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THE 
 
 
 SACRED CLASSICS: 
 
 OR, 
 
 ©abin^t Sibtarg of Bibinttg, 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 THE REV. R. CATTERMOLE, B. D. 
 
 AND 
 
 THE REV. H. STEERING, M.A. 
 
 3oI)n I|atcl)ar’ti anlj Son, ^iccaUilln; 
 
 WHITTAKER & CO. AVE-MARIA LANE; SIMPKIN & MARSHALL, 
 STATIONERS’ COURT ; TALBOYS, OXFORD ; DEIGHTON, 
 CAMBRIDGE ; OLIVER & BOYD, EDINBURGH ; 
 
 AND CUMMING, DUBLIN. 
 
 MDCCCXXXIV. 
 
LONDON 
 
 JOSKrJl lUCKEIlBY, 
 
 IMliNTEU, 
 
 SHEllBOURN LANE. 
 
f 
 
 
 ANTIQUITATES APOSTOLICJE; 
 
 OR, THE 
 
 LIVES, ACTS, AND MARTYRDOMS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 holy APOSTLES 
 
 OP OUR 
 
 SAVIOUR. 
 
 TO WHICH ARE ADDED, 
 
 I.IVES OF THE TWO EVANGELISTS, 
 
 ST. MARK AND ST. LUKE. 
 
 AS ALSO, A BRIEF ENUMERATION AND ACCOUNT OF THE APOSTLES AND 
 THEIR SUCCESSORS FOR THE FIRST THREE HUNDRED YEARS, 
 
 IN THE FIVE GREAT APOSTOLICAL CHURCHES. 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM D.D. 
 
 CHAPLAIN IN ORDINARY TO KING CHARLES THE SECOND. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 WITH 
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY ESSAY, 
 
 BY THE 
 
 REV. HENRY STEERING, M.A. 
 
 LONDON; 
 
 So^VL anti Son, ^tccatiine; 
 
 WHITTAKER & CO. AVE-MARIA LANE ; SIMPKIN & MARSHALL, 
 STATIONERS’ COURT; TALBOYS, OXFORD; DEIGHTON, 
 CAMBRIDGE; OLIVER & BOYD, EDINBURGH; 
 
 AND GUMMING, DUBLIN. 
 
 MDCCCXXXIV. 
 

e. 3 I o<- 
 /. 1 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 In sending forth the second volume of their work, the Editors of 
 the Sacred Classics take the opportunity of expressing, on 
 their own part and on that of the Proprietor, their sense of the 
 uniformly kind and flattering manner in which the first volume 
 ti has been received by their critical friends. * Cheered, as they 
 originally were, by the nobleness of the subject, and the utility 
 0 of the purpose they had in view, and now further encouraged by 
 the approbation of their countrymen, they would be inaccessible 
 ii to the best motives to exertion, did they not use their utmost 
 endeavours to redeem the pledge given by the Proprietor. Tso 
 labour connected with their editorial charge shall be wanting to 
 render the publication acceptable to the scholar and the divine; 
 tt to the pious reader, whose object is to form his own character for 
 immortality ; and to the public in general, who take an interest 
 in the unrivalled theological literature of England. 
 
 The Editors likewise return their thanks to several anony¬ 
 mous friends, who have favoured them with hints respecting 
 works proper to be selected, &c. They solicit the continuance 
 jo of such communications; but with the additional favour of the 
 I names of the parties, as the most effectual means of rendering 
 their suggestions available; by opening a way to mutual expla¬ 
 nation. 
 
 London, Jamuxrtj 2Qth, 1834 . 
 
 / 
 
 ^ * See the “ Critical Notices” at the end of this volume. 
 
 b 2 
 
Vol. III. (to be published on the 1st of March) -will contain the concluding part of 
 CAVE’S LIVES OF THE APOSTLES; 
 
 WITH SELECTIONS FROM THE “ LIVES OF THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS,” 
 
 BY THE REV. HENRY STEERING, M. A. 
 
 Vol. IV. (to be published on the 1st of April) will contain 
 
 BATES’S SPIRITUAL PERFECTION, UNFOLDED AND ENFORCED; 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTORY ESSAY, BY THE REV. JOHN PYE SMITH, D.D. 
 
 Vol. V. (to be published on the 1st of May) will consist of 
 
 BISHOP HALL’S SELECT THOUGHTS, DEVOUT SOUL, HEAVEN 
 UPON EARTH, MEDITATIONS ON THE LOVE OF CHRIST, 
 
 And othei" Treatises; 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTORY ESSAY, BY THE REV. RICHARD CATTERMOLE, B. D. 
 
 *** The greater part of these beautiful productions are to be purchased only in the 
 complete editions of Bishop Hall’s voluminous and expensive works. 
 
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 
 
 There are certain eras in the history of mankind 
 which require to be contemplated by many and 
 various lights. This is especially the case with 
 those which have derived their importance from 
 giving birth to new moral systems, or from bring¬ 
 ing into more conspicuous action the spiritual ener¬ 
 gies of our race. Political revolutions naturally 
 form remarkable points in the annals of nations, 
 because attended with events to which the tenacity 
 of human sympathy would of itself give a durable 
 importance: but in those changes which have 
 reached the souls of men, a power is found to be 
 at work, the dimmest discovery of which never fails 
 to act with an elevating force on the mind of the 
 discoverer. It is a noble property of the human 
 conscience to be able to recognize the Almighty in 
 creation ; but this is so generally the endowment 
 of man, that he is expected, even in his lowest con¬ 
 dition, to act according to the light he may thence 
 derive ; whereas to behold God in the secret work¬ 
 ings of his providence, in the preparations and 
 dispensings of his Spirit, is in the power only of 
 
X 
 
 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 
 
 those whom he has singularly favoured with wis-j 
 dom and the love of meditation. But in many of 
 those events which compose the bulk of history, 
 he effects his designs by the operation of agents 
 which seem to partake almost as little of hisj 
 living spirit as the matter which composes the ma¬ 
 chinery of the universe : and thus, in the study of 
 history, a large portion of it may be read without 
 demanding or eliciting any extraordinary proof of 
 mental vigour; while, on the other hand, every 
 passage which describes the new position into 
 which mankind is put, by an enlargement of light 
 and knowledge, demands, and when fairly contem¬ 
 plated, produces another and a higher state of 
 mind. While however this is the fruit of that 
 nobler class of historical truths, they also require a 
 more copious illustration than others, to be brought 
 within the scope and operation of our understand¬ 
 ing. The higher we ascend in the regions of spe¬ 
 culation, the fiimer should be our supports; a 
 rule the neglect of which has exemplified almost 
 more than anything else, the pride and folly of 
 human reason; for, however otherwise it may ap¬ 
 pear to superficial minds, it is mainly owing to our 
 negligence or indifference that there is not found 
 in the very loftiest ranges of human thought, in 
 those which it is supposed by the world exist only 
 for wild hypotheses, firm footing for reason, and 
 bright and visible temples of truth,—islands and 
 
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 
 
 XI 
 
 continents lying beyond the vast ocean of uncer¬ 
 tainty, which are not the less real because but 
 rarely visited, nor the less beautiful because their 
 starry galaxies have not yet been submitted to our 
 calculations. The same remark holds good also in 
 r respect to the less speculative part of such inqui¬ 
 ries. There is both a greater degree of evidence 
 ; required, and a greater degree given, for unfolding 
 ! the moral truths of history; and where this is pro¬ 
 perly taken advantage of—when the mind, intent 
 on the object of inquiry, gathers around it whatever 
 ' can emit even the smallest ray of light, and his- 
 I tory is examined as a body instinct with spirits 
 I which have their immortality within it, and will 
 I come forth and manifest themselves at the call of 
 jt thought rightly spending its preparatary vigils; 
 
 I then the most important eras of our existence, 
 t those in which we have been perceptibly carried 
 towards the great beacon-light of humanity, will 
 enable us to observe those changes in their origin 
 which have had the most beneficial influence on 
 our state and nature, and to converse with the just 
 men who, now made perfect, had then to struggle 
 with temptations and difficulties like our own. 
 
 But glancing over the wide circle of human his¬ 
 tory, with the distinct purpose of discovering the 
 periods at which mankind were most forcibly ap¬ 
 pealed to, and influenced, in their spiritual capacity, 
 it is impossible for us not to find our attention at 
 
Xll 
 
 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 
 
 once arrested by the singular splendour which 
 marks the birth and growth of Christianity. If we 
 may find a type in creation, of that second great 
 demonstration of divine love, we see the light 
 which at first existed only in its own limitless ^ 
 fountains, and but a few scintillations of which 
 before shone upon the world, then poured into 
 a glorious orb to shed constant beauty and fer¬ 
 tility over the universe; for the slightest examina- i 
 tion of history shows, that what was before but 
 uncertainly known in morals, thenceforward be¬ 
 came fixed in principles; and that the truths which i 
 had been made palatable by their mixture with ! 
 eiioi, then became sufficiently attractive of them- i 
 selves to secure the attention of the world. In the i 
 subsequent conflicts between truth and error, a ! 
 change is perceptible both in the modes of attack | 
 and defence, and in the instruments employed for 
 carrying on the struggle. Error dared not deny the 
 unity of God—truth feared not to assert it as the 
 foundation of all holiness : instead of marshalling 
 the shadowy ranks of mythological powers, and 
 looking for the soul of a deity under each broad 
 shield of the abstract virtues, error itself acknow¬ 
 ledged the pure and mighty attributes of Jehovah, j 
 only venturing to speak of the variety of his de- 
 crees; and truth, instead of appealing to tradition, 
 or the innate notions of the soul, referred at once to 
 rules which had received the sanction of Eternity. 
 
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 
 
 Xlll 
 
 "rue it is, that the soil was not uniformly impreg- 
 lated with the divine fire which glowed in Chris¬ 
 tianity; but the external change was sufficiently 
 [great and general to show that the world confessed 
 the action of a new element; and from the com- 
 lencement of its operation to the present hour, 
 jthe effects have been evidently on the increase. 
 
 The examination of an era like this is equally 
 interesting and important. It is one of the plain¬ 
 est duties of the intellectual and spiritual to do 
 diatever lies in their power to bring it as distinctly 
 IS may be within the general range of men’s un~ 
 lerstandings and sympathies. This has been al¬ 
 lowed in every age of the Christian church; and 
 ^ts greatest ornaments have gladly employed their 
 ^earning and their power of logical inquiry in this 
 sacred labour. They have considered that while 
 the Scriptures are the sole original of doctrine; 
 '^while they alone are to be appealed to when we 
 would correct error, heal schism, rebuke self-will, 
 or do aught which belongs to the establishing of the 
 faith, there are many sources, both of information 
 and instruction, which, properly opened, may be 
 Imade to pour copious streams of knowledge into 
 [the bosom of the Christian community. And to this 
 conclusion they have been guided by the diversified 
 character of Scripture itself; which while it con¬ 
 tains the fulness of doctrine, contains the elements 
 of much beside, which is to be wrought out by the 
 
 t 
 
XIV 
 
 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 
 
 industry of the human mind; or which, being suffi¬ 
 cient for the immediate purpose in view, is t< 
 content the uninquisitive, but form to others the^ 
 foundation of farther and more general inquiryJ 
 This is the case with many of those points which 
 it was not consistent with the intentions of Christ 
 to direct his messengers to teach as main parts oi 
 their doctrine; but which, nevertheless, as being iil 
 themselves true, could not fail to be involved in| 
 the rest, and are to be traced out by the laborious 
 and spiritual watchfulness of true biblical students] 
 An example of this is afforded us in the little stated; 
 in direct terms, respecting the future condition of 
 the redeemed, and the still less of the separate 
 state of the soul: but by a diligent comparison oi 
 the passages which bear remotely on these sub¬ 
 jects, by a careful treasuring up of all the overflow¬ 
 ings of light from the main vessels of doctrine, the^ 
 mind is rewarded with a far nearer approach to the^ 
 knowledge of these hidden things than the cursory 
 reader can suspect. 
 
 And while this is the case with respect to doc¬ 
 trine, it is also especially so in regard to the histo¬ 
 rical development of the gospel birth-time. The. 
 circumstances recorded are separated widely from 
 each other by matter of deeper importance, in the 
 main, than the facts themselves. Thus attention 
 is perpetually drawn from the incidents of the his¬ 
 tory to the doctrines of the system, and this more 
 
i 
 
 ■> 
 
 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 
 
 XV 
 
 than is the case with any other narrative in exist¬ 
 ence; if we except, perhaps, some few passages of 
 national history, which describe the rise or establish¬ 
 ment of fundamental laws. Hence arises the ne¬ 
 
 cessity for especial care in the study of evangelical 
 history, which has, indeed, an importance in rela¬ 
 tion to doctrine itself not always duly estimated; 
 ^ for, not to mention that which is obvious to all, its 
 ^ ^upport of the doctrine, or its illustration of doc- 
 I trine, it is the soil out of which the seed of eternal 
 I truth and life first sprung, embodied in visible 
 forms: the gospel being the incarnation of truth, 
 dnd the history which it delivers, the development 
 |of that new Being thus, as it were, born into the 
 
 world. 
 
 On examining the several books of the New Tes¬ 
 tament, with a view to the discovery of the charac- 
 t,ers of the several actors in the events it describes. 
 
 it is found that a far more distinct portraiture 
 ckn be drawn of those we are most anxious to 
 contemplate than would otherwise be imagined. 
 Christ himself stands revealed in all the fulness of 
 celestial purity and goodness to the eye of patient 
 meditation: but it is not by his words taken singly, 
 nor by the separate consideration of particular 
 miracles; it is by bringing them together; by pass¬ 
 ing with him from the crowded shores of Jordan to 
 the solitary wilderness; and from the wilderness 
 to the populous towns and villages of Galilee; by 
 
 I 
 
XVI 
 
 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 
 
 accompanying him in spirit through his trials andf 
 his triumphs; bringing them, as near as may he, 
 within the focus of a single glance of faith, that 
 the character of Christ, that Christ himself, is 
 known in the manner described by the evangelist 
 John; that is, so as to be seen and handled as ting 
 word of life. The same, in a lower sense, is truej 
 of his chief apostles. St. Peter, for example, had ' 
 a character distinctly marked by several peculiari-| 
 ties of mind and temper; but it is only on one of 
 two main facts of his history that the ordinary I 
 reader of the gospel fixes his attention; and the ‘ 
 other circumstances respecting him being neglected^ 
 his zeal and his fall, the two extreme points, ar^ 
 so brought together as to destroy the possibility of 
 presenting him to the mind in the proper propoii 
 tions of human character. On taking, however, 
 into consideration the ordinary account given of 
 his countrymen, the Galileans, described as na¬ 
 turally fierce, bold, and impatient of contradic^- 
 tion; adding to this, a due weighing of the cir- 
 cumstances attending the life of a fisherman, ex¬ 
 posed to many perils, often called to reflection by 
 the startling phenomena of the deep : then passing 
 to the view of the incidents which occurred after 
 his call; his apparent attachment to home; his 
 eagerness to avail himself of his privileges as a’ dis- ‘ 
 ciple of Christ; the ready surrender which he made i 
 of his mind to the doctrines of his master; his ‘ 
 
 \ ^ 
 
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 
 
 XVll 
 
 Ustonishment on Tabor; his weariness in Gethse- 
 jmane; his terror in the judgment-hall, will be seen 
 in their natural bearings and relations. To these par¬ 
 ticulars may be added, the incidents recorded of 
 him after the gift of the Holy Spirit, of which 
 sufficient are related to place him distinctly before 
 us, and to show that the ground-work of his per¬ 
 sonal character still retained its strong, original 
 peculiarities. Then, leaving the narrative, we may 
 turn to his epistles, which cement and admira¬ 
 bly illustrate whatever is found written of him in 
 the Scripture history. Glowing with all the fervour 
 natural to his soul, deeply imbued with the asso¬ 
 ciations of his venerable faith in the prophets, and 
 elevated by intimate acquaintance with the sub- 
 limest mysteries of spiritual religion, we hear him 
 speaking the language which might be looked for 
 ii’om one who had not only been on the mount of 
 transfiguration, but had proclaimed the divinity of 
 Christ, and had received gifts of knowledge propor¬ 
 tionable to his faith. But there is a striking feature 
 in these epistles biographically considered; they 
 abound in maxims remarkable for sedateness and 
 cautiousness of spirit: they exhort to duties which 
 only the most self-subdued heart can understand; 
 cxnd the quick, impetuous Peter is heard admonish¬ 
 ing with a mildness and serenity of argument 
 which might only have been looked for from the 
 most gentle of human spirits. Light is thus thrown 
 
XVlll 
 
 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 
 
 upon the disposition of Peter, and upon the statd 
 of his mind when he had passed the greatest porn 
 tion of his career as a preacher of the gospel; and 
 we are hereby enabled to contemplate his completed 
 character. In doing this, we find it retaining all 
 the elements which gave it a degree of lude gran-j 
 deuv even at the commencement of his course; ^ 
 which made us feel, when he first pronounced his 
 most sublime confession, ‘Thou art the Chiist, the 
 Son of God!’ and when he dared to attempt a 
 pathway over an angry sea, because it led to his 
 Lord, that a man had risen before us destined foil 
 great purposes: we find him neither less aident 
 nor less courageous; neither less affectionate noi 
 less susceptible; but these, his original characteiis - 
 tics, are all nobly blended with the loftier attributes f 
 of an apostle confirmed in the faith, filled with the 
 wisdom of experience, and grown familiar with th^ 
 great Spirit of Truth, by long and intimate comr 
 munion with him in every scene and circumstance ^ 
 of life. 
 
 On looking again at the account given of St. 
 Paul, though we find the circumstances related of 
 his ministry more numerous, and set forth in a 
 more distinct order, they plainly require to bd 
 brought together by great care, and with all the 
 succinctness which the energy of inquiry can give 
 them, before the apostle of the Gentiles w ill be seen 
 in the true light which history, properly employed, \ 
 
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 
 
 XIX 
 
 may render. In this case, the great effort required 
 is to bring the brief but important narrative of his 
 labours into immediate connexion with his own com¬ 
 positions ; a point which may be reached with little 
 (U- no difficulty so far as the mechanical or formal 
 ^irrangement is concerned; but to effect which, so 
 .4s to make them mutually illustrate each other, is 
 iji work of skill, and the reward of thoughtfulness. 
 "jThe history given by St. Luke is close and rapid ; 
 but we learn from it sufficient to understand the 
 early zealotry, the deep enthusiasm, the strength of 
 Paul’s character, which confirmed him in his early 
 principles against every appeal short of the strong¬ 
 est demonstrations of the will of God. Striking, 
 however, as might be the portrait drawn of this 
 wonderful man, had we only his history as recorded 
 in the Acts, that which is most admirable in his 
 character would be but weakly exhibited through 
 this unassisted medium. It ^is in his epistles, and 
 that in many passages which an inattentive reader 
 would pass over, without discovering either their 
 historical or spiritual force, that the peculiarities, 
 the bright and glorious individuality of St. Paul is 
 Ito be found displayed. Whatever is said by critics 
 pf those marvellous idioms of true poetry which 
 penetrate the mysteries of our nature, and are so 
 precious as indications of large classes of truths, 
 may be said of numerous incidental expressions 
 and allusions in the writings of this apostle; and 
 
XX 
 
 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 
 
 I 
 
 by observing' these, we arrive at a knowledg'e not 
 only of his labours, of his energy and perseverance!, 
 but of his intellectual being, as wrought upoUi 
 and possessed by the Spirit of holiness whomj 
 he, on the other hand, (and in this consisted th^ 
 great mystery of his renewed nature,) sought to poSj. 
 sess. “ N^ot as though I had already attained , 
 either were already perfect; but I follow after, i ’ 
 that I may apprehend that for which also I ai^ 
 apprehended:’ A sentiment embodying the high¬ 
 est doctrine of evangelical righteousness, and mad^ 
 palpable to the understanding of every man by 
 this deeply pathetic confession of the apostle. 
 
 Scripture history, when thus studied, affordsi 
 more distinct portraits of the characters it mentions 
 than many of the most celebrated of secular narra- 
 tives; but it is to be regretted, that in the general 
 reading of the divine records, that which is histo¬ 
 rical is not less neglected than what is purely doc- 
 tiinal 01 monitory; and thus the conception of 
 those characters which the Scriptures set forth in 
 the two-fold light of chosen agents in the great 
 works of Providence, and examples to the universal 
 race of man, is too indefinite either to move th^ 
 heart, or to fill up the space they are intendeck 
 to occupy in the argument of faith. It was thtj) . 
 
 consideration of these circumstances which first 
 led to the composition of lives of the Saviour and 
 his immediate followers, founded on the relations of 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 
 
 xxi 
 
 Scripture, but intended to present the principal 
 facts and minute particulars, which lie widely dis¬ 
 persed through the books of Revelation, in a con. 
 densed and consecutive order. In undertaking this 
 task, however, even the most careful of writers would 
 jnaturally inquire, whether there were not other 
 “sources’ of information which might be safely em- 
 Iployed to furnish the means of minuter description 
 than those which ought to be looked for in a record 
 ^f levelations and doctrines, rather than of events. 
 ,^lear and impressive as were the forms which 
 rose before the contemplative eye of the spiritual¬ 
 ized student, it could not be denied that the 
 tiolder the hand seemed by which the outline was 
 
 g rawn, the deeper the tints which filled it up, 
 le more attractive and satisfactory would the 
 whole be likely to prove to the ordinary reader. 
 Hence sprang the mingled necessity and tempta¬ 
 tion which gave such value to the traditions which 
 hrose, like a thick mist, sometimes from the na¬ 
 tural heat of the current of events, at others from 
 its impurity and stagnation. In both cases the 
 
 use made of them necessarily depended on the 
 honesty and the skill of those who employed them 
 in illustration or continuation of the Scripture nar¬ 
 rative. But, unfortunately, the credulity of some, 
 and the artifice of others, speedily brought the use 
 of traditionary remains into disrepute; and it soon 
 became a question with those whose stern worship 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 c 
 
XXll 
 
 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 
 
 of truth prevented their discriminating between^ 
 them, whether the traditionary was not the same- 
 
 as the fabulous. , 
 
 This is a question of immense importance in the 
 history of our religion; and it need scarcely bc; 
 mentioned, that some of the bitterest controversies 
 in which different divisions of Christians have been, 
 engaged, derived much of their rancour from thq 
 doubts attending this subject. But so far as thq , 
 biography of the eminent founders of our religion( 
 is concerned, the question admits of limitation^ 
 which bring it within the possibility of solution. It 
 is not to establish disputed points of doctrine that 
 we desire to see these chosen and, without a meta^ 
 phor, heaven-born men as they lived and acted|| 
 but to be soothed, elevated, and encouraged in our ^ 
 struggles by their example. The appeal to tradi!- 
 tion, therefore, for biographical purposes, has none 
 of the suspicion which attends it when employed 
 to serve any partial design; and to this considera4 
 tion, which removes one very material class of ob-*' 
 jections to its employment, we may add another 
 which enlarges the sphere out of which the writer 
 may, with safety and honesty, draw materials for 
 his purpose ; that is to say, there is probability on 
 the side of tradition in respect to its biographical 
 
 ( ft 
 
 uses; and it can almost always be judged of b 3 i’ 
 the rule of verisimilitude, when limited to this 
 employment. It is an acknowledged fact, that th^ 
 
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 
 
 XXlll 
 
 writers of the New Testament selected the circum¬ 
 stances they recorded out of a much larger number 
 of incidents than it came within their province to 
 detail: were it not, therefore, a sacred duty to sa¬ 
 crifice every object to the perfect preservation of 
 Scripture from the least mixture with even possi¬ 
 ble error, it might be argued, that it is not probable, 
 that the striking and powerfully interesting events 
 connected with the establishment of the gospel, 
 •^ould any of them be lost; and that we may there- 
 >ijpre look with confidence on many of those tradi¬ 
 tionary relations which purport to be details of 
 occurrences left unnoticed by the inspired pen- 
 naen. 
 
 ! But the judicious jealousy with which the 
 purity of the gospel is watched, has raised a bar¬ 
 rier against the introduction of such auxiliaries 
 to the Scripture narrative. Where this narrative 
 (peases, the case becomes different, and the proba¬ 
 bility of the tradition remains without any prohibi¬ 
 tion to its employment. The character of the period 
 immediately succeeding the first founding of the 
 church, was singularly fitted for the production of 
 incidents not sufficiently important to demand a 
 continuance of the sacred and inspired narrative, 
 but in every way calculated to excite and secure 
 attention. When the apostles and first disciples 
 left the original seat of the gospel, to spread its 
 glad tidings over the world, they did not perform 
 
 c 2 
 
XXIV 
 
 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 
 
 their allotted duties with so little energy as to re¬ 
 main obscure among the people to whom they mi¬ 
 nistered. Fulfilling the precept of their glorified ^ 
 Master, they became beacons of truth, shining from 
 the eminence on which their election had placed * 
 them, over wide regions of gloom and sterility; 
 but not freed from suffering, they were also set 
 forth to men and to angels a spectacle of much and 
 patient endurance. In both these respects thC 
 apostles could not fail of being scrutinized by largf^p 
 classes of observers, who moved by their doctrines^ 
 startled by their miracles, or enraged by their severe 
 rebukes, would not easily forget their addresses, or 
 lose sight of the circumstances which attended theif 
 appeals. The personal appearance, the voice and 
 gesture even of such men, would long have a permaA 
 nent place in the memory; and many a saying.J 
 many a minute action that had sunk deep into thej 
 hearts of retired, devout converts, would, when thd 
 spirit became accustomed to the new and over-i 
 powering thoughts which the gospel message had 
 awakened, come back upon the mind with a long,^ 
 fresh train of impressive associations. / 
 
 It may fairly be concluded from these consideraA 
 tions, that for some time after the apostles lived, 
 the memory of Christians was richly stored with 
 particulars respecting them : that these particulars 
 would form the subject of frequent conversation, 
 among believers: that they would be communi- 
 
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 
 
 XXV 
 
 1 
 
 \ 
 
 'l cated from one division of the church to another, 
 by the interchange of letters, and the journeyings 
 jof ministers and missionaries, is ecj[ually probable; 
 land to suppose that this species of information 
 jcould be quickly lost, or that it could become so 
 thoroughly corrupted by the intermixture of fable 
 as to be unworthy of notice in a subsequent age, 
 is to do violence to the rules on which all evi- 
 jdence must rest, which is in any way transmitted 
 (through channels not sealed and guarded by formal 
 testaments. 
 
 i We would gather from this, that a biographer of 
 the apostles, and their first successors, has a wide 
 field open to him which he may traverse with 
 safety and profit; but at the same time imposing 
 !on him this strict and uniformly applicable rule, 
 that that species of traditional information only is 
 to be made use of, which is found adopted by those 
 ;who lived at a period sufficiently near the apostolic 
 times to judge of its origin and its authors. Taking 
 this as a primary principle in the selection of in¬ 
 cidents, and in every instance examining them 
 by the rule of analogy and verisimilitude, there 
 will be little danger of our adopting any of those 
 weak inventions by which the superstition of former 
 ages was amused and fostered. 
 
 ; Lives of the apostles were written at an early 
 'period; but they are for the most part filled with 
 (accounts evidently intended to excite the attention 
 
 
XXVI 
 
 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY, 
 
 of weak, uninstructed minds, and possessing no| 
 claim to belief. The period was favourable to such^ 
 productions; the excitement occasioned by extra-J 
 ordinary events requiring all those modifying prin-f 
 ciples which are only found in the purest faith anci 
 piety; and creating, consequently, a very wide field 
 for the employment of invention. This is amply- 
 shown by the rapid multiplication of writings, 
 purporting to have been of apostolic origin. Eveii 
 before the end of the first century new gospels had 
 been forged, and the acts of Christ and his apostles 
 were described in books which, claiming reverence by 
 the nature of their contents, were not less calculated 
 to interest than to deceive. Such were the gospel ac¬ 
 cording to the Hebrews, and the gospel according to 
 the Egyptians; both of which furnished sufficient 
 authorities to support very numerous sects in dan¬ 
 gerous errors: nor were they altogether deprived 
 of their pretensions to credit, till after the canon of 
 Scripture had been some time settled by diligent 
 and cautious inquiry. Besides these, there were 
 the gospel of St. Peter, the gospel of Philip, the 
 gospel of James, and of every other apostle, not 
 excepting the traitor Judas himself, whose sup¬ 
 posed composition is said to have been received by 
 the Gajanites, of whom, strange to relate, he was 
 the titular saint. The acts of the apostles, subser 
 quent to the time of Christ, furnished materials 
 for an equal number of similar supposititious nar- 
 
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 
 
 xxvii 
 
 natives. It is commonly believed that the first 
 work of this nature was the production of a disci¬ 
 ple of St. Paul, and that the writer was detected in 
 bis falsehoods by the knowledge of St. John, who 
 still survived. The chief source, however, of fabu¬ 
 lous traditions, was that heretical spirit which so 
 early infected the church. Most of the spurious 
 gospels had their origin with the Ebionites, the 
 Manichasans, or some other powerful sect. From 
 (the same source proceeded the Acts of the Apostles, 
 which pretended to describe, in particular terms, 
 the labours and journeyings of those devout men 
 to the end of their days. 
 
 The whole of these works were rejected by the 
 church; and private Christians were warned against 
 their dangerous errors by the many acute and 
 pious scholars who devoted themselves to the ex- 
 kmination of whatever assumed the title of an in¬ 
 spired production. Conferences between the be¬ 
 lievers of one city and another, and the succession 
 of highly devout and gifted men, as bishops of the 
 several infant establishments, led gradually to the 
 
 « ear and firm determination of the Scripture 
 .non. Numerous synods, held in subsequent 
 ages, reinvestigated with minute particularity the 
 reason upon which this rule was established; and 
 aline was drawn, which the boldness of heresy has 
 never since been able to pass. But while no writer, 
 of common penetration or honesty, would venture 
 
xxviii 
 
 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 
 
 t 
 
 to look for materials in these counterfeit narratives.; 
 there is still a source of information open, to 
 which suspicion cannot justly attach. This is 
 found in the writings of those fathers who lived in the 
 first three centuries, to the end of which period much 
 even of the unwritten history of the apostolic age 
 might be carried by a natural and easy tradition- 
 The epistle generally ascribed to Barnabas, though 
 
 I 
 
 evidently unimportant as to doctrine, deserves to 
 be regarded in a much higher light when consulted 
 simply for historical illustration: the same may bo 
 said of the remains of Papias, whose theoretical 
 conceits, though they greatly diminish our confi¬ 
 dence in the strength of his capacity, ought cer¬ 
 
 tainly not to deprive him of all credit as a witness., 
 when the circumstances he mentions have no in'- 
 trinsic improbability. To refuse to believe a writei* 
 on a matter of fact, because he appears incapabl ^3 
 of acutely discerning between truth and error ir^ 
 
 theoretical or purely intellectual subjects, woulcf 
 be to introduce a rule that would render it impos¬ 
 
 sible, in most cases, to get evidence on any subject 
 whatever. In the fragments of such men as Clemer4 
 Romanus, Ignatius, Poly carp, the least glimpses m 
 information are of inestimable value; nor is it to 
 be supposed, when coming to a later period, that 
 writers like Origen, or Cyprian, or Chrysostom, or 
 the historian Eusebius or Theodoret, would not 
 avail themselves of the most credible traditions, oV 
 
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 
 
 XXIX 
 
 >^hat before adopting them, they would not fairly 
 examine their claims to belief. That much uncer¬ 
 tainty on several points of interest must remain, 
 
 ^fter every source of information has been investi- 
 
 1 
 
 gated, cannot be denied. But this is not to pre¬ 
 vent our using the utmost diligence to collect 
 whatever lies within the reach of learning: and it 
 will generally be found, that when the combined 
 caution and sound erudition of Christian scholars 
 hre taken as a guide on this subject, that both in¬ 
 struction and satisfaction will follow in the track 
 they have pursued. 
 
 I To reflecting minds, the biography of Christ’s 
 apostles traced out according to these rules, will 
 afford many a refreshing and elevating theme for 
 thought. These messengers of Christ to the world 
 wjere not teachers merely; they were the founda¬ 
 tion-stones of the vast spiritual edifice which Christ 
 aind the Holy Spirit will continue to enlarge, till it 
 i^ commensurate with the predescribed plan of the 
 heavenly Jerusalem : they formed the natural body 
 qf the church ere the might of Divine power de¬ 
 scended to present it to, and to make it one with 
 Christ; they became, when his prayer was answered, 
 ‘ sanctify them through thy truth,’ the types of 
 Christian believers in all ages and countries of the 
 world ; and in their journeyings and sufferings they 
 show how, according to the language of St. Paul, 
 the followers of the Redeemer were to go on, ‘ fill- 
 
XXX 
 
 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 
 
 ing up that which is behind of the afflictions 
 Christ in the flesh.’ And this contemplation of 
 their primary calling and dignity, will conduct the 
 mind to some apprehension of the glory they wij^ 
 be seen enjoying when, as the still supremely ex¬ 
 alted, and eldest born brethren of Christ, they 
 will judge, on their thrones, the twelve tribes of 
 Israel. 
 
 The eminent WTiter of the following memoirs 
 merits all the confidence due to distinguished worth 
 and ability. His own history may be given in ja 
 few lines. He was born at the close of the seven¬ 
 teenth, or beginning of the eighteenth century, r|t 
 Pickwell, in Leicestershire; the living of which 
 parish was held by his father, a man of learning and 
 piety, who bore his full share in the troubles en¬ 
 dured by the clergy during the civil wars. Our 
 author received his education at St. John's College, 
 Cambridge; and took the degree of Bachelor (^f 
 Arts in 1656. He proceeded to the degree pf 
 Master at the regular period; and in 1662 obtained 
 the vicarage of Islington, and not long after the 
 dignity of Chaplain in Ordinary to Charles the 
 Second. In 1672 he took the degree of D.D., to 
 which he wus also admitted at the sister uni¬ 
 versity; and in 1681, his merits as a scholar ob¬ 
 tained for him the rectory of Allhallows, and a 
 canonry at Windsor. But the numerous calls 
 which his London preferments made upon him 
 
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 
 
 XXXI 
 
 were found prejudicial to the important labours he 
 had undertaken as an historian of Christianity; 
 and he gladly accepted, in exchange for Islington 
 and Allhallows, the vicarage of Isleworth, to which he 
 retired in the year 1690; and where he continued 
 tb enjoy for many years the leisure which he em- 
 pipyed so greatly to the advantage of religion and 
 learning. His death took place on the 4th of 
 August, 1713; and he lies buried in the parish 
 church of Islington, where a monument is placed 
 to his memory. 
 
 I The works of this distinguished scholar are 
 numerous. The chief are, the ‘ Scriptorum Eccle- 
 siasticorum Historia Literaria, or, a Literary His¬ 
 tory of Ecclesistical Writers;’ his * Lives of the 
 Apostles;’ the ‘Apostolici, or the History of the 
 Lives, Acts, Deaths, and Martyrdoms of those who 
 were cotemporary with, or immediately succeeded 
 the Apostles, as also of the most eminent of the 
 Primitive Fathers for the first three hundred years;’ 
 tl# ^ Primitive Christianity, or the Religion of the 
 Ancient Christians;’ the ' Tabulae Ecclesiasticae, 
 or Tables of the Ecclesiastical Writers;’ * A Dis¬ 
 sertation concerning the Government of the An¬ 
 cient Church, by Bishops, Metropolitans, and 
 Patriarchs ; those particularly concerning the An- 
 cjent Power and Jurisdiction of the Bishops of Rome, 
 aind the Encroachment of that upon other Sees, es¬ 
 pecially the See of Constantinople;’ ^ Ecclesiastic!, 
 
XXXll 
 
 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 
 
 or the History of the Lives, Acts, Deaths, and Wri¬ 
 tings, of the most eminent Fathers of the Church, 
 that flourished in the Fourth Century: wherein, 
 among other things, an Account is given of the rise, 
 growth, and progress of Arianism, and all other 
 Sects of that Age, descending from it: together 
 with an Introduction, containing an Historical 
 Account of the State of Paganism under the first 
 Christian Emperor:’ and lastly, the ^Chartopliy- 
 lax Ecclesiasticus,’ which is a succinct summairy 
 of the principal contents of the Historia Litteraria, 
 and an improvement on the Ecclesiastical Tablei 
 Cave’s early estimation as a scholar on the Con¬ 
 tinent is proved by the reprint of his chief work, 
 the Historia Litteraria, at Geneva; and of his Ta¬ 
 bulae Ecclesiasticae at Hamburgh: nor can any 
 student of religious history fail of finding in his 
 works most important helps to investigation. Jor- 
 tin, a writer more witty than acute, and better 
 skilled to perform the part of a compiler than to 
 reason or investigate, has affected to speak sarAs- 
 tically of Cave’s deep attention to the fathers: out 
 the careful reader well knows how to appreciate 
 the 1 espective merits of these men j and even a cur¬ 
 sory glance of the ^Historia Litteraria’ of the one, 
 and of the Remarks on Ecclesiastical History’ of 
 the other, will at once show how little pretensions 
 Jortin had to act the part of a critic in regard to 
 this profound scholar. , 
 
"1 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
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 THE 
 
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CONTENTS. 
 
 
 PREFACE.—Page xxxix. 
 INTRODUCTION.—Page 1. 
 
 ST. PETER. 
 
 SECTION I.—Page 43. 
 
 Of St. Peter, from his Birth till his first coming to 
 Christ. 
 
 SECTION II.- Page 5G. 
 
 Of St. Peter, from his first coming to Christ till his being 
 called to be a Disciple. 
 
 f 
 
 i SECTION III.—Page 62. 
 
 Of St. Peter, from his election to the Apostolate till the 
 confession which he made of Christ. 
 
 SECTION IV.—Page 70. 
 
 Of St. Peter, from the time of his Confession till our 
 Lord’s Passover. 
 
XXXVl 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 SECTION V.—Page 83. 
 
 Of St. Peter, from the last Passover, till the Death of 
 Christ. 
 
 I 
 
 SECTION VI.—Page 94. 
 
 Of St. Peter, from Christ’s Resurrection till his Ascen¬ 
 sion. 
 
 SECTION VII.—Page 103. 
 
 Of St. Peter’s Acts, from our Lord’s Ascension till the 
 Dispersion of the Church. ^ 
 
 SECTION VIIL—Page 122. i 
 
 Of St. Peter’s Acts, from the dispersion of the Church 
 at Jerusalem till his contest with St. Paul at Antioch. 
 
 SECTION IX.—Page 136. 
 
 Of St. Peter’s Acts, from the end of the Sacred Story till 
 his Martyrdom. 
 
 SECTION X,—Page 148. 
 
 The character of his person and temper, and an Account 
 of his "Writings. 
 
 SECTION XI.—Page 161. 
 
 An Inquiry into St. Peter’s going to Rome. 
 
 AN APPENDIX TO THE FOREGOING SECTION—173. 
 
 Containing a vindication of St. Peter’s being at Rome. 
 
I 
 
 CONTENTS. XXXVii 
 
 ST. PAUL. 
 
 SECTION I.—Page 187. 
 
 Of St. Paul, from his Birth till his Conversion. 
 
 SECTION II.—Page 200. 
 
 Of St. Paul, from his Conversion till the Council at Jeru¬ 
 salem. 
 
 SECTION III.—Page 214. 
 
 Of St. Paul, from the time of the Synod at Jerusalem till 
 his departure from Athens. 
 
 SECTION IV.—Page 234. 
 
 Of St. Paul’s Acts at Corinth and Ephesus. 
 
 1 
 
 SECTION V.—Page 250. 
 
 Of St. Paul’s Acts, from his departure from Ephesus, till 
 his arraignment before Felix. 
 
 SECTION VL—Page 264. 
 
 Of St. Paul, from his first trial before Felix till his 
 coming to Rome. 
 
 SECTION VII.—Page 278. 
 
 St. Paul’s Acts, from his coming to Rome till his Martyr¬ 
 dom. 
 
 I 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 d 
 
I 
 
AUTHOR’S PREFACE. 
 
 It, will not, I suppose, seem improbable to the 
 reader, when I tell him with how much reluctancv 
 ano] unwUhngness I set upon this undertaking, 
 mhmately conscious as I was to my own un 
 fitness for such a work at any time, much more 
 when clogged with many habitual infirmities and 
 distcempers. I considered the difficulty of the thino- 
 i^tself, perhaps not capable of being well managed 
 by .1 much better pen than mine; few of the ancient 
 monuments of the church being extant, and little 
 of this nature in those few that are. Indeed, I 
 could not but think it reasonable, that all possible 
 honour should be done to those that first ‘ preached 
 the gospel of peace, and brought glad tidings of 
 good thingsthat it was fit men should be taught 
 how; much they were obliged to those excellent per- 
 ^n^, who were willing at so dear a rate to plant 
 Christianity in the world; who they were, and 
 what was that piety and that patience, that charity 
 and that zeal, which made them to be referenced 
 while they lived, and their memories ever since to 
 be- honourably celebrated through the world; infi¬ 
 nitely beyond the glories of Alexander, and the 
 triumphs of a Pompey or a Caisar. But then how 
 
xl author’s preface. 
 
