt that severe words were spoken on the occasion. It is unwise to be over- anxious to dilute the words of Scripture and to exempt even apos- tles from blame. By such criticism we lose much of the instruction which the honest record of their lives was intended to convey. We are taught by this scene at Antioch that a good work may be blessed by God, though its agents are encompassed with infirmity, and that changes which are violent in their beginnings, may be overruled for the best results. Without attempting to balance too nicely the faults on either side, our simplest course is to believe that, as in most quarrels, there was blame with both. Paul's natural disposition was impetuous and impatient, easily kindled to indig- nation, and (possibly) overbearing. Barnabas had shown his weak- ness when he yielded to the influence of Peter and the Judaizers. The remembrance of the indirect censure he then received may have been perpetually irritated by the consciousness that his position was becoming daily more and more subordinate to that of the friend who rebuked him. Once he was spoken of as chief of those "prophets at Antioch" among whom Saul was the last; now his name was scarcely heard except when he was mentioned as the companion of Paul. In short, this is one of those quarrels in which, by placing ourselves in imagination on the one side and the other, we can alternately justify both, and easily see that the purest Christian zeal, when combined with human weakness and par- tiality, may have led to the misunderstanding. How could Paul consent to take with him a companion who would really prove an embarrassment and a hinderance ? Such a task as that of spreading the gospel of God in a hostile world needs a resolute will and an undaunted courage. And the work is too sacred to be put in jeop- ardy by any experiments. Mark had been tried once and found wanting. " No man, having put his hand to the plough, and look- ing back, is fit for the kingdom of God." And Barnabas would not be without strong arguments to defend the justice of his claims. It was hard to expect him to resign his interest in one who had PAUL AND BAENABUS SEPARATE. 219 cost him much anxiety and many prayers. His dearest wish was to see his young kinsman approving himself as a missionary of Christ. Now, too, he had been won back to a willing obedience, — he had come from his home at Jerusalem, — he was ready now to face all the difficulties and dangers of the enterprise. To repel him in the moment of his repentance was surely " to break a bruised reed " and to " quench the smoking flax." It is not difficult to understand the obstinacy with which each of the disputants, when his feelings were once excited, clung to his opinion as to a sacred truth. The only course which now remained was to choose two different paths and to labor independently, and the Church saw the humiliating spectacle of the separation of its two great missionaries to the heathen. We cannot, however, sup- pose that Paul and Barnabas parted like enemies, in anger and hatred. It is very likely that they made a deliberate and amicable arrangement to divide the region of their first mission between them, Paul taking the continental and Barnabas the insular part of the proposed visitation. Of this at least we are certain, that the quar- rel was overruled by Divine Providence to a good result. One stream of missionary labor had been divided, and the regions blessed by the waters of life were proportionally multiplied. Paul speaks of Barnabas afterward as of an apostle actively engaged in his Master^s service. We know nothing of the details of his life beyond the moment of his sailing for Cyprus, but we may reason- ably attribute to him not only the confirming of the first converts, but the full establishment of the Church in his native island. At Paphos the impure idolatry gradually retreated before the presence f Christianity ; and Salamis, where the tomb of the Christian evite is shown, has earned an eminent place in Christian history hrough the writings of its bishop, Epiphanius. Mark, too, who egan his career as a minister'' of the gospel in this island, jus- •ified the good opinion of his kinsman. Yet the severity of Paul ay have been of eventual service to his character in leading him feel more deeply the serious importance of the work he had un- ertaken. And the time came when Paul himself acknowledged, with affectionate tenderness, not only that he had again become his ''fellow-laborer," but that he was "profitable to the ministry'^ nd one of the causes of his own " comfort." It seems that Barnabas was the first to take his departure. The eeling of the majority of the Church was evidently with Paul, 220 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. for when he had chosen Silas for his companion and was ready to begin his journey, he was specially " commended by the brethren to the grace of God." The visitation of Cyprus having now been undertaken by others, his obvious course was not to go by sea in the direction of Perga or Attaleia, but to travel by the eastern passes directly to the neighborhood of Iconium. It appears, more- over, that he had an important work to accomplish in Cilicia, The early fortunes of Christianity in that province w^ere closely bound up with the city of Antioch and the personal labors of Paul. When he withdrew from Jerusalem "three years" after his conversion, his residence for some time was in "the regions of Syria and Cilicia." He was at Tarsus, in the course of that residence, w^hen Barnabas first brought him to Antioch. The churches founded by the apostle in his native province must often have been visited by him, for it is far easier to travel from Antioch to Tarsus than from Antioch to Jerusalem, or even from Tarsus to Iconium. Thus the religious movements in the Syrian metropolis penetrated into Cilicia. The same great " prophet" had been given to both, and the Christians in both w^ere bound together by the same feelings and the same doctrines. When the Judaizing agitators came to Antioch the result was anxiety and perplexity, not only in Syria, but also in Cilicia. This is nowhere literally stated, but it can be legitimately inferred. We are, indeed, only told that certain men came down with false teaching from Judaea to Antioch. But the apostolic decree is addressed to " the Gentiles of (7^7^c^a" as well as those of Antioch, thus implying that the Judaizing spirit, with its mischievous consequences, had been at work beyond the frontier of Syria. And doubtless the attacks on Paul's apostolic character had accompanied the attack on apostolic truth, and a new fulfilment of the proverb was nearly realized, that a prophet in his own country is without honor. He had, therefore, no ordinary work to accomplish as he went "through Syria and Cilicia confirming the churches;" and it must have been with much comfort and joy that he was able to carry with him a document emanating from the apostles at Jerusalem which justi- fied the doctrine he had taught and accredited his personal cha- l^-cter. Nor was he alone as the bearer of this letter, but Silas was with him also, ready "to tell the same things by mouth." It is a cause for thankfulness that God put it into the heart of Silas to "abide still at Antioch" when Judas returned to Jerusalem, PAUL AND SILAS IN CILICIA. 221 and to accompany Paul on his northward journey. For when the Cilician Christians saw their countryman arrive without his com- panion Barnabas, whose name was coupled with his own in the apostolic letter, their confidence might have been shaken, occa- sion might have been given to the enemies of the truth to slander Paul, had not Silas been present as one of those who were author- ized to testify that both Paul and Barnabas were men who had hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ/' Where "the churches" were which he "confirmed" on his journey, in what particular cities of " Syria and Cilicia," we are not informed. After leaving Antioch by the bridge over the Orontes, he would cross Mount Amaniis by the gorge which was anciently called the " Syrian Gates," and is now known as the Beilan Pass. Then he would come to Alexandria and Issus, two cities that were monuments of the Macedonian conqueror — one as retaining his name, the other as the scene of his victory. After entering the Cilician plain he may have visited Adana, -^gse, or Mopsuestia, three of the conspicuous cities on the old Koman roads. With all these places Paul must have been more or less familiar: probably there were Christians in all of them, anxiously waiting for the decree, and ready to receive the con- solation it was intended to bring. And one other city must certainly have been visited. If there were churches anywhere in Cilicia, there must have been one at Tarsus. It was the metropo- lis of the province ; Paul had resided there, perhaps for some years, since the time of his conversion ; and if he loved his native place well enough to speak of it with something like pride to the Roman officer at Jerusalem, he could not be indifferent to its religious welfare. Among the "Gentiles of Cilicia" to whom the letter which he carried was addressed, the Gentiles of Tarsus had no mean place in his affections. And his heart must have over- flowed with thankfulness if, as he passed through the streets which had been familiar to him since his childhood, he knew that many households were around him where the gospel had come "not in word only, but in power," and the relations between husband and wife, parent and child, master and slave, had been purified and sanctified by Christian love. No doubt the city retained all the aspect of the cities of that day, where art and amusement were consecrated to a false religion. The symbols of idolatry remained in the public places — statues, temples, and altars — and the various 222 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. "objects of devotion" which in all Greek towns, as well as in Athens (Acts xvii. 23), were conspicuous on every side. But the si- lent revolution was begun. Some families had already turned " from idols to serve the living and true God." The " dumb idols " to which, as Gentiles, they had "been carried away even as they were led," had been recognized as "nothing in the world," and been " cast to the moles and to the bats." The homes which had once been decorated with the emblems of a vain mythology were now bright with the better ornaments of faith, hope, and love. And the apostle of the Gentiles rejoiced in looking forward to the time when the grace which had been triumphant in the household should prevail against principalities and pow- ers — wlien " every knee should bow at the name of Jesus, and every tongue confess that he is Lord, to .the glory of God the Father." But it has pleased God that we should know more of the details of early Christianity in the wilder and remoter regions of Asia Minor. To these regions the footsteps of Paul were turned after ho had accomplished the work of confirming the churches in Sjria and Cilicia. The task now before him was the visitation of the churches he had formed in conjunction with Barnabas. We proceed to follow him in his second journey across Mount Taurus. The vast mountain-barrier which separates the sunny plains of Cilicia and Pamphylia from the central table-land has frequently been mentioned. On the former journey Paul travelled from the Pamphylian plain to Antioch in Pisidia, and thence by Iconium to Lystra and Derbe. His present course across the mountains was more to the eastward, and the last-mentioned cities were visited first. More passes than one lead down from Lycaonia and Cappadocia through the chain of Taurus into Cilicia. And it has been supposed that the apostle travelled through one of the minor passes, which quits the lower plain at Pompeiopolis and enters the upland plain of Iconium not far from the conjectural site of Derbe. But there is no sufficient reason to suppose that he went by any other than the ordinary road. A traveller wishing to reach the Valais conveniently from the banks of the Lago Maggiore would rather go by the Simplon than by the difficult path across the Monte Moro ; and there is one great pass in Asia Minor which may be called the Simplon of Mount Taurus — described as a rent CROSSING THE TAURUS. 223 or fissure in the mountain-cliam extending from north to south through a distance of eighty miles, and known in ancient days by the name of the ^'Cilician Gates" — which has been in all ages the easiest and most convenient entrance from the northern and cen- tral parts of the peninsula to the level by the sea-shore where the traveller pauses before he enters Syria. The securing of this pass was the greatest cause of anxiety to Cyrus w^hen he marched into Babylonia to dethrone his brother. Through this gorge Alexander descended to that Cilician plain which has been finely described by a Greek historian as a theatre made by Nature's hand for the drama of great battles. Cicero followed in the steps of Alex- ander, as he tells his friend Atticus in a letter written with cha- racteristic vanity. And, to turn to the centuries which have elapsed since the time of the apostles and the first Roman em- perors, tw^ice, at least, this pass has been the pivot on which the struggle for the throne of the East seemed to turn — once in the war described by obscure historians, when a pretender at Antioch made the Taurus his defence against the emperor of Rome; and once in a war which we remember, when a pretender at Alex- andria fortified it and advanced beyond it in his attempt to de- throne the sultan. In the wars between the Crescent and the Cross which have filled up much of the intervening period this defile has decided the fate of many an army. The Greek histor- ians of the first Saracen invasions describe it by a word unknown to classical Greek, which denotes that when this passage (between Cappadocia and Cilicia) was secure the frontier was closed. The Crusaders, shrinking from the remembrance of its precipices and dangers, called it by the more awful name of the "Gates of Judas.'' Through this pass we conceive Paul to have travelled on his way from Cilicia to Lycaonia. And if we say that the journey was made in the spring of the year 51, we shall not deviate very far from the actual date. By those who have never followed the apostle's footsteps the successive features of the scenery through which he passed may be compiled from the accounts of recent travellers and arranged in the following order: After leaving Tar- sus the road ascends the valley of the Cydnus, which for some distance is nothing more than an ordinary mountain-valley, with wooded eminences and tributary streams. Beyond the point where the road from Adanah comes in from the right the hills suddenly 224 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. draw together and form a narrow pass, which has always been guarded by precipitous cliffs and is now crowned by the ruins of a mediaeval castle. In some places the ravine contracts to a width of ten or twelve paces, leaving room for only one chariot to pass. It is an anxious place to any one in command of a military expe- dition. To one who is unburdened by such responsibility the scene around is striking and impressive. A canopy of fir trees is high overhead. Bare limestone cliffs rise above on either hand to an elevation of many hundred feet. The streams which descend towards the Cydnus are closed by the road, and here and there undermine it or wash over it. When the higher and more distant of these streams are left behind, the road emerges upon an open and elevated region four thousand feet above the level of the sea. This space of high land may be considered as dividing the whole mountain-journey into two parts, for when it is passed the streams are seen to flow in a new direction. Not that we have attained the point where the highest land of Asia Minor turns the waters north and south. The torrents which are seen descending to the right are merely the tributaries of the Sarus, another river of Cilicia. The road is conducted northward through this new ravine; and again the rocks close in upon it, with steep naked cliffs, among cedars and pines, forming " an intricate defile which a handful of men might convert into another Thermopylae." When the highest peaks of Taurus are left behind the road to Tyana is continued in the same northerly direction, while that to Iconium takes a turn to the left, and passes among wooded slopes with rocky projections and over ground comparatively level to the great Lycaonian plain. The whole journey from Tarsus to Konieh is enough in modern times to occupy four laborious days, and from the nature of the ground the time required can never have been much less. The road, however, was doubtless more carefully maintained in the time of Paul than at the present day, when it is only needed by Tartar couriers and occasional traders. Antioch and Ephesus had a more system- atic civilization than Aleppo or Smyrna, and the governors of Cilicia, Cappadocia, and Galatia were more concerned than a modern pasha in keeping up the lines of internal communication. At various parts of the journey from Tarsus to Iconium traces of the old military way are visible — marks of ancient chiselling, sub- structions, and pavement, stones that have fallen over into the ICONIUM, LYSTRA, AND DEEBE. 225 rugged river-bed, and sepulchres hewn out in the cliffs or erected on the level ground. Some such traces still follow the ancient line of road where it enters the plain of Lycaonia, beyond Cybis- tra, near the spot where we conceive the town of Derbe to have been formerly situated. As Paul emerged from the mountain-passes and came along the lower heights through which the Taurus recedes to the Lycaonian levels, the heart which had been full of affection and anxiety all through the journey would beat more quickly at the sight of the well-know^n objects before him. The thought of his disciples would come with new force upon his mind, with a warm thanks- giving that he w^as at length allowed to revisit them and to ^*see how they fared." The recollection of friends from whom we have parted with emotion is often strongly associated with natural scenery, especially when the scenery is remarkable. And here the tender-hearted apostle was approaching the home of his Lycaonian converts. On his first visit, when he came as a stranger, he had travelled in the opposite direction, but the same objects were again before his eyes — the same widespreading plain, the same black summit of the Kara-Dagh. In the farther reach of the plain, beyond the " Black Mount," was the city of Iconium ; nearer to its base was Lystra; and nearer still to the traveller himself was Derbe, the last point of his previous journey. Here was his first meeting now with the disciples he had then been enabled to gather. The incidents of such a meeting — the inquiries after Barnabas, the welcome given to Silas, the exhortations, instructions, encourage- ments, warnings of Paul — may be left to the imagination of those who have pleasure in picturing to themselves the features of the apostolic age, when Christianity was new. This is all we can say of Derbe, for we know no details either of the former or present visit to the place. But when we come to Lystra, w^e are at once in the midst of all the interest of Paul's public ministry and private relations. Here it was that Paul and Barnabas were regarded as heathen divinities; that the Jews, who had first cried " Hosanna !" and then crucified the Saviour, turned the barbarians from homage to insult; and that the little Church of Christ had been fortified by the assurance that the kingdom of heaven can only be entered through ''much tribulation. Here too it was that the child of Lois and Eunice, taught the Holy Scriptures from his earliest years, had been trained to a religious 15 226 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE AP0ST3.E PAUL. life, and prepared through the providence of God, by the sight of the apostle's sufferings, to be his comfort, support, and companion. Spring and summer had passed over Lystra since the apostles had preached there. God had continued to "bless" them, and given them " rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling their hearts with food and gladness." But still " the living God, who made the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein," was only recognized by a few. The temple of the Lystrian Jupiter still stood before the gate, and the priest still offered the people's sacrifices to the imaginary protector of the city. Heathenism was invaded, but not yet destroyed. Some vo- taries had been withdrawn from that polytheistic religion which wrote and sculptured in stone its dim ideas of present deities," crowding its thoroughfares with statues and altars, ascribing to the king of the gods the attributes of beneficent protection and the government of atmospheric changes, and vaguely recognizing Mercury as the dispenser of fruitful seasons and the patron of public happiness. But many years of difficulty and persecution were yet to elapse before Greeks and barbarians fully learnt that the God whom Paul preached was a Father everywhere present to his children and the one Author of every " good and perfect gift." Lystra, however, contributed one of the principal agents in the accomplishment of this result. We have seen how the seeds of gospel truth were sown in the heart of Timotheus. The instruc- tion received in childhood, the sight of Paul's sufferings, the hear- ing of his words, the example of the "unfeigned faith which first dwelt in his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice," and what- ever other influences the Holy Spirit had used for his soul's good, had resulted in the full conviction that Jesus was the Messiah. And if we may draw an obvious inference from the various pas- sages of Scripture which describe the subsequent relation of Paul and Timothy, we may assert that natural qualities of an engaging character were combined with the Christian faith of this young disciple. The apostle's heart seems to have been drawn towards him with peculiar tenderness. He singled him out from the other disciples. " Him would Paul have to go forth with him.'' This feeling is in harmony with all we read in the Acts and the Epistles of Paul's affectionate and confiding disposition. He had no rela- tive ties which were of service in his apostolic work; his com- TIMOTHY. 227 panions were few and changing; and, thoiigli Silas may well be supposed to have supplied the place of Barnabas, it was no weak- ness to yearn for the society of one who might become what Mark had once appeared to be, a son in the gospel. Yet how could he consistently take an untried youth on so difficult an enterprise ; How could he receive Timothy into ^'the glorious company of apostles" when he had rejected Mark ? Such questions might be raised if we were not distinctly told that the highest testimony was given to Timothy's Christian character, not only at Lystra, but in Iconium also. We infer from this that diligent inquiry was made concerning his fitness for the work to which he was willing to de- vote himself. To omit, at present, all notice of the prophetic in- timations which sanctioned the appointment of Timothy, we have the best proof that he united in himself those outward and inward qualifications which a careful prudence would require. One other point must be alluded to which was of the utmost moment at that particular crisis of the Church. The meeting of the council at Jerusalem had lately taken place. And, though it had been decided that the Gentiles were not to be forced into Judaism on embracing Christianity, and though Paul carried with him the decree to be delivered 'Ho all the churches,'' yet still he was in a delicate and difficult position. The Jewish Christians had natu- rally a great jealousy on the subject of their ancient divine Law, and in dealing with the two parties the apostle had need of the utmost caution and discretion. We see, then, that in choosing a fellow-worker for his future labors there was a peculiar fitness in electing one " whose mother was a Jewess, while his father was a Greek." We may be permitted here to take a short retrospect of the childhood and education of Paul's new associate. The hand of the apostle himself has drawn for us the picture of his early years. That picture represents to us a mother and a grandmother, full of tenderness and faith, piously instructing the young Timo- theus in the ancient Scriptures, making his memory familiar with that "cloud of witnesses" which encompassed all the history of the chosen people, and training his hopes to expect the Messiah of Israel. It is not allowed to us to trace the previous history of hese godly women of the Dispersion. It is highly probable that they may have been connected with those Babylonian Jews whom Antiochus settled in Phrygia three centuries before, or they may 228 IJFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. have been conducted into Lycaonia by some of those mercantile and other changes which affected the movements of so many families at the epoch we are writing of — such, for instance, as those which brought the household of the Corinthian Chloe into relations with Ephesus, and caused the proselyte Lydia to remove from Thyatira to Philippi. There is one difficulty which at first sight seems considerable — namely, the fact that a religious Jewess like Eunice should have been married to a Greek. Such a mar- riage was scarcely in harmony with the stricter spirit of early Judaism, and in Palestine itself it could hardly have taken place. But among the Jews of the Dispersion, and especially in remote districts, where but few of the scattered people were established, the case was rather different. Mixed marriages under such cir- cumstances were doubtless very frequent. We are at liberty to suppose that in this case the husband was a proselyte. We hear of no objections raised to the circumcision of Timothy, and we may reasonably conclude that the father was himself inclined to Judaism, if, indeed, he were not already deceased and Eunice a widow. This very circumstance, however, of his mixed origin gave to Timothy an intimate connection with both the Jewish and Gentile worlds. Though far removed from the larger colonies of Israelitish families, he was brought up in a thoroughly Jewish atmosphere; his heart was at Jerusalem, while his footsteps were in the level fields near Lystra or on the volcanic crags of the Black Mount ; and his mind w^as stored with the Hebrew or Greek words of inspired men of old in the midst of the rude idolaters whose language was the ''speech of Lycaonia.'' And yet he could hardly be called a Jewish boy, for he had not been admitted within the pale of God's ancient covenant by the rite of circum- cision. He was in the same position with respect to the Jewish Church as those with respect to the Christian Church who, in various ages and for various reasons, have deferred their baptism to the period of mature life. And " the Jews which were in those quarters," however much they may have respected him, yet, knowing "that his father was a Greek" and that he himself was uncircumcised, must have considered him all but an '' alien from the commonwealth of Israel." Now, for Paul to travel among the synagogues with a companion in this condition, and to attempt to convince the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah when his associate and assistant in the work CIRCUMCISION OF TIMOTHY. 229 was an un circumcised heathen, would evidently have been to encumber his progress and embarrass his work. We see in the first aspect of the case a complete explanation of what to many has seemed inconsistent, and w^hat some have ventured to pronounce as culpable, in the conduct of Paul. "He took and circumcised Timotheus.^^ How could he do otherwise if he acted with his usual far-sighted caution and deliberation ? Had Timothy not been circumcised, a storm would have gathered round the apostle in his further progress. The Jews, who were ever ready to per- secute him from city to city, would have denounced him still more violently in every synagogue when they saw in his personal prefer- ences and in the co-operation he most valued a visible revolt against the Law of his forefathers. To imagine that they could have over- looked the absence of circumcision in Timothy's case as a matter of no essential importance is to suppose they had already become enlightened Christians. Even in the bosom of the Church we have seen the difficulties which had recently been raised by scrupulousness and bigotry on this very subject. And the diffi- culties would have been increased tenfold in the untrodden field before him by proclaiming everywhere on his very arrival that circumcision was abolished. His fixed line of procedure was to act on the cities through the synagogues, and to preach the gospel first to the Jew and then to the Gentile. He had no intention of abandoning this method, and we know that he continued it for many years. But such a course would have been impossible had not Timothy been circumcised. He must necessarily have been repelled by that people who endeavored once to murder Paul because they imagined he had taken a Greek into the temple. The very intercourse of social life would have been hindered, and made almost impossible, by the presence of a half-heathen com- panion ; for, however far the stricter practice may have been relaxed among the Hellenizing Jews of the Dispersion, the gene- ral principle of exclusiveness everywhere remained, and it was still "an abomination'' for the circumcised to eat with the uncircumcised. It may be thought, however, that Paul's conduct in circumcising Timothy was inconsistent with the principle and practice he maintained at Jerusalem when he refused to circumcise Titus. But the two cases were entirely different. Then there was an attempt to enforce circumcision as necessary to salvation ; now 230 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. it was performed as a voluntary act and simply on prudential grounds. Those who insisted on the ceremony in the case of Titu^ were Christians, who were endeavoring to burden the gospel with the yoke of the Law; those for whose sake Timothy became obedient to one provision of the Law were Jews, whom it was desirable not to provoke, that they might more easily be delivered from bondage. By conceding in the present case prejudice was conciliated and the gospel furthered ; the results of yielding in the former case would have been disastrous, and perhaps ruinous, to the cause of pure Christianity. If it be said that even in this case there was danger lest serious results should follow, that doubt might be thrown on the freedom of the gospel, and that color might be given to the Judaizing propensity, it is enough to answer that indifferent actions become right or wrong according to our knowledge of their probable consequences, and that Paul was a better judge of the consequences likely to follow from Timothy's circumcision than we can possibly be. Are we concerned about the effects likely to have been produced on the mind of Timothy himself? There was no risk, at least, lest he should think that circumcision was necessary to salvation, for he had been publicly recognized as a Christian before he was circumcised, and the companion, disciple, and minister of Paul was in no danger, we should suppose, of becoming a Judaizer. And as for the moral results which might be ex- pected to follow in the minds of the other Lycaonian Christians, it must be remembered that at this very moment Paul was carrying with him and publishing the decree which announced to all Gentiles that they were not to be burdened with a yoke which the Jews had never been able to bear. Luke notices this circumstance in the very next verse after the mention of Timothy's circumcision, as if to call our atttention to the contiguity of the two facts. It would seem, indeed, that the very best arrangements were adopted which a divinely enlightened prudence could suggest. Paul carried with him the letter of the apostles and elders, that no Gentile Christian might be enslaved to Judaism. He circum- cised his minister and companion, that no Jewish Christian might have his prejudices shocked. His language was that which he always used: ''Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing. The renovation of the heart in Christ is everything. Let every man be persuaded in his own mind." No innocent PAUL, SILAS, AND TIMOTHY AT ICONIUM. 231 prejudice was ever treated roughly by Paul. To the Jew he became a Jew, to the Gentile a Gentile; he was all things to all men, if by any means he might save some/' Iconium appears to have been the place where Timothy ^vas circumcised. The opinion of the Christians at Iconium, as well as those at Lystra, had been obtained before the apostle took him as his companion. These towns were separated only by the dis- tance of a few miles, and constant communication must have been going on between the residents in the two places, Avhether Gen- tile, Jewish, or Christian. Iconium was by far the most populous and important city of the two, and it was the point of intersec- tion of all the great roads in the neighborhood. For these rea- sons w^e conceive that Paul's stay in Iconium was of greater moment than his visits to the smaller towns, such as Lystra. Whether the ordination of Timothy, as w^ell as his circumcision, took place at this particular place and time, is a point not easy to determine. But this view is at least as probable as any other that can be suggested ; and it gives a new and solemn emphasis to this occasion if we consider it as that to which reference is made in the tender allusions of the pastoral letters, where Paul reminds Timothy of his good confession before ^' many witnesses," of the prophecies" which sanctioned his dedication to God's service, and of the "gifts" received by the laying on of "the hands of the presbyters" and the apostle's " own hands." Such references to the day of ordination, with all its well-remembered details, not only were full of serious admonition of Timothy, but possess the deepest interest for us. And this interest becomes still greater if w^e bear in mind that the " witnesses" who stood by were Paul's own converts and the very " brethren" who gave testimony to Timothy's high character at Lystra and Iconium ; that the "proph- ecy" which designated him to his office was the same spiritual gift which had attested the commission of Barnabas and Saul at An- Cioch; and that the college of presbyters who, in conjunction with the apostle, ordained the new minister of the gospel, consisted of those who had been " ordained in every church" at the close of that same journey. On quitting Iconium, Paul left the route of his previous jour- ney, unless indeed he went in the first place to Antioch in Pisidia, a journey to which city was necessary in order to complete a full visitation of the churches founded on the continent in conjunc- 232 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. tion with Barnabas. It is certainly most in harmony with our first impressions to believe that this city was not unvisited. No mention, however, is made of the place, and it is enough to re- mark that a residence of a few weeks at Iconium as his head- quarters would enable the apostle to see more than once all the Cnristians at Antioch, Lystra, and Derbe. It is highly^robable that he did so, for the whole aspect of the departure from Ico- ijiuni, as it is related to us in the Bible, is that of a new mission- ary enterprise undertaken after the work of visitation was con- cluded. Paul leaves Iconium, as formerly he left the Syrian Antioch, to evangelize the heathen in new countries. Silas is his companion in place of Barnabas, and Timothy is with him "for his minister,'' as Alark was with him then. Many roads were be- fore him. By travelling westward he would soon cross the frontier of the province of Asia, and he might descend by the valley of the Mseander to Ephesus, its metropolis, or the roads to the south might have conducted him to Perga and Attaleia and the other cities on the coast of Pamphylia. But neither of these routes was chosen. Guided by the ordinary indications of Providence or consciously taught by the Spirit of God, he advanced in a north- erly direction through what is called, in the general language of Scripture, Phrygia and the region of Galatia.'' We have seen that the term Phrygia'' had no political signif- icance in the time of Paul. It was merely a geographical ex- pression, denoting a debatable country of doubtful extent diffused over the frontiers of the provinces of Asia and Galatia, but mainly belonging to the former. We believe that this part of the apostle's journey might be described under various forms of expression, according as the narrator might speak politically or popularly. A traveller proceeding from Cologne to Hanover might be described as going through Westphalia or through Prussia. The course of the railroad would be the best indication of his real path. So we imagine that our best guide in conjecturing Paul's path through this part of Asia Minor is obtained by examining the direction of the ancient and modern roads. We have marked his route along the general course of the Roman military way and the track of Turkish caravans, which leads by Laodicea, Philomelium, and Synnada, or, to use the existing terms, by Ladik, Ak-Sher, and Eski-Karahisser. This road follows the northern side of that ridge which Strabo describes as separating Philomelium and An- GALATIA. 233 tioch in Pisidia, and which, as we have seen, materially assisted Mr. Arundell in discovering the latter city. If Paul revisited Antioch on his way — and we cannot be sure that he did not — he would follow the course of his former journey, and then regain the road to Synnada by crossing the ridge to Philomelium. We must again repeat that the path marked down here is conjectural. We have nothing either in Luke's narrative or in Paul's own let- ters to lead us to any place in Phrygia as certainly visited by him on this occasion and as the home of the converts he then made. One city, indeed, which is commonly reckoned among the Phryg- ian cities, has a great place in Paul's biography, and it lay on the line of an important Roman road. But it was situated far within the province of Asia, and for several reasons we think it highly improbable that he visited Colosse on this journey, if in- deed he ever visited it at all. The most probable route is that which lies more to the northward, in the direction of the true Galatia. The remarks which have been made on Phrygia must be repeated, with some modification, concerning Galatia. It is true that Gala- tia was a province, but we can plainly see that the term is used here in its popular sense — not as denoting the whole territory which was governed by the Galatian proconsul, but rather the primitive region of the tetrarchs and kings, without including those districts of Phrygia or Lycaonia which were now politically united with it. There is absolutely no city in true Galatia which is mentioned by the sacred writers in connection with the first spread of Christianity. From the peculiar form of expression with which the Christians of this part of Asia Minor are addressed by Paul in the Epistle which he wrote to them, and alluded to in another of his Epistles, we infer that "the churches of Galatia" were not confined to any one city, but distributed through various parts of the country. If we were to mention two cities which, both from their intrinsic importance and from their connection with the leading roads, are likely to have been visited and revisited by the apostle, we should be inclined to select Pessinus and An- cyra. The first of these cities retained some importance as the former capital of one of the Galatian tribes, and its trade was con- siderable under the early emperors. Moreover, it had an ancient and widespread renown as the seat of the primitive worship of Cybele, the "great mother." Though her oldest and most sacred "ZM LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. image (which, like that of Diana at Ephesus, had fallen down from heaven'') had been removed to Rome, her wor8hip continued to thrive in Galatia under the superintendence of her effeminate and fanatical priests or Galli, and Pessinus was the object Df one of Julian's pilgrimages when heathenism was on the decline. Ancyra was a place of still greater moment, for it was the capital of the province. The time of its highest eminence was not under the Gaulish, but the Eoman government. Augustus built tliere a magnificent temple of marble, and inscribed there a history of his deeds almost in the style of an Asiatic sovereign. This city was the meeting-place of all the great roads in the north of the penin- sula. And, when we add that Jews had been established there from the time of Augustus, and probably earlier, we can hardly avoid the conclusion that the temple and inscription at Angora, which successive travellers have described and copied during the last three hundred years, were once seen by the apostle of the Gen- tiles. However this may have been, we have some information from his own pen concerning his first journey through the region of Galatia." We know that he was delayed there by sickness, and we know in what spirit the Galatians received him. Paul affectionately reminds the Galatians that it was " bodily sick- ness which caused him to preach the glad tidings to them at the first." The allusion is to his first visit ; and the obvious inference is, that he was passing through Galatia to some other district (possibly Pontus, where we know that many Jews were established) when the state of his bodily health arrested his progress. Thus he became, as it were, the evangelist of Galatia against his will. But his zeal to discharge the duty that was laid on him did not allow him to be silent. He was instant ^' in season and out of season." "Woe" was on him if he did not preach the gospel. The same providence detained him among the Gauls which would not allow him to enter Asia or Bithynia; and in the midst of his weakness he made the glad tidings known to all who would listen to him. We cannot say what this sickness was, or even confidently identify it with that thorn in the flesh " to which he feelingly alludes in his Epistles as a discipline which God had laid on him. But the remembrance of what he suffered in Galatia seems so much to color all the phrases in this part of the Epistle that a deep personal interest is connected with the circumstance. Sickness Paul's reception in galatia. 235 in a foreign country has a peculiarly depressing effect on a sensi- tive mind. And though doubtless Timotheus watched over the apostle's weakness with the most affectionate solicitude, yet those who have experienced what fever is in a land of strangers will Know how to sympathize even with Paul in this human trial. The climate and the prevailing maladies of Asia Minor may have been modified with the lapse of centuries, and we are without the guidance of Luke's medical language, which sometimes throws a light ov diseases alluded to in Scripture, but two Christian suf- ferers, in wideh different ages of the Church, occur to the memory as we look on the map of Galatia. We could hardly mention any two men more thoroughly imbued with the spirit of Paul than John Chrysostom and Henry Martyn. And when we read how these two saints suffered in their last hours from fatigue, pain, rudeness, and cruelty among the mountains of Asia Minor which surround the place where they rest, we can well enter into the meaning of Paul's expressions of gratitude to those who received him kindly in the hour of his weakness. The apostle's reception among the frank and warm-hearted Gauls was particularly kind and disinterested. No Church is reminded by the apostle so tenderly of the time of their first meeting. The recollection is used by him to strengthen his reproaches of their mutability, and to enforce the pleading with which he urges them to return to the true gospel. That gospel had been received in the first place with the same affection which they extended to the apostle himself. And the subject, the manner, and the results of his preaching are not obscurely indicated in tlie Epistle itself. The great topic there, as at Corinth and everywhere, was the cross of Christ — Christ crucified'' set forth among them. The divine evidence of the Spirit followed the word spoken by the mouth of the apostle and received by " the hearing of the ear." Many were converted, both Greeks and Jews, men and women, free men and slaves. The worship of false divinities, whether connected with the old superstition at Pessinus or the Roman idolatry at Ancyra, was forsaken for that of the true and living God. And before Paul left the region of Galatia " on his onward progress various Christian communities were added to those of Cilicia, Lycaonia, and Phrygia. In following Paul on his departure from Galatia we come to a passage of acknowledged difficulty in the Acts of the Apostles. 236 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. Not that the words themselves are obscure. The difficulty relates not to grammatical construction, but to geographical details. The statement contained in Luke's words is as follows : After preaching the gospel in Phrygia and Galatia, they were hindered from preach- ing it in Asia ; accordingly, when in Mysia or its neighborhood, they attempted to penetrate into Bithynia ; and this also being forbidden by the Divine Spirit, they passed by Mysia and came down to Troas. Now, everything depends here on the sense we assign to the geographical terms. What is meant by the words " Mysia," Asia,'' and Bithynia " ? It will be remembered that all these words had a wider and a more restricted sense. They might be used popularly and vaguely, or they might be taken in their exacter political meaning. It seems to us that the whole difficulty disappears by understanding them in the former sense, and by believing (what is much the more probable, a priori) that Luke wrote in the usual popular language, without any precise reference to the provincial boundaries. We need hardly mention Bithynia, for, whether we speak of it traditionally or politically, it was exclusive both of Asia and Mysia. In this place it is evident that Ahjsia is 'excluded also from Asia, just as Phrygia is above — not because these two districts were not parts of it in its political character of a province, but because they had a history and a tra- ditional character of their own sufficiently independent to give them a name in papular usage. As regards Asia, it is simply viewed as the western portion of Asia Minor. Its relation to the peninsula has been very well described by saying that it occupied the same relative position which Portugal occupies with regard to Spain. The comparison would be peculiarly just in the passage before us. For the Mysia of Luke is to Asia what Gallicia is to Portugal, and the journey from Galatia and Phrygia to the city of Troas has its European parallel in a journey from Castile to Vigo. We are evidently destitute of materials for laying down the route of Paul and his companions. All that relates to Phrygia and Galatia must be left vague and blank, like an unexplored country in a map (as in fact this region itself is in the maps of Asia Minor), where we are at liberty to imagine mountains and plains, rivers and cities, but are unable to furnish any proofs. As the path of the apostle, however, approaches the ^gean, it comes out into comparative light; the names of places are again mentioned, and the country and the coast have been explored and described. The JOURNEY TO THE iEGEAN. 237 early part of the route, then, must be left indistinct. Thus much, however, we may venture to say — that since the apostle usually turned his steps towards the large towns, where many Jew^s were established, it is most likely that Ephesus, Smyrna, or Pergamus was the point at which he aimed when he sought " to preach the word in Asia." There is nothing else to guide our conjectures except the boundaries of the provinces and the direction of the principal roads. If he moved from Angora in the general direction above pointed out, he would cross the river Sangarius near Kiutayah, which is a great modern thoroughfare, and has been mentioned before (Chap. VI.) in connection with the route from Adalia to Constantinople ; and a little farther to the west, near Aizani, he w^ould be about the place where the boundaries of Asia, Bithynia, and Mysia meet together, and on the watershed which separates the waters flowing northward to the Propontis and those which feed the rivers of the ^Egean. Here, then, we may imagine the apostle and his three companions to pause, uncertain of their future progress — on the chalk downs which lie between the fountains of the Ehyndacus and those of the Hermus, in the midst of scenery not very unlike what is familiar to us in England. The long range of the Mysian Olympus to the north is the boundary of Bithynia. The summits of the Phrygian Dindymus on the south are on the frontier of Galatia and Asia. The Hermus flows through the province of Asia to the islands of the jEgean. The Ehyndacus flows to the Propontis, and separates Mysia from Bithynia. By following the road near the former river they would easily arrive at Smyrna or Pergamus. By de- scending the valley of the latter, and then crossing Olympus, they would be in the richest and most prosperous part of Bithynia. In which direction shall their footsteps be turned? Some divine inti- mation, into the nature of which we do not presume to inquire, told the apostles that the gospel was not yet to be preached in the populous cities of Asia. The time was not yet come for Christ to be made known to the Greeks and Jews of Ephesus, and for the churches of Sardis, Pergamus, Philadelphia, Smyrna, Thyatira, and Laodicea to be admitted to their period of privilege and trial for the warning of future generations. Shall they turn, then, in the direction of Bithynia? This also is forbidden. Paul (so far as we know) never crossed the Mysian Olym'pus or entered the cities of Nicsea and Chalcedon, illustrious places in the Christian 238 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. history of a later age. By revelations which were anticipative of the fuller and clearer communication at Troas the destined path of the apostolic company was pointed out through the intermediate country, directly to the west. Leaving the greater part of what was popularly called Mysia to the right, they came to the shores of the jEgean about the place where the deep Gulf of Adramyt- tium, over against the island of Lesbos, washes the very base of Mount Ida. At Adramyttium, if not before, Paul is on the line of a great Eoman road. We recognize the place as one which is mentioned again in the description of the voyage to Eome (Acts xxvii. 2). It was a mercantile town, with important relations both with foreign harbors and the towns of the interior of Asia Minor. From this point the road follows the northern shore of the gulf, crossing a succession of the streams which flow from Ida, and alternately descending to the pebbly beach and rising among the rocks and evergreen brushwood, while Lesbos appears and reap- pears through the branches of the rich forest trees, till the sea is left behind at the city of Assos. This also is a city of Paul. The nineteen miles of road which lie between it and Troas is the dis- tance which he travelled by land before he rejoined the ship which had brought him from Philippi (Acts xx. 13), and the town across the strait, on the shore of Lesbos, is Mitylene, whither the vessel proceeded when the apostle and his companions met on board. But to return to the present journey. Troas is the name either of a district or a town. As a district it had a history of its own. Though geographically a part of Mysia and politically a part of the province of Asia, it was yet usually spoken of as distinguished from both. This region, extending from Mount Ida to the plain watered by the Simois and Scamander, was the scene of the Trojan war ; and it was due to the poetry of Homer that the ancient name of Priam's kingdom should be retained. This shore has been visited on many memorable occasions by the great men of this world. Xerxes passed this way when he undertook to conquer Greece. Julius Csesar was here after the battle of Pharsalia. But, above all, we associate the spot with a European conqueror of Asia and an Asiatic conqueror of Europe — with Alexander of Macedon and Paul of Tarsus. For here it was that the enthu- siasm of Alexander was kindled at the tomb of Achilles by the memory of his heroic ancestors, here he girded on their armor, and ALEXANDRIA TROAS. 239 from this goal he started to overthrow the august dynasties of the East. And now the great apostle rests in his triumphal progress upon the same poetic shore; here he is armed by heavenly visit- ants with the weapons of a warfare that is not carnal, and hence he is sent forth to subdue all the powers of the West, and bring the civilizaJiion of the world into captivity to the obedience of Christ. Turning now from the district to the city of Troas, we must remember that its full and correct name was Alexandria Troas. Sometimes, as in the New Testament, it is simply called Troas ; sometimes, as by Pliny and Strabo, simply Alexandria. It was not, however, one of those cities (amounting in number to nearly twenty) which were built and named by the conqueror of Darius. This Alexandria received its population and its name under the successors of Alexander. It was an instance of that centralization of small scattered towns into one great mercantile city which was characteristic of the period. Its history was as follows : Antigonus, who wished to leave a monument of his name on this classical ground, brought together the inhabitants of the neighboring towns to one point on the coast, where he erected a city and called ifc Antigonia Troas. Lysimachus, who succeeded to his power on the Dardanelles, increased and adorned the city, but altered its name, calling it, in honor of *'the man of Macedonia" (if we may make this application of a phrase which Holy Writ has associated with the place), Alexandria Troas. This name was retained ever after- ward. When the Eomans began their Eastern wars the Greeks of Troas espoused their cause, and were thenceforward regarded with favor at Kome. But this willingness to recompense useful service was combined with other feelings, half poetical, half politi- cal, which about this time took possession of the mind of the Eomans. They fancied they saw a primeval Rome on the Asiatic shore. The story of JEnesiS in Virgil, who relates in twelve books how the glory of Troy was transferred to Italy, — the warning of Horace, who admonishes his fellow-citizens that their great- ness was gone if they rebuilt the ancient walls, — reveal to us the fancies of the past and the future which were popular at Home. Alexandria Troas was a recollection of the city of Priam, and a prophecy of the city of Constantine. The Romans regarded it in its best days as a " New Troy," and the Turks even now call its ruins " Old Constantinople." It is said that Julius Caesar, in his 240 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. dreams of a monarchy which should embrace the East and the West, turned his eyes to this city as his intended capital ; and there is no doubt that Constantine, before he gave a just preference to the situation of Byzantium, had conceived the design of erecting the seat of empire on this celebrated spot, from whence the Ro- mans derived their fabulous origin." Augustus brought the town into close and honorable connection with Rome by making it a colonia, and assimilated its land to that of Italy by giving it the jus lialicum. When Paul was there it had not attained its utmost growth as a city of the Romans. The great aqueduct was not yet built by which Herod es Atticus brought water from the fountains of Ida, and the piers of which are still standing The enclosure of the walls, extending above a mile from east to west, and near a mile from north to south, may represent the limits of the city in the age of Claudius. The ancient harbor, even yet distinctly traceable, and not without a certain desolate beauty when it is the foreground of a picture with the hills of Imbros and the higher peak of Samothrace in the distance, is an object of greater interest than the aqueduct and the walls. All furthur allusions to the topography of the place may be deferred till we describe the apos- tle's subsequent and repeated visits. At present he is hastening towards Europe. Everything in this part of our narrative turns our eyes to the West. What w^ere the thoughts in Paul's mind when he looked toward Europe across the ^gean? Though ignorant of the precise nature of the supernatural intimations which had guided his recent journey, we are led irresistibly to think that he associated his future work with the distant prospect of the Macedonian hills. We are reminded of another journey, when the prophetic Spirit gave him partial revelations on his departure from Corinth and on his way to Jerusalem : " After I have been there I must also see Rome. I have no more place in these parts. I know not what shall befall me, save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth that bonds and afflictions abide me." Such thoughts, it may be, had been in the apostle's mind at Troas when the sun set behind Athos and Samothrace and the shadows fell on Ida and settled dark on Tenedos and the deep. With the view of the distant land of Macedonia imprinted on his memory, and the thought of Europe's miserable heathenism deep in his heart, he was prepared, like Peter at Joppa, to receive the LUKE JOINS THE MISSION. 241 full meaaing of the voice which spoke to him in a dream. In the visions of the night a form appeared to come and stand by him, and he recognized in the supernatural visitant "a man of Mace- donia," who came to plead the spiritual wants of his country. It was the voice of the sick inquiring for a physician, of the ignorant seeking for wisdom — the voice which ever since has been calling on the Church to extend the gospel to heathendom : " Come over and help us." Virgil has described an evening and a sunrise on this coast before and after an eventful night. That night was indeed eventful in which Paul received his commission to proceed to Macedonia. The commission was promptly executed. The morning star ap- peared over the cliffs of Ida. The sun rose and spread the day over the sea and the islands as far as Athos and Samothrace. The men of Troas awoke to their trade and their labor. Among those who were busy about the shipping in the harbor were the newly- arrived Christian travellers, seeking for a passage to Europe — Paul, and Silas, and Timotheus, and that new companion, " Luke the beloved physician," who, whether by prearrangement or by a providential meeting, or (it may be) even in consequence of the apostle's delicate health, now joined the mission, of which he afterward wrote the history. God provided a ship for the mes- sengers he had chosen, and (to use the language of a more sacred poetry than that which has made these coasts illustrious) he brought the wind out of his treasuries, and by his power he brought in the south wind," and prospered the voyage of his ser- Tants. 16 CHAPTEK IX. VOYAGE BY SAMOTHRACE TO NEAPOLIS. — PHILIPPI. — CONSTITU- TION OF A COLONY. — LYDIA. — THE DEMONIAC SLAVE. — PAUL AND SILAS ARRESTED. — THE PRISON AND THE JAILER. — THE MAGISTRATES. — DEPARTURE FROM PHILIPPI. — LUKE. — MACE- DONIA DESCRIBED. — ITS CONDITION AS A PROVINCE. — THE VIA EGNATIA. — PAUL'S JOURNEY THROUGH AMPHIPOLIS AND APOL- LONIA. — THESSALONICA. — THE SYNAGOGUE. — SUBJECTS OF PAUL'S PREACHING. — PERSECUTION, TUMULT, AND FLIGHT. — THE JEWS AT BERGEA. — PAUL AGAIN PERSECUTED. — PROCEEDS TO ATHENS. The weather itself was propitious to the voyage from Asia to Europe. It is evident that Paul and his companions sailed from Troas with a fair wind. On a later occasion we are told that five days were spent on the passage from Philippi to Troas. On the present occasion the same voyage, in the opposite direction, was made in two. If we attend to Luke's technical expression — which literally means that they " sailed before the wind " — and take into account that the passage to the west, between Tenedos and Lemnos, is attended with some risk, we may infer that the wind blew from the southward. The southerly winds in this part of the Archipelago do not usually last long, but they often blow with considerable force. Sometimes they are sufficiently strong to counteract the current which sets to the southward from the mouth of the Dar- danelles. However this might be on the day when Paul passed over these waters, the vessel in which he sailed would soon cleave her way through the strait between Tenedos and the main, past the Dardanelles and near the eastern shore of Imbros. On round- ing the northern end of this island they would open Samothrace, which had hitherto appeared as a higher and more distant summit over the lower mountains of Imbros. The distance between the two islands is about twelve miles. Leaving Imbros, and bearing 242 SAMOTHRACE. 243 now a little to the west, and having the wind still (as our sailors Bay) two or three points ahaft the beam, the helmsman steered for Samothrace, and under the shelter of its high shore they anchored for the night. Samothrace is the highest land in the north of the Archipelago with the exception of Mount Athos. These two eminences have been in all ages the familiar landmarks of the Greek mariners of the ^gean. Even from the neighborhood of Troas, Mount Athos is seen towering over Lemnos, like Samothrace over Imbros. And what Mount Athos is in another sense to the superstitious Christian of the Levant, the peak of Samothrace was in the days of heathenism to his Greek ancestors in the same seas. It was the " Monte Santo/' to which the Greek mariner looked with awe as he gazed on it in the distant horizon or came to anchor under the shelter of its coast. It was the sanctuary of an ancient superstition which was widely spread over the neighboring continents, and the history of which was vainly investigated by Greek and Roman writers. If Paul had stayed here even a few days, we might be justified in saying something of the " Cabiri," but we have no reason to suppose that he even landed on the island. At present it possesses no good harbor, though many places of safe anchorage, and if the wind was from the southward, there would be smooth water anywhere on the north shore. The island was doubtless better supplied with artificial advantages in an age not removed by many centuries from the flourishing period of that mercantile empire which the Phoe- nicians founded and the Athenians inherited in the -^gean Sea. The relations of Samothrace with the opposite coast were close and frequent when the merchants of Tyre had their miners at work in Mount Pangaeus, and when Athens diffused her citizens as colonists or exiles on all the neighboring shores. Nor can those relations have been materially altered when both the Phoenician and Greek settlements on the sea were absorbed in the wider and continental dominion of Rome. Ever since the day when Perseus fled to Samothrace from the Roman conqueror, frequent vessels had been passing and repassing between the island and the coasts of Macedonia and Thrace. The Macedonian harbor at which Paul landed was Neapolis. Its direction from Samothrace is a little to the north of east. But a southerly breeze would still be a fair wind, though they could not literally " run before it." A run of seven or eight hours, not- 244 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. withstanding the easterly current, would bring the vessel under the lee of the island of Thasos and within a few miles of the coast of Macedonia. The shore of the mainland in this part is low, but mountains rise 1o a considerable height behind. To the westward of the channel which separates it from Thasos the coast recedes and forms a bay, within which, on a promontory with a port on each side, the ancient Neapolis was situated. Some difference of opinion has existed concerning the true position of this harbor; but the traces of paved military roads approaching the promontory we have described, in two directions corresponding to those indicated in the ancient itineraries, the Latin inscriptions which have been found on the spot, the remains of a great aqueduct on two tiers of Eoman arches, and of cisterns like those at BaisB near the other Neapolis on the Campanian shore, seem to leave little doubt that the small Turkish village of Cavallo is the Naples of Macedonia, the ^' Neapolis'' at which Paul landed, and the seaport of Philippi, the first city " which the traveller reached on entering this " part of Macedonia," and a city of no little importance as a Eoman military " colony." A ridge of elevated land, which connects the range of Pangseus with the higher mountains in the interior of Thrace, is crossed between Neapolis and Philippi. The whole distance is about ten miles. The ascent of the ridge is begun immediately from the town through a defile formed by some precipices almost close upon the sea. When the higher ground is attained an extensive and magnificent sea-view is opened towards the south. Samothrace is seen to the east, Thasos to the south-east, and more distant and farther to the ^ right the towering summit of Athos. When the descent on the opposite side begins and the sea is lost to view, another prospect succeeds, less extensive, but not less worthy of our notice. We look down on a plain which is level as an inland sea, and which, if the eye could range over its remoter spaces, would be seen winding far within its mountain-enclosure to the west and the north. Its appearance is either exuberantly green (for its fertility has been always famous) or cold and dreary (for tie streams which water it are often diffused into marshes) accord- ing to the season when we visit this corner of Macedonia — whether it be when the snows are white and chill on the summits of the Thracian Hgemus, or when the roses, of which Theophrastus and THE CITY OF PHILIPPI. 245 Pliny speak, are displaying tlieir bloom on the warmer slopes of the Panfrsean hills. This plain, between Hsemus and Pangseus, is the plain of Philippi, where the last battle was lost by the republicans of Eome. The whole region around is eloquent of the history of this battle. Among the mountains on the right was the difficult path by which the republican army penetrated into Macedonia ; on some part of the very ridge on which we stand were the camps of Brutus and Cassius ; the stream before us is the river which passed in front of them ; below us, " upon the left hand of the even field," is the marsh by which Antony crossed as he approached his antagonist ; directly opposite is the hill of Philippi, where Cassius died ; behind us is the narrow strait of the sea, across which Brutus sent his body to the island of Thasos, lest the army should be disheartened before the final struggle. The city of Philippi was itself a monument of the termination of that struggle. It had been founded by the father of Alexander in a place called, from its numerous streams, " The Place of Fountains," to commemorate the addition of a new province to his kingdom and to protect the frontier against the Thracian mountaineers. For similar reasons the city of Philip was gifted by Augustus with the privileges of a colonia. It thus became at once a border garrison of the province of Macedonia and a perpetual memorial of his victory over Brutus. And now a Jewish apostle came to the same place, to win a greater victory than that of Philippi, and to found a more durable empire than that of Augustus. It is a fact of deep significance that the " first city " at which Paul arrived on his entrance into Europe should be that colony " which was more fit than any other in the empire to be considered the representative of the power and greatness of imperial Eome. The characteristic of a colonia was, that it was a miniature re- semblance of Rome. Philippi is not the first city of this kind to which we have traced the footsteps of Paul — Antioch in Pisidia and Alexandria Troas both possessed the same character — but this is the first place where the Scriptures call our attention to the dis- tinction ; and the events which befell the apostle at Philippi were directly connected with the privileges of the place as a Roman colony and with his own privileges as a Roman citizen. It will be convenient to consider these two subjects together. A glance at Bome of the differences which subsisted among individuals and 246 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. communities in the provincial system will enable us to see very clearly the position of the citizen and of the colony. We have had occasion (Chap. I.) to speak of the combination of actual provinces and nominally independent states through which the power of the Roman emperor was variously diffused; and again (Chap, V.) we have described the division of the prov- inces by Augustus into those of the senate and those of the emperor. Descending now to examine the component population of any one province, and to inquire into the political condition of individuals and communities, we find here again a complicated system of rules and exceptions. As regards individuals, the broad distinction we must notice is that between those who were citizens and those who were not citizens. When the Greeks spoke of the inhabitants of the world they divided them into ''Greeks" and barbarians,'' according as the language in which poets and philosophers had written was native to them or foreign. Among the Romans the phrase was different. The classes into which they divided mankind consisted of those who were politically Ro- mans,'' and those who had no link (except that of subjection) with the city of Rome. The technical words were cives Siud pereg7Hni — "citizens" and strangers." The inhabitants of Italy were citi- zens;" the inhabitants of all other parts of the empire (until Caracalla extended to the provinces the same privileges which Julius Cjesar had granted to the peninsula) were naturally and essentially "strangers." Italy was the Holy Land of the kingdom of this world. We may carry the parallel further in order to illus- trate the difference which existed among the citizens themselves. Those true-born Italians who were diffused in vast numbers through the provinces might be called citizens of the Dispersion, while those strangers who at various times and for various reasons had received the gift of citizenship were irt the condition of polit- ical proselytes. Such were Paul and Silas, in their relation to the empire, among their fellow-Romans in the colony of Philippi. Both these classes of citizens, however, were in full possession of the same privileges, the most important of which were exemption from scourging and freedom from arrest except in extreme cases, and in all cases the right of appeal from the magistrate to the emperor. The remarks which have been made concerning individuals may be extended in some degree to communities in the provinces. The CHARACTER OF A ROMAN COLONY. 247 city of Rome might be transplanted, as it were, into various parts of the empire and reproduced as a colo72ia, or an alien city might be adopted, under the title of a municijnumj into a close political communion with Rome. Leaving out of view all cities of the latter kind — and indeed they were limited entirely to the Western provinces — we will confine ourselves to what was called a colonia, A Roman colony was very different from anything which we usually intend by the term. It was no mere mercantile factory, such as those which the Phoenicians established in Spain or on those very shores of Macedonia with which we are now engaged, or such as modern nations have founded in the Hudson's Bay territory or on the coast of India. Still less was it like those in- coherent aggregates of human beings which England has thrown, without care or system, on distant islands and continents. It did not even go forth as a young Greek republic left its parent state, carrying with it, indeed, the respect of a daughter for a mother, but entering upon a new and independent existence. The Roman colonies were primarily intended as military safeguards of the frontiers and as checks upon insurgent provincials. Like the military roads, they were part of the great system of fortification by which the empire was made safe. They served also as con- venient possessions for rewarding veterans who had served in the wars, and for establishing freedmen and other Italians whom it was desirable to remove to a distance. The colonists went out with all the pride of Roman citizens to represent and reproduce the city in the midst of an alien population. They proceeded to their destination like an army with its standards, and the limits of the new city were marked out by the plough. Their names were still enrolled in one of the Roman tribes. Every traveller who passed through a colonia saw there the insignia of Rome. He heard the Latin language, and was amenable in the strictest sense to the Roman law. The coinage of the city, even if it were in a Greek province, had Latin inscriptions. Cyprian tells us that in his own episcopal city, which once had been Rome^s greatest enemy, the Laws of the XII. Tables were inscribed on brazen tablets in the market-place. Though the colonists, in addition to the poll-tax, which they paid as citizens, were compelled to pay a ground-tax (for the land on which their city stood was provincial land, and therefore tributary, unless it were assimilated to Italy by a special exemption), yet they we^t entirely free from any intru- 248 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. sion by the governor of the province. Their affairs were regulated by their own magistrates. These officers were named duumviri, and they took a pride in calling themselves by the Roman title of prsetors [arpaTriyoL), The primary settlers in the colony w^ere, as we have seen, real Italians, but a state of things seems to have taken place in many instances very similar to what happened in the early history of Eome itself. A number of the native provin- cials grew up in the same city with the governing body, and thus two (or sometimes three) co-ordinate communities w^ere formed which ultimately coalesced into one, like the patricians and ple- beians. Instances of this state of things might be given from Oorinth and Carthage and from the colonies of Spain and Gaul ; and w^e have no reason to suppose that Philippi was different from the rest. Whatever the relative proportion of Greeks and Romans at Philippi may have been, the number of the Jews was small. This is sufficiently accounted for when we remember that it was a mil- itary and not a mercantile city. There was no synagogue in Philippi, but only one of those buildings called proseuchcdy which w^ere distinguished from the regular places of worship by being of a more slight and temporary structure and frequently open to the sky. For the sake of greater quietness and freedom from interruption this place of prayer was ^'outside the gate,'' and in consequence of the ablutions which were connected with the worship it was "by the river-side," on the bank of the Gaggitas, the fountains of which gave the name to the city before the time of Philip of Macedon, and which in the great battle of the Ro- mans had been polluted by the footsteps and blood of the con- tending armies. The congregation which met here for worship on the sabbath consisted chiefly, if not entirely, of a few women ; and these were not all of Jewish birth and not all residents of Philippi. Lydia, who is mentioned by name, was a proselyte, and Thyatira, her native place, was a city of the province of Asia. The business which brought her to Philippi was connected with the dyeing trade, which had flourished from a very early period, as we learn from Homer, in the neighborhood of Thyatira, and is permanently commemorated in inscriptions which relate to the " guild of dyers" in that city, and incidentally give a singular confirmation of the veracity of Luke in his casual allusions. LYDIA. 249 In this unpretending place and to this coDgregation of piou3 women the gospel was first preached within the limits of Europe. Paul and his companions seem to have arrived in the early part of the week, for '^some days'' elapsed before ''the sabbath." On that day the strangers went and joined the little company of wor- shippers at their prayer by the river-side. Assuming at once the attitude of teachers, they ''sat down" and spoke to the women who were assem^bled together. The Lord, who had summoned his ser- vants from Troas to preach the gospel in Macedonia, now vouch- safed to them the signs of his presence by giving divine energy to the words which they spoke in his name. Lydia " was one of the listeners," and the Lord " opened her heart, that she took heed to the things that were spoken of Paul." Lydia, being convinced that Jesus was the Messiah, and having made a profession of her faith, was forthwith baptized. Tb.e place of her baptism was doubtless the stream which flowed by the proseucha. The waters of Europe were "sanctified to the mysti- cal washing away of sin." With the baptism of Lydia that of her *' household" was associated. Whether we are to understand by this term her children, her slaves, or the workpeople engaged in the manual employment connected with her trade, or all these col- lectively, cannot easily be decided. But we may observe that it is the first passage in the life of Paul where we have an example of that family religion to which he often alludes in his Epistles. The "connections of Chloe," the "household of Stephanas," the "church in the house" of Aquila and Priscilla are parallel cases to which we shall come in the course of the narrative. It may also be rightly added that we have here the first example of that Chris- tian haspitality which was so emphatically enjoined and so lovingly practised in the apostolic Church. The frequent mention of the "hosts" who gave shelter to the apostles reminds us that they led a life of hardship and poverty, and were the followers of Him "for whom there was no room in the inn.'^ The Lord had said to his apostles that when they entered into a city they were to seek out " those who w^re worthy," and with them to abide. The search at Philippi was not difficult. Lydia voluntarily presented herself to her spiritual benefactors, and said to them earnestly and humbly that, " since they had regarded her as a believer on the Lord," her house should be their home. She admitted of no refusal to her request, and " their peace was on that house." 250 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL Thus the gospel has obtained a home in Europe. It is true that the family with whom the apostles lodged was Asiatic rather than European, and the direct influence of Lydia may be supposed to have contributed more to the establishment of the Church of Thyatira, addressed by John, than to that of Philippi, which received the letter of Paul. But still, the doctrine and practice of Christianity were established in Europe ; and nothing could be more calm and tranquil than its first beginnings on the shore of that continent which it has long overspread. The scenes by the river-side and in the house of Lydia are beautiful prophecies of the holy influence which Avomen, elevated by Christianity to their true position, and enabled by divine grace to w^ear "the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit," have now for centuries exerted over domestic happiness and the growth of piety and peace. If we wish to see this in a forcible light, we may contrast the picture which is drawn for us by Luke with another representation of women in the same neighborhood given by the heathen poets, who tell us of the frantic excitement of the Edonian matrons wandering under the name of religion with dishevelled hair and violent cries on the banks of the Strymon. Thus far, all was peaceful and hopeful in the work of preaching the gospel to Macedonia : the congregation met in the house or by the river-side, souls w^ere converted and instructed, and a church consisting both of men and w^omen was gradually built up. This continued for " many days.'' It was difficult to foresee the storm which was to overcast so fair a prospect. A bitter persecution, however, was unexpectedly provoked, and the apostles were brought into collision with heathen superstition in one of its worst forms and with the rough violence of the colonial author- ities. As if to show that the work of divine grace is advanced by difficulties and discouragements rather than by ease and pros- perity, the apostles, who had been supernaturally summoned to a new field of labor, and who were patiently cultivating it with good success, were suddenly called away from it, silenced, and im- prisoned. In tracing the life of Paul we have not as yet seen Christianity directly brought into conflict with heathenism. The sorcerer who had obtained influence over Sergius Paulus in Cyprus was a Jew, like the apostle himself. The first impulse of the idolaters of Lystra v/as to worship Paul and Barnabas, and it was only after BELIEF IN DiEMONS. 251 the Jews had perverted their minds that they began to persecute them. But as we travel farther from the East, and especially through countries where the Israelites were thinly scattered, we must expect to find pagan creeds in immediate antagonism with the gospel; and not merely pagan creeds, but the evil powers themselves which give paganism its supremacy over the minds of men. The questions which relate to evil spirits, false divinities, and demoniacal possessions are far too difficult and extensive to be entered on here. We are content to express our belief that in the demoniacs of the New Testament allusion is really made to personal spirits who exercised power for evil purposes on the human will. The unregenerate world is represented to us in Scripture as a realm of darkness, in which the invisible agents of wickedness are permitted to hold sway under conditions and limitations which we are not able to define. The degrees and modes in which their presence is made visibly apparent may vary widely in different countries and in different ages. In the time of Jesus Christ and his apostles we are justified in saying that their workings in one particular mode were made peculiarly manifest. As it was in the life of our great Master, so it was in that of his immediate followers. The daemons recognized Jesus as " the holy One of God," and they recognized his apostles as the bondsmen of the most high God, who preach the way of salvation.'' Jesus "cast out daemons," and by virtue of the power which he gave the apostles were able to do in his name what he did in his own. If in any region of heathendom the evil spirits had pre-eminent sway, it was in the mythological system of Greece, which, with all its beautiful imagery and all its ministrations to poetry and art, left man powerless against his passions, and only amused him while it helped him to be unholy. In the lively imagination of the Greeks the whole visible and invisible world was peopled with spiritua' powers or dcemons. The same terms were often used on this subject by pagans and by Christians. But in the language of the pagan the daemon might be either a beneficent or malignant power; in the language of the Christian it always denoted what vv{is evil. When the Athenians said that Paul was introducing "new dcxmons" among them, they did not necessarily mean that he was in league with evil spirits; but when Paul told the Cor- inthians that though "idols" in themselves were nothing, yet the sacrifices offered to them were, in reality, offered to " da3mons," 252 LIFE AND EPISTI.es OF THE APOSTEE PAUL. he spoke of those false divinities which were the enemies of the true. Again, the language concerning physical changes, especially in the human frame, is very similar in the sacred and profane writers. Sometimes it contents itself with stating merely the facts and symp- toms of disease; sometimes it refers the fjicts and symptoms to in- visible personal agency. One class of phenomena, affecting the mind as well as the body, was more particularly referred to preter- natural agency. These were the prophetic states of mind, showing themselves in stated oracles or in more irregular manifestations, and accompanied with convulsions and violent excitement which are described or alluded to by almost all heathen authors. Here, again, we are brought to a subject which is surrounded with diffi- culties. How far, in such cases, imposture was combined with real possession, — how we may disentangle the one from the other, — • how far the supreme will of God made use of these prophetic powers and overruled them to good ends, — such questions inevita- bly suggest themselves, but we are not concerned to answer them here. It is enough to say that we see no reason to blame the opin- ion of those writers who believe that a wicked spiritual agency was really exerted in the prophetic sanctuaries and prophetic person- ages of the heathen world. The heathens themselves attributed these phenomena to the agency of Apollo, the deity of Pythonic spirits ; and such phenomena were of very frequent occurrence and displayed themselves under many varieties of place and circum- stance. Sometimes those who were possessed were of the highest condition ; sometimes they went about the streets like insane im- postors of the lowest rank. It was usual for the prophetic spirit to make itself known by an internal muttering or ventriloquism. We read of persons in this miserable condition used by others for the purpose of gain. Frequently they were slaves, and there were cases of joint proprietorship in these unhappy ministers of public superstition. In the case before us it was a female slave " who was possessed with "a spirit of divination and she was the property of more than one master, who kept her for the purpose of practising on the credulity of the Philippians, and realized much profit in this way. We all know the kind of sacredness with which the ravings of common insanity are apt to be invested by the ignorant, and we can easily understand the notoriety which the gestures and words PAUL AND SILAS AllRESTP^D. 253 of this dtmoniac would obtain in Philippi. It was far from a matter of indifference when she met the members of the Christian congregation on the road to the proseucha, and began to follow Paul and to exclaim (either because the words she had overheard mingled with her diseased imaginations, or because the evil spirit in her was compelled to speak the truth), These men are the bondsmen of the most high God, who are come to announce unto you the way of salvation." This was continued for " several days," and the whole city must soon have been familiar with her words. Paul was well aware of this, and he could not bear the thought that the credit even of the gospel should be enhanced by such un- holy means. Possibly one reason why our blessed Lord himself forbade the demoniacs to make him known was that his holy cause would be polluted by resting on such evidence. And another of our Saviour's feelings must have found an imitation in Paul's breast — that of deep compassion for the poor victim of demoniac power. At length he could bear this satanic interruption no longer, and being grieved, he commanded the evil spirit to come out of her.'' It would be profaneness to suppose that the apostle spoke in mere irritation, as it would be ridiculous to imagine that divine help would have been vouchsafed to gratify such a feeling. No doubt there was grief and indignation, but the grief and indig- nation of an apostle may be the impulses of divine inspiration. He spoke not in his own name, but in that of Jesus Christ, and power from above attended his words. The prophecy and com- mand of Jesus concerning his apostles were fulfilled — that in his name they should cast out daemons." It was as it had been at Jericho and by the Sea of Gennesareth. The demoniac at Philippi was restored "to her right mind." Her natural powers resumed their course, and the gains of her masters were gone. Violent rage on the })art of these men was the immediate result. They saw that their influence, with the people, and with it *'all hope" of any future gain, was at an end. They proceeded therefore to take a summary revenge. Laying violent hold of Paul and Silas (for Timotheus and Luke were not so evidently concerned in what happened), they dragged them into the forum before the city au- thorities. The case was brought before the praetors (so we may venture to call them, since this was the title which colonial duum- viri were fond of assuming), but the complainants must have felt some difficulty in stating their grievance. The slave that had lately 254 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. been a lucrative possession had suddenly become valueless, but the law had no remedy for property depreciated by exorcism. The true state of the case was therefore concealed, and an accusation was laid before the praetors in the following form : " These men are throwing the whole city into confusion ; moreover, they are Jews, and they are attempting to introduce new religious observances, which we, being Roman citizens, cannot legally receive and adopt." The accusation was partly true and partly false. It was quite false that Paul and Silas were disturbing the colony, for nothing could have been more calm and orderly than their worship and teaching at the house of Lydia or in the synagogue by the water-side. In the other part of the indictment there was a certain amount of truth. The letter of the Roman law, even under the republic, was opposed to the introduction of foreign religions ; and though ex- ceptions were allowed, as in the case of the Jews themselves, yet the spirit of the law entirely condemned such changes in worship as were likely to unsettle the minds of the citizens or to produce any tumultuous uproar; and the advice given to Augustus, which both he and his successors had studiously followed, was to check religious innovations as promptly as possible, lest in the end they should undermine the monarchy. Thus, Paul and Silas had un- doubtedly been doing what in some degree exposed them to legal penalties, and were beginning a change which tended to bring down — and which ultimately did bring down — the whole weight of the Roman law on the martyrs of Christianity. The force of another part of the accusation, which was adroitly introduced — namely, that the men were Jews to begin with — will be fully apprehended if we remember not only that the Jews were 'gene- rally hated, suspected, and despised, but that they had lately been driven out of Rome in consequence of an uproar, and that it was incumbent on Philippi, as a colony, to copy the indignation of the mother-city. Thus we can enter into the feelings which caused the mob to rise against Paul and Silas, and tempted the praetors to dispense with legal formalities and consign the offenders to immediate punish- ment. The mere loss of the slave's prophetic powers, so far as it was generally known, was enough to cause a violent agitation, for mobs are always more fond of excitement and wonder than of truth and holiness. The Philipi)ians had been willing to pay money for the demoniac's revelations, and now strangers had come THE JAIL AND THE JAILER. 255 and deprived them of that which gratified their superstitious curi- osity. And when they learned, moreover, that these strangers were Jews and were breaking the laws of Eome, their discontent became fanatical. It seems that the prsetors had no time to hesitate if they would retain their popularity. The rough words were spoken: '*Go, lictors! strip off their garments; let them be scourged." The order was promptly obeyed, and the heavy blows descended. It is happy for us that few modern countries know, by the example of a similar punishment, what the severity of a Roman scourging was. The apostles received many stripes," and when they were consigned to prison, bleeding and faint from the rod, the jailer received a strict injunction "to keep them safe." Well might Paul, when at Corinth, look back to this day of cruelty, and remind the Thessalonians how he and Silas had "suffered before, and were shamefully treated, at Philippi." The jailer fulfilled the directions of the magistrates with rigor- ous and conscientious cruelty. Not content with placing the apostles among the other offenders against the law who were in custody at Philippi, he "thrust them into the inner prison," and then forced their limbs, lacerated as they were and bleeding from the scourge, into a painful and constrained posture by means of an instrument employed to confine and torture the bodies of the worst malefactors. Though we are ignorant of the exact relation of the outer and inner prisons, and of the connection of the jailer's "house" with both, we are not without very good notions of the misery endured in the Roman places of captivity. We must picture to ourselves something very different from the austere comfort of an English jail. It is only since that Chris- tianity for which the apostles bled has had influence on the hearts of men that the treatment of felons has been a distinct subject of philanthropic inquiry, and that we have learnt to pray " for all prisoners and captives." The inner prisons of which we read in the ancient world were like that " dungeon in the court of the prison " into which Jeremiah was let down with cords, and where "he sank in the mire." They were pestilential cells, damp and cold, from which the light was excluded, and where the chains rusted on the limbs of the prisoners. One such place may be seen to this day on the slope of the Capitol at Rome. It is known to the readers of Cicero and Sallust as the place where certain notorious conspirators were executed. The Tu/lianum {for so it 256 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. was called) is a type of the dungeons in the provinces, and we find the very name applied in one instance to a dungeon in the province of Macedonia. What kind of torture was inflicted by the stocks," in which the arms and legs, and even the necks, of offenders were confined and stretched, we are sufficiently in- formed by the allusions to the punishment of slaves in the Greek and Roman writers; and to show how far the cruelty of heathen persecution, which may be said to have begun at Philippi, was afterward carried in this peculiar kind of torture, we may refer to the sufferings which " Origen endured under an iron collar and in the deepest recesses of the prison, when for many days he was extended and stretched to the distance of four holes on the racky A few hours had made a serious change from the quiet scene by the water-side to the interior of a stifling dungeon. But Paul and Silas had learnt "in whatever state they were, therewith to be content." They were even able to "rejoice" that they were " counted worthy to suffer " for the name of Christ. And if some thoughts of discouragement came over their minds, not for their own sufferings, but for the cause of their Master, and if it seemed a "strange thing" that a work to which they liad been beckoned by God should be arrested in its very beginning, yet they had faith to believe that his arm would be revealed at the appointed time. Joseph's feet, too, had been " hurt in the stocks," and he became a prince in Egypt. Daniel had been cast into the lions' den, and he was made ruler of Babylon. Thus, Paul and Silas remembered with joy the "Lord our Maker, who giveth songs in the night^^ (Job XXXV. 10). Racked as they were with pain, sleepless and weary, they were heard "about midnight," from the depth of their prison-house, " praying and singing hymns to God." What it was that they sang, we know not, but the Psalms of David have ever been dear to those who suffer; they have instructed both Jew and Christian in the language of prayer and praise. And the Psalms abound in such sentences as these : " The Lord looketh down from his sanctuary: out of heaven the Lord beholdeth the earth: that he might hear the mournings of such as are in captivity, and deliver the children appointed unto death." — "Oh let the sorrow- ful sighing of the prisoners come before thee: according to the greatness of thy power, preserve thou those that are appointed to die." — "The Lord helpeth them to right that suffer wrong: the THE BANDS OF THE PRISONERS LOOSED. 257 Lord looseth men out of prison : the Lord belpeth them that are fallen : the Lord careth for the righteous/' Such sounds «is these were new in a Roman dungeon. Whoever the other prisoners might be, whether they were the victims of oppression or were suffering the punishment of guilt — debtors, slaves, robbers, or murderers — they listened with surprise to the voices of those who filled the midnight of the prison with sounds of cheerfulness and joy. Still the apostles continued their praises and the prisoners listened — "They that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death: being fast bound in misery and iron ; when they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, he delivered them out of their distress. For he brought them out of darkness, and out of the shadow of death: and brake their bonds in sunder. Oh that men would therefore praise the Lord for his goodness, and declare the wonders that he doeth for the children of men ! for he hath broke the gates of brass and smitten the bars of iron in sunder,'" — when suddenly, as if in direct answer to the prayer of his servants, an earthquake shook the very foundations of the prison, the gates were broken, the bars smitten asunder, and the bands of the prisoners loosed. Without striving to draw a line between the natural and the supernatural in this occurrence, and still less endeavoring to resolve what was evidently miraculous into the results of ordinary causes, we turn again to the thought suggested by that single but expressive phrase of Scripture, 'Hhe prisoners were listening.''^ When we reflect on their knowledge of the apostles' sufferings (for they were doubtless aware of the manner in which they had been brought in and thrust into the dungeon), and on the wonder they must have experienced on hearing sounds of joy from those who were in pain, and on the awe which must have overpowered them when they felt the prison shaken and the chains fall from their limbs, — and when to all this we add the effect produced on their minds by all that happened on the follow- ing day, and especially the fact that the jailer himself became a Christian, — we can hardly avoid the conclusion that the hearts of many of those unhappy bondsmen were prepared that night to receive the gospel ; that the tidings of spiritual liberty came to those whom, but for the captivity of the apostles, it would never have reached ; and that the jailer himself was their evangelist and teacher. The effect produced by that night on the jailer's own mind has 17 258 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. been fully related to us. Awakened in a moment by the earth- quake, his first thought was of his prisoners ; and in the shock of surprise and alarm, seeing the doors of the prison open, and supposing that the prisoners were fled," aware that inevitable death awaited him, with the stern and desperate resignation of a Roman official he resolved that suicide was better than disgrace, and " drew his sword." Philippi is famous in the annals of suicide. Here Cassius, unable to survive defeat, covered his face in the empty tent and ordered his freedman to strike the blow ; his messenger Titinius held it to be " a Roman's part " to follow the stern example ; here Brutus bade adieu to his friends, exclaiming, " Certainly we must fly, yet not with the feet, but with the hands ; " and many whose names hav^e never reached us ended their last struggle for the republic by self-inflicted death. Here, too, another despairing man would have committed the same crime had not his hand been arrested by an apostle's voice. Instead of a sudden and hopeless death, the jailer received at the hands of his prisoner the gift both of temporal and spiritual life. The loud exclamation of Paul, " Do thyself no harm, for we are all here," gave immediate reassurance to the terrified jailer. He laid aside his sword and called for a light, and rushed to the " inner prison," where Paul and Silas were confined. But now a new fear of a higher kind took possession of his soul. The recollection of all he had heard before concerning these prisoners, and all that he had observed of their demeanor when he brought' them into the dungeon, the shuddering thought of the earthquake, the burst of his gratitude towards them as the preservers of his life, and the consciousness that even in the darkness of midnight they had seen his intention of suicide, — all these mingling and conflicting emo- tions made him feel that he was in the presence of a higher power. He fell down before them, and brought them out, as men whom he had deeply injured and insulted, to a place of greater freedom and comfort; and then he asked them with earnest anxiety what he must do to be saved. We see the apostle, here self-possessed in the earthquake as afterward in the storm at sea, able to overawe and control those who were placed over him, and calmly turning the occasion to a spiritual end. It is surely, however, a mistake to imagine that the jailer's inquiry had reference merely to tem- poral and immediate danger. The awakening of his conscience, THE JAILER AND HIS FAMILY BAPTIZED. 259 the presence of the unseen world, the miraculous visitation, the nearness of death — coupled, perhaps, with some confused recollec- tion of the way of salvation^' which these strangers were said to have been proclaiming — were enough to suggest that inquiry which is the most momentous that any human s^ul can make: " What must I do to be saved f " Their answer was that of faithful apostles. They preached " not themselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord.'' Believe not in us, but in the Lord Jesus , and thou shalt he saved; and not only thou, but the like faith shall bring salva- tion to all thy house From this last expression and the words which follow we infer that the members of the jailer's family had crowded round him and the apostles. No time was lost in making known to them " the word of the Lord." All thought of bodily comfort and repose was postponed to the work of saving the soul. The meaning of " faith in Jesus" was explained, and the gospel was preached to the jailer's family at midnight, while the prisoners were silent around and the light was thrown on anxious faces and the dungeon-wall. And now we have an instance of that sympathetic care, that interchange of temporal and spiritual service, which has ever at- tended the steps of true Christianity. As it was in the miracles of our Lord and Saviour, where the soul and the body were regarded together, so has it always been in his Church. ^' In the same hour of the night" the jailer took the apostles to the well or fountain of water which was within or near the precincts of the prison, and there he washed their wounds, and there also he and his household were baptized. He did what he could to assuage the bodily pain of Paul and Silas, and they admitted him and his, by the " laver of regeneration," to the spiritual citizenship of the kingdom of God. The prisoners of the jailer were now become his guests; his cruelty was changed into hospitality and love. " He look them up into his house," and, placing them in a posture of repose, set food before them and refreshed their exhausted strength. It was a night of happiness for all. They praised God that his power had been made effectual in their weakness, and the jailer's family had their first experience of that joy which is the fruit of believing in God. At length morning broke on the eventful night, [n the course of that night the greatest of all changes had been wrought in the jailer's relations to this world and the next. From being the igno- 260 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. rant slave of a heathen magistracy he had become the religious head of a Christian family. A change also, in the same interval of time, had come over the minds of the magistrates themselves. Either fr :m refi-^iL.g that they had acted more harshly than the case hac \^ cirranted, or from hearing a more accurate statement of facts, or through alarm caused by the earthquake, or through that vague misgiving which sometimes, as in the case of Pilate and his wife, haunts the minds of those who have no distinct religious convictions, they sent new orders in the morning to the jailer. The message conveyed by the lictors was expressed in a somewhat contemptuous form, Let those men goP But the jailer received it with the utmost joy. He felt his infinite debt of gratitude to the apostles, not only for his preservation from a violent death, but for the tidings they had given him of eternal life. He would willingly have seen them freed from their bondage, but he was dependent on the will of ihe magistrates and could do nothing without their sanction. When, therefore, the lictors brought the order, he went with them to announce the intelligence to the prisoners, and joy- fully told them to leave their dungeon and "go in peace." But Paul, not from any fanatical love of braving the authorities, but calmly looking to the ends of justice and the establishment of Christianity, refused to accept his liberty without some public acknowledgment of the wrong he had suffered. He now proclaimed a fact which had hitherto been unknown — that he and Silas were Roman citizens. Two Roman laws had been violated by the magis- trates of the colony in the scourging inflicted the day before. And this, too, with signal aggravations. They were " uncondemned.'' There had been no form of trial, without which, in the case of a citizen, even a slighter punishment w^ould have been illegal. And it had been done " publicly." In the face of a colonial population an outrage had been committed on the majesty of the name in which they boasted, and Rome had been insulted in her citizens. No," said Paul ; " they have oppressed the innocent and violated the law. Do they seek to satisfy justice by conniving at a secret escape? Let them come themselves and take us out of prison. They have publicly treated us as guilty ; let them publicly declare that we are innocent." " How often," says Cicero, " has this exclamation, I am a Uoman citizenj brought aid and safety even among barbarians in the re- motest parts of the earth !" The lictors returned to the praetors, DEPARTURE FROM PHILIPPI. 261 and the praetors were alarmed. They felt that they had committed an act which if divulged at Eome would place them in the utmost jeopardy. They had good reason to fear even for their authority in the colony, for the people of Philippi, " being Eomans," might be expected to resent such a violation of the law. They hastened, therefore, immediately to the prisoners and became the suppliants of those whom they had persecuted. They brought them at once out of the dungeon, and earnestly " besought them to depart from the city." The whole narrative of Paul's imprisonment at Philippi sets before us in striking colors his clear judgment and presence of mind. He might have escaped by help of the earthquake and under the shelter of the darkness, but this would have been to depart as a runaway slave. He would not do secretly what he knew he ought to be allowed to do openly. By such a course his own character and that of the gospel would have been disgraced, the jailer would have been cruelly left to destruction, and all religious influence over the other prisoners would have been gone. As regards these prisoners, his influence over them was like the sway he obtained over the crew in the sinking vessel. It was so great that not one of them attempted to escape. And not only in the prison, but in the whole town of Philippi, Christianity was placed on a high vantage-ground by the apostle's conduct that night. It now appeared that these persecuted Jews were themselves sharers in the vaunted Roman privilege. Those very laws had been violated in their treatment which they themselves had been ac- cused of violating. That no appeal was made against this treat- ment might be set down to the generous forbearance of the apostles. Their cause was now, for a time at least, under the pro- tection of the law, and they themselves were felt to have a claim on general sympathy and respect. They complied with the request of the magistrates. Yet even in their departure they were not unmindful of the digrrity and self-possession which ought always to be maintained by innocent men in a righteous cause. They did not retire in any hasty or precipitate flight, but proceeded "from the prison to the house of Lydia," and there they met the Christian brethren, who were assembled to hear their farewell words of exhortation ; and so they departed from the city. It was not, however, deemed sufli- cient that this infant church at Philippi should be left alone with 262 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. the mere remembrance of words of exhortation. Two of the apostolic company remained behind — Timotheus, of whom the Philippians "learned the proof" that he honestly cared for their state — that he was truly like-minded with Paul, "serving him in the gospel as a son serves his father ;" and " Luke the evangelist, whose praise is in the gospel," though he never praises himself or relates his own labors, and though we only trace his movements in connection with Paul by the change of a pronoun or the un- conscious variation of his style. Timotheus seems to have rejoined Paul and Silas, if not at Thessalonica, at least at Bercea (Acts xvii. 14). But we do not see Luke again in the apostle^s company till the third missionary journey and the second visit to Macedonia (Acts xx. 4-6). At this exact point of separation we observe that he drops the style of an eye-witness and resumes that of a historian until the second time of meeting, after which he writes as an eye-witness till the arrival at Rome and the very close of the Acts. To explain and justify the remark here made, we need only ask the reader to con- trast the detailed narrative of events at Philippi with the more general account of what happened at Thessalonica. It might be inferred that the writer of the Acts was an eye-witness in the former city, and not in the latter, even if the pronoun did not show us when he was present and when he was absent. We shall trace him again, in the same manner, when he rejoins Paul in the same neighborhood. He appears again on a voyage from Philippi to Troas (Acts xx. 56), as now he has appeared on a voyage from Troas to Philippi. It is not an improbable conjecture that his vocation as a physician may have brought him into connection with these contiguous coasts of Asia and Europe. It has even been imagined, on reasonable grounds, that he may have been in the habit of exercising his professional skill as a surgeon at sea. Plowever this may have been, we have no reason to question the ancient opinion, stated by Eusebius and Jerome, that Luke was a native of Antioch. Such a city was a likely place for the educa- tion of a physician. It is also natural to suppose that he may have met with Paul there, and been converted at an earlier period of the history of the Church. His medical calling or his zeal for Christianity, or both combined — and the combination has ever been beneficial to the cause of the gospel — may account for his visits to the north of the Archipelago ; or Paul may himself have MACEDONIA. 203 directed his movements, as he afterward directed those of Timothy and Titus. All these suggestions, though more or less conjectural, are worthy of our thoughts when we remember the debt of grati- tude which the Church owes to this evangelist, not only as the historian of the Acts of the Apostles, but as an example of long- continued devotion to the truth and of unshaken constancy to that one apostle who said with sorrow, in his latest trial, that others had forsaken him, and that "only Luke^' was with him. Leaving their first Macedonian converts to the care of Timo- theus and Luke, aided by the co-operation of godly men and women raised up among the Philippians themselves, Paul and Silas set forth on their journey. Before we follow them to Thes- salonica we may pause to take a general survey of the condition and extent of Macedonia in the sense in which the term was understood in the language of the day. It has been well said that the Acts of the Apostles have made JVIacedonia a kind of Holy Land ; and it is satisfactory that the places there visited and revisited by Paul and his companions are so well known that we have no difficulty in representing to the mind their position and their relation to the surrounding country. Macedonia, in its popular sense, may be described as a region bounded by a great semicircle of mountains, beyond which the streams flow westward to the Adriatic or northward and eastward to the Danube and the Euxine. This mountain-barrier sends down branches to the sea on the eastern or Thracian frontier, over against Thasos and Samothrace, and on the south shuts out the plain of Thessaly, and rises near the shore to the high summits of Pelion, Ossa, and the snowy Olympus. The space thus enclosed is intersected by two great rivers. One of these is Homer's " wide- flowing Axius," which directs its course past Pella, the ancient metropolis of the Macedonian kings and the birthplace of Alex- ander, ^ the low levels in the neighborhood of Thessalonica, where other rivers flow near it into the Thermaic Gulf The other is the 8trymon, which brings the produce of the great inland level of Serres by Lake Cercinus to the sea at Amphipolis, and beyond which was Philippi, the military outpost that commemorated the successful conquests of Alexander's father. Between the mouths of these two rivers a remarkable tract of country — which is insular, rather than continental — projects into the Archipelago, and divides itself into three points, on the farthest of which Mount Athos rises 264 LIFE AND EnSTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. nearly into the region of perpetual snow. Part of Paul's path between Philippi and Beroea lay across the neck of this peninsula. The whole of his route was over historical ground. At Philippi he was close to the confines of Thracian barbarism and on the spot where the last battle was fought in defence of the republic. At Beroea he came near the mountains, beyond which is the region of classical Greece, and close to the spot where the battle was fought which reduced Macedonia to a province. If we wish to view Macedonia as a province, some modifications must be introduced into the preceding description. It applies, in- deed, with sufficient exactness to the country on its first conquest by the Eomans. The rivers already alluded to define the four districts into which it was divided. Macedonia Prima was the region east of the Strymon, of which Amphipolis was the capital ; Macedonia Secunda lay between the Strymon and the Axius, and Thessalonica was its metropolis; and the other two regions were situated to the south towards Thessaly and on the mountains to the west. This was the division adopted by Paulus iEmilius after the battle of Pydna. But the arrangement was only temporary. The whole of Macedonia, along with some adjacent territories, was made one province, and centralized under the jurisdiction of a proconsul who resided at Thessalonica. This province included Thessaly, and extended over the mountain-chain which had been the western boundary of ancient Macedonia, so as to embrace a seaboard of considerable length on the shore of the Adriatic. The provincial limits in this part of the empire are far more easily discriminated than those with which we have been lately occupied (Chap. VIII.). Three provinces divided the whole surface which extends from the basin of the Danube to Gape Matapan. All of them are familiar to us in the writings of Paul. The extent of Macedonia has just been defined. Its relations with the other provinces were as follows : On the north-west it \^as con- tiguous to Illyricumj which was spread down the shore of the Adriatic nearly to the same point to which the Austrian territory now extends, fringing the Mohammedan empire with a Christian border. A hundred miles to the southward, at the Acroceraunian promontory, it touched Achaia^ the boundary of which province ran thence in an irregular line to the Bay of Thermopylfe and the north of Euboea, including Epirus and excluding Thessaly. Achaia and Macedonia were traversed many times by the apostle, THE VIA EGNATIA. 265 and be could say, when he was hoping to travel to Kome, that he had preached the gospel " round about unto lUyricum." When we allude to Rome, and think of the relation of the city to the provinces, we are inevitably reminded of the military roads ; and here, across the breadth of Macedonia, was one of the greatest roads of the empire. It is evident that after Constantinople was founded a line of communication between the Eastern and West- ern capitals was of the utmost moment, but the Via Egnatia was constructed long before this period. S'trabo, in the reign of Au- gustus, informs us that it was regularly made and marked out by milestones from Dyrrhachium on the Adriatic to Cypselus on the Hebrus in Thrace; and even before the close of the republic we find Cicero speaking, in one of his speeches, of " that military way of ours which connects us with the Hellespont.'' Certain districts on the European side of the Hellespont had been part of the legacy of King Attains, and the simultaneous possession of Macedonia, Asia, and Bithynia, with the prospect of further conquests in the East, made this line of communication abso- lutely necessary. When Paul was on the Roman road at Troas or Philippi he was on a road which led to the gates of Rome. It was the same pavement which he afterward trod at Appii Forum and the Three Taverns. The nearest parallel which the world has seen of the imperial roads is the present European railway system. The Hellespont and the Bosphorus in the reign of Claudius were what the Straits of Dover and Holyhead are now, and even the passage from Brundusium in Italy to Dyrrhachium and Apollonia in Macedonia was only a tempestuous ferry — only one of those difficulties of Nature which the Romans would have overcome if they could, and which the boldest of the Romans dared to defy. From Dyrrhachium and Apollonia the Via Eg- natia, strictly so called, extended a distance of five hundred miles, to the Hebrus in Thrace. Thessalonica was about halfway be- tween these remote points, and Philippi was the last important town in the province of Macedonia. Our concern is only with that part of the Via EgnatWi which lay between the two last- mentioned cities. The intermediate stages mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles are Amphipolis and Apollonia. The distances laid down in the itineraries are as follows: Philippi to Amphipolis, thirty-three miles; Amphipolis to Apollonia, thirty miles; Apollonia to Thes- 266 LIFE AND EPTSTI.es OF TPIE APOSTLE PAUL. salonica, thirty-seven miles. These distances are evidently siicn as might have been traversed each in one day; and since nothing is said of any delay on the road, but everything to imply that the journey was rapid, we conclude (unless, indeed, their recent suf- ferings made rapid travelling impossible) that Paul and Silas rested one night at each of the intermediate places, and thus our notice of their journey is divided into three parts. From Philippi to Amphipolis the Roman way passed across the plain to the north of Mount PangjBUs. A traveller going direct from Neapolis to the mouth of th^e Strymon might make his way through an opening in the mountains nearer the coast. This is the route by which Xerxes brought his army and by which modern journeys are usually made. But Philippi was not built in the time of the Persian war, and now, under the Turks, it is a ruined vil- lage. Under the Roman emperors the position of this colony de- termined the direction of the road. The very productiveness of the soil and its liability to inundations must have caused this road to be carefully constructed ; for the surface of the plain, which is intersected with multitudes of streams, is covered with planta- tions of cotton and fields of Indian corn, and the villages are so numerous that when seen from the summits of the neighboring mountains they appear to form one continued town. Not far from the coast the Strymon spreads out into a lake as large as Winder- mere ; and between the lower end of this lake and the inner reach of the Strymonic Gulf, where the mountains leave a narrow open- ing, Amphipolis was situated on a bend of the river. " The position of Amphipolis is one of the most important in Greece. It stands in a pass which traverses the mountains border- ing the Strymonic Gulf, and it commands the only easy communi- cation from the coast of that gulf into the great Macedonian plains which extend for sixty miles from beyond 'Meleniko to Philippi." The ancient name of the place was "Nine Ways," from the great number of Thracian and Macedonian roads which met at this point. The Athenians saw the importance of the position, and established a colony there, which they called Amphip- olis, because the river surrounded it. Some of the deepest inter- est in the history of Thucydides, not only as regards military and political movements, but in reference to the personal experience of the historian himself, is concentrated on this spot. And again, Amphipolis appears in the speeches of Demosthenes as a great APOLLONIA. 267 stake in the later struggle between Philip of Macedon and the citizens of Athens. It was also the scene of one striking passage in the history of Eoman conquest : here Paulus ^milius after the battle of Pydna publicly proclaimed that the Macedonians should be free; and now another Paulus was here, whose message to the Macedonians was an honest proclamation of a better liberty, with- out conditions and without reserve. Paul's next stage was to the city of Apollonia. After leaving Amphipolis the road passes along the edge of the Strymonic Gulf first between cliffs and the sea, and then across a well-woodea maritime plain, whence the peak of Athos is seen far across the bay to the left. We quit the sea-shore at the narrow gorge of Aulon or Arethusa, and there enter the valley which crosses the neck of the Chalcidic peninsula. Up to this point we have fre- quent historical landmarks reminding us of Athens. Thucydides has just been mentioned in connection with Amphipolis and the Strymon. As wt- leave the sea we have before us on the opposite coast Stagirus, the birthplace of Aristotle, and in the pass, where the mountains close on the road, is the tomb of Euripides. Thus the steps of our progress, as we leave the East and begin to draw near to Athens, are already among her historians, philosophers, and poets. Apollonia is somewhere in the inland part of the journey, where the Via Egnatia crosses from the gulf of the Strymon to that of Thes- salonica, but its exact position has not been ascertained. We will, therefore, merely allude to the scenery through v/hich the traveller moves in going from sea to sea. The pass of Arethusa is beautiful and picturesque. A river flows through it in a sinuous course, and abundant oaks and plane trees are on the rocks around. Presently this stream is seen to emerge from an inland lake, whose promontories and villages, with the high mountains rising to the south-west, have reminded travellers of Switzerland. As we jour- ney towards the west we come to a second lake. Between the two is the modern post-station of Klisali, which may possibly be Apol- lonia, though it is generally believed to be on the mountain-slope to the south of the easternmost lake. The whole region of these two lakes is a long valley, or rather a succession of plains, where the level spaces are richly wooded with forest trees and the nearer hills are covered to their summits with olives. Beyond the second lake the road passes over some rising ground, and presently, after 268 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. passing through a narrow glen, we obtain a sight of the sea once more, the eye ranges freely over the plain of the Axius, and the city of Thessalonica is immediately before us. Once arrived in this city, Paul no longer follows the course of the Via Egnatia. He may have done so at a later period, when he says that he had preached the gospel " round about unto Illyri- cum." But at present he had reached the point most favorable for the glad proclamation. The direction of the Roman road was of course determined by important geographical positions, and along the whole line from Dyrrhachium to the Hebrus no city was so large and influential as Thessalonica. The apostolic city at which we are now arrived was known in the earliest periods of its history under various names. Under that of Therma it is associated with some interesting recollections. It was the resting-place of Xerxes on his march, it is not unmen- tioned in the Peloponnesian war, and it was a frequent subject of debate in the last independent assemblies of Athens. When the Macedonian power began to overshadow all the countries where Greek was spoken, this city received its new name and began a new and more distinguished period of its history. A sister of Alexander the Great was called Thessalonica, and her name was given to the city of Therma when rebuilt and embellished by her husband, Cassander, the son of Antipater. This name, under a form slightly modified, has continued to the present day. The Salneck of the early German poets has become the Saloniki of the modern Levant. Its history can be followed as continuously as its name. When Macedonia was partitioned into four provincial divisions by Paulus -^milius, Thessalonica was the capital of that which lay between the Axius and the Strymom When the four regions were united into one Roman province, this city was chosen as the metropolis of the whole. Its name appears more than once in the annals of the civil wars. It was the scene of the exile of Cicero, and one of the stages of his journey between Rome and his province in the East. Antony and Octavius were here after the battle of Philippi, and coins are still extant which allude to the freedom granted by the victorious leaders to the city of the Thermaic Gulf. Strabo, in the first century, speaks of Thessa- lonica as the most populous town in Macedonia. Lucian, in the second century, uses similar language. Before the founding of Constantinople it was virtually the capital of Greece and Illyri- THESSALONICA. 2G9 cum, as well as of Macedonia, and shared the trade of the ^gean with Ephesus and Corinth. Even after the eastern Rome was built and reigned over the Levant, we find both pagan and Chris- tian writers speaking of Thessalonica as the metropolis of Mace- donia and a place of great magnitude. Through the Middle Ages it never ceased to be important, and it is at the present day the second city in European Turkey. The reason of this continued pre-eminence is to be found in its geographical position. Situated on the inner bend of the Thermaic Gulf, halfway between the Adriatic and the Hellespont, on the sea-margin of a vast plain watered by several rivers, and at the entrance of the pass which commands the approach to the other great Macedonian level, it was evidently destined for a mercantile emporium. Its relation with the inland trade of Macedonia was as close as that of Am- phipolis, and its maritime advantages were perhaps even greater. Thus, while Amphipolis decayed under the Byzantine emperors, Thessalonica continued to prosper. There probably never was a time, from the day when it first received its name, that this city, as viewed from the sea, has not had the aspect of a busy commer- cial town. We see at once how appropriate a place it was for one of the starting-points of the gospel in Europe ; and we can appre- ciate the force of the expression used by Paul within a few months of his departure from the Thessalonians, when he says that "from them the word of the Lord had sounded forth like a trumpet, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place.'' No city which we have had occasion to describe has had so distinguished a Christian history, with the single exception of the Syrian Antioch, and the Christian glory of the patriarchal city gradually faded before that of the Macedonian metropolis. The heroic age of Thessalonica was the third century. It was the bulwark of Constantinople in the shock of the barbarians, and it held up the torch of the truth to the successive tribes who over- spread the country between the Danube and the ^gean — the Goths and the Sclaves, the Bulgarians of the Greek Church, and the Wallachians, whose language still seems to connect them with Philippi and the Roman colonies. Thus in the mediaeval chron- icles it has deserved the name of " the orthodox city." The re- mains of its hippodrome, which is for ever associated with the history of Theodosius and Ambrose, can yet be traced among the Turkish houses. Its bishops have sat in great councils. The 270 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. writings of its great preacher and scholar, Eustathius, are still preserved to us. It is true that the Christianity of Thessalonica, both mediaeval and modern, has been debased by humiliating super- stition. The glory of its patron saint, Demetrius, has eclipsed that of Paul, the founder of its Church. But the same Divine Provi- dence wliich causes us to be thankful for the past commands us to be hopeful for the future ; and we may look forward to the time when a new harvest of the work of faith and labor of love and patience of hope " shall spring up from the seeds of divine truth which were first sown on the shore of the Thermaic Gulf by the apostle of the Gentiles. [f Thessalonica can boast of a series of Christian annals un- broken since the day of Paul's arrival, its relations with the Jewish people have continued for a still longer period. In our own day it contains a multitude of Jews commanding an influential position, many of whom are occupied (not very differently from Paul him- self) in the manufacture of cloth. A considerable number of them are refugees from Spain and speak the Spanish language. There are materials for tracing similar settlements of the same scattered and persecuted people in this city at intervals during the Middle Ages ; and even before the destruction of Jerusalem we find them here, numerous and influential as at Antioch and Iconium. Here, doubtless, was the chief colony of those Jews of Macedonia of whom Philo speaks, for while there was only a proseucha at Philippi, and while Amphipolis and Apollonia had no Israelite communities to detain the apostles, " the synagogue " of the neighborhood was at Thessalonica. The first scene to which we are introduced in this city is entirely Jewish. It is not a small meeting of proselyte women by the river- side, but a crowded assembly of true-born Jews intent on their religious worship, among whom Paul and Silas now make their appearance. If the traces of their recent hardships were manifest in their very aspect, and if they related to their Israelitish brethren how they had " suffered before and been cruelly treated at Philippi " (1 Thess. ii. 2), their entrance in among them must have created a strong impression of indignation and sympathy which explains the allusion in Paul's Epistle. He spoke, however, to the Thessalonian Jews with the earnestness of a man who has no time to lose and no thought to waste on his own sufferings. He preached not him- self, but Christ crucified. The Jewish Scriptures were the ground THE SYNAGOGUE IN THi:SSALONICA. 271 of bis argument. He recurred to the same subject again and again. On three successive sabbaths he argued with them; and the whole body of Jews resident in Thessalonica were interested and excited with the new doctrine, and were preparing either to adopt or op- pose it. The three points on which he insisted were these : that He who was foretold in prophecy was to be a suffering Messiah, that after death he was to rise again, and that the crucified Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the Messiah who was to come. Such is the distinct and concise statement in the Acts of the Apostles (xvii. 3) ; and the same topics of teaching are implied in the First Epistle, where the Thessalonians are appealed to as men who had been taught to believe that Jesus had really died and risen again " (iv. 14), and who had turned to serve the true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven "whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus" (i. 10). Of the mode in which these subjects would be presented to his hearers we can form some idea from what was said at Antioch in Pisidia. The very aspect of the worshippers was the same; proselytes were equally attached to the congregations in Pisidia and Macedonia, and the " devout and honorable women " in one city found their parallel in the "chief women" in the other. The impression, too, produced by the address was not very different here from what it had been there. At first it was favorably received, the interest of novelty having more influence than the seriousness of conviction. Even from the first some of the topics must have contained matter for perplexity or cavilling. Many would be indisposed to believe the fact of Christ's resurrection, and many more, who in their exile from Jerusalem were looking intently for the restoration of an earthly kingdom, must have heard incredulously and unwillingly of the humiliation of Messiah. That Paul did speak of Messiah's glorious kingdom, the king- dom foretold in the prophetic Scriptures themselves, may be gath- ered by comparing together the Acts and the Epistles to the Thes- salonians. The accusation brought against him (Acts xvii. 7) was that he was proclaiming another king and virtually rebelling against the emperor. And in strict conformity to this the Thessa- lonians are reminded of the exhortations and entreaties he gave them, when among them, that they would "walk worthily of the God who had called them to his Hjir/dom and glory" (1 Thess. ii. 12), and addressed as those who had " suffered affliction for the sake 272 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. of thsit kingdom^' (2 Thess. i. 5). Indeed, the royal state of Christ's second advent was one chief topic which was urgently enforced and deeply impressed on the minds of the Thessalonian converts. This subject tinges the whole atmosphere through which the aspect of this Church is presented to us. It may be said that in each rf the primitive churches which are depicted in the apostolic Epistles there is some peculiar feature which gives it an individual charac- ter. In Corinth it is the spirit of party, in Galatia the rapid de- clension into Judaism, in Philippi it is a steady and self-denying generosity. And if we were asked for the distinguishing charac- teristic of the first Christians of Thessalonica, we should point to their overwhelming sense of the nearness of the second advent, accompanied with melancholy thoughts concerning those who might die before it, and with gloomy and unpractical views of the shortness of life and the vanity of the world. Each chapter in the First Epistle to the Thessalonians ends with an allusion to this subject, and it was evidently the topic of frequent conversations when the apostle was in Macedonia. But Paul never spoke or wrote of the future as though the present was to be forgotten. When the Thessalonians were admonished of Christ's advent, he told them also of other coming events, full of practical warning to all ages, though to our eyes still they are shrouded in mystery — of "the falling away" and "of the man of sin" (2 Thess. ii.). - "These awful revelations," he said, "must precede the revelation of the Son of God. Do you not remember he adds with emphasis in his letter, " ihat when I ivas still with you I often told you this? You know J therefore J the hinderance why he is not revealed, as he will be in his own season." He told them, in the words of Christ himself, that " the times and the seasons " of the coming revela- tions were known only to God, and he warned them, as the first disciples had been warned in Judaea, that the great day would come suddenly on men unprepared, "as the pangs of travail on her whose time is full " and " as a thief in the night ;" and he showed them, both by precept and example, that though it be true that life is short and the world is vanity, yet God's work must be done diligently and to the last. The whole demeanor of Paul among the Thessalonians may be traced by means of these Epistles with singular minuteness. We see there not only what success he had on his first entrance among them, not only how the gospel came " with power and full con vie- Paul's life in thessalonica. 273 tion of its truth/' but also what manner of man he was among them for their sakes." We see him proclaiming the truth with unflinching courage, endeavoring to win no converts by flattering words, but warning his hearers of all the danger of the sins and pollution to which they were tempted; manifestly showing that his work was not intended to gratify any desire of self- advance- ment, but scrupulously maintaining an honorable and unblamable character. We see him rebuking and admonishing his converts wnth all the faithfulness of a father to his children, and cherishing them with all the aflection of a mother for the infant of her bosom. We see in this apostle at Thessalonica all the devotion of a friend, who is ready to devote his life for those whom he loves, all the watchfulness of the faithful pastor, to whom "each one'' of his flock is the separate object of individual care. And from these Epistles we obtain further some information concerning wdiat may be called the outward incidents of Paul's residence in this city. He might when there, consistently with the Lord's institution and with the practice of the other apostles, have been burdensome " to those whom he taught, so as to receive from them the means of his temporal support. But that he might place his disinterestedness above all suspicion, and that he might set an example to those who Avere too much inclined to live by the labor of others, he declined to avail himself of that which was an undoubted right. He was enabled to maintain this independent position partly by the liberality of his friends at Phili])pi, who once and again, on this first visit to Macedonia, sent relief to his necessities (Phil. iv. 15, 16). And the journeys of those pious men who followed the footsteps of the persecuted apostles along the Via Egnatia by Amphipolis and Apollonia, bringing the alms which had been collected atPhilippi, are among the most touching incidents of the apostolic history. And not less touching is that description which the apostle himself gives us of that other means of support — " his own labor night and day, that he might not be burdensome to any of them" (1 Thess. ii. 9). He did not merely rob other churches " that he might do the Thessalonians service, but the trade he had learnt when a boy in Cilicia justified the old Jewish maxim : ''he was like a vineyard that is fenced," and he was able to show an example not only to the *' disorderly busy- bodies" of Thessalonica (1 Thess. iv. 11), but to all in every age *>£ the Church who are apt to neglect their proper business (2 18 274 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. Thess. iii. 11), and ready to eat other men's bread for naught (2 Thess. iii. 8). Late at night, when the sun had long set on the incessant spiritual labors of the day, the apostle might be seen by lamplight laboring at the rough hair-cloth, " that he might be chargeable to none." It was an emphatic enforcement of the "commands'' which he found it necessary to give when he was among them, that they should study to be quiet and to work with their own hands " (1 Thess. iv. 11), and the stern principle he laid down, that ''if a man will not work, neither should he eat" (2 Thess. iii. 10). In these same Epistles, Paul speaks of his work at Thessalonica as having been encompassed with afflictions, and of the gospel as having advanced by a painful struggle. What these afflictions and struggles were we can gather from the slight notices of events which are contained in the Acts. The apostle's success among the Gentiles roused the enmity of the Jews. Even in the synagogue the proselytes attached themselves to him more readily than the Jews. But he did not merely obtain an influence over the Gentile mind by the indirect means of his disputations on the sabbath in the synagogue and through the medium of the proselytes, but on the intermediate days he was doubtless in frequent and direct communication with the heathen. We need not be surprised at the results, even if his stay was limited to the period corresponding to three sabbaths. No one can say what effects might follow from three weeks of an apostle's teaching. But we are by no means forced to adopt the supposition that the time was limited to three weeks. It is highly probable that Paul remained at Thessalonica for a longer period. At other cities, when he was repelled by the Jews, he became the evangelist of the Gentiles, and remained till he was compelled to depart. The Thessalonian letters throw great light on the rupture which certainly took place with the Jews on this occasion, and which is implied in that one word in the Acts which speaks of their jealousy against the Gentiles. The whole aspect of the letter shows that the main body of the Thessalonian Church was not Jewish, but Gentile. The Jews are spoken of as an extraneous body, as the enemies of Christianity and of all men not as the elements out of which the Church was composed. The ancient Jewish Scriptures are not once quoted in either of these Epistles. The converts are addressed as those who had turned, not from Hebrew fables and traditions, but from the prac- PERSECUTION BY THE JEWS. 275 tices of heathen idolatry. How new and how comforting to them must have been the doctrine of the resurrection from the dead ! What a contrast must this revelation of life and immortality" have been to the hopeless lamentations of their own pagan funerals, and to the dismal teaching which we can still read in the sepulchral inscriptions of heathen Thessalonica — such as told the bystander that after death there is no revival, after the grave no meeting of those who have loved each other on earth ! How ought the truth taught by the apostle to have comforted the new disciples at the thought of inevitable though only temporary separation from their Christian brethren! And yet how difficult was the truth to realize when they saw those brethren sink into lifeless forms, and after they had committed them to the earth which had received all their heathen ancestors ! How eagerly can we imagine them to have read the new assurances of comfort which came in the letter from Corinth, and which told them ''not to sorrow as the rest that have no hope " ! But we are anticipating the events which occurred between the apostle's departure from Thessalonica and the time when he wrote the letter from Coi-inth. We must return to the persecution that led him to undertake that journey which brought him from the capital of Macedonia to that of Achaia. When the Jews saw proselytes and Gentiles and many of the leading women of the city convinced by Paul's teaching, they must have felt that his influence was silently undermining theirs. In proportion to his success in spreading Christianity their power of spreading Judaism declined. Their sensitiveness would be in- creased in consequence of the peculiar dislike with which they were viewed at this time by the Roman power. Thus they adopted the tactics which had been used with some success before at Iconium and Lystra, and turned against Paul and his companions those weapons which are the readiest instruments of vulgar bigotry. They excited the mob of Thessalonica, gathering together a multitude of those worthless idlers about the markets and landing-places which abound in every such city and are always ready for any evil work. With this multitude they assaulted the house of Jason (perhaps some Hellenistic Jew^ whose name had been moulded into Gentile form, and possibly one of Paul's re- lations who is mentioned in the Epistle to the Romans), with whom Paul and Silas seem to have been lodging. Their wish was 276 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. to bring Paul and Silas out to the demus, or assembly of the peo- ple. But they were absent from the house, and Jason and some other Christians were dragged before the city magistrates. The accusation vociferously brought against them was to the following effect: "These Christians, who are setting the whole w^orld in confusion, are come hither at last; and Jason has received them into his house; and they are all acting in the face of the emperor's decrees, for they assert that there is another king, whom they call Jesus." We have seen how some of the parts of Paul's teaching at Thessalonica may have given occasion to the latter phrase in this indictment ; and we obtain a deeper insight into the cause why the whole indictment was brought forward with so much vehemence, and why it was so likely to produce an effect on the magistrates, if we bear in mind the circumstance alluded to in reference to Philippi, that the Jews were under the ban of the Koman au- thorities about this time for having raised a tumult in the metropolis at the instigation (as was alleged) of one Chrestus or Christus, and that they must have been glad in the provincial cities to be able to show their loyalty and gratify their malice by throwing the odium ofl* themselves upon a sect whose very name might be interpreted to imply a rebellion against the emperor. Such were the circumstances under which Jason and his com- panions were brought before the politarchs. We use the Greek term advisedly, for it illustrates the political constitution of Thessalonica and its contrast with that of Philippi, which has lately been noticed. Thessalonica was not a colony, like Philippi, Troas, or the Pisidian Antioch, but a free city (urbs libera)^ like the Syrian Antioch or like Tarsus and Athens. The privilege of w^hat was technically called "freedom" was given to certain cities of the empire for good service in the civil wars, or as a tribute of respect to the old celebrity of the place, or for other reasons of convenient policy. There were few such cities in the Western provinces, as there were no municipia in the Eastern. The free towns were most numerous in those parts of the empire where the Greek language had long prevailed, and we are generally able to trace the reasons why this privilege was bestowed upon them. At Athens it was the fame of its ancient eminence and the evident policy of paying a compliment to the Greeks. At Thessalonica it was the part which its inhabitants had prudently taken in the great struggle of Augustus and Antony against Brutus and Cassius. PRIVILEGES OF ROMAN CITIES. 277 When the decisive battle had been fought, Philippi was made a military colony and Thessalonica became free. The privilege of such a city consisted in this — that it was entirely self-governed in all its internal affairs within the territory that might be assigned to it. The governor of the province had no right, under ordinary circumstances, to interfere with these affairs. The local magistrates had the power of life and death over the citizens of the place. No stationary garrison of Roman soldiers was quartered within its territory, no insignia of Roman office w^ere displayed in its streets. An instance of the care with w^hich this rule was observed is recorded by Tacitus, who tells us that Germanicus, whose progress was usually distinguished by the presence of twelve lictors, declined to enter Athens attended with more than one. There is no doubt that the magistracies of such cities would be very careful to show their loyalty to the emperor on all suitable occasions, and to avoid every disorder which might compromise their valued dignity and cause it to be withdrawn. And, on the other hand, the Roman state did wisely to rely on the Greek love of empty distinction, and it secured its dominion as effectually in the East by means of these privileged towns as by the stricter political annexation of the municipia in the West. The form of government in the free cities was very various. In some cases the old magistracies and customs were continued without any material modification. In others a senate or an assembly was allowed to exist where none had existed before. Here, at Thessalonica, we find an assembly of the people [rknius, Acts xvii. 5) and supreme magistrates who are called poUtarchs (Acts xvii. 8). It becomes an interesting inquiry whether the existence of this title of the Thessalonian magistracy can be traced in any other source of information. This question is im- mediately answered in the affirmative by one of those passages of monumental history which we have made it our business to cite as often as possible in the course of this biography. An in- scription which is still legible on an archway in Thessalonica gives this title to the magistrates of the place, informs us of their number, and mentions the very names of some who bore the office not long before the day of Paul. A long street intersects the city from east to west. This is doubt- less the very direction which the ancient road took in its course from the Adriatic to the Hellespont, for, though the house.« of 278. LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. ancient cities are destroyed and renewed, the lines of the great thoroughfares are usually unchanged. If there were any doubt of the fact at Thessalonica, the question is set at rest by two triumphal arches which still, though disfigured by time and in- jury and partly concealed by Turkish houses, span the breadth of this street, and define a space which must have been one of the public parts of the city in the apostolic age. One of these arches is at the western extremity, near the entrance from Rome, and is thought to have been built by the grateful Thessalonians to com- memorate the victory of Augustus and Antony. The other is farther to the east, and records the triumph of some later emperor (most probably Constantine) over enemies subdued near the Dan- ube or beyond. The second of these arches, with its sculptured camels, has altogether an Asiatic aspect, and belongs to a period of the empire much later than that of Paul. The first has the representation of consuls with the toga, and corresponds in ap- pearance with that condition of the arts which marks the passing of the republic into the empire. If erected at that epoch, it was undoubtedly existing when the apostle was in Macedonia. The following inscription in Greek letters informs us of the magistracy which the Romans recognized and allowed to subsist in the " free city'' of Thessalonica : IIOAEITAPXOYNTfiN SnSIHATPOY TOY KAEO nATPA2 KAI AOYKIOY HONTIOY 2EKOYNAOY nOYBAIOY ^AAOYIOY 2ABEIN0Y AHMHTPIOY TOY ^AYSTOY AHMHTPIOY TOY NIKOnOAEnS ZniAOY TOY HAPMENinNOS TOY KAI MENI2K0Y TAIOY APIAAHIOY IIOTEITOY. . . . These words, engraved on the marble arch, inform us that the magistrates of Thessalonica were called polifarchs, and that they w^ere seven in number; and it is perhaps worth observing (though it is only a curious coincidence) that three of the names are iden- tical with those of Paul's friends in this region — Sopater of Bercea, Gains the Macedonian, and Secundus of Thessalonica. It is at least well worth our while to notice, as a mere matter of Christian evidence, how accurately Luke writes concerning the political characteristics of the cities and provinces which he men- tions. He takes notice in the most artless and incidental manner of minute details which a fraudulent composer would judiciously DECISION OF THE MAGISTRATES. 