 I 
 
 this should be done out of those few imperfect me¬ 
 moirs that have escaped the general shipwreck cf 
 church antiquities; and much more by so rude 
 and unskilful a hand as mine, appeared, I confess, 
 a very difficult task, and next door to impossible. 
 These, with some other considerations, made me a 
 long time obstinately resolve against it, till, being 
 overcome by importunity, I yielded to do it as I 
 was able, and as the nature of the thing would 
 bear. 
 
 That which I primarily designed to myself, was 
 to draw down the history of the New Testament, 
 especially from our Lord’s death; to inquire into 
 the first originals and plantations of the Christian 
 church by the ministry of the apostles, the success 
 of their doctrine, the power and conviction of their 
 miracles, their infinite labours and hardships, Jind 
 the dreadful sufferings which they underwent; to 
 consider in what instances of piety and virtue they 
 ministered to our imitation, and served the pur¬ 
 poses of religion and a holy life. Indeed the 
 accounts that are left us of these things are very 
 short and inconsiderable; sufficient possiblV to 
 excite the appetite, not to allay the hunger of an 
 importunate inquirer into these matters. A con¬ 
 sideration that might give us just occasion' to 
 lament the irreparable loss of those primitive re¬ 
 cords, which the injury of time hath deprived us 
 of; the substance being gone, and little left us but 
 the shell and carcass. Had we the writings of 
 Papias, bishop of Plierapolis,’ and scholar (says 
 1 Hist. Eccl. lib. i. c. 2. p. 4. ^ 
 
author’s preface. xli 
 
 Irenaeus) to St. John; wherein, as himself tells us, 
 he set clown what he had learnt from those who 
 had familiarly conversed with the apostles, the 
 sayings and discourses of Andrew and Peter, of 
 Philip and Thomas, &c.; had we the ancient 
 Commentaries of Hegesippus, Clemens ‘ Alexan- 
 drinus s Institutions, Africanus’s Chronography, and 
 some others, the reader might expect more entire 
 and particular relations. But, alas! these are long 
 since perished, and little besides the names of them 
 transmitted to us. Nor should we have had most 
 of' that little which is left us, had not the commend¬ 
 able care and industry of Eusebius ^ preserved it 
 toms. And if he complained, in his time, (when 
 th®se writings were extant,) that towards the com¬ 
 posing of his history he had only some few parti¬ 
 cular accounts here and there left by the ancients 
 ofj their times, what cause have we to complain, 
 when even those little portions have been ravished 
 from us ? So that he that would build a work of 
 this nature, must look upon himself as condemned 
 to a kind of Egyptian task, to make brick without 
 straw, at least to pick it up where he can find it, 
 though after all it amounts to a very slender par¬ 
 cel. Which as it greatly hinders the beauty and 
 completeness of the structure, so does it exceed¬ 
 ingly multiply the labour and difficulty. For by 
 this means I have been forced to gather up those 
 little fragments of antiquity, that lie dispersed in 
 the writings of the ancients, thrown some into tjbis 
 
 corner, and others into that; which I have at length 
 
 » 
 
 1 Apud Euseb. Hist. Eccl. lib. iii. i. c. 2, p. 111. 
 
xlii 
 
 author's preface. 
 
 put together, like the pieces of a broken statue, that 
 it might have at least some kind of resemblance of 
 the person whom it designs to represent. 
 
 Had I thought good to have traded in idle and 
 frivolous authors, Abdias Babylonius, ^ The Passions 
 of Peter and Paul,’ Joachim Perionius, Peter de 
 Natalibus, and such like, I might have presented 
 the reader with a larger, not a better account. But 
 besides the averseness of my nature to falsehoods 
 and trifles, especially wherein the honour of the 
 Christian religion is concerned, I knew the woii;ld 
 to be wiser at this time of day, than to be imposed 
 upon by pious frauds, and cheated with ecclesias¬ 
 tical romances and legendary reports. For tlfis 
 reason, I have more fully and particularly insisr^d 
 upon the lives of the two first apostles, so greaf^ a 
 part of them being secured by an unquestionabile 
 authority; and have presented the larger portions 
 of the sacred history, many times to very minute 
 circumstances of action. And I presume the wise 
 and judicious reader will not blame me, for choos¬ 
 ing rather to enlarge upon a story which I knew;to 
 be infallibly true, than to treat him with thqse 
 which there was cause enough to conclude to be 
 certainly false. ' 
 
 The reader will easily discern, that the authors 
 I make use of are not all of the same rank and siz'p. 
 Some of them are divinely inspired, whose autho¬ 
 rity is sacred, and their reports rendered not only 
 credible, but unquestionable, by that infallible 
 and unerring spirit that presided over them. Other^^ 
 such, of whose faith and testimony, especially in 
 
i author’s preface/ xliii 
 
 f- ' 
 
 ^ matters of fact, there is no just cause to doubt; I 
 mean the genuine writings of the ancient fathers; 
 or those, which, though unduly assigned to this or 
 that particular father, are yet generally allowed to 
 be ancient, and their credit not to be despised, be¬ 
 cause their proper parent is not certainly known. 
 Next these come the writers of the middle and 
 lo.tei ages of the church, who, thoug'h below the 
 former in point of credit, have yet some particular 
 advantages that recommend them to us. Such I 
 account Symeon Metaphrastes, Nicephorus Cal- 
 li&tus, the Me7i(sa and Menologies of the Greek 
 
 ^ church, &c. wherein, though we meet with many 
 vs^in and improbable stories, yet may we rationally 
 expect some real and substantial accounts of things; 
 especially seeing they had the advantage of many 
 ancient and ecclesiastical writings extant in their 
 times, which to us are ^utterly lost. Though even 
 th^se too I have never called in, but in the want of 
 mojre ancient and authentic writers. As for others, 
 if any passages occur either in themselves of doubt¬ 
 ful j and suspected credit, or borrowed from spurious 
 and uncertain authors, they are always introduced 
 oi dismissed with some kind of censure or remark ; 
 thgj.t the most easy and credulous reader may know 
 what to trust to, and not fear being secretly sur- 
 
 ^ prised into a belief of doubtful and fabulous re¬ 
 ports. And now, after all, I am sufficiently sensi¬ 
 ble how lank and thin this account is, nor can the 
 reader be less satisfied with it than I am myself; 
 and I have only this piece of justice and charity to 
 beg of him, that he would suspend his censure till 
 
 ^ , / 
 
 / 
 
author’s preface. 
 
 xliv 
 
 he has taken a little pains to inquire into the state 
 of the times and things I write of; and then, how¬ 
 ever he may challenge my prudence in undertaking 
 it, he will not, I hope, see reason to charge me with 
 want of care and faithfulness in the pursuanc^ 
 of it. I 
 
THE 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 L 
 
 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Jesus Christ, the great apostle and high- 
 prijest of our profession, being appointed by God 
 to lj)e the supreme ruler and governor of his church, 
 was,, like Moses, faithful in all his house; but with 
 this jhonourable advantage, that Moses was faithful 
 as a' servant, Christ as a son over his own house, 
 which he erected, established, and governed with 
 all possible care and diligence. Nor could he give 
 a greater instance either of his fidelity towards 
 God or his love and kindness to the souls of men, 
 than that after he had purchased a family to him¬ 
 self, and could now no longer upon earth manage 
 its interests in his own person, he would not re¬ 
 turn, back to heaven till he had constituted several 
 rs and officers in his church, who might super- 
 nd and conduct its affairs, and according to the 
 various circumstances of its state, administer to the 
 needs and exigencies of his family. Accordingly 
 therefore,"he gave some apostles,and some prophets, 
 
 VOL. I. B 
 
 turn 
 
 r m 
 
2 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 and some evangelists, and some pastors and teacheji 
 for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of tTO 
 ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ j till 
 we all come into the unity of the faith, and of the 
 knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, 
 unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of 
 Christ. ' The first and prime class of officers is 
 that of apostles: God hath set some in the church, 
 first apostles, secondarily prophets, &c. First 
 apostles, as far in office as honour before the rest, 
 their election more immediate, their commission 
 more large and comprehensive, the powers and 
 privileges wherewith they were furnished greater 
 and more honourable. Prophecy, the gift of pi¬ 
 racies and expelling daemons, the order of pastprs 
 and teachers, were all spiritual powers, and ensigins 
 of great authority, dXXa tovtojv airavriov 
 apxv ^ d7ro-oXi/o7, says Chrysostom “ but the apjos- 
 tolic eminency is far greater than all thesewbicli 
 therefore he calls a spiritual consulship : an apcpstle 
 having as great pre-eminence above all other officers 
 in the church, as the consul had above all other 
 magistrates in Rome. These apostles were a! few 
 select persons whom our Lord chose out ofi the 
 rest, to devolve part of the government upon tbeir 
 shoulders, and to depute for the first planting und 
 settling Christianity in the world : ^ he chose twelve, 
 whom he named apostles^ of whose lives and acts 
 being to give an historical account in the folloy^g 
 work, it may not, possibly, be unuseful to preiMj^ 
 some general remarks concerning them, not^H^ 
 
 
 ‘ Eph.iv. 11, 12, 13. I 
 
 2 Serm. de Util. Lection. Sac. Scrip, tom. viii. edit. Savil. 
 p. 114. 
 
 3 Luke, vi. 13. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 3 
 
 specting- this or that particular person, but of a 
 geneial relation to the whole; wherein we shall 
 especially take notice of the importance of the 
 word, the nature of the employment, the fitness and 
 qualification of the persons, and the duration and 
 continuance of the ofiflce. 
 
 2. The word uTro^oXog, or sent, is among ancient 
 witters applied either to things, actions, or persons. 
 To things: thus, those dimissory letters that were 
 gra:nted to such who appealed from an inferior to a 
 superior judicature, were in the language of the 
 Roman laws usually called apostoli Thus, a 
 paCjket-boat was stiled aTzo^oXov ttXoHov, because sent 
 up and down for advice and dispatch of business. 
 Thus, though in somewhat a different sense, the 
 lesson taken out of the epistles is in the ancient 
 Greek liturgies, called cnro'^oXog f because usually 
 token out of the apostles" writings. Sometimes it 
 is applied to actions, and so imports no more than 
 mission, or the very act of sending. Thus the 
 setting out a fleet or a naval expedition, was wont 
 to be called a-n-o^oXog; so Suidas tells us,^ that as 
 the peisons designed for the care and management 
 of the fleet were called cnro^oXelg, so the very sending 
 forth of the ships themselves, at rwv vewv iicTropTral, 
 were stiled aTro^oXot. Lastly; what principally 
 faiy under our present consideration, it is applied 
 to persons; and so imports no more than a mes¬ 
 senger, a person sent upon some special errand, 
 forUhe discharge of some peculiar affair in his 
 
 ? L. unic. fF. lib. xlix. tit. 6. Vide L. 106, tit. 16, lib. 1. et 
 Paul. J. C. Sentent. lib. ix. tit. 39. 
 
 * Vid. Chrysost. Liturg. in Ritual Grtec. p. 68. 
 
 . ® Suidas in voc. diroroXai. ex Demosth. vid. Harpocr. Lex. 
 m ‘Uec. Rhet. 
 
4 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 name that sent him. Thus Epaphroditus is called 
 the apostle or messenger of the Philippians,* when 
 sent by them to St. Paul at Rome. Thus Titus 
 and his companions are stiled tt7ro<roXoi, the mes¬ 
 sengers of the churches.” So our Lord; " He that is 
 sent; ciTTo^oXoQ, an apostle or messenger Ms not 
 greater than he that sent him." This, then, being 
 the common notion of the word, our Lord fixe^ it 
 to a particular use, applying it to those select per¬ 
 sons whom he had made choice of to act by that 
 peculiar authority and commission which he had 
 derived upon them. Twelve, whom he also napaed 
 apostles; that is, commissioners, those who wei^eto 
 be ambassadors for Christ, to be sent up and d^wn 
 the world in his name, to plant the faith, to go^^ern 
 and superintend the church at present, and, by 
 their wise and prudent settlement of affairs, to ijro- 
 vide for the future exigencies of the church. 
 
 3. The next thing then to be considered is the 
 nature of their office; and under this inquiry we 
 shall make these following remarks. First,; it is 
 not to be doubted but that our Lord in foudding 
 this office had some respect to the state of things in 
 the Jewish church; I mean not only in gerkeral, 
 that there should be superior and subordinate 
 officers, as there were superior and inferior orders 
 under the Mosaic dispensation; but that hereih he 
 had an eye to some usage and custom conAnon 
 among them. Now, among the Jews, as all mes¬ 
 sengers were called or apostles;® so Were 
 
 1 Phil. ii. 25 ; 2 Cor. viii. 23; John, xiii. 16. 
 
 2 A-rro^oXovg dakri iq vvv iOoQ k'^i'IovdaiovQ ovofxdlfiv, 
 
 Tovg kyKVKXia ypdfxfxara Trapa ri^v ap^ovroiv avriov avaKO~ 
 uiKofxsvovg—Euseh. in Caten. M.S. apud Heins, exercit. in 
 Luc. vi. i 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 5 
 
 they wont to dispatch some with peculiar letters of 
 authority and commission, whereby they acted as 
 proxies and deputies 6f those that sent them: 
 thence their proverb imoD cdiw bm ‘‘Every 
 
 maiVs apostle is as himselfthat is, whatever he 
 dpes is looked upon to be as firm and valid as if the 
 person himself had done it. Thus, when Saul was 
 seijit by the Sanhedrim to Damascus to apprehend 
 Jewish converts, he was furnished with letters 
 frcim the high-priest, enabling him to act as his 
 cobimissary in that matter. Indeed Epiphanius^ 
 teljls us of a sort of persons called apostles, who 
 weke assessors and counsellors to the Jewish pa- 
 tridrch; constantly attending upon him, to advise 
 niip in matters pertaining to the law j and sent by 
 hiiii (as he intimates®) sometimes to inspect and 
 reform the manners of the priests and Jewisli 
 clergy, and the irregularities of country synagogues, 
 with commission to gather the tenths and first- 
 fruits due in all the provinces under his jurisdic- 
 tiont Such apostles we find mentioned both by 
 Julian the emperor,^ in an epistle to the Jews, and 
 in a|, law of the emperor Honorius,^ employed by 
 the jpatiiaichto gather once a year the auvuin coro~ 
 narium, or crown gold, a tribute annually paid by 
 theifn to the Roman emperors. But these apostles 
 coiyld not, under that notion, be extant in our Sa- 
 viQur’s time; though sure we are there was then some¬ 
 thing like it. Philo the Jew,^ more than once men- 
 tibning the iepoTro/j,7rol Kad' eica^oy iviavrov ^vcrov 
 apyvpov 7r\e~i<^ov KOfxti^ovr^Q eIq to lepor, ruv adpoiaS^trra 
 EK ra>y anrap-^^wv, “ The sacred messengers annually 
 
 * Hares. 30, p. 60. « Ibid. p. 63. ^ Epist. 25, p. 153. 
 
 L. 14. C. Th. de Judais, lib. xvi. tit. 8. 
 
 5 
 
 Lib. de Legat. ad Caium, p. 1023. vide p. 1035, E, 
 
6 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 sent to collect the holy treasure paid by way of 
 first-fruits, and to carry it to the temple at Jeru¬ 
 salem.” However, our liord in conformity to the 
 general custom of those times, of appointing apostles 
 or messengers, as their proxies and deputies to a!ct 
 in their names, called and denominated thpse 
 apostles, whom he peculiarly chose to represent )kis 
 person, to communicate his mind and will to |,he 
 world, and to act as ambassadors or commissionjers 
 in his room and stead. i 
 
 4. Secondly, we observe that the persons thus (Re¬ 
 puted by our Saviour were not left uncertain, lout 
 reduced to a fixed definite number, confined to pie 
 just number of twelve; ^ he ordained twelve tmat 
 they should be with him.^‘ A number that seems 
 to carry something of mystery and peculiar design 
 in it, as appears in that the apostles were so cai/fe- 
 ful upon the fall of Judas immediately to supply 
 it. The fathers are very wide and different in tlleir 
 conjectures about the reason of it. St. Augustine* 
 thinks our Lord herein had respect to the jfour 
 quarters of the world, which were to be called by 
 the preaching of the gospel, which being multiplied 
 by three (to denote the Trinity, in whose n)ame 
 they were to be called) make twelve. Tertullian^ 
 will have them typified by the twelve fountainis in 
 Elim ; the apostles being sent out to water an^ re-? 
 fresh the dry, thirsty world with the knowledge of 
 the truth ; by the twelve precious stones in Aarop’s 
 breast-plate, to illuminate the church, the garmeiit 
 which Christ our great high-priest has put on; by 
 
 ^ Mark, iii. 15. ^ 
 
 2 Serm. iii. in Psalm 103, Col. 1192, tom. viii. vid. in Psalm 
 59, Col. 603. I 
 
 ^ Adv. Marcion. lib. iv. c. 13, p. 425. i 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 '7 
 
 
 the twelve stones which Joshua chose out of Jordan, 
 today up within the ark of the testament, respect¬ 
 ing the firmness and solidity of the apostles’ faith, 
 their being chosen by the true Jesus or Joshua at 
 their baptism in Jordan, and their being admitted 
 into the inner sanctuary of his covenant. By others 
 w " are told, that it was shadowed out by the twelve 
 spies taken out of every tribe, and sent to discover 
 the land of promise; or by the twelve gates of the 
 city in Ezekiel’s vision; or by the twelve bells ap- 
 pendent to Aaron’s garment, their sound going out 
 into all the world, and their words unto the ends 
 of the earth.’^ But it were endless, and to very 
 little purpose, to reckon up all the conjectures of 
 this nature, there being scarce any one number of 
 twelve mentioned in the Scripture, which is not by 
 some of the ancients adapted and applied to this of 
 the twelve apostles, wherein an ordinary fancy might 
 easily enough pick out a mystery. That which 
 seems to put in the most rational plea is, that our 
 Lord, being now about to form a new spiritual com- 
 m(|nwealth, a kind of mystical Israel, pitched upon 
 this number in conformity either to the twelve 
 patriarchs, as founders of the twelve tribes of Israel, 
 or tj> the twelve 0vXap)(ai, or chief heads, as stand¬ 
 ing rulers of those tribes among the Jews; as we 
 shall afterwards possibly more particularly remark.^ 
 Thirdly, these apostles were immediately called 
 and sent by Christ himself, elected out of the body 
 of his disciples and followers, and received their 
 commission from his own mouth. Indeed, Matthias 
 was not one of the first election, being taken, in 
 
 \ 
 
 r * Just. Mart. Dial, cum Tr 3 rphon. p. 260. 
 
 ; ^ See St. Peter’s Life, sect. 3, num. 2. 
 
 r 
 
 / 
 
T 
 
 8 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. | 
 
 upon Judas s apostasy, after our Lord’s ascension 
 into heaven. But besides that he had been one> of 
 the seventy disciples, called and sent out by our 
 Saviour, that extraordinary declaration of the di¬ 
 vine will and pleasure that appeared in determin¬ 
 ing his election, was in a manner equivalent to the 
 first election. As for St. Paul, he was not onJrof 
 the twelve, taken in as a supernumerary apostle j 
 but yet an apostle as well as they, and that * not of 
 men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ' as he 
 pleads his own cause against the insinuations of 
 those impostors who traduced him as an apostle 
 only at the second hand j whereas he was immedi¬ 
 ately called by Christ as well as they, and in a 
 more extraordinary manner; they were called by 
 him while he was yet in his state of meanness a,nd 
 humiliation; he, when Christ was now advanced 
 upon the throne, and appeared to him encircled 
 with those glorious emanations of brightness and 
 majesty, which he was not able to endure. I ob¬ 
 serve no more concerning this, than that an im¬ 
 mediate call has ever been accounted so necessr|.ry v 
 to give credit and reputation to their doctrine, that 
 the most notorious impostors have pretended to 
 it. Thus Manes,® the founder of the Manich^an 
 sect, was wont in his epistles to stile himself the 
 apostle of Jesus Christ, as pretending himself to be 
 the pel son whom our Lord had promised to sepd 
 into the world, and that accordingly the Holy Ghpst 
 was actually sent in him; and therefore he consti¬ 
 tuted twelve disciples always to attend his person, 
 in imitation of the number of the apostolic college. 
 And how often the Turkish impostor does upon this 
 
 ) 
 
 ^ Gal. i. 1, 
 
 ® Aug. de Hasres. c. 46, Col. 23. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 9 
 
 i? 
 
 account call himself the apostle of God, every one 
 tha^t has but once seen the Alcoran is able to tell. 
 
 5j. Fourthly, the main work and employment of 
 thetee apostles was to preach the gospel, to estab¬ 
 lish Christianity, and to govern the church that 
 founded, as Christs immediate deputies 
 an* vicegerents : they were to instruct men in the 
 docflines of the gospel, to disciple the world, and 
 to baptize and initiate men into the faith of Christ; 
 and'to constitute and ordain guides and ministers 
 ^ of religion, persons peculiarly set apart for holy 
 ministrations, to censure and punish obstinate and 
 ^ contumacious offenders, to compose and overrule 
 disorders and divisions, to command or counter¬ 
 mand as occasion was, being’ vested with an ex¬ 
 traordinary authority*and power of disposing things 
 for the edification of the church. This office the 
 apostles never exercised in its full extent and lati¬ 
 tude during Christ’s residence upon earth; for 
 thoi^h upon their election he sent them forth to 
 prejfth and to baptize, yet this was only a narrow 
 ^ andf temporary employment, and they quickly re- 
 turnled to their private stations; the main power 
 beinlg still executed and administered by Christ 
 himself, the complete exercise whereof was not ac¬ 
 tually devolved upon them till he was ready to 
 leave the world : for then it was that he told them, 
 
 * i^s my Father hath sent me, even so send I you; 
 refceive ye the Holy Ghost; whosesoever sins ye 
 remit, they are remitted; and whosesoever sins ye 
 retain, they are retained.’ * Whereby he conferred 
 in some proportion the same authority upon them 
 which he himself had derived from his Father. 
 
 * John, XX. 21, 22, 23. 
 
10 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 Fifthly, this commission given to the apostles vras 
 unlimited and universal, not only in respect of 
 power, as enabling them to discharge all acts oi re¬ 
 ligion, relating either to ministry or government 
 but in respect of place, not confining them to this 
 or that particular province, but leaving themMhe 
 whole world as their diocess to preach in, the^^e- 
 ing destinati nationibus magistri, in Teitullian’s 
 phrase,^ designed to be the masters and instructors 
 of all nations: so runs their commission, ‘ Go ye 
 into all the world, and preach the gospel to every 
 creature^ that is, to all men, the Tracra ktIctiq of 
 the Evangelist answering to the 
 amongst the Jews, ' to all creatures;’ whereby 
 they used to denote all men in general, but espe¬ 
 cially the Gentiles in opposition to the Jews. In¬ 
 deed, while our Saviour lived, the apostolical mi¬ 
 nistry extended no father than Judea; but he be¬ 
 ing gone to heaven, the partition wall was broken 
 down, and their way was open into all places.and 
 countries. And herein how admirably die* the 
 Christian economy transcend the Jewish dispensa¬ 
 tion! The preaching of the prophets, like' the 
 light that comes in at the window,^ was confined 
 only to the house of Israel; while the doctrine of 
 the gospel preached by the apostles, was like the 
 
 •4 
 
 i 
 
 \ 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 * *A.pxovr£g tiaiv vtto Qtov x^t^poTOvrjOkvrsg ol ’Atto-toXoi* 
 dpxovreg^ ovk tOvrj ^ TroXeig Sia(p6povg Xajx^dvovTegj dXXa 
 rrdvrtg Koivy rrjv oiKovfisvijv efnri’^evQivTsg .—Chrysost. Sertn, 
 TTepl rov, OTi vp^o-tuog ^ tS>v ypaipiov dvdyvcjffig, p. 115 , 
 tom. viii. edit. Savil. ^ 
 
 2 De praescript, Hasret. c. 20, p. 208. 3 Mark, xvi. 15. 
 
 "Offirep ds <l>(o(r Sid BrvpiSog kiirepxo/itvov^ 6 Sk rjXtog 
 Ty oUovfikvy rag UKTivag kiraipiriaiv' ovrojg ijirap ol Trpo- 
 ^rjTai Tov iSiov oiKOv fiovov ipcj^rjpeg tov ’lirparfX’ oi Sa’A-rro- 
 •^oXoi yXioi rjaav kKXd/xTrovTtg Tag aKTivag tig oXa rd uspy 
 rov Koafiov, —Macar. Homil. xiv. p. I7I. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 11 
 
 light of the sun in the firmament, that diffused its 
 beaims, and propagated its heat and influence into 
 all quarters of the world; ‘ their sound going out 
 intOj all the earth, and their words unto the ends of 
 theiworld.^ It is true, for the more prudent and 
 orcArly management of things, they are generally 
 saixP by the ancients to have divided the world into 
 so many quarters and portions, to which they were 
 severally to betake themselves; Peter to Pontus, 
 Galatia, Cappadocia, &c.; St.John to Asia; St. 
 Andrew to Scythia, &c. But they did not strictly 
 tie themselves to those particular provinces that 
 were assigned them, but, as occasion was, made 
 exci^rsions into other parts; though for the main 
 they had a more peculiar inspection over those 
 parts that were allotted to them, usually residing 
 at S(f)me principal city of the province; as St. John 
 at plphesus, St. Philip at Hierapolis, &c.; whence 
 the|r might have a more convenient prospect of 
 affdkirs round about them; and hence it was that 
 the$e places more peculiarly got the title of apos¬ 
 tolical churches, because first planted, or eminently 
 wa'|bred and cultivated by some apostles, matrices 
 et ihiginales Jidei, as Tertullian * calls them; mo¬ 
 ther churches and the originals of the faith;” be¬ 
 cause here the Christian doctrine was first sown, and 
 hence planted and propagated to the countries rouud 
 about; Ecclesias apud unamquamque civitatem con- 
 diderunt, d quihus traducem Jidei et semina doctrince, 
 c<Bter<B exinde ecclesi^ mutuatee suntj’^ as his own 
 words are. 
 
 6. In pursuance of this general commission, we 
 find the apostles, not long after our Lord’s ascen- 
 
 ^ I ^ De Praescript. Hseret. c. 21, p. 209. 
 
 ( 2 Ibid. c. 20, p. 208. 
 
 i ' 
 
 / 
 
12 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 sion, traversing almost all parts of the then known 
 world: St. Andrew in Scythia, and those northern 
 countries; St. Thomas and Bartholomew in In¬ 
 dia; St. Simon and St. Mark in Africa, Egypt, 
 and the parts of Libya and Mauritania; St. Paul, 
 and probably Peter, and some others, in the farthest 
 regions of the west; and all this done in the s* ce 
 of less than forty years; viz., before the destruction 
 of the Jewish state, by Titus and the Roman army. 
 For so our Lord had expressly foretold, that ‘the 
 gospel of the kingdom should be preached in all 
 the world, for a witness unto all nations, before the 
 end came;’ ‘ that is, the end of the Jewish state, 
 which the apostles, a little before, had called \ the 
 end oftheword,^® arvvTeXeia rov aituyoc, the shutting 
 up or consummation of the age, the putting a final 
 period to that present state and dispensation ihat 
 the Jews were under. And indeed strange it Is to 
 consider, that in so few years these evangeljical 
 messengers should overrun all countries: with What 
 an incredible swiftness did the Christian faith, like 
 lightning, pierce from east to west, and diffuse itself 
 over all quarters of the world; and that not fiily 
 unassisted by any secular advantages, but in Re¬ 
 liance of the most fierce and potent opposition, 
 which every where set itself against it! It is true, 
 the impostors of Mahomet in a very little time 
 gained a great part of the East; but besides tl^at 
 this was not comparable to the universal spreading 
 of Christianity, his doctrine was calculated on pur¬ 
 pose to gratify men’s lusts, and especially to com¬ 
 ply with the loose and wanton manners of the East; 
 and, which is above all, had the sword to hew out 
 
 * Matt. xxiv. 14. 
 
 ^ Ibid. ver. 3. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 13 
 
 f 
 \ 
 
 its before it j and we know liow ready, even 
 witilifout force, in all changes and revolutions of the 
 worljd, the conquered have been to follow the reli¬ 
 gion! of the conquerors. Whereas the apostles had 
 no j^isible advantages, nay, had all the enraged 
 po^Ars of the world to contend against them. And 
 yet»n despite of all, went on in triumph, and 
 quiMly made their way into those places where 
 for w many ages no other conquest ever came: 
 “ Tflbse parts of Britain,” as Tertullian observes,^ 
 whjich were unconquerable and unapproachable 
 ^V^he power of the Roman armies, submitting 
 i^^cks to the yoke of Christ.” A mighty evi- 
 d?^^e(as he there argues) of Christ’s Divinity, and 
 that he was the true Messiah. And, indeed, no 
 reasonable account can be given of the strange and 
 successful progress of the Christian religion in those 
 first ages of it, but that it was the birth of heaven, 
 and had a divine and invisible power going along 
 with it to succeed and prosper it. St. Chrysostom ® 
 discourses this argument at large, some of whose 
 elegant reasonings I shall here transcribe. He tells 
 the Gentile (with whom he was disputing) that he 
 would not prove Christ’s Deity by a demonstration 
 from heaven, by his creation of the world, his 
 great and stupendous miracles, his raising the dead, 
 curing the blind, expelling devils, nor from the 
 mighty promises of a future state, and the resur¬ 
 rection of the dead, (which an infidel might easily 
 not only question but deny,) but from what was 
 sufficiently evident and obvious to the meanest idiot, 
 —bis planting and propagating Christianity in the 
 world. For it is not, says he, in the power of a 
 
 ^ Adv. Jud. c. 7j p. 189. 
 
14 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. j 
 
 mere man, in so short a time to encircle the woirld, 
 to compass sea and land, and in matters of so g^eat 
 importance, to rescue mankind from the slavery of 
 absurd and unreasonable customs, and the power¬ 
 ful tyranny of evil habits; and these not Romans 
 only, but Persians, and the most barbarous njAons 
 of the world. A reformation which he wrcMght, 
 not by force and the power of the sword, n« by 
 pouring into the world numerous legionsBand 
 armies; but by a few inconsiderable men; (no 
 more at first than eleven,) a company of obscurb and 
 mean, simple and illiterate, poor and helj>J^sp, 
 naked and unarmed persons, who had scai^L a 
 shoe to tread on, or a coat to cover them, ^^d 
 yet by these he persuaded so great a part of man¬ 
 kind to be able freely to reason, not only of things 
 of the present, but of a future state; to renounce 
 the laws of their country, and throw off those an¬ 
 cient and inveterate customs which had taken root 
 for so many ages, and planted others in their room; 
 and reduced men from those easy ways, wherbinto 
 they were hurried, into the more rugged and diffi- ^ 
 cult paths of virtue. All which he did while he 
 had to contend with opposite powers, and when he 
 himself had undergone the most ignominious death, 
 even the death of the cross. Afterwards he ad¬ 
 dresses himself to the Jew, and discourses with him 
 much after the same rate. Consider, says he,‘ and^be- 
 think thyself, what it is in so short a time to fill 
 the whole world with so many famous churches, 
 to convert so many nations to the faith, to prei^ail 
 with men to forsake the religion of their country, 
 to root up their rites and customs, to shake off the 
 
 * Lib. quod Chr. sit Deus, c. 11. tom. v. p. 7^6. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 15 
 
 empire of lust and pleasure, and the laws of vice, 
 like dust; to abolish and abominate their temples 
 and their altars, their idols and their sacrifices, 
 their profane and impious festivals, as dirt and 
 dung; and instead hereof to set up Christian altars 
 in ail places, among the Romans, Persians, Scy¬ 
 thians, Moors, and Indians; and not there only, 
 but in the countries beyond this world of ours. 
 For even the British islands that lie beyond the 
 oce^, and those that are in it, have felt the power 
 of me Christian faith; churches’ and altars being 
 ereHed there to the service of Christ. A matter 
 tri® great and admirable, and which would clearly 
 ha" demonstrated a divine and supereminent 
 power, although there had been no opposition in 
 the case, but that all things had run on calmly and 
 smoothly; to think that in so few years the Chris¬ 
 tian faith should be able to reclaim the whole world 
 from its vicious customs, and to win them over to 
 other manners, more laborious and difficult, re¬ 
 pugnant both to their native inclinations and to 
 the laws and principles of their education, and such 
 as obligred them to a more strict and accurate course 
 of life; and these persons not one or two, not twenty 
 or ah hundred, but in a manner all mankind; and 
 this brought about by no other instruments than a 
 few rude and unlearned, private and unknown 
 tradesmen, who had neither estate nor reputation, 
 learning nor eloquence, kindred nor country, to re¬ 
 commend them to the world; a few fishermen and 
 teri^makers, and whom, distinguished by their lan¬ 
 guage, as well as their religion, the rest of the 
 world scorned as barbarous. And yet these were 
 the men by whom our Lord built up his church, 
 and extended it from one end of the world unto the 
 
16 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 other. Other considerations there are, with which 
 the father does urge and illustrate this argument, 
 which I forbear to insist on in this place. 
 
 7. Sixthly; the power and authority conveyed by 
 this commission to the apostles was equally con¬ 
 ferred upon all of them. They were all chosen at 
 the same time, all equally empowered to preach 
 and baptize, all equally intrusted with the power 
 of binding and loosing, all invested with the same 
 mission, and equally furnished with the same ffifts 
 and powers of the Holy Ghost. Indeed the iwo- 
 cates of the church of Rome do, with a mighty«al 
 and fierceness, contend for St. Peter’s being Bid 
 and prince of the apostles, advanced by ChristW a 
 supremacy and prerogative not only above, but 
 over the rest of the apostles; and not without 
 reason, the fortunes of that church being concarned 
 in the supremacy of St. Peter. No wonder, therefore, 
 they ransack all corners, press and force in what¬ 
 ever may but seem to give countenance to it. 
 Witness those thin and miserable shifts, which 
 Bellarmine calls arguments, to prove and make it 
 good; so utterly devoid of all rational conviction, 
 so unable to justify themselves to sober and consi¬ 
 dering men, that a man would think they had been 
 contrived for no other purpose than to cheat fools, 
 and make wise men laugh. And the truth is, 
 nothing with me more shakes the reputation of the 
 wisdom of that learned man, than his making use 
 of such weak and trifling arguments in so im¬ 
 portant, and concerning an article, so vital ^^nd 
 essential to the constitution of that church. As 
 when he argues Peter’s superiority* from the mere 
 
 ^ De Rom. Pontif. lib. i. c. 17, 18, et seq. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 17 
 
 changing of his name, (for what is this to supre¬ 
 macy ? besides that it was not done to him alone, 
 the same being done to James and John,) from his 
 being first reckoned up in the catalogue of apostles, 
 his Walking with Christ upon the water, his paying 
 tribilte for his master and himself, his being com¬ 
 manded to let down the net, and Christs teaching' 
 in Jeter’s ship, (and this ship must denote the 
 chu Jh, and Peter’s being owner of it, entitle him 
 
 to b^ supreme ruler and governor of the church ; 
 so Ifellarmine, in terms as plain as he could well 
 express it,) from Christ’s first washing Peter’s feet, 
 (thc^igh the story recorded by the evangelist says 
 no such thing,) and his foretelling only his death : 
 all which, and many more prerogatives of St. Peter, 
 to the number of no less than twenty-eight, are 
 summoned in to give evidence in this cause; and 
 manjy of these too drawn out of apocryphal and 
 supposititious authors, and not only uncertain, but 
 absi^rd and fabulous; and yet upon such argu- 
 meilits as these do they found his paramount au- 
 thoJ’ity. A plain evidence of a desperate and sink¬ 
 ing cause, when such twigs must be laid hold on 
 to support and keep it above water. Had they 
 sufilered Peter to be content with a primacy of 
 ordfer, (which his age and gravity seemed to chal¬ 
 lenge for him,) no wise and peaceable man would 
 hawe denied it, as being a thing ordinarily prac¬ 
 tised among equals, and necessary to the well 
 governing of a society : but when nothing but a pri¬ 
 macy of power will serve the turn, as if the rest of 
 the apostles had been inferior to him, this may by 
 nd means be granted, as being expressly contrary 
 to the positive determination of our Saviour, when 
 th/e apostles were contending about this very thing, 
 VOL. I. c 
 
18 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 ‘ Which of them should be accounted the greatest‘ 
 he thus quickly decides the case: ' The kings of 
 the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and they 
 that are great, exercise authority upon them. .But 
 ye shall not be so: but whosoever will be great 
 among you, let him be your minister; and who¬ 
 soever will be chief among you, let him be your 
 servant.’® Than which nothing could have jbeen 
 more peremptorily spoken, to rebuke this naiiThty 
 spirit of pre-eminence. Nor do we ever tinf St. 
 Peter himself laying claim to any such powfc nr 
 the apostles giving him the least shadow of itJ In 
 the whole course of his affairs there are no iiiima- 
 tions of this matter: in his epistle he styles himself 
 but their ^ fellow presbyterand expressly forbids 
 the governors of the church to " lord it over Girod’s 
 heritage.’ When dispatched by the rest of^ the 
 apostles upon a message to Samaria, he neveij dis¬ 
 putes their authority to do it: when accuse*! by 
 them for going in unto the Gentiles, does he stand 
 upon his prerogative ? no, but submissively aplolo- 
 gizes for himself: nay, when smartly reproved by 
 St. Paul at Antioch, (when, if ever, his credit!lay 
 at stake,) do we find him excepting against ijl as 
 an affront to his supremacy, and a saucy control- 
 ing his superior ? Surely quite the contrary he 
 quietly submitted to the reproof, as one that Was 
 sensible how justly he had deserved it. Nor can 
 it be supposed but that St. Paul would have carrM 
 it towards him with a greater reverence, had imy 
 such peculiar sovereignty been then known to the 
 world. How confidently does St. Paul assert h(m- 
 self to be no whit" inferior to the chiefest apostles,’ 
 
 1 Luke, xxii. 24, 25, 26. ^ ^x. 25, 26, 27. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 19 
 
 \ 
 
 not to Peter himself? ^the gospel of the uncircum- 
 cision being committed to him, as that of the cir¬ 
 cumcision was to Peter.’ Is Peter often named first 
 among the apostles ? elsewhere others; sometimes 
 James, sometimes Paul and Apollos are placed 
 before him. Did Christ honour him with some 
 singular commendations ? An honourable eulogium 
 ^ conveys no supereminent power and sovereignty. 
 Was he dear to Christ? We know another that 
 \\as the beloved disciple.’ So little warrant is 
 there to exalt one above the rest, where Christ made 
 all alike. If from Scripture we descend to the 
 ^ ancient writers of the church, we shall find that 
 though the fathers bestow very great and honour¬ 
 able titles upon Peter, yet they give the same, or 
 what are equivalent, to others of the apostles. ‘ 
 Hesychius styles St. James the great, the brother 
 of our Lord, the commander of the new Jerusalem, 
 
 ♦ the prince of priests, the exarch (or chief) of the 
 apostles, ev ice(pa\aiQ Kopv(prjy, the top (or crown) 
 amongst the heads, the great light amongst the 
 ►- . lamps, the most illustrious and resplendent amongst 
 the stars: it was Peter that preached, but it was 
 
 - James that made the determination,” Stc."* Of St. 
 
 Andrew he gives this encomium; that “ he was the 
 sacerdotal trumpet, the first-born of the apostolical 
 choil, TrpMTOTTayriQ rfjg eiCKXrjalag ^v\og, the prime 
 and firm pillar of the church, Peter before Peter, 
 
 ► the foundation of the foundation, the first fruits of 
 the beginning.”^ Peter and John are said fo be 
 
 * Hoc erant utique et caeteri apostoli, quod fuit Petrus, pari 
 consortio praediti et honoris et potestatis.”—Cyprian, de Unitat 
 Eccles. p. 180. 
 
 ^ Orat. in S. Jac. apud Phot. cod. cclxxv. col. 1525. 
 
 ^ Encom. S. Thom, ibid. cod. cclxix. col. 1488. 
 