279 avoid, and which in the mythical result of mere oral tradition would surely be loose and inexact. Cyprus is a "proconsular" province. Philippi is a ''colony.'' The magistrates of Thessalo- nica have an unusual title, unmentioned in ancient literature, but it appears from a monument of a different kind that the title is perfectly correct. And the whole aspect of what happened at Thessalonica, as compared with the events at Philippi, is in per- fect harmony with the ascertained difterence in the political con- dition of the two places. There is no mention of the rights and privileges of Roman citizenship^ but we are presented with the spectacle of a mixed mob of Greeks and Jews who are anxious to show themselves to be " Ccesar^s friends.^^ No lictors with rods and fasces appear upon the scene, but w^e hear something distinctly of a demus or free assembly of the people. Nothing is said of religious ceremonies which the citizens, " being Romans," may not lawfully adopt; all the anxiety both of people and magistrates is turned to the one point of showing their loyalty to the emperor. And those magistrates by whom the question at issue is ultimately decided are not Roman prmtors^ but Greek polifarchs. It is evident that the magistrates were excited and unsettled, as well as the multitude. No doubt they were anxious to stand well with the Roman government, and not to compromise themselves or the privileges of their city by a wrong decision in this dispute between the Christians and the Jews. The course they adopted was to ''take security" from Jason and his companions. By this expression it is most probably meant that a sum of money was deposited with the magistrates, and that the Christian community of the place made themselves responsible that no attempt should be made against the supremacy of Rome and that peace should be maintained in Thessalonica itself. By these means the disturbance was allayed. But though the magistrates had secured quiet in the city for the present, the position of Paul and Silas was very precarious. The lower classes were still excited ; the Jews were in a state of fanat- ical displeasure. It is evident that the apostles could not appear in public as before without endangering their own safety and com- promising their fellow-Christians, who were security for their good behavior. The alternatives before them were either silence in Thessalonica or vleparture to some other place. The first was im- possible to those who bore the divine commission to preach the 280 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. gospel everywhere. They could not hesitate to adopt the second course, and under the watchful care of "the brethren" they de- parted the same evening from Thessalonica, their steps being turned in the direction of those mountains which are the western boundary of Macedonia. We observe that nothing is said of the departure of Timotheus. If he was at Thessalonica at all, he stays there now, as Luke had stayed at Philippi. We can trace in all these arrangements a deliberate care and policy for the well-being of the new churches, even in the midst of the sudden movements caused by the outbreak of persecution. It is the same prudent and varied forethought which appears afterward in the Pastoral Epistles, where injunctions are given according to circumstances — to "abide" w^hile the apostle goes to some other region, "hoping that he may come shortly" again, — to "set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders," — or "to use all dilligence" to follow and co-operate again in the same work at some new place. Passing under the arch of Augustus and out of the western gate, the Via Egnatia crosses the'plain and ascends the mountains which have just been mentioned, forming a communication over a very rugged country between the Adriatic and the Hellespont. Just where the road strikes the mountains, at the head of a bay of level ground, the city of Edessa is situated, described as commanding a glorious view of all the country that stretches in an almost un- broken surface to Thessalonica and the sea. This, however, was not the point to which Paul turned his steps. He travelled by a less important road to the town of Beroea, which was farther to the south. The first part of the journey was undertaken at night, but day must have dawned on the travellers long before they reached their place of destination. If the journey was at all like what it is now, it may be simply described as follows: After leav- ing the gardens which are in the immediate neighborhood of Thes- salonica, the travellers crossed a wide track of cornfields and came to the shifting bed of the " wide-flowing Axius." About this part of the journey, if not before, the day must have broken upon them. Betw^een the Axius and the Haliacmon there inter venes another wide extent of the same continuous plain. The banks of this second river are confined by artificial dikes to check its destructive inundations. All the country round is covered. with a vast forest, with intervals of cultivated land and villages con- cealed among the trees. The road extends for many miles through BERCEA. 281 these woods, aud at length reaches the base of the western moun- tains, where a short ascent leads up to the gate of Beroea. Beroea, like Edessa, is on the eastern slope of the Olympian range, and commands an extensive view of the plain which is watered by the Haliacmon and Axius. It has many natural ad- vantages, and is now considered one of the most agreeable towns in Eumili. Plane trees spread a grateful shade over its gardens, streams of water are in every street. Its ancient name is said to have been derived from the abundance of its waters, and the name still survives in the modern Yerria or Kara-Verria. It is situated on the left of the Haliacmon, about five miles from the point where that river breaks through an immense rocky ravine from the moun- tains to the plain. A few insignificant ruins of the Greek and Roman periods may yet be noticed. The foundations of an ancient bridge are passed on the ascent to the city-gate, and parts of the Greek fortifications may be seen above the rocky bed of a moun- tain-stream. The traces of repairs in the walls, of Roman and Byzantine date, are links between the early fortunes of Beroea and its present condition. It still boasts of eighteen or twenty thou- sand inhabitants, and is placed in the second rank of the cities of European Turkey. In the apostolic age Beroea was sufficiently populous to contain a colony of Jews (Acts xvii. 10). When Paul arrived he went, according to his custom immediately to the synagogue. The Jews here were of a "nobler" spirit than those of Thessalonica. Their minds were less narrowed by prejudice, and they were more will- ing to receive the truth in the love of it." There was a contrast between the two neighboring communities, apparently open to the same religious influences, like that between the "village of the Samaritans" which refused to receive Jesus Christ (Luke ix.) and that other " city" in the same country where " many believed" because of the word of one who witnessed of him, and " many more because of his own word" (John iv.). In a spirit very different from the ignoble violence of the Thessalonian Jews, the Berceans not only listened to the apostle's arguments, but they examined the Scriptures themselves to see if those arguments were justified by prophecy. And, feeling the importance of the subject presented to them, they made this scrutiny of their holy books their "daily" occupation. This was the surest way to come to a strong convic- tion of the gospel's divine origin. Truth sought in this spirit can- 282 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. not long remain undiscovered. The promise that "they who seek shall find'' was fulfilled at Beroea, and the apostle's visit resulted in the conversion of "many." Nor was the blessing confined to the Hebrew community. The same Lord who is "rich unto all that call upon him" called many, "not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles." Both men and women, and those of the highest respectability, among the Greeks, were added to the Church founded by Paul in that provincial city of Macedonia which was his tem- porary shelter from the storm of persecution. The length of Paul's stay in the city is quite uncertain. From the fact that the Beroeans were occupied " daily " in searching the Scriptures for arguments to establish or confute the apostle's doc- trine, we conclude that he remained there several days at least. From his own assertion in his first letter to the Thessalonians, that at the time when he had been recently taken away from them he was very anxious, and used every effort to revisit them, we cannot doubt that he lingered as long as possible in the neighborhood of Thessalonica. This desire would account for a residence of some weeks; and there are other passages in the same Epistle which might induce us to suppose the time extended even to months. But when we find, on the other hand, that the cause which led him to leave Beroea was the hostility of the Jews of Thessalonica, and when we remember that the two cities were only separated by a distance of sixty miles, — that the events which happened in the synagogue of one city would soon be made known in the syn- agogue of the other, — and that Jewish bigotry was never long in taking active measures to crush its opponents, — we are led to the conclusion that the apostle was forced to retreat from Beroea after no long interval of time. The Jews came like hunters upon their prey, as they had done before from Iconium to Lystra. They could not arrest the progress of the gospel, but they "stirred up the people" there, as at Thessalonica before. They made his friends feel that his continuance in the city was no longer safe. He was withdrawn from Beroea and sent to Athens, as in the begin- ning of his ministry he had been withdrawn from Jerusalem and sent to Tarsus. And on this occasion, as on that, the dearest wishes of his heart were thwarted. The providence of God per- mitted " Satan " to hinder him from seeing his dear Tliessalonian converts, whom "once and again " he had desired to revisit. The ^ivine counsels were accomplished by means of the antagonism DEPARTURE FOR ATHENS. 283 of wicked men, and the path of the apostle was urged on, in the midst of trial and sorrow, in the direction pointed out in the vision at Jerusalem — "/ar hence unio the Gentiles.''^ An immediate departure was urged upon the apostle, and the Church of Beroea suddenly lost its teacher. But Silas and Timo- theus remained behind to build it up in its holy faith, to be a com- fort and support in its trials and persecutions, and to give it such organization as might be necessary. Meamvhile, some of the new converts accompanied Paul in his flight, thus adding a new in- stance to those we have already seen of the love which grows up between those who have taught and those who have learnt the way of the soul's salvation. Without attempting to divine all the circumstances which may have concurred in determining the direction of the flight, we can mention some obvious reasons why it wa& the most natural course. To have returned in the direction of Thessalonica was manifestly impossible. To have pushed over the mountains by the Via Egna- tia, towards lUyricum and the western parts of Macedonia, would have taken the apostle from those shores of the Archipelago to which his energies were primarily to be devoted. Mere conceal- ment and inactivity were not to be thought of. Thus the Chris- tian fugitives turned their steps towards the sea, and from some point on the coast where a vessel was found they embarked foi Athens. In the ancient tables two roads are marked which cross the Haliacmon and intersect the plain from Beroea — one passing by Pydna, and the other leaving it to the left, and both coming to the coast at Dium near the base of Mount Olympus. The Pierian Level (as this portion of the plain was called) extends about ten miles in breadth from the woody falls of the mountain to the sea- shore, forming a narrow passage from Macedonia into Greece. Thus, Dium was the great bulwark of Macedonia on the south ; ^' and it w^as a Roman colony, like that other city which we have described on the eastern frontier. No city is more likely than Dium to have been the last, as Philippi was '^the first," through which Paul passed in his journey through the province. Here, then, where Olympus, dark with woods, rises from the plain by the shore to the broad summit, glittering with snow, which was the throne of the Homeric gods, at the natural termina- tion of Macedonia, and where the first scene of classical and poetic Greece opens on our view, we take our leave, for the present, of 284 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. the apostle of the Gentiles. The shepherds from the heights above the Vale of Tempe may have watched the sails of his ship that day as it moved like a white speck over the outer waters of the Thermaic Gulf. The sailors, looking back from the deck, saw the great Olympus rising close above them in snowy majesty. The more distant mountains beyond Thessalonica are already growing faint and indistinct. As the vessel approaches the Thessalian Archipelago, Mount Athos begins to detach itself from the isthmus that binds it to the main, and, with a few other heights of Northern Macedonia, appears like an island floating in the horizon. CHAPTER X. ARRIVAL ON THE COAST OF ATTICA. — SCENERY ROUND ATHENS. — THE PIR^US AND THE " LONG WALLS." — THE AGORA. — THE ACROPOLIS. — THE " PAINTED PORCH " AND THE " GARDEN." — THE APOSTLE ALONE IN ATHENS.— GREEK RELIGION. — THE UNKNOWN GOD. — GREEK PHILOSOPHY. — THE STOICS AND EPICUREANS. — LATER PERIOD OF THE SCHOOLS. — PAUL IN THE AGORA. — THE AREOPAGUS. — SPEECH OF PAUL. — DEPART- URE FROM ATHENS. We left Paul on that voyage which his friends induced him to undertake on the flight from Beroea. The vessel was last seen among the Thessalian islands. About that point the highest land in Northern Macedonia began to be lost to view. Gradually the nearer heights of the snowy Olympus itself receded into the dis- tance as the vessel in her progress approached more and more near to the centre of all the interest of classical Greece. All the land and water in ^ight becomes more eloquent as we advance; the lights and shadows both of poetry and history are on every side; every rock is a monument ; every current is animated with some memory of the past. For a distance of ninety miles, from the confines of Thessaly to the middle part of the coast of Attica, the shore is protected, as it were, by the long island of Euboea. Deep in the innermost gulf, where the waters of the ^gean retreat far within the land over against the northern parts of this island, is the Pass of Thermopylae, where a handful of Greek warriors had defied all the hosts of Asia. In the crescent-like bay on the sliore of Attica, near the southern extremity of the same island, is the maritime sanctuary of Marathon, where the battle was fought which decided that Greece Avas never to be a Persian satrapy. When the island of Euboea is left behind we soon reach the southern extremity of Attica, Cape Colonna, Sunium's high prom- ontory, still crowned with the white columns of that temple of 285 286 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. Minerva which was the landmark to Greek sailors, and which asserted the presence of Athens at the very vestibule of her country. After passing this headland our course turns to the westward across the waters of the Saronic Gulf, with the mountains of the Morea on our left and the islands of ^gina and Salamis in front. To one who trav.els in classical lands no moment is more full of interest and excitement than when he has left the cape of Sunium behind and eagerly looks for the first glimpse of that city " built nobly on the ^gean shore which was " the eye of Greece, mother of arts and eloquence." To the traveller in classical times its position was often revealed by the flashing of the light on the armor of Minerva's colossal statue, which stood with shield and spear on the summit of the citadel. At the very first sight of Athens, and even from the deck of the vessel, we obtain a vivid notion of the characteristics of its position. And the place where it stands is so remarkable, its ancient inhabitants were so proud of its climate and its scenery, that we may pause on our approach to say a few words on Attica and Athens and their relation to the rest of Greece. Attica is a triangular tract of country, the southern and eastern sides of which meet in the point of Sunium ; its third side is defined by the high mountain-ranges of Githseron and Parnes, which separate it by a strong barrier from Boeotia and Northern Greece. Hills of inferior elevation connect these ranges with the mountainous surface of the south-east, which begins from Sunium itself, and rises on the south coast to the round summits of Hymet- tus and the higher peak of Pentelicus near Marathon on the east. The rest of Attica is a plain, one reach of which comes down to the sea on the south, at the very base of Hymettus. Here, about five miles from the shore, an abrupt rock rises from the level, like the rock of Stirling Castle, bordered on the south by some lower eminences and commanded by a high craggy peak on the north. This rock is the Acropolis of Athens. These lower eminences are the Areopagus, the Pnyx, and the Museum, which determined the rising and falling of the ground in the ancient city. That craggy peak is the Hill of Lycabettus, from the summit of which ihe spectator sees all Athens at his feet and looks freely over the intermediate plain to the Piraeus and the sea. Athens and the Piraeus must never be considered separately THE COAST OF ATTICA. 287 One was the city, the other was its harbor. Once they were con- nected together by a continuous fortification. Those who looked down from Lycabettus in the time of Pericles could follow with the eye all the long line of wall from the temples on the Acropolis to the shipping in the port. Thus we are brought back to the point from which we digressed. We w^ere approaching the Piraeus ; and, since we must land in maritime Athens before we can enter Athens itself, let us return once more to the vesseFs deck and look round on the land and the water. The island on our left, with steep cliffs at the water^s edge, is ^gina. The distant heights beyond it are the mountains of the Morea. Before us is another island, the illustrious Salamis, though in the view it is hardly disentangled from the coast of Attica, for the strait where the battle was fought is narrow and winding. The high ranges behind stretch beyond Eleusis and Megara — to the left towards Corinth, and to the right along the frontier of Bceotia. This last ridge is the mountain-line of Parnes, of which we have spoken above. Clouds are often seen to rest on it at all seasons of the year, and in winter it is usually white with snow. The dark heavy moun- tain rising close to us on the right immediately from the sea is Hymettus. Between Parnes and Hymettus is the plain, and rising from the plain is the Acropolis, distinctly visible, with Lycabettus behind, and seeming in the clear atmosphere to be nearer than it is. The outward aspect of this scene is now what it ever was. The lights and shadows on the rocks of ^gina and Salamis, the gleams on the distant mountains, the clouds or the snow on Parnes, the gloom in the deep dells of Hymettus, the temple-crowned rock and the plain beneath it, are natural features, which only vary with the alternations of morning and evening and summer and winter. Some changes indeed have taken place, but they are connected with the history of man. The vegetation is less abundant, the population more scanty. In Greek and Eoman times bright villages enlivened the promontories of Sunium and iEgina and all the inner reaches of the bay. Some readers will indeed remember a dreary picture which Sulpicius gave his friend Atticus of the desolation of these coasts when Greece had ceased to be free, but we must make some allowances for the exaggerations of a poetical regret, and must recollect that the writer had been accustomed to the gay and busy life of the Campanian shore. 288 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. After the reDOvation of Corinth, and in the reign of Claudius, there is no doubt that all the signs of a far more numerous popula- tion than at present were evident around the Saronic Gulf, and that more white sails were to be seen in fine weather plying across its waters to the harbors of Cenchrese or Piraeus. Now there is indeed a certain desolation over this beautiful bay: Corinth is fallen and Cenchrese is an insignificant village. The Piraeus is probably more like what it was than any other spot upon the coast. It remains what by Nature it has ever been — a safe basin of deep water concealed by the surrounding rock — and now, as in PauPs time, the proximity of Athens causes it to be the resort of various shipping. We know that w^e are approaching it at the present day if we see rising above the rocks the tall masts of an P^nglish line-of-battle ship side by side with the light spars of a Russian corvette or the black funnel of a French steamer. The details were different when the Mediterranean was a Roman lake. The heavy top-gear of corn-ships from Alexandria or the Euxine might then be a conspicuous mark among the small coast- ing-vessels and fishing-boats ; and one bright spectacle was then pre-eminent which the lapse of centuries has made cold and dim r— the perfect buildings on the summit of the Acropolis, with the shield and spear of Minerva Promachus glittering in the sun. But those who have coasted along beneath Hymettus, and past the indentations in the shore which were suflicient harbors for Athens in the days of her early navigation, and round by the ancient tomb which tradition has assigned to Themistocles into the better and safer harbor of the Piraeus, require no great effort of the imagination to picture the apostle's arrival. For a moment, as we near the entrance, the land rises and conceals all the plain. Idlers come down upon the rocks to watch the coming vessel. The sailors are all on the alert. Suddenly an opening is revealed, and a sharp turn of the helm brings the ship in between two moles on which towers are erected. We are in smooth water, and anchor is cast in seven fathoms in the basin of the Piraeus. The Piraeus, with its suburbs (for so, though it is not strictly accurate, we may designate the maritime city), was given to Athens as a natural advantage to which much of her greatness must be traced. It consists of a projecting portion of rocky ground which is elevated above the neighboring shore, and prob- ably was originally entirely insulated in the sea. The two rivers THE PIR^US AND THE " LONG WALLS." 289 of Athens, the Cephisiis and Ilissus, seem to have formed in the course of ages the low marshy ground which now connects Athens with its port. The port itself possesses all the advantages of shelter and good anchorage, deep w^ater and sufficient space. Themistocles, seeing that the pre-eminence of his country could only be maintained by her maritime power, fortified the Piraeus as the outpost of Athens, and enclosed the basin of the harbor as a dock within the walls. In the long period through which Athens had been losing its political power these defences had been neglected and suffered to fall into decay, or had been used as materials for other buildings ; but there was still a fortress on the highest point, the harbor was still a place of some resort, and a considerable number of seafaring people dwelt in the streets about the sea-shore. When the republic of Athens was flourishing the sailors were a turbulent and worthless part of its population ; and the Piraeus under the Eomans was not without some remains of the same disorderly class, as it doubtless retained many of the outward features of its earlier appearance — the landing-places and covered porticoes, the warehouses where the corn from the Black Sea used to be laid up, the stores of fish brought in daily from the Saronic Gulf and the j3Egean, the gardens in the watery ground at the edge of the plain, the theatres into which the sailors used to flock to hear the comedies of Menander, and the temples where they were spectators of a worship which had no beneficial eflect on their characters. Had Paul come to this spot four hundred years before, he would have been in Athens from the moment of his landing at the Piraeus. At that time the two cities were united together by the double line of fortification which is famous under the name of the Long WallsJ^ The space included between these tw^o arms of stone might be considered (as, indeed, it was sometimes called) a third city, for the street of five miles in length thus formed across the plain was crowded with people, whose habitations were shut out from all view of the country by the vast wall on either side. Some of the most pathetic passages of Athenian history are associated with this longomural enclosure, as when, in the begin- ning of the Peloponnesian war, the plague broke out in the autumn weather among the miserable inhabitants, who were crowded here to suflbcation ; or at the end of the same war, w^hen the news came of the defeat on the Asiatic shore, and one long 10 290 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. wail went up from the Piraeus, " and no one slept in Athens that night." The result of that victory was, that these long walls were rendered useless by being partially destroyed, and though another Athenian admiral and statesman restored what Pericles bad first completed, this intermediate fortification remained effect- ive only for a time. In the incessant changes which fell on Athens in the Macedonian period they were injured and became unim- portant. In the Eoman siege under Sulla the stones were used as materials for other military works. So that when Augustus was on the throne, and Athens had reached its ultimate position as a free city of the province of Achaia, Strabo in his description of the place speaks of the Long Walls as matters of past history ; and Pausanias a century later says simply that " you see the ruins of the walls as you go up from the Piraeus." Thus we can easily imagine the aspect of these defences in the time of Paul, which is intermediate to these two writers. On each side of the road were the broken fragments of the rectangular masonry put together in the proudest days of Athens — more conspicuous than they are at present (for now only the foundations can be traced here and there across the plain), but still very different from what they were when two walls of sixty feet height, with a long succession of towers, stood to bid defiance to every invader of Attica. The consideration of the Long Walls lead us to that of the city walls themselves. Here many questions might be raised concern- ing the extent of the enclosure and the positions of the gates when Athens was under the Eoman dominion. But all such inquiries must be entirely dismissed. We will assume that Paul entered the city by the gate which led from the Piraeus, that this gate was identical with that by which Pausanias entered, and that its posi- tion was in the hollow between the outer slopes of the Pnyx and Museum. It is no ordinary advantage that we possess a description of Athens under the Eomans by the traveller and antiquarian whose name has just been mentioned. The work of Pausanias will be our best guide to the discovery of what Paul saw. By fol- lowing his route through the city we shall be treading in the steps of the apostle himself, and shall behold those very objects which excited his indignation and compassion. Taking, then, the position of the Peiraic gate as determined, or at least resigning the task of topographical inquiries, we enter the city, and with Pausanias as our guide look round on the objects THE AGORA. 291 which were seen by the apostle. At the very gatew^ay w^e are met with proofs of the peculiar tendency of the Athenians to multiply their objects both of art and devotion. Close by the building where the vestments were laid up which were used in the annual pro- cession of their tutelary divinity Minerva is an image of her rival Neptune, seated on horseback and hurling his trident. We pass by a temple of Ceres, on the w^alls of which an archaic inscription informs us that the statues it contains were the work of Praxiteles. We go through the gate, and immediately the eye is attracted by the sculptured forms of Minerva, Jupiter, and Apollo, of Mercury and the Muses, standing near a sanctuary of Bacchus. We are already in the midst of an animated scene, where temples, statues, and altars are on every side, and where the Athenians, fond of pub- licity and the open air, fond of hearing and telling what is curious and strange, are enjoying their climate and inquiring for news. A long street is before us, with a colonnade or cloister on either hand, like the covered arcades of Bologna or Turin. At the end of the street, by turning to the left, we might go through the whole Ce- ramicus, which leads by the tombs of eminent Athenians to the open inland country and the groves of the Academy. But we turn to the right, into the Agora, which was the centre of a glorious public life when the orators and statesmen, the poets and the artists, of Greece found there all the incentives of their noblest enthusiasm, and still continued to be the meeting-place of philosophy, of idle- ness, of conversation, and of business when Athens could only be proud of her recollections of the past. On the south side is the Pnyx, a sloping hill partially levelled into an open area for political assemblies ; on the north side is the more craggy eminence of the Areopagus ; before us, towards the east, is the Acropolis, towering high above the scene of which it is the glory and the crown. In the valley enclosed by these heights is the Agora, which must not be conceived of as a great market" (Acts xvii. 17), like the bare spaces in many modern towns, where little attention has been paid to artistic decoration, but is rather to be compared to the beautiful squares of such Italian cities as Verona and Florence, where his- torical buildings have closed in the space within narrow limits and sculpture has peopled it with impressive figures. Among the build- ings of greatest interest are the porticoes or cloisters, which were dec- orated wdth paintings and statuary, like the Campo Santo at Pisa We think we may be excused for multiplying these comparisons, 292 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. for, though they are avowedly imperfect, they are really more useful than any attempt at description could be in enabling us to realize the aspect of ancient Athens. Two of the most important of these were the Portico of the King and the Portico of the Jupiter of Freedom. On the roof of the former were statues of Theseus and the Day ; in the front of the latter was the divinity to whom it was dedicated, and within were allegorical paintings illustrating the rise of the Athenian democracy. One characteristic of the Agora was that it was full of memorials of actual history. Among the plane trees planted by the hand of Cimon were the statues of the great men of Athens, such as Solon the lawgiver, Conon the admiral, Demosthenes the orator. But among her historical men were her deified heroes, the representatives of her mythology — Hercules and Theseus, and all the series of the Eponymi, on their elevated platform, from whom the tribes were named, and whom an ancient custom connected with the passing of every successive law. And among the deified heroes were memorials of the older divinities — Mercuries, which gave their name to the street in which they were placed ; statues dedicated to Apollo, as patron of the city and her deliverer from plague ; and in the centre of all the altar of the Twelve Gods, which was to Athens what the Golden Mile- stone was to Rome. If we look up to the Areopagus, we see the temple of that deity from whom the eminence had received the name of " Mars' Hill," and we are aware that the sanctuary of the Furies is only hidden by the projecting ridge beyond the stone steps and the seats of the judges. If we look forward to the Acrop- olis, we behold there, closing the long perspective, a series of little sanctuaries on the very ledges of the rock — shrines of Bacchus and JEsculapius, Venus, Earth, and Ceres, ending with the lovely form of that temple of Unwinged Victory which glittered by the en- trance of the Propylsea above the statues of Harmodius and Aristo- geiton. Thus every god in Olympus found a place in the Agora. But the religiousness of the Athenians went even farther. F ir every public place and building was likewise a sanctuary. The Record House was a temple of the Mother of the Gods. The Council-House held statues of Apollo and Jupiter, with an altar of Vesta. The theatre at the base of the Acropolis, into which the Athenians crowded to hear the words of their great tragedians, was consecrated to Bacchus. The Pynx, near which we entered, on whose elevated platform they listened in breathless attention OF THE ' THE ACROPOLIS. 293 to their orators, was dedicated to Jupiter on high, with whose name those of the Nymphs of the Demus were gracefully associated. And, as if the imagination of the Attic mind knew no bounds in this direction, abstractions were deified and publicly honored. Altars were erected to Fame, to Modesty, to Energy, to Persuasion, and to Pity. This last altar is mentioned by Pausanias among "those objects in the Agora which are not understood by all men ; for," he adds, " the Athenians alone of all the Greeks give divine honor to Pity." It is needless to show how the enumeration which we have made (and which is no more than a selection from what is described by Pausanias) throws light on the words of Luke and Paul, and especially how the groping after the abstract and invisi- ble implied in the altars alluded to last illustrates the inscription " To the Unknown God " which was used by apostolic wisdom to point the way to the highest truth. What is true of the Agora is still more emphatically true of the AcropoliSj for the spirit which rested over Athens was concentrated here. The feeling of the Athenians with regard to the Acropolis was well though fancifully expressed by the rhetorician, who said that it was the middle space of five concentric circles of a shield, whereof the outer four were Athens, Attica, Greece, and the world. The platform of the Acropolis was a museum of art, of history, and of religion. The whole was " one vast composition of architecture and sculpture dedicated to the national glory and to the worship of the gods." By one approach only — through the Propylsea built by Pericles — could this sanctuary be entered. If Paul went up that steep ascent on the western front of the rock, past the temple of Victory, and through that magnificent portal, we know nearly all the features of the idolatrous spectacle he saw before him. At the entrance, in conformity with his attributes, was the statue of Mer- curius Propylseus. Farther on, within the vestibule of the beau- ful enclosure, were statues of Venus and the Graces. The recov- ery of one of those who had labored among the edifices of the Acropolis was commemorated by a dedication to Minerva as the goddess of health. There was a shrine of Diana, whose image had been wrought by Praxiteles. Intermixed with what had reference to divinities were the memorials of eminent men and of great vic- tories. The statue of Pericles, to whom the glory of the Acropolis was due, remained there for centuries. Among the sculptures on the south wall was one which recorded a victory we have alluded 294 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. to — that of Attains over the Galatians. Nor was the Roman power without its representatives on this proud pedestal of Athenian glory. Before the entrance were statues of Agrippa and Augustus, and at the eastern extremity of the esplanade a temple was erected in honor of Rome and the emperor. But the main characteristics of the place were mythological and religious, and truly Athenian. On the wide levelled area were such groups as the following : The- seus contending with the Minotaur ; Hercules strangling the ser- pents ; the Earth imploring showers from Jupiter ; Minerva caus- ing the olive to sprout while Neptune raises the waves. The mention of this last group raises our thoughts to the Parthenon — the Virgin's House — the glorious temple which rose in the proudest period of Athenian history to the honor of Minerva, and which ages of war and decay have only partially defaced. The sculptures on one of its pediments represented the birth of the goddess; those on the other depicted her contest with Neptune. Under the outer cornice were groups representing the victories achieved by her champions. Round the inner frieze was the long series of the Panathenaic procession. Within w^as the colossal statue of ivory and gold, the work of Phidias, unrivalled in the world save only by the Jupiter Olympus of the same famous artist. This was not the only statue of the virgin goddess within the sacred precincts; the Acropolis boasted of three Minervas. The oldest and most venerated was in the small irregular temple called the Erectheium, which contained the mystic olive tree of Minerva and the mark of Neptune's trident. This statue, like that of Diana at Ephesus (Acts xix. 35), was believed to have fallen from heaven. The third, though less sacred than the Minerva Polias, was the most conspicuous of all. Formed from the brazen spoils of the battle of Marathon, it rose in gigantic proportions above all the buildings of the Acropolis, and stood with spear and shield as the tutelary divinity of Athens and Attica. It was the statue which may have caught the eye of Paul himself from the deck of the vessel in which he sailed round Sunium to the Pirseus. Now, he had landed in Attica, and beheld all the wonders of that city which divides with one other city all the glory of heathen an- tiquity. Here, by the statue of Minerva Fromachus, he could reflect on the meaning of the objects he had seen in his progress. His path had been among the forms of great men and deified heroes, among the temples, the statues, the altars of the gods of THE "painted porch" AND THE "GARDEN." 295 Greece. He had seen the creations of mythology represented to the eye in every form of beauty and grandeur by the sculptor and the architect. And the one overpowering result was this: "His spirit was stirred within him when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry." But we must associate Paul not merely with the religion, but with the philosophy, of Greece. And this, perhaps, is our best opportunity for doing so, if we wish to connect together, in this respect also, the appearance and the spirit of Athens. If the apostle looked out from the pedestal of the Acropolis over the city and the open country, he would see the places w^hich are inseparably connected with the names of those who have always been recognized as the great teachers of the pagan world. In opposite directions he w^ould see the two memorable suburbs where Aristotle and Plato, the two pupils of Socrates, held their illustri- ous schools. Their positions are defined by the courses of the two rivers to which we have already alluded. The streamless bed of the Ilissus passes between the Acropolis and Hymettus in a south- westerly direction till it vanishes in the low ground which sepa- rates the city from the Piraeus. Looking towards the upper part of this channel, we see (or we should have seen in the first cen- tury) gardens with plane trees and thickets of agnus-castus, with " others of the torrent-loving shrubs of Greece." At one spot, near the base of Lycabettus, Avas a sacred enclosure. Here was a statue of Apollo Lycius, represented in an attitude of repose, leaning against a column, with a bow in the left hand and the right hand resting on his head. The god gave the name to the Lyceum. Here among the groves the philosopher of Stagirus, the instructor of Alexander, used to walk. Here he founded the school of the Peripatetics. To this point an ancient dialogue represents Socrates as coming, outside the northern city-wall, from the grove of the Academy. Following, therefore, this line in an opposite direction, we come to the scene of Plato's school. Those dark olive-groves have revived after all the disasters which have swept across the plain. The Cephisus has been more highly favored than the Ilissus. Its waters still irrigate the suburban gardens of the Athenians. Its nightingales are still vocal among the twinkling olive-branches. The gnarled trunks of the ancient trees of our own day could not be distinguished from those which were famUiar witli the presence of Plato, and are more venerable 296 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. than those which had grown up after Sulla^s destruction of the woods, before Cicero visited the Academy in the spirit of a pilgrim. But the Academicians and Peripatetics are not the schools to which our attention is called in considering the biog- raphy of Paul. We must turn our eye from the open country to the city itself if we wish to see the places which witnessed the rise of the Stoics and Epicureans. Lucian, in a playful passage, speaks of Philosophy as coming up from the Academy, by the Ceramicus, to the Agora; "and there," he says, "we shall meet her by the Stoa Poecile." Let us follow this line in imagination, and, having followed it, let us look down from the Acropolis into the Agora. There we distinguish a cloister or colonnade which was not mentioned before, because it is more justly described in connection with the Stoics. The Stoa Pcecile, or the Painted Cloister, gave its name to one of those sects who encountered the apostle in the Agora. It was decorated with pictures of the legendary wars of the Athenians, of their victories over their fellow-Greeks, and of the more glorious struggle at Marathon. Originally the meeting-place of the poets, it became the school where Zeno met his pupils and founded the system of stern philosophy which found adherents both among Greeks and Eo- mans for many generations. The system of Epicurus was matured nearly at the same time and in the same neighborhood. The site of the philosopher's garden is now unknown, but it was well known in the time of Cicero, and in the time of Paul it could not have been forgotten, for a peculiarly affectionate feeling subsisted among the Epicureans towards their founder. He left this garden as a legacy to the school, on condition that philosophy should always be taught there, and that he himself should be annually commemorated. The sect was dwindled into smaller numbers than their rivals in the middle of the first century. But it is highly probable that even then those who looked down from the Acropolis over the roofs of the city could distinguish the quiet garden where Epicurus lived a life of philosophic contentment, and taught his disciples that the enjoyment of tranquil pleasure was the highest end of human existence. The spirit in which Pausanias traversed these memorable places and scrutinized everything he saw was that of a curious and rather superstitious antiquarian. The expressions used by Cicero when describing the same objects show that his taste was gratified, and THE APOSTLE ALONE IN ATHENS. 297 that he looked with satisfaction on the haunts of those whom he regarded as his teachers. The thoughts and feelings in the mind of the Christian apostle, who came to Athens about the middle of that interval of time which separates the visit of Pausanias from that of Cicero were very different from those of criticism or ad- miration. He burned with zeal for that God whom, "as he went through the city,'' he saw dishonored on every side. He was melted with pity for those who, notwithstanding their intellectual greatness, were " wholly given to idolatry.'* His eye was not blinded to the reality of things by the appearance either of art or philosophy. Forms of earthly beauty and words of human wisdom were valueless in his judgment — and far worse than valueless — if they deified vice and made falsehood attractive. He saw and heard with an earnestness of conviction which no Epicurean could have understood, as his tenderness of affection was morally far above the highest point of the Stoic's impassive dignity. It is this tenderness of affection which first strikes us when we turn from the manifold wonders of Athens to look upon the apostle himself. The existence of this feeling is revealed to us in a few words in the Epistle to the Thessalonians. He was filled with anxious thoughts concerning those whom he had left in Macedonia, and the sense of solitude weighed upon his spirit. Silas and Timotheus were not arrived, and it was a burden and a grief to him to be " left in Athens aloneP Modern travellers have often felt, when wandering alone through the streets of a foreign city, what it is to be out of sympathy with the place and the people. The heart is with friends who are far off, and nothing that is merely beautiful or curious can effectually disperse the cloud of sadness. If in addition to this instinctive melancholy the thought of an irreligious world, of evil abounding in all parts of society, and of misery following everywhere in its train, — if this thought also presses heavily on the spirit, a state of mind is realized which may be some feeble approximation to what was experienced by the apostle Paul in his hour of dejection. But with us such feelings are often morbid and nearly allied to discontent. We travel for pleasure, for curiosity, for excitement. It is well if we can take such depressions thankfully as the discipline of a worldly spirit. Paul travelled that he might give to others the knowledge of sal- vation. His sorrow was only the cloud that kindled up into the bright pillar of the divine presence. He ever forgot himself in his 298 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. Master's cause. He gloried that God's strength was made perfect in his weakness. It is useful, however, to us to be aware of the human weakness of that heart which God made strong. Paul was indeed one of us. He loved his friends and knew the trials both of anxiety and loneliness. As we advance with the subject, this and similar traits of the man advance more into view, and with them, and personified as it were in him, touching traits of the religion which he preached come before us, and we see, as we contemplate the apostle, that the gospel has not only deliverance from the coarseness of vice and comfort for ruder sorrows, but sympathy and strength for the most sensitive and delicate minds. No mere pensive melancholy, no vain regrets and desires, hold sway over Paul, so as to hinder him in proceeding with the work appointed to him. He was "in Athens alone," but he was there as the apostle of God. No time was lost, and, according to his custom, he sought out his brethren of the scattered race of Israel. Though moved with grief and indignation when he saw the idol- atry all around him, he deemed that his first thought should be ^iven to his own people. They had a synagogue at Athens as at rhessalonica, and in this synagogue he first proclaimed his Master. Jewish wpic3, however, are not brought before us prominently here. They are cnsnally alluded to, and we are not informed whether the apostle wa* welcomed or repulsed in the Athenian synagogue. The sileno^ oi- Scripture is expressive, and we are taught that the subjects to which our attention is to be turned are connected not with Judaism, but with paganism. Before we can be prepared to consider the great speech which was the crisis and consummation of this meeting of Christianity and paganism, our thoughts must be given for a few moments to the characteristics of Athenian religion and Athenian philosophy. The mere enumeration of the visible objects with which the city of the Athenians was crowded bears witness (to use Paul's own words) to their '^carefulness in religion." The judgment of the Christian apostle agreed with that of his Jewish contemporary Josephus, with the proud boast of the Athenians themselves, exemplified in Isocrates and Plato, and with the verdict of a mul- titude of foreigners, from Livy to Julian, — all of whom unite in declaring that Athens was peculiarly devoted to religion. Keplete as the whole of Greece was with objects of devotion, the anti- quarian traveller informs us that there were more gods in Athens THE GREEK RELIGION. 299 than in all the rest of the country; and the Koman satirist hardly exaggerates when he says that it is easier to find a god there than a man. But the same enumeration which proves the existence of the religious sentiment in this people shows also the valueless character of the religion which they cherished. It was a religion which ministered to art and amusement, and was entirely destitute of moral power. Taste was gratified by the bright spectacle to w^hich the Athenian awoke every morning of his life. Excite- ment was agreeably kept up by festal seasons, gay processions, and varied ceremonies. But all this religious dissipation had no tendency to make him holy. It gave him no victory over himself, it brought him no nearer to God. A religion w4iich addresses itself only to the taste is as weak as one that appeals only to the intel- lect. The Greek religion was a mere deification of human attri- butes and the powers of Nature. It was doubtless better than other forms of idolatry which have deified the brutes, but it had no real power to raise him to a higher position than that which he occupied by nature. It could not even keep him from falling continually to a lower degradation. To the Greek this world was everything; he hardly even sought to rise above it. And thus ali- bis life long, in the midst of everything to gratify his taste and exercise his intellect, he remained in ignorance of God. This fact was tacitly recognized by the monuments in his own religious city. The want of something deeper and truer was expressed on the very stones. As we are told by a Latin writer that the ancient Romans, when alarmed by an earthquake, were accustomed to pray, not to some one of the gods individually, but to God in gen- eral, as to the Unknown, so the Athenians acknowledged their ignorance of the true Deity by the altars with this inscription, TO THE Unknov^^n God,'' which are mentioned by heathen wri- ters as well as by the inspired historian. Whatever the origin of these altars may have been, the true significance of the inscrip- tion is that which is pointed out by the apostle himself. The Athenians were ignorant of the right object of worship. But if we are to give a true account of Athenian religion, we must go beyond the darkness of mere ignorance into the deeper darkness of corruption and sin. The most shameless profligacy was encour- aged by the public works of art, by the popular belief concerning the character of the gods, and by the ceremonies of the established worship. Authorities might be crowded in proof of this state- 300 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. meut, both from heathen and Christian writings. It is enough to say with Seneca, that no other effect could possibly be pro- duced but that all shame on account of sin must be taken away from men if they believe in such gods and with Augustine, that " Plato himself, who saw well the depravity of the Grecian gods, and has seriously censured them, better deserves to be called a god than those ministers of sin." It would be the worst delu- sion to infer any good of the Grecian religion from the virtue and wisdom of a few great Athenians whose memory we revere. The true type of the character formed by the influences which surround the Athenian was such a man as Alcibiades — with a beauty of bodily form equal to that of one of the consecrated statues, with an intelligence quick as that of Apollo or Mercury, enthusiastic and fickle, versatile and profligate, able to admire the good, but hopelessly following the bad. And if we turn to the one great exception in Athenian history — if we turn from Alcibiades to the friend who nobly and affectionately warned him, who, conscious of his own ignorance, was yet aware that God was best known by listening to the voice within — yet even of Socrates we cannot say more than has been said in the follow- ing words : " His soul w^as certainly in some alliance with the Holy God ; he certainly felt, in his daemon or guardian spirit, the inex- plicable nearness of his Father in heaven, but he was destitute of a view of the divine nature in the humble form of a servant, the Eedeemer with the crown of thorns ; he had no ideal concep- tion of that true holiness which manifests itself in the most hum- ble love and the most affectionate humility. Hence, also, he was unable to become fully acquainted with his own heart, though he so greatly desired it. Hence, too, he was destitute of any deep humiliation and grief on account of his sinful wretchedness — of that true humility which no longer allows itself a biting, sarcastic tone of instruction; and destitute likewise of any filial, devoted love. These perfections can be shared only by the Christian, who beholds the Eedeemer as a wanderer upon earth in the form of a servant, and who receives in his own soul the sanctifying power of that Redeemer by intercourse with him." When we turn from the religion of Athens to take a view of its philosophy, the first name on which our eye rests is again that of Socrates. This is necessarily the case, not only because of his own singular and unapproached greatness, but because he was, as it GREEK PHILOSOPHY. 301 were, the point to which all the earlier schools converged and from which the later rays of Greek philosophy diverged again. The earlier philosophical systems, such as that of Thales in Asia Minor and Pythagoras in Italy, were limited to physical inquiries : Soc- rates was the first to call man to the contemplation of himself, and became the founder of ethical science. A new direction was thus given to all the philosophical schools which succeeded, and Soc- rates may be said to have prepared the way for the gospel by leading the Greek mind to the investigation of moral truth. He gave the impulse to the two schools which were founded in the Lyceum and by the banks of Cephisus, and which have produced such vast results on human thought in every generation. We are not called here to discuss the doctrines of the Peripatetics and Academicians. Not that they are unconnected with the history of Christianity : Plato and Aristotle have had a great work appointed to them, not only as the heathen pioneers of the truth before it was revealed, but as the educators of Christian minds in every age. The former enriched human thought with appropriate ideas for the reception of the highest truth in the highest form ; the latter mapped out all the provinces of human knowledge, that Christianity might visit them and bless them. And the historian of the Church would have to speak of direct influence exerted on the gospel by the Platonic and Aristotelian systems in recounting the conflicts of the parties of Alexandria and tracing the formation of the theology of the Schoolmen. But the biographer of Paul has only to speak of the Stoics and Epicureans, They only, among the various phil- osophers of the day, are mentioned as having argued with the apostle ; and their systems had really more influence in the period in which the gospel was established, though in the patristic and mediaeval periods the older systems, in modified forms, regained their sway. The Stoic and Epicurean, moreover, were more ex- clusively limited than other philosophers to moral investigations — a fact which is tacitly implied by the proverbial application of the two words to moral principles and tendencies which we recognize as hostile to true Christianity. Zeno, the founder of the Stoic school, was a native of the same part of the Levant with Paul himself. He came from Cyprus to Athens at a time when patriotism was decayed and political liberty lost, and when a system which promised the power of brave and self-sustaining endurance amid the general degradation found a 302 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. willing acceptance among the nobler minds. Thus, in the Painted Porch, which had once been the meeting-place of the poets, those who instead of yielding to the prevailing evil of the times thought they were able to resist it formed themselves into a school of phil- osophers. In the high tone of this school and in some part of its ethical language Stoicism was an apparent approximation to Chris- tianity ; but, on the whole, it was a hostile system in its physics, its morals, and its theology. The Stoics condemned the worship of images and the use of temples, regarding them as nothing better than the ornaments of art. But tJiey justified the popular poly- theism, and in fact considered the gods of mythology as minor developments of the great world-God which summed up their belief concerning the origin and existence of the world. The Stoics were pantheists, and much of their language is a curious anticipation of the phraseology of modern pantheism. In their view, God was merely the Spirit or Eeason of the universe. The world was itself a rational soul, producing all things out of itself and resuming them all to itself again. Matter was inseparable from the Deity. He did not create: he only organized. He merely impressed law and order on the substance, which was, in fact, himself The manifestation of the universe was only a period in the development of God. In conformity with these notions of the world, which substitute a sublime destiny for the belief in a personal Creator and Preserver, were the notions which were held concerning the soul and its relation to the body. The soul was, in fact, corporeal. The Stoics said that at death it would be burnt or returned to be absorbed in God. Thus, a resurrection from the dead, in the sense in which the gospel has revealed it, must have appeared to the Stoics irrational. Nor was their moral system less hostile to the truth as it is in Jesus." The proud ideal which was set before the disciple of Zeno was a magnanimous self-denial, an austere apathy, untouched by human passion, unmoved by change of circumstance. To the wise man all outward things were alike. Pleasure was no good, pain was no evil. All actions con- formable to reason were equally good, all actions contrary to reason were equally evil. The wise man lives according to reason, and living thus, he is perfect and self-sufficing. He reigns supreme as a king; he is justified in boasting as a god. Nothing can well be imagined more contrary to the spirit of Christianity. Nothing could be more repugnant to the Stoic than the news of a "Saviour'* THE EPICUREANS. 303 who has atoned for our sin and is ready to aid our weakness. Christianity is the school of humility ; Stoicism was the education of pride. Christianity is a discipline of life ; Stoicism was nothing better than an apprenticeship for death. And fearfully were the fruits of its principle illustrated both in its earlier and later disci- ples. Its first two leaders died by their own hands, like the two Romans whose names first rise to the memory when the school of the Stoics is mentioned. But Christianity turns the desperate resolution that seeks to escape disgrace by death into the anxious question, "What must I do to be saved It softens the pride of stern indifference into the consolation of mutual sympathy. How great is the contrast between the Stoic ideal and the charac- ter of Jesus Christ ! How different is the acquiescence in an iron destiny from the trust in a merciful and watchful Providence ! How infinitely inferior is that sublime egotism which looks down with contempt on human weakness to the religion which tells us that " they who mourn are blessed," and which commands us to " rejoice with them that rejoice and to weep with them that weep " ! If Stoicism, in its full development, was utterly opposed to Christianity, the same may be said of the very primary principles of the Epicurean school. If the Stoics were pantheists, the Epicureans were virtually atheists. Their philosophy was a system of materialism in the strictest sense of the word ; in their view, the world was formed by an accidental concourse of atoms, and was not in any sense created, or even modified, by the Divinity. They did indeed profess a certain belief in what were called gods, but these equivocal divinities were merely phantoms — impressions on the popular mind — dreams which had no objective reality, or at least exercised no active influence on the physical world or the business of life. The Epicurean deity, if self-existent at all, dwelt apart, in serene indifference to all the affairs of the universe. The universe was a great accident, and sufficiently explained itself without any reference to a higher y)Ower. The popular mythology was derided, but the Epicureans had no posi- tive faith in anything better. As there was no creator, so there Avag no moral governor: all notions of retribution and of a judgment to come were of course forbidden by such a creed. The principles of the atomic theory, when applied to the constitution of man, must have caused the resurrection to appear an absurdity. The soul was nothing without the body ; or, rather, the soul was itself 304 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. a body composed of finer atoms, or at best an unmeaning com- promise between the material and immaterial. Both body and soul were dissolved together and dissipated into the elements ; and when this occurred all the life of man was ended. The moral result of such a creed was necessarily that which the apostle Paul described : " If the dead rise not, let us eat and drink : for to-morrow we die." The essential principle of the Epicurean philosopher was that there was nothing to alarm him, nothing to disturb him. His farthest reach was to do deliberately what the animals do instinctively ; his highest aim was to gratify himself. With the coarser and more energetic minds this principle inevitably led to the grossest sensuality and crime; in the case of others, whose temperament was more commonplace or whose taste w^as more pure, the system took the form of a selfishness more refined. As the Stoic sought to resist the evil which sur- rounded him, the Epicurean endeavored to console himself by a tranquil and indifferent life. He avoided the more violent excitements of political and social engagements to enjoy the seclusion of a calm contentment. But pleasure was still the end at which he aimed ; and if we remove this end to its remotest distance, and understand it to mean an enjoyment which involves the most manifold self-denial, — if we give Epicurus credit for taking the largest view of consequences, and if we believe that the life of his first disciples was purer than there is reason to suppose, — the end remains the same. Pleasure, not duty, is the motive of moral exertion ; expediency is the test to which actions are referred ; and the self-denial itself which an enlarged view of expediency requires will probably be found impracticable without the grace of God. Thus, the gospel met in the Garden an opposition not less determined and more insidious than the antagonism of the Porch. The two enemies it has ever had to contend with are the two ruling principles of the Epicureans and Stoics — -pleasure and pride. Such, in their original and essential character, were the two schools of philosophy with which Paul was brought directly in contact. We ought, however, to consider how far these schools had been modified by the lapse of time, by the changes which succeeded Alexander and accompanied the formation of the Roman empire, and by the natural tendencies of the Roman character. When Stoicism and Epicureanism were brought to LATER PERIOD OF THE SCHOOLS. 305 Rome they were such as we have described them. In as far as they were speculative systems they found little favor: Greek philosophy was always regarded with some degree of distrust among the Romans. Their mind was alien from science and pure speculation. Philosophy, like art and literature, was of foreign introduction. The cultivation of such pursuits was followed by private persons of wealth and taste, but was little extended among the community at large. There were no public schools of philosophy at Rome. Where it was studied at all, it was studied not for its own sake, but for the service of the state. Thus, the peculiarly practical character of the Stoic and Epicurean sys- tems recommended them to the notice of many. What was wanted in the prevailing misery of the Roman world was a philosophy of life. There were some who weakly yielded, and some who offered a courageous resistance, to the evil of the times. The former, under the name of Epicureans, either spent their time in a serene tranquillity, away from the distractions and disorders of political life, or indulged in the grossest sensualism and justi- fied it on principle. The Roman adherents of the school of Epicurus were never numerous, and few great names can be mentioned among them, though one monument remains, and will ever remain, of this phase of philosophy in the poem of Lucretius. The Stoical school was more congenial to the endurance of the Roman character, and it educated the minds of some of the noblest men of the time, who scorned to be carried away by the stream of vice. Three great names can be mentioned which divided the period between the preaching of Paul and the final establishment of Christianity — Seneca, Epictetus, and Antoninus Pius. But such men were few in a time of general depravity and unbelief. And such was really the character of the time. It was a period in the history of the world when conquest and discovery, facilities of travelling, and the mixture of races had produced a general fusion of opinions, resulting in an indifference to moral distinctions and at the same time encouraging the most abject credulity. The Romans had been carrying on the work which Alexander and his successors had begun. A certain degree of culture was very generally diffused. The opening of new coun- tries excited curiosity. New religions were eagerly welcomed; immoral rites found willing votaries. Vice and superstition went hand in hand through all parts of society, and as the natural 20 306 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. consequence a scornful scepticism held possession of all the higher intellects. But though the period of which we are speaking was one of general scepticism, for the space of three centuries the old dogmatic schools still lingered on, more especially in Greece. Athens was indeed no longer what she had once been, the centre from which scientific and poetic light radiated to the neighboring shores of Asia and Europe. Philosophy had found new homes in other cities, more especially in Tarsus and Alexandria. But Alexandria, though she was commercially great and possessed the trade of three continents, had not yet seen the rise of her greatest schools, and Tarsus could never be what Athens was, even in her decay, to those who travelled with cultivated tastes and for the purposes of education. Thus, Philosophy still maintained her seat in the city of Socrates. The four great schools, the Lyceum and the Academy, the Garden and the Porch, were never destitute of exponents of their doctrines. When Cicero came, not long after Sulla's siege, he found the philosophers in residence. As the empire grew, Athens assumed more and more the character of a university town. After Christianity was first preached there this character was confirmed to the place by the embellishments and the bene- factions of Hadrian. And before the schools were closed by the orders of Justinian the city which had received Cicero and Atticus as students together became the scene of the college friendship of Basil and Gregory, one of the most beautiful episodes of primitive Christianity. Thus, Paul found philosophers at Athens among those whom he addressed in the Agora. This, as we have seen, was the common meeting-place of a population always eager for fresh subjects of intellectual curiosity. Demosthenes had rebuked the Athenians for this idle tendency four centuries before, telling them that they were always craving after news and excitement at the very moment when destruction was impending over their liberties. And they are described in the same manner on the occasion of Paul's visit, as giving their whole leisure to telling and hearing something newer than the latest new^s. Among those who sauntered among the plane trees of the Agora and gathered in knots under the porticoes, eagerly discussing the questions of the day, were phil- osoi)hers in the garb of their several sects, ready for any new question on which they might exercise their subtlety or display PAUL IN THE AGORA. 807 their rhetoric. Among the other philosophers, the Stoics and Epicureans would more especially be encountered ; for the Painted Porch " of Zeno was in the Agora itself, and the " Garden " of the rival sect was not far distant. To both these classes of hearers and talkers — both the mere idlers and the professors of philosophy — any question connected with a new religion was peculiarly wel- come; for Athens gave a ready acceptance to all superstitions and ceremonies, and was glad to find food for credulity or scepticism, ridicule or debate. To this motley group of the Agora, Paul made known the two great subjects he had proclaimed from city to city. He spoke aloud of " Jesus and the resurrection" — of that Name which is above every name, that consummation which awaits all the generations of men who have successively passed into the sleep of death. He was in the habit of conversing daily'' on these subjects with those whom he met. His varied experience of men and his familiarity with many modes of thought enabled him to present these subjects in such a way as to arrest attention. As regards the philosophers, he was providentially prepared for his collision with them. It was not the first time he had encountered them. His own native city was a city of philosophers, and was especially famous (as we have remarked before) for a long line of eminent Stoics, and he was doubtless familiar with their language and opinions. Two different impressions were produced by Paul's words, accord- ing to the disposition of those who heard him. Some said that he was a mere " babbler," and received him with contemptuous de- rision. Others took a more serious view, and, supposing that he was endeavoring to introduce new objects of worship, had their curiosity excited, and were desirous to hear more. If we sup- pose a distinct allusion in these two classes to the two philosophi- cal sects which have just been mentioned, we have no difficulty in seeing that the Epicureans were those who, according to their habit, received the new doctrine with ridicule, while the Stoics, ever tolerant of the popular mythology, were naturally willing to hear of the new " daemons " which this foreign teacher was pro- posing to introduce among the multitude of Athenian gods and heroes. Or we may imagine that the two classes denote the phil- osophers, on the one hand, who heard with scorn the teaching of a Jewish stranger untrained in the language of the schools, and the vulgar crowd on the other, who would easily entertain suspicion 308 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. (as in the case of Socrates) against any one seeking to cast dis- honor on the national divinities, or would at least be curious to hear more of this foreign and new religion. It is not, however necessary to make any such definite distinction between those wha derided and those who listened. Two such classes are usually found among those to whom the truth is presented. When Paul came among the Athenians he came " not with enticing words of man's wisdom,^' and to some of the " Greeks " who heard him the gospel was " foolishness while in others there was at least that curiosity which is sometimes made the path whereby the highest truth enters the mind, and they 'sought to have a fuller and more deliberate exposition of the mysterious subjects which now for the first time had been brought before their attention. The place to which they took him was the summit of the hill of Areopagus, where the most awful court of judicature had sat from time immemorial to pass sentence on the greatest criminals and to decide the most solemn questions connected with religion. The judges sat in the open air, upon seats hewn out in the rock, on a platform which was ascended by a flight of stone steps immedi- diately from the Agora. On this spot a long series of awful causes connected with crime and religion had been determined, beginning with the legendary trial of Mars which gave to the place its name of " Mars' Hill." A temple of the god, as we have seen, was on the brow of the eminence, and an additional solemnity was given to the place by the sanctuary of the Furies in a broken cleft of the rock, immediately below the judges' seat. Even in the political decay of Athens this spot and this court were regarded by the people with superstitious reverence. It was a scene with which the dread recollections of centuries were associated. It was a place of silent awe in the midst of the gay and frivolous city. Those who withdrew to the Areopagus from the Agora came, as it were, into the presence of a higher power. No place in Athens w^as so suitable for a discourse upon the mysteries of religion. We are not, however, to regard Paul's discourse on the Areopagus as a formal defence in a trial before the court. The whole aspect of the narrative in the Acts, and the whole tenor of the discourse itself, militate against this supposition. The words, half derisive, half courteous, addressed to the apostle before he spoke to his audience, May we know what this new doctrine is?" are not like the words which would have been addressed to a prisoner at SPEECH IN THE AREOPAGUS. 309 the bar; and still more unlike a judge's sentence are the words with which he was dismissed at the conclusion, "We will hear thee again of this matter." Nor is there anything in the speech itself of a really apologetic character, as any one may perceive on comparing it with the defence of Socrates. Moreover, the verse which speaks so strongly of the Athenian love of novelty and ex- citement is so introduced as to imply that curiosity was the motive of the whole proceeding. We may, indeed, admit that there was something of a mock solemnity in this adjournment from the Agora to the Areopagus. The Athenians took the apostle from the tumult of public discussion to the place which was at once most convenient and most appropriate. There was everything in the place to incline the auditors, so far as they were seriously dis- posed at all, to a reverent and thoughtful attention. It is prob- able that Dionysius, wdth other Areopagites, was on the judicial seat. And a vague recollection of the dread thoughts associated by poetry and tradition with the Hill of Mars may have solemnized the minds of some of those who crowded up the stone steps with the apostle, and clustered round the summit of the hill to hear his announcement of the new divinities. There is no point in the annals of the first planting of Chris- tianity wliich seizes so powerfully on the imagination of those who are familiar w^ith the history of the ancient world. Whether we contrast the intense earnestness of the man who spoke with the frivolous character of those who surrounded him, or compare the certain truth and awful meaning of the gospel he revealed with the worthless polytheism which had made Athens a proverb in the earth, or even think of the mere words uttered that day in the clear atmosphere on the summit of Mars' Hill, in connection with the objects of art, temples, statues, and altars, which stood round on every side, we feel that the moment was, and was intended to be, full of the most impressive teaching for every age of the world. Close to the spot where he stood was the temple of Mars. The sanctuary "of the Eumenides was immediately below him, the Parthenon of Minerva facing him above. Their presence seemed to challenge the assertion in which he declared here that in temples made with hands the Deity does not dwell. In front of him, tower- ing from its pedestal on the rock of the Acropolis — as the Bor- romean Colossus which at this day, with outstretched hand, gives its benediction to the low village of Arona, or as the brazen statue 310 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. of the armed angel which from the summit of the Castel S. An- gelo spreads its wings over the city of Eome — was the bronze colossus of Minerva, armed with spear, shield, and helmet as the champion of Athens. Standing almost beneath its shade, he pronounced that the Deity was not to be likened either to that, the work of Phidias, or to other forms in gold, silver, or stone, graven by art and man^s device, which peopled the scene before him.'' Wherever his eye was turned it saw a succession of such statues and buildings in every variety of form and situation. On the rocky ledges on the south side of the Acropolis and in the midst of the hum of the Agora were the '^objects of devotion" already described. And in the northern parts of the city, which are equally visible from the Areopagus, on the level spaces and on every eminence, were similar objects to which we have made no allusion, and especially that temple of Theseus, the national hero, which remains in unimpaired beauty to enable us to imagine what Athens was when this temple was only one among the many orna- ments of that city which was " luholly given to idolatry ^ In this scene Paul spoke, probably in his wonted attitude, " stretching out his hand,'' his bodily aspect still showing what he had suffered from weakness, toil, and pain, and the traces of sadness and anxiety mingled on his countenance with the expres- sion of unshaken faith. Whatever his personal appearance may have been, we know the words which he spoke. And we are struck with the more admiration the more narrowly we scrutinize the characteristics of his address. To defer for the present all con- sideration of its manifold adaptations to the various characters of his auditors, we may notice how truly it was the outpouring of the emotions which at the time had possession of his soul. The mouth spoke out of the fulness of the heart. With an ardent and en- thusiastic eloquence he gave vent to the feelings which had been excited by all that he had seen around him in Athens. We ob- serve also how the whole course of the oration was regulated by his own peculiar prudence. He was brought into a position where he might easily have been ensnared into the use of words which would have brought down upon him the indignation of all the city. Had he begun by attacking the national gods in the midst of their sanctuaries, and with the Areopagites on the seats near him, he would have been in almost as great danger as Socrates before him. Yet he not only avoids the snare, but uses the very ALTAR TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. 811 difficulty of his position to make a road to the convictions of those who heard him. He becomes a heathen to the heathen. He does not say that he is introducing new divinities. He rather implies the contrary, and gently draws his hearers away from polytheism by telling them that he is making known the God whom they themselves are ignorantly endeavoring to worship. And if the speech is characterized by PauVs prudence, it is marked by that wisdom of his divine Master which is the pattern of all Christian teaching. As our blessed Lord used the tribute-money for the instruction of his disciples, and drew living lessons from the water in the well of Samaria, so the apostle of the Gentiles employed the familiar objects of Athenian life to tell them of what was close to them, and yet they knew not. He had carefully observed the outward appearance of the city. He had seen an altar with an expressive though humiliating inscription, and, using this in- scription as a text, he spoke to them as follows the words of eternal wisdom : Ye men of Athens, all thin^ the brethren and took courage." But this was not the only result of the arrival of Paul's com- panions. Timotheus (as we have seen) had been sent, while Paul was still at Athens, to revisit and establish the Church of Thessa- lonica. The news he brought on his return to Paul caused the latter to write to these beloved converts, and, as we have already observed, the letter which he sent them is the first of his Epistles which has been preserved to us. It seems to have been occasioned partly by his wish to express his earnest affection for the Thes- salonian Christians, and to encourage them under their persecutions, but it was also called for by some errors into which they had fallen. Many of the new converts were uneasy about the state of their relatives or friends who had died since their conversion. They feared that these departed Christians would lose the happi- ness of witnessing their Lord's second coming, which they expected soon to behold. In this expectation others had given themselves up to a religious excitement, under the influence of which they persuaded themselves that they need not continue to work at the business of their callings, but might claim support from the richer members of the Church. Others, again, had yielded to the same temptations which afterward influenced the Corinthian Church, and despised the gift of prophesying in comparison with those other gifts which afforded more opportunity for display. These reasons, and others which will appear in the letter itself, led Paul to write to the Thessalonians as follows; 21 322 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. for their con- version. FIKST EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS. I. 1 Paul, and Silvaniis, and Timotlieus, to the Church of salutation, the Thessalonians, in the name of God our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ ; grace be to you and peace. 2 I return continual thanks to God for you all, and Thanksgi-ing make mention of you in my prayers without ceasing ; 3 remembering always, in the presence of our God and Father, the working of your faith and the labors of your love, and the patient endurance of your hope, which was fixed on our Lord 4 Jesus Christ. Brethren, beloved by God, I know how God has chosen you ; for tlie glad tidings wliich I brought you worked upon you, not only in word, but also in power ; with the might of the Holy 5 Spirit, and with the full assurance of belief. And you, likewise, know the manner in which I behaved myself among you, for your 6 sakes. Moreover, you followed in my steps, and in the steps of our Lord and Master; and you received his teaching in the midst of great tribulation, with a joy wliich came from the Holy Spirit. 7 And thus you have become patterns to all the believers in ^lacedo- 8 nia and in Achaia. For from you the word of our Lord has been sounded forth, and not only has its sound been heard in Macedonia and in Achaia, but also in every place the tidings of your faith to- wards God have been spread abroad, so that I have no need to speak 9 of it. For others are telling of their own accord, concerning me, how gladly you received me, and how you forsook your idols, and 10 turned to the service of God, the living and the true; and that now you wait with eager longing for the return of his Son from the heav- ens, even Jesus, whom he raised from the dead, our deliverer from the coming vengeance. 11. 1 Yea, you know yourselves, brethren, that my coming reminds 2 amongst you was not fruitless ; but after I had borne ovvi?exampie * suffering and outrage (as you know) at Philippi, I trust- ed in my God, and boldly declared to you God's glad tidings, although 3 its adversaries contended mightily against me. For my exhorta- tions are not prompted by imposture, nor by lasciviousness, nor do I 4 deal deceitfully. But, seeing that God has tried my fitness for his work, and charged me to declare the glad tidings, so I speak as one who strives to please not men but God, whose search tries my heart. 5 For never did 1 use flattering words, as you know ; nor hide covet- FIRST EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS. 323 6 ousness under fair pretences (God is my witness) ; nor did 1 seek hon- or from men, either from voii or others ; although I might have been 7 burdensome to you, as being Christ's apostle. But I behaved my- self among you with mildness and forbearance ; and as a nurse cher- 8 ishes her own children, so in my fond affection it was my joy to give you not only the glad tidings of Christ, but even my own life also, 9 because you were so dear to me. For you remember, brethren, my toilsome labors ; how I worked both night and day, that I might not be burdensome to any of you, while I proclaimed to you the mes- 10 sage which I bore, the glad tidings of God. You are yourselves witnesses, and God also is my witness, how holy, and just, and un- 11 blamable, were my dealings towards you who believe. You know how earnestly, as a father his own children, I exhorted and entreat- 12 ed and adjured each one among you to walk worthy of God, by whom you are called into his own kingdom and glory. 13 Wherefore I also give continual thanks to God, because, when you heard from me the preaching of God's word, you received it not as the word of man, but, as it is in truth, the word of God ; who 14 himself works inwardly in you that believe. For you, brethren, fol- lowed in the steps of the churches of God in Judoea, which are in the fellowship of Christ Jesus, and suffered the like persecution from 15 your own countrymen, which they endured from the Jews; who killed both our Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and who have driven me from city to city ; a people displeasing to God, and ene- 16 mies to all mankind, who would hinder me from specking to the Gentiles, for their salvation ; thus they do, as they have ever done, to fill up the measure of their sins ; but now the wrath of God has overtaken them to destroy them. 17 But I, brethren, having been torn from you for a Expressps his short season (m body, not in heart), have sought earn- J^j^^^jj^ estly, with long desire, to behold you again face to face. 18 Wherefore I, Paul (for my own part), would have returned to visit you, and strove to do so once and again ; but Satan hindered me. 19 For what is my hope or joy? what is the crown wherein I glory? what but your own selves, when you shall stand before our Lord 20 Jesus Christ at his appearing. Yea, you are my glory and my joj^ III. 1 Therefore, being no longer able to restrain my desire, ^nd his ioy in 2 I determined to be left at Athens alone; and I sent Tim- [l.tf/ weildo^ otheus, my brother, and God's servant and fellow-worker otg^j^g in the glad tidings of Christ, that he might strengthen 324 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. 3 your constancy, and exhort you concerning your faith, that none of you should suffer himself to be shaken by these afflictions which have come upon yo»j ; for you yourselves know that such is our ap- 4 pointed lot, and when I was with you, I forewarned you that perse- 5 cutions awaited us, as you remember that it befell. For this cause, I also, when I could no longer forbear, sent to learn tidings of your faith ; for I feared less perchance the tempter had tempted you, and 6 so my labor among you should be in vain. But now that Timo- theus has returned from you to me, and has brought me the glad tidings of your faith and love, and that you still keep an affection- 7 ate remembrance of me, longing to see me, as I to see you — I have been comforted, brethren, on your behalf, and all my own tribula- 8 tion and distress has been lightened by your faith. For now, if you 9 be steadfast in the Lord Jesus, I feel myself to live. What thanks- giving can I render to God for you, for all the joy which you cause 10 me in the presence of my God ? Night and day, I pray exceedingly earnestly to see you face to face, that I may complete what is yet 11 wanting in your faith. Now, may God himself, our Father, and our 12 Lord Jesus Christ, direct my path towards you. Meantime, may our Lord cause you to increase and abound in love to one another 13 and to all men ; even such love as I have for you. And so may he keep your hearts steadfast and Ainblamable in holiness, and present you before our God and Father, with all his people, at his appearing. IV. 1 It remains, brethren, that I beseech and exhort vou Against seu- in the name of our Lord Jesus, that as I taught you what life you must live to please God, so you would walk thereafter 2 more abundantly. For you know the commands which I delivered 3 to you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. This, therefore, as I 4 then told you, is the will of God ; that you should be consecrated unto him in holiness, and should keep yourselves from fornication, and that each of you should learn to get the mastery over his hod- 5 ily desires in purity and honor ; not in lustful passions, like the 6 heathen who know not God. Neither must any man wrong his brother in this matter by his transgression. All such the Lord will 7 punish, as I have forewarned you by my solemn testimony. For God has not called us to a life of uncleanness, but his calling is a 8 holy calling. Wherefore, he that despises these my words, despises not man, but God, who also has given unto me his Holy Si)irit. 9 Concerning brotherly love it is needless that I should write to you; tor ye yourselves are taught ol God to lovt.-, peace. FIRST EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS. 325 10 love one another ; as you show by your deeds towards all the brethren throughout the whole of Macedonia. 11 I exhort you only, brethren, to abound still more. Seek peaceful quietness, and give yourselves to the concerns of your private life ; let this be your ambition. Work with your own liands (as I com- 12 manded you), for your own support ; that the seemly order of your lives may be manifest to those without the Church, and that you may need no help from others. 13 !Now, I desire, brethren, to remove your ignorance Happiness of concerning those who are asleep, that you may not sor- ^ead.^^^^^'^^" 14 row like other men, who have no hope. For as surely as we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so surely will God 15 through him, bring back those who sleep togetlier with Jesus. This I declare to you, by the authority of the Lord, that we who are living, who survive to behold the appearing of our Lord, shall not enter into 16 his presence sooner than the dead. For tlie Lord himself shall de- scend from heaven with the shout of war, the archangel's voice, and 17 the trumpet of God; and first the dead in Christ sliall arise to life; then we the living, who remain unto that day, shall be caught up with them among the clouds to meet the Lord Jesus in the air ; and 18 so both we and they shall be for ever with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. 1 But of the times and seasons, brethren, when these The sudden- things shall be, you need no warning. For yourselves Joming^a^no- 2 know perfectly that the day of the Lord will come as a lui^esl'^''^*'^' 3 thief in tlie night ; and while men say, Peace and safe- ty, destruction shall come upon them in a moment, as the pangs of travail upon a woman with child ; and there shall be no escape. 4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should come upon you as the robber on sleeping men ; for you are all the cliil- 5 drcn of the light and of the day. We are not of the night, nor of 6 darkness; therefore let us not sleep as do others, but let us watth 7 and be sober ; for they who slumber, slumber in the night ; and they 8 who are drunken, are drunken in the night; but let us, who are cf the day, be sober ; arming ourselves with faith and love for a breast- 9 plate; and wearing for our helmet the hope of salvation. For to obtain salvation, not to abide his wrath, hatli God ordained us, 10 through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we 11 wake or sleep we should live together with him. Wherefore ex- hort one another, and build one another up, even as you already do. 326 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. 12 Moreover I beseech you, brethren, to acknowledge those The presbyters who are laboring among you ; who preside over you in gardecu"^^ 13 the Lord's name, and give you admonition. I beseech you to esteem them very highly in love, for their work's sake. And maintain peace among yourselves. POSTSCRIPT ADDRESSED TO THE PRESBYTERS. 1 4 But you, brethren, I exhort ; admonish the disorder- i>«ties of the ' / , presbyters. ly, encourage the timid, support the weak, be patient 15 with all. Take heed that none of you return evil for evil, but strive 16 to do good always, both to one another and to all men. In every 17 season keep a joyful mind ; let nothing cause your prayers to cease; 18 continue to give thanks, whatever be your lot; for this is the will of 1 9 God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the manifestation 20,21 of the Spirit ; think not meanly of prophesyings ; try all [which 22 the prophets utter] ; reject the false, but keep the good ; hold your- selves aloof from every form of evil. 23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you concluding wholly ; and may your w^hole nature, your spirit and fafuttiions?" soul and body, be preserved blameless, when you stand 24 before our Lord Jesus Christ at his appearing. Faithful is He who calls you ; he will fulfil my prayer. 25,26 Brethren, pray for me. Greet all the brethren with the kiss of 27 holiness."^ I adjure you, in the name of our Lord Jesus, to see that this letter be read to all the brethren. 28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. beSediftion!'^ The strong expressions used in this letter concerning the malev- olence of the Jews lead us to suppose that the apostle was think- ing not only of their past opposition at Thessalonica, but of the * ^iXrjfjiaTL ayiw. TLis alludes to the same custom which is referred to ia Rom. xvi. 16; 1 Cor. xvi. 20; 2 Cor. xiii. 12. We find a full account of it, as it was practised in the early Church, in the Apostolical Constitutions (book ii. ch. 57). The men and women were placed in separate parts of the build- ing where they met for worship ; and then, before receiving the holy com- munion, the men kissed the men, and the women the women : before the the ceremony, a proclamation was made by the principal deacon : " Let none bear malice against any: let none do it in hypocrisy." Mrj Kard nvo^ fxrj Tis ev VTTOKpicrei, • elra koX aana^eaOuycrav dAXi^Aov? ot av8p€<;, koL a\\-q\a^ al yttfai/ce?, Tb eV Kupto) f genu- ^ ^ ^ *' ineness. 18 These are the characters in which I write. The grace Concluding of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. benediction. Such was the second of the two letters which Paul wrote to Thessalouica during his residence at Corinth. Such was the Chris- 334 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. tian correspondence now established, in addition to the political and commercial correspondence existing before, between the two capitals of Achaia and Macedonia. Along with the official docu- ments which passed between the governors of the contiguous provinces, and the communications between the merchants of the Northern and Western iEgean, letters were now sent which re- lated to the establishment of a "kiiigdom not of this world'' and to "riches'' beyond the discovery of human enterprise. The influence of great cities has always been important on the wide movements of human life. We see Paul diligently using this influence during a protracted residence at Corinth for the spreading and strengthening of the gospel in Achaia and beyond. As regards the province of Achaia, we have no reason to suppose that he confined his activity to its metropolis. The expression used by Luke need only denote that it was his head-quarters or general place of residence. Communication was easy and frequent by land or by water with other parts of the province. Two short days' journey to the south were the Jews of Argos, who might be to those of Corinth what the Jews of Bercea had been to those of Thessalonia. About the same distance to the east was the city of Athens, which had been imperfectly evangelized and could be visited without danger. Within a walk of a few hours, along a road busy with traffic, was the seaport of Cenchrese, known to us as the residence of a Christian community. These were the "churches of God" (2 Thess. i. 4) among whom the apostle boasted of the patience and the faith of the Thessalonians — the homes of "the saints in all Achaia" (2 Cor. i. 1), saluted at a later period, with the Church of Corinth, in a letter written from Macedonia. These churches had alternately the blessings of the presence and the letters — the oral and the written teaching — of Paul. The former of these blessings is now no longer granted to us, but those long and wearisome journeys, which withdrew the teacher so often from his anxious converts, have resulted in our possession of inspired Epistles in all their freshness and integrity and with all their lessons of wisdom and love. NOTE. There are some difficulties and differences of opinion with re- gard to the movements of Silas and Timotheus between the time MOVEMENTS OF SILAS AND TIMOTHEUS. 335 when Paul left them in Macedonia and their rejoining him in Achaia. The facts which are distinctly stated are as follows: (1) Silas and Timotheus were left at Bercea (Acts xviii. 14) when Paul went to Athens. We are not told w^hy they were left there or what commis- sions they received, but the apostle sent a message from Athens (Acts xviii. 15) that they should follow him w^ith all speed, and (Acts xviii. 16) he waited for them there. (2) The apostle was rejoined by them when at Corinth (Acts xviii. 5). We are not informed how they had been employed in the interval, but they came " from Macedonia.'' It is not distinctly said that they came together, but the impression at first sight is that they did. (3) Paul himself in- forms us (1 Thess. iii. 1) that he was "left in ^ 'hens alone," and that this solitude Avas in consequence of TimrCv having been sent to Thessalonica (1 Thess. iii. 2). Though it is i^;,L expressly stated that Timothy was sent from Athens, the first impression is that he w^as. Thus there is a seeming discrepancy between the Acts and Epis- tles, a journey of Timotheus to Athens, previous to his arrival with Silas and Timotheus at Corinth, appearing to be mentioned by Paul and to be quite unnoticed by Luke. Paley, in the Horcz Paulinw, says that the Epistle " virtually asserts that Timothy came to the apostle at Athens," and assumes that it is "necessary " to suppose this in order to reconcile the his- tory with the Epistle. And he points out three intimations in the history which make the arrival, though not expressly mentioned, extremely probable : first, the message that they should come with all speed ; secondly, the fact of his v/aiting for them ; thirdly, the absence of any appearance of haste in his departure from Athens to Corinth. " Paul had ordered Timothy to follow him without delay : he waited at Athens on purpose that Timothy might come up with him, and he stayed there as long as his own choice led him to continue." This explanation is satisfactory. But two others might be sug- gested which would equally remove the difficulty. It is not expressly said that Timotheus was sent from Afhais to Thessalonica. Paul was anxious, as we have seen, to revisit the Thessalonians, but since he was hindered from doing so, it is highly probable (as Hemsen and Wieseler suppose) that he may have sent Timotheus to them from Bercea, Silas might be sent on some S36 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. similar commission, and this would explain why the two com- panions were left behind in Macedonia. This would necessarily cause Paul to be " left alone in Athens/' Such solitude was doubt- less painful to him, but the spiritual good of the new converts was at stake. The two companions, after finishing the work entrusted to them, finally rejoined the apostle at Corinth. That he "waited for them" at Athens need cause us no difficulty, for in those days the arrival of travellers could not confidently be known before- hand. When he left Athens and proceeded to Corinth, he knew that Silas and Timotheus could easily ascertain his movements and follow his steps by help of information obtained at the syn- agogue. But, again, we may reasonably suppose that in the course of Paul's stay at Corinth he may have paid a second visit to Athens, after the first arrival of Timotheus and Silas from Macedonia, and that during some such visit he may have sent Timotheus to Thes- salonica. This view may be taken without our supposing, with Bottger, that the First Epistle to the Thessalonians was written at Athens. Schrader and others imagine a visit to that city at a later period of his life, but this view cannot be admitted without derang- ing the arguments for the date of 1 Thess., which was evidently written soon after leaving Macedonia. Two further remarks may be added: (1) If Timothy did rejoin Paul at Athens, w^e need not infer that Silas was not with him from the fact that the name of Silas is not mentioned. It is usually taken for granted that the second arrival of Timothy (1 Thess. iii. 6) is identical with the coming of Silas and Timotheus to Corinth (Acts xviii. 5) ; but here we see that only Timothy is mentioned, doubtless because he was most recently and familiarly known at Thessalonica, and perhaps also because the mission of Silas was to some other place. (2) On the other hand, it is not necessary to assume, because Silas and Timotheus are mentioned together (Acts xviii. 5), that they came together. All conditions are satisfied if they came about the same time. If they were sent on missions to two different places, the times of their return would not necessarily coincide. In considering all these journeys it is very needful to take into account that they would be modified by the settled or unsettled state of the country with regard to banditti, and by the various opportunities of travelling, which depend on the season and the weather and the sailing of vessels. CHAPTER XII. THE ISTHMUS. — EARLY HISTOHY OF CORINTH. — ITS TRADE AND WEALTH. — CORINTH UNDER THE ROMANS. — PROVINCE OF ACHAIA. — GALLIC THE GOVERNOR.— TUMULT AT CORINTH. — CENCHRE^. — VOYAGE BY EPHESUS TO C^SAREA. — VISIT TO JERUSALEM. — ANTIOCH. Now that we have entered upon the first part of the long series of PauPs letters, we seem to be arrived at a new stage of the apostle's biography. The materials for a more intimate knowledge are before us. More life is given to the picture. We have advanced from the field of geographical description and general history to the higher interest of personal detail. Even such details as relate to the writing materials employed in the Epistles and the mode in which they were transmitted from city to city — all stages in the history of an apostolic letter, from the hand of the amanuensis who wrote from the author's inspired dictation to the opening and reading of the document in the public assembly of the Church to which it was addressed — have a sacred claim on the Christian's attention. For the present we must defer the examination of such particulars. We remain with the apostle himself, instead of follow- ing the journey of his letters to Thessalonica and tracing the effects which the last of them produced. We have before us a protracted residence in Corinth, a voyage by sea to Syria, and a journey by land from Antioch to Ephesus, before we come to the next group of the apostle's letters. We must linger first for a time in Corinth, the great city, where he stayed a longer time than at any other point on his previous journeys, and from which, or to which, the most important of his Epistles were written. And, according to the plan we have hitherto observed, we proceed to elucidate its geographical position and the principal stages of its history. The isthmus is the most remarkable feature in the geography of Greece, and the peculiar relation which it established between the 22 337 338 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. land and the water^ and between the Morea and the continent, had the utmost effect on the whole course of the history of Greece. When we were considering the topography and aspect of Athens all the associations which surrounded us were Athenian. Here at the isthmus we are, as it were, at the centre of the activity of the Greek race in general. It has the closest connection with all their most important movements, both military and commercial. In all the periods of Greek history, from the earliest to the latest, we see the military importance of the isthmus. The phrase of Pindar is that it was ^' the bridge of the sea." It formed the only line of march for an invading or retreating army. Xenophon speaks of it as " the gate of the Peloponnesus," the closing of which would make all ingress and egress impossible. And we find that it was closed at various times by being fortified and refortified by a wall, some traces of which remain to the present day. In the Persian war, when consternation was spread amongst the Greeks by the death of Leonidas, the wall was first built. In the Pelopon- nesian war, when the Greeks turned fratricidal arms against each other, the isthmus was often the point of the conflict between the Athenians and their enemies. In the time of the Theban supre- macy the wall again appears as a fortified line from sea to sea. When Greece became Eoman the provincial arrangements neutral- ized, for a time, the military importance of the isthmus. But when the barbarians poured in from the North like the Persians of old, its wall was repaired by Valerian. Again it was rebuilt by Justi- nian, who fortified it with a hundred and fifty towers. And we trace its history through the later period of the Venetian power in the Levant, from the vast works of 1463 to the peace of 1699, when it was made the boundary of the territories of the republic. Conspicuous, both in connection with the military defences of the isthmus and in the prominent features of its scenery, is the AcrocorinthuSy or citadel of Corinth, which rises in form and abruptness like the rock of Dumbarton. But this comparison is quite inadequate to express the magnitude of the Corinthian cita- del. It is elevated two thousand feet above the level of the sea ; it throws a vast shadow across the plain at its base ; the ascent is a journey involving some fatigue; and the space of ground on the summit is so extensive that it contained a whole town, which under the Turkish dominion had several mosques. Yet, notwith- standing its colossal dimensions, its sides are so precipitous that a IMPORTANCE OF CORINTH. 339 few soldiers are enough to guard it. The possession of this fortress has been the object of repeated struggles in the latest wars between the Turks and the Greeks, and again between the Turks and the Venetians. It was said to Philip, when he wished to acquire possession of the Morea, that the Acrocorinthus was one of the horns he must seize in order to secure the heifer. Thus, Corinth might well be called "the eye of Greece'' in a military sense, as Athens has often been so called in another sense. If the rock of Minerva was the Acropolis of the Athenian people, the mountain of the isthmus was truly named " the Acropolis of the Greeks.'' It will readily be imagined that the view from the summit is magnificent and extensive. A sea is on either hand. Across that which lies on the east a clear sight is obtained of the Acropolis of Athens, at a distance of forty-five miles. The mountains of Attica and Boeotia and the islands of the Archipelago close the prospect in this direction. Beyond the w^estern sea, which flows from the Adriatic, are the large masses of the mountains of North-eastern Greece, with Parnassus towering above Delphi. Immediately beneath us is the narrow plain which separates the seas. The city itself is on a small table-land of no great elevation connected with the northern base of the Acrocorinthus. At the edge of the lower level are the harbors which made Corinth the emporium of the richest trade of the East and the West. We are thus brought to that which is really the characteristic both of Corinthian geography and Corinthian history — its close relation to the commerce of the Mediterranean. Plutarch says that there was a want of good harbors in Achaia, and Strabo speaks of the circumnavigation of the Morea as dangerous. Cape Malea was proverbially formidable, and held the same relation to the voyages of ancient days which the Cape of Good Hope does to our own. Thus, a narrow and level isthmus, across which smaller vessels could be dragged from gulf to gulf, was of inesti- mable value to the early traders of the Levant. And the two harbors which received the ships of a more maturely-developed trade — Cenchrese on the eastern sea and Lechceum on the western — with a third and smaller port, called Schoenus, where the isthmus was narrowest, form an essential part of our idea of Corinth. Its common title in the poets is the cifv of the two seas." It is allegorically represented in art as a fema^ figure on a rock between two other figures, each of whom bears rudder, 340 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. the symbol of navigation and trade. It is the same image which appears under another form in the words of the rhetorician, who said that it was "the prow and the stern of Greece." As we noticed above a continuous fortress which was carried across the isthmus, in connection with its military history, so here we have to mention another continuous work which was attempted in connection with its mercantile history. This was the ship-canal, which, after being often projected, was about to be begun again about the very time of Paul's visit. Parallels often suggest them- selves between the relation of the parts of the Mediterranean to each other and those of the Atlantic and Pacific, for the basins of the " Midland Sea were to the Greek and Eoman trade what the oceanic spaces are to ours. And it is difficult, in speaking of a visit to the isthmus of Corinth in the year 52 — which only pre- ceded by a short interval the work of Nero's engineers — not to be reminded of the Isthmus of Panama during the active progress of an undertaking often projected, but never yet carried into effect. There is this difference, however, between the oceanic and the Mediterranean isthmus, that one of the great cities of the ancient world always existed at the latter. What some future Darien may be destined to become we cannot prophesy, but at a very early date we find Corinth celebrated by the poets for its wealth. This wealth must inevitably have grown up from its mercantile relations, even without reference to its two seas, if we attend to the fact on which Thucydides laid stress, that it was the place through which all ingress and egress took place between Northern and Southern Greece before the development of commerce by water. But it was its conspicuous position on the narrow neck of land between the jEgean and Ionian seas which was the main cause of its commer- cial greatness. The construction of the ship Argo is assigned by mythology to Corinth. The Samians obtained their shipbuilders from her. The first Greek triremes, the first Greek sea-fights, are connected with her history. Neptune was her god. Her colonies were spread over distant coasts in the East and West, and ships came from every sea to her harbors. Thus she became the com- mon resort and the universal market of the Greeks. Her popula- tion and wealth were further augmented by the manufactures in metallurgy, dyeing, and porcelain which grew up in connection with the import and export of goods. And at periodical intervals Che crowding of her streets and the activity of her trade received CORINTH UNDER THE ROMANS. 341 a new impulse from the strangers who flocked to the Isthmian games — a subject to which our attention will be often called here- after, but which must be passed over here with a simple allusion. If we add all these particulars together, we see ample reason why the wealth, luxury, and profligacy of Corinth were proverbial in the ancient world. In passing from the fortunes of the earlier or Greek Corinth to its history under the Komans, the first scene that meets us is one of disaster and ruin. The destruction of this city by Mummius, about the same time that Carthage was destroyed by Scipio, was so complete that, like its previous wealth, it passed into a proverb. Its works of skill and luxury were destroyed or carried away. Polybius the historian saw Eoman soldiers playing at draughts on the pictures of famous artists, and the exhibition of vases and statues that decorated the triumph of the Capitol introduced a new era in the habits of the Eomans. Meanwhile, the very place of the city from which these works were taken remained desolate for many years. The honor of presiding over the Isthmian games was given to Sicyon, and Corinth ceased even to be a resting-place of travellers between the East and the West. But a new Corinth rose from the ashes of the old. Julius Caesar, recognizing the import- ance of the isthmus as a military and mercantile position, sent thither a colony of Italians, who were chiefly freedmen. This new establishment rapidly increased by the mere force of its position. Within a few years it grew, as Singapore has grown in our days, from nothing to an enormous city. The Greek merchants who had fled on the Eoman conquest to Delos and the neighboring coasts returned to their former home. The Jews settled themselves in a place most convenient both for the business of commerce and for communication with Jerusalem. Thus, when Paul arrived at Corinth after his sojourn at Athens he found himself in the midst of a numerous population of Greeks and Jews. They were prob- ably far more numerous than the Eomans, though the city had the constitution of a colony and was the metropolis oi ?i province. It is commonly assumed that Greece was constituted as a prov- ince under the name of Achaia when Corinth was destroyed by Mummius. But this appears to be a mistake There seems to have been an intermediate period during which the country had a nominal independence, as was the case with the contiguous prov- ince of Macedonia. The description which has been given of the 342 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. political limits of Macedonia (Chap. IX.) defines equally tlie ex- tent of Achaia. It was bounded on all other sides by the sea, and was nearly coextensive with the kingdom of modern Greece. The name of Achaia was given to it in consequence of the part played by the Achaean League in the last independent struggles of ancient Greece, and Corinth, the head of that league, became the metrop- olis. The province experienced changes of government such as those which have been alluded to in the case of Cyprus. At first it was proconsular. Afterward it was placed by Tiberius under a procurator of his own. But in the reign of Claudius it was again reckoned among the " unarmed provinces," and governed by a proconsul. One of the proconsuls who were sent out to govern the province of Achaia in the course of PauFs second missionary journey was Gallio. His original name was Annseus Novatus, and he was the brother of Annseus Seneca the philosopher. The name under which he is known to us in sacred and secular history was due to his adoption into the family of Junius Gallio the rhetorician. The time of his government at Corinth, as indicated by the sacred historian, must be placed between the years 52 and 54, if the dates we have assigned to Paul's movements be correct. We have no exact information on this subject from any secular source, nor is he mentioned by any heathen writer as having been proconsul of Achaia. But there are some incidental notices of his life which give rather a curious confirmation of what is advanced above. We are informed by Tacitus and Dio that he died in the year 65 ; Pliny says that after his consulship he had a serious illness, for the removal of which he tried a sea- voyage; and from Seneca we learn that it w^as in Achaia that his brother went on shipboard for the benefit of his health. If we knew the year of Gallio's consul- ship, our chronological result would be brought within narrow limits. We do not possess this information, but it has been rea- sonably conjectured that his promotion, if not due to his brother's influence, would be subsequent to the year 49, in which the phil- osopher returned from his exile in Corsica and had the youthful Nero placed under his tuition. The interval of time thus marked out between the restoration of Seneca and the death of Gallio in- cludes the narrower period assigned by Luke to the proconsulate in Achaia. The coming of a new governor to a province was an event of GALLIC THE GOVERNOR. 843 great importance. The whole system of administration, the gen- eral prosperity, the state of political parties, the relative position of different sections of the population, were necessarily affected by his personal character. The provincials were miserable or happy according as a Yerres or a Cicero was sent from Eome. As re- gards the personal character of Gallio, the inference we should naturally draw from the words of Luke closely corresponds with what we are told by Seneca. His brother speaks of him with singular affection, not only as a man of integrity and honesty, but as one who won universal regard by his amiable temper and popular manners. His conduct on the occasion of the tumult at Corinth is quite in harmony with a character so described. He did not allow himself, like Pilate, to be led into injustice by the clamor of the Jews, and yet he overlooked with easy indifference an outbreak of violence which a sterner and more imperious gov- ernor would at once have arrested. The details of this transaction were as follows : The Jews, anxious to profit by a change of administration, and perhaps encouraged by the well-known compliance of Gallio's character, took an early opportunity of accusing Paul before him. They had already set themselves in battle-array against him, and the coming of the new governor was the signal for a general attack. It is quite evident that the act was preconcerted and the occasion chosen. Making use of the privileges they enjoyed as a separate community, and well aware that the exercise of their worship was protected by the Roman state, they accused Paul of violating their own religious Law. They seem to have thought, if this violation of Jewish Law could be proved, that Paul would become amenable to the criminal law of the empire; or perhaps they hoped, as afterward at Jerusalem, that he would be given up into their hands for punishment. Had Gallio been like Festus or Felix, this might easily have happened, and then Paul's natural resource would have been to appeal to the emperor on the ground of his citizenship. But the appointed time of his visit to Rome was not yet come, and the continuance of his missionary labors was secured by the character of the governor who was providentially sent at this time to manage the affairs of Achaia. The scene is set before us by Luke with some details which give us a vivid notion of what took place. Gallio is seated on that proconsular chair from which judicial sentences were pronounced 344 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. by the Eoman magistrates. To this we must doubtless add the other insignia of Koman power which were suitable to a colony and the metropolis of a province. Before this heathen authority the Jews are preferring their accusation with eager clamor. Their chief speaker is Sosthenes, the successor of Crispus or (it may be) the ruler of another synagogue. The Greeks are standing round, eager to hear the result and to learn something of the new governor's character, and at the same time hating the Jews and ready to be the partisans of Paul. At the moment when the apos- tle is " about to open his mouth " Gallio will not even hear his defence, but pronounces a decided and peremptory judgment. His answer was that of a man who knew the limits of his office, and felt that he had no time to waste on the religious technicalities of the Jews. Had it been a case in which the Eoman law had been violated by any breach of the peace or any act of dishonesty, then it would have been reasonable and right that the matter should have been fully investigated ; but since it was only a ques- tion of the Jewish Law, relating to the disputes of Hebrew superstition and to names of no public interest, he utterly refused to attend to it. They might excommunicate the offender or inflict on him any of their ecclesiastical punishments, but he would not meddle with trifling quarrels which were beyond his jurisdiction. And without further delay he drove the Jews away from before his judicial chair. The effect of this proceeding must have been to produce the utmost rage and disappointment among the Jews. With the Greeks and other bystanders the result was very different. Their dislike of a superstitious and misanthropic nation was gratified. They held the forbearance of Gallio as a proof that their own religious liberties would be respected under the new administration, and with the disorderly impulse of a mob which has been kept for some time in suspense they rushed upon the ruler of the syna- gogue and beat him in the very presence of the proconsular tribunal. Meanwhile, Gallio took no notice of the injurious punishment thus inflicted on the Jews, and with characteristic indifference left Sosthenes to his fate. Thus the accusers were themselves involved in disgrace, Gallio obtained a high popularity among the Greeks, and Paul was enabled to pursue his labors in safety. Had he been driven away from Corinth, the whole Christian community of the place might Paul's departure from corintpi. 345 have been placed in jeopardy. But the result of the storm was to give shelter to the infant Church, with opportunity of safe and continued growth. As regards the apostle himself, his credit rose with the disgrace of his opponents. So far as he might afterward be noticed by the Eoman governor or the Greek inhabitants of the city, he would be regarded as an injured man. As his own discre- tion had given advantage to the holy cause at Philippi by involv- ing his opponents in blame, so here the most imminent peril was providentially turned into safety and honor. Thus the assurance communicated in the vision was abundantly fulfilled. Though bitter enemies had ^'set on" Paul (Acts xviii. 10), no one had hurt him. The Lord had been " with him and " much people " had been gathered into his Church. At length the time came when the apostle deemed it right to leave Achaia and revisit Judoea, induced (as it would appear) by a mo- tive which often guided his journeys — the desire to be present at the great gathering of the Jews at one of their festivals, and possibly also influenced by the movements of Aquilaand Priscilla, who were about to proceed from Corinth to Ephesus. Before his departure he took a solemn farewell of the assembled Church. How touching Paul's farewells must have been, especially after a protracted residence among his brethren and disciples, we may infer from the affectionate language of his letters ; and one speci- men is given to us of these parting addresses in the Acts of the Apostles. From the words spoken at Miletus (Acts xx.) we may learn what was said and felt at Corinth. He could tell his disci- ples here, as he told them there, that he had taught them " publicly and from house to house; that he was "pure from the blood of all men ; " that by the space of a year and a half he had " not ceased to warn every one night and day with tears." And doubtless ho forewarned them of ^'grievous wolves entering in among them, of men speaking perverse things arising of themselves, to draw away disciples after them." And he could appeal to them, with the emphatic gesture of those hands^^ which had labored at Corinth, in proof that he had " coveted no man's gold or silver," and in confirmation of the Lord's words that "it is more blessed to give than to receive." Thus he departed, with prayers and tears, from those who "accompanied him to the ship" with many misgivings lhat they might " see his face no more." The three points on the coast to which our attention is called in 346 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. the brief notice of this voyage contained in the Acts are Cenchreae, the harbor of Corinth; Ephesus, on the western shore of Asia Minor ; and Caesarea Stratonis, in Palestine. More suitable occa- sions will be found hereafter for descriptions of Csesarea and Ephe- sus. The present seems to require a few words to be said concern- ing Cenchreae. After descending from the low table-land on which Corinth was situated, the road which connected the city with its eastern harbor extended a distance of eight or nine miles across the isthmian plain. Cenchrea3 has fallen with Corinth, but the name still re- mains to mark the place of the port, which once commanded a large trade with Alexandria and Antioch, with Ephesus and Thes- salonica, and the other cities of the ^gean. That it was a town of some magnitude may be inferred from the attention which Pau- sanias devotes to it in the description of the environs of Corinth; and both its mercantile character and the pains which had been taken in its embellishment are well symbolized in a coin which represents the port with a temple on each enclosing promontory, and a statue of Neptune on a rock between them. From this port Paul began his voyage to Syria. But before the vessel sailed one of his companions performed a religious ceremony which must not be unnoticed, since it is mentioned in Scripture. Aquila had bound himself by one of those vows which the Jews often voluntarily took, even when in foreign countries, in conse- quence of some mercy received or some deliverance from danger, or some other occurrence which had produced a deep religious im- pression on the mind. The obligations of these vows were similar to those in the case of Nazarites as regards abstinence from strong drinks and legal pollutions and the wearing of the hair uncut till the close of a definite length of time. Aquila could not be liter- ally a Nazarite, for in the case of that greater vow the cutting of the hair, which denoted that the legal time was expired, could only take place at the temple in Jerusalem, or at least in Judcea. In this case the ceremony was performed at Cenchreae. Huve Aquila — who had been for some time conspicuous, even amoiig the Jews and Christians at Corinth, for the long hair which denoted that he was under a peculiar religious restriction — came to the close of the period of obligation, and before accompanying the apostle to Ephesus laid aside the tokens of his vow. From Corinth to Ephesus the voyage was among the islands of VOYAGE ACROSS THE ^GEAN. 347 the Greek Archipelago. The isles of Greece, and the waters which break on their shores or rest among them in spaces of calm repose, always present themselves to the mind as the scenes of interesting voyages, whether we think of the stories of early legend or the stirring life of classical times, of the Crusades in the Middle Ages or of the movements of modern travellers, some of whom sel- dom reflect that the land and the water round them were hallowed by the presence and labors of Paul. One great purpose of this book will be gained if it tends to associate the apostle of the Gen- tiles with the coasts which are already touched by so many other historical recollections. No voyage across the ^^^gean was more frequently made than that between Corinth and Ephesus. They were the capitals of the two flourishing and peaceful provinces of Achaia and Asia, and the two great mercantile towns on the opposite sides of the sea. If resemblances may be again suggested between the ocean and the Mediterranean, and between ancient and modern times, we may say that the relation of these cities of the Eastern and Western Greeks to each other was like that between New York and Liver- pool. Even the time taken up by the voyages constitutes a point of resemblance. Cicero says that on his eastward passage, which was considered a long one, he spent fifteen days, and that his return was accomplished in thirteen. A fair wind in much shorter time than either thirteen or fifteen days would take the apostle across from Corinth to the city on the other side of the sea. It seems that the vessel was bound for Syria, and stayed only a short time in harbor at Ephesus. Aquila and Priscilla remained there while he proceeded. But even during the short interval of his stay Paul made a visit to his Jewish fellow- countrymen, and (the sabbath being probably one of the days during which he remained) he held a discussion with them in the synagogue concerning Christianity. Their curiosity was excited by what they heard, as it had been at Antioch in Pisidia ; and perhaps that curiosity would have speedily been succeeded by opposition if their visitor had stayed longer among them. But he was not able to grant the request which they urgently made. He was anxious to attend the approaching festival at Jerusalem, and had he not proceeded with the ship this might have been impos- sible. He was so far, however, encouraged by the opening which he saw that he left the Ephesian Jews with a promise of his re- 348 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. turn. This promise was limited by an expression of that depend- ence on the Divine Will which is characteristic of a Christian's life, whether his vocation be to the labors of an apostle or to the routine of ordinary toil. We shall see that Paul's promisie was literally fulfilled when we come to pursue his progress on his third missionary circuit. The voyage to Syria lay first by the coasts and islands of the ^gean to Cos and Cnidus, which are mentioned on subsequent voyages, and then across the open sea by Khodes and Cyprus to Caesarea. This city has the closest connection with some of the most memorable events of early Christianity. We have already had occasion to mention it in alluding to Peter and the baptism of the first Gentile convert. We shall afterward be required to make it the subject of a more elaborate notice when we arrive at the imprisonment which was suffered by Paul under two successive Roman governors. The country was now no longer under native kings. Ten years had elapsed since the death of Herod Agrippa, the last event alluded to (Chap. IV.) in connection with Csesarea. Felix had been for some years already procurator of Judaea. If the aspect of the country had become in any degree more national under the reign of the Herods, it had now resumed all the appear- ance of a Eoman province. Csesarea was its military capital, as it was the harbor by which it was approached by all travellers from the West. From this city roads had been made to the Egyp- tian frontier on the south, and northward along the coast, by Ptolemais, Tyre, and Sidon, to Antiocli, as well as across the in- terior, by Neapolis or Antipatris, to Jerusalem and the Jordan. The journey from Csesarea to Jerusalem is related by Luke in a single word. No information is given concerning the incidents which occurred there: no meetings with other apostles, no con- troversies on disputed points of doctrine, are recorded or inferred. We are not even sure that Paul arrived in time for the festival at which he desired to be present. The contrary seems rather to be inferred, for he is said simply to have "saluted the Church,'^ and then to have proceeded to Antioch. It is useless to attempt to draw aside the veil which conceals the particulars of this visit of Paul of Tarsus to the city of his forefathers. As if it were no longer in- tended that we should view the Church in connection with the centre of Judaism, our thoughts are turned immediately to that other city where the name " Christian" was first conferred on it. Paul's last visit to antioch. 349 From Jerusalem to Antioch it is likely that the journey was accomplished by land. It is the last time we shall have occasion to mention a road which was often traversed, at different seasons of the year, by Paul and his companions. Two of the journeys along this Phoenician coast have been long ago mentioned. Many years had intervened since the ciiari table mission which brought relief from Syria to the poor in Judaea (Chap. IV.), and since the meeting of the council at Jerusalem and the joyful return at a time of anxious controversy (Chap. VII.). When we allude to these previous visits to the Holy City, we feel how widely the Church of Christ had been extended in the space of very few years. The course of our narrative is rapidly carrying us from the East towards the West. We are now for the last time on this part of the Asiatic shore. For a moment the associations which surround us are all of the primeval past. The monuments which still remain along this coast remind us of the ancient Phoenician power and of Baal and Ashtaroth, or of the Assyrian conquerors who came from the Euphrates to the West, and have left forms like those in the palaces of Nineveh sculptured on the rocks of the Mediterranean, rather than of anything connected with the history of Greece and Kome. The mountains which rise above our heads belong to the characteristic imagery of the Old Testament ; the cedars are those of the forests which were hewn by the workmen of Hiram and Solomon ; the torrents which cross the road are the waters from " the sides of Lebanon.'' But we are taking our last view of this scenery, and as we leave it we feel that we are passing from the Jewish infancy of the Christian Church to its wider expansion among the heathen. Once before we had occasion to remark that the Church had no longer now its central point in Jerusalem, but in Antioch, a city of the Gentiles. The progress of events now carries us still more remotely from the land which was first visited by the tidings of salvation. The world through which our narrative takes us begins to be European rather than Asiatic. So far as we know, the present visit which Paul paid to Antioch was his last. We have already seen how new centres of Christian life had been established by him in the Greek cities of the ^gean. The course of the gospel is farther and farther towards the West, and the inspired part of the apostle's biography, after a short period of deep interest in Judaea finally centres in Rome. UHAPTEK XIII. THE SPIRITUAL GIFTS, CONSTITUTION, OEDINANCES, DIVISIONS, AND HEEESTES OF THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH IN THE LIFE- TIME OF PAUL. We are now arrived at a point in PauVs history when it seems needful for the full understanding of the remainder of his career, and especially of his Epistles, to give some description of the in- ternal condition of those churches which looked to him as their father in the faith. Nearly all of these had now been founded, and regarding the early development of several of them we have considerable information from his letters to them and from other sources. This information we shall now endeavor to bring into one general view, and in so doing (since the Pauline churches were only particular portions of the universal Church) we shall neces- sarily have to consider the distinctive peculiarities and internal condition of the primitive Church generally as it existed in the time of the apostles. The feature which most immediately forces itself upon our notice as distinctive of the Church in the apostolic age is its possession of supernatural gifts. Concerning these, our whole information must be derived from Scripture, because they appear to have vanished with the disappearance of the apostles themselves, and there is no authentic account of their existence in the Ctiurch in any writings of a later date than the books of the New Testament. This fact gives a more remarkable and impressive character to the frequent mention of them in the writings of the apostles, where the exercise of such gifts is spoken of as a matter of ordinary occurrence. Indeed, this is so much the case that these miraculous powers are not even mentioned by the apostolic writers as a class apart (as we should now consider them), but are joined in the same classification with other gifts which we are wont to term natural endowments or "talents." Thus, Paul tells us (1 Cor. xii. 11) that all these charisms or spiritual gifts were wrought by one and th© 350 SPIRITUAL GIFTS IN THE CHURCH. 351 same Spirit, who distributed them to each severally according to his own will; and among these he classes the gift of healing and the gift of tongues, as falling under the same category with the talent for administrative usefulness and the faculty of government. But though we learn from this to refer the ordinary natural endow- ments of men, not less than the supernatural powers bestowed in the apostolic age, to a divine source, yet since we are treating of that which gave a distinctive character to the apostolic Church, it is desirable that we should make a division between the two classes of gifts, the extraordinary and the ordinary, although this division was not made by the apostles at the time when both kinds of gifts were in ordinary exercise. The most striking manifestation of divine interposition was the power of working what are commonly called miracles — that is, changes in the usual operation of the laws of Nature. This power was exercised by Paul himself very frequently (as we know from the narrative in the Acts), as well as by the other apostles, and in the Epistles we find repeated allusions to its exercise by ordinary Christians. As examples of the operation of this power we need only refer to Paul's raising Eutychus from the dead, his striking Ely mas with blindness, his healing the sick at Ephesus, and his curing the father of Publius at Melita. The last-mentioned examples are instances of the exercise of the gift of healing^ which was a peculiar branch of the gift of mir- acles, and sometimes apparently possessed by those who had not the higher gift. The source of all these miraculous powers was the charism of faith — namely, that peculiar kind of wonder-work- ing faith spoken of in Matt. xvii. 20, 1 Cor. xii. 9 and xiii. 2, which consisted in an intense belief that all obstacles would vanish before the power given ; this must of course be distinguished from that disposition of faith which is essential to the Christian life. We have remarked that the exercise of these miraculous powers is spoken of both in the Acts and Epistles as a matter of ordinary occurrence and in that tone of quiet (and often incidental) allusion in which we mention the facts of our daily life. And this is the case, not in a narrative of events long past (where unintentional exaggeration might be supposed to have crept in), but in the nar- rative of a contemporary writing immediately after the occurrence of the events which he records and of which he was an eye-witness ; and yet further, this phenomenon occurs in letters whicji speak of 352 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. those miracles as wrought in the daily sight of the readers ad- dressed. Now, the question forced upon every intelligent mind is, Whether such a phenomenon can be explained except by the as- sumption that the miracles did really happen ? Is this assumption more difficult than that of Hume (which has been revived with an air of novelty by modern infidels), who cuts the knot by assuming that whenever we meet with an account of a miracle it is, ipso facto , to be rejected as incredible, no matter by what weight of evidence it may be supported ? Besides the power of working miracles, other supernatural gifts of a less extraordinary character were bestowed upon the early Church ; the most important were the gift of tongues and the gift of prophecy. With regard to the former there is much difficulty, from the notices of it in Scripture, in fully comprehending its nature. But from the passages where it is mentioned we may gather thus much concerning it: Fii^st, that it was not a knowledge of foreign languages, as is often supposed ; we never read of its being exercised for the conversion of foreign nations nor (except on the day of Pentecost alone) for that of individual foreigners ; and even on that occasion the foreigners present were all Jewish proselytes, and most of them understood the Hellenistic dialect. Secondly, we learn that this gift was the result of a sudden influx of supernatural inspiration, which came upon the new believer immediately after his baptism, and recurred afterward at uncertain intervals. Timidly, we find that while under its influence the ex- ercise of the understanding was suspended, while the spirit was rapt into a state of ecstasy by the immediate communication of the Spirit of God. In this ecstatic trance the believer was constrained by an irresistible power to pour forth his feelings of thanksgiving and rapture in words, yet the words which issued from his mouth were not his own; he was even (usually) ignorant of their meaning; they were the words of some foreign language, and not intelligible to the bystanders, unless some of these chanced to be natives of the country where the language was spoken. Paul desired that those who possessed this gift should not be suffered to exercise it in the congregation, unless some one present possessed another gift (sub- sidiary to this) called the ^^interpretation of tongues,^^ by which the ecstatic utterance of the former might be rendered available for general edification. Another gift also was needful for the check- ing of false pretensions to this and some other charisms — viz. the NATURAL ENDOWMENTS OF THE CONVERTS. 353 gift of discerning of spirits, the recipients of which could distin- guish between the real and the imaginary possessors of spiritual gifts. From the gift of tongues we pass, by a natural transition, to the gift of prophecij. It is needless to remark that in the scriptural sense of the term di prophet does not mean 2, foreteller of future events, but a revealer of God's will to man, though the latter sense may (and sometimes does) include the former. So the gift of prophecy was that charism which enabled its possessors to utter, with the au- thority of inspiration, divine strains of warning, exhortation, en- couragement, or rebuke, and to teach and enforce the truths of Christianity with supernatural energy and effect. The wide dif- fusion among the members of the Church of this prophetical inspi- ration was a circumstance which is mentioned by Peter as distinc- tive of the gospel dispensation; in fact, we find that in the family of Philip the evangelist alone there were four daughters who ex- ercised this gift ; and the general possession of it is in like manner implied by the directions of Paul to the Corinthians. The latter apostle describes the marvellous effect of the inspired addresses thus spoken. He looks upon the gift of prophecy as one of the great instruments for the conversion of unbelievers, and far more serviceable in this respect than the gift of tongues, although by some of the new converts it was not so highly esteemed, because it seemed less strange and wonderful. Thus far, we have mentioned the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit which were vouchsafed to the Church of that age alone ; yet (as we have before said) there was no strong line of division, no " great gulf fixed,'' between these and what we now should call the ordinary gifts or natural endowments of the Christian con- verts. Thus, the gift of prophecy cannot easily be separated by any accurate demarcation from another charism often mentioned in Scripture which we should now consider an ordinary talent — namely, the gift of teaching. The distinction between them appears to have been that the latter was more habitually and constantly exercised by its possessors than the former : we are not to suppose, however, that it was necessarily given to different persons; on the contrary, an access of divine inspiration might at any moment cause the teacher to speak as a prophet ; and this was constantly exemplified in the case of the apostles, who exercised the gift of prophecy for the conversion of their unbelieving 23 354 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. hearers, and the gift of teaching for the building up of their converts in the faith. Other gifts specially mentioned as charisms are the gift of government and the gift of ministration. By the former certain persons were specially fitted to preside over the Church and regu- late its internal order ; by the latter its possessors were enabled to minister to the wants of their brethren, to manage the distribution of relief among the poorer members of the Church, to tend the sick, and carry out other practical works of piety. The mention of these latter charisms leads us naturally to con- sider the offices which at that time existed in the Church, to which the possessors of these gifts were severally called according as the endowment which they had received fitted them to discharge the duties of the respective functions. We will endeavor, therefore, to give an outline of the constitution and government of the primitive Christian churches as they existed in the time of the apostles, so far as we can ascertain them from the information supplied to us in the New Testament. Amongst the several classifications which are there given of church officers, the most important (from its relation to subsequent ecclesiastical history) is that by which they are divided into apostles, presbyters, and deacons. The monarchical or (as it would be now called) the episcopal element of church government w\as, in this first period, supplied by the authority of the apostles. This title was probably at first confined to "the Twelve," who were immediately nominated tO' their office (with the exception of Matthias) by our Lord himself. To this body the title was limited by the Judaizing section of the Church ; but Paul vindicated his own claim to the apostolic name and authority as resting upon the same commission given him by the same Lord, and his companion, Luke, applies the name to Barnabas also. In a lower sense, the term was applied to all the more eminent Christian teachers; as, for example, to Andronicus and Junias. And it was also some- times used in its simple etymological sense of emissary, which had not yet been lost in its other and more technical meaning. Still, those only were called emphatically the apostles who had received their commission from Christ himself, including the eleven who had been chosen by him while on earth, with Matthias and Paul, who had been selected for the office by their Lord (though ip different ways) after his ascension. THE POWERS OF THE APOSTLES. 355 In saying that the apostles embodied that element in church government which has since been represented by episcopacy we must not, however, be understood to mean that the power of the apostles was subject to those limitations to which the authority of bishops has always been subjected. The primitive bishop was surrounded by his council of presbyters, and took no important step without their sanction ; but this was far from being the case with the apostles. They were appointed by Christ himself, with absolute power to govern his Church ; to them he had given the keys of the kingdom of heaven, with authority to admit or to ex- clude ; they were also guided by his perpetual inspiration, so that all their moral and religious teaching was absolutely and infallibly true ; they were empowered by their solemn denunciations of evil and their inspired judgments on all moral questions to bind and to loose, to remit and to retain the sins of men. This was the essential peculiarity of their office, which can find no parallel in the after history of the Church. But, so far as their function was to govern, they represented the monarchical element in the constitution of the early Church, and their power was a full counterpoise to that democratic tendency which has sometimes been attributed to the ecclesiastical arrangements of the apostolic period. Another peculiarity which distinguishes them from all subsequent rulers of the Church is, that they were not limited to a sphere of action defined by geographical boundaries ; the whole world was their diocese, and they bore the glad tidings east or west, north or south, as the Holy Spirit might direct their course at the time, and governed the churches which they founded wherever they might be placed. Moreover, those charisms which were possessed by other Christians singly and severally were col- lectively given to the apostles, because all were needed for their work. The gift of miracles was bestowed upon them in abundant measure, that they might strike terror into the adversaries of the truth, and win by outward wonders the attention of thousands whose minds were closed by ignorance against the inward and the spiritual. They had the gift of prophecy as the very characteristic of their office, for it was their especial commission to reveal the truth of God to man; they were consoled in the midst of their labors by heavenly visions, and rapt in supernatural ecstasies in which they " spake in tongues,'' " to God and not to man.'' They had the '^gift of governments^ for that which came upon them daily 356 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. was "the care of all the churches;" the gift of teaching fov' they must build up their converts in the faith; even the gift of ministration^^ was not unneeded by them, nor did they think it beneath them to undertake the humblest offices of a deacon for the good of the Church. When needful, they could "serve tables*' and collect alms and work with their own hands at mechanical trades, "that so laboring they might support the weak," inasmuch as they were the servants of Him who came not to be ministered unto, but to minister. Of the offices concerned with church government, the next in rank to that of the apostles was the office of overseers or elders, more usually known (by their Greek designations) as bishops or presbyters. These terms are used in the New Testament as equiv- alent, the former [kniano'iTog) denoting (as its meaning of overseer implies) the duties, the latter (Trpeapyrepog) the rank, of the office. The history of the Church leaves us no room for doubt that on the death of the apostles, or perhaps at an earlier period (and in either case by their directions), one amongst the presbyters of each church was selected to preside over the rest, and to him was applied emphatically the title of the bishop or overseer which had previously belonged equally to all ; thus he became in reality (what he was sometimes called) the successor of the apostles, as exercising (though in a lower degree) that function of government which had formerly belonged to them. But in speaking of this change we are anticipating, for at the time of which we are now writing, at the foundation of the Gentile churches, the apostles themselves were the chief governors of the Church, and the pres- byters of each particular society were co-ordinate with one another. We find that they existed at an early period in Jerusalem, and likewise that they were appointed by the apostles upon the first formation of a church in every city. The same name, "elder," was attached to an office of a corresponding nature in the Jewish synagogues, whence both title and office were probably derived. The name of bishop was afterward given to this office in the Gen- tile churches at a somewhat later period, as expressive of its duties and as more familiar than the other title to Greek ears. The office of the presbyters was to watch over the particular church in which they ministered in all that regarded its external order and internal purity ; they were to instruct the ignorant, to exhort the faithful, to confute the gainsayers, to "warn the unruly, THE ORDER OF DEACONS. 