20 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. ^ 
 
 Ifforifxoi aXX^Xote/'equallylionourable/’by St.CyriV 
 with his whole synod of Alexandria. St. John,” 
 says Chrysostom, was Christ’s beloved, the pillar 
 of all the churches in the world, who had the keys 
 of heaven, drank of the Lord’s cup, was washed 
 with his baptism, and with confidence lay in his 
 bosom.” ® And of St. Paul he tells us, that he 
 was the most excellent of all men, the teacher of 
 the world, the bridegroom of Christ, the planter of 
 the church, the wdse master-builder, greater than 
 the apostles;”^ and much more to the same pur¬ 
 pose. Elsewhere he says, that the care of the 
 whole world was committed to him; that nothing 
 could be more noble or illustrious: yea, that (his 
 miracles considered) he w’as more excellent than 
 kings themselves.”^ And a little after he calls him 
 the tongue of the earth, the light of the churches, 
 Tov Bef.ii\tov rfjQ TriVewc, rou ^v\ov ^ edpaiu)fxa Trjg 
 aXrfdetag, the foundation of the faith, the pillar and 
 ground of truth,”^ And in a discourse on purpose, 
 wherein he compares Peter and Paul together, he 
 makes them of equal esteem and virtue;® “ ri Hirpov 
 IJLe~i^oy; ri le ILavXov ’iaoy; What greater than Peter ? 
 What equal to Paul ? a blessed pair ! 1] Tri’^evdelaa 
 oXov Tov KocrpLov rag \bv')(ag, who had the souls 
 of the whole w^orld committed to their charge.” 
 But instances of this nature were endless and infi¬ 
 nite. If the fathers at any time style Peter prince 
 of the apostles, they mean no more by it than the 
 
 ' In Cone. Ephes. Concil. tom. ii, p. 209. 
 
 ’ Prolog, in Joan. p. 2. 
 
 ’ De Pet. fil. Zeb. p.378, tom. i. 
 
 * In illud, Sal. Aquil. et Prise, p. 218, tom. v. 
 ^ In illud, Sal. Aquil. et Prise, tom. v. p. 221. 
 Serm. in Petr, et Paul. p. 261, tom. 6. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 21 
 
 besti and purest Latin writers mean by princeps ; 
 the first or chief person of the number, more consi- 
 deiable than the rest, either for his age or zeal. 
 Thus Eusebius tells us, Peter was rwv Xoiirwv 
 airavTiov Trpoyyopog, the prolocutor of all the rest, 
 apeTVQ evEKa, for the greatness and generosity of his 
 mind : ^ that is, in Chrysostom’s language, he was 
 
 the mouth and chief of the apostles, 6 Tvavraxov 
 ^EppoQ, because eager and forward at every turn, 
 and ready to answer those questions which were 
 put to otheis. In short, as he had no preroga¬ 
 tive above the lest, besides his being the chairman 
 and president of the assembly; so was it granted 
 to him upon no other considerations than those of 
 his age, zeal, and gravity, for which he was more 
 eminent than the rest. 
 
 8. We proceed next to inquire into the fitness 
 and qualification of the persons commissioned for 
 this employment; and we shall find them admi¬ 
 rably qualified to discharge it, if we consider this 
 following account. First, they immediately re¬ 
 ceived the doctrine of the gospel from the mouth 
 of Christ himself: he intended them for legati d 
 latere, his peculiar ambassadors to the world, and 
 therefore furnished them with instructions from his 
 own mouth; and in order hereunto he trained 
 them up for some years under his own discipline 
 and institution; he made them to understand the 
 ‘ mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, when to 
 others it was not given;’ treated them with the 
 affection of a father, and the freedom and fami¬ 
 liarity of a friend. " Henceforth I call you not 
 
 * Hist. Eccl. lib. ii. c. 14, p. 53. 
 
 2 In Matt. c. 16, p. 483. 
 
22 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 servants; for the servant knoweth not what* his 
 Lord doeth : hut I have called you friends; for all 
 things that I have heard of my Father I have 
 made known unto you.’ ^ They heard all his^ ser¬ 
 mons, were privy both to his public and private 
 discourses; what he preached abroad he expounded 
 to them at home : he gradually instructed them in ^ 
 the knowledge of divine things, and imparted to 
 them the notions and mysteries of the gospel, not 
 all at once, but as they were able to bear them. 
 
 By which means they were sufficiently capable of 
 giving a satisfactory account of that doctrine to 
 others, which had been so immediately, so fre¬ 
 quently communicated to themselves. Secondly, 4 
 they were infallibly secured from error in delivering 
 the doctrines and principles of Christianity: for 
 though they were not absolutely privileged from 
 failures and miscarriages in their lives, (these being 
 of more personal and private consideration,) yet 
 were they infallible in their doctrine, this being a 
 matter whereupon the salvation and eternal inte¬ 
 rests of men did depend. And for this end they 
 had the ^spirit of truth’^ promised to them, who 
 should ‘guide them into all truth.’ Under the 
 conduct of this unerring guide they all steered the 
 same course, and taught and spake the same things, 
 though at different times, and in distant places: 
 and for what was consigned to writing, ‘ all Scrip¬ 
 ture was given by inspiration of God, and the holy 
 men spake not but as they were moved by the * 
 Holy Ghost.’ Hence that exact and admirable har¬ 
 mony that is in all their writings and relations, as 
 being all equally dictated by the same spirit of 
 
 
 ‘ Johoj XY. 15. 
 
 2 Ibidj xvi. 13. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 23 
 
 trutjh. Thirdly, they had been eye-witnesses of all 
 the^aterial passages of our Saviour’s life, conti- 
 nusily conversant with him from the commencing 
 of l||s public ministry till his ascension into hea¬ 
 ven : they had surveyed all his actions, seen ail his 
 miracles, observed the whole method of his conver¬ 
 sation, and some of them attended him in his most 
 private solitudes and retirements. And this could 
 not but be a very rational satisfaction to the minds 
 of men, when the publishers of the gospel solemnly 
 declared to the world, that they reported nothing' 
 concerning our Saviour but what they had seen 
 with their own eyes, and of the truth whereof they 
 were as competent judges as the acutest philoso¬ 
 pher in the world. Nor could there be any just 
 reason to suspect that they imposed upon men in 
 what they deliverd ; for besides their naked plain¬ 
 ness and simplicity in all other passages of their 
 lives, they cheerfully submitted to the most exqui¬ 
 site hardships, tortures, and suiferings, merely to 
 attest the truth of what they published to the 
 world. Next to the evidence of our own senses, no 
 testimony is more valid and forcible than his who 
 relates what himself has seen. Upon this account 
 our Lord told his apostles, that they should be 
 witnesses to him both in Judea and Samaria, and 
 to the uttermost parts of the earth.’ ^ And so neces¬ 
 sary a qualification of an apostle was this thought 
 to be, that it w^as almost the only condition pro¬ 
 pounded in the choice of a new apostle, after the 
 fall of Judas: ^Wherefore,’ says Peter, ‘of these 
 men which have companied with us all the time 
 that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us. 
 
24 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 i 
 
 beg'inning' from the baptism of Jobiij unto the same 
 day that he was taken up from us, must on4 be 
 ordained to be a witness with us of his resu»ec- 
 tion.’ ‘ Accordingly we find the apostles const^tly 
 making use of this argument as the most rational evi¬ 
 dence to convince those whom they had to deal with. 
 ‘We are witnesses of all things which Jesus did, 
 both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem; 
 whom they slew and hanged on a tree: him God 
 raised up the third day, and showed him openly, not 
 to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of 
 God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him 
 after he rose from the dead ; and he commanded 
 us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it 
 is he that is ordained of God to be judge of the 
 quick and dead.’^ Thus St. John, after the same 
 way of arguing, appeals to sensible demonstration: 
 ‘That which was from the beginning, which we 
 have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, 
 which we have looked upon, and our hands have 
 handled, of the word of life : (for the life was mani¬ 
 fested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and 
 show unto you that eternal life which was with the 
 Father, and was manifested unto us:) that which 
 we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that 
 ye also might have fellowship with us.’ ^ This, to 
 name no more, St. Peter thought a sufficient vindi¬ 
 cation of the apostolical doctrine from the suspicion 
 of forgery and imposture : ‘We have not followed 
 cunningly devised fables, when we made known 
 unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, but were eye-witnesses of his majesty.’“ 
 
 ‘ Acts, i. 21, 22. 
 
 ^ 1 John, i. 1, 2, 3. 
 
 2 Acts, X. 39, 40, &.C. 
 ^ 2 Peter, i. IG, 17- 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 25 
 
 God had frequently given testimony to the divinity 
 of our blessed Saviour_, by visible manifestations 
 and appearances from heaven, and particularly by 
 an audible voice: ‘ This is my beloved Son, in 
 whom I am well pleased.’ Now this voice which 
 came from heaven,’ says he, ^ we heard when we 
 were with him in the holy mount.^ 
 
 9. Fourthly; the apostles were invested with a 
 power of working miracles, as the readiest means 
 to procure their religion a firm belief and enter¬ 
 tainment in the minds of men. For the miracles 
 are the great confirmation of the truth of any doc¬ 
 trine, and the most rational evidence of a divine 
 commission. For seeing God only can create, and 
 control the laws of nature, produce something out 
 of nothing, and call things that are not as if they 
 were, give eyes to them that were born blind, raise 
 the dead, &c. things plainly beyond all possible 
 powers of nature, no man that believes the wisdom 
 and goodness of an infinite being, can suppose that 
 this God of truth should affix his seal to a lie, or 
 communicate this power to any that would abuse 
 it, to confirm and countenance delusions and im¬ 
 postures. Nicodemus’s reasoning was very plain 
 and convictive, when he concludes that Christ 
 ‘ must needs be a teacher come from God, for that 
 no man could do those miracles that he did, except 
 God were with him.^' The force of which argu¬ 
 ment lies here, that nothing but a divine power 
 can work miracles, and that Almighty God cannot 
 be supposed miraculously to assist any but those, 
 whom he himself sends upon his own errand. The 
 stupid and barbarous Lycaonians, when they be- 
 
 ^ John, iii. 2. 
 
26 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 held the man who had been a cripple from his 
 mother’s womb cured by St. Paul in an instant, 
 only w'ith the speaking- of a word, saw that 
 there was something- in it more than human, and 
 therefore concluded that the Gods were come 
 down to them in the likeness of men.’* Upon this 
 account St. PauP reckons miracles among- the 
 ra arjfiEla rov utto'^oXs, the signs and evidences 
 of an apostle; whom therefore Chrysostom-^ brings 
 in elegantly pleading for himself, that though he 
 could not show, as the signs of his priesthood and 
 ministry, long robes and gaudy vestments, with 
 bells sounding at their borders, as the Aaronical 
 priests did of old ; though he had no golden crowns 
 or holy mitres, yet could he produce what was in¬ 
 finitely more venerable and regardable than all 
 these—unquestionable signs and miracles: he came 
 not with altars and oblations, with a number of 
 strange and symbolical rites; but what was greater, 
 raised the dead, cast out devils, cured the blind, healed 
 the lame, making the Gentiles obedient by word and 
 deed, through many signs and wonders wrought by 
 the power of the Spirit of God. These were the 
 things that clearly showed that their mission and mi- 
 
 * Acts, xiv. 10, 11. 2 2 Cor. xii. 12. 
 
 ® Tijg ispovpyiag p,ov ravTrjQ rd avp-toXa^ ^ rijg x^iporo- 
 viag, TroXXa rd TeKp,r]pia, ov TroSypij Kcodcj- 
 
 vag^ KaOdirep oi TraXaioi, ovdk pcirpav, d) Kcdapiv^ dXXd 
 TToXXip (ppiKOjderepa tovtojv (Trip.eia ^ BavpLara — eWeg TrCjg 
 ravra ru>v TraXamv B^avp.a'^orepa ^ (ppuKioSe^epa ; rj Srv- 
 crta, 'rj TT^ocTipopd, rd <rvp,€oXa; orav ydp H7ry {iv X6y(p 
 ^ ^py(p-> Svvdp.ei (rr]p,eiojv d) repdrwv) rovro Xeyei, rr/v 
 diSaffKaXiav, rtjv Trtpi f3a(r'iXeiag (piXoao<piav, ryv raiv epyujj/y 
 Kj rfjg TToXireiag STridsL^iVj rovg vsKpovg rovg hyupopiivovgj 
 rovg daip,ovag rovg kXavvopikvovgj rovg ^epaTrevopisvovg rovg 
 Tv^Xovg, rovg Try^iovrag xwXovg^ rd dXXa repdria. dirsp 
 airavra dpyd^ero rd irvtvpia rd ctyiov kv ijpXv. — Chrysost. 
 Homil. 29, in Rom. pp. 302, 303. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 27 
 
 nisti^y was not from men, nor taken up of their own 
 heacis, but that they acted herein by a divine war¬ 
 rant* and authority. That therefore it might plainly 
 appear to the world that they did not falsify in what 
 they said, or deliver any more than God had given 
 them in commission, he enabled them to do strange 
 and miraculous operations, bearing them witness 
 both with signs and wonders, and with divers mi¬ 
 racles and gifts of the Holy Ghost.^ This was a 
 power put into the first draught of their commis¬ 
 sion, when confined only to the cities of Israel: 
 ^ As ye go, preach, saying. The kingdom of heaven 
 is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise 
 the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, 
 freely give.^® But more fully confirmed unto them 
 when our Lord went to heaven; then he told them 
 that ‘ these signs should follow them that believe; 
 that in his name they should cast out devils, and 
 speak with new tongues ; that they should take up 
 serpents, and if they drank any deadly thing, it 
 should not hurt them; that they should lay hands 
 on the sick, and they should recover.’^ And the 
 event was accordingly, ‘ for they went forth and 
 preached every where, the Lord working with them, 
 and confirming the word with signs following.’ 
 When Paul and Barnabas came up to the council 
 at Jerusalem, this was one of the first things they 
 gave an account of, ' all the multitude keeping 
 silence while they declared what miracles and 
 wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by 
 them.^ * Thus the very ‘ shadow of Peter as he 
 passed by cured the sick:’ thus ^God wrought 
 special miracles by the hands of Paul; so that from 
 
 ' Heb. ii. 4. ^ Matt. x. 8. 
 
 3 Mark, xvi. 17—20. Acts, xv. 12. 
 
28 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 his body were brought unto the sick, handker¬ 
 chiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed ifrom 
 them, and the evil spirits went out of them.’*? So 
 that, besides the innate characters of divinity w'hich 
 the Christian religion brought along with it,, con¬ 
 taining nothing but what was highly reasonable, 
 and very becoming God to reveal, it had the 
 highest external evidence that any religion was 
 capable of—the attestation of great and unquestion¬ 
 able miracles, done not once or twice, not privately 
 and in corners, not before a few simple and credu¬ 
 lous persons, but frequently and at every turn, 
 publicly and in places of the most solemn con¬ 
 course, before the wisest and most judicious in¬ 
 quirers; and this power of miracles continued not 
 only during the apostles’ time, but for some ages 
 after. 
 
 10. But because, besides miracles in general, the 
 Scripture takes particular notice of many gifts and 
 powers of the Holy Ghost conferred upon the 
 apostles and first preachers of the gospel, it may not 
 be amiss to consider some of the chiefest and most 
 material of them, as we find them enumerated by 
 the apostle ;2 only premising this observation, that 
 though these gifts were distinctly distributed to 
 persons of an inferior order, so that one had this, 
 and another that, yet were they (probably) all con¬ 
 ferred upon the apostles, and doubtless in larger 
 proportions than upon the rest. First, we take 
 notice of the gift of prophecy, a clear evidence of 
 divine inspiration, and an extraordinary mission: 
 Hhe testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.’^ 
 
 Acts, xix. 11, 12. 2 j xii. 9,10. 
 
 ^ Kev. xix. 10. 
 
 I 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 29 
 
 It h^d been for many ages the signal and honour¬ 
 able privilege of the Jewish church; and that the 
 Christian economy might challenge as sacred re¬ 
 gards from men, and that it might appear that 
 God'had not withdrawn his Spirit from his church 
 in this new state of things, it was revived under 
 the dispensation of the gospel, according to that 
 famous prophecy of Joel, exactly accomplished (as 
 Peter told the Jews) upon the day of pentecost, 
 when the miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost were 
 so plentifully shed upon the apostles and primitive 
 Christians: ‘ This is that which was spoken by the 
 prophet Joel: It shall come to pass in the last days, 
 (saith God,) I vvill pour out of my Spirit upon all 
 flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall pro¬ 
 phesy, and your young men shall see visions, and 
 your old men shall dream dreams: and on my ser¬ 
 vants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in 
 those days of my Spirit, and they shall prophesy 
 It lay in general in revealing and making known to 
 others the mind of God ; but discovered itself in 
 particular instances, partly in foretelling things to 
 come, and what should certainly happen in after 
 times: a thing set beyond the reach of any finite 
 understanding; for though such effects as depend 
 upon natural agents, or moral and political causes, 
 may be foreseen by studious and considering per¬ 
 sons ; yet the knowledge of futurities, things purely 
 contingent, that merely depend upon men’s choice, 
 and their mutable and uncertain wills, can only 
 fall under his view who at once beholds things 
 past, present, and to come. Now this was con¬ 
 ferred upon the apostles and some of the first Chris- 
 
 ' Joel, ii. 28, 29; Acts, ii. 16, 17) 18. 
 
30 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 tianS;, as appears from many instances in the hi^story 
 of the apostolic acts; and we find the apostles’ 
 writings frequently interspersed with prophetical 
 predictions concerning the great apostacy from 
 the faith, the universal corruption and degenei*acy 
 of manners, the rise of particular heresies, the 
 coming of antichrist, and several other things, 
 which the Spirit said expressly should come to 
 pass in the latter times : besides, that St. John’s 
 whole book of Revelation is almost entirely made 
 up of prophecies concerning the future state and 
 condition of the church. Sometimes by this spirit 
 of prophecy God declared things that were of 
 present concernment to the exigencies of the church, 
 as when he signified to them that they should set 
 apart Paul and Barnabas for the conversion of the 
 Gentiles, and many times immediately designed 
 particular persons to be pastors and governors of 
 the church. Thus we read of " the gift’ that was 
 given to Timothy ^ by prophecy, with the laying 
 on of the hands of the presbytery;’ that is, his or¬ 
 dination, to which he was particularly pointed out 
 by some prophetic designation. But the main use 
 of this prophetic gift in those times was, to explain 
 some of the more difficult and particular parts of 
 the Christian doctrine, especially to expound and 
 the ancient prophecies concerning the Mes¬ 
 siah and his kingdom, in their public assemblies; 
 whence the ‘ gift of prophecy’ ^ is explained ‘ by 
 understanding all mysteries and all knowledge;’ 
 that is, the most dark and difficult places of Scrip¬ 
 ture, the types and figures, the ceremonies and 
 prophecies of the Old Testament. And thus we 
 
 ^ 1 Cor. xiii. 2. 
 
31 
 
 INTRODUCTIOIS. 
 
 e CO— ly to 
 
 lets? and ‘ propbesymg, ^ differing 
 
 , rtle New Testament. Havm„ g 
 
 ;eor^ing to the giac ^ p,opor- 
 
 ^bffaitl;» that is, expound Scnptuvea^ 
 
 to the generally --'YerrprWhinI ut 
 :„1l life. So the orpine wor- 
 
 br the decent an or ." < L^t the prophets, 
 
 ,hip in their pnhhc at the same 
 
 -^d irthl ^tC iSe ■ ’ and if, wVnle 
 
 .h»b, 1.2' . i.t .b. 
 
 plain some difficult an g i^^^ethis 
 
 first hold his peace, f y . y ^j^erly 
 
 gift, < P-Phfy -Z all may he corn- 
 
 proceeding, y first nretend, that this inter- 
 
 forted.’» Nor can the fiist ^etend, 
 
 1 ruption is an himself- for tliougli among 
 
 seeing he may comm ^ ecstatic impulse 
 
 the Gentiles the pi P inspired person 
 
 I did so violently press P • the church 
 
 ' that he could are subject to 
 
 ' of God ‘ the spin i-nled and restrained by 
 
 the XCay for others. This order of 
 
 them as to mak . w y . ^ distinct minis- 
 
 Christian prophets, c ^ next to the apos- 
 
 tty hy itself, is “^y P W fiy St. Paul, pre- 
 
 tolical office, an ^. jtual o-ifts then bestowed 
 
 ferred before any othmjm^^^,^ 
 
 Xsed in t"Siristian church we cannot ceidamly 
 
 2 1 Cor. xiv. 29—31. 
 
32 
 
 lives op the apostles. 
 
 Trypho. theJe”w: W S 
 
 X«P‘V«™, “the gifts ^of^nroohCe^*’* 4’'"“ 
 extant amonc. us ” " P‘°P'^«‘=y “■•e evefi yet 
 
 him, that those things whfcrhad oT 
 
 great privileges of their ehn,...I “ heerl th( 
 
 into the Christian church Amrp *' 1 °''^ h'anijlatefl 
 
 Jog of a revelation nil to 1 aT 1"'' 
 lived about the time of T ^ -Aleibiades, who 
 
 divine grace had not withdrawTits 
 
 the church, but that the,, r-n v , Presence from 
 
 spirit..’ rrliereV thej liere epihfeU f'i,.'i.“'PiPp 
 
 truth or falsehood ofmen'^ , ‘t’ discover the 
 
 gifts were real 01 crntelif 
 
 truly inspired or not Fm- ^ their persons 
 
 by diabolical impulses^mlht"^ “en. actuated only 
 
 <i..i». i"topa.C, “ 
 
 upon by their ill i be imposed 
 
 aid fandes 1 thT sl"v ^‘1™^ 
 
 tions; or might so subtlly 
 
 terfeit revelations, that thelnighl !nth ^ ^ 
 
 for current, especially in those , P'"**" 
 
 supernatural gifts were so eo ‘ 
 
 and our Lord himself ho I ‘"‘“f ordinary; 
 
 that false prophets luldM^f'^'^'f ‘hem, 
 
 that they had ISlsll him! 
 
 therefore the chul?l ’1 “ t b ' 
 
 «od was pleased to enduelherpll’Ilrrml’ 1 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 33 
 
 be some others, with an immediate faculty of dis- 
 ► cerning the chaff from the wheat, true from false pro¬ 
 phets; nay, to know when the true prophets delivered 
 the revelations of the Spirit, and when they ex¬ 
 pressed only their own conceptions. This was a 
 mighty privilege, but yet seems to me to have ex¬ 
 tended further, to judge of the sincerity or hypo¬ 
 crisy of men’s hearts in the profession of religion; 
 that so bad men being discovered, suitable censures 
 and punishments might be passed upon them, and 
 others cautioned to avoid them. Thus Peter, at first 
 sight, discovered Ananias and Sapphira, and the 
 rotten hypocrisy of their intentions, before there 
 was any external evidence in the case; and told 
 Simon Magus, though baptized before, upon his 
 embracing Christianity, ^ that his heart was not 
 right in the sight of God; for I perceive,^ says he, 
 nhat thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the 
 bond of iniquity.’' Thirdly; the apostles had the 
 gift of tongues, furnished with variety of utter- 
 ■^nce, able to speak on a sudden several languages 
 which they had never learnt, as occasion was ad- 
 |[ ministered, and the exigencies of persons and na- 
 ^ tions, with whom they conversed, did require. For 
 the apostles being principally designed to convert 
 the world, and to plant Christianity in all coun¬ 
 tries and nations, it was absolutely necessary that 
 they should be able readily to express their minds 
 in the languages of those countries to which they 
 addressed themselves; seeing otherwise it would 
 have been a work of time and difficulty, and not 
 consistent with the term of the apostles' lives, had 
 they been first to learn the different languages of 
 
 ^ Acts, viii. 21—23. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
34 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 those nations before they could have preached the 
 gospel to them. Hence this gift was diffused upon 
 the apostles in larger measure and proportion than 
 upon other men: ‘ I speak with tongues more than 
 ye all,’ ^ says St. Paul; that is, than all the gifted 
 jiersons in the church of Corinth. Our Lord had 
 told the apostles, before his departure from them, 
 " that they should be endued with power from on 
 high which, upon the day of Pentecost, was par¬ 
 ticularly made good in this instance; when in a 
 moment they were enabled to speak almost all the 
 lanffuasres of the then known world, and this as a 
 specimen and first-fruits of the rest of those mira¬ 
 culous powers that were conferred upon them. 
 
 12. A fourth gift was that of interpretation, or 
 unfoldins: to others what had been delivered in an 
 unknown tongue. For the Christian assemblies in 
 those days were frequently made up of men of 
 different nations, and who could not understand 
 what the apostles, or others, had spoken to the con¬ 
 gregation ; this God supplied by this gift of inter¬ 
 pretation, enabling some to interpret what others 
 did not understand, and to speak it to them in their 
 own native language. St. PauP largely discourses 
 the necessity of this gift, in order to the instruct¬ 
 ing and edifying of the church, seeing without it 
 their meetings could be no better than the assembly 
 of Babel after the confusion of languages, where 
 one man must needs be a barbarian to another; 
 and all the praying and preaching of the minister 
 of the assembly be to many altogether fruitless 
 and unprofitable, and no better than a speaking 
 into the air. What is the speaking, though with the 
 
 ^ 1 Cor. xiv, 18. ^1 Cor. xiv. 
 
INTRODUCTION, 
 
 35 
 
 tongue of angels, to them that do not understand 
 it. How can the idiot and unlearned say amen, 
 who understand not the language of him that 
 giveth thanks ? The duty may be done with ad¬ 
 mirable quaintness and accuracy ^ but what is he 
 the better, from whom it is locked up in an un¬ 
 known tongue? A consideration that made the 
 apostle solemnly profess, that ^ he had rather speak 
 five words in the church with his understanding, that 
 by his voice he might teach others also, than ten 
 thousand words in an unknown tongue.’i There¬ 
 fore ^ if any man speak in an unknown tongue, let 
 it be but by two, or at most by three, and let one 
 interpret’ what the rest have spoken; ^ but if there 
 be no interpreter,’ none present able to do this, 
 
 ^ let him keep silence in the church, and speak to 
 himself and to God.’ ^ A man that impartially 
 leads this discourse of the apostle, may wonder 
 how the church of Rome, in defiance of it, can so 
 openly practise, so confidently defend their Bible 
 and divine services in an unknown tongue; so flatly 
 repugnant to the dictates of common reason, the 
 usage of the first Christian church, and these plain 
 apostolical commands. But this is not the only 
 instance wherein that church has departed both 
 from Scripture, reason, and the practice of the first 
 and purest ages of Christianity. Indeed there is 
 some cause why they are so zealous to keep both 
 Scripture and their divine worship in a strange 
 language; lest by reading the one the people 
 should become wise enough to discover the gross 
 errors and corruptions of the other. Fifthly; the 
 apostles had the gift of healing, of curing diseases 
 
 ^ Ibid. ver. 27, 28. 
 
 D 2 
 
 ‘ 1 Cor. xiv. 9. 
 
36 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 without the arts of physic; the most inveterate 
 distempers being equally removable by an almighty 
 power, and vanishing at their speaking of a word. 
 This begot an extraordinary veneration for them 
 and their religion among the common sort of men, 
 who, as they are strongest moved with sensible 
 effects, so are most taken with those miracles that 
 are beneficial to the life of man. Hence the infi¬ 
 nite cures done in every place; God mercifully pro¬ 
 viding that the body should partake with the soul 
 in the advantages of the gospel, the cure of the 
 one ushering in, many times, the conversion of the 
 other. This gift was very common in those early 
 days, bestowed not upon the apostles only, but upon 
 the ordinary governors of the church, who were wont 
 " to lay their hands upon the sick,’ and sometimes 
 to anoint them with oil,’ (a symbolic rite in use 
 among the Jews, to denote the grace of God,) and 
 " to pray over,’ and for ^ them in the name of the 
 Lord Jesuswhereby, upon a hearty confession 
 and forsaking of their sins, both healt4i and pardon 
 were at once bestowed upon them. How long this 
 gift, with its appendant ceremony of unction, 
 lasted in the church is not easy to determine: 
 that it was in use in Tertullian’s time,^ we learn 
 from the instance he gives us of Proculus, a Chris¬ 
 tian, who cured the emperor Severus, by anointing 
 him with oil; for which the emperor had him in 
 great honour, and kept him with him at court all 
 his life ; it afterwards vanishing by degrees, as all 
 other miraculous powers, as Christianity gained 
 firm footing in the world. As for extreme unction, 
 so generally maintained and practised in the church 
 
 ^ James, V. 14, 15, 16. 
 
 * Ad Scapul. c. iv. p. 7b 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 37 
 
 of Rome, and by them made a sacrament, I doubt 
 It wull receive very little countenance from this 
 primitive usag'e. Indeed, could they as easily re¬ 
 store sick men to health as they can anoint them 
 with oil, I think nobody would contradict them: 
 but till they can pretend to the one I think it un¬ 
 reasonable they should use the other. The best is 
 though founding it upon this apostolical practice' 
 they have turned it to a quite contrary purpose; 
 instead of recovering men to life and health, to 
 dispose and fit them for dying when all hopes of 
 life are taken from them. 
 
 13. Sixthly; the apostles were invested with a 
 power of immediately inflicting corporal punish¬ 
 ments upon great and notorious sinners ; and this, 
 
 ■ probably, is that which he means by his irepyrjfxara 
 " operations of powers,’ or " working 
 miracles ^ which surely cannot be meant of mira¬ 
 cles in general, being reckoned up amongst the par¬ 
 ticular gifts of the Holy Ghost; nor is there any 
 other to which it can with equal probability refer. 
 A power to inflict diseases upon the body, as when 
 St. Paul struck Elymas, the sorcerer, with blind¬ 
 ness ; and sometimes extending to the loss of life 
 Itself, as in the sad instance of Ananias and Sap- 
 phira. This was the virga apostolica, the rod 
 (mentioned by St. Paul) which the apostles held 
 and shook over scandalous and insolent offenders, 
 and sometimes laid upon them : ^ What will ye ? 
 shall I come to you with a rod, or in love, and 
 the spiiit of meekness 2 W^here observe, says 
 Chiysostom, ^ how the apostle tempers his dis- 
 
 g 1 Cor. xii. 10. ^ 2 (^hap. iv. 21. 
 
 ^ IIoXo TO ^otepov tyet it, to Trpofrrjveg 6 Xoyog ovrog' 
 TO fiev yap sitthv, oti yvioaopai, tTi VTre’^aXixkva ^v. to 
 
38 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 course: the love and meekness, and his desire to 
 know, argued care and kindness; but the rod spake 
 dread and terror; a rod of severity and punish¬ 
 ment, and which sometimes mortallv chastised the 
 offender. Elsewhere, he frequently gives intima¬ 
 tions of this power, when he was to deal with 
 stubborn and incorrigible persons : ‘ Having in a 
 readiness to revenge all disobedience, when j^our 
 obedience is fulfilled; for though I should boast 
 somewhat more of our authority (which the Lord 
 hath given us for edification, and not for your de¬ 
 struction) I should not be ashamed; that I may 
 not seem as if I would terrify you by letters.’’ 
 And he again puts them in mind of it at the close 
 of his epistle : ^ T told you before, and foretel you, 
 as if I were present, the second time; and being 
 absent now I write to them which heretofore have 
 sinned, and to all others, that if I come again I 
 will not spare.’ ^ But he hoped these smart warn¬ 
 ings would supersede all further severity against 
 them: ^ Therefore I write these things being ab¬ 
 sent, lest being present I should use sharpness, ac¬ 
 cording to the power which the Lord hath given 
 me to edification, and not to destruction.’^ Of 
 this nature was the ^ delivering over persons unto 
 Satan for the destruction of the flesh,’ the chas¬ 
 tising the body by some present pain or sickness. 
 
 etTrtii /', TL ^eXsTS ; ev pa€d<iJ eXOoj Trpbg v/xag' etti tov Si- 
 ScKTKaXiKOv XoiTTOv Ava^aivovTog ^povov^ kukeX^ev avroXg 
 biaXEyoixEvs^ K) rjv h^saiav avaXatovTog TTcicrav. Ti E<^iv, 
 Ev patd^, Ev KoXaffEi, ev rifxiopiq, thte^lv, AveXu) Trrjphxru)’ 
 OTTsp ETTi 'pvg ^ ^aiTtpEipag 6 Usrpog gTroij/crev. OTTEp avrbg etti 
 BXvfxa TOV fxdys. —Chrysost, Honti. 14, ad Corinth, p. 444. vid. 
 Hieron. in loc. tom. ix. p. 305. 
 
 * 2 Cor. X . 6, 8, 9. ^ Q^^p. xiii. 2. 
 
 ® Ibid. ver. 10. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 39 
 
 • ) 
 
 1 
 
 " that the spirit might be saved/ * by being brought 
 to a seasonable repentance. Thus he dealt with 
 Hymenaeus and Alexander, who had ^ made ship¬ 
 wreck of faith and a good consciencehe delivered 
 them unto Satan, Hhat they might learn not to blas¬ 
 pheme.’ ^ Nothing being more usual in those times, 
 than for persons excommunicate, and cut off from 
 the body of the church, to be presently arrested by 
 Satan, as the common-serjeant and executioner, 
 and by him either actually possessed, or tormented 
 in their bodies by some diseases which he brought 
 upon them. And indeed this severe discipline was 
 no more than necessary in those times, when Chris¬ 
 tianity was wholly destitute of any civil or coercive 
 power, to beget and keep up a due reverence and 
 regard to the sentences and determinations of the 
 church, and to secure the laws of religion and the 
 holy censures from being slighted by every bold 
 and contumacious offender. And this effect we 
 find it had after the dreadful instance of Ananias 
 and Sapphira; ^ Great fear came upon all the 
 church, and upon as many as heard these things.’ ^ 
 To what has been said concerning these apostolical 
 gifts, let me further observe, that they had not 
 only these gifts residing in themselves, but a power 
 to bestow them upon others; so that by imposition 
 of hands, or upon hearing and embracing the apos¬ 
 tles’ doctrine, and being baptized into the Christian 
 faith, they could confer these miraculous powers 
 upon persons thus qualified to receive them, whereby 
 they were in a moment enabled to speak divers lan¬ 
 guages, to prophesy, to interpret, and do other 
 
 ^ 1 Cor. V . 5, vid. Chrysost et Hieron. in loc. 
 ^ 1 Tim. i. 20. ^ Acts, v. 11, 
 
40 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 miracles, to the admiration and astonishment of all 
 that heard and saw them. A privilege peculiar to 
 the apostles; for we do not find that any inferior 
 order of gifted persons were intrusted with it. And 
 therefore, as Chrysostom' well observes, though 
 Philip, the deacon, wrought great miracles at Sa¬ 
 maria, to the conversion of many; yea, to the con¬ 
 viction of Simon Magus himself, ^ yet the Holy 
 Ghost fell upon none of them, only they were bap¬ 
 tized in the name of our Lord Jesustill Peter and 
 John came down to them, who having ^ prayed for 
 them that they might receive the Holy Ghost, they 
 laid their hands upon them, and they received the 
 Holy Ghost.’ Which when the magician beheld, 
 he offered the apostles money to enable him, that 
 on whomsoever he laid his hands, he might derive 
 these miraculous powers upon them. 
 
 14. Having seen how fitly furnished the apos¬ 
 tles were for the execution of their office, let us in 
 the last place inquire into its duration and conti¬ 
 nuance. And here it must be considered, that in 
 the apostolical office there was something extraor¬ 
 dinary, and something ordinary. What was extra¬ 
 ordinary was their immediate commission derived 
 from the mouth of Christ himself; their unlimited 
 charge to preach the gospel up and down the world, 
 without being tied to any particular places; the 
 supernatural and miraculous powers conferred 
 
 ^ Atd ri ovK ijcrav ovroi Xatovreg Trvtvfia ayiov ISuTiTicr- 
 Bsvreg ; ijTOi r(^ jw >) {^iXnnrov) % dpi ( 7 ^a roiovrov’ tCjv 
 
 yap kirra i]v’ dtb kj jSaTrri^oJv wvtvixa rolg (SaTTrL^ofievoig 
 oiiK kdids’ ovdk yap eix^v e^scriav' rovro ydp ro Swpov fiovijov 
 To>v dojdsKa 7]v’ bvvajxiv jxev tXatov (of Aiukovol) ttoihv at]- 
 fieia’ ovx'i be -Trvevfia bibovai irspoig. dpa rovro rjv rojv d- 
 TTO'roXtov e^aiperov' oOev icj rovg Kopv^aiag, ovk dXXsg rivdg, 
 i'riv ibeXv rovro rroiovvrag. —Chrysost. Homil. 18, in Act. An. 
 p. 580. 
 
INTRODUCTION, 
 
 41 
 
 upon them as apostles; their infallible guidance In 
 delivering the doctrines of the gospel; and these 
 all expired and determined with their persons. 
 The standing and perpetual part of it, was to teach 
 and instruct the people in the duties and princi¬ 
 ples of religion, to administer the sacraments, to 
 constitute guides and officers, and to exercise the 
 discipline and government of the church; and in 
 these they are succeeded by the ordinary rulers and 
 ecclesiastic guides, who were to superintend and 
 discharge the affairs and offices of the church to the 
 end of the world. Whence it is that bishops and 
 governors came to be styled apostles, as being their 
 successors in ordinary; for so they frequently are 
 in the writings of the church. Thus Timothy, who 
 was bishop of Ephesus, is called an apostle;* 
 Clemens of Rome, Clemens the apostle; ^ St. Mark, 
 bishop of Alexandria, by Eusebius, styled both an 
 apostle and evangelist;^ Ignatius, a bishop and 
 apostle.^ A title that continued in after ages, 
 especially given to those that were the first planters 
 or restorers of Christianity in any country. In the 
 Coptic calendar, published by Mr. Selden,^ the 
 seventh day of the month Baschnes, answering to 
 our second of May, is dedicated to the memory of 
 St. Athanasius the apostle. Acacius and Paulus, 
 in their letter to Epiphanius,^ style him reov aTro'ro- 
 \ov 4 tcrjpvKa, a new apostle and preacherand 
 
 ^ Philostorg. Hist. Eccles. 1. iii. c. 2 , p. 24. 
 
 ^ Clem. Alexand. Strom, lib. iv. p. -516. 
 
 ^ Hist. Eccl. lib. ii. c. 24, p. 66. 
 
 ‘‘ Chrysost. Encom. S. Ignat, p. 499, tom. i. 
 
 ^ De Synedr. lib. iii. c. 15, p. 398. 
 
 ® Praefix. Oper. de Hseres. p. 1. 
 
42 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 Sidonius Apollinaris' writing to Lupus, bishop of 
 Troyes, in France, speaks of the honour due to 
 his eminent apostleship.’ An observation which it 
 were easy enough to confirm by abundant instances, 
 were it either doubtful in itself or necessary to my 
 purpose j but being neither, I forbear. 
 
 1 Lib. vi. Ep. 4. p. 147; vid. Ep. 7. P- 150. 
 
 
43 
 
 ST. PETER. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 Of St. Peter, from his Birth till his first coming to 
 
 Christ. 
 
 The land of Palestine was, at and before the coming 
 of our blessed Saviour, distinguished into three se¬ 
 veral provinces, Judaea, Samaria, and Galilee. This 
 last was divided into the upper and the lower. In 
 the upper, called also Galilee of the Gentiles, within 
 the division anciently belonging to the tribe of 
 Naphthali, stood Bethsaida, formerly an obscure 
 and inconsiderable village, till lately re-edified and 
 enlarged by Philip the tetrarch,^ by him advanced 
 to the place and title of a city, replenished with in¬ 
 habitants, and fortified with power and strength; 
 and in honour of Julia, the daughter of Augustus 
 Caesar, by him styled Julias. Situate it was upon 
 the banks of the sea of Galilee, and had a wilder¬ 
 ness on the other side, thence called the desert of 
 Bethsaida, whither our Saviour used often to retire; 
 the privacies and solitudes of the place advantage- 
 
 ’ Joseph. Antiq. Jud. lib. viii. c. 3, p. 618; Matt, xi, 21. 
 