357 to comfort the feeble-minded, to support the weak, to be patient towards all." They were " to take heed to the flock over which the Holy Ghost had made them overseers, to feed the Church of God which he had purchased with his own blood." In one word, it was their duty (as it has been the duty of all who have been called to the same office during the nineteen centuries which have succeeded) to promote to the utmost of their ability, and by every means within their reach, the spiritual good of all those committed to their care. The last of the three orders, that of deacons, did not take its place in the ecclesiastical organization till towards the close of Paul's life, or at least this name was not assigned to those who discharged the functions of the diaconate till a late period; the Epistle to the Philippians being the earliest in which the term occurs* in its technical sense. In fact, the word (StaKovog) occurs thirty times in the New Testament, and only three times (or at most four) is it used as an official designation; in all the other passages it is used in its simple etymological sense of a ministering servant. It is a remarkable fact, too, that it never occurs in the Acts as the title of those seven Hellenistic Christians who are gen- erally (though improperly) called the seven deacons, and who were only elected to supply a temporary emergency.f Although the title of the diaconate, however, does not occur till afterward, the office seems to have existed from the first in the Church of Jerusalem (see Acts v. 6, 10) ; those who discharged its duties were then called the young men, in contradistinction to the presbyters or elders, and it was their duty to assist the latter by discharging the mechanical services requisite for the well-being of the Christian community. Gradually, however, as the Church increased, the natural division of labor would suggest a subdivision of the min- istrations performed by them; those which only required bodily labor would be entrusted to a less educated class of servants, and * In Rom. xvi. 1 it is applied to a woman ; and we cannot confidently as- sert that it is there used technically to denote an office, especially as the word 8ta/coi/o? is so constantly used in its non-technical sense of one who ministers in any way to others. f We observe, also, that when any of the seven are referred to, it is never by the title of deacon; thus Philip is called "the evangelist" (Acts xxi. 8). In fact, the office of the seven was one of much higher importance than that held by the subsequent deacons. 358 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. those which required the work of the head as w^ell as the hands (such, for example, as the distribution of alms) would form the duties of the deacons; for we may now speak of them by that name which became appropriated to them before the close of the apostolic epoch. There is not much information given us with regard to their functions in the New Testament, but from Paul's directions to Timothy concerning their qualifications it is evident that their office was one of considerable importance. He requires that they should be men of grave character and " not greedy of filthy lucre," the latter qualification relating to their duty in administering the charitable fund of the Church. He desires that they should not exercise the office till after their character had been first subjected to an exam- ination, and had been found free from all imputation against it. If (as is reasonable) w^e explain these intimations by what we know of the diaconate in the succeeding century, we may assume that its duties in the apostolic churches (when their organization was complete) were to assist the presbyters in all that concerned the outward service of the Church and in executing the details of those measures the general plan of which was organized by the presbyters. And doubtless those only were selected for this office who had received the gift of ministration [dtaKoviag) previously mentioned. It is a disputed point whether there was an order of deaconesses to minister among the women in the apostolic Church ; the only proof of their existence is the epithet attached to the name of Phoebe, which may be otherwise understood. At the same time, it must be acknowledged that the almost Oriental seclusion in which the Greek women were kept would render the institution of such an office not unnatural in the churches of Greece, as well as in those of the East. Besides the three orders of apostles, presbyters, and deacons, we find another classification of the ministry of the Church in the Epistle to the Ephesians, where they are divided under four heads — viz. 1st, apostles ; 2dly, prophets ; 3dly, evangelists ; 4thly, pas- tors and teachers. By the fourth class we must understand the presbyters to be denoted, and we then have two other names inter- polated between these and the apostles — viz. prophets and evange- lists. By the former we must understand those on whom the gift of prophecy was bestowed in such abundant measure as to consti- MODE OF APPOINTMENT TO CHURCH OFFICES. 359 tute their peculiar characteristic, and whose work it was to impart constantly to their brethren the revelations which they received from the Holy Spirit. The term evangelist is applied to those mis- sionaries who, like Philip the Hellenist and Timothy, travelled from place to place to bear the glad tidings of Christ to unbeliev- ing nations or individuals. Hence it follows that the apostles were all evangelists, although there were also evangelists who were not apostles. It is needless to add that our modern use of the word evangelist (as meaning writer of a Gospel) is of later date, and has no place here. All these classes of church officers were maintained (so far as they required it) by the contributions of those in whose service they labored. Paul lays down in the strongest manner their right to such maintenance, yet at the same time we find that he very rarely accepted the offerings which, in the exercise of this right, he might himself have claimed. He preferred to labor with his own hands for his own support, that he might put his disinterested motives beyond the possibility of suspicion; and he advises the presbyters of the Ephesian Church to follow his example in this respect, that so they might be able to contribute by their own ex- ertions to the support of the helpless. The mode of appointment to these different offices varied with the nature of the office itself. The apostles, as we have seen, re- ceived their commission directly from Christ himself ; the prophets were appointed by that inspiration which they received from the Holy Spirit, yet their claims would be subjected to the judgment of those who had received the gift of discernment of spirits ; the evangelists were sent on particular missions from time to time by the Christians with whom they lived (but not without a special revelation of the Holy Spirits will to that effect), as the Church of Antioch sent away Paul and Barnabas to evangelize Cyprus ; the presbyters and deacons were appointed by the apostles them- selves (as at Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch in Pisidia), or by their deputies, as in the case of Timothy and Titus ; yet in all such cases it is not improbable that the concurrence of the whole body of the Church was obtained ; and it is possible that in other cases, as well as in the appointment of the seven Hellenists, the officers of the church may have been elected by the church which they were to serve. In all cases, so far as we may infer from the recorded instances 360 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. in the Acts, those who were selected for the performance of church offices were solemnly set apart for the duties to which they devoted themselves. This ordination they received whether the office to w^hich they were called was permanent or temporary. The church of which they were members devoted a preparatory season to "fasting and prayer," and then those who were to be set apart were consecrated to their work by that solemn and touching sym- bolical act, the laying-on of hands, which has been ever since appropriated to the same purpose and meaning. And thus, in answer to the faith and prayers of the Church, the spiritual gifts necessary for the performance of the office were bestowed by Him who is " the Lord and Giver of life." Having thus briefly attempted to describe the offices of the apostolic Church, we pass to the consideration of its ordinances. Of these, the chief were, of course, those two sacraments ordained by Christ himself which have been the heritage of the universal Church throughout all succeeding ages. The sacrament of baptism was regarded as the door of entrance into the Christian Church, and was held to be so indispensable that it could not be omitted even in the case of Paul. We have seen that although he had been called to the apostleship by the direct intervention of Christ himself, yet he was commanded to receive baptism at the hands of a simple disciple. In ordinary cases the sole condition re- quired for baptism was that the persons to be baptized should acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah, "declared to be the Son of God with power, by his resurrection from the dead." In this acknowledgment was virtually involved the readiness of the new converts to submit to the guidance of those whom Christ had ap- pointed as the apostles and teachers of his Church ; and we find that they were subsequently instructed in the truths of Christian- ity, and were taught the true spiritual meaning of those ancient prophecies which (if Jews) they had hitherto interpreted of a human conqueror and an earthly kingdom. This instruction, however, took place after baptism, not before it; and herein we remark a great and striking difference from the subsequent usage of the Church. For not long after the time of the apostles the primitive practice in this respect was completely reversed ; in all cases the convert was subjected to a long course of preliminary instruction before he was admitted to baptism, and in some in- stances the catechumen remained unbaptized till the hour of death ; THE BAPTISM OF CONVERTS. 361 for thus he thought to escape the strictness of a Christian life, and fancied that a deathbed baptism would operate magically upon his spiritual condition and ensure his salvation. The apos- tolic practice of immediate baptism would, had it been retained, have guarded the Church from so baneful a superstition. It has been questioned whether the apostles baptized adults only, or whether they admitted infants also into the Church ; yet we cannot but think it almost demonstratively proved that infant baptism was their practice. This seems evident, not merely be- cause (had it been otherwise) we must have found some traces of the first introduction of infant baptism afterward, but also because the very idea of the apostolic baptism, as the entrance into Chrisfs kingdom, implies that it could not have been refused to infants without violating the command of Christ: "Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.'' Again, Paul expressly says that the children of a Christian parent were to be looked upon as consecrated to God (ayioi) by virtue of their very birth ; and it would have been most inconsistent with this view, as well as with the practice in the case of adults, to delay the reception of infants into the Church till they had been fully instructed in Christian doctrine. We know from the Gospels that the new converts were baptized " in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." And after the performance of the sacrament an outward sign was given that God was indeed present with his Church, through the mediation of the Son, in the person of the Spirit; for the baptized converts, when the apostles had laid their hands on them, received some spiritual gift, either the power of working miracles or of speaking in tongues, bestowed upon each of them by Him who " divideth to every man severally as he will." It is needless to add that baptism was (unless in exceptional cases) administered by immersion, the convert being plunged beneath the surface of the w^atcr to represent his death to the life of sin, and then raised from this momentary burial to represent his resur- rection to the life of righteousness. It must be a subject of regret that the general discontinuance of this original form of baptism (though perhaps necessary in our northern climates) has rendered obscure to popular apprehension some very important passages of Scripture. With regard to the other sacrament, we know both from the 362 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. Acts and the Epistles how constantly the apostolic Church obeyed their Lord's command, "Do this in remembrance of me." Indeed, it would seem that originally their common meals were ended, as that memorable feast at Emmaus had been, by its celebration ; so that, as at the first to those two disciples, their Lord's presence was daily "made known unto them in the breaking of bread.'^ Subsequently the communion was administered at the close of the public feasts of love {dyaTrai) at which the Christians met to realize their fellowship one with another, and to partake together, rich and poor, masters and slaves, on equal terms, of the common meal. But this practice led to abuses, as we see in the case of the Corinthian Church, where the very idea of the ordinance was violated by the providing of different food for the rich and poor, and where some of the former were even guilty of intemperance. Consequently, a change was made, and the communion adminis- tered before instead of after the meal, and finally separated from it altogether. The festivals observed by the apostolic Church were at first the same with those of the Jews, and the observance of these was con- tinued, especially by the Christians of Jewish birth, for a consider- able time. A higher and more spiritual meaning, however, was attached to their celebration ; and particularly the paschal feast was kept no longer as a shadow of good things to come, but as the commemoration of blessings actually bestowed in the death and resurrection of Christ. Thus we already see the germ of our Easter festival in the exhortation which Paul gives to the Corinth- ians concerning the manner in which they should celebrate the paschal feast. Nor was it only at this annual feast that they kept in memory the resurrection of their Lord ; every Sunday likewise was a festival in memory of the same event ; the Church never failed to meet for common prayer and praise on that day of the week, and it very soon acquired the name of the " Lord's Day,'* which it has since retained. But the meetings of the first converts for public worship were not coiifined to a single day of the week ; they were always frequent, often daily. The Jewish Christians met at first in Jeru- salem in some of the courts of the temple, there to join in the prayers and hear the teaching of Peter and John. Afterward the private houses of the more opulent Christians were thrown open to furnish their brethren with a place of assembly, and they met ORDER OF WORSHIP. 363 for prayer and praise in some "upper chamber/' with the "doors shut for fear of the Jews." The outward form and order of their worship differed very materially from our own, as indeed was necessarily the case where so many of the worshippers were under the miraculous influence of the Holy Spirit. Some were filled with prophetic inspiration ; some constrained to pour forth their ecstatic feelings in the exercise of the gift of tongues "as the Spirit gave them utterance." We see from PauFs directions to the Corinthians that there was danger even then lest their worship should degenerate into a scene of confusion from the number who wished to take part in the public ministrations ; and he lays down rules which show that even the exercise of supernatural gifts was to be restrained if it tended to violate the orderly celebration of public worship. He directs that not more than two or three should prophesy in the same assembly, and that those who had the gift of tongues should not exercise it unless some one present had the gift of interpretation and could explain their utterances to the congregation. He also forbids women (even though some of them might be prophetesses) to speak in the public assembly, and desires that they should appear veiled, as became the modesty of their sex. In the midst of so much diversity, however, the essential parts of public worship were the same then as now, for we find that prayer was made and thanksgiving offered up by those who officiated, and that the congregation signified their assent by a unanimous Amen. Psalms also were chanted, doubtless to some of those ancient Hebrew melodies which have been handed down, not improbably, to our own times in the simplest form of ecclesi- astical music; and addresses of exhortation or instruction were given by those whom the gift of prophecy or the gift of teaching had fitted for the task. But whatever were the other acts of devotion in which these assemblies were employed, it seems probable that the daily wor- ship always concluded with the celebration of the Holy Com- munion. And as in this the members of the Church expressed and realized the closest fellowship, not only with their risen Lord, but also with each other, so it was customary to symbolize this latter union by the interchange of the kiss of peace before the tacrament — a practice to which Paul frequently alludes. It would have been well if the inward love and harmony of the 364 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. Church had really corresponded with the outward manifestation of it in this touching ceremony. But this was not the case even while the apostles themselves poured out the wine and broke the bread which symbolized the perfect union of the members of Christ's body. The kiss of peace sometimes only veiled the hatred of warring factions. So Paul expresses to the Corinthians his grief at hearing that there were " divisions among them," which showed themselves when they met together for public worship. The earliest division of the Christian Church into opposing parties was caused by the Judaizing teachers, of whose factious efforts in Jerusalem and elsewhere we have already spoken. Their great object was to turn the newly-converted Christians into Jewish proselytes, who should differ from other Jews only in the recogni- tion of Jesus as the Messiah. In their view, the natural posterity of Abraham were still as much as ever the theocratic nation, entitled to God's exclusive favor, to which the rest of mankind could only be admitted by becoming Jews. Those members of this party who were really sincere believers in Christianity prob- ably expected that a majority of their countymen, finding their own national privileges thus acknowledged and maintained by the Christians, would on their part more willingly acknowledge Jesus as their Messiah, and thus they fancied that the Christian Church would gain a larger accession of members than could ever accrue to it from isolated Gentile converts ; so that they probably jus- tified their opposition to Paul on grounds not only of Jewish but of Christian policy, for they imagined that by his admission of uncircumcised Gentiles into the full membership of the Church he was repelling far more numerous converts of Israelitish birth who would otherwise have accepted the doctrine of Jesus. This belief (which in itself, and seen from their point of view in that age^ was not unreasonable) might have enabled them to excuse to their consciences, as Christians, the bitterness of their opposition to the great Christian apostle. But in considering them as a party we must bear in mind that they felt themselves more Jews than Christians. They acknowledged Jesus of Nazareth as the prom- ised Messiah, and so far they were distinguished from the rest of their countrymen ; but the Messiah himself, they thought, was only a "Saviour of his people Israel," and they ignored that true meaning of the ancient prophecies which Paul was inspired to reveal to the universal Church, teaching us that the " excellent DIVISIONS IN THE CHURCH. things" which are spoken of the people of God and the city of God in the Old Testament are to be by us interpreted of the "household of faith" and *'the heavenly Jerusalem." We have seen that the Judaizers at first insisted upon the ob- serv^ance of the Law of Moses, and especially of circumcision, as an absolute requisite for admission into the Church, saying, " Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved." But after the decision of the " council of Jerusalem" it was im- possible for them to require this condition ; they therefore altered their tactics, and as the decree of the council seemed to assume that the Jewish Christians would continue to observe the Mosaic Law, the Judaizers took advantage of this to insist on the necessity of a separation between those who kept the whole Law and all others; they taught that the uncircumcised were in a lower con- dition as to spiritual privileges, and at a greater distance from God, and that only the circumcised converts were in a state of full acceptance with him : in short, they kept the Gentile converts who would not submit to circumcision on the same footing as the proselytes of the gate, and treated the circumcised alone proselytes of righteousness. When we comprehend all that was involved in this, we can easily understand the energetic opposition with which their teaching was met by Paul. It was no mere question of out- ward observance, no matter of indifference (as it might at first sight appear), whether the Gentile converts were circumcised or not ; on the contrary, the question at stake was nothing less than this — whether Christians should be merely a Jewish sect under the bondage of a ceremonial Law, and only distinguished from other Jews by believing that Jesus was the Messiah, or whether they should be the catholic Church of Christ, owning no other allegiance but to him, freed from the bondage of the letter, and bearing the seal of their inheritance no longer in their bodies, but in their hearts. We can understand now the full truth of his in- dignant remonstrance, ^' If ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing." And we can understand also the exasperation which his teaching must have produced in those who held the very antithesis of this — namely, that Christianity without circum- cision was utterly worthless. Hence their long and desperate struggle to destroy the influence of Paul in every church which he founded or visited — in Antioch, in Galatia, in Corinth, in Jeru- salem, and in Home. For, as he was in truth the great prophet 3G6 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. divinely commissioned to reveal the catholicity of the Christian Church, so he appeared to them the great apostate, urged by the worst motives to break down the fence and root up the hedge which separated the heritage of the Lord from a godless world. We shall not be surprised at their success in creating divisions in the churches to which they came when we remember that the nucleus of all those churches was a body of converted Jews and proselytes. The Judaizing emissaries were ready to flatter the prejudices of the influential body, nor did they abstain (as we know both from tradition and from his own letters) from insin- uating the most scandalous charges against their great opponent. And thus in every Christian Church established by Paul there sprang up, as we shall see, a schismatic party opposed to his teaching and hostile to his person. This great Judaizing party was of course subdivided into various sections, united in their main object, but distinguished by minor shades of difference. Thus, we find at Corinth that it comprehended two factions, the one apparently distinguished from the other by a greater degree of violence. The more moderate called themselves the followers of Peter, or rather of Cephas, for they preferred to use his Hebrew name. These dwelt much upon our Lord's special promises to Peter, and the necessary inferiority of Paul to him who was divinely ordained to be the rock whereon the Church should be built. They insinuated that Paul felt doubts about his own apostolic authority, and did not dare to claim the right of main tenance which Christ had expressly given to his true apostles. The also depreciated him as a maintainer of celibacy, and con- trasted him in this respect with the great pillars of the Church, the brethren of the Lord and Cephas,'' who were married. And no doubt they declaimed against the audacity of a converted per- secutor, born into the Church out of due time," in " withstand- ing to the face" the chief of the apostles. A still more violent section called themselves, by a strange misnomer, the party of Christ. These api)ear to have laid great stress upon the fact that Paul had never seen or known our Lord while on earth; and they claimed for themselves a peculiar connection with Christ, as hav- ing either been among the number of his disciples, or at least as being in close connection with the "brethren of the Lord," and especially with James, the head of the Church at Jerusalem. To this subdivision probably belonged the emissaries who professed CARE FOR THE " WEAK BRETHREN.'' 867 to come " from James," and who created a schism in the Church at Antioch. Connected to a certain extent with the Judaizing party, but yet to be carefully distinguished from it, were those Christians* who are known in the New Testament as the " weak brethren." These were not a factious or schismatic party ; nay, they were not, properly speaking, a party at all. They were individual converts of Jewish extraction, w^hose minds were not as yet sufficiently enlightened to comprehend the fulness of " the liberty Vv^ith which Christ had made them free." Their conscience was sensitive and filled with scruples, resulting from early habit and old prejudices; but they did not join in the violence of the Judaizing bigots, and there was even a danger lest they should be led, by the example of their more enlightened brethren, to wound their own conscience by joining in acts which they in their secret hearts thought wrong. Nothing is more beautiful than the tenderness and sympathy which Paul shows towards these weak Christians : while he plainly sets before them their mistake, and shows that their prejudices result from ignorance, yet he has no sterner rebuke for them than to express his confidence in their further enlightenment : "If in anything ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you." So great is his anxiety lest the liberty which they wit- nessed in others should tempt them to blunt the delicacy of their moral feeling that he warns his more enlightened converts to abstain from lawful indulgences, lest they cause the weak to stumble : " If meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no meat while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend." " Brethren, ye have been called unto liberty ; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another." " De- stroy not him with thy meat for whom Christ died." These latter warnings were addressed by Paul to a party very different from those of whom we have previously spoken — a party who called themselves (as w^e see from his Epistle to Corinth) by his own name and professed to follow his teaching, yet were not always animated by his spirit. There was an obvious danger les* the opponents of the Judaizing section of the Church should themselves imitate one of the errors of their antagonists by com- bining as partisans rather than as Christians ; Paul feels himself necessitated to remind them that the very idea of the catholic Church excludes all party combinations from its pale, and that 868 LITE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. adverse factions, ranging themselves under human leaders, involve a contradiction to the Christian name: "Is Christ divided? v/as Paul crucified for you? or were you baptized into the name of Paul?^' "Who, then, is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed The Pauline party (as they called themselves) appear to have ridiculed the scrupulosity of their less enlightened brethren, and to have felt for them a contempt inconsistent with the spirit of Christian love. And in their opposition to the Judaizers they showed a bitterness of feeling and violence of action too like that of their opponents. Some of them, also, w^ere inclined to exult over the fall of God's ancient people, and to glory in their own position as though it had been won by superior merit. These are rebuked by Paul for their " boasting," and warned against its con- sequences. "Be not high-minded, but fear; for if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.'' One section of this party seems to have united these errors with one still more dangerous to the simplicity of the Christian faith : they received Christianity more in an intellectual than a moral aspect; not as a spiritual religion so much as a new system of philosophy. This was a phase of error most likely to occur among the disputatious reasoners who abounded in the great Greek cities; and accordingly we find the first trace of its existence at Corinth. There it took a peculiar form, in consequence of the arrival of Apollos as a Christian teacher soon after the departure of Paul. He was a Jew of Alexandria, and as such had received that Gre- cian cultivation and had acquired that familiarity with Greek philosophy which distinguished the more learned Alexandrian Jews. Thus he was able to adapt his teaching to the taste of his philosophizing hearers at Corinth far more than Paul could do; and indeed the latter had purposely abstained from even attempting this at Corinth. Accordingly, the school which we have mentioned called themselves the followers of Apollos, and extolled his philosophic views in opposition to the simple and un- learned simplicity v/hich they ascribed to the style of Paul. It is easy to perceive in the temper of this portion of the Church the germ of that rationalizing tendency which afterward developed itself into the Greek element of Gnosticism. Already, indeed, although that heresy was not yet invented, some of the worst opinions of the worst Gnostics found advocates among those who called them- HERESIES IN THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH. 369 selves Christians; there was even now a party in the Church which defended fornication on theory, and which denied the re- surrection of the dead. These heresies probably originated with those who (as we have observed) embraced Christianity as a new philosophy, some of whom attempted, with a perverted ingenuity, to extract from its doctrines a justification of the immoral life to which they were addicted. Thus, Paul had taught that the Law was dead to true Christians ; meaning thereby that those who were penetrated by the Holy Spirit and made one wdth Christ worked righteousness, not in consequence of a law of precepts and penal- ties, but through the necessary operation of the spiritual principle wdthin them. For, as the law against theft might be said to be dead to a rich man (because he would feel no temptation to break it), so the whole moral law would be dead to a perfect Christian ; hence to a real Christian it might in one sense be truly said that prohibitions were abolished. But the heretics of whom we are speaking took this proposition in a sense the very opposite to that which it really conveyed, and whereas Paul taught that prohibi- tions were abolished for the righteous, they maintained that all things were lawful to the wicked. " The Law is dead " w^as their motto, and their practice was what the practice of Antinomians in all ages has been. " Let us continue in sin, that grace may abound," was their horrible perversion of the evangelical revela- tion that God is love. " In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision "The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life " Meat commendeth us not to God ; for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we eat not are we the worse;" "the kingdom of God is not meat and drink." Such were the words in which Paul expressed the great truth that re- ligion is not a matter of outward ceremonies, but of inw^ard life. But these heretics caught up the words, and inferred that all out- ward acts were indifferent, and none could be criminal. They advocated the most unrestrained indulgence of the passions, and took for their maxim the worst precept of Epicurean atheism, " Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die." It is in the w^ealthy and vicious cities of Rome and Corinth that we find these errors first manifesting themselves; and in the voluptuous atmosphere of the latter it was not unnatural that there should be some who would seek in a new religion an excuse for their old vices, and others who would easily be led astray by those " evil communica- 24 370 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. tions" whose corrupting influence the apostle himself mentions as the chief source of this mischief. The resurrection of the dead was denied in the same city and by the same party ; nor is it strange that as the sensual Felix trembled when Paul preached to him of the judgment to come, so these profligate cavillers shrank from the thought of that tribunal before which account must be given of the things done in the body. Perhaps also (as some have inferred from Paul's refutation of these heretics) they had misunderstood the Christian doctrine, which teaches us to believe in the resurrection of a spiritual body, as though it had asserted the reanimation of " this vile body " of " flesh and blood," which "cannot inherit the kingdom of God;" or it is possible that a materialistic philosophy led them to maintain that when the body had crumbled away in the grave or been consumed on the funeral pyre nothing of the man remained in being. In either case they probably explained away the doctrine of the resur- rection as a metaphor similar to that employed by Paul when he says that baptism is the resurrection of the new convert ; thus they would agree with those later heretics (of whom were Hymenseus and Philetus) who taught " that the resurrection was past already." Hitherto we have spoken of those divisions and heresies which appear to have sprung up in the several churches founded by Paul at the earliest period of their history, almost immediately after their institution. Beyond this period we are not yet arrived in Paul's life, and from his conversion even to the time of his im- prisonment his conflict was mainly with the Jews or JudaLzers. But there were other forms of error which harassed his declining years; and these w^e will now endeavor (although anticipating the course of our biography) shortly to describe, so that it may not be necessary afterward to revert to the subject, and at the same time that particular cases which will meet us in thi Epistles may be vmderstood in their relation to the general religious aspect of the time. We have seen that in the earliest epoch of the Church there were two elements of error which had already shown themselves — namely, the bigoted, exclusive, and superstitious tendency, which was of Jewish origin, and the pseudo-philosophic or rationalizing tendency, which was of Grecian birth. In the early period of which we have hitherto spoken, and onward till the time of Paul's THE GNOSTIC HERESY. 371 imprisonment at Eome, the first of these tendencies was the prin- cipal source of danger ; but after this, as the Church enlarged itself and the number of Gentile converts more and more exceeded that of the Jewish Christians, the case was altered. The catholicity of the Church became an established fact, and the Judaizers, properly so called, ceased to exist as an influential party anywhere except in Palestine. Yet still, though the Jews were forced to give up their exclusiveness and to acknowledge the uncircumcised as " fel- low-heirs and of the same body," their superstition remained, and became a fruitful source of mischief. On the other hand, those who sought for nothing m.ore in Christianity than a new philosophy were naturally increased in number in proportion as the Church gained converts from the educated classes; the lecturers in the schools of Athens, the " wisdom-seekers " of Corinth, the Antino- mian perverters of PauPs teaching, and the Platonizing rabbis of Alexandria, all would share in this tendency. The latter, indeed, as represented by the learned Philo, had already attempted to con- struct a system of Judaic Platonism which explained away almost all the peculiarities of the Mosaic theology into accordance with the doctrines of the Academy. And thus the way was already paved for the introduction of that most curious amalgam of Hel- lenic and Oriental speculation with Jewish superstition which was afterward called the Gnostic heresy. It is a disputed point at what time this heresy made its first appearance in the Church ; some think that it had already commenced in the Church of Corinth when Paul warned them to beware of the knowledge (gnosis) which puffeth up ; others maintain that it did not originate till the time of Basilides, long after the last apostle had fallen asleep in Jesus. Perhaps, however, we may consider this as a difference rather about the definition of a term than the history of a sect. If we define Gnosticism to be that combination of Orientalism and Platonism held by the followers of Basilides or Valentinus, and refuse the title of Gnostic to any but those who adopted their system in its full-grown absurdity, no doubt we must not place the Gnostica among the heretics of the apostolic age. But if, on the other hand (as seems most natural), we define a Gnostic to be one who claims the possession of a peculiar " gnosis " (^. e. a deep and philosophic insight into the mysteries of theology unattainable by the vulgar), then it is indisputable that Gnosticism had begun when Paul warned Timothy against those who laid claim to a ^'knowledge 37^ LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTI-E PAUL. falsely so called'' {ifjevS^wiLioc yvcjGLc), And, moreover, we find that even in the apostolic age these arrogant speculators had begun to blend with their Hellenic philosophy certain fragments of Jewish superstition which afterward were incorporated into the Cabbala. In spite, however, of the occurrence of such Jewish elements, those heresies which troubled the later years of Paul, and afterward of John, were essentially rather of Gentile than of Jewish origin. So far as they agreed with the later Gnosticism this must certainly have been the case, for we know that it was a characteristic of all the Gnostic sects to despise the Jewish Scriptures. Moreover, those who laid claims to "gnosis" at Corinth (as we have seen) were a Gentile party, who professed to adopt Paul's doctrine of the aboli- tion of the Law, and perverted it into Antinomianism ; in short, they were the opposite extreme to the Judaizing party. Nor need we be surprised to find that some of these philosophizing heretics adopted some of the wildest superstitions of the Jews, for these very superstitions were not so much the natural grov^^th of Judaism as ingrafted upon it by its rabbinical corrupters and derived from Oriental sources. And there was a strong affinity between the neo- Platonic philosophy of Alexandria and the Oriental theosophy which sprang from Booddhism and other kindred systems, and which degenerated into the practice of magic and incantations. It is not necessary, however, that we should enter into any dis- cussion of the subsequent development of these errors ; our subject only requires that we give an outline of the forms w^hich they assumed during the lifetime of Paul, and this we can only do very imperfectly, because the allusions in Paul's writings are so few and so brief that they give us but little information. Still, they suffice to show the main features of the heresies which he con- demns, especially when we compare them with notices in other parts of the New Testament and with the history of the Church in the succeeding century. We may consider these heresies first in their doctrinal, and secondly in their practical, aspect. With regard to the former, we find that their general characteristic was the claim to a deep phil- osophical insight into the mysteries of religion. Thus the Colos- sians are warned against the false teachers who would deceive them by a vain affectation of "philosophy," and who were "pufied up by a fleshly mind" (Col. ii. 8, 18). So, in the Epistle to Timothy, Paul speaks of these heretics as falsely claiming ASCETICISM A CHIEF CHARACTERISTIC. 373 ''knowledge" (gnosis). And in the Epistle to tlie Epliesians (so called) he seems to allude to the same boastful assumption when he speaks of the love of Christ as surpassing " knowledge in a passage which contains other apparent allusions to Gnostic doc- trine. Connected with this claim to a deeper insight into truth than that possessed by the uninitiated was the manner in which some of these heretics explained away the facts of revelation by an allegorical interpretation. Thus we find that Hymenaius and Philetus maintained that " the resurrection was past already." We have seen that a heresy apparently identical with this existed at a very early period in the Church of Corinth among the free- thinking or pseudo-philosophical party there ; and all the Gnostic riects of the second century were united in denying the resurrection of the dead. Again, we find the Colossian heretics introducing a worship of angels, intruding into those things which they have not seen;" and so in the Pastoral Epistles the "self-styled Gnostics" {-ipevSuVj yvug) are occupied with "endless genealogies," which were probably fanciful myths, concerning the origin and emanation of spiritual beings. This latter is one of the points in which Jewish superstition was blended wdth Gentile speculation ; for we find in the Cabbala, or collection of Jewish traditional theology, many fabulous statements concerning such emanations. It seems to be a similar superstition which is stigmatized in the Pastoral Epistles as consisting of " profane and old wives' fables," and again, of " Jewish fables and commandments of men." The Gnostics of the second century adopted and systematized this theory of emanations, and it became one of the most peculiar and distinctive features of their heresy. But this was not the only Jewish element in the teaching of these Colossian heretics; we find also that they made a point of conscience of observing the Jewish sabbaths and festivals, and they are charged with clinging to outward rites [aroLxela tov ;^(5cr/zov) and making distinctions be- tween the lawfulness of different kinds of food. In their practical results these heresies which we are considering had a twofold direction. On one side was an ascetic tendency, such as we find at Colosse, showing itself by an arbitrarily invented worship of God, an affectation of self-humiliation and mortifica- tion of the flesh. So in the Pastoral Epistles w^e find the prohibi- tion of marriage, the enforced abstinence from food, and other bodily mortifications mentioned as characteristics of heresy. If 374 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. this asceticism originated from the Jewish element which has been mentioned above, it may be compared with the practice of the Essenes, whose existence shows that such ascetism was not incon- sistent with Judaism, although it was contrary to the views of the Judaizing party properly so called. On the other hand, it may have arisen from that abhorrence of matter and anxiety to free the soul from the dominion of the body which distinguished the Alex- andrian Platonists, and which (derived from them) became a characteristic of some of the Gnostic sects. But this asceticism was a weak and comparatively innocent form in which the practical results of this incipient Gnosticism exhib- ited themselves. Its really dangerous manifestation was derived not from its Jewish but from its heathen element. We have seen how this showed itself from the first at Corinth — how men shel- tered their immoralities under the name of Christianity, and even justified them by a perversion of its doctrines. Such teaching could not fail to find a ready audience wherever there were found vicious lives and hardened consciences. Accordingly, it was in the luxurious and corrupt population of Asia Minor that this early Gnosticism assumed its worst form of immoral practice defended by Antinomian doctrine. Thus, in the Epistle to the Ephesians, Paul warns his readers against the sophistical arguments by which certain false teachers strove to justify the sins of impurity, and to persuade them that the acts of the body could not contaminate the soul : ^' Let no man deceive you with vain words ; for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of dis- obedience.'^ Hymenseus and Philetus are the first leaders of this party mentioned by name ; we have seen that they agreed with the Corinthian Antinomians in denying the resurrection, and they agreed with them no less in practice than in theory. Of the first of them it is expressly said that he had cast away a good con- science," and of both we are told that they showed themselves not to belong to Christ, because they had not his seal, this seal being described as twofold — " The Lord knoweth them that are his,'' and het every one who nameth the name of Christ depart I'rom iniq- uity." Paul appears to imply that though they boasted their knowledge of God," yet that the Lord had no knowledge of them ; as our Saviour had himself declared that to the claims of such false disciples he would reply, " I never l-neiv you ; depart from jx^^i ye workers of iniquify.^' But in the same Epistle where SENSUAL IMPURITY TAUGHT. these heresiarchs are condemned Paul intimates tliat their prin- ciples were not yet fully developed; he warns Timothy that an outburst of immorality and lawlessness must be shortly expected within the Church beyond anything which had yet been experi- enced. The same anticipation appears in his farewell address to the Ephesian presbyters, and even at the early period of his Epistles to the Thessalonians ; and we see from the Epistles of Peter and Jude and from the Apocalypse of John, all addressed (it should be remembered) to the churches of Asia Minor, that this prophetic warning was soon fulfilled. We find that many Christians used their liberty as a cloak of maliciousness, " promis- ing their hearers liberty, yet themselves the slaves of corruption," " turning the grace of God into lasciviousness " — that they were justly condemned by the surrounding heathen for their crimes, and even suffered punishment as robbers and murderers. They were also infamous for the practice of the pretended arts of magic and witchcraft, which they may have borrowed either from the Jewush soothsayers and exorcisers or from the heathen professors of magical arts who so much abounded at the same epoch. Some of them, who are called the followers of Balaam in the Epistles of Peter and Jude, and the Nicolaitans (an equivalent name) in the Apocalypse, taught their followers to indulge in the sensual impurities, and even in the idol-feasts, of the heathen. We find, moreover, that these false disciples with their licentiousness in morals united anarchy in politics and resistance to law and government. They " walked after the flesh in the lust of unclean- ness and despised governments.'' And thus they gave rise to those charges against Christianity itself which were made by the heathen writers at the time, whose knowledge of the new religion was naturally taken from those amongst its professors w^ho renderea themselves notorious by falling under the judgment of the law. When thus we contemplate the true character of these divisions and heresies which beset the apostolic Church, we cannot but acknowledge that it needed all those miraculous gifts with which it w^as endowed, and all that inspired wisdom which presided over its organization, to ward off dangers which threatened to blight its growth and destroy its very existence. In its earliest infancy two powerful and venomous foes twined themselves round its very cradle, but its strength was according to its day; with a super- natural vigor it rent off the coils of Jewish bigotry and stifled the 876 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL, poisonous breath of heathen licentiousness, but the peril was mor- tal and the struggle was for life or death. Had the Church's fate been subjected to the ordinary laws which regulate the history of earthly commonwealths, it could scarcely have escaped one of tbe two opposite destinies, either of which must have equally defeated (if we may so speak) the world's salvation. Either it must have been cramped into a Jewish sect, according to the wish of the majority of its earliest members, or (having escaped this immediate extinction) it must have added one more to the innumerable schools of heathen philosophy, subdividing into a hundred branches, whose votaries would some of them have sunk into Oriental super- stitions, others into pagan voluptuousness. If we need any proof how narrowly the Church escaped this latter peril, we have only to look at the fearful power of Gnosticism in the succeeding cen- tury. And, indeed, the more we consider the elements of which every Christian community was originally composed, the more must we wonder how the little flock of the wise and good could have successfully resisted the overwhelming contagion of folly and wickedness. In every city the nucleus of the Church consisted of Jews and Jewish proselytes ; on this foundation was superadded a miscellaneous mass of heathen converts, almost exclusively from the lowest classes — baptized, indeed, into the name of Jesus, but still with all the habits of a life of idolatry and vice clinging to them. How was it, then, that such a society could escape the two temptations which assailed it just at the time when they were most likely to be fatal ? While as yet the Jewish element preponde- rated, a fanatical party, commanding almost necessarily the sym- pathies of the Jewish portion of the society, made a zealous and combined effort to reduce Christianity to Judaism and subordinate the Church to the synagogue. Over their great opponent, the one apostle of the Gentiles, they won a temporary triumph and saw him consigned to prison and to death. How was it that the very hour of their victory was the epoch from which we date their fail- ure? Again : this stage is passed, the Church is thrown open to the Gentiles, and crowds flock in, some attracted by wonder at the miracles they see, some by hatred of the government under which they live, and by hopes that they may turn the Church into an organized conspiracy against law and order ; and even the best, as yet unsettled in their faith, and ready to exchange their new belief for a newer, " carried about with every wind of doctrine." At such HERESY AND CORRUPTION PROPHESIED. 377 an epoch a systematic theory is devised reconciling the profession of Christianity with the practice of immorality ; its teachers pro- chaim that Christ has freed them from the Law, and that the man who has attained true spiritual enlightenment is above the obliga- tions of outward morality ; and with this seducing philosophy for the Gentile they really combine the Cabbalistic superstitions of rabbinical tradition to captivate the Jew. Who could wonder if, w^hen such incendiaries applied their torch to such materials, a flame burst forth which wellnigh consumed the fabric? Surely that day of trial was revealed in fire," and the building which was able to abide the flame was nothing less than the temple of God. It is painful to be compelled to acknowledge among the Chris- tians of the apostolic age the existence of so many forms of error and sin. It was a pleasing dream which represented the primitive Church as a society of angels, and it is not without a struggle that we bring ourselves to open our eyes and behold the reality. But yet it is a higher feeling which bids us thankfully to recognize the truth that "there is no partiality with God" — that he has never supernaturally coerced any generation of mankind into virtue nor rendered schism and heresy impossible in any age of the Church. So Paul tells his converts that there must needs be heresies among them, that the good may be tried and distinguished from the bad ; implying that without the possibility of a choice there would be no test of faith or holiness. And so our Lord himself compared his Church to a net cast into the sea, which gathered fish of all kinds, both good and bad ; nor was its purity to be attained by the ex- clusion of evil till the end should come. Therefore, if we sigh, as well we may, for the realization of an ideal which Scripture paints to us and imagination embodies, but which our eyes seek for and cannot find, if we look vainly and with earnest longings for the appearance of that glorious Church " without spot or wrinkle or any such thing," the fitting bride of a heavenly Spouse, it may calm our impatience to recollect that no such Church has ever existed upon earth, while yet we do not forget that it has existed and does exist in heaven. In the very lifetime of the apostles, no less than now, "the earnest expectation of the creature waited for the manifestation of the sons of God;" miracles did not convert; inspiration did not sanctify ; then, as now, imperfection and evil clung to the members and clogged the energies of the kingdom of 378 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PACTL. God ; now, as then, Cliristians are fellow-beirs and of the same body with the spirits of just men made perfect; now, as then, the communion of saints unites into one family the Church militant with the Church triumphant. NOTE. Upon the Origin of the Heresies of the Later Apos- tolic Age. In the above sketch we have taken a somewhat different view of these heresies from that advocated with great ability by Mr. Stan- ley. Pie considers all the heretics opposed by Paul in the Epistles to the Colossians and Ephesians, and in those to Timothy and Titus, and even those denounced by Peter, Jude, and John, to have been Judaizers ; and he speaks of PauFs opposition to them as "the second act of the conflict with Judaism.'' In deference to a writer who has done much to give clearness and vividness to our know- ledge of the apostolic age, we feel bound to justify our dissent from his view by a few additional remarks. First, we think that even if the Jewish element had been the chief ingredient in the teaching of these heretics, still they ought not to be called Judaizers. The characteristic of the original Juda- izers was a determination to confine Christendom within the walls of the synagogue, and to put Christianity on the same footing with Pharisaism or Sadduceeism as a tolerated Jewish sect. The rapid increase and gradual preponderance of the Gentile portion of the Church soon rendered the existence of this Judaizing party impos- sible except in Palestine. Hence it seems to introduce unnecessary confusion if we apply the distinctive name of Judaizers to heretics whose opinions were so very different from those advocated by the party originally called by that name. But farther: we cannot think that the Jewish element had that preponderating influence in the heresies of the later apostolic period which Mr. Stanley assigns to it. On the contrary, the accounts of them in the Epistles incline us to believe that the Jewish ele- ment w^as only the accidental, and the Gentile element the essen- tial, constituent of these heresies. Mr. Stanley's reasons for the opposite opinion are mainly as follows : THE HERESIES OF THE APOSTOLIC AGE. 379 (1) That the party claiming fevSuvvfioc yvuGic is the same party who are called vojLLo6iddGKa?.ot. But the former are mentioned in quite a diflerent part of the Epistle from the latter, and there is no proof that the same persons are meant in the two passages ; and even if they are, the expression vofioSi^dGKaloL might very well be applied to learned Platonizing Jews like Philo, who taught what they considered the true and deep view of the Mosaic Law, by which it was allegorized away into a mystic philosophy. And in the teaching of such Jews, Judaism was quite subordinated to Hellenism. (2) Mr. Stanley argues that the anarchical policy of the heretics denounced by Peter and Jude is to be attributed to the Jewish national aspiration after earthly empire and impatience of the Roman yoke. It may be conceded that some Jewish Christians may have joined these agitators from such feelings, but is it not equally probable that, as Arnold supposes, this lawless party consisted mainly of nominal converts from heathenism, who " took part with Christianity for its negative side, not for its positive," outlawed by their vices or their crimes from the existing order of society, and anxious to revolutionize it, and hoping to find in the Church an instrument for promoting their sinister ends? (3) Mr. Stanley assumes that those who say they are Jews and are not" are to be identified with the Nicolaitans or Balaam- ites, mentioned in the same chapter. But this is not quite clear; and even if they be the same party, there is no proof that they were Judaizing Christians ; on the contrary, the practices attrib- uted to them are in direct opposition to Judaism. And we should therefore be inclined to agree with Dr. Burton, that their profession of Judaism was only adopted to shield them from heathen perse- cution at a time when it was directed against Christians — Judaism being a religio licitaj which Christianity was not. (4) Mr. Stanley argues that as Cerinthus is (traditionally) con- nected with the Ebionites, and as John is represented (traditionally) as opposing Cerinthus, therefore John wrote against the Ebionites, and consequently against a Judaizing sect of heretics. But we do not think it would be safe to rely upon such inferences, founded upon conditions of a vague and somewhat inconsistent kind. It is true that Cerinthus is sometimes classed with the Ebionites by the early writers against heretics, but this appears only to be be- cause some of their less important doctrinal tenets were the same, 380 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. for in the most essential points they seem to have been the very antipodes of one another. The Cerinthians are represented as advocates of gross sensuality and unbridled license, like the Antinomians of Corinth ; whereas the Ebionites were a sect of ascetics who practised the most austere temperance and resembled the Essenes in the strictness of their morality. Again, we are told by Epiphanius that Cerinthus considered the Law as the work of an evil spirit, like the later Gnostics; whereas the Ebionites were strict Judaizers, the true representatives of the original party so called. Moreover, John is universally believed to have written against heresies which manifested themselves at Ephesus, whereas the Ebionites were confined to Palestine. And though Cerinthus adhered to some of the observances of the Law, yet he is recorded to have derived his theology not from Palestine, but from Alexan- dria. Having thus mentioned Mr. Stanley's principal reasons for thinking the heresies in question to be Jewish, we will state the arguments which have led us to believe them of Gentile origin : (1) Their strong resemblance to the Corinthian Antinomianism, shown by Hymenaeus and Philetus denying the resurrection, and by the Sophists of the Epistle to the Ephesians {k€voI Aoyoi), who justified fornication ; and by their name of " followers of Balaam," as explained to arise from their persuading their followers to commit fornication. (2) Their eating hSulSOvra^ which we cannot conceive any Jew- ish sect doing. (3) The whole tone in which they are spoken of by Peter and Jude, whose denunciations are directed against a system of open and avowed profligacy, such as might be supposed with greater ease to spring from heathen laxity than from Jewish formalism. Surely, had they been a Judaizing sect some notice of the fact must have been found in these Epistles, whereas it seems implied that they were perverters of Paul's doctrines. (4) The fact that the Epistles of John are directed against heretics who claimed a peculiar " knowledge of God and main- tained their right to sin ; still reminding us of the Corinthian Antinomians, and with no trace of Judaism. (5) The close connection between the opinions of all these heretics and those of the later Gnostics; which leads us to infer that Judaism could not be a predominant feature in their heresies, THE HERESIES OF THE APOSTOLIC AGE. 381 since later Gnosticism was so especially opposed to Judaism. For, though the Gnostics borrowed some Jewish notions which they blended with their own system, yet they all agreed in referring the origin of the Mosaic Law either to an evil spirit or to an inferior and unenlightened demiurge. CHAPTER XIV. DEPARTURE FROM ANTIOCH. — JOURNEY THROUGH PHRYGIA AND GALATIA. — APOLLOS AT EPHESUS AND CORINTH. — ARRIVAL OF PAUL AT EPHESUS. — DISCIPLES OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. — THE SYNAGOGUE. — THE SCHOOL OF TYRANNUS. — MIRACLES. — EPHE- SIAN MAGIC. — THE EXORCISTS.— BURNING OF THE BOOKS. The next period of Paul's life opens with a third journey through the interior of Asia Minor. In the short stay which he had made at Ephesus on his return from his second journey he had promised to come again to that city if the providence of God should allow it. This promise he was enabled to fulfil after a hasty visit to the metropolis of the Jewish nation and a longer sojourn in the first metropolis of the Gentile Church. It would lead us into long and useless discussions if we were to speculate on the time spent at Antioch and the details of the apos- tle^s occupation in the scene of his early labors. We have already stated our reasons for believing that the discussions which led to the council at Jerusalem took place at an earlier period, as well as the quarrel between Peter and Paul concerning the propriety of concession to the Judaizers. But without knowing the particular form of the controversies brought before him, or the names of those Christian teachers with whom he conferred, we have seen enough to make us aware that imminent dangers from the Judaizing party surrounded the Church, and that Antioch w^as a favorable place for meeting the machinations of this party, as well as a convenient starting-point for a journey undertaken to strengthen those com- munities that were likely to be invaded by false teachers from Judsea. It is evident that it was not Paul's only object to proceed with all haste to Ephesus ; nor indeed is it credible that he could pass through the regions of Cilicia and Lycaonia, Phrygia and Galatia, without remaining to confirm those churches which he had founded himself, and some of which he had visited twice. We are plainly 382 DEPARTURE FROM ANTIOCH. 383 told that his journey was occupied in this work, and the few words which refer to this subject imply a systematic visitation. He would be the more anxious to establish them in the true principles of the gospel in proportion as he was aware of the widely-spreading influ- ence of the Judaizers. Another specific object, not unconnected with the healing of divisions, was before him during the whole of this missionary journey — a collection for the relief of the poor Christians in Judaea. It had been agreed at the meeting of the apostolic council (Gal. ii. 9, 10) that while some should go to the heathen and others to the circumcision, the former should care- fully " remember the poor;" and this we see Paul, on the present journey among the Gentile churches, "forward to do." We even know the " order which he gave to the churches of Galatia " (1 Cor. xvi. 1, 2). He directed that each person should lay by in store, on the first day of the week, according as God had prospered him, that the collection should be deliberately made, and prepared for an opportunity of being taken to Jerusalem. We are not able to state either the exact route which Paul fol- lowed or the names of the companions by whom he was attended. As regards the latter subject, however, two points may be taken for granted — that Silas ceased to be, and that Timotheus continued to be, an associate of the apostle. It is most probable that Silas remained behind in Jerusalem, whence he had first accompanied Barnabas with the apostolic letter, and where, on the first mention of his name, he is said to have held a leading position in the Church. He is not again mentioned in connection with the apostle of the Gentiles. The next place in Scripture where his name occurs is in the letter of the apostle of the circumcision (1 Pet. V. 12), which is addressed to the strangers scattered through- out Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. There **Silvanus" is spoken of as one not unknown to the persons addressed, but as "a faithful brother unto them;" by him the letter was sent which " exhorted " the Christians in the north and west of Asia Minor, and " testified that that was the true grace of God wherein they stood;" and the same disciple is seen, on the last mention of his name as on the first, to be co-operating for the welfare of the Church both with Peter and Paul. It may be considered, on the other hand, probable, if not certain, that Timotheus was with the apostle through the whole s>f this journey. Abundant mention of him is made, both in the 384 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. Acts and the Epistles, in connection with Paul's stay at Ephesus and his subsequent movements. Of the other companions who were undoubtedly with him at Ephesus, we cannot say with con- fidence whether they attended him from Antioch or joined him afterward at some other point. But Erastus (Acts xix. 22) may have remained with him since the time of his first visit to Corinth, and Caius and Aristarchus (Acts xix. 29) since the still earlier period of his journey through Macedonia. Perhaps we have stronger reasons for concluding that Titus — who, though not men- tioned in the Acts, was certainly of great service in the second missionary journey — travelled with Paul and Timotheus through the earlier part of it. In the frequent mention which is made of him in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians he appears as the apostle's laborious minister, and as a source of his consolation and support, hardly less strikingly than the disciple whom he had taken on the previous journey from Lystra and Iconium. Whatever might be the exact route which the apostle followed from Antioch to Ephesus, he would certainly revisit those churches which twice before had known him as their teacher. He would pass over the Cilician plain on the w^arm southern shore and the high table-land of Lycaonia on the other sida of the Pass of Taurus. He would see once more his own early home on the banks of the Cydnus, and Timothy would be once more in the scenes of his childhood at the base of the Kara-Dagh. After leaving Tarsus, the cities of Derbe, Lystra, and Iconium, possi- bly also Antioch in Pisidia, would be the primary objects in the apostle's progress. Then we come to Phrygia and Galatia, both vague and indeterminate districts, which he had visited once, and through which, as before, we cannot venture to lay down a route. Though the visitation of the churches was systematic, we need not conclude that the same exact course was followed. Since the order in which the two districts are mentioned is different from that in the former instance, we are at liberty to suppose that he travelled first from Lycaonia through Cappadocia into Galatia, and then by Western Phrygia to the coast of the ^gean. In this last part of his progress we are in still greater doubt as to the route, and one question of interest is involved in our opinion concerning it. The great road from Ephesus by Iconium to the Euphrates passed along the valley of the Mseander, and near the cities of Laodicea, Colosse, and Hierapolis; and we should naturally suppose that APOLLOS AT EPHESUS AND COPINTH. 385 the apostle would approach the capital of Asia along this well- travelled line. But the arguments are so strong for believing that Paul was never personally at Colosse that it is safer to imagine him following some road farther to the north — such as that, for instance, which after passing near Thyatira entered the valley of the Hermus at Sardis. Thus, then, we may conceive the apostle arrived at that region where he was formerly in hesitation concerning his future prog- ress, the frontier district of Asia and Phrygia, the mountains which contain the upper waters of the Hermus and Mseander. And now our attention is suddenly called away to another preacher of the gospel, whose name, next to that of the apostles, is perhaps the most important in the early history of the Church. There came at this time to Ephesus, either directly from Egypt by sea, as Aquila or Priscilla from Corinth, or by some route through the intermediate countries, like that of Paul himself, a "disciple" named Apollos, a native of Alexandria. This visit occurred at a critical time, and led to grave consequences in reference to the establishment of Christian truth and the growth of parties in the Church ; while the religious community (if so it may be called) to which he belonged at the time of his arrival furnishes us with one of the most interesting links between the Gospels and the Acts. Apollos, along with twelve others who are soon afterward men- tioned at Ephesus, was acquainted with Christianity only so far as it had been made known by John the Baptist. They " knew only the baptism of John." From the great part which was acted by the forerunner of Christ in the first announcement of the gospel, and from the effect produced on the Jewish nation by his appear- ance, and the number of disciples who came to receive at his hands the baptism of repentance, we should expect some traces of his ijifluence to appear in the subsequent period during which the gospel was spreading beyond Judsea. Many Jews from other countries received from the Baptist their knowledge of the Mes- siah, and carried with them this knowledge on their return from Palestine. We read of a heretical sect at a much later period who held John the Baptist to have been himself the Messiah. But in a position intermediate between this deluded party and those who were travelling as teachers of the full and perfect gospel there were doubtless many among the floating Jewish population of the em- 25 886 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. pire whose knowledge of Christ extended only to that which had been preached on the banks of the Jordan. That such persons should be found at Ephesus, the natural meeting-place of all relig- ious sects and opinions, is what we might have supposed a priori. Their own connection with Judcea, or the connection of their teachers with Judaea, had been broken before the day of Pentecost. Thus their Christianity was at the same point at which it had stood at the commencement of our Lord^s ministry. They were ignorant of the full meaning of the death of Christ, possibly they did not even know the fact of his resurrection, and they were cer- tainly ignorant of the mission of the Comforter. But they knew that the times of the Messiah were come, and that One had ap- peared in whom the prophecies were fulfilled. That voice had reached them which cried, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord" (Isa. xl. 3). They felt that the axe was laid to the root of the tree, that " the kingdom of heaven was at hand," that " the knowledge of salvation was come to those that sit in darkness" (Luke i. 77), and that the children of Israel were everywhere called to "repent." Such as were in this religious condition were evidently prepared for the full reception of Christianity so soon as it was presented to them ; and we see that they were welcomed by Paul and the Giristians at Ephesus as fellow-disciples of the same Lord and Master. In some respects Apollos was distinguished from the other dis- ciples of John the Baptist who are alluded to at the same place and nearly at the same time. There is much significance in the first fact that is stated, that he was " born at Alexandria." Some- thing has been said by us already concerning the Jews of Alex- andria and their theological influence in the age of the apostles. In the establishment of a religion which was intended to be the com- plete fulfilment of Judaism, and to be universally supreme in the Gentile world, we should expect Alexandria to bear her part as w^ell as Jerusalem. The Hellenistic learning fostered by the foun- dations of the Ptolemies might be made the handmaid of the truth no less than the older learning of Judaea and the schools of the Hebrews. As regards Apollos, he was not only an Alexandrian Jew by birth, but he had a high reputation for an eloquent and forcible power of speaking, and had probably been well trained in the rhetorical schools on the banks of the Nile. But though he yj2js, endued with the eloquence of a Greek orator, the subjects of his BOLDNESS OF APOLLOS. 387 study and teaching were the Scriptures of his forefathers. The character which he bore in the synagogues was that of a man mighty in the Scriptures." In addition to these advantages of birth and education, he seems to have had the fullest and most systematic instruction in the gospel which a disciple of John could possibly receive. Whether from the Baptist himself, or from some of those who travelled into other lands with his teaching as their possession, A polios had received full and accurate instruction in the way of the Lord.'' We are further told that his character was marked by a fervent zeal for spreading the truth. Thus we may conceive of him as travelling, like a second Baptist, beyond the frontiers of Judsea — expounding the prophecies of the Old Testament, announcing that the times of the Messiah were come, and calling the Jews to repentance in the spirit of Elias. Hence he was, like his great teacher, diligently " preparing the way of the Lord." Though ignorant of the momentous facts which had succeeded the resurrection and ascension, he was turning the hearts of the "disobedient to the wisdom of the just" and "mak- ing ready a people for the Lord," whom he was soon to know " more perfectly." Himself " a burning and shining light," he bore witness to "that Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world," as, on the other hand, he was a "swift witness'' against those Israelites whose lives were unholy, and came among them " to purify the sons of Levi, that they might offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness," and to proclaim that if they were unfaithful God was still able " to raise up children unto Abraham." Thus burning with zeal and confident of the truth of what he had learnt, he s})oke out boldly in the synagogue. An intense interest must have been excited about this time concerning the Messiah in the synagogue at Ephesus. Paul had recently been there, and departed with the promise of return. Aquila and Priscilla, though taking no forward part as public teachers, would diligently keep the subject of the apostle's teaching before the minda of the Israelites. And now an Alexandrian Jew presented himse'il among them bearing testimony to the same Messiah with singular eloquence and with great power in the interpretation of Scripture. Thus an unconscious preparation was made for the arrival of the apostle, who was even now travelling towards Ephesus through the uplands of Asia Minor. 388 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. The teaching of Apollos, though eloquent, learned, and zealous, was seriously defective. But God had provided among his listeners those who could instruct him more perfectly. Aquila and Pris- cilla felt that he was proclaiming the same truth in which they had been instructed at Corinth. They could inform him that they had met with one who had taught with authority far more concerning Christ than had been known even to John the Baptist, and they could recount to him the miraculous gifts which attested the out- pouring of the Holy Ghost. Thus they attached themselves closely to Apollos, and gave him complete instruction in that "way of the Lord^' which he had already taught accurately, though imper- fectly ; and the learned Alexandrian obtained from the tentmakers a knowledge of that " mystery " which the ancient Scriptures had only partially revealed. This providential meeting with Aquila and Priscilla in Asia became the means of promoting the spread of the gospel in Achaia. Now that Apollos was made fully acquainted with the Christian doctrine, his zeal urged him to go where it had been firmly established by an apostle. It is possible, too, that some news received from Cor- inth might lead him to suppose that he could be of active service there in the cause of truth. The Christians of Ephesus encour- aged him in this intention, and gave him " letters of commenda- tion " to their brethren across the ^gean. On his arrival at Cor- inth he threw himself at once among those Jews who had rejected Paul, and argued with them publicly and zealously on the ground of their Scriptures, and thus became " a valuable support to those who had already believed through the grace of God;'' for he proved with power that that Jesus who had been crucified at Jerusalem, and whom Paul was proclaiming throughout the world, was indeed the Christ. Thus he watered where Paul had planted, and God gave an abundant increase (1 Cor. iii. 6). And yet evil grew up side by side with the good. For while he was a valuable aid to the Chris- tians and a formidable antagonist to the Jews, and while he was honestly co-operating in Paul's great work of evangelizing the world, he became the occasion of fostering party spirit among the Corinthians, and was unwillingly held up as a rival of the apostle himself. In this city of rhetoricians and sophists the erudition and eloquent speaking of Apollos were contrasted with the un- learned simplicity with which Paul had studiously presented the gospel to his Corinthian hearers. Thus many attached themselves THE CITY OF EPHESUS. 389 to the new i^acher and called themselves by the name of Apollos, while others ranged themselves as the party of Paul (1 Cor. i. 12), forgetting that Christ could not be divided," and that Paul and Apollos were merely "ministers by whom they had believed" (1 Cor. iii. 5). We have no reason to imagine that Apollos himself encouraged or tolerated such unchristian divisions. A proof of his strong feeling to the contrary and of his close attachment to Paul is furnished by that letter to the Corinthians which will soon be brought under our notice, when, after vehement rebukes of the schismatic spirit prevailing among the Corinthians, it is said " touch- ing our brother Apollos " that he was unwilling to return to them at that particular time, though Paul himself had "greatly de- sired it." But now the apostle himself is about to arrive in Ephesus. His residence in this plage, like his residence in Antioch and Corinth, is a subject to which our attention is particularly called. There- fore, all the features of the city — its appearance, its history, the character of its population, its political and mercantile relations — possess the utmost interest for us. We shall defer such description to a future chapter, and limit ourselves here to what may set before the reader the geographical position of Ephesus as the point in which PauPs journey from Antioch terminated for the present. We imagined him about the frontier of Asia and Phrygia on his approach from the interior to the sea. From this region of vol- canic mountains a tract of country extends to the ^gean which is watered by two of the long western rivers, the Hermus and the Mseander, and which is celebrated through an extended period of classical history, and is sacred to us as the scene of the churches of the Apocalypse. Near the mouth of one of these rivers is Smyrna; near that of the other is Miletus. The islands of Samos and Chios are respectively opposite the projecting portion of coast, where the rivers flow by these cities to the sea. Between the Her- mus and the Mseander is a smaller river, named the Cayster, separated from the latter by the ridge of Messogis, and from the former by Mount Tmolus. Here, in the level valley of the Cay- ster, is the early cradle of the Asiatic name, the district of primeval "Asia " — not as understood in its political or ecclesiastical sense, but the Asia of old poetic legend. And here, in a situation pre-eminent among the excellent positions which the lonians chose for their cities, Ephesus was built on some hills near the 890 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. 6ea. For some time after its foundation by Androclus the Athenian it was inferior to Miletus, but with the decay of the latter city in the Macedonian and Koman periods it rose to greater eminence, and in the time of Paul it was the greatest city of Asia Minor, as well as the metropolis of the provi7ice of Asia. Though Greek in its origin, it was half Oriental in the prevalent worship and in the character of its inhabitants ; and being constantly visited by ships from all parts of the Mediterranean, and united by great roads with the markets of the interior, it was the common meeting-place of various characters and classes of men. Among those whom Paul met on his arrival was the small com- pany of Jews above alluded to who professed the imperfect Chris- tianity of John the Baptist. By this time Apollos had departed to Corinth. Those "disciples'^ who were now at Ephesus were in the same religious condition in which he had been when Aquila and Priscilla first spoke to him, though doubtless they were inferior to him both in learning and zeal. Paul found, on inquiry, that they had only received John's baptism, and that they were ignorant of the great outpouring of the Holy Ghost, in which the life and energy of the Church consisted. They were even per- plexed by his question. He then pointed out, in conformity with what had been said by John the Baptist himself, that that prophet only preached repentance to prepare men's minds for Christ, who is the true object of faith. On this they received Christian bap- tism, and after they were baptized the laying-on of the apostle's hands resulted, as in all other churches, in the miraculous gifts of tongues and of prophecy. After this occurrence has been mentioned as an isolated fact our attention is called to the great teacher's labors in the synagogue. Doubtless, Aquila and Priscilla were there. Though they are not mentioned here in connection with Paul, we have seen them so lately (Acts xviii.) instructing Apollos, and we shall find them so soon again sending salutations to Corinth in the apostle^" letter from Ephesus (1 Cor. xvi.)? that we cannot but believe he met his old associates and again experienced the benefit of their aid. It is even probable that he again worked with them at the same trade ; for in the address to the Ephesian elders at Miletus (Acts xx. 34) he stated that his own hands had ministered to his necessities, and to those who were with him," and in writing to the Corinthians he says (1 Cor. iv. 11, 12) that such toil had continued "even to THE SCHOOL OF TYRANNUS. 891 that hour." There is no doubt that he " reasoned " in the syna- gogue at Ephesus with the same zeal and energy with which his spiritual labors had been begun at Corinth. He had been anxiously expected, and at first he was heartily welcomed. A preparation for his teaching had been made by Apollos and those who instructed him. " For three months " Paul continued to speak boldly in the synagogue, " arguing and endeavoring to convince his hearers of all that related to the kingdom of God." The hearts of some were hardened, while others repented and believed ; and in the end the apostle's doctrine was publicly calumniated by the Jews before the people. On this he openly separated himself and withdrew the disciples from the synagogue, and the Christian Church at Ephesus became a distinct body, separated both from the Jews and the Gentiles. As the house of Justus at Corinth had afforded Paul a refuge from calumny and an opportunity of continuing his public instruc- tion, so here he had recourse to the school of Tyrannus," who was probably a teacher of philosophy or rhetoric converted by the apostle to Christianity. His labors in spreading the gospel were here continued for two whole years. For the incidents which occurred during this residence, for the persons with whom the apostle became acquainted, and for the precise subjects of his teaching, we have no letters to give us information supplementary to the Acts, as in the cases of Thessalonica and Corinth, inasmuch as that which is called the "Epistle to the Ephesians" enters into no personal or incidental details. But we have in the address to the Ephesian elders at Miletus an affecting picture of an apostle's labors for the salvation of those whom his Master came to redeem. From that address we learn that his voice had not been heard within the school of Tyrannus alone, but that he had gone about among his converts, instructing them " from house to house," and warning " each one " of them affectionately " with tears." The subject of his teaching was ever the same both for Jews and Greeks — "repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ." Labors so incessant, so disinterested, and continued through so long a time could not fail to produce a great result at Ephesus. A large church was formed, over which many presbyters were called to preside. Nor were the results confined to the city. Throughout the province of "Asia" the name of Christ became generally known, both to the Jews and the Gentiles, and doubtless 392 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. many daughter-churches were founded, whether in the course of journeys undertaken by the apostle himself or by means of those with whom he became acquainted; as, for instance, by Epaphras. Archippus, and Philemon in connection with Colosse and its neighbor cities Hierapolis and Laodicea. It is during this interval that one of the two characteristics of the people of Ephesus comes prominently into view. This city was renowned throughout the world for the worship of Diana and the practice of magic. Though it was Greek city, like Athens or Corinth, the manners of its inhabitants were half Oriental. The image of the tutelary goddess resembled an Indian idol rather than the beautiful forms which crowded the Acropolis of Athens : and the enemy which Paul had to oppose was not a vaunting philosophy, as at Corinth, but a dark and Asiatic superstition. The worship of Diana and the practice of magic were closely connected together. Eustathius says that the mysterious symbols called " Ephesian Letters'^ were engraved on the crown, the girdle, and the feet of the goddess. These Ephesian letters or monograms have been compared to the Eunic characters of the North. When pronounced they were regarded as a charm, and were directed to be used especially by those who were in the power of evil spirits. When written they were carried about as amulets. Curious stories are told of their influence. Croesus is related to have repeated the mystic syllables when on his funeral pile ; and an Ephesian wrestler is said to have always struggled successfully against an antagonist from Miletus until he lost the scroll, which before had been like a talisman. The study of these symbols was an elaborate science, and books, both numerous and costly, were compiled by its pro- fessors. This statement throws some light on the peculiar character of the miracles wrought by Paul at Ephesus. We are not to suppose that the apostles were always able to work miracles at will. An in- flux of supernatural power was given to them at the time and accord- ing to the circumstances that required it. And the character of the miracles was not always the same. They were accommodated to the peculiar forms of sin, superstition, and ignorance they were required to oppose. Here, at Ephesus, Paul was in the face of magicians, like Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh ; and it is dis- tinctly said that his miracles were " not ordinary wonders," from which we may infer that they were different from those which he EPHESIAN MAGIC. 393 usually performed. We know in the case of our blessed Lord's miracles that tliough the change was usually accomplished on the speaking of a word, intermediate agency was sometimes employed, as when the blind man was healed at the Pool of Siloam. A miracle which has a closer reference to our present subject is that in which the hem of Christ's garment was made effectual to the healing of a poor sufferer and the conviction of the bystanders. So on this occasion garments were made the means of communi- cating a healing power to those who w^ere at a distance, whether they were possessed with evil spirits or afflicted with ordinary diseases. Such effects, thus publicly manifested, must have been a signal refutation of the charms and amulets and mystic letters of Ephesus. Yet was this no encouragement to blind superstition. When the suffering woman was healed by touching the hem of the garment, the Saviour turned round and said, "Virtue is gone out of 772f." And here at Ephesus we are reminded that it was God who "wrought miracles by the hands of Paul" (v. 11), and that " the name," not of Paul, but " of the Lord Jesus, was mag- nified" (v. 17). These miracles must have produced a great effect upon the minds of those who practised curious arts in Ephesus. Among the magicians who were then in this city in the course of their wanderings through the East, were several Jewish exorcists. This is a circumstance which need not surprise us. The stern severity with which sorcery was forbidden in the Old Testament attests the early tendency of the Israelites to such practices; the Talmud bears witness to the continuance of these practices at a later period ; and we have already had occasion, in the course of this history, to notice the spread of Jewish magicians through various parts of the Roman empire. It was an age of superstition and im- posture — an age also in which the powers of evil manifested them- selves with peculiar force. Hence we find Paul classing "witch- craft" among the works of the flesh (Gal. v. 20), and solemnly warning the Galatians, both in words and by his letters, that they who practise it cannot inherit the kingdom of God ; and it is of such that he writes to Timothy (2 Tim. iii. 13) that "evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being de- ceived." This passage in Paul's latest letter had probably refer- ence to that very city in which we see him now brought into opposition with Jewish sorcerers. These men, believing that the 894 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. name of Jesus acted as a charm, and recognizing the apostle as a Jew like themselves, attempted his method of casting out evil spirits. But He to whom the demons were subject, and who had given to his servant " power and authority" over them (Luke ix. 1), had shame and terror in store for those who presumed thus to take his holy Name in vain. One specific instance is recorded which produced disastrous con- sequences to those who made the attempt, and led to wide results among the general population. In the number of those who attempted to cast out evil spirits by the " name of Jesus " were seven brothers, sons of Sceva, who is called a high priest, either because he had really held this office at Jerusalem, or because he was chief of one of the twenty-four courses of priests. But the demons, who were subject to Jesus, and by his will subject to those who preached his gospel, treated with scorn those who used his Name without being converted to his truth. "Jesus I know, and Paul I know ; but who are ye? " was the answer of the evil spirit. And straightway the man who was possessed sprang upon them with frantic violence, so that they were utterly discomfited, and "fled out of the house naked and wounded.*' This fearful result of the profane use of that holy Name which was proclaimed by the apostles for the salvation of all men soon became notorious, both among the Greeks and the Jews. Con- sternation and alarm took possession of the minds of many, and in proportion to this alarm the name of the Lord Jesus began to be reverenced and honored. Even among those who had given their faith to Paul's preaching, some appear to have retained their attachment to the practice of magical arts. Their conscience was moved by what had recently occurred, and they came and made a full confession to the apostle, and publicly acknowledged and forsook their deeds of darkness. The fear and conviction seem to have extended beyond those who made a profession of Christianity. A large number of the sorcerers themselves openly renounced the practice which had been so signally condemned by a higher power, and they brought together the books that contained the mystic formularies and burnt them before all the people. When the volumes were consumed they proceeded to reckon up the price at which these manuals of enchantment would be valued. Such books, from their very nature, would be costly, and id\ books in that age bore a value BURNING OF THE BOOKS. 395 which is far above any standard with which we are familiar. Hence we must not be surprised that the whole cost thus sacrificed and surrendered amounted to as much as two thousand pounds of English money. This scene must have been long remembered at Ephesus. It was a strong proof of honest conviction on the part of the sorcerers, and a striking attestation of the triumph of J esus Christ over the powers of darkness. The workers of evil were put to scorn, like the priests of Baal by Elijah on Mount Carmel, and the teaching of the doctrine of Christ " increased mightily and grew strong." With this narrative of the burning of the books we have nearly reached the term of Paul's three years' residence at Ephesus. Before his departure, however, two important subjects demand our attention, each of which may be treated in a separate chapter — the First Epistle to the Corinthians, with the circumstances in Achaia which led to the writing of it, and the uproar in the Ephesian theatre, which will be considered in connection with a description of the city and some notice of the worship of Diana. CHAPTER XV. PAUL PAYS A SHORT VISIT TO CORINTH. — RETURNS TO EPHE- SUS. — WRITES A LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS, WHICH IS NOW LOST. — THEY REPLY, DESIRING FARTHER EXPLANATIONS. — STATE OF THE CORINTHIAN CHURCH. — PAUL WRITES "THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS." We have hitherto derived such information as we possess con- cerning the proceedings of Paul at Ephesus from the narrative in the Acts, but v/e must now record an occurrence which Luke has passed over in silence, and which we know only from a few incidental allusions in the letters of the apostle himself. This occurrence, which probably took place not later than the beginning of the second year of Paul's residence at Ephesus, was a short visit which he paid to the Church at Corinth. If we had not possessed any direct information that such a visit had been made, yet in itself it w^ould have seemed highly probable that Paul would not have remained three years at Ephesus with- out revisiting his Corinthian converts. We have already remarked on the facility of communication which existed between these two great cities, which were united by a continual reciprocity of com- merce and were the capitals of two peaceful provinces. And we have seen examples of the intercourse which actually took place between the Christians of the two churches, both in the case of Aquila and Priscilla, who had migrated from the one to the other, and in that of Apollos, concerning whom, " when he was disposed to pass into Achaia,'' " the brethren [at Ephesus] wrote, exhorting the disciples [at Corinth] to receive him" (Acts xviii. 27). We have seen in the last chapter some of the results of this visit of Apollos to Corinth ; he was now probably returned to Ephesus, where we know that he was remaining (and, it would seem, sta- tionary) during the third year of Paul's residence in that capital. No doubt on his return he had much to rell of the Corinthian con- verts to their father in the faith — much of joy and hope, but also 396 A SHORT VISIT TO CORINTH. 397 much of pain, to communicate ; for tliere can be little doubt that those tares among the wheat which we shall presently see in their maturer growth had already begun to germinate, although neither Paul had planted nor Apollos watered them. One evil, at least, we know, prevailed extensively, and threatened to corrupt the whole Church of Corinth. This was nothing less than the addic- tion of many Corinthian Christians to those sins of impurity which they had practised in the days of their heathenism, and which dis- graced their native city even among the heathen. We have before mentioned the peculiar licentiousness of manners which prevailed at Corinth. So notorious was this that it had actually passed into the vocabulary of the Greek tongue, and the very verb " to Cor- inthianize" meant "to play the wanton; " nay, the bad reputation of the city had become proverbial even in foreign languages, and is immortalized by the Latin poets. Such being the habits in which many of the Corinthian converts had been educated, we cannot wonder if it proved most difficult to root out immorality from the rising Church. The offenders against Christian chastity were exceedingly numerous at this period, and it was especially with the object of attemping to reform them and to check the growing mischief that Paul now determined to visit Corinth. He has himself described this visit as a painful one ; he went in sorrow at the tidings he had received, and w^hen he arrived he found the state of things even worse than he had expected ; he tells us that it was a time of personal humiliation to himself, occasioned by the flagrant sins of so many of his own converts ; he reminds the Corinthians afterward how he had " mourned " over those who had dishonored the name of Christ by "the uncleanness and for- nication and wantonness which they had committed.'^ But in the midst of his grief he showed the greatest tenderness for the individual offenders ; he warned them of the heinous guilt which they were incurring; he showed them its inconsistency with their Christian calling; he reminded them how at their baptism they had died to sin and risen again unto righteousness ; but he did not at once exclude them from the Church which they had defiled. Yet he was compelled to threaten them with this penalty if they persevered in the sins which had now called forth his re- buke. He has recorded the very words which he used. "If I come again,'' he said, " I will not spare.'' It appears probable that on this occasion Paul remained but a 898 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. very short time at Corintli. When afterward, in writing to them, he says that he does not wish " now to pay them a passing visit," he seems to imply that his last visit had deserved that epithet. Moreover, had it occupied a large portion of the "space of three years " which he describes himself to have spent at Ephesus (Acts XX. 31), he would probably have expressed himself differently in that part of his address to the Ephesian presbyters ; and a long visit could scarcely have failed to furnish more allusions in the Epistles so soon after written to Corinth. The silence of Luke also, which is easily explained on the supposition of a short visit, would be less natural had Paul been long absent from Ephesus, where he appears from the narrative in the Acts to be stationary during all this period. On these grounds we suppose that the apostle, availing himself of the constant maritime intercourse between the two cities, had gone by sea to Corinth, and that he now returned to Ephesus by the same route (which was very much shorter than that by land), after spending a few days or weeks at Corinth. But his censures and warnings had produced too little effect upon his converts ; his mildness had been mistaken for weakness ; his hesitation in punishing had been ascribed to a fear of the offenders ; and it was not long before he received new intelligence that the profligacy which had infected the community was still increasing. Then it was that he felt himself compelled to resort to harsher measures ; he wrote an Epistle (which has not been pre- served to us) in which, as we learn from himself, he ordered the Christians of Corinth, by virtue of his apostolic authority, " to cease from all intercourse with fornicators." By this he meant, as he subsequently explained his injunctions, to direct the exclusion of all profligates from the Church. The Corinthians, however, either did not understand this, or (to excuse themselves) they affected not to do so ; for they asked. How was it possible for them to abstain from all intercourse with the profligate, unless they entirely secluded themselves from all the business of life which they had to transact with their heathen neighbors ? Whether the lost Epistle contained any other topics we cannot know with cer- tainty, but we may conclude with some probability that it was very short and directed to this one subject; otherwise it is not easy to understand why it should not have been preserved together with the two subsequent Epistles. CONDITION OF THE CORINTHIAN CHURCH. 399 Soon after this short letter had been despatched, Timotheus, accompanied by Erastus, left Ephesus for Macedonia. Paul de- sired him, if possible, to continue his journey to Corinth, but did not feel certain that it would be possible for him to do so con- sistently with the other objects of his journey, which probably had reference to the great collection now going on for the poor Hebrew Christians at Jerusalem. Meantime, some members of the household of Chloe, a dis- tinguished Christian family at Corinth, arrived at Ephesus, and from them Paul received fuller information than he before pos- sessed of the condition of the Corinthian Church. The spirit of party had seized upon its members and wellnigh destroyed Chris- tian love. We have already seen, in our general view of the divisions of the apostolic Church, that the great parties which then divided the Christian world had ranked themselves under the names of different apostles, w^hom they attempted to set up against each other as rival leaders. At Corinth, as in other places, emissaries had arrived from the Judaizers of Palestine who boasted of their " letters of commendation " from the metropolis of the faith ; they did not, however, attempt as yet to insist upon circumcision, as we shall find them doing successfully among the simpler population of Galatia. This would have been hopeless in a great and civilized community like that of Corinth, imbued with Greek feelings of contempt for what they would have deemed a barbarous supersti- tion. Here, therefore, the Judaizers confined themselves, in the first instance, to personal attacks against Paul, whose apostleship they denied, whose motives they calumniated, and whose authority they persuaded the Corinthians to repudiate. Some of them de- clared themselves the followers of Cephas, whom the Lord himself had selected to be the chief apostle; others (probably the more extreme members of the party) boasted of their own immediate connection with Christ himself and their intimacy with "the brethren of the Lord," and especially with James, the head of the Church at Jerusalem. The endeavors of these agitators to undermine the influence of the apostle of the Gentiles met with undeserved success, and they gained over a strong party to their side. Meanwhile, those who were still steadfast to the doctrines of Paul were not all unshaken in their attachment to his person : a portion of them preferred the Alexandrian learning with which ApoUos had enforced his preaching to the simple style of their 400 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. first teacher, who had designedly abstained at Corinth from any- thing like philosophical argumentation. This party, then, who sought to form for themselves a philosophical Christianity, called themselves the followers of Apollos, although the latter, for his part, evidently disclaimed the rivalry with Paul which was thus implied, and even refused to revisit Corinth lest he should seem to countenance the factious spirit of his adherents. It is not impossible that the Antinomian free-thinkers, whom we have already seen to form so dangerous a portion of the primitive Church, attached themselves to this last-named party ; at any rate, they were at this time one of the worst elements of evil at Cor- inth : they put forward a theoretic defence of the practical immo- rality in which they lived, and some of them had so lost the very foundation of Christian faith as to deny the resurrection of the dead, and thus to adopt the belief as well as the sensuality of their Epicurean neighbors, whose motto was, " Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die." A crime recently committed by one of these pretended Chris- tians was now reported to Paul, and excited his utmost abhor- rence : a member of the Corinthian Church was openly living in incestuous intercourse with his stepmother, and that during his father's life; yet this audacious offender was not excluded from the Church. Nor were these the only evils: some Christians were showing their total want of brotherly love by bringing vexatious actions against their brethren in the heathen courts of law ; others were turning even the spiritual gifts which they had received from the Holy Ghost into occasions of vanity and display, not unaccom- panied by fanatical delusion ; the decent order of Christian wor- ship was disturbed by the tumultuary claims of rival ministra- tions ; women had forgotten the modesty of their sex, and came forward unveiled (contrary to the habit of their country) to ad- dress the public assembly ; and even the sanctity of the holy com- munion itself was profaned by scenes of revelling and debauch. About the same time that all this disastrous intelligence was brought to Paul by the household of Chloe, other messengers arrived from Corinth bearing the answer of the Church to his previous letter, of which (as we have mentioned above) they re- quested an explanation, and at the same time referring to his de- cision several questions which caused dispute and difficulty. These Paul's reply to the corinthians. 401 questions related — 1st, to the controversies respecting meat which had been offered to idols ; 2dly, to the disputes regarding celibacy and matrimony, the right of divorce, and the perplexities which arose in the case of mixed marriages where one of the parties was an unbeliever; 3dly, to the exercise of spiritual gifts in the public assemblies of the Church. Paul hastened to reply to these questions, and at the same time to denounce the sins which had polluted the Corinthian Church and almost annulled its right to the name of Christian. The letter which he w^as thus led to write is addressed not only to this metro- politan Church, but also to the Christian communities established in other places in the same province, which might be regarded as dependencies of that in the capital city ; hence w^e must infer that these churches also had been infected by some of the errors or vices which had prevailed at Corinth. This letter is, in its contents, the most diversified of all Paul's Epistles, and in proportion to the variety of its topics is the depth of its interest for ourselves. For by it we are introduced, as it w^ere, behind the scenes of the apos- tolic Church, and its minutest features are revealed to us under the light of daily life. We see the picture of a Christian congregation as it met for worship in some upper chamber, such as the house of Aquila or of Gains could furnish. We see that these seasons of pure devotion were not unalloyed by human vanity and excitement ; yet, on the other hand, w^e behold the heathen auditor pierced to the heart by the inspired eloquence of the Christian prophets, the secrets of his conscience laid bare to him, and himself constrained to fall down on his face and worship God ; we hear the fervent thanksgiving echoed by the unanimous amen ; we see the admin- istration of the holy communion terminating the feast of love. Again, we become familiar with the perplexities of domestic life, the corrupting proximity of heathen immorality, the lingering superstition, the rash speculation, the lawless perversion of Chris- tian liberty ; we witness the strife of theological factions, the party names, the sectarian animosities. We perceive the difficulty of the task imposed upon the apostle, who must guard from so many perils and guide through so many difficulties his children in the faith, whom else he had begotten in vain ; and we learn to appreciate more fully the magnitude of that laborious responsibility under which he describes himself as almost ready to sink — " the care of all the churches." 26 402 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. But wliile we rejoice that so many details of the deepest histor- ical interest have been preserved to us by this Epistle, let us not forget to thank God, who so inspired his apostle that in his answers to questions of transitory interest he has laid down principles of eternal obligation. Let us trace with gratitude the providence of Him who " out of darkness calls up light,'^ by whose mercy it was provided that the unchastity of the Corinthians should occasion the sacred laws of moral purity to be established for ever through the Christian world — that their denial of the resurrection should cause those words to be recorded whereon reposes, as upon a rock that cannot be shaken, our sure and certain hope of immortality. The following is a translation of the Epistle, which was written at Easter in the third year of Paul's residence at Ephesus ; FIEST EPISTLE TO THE COEINTHIANS. I. 1 Paul, a called apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of salutation. 2 God, and Sosthenes the brother, greet the Church of God at Corinth, who have been hallowed in Christ Jesus, and called to be his holy people, together with all who worship Jesus Christ our Lord in every place which is their home, and our home also. 3 Grace be unto you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 I thank my God continually on your behalf, for the introductory , . tnanks^wing grace which he gave you [at the first] in Christ Jesus, for their con- 5 Because, in him, you were every-wise enriched with all 6 the gifts of speech and knowledge (for thus my testimony to Christ 7 was confirmed among you), so that you came behind no other church in any spiritual gift ; looking earnestly for the time when our Lord Jesus Christ shall be revealed to our sight. 8 And he also will confirm you unto the end, that you may be with- 9 out reproach at the day of his coming. For God is faithful, by whom you were called into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Master. 10 Nevertheless, brethren, I exhort you, by the name of Bebuke our Lord Jesus Christ, to shun disputes, and sufibr no spirit, aucFspe- .... 1 1 • ^ ' ^ cial censure of divisions among you, but to be knit together m the same the pseudo- 11 mind, and the same judgment. For tidings have been partyT^^^^*^* brought to me concerning you, my brethren, by the members of Chloe's household, whereby I have learnt that there are FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 403 12 contentions among you. I mean, that one of you says, " I am a follower of Paul another, " I of Apollos another, " I of 13 Cephas;'' another, "I of Christ." Is Christ divided? Was Paul 14 crucified for you ? or were you baptized unto the name of Paul. I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gains 15, 16 (lest any one should say that I baptized unto my own name) ; and I baptized also the household of Stephanas ; besides these I know not 17 that I baptized any other. For Christ sent me forth as his apostle, not to baptize, but to publish his glad tidings ; and that, not with the wisdom of argument, lest thereby the cross of Christ should lose its 18 mark of shame. For the tidings of the cross, to those in the way of perdition, are folly ; but to us, in the way of salvation, they are the 1 9 power of God. And so it is written, " I will destroy the wisdom of the 20 wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudentJ^ Where is the philosopher ? Where is the rabbi ? Where is the reasoner of this passing world ? Has not God turned this world's wisdom into 21 folly ? For when the world had failed to gain by its wisdom the knowledge of the wisdom of God, it pleased God, by the folly of our 22 preaching, to save those who have faith therein. For the Jews ask for a sign from heaven, and the Greeks demand a system of philos- 23 ophy ; but we proclaim a Messiah crucified, to the Jews a stumbling- 24 block, and to the Greeks a folly; but to the called themselves, whether they be Jews or Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the 25 wisdom of God. For the folly which is of God, is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness which is of God, is stronger than man's 26 strength. For you see, brethren, how God has called you ; how few of you are wise in earthly wisdom, how few are powerful, how few 27 are noble. But what the world thinks folly, God has chosen, to con- found its wisdom ; and what it holds for weakness he has chosen, to 28 confound its strength ; and what the world counts base and scorns as worthless, nay, what it deems to have no being, God has chosen, to 29 bring to naught the things that be ; that no flesh should glory in his 30 presence. But you he owns for his children in Christ Jesus, who has become to us God's wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, 31 and redemption ; that the Scripture might be fulfilled which saith, " He that gloriethj let him glory in the Lord J ^ II. 1 So, brethren, when I myself first came to declare J" ^^'^ own ' *' teaching he among you the testimony of God, I came not with anv ^^^^ aimed f» . 1 Ml P -I 1.1 1 . at establisbing Z surpassing skill or eloquence, or philosophy. For it a reputation was no eartlily knowledge which I determined to dis- o7 eioqiTe^nce^ 404 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. play among you, but the knowledge of Jesus Christ g^jfpe^i.^ 3 alone, and him — crucified. And in my intercourse natural power ' ^ ^ and wisdom with you, I was weisjhed down by a feelino- of my weak- which belongs ness, and was filled with anxiety, and self-distrust, of God. 4 And when I proclaimed my message, I used not the persuasive argu- ments of human wisdom, but showed forth by sure proofs the miglit 6 of the Holy Spirit, that your faith might have its foundation not in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. 6 Nevertheless, among those who are ripe in knowledge I speak wis- dom ; albeit not the w^isdom of this passing world, nor of those who 7 rule it, whose greatness will soon be nothing. But it is God's wis- dom that I speak ; whereof the secret is made known to his people, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages, 8 that we might be glorified thereby. But the rulers of this world knew it not ; for had they known it, they would not have crucified 9 the Lord of glory. But as it is written, " Eye hath not seen^ nor ear heardy neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God 10 hath prepared for them that love himj^ Yet to us God has revealed them by his Spirit, for the Spirit fathoms all things, even the deepest 11 counsels of God. For who can know what is in a man but the spirit of the man which is within him ? even so none can know what is in 12 God, but the Spirit of God alone. Now to us has been granted, not the spirit of this world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might understand those good things which have been freely given us by God. 13 These are the things whereof we speak, in words not taught by man's wisdom, but by the Holy Spirit ; explaining spiritual things 14 to spiritual men. But the natural man rejects the teaching of God's Spirit, for to him it is folly ; and it must needs be beyond his know- 15 ledge, for the spiritual mind alone can judge thereof. But the spiritual man judges all things truly, yet cannot himself be truly 16 judged by others. For " Who hath knoion the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him but we have the mind of the Lord within us. IIL 1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as spiritual The part y . ^ ' n • t- i» which claimed men, but as carnal, and m the first infancy of your to be "the 2 growth in Christ. I fed you with milk, and not with (Xeu/tlar^iKol), meat ; for you were not able to bear the stronger food ; carmu'^ by 3 nay, you are not yet able, for you are still carnal. For ^^^^l disaen- while you are divided amongst yourselves by jealousy, and strife, and factious parties, is it not evident that you are carnal, FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 405 4 and walking in the common ways of men? When one says, "I follow Paul/' and another, " I follow Apollos," can you deny that you are carnal ? 5 Who then is Paul ? or who is Apollos ? what are they it is a contra- bnt servants [of Christ], by whose ministration you fermVto^make believed? and was it not the Lord who gave to each of JiacherV ^the 6 them the measure of his success ? I planted, Apollos ifo^sfna^parties! watered ; but it was God who made the seed to grow. 7 So that he who plants is nothing, nor he who waters, 8 but God alone who gives the growth. But the planter and the waterer are one together ; and each will receive the wages due to 9 him, according to his work. For we are God's fellow-laborers, and 10 you are God's husbandry. You are God's building ; God gave me the gift of grace whereby like a skilful architect I have laid a founda- tion ; and on this foundation another builds ; but let each take heed 11 what that is which he builds thereon — ["thereon," I say,] for other foundation can no man lay, than that already laid, which is " Jesus 12 THE Christ." But on this foundation one man may raise a temple of gold, and silver, and precious marbles ; another, a building of 13 wood, hay, and stubble. But in due time each man's work will be made manifest ; for the day [of the Lord's coming] will show of what sort it is ; because that day will be revealed with fire, and the fire 14 will test each builder's work. He whose building stands unharmed, shall receive payment for his labor ; but he whose work is burned 15 down, shall forfeit his reward ; yet he shall not himself be destroyed ; but shall be saved as one who scarcely escapes through the flames. 16 Know ye not yourselves that you are God's temple, ^he church is and that you form a shrine wherein God's Spirit dwells? ^^^'^ temple. 17 If any man shall do hurt to the temple of God, God shall do hurt to him ; for the temple of God is holy ; and holy therefore are ye. 18 Let none of you deceive himself; if any man among intellectual you is held wise in the wisdom of this passing world, Bpint ^"4^ un- let him make himself a fool [in the world's judgment], christian. 19 that so he may become truly wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, as it is written, "iZe taketh the wise in their own 20 craftiness,^' And again, " The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise that 21 they are vain.'' Therefore let none of you make his boast in men ; 22 for all things are yours; both Paul and Apollos, and Cephas, 23 and the whole world itself ; both life and death, things present and things to come — all are yours — but you are Christ's ; and Christ is God's. 406 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. IV. 1 Look therefore on us as servants of Christ, and stewards Christ's apos- charged to dispense the knowledge of the mysteries of stewards ; tlia't 2 God. Moreover, it is but required in a steward faith- minister is liot 3 fully to administer his master's wealth. Yet to me it matters nothing how I may be judged by you, or by the doom of 4 man ; nay, I judge not even myself. For although I know not that I am guilty of unfaithfulness, yet my own sentence will not suffice to justify me; but I must be tried by the judgment of my Lord. 5 Therefore judge nothing hastily, until the coming of our Lord and Master ; for he shall bring to light the darkest counsels, and make manifest the inmost secrets of men's hearts ; and then God shall give to each the praise which he deserves. 6 But these things, brethren, I have represented under Contrast ba- the persons of myself and ApoUos, for your sakes ; that exaUatiof/^of so you may learn not to think of yourselves above that phtiosop?ri c^ai which has now been written, and that you may cease to abasenfem ^of pufi' yourselves up in the cause of one against another. Seal^^ ^ 7 For ^'ho makes thee to differ from another? What hast thou that thou didst not receive ? and how then canst thou boast 8 of it, as if thou hadst won it for thyself? But ye, forsooth, have eaten to the full [of spiritual food], ye are rich [in knowledge], ye have seated yourselves upon your throne, and have no longer need of me. Would that you were indeed enthroned, that I too might 9 reign with you. For, as to us the apostles, I think that God has set us forth last of all, like criminals condemned to die, to be gazed at 10 in a theatre by the whole world, both men and angels. We for Christ's sake are fools, while you join faith in Christ with worldly wisdom ; we are weak, while you are strong ; you are honorable, 11 while we are outcasts ; even to the present hour we bear hunger and thirst, and nakedness and stripes, and have no certain dwelling- 12 place, and toil with our own hands for daily bread ; curses we answer with blessings, persecution with patience, railings with good 13 words. We are counted the refuse of the earth, the very ofFscouring 14 of all things, unto this day. I write not thus to reproach you, but as 15 a father I chide the children whom I love. For though you may have ten thousand guardians- to lead you towards the school of Christ, you can have but one father ; and I it was who begat you in 16 Christ Jesus, by the glad tidings which I brought. I beseech you, therefore, become followers of me. 17 For this cause I have sent to you Timotheus, my Mission of beloved son, who has been found faithful in the service whi ning to "the FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 407 of our Lord, and he shall put you in remembrance of disobedient ^ ^ * ^ faciion at Oor- the path wherein I walked in fellowship with Christ, as i"^^- 18 I still teach evervw^here in all the churches. Now some of you have been filled with arrogance, and imagine that I am not coming to visit 19 you. But I shall be with you shortly, if the Lord will ; and then I shall meet these arrogant boasters, and shall learn their power, not 20 by their w^ords, but by their deeds. For mighty deeds, not empty 21 words, are the tokens of God's kingdom. What is your desire? Must I come to you with the rod of punishment, or in the spirit of love and gentleness ? V. 1 It is commonly reported that there is fornication Judgment on ^ , . the incestuous among you, and such fornication as is not so much as person, named even among the heathen, that a man should have his father's 2 wife. And you, forsooth, have been puffed up with arrogance, when you ought rather to have been filled with shame and sorrow, and so to have put out from among you the man who has done this deed. 3 For me — being present w^ith you in spirit, although absent in body — I have already passed sentence as if I were present with you, upon 4 him who has thus sinned ; and I decree in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you convene an assembly, and when you, and my spirit with you, are gathered together, with the power of our Lord 5 Jesus Christ, that you deliver over to Satan the man who has thus sinned, for the destruction of his fleshly lusts, that his spirit may be 6 saved in the day of our Lord Jesus. Truly you have no ground for boasting; know ye not that '^a little leaven leaveneth the whole 7 lump " ? Cast out therefore the old leaven, that your body may be renewed throughout, even as now [at this paschal season] you are without taint of leaven ; for Christ himself is our Paschal Lamb, 8 who has been slain for us ; therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old leaven, the leaven of vice and wickedness, but with the un- leavened bread of purity and truth. 9 I enjoined you in my letter not to keep company with open and fla- 10 fornicators ; yet I meant not altogether to bid you fore- fj-s °^must^"be go intercourse with the men of this world who may be the c^iu^cu?^ fornicators, or lascivious, or extortioners, or idolaters ; 11 for so you would be forced to go utterly out of the world. But my meaning was, that you should not keep company with any man who, bearing the name of a brother, is either a fornicator, or lascivious, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such 12 a man, I say, you must not so much as eat. For what need have I to judge those who are without the Church ? Is it not your part to 408 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. 13 judge those who are within it? But those who are without are for God's judgment. And for yourselves, " Ye shall cast out the evil one from the midst of your VL 1 Can there be any of you who dare to bring their Li ligation be- private differences into the courts of law, to be judged tilns^muTt not by the wicked, and not rather submit them to the arbi- [ifto^ ^heatnen 2 tration of Christ's people? Know ye not that Christ's existe'nc^e'i8 people shall judge the world? and if you are called to ^P^'^^^f sit in judgment on the universe, are you unfit to decide even the 3 most trifling matters ? Know ye not that we shall judge angels ? 4 how much more, then, the affairs of this life ! If, therefore, you have disputes to settle which concern the affairs of this life, give the 5 arbitration of them to the very least esteemed in your Church. I speak to your shame. Can it be that in your whole body, there is not so much as one man wise enough to arbitrate between his breth- 6 ren, but must brother go to law with brother, and that in the courts 7 of the unbelievers ? Nay, farther, you are in fault, throughout, in having such disputes at all. Why do you not rather submit to 8 wrong? Why not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded ? Nay, you are yourselves wronging and defrauding others, and that too 9 your brethren. Know ye not that wrong-doers shall No immorality not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived — with true neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor 10 self-defilers, nor sodomites, nor robbers, nor wantons, nor drunkards, 11 nor railers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you ; but you have washed away your st-ains, — you have been hallowed, you have been justified by your fellowship with the Lord Jesus, whose name you bear, and by the indwelling Spirit of our God. 12 [But some of you say] — "All things are lawful for Antinomian me." [Be it so ;] but not all things are good for me ; morauty^* ^^J. though all things are in my power, they shall not bring 13 me under their power. " Meat is for the belly, and the belly for meat," though death will soon, by God's ordinance, put an end to both ; but the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord J esus ; 14 and the Lord Jesus for the body ; and as God raised our Lord Jesus 15 from the grave, so he will raise us also by his mighty power. Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ's body ? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of 16 an harlot ? God forbid. Know ye not, that he who joins himself to an harlot becomes one body with her ? As it is written, " They FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 409 17 twain shall be one flesh" But he who joins himself to Christ, be- 18 comes one with Christ in spirit. Flee fornication. [It is true, in- deed, that] all sin springs, not from the body, but from the soul ; yet 19 the fornicator sins against his own body. Know ye not that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit which dwells within you, 20 which ye have received from God ? And you are not your own, for you were bought with a price. Glorify God, therefore, not in your spirit only, but in your body also, since both are his. 1 As to the questions which you have asked me in your Answers to letter, this is my answer. It is good for a man to re- cQvnlug^ mar'. 2 main unmarried. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, vo^^ceT^wilh let every man have his own wife, and every woman her ^^/'^^^^^ ^'cltll 3 own husband. Let the husband live in the intercourse mixed mar- riage, of affection with his wife, and likewise the wife with her husband. The wife has not dominion over her own body, but the 4 husband ; and so also the husband has not dominion over his own 5 body, but the wife. Do not separate one from the other, unless it be with mutual consent for a time, that you may give yourselves without disturbance to fasting and prayer, with the intent of shortly living again together, lest through your fleshly passions, Satan should tempt 6 you to sin. But in speaking thus, I mean not to command mar- riage, but only to permit it. For I would that all men were as I 7 am ; but men have different gifts from God, one this, another that. 8 But to the unmarried and to the widows, I say that it would be good for them if they should remain in the state wherein I myself also 9 am ; yet if their desires do not allow them to remain contented in this state, let them marry ; for it is better to marry than to be tempt- 10 ed by sinful desires. To the married, not I, but the liOrd Jesus him- 11 self gives commandment, that the wife leave not her husband (but if she have already left him, let her remain single, or else be recon- ciled with him) ; likewise also, that the hu^and put not away his 12 wife. But for the cases which follow, my decisions are given not by the Lord J esus, but by myself If any of the brethren be married to an unbelieving wife, let him not put her away, if she be content 13 to remain with him; neither let a believing wife leave an unbeliev- 14 ing husband who is willing to remain with her ; for the unbelieving husband is hallowed by union with his believing wife, and the un- believing wife by union with her believing husband ; for otherwise 15 your children would be unclean, but now they are holy. But if the unbelieving husband or wife seeks for a divorce, let it be not hin- dered ; for in such cases, the believing husband or wife is not bound to remain under the yoke. But the call whereby God called us, is a 410 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. 16 call of peace [and should not lead to household strife]. For thou who art the wife of an unbeliever, how knowest thou wli ether thou mayest save thy husband ? or thou Avho art the husband, whetl thou mayest save thy wife ? 17 Only let no man seek to quit that condition which General mie. God had allotted to him when he was called by the ve?ts siumJ not Lord Jesus. This rule I give in all the churches. \ife^'S-hei*ein 18 Thus, if any man, at the time when he was called, bore ^conver- the mark of circumcision, let him not efface it ; and again, if he was uncircumcised at the time of his calling, let him 19 not receive circumcision. It matters nothing whether we be cir- cumcised or uncircumcised, but only whether we keep the commands 20 of God. Let each abide in the condition which he held when he 21 was first called. Wast thou in slavery at the time of thy calling ? Care not for it. Nay, though thou have power to gain thy freedom, 22 seek rather to remain content. For the slave who has been called into fellowship with Christ, is Christ's freedman ; and so also, the 23 freeman Avho has been called, is Christ's slave ; for he has paid a price for you all ; beware lest you bind upon yourselves the yoke of 24 slavery to man. Brethren, let each of you continue in the state wherein he was called, and therein abide with God. 25 Concerninsr your virsrin daughters I have no com- Answer to o ° ° questions about mand to orive you from the Lord Jesus, but I give mv V'^ disposal of judgment, as one who has been called by our Lord's marriage. 26 mercy, to be his faithful servant. I think, then, that it is best, by reason of the trials which are nigh at hand, for all to be unmarried ; 27 [so that I would say to each] " If thou art bound to a wife, seek not 28 separation ; but if thou art free, seek not marriage ; yet if thou wilt marry, thou mayest do so without sin.'* So likewise if your virgin daughters marry, it is no sin ; but they who will marry will have 29 earthly sorrows to endure, and these I would spare you. But this I say, brethren, the time is short ; meanwhile it behoves them that 30 have wives to be as though they had none ; and them that weep as though they wept not, and them that rejoice as though they rejoiced 31 not, and them that buy as though they possessed not, and them that use this world as not abusing it ; for the world, with all its outward 32 show, is passing away. But I would have you free from earthly care. The desires of the unmarried man are fixed upon the Lord 33 Jesus, and he strives to please the Lord. But the desires of the hus- band are fixed upon worldly things, striving to please his wife. 34 Likewise also the wife has this difference from the virgin ; the cares of the virgin are fixed upon the Lord, that she may become holy FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 411 both in body and in spirit ; but the cares of the wife are fixed upon 35 worldly things, striving to please her husband. Now this 1 say for your own profit ; not that I may entangle you in a snare ; but that I may help you to serve the Lord Jesus with a seemly and undivided 36 service. But if any man thinks that he is treating his virgin daughter in an unseemly manner, by leaving her unmarried beyond the flower of her age, and if need so require, let him act according 37 to his will ; he may do so without sin ; let them marry. But he who is firm in his resolve, and is not constrained to marry his daughter, but has the power of carrying out his will, and has determined to 38 keep her unmarried, does well. Thus he Avho gives his daughter in marriage does well, but he who gives her not in marriage does better. 39 The wife is bound by the law of wedlock so long as Marriage of her husband lives ; but after his death she is free to marry whom she will, provided that she choose one of the brethren 40 in Christ. Yet she is happier if she remain a widow, in my judg- ment ; and I think that I, no less than others, have the Spirit of God. VIIL 1 As to the question concerning meats which have Answer to been sacrificed to idols, we know— (for " we all have cen^ng"^ meats knowledge," but knowledge puflTs up, while love builds ; ^^^^-^^^to idols. 2 and if any man prides himself on his knowledge, he knows nothing 3 yet as he ought to know ; but whosoever loves God, of him God hath 4 knowledge) — we know (I say) that an idol has not any true being, 5 and that there is no other God but one. For though there be some who are called gods, either celestial or terrestrial, and though we see 6 men worship many gods and many lords, yet to us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and unto whom we live ; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom the life of all things, and our 7 life also, is sustained. But it is not true that " all have knowledge " [in this matter] ; on the contrary, there are some who still have a conscientious fear of the idol, and who think that the meat sacrificed belongs to a false god, so that, if they eat it, their conscience being 8 weak, is defiled. It is true that our food cannot change our place in God's sight ; with him we gain nothing by eating, nor lose by not 9 eating. But beware lest, perchance, by this exercise of your rights you should cast a stumbling-block in the path of your weaker 10 brethren. For if one of them see thee, who boastest of thy know- ledge, feasting in an idol's temple, will not he be encouraged to eat the meat which has been offered in sacrifice, although the weakness 412 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. ] 1 of his conscience condemns the deed ? And tlms, through the know- ledge whereof thou boastcst, will thy weaker brother perish, for 12 whom Christ died. Nay, when you sin thus against your brethren, 13 and wound their weaker conscience, you sin against Christ. Where- fore, if my eating cast a stumbling-block in my brother's path, I will eat no flesh while the world stands, lest thereby I cause my brother's fall. IX. 1 Am I indeed no true apostle " ? Am I indeed " sub- ge vindicates ^ his claim to the ject to man's authority " ? Have I indeed never seen apostolic office , . 1 M r» y-« • 1 1.11 against his Ju- Jesus C^hrist our Lord"? Can it be denied that you daizing detrac- 2 are the fruits of my labor in the Lord? If to others plains hi a I am no true apostle, yet at least I am such to you ; for some^^'or^^the you are yourselves the seal which stamps the reality of fieges^.^^^ 3 my apostleship, by the will of Christ ; this is my answer to those 4 who question my authority. Do they deny my right to be main- 5 tained [by my converts] ? Do they deny my right to carry a believing wife with me on my journeys, like the rest of the apostles, 6 and the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas ? Or do they think that I and Barnabas alone have no right to be maintained, except by the 7 labor of our own hands ? What soldier ever serves at his private cost? What husbandman plants a vineyard without sharing in its 8 fruit? What shepherd tends a flock without partaking of their milk ? And is this the rule of man only, or is it not also commanded 9 in the law of God? Yea, in the book of Moses' Law it is written, 10 " Thou shah not muzzle the ox that treadelh out the corn^ Are oxen the objects of God's care, or is it not altogether for man's sake that he so speaks ? For our sake doubtless, it was written ; declaring that the ploughman ought to plough, and the thresher to thresh, with 11 hope to share in the produce of his toil. If, then, I have sown for you the seed of spiritual gifts, it would be no great thing if I were to 12 reap some harvest from your earthly gifts. If others share this right over you, how much more should I? Yet I have not used my right, but forbear from every claim, lest I should by any means hinder the 13 course of Christ's glad tidings. Know ye not that they who perform the service of the temple, live upon the revenues of the temple, and they who minister at the altar share with it in the sacrifices thereon 14 ofiered ? So also the Lord Jesus ordained that they whom he sent 15 forth to publish his glad tidings, should be maintained thereby. But I have not exercised any of these rights, nor do I write this that I myself may profit by it. For I had rather die than suffer the ground FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 413 16 of my boasting to be taken from me. For, althougli I proclaim Christ^s glad tidings, yet this gives me no ground of boasting ; for 1 17 am compelled to do so by order of my Master. Yea, woe is me if I proclaim it not. For were my service given of my own free choice, I might claim wages to reward my labor ; but since I serve by com- pulsion, I am [a slave with no claim to wages] a steward whose post obliges him to dispense his master's bread to his fellow-servants. 18 What then is my wage ? It is to bear the glad tidings of Christ, and to bring it free of cost to those who hear me, without using the full 19 right which belongs to my ministration. Therefore, althougli free from the authority of all men, I made myself the slave of all, that I 20 might gain the most. To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews ; to those under the Law as though I were under the 21 Law, that I might gain those under the Law ; with those who were free from the Law, I lived as one who is free from the Law (not that I was without law before God, but under the law of Christ), that I 22 might gain those who were free from the Law. With those who were weak, I lived as if I were weak myself, that I might gain the weak. I have become all tilings to all men, that by all means I might save 23 some. And this I do to spread the glad tidings of Christ, that I 24 myself may share therein with those who hear me. For you know that in the races of the stadium, though all may run, yet but one can 25 gain the prize ; — (so run that you may win.) — And every man who strives in the matches, trains himself by all manner of self-restraint ; yet they do it to win a crown of fading leaves, — we, a crown that 26 cannot fade. I, therefore, run not like the racer who is uncertain of his goal ; I fight, not as the pugilist who strikes out against the air ; 27 but I bring my body into bondage, crushing it with heavy blows, lest, perchance, having called others to the contest, I should myself fail shamefully of the prize. 1 But you, brethren, I call to remember our forefathers J jj^^ a^aln warns how they all were guarded by the pillar of the cloud, againsr^imSo! 2 and all passed safely through the sea. And [as you ^^/j^J'^^ the were baptized unto Christ] they all, through the cloud, £"^^.3*^^^j^"[eut and through the sea, were baptized unto Moses. And people. 3 all of them alike ate the same spiritual food, and all drank of the 4 same spiritual stream ; for they drank from the spiritual rock, whose 5 waters followed them : but that rock was Christ. Yet [though all received these gifts], few only continued in God's favor, and the rest 6 were struck down and perished in the wilderness. Now these things 414 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. were shadows of our own case, that we might learn not to lust after 7 sinful pleasures, as they lusted. Nor be ye idolaters, as were some of them ; as it is written, " The people sat down to eat and drink, and 8 rose up to play" Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them 9 committed, and fell in one day tliree-and-twenty tliousand. Neither let us try the long-suffering of Christ, as did some of them, who 10 w^re destroyed by the fiery serpents. Nor murmur against those who are set over you, as some of them murmured, and were slain by 11 the destroying angel. Now all these things befell them as shadows of that which was to come ; and they were written for our warning, J 2 who live in the end of the ages. Wherefore, let him wlio thinks 13 that he stands firm, watch heedfully lest he fall. No trial has come upon you beyond man's power to bear ; and God is faithful to his promises, and will not suffer you to be tried beyond your strength, but will with every trial provide the way of escape, that you may be able to sustain it. 14 Wherefore, my beloved children, have no fellowship They must re- 15 with idolatry. I speak as to reasonable men; use iTwJhip ^^^fth 16 your own judgment upon that which I say. When we ^^^^^^^y- drink the cup of blessing, which we bless, are we not all partakers in the blood of Christ ? When we break the bread, are we not all 17 partakers in the body of Christ ? For as tlie bread is one, so we, the 18 many, are one body; for of that one bread we all partake. Or, again, if you look to the carnal Israel, do you not see that those who eat of the sacrifices are in partnership with the altar [and identified 19 with the worship] ? What would I say then ? that an idol has any real being ? or that meat ofiered to an idol is really changed thereby? 20 Not so ; but I say, that when the heathen offer their sacrifices, they are sacrificing to demons, and not to God ; and I would not have you 21 become partners with the demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the cup which has poured libation to 22 demons ; you cannot eat at the table of the Lord, and at the table of demons. Or would we provoke our Lord to jealousy? Ai*e we stronger than he ? 23 [But some one will say again] " All things are lawful They must de- fer me." Nay, but not all things are good for me ; e^en in- though all things are lawful, not all things build up the u^if^thS.' fn- 24 Church. Let no man seek his own, but every man icJencle'of t^heir 25 his neighbor's good. Whatever is sold in market, you ^/^f^^^^ may eat, nor need you ask for conscience' sake whence 26, 27 it came ; "i^br the earth ?> the Lord\% and the fidness thereof." And if any unbeliever invites you to a feast, and you are disposed to go, eat FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 415 of all that is set before you» asking no questions for conscience* sake ; 28 but if one of the guests should say to you concerning any dish, " This has been offered to an idol," do not eat of that dish, for the sake of 29 him who pointed it out, and for the sake of conscience. Thy neigh- bor's conscience, I say, not thine own ; for [thou may est truly say] " Why is my freedom condemned by the conscience of another ? and 30 if I thankfully partake, why am I called a sinner for that which I eat with thanksgiving ?" 31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all 32 so that God may be praised and his glory manifested. Let no act of yours give cause of stumbling, either to Jews or Gentiles, or to 33 the Church of God. For so I also strive to please all men in all things, not seeking my own good, but the good of all, that they may be saved. XI. 1 I beseech you, therefore, to follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. 2 My brethren, whereas " you are always mindful of Censure on the my teaching, and that you keep unchanged the rules men^^p^^arTng 3 which I delivered to you," in this I praise you. But I fts^embues" for would have you know that as Christ is the head of ^^^^^^ ^^"'^^p* every man, and God the head of Christ, so the man is the head of 4 the woman. If a man were to stand up in the congregation to pray or to prophesy with a veil over his head, he would bring shame upon 5 his head [by wearing the token of subjection]. But if a woman stands forth to pray or to prophesy, with her head unveiled, she 6 brings shame upon her own head, as much as if she were shaven. I say, if she cast off her veil, let her shave her head at once ; but if it is shameful for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her keep a veil 7 upon her head. For a man ought not to veil his head, since he is the likeness of God, and the manifestation of God's glory. But the 8 woman^s part is to manifest her husband's glory. For the man was 9 not made from the woman, but the woman from the man. Nor was the man created for the sake of the woman, but the woman for the 10 sake of the man. Therefore, the woman ought to wear a sign of sub- 1 1 jection upon her head, because of the angels. Nevertheless, in their fellowship with the Lord Jesus, man and woman may not be sepa- 12 rated the one from the other. For as woman is sprung from man, 80 is man also born of woman ; and both alike, together with all 13 tilings else, are spning from God. But I beseech you to judge of this matter by your own feeling. Is it seemly for a woman with her 14 head unveiled to offer prayers to God? Or does not even Nature 416 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. itself teach you that long hair is a disgrace to a man, but a glory to a 15, 16 woman ? for her hair has been given her for a veil. But if any one thinks to be contentious in defence of such a custom, let him know that it is disallowed by me, and by all the churclies of God. 17 [I said that I praised you for keeping the rules which cens^ire on - Ti,T • «i. their profana- were delivered to you ; J but 1 praise you not for this t ion cf the which I now declare to you, that your solemn assem- ^ upper. 18 blies are for evil rather than good. For first I liear that there are divisions among you, which show themselves when your congrega- 19 tion is met together; and this I partly believe. For there must needs be not divisions only, but also adverse sects among you, that 20 so the good may be tested and made known. Moreover, those among you who meet [peaceably] together, are not really met to eat the 21 Lord's Supper; for each begins to eat what he has brought for his own supper, before anything has been given to others ; so that while 22 some are hungry, others are drunken. Have you then no houses for your feasts ? or do you come to show contempt for the congrega- tion of God's people, and to shame the poor ? What can I say to 23 you ? Shall I praise you in this ? I praise you not. For I myself received from the Lord that which I delivered to you, how that the 24 Lord Jesus in the night when he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, " Take, eat ; this is my 25 body J which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of we." In the same manner also he took the cup, after supper, saying, " This cup is the new covenant in my blood : this do ye, as often as ye drink it, in re- 26 membrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you openly show forth the Lord's death until he shall come 27 again. Therefore, whosoever shall eat this bread or drink this cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of profaning the body and 28 blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him 29 eat of this bread and drink of this cup. For he who eats and drinks of it unworthily, eats and drinks a judgment against himself, since he makes no difference between the Lord's body and common food. 30 For this cause many of you are weak and sickly, and some sleep the 31 sleep of death. For if we would rightly judge ourselves, we should 32 not be judged by God. But when we are judged, we are cbjil^ined by the Lord Jesus, that we may not be condemned together with the 33 world. Therefore, my brethren, when you meet for the Lord's Sup- per, let none begin to eat by himself while he leaves others unpro- 34 vided; and if any one is hungry, let him eat at home, lest your meetings should bring judgment upon you. The other matters I wiU set in order when I come. FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 417 XII. 1 Concerning those who exercise spiritual gifts, breth- On the Rpnituai o T J • ^ • V 1 ^-u * Silts generally. 2 ren, I desire to remove your ignorance, lou know that in the days of your heathenism you were blindly led astray to wor- ship dumb and senseless idols [by those who pretended to gifts from 3 heaven]. This test therefore I give you, to guide your judgment; no man Avho is inspired by the Spirit of God can call Jesus accursed ; and no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, unless he be inspired by 4 the Ploly Spirit. Moreover, there are varieties of spiritual gifts, but 6 the same Spirit gives them all ; and they are given for various min- 6 istrations, but all to serve the same Lord Jesus; and the inward working whereby they are wrought is various, but they are all wrought in every one of those who receive them, by the working of 7 the same God. But the gift whereby the Spirit becomes manifest is 8 given to each for the profit of all. To one is given by the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, to another the utterance of knowledge accord- 9 ing to the working of the same Spirit. To another the power of faith through the same Spirit. To another gifts of healing through 10 the same Spirit. To another the powers which work miracles ; to another the gift of prophecy ; to another the discernment of spirits ; to another varieties of tongues; to another the interpretation of 11 tongues. But all these gifts are wrought by the working of that one and the same Spirit, who distributes them to each according to his 12 will. For as the body is one, and has many members, and as all the 13 members, though many, are one body ; so also is Christ. For in the communion of one Spirit we all were baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether slaves or freemen, and were all made 14 to drink of the same Spirit. For the body is not one member, but 15 many. If the foot should say, " I am not the hand, therefore I belong 16 not to the body/' does it thereby sever itself from the body ? Or if the ear should say, " I am not the eye, therefore I belong not to the body,'' 17 does it thereby sever itself from the body ? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole body were an 18 ear, where would be the smelling? But now God has j)laced the 19 members severally in the body according to liis will. If all were 20 one member, where would be the body ? But now, though the meni- 21 bers are many, yet the body is one. And the eye cannot say to the hand, " I have no need of thee ;" nor again the head to the feet, " I 22 have no need of you." Nay, those parts of the body which are 23 reckoned the feeblest are the most necessary, and those parts which we hold the least honorable, we clothe with the more abundant honor, 24 80 that the less beautiful parts are clad with the greater beauty ; and 27 418 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. those which are beautiful need not our adornment. But God has tempered the body together, and given to the lowlier parts the higher 25 honor, that there should be no division in the body, but that all its parts should feel, one for the other, a common sympathy. And thus, 26 if one member suffer, every member suffers with it ; or if one mem- 27 ber be honored, every member rejoices with it. Now ye are together 28 the body of Christ, and each one of you a separate member. And God has set the members in the Church, some in one place, and some in another: first, apostles; secondly, prophets; thirdly, teachers; afterward miracles; then gifts and healing ; serviceable ministrations ; 29 gifts of government ; varieties of tongue. Can all be apostles ? 30 Can all be prophets? Can all be teachers? Can all work miracles? Have all the gifts of healing ? Do all speak with tongues ? Can all interpret the tongues ? But I would have you delight in the best 31 gifts ; and moreover, beyond them all, I will show you a path where- in to walk. XIII. 1 Thouffh it were given me to speak in all the tongues „ . . ^ , Superiority of of men and angels, if I have not love, I am no better love to all the ^ , , -IT 11*1 extraordinary 2 than soundmg brass, or a tinklmg cymbal. And |ift»^ of the although I have the gift of prophecy, and understand * all the mysteries, and all the depths of knowledge ; and though I have the fulness of faith, so that I could remove mountains ; if I have 3 not love, I am nothing. And though I sell all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, if I have not love, it 4 profits me nothing. Love is long-suffering ; love is kind ; love en- 5 vies not ; love speaks no vaunts ; love shows no vanity ; love is never uncourteous ; love is never selfish ; love is not easily provoked ; love 6 bears no malice ; love rejoices not in the punishment of wickedness, 7 but rejoices in the victory of truth ; forbears in all things ; believes 8 all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love shall never pass away ; though the gift of prophecy shall vanish, and the gift of tongues shall cease, and the gift of knowledge shall come to naught. 9 For our knowledge is imperfect, and our prophesying is imperfect. 10 But when the fulness of perfection is come, then all that is imperfect 11 shall pass away. When I was a child, my words were childish, my desires were childish, my judgments were childish ; but being grown 12 a man, I have done away with the thoughts of childhood. So now we see darkly, by the reflection of a mirror, but then face to face ; now I know in part, but then shall I know God, even as now I am 13 known by him. Yet while other gifts sliall pass away, these three, faith, hope, and love, abide for ever ; and the greatest of these is love. FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 419 XIV. 1 I beseech you to follow earnestly after love ; yet I j^j^^^^-Qj^g would have vou delight in the spiritual srifts, but es- the exercise of / . , V, - ^ , , the gilt of pro- 2 pecially m the sift of prophecy. For he who speaks phecy and the : , ^ ^ ^ 1 /. gift of tongues m a tongue, speaks not to men but to God ; for no man 3 understands him, but with his spirit he utters mysteries. But he who prophesies speaks to men and builds them up, with exhortation 4 and with comfort. He who speaks in a tongue builds up himself 5 alone ; but he who prophesies builds up the Church. I wish that you all had the gift of tongues, but rather that you had the gift of prophecy ; for he who prophesies is above him who speaks in tongues, unless he interpret the sounds he utters, that the Church may 6 be built up thereby. Now, brethren, if when I came to you I were to speak in tongues, what should I profit you, unless I should also speak either in revelation or in knowledge, either in prophesying or 7 in teaching? Even if the lifeless instruments of sound, the flute or the harp, give no distinctness to their notes, how can we understand 8 their music ? If the trumpet utter an uncertain note, how shall the 9 soldier prepare himself for the battle ? So also if you utter unintel- ligible words with your tongue, how can your speech be understood ? 10 you will but be speaking to the air. It may be that the tongues in which you speak are among the many languages spoken in the world, 1 1 and of these languages none is without meaning. Now if I know not the meaning of the language, I shall be as a foreigner to him that 12 speaks it, and he will be accounted a foreigner by me. Wherefore, I beseecli you (since you delight in spiritual gifts) to strive that your 13 abundant possession of them may build up the Church. Therefore, let him who speaks in a tongue, pray that he may be able to inter- 14 pret what he utters. For if I utter prayers in a tongue, my spirit 15 indeed prays, but my understanding bears no fruit. What follows, then? I will pray indeed with my spirit, but I will pray with my understanding also ; I will sing praises with my spirit, but I will sing 16 with my understanding also. For if thou, with thy spirit, offerest thanks and praise, how shall the Amen be said to thy thanksgiving by those worshippers who take no part in the ministrations, ^hile 1 7 they are ignorant of the meaning of thy words ? Thou indeed fitly 18 oflerest thanksgiving, but they who hear thee are not built up. I offer thanksgivings to God in private, speaking in tongues to hitii, 19 more than any of you. Yet in the congregation I would rather speak five words with my understanding so as to instruct others, tlian ten 20 thousand words in a tongue. Brethren, be not children in under- standing ; but in malice be children, and in understanding be men. 420 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. 21 It is written in the book of the Law, " With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that they will not 22 hear me, saith the LordJ^ So that the gift of tongues is a sign given to men in a state of unbelief; whereas the gift of prophecy belongs 23 to believers. When, therefore, the whole congregation is assembled in its place of meeting, if all the brethren speak in tongues, and if any who take no part in your ministrations, or who are unbelievers, should enter your assembly, will they not say that you are mad ? 24 But if all exercise the gift of prophecy, then if any man who is an unbeliever, or who takes no part in your ministrations, should enter the place of meeting, he is convicted in conscience by every speaker J 25 he feels himself judged by all, and the secret depths of his heart are laid open ; and so he will fall upon his face and worship God, de- claring to all men that God is in you of a truth. What follows 26 then, brethren? If, when you are met together, one is prepared to sing a hymn of praise, another to exercise his gift of teaching, another his gift of tongues, another to deliver a revelation, another an inter- 27 pretation, let all be so done as to build up the Church. If there be any who speak in tongues, let not more than two, or at the most three, speak [in the same assembly] ; and let them speak in turn ; and let 28 the same interpreter explain the words of all. But if there be no interpreter, let him who speaks in tongues keep silence in the con- 29 gregation, and speak in private to himself and God alone. Of those who have the gift of prophecy, let two or three speak [in each assem- 30 bly], and let the rest judge; but if another of them, while sitting as hearer, receives a revelation calling him to prophesy, let the first end 31 his discourse. For so every one of you [who have received the gift] can prophesy, that all in turn may receive teaching and exhortation ; 32 (and the gift of prophecy does not take from the prophets the control 33 over their own spirits). For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace. 34 In your congregation, as in all the congregations of women Christ's people, the women must keep silence : for they must not offici- . , , . 1 1 , / ate publicly in are not permitted to speak in public, but to show sub- the congrega- 35 mission, as it is said also in the book of the Law. And if they wish to ask any question, let them ask it of their own husbands at home ; for it is disgraceful to women to speak publicly in the con- 36 gregation. [Whence is your claim to change the rules delivered to you?] Was it from you that the word of God was first sent forth? 37 or are you the only Church which it has reached? Nay, if any think that he has the gift of prophecy, or that he is a spiritual man, let him acknowledge the words which I write for commands of the FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 421 38 Lord Jesus. But if any man refuse this acknowledgment, let liim refuse it at his own peril. 39 Therefore, brethren, I would have you delight in the gift of pro- 40 phecy, and not hinder the gift of tongues. And let all be done with decency and order. XV. 1 Moreover, brethren, I call to your remembrance that The doctrine , , .of the resurrec- which I declared to you as the fflad tidinsrs of Christ, tion of the dead established which you tlien received, and wherein you now stand against its im- 2 firm ; by which also you are saved if you still hold it P^^"^^^* 3 fast, unless indeed you believed in vain. For the first thing which I taught you was that which I had myself been taught, that Christ 4 died for our sins as the Scriptures had foretold, and that he was buried, and that he rose the third day from the dead, according to the 6 Scriptures ; and that he was seen by Cephas, and then by the Twelve ; 6 after that he was seen by above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part are living at this present time, but some are 7 fallen asleep. Next he was seen by James, and then by all the apos- 8 ties ; and last of all he was seen by me also, who am placed among 9 the rest as it were by an untimely birth ; for I am the least of the apostles, and am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I per- 10 secuted the Church of God. But by the grace of God, I am what I am ; and his grace, which was bestowed upon me, was not fruitless ; but I labored more abundantly than all the rest ; yet not I, but the 11 grace of God which was with me. So then, whether proclaimed by me, or by them, this is the truth which we declare, and this is the truth which you believed. 12 If then this be our tidings, that Christ is risen from the dead, how is it that some among you say. There is no resurrection of the dead ? 13, 14 But if the dead rise not, then Christ is not risen ; and if Christ be not risen, vain is the glad tidings which we proclaim, and vain 15 the faith with which you heard it. Moreover, we are found guilty of false witness against God ; because we bore witness of God that he raised Christ from the dead, whom he did not raise, if indeed the 16 dead rise not. For if there be no resurrection of the dead, Christ 17 himself is not risen. And if Christ be not risen, your faith is vain, 18 you are still in your sins. Moreover, if this be so, they who have 19 fallen asleep in Christ, perished when they died. Yea, if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. 20 But now, Christ is risen from the dead ; and he rose to be the first- 21 fruits of all who sleep. For since by man came death, by man came 22 also the resurrection of the dead. For as, in Adam, all men die, so, 422 LIFE AND EPISTLES OP THE APOSTLE PAUL. 23 in Christ, shall all be raised to life. But each in his own order ; a« the first-fruits of all Christ is already risen ; afterward they who are 24 Christ's shall rise, at his appearing ; finally, the end shall come, when he shall give up his kingdom to God his Father, having de- 25 stroyed all other powers which claim rule and sway. For his king- dom must last " till he hath put all enemies under his feet J' And last 26 of his enemies, death also shall be destroyed. For "God hath put aU 27 things under his feetJ^ But in that saying, " all things are put under hiniy" it is manifest that God is excepted, who put all things under 28 him. And when all things are made subject to him, then shall the Son also subject himself to Him who made them subject, that God may be all in all. 29 Again, what will become of those who cause themselves to be bap- tized for the dead,* if the dead never rise again ? Why then do they submit to baptism for the dead ? 30 And I too, why do I expose my life every hour to deadly peril ? 31 I am daily at the point of death, I protest by my very boasting thereof, which I make [not in myself, but] in Christ Jesus our Lord 32 and Master. If I have fought (so to speak) with beasts at Ephesus, what am I profited if the dead rise not ? " Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die^ Beware lest you be led astray ; " Converse with 33 evil men corrupts good mannersJ^ Change your drunken revellings 34 into the sobriety of righteousness, and live no more in sin ; for some of you know not God ; I speak this to your shame. 35 But some disputer will say, " How are the dead raised up ? and 36 with what body do they rise ? " Thou fool, the seed which thou 37 sowest is not quickened into life till it hath partaken of death. And that seed which thou sowest has not the same body with the plant * The only meaning which the Greek seems to admit here is a reference to the practice of submitting to baptism instead of some person who had died nnbaptized. Yet this explanation is liable to very great difficulties. (1) How strange that Paul should refer to such a superstition without rebuking it! (2) If such a practice did exist in the apostolic Church, how can we account for its being discontinued in the period which followed, when a magical effi- cacy was more and more ascribed to the material act of baptism ? Yet the practice was never adopted except by some obscure sects of Gnostics, who Bcem to have founded their custom on this very passage. The explanations which have been adopted to avoid the difficulty, such as "over the graves of the dead " or **in the name of the dead (meaning Christ)," etc., are all inad- missible, as being contrary to the analogy of the language. On the whole, therefore, the passage must be considered to admit of no satisfactory expla- nation. It alludes to some practice of the Corinthians which has not been recorded elsewhere, and of which every other trace has perished. FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 423 which will spring from it, but it is mere grain, of wheat, or wliatever 38 else it may chance to be. Bat God gives it a body according to his will, and to every seed the body of its own proper plant. For all flesh is not the same flesh [but each body is fitted to the place it 89 fills] ; the bodies of men, and of beasts, of birds, and of fishes, difier 40 the one from the other. And there are bodies which belong to heaven, and bodies which belong to earth ; but in brightness and in 41 beauty the heavenly differ from the earthly. The sun is more glori- ous than the moon, and the moon is more glorious than the stars, and one star excels another in the glory of its brightness. So will it be in the resurrection of the dead [they will be clothed with a 42 body fitted to their lot] ; it is sown in corruption, it is raised in 43 incorruption ; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory ; it is sown 44 in weakness, it is raised in power ; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body ; for as there are natural bodies, so there are 45 also spiritual bodies. And so it is written, " The first man Adam was made a living soul" whereas the last Adam was made a life-giving 46, 47 spirit. But the spiritual comes not till after the natural. The first man was made of earthly clay, the second man was the Lord 48 from heaven. As is the earthly, such are they also that are earthly ; 49 and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly ; and as we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image 60 of the heavenly. But this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood* cannot * The importance of the subject justifies our quoting at some length the admirable remarks of Dr. Burton (formerly regius professor of divinity at Oxford) on this passage, in the hope that his high reputation for learning and for unblemished orthodoxy may lead some persons to reconsider the loose and unscriptural language which they are in the habit of using. After re- gretting that some of the early Fathers have (when treating of the resuvrec' tion of the body) appeared to contradict these words of Paul, Dr. Burton con- tinues as follows : *^ It is nowhere asserted in the New Testament that we shall rise again with our bodies. Unless a man will say that the stalk, the blade, and the ear of corn are actually the same thing with the single grain which is put into the ground, he cannot quote Paul as saying that we shall rise again with the same bodies ; or at least he must allow that the future body may only be like to the present one, inasmuch as both come under the same genus — i. e. we ipeak of human bodies, and we speak of heavenly bodies. But Paul's words do not warrant us in saying that the resemblance between the present and future body will be greater than between a man and a star, or between a bird and a fish. Nothing can be plainer than the expression which he uses in the first of these two analogies. Thou sowest not that body that shall be (xv. 37). Ue says also, with equal plainness, of the body, It is sown a natural body, U 424 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. inherit the kingdom of God, neither can corruption inherit incorrup- 51 tion. Behold, I declare to you a mystery : we shall not all sleep, but 62 we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the sound of the last trumpet ; for the trumpet shall sound, and the 53 dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 But when this corruptible is clothed with incorruption, and this mortal is clothed with immortality, then shall be brought to pass the 55 saying which is written, Death is swallowed up in victory J* " 0 deathy 56 where is thy sting " 0 grave, where is thy victory f'* The sting of 57 death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law ; but thanks be to God, who gives to us victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord ; knowing that your labor is not in vain, in the Lord. XVI. 1 Concerning the collection for Christ's people [at Directions con Jerusalem], I would have you follow the same plan, lectimr for ^th* which I have enjoined upon the churches of Galatia. tianaf 2 Upon the first day of the week, let each of you set apart whatever his gains may enable him to spare ; that there may 3 be no need to make collections when I come. And when I am witb you, whomsoever you shall judge to be fitted for the trust, I wil) 4 furnish with letters, and send them to carry your benevolence to Je- ts raised a spiritual body : there is a natural body, and there is a spirituat body (v. 44). These words require to be examined closely, and involve re- motely a deep metaphysical question. In common language, the terms body and spirit are accustomed to be opposed, and are used to represent two things which are totally distinct. But Paul here brings the two expressions to- gether, and speaks of a spiritual body. Paul therefore did not oppose body to spirit ; and though the looseness of modern language may allow us to do so, and yet to be correct in our ideas, it may save some confusion if we con- sider spirit as opposed to matter, and if we take body to be a generic term, which comprises both. A body, therefore, in the language of Paul, is some- thing which has a distinct individual existence. . . . Paul tells us that every individual, when he rises again, will have a spiritual body; but the remarks which I have made may show how different is the idea conveyed by these words from the notions which some persons entertain, that we shall rise again with the same identical body. Paul appears effectually to preclude this no- tion when he says, Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of Qod" (ver. 60). — Burton's Lectures, pp. 429-431. THE APOSTLE'S PLANS. 425 rusalem ; or if there shall seem sufficient reason for me also to go 6 thither, they shall go with me. But I will visit you PauVs future after I have passed through Macedonia (for through 6 Macedonia I shall pass) ; and perhaps I shall remain with you, or even winter with you, that you may forward me on my farther jour- 7 ney, whithersoever I go. For I do not wish to see you now for a passing visit ; but I hope to stay some time with you, if the Lord 8, 9 permit. But I shall remain at Ephesus until Pentecost, for a door is opened to me both great and effectual ; and there are many 10 adversaries [against whom I must contend]. If Tim- Timotheus. otheus come to you, be careful to give him no cause of fear, for he is 11 laboring, as I am, in the Lord^s work. Therefore, let no man despise him, but forward him on his way in peace, that he may come hither to me ; for I expect him, and the brethren with him. 12 As regards the brother ApoUos, I urged him much Apoiioa. to visit you with the brethren [who bear this letter] ; nevertheless, he was resolved not to come to you at this time, but he will visit you at a more convenient season. 13 Be watchful, stand firm in faith, be manful and stout- Exhortations. 14 hearted. Let all you do be done in love. 15 You know, brethren, that the house of Stephanas Stephanas, were the first-fruits of Achaia, and that they have taken and Achaicus. 16 on themselves the task of ministering to Chrisf s people. I exhort you, therefore, to show submission towards men like these, and 17 towards all who work laboriously with them. I rejoice in the com- 18 ing of Stephanas, and Fortunatus, and Achaicus, for they have sup- plied all which you needed ; since they have lightened my spirit and yours. Kender, therefore, to such men the acknowledgment of their worth. 19 The churches of Asia salute you . Aquila and Pris- Salutations cilia send their loving salutation in the Lord Jesus, ince of Asia. 20 togetlier with the Church which assembles at their house. All the brethren here salute you. Salute one another with the kiss of holi- ness. 21 I, Paul, add this my salutation with my own hand. Autograph 22 Let him who loves not the Lord Jesus Christ be ac- cursed. The Lord comeih, 23,24 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. In the concluding part of this letter we have some indication of the apostle's plans for the future. He is looking forward to a 426 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. journey through Macedonia (xvi. 5), to be succeeded by a visit to Oorinth (ib. 2-7), and after this he thinks it probable he may pro- ceed to Jerusalem (ib. 3, 4). In the Acts of the. Apostles the same intentions are expressed, with a stronger purpose of going to Jeru- salem (xix. 21), and with the additional conviction that after passing through Macedonia and Achaia and visiting Palestine he " must also see Kome" (ib.). He had won many of the inhabitants of Asia Minor and Ephesus to the faith, and now, after the pro- spect of completing his charitable exertions for the poor Christians of Judaea, his spirit turns towards the accomplishment of remoter conquests. Far from being content with his past achievements or resting from his incessant labors, he felt that he was under a debt of perpetual obligation to all the Gentile world. Thus he expresses himself, soon after this time, in the Epistle to the Roman Chris- tians, whom he had long ago desired to see (Rom. i. 10-15), and w^hom he hopes at length to visit, now that he is on his way to Jerusalem, and looks forward to a still more distant and hazardous journey to Spain (xv. 22-29). The path thus dimly traced before him as he thought of the future at Ephesus, and made more clearly visible when he wrote the letter at Corinth, was made still more evident as he proceeded on his course. Yet not without forebod- ings of evil and much discouragement and mysterious delays did the apostle advance on his courageous career. But we are antici- pating many subjects which will give a touching interest to sub- sequent passages of this history. Important events still detain us in Ephesus. Though Paul's companions had been sent before in the direction of his contemplated journey (Acts xix. 22), he still resolved to stay till Pentecost (1 Cor. xvi. 8). A "great door" was open to him, and there were " many adversaries" against whom he had yet to contend. CHAPTER XVI. DESCRIPTION OF EPHESUS. — TEMPLE OF DIANA. — HER IMAGE AND WORSHIP. — POLITICAL CONSTITUTION OF EPHESUS. — ^THE ASIARCHS. — DEMETRIUS AND THE SILVERSMITHS. — ^TUMULT IN THE THEATRE. — SPEECH OF THE TOWN-CLERK. — PAUL'S DE- PARTURE. The boundaries of the province of Asia and the position of its chief city, Ephesus, have already been placed before the reader. It is now time that we should give some description of the city itself, with a notice of its characteristic religious institutions and its political arrangements under the empire. No cities were ever more favorably placed for prosperity and growth than those of the colonial Greeks in Asia Minor. They had the advantage of a coast-line full of convenient harbors, and of a sea which was favorable to the navigation of that day, and by the long approaches formed by the plains of the great Western rivers they had access to the inland trade of the East. Two of these rivers have been more than once alluded to — the Hermus and the Mseander. The valley of the first was bounded on the south by the ridge of Tmolus; that of the second was bounded on the north by Messogis. In the interval between these two moun- tain-ranges was the shorter course of the river Cayster. A few miles from the sea a narrow gorge is formed by Mount Pactyas on the south, which is the western termination of Messogis, and by the precipices of Gallesus on the north, the pine-clad summits of which are more remotely connected with the heights of Tmolus. This gorge separates the upper "Caystrian meadows" from a small alluvial plain by the sea. Partly on the long ridge of Coressus, which is tbe southern boundary of this plain, partly on the de- tached circular eminence of Mount Prion, and partly on the plain itself, near the windings of the Cayster and about the edge of the harbor, were the buildings of the city. Ephesus was not so dis- tinguished in early times as several of her Ionian sisters, and some 427 428 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. of them outlived her glory. But though Phocgea and Miletus sent out more colonies, and Smyrna has ever remained a flourishing city, yet Ephesus had great natural advantages, which were duly developed in the age of which we are writing. Having easy access through the defiles of Mount Tmolus to Sardis, and thence up the valley of the Hermus far into Phrygia, and again by a similar pass through Messogis to the Mseander, being connected with the great road through Iconium to the Euphrates, it became the metropolis of the province of Asia under the Eomans, and the chief emporium of trade on the nearer side of Taurus. The city built by Androclus and his Athenian followers was on the slope of Coressus, but grad- ually it descended into the plain in the direction of the temple of Diana. The Alexandrian age produced a marked alteration in Ephesus, as in most of the great towns in the East, and Lysimachus extended his new city over the summit of Prion as well as the heights of Coressus. The Roman age saw, doubtless, a still further increase both of the size and magnificence of the place. To attempt to reconstruct it from the materials which remain would be a difficult task — far more difficult than in the case of Athens, or even An- tioch — but some of the more interesting sites are easily identified. Those who walk over the desolate site of the Asiatic metropolis see piles of ruined edifices on the rocky sides and among the thickets of Mount Prion ; they look out from its summit over the confused morass which once was the harbor, where Aquila and Priscilla landed ; and they visit in their deep recesses the dripping marble-quarries, where the marks of the tools are visible still. On the outer edge of the same hill they trace the enclosure of the stadium, which may have suggested to Paul many of those images with which he enforces Christian duty in the first letter written from Ephesus to Corinth. Farther on, and nearer Coressus, the remains of the vast theatre (the outline of the enclosure is still distinct, though the marble seats are removed) show the place where the multitude, roused by Demetrius, shouted out for two hours in honor of Diana. Below is the Agora, through which the mob rushed up to the well-known place of meeting. And in the valley between Prion and Coressus is one of the gymnasia, where the athletes were trained for transient honors and a perishable garland. Surrounding and crowning the scene are the long Hel- lenic walls of Lysimachus, following the ridge of Coressus. On a spur of the hill they descend to an ancient tower, which is still THE TEMPLE OF DIANA. 429 called tlie prison of Panl. The name is doubtless legendary, but Paul may have stood here and looked over the city and the plain, and seen the Cayster winding towards him from the base of Gallesus. Within his view was another eminence, detached from the city of that day, but which became the Mohammedan town when ancient Ephesus was destroyed, and nevertheless pre- serves in its name a record of another apostle, the "disciple" John. But one building at Ephesus surpassed all the rest in magnifi- cence and in fame. This was the temple of Artemis or Diana, which glittered in brilliant beauty at the head of the harbor, and was reckoned by the ancients as one of the wonders of the world. The sun, it was said, saw nothing in his course more magnificent than Diana's temple. Its honor dated from remote antiquity. Leaving out of consideration the earliest temple, which was con- temporaneous with the Athenian colony under Androclus, or even yet more ancient, we find the great edifice, which was anterior to the Macedonian period, begun and continued in the midst of the attention and admiration both of Greeks and Asiatics. The foundations were carefully laid, with immense substructions, in the marshy ground. Architects of the highest distinction were em- ployed. The quarries of Mount Prion supplied the marble. All the Greek cities of Asia contributed to the structure, and Croesus, the king of Lydia, himself lent his aid. The work thus begun before the Persian war was slowly continued even through the Peloponnesian war, and its dedication was celebrated by a poet contemporary with Euripides. But the building, which had been thus rising through the space of many years, was not destined to remain long in the beauty of its perfection. The fanatic Hero- stratus set fire to it on the same night in which Alexander was born. This is one of the coincidences of history on which the ancient world was fond of dwelling, and it enables us with more distinctness to pursue the annals of "Diana of the Ephesians*" The temple was rebuilt with new and more sumptuous magnifi- cence. The ladies of Ephesus contributed their jewelry to the expense of the restoration. The national pride in the sanctuary was so great that when Alexander offered the spoils of his Eastern campaign if he might inscribe his name on the building, the honor was declined. The Ephesians never ceased to embellish the shrine of their goddess, continually adding new decorations 430 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. and subsidiary buildings, with statues and pictures by the most famous artists. This was the temple that kindled the enthusiasm of PauPs opponents (Acts xix.), and was still the rally ing-point of heathenism in the days of John and Polycarp. In the second century we read that it was united to the city by a long colonnade. But soon after it was plundered and laid waste by the Goths who came from beyond the Danube in the reign of Gallienus. It sunk entirely into decay in the age when Christianity was overspreading the empire, and its remains are to be sought for in mediaeval buildings, in the columns of green jasper which support the dome of Sophia, or even in the naves of Italian cathedrals. Thus the temple of Diana of Ephesus saw all the changes of Asia Minor from Croesus to Constantine. Though nothing now remains on the spot to show us what or even where it was, there is enough in its written memorials to give us some notions of its appearance and splendor. The reader will bear in mind the cha- racteristic style which was assumed by Greek architecture, and which has suggested many of the images of the New Testament. It was quite different from the lofty and ascending form of those buildings which have since arisen in all parts of Christian Europe, and essentially consisted in horizontal entablatures resting on vertical columns. In another respect also the temples of the ancients may be contrasted with our churches and cathedrals. They were not roofed over for the reception of a large company of worshippers, but were in fact colonnades erected as subsidiary decorations round the cell which contained the idol, and were, through a great part of their space, open to the sky. The colon- nades of the Ephesian Diana really constituted an epoch in the history of art, for in them was first matured that graceful Ionic style the feminine beauty of which was more suited to the genius of the Asiatic Greek than the sterner and plainer Doric in which the Parthenon and Propylsea were built. The scale on which the temple was erected was magnificently extensive. It was four hundred and twenty-five feet in length and two hundred and twenty in breadth, and the columns were sixty feet high. The number of columns was one hundred and twenty-seven, each of them the gift of a king; and thirty-six of them were enriched with ornament and color. The folding doors were of cypress- wood, the part which was not open to the sky was roofed over with cedar, and the staircase was formed of the wood of one single THE IMAGE AND WORSHIP OF DIANA. 431 vine from the island of Cyprus. The value and fame of the tem- ple were enhanced by its being the treasury in which a large por- tion of the wealth of Western Asia was stored up. It is probable that there was no religious building in the world in which was concentrated a greater amount of admiration, enthusiasm, and superstition. If the temple of Diana at Ephesus was magnificent, the image enshrined within the sumptuous enclosure was primitive and rude. We usually conceive of this goddess, when represented in art, as the tall huntress eager in pursuit, like the statue in the Louvre. Such was not the form of the Ephesian Diana, though she was identified by the Greeks with their own mountain-goddess, whose figure we often see represented on the coins of this city. What amount of fusion took place in the case of this worship between Greek and Oriental notions we need not inquire. The image may have been intended to represent Diana in one of her customary characters as the deity of fountains, but it reminds us rather of the idols of the far East, and of the religions which love to repre- sent the life of all animated beings as fed and supported by the many breasts of Nature. The figure which assumed this em- blematic form above was terminated below in a shapeless block. The material was wood. A bar of metal was in each hand. The dress was covered with mystic devices, and the small shrine where it stood within the temple was concealed by a curtain in front. Yet, rude as the image was, it was the object of the utmost venera- tion. Like the Palladium of Troy, like the most ancient Minerva of the Athenian Acropolis, like the Paphian Venus or Cybele of Pessinus to which allusion has been made, like the Ceres in Sicily mentioned by Cicero, it was believed to have " fallen down from the sky" (Acts xix. 35). Thus it was the object of the greater veneration from the contrast of its primitive simplicity with the modern and earthly splendor which surrounded it; and it was the model on which the images of Diana were formed for worship in other cities. One of the idolatrous customs of the ancient world was the use of portable images or shrines, which were little models of the more celebrated objects of devotion. They were carried in pro- cessions, on journeys and military expeditions, and sometimes set up as household gods in private houses. Pliny says that this was the case with the temple of the Cnidian Venus; and other heathen 432 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. writers make allusion to the "shrines" of the Ephesian Diana which are mentioned in the Acts (xix. 24). The material might be wood, or gold, or " silver." The latter material was that which employed the hands of the workmen of Demetrius. From the expressions used by Luke, it is evident that an extensive and lucrative trade grew up at Ephesus from the manufacture and sale of these shrines. Few of those who came to Ephesus would willingly go away without a memorial of the goddess and a model of her temple; and from the wide circulation of these works of art over the shores of the Mediterranean and far into the interior it might be said, with little exaggeration, that her worship was recognized by the " whole world " (Acts xix. 27). The ceremonies of the actual worship at Ephesus were con- ducted by the members of a twofold hierarchy. And here again we see the traces of Oriental rather than Greek influences. The megabyzi^ the priests of Diana, were eunuchs from the interior, under one at their head who bore the title of high priest and ranked among the leading and most influential personages of the city. Along with these priests were associated a swarm of virgin priestesses, consecrated, under the name of melisscBj to the service of the deity, and divided into three classes, and serving, like the priests, under one head; and with the priests and priestesses would be associated (as in all the great temples of antiquity) a great number of slaves, who attended to the various duties con- nected with the worship, down to the care of sweeping and clean- ing the temple. This last phrase leads us to notice an expression used in the Acts of the Apostles concerning the connection of Ephesus with the temple of Diana. The term ^^neocoros/^ or tempk-stveeper^' [vetoKopog^ xix. 85), originally an expression of humility, and applied to the lowest menials engaged in the care of the sacred edifice, became afterward a title of the highest honor, and was eagerly appropriated by the most famous cities. This was the case with Ephesus in reference to her national god- dess. The city was personified as Diana's devotee. The title neocoros was boastfully exhibited on the current coins. Even the free people of Ephesus were sometimes named neocoros,^* Thus, the town-clerk could with good reason begin his speech by the question, " What man is there that knows not that the city of the Ephesians is neocoros of the great goddess Diana and of the image which came down from heaven ? " GOVERNMENT OF EPHESUS. 433 The temple and the temple-seryices remained under the Eomans as they had been since the period of Alexander. If any change had taken place, greater honor was paid to the goddess and richer magnificence added to her sanctuary in proportion to the wider extent to w^hich her fame had been spread. Asia was always a favored province, and Ephesus must be classed among those cities of the Greeks to which the conquerors were willing to pay dis- tinguished respect. Her liberties and her municipal constitution were left untouched when the province was governed by an officer from Eome. To the general remarks which have been made be- fore in reference to Thessalonica, concerning the position of free or autonomous cities under the empire, something more may be added here, inasmuch as some of the political characters of Ephesus ap- pear on the scene which is described in the sacred narrative. We have said, in the passage above alluded to, that free cities under the empire had frequently their senate and assembly. There is abundant proof that this was the case at Ephesus. Its old con- stitution was democratic, as we should expect in a city of the lonians and as we are distinctly told by Xenophon ; and this con- stitution continued to subsist under the Eomans. The senate, of which Josephus speaks, still met in the senate-house, which is alluded to by another writer, and the position of which was prob- ably in the Agora below the theatre. We have still more frequent notices of the demuSj or people, and its assembly. Wherever its customary place of meeting might be when legally and regularly convoked (hvofio) tKKlTjaiaj Acts xix. 39), the theatre would be an obvious place of meeting in the case of a tumultuary gathering like that which will presently be brought before our notice. Again, like other free cities, Ephesus had its magistrates, as Thessalonica had its politarchs and Athens its archons. Among those which our sources of information bring before us are several with the same titles and functions as in Athens. One of these was that officer who is described as ^Hoion- cleric''^ in the authorized ver- sion of the Bible [ypaiifiarevg^ Acts xix. 35). Without being able to determine his exact duties, or to decide whether another term, such as " chancellor or " recorder,'' would better describe them to us, we may assert, from the parallel case of Athens and from the Ephesian records themselves, that he was a magistrate of great authority in a high and very public position. He had to do with state paj ers ; he was keeper of the archives ; he read what was of 28 434 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. moment before the senate and assembly; he was present when money was deposited in the temple ; and when letters were sent to the people of Ephesus they were officially addressed to him. Thus we can readily account for his name appearing so often on the coinn of Ephesus. He seems sometimes to have given the name to the year, like the archons at Athens or the consuls at Rome. Hence no magistrate was more before the public at Ephesus. His very aspect was familiar to all the citizens, and no one was so likely to be able to calm and disperse an angry and excited multitude. (See Acts xix. 35-41.) If we turn now from the city to the province of which it was the metropolis, we are under no perplexity as to its relation to the imperial government. From coins and from inscriptions, from secular writers and Scripture itself (Acts xix. 38), we learn that Asia was a proconsular province. We shall not stay to consider the question which has been raised concerning the usage of the plural in this passage of the Acts, for it is not necessarily implied that more than one proconsul was in Ephesus at the time. But another subject connected with the provincial arrangements re- quires a few words of explanation. The Eoman citizens in a province were, in all legal matters, under the jurisdiction of the proconsul, and for the convenient administration of justice the whole country was divided into districts, each of which had its own assize-town [forum or conventus). The proconsul at stated seasons made a circuit through these districts, attended by his in- terpreter (for all legal business in the empire was conducted in Latin), and those who had subjects of litigation or other cases requiring the observance of legal forms brought them before him or the judges whom he might appoint. Thus Pliny, after the true Roman spirit, in his geographical description of the empire is al- ways in the habit of mentioning the assize-towns and the extent of the shires which surrounded them. In the province of Asia he takes especial notice of Sardis, Smyrna, and Ephesus, and enume- rates the various towns which brought their causes to be tried at these cities. The official visit of the proconsul to Ephesus was necessarily among the most important ; and the town-clerk, in referring to the presence of the proconsuls, could remind his fellow-citizens in the same breath that it was the very time of the assizes [dyopaloL ayovrat^ Acts xix. 38). We have no information as to the time of the year at which the THE aRTEMISIAN FESTIVAL. 435 Epbesian assizes were held. If the meeting took place in spring, they would then be coincident with the great gathering which took place at the celebration of the national games. It seems that the ancient festival of the united lonians had merged into that which was held in honor of the Epbesian Diana. The whole month of May was consecrated to the glory of the goddess, and the month itself received from her the name of Artemision. The Artemisian festival was not simply an Epbesian ceremony, but w^as fostered by the sympathy and enthusiasm of all the surrounding neighborhood. As the temple of Diana was called " the temple of Asia,'^ so this gathering w^as called " the common meeting of Asia." From the towns on the coast and in the interior the lonians came up with their wives and children to witness the gymnastic and musical contests, and to enjoy the various amusements which made the days and nights of May one long scene of revelry. To preside over these games, to provide the necessary expenses, and to see that due order was maintained, annual officers were appointed by election from the whole province. About the time of the vernal equinox each of the principal towns within the district called Asia chose one of its wealthiest citizens, and from the whole number thus returned ten were finally selected to discharge the duty of asiarchs. We find similar titles in use in the neighboring provinces, and read in books or on inscriptions and coins of hithyniarchs, yala- tarchSj lyciarchs^ and syriarchs. But the games of Asia and Ephesus were pre-eminently famous, and those who held there the office of ^'presidents of the games" were men of high distinction and exten- sive influence. Receiving no emolument from their office, but being required rather to expend large sums for the amusement of the people and their own credit, they were necessarily persons of wealth. Men of consular rank were often willing to receive the appointment, and it was held to enhance the honor of any other magistracies with which they might be invested. They held for the time a kind of sacerdotal position, and when, robed in man- tles of purple and crowned with garlands, they assumed the duty of regulating the great gymnastic contests and controlling the tumultuary crowd in the theatre, they might literally be called the "chiefs of Asia" (Acts xix. 31). These notices of the topography and history of Ephesus, of its religious institutions and political condition under the empire, may serve to clear the way for the narrative which we must now 436 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. pursue. We resume the history at the twenty-second verse of the nineteenth chapter of the Acts, where we are told of a continued stay in Asia after the burning of the books of the magicians. Paul was indeed looking forward to a journey through Macedonia and Achaia, and ultimately to Jerusalem and Rome, and in anti- cipation of his departure he had sent two of his companions into Macedonia before him. The events which had previously occurred have already shown us the great effects which his preaching had produced both among the Jews and Gentiles. And those which follow show us still more clearly how wide a " door'^ had been thrown open to the progress of the gospel. The idolatrous prac- tices of Ephesus were so far endangered that the interests of one of the prevalent trades of the place were seriously affected ; and mean- while Paul's character had risen so high as to obtain influence over some of the wealthiest and most powerful personages in the province. The scene which follows is entirely connected with the religious observances of the city of Diana. The Jews fall into the background. Both the danger and safety of the apostle originate with the Gentiles. It seems to have been the season of spring when the occurrences took place which are related by Luke at the close of his nineteenth chapter. We have already seen that he purposed to stay at Ephe- sus "till Pentecost;" and it has been stated that May was the "month of Diana," in which the great religious gathering took place to celebrate the games. If this also was the season of the provincial assize (which, as we have seen, is highly probable), the city would be crowded with various classes of people. Doubtless, those who employed themselves in making the portable shrines of Diana expected to drive a brisk trade at such a time, and when they found that the sale of these objects of superstition was seri- ously diminished, and that the preaching of Paul was the cause of their merchandise being depreciated, " no small tumult arose concerning that way" in which the new teacher was leading his disciples (v. 23). A certain Demetrius, a master-manufacturer in the craft, summoned together his workmen, along with other artisans who were occupied in trades of the same kind — among whom we may reckon with great probability "Alexander the cop- persmith" (2 Tim. iv. 14), against whom the apostle warned Tim- othy at a later period — and addressed to them an inflammatory speech. It is evident that Paul, though he had made no open and TUMULT IN THE THEATRE. 437 calumnious attack on the divinities of the place, as was admitted below (v. 37), had said something like what he had said at Athens — that we ought not to suppose that the Deity is " like gold or silver carved with the art and device of man" (Acts xvii. 29), and that "they are no gods that are made with hands" (v. 26). Such ex- pressions, added to the failure in the profits of those who were listening, gave sufficient materials for an adroit and persuasive speech. Demetrius appealed first to the interest of his hearers, and then to their fanaticism. He told them that their gains were in danger of being lost, and, besides this, that " the temple of the great goddess Diana" (to which we can imagine him pointing as he spoke) was in danger of being despised, and that the honor of their national divinity was in jeopardy, whom not only "all Asia," but "all the civilized world," had hitherto held in the highest veneration. Such a speech could not be lost when thrown like fire on such inflammatory materials. The infuriated feeling of the crowd of assembled artisans broke out at once into a cry in honor of the divine patron of their city and their craft — "Great is Diana of the Ephesians !" The excitement among this important and influential class of operatives was not long in spreading through the whole city. The infection seized upon the crowds of citizens and strangers, and a general rush was made to the theatre, the most obvious place of assembly. On their way they seem to have been foiled in the attempt to lay hold of the person of Paul, though they hurried with them into the theatre two of the companions of his travels, Caius and Aristarchus, whose home was in Macedonia. A ^ense of the danger of his companions and a fearless zeal for the truth urged Paul, so soon as this intelligence reached him, to hasten to the theatre and present himself before the people; but the Christian disciples used all their efforts to restrain him. ler- haps their anxious solicitude might have been unavailing on this occasion, as it was on one occasion afterward, had not other in- fluential friends interposed to preserve his safety. And now is seen the advantage which is secured to a righteous cause by the upright character and unflinching zeal of its leading champ: :n. Some of the asiarchs, whether converted to Christianity or not, had a friendly feeling towards the apostle, and well knowing Ihe passions of an Ephesian mob when excited at one of the festivals of Asia, they sent an urgent message to him to prevent him from 438 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. venturing into the scene of disorder and danger. Thus he reluc- tantly consented to remain in privacy, while the mob crowded violently into the theatre, filling the stone seats tier above tier, and rending the air with their confused and fanatical cries. It was indeed a scene of confusion, and never perhaps was the character of a mob more simply and graphically expressed than when it is said that " the majority knew not why they were come together (v. 32). At length an attempt was made to bring the expression of some articulate words before the assembly. This attempt came from the Jews, who seem to have been afraid lest they should be implicated in the odium which had fallen on the Christians. By no means unwilling to injure the apostle's cause, they were yet anxious to clear themselves, and therefore they "put Alexander forward " to make an apologetic speech to the multi- tude. If this man was really, as we have suggested, "Alexander the coppersmith," he might naturally be expected to have influence with Demetrius and his fellow-craftsmen. But when he stood up and "raised his hand" to invite silence, he was recognized im- mediately by the multitude as a Jew. It was no time for making distinctions between Jews and Christians, and one simultaneous cry arose from every moutli, " Great is Diana of the Ephesians ! " and this cry continued for two hours. The excitement of an angry multitude v/ears out after a time, and a period of reaction comes when they are disposed to listen to words of counsel and reproof. And, whether we consider the official position of the town-clerk or the character of the man as indicated by his speech, we may confidently say that no one in the city was so well suited to appease this Ephesian mob. The speech is a pattern of candid argument and judicious tact. He first allays the fanatical passions of his listeners by this simple appeal: "Is it not notorious everywhere that this city of the Ephesians is neocoros of the great goddess Diana and of the image that came down from the sky ? " The contradiction of a few insignificant strangers could not affect what was notorious in all the world. Then he bids them remember that Paul and his companions had not been guilty of approaching or profaning the temple, or of outraging the feelings of the Ephesians by calumnious expressions against the goddess. And then he turns from the general subject to the case of Demetrius, and points out that the remedy for any injustice was amply provided by the assizes which were then going Paul's departure from ephesus. 439 on, or by an appeal to the proconsul. And, reserving the most efficacious argument to the last, he reminded them that such an uproar exposed the city to the displeasure of the Eomans; for, however great were the liberties allowed to an ancient and loyal city, it was well known to thew^hole population that a tumultuous meeting which endangered the public peace would never be tolerated. So, having rapidly brought his arguments to a climax, he tranquillized the w^hole multitude and pronounced the technical words which declared the assembly dispersed (Acts xix. 41). The stone seats were gradually emptied, the uproar ceased (ib. xx. 1), and the rioters dispersed to their various occupations and amuse- ments. Thus, God used the eloquence of a Greek magistrate to protect his servant, as before he had used the right of Eoman citizenship and the calm justice of a Roman governor. And, as in the cases of Philippi and Corinth, the narrative of Paul's sojourn at Ephesus concludes with the notice of a deliberate and affectionate farewell. The danger was now over. With gratitude to that heavenly Master who had watched over his life and his works, and with a recognition of that love of his fellow-Christians and that favor of the "chief of Asia'' which had been the instruments of his safety, he gathered together the disciples (Acts xx. 1), and in one last affectionate meeting — most probably in the school of Tyrannus — he gave them his farewell salutations, commended them to the grace of God, and parted from them with tears. This is the last authentic account which we possess, if we except the meeting at Miletus (Acts xx. ), of any personal connection of Paul with Ephesus. The other historical associations of Chris- tianity with this city are connected with a different apostle and a later period of the Church. Legend has been busy on this scene M' apostolic preaching and suffering. Without attempting to unravel what is said concerning others who have lived and died at Ephesus, we are allowed to believe that the robber-haunts in tlie mountains around have witnessed some passages in the life of John, that he spent the last year of the first century in this ''metropolis of the Asiatic churches,'' and that his body rests among the sepulchres of Mount Prion. Here we may believe that the Gospel and Epistles were written which teach us that *']ove" is greater than ''faith and hope" (1 Cor. xiii. 18), and 440 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. here, thougli tlie "candlestick" is removed, according to tlie prophetic word (Eev. ii. 5), a monument yet survives, in the hill strewn with the ruins of many centuries, of him who was called " John the Theologian " because he emphatically wrote of the " divinity of our Lord." CHAPTEK XVII. PAUL AT TROAS. — HE PASSES OVER TO MACEDONIA. — CAUSES OF HIS DEJECTION. — HE MEETS TITUS AT PHILIPPI. — WRITES "the second EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS." — COLLECTION FOR THE POOR CHRISTIANS IN JUD^A. — JOURNEY BY ILLYR- ICUM TO GREECE. After his mention of the affectionate parting between Paul and the Christians of Ephesus, Luke tells us very little of the apostle's proceedings during a period of nine or ten months — that is, from the early summer of the year A. D. 57 to the spring of A. D. 68. All the information which we find in the Acts concerning this period is comprised in the following words : " He departed to go into Macedonia, and when he had gone over those parts, and had given them much exhortation, he came into Greece, and there abode three months." Were it not for the information supplied by the Epistles, this is all we should have known of a period wbich was, intellectually at least, the most active and influential of Paul's career. These letters, however, supply us with many additional incidents belonging to this epoch of his life, and, what is more important, they give us a picture drawn by his ow^n hand of his state of mind during an anxious and critical season; they bring him before us in his weakness and in his strength, in his sorrow and in his joy; they show us the causes of his dejection and the source of his consolation. In the first place, we thus learn what we should, a priori, have expected, that he visited Alexandria Troas on his way from Ephesus to Macedonia. In all probability he travelled from the one city to the other by sea, as we know he did on his return in the following year. Indeed, in countries in such a stage of civilization the safest and most expeditious route from one point of the coast to another is generally by water rather than by land ; for the "perils in the sea," though greater in those times than in ours, yet did not so frequently impede the voyager as the "perils 441 442 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. of rivers and " perils of robbers " which beset the traveller by land. We are not informed who were Paul's companions in this jour- ney, but as we find that Tychicus and Trophimus (both Ephesians) were with him at Corinth (Acts xx. 4) during the same apostolic ])rogress, and returned thence in his company, it seems probable that they accompanied him at his departure. We find both of them remaining faithful to him through all the calamities which fol- lowed ; both exerting themselves in his service and executing his orders to the last; both mentioned as his friends and followers almost with his dying breath. In such company Paul come to Alexandria Troas. We have already described the position and character of this city, whence the apostle of the Gentiles had set forth when first he left Asia to fulfil his mission — the conversion of Europe. At that time his visit seems to have been very short, and no results of it are re- corded, but now he remained for a considerable time; he had meant to stay long enough to lay the foundation of a church (see 2 Cor. ii. 12), and would have remained still longer than he did had it not been for the non-arrival of Titus, whom he had sent to Corinth from Ephesus soon after the despatch of the First Epistle; the object of his mission was connected with the great collection now going on for the Hebrew Christians at Jerusalem, but he was also enjoined to enforce the admonitions of Paul upon the Church of Corinth, and endeavor to defeat the effc)rts of their seducers ; and then to return with a report of their conduct, and especially of the effect upon them of the recent Epistle. Titus w^as desired to come through Macedonia, and to rejoin Paul (probably) at Troas, where the latter had intended to arrive shortly after Pente- cost ; but now that he was forced to leave Ephesus prematurely, he had resolved to wait for Titus at Troas, expecting, however, his speedy arrival. In this expectation he was disappointed; week after week passed, but Titus came not. The tidings which Paul expected by him were of the deepest interest ; it w^as to be hoped that he would bring news of the triumph of good over evil at Corinth, yet it might be otherwise; the Corinthians might have forsaken the faith of their first teacher and rejected his messenger. While waiting in this uncertainty Paul appears to have suffered all the sickness of hope deferred: ^'My spirit had no rest, because 1 found not Titus my brother.'^ Nevertheless, his personal anx- THE CHURCH IN PHILIPPI. 443 iety did not prevent his laboring earnestly and successfully in his Master's service. He '^published the glad tidings of Christ'' there as in other places, probably preaching, as usual in the first instance, to the Jews in the synagogue. He met with a ready hearing; **a door was opened to him in the Lord." And thus was laid the foundation of a church which rapidly increased, and which we shall find him revisiting not long afterward. At present, indeed, he was compelled to leave it prematurely, for the necessity of meeting Titus and learning the state of things at Corinth urged him forward. He sailed, therefore, once more from Troas to Mace- donia (a voyage already described in our account of his former journey), and, landing at Neapolis, proceeded immediately to Philippi. We might have supposed that the warmth of affection with which he was doubtless welcomed by his converts here would have soothed the spirit of the apostle and restored his serenity ; for, of all the churches which he founded, the Philippians seem to have been the most free from fault and the most attached to himself. In the Epistle which he wrote to them we find no cen- sure and much praise; and so zealous was their love for I'aul that they alone (of all the churches which he founded) forced him from the very beginning to accept their contributions for his support. Twice while he was at Thessalonica, immediately after their own conversion, they had sent relief to him. Again they did the same while he was at Corinth, working for his daily bread in the manufactory of Aquila. And we shall find them afterward cheer- ing his Roman prison by similar proofs of their loving remem- brance. We might suppose from this that they were a wealthy church ; yet such a supposition is contradicted by the words of Paul, who tells us that " in the heavy trial which had proved their steadfastness the fulness of their joy had overflowed out of the depth of their poverty in the richness of their liberality." In fact, they had been exposed to very severe persecution from the first. "Unto them it was given," so Paul reminds them afterward, "in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake." Perhaps already their leading members had been prosecuted under the Eoman law upon the charge which proved so fatal in after times — of propagating a " new and illegal religion" (religio nova et illicita) ; or if this had not yet occurred, still it is obvious how severe must have been the loss inflicted by the aliena- 444 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. tion of friends and connections; and this would be especially the case with the Jewish converts — such as Lydia — who were probably the only wealthy members of the community, and whose sources of wealth were derived from the commercial relations which bound together the scattered Jews throughout the empire. What they gave, therefore, w^as not out of their abundance, but out of their penury ; they did not grasp tenaciously at the wealth which was slipping from their hands, but they seemed eager to get rid of what still remained. They "remembered the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.'' Paul might have addressed them as another apostle addressed some who were like-minded with them : " Ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring sub- stance.'' Such w^ere the zealous and loving friends who now embraced their father in the faith, yet the warmth of their welcome did not dispel the gloom which hung over his spirit, although amongst them he found Timotheus also, his "beloved son in the Lord,'* the most endeared to him of all his converts and companions. The whole tone of the Second Epistle to Corinth shows the de- pression under which he was laboring ; and he expressly tells the Corinthians that this state of feeling lasted not only at Troas, but also after he reached Macedonia. "When first I came into Mace- donia," he says, " my flesh had no rest ; without were fightings, within were fears." And this had continued until "God, who comforts them that are cast down, comforted me by the coming of Titus." It has been sometimes supposed that this dejection was occa- sioned by an increase of the chronic malady under w4nch Paul suffered, and it seems not unlikely that this cause may have con- tributed to the result. He speaks much, in the Epistle written from Philippi, of the frailty of his bodily health ; and in a very affecting passage he describes the earnestness with which he had besought his Lord to take from him this "thorn in the flesh," this disease which continually impeded his efforts and shackled his energy. We can imagine how severe a trial to a man of his ardent temper such a malady must have been. Yet this alone would scarcely account for his continued depression, especially after the assurance he had received that the grace of Christ was TIDINGS FROM CORINTH. 445 Bufficient for him — that the vessel of clay was not too fragile for the Master's work — that the weakness of his body would but the more manifest the strength of God's Spirit. The real weight which pressed upon him was the " care of all the churches the real cause of his grief was the danger which now threatened the souls of his converts, not in Corinth only or in Galatia, but every- where throughout the empire. We have already described the nature of this danger and seen its magnitude ; we have seen how critical was the period through which the Christian Church was now passing. The true question (which Paul was enlightened to comprehend) was no less than this — whether the catholic Church should be dwarfed into a Jewish sect; whether the religion of spirit and of truth should be supplanted by the worship of letter and of form. The struggle at Corinth, the result of which he was now anxiously awaiting, was only one out of many similar struggles between Judaism and Christianity. These were the fightings without" which filled him with fears within these were the agitations which "gave his flesh no rest'' and troubled him on every side.'' At length the long-expected Titus arrived at Philippi, and re- lieved the anxiety of his master by better tidings than he hoped to hear. The majority of the Corinthian Church had submitted to the injunctions of Paul, and testified the deepest repentance for the sins into which they had fallen. They had passed sentence of excommunication upon the incestuous person, and they had already contributed towards the collection for the poor Christians of Palestine. But there was still a minority whose opposition seemed to have been rather embittered than humbled by the sub- mission which the great body of the Church had thus yielded. They proclaimed in a louder and more contemptuous tone than ever their accusations against the apostle. They charged him' with craft in his design, and with selfish and mercenary motives — a charge which they probably maintained by insinuating that he was personally interested in the great collection which he was raising. We have seen what scrupulous care Paul took to keep his integrity in this matter above every shade of suspicion, and we shall find still further proof of this as we proceed. Meanwhile, it is obvious how singularly inconsistent this accusation was in the mouths of those who eagerly maintained that Paul could be no true apostle because he did not demand support from the churches which he 446 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. founded. The same opponents accused him likewise of egregious vanity and of cowardly weakness ; they declared that he was con- tinually threatening without striking, and promising without per- forming; always on his way to Corinth, but never venturing to come; and that he was as vacillating in his teaching as in his ^;ractice, refusing circumcision to Titus, yet circumcising Timothy; a Jew among the Jews and a Gentile among the Gentiles. it is an important question to which of the divisions of the Corinthian Church these obstinate opponents of Paul belonged. From the notices of them given by Paul himself, it seems certain that they were Judaizers (see Cor. xx. 22), and, still further, that they were of the Christine section of that party (see 2 Cor. xi. 7). It also appears that they were headed by an emissary from Pales- tine (o £px<^j^£voc, 2 Cor. xi. 4) who had brought letters of com- mendation from some members of the Church at Jerusalem, and who boasted of his pure Hebrew descent and his especial connec- tion with Christ himself. Paul calls him a false apostle, a minister of Satan disguised as a minister of righteousness, and hints that he was actuated by corrupt motives. He seems to have behaved at Corinth with extreme arrogance, and to have succeeded by his overbearing conduct in impressing his partisans with a conviction of his importance and of the truth of his pretensions. They con- trasted his confident bearing with the timidity and self-distrust which had been shown by Paul. And they even extolled his per- sonal advantages over their first teacher, comparing his rhetoric with Paul's inartificial speech, his commanding appearance with the insignificance of Paul's "bodily presence.'' Titus, having delivered to Paul this mixed intelligence of the state of Corinth, was immediately directed to return thither (in company with two deputies specially elected to take charge of their contribution by the Macedonian churches) in order to con- tinue the business of the collection. Paul made him the bearer of another letter, which is addressed (still more distinctly than the First Epistle) not to Corinth only, but to all the churches in the whole province of Achaia, including Athens and Cenchrese, and perhaps also Sicyon, Argos, Megara, Patrse, and other neighboring towns; all of which probably shared more or less in the agitation which so powerfully affected the Christian community at Corinth. The twofold character of this Epistle is easily explained by the existence of the majority and minority which we have described SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 447 in the Corinthian Church. Towards the former the Epistle over- flows with love; towards the latter it abounds with warning and menace. The purpose of the apostle was to encourage and tran- quillize the great body of the Church, but at the same time he was constrained to maintain his authority against those who persisted in despising the commands of Christ delivered by his mouth. It was needful, also, that he should notice their false accusations, and that (undeterred by the charge of vanity which they brought) he should vindicate his apostolic character by a statement of facts and a threat of punishment to be inflicted on the contumacious. With these objects he wrote as follows : SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. I. 1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, Salutation, and Timotheus the brother, to the Church of God which is in Cor- inth, and to all Christ's people throughout the whole province of Achaia. 2 Grace be unto you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ. 3 Thanks be to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Thanksgiving 4 Christ, the Father of compassion, and the God of all an'ce troni great comfort, who consoles me in all my tribulation, thereby couluiar Asia?" enabling me to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the same comfort wherewith I am myself comforted by God. 5 For as the sufferings of Christ have come upon me above measure, 6 so by Christ also my consolation is above measure multiplied. But if, on the one hand, I am afflicted, it is for your consolation and sal- vation (which works within you a patient endurance of the same suf- ferings which I also suffer ; so that my hope is steadfast on your 7 behalf) ; and if, on the other hand, I am comforted, it is for your consolation, because I know that as you partake of my sufferings, 8 so you partake also of my comfort. For I would have you know, brethren, concerning the tribulation which befell me in the province of Asia, that I was exceedingly pressed down by it beyond my 9 strength to bear, so as to despair even of life. Yea, by my own self I was already doomed to death; that I might rely no more upon JO myself, but upon God who raises the dead to life, and who delivered 11 me from a death so grievous, and does yet deliver me; in whom I have hope that he will still deliver me for the time to come ; you also 448 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. helping me by your supplications, that thanksgivings may from many tongues be offered up on my behalf, for the blessing gained to me by many prayers. 12 For this day is my boast, the testimony of my con- Self-defence .-11 11 11 n against accu.-a- science, that I have dealt with the world, and above all tion ot douoJe- with you, in godly honesty and singleness of mind, not in the strength of carnal wisdom, but in the strength of God's grace. 13 For I write nothing else to you but what you read openly, yea and what you acknowledge inwardly, and I hope that even to the end 14 you will acknowledge, as some of you have already acknowledged, that I am your boast, even as you are mine, in the day of our Lord Jesus. 15 And in this confidence it was my wish to come first Reason for the to you, that afterward you might have a second benefit, of ^lus" vSit "to 16 For I meant to go by you into Macedonia, and to re- turn from Macedonia to you, and by you to be forwarded on my way 17 to Judaea. Am I accused then of forming this purpose in levity and caprice ? or is my purpose carnal, to please all, by saying at once both 18 yea and nay ? Yet as God is faithful, my words to you are no [de- 19 ceitful] mixture of yea and nay. For when the Son of God, Jesus Christ, was proclaimed among you by us (by me, I say, and Silvanus, and Timotheus), in him was found no wavering between yea and nay, 20 but in him was yea alone ; for all the promises of God have in him the yea [which seals their truth], and in him the Amen [which ac- knowledges their fulfilment), uttered to the praise of God by our 21 voice. But God is he who keeps both us and you steadfast to his 22 Anointed, and we also are anointed by him. And he has set the mark of his own seal upon us, and has given us his Spirit to dwell in 23 our hearts, as the earnest of his promises. But for my own part, I call God to witness, as my soul shall answer for it, that I gave up my puj'pose of visiting Corinth because I wished to spare you pain. 24 I speak not as though your faith was enslaved to my authority, but because I desire to help your joy ; for your faith [I know] is stead- fast. II. 1,2 But I determined not again to visit you in grief, for if I cause you grief, who is there to cause me joy, but those whom I have grieved? 3 And for this very reason I wrote to you instead of coming, that I might not receive grief from those who ought to give me joy ; and I 4 confide in you all that my joy is yours. For I wrote to you out of much afiliction and anguish of heart, with many tears ; not to pain you, but that you might know the abundance of my love. SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 449 5 As concerns him who has caused the pain, it is not Pardon of the ^ incestuous per- me that he has pained, but some of you ; [some, I say,] son. 6 that I may not press too harshly upon all. For the offender himself, this punishment, which has already been inflicted on him by the sen- 7 tence of the majority, is sufficient without increasing it. On the con- trary, you ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest he should 8 be overwhelmed by the greatness of his sorrow. Wherefore I beseech 9 you fully to restore him to your love. For the very end which I sought when I wrote before, was to test you in this matter, and learn 10 whether you would be obedient in all things. But whomsoever you 11 forgive, I forgive also ; for whatever I have forgiven, I have forgiven on your account in the sight of Christ, that we may not be robbed [of our brother] by Satan ; for we are not ignorant of his devices. 12 When I had come to Troas to publish the glad cause of his tidings of Christ, and a door was opened to me in the 13 Lord, I had no rest in my spirit because I found not Titus my brother ; so that I parted from them, and came from thence into Macedonia. 14 But thanks be to God who leads me on from place to place in the train of his triumph, to celebrate his victory over the enemies of Christ ; and by me sends forth the knowledge of him, a steam of fra- 15 grant incense, throughout the world. For Christ's is the fragrance which I offer up to God, whether among those in the way of salva- 16 tion, or among those in the way of perdition ; but to these it is an odor of death, to those of life. 17 And [if some among you deny my sufficiency], who ^^J[®nn\?^ *^in then is sufficient for these thin<)js ? For I seek no prof- wtiich he dis- ^ ^ charc^ed his it (like most) by setting the word of God to sale, but office, I speak from a single heart, from the command of God, contrasted^with . T, 1 . ^ 11 1 . . 1 ^.t . that of the Mo- as m God s presence, and m fellowship with Christ. saic dispensa- tion. III. 1 Will you say that I am again beginning to commend myself? Or think you that I need letters of commendation (like some other men) 2 either to you, or from you ? Nay, ye are yourselves my letter of commendation, a letter written on my lieart, known and read by all 3 men ; a letter coming manifestly from Christ, and committed to my charge ; written not with ink, but with the spirit of the living God ; not ux)on tablets of stone, but upon the fleshly tablets of the heart. 4 But through Christ have I this confidence before God ; not thinking 5 myself sufficient to gain wisdom by my own reasonings, as if it came 6 from myself, but drawing my sufficiency from God. For he it is who has made me suffice for the ministration of a new covenant, a cove- 29 450 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. nant not of letter, but of spirit; for tlie letter gives the doom of 7 death, but tlie spirit gives the power of life. Yet if a glory was shed upon the ministration of the Law of death (a Law written in let- ters, and graven upon stones), so that the children of Israel could not fix their eyes on the face of Moses, for the glory of his counte- 8 nance, although its brightness was soon to fade ; how far more glorious 9 must the ministration of the spirit be. For if the ministration of doom had glory, far more must the ministration of righteousness 10 abound in glory. Yea, that which then was glorified with bright- ness, is now turned into darkness, by the surpassing glory wherewith 11 it is compared. For if a glory shone upon that which was doomed to pass away, much more shall glory rest upon that which remains 12 for ever. Therefore, having this hope [in the abiding glory of the 13 new covenant], I speak and act without disguise; and not like Moses, who spread a veil over his face, that the children of Israel 14 might not see the end of that fading brightness. But their minds were blinded ; yea to this day, when they read in their synagogues the ancient covenant, the same veil rests thereon, nor can they see 1 5 beyond it that the Law is done away in Christ ; but even now, when 16 Moses is read in their hearing, a veil lies upon their heart. But 17 when they turn to the I^ord Jesus, the veil is rent away. Now the Lord is the Spirit ; and where the Spirit of the Lord abides, there 18 bondage gives place to freedom ; and we all, while with face unveiled we behold as in a mirror the brightness of our Lord's glory, are our- selves transformed into the same likeness; and the glory which shines upon us is reflected by us, even as it proceeds from the Lord, the Spirit. IV. 1 Therefore having this ministry, I discharge it with no faint-hearted 2 fears, remembering the mercy which I received. I have renounced the secret dealings of shame, I walk not in the paths of cunning, I adulterate not God's message ; but openly setting forth the truth, as in the sight of God, I commend myself to the conscience of all men. 3 But if there be still a veil which hides my glad tidings from some who hear me, it is among those who are in the way of perdition ; 4 whose unbelieving minds the God of this passing world has blinded, and shut out the light of the glad tidings, even the glorious bright- 5 ness of Christ, who is the image of God. For I proclaim not myself, but Christ Jesus as Lord and Master, and myself your bondsman for 6 the sake of Jesus. For God, who called forth light out of darkness, has caused liis light to shine in my heart, that the knowledge of his SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 451 glory manifested in tlie face of Jesus Christ might be shed forth [upon others also]. 7 But this treasure is lodged in a body of fragile clay, in sicknens and , , , in danger his that so the surpassing might which aids me should be strength is 1 T 11 1 ^'""^ '''^^ power 8 God s, and not my own. i am hard pressed, yet not of Christ and 9 crushed; helpless, yet not hopeless; persecuted, yet eknncariiil. ^ 10 not forsaken ; cast down, yet not destroyed. I bear about continually in my body the dying of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might in 11 my body be shown forth. For I, in the midst of life, am daily given over to death for the sake of Jesus, that in my dying flesh the life whereby Jesus conquered death might show forth its power. 12 So then death working in me, works life in you. Yet having the 13 same spirit of faith whereof it is written, I had faith, and therefore 14 have I spoken/^ I also have faith, and therefore speak. For I know that He who raised our Lord Jesus from the dead, shall raise me also by Jesus, and shall call me into his presence togetlier with you ; 15 for all my sufferings are on your behalf, that the mercy which has abounded above them all, might call forth your thankfulness ; that so the fulness of praise might be poured forth to God, not by myself 16 alone, but multiplied by many voices. Wherefore I faint not ; but though my outward man decays, yet my inward man is renewed from 17 day to day. For my light afflictions, which last but for a moment, 18 work for me a weight of glory, immeasurable and eternal. Mean- while I look not to things seen, but to things unseen : for the things that are seen pass away; but the things that are unseen endure for ever. V. 1 Yea, I know that if the tent which is my earthly house be de- stroyed, I have a mansion built by God, a house not made with hands, 2 eternal, in the heavens. And for this I groan with earnest longings, desiring to cover my earthly raiment with the robes of my heavenly 3 marLsion. (If indeed I shall be found still clad in my fleshly gar- 4 ment.) For we who are dwelling in the tent, groan and are bur- dened ; not desiring to put off* our earthly clothing, but to put over it our heavenly raiment, that this our dying nature miglit be swal- 5 lowed up by life. And He who has prepared me for this very end is God, who has given me the Spirit as the earnest of my hope. 6 Therefore, in all my perils I am of good courage, knowing that while 7 my home is in the body I am in banishment from my Lord ; (for I 8 walk by faith, not by sight). Yea, my heart fails me not, but I would gladly suffer banishment from the body, and have my home with 9 Christ. Therefore I strive earnestly that, whether in banishment or 452 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. 10 at home, I may be pleasing in his sight. For we must all be made manifest without disguise before the judgment-seat of Christ, that each may receive according to that which he has done in the body, either good or evil. 11 Knowing therefore the fearfulness of the Lord's His earnestness judgment, though I seek to win men, yet my upright- sense'^of his re- ness is manifest in the sight of God ; and I hope also ch7ist!^^^\'viiose that it is manifested by the witness of your consciences. be^s^^^amT by 12 I write not thus to repeat my own commendation, but whom hiswhiie that I may furnish you with a ground of boasting on cilaugVd^^ my behalf, that you may have an answer for those whose boasting is in the outward matters of sight, not in the inward 1 3 possessions of the heart. For if I be mad, it is for God's cause ; if 14 sober, it is for yours. For the love of Christ constrains me, because I thus judge, that if one died for all, then his death was their death ; 15 and that he died for all, that the living might live no longer to them- selves, but to him, who, for their sakes, died and rose again. 16 I therefore, from henceforth, view no man carnally ; yea, though once my view of Christ was carnal, yet now it is no longer carnal. 17 Whosoever, then, is in Christ, is created anew ; his old being has 18 passed away, and behold, all has become new. But all comes, from God, for he it is who reconciled me to himself by Jesus Christ, and 19 charged me with the ministry of reconciliation; for God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, reckoning their sins no more against them, and he made it my task to bear the message of recon- 20 ciliation. Therefore I am an ambassador for Christ, as though God besought you by my voice ; in Christ's stead I beseech you, be ye 21 reconciled to God. For Him who knew no sin God struck with the doom of sin on our behalf ; that we might be changed into the right- eousness of God in Christ. VI. 1 Moreover, as working together with him, I also exhort you, that 2 the grace which you have received from God be not in vain. For he saith, " I have heard thee in an acceptable time, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee J' Behold, now is the acceptable time j behold, now is the day of salvation. ^, Meanwhile I take heed to give no cause of stumb- vindication of ling, lest blame sliould be cast on the ministration with wliich he 4 wlierein I serve ; but in all things I commend myself hj's^ d li't yt'fnd as one who ministers to God's service ; in patient en- affection o/ his 5 durance, in afllictions, in necessities, in straitness of converts, distress, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleep- SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 6 less watchings, in hunger and thirst ; in purity, in knowledge, in long-suffering, in kindness, in [the gifts of] the Holy Spirit, in love 7 unfeigned ; speaking the word of truth, working with the power of God, figliting with the weapons of righteousness, both sword and 8 shield ; through good report and evil, through honor and through 9 infamy; counted as a deceiver, yet being true; as unknown [by men], yet acknowledged [by God] ; as ever dying, yet behold I live ; 10 as chastened by suffering, yet not destroyed ; as sorrowful, yet ever filled with joy ; as poor, yet making many rich ; as having nothing, yet possessing all things. 11 Corinthians, my mouth has spoken to you freely — my heart has 12 opened itself fully towards you. You find no narrowness in my love, 13 but the narrowness is in your own. I pray you therefore in return for my affection (I speak as to my children), let your hearts be opened in like manner. 14 Cease to yoke yourselves unequally in ill-matched Exhortation to intercourse with unbelievers ; for what fellowship has daiziifg'^ party righteousness with unrighteousness? what communion toThmfairfei- 15 has light with darkness? what concord has Christ with ^^^^^^^^ ^[cl! ^ Belial ? what partnership has a believer with an un- 16 believer? what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For ye are yourselves a temple of the living God, as God said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and 1 will be their God, and they shall 17 he my peopleJ' Wherefore, Come out from among them, arid be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will 18 receive you.''' And ^' I will he unto you a father, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. '' YIL 1 Having therefore these promises (my beloved children), let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement, either of flesh or spirit, and perfect our holiness, in the fear of God. 2 Give me a favorable hearing. I have wronged no Satisfaction at man, I have done hurt to no man, I have defrauded no br^ougtt ^b^y 3 man ; yet I say not this to condemn you [as though I hith! ^^^^ had myself been wronged by you], for I have said 4 before that I have you in my heart, to live and die with you. Great is my freedom towards you, great is my boasting of you ; I am filled with the comfort wliich you have caused me ; I have more than an 5 overweight of joy, for all the affliction which has befallen me. When first I came into Macedonia my flesh had no rest, but I was troubled 6 on every side ; without were fightings, within were fears. But God 454 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. who comforts them that are cast down, comforted me by the coming 7 of Titus ; and not by his coming only, but by the comfort which he felt on your account, and the tidings which he brought of your long- ing for my love, your mourning for my reproof, your zeal for my cause ; 8 so that my sorrow has been turned into joy. And I do not now re- gret (although I did before regret) that I wrote the letter which has given you pain (for I see that you were pained by that letter, though 9 it was but for a season) ; — not that I rejoice in your sorrow, but be- cause it led you to repentance ; for the sorrow which I caused you was a godly sorrow ; so that I might nowise harm you [even when T 10 grieved you]. For godly sorrow works repentance not to be repented of, leading to salvation ; but worldly sorrow works naught but death, 11 Consider what was wrought among yourselves when you were grieved with a godly sorrow ; what earnestness it wrought in you, yea, what eagerness to clear yourselves from blame, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment of wrong. You have cleared yourselves altogether from every stain of guilt in this 12 matter. Know, therefore, that although I wrote to rebuke you, it was not so much to punish the wrongdoer, nor to avenge him who suffered the wrong, but that my earnest zeal for you in the sight of God might be manifest to yourselves. 13 This, therefore, is the ground of my comfort; but besides my con- solation on your account, I was beyond measure rejoiced by the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by the conduct of you all. 14 For whatever boast of you I may have made to him, I have not been put to shame. But as all I ever said to you was spoken in truth, so 15 also my boasting of you to Titus has been proved a truth. And his heart is more than ever drawn towards you, while he calls to mind the obedience of you all, and the anxiety and self-distrust wherewith 16 you received him. I rejoice that I can now confide in you altogether. VIII. 1 I desire, brethren, to make known to you the mani- Explanations ' ' and directions festation of God's crrace, which has been given in the concerning the ^ , . . . collection for 2 churches of Macedonia. For in the heavy trial which the poor chris- . . tians in Jerusa- has proved their steadfastness, the fulness of their joy lem. has overflowed out of the depth of their poverty, in the richness of 3 their liberality. They have given (I bear them witness) not only according to their means, but beyond their means, and that of their 4 own free will ; for they besought me with much entreaty that they might bear their part in the grace of ministering to Christ^s people SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 455 5 And far beyond my hope, tliey gave their very selves to the Lord 6 Jesus first, and to me also, by the will of God. So that I have de- sired Titus [to revisit you], that as he caused you to begin this work, so he may lead you to finish it, that this grace may not be wanting in 7 you ; but that, as you abound in all gifts, in faith and utterance, and knowledge and earnest zeal, and in the love which joins your hearts 8 with mine, so you may abound in this grace also. I say not tliis by way of command ; but by the zeal of others I would prove the reality 9 of your love. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, how, though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, that yon, 10 by his poverty, might be made rich. And I give you my advice in this matter ; for it becomes you to do thus, inasmuch as you began not only the contribution, but the purpose of making it, before others, 11 in the year which is past. Now, therefore, fulfil your purpose by your deeds, that as you then showed your readiness of will, so now 12 you may finish the work, according to your means. For if there be a willing mind, the gift is acceptable when measured by the giver's 13 power, and needs not to go beyond. Nor is this collection made that others may be eased, and you distressed, but to make your burdens 14 equal, that, as now your abundance supplies their need, your own need may at another time be relieved in equal measure by their 15 abundance, as it is written, "IZe that gathered much had nothing over ; 16 and he that gathered little had no lack.^^ But, thanks be to God, tliat he has put into the heart of Titus the same zeal as I have on your 17 behalf; for he not only has consented to my desire, but is himself 18 very zealous in the matter, and goes to you of his own accord. And I have sent as his companion the brother who is with him, whose praise in publishing the glad tidings is spread throughout all tlie 19 churches, and who has moreover been chosen by the churches [of Macedonia] to accompany me in my journey (when I bear this gift, which I have undertaken to administer) ; that our Lord Jesus might be glorified, and that I might undertake the task with more good 20 will. For I guard myself against all suspicion which might be cast upon me in my administration of this bounty with which I am 21 charged ; being careful to do all things in a seemly manner, not 22 only in the sight of our Lord, but also in the sight of men. The brother whom I have sent likewise with them, is one whom I have put to the proof in many trials, and found always zealous in the work, but who is now yet more zealous from the foil trust which he 23 has in you. Concerning Titus, then (on the one hand), he is part- ner of my lot, and fellow-laborer with me for your good ; concerning our brethren (on the other hand), they are ambassadors of the 456 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. 24 clmrclies, — a manifestation of the glory of Christ. I beseech you, therefore, to justify my boasting on your behalf, in the sight of the churches whence they come, by proofs of your love to them. IX. 1 For of your ministration to Chrisf s people [at Jerusalem] it is needless that I should write to you ; since I know the forwardness of 2 your mind, and boast of it to the Macedonians, saying that Achaia has been ready ever since last year ; and the knowledge of your zeal 8 has roused the most of them to follow it. But I have sent the breth- ren, lest my report of you in this matter should be turned into an empty boast ; that you may be truly ready, as I have declared you 4 to be. Lest perchance the Macedonians, who may come with me to visit you, should find you not yet ready, and so shame should fall upon me (for I will not say upon you) by the failure of this boast, 5 whereon I founded my appeal to them. Therefore, I thought it needful to desire these brethren to visit you before my coming, and to arrange beforehand the completion of this bounty which you before promised to have in readiness ; so it be really given by your bounty, 6 not wrung from your covetousness. But remember, he who sows sparingly shall reap sparingly ; and he who sows bountifully shall 7 reap bountifully. Let each do according to the free choice of his heart ; not grudgingly, or of necessity ; for " God loveih a cheerful 8 giver. '^^ And God is able to give you an overflowing measure of all good gifts, that all your wants may be supplied, and you may give of 9 your abundance to every good work. As it is written, " The good man hath scattered abroad, he hath given to the poor ; his righteousness re- 10 mainefhfor everJ' Now may He who furnisheth "seec? to the sower, and bread for the food of man/^ furnish you with plenteous store of 11 seed, and bless your righteousness with fruits of increase. May you be enriched with all good things, and give them freely with single- ness of mind ; causing thanksgivings to God from those to whom I 12 bear your gifts. For the administration of this service not only fills . up the measure of the necessities of Christ's people, but also over • 13 flows beyond it, in many thanks to God; while they praise God for the proof thus given of the obedience wherewith you have consented to the glad tidings of Christ, and for the single-minded liberality 14 which you have shown both to them and to all. Moreover, in their prayers for you they express the earnest longings of their love towards you, called forth through the surpassing grace of God manifested in 15 you. Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift. SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 457 X. 1 Now 1, Paul, myself exhort you by the meekness ^^^^""characl'iJ and gentleness of Christ — (I, who am mean, forsooth, ^"fj/^iJogy^o* and lowly in outward presence, while I am among you, the false teach- ^ ' \ 1 ^"^^ ^^^^ clepre- 2 yet treat you boldly when I am absent) — I beseech you dated him. (I say), that you will not force me to show, when I come, the bold reliance on my own authority, wherewith I reckon to deal with 3 some who measure me by the standard of the flesh. For, though living in the flesh, my warfare is not waged according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons which I wield are not of fleshly weakness, but mighty in the strength of God to overthrow the strongholds of the 6 adversaries. Thereby can I overthrow the reasonings of the disputer, and pull down the lofty bulwarks which raise themselves against the knowledge of God, and bring every rebellious thought into captivity 6 and subjection to Christ. And when the obedience of your cluirch shall be complete, I am still ready to punish all those who remain disobedient. 7 Do you look at matters of outward advantage ? If there be any among you who boasts that he belongs above the rest- to Christ, I bid him once more to consider my words, that if he belong to Christ, so 8 do I no less. For although I were to boast somewhat highly con- cerning the authority which the Lord Jesus has given me (not to cast you down, but to build you up), my words would not be shamed by 9 the truth. I say this, lest you should imagine that I am writing 10 empty threats to terrify you. "For his letters," says one, "are written with authority and firmness, but his bodily presence is weak, 11 and his speech contemptible." Let such a man assure himself that the words which I write while absent shall be borne out by my deeds 12 when present. For I venture not to number or compare myself with those among you who prove their worth by their self-commendation ; but they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing them- 13 selves with themselves, are guilty of folly. But I, for my part, will not let my boasting carry me beyond all measure, but will confine it within that measure given me by God, who made my line reach even 14 to you. For I stretch not myself beyond due bounds (as though I leached you not) ; for I have already come as far even as Corinth to 15 publish the glad tidings of Christ. I am not boasting beyond my measure, for the labors of others ; but I hope that if your faith goes 16 on increasing among yourselves, I shall be still further honored, within the limits appointed to me, by bearing the glad tidings to the countries beyond you ; not by boasting of work made ready to my 17 hand within the field assigned to another. Meantime, "jF/e thai 458 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. 18 boasleihj let him boast in the Loi^dJ* For a man is proved worthy, not when he commends himself, but when he is commended by his Lord. XL 1 Would that ye could bear with me a little in my folly ! Yea, ye 2 already bear with me. For I love you with a godly jealousy, because I betrothed you to one only husband, even to Christ, that I might 3 present you unto him in virgin purity ; but now I fear lest, as Eve was beguiled by the craftiness of the serpent, so your imaginations should be corrupted, and you should be seduced from your single- 4 minded faithfulness to Christ. For even if he that is come among you proclaims to you another Jesus, of whom I told you not, or if you receive from him the gift of another Spirit, which you received not before, or a new glad tidings, which you never heard from me, 5 yet you would fitly bear with me ; for I reckon myself no whit behind 6 those who are counted such chief apostles. Yea, though I be un- skilled in the arts of speech, yet I am not wanting in the gift of knowledge; but I have manifested it to you in all things, and 7 amongst all men. Or is it a sin [which must rob me of the name of apostle] that I have proclaimed to you, without fee or reward, the glad tidings of God, and have abased myself that you might be ex- 8 alted ? Other churches I have spoiled, and taken their wages to do 9 you service. And when I was with you, though I was in want, I pressed not upon any of you ; for the brethren, when they came from Macedonia, supplied my needs ; and I kept, and will keep myself 10 altogether from casting a burden upon you. As the truth of Christ is in me, no deed of mine shall rob me of this boasting in the region 11 of Achaia. And why? Because I love you not? God knows my 12 love. But what I do I will continue to do, that I may cut off all ground from those who wish to find something whereon they may rest a slander ; and let them show the same cause for their boasting 13 as I for mine. For men like these are false apostles, deceitful work- 14 men, clothing themselves in the garb of Christ's apostles. And no wonder; for even Satan can transform himself into an angel of light. 15 It is not strange, then, if his servants disguise themselves as servants of righteousness ; but their end shall be according to their works. 16 I entreat you all once more not to count me for a fool ; or, if you think me such, yet bear with me in my folly, while I, too, boast a 17 little of myself. But, in so doing, I speak not in the Spirit of Christ, but, as it were, in folly, while we stand upon this ground of boasting ; 18 for, since many are boasting in the spirit of the flesh, I will boast 19 likewise. And I know that you bear kindly with fools, as beseems SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 459 20 the w ise. Nav, you bear with men, though they enslave you, though they devour you, though they entrap you, though they exalt them- 21 selves over you, though they smite you on the face, (I speak of deg- radation), as though I were weak [and they were strong]. And yet, if any think they have grounds of boldness, I too (I speak in folly) 22 have grounds to be as bold as they. Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they children of Israel ? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham ? 23 so am I. Are they servants of Christ ? (I speak as though I were beside myself), such, far more, am I. In labors more abundant, in 24 stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. (Five 25 times I received from Jews the forty stripes save one ; thrice I was scourged witlx the Koman rods ; once I was stoned ; thrice I suffered 26 shipwreck ; a night and a day I spent in the open sea.) In journey- ings often ; in perils of rivers, in perils of robbers ; in perils from my countrymen, in perils from the heathen; in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea ; in perils among false 27 brethren. In toil and weariness, often in sleepless watchings; in hunger and thirst, often without bread to eat ; in cold and nakedness. 28 And besides all the rest, there is the crowd which presses upon me daily, and the care of all the churches. Who is weak, but I share 29 his weakness ? Who is caused to fall, but I burn with indignation ? 30 If I must needs boast, it shall not be in my strength, but in my weak- 31 ness. God, who is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, He who is blessed for ever, knows that I lie not. 32 In Damascus, the governor under Aretas, the king, kept watch 33 over the city with a garrison, purposing to apprehend me ; and I was let down by the wall, through a window, in a basket, and thus [not by my strength, but by my weakness,] I escaped his hands. It is not for me, then to boast. XII. 1 But I will come also to visions and revelations of the Lord Jesus. 2 I know a man who was caught up fourteen years ago (whether in the body or out of the body, I cannot tell, God knoweth ), — caught up, I 3 say, in the power of Christ, even to the third heaven. And I know that such a man (whether in the body or out of the body I cannot 4 tell ; God knoweth) was caught up into Paradise, and heard unspeak- 6 able words which it is not lawful for man to utter. Of such a man, I will boast; but of myself I will not boast, save in the tokens of my 6 weakness. If I should choose to boast, I should not be guilty of empty vanity, for I should speak the truth ; but I forbear to speak, that I may not cause any man to think of me more highly than when 7 he sees my deeds or hears my teaching. And lest, through the ex- 460 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. ceeding greatness of these revelations, I should be lifted up with pride, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, 8 to huffet me and keep down my pride. And thrice I besought the 9 Lord Jesus concerning it, that it might depart from me ; but he said to me, " My grace is sufficient for thee ; for my strength shows its full might in weakness.'' Most gladly, therefore, will 1 boast rather in my weakness than in my strength, that the strength of Christ may 10 rest upon me, and dwell in me. Therefore I rejoice in signs of weak- ness, in outrage, in necessities, in persecutions, in straitness of dis- tress, endured for Christ ; for when I am weakest, then am I strongest. 11 I have been guilty of folly in boasting, but you have forced me to it ; for I ought myself to have been commended by you ; for I have come no whit behind those who are reckoned such chief apostles, 12 although I be of no account. The marks, at least, of an apostle were seen in the deeds which I wrought among you, in signs and wonders, 13 and miracles, with steadfast endurance of persecution. Wherein had you the disadvantage of other churches, unless, indeed, that I did not burden you with my own maintenance ; forgive me, I pray, this 14 wrong which I have done you. Behold, I am now for the third time preparing to visit you, and I propose to cast no burden upon you ; for I seek not your substance, but yourselves. And children 15 should not lay up wealth for parents, but parents for children. Nay, rather, most gladly will I spend, yea, and myself be spent, for your souls, though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved. 16 But though it be granted that I did not burden you myself, yet perchance this was my cunning, whereby I entrapped your simplicity. 17 Did I then defraud you of your wealth by some of the messengers 18 whom I sent to you ? I desired Titus to visit you, and, with him, I sent the brother, his fellow-traveller. Did Titus defraud you ? Did we not act in the same spirit ? Did we not walk in the same steps ? 19 Do you again imagine that it is before you I defend ne warns the myself? Nay, before God I speak, in fellowship with moral minority Christ ; but doing all, beloved, for your Sakes, that you i^e' constrained 20 may be built up. For I fear lest perchance when I \^ Ky' come I should find you not such as I could wish, and ^"e^ceV that you also should find from me other treatment than you desire. I fear to find you full of strife, jealousies, passions, in- 21 trigues, slanderings, backbitings, vaunting, sedition. I fear lest when I come, my God will again humble me by your faults, and I shall be compelled to mourn over many among those who had sinned before my last visit, and have not repented of the uncleanness, and fornication, and wantonness which they committed. CONTRIBUTION FOE POOR JEWISH CHRISTIANS. 461 XIII. 1 I now come to you for the third time. " Out. of the mouth of two or 2 three witnesses shall every word be confirm edJ^ I have warned you formerly, and I now forewarn you, as when I was present the second time, so now, while I am absent, saying to those who had sinned before my last visit, and to all the rest of the offenders — " If I come 3 again, I will not spare." Thus you shall have the proof you seek of the power of Christ, who speaks in me ; for he shows no weakness 4 towards you, but works mightily among you. For although he died upon the cross through the weakness of the flesh, yet now he lives through the power of God. And so I, too, share the weakness of his body ; yet I shall share also the power of God, whereby he lives, 5 when I come to deal with you. Examine not me, but yourselves, whether you are truly in the faith; put youi-selves to the proof [concerning Christ's presence with you which ye seek in me]. Know ye not of your own selves, that Jesus Christ is dwelling in you? 6 unless, perchance, when thus proved, you fail to abide the test. But 7 I hope you will find that I, for my part, abide the proof. Yet I pray to God that I may not harm you in any wise. I pray, not that my own power may be clearly proved, but that you may do right, althougli I should seem unable to abide the proof [because I should 8 show no sign of power] ; for I have no power against the truth, but 9 only for the truth's defence. I rejoice, therefore, when I am power- less [against you], and you are strong; yea, it is the very end of my 10 prayers, that you may be perfected. Therefore I write this to you while absent, that, when present, I may not deal harshly with you in the strength of that authority which the Lord Jesus has given me, not to cast down, but to build up. 11 Finally, brethren, farewell. Perfect what is lacking Conclusion. in yourselves, exhort one another, be of one mind, live in peace; 12 so shall the God of love and peace be with you. Salute one another 13 with the kiss of holiness. All Christ's people here salute you. 14 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of Autograph ben- God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. In this letter we find a considerable space devoted to subjects connected with a collection now in progress for the poor Chris- tians in Judsea. It is not the first time that we have seen Paul actively exerting himself in such a project. Nor is it the first time that this particular contribution has been brought before our notice. At Ephesus, in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, 462 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. Paul gave special directions as to the method in which it should be laid up in store (1 Cor. xvi. 1-4). Even before this period similar instructions had been given to the churches of Galatia (ib. 1). And the whole project was in fact the fulfilment of a promise made at a still earlier period, that in the course jf his preaching among the Gentiles the poor in Judaea should be remembered (Gal. ii. 10). The collection was going on simultaneously in Macedonia and Achaia, and the same letter gives us information concerning the mannei in which it w^as conducted in both places. The directions given to the Corinthians were doubtless similar to those under which the contribution was made at Thessalonica and Philippi. Moreover, direct information is incidentally given of what was actually done in Macedonia, and thus we are furnished with ma- terials for depicting to ourselves a passage in the apostle's life which is not described by Luke. There is much instruction to be gathered from the method and principles according to which these funds were gathered by Paul and his associates, as w^ell as from the conduct of those v»^ho contributed for their distant and suffering brethren. Both from this passage of Scripture and from others we are fully made aware of Paul's motives for urging this benevolent work. Be- sides his promise made long ago at Jerusalem, that in his preaching among the Gentiles the poor Jewish Christians should be remem- bered, the poverty of the residents in Judaea would be strong reason for his activity in collecting funds for their relief among the wealthier communities who were now united with them in the same faith and hope. But there was a far higher motive which lay at the root of the apostle's anxious and energetic zeal in this cause. It is that which is dwelt on in the closing verses of the ninth chapter of the Epistle w^hich has just been read, and is again alluded to in words less sanguine in the Epistle to the Eomans. A serious schism existed between the Gentile and Hebrew^ Christians, which, though partially closed from time to time, seemed in danger of growing continually wider under the mischievous influence of the Judaizers. The great labor of Paul's life at this time was di- rected to the healing of this division. He felt that if the Gentiles had been made partakers of the spiritual blessings of the Jews, their duty was to contribute to them in earthly blessings (Rom. XV. 27), and that nothing would be more likely to allay the preju- THE MODE OF GIVING. 463 dices of the Jewish party than charitable gifts freely contributed by the heathen converts. According as cheerful or discouraging thoughts predominated in his mind — and to such alternations of feeling even an apostle was liable — he hoped that " the min- istration of that service would not only fill up the measure of the necessities of Christ's people" in Judaea, but would overflow" in. thanksgivings and prayers on their part for those whose hearts had been opened to bless them (2 Cor. ix. 12-15) ; or he feared that this charity might be rejected, and he entreated the prayers of others "that he might be delivered from the disobedient in Judasa, and that the service which he had undertaken for Jerusalem might be favorably received by Christ's people" (Rom. xv. 30, 31). Influenced by these motives, he spared no pains in promoting the work, but every step w^as conducted with the utmost prudence and delicacy of feeling. He was w^ell aware of the calumnies with which his enemies w^ere ever ready to assail his character, and therefore he took the most careful precautions against the pos- sibility of being accused of mercenary motives. At an early stage of the collection we find him writing to the Corinthians to suggest that " whomsoever they should judge fitted for the trust should be sent to carry their benevolence to Jerusalem " (1 Cor. xvi. 3) ; and again he alludes to the delegates commissioned with Titus as "guarding himself against all suspicion which might be cast on him in his administration of the bounty with which he was charged," and as being "careful to do all things in a seemly manner, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men" (2 Cor. viii. 20, 21). This regard to what was seemly appears most strikingly in his mode of bringing the subject before those to whom he wrote and spoke. He lays no constraint upon them. They are to give "not grudgingly or of necessity," but each " according to the free choice of his heart ; for God loveth a cheerful giver" (2 Cor. ix. 7). "If there is a willing mind, the gift is acceptable when measured by the giver's power, and needs not to go beyond" (2 Cor. viii. 12). He spoke rather as giving "advice" (viii. 10) than a "command," and he sought to prove the reality of his converts' love by reminding them of the zeal of others (viii. 8). In writing to the Corinthians he delicately con- trasts their wealth with, the poverty of the Macedonians. In speaking to the Macedonians themselves such a mode of appeal was less natural, for they were poorer and more generous. Yet 464 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. them also he endeavored to rouse to a generous rivalry by remind ing them of the zeal of Achaia (viii. 24; ix. 2). To them also he would doubtless say that " he who sows sparingly shall reap spar- ingly, and he who sows bountifully shall reap bountifully (ix» 6), while he would gently remind them that God was ever able to give them an overflowing measure of all good gifts, supplying all their wants and enabling them to be bountiful to others (ib. 8). And that one overpowering argument could never be forgotten — the example of Christ and the debt of love we owe to him: "You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, how, though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, that you, by his poverty, might be made rich" (viii. 9). Nor ought we, when speaking of the in- struction to be gathered from this charitable undertaking, to leave unnoticed the calmness and deliberation of the method which he recommends of laying aside week by week what is devoted to God (1 Cor. xvi. 2) — a practice equally remote from the excitement of popular appeals and the mere impulse of instinctive benevolence. The Macedonian Christians responded nobly to the appeal which was made to them by Paul. The zeal of their brethren in Achaia "roused the most of them to follow it" (2 Cor. ix. 2). God's grace was abundantly " manifested in the churches " on the north of the jEgean (ib. viii. 1). Their conduct in this matter, as described to us by the apostle's pen, rises to the point of the highest praise. It was a time not of prosperity but of great affliction to the Macedo- nian churches, nor were they wealthy communities like the Church of Corinth ; yet, " in their heavy trial the fulness of their joy over- flowed out of the depth of their poverty in the riches of their libe- rality" (ib. viii. 2). Their contribution was no niggardly gift wrung from their covetousness (viii. 5), but they gave honestly "according to their means" (ib. 3), and not only so, but even "beyond their means" (ib.) ; nor did they give grudgingly, under the pressure of the apostle's urgency, but ''of their own free will, beseeching him with much entreaty that they might bear their part in the grace of ministering to Christ's people" (ib. 3, 4). And ti.is liberality arose from that which is the basis of all true Christian charity : " They gave themselves first to the Lord Jesus Christ, by the will of God" (ib. 5). The Macedonian contribution, if not complete, was in a state of much forwardness, when Paul wrote to Corinth. He speaks of liberal funds as being already pressed upon his acceptance TITUS. 465 (2 Cor. viii. 4), and the delegates who were to accompany him to Jerusalem had already been chosen (2 Cor. viii. 19, 23). We do not know how many of the churches of Macedonia took part in this collection, but we cannot doubt that that of Phiiippi held a conspicuous place in so benevolent a work. In the case of the Philippian Church this bounty was only a continuance of the benevolence they had begun before, and an earnest of that which gladdened the apostle's heart in his imprisonment at Home. In the beginning of the gospel " they, and they only, had sent once and again to relieve his wants, both at Thessalonica and at Corinth (Phil. iv. 15, 16) ; and " at the lasf their care of their friend and teacher flourished again" (ib. 10), and they sent their gifts to him at Rome, as now they sent to their unknown brethren at Jerusalem. The Philippians are in the Epistles what that poor woman is in the Gospels who placed two mites in the treasury. They gave much, because they gave of their poverty, and wherever the gospel is preached throughout the whole world, there shall this liberality be told for a memorial of them. If the principles enunciated by the apostle in reference to the collection command our devout attention, and if the example of the Macedonian Christians is held out to the imitation of all future ages of the Church, the conduct of those who took an active part in the management of the business should not be unnoticed. Of two of these the names are unknown to us, though their characters are described. One was a brother " whose praise in publishing the gospel was spread throughout the churches," and who had been chosen by the Church of Macedonia to accompany Paul with the charitable fund to Jerusalem (2 Cor. viii. 18, 19). The other was one 'Svho had been put to the proof in many trials, and always found zealous in the work " (ib. 22). But concerning Titus, the third companion of these brethren, " the partner of Paul's lot and his fellow-laborer for the good of the Church," we have fuller information ; and this seems to be the right place to make a more particular allusion to him, for he was nearly con- cerned in all the steps of the collection now in progress. Titus does not, like Timothy, appear at intervals through all the passages of the apostle's life. He is not mentioned in the Acts at all, and this is the only place where he comes conspicuously forward in the Epistles ; and all that is said of him is connected with the business of the collection. Thus we have a detached 30 466 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL, portion of his biography which is al once a thread that guides U3 through the main facts of the contribution for the Judoean Chris- tians, and a source whence we can draw some knowledge of the character of that disciple to whom Paul addressed one of his Pastoral Epistles. At an early stage of the proceedings he seems to have been sent — soon after the First Epistle was despatched from Ephesus to Corinth — not simply to enforce the apostle's general injunctions, but to labor also in forwarding the collection (2 Cor. xii. 18). Whilst he was at Corinth we find that he took ail active and a zealous part at the outset of the good work (ib. viii. 6). And now that he had come to Macedonia and brought the apostle good news from Achaia, he was exhorted to return, that he might finish what was so well begun, taking with him (as we have seen) the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, and accompanied by the two deputies who have just been mentioned. It was a task which he was by no means unwilling to undertake. God "put into his heart the same zeal'' which Paul himself had ; he not only consented to the apostle's desire, but was " himself very zealous in the matter, and ^vent of his own accord " (2 Cor. viii. 16, 17). If we put together these notices, scanty as they are, of the conduct of Titus, they set before us a character which seems to claim our admiration for a remarkable union of enthusiam, in- tegrity, and discretion. After the departure of Titus, Paul still continued to prosecute the labors of an evangelist in the regions to the north of Greece. He was unwilling as yet to visit the Corinthian Church, the dis- aflected members of w^hich still caused him so much anxiety, and he would doubtless gladly employ this period of delay to accom- plish any plans he might have formed and left incomplete on his former visit to Macedonia. On that occasion he had been per- secuted in Philippi, and had been forced to make a precipitate retreat from Thessalonica, and from Beroea his course had been similarly urged to Athens and Corinth. Now he was able to em- brace a wider circumference in his apostolic progress. Taking Jerusalem as his centre, he had been perpetually enlarging the circle of his travels. In his first missionary journey he had preached in the southern parts of Asia Minor and the northern parts of Syria; in his second journey he had visited the Mace- donian towns which lay near the shores of the JEgean ; and now on his third progress he would seem to have penetrated into the MEANING OF " ILLYRICUM." 467 mountains of the interior, or even beyond them to the shores of the Adriatic, and "fully preached the gospel of Christ round about unto Illyricum" (Eom. xv. 19). We here encounter a subject on which some difference of opinion must unavoidably exist. If we wish to lay down the exact route of the apostle, we must first ascertain the meaning of the term "Illyricum'^ as used by Paul in writing to the Romans; and if we find this impossible, we must be content to leave this part of the apostle's travels in some degree of vagueness, more especially as the preposition ("unto," f^^XP^) employed in the passage is evi- dently indeterminate. The political import of the word "Illyricum" will be seen by referring to what has been written in an earlier chapter on the province of Macedonia. It has been there stated that the former province was contiguous to the north-western frontier of the latter. It must be observed, however, that a distinction was an- ciently drawn between Greek lllyricumy a district on the south which was incorporated by the Eomans with Macedonia, and formed the coast-line of that province where it touched the Adri- atic, and barbarous or Roman Illyricum, which extended towards the head of that gulf, and was under the administration of a separate governor. This is " one of those ill-fated portions of the earth which, though placed in immediate contact with civiliza- tion, have remained perpetually barbarian. For a time it was in close connection, politically, and afterward ecclesiastically, with the capitals both of the Eastern and Western empires ; but afterward it relapsed almost into its former rude condition, and " to this hour it is devoid of illustrious names and noble associa- tions." Until the time of Augustus the Romans were only in possession of a narrow portion along the coast, which had been torn during the wars of the republic from the piratic inhabitants. But under the first emperor a large region, extending far inland towards the valleys of the Save and the Drave, was formed into a province, and contained some strong links of the chain of military posts which was extended along the frontier of the Danube. At first it was placed under the senate, but it was soon found to re- quire the presence of large masses of soldiers : the emperor took it into his own hands, and inscriptions are still extant on which we can read the records of its occupation by the seventh and eleventh legions. Dalmatia, which is also mentioned by Paul 468 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. (2 Tim. iv. 10), was a district in the southern part of this province, and after the final reduction of the Dalmatian tribes the province was more frequently called by this name than by that of Illyri- cum. The limits of this political jurisdiction (to speak in general terms) may be said to have included Bosnia and the modern Dal- matia, with parts of Croatia and Albania. But the term " Illyricum" was by no means always, or even generally, used in a strictly political sense. The extent of coun- try included in the expression was various at various times. The lUyrians were loosely spoken of by the earlier Greek writers as the tribes which wandered on the eastern shore of the Adriatic. The Illyricum which engaged the arms of Rome under the re- public was only a narrow strip of that shore with the adjacent islands. But the imperial times it came to be used of a vast and vague extent of country lying to the south of the Danube, to the east of Italy, and to the west of Macedonia. So it is used by Strabo in the reign of Augustus, and similarly by Tacitus in his account of the civil wars which preceded the fall of Jerusalem ; and the same phraseology continues to be applied to this region till the third century of the Christian era. We need not enter into the geographical changes which depended on the new divis- ion of the empire under Constantine, or into the fresh significance which in a later age was given to the ancient names when the rivalry of ecclesiastical jurisdictions led to the schism of Eastern and Western Christendom. We have said enough to show that it is not possible to assume that the Illyricum of Paul was a def- inite district ruled as a province by a governor from Eome. It seems by far the most probable that the terms " Illyricum" and "Dalmatia'^ are both used by Paul in a vague and general sense, as we have before had occasion to remark in reference to Asia Minor, where many geographical expressions, such as "My- sia," "Galatia,'* and ^^Phrygia," were variously used, popularly or politically. It is indeed quite possible that Paul, not deeming it right as yet to visit Corinth, may have pushed on by the Via Egnatia, from Philippi and Thessalonica across the central moun- tains which turn the streams eastward and westward, to Dyrrha- chium, the landing-place of those who had come by the Appian Way from Rome to Brundusium. Then, though still in the prov- ince of Macedonia, he would be in the district called Greek Illyri- cum, and he would be on a line of easy communication with Paul's journey southward. 469 Nicopolis on the south, where, on a later occasion, he proposed to winter (Tit. iii. 12), and he could easily penetrate northward into Eoman or barbarous Illyricum, w^here was that district of Dal- matia which was afterward visited by his companion Titus, whom in the present instance he had despatched to Corinth. But we must admit that the expression in the Komans might have been legiti- mately used if he never passed beyond the limits of Macedonia, and if his apostolic labors w^ere entirely to the eastward or the mountains, in the country watered by the Strymon and the Axius. Whether he travelled widely and rapidly in the regions to the north of Greece, or confined his exertions to the neighborhood of those churches which he had previously founded, the time soon came when he determined to revisit that Church which had caused him so much aflSiction not unmixed with joy. During the course of his stay at Ephesus, and in all parts of his subsequent journey in Troas and Macedonia, his heart had been continually at Corinth. He had been in frequent communication with his inconsistent and rebellious converts. Three letters had been written to entreat or to threaten them. Besides his own personal visit when the troubles were beginning, he had sent several messengers who were autnor- ized to speak in his name. Moreover, there w^as now a special subject in which his interest and affections were engaged — the con- tribution for the poor in Judasa, which he wished to "seal*" to those for whom it was destined (Rom. xv. 28) before undertaking his journey to the West. Of the time and the route of this southward journey we can only say that the most probable calculation leads us to suppose that he was travelling with his companions towards Corinth at the ap- proach of winter; and this makes it likely that he went by land rather than by sea. A good road to the south had long been formed from the neighborhood of Bero^a, connecting the chief towns of Macedonia with those of Achaia. Opportunities would not be wanting for preaching the gospel at every stage in his prog- ress, and perhaps we may infer from his own expression in writ- ing to the Romans (xv. 23), " I have no more place in those parts," either that churches were formed in every chief city between Thes- salonica and Corinth, or that the glad tidings had been unsuccess- fully proclaimed in Thessaly and Boeotia, as on the former journey they had found but little credence among the philosophers and triflers of Athens. CHAPTER XVIII. PAIX'S FEELINGS ON APPPwOACHING CORINTH. — CONTRAST WITH HIS FIRST VISIT. — BAD NEWS FROM GALATIA. — HE WRITES "the epistle to the GALATIANS." It was probably already winter when Paul once more beheld in the distance the lofty citadel of Corinth towering above the isth- mus which it commands. The gloomy season must have harmo- nized with his feelings as he approached. The clouds which hung round the summit of the Acrocorinthus, and cast their shadow upon the city below, typified the mists of vice and error which darkened the minds even of its Christian citizens. Their father in the faith knew that, for some of them at least, he had labored in vain. He was returning to converts who had cast off the mo- rality of the gospel, to friends who had forgotten his love, to ene- mies w^ho disputed his divine commission. It is true, the majority of the Corinthian Church had repented of their worst sins and submitted to his apostolic commands. Yet what was forgiven couid not entirely be forgotten : even towards the penitent he could not feel all the confidence of earlier affection ; and there was still left an obstinate minority who would not give up their habits of impurity, and who, when he spoke to them of righteousness and judgment to come, replied either by openly defending their sins or by denying his authority and impugning his orthodoxy. He now came prepared to put down this opposition by the most decisive measures, resolved to cast out of the Church these an- tagonists of truth and goodness by the plenitude of his apostolic power. Thus he warned them a few months before (as he had threatened when present on an earlier occasion), " When I come again I will not spare" (2 Cor. xiii. 2). He declared his determi- nation to punish the disobedient (2 Cor. x. 6). He " boasted" of the authority which Christ had given him (2 Cor. x. 8). He be- sought them not to compel him to use the weapons entrusted to him (2 Cor. x. 2) — weapons not of fleshly weakness, but endowed 470 CONTRAST WITH SAUL's FIRST JOURNEY. 471 with the might of God (2 Cor. x. 4). He pledged himself to ex- ecute by his deeds when present all he had threatened by his words when absent (2 Cor. x. 11). As we think of him, with these purposes of severity in his mind, approaching the walls of Corinth, we are irresistibly reminded of the eventful close of a former journey, when Saul, " breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord," drew nigh to Damascus. How strongly does this accidental resemblance bring out the essential contrast between the weapons and the spirit of Saul and Paul ! Then he wielded the sw^ord of the secular power; he travelled as the proud representative of the Sanhedrin, the minister of human cruelty and injustice ; he was the Jewish inquisitor, the exterminator of heretics, seeking for victims to im- prison or to stone. Now he is meek and lowly, travelling in the humblest guise of poverty, with no outward marks of pre-eminence or power ; he has no jailers at his command to bind his captives, no executioners to carry out his sentence. All he can do is to exclude those who disobey him from a society of poor and igno- rant outcasts, who are the objects of contempt to all the mighty and wise and noble among their countrymen. His adversaries despise his apparent insignificance ; they know that he has no outward means of enforcing his will ; they see that his bodily presence is weak; they think his speech contemptible. Yet he is not so powerless as he seems. Though now he wields no carnal weapons, his arms are not weaker, but stronger, than they were of old. He cannot bind the bodies of men, but he can bind their souls. Truth and love are on his side; the Spirit of God bears witness with the spirits of men on his behalf. His weapons are " mighty to overthrow the strongholds of the adversaries;" "there- by" he could "overthrow the reasonings of the disputer, and pull down the lofty bulwarks which raise themselves against the know- ledge of God, and bring every rebellious thought into captivity and subjection to Christ." Nor is there less difference in the spirit of his warfare than in the character of his weapons. Then he " breathed out threatenings and slaughter;" he "made havoc of the Church;" he "haled men and women into prison ;" he "compelled them to blaspheme." When their sentence was doubtful he gave his vote for their de- struction; he was "exceedingly mad against them." Then his heart was filled with pride and hate, uncharitableness and self- 472 LIFE AND EPISTLES OP THE APOSTLE PAUL. will. But now his proud and passionate nature is transformed by the Spirit of God; he is crucified with Christ; the fervid im- petuosity of his character is tempered by meekness and gentleness ; his very denunciations and threats of punishment are full of love; he grieves over his contumacious opponents ; the thought of their pain fills him with sadness: ^'For if I cause you grief, who is there to cause me joy? He implores them, even at the eleventh hour, to save him from the necessity of dealing harshly with them; ho had rather leave his authority doubtful, and still remain liable to the sneers of his adversaries, than establish it by their punishment (2 Car. xiii. 7-9). He will condescend to the weakest prejudices, rather than cast a stumbling-block in a brother's path; he is ready to become all things to all men, that he may by all means save some. Yet all that was good and noble in the character of Saul remains in Paul, purified from its old alloy. The same zeal for God burns in his heart, though it is no longer misguided by ignorance nor warped by party spirit. The same firm resolve is seen in carrying out his principles to their consequences, though he shows it not in persecuting, but in suflfering. The same restless energy which carried him from Jerusalem to Damascus, that he might extirpate heresy, now urges him from one end of the world to the other, that he may bear the tidings of salvation. The painful anticipations which now saddened his return to Corinth were not, however, altogether unrelieved by happier thoughts. As he approached the well-known gates in the midst of that band of faithful friends who, as we have seen, accompanied him from Macedonia, his memory could not but revert to the time when first he entered the same city, a friendless and lonely stranger. He could not but recall the feelings of extreme depression with which he first began his missionary work at Corinth after his un- successful visit to Athens. The very firmness and bold confidence which now animated him, the assurance which he felt of victory over the opponents of truth, must have reminded him by contrast of the anxiety and self-distrust which weighed him down at his first intercourse with the Corinthians, and which needed a miracu- lous vision for its removal. How could he allow discouragement to overcome his spirit when he remembered the fruits borne by labors which had begun in so much sadness and timidity? It was Burely something that hundreds of believers now called on the BAD NEWS FROM GA ^ATIA. 473 name of the Lord Jesus who when he first came among them had worshipped nothing but the deification of their ow^n lusts. Pain- ful no doubt it w'as to find that their conversion had been so incomplete — that the pollutions of heathenism still defiled those who had once washed aw^ay the stains of sin ; yet the majority of the Church had repented of their offences; the number who obstinately persisted in sin was but small ; and if many of the adult converts were so tied and bound by the chains of habit that their complete deliverance could scarce be hoped for, yet at least their children might be brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Moreover, there were some even in this erring Church on whom Paul could think with unmingled satisfaction — • some who walked in the Spirit and did not fulfil the lust of the flesh; who w^ere created anew in Christ Jesus; with Avhom old things had passed away and all things had become new; who dwelt in Christ, and Christ in them. Such were Erastus the treasurer and Stephanas, the first-fruits of Achaia; such were Fortunatus and Achaicus, who had lately travelled to Ephesus on the errand of their brethren ; such was Gaius, who was even now preparing to w^elcome beneath his hospitable roof the apostle who had thrown open to himself the door of entrance into the Church of Christ. When Paul thought of "them that were such," and of the many others " who worked with them aiid labored," as he threaded the crowded streets on his way to the house of Gaius, doubtless he " thanked God and took courage." But a painful surprise awaited him on his arrival. He found that intelligence had reached Corinth from Ephesus, by the direct route, of a more recent date than any which he had lately received ; and the tidings brought by this channel concerning the state of the Galatian churches excited both his astonishment and his indigna- tion. His converts there, whom he seems to have regarded with peculiar affection, and w^hose love and zeal for himself had for- merly been so conspicuous, were rapidly forsaking his teaching and falling an easy prey to the arts of Judaizing missionaries from Palestine. We have seen the vigor and success with which the Judaizing party at Jerusalem were at this period pursuing their new tactics, by carrying the war into the territory of their great opponent and endeavoring to counterwork him in the very centre of his influence, in the bosom of those Gentile churches which he bad so lately founded. We know how great w^as the difficulty with 474 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. which he had defeated (if indeed they were yet defeated) the agents of this restless party at Corinth ; and now, on his reaching that city to crush the last remains of their opposition, he heard that they had been working the same mischief in Galatia, where he had least expected it. There, as in most of the early Christian communities, a portion of the Church had been Jews by birth, and this body would afford a natural fulcrum for the efforts of the Juda- izing teachers; yet we cannot suppose that the number of Jews resident in this inland agricultural district could have been very large. And Paul in addressing the Galatians, although he assumes that there were some among them familiar with the Mosaic Law, yet evidently implies that the majority were converts from heathen- ism. It is remarkable, therefore, that the Judaizing emissaries should so soon have gained so great a hold over a Church consist- ing mainly of Gentile Christians; and the fact that they did so proves not only their indefatigable activity, but also their skill in the arts of conciliation and persuasion. It must be remembered, however, that they were by no means scrupulous as to the means w^hich they employed to effect their objects. At any cost of false- hood and detraction they resolved to loosen the hold of Paul upon the affection and respect of his converts. Thus to the Galatians they accused him of a want of uprightness in observing the Law himself whilst among the Jews, yet persuading the Gentiles to renounce it ; they argued that his motive was to keep his converts in a subordinate state, excluded from the privileges of a full cove- nant with God, which was enjoyed by the circumcised alone; they declared that he was an interested flatterer, becomitig all things to all men " that he might make a party for himself; and, above all, they insisted that he falsely represented himself as an apostle of Christ, for that he had not, like the Twelve, been a follower of Jesus when he was on earth, and had not received his commission; that, on the contrary, he was only a teacher sent out by the author- ity of the Twelve whose teaching was only to be received so far as it agreed with theirs and was sanctioned by them ; whereas his doctrine (they alleged) w^as now in opposition to that of Peter and James and the other "pillars'* of the Church. By such represent- ations they succeeded to a great extent in alienating the Galatian Christians from their father in the faith; already many of the recent converts submitted to circumcision, and embraced the party of their new teachers with the same zeal which they had formerly EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 475 shown for the apostle of the Gentiles ; and the rest of the Church vras thrown into a state of agitation and division. On receiving the first intelligence of these occurrences, Paul hastened to check the evil before it should have become irremedi- able. He wrote to the Galatians an Epistle which begins with an abruptness and severity showing his sense of the urgency of the occasion and the greatness of the danger; it is also frequently characterized by a tone of sadness, such as would naturally be felt by a man of such warm affections when he heard that those whom he loved were forsaking his cause and believing the calum- nies of his enemies. In this letter his principal object is to show that the doctrine of the Judaizers did in fact destroy the very essence of Christianity, and reduced it from an inward and spir- itual life to an outward and ceremonial system ; but in order to remove the seeds of alienation and distrust which had been de- signedly planted in the minds of his converts, he begins by fully contradicting the falsehoods which had been propagated against himself by his opponents, and especially by vindicating his title to the apostolic office as received directly from Christ and exer- cised independently of the other apostles. Such were the circum- stances and such the objects which led him to write the following Epistle : EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. I. 1 Paitl, an apostle, sent not from men nor by man, but P^Je^ce of his ' ^ ' ./ 7 independent by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him apostolic autho- _ - 111 . 1 n 1 1 1 1 . rity a£?ainst Ju- 2 from the dead ; with all the brethren who are in my daizing teach- ^, ei s, and histori- company. To the cnurvCHES of Galatia. cai proofs that 3 Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and Avas not derived 4 our Lord Jesus Christ ; who gave himself for our sins, I|?o?tie3.^ that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to 5 the will of our God and Father ; to whom be glory, even unto the ages of ages. Amen. 6 I marvel that you are so soon shifting your ground, and forsaking Him who called you in the grace of Christ, for a new glad tidings ; 7 which is nothing else but the device of certain men who are troubling 8 you, and who desire to pervert the glad tidings of Christ. But even though I myself, or an angel from heaven, should declare to you any other glad tidings than that which I declared, let him be accursed. 9 As I have said before, so now I say again, if any man is come to 476 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. you with a glad tidings different from that which you received before, 10 let him be accursed. Think ye that man's assent, or God's, is now my object? or is it that I seek favor with men? Nay, if I still sought favor with men, I should not be the bondsman of Christ. 11 For I certify you, brethren, that the glad tidings which I brought 12 you is not of man's devising. For I myself received it not from man, nor was it taught me by man's teaching, but by the revelation 1 3 of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former behavior in the days of my Judaism, how I persecuted beyond measure the Church 34 of God, and strove to root it out, and outran in Judaism many of my own age and nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions 15 of my fathers. But when it pleased Him who set me apart from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, to reveal his Son in me, 16 that I might proclaim his glad tidings among the Ge^itiles, I did not 17 immediately take counsel with flesh and blood, nor yet did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I departed 18 into Arabia, and from thence returned to Damascus. Afterward, when three years had passed, I went up to Jerusalem, that I might 19 know Cephas, and with him I remained fifteen days ; but other of the apostles saw I none, save only James, the brother of the Lord. 20 (Now in this which I write to you, behold I testify before God that 21 I lie not.) After this I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia ; 22 but I was still unknown by face to the churches of Christ in Judaea ; 23 tidings only were brought them from time to time, saying " He who was once our persecutor now bears the glad tidings of that faith 24 which formerly he labored to root out." And they glorified God in me. II. 1 Then fourteen years after, I went up again to Jeru- The council of 2 salem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also. At ♦^^'^"s^^^™- that time I went up in obedience to a revelation which I had received, and I communicated to the brethren in Jerusalem the glad tidings which I proclaim among the Gentiles; but to the chief brethren I communicated it privately, lest perchance my labors, 3 either past or present, might be rendered fruitless. Yet not even Titus, my own companion (being a Greek), was compelled to be cir- 4 cumcised. But this communication [with the apostles in Judsea] I undertook on account of the false brethren who gained entrance by fraud, for tliey crept in among us to spy out our freedom (which we possess in Christ Jesus), that they might enslave us under their own 5 yoke. To whom I yielded no submission, no, not for an hour ; that you might continue to enjoy the reality of Christ's glad tidings. EPlSTtE TO THE GALATIANS. 477 6 But from those who were held in chief reputation — it matters not to me of what account they were : God is no respecter of persons — those (I say) who were the chief in reputation gave me no new in- 7 struction ; but, on the contrary, when they saw that I had been charged to preach the gh^d tidings to the uncircumcised by the same 8 authority as Peter to the circumcised (for He who wrought in Peter a fitness for the apostleship of the circumcision, wrought also in me 9 the gifts needful for an apostle of the Gentiles), and when they had learned the grace which God had given me, — James, Cephas, and John, who were accounted chief pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, purposing that we should go to the 10 Gentiles, and they to the Jews ; provided only, that we should re- member the poor [brethren in Judaea], which I have accordingly endeavored to do with diligence. 11 Bat when Cephas came to Antioch, I withstood him Peter at An- 12 openly, because he had incurred reproach ; for before the coming of certain [brethren] from James, he was in the habit of eating with the Gentiles; but when they came, he drew back, and separated himself from the Gentiles, for fear of the Jewish brethren. 13 And he was joined in his dissimulation by the rest of the Jews [in the Church of Antioch], so that even Barnabas was drawn away with 14 them to dissemble in like manner. But when I saw that they were walking in a crooked path, and forsaking the truth of the glad tid- ings, I said to Cephas before them all, " If thou, being Jewish be- born a Jew, art wont to live according to the custom lievets had le- \ ^ nounced the of the Gentiles, and not of the Jews, why wouldest lighteoueness . 