44 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 ously ministering to divine contemplation. But 
 Bethsaida was not so remarkable for this adjoining 
 wilderness as itself was memorable for a worse sort 
 of barrenness—ingratitude, and unprofitableness 
 under the influences of Christ’s sermons and mi¬ 
 racles; thence severely upbraided by him, and 
 threatened with one of his deepest woes: ‘ Wo unto 
 thee Chorazin, wo unto thee Bethsaida,’ &c.^ A 
 wo that it seems stuck close to it; for whatever it 
 was at this time, one who surveyed it in the last 
 age tells us, that it w'as shrunk again into a very 
 mean and small village, consisting only of a few 
 cottages of Moors and wild Arabs and later tra¬ 
 vellers have since assured us, that even these are 
 dwindled away into one poor cottage at this day. 
 So fatally does sin undermine the greatest, the 
 goodliest places; so certainly does God’s word take 
 place, and not one iota either of his promises or 
 threatenings hill to the ground. Next to the honour 
 that was done it by our Saviour’s presence, who 
 living most in these parts frequently resorted hither, 
 it had nothing greater to recommend it to the 
 notice of posterity, than that (besides some other of 
 the apostles) it was the birth-place of St Peter; a 
 person how inconsiderable soever in his private 
 fortunes, yet of great note and eminency as one of 
 the prime ambassadors of the Son of God, to whom 
 both sacred and ecclesiastical stories give, though 
 not a superiority, a precedency in the college of 
 apostles. 
 
 2. The particular time of his birth cannot be re¬ 
 covered, no probable footsteps or intimations being 
 
 ^ Matt. xi. 21. 
 
 ^ J. Cotovic. Itiner. Hierosol. lib. iii. c. 8, p. 358. 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 46 
 
 left of it; in the general we may conclude him at 
 least ten years older than his Master; his married 
 condition and settled course of life at \his first 
 coming’ to Christ, and that authority and respect 
 which the gravity of his person procured him 
 amongst the rest of the apostles, can speak him no 
 less; but for any thing more particular and positive 
 in this matter I see no reason to affirm. Indeed, 
 might we trust the account, which one (who pre¬ 
 tends to calculate his nativity with ostentation 
 enough) has given of it, we are told that he was 
 born three years before the blessed virgin, and just 
 seventeen before the incarnation of our Saviour. 
 But let us view his account.‘ 
 
 AN. AN. 
 
 ( ab orbe cond. ) 4034 I Octav% August. ) 8 f Herodis reg. ( 
 
 Nat. est < ft diluvio V 2378 < 4 1" ejus consul > 24 < ante b. virg. < 
 
 (. U. C. J 734 (. ^ pugna Actiac. J 12 ( anteChr. nat ( 
 
 AN. 
 
 20 
 
 3 
 
 17 
 
 When I met with such a pompous train of 
 epochas, the least I expected was truth and cer¬ 
 tainty. This computation he grounds upon the 
 date of St. Peter’s death, placed (as elsewhere he 
 tells us^) by Bellarmine in the eighty-sixth year of 
 his age ; so that recounting from the year of Christ 
 sixty-nine, when Peter is commonly said to have 
 suffered, he runs up his age to his birth, and spreads 
 it out into so many several dates. But alas, all is 
 built upon a sandy bottom. For besides his mis¬ 
 take about the year of the world, few of his dates 
 hold due correspondence. But the worst of it is, that 
 after all this, Bellarmine^ (upon whose single testi¬ 
 mony all this fine fabric is erected) says no such 
 thing, but only supposes, merely for argument’s 
 
 ‘ Stengel, de S. Petro. c. 1. ^ Ibid. c. 49. 
 
 ^ Bellarm. de Rom. Pontif. lib. ii. c. 9, col. 624. 
 
46 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 sake, that St. Peter might very well be eighty-six 
 (it is erroneously printed seventy-six) years old at 
 the time of his martyrdom. So far will confidence, 
 or ignorance, or both, carry men aside; if it could 
 be a mistake, and not rather a bold imposing upon 
 the world. But of this enough, and perhaps more 
 than it deserves. 
 
 3. Being circumcised according to the rites of 
 the Mosaic law, the name given him at his circum¬ 
 cision was Simon, or Symeon; a name common 
 amongst the Jews, especially in their later times. 
 This was afterwards by our Saviour not abolished, 
 but additioned with the title of Cephas, which in 
 Syriac (the vulgar language of the Jews at that 
 time) signifying a stone, or rock, was thence de¬ 
 rived into the Greek, Tiirpog, and by us, Peter: so 
 far was Hesychius^ out, when rendering Uirpog by 6 
 ettlXvwv, an expounder or interpreter; propably 
 deriving it from “iriE) which signifies, to explain and 
 interpret. By this new imposition our Lord seemed 
 to denote the firmness and constancy of his faith, 
 and his vigorous activity in building up the church, 
 as a spiritual house upon the true rock, the living 
 and corner-stone, chosen of God, and precious, as 
 St. Peter himself expresses it.^ Nor can our Sa¬ 
 viour be understood to have hereby conferred 
 upon him any peculiar supremacy or sovereignty 
 above, much less over the rest of the apostles; for 
 in respect of the great trust committed to them, and 
 their being sent to plant Christianity in the world, 
 they are all equally styled foundations.^ Nor is it 
 accountable either to Scripture or reason to suppose 
 
 ' Tlsrpog, IttlXvcov, eTriyivioffKUJv' ovrog ^ Kr)(pag 
 
 '2viii.u)v iXkyiTo. —Hesych. in voc. UsTpog. 
 
 * 1 Pet. iL 4, 5, 6. ^ Rev. xxi. 14. 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 47 
 
 that by this name our Lord should design the per¬ 
 son of Peter to be that very rock upon which his 
 church was to be built. In a fond imitation' of 
 this new name given to St. Peter, those who pre¬ 
 tend to be his successors in the see of Rome, usu- 
 ally lay by their owti, and assume a new name 
 upon their advancement to the apostolic chair; it 
 being one of the first questions® which the cardinals 
 put to the new elected pope, by what name he 
 will please to be called.” This custom first began 
 about the year 844, when Peter di Bocca-porco (or 
 Swine’s-mouth) being chosen pope, changed his 
 name into Sergius the second : probably not so 
 much to avoid the uncomeliness of his own name, 
 as if unbefitting the dignity of his place, (for this 
 being but his paternal name, would after have been 
 no part of his pontifical style and title,) as out of a 
 mighty reverence to St. Peter, accounting himself 
 not worthy to bear his name, though it was his 
 own baptismal name. Certain it is, that none of 
 the bishops of that see ever assumed St. Peter’s 
 name; and some who have had it as their Christian 
 name before, have laid it aside upon their election 
 to the papacy. But to return to our apostle. 
 
 4. His father was Jonah, probably a fisherman 
 of Bethsaida, for the sacred story takes no farther 
 notice of him than by the bare mention of his 
 name; and I believe there had been no great dan¬ 
 ger of mistake, though Metaphrastes ^ had not told 
 us that it was not Jonas the prophet, who came 
 out of the belly of the whale. Brother he was to 
 
 ^ Pap. Masson, de Episc. Urb. in Serg. iv. fol. 172, p. 2, ex 
 Annal. Viet. 
 
 ^ Sac. Cerem. Eccles. Rom. sect. 1. fol. 18. 
 
 ® Com. de Petr, et Paul, apud Sur. ad diem 29 Jun. 
 
48 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 St. Andrew the apostle, and some question there 
 is amongst the ancients, which was the elder bro¬ 
 ther. Epiphanius^ (probably from some tradition 
 current in his time) clearly adjudges it to St. An¬ 
 drew, herein universally followed by those of the 
 church of Rome, that the precedency given to St. 
 Peter may not seem to be put upon the account of 
 his seniority.' But to him we may oppose the au¬ 
 thority of St. Chrysostom,'^ a person equal both in 
 time and credit, who expressly says, that though 
 Andrew came later into life than Peter, yet he first 
 brought him to the knowledge of the gospel; which 
 Baronius, against all pretence of reason, would un¬ 
 derstand of his entering into eternal life. Besides, 
 St. Jerome,^ Cassian,Bede,^ and others, are for 
 St. Peter being the elder brother; expressly ascrib¬ 
 ing it to his age, that he, rather than any other, was 
 president of the college of apostles. However it 
 was, it sounds not a little to the honour of their 
 father, (as of Zebedee also in the like case,) that of 
 but twelve apostles two of his sons were taken into 
 the number. In his youth he was brought up to 
 fishing, which we may guess to have been the sta¬ 
 ple trade of Bethsaida, (which hence probably 
 borrowed its name, signifying an house, or habi¬ 
 tation of fishing; though others render it by hunt¬ 
 ing, the word nv equally being either,) much ad¬ 
 vantaged herein by the neighbourhood of the lake 
 of Genesareth, (on whose banks it stood,) called 
 
 1 Haeres. 51, p. 192. 
 
 2 Serm. de S. Andr. quem recitat Metaphrast. ap. Sur. seu 
 potius Lippoman. tom. vi.; vide Baron, not. ad Martyrol. No- 
 vemb. 30, p. 737. 
 
 3 Hieron. lib. i. adv. .Jovin. p. 35, tom.ni. 
 
 Cassian. de Incam. Dom. lib. iii. c. 12, p. 996. 
 
 ^ Bed. Comment, in cap. 1; Joan. tom. v. 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 49 
 
 also the sea of Galilee, and the sea of Tiberias, ac¬ 
 cording to the mode of the Hebrew language, 
 wherein all greater confluences of waters are called 
 seas. Of this lake the Jews have a saying, that 
 of all the seven seas which God created, he made 
 choice of none but the sea of Genesareth f ^ which, 
 however intended by them, is true only in this re¬ 
 spect, that our blessed Saviour made choice of it, 
 to honour it with the frequency of his presence, and 
 the power of his miraculous operations. In length 
 it was an hundred furlongs, and about forty over; 
 the water of it pure and clear, sweet and most fit 
 to drink; stored it was with several sorts of fish, 
 and those different both in kind and taste from 
 those in other places.^ Here it was that Peter 
 closely followed the exercise of his calling; from 
 whence it seems he afterwards removed to Caper¬ 
 naum, (probably upon his marriage, at least fre- 
 c^uently resided there,) for there we meet with his 
 house, and there we find him paying tribute; a 
 house, over which, Nicephorus^ tells us, that 
 Helen, the mother of Constantine, erected a beau¬ 
 tiful church to the honour of St. Peter. This place 
 was equally advantageous for the managery of his 
 trade, standing upon the influx of Jordan into the 
 sea of Galilee, and where he might as well reap the 
 fruits of an honest and industrious diligence. A 
 mean, I confess it was, and a more servile course 
 of life, as which, besides the great pains and labour 
 it required, exposed him to all the injuries of wind 
 
 * Midr. Tillin. fol. 41, ap. Lightf. Cent. Chorograph. in 
 Matt. c. 70 , p. 131. 
 
 ^ Joseph. deBell. Jud. 1. iii. KS(p. Xs. p. 860; Matt. viii. 14; 
 xvii. 24. 
 
 ^ Hist. Eccles, lib. viii. c. 30, p. 596. 
 
 VOL. I. E 
 
60 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 and weather, to the storms of the sea, the darkness 
 and tempestuousness of the night, and all to make 
 a very small return. An employment whose rest¬ 
 less troubles, constant hardships, frequent dan¬ 
 gers, and amazing horrors, have been described by 
 many authors.^ But meanness is no bar in God s 
 way; the poor, if virtuous, are as dear to heaven 
 as the wealthy and honourable; equally alike to 
 him with whom ^ there is no respect of persons.’ 
 
 Nay, our Lord seemed to cast a peculiar honour 
 upon this profession, when afterwards calling him 
 and some others of the same trade from catching of 
 fish, to be (as he told them) ^ fishers of men.’ 
 
 5. And here we may justly reflect upon the wise 
 and admirable methods of the Divine Providence, 
 which in planting and propagating the Christian 
 religion in the world, made choice of such mean 
 and unlikely instruments; that he should hide these 
 things from the wise and prudent, and reveal them 
 unto babes, men that had not been educated in the 
 academy and the schools of learning, but brought 
 up to a trade, to catch fish and mend nets; most 
 of the apostles being taken from the meanest trades, 
 4 nd all of them (St. Paul excepted) unfurnished 
 of all arts of learning, and the advantages of liberal 
 and ingenuous education: and yet these were the 
 men that were designed to run down the world, and 
 to overturn the learning of the prudent. Certainly, 
 had human wisdom been to manage the business, 
 it would have taken quite other measures, and 
 chosen out the profoundest rabbins, the acutest 
 philosophers, the smoothest orators, such as would 
 
 1 See particularly Oppian. ’AXuvt. BiQX. a. non longe ab init. 
 Tile l/inperor Antoninus gave a piece of gold, for every verse in 
 the description here referred to.—E d« 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 51 
 
 r 
 
 have been most likely, by strength of reason and 
 L arts of rhetoric, to have triumphed over the minds 
 ■ of men, to grapple with the stubbornness of the 
 Jews, and baffle the finer notions and speculations 
 ^ of the Gieeks. W e find that those sects of philo¬ 
 sophy that gained most credit in the heathen world, 
 did it this way, by their eminency in some arts and 
 I sciences, whereby they recommended themselves to 
 the acceptance of the wiser and more ingenious part 
 of mankind. Julian the apostate * thinks it a 
 reasonable exception against the Jewish prophets, 
 that they were incompetent messengers and inter¬ 
 preters of the divine will, because they had not 
 their minds cleared and purged, bypassing through 
 k the circle of polite arts and learning. Why, now 
 I this is the wonder of it, that the first preachers of 
 the gospel should be such rude, unlearned men, 
 and yet so suddenly, so powerfully prevail over 
 the learned world, and conquer so many who had 
 the greatest parts and abilities, and the strongest 
 ► prejudices against it, by the simplicity of the 
 gospel. When Celsus objected, that the apostles 
 I were but a company of mean and illiterate persons, 
 I sorry mariners and fishermen, Origen ^ quickly re- 
 r turns upon him with this answer: “ That hence it 
 was plainly evident, that they taught Christianity 
 by a divine power, when such persons were able 
 with such an uncontrolled success to subdue men 
 to the obedience of his word; for that they had no 
 eloquent tongues, no subtile and discursive head, 
 
 ^ Ovdev dk) ot[xaij kojXvei tov fitv Srebv elvai fikyavj ov /xr) 
 crTrada'nov Ilpo<j)r]Ta>v, ovSe e^rjyrjTMv rvxelv' airiov de on 
 Triv kavTMv xf/vxVP ov Trapkxov dTroKaOapai toIq kvKVKXioiq 
 fitter)fiaffiv. —Fragm. Epist. p. 541, tom. i. 
 
 2 Contr. Cels. lib. i. p. 47, 48. 
 
 E 2 
 
52 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 none of the refined and rhetorical arts of Greece, 
 to conquer the minds of men. For my part,” says 
 he, ^ in another place, I verily believe that the 
 holy Jesus purposely made use of such preachers 
 of his doctrine, that there might be no suspicion 
 that they came instructed with arts of sophistry, 
 but that it might be clearly manifest to all the 
 world that there was no crafty design in it, and 
 that they had a divine power going along with them, 
 which was more efficacious than the greatest volu¬ 
 bility of expression, or ornaments of speech, or the 
 artifices which were used in the Grecian composi¬ 
 tions. Had it not been for this divine power that 
 upheld it,” as he elsewhere argues,® “the Chris¬ 
 tian religion must needs have sunk under those 
 weighty pressures that lay upon it, having not only 
 to contend with the potent opposition of the senate, 
 emperors, people, and the whole power of the Roman 
 empire, but to conflict with those home-bred wants 
 and necessities wherewith its own professors were 
 oppressed and burthened.^’ 
 
 6. It could not but greatly vindicate the apostles 
 from all suspicion of forgery and imposture, in the 
 thoughts of sober and unbiassed persons, to see 
 their doctrine readily entertained by men of the 
 most discerning and inquisitive minds. Had they 
 dealt only with the rude and the simple, the idiot 
 and the unlearned, there might have been some pre¬ 
 tence to suspect that they lay in wait to deceive, and 
 designed to impose upon the world by crafty and 
 insinuative arts and methods. But, alas, they had 
 other persons to deal with, men of the acutest wits 
 and most profound abilities, the wisest philosophers 
 
 ‘ Lib. iii. p. 135 . 
 
 ^ Lib. i. p. G. 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 53 
 
 and most subtile disputants, able to weigh an argu¬ 
 ment with the greatest accuracy, and to decline the 
 force of the strongest reasonings; and who had 
 their parts edged with the keenest prejudices of 
 education, and a mighty veneration for the religion 
 of their country ; a religion that for so many ages 
 had governed the world, and taken firm possession 
 of the minds of men. And yet, notwithstanding 
 all these disadvantages, these plain men conquered 
 the wise and the learned, and brought them over 
 to that doctrine that was despised and scorned, op« 
 posed and persecuted, and that had nothing but 
 its own native excellency to recommend it. A clear 
 evidence that there was something in it beyond the 
 craft and power of men. Is not this,” says an 
 elegant apologist,^ making his address to the hea¬ 
 thens, enough to make you believe and entertain 
 it, to consider that in so short a time it has diffused 
 itself over the whole world, civilized the most bar¬ 
 barous nations, softened the roughest and most in¬ 
 tractable tempers; that the greatest wits and scho¬ 
 lars, orators, grammarians, rhetoricians, lawyers, 
 physicians, and philosophers have quitted their 
 formerly dear and beloved sentiments, and heartily 
 embraced the precepts and doctrines of the gospel ?” 
 Upon this account, Theodoret ^ does with no less 
 truth than elegancy, insult and triumph over the 
 
 ^ Arnob. adv. Gent. lib. ii. p. 21. 
 
 ^ De Curand Graec. Affect. Serm.. ix. de Leg. p. 123. 
 
 Theodoret, who was one of the earliest and most learned histo¬ 
 rians of the church, lived in the former part of the fifth century. 
 His commentaries on various parts of Scripture display great 
 knowledge and piety; but he suffered much from the factious 
 spirit of his age : and in the disputes respecting Nestorius, was 
 threatened with the loss of the episcopal rank, to which he had 
 been justly elevated for his virtues,—E d. 
 
54 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 heathens. He tells them, that whoever would be at 
 the pains to compare the best law-makers, either ' 
 amongst the Greeks or Romans, with our fishermen 
 and publicans, would soon perceive what a divine 
 virtue and efficacy there was in them above all i 
 others, whereby they did not only conquer their 
 neighbours, not only the Greeks and Romans, but 
 brought over the most barbarous nations to a com¬ 
 pliance with the law of the gospel; and that not 
 by force of arms, not by numerous bands of sol- > 
 diers, not by methods of torture and cruelty, but 
 by meek persuasives, and a convincing the world ' 
 of the excellency and usefulness of those laws which ! 
 they propounded to them. ‘ A thing which the 
 wisest and best men of the heathen world could i 
 never do, to make their dogmata and institutions j 
 universally obtain; nay, that Plato himself could 
 never, by all his plausible and insinuative arts, make 
 his laws to be entertained by his own dear Athen- i 
 ians. ® He further shows them, that the laws pub¬ 
 lished by our fishermen and tent-makers, could 
 never be abolished (like those made by the best 
 amongst them) by the policies of Caius, the power 
 of Claudius, the cruelties of Nero, or any of the 
 succeeding emperors; ^ but still they went on con¬ 
 quering and to conquer, and made millions both 
 of men and women willing to embrace flames, and 
 to encounter death in its most horrid shapes, rather 
 than disown and forsake them;^ whereof he calls to 
 witness those many churches and monuments every 
 where erected to the memory of Christian martyrs, 
 no less to the honour than advantage of those 
 
 ^ De Curand. Grasc. Affect. Serin, ix. de Leg. p. 125. 
 
 2 Ibid. p. 128. 3 Ibid. p. 126. , 4 Ibid. p. 135. 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 65 
 
 cities and countries, and in some sense to all man¬ 
 kind. 
 
 7. The sum of the discourse is, in the apostle’s 
 words, that ^ God chose the foolish things of the 
 world to confound the wise, the weak to confound 
 those that are mighty, the base things of the world, 
 things most vilified and despised, yea, and things 
 which are not, to bring to nought things that are,’^ 
 These were the things, these the persons whom God 
 sent upon this errand, to silence ‘ the wise, the 
 scribe, and the disputer of this world, and to make 
 foolish the wisdom of this world.’ For though 
 ^ the Jews required a sign, and the Greeks sought 
 after wisdom, though the preaching a crucified 
 Saviour was a scandal to the Jews, and foolishness 
 to the learned * Greciansyet, ^ by this foolishness 
 of preaching, God was pleased to save them that 
 believedand in the event made it appear, that 
 ' the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the 
 weakness of God stronger than men.’^ That so 
 the honour of all might entirely redound to himself; 
 so the apostle concludes, nhat no flesh should 
 glory in his presence, but that he that glorieth, 
 should glory in the Lord.’ ^ 
 
 » 1 Cor. i. 27, 28. 2 Yer. 20—25. 
 
 ^ Isti primi vocati sunt, ut Dominum sequerentur: piscatores 
 et illiterati mittuntur ad prsedicandum, ne tides credentium non 
 virtute Dei, sed eloquentia atque doctrina fieri putaretur.”— 
 Hieron. Comm, in Matth. c. 4, tom. ix. p. 17. 
 
56 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 Of St. Peter, from his first coming to Christ till his 
 being called to be a Disciple. 
 
 Th OUGH we find not whether Peter, before his com¬ 
 ing to Christ, was engaged in any of the particular 
 sects at this time in the Jewish church, yet is it 
 greatly probable that he was one of the disciples 
 to John the Baptist. For first, it is certain that his 
 brother Andrew was so ; and we can hardly think 
 these two brothers should draw contrary ways, or 
 that he who was so ready to bring his brother the 
 early tidings of the Messiah, that the ^ sun of 
 righteousness’ was already risen in those parts, 
 should not be as solicitous to bring him under the 
 discipline and influences of John the Baptist, the 
 day-star^ that went before him. Secondly; Peter^s 
 forwardness and curiosity at the first news of 
 Christ’s appearing, to come to him and converse 
 with him, show that his expectations had been 
 awakened, and some light in this matter conveyed 
 to him by the preaching and ministry of John, who 
 was the voice of one crying in the wilderness. 
 Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths 
 straight;^ showing them who it was that was com¬ 
 ing after him, 
 
 2. His first acquaintance with Christ commenced 
 in this manner. The blessed Jesus having for thirty 
 years passed through the solitudes of a private life, 
 had lately been baptized in Jordan, and there pub¬ 
 licly owned to be the Son of God, by the most 
 solemn attestations that heaven could give him; 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 57 
 
 whereupon he was immediately hurried into the 
 wilderness, to a personal contest with the devil for 
 forty days together. So natural is it to the enemy 
 I of mankind to malign our happiness, and to seek 
 to blast our joys, when we are under the highest 
 instances of the divine grace and favour. His 
 enemy being conquered in three set battles, and 
 fled, he returned hence, and came down to Beth- 
 abara, beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing 
 his proselytes, and endeavouring to satisfy the Jews, 
 who had sent to him curiousl}'’ to inquire concern¬ 
 ing this new Messiah that appeared among them. 
 Upon the great testimony which the Baptist gave 
 him, and his pointing to our Lord then passing by 
 him, two of John’s disciples,' who were then with 
 him, presently followed after Christ, one of which 
 was Andrew, Simon’s brother. It was towards 
 evening when they came, and therefore probably 
 they staid with him all night, during which An¬ 
 drew had opportunity to inform himself, and to sa¬ 
 tisfy his most scrupulous inquiries. Early the next 
 morning, (if not that very evening,) he hastened to 
 acquaint his brother Simon with these glad tidings. 
 It is not enough to be good and happy alone; re¬ 
 ligion is a communicative principle, that, like the 
 circles in the water, delights to multiply itself, and 
 i to diffuse its influences round about it, and espe¬ 
 cially upon those whom nature had placed near¬ 
 est to us.® He tells him, they had found the long- 
 
 * John, i. 37- 
 
 ^ ^Avdpsag roivvv T(p Zrjrsfxevqj TrepLTvxojv, ^ Trap avnp 
 IXEivag-, ixa9d)v uTvep tfxaOt, rbv Sryjaavpov ov Karkxe Trap’ 
 £avrov, ovSe virkiitivey ei /i?) K) r(p dde\(pu) KOivdbcrerai, dX\’ 
 eTreiyerai /9 rp£%£i rax^(og, pieTadtoatov avr<p tS)V dyaOojv, (bv 
 TrsTrXovrrjKe. —Comment, de S. Andr. in Menasis CrEecor. r/jusp* 
 'N6efi€p. sub. lit. tt'. 
 
f 
 
 58 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 looked for Messiah, him whom Moses and the pro¬ 
 phets had so signally foretold, and whom all the 
 devout and pious of that nation had so long ex¬ 
 pected. 
 
 3. Simon, (one of those who ^looked for the 
 kingdom of God, and waited for the redemption of 
 Israel,’) ravished with this joyful news, and impa¬ 
 tient of delay, presently follows his brother to the 
 place; whither he was no sooner come but our 
 Lord, to give him an evidence of his Divinity, sa¬ 
 lutes him at first sight by name, tells him what 
 and who he was, both as to his name and kindred, 
 what title should be given him, that he should be 
 called Cephas, or Peter; a name which he after¬ 
 wards actually conferred upon him.^ What passed 
 further between them, and whether these two bro¬ 
 thers henceforward personally attended our Sa¬ 
 viour’s motions in the number of his disciples, the 
 sacred story leaves us in the dark. It seems pro¬ 
 bable that they had staid with him for some time, 
 till they were instructed in the first rudiments of his 
 doctrine, and by his leave departed home. For it 
 is reasonable to suppose, that our Lord being un¬ 
 willing, at this time especially, to awaken the jea¬ 
 lousies of the state by a numerous retinue, might 
 dismiss his disciples for some time, and Peter and 
 Andrew amongst the rest; who hereupon returned 
 home to the exercise of their calling, where he 
 found them afterwards. 
 
 4. It was now somewhat more than a year since 
 our Lord, having entered upon the public stage of 
 action, constantly ‘went about doing good, healing 
 the sick, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom 
 
 * John, i. 42. 
 
 ® Matt. iv. 23. 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 59 
 
 residing usually at Capernaum, and the parts about 
 it, where, by the constancy of his preaching, and 
 the reputation of his miracles, his fame spread about 
 all those countries; by means whereof multitudes 
 oi people from all parts flocked to him, greedily 
 desirous to become his auditors. And what wonder, 
 if the parched and barren earth thirsted for the 
 showers of heaven ? It happened that our Lord 
 retiring out of the city, to enjoy the privacies of 
 contemplation upon the banks of the sea of Galilee, 
 it was not long before the multitude found him 
 out j to avoid the crowd and press whereof he 
 stept into a ship,^ or fisher-boat, that lay near to the 
 shore, which belonged to Peter (who, together with 
 his companions, after a tedious and unsuccessful 
 night, were gone ashore to wash and dry their nets.) 
 He who might have commanded, was yet pleased 
 to entreat Peter (who by this time was returned 
 into his ship) to put a little from the shore. Here 
 being sat, he taught the people, who stood along 
 upon the shore to hear him. Sermon ended, he 
 resolved to seal up his doctrine with a miracle, 
 that the people might be the more effectually con¬ 
 vinced that ^ he was a teacher come from God. To 
 this purpose, he bade Simon launch out further, 
 and cast his net into the sea : Simon tells him they 
 had done it already, that they had been fishing all 
 the last night, but in vain ; and if they could not 
 succeed then (the most proper season for that em¬ 
 ployment) there was less hope to speed now, it 
 being probably about noon. But because where 
 God commands it is not for any to argue, but 
 obey, at our Lord’s instance he let down the net, 
 
 * Luke, V. ]. 
 
CO LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 which immediately enclosed so great a multitude 
 of fishes that the net began to break, and they were 
 forced to call to their partners, who were in a ship 
 hard by them, to come to their assistance. A 
 draught so great that it loaded both their boats, 
 and that so full that it endangered their sinking 
 before they could get safe to shore : an instance 
 wherein our Saviour gave an ocular demonstration 
 that, as Messiah, God had ^put all things under his 
 feet, not only fowls of the air, but the fish of the 
 sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of 
 the sea.^ * 
 
 5. Amazed they were all at this miraculous 
 draught of fishes; whereupon Simon, in an ecstasy 
 of admiration, and a mixture of humility and fear, 
 threw himself at the feet of Christ, and prayed him 
 to depart from him, as a vile and a sinful person. 
 So evident were the appearances of Divinity in this 
 miracle, that he was overpowered and dazzled with 
 its brightness and lustre, and reflecting upon him¬ 
 self, could not but think himself unworthy the pre¬ 
 sence of so great a person, so immediately sent 
 from God; and considering his own state, (con¬ 
 science being hereby more sensibly awakened,) was 
 afraid that the divine vengeance might pursue and 
 overtake him. But our Lord, to abate the edge of 
 his fears, assures him that this miracle was not done 
 to amaze and terrify him, but to strengthen and 
 confirm his faith; that now he had nobler work 
 and employment for him; instead of catching fish, 
 he should, by persuading men to the obedience of 
 the gospel, catch the souls of men: and accord¬ 
 ingly he commanded him and his brother to follow 
 
 ^ Psalm viii. 6, 7, 8. 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 61 
 
 him; (the same command which presently after 
 he gave to the two sons of Zebedee.) The word 
 was no sooner spoken, and they landed, but dis¬ 
 posing their concerns in the hands of friends, (as 
 we may presume prudent and reasonable men 
 would,) they immediately left all, and followed 
 him; and from this time Peter and the rest became 
 his constant and inseparable disciples, living under 
 the rules of his discipline and institutions. 
 
 6. From hence tliey returned to Capernaum, 
 where our Lord, entering into Simon’s house, (the 
 place in all likelihood where he was wont to lodge 
 during his residence in that city) found his mother- 
 in-law visited with a violent fever.' No privileges 
 afford an exemption from the ordinary laws of 
 human nature ; Christ, under her roof, did not pro¬ 
 tect this woman from the assaults and invasions of 
 a fever. Lord, behold he whom thou lovest is 
 sick,’^ as they said concerning Lazarus. Here a 
 fresh opportunity offered itself to Christ of exerting 
 his divine power. No sooner was he told of it but 
 he came to her bed-side, rebuked the paroxysm, 
 commanded the fever to be gone, and taking her 
 by the hand to lift her up, in a moment restored 
 her to perfect health and ability to return to the 
 business of her family; all cures being equally easy 
 to Omnipotence. 
 
 ^ Matt. viii. 14 ; Mark, i. 29 ; Luke, iv. 38. 
 
 2 John, xi. 3. 
 
SECTION III. 
 
 Of St. Peter, from his election to the Apostolate till 
 the confession which he made of Christ. 
 
 Our Lord being now to elect some peculiar 
 persons as his immediate vicegerents upon earth, 
 to whose care and trust he might commit the build¬ 
 ing up of his church, and the planting that religion 
 in the world for which he himself came down from 
 heaven; in order to it, he privately, over night, 
 withdrew himself into a solitary mountain,^ (com¬ 
 monly called the mount of Christ, from his frequent 
 repairing thither; though some of the ancients will 
 have it to be mount Tabor,) there to make his 
 solemn address to heaven for a prosperous success 
 on so great a work. Herein leaving an excellent 
 copy and precedent to the governors of his church, 
 how to proceed in setting apart persons to so 
 weighty and difficult an employment. Upon this 
 mountain we may conceive there was an oratory, 
 or place of prayer, (probably intimated by St. 
 Luke’s hTrpoaevyf, for such proseuchas, or houses of 
 prayer, usually uncovered and standing in the 
 fields, the Jews had in several places,) wherein our 
 Lord continued all night, not in one continued and 
 entire act of devotion, but probably by intervals 
 and repeated returns of duty. 
 
 2. Early the next morning his disciples came to 
 him, out of whom he made choice of twelve to be 
 
 * Luke, vi. 12. 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 63 
 
 his apostles/ that they might be the constant attend¬ 
 ants upon his person, to hear his discourses, and 
 be eye-witnesses of his miracles; to be always con¬ 
 versant with him while he was upon earth, and 
 afterwards to be sent abroad, up and down the 
 woild, to carry on that work which he himself had 
 begun; whom, therefore, he invested with the power 
 of working miracles, which was more completely 
 conferred upon them after his ascension into hea¬ 
 ven. Passing by the several fancies and conjec¬ 
 tures of the ancients, why our Saviour pitched upon 
 the just number of twelve, (whereof before,) it may 
 deserve to be considered, whether our Lord, being 
 now to appoint the supreme officers and governors 
 of his church, which the apostle styles the " com¬ 
 monwealth of Israel,* might not herein have a more 
 peculiar allusion to the twelve patriarchs, as foun¬ 
 ders of the several tribes; or to the constant heads 
 and rulers of those twelve tribes, of which the body 
 of the Jewish nation did consist: especially since he 
 himself seems elsewhere to give countenance to it, 
 when he tells the apostles that "when the Son of 
 Man shall sit on the throne of his glory,’ that is, be 
 gone back to heaven, and have taken full posses¬ 
 sion of his evangelical kingdom, which principally 
 commenced from his resurrection, that then " they 
 also should sit upon twelve thrones, judgincr the 
 twelve tribes of Israel;^ that is, they should*^have 
 great power and authority in the church, such as 
 the power of the keys, and other rights of spiritual 
 judicature and sovereignty, answerable in some pro¬ 
 portion to the power and dignity which the heads 
 and rulers of the twelve tribes of Israel did enjoy. 
 
 ‘ Matt X. 1; Mark, iii. 14 ; Luke, vi. 13. 
 
 Ephes. ii. 12. a Matt xix. 28. 
 
64 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 3. In the enumeration of these twelve apostles, 
 all the evangelists constantly place St. Peter in the 
 front, and St. Matthew^ expressly tells us that he 
 was the first; that is, he was the first that was 
 called to be an apostle: his age also, and the gra¬ 
 vity of his person more particularly qualifying him 
 for a primacy of order amongst the rest of the apos¬ 
 tles, as that without which no society of men can 
 be managed or maintained. Less than this, as none 
 will deny him, so, more than this neither Scrip¬ 
 ture nor primitive antiquity do allow him. And 
 now it was that our Lord actually conferred that 
 name upon him which before he had promised him. 
 
 Simon he surnamed Peter.’^ It may here be in¬ 
 quired, when and by whom the apostles were 
 baptized. That they were is unquestionable, being 
 themselves appointed to confer it upon others; but 
 when or how the Scripture is altogether silent. 
 Nicephorus,-’ from no worse an author, as he pre¬ 
 tends, than Euodius, St. Peter’s immediate succes¬ 
 sor in the see of Antioch, tells us, that of all the 
 apostles Christ baptized none but Peter with his 
 own hands; that Peter baptized Andrew and the 
 two sons of Zebedee, and they the rest of the apos¬ 
 tles. This, if so, would greatly make for the ho¬ 
 nour of St. Peter. But alas ! his authority is not 
 only suspicious but supposititious, in a manner 
 deserted by St. Peter’s best friends, and the strong¬ 
 est champions of his cause. Baronins himself, how ¬ 
 ever, sometimes^ willing to make use of him, else¬ 
 where confesses ^ that this epistle of Euodius is 
 
 * Matt. X. 2. 2 Mark, iii. 10. 
 
 Hist. Eccles. lib. ii. c. 3, p. 134. 
 
 ‘‘ Ad. An. 31, num. 40. ^ An. 71 , num. 13. 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 65 
 
 altogether unknown to any of the ancients. As for 
 the testimony of Clemens Alexandrinus, which to 
 I the same purpose he quotes out of Sophronius/ 
 (though not Sophronius but Johannes Moschus, 
 
 ' as is notoriously known, be the author of that 
 book,) besides that it is delivered upon an uncer- 
 ! tain report, pretended to have been alleged in a 
 discourse between one Dionysius, bishop of Asca- 
 lon, and his clergy, out of a book of Clemens not 
 now extant; his authors are much alike, that is, of 
 no great value and authority. 
 
 4, Amongst these apostles our Lord chose a tri¬ 
 umvirate, Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, to be 
 his more intimate companions, whom he admitted 
 ; more familiarly than the rest unto all the more se- 
 : cret passages and transactions of his life. The first 
 
 instance of which was on this occasion:—Jairus,® 
 a ruler of the synagogue, had a daughter desperately 
 sick, whose disease, having baffled all the arts of 
 i physic, was only curable by the immediate agency 
 : of the God of nature. He therefore, in all humility, 
 
 addresses himself to our Saviour; which he had no 
 sooner done but servants came post to tell him that 
 it was in vain to trouble our Lord, for that his 
 daughter was dead. Christ bids him not despond; 
 if his faith held out there was no danger. And 
 suffering none to follow him but Peter, James, and 
 John, he goes along with him to the house; where he 
 was derided by the sorrowful friends and neigh¬ 
 bours, for telling them that she was not perfectly 
 dead. But our Lord entering in, with the com- 
 
 ' Vid. Jos. Moschi Prat. Spir. c. 176; Bibl. P. Graec. L. 
 tom. ii. p. 1133. 
 
 2 Mark, v. 22. 
 
 VOL. T. ^ 
 
66 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 manding efficacy of two words, restored her at 
 once both to life and perfect health. 
 
 5. Our Lord after this preached many sermons, 
 and wrought many miracles; amongst which none i 
 more remarkable than his feeding a multitude of j 
 five thousand men, besides women and children, 
 but with five loaves and two fishes;^ of which, 
 nevertheless, twelve baskets of fragments were taken 
 up. Which being done, and the multitude dis¬ 
 missed, he commanded the apostles to take ship, it 
 being now near night, and to cross over to Caper¬ 
 naum, whilst he himself, as his manner was, retired 
 to a neighbouring mountain, to dispose himself to 
 prayer and contemplation. The apostles were 
 scarce got into the middle of the sea, when on a 
 sudden a violent storm and tempest began to arise, 
 whereby they were brought into present danger of 
 their lives. Our Saviour, who knew how the case 
 stood with them, and how much they laboured un¬ 
 der infinite pains and fears, having himself caused 
 this tempest for the greater trial of their faith, a 
 little before morning (for so long they remained in 
 this imminent danger) immediately conveyed him¬ 
 self upon the sea, where the waves received him, 
 being proud to carry their master. He who re¬ 
 fused to gratify the devils, when tempting him to 
 throw himself down from the pinnacle of the tem¬ 
 ple, did here commit himself to a boisterous and 
 instable element, and that in a violent storm, walk¬ 
 ing upon the water as if it had been dry ground. 
 But that infinite power that made and supports the 
 world, as it gave rules to all particular beings, so 
 can, when it pleaseth, countermand the laws of their 
 
 * Matt. xiv. 17- 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 67 
 
 creation, and make them act contrary to their natu¬ 
 ral inclinations. If God say the word, the sun will 
 stand still in the middle of the heavens; if. Go 
 back, it will retrocede, as upon the dial of Ahaz : 
 if he command it, the heavens will become as brass, 
 and the earth as iron, and that for three years and 
 a half together, as in the case of Elijah^s prayer : 
 If he say to the sea. Divide, it will run upon heaps, 
 and become on both sides c.s firm as a wall of mar¬ 
 ble. Nothing can be more natural than for the fire 
 to burn, and yet at God’s command it will forget 
 its nature, and become a screen and a fence to the 
 I three children in the Babylonian furnace. What 
 heavier than iron, or more natural than for gravity 
 to tend downwards ? yet, when God will have it, 
 iron shall float like cork on the top of the water. 
 The proud and raging sea, that naturally refuses 
 to bear the bodies of men while alive, became here 
 as firm as brass, when commanded to wait upon 
 and do homage to the God of nature. Our 
 Lord walking toward the ship, as if he had an in¬ 
 tention to pass it, he was espied by them, who pre¬ 
 sently thought it to be the apparition of a spirit. 
 Hereupon they were seized with great terror and 
 I consternation, and their fears were, in all likelihood, 
 heightened by the vulgar opinion, that there are 
 I evil spirits that choose rather to appear in the night 
 I than by day. While they were in this agony, our 
 Lord, taking compassion on them, calls to them, and 
 I bids them not be afraid, for that it was no other 
 than he himself. Peter (the eagerness of whose 
 temper carried him forward to all bold and resolute 
 undertakings) entreated our Lord, that if it was he, 
 he might have leave to come upon the water to him. 
 Having received his orders, he went out of the 
 
 F 2 
 
68 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 ship, and walked upon the sea to meet his master. 
 But when he found the wind to bear hard against 
 him, and the waves to rise round about him, 
 whereby, probably, the sight of Christ was intei- 
 cepted, he began to be afraid j and the highei his 
 fears arose the lower his faith began to sink, and 
 together with that, his body to sink under water. 
 whereupon, in a passionate fright, he cried out to 
 our Lord to help him; who, reaching out his arm, 
 took him by the hand, and set him again upon the 
 top of the water, with this gentle reproof: O thou 
 of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt ?’ It be¬ 
 ing the weakness of our faith that makes the influ¬ 
 ences of the divine power and goodness to have no 
 better effect upon us. Being come to the ship, 
 they took them in; where our Lord no sooner ar¬ 
 rived, hut the winds and waves, observing their 
 duty to their sovereign Lord, and having done the 
 errand which they came upon, mannerly departed 
 and vanished away, and the ship in an instant was 
 at the shore. All that were in the ship being 
 strangely astonished at this miracle, and fully con¬ 
 vinced of the Divinity of his person, came and did 
 homage to him, with this confession : ‘ Of a truth 
 thou m*t the Son of God.’ After which they went 
 ashore, and landed in the country of Genesareth, 
 and there more fully acknowledged him before all 
 the people. 
 