1 1 T Law. thou constrain the Gentiles to keep the ordinances of 15 the Jews ? We are Jews by birth, and not unhallowed Gentiles ; 16 yet, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of tlie Law, but by faith in Jesus Christ, we ourselves also have put our faith in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the Law ; for by the works of the Law " shall no flesh he justified. 17 But what if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we have indeed reduced ourselves to the sinful state of unhallowed Gentiles ? Must we then hold Christ for the minister of sin ? That be far from us ! 18 For if I again build up that [structure of the Law] which I have 19 overthrown, then I represent myself as a transgressor. Whereas I, through the operation of the Law, became dead to the Law, that I 20 might live to God. I am crucified with Christ, and live no more myself, but Christ is living in me ; and my outward life which still remains, I live in the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and 478 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. 21 gave himself for me. I will not set at naught the gift of God's grace [by seeking righteousness in the Law] ; for if the Law can make men righteous, then Christ has died in vain. IIL 1 O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you ? You, Appeal to the before whose eyes was held up the picture of Jesus til Galatians. 2 Christ upon the cross. One question I would ask you. When you received the Spirit, was it from the works of the Law or the teach- 3 ing of faith ? Are you so senseless ? Having begun in the Spirit, 4 would you now end in the flesh ? Have you received so many ben- 5 efits in vain — if indeed it has been in vain ? I say, How came the gifts of Him who furnishes you with the fulness of the Spirit, and works in you the power of miracles ? Came they from the deeds of the Law, or from the teaching of faith ? 6 So likewise ^'Abraham had faith in God, and it was Faith, and not 7 reckoned unto him for righteousness.^^ Know, therefore, source of right- that they only are the sons of Abraham who are chil- eousuess. 8 dren of faith. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God through faith justifies [not the Jews only, but] the Gentiles, declared beforehand to Abraham the glad tidings of Christ, saying, All the nations of the 9 Gentiles shall be blessed in thee^ So, then, they who are children of faith [whether they be Jews or Gentiles] are blessed with faithful Abraham. 10 For all they who rest upon the works of the Law, lie under a curse ; for it is written, " Cursed is every one that continueth not in all 11 things which are written in the book of the Law to do them.^' And it is manifest that no man is counted righteous in God's judgment under 12 the conditions of the Law; for it is written, By faitn shall the right- eous liveJ^ But the Law rests not on faith, but declares, " The man 13 which doeth these things, shall live thei^ein" Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the Law, for he became accursed for our sakes (as 14 it is written, " Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree''), to the end that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come unto the Gen- tiles ; that through faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. 15 Brethren — (I speak by comparison,) — nevertheless. The i.aw could a man's covenant, when ratified, cannot by its giver prior promise to 16 be annulled, or set aside by a latter addition. Now God's promises were made to Abraham and to his seed ; the scrip- ture says not and to thy seeds,'' as if it spoke of many, but as of one, 17 " and to thy seed ;" and this seed is Christ. But this I say ; a cove- nant which had been ratified before by God, to be fulfilled in Christ, EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. the Law, T\'hich was given four hundred and thirty years afterward, 18 cannot make void, to the annulling of the promise. For if the in heritance comes from the Law, it comes no longer from promise, whereas God lias given it to Abraham freely by promise. 19 To what end, then, was the Law ? it was added because of tha transgressions of men, till the Seed should come, to whom belonged the promise ; and it was ordained through the ministration of angels by the hands of [Moses, who was] a mediator [between God and the 20 people]. Now where a mediator is, there must be two parties. But God is one [and there is no second party to his promise]. 21 Do I say then that the Law contradicts the promises Relation of Ju- of God ? that be far from me ! For if a Law were tianUy.° given which could raise men from death to life, then we might truly 22 say that righteousness came from the Law. But the Scripture (on the other hand) has shut up the whole world together under the condemnation of sin, that through faith in Jesus Christ the promise might be given to the faithful. 23 But before faith came, we were shut up in prison, in ward under the Law, in preparation for the faith which should afterward be 24 revealed. Thus, even as the slave who leads a child to the house of the schoolmaster, so the Law led us to our teacher Christ, that by 25 faith we might be justified ; but now that faith is come, we are under 26 the slave's care no longer. For you are all the sons of God, by your 27 faith in Jesus Christ ; yea, whosoever among you have been baptized 28 unto Christ, have put on Christ. In him there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor freeman, neither male nor female ; for you 29 are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs of his blessing by promise. IV. 1 Now I say, that the heir, so long as he is a child, has no more freedom than a slave, though he is owner of the whole inheritance ; 2 but he is under overseers and stewards until the time appointed by 3 his father. And so we also [who are Israelites] when we were children, were treated like slaves, and taught the lessons of child- 4 hood by outward ordinances. But when the appointed time was fully come, God sent forth his own Son, who was born of a woman [partaker of our flesh and blood], and born an Israelite, subject 5 the Law ; that so he might redeem from their slavery the subjects of G the Law, and that we might be adopted as the sons of God. And because you are the sons of God, he has sent forth the Spirit of his own Son into your hearts, crying unto him, and saying " Our Faiher** 480 LITE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. 7 Wherefore thou [who canst so pray] art no more a slave, but a son ; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. 8 But you [who were Gentiles] when you knew not Appeal to the God, were in bondage to gods that have no real being, vem'^^not^^to 9 But now, when you have gained the knowledge of outwrid*^ and God, — or rather, when God has acknowledged you, — ^oi^^ai worship, how is it that you are turning backward to those childish lessons, void both of strength and blessing? Would you seek again the 10 slavery which you have outgrown? Are you observing days, and 11 months, and seasons, and years ? I am fearful for you, lest I have 12 spent my labor on you in vain. I beseech you, brethren, to become as I am [and seek no more a place among the circumcised] ; for I too have become as you are [and have cast away the pride of my circumcision]. You have never wronged me hitherto : on the con- 13 trary, although it was sickness (as you know) which caused me to 14 preach the glad tidings to you at my first visit, yet you neither scorned nor loathed me because of the bodily infirmity which was my trial ; but you welcomed me as an angel of God, yea, even as 15 Christ Jesus. Why, then, did you think yourselves so happy ? (for I bear you witness that, if it had been possible, you would have torn 16 out your own eyes, and given them to me). Am I then become your 17 enemy because I tell you the truth ? They [who call me so] show zeal for you with no good intent ; they would shut you out from 18 others, that your zeal may be for them alone. But it is good to be zealous in a good cause, and that at all times, and not when zeal lasts 19 only [like yours] while I am present with you. My beloved chil- dren, I am again bearing the pangs of travail for you, till Christ be 20 fully formed within you. I would that I were present with you now, that I might change my tone [from joy to sadness] ; for you fill me with perplexity. 21 Tell me, ye that desire to be under the Law, will you not hear the 22 Law ? For therein it is written that Abraham had two „, The allegory sons : one by the bond-woman, the other by the free, of Hagar and Sarah teaches 23 But the son of the bond-woman was born to him after the same lessou the flesh ; whereas the son of the free- woman was born 24 by virtue of God's promise. Now, all this is allegorical ; for tliese two women are the two covenants; the first given from Mount Sinai, 25 whose children are born into bondage, which is Hagar (for the word Hagar signifies Mount Sinai in Arabia) ; and herein she answers to the earthly Jerusalem, for she continues in bondage with her chil- 26 dren. But [Sarah is the second covenant, which is in Christ, and answers to the heavenly Jerusalem ; for] the heavenly Jerusalem is EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 481 free, and is the mother of us all. And so it is written [that the spiritual seed of Abraham should be more numerous than his natural 27 seed; as says tlie prophet], Rejoice ^ ihou barren that bearest not; break forth into shouting^ thou that travailest not; for the desolate hath 28 many more children than she which hath the husbandJ* Now, we, brethren, like Isaac, are children born [not naturally, but] by virtue 29 of God's promise. Yet, as then the spiritual seed of Abraham was 30 persecuted by his natural seed, so it is also now. Nevertheless, what says the Scripture ? " Cast out the bond-woman and her son ; for the son of the bond-woman shall not be heir with the son of the free-womanJ' 31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bond-woman, but of the free. V. 1 Stand fast, therefore, in the freedom which Christ has given us, and turn not back again, to entangle yourselves in the yoke of bond- age. 2 Lo, I, Paul, declare unto you, that if you cause yourselves to be 3 circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. I testify again to every man who submits to circumcision, that he thereby lays himself under 4 obligation to fulfil the whole Law. By resting your righteousness on the Law, you have annulled your fellowship with Christ, you are 6 fallen from the free gift of his grace. For we, through the power of the Spirit [not through the circumcision of the flesh], from faith [not 6 works], look with earnest longing for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails anything, nor uncircum- cision ; but faith, whose work is love. 7 You were running the race well; who has cast a _ . 1 !• 1 1 1 • ' « 1 , , Warning against stumblmg-block in your way? who has turned you the ^.Tudaizing 8 aside from your obedience to the truth ? The counsel against party which you have obeyed came not from Him who called 9 you. [Your seducers are few; but] "A little leaven leavens the 10 whole lump." As for me, I rely upon you, brethren, in the Lord Jesus, that you will not be led astray; but he that is troubling you, whosoever he be, shall bear the blame. 11 But if, myself also [as they say] preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted ? for if I preach circumcision, then the cross, the stone at which they stumble, is done away. 12 I could v/ish that these agitators who disturb your quiet, would execute upon themselves not only circumcision, but excision also. 13 For you, brethren, have been called to freedom; Exliortation to only make not your freedom a vantage-ground for the lighteTied^pany flesh, but rather enslave yourselves one to another by ['heu- freedom.* 81 482 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUT.. 14 the bondage of love. For all the Law is fulfilled in this one com- 15 mandment, " Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself^ But if, on the other hand, you bite and devour one another, take heed lest you be utterly destroyed by one another's means. 16 This I say, then; walk in the Spirit, and you shall Variance be- 17 not fulfil the desire of the flesh; for the desire of the spirit^ Tnd^ the flesh fights against the Spirit, and the desire of the Spirit fights against the flesh ; and this variance between the flesh and the Spirit would hinder you from doing that which your will 18 prefers. But, if you be led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. 19 Now, the works of the flesh are manifest, which are such as these: 20 fornication, impurity, lasciviousness ; idolatry, withcraft ; enmities, strife, jealousy, passionate anger ; intrigues, divisions, sectarian par- 21 ties ; envy, murder, drunkenness, revellings, and such like. Of which I forewarn you (as I have told you also in times past), that they who 22 do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-sufiering, kindness, goodness, 23 trustfulness, gentleness, self-denial. Against such there is no Law. 24 But they who are Christ^s have crucified the flesh, warnin<» to the 25 with its passions and its lusts. If we live by the Spirit, ^^^^^j ^paf^t y let us take heed that our steps are guided by the Spirit. u|i pride^^""* 26 Let us not thirst for empty honor, let us not provoke one another to strife, let us not envy one another. VI. 1 Brethren — I speak to you who call yourselves the Spiritual — even if any one be overtaken in a fault, do you correct such a man in a spirit of meekness ; and let each of you take heed to himself 2 lest he also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil 3 the law of Christ. For, if any man exalts himself, thinking to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself with vain imagi- 4 nations. Kather let every man examine his own work, and then his 6 boasting will concern himself alone, and not his neighbor ; for each will bear the load [of sin] which is his own [instead of magnifying the loac^ which is his brother's]. 6 Moreover, let him who is receiving instruction in Provision to be the word give to his instructor a share in all the good Maintenance of 7 things which he possesses. Do not deceive yourselves (Klr-nxoO^rlT), 8 — God cannot be defrauded. Every man shall reap as he has sown. The man who now sows for his own flesh, shall reap therefrom a harvest doomed to perish ; but he who sows for the Spirit, 9 shall from the Spirit reap the harvest of life eternal. But let us con- EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 483 tinue in well-doing, and not be weary ; for in due season we shall reap, 10 if we faint not. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, but especially to our brethren in the household of faith. 11 Observe the size of the characters in which I have Autograph con written to you with my own hand. ^ usiou. 12 I tell you that they who wish to have a good repute in things per- taining to the flesh, they, and they alone, are forcing circumcision upon you ; and that only to save themselves from the persecution 13 which Christ bore upon the cross. For even they who circumcise themselves do not keep the Law ; but they wish to have you circum- cised, that your obedience to the fleshly ordinance may give them a 14 ground of boasting. But as for me, far be it from me to boast, save only in the cross of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ ; whereby the 15 world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails anything, nor uncircumcision ; but 16 a new creation. And whosoever shall walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon all the Israel of God. 17 Henceforth, let no man vex me [by denying that I am Christ's servant] ; for I bear in my body the scars which mark my bondage to the Lord Jesus. 18 Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit Amen. CHAPTER XIX. PAUI A CORINTH. — PUNISHMENT OF CONTUMACIOUS OFFEND- ERS. — SUBSEQUENT CHARACTER OF THE CORINTHIAN CHURCH. — COMPLETION OF THE COLLECTION. — PHCEBE'S JOURNEY TO ROME. — SHE BEARS "THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS." No sooner had Paul despatched to Ephesus the messengers who bore his energetic remonstrance to the Galatians than he was called upon to inflict the punishment which he had threatened upon those obstinate sinners who still defied his censures at Corinth. We have already seen that these were divided into two classes: the larger consisted of those who justified their immoral practices by Antinomian doctrine, and, styling themselves " the Spiritual," considered the outward restrictions of morality as mere carnal ordinances, from which they were emancipated; the other and smaller (but more obstinate and violent) class, who had been more recently formed into a party by emissaries from Palestine, were the extreme Judaizers, who were taught to look on Paul as a heretic and to deny his apostleship. Although the principles of these two parties differed so widely, yet they both agreed in re- pudiating the authority of Paul ; and, apparently, the former party gladly availed themselves of the calumnies of the Judaizing propagandists, and readily listened to their denial of PauFs divine commission ; while the Judaizers, on their part, would foster any opposition to the apostle of the Gentiles from whatever quarter it might arise. But now the time was come when the peace and purity of the Corinthian Church were to be no longer destroyed (at least openly) by either of these parties. Paul's first duty was to silence and fchame his leading opponents by proving the reality of his apostle- ship, which they denied. This he could only do by exhibiting ** the signs of an apostle," which consisted (as he himself informs us) mainly in the display of miraculous powers (2 Cor. xii. 12). 434 PUNISHMENT OF OFFENDERS. 485 The present was a crisis which required such an appeal to the direct judgment of God, who could alone decide between conflict- ing claimants to a divine commission. It was a contest like that between Elijah and the prophets of Baal. Paul had already in his absence professed his readiness to stake the truth of his claims on this issue (2 Cor. x. 8, and xiii. 3-6) ; and we may be sure that now, when he was present, he did not shrink from the trial. And, doubtless, God, who had sent him forth, wrought such miracles by his agency as sufiiced to convince or to silence the gainsayers. Perhaps the Judaizing emissaries from Palestine had already left Corinth, after fulfilling their mission by founding an anti-Pauline party there. If they had remained they must now have been driven to retreat in shame and confusion. All other opposition was quelled likewise, and the whole Church of Corinth were con- strained to confess that God was on the side of Paul. Now, there- fore, that "their obedience was complete," the painful task re- mained of "punishing all the disobedient" (2 Cor. x. 6). It was not enough that those who had so often offended and so often been pardoned before should now merely profess once more a repent- ance which was only the offspring of fear or of hypocrisy. They had long infected the Church ; they were not merely evil them- selves, but they were doing harm to others, and causing the name of Christ to be blasphemed among the heathen. It was necessary that the salt which had lost it savor should be cast out, lest its putrescence should spread to that which still retained its purity. Paul no longer hesitated to stand between the living and the dead, that the plague might be stayed. We know, from his own descrip- tion (1 Cor. V. 3-5), the very form and manner of the punishment inflicted. A solemn assembly of the Church was convened ; the presence and power of the Lord Jesus Christ were especially in- voked; th«; cases of the worst offenders were separately considered, and those whose sins required so heavy a punishment were pub- licly cast out of the Church' and (in the awful phraseology of Scripture) delivered over to Satan. Yet we must not suppose that even in such extreme cases the object of the sentence was to con- sign the criminal to final reprobation. On the contrary, the pur- pose of this excommunication was so to work on the offender's mind as to bring him to sincere repentance, " that his spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus." If it had this happy effect, and if he manifested true contrition, he was restored (as we 486 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. have already seen in the case of the incestuous person) to the love of the brethren and the communion of the Church. We should naturally be glad to know whether the pacification and purification of the Corinthian Church thus effected were per- manent, or whether the evils which were so deeply rooted sprang up again after Paul's departure. On this point Scripture gives us no further information, nor can we find any mention of this Church (which has hitherto occupied so large a space in our nar- rative) after the date of the present chapter either in the Acts or the Epistles. Such silence seems, so far as it goes, of favorable augury. And the subsequent testimony of Clement (the "fellow-laborer^* of Paul, mentioned Phil. iv. 3) confirms this interpretation of it. He speaks (evidently from his own personal experience) of the impression produced upon every stranger who visited the Christians of Corinth by their exemplary conduct, and specifies particularly their possession of the virtues most opposite to their former faults. Thus, he says that they were distinguished for the ripeness and soundness of their knowledge, in contrast to the unsound and false pre- tence of knowledge for which they were rebuked by Paul. Again, he praises the pure and blameless lives of their women, which must therefore have been greatly changed since the time when fornica- tion, wantonness, and impurity (2 Cor. xii. 21) were the character- istics of their society. But especially he commends them for their entire freedom from faction and party spirit, which had formerly been so conspicuous among their faults. Perhaps the picture which he draws of this golden age of Corinth may be too favor- ably colored, as a contrast to the state of things which he deplored when he wrote. Yet we may believe it substantially true, and may therefore hope that some of the worst evils were permanently corrected, more particularly the impurity and licentiousness which had hitherto been the most flagrant of their vices. Their tend- ency to party spirit, however (so characteristic of the Greek temper), was not cured; on the contrary, it blazed forth again with greater fury than ever some years after the death of Paul. Their dissensions were the occasion of the letter of Clement already mentioned; he wrote in the hope of appeasing a violent and long-continued schism which had arisen (like their earlier divis- ions) from their being "puffed up in the cause of one against another.'' He rebukes them for their envy, strife, and party spirit, accuses them of being devoted to the cause of their party leaders PHCEBE's journey to ROME. 487 rather than to the cause of God, and declares that their divisions were rending asunder the body of Christ and casting a stumbling- block in the way of many. This is the last account which we have of the Corinthian Church in the apostolic age, so that the curtain falls upon a scene of unchristian strife too much like that upon which it rose. Yet, though this besetting sin was still un- subdued, the character of the church, as a whole, was (as we have seen) very much improved since the days when some of them denied the resurrection and others maintained their right to prac- tise un chastity. Paul continued three months resident at Corinth, or at least he made that city his head-quarters during this period. Probably he made excursions thence to Athens and other neighboring churches which (as we know) he had established at his first visit throughout all the region of Achaia, and which perhaps needed his presence, his exhortations, and his correction no less than the metropolitan Church. Meanwhile, he was employed in complet- ing that great collection for the Christians of Palestine upon which we have seen him so long engaged. The Christians of Achaia, from whose comparative wealth much seems to have been ex- pected, had already prepared their contributions by laying aside something for the fund on the first day of every week, and, as this had been going on for more than a year, the sum laid by must have been considerable. This was now collected from the indi- vidual contributors and entrusted to certain treasurers elected by the whole Church, who were to carry it to Jerusalem in company with Paul. While the apostle was preparing for this journey, destined to be BO eventful, one of his converts was also departing from Corinth in an opposite direction, charged with a commission which has immortalized her name. This w^as Phoebe, a Christian lady resi- dent at Cenchrese, the eastern port of Corinth. She was a widow of consideration and wealth, who acted as one of the deaconesses of the Church, and was now about to sail to Rome upon some private business apparently connected with a law^suit in which she was engaged. Paul availed himself of this opportunity to send a letter by her hands to the Horn an Christians. His reason for writing to them at this time was his intention of speedily visiting them on his way from Jerusalem to Spain. He desired, before his personal intercourse with them should begin, to give them a proof of the 488 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. affectionate interest which he felt for them, although they "had not seen his face in the flesh." We must not suppose, however, that they were hitherto altogether unknown to him ; for we see, from the very numerous salutations at the close of the Epistle, that he was already well acquainted with many individual Christians at Rome. From the personal acquaintance he had thus formed and the in- telligence he had received he had reason to entertain a very high opinion of the character of the Church ; and accordingly he tells them (Rom. xv. 14, 15) that in entering so fully in his letter upon the doctrines and rules of Christianity he had done it not so much to teach as to remind them, and that he was justified in assuming the authority so to exhort them by the special commission which Christ had given him to the Gentiles. The latter expression shows us that the majority of the Roman Christians were of Gentile origin, which is also evident from seve- ral other passages in the Epistle. At the same time we cannot doubt that the original nucleus of the Church there, as well as in all the other great cities of the empire, was formed by converts who had separated themselves from the Jewish synagogue. The name of the original founder of the Roman Church has not been preserved to us by history nor even celebrated by tradition. This is a remarkable fact when we consider how soon the Church of Rome attained great eminence in the Christian world, both from its numbers and from the influence of its metropolitan rank. Had any of the apostles laid its first foundation, the fact could scarcely fail to have been recorded. It is therefore probable that it was formed in the first instance of private Christians converted in Palestine, who had come from the eastern parts of the empire to reside at Rome, or who had brought back Christianity with them from some of their periodical visits to Jerusalem, as the " strangers of Rome," from the great Pentecost. Indeed, among the immense multitudes whom political and commercial reasons constantly attracted to the metropolis of the world, there could not fail to be representatives of every religion which had established itself in any of the provinces. On this hypothesis, the earliest of the Roman Christians were Jews by birth, who resided in Rome from some of the causes above alluded to. By their efforts others of their friends and fellow- countrymen (who were very numerous at Rome) would have been led to embrace the gospel. But the Church so founded, though EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS, 489 Jewish in its origin, was remarkably free from the predominance of Judaizing tendencies. This is evident from the fact that so large a majority of it at this early period were already of Gentile blood ; and it appears still more plainly from the tone assumed by Paul throughout the Epistle, so different from that in which hs addresses the Galatians, although the subject-matter is often nearly identical. Yet, at the same time, the Judaizing element, though not preponderating, was not entirely absent. We find that there were opponents of the gospel at Rome, who argued against it on the ground of the immoral consequences which followed (as they thought) from the doctrine of justification by faith, and even charged Paul himself with maintaining that the greater man's sin the greater was God's glory (see Rom. iii. 8). Moreover, not all the Jewish members of the Church could bring themselves to acknowledge their uncircumcised Gentile brethren as their equals in the privileges of Christ's kingdom (Rom. iii. 9 and 29; xv. 7- 11); and on the other hand, the more enlightened Gentile converts were inclined to treat the lingering Jewish prejudices of weak consciences with scornful contempt (Rom. xiv. 3). It was the aim of Paul to win the former of these parties to Christian truth and the latter to Christian love, and to remove the stumbling-blocks out of the way of both by setting before them that grand summary of the doctrine and practice of Christianity which is contained in the following Epistle: EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. I. 1 Paijx, a bondsman of Jesus Christ, a called apostle. Salutation. 2 set apart to publish the glad tidings of God which he promised 3 of old by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning his Son 4 (who was bom of the seed of David according to the flesh, but was marked out as the Son of God with mighty power, according to the spirit of holiness, by his resurrection from the dead), even Jesus 6 Christ, our Lord and Master. By wliom I received grace and apos* tleship, that I might declare his name among all the Gentiles, and 6 bring them to the obedience of faith. Among whom ye also are 7 numbered, being called by Jesus Christ to all God's beloved CHILDREN, CALLED TO BE ChRIST's PEOPLE, WHO DWELL IN RoME. Grace be to you, and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, 490 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. 8 First I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you intention of all, because the tidings of your faith are told through- urdec1ar?The 9 out the whole world. For God is my witness (whom I ^^""^ serve with the worship of my spirit, in proclaiming the glad tidings of his Son) how unceasingly I make mention of you at all times in 10 my prayers, beseeching him that if it be possible I might now at length have a way open to me according to the will of God, to come 11 and visit you. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some 12 spiritual gift, for the establishment of your steadfastness ; that I may share with you (I would say) in mutual encouragement, through the 13 faith both of you and me together, one with another. But I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that I have often purposed to come to you (although liitherto I have been hindered), that I might have 14 some fruit among you also, as I have among the other Gentiles. I am a debtor both to Greeks and barbarians, both to wise and foolish ; 15 therefore, as far as in me lies, I am ready to declare the glad tidings 16 to you that are in Kome, as well as to others. For [even in the chief city of the world] I am not ashamed of the glad tidings of Christ, seeing it is the mighty power whereby God brings salvation to every man that has faith therein, to the J ew first, and also to the 17 Gentile. For therein God's righteousness is revealed, a righteousness which springs from faith, and which faith receives — as it is written, "By faith shall the righteous liveP 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who keep down the truth [which they know] by the wickedness 19 wherein they live. Because that which can be known of God is manifested in their hearts, God himself hav- 20 ing shown it to them ; for his eternal power and God- head, though they be invisible, yet are seen ever since the world was made, being understood by his works, that they [who despised him] might have no excuse ; 21 because although they knew God, they glorified him, not as God, nor gave him thanks, but in their reason- ings they went astray after vanity, and their heart, 22 being void of wisdom, was filled with darkness. Calling themselves 23 wise, they were turned into fools, and forsook the glory of the imper- ishable God for idols graven in the likeness of perishable men, or of 24 birds and beasts, and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to work uncleanness according to their hearts' lust, to dis- 25 honor their bodies one with another ; seeing they had bartered tlie This glad tid- ings consists in the revelation of a new and more perfect moral stale (6l/C aiO€X'Te5 avTU) ev to) ^ainiirixari Iv w koX uTo yeyovafiev, etc., literally, have become partakers hy a vital union [as that of a graft with the tree into which it is grafted] of the representation of hie death [in baptism]. The meaning appears to be, 1/ we have shared th9 reality of his death, whereof we have undcKjone the likeness, Z2 498 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. 9 share his life ; knowing that Christ being raised from the dead, can 10 die no more ; death has no more dominion over him. For he died once, and once only, unto sin ; but he lives [for ever] unto God. 11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but 12 living unto God in Christ J esus. Let not sin therefore reign in your dying body, causing you to obey its lusts ; nor give up your members 13 to sin, as instruments of unrighteousness; but give yourselves to God, as being restored to life from the dead, and your members to 14 his service as instruments of righteousness ; for sin shall not have the mastery over you, since you are not under the Law,"^' but under grace. 15 What then? shall we sin because we are not under 16 the Law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not that he to whose service you give yourselves is your real master, whether sin, whose fruit is death, or 17 obedience, whose fruit is righteousness. But God be thanked that you, who were once the slaves of sin, have obeyed from your hearts the teaching whereby 18 you were moulded anew; and when you were freed from the slavery of sin, you became the bondsmen of 19 righteousness. (I speak the language of common life, to show the weakness of your fleshly nature [which must be in bondage either to the one, or to the other].) Therefore, as you once gave up the members of your body for slaves of uncleanness and licentiousness, to work the deeds of license ; so now give them up for slaves of right- 20 eousness, to work the deeds of holiness. For when you were the 21 slaves of sin, you were free from the service of righteousness. What fruit then had you in those times, from the deeds whereof you are 22 now ashamed ? yea, the end of them is death. But now, being freed from the bondage of sin, and enslaved to the service of God, your 23 fruit is growth in holiness, and its end is life eternal. For the wage of sin is death ; but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord and Master. VIL 1 You must acknowledge t what I say [that we are As above said, ° ' *^ Cbriritians aid To be " under the Law," in Paul's language, means to avoid sin from fear of penalties attached to sin by the Law. This principle of fear is not strong enough to keep men in the path of duty. Union with Christ can alone give man the mastery over sin. t "E ayvoclre. Literally, or are you {(jnorant ; the or (which is omitted in A. V.) referring to what has gone before, and implying, if you deny what I The Christian's freedom from the Law con- sists in living in the morality of the Law, not from fear of its penalties, but as n e c e 8 s a ry fruits of the spiritual life whereof Chris- tians partake. Hence tho slaves of sin can have no part in this free- dom from the Law, since tliey are still subject to the penalties of the La w, which are the necessary re- sults of sin. EPISTLE TO THE EOMANS. 499 not under the Law] ; knowing, brethren (for I speak not under the to men who know the Law), that the dominion of the Law belongs to 2 Law over its subjects lasts only during their life ; thus earthly^ nature the married woman is bound by the Law to her hus- have ^ died^^^by band while he lives, but if her husband is dead, the chntf r^death^ Law which bound her to him has lost its hold upon ^ bel- 3 her; so that while her husband is livino^, she will be ter spiritual ser- ' ... their counted an adulteress if she be joined to another man: , ' Christ 8 life ; so but if her husband be dead, she is free from the Law, that the sins of . . which the Law and although joined to another man she is no adulteress, was formerly 4 Wherefore you also, my brethren, were made dead to overcame them the Law, by [union with] the body of Christ ; that you "^°^^* might be married to another, even to Him who was raised from the 5 dead that we might bring forth fruit unto God. For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions occasioned by the Law wrought in 6 our members, leading us to bring forth fruit unto death. But now the Law wherein we were formerly held fast, lost its hold upon us when we died [with Christ] ; so that we are no longer in the old bondage of the letter, but in the new service of the spirit. 7 What shall we say then? that the Law is sinful? Jeen aboTe said That be far from us ! But yet I should not have known to be the occa- siouofsin, what sin was, except through the Law : thus I should For when its 1 ^ r • 1 1 -r 11 Pi^^cepts awa- not have known the sm of coveting, unless the Law had ken the con- 8 said. Thou shall not covet But when my sin had gained sense of duty, by the commandment a vantage-ground [against me], before were it wrought in me all manner of coveting (for where mnce/arelow 9 there is no Law, sin is dead). And I felt that I was the^ le-Stance alive before, when I knew no Law ; but when the com- The ^ial-nai mandment came, sin rose to life, and I sank into death : "^l"''to°'^,v,i^« have said, you must be ignorant of, etc. ; or, in other words, you must achnow- ledrje what I say, or he ignorant of, etc. The reference here is to the asser- tion in verses 14 and 15 of the preceding chapter, that Christians are not under the Laio" For the argument of the present passage see the marginal summary. PauFs view of the Christian Hfe, throughout the sixth, seventh and eighth chapters, is that it consists of a death and a resurrection ; the new-made Christian dies to sin, to the world, to the flesh, and to the Law; this death he undergoes at his first entrance into communion with Christ, and it is both typified and realized when he is buried beneath the baptismal waters. But no sooner is he thus dead with Christ, than he rises with him; he is made partaker of Christ's resurrection; he is united to Christ's body; he lives in Christ and to Christ ; he is no longer " in the flesh," but " in the Bpirit.'* 500 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. 10 and the very commandment whose end is life, was found fulfils the evii 11 to me the cause of death ; for my sin, when it had gained ituai^' n a t uTe a vantage-ground by the commandment, deceived me TimVis^tnlggi' Strugs to my fall, and slew me by the [sentence of the] Law. l,^jch'{i\eworLIJ part in man iriutnphs over the better, tlie law of his flesh over the law of his mind. And man in himself (auTO? cyu) ) without the help of Christ's Spirit must con- tinue the slave of his sinful earthly nature. 12 Wherefore the Law indeed is holy, and its command- 13 ments are holy, and just, and good. Do I say then that good became to me death ? Far be that from me. But I say that sin wrought this ; that so it might be made manifest as sin, in working death to me through [the knowledge of] good ; that sin might become beyond measure sinful, by the commandment. 14 For we know that the Law is spiritual ; but for me, 15 I am carnal, a slave sold into the captivity of sin. What 1 do, I acknowledge not ; for I do not what I would, but what I hate. 16 But if my will is against my deeds, I thereby acknowledge the good- 17 ness of the Law. And now it is no more I myself who do the evil, 18 but it is the sin which dwells in me. For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, good abides not ; for to will is present with me, but to 19 do the right is absent ; the good that I would, I do not; but the evil 20 which I would not, that I do. Now if my own will is against my deeds, it is no more I myself who do them, but the sin which dwells 21 in me. I find then this law, that though my will is to do good, yet 22 evil is present with me ; for I consent gladly to the law of God in my 23 inner man ; but I behold another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and making me captive to the law of sin which 24 dwells in my members. Oh wretched man that 1 am ! who shall de- liver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God [that he has now delivered me] through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then, in myself, though I am subject in my mind to the law of God, yet in my flesh I am subject to the law of sin. VIIL 1 Now, therefore, there is no condemnation to those 2 who are in Christ Jesus ; for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed me from the law of sin 3 and death. For God (which was impossible to the Law, because through the weakness of our flesh it had no power), by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and on behalf of sin, overcame sin in the 4 flesh ; to the end, that the righteous statutes of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh. But with that help this sinful earthly nature is vanquished in tlie Chris- tian, and he is enabled to live, not according; to the carnal part of his na- ture ((Tap$), but acc«^rdiiig to the sj)i ritual part (TTveu/u.a). (Jod's true cl dien aie thoee EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 501 5 but after the Spirit. For tliey who live after the flesh, 'l^^J^ ^^^^^^^^l^. mind fleshly thin<2:s ; but thev who live after the Spirit " ^ ' " 1.11 Spint of Clin.-t 6 mind spiritual things ; and the fleshly mmd is death ; {ifoiKovv ttii) 7 but the spiritual mind is life and peace. Because the eanbiy"nLt Jret fleshly mind is enmity against God ; for it is not subject to the law 8 of God, nor by its very nature can be ; and they whose life is in the 9 flesh cannot please God. But your life is not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God be dwelling in you ; and if any 10 man has not the Spirit of Christ within him, he is not Christ's. Bui if Christ be in you, though your body be dead, because of sin [to which its nature tends], yet your spirit is life, because of righteous- 11 ness [which dwells within it] ; yea, if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead be dwelling in you, He who raised Christ from the dead shall endow with life also your dying bodies, by his Spirit 12 which dwells within you. Therefore, brethren, w^e are debtors, bound not to the flesh, that we should live after the flesh [but to the 13 Spirit] ; for if you live after the flesh you are doomed to die ; but if by the Spirit you destroy the deeds of the body, in their death you will attain to life. 14 For all who are led by God's Spirit, and they alone, 15 are the sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of bondage, that you should go back again to the Btate of slavish fear, but you have received a Spirit of adoption, wherein we cry unto God and say, ^^Our 16 Father,'* The Spirit itself joins its testimony with the witness of our own spirit, to prove that we are the 17 children of God. And if children, then heirs ; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; that if now we share his sufierings, we should hereafter share his 18 glory. For I reckon that the suflferings of this present time are nothing worth, when set against the glory 19 which shall soon be revealed unto us. For the earnest longing of the whole creation looks eagerly for the time when [the glory of] the sons of God shall openly 20 be brought to light. F or the creation was made sub- ject to corruption and decay, not by its own will, but 21 through Him who subjected it thereto ; with hope that the creation itself also shall be delivered from its slavery to death, and sliall gain the freedom of the sons of God when they are 22 glorified. For we know that the whole creation is groaning together, and suflering the pangs of labor, which* have not yet brought forth • Literally, continuing to suffer the pangs of labor even until now, Paul Such persons have an inward conscious n e e s of cliild-lilce love to God (ajS^a), and they anticipate a future and more perfect Btate when this relation to God will have its full deve lo p m e n t (aTTO/caXuv// t 5). And their long- ing for a future perfection id fchared by all cieated beings, whose discon- tent at pret-eni imperfe c t i o u points to ano- ther state freed from evil. And this ieeling is (2(5, 27) im- planted in Christians b y the Spirit of God, wno sug- gests their prayers and longings. 502 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. 23 the birth. And not only they, but ourselves also, who have re(;eived the Spirit for the first-fruits [of our inheritance], even we ourselves are groaning inwardly, longing for the adoption which shall ransom 24 our body from its bondage. For our salvation lies in hope ; but hope possessed is not hope, since a man cannot hope for what he sees in 25 his possession ; but if we hope for things not seen, we steadfastly 26 endure the iDresent, and long earnestly for the future. And, even as we long for our redemption, so the Spirit gives help to our weakness ; for we know not what we should pray for as Ave ought ; but the Spirit itself makes intercession for us, with groans [for deliverance] which 27 words cannot utter. But He who searches our hearts knows [though, it be unspoken] what is the desire of the Spirit, because he intercedes for Christ's people according to the will of God. 28 Moreover, we know that all things [whether sad or Hence in the joyful] work together for good to those who love God, pl\tec u t i o'n J 29 who have been called according to his purpose. For morrthan con! those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be 'ii^^y^Hi [^aj made like to the pattern of his Son, that many brethren ^^oj^^r, ^ ' gether lor their 80 might be ioined to him, the First-born. And those g^o^. God has ^ 1.1 called them to whom he predestmed to this end, them he also called ; share in^ his and whom he called, them he also justified ; and whom hmmui^^accu- 31 he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we say no^eaiaifiy^fuf- then to these things? If God be for us, who can be er'in^the°wi?oie 32 against us ? He that spared not his own Son, but gave separa^te' them him up to death for us all, how shall he not with him 33 also freely give us all things? What accuser can harm God's 34 chosen? it is God who justifies them. What judge can doom us? It is Christ who died, nay, rather, who is risen from the dead ; yea, who is at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. 35 Who can separate us from the love of Christ ? Can suflfering, or straitness of distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or 36 the peril of our lives, or the swords of our enemies ? [though we may say] as it is written, '^For thy sake we are killed all the day long ; 37 we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor all the principalities and 38 powers of angels, nor things present, nor things to come, nor things here suggests an argument as original as it is profound. The very struggles which all animated beings make against pain and death show (he says) that pain and death are not a part of the proper laws of their nature, but rather a bondage imposed upon them from without. Thus every groan and tear is an unconscious prophecy of liberation from the power of evil. EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 503 39 above, nor things below, nor any power in the whole creation, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Clirist Jesus our Lord. IX. 1 I speak the truth in Christ — (and my conscience The fact that , . •iiTTin**? • ij. Giod has adoT)t- bears me witness, with the Holy bpirit s testimony, that ed chiietians a3 2 I lie not) — I have great heaviness, and unceasing sor- peopieTalld 3 row in my heart ; yea, I could wish that I myself were f-n^ir'theu'' ex- cast out from Christ as an accursed thing, for the sake fegJ^^s m ac' of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh; hYs'^^'f^o rm er 4 who are the seed of Israel, whom God adopted for his ^oJ'^"if^{jje children, whose were the crlory of the Shekinah, and sceHdants of ' . . . Abraham, but the covenants, and the lawffivinff, and the service of only a selected ' o ^ portion of them, 6 the temple, and the promises of blessing. Whose fathers were chosen by were the patriarchs, and of whom (as to his flesh) was born the Christ who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen. 6 Yet I speak not as if the promise of God had fallen to the ground ; 7 for not all are Israel who are of Israel, nor because all are the seed of Abraham, are they all the children of Abraham ; but in Isaac shall 8 thy seed be called. That is, not the children of the flesh of Abraham are the sons of God, but his children of the promise are counted for 9 his true seed. For thus spake the word of promise, saying, At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son [so that Ishmael, although 10 the son of xVbraham, had no part in the promise]. And not only so, but [Esau likewise was shut out ; for] when Eebekah had conceived two sons by the same husband, our forefather Isaac, yea, while they 11 were not yet born, and had done nothing either good or bad (that God's purpose according to election might abide, coming not from the works of the called, but from the will of the Caller), it was declared 12 unto her, The elder shall serve the younger; according to that which is 13 written, Jacob have I loved^ but Esau have I hated, 14 What shall we say then ? Shall we call God unjust The Jews can- [because he has cast off the seed of Abraham] ? That r\%i^iJ ?eject 15 be far from us. For to Moses he saith, ''I will have Xr^l^c^Slrd^ mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compas- shfce^it^'ls^^ai- 16 sion on whom I will have compassionJ^ So, then, the own^ Scriptures choice comes not from man's will, nor from man's ^^^^ case of ' Pharaoli. It 17 speed, but from God's mercy. And thus the Scripture ^nay, object- T^i ^ u T-> 1 1 r- ''''"^ ^^^^ * says to Pharaoh, Even for this end have I raised thee view rei.resf nta . God's will as up, that I might show my power m thee, and that my name the arbitrary 18 might be declared throughout all the earthJ^ According actions'; °Yh a to his will, therefore, he has mercy on one, and hardens thrcreated^be? 604 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. 19 another. Thou wilt say to me, then, "Why does God ing. cannot |n- 7 7. VGhtigate tlie 20 stiJl blame us? for who can resist his will"? Nav, causes winch " ' mav have de- rather, O man, who art thou that disT)utest a<;ainst God ? termined the Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it. Why tor. 21 hast thou made me thusf Hath not the potter power over the clay/* to make out of the same lump one vessel for honor and one for dLs- 22 honor? But what if God (though willing to show forth his wratli, and to make known his power) endured with much long-suffering vessels of wrath, fitted for destruction [and cast them not at once 23 away] ? And what if thus he purposed to make known the riches of his glory bestowed upon vessels of mercy, which he had before pre- 24 pared for glory ? And such are we, whom he has called, not only from among the Jews, but from among the Gentiles, as it is written 25 also in Hosea, " / will call them my people which were Also the Jew- 26 not my people^ and her beloved which ivas not beloved; and spiaiT^^oT^Vhe it shall come to pass that in the place where it was said Gentlfes^^an d unto theniy Ye are not my people^ there shall they be called dtsobedrent 27 the children of the living God J' But Esaias cries con- cerning Israel, saying, " Though the number of the children of Israel be 28 as the sand of the sea, only the remnant shall be saved; for he doth com.- plete his reckoning, and cutteth it short in righteousness ; yea^ a short 29 reckoning will the Lord make upon the earthJ^ And, as Esaias had said before, ^'Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed remaining, we had been as Sodom, and had, been made like unto GomorrhaP 30 What shall we say, then ? We say that the Gentiles, though they sought not after righteousness, have at- tained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith ; 31 but that the house of Israel, though they sought a law 32 of righteousness, have not attained thereto. And why ? Because they sought it not by faith, but thought to gain it by the works of the Law ; for they stumbled against 33 the stone of stumbling, as it is written, Behold Hay in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence; and whoso hath faith in him shall be saved from confrisionJ* X. 1 Brethren, my heart's desire and my prayer to God 2 for Israel is, that they may be saved ; for I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, yet not guided 3 by knowledge of God ; for because they knew not the righteousness of God, and sought to establish their own The cause of tliis rejection of the Jews was that they per- sisted in a false idea of righte- ousness, as con sisting in out- ward works and rites, and re- fused the true righteous n es s manifested to tliem in Christ, who was the end of the Law (X. 4). The Jew considers righteousn ess as the outward obedience to certain enact- ments (x. 5). The Christian considers right- eousness as pro- ceeding fiom the inward faith of the heart. Whoever has this faith, whether Jew or Geutiie. tliail EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 505 righteousness, therefore they have not submitted them- be admitted 4 selves to the righteousness of God. For the end of the von ^ ^' Law L« Christ, that all may attain righteousness who have faith in 5 him. For Moses writes concerning the righteousness of the Law, 6 saying, " The man which doeth these things shall live therein ; " but the righteousness of faith speaks in this wise, Say not in thine heart, " Who shall ascend into heaven that is, " Who can bring down Christ 7 from heaven?" nor say, *'Who shall descend into the abyss f that is, 8 "Who can raise up Christ from the dead?'' But how speaks it? " The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart — that is, 9 the word of faith which we proclaim, saying, "If with thy mouth thou shalt confess Jesus for thy Lord, and shalt have fixith in thy 10 heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." For faith unto righteousness is in the heart, and confession unto salvation 11 is from the mouth. And so says the Scripture, " Whosoever hath 12 faith in him shall be saved from confusion for there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile, because the same [Jesus] is Lord over all, 13 and he gives richly to all who call upon him ; for " Every man who shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved^ 14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they in order, there- have put no faith ? And how shall they put faith in may be to ad- 15 Him of whom they never heard ? And how shall "ilattoA *to^ be' they hear of him if no man bear the tidings? And uniJer^Uypro! who shall bear the tidings if no messengers be sent has"^^^arready forth? As it is written, ''How beautiful are the feet of d"phfe them that bear glad tidings of peace, that bear glad tidings Jews of th© ^ J J r 1 a J excuse of igno- 16 of good things r Yet some have not hearkened to the ranee, espe- 1 1 • T • 1 -r-i • cially as they glad tidmgs, as saith Esaias, Lord, who hath given had received tt-i r • 1 T'/nnni n • t t t Warnings of re- 17 faith to our teaching bo, then, faith comes by teach- jection before ing; and our teaching comes by the word of God. Scriptures. 18 But I say, have they not heard the voice of the teachers? Yea, " Their sound went forth into all the earth, and their words unto the ends 19 of the worldJ^ Again, I say, did not Israel know [the purpose of God] ? yea, it is said first by Moses, " I will make you jealous against them which are no people, against a Gentile nation without 'dnderstand- 20 ing will I make you wroth^ But Esaias speaks boldly, saying, '' I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that 21 asked not after meP But unto Israel he says, ''All day long have 1 spread forth my arms unto a disobedient and gainsaying peopled XI. 1 I say, then — must we think that God has cast off ^^^.T *^ ' ever, are not all 606 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. his people? That be far from us; for I am myself also rpjected: tho«« an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of chSst^^'^\!av© Benjamin. God has not cast off his people whom he by God (^oiciiy to the 1 1 /. 1 1 o y Roman Chns- 3"ou are already full of goodness, filled with all know- tians, as being 11 T 1 .1 apostle of ledge, ana able, without my counsel, to admonish one the Gentiles. 15 another. Yet I have written to you somewhat boldly to visit them on in parts [of this letter], to remind you [rather than to Spain ; for be 16 teach you], because of that gift of grace which God has ecuted h?8%09^ given me, whereby he sent me to minister for Jesus gfon in th^^st^ Christ, bearing liis glad tidings to the Gentiles, that I Vm^iC^otr miglit present them to God, as a priest presents the nofoccSpied'by offering, a sacrifice well pleasing unto him, hallowed by ^^^^^H' 512 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. 17 the working of the Holy Spirit. I have therefore some- 5^ ® . Jerusalem t a what whereof to boast in Christ Jesus, concerninf? the convey tha ^_ , . /. T /. T .11 1 I- -,1 Greek contri- 18 things of God: for I will not dare [as some do] to butions thither 1 ./. 1 /. /> 1 1 1 /.I 1 -1- .n 1 spite of the glorify myself for the labors of others, but I will speak dangers which only of the works which Christ has wrought by me, meet there! 19 to bring the Gentiles to obedience, by word and deed, with the might of signs and wonders, the might of the Spirit of God ; so that going forth from Jerusalem, and round about so far as Illyricum, I have 20 fulfilled my task in bearing the glad tidings of Christ. And my ambition was to bear it according to this rule [that I should go], not 21 where the name of Christ was known (lest I should be building on another man's foundation), but [where it was unheard] ; as it is written, " To whom he was not spoken qfj they shall see; and the people who have not heard shall understand.^^ 22 This is the cause why I have often been hindered from coming to 23 you. But now that I have no longer room enough [for my labors] in these regions, and have had a great desire to visit you these many 24 years, so soon as I take my journey into Spain I will come to you ; for I hope to see you on my way, and to be set forward on my jour- ney thither by you, after I have in some measure satisfied my desire 25 of your company. But now I am going to Jerusalem, being em- 26 ployed in a ministration for Christ's people. For the provinces of Macedonia and Achaia have willingly undertaken to make a certain 27 contribution for the poor among Christ's people in Jerusalem. Will- ingly, I say, they have done this ; and indeed they are debtors to the Church in Jerusalem; for since the Gentiles have shared in the spiritual goods of the brethren in Judaea, they owe it in return to 28 minister to them of their own earthly goods. When, therefore, I have finished this task, and have given to them in safety the fruit of 29 this collection, I will come from thence, by you, into Spain. And I am sure that when I come to you, our meeting will receive the ful- 30 ness of Christ's blessing. But I beseech you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love which the Spirit gives, to help me in my conflict with your prayers to God on my behalf, that I may be 31 delivered from the disobedient in Judsea, and that the service which I have undertaken for Jerusalem may be favorably received by 32 Christ's people ; that so I may come to you in joy, by God's will, 33 and may be refreshed in your companionship. May the God of peace be with you all. Amen. XVI 1 I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is a min- Commendation EPISTLE TO THE EOMANS. 513 istering servant of the Church at Cenchreae ; that you of Phoebe, and 2 may receive her in the Lord, as Christ's people should numerouT ko- receive their brethren, and aid her in any business ^^i^^^i^^^^^* wherein she needs your help ; for she has herself aided many, and me also among the rest. 3 Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow-laborers in the work of Christ Jesus, who to save my life laid down their own necks ; who are thanked, not by me alone, but by all the churches of the Gen- 4 tiles. Greet likewise the Church which assembles at their house. 5 Salute Epaenetus my dearly beloved, who is the first-fruits of Asia unto Christ. 6 Salute Mary, who labored much for me. 7 Salute Andronicus and Junias, my kinsmen and fellow-prisoners, who are well known among the apostles, and who were also in Clirist before me. 8 Salute Amplias, my dearly beloved in the Lord. 9 Salute Urbanus, my fellow-workman in Christ's service, and Stachys my dearly beloved. 10 Salute Apelles, who has been tried and found trustworthy in Christ's work. Salute those who are of the household of Aristobulus. 11 Salute Herodion, my kinsman. Salute those of the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord's fellowship. 12 Salute Tryphena and Tryphosa, the faithful laborers in the Lord's service. Salute Persis the dearly beloved, who has labored much in the Lord. 13 Salute Kufus the chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who is also mine. 14 Salute Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, and the brethren who are with them. 15 Salute Philologus, and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all Christ's people who are with them. 16 Salute one another with the kiss of holiness. The churches of Christ [in Achaia] salute you. 17 I exhort you, brethren, to keep your eyes upon ^ff^f^J "f ^f^gted those who cause divisions and cast stumbling-blocks paitisane. in the way of others, contrary to the teaching which you have 18 learned. Shun them that are such ; for the master whom they serve is not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly ; and by their fair speaking and flattery they deceive the hearts of the guileless. I 33 514 LIFE AND EPISTLES OP THE APOSTLE PAUL. 19 say this, because the tidings of your obedience have been told throughout the world. On your own behalf, therefore, I rejoice: but I wish you not only to be simple in respect of evil, but to be wise 20 for good. And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet speedily. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. 21 Timotheus, my fellow-laborer, and Lucius, and Ja- Salutations from ^ c^ ' J. 1 • 1 X Christians at son, and Sosipater, my kinsmen, salute you. Corinth to those 22 I, Tertius, who have written this letter, salute you in the Lord. 23 Gains, who is the host, not of me alone, but also of the whole Church, salutes you. Erastus, the treasurer of the city, and the brother Quartus, salute you. 24 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Autograph con- 25 Now I commend you unto Him who is able to keep you steadfast, according to my glad tidings, and the preaching of Jesus Christ whereby is unveiled the mystery which was liid- 26 den in silence through the ages of old, but has now been brought to light, and made known to all the Gentiles by the Scriptures of the prophets, by command of the everlasting God ; that the Gentiles 27 might be led to the obedience of faith unto Kim, the only wise God, I commend you through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever. Amen. CHAPTER XX. CORIKTH. — ISTHMIAN GAMES. — VOYAGE FROM PHILIPPI. — SUNDAY AT TROAS. — ASSOS. — VOYAGE BY MITYLENE AND TROGYLLIUM TO MILETUS.— " SPEECH TO THE EPHESIAN PRES- BYTERS." — VOYAGE BY COS AND RHODES TO PATARA. — THENCE TO PHCENICIA. — CHRISTIANS AT TYRE. — PTOLEMAIS. — EVENT AT CiESAREA. — ARRIVAL AT JERUSALEM. In the Epistles which have been already set before the reader in the course of this biography, and again in some of those which are to succeed, Paul makes frequent allusion to a topic which engrossed the interest and called forth the utmost energies of the Greeks. The periodical games were to them rather a passion than an amusement ; and the apostle often uses language drawn from these celebrations when he wishes to enforce the zeal and the patience with which a Christian ought to strain after his heavenly reward. The imagery he employs is sometimes varied. In one instance, when he describes the struggle of the spirit with the flesh, he seeks his illustration in the violent contest of the boxers (1 Cor. ix. 26). In another, when he would give a strong representation of the perils he had encountered at Ephesus, he speaks as one who had contended in that ferocious sport which the Romans had introduced among the Greeks, the fighting of gladiators with wild beasts (ib. xv. 32). But usually his reference is to the foot-race in the stadium, which, as it was the most ancient, continued to be the most esteemed among the purely Greek athletic contests. If we compare the various passages where this language is used, we find the whole scene in the stadium brought vividly before us — the "herald" who summons the contending runners; the course, which rapidly diminishes in front of them as their footsteps ad- vance to the goal ; the judge who holds out the prize at the end of the course ; tlie prize itself, a chaplet of fading leaves, which is compared with the strongest emphasis of contrast to the unfading glory with which the faithful Christian will be crowned ; the joy 615 616 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. and exultation of the victor, wbicli the apostle applies to his own case when he speaks of his converts as his "joy and crown/' the token of his victory and the subject of his boasting. And under the same image he sets forth the heavenly prize, after which his converts themselves should struggle with strenuous and unswerving zeal, with no hesitating step (1 Cor. ix. 26), pressing forward and never looking back (Phil. iii. 13, 14), even to the disregard of life itself (Acts XX. 24). And the metaphor extends itself beyond the mere struggle in the arena to the preparations which were necessary to success — to that severe and continued training which, being so great for so small a reward, was a fit image of that "training unto godliness" which has the promise not only of this life, but of that which is to come ; to the strict regulations which presided over all the details, both of the contest and the pre- liminary discipline, and are used to warn the careless Christian of the peril of an undisciplined life; to the careful diet, which admonishes us that, if we would so run that we may obtain, we must be " temperate in all things." This imagery would be naturally and familiarly suggested to Paul by the scenes which he witnessed in every part of his travels. At his own native place on the banks of the Cydnus, in every city throughout Asia Minor, and more especially at Ephesus, the stadium and the training for the stadium were among the chief subjects of interest to the whole population. Even in Palestine, and at Jerusalem itself, these busy amusements were well known. But Greece was the very home from which these institutions drew their origin, and the isthmus of Corinth was one of four sanctu- aries where the most celebrated games were periodically held. Now that we have reached the point where Paul is about to leave this city for the last time, we are naturally led to make this allusion ; and an interesting question suggests itself here — viz. whether the apostle was ever himself present during the Isthmi- an games. It might be argued a priori that this is highly probable, for great numbers came at these seasons from all parts of the Mediterranean to witness or take part in the contests; and the very fact that amusement and ambition brought some makes it certain that gain attracted many others ; thus it is likely that the apostle, just as he desired to be at Jerusalem during the Hebrew festivals, so would gladly preach the gospel at a time when 80 vast a concourse met at the isthmus, whence, as from a centre, VOYAGE FROM PHILIPPI. 517 it might be carried to every shore with the dispersion of the strangers. But, further, it will be remembered that on his first visit Paul spent two years at Corinth ; and though there is some difficulty in determining the times at which the games were celebrated, yet it seems almost certain that they recurred every second year, at the end of spring or the beginning of summer. Thus it may be confidently concluded that he was there at one of the festivals. As regards the voyage undertaken from Ephesus, the time devoted to it was short, yet that time may have coincided with the festive season ; and it is far from inconceivable that he may have sailed across the ^gean in the spring with some com- pany of Greeks who were proceeding to the isthmian meeting. On the present occasion he spent only three of the winter months in Achaia, and it is hardly possible that he could have been present during the games. It is most likely that there were no crowds among the pine trees at the isthmus, and that the stadium at the sanctuary of Neptune was silent and unoccupied when Paul passed by it along the northern road on his way to Macedonia. His intention had been to go by sea to Syria as soon as the season of safe navigation should be come ; and in that case he would have embarked at Cenchrese, whence he had sailed during his second missionary journey, and whence the Christian Phoebe had recently gone with the letter to the Romans. He himself had prepared his mind for a journey to Rome, but first he was purposed to visit Jerusalem, that he might convey the alms which had been col- lected in Macedonia and Achaia for the poorer brethren. He looked forward to this expedition with some misgiving, for he knew what danger was to be apprehended from his Jewish and Judaizing ene- mies; and even in his letter to the Roman Christians he requested their prayers for his safety. And he had good reason to fear the Jews, for ever since their discomfiture under Gallio they had been irritated by the progress of Christianity, and they organized a plot against the great preacher when he was on the eve of departing for Syria. We are not informed of the exact nature of this plot, but it was probably a conspiracy against his life, like that which was formed at Damascus soon after his conversion (Acts ix. 23 ; 2 Cor. xi. 32), and at Jerusalem both before and after the time of which we write (Acts ix. 19; xxiii. 12), and necessitated a change of route, such as that which had once saved him on his departure from Bercea. 518 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. On that occasion his flight had been from Macedonia to Achaia; now it was from Achaia to Macedonia. Nor would he regret the occasion which brought him once more among some of his dearest converts. Again he saw the churches on the north of the iEgean, and again he went through the towns along the line of the Via Egnatia. He reappeared in the scene of his persecution among the Jews of Thessalonica, and passed on by Apollonia and Amphip- olis to the place where he had first landed on the European shore. The companions of his journey were Sopater the son of Pyrrhus, a native of Bercea; Aristarchus and Secundus, both of Thessa- lonica, with Gains of Derbe and Timotheus ; and two Christians from the province of Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus, whom w^e have mentioned before as his probable associates when he last departed from Ephesus. From the order in which these disciples are mentioned, and the notice of the specific places to which they belonged, we should be inclined to conjecture that they had some- thing to do with the collections which had been made at the various towns on the route. As Luke does not mention the collection, we cannot expect to be able to ascertain all the facts. But since Paul left Corinth sooner than w^as intended, it seems likely that all the arrangements were not complete, and that Sopater was charged with the responsibility of gathering the funds from Bercea, while Aristarchus and Secundus took charge of those from Thessalonica. Luke himself was at Philippi, and the remaining four of the party were connected wdth the interior or the coast of Asia Minor. The whole of this company did not cross together from Europe to Asia, but Paul and Luke lingered at Philippi, while the others preceded them to Troas. The journey through Macedonia had been rapid and the visits to the other churches had been short. But the Church at Philippi had peculiar claims on Paul's atten- tion, and the time of his arrival induced him to pause longer than in the earlier part of his journey. It was the time of the Jewish Passover. And here our thoughts turn to the Passover of the pre- ceding year, when the apostle was at Ephesus. We remember the higher and Christian meaning which he gave to the Jewish festival. It was no longer an Israelitish ceremony, but it was the Easter of the New Dispensation. He was not now occupied with shadows, for the substance was already in possession. Christ the Passover had been sacrificed, and the feast was to be kept with the unleav- ened bread of sincerity and truth. Such was the higher standing- PAUL AT ALEXANDRIA TROAS. 519 point to which he sought to raise the Jews whom he met in Asia or in Europe at their annual celebrations. Thus, while his other Christian companions had preceded him to Troas, he remained with Luke some time longer at Philippi, and did not leave Macedonia till the Passover moon w^as waning. Notwithstanding this delay, they were anxious, if possible, to reach Jerusalem before Pentecost. And we shall presently trace the successive days through which they were prosperously brought to the fulfilment of their wish. Some doubt has been thrown on the possibility of this plan being accomplished in the interval, for they did not leave Philippi till the seventh day after the fourteenth of Nisan was past. It will be our business to show that the plan was perfectly practicable, and that it was actually accomplished, with some days to spare. The voyage seemed to begin unfavorably. The space between Ne- apolis and Troas could easily be sailed over in two days with a fair wind ; and this was the time occupied when the apostle made the pas- sage on his first coming to Europe. On this occasion the same voy- age occupied five days. We have no means of deciding whether the ship's progress was retarded by calms or by contrary winds. Either of these causes of delay might equally be expected in the change- able weather of those seas. Luke seems to notice the time in both instances in the manner of one who was familiar with the passages commonly made between Europe and Asia; and something like an expression of disappointment is implied in the mention of the "five days " which elapsed before the arrival at Troas. The history of Alexandria Troas, first as a city of the Macedo- nian princes and then as a favorite colony of the Eomans, has been given before, but little has been said as yet of its appearance. From the extent and magnitude of its present ruins (though for ages it has been a quarry both for Christian and Mohammedan edi- fices) we may infer what it was in its flourishing period. Among the oak trees which fill the vast enclosure of its walls are frag- ments of colossal masonry. Huge columns of granite are seen lying in the harbor and in the quarries on the neighboring hills. A theatre commanding a view of Tenedos and the sea shows where the Greeks once assembled in crowds to witness their favorite spec- tacles. Open arches of immense size, towering from the midst of other great masses of ruin, betray the hand of Roman builders. These last remains — once doubtless belonging to a gymnasium or 520 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. to baths, and in more ignorant ages, when the poetry of Homer was better remembered than the facts of history, popularly called " the Palace of Priam — are conspicuous from the sea. We cannot assert that these buildings existed in the days of Paul, but we may be certain that the city, both on the approach from the water and to those who wandered through its streets, must have presented an appearance of grandeur and prosperity. Like Corinth, Ephesus, or Thessalonica, it was a place where the apostle must have wished to lay firmly and strongly the foundations of the gospel. On his first visit, as we have seen, he was withheld by a supernatural rev- elation from remaining; and on his second visit, though a door was opened to him, and he did gather together a community of Christian disciples, yet his impatience to see Titus compelled him to bid them a hasty farewell. Now, therefore, he would be the more anxious to add new converts to the Church, and to impress deeply on those who were converted the truths and the duties of Christianity ; and he had valuable aid both in Luke, who accom- paned him, and in the other disciples, who had preceded him. The labors of the early days of the week that was spent at Troas are not related to us, but concerning the last day we have a narra- tive which enters into details with all the minuteness of one of the Gospel histories. It was the evening which succeeded the Jewish sabbath. On the Sunday morning the vessel was about to sail. The Christians of Troas were gathered together at this solemn time to celebrate that feast of love which the last commandment of Christ has enjoined on all his followers. The place was an upper room, with a recess or balcony projecting over the street or the court. The night was dark : three weeks had not elapsed since the Passover, and the moon only appeared as a faint crescent in the early part of the night. Many lamps were burning in the room where the congregation was assembled. The place was hot and crowded. Paul, with the feeling strongly impressed on his mind that the next day was the day of his departure, and that souls might be lost by delay, was continuing in earnest discourse, and prolonging it even to midnight, when an occurrence suddenly took place which filled the assembly with alarm, though it was after- ward converted into an occasion of joy and thanksgiving. A young listener, whose name was Eutychus, was overcome by ex- haustion, heat, and weariness, and sank into a deep slumber. He was seated or leaning in the balcony, and, falling down in his sleep, FROM TROAS TO ASSOS. 521 was dashed upon the pavement below, and was taken up dead. Con- fusion and terror followed, with loud lamentation. But Paul was enabled to imitate the power of that Master whose doctrine he was proclaiming. As Jesus had once said of the young maiden who was taken by death from the society of her friends, She is not dead, but sleepeth," so the apostle of Jesus received power to restore the dead to life. He went down and fell upon the body like Elisha of old, and, embracing Eutychus, said to the bystanders, " Do not lament, for his life is in him." With minds solemnized and filled with thankfulness by this wonderful token of God's power and love, they celebrated the Eucharistic feast. The act of holy communion was combined, as was usual in the apostolic age, with a common meal; and Paul now took some refreshment after the protracted labor of the even- ing, and then continued his conversation till the dawning of the day. It was now time for the congregation to separate. The ship was about to sail, and the companions of Paul's journey took their departure to go on board. It was arranged, however, that the apostle himself should join the vessel at Assos, which was only about twenty miles distant by the direct road, while the voyage round Cape Lectum was nearly twice as far. He thus secured a few more precious hours with his converts at Troas ; and eagerly would they profit by his discourse, under the feeling that he was so soon to leave them ; and we might suppose that the impression made under such circumstances, and with the recollection of what they had witnessed in the night, would never be effaced from the minds of any of them, did we not know on the highest authority that if men believe not the prophets of God, neither will they believe "though one rose from the dead." But the time came when Paul too must depart. The vessel might arrive at Assos before him, and, whatever influence he might have with the seamen, he could not count on any long delay. He hastened, therefore, through the southern gate past the hot springs, and through the oak woods, then in full foliage, which cover all that shore with greenness and shade, and across the wild watercourses on the western side of Ida. Such is the Bcenery which now surrounds the traveller on his way from Troas to Assos. The great difference then was, that there was a good Eoman road, which made Paul's solitary journey both more safe and more rapid than it could have been now. We have seldom 522 LITE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. had occasion to think of the apostle in the hours of his solitude. But such hours must have been sought and cherished by one whose whole strength was drawn from communion with God, and especially at a time when, as on this present journey, he was deeply conscious of his weakness and filled with foreboding fears. There may have been other reasons why he lingered at Troas after his companions, but the desire for solitude was doubtless one reason among others. The discomfort of a crowded ship is un- favorable for devotion, and prayer and meditation are necessary for maintaining the religious life even of an apostle. That Sa- viour 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 peace were surely sought and obtained by the apostle from the Eedeemer as he pur- sued his lonely road that Sunday afternoon in spring among the oak woods and the streams of Ida. No delay seems to have occurred at Assos. He entered by the Sacred Way among the famous tombs and through the ancient gateway, and proceeded immediately to the shore. We may sup- pose that the vessel was already hove-to and waiting when he arrived, or that he saw her approaching from the west through the channel between Lesbos and the main. He went on board without delay, and the Greek sailors and the apostolic missionaries continued their voyage. As to the city of Assos itself, we must conclude, if we compare the description of the ancients with present appearances, that its aspect as seen from the sea was sumptuous and magnificent. A terrace with a long portico was raised by a wall of rock above the water-line. Above this was a magnificent gate approached by a flight of steps. Higher still was the theatre, which commanded a glorious view of Lesbos and the sea and those various buildings which are now a wilderness of broken columns, triglyphs, and friezes. The whole was crowned by a citadel of Greek masonry on a clifi' of granite. Such was the view which gradually faded into indistinctness as the vessel retired from the shore and the summits of Ida rose in the evening sky. The course of the voyagers was southward, along the eastern shore of Lesbos. When Assos was lost, Mitylene, the chief city of Lesbos, came gradually into view. The beauty of the caj)ital of Sappho^s island was celebrated by the architects, poets, and VOYAGE BY CHIOS TO TROGYLLIUM 523 philosophers of Rome. Like other Greek cities which were enno- bled by old recollections, it was honored by the Eomans with the privilege of freedom. Situated on the south-eastern coast of the island, it would afford a good shelter from the north-westerly winds whether the vessel entered the harbor or lay at anchor in the open roadstead. It seems likely that the reason why they lay here for the night was because it was the time of dark moon, and they would wish for daylight to accomplish safely the intricate navi- gation between the southern part of Lesbos and the mainland of Asia Minor. In the course of Monday they were abreast of Chios (v. 15). The weather in these seas is very variable, and from the mode of expression employed by Luke it is probable that they were be- calmed. An English traveller (Dr. Clarke) under similar circum- stances has described himself as " engrossed from daylight till noon " by the beauty of the prospects with which he was surround- ed as his vessel floated idly on this channel between Scio and the continent. On one side were the gigantic masses of the mainland; on the other were the richness and fertility of the island, with its gardens of oranges, citrons, almonds, and pomegranates, and its white scattered houses overshadowed by evergreens. Until the time of its recent disasters, Scio was the paradise of the modern Greek, and a familiar proverb censured the levity of its inhabitants, like that which in the apostle's day described the coarser faults of the natives of Crete (Tit. i. 12). The same English traveller passed the island of Samos after leaving that of Chios. So likewise did Paul (v. 15). But the former sailed along the western side of Samos, and he describes how its towering cloud-capped heights are contrasted with the next low island to the west. The apostle's course lay along the eastern shore, where a much narrower "marine pass" intervenes between it and a long mountainous ridge of the mainland, from which it appears to have been separated by some violent convulsion of Nature. This high promontory is the ridge of Mycale, well known in the annals of Greek victory over the Persians. At its termina- tion, not more than a mile from Samos, is the anchorage of Trogyllium. Here the night of Tuesday was spent, apparently for the same reason as that which caused the delay at Mitylene. The moon set early, and it was desirable to wait for the day before running into the harbor of Miletus. 524 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. The short voyage from Chios to Trogyllium had carried Paul through familiar scenery. The bay across which the vessel had been passing was that into which the Cayster flowed. The moun- tains on the eastern main were the western branches of Messogis and Tmolus, the ranges that enclose the primeval plain of "Asia/' The city towards which it is likely that some of the vessels in sight were directing their course was Ephesus, where the apostolic labors of three years had gathered a company of Christians in the midst of unbelievers. One whose solicitude was so great for his recent converts could not willingly pass by and leave them un- visited ; and had he had command of the movements of the vessel we can hardly believe that he would have done so. He would surely have landed at Ephesus, rather than at Miletus. The same wind which carried him to the latter harbor would have been equally advantageous for a quick passage to the former. And, even had the weather been unfavorable at the time for landing at Ephesus, he might easily have detained the vessel at Trogyllium, and a short journey by land northward would have taken him to the scene of his former labors. Yet every delay, whether voluntary or involuntary, might have been fatal to the plan he was desirous to accomplish. Luke in- forms us here (and the occurrence of the remark shows us how much regret was felt by the apostle on passing by Ephesus) that his intention was, if possible ^ to be in Jerusalem at Pentecost (v. 16). Even with a ship at his command, he could not calculate on favorable weather if he lost his present opportunity; nor could he safely leave the ship which had conveyed him hitherto, for he was well aware that he could not be certain of meeting with another that would forward his progress. He determined, therefore, to proceed in the same vessel on her southward course from Trogyl- lium to Miletus. Yet the same watchful zeal which had urged him to employ the last precious moments of the stay at Troas in his Master's cause suggested to his prompt mind a method of reim- pressing the lessons of eternal truth on the minds of the Christians at Ephesus, though unable to revisit them in person. He found that the vessel would be detained at Miletus a sufficient time to enable him to send for the presbyters of the Ephesian Church with the hope of their meeting him there. The distance between the two cities was hardly thirty miles, and a good road connected them together. Thus, though the stay at Miletus would be short, and THE CITY OF MILETUS. 525 it might be hazardous to attempt the journey himself, he could hope for one more interview — if not with the whole Ephesian Church, at least with those members of it whose responsibility was the greatest. The sail from Trogyllium with a fair wind would require but li''-i;le time. If the vessel weighed anchor at daybreak on Wednes- day, she would be in harbor long before noon. The message was doubtless sent to Ephesus immediately on her arrival, and Paul remained at Miletus waiting for those whom the Holy Spirit, by his hands, had made "overseers" over the flock of Christ (v. 28). The city where we find the Christian apostle now waiting while those who had the care of the vessel were occupied with the business that detained them has already been referred to as more ancient than Ephesus, though in the age of Paul inferior to it in political and mercantile eminence. Even in Homer the "Carian Miletus" appears as a place of renown. Eighty colonies went forth from the banks of the Mseander, and some of them were spread even to the eastern shores of the Black Sea and beyond the Pillars of Hercules to the West. It received its first blow in the Persian war, when its inhabitants, like the Jews, had experience of a Babylonian captivity. It suffered once more in Alexander's great campaign, and after his time it gradually began to sink towards its present condition of ruin and decay, from the influence, as it would seem, of mere natural causes, the increase of alluvial soil in the delta having the effect of removing the city gradually farther and farther from the sea. Even in the apostle's time there was between the city and the shore a considerable space of level ground, through which the ancient river meandered in new windings like the Forth at Stirling. Few events connect the history of Miletus with the transactions of the Eoman empire. When Paul was there it was simply one of the second-rate seaports on this populous coast, ranking, perhaps, with Adramyttium or Patara, but hardly with Ephesus or Smyrna. The excitement and joy must have been great among the Chris- tians of Ephesus when they heard that their honored friend and teacher, to whom they had listened so often in the school of Tyrannus, was in the harbor of Miletus within the distance of a few miles. The presbyters must have gathered together in all haste to obey the summons, and gone with eager steps out of the southern gate, which leads to Miletus. By those who travel on 526 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. such an errand a journey of twenty or thirty miles is not regarded long and tedious, nor is much regard paid to the difference betweeii day and night. The presbyters of Ephesus might easily reach Miletus on the day after that on Avhich the summons was received. And though they might be weary when they arrived, their fatigue would soon be forgotten at the sight of their friend and instructor; and God also, "who comforts them that are cast down" (2 Cor. vii. 6), comforted him by the sight of his disciples. They were gathered together — probably in some solitary spot upon the shore — to listen to his address. This little company formed a singular contrast with the crowds which used to assemble at the times of public amusement in the theatre of Miletus. But that vast theatre is now a silent ruin, while the words spoken by a careworn traveller to a few despised strangers are still living as they were that day, to teach lessons for all time and to make known eternal truths to all who will hear them, while they reveal to us, as though they were merely human words, all the tenderness and the affection of Paul, the individual speaker : " Brethren, ye know yourselves, from the first day that He reminds -r 1 Ti 1 •! tliem of his past 1 came into Asia, after what manner I have been with labors among you throughout all the time ; serving the Lord Jesus with all lowliness of mind, and in many tears and trials which befell me through the plotting of the Jews. And how I kept back none of those things which are profitable for you, but declared them to you, and taught you both publicly and from house to house ; testifying both to Jews and Gentiles their need of repentance towards God, and faith in our Lord J esus Christ. And now as for me, behold I go to Jerusalem, in spirit foredoomed to chains ; yet I know not the things which shall befall me there, save that in every city the Holy Spirit gives the same testimony, that bonds and afilictions abide me. But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish ray course with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify the glad tidings of the grace of God. " And now, behold I know that ye all, among whom I His farewell have gone from city to city, proclaiming the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more. Wherefore I take you to witness this day, thai I am clear from the blood of all. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves, and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to feed the Church of God which he has purchased with his DEPABTUEE FKOM MILETUS. 527 own blood. For this I know, that after my departure grievous wolves 6ha]l enter in among you, who will not spare the flock. And from your own selves will men arise speaking perverted words, that they may draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore, be watchful, and re- member that for the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one of you, night and day, with tears. "And now, brethren, I commend vou to God, and to the Final com- , - _ . /•II 1 M 1 mendation to word of his grace ; even to Him who is able to buiid you God, and ex- up and to give you an inheritance among all them that are interested ex- sanctified. When 1 was with you, I coveted no man's silver, or gold, or raiment. Yea, ye know yourselves that these hands ministered to my necessities, and to those who were with me. And all this I did for your example ; to teach you that so laboring we ought to support the helpless, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, ^ It is more blessed to give than to keceive.' " The close of this speech was followed by a solemn act of united supplication (Acts xx. 36). Paul knelt down on the shore with all those who had listened to him, and offered up a prayer to that God who was founding his Church in the midst of difficulties apparently insuperable ; and then followed an outbreak of natural grief which even Christian faith and resignation were not able to restrain. They fell on the apostle's neck and clung to him, and kissed him again and again, sorrowing most because of his own foreboding announcement that they should never behold that countenance again on which they had often gazed with reverence and love (ib. 37, 38). But no long time could be devoted to the grief of separation. The wind was fair, and the vessel must de- part. They accompanied the apostle to the edge of the water (ib. 38). The Christian brethren were torn from the embrace of their friends, and the ship sailed out into the open sea, while the presbyters prepared for their weary and melancholy journey to Ephesus. The narrative of the voyage is now resumed in detail. It is quite clear, from Luke's mode of expression, that the vessel sailed from Miletus on the day of the interview. With a fair wind she would easily run down to Cos in the course of the same afternoon. The distance is about forty nautical miles; the direction is due south. The phrase used implies a straight course and a fair wind; and we conclude, from the well-known phenomena of the Levant, that the wind was north-westerly, which is the prevalent direction 628 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. in those seas. With this wind the vessel would make her passage from Miletus to Cos in six hours, passing the shores of Caria, with the high summits of Mount Latmus on the left and with groups of small islands (among which Patmos (Rev. i. 9) would be seen at times) studding the sea on the right. Cos is an island about twenty -three miles in length, extending from south-west to north- east, and separated by a narrow channel from the mainland. But we should rather conceive the town to be referred to which lay at the eastern extremity of the island. It is described by the an- cients as a beautiful and well-built city, and it was surrounded with fortifications erected by Alcibiades towards the close of the Peloponnesian war. Its symmetry had been injured by an earth- quake, and the restoration had not yet been effected, but the pro- ductiveness of the island to which it belonged and its position in the Levant made the city a place of no little consequence. The wine and the textile fabrics of Cos were well known among the imports of Italy. Even now no harbor is more frequented by the merchant-vessels of the Levant. The roadstead is sheltered by Nature from all winds except the north-east, and the inner harbor was not then, as it is now, an unhealthy lagoon. Moreover, Clau- dius had recently bestowed peculiar privileges on the city. Another circumstance made it the resort of many strangers and gave it additional renown. It was the seat of the medical school tradi- tionally connected with iEsculapius, and the temple of the god of healing was crowded with votive models, so as to become in effect a museum of anatomy and pathology. The Christian phy- sician Luke, who knew these coasts so well, could hardly be igno- rant of the scientific and religious celebrity of Cos. We can imagine the thankfulness with which he would reflect — as the vessel lay at anchor off the city of Hippocrates — that he had been emancipated from the bonds of superstition, without becoming a victim to that scepticism which often succeeds it, especially in minds familiar with the science of physical phenomena. On leaving the anchorage of Cos the vessel would have to pro- ceed through the channel which lies between the southern shore of the island and that tongue of the mainland which terminates in the Point of Cnidus. If the wind continued in the north-west, the vessel would be able to hold a straight course from Cos to Cape Crio (for such is the modern name of the promontory of Triopium on which Cnidus was built), and after rounding the point she THE ISLAND OF RHODES. 529 would run clear before the wind all the way to Rhodes. Another of Paul's voyages will lead us to make mention of Cnidus. We shall therefore only say that the extremity of the promontory descends with a perpendicular precipice to the sea, and that this high rock is separated by a level space from the main, so that at a distance it appears like one of the numerous islands on the coast. Its history, as well as its appearance, was well impressed on the mind of the Greek navigator of old, for it was the scene of Conon's victory, and the memory of their great admiral made the south-western corner of the Asiatic peninsula to the Athenians what the south-western corner of Spain is to us through the mem- ories of St. Vincent and Trafalgar. We have supposed PauFs vessel to have rounded Cape Crio, to have left the western shore of Asia Minor, and to be proceeding along the southern shore. The current between Ehodes and the main runs strongly lo the westward, but the north-westerly wind would soon carry the vessel through the space of fifty miles to the northern extremity of the island, where its famous and beau- tiful city was built. Until the building of its metropolis the name of this island was comparatively unknown. But from the time when the inhabitants of the earlier towns were brought to one centre, and the new city, built by Hippodamus (the same architect who planned the streets of the Piraeus), rose in the midst of its perfumed gardens and its amphitheatre of hills with unity so symmetrical that it appeared like one house, Phodes has held an illustrious place among the islands of the Mediterranean. From the very effect of its situa- tion, lying as it did on the verge of two of the basins of that sea, it became the intermediate point of the eastern and western trade. Even now it is the harbor at which most vessels touch on their progress to and from the Archipelago. It was the point from which the Greek geographers reckoned their meridians of latitude and longitude. And we may assert that no place has been so long renowned for shipbuilding, if we may refer to the "benches, and masts, and shipboards'' of "Dodanim and Chittim," with the feeble constructions of the modern Turkish dockyard, as the ear- liest and latest efforts of that Ehodian skill which was celebrated by Pliny in the time of Paul. To the copious supplies of ship- timber were added many other physical advantages. It was a proverb that the sun shone every day in Rhodes, and her inhabit- 34 530 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. ants revelled in the luxuriance of the vegetation which surrounded them. We find this beauty and this brilliant atmosphere typified in her coins, on one side of which is the head of Apollo radiated like the sun, while the other exhibits the rose-flower, the conven- tional emblem which bore the name of the islanti. But the inter- est of what is merely outward fades before the moral interest associated with its history. If we rapidly run over its annals, we find something in every period with which elevated thoughts are connected. The Greek period is the first — famous not merely for the great temple of the Sun, and the Colossus, which, like the statue of Borromeo at Arena, seemed to stand over the city to protect it, but far more for the supremacy of the seas, which was employed to put down piracy ; for the code of mercantile law, by which the commerce of later times was regulated; and for the legislative enactments, framed almost in the spirit of Christianity, for the protection of the poor. This is* followed hy Ihe Eoman period, when the faithful ally which had aided by her naval power in subduing the East was honored by the senate and the emperors with the name and privileges of freedom ; and this by the Byzan- tine, during which Christianity was established in the Levant, and the city of the Ehodians, as the metropolis of a province of islands, if no longer holding the empire of the Mediterranean, was at least recognized as the " Queen of the j3Egean." During the earlier portion of the Middle Ages, while mosques were gradually taking the place of Byzantine churches, Ehodes was the last Christian city to make a stand against the advancing Saracens ; and again during their later portion she appears as a city ennobled by the deeds of Christian chivalry; so that ever since the success- ful siege of Solyman the Magnificent her fortifications and her stately harbor and the houses in her streets continue to be the memorials of the Knights of St. John. Yet no point of Khodian history ought to move our spirits with so much exultation as that day, when the vessel that conveyed Paul came round the low northern point of the island to her moorings before the city. We do not know that he landed like other great conquerors who have visited Rhodes. It would not be necessary even to enter the harbor, for a safe anchorage would be found for the night in the open roadstead. " The kingdom of God cometh not with obser- vation;" and the vessel which was seen by the people of the city to weigh anchor in the morning was probably undistin- XANTHUS AND PATARA. 531 guished from the other coastiiig-craft with which they were daily familiar. No view in the Levant is more celebrated than that from Rhodes towards the opposite shore of Asia Minor. The last ranges of Mount Taurus come down in magnificent forms to the sea, and a long line of snowy summits is seen along the Lycian coast, while the sea between is often an unruffled expanse of water under a blue and brilliant sky. Across this expanse, and towards a har- bor near the farther edge of these Lycian mountains, the apostle's course was now directed (Acts xxi. 2). To the eastward of Mount Cragus — the steep sea-front of which is known to the pilots of the Levant by the name of the Seven Capes'' — the river Xanthus winds through a rich and magnificent valley and past the ruins of an ancient city, the monuments of which, after a long concealment, have lately been made familiar to the British public. The harbor of the city of Xanthus was situated a short distance from the left bank of the river. Patara was to Xanthus what the Pirjeus was to Athens ; and though this comparison might seem to convey the idea of an importance which never belonged to the Lycian seaport, yet ruins still remain to show that it was once a place of some magnitude and splendor. The bay into which the river Xanthus flowed is now a " desert of moving sand," which is blown by the westerly wind into ridges along the shore, and is gradually hiding the remains of the ancient city, but a triple archway and a vast theatre have been described by travellers. Some have even thought that they have discovered the seat of the oracle of Apollo, who was worshipped here as his sister Diana was worshipped at Ephe- sus or Perga ; and the city walls can be traced among the sand- hills, with the castle that commanded the harbor. In the war against Antiochus this harbor was protected by a sudden storm from the Roman fleet when Livius sailed from Rhodes. Now we find the apostle Paul entering it with a fair wind after a short sail from the same island. It seems that the vessel in which Paul had been hitherto sailing either finished its voyage at Patara or was proceeding farther east- ward along the southern coast of Asia Minor, and not to the ports of Phoenicia. Paul could not know in advance whether it would be possible" for him to arrive in Palestine in time for Pentecost (xx. 16), but an opportunity presented itself unexpectedly at Pa- tara. Providential circumstances conspired with his own convic- 532 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. tious to forward his journey, notwithstanding the discouragement which tbe fears of others had thrown across his path. In the harbor of Patara they found a vessel which was on the point of crossing the open sea to Phoenicia (xxi. 2). They went on board without a moment's delay, and it seems evident, from the mode of exprossion, that they sailed the very day of their arrival. Since the voyage lay across the open sea, with no shoals or rocks to be dreaded, and since the north-westerly winds often blow steadily for several days in the Levant during spring, there could be no reason why the vessel should not weigh anchor in the evening and sail through the night. We have now to think of Paul as no longer passing through narrow channels or coasting along in the shadow of great moun- tains, but as sailing continuously through the midnight hours, with a prosperous breeze filling the canvas and the waves curling and sounding round the bows of the vessel. There is a peculiar freshness and cheerfulness in the prosecution of a prosperous voy- age with a fair wind by night. The sailors on the watch, and the passengers also, feel it, and the feeling is often expressed in songs or in long-continued conversation. Such cheerfulness might be felt by the apostle and his companions, not without thankfulness to that God " who giveth songs in the night" (Job xxxv. 10), and who hearkeneth to those who fear him, and speak often to one another, and think upon his name (Mai. iii. 15). If w^e remember, too, that a month had now elapsed since the moon was shining on the snows of Haemus, and that the full moonlight would now be resting on the great sail of the ship, we are not without an ex- pressive imagery which we may allowably throw round the apostle's progress over the waters between Patara and Tyre. The distance between these two points is three hundred and forty geographical miles ; and if we bear in mind that the north- westerly winds in April often blow like monsoons in the Levant, and that the rig of ancient sailing-vessels was peculiarly favorable to a quick run before the wind, we come at once to the conclusion that the voyage might easily be accomplished in forty-eight hours. Everything in Luke's account gives a strong impression that the weather was in the highest degree favorable; and there is one picturesque phrase employed by the narrator which sets vividly before us some of the phenomena of a rapid voyage. That which is said in the English version concerning the "discovering" of THE CITY OF TYRE. 533 Cyprus and "leaving it on tlie left hand" is in the original a nau- tical expression implying that the land appeared to rise quickly as they sailed past it to the southward. It would be in the course of the second day (probably in the evening) that "the high blue eastern land appeared." The highest mountain of Cyprus is a rounded summit, and there would be snow upon it at that season of the year. After the second night the first land in sight would be the high range of Lebanon in Syria (xxi. 3), and they w^ould easily arrive at Tyre before the evening. So much has been written concerning the past history and present condition of Tyre that these subjects are familiar to every reader, and it is unnecessary to dwell upon them here. When Paul came to this city it was neither in the glorious state described in the prophecies of Ezekiel and Isaiah, when " its merchants were princes and its traffickers the honorable of the earth," nor in the abject desolation in which it now fulfils those prophecies, being " a place to spread nets upon," and showing only the traces of its maritime supremacy in its ruined mole and a port hardly deep enough for boats. It w^as in the condition in which it had been left by the successors of Alexander — the island which once held the city being joined to the mainland by a causeway — with a harbor on the north and another on the south. In honor of its ancient greatness the Homans gave it the name of a free city, and it still commanded some commerce, for its manufactures of glass and purple were not yet decayed, and the narrow belt of the Phoenician coast between the mountains and the sea required that the food for its population should be partly brought from without. It is allowable to conjecture that the ship which we have just seen crossing from Patara may have brought grain from the Black Sea or wine from the Archipelago, with the purpose of taking on from Tyre a cargo of Phoenician manufactures. We know that what- ever were the goods she brought, they were unladed at Tyre (v. 3), and that the vessel was afterward to proceed to Ptolemais (v. 7). For this purpose some days would be required. She would be taken into the inner dock, and Paul had thus some time at his disposal which he could spend in the active service of his Master. He and his companions lost no time in "seeking out the disciples." It is probable that the Christians at Tyre were not numerous, but a church had existed there ever since the dispersion consequent upon the death of Stephen, and Paul had himself visited it, if not on his 534 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. mission of charity from Antioch to Jerusalem, yet doubtless on his way to the council. There were not only disciples at Tyre, but prophets. Some of those who had the prophetical powder foresaw the danger which was hanging over Paul, and endeavored to persuade him to desist from his purpose of going to Jerusalem. We see that different views of duty might be taken by those who had the same spiritual knowledge, though that knowledge were supernatural. Paul looked on the coming danger from a higher point. What to others was an overwhelming darkness, to him appeared only as a passing storm. And he resolved to face it in the faith that He who had protected him hitherto would still give him shelter and safety. The time spent at Tyre in unlading the vessel, and probably taking in a new cargo, and possibly, also, waiting for a fair wind, was "seven days," including a Sunday. Paul " broke bread " with the disciples and discoursed as he had done at Troas ; and the week-days, too, would afford many precious opportunities of confirming those who were already Christians, and in making the gospel known to others, both Jews and Gentiles. When the time came for the ship to sail a scene was witnessed on the Phoenician shore like that which had made the apostle's departure from Miletus so impressive and affect- ing. There attended him through the city gate, as he and his com- panions went out to join the vessel now ready to receive them, all the Christians of Tyre, and even their " wives and children." And there they knelt down and prayed together on the level shore. We are not to imagine here any Jewish place of w^orship, like the pro- seueha at Philippi, but simply that they were on their way to the ship. The last few moments were precious, and could not be so well employed as in praying to Him who alone can give true com- fort and protection. The time spent in this prayer was soon passed. And then they tore themselves from each other's embrace; the strangers went on board, and the Tyrian believers returned home sorrowful and anxious, while the ship sailed southward on her way to Ptolemais. There is a singular contrast in the history of those three cities on the Phoenician shore which are mentioned in close succession in the concluding part of the narrative of this apostolic journey. Tyre, the city from w^liich Paul had just sailed, had been the sea- port whose destiny formed the burden of the sublimest prophecies in the last days of the Plebrew monarchy. Ccesarea, the city to PTOLEMAIS. 635 which he was ultimately bound, was the work of the family of Herod and rose with the rise of Christianity. Both are fallen now into utter decay. Ptolemais, which was the intermediate stage be- tween them, is an older city than either, and has outlived them both. It has never been withdrawn from the field of history, and its interest has seemed to increase (at least in the eyes of Englishmen) v^ith the progress of centuries. Under the ancient name of Acco it appears in the book of Judges (i. 31) as one of the towns of the tribe of Assher. It was the pivot of the contests between Persia and Egypt. Not unknown in the Macedonian and Eoman periods, it reappears with brilliant distinction in the Middle Ages, when the Crusaders called it St. Jean d'Acre. It is needless to allude to the events which have fixed on this sea-fortress more than once the attention of our own generation. At the particular time when the apostle Paul visited this place it bore the name of Ptolemais — most probably given to it by Ptolemy Lagi, who was long in possession of this part of Syria — and it had recently been made a Eoman colony by the emperor Claudius. It shared with Tyre and Sidon, Antioch and Csesarea, the trade of the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. With a fair wind a short day^s voyage separates it from Tyre. To speak in the language of our own sailors, there are thirteen miles from Tyre to Cape Blanco, and fifteen from thence to Cape Car- mel ; and Acre — the ancient Ptolemais — is situated on the farther extremity of that bay which sweeps with a wide curvature of sand to the northward from the headland of Carmel. It is evident that PauFs company sailed from Tyre to Ptolemais within the day. At the latter city, as at the former, there w^ere Christian disciples, who had probably been converted at the same time and under the same circumstances as those of Tyre. Another opportunity was afforded for the salutations and encouragement of brotherly love, but the missionary party stayed here only one day. Though they had accomplished the voyage in abundant time to reach Jerusalem at Pentecost, they hastened onward, that they might linger some days at Csesarea. One day's travelling by land was suflScient for this part of their journey. The distance is between thirty and forty miles. At Csesarea there was a Christian family, already known to us in the earlier passages of the Acts of the Apostles, from whom they were sure of receiving a welcome. The last time we made mention of Philip the evangelist was when he was engaged in making the 636 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. gospel known on the road which leads southward by Gaza towards Egypt, about the time when Paul himself was converted on the northern road when travelling to Damascus. Now, after many years, the apostle and the evangelist are brought together under one roof. On the former occasion we saw that Csesarea was the place where the labors of Philip on that journey ended. Thence- forward it became his residence if his life was stationary, or it was the centre from which he made other missionary circuits through Judsea. He is found, at least, residing in this city by the sea when Paul arrives in the year 58 from Achaia and Macedonia. His family consisted of four daughters, who were an example of the fulfilment of that prediction of Joel quoted by Peter which said that at the opening of the new dispensation God^s Spirit should come on his "handmaidens," as well as his bondsmen, and that the " daughters," as well as the sons, should prophesy. The prophetic power was granted to those four women at Csesarea, who seem to have been living that life of single devotedness which is com- mended by Paul in his letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor. vii.), and to have exercised their gift in concert for the benefit of the Church. It is not improbable that these inspired women gave Paul some intimation of the sorrows which were hanging over him. But soon a more explicit Voice declared the very nature of the trial he was to expect. The stay of the apostle at Csesarea lasted some days (v. 10). He had arrived in Judsea in good time before the festival, and haste was now unnecessary. Thus news reached Jerusalem of his arrival, and a prophet named Agabus — whom we have seen before coming from the same place on a similar errand — went down to Csesarea and communicated to Paul and the company of Chris- tians by whom he was surrounded a clear knowledge of the im- pending danger. His revelation was made in that dramatic form which impresses the mind with a stronger sense of reality than mere words can do, and which was made familiar to the Jews o^ old by the practice of the Hebrew prophets. As Isaiah (chap. XX.) loosed the sackcloth from his loins and put off his shoes from his feet to declare how the Egyptian captives should be led away into Assyria naked and barefoot, — or as the girdle of Jeremiah (chap, xiii.) in its strength and its decay was made a type of the people of Israel in their privilege and their fall, — Agabus, in like manner using the imaginary action, took the girdle of Paul DEPARTURE FROM C^SAREA. 537 and fastened it round his own hands and feet, and said, " Thus saith the Holy Ghost ; So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man to whom this girdle belongs, and they shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles/' The effect of this emphatic prophecy, both on Luke, Aristarchus, and Trophimus, the companions of Paul's journey, and those Christians of Csesarea who, though they had not travelled with him, had learnt to love him, was very great. They wept, and im- plored him not to go to Jerusalem. But the apostle himself could not so interpret the supernatural intimation. He was placed in a position of peculiar trial. A voice of authentic prophecy had been so uttered that, had he been timid and wavering, it might easily have been construed into a warning to deter him. Nor was that temptation unfelt which arises from the sympathetic grief of loving friends. His affectionate heart was almost broken when he heard their earnest supplications and saw the sorrow that was caused by the prospect of his danger. But the mind of the Spirit had been so revealed to him in his own inward convictions that he could see the divine counsel through apparent hinderances. His resolution was " no wavering between yea and nay, but was yea in Jesus Christ." His deliberate purpose did not falter for a moment. He declared that he was " ready not only to be bound, but to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." And then they desisted from their entreaties. Their respect for the apostle made them silent. They recognized the will of God in the steady pur- pose of his servant, and gave their acquiescence in those words in which Christian resignation is best expressed, " The will of the Lord he doneP The time was now come for the completion of the journey. The festival was close at hand. Having made the arrangements that were necessary with regard to their luggage — and such notices in Holy Scripture should receive their due attention, for they help to set before us all the reality of the apostle's journeys — he and the companions who had attended him from Macedonia proceeded tc the Holy City. Some of the Christians of Csesarea went along with them — not merely, as it would seem, to show their respect and sympathy for the apostolic company, but to secure their comfort on arriving by taking him to the house of Mnason, a native of Cyprus, who had been long ago converted to Christianity — possibly during the life of our Lord himself — and who may have been one of those 538 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. Cyprian Jews who first made the gospel known to the Greeks at Antioch. Thus we have accompanied Paul on his last recorded journey to Jerusalem. It was a journey full of incident, and it is related more minutely than any other portion of his travels. We know all the places by which he passed or at which he stayed, and we are able to connect them all with familiar recollections of history. We know, too, all the aspect of the scenery. He sailed along those coasts of Western Asia and among those famous islands the beauty of which is proverbial. The very time of the year is known to us. It was when the advancing season was clothing every low shore and the edge of every broken cliff with a beautiful and re- freshing verdure — when the winter storms had ceased to be dangerous, and the small vessels could ply safely in shade and sunshine between neighboring ports. Even the state of the weather and the direction of the wind are known. We can point to the places on the map where the vessel anchored for the night, and trace across the chart the track that was followed when the moon was full. Yet more than this. We are made fully aware of the state of the apostle's mind and of the burdened feeling under which this journey was accomplished. The expression of this feeling strikes us the more from its contrast with all the out- ward circumstances of the voyage. He sailed in the finest season, by the brightest coasts, and in the fairest weather, and yet his mind was occupied with forebodings of evil from first to last, so that a peculiar shade of sadness is thrown over the whole narration. If this be true, we should expect to find some indications of this pervading sadness in the letters written about this time, for we know how the deeper tones of feeling make themselves known in the correspondence of any man with his friends. Accordingly, we do find in The Epistle written to the Romans shortly before leaving Corinth a remarkable indication of discouragement, and almost despondency, when he asked the Christians at Eome to pray that on his arrival in Jerusalem he might be delivered from the Jews who hated him, and be well received by those Christians who dis- regarded his authority. The depressing anxiety with which he thus looked forward to the journey would not be diminished when the very moment of his departure from Corinth was beset by a Jewish plot against his life. And we find the cloud of gloom which thus gathered at the first increasing and becoming darker FOREBODINGS OF EVIL. 639 as we advance. At Philippi and at Troas^ indeed, no direct inti- mation is given of coming calamities ; but it is surely no fancy v^^hich sees a foreboding shadow thrown over that midnight meeting where death so suddenly appeared among those that were assembled there with many lights in the upper chamber, while the apostle seemed unable to intermit his discourse as " ready to depart on the morrow." For indeed at Miletus he said that already every city'' the Spirit had admonished him that bonds and impris- onment were before him. At Miletus it is clear that the heaviness of spirit under which he started had become a confirmed antici- pation of evil. When he wrote to Kome he hoped to be delivered from the danger he had too much reason to fear. Now his fear predominates over hope, and he looks forward sadly but calmly to some imprisonment not far distant. At Tyre the first sounds that he hears on landing are the echo of his own thoughts. He is met by the same voice of warning and the same bitter trial for himself and his friends. At Ccesarea his vague forebodings of captivity are finally made decisive and distinct, and he has a last struggle with the remonstrances of those whom he loved. Never had he gone to Jerusalem without a heart full of emotion — neither in those early years when he came an enthusiastic boy from Tarsus to the school of Gamaliel, nor on his return from Damascus after the greatest change that could have passed over an inquisitor's mind, nor when he went with Barnabas from Antioch to the council which was to decide an anxious controversy. Now he had much new experience of the insidious progress of error and of the sinfulness even of the converted. Yet his trust in God did not depend on the faithfulness of man, and he went to Jerusalem calmly and resolutely, though doubtful of his reception among the Christian brethren, and not knowing what would happen on the morrow. CHAPTER XXI. RECEPTION AT JERUSALEM. — ASSEMBLING OF THE PRESBYTERS. —ADVICE GIVEN TO PAUL. — THE FOUR NAZARITES. — PAUL SEIZED AT THE FESTIVAL. — THE TEMPLE AND THE GARRISON. — "HEBREW SPEECH ON THE STAIRS." — THE CENTURION AND THE CHIEF CAPTAIN. — PAUL BEFORE THE SANHEDRIN. — THE PHARISEES AND SADDUCEES. — VISION IN THE CASTLE. — CON- SPIRACY. — PAULAS NEPHEW. — LETTER OF CLAUDIUS LYSIAS TO FELIX. — NIGHT-JOURNEY TO ANTIPATRIS. — CiESAREA. " When we were come to Jerusalem the brethren received us gladly." Such is Luke's description of the welcome which met the apostle of the Gentiles on his arrival in the metropolis of Judaism. So we shall find afterv/ard " the brethren" hailing his approach to Eome and "coming to meet him as far as Appii Fo- rum." Thus, wherever he went or whatever might be the strength of hostility and persecution which dogged his footsteps, he found some Christian hearts who loved the glad tidings which he preached, and loved himself as the messenger of the grace of God. The apostle's spirit, which was much depressed, as we have seen, by anticipations of coldness and distrust on the part of the Church at Jerusalem, must have been lightened by his kind reception. He seems to have spent the evening of his arrival with these sym- pathizing brethren, but on the morrow a more formidable ordeal awaited him. He must encounter the assembled presbyters of the Church; and he might well doubt whether even the substantial proof of loving interest in their welfare of which he was the bearer would overcome the antipathy with which (as he was fully aware) too many of them regarded him. The experiment, how- ever, must be tried, for this was the very end of his coming to Jerusalem at all at a time when his heart called him to Rome. His purpose was to endeavor to set himself right with the Church of Jerusalem, to overcome the hostile prejudices which had already 80 much impeded his labors, and to endeavor, by the force of 540 RECEPTION AT JERUSALEM. 541 Christian love and forbearance, to win the hearts of those whom he regarded, in spite of all their weaknesses and errors, as brethren in Christ Jesus. Accordingly, when the morning came the pres- byters or elders of the Church were called together by James (who, as we have before mentioned, presided over the Church of Jeru- salem) to receive Paul and his fellow-travellers, the messengers of the Gentile churches. We have already seen how carefully Paul had guarded himself from the possibility of suspicion in the administration of his trust by causing deputies to be elected by the several churches whose alms he bore as joint trustees with himself of the fund collected. These deputies now entered together with him into the assembly of the elders, and the offer- ing was presented — a proof of love from the churches of the Gen- tiles to the mother-Church whence their spiritual blessings had been derived. The travellers were received with that touching symbol of brotherhood, the kiss of peace, which was exchanged between the Christians of those days on every occasion of public as well as private meeting. Then the main business of the assembly was commenced by an address from Paul. This was not the first occa- sion on which he had been called to take a similar part in the same city and before the same audience. Our thoughts are natu- rally carried back to the days of the apostolic council, when he first declared to the Church of Jerusalem the gospel which he preached among the Gentiles and the great things which God had wrought thereby. The majority of the Church had then, under the influence of the Spirit of God, been brought over to his side and had ratified his views by their decree. But the battle was not yet won ; he had still to contend against the same foes with the same weapons. We are told that he now gave a detailed account of all that " God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry" since he last parted from Jerusalem four years before. The foundation of the great and flourishing Church of Ephesus doubtless furnished the main interest of his narrative, but he would also dwell on the progress of the several churches in Phrygia, Galatia, and other parts of Asia Minor, and likewise those in Macedonia and Achaia, from whence he was just returned. In such a discourse he could scarcely avoid touching on subjects which would excite painful feelings and rouse bitter prejudice in many of his audience. He 542 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. could hardly speak of Galatia without mentioning the attempted perversion of his converts there. He could not enter into the state of Corinth without alluding to the emissaries from Palestine who had introduced confusion and strife among the Christians of that city. Yet we cannot doubt that Paul, with that graceful courtesy which distinguished both his writings and his speeches, softened all that was disagreeable and avoided what was person- ally offensive to his audience, and dwelt, as far as he could, on topics in which all present would agree. Accordingly, we find that the majority of the assembled elders were favorably impressed by his address and by the tidings which he brought of the progress of the gospel. The first act of the assembly was to glorify God for the wonders he had wrought. They joined in solemn thanks- giving with one accord, and the amen (1 Cor. xiv. 16) which fol- lowed the utterance of thanks and praise from apostolic lips was swelled by many voices. Thus the hope expressed by Paul on a former occasion concern- ing the result of this visit to Jerusalem was in a measure fulfilled. But beneath this superficial show of harmony there lurked ele- ments of discord which threatened to disturb it too soon. We have already had occasion to remark upon the peculiar composi- tion of the Church at Jerusalem, and we have seen that a Phari- saic faction was sheltered in its bosom which continually strove to turn Christianity into a sect of Judaism. We have seen that this faction had recently sent emissaries into the Gentile churches, and had endeavored to alienate the minds of PauFs converts from their converter. These men were restless agitators, animated by the bitterest sectarian spirit, and although they were numerically a small party, yet we know the power of a turbulent minority. But besides these Judaizing zealots, there was a large proportion of the Christians at Jerusalem whose Christianity, though more sincere than that of those just mentioned, was yet very weak and imperfect. The " many thousands of Jews which believed" had by no means all attained to the fulness of Christian faith. Many of them still knew only a Christ after the flesh, a Saviour of Is- rael, a Jewish Messiah. Their minds were in a state of transition between the Law and the gospel, and it was of great consequence not to shock their prejudices too rudely, lest they should be tempted to make shipwreck of their faith and renounce their Christianity altogether. Their prejudices were most wisely con- ADVICE GIVEN TO PAUL. 543 suited in tilings indifferent by James, who accommodated himself in all points to the strict requirements of the Law, and thus dis- armed the hostility of the Judaizing bigots. He was, indeed, divinely ordained to be the apostle of this transition Church, Had its councils been less wisely guided, had the gospel of Paul been really repudiated by the Church of Jerusalem, it is difficult to estimate the evil which might have resulted. This class of Chris- tians was naturally very much influenced by the declamation of the more violent partisans of Judaism. Their feelings would be easily excited by an appeal to their Jewish patriotism. They might without difficulty be roused to fury against one whom they were taught to regard as a despiser of the Law and a reviler of the customs of their forefathers. Against Paul their dislike had been long and artfully fostered, and they would from the first have looked on him perhaps with some suspicion as not being, like themselves, a Hebrew of the Holy City, but only a Hellenist of the Dispersion. Such being the composition of the great body of the Church, we cannot doubt that the same elements were to be found amongst the elders also. And this will explain the resolution to which the assembly came at the close of their discussion on the matters brought before them. They began by calling Paul's attention to the strength of the Judaical party among the Christians of Jeru' salem. They told him that the majority even of the Christian Church had been taught to hate his very name, and to believe that he went about the world "teaching the Jews to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs." They further observed that it was impossible his arrival should remain unknown ; his renown was too great to allow him to be concealed ; his public appearance in the streets of Jerusalem would attract a crowd of curious spec- tators, most of whom would be violently hostile. It was therefore of importance that he should do something to disarm this hostility and to refute the calumnies which had been circulated concerning him. The plan they recommended was, that he should take charge of four Jewish Christians who were under a Nazaritie vow, accompany them to the temple, and pay for them the neces- sary expenses attending the termination of their vow. Agrippa L not long before had given the same public expression of his sym- pathy with the Jews on his arrival from Rome to take possession 544 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. of his throne. And what the king had done for popularity it was felt that the apostle might do for the sake of truth and peace. His friends thought that he would thus in the most public man- ner exhibit himself as an observer of the Mosaic ceremonies and refute the accusations of his enemies. They added that by so doing he would not countenance the errors of those who sought to impose the Law upon Gentile converts, because it had been already decided by the Church of Jerusalem that the ceremonial observances of the Law were not obligatory on the Gentiles. It is remarkable that this conclusion is attributed expressly in the scriptural narrative not to James (who presided over the meet- ing), but to the assembly itself. The lurking shade of distrust im- plied in the terms of the admonition was certainly not shared by that great apostle, who had long ago given to Paul the right hand of fellowship. We have already seen indications that, however strict might be the Judaical observances of James, they did not satisfy the Judaizing party at Jerusalem, who attempted under the sanction of his name to teach doctrines and enforce practices of which he disapproved. The partisans of this faction, indeed, are called by Paul (while anticipating this very visit to Jerusalem) the disobedient party.'' It would seem that their influence was not unfelt in the discussion which terminated in the resolution recorded. And though James acquiesced (as did Paul) in the ad- vice given, it appears not to have originated with himself. The counsel, however, though it may have been suggested by suspicious prejudice, or even by designing enmity, was not in itself unwise. Paul's great object (as we have seen) in this visit to Jeru- salem was to conciliate the Church of Palestine. If he could win over that Church to the truth, or even could avert its open hostility to himself, he would be doing more for the diffusion of Christianity than even by the conversion of Ephesus. Every lawful means for such an end he was ready gladly to adopt. His own principles, stated by himself in his Epistles, required this of him. He had recently declared that every compliance in ceremonial observances should be made, rather than cast a stumbling-block in a brother's way. He had laid it down as his principle of action to become a Jew to Jews, that he might gain the Jews, as willingly as he be- came a Gentile to Gentiles, that he might gain the Gentiles. He had given it as a rule that no man should change his external observances because he became a Christian — that the Jew should THE FOUR NAZARITES. 545 remain a Jew in things outward. Nay more, he himself observed the Jewish festivals, had previously countenanced his friends in the practice of Nazaritic vows, and had circumcised Timothy, the son of a Jewess. So false was the charge that he had forbidden the Jews to circumcise their children. In fac^ the great doctrine of Paul concerning the worthlessness of ceremonial observances rendered him equally ready to practise as to forsake them. A mind so truly catholic as his was necessarily free from any repugnance to mere outward observances — a repugnance equally superstitious with the formalism which clings to ritual. In his view, circum- cision was nothing and uncircumcision was nothing, but faith, which worketh by love. And this love rendered him willing to adopt the most burdensome ceremonies if by so doing he could save a brother from stumbling. Hence he willingly complied with the advice of the assembly, and thereby, while he removed the preju- dices of its more ingenuous members, doubtless exasperated the factious partisans who had hoped for his refusal. Thus the meeting ended amicably, with no open manifestation of that hostile feeling towards Paul which lurked in the bosoms of some who w^ere present. On the next day, which was the great feast of Pentecost, Paul proceeded with the four Christian Naza- rites to the temple. It is necessary here to explain the nature of their vow and of the office which he Vi^as to perform for them. It was customary among the Jews for those who had received de- liverance from any great peril, or who from other causes desired publicly to testify their dedication to God, to take upon themselves the vow of a Nazarite, the regulations of which are prescribed in the sixth chapter of the book of Numbers. In that book no rule is laid down as to the time during which this life of ascetic rigor was to continue, but we learn from the Talmud and Josephus that thirty days was at least a customary period. During this time the Nazarite was bound to abstain from wine and to suffer his hair to grow uncut. At the termination of the period he was bound to present himself in the temple with certain offerings, and his hair was then cut off and burnt upon the altar. The offerings req jired were beyond the means of the very poor, and consequently it was thought an act of piety for a rich man to pay the necessary ex- penses, and thus enable his poorer countrymen to complete their vow. Paul was far from rich ; he gained his daily bread by the work of his own hands ; and we may therefore naturally ask how ho 35 546 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. was able to take upon himself the expenses of these four Nazarites, The answer probably is that the assembled elders had requested him to apply to this purpose a portion of the fund which he had placed at their disposal. However this may be, he now made himself responsible for these expenses, and accompanied the Naz- arites to the temple, after having first performed the necessary purifications together with them. On entering the temple he announced to the priests that the period of the Nazaritic vow which his friends had taken was accomplished, and he waited within the sacred enclosure till the necessary offerings were made for each of them and their hair cut off and burnt in the sacred fire. He might well have hoped, by thus complying with the legal ceremonial, to conciliate those, at least, who were only hostile to him because they believed him hostile to their national worship. And, so far as the great body of the Church at Jerusalem was con- cerned, he probably succeeded. But the celebration of the festival had attracted multitudes to the Holy City, and the temple was thronged with worshippers from every land; and amongst these were some of those Asiatic Jews who had been defeated by his arguments in the synagogue of Ephesus, and irritated against him during the last few years daily more and more by the continual growth of a Christian Church in that city, formed in .great part of converts from among the Jewish proselytes. These men, whom a zealous feeling of nationality had attracted from their distant home to the metropolis of their faith, now beheld, where they least ex- pected to find him, the apostate Israelite who had opposed their teaching and seduced their converts. An opportunity of revenge which they could not have hoped for in the Gentile city where they dwelt had suddenly presented itself. They sprang upon their enemy, and shouted while they held him fast, "Men of Israel, help I This is the man that teacheth all men everywhere against the people and the Law and this place." Then, as the crowd rushed tumultuously towards the spot, they excited them yet fur- ther by accusing Paul of introducing Greeks into the Holy Place, which was profaned by the presence of a Gentile. The vast mul- titude which was assembled on the spot and in the immediate neighborhood was excited to madness by these tidings, which spread rapidly through the crowd. The pilgrims who flocked at such seasons to Jerusalem were of course the most zealous of their THE TEMPLE AND ITS POSITION. 547 nation — very Hebrews of the Hebrews. We may imagine the horror and indignation which would fill their minds when they heard that an apostate from the faith of Israel had been seized in the very act of profaning the temple at this holy season. A furious multitude rushed upon the apostle, and it was only their reverence for the Holy Place which preserved him from being torn to pieces on the spot. They hurried him out of the sacred enclosure and assailed him with violent blows. Their next course might have been to stone him or to hurl him over the precipice into the valley below. They were already in the Court of the Gentiles, and the heavy gates which separated the inner from the outer enclosure were shut by the Levites, when an unexpected interruption pre- vented the murderous purpose. It becomes desirable here to give a more particular description than we have yet done of the temple-area and the sanctuary which it enclosed. Some reference has been made to this subject in the account of Stephen's martyrdom, especially to that " Stone Cham- ber" — the hall Gazith — where the Sanhedrin held their solemn conclave. Soon we shall see Paul himself summoned before this tribunal, and hear his voice in that hall where he had listened to the eloquence of the first martyr. But meantime other events came in rapid succession, for the better understanding of which is well to form to ourselves a clear notion of the localities in which they occurred. The position of the temple on the eastern side of Jerusalem, the relation of Mount Moriah to the other eminences on which the city was built, the valley which separated it from the higher sum- mit of Mount Zion, and the deeper ravine which formed a chasm between the whole city and the Mount of Olives, — these facts of general topography are too well known to require elucidation. On the other hand, when we turn to the description of the temple-area itself and that which it contained, we are met with considerable difficulties. It does not, however, belong to our present task to reconcile the statements in Josephus and the Talmud with each other and with present appearances. Nor shall we attempt to trace the architectural changes by which the scene has been mod- ified in the long interval between the time when the patriarch built the altar on Moriah for his mysterious sacrifice and our own day, when the same spot is the " wailing-place " of those who are his children after the flesh, but not yet the heirs of his faith. Keep- 548 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUI.. ing aloof from all difficult details, and withdrawing ourselves from the consideration of those events which have invested this hill with an interest unknown to any other spot on the earth, we confine ourselves to the simple task of depicting the temple of Herod as it was when Paul was arrested by the infuriated Jews. That rocky summit which was wide enough for the threshing- floor of Araunah was levelled after David's death, and enlarged by means of laborious substructions till it presented the appearance of one broad uniform area. On this level space the temples of Solomon and Zerubbabel were successively built; and in the time of the apostles there were remains of the former work in the vast stones which formed the supporting wall on the side of the Valley of Jehosaphat, and of the latter in the eastern gate, which in its name and its appearance continued to be a monument of the Per- sian power. The architectural arrangements of Herod's temple were, in their general form, similar to the two which had preceded it. When we think of the Jewish sanctuary, whether in its earlier or later periods, our impulse is to imagine to ourselves some build- ing like a synagogue or a church ; but the first effort of our imagi- nation should be to realize the appearance of that wide open space which is spoken of by the prophets as the " Outward Court" or the "Court of the Lord's House," and is named by Josephus the " Outer Temple," and both in the Apocrypha and the Talmud the " Mountain of the House." That which was the " house " itself, or the temple properly so called, was erected on the highest of a series of successive terraces which rose in an isolated mass from the centre of the court, or rather nearer to its north-western corner. In form the Outer Court was a square ; a strong wall enclosed it ; the sides corresponded to the four quarters of the heavens, and each was a stadium or a furlong in length. Its pavement of stone was of various colors, and it was surrounded by a covered colonnade, the roof of which was of costly cedar, and was supported on lofty and massive columns of the Corinthian order and of the whitest marble. On three sides there were two rows of columns, but on the southern side the cloister deepened into a fourfold colonnade, the innermost supports of the roof being pilasters in the enclosing wall. About the south-eastern angle, where the valley was most depressed below the plateau of the temple, we are to look for that "Porch of Solomon" (John x. 3; Acts iii* 11) which is familiar to us in the New Testament ; and under the colonnades or on the THE COURT OF THE WOMEN. 549 open area in the midst were the "tables of the money-changers and the seats of them who sold doves/' which turned that which w^as intended for a house of prayer into a " house of merchandise (John ii. 16) and "a den of thieves " (Matt. xxi. 13). Free access was ajforded into this wdde enclosure by gates on each of the four sides, one of which on the east was the Royal Gate, and was per- haps identical vrith the " Beautiful Gate of sacred history, while another on the west was connected with the crowded streets of Mount Zion by a bridge over the intervening valley. Nearer (as we have seen) to the north-western corner than the centre of the square arose that series of enclosed terraces on the summit of which was the sanctuary. These more sacred limits w^ere fenced off by a low balustrade of stone, with columns at intervals, on which inscriptions in Greek and Latin warned all Gentiles against advancing beyond them on pain of death. It was within this boundary that Paul was accused of having brought his heathen companions. Besides this balustrade, a separation was formed by a flight of fourteen steps leading up to the first platform, which in its western portion was a narrow terrace of fifteen feet wide round the walls of the innermost sanctuary, while the eastern portion expanded into a second court, called the Court of the Women, By this term we are not to understand that it was exclusively de- voted to that sex, but that no women were allowed to advance beyond it. This court seems to have contained the Treasury (Mark xii. 41 ; Luke xxi. 1) and various chambers, of which that at the south-eastern corner should be mentioned here, for there the Nazarites performed their vows; and the whole court was sur- rounded by a wall of its own, with gates on each side, the eastern- most of which was of Corinthian brass, with folding doors and strong bolts and bars, requiring the force of twenty men to close them for the night. We conceive that it was the closing of these doors by the Levites which is so pointedly mentioned by Luke (Acts xxi. 30), and we must suppose that Paul had been first seized within them, and was then dragged down the flight of steps into the Outer Court. The interest, then, of this particular moment is to be associated with the eastern entrance of the Inner from the Outer Temple. But to complete our description we must now cross the Court of the Women to its western gate. The Holy Place and the Holy of Holies were still within and above the spaces we have mentioned. 