 6. The next day, great multitudes flocking after 
 him, he entered into a synagogue at Capernaum ; 
 and taking occasion from the late miracle of the 
 loaves, which he had wrought amongst them, he 
 began to discourse concerning himself, as the ‘ true 
 manna, ^ and the * bread that came down fiom hea- 
 
 1 John, vi. 32. 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 69 
 
 venlargely opening unto them many of the more 
 sublime and spiritual mysteries, and the necessary 
 and important duties of the gospel. Hereupon a 
 I great part of his auditory who had hitherto followed 
 him, finding their understandings gravelled with 
 these difficult and uncommon notions, and that the 
 duties he required were likely to grate hard upon 
 I them, and perceiving now that he was not the 
 Messiah they took him for, whose kingdom should 
 consist in an external grandeur and plenty, but was 
 to be managed and transacted in a more inward 
 I and spiritual way; hereupon fairly left him in 
 open field, and henceforth quite turned their backs 
 upon him. Whereupon our Lord, turning about 
 to his apostles, asked them whether they also would 
 go away from him ? Peter (spokesman generally 
 for all the rest) answered, whither they should go 
 to mend and better their condition; should they 
 return back to Moses ? alas! he laid ‘ a yoke upon 
 I them which neither they nor their fathers were able 
 I' to bear. Should they go to the Scribes and Phari¬ 
 sees ? they would feed them with stones instead of 
 1 bread, obtrude human traditions upon them for 
 ( divine dictates and commands. Should they be¬ 
 take themselves to the philosophers amongst the 
 I Gentiles ? they were miserably blind and short¬ 
 sighted in their notions of things, and their senti¬ 
 ments and opinions not only different from, but 
 contrary to one another. No, it was he only had 
 H ‘ the words of eternal life,^ whose doctrine could 
 f instruct them in the plain way to heaven ; that they 
 I had fully assented to what both John and he had 
 said concerning himself; that they were fully per- 
 suaded, both from the efficacy of his sermons which 
 they heard, and the powerful convicJi nn oT —— 
 
70 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 miracles, which they had seen, that he w'as ‘ the 
 Son of the living God,’ the true Messiah and Saviour 
 of the world. But notwithstanding this fair and 
 plausible testimony, he tells them that they were 
 not all of this mind; that there was a satan amongst 
 them, one that was moved by the spirit and im¬ 
 pulse, and that acted according to the rules and 
 interest of the devil: intimating Judas, who should 
 betray him. So hard is it to meet with a body of 
 so just and pure a constitution wherein some rot¬ 
 ten member or distempered part is not to be found. 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 Of St. Peter, from the time of his Confession till our 
 Lord’s last Passover. 
 
 It was some time since our Saviour had kept 
 his third passover at Jerusalem,^ when he directed 
 his journey towards Csesarea Philippi; where by 
 the way, having, like a careful master of his family, 
 first prayed with his apostles, he began to ask them 
 (having been more than two years publicly conver¬ 
 sant amongst them) what the world thought con¬ 
 cerning him. They answered, that the opinions of 
 men about him were various and different; that 
 some took him for John the Baptist lately risen 
 from the dead ; between whose doctrine, discipline, 
 and way of life, in the main, there was so great a 
 correspondeime. That others thought he was Elias; 
 
 i viii. 27 j IMatt. xvi. 21 ; Luke, ix. 18. 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 71 
 
 probably judging so from the gravity of his person, 
 freedom of his preaching, the fame and reputation 
 of his miracles; especially since the Scriptures 
 assured them he was not dead, but taken up into 
 heaven, and had so expressly foretold that he should 
 return back again. That others looked upon him 
 as the prophet Jeremiah alive again, of whose re¬ 
 turn the Jews had great expectations, insomuch that 
 some of them thought the soul of Jeremiah was re¬ 
 inspired into Zacharias. Or if not thus, at least 
 that he was one of the more eminent of the ancient 
 prophets, or that the soul of some of these persons 
 had been breathed into him: the doctrine of the 
 metempsychosis, or transmigration of souls, first 
 broached and propagated by Pythagoras, being at 
 this time current among the Jews, and owned by 
 the Pharisees as one of their prime notions and 
 principles. ‘ 
 
 2. This account not sufficing, our Lord comes 
 closer and nearer to them; tells them, it was no 
 wonder if the common people were divided into 
 these wild thoughts concerning him; but since they 
 had been always with him, had been hearers of his 
 sermons, and spectators of his miracles, he inquired 
 what they themselves thought of him. Peter, ever 
 forward to return an answer, and therefore, by the 
 fathers, frequently styled the mouth of the apos- 
 
 ^ The Jews had long since imbibed the love of Grecian phi¬ 
 losophy, which began to be current among them from the time 
 of Alexander. And as the Christians of Alexandria afterwards 
 mingled Platonism with the gospel, so the Pharisees, but by 
 doing much more force to both systems, mingled the doctrines of 
 Pythagoras with those of Moses; or rather with the fanciful 
 comments by which their rabbis had corrupted the pure word of 
 Scripture. This system is alluded to in the account of the man 
 born blind, John ix. 3.—Ed. 
 
72 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 ties,” ^ told him, in the name of the rest, that he was 
 the Messiah, ' the Son of the living God,’ promised 
 of old in the law and the prophets, heartily desired 
 and looked for by all good men, anointed and set 
 apart by God to be the King, Priest, and Prophet 
 of his people. To this excellent and comprehen¬ 
 sive confession of St. Peter’s, our Lord returns this 
 great eulogy and commendation:" Blessed art thou, 
 Simon Bar-Jonah; flesh and blood hath not re¬ 
 vealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in 
 heaven:’ that is, this faith which thou hast now 
 confessed is not human, contrived by man’s wit, or 
 built upon his testimony, but upon those notions 
 and principles which I was sent by God to reveal to 
 the world, and those mighty and solemn attestations 
 which he has given from heaven, to the truth both 
 of my person and my doctrine. And because thou 
 hast so freely made this confession, therefore ‘ I also 
 say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this 
 rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell 
 shall not prevail against it.’ That is, that as thy 
 name signifies a stone, or rock, such shalt thou thy¬ 
 self be, firm, solid, and immovable in building of 
 the church; which shall be so orderly erected by 
 thy care and diligence, and so firmly founded upon 
 that faith which thou hast now confessed, that all 
 the attempts and assaults which the powers of hell 
 can make against it shall not be able to overturn it. 
 Moreover, " I will give unto thee the keys of the 
 kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind 
 on earth, shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever 
 thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven 
 
 ^ To TO/xa Tojv aTTo^oXwv o UsTpog 6 rravraxov Srep/xypy 6 
 Tov xopov T&v arro’^oXiov icopv(paiog, 7rdvru)v eporrjOsvTCJVy 
 dvTOQ dTTOKp'iveTaL. —Chrysost. in Matt. xvi. p. 483. 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 73 
 
 that is, thou shalt have that spiritual authority and 
 power within the church, whereby, as with keys, 
 thou shalt be able to shut and lock out obstinate 
 and impenitent sinners, and, upon their repent¬ 
 ance, to unlock the door and take them in again: 
 and what thou shalt thus regularly do, shall be 
 owned in the court above, and ratified by God in 
 heaven. 
 
 3. Upon these several passages, the champions 
 of the church of Rome mainly build the unlimited 
 supremacy and infallibility of the bishops of that 
 see; with how much truth and how little reason it 
 is not my present purpose to discuss. It may suf¬ 
 fice here to remark, that though this place does very 
 much tend to exalt the honour of Peter, yet is there 
 nothing herein personal and peculiar to him alone, 
 as distinct from, and preferred above the rest of the 
 apostles. Does he here make confession of Christ’s 
 ^ being the Son of God ? Yet, besides that herein 
 he spake but the sense of all the rest, this was no 
 more than what others had said as well as he, yea 
 before he was so much as called to be a disciple. 
 Thus Nathanael, at his first coming to Christ, ex¬ 
 pressly told him, ^ Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; 
 thou art the King of Israel.’ ^ Does our Lord here 
 style him a rock ? All the apostles are elsewhere 
 equally called foundations; yea, said to be the 
 * twelve foundations upon which the wall of the 
 new Jerusalem,’® that is, the evangelical church, is 
 erected; and sometimes others of them besides 
 Peter are called pillars, as they have relation to the 
 church already built. Does Christ here promise 
 the keys to Peter ? that is, power of governing, and 
 
 ^ John, i. 49. ^ ]4 ; Eph. ii. 20; Gal. ii. 9. 
 
74 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 of exercising church censures, and absolving peni¬ 
 tent sinners ? The very same is elsewhere promised 
 to all the apostles, and almost in the very same 
 terms and words: ^ If thine offending brother prove 
 obstinate, tell it unto the church; hut if he neglect 
 to hear the church, let him be unto thee an heathen 
 and a publican. Verily I say unto you, w hatsoever 
 ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, 
 and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be 
 loosed in heaven.’ ^ And elsewhere, when ready to 
 leave the world, he tells them : ‘As my Father hath 
 sent me, even so send I you: whosesoever sins ye 
 remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose¬ 
 soever sins ye retain, they are retained.’^ By all 
 which it is evident, that our Lord did not here give 
 any personal prerogative to St. Peter, as universal 
 pastor and head of the Christian church, much less 
 to those who were to be his successors in the see of 
 Rome; but that as he made his confession in the a 
 name of the rest of the apostles, so what was here I 
 promised unto him was equally intended unto all. | 
 Nor did the more considering and judicious part ' 
 of the fathers (however giving a mighty reverence 
 to St. Peter) ever understand it in any other sense. 
 Sure T am, that Origin''' tells us, that every true 
 Christian that makes this confession with the same ]| 
 spirit and integrity which St Peter did, shall have 
 the same blessing and commendation from Christ 
 conferred upon him. 
 
 4. The holy Jesus, knowing the time of his pas¬ 
 sion to draw on, began to prepare the minds of his 
 apostles against that fatal hour; telling them what 
 hard and bitter things he should suffer at Jerusa- 
 
 ^ Matt, xviii, 17 , 18. 2 xx. 21, 23. 
 
 3 Comment, in lop. tom. HI fol. 1, fac. 2. 
 
ST. PETER. 75 
 
 lem, what affronts and indignities he must undergo, 
 and be at last put to death, with all the arts of tor¬ 
 ture and disgrace, by the decree of the Jewish San¬ 
 hedrim.' Peter, whom our Lord had infinitely en¬ 
 couraged and endeared to him, by the great things 
 which he had lately said concerning him, so that 
 his spirits were now afloat, and his passions ready 
 to overrun the banks, not able to endure a thought 
 that so much evil should befall his master, broke 
 out into an over-confident and unseasonable inter¬ 
 ruption of him: ‘ He took him and began to re¬ 
 buke him, sa,ying. Be it far from thee. Lord ; this 
 shall not be unto thee.’ Besides his great kindness 
 and affection to his master, the minds of the apos¬ 
 tles were not yet thoroughly purged from the hopes 
 and expectations of a glorious reign of the Messiah; 
 so that Peter could not but look upon these suffer¬ 
 ings as unbecoming and inconsistent with the state 
 and dignity of the Son of God; and therefore thought 
 good to advise his Lord to take care of himself, and, 
 while there was time, to prevent and avoid them. 
 This our Lord, who valued the redemption of man¬ 
 kind infinitely before his own ease and safety, re¬ 
 sented at so high a rate that he returned upon him 
 with this tart and stinging reproof: ‘ Get thee be¬ 
 hind me, Satan:’ the very same treatment which he 
 once gave to the devil himself, when he made that 
 insolent proposal to him, ^ to fall down and worship 
 him.’^ Though in Satan it was the result of pure 
 malice and hatred, in Peter only an error of love 
 and great regard. However, our Lord could not 
 but look upon it as a mischievous and diabolical 
 
 ' Matt. xvi. 21; Mark, viii, 31; Luke, ix. 22. 
 
 ^ Luke, iv. 8. 
 
76 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 counsel,prompted and promoted^by the great adver¬ 
 sary of mankind. Away therefore, says Christ, with 
 thy hellish and pernicious counsel': ^ Thou art an 
 offence unto me,^ in seeking to oppose and under¬ 
 mine that great design for which I purposely came 
 down from heaven: in this ^ thou savourest not the 
 things of God, but those that be of men, in suggest¬ 
 ing to me those little shifts and arts of safety and 
 self-preservation, which human prudence and the 
 love of men’s own selves are wont to dictate to them : 
 by which, though we may learn Peter’s mighty 
 kindness to our Saviour, yet that herein he did not 
 take his measures right; a plain evidence that his 
 infallibility had not taken place. 
 
 5. About a week after this, our Saviour being to 
 receive a type and specimen of his future glorifica¬ 
 tion, took with him his three more intimate apostles, 
 Peter and the two sons of Zebedee,' and went up 
 into a very high mountain, which the ancients ge¬ 
 nerally conceived to have been Mount Tabor, a 
 round and very high mountain, situate in the plains 
 of Galilee. And now was even literally fulfilled 
 what the Psalmist had spoken: ^ Tabor and Her- 
 mon shall rejoice in thy name.’® For what greater 
 joy and triumph than to be peculiarly chosen to be 
 the holy mount, whereon our Lord, in so eminent 
 a manner, ^ received from God the Father honour 
 and gloryand made such magnificent displays of 
 his divine power and majesty ? For while they 
 w^ere here earnestly employed in prayer, (as seldom 
 did our Lord enter upon any eminent action but 
 he first made his address to heaven,) he was sud¬ 
 denly transformed into another manner of appear- 
 
 * Matt. xvii. 1 ; Mark, ix. 2. 
 
 * Psalm Ixxxix. 12. 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 77 
 
 ance; such a lustre and radiancy darted from his 
 face, that the sun itself shines not brig'hter at noon¬ 
 day : such beams of light reflected from his gar¬ 
 ments as outdid the light itself that was round 
 about them; so exceeding pure and white that the 
 snow might blush to compare with it; nor could 
 the fuller s art purify any thing into half that white¬ 
 ness; an evident and sensible representation of the 
 glory of that state wherein the just shall ‘ walk in 
 white, and shine as the sun, in the kingdom of the 
 Father." During this heavenly scene, there ap¬ 
 peared Moses and Elias, (who, as the Jews say, 
 shall come together,) clothed with all the brightness 
 and majesty of a glorified state, familiarly convers¬ 
 ing with him, and discoursing of the death and 
 sufferings which he was shortly to undergo, and his 
 dejDarture into heaven. Behold here together the 
 three greatest persons that ever were the ministers 
 ; of heaven: Moses, under God, the institutor and 
 ' promulgator of the law; Elias, the great reformer 
 of it, when under its deepest degeneracy and cor¬ 
 ruption ; and the blessed Jesus, the Son of God, 
 who came to take away what was weak and imper¬ 
 fect, and to introduce a more manly and rational in¬ 
 stitution, and to communicate the last revelation 
 which God would make of his mind to the world. 
 Peter and the two apostles that were with him 
 were, in the mean time, fast asleep ; heavy through 
 w'ant of natural rest, (it being probably night when 
 this was done,) or else overpowered with these ex¬ 
 traordinary appearances, which the frailty and 
 weakness of their present state could not bear, were 
 I fallen into a trance; but now awaking, were 
 I strangely surprised to behold our Lord surrounded 
 i with so much glory, and those two great persons 
 
78 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 conversing with him: knowing who they were, pro¬ 
 bably by some particular marks and signatures that 
 were upon them, or else by immediate revelation, 
 or from the discourse which passed betwixt Christ 
 and them, or possibly from some communication 
 which they themselves might have with them. 
 While these heavenly guests were about to depart, 
 Peter, in a great rapture and ecstasy of mind, ad¬ 
 dressed himself to our Saviour, telling him how in¬ 
 finitely they were pleased and delighted with their 
 being there; and, to that purpose, desiring his leave 
 that they might erect three tabernacles, one for him, 
 one for Moses, and one for Elias. While he was thus 
 saying, a bright cloud suddenly overshadowed the 
 two great ministers, and wrapped them up; out of 
 which came a voice ; This is my beloved Son, in 
 whom T am well pleased; hear ye him which 
 when the apostles heard, and saw the cloud coming 
 over themselves, they were seized with great con¬ 
 sternation, and fell upon their faces to the ground ; 
 whom our Lord gently touched, bade them arise 
 and disband their fears; whereupon, looking up, 
 they saw none but their master, the rest having 
 vanished and disappeared. In memory of these 
 great transactions, Bede tells us,' that in pursuance 
 of St. Peter’s petition about the three tabernacles, 
 there were afterwards three churches built upon 
 the top of this mountain, which, in after times, 
 were had in great veneration; which might possibly 
 give some foundation to that report which one 
 makes, that in his time there were showed the ruins 
 of those three tabernacles which were built accord¬ 
 ing to St. Peter^s desire.® 
 
 ^ De Loc. Sanct. c. 17 . 
 
 ^ Bern, k Bridenb. Itiner. Terrse Sanct.vid. J. Cotovis Itiner. 
 lib. iii. c. 7, p. 355. 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 79 
 
 6. After this, our Lord and his apostles having 
 travelled through Galilee/ the gatherers of the tri¬ 
 bute-money came to Peter, and asked him, whether 
 his master was not obliged to pay the tribute, 
 which God, under the Mosaic law, commanded to 
 be yearly paid by every Jew above twenty years 
 old, to the use of the temple ; which so continued 
 to the times of Vespasian, under whom the temple 
 being destroyed, it was by him transferred to the 
 use of the capitol at home, being to the value of 
 half a shekel, or fifteenpence of our money. To 
 this question of theirs, Peter positively answers. 
 Yes; knowing his master would never be back¬ 
 ward, either ^ to give unto Caesar the things that 
 are Caesar’s, or unto God the things that are God’s. 
 Peter going into the house to give an account to 
 his master, and to know his mind concerning it, 
 Christ prevented him with this question: " “What 
 ^ thinkest thou, Simon, of whom do earthly kings 
 exact tribute, of their own children’ and family, or 
 from other people ? Peter answered. Not from 
 their own servants and family, but from strangers. 
 To which our Lord presently replied, that then, 
 according to his own argument and opinion, both 
 he himself, as being the Son of God, and they, 
 whom he had taken to be his menial and domestic 
 servants, were free from this tax of head-money, 
 yearly to be paid to God. But rather than give 
 . offence, by seeming to despise the temple, and to 
 undervalue that authority that had settled this tri¬ 
 bute, he resolves to put himself to the expense and 
 charges of a miracle, and therefore commanded 
 Peter to go to the sea, and take up the first fish 
 
 * Matt. xvii. 24. 
 
80 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 which came to his hook, in whose mouth he should 
 find a piece of money, (a stater, in value a shekel, 
 or half-a-crown,) which he took and gave to the 
 collectors, both for his master and himself. 
 
 7. Our Lord, after this, discoursing to them how 
 to carry themselves towards their offending breth¬ 
 ren, Peter, being desirous to be more particularly 
 informed in this matter, asked our Saviour, how 
 oft a man was obliged to forgive his brother, in case 
 of offence and trespass, whether seven times were 
 not enough.^ He told him, that upon his neigh- i 
 hour’s repentance, he was not only bound to do it 
 ‘ seven times, but until seventy times seven that 
 is, he must be indulgent to him, as oft as the of¬ 
 fender returns and begs it, and heartily professes 
 his sorrow and repentance: which he further illus¬ 
 trates by a plain and excellent parable, and thence 
 draws this conclusion, that the same measures, 
 either of compassion or cruelty, which men show ^ 
 to their fellow-brethren, they themselves shall meet j 
 with at the hands of God, the supreme ruler and 
 justiciary of the world. It was not long after, 
 when a brisk young man addressed himself to our 
 Saviour, to know of him by what methods he might 
 best attain eternal life;'^ our Lord, to humble his 
 confidence, bid him sell his estate, and give it to ; 
 the poor:’ and, putting himself under his discipline, 
 he should have a much better ‘ treasure in heaven.’ 
 The man was rich, and liked not the counsel, nor 
 was he willing to purchase happiness at such a 
 rate, and accordingly went away under great sorrow 
 and discontent. Upon which Christ takes occasion 
 to let them know, how hardly those men would get 
 
 ‘ Matt, xviii. 21. 
 
 2 Matt. xix. 16 ; Mark, x. 17 ; Luke, xviii. 18. 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 81 
 
 to heaven, who built their comfort and happiness 
 upon the plenty and abundance of these outward 
 things. Peter, taking hold of this opportunity, 
 asked, what return they themselves should have, 
 who had quitted and renounced whatever they had 
 foi his sake and service. Our Saviour answers, 
 that no man should be a loser by his service j 
 that foi their parts, they should be recompensed 
 with fai gieater privileges j and that w^hoever 
 should forsake houses or lands, kindred or rela¬ 
 tions, out of love to him and his religion, should 
 enjoy them again, with infinite advantages, in this 
 world, if consistent with the circumstances of their 
 state, and those troubles and persecutions which 
 would necessarily arise from the profession of the 
 gospel: however, they should have what would 
 make infinite amends for all—eternal life in the 
 other world. 
 
 ^ 8. Our Saviour, in order to his last fatal journey 
 
 to Jerusalem, that he might the better comply with 
 the prophecy that went before him, sent two of his 
 apostles, who in all probability were Peter and 
 John, with an authoritative commission to fetch 
 him an ass to ride on(he .had none of his own ; 
 he who ^ was rich, for our sakes made himself poor;’ 
 he lived upon charity all his life, had neither an 
 ass to ride on, nor a house where to lay his head ; 
 no, nor after his death a tomb to lie in, but 
 what the charity of others provided for him;) 
 whereon being mounted, and attended with the 
 festivities of the people, he set forward in his jour¬ 
 ney ; wherein there appears an admirable mixture 
 of humility and majesty: the ass he rode on be- 
 
 ^ Matt. xxi. 1. 
 
 VOL. I. f- 
 
82 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 came the meanness and meekness of a prophet; 
 but his arbitrary commission for the fetching it, j. 
 and the ready obedience of its owners, spake the | 
 prerogative of a king; the palms borne before him, 
 the garments strewed in his way, and the joyful 
 hosannahs and acclamations of the people, proclaim [ 
 at once both the majesty of a prince and the tri¬ 
 umph of a Saviour; for such expressions of joy ' 
 we find were usual in public and festival solemn!- 1 
 ties. Thus the historian, describing the emperor : 
 Commodus’s triumphant return to Rome,* tells us, 1 
 that the senate and whole people of Rome, to tes¬ 
 tify their mighty kindness and veneration for him, 
 came out of the city to meet him, carrying palms 
 and laurels along with them, and throwing about 
 all sorts of flowers that were then in season. In this 
 manner our Lord being entered the city, he soon 
 after retired to Bethany, whence he dispatched , 
 Peter and John to make preparation for the pass- I 
 over; giving them instructions where he would ] 
 have it kept .^ accordingly they found the person ' 
 he had described to them, whom they followed 
 home to his house. Whether this was the house of 
 John the Evangelist, (as Nicephorus tells us,^) situ¬ 
 ate near Mount Sion, or of Simon the leper, or of i 
 Nicodemus, or of Joseph of Arimathea, as others ' 
 severally conjecture, seeing none of the evange¬ 
 lists have thought fit to tell us, it may not become 
 us curiously to inquire. 
 
 i 
 
 * Herod, lib. i. in vit. Comm. p. 17. 
 
 ^ Matt. xxvi. 17 ; Mark, xiv. 12; Luke, xxii. 7* 
 
 ^ Hist. Eccl. lib. i. c. 28, p. 104. 
 
83 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 Of St. Peter, from the last Passover till the Death 
 
 of Christ. 
 
 All thinp being now prepared, our Saviour with 
 Ills apostles comes down for the celebration of the 
 ppsover: and being entered into the house, they 
 all orderly took their places. Our Lord, who had 
 always taught them by his practice, no less than 
 y IS doctiine, did now particularly design to 
 teac them humility and charity by his own exam¬ 
 ple: and that the instance might be the greater, 
 he underwent the meanest offices of the ministry, 
 owaids the end, therefore, of the paschal supper, 
 lb he arose from the table, and laying aside his up- 
 1, per garment, (which, according to the fashion of 
 t those eastern countries, being long, was unfit for 
 action,) and himself taking a towel, and pouring 
 water into a bason, he began to wash all the apos- 
 t t es leetp not disdaining those of Judas himself, 
 oming to Peter, he would by no means admit an 
 instance of so much condescension. What ? the 
 I master to do this to the servant! the Son of God to 
 so vile a sinner! This made him a second time 
 lefuse it: ‘Thou shalt never wash my feet.’ But 
 oui Lord soon corrects his imprudent modesty, by 
 'te ing him, that ‘if he washed him not he could 
 ave no part with him :’ insinuating the mystery of 
 t is action, which was to denote remission of sin, 
 
 ‘ John, xiii. 4. 
 
 g2 
 
84 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 and the purifying virtue of the Spirit of Christ to 
 be poured upon all true Christians. Peter, satis¬ 
 fied with the answer, soon altered his resolution: 
 
 ^ Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and J 
 my head.’ If the case be so, let me be washed all 
 over, rather than come short of my portion in thee. * 
 This being done, he returned again to the table, 
 and acquainted them with the meaning and ten¬ 
 dency of this mystical action, and what force it 
 ought to have upon them towards one another. | 
 The washing itself denoted their inward and spi¬ 
 ritual cleansing by the blood and spirit of Christ, 
 symbolically typified and represented by all the 
 washings and baptisms of the Mosaic institution : 
 the washing of the feet respected our entire sancti¬ 
 fication of our whole spirit, soul, and body, no part 
 being to be left impure. And then, that all this 
 should be done by so great a person, their Lord 
 and master preached to their very senses a sermon 
 of the greatest humility and condescension; and 
 taught them how little reason they had to boggle at 
 the meanest offices of kindness and charity towards 
 others, when he himself had stooped to so low an 
 abasure towards them. And now he began more 
 immediately to reflect upon his suflferings, and 
 upon him who was to be the occasion of them; 
 telling them, that one of them would be the traitor to 
 
 ^- ^iXo^opyq) Ss jU€voiv7j 
 
 El TTodag vfieiojv KaOa^(p ^ai^pvva XosTpt^ 
 
 'Hyi/r>}p Kj dva% 7repideS,iog, dXXd avTovg 
 ’Avtltvttov ^ifiig kfiov [xip7]iJLa fiaOovrag 
 'Tfieag, dXXrjXoJv ^iXisg Trodag vdaTiv'nrruv. 
 
 Agiyjua yap eTrXero rovro diddcTKaXov, ocppa K) vfji,s7g 
 "Epyov OTTfp TToirjcra aocpbv, rfXscr/jrs 4 avroi, 
 
 UdvTsg tv dXXr/XoKTiv dfioitaup rivi S'ea/iip 
 *l(TO^vkg p,ifjL7]p,a darjixovog ijjtpLovTjog. 
 
 Nonn, Paraphr. in loc. 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 85 
 
 betray him. Whereat they were strangely troubled, 
 and every one began to suspect himself, till Peter 
 (whose love and care for his [master commonly 
 made him start sooner than the rest) made signs to 
 St. John, who lay in our Saviour’s bosom, to ask 
 him particularly who it was; which our Saviour 
 presently showed, by making them understand that 
 It was Judas Iscariot; who not long after left the 
 company. 
 
 2 . And now our Lord began the institution of his 
 suppei; that great solemn institution which he was 
 resolved to leave behind him, to be constantly cele¬ 
 brated in all ages of the church, as the standing 
 monument of his love in dying for mankind. For 
 now he told them, that he himself must leave them, 
 and that ^ whither he went they could not come.^^ 
 Peter, not well understanding what he meant, 
 asked him whither it was that he was going. Our 
 I Lord replied, it was to that place whither he could 
 j not now follow him; but that he should do it after- 
 ^ v/ards: intimating the martyrdom he was to under¬ 
 go for the sake of Christ, To which Peter answered, 
 
 . that he knew no reason why he might not follow 
 him, seeing that if it was even to the laying down 
 of his life for his sake, he was most ready and re¬ 
 solved to do it. Our Lord liked not this over-con¬ 
 fident presumption, and therefore told him, they 
 were great things which he promised, but that he 
 took not the true measures of his own strength, nor 
 espied the snares and designs of Satan, who desired 
 i, no better an occasion than this to sift and winnow 
 |l him; but that he had prayed to heaven for him," that 
 I his faith might not fail;’ by which means being 
 
 ^ John, xiii. 36; Luke, xxii. 31. 
 
86 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 strengthened himself, he should be obliged to i 
 strengthen and confirm his brethren. And whereas 
 he so confidently assured him, that he was ready to | 
 go along with him, not only into prison but even 1 
 to death itself, our Lord plainly told him, that 
 notwithstanding all his confident and generous re¬ 
 solutions, before the cock crowed twice, that is, 
 before three of the clock in the morning, he would 
 that very night three several times deny his master. 
 With which answer our Lord wisely rebuked his | 
 confidence, and taught him (had he understood 
 the lesson) not to trust to his own strength, but 
 entirely to depend upon him who is able to keep us 
 from falling. Withal insinuating, that though by 
 his sin he would justly forfeit the divine grace and 
 favour, yet upon his repentance he should be re¬ 
 stored to the honour of the apostolate, as a certain 
 evidence of the divine goodness and indulgence to 
 him.* 'k 
 
 3. Having sung a hymn, and concluded the j 
 whole affair, he left the house where all these | 
 things had been transacted, and went with his apos- ' 
 ties unto the mount of Olives; ^ where he again 
 put them in mind how much they would be offend¬ 
 ed at those things which he was now to suffer : and 
 Peter again renewed his resolute and undaunted 
 
 ^ Aid ri dt TravraQ d^eig ti^ TLsrpii) Xsyti, ^ifiiov, 
 
 ’Si/xojv, iSoi) 6 ’^aravag T^rrjcraro v/jidg aividnai ; 'Iva irai- 
 dkviry dvTOv fiy eavrip ^appelv fxovov^ dXKd to~iq Trap dvrov 
 ')(^api<jp,aGi (TSfivvvscrOai — to 87ri^pe\pag ^ypi^ov rovg ddeX- 
 (povg (T 8 , rarest, ytvov ’rrfpiyjxa d) diddiricaXog tiov did iri- 
 ‘Ttiog Trpoffiovriov hfxoi’ ov ydp dr/ aTro^epyOyirr]^ dpvrj- 
 
 adfxsvog jxsy rov aTroToXiicov %api(7ju.arogj OTrtp rrjg ^eiag 
 yaXrjvoTijrog 19 dipdrs (piXavOpiorriag vTrdp\u rsK/jirjpiov^ 
 Tit. Bostr. Com. in Luc. xxii. in Bibl. Pp. Gr. Lat. tom. ii. 
 p. 829. 
 
 2 Matt. xxvi. 30 ; Mark, xiv. 26. 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 87 
 
 ! 
 
 promise of suffering and dying with him; yea, 
 I out of an excessive confidence, told him, that 
 though all the rest should forsake and deny him, 
 yet w^ould not he deny him.’ How far will zeal 
 and an indiscreet affection transport even a good 
 man into vanity and presumption ! Peter ques¬ 
 tions others, but never doubts himself So natural 
 is self-love, so apt are we to take the fairest mea¬ 
 sures of ourselves. Nay, though our Lord had but 
 a little before once and again reproved this vain 
 humour, yet does he still not only persist but 
 grow up in it. So hardly are we brought to espy 
 our own faults, or to be so thoroughly convinced of 
 them as to correct and reform them. This confi¬ 
 dence of his inspired all the rest with a mighty cou- 
 I rage, all the apostles assuring him of their constant 
 and unshaken adhering to him. Our Lord return- 
 i ing the same answer to Peter which he had done 
 L before. From hence they went down into the vil- 
 f lage of Gethsemane, where leaving the rest of the 
 ^ apostles, he, accompanied with none but Peter, 
 James, and John, retired into a neighbouring gar¬ 
 den, (wdiither, Eusebius tells us,^ Christians even 
 in his time were wont to come, solemnly to offer 
 up their prayers to heaven; and where, as the 
 Arabian geographer informs us,® a fair and stately 
 church was built to the honour of the Virgin Mary,) 
 
 I to enter upon the ante-scene of the fatal tragedy 
 that was now approaching; it bearing a very fit pro¬ 
 portion (as some of the fathers have observed^) that 
 as the first Adam fell and ruined mankind in a 
 
 ^ * Deloc. Hebr. in voc. FeOcniJ.av'n, p. 134. 
 
 I ^ Geogr. Nub. Clim. 3, part 5, p. 114. 
 
 ® Cyril. Comment, in Joan, xviii. tom. iv. Theophylact. in 
 Joan, xviii. 
 
88 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 garden, so a garden should be the place where the 
 second Adam should begin his passion, in order to 
 the redemption of the world. Gardens, which to 
 us are places of repose and pleasure, and scenes of 
 divertisement and delight, were to our Lord a school 
 of temptation, a theatre of great horrors and suffer¬ 
 ings, and the first approaches of the hour of dark¬ 
 ness. 
 
 4. Here it was that the blessed Jesus laboured 
 under the bitterest agony that could fall upon hu¬ 
 man nature, which the holy story describes by 
 words sufficiently expressive of the highest grief 
 and sorrow; he was ^ afraid, sorrowful,’ and ^ very 
 heavy;’ yea, ^ his soul was’ TreplXvTrog, ^exceeding 
 sorrowful,’ and that ^ even unto death;’ he was 
 ^ sore amazed and very heavy;’ he was troubled,’ 
 erapa^^dri, his s'oul Was shaken with a vehement 
 commotion ; yea, he was ^ in an agony;’ a word by 
 which the Greeks were wont to represent the great¬ 
 est conflicts and anxieties. The effect of all which 
 was, that ^ he prayed more earnestly,^ offering up 
 ‘ prayers and supplications with strong cries and 
 tears,’ as tlie apostle expounds it; and sweat, ‘ as 
 it were great drops of blood falling to the ground.’ 
 What this bloody sweat was, and how far natural 
 or extraordinary, I am not now concerned to in¬ 
 quire. Certain it is, it was a plain evidence of the 
 most intense grief and sadness; for if an extreme 
 fear or trouble will many times cast us into a cold 
 sweat, how great must be the commotion and con¬ 
 flict of our Saviour’s mind, which could force open 
 the pores of his body, locked up by the coldness 
 of the night, and make not drops of sweat, but 
 ^ great drops,’ or (as the word ^pofi^oi signifies) 
 ‘ clods’ of blood to issue from them ! While our 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 89 
 
 Lord was thus contending with these ante-passions, 
 the three apostles, whom he had left at some dis¬ 
 tance from him, being tired out with watching, and 
 disposed by the silence of the night, were fallen fast 
 asleep. Our Lord, who had made three several 
 addresses unto heaven, that, if it might consist 
 with his Father’s will, this bitter ^cup might pass 
 from him,’ (expressing herein the harmless and in¬ 
 nocent desires of human nature, which always stu¬ 
 dies its own preservation,) between each of them 
 came to visit the apostles; and calling to Peter, 
 asked him, whether they could not ^ watch’ with 
 him ‘one houradvising them to ‘ watch and pray,’ 
 that they entered ‘ not into temptationadding this 
 argument, that ‘ the spirit indeed ’ was ‘ willing,’ 
 but that ‘ the flesh’ was ‘ weak;’ and that therefore 
 there was the more need that they should stand 
 upon their guard. Observe here the incomparable 
 I sweetness, the generous candour of our blessed Sa- 
 r viour, to pass so charitable a censure upon an ac¬ 
 tion from whence malice and ill-nature might have 
 drawn monsters and prodigies, and have repre¬ 
 sented it black as the shades of darkness. The re¬ 
 quest which our Lord made to these apostles was 
 infinitely reasonable, to watch with him in his bitter 
 agony; their company at least being some refresh¬ 
 ment to one under such sad fatal circumstances; 
 and this but for a little time, ‘ one hour it would 
 soon be over, and then they might freely consult 
 ; their own ease and safety. It was their dear Lord and 
 master whom they now were to attend upon, ready 
 to lay down his life for them, sweating already 
 under the first skirmishes of his sufferings, and ex¬ 
 pecting every moment when all the powers of dark¬ 
 ness would fall upon him. But all these consi- 
 
90 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 derations were drowned in a profound security ; the 
 men were fast asleep, and though often awakened 
 and told of it, regarded it not, as if nothing but 
 ease and softness had been then to be dreamed of. 
 An action that looked like the most prodigious in¬ 
 gratitude, and the highest unconcernedness for 
 their Lord and master, and which one would have 
 thought had argued a very great coldness and in- 
 dilferency of affection towards him. But he would 
 not set it upon the tenters, nor stretch it to what it 
 might easily have been drawn to: he imputes it 
 not to their unthankfulness, or want of affection, 
 nor to their carelessness of what became of him, 
 but merely to their infirmity and the weakness of 
 their bodily temper, himself making the excuse, 
 when they could make none for themselves : ^ the 
 spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’ 
 Heieby teaching us to put the most candid and 
 favourable construction upon those actions of others 
 which are capable of various interpretations, and 
 rather with the bee to suck honey, than with the 
 spidei to draw poison from them. His last prayer 
 being ended, he came to them, and told them with 
 a gentle rebuke, that now they might sleep on,^ 
 if they pleased; that ^ the hour was at hand that 
 he should be betrayed, and delivered into the 
 hands of men.^ 
 
 5. While he was thus discoursing to them, a band 
 of soldiers sent from the high-priests, with the 
 traitor Judas to conduct and direct them, rushed 
 into the garden, and seized upon him; which when 
 the apostles saw, they asked him whether they 
 should attempt his rescue. Peter, (whose ungo¬ 
 vernable zeal put him upon all dangerous under¬ 
 takings,) without staying for an answer, drew his 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 91 
 
 sword, and espying one more busy than the rest in 
 laying- hold upon our Saviour, which was Malchus, 
 (who, though carrying kingship in his name, was 
 but servant to the high-priest,) struck at him with 
 an intention to dispatch him; hut God overruling 
 the stroke, it only cut off his right ear. Our Lord 
 liked not this wild and unwarrantable zeal, and 
 therefore entreated their patience, whilst lie mira¬ 
 culously healed the wound; and turning to Peter, 
 bade him put up his sword again; told him that 
 they who unwarrantably used the sword should 
 themselves perish by it; that there was no need 
 of these violent and extravagant courses; that if 
 he had a mind to be rid of his keepers he could 
 ask his Father, who would presently send ^ more 
 than twelve legions of angels’ to his rescue and 
 deliverance: but he must "drink the cup’ which 
 his Father had put into his hand; for how else 
 should the Scriptures be fulfilled, which had ex¬ 
 pressly foretold " that these things must be ?’ 
 Whereupon all the apostles forsook him, and fled 
 from him; and they who before in their promises 
 were as bold as lions, now it came to it, like fearful 
 and timorous hares, ran away from him. Peter and 
 John, though staying last with him, yet followed 
 the same way with the rest, preferring their own 
 safety before the concernments of their master. 
 
 6. No sooner was he apprehended by the sol¬ 
 diers, and brought out of the garden, but he was 
 immediately posted from one tribunal to another; * 
 brought first to Annas, then carried to Caiaphas, 
 where the Jewish Sanhedrim met together in order 
 
 ^ Matt. xxvi. 57; Mark, xiv. 53; Luke, xxii. 54; John, 
 xviii. 12. 
 
92 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 3 
 
 to his trial and condemnation. Peter havins: a 
 little recovered himself, and gotten loose from his 
 fears, probably encouraged by his companion, St. 
 John, returns back to seek his master, and finding 
 them leading him to the high-priest s hall, followed 
 afar off, to see what would be the erent and issue: 
 but coming to the door, could get no admittance, ^ 
 till one of the disciples who was acquainted there, 
 went out and persuaded the servant who kept the ; 
 door to let him in. Being led into the hall where ] 
 the servants and officers stood round the fire, Peter j 
 also came thither to warm himself, where being 
 espied by the servant-maid that let him in, she, 
 earnestly looking upon him, charged him with 
 being one of Christ’s disciples, which Peter pub¬ 
 licly denied before all the company, positively af¬ 
 firming that ‘he knew him not;’ and presently 
 withdrew himself into the porch, where he heard 
 the cock crow: an intimation, one would have 
 thought, which should have awakened his con- ^ 
 science into a quick sense of his duty, and the " 
 promise he had made unto his master. In the 
 porch, another of the maids set upon him, charging 
 him ‘ that he also was one of them that had been 
 with Jesus of Nazareth;’ which Peter stoutly de¬ 
 nied, saying that he ‘ knew not Christ;’ and the 
 better to gain their belief to what he said, ratified 
 it with an oath. So natural is it for one sin to 
 draw on another. 
 