550 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. Two courts yet intervened between the court last described and the Holy House itself. The first was the Court of Israel, the ascent to whicli was by a flight of fifteen semicircular steps; the second, the Court of the Priests, separated from the former by a low balustrade. Where these spaces bordered on each other, to the south, was the hall Gazith, the meeting-place of the Sanhedrin, partly in one court, and partly in the other. A little farther towards the north were all those arrangements which we are hardly able to associate with the thought of worship, but which daily reiterated in the sight of the Israelites that awful truth that "without shedding of blood there is no remission " — the rings at which the victims were slaughtered, the beams and hooks from which they were suspended when dead, and the marble tables at which the entrails w^ere washed ; here, above all, was the Altar, the very place of which has been now identified by the bore in the sacred rock of the Moslems which corresponds exactly with the description given in the Mischna of the drain and cesspool which communicated with the sewer that ran off into the Kedron. The house itself remains to be described. It was divided into three parts — the Vestibule, the Holy Place, and the Holij of Holies, From the Altar and the Court of the Priests to the Vestibule was another flight of twelve steps, the last of the successive approaches by which the temple was ascended from the east. The Vestibule was wider than the rest of the house : its front was adorned with a golden vine of colossal proportions, and it was separated by a richly-embroidered curtain or veil from the Holy Place, which contained the Table of Shew-bread, the Candlestick, and the Altar of Incense. After this was the "second veil'' (Heb. ix. 3), closing the access to the innermost shrine, which in the days of the tabernacle had contained the golden censer and the ark of the covenant, but which in Herod's temple was entirely empty, though still regarded as the " Holiest of AH" (ib). The interior height of the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies was comparatively mall, but above them and on each side were chambers so arranged that the general exterior effect was that of a clerestory rising above the aisles; and the whole was surmounted with gilded spikes, to pre- vent the birds from settling on the sacred roof. Such is a bare outline of the general plan of the Jewish temple. Such was the arrangement of its parts, which could be traced as in a map by those who looked down from the summit of THE TOWER OF ANTONIA. 551 the Mount of Olives, as the modern traveller looks now from the same place upon the mosque of Omar and its surrounding court. As seen from this eminence — when the gilded front of the Vestibule flashed back the rays of the sun, and all the courts glittered (to use the comparison of Josephus) with the whiteness of snow, while the column of smoke rose over all, as a perpetual token of accept- able sacrifice, and worshippers were closely crowded on the eastern steps and terraces in front of the Holy House, and pilgrims from all countries under heaven were moving through the Outer Court and flocking to the same point from all streets in the city — the temple at the time of the festival must have been a proud specta- cle to the religious Jew. It must have been with sad and incred- ulous wonder that the four disciples heard from Him who wept over Jerusalem that all this magnificence was presently to pass away. None but a Jew can understand the passionate enthusiasm inspired by the recollections and the glorious appearance of the national sanctuary. And none but a Jew can understand the bitter grief and deep hatred which grew out of the degradation in which his nation was sunk at that particular time. This ancient glory was now under the shadow of an alien power. The sanctuary was all but trodden under foot by the Gentiles. The very worship was conducted under the surveillance of Roman soldiers. We cannot conclude this account of the temple without describing the fortress which was contiguous, and almost a part of it. If we were to remount to the earlier history of the temple, we might perhaps identify the Tower of Antonia with the " palace " of which we read in the book of Nehemiah (ii. 8; vii. 2). It was certainly the building which the Asmonean princes erected for their own residence under the name of Baris. Afterward rebuilt with greater strength and splendor by the first Herod, it was named by him, after his Romanizing fashion, in honor of Mark Antony. Its situation is most distinctly marked out by Josephus, who tells us that it was at the north-western corner of the temple-area, with the cloisters of which it communicated by means of staircases (Acts xxi. 35, 40). It is difficult, however, to define the exact extent of ground which it covered in its renewed form during the time of the Herods. There is good reason for believing that it ex- tended along the whole northern side of the great temple court, from the north-western corner, where it abutted on the city, to the north-eastern, where it was suddenly stopped by the precipice 552 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. which fronted the valUy; and that the tank which is now com- monly called the Pool cf Bethesda was part of the fosse which protected it on the north. Though the ground on which the Tower of Antonia stood was low3r than that of the temple itself, yet it was raised to such a heigl.t that at least the south-eastern of its four turrets commanded a view of all that went on within the temple, and thus both in position and in elevation it was in ancient Jerusalem what the Turkish governor's house is now, whence the best view is obtained over the enclosure of the mosque of Omar. But this is an inadequate comparison. If we wish to realize the influence of this fortress in reference to political and religious in- terests, we must turn rather to that which is the most humiliating spectacle in Christendom — the presence of the Turkish troops at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where they are stationed to control the fury of the Greeks and Latins at the most solemn festival of the Christian year. Such was the office of the Koman troops that were quartered at the Jewish festivals in the fortress of An- tonia. Within its walls there were barracks for at least a thousand soldiers. Not that we are to suppose that all the garrison in Jeru- salem was always posted there. It is probable that the usual quar- ters of the "whole cohort'' (Matt, xxvii. 27), or the greater part of it, were towards the western quarter of the city, in that " prse- torium" (John xviii. 28) or official residence where Jesus was mocked by the soldiers, and on the tessellated pavement in front of which Pilate sat and condemned the Saviour of the world. But at the time of the greater festivals, when a vast concourse of people full of religious fanaticism and embittered by hatred of their rulers flocked into the temple courts, it was found necessary to order a strong military force into Antonia, and to keep them under arms, so that they might act immediately and promptly in the case of any outbreak. A striking illustration of the connection between the fortress and the temple is afforded by the history of those quarrels which arose in reference to the pontifical vestments. These robes were kept in Antonia during the time of Herod the Great. When he died they came under the superintendence of the Roman procu- rator. Agrippa I. during his short reign exercised the right which had belonged to his grandfather. At his death the command that the procurator, Cuspius Fadus, should take the vestments under his care raised a ferment among the whole Jewish people, and INTERFERENCE OF THE SOLDIERS. 553 they were only kept from an outbreak by tbe presence of an over- whelming force under Longinus, the governor of Syria. An em- bassy to Eome, with the aid of the younger Agrippa, who was then at the imperial court, obtained the desired relaxation ; and the letter is still extant in which Claudius assigned to Herod, king of Chalcis, the privilege which had belonged to his brother. But under the succeeding procurators the relation between the fortress Antonia and the religious ceremonies in the temple became more significant and ominous. The hatred between the embittered Jews and those soldiers who were soon to take part in their destruction grew deeper and more implacable. Under Yentidius Cumanus a frightful loss of life had taken place on one occasion at the Pass- over, in consequence of an insult perpetrated by one of the mili- tary. When Felix succeeded him assassination became frequent in Jerusalem; the high priest Jonathan was murdered, like Becket, in the temple itself, with the connivance of the procurator; and at the very moment of which we write both the soldiers and the pop- ulace were in great excitement in consequence of the recent '^up- roar" caused by an Egyptian impostor (Acts xxi. 38), who had led out a vast number of fanatic followers ^'into the wilderness" to be slain or captured by the troops of Felix. This imperfect description of the temple-area and of the rela- tions subsisting between it and the contiguous fortress is sufficient to set the scene before us on which the events we are now to relate occurred in rapid succession. We left Paul at the moment when the Levites had closed the gates, lest the Holy Place should be polluted by murder, and when the infuriated mob vvere violently beating the apostle with the full intention of putting him to death. The beginning and rapid progress of the commotion must have been seen by the sentries on the cloisters and the tower, and news was sent up immediately to Claudius Lysias, the commandant of the garrison, that " all Jerusalem was in an uproar'' (v. 31). The epark had fallen on materials the most inflammable, and not a moment was to be lost if conflagration was to be averted. Lysias himself rushed down instantly, with some of his subordinate ofli- cers and a strong body of men, into the temple court. At the sight of the flashing arms and disciplined movements of the im- perial soldiers the Jewish mob desisted from their murderous vio- lence. "They left off beating of Paul." They had for a moment forgotten that the eyes of the sentries were upon them, but this 554 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. sudden invasion by their hated and dreaded tyrants reminded them that they were " in danger to be called in question for that day's uproar" (Acts xix. 40). Claudius Lysias proceeded with the soldiers promptly and di- rectly to Paul, whom he perceived to be the central object . f all the excitement in the temple court, and in the first place he ordered him to be chained by each hand to a soldier, for he sus- pected that he might be the Egyptian rebel, who had himself bafOied the pursuit of the Roman force, though his followers were dispersed. This being done, he proceeded to question the bystand- ers, who were watching this summary proceeding half in disap- pointed rage at the loss of their victim and half in satisfaction that they saw him at least in captivity. But " when Lysias de- manded who he was and what he had done, some cried one thing, and some another, among the multitude'' (v. 33, 34); and when he found that he could obtain no certain information in conse- quence of the tumult, he gave orders that the prisoner should be conveyed into the barracks within the fortress. The multitude pressed and crowded on the soldiers as they proceeded to exe- cute this order, so that the apostle was actually " carried up " the staircase in consequence of the violent pressure from below. And meanwhile deafening shouts arose from the stairs and from the court — the same shouts which nearly thirty years before surrounded the prsetorium of Pilate: "Away with him ! away with him!" At this moment the apostle, with the utmost presence of mind, turned to the commanding officer who was near him, and, address- ing him in Greek, said respectfully, "May I speak with thee?" Claudius Lysias was startled when he found himself addressed by his prisoner in Greek, and asked him whether he was then mis- taken in supposing he was the Egyptian ringleader of the late rebellion. Paul replied calmly that he was no Egyptian, but a Jew; and he readily explained his knowledge of Greek, and at the same time asserted his claim to respectful treatment, by say- ing that he was a native of "Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city;" and he proceeded to request that he might be allowed to address the people. The request was a bold one, and we are almost surprised that Lysias should have granted it; but there seems to have been something in Paul's aspect and manner which from the first gained an influence over the mind of the Eoman officer, and his consent was not refused. And now the whole HEBREW SPEECH ON THE STAIRS. 555 scene was changed in a moment. Paul stood upon the stairs and turned to the people, and made a motion with the hand, as about to address them. And they too felt the influence of his presence. Tranquillity came on the sea of heads below: there was ''a great silence," and he began, saying — Brethren and fathers, hear me, and let me now defend myself before you. The language which he spoke was Hebrew. Had he spoken in Greek, the majority of those who heard him would have under- stood his words. But the sound of the holy tongue in that holy place fell like a calm on the troubled waters. The silence became universal and breathless, and the apostle proceeded to address his countrymen as follows : I am myself an Israelite, bom indeed at Tarsus in Cilicia, His birth and 1 1 i^i'i^ education. yet brought up in this city, and taught at the leet oi (ja- maliel, in the strictest doctrine of the Law of our fathers ; and was zeal- ous in the cause of God, as ye all are this day. And I per- His persecution -, 1 . 1-111.-.. . , , . , of the Chria- secuted this sect unto the death, binding with chains and tians. casting into prison both men and women. And of this the high priest is my witness, and all the Sanhedrin ; from whom I received letters to the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring those also who were there to Jerusalem in chains, that they might be punished. But it came to pass that as I journeyed, when I drew nigh Hia conversion, to Damascus, about mid-day, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me. And I fell to the ground, and heard a voice say- ing unto me, Sauly Saul, vjhy persecutest thou me f And I answered. Who art thou, Lord f and he said unto me, / am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. And the men who were with me saw the light, and were terrified ; but they heard not the voice of Him that spake unto me. And I said. What shall I do, Lord ? And the Lord said unto me Arise, and go into Damascus, and there thou shall be told of all things which are appointed for thee to do. And when I could not see, from the brightness of that His blindness, light, my companions led me by the hand, and so I entered tism! into Damascus. And a certain Ananias, a devout man according to the Law, well reported of by all the Jews who dwelt there, came and stood beside me, and said to me. Brother Saul, receive thy sight; and in that instant I received my sight and saw him. And he said. The God of our fathers hath ordained thee to know his will, and to behold the Just (Me, 556 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. and to hear the voice of his mouth. For thou shalt be his witness to all the world of what thou hast seen and heard. And now, why dost thou delay f Arise and be baptized, and wash away tl^j sins, calling on the name of Jesus, And it came to pass, after I had returned to Jerusalem, His return to and while I was praying in the temple, that I was in a trance^ and saw Him saying unto me, Make haste and go He is command- forth quickly from Jerusalem; for they will not receive thy tes- go \o*he^ Gen- timony concerning me. And I said. Lord, they them^selves know that I continually imprisoned and scourged in every synagogue the be- lievers in thee. And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also myself ivas standing by and consenting gladly to his death, and keeping the raiment of them who slew him. And he said unto me, Depart; for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles, At these words PauPs address to his countrymen was suddenly interrupted. Up to this point he had riveted their attention. They listened while he spoke to them of his early life, his perse- cution of the Church, his mission to Damascus. Many were pres- ent who could testify, on their own evidence, to the truth of what he said. Even when he told them of his miraculous conversion, his interview with Ananias, and his vision in the temple, they listened still. With admirable judgment he deferred till the last all mention of the Gentiles. He spoke of Ananias as a devout man according to the Law" (v. 12), as one "well reported of by all the Jews" (16), as one who addressed him in the name of "the God of their fathers" (v. 14). In his vision he showed how he had pleaded before that God the energy of his former persecution as a proof that his countrymen must surely be convinced by his conversion; and when he alluded to the death of Stephen, and the part which he had taken himself in that cruel martyrdom (v. 20), all the associations of the place w^here they stood must (we should have thought) have brought the memory of that scene with pathetic force before their minds. But when his mission to the Gentiles was announced — though the words quoted were the words of Jehovah spoken in the temple itself, even as the Lord had once spoken to Samuel — one outburst of frantic indignation rose from the temple-area and silenced the speaker on the stairs. Their national pride bore down every argument which could in- fluence their reason or their reverence. They could not bear the thought of uncircumcised heathens being made equal to the sons of Abraham. They cried out that such a wretch ought not to Paul's claim of roman citizenship. 557 pollute the earth with his presence — that it was a shame to have preserved his life ; and in their rage and impatience they tossed oflf their outer garments (as on that other occasion when the gar- ments were laid at the feet of Saul himself), and threw up dust into the air with frantic violence. This commotion threw Lysias into new perplexity. He had not been able to understand the apostle's Hebrew speech, and when he saw its results he concluded that his prisoner must be guilty of some enormous crime. He ordered him therefore to be taken immediately from the stairs into the barracks, and to be examined by torture in order to elicit a confession of his guilt. Whatever instruments were necessary for this kind of scrutiny w^ould be in readiness within a Eoman fortress, and before long the body of the apostle was ''stretched out," like that of a common malefactor, " to receive the lashes,'' wdth the officer standing by to whom Lysias had entrusted the superintendence of this harsh examination. Thus Paul was on the verge of adding another suffering and dis- grace to that long catalogue of afflictions which he gave in the last letter he wrote to Corinth before his recent visit to that city (2 Cor. xi. 23-25). Five times scourged by the Jews, once beaten with rods at Philippi, and twice on other unknown occasions, he had indeed been " in stripes above measure." And now he was in a Eoman barrack, among rude soldiers, with a similar indignity in prospect, when he rescued himself, and at the same time gained a vantage-ground for tlie gospel, by that appeal to his rights as a Eoman citizen under which he had before sheltered his sacred cause at Philippi. He said these few words to the centurion who stood by : " Is it law^ful to put to the rack one who is a Eoman citizen and uncondemned?" The magic of the Eoman law pro- duced its effect in a moment. The centurion immediately reported the words to his commanding officer, and said significantly, "Take heed what thou doest, for this man is a Eoman citizen." Lysias was both astonished and alarmed. He knew full well that no man would dare assume the right of citizenship if it did not really be- long to him ; and he hastened in person to his prisoner. A hurried dialogue took place, from which it appeared not only that Paul was indeed a Eoman citizen, but that he had held this privilege under circumstances far more honorable than his interrogator ; for while Claudius Lysias had purchased the right for "a great sum," Paul was "free-born." Orders were instantly given for the removal 558 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. of the instruments of torture, and those who had been about t^ conduct the examination retired. Lysias was compelled to keep the apostle still in custody, for he was ignorant of the nature of his offence ; and indeed this was evidently the only sure method of saving him from destruction by the Jews. But the E-oman officer was full of alarm, for in his treatment of the prisoner he had already been guilty of a flagrant violation of the law. On the following day the commandant of the garrison adopted a milder method of ascertaining the nature of his prisoner's offence. He summoned a meeting of the Jewish Sanhedrin with the high priests, and brought Paul down from the fortress and set him be- fore them, doubtless taking due precautions to prevent the conse- quences which might result from a sudden attack upon his safety. Only a narrow space of the great temple court intervened between the steps which led down from the Tower of Antonia and those which led up to the hall Gazith, the Sanhedrin's accustomed place of meeting. If that hall was used on this occasion, no heathen soldiers would be allowed to enter it, for it was within the balus- trade which separated the sanctuary from the court. But the feai of pollution would keep the apostle's life in safety within that enclosure. There is good reason for believing that the Sanhedrin met at that period in a place less sacred, to which the soldiers would be admitted, but this is a question into which we need not enter. Wherever the council sat, w^e are suddenly transferred from the interior of a Roman barrack to a scene entirely Jewish. Paul was now in presence of that council before which, when he was himself a member of it, Stephen had been judged. That moment could hardly be forgotten by him, but he looked steadily at his inquisitors, among whom he would recognize many who had been his fellow-pupils in the school of Gamaliel and his associ- ates in the persecution of the Christians. That unflinching look of conscious integrity offended them, and his confident words. Brethren, I have always lived a conscientious life before God, up to this very day," so enraged the high priest that he commanded those who stood near to strike him on the mouth. This brutal insult roused the apostle's feelings, and he exclaimed, " God shall smite thee, thou whited wall : sittest thou to judge me according to the Law, and then in defiance of the Law dost thou command me to be struck?" If we consider these words as an outburst of natural indignation, w^e cannot severely blame them when we re- PAUL BEFORE THE SANHEDRIN. 559 member Pau?s temperament and how they were provoked. If we regard them as a prophetic denunciation, they were terribly ful- filled when this hypocritical president of the Sanhedrin was mur- dered by the assassins in the Jewish war. In whatever light we view them now, those who were present in the Sanhedrin treated them as profane and rebellious. "Eevilest thou God's high priest?" was the indignant exclamation of the bystanders. And then Paul recovered himself, and said, with Christian meekness and forbearance, that he did not consider that Ananias was high priest, otherwise he would not so have spoken, seeing that it is written in the Law, ^^Thou shalt not revile the ruler of thy people,'" But the apostle had seen enough to be convinced that there was no prospect before this tribunal of a fair inquiry and a just decision. He therefore adroitly adopted a prompt measure for enlisting the sympathies of those who agreed with him in one doctrine which, though held to be an open question in Judaism, was an essential truth in Christianity. He knew that both Pharisees and Saddu- cees were among his judges, and well aware that, however united they might be in the outward work of persecution, they were divided by an impassable line in the deeper matters of religious faith, he cried out, " Brethren, I am a Pharisee, and all my fore- fathers were Pharisees : it is for the hope of a resurrection from the dead that I am to be judged this day.'' This exclamation pro- duced an instantaneous effect on the assembly. It was the watch- word which marshalled the opposing forces in antagonism to each other. The Pharisees felt a momentary hope that they might use their ancient partisan as a new weapon against their rivals, and their hatred against the Sadducees was even greater than their hatred of Christianity. They were vehement in their vociferations, and their language was that which Gamaliel had used more calmly many years before (and possibly the aged rabban may have been present himself in this very assembly) — "If this doctrine be of God, ye cannot destroy it : beware lest ye be found to be fighting against God." " We find no fault in this man : what if (as he Bays) an angel or a spirit have indeed spoken to him? — " The sentence was left incomplete or unheard in the uproar. The judg- ment-hall became a scene of the most violent contention, and presently Claudius Lysias received information of what was tak- ing place, and fearing lest the Roman citizen whom he was bound to protect should be torn in pieces between those who sought to 560 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. protect him and those who thirsted for his destruction, he ordered the troops to go down instantly and bring him back into the soldiers' quarters within the fortress. So passed this morning of violent excitement. In the e vening, when Paul was isolated both from Jewish enemies and Christian friends, and surrounded by the uncongenial sights and sounds of a soldiers' barrack, — when the agitation of his mind subsided, and he was no longer strung up by the presence of his persecutors or supported by sympathizing brethren, — can we wonder that his heart sank and that he looked with dread on the vague future that was before him ? Just then it was that he had one of those visions by night which were sometimes vouchsafed to him at critical sea- sons of his life, and in providential conformity with the circum- stances in which he was placed. The last time when we were informed of such an event was when he was in the house of Aquila and Priscilla at Corinth, and when he was fortified against the intimidation of the Jews by the words, " Fear not : for I am with thee" (Acts xviii. 9, 10). The next instance we shall have to re- late is in the worst part of the storm at sea between Fair Havens and Malta, when a similar assurance was given to him, " Fear not: thou must stand before Caesar'' (ib. xxvii. 24). On the present occasion events were not sufficiently matured for him to receive a prophetic intimation in this explicit form. He had indeed long looked forward to a visit to Eome, but the prospect now seemed farther off than ever. And it was at this anxious time that he was miraculously comforted and strengthened by Him who is "the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of them that are afar off upon the sea ; who by his strength setteth fast the moun- tains; who stilieth the noise of the seas and the tumult of the people." In the visions of the night the Lord himself stood by him and said, " Be of good cheer, Paul ; for as thou hast testi- fied of me at Jerusalem, so must thou testify also at Eome " (ib. xxiii. 11). The contrast is great between the peaceful assurance thus secretly given to the faith of the apostle in his place of imprisonment and the active malignity of his enemies in the city. When it was day more than forty of the Jews entered into a conspiracy to assassi- nate Paul ; and that they might fence round their crime with all the sanction of religion, they bound themselves by a curse that they would eat and drink nothing till the deed was accomplished. THE apostle's NEPHEW. 561 Thus fortified by a dreadful oath, they came before the chief priests and members of the Sanhedrin, and proposed the following plan, which seems to have been readily adopted : The Sanhedrists were to present themselves before Claudius Lysias with the request that he would allow the prisoner to be brought once more before the Jewish court, that they might enter into a further investigation ; and the assassins were to lie in wait and murder the apostle on hia way down from the fortress. The plea to be brought before Lysias was very plausible ; and it is probable that, if he had received no further information, he would have acted on it, for he well knew that the proceedings of the court had been suddenly interrupted the day before, and he would be glad to have his perplexity re- moved by the results of a new inquiry. The danger to which the apostle was exposed was most imminent ; and there has seldom been a more horrible example of crime masked under the show of religious zeal. The plot was ready, and the next day it would have been carried into effect, when God was pleased to confound the schemes of the conspirators. The instrument of Paul's safety was one of his own relations, the son of that sister whom we have before mentioned as the companion of his childhood at Tarsus. It is useless to at- tempt to draw that veil aside which screens the history of this relationship from our view, though the narrative seems to give us hints of domestic intercourse at Jerusalem of which, if it were permitted to us, we would gladly know more. Enough is told to us to give a favorable impression both of the affection and dis- cretion of the apostle's nephew; nor is he the only person the traits of whose character are visible in the artless simplicity of the narrative. The young man came into the barracks and related what he knew of the conspiracy to his uncle, to whom he seems to have had perfect liberty of access. Paul, with, his usual prompti- tude and prudence, called one of the centurions to him and requested him to take the youth to the commandant, saying that he had a communication to make to him. The officer complied at once, and took the young man with this message from "the prisoner Paul" to Claudius Lysias, who — partly from the interest he felt in the prisoner, and partly, we need not doubt, from the natural justice and benevolence of his disposition — received the stranger kindly, " took him by the hand, and led him aside, and asked him in private " to tell him what he had to say. He related 36 662 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. the story of the conspiracy in full detail and with much feeling. Lysias listened to his statement and earnest entreaties ; then with a soldier^s promptitude, and yet with the caution of one who felt the difficulty of the situation, he decided at once on what he would do, but without communicating the plan to his informant. He simply dismissed him, with a significant admonition : " Be careful that thou tell no man that thou hast laid this information before me." When the young man was gone Claudius Lysias summoned one or two of his subordinate officers, and ordered them to have in readiness two hundred of the legionary soldiers, with seventy of the cavalry and two hundred spearmen, so as to depart for Csesarea at nine in the evening, and take Paul in safety to Felix the governor. The journey was long, and it would be requisite to accomplish it as rapidly as possible. He therefore gave directions that more than one horse should be provided to the prisoner. We may be surprised that so large a force was sent to secure the safety of one man ; but we must remember that this man was a Roman citizen, while the garrison in Antonia, consisting of more than a thousand men, could easily spare such a number for one day on such a service ; and further, that assassinations, robberies, and re- bellions were frequent occurrences at that time in Judsea, and that a conspiracy always wears a formidable aspect to those who are responsible for the public peace. The utmost secrecy as well as promptitude was evidently required, and therefore an hour was chosen when the earliest part of the night would be already past. At the time appointed the troops, with Paul in the midst of them, marched out of the fortress and at a rapid pace took the road to Csesarea. It is to the quick journey and energetic researches of an Ameri- can traveller (Eev. Eli Smith) that we owe the power of following the exact course of this night-march from Jerusalem to Ca2sarea. In an earlier part of this work we have endeavored to give an approximate representation of the Roman roads as they existed in Palestine, and we have had occasion more than once to allude to the route which lay between the religious and political capitals of the country. To the roads thus described we must add another, which passes, not by Lydda (or Diospolis), but more directly across the intermediate space from Gophna to Antipatris. We have thus the whole route to Csesarea before us, and we are enabled to picture to NIGHT-JOURNEY TO ANTIPATRIS. 663 ourselves the entire progress of the little army which took Paul in safety from the conspiracies of the Jews and placed him wilder the protection of Felix the governor. The road lay first, for about three hours, northward along the high mountainous region which divides the valley of the Jordan from the great western plain of Judaea. About midnight they would reach Gophna. Here, after a short halt, they quitted the northern road which leads to Neapolis and Damascus — once trav- elled by Paul under widely different circumstances — and turned towards the coast on the left. Presently they began to descend among the western eminences and valleys of the mountain-coun- try, startling the shepherd on the hills of Ephraim, and rousing the village peasant, who woke only to curse his oppressor as he heard the hoofs of the horses on the pavement and the well- known tramp of the Eoman soldiers. A second resting-place might perhaps be found at Thamna, a city mentioned by Josephus in the Jeioish Wars, and possibly the "Timnath Heres^' where Joshua was buried " in Mount Ephraim, in the border of his in- heritance." And then they proceeded, still descending over a rocky and thinly-cultivated tract, till about daybreak they came to the ridge of the last hill and overlooked "the great plain of Sharon, coming quite up to its base on the west." The road now turned northward, across the rich land of the plain of Sharon, through fields of wheat and barley, just then almost ready for the harvest. "On the east were the mountains of Samaria, rising gradually above each other and bounding the plain in that direc- tion; on the left lay a line of low wooded hills, shutting it in from the sea." Between this higher and lower range, but on the level ground, in a place well watered and richly wooded, was the town of Antipatris. Both its history and situation are described 10 us by Josephus. The ancient Caphar-Saba, from which one of the Asmonean princes had dug a trench and built a wall to Joppa to protect the country from invasion, was afterward rebuilt by Herod and named in honor of his father, Antipater. It is de» scribed in one passage as being near the mountains, and in another as in the richest plain of his dominions, with abundance both of water and wood. In the narrative of the Jewish war Antipatris is mentioned as one of the scenes of Vespasian's first military proceedings. It afterward disappears from history, but the an- cient name is still familiarly used by the peasantry, and remains 664 LIFE AND EPISTLES OP THE APOSTLE PAUL. with the physical features of the neighborhood to identify the site. The foot-soldiers proceeded no farther than Antipatris, but re- turned from thence to Jerusalem (xxii. 32). They were no longer necessary to secure PauFs safety, for no plot by the way was now to be apprehended, but they might very probably be required in the fortress of Antonia. It would be in the course of the after- noon that the remaining soldiers with their weary horses entered the streets of Csesarea. The centurion who remained in command of them proceeded at once to the governor and gave up his pris- oner, and at the same time presented the despatch with which he was charged by the commandant of the garrison at Jerusalem. We have no record of the personal appearance of Felix, but if we may yield to the impression naturally left by what we know of his sensual and ferocious character, we can imagine the coun- tenance with which he read the following despatch: "Claudius Lysias sends greeting to the most excellent Felix the governor. This man was apprehended by the Jews, and on the point of being killed by them, when I came and rescued him with my military guard ; for I learnt that he was a Eoman citizen. And when I wished to ascertain the charge which they had to allege against him, I took him down to their Sanhedrin ; and there I found that the charge had reference to certain questions of their Law, and that he was accused of no offence worthy of death or imprison- ment. And now, having received information that a plot is about to be formed against the man's life, I send him to thee forthwith, and I have told his accusers that they must bring their charge before thee. Farewell.'' Felix raised his eyes from the paper and said, To what prov- ince does he belong?'' It was the first question which a Eoman governor would naturally ask in such a case. So Pilate had for- merly paused when he found he was likely to trespass on "Herod's jurisdiction." Besides the delicacy required by etiquette, the Ro- man law laid down strict rules for all interprovincial communica- tions. In the present case there could be no great difficulty for the moment. A Roman citizen with certain vague charges brought against him was placed under the protection of a provincial gov- ernor, who was bound to keep him in safe custody till the cause should be heard. Having therefore ascertained that Paul was a native of the province of Cilicia, Felix simply ordered him to be PAUL IN C^SAREA. 565 kept in " Herod's pr^torium," and said to Paul liimself, " I will hear and decide thy case when thy accusers are come.'' Here, then, we leave the apostle for a time. A relation of what befell him at Csesarea wall be given in another chapter, to wdiich an ac- count of the political state of Palestine and a description of Herod's city will form a suitable introduction. CHAPTER XXII. HISTORY OF JUDiEA RESUMED. — ROMAN GOVERNORS. — FEIIX.— TROOPS QUARTERED IN PALESTINE. — DESCRIPTION OF CMSA- REA. — PAUL ACCUSED THERE. — "SPEECH BEFORE FELIX." — CONTINUED IMPRISONMENT. — ACCESSION OF FESTUS. — APPEAL TO THE EMPEROR. — "SPEECH BEFORE AGRIPPA." We have pursued a long and varied narrative since we last took a general view of the political history of Judaea. The state of this part of the empire in the year 44 was briefly summed up in a previous chapter (Chap. IV.). It was then remarked that this year and the year 60 were the two only points which we can re- gard as fixed in the annals of the earliest Church, and therefore the two best chronological pivots of the apostolic history. We have followed the life of the apostle Paul through a space of four- teen years from the former of these dates, and now we are rapidly approaching the second. Then we recounted the miserable end of King Agrippa I. Now we are to speak of Agrippa II., who, like his father, had the title of king, though his kingdom was not identically the same. The life of the second Agrippa ranges over the last period of national Jewish history and the first age of the Christian Church, and both his life and that of his sisters Drusilla and Berenice are curiously connected by manifold links with the general history of the times. Agrippa saw the destruction of JerUvSalem, and lived till the first century was closed in the old age of John — the last of a dynasty eminent for magnificence and intrigue. Bere- nice concluded a life of profligacy by a criminal connection with Titus the conqueror of Jerusalem. Drusilla became the wife of Felix, and perished with the child of that union in the eruption of Vesuvius. We have said that the kingdom of this Agrippa was not coinci- dent with that of his father. He was never, in fact, king of Judcea, HISTORY OF JUD^A. 567 The three years diiriDg which Agrippa I. reigned at Ca^sarea were only an interpolation in the long series of Eoman procurators who ruled Juda?a in subordination to the governors of Syria from the death of Herod the Great to the final destruction of Jerusalem. In the year 44 the second Agrippa was only sixteen years old, and he was detained about the court of Claudius, whilst Cuspius Fadus was sent out to direct the provincial affairs at Csesarea. It was under the administration of Fadus that those religious movements took place which ended in placing under the care of the Jews the sacred vestments kept in the Tower of Antonia, and which gave to Herod, king of Chalcis, the management of the temple and its treasury and the appointment of the high priests. And in other respects the Jews had reason to remember his administration with gratitude, for he put down the banditti w^hich had been the pest of the country under Agrippa; and the slavish compliment of Tertullus to Felix (Acts xxiv. 2, 3) might have been addressed to him with truth — that " by him the Jews enjoyed great quietness and that very worthy deeds had been done to the nation by his providence." He was succeeded by Tiberius Alexander, a rene- gade Alexandrian Jew and the nephew of the celebrated Philo. In relation to the life of this official in Judaea there are no inci- dents worth recording : at a later period we see him at the siege of Jerusalem in command of Koman forces under Titus, and the consequent inscriptions in his honor at Eome served to point the sarcasm of the Roman satirist. Soon after the arrival of Ven- tidius Cumanus to succeed him as governor in the year 48, Herod, king of Chalcis, died, and Agrippa II. was placed on his throne, with the same privileges in reference to the temple and its wor- ship w^hich had been possessed by his uncle. "During the govern- ment of Cumanus the low and sullen murmurs which announced the approaching eruption of the dark volcano now gathering its strength in Palestine became more distinct. The people and the Eoman soldiery began to display mutual animosity.'' One indi- cation of this animosity has been alluded to before — the dreadful loss of life in the temple which resulted from the wanton insolence of one of the soldiers in Antonia at the time of a festival. Another was the excitement which ensued after the burning of the Scrip- tures by the Eoman troops at Beth-Horon, on the road between Jerusalem and Ciesarea. An attack made by the Samaritans on some Jews who were proceeding through their country to a festival 568 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. led to wider results. Appeal was made to Quadratus, governor of Syria, and Cumanus was sent to Eome to answer for bis conduct to the emperor. In the end he was deposed, and Felix, the brother of Pallas, the freedman and favorite of Claudius, was (partly by the influence of Jonathan the high priest) appointed to succeed him. The mention of this governor, who was brought into such inti- mate relations with Paul, demands that we should enter now more closely into details. The origin of Felix and the mode of his ele- vation would prepare us to expect in him such a character as that which is condensed into a few words by Tacitus — that in the practice of all kinds of lust and cruelty he exercised the power of a king with the temper of a slave." The Jews had indeed to thank him for some good services to their nation. He cleared various parts of the country from robbers, and he pursued and drove away that Egyptian fanatic with whom Claudius Lysias too hastily identified Paul. But the same historian from whom we derive this information gives us a terrible illustration of his cruelty in the story of the murder of Jonathan, to whom Felix was partly indebted for his own elevation. The high priest had presumed to expostulate with the governor on some of his practices, and assas- sins were forthwith employed to murder him in the sanctuary of the temple. And as this crime illustrates one part of the sentence in which Tacitus describes his character, so we may see the other parts of it justified and elucidated in the narrative of Luke — that which speaks of him as a voluptuary by his union with Drusilla, whom he had enticed from her husband by the aid of a magician who is not unreasonably identified by some with Simon Magus ; and that which speaks of his servile meanness by his trembling without repentance at the preaching of Paul, and by his detention of him in prison from the hope of a bribe. When he finally left the apostle in bonds at Csesarea, this also (as we shall see) was done from a mean desire to conciliate those who were about to accuse him at Kome of maladministration of the province. The final breach between him and the provincials seems to have arisen from a quarrel at Caesarea between the Jewish and heathen popu- lation, which grew so serious that the troops were called out into the streets, and both slaughter and plunder were the result. The mention of this circumstance leads us to give some ac- count of the troops quartered in Palestine and of the general dis- tribution of the Eoman army; without some notion of which no THE ROMAN LEGIONS. 569 adequate idea can be obtained of the empire and the provinces. Moreover, Paul is brought, about this part of his life, into such close relations with different parts of that military service from which he draws some of his most forcible imagery that our nar- rative would be incomplete w^ithout some account both of the prsetorian guards and the legionary soldiers. The latter force may be fitly described in connection with Csesarea, and we shall see that it is not out of place to allude here to the former also, though its natural association is with the city of Eome. That division between the armed and unarmed provinces to which attention has been called before will serve to direct us to the principle on which the Koman legions were distributed. They were chiefly posted in the outer provinces or along the frontier, the immediate neighborhood of the Mediterranean being com- pletely subdued under the sway of Rome. The military force required in Gaul and Spain was much smaller than it had been in the early days of Augustus. Even in Africa the frontier was easily maintained, for the Eomans do not seem to have been engaged there in that interminable war with native tribes which occupies the French in Algeria. The greatest accumulation of legions was on the northern and eastern boundaries of the empire, along the courses of the three frontier rivers, the Ehine, the Danube, and the Euphrates; and, finally, three legions were stationed in Britaiu and three in Judsea. We know the very names of these legions. Just as we find memorials of the second, the ninth, and the twentieth in connection with Chester or York, so by the aid of his- torians or historic monuments we can trace the presence of the fifth, the tenth, and the fifteenth in Csesarea, Ptolemais, or Jeru- salem. And here two principles must be borne in mind which regulated the stations of the legions. They did not move from province to province, as our troops are taken in succession from one colony to another, but they remained on one station for a vast number of years. And they were recruited, for the most part, from provinces where they were posted, for the time had long passed away when every legionary soldier was an Italian and a free-bora Roman citizen. Thus , Josephus tells us repeatedly that the troops quartered in his native country were reinforced from thence — not, indeed from the Jews, for they were exempt from the duty of serving, but from the Greek and Syrian population. But what were these legions ? We must beware of comparing 670 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. them too exactly with our own regiments of a few hundred men, for they ought rather to be called brigades, each consisting of more than six thousand infantry, with a regiment of cavalry attached. Here we see the explanation of one part of the force sent down by Claudius Lysias to Antipatris. Within the fortress of Antonia were stables for the horses of the troopers as well as quarters for a cohort of infantry. But, moreover, every legion had attached to it a body of auxiliaries levied in the province of almost equal number; and here, perhaps, we find the true account of the two hundred " spearmen who formed a part of Paul's escort, with the two hundred legionary soldiers. Thus we can form to ourselves some notion of these troops (amounting, perhaps, to thirty-five thousand men), the presence of which w^as so familiar a thing in Judaea that the mention of them appears in the most solemn pas- sages of the evangelic and apostolic history, while a Jewish his- torian gives us one of the best accounts of their discipline and exercises. But the legionary soldiers, with their cavalry and auxiliaries, were not the only military force in the empire, and, as it seems, not the only one in Judaea itself. The great body of troops at Eome (as we shall see when we have followed Paul to the metrop- olis) were the praetorian guards, amounting at this period to ten thousand men. These favored forces were entirely recruited from Italy; their pay was higher and their time of service shorter, and, for the most part, they were not called out on foreign service. Yet there is much weight in the opinion which regards the Augmtan cohort of Acts xxvii. 1 as a part of this imperial guard. Possibly it was identical with the Italic cohort of Acts x. 1. It might well be that the same corps might be called " Italic " because its men were exclusively Italians, and Augustan'^ because they were properly part of the emperor's guard, though a part of them might occasionally be attached to the person of a provincial gov- ernor. And we observe that while Cornelius (x. 1) and Julius (xxvii. 1) are both Eoman names, it is at Caesarea that each of these cohorts is said to have been stationed. As regards the Au- gustan cohort, if the view above given is correct, one result of it is singularly interesting ; for it seems that Julius, the centurion, who conducted the apostle Paul to Eome, can be identified with a high degree of probability with Julius Priscus, who was afterward prefect of the praetorian guards under the emperor Vitellius. DESCRIPTION OF C^SAREA. 571 This brief notice may suffice concerning the troops quartered in Palestine, and especially at Csesarea. The city itself remains to be described. Little now survives on the spot to aid us in the res- toration of this handsome metropolis. On the wide area once occupied by its busy population there is silence, interrupted only by the monotonous washing of the sea, and no signs of human life save the occasional encampment of Bedouin Arabs or the accident of a small coasting-vessel anchoring off the shore. The best of the ruins are engulfed by the sand or concealed by the encroaching sea. The nearest road passes at some distance, so that comparatively few travellers have visited Caesarea. Its glory was short-lived. Its decay has been complete as its rise was arbitrary and sudden. Strabo, in the reign of Augustus, describes at this part of the inhospitable coast of Palestine nothing but a landing-place, with a castle called Strato's Tower. Less than eighty years afterward we read in Tacitus and Pliny of a city here which was in posses- sion of honorable privileges, and which was the "head of Juda3a," as Antioch was of Syria. Josephus explains to us the change which took place in so short an interval by describing the work which Herod the Great began and completed in twelve years. Be- fore building Antipatris in honor of his father he built on the shore between Dora and Joppa, where Strato's Castle stood near the boundary of Galilee and Samaria, a city of sumptuous palaces in honor of Augustus Caesar. The city was provided with everything that could contribute to magniticence, amusement, and health. But its great boast was its harbor, which provided for the ships which visited that dangerous coast a safe basin equal in extent to the Piraeus. Vast stones were sunk in the sea to the depth of twenty fathoms, and thus a stupendous breakwater was formed, curving round so as to afford complete protection from the south- westerly winds, and open only on the north. Such is an imperfect description of that city which in its rise and greatest eminence is exactly contemporaneous with the events of which we read in the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. It has, indeed, some con- nection with later history. Vespasian was here declared emperor, and he conferred on it the title of a colony, with the additional honor of being called by his own name. Here Eusebius and Pro- copius were born, and thus it is linked with the recollections of Constantine and Justinian. After this time its annals are obscured, though the character of its remains — which have been aptly termed 672 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. "ruins of ruins" — shows that it must have long been a city of note under the successive occupants of Palestine. Its chief association, however, must always be with the age of which w^e are writing. Its tw^o great features were its close connection with Eome and the emperors, and the large admixture of heathen strangers in its pop- ulation. Not only do we see here the residence of lioman procura- tors, the quarters of imperial troops, and the port by which Judjea was entered from the west, but a Koman impress w^as ostentatiously given to everything that belonged to Ccesarea. The conspicuous object to those who approached from the sea was a temple dedi- cated to Caesar and to Eome ; the harbor was called the " Augus- tan harbor;" the city itself was " Augustan Csesarea." And, finally, the foreign influence here w^as so great that the Septuagint trans- lation of the Scriptures was read in the synagogues. There was a standing quarrel between the Greeks and the Jews as to whether it was a Greek city or a Jewish city. The Jews appealed to the fact that it was built by a Jewish prince. The Greeks pointed to the temples and statues. This quarrel was never appeased till the great war broke out, the first act of which was the slaughter of twenty thousand Jews in the streets of Csesarea. Such was the city in which Paul was kept in detention among the Roman soldiers till the time should come for his trial before that unscrupulous governor whose character has been above de- scribed. His accusers were not long in arriving. The law required that causes should be heard speedily, and the apostle's enemies at Jerusalem were not wanting in zeal. Thus, " after five days " the high priest Ananias and certain members of the Sanhedrin ap- peared, with one of those advocates who practised in the law-courts of the provinces, where the forms of Eoman law were imperfectly known and the Latin language imperfectly understood. The man whose professional services were engaged on this occasion was called Tertullus. The name is Eoman, and there is little doubt that he was an Italian and spoke on this occasion in Latin. The criminal information was formally laid before the governor. The prisoner was summoned, and Tertullus brought forward the charges against him in a set speech, which we need not quote at length. He began by loading Felix with unmerited praises, and then pro- ceeded to allege three distinct heads of accusation against Paul — charging him, first, with causing factious disturbances aaiong all the Jews throughout the empire (which was an offence against the Paul's speech before feltx. 673 Roman government, and amounted to majestas or treason against the emperor) ; secondly, with being a ringleader of "the sect of the Nazarenes (which involved heresy against the Law of Moses) ; and thirdly, with an attempt to profane the temple at Jerusalem (an offence not only against the Jewish, but also against the Roman law, which protected the Jews in the exercise of their worship). He concluded by asserting (with serious deviations from the truth) that Lysias, the commandant of the garrison, had forcibly taken the prisoner away when the Jews w^ere about to judge him by their own ecclesiastical Law, and had thus improperly brought the matter before Felix. The drift of this representation was evidently to persuade Felix to give up Paul to the Jewish courts, in which case his assassination would have been easily accomplished. And the Jews who were present gave a vehement assent to the state- ments of Tertullus, making no secret of their animosity against Paul, and asserting that these things were indeed so. The governor now made a gesture to the prisoner to signify that he might make his defence. The Jews were silent; and the apostle, after briefly expressing his satisfaction that he had to plead his cause before one so well acquainted with Jewish customs, refuted Tertullus step by step. He said that on his recent visit to Jerusalem at the festival (and he added that it was only "twelve days " since he had left Csesarea for that purpose) he had caused no disturbance in any part of Jerusalem ; that as to heresy, he had never swerved from his belief in the Law and the prophets, and that in conformity with that belief he held the doctrine of a resurrection, and sought to live conscientiously before the God of his fixthers ; and as to the temple, so far from profaning it, he had been found in it deliberately observing the very strictest ceremonies. The Asiatic Jews, he added, who had been his first accusers, ought to have been present as witnesses now. Those who were present knew full well that no other charge was brought home to him before the Sanhedrin except what related to the belief that he held in common with the Pharisees. But, without further introduction, we quote Luke's summary of his own words : "Knowing, as I do, that thou hast been judge over this He denies the nation for many years, I defend myself in the matters J^.^^^^es agams brought against me with greater confidence. For it is in thy power to learn that only twelve days have passed since I went up to Jerusalem to worship. And neither in the temple, nor in the synagogues, nor in the 574 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. streets, did they find me disputing with any man, or causing any dis- orderly concourse of people ; nor can they prove against me the things whereof they now accuse me. " But this I acknowledge to thee, that I follow the opin- His own 9tat<»- • 11 ment of his ion, which they call a sect, and thus worship the God of case, my fathers. And I believe all things which are written in the Law and in the prophets ; and I hold a hope towards God, which my accusers themselves entertain, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and of the unjust. Wherefore also I myself strive earnestly to keep a conscience always void of offence towards God and man. Now after several years I came hither, to bring alms to my nation and offerings to the temple. And they found me so doing in the temple, after I had undergone i)urification ; not gathering together a multitude, nor causing a tumult ; but certain Jews from Asia discovered me, who ought to have been here before thee to accuse me, if they had anything to object against me, " Or let these my accusers themselves say whether they He appeals to found me guilty of any offence, when I was brought before quittai by the the Sanhedrin, except it be for these words only which I cried out as I stood in the midst of them : * Concerning the resurrection of the dead, I am called in question before you this day.^ " There was all the appearance of truthfulness in PauPs words, and they harmonized entirely with the statement contained in the despatch of Claudius Lysias. Moreover, Felix had resided so long in Csesarea — where the Christian religion had been known for many years and had penetrated even among the troops — that he had a more accurate knowledge of their "religion'^ (v. 22) than to be easily deceived by the misrepresentations of the Jews. Thus a strong impression was made on the mind of this wicked man. But his was one of those characters which are easily affected by feelings, but always drawn away from right action by the overpowering motive of self-interest. He could not make up his mind to acquit Paul. He deferred all inquiry into the case for the present. When Lysias comes down," he said, I will decide finally between you." Meanwhile, he placed him under the charge of the centu- rion who had brought him to Coesarea, with directions that he should be treated with kindness and consideration. Close confinement was indeed necessary, both to keep him in safety from the Jews and because he was not yet acquitted, but orders were given that he should have every relaxation which could be allowed in such CONTINUED IMPRISONMENT OF PAUL. 575 a case, and that any of his friends should be allowed to visit him and to minister to his comfort. We read nothing, however, of Lysias coming to Csesarea or of any further judicial proceedings. Some few days afterward Felix came into the audience-chamber with his wife Drusilla, and the prisoner was summoned before them. Drusilla, " being a Jewess (v. 24), took a lively interest in what Felix told her of Paul, and was curious to hear something of this faith which had " Christ for its object. Thus Paul had an opportunity in his bonds of preaching the gospel, and such an opportunity as he could hardly otherwise have obtained. His audience consisted of a Eomaa libertine and a profligate Jewish princess, and he so preached as a faithful apostle must needs have preached to such hearers. In speaking of Christ he spoke of "righteousness and temperance and judgment to come,'^ and while he was so discoursing "Felix trembled.'' Yet still we hear of no decisive result. " Go thy way for this time: when I have a convenient season I will send for thee," was the response of the conscience-stricken but impenitent sinner — the response which the divine word has received ever since when listened to in a like spirit. We are explicitly informed why this governor shut his ears to conviction, and even neglected his official duty and kept his pris- oner in cruel suspense. " He hoped that he might receive from Paul a bribe for his liberation." He was not the only governor of Judoea against whom a similar accusation is brought; and Felix, well knowing how the Christians aided one another in distress, and possibly having some information of the funds with which Paul had recently been entrusted, and ignorant of those principles which make it impossible for a true Christian to tamper by bribes with the course of law, might naturally suppose that he had here a good prospect of enriching himself. "Hence he fre- quently sent for Paul, and had many conversations with him." But his hopes were unfulfilled. Paul, who was ever ready to claim the protection of the law, would not seek to evade it by dishonorable means ; and the Christians who knew how to pray for an apostle in bonds (Acts xii.) would not forget the duty of " rendering unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's." Thus Paul remained in the praetorium, and the suspense continued "two years." Such a pause in a career of such activity, such an arrest of the 576 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. apostle's labors at so critical a time — two years taken from the best part of a life of such importance to the world — would seem to us a mysterious dispensation of Providence if we did not know that God has an inner work to accomplish in those who are the chosen instruments for effecting his greatest purposes. As Paul might need the repose of preparation in Arabia before he entered on his career, so his prison at Ciesarea might be consecrated to the calm meditation, the less interrupted prayer, which resulted in a deeper experience and knowledge of the power of the gospel. Nor need we assume that his active exertions for others were entirely suspended. ''The care of all the churches" might still be resting on him : many messages, and even letters, of which we know nothing, may have been sent from Ca^sarea to brethren at a distance. And a plausible conjecture fixes this period and place for the writing of Luke's Gospel under the superintendence of the apostle of the Gentiles. All positive information, however, is denied as concerning the employments of Paul while imprisoned at Caesarea. We are the more disposed, therefore, to turn our thoughts to the consideration of the nature and outward circumstances of his confinement ; and this inquiiy is indeed necessary for the due elucidation o^ the nar- rative. When an accusation was brought against a Eoman citizen the magistrate who had criminal jurisdiction in the case appointed the time for hearing the cause, and detained the accused in custody during the interval. He was not bound to fix any definite time for the trial, but might defer it at his own arbitrary pleasure ; and he might also commit the prisoner at his discretion to any of the several kinds of custody recognized by the Roman law. These were as follows: first, confinement in the public jail [custodia pub- lico), which was the most severe kind, the common jails through- out the empire being dungeons of the worst description, where the prisoners were kept in chains or even bound in positions of torture. Of this we have seen an example in the confinement of Paul and Silas at Philippi. Secondly, free custody [custodia libera), which was the mildest kind. Here the accused party was committed to the charge of a magistrate or senator, who became responsible for his appearance on the day of trial; but this species of detention was only employed in the case of men of high rank. Thirdly, military custody [custodia militaris), which was introduced at the FELIX SUMMONED TO ROME. 577 beginning of the imperial regime. In this last species of custody the accused person was given in charge to a soldier, who was re- sponsible with his own life for the safe-keeping of his prisoner. This was further secured by chaining the prisoner's right hand to the soldier's left. The soldiers of course relieved one another in this duty. Their prisoner was usually kept in their barracks, but sometimes allowed to reside in a private house under their charge. It was under this latter species of custody that Paul was now placed by Felix, who gave him in charge to the centurion, that he should be kept in custody" (Acts xxiv. 23), but (as we have seen) he added the direction that he should be treated with such indulgence as this kind of detention permitted. Josephus tells us that when the severity of Agrippa's imprisonment at Rome was mitigated his chain was relaxed at meal- times. This illustrates the nature of the alleviations which such confinement admitted; and it is obvious that the centurion might render it more or less galling according to his inclination or the commands he had re- ceived. The most important alleviation of Paul's imprisonment consisted in the order which Felix added, that his friends should be allowed free access to him. Meantime, the political state of Judiea grew more embarrassing. The exasperation of the people under the maladministration of Felix became more implacable, and the crisis was rapidly approach- ing. It was during the two years of Paul's imprisonment that the disturbances to which allusion has been made before took place in the streets of Csesarea. The troops, who were chiefly recruited in the province, fraternized with the heathen population, while the Jews trusted chiefly to the influence of their wealth. In the end Felix was summoned to Rome, and the Jews followed him with their accusations. Thus it was that he was anxious, even at his departure, ^' to confer obligations upon them" (v. 27), and one eflbrt to diminish his unpopularity was " to leave Paul in bonds." In so doing he doubtless violated the law and trifled with the rights of a Roman citizen, but the favor of the provincial Jews was that which he needed, and the Christians were weak in comparison with them ; nor were such delays in the administration of justice un- precedented either at Rome or in the provinces. Thus it was that as another governor of Judaea opened the prisons that he might make himself popular, Felix for the same motive riveted the 37 578 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. chains of an innocent man. The same enmity of the world against the gospel which set Barabbas free left Paul a prisoner. No change seems to have taken place in the outward circum- stances of the apostle when Festus came to take command of the province. He was still in confinement as before. But immedi- ately on the accession of the new governor the unsleeping hatred of the Jews made a fresh attempt upon his life, and the course of their proceedings presently changed the whole aspect of his case and led to unexpected results. When a Eoman governor came to his province — whether his character was coarse and cruel, like that of Felix, or reasonable and just, as that of Festus seems to have been — his first step would be to make himself acquainted with the habits and prevalent feel- ings of the people he was come to rule, and to visit such places as might seem to be more peculiarly associated with national inte- rests. The Jews were the most remarkable people in the whole extent of the Jewish provinces, and no city was to any other people what Jerusalem was to the Jews. We are not surprised, therefore, to learn that three days " after his arrival at the polit- ical metropolis Festus " went up to Jerusalem." Here he was im- mediately met by an urgent request against Paul preferred by the chief priests and leading men among the Jews, and seconded, as it seems, by a general concourse of the people, who came round him with no little vehemence and clamor. They asked as a favor (and they had good reason to hope that the new governor on his acces- sion would not refuse it) that he would allow Paul to be brought up to Jerusalem. The plea doubtless was that he should be tried again before the Sanhedrin. But the real purpose was to assassi- nate him on some part of the road over which he had been safely brought by the escort two years before, so bitter and so enduring was their hatred against the apostate Pharisee. The answer of Festus was dignified and just, and worthy of his office. He said that Paul was in custody at Caesarea, and that he himself was shortly to return thither (v. 4), adding that it was not the custom of the Eomans to give up an uneondemned person as a mere favor (v. 16). The accused must have the accuser face to face, and full opportunity must be given for a defence (ib.). Those, therefore, who were competent to undertake the task of accusers should come down with him to Caesarea, and there prefer the accusation (V. 5). PAUL APPEALS TO C^SAR. 579 Festiis remained "eight or ten days" in Jerusalem, and then returned to Csesarea, and the accusers went down the same day. No time was lost after their arrival. The very next day Festus took his seat on the judicial tribunal, with his assessors near him (v. 12), and ordered Paul to be brought before him. " The Jews who had come down from Jerusalem'* stood round, bringing vari- ous heavy accusations against him (which, however, they could not establish), and clamorously asserting that he was worthy of death. We must not suppose that the charges now brought were different in substance from those urged by Tertullus. The prose- cutors were in fact the same now as then — namely, delegates from the Sanliedrin — and the prisoner was still lying under the former accusation, which had never been withdrawn. We see from what is said of Paul's defence that the charges were still classed under the same three heads as before — viz. heresy, sacrilege, and treason. But Festus saw very plainly that Paul's offence was really con- nected with the religious opinions of the Jews, instead of relating, as he at first suspected, to some political movement (vs. 18, 19), and he was soon convinced that he had done nothing worthy of death (v. 25). Being, therefore, in perplexity (v. 20), and at the same time desirous of ingratiating himself with the provincials (v. 9), he proposed to Paul that he should go up to Jerusalem, and bo tried there in his presence, or at least under his protection. But the apostle knew full well the danger that lurked in this proposal, and, conscious of the rights which he possessed as a Eoman citizen, he refused to accede to it, and said boldly to Festus : " I stand before Caesar's tribunal, and there ought my trial to be. To the Jews I have done no wrong, as thou knowest full well. If I am guilty of breaking the law, and have done anything worthy of death, I refuse not to die ; but if the things whereof these men accuse me are naught, no man can give me up to them. I appeal unto C-5:sar." Festus was probably surprised by this termination of the pro- ceedijigs, but no choice was open to him. Paul had urged his prerogative as a Roman citizen to be tried not by the Jewish but by the Roman law — a claim which, indeed, was already admitted by the words of Festus, who only proposed to transfer him to the jurisdiction of the Sanhedrin with his own consent. He ended by availing himself of one of the most important privileges of Roman citizenship, the right of appeal. By the mere pronuncia- 580 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. tion of those potent words, " I appeal unto Csesar," he instantly removed his cause from the jurisdiction of the magistrate before whom he stood, and transferred it to the supreme tribunal of the emperor at Eome. To explain the full effect of this proceeding we must observe that in the provinces of Eome the supreme criminal jurisdiction (both under the republic and the empire) was exercised by the governors, whether they were proconsuls, propraetors, or (as in the case of Judaea) procurators. To this jurisdiction the provincials were subject without appeal, and it is needless to say that it was often exercised in the most arbitrary manner. But the Roman citizens in the provinces, though also liable to be brought before the judgment-seat of the governor, were protected from the abuse of his authority, for they had the right of stopping his proceedings against them by appealing to the tribunes, whose intervention at once transferred the cognizance of the cause to the ordinary tribu- nals at Rome. This power was only one branch of that prerogative of intercession (as it was called) by which the tribunes could stop the execution of the sentences of all other magistrates. Under the imperial regime the emperor stood in the place of the tribunes, Augustus and his successors being invested with the tribunitian power as the most important of the many republican offices which were concentrated in their persons. Hence the emperors consti- tutionally exercised the right of intercession^ by which they might stop the proceedings of inferior authorities. But they extended this prerogative much beyond the limits which had confined it during the republican epoch. They not only arrested the execu- tion of the sentences of other magistrates, but claimed and exer- cised the right of reversing or altering them, and of re-hearing the causes themselves. In short, the imperial tribunal was erected into a supreme court of appeal from all inferior courts either in Rome or in the provinces. Such was the state of things when Paul appealed from Festus to Caesar. If the appeal was admissible, it at once suspended all further proceedings on the part of Festus. There were, however, a few cases in which the right of appeal was disallowed; a bandit or a pirate, for example, taken in the fact, might be con- demned and executed by the proconsul, notwithstanding his ap- peal to the emperor. Accordingly, we read that Festus took counsel with his assessors concerning the admissibility of PauPs HEROD AGRIPPA II. 581 appeal. But no doubt could be entertained on this head, and he immediately pronounced the decision of the court: "Thou hast appealed unto Csesar; to Csesar thou shalt be sent." Thus the hearing of the cause, so far as Festus was concerned, bad terminated. There only remained for him the office of remit- ting to the supreme tribunal, before which it was to be carried, his official report upon its previous progress. He was bound to for- ward to Rome all the acts and documents bearing upon the trial, the depositions of the witnesses on both sides, and the record of his own judgment on the case. And it was his further duty to keep the person of the accused in safe custody, and to send him to Eome for trial at the earliest opportunity. Festus, however, was still in some perplexity. Though the ap- peal had been allowed, yet the information elicited on the trial was so vague that he hardly knew what statement to insert in his de- spatch to the emperor, and it seemed a foolish thing to him to send a prisoner to Rome without at the same time specifying the charges against him" (v. 27). It happened about this time that Herod Agrippa II., king of Chalcis, with his sister Berenice, came on a complimentary visit to the new governor, and stayed " some days" at Caesarea. This prince had been familiarly acquainted from his youth with all that related to the Jewish law, and, more- over, was at this time (as we have seen) superintendent of the temple, with the power of appointing the high priest. Festus took advantage of this opportunity of consulting one better in- formed than himself on the points in question. He recounted to Agrippa what has been summarily related above, confessing his ignorance of Jewish theology, and alluding especially to PauFs reiterated assertion concerning " one Jesus who had died and was alive again." This cannot have been the first time that Agrippa had heard of the resurrection of Jesus, or of the apostle Paul. His curiosity was aroused, and he expressed a wish to see the prisoner. Festus readily acceded to the request, and fixed the next day for the interview. At the time appointed Agrippa and Berenice came with great pomp and display, and entered into the audience-chamber with a suite of military officers and the chief men of Caesarea, and, at the command of Festus, Paul was brought before them. The proceed- ings were opened by a ceremonious speech from Festus himself, describing the circumstances under which the prisoner had been 682 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. brought under his notice, and ending with a statement of his per- plexity as to what he should write to *'his lord" the emperor. This being concluded, Agrippa said condescendingly to Paul that he was now permitted to speak for himself. And the apostle, "stretching out the hand " which was chained to the soldier who guarded him, spoke thus : I think myself happy, King Agrippa, that I shall de- Complimentary fend myself to-day, before thee, against all the charges of Agrippa/^ my Jewish accusers ; especially because thou art expert in all Jewish customs and questions. Wherefore I pray thee to hear me patiently. " My life and conduct from my youth, as it was at first He defend* among my own nation at Jerusalem, is known to all tlie {h?^char|e "of Jews. They knew me of old (I say) from the beginning, and can testify (if they would) that, following the strictest sect of our religion, I lived a Pharisee. And now I stand here to be judged, for the hope of the promise made by God unto our fathers. Which promise is the end whereto, in all their zealous worship, night and day, our twelve tribes hope to come. Yet this hope, 0 King Agrippa, is charged against me as a crime, and that by Jew^s. What ! is it judged among you a thing incredible that God should raise the dead ? " Now I myself determined, in my own mind, that I He describes ought exceedingly to oppose the name of Jesus the Naza- e ecu^^o^n^^of rene. And this I did in Jerusalem, and many of the holy ^^^"st^^^^- people I myself shut up in prison, having received from the chief priests authority so to do ; and when they were condemned to death, I gave my vote against them. And in every synagogue I continually punished them, and endeavored to compel them to blaspheme ; and being exceed- ingly mad against them, I went even to foreign cities to persecute them. " With this purpose I was on my road to Damascus, His conversion •I . xi 'j. J • ' r J.1 1 • J? and divine com- bearmg my authority and commission from the chief mission, priests, when I saw in the way, O king, at mid-day a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and those who journeyed with me. And when we all were fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking to me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecuted thou me ? it is hard for thee to kick against the goad. And I said, Who art thou, Lordf And the Lord said, T am Jesus whom thou persecutest. But rise and stand upon thy feet; for to this end I have appear- ed unto thee, to ordain thee a minister and a witness both of those things which thou hast sfen, and of those things wherein I shall appear unto thee. And thee have I chosen from the house of Israel, and from among the Gen- tiles; unto whom now I send thee, to open their eyes, that they may turn from PAUL BEFORE AGRIPPA AND FESTUS. 583 darhiess to light, and from the power of Satan unto God ; that by faith in me, they may receive forgiveness of sins, and an inheritance among the sanctified, " Whereupon, O Kin? Agrippa, I was not disobedient His execution . . -rt n 1 T>w whereof had to the heavenly vision. But first to those at Damascus brought on^him and Jerusalem, and throughout all the land of Judaea, and the Jews, also to the Gentiles, I proclaimed the tidings that they should repent and turn to God, and do works worthy of their repentance. " For these causes the Jews, when they caught me in the temple, endeavored to kill me. " Therefore, through the succor which I have received Yet his teach- from God, I stand firm unto this day, and bear my testi- wuh the^Jewlsh mony both to small and great ; but I declare nothing else ^^^'P'^^'^^- than what the prophets and Moses foretold. That the Messiah should sufier, and that he should be the first to rise from the dead, and should be the messenger of light to the house of Israel, and also to the Gentiles. Here Festus broke out into a loud exclamation expressive of ridicule and surprise. To the cold man of the world, as to the inquisitive Athenians, the doctrine of the resurrection was foolish- ness: and he said, "Paul, thou art mad: thy incessant study is turning thee to madness.'' The apostle had alluded in his speech to writings which had a mysterious sound, to the prophets, and to Moses (vs. 22, 23), and it is reasonable to believe that in his im- prisonment such " books and parchments " as he afterward wrote for in his second letter to Timotheus were brought to him by his friends. Thus Festus adopted the conclusion that he had before him a mad enthusiast whose head had been turned by poring over strange learning. The apostle's reply was courteous and self-pos- sessed, but intensely earnest : " I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak forth the words of truth and soberness ; for the king has knowledge of these matters ; and more- over I speak to him with boldness, because I am persuaded that none of these things is unknown to him, for this has not been done in a comer " Then turning to the Jewish voluptuary who sat beside the gov- ernor, he made this solemn appeal to him : "King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest." 584 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. The king^s reply was, " Thou wilt soon persuade me to be a Christian." The words were doubtless spoken ironically and in contempt ; but Paul took them as though they had been spoken in earnest, and made that noble answer which expresses as no other words ever expressed it that union of enthusiastic zeal with gen- uine courtesy which is the true characteristic of " a Christian " I would to God, that whether soon or late, not only thou, but also all who hear me to-day, were such as I am, excepting these chains." This concluded the interview. King Agrippa had no desire to hear more, and he rose from his seat, with the governor and Bere- nice and those who sat with them. As they retired they discussed the case with one another, and agreed that Paul was guilty of noth- ing worthy of death or even imprisonment. Agrippa said posi- tively to Festus, "This man might have been set at liberty if he had not appealed to the emperor." But the appeal had been made. There was no retreat either for Festus or Paul. On the new governor's part there was no wish to continue the procrasti- nation of Felix, and nothing now remained but to wait for a con- venient opportunity of sending his prisoner to Eome. CHAPTER XXIII. SHIPS AND NAVIGATION OF THE ANCIENTS. — ROMAN COMMERCE IN THE MEDITERRANEAN. — CORN-TRADE BETWEEN ALEX- ANDRIA AND PUTEOLI. — TRAVELLERS BY SEA. — PAUL'S VOYAGE FROM C^SAREA, BY SIDON, TO MYRA. — FROM MYRA, BY CNIDUS AND CAPE SALMONE, TO FAIR HAVENS. — PHENICE. — THE STORM. — SEAMANSHIP DURING THE GALE. — PAULAS VIS- ION. — ANCHORING IN THE NIGHT. — SHIPWRECK. — PROOF THAT IT TOOK PLACE IN MALTA. — WINTER IN THE ISLAND.— OB- JECTIONS CONSIDERED. — VOYAGE, BY SYRACUSE AND RHE- GIUM, TO PUTEOLI. Before entering on the narrative of that voyage which brought the apostle Paul, through manifold and imminent dangers, from Caesarea to Rome, it will be convenient to make a few introductory remarks concerning the ships and navigation of the ancients. By fixing clearly in the mind some of the principal facts relating to the form and structure of Greek and Roman vessels, the manner in which these vessels were worked, the prevalent lines of traffic in the Mediterranean, and the opportunities afforded to travellers of reaching their destination by sea, we shall be better able to follow this voyage without distractions or explanations, and with a clearer perception of each event as it occurred. With regard to the vessels and seamanship of the Greeks and Romans many popular mistakes have prevailed, to which it is hardly necessary to allude after the full illustration which the subject has recently received. We must not entertain the notion that all the commerce of the ancients was conducted merely by means of small craft, which proceeded timidly in the day-time and only in the summer season along the coasts from harbor to harbor, and which were manned by mariners almost ignorant of the use of sails and always trembling at the prospect of a storm. We cannot, indeed, assert that the arts either of shipbuilding or 585 586 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. navigation were matured in the Mediterranean so early as the first century of the Christian era. The Greeks and Eomans were ignorant of the use of the compass; the instruments with which they took observations must have been rude compared with our modern quadrants and sextants ; and we have no reason to believe that their vessels were provided with nautical charts; and thus, when " neither sun nor stars appeared," and the sky gave indica- tions of danger, they hesitated to try the open sea. But the an- cient sailor was well skilled in the changeable weather of the Levant, and his very ignorance of the aids of modern science made him the more observant of external phenomena and more familiar with his own coasts. He was not less prompt and prac- tical than a modern seaman in the handling of his ship when overtaken by stormy weather on a dangerous coast. The ship of the Greek and Eoman mariner was comparatively rude, both in its build and its rig. The hull was not laid down with the fine lines with which we are so familiar in the competing vessels of England and America, and the arrangement of the sails exhibited little of that complicated distribution yet effective com- bination of mechanical forces which we admire in the East India- man or modern frigate. With the war-ships of the ancients we need not here occupy ourselves or the reader, but two peculiarities in the structure of Greek and Roman merchantmen must be care- fully noticed, for both of them are much concerned in the sea- manship described in the narrative before us. The ships of the Greeks and Romans, like those of the early Northmen, were not steered by means of a single rudder, but by two paddle-rudders J one on each quarter. Hence " rudders" are mentioned in the plural by Luke (Acts xxvii. 40) as by heathen writers; and the fact is made still more palpable by the represen- tations of art, as in the coins of imperial Rome or the tapestry of Bayeux ; nor does the hinged rudder appear on any of the re- mains of antiquity or till a late period in the Middle Ages. And as this mode of steering is common to the two sources from which we must trace our present art of shipbuilding, so also is the same mode of rigging characteristic of the ships both of the North Sea and the Mediterranean. We find in these ancient ships one large mast, with strong ropes rove through a block at the masthead, and one large sail, fastened to an enormous yard. We shall see the importance of attending to this arrangement ANCIENT SHIPS. 587 wlien we enter upon the incidents of Paul's voyage (xxvii. 17, 19). One consequence was, that instead of the strain being distributed over the hull, as in a modern ship, it was concentrated upon a smaller portion of it, and thus in ancient times there must have been a greater tendency to leakage than at present; and we have the testimony of ancient writers to the fact that a vast proportion of the vessels lost were lost by foundering. Thus, Virgil, whose descriptions of everything which relates to the sea are peculiarly exact, speaks of the ships in the fleet of jiEneas as lost in various ways, some on rocks and some on quicksands, but " all with fasten- ings loosened;" and Josephus relates that the ship from which he so narrowly escaped foundered in "Adria," ,and that he and his companions saved themselves by swimming through the night — an escape which found its parallel in the experience of the apostle, who in one of those shipwrecks of which no particular narration has been given to us was *^a night and a day in the deep" (2 Cor. xi. 25). The same danger w^as apprehended in the ship of Jonah, from which "they cast forth the w^ares that were in the ship into the sea to lighten it" (i. 5), as well as in the ship of Paul, from which, after having "lightened" it the first day, they "cast out the tackling" on the second day, and finally "threw out the cargo of wheat into the sea" (xxvii. 18, 19, 38). This leads us to notice what may be called a third peculiarity of the appointments of ancient ships as compared with those of modern times. In consequence of the extreme danger to which they were exposed from leaking, it was customary to take to sea, as part of their ordinary gear, under girders^ ^ (vTro^^/iara) ^ which tvere simply ropes for passing round the hull of the ship and thus preventing the planks from starting. One of the most remark- able proofs of the truth of this statement is to be found in the inscribed marbles dug up within the last twenty years at the Pi- raeus, which give us an inventory of the Attic fleet in its flourishing period, as one of the most remarkable accounts of the application of these artificial "helps" (xxvii. 17) in a storm is to be found in the narrative before us. If these differences between ancient ships and our own are borne • in mind, the problems of early seamanship in the Mediterranean are nearly reduced to those with which the modern navigator has to deal in the same seas. The practical questions which remain to be asked are these : What were the dimensions of ancient ships ? 588 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. How near the wind could they sail ? And, with a fair wind, at "what rate ? As regards the first of these questions, there seems no reason why we should suppose the old trading-vessels of the Mediterranean to be much smaller than our own. We may rest this conclusion both on the character of the cargoes with which they were freighted, and on the number of persons we know them to have sometimes conveyed. Though the great ship of Ptolemy Philadelphus may justly be regarded as built for ostentation rather than for use, the Alexandrian vessel which forms the subject of one of Lucian's dialogues, and is described as driven by stress of weather into the Piraeus, furnishes us with satisfactory data for the calculation of the tonnage of ancient ships. Two hundred and seventy-six souls were on board the ship in which Paul was wrecked (xxvii. 37), and the Castor and Pollux conveyed them, in addition to her own crew, from Malta to Puteoli (xxviii. 11); while Josephus informs us that there were six hundred on board the ship from which he, with about eighty others, escaped. Such considerations lead U8 to suppose that the burden of many ancient merchantmen may have been from five hundred to a thousand ions, A second question of greater consequence in reference to the present subject relates to the angle which the course of an ancient ship could be made to assume with the direction of the wind, or, to use the language of English sailors (who divide the compass into thirty-two points), within how many points of the wind she could sail. That ancient vessels could not work to windward is one of the popular mistakes which need not be refuted. They doubtless took advantage of the Etesian winds, just as the traders in the Eastern Archipelago sail with the monsoons ; but those who were accustomed to a seafaring life could not avoid discovering that a ship's course can be made to assume a less angle than a right angle with the direction of the wind, or, in other words, that she can be made to sail within less than eight points of the wind ; and Pliny distinctly says that it is possible for a ship to sail on contrary tacks. The limits of this possibility depend upon the character of the vessel and the violence of the gale. We shall find that the vessel in which Paul was wrecked " could not look at the wind " — for so the Greek word (xxvii. 15) may be literally translated in the language of English sailors — though with a less violent gale an English ship, well managed, could easily have kept her course. ANCIENT RATE OF SAILING. 589 A modern merchantman in moderate weather can sail within six points of the wind. In an ancient vessel the yard could not be braced so sharp and the hull was more clumsy, and it would not be safe to say that she could sail nearer the wind than within seven points. To turn now to the third question — the rate of sailing — the very nature of the rig, which was less adapted than our own for work- ing to windward, was peculiarly favorable to a quick run before the wund. In the China seas, during the monsoons, junks have been seen from the deck of a British vessel behind in the horizon in the morning and before in the horizon in the evening. Thus we read of passages accomplished of old in the Mediterranean which would do credit to a well-appointed modern ship. Pliny, who was himself a seaman and in command of a fleet at the time of his death, might furnish us wath several instances. We might quote the story of the fresh fig which Cato produced in the senate at Eome when he urged his countrymen to undertake the third Punic war by impressing on them the imminent nearness of their enemy. " This fruit," he says, " was gathered fresh at Carthage three days ago.'' Other voyages w^hich he adduces are such as these : seven days from Cadiz to Ostia, seven days from the Straits of Messina to Alexandria, nine days from Puteoli to Alexandria. These instances are quite in harmony with w^hat w^e read in other authors. Thus, Rhodes and Cape Salmone, at the eastern extremity of Crete, are reckoned by Diodorus and Strabo as four days from Alexandria ; Plutarch tells us of a voyage within the day from Brundusium to Corcyra; Procopius describes Belisarius as sailing on one day with his fleet from Malta, and landing on the next day some leagues to the south of Carthage. A thousand stades (or between one hundred and one hundred and fifty miles) are reckoned by the geographers a common distance to accomplish in the twenty- four hours. And the conclusion to which we are brought is, that with a fair wind an ancient merchantman would easily sail at the late of seven knots an hour — a conclusion in complete harmony both with what we have observed in a former voyage of Paul (Chap. XX.) and what Avill demand our attention at the close of that voyage which brought him at length from Malta by Ehegium to Puteoli (Acts xxviii. 13). The remarks which have been made will convey to the reader a sufficient notion of the ships and navigation of the ancients. If 690 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. to the above-mentioned peculiarities of build and rig we add the eye painted at the prow, the conventional ornaments at stem and stern which are familiar to us in remaining works of art, and the characteristic figures of heathen divinities, we shall gain a sufficient idea of an ancient merchantman. And a glance at the chart of the Mediterranean will enable us to realize in our imagination the nature of the voyages that were most frequent in the ancient world. With the same view of elucidating the details of our subject beforehand, we may now devote a short space to the prevalent lines of traffic and to the opportunities of travellers by sea in the first century of the Christian era. Though the Eomans had no natural love for the sea, and though a commercial life was never regarded by them as an honorable occupation, and thus both the experience of practical seamanship and the business of the carrying-trade remained in a great measure with the Greeks, yet a vast development had been given to com- merce by the consolidation of the Roman empire. Piracy had been effectually put down before the close of the republic. The annexation of Egypt drew towards Italy the rich trade of the Indian seas. After the effectual reduction of Gaul and Spain, Roman soldiers and Roman slave-dealers invaded the shores of Britain. The trade of all the countries which surround the Medi- terranean began to flow towards Rome. The great city herself was passive, for she had nothing to export. But the cravings of her luxury and the necessities of her vast population drew to one centre the converging lines of a busy traffic from a wide extent of provinces. To leave out of view w^hat hardly concerns us here, the commerce by land from the north, some of the principal direc- tions of trade by sea may be briefly enumerated as follows : The harbors of Ostia and Puteoli were constantly full of ships from the west, which had brought wool and other articles from Cadiz — a circumstance which possesses some interest for us here, as illus- trating the mode in which Paul might hope to accomplish his voyage to Spain (Rom. xv. 24). On the south w^as Sicily, ofte:L called the storehouse of Italy," and Africa, which sent furniture- woods to Rome and heavy cargoes of marble and granite. On the east, Asia Minor was the intermediate space through which the caravan-trade passed, conveying silks and spices from beyond the Euphrates to the markets and wharves of Ephesus. We might extend this enumeration by alluding to the fisheries of the Black THE ALEXANDRIAN CORN-TRADE. 591 Sea and the wine-trade of the ArchipeLago. But enough has been said to give some notion of the commercial activity of which Italy was the centre ; and our particular attention here is required only to one branch of trade, one line of constant traffic across the watera of the Mediterranean to Eome. Alexandria has been mentioned already as a city which, next after Athens, exerted the strongest intellectual influence over the age in which Paul's appointed work was done ; and we have had occasion to notice some indirect connection between this city and the apostle's own labors. But it was eminent commercially not less than intellectually. The prophetic views of Alexander were at that time receiving an ampler fulfilment than at any former period. The trade with the Indian seas, which had been encour- aged under the Ptolemies, received a vast impulse in the reign of Augustus ; and under the reigns of his successors the valley of the Kile was the channel of an active transit-trade in spices, dyes, I'ewels, and perfumes, which were brought by Arabian mariners from the far East and poured into the markets of Italy. But Egypt was not only the medium of transit-trade. She had her own manufactures of linen, paper, and glass, which she exported in large quantities. And one natural product of her soil has been a staple commodity from the time of Pharaoh to our own. We have only to think of the fertilizing inundations of the Nile on the one hand, and on the other of the multitudes composing the free and slave population of Italy, in order to comprehend the activity and importance of the Alexandrian corn-trade. At a later period the emperor Commodus established a company of merchants to convey the supplies from Egypt to Eome, and the commendations which he gave himself for this forethought may still be read in the inscription round the ships represented on his coins. The harbor to which the Egyptian corn-vessels were usually bound was Pu- teoli. At the close of this chapter we shall refer to some passages which give an animated picture of the arrival of these ships. Meanwhile, it is well to have called attention to this line of traffic between Alexandria and Puteoli, for in so doing we have described the means which Divine Providence employed for bringing th€ apostle to Eome. The transition is easy from the commerce of the Mediterranean to the progress of travellers from point to point in that sea. If to this enumeration of the main lines of traffic by sea we add all the 592 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. ramifications of the coasting- trade which depended on them, we have before us a full view of the opportunities which travellers possessed of accomplishing their voyages. Just in this way we have lately seen Paul completing the journey on which his mind was set from Philippi, by Miletus and Patara, to Csesarea (Chap. XX.). We read of no periodical packets for the conveyance of passengers sailing between the great towns of the Mediterranean. Emperors themselves were usually compelled to take advantage of the same opportunities to which Jewish pilgrims and Christian apostles were limited. When Vespasian went to Eome, leaving Titus to prosecute the siege of Jerusalem, "he went on board a merchant-ship and sailed from Alexandria to Rhodes," and thence pursued his way through Greece to the Adriatic, and finally went to Rome through Italy by land. And when the Jewish war was ended, and when, suspicions having arisen concerning the alle- giance of Titus to Vespasian, the son was anxious to rejoin his father," he also left Alexandria in a "merchant-ship" and "hastened to Italy," touching at the very places at which Paul touched — first at Rhegium (xxviii. 13), and then at Puteoli (ib.). If such was the mode in which even royal personages travelled from the provinces to the metropolis, we must of course conclude that those who travelled on the business of the state must often have been content to avail themselves of similar opportunities. The sending of state prisoners to Rome from various parts of the empire w^as an event of frequent occurrence. Thus we are told by Josephus that Felix " for some slight offence bound and sent to Rome several priests of his acquaintance, honorable and good men, to answer for themselves to Caesar." Such groups must often have left Csesarea and the other eastern ports in merchant- vessels bound for the west; and such was the departure of Paul when the time at length came for that eventful journey which had been so long and earnestly cherished in his own wishes, so emphatically foretold by divine revelation, and which was des- tined to involve such great consequences to the whole future of Christianity. The vessel in which, with certain other state prisoners, he sailed w^as "a ship of Adramyttium," apparently engaged in the coast- ing-trade, and at that time (probably the end of summer or the beginning of autumn) bound on her homeward voyage. Whatever might be the harbors at which she intended to touch, her course lay THE CITY OF SIDON. 593 along tlie coast of the province of Asia. Adramyttium was itself a seaport in Mysia, which (as we have seen) was a subdivision of of that province, and w^e have already described it as situated in the deep gulf w^hich recedes beyond the base of Mount Ida over against the island of Lesbos, and as connected by good roads with Pergamus and Troas on the coast and the various marts in the interior of the peninsula. Since Paul never reached the place, no description of it is required. It is only needful to observe that w^hen the vessel reached the coast of "Asia'^ the travellers would be brought some considerable distance on their way to Rome, and there would be a good prospect of finding some other westw^ard-bound vessel in which they might complete their voyage — more especially since the Alexandrian corn -ships (as we shall see) often touched at the harbors in that neighborhood. Paul's two companions, besides the soldiers, with Julius the 'r commanding officer, the sailors, the other prisoners, and such occasional passengers as may have taken advantage of this op- portunity of leaving Csesarea, w^ere two Christians already familiar to us — Luke the evangelist, whose name, like that of Timotheus, is almost inseparable from the apostle, and whom we may con- clude to have been with him since his arrival in Jerusalem; and "Aristarchus the Macedonian, of Thessalonica,'' whose native country and native city have been separately mentioned before (Acts xix. 29; xx. 4), and who seems, from the manner in which he is spoken of in the Epistles written from Rome (Phile. 24; Col. iv. 10), to have been, like Paul himself, a prisoner in the cause of the gospel. On the day after sailing from Csesarea the vessel put into Sidon (v. 2). This may be readily accounted for by supposing that she touched there for the purposes of trade or to land same passen- gers. Or another hypothesis is equally allowable. Westerly and north-westerly wand prevails in the Levant at the end of summer and the beginning of autumn, and w^e find that it did act i ally blow from these quarters soon afterward in the course of PauFs voyage. Such a wind would be sufficiently fair for a passage to Sidon ; and the seamen might proceed to that port in the hope of the weather becoming more favorable, and be detained there by the wind continuing in the same quarter. The passage from Cce- sarea to Sidon is sixty-seven miles — a distance easily accomplished, under favorable circumstances, in less than twenty-four hours. 38 594 LITE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. In the course of the night they would pass by Ptolemais and Tyre, where Paul had visited the Christians two years before. Sidon is the last city on the Phoenician shore in which the apostle's pres- ence can be traced. It is a city associated from the earliest times with patriarchal and Jewish history. The limit of "the border of the Canaanites" in the description of the peopling of the earth after the Flood (Gen. x. 19), — "the haven of the sea, the haven of ships," in the dim vision of the dying patriarch (ib. xlix. 13), — the "great Sidon" of the wars of Joshua (Josh. xi. 8), — the city that never was conquered by the Israelites (Judg. i. 31), — the home of the merchants that "passed over the sea" (Isa. xiii.), — its history was linked with all the annals of the Hebrew race. Nor is it less familiarly known in the records of heathen antiquity. Its name is celebrated both in the Iliad and the Odyssey^ and Plerodotus says that its sailors were the most expert of all the Phoenicians. Its strong and massive fortifications were pulled down when this coast fell under the sway of the Persians, but its harbor remained uninjured till a far later period. The prince of the Druses, with whose strange and brilliant career its more recent history is most closely connected, threw masses of stone and earth into the port in order to protect himself from the Turks; and bouses are now standing on the spot where the ships of King Louis anchored in the last Crusade, and which was crowded with merchandise in that age when the geographer of the Roman em- pire spoke of Sidon as the best harbor of Phoenicia. Nor is the history of Sidon without a close connection with those years in which Christianity was founded. Not only did its inhabitants, with those of Tyre, follow the footsteps of Jesus to hear his wwds and to be healed of their diseases (Luke vi. 17), but the Son of David himself visited those coasts, and rewarded the importunate faith of a Gentile suppliant (Matt. xv. ; Mark vii.) ; and soon the prophecy which lay, as it were, involved in this mir- acle was fulfilled by the preaching of evangelists and apostles. Those who had been converted during the dispersion which fol- lowed the martyrdom of Stephen were presently visited by Bar- nabas and Saul (Acts x.). Again, Paul with Barnabas passed through these cities on his return from the first victorious jour- ney among the Gentiles (ib. xi. 13). Nor were these the only jour- neys which the apostle had taken through Phoenicia, so that he well knew, on his arrival from Csesarea, that Christian brethren THE COURSE FROM SIDON. 595 were to be found in Sidou. He doubtless told Julius that he had "friends^' there whom he wished to visit, and either from special commands which had been given by Festus in favor of Paul, or through an influence which the apostle had already gained over the centurion's mind, the desired permission was granted. If we bear in our remembrance that Paul's health was naturally delicate, and that he must have suffered much during his long detention at Csesarea, a new interest is given to the touching incident with w^hich the narrative of this voyage opens, that the Roman officer treated this one prisoner "courteously, and gave him liberty to go unto his friends to refresh himself." We have already considered the military position of this centurion, and seen that there are good grounds for identifying him with an officer mentioned by a heathen historian. It gives an additional pleasure to such in- vestigations when w^e can record our grateful recollection of kind- ness shown by him to that apostle from whom we have received our chief knowledge of the gospel. On going to sea from Sidon the wind was unfavorable. Hence, whatever the weather had been before, it certainly blew from the westward now. The direct course from Sidon to the " coasts of Asia " would have been to the southward of Cyprus, across the sea over which the apostle had sailed so prosperously two years before. Thus when Luke says that "they sailed tender the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were contrary, he means that they sailed to the north-east and north of the island. If there were any doubt con- cerning his meaning, it would be made clear by what is said after- ward, that they '^sailed through the sea which is over against Cilicia and PamphyliaJ^ The reasons why this course was taken will be easily understood by those who have navigated those seas in modern times. By standing to the north the vessel would fall in with the current which sets in a north-westerly direction past the eastern extremity of Cyprus, and then westerly along the southern coast of Asia Minor, till it is lost at the opening of the Archipelago. And besides this, as the land was neared, the wind would draw off the shore and the water would be smoother; and both these advantages would aid the progress of the vessel. Hence, she would easily work to windward, under the mountains of Cilicia and through the Bay of Pamphylia, to Lycia, which was the first district in the province of Asia. Thus we follow the apostle once more across the sea over which he had first sailed with Barnabas 596 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. from Antioch to Salamis, and within sight of the summits of Tau- rus, which rise above his native city, and close by Perga and At- taleia, till he came to a Lycian harbor not far from Patara, the last point at which he had touched on his return from the third missionary journey. The Lycian harbor in which the Adramyttian ship came to anchor on this occasion, after her voyage from Sidon, was Myra, a city which has been fully illustrated by some of those travellers whose researches have within these few years for the first time pro- vided materials for a detailed geographical commentary on the Acts of the Apostles. Its situation was at the opening of a long and wonderful gorge, which conducts the traveller from the interior of the mountain-region of Lycia to the sea. A wide space of plain intervened bet^veen the city and the port. Strabo says that the distance was twenty stadia, or more than two miles. If we draw a natural inference from the magnitude of the theatre which remains at the base of the cliffs, and the traces of ruins to some distance across the plain, we should conclude that Myra once held a con- siderable population ; while the Lycian tombs, still conspicuous in the rocks, seem to connect it with a remote period of Asiatic his- tory. We trace it, on the other hand, in a later though hardly less obscure period of history, for in the Middle Ages it was called the port of the Adriatic, and was visited by Anglo-Saxon travellers. This was the period when Nicholas, the saint of the modern Greek sailors, born at Patara and buried at Myra, had usurped the honor which those two cities might more naturally have given to the apostle who anchored in their harbors. In the seclusion of the deep gorge of Dembra is a magnificent Byzantine church, probably the cathedral of the diocese when Myra was the ecclesiastical and political metropolis of Lycia. Another building, hardly less con- spicuous, is a granary erected by Trajan near the mouth of the little river Andraki. This is the ancient Andriace, which Pliny men- tions as the port of Myra, and which is described to us by Appian, in his narrative of the civil wars of Kome, as closed and protected by a chain. Andriace, the port of Myra, was one of the many excellent har- bors which abound in the south-western part of Asia Minor. From this circumstance, and from the fact that the coast is high and vis- ible to a great distance — in addition to the local advantages which we have mentioned above, the westerly current and the oflf-shore wind FROM MYRA TO CNIDUS. 597 — it was common for ships bound from Egypt to the westward to be found in this neighborhood when the winds were contrary. It was therefore a natural occurrence, and one which could have caused no surprise, when the centurion met in the harbor at Myra with an Alexandrian corn-ship on her voyage to Italy (v. 6). Even if business had not brought her to this coast, she was not really out of her track in a harbor in the same meridian as that of her own port. It is probable that the same westerly winds which had hin- dered Paul's progress from Ccesarea to Myra had caused the Alex- andrian ship to stand to the north. Thus the expectation was fulfilled which had induced the centu- rion to place his prisoners on board the vessel of Adramyttium. That vessel proceeded on her homeward route up the coast of the ^gean if the weather permitted ; and we now follow the apostle through a more eventful part of his voyage in a ship which was probably much larger than those that were simply engaged in the coasting-trade. From the total number of souls on board (v. 37), and the known fact that the Egyptian merchantmen were among the largest in the Mediterranean, we conclude that she was a ves- sel of considerable size. Everything that relates to her construc- tion is interesting to us from the minute account which is given of her misfortunes from the moment of her leaving Myra. The weather was unfavorable from the first. They were many days^* before reaching Cnidus (v. 7), and since the distance from Myra to this place is only a hundred and thirty miles, it is certain that they must have sailed slowly (ib.). The delay was of course occa- sioned by one of two causes — by calms or by contrary winds. There can be no doubt that the latter was the real cause, not only because the sacred narrative states that they reached Cnidus ^^with difficulty,^^ but because we are informed that when Cnidus was reached they could not make good their course any farther, the wind not suffering them (ibid.). At this point they lost the ad- vantages of a favoring current, a weather shore, and smooth water, and were met by all the force of the sea from the westward ; and it was judged the most prudent course, instead of contending with a head sea and contrary winds, to run down to the southward, and after rounding Cape Salmone, the easternmost point of Crete, to pursue the voyage under the lee of that island. Knowing as we do the consequences which followed this step, we are inclined to blame it as imprudent, unless indeed it was ab- 598 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. solutely necessary. For while the south coast of Crete was defi- cient in good harbors, that of Cnidus was excellent — well shel- tered from the north-westerly winds, fully supplied with all kinds of stores, and in every way commodious, if needful, for wintering. And here, according to our custom, we pause again in the nar- rative that we may devote a few lines to the history and descrip- tion of the place. In early times it was the metropolis of the Asiatic Dorians, who worshipped Apollo, their national deity, on the rugged headland called the Triopian promontory (the modern Cape Crio), which juts out beyond the city to the west. From these heights the people of Cnidus saw that engagement between the fleets of Pisander and Conon w^hich resulted in the maritime supremacy of Athens. To the north-west is seen the island of Cos ; to the south-east, across a wnder reach of sea, is the larger island of Rhodes, with which, in their weaker and more voluptu- ous days, Cnidus was united in alliance with Eome at the begin- ning of the struggle between Italy and the East. The position of the city of Cnidus is to the east of the Triopian headland, w^here a narrow isthmus unites the promontory with the continent and separates the two harbors which Strabo has described. " Few places bear more incontestable proofs of former magnificence, and fewer still of the ruffian industry of their destroyers. The whole area of the city is one promiscuous mass of ruins, among which may be traced streets and gateways, porticoes and theatres." But the remains which are the most worthy to arrest our attention are those of the harbors, not only because Cnidus was a city peculiarly associated with maritime enterprise, but because these remains have been less obliterated by violence or decay. The smallest harbor has a narrow entrance between high piers, and was evi- dently the closed basin for triremes which Strabo mentions." But it was the southern and larger port which lay in Paul's course from Myra, and in which the Alexandrian ship must necessarily have come to anchor if she had touched at Cnidus. This port is formed by two transverse moles ; these noble works were carried into the sea to a depth of nearly a hundred feet ; one of them is almost perfect; the other, which is more exposed to the south-west swell, can only be seen under water." And we may conclude our description by another quotation, which speaks of " the remains of an ancient quay on the south-west, supported by cyclopean walls, BY CAPE SALMONE TO FAIR HAVENS. 599 and in some places cut out of the steep limestone rocks which rise abruptly from the water's edge." This excellent harbor, then, from choice or from necessity, was left behind by the seamen of the Alexandrian vessel. Instead of putting back there for shelter, they yielded to the expectation of being able to pursue their voyage under the lee of Crete, and ran down to Cape Salmone; after rounding which the same "difficulty" would indeed recur (v. 8), but still with the advantage of a weather shore. The statements at this particular point of Luke's narrative enable us to ascertain with singular minuteness the direction of the wind ; and it is deeply interesting to observe how this direction, once ascertained, harmonizes all the inferences which we should naturally draw from other parts of the context. But the argument has been so well stated by the first writer who has called atten- tion to this question (Hamilton) that we will present it in his words rather than our own : " The course of a ship on her voyage from Myra to Italy, after she has reached Cnidus, is by the north side of Crete, through the Archipelago, west by south. Hence a ship which can make good a course of less than seven points from the wind, would not have been prevented from proceeding on her course unless the wind had been to the west of north-north-west. But we are told that she * ran under Crete, over against Salmone,* which implies that she was able to fetch that cape, which bears about south-west by south from Cnidus ; but unless the wind had been to the north of west-north-west, she could not have done so. The middle point between north-north-west and west-north-west is north-west, which cannot be more than two points, and is prob- ably not more than one, from the true direction. The wdnd, therefore, would in common language have been termed north- w^est." And then the author proceeds to quote a statement from the English sailing directions regarding the prevalence of north- westerly winds in these seas during the summer months, and to point out that the statement is in complete harmony with what Pliny says of the Etesian monsoons. Under these circumstances of weather a reconsideration of what has been said above, with a chart of Crete before us, will show that the voyage could have been continued some distance from Cape Salmone under the lee of the island, as it had been from Myra to Cnidus, but that at a certain point (now called Cape Matala) where the coast trends suddenly to the north, and where 600 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. the full force of the wind and sea from the westward must have been met, this possibility must have ceased once more, as it had ceased at the south-western corner of the peninsula. At a short distance to the east of Cape Matala is a roadstead which was then called ^'Fair Havens," and still retains the same name, and which the voyagers successfully reached and came to anchor. There seems to have been no town at Fair Havens, but there was a town near it called Lasoea — a circumstance which Luke mentions (if w^e may presume to say so), not with any view of fixing the locality of the roadstead, but simply because the fact was impressed on his memory. If the vessel was detained long at this anchorage, the sailors must have had frequent intercourse with Lasaea, and the soldiers too might obtain leave to visit it; and possibly also the prisoners, each with a soldier chained to his arm. We are not in- formed of the length of the delay at Fair Havens, but before they left the place a considerable time " had elapsed since they had sailed from Csesarea (v. 9), and they had arrived at that season of the year when it was considered imprudent to try the open sea. This is expressed by Luke by saying that " the fast was already past " — a proverbial phrase among the Jews, employed as we should employ the phrase about Michaelmas," and indicating precisely that period of the year. The Fast of Expiation was on the tenth of Tisri, and corresponded to the close of September or the begin- ning of October, and is exactly the time when seafaring is pro- nounced to be dangerous by Greek and Roman writers. It became then a very serious matter of consultation whether they should remain at Fair Havens for the winter or seek some better harbor. Paul's advice was very strongly given that they should remain where they were. He warned them that if they ventured to pur- sue their voyage they would meet with violent weather, with great injury to the cargo and the ship, and much risk to the lives of those on board. It is sufficient if we trace in this warning rather the natural prudence and judgment of Paul than the result of any supernatural revelation, though it is possible that a prophetic power was acting in combination with the insight derived from long experience of "perils in the sea" (2 Cor. xi. 26). He ad- dressed such arguments to his fellow-voyagers as would be likely to influence all: the master would naturally avoid what might endanger the ship; the owner (who was also on board] would b^ anxious for the cargo ; to the centurion and to all the risk of PHENICE. 601 perilling their lives was a prospect that could not lightly be regarded. That Paul was allowed to give advice at all implies that he was already held in a consideration very unusual for a prisoner in the custody of soldiers ; and the time came when his words held a commanding sway over the whole crew ; yet we cannot be surprised that on this occasion the centurion was more influenced by the words of the owner and master than those of the apostle. There could be no doubt that their present anchorage was incommodious to winter in" (v. 12), and the decision of "the majority'' was to leave it so soon as the weather should per- mit. On the south coast of the island, somewhat farther to the west, was a harbor called Phenice, with which it seems that some of the sailors were familiar. They spoke of it in their conversation during the delay at Fair Havens, and they described it as "look- ing toward the south-west wind and north-west wind.'' If they meant to recommend a harbor into which these winds blew dead onshore, it would appear to have been unsailorlike advice; and we are tempted to examine more closely whether the expression really means what at first sight it appears to mean, and then to inquire further whether we can identify this description with any existing harbor. This might indeed be considered a question of mere curiosity, since the vessel never reached Phenice, and since the description of the place is evidently not that of Luke, but of the sailors whose conversation he heard. But everything has a deep interest for us which tends to elucidate this voyage. And, first, we think there cannot be a doubt, both from the notices in ancient writers and the continuance of ancient names upon the spot, that Phenice is to be identified with the modern Lutro. This is a harbor which is sheltered from the winds above men- tioned; and without entering fully into the discussions which have arisen from this subject, we give it as our opinion that the difficulty is to be explained simply by remembering that sailors speak of everything from their own point of view, and that such a harbor does "look"/rom the water towards the land which encloses in the direction of " south-west and north-west." With a sudden change of weather, the north-westerly wind ceasing and a light air springing up from the south, the sanguine sailors "thought that their purpose was already accomplished" (v. 13). They weighed anchor, and the vessel bore round Cape 602 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. Matala. The distance to this point from Fair Havens is four or five miles; the bearing is west by south. With a gentle southerly- wind she would be able to weather the cape, and then the wind was fair to Phenice, which was thirty-five miles distant from the cape, and bore from thence about west-north- west. The sailors already saw the high land above Lutro, and were proceeding in high spirits — perhaps with fair-weather sails set, certainly with the boat towing astern — forgetful of past difficulties and blind to impending dangers. The change in the fortunes of these mariners came without a moment's warning. Soon after weathering Cape Matala, and while they were pursuing their course in full confidence close by the coast of Crete (v. 13), a violent wind came down from the mountains and struck the ship (seizing her, according to the Greek expression, and whirling her round), so that it was impossible for the helmsman to make her keep her course. The character of the wind is described in terms expressive of the utmost violence. It came with all the appearance of a hurricane; and the name "Euroclydon," which was given to it by the sailors, indicates the commotion in the sea which presently resulted. The consequence was that, in the first instance, they were compelled to scud before the gale. If we wish to understand the events which followed, it is of the utmost consequence that we should ascertain, in the first place, the direction of this gale. Though there is a great weight of opinion in favor of the reading Euroaquilo, in place of Euroc- lydon — a view which would determine, on critical grounds, that the wind was east-north-east — we need not consider ourselves compelled to yield absolutely to this authority, and the mere con- text of the narrative enables us to determine the question with great exactitude. The wind came down from the island and drove the vessel off the island; whence it is evident that it could not have been southerly. If we consider, further, that the wund struck the vessel when she was not far from Cape Matala (v. 14), that it drove her towards Clauda (v. 16), which is an island about twenty miles to the south-west of that point, and that the sailors " feared lest it should drive them into the Syrtis on the African coast (v. 17) — all which facts are mentioned in rapid succession — an inspection of a chart will sufiice to show us that the point from which the storm came must have been north-east, or rather to the east of SEAMANSHIP DURIN'G THE GALE. 603 north-east, and thus we may safely speak of it as coming from the east-north-east. We proceed now to inquire what was done with the vessel under these perilous circumstances. She was compelled at first (as we have seen) to scud before the gale. But three things are men- tioned in close connection with her coming near to Clauda and running under the lee of it. Here they would have the advantage of a temporary lull and of comparatively smooth water for a few miles, and the most urgent necessity was attended to first. The boat ivas hoisted 071 board, but after towing so long it must have been nearly filled with water, arid under any circumstances the hoisting of a boat on board in a gale of wind is a work accomplished " ivith difficulty^' So it was in this instance, as Luke informs us. To effect it at all, it would be necessary for the vessel to be rounded- to, with her head brought towards the wind — a circumstance which for other reasons (as we shall see presently) it is important to bear in mind. The next precaution that was adopted betrays an appre- hension lest the vessel should spring aleak, and so be in danger of foundering at sea. They used the tackling which we have de- scribed above, and which provided "helps" in such .an emergency. They " imdergirded'^ the ship with ropes passed round her frame and tightly secured on deck. And after this, or rather simultaneously (for, as there were many hands on board, these operations might all be proceeding together), they " lowered the gear,'' This is the most literal translation of the Greek expression. In itself it is indeterminate, but it doubtless implies careful preparation for weathering out the storm. What precise change was made we are not able to determine in our ignorance of the exact state of the ship's gear at the moment. It might mean that the mainsail was reefed and set, or that the great yard was lowered upon deck and a small storm-sail hoisted. It is certain that what English seamen call the top-hamper would be sent down on deck. As to those fair-weather sails themselves which may have been too hastily used on leaving Fair Havens, if not taken in at the beginning of the gale they must have been already blown to pieces. But the mention of one particular apprehension as the motive of this last precaution informs us of something further. It was because they feared lest they should be driven into the Syrtis" that they " lowered the gear." Now, to avoid this danger the head of the vessel must necessarily have been turned away from the Afri- 604 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. can coast, in the direction (more or less) from which the wind came. To have scudded before the gale under bare poles or under storm-sails would infallibly have stranded them in the Syrtis, not to mention the danger of pooping, or being swamped by the sea breaking over her stern. To have anchored was evidently im- possible. Only one other course remained, and this what is tech- nically called by sailors lying-to. To effect this arrangement the head of the vessel is brought as near the wind as possible ; a small amount of canvas is set, and so adjusted as to prevent the vessel from falling off into the trough of the sea. This plan (as is well known to all who have made long voyages) is constantly resorted to when the object is not so much to make progress as to weather out a gale. We are here brought to the critical point of the whole nautical difficulty in the narrative of Paul's voyage and shipwreck, and it is desirable to notice very carefully both the ship's position in reference to the wind and its consequent motion through the water. Assuming that the vessel was laid-to^ the questions to be answered in reference to its position are these : How near the wind did she lie? and which side did she present to the wind? The first ques- tion is answered in some degree by a reference to what was said in the early part of this chapter. If an ancient merchantman could go ahead in moderate weather when within seven points of the wind, we may assume that she would make about the same angle with it when lying-to in a gale. The second question would be practically determined by the circumstances of the case and the judgment of the sailors. It will be seen very clearly by what fol- lows that if the ship had been laid-to with her left or port side to the wind, she must have been driven far out of her course, and also in the direction of another part of the African coast. In order to make sure of sea-room, and at the same time to drift to the west- ward, she must have been laid-to with her right side to the wind, or on the starboard tach — the position which she was probably made to assume at the moment of taking the boat on board. We have hitherto considered only the ship's position in reference to the wind. We must now consider its motion. When a vessel is laid-to she does not remain stationary, but drifts ; and our in- quiries of course have reference to the rate and direction of the drift. The rate of drift may vary, within certain limits, according to the build of the vessel and the intensity of the gale, but all sea- LIGHTENING THE SHIP. 60d men would agree that under the circumstances hefore us a mile and a half in the hour, or thirty-six miles in twenty-four hours, may be taken as a fair average. The direction in which she drifts is not that in which she appears to sail, or towards which her bows arc tamed, but she falls off to leeward ; and to the angle formed by the line of the ship's keel and the line in which the wind blows we must add another to include what the sailors call lee-way^ and this may be estimated on an average at six points (67°). Thus we come to the conclusion that the direction of drift would make an angle of thirteen points (147°) with the direction of the wind. If the wind was east-north-east, the course of the vessel would be west by north. We have been minute in describing the circumstances of the ship at this moment, for it is the point upon which all our subse- quent conclusions must turn. Assuming now that the vessel was, as we have said, laid-to on the starboard tack, with the boat on board and the hull undergirded, drifting from Clauda in a direction west by north at the rate of thirty-six miles in twenty-four houi«, we pursue the narrative of the voyage without anticipating the results to which we shall be brought. The more marked incidents of the second and third days of the gale are related to us (vs. 18, 19). The violence of the storm continued without any intermis- sion. On " the day after" they left Clauda they began to lighten the ship" by throwing overboard whatever could be most easily spared. From this we should infer that the precaution of under- girding had been only partially successful, and that the vessel had already sprung aleak. This is made still more probable by what occurred on the "third day." Both sailors and passengers united in throwing out all the "spare gear" into the sea. Then followed "several days" of continued hardship and anxiety. No one who has never been in a leaking ship in a long-continued gale can know what is suffered under such circumstances. The strain both of mind and body, the incessant demand for the labor of all the crew, the terror of the passengers, the hopeless working at the pumps, the laboring of the ship's frame and cordage, the driving of the storm, the benumbing effect of the cold and wet, make up a scene of no ordinary confusion, anxiety, and fatigue. But in the present case these evils were much aggravated by the continued overcloud- ing of the sky (a circumstance not unusual during a Levanter), which prevented the navigators from taking the necessary observa- LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. tions of the heavenly bodies. In a modern ship, however dark the weather might be, there would always be a light in the binnacle, and the ship's course would always be known ; but in an ancient vessel "when neither sun nor stars were seen for many days" the case would be far more hopeless. It was impossible to know how near they might be to the most dangerous coast. And yet the worst danger was that which arose from the leaky state of the vessel. This was so bad that at length they gave up all hope of being saved, thinking that nothing could prevent her foundering. To this despair was added a further suffering from want of food in consequence of the injury done to the provisions and the impos- sibility of preparing any regular meal. Hence we see the force of the phrase which alludes to what a casual reader might suppose an unimportant part of the suffering—the fact that there was "much abstinence.'' It was in this time of utter weariness and despair that to the apostle there rose up " light in the darkness and that light was made the means of encouraging and saving the rest. While the heathen sailors were vainly struggling to subdue the leak, Paul was praying, and God granted to him the lives of all who sailed with him. A vision was vouchsafed to him in the night, as formerly when he was on the eve of conveying the gospel from Asia to Europe, and more recently in the midst of those harassing events which resulted in his voyage from Jerusalem to Eome. When the cheerless day came he gathered the sailors around him on the deck of the laboring vessel, and, raising his voice above the storm, said: "Sirs, ye should have hearkened to my counsel, and not have set sail from Crete : thus would you have been spared this harm and loss. "And now I exhort you to be of good cheer ; for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but only of the ship. For there stood by me this night an angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, saying, * Fear not, Paul ; thou must stand before Ccesar ; and, lo ! God hath given thee all who sail with theeJ Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer ; for I be- lieve God, that what hath been declared unto me shall come to pass. Nevertheless, we must be cast upon a certain island." We are not told how this address was received. But sailors, however reckless they may be in the absence of danger, are pecu- liarly open to religious impressions, and we cannot doubt that they gathered anxiously round the apostle and heard his words as an ANCH0RIX31 IN THE NIGHT. 607 admonition and encouragement from the other world — that they were nerved for the toil and difficulty which was immediately before them, and prepared thenceforward to listen to the Jewish prisoner as to a teacher sent with a divine commission. The gale still continued without abatement. Day and night succeeded, and the danger seemed only to increase till fourteen days had elapsed, during which they had been ^' drifting through the sea of Adria'^ (v. 27). A gale of such duration, though not very frequent, is by no means unprecedented in that part of the Mediterranean, especially towards winter. At the close of the fourteenth day, about the middle of the night, the sailors suspect- ed that they were nearing land. There is little doubt as to what were the indications of land. The roar of breakers is a peculiar sound, which can be detected by a practised ear, though not dis- tinguishable from the other sounds of a storm by those who have not "their senses exercised'' by experience of the sea. When it was reported that this sound was heard by some of the crew, orders were immediately given to heave the lead, and they found that the depth of the water was " twenty fathoms." After a short interval they sounded again, and found "fifteen fathoms." Though the vicinity of land could not but inspire some hope, as holding out the prospect of running the ship ashore, and so being saved, yet the alarm of the sailors was great when they perceived how rapidly they were shoaling the water. It seems also that they now heard breakers ahead. However this might be, there was the utmost danger lest the vessel should strike and go to pieces. No time was to be lost. Orders were immediately given to clear the anchors. But, if they had anchored by the bow, there was good ground for apprehending that the vessel would have swung around and gone upon the rocks. They therefore let go " four anchors by the sternJ' For a time the vessel's way was arrested, but there was too much reason to fear that she miglit part from her anchors and go ashore, if indeed she did not founder in the night; and "they waited anxiously for the day." The reasons are obvious why she anchored by the stern, rather than in the usual way. Besides what has been said above, her way would be more easily arrested, and she would be in a better position for being run ashore next day. But since this mode of anchoring has raised some questions, it may be desirable in pass- ing to make a remark on the subject. That a vessel can anchor by \ 608 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. the stern is sufficiently proved (if proof were needed) by the his- tory of some of our own naval engagements. So it was at the battle of the Nile. And when ships are about to attack batteries it is customary for them to go into action prepared to anchor in this way. This was the case at Algiers. There is still greater interest in quoting the instance of Copenhagen, not only from the accounts we have of the precision with which each ship let go her anchors astern as she arrived nearly opposite her appointed station, but because it is said that Nelson stated after the battle that he had that morning been reading the twenty-seventh chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. But though it will be granted that this manoeuvre is possible with due preparation, it may be doubted whether it could be accomplished in a gale of wind on a lee shore without any previous notice. The question, in fact, is, whether ancient ships in the Mediterranean were always prepared to an- chor in this way. Some answer to this doubt is supplied by the present practice of the Levantine caiques, which preserve in great measure the traditionary build and rig of ancient merchantmen. These modern Greek vessels may still be seen anchoring by the stern in the Golden Horn at Constantinople or on the coast of Patmos. But the best illustration is afforded by one of the paint- ings of Herculaneum, which represents " a ship so strictly contem- poraneous with that of Paul that there is nothing impossible in the supposition that the artist had taken his subject from that very ship on loosing from the pier at Puteoli.'' By this rude drawing we can see very clearly how the rudders would be in danger of interfering with this mode of anchoring — a subject to which our attention will presently be required. Our supposed objector, if he had a keen sense of practical difficulties, might still insist that to have anchored in this way (or indeed in the ordinary way) would have been of little avail in PauFs ship, since it could not be supposed that the anchors would have held in such a gale of wind. To this we can only reply that this course was adopted to meet a dangerous emergency. The sailors could not have been certain of the result. They might indeed have had confidence in their cables, but they could not be sure of their holding-ground. This is one of the circumstances which must be taken into ac- count when we sum up the evidence in proof that the place of shipwreck was Malta. At present we make no such assumption. We will not anticipate the conclusion till we have proceeded some- THE BOAT LOWERED, BUT CUT ADRIFT. 609 what farther with the narrative. We may, however, ask the reader to pause for a moment and reconsider what was said of the circum- stances of the vessel when we described what was done under the lee of Clauda. We then saw that the direction in which she was drifting was west by north. Now an inspection of the chart will show us that this is exactly the bearing of the northern part of Malta from the south of Clauda. We saw, moreover, that she was drifting at the rate of about a mile and a half in every hour, or thirty-six miles in the twenty-four hours. Since that time thirteen days had elapsed, for the first of the fourteen days " would be taken up on the way from Fair Havens to Clauda. The ship, therefore, had passed over a distance of about four hundred and sixty-eight miles. The distance between Clauda and Malta is rather less than four hundred and eighty miles. The coincidence is so remarkable that it seems hardly possible to believe that the land to which the sailors on the fourteenth night ^' deemed that they drew nigh " — the " certain island on which it was prophe- sied that they should be cast — could be any other place than Malta. The probability is overwhelming. But we must not yet assume the fact as certain, for we shall find as we proceed that the con- ditions are very numerous which the true place of shipwreck will be required to satisfy. We return, then, to the ship, which we left laboring at her four anchors. The coast was invisible, but the breakers were heard in every pause of the storm. The rain was falling in torrents, and all hands were weakened by want of food. But the greatest danger was lest the vessel should founder before daybreak. The leak was rapidly gaining, and it was expected that each moment might be the last. Under these circumstances we find the sailors making a selfish attempt to save themselves and leave the ship and the pas- sengers to their fate. Under the pretence of carrying out some anchors from the bow they lowered the boat over the ship's side (v. 30). The excuse was very plausible, for there is no doubt that the vessel would have been more steady if this had been done, and, in order to effect it, it would be necessary to take out anchors in the boat. But their real intention was to save their own lives and leave the passengers. Paul penetrated their design, and either from some divine intimation of the instruments which were to be providentially employed for the safety of all on board, or from an intuitive judgment which showed him that those who would be 39 610 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. tlms left behind, the passengers and soldiers, would not be able to work the ship in any emergency that might arise, he saw that if the sailors accomplished their purpose all hope of being saved would be gone. With his usual tact he addressed not a word to the sailors, but spoke to the soldiers and his friend the centurion ; and they with military promptitude held no discussion on the sub- ject, but decided the question by immediate action. With that short sword with which the Roman legions cleft their way through every obstacle to universal victory they " cut the ropes,'^ and the boat fell off, and if not instantly swamped drifted off to leeward into the darkness and was dashed to pieces on the rocks. Thus the prudent counsel of the apostle, seconded by the prompt action of the soldiers, had been the means of saving all on board. Each successive incident tended to raise him more and more into a position of overpowering influence. Not the captain or the ship's crew, but the passenger and the prisoner, is looked to now as the source of wisdom and safety. We find him using this influence for the renewal of their bodily strength, while at the same time he turned their thoughts to the providential care of God. By this time the dawn of day was approaching. A faint light showed more of the terrors of the storm, and the objects on board the ship began to be more distinctly visible. Still, towards the land all was dark- ness, and their eyes followed the spray in vain as it drifted oft' to leeward. A slight effort of imagination suffices to bring before us an impressive spectacle as we think of the dim light just showing the haggard faces of the two hundred and seventy-six persons clustered on the deck and holding on by the bulwarks of the sink- ing vessel. In this hour of anxiety the apostle stands forward to give them courage. He reminds them that they had " eaten nothing'' for fourteen days, and exhorts them now to partake of a hearty meal, pointing out to them that this was indeed essential to their safety, and encouraging them by the assurance that '' not a hair of their head " should perish. So speaking, he set the ex- ample of the cheerful use of God's gifts and grateful acknowledg- ment of the Giver by taking bread, ''giving thanks to God before all," and beginning to eat. Thus encouraged by his calm and re- ligious example, they felt their spirits revive, and "they also par- took of food" and made themselves ready for the labor which awaited them. Instead of abandoning themselves to despair, they proceeded THE SHIP STRANDED. 611 actively to adopt tlie last means for relieving the still sinking ves- sel. The cargo of wheat was now" of no use. It was probably spoilt by the salt water. And, however this might be, it was not worth a thought, since it was well known that the vessel would be lost. Their hope now was to run her on shore, and so escape to land. Besides this, it is probable that, the ship having been so long in one position, the wheat had shifted over to the port side, and prevented the vessel from keeping that upright position which w^ould be most advantageous when they came to steer her towanls the shore. The hatchways were therefore opened, and they pro- ceeded to throw the grain into the sea. This work would occupy some time, and when it was accomplished the day had dawned and the land was visible. The sailors looked hard at the shore, but they could not recog- nize it. Though ignorant, however, of the name of the coast off which they were anchored, they saw one feature in it which gave them a hope that they might accomplish their purpose of running the ship aground. They perceived a small bay or indentation with a sandy or pebbly beach, and their object was, " if possible,'^ so to steer the vessel that she might take the ground at that point. To effect this every necessary step was carefully taken. While cutting the anchors adrift they unloosed the lashings with which the rudders had been secured and hoisted the foresail. These three things would be done simultaneously, as indeed is implied by Luke, and there were a sufficient number of hands on board for the purpose. The free use of the rudders would be absolutely necessary; nor would this be sufficient without the employment of some sail. It does not appear quite certain whether they exactly hit the point at which they aimed. We are told that they fell into *^a place between two seas (a feature of the coast which will re- quire our consideration presently), and then stranded the ship. The bow stuck fast in the shore and remained unmoved, but the stern began immediately to go to pieces under the action of the sea. And now another characteristic incident is related. The soldiers, w^ho were answerable with their lives for the detention of their prisoners, were afraid lest some of them should swim out and escape, and therefore, in the spirit of true Eoman cruelty, they proposed to kill them at once. Now again the influence of Paul over the centurion's mind was made the means of saving both his 612 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL, own life and those of his fellow-prisoners. For the rest that officer might care but little, but he wished to secure Paul's safety. He therefore prevented the soldiers from accomplishing their heart- less intention, and directed those who could swim to ''cast them- Belves into the sea " first, while the rest made use of spars and broken pieces of the wreck. Thus it came to pass that all escaped eafely through the breakers to the shore. When the land was safely reached it was ascertained that the island on which they were wrecked was Melita. The mere word does not absolutely establish the identity of the place, for two islands were anciently called alike by this name. This, therefore, is the proper place for summing up the evidence which has been gradually accumulating in proof that it was the modern Malta. We have already seen the almost irresistible inference which fol- lows from the consideration of the direction and rate of drift since the vessel was laid-to under the lee of Clauda. But we shall find that every succeeding indication not only tends to bring us to the shore of this island, but to the very bay (the Gala di San Paolo) which has always been the traditionary scene of the w^reck. In the first place, we are told that they became aware of land by the presence of breakers, and yet without striking. Now, an in- spection of the chart will show us that a ship drifting west by north might approach Koura Point, the eastern boundary of St. Paul's Bay, without having fallen in previously with any other part of the coast, for towards the neighborhood of Valetta the shore trends rapidly to the southward. Again, the character of this point, as described in the English Sailing Directions, is such that there must infallibly have been violent breakers upon it that night. Yet a vessel drifting west by north might pass it within a quarter of a mile without striking on the rocks. But what are the soundings at this point? They are now twenty fathoms. If we proreed a little farther we find fifteen fathoms. It may be said that this, in itself, is nothing remarkable. But if we add that the fifteen- fathom depth is in the direction of the vessel's drift (west by north) from the twenty-fathom depth, the coincidence is startling. But at this point we observe that now there would be breakers ahead, and yet at such a distance ahead that there would be time for the vessel to anchor before actually striking on the rocks. All these conditions must necessarily be fulfilled, and we see that they are fulfilled without any attempt at ingenious explanation. But we KIND RECEPTION BY THE ISLANDERS. 