 7. About an hour after, he was a third time set 
 upon by a servant of the high-priest, Malchus’s 
 kinsman, whose ear Peter had lately cut off: by 
 him he was charged to be one of Christ’s disciples; 
 yea, that his very speech betrayed him to be a 
 Galilean:—for the Galileans, though they did not 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 93 
 
 speak a different language, had yet a different 
 dialect, using a more confused and barbarous, a 
 broader and more unpolished way of pronunci¬ 
 ation than the rest of the Jews j w'hereby they were 
 easily distinguishable in their speaking from other 
 men; abundant instances whereof there are extant 
 in the Talmud at this day:—nay, not only gave 
 this evidence, but added, that he himself had seen 
 him with Jesus in the garden. Peter still reso¬ 
 lutely denied the matter; and to add the highest 
 accomplishment to his sin, ratified it not only with 
 an oath, but a solemn curse and execration, that 
 he was not the person, that he knew not the man. 
 It is but a very weak excuse which St. Ambrose 
 and some others make for this act of Peter’s, in say¬ 
 ing, ‘ I know not the man." He did well,” says he, 
 
 I to deny him to be man whom he knew to be 
 God.”^ St. Jerome^ takes notice of this pious and 
 well-meant excuse made for Peter, though out of 
 modesty he conceals the name of its author, but 
 yet justly censures it as trifling’and frivolous, and 
 which to excuse man from folly would charge God 
 with falsehood : for if he did not deny him, then 
 our Lord was out, when he said, that that night he 
 ^ should thrice deny himthat is, his person, and 
 not only his humanity. Certainly the best apo¬ 
 logy that can be made for Peter is, that he quickly 
 repented of this great sin ; for no sooner had he 
 done it, but the cock crew again; at which intima¬ 
 tion our Saviour turned about, and earnestly looked 
 upon him; a glance that quickly pierced him to 
 i 
 
 ! ^ “ Bene negavit hominem, quern sciebat Deum.”—Ambros. 
 
 i in Luc. xxii. tom. v. 157, vid. Hilar. Comment, in Matth. 328. 
 
 I Hier. in Matth. xxvi. p. 81, tom. ix. vid. August, in Joan. 
 
 I Tract. Ixvi. col. 417) tom. ix. 
 
94 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 the heart, and brought to his remembrance, what 
 our Lord had once and again foretold of him, how 
 foully and shamefully he should deny him. 
 Whereupon, not being able to contain his sorrow, 
 he ran out of doors to give it vent, and " wept bit¬ 
 terly ; passionately bewailing his folly, and the 
 aggravations of his sin; thereby endeavouring to 
 make some reparation for his fault, and recover 
 himself into the favour of heaven, and to prevent 
 the execution of divine justice, by taking a severe 
 revenge upon himself: by these penitential tears 
 he endeavoured to wash off his guilt; as indeed 
 repentance is the next step to innocence. 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 Of St. Peter, from Christ's Resurrection till his 
 
 Ascension. 
 
 What became of Peter after his late prevarica¬ 
 tion, whether he followed our Saviour through the 
 several stages of his trial, and personally attended 
 as a mourner at the funeral of his master, we have 
 no account left upon record. No doubt he staid 
 at Jerusalem, and probably with St. John, together 
 with whom we first find him mentioned, when both 
 set forwards to the sepulchre; which was in this 
 manner. Early on that morning whereon our 
 Lord was to return from the grave, Mary Mag¬ 
 dalene,’ and some other devout and pious women. 
 
 ^ Mark, svi. 1. 
 
95 
 
 ST. PETER. 
 
 brought spices and ointments, with a design to 
 embalm the body of our crucified Lord. Coming 
 to the sepulchre at sun-rising, and finding the door 
 open, they entered in, where they were suddenly 
 saluted by an angel, who told them that Jesus was 
 lisen, and bade them go and acquaint his apostles, 
 and particularly Peter, that he was returned from 
 the dead; and that he would go before them into 
 Galilee, where they should meet with him. Here¬ 
 upon they returned back, and acquainted the apos¬ 
 tles with what had passed, who beheid the story as 
 the product of a weak and frighted fancy. But 
 Peter and John presently hastened towards the 
 garden C John, being the younger and nimbler, 
 outran his companion, and came first thither; 
 where he only looked, but entered not in, either out 
 of fear in himself, or a great reverence to our 
 Saviour. Peter, though behind in space was before 
 ^ in zeal, and being elder and more considerate, 
 came and resolutely entered in, where they found 
 1 nothing but the linen cloths lying together in one 
 place, and the napkin that was about his head 
 I wrapped together in another; which being dis¬ 
 posed with so much care and order, showed (what 
 was falsely suggested by the Jews) that our Sa- 
 viour^s body was not taken away by thieves, who 
 are wont more to consult their escape than how to 
 leave things orderly disposed behind them. 
 
 2. The same day about noon we may suppose 
 it was, that our J-jord himself appeared alone to 
 Peter; being assured of the thing, though not so 
 precisely of the time. That he did so St. Paul 
 expressly tells usand so did the apostles to the 
 
 ‘ Luke, xxiv. 12 ; John, xx. 2. 
 
 ^ 1 Cor. XV. 5. 
 
96 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 two disciples that came from Emmaus, " The Lord 
 is risen, and hath appeared to Simon‘ which 
 probably intimates, that it was before his appearing 
 to those two disciples. And indeed we cannot 
 but think that our Lord would hasten the mani- , 
 festation of himself to him, as compassionating j 
 his case, being overwhelmed with sorrow for the | 
 late shameful denial of his master; and was there¬ 
 fore willing in the first place to honour him with 
 his presence, at once to confirm him in the article 
 of his resurrection, and to let him see that he was 
 restored to the place which before he had in his 
 grace and favour. St. Paul mentioning his several 
 appearances after his resurrection, seems to make 
 this the first of them, that ^ he was seen of Cephas.’ 
 Not that it was simply the first, for he first ap¬ 
 peared to the women. But, as Chrysostom ob¬ 
 serves,® it was the first that was made to men. He 
 was first seen by him who most desired to see him. / 
 He also adds several probable conjectures, why 
 our Lord first discovered himself to Peter : as, that 
 it required a more than ordinary firmness and re- ! 
 solution of mind to be able to bear such a sight; 
 for they who beheld him after others had seem him, 
 and had heard their frequent testimonies and 
 reports, had had their faith greatly prepared and 
 encouraged to entertain it; but he who was to 
 be honoured with the first appearance had need i 
 of a bigger and more undaunted faith, lest he 
 should be overborne, t-w Trapa^o^w tTjq with 
 
 such a strange and unwonted sight. That Peter 
 
 * Luke, xxiv. 34. 
 
 ® El/ avdpa(TL TOVT(p irpwr^, np jj.dXi'^a avrbv ttoOovvtl 
 i^ai/.—Chrysost. in 1 ad Cor. c. 15, Horn. 38, p. 666. Ibid, 
 p. 667. 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 97 
 
 was the fiist that had made a signal confession of 
 his master, and therefore it was fit and reasonable 
 that he should first see him alive after his resur¬ 
 rection. That Peter had lately denied his Lord, 
 the giief whereof lay hard upon him; that there¬ 
 fore our Saviour was willing to administer some 
 consolation to him, and, as soon as might be, to let 
 him see that he had not cast him off, like the kind 
 Samaritan, he made haste to help him, and to 
 pour oil into his wounded conscience. 
 
 3. Some time after this, the apostles began to 
 resolve upon their journey into Galilee, as he 
 himself had commanded them. If it be inquired 
 why they went no sooner, seeing this was the first 
 message* and intimation they had received from 
 him, St. Ambrose s resolution' seems very rational, 
 that our Lord indeed had commanded them to go 
 thither, but that their fears for some time kept 
 ^ them at home; not being as yet fully satisfied in 
 vUhe truth of his resurrection, till our Lord, by often 
 appearing to them, had confirmed their minds, and 
 put the case beyond all dispute. They went, as 
 we may suppose, in several companies, lest going 
 all in one body they should awaken the power and 
 1 malice of their enemies, and alarm the care and 
 vigilancy of the state, which, by reason of the 
 noise that our Saviour s trial and execution had 
 made up and down the country, was yet full of 
 jealousies and fears. We find Peter, Thomas, 
 Nathanael, and the two sons of Zebedee, and two 
 more of the disciples, arrived at some town about 
 the sea of Tiberias ; where the providence of God 
 guiding the instance of their employment, Peter, 
 
 ' Comment, in Luc. xxiv. in fin. p. 17 O, tom. v. 
 
 VOL. I. TT 
 
98 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 4 
 
 accompanied with the rest, returns to his old trade 
 of fishing.' They laboured all night, but caught 
 nothing. Early in the morning, a grave person, 
 probably in the habit of a traveller, presents him¬ 
 self upon the shore, and calling to them, asked 
 them whether they had any meat. When they 
 told him no, he advised them to cast the net on 
 the right side of the ship, that so the miracle might 
 not seem to be the effect of chance, and they 
 should not fail to speed. They did so, and the net 
 presently inclosed so great a draught that they 
 were scarce able to drag it ashore. St. John, 
 amazed with the strangeness of the matter, told 
 Peter that surely this must be the Lord, whom the 
 winds, and the sea, and all the inhabitants of that 
 watery region were so ready to obey. Peters 
 zeal presently took fire, notwithstanding the cold¬ 
 ness of the season, and impatient of the least mo¬ 
 ment’s being kept from the company of his dear ^ 
 Lord and master, without any consideration of ^ 
 the danger to which he exposed himself, he girt 
 his fisher’s coat about him, and throwing himself 
 into the sea, swam to shore, not being able to stay 1 
 till the ship could arrive, which came presently 
 after.^ Landing, they found a fire ready made, 
 and fish laid upon it, either immediately created ' 
 by his divine power, or which came to the shore 
 of its own accord, and offered itself to his hand: 
 
 * John, xxi. 3. 
 
 2 -6 dk (7%£^6 v kyyvQ opovcrag, 
 
 H'lfiari daidaXscp Xayovag ixirpiocraro 
 
 Kat raxvQ poor aXro, ^ i^Qdda tcovtov djiutiDV, 
 
 Xeipag kpeT[i(i)(rag Ke<paX7jv tig VTpog dtipuit', 
 
 TIocraiv d/not^aiotmv om^epov ojOeev vdu)p, 
 
 ’AKTtig dt eyyvg 'iicavt Beovdoxov rjova ( 3 aiv(ov. 
 
 Nonn. Paraphr. in loc. 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 99 
 
 which notwithstanding, he commands them to 
 bring of the fish which they had lately caught, 
 and prepare it for their dinner, he himself dining 
 with them; both that he might give them an in¬ 
 stance of mutual love and fellowship, and also 
 assure them of the truth of his human nature, 
 since his return from the dead. 
 
 4. Dinner being ended, our Lord more particu¬ 
 larly addressed himself to Peter, urging him to 
 the utmost diligence in his care of souls: and 
 because he knew that nothing but a mighty love 
 to himself could carry him through the troubles 
 and hazards of so dangerous and difficult an em¬ 
 ployment; an employment attended with all the 
 impediments which either the perverseness of men, 
 or the malice and subtilty of the devil could cast in 
 the way to hinder it; therefore he first inc|uired of 
 him, whether he loved him more than the rest of 
 the apostles, herein mildly reproving his former 
 over-confident resolution, that " though all the rest 
 should deny him, yet w^ould not he deny him.' 
 Peter modestly replied, not censuring others, much 
 less preferring himself before them, that our Lord 
 knew the integrity of his affection towards him. 
 This question he puts three several times to Peter, 
 who as often returned the same answer: it being- 
 but just and reasonable, that he who by a three¬ 
 fold denial had given so much cause to question, 
 should now by a threefold confession give more 
 than ordinary assurance of his sincere affection 
 to his master.* Peter was a little troubled at this 
 
 * To rpnrXovv rrjg dpvi](Teo)g T(p rpnrXcp rrjg avyicaraOifre- 
 (jjg 6 dyaObg iarpog k^oj^paKicre. —Isid. Pelus. 1. i. Ep. 103, 
 p. 27 . “ Redditur negation! tringe trina confessio, ne minus 
 
 amori lingua serviat quam timori; et plus vocis elicuisse videa- 
 
 H 2 
 
100 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 1 
 
 frequent questioning of his love, and therefore 
 more expressly appeals to our Lord’s omniscieucy, 
 that he who knew all things must needs know that 
 he loved him. To each of these confessions our 
 Lord added this signal trial of his affection; then, 
 "Feed my-sheep;’ that is, faithfully instruct and 
 teach them, carefully rule and guide them; per¬ 
 suade, not compel them; feed, not fleece nor kill 
 them. And so it is plain St. Peter himself under¬ 
 stood it, by the charge which he gives to the guides 
 and rulers of the church, that ‘ they should feed 
 the flock of God, taking the oversight thereof, not 
 by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, 
 but of a ready mind; neither as being lords over ' 
 God’s heritage, hut as examples to the flock.’ ^ But 
 that by feeding Christ’s sheep and lambs, here com¬ 
 mended to St. Peter, should be meant a univei-sal 
 and uncontrollable monarchy and dominion over 
 the whole Christian church, and that over the apos- V 
 ties themselves and their successors in ordinary, 
 and this power and supremacy solely invested in 
 St. Peter, and those who were to succeed him in w 
 the see of Rome, is so wild an inference, and such ■ 
 a melting down words to run into any shape, as 1 
 could never with any face have been offered, or 
 been possible to have been imposed upon the belief ’ 
 of mankind, if men had not first subdued their rea¬ 
 son to their interest, and captivated both to an im¬ 
 plicit faith and a blind obedience. For granting 
 that our Lord here addressed his speech only unto 
 Peter, yet the very same power, in equivalent terms, 
 is elsewhere indifferently granted to all the apos- 
 
 tur mors imminens, quam vita praesens.”—Aug. in Joan, tract 
 123, col. 5G6. 
 
 1 1 Pet. V. 3. 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 101 
 
 I ties, and in some measure to the ordinary pastors 
 and governors of the church : as when our Lord 
 j told them, that * all power was given him ^ in 
 heaven and in earth,^ by virtue whereof they should 
 go teach and baptize all nations,’ and ‘ preach the 
 1 gospel to every creaturethat they should ^ feed 
 ^ Gods flock, rule well, inspect and watch over’ 
 those over whom they had the authority and rule.' 
 W^ords of as large and more express signification 
 I than those which were here spoken to St. Peter. 
 
 I 5. Our Lord having thus engaged Peter to a 
 cheerful compliance with the dangers that might 
 j attend the discharge and execution of his office, 
 now particularly intimates to him what that fate 
 was that should attend him j telling him, that though 
 j when he was young he girt himself, lived at his own 
 pleasure, and went whither he pleased j yet when 
 he was old he should stretch forth his hands, and 
 I another should gird and bind him, and lead him 
 whither he had no mind to go; intimating, as the 
 evangelist tells us, " by what death he should glorify 
 God ; that is, by crucifixion, the martyrdom which 
 he afterward underwent. And then, rising up, com¬ 
 manded him to follow him; by this bodily attend¬ 
 ance mystically implying his conformity to the 
 death of Christ, that he should follow him in dying 
 ! for the truth and testimony of the gospel. It was 
 ^ not long after that our Lord appeared to them, to 
 j take his last farewell of them ; when leading them 
 : out unto Bethany, a little village upon the mount 
 ‘ of Olives, he briefly told them, that they were the 
 ) persons whom he had chosen to be the witnesses 
 ^1 both of his death and resurrection; ^ a testimony 
 
 ' Acts, i. 8. 
 
 ^ Luke, xxiv. 50. 
 
102 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 which they should bear to him in all parts of the 
 world ; in order to which he would, after his ascen¬ 
 sion, pour out his Spirit upon them in larger mea¬ 
 sures than they had hitherto received, that they 
 might be the better fortified to grapple with that 
 violent rage and fury wherewith both men and 
 devils would endeavour to oppose them ; and that 
 in the mean time they should return to Jerusalem, 
 and stay till these miraculous powers were from on 
 high conferred upon them. His discourse being 
 ended, laying his hands upon them, he gave them m 
 his solemn blessing; which done, he was imme¬ 
 diately taken from them, and being attended with 
 a glorious guard and train of angels, was received 
 up into heaven. Antiquity’ tells us, that in the 
 place where he last trod upon the rock, the im¬ 
 pression of his feet did remain, which could never 
 afterwards be filled up or impaired; over which 
 Helena, mother of the great Constantine, after¬ 
 wards built a little chapel, called the Chapel of 
 the Ascension ; in the floor whereof, upon a whitish 
 kind of stone, modern travellers tell us, that the , 
 impression of his foot is showed at this day ; but it 
 is that of his right foot only, the other being taken 
 away by the Turks, and, as it is said, kept in the 
 temple at Jerusalem. ® Our Lord being thus taken 
 from them, the apostles were filled with a greater 
 sense of his glory and majesty than while he was 
 wont familiarly to converse with them ; and having 
 performed their solemn adorations to him, returned 
 
 * Paulin. Epist. 3, ad Sever, lib. ii. p. 130. Sulpitius Sever. 
 Hist. Sacr. lib. ii. p. 145. Hieron. de loc. Heb. in Act. App. 
 p. 297, tom. iii. 
 
 ^ J. Cotovic. Itin. lib. ii. c. 11, p 271. vid. Sand’s Relat. 
 lib. iii. p. 156. 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 103 
 
 back to Jerusalem, waiting for the promise of the 
 Holy Ghost, which was shortly after conferred upon 
 them. ‘They worshipped him, and returned to 
 Jerusalem with great joy.’' They who lately were 
 overwhelmed with sorrow at the very mention of 
 their Lord^s departure from them, entertained it 
 now with joy and triumph; being fully satisfied of 
 his glorious advancement at God’s right hand, and 
 of that particular care and providence which they 
 were sure he would exercise towards them, in pur¬ 
 suance of those great trusts he had committed to 
 them. 
 
 SECTION VII. 
 
 Of St. Peter s Acts, from our Lord's Ascension till 
 the Dispersion of the Church. 
 
 The holy Jesus being gone to heaven, the apos¬ 
 tles began to act according to the power and com¬ 
 mission he had left with them. In order where- 
 unto, the first thing they did after his ascension 
 was to fill up the vacancy in their college, lately 
 made by the unhappy fall and apostacy of Judas. 
 To which end, no sooner were they returned to 
 Jerusalem but they went elg virepwov, ‘into an up¬ 
 per room.’ Where this v-n-epwov was, whether in 
 the house of St. John, or of Mary, John-Mark’s 
 mother, or in some of the out-rooms belonging to 
 the temple, (for the temple had over the cloisters 
 several chambers for the service of the priests and 
 
 ’ Luke, xxiv. 52. 
 
■'I 
 
 1 ; 
 
 104 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. il 
 
 t 
 
 levites, and as repositories where the consecrated f 
 vessels and utensils of the temple were laid up j i 
 though it be not probable that the Jews, and espe¬ 
 cially the priests, would suffer the apostles and their ^ 
 company to be so near the temple,) I stand not to 51 
 inquire. It is certain that the Jews usually had [ 
 their vTrepioa, private oratories, in the upper parts 
 of their houses, called for the more pri¬ 
 
 vate exercises of their devotions. Thus Daniel had ^ i 
 his his upper chamber,^ (ra virepwa the ' 
 
 Seventy render it,) whither he was wont to retire to 
 pray to his God : and Benjamin the Jew tells us,' 
 that in his time (Ann. Christ. 1172) the Jews at - j 
 Babylon were wont to pray both in their syna¬ 
 gogues, and in that ancient up¬ 
 
 per chamber of Daniel, which the prophet himself 
 built.”^ Such an virepwov, or upper chamber, was 
 that wherein St. Paul preached atTroas;^ and such 
 , probably this where the apostles were now met i 
 
 together; and in all likelihood the same where our ! 
 
 Lord had lately kept the passover, where the apos¬ 
 tles and the church were assembled on the day of 1 
 Pentecost, and which was then the usual place of 
 their religious assemblies, as we have elsewhere 
 observed more at large.^ Here the church being j 
 
 met, to the number of about a hundred and ! 
 
 twenty, Peter, as president of the assembly, began ' 
 
 to speak; and, applying himself to the whole con¬ 
 gregation, proposed to them the choice of a new 
 apostle. And it is the remark which St. Chrysos¬ 
 tom makes upon this passage,^ that Peter herein 
 
 » Dan. vi 20. 2 Benj. Itin. p. 76. ^ Acts, xx. 8. 
 
 ^ Primitive Christianity, part. i. ch. 6, p. 126. 
 
 ^ Homil. iii. in Act. p. 28. 
 
ST. PETER. 105 
 
 would do nothing’ without the common consent and 
 approbation, ovdey avdevTLKujg, ov^e ap^iKtUg, assum¬ 
 ing- no peculiar supereminent power and authority 
 to himself. He put them in mind that Judas, one 
 of our Lord’s apostles, being- betrayed by his own 
 covetous and insatiable mind, had lately fallen from 
 the honour of his place and ministry d that this was 
 no more than what the prophet had long since 
 foretold should come to pass; and that the rule and 
 oversight in the church, which had been committed 
 to him, should be devolved upon another; that 
 therefore it was highly necessary that one should 
 be substituted in his room, and especially such 
 a one as had been familiarly conversant with our 
 Saviour, from first to last, that so he might be 
 a comjDetent witness both of his doctrine and 
 miracles, his life and death, but especially of his 
 resurrection from the dead. For seeing no evi- 
 ' deuce is so valid and satisfactory as the testimony 
 \ of an eye-witness, the apostles all along mainly in- 
 I sisted on this, that they delivered no other things 
 t concerning our Saviour to the world than what 
 they themselves had seen and heard. And seeing 
 this rising from the dead was a principle likely to 
 meet with a great deal of opposition, and which 
 would hardliest gain belief and entertainment with 
 I the minds of men, therefore they principally urged 
 I this at every turn, that ^they were eye-witnesses of 
 y his resurrection,’ that they had seen, felt, eaten, 
 and familiarly conversed with him after his return 
 from the grave. That therefore such an apostle 
 might be chosen, two candidates were proposed, 
 Joseph, called Barsabas, and Matthias. And having 
 
 
 ^ Acts, i. 15. 
 
106 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 prayed that the divine Providence would immedi¬ 
 ately ^uide and direct the choice, they cast lots, and 
 the lot fell upon Matthias, who was accordingly 
 admitted into the number of the twelve apostles. 
 
 2. Fifty days since the last passover being now 
 run out, made way for the feast of pentecost;' at 
 what time the great promise of the Holy Ghost was 
 fully made good unto them. The Christian assem¬ 
 bly being met together for the public services of 
 their worship, on a sudden a sound like that of a 
 mighty wind rushed in upon them; representing 
 the powerful efficacy of that divine Spirit that was 
 now to be communicated to them: after which 
 there appeared little flames of fire, which, in the 
 fashion of cloven tongues, not only descended, but 
 sat upon each of them; probably to note their per¬ 
 petual enjoyment of this gift upon all occasions, 
 that when necessary they should never be without 
 it: not like the prophetic gifts of old, which were 
 conferred but sparingly, and only at some particu¬ 
 lar times and seasons. As the ‘ seventy elders pro¬ 
 phesied and ceased not;’® but it was only at such 
 times ‘ as the Spirit came down and rested upon 
 them.’ Hereupon they were all immediately filled 
 with the Holy Ghost, which enabled them in an 
 instant to speak several languages which they had 
 never learned, and probably never heard of, toge¬ 
 ther with other miraculous gifts and powers. Thus 
 as the confounding of languages became a curse to 
 
 X 
 
 the old world, separating men from all mutual 
 offices of kindness and commerce, rendering one 
 part of mankind barbarians to another; so here, 
 the multiplying of languages became a blessing. 
 
 * Acts, ii. 1. 
 
 2 Numb. xi. 25. 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 107 
 
 being intended as the means to bring men of all 
 nations ^ into the unity of the faith, and of the 
 I knowledge of the Son of God into the fellowship 
 ' of that religion that would banish discords, cement 
 differences, and unite men’s hearts in the bond of 
 I peace. The report of so sudden and strange an 
 ! action presently spread itself into all corners of the 
 city, and there being at that time at Jerusalem mul¬ 
 titudes of Jewish proselytes, ^ devout men out of 
 every nation under heaven, Parthians, Medes, 
 Elamites, (or Persians,) the dwellers in Mesopota¬ 
 mia and Judaea, Cappadocia, Pontus, and Asia 
 I Minor, from Phrygia and Pamphylia, from Egypt 
 ! and the parts of Libya and Gyrene, from Rome, 
 from Crete, from Arabia, Jews and proselytes, 
 (probably drawn thither by the general report and 
 expectation which had spread itself over all the 
 I eastern parts,‘ and in a manner over all places of 
 the Roman empire, of the Jewish Messiah that 
 about this time should be born at Jerusalem,) they 
 no sooner heard of it, but universally flocked to 
 this Christian assembly; where they were amazed 
 to hear these Galileans speaking to them in their 
 own native languages, so various, so vastly different 
 from one another. And it could not but exceed- 
 i ingly increase the wonder, to reflect upon the 
 I meanness and inconsiderableness of the persons, 
 i neither assisted by natural parts, nor polished by 
 education, nor improved by use and custom ; which 
 i three things philosophers require to render a man 
 accurate and extraordinary in any art or disci- 
 
 ^ “ Percrebuerat Oriente toto vetus et constans opinio, esse in 
 fatis, ut eo tempore Jud«ea profecti rerum potirentur. Id de 
 imperatore,” &c.—Sueton. in Vit. Vespas. c. 4, p. 728, eadem 
 habet Tacitus Hist. lib. v. c. 13, p. 540. 
 
108 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 pline, (f)vaLQ yap ayev juaO^osiog fxddrjmg dtxa 
 
 <f)V(Teo)g iWtTrig’ daKrjaig cifxcpolv dreXeg, says 
 
 Plutarch:' “Natural disposition without institu¬ 
 tion is blind; instruction without a genius and 
 disposition is defective; and exercise without both 
 is lame and imperfect.” Whereas these disci¬ 
 ples had not one of these to set them off; their 
 parts were mean, below the rate of the common 
 people; the Galileans being generally accounted 
 the rudest and most stupid of the whole Jewish 
 nation: their education had been no higher than 
 to catch fish, and to mend nets; nor had they been 
 used to plead causes, or to deliver themselves be¬ 
 fore great assemblies; but spoke on a sudden, not 1 
 premeditated discourses, not idle stories, or wild 
 roving fancies, but the great and admirable works 
 of God, and the mysteries of the gospel, beyond 
 human apprehensions to find out; and this delivered 
 in almost all the languages of the then known | 
 world. Men were severally affected with it, accord¬ 
 ing to their different tempers and apprehensions. 
 Some admiring, and not knowing what to think of 
 it; others deriding it, said that it was nothing else 
 but the wild raving effect of drunkenness and in¬ 
 temperance. At so wild a rate are men of profane 
 minds wont to talk, when they take upon them to 
 pass their censure in the things of God. 
 
 3. Hereupon the apostles rose up, and Peter, in 
 the name of the rest, took this occasion of discours¬ 
 ing to them. He told them that this scandalous 
 slander proceeded from the spirit of malice and I 
 falsehood; that their censure was as uncharitable 
 as it was unreasonable; that ‘ they that are drunken 
 
 ' ITfpi TTaid. d\wy p. 2. 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 109 
 
 are drunk in the night;’ that it was against nature 
 and custom for men to be in drink so soon, too 
 eaily for such a suspicion to take place, it being 
 now but about nine of the clock, the hour for morn- 
 ing prayer, till when men even of ordinary sobriety 
 I and devotion, on festival days, were wont to fast.^ 
 
 I That these extraordinary and miraculous passages 
 I weie but the accomplishment of an ancient pro¬ 
 phecy, the fulfilling of what God had expressly 
 j foretold should come to pass in the times of the 
 Messiah; that Jesus of Nazareth had evidently 
 approved himself to be the Messiah sent from God 
 , by many unquestionable miracles, of which they 
 themselves had been eye-witnesses; and though, by 
 : God’s permission, who had determined by this 
 : means to bring about the salvation of mankind, 
 they had wickedly crucified and slain him, yet that 
 God had raised him from the dead ; that it was 
 I not possible he should be holden always under the 
 dominion of the grave; nor was it consistent with 
 the justice and goodness of God, and especially with 
 those divine predictions which had expressly fore¬ 
 told he should rise again from the dead ; David hav¬ 
 ing more particularly foretold that his ^ flesh should 
 rest in hope; that ^ God would not leave his soul 
 I in hell, neither suffer his Holy One to see corrup¬ 
 tion ; but would make known to him the ways of 
 lifethat this prophecy could not be meant con- 
 ; cerning David himself, by whom it was spoken, he 
 I having many ages since been turned to ashes, his 
 j body resolved into rottenness and putrefaction, his 
 i tomb yet visible among them, from whence he 
 
 * IlavTMg av eig ^atnv £%wpr;(raj/, el ixrj Ttjv avvodov die\v-‘ 
 nev kireXQovaa eKTj] lopa' Kaff roig (ra^iaaiv apiTOTroieia- 
 Qai v6p,i[x6v rjiuv, —Joseph, de Vit. sua. p. 1020, 
 
110 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 never did return; that therefore it must needs 
 have been prophetically spoken concerning Christ, 
 having never been truly fulfilled in any but him, 
 who both died, and was risen again, whereof they 
 were witnesses. Yea, that he was not only risen from 
 the dead, but had ascended into heaven, and, ac¬ 
 cording to David’s prediction, ‘ sat down on God’s 
 right hand, until he made his enemies his footstool:’ 
 which could not be primarily meant of David, he 
 never having yet bodily ascended into heaven ; that 
 therefore the whole house of Israel ought to believe, 
 and take notice, that this very Jesus, whom they had 
 crucified, was the person whom God had appointed 
 to be the Messiah and the Saviour of his church. 
 
 4. This discourse, in every part of it, like so many 
 daggers, pierced them to the heart; who thereupon 
 cried out to Peter and his brethren to know what 
 they should do. Peter told them, that there was 
 no other way, than by a hearty and sincere repent¬ 
 ance, and a being baptized into the religion of this 
 crucified Saviour, to expiate their guilt, to obtain 
 pardon of sin, and the gifts and benefits of the 
 Holy Ghost. That upon these terms the promises 
 of the new covenant, wdiich was ratified by the 
 death of Christ, did belong to them and their chil¬ 
 dren, and to all that should effectually believe and 
 embrace the gospel: farther pressing and per¬ 
 suading them, by doing thus, to save themselves 
 from that unavoidable ruin and destruction, which 
 this wicked and untoward generation of obstinate, 
 unbelieving Jews were shortly to be exposed to. 
 The effects of his preaching were strange and won¬ 
 derful : ^ as many as believed were baptized;’ there 
 being ‘ that day added to the church,’ no less than 
 ^ three thousand souls.’ A quick and plentiful 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 Ill 
 
 harvest: the late sufferings of our Saviour, as yet 
 fresh bleeding in their memories, the present mira¬ 
 culous powers of the Holy Ghost, that appeared 
 upon them, the zeal of his auditors, though hereto¬ 
 fore misplaced and misguided; and, above all, the 
 efficacy of divine grace, contributing to this nume¬ 
 rous conversion. 
 
 5. Though the converting so vast a multitude 
 might justly challenge a place amongst the greatest 
 miracles, yet the apostles began now more particu¬ 
 larly to exercise their miraculous power. Peter 
 and John,^ going up to the temple, about Three 
 o’clock in the afternoon, towards the conclusion of 
 one of the solemn hours of prayer, (for the Jews 
 divided their day into four greater hours, each 
 quarter containing three lesser under it, three of 
 which were public and stated times of prayer, in¬ 
 stituted (say they) by the three great patriarchs of 
 their nation; the first, from six o’clock in the morn¬ 
 ing till nine, called hence ^ the third hour of the 
 day,’^ instituted by Abraham; this was called m'psn 
 or morning prayer : the second from nine 
 till twelve, called ' the sixth hour,’ and this hour of 
 prayer ordained by Isaac; this was called 
 CD»")ny or ^ mid-day prayer ;’ the third, from 
 twelve to three in the afternoon, called the ninth 
 hour,’ appointed by Jacob, called 
 or ‘ evening prayer;’) and at this hour it was, that 
 these two apostles went up to the temple, where 
 they found a poor impotent cripple, who, though 
 above forty years old, had been lame from his birth, 
 lying ‘ at the beautiful gate of the temple,’ and 
 asking an alms of them. Peter, earnestly looking 
 
 ^ Acts, iii. 1. 
 
 2 Vid. Drus. in Act. iii. 
 
112 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 on him, told him he had no money to give him; 
 but that he would give him that which was a 
 a great deal better, restore him to his health; 
 and lifting him up by the hand, commanded him, 
 
 ^ in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, to rise up 
 and walk.’ The word was no sooner said, than the 
 thing was done: immediately the nerves and sinews 
 were enlarged, and the joints returned to their pro¬ 
 per use. The man, standing up, went into the 
 temple, walking, leaping, and praising God. The 
 beholding so sudden and extraordinary a cure, 
 begot great admiration in the minds of the people, 
 whose curiosity drew them to the apostles to see 
 those who had been the authors of it. Which 
 Peter taking notice of, began to discourse to them 
 to this effect: That there was no reason they should 
 wonder at them, as if by their own skill and art 
 they had wrought this cure, it being entirely done 
 in the name of their crucified master, by the power 
 of that very Christ, that holy and just person, whom 
 they themselves had denied, and delivered up to 
 Pilate, and preferred a rebel and a murderer before 
 him, when his judge was resolved to acquit him: I 
 and that though they had put him to death, * 
 yet that they were witnesses, that God had 
 raised him up again, and that he was gone to 
 heaven, where he must remain till the times of the 
 general restitution. That he presumed that this : 
 in them, as also in their rulers, was, in a great 
 measure, the effect of ignorance, and the not being 
 thoroughly convinced of the greatness and divinity 
 of his person; which yet God made use of for the 
 bringing about his wise and righteous designs, the 
 accomplishing of what he had foretold concern¬ 
 ing Christ’s person and sufferings, by Moses and 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 113 
 
 Samuel, and all ^ the holy prophets which had been 
 since the world began.’ That therefore it was now 
 high time for them to repent and turn to God, that 
 their great wickedness might be expiated, and that 
 when Christ should shortly come in judgment upon 
 the Jewish nation, that might be a time of comfort 
 and refreshing to them, which would be one of ven¬ 
 geance and destruction to other men: that they were 
 the peculiar persons to whom the blessings of the pro¬ 
 mises did primarily appertain, and unto whom God, 
 in the first place, sent his Son, that he might derive 
 his blessing upon them, by ^ turning them away 
 from their iniquities.’ While Peter was thus dis¬ 
 coursing to the people in one place, we may sup¬ 
 pose that John was preaching to them in another j 
 I and the success was answerable: the apostles cast 
 out the seed, and God immediately ‘ gave the in- 
 ( crease.’ There being, by this means, no fewer than 
 I five tiiousand brought over to the faith:' though it is 
 I possible the whole body of believers might be com- 
 I prehended in that number. 
 
 6 . While the apostles were thus preaching, the 
 I priests and Sadducees^ (who particularly appeared 
 1 in this business, as being enemies to all tumults, or 
 1 whatever might disturb their present ease and quiet, 
 
 1 the only portion of happiness they expected; be- 
 s sides that they hated Christianity, because so ex- 
 ! pressly asserting the resurrection,) being vexed to 
 ' hear this doctrine vented amongst the people, inti- 
 I mated to the magistrate, that this concourse might 
 |; probably tend to an uproar and insurrection; 
 whereupon they came with the captain of the tem- 
 1 pie, (commander of the tower of Antonia, which 
 
 ^ Acts, iv. 4. 
 
 VOL. 1. 
 
 ^ Verse 1. 
 
 I 
 
114 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 stood close by, on the north side of the temple; 
 wherein was a Roman garrison to prevent or sup¬ 
 press, especially at festival times, popular tumults 
 and uproars,) who seized on the apostles, and put 
 them into prison. The next day they were con- 
 vented before the Jewish Sanhedrim; and being 
 asked by what power and authority they had done 
 this, Peter resolutely answered, that as to the cure 
 done to this impotent person, it should be known to 
 them and all the Jews, that it was perfectly wrought 
 in the name of that Jesus of Nazareth whom they 
 themselves had crucified, and God had raised from 
 the dead; and whom, though they had thrown him 
 by as waste and rubbish, yet God had made ^ head 
 of the corner;’ and that there was no other way 
 wherein they, or others, could expect salvation, but 
 by this crucified Saviour. Great was the boldness 
 of the apostles, admired by the Sanhedrim itself, in 
 this matter ; especially if we consider that this pro¬ 
 bably was the very court that had so lately sen¬ 
 tenced and condemned their master; and being 
 fleshed in such sanguinary proceedings, had no 
 other way but to go on and justify one cruelty by | 
 another: that the apostles did not say these things 1 
 in corners and behind the curtain, but to their very 
 faces, and that in the open court of judicature, and 
 before all the people. That the apostles had not 
 been used to plead in such public places, nor had 
 been polished with the arts of education, but were 
 ignorant, unlearned men, known not to be versed 
 in the study of the Jewish law. 
 
 7 . The council (which all this while had beheld 
 them with a kind of wonder, and now remembered 
 that they had been the companions and attendants 
 of the late crucified Jesus) commanded them to 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 115 
 
 withdraw ; and debated amongst themselves what 
 they should do with them. The miracle they could 
 not deny, the fact being so plain and evident; and 
 therefore resolved strictly to charge them that they 
 should preach no more in the name of Jesus. 
 
 eing called in again, they acquainted them with 
 the resoluUon of the council; to which Peter and 
 o in replied, that they could by no means yield 
 obedience to it; appealing to themselves, whether 
 it was not more fit that they should ^ obey God 
 rather than’ them: and that they could not but 
 "testify what they had seen and heard.’ Nor did 
 they in this answer make any undue reflection 
 upon the power of the magistrates, and the obedi¬ 
 ence due to them; it being a ruled case, by the first 
 dictates of reason, and the common vote and suf- 
 rage of mankind, that parents and governors are 
 not to be obeyed when their commands interfere 
 with the obligations under which we stand to a 
 superior power.^ All authority is originally de¬ 
 rived from God, and our duty to him may not be 
 superseded by the laws of any authority deriving 
 lom him. And even Socrates himself, in a paral¬ 
 lel instance, when persuaded to leave off his ex¬ 
 cellent way of institution and instructing youth, 
 and to comply with the humour of his Athenian 
 judges to save his life, returned this answer: ""That 
 
 1 T6 iikv aTTeiGeiv, J, d ScTreiGi^s, Xoidopia ^ 6 vsiSoq‘ 
 0 oe an irparTeiv a an ■vnn ^ 
 
 TO 
 
 w'TC elre 
 
 I ^parrey li o{,k 6veidog, dXX’ ’^Tvaivoc. 
 
 ITS. iraTpOC. SITS aovonrnr. ciVc A-_ 
 
 A ft yf ' I ■V\ • f ^ -J 
 
 Trarpof, siTsapxovTOQy s’Lts rj) Afa dsaTroTH ttoo- 
 ^ayfiaTi ixij yTrapjei tiq KaKa TTpo^aTTovTOc, rj ddiKa 
 
 TavsL aXX SKSIVOQ aTTsiOsi fxovoQ, o T(ov sv lij KaXdjg avu~ 
 (pspovTOJQ TTpo^aTToysvojv, ^povTi^inv ^ Trapaicovojv 6 Jp 
 ToiovTog Tig Muson. apud Stob. Serm. 
 
 p, de honor, etobed parent, debit, p 458, ubi pluribus stre- 
 nue et eleganter hac de re disserit. 
 
 I 2 
 
116 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 indeed he loved and honoured the Athenians, but 
 yet resolved to obey God rather than them. * An 
 answer almost the same, both in substance and 
 words, with that which was here given by our apos¬ 
 tles. In all other cases, where the laws of the magis¬ 
 trate did not interfere with the commands of Christ, 
 none more loyal, none more compliant than they. 
 As, indeed, no religion in the world ever secured 
 the interests of civil authority like the religion of 
 the gospel. It positively charges ^ every soul,’ of 
 what rank or condition soever, " to be subject to the 
 higher powers,’ as a divine ordinance and institu¬ 
 tion ; and that ' not for wrath only, but for con¬ 
 science’ sake :’ it ' puts men in mind to be subject 
 to principalities and powers, and obey magistrates ; 
 to submit to every ordinance of man for the Lord s 
 sake, both to the king as supreme, and unto go¬ 
 vernors as unto them that are sent by him j for so 
 is the will of God.’ So far is it from allowing us 
 to violate their persons, that it suffers us not boldly 
 to censure their actions, ‘to revile the gods, de¬ 
 spise dominions, and speak evil of dignities ; or to 
 vilify and injure them so much as by a dishonour¬ 
 able thought; commanding us, when we cannot 
 obey, to suffer the most rigorous penalties imposed 
 upon us with calmness, and ‘ to possess our souls 
 with patience.’ Thus when these twn apostles were 
 shortly after again summoned before the council, 
 commanded no more to preach the Christian doc¬ 
 trine, and to be scourged for what they had done 
 already, though they could not obey the one, they 
 
 ^ El ovv jW£ (oTrep tiitov') stti tovtoiq afioLTS, eiTroifx ctv 
 viuv) oTi sy(b vjiag w avdpeg ’AOpvaXoi acjiva^ojiai [xtv iCf 
 TTEifTw/iai Se T(p 2re(p ixaWov p yj-uv- Socr. in Apol. 
 apud Plat. n. 11, •. 25. 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 117 
 
 cheerfully submitted to the other, without any 
 peevish oi tait reflections, but went away rejoicing". 
 But what the carriage of Christians was in this 
 matter, in the first and best ages of the gospel, we 
 have in another place ^ sufficiently discovered to the 
 world. We may not withhold our obedience, till 
 the magistrate invades Gods throne, and counter¬ 
 mands his authority; and may then appeal to the 
 sense of mankind, whether it be not most reason¬ 
 able that God’s authority should first take place, 
 as the apostles here appealed to their very judges 
 themselves. ?Sior do we find that the Sanhedrim 
 did except against the plea. At least, whatever 
 they thought, yet not daring to punish them for 
 fear of the people, they only threatened them, and 
 let them go: who thereupon presently returned 
 to the rest of the apostles and believers. 
 
 8 . The church exceedingly multiplied by these 
 means: and that so great a company, most whereof 
 were poor, might be maintained, they generally 
 sold their estates, and brought the money to the 
 apostles, to be by them deposited in one common 
 tieasury, and thence distributed according to the 
 several exigencies of the church; which gave occa¬ 
 sion to this dreadful instance : Ananias and his 
 wife Sapphira,® having taken upon them the pro¬ 
 fession of the gospel, according to the free and 
 generous spirit of those times, had consecrated and 
 devoted their estate to the honour of God; and the 
 necessities of the church; and accordingly sold 
 their possessions, and turned them into money. 
 But as they were willing to gain the reputation of 
 charitable persons, so were they loath wholly to cast 
 
 ^ Primitive Christianity, part iii. ch. 4. 
 
 ^ Acts, V. 1. 
 
118 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 themselves upon the Divine Providence, by letting 
 go all at once; and therefore privately withheld part 
 of what they had devoted, and bringing the rest, 
 laid it at the apostles feet; hoping herein they 
 might deceive the apostles, though immediately 
 guided by the Spirit of God. But Peter, at his 
 first coming in, treated Ananias with these sharp 
 inquiries: why he would suffer satan to fill his 
 heart with so big a wickedness, as by keeping back 
 of his estate, ^ to think to deceive the Holy Ghost 
 That before it was sold it was wholly at his own 
 disposure; and after, it was perfectly in his own 
 power fully to have performed his vow: so that it 
 was capable of no other interpretation, than that 
 herein he had not only abused and injured men, 
 but mocked God, and, what in him lay, lied to, 
 and cheated the Holy Ghost; who, he knew, was 
 privy to the most secret thoughts and purposes of 
 his heart. This was no sooner said, but suddenly, 
 to the great terror and amazement of all that were 
 present, Ananias was arrested with a stroke from 
 heaven, and fell down dead to the ground. Not 
 long after, his wife came in, whom Peter enter¬ 
 tained with the same severe reproofs wherewith he 
 had addressed her husband; adding, that the like sad 
 fate and doom should immediately seize upon her; 
 who thereupon dropped down dead: thus, as she had 
 been co-partner with him in the sin, becoming 
 sharer with him in the punishment. An instance of 
 great severity, filling all that heard of it with fear and 
 terror, and acting as a seasonable prevention of that 
 hypocrisy and dissimulation wherewith many might 
 possibly think to have imposed upon the church. 
 
 9. This severe case being extraordinary, the 
 apostles usually exerted their power in such mira- 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 119 
 
 cles as were more useful and beneficial to tlie 
 world; curing all manner of diseases, and dispos¬ 
 sessing devils; insomuch that they brought the 
 sick into the streets, and laid them upon beds and 
 couches, that at least Peter^s shadow, as he passed 
 by, might come upon them.' These astonishing 
 miracles could not but mightily contribute to the 
 propagation of the gospel, and convince the world 
 that the apostles were more considerable persons 
 than they took them for; poverty and meanness 
 being no bar to true worth and greatness. And, 
 methinks, Erasmus’s reflection^ is here not unsea¬ 
 sonable : that no honour or sovereignty, no power 
 or dignity was comparable to this glory of the 
 apostle; that the things of Christ, though in an¬ 
 other way, were more noble and excellent than any 
 thing that this world could afford. And therefore 
 he tells us, that when he beheld the state and mag:- 
 nificence wherewith pope Julius II. appeared, first 
 at Bononia and then at Rome, equalling the tri¬ 
 umphs of a Pompey or a Caesar, he could not but 
 think how much all this was below the greatness 
 and majesty of St. Peter; who converted the world, 
 not by power or armies, not by engines or artifices 
 of pomp and grandeur, but by faith in the power 
 of Christ, and drew it to the admiration of himself: 
 and the same state (says he) would no doubt at¬ 
 tend the apostles’ successors, were they men of the 
 same temper and holiness of life. The Jewish 
 rulers, alarmed with this news, and awakened with 
 the growing numbers of the church, send to appre¬ 
 hend the apostles, and cast them into prison. But God, 
 who is never wanting to his own cause, dispatched 
 
 ' Acts, V. 15. 
 
 Annot. inloc. 
 
120 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 that night an angel from heaven to open the prison 
 doors, commanding them to repair to the temple, 
 and to the exercise of their ministry; which they 
 did early in the morning, and there taught the peo¬ 
 ple. How unsuccessful are the projects of the 
 wisest statesmen, when God frowns upon them ! 
 how little do any counsels against heaven prosper ! 
 In vain is it to shut the doors where God is re¬ 
 solved to open them : the firmest bars, the strongest 
 chains cannot hold, when once God has designed 
 and decreed our liberty. The officers returning 
 the next morning, found the prison shut and 
 guarded, but the prisoners gone: wherewith they 
 acquainted the council, who much wondered at it; 
 but being told where the apostles were, they sent 
 to bring them, without any noise or violence, before 
 the Sanhedrim ; where the high-priest asked them 
 how they durst go on to propagate that doctrine, 
 which they had so strictly commanded them not to 
 preach ? Peter, in the name of the rest, told them 
 that they must in this case " obey God rather than 
 men that though they had so barbarously and 
 contumeliously treated the Lord Jesus, yet that 
 God had raised him up, and exalted him to be 
 ^ a Prince and a Saviour,’ to give both ^ repent¬ 
 ance and remission of sinsthat they were wit¬ 
 nesses of these things, and so were those mira¬ 
 culous powers which the Holy Ghost conferred 
 upon all true Christians. Vexed was the council 
 with this answer, and began to consider how to cut 
 them off. But Gamaliel, a grave and learned sena¬ 
 tor, having commanded the apostles to withdraw^ 
 bade the council take heed what they did to them ; 
 putting them in mind, that several persons had 
 heretofore raised parties and factions, and drawn 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 121 
 
 I 
 
 vast numbers after them, but that they had miscar¬ 
 ried, and they and their designs come to nought: 
 that therefore they should do well to let these men 
 alone ; that if their doctrines and designs were 
 merely human, they would, in time, of themselves 
 fall to the ground ; but if they were of God, it was 
 not all their power and policies would be able to 
 defeat and overturn them; and that they them¬ 
 selves would herein appear to oppose the councils 
 and designs of heaven: with this prudent and 
 rational advice they were satisfied; and having 
 commanded the apostles to be scourged, and 
 charged them no more to preach this doctrine, re¬ 
 
 stored them to their liberty: who, notwithstand¬ 
 ing this charge and threatening, returned home in 
 j a kind of triumph, that they were accounted wor¬ 
 thy to suffer in so good a cause, and to undergo 
 , shame and reproach for the sake of so good a 
 I master. Nor could all the hard usage they met 
 I with from men discourage them in their duty to 
 God, or make them less zealous and diligent both 
 publicly and privately to preach Christ in every 
 place. ^ 
 
 JJa/Q ovp dva^alvscc pvv ; cog/ndprvg vtto rov Oeov KeicXfj- 
 fiEVog- epxs crv, i^j ^apTvpriaov ptoc av yap a^iog d Trpo- 
 axOrjvai fidpTyg v tv’ hfxov' kv deivdlg elpi, Kvpie, dv^vx^, 
 ovdeig jxs £7ri'Tp£0erai, ovdetg fioi didtocriv ovdkv^ irdvreg 
 xf/SYSCTi, Trdvreg KaKoXoyovcri. ravra pikXeig fxapTvpelv, ^ 
 KaraiCTXweiv, rrjv kX^ctiv^ i)v icsKXrjKsv, otl (Ts er'ifj,r](Te roiav- 
 Trjv K) dKiov 'i]yr]aaTO wpocrayayelv eig jxapTVpiav 
 
 T7]XiKavrr]v. —Arrian. Dissert, lib. i. c. 29, p. 163. 
 
122 
 
 SECTION VIII. 
 
 Of St. Peter^s Acts, from the dispersion of the Church 
 at Jerusalem till his contest with St. Paul at 
 Antioch. 
 
 The cliiircb had been hitherto tossed with gen¬ 
 tle storms; but now a more violent tempest over¬ 
 took it, which began in the proto-martyr Stephen/ 
 and was more vigorously carried on afterwards; by 
 occasion whereof the disciples were dispersed. And 
 God, who always brings good out of evil, hereby 
 provided that the gospel should not be confined 
 only to Jerusalem. Hitherto the church had been 
 crowded up within the city walls, and the religion 
 had crept up and down in private corners; but the 
 professors of it, being now dispersed abroad by the 
 malice and cruelty of their enemies, carried Chris¬ 
 tianity along with them, and propagated it into the 
 neighbour countries; accomplishing hereby an an¬ 
 cient prophecy, that ‘out of Sion should go forth 
 the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.’ 
 Thus God overrules the malice of men, and makes 
 intended poison to become food or physic. That 
 Divine Providence that governs the world, more 
 particularly superintends the affairs and interests of 
 his church, so that no weapon formed against Israel 
 shall prosper; curses shall be turned into blessings, 
 and that become an eminent means to enlarge and 
 propagate the gospel, which they designed as the 
 
 ^ Acts, viii. 1. 
 
 ^ Isaiah, ii. 3. 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 123 
 
 only way to suppress and stifle it. Amongst those 
 that were scattered, Philip the deacon was driven 
 down unto Samaria, where he preached the gospel, 
 and confirmed his preaching by many miraculous 
 cures, and dispossessing devils. In this city there 
 was one Simon, who by magic arts and diabolical 
 sorceries sought to advance himself into a great 
 fame and reputation with the people, insomuch that 
 they generally beheld him as the great power of 
 God;^ for so the ancients tell us he used to style 
 himself; giving out himself to be the first and chiefest 
 Deity, the Father who is God over all: that is, 
 that he w^as that which in every nation was ac¬ 
 counted the supreme Deity. This man, hearing the 
 I sermons, and beholding the miracles that were done 
 by Philip, presented himself amongst the numbers 
 of believers, and was baptized with them. The 
 apostles, who yet remained at Jerusalem, having 
 heard of the great success of Philip’s ministry at 
 Samaria, thought good to send some of their num¬ 
 ber to his assistance; and accordingly deputed 
 Peter and John, who came thither: where having 
 prayed for, and laid their hands upon these new 
 converts, they presently received the Holy Ghost. 
 Simon the magician observing, that by laying on of 
 the apostles’ hands, miraculous gifts were conferred 
 upon men, offered them a considerable sum of 
 money to invest him with this power, that on whom 
 he laid his hands they might receive the Holy 
 Ghost. Peter, perceiving his rotten and insincere 
 intentions, rejected his impious motion with scorn 
 and detestation: ‘^Thy money perish with thee.^ 
 
 ^ Just. Mart. Apol. ii. p. 69. Iren. lib. i. c. 20, p. 115. 
 Tertullj de Prescript. Heeret. c. 46, p. 219. 
 
124 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. ll 
 
 ■I 
 
 He told him that his heart was naught and hypo¬ 
 critical; that he could have no share nor portion in 
 so great a privilege; that it more concerned him to 
 repent of so great a wickedness, and sincerely seek 
 to God, that so the thought of his heart might be 
 forgiven him; for that he perceived that he had a i 
 very vicious and corrupt temper and constitution of I 
 mind, and was as yet bound up under a very 
 wretched and miserable state, displeasing to God, 
 and dangerous to himself. The conscience of the 
 man was a little startled with this, and he prayed the 
 apostles to intercede with heaven, that God would 
 pardon his sin, and that none of these things might 
 fall upon him. But how little cure this wrought 
 upon him we shall find elsewhere, when we shall 
 again meet with him afterwards. The apostles 
 having thus confirmed the church at Samaria, and 
 preached up and down in ^the villages thereabouts, 
 returned back to Jerusalem, to join their counsel 
 and assistance to the rest of the apostles. 
 
 2 . The storm, though violent, being at length 
 blown over, the church enjoyed a time of great 
 calmness and serenity; during which Peter went 
 out to visit the churches lately planted in those parts, ' 
 by those disciples who had been dispersed by the 
 persecution at Jerusalem. Coming down toLydda, 
 the first thing he did was to work a cure upon one 
 ^Eneas, who being crippled with the palsy, had 
 lain bedrid for eight years together. Peter coming 
 to him, bade him in the name of Christ to arise; 
 and the man was immediately restored to perfect 
 health.* A miracle that was not confined only to 
 his person, but being known abroad, generally 
 
 * Acts, ix. 32—34. 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 125 
 
 brought over the inhabitants of that place. The 
 fame of this miracle having flown to Joppa, a sea¬ 
 port town some six miles thence, the Christians 
 there presently sent for Peter on this occasion. 
 Tabitha, whose Greek name was Dorcas, a woman 
 venerable for her piety and diffusive charity, was 
 newly dead, to the great lamentation of all good 
 men, and much more to the loss of the poor that 
 had been relieved by her. Peter, coming to the 
 house, found her dressed up for her funeral so¬ 
 lemnity, and compassed about with the sorrowful 
 widows, who showed the coats and garments where¬ 
 with she had clothed them, the badges of her cha¬ 
 ritable liberality. Peter, shutting all out, kneeled 
 down and prayed ; and then turning him to the 
 body, commanded her to arise; and lifting her up 
 by the hand, presented her in perfect health to her 
 friends and those that were about her; by which 
 he confirmed many, and converted more to the 
 faith. After which he staid some considerable 
 time at Joppa, lodging in the house of Simon a 
 tanner. 
 
 3. While he abode in this city, retiring one 
 ‘ morning to the house-top to pray,^ (as the Jews 
 frequently did, having thence a free and open pro¬ 
 spect towards Jerusalem and the temple,) it being 
 now near noon, which was the conclusion of one 
 of their stated times of prayer, he found himself 
 hungry, and called for meat; but while it was pre¬ 
 paring, he himself fell into a trance, wherein was 
 represented to him a large sheet let down from 
 heaven, containing all sorts of creatures, clean and 
 unclean; a voice at the same time calling to him. 
 
 ' Acts, X. 9. 
 
126 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 that he should rise, kill freely, and indifferently f 
 feed upon them. Peter, tenacious as yet of the 
 rites and institutions of the Mosaic law, rejoined, 
 that he could not do it, having never eaten any¬ 
 thing that was common or unclean. To which the 
 voice replied, that what God had cleansed he 
 should not account or call common. Which being 
 done thrice, the vessel was again taken up into ^ 
 heaven, and the vision presently disappeared. By 
 this symbolic representment, though Peter at pre¬ 
 sent knew not what to make of it, God was teach¬ 
 ing him a new lesson, and preparing him to go 
 upon an errand and embassy, which the Spirit at 
 the same time expressly commanded him to under¬ 
 take. While he was in this doubtful posture of 
 mind, three messengers knocked at the door, in¬ 
 quiring for him; from whom he received this ac¬ 
 count : that Cornelius, a Roman, captain of a band 
 of Italian soldiers at Caesarea, a person of great piety 
 and religion, (being of the proselytes at the gate, who 
 though not observing an exact conformity to the 
 rites of the Mosaic law, did yet maintain some ge¬ 
 neral correspondence with it, and lived under the / 
 obligation of the seven precepts of the sons of ‘ 
 Noah,) had, by an immediate command from God, 
 sent for him. The next day Peter, accompanied 
 with some of the brethren, went along with them ; 
 and the day after they came to Caesarea : against 
 whose arrival, Cornelius had summoned his friends 
 and kindred to his house. Peter arriving, Corne¬ 
 lius (who was affected with a mighty reverence for 
 so great a person) fell at his feet and worshipped 
 him; a way of address frequent in those eastern 
 countries towards princes and great men, but by 
 the Greeks and Romans appropriated as a peculiar 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 127 
 
 honour to the gods. Peter, rejecting the honour, 
 as due only to God, entered into the house, where 
 he first made his apology to the company, that 
 though they could not but know, that it was not 
 lawful for a Jew to converse in the duties of religion 
 with those of another nation, yet that now God had 
 taught him another lesson. And then proceeded 
 particularly to inquire the reason of Cornelius’s 
 i ^ sending for him. Whereupon Cornelius told him, 
 that four days since, being conversant in the duties 
 of fasting and prayer, an angel had appeared to 
 him, and told him, that his prayers and alms were 
 come up for a memorial before God ; that he should 
 send to Joppa for one Simon Peter, who lodged in 
 a tanner’s house by the sea-side, who should fur¬ 
 ther make known his mind to him; that accord¬ 
 ingly he sent, and being now come, they were there 
 met to hear what he had to say to them. Where 
 we see, that though God sent an angel to Cornelius 
 to acquaint him with his will, yet the angel was 
 only to direct him to the apostle for instruction in 
 the faith; which no doubt was done, partly that 
 God might put the greater honour upon an insti- 
 ^ tution that was likely to meet with contempt and 
 *|f scorn enough from the world ; partly to let us see 
 I that we are not to expect extraordinary and mira¬ 
 culous ways of teaching and information, where 
 God affords ordinary means. 
 
 4. Hereupon Peter began this discourse; that 
 by comparing things it was now plain and evident, 
 i ^ that the partition wall was broken down ; that God 
 had no longer a particular kindness for nations and 
 persons; that it was not the nation, but the reli¬ 
 gion ; not the outward quality of the man, but the 
 inward temper of the mind, that recommends men 
 
128 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 to God ; that the devout and the pious^, the righte- Jij 
 ous and the good man, wherever he be, is equally " 
 dear to heaven ; that God has as much respect for 
 a just and virtuous person in the wilds of Scythia, , 
 as upon mount Sion d that the reconciling and mak¬ 
 ing peace between God and man by Jesus Christ, 
 was the doctrine published by the prophets of old ; j 
 and of late, since the times of John, preached j 
 through Galilee and Judea: viz., that God had J 
 anointed and consecrated Jesus of Nazareth with 1 
 divine powers and graces, in the exercise whereof 
 he constantly went about to do good to men : that 
 they had seen all he had done amongst the Jews; 
 whom though they had slain and crucified, yet 
 that God had raised him again the third day, and 
 had openly showed him to his apostles and follow¬ 
 ers, whom he had chosen to be his peculiar wit¬ 
 nesses, and whom to that end he had admitted to 
 eat and drink with him after his resurrection, com¬ 
 manding them to preach the gospel to mankind, 
 and to testify, that he was the person whom God 
 bad ordained to be the great judge of the world : , 
 
 that all the prophets with one consent bore witness 1 
 of him ; that this Jesus is he, in whose name who- J 
 soever lielieves, should certainly receive remission ■ 
 of sins. While Peter was thus preaching to them, j 
 the Holy Ghost fell upon a great part of his audi- | 
 tory, enabling them to speak several languages, 
 and therein to magnify the giver of them. Whereat 
 the Jews who came along with Peter did sufficiently 
 
 wonder, to see that the gifts of the Holy Ghost ^ 
 
 I 
 
 * “ Vos estis templum Domini, et Spiritus Sanctus habitat in 
 vobis. Et de Hierosolymis et de Britannia asqualiter patet aula 
 coelestis. Regnum enim Dei intra vos est.”—Hieronym. ad 
 Paulin, p. 102, tom. i. 
 
 I 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 123 
 
 should be poured upon the Gentiles. Peter seeing" 
 this, told the company, that he knew no reason 
 why these persons should not be baptized, having 
 received the Holy Ghost as well as theyj and ac¬ 
 cordingly commanded them to be baptized: for 
 whose further confirmation he staid some time 
 longer with them. This act of Peter’s made a great 
 noise amongst the apostles and brethren at Jerusa- 
 ^ lem,' who, being lately converted from their Judaism, 
 were as yet zealous for the religion of their coun¬ 
 try ; and therefore severely charged Peter at his re¬ 
 turn, for his too familiar conversing with the Gen¬ 
 tiles. See here the powerful prejudice of educa¬ 
 tion. The Jews had for several ages conceived a 
 radicated and inveterate prejudice against the Gen¬ 
 tiles. Indeed the law of Moses commanded them 
 to be peculiarly kind to their own nation; and the 
 rites and institutions of their religion, and the pe¬ 
 culiar form of their commonwealth, made them 
 different from the fashion of other countries; a se¬ 
 paration which, in after times, they drew into a 
 narrower compass. Besides, they were mightily 
 puffed up with their external privileges, that they 
 . were Hhe seed of Abraham," the people whom 
 1^ God had peculiarly chosen for himself, above all 
 f other nations in the world; and therefore, with a 
 lofty scorn, proudly rejected the Gentiles as dogs 
 and reprobates; utterly refusing to show them any 
 office of common kindness and converse. We find 
 the heathens frequently charging them with this 
 rudeness and inhumanity. Juvenal ^ accuses them, 
 that they would not show a traveller the right way, 
 nor give him a draught of water, if he were not of 
 
 ’ Acts, xi. 1. 2 Satyr, p. 439. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 K 
 
130 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 their religion. Tacitus ^ tells us, that they had 
 adversus omnes alios hostile odium, a bitter hatred 
 of all other people.” Haman^ represented them 
 to Ahasuerus, as eQvoq afiiKTov, ao-vp^vXov, &c. 
 
 A people that would never kindly mix and cor¬ 
 respond with any other; as different in their man¬ 
 ners as in their laws and religion from other na¬ 
 tions.” The friends of Antiochus (as the historian 
 reports^) charged them jjlovsq uTravrwv idviov clkoiv- 
 (ovriTHQ Eivai rijg Trpbg aXXo tdvoQ eTnjJLL^iag, iroXefling 
 VTToXafi^aveiv Travrag, firjbevl ctXXw edvEi rpaTzEi^rjg 
 Koivo)VE~tv TO TrapaTrav, jurjBe evvoeIv I That they 
 alone of all others were the most unsociable people 
 under heaven; that they held no converse or 
 correspondence with any other, but accounted 
 them as their mortal enemies: that they would not 
 eat nor drink with men of another nation, no nor 
 so much as wish well to them ; their ancestors hav¬ 
 ing leavened them with an hatred of all mankind. 
 This was their humour: and that the Gentiles 
 herein did not wrong them, is sufficiently evident 
 from their ordinary practice, and is openly avowed 
 by their own writings. ^ Nay, at their first coming 
 over to Christianity, though one great design of it 
 was to soften the manners of men, and to oblige 
 them to a more extensive and universal charity, 
 yet could they hardly quit this common prejudice; 
 quarrelling with Peter for no other reason, but that 
 he had eaten and drunken with the Gentiles ; inso¬ 
 much that he was forced to apologize for himself, 
 and to justify his actions as immediately done by 
 
 
 
 * Hist. lib. V. c. 4, 5, p. 535. 
 
 • ^ Ap. Joseph. Antiq. Jud. lib. xi. c. 6. 
 
 3 Diodor. Sicul. lib. xxxiv. apud Phot. Cod. 244, Col. 1149. 
 
 4 Vid. Maimon. in nvn cap. 12, et in Gezelah, c. 11. 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 131 
 
 divine warrant and authority. And then, no sooner 
 had he given them a naked and impartial account 
 of the whole transaction, from first to last, but they 
 presently turned their displeasure against him into 
 thanks to God, that had granted to the Gentiles also 
 repentance unto life. 
 
 5. It was now about the end of Caligula’s reign, 
 
 , when Peter, having finished his visitation of the new 
 ^ planted churches, was returned to Jerusalem. Not 
 long after, Herod Agrippa,’ grandchild to Herod 
 the Great, having attained the kingdom, the better 
 to ingratiate himself with the people, had lately 
 put St. James to death. And finding that this gra¬ 
 tified the vulgar, resolved to send Peter the same 
 way after him. In order whereunto he appre¬ 
 hended him, cast him into prison, and set strong 
 guards to watch him : the church in the mean time 
 being very instant and importunate with heaven for 
 his life and safety. The night before his intended 
 execution, God purposely sent an angel from hea¬ 
 ven, who coming to the prison, found him fast 
 asleep between two of his keepers. So soft and 
 secure a pillow is a good conscience, even in the 
 I confines of death, and the greatest danger. The 
 I angel raised him up, knocked off his chains, bade 
 him gird on his garments and follow him. He did 
 so; and having passed the first and second watch, 
 and entered through the iron gate into the city, 
 (which opened to them of its own accord,) after 
 having passed through one street more, the angel 
 departed from him. By this time Peter came to 
 himself, and perceived that it was no vision, but a 
 reality that had happened to him. Whereupon he 
 
 k2 
 
 ^ Acts, xii. 1. 
 
132 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 came to Mary’s house, where the church were met J 
 together at prayer for him. Knocking at the door, | 
 the mjiid who came to let him in, perceiving it was | 
 his voice, ran back to tell them that Peter was at i 
 the door; which they at first looked upon as no¬ 
 thing but the effect of a fright or fancy; but she 
 still affirming it, they concluded that it was his J 
 angel, or some peculiar messenger sent from him. 1 
 The door being opened, they were strangely amazed ^ 
 at the sight of him; but he briefly told them the ^ 
 manner of his deliverance, and charging them to 
 acquaint the brethren with it, presently withdrew 
 into another place. It is easy to imagine what a 
 bustle and stir there was the next morning among 
 the keepers of the prison, with whom Herod was so 
 much displeased, that he commanded them to be 
 put to death. 
 
 6. Some time after this it happened, that a con¬ 
 troversy arising between the Jewish and the Grentile 
 converts about the observation of the Mosaic law,^ 
 the minds of men were exceedingly disquieted and 
 disturbed with it; the Jews zealously contending ; 
 for circumcision and the observance of the cere- | 
 monial law, to be joined with the belief and pro- J 
 fession of the gospel, as equally necessary to salva- 1 
 tion. To compose this difference, the best expe- j 
 dient that could be thought on, was to call a general \ 
 council of the apostles and brethren, to meet toge¬ 
 ther at Jerusalem; which was done accordingly, 
 and the case thoroughly scanned and canvassed. 
 
 At last Peter stood up, and acquainted the synod, 
 that God having made choice of him among all the 
 apostles, to be the first that preached the gospel to 
 
 * Acts, XV. 1. 
 
 i 
 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 133 
 
 I 
 
 the Gentiles, God, who was best able to judge of 
 he hearts of men, had borne witness to them, that 
 they were accepted of him, by giving them his 
 Woly Spirit, as well as he had done to the Jews* 
 ^'fference between the one and the 
 ^ therefore it was a tempting and pro-y 
 
 vokmg God, to put a yoke upon the necks of t\^ 
 isciples, which neither they themselves nor-dieir 
 a eis weie able to bear; there b«^hg g’round 
 enough to believe, ^tj^^ tiiei^enj^s as well as the 
 Jews be saved by the grace of the gospel. 
 
 After some other of the apostles had declared their 
 ju gments in the case, it was unanimously de- 
 cieed, that except the temporary observance of some 
 few particular things, equally convenient both for 
 Jew and Gentile, no other burden should be im- 
 posed upon them: and so the decrees of the coun¬ 
 cil being drawn up into a synodical epistle, were 
 sent abroad to the several churches, for allaying the 
 
 heats and controversies that had been raised about 
 this matter. 
 
 Pfiter, awhile after the celebration of the coun¬ 
 cil, left Jerusalem, and came down to Antioch,' 
 where using the liberty which the gospel had given 
 him, he familiarly eat and conversed with the Gen¬ 
 tile converts; accounting them, now that Hhe par¬ 
 tition wall was bioken down, no longer ^ strangers' 
 and ^ foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, 
 and of the household of Godthis he had been 
 taught by the vision of the sheet let down from hea¬ 
 ven; this had been lately decreed, and he himself had 
 piomoted andsubscribed itin the synod at Jerusalem; 
 this he had before practised towards Cornelius and 
 
 ' Gal. ii. 11. 
 
134 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 his family, and justified the action to the satisfac¬ 
 tion of his accusers; and this he had here freely 
 and innocently done at Antioch, till some of the 
 Jewish brethren coming thither, for fear of offend¬ 
 ing and displeasing them, he withdrew his converse 
 V with the Gentiles, as if it had been unlawful for 
 to hold communion with uncircumcised per¬ 
 sons^- when yet he knew, and was fully satisfied, 
 that ourSjbi;^ had wholly removed all difference, 
 and broken dow'T^4fc£' w^ll of^e^aration between Jew 
 and Gentile. In which affair, as he himself acted 
 against the light of his own mind and judgment, 
 condemning what he had approved, and destroy¬ 
 ing what he had before built up; so hereby he con¬ 
 firmed the Jewish zealots in their inveterate error, 
 cast infinite scruples into the minds of the Gentiles, 
 filling their consciences with fears and dissatisfac- 
 tions^revivihg the old feuds and prejudices between 
 Jew and Gentile ^ by which means many otheis 
 were ensnared; yea, the whole number of Jewish 
 converts followed his example, separating them¬ 
 selves from the company of the Gentile Christians. 
 Yea, so far did it spread, that Barnabas himselt 
 was carried away with the stream and torrent of 
 this unwarrantable practice. St. Paul, who was at 
 this time come to Antioch, unto whom Peter gave 
 ".the right hand of fellowship,’ acknowledging his 
 apostleship of the circumcision, observing these 
 evil and unevangelical actings, resolutely with¬ 
 stood Peter to the face, and publicly reproved him, 
 as a person worthy to be blamed for his gross pre¬ 
 varication in this*^ matter; severely expostulating 
 and reasoning with him, that he who was himself a 
 Jew, and thereby under a more immediate obliga¬ 
 tion to the Mosaic law, should cast off that yoke 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 135 
 
 himself, and yet endeavour to impose it upon the 
 Gentiles, who were not in the least under any ob¬ 
 ligation to it. A smart, but an impartial charge: 
 and indeed so remarkable was this carriage of St, 
 Paul towards our apostle, that though it set things 
 right for the present, yet it made some noise abroad 
 in the word. Yes, Porphyry himself,^ that acute 
 i and subtile enemy of Christianity, makes use of it 
 as an argument against them both; charging the 
 one with error and falsehood, and the other with 
 rudeness and incivility; and that the whole was 
 but a compact of forgery and deceit, while the 
 princes of the church did thus fall out among them¬ 
 selves. And so sensible were some of this, in the 
 first ages of Christianity, that rather than such a 
 dishonour and disgrace, as they accounted it, should 
 be reflected upon Peter, they tell us of two se¬ 
 veral Cephas’s, one the apostle, the other one of the 
 seventy disciples; and that it was the last of these 
 that was guilty of this prevarication, and whom 
 St. Paul so vigorously resisted and reproved at An- 
 . tioch. But for this plausible and well-meant eva¬ 
 sion the champions of the Romish church con 
 [ them no great thanks at this day. Nay, St. Jerome 
 , long since fully confuted it in his notes upon this 
 place.® 
 
 * Apud Hieron. Prcem. in Ep. ad Gal. p. 159. 
 
 2 Hieron. Com. in Gal. ii. p. 168. 
 
136 
 
 SECTION IX. 
 
 Of St. Peters Acts, from the end of the Sacred Story 
 till his Martyrdom. 
 
 Hitherto, in drawing- up the life of this great apos¬ 
 tle, we have had an infallible guide to conduct and 
 lead us; but the sacred story breaking off here, 
 forces us to look abroad, and to pick up what me¬ 
 moirs the ancients have left us in this matter; 
 which we shall for the main digest according to the 
 order wherein Baronins, and other ecclesiastic 
 writers have disposed the series of St. Peter’s life; 
 reserving what is justly questionable, to a more 
 particular examination afterward. And that we 
 may present the account more entire and perfect, 
 we must step back a little in point of time, that so 
 we may go forward with greater advantage. We 
 are to know, therefore, that during the time of 
 peace and calmness which the church enjoyed after 
 Saul’s persecution, when St. Peter went down to 
 visit the churches, he is said to have gone to An¬ 
 tioch, where great numbers of Jews inhabited, and 
 there to have planted the Christian faith. That he 
 founded a church here Eusebius expressly tells us; ’ 
 and by others ^ it is said, that he himself was the 
 first bishop of this see. Sure I am that St. Chiy- 
 sostom ^ reckons it one of the greatest honours of 
 that city, that St. Peter staid so long there, and 
 
 ‘ Chron. ad An. Chr. 43. 
 
 2 Hieron. Comment, in 2 ad Galat. p. 1G8, tom. ix. 
 
 ^ Encom. S. Ignat. Mart. p. 503, tom. i. 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 137 
 
 ^at the bishops of it succeeded him in that see. 
 7 Ihe care and presidency of this church he had be- 
 tween six and seven years. Not that he staid there 
 a that tune, but that having ordered and disposed 
 things to the best advantage, he returned to other 
 affairs and exigencies of the church; confirming 
 the new plantation, bringing in Cornelius and his 
 family, and in him the first-fruits of the Gentiles’ 
 ; conversion to the faith of Christ. After which he 
 reti^ned unto Jerusalem, where he was imprisoned 
 
 y eiod, and miraculously delivered by an an o-el 
 
 sent from heaven. ‘ 
 
 2. What became of Peter after his deliverance 
 out of prison is not certainly known ; probably he 
 might preach in some parts a little further distant 
 Irom Jud^a, as we are told he [did at Byzantium,' 
 
 . and m the countries thereabout (though, I confess, 
 the evidence to me is not convincing.) After this 
 he resolved upon a journey to Rome ; where most 
 agree he arrived about the second year of the em- 
 peror Claudius. Orosius ^ tells us, that coming to 
 Rome, he brought prosperity along with him to 
 that city; for besides several other extraordinary 
 advantages which at that time happened to it, this 
 was not the least observable, that Camillus Scribo- 
 B nianus, governor of Dalmatia, soliciting the army 
 to rebel against the emperor, the eagles, their mi- 
 plitary standard, remained so fast in the ground 
 that no power nor strength was able to pluck them 
 up. With which unusual accident the minds of 
 the soldiers were surprised and startled ; and turn¬ 
 ing their swords against the author of the sedi- 
 
 ^ron. ad Ann. Chr. 44, numb. 12, vid. Epist. Agap. ad 
 Synod, sub Men. Cone. tom. iv. p. 24. 
 
 Hist. hb. VH. c. 6 , fol. 296, et seq. 
 
138 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 tion, continued firm and loyal in their obedience. 
 Whereby a dangerous rebellion was prevented, ' 
 likely enough otherwise to have broken out. This 
 he ascribes to St. Peter’s coming to Rome, and the 
 first plantation of the Christian faith in that city; 
 heaven beginning more particularly to smile upon 
 that place at his first coming thither. It is not to 
 be doubted, but that at his first arrival he disposed i 
 himself amongst the Jews his countrymen, who ; 
 ever since the time of Augustus had dwelt in the , 
 region beyond Tiber. But when afterwards he ' 
 began to preach to the Gentiles, he was forced to 
 change his lodging, and was taken in by one 
 Pudens, a senator, lately converted to the faith. 
 Here he closely plied his main office and employ- i 
 ment, to establish Christianity in that place. Here ' 
 we are told he met with Philo the Jew,^ lately i 
 come on his second embassy unto Rome, in the 
 behalf of his countrymen at Alexandria, and to I 
 have contracted an intimate friendship and ac¬ 
 quaintance with him. And now it was, says Baro¬ 
 nins, ® that Peter being mindful of the churches 
 which he had founded in Pontus, Galatia, Cappa- i 
 docia, Bithynia, and Asia the less, wrote his first y 
 epistle to them: which he probably infers hence, T 
 that St. Mark being yet with him at the time of the | 
 date of this epistle, it must be written at least some I 
 time this year; for that now it was that St. Mark | 
 was sent to preach and propagate the faith in 1 
 
 ^g’ypt- ^ext to the planting religion at Rome, he | 
 
 took care to propagate it in the western parts. And | 
 to that end, if we may believe one of those that 
 
 Euseb. Hist. Eccl. lib. ii. c. 17, p. 53. Hieron. de Script. 
 Eccl. in Phil. p. 270. * Ad Ann. 45, num. 16. 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 139 
 
 pretend to be his successors/) he sent abroad dis¬ 
 ciples into several provinces; that so ^ their sound 
 might go into all the earth, and their words unto 
 the ends of the world.’ 
 
 3. It happened that after St. Peter had been se¬ 
 veral years at Rome, Claudius the emperor, taking 
 the advantage of some seditions and tumults raised 
 by the Jews, by a public edict banished them out 
 ‘ of Rome; 2 in the number of whom, St. Peter (they 
 say) departed thence, and returned back to Jerusa¬ 
 lem, where he was present at that great apostoli¬ 
 cal synod, of which before. After this we are left un¬ 
 der great uncertainties how he disposed of himself 
 for many years. Confident we may be that he was 
 not idle, but spent his time sometimes in preaching 
 in the eastern parts, and sometimes in other parts 
 of the world; as in Africa, Sicily, Italy, and other 
 places. ^ And here it may not be amiss to insert 
 a claim in behalf of our own country; Eusebius 
 telling us (as Metaphrastes reports it^) that Peter 
 was not only in these western parts, but particu¬ 
 larly that he was a long time in Britain, where he 
 converted many nations to the faith. But we had 
 ^ better be without the honour of St. Peter’s com- 
 I pany, than build the story upon so sandy a founda¬ 
 tion; Metaphrastes’s authority being of so little 
 value in this case, that it is slighted by the more 
 learned and moderate writers of the church of Rome. 
 But wherever it was that St. Peter employed his 
 time, towards the latter part of Nero’s reign he re¬ 
 turned to Rome, where he found the minds of the 
 
 * Innoc. Ep. i. ad Dec. Eug. Concil. tom. i. p. 751. 
 
 2 Vid. Oros. lib. vii. c. 6, fol. 297- 
 
 3 Vid. Innoc. Epist. ubi supra. 
 
 ■* De Petr, et Paul, ad diem 29 Jun. nura. 23, Vid. etiara 
 num. 10, ibid. 
 
140 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 people strangely bewitched and hardened against 
 the embracing of the Christian religion, by the 
 subtilties and magic arts of Simon Magus, whom 
 (as we have before related) he had formerly baffled 
 at Samaria. This Simon was born at Gitton,' a 
 village of Samaria, bred up in the arts of sorcery 
 and divination; and, by the help of the diabolical 
 powers, performed many strange feats of wonder 
 and activity; insomuch that people generally looked 
 upon him as some great deity come down from hea¬ 
 ven. But being discovered and confounded by 
 Peter at Samaria, he left the East, and fled to 
 Rome; where, by witchcraft and sorceries, he in¬ 
 sinuated himself into the favour of the people; 
 and at last became very acceptable to the emperors 
 themselves, insomuch that no honour and venera¬ 
 tion was too great for him. Justin Martyr ^ assures 
 us, that he was honoured as a deity, that a statue 
 was erected to him in the Insula Tiberina, between 
 two bridges, with this inscription: simont deo 
 SANCTo;” “To Simon the holy god;” that the 
 Samaritans generally, and very many of other 
 nations, did own and worship him as the chief 
 principal deity. I know the credit of this inscrip- 
 . tion is shrewdly shaken by some later antiquaries, 
 who tell us, that the good father, being a Greek, 
 might easily mistake in a Latin inscription, or be 
 imposed upon by others; and the true inscription 
 was SEMONi SANGO DEO FiDio, &c., such an in¬ 
 scription being in the last age dug up in the Tibe- 
 rine island, and there preserved to this day. It is 
 not impossible but this might be the foundation of 
 
 ‘ Just. Mart. Apol. ii. p. 69—91. Vid. Dialog, cum Tryph. 
 p. 349. & ./r 
 
 ^ Ubi supra, Apol. ii. 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 141 
 
 the story. But sure I am, that it is not only re¬ 
 ported by the martyr, who was himself a Samaritan, 
 and lived but in the next ag-e, but by others almost 
 of the same time; Irenaeus,' Tertullian,^ and by 
 others ^ after them. It further deserves to be con¬ 
 sidered, that Justin Martyr was a person of great 
 learning and gravity, inquisitive about matters of 
 this nature, at this time at Rome, where he was ca¬ 
 pable fully to satisfy himself in the truth of things; 
 that he presented this apology to the emperor and 
 the senate of Rome, to whom he would be careful 
 what he said; and who, as they knew whether it 
 was true or no, so, if false, could not but ill resent 
 to be so boldly imposed upon by so notorious a 
 fable. But be it as it will, he was highly in favour 
 both with the people and their emperors; espe¬ 
 cially Nero, who was the great patron of magi¬ 
 cians, * and all who maintained secret ways of 
 commerce with the infernal powers. With him 
 St. Peter^ thought fit in the first place to encoun¬ 
 ter and to undeceive the people, by discovering the 
 impostures and delusions of that wretched man. 
 
 4. That he did so, is generally affirmed by the 
 ancient fathers; ® who tell us of some particular 
 instances wherein he baffled and confounded him. 
 But because the matter is more entirely drawn up 
 by Hegesippus’' the younger, an author contempo- 
 
 ^ Iren. Adv. Hseres. lib. i. c. 20, p. 115. 
 
 ^ Tertull. Apol. c. 13, p. 14. 
 
 ^ Euseb. lib. ii. c. 14, p. 51. Aug. de Hseres. in Simon, 
 tom. vi. col. 13. Niceph. Ub. ii. cap. 14, p. 154. 
 
 * Vid. Plin. Nat. Hist. lib. xxx. c. 2, p. 606. 
 
 ® Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. ii. c. 14, p. 51, 52. 
 
 ® Damasc. in Vit. Petr. Cone. tom. i. Const. App. lib. vi. 
 c. 8, 9, p. 944. Arnob. adv. Gent. lib. ii. p. 23. Epiph. Haeres. 
 xxi. p. 3. 1. Sulp. Sever, lib. ii. p. 137, et alii. 
 
 Heges. de Excid. Hieros. lib. iii. c. 2, 293. 
 
 i 
 
142 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 rary with St. Ambrose, if not (which is most p.ro- 
 bable) St. Ambrose himself, we shall from him re¬ 
 present the summary of the story. There was at 
 this time at Rome an eminent young gentleman, 
 and a kinsman of the emperor’s, lately dead. The 
 fame which Peter had for raising persons to life, 
 persuaded his friends that Jic might be called. 
 Others also prevailing that Simon the magician j 
 might be sent for. Simon glad of the occasion to 
 magnify himself before the people, propounded to 
 Peter, that if he raised the gentleman unto life, then 
 Peter, who had so injuriously provoked the great 
 power of God, (as he styled himself) should lose his 
 life: but if Peter prevailed, he himself would sub¬ 
 mit to the same fate and sentence. Peter accepted 
 the terms, and Simon began his charms and in- 
 chantments, whereat the dead gentleman seemed to 
 move his hand. The people that stood by pre¬ 
 sently cried out that he was alive, and that he talked 
 with Simon; and began to fall foul upon Peter, for 
 daring to oppose himself against so great a power. 
 The apostle entreated their patience, told them that 
 all this was but a phantasm and appearance; that j 
 if Simon was but taken from the bed-side, all this ^ 
 pageantry would quickly vanish. Who being ac¬ 
 cordingly removed, the body remained without the 
 least sign of motion. Peter, standing at a good dis¬ 
 tance from the bed, silently made his address to j 
 heaven, and then before them all commanded the 
 young gentleman in the name of the Lord Jesus to 
 arise; who immediately did so, spoke, walked, and , 
 eat, and was by Peter restored to his mother. The 
 people who saw this, suddenly changed their opi¬ 
 nions, and fell upon the magician with an intent to 
 stone him. But Peter begged his life, and told 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 143 
 
 him, that it would be a sufficient punishment to 
 him to live and see, that in despite of all his power 
 and malice, the kingdom of Christ should increase 
 and flourish. The magician was inwardly tormented 
 wdth this defeat, and vexed to see the triumph of 
 the apostles; and therefore mustering up all his 
 powers, summoned the people, told them he was 
 offended at the Galileans, whose protector and 
 guardian he had been; and therefore set them a 
 day, when he promised that they should see him 
 fly up into heaven.^ At the time appointed, he 
 went up into the mount of the capitol, and throw¬ 
 ing himself from the top of the rock, began his 
 flight. A sight which the people entertained with 
 great wonder and veneration, affirming that this 
 must be the power of God, and not of man. Peter 
 standing in the crowd, prayed to our Lord that the 
 people might be undeceived; and that the vanity 
 of the impostor might be discovered in such a way 
 that he himself might be sensible of it. Imme¬ 
 diately the wings which he had made himself began 
 to fail him, and he fell to the ground, miserably 
 bruised and wounded with the fall: whence being 
 ^ carried into a neighbouring village, he soon after 
 ^ died. This is the story; for the particular circum¬ 
 stances whereof the reader must rely upon the 
 credit of my author, the thing in general being suf¬ 
 ficiently acknowledged by most ancient writers. 
 This contest of Peter’s with Simon Magus is placed 
 
 * Sulpicius, an author who wrote at the beginning of the fifth 
 century, states the tradition at full, as a matter of history; and 
 ( says that Simon, in attempting to fly, supported by two demons, 
 was cast down by the united prayers of Peter and Paul. The 
 same tradition respecting his flying is also reported by other 
 ! authors, particularly by Isidore, bishop of Seville, in the sixth 
 century.—E d. 
 
144 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 by Eusebius under the reign of Claudius; but by 
 the generality both of ancient and later authors, it 
 
 is referred to the reign of Nero.^ 
 
 5. Such was the end of this miserable and un¬ 
 happy man j which no sooner came to the eais of 
 the emperor, to whom by wicked artifices he had i 
 endeared himself, but it became an occasion of I 
 hastening Peter’s ruin. The emperor probably I 
 had been before displeased with Peter, not only 
 upon the account of the general disagreement, and 
 inconformity of his religion, but because he had so 
 strictly pressed temperance and chastity, and re¬ 
 claimed so many women in Rome from a dissolute 
 and vicious life; thereby crossing that wanton and 
 lascivious temper to which that prince was so im¬ 
 moderate a slave and vassal.® And being now by 
 this means robbed of his dear favourite and com¬ 
 panion, he resolved upon revenge; and commanded 
 Peter (as also St. Paul, who was at this time at 
 Rome) to be apprehended and cast into the Ma- 
 mertine prison:^ where they spent their time in 
 the exercises of religion, and especially in preach¬ 
 ing to the prisoners, and those who resorted to ! 
 them. And here w^e may suppose it was (if not a ^ 
 little before) that Peter wrote his second epistle to ^ 
 the dispersed Jews, wherein he endeavours to con- 
 
 * The character of Simon, as recorded in the Acts, and the 
 known inclination of the people in this age for magical arts, 
 would be sufficient to give a high degree of probability to this 
 tradition. Many instances of daring confidence in occult science 
 are on record which admit of no doubt, and the apparent in¬ 
 fatuation, therefore, of Simon and his deluded admirers may be 
 matter of surprise rather than of incredulity. Satan, moreover, 
 no doubt employed him as one of his agents in the struggle in 
 which he was engaged.— Ed. 
 
 “ Vid. Ambr. Orat. in Auxent. Ep. lib. v. p. 125, tom. iii. 
 
 2 Vid. Martyr. Rom. ad diem 14 Mart. p. 165. 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 145 
 
 firm them in the belief and practice of Christianity, 
 and to fortify them against those poisonous and per¬ 
 nicious principles and practices, which even then 
 began to break in upon the Christian church. 
 
 6. Neio returning from Achaia, and entering 
 Rome with a great deal of pomp and triumph, re- 
 sol\ed now the apostle should fall as a victim and 
 ^ sacrifice to his cruelty and revenge. While the 
 fatal stroke was daily expected, the Christians in 
 Rome did, by daily prayers and importunities, 
 solicit St. Peter to make an escape, and to reserve 
 himself to the uses and services of the church.^ 
 This at first he rejected, as what would ill reflect 
 upon his courage and constancy, and argue him to 
 be afraid of those sufferings for Christ to which 
 he himself had so often persuaded others; but the 
 piayeis and tears of the people overcame him, and 
 made him yield. Accordingly tlie next night, 
 having prayed with, and taken his farewell of the 
 brethren, he got over the prison wallj and coming 
 to the city gate, he is there said to have met with 
 our Lord, who was just entering into the city. 
 Peter asked him, ^^Lord, whither art thou going ?” 
 ^ From whom he presently received this answer: 
 
 am come to Rome, to be crucified a second time.” 
 f By which answer Peter apprehended himself to be 
 I reproved, and that our Lord meant it of his death, 
 that he was to be crucified in his servant. Where¬ 
 upon he went back to the prison, and delivered 
 himself into the hands of his keepers, showing him¬ 
 self most ready and cheerful to acquiesce in the will 
 of God. And we are told, that in the stone whereon 
 our Lord stood while he talked with Peter, he left 
 
 ‘ Vid. Ambr. ut supra, et Heges. ib. 279. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 L 
 
146 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 the impression of his feet; which stone has been 
 ever since preserved as a very sacred relic, and 
 after several translations was at length fixed in the 
 church of St. Sebastian the martyr, where it is kept 
 and visited with great expressions of reverence and 
 devotion at this day.’ Before his suftering he was, 
 no question, scourged; according to the manner of 
 the Romans, who were wont first to whip those 
 malefactors who were adjudged to the most se¬ 
 vere and capital punishments. Having saluted his 
 brethren, and especially having taken his last 
 farewell of St. Paul, he was brought out of the 
 prison, and led to the top of the Vatican Mount, 
 near to Tiber, the place designed for his execution. 
 The death he was adjudged to was crucifixion; as 
 of all others accounted the most shameful, so the 
 most severe and terrible. But he entreated the 
 favour of the officers, that he might not be crucified 
 in the ordinary way,® but might suffer with his 
 head downwards, and his feet up to heaven; affirm¬ 
 ing that he was unworthy to suffer in the same 
 
 posture wherein his Lord had suffered before him. 
 
 \ 
 
 ^ Rom. Subterran. lib. iii. c. 21. n. 15. tom. i. p. 292. 
 
 ^ Orig. lib. iii. in Genes, apud Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. 
 c. 1. p. 71* Hieron. de Script. Eccl. in Petr. p. 262. Heges. 
 p. 279. 
 
 Prima Petrum rapuit sententia legibus Neronis, 
 
 Pendere jussum praeminente ligno. 
 
 Ille tamen veritus celsae decus aemulando mortis 
 Ambire tanti gloriam Magistri: 
 
 Exigit ut pedibus mersum caput imprimant supinis, 
 
 Quo spectet imum stipitem cerebro. 
 
 Figitur ergo manus subter, sola versus in cacumen 
 Hoc mente major, quo minor figura. 
 
 Noverat ex humili ccelum citius solere adiri, 
 
 Dejecit ora, spiritum daturus. 
 
 Prudent. Peristeph. Hymn. xi. in pass. Pet, et Paul. 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 147 
 
 Happy man (as Chrysostom glosses *) to be set in 
 the readiest posture of travelling from earth to 
 heaven. His body being taken from the cross, is 
 said to have been embalmed by Marcellinus the 
 presbyter, after the Jewish manner, and was then 
 buried in the Vatican, near the triumphal way. 
 Over his grave a small church® was soon after 
 * erected; which being destroyed by Heliogabalus, 
 his body was removed to the cemetery in the Ap- 
 pian-way, two miles from Rome j where it re¬ 
 mained till the time of pope Cornelius, who recon¬ 
 veyed it to the Vatican, where it rested somewhat 
 obscurely till the reign of Constantine; who, out of 
 the mighty reverence which he had for the Christian 
 religion, caused many churches to be built at Rome, 
 but especially rebuilt and enlarged the Vatican to 
 the honour of St. Peter. In the doing whereof 
 himself is said to have been the first that began to 
 dig the foundation, and to have carried thence 
 twelve baskets of rubbish with his own hands; in 
 honoui, as it should seem, of the twelve apostles. 
 He infinitely enriched the church with gifts and 
 ornaments, which in every age increased in splen¬ 
 dour and liches, till it is become one of the wonders 
 of the world at this day; of whose glories, stateli¬ 
 ness, and beauty, and those many venerable monu¬ 
 ments of antiquity that are in it, they who desire 
 to know more, may be plentifully satisfied by Onu- 
 phrius.^ Only one amongst the rest must not be 
 forgotten ; there being kept that very wooden chair 
 wherein St. Peter sat when he was at Rome, by the , 
 only touching whereof many miracles are said to 
 
 * Serm. in Petr, et Paul. p. 267, tom. vii. - 
 
 2 Vid. Onuphr. de VII. Urb. Basil.x. 4, p. 45, &c. 
 
 ^ Loc. supra laudat. j 
 
 L 2 
 
148 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 be performed. But surely Baronius’s wisdom and 
 gravity were from home, when speaking of this 
 chair; and fearing that heretics would imagine that 
 it might be rotten in so long a time, he tells us, 
 that it is no wonder that this chair should be pre¬ 
 served so long, when Eusebius affirms, that the 
 wooden chair of St. James, bishop of Jerusalem, 
 was extant in the time of Constantine.* But the 
 cardinal, it seems, forgot to consider, that there is 
 some difference between three and sixteen hundred 
 years. But of this enough. St. Peter was cruci¬ 
 fied, according to the common computation, in the 
 year of Christ 69,® and the thirteenth (or, as Euse¬ 
 bius, the fourteenth) of Nero; how truly may be 
 inquired afterwards. 
 
 SECTION X. 
 
 The character of his Person and Temper ; and an 
 account of his Writings. 
 
 Having run through the current history of St. 
 Peter’s life, it may not be amiss in the next place 
 to survey a little his person and temper. His body 
 (if we may believe the description given of him by 
 Nicephorus^) was somewhat slender, of a middle 
 size, but rather inclining to tallness; his com¬ 
 plexion very pale, and almost white; the hair of 
 
 ^ Ad. An. 45, n. 11. 
 
 Or the year 65, which is the date argued for by many eminent 
 scholars.—E d. 
 
 ® Hist. Eccles. lib. ii. c. 37. p. 195. 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 149 
 
 his head and beard curled and thick, but withal 
 short: though St. Jerome tells, out of Clemens’s 
 Periods,* that he was bald; which probably might 
 be in his declining age. His eyes black, but 
 ^ specked with red; which Baronins" will have to 
 pioceed from his frequent weeping: his eyebrows 
 i thin, or none at all; his nose long, but rather broad 
 and flat than sharp. Such was the case and out¬ 
 side. Let us next look inwards, and view the jewel 
 that was within. Take him as a man, and there 
 seems to have been a natural eagerness predomi¬ 
 nant in his temper, which as a whetstone sharpened 
 his soul for all bold and generous undertakings. 
 It was this, in a great measure, that made him so 
 j forward to speak, and to return answers, some- 
 1 times before he had well considered them. It was 
 this made him expose his person to the most im¬ 
 minent dangers,^ promise those great things in be¬ 
 half of his master, and resolutely draw his sword 
 |, in his quarrel against a whole band of soldiers, and 
 I ^ wound the high-priest’s servant: and possibly he 
 I had attempted greater matters, had not our Lord 
 restrained and taken him off by that seasonable 
 check that he gave him. 
 
 2. This temper he owed in a great measure to 
 the genius and nature of his country, of which 
 Josephus gives this true character: That it natu- 
 rally bred in men a certain fierceness and animo¬ 
 sity, whereby they were fearlessly carried out upon 
 any action, and in all thirags showed a great 
 
 * Com. in Gal. 2. p. 164. tom. ix. ex lib. dicto Ilpd^etc, 
 sen JJsTpH. 
 
 2 Ad An. 69. n. 31. 
 
 3 Kai Toiye 6 Uerpog ^eppoTspov Tcavraxs ^ Kivurai ^ 
 (pOsyyerai.—Chrysost. Horn. 32. in Joan. p. 170 . 
 
150 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 1 * 
 
 strength and courage both of mind and body. 
 The Galileans (says he) being fighters from their 
 childhood; the men being as seldom overtaken 
 with cowardice as their country with want of men.^ 
 And yet, notwithstanding this, his fervour and 
 fierceness had its intervals; there being some times 
 when the paroxysms of his heat and courage did 
 intermit, and the man was surprised and betrayed 
 by his own fears. Witness his passionate crying 
 out when he was upon the sea, in danger of his 
 life, and his fearful deserting his master in the gar¬ 
 den ; but especially his carriage in the high-priest’s 
 hall, when the confident charge of a sorry maid 
 made him sink so far beneath himself; and, not¬ 
 withstanding his great and resolute promises, so 
 shamefully deny his master, and that with curses 
 and imprecations. But he was in danger, and 
 passion prevailed over his understanding, and fear 
 betrayed the succours which reason offered; and 
 being intent upon nothing but the present safety 
 of his life, he heeded not what he did, when he 
 disowned his master to save himself. So danger¬ 
 ous is it to be left to ourselves, and to have our 
 natural passions let loose upon us. 
 
 .3. Consider him as a disciple and a Christian, 
 and we shall find him exemplary in the great in¬ 
 stances of religion, singular in his humility and 
 lowliness of mind. With what a passionate earn¬ 
 estness, upon the conviction of a miracle, did he 
 beg of our Saviour to depart from him; account- 
 
 ^ TrjXiKavrai de scat to ^ roasToig iOvtatv 
 
 aXKocpvXoig KSKVKXcjfihoi, irpog Traaav ad TroXkjxs Tcdpav 
 avTsaxov iid^ipoi re yap Ik vtjtt'kov^ ttoXXoI irdvrore FaXt- 
 XaTor «re dfiXia irore rsg dvdpag, «re XsnravSpeia T^v 
 X^jpav KUTsax^v ,—De Bello Jud. lib. iii. c. 4. p. 833. 
 
r , - : 
 
 ST. PETER. 151 
 
 ^ i 
 
 ing himself not worthy that the Son of God should 
 come near so vile a sinner? When our Lord, by 
 that wonderful condescension, stooped to wash his 
 I apostles’ feet, he could by no means be persuaded 
 to admit it; not thinking it fit that so great a per¬ 
 son should submit himself to so servile an office 
 : towards so mean a person as himself; nor could 
 
 ^ he be induced to accept it, till our Lord was in a 
 mannei foiced to threaten him into obedience. 
 When Cornelius, heightened in his apprehensions 
 of him by an immediate command from God con- 
 I coining him, would have ’entertained him with 
 expressions of more than ordinary honour and vene¬ 
 ration, so far was he from complying with it, tiiat 
 he plainly told him, he was no other than such a 
 man as himself. W^ith how much candour and 
 modesty does he treat the inferior rulers and minis¬ 
 ters of the church! He, upon wffiom antiquity 
 heaps so many honourable titles, stiling himself no 
 other than their fellow-presbyter. Admirable his 
 f love to, and zeal for his master, which he thought 
 he could never express at too high a rate: for his 
 sake venturing on the greatest dangers, and ex- 
 f posing himself to the most imminent hazards of 
 I life. It was in his quarrel that he drew his sword 
 against a band of soldiers, and an armed multitude; 
 
 ^ and it was love to his master that drew him into 
 that imprudent advice, that he should seek to save 
 himself, and avoid those sufferings that were com- 
 ing upon him; that naadeffiim promise and en¬ 
 gage so deep to suffer and die with him. Great 
 was his forwardness in owning Christ to be the 
 Messiah and Son of God; which drew from our 
 Lord that honourable encomium, ^Blessed art thou, 
 Simon Bar-Jonah/ But greater his courage and 
 
152 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 constancy in confessing Christ before his most in¬ 
 veterate enemies, especially after he had recovered 
 himself of his fall. With how much plainness did 
 he tell the Jews, at every turn, to their very faces, 
 that they were the murderers and crucifiers of the 
 Lord of glory ! Nay, with what an undaunted cou¬ 
 rage, with what an heroic greatness of mind did he 
 tell that very Sanhedrim that had sentenced and 
 condemned him, that they were guilty of his mur¬ 
 der ; and that they could never be saved any other 
 way than by this very Jesus whom they had cru¬ 
 cified and put to death. 
 
 4. Lastly, let us reflect upon him as an apos¬ 
 tle, as a pastor and guide of souls. And so we 
 find him faithful and diligent in his office; with 
 an infinite zeal endeavouring to instruct the igno¬ 
 rant, reduce the erroneous, to strengthen the 
 weak, and confirm the strong, to reclaim the 
 vicious, and ‘turn souls to righteousness.’ We 
 find him taking all opportunities of preaching to 
 the people, converting many thousands at once. 
 How many voyages and travels did he undergo ! 
 With how unconquerable a patience did he endure 
 all conflicts and trials, and surmount all difficul¬ 
 ties and oppositions, that he might plant and pro¬ 
 pagate the Christian faith; not thinking much 
 to lay down his own life to promote and further it! 
 Nor did he only do his duty himself, but as one of 
 the prime superintendents of the church, and as 
 one that was sensible of the value and worth of 
 souls, he was careful to put others in mind of theirs; 
 earnestly pressing and persuading the pastors and 
 governors of it, ‘ to feed the flock of God to take 
 
 ^ 1 Pet. V. 3, 4. 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 153 
 
 I upon them the rule and inspection of it/ ‘ freely 
 
 I and willingly;’ not out of a sinister end, merely, 
 
 of gaining advantages to themselves, but out of a 
 sincere design of doing good to souls; that they 
 ■ ^ would treat them mildly and gently, and be them¬ 
 selves examples of piety and religion to them, as 
 the best way to make their ministry successful and 
 effectual. And because he could not be always 
 present to teach and warn men, he ceased not by 
 letters ‘ to stir up their minds^ to the remembrance 
 and practice of what they had been taught. A 
 course, he tells them, which he was resolved to hold 
 as long as he lived; as ' thinking it meet while he 
 was in this tabernacle to stir them up, by putting 
 them in mind of these things;’^ that so they might 
 be able after his decease to have them alw^ays in 
 remembrance. And this may lead us to the con¬ 
 sideration of those writings which he left behind 
 him for the benefit of the church. 
 
 5. Now the writings that entitle themselves to 
 this apostle, were either genuine or supposititious, 
 j The genuine writings are his two epistles, which 
 ; make up part of the sacred canon. For the first of 
 I them, no certain account can be had when it was 
 written : though Baronius and most writers com¬ 
 monly assign it to the year of Christ 44.^ But 
 this cannot be, Peter not being at Rome (from 
 whence it is supposed to have been written) at that 
 time, as we shall see anon. He wrote it to the 
 Jewish converts dispersed through Pontus, Galatia, 
 
 1 2 Pet. i. 12, 13, 15. 
 
 2 Most later critics have assigned the year 64 as the more 
 probable date of this epistle. Baronius seems to have been led 
 into the error of giving it so early a date by his desire to 
 strengthen his general argument respectmg the apostle’s resi¬ 
 dence at Rome.—E d. 
 
154 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 and the countries thereabouts, chiefly upon the 
 occasion of that persecution which had been raised 
 at Jeiusalem. And, accordingly, the main design 
 of it is, to confirm and comfort them under their 
 present sufferings and persecutions, and to direct 
 and instruct them how to carry themselves in the 
 several states and relations, both of the civil and 
 the Christian life. For the place whence it was 
 written, it is expressly dated from Babylon : but 
 what or where this Babylon is, is not so easy to 
 deteimine. Some think it was Babylon in Egypt, 
 and probably Alexandria; and that there Peter 
 preached the gospel. Others will have it to have 
 been Babylon the ancient metropolis of Assyria, 
 and where great numbers of Jews dwelt ever since 
 the times of their captivities. But we need not 
 send Peter on so long an errand, if we embrace the 
 notion of a learned man,* who by Babylon will 
 figuiatively understand Jerusalem; no longer now 
 the holy city, but a kind of spiritual Babylon, in 
 which the church of God did at this time groan 
 under great servitude and captivity. And this 
 notion of the word he endeavours to make good, by 
 calling in to his assistance two of the ancient 
 fathers," who so understand that of the prophet. 
 We have healed Babylon, but she was not healed.’ 
 here the prophet, say they, by Babylon means' 
 Jerusalem, as differing nothing from the wicked-* 
 ness of the nations, nor conforming itself to the law 
 of God. But generally the writers of the Romish ' 
 church, and the more moderate of the reformed ’ 
 party, acquiescing herein in the judgment of anti- ' 
 quity, by Babylon understand Rome. And so it 
 
 
 I Append, ad Hist. App. p. 42. 
 
 " Cyril. Alex, et Procop. Gaz. in Esa. 53. 
 
 t 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 165 
 
 is plain St. John calls it in his ^ Revelation/ * either 
 from its conformity in power and greatness to that 
 ancient city, or from that great idolatry which at 
 this time reigned in Rome. And so we may sup- 
 i, pose St. Peter to have written it from Rome, not 
 long after his coming thither, though the precise 
 time be not exactly known. 
 
 6. As for the second epistle, it was not accounted 
 of old of equal value and authority with the first; 
 and, .therefore, for some ages, not taken into the 
 sacred canon, as is expressly affirmed by Eusebius,^ 
 and many of the ancients before him. The an¬ 
 cient Syriac church did not receive it; and accord¬ 
 ingly it is not to be found in their ancient copies 
 of the New Testament.^ Yea, those of that church 
 at this day do not own it as canonical, but only 
 read it privately, as we do the apocryphal books. 
 The greatest exception that I can find against it, 
 is the difference of its style from the other epis¬ 
 tle ; ^ whence it was presumed, that they were 
 ^ not both written by the same hand. But St. 
 Jerome, who tells us the objection, does elsewhere 
 himself return the answer, that the difference in the 
 i style and manner of writing might very well arise 
 from hence, that St. Peter, according to his dif¬ 
 ferent circumstances, and the necessity of affairs, 
 was forced to use several emanuenses and inter¬ 
 preters;^ sometimes St. Mark, and after his depar- 
 ure some other person, which might justly occa- 
 
 ^ Chap, xviii. 2, 10, 21. 
 
 ® Hist. Eccl. lib. iii. c. 3, p. 72. Orig. apud Niceph. lib. v. 
 c. 16, p. 365. 
 
 ^ Vid. Edv. Pocock. preefat. ad Epist. Syr. k se edit. 
 
 Hier. de script. Eccl. in Petr. 
 
 ^ Quaest. 11, ad Hedib. tom iii. p. 151, 
 
.^1 
 
 156 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 sion a difference in the style and character of these 
 epistles. Not to say, that the same person may 
 vastly alter and vary his style, according to the 
 times when, or the persons to whom, or the subjects 
 about which he writes, or the temper and disposi- 
 tion he is in at the time of writing, or the care that 
 is used in doing it. Who sees not the vast differ¬ 
 ence of Jeremiah’s writing in his Prophecy, and in ^ 
 his book of Lamentations? between St. Johns, in 
 his Gospel, his Epistles, and Apocalypse ? How oft 
 does St. Paul alter his style in several of his Epis- i 
 ties; in some more lofty and elegant; in others ^ 
 more rough and harsh? Besides hundreds of in¬ 
 stances that might be given, both in ecclesiastical 
 and foreign writers, too obvious to need insisting 
 on in this place. The learned Grotius"* will have 
 this epistle to have been written by Symeon, St. 
 James’s immediate successor in the bishopric of 
 Jerusalem, and that the word (Peter) was inserted 
 into the title by another hand. But, as a judicious ( 
 person of our own observes,® these were hut his ^ 
 posthume annotations, published by others, and no ^ 
 doubt never intended as the deliberate result of j 
 that great man’s judgment; especially since he | 
 himself tacitly acknowledges, that all copies extant 
 at this day read the title and inscription as it is in 
 our books. And, indeed, there is a concurrence of i 
 circumstances to prove St. Peter to be the author 
 of it. It bears his name in the front and title, yea, 
 somewhat more expressly than the former, which 
 has only one; this both his names. There is a 
 passage in it which cannot well relate to any but 
 
 ^ Annot. in 2 Pet. c. i. 
 
 2 Dr. Hammond in Argum. Epist. 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 157 
 
 him: when he tells us that he was present with 
 Christ in the holy mount; when he 'received from 
 God the Father honour and glorywhere he ' heard 
 the voice which came from heaven, from the excel- 
 lent glory. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am 
 well pleased.’‘ This evidently refers to Christ’s 
 transfiguration, where none were present but Peter 
 and the two sons of Zebedee, neither of which was 
 ever thought to be the author of this epistle. 
 Besides that there is an admirable consent and 
 agreement in many passages between these two 
 epistles, as it were easy to show in particular in¬ 
 stances. Add to this, that St. Jude, speaking of 
 the 'scoffers’ who should come 'in the last time, 
 walking after their own ungodly lusts,’^ cites this as 
 that which had been 'before spoken by the apostles 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ;’ wherein he plainly 
 quotes the w^ords of this second epistle of Peter, 
 affirming, that 'there should come in the last days 
 scoffers, walking after their own lusts.’^ And that 
 ithis does agree to Peter, will further appear by 
 r this, that he tells us of these scoffers that should 
 come in the last days; that is, before the destruc- 
 V tion of Jerusalem; (as that phrase is often used in 
 the New Testament;) that they should say, 'Where 
 is the promise of his coming ?’ Which clearly re- 
 I spects their making light of those threatenings of 
 our Lord, whereby he had foretold that he would 
 shortly come in judgment for the destruction of 
 Jerusalem and the Jewish nation. This he now 
 puts them in mind of, as what probably he had 
 before told them of viva voce, when he was amongst 
 
 1 2 Pet. i. 16, 17, 18. "" Jud. 17, 18. 
 
 3 2 Pet. iii. 2, 3. 
 
158 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 them: for so we find he did elsewhere. Lactan- 
 tins assuring us, ‘"That amongst many strange and 
 wonderful things which Peter and Paul preached 
 at Rome, and left upon record, this was one: that 
 within a short time God would send a prince who 
 should destroy the Jews, and lay their cities level 
 with the ground, straitly besiege them, destroy 
 them with famine, so that they should feed upon 
 one another : that their wives and daughters should 
 be ravished, and their children’s brains dashed out 
 before their faces: that all things should be laid 
 waste by fire and sword, and themselves per¬ 
 petually banished from their own country; and 
 this for their insolent and merciless usage of the 
 innocent and dear Son of God.’”* All which, as 
 he observes, came to pass soon after their death, 
 when Vespasian came upon the Jews, and extin¬ 
 guished both their name and nation. And what 
 Peter here foretold at Rome, we need not question 
 but he had done before to those Jews to whom he 
 wrote this epistle. Wherein he especially antidotes 
 them against those corrupt and poisonous prin¬ 
 ciples, wherewith many, and especially the followers 
 of Simon Magus, began to infSct the church of 
 Christ. And this but a little time before his death, 
 as appears from that passage in it, where he tells 
 them, ‘ That he knew he must shortly put off his 
 earthly tabernacle.’ * 
 
 A-- 
 
 
 i 
 
 1 Lib. iv. cap. 21, p. 422. 
 
 ^ Chap. i. 14. 
 
 3 The caution with which St. Peter’s Second Epistle was 
 received into the sacred canon, affords a most valuable proof of 
 the care employed by the church in the examination of writings 
 purporting to be inspired. It was not probable that the genuine¬ 
 ness and authenticity of the apostle’s epistles could be every 
 where known at the same period.— Ed. 
 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 159 
 
 7. Besides these divine epistles, there were other 
 supposititious writings which, in the first ages, were 
 fathered upon St. Peter. Such was the book called 
 his Acts, mentioned by Origen, ^ Eusebius, * and 
 others; but rejected by them. Such was his Gos¬ 
 pel, which probably at first was nothing else but 
 the gospel written by St. Mark, dictated to him (as 
 is generally thought) by St. Peter; and therefore, 
 a as St. Jerome tells us,^ said to be his. Though in 
 the next age there appeared a book under that title, 
 mentioned by Serapion, bishop of Antioch, and 
 I by him at first suffered to be read in the church; 
 
 1) but afterwards, upon a more careful perusal of it, 
 he rejected it as apocryphal, as it was by others 
 after him. Another was the book styled his Preach- 
 ! ing, mentioned and quoted by Clemens Alexan- 
 I drinus,and by Origen, ® but not acknowledged 
 by them to be genuine; nay, expressly said to have 
 been forged by heretics, by an ancient author con¬ 
 temporary with St. Cyprian.The next was his 
 jApocalypse, or Revelation; rejected, as Sozomen 
 tells us,® by the ancients as spurious, but yet read 
 iiin some churches in Palestine in his time. The 
 last was the book called his Judgment, which pro¬ 
 bably was the same with that called Hermes, or 
 Pastor, ® a book of good use and esteem in the first 
 
 1 Orig. tom. xx. in Joan. 
 
 2 Euseb. lib. iii. c. 3, p. 72 . 
 
 ^ In Petro, ut supra. 
 
 ^ Apud Euseb. lib. vi. c. 12, p. 213. 
 
 ® Strom, lib. vi. p. 635, et in Excerpt. Grsec. ex Hypotvp. 
 P..809. 
 
 ® Orig. tom. xiii. in Joan. 
 
 De Hceret. non Rebapt. apud Cypr. p. 142. 
 
 ® Hist. Eccl. lib. vii. c. 19, p. 735. 
 
 ^ Vid. Ruffin. Exposit. Symbol, inter Oper. Hier, tom. iv, v 
 p. 133. 
 
160 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 I. 
 
 times of Christianity, and which, as Eusebius tells 
 us,' was not only frequently cited by the ancients, 
 but also publicly read in churches. I 
 
 8. We shall conclude this section by considering | 
 Peter with respect to his several relations: that he 
 was married is unquestionable, the sacred history 
 mentioning his wife’s mother: his wife (might we 
 believe Metaphrastes being the daughter of Aris- 
 tobulus, brother to Barnabas the apostle. And 
 though St. Jerome^ would persuade us that he left 
 her behind him, together with his nets, when he 
 forsook all to follow Christ; yet we know that father , 
 too well to be over-confident upon his word in a 
 case of marriage or single life, wherein he is not 
 over-scrupulous sometimes to strain a point, to make { 
 his opinion more fair and plausible. The best is, 
 we have an infallible authority which plainly in¬ 
 timates the contrary, the testimony of St. Paul, 
 who tells us of Cephas, that ^ he led about a wife, 
 a sister,^ along with him; who for the most part 
 mutually cohabited and lived together, for aught ^ 
 that can be proved to the contrary. Clemens Alex- 
 andrinus ^ gives us this account, though he tells 
 us not the time or place; that Peter, seeing his wife , 
 going towards martyrdom, exceedingly rejoiced that 
 she was called to so great an honour, and that she 
 was now returning home; encouraging and earnestly 
 exhorting her, and calling her by her name, bade her i 
 be mindful of our Lord. Such, says he, was the ; 
 wedlock of that blessed couple, and the perfect 
 
 1 Hist. Eccl. lib. iii. c. 3, p. 72o 
 
 2 Comment, de S. Petr, apub Sur. ad diem 29 Jun. n. 2. 
 
 3 Ep. ad Julian, tom i. p. 207. 1* Cor. ix. 5. Vid. Clem. 
 
 Recognit. lib. vii. fol. 76, p. 2. 
 
 Strom, lib. vi. p. 736. 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 161 
 
 disposition and agreement in those things that were 
 dearest to them. By her he is said to have had a 
 daughter, ^ called Petronilla, (Metaphrastes^ adds 
 a son,) how truly I know not. This only is certain, 
 that Clemens ^ of Alexandria, reckons Peter for one 
 of the apostles that was married and had children. 
 And surely he who was so good a man, and so good 
 an apostle, was as good in the relation both of an 
 husband and a father. 
 
 SECTION XI. 
 
 An Inquiry into St. Peter s going to Pome. 
 
 It is not my purpose to swim against the stream 
 and current of antiquity, in denying St. Peter to 
 have been at Rome; an assertion easilier perplexed 
 and entangled than confuted and disproved : we 
 || may grant the main, without doing any great ser- 
 ' vice to that church ; there being evidence enough to 
 every impartial and considering man, to spoil that 
 smooth and plausible scheme of times, which Ba- 
 ronius and the writers of that church have drawn 
 with so much care and diligence. And in order to 
 I this we shall first inquire, whether that account 
 which Bellarmine and Baronius give us of Peter’s 
 being at Rome, be tolerably reconcileable with the 
 history of the apostles’ acts, recorded by St. Luke ; 
 
 ^ Baron, ad Ann. 60. n. 32. ^ Ubi supra. 
 
 IMetaphrastes was one of the principal Greek writers of the 
 age in which he lived, but his Lives of the Saints are too filled 
 with fable to possess any authority with ecclesiastical historians. 
 —Ed. ^ Strom, lib. iii. p. 448. 
 
 M 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
162 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 which will be best done by briefly presenting St. 
 Peters acts in their just series and order of time, 
 and then see what countenance and foundation their 
 account can receive from hence.^ 
 
 2. After our Lord’s ascension, we find Peter, for 
 the first year at least, staying with the rest of the 
 apostles at Jerusalem. In the next year he was | 
 sent, together with St. John, by the command of 
 the apostles, to Samaria, to preach the gospel to i 
 that city, and the parts about it. About three 
 years after, St. Paul meets him at Jerusalem, with 
 whom he staid some time. In the two following j 
 years he visited the late planted churches, preached 
 at Lydda and Joppa, where having ^ tarried many 
 days,’ he thence removed to Csesarea, where he 
 preached to, and baptized Cornelius and his family. 
 Whence, after some time, he returned to Jerusalem, 
 where he probably staid, till cast into prison by 
 Herod, and delivered by the angel. After which 
 we hear no more of him, till three or four years 
 after we find him in the council at Jerusalem. | 
 After which he had the contest with St. Paul at 
 Antioch. And thenceforward the sacred story is | 
 altogether silent in this matter. So that in all this 
 
 * The united learning, candour, and honesty of our author are 
 here conspicuously displayed : few passages in history are more 
 strongly confirmed than that which relates the apostle’s residence j 
 at Rome. In the summary of the opposite arguments, given by j 
 Basnage, Liv. vii. c. 3, (Histoire de I'Eglise,) this mustbeappa- i 
 rent to every candid inquirer; and in all subjects of this kind, it 
 should always be observed as a principle, that no circumstance 
 in history can by any possibility be rendered doubtful by the 
 disputed inferences drawn therefrom. However erroneous the 
 use made of facts, never let the facts on that account be dis- 
 alloM'^ed. The Roman Catholic writers, however, have endan¬ 
 gered the apparent truth of history, by forcing what is supported 
 on sufficient evidence into assertions to which the historical evi¬ 
 dence does not extend.— Ed. 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 163 
 
 t 
 
 h time we find not the least footstep of any intima¬ 
 tion that he went to Rome. This Baronins ^ well 
 foresaw j and therefore once and again inserts this 
 caution, that St. Luke did not design to record all 
 ; the apostle s acts, and that he has omitted many 
 things which were done by Peter: which surely 
 no man ever intended to deny. But then, that he 
 should omit a matter of such vast moment and im¬ 
 portance to the whole Christian world; that not 
 one syllable should be said of a church planted by 
 Peter at Rome; a church that was to be paramount, 
 the seat of all spiritual power and infallibility, and 
 to which all other churches were to veil and do 
 homage; nay, that he should not so much as men¬ 
 tion that ever he was there, and yet all this said to be 
 done within the time he designed to write of, is by 
 no means reasonable to suppose. Especially con¬ 
 sidering that St. Luke records many of his jour¬ 
 neys and travels, and his preaching at several 
 places, of far less consec^uence and concernment. 
 ^ Nor let this be thought