613 may proceed further. The character of the coast on the farther side of the bay is such that, though the greater part of it is fronted with mural precipices, there are one or two indentations, which exhibit the appearance of "a creeh with a [sandy or pebbly] shore.''^ And again w^e observe that the island of Salmonetta is so placed that the sailors, looking from the deck when the vessel was at anchor, could not possibly be aware that it was not a continuous part of the mainland, whereas while they were running her aground they could not help observing the opening of the channel, which would thus appear (like the Bosphorus) a place between two seas/' and would be more likely to attract their attention if some current resulting from this juxtaposition of the island and the coast inter- fered with the accuracy of their steering. And finally, to revert to the fact of the anchors holding through the night (a result which could not confidently be predicted), we find it stated in the English Sailing Directions that the ground in St. Paul's Bay is so good that " while the cables hold there is no danger , as the arichors mill never start J' Malta was not then the densely-crowded island which it has be- come during the last half century. Though it was well known to the Romans as a dependency of the province of Sicily, and though the harbor now called Valetta must have been familiar to the Greek mariners who traded between the East and the West, much of the island was doubtless uncultivated and overrun with wood. Its population was of Phoenician origin, speaking a language which, as regards social intercourse, had the same relation to Latin and Greek which modern Maltese has to English and Italian. The inhabitants, however, though in this sense, '^barbarians," were favorably contrasted with many Christian wreckers in their reception of those who had been cast on their coast. They showed them no ''ordinary kindness," for they lighted a fire and welcomed them all to the warmth, drenched and shivering as they were in the rain and the cold. The whole scene is brought very vividly before us in the sacred narrative. One incident has become a picture in PauFs life with which every Christian child is familiar. The apostle had gathered with his own hands a heap of sticks and placed them on the fire, when a viper came ''out of the heat" and fastened on his hand. The poor superstitious people when they saw this said to one another, "This man must be a murderer: he has escaped from the sea, but still vengeance suffers him not to 614 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. live." But Paul threw off the animal into the fire and suffered no harm. Then they watched him, expecting that his body would become swollen or that he would suddenly fall down dead. At length, after they had watched for a long time in vain and saw nothing happen to him, their feelings changed as violently as those of the Lystrians had done in an opposite direction, and they ^iaid that he was a god. We are not told of the results to whicli this occurrence led, but we cannot doubt that while Paul repu- diated, as formerly at Lystra, all the homage which idolatry would pay to him, he would make use of the influence acquired by this miracle for making the Saviour known to his uncivilized bene- factors. Paul was enabled to work many miracles during his stay at Malta. The first which is recorded is the healing of the father of Publius, the governor of the island, who had some possessions near the place where the vessel was lost, and who had given a hospitable reception to the shipwrecked strangers and supplied their wants for three days. The disease under which the father of Publius was suffering was dysentery in an aggravated form. Paul went in to him and prayed, and laid his hands on him, and he recovered. This being noised through the island, other sufferers came to the apostle and were healed. Thus was he empowered to repay the kindness of these islanders by temporal services in- tended to lead their minds to blessings of a still higher kind. And they were not wanting in gratitude to those whose unex- pected visit had brought so much good among them. They loaded them with every honor in their power, and when they put to sea again supplied them with everything that was needful for their wants (ver. 10). Before we pursue the concluding part of the voyage, which was so prosperous that hardly any incident in the course of it is re- corded, it may be useful to complete the argument by which Malta is proved to be the scene of Paul's shipwreck by briefly noticing some objections which have been brought against his view. It is true that the positive evidence already adduced is the strongest refutation of mere objections, but it is desirable not to leave un- noticed any of the arguments which appear to have weight on the other side. Some of them have been carelessly brought to- gether by a great writer to whom on many subjects we might be glad to yield our assent. Thus, it is argued that because the ves- OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 615 sel is said to have been drifting in the Adriatic, the place of ship- wreck must have been, not Malta to the south of Sicily, but Meleda in the Gulf of Venice. It is no wonder that the Benedictine of Ragusa should have been jealous of the honor of his order, which had 3i convent on that small island. But it is more surprising that the view should have been maintained by other writers since. For not only do the classical poets use the name " Adria" for all that natural division of the Mediterranean which lies between Sicily and Greece, but the same phraseology is found in historians and geographers. Thus Ptolemy distinguishes clearly between the Adriatic Sea and the Adriatic Gulf. Pausanias says that the Straits of Messene unite the Tyrrhene Sea with the Adriatic Sea, and Procopius considers Malta as lying on the boundary of the latter. Nor are the other objections more successful. It is argued that Alexandrian sailors could not possibly have been ignorant of an island so well known as Malta w^as then. But surely they might have been very familiar with the harbor of Valetta Avithout being able to recognize that part of the coast on which they came during the storm. A modern sailor who had made many passages between New York and Liverpool might yet be perplexed if he found himself in hazy weather on some part of the coast of Wales. Besides, we are told that the seamen did recognize the island as soon as they were ashore. It is contended also that the people of Malta would not have been called barbarians. But if the sailors were Greeks (as they probably w^ere), they would have employed this term as a matter of course of those who spoke a diiferent language from their own. Again, it is argued that there are no vipers, that there is hardly any wood, in Malta. But who does not recognize here the natural changes which result from the increase of inhabitants and cultivation? Within a very few years there was wood close to St. Paul's Bay, and it is well known how the fauna of any coun- try varies with the vegetation. An argument has even been built on the supposed fact that the disease of Publius is unknown in the island. To this it is sufficient to reply by a simple .denial. Nor can we close this rapid survey of objections without noticing the insuperable difficulties which lie against the hypothesis of the Venetian Meleda, from the impossibility of reaching it, except by a miracle, under the above-related circumstances of weather — from the disagreement of its soundings with what is required by the 616 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. narrative of the shipwreck, and by the inconsistency of its posi- tion with what is related of the subsequent voyage. To this part of the voyage we must now proceed. After three months they sailed again for Italy in a ship called the Castor and Pollux. Syracuse was in their track, and the ship put into that famous harbor and stayed there three days. Thus, Paul was in a great historic city of the West after spending much time in those of greatest note in the East. We are able to associate the apostle of the Gentiles and the thoughts of Christianity with the scenes of that disastrous expedition which closed the progress of the Athenians towards our part of Europe, and with those Punic wars which ended in bringing Africa under the yoke of Eome. We are not told whether Paul was permitted to go on shore at Syracuse, but from the courtesy shown him by Julius it is probable that this permission was not refused. If he landed, he would doubtless find Jews and Jewish proselytes in abundance in so great a mercantile emporium, and would announce to them the glad tidings which he was commissioned to proclaim " to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile.^' Hence we may without difficulty give credit to the local tradition which regards Paul as the first founder of the Sicilian Church. Sailing out of that beautiful landlocked basin, and past Ortygia, once an island, but then united in one continuous town with the buildings under the ridge of Epipolse, the ship which carried Paul to Eome shaped her course northward towards the Straits of Mes- sina. The weather was not favorable at first : they were compelled to take an indirect course, and they put into Rhegium, a city whose patron divinities were, by a curious coincidence, the same hero- protectors of seafaring men, " the Great Twin Brethren to whom the ship itself was dedicated. Here they remained one day (v. 13), evidently waiting for a fair wind to take them through the Faro, for the springing up of a wind from the south is expressly mentioned in the following \vords. This wind would be favorable not only for carrying the ship through the straits, but for all the remainder of the voyage. If the vessel was single-masted, this wind was the best that could blow, for to such a vessel the most advantageous point of sailing is to run right before the wind, and Puteoli lies nearly due north from Rhegium. The distance is about one hundred and eighty-two miles. If, then, we assume, in accordance with what has been stated above, that THE BAY OF NAPLES. 617 she sailed at the rate of seven knots an hour, the passage would be accomplished in about twenty-six hours; which agrees perfectly with the account of Luke, who says that after leaving Ehegium they came " the next day " to Puteoli. Before the close of the first day they would see on the left the volcanic cone and smoke of Stromboli, the nearest of the Lipari Islands. In the course of the night they would have neared that projecting part of the mainland which forms the southern limit of the Bay of Salerno. Sailing across the wide opening of this gulf, they would in a few hours enter that other bay, the Bay of Naples, in the northern part of which Puteoli was situated. No long description need be given of that bay, which has been made familiar by every kind of illustration even to those who have never seen it. Its south-eastern limit is the promontory of Minerva, with the island of Caprese opposite, which is so associated with the memory of Tiberius that its cliffs still seem to rise from the blue waters as a monument of hideous vice in the midst of the fairest scenes of Nature. The opposite boundary was the promontory of Misenum, where one of the imperial fleets lay at anchor under ihe shelter of the islands of Ischia and Procida. In the intermediate space the Campanian coast curves round in the loveliest forms, with Vesuvius as the prominent feature of the view. But here one difference must be marked between Paul's day and our own. The angry neighbor of Naples was not then an unsleeping vol- cano, but a green and sunny background to the bay, with its west- ward slope covered with vines. No one could have suspected that the time was so near when the admiral of the fleet at Misenum would be lost in its fiery eruption, and little did the apostle dream, when he looked from the vessel's deck across the bay to the right, that a ruin like that of Sodom and Gomorrah hung over the fair cities at the base of the mountain, and that the Jewish princess who had so lately conversed with him in his prison at Csesarea would find her tomb in that ruin, with the child she had borne tc Felix. By this time the vessel was well within the island of Capreae and the promontory of Minerva, and the idlers of Puteoli were already crowding to the pier to watch the arrival of the Alexan- drian corn-ship. So we safely may infer from a vivid and descrip- tive letter preserved among the correspondence of the philosopher Seneca. He says that all ships, on rounding into the bay within 618 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. the above-mentioned island and promontory, were obliged to strike their topsails, with the exception of the Alexandrian corn-vessels, which were thus easily recognized as soon as they hove in sight ; and then he proceeds to moralize on the gathering and crowding of the people of Puteoli to watch these vessels coming in. Thus w^e are furnished with new circumstances to aid our efforts to real- ize the arrival of the Castor and Pollux on the coast of Italy with Paul on board. And if we wish still further to associate this event with the history and the feelings of the times, we may turn to an anecdote of the emperor Augustus which is preserved to us by Suetonius. The emperor had been seized with a feverish attack — it was the beginning of his last illness — and was cruising about the bay for the benefit of his health, when an Alexandrian corn-ship was coming to her moorings and passed close by. The sailors rec- ognized the old man whoin the civilized world obeyed as master and was learning to worship as a god, and they brought forth gar- lands and incense that they might pay him divine honors, saying that it was by his providence that their voyages were made safe and that their trade was prosperous. Augustus was so gratified by this worship that he immediately distributed an immense sum of gold among his suite, exacting from them the promise that they would expend it all in the purchase of Alexandrian goods. Such was the interest connected in the first century with the trade be- tween Alexandria and Puteoli. Such was the idolatrous homage paid to the Koman emperor. The only difference when the apostle of Christ came was that the vice and corruption of the empire had increased with the growth of its trade, and that the emperor now was not Augustus, but Nero. In this wide and sunny expanse of blue waters no part was calmer or more beautiful than the recess in the northern part of the bay, between Baise and Puteoli. It was naturally sheltered by the surrounding coasts, and seemed of itself to invite both the jrratification of luxurious ease and the formation of a mercantile harbor. Baise was devoted to the former purpose : it was to the invalids and fashionable idlers of Rome like a combination of Brighton and Cheltenham. Puteoli, on the opposite side of this inner bay, was the Liverpool of Italy. Between them was that enclosed reach of water called the Lucrine Lake, which contained the oyster-beds for the luxurious tables of Pome, and on the sur- PUTEOLT. 619 face of which the small yachts of fashionable visitors displayed their colored sails. Still farther inland was that other calm basin, the Lacus Avernus, which an artificial passage connected with the former and thus converted into a harbor. Not far beyond was Cumse, once a flourishing Greek city, but when the apostle visited this coast a decayed country town, famous only for the recollections of the Sibyl. We must return to Puteoli. We have seen above how it di- vided with Ostia the chief commerce by sea between Eome and the provinces. Its early name, when the Campanian shore was Greek rather than Italian, was Dicsearchia. Under its new appellation (which seems to have had reference to the mineral springs of the neighborhood) it first began to have an important connection with Eome in the second Punic war. It was the place of embarkation for armies proceeding to Spain, and the landing-place of ambassa- dors from Carthage. Ever afterward it was an Italian town of the first rank. In the time of Vespasian it became the Flavian colony, like the city in Palestine from which Paul had sailed; but even from an earlier period it had colonial privileges, and these bad just been renewed under Nero. It was intimately associated both with this emperor and with two others who preceded him in power and in crime. Close by Baias, across the bay, was Bauli, where the plot was laid for the murder of Agrippina. Across these waters Caligula built his fantastic bridge, and the remains of it were probably visible when Paul landed. Tiberius had a more honor- able monument in a statue (of which a fragment is still seen by English travellers at Pozzuoli) erected during Paul's life to com- memorate the restitution of the Asiatic cities overthrown by an earthquake. But the ruins which are the most interesting to us are the seventeen piers of the ancient mole on which the lighthouse stood, and within which the merchantmen were moored. Such is the proverbial tenacity of the concrete which was used in this structure that it is the most perfect ruin existing of any ancient Roman harbor. In the early part of this chapter we spoke of the close mercantile relationship which subsisted between Egypt and this city. And this remains on our minds as the prominent and significant fact of its history, whether we look upon the ruins of the mole and think of such voyages as those of Titus and Vespasian, or wander among the broken columns of the temple of Serapis, or read the account which Philo gives of the singular interview of 620 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. the emperor Caligula with the Jewish ambassadors from Alexan- dria. Puteoli, from its trade with Alexandria and the East, must necessarily have contained a colony of Jews, and they must have had a close connection with the Jews of Eome. What was true of the Jews would probably find its parallel in the Christians. Paul met with disciples here, and as soon as he was among them they were in prompt communication on the subject with their brethren in Eome. The Italian Christians had long been looking for a visit from the famous apostle, though they had not expected to see him arrive thus, a prisoner in chains, hardly saved from shipwreck. But these sufferings would only draw their hearts more closely towards him. They earnestly besought him to stay some days with them, and Julius was able to allow this request to be complied with. Even when the voyage began we saw that he was courteous and kind towards his prisoner; and after all the varied and impressive incidents which have been recounted in this chapter we should indeed be surprised if we found him unwilling to contribute to the comfort of one by whom his own life had been preserved. CHAPTEE XXIV. THE APPIAK WAY. — APPII FOKUM AND THE THKEE TAVERNS. — ENTRANCE INTO ROME. — THE PR-^TORIAN PREFECT. — DE- SCRIPTION OF THE CITY. — ITS POPULATION. — THE JEWS IN ROME. — THE ROMAN CHURCH. — PAUL'S INTERVIEW WITH THE JEWS. — HIS RESIDENCE IN ROME. The last chapter began with a description of the facilities possessed by the ancients for travelling by sea : this must begin with a refer- ence to their best opportunities of travelling by land. We have before spoken of some of the most important roads through the provinces of the empire : now we are about to trace the apostle's footsteps along that road which was at once the oldest and most frequented in Italy, and which was called, in comparison with all others, the "queen of roads." We are no longer following the nar- row line of compact pavement across Macedonian plains and mountains or through the varied scenery in the interior of Asia Minor, but we are on the most crowded approach to the metropo- lis of the world, in the midst of praetor -, and proconsuls, embassies, legions, and turms of horse, " to their provinces hasting or on return," which Milton, in his description of the city enriched with the spoils of nations, has called us to behold " in various habits on the Appian Eoad." Leaving, then, all consideration of Puteoli as it was related to the sea and to the various places on the coast, we proceed to con- sider its communications by land with the towns of Campania and Latium. The great line of communication between Rome and the southern part of the peninsula was the "way" constructed by Appius Claudius, which passed through Capua, and thence to Brundusium on the shore of the Adriatic. Puteoli and its neigh- borhood lay some miles to the westward of this main road, but communicated with it easily by well-travelled cross-roads. One of them followed the coast from Puteoli northward till it joined the Appian Way at Sinuessa, on the borders of Latium and Cam- 621 622 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. pania. It appears, however, that this road was not constructed till the reign of Domitian. Our attention, therefore, is called to the other cross-road, which led directly to Capua. One branch of it left the coast at Cumse, another at Puteoli. It was called the " Campanian Way," and also the ^' Consular Way." It seems to have been constructed during the republic, and was doubtless the road which is mentioned in an animated passage of Horace's Epistles as communicating with the baths and villas of Baise. The first part, then, of the route which Julius took with his prisoners was probably from Puteoli to Capua. All the region near the coast, however transformed in the course of ages by the volcanic forces which are still at work, is recognized as the scene of the earliest Italian mythology, and must ever be impressive from the poetic images, partly of this world and partly of the next, with which Virgil has filled it. From CumaB to Capua the road traverses a more prosaic district: the " Phlegroean Fields" are left behind, and we pass from the scene of Italy's dim mythology to the theatre of the most exciting passages of her history. The whole line of the road can be traced at intervals, not only in the close neighborhood of Puteoli and Capua, but through the inter- mediate villages, by fragments of pavements, tombs, and ancient milestones. Capua, after a time of disgrace had expiated its friendship with Hannibal, was raised by Julius Caesar to the rank of a colony: in the reign of Augustus it had resumed all its former splendor, and about the very time of which we are writing it received accessions of dignity from the emperor Nero. It was the most important city on the whole line of the Appian Way between Eome and Brun- dusium. That part of the line with which we are concerned is the northerly and most ancient portion. The distance is about one hundred and twenty-five miles, and it may be naturally divided into two equal parts. The division is appropriate, whether in re- gard to the physical configuration of the country or the modern political boundaries. The point of division is where Terracina is built at the base of those clifis on which the city of Anxur was of old proudly situated, and where a narrow pass between the mountain and the sea united the Papal States to the kingdom of Naples. The distance from Capua to Terracina is about seventy Roman miles. At the third mile the road crossed the river Vulturnus at THE APPIAN WAY. 623 Casilinum, a town then falling into decay. Fifteen miles farther it crossed the Savo by what was then called the Campanian Bridge. Thence, after three miles, it came to Sinuessa on the sea, which in PauPs day was reckoned the first town in Latium. But the old rich Campania extended farther to the northward, including the vine-clad hills of the famous Faleraian district, through which we pass after crossing the Savo. The last of these hills (where the vines may be seen trained on elms, as of old) is the range of Mas- sicus, which stretches from the coast towards the Apennines, and finally shuts out from the traveller, as he descends on the farther side, all the prospect of Vesuvius and the coast near Puteoli. At that season both vines and elms would have a wintry appearance. But the traces of spring would be visible in the willows among which the Liris flows in many silent windings — from the birth- place of Marius in the mountains to the city and the swamps by the sea which the ferocity of his mature life has rendered illus- trious. After leaving Minturnse the Appian Way passes on to another place, which has different associations with the later years of the republic. We speak of Formise, with its long street by the shore of its beautiful bay, and with its villas on the seaside and above it ; among which was one of Cicero's favorite retreats from the turmoil of the political world, and where at last he fell by the hand of assassins. Many a lectica or palanquin, such as that in which he was reclining when overtaken by his murderers, may have been met by Paul in his progress, with other carriages, with which the road would become more and more crowded — the cisium or light cabriolet of some gay reveller on his way to Baise, or the four-wheeled rheda full of the family of some wealthy senator quit- ting the town for the country. At no great distance from Formia3 the road left the sea again, and passed, where the substructions of it still remain, through the defiles of the Csecuban Hills, with their stony but productive vineyards. Thence the traveller looked down upon the plain of Fundi, which retreats like a bay into the mountains, with the low lake of Amyclse between the town and the sea. Through the capricious care with which Time has pre- served in one place what is lost in another the pavement of the ancient way is still the street of this the most northerly town of the Neapolitan kingdom in this direction. We have now in front of us the mountain-line which was recently both the frontier of the Papal States and the natural division of the apostle's journey from 624 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. Capua to Kome. Where it readies the coast in bold limestone precipices, there Anxur was situated, with its houses and temples high above the sea. After leaving Anxur the traveller observes the high land re- treating again from the coast, and presently finds himself in a wide and remarkable plain enclosed towards the interior by the sweep of the blue Volscian mountains, and separated by a belt of forest from the sea. Here are the Pontine Marshes, "the only marshes ever dignified by classic celebrity." The descriptive lines of the Roman satirist have wonderfully concurred with the continued un- healthiness of the half-drained morass in preserving a living com- mentary on that fifteenth verse in the last chapter of the Acts which exhibits to us one of the most touching passages in the apostle's life. A few miles beyond Terracina, where a fountain grateful to travellers welled up near the sanctuary of Feronia, was the termination of a canal which was formed by Augustus for the purpose of draining the marshes, and which continued for twenty miles by the side of the road. Over this distance travellers had their choice whether to proceed by barges dragged by mules or on the pavement of the Way itself. It is impossible to know which plan was adopted by Julius and his prisoners. If we suppose the former to have been chosen, we have the aid of Horace's Epistle to enable us to imagine the incidents and the company in the midst of which the apostle came, unknown and unfriended, to the corrupt metropolis of the world. And yet he was not so unfriended as he may possibly have thought himself that day in his progress from Anxur across the watery, unhealthy plain. On the arrival of the party at Appii Forum, which was a town where the mules were unfastened at the other end of the canal, and is described by the satirist as full of low tavernkeepers and bargemen — at that meeting-place, where travellers from all parts of the empire had often crossed one another's path, — on that day, in the motley and vulgar crowd, some of the few Christians who were then in the world suddenly recognized one another, and emotions of holy joy and thanksgiving sanctified the place of coarse vice and vulgar traffic. The disciples at Eome had heard of the apostle's arrival at Puteoli, and hastened to meet him on the way ; and the prisoner was startled to recognize some of those among whom he had labored and whom he had loved in the distant cities of the East. Whether Aquila and Priscilla were there it is needless to speculate. Who- CHRISTIAN WELCOMES. 625 ever miglit be the persons, they were brethren in Christ, and their presence would be an instantaneous source of comfort and strength. We have already seen on other occasions of his life how the apos- tle's heart was lightened by the presence of his friends. About ten miles farther he received a second welcome from a singular group of Christian brethren. Two independent companies had gone to meet him, or the zeal and strength of one party had outstripped the other. At a place called the Three Taverns, where a cross-road from the coast at Antium came in from the left, another party of Christians was waiting to welcome and to honor " the am- bassador in bonds." With a lighter heart and a more cheerful countenance he travelled the remaining seventeen miles, which brought him along the base of the Alban Hills, in the midst of places well known and famous in early Eoman legends, to the town of Aricia. The great apostle had the sympathies of human nature • he was dejected and encouraged by the same causes which act on our spirits; he too saw all outward objects in ^'hues borrowed from the heart." The diminution of fatigue, the more hopeful prospect of the future, the renewed elasticity of religious trust, the sense of a brighter light on all the scenery round him — on the foliage which overshadowed the road, on the wide expanse of the plain to the left, on the high summit of the Alban Mount, — all this, and more than this, is involved in Luke's sentence: When Paul soM the brethren he thanked God, and took courageJ^ The mention of the Alban Mount reminds us that we are ap- proaching the end of our journey. The isolated group of hills which is called by this collective name stands between the plain which has just been traversed and that other plain which is the Campagna of Eome. All the bases of the mountain were then (as indeed they are partially now) clustered around with the villas and gardens of wealthy citizens. The Appian Way climbs and then descends along its southern slope. After passing Lanuvium it crossed a crater-like valley on immense substructions which still remain. Here is Aricia, an easy stage from Rome. The town was above the road, and on the hillside swarms of beggars beset travel- lers as they passed. On the summit of the next rise Paul of Tarsus would obtain his first view of Eome. There is no doubt that the prospect was in many respects very different from the view which is now obtained from the same spot. It is true that the natural features of the scene are unaltered. The long wall of blue Sabine 40 626 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. mountains, with Soracte in the distance, closed in the Campagna, which stretched far across to the sea and around the base of the Alban Hills. But ancient Eome was not, like modern Rome, im- pressive from its solitude, standing alone, with its one conspicuous cupola, in the midst of a desolate though beautiful waste. Paul would see a vast city, covering the Campagna and almost contin- uously connected by its suburbs with the villas on the hill where he stood and with the bright towns which clustered on the sides of the mountains opposite. Over all the intermediate space were liouses and gardens, through which aqueducts and roads might be traced in converging lines towards the confused mass of edifices which formed the city of Eome. Here no conspicuous building, elevated above the rest, attracted the eye or the imagination. Ancient Rome had neither cupola nor campanile. Still less had it any of those spires which give life to all the landscapes of Northern Christendom. It was a widespread aggregate of buildings, which though separated by narrow streets and open squares, appeared, when seen from near Aricia, blended into one indiscriminate mass ; for distance concealed the contrasts which divided the crowded habitations of the poor and the dark haunts of filth and misery from the theatres and colonnades, the baths, the temples, and pal- aces with gilded roofs flashing back the sun. The road descended into the plain of Bovillse, six miles from Aricia, and thence it proceeded in a straight line, with the sepul- chres of illustrious families on either hand. One of these w^as the burial-place of the Julian gens, with which the centurion who had charge of the prisoners was in some way connected. As they pro- ceeded over the old pavement among gardens and modern houses, and approached nearer the busy metropolis, the conflux issuing forth or entering in " in various costumes and on various errands — vehicles, horsemen, and foot-passengers, soldiers and laborers, Romans and foreigners — became more crowded and confusing. The houses grew closer. They were already in Rome. It was im- possible to define the commencement of the city. Its populous portions extended far beyond the limits marked out by Servius. The ancient wall, with its once sacred pomoerium, was rather an object for antiquarian interest, like the walls of York or Chester, than any protection against the enemies, who were kept far aloof by the legions on the frontier. Yet the Porta Capena is a spot which we can hardly leave with- 628 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL larger cities of the world to draw any marked lines of distinction among the different classes of buildings. It is true the contrasts are really great, but details are lost in a distant view of so vast an aggregate. The two scourges to which ancient Eome was most exposed revealed very palpably the contrast both of the natural ground and the human structures which by the general observer might be unnoticed or forgotten. When the Tiber was flooded, and the muddy waters converted all the streets and open places of the lower part of the city into lakes and canals, it would be seen very clearly how much lower were the Forum and the Cam- pus Martins than those three detached hills (the Capitoline, the Palatine, and the Aventine) which rose near the river, and those four ridges (the Coelian, the Esquiline, the Viminal, and the Quirinal) which ascended and united together in the higher ground on which the praetorian camp was situated. And when fires swept rapidly from roof to roof, and vast ranges of buildings were buried in the ruins of one night, that contrast between the dwellings of the poor and the palaces of the rich which had supplied the apos- tle with one of his most forcible images would be clearly revealed— the difference between structures of " sumptuous marbles, with silver and gold," which abide after the fire, and the hovels of "wood, hay, stubble," which are burnt (1 Cor. iii. 10-15). If we look at a map of modern Eome with a desire of realizing to ourselves the appearance of the city of Augustus and Nero, we must in the first place obliterate from our view that circuit of walls which is due in various proportions to Aurelian, Belisarius, and Pope Leo IV. The wall through which the Porta Capena gave admission was the old Servian enclosure, which embraced a much smaller area, though we must bear in mind, as we have remarked above, that the city had extended itself beyond this limit, and spread through various suburbs far into the country. In the next place, we must observe that the hilly part of Eome, which is now half occupied by gardens, was then the most populous, while the Campus Martins, now covered with crowded streets, was com- paratively open. It was only about the close of the republic that many buildings were raised on the Campus Martins, and these were chiefly of a public or decorative character. One of these, the Pantheon, still remains as a monument of the reign of Augus- tus. This, indeed, is the period from which we must trace the beginning of all the grandeur of Eoman buildings. Till the civil DESCRIPTION OF THE CITY. 629 war between Pompey and Csesar the private houses of the citizens had been mean, and the only public structures of note were the cloacae and the aqueducts. But in proportion as the ancient fabric of the constitution broke down, and while successful generals brought home wealth from provinces conquered and plundered on every shore of the Mediterranean, the city began to assume the appearance of a new and imperial magnificence. To leave out of view the luxurious and splendid residences which wealthy citi- zens raised for their own uses, Pompey erected the first theatre of stone and Julius Csesar surrounded the great circus with a portico. From this time the change went on rapidly and incessantly. The increase of public business led to the erection of enormous basil- icas. The Forum was embellished on all sides. The temple of Apollo on the Palatine, and those other temples the remains of which are still conspicuous at the base of the Capitoline, were only a small part of similar buildings raised by Augustus. The triumphal arch raised by Tiberius near the same place was only one of many structures which rose in rapid succession to decorate that busy neighborhood. And if we wish to take a wider view, we have only to think of the aqueducts, which rose in succession be- tween the private enterprises of Agrippa in the reign of Augustus and the recent structures of the emperor Claudius just before the arrival of the apostle Paul. We may not go farther in the order of chronology. We must remember that the Colosseum, the Basil- ica of Constantine, and the baths of other emperors, and many other buildings which are now regarded as the conspicuous features of ancient Pome, did not then exist. We are describing a period which is anterior to the time of Nero's fire. Even after the op- portunity which that calamity afibrded for reconstructing the city, Juvenal complains of the narrowness of the streets. Were we to attempt to extend our description to any of these streets — whether the old Vicus Tuscus, with its cheating shopkeepers, which led round the base of the Palatine from the Forum to the Circus, zi the aristocratic Carinie along the slope of the Esquiline, or the noisy Suburra, in the hollow between the Yiminal and Quirinal, which had sunk into disrepute, though once the residence of Julius Csesar — we should only wander into endless perplexity. And we should be equally lost if we were to attempt to discriminate the mixed multitudes which were crowded on the various landings of those insulcBj or piles of lodging-houses, which are perhaps best 630 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. described by comparing them to tlie houses in the " old town" of Edinburgh. If it is difficult to describe the outward appearances of the city, it is still more difficult to trace the distinctive features of all the parts of that colossal population which filled it. Within a circuit of little more than twelve miles more than two millions of inhabit- ants were crowded. It is evident that this fact is only explicable by the narrowness of the streets, with that peculiarity of the houses which has been alluded to above. In this prodigious collection of human beings there were of course all the contrasts which are seen in a modern city — all the painful lines of separation between luxury and squalor, wealth and want. But in Eome all these differences were on an exaggerated scale, and the institution of slavery mod- ified further all social relations. The free citizens were more than a million ; of these, the senators were so few in number as to be hardly appreciable ; the knights, who filled a great proportion of the public offices, were not more than ten thousand; the troops quartered in the city may be reckoned at fifteen thousand ; the rest were the plehs urhana. That a vast number of these would be poor is an obvious result of the most ordinary causes. But in ancient Eome the luxury of the wealthier classes did not produce a general diffusion of trade, as it does in a modern city. The handicraft employments, and many of what we should call pro- fessions, were in the hands of slaves; and the consequence was that a vast proportion of the plehs urhana lived on public or private charity. Yet were these pauper citizens proud of their citizenship, though many of them had no better sleeping-place for the night than the public porticoes or the vestibules of temples. They cared for nothing beyond bread for the day, the games of the circus, and the savage delight of gladiatorial shows. Manufactures and trade they regarded as the business of the slave and the foreigner. The number of slaves was perhaps about a million. The number of the strangers or peregrini was much smaller, but it is impossible to describe their varieties. Every kind of nationality and religion found its representative in Eome. But it is needless to pursue these details. The most obvious comparison is better than an elaborate description. Eome was like London with all its miseries, vices, and follies exaggerated, and without Christianity. One part of Eome still remains to be described, the Trastevere,'' or district beyond the river. This portion of the city has been THE JEWS IN ROME. 631 known in modern times for" the energetic and intractable character of its population. In earlier times it was equally notorious, though not quite for the same reason. It was the residence of a low rab- ble and the place of the meanest merchandise. There is, however, one reason why our attention is particularly called to it. It was the ordinary residence of the Jews, the " Ghetto of ancient Eome ; and great part of it was doubtless squalid and miserable, like the Ghetto of modern Eome, though the Jews were often less oppressed under the Caesars than under the popes. Here, then — on the level ground between the windings of the muddy river and the base of that hill from the brow of which Porsena looked down on early Rome, and where the French within these few years have planted their cannon — we must place the home of those Israelitish families among whom the gospel bore its first-fruits in the metropolis of the world ; and it was on these bridges, which formed an immediate communication from the district beyond the Tiber to the emperor's household and the guards on the Palatine, that those despised Jewish beggars took their stand to whom in the place of their ex- ile had come the hopes of a better citizenship than that which they had lost. The Jewish community thus established in Rome had its first beginnings in the captives brought by Pompey after his Eastern campaign. Many of them were manumitted, and thus a great proportion of the Jews in Rome were freedmen. Frequent acces- sions to their numbers were made as years went on, chiefly from the mercantile relations which subsisted between Rome and the East. Many of them were wealthy, and large sums were sent annually for religious purposes from Italy to the mother-country. Even the proselytes contributed to these sacred funds. It is diffi- cult to estimate the amount of the religious influence exerted by the Roman Jews upon the various heathens around them, but all our sources of information lead us to conclude that it was very considerable. So long as this influence was purely religious we h[ive no reason to suppose that any persecution from the civil power resulted. It was when commotions took place in conse- (luence of expectations of a temporal Messiah, or when vague suspicions of this mysterious people were more than usually ex- cited, that the Jews of Rome were cruelly treated or peremptorily banished. Yet from all these cruelties they recovered with elastic force, and from all these exiles they returned ; and in the early 632 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. years of Nero, which were distinguished for a mild and lenient government of the empire, the Jews in Eome seem to have enjoyed complete toleration and to have been a numerous, wealthy, and in- fluential community. The Christians doubtless shared the protection which was ex- tended to the Jew.*. They were hardly yet sufficiently distin- guished as a self-existent community to provoke any independent hostility. It is even possible that the Christians, so far as they were known as separate, were more tolerated than the Jews ; for, not having the same expectation of an earthly hero to deliver them, they had no political ends in view, and would not be in the same danger of exciting the suspicion of the government. Yet we should fall into a serious error if we were to suppose that all the Christians in Eome, or the majority of them, had formerly been Jews or proselytes ; though this was doubtless true of its earliest members, who may have been of the number that were dispersed after the first Pentecost, or possibly disciples of our Lord himself. It is impossible to arrive at any certain, conclusion concerning the first origin and early growth of the Church in Eome, though from the manifold links between the city and the provinces it is easy to account for the formation of a large and flourishing community. Its history before the year 61 might be divided into three periods, separated from each other by the banishment of the Jews from Eome in the reign of Claudius and the writing of Paul's letter from Corinth. Even in the first of these periods there might be points of connection between the Eoman Church and Paul, for some of those whom he salutes (Eom. xvi. 7, 11) as "kinsmen" are also said to have been " Christians before him." In the sec- ond period it cannot well be doubted that a very close connection began between Paul and some of the conspicuous members and principal teachers of the Eoman Church. The expulsion of the Jews in consequence of the edict of Claudius brought them in large numbers to the chief towns of the Levant, and there Paul met them in the synagogues. We have seen what results followed from his meeting with Aquila and Priscilla at Corinth. They re- turned to Eome with all the stores of spiritual instruction which he had given them ; and in the Epistle to the Eomans we find him, as is natural, saluting them thus : " Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my helpers in Jesus Christ : who have for my sake laid down their own necks : unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches THE ROMAN CHURCH. G33 of the Gentiles. Likewise greet the church that is in their house.'^ All this reveals to us a great amount of devoted exertion on br- half of one large congregation in Eome, and all of it distinct! / connected with Paul. And this is perhaps only a specimen of other cases of the like kind. Thus, he sends a greeting to Epgene- tus, whom he names "the first-fruits of Asia'' (v. 5), and who may have had the same close relation to him during his long ministra- tion at Ephesus (Acts xix.) which Aquila and Priscilla had at Cor- inth. Nor must we forget those women whom he singles out for special mention — "Mary, who hestoweth much labor on him" (v. 6); "the beloved Persis, who labored much in the Lord" (v. 12), with Tryphsena and Tryphosa, and the unknown mother of Eufus (v. 13). We cannot doubt that though the Church of Eome may have received its growth and instruction through various channels, many of them were connected directly or indirectly with Paul ; and accordingly he writes in the whole of the letter as one already m intimate relation with a Church which he has never seen. And whatever bonds subsisted between this apostle and the Eom^in Christians must have been drawn still closer when the letter hdd been received, for from that time they w^ere looking forward to a personal visit from him in his projected journey to the West. Thenceforward they must have taken the deepest interest in all his movements, and received with eager anxiety the news of his imprisonment at Csesarea, and waited (as we have already seen) for his arrival in Italy. It is indeed but too true that there were parties among the Christians in Eome, and that some had a hostile feeling against Paul himself ; yet it is probable that the animosity of the Judaizers was less developed than it was in those regions which he had personally visited and to which they had actually followed him. As to the unconverted Jews, the name of Paul was doubtless known to them, yet were they comparatively little inte- rested in his movements. Their proud contempt of the Christian heresy would make them indifferent. The leaven of the gospel was working around them to an extent of which they were hardly aware. The very magnitude of the population of Eome had a tendency to neutralize the currents of party feeling. For these reasons the hostility of the Jews was probably less violent than in any other part of the empire. Yet Paul could not possibly be aware of the exact extent of their enmity against himself. Independently, therefore, of his general G34 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. principle of preaching, first to the Jew and then to the Gentile, . he had an additional reason for losing no time in addressing him- self to his countrymen. Thus, after the mention of Paul's being delivered up to Burrus, and allowed by him to be separate from the other prisoners, the next scene to which the sacred historian introduces us is among the Jews. After three days he sent for the principal men among them to his lodging, and endeavored to con- ciliate their feelings towards himself and the gospel. It was highly probable that the prejudices of these Roman Jews were already roused against the apostle of the Gentiles, or, if they had not yet conceived an unfavorable opinion of him, there was a danger that they would now look upon him as a traitor to his country from the mere fact that he had appealed to the Eoman power. Ke might even have been represented to them in the « odious light of one who had come to Rome as an accuser of the Sanhedrin before the emperor. Paul therefore addressed his auditors on this point at once, and showed that his enemies were guilty of this very appeal to a foreign power of which he had himself been suspected. He had committed no offence against the holy nation and the customs of their fathers, yet his enemies at Jerusalem had delivered him — one of their brethren of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews— into the hands of the Romans. So unfounded was the accusation that even the Roman governor had been ready to liberate the prisoner, but his Jewish enemies opposed his liberation. They strove to keep a child of Israel in Roman chains. So that he was compelled as his only hope of safety to appeal unto Csesar. He brought no accusation against his countrymen before the tribunal of the stranger : that was the deed of his antagonists. In fact, his only crime had been his firm faith in God's deliverance of his people through the Messiah promised by the prophets. " For the ^ hope of Israel J ^ he concluded, '^I am bound with this chain.''^ Their answer to this address was reassuring. They said that they had received no written communication from Judaea concern- ing Paul, and that none of " the brethren '^ who had arrived from the East had spoken any evil of him. They further expressed a wish to hear from himself a statement of his religious sentiments, adding that the Christian sect was everywhere spoken against. There was perhaps something hardly honest in this answer, for it seems to imply a greater ignorance with regard to Christianity PAUl/s INTERVIEW WITH THE JEWS. 635 than we can suppose to have prevailed among the Eoman Jews. But with regard to Paul himself it might well be true that they had little information concerning him. Though he had been imprisoned long at Csesarea, his appeal had been made only a short time before winter. After that time (to use the popular expression) the sea was shut, and the winter had been a stormy one ; so that it w^as natural enough that his case should be first made known to the Jews by himself. All these circumstances gave a favorable opening for the preaching of the gospel, and Paul hastened to take advantage of it. A day was fixed for a meeting at his own private lodging. They came in great numbers at the appointed time. Then fol- lowed an impressive scene, like that at Troas (Acts xxi.) — the apostle pleading long and earnestly, bearing testimony concerning the kingdom of God and endeavoring to persuade them by argu- ments drawn from their own Scriptures, "from morning till evening." The result was a division among the auditors — " not peace, but a sword " — the division which has resulted ever since when the truth of God has encountered, side by side, earnest con- viction with worldly indifference, honest investigation with bigoted prejudice, trustful faith with the pride of scepticism. After a long and stormy discussion the unbelieving portion departed, but not until Paul had warned them, in one last address, that they were bringing upon themselves that awful doom of judicial blindness which was denounced in their own Scriptures against obstinate unbelievers — that the salvation wdiich they rejected would be withdrawn from them, and the inheritance they renounced would be given to the Gentiles. The sentence with which he gave emphasis to this warning was the passage in Isaiah which is more often quoted in the New Testament than any other w^ords from the Old — which, recurring thus with solemn force at the very close of the apostolic history, seems to bring very strikingly together the Old Dispensation and the New, and to connect the ministry of our Lord with that of his apostles : ^^Go unto this people and say, Hear- ing ye shall hear, ayid shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive ; for the heart of this people is ivaxed gross, und their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed ; lest they should see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them^ A formal separation was now made between the apostle of the 636 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. Gentiles and the Jews of Eome. They withdrew to dispute con- cerning the "sect'' which was making such inroads on their prejudices (ver. 29). He remained in his own hired house, where the indulgence of Burrus permitted him to reside instead of con- fining him within the walls of the prsetorian barrack. We must not forget, however, that he was still a prisoner under military- custody, chained by the arm, both day and night, to one of the imperial body-guard, and thus subjected to the rudeness and caprice of an insolent soldiery. This severity, however, was in- dispensable according to the Koman law, and he received every indulgence which it was in the power of the prefect to grant. He was allowed to receive all who came to him (ver. 30), and was per- mitted without hinderance to preach boldly the kingdom of God and teach the things of the Lord Jesus Christ (ver. 31). Thus was fulfilled his long-cherished desire "to proclaim the ik. gospel to them that were in Eome also " (Eom. i. 15). Thus ends the apostolic history, so far as it has been directly revealed. Here the thread of sacred narrative, which we have followed so long, is suddenly broken. Our knowledge of the incidents of his residence in Eome and of his subsequent history must be gathered almost exclusively from the letters of the apostle himself. CHAPTER XXV. DELAY OF PAUL'S TEIAL. — HIS OCCUPATIONS AND COMPANIONS DURING HIS IMPRISONMENT, — HE WRITES "THE EPISTLE TO PHILEMON," "the EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS," AND "THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS " (SO CALLED). We have seen that PauPs accusers had not yet arrived from Pales- tine, and that their coming was not even expected by the Eoman Jews. This proves that they had not left Syria before the preced- ing winter, and consequently that they could not have set out on their journey till the following spring, when the navigation of the Mediterranean was again open. Thus they would not reach Eome till the summer or autumn of the year 61 A. D. Meanwhile, the progress of the trial was necessarily suspended, for the Eoman courts required the personal presence of the prosecutor. It would seem that at this time an accused person might be thus kept in prison for an indefinite period merely by the delay of the prose- cutor to proceed with his accusation ; nor need this surprise us if we consider how harshly the law has dealt with supposed offenders, and with what indifference it has treated the rights of the accused, even in periods w^hose civilization was not only more advanced than that of the Eoman empire, but also imbued with the merciful spirit of Christianity. And even when the prosecutors were present, and no ground alleged for the delay of the trial, a corrupt judge might postpone it, as Felix did, for months and years to gratify the enemies of the prisoner. And if a provincial governor, though responsible for such abuse of power to his master, might venture to act in this arbitrary manner, much more might the emperor himself, who was responsible to no man. Thas we find that Tiberius was in the habit of delaying the hearing of causes and retaining the accused in prison unheard, merely out of pro- crastination. So that, even after PauFs prosecutors had arrived, and though we were to suppose them anxious for the progress of the trial, it might still have been long delayed by the emperor's 637 638 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. caprice. But there is no reason to think that when they came they would have wished to press on the cause. From what had already occurred they had every reason to expect the failure of the prose- cution. In fact, it had already broken dov/n at its first stage, and Festus had strongly pronounced his opinion of the innocence of the accused. Their hope of success at Eome must have been grounded either on influencing the emperor's judgment by private intrigue or on producing further evidence in support of their accu- sation. For both these objects delay would be necessary. More- over, it was quite in accordance with the regular course of Roman jurisprudence that the court should grant a long suspension of the cause on the petition of the prosecutor, that he might be allowed time to procure the attendance of witnesses from a distance. The length of time thus granted w^ould depend upon the remoteness of the place where the alleged crimes had been committed. We read of an interval of twelve months permitted during Nero's reign in the case of an accusation against Suilius for misdemean- ors committed during his government of Proconsular Asia. The accusers of Paul might fairly demand a longer suspension, for they accused him of offences committed not only in Palestine (which was far more remote than Proconsular Asia from Eome), but also over the whole empire. Their witnesses must be summoned from Judsea, from Syria, from Cilicia, from Pisidia, from Macedonia; in all cities, from Damascus to Corinth, in all countries, from Jerusalem round about unto Illyricum, must testimony be sought to prove the seditious turbulence of the ringleader of the Naza- renes. The interval granted them for such a purpose could not be less than a year, and might well be more. Supposing it to be the shortest possible, and assuming that the prosecutors reached Rome in August, A. D. 61, the first stage of the trial would be appointed to commence not before August, A. D. 62. And when this period arrived the prosecutors and the accused, with their witnesses, must have been heard on each of the charges separately (according to Nero's regulations), and sentence pronounced on the first charge before the second was entered into. Now, the charges against Paul were divided (as we have seen) into three separate heads of accusation. Consequently, the proceedings, which would of course be adjourned from time to time to suit the emperor's convenience, may well have lasted till the beginning of 63, at which time Luke's narrative would lead us to fix their termination. Paul's labors in rome. 639 During the long delay of his trial Paul was not reduced, as he had been at Csesarea, to a forced inactivity. On the contrary, he was permitted the freest intercourse with his friends, and was allowed to reside in a house of sufficient size to accommodate the congregation which flocked together to listen to his teaching. The freest scope was given to his labors consistent with the military custody under which he w^as placed. We are told in language peculiaily emphatic that his preaching w^as subjected to no re- Etraint whatever. And that which seemed at first to impede must really have deepened the impression of his eloquence, for w^ho could see without emotion that venerable form subjected by iron links to the coarse control of the soldier who stood beside him? How often must the tears of the assembly have been called forth by the upraising of that fettered hand and the clanking of the chain which checked its energetic action ! We shall see hereafter that these labors of the imprisoned con fessor were not fruitless; in his own words, he begot many chil dren in his chains. Meanwhile, he had a wider sphere of actior. than even the metropolis of the world. Not only "the crowd which pressed upon him daily," but also "the care of all the churches," demanded his constant vigilance and exertion. Though himself tied down to a single spot, he kept up a constant inter- course by his delegates with his converts throughout the empire; and not only with, his own converts, but with the other Gentile churches who as yet had not seen his face in the flesh. To enable him to maintain this superintendence, he manifestly needed many faithful messengers — men who (as he says of one of them) ren- dered him profitable service — and by some of whom he seems to have been constantly accompanied wheresoever he went. Accord- ingly, we find him during this Roman imprisonment surrounded by many of his oldest and most valued attendants. Luke, his fellow-traveller, remained with him during his bondage; Timo- theus, his beloved son in the faith, ministered to him at Rome, as he had done in Asia, in Macedonia, and in Achaia. Tychicus, ^vho had formerly borne him company from Corinth to Ephesus, is now at hand to carry his letters to the shores which they had visited together. But there are two names amongst his Roman companions which excite a peculiar interest, though from opposite reasons — the names of Demas and of Mark. The latter, when last we heard of him, was the unhappy cause of the separation of Bar- 640 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. nabas and Paul. He was rejected by Paul as unworthy to attend him, because he had previously abandoned the work of the gospel out of timidity or indolence. It is delightful to find him now ministering obediently to the very apostle who had then repudiated his services ; still more, to know that he persevered in this fidelity even to the end, and was sent for by Paul to cheer his dying hours. Demas, on the other hand, is now a faithful "fellow-laborer'^ of the apostle, but in a few years we shall find that he had " forsaken '' him, "having loved this present world.'' Perhaps we may be allowed to hope that as the fault of Demas was the same with that of Mark, so the repentance of Mark may have been paralleled by that of Demas. Amongst the rest of Paul's companions at this time there were two whom he distinguishes by the honorable title of his " fellow- prisoners." One of these is Aristarchus, the other Epaphras. With regard to the former, we know that he was a Macedonian of Thessalonica, one of " Paul's companions in travel" whose life was endangered by the mob at Ephesus, and who embarked with Paul at Csesarea when he set sail for Rome. The other, Epaphras, was a Colossian, who must not be identified with the Philippian Epapli- roditus, another of Paul's fellow-laborers during this time. It is not easy to say what was the exact sense in which these two dis- ciples were peculiarly felloiu-prisoners of Paul. Perhaps it only implies they dwelt in his house, which was also his prison. But of all the disciples now ministering to Paul at Rome, none has for us a greater interest than the fugitive Asiatic slave Onesi- mus. He belonged to a Christian named Philemon, a member of the Colossian Church. But he had robbed his master and fled from Colosse, and at last found his way to Rome. It is difficult to imagine any portion of mankind more utterly depraved than the associates among whom a runaway pagan slave must have found himself in the capital. Profligate and unprincipled as we know even the highest and most educated society to have then been, what must have been its dregs and ofial? Yet from this lowest depth Onesimus was dragged forth by the hand of Christian love. Perhaps some Asiatic Christian who had seen him formerly at his master's house recognized him in the streets of Rome desti- tute and starving and had compassion on him, and thus he might have been brought to hear the preaching of the illustrious pris- oner. Or it is not impossible that he may have already known EPISTLE TO PHILEMON. 641 Paul at Ephesus, where bis master Philemon had formerly been himself converted by the apostle. However this may be, it is certain that Onesimus was led by the providence of God to listen to that preaching now which he had formerly despised. He was converted to the faith of Christ, and therefore to the morality of Christ. He confessed to Paul his sins against his master. The apostle seems to have been peculiarly attracted by the character of Onesimus, and he perceived in him the indications of gifts which fitted him for a more important post than any which he could hold as the slave of Philemon. He wished to keep him at Kome and employ him in the service of the gospel. Yet he would not transgress the law nor violate the rights of Philemon by act- ing in this matter without his consent. He therefore decided that Onesimus must immediately return to his master; and to make this duty less painful he undertook himself to discharge the sum of which Philemon had been defrauded. An opportunity now offered itself to Onesimus to return in good company, for Paul was sending Tychicus to Asia Minor, charged, amongst other com- missions, with an Epistle to Colosse, the home of Philemon. Un- der his care, therefore, he placed the penitent slave, who was now willing to surrender himself to his offended master. Nevertheless, he did not give up the hope of placing his new convert in a posi- tion wherein he might minister no longer to a private individual, but to the Church at large. He intimated his wishes on the sub- ject to Philemon himself, with characteristic delicacy, in a letter which he charged Onesimus to deliver on his arrival at Colosse. This letter is not only a beautiful illustration of the character of Paul, but also a practical commentary upon the precepts concern- ing the mutual relations of slaves and masters given in his con- temporary Epistles. We see here one of the earliest examples of the mode in which Christianity operated upon these relations — not by any violent disruption of the organization of society, such as could only have produced another servile war, but by gradually leavening and interpenetrating society with the spirit of a relig- ion which recognized the equality of all men in the sight of God. The letter was as follows: THE EPISTLE TO PHILEMOK 1 Paul, a prisoneb, of Christ Jesus, and Timo- Salutation. THEUS THE BROTHER, TO PhILEMON OUR BELOVED FRIEND 41 642 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. 2 AND fellow-laborer; and to Appia our beloved sister. AND TO ArCHIPPUS OUR FELLOW-SOLDIER, AND TO THE ChURCH AT THY HOUSE. 3 Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 I thank my God, making mention of thee always in Thanksgivings 5 my prayers, because I hear of thy love and faith to- for Phiiemmu ^ 6 wards our Lord Jesus, and towards all God's people, while I pray that thy faith may communicate itself to others, and may become workful, in causing in true knowledge of all the good which is in us, 7 for Christ's service. For I have great joy and consolation in thy love, because the hearts of God's people have been comforted by thee, brother. 8 Wherefore, although in the authority of Christ I Request for the might boldly enjoin upon thee that which is befitting, tton^^of^ Onea- 9 yet for love's sake I rather beseech thee, as Paul the 10 aged, and now also prisoner of Jesus Christ. I beseech thee for my 11 son, whom I have begotten in my chains, Onesimus ; who formerly was to thee unprofitable, but now is profitable both to thee and me. 12 Whom I have sent back to thee ; but do thou receive him as my own 13 flesh and blood. For I would gladly retain him with myself, that he might render service to me in thy stead, while I am a prisoner for declaring the glad tidings ; but I am unwilling to do anything 14 without thy decision, that thy kindness may not be constrained, but 15 voluntary. For perhaps to this very end he was parted from thee for 16 a time, that thou mightest possess him for ever; no longer as a bonds- man, but above a bondsman, a brother beloved ; very dear to me, but how much more to thee, being thine both in the flesh and in the 17 Lord. If, then, thou count me in fellowship with thee, receive him 18 as myself. But whatsoever he has wronged thee of, or owes thee, 19 reckon it to my account (I, Paul, write this with my own hand) ; 20 I will repay it ; for I would not say to thee that thou owest me even thine own self besides. Yea, brother, let me have joy of thee in the Lord ; comfort my heart in Christ. 21 I write to thee with full confidence in thy obedience. Announcement ... - .1-1 T of a visit from knowmg that thou wilt do even more than 1 say. Paui to Asia <^<.-» T-» , . • 1 X ]Minor on his 22 But, moreover, prepare to receive me as thy guest ; lor acquittal. I trust through your prayers I shall be given to you. 23 There salute thee Epaphras my fellow-prisoner in Salutations 24 Christ Jesus, Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my fellow-laborers. Paul's letter to the colossians. 643 25 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your concluding . benediction. spirits. While Onesimus, on the arrival of the two companions at Colosse, hurried to the house of his master with the letter w^hich we have just read, Tychicus proceeded to discharge his commission likewise by delivering to the presbyters the Epistle with which he was charged, that it might be read to the whole Colossian Church at their next meeting. The letter to the Colossians itself gives us distinct information as to the cause which induced Paul to write it. Epaphras, the founder of that Church (Col. i. 7), was now at Eome, and he had communicated to the apostle the unwelcome tidings that the faith of the Colossians was in danger of being perverted by false teaching. It has been questioned whether several different systems of error had been introduced among them, or whether the several errors combated in the Epistle were parts of one system and taught by the same teachers. On the one side we find that in the Epistle Paul warns the Colossians separately against the follow- ing different errors: First, a combination of angel-worship and asceticism ; secondly, a self-styled philosophy or gnosis^ which de- preciated Christ; thirdly, a rigid observance of Jewish festivals and sabbaths. On the other side, first, the Epistle seems distinctly (though with an indirectness caused by obvious motives) to point to a single source, and even a single individual, as the origin of the errors introduced; and, secondly, we know that at any rate the first two of these errors, and apparently the third also, were com- bined by some of the early Gnostics. The most probable view, therefore, seems to be, that some Alexandrian Jew had appeared at Colosse professing a belief in Christianity and imbued with the Greek " philosophy " of the school of Philo, but combining with it the rabbinical theosophy and angelology Avhich afterward was em- bodied in the Cabbala, and an extravagant asceticism which also afterward distinguished several sects of the Gnostics. In short, one of the first heresiarchs of the incipient Gnosticism had begun to pervert the Colossians from the simplicity of their faith. Wd have seen in a former chapter how great was the danger to be ap- prehended from this source at the stage which the Church had now reached; especially in a Church which consisted, as that at Colosse did, principally of Gentiles (Col. i. 25-27; ii. 11); and that, too, in Phrygia, where the national character was so prone to a mystic fanaticism. We need not wonder, therefore, that Paul, 644 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. acting under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, should have thought it needful to use every effort to counteract the growing evil. This he does both by contradicting the doctrinal errors of the new sys- tem, and by inculcating, as essential to Christianity, that pure morality which these early heretics despised. Such appears to have been the main purpose of the following Epistle ; THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. I. 1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Cheist by the will salutation. 2 OF God, and Timotheus the brother, to the holy and FAITHFUL BRETHREN IN ChRIST WHO ARE AT COLOSSE, Grace be to you, and peace from God our Father. 3 I give continual thanks to God the Father of our Thanksgiving 4 Lord J esus Christ, in my prayers for you (since I heard ^ersion?^ of your faith in Christ Jesus, and your love to all his people), 5 because of the hope laid up for you in the heavens, whereof you 6 heard the promise in the truthful word of the glad tidings ; which is come to you, as it is through all the world, where it bears fruit and grows, as it does also among you, since the day when first you heard 7 it, and learned to know truly the grace of God. And thus you were taught by Epaphras, my beloved fellow-bondsman, who is a faithful 8 servant of Christ on your ])ehalf And it is he who has declared to me your love for me in the|jtelloTN'i hip of the Spirit. 9 Wherefore I also, since the day when first I heard it. Prayers for their cease not to pray for you, and to ask of God that you 10 may fully attain to the knowledge of his will ; that in all wisdom and spiritual understanding you may walk worthy of the Lord, to please him in all things ; that you may bear fruit in all good works, 11 and grow continually in the knowledge of God ; that you may be strengthened to the uttermost in the strength of his glorious power, 12 to bear all sufferings with steadfast endurance and with joy, giving thanks to the Father who has enabled us to share the portion of his people in the light. 13 For he has delivered us from the dominion of dark- Atonement and ness, and transplanted us into the kingdom of his beloved chdst!^^^^ ^ 14 Son, in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins. 15 Who is a visible image of the invisible God, the first-born of all 16 creation ; for in him were all things created, both in the heavens and on the earth, both visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 645 dominations, or principalities, or powers ; by him and for him were 17 all created. And he is before all things, and in him all things sub- 18 sist. And he is the Head of the body, the Church ; whereof he is the beginning, as first-born from the dead ; that in all things his place might be the first. For he willed that in himself all the fulness of the universe should 19 dwell; and by himself he willed to reconcile all things to himself, 20 having made peace by the blood of his cross ; by himself (I say) to reconcile all that exist, whether on the earth, or in the heavens. 21 And you, likewise, who once were estranged from The coiossiana • : , \ ^ . •, 1 . 1 had been called him, and with your mmd at war with him, when you from heathen- 22 lived in wickedness, yet now he has reconciled in the ciied^ to God^by body of his flesh through death, that he might bring you to his presence in holiness, without blemish and without re- 23 proach ; if, indeed;^ you be steadfast in your faith, with your founda- tion firmly grounded and immovably fixed, and not suffering your- selves to be shifted away from the hope of the glad tidings which first you heard, which has been published throughout all the earth, whereof I, Paul, have been made a ministering servant. 24 And even now I rejoice in the afllictions which I Paul's commis- bear for your sake, and I fill up what yet is lacking of the^ chdttfan the sufferings of Christ in my flesh, on behalf of his |a^i ^l^ull 25 body, which is the Church ; whereof I was made a ser- vant, to minister in the stewardship which God gave me for you 26 [Gentiles], that I might fulfil it by declaring the word of God, the mystery which has been hid for countless ages and generations, but 27 has now been shown openly to his people ; to whom God willed to manifest how rich, among the Gentiles, is the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him, therefore, I proclaim, warning every man, and teaching every man, in all wisdom ; that I may bring every man into his 29 presence full grown in Christ. And to this end I labor in earnest conflict, according to his inward working which works in me with mighty power. 1 For I would have you know how great a conflict I He prays that sustain for you, and for those at Laodicea, and for all iu truewis§om- 2 who have not seen my face in the flesh ; that their hearts may be com- forted, and that they may be knit together in love, and may gain in all its richness the full assurance of understanding, truly to know the 3 mystery of God, wherein are all the treasures of wisdom and of know- ledge hidden. 646 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. 4 I say this, lest any man should mislead you with en- and warns them 5 ticing words. For though I am absent from you in who would mis- the flesh, yet I am present with you in the spirit, re- joicing when I behold your good order, and the firmness of your 6 faith in Christ. As, therefore, you first received Christ Jesus the 7 Lord, so continue to live in him ; having in him your root, and in him the foundation whereon you are continually built up ; persever- ing steadfastly in your faith, as you were taught ; and abounding in thanksgiving. 8 Beware lest there be any man who leads you captive by a system of by his philosophy, which is a vain deceit, following losophy which the tradition of men, the outward lessons of childhood, chnJtf ^^^^^^ 9 not the teaching of Christ. For in him dwells all the fulness of the 10 Godhead in bodily form, and in him you have your fulness ; for he is 11 the head of all the principalities and powers. In him, also, you were circumcised with a circumcision not made by hands, even the off-cast- 12 ing of the whole body of the flesh, the circumcision of Christ ; for with him you were buried in your baptism, wherein also you were made partakers of his resurrection, through the faith wrought in you 13 by God, who raised him from the dead ; and you also, when you were dead in the transgressions and uncircumcision of your flesh, God 14 raised to share his life. For he forgave us all our transgressions, and blotted out the writing against us, which opposed us with its decrees, having taken it out of our way, and nailed it to the cross. 15 And he disarmed the principalities and the powers which fought against him, and put them to open shame, leading them captive in his triumph, which he won in Christ. 16 Therefore, suflfer not any man to condemn you for and unites Jew- what you eat or drink, nor in respect of feast-days, or with angei-wor- 17 new moons, or sabbaths ; for these are a shadow of cism.^"^ asceti- 18 things to come, but the body is Christ's. Let no man succeed in his wish to defraud you of your prize, persuading you to self-humiliation and worship of the angels, intruding rashly into things which he has not seen, puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast the Head, 19 from whom the whole body, by tht* joints which bind it, draws full supplies for all its needs, and is kmi together, and increases in godly growth. 20 If, then, when you died with Ciirist, you put away the childish lessons of outward things, why, as though you still lived in outward 21 things, do you submit yourself to dt^crees ("hold not, taste not, touch not'* — forbidding the use of things ^hich are all made to be con- 22 sumed in the using) founded on the n^-ecepts and doctrines of men ? EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 647 23 For these precepts, tliougli thej have a show of wisdom, in a self- chosen worship, and in humiliation, and chastening of the body, are of no value to check the indulgence of fleshly passions. III. 1 If, then, you were made partakers of Christ's resur- Exhortation to ' ' , . , , , heavenward ai- rection, seek those things which are above, where fections. 2 Christ abides, seated on the right hand of God. Set your hearts on 3 things above, not on things earthly ; for ye are dead, and your life 4 is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall be made manifest, then shall ye be made manifest with him in glory. 5 Give, therefore, unto death your earthly members; Against hea- ^ . . TCI • 1 ^^^^'^ impurity fornication, uncleanness, shameful appetites, unnatural and other vices. 6 desires, and the lust of concupiscence, which is idolatry. For these things bring the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience ; 7 among whom you also walked in former times, when you lived there- 8 in ; but now, with us, you likewise must renounce them all. Anger, passion, and malice must be cast away, evil-speaking Exhortation to ^ 1 T -r . put on the 9 and reviling put out of your mouth. Lie not one to christian cha J.Q another, but put off the old man with his deeds, and various "perfec* put on the new man, who grows continually to a more 11 perfect knowledge and likeness of his Creator. Wherein there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scy- 12 thian, bondsman, freeman ; but Christ is all, and in all. Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and beloved, put on tenderness of heart, 13 kindness, self-humiliation, gentleness, long-suffering ; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any thinks himself aggrieved 14 by his neighbor ; even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And over all the rest put on the robe of love, which binds together and 15 completes the whole. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body ; and be thankful one to 16 another. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly ; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom. Let your sinerins: be of psalms, and hymns, and spir- Festive meet- , , ings, howtoba itual songs, sung m thanksgiving, with your heart, unto celebrated. 17 God. And whatsoever you do, in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God our Father through him. 18 Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as it is Exhortation to n. • ^\ T 1 the fulfihnent tit m the Lord. of the duties of 19 Husbands, love your wives, and deal not harshly with them. 648 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. 20 Children, obey your parents in all things ; for this is acceptable in the Lord. 21 Fathers, vex not your children, lest their spirit should be broken. 22 BondsDien, obey in all things your earthly masters ; Of slaves and , . . " 1 1 X • • 1 p masters. not m eye-service, as men-pleasers, but m singleness of 23 heart, fearing the Lord. And whatsoever you do, do it heartily, as 24 for the Lord, and not for men ; knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance ; for you are the bondsmen of 25 Christ, our Lord and Master. But he who wrongs another will be requited for the wrong which he has done, and [in that judgment] there is no respect of persons. IV. 1 Masters, deal rightly and justly with your bondsmen, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven. 2 Persevere in prayer, and join thanksgiving with your H e as ks f o r 3 watchfulness therein; and pray for me likewise, that ^^^^ P^^y^'is- God would open to me a door of entrance for his word, that I may declare the mystery of Christ, which is the very cause of my im- 4 prisonment ; pray for me that I may declare it openly, as I ought to speak. 5 Conduct yourselves with wisdom towards those with- Conduct to- 6 out the Church, and forestall opportunity. Let your lievers. speech be always gracious, with a seasoning of salt, understanding how to give to every man a fitting answer. 7 All that concerns me will be made known to vou bv Mission of " 1 Tychicus and Tychicus, my beloved brother and faithful servant and Onesimus. 8 fellow-bondsman in the Lord, whom I have sent to you for this very 9 end, that he might learn your state, and comfort your hearts ; with Onesimus, the faithful and iDcloved brother, your fellow-countryman ; they will tell you all which has happened here. 10 Aristarchus, my fellow-prisoner, salutes vou, and Greetings from -iLT 1 • /. -T^ 1 • % Christians i n Marcus, the cousm of Barnabas, concerning whom you Kome. 11 received instructions (if he come to you receive him), and Jesus sur- named Justus. Of the circumcision these only are my fellow-laborers for the kingdom of God, who have been a comfort to me. 12 Epaphras, your fellow-countryman, salutes you; a bondsman of Christy who is ever contending on your behalf in his prayers, that in ripeness of understanding and full assurance of belief, you may abide 13 steadfast in all the will of God ; for I bear him witness that he is filled with zeal for you, and for those in Laodicea and Hierapolis. 14 Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, salute you. EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS (sO CALLED). 649 15 Salute the brethren in Laodicea, and Nymphas, with Messages to 16 the church at his house. And when this letter has Laodicean been read among you, provide that it be read also in "^tiaus. 17 the Church of the Laodiceans, and that you also read the letter from Laodicea. And say to Archippus, " Take heed to the ministration which thou hast received in the Lord's service, that thou fulfil it." 18 The salutation of me. Paul, with my own hand. Autograph sai- , utationani Kemember my chains. Grace be with you. benediction. We have seen that the above Epistle to the Colossians aud that to Philemon were conveyed by Tychicus and Onesimus, who travelled together from Eome to Asia Minor. But these two were not the only letters with which Tychicus was charged. We know that he carried a third letter also, but it is not equally certain to whom it was addressed. This third letter was that which is now entitled the Epistle to the Ephesians, concerning the destination of which (disputed as it is) the least disputable fact is that it was not addressed to the Church of Ephesus. This point is established by strong evidence, both internal and external. To begin with the former, we remark, first, that it would be inexplicable that Paul when he wrote to the Ephesians, amongst whom he had spent so long a time, and to whom he was bound by ties of such close affection (Acts xx. 17, etc.), should not have a single message of personal greeting to send. Yet none such are found in this Epistle. Secondly, he could not have described the Ephesians as a Church w^hose conversion he knew only by report (i. 15). Thirdly, he could not speak to them as only knowing himself (the founder of their Church) to be an apostle by hearsay (iii. 2), so as to need credentials to accredit him with them (iii. 4). Fourthly, he could not describe the Ephesians as so exclusively Gentiles (ii. 11; iv. 17) and so recently converted (v. 8; i. 13; ii. 13). This internal evidence is confirmed by the following external evidence also ; (1) Basil distinctly asserts that the early writers whom he had consulted declared that the manuscripts of this Epistle in their time did not contain the name of Ephesus, but left out altogether the name of the Church to which the Epistle was addressed. He adds that the most ancient manuscripts which he had himself seen gave the same testimony. This assertion of Basil's is confirmed by Jerome, Epiphanius, and TertuUian. 650 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. (2) The most ancient manuscript now known to exist — namely, that of the Vatican Library — fully bears out Basil's words, for in its text it does not contain the words ^' in Ephesus" at all, and they are only added in its margin by a much later hand. (3) We know from the testimony of Marcion that this Epistle was entitled in its collection the Epistle to the Laodiceans. And his authority on this point is entitled to greater weight from the fact that he was himself a native of the district where we should expect the earlier copies of the Epistle to exist. The above arguments have convinced the ablest of modern critics that this Epistle was not addressed to the Ephesians. But there has not been by any means the same unanimity on the question, Who were its intended readers? In the most ancient manuscripts of it (as we have seen) no Church is mentioned by name except in those consulted by Marcion, according to which it was addressed to the Laodiceans. Now, the internal evidence above mentioned proves that the Epistle was addressed to some particular Church or churches who w^ere to receive intelligence of Paul through Tychicus, and that it was not a treatise addressed to the whole Christian world ; and the form of the salutation shows that the name of some place must originally have been inserted in it. Again, the very passages in the Epistle which have been above referred to as proving that it could not have been directed to the Ephesians agree perfectly with the hypothesis that it was addressed to the Laodiceans. Lastly, we know from the Epistle to the Colossians that Paul did wTite a letter to Laodicea (Col. iv. 16) about the same time with that to Colosse. On these grounds, then, it appears the safest course to assume (with Paley in the HorcR Paulince) that the testimony of Marcion (uncontradicted by any other positive evidence) is correct, and that Laodicea was one at least of the churches to which this Epistle was addressed. And consequently as we know not the name of any other Church to which it was written, that of Laodicea should be inserted in the place which the most ancient manuscripts leave vacant. Still, it must be obvious that this does not remove all the difficulties of the question. For, first, it will be asked. How came the name of Laodicea (if originally inserted) to have slipped out of these ancient manuscripts ? and again, Plow came it that the majority of more recent manuscripts inserted the name of Ephesus? These perplex- ing questions are in some measure answered by the hypothesis PROBABLE ORIGIN OF THE EPISTLE. 651 originated by Archbishop Usher, that this Epistle was a circular letter addressed not to one only but to several churches, in the same way as the Epistle to the Galatians was addressed to all the churches in Galatia, and those to Corinth were addressed to the Christians " in the whole province of Achaia." On this view, Tychicus would have carried several copies of it, differently superscribed — one for Laodicea, another perhaps for Hierapolis, another for Philadelphia, and so on. Hence the early copyists, perplexed by this diversity in their copies, might many of them be led to omit the words in which the variation consisted, and thus the state of the earliest known text of the Epistle would be explained. Afterward, how- ever, as copies of the Epistle became spread over the world, all imported from Ephesus (the commercial capital of the district where the Epistle was originally circulated), it would be called (in default of any other name) the Epistle from EphesuSj and the manuscripts of it would be so entitled; and thence the next step, of inserting the name of Ephesus into the text in a place where some local designation was plainly wanted, would be a very easy one. And this designation of the Epistle would the more readily prevail from the natural feeling that Paul must have written some Epistle to so great a Church of his own founding as Ephesus. Thus the most plausible account of the origin of this Epistle seems to be as follows : Tychicus was about to take his departure from Rome for Asia Minor. Paul had already written his Epistle to the Colossians at the request of Epaphras, who had informed him of their danger. But Tychicus was about to visit other places, w^hich, though not requiring the same warning with Colosse, yet abounded in Christian converts. Most of these had been heathens, and their hearts might be cheered and strengthened by words addressed directly to themselves from the great apostle of the Gen- tiles, whose face they had never seen, but wliose name they had learned to reverence and whose sufferings had endeared him to their love. These scattered churches (one of which was Laodicea) had very much in common, and would all be benefited by the same instruction and exhortation. Since it was not necessary to meet the individual case of any one of them as distinct from the rest, Paul wrote the same letter to them all, but sent to each a separate copy authenticated by the precious stamp of his own autograph benediction. And the contents of this circular Epistle naturally bore a strong resemblance to those of the letter which he had just 652 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. concluded to the Colossians, because the thoughts which filled his heart at the time would necessarily find utterance in similar lan- guage, and because the circumstances of these churches were in themselves very sim.ilar to those of the Colossian Church, except that they were not infected with the peculiar errors which had crept in at Colosse. The Epistle which he thus wrote consists of two parts — first, a doctrinal, and, secondly, a hortatory, portion. The first part contains a summary, very indirectly conveyed (chiefly in the form of thanksgiving), of the Christian doctrines taught by Paul, and is especially remarkable for the great promi- nence given to the abolition of the Mosaic Law. The hortatory part, which has been so dear to Christians of every age and coun- try, enjoins unity (especially between Jewish and Gentile Chris- tians), the renunciation of heathen vices, and the practice of Christian purity. It lays down rules (the same as those in the Epistle to Colosse, only in an expanded form) for the performance of the duties of domestic life, and urges these new converts, in the midst of the perils which surrounded them, to continue steadfast in watchfulness and prayer. Such is the substance, and such was most probably the history, of the following Epistle : THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS (SO CALLED). 1 Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, by the w^ill salutation. OF God, to God's people who are [in Laodicea], and W^HO HAVE FAITH IN ChRIST JeSUS. 2 Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Thanksgiving /-.I • • • ' ••111 I'^fiemption Christ, who has ariven us m Christ all spiritual bless- and knowledge . ' , ^ , , . , . T ot t h e Chris- 4 ings m the heavens. Lven as he chose us m him, be- tian mystery fore the foundation of the world, that we should be holy f potties. ^ ^ 5 and spotless in his sight. For in his love he predestined us to be adopted among his children through Jesus Christ, according to tho 6 good pleasure of his will, that we might praise and glorify his grace, 7 wherewith he favored us in his beloved. For in him we have our redemption tlirough his blood, even the forgiveness of our sins, in the richness of his grace, which he bestowed upon us above measure ; 8 and he made known to us, in the fulness of wisdom and understand- 9 ing, the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, wliich EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS (sO CALLED). 653 he had purposed in himself to fulfil, that it should be dispensed in 10 the fulness of time ; to make all things one in Christ as head, yea, 11 both things in heaven and things on earth in him ; in whom we also received the portion of our Jot, having been predestined thereto according to his purpose, whose working makes all fulfil the counsel 12 of his o^\^l will ; that unto his praise and glory we might live, who have hoped in Christ before you. 13 And you, likewise, have hoped in him, since you Thanks for *^ ' ' 1 1 • T r. their conver- heard the message of the truth, the glad tidings oi your siou,^and pray- salvation ; and you believed in him, and received his enlightenment. 14 seal, tlie Holy Spirit of promise ; who is an earnest of our inherit- ance, given to redeem that which he hath purchased, to the praise of his glory. 15 Wherefore I, also, since I heard of your faith in our Lord Jesus, 16 and your love to all God's people, give thanks for you without ceas- 17 ing, and make mention of you in my prayers, beseeching the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, to give you a spirit 18 of wisdom and of insight, in the true knowledge of himself ; the eyes of your understanding being filled with light, that you may know 19 what is the hope of his calling, and how rich is the glory of his inheritance in his people, and how surpassing is the power which he has shown toward us who believe ; [for he has dealt with us] in the strength of that might wherewith he wrought in Christ, office and dig- 20 when he raised him from the dead ; and set him on his ^^^^ chnst. 21 own right hand in the heavens, far above every principality, and power, and might, and domination, and every name Avhich is named, 22 not only in this present time, but also in that which is to come. And " he put all things under his feet/^ and gave him to be sovereign Head 23 of the Church, which is his body ; the fulness of Him who fills all things everywhere with himself. XL 1 And you, likewise, he raised from death to life, when They had been 2 you were dead in transgressions and sins 5 wherein heathenism by once you walked according to the course of this world, ^^'^ ® s^&<^^f and obeyed the ruler of the powers of the air, even the spirit who 3 is now working in the children of disobedience ; amongst whom we also, in times past, lived, all of us, in fleshly lusts, fulfilling the de- sires of our flesh, and of our imagination, and were by nature 4 children of wrath, no less than others. But God, who is rich in 5 mercy, because of the great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sin, caused us to share the life of Christ — (by grace LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. 6 you are saved), — and in Christ Jesns, he raised us up with him from 7 the dead, and seated us with him in the heavens ; that, in the ages which are coming, he might manifest the surpassing riches of his 8 grace, by kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you are saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift 9, 10 of God ; not won by works, lest any man should boast. Fo? we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God has prepared that we should walk therein. 11 Wherefore remember that you, who once were and incorpor- reckoned among carnal Gentiles, who are called the israei."*^^ ^ uncircumcision by that which calls itself the circumcision (a circum- 12 cision of the flesh, made by the hands of man) — that in those times you were slnit out from Christ, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no 13 hope, and without God in the world. But now, in Christ Jesus, ye, who were once far oflj have been brought near through the blood of 14 Clirist. For he is our peace, who has made both one, The Law which 15 and has broken down the wall which parted us ; for, in from^'^GentiTes his flesh, he destroyed the ground of our enmity, the ^^^^^^^^d. 16 Law of enacted ordinances ; that so, making peace between us, out of both he might create in himself one new man ; and that, by his cross, he might reconcile both, in one body, unto God, having slain 17 their enmity thereby. And when he came, he published the glad tidings of peace to you that were far oflf and to them that were near. 18 For through him we both have power to approach the Father in the 19 fellowship of one Spirit. Now, therefore, you are no They are built more strangers and sojourners, but fellow-citizens with of God.^ temple 20 God^s people, and members of God's household. You are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself be- 21 ing the chief corner-stone ; in whom all the building, fitly framed together, grows into a temple hallowed by the indwelling of the 22 Lord. And in him, not others only, but you also, are built up together, to make a house wherein God may dwell by the presence of his Spirit. III. 1 Wherefore I, Paul, who, for maintaining the cause ' ' ' ° , The mystery of 2 of von Gentiles, am the prisoner of Jesus Christ — for I universal salva- ' 1 /-N 1 • tion prociaitned suppose tliat you have heard how God's grace was given by Paul, a pria- \ -r . 1 T . Ill oner for it. me, that I might dispense it among you ; and how, by 3 revelation, was made known to me the mystery (as I have already 4 shortly written to you ; so that, when you read, you may perceive 6 my understanding in the mystery of Christ), which, in the genera^ EPISTLE TO THE EPIJESIANS (sO CALLED). 655 tions of old, was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the indwelling of the Spirit, to his holy apostles and 6 prophets ; to wit, that the Gentiles are heirs of the same inheritance, and members of the same body, and partakers of the same promise in Christ, by means of the glad tidings. 7 And of this glad tidings I was made a ministering servant, accord- ing to the gift of the grace of God, which was given me in the full 8 measure of his mighty working ; — to me, I say, who am less than the least of all God's people, this grace was given, to bear among the 9 Gentiles the glad tidings of the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring light to all, whereby they might understand the dispensation of the mystery which, from the ages of old, has been hid in God, the 10 Maker of all things ; that now, by the Church, the manifold wisdom of God might be made known to the principalities and powers in the 11 heavens, according to his eternal purpose, which he fulfilled in Christ 12 J esus our Lord ; in whom we can approach without fear to God, in trustful confidence, through faith in him. 13 Wherefore I pray that I may not faint under my He prays for 14 sufferings for you, which are your glory. For this Ihemftiiat they 15 cause I bend my knees before the Father, whose chil- ^h e ifed^an^d 16 dren all are called in heaven and in earth, beseeching enhghteued. him, that, in the richness of his glory, he would grant you strength by the entrance of his Spirit into your inner man, that Christ may 17 dwell in your hearts by faith ; that having your root and your founda- 18 tion in love, you may be enabled, with all God's people, to compre- 19 hend the breadth and length, and depth and height thereof ; and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that you may be 20 filled therewith, even to the measure of the fulness of God. Now unto Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly, above Doxoiogy. 21 all that we ask or think, in the power of his might which works within us,— unto him, in Christ Jesus, be glory in the Church, even to all the generations of the age of ages. Amen. IV. 1 I, therefore, the Lord's prisoner, exhort you to walk Exhortation to 2 worthv of the callinsr wherewith you were called : in ^°ity. Differ- o n 1 T 1 1 ent gifts and 3 all lowlmess, and gentleness, and lonff-sufferino:, for- offices must , . 1 . -, . . . ?' combine to bearing one another jn love, striving to maintain the buiid up th© unity of the Spirit, bound together with the bond of '^^^ 4 peace. You are one body and one spirit, even as you were called to 5 share one common hope ; you have one Lord, you have one faith, 6 you have one baptism ; you have one God and Father of all, who ia 656 LIFE AND EPISTLES OP THE APOSTLE PAUL, 7 over all, and works through all, and dwells in all. But each one of us received the gift of grace which he possesses according to the 8 measure wherein it was given by Christ. Wherefore it is written: " When he ivent up on highy he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto 9 menJ^ Now that word ^'he went up/^ what saith it, but that he first 10 came down to the earth below ? Yea, He who came down is the same who is gone up, far above all the heavens, that he might fill all 1 1 things. And lie gave some to be apostles, and some prophets, and 12 some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers ; for the perfecting of God's people, to labor in their appointed service, to build up the 13 body of Christ ; till we all attain the same faith and knowledge of the Son of God, and reach the stature of manhood, and be of ripe ago 14 to receive the fulness of Christ ; that we should no longer be children in understanding, tossed to and fro, and blown round by every shift- ing current of teaching, tricked by the sleight of men, and led astray 15 into the snares of the cunning ; but that we should live in truth and love, and should grow up in every part to the measure of His growth 16 who is our Head, even Christ. From whom the whole body (being knit together, and compacted by all its joints) derives its continued growth in the working of his bounty, which supplies its needs, ac- cording to the measure of each several part, that it may build itself up in love. 17 This I say, therefore, and adjure you in the Lord, j,^|^Qj.tation to to live no longer like other Gentiles, whose minds are tiie rejection of 18 filled with folly, whose understanding is darkened, who and to moral are estranged from the life of God because of the ignor- 19 ance which is in them, through the hardness of their hearts ; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lasciviousness, to 20 work all uncleanness in lust. But you have not so learned Christ ; 21 if, indeed, you have heard his voice, and been taught in him, as the 22 truth is in Jesus ; to forsake your former life, and put off the old man, whose way is destruction, following the desires which deceive ; 23, 24 and to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and to put on the new man, created after God's likeness, in the righteousness and holiness 2-5 of the truth. Wherefore, putting away lying, speak Against several 26 every man truth with his neighbor; for we are mem- ^p®^^^®'^ 27 bers one of another. " Be ye angry, and sin not^ Let not the sun 28 go down upon your wrath, nor give way to the devil. Let the robber rob no more, but rather let him labor, working to good purpose with his hands, that he may have somewhat to share with the needy. 29 From your mouth let no filthy words proceed, but such as may build up the Church according to its n<^ed, and give a blessing to the hear- EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS (sO CALLED). 657 30 ers. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, who was given to seal 31 vou for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and passion, and anger, and clamor, and evil-speaking be put away from yon, with all 32 malice ; and be kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ has forgiven you. V. 1 Therefore be followers of God's example as the chil- Exhortation to 2 dren of his love. And walk in love, as Christ also pveness and loved us, and gave himself for us, a sacrifice of sweet odor, to be ofiered up to God. 3 But as befits God's people, let not fornication, or any Against impur- kind of uncleanness or lust be so much as named sins of heathen 4 among you ; nor filthiness, or buflfoonery, or ribald jesting, for such speech beseems you not, but rather thanksgiving. 5 Yea, this you know ; for you have learned that no fornicator, or im- pure or lustful man, who is nothing less than an idolater, has any 6 inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no man mislead you by empty reasonings ; for these are the deeds which bring the 7 wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye, there- 8 fore, partakers with them ; for you once were darkness, but now are 9 light in the Lord. Walk as children of light ; for the fruits of light 10 are in all goodness, and righteousness, and truth. Examine well 11 what is acceptable to the Lord, and have no fellowship ^. ^ ^ ^ ' ^ which must be with the unfruitful works of darkness, yea, rather ex- rebuked by the -rt -r-« .1 example and 12 pose their foulness. For, concerning the secret deeds watchfulness of n Christians. Id of the heathen, it is shameful even to speak ; yet all these things, when exposed, are made manifest by the shining of the light ; for whatsoever is shone upon and made manifest becomes 14, 15 light. Wherefore it is written, " Awake^ thou that sleepestj and arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine upon theeP 16 See, then, that you walk without stumbling, not in folly, but in 17 wisdom, forestalling opportunity, because the times are evil. There- fore, be not without understanding, but learn to know what the will of the Lord is. 18 Be not drunk with wine, like those who live riot- Festive i^ee^ 19 ously ; but be filled with the indwelling of the Spirit, cefebrated. when you speak one to another. Let your singing be of psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, and make melody with the music of your 20 hearts, to the Lord. And at all times, for all things which befall you, give thanks to our God and Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 42 658 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. 21 Submit yourselves one to another in the fear of Duties of wivea 22 Christ. Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, 23 as unto the Lord; for the husband is head of the wife, even as Christ is Head of the Church, his body, which he saves from harm. 24 But, as the Church submits itself to Christ, so let the wives submit themselves to their husbands in all things. 25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the Church, and 26 gave himself for it, that having purified it by the water wherein it is washed, he might hallow it by the indwelling of the word of God ; 27 that he might himself present unto himself the Church in stainless glory, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing ; but that it 28 should be holy and unblemished. In like manner, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies ; for he tliat loves his 29 wife does but love himself ; and no man ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, as Christ also nourishes and cherishes 30 the Church ; for we are members of his body, portions of his flesh. 31 " For this cause shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall 32 cleave unto his wife, and they two shall be one fleshJ^ This mystery is 33 great ; but I speak of Christ and of the Church. Nevertheless, let every one of you individually so love his wife even as himself, and let the wife see that she reverence her husband, VI. 1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord ; for this is J^en^" ^^^^j 2 right. Honor thy father and thy mother/' which. IS iliQ reuts. 3 first commandment with promise : " That it may be well with thee, and thou shalt live long upon the earthJ' 4 And ye, fathers, vex not your children ; but bring them up in such training and correction as befits the servants of the Lord. 5 Bondsmen, obey your earthly masters with anxiety Duties of slaves and self-distrust, in singleness of heart, as unto Christ ; 6 not with eye-service, as men-pleasers, but as bondsmen of Christ, 7 doing the will of God from the soul. With goodwill fulfilling your 8 service, as to the Lord our Master, and not to men. For you know that whatever good any man does, the same shall he receive from the Lord, whether he be bond or free. 9 And ye, masters, do in like manner by them, and abstain from threats ■ knowing that your own Master is in heaven, and that with him is no respect of persons. 10 Finally, my brethren, let your hearts be strengthened Exhortation to in the Lord, and in the conquering power of his might. c^dUiau ar^ 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able CX)NTENTS OF COLOSSIANS AND " EPHESIANS." 659 12 to stand firm against the wiles of the devil. For the adversaries with whom we wrestle are not flesh and blood, but they are the principalities, the powers, and the sovereigns of this present dark- 13 ness, the company of evil spirits in the heavens. "Wherefore, take up with you to the battle the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand them in the evil day, and having overthrown them all, 14 to stand unshaken. Stand, therefore, girt with the belt of truth, 15 and wearing the breastplate of righteousness, and shod as ready mes- 16 sengers of the glad tidings of peace; and take up to cover you the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery 17 darts of the Evil One. Take, likewise, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 Continue to pray at every season with all earnest- To pray for ness of supplication in the Spirit ; and to this end Le Paul, watchful with all perseverance in prayer for all Christ's people, and 19 for me, that utterance may be given me, to open my mouth and make 20 known with boldness the mystery of the glad tidings, for which I am an ambassador in fetters. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak. 21 But that you, as well as others, may be informed of Tychicus the my concerns, and how I fare, Tychicus, my beloved brother, and faithful servant in the Lord, will make all known to 22 you. And I have sent him to you for this very end, that you may learn what concerns me, and that he may comfort your hearts. 23 Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from Concluding God our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ. benediction. 24 Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. NOTE. To complete the view of the two preceding Epistles, the following tables are added ; the first of which gives a comparative outline of their contents ; the second shows the verbal correspondence be- tween the parallel passages in each : Epistle to Colossians. 1-2. Salutation. 3-6. Thanksgiving for their conversion (7-8, Epaph- ras). Epistle to Ephesians {so called), I. 1-2. Salutation. 3-12. Thanksgiving for re- demption and know- ledge of Christian mystery. 660 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. I. 9-14. Prayer for their enligbt- enment and thankful- ness for redemption. 15-20. Christ's work, nature, and dignity. 21-22. He had called them from heathenism and recon- ciled them to God. 23-29, Paul a prisoner and min- ister of the mystery of universal salvation. II. 1-4. Prayer for their constancy and growth in Chris- tian wisdom. 4-23. Warning against a false philosophy, which de- preciated Christ and united Jewish obser- vance (abolished by Christ) with angel-wor- ship and asceticism. III. 1-4. Exhortation to heaven- ward affections. 6-9. Against heathen impu- rity, anger, malice, falsehood. 10-16. Exhortation to moral re- newal, including meek- ness, forbearance, for- giveness, charity, and mutual exhortation. I. 13-19. Thanksgiving for their conversion, and prayer for their enlightenment. 20-23. Work and dignity of Christ. II. 1-10. They had been awakened from heathenism by God's grace. 11-13. And incorporated into God's Israel. 14-18. Law which divided Jews from Gentiles abolished. 19- 22. They are built into the temple of God. III. 1-12. Mystery of universal sal- vation proclaimed by Paul, a prisoner for it. 13-17. He prays for himself and them, that they may be strengthened. 18-19. And enlightened. 20- 21. Doxology. IV. 1-16. Exhortation to unity. Different gifts and offices combine [Col. ii. 19] to build up the Church. 17-24. Exhortation to reject heathen vice and to moral renewal. 25-31. Against lying, anger, robbery, impure words, malice. 32.-V. 2. Exhortation to Christ- like forgiveness and love. V. 3-10. Against impurity and other sins of heathen darkness. 11-17. Which are to be rebuked PARALLELISM BETWEEN COLOSSLA.NS AND " EPHESLiNS.'^ 661 IIL 16-17. Festive meetings, how to be celebrated. 18-19. Duties of wives and hus- bands. 20-21. Duties of children and parents. 22-IV. 1. Duties of slaves and masters. IV. 2- 4. Exhortation to pray for themselves and Paul. 5- 6. Watchfulness in conduct towards unbelievers [Eph. V. 11-17]. 7- 9. Tychicus and Onesimus, the messengers. 10-14. Salutations from Rome. 15-17. Messages concerning La- odicea and Archippus. 18. Autograph salutation and benediction. by the example and watchfulness of Chris- tians [Col. iv. 5-6]. V. 18-20. Festive meetings, how to be celebrated. 21-33. Duties of wives and hus- bands. VL 1- 4. Duties of children and parents. 5- 9. Duties of slaves and masters. 10-17. Exhortation to fight in the Christian armor. 18-20. To pray for otners and for Paul. 21-22. Tychicus tho messenger. 23-24. Concluding benediction* Verbal resemblances between the so-called Epistle to the Epheaians and the Epistle to the Colossians. Eph. . 1-Col. i. 1. 2- Col. i. 2. 3- Col. i. 3. 4- Col. i. 22. 5- 6- 7-Col. i. 14. 8- 9-Col. 1. 25. 10- Col. i. 20. 11- Col. i. 12. 12- 13- 14- Eph. i. 15- 16- 17- 18- 19- 20- 21- 22- 23- ii. 1-J 2 3- I Col. i. 3-4. - Col fi. 16, n • 1 ii. 13. t, 19, 21, - 1 r i. 13. -l^^Mi.21. 4- 5-Col. ii. 13. 662 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. Eph. ii, 6- 7- 8- 9- 10- 11-Col. ii. 13. 12- 13- 14- 15- 16- . 17- 21. 22, ' } Col. i. { 5II Col. ii. 1^^- 6- J l^O- Col. i. 18- 19- 20- 21- 22- iii. 1-] 2- I 3— 4- 6- 6- 7- »- 9- ^ 10- ' 11- 12- 13- 14-Col. 1. 9, 15- ' 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. L'y. 16- 17- 18- 19- Col. r 9. 111. ii. 7. [2-3. L9. 20- 21- iv. 1-Col. iv. 3. 3- \ Col 111. 12. 13. 14. 15. Col. ii. Col. iii. Col. iii. Col. iv. A. PARALLELISM BETWEEN COLOSSIANS AND "ePHESIANS." 663 Eph.v. 19-] ri6. 2^)_jCoI.iii. 1^7^ 21- 22-Col. iii. 18. 23- 24- 25-Col. m. 19. 26- 27- 28- 29- 30- 31- 31- 32- 33- vi. 1-Col. iii. 20. 2- 3- 4-Col. iii. 21. Eph. 7- 8- Col. . 22. 23. 24. 25. 1. lo- ll- 12-Col. ii. 15. 13- 14- 15- 16- 17- 18- 19- 20- 21- 22- 23- 24- Col. iv. Col. iv. (i; C: From the first of the above tables it will be seen that there is scarcely a single topic in the Ephesian Epistle which is not also to be found in the Epistle to the Colossians, but, on the other hand, that there is an important section of Colossians (ii. 8-23) which has no parallel in Ephesians. From the second table it appears that out of the one hundred and fifty-five verses contained in the so-called Epistle to the Ephesians, seventy-eight verses contain expressions identical with those in the Epistle to the Colossians. The kind of resemblance here traced is not that which would be found in the work of a forger servilely copying the Epistle to Colosse. On the contrary, it is just what we might expect to find in the work of a man whose mind was thoroughly imbued with the ideas and expressions of the Epistle to the Colossians when he wrote the other Epistle. CHAPTEK XXVI. THJ: PR^TORIUM AKD the palatine. — ARRIVAL OF EPAPHRO- DITUS. — POLITICAL EVENTS AT ROME. — OCTAVIA AND POPP^A. — PAUL WRITES "the EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS." — HE MAKES CONVERTS IN THE IMPERIAL HOUSEHOLD. The close of the Epistle to which our attention has just been turned contains a remarkable example of the forcible imagery of Paul. Considered simply in itself, this description of the Chris- tian's armor is one of the most striking passages in the Sacred Volume. But if we view it in connection with the circumstances with which the apostle was surrounded, we find a new and living emphasis in his enumeration of all the parts of the heavenly panoply — the belt of sincerity and truth with which the loins are girded for the spiritual war — the breastplate of that righteousness the inseparable links whereof are faith and love — the strong san- dals with which the feet of Christ's soldiers are made ready, not for such errands of death and despair as those on which the prae- torian soldiers were daily sent, but for the universal message of the gospel of peace — the large shield of confident trust, wherewith the whole man is protected, and whereon the fiery arrows of the Wicked One fall harmless and dead — the close-fitting helmet with which the hope of salvation invests the head of the believer — and finally the sword of the Spirit, the word of God, which when wielded by the great Captain of our salvation turned the tempt- er in the wilderness to flight, while in the hands of his chosen apostle (with whose memory the sword seems inseparably asso- ciated) it became the means of establishing Christianity on the earth. All this imagery becomes doubly forcible if we remember that when Paul wrote the words he was chained to a soldier and in the close neighborhood of military sights and sounds. The appearance of the praetorian guards was daily familiar to him, as his "chains," ou the other hand (so he tells us in the succeeding Epistle), be- 664 THE PR^TORIUM. 665 came "well known throughout the whole Prcetorium^^ (Phil. i. 13). A difFerence of opinion has existed as to the precise mean- ing of the word in this passage. Some have identified it, as in the Authorized Version, with the "house of Caesar" on the Pala- tine; more commonly it has been supposed to mean that perma- nent camp of the prsetorian guards which Tiberius established on the north of the city outside the w^alls. As regards the former opinion, it is true that the word came to be used, almost as we use the word "palace," for royal residences generally or for any resi- dences of a princely splendor, and that thus we read in other parts of the New Testament of the Prsetorium of Pilate at Jeru- salem and the Praetorium of Herod at Csesarea. Yet we never find the word employed for the imperial house at Rome; and w^e believe the truer view to be that which has been recently advo- cated — namely, that it denotes here not the palace itself, but the quarters of that part of the imperial guards which was in imme- diate attendance upon the emperor. Such a military establish- ment is mentioned in the fullest account which we possess of the first residence of Augustus on the Palatine; and it is in harmony with the general ideas on which the monarchy was founded. The emperor was prmtor or commander-in-chief of the troops, and it was natural that his immediate guard should be in a prmforium near him. It might, indeed, be argued that this military estab- lishment on the Palatine would cease to be necessary when the praetorian camp w^as established ; but the purpose of that establish- ment was to concentrate near the city those cohorts which had previously been dispersed in other parts of Italy; a local body- guard near the palace would not cease to be necessary; and Jose- phus, in his account of the imprisonment of Agrippa, speaks of a "camp" in connection with the "royal house." Such we conceive to have been the barrack immediately alluded to by Paul, though the connection of these smaller quarters with the general camp was such that he would naturally become known to all the resi^* of the guards as well as those who might for the time be connected with the imperial household. What has just been said of the Avord "Praetorium" applied still more extensively to the word " Palatium." Originally denoting the hill on which the twin-brothers w^ere left by the retreating river, it grew to be, and it still remains, the symbol of imperial power. Augustus was born on the Palatine, and he fixed his 666 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. ofScial residence there when the civil wars were terminated. Thus it may be truly said that " after the Capitol and the Forum no locality in the ancient city claims so much of our interest as the Palatine Hill — at once the birthplace of the infant city and the abode of her rulers during the days of her greatest splendor — where the reed-thatched cottage of Romulus was still preserved in the midst of the gorgeous structures of Caligula and Nero.'' About the close of the republic it was still the residence of many dis- tinguished citizens, such as Crassus, Cicero, Catiline, Clodius, and Antony. Augustus himself simply bought the house of Horten- sius and lived there in modest state. But the new era was begun for the Palatine when the first emperor, soon after the battle of Actium, raised the temple of Apollo, with its celebrated Greek and Latin libraries, on the side near the Forum. Tiberius erected a new palace, or an addition to the old one, on the opposite side of the hill, immediately above the Circus Maximus. It remained for subsequent emperors to cover the whole area of the hill with struc- tures connected with the palace. Caligula extended the imperial buildings by a bridge (as fantastic as that at Baise) which joined the Palatine with the Capitol. Nero made a similar extension in the direction of the Esquiline ; and this is the point at which we must arrest our series of historical notices, for the burning of Pome and the erection of the Golden House intervened between the first and second imprisonments of the apostle Paul. The fire, moreover, which is so closely associated with the first sufferings of the Church, has made it impossible to identify any of the existing ruins on the Palatine with buildings that were standing when the apostle was among the praetorian guards. Nor indeed is it possible to assign the ruins to their proper epochs. All is now confusion on the hill of Pomulus and Augustus. Palace after palace suc- ceeded till the empire was lost in the midst of the Middle Ages. As we explore the subterraneous chambers where classical paint- ings are still visible on the plaster, or look out through broken arches over the Campagna and its aqueducts, the mind is filled with blending recollections not merely of a long line of Roman Caesars, but of Ravenna and Constantinople, Charlemagne and Rienzi. This royal part of the Western Babylon has almost shared the fate of the city of the Euphrates. The Palatine contains gardens and vineyards and half-cultivated spaces of ground, where the acanthus-weed grows in wild luxuriance, but ARRIVAL OF EPAPHRODITUS. 667 its population has shrunk to one small convent, and the unhealthy air seems to brood like a curse over the scene of Nero's tyranny and crime. Paul was at Rome precisely at that time when the Palatine was tbs most conspicuous spot on the earth, not merely for crime, but for splendor and power. This was the centre of all the movements of the empire. Here were heard the causes of all Roman citizens who had appealed to Ctesar. Hence were issued the orders to the governors of provinces and to the legions on the frontier. From the "Golden Milestone" [Milliarium Aureum) below the palace the roads radiated in all directions to the remotest verge of civili- zation. The official messages of the emperor were communicated along them by means of posts established by the government, but these roads afforded also the means of transmitting the letters of private citizens, whether sent by means of tahellarii or by the voluntary aid of accidental travellers. "To such communications between the metropolis and the provinces others were now added of a kind hitherto unknown in the world — not different, indeed, in outward appearance from common letters, but containing com- mands more powerful in their effects than the despatches of Nero — touching more closely the private relations of life than all the cor- respondence of Seneca or Pliny, and proclaiming in the very form of their salutations the perpetual union of the Jew, the Greek, and the Roman." It seems probable that the three letters which we have last read were despatched from Rome when Paul had been resident there about a year — that is, in the spring of the year 62 A. D. After the departure of Tychicus and Onesimus the apostle's prison was cheered by the arrival of Epaphroditus, who bore a contribution from the Christians of Philippi. We have before seen instances of the noble liberality of that Church, and now once more we find them ministering to the necessities of their beloved teacher. Epaphro- ditus, apparently a leading presbyter among the Philippians, had brought on himself, by the fatigues or perils of his journey, a dan- gerous illness. Paul speaks of him with touching affection. He calls him his " brother, and companion in labor, and fellow-soldier" (ii. 25), declares " that his labor in the cause of Christ had brought him near to death" (ii. 30), and that he had "hazarded his life" in order to supply the means of communication between the Phi* lippians and himself. And when speaking of his recovery he says, 668 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. "God had compassion on him, and not on him only, but on me also, that I might not have sorrow upon sorrow" (ii. 27). We must suppose from these expressions that Epaphroditus had exposed himself to some unusual risk in his journey. Perhaps his health was already feeble when he set out, so that he showed self-devotion in encountering fatigues which were certain to injure him. Meanwhile, Paul continued to preach and his converts to mul- tiply. We shall find that when he wrote to the Philippians, either towards the close of this year or at the beginning of the next, great effects had already been produced, and that the Church of Pome was not only enlarged, but encouraged to act with greater boldness upon the surrounding masses of heathenism by the successful energy of the apostolic prisoner. Yet the political occurrences of the year might well have alarmed him for his safety, and counselled a more timid course. We have seen that prisoners in Paul's posi- tion were under the charge of the prastorian prefect; and in this year occurred the death of the virtuous Burrus, under whose authority his imprisonment had been so unusually mild. Upon this event the prefecture was put into commission, and bestowed on Fenius Eufus and Sofonius Tigellinus. The former was re- spectable, but wanting in force of character, and quite unable to cope with his colleague, who was already notorious for that ener- getic wickedness which has since made his name proverbial. PauFs Christian friends in Kome must have trembled to think of him as subject to the caprice of this most detestable of Nero's satellites. It does not seem, however, that his situation was altered for the worse; possibly he was never brought under the special notice of Tigellinus, who was too intent on court intrigues at this period to attend to so trifling a matter as the concerns of a Jewish pris- oner. Another circumstance occurred about the same time which seemed to threaten still graver mischief to the cause of Paul. This was the marriage of Nero to his adulterous mistress Pop- psea, who had become a proselyte to Judaism. This infamous woman, not content with inducing her paramour to divorce his young wife Octavia, had demanded and obtained the death of her rival, and had gloated over the head of the murdered victim, which was forwarded from Pandataria to Eome for her inspection. Her power seemed now to have reached its zenith, but rose still higher at the beginning of the following year upon the birth of a daughter, Paul's letter to the philippians. 669 when temples were erected to her and her infant, and divine honors paid them. We know from Josephus that she exerted her influence over Nero in favor of the Jews, and that she patronized their emis- saries at Rome ; and assuredly no scruples of humanity would pre- vent her from seconding their demand for the punishment of their most detested antagonist. These changed circumstances fully account for the anticipations of an unfavorable issue to his trial which we shall find Paul now expressing, and which contrast remarkably with the confident ex- pectation of release entertained by him when he wrote the letter to Philemon. AVhen we come to discuss the trial of Paul we shall see reason to believe that the providence of God did in fact avert this danger, but at present all things seemed to wxar a most threat- ening aspect. Perhaps the death of Pallas (which also happened this year) may be considered, on the other hand, as removing an unfavorable influence ; for as the brother of Felix he would have been willing to soften the Jewish accusers of that profligate gov- ernor by co-operating with their designs against Paul. But his power had ceased to be formidable either for good or evil some time before his death. Meanwhile, Epaphroditus was fully recovered from his sickness and able once more to travel, and he willingly prepared to comply with PauFs request that he would return to Philippi. We are told that he was " filled with longing " to see his friends again, and the more so when he heard that great anxiety had been caused among them by the news of his sickness. Probably he occupied an influ- ential post in the Philippian Church, and Paul was unwilling to detain him any longer from his duties there. He took the occasion of his return to send a letter of grateful acknowledgment to his Philippian converts. It has been often remarked that this Epistle contains less of cen- sure and more of praise than any other of Paul's extant letters. It gives us a very high idea of the Christian state of the Philippians, as shown by the firmness of their faith under persecution, their constant obedience and attachment to Paul, and the liberality which distinguished them above all other churches. They were also free from doctrinal errors, and no schism had as yet been created among them by the Judaizing party. They are warned, however, against these active propagandists, who were probably busy in their neighborhood or (at least) might at any time appear 670 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. among them. The only blemish recorded as existing in the Church of Philippi is, that certain of its members were deficient in lowli- ness of mind, and were thus led into disputes and altercations with their brethren. Two women of consideration amongst the converts, Euodia and Syntyche by name, had been especially guilty of this fault; and their variance was the more to be regretted because they had both labored earnestly for the propagation of the faith. Paul exhorts the Church with great solemnity and earnestness to let these disgraceful bickerings cease and to be all of one soul and one mind." He also gives them very full particulars about his own condition and the spread of the gospel at Eome. He writes in a tone of most affectionate remembrance, and while an- ticipating the speedily-approaching crisis of his fate he expresses his faith, hope, and joy with peculiar fervency: THE EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS. I. 1 Paul and Timotheus, bondsmen of Jesus Christ, Salutation. TO ALL God's people in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, WITH THE bishops AND DEACONS. 2 Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ. 3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you Thanksgivin ors 4 (continually in all my prayers making my supplication them.''^^^^^ 5 for you all with joy), for your fellowship in forwarding the glad tid- 6 ings, from the first day until now. And I am confident accordingly, that He who has begun a good work in you will perfect it, even until 7 the day of Jesus Christ. And it is just that I should be thus mind- ful of you all, because you have me in your hearts, and both in my imprisonment and in my defence and confirmation of the glad tidings, 8 you all share in the grace bestowed upon me. God is my witness how I long after you all, in the affections of Christ Jesus. 9 And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more, in true knowledge, and in all understanding, teaching you to distin- 10 guish good from evil ; that you may be pure, and may walk without 11 stumbling until the day of Christ; being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God. 12 I would have you know, brethren, that the things intelligence of which have befallen me have tended rather to the Komel' ' * EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS. 671 13 furtherance than hinderance of the glad tidings. So that my chains have become well known in the name of Christ, throughout the 14 whole Pnetorium, and to all the rest. And thus most of the brethren in the Lord, rendered confident hj my chains, are very much em- 15 boldened to speak the word fearlessly. Some, indeed, proclaim Christ even out of envy and contention ; but some, also, out of good- 16 will. These do it from love, knowing that I am appointed to defend 17 the glad tidings ; but those declare Christ from a spirit of intrigue, not sincerely, thinking to stir up persecution against me in my im- 18 prisonment. What then ? nevertheless, every way, whether in pre- tence or in truth, the tidings of Christ are published ; and herein I 19 rejoice now — yea, and I shall rejoice hereafter. For I know that these things shall fall out to my salvation,^ through your prayers, and through the supply of all my needs by the Spirit of Jesus Christ ; 20 according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I shall in no wise be put to shame, but that with all boldness, as at all other times, so now also, Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by my life 21 , 22 or by my death. For to me life is Christ, and death is gain. But whether this life in the flesh shall be the fruit of my labor, and what 23 I should choose, I know not. For between the two I am in per- plexity ; having the desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far 24 better ; yet to remain in the flesh is more needful, for your sake. 25 And in this confidence, I know that I shall remain, and shall con- 26 tinue with you all, to your furtherance and joy in faith ; that you may have more abundant cause for your boasting in Clirist Jesus on my account, by my presence again among you. 27 Only live worthy of the glad tidings of Christ, that Exhortations to , , T , Steadfast end ur- whether 1 come and see you, or be absent, I may hear a nee, concord, 28 concerning you, that you stand firmly in one spirit, lowliness, contending together with one mind for the faith of the glad tidings, and nowise terrified by its enemies ; for their enmity is to them an evidence of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God. 29 For to you it has been given, on behalf of Christ, not only to believe 30 on him, but also to suflfer for his sake ; having the same conflict which once you saw in me, and which now you hear that I endure. II. 1 If, then, you can be entreated in Christ, if you can be persuaded by love, if you have any fellowship in the Spirit, if you have any 2 tenderness or compassion, I pray you make my joy full, be of one 3 accord, filled with the same love, of one soul, of one mind. Do nothing in a spirit of intrigue, or vanity, but in lowliness of mind let 672 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. 4 each account others above himself. Seek not your private ends alone, but let every man seek likewise his neighbor's good. 5, G Let tliis mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus ; who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with 7 God, yet stripped, himself [of his glory] and took upon him the form 8 of a slave, being changed into the likeness of man. And having appeared in the guise of men, he abased himself and showed obedi- 9 ence, even unto death, yea, death upon the cross. Wherefore God also exalted him above measure, and gave him the Name which is 10 above every name; that in the name of Jesus, every knee should bow,^' of all who dwell in heaven, in earth, or under the earth, and 11 every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 12 Wherefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed me, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your 13 own salvation with fear and trembling ; for it is God who works in 14 you both will and deed. Do all things for the sake of goodwill, 15 without murmurings and disputings, that you may be blameless and guileless, the sons of God without rebuke, in the midst of "a crooked and perverse generation,'' ' among wliom ye shine like stars in the 16 world ; holding fast the word of life ; that you may give me ground of boasting, even to the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, nor labored in vain. 17 But though my blood be poured forth upon the min- Paul's expecta- istration of the sacrifice of your faith, I rejoice for tions. 18 myself, and rejoice with you all ; and do ye likewise rejoice, both for 19 yourselves and with me. But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus to you shortly, that I also may be cheered, by learning 20 your state ; for I have no other like-minded with me, who would care in earnest for your concerns ; for all seek their own, not the things of 21 Jesus Christ. But you know the trials which have proved his worth, 22 and that, as a son with a father, he has shared my servitude, to pro- 23 claim the glad tidings. Him, then, I hope to send without delay, as 24 soon as I see how it will go with me ; but I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly. 25 Epaphroditus, who is my brother and companion in Return of labor and fellow-soldier, and your messenger to min- ^p^p^^^*^^*^"^- 26 ister to my wants, I have thought it needful to send to you. For he was filled with longing for you all, and with sadness, because you had 27 heard that he was sick. And, indeed, he had a sickness which brought him almost to death, but God had compassion on him; and not on him only, but on me, that I might not liave sorrow upon sor- EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS. 673 28 row. Therefore I have been the more anxious to send him, that you may have the joy of seeing him again, and that I may have one 29 sorrow the less. Receive him, therefore, in the Lord, with all glad- 30 ness, and hold such men in honor ; because his labor in the cause of Christ brought him near to death ; for he hazarded his life that he might supply all which you could not do, in ministering to me. III. 1 Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To re- Warning against , . . . - Judaizers, and peat the same warmngs is not wearisome to me, and exhortation to 2 it is safe for you. Beware of the dogs, beware of the tiii^^^*^chri?tian 3 evil workmen, beware of the concision. For we are the circumcision, who worship God with the spirit, whose boasting 4 is in Christ Jesus, and whose confidence is not in the flesh. Although I might have confidence in the flesh also. If any other man thinks 5 that he has ground of confidence in the flesh, I have more. Circum- cised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, 6 a Hebrew of the Hebrews ; as to the Law, a Pharisee ; as to zeal, a persecutor of the Church ; as to the righteousness of the Law, un- 7 blamable. But what once was gain to me, that I have counted loss 8 for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss, because all are nothing-worth in comparison with the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord ; for whom I have sufiered the loss of all things, and count them but as dung, that I may gain Christ, and be found in 9 him ; not having my own righteousness of the Law, but the right- eousness of faith in Christ, the righteousness which God bestows on 10 faith; that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, sharing the likeness of his 11 death ; if by any means I might attain to the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already won, or am already perfect ; but I press onward, if, indeed, I might lay hold on that, for which Christ also 13 laid hold on me. Brethren, I count not myself to have laid hold thereon ; but this one thing I do — forgetting that which is behind, 14 and reaching forth to that which is before, I press onward towards the mark, for the prize of God's heavenly calling in Christ Jesus. 15 Let us all, then, who are ripe in understanding, be thus minded ; and if in anything you are otherwise minded, that also shall be 16 revealed to you by God [in due time]. Nevertheless, let us walk according to that which we have attained. 17 Brethren, be imitators of me with one consent, and mark those 18 who walk ac -^rding to my example. For many walk, of whom I 43 674 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. told you often in times past, and now tell you even weeping, tliat 19 they are the enemies of the cross of Christ ; whose end is destruc- tion, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame ; 20 whose mind is set on earthly things. For my life abides in heaven, 21 from whence also I look for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ ; who shall change my vile body into the likeness of his glorious body ; according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. IV. 1 Therefore my brethren, dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. 2 I exhort Euodia, and I exhort Syntyche, to be of one Euodia and 3 mind in the Lord. Yea, and I beseech thee also, my be "econciiecT.^^ true yoke-fellow, to help them [to be reconciled] ; for they strove earnestly in the work of the glad tidings with me, together with Clemens and my other fellow-laborers, whose names are in the book of life. 4 Kejoice in the Lord at all times. Again will I say. Exhortation to - -r* . . T i> 1 n rejoice in trib- 5 Rejoice. Let your forbearance be known to all men. uiation, and to 6 The Lord is at hand. Let no care trouble you, but in goodness. all things, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your 7 requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which pass- eth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in Christ ^ Jesus. Finally, brethren, wliatsoever is true, whatsoever is vener- able, whatsoever is just, whatsoever is pure, whatsoever is endearing, whatsoever is of good report — if there be any virtue, and if there be ) any praise — be such the objects of your esteem. That which you were taught and learned, and which you heard and saw in me — be that your practice. So shall the God of peace be with you. 10 I reioiced in the Lord o^reatly when I found that now, Liberality o r , . p Til . the Philippian after so long a time, your care lor me had borne iruit church, again ; though your care indeed never failed, but you lacked oppor- 11 tunity. Not that I speak as if I were in want; for I have learnt, in 12 whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I can bear either abasement or abundance. In all things, and amongst all men, I have been taught the lesson, to be full or to be hungry, to want or to 13 abound. I can do all things, in Him who strengthens my heart. 14 Nevertheless, you have done well, in contributing to the help of my 15 affliction. And you know yourselves, Philippians, tliat, in the be- ginning of the glad tidings, after I had left Macedonia, no Church communicated with me on account of giving and receiving, but you CONVERTS IN NEEO's HOUSEHOLD. 67c 16 alone. For even while I was still in Thessalonica, you sent once and 17 again to relieve my need. Not that I seek your gifts, but I seek the 18 fruit which accrues therefrom, to your account. But I have all which I require, and more than I require. I am fully supplied, having received from Epaphroditus your gifts, "an odor of siveeiness/^ an 19 acceptable sacrifice well pleasing to God. And your own needs shall be all supplied by my God, in the fulness of his glorious riches in 20 Christ Jesus. Now to our God and Father be glory unto the ages of ages. Amen. 21 Salute all God's people in Christ Jesus. The breth- Salutations, ren who are with me salute you. 22 All God's people here salute you, especially those who belong to the house of Caesar. 23 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ bo with your Autograph . . , benediction. spirits. The above Epistle gives us an unusual amount of information concerning the personal situation of its writer, which we have already endeavored to incorporate in our narrative. But nothing in it is more suggestive than Paul's allusion to the prsetorian guards and to the converts he had gained in the household of Nero. He tells us (as we have just read) that throughout the praetorian quar- ters he was well known as a prisoner for the cause of Christ, and he sends special salutations to the Philippian Church from the Christians in the imperial household. These notices bring before us very vividly the moral contrasts by which the apostle was sur- rounded. The soldier to whom he was chained to-day might have been in Nero's body-guard yesterday; his comrade who next relieved guard upon the prisoner might have been one of the exe- cutioners of Octavia, and might have carried her head to Poppsea a few weeks before. Such were the ordinary employments of the fierce and blood-stained veterans who were daily present, like wolves in the midst of sheep, at the meetings of the Christian brotherhood. If there were any of these soldiers not utterly hardened by a life of cruelty, their hearts must surely have been touched by the character of their prisoner, brought as they were into so close a contact with him. They must have been at least astonished to see a man under such circumstances so utterly care- less of selfish interests and devoting himself with an energy so unaccountable to the teaching of others. Strange indeed to their ears, fresh from the brutality of a Roman barrack, must have been 676 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. the sound of Christian exhortation, of prayers, and of hymns — stranger still, perhaps, the tender love which bound the converts to their teacher and to one another, and showed itself in every look and tone. But if the agents of Nero^s tyranny seem out of place in such a scene, still more repugnant to the assembled worshippers must haye been the instruments of his pleasures, the ministers of his lust. Yet some even among these, the depraved servants of the palace, were redeemed from their degradation by the Spirit of Christ, which spoke to them in the words of Paul. How deep their deg- radation was we know from authentic records. We are not left to conjecture the services required from the attendants of Nero. The ancient historians have polluted their pages with details of infamy which no writer in the languages of Christendom may dare to repeat. Thus, the very immensity of moral amelioration wrought operates to disguise its own extent, and hides from inex- perienced eyes the gulf which separates heathenism from Chris- tianity. Suffice it to say that the courtiers of Nero were the spectators, and the members of his household the instruments, of vices so monstrous and so unnatural that they shocked even the men of that generation, steeped as it was in every species of ob- scenity. But we must remember that many of those who took part in such abominations were involuntary agents, forced by the compulsion of slavery to do their master's bidding. And the very depth of vileness in which they were plunged must have excited in some of them an indignant disgust and revulsion against vice. Under such feelings, if curiosity led them to visit the apostle's prison, they were well qualified to appreciate the purity of its moral atmosphere. And there it was that some of these unhappy bondsmen first tasted of spiritual freedom, and were prepared to brave with patient heroism the tortures under which they soon were destined to expire in the gardens of the Vatican. History has few stranger contrasts than when it shows us Paul preaching Christ under the walls of Nero's palace. Thencefor- ward, there were but two religions in the Roman world — the wor- ship of the emperor and the worship of the Saviour. The old superstitions had been long worn out; they had lost all hold on educated minds. There remained to civilized heathens no other worship possible but the worship of power, and the incarnation of power which they cl^ose was, very naturally, the sovereign of THE NEED OF CHRISTIANITY. 677 the world. This, then, was the ultimate result of the noble intui- tions of Plato, the methodical reasonings of Aristotle, the pure morality of Socrates. All had failed for want of external sanc- tion and authority. The residuum they left was the philosophy of Epicurus and the religion of Nerolatry. But a new doctrine was already taught in the Forum and believed even on the Pala- tine. Over against the altars of Nero and Poppsea the voice of a prisoner was daily heard, and daily woke in grovelling souls the consciousness of their divine destiny. Men listened, and knew that self-sacrifice was better than ease, humiliation more exalted than pride, to suffer nobler than to reign. They felt that the only religion which satisfied the needs of man was the religion of sorrow, the religion of self-devotion, the religion of the cross. There are some amongst us now who think that the doctrine which Paul preached was a retrograde movement in the course of humanity ; there are others who with greater plausibility acknow- ledge that it was useful in its season, but tell us that it is now worn out and obsolete. The former are far more consistent than the latter, for both schools of infidelity agree in virtually advising us to return to that effete philosophy which had been already tried and found wanting when Christianity was winning the first triumphs of its immortal youth. This might well surprise us did we not know that the progress of human reason in the paths of ethical discovery is merely the progress of a man in a treadmill, doomed for ever to retrace his own steps. Had it been otherwise, we might have hoped that mankind could not again be duped by an old and useless remedy which was compounded and recompounded in every possible shape and combination two thousand years ago, and at last utterly rejected by a nauseated world. Yet for this antiquated anodyne, disguised under a new label, many are once more barter- ing the only true medicine that can heal the diseases of the soul. For such mistakes there is indeed no real cure except prayer to Him who giveth sight to the blind, but a partial antidote may be supplied by the history of the imperial commonwealth. The true wants of the apostolic age can best be learned from the annals of Tacitus. There men may still see the picture of that Rome to which Paul preached, and thence they may comprehend the results of civilization without Christianity, and the impotence of a moral philosophy destitute of supernatural attestation. CHAPTER XXVII. AUTHORITIES FOR PAULAS SUBSEQUENT HISTORY. — HIS APPEAI. IS HEARD. — HIS ACQUITTAL. — HE GOES FROM ROME TO ASIA MINOR. — THENCE TO SPAIN, WHERE HE RESIDES TWO YEARS. — HE RETURNS TO ASIA MINOR AND MACEDONIA. — WRITES *'THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHEUS.'^ — VISITS CRETE. — WRITES "the epistle TO TITUS." — HE WINTERS AT NICOPO- LIS. — HE IS AGAIN IMPRISONED AT ROME. — PROGRESS OF HIS TRIAL. — HE WRITES "THE SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHEUS." — HIS CONDEMNATION AND DEATH. We have already remarked that the light concentrated upon that portion of Paul's life which is related in the latter chapters of the Acts makes darker by contrast the obscurity which rests upon the remainder of his course. The progress of the historian who at- tempts to trace the footsteps of the apostles beyond the limits of the scriptural narrative must, at best, be hesitating and uncertain. It has been compared to the descent of one Avho passes from the clear sunshine which rests upon a mountain's top into the mist which wraps its side. But this is an inadequate comparison, for such a wayfarer loses the daylight gradually, and experiences no abrupt transition from the bright prospect and the distinctness of the onward path into darkness and bewilderment. Our case should rather be compared with that of the traveller on the Chinese fron- tier, who has just reached a turn in the valley along which his course has led him, and has come to a point whence he expected to enjoy the view of a new and brilliant landscape, when he sud- denly finds all further prospect cut off by an enormous wall, filling up all the space between precipices on either hand, and opposing a blank and insuperable barrier to his onward progress. And if a chink here and there should allow some glimpses of the rich territory beyond, they are only enough to tantalize, without grat- ifying his curiosity. 678 EVIDENCE IN FAVOR OF PAUL's LIBERATION. 679 Doubtless, however, it was a providential design which has thus limited our knowledge. The wall of separation which for ever cuts off the apostolic age from that which followed it was built by the hand of God. That age of miracles was not to be revealed to us as passing by any gradual transition into the common life of the Church ; it was intentionally isolated from all succeeding time, that we might learn to appreciate more fully its extraordinary character, and see by the sharpness of the abruptest contrast the difference between the human and the divine. A few faint rays of light, however, have been permitted to pene- trate beyond the dividing barrier, and of these we must make the best use we can ; for it is now our task to trace the history of Paul beyond the period where the narrative of his fellow-traveller so suddenly terminates. The only contemporary materials for this purpose are his own letters to Titus and Timotheus, and a single sentence of his disciple Clement of Rome; and during the three centuries which followed we can gather but a few scattered and unsatisfactory notices from the writers who have handed down to us the traditions of the Church. The great question which we have to answer concerns the ter- mination of that long imprisonment whose history has occupied the preceding chapters. Luke tells us that Paul remained under military custody in Rome for tv/o whole years" (Acts xxviii. 16 and 30), but he does not say what followed at the close of that period. Was it ended, we are led to ask, by the apostle's condem- nation and death or by his acquittal and liberation ? Although the answer to this question has been a subject of dispute in modern times, no doubt was entertained about it by the ancient Church. It was universally believed that Paul's appeal to Csesar terminated successfully, that he was acquitted of the charges laid against him, and that he spent some years in freedom 'j^rore he was again im- prisoned and condemned. The evidence on this subject, though (as we have said) not copious, is yet conclusive so far as it goes; and it is all one way. The most important portion of it is supplied by Clement, the disciple of Paul mentioned in Phil. iv. 3, who was afterward bishop of Rome. This author, writing /rom Rome to Corinth, expressly asserts that Paul had preached the gospel in the East and in THE West," that he ''had instructed the whole world [L e. the Eoman empire, which was commonly so called] in righteousness," 680 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. and that he "had gone to the extremity of the West" before his martyrdom. Now, in a Eoman author the extremity of the West could mean nothing short of Spain, and the expression is often used by Koman writers to denote Spain. Here, then, we have the express testi- mony of Paul's own disciple that he fulfilled his original intention (mentioned Eom. xv. 24-28) of visiting the Spanish peninsula, and consequently that he was liberated from his first imprisonment at Eome. The next piece of evidence which we possess on the subject is contained in the canon of the New Testament, compiled by an unknown Christian about the year A. D. 170, which is known as Muratori's Canon. In this document it is said in the account of the Acts of the Apostles that ^^LuJce relates to Theophilus events of which he was an eye-iuitness, as also, in a separate place (semote) [viz. Luke xxii. 31-3*3], he evidently declares the martyrdom of Peter ^ but {omits) THE JOURis^EY OF Paul from Eome to Spain.'' In the next place, Eusebius tells us, ^^After defending himself successfully, it is currently reported that the apostle again went forth to ^proclaim the gospel, and afterward came to Bome a seco7id time, and was martyred under JSferoJ^ Next we have the statement of Chrysostom, who mentions it as an undoubted historical fact that ^^Faul after his residence in Bome departed to Spaiii,^^ About the same time Jerome bears the same testimony, saying that Paul was dismissed by Nei^o, that he might preach Chrisfs gos- pel in the West J' Against this unanimous testimony of the primitive Church there js no external evidence whatever to oppose. Those who doubt the liberation of Paul from his imprisonment are obliged to resort to a gratuitous hypothesis or to inconclusive arguments from prob- ability. Thus, they try to account for the tradition of the Spanish journey by the arbitrary supposition that it arose from a wish to represent Paul as having fulfilled his expressed intentions (Eom. XV. 19) of visiting Spain. Or they say that it is improbable Nero would have liberated Paul after he had fallen under the in- fluence of Poppaea, the Jewish proselyte. Or, lastly, they urge that if Paul had really been liberated, we must have had some account of his subsequent labors. The first argument needs no answer, being a mere hypothesis. The second, as to the probabil- Paul's further labors. 681 ity of the matter, may be met by the remark that we know far too little of the circumstances and of the motives which weighed with Nero to judge how he would have been likely to act in the case. To the third argument w^e may oppose the fact that we have no account w^hatever of Paul's labors, toils, and sufferings during sev- eral of the most active years of his life, and only learn their ex- istence by a casual allusion in a letter to the Corinthians (2 Cor. xi. 24, 25). Moreover, if this argument be worth anything, it w^ould prove that none of the apostles except Paul took any part whatever in the propagation of the gospel after the first few^ years, since we have no testimony to their subsequent labors at all more definite than that which w^e have above quoted concerning the work of Paul after his liberation. But further, unless we are prepared to dispute the genuineness of the Pastoral Epistles, we must admit not only that Paul was liberated from his Eoman imprisonment, but also that he con- tinued his apostolic labors for at least some years afterward. It is now admitted by nearly all those who are competent to decide on such a question, first, that, the historical facts mentioned in the Epistles to Timotheus and Titus cannot be placed in any portion of Paul's life before or during his first imprisonment in Eome; and secondly, that the style in which those Epistles are written and the condition of the Church described in them forbids the supposition of such a date. Consequently, we must acknowledge (unless we deny the authenticity of the Pastoral Epistles) that after Paul's Roman imprisonment he was travelling at liberty in Ephesus, Crete, Macedonia, Miletus, and Nicopolis, and that he was afterward a second time in prison at Eome. But when we have said this we have told nearly all that we know of the apostle's personal history from his liberation to his death. We cannot fix with certainty the length of the time which intervened, nor the order in which he visited the different places where he is recorded to have labored. The following data, how- ever, we have. In the first place, his martyrdom is universally said to have occurred in the reign of Nero. Secondly, Timotheus was still a young man (i. e. young for the charge committed to him) at the time of Paul's second imprisonment at Eome. Thirdly, the three Pastoral Epistles were written within a few months of one another. Fourthly, their style differs so much from the style of the earlier Epistles that we must suppose as long an interval 682 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. between their date and that of the Epistle to Philippi as is con- sistent with the preceding conditions. These reasons concur in leading us to fix the last year of Nero as that of Paul's martyrdom. And this is the very year assigned to it by Jerome, and the next to that assigned by Eusebius, the two earliest WTiters who mention the date of Paul's death at all. We have already seen that Paul first arrived in Eome in the spring of A. D. 61 : we therefore have, on our hypothesis, an interval of five years between the period with which Luke concludes (a. d. 63) and the apostle's martyrdom. And the grounds above mentioned lead us to the conclusion that this interval was occupied in the following manner : In the first place, after the long delay which we have before endeavored to explain, Paul's appeal came on for hearing before the emperor. The appeals from the provinces in civil causes were heard not by the emperor himself, but by his delegates, who were persons of consular rank : Augustus had appointed one such dele- gate to hear appeals from each province respectively. But crimi- nal appeals appear generally to have been heard by the emperor in person, assisted by his council of assessors. Tiberius and Clau- dius had usually sat for this purpose in the Forum, but Nero, afta the example of Augustus, heard these causes in the imperial palace, w^hose ruins still crown the Palatine. Here, at one end of a splen- did hall lined w^ith the precious marbles of Egypt and of Lybia, we must imagine the Caesar seated in the midst of his assessors. These councillors, twenty in number, were men of the highest rank and greatest influence. Among them were the two consuls and selected representatives of each of the other great magistracies of Rome. The remainder consisted of senators chosen by lot. Over this distinguished bench of judges presided the representa- tive of the most powerful monarchy which has ever existed, the absolute ruler of the whole civilized world. But the reverential awe which his position naturally suggested was changed into con- tempt and loathing by the character of the sovereign who nov; presided over that supreme tribunal. For Nero was a man whom even the awful attribute of "power equal to the gods" could not render august except in title. The fear and horror excited by his omnipotence and his cruelty were blended with contempt for his ignoble lust of praise and his shameless licentiousness. He had not as yet plunged into that extravagance of tyranny which at a PAUI. BEFORE NERO. 683 later period exhausted the patience of his subjects and brought him to destruction. Hitherto, bis public measures had been guided by sage advisers, and his cruelty had injured his own family rather than the state. But already, at the age of twenty-five, he had murdered his innocent wife and his adopted brother, and had dyed his hands in the blood of his mother. Yet even these enormities seem to have disgusted the Romans less than his prostitution of the imperial purple by publicly performing as a musician on the stage and a charioteer in the circus. His degrading want of dig- nity and insatiable appetite for vulgar applause drew tears from the councillors and servants of his house, who could see him slaughter his nearest relatives without remonstrance. Before the tribunal of this blood-stained adulterer Paul the apostle was now brought in fetters, under the custody of his mili- tary guard. We may be sure that he who had so often stood un- daunted before the delegates of the imperial throne did not quail when he was at last confronted with their master. His life was not in the hands of Nero ; he knew that while his Lord had work for him on earth, he would shield him from the tyrant^s sword; and if his work was over, how gladly would he " depart and be with Christ, which was far better'^ ! To him all the majesty of E-oman despotism was nothing more than an empty pageant; the imperial demigod himself w\as but one of ^' the princes of this w^orld, that come to naught." Thus he stood, calm and collected, ready to answer the charges of his accusers, and knowing that in the hour of his need it should be given him what to speak. The prosecutors and their witnesses were now called forward to support their accusation ; for although the subject-matter for de- cision was contained in the written depositions forwarded from Judjea by Festus, yet (as we have before observed) the Roman law required the personal presence of the accusers and the witnesses whenever it could be obtained. We already know the charges brought against the apostle. He was accused of disturbing the Jews in the exercise of their worship, which was secured to them by law, of desecrating their temple, and, above all, of violating the public peace of the empire by perpetual agitation as the ring- leader of a new and factious sect. This charge was the most serious in the view of a Roman statesman, for the crime alleged amounted to majesfas, or treason against the commonwealth, and was punishable with death. 684 LIFE A.\D EPISTI.es OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. These accusations were supported by the emissaries of the San- hedrin, and probably by the testimony of witnesses from Judaea, Ephesus, Corinth, and the other scenes of Paul's activity. The foreign accusers, however, did not rely on the support of their own unaided eloquence. They doubtless hired the rhetoric of some accomplished Eoman pleader (as they had done even before the provincial tribunal of Felix) to set off their cause to the best advantage and paint the dangerous character of their antagonist in the darkest colors. Nor would it have been difficult to repre- sent the missionary labors of Paul as dangerous to the security of the Eoman state when we remember how ill informed the Eoman magistrates who listened must have been concerning the questions really at issue between Paul and his opponents, and when we con- sider how easily the Jews w^ere excited against the government by any fanatical leader who appealed to their nationality, and how readily the kingdom of the Messiah, which Paul proclaimed, might be misrepresented as a temporal monarchy set up in opposition to the foreign domination of Eome. We cannot suppose that Paul had secured the services of any professional advocate to repel such false accusations and put the truth clearly before his Eoman judges. We know that he resorted to no such method on former occasions of a similar kind. And it seems more consistent with his character and his un^vavering reliance on his Master's promised aid to suppose that he answered the elaborate harangue of the hostile pleader by a plain and simple statement of facts, like that which he addressed to Felix, Festus, and Agrippa. He could easily prove the falsehood of the charge of sacrilege by the testimony of those who were present in the temple ; and perhaps the refutation of this more definite accusa- tion might incline his judges more readily to attribute the vaguer charges to the malice of his opponents. He would then proceed to show that far from disturbing the exercise of the religio liciia of Judaism, he himself adhered to that religion, rightly understood. He would show that far from being a seditious agitator against the state, he taught his converts everywhere to honor the imperial government and submit to the ordinances of the magistrate for conscience' sake. And, though he w^ould admit the charge of belonging to the sect of the Nazarenes, yet he would remind his opponents that they themselves acknowledged the division of their nation into various sects, which were equally entitled tn the pro- THE apostle's TRIAL AND ACQUITTAL. OTD tection of the law, and that the sect of the Nazarenes had a right to the same toleration which was extended to those of the Phari- sees and the Sadducees. We know not whether he entered on this occasion into the peculiar doctrines of that "sect'' to which he belonged — basing them, as he ever did, on the resurrection of th.e dead, and reason- ing of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come. If so, he had one auditor at least who had more need to tremble than even Felix. But doubtless a seared conscience and a universal frivolity of character rendered Nero proof against emotions which for a moment shook the nerves of a less audacious criminal. When the parties on both sides had been heard, and the wit- nesses all examined and cross-examined (a process which perhaps occupied several days), the judgment of the court was taken. Each of the assessors gave his opinion in writing to the emperor, who never discussed the judgment with his assessors, as had been the practice of better emperors, but after reading their opinions gave sentence according to his own pleasure, without reference to the judgment of the majority. On this occasion it might have been expected that he would have pronounced the condemnation of the accused, for the influence of Poppaea had now reached its culmi- nating point, and she was, as we have said, a Jewish proselyte. We can scarcely doubt that the emissaries from Palestine would have sought access to so powerful a protectress, and demanded her aid for the destruction of a traitor to the Jewish faith ; nor would any scruples have prevented her from listening to their request, backed, as it probably was, according to the Eoman usage, by a bribe. If such influence was exerted upon Nero, it might have been expected easily to prevail. But we know not all the compli- cated intrigues of the imperial court. Perhaps some Christian freedman of Narcissus may have counteracted, through the inte- rest of that powerful favorite, the devices of Paul's antagonists, or perhaps Nero may have been capriciously inclined to act upon his own independent view of the law and justice of the case, or to show his contempt for what he regarded as the petty squabbles of a superstitious people, by " driving the accusers from his judgment- seat" with the same feelings which Gallio had shown on a similar occasion. However this may be, the trial resulted in the acquittal of Paul. He was pronounced guiltless of the charges brought against him, ^6 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. his fetters were struck off, and he was liberated from his length • ened captivity. And now at last he was free to realize his long- cherished purpose of evangelizing the West. But the immediate execution of this design was for the present postponed in crder that he might first revisit some of his earlier converts, who again needed his presence. Immediately on his liberation it may reasonably be supposed that he fulfilled the intention which he had lately expressed (Phile. 22 and Phil. ii. 24), of travelling eastward through Macedonia, and seeking the churches of Asia Minor, some of which, as yet, had not seen his face in the flesh. We have already learnt from the Epistle to the Colossians how much his influence an4 authority were re- quired among those Asiatic churches. We must suppose him, therefore, to have gone from Eome by the usual route, crossing the Adriatic from Brundusium to Apollonia or Dyrrhachium, and pro- ceeding by the great Egnatian road through Macedonia ; and we can imagine the joy wherewith he was welcomed by his beloved children at Philij^pi when he thus gratified the expectation which he had encouraged them to form. There is no reason to suppose, however, that he lingered in Macedonia. It is more likely that he hastened on to Ephesus, and made that city once more his centre of operations. If he effected his purpose, he now for the first time visited Colosse, Laodicea, and other churches in that region. Having accomplished the objects of his visit to Asia Minor, he was at length enabled (perhaps in the year following that of his liberation) to undertake his long-meditated journey to Spain. By what route he went we know not ; he may either have travelled by way of Rome, which had been his original intention, or more prob- ably, avoiding the dangers which at this period (in the height of the Neronian persecution) would have beset him there, he may have gone by sea. There was constant commercial intercourse between the East and Massilia (the modern Marseilles), and Mas- silia was in daily communication with the Peninsula. We may suppose him to have reached Spain in the year 64, and to have remained there about two years; which would allow him time to establish the germs of Christian churches among the Jewish pros- elytes who were to be found in all the great cities from Tarraco to Oades along the Spanish coast. From Spain, Paul seems to have returned in A. D. 66 to Ephesus , and here he found that the predictions which he had long ago PAUL IN ASIA MINOR. 687 uttered to the Ephesian presbyters were already receiving their fulfilment. Heretical teachers had arisen in the very bosom of the Church, and were leading away the believers after themselves. Hymenaeus and Philetus were sowing in a congenial soil the seed w^hich was destined in another century to bear so ripe a crop of error. The East and West were infusing their several elements of poison into the pure cup of gospel truth. In Asia Minor, as at Alexandria, Hellenic philosophism did not refuse to blend with Oriental theosophy ; the Jewish superstitions of the Cabbala and the wild speculations of the Persian Magi were combined with the Greek craving for an enlightened and esoteric religion. The out- w^ard forms of superstition were ready for the vulgar multitude ; the interpretation was confined to the aristocracy of knowledge, the self-styled Gnostics (1 Tim. vi. 20) ; and we see the tendencies at work among the latter when we learn that, like their prototypes at Corinth, they denied the future resurrection of the dead, and taught that the only true resurrection was that which took place when the soul awoke from the death of ignorance to the life of knowledge. We recognize already the germ of those heresies which convulsed the Church in the succeeding century ; and we may imagine the grief and indignation aroused in the breast of Paul when he found the extent of the evil and the number of Christian converts already infected by the spreading plague. Nevertheless, it is evident from the Epistles to Timotheus and Titus, written about this time, that he was prevented by other duties from staying in this Oriental region so long as his presence was required. He left his disciples to do that which, had circum- stances permitted, he would have done himself. He was plainly hurried from one point to another. Perhaps also he had lost some of his former energy. This might well be the case if we consider all he had endured during thirty years of labor. The physical hardships which he had undergone were of themselves sufticient to wear out the most robust constitution, and we know that his health was already broken many years before. But, in addition to these bodily trials, the moral conflicts which he continually en- countered could not fail to tire down the elasticity of his spirit. The hatred manifested by so large and powerful a section even of the Christian Church, the destruction of so many early friendships, the faithless desertion of followers, the crowd of anxieties which pressed upon him daily, and "the care of all the churches,^' must 688 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. needs have preyed upon tlie mental energy of any man, but espe- cially of one whose temperament was so ardent and impetuous. When approaching the age of seventy he might will be worn out both in body and mind. And this will account for the compara- tive want of vigor and energy which has been attributed to the Pastoral Epistles, if there be any such deficiency, and may per- haps also be in part the cause of his opposing those errors by deputy which we might rather have expected him to uproot by his own personal exertions. However this may be, he seems not to have remained for any long time together at Ephesus, but to have been called away from thence — first to Macedonia, and afterward to Crete; and immedi- ately on his return from thence he appears finally to have left Ephesus for Eome by way of Corinth. But here we are antici- pating our narrative ; we must return to the first of these hurried journeys, when he departed from Ephesus to Macedonia, leaving the care of the Ephesian Church to Timotheus, and charging him especially with the duty of counteracting the efforts of those heretical teachers whose dangerous character we have described. When he arrived in Macedonia he found that his absence might possibly be prolonged beyond what he had expected, and he prob- ably felt that Timotheus might need some more explicit creden- tial from himself than a mere verbal commission to enable him for a longer period to exercise that apostolic authority over the Ephesian Church wherewith he had invested him. It would also be desirable that Timotheus should be able in his struggle with the heretical teachers to exhibit documentary proof of PauFs agreement with himself and condemnation of the opposing doc- trines. Such seem to have been the principal motives which led Paul to despatch from Macedonia that which is known as 'Hhe First Epistle to Timothy,'^ in which are contained various rules for the government of the Ephesian Church, such as would be received with submission when thus seen to proceed directly from its apostolic founder, while they would perhaps have been less readily obeyed if seeming to be the spontaneous injunctions of the youthful Timotheus. In the same manner it abounds with impres- sive denunciations against the false teachers at Ephesus, which might command the assent of some who turned a deaf ear to the remonstrances of the apostolic deputy. There are also exhorta- tions to Timotheus himself, some of which perhaps were rathe'' THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHEUS. 689 meant to bear an indirect application to others at the time, as they have ever since furnished a treasury of practical precepts for the Christian Church ; THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHEUS. 1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by comraand of God Salutation. 2 our Saviour and Christ Jesus our hope, to Timotheus my true son IN FAITH. Grace, Mercy, and Peace, from God our Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3 As I desired thee to remain in Ephesus, when I was Timotheus ia setting out for Macedonia, that thou mightest command [ifj^ ^ commis- 4 certain persons not to teach falsely, nor to pursue fables to^"oppose ^the and endless genealogies, which furnish ground for dis- ^'"^^ teacUera. putation, rather than for the exercising of the stewardship of God in faith. 5 Now the end of tlie commandment is love, proceeding from a pure 6 heart, and good conscience, and undissembled faith. Which some have missed, and have turned aside to vain babbling, desiring to be 7 teachers of the Law, understanding neither what they say nor whereof 8 they affirm. But we know that the Law is good, if a man use it 9 lawfully ; knowing this, that the Law is not enacted for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the impious and sinful, 10 for the unholy and profane, for parricides and murderers, for forni- cators, sodomites, slave-dealers, liars, perjurers, and whatsoever else 11 is contrary to sound doctrine. Such is the glorious glad tidings of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust. 12 And I thank Him who has strengthened my heart. The commis- Christ Jesus our Lord, that he accounted me faithful, of^PauL ^^^^^^^ 13 and appointed me to minister unto his service, who was before a blasphemer and persecutor, and doer of outrage; but I received 14 mercy, because I acted ignorantly, in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord abounded beyond measure, with faith and love which is in 15 Christ Jesus. Faithful is the saying, and worthy of all acceptation, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am first. 16 But for this cause I received mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ mTght show forth all bis long-suflering, for a pattern of those who 17 should hereafter believe on him unto life everlasting. Now to the King eternal, innnortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory unto the ages of ages. Amen. 44 690 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. 18 This charge I commit unto thee, son Timotheus, ac- Timotheus it 1 ^ 1 . .11 en joined to ful- cording to the former prophecies concerning thee ; that fii his comm s- in the strength thereof thou mayest fight the good fight, 19 holding faith and a good conscience, which some have cast away, and 20 made sliipwreck concerning the faith. Among whom are Hyme- naeus and Alexander, whom I delivered over unto Satan that they might be taught by punishment not to blaspheme. II. 1 I exhort, therefore, that first of all, supplications. Directions for . , . J ^1 1 • • 1 1 i' public worship, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for and the behav- 2 all men ; for kings and all that are in authority, that womenthereat^ we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and gravity. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, 4 who wills that all men should be saved, and should come to the 6 knowledge of the truth. For [over all] there is but one God, and one 6 Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave 7 himself a ransom for all men, to be testified in due time. And of this testimony I was appointed herald and apostle (I speak the truth 8 in Christ, I lie not), a teacher of the Gentiles, in faith and truth. I desire, then, that in every place the men should offer up prayers, lifting up their hands in holiness, putting away anger and disputa- 9 tion. Likewise, also, that the women should come in seemly apparel, adorned with modesty and self-restraint ; not in braided hair, or gold, 10 or pearls, or costly garments, but (as befits women professing god- 11 liness) with the ornament of good works. Let women learn iD 12 silence, with entire submission. But I permit not a woman to teach, 13 nor to claim authority over the man, but to keep silence. (For 1 4 Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived ; 15 but the woman was deceived, and became a transgressor.) But women will be saved by the bearing of children ; if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-restraint. TIL 1 Faithful is the saying, "i/"a man seeks the office of a Directions for 2 bishop, he desires a good work^ A bishop, then, must ment of^prea- be free from reproach, the husband of one wife, sober, 3 self-restrained, orderly, hospitable, skilled in teaching; not given to 4 wine or brawls, but gentle, peaceable, and liberal; ruling Ids own household well, keei)ing his children in subjection with all gravity 5 — (but if a man knows not how to rule his own household, how can 6 he take charge of the Church of God?) — not a novice, lest he be FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHEUS. 691 blinded with pride and fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7 Moreover, he ought to have a good reputation among those who are without the Church, lest he fall into reproach and into a snare of the devil. 8 Likewise, the deacons must be men of gravity, not Directions for double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of deacons. 9 of gain, holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. And 10 let these also be first tried, and after trial be made deacons, if they 11 are found irreproachable. Their wives, likewise, must be women of 12 gravity, not slanderous, sober and faithful in all things. Let the deacons be husbands of one wife, fitly ruling their children and their 13 own households. For those who have well performed the office of a deacon, gain for themselves a good position, and great boldness in the faith of Christ Jesus. 14 These things I write to thee, although I hope to Reason for writ- 1^ come to thee shortly ; but in order that (if I should be tions to Timo- delayed) thou mayest know how to conduct thyself in the house of God (for such is the Church of the living God) as a 16 pillar and mainstay of the truth. And, without contradiction, great is the mystery of godliness — " God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit; beheld by angels, preached among the Gentiles; believed on in the world, received up in gloryJ^ IV. 1 Kow the Spirit declares expressly, that in after False teachers times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to the^rchlract'eli 2 seducing spirits, and teachings of da?mons, speaking mode o7'?esi3t! lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared; 3 hindering marriage, enjohung abstinence from meats, which God cre- ated to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and have 4 knotvledge of the truth. For all things created by God are good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it be received with thanksgiving. 5 For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. 6 In thus instructing the brethren, thou wilt be a good servant of Jesus Christ, nourishing thyself with the words of the faith and good 7 doctrine which thou hast followed. Eeject the fables of profane and 8 doting teachers, but train thyself for the contests of godliness. For the training of the body is profitable for a little; but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the present life, and of the 9 life to come. Faithful is the saying, and worthy of all acceptation, 10 — " For to this end we endure labor and reproach, because we have set ov* 692 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. hope on the living God, who is the Saviour of all mankind, specially of the faithfuV 11 These things enjoin and teach; let no man despise Duties of Timo- 12 thy youth, but make thyself a pattern of the faithful, 13 in word, in life, in love, in faith, in purity. Until I come, apply 14 thyself to public reading, exhortation, and teaching. Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy with the lay- 15 ing on of the hands of the presbytery. Let these things be thy care ; give thyself wholly to them ; that thy improvement may be manifest 16 to all men. Give heed to thyself and to thy teaching ; continue steadfast therein. For in so doing, thou shalt save both thyself and thy hearers. V. 1 Rebuke not an aged man, but exhort him as thou wouldest a 2 father ; treat young men as brothers ; the aged women as mothers ; the young as sisters, in all purity. 3 Pay due regard to the widows who are friendless in widows are to 4 their widowhood. But if any widow has children or ^ ^^pp^^ ® grandchildren, let them learn to show their godliness first towards their own household, and to requite their parents ; for this is accept- 5 able in the sight of God. The widow who is friendless and deso- • late in her widowhood, sets her hope on God, and continues in sup- 6 plications and prayers night and day ; but she who lives in wanton- 7 ness is dead while she lives ; and hereof do thou admonish them, 8 that they may be irreproachable. But if any man provide not for his own, and especially for his kindred, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever. 9 A widow, to be placed on the list, must be not less Qualifications than sixty years of age, having been the wife of one the list. 10 husband ; she must be well reported of for her good deeds, as one who has brought up children, received strangers with hospitality, washed the feet of Christ^s people, relieved the distressed, and diligently fol- 11 lowed every good work. But younger widows reject; for when they 12 have become wanton against Christ, they desire to marry; and t»hereby incur condemnation, because they have broken their former 13 promise. Moreover, they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house ; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, 14 speaking tilings which ought not to be spoken. I wish therefore that younger widows should marry, bear children, rule their house- 15 holds, and give no occasion to the adversary for reproach. For already some of them have gone astray after Satan. 16 If there are widows dej^endent on any believer (whether man of FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHEUS. 693 woman), let those on wliom they depend relieve them, and let not tlie Church be burdened with them ; that it may relieve the widows who are destitute. 17 Let the presbyters who perform their office well be Government of - - - /.111 . 11 xi the presbyters. counted worthy of a twofold honor, especially those 18 who labor in speaking and teaching. For the Scripture saith, "TAow shall not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corUj'* and The laborer is vjorthy of his hireJ* 19 Against a presbyter receive no accusation except on the testimony 20 of two or three witnesses. Rebuke the offenders in the presence 21 of all, that others also may fear. I adjure thee, before God and Christ Jesus and the chosen angels, that thou observe these things without prejudice against any man, and do nothing out of par- tiality. 22 Lay hands hastily on no man, nor make thyself a Ordination, partaker in the sins committed by another. Keep thyself pure. 23 Drink no longer water only, but use a little wine, for Particular and ^ r ^ i i /. i T general cau- the sake of thy stomach, and thy frequent maladies. tions. 24 [In thy decisions remember that] the sins of some men are mani- fest beforehand, and lead the w^ay to their condemnation ; but the 25 sins of others are not seen till afterward. Likewise, also, the good deeds of some men are conspicuous ; and those which they conceal cannot be kept liidden. VI. 1 Let tliose who are under the yoke as bondsmen, Duties of slaves, esteem their masters worthy of all honor, lest reproach be brought 2 upon the name of God and his doctrine. And let those whose masters are believers, not despise them because they are brethren, but serve them with the more subjection, because they who claim the benefit are believing and beloved. Thus teach thou, and exhort. 3 If any man teach falsely, and consent not to the False teachers sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the covetousness. 4 godly doctrine, he is blinded with pride, and understands nothing, but is filled with a sickly appetite for disputations and contentions about words, whence arise envy, strife, reproaches, evil suspicions^ 6 violent collisions of men whose mind is corrupted, and who are destitute of the truth ; who think that godliness is a gainful trade. 6, 7 But godliness with contentment is truly gainful ; for we brought nothing into the world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out ; 8, 9 but having food and shelter, let us be therewith content. They who seek for riches fall into temptations and snares, and many foolish and hurtful desires, which drown men in ruin and destruc- 694 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. 10 tion. For the love of money is a root of all evils ; and some, through coveting it, have been led astray from the faith, and pierced them- selves through with many sorrows. 11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and fol- Exhortatione to low after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, stead- 12 fastness, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which thou wast called, and didst confess the good 13 confession before many witnesses. I charge thee in the presence of God who gives life to all things, and Christ Jesus who bore testimony 14 under Pontius Pilate to the good confession, that thou keep that which thou art commanded, spotlessly and irreproachably, until the appear- 15 ing of our Lord Jesus Christ ; which shall in due time be made 16 manifest by the blessed and only potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords ; who only hath immortality, dwelling in liglit unap- proachable ; whom no man hath seen, nor can see ; to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen. 17 Charge those who are rich in this present world, not Duties of the to be high-minded, nor to trust in uncertain riches, but 18 in God, who provides all things richly for our use. Charge them to 19 practise benevolence, to be rich in good works, to be bountiful and generous, and thus to store up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life. 20 O Timotheus, guard the treasure which is committed t i m o t h e u « , T .11 n Till* 1 again reraiuded to thy trust, and avoid the proiane babblings and an- of his commifl- 21 titheses of the falsely-named knowledge ; " which ''^°"* some professinsr, have erred concerninsj the faith. , , , ^ ^ Concluding Grace be with thee. beuediction. The expectations which Paul expressed in the above letter of a more prolonged absence from Ephesus could scarcely have been fulfilled, for soon after we find that he had been in Crete (which seems to imply that on his way thither he had passed through Ephesus), and was now again on his way westward. We must suppose, then, that he returned shortly from Macedonia to Ephe- sus, as he hoped, though doubtfully, to be able to do when he wrote to Timotheus. From Ephesus, as we have just said, he soon afterward made an expedition to Crete. It can scarcely be supposed that the Christian churches of Crete were first founded during this visit of Paul ; on the contrary, many indications in the Epistle to Titus show that they had already lasted for a con- siderable time. But they were troubled by false teachers, and probably had never yet been properly organized, having originated, EPISTLE TO TITUS. 695 perhaps, in the private efforts of individual Christians, who would have been supplied with a centre of operations and nucleus of churches by the numerous colonies of Jews established in the isl- and. Paul now visited them in company with Titus, whom he left in Crete as his representative on his departure. He himself was unable to remain long enough to do what was needful, either in silencing error or in selecting fit persons as presbyters of the numerous scattered churches, which would manifestly be a work of time. Probably he confined his efforts to a few of the principal places, and empowered Titus to do the rest. Thus, Titus was left at Crete in the same position which Timotheus had occupied at Ephesus during Paul's recent absence; and there would conse- quently be the same advantage in his receiving written directions from Paul concerning the government and organization of the Church which we have before mentioned in the case of Timotheus. Accordingly, shortly after leaving Crete, Paul sent a letter to Ti- tus, the outline of which would equally serve for that of the for- mer Epistle. But Paul's letter to Titus seems to have been still further called for to meet some strong opposition which that dis- ciple had encountered while attempting to carry out his master's directions. This may be inferred from the very severe remarks against the Cretans which occur in the Epistle, and from the state- ment at its commencement that the very object which its writer had in view in leaving Titus in Crete was that he might appoint presbyters in the Cretan churches—an indication that his claim to exercise this authority had been disputed. This Epistle seems to have been despatched from Ephesus at the moment when Paul was on the eve of departure on a westward journey which was to take him as far as Nicopolis (in Epirus) before the winter. The following is a translation of this Epistle: THE EPISTLE TO TITUS. I. 1 Paul a bondsman of God, and an apostle of salutation. J Esus Christ— sent forth to bring God's chosen to faith and to the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness with 2 hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before the times of old; (but he made known his word in due season, 3 in the message committed to my trust by the command of God 696 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. our Saviour), — to Titus, my true son in our comthon faith. 4 Grace and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour. 5 This was the [very] cause why I left thee in Crete, commission of ^ ' Thus to re^n- that thou mierhtest further correct what is deficient, late the Cretan ° , ^ churches. and appoint presbyters in every city, as I gave thee 6 commission. No man must be appointed a presbyter of^piSbytels!^'* but he who is without reproach, the husband of one wife, having believing children, who are not accused of riotous living, nor disobe- 7 dient; for a bishop must be free from reproach, as being a steward of God ; not self-willed, not easily provoked, not a lover of wine, 8 not given to brawls, not greedy of gain ; but hospitable to strangers, 9 a lover of good men, self-restrained, just, holy, continent ; holding fast the words which are faithful to our teaching, that he may be able both to exhort others in the sound doctrine, and to rebuke the gain- sayers. 10 For there are many disobedient babblers and de- {he^Vaisd 11 ceivers, specially they of the circumcision, whose teachers, mouths need bit and bridle ; for they subvert whole houses, by teach- 12 ing evil, for the love of shameful gain. It was said by one of them- selves, a prophet of their own, — *' Always liars and beasts are the Cretans, and inwardly sluggish." 13 This testimony is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they 14 may be sound in faith, and may no more give heed to Jewish fables. 15 and precepts of men who turn away from the truth. To the pure all things are pure ; but to the polluted and unbelieving nothing is pure, 16 but both their understanding and their conscience is polluted. They profess to know God, but by their works they deny him, being abom- inable and disobedient, and worthless for any good work. II. 1 But do thou speak conformably to the sound doc- Tittirhow^he^is 2 trine. Exhort the aged men to be sober, ffrave, self- toinstmct those ^ ^ 7 o 7 of diffe rent ages restrained, sound in faith, in love, in steadfastness. Ex- and sexes. 3 hort the aged women, likewise, to let their deportment testify of holi- ness, to Keep themselves from slander and from drunkenness, and to 4 give good instruction ; that they may teach discretion to the younger 6 women, leading them to be loving wives and loving mothers, self- restrained, chaste, keepers at home, amiable and obedient to their 6 husbands, lest reproach be brought upon the word of God. In like 7 manner, do thou exhort the young men to self-restraint. And EPISTLE TO TITUS. 697 show tlivself in all things a pattern of good works ; His own con- ^ ^ ^ , duct. manifesting in thy teaching uncorruptncss, gravity, 8 soundness of doctrine not to be condemned, that our adversaries may 9 be shamed, having no evil to say against ns. Exhort bondsmen to obey their masters, and to strive to please them in all Duties of slaves. 10 things, without gainsaying; not purloining, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our ^^^^^oPch^^ 11 Saviour in all things. For the grace of God has been tianity. 12 made manifest, bringing salvation to all mankind; teaching us to deny ungodliness, and earthly lusts, and to live temperately, justly, 13 and godly in this present world ; looking for that blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of tlie great God, and our Saviour Jesus 14 Christ ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify us unto himself as " a peculiar people," zealous 15 of good works. These things speak, and exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee. III. 1 Remind them to render submission to magistrates Duty towards , , . . , -, /. government and authorities, to obey the government, to perlorm and towards 2 every good work readily, to speak evil of no man, to generally, avoid strife, to act with forbearance, and to show all meekness, to all 3 men. For we ourselves also were formerly without understanding, disobedient and led astray, enslaved to all kinds of lusts and pleas- ures, living in malice and in envy, hateful and hating one another. 4 But when God our Saviour made manifest his kindness and love of 5 men, he saved us, not through works of righteousness which we had done, but according to his own mercy, by the laver of regeneration, 6 and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, which he richly poured forth 7 upon us, by Jesus Christ our Saviour ; that, being justified by his grace, we might become heirs, through hope of life J^^^^ ^ e'^^^'^oTd 8 eternal. Faitiiful is the savins, and these thiui^s I de- works and re- ^ » 8i8t the false sire thee to affirm, " Let them that have believed in God teachers. 9 be carefvl to practise good works." Tiiese things are good and profit- able to men; but avoid foolish disputations, and genealogies, and strifes and contentions concerning the Law, for they are profitless and 10,11 vain. A sectarian after two admonitions, reject, knowing that such a man is perverted, and by his sins is self-con'.iemned. 12 When I send Artemas or Tychicus to thee, endeavor Special direc- to come to me to Nicopolis ; for there I have deter- jiurney^ lo^m^- 13 mined to winter. Forward Zenas the lawyer and Apol- ^^p^^'*** 14 los on their journey zealously, that they may want for nothing. And 698 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. let our people also learn to practise good works, ministering to the necessities of others, that they may not be unfruitful. 15 All that are with me salute thee. Salute those who salutations, love us in faith. Grace be with you all. Concluding be- We see from the above letter that Titus was desired to join Paul at Nicopolis, where the apostle designed to winter. We learn from an incidental notice elsewhere that the route he pursued was from Ephesus to Miletus, where his old companion Trophimus remained behind from sickness, and thence to Corinth, where he left Eras- tus, the former treasurer of that city, whom perhaps he had ex- pected or wished to accompany him in his further progress. The position of Nicopolis would render it a good centre for operating upon the surrounding province ; and thence Paul might make ex- cursions to those churches of Illyricum which he perhaps founded himself at an earlier period. The city which was thus chosen as the last scene of the apostle's labors, before his final imprisonment, is more celebrated for its origin than for its subsequent history. It was founded by Augustus as a permanent memorial of the vic- tory of Actium, and stood upon the site of the camp occupied by his land-forces before that battle. We learn from the accounts of modern travellers that the remains upon the spot still attest the extent and importance of the *^City of Victory:'' "A long, lofty wall spans a desolate plain ; to the north of it rises, on a dis- tant hill, the shattered scena of a theatre; and to the west the ex- tended though broken line of an aqueduct connects the distant mountains, from which it tends, with the main subject of the pic- ture, the city itself." To people this city, Augustus uprooted the neighboring mountaineers from their native homes, dragging them by his arbitrary compulsion "from their healthy hills to this low and swampy plain." It is satisfactory to think that "in lieu of the blessings of which they were deprived, the Greek colonists of Nicopolis were consoled with one greater than all when they saw, heard, and talked with the apostle who was debtor to the Greeks." It seems most probable, however, that Paul was not permitted to spend the whole of this winter in security at Nicopolis. The Christians were now far more obnoxious to the Roman authorities than formerly. They were already distinguished from the Jews, and could no longer shelter themselves under the toleration ex- tended to the Mosaic religion. So eminent a leader of the pro- THE SECOND JOURKEY TO ROME. 699 scribed sect was sure to find enemies everywhere, especially among his fellow-countrymen ; and there is nothing improbable in sup- posing that upon the testimony of some informer he was arrested by the duumvirs of Nicopolis and forwarded to Eome for trial. The indications which we gather from the Second Epistle to Timo- theus render it probable that this arrest took place not later than midwinter, and the authorities may have thought to gratify the emperor by forwarding so important a criminal immediately to Eome. It is true that the navigation of the Mediterranean was in those times suspended during the winter, but this rule would apply only to longer voyages, and not to the short passage from Apollonia to Brundusium. Hence, it is not unlikely that Paul may have arrived at Kome some time before spring. In this melancholy journey he had but few friends to cheer him. Titus had reached Nicopolis, in obedience to his summons, and there were others also, it would seem, in attendance on him, but they were scattered by the terror of his arrest. Demas forsook him for love of this present world,'' and departed to Thessalonica ; Crescens went to Galatia on the same occasion. We are unwilling to suppose that Titus could have yielded to such unworthy fears, and may be allowed to hope that his journey to the neighboring Dalmatia was undertaken by the desire of Paul. Luke, at any rate, remained faithful, accompanied his master once more over the wintry sea, and shared the dangers of his imprisonment at Rome. This imprisonment was evidently more severe than it had been five years before. Then, though necessarily fettered to his military guard, he had been allowed to live in his own lodgings, and had been suffered to preach the gospel to a numerous company who came to hear him. Now he is not only chained, but treated "as a malefactor.'' His friends, indeed, are still suffered to visit him in his confinement, but we hear nothing of his preaching. It is dangerous and difficult to seek his prison — so perilous to show any public sympathy with him that no Christian ventures to stand by him in the court of justice. And as the final stage of his trial approaches he looks forward to death as his certain sentence. This alteration in the treatment of Paul exactly corresponds with that which the history of the times would have led us to ex- pect. We have seen that his liberation took place early in A. D. 63 ; he was therefore far distant from Rome when the first imperial 700 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. persecution of Christianity broke out in consequence of the great fire in the summer of the following year. Then first, it appears, Christians were recognized as a distinct body, separate both from Jews and heathens; and their number must have been already very great at Rome to account for the public notice attracted towards a sect whose members were most of them individually so obscure in social position. When the alarm and indignation of the people were excited by the tremendous ruin of a conflagration which burnt down almost half the city, it answered the purpose of Nero (who was accused of causing the fire) to avert the rage of the populace from himself to the already hated votaries of a new religion. Tacitus describes the success of this expedient, and relates the sufferings of the Christian martyrs, who were put to death with circumstances of the most aggravated cruelty. Some were cruci- fied ; some disguised in the skins of beasts and hunted to death with dogs; some were wrapped in robes impregnated with inflam- mable materials and set on fire at night, that they might serve to illuminate the circus of the Vatican and the gardens of Nero, where this diabolical monster exhibited the agonies of his vic- tims to the public, and gloated over them himself, mixing among the spectators in the costume of a charioteer. Brutalized as the Romans w^ere by the perpetual spectacle of human combats in the amphitheatre, and hardened by popular prejudice against the " atheistical " sect, yet the tortures of the victims excited even their compassion. ^'A very great multitude,'' as Tacitus informs us, perished in this manner; and it appears from his statement that the mere fact of professing Christianity was accounted suffi- cient to justify their execution, the whole body of Christians being considered as involved in the crime of firing the city. This, how- ever, was in the first excitement which followed the fire, and even then, probably, but few among those who perished w^ere Roman citizens. Since that time some years had passed, and now a decent respect would be paid to the forms of law in dealing with one who, like Paul, possessed the privilege of citizenship. Yet we can quite understand that a leader of so abhorred a sect would be subjected to a severe imprisonment. We have no means of knowing the precise charge now^ made against the apostle. He might certainly be regarded as an offender against the law which prohibited the propagation of a new and illicit religion [religio nova et illicita) among the citizens of Rome. THE SECOND ROMAN TRIAL. 701 But at this period one article of accusation against him must have been the more serious charge of having instigated the I^oman Christians to their supposed act of incendiarism before his last de- parture from the capital. It appears that " Alexander the brass- founder " (2 Tim. iv. 14) was either one of bis accusers or at least a witness against him. If this w^as the same witb the Jewish Alex- ander of Ephesus (Acts xix. 33), it would be probable that his testimony related to the former charge. But there is no proof that these two Alexanders were identical. We may add that the employment of informer [delator) was now become quite a profes- sion at Rome, and that there would be no lack of accusations against an unpopular prisoner as soon as his arrest became known. Probably no long time elapsed after Paul's arrival before his cause came on for hearing. The accusers, with their witnesses, would be already on the spot ; and on this occasion he was not to be tried by the emperor in person, so that another cause of delay, which was often interposed by the carelessness or indolence of the emperor, would be removed. The charge now alleged against him probably fell under the cognizance of the city prefect [prcefectus urbi)y whose jurisdiction daily encroached at this period on that of the ancient magistracies. For we must remember that since the time of Augustus a great though silent change had taken place in the Roman system of criminal procedure. The ancient method, though still the regular and legal system, was rapidly becoming obsolete in practice. Under the republic a Roman citizen could theoretically be tried on a criminal charge only by the sovereign people, but the judicial power of the people was delegated by special laws to certain bodies of judges superintended by the sev- eral praetors. Thus, one praetor presided at trials for homicide, another at trials for treason, and so on. But the presiding magis- trate did not give the sentence; his function was merely to secure the legal formality of the proceedings. The judgment was pro- nounced by the judices, a large body of judges (or rather jurors) chosen (generally by lot) from amongst the senators or knights, who gave their vote by ballot for acquittal or condemnation. But under the empire this ancient system, though not formally abolished, was gradually superseded. The emperors from the first claimed supreme judicial authority, both civil and criminal. And this jurisdiction was exercised not only by themselves, but by the del- egates whom they appointed. It was at first delegated chiefly to 702 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. the prefect of the city; and though causes might, up to the begin- ning of the second century, be tried by the praetors in the old way, yet this became more and more unusual. In the reign of Nero it was even dangerous for an accuser to prosecute an offender in the prfEtor's instead of the prefect's court. Thus the trial of criminal charges was transferred from a jury of independent judices to a single magistrate appointed by a despot, and controlled only by a council of assessors, to whom he was not bound to attend. Such was the court before which Paul was now cited. We have an account of the first hearing of the cause from his own pen. He writes thus to Timotheus immediately after : "When I was first heard in my defence, no man stood by me, but all forsook me, — I pray that it be not laid to their charge. — Nevertheless, the Lord Jesus stood by me, and strengthened my heart; that by me the proc- lamation of the glad tidings might be accomplished in full measure, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was delivered out of the lion's mouth." We see from this statement that it was dangerous even to appear in public as the friend or adviser of the apostle. No advocate would venture to plead his cause, no procurator to aid him in arranging the evidence, no patronus (such as he might have found, perhaps, in the pow^erful ^milian house) to appear as his supporter, and to deprecate, according to ancient usage, the sever- ity of the sentence. But he had a more powerful Intercessor and a wiser Advocate, who could never leave him nor forsake him. The Lord Jesus was always near him, but now was felt almost visibly present in the hour of his need. From the above description we can realize in some measure the external features of his last trial. He evidently intimates that he spoke before a crowded audience, so that "all the Gentiles might hear;" and this corresponds with the supposition which histor- ically we should be led to make, that he was tried in one of those great basilicas which stood in the Forum. Two of the most cele- brated of these edifices were called the Pauline Basilicas, from the well-known Lucius ^^milius Paulus, who had built one of them and restored the other. It is not improbable that the greatest man who ever bore the Pauline name was tried in one of these. From specimens which still exist, as w^ell as from the descriptions of Vi- truvius, we have an accurate knowledge of the character of these halls of justice. They were rectangular buildings, consisting of a central nave and two aisles, separated from the nave by rows of REMANDED TO PRTSON. 703 columns. At one end of the nave was the tribune, in the centre of which was placed the magistrate's curule chair of ivory elevated on a platform called the tribunal. Here also sat the council of assessors, who advised the prefect upon the law, though they had no voice in the judgment. On the sides of the tribune were seats for distinguished persons, as well as for parties engaged in the pro- ceedings. Fronting the presiding magistrate stood the prisoner with, his accusers and his advocates. The public was admitted into the remainder of the nave and aisles (which was railed off from the portion devoted to the judicial proceedings), and there were also galleries along the whole length of the side aisles — one for men, the other for women. The aisles were roofed over, as was the tribune. The nave was originally left open to the sky. The basil- icas were buildings of great size, so that a vast multitude of spec- tators was always present at any trial which excited public interest. Before such an audience it was that Paul was now called to speak in his defence. His earthly friends had deserted him, but his heav- enly Friend stood by him He was strengthened by the power of Christ's Spirit, and pleaded the cause not of himself only, but of the gospel. He spoke of Jesus, of his death and his resurrection, so that all the heathen multitude might hear. At the same time he successfully defended himself from the first of the charges bro\ight against him, which perhaps accused him of conspiring with the incendiaries of Eome. He was delivered from the im.- mediate peril, and saved from the ignominious and painful death which might have been his doom had he been convicted on such a charge. He was now remanded to prison to wait for the second stage of his trial. It seems that he himself expected this not to come on so soon as it really did, or, at any rate, he did not think the final decision would be given till the following winter, w^hereas it actually took place about midsummer. Perhaps he judged from the long delay of his former trial, or he may have expected (from the issue of his first hearing) to be again acquitted on a second charge, and to be convicted on a third. He certainly did not ex- pect a final acquittal, but felt no doubt that the cause would ulti- mately result in his condemnation. We are not left to conjecture the feelings with which he awaited this consummation, for he has himself expressed them in that sublime strain of triumphant hope which is familiar to the memory of every Christian, and which 704 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. has nerved the hearts of a thousand martyrs : " I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me in that day." He saw before him at a little distance the doom of an unrighteous magistrate and the sword of a bloodstained executioner, but he appealed to the sentence of a juster Judge, who would soon change the fetters of the criminal into the wreath of the conqueror ; he looked beyond the transitory present ; the tribunal of Nero faded from his sight, and the vista was closed by the judgment-seat of Christ. Sustained by such a blessed and glorious hope — knowing, as he did, that nothing in heaven or in earth could separate him from the love of Christ — it mattered to him but little if he was desti- tute of earthly sympathy. Yet still, even in these last hours, he clung to the friendships of early years ; still the faithful compan- ionship of Luke consoled him in the weary hours of constrained inactivity, which to a temper like his must have made the most painful part of imprisonment. Luke was the only one of his habitual attendants who now remained to minister to him ; his other companions, as we have seen, had left him, probably before his arrival at Eome. But one friend from Asia, Onesiphorus, had diligently sought him out and visited him in his prison, undeterred by the fear of danger or of shame. And there were others, some of them high in station, who came to receive from the chained malefactor blessings infinitely greater than all the favors of the emperor of the world. Among these was Linus, afterward a bishop of the Eoman Church ; Pudens, the son of a senator ; and Claudia, his bride, the daughter of a British king. But, however he may have valued these more recent friends, their society could not console him for the absence of one far dearer to him : he longed with a paternal longing to see once more the face of Timotheus, his beloved son. The disciple who had so long ministered to him with filial affection might still (he hoped) arrive in time to receive his parting words and be with him in his dying hour. But Timo- theus was far distant in Asia Minor, exercising apparently the same function with which he had before been temporarily invested. Thither then he wrote to him, desiring him to come with all speed to Rome, yet feeling how uncertain it was whether he might not SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHEUS. 705 arrive too late. He was haunted also by another fear, far more distressing. Either from his experience of the desertion of other friends, or from some signs of timidity which Timotheus himself had shown, he doubted whether he might not shrink from the perils which would surround him in the city of Nero. He there- fore urges on him very emphatically the duty of boldness in Christ's cause, of steadfastness under persecution, and of taking his share in the sufferings of the saints. And lest he should be prevented from giving him his last instructions face to face, he impresses on him with the earnestness of a dying man the various duties of his ecclesiastical office, and especially that of opposing the heresies which now threatened to destroy the very essence of Christianity. But no summary of its contents can give any notion of the pathetic tenderness and deep solemnity of this Epistle : SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHEUS. I. 1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of salutation. God, — sent forth to proclaim the promise of the life which is in 2 Christ Jesus, — to Timotheus my beloved son. Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father, and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3 I thank God (whom I worship, as did my forefathers, Timotheus is re- .,1 • \ T- T 1 * X' i» miinied of his With a pure conscience ) whenever 1 make mention of past history, and thee, as I do continually, in my prayers night and day. seve^a^nce ^ an'd 4 And I long to see thee, remembering thy [parting] hope^f f inunor- 6 tears, that I might be filled with joy. For I liave been ^^^^'y- reminded of thy undissembled faith, which dwelt first in thy grand- mother Lois and thy mother Eunice, and (I am persuaded) dwells 6 in thee also. Wherefore I call thee to remembrance, that thou muy- est stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the laying on of my 7 hands. For God gave us not a spirit of cowardice, but a spirit of 8 power and love and self-restraint. Be not therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner ; but share the afflic- tion of tliem who publish the glad tidings, according to the power of 9 God. For he saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not deal- ing with us according to our own works, but according to his own purpose and grace, wliich was bestowed upon us in Christ Jesus be- 10 fore the times of old, but is now made manifest by the appearing our Saviour Jesus Christ, who has put an end to deatli, and brougiil 45 706 TJFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. 11 life and immortality from darkness into light ; and this he has done by the glad tidings, whereunto I was appointed herald and apostle, 12 and teacher of the Gentiles. Which also is the cause of these suf- ferings that I now endure ; nevertheless I am not ashamed • Cor 1 know in whom I have trusted, and I am persuaded that he is able to guard the treasure which I have committed to him, even unto that day. 13 Hold fast the pattern of sound words which thou hast Exhortation to heard from me, in the faith and love which is in Christ miUion ^ faith- 14 Jesus. That goodly treasure which is committed to thy charge, guard by the Holy Spirit who dwelleth in us. 15 Thou already knowest that I was abandoned by all Conduct of cer- the Asiatics, among whom are Phygellus and Hermo- Christians at 16 genes. The Lord give mercy to the house of Onesi- phorus; for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my 17 chain ; but when he was in Kome, sought me out very diligently 18 and found me. The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy from the Lord in that day. And all his services at Ephesus, thou knowest better than I. II. 1 Thou, therefore, my son, strengthen thy heart with DutyofTimo- 2 the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And those things government!^'^^ which thou hast heard from me attested by many witnesses, deliver into the keeping of faithful men, who shall be able to teach others in their turn. 3 Take thy share in suffering, as a good soldier of Jesus He is exhorted 4 Christ. The soldier when on service abstains from en- from suffering, tangling himself in the business of life, that he may please his com- 5 mander. And again, the wrestler does not win the crown unless he 6 wrestles lawfully. The husbandman who toils must share the fruits 7 of the ground before the idler. Consider what I say ; for the Lord 8 will give thee understanding in all things. Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, is raised from the dead, according to the 9 glad tidings which I proclaim. Wherein I suffer afiliction even unto chains, as a malefactor ; nevertheless the word of God is bound 10 by no chains. Wherefore I endure all for the sake of the chosen, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus, 11 with glory everlasting. Faithful is the saying, For if ive have died 12 with hirrif we shall also live with him; if we suffer, we shall also reign with 13 him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we be faithless, yet he ahideth faithful; he cannot deny himself SECOND EPISTI.E TO TIMOTHEUS. 707 14 Call men to remembrance of these things, and adjure He must op- them before the Lord not to contend about words, with cheers and no profitable end, but for the subversion of their ities, and care- 15 hearers. Be diligent to present thyself unto God as his^Jwn 'purltj*! one proved trustworthy by trial, a workman not to be 16 ashamed, declaring the word of truth without distortion. But avoid 17 the discussions of profane babblers; for they will go farther and 18 farther in ungodliness, and their word will eat like a cancer. Among wliom are Hymenjeus and Philetus ; who concerning the truth have erred, for they say that the resurrection is past already, and over- throw the faith of some. 19 Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands unshaken having this seal, " The Lord knew them that were hiSy^ and " Let every one that 20 nameth the name of the Lord depart from iniquityJ^ But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood 21 and clay ; and some for honor, others for dishonor. If a man there- fore purify himself from these, he shall be a vessel for honor, sancti- fied and fitted for the Master's use, being prepared for every good work. 22 Flee the lusts of youtli ; and follow righteousness, faith, love, and 23 peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart ; but shun the disputations of the foolish and ignorant, knowing that they breed 24 strife ; and the bondsmen of the Lord Jesus ought not to strive, but 25 to be gentle towards all, skilful in teaching, patient of wrong, in- structing opponents with meekness ; if God perchance may give them repentance, that they may attain the knowledge of the truth, and may 26 escape, restored to soberness, out of the snare of the devil, by whom they have been taken captive at his will. III. 1 Know this, that in the last days evil times shall Dangerous er- 2 come. For men shall be selfish, covetous, false boast- d^Jysr^^^ ers, haughty, blasphemous, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, un- 3 holy, without natural affection, ruthless, calumnious, incontinent, 4 merciless, haters of the good, treacherous, headlong with passion, blinded with pride, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God , 5 having an outward form of godliness, but renouncing its power. 6 From such turn away. Of these are they who creep into houses, and 7 lead captive silly women, laden with sin, led away by lusts of all kinds, perpetually learning, yet never able to attain the knowledge 8 of the truth. And as lannes and lambres resisted Moses, so do these men resist the truth, being corrupt in mind, and worthless in 708 LIFE AND EPISTL£S OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. 9 all that concerns the faith. But they shall not advance farther, for their folly shall be made openly manifest to all, as was that of lan- nes and lambres. 10 But thou hast been the follower of my teaching and Exhortation to behavior, my resolution, faith, patience, love, and stead- plurs doctrine. 11 fastness ; my persecutions and sufferings, such as befell me at Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. [Thou hast seen] what persecutions I en- 12 dured; and out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yea, and all who determine to live a godly life in Christ Jesus, will suffer perse- 13 cution. But wicked men and impostors will advance from bad to 14 worse, deceiving and being deceived. But do thou continue in that which was taught thee, and whereof thou wast persuaded ; knowing who were thy teachers, and remembering that from a child thou hast 15 known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto 16 salvation, by the faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God, and may profitably be used for teaching, for con- 17 futation, for correction, and for righteous discipline ; that the man of God may be fully prepared, and thoroughly furnished for every good work. IV. 1 I adjure thee before God and Jesus Christ, who is solemn charge about to judge the living and the dead — I adjure thee c^oSfmT^sion 2 by his appearing and his kingdom— proclaim the tid- expectation of ings, be urgent in season and out of season, convince, of Paurs^leati? rebuke, exhort, \nih all forbearan(ie and perseverance 3 in teaching. F or a time will come when they will not endure the sound doctrine, but according to their own inclinations they will heap up for themselves teachers upon teachers, to please their itch- 4 ing ears. And they will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside to fables. 5 But thou in all things be sober, endure affliction, do the work of 6 an evangelist, accomplish thy ministration in full measure. For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, 8 which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me in that day ; and not to me only, but to all who love his appearing. 9 Do thy utmost to come to me sjjeedily ; for Demas; Timotheus is 10 has forsaken me, for love of this present world, and has conie to Rome departed to Thessalonica ; Crescens is gone to Galatia, ^P^^^^^y- 11 Titus to Dalmatia ; Luke alone is with me. Take Mark and bring PAUL CONDEMNED TO DEATH. 709 12 him with thee, for his services are profitable to me ; but Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. 13 When thou comest, bring with thee the ease which I left at Troas with Carpus, and the books, but especially the parchments. 14 Alexander the brass-founder charged me with much Intelligence of evil in his declaration ; the Lord reward him according p-iufs'tnar 15 to his works. Be thou also on thy guard against him, for he has 16 been a great opponent of my arguments. V/lien I was first heard 17 in my defence no man stood by me, but all forsook me (I pray that it be not laid to their charge). Nevertheless, the Lord Jesus stood by me, and strengthened my heart, that by me the proclamation of the glad tidings might be accomplished in full measure, and that all the Gentiles might hear ; and I was delivered out of the lion's mouth. 18 And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil, and shall preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory unto the ages of ages. Amen. 19 Salute Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Salutations and i * personal mtel- OnesiphorUS. ligence. 20 Erastus remained at Corinth ; but Trophimus I left sick at Miletus. 21 Do thy utmost to come before winter. There salute thee Eubuius, and Pudens, and Linus, and Claudia, and all the brethren. 22 The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit. Grace be concluding bea- . , edictions. with you all. We know not whether Timotheus was able to fulfil these last requests of the dying apostle ; it is doubtful whether he reached Rome in time to receive his parting commands and cheer his latest earthly sufferings. The only intimation which seems to throw any light on the question is the statement in the Epistle to the Hebrews, that Timotheus had been liberated from imprisonment in Italy. If, as appears not improbable, that Epistle was written shortly after Paul's death, it would be proved not only that the disciple fear- lessly obeyed his master's summons, but that he actually shared his chains, though he escaped his fate. This also would lead us to think that he must have arrived before the execution of Paul, for otherwise there would be no reason to account for his being him- self arrested in Rome, since had he come too late he would natu- rally have returned to Asia at once, without attracting the notice of the authorities. We may therefore hope that Paul's last earthly wish was ful- filled. Yet if Timotheus did indeed arrive before the closing scene, 710 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. there could have been but a very brief interval between his coming and his master's death. For the letter which summoned him could not have been despatched from Rome till the end of winter, and PauPs martyrdom took place in the middle of summer. We have seen that this was sooner than he had expected, but we have no record of the final stage of his trial, and cannot tell the cause of its speedy conclusion. We only know that it resulted in a sentence of capital punishment. The privileges of Roman citizenship exempted Paul from the ignominious death of lingering torture which had been lately in- flicted on so many of his brethren. He was to die by decapitation, and he was led out to execution beyond the city walls, upon the road to Ostia, the port of Rome. As he issued forth from the gate his eyes must have rested for a moment on that sepulchral pyramid which stood beside the road, and still stands unshattered amid the wreck of so many centuries upon the same spot. That spot was then only the burial-place of a single Roman ; it is now the burial- place of many Britons. The mausoleum of Caius Ckistius rises conspicuously amongst humbler graves, and marks the site where papal Rome suffers her Protestant sojourners to bury their dead. In England and in Germany, in Scandinavia and in America, there are hearts which turn to that lofty cenotaph as the sacred point of their whole horizon, even as the English villager turns to the gray church-tower which overlooks the gravestones of his kindred. Among the works of man that pyramid is the only surviving wit- ness of the martyrdom of Paul ; and we may thus regard it with yet deeper interest as a monument unconsciously erected by a pagan to the memory of a martyr. Nor let us think that they who lie beneath its shadow are indeed resting (as degenerate Italians fancy) in unconsecrated ground. Rather let us say that a spot where the disciples of PauFs faith now sleep in Christ, so near the soil once watered by his blood, is doubly hallowed, and that their resting-place is most fitly identified with the last earthly journey and the dying glance of their own patron saint, the apostle of the Gentiles. As the martyr and his executioners passed on, their way was crowded with a motley multitude of goers and comers between the metropolis and its harbor — merchants hastening to superintend the unloading of their cargoes, sailors eager to squander the profits of their last voyage in the dissipations of the capital, oflicials of the LEGENDS CONNECTED WITH PAUL's DEATH. 711 government charged with the administration of the provinces oi the command of the legions on the Euphrates or the Ehine, Chal- daean astrologers, Phrygian eunuchs, dancing-girls from Syria with their painted turbans, mendicant priests from Egypt howling for Osiris, Greek adventurers eager to coin their national cunning into Roman gold — representatives of the avarice and ambition, the fraud and lust, the superstition and intelligence, of the imperial world. Through the dust and tumult of that busy throng the small troop of soldiers threaded their way silently under the bright sky of an Italian midsummer. They were marching, though they knew it not, in a procession more truly triumphal than any they had ever followed in the train of general or emperor along the Sacred Way, Their prisoner, now at last and for ever delivered from his captiv- ity, rejoiced to follow his Lord "without the gate." The place of execution was not far distant, and there the sword of the head man ended his long course of sufferings and released that heroic soul from that feeble body. Weeping friends took up his corpse and carried it for burial to those subterranean labyrinths where, through many ages of oppression, the persecuted Church found refuge for the living and sepulchres for the dead. Thus died the apostle, the prophet, and the martyr, bequeathing to the Church, in her government and her discipline, the legacy of his apostolic labors ; leaving his prophetic words to be her living oracles, pouring forth his blood to be the seed of a thousand martyrdoms. Thenceforth, among the glorious company of the apostles, among the goodly fellowship of the prophets, among the noble army of martyrs, his name has stood pre-eminent. And wheresoever the holy Church throughout all the world doth ac- knowledge God, there Paul of Tarsus is revered as the great teacher of a universal redemption and a catholic religion — the herald of glad tidings to all mankind. NOTE. On Certain Legends connected with Paul's Death. We have not thought it right to interrupt the narrative of PauPs last imprisonment by noticing the legends of the Roman martyr- ology upon the subject, nor by discussing the tradition which 712 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. makes Peter his fellow-worker at Eome and the companion of his imprisonment and martyrdom. The latter tradition seems to have grown up gradually in the Church, till at length in the fourth cen- tury it was accredited by Eusebius and Jerome. If we trace it to its origin, however, it appears to rest on but slender foundations. In the first place, we have an undoubted testimony to the fact that Peter died by martyrdom in John^s Gospel (xxi. 18, 19). The same fact is attested by Clemens Eomanus (a contemporary authority) in the passage which we have so often referred to. But in neither place is it said that Rome was the scene of the apostle's labors or death. The earliest authority for this is Dionysius, bishop of Corinth (about A. D. 170), who calls "Peter and Paul" the '^found- ers of the Corinthian and Roman churches^^ and says that they both taught in Rome together, and suffered martyrdom " about the same iime'^ {fcara rbv avrbv KaipSv). The Roman presbyter Caius (about A. D. 200) mentions the tradition that Peter suffered martyrdom in the Vatican (which, if he suffered in the reign of Nero, he very probably would have done). The same tradition is confirm.ed by Irenseus, frequently alluded to by Tertullian, accredited (as we have before mentioned) by Eusebius and Jerome, and followed by Lactantius, Orosius, and all subsequent writers till the Reformation. This apparent w^eight of testimony, however, is much weakened by our knowledge of the facility with w^hich unhistoric legends originate, especially when they fall in with the wishes of those among whom they circulate; and it was a natural wish of the Roman Church to represent the " chief of the apostles " as having the seat of his government and the site of his martyrdom in the chief city of the world. It cannot indeed be denied that Peter may possibly have suffered martyrdom at Rome, but the form which the tradition assumes in the hands of Jerome — viz. that he was bishop of Rome for twenty-five years, from A. D. 42 to 68 — may be regarded as entirely fabulous ; for, in the first place, it contradicts the agreement made at the council of Jerusalem, that Peter should work among the Jews (Gal. ii. 9; compare Rom. i. 13, where the Roman Christians are classed among Gentile churches) ; 2dly, it is inconsistent with the First Epistle of Peter (which from internal evidence cannot have been written so early as 42 A. D.), where we find Peter laboring in Mesopotamia; 3dly, it is negatived by the silence of all Paul's Epistles written at Rome. If Jerome's statement of Peter's Roman episcopate is unhis- LEGENDS CONNECTED WITH PAUL's DEATH. 713 torical, his assertion that the two apostles suffered martyrdom on the same day may be safely disregarded. We have seen that upon this tradition was grafted a legend that Peter and Paul were fellow- prisoners in the Mamertine. It is likewise commemorated by a little chapel on the Ostian road, outside the gate of San Paolo, which marks the spot where the apostles separated on their way to death. Peter's martyrdom is commemorated at Rome not only by the great basilica which bears his name, but also by the little church of Domine quo vadis on the Appian Way, which is connected with one of the most beautiful legends of the martyrology. This legend may be mentioned in advantageous contrast with that connected with the supposed site of Paul's death, marked by the church of iS, Paolo alle ire fontane. According to the latter, these three foun- tains sprang up miraculously " abscisso Pauli capite triplici saitu Bese sustollente." The legend goes on to say that a noble matron named Lucina buried the body of Paul on her own land beside the Ostian road. CHAPTER XXVIII. "the epistle to the HEBREWS/' — ITS INSPIRATION NOT AF- FECTED BY THE DOUBTS CONCERNING ITS AUTHORSHIP. — ITS ORIGINAL READERS.— CONFLICTING TESTIMONY OF THE PRIM- ITIVE CHURCH CONCERNING ITS AUTHOR. — HIS OBJECT IN WRITING IT. — TRANSLATION OF THE EPISTLE. The origin and history of the Epistle to the Hebrews was a subject of controversy even in the second century. There is no portion of the New Testament whose authorship is so disputed, nor any of which the inspiration is more indisputable. The early Church could not determine whether it was written by Barnabas, by Luke, by Clement, or by Paul. Since the Reformation still greater diver- sity of opinion has prevailed. Luther assigned it to Apollos, Calvin to a disciple of the apostles. The Church of Rome now maintains by its infallibility the Pauline authorship of the Epistle, which in the second, third, and fourth centuries the same Church, with the same infallibility, denied. But, notwithstanding these doubts con- cerning the origin of this canonical book, its inspired authority is beyond all doubt. It is certain from internal evidence that it was written by a contemporary of the apostles and before the destruc- tion of Jerusalem, that its writer was the friend of Timotheus, and that he was the teacher of one of the apostolic churches. More- over, the Epistle was received by the Oriental Church as canonical from the first. Every sound reasoner must agree with Jerome that it matters nothing whether it were written by Luke, by Barnabas, or by Paul, since it is allowed to be the production of the apostolic age and has been read in the public service of the Church from the earliest times. Those, therefore, who conclude with Calvin that it was not written by Paul, must also join with him in think- ing the question of its authorship a question of little moment, and in "embracing it without controversy as one of the apostolical Epistles." But when we call it an Epistle^ we must observe that it is distin- 7U THE READEHS OF THE EPISTLE. 715 guislied by one remarkable peculiarity from other compositions - which bear that name. In ancient no less than in modern times it was an essential feature of an epistle that it should be distinctly addressed by the writer to some definite individual or body of in- dividuals ; and a composition which bore on its surface neither the name of its writer nor an address to any particular readers would then, as now, have been called rather a treatise than a letter. It was this peculiarity in the portion of Scripture now before us which led to some of the doubts and perplexities concerning it which existed in the earliest times. Yet, on the other hand, we cannot consider it merely as a treatise or discourse, because we find certain indications of an epistolary nature which show that it was originally addressed not to the world in general nor to all Chris- tians, nor even to all Jewish Christians, but to certain individual readers closely and personally connected with the writer. Let us first examine these indications, and consider how far they tend to ascertain the readers for whom this Epistle was originally designed. In the first place, it may be held as certain that the Epistle was addressed to Hebrew Christians. Throughout its pages there is not a single reference to any other class of converts. Its readers are assumed to be familiar with the Levitical worship, the temple- services, and all the institutions of the Mosaic ritual. They are in danger of apostasy to Judaism, yet are not warned (like the Gala- tians and others) against circumcision — plainly, because they were already circumcised. They are called to view in Christianity the completion and perfect consummation of Judaism. They are called to behold in Christ the fulfilment of the Law, in his person the antitype of the priesthood, in his offices the eternal realization of the sacrificial and mediatorial functions of the Jewish hierarcliy. Yet, as we have said above, this work is not a treatise addressed to all Jewish Christians throughout the world, but to one partic- ular Church, concerning which we learn the following facts: First, its members had steadfastly endured persecution and the loss of property; secondly, they had shown sympathy to their imprisoned brethren and to Christians generally (x. 32-34 and vi. 10); thirdly, they were now in danger of apostasy, and had not yet resisted unto blood (xii. 3-4; see also v. 11, etc., v. 9, etc.); fourthly, their Church had existed for a considerable length of time (v. 12) and some of its chief pastors were dead (xiii. 7) ; 716 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. fifthly, their prayers are demanded for the restoration to them of the writer of the Epistle, who was therefore personally connected with them (xiii. 19) ; sixthly, they were acquainted with Timo- theus, who was about to visit them (xiii. 23) ; seventhly, the argu- ments addressed to them presuppose a power on their part of appreciating that spiritualizing and allegorical interpretation of the Old Testament which distinguished the Alexandrian school of Jewish theology; eighthly, they must have been familiar with the Scriptures in the Septuagint version, because every one of the numerous quotations is taken from that version, even where it differs materially from the Hebrew; ninthly, the language in which they are addressed is Hellenistic Greek, and not Aramaic, It has been concluded by the majority both of ancient and mod- ern critics that the Church addressed was that of Jerusalem, or at least was situate in Palestine. In favor of this view it is urged, first, that no Church out of Palestine could have consisted so exclusively of Jewish converts. To this it may be replied that the Epistle, though addressed only to Jewish converts, and con- templating their position and their dangers exclusively, might still have been sent to a Church which contained Gentile converts also. In fact, even in the Church of Jerusalem itself there must have been some converts from among the Gentile sojourners who lived in that city; so that the argument proves too much. Moreover, it is not necessary that every discourse addressed to a mixed con- gregation should discuss the position of every individual member. If an overwhelming majority belongs to a particular class, the minority is often passed over in addresses directed to the whole body. Again, the Epistle may have been intended for the He- brew members only of some particular Church which contained also Gentile members; and this would perhaps explain the ab- sence of the usual address and salutation at the commencement. Secondly, it is urged that none but Palestinian Jews would have felt the attachment to the Levitical ritual implied in the readers of this Epistle. But we do not see why the same attachment may not have been felt in every great community of Hebrews ; nay, we know historically that no Jews were more devotedly attached to the temple-worship than those of the Dispersion, who were only able to visit the temple itself at distant intervals, but who still looked to it as the central point of their religious unity and of their national existence. Thirdly, it is alleged that many pass flgea PROBABLY INTENDED FOR THE ALEXANDRIANS. 717 seem to imply readers wlio Lad the temple-services going on con- tinually under their eyes. The whole of the ninth and tenth chapters speak of the Levitical ritual in a manner which natu- rally suggests this idea. On the other hand, it may be argued that such passages imply no more than that amount of familiarity which might be presupposed in those who were often in the habit of going up to the great feasts at Jerusalem. Thus, then, w^e cannot see that the Epistle must necessarily have been addressed to Jews of Palestine because addressed to Hebrews, And, moreover, if we examine the preceding nine conditions which must be satisfied by its readers, we shall find some of them which could scarcely apply to the Church of Jerusalem or any other Church in Palestine. Thus we have seen that the Palestinian Church was remarkable for its poverty, and was the recipient of the bounty of other churches, whereas those addressed here are themselves the liberal benefactors of others. Again, those here addressed have not yet resisted unto bloody whereas the Palestinian Church had produced many martyrs in several persecutions. More- over, the Palestinian Jews would hardly be addressed in a style of reasoning adapted to minds imbued with Alexandrian culture. Finally, a letter to the Church of Palestine would surely have been written in the language of Palestine, or at least, when the Scriptures of Hebraism were appealed to, they would not have been quoted from the Septuagint version where it differs frora the Hebrew, These considerations (above all, the last) seem to negative the hypothesis that this Epistle was addressed to a Church situate in the Holy Land ; and the latter portion of them point to another Church, for which we may more plausibly conceive it to have been intended — namely, that of Alexandria. Such a supposition would at once account for the Alexandrian tone of thought and reasoning and for the quotations from the Septuagint; while the wealth of the Alexandrian Jews would explain the liberality here commended, and the immense Hebrew population of Alexandria would render it natural that the Epistle should contemplate the Hebrew Christians alone in that Church, wherein there may per- haps at first have been as few Gentile converts as in Jerusalem itself. It must be remembered, however, that this is only an hy- pothesis, offered as being embarrassed with fewer difficulties than any other which has been proposed. 718 IJFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. Such, then, being the utmost which we can ascertain concerning the readers of the Epistle, what can we learn of its writer ? Let us first examine the testimony of the primitive Church on this question. It is well summed up by Jerome in the following pas- sage: **That which is called the Epistle to the Hebrews is thought not to be Paul's, because of the difference of style and language, but is ascribed either to Barnabas (according to Tertullian), or to Luke the evangelist (according to some authorities), or to Clement (afterward bishop of Rome), who is said to have arranged and adorned Paul's sentiments in his own language; or at least it is thought that Paul abstained from the inscription of his name at its commencement because it was addressed to the Hebrews, among whom he was unpopular." Here, then, we find that the Epistle was ascribed to four different writers — Barnabas, Luke, Clement, and Paul. With regard to the first, Tertullian expressly says that copies of the Epistle in his day bore the inscription, " The Epistle of Barnabas to the Hebrews.'' The same tradition is mentioned by Philastrius. The opinion that either Luke or Clement was the writer is mentioned by Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and others, but they seem not to have considered Luke or Clement as the in- dependent authors of the Epistle, but only as editors of the senti- ments of Paul. Some held that Luke had only translated the Pauline original; others, that he or Clement had systematized the teaching of their master with a commentary of their own. Fourthly, Paul was held to be, in some sense, the authoi^ of the Epistle by the Greek ecclesiastical writers generally, though no one, so far as we know, maintained that he had written it in its present form. On the other hand, the Latin Church till the fourth century refused to acknowledge the Epistle as Paul's in any sense. Thus there were, in fact, only two persons whose claim to the independent authorship of the Epistle was maintained in the prim- itive Church — viz. Barnabas and Paul. Those who contend that Barnabas was the author confirm the testimony of Tertullian by the following arguments from internal evidence : First, Barnabas was a Levite, and therefore would naturally dwell on the Levitical worship which forms so prominent a topic of this Epistle. Sec- ondly, Barnabas was a native of Cyprus, and Cyprus was peculi- arly connected with Alexandria ; so that a Cyprian Levite would most probably receive his theological education at Alexandria. This would agree with the Alexandrian character of the argu- DISCUSSION AS TO ITS AUTHORSHIP. 719 mentation of this Epistle. Thirdly, the writer of the Epistle was a friend of Timotheus (see above) ; so was Barnabas (cf. Acts xiii. and xiv. with 2 Tim. iii. 11). Fourthly, the Hebraic appellation which Barnabas received from the apostles — " son of exhortation " — shows that he possessed the gift necessary for writing a compo- sition distinguished for the power of its hortatory admonitions. The advocates of the Pauline authorship urge, in addition to the external testimony which we have before mentioned, the following arguments from internal evidence ; First, that the general plan of the Epistle is similar to that of Paul's other writings ; secondly, that its doctrinal statements are identical with Paul's; thirdly, that there are many points of similarity between its phraseology and diction and those of Paul. On the other hand, the opponents of the Pauline origin argue — first, that the rhetorical character of the composition is altogether ujilike Paul's other writings; secondly, that there are many points of difference in the phrase- ology and diction ; thirdly, that the quotations of the Old Testa- ment are not made in the same form as Paul's ; fourthly, that the writer includes himself among those who had received the gospel from the original disciples of the Lord Jeszis (ii. 3), whereas Paul declares that the gospel was not taught him by man, but by the reve- lation of Jesus Christ (Gal. i. 11, 12); fifthly, that Paul's Epistles always begin with his name, and always specify in the salutation the persons to whom they are addressed. Several very able modern critics have agreed with Luther in assigning the authorship of this Epistle to Apollos, chiefly because we know him to have been a learned Alexandrian Jew, and be- cause he fulfils the other conditions mentioned above as required by the internal evidence. But we need not dwell on this opinion, since it is not based on external testimony, and since Barnabas fulfils the requisite conditions almost equally well. Finally, we may observe that notwithstanding the doubts which we have recorded we need not scruple to speak of this portion of Scripture by its canonical designation as "The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews." We have seen that Jerome expresses the greatest doubts concerning its authorship, and that Origen says "the writer is known to God alone;" the same doubts are expressed by Eusebius and by Augustine; yet all these great writers refer to the words of the Epistle as the words of FauL In fact, whether written by Barnabas, by Luke, by Clement, or by 720 IIFE AND EPISTLES DF THE APOSTLE PAUL. Apollos, it represented the views and was impregnated by the influence of the great apostle, whose disciples even the chief of these apostolic men might well be called. By their writings no less than by his own he being dead yet spake. We have seen that the Epistle to the Hebrews was addressed to Jewish converts who were tempted to apostatize from Christianity and return to Judaism. Its primary object was to check this apos- tasy by showing them the true end and meaning of the Mosaic system and its symbolical and transitory character. They were taught to look through the shadow to the substance, through the type to the antitype. But the treatise, though first called forth to meet the needs of Hebrew converts, was not designed for their instruction only. The Spirit of God has chosen this occasion to enlighten the universal Church concerning the design of the ancient covenant and the interpretation of the Jewish Scriptures. Nor could the memory of Paul be enshrined in a nobler monument, nor his mission on earth be more fitly closed, than by this inspired record of the true subordination of Judaism to Christianity : THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 1 God, who at sundrv times and in divers manners ^f. ' * vealed himself 2 spake of old to our fathers by the prophets, hath in fij^aiiy to man ^ ^ ^ ' m the person these last days spoken to us by his Son, whom he ap- of his Sou, 3 pointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the universe ; who being an emanation of his glory, and an express image of his sub- stance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself made purification for our sins, sat down on the right 4 hand of the Majesty on high ; being made so much greater than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. 5 For to which of the angels said he at any time, " Thou who is higher art my Son^ this day have I begoitm thee; " and again, / * eangeis. will be to him a father ^ and he shall he to me a i>on^^f But when he 6 bringeth back the First-bego' ten into the world, he saith, And let all 7 the angels of God worship hiirij* And of the angels he saith, " Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers flames of fire?^ But unto 8 the Son he saith, " Thy throne, 0 God, is for ever and ever ; a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteous- 9 ness and hated iniquity. Therefore, God, even thy God, hath anointed EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 721 10 thee mih the oil of gladness above thy fellows.'^ And Thou, Lordy in the beginning didM lay the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the 11 works of thine hands. They shall perish, but thou remainest; and they 12 all shall wax old as doth a garment, and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up and they shall be changed; but thou art the same, and thy years shall not faiV^ 13 But to which of the angels hath he said at any time, " Sit thou on 14 my right hand until I make thy enemies thy footstooV^ f Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to execute his service, for the sake of those who shall inherit salvation ? II. 1 Therefore, we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things 2 which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word declared by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and 3 disobedience received a due requital, how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation ? which was declared at first by the Lord, and was established unto us on firm foundations by those who heard 4 him, God also bearing them witness both with signs and wonders and divers miracles, and with gifts of the Holy Spirit, which he dis- tributed according to his own will. 5 For not unto angels hath he subjected the world to come, whereof 6 we speak. But one in a certain place testified, saying, " What is man, that thou art mindful of him, or the Soil of man, that thou regardest 7 him f For a little while thou hast made him lo wer than the angels ; thou hast crowned him with glory and honor, thou hast put all things in suh- 8 jection under his feet." For in that he put all things in subject ion" under him, he left nothing that should not be put under him. But now we see not yet all things in subjection under Tht^ hnmiiia- 9 him. But we behold Jesus, who was "/or a little while was n"eedfuu mjade lower than the angels," crowned through the suffer- {,6^ consec^ifed ing of death with glory and honor ; that by the free n'i^h^rielf 10 gift of God he might taste death for all men. For it became Him through whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to consecrate by sufiPerings the Captain of their salvation. 11 For both He that sanctifieth, and they who are sanctified, have all on^ Father; wherefore, he is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12 saying, "J will declare thy name to my brethren, in the midst of the 13 congregation will I sing praises unto thee" And again, I will put my 14 trust in him; lo, I and the children which God hath given me" P'oras- much then as " the children " are partakers of flesh and blood, he also 46 722 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. himself likewise took part of the same, that by death he might destroy 15 the lord of death, that is, the devil ; and might deliver them who 16 through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For he giveth his aid, not unto angels, but unto the seed of Abraham. 17 Wherefore, it behoved him in all things to be made like unto his brethren, that he miglit become a merciful and faithful High Priest in the things of God, to make expiation for the sins of the people. 18 For whereas he hath himself been tried by suffering, he is able to succor them that are in trial. III. 1 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly Christ is higher calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our 2 confession, Christ Jesus ; who was faithful to Him that appointed 3 him, as Moses also was ^\faithful in all the household of GodP For greater glory is due to him than unto Moses, inasmuch as the founder 4 of the household is honored above the household. For every house- hold hath some founder; but he that hath founded all things is 5 God. And Moses indeed was faithful in all the household of God " as "a servanV^ appointed to testify the words that should be spoken 6 [unto him], but Christ as "a aSoti" over his own household. And his household are we, if we hold fast our confi- Naming a- dence, and the rejoicing of our hope, firmly unto the gaiust apostasy, 7 end. Wherefore, as the Holy Spirit saith, " To-day if ye will hear his 8 voice, harden not your hearts as in the provocation, in the day of tempta- 9 tion in the wilderness ; when your fathers tempted me, proved me, and 10 saw my works forty years. Wherefore I luas grieved with that generationy and said, They do always err in their hearts, and they have not known 11 my ways. So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest J* 12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of un- 13 belief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily while it is called To-day, lest any of you be hardened through ] i the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we liold our first foundation firmly unto the end. 15 When it is said, " To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your 16 hearts as in the provocation,^' — who were they that, though they had heard, did provoke? Were they not all whom Moses brought forth 17 out of Egypt ? And with whom was he grieved forty years ? Was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilder- 18 ness ? And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his 19 rest, but to them that were disobedient? And we see that they could not enter in [to the land of promise] because of unbelief. EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 723 IV. 1 Therefore let us fear, since a promise still remaineth of entering into his rest, lest any of you should be found to come short of it. 2 For we have received glad tidings as well as they ; but the report which they heard did not profit them, because it met no belief in 3 the hearers. For we, that have believed, are entering into the [promised] rest. And thus he hath said, "6'o I sware in my wrathj They shall not enter into my restJ* Although his works were finished, 4 ever since the foundation of the world ; for he hath spoken in a certain 5 place of the seventh day in this wise, ^^And God did rest on the seventh day from all his works and in this place again, ^Uhey shall 6 NOT enter into my rest.^^ Since, therefore, it still remaineth that some must enter therein, and they who first received the glad tidings 7 thereof entered not, because of disobedience, he again fixeth a cer- tain day, — "to-day" — declaring in David, after so long a time (as hath been said), " To-doy, if ye will hear his voice^ harden not your 8 hearts" For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have 9 spoken afterward of another day. Therefore there still remaineth 10 a sabbath-rest for the people of God. For he that is entered into God's rest, must himself also rest from his labors, as God did from 11 his. Let us therefore strive to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of disobedience. 12 For the word of God liveth and worketh, and is for God's judg- , . . . ment cannot be sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to evaded. the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, yea, to the parts thereof, 13 and judging the thouglils and imaginations of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight. But all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. 14 Seeing, then, that we have a great High Priest, who Christ is a nigh 11 111 T ir>.A Priest who can ha!h passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of be toiiched with 15 God, let us hold fast our confession. For we have not infirmities. an high priest that cannot be touched with a feeling of our infirmi- ties, but who bore in all things the likeness of our trials, yet without 16 sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. V. 1 For every high priest taken from among men is ordained to act on behalf of men in the things of God, that he may offer gifts and 2 sacrifices for sins ; and is able to bear with the ignorant and erring, 3 being himself also encompassed with infirmity. And by reason 724 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. thereof, he is bound, as for the people, so also for himself, to make 4 offering for sins. And no man taketh this honor on himself, but he 5 that is called by God, as was Aaron. So also Christ glorified not himself, to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, " Thou art my son, to-day have I begotten theej^ As he saith also in 6 another place, ^^Thou art a 'priest for ever after the order of Melchis' 7 edec.^^ Who in the days of his flesh offered up prayers and suppli- cations with strong crying and tears, unto Him that could save him 8 from death, and was heard because he feared God ; and though he 9 was a Son, yet learned he obedience by suffering. And when his consecration was accomplished, he became the author of eternal sal- 10 vation to all them that obey him ; having been named by God an high priest " after the order of MelchisedecJ' 11 Of whom I have many things to sav, and hard of The readers are * . reproached for interpretation, since ye have grown dull m understand- their decline la 12 ing. For when ye ought, after so long a time, to be derstanding^^ teachers, ye need again to be taught yourselves what are the first principles of the oracles of God ; and ye have come to need milk, 13 instead of meat. For every one that feeds on milk is ignorant of tlie 14 doctrine of righteousness, for he is a babe ; but meat is for men full grown, who, through habit, have their senses exercised to know good from evil. VI. 1 Therefore let me leave the rudiments of the doctrine of Christ, and go on to the fulness of its teaching ; not laying again the foundation, — 2 of repentance from dead works, and faith towards God ; — baptism, instruction and laying on of hands ; — and resurrection of the dead, and judgment everlasting. 3, 4 And this I will do if God permit. For it is impos- warned of the sible again to renew unto repentance those who have tasy^^'^ 5 been once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God, and the powers of the world to come, and afterward 6 fall away ; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh 7 and put him to an open shame. For the earth when it hath drunk in the rain that falleth oft upon it, if it bear herbs profitable to those 8 for Tfhom it is tilled, partaketh of God's blessing ; but if it bear thorns and thistles, it is counted worthless and is nigh unto cursing, and 9 its end is to be burned. But, beloved, I am persuaded and reminded better things of you, and things that accompany salva- to p e r s e v e- 10 tion, though I thus speak. For God is not unrighteous to forget your labor, and the love which ye laave shown to his name, EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 725 11 in the services ye have rendered and still render to his people. But I desire earnestly that every one of you might show the same zeal, 12 to secure the full possession of your hope unto the end ; that ye be not slothful, but follow the example of them who through faith and 13 steadfast endurance inherit the promises. For God, when he made 14 promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, sware by himself, saying, Verily, blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying 15 I will multiply thee;^^ and so, having steadfastly endured, he obtained 16 the promise. For men, indeed, swear by the greater ; and their oath 17 establisheth their word, so that they cannot gainsay it. Wherefore God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel, set an oath between himself and 18 them ; that by two immutable things, wherein it is impossible for God to lie, we that have fled [to him] for refuge might have a strong 19 encouragement to hold fast the hope set before us. Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and entering 20 within the veil ; whither Jesus, our forerunner, is for us entered, being made "an High Priest for ever after the order of MelchisedecJ' VII. 1 For this Melchisedec, "king of Salem/^ "priest of the rpi^g priesthood most high God,'' who met Abraham returning from the g^^^ ^ v E e 2 slaughter of the kings, and blessed him, to whom also ^eio.hJsedec)^i3 Abraham gave "a tenth part of all'' — who is first, by distinj^ui shed P r J ) y J fro^ ^l^g Levit- 3 interpretation, King of Eighteousness, and secondly icai priesthood 1 . /. o< 1 1 . 1 . -r^ -r^ . *^ by its eternal king of Salem, which is King of Peace — without duration and father, without mother, without table of descent — ^^^^^y- having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God — remaineth a priest for ever. 4 Now consider how great this man was, to whom even Abraham 5 the patriarch gave a tenth of the choicest spoil. And truly those among the sons of Levi who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes according to the Law from the people, that is, from their brethren, though they come out of the loins of 6 Abraham. But He, whose descent is not counted from them, taketh tithes from Abraham, and blesseth the possessor of the promises. 7 Now, without all contradiction, the less is blessed 'tf the greater. 8 And here, tithes are received by men that die ; but there, by Him of 9 whom it is testified that he liveth. And Levi also, the receiver of 10 tithes, had paid tithes (so to speak) by Abraham ; for he was yet in the loins of his father when Melchisedec met him. 11 Now, if all things were perfected by the Levitical priesthood (since 726 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. under it the people liath received the Law), what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec^* 12 and not be called after the order of Aaron " ? For the priesthood being changed there is made of necessity a change also of the Law. 13 For He of whom these things are spoken belongeth to another tribe, 14 of which no man giveth attendance at the altar ; it being evident that our Lord hath arisen out of Judah, of which tribe Moses spake 15 nothing concerning priestliood. And this is far more evident when 16 another priest ariseth after the likeness of Melchisedec ; who is made not under the Law of a carnal commandment, but with the power of 17 an imperisliable life ; for it is testified of him, " Thou art a priest 18 FOR EVER after the order of MelchisedecJ' On the one hand, an old commandment is annulled, because it was weak and profitless (for the 19 Law perfected nothing) ; and on the other hand, a better hope is brought in, whereby we draw near unto God. 20 And inasmuch as this priesthood hath the confirmation of an 21 oath — (for those priests are made without an oath, but he with an oath, by Him that said unto him, " The Lord sware and will not repent^ 22 T'hou art a priest for ever^^) — insomuch Jesus is surety of a better covenant. 23 And they, indeed, are many priests [one succeeding to another's 24 office], because death hindereth their continuance. But he, because 25 he remaineth for ever, giveth not his priesthood to another. Where- fore also he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. 26 For such an Lligh Priest became us, who is holy, harmless, unde- 27 filed, separate from sinners, and ascended above the heavens. Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins and then for the people's ; for this he did once, when he oflfered up himself. For the Law maketh men high priests, who have 28 infirmity ; but the word of the oath which was since the Law, makelh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore. vin. 1 Now of the things which we have spoken, this is the TheMosaicLRw, sum. We have such an High Priest, who hath sat Me\Vrch^yrami down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty il^ an imperfect 2 the heavens ; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the beftlTcovenant true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. atcfn(!!^enr^'of 3 For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and c^^^^^^^- sacrifices; wherefore this High Priest also must 'have somewhat to 4 offer. Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 727 since the priests are they that make the offerings according to the 5 Law; who minister to that which is a figure and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses is admonished hy God, when he is about to make the tabernacle; for "/S'ee," saith he, 'Uhat thou make all things 6 according to the pattern showed thee in the mount" But ndw he hath obtained a higher ministry, by so much as he is the medi- ator of a better covenant, whereof the Law is given under better promises. 7 For if that first covenant were faultless, no place would be sought 8 for a second ; whereas he findeth fault, and saith unto them, Behold the days come^ saith the Lord, when I will accomplish for the house of 9 Israel and for the house of Judah a new covenant. Not according to the covenant which I gave unto their fathers, in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt ; because they continued not in my covenant, and I also turned my face from theviij saith the Lord. 10 For this is the covenant which I will make unto the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord: I will give my laws U7ito their mind, and write them upon their hearts ; and I will be to them a God, and they 11 shall be to me a people. And they shall not teach every man his neighbor and every man his brother ^ saying, Know the Lord ; for all shall know 12 me, from the least unto the greatest. For I will be merciful unto their 13 unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will 1 remember no moreJ^ In that he saith " a new covenant,^^ he hath made the first old ; and that which is old and stricken in years is ready to vanish away. IX. 1 Now the first covenant also had ordinances of worship, and its 2 holy place was in this world. For a tabernacle was made [in two portions] ; the first (wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and 3 the shewbread), v/hich is called the sanctuary ; and behind the * 4 second veil, the tabernacle called the holy of holies, having the golden altar of incense, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that liad the manna, and 5 Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant ; and over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy-seat. Whereof we 6 cannot now speak particularly. Now these things being thus ordered, unto the first tabernacle the priests go in continually, ac- 7 complishing the offices of their worship. But into the second goeth the high priest alone, once a year, not without blood, wlich he 8 offereth for himself and for the errors of the people. Whereby the Holy Spirit signifieth that the way into the holy place is not yet 9 made fulb^ manifest, while still the outer tabernacle standeth. But 728 TJCFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. it is a figure for the present time, under which gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the purpose of the worshipper, ac- 10 cording to the conscience; being carnal ordinances, commanding meats and drinks, and diverse washings, imposed until a time of reformation. 11 But when Christ appeared, as High Priest of the good things to come, he passed through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not 12 made with hands (that is, not of man's building), and entered, not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, once for all into 13 the holy place, having obtained an everlasting redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the 14 unclean, sanctifieth to the purification of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered him- self without spot to God, purify our conscience from dead worlds, that we may worship the living God ! 15 And for this cause he is the mediator of a new testament ; that when death had made redemption for the transgressions under the first testament, they that are called might receive the promise of the 16 eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, the death of the tes- 17 tator must be declared ; because a testament is made valid by death, for it hath no force at all during the lifetime of the testator. 18 Wherefore the first testament also hath its dedication not without 19 blood. For when Moses had spoken to all the people every precept according to the Law, he took the blood of the calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself 20 and all the people, saying, " This is the blood of the testament which God 21 hath enjoined unto you.^^ Moreover, he sprinkled with blood the tabernacle also, and all the vessels of the ministry, in like manner. 22 And according to the Law, almost all things are purified with blood, 23 and without shedding of blood is no remission. It was, therefore, necessary that the patterns of heavenly things should thus be purified, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ entered not into the sanctuary made with hands, which is a figure of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the 25 presence of God for us. Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth the sanctuary every year with blood of 26 others ; for then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world ; but now once, in the end of the ages, hath he appeared, 27 to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment, so Christ was once 28 offered to bear the sins of many,^^ and unto them that look for hiw shall he <»ppear a second time, without sin unto salvation. EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 729 X. 1 For the Law having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the reality, by the unchanging sacrifices which year by year they offer continually, can never perfect the purpose of 2 the offerers. For then, would they not have ceased to be offered ? because the worshippers, once purified, would have had no more 3 conscience of sins. But in these sacrifices there is a remembrance 4 of sins made every year. For it is not possible that the blood of 5 bulls and goats should take away sins. Wherefore, when he cometh into the world, he saith, "Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest noty but a 6 body hast thou prepared me. In burnt-offerings and sacrifices for sin 7 thou hast had no pleasure. Then said 7, Lo, I come {in the volume of 8 the book it is written of me) to do thy will, 0 God. When he had said before, "Sacrifice and offering and burnt-offerings and sacrifices for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein^' (which are offered 9 under the Law) ; "Then^^ (saith he), "io, I come to do thy xoill, 0 GodJ^ 10 He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. And in that "wilV^ we are sanctified, by the offering of the "bodxf^ of Jesus Christ, once for all. 11 And every priest standeth daily ministering, and offering oftentimes 12 the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But Ac, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, for ever sat down on the right 13 hand of God ; from henceforth expecting " till his enemies be made his 14 footstool." For by one offering he hath perfected for ever the purifi- 15 cation of them whom he sanctifieth. Whereof the Holy Spirit also 16 is a witness to us. For after he had said before, "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord: I will give 17 my laws upon their hearts, and write them upon their minds,^^ he saith also, "Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." 18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. 19 Having, therefore, brethren, boldness to enter the Eenewed warn- 20 holy place through the blood of Jesus, by a new and apletasyr"^^"**' living way which he hath opened for us, passing through the veil 21 (that is to say, his flesh) ; and having an High Priest o^er the house 22 of God; let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith ; as our hearts have been "sprinkled" from the stain of an evil 23 conscience, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope, without wavering, for faithful 24 is He that gave the promise. And let us consider the example one of another, that we may be provoked unto love and to good works. 25 Let us not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as the cus- tom of some is, but let us exhort one another ; and so much the more, 730 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. 26 as ye see the day approaching. For if we sin wilfully after we have 27 received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacri- fice for sins, but a certain fearful looking-for of judgment, and "a 28 wrathful fire that shall devour the adversaries.^^ He that hath des- pised the Law of Moses dieth without mercy, upon the testimony of 29 two or three witnesses. Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of 30 grace I For we know Him that hath said, " Vengeance is mine, I vdll repay, saith the Lordf^ and again, " The Lord shall judge his peophJ' 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. 32 But call to remembrance the former days, in which, and exhortation after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of be conquered 33 afflictions ; for not only were ye made a gazing-stock by reproaches and tribulations, but ye took part also in the sufferings 34 of others who bore the like. For ye showed compassion to the prisoners, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing that 35 ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance. Cast not away, therefore, your confidence, which hath great recompense of 36 reward. For ye have need of steadfastness, that after ye have done 37 the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little 38 while and "He that cometh shall be come, and shall not tarry.^^ Now "By faith shall the righteous live;^^ and "If he draw back through fear^ 39 my soul hath no 'pleasure in himJ^ But we are not men of fear unto perdition, but of faith unto salvation. XI. 1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the Faith defined 2 evidence of thmgs not seen. For therein the eldei-s pie whic)i en> . . , , ablea men to obtained a good report. prefer things 3 By faith we understand that the universe is framed things visible, by the word of God, so that the world which we behold springs not from things that can be seen. 4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sac- its operation rifice than Cain, whereby he obtained testimony that he empTified.'^ was righteous, for God testified unto his gifts ; and by it he being deu 1 yet speaketh. 5 By faith Enoch was translated, that he should not see death, and " he was not found, because God translated him J' For before his trans- lation he had this testimony, that "he pleased- God -hut without 6 faith it is impossible to please him ; for wiiosoever cometh untu God EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 731 must Lave faith that God is, and that he rewardeth them that dili- gently seek him. 7 By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning things not seen as yet, through fear of God prepared an ark, to the saving of his house. Whereby he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness of faith. 8 By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed the command to go forth into a place which he should afterward receive for an inher- 9 itance; and he went forth, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange country, dwelling in tents, with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same prom- 10 ise. For he looked for the city which hath sure foundations, whose builder and maker is God. 11 By faith also Sarah herself received power to conceive seed, even when she was past age, because she judged Him faithful who had 12 promised. Therefore sprang there of one, and liim as good as dead, " So many as the stars of the sky in multitude/' and as the sand, which is by the seashore innumerable. 13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but hav- ing seen them afar off, and embraced them, and confessed that they 14 were strangers and pilgrims upon earth. For they that say such 15 things, declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly if they speak of that country from whence they came forth, they might have 16 opportunity to return ; but now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly. Wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for he hath prepared for them a city. 17 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered ut) Isaac, and he that had believed the promises offered up his only-begotten son, 18, 19 though it was said unto him, " In Isaac shall thy seed be called ; " ac- counting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead ; from whence also (in a figure) he received him. 20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, concerning things to COME. 21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed botli tbe sons of Joseph ; and "ife worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff.^* 22 By faith Joseph, in the hour of his death, spake of the de- parting of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concern- ing his bones. 23 By faith Moses when he was born was hid three montl^s by his parents, because "they saw that the child was goodly;'' and they were 24 not afraid of the king's commandment. By faith Moses, "when he wa8 come to years^' refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, 732 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. 25 choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to 26 enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season ; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he looked beyond 27 unto the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath 28 of the king ; for he endured, as seeing Him who is invisible. By faith he hath established the passover and the sprinkling of blood, that the destroyer of the first-born might not touch the children of Israel. 29 By faith they passed through the Red Sea as through dry land ; which the Egyptians tried to pass, and were swallowed up. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about for seven days, 31 By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with the disobedient, because she had received the spies with peace. 32 And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, of Sampson and of Jepthae, of David, and 33 Samuel, and the prophets; who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of 34 lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to 35 flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again ; and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, 36 that they might obtain a better resurrection. Others also had trials of cruel mockings and scourgings, with chains also and imprison- 37 ment. They were stoned, were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goat- 38 skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented. They wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth ; of whom the world is not worthy. 39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, re- 40 ceived not the promise. God having provided some better thing for us, that they, without us, should not be made perfect. XII. 1 Wherefore, seeing we are compassed about with so j^i^^te"* s^S c h great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every to^fjjjjj^^'j^^aua weight, and the sin which clingeth closely round us, in steadfast en- ^ ' . , durance of euf- and run with courage the race that is set before us ; fering. 2 looking onward unto Jesus, the forerunner and the finisher of our faith ; who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of 3 God. Yea, consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinnei-s EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 733 4 against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye 5 have not yet resisted unto blood in your conflict against sin ; and ye have forgotten the exhortation which reasoneth with you as with sons, saying, " My sorij despise not thou the chastening of the Lordy nor 6 faint when thou art rebuked of him. For whom the Lord loveth he chas- 7 teneihj and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.^' If ye endure chas- 8 tisement, God dealeth with you as with sons ; for where is the son that is not chastened by his father ? but if ye be without chastise- ment, whereof all [God's children] have been partakers, then are ye 9 bastards and not sons. Moreover, we were chastened by the fathers of our flesh, and gave them reverence ; shall we not much rather sub- 10 mit ourselves to the Father of our spirits, and live ? For they, in- deed, for a few days chastened us, after their own pleasure ; but he 11 for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastisement for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous ; never- theless afterward, unto them that are exercised thereby, it yieldeth the fruit of righteousness in peace. 12 Wherefore " Lift up the hands which hang down and the feeble knees/* 13 and ^'make even paths for your feet;^* that the halting limb be not lamed, but rather healed. 14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without warning against 15 which no man shall see the Lord. And look dili- ^^"^"'^^^'y- gently lest any man fall short of the grace of God ; " lest any root of 16 bitterness springing up trouble you/^ and thereby many be defiled ; lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for a single 17 meal sold his birthright ; for ye know that afterward, when he de- sired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, finding no room for re- pentance, though he sought it earnestly with tears. 18 For ye are not come to a mountain that may be , , •'In proportion touched and that bumeth with fire, nor to blackness to superi- orityofthe 19 and darkness and tempest,^ and sound of trumpet,^'' and jospei over the voice of words'* — the hearers whereof entreated that the 'danger of no more might be spoken unto them ; for they could 20 not bear that which was commanded. {^^ And if so much as a beast 21 touch the mountain it shall be stoned ; " and so terrible was the sight 22 that Moses said " I exceedingly fear and quake J') — But ye are come unto Mount Sion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly 23 Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels in full assembly, and to the con- gregation of the first-born whose names are written in heaven, and to 24 God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood of sprink- ling, which speaketh better things than that of Abel. 734 LIFE AND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. 25 See that ye reject not Him that speaketh. For if they escaped not, who rejected Him that spake on earth, much more shall not we es- 26 cape, if we turn away from Him that speaketh from heaven. Whose voice then shook the earth, but now he hath promised, saying, " Yet 27 once more only will I shake not the earth alone, but also heaven J' And this " Yet once more only " signifieth the removal of those things that are shaken, as being perishable, that the things unshaken may re- 28 main immovable. Wherefore, since we receive a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be filled with thankfulness ; whereby we 29 may offer acceptable worship unto God, with reverence and godly fear. For " our God is a consuming fireJ* xni. 1 Let brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful to en- Exhortation to 2 tertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained several moral ^ ' , duties, especi- 3 angels unawares. Remember the prisoners as though aiiy to courage- 1 1 1 • • 1 1 m- T 1 ' profession ye shared their prison ; and the afflicted, as being your- of ^the^ faith 4 selves also in the body. Let marriage be held honora- to the leaders ble in all things, and let the marriage-bed be undefiled ; 5 for whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. Let your conduct be free from covetousness, and be content with what ye have ; for he hath said, " I will never leave thee nor forsake theeJ' So that we may boldly say, " The Lord is my helper j and I will not fear. What can man do unto me ? " 7 Eemember them that were your leaders, who spoke to you the word of God ; look upon the end of their life, and follow the ex- ample of their faith. 8, 9 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and to-day and for ever. Be not carried away with manifold and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace ; not by meats, which 10 profited not them that were occupied therein. We have an altar whereof they that minister unto the tabernacle have no right to eat. 11 For the bodies of those beasts whose blood the high priest bringetli 12 into the holy place are burned ^^ivithout the camp J* W^herefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people by his own blood, suffered 13 without the gate. Therefore let us go forth unto him without the 14 camp/' bearing his reproach. For here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come. 15 By him, therefore, let us offer unto God continually a sacrifice of praise, that is, ^^the fruit of our lips'' making confession unto his 16 name. And be not unmindful of benevolence and liberality; for Buch are the sacrifices which are acceptable unto God. EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 735 17 Kender unto them that are your leaders obedience and submis- sion ; for thej on their part watch for the good of your souls, as those that must give account ; that they may keep their watch with joy and not with lamentation ; for that would be unprofitable for you. 18 Pray for me ; for I trust that I have a good con- The writer asks 1 • . ' n 1 1. . 1 1 their pravers, science, desiring in all my conduct to live rightly, gives them his 19 But I the rather beseech you to do this, that I may be municates in- , ^ ^, formation from restored to you the sooner. ituiy. 20 Kow the God of peace, who raised up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep,^' even our Lord Jesus, through the blood of 21 an everlasting covenant, — make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, by Jesus Christ. To whom be glory for ever. Amen. 22 I beseech you, brethren, to bear w^ith these words of exhortation ; for I have written shortly. 23 Know that our brother Timotheus is set at liberty ; and with him, if he come speedily, I will see you. 24 Salute all them that are your leaders, and all Christ's people. 25 They of Italy salute you. Grace be with you all. Ameu. APPENDIX. ON THE DATE OF THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. Before we can fix the time at which these Epistles were written we must take the following data into account: 1. The three Epistles were nearly contemporaneous with one another. This is proved by their resembling each other in lan- guage, matter, and style of composition, and in the state of the Christian Church which they describe, and by their differing in all these three points from all other Epistles of Paul. Of course the full force of this argument cannot be appreciated by those who have not carefully studied these Epistles, but it is now almost universally admitted by all who have done so, both by the de- fenders and impugners of the authenticity of the Pastoral Epistles. Hence, if we fix the date of one of the three, we fix approximately the date of all. 2. They were written after Paul became acquainted with ApoUos^ and therefore after Paulas first visit to Ephesus, (See Acts xviii. 24 and Tit. iii. 13.) 3. Hence they could not have been written till after the conclu- sion of that portion of his life which is related in the Acts, because there is no part of his history between his first visit to Ephesus and his Eoman imprisonment which satisfies the historical con- ditions implied in the statements of any one of these Epistles. Various attempts have been made, with different degrees of inge- nuity, to place the Epistles to Timothy and Titus at different points in this interval of time, but all have failed even to satisfy the conditions required for placing any single Epistle correctly. And no one has ever attempted to place all three together at any period of PauFs life before the end of his first Roman imprison- 47 737 738 APPENDIX. ment, yet this contemporaneousness of the three Epistles is, as we have seen, a necessary condition of the problem. 4. The Pastoral Epistles were written not merely after PauPs first Roman imprisonment, but considerably after it. This is evident from the marked difference in their style from the Epistle to the Philippians, which was the last written during that imprisonment. So great a change of style (a change not merely in the use of single words, but in phrases, in modes of thought, and in method of composition) must require an interval of certainly not less than four or five years to account for it. And even that interval might seem too short unless accompanied by circumstances which should further explain the alteration. Yet five years of exhausting labor, great physical and moral sufferings, and bitter experience of human nature might suffice to account for the change. 5. The development of church organization implied in the Pas- toral Epistles leads to the same conclusion as to the lateness of their date. The detailed rules for the choice of presbyters and deacons, implying numerous candidates for these offices, the ex- clusion of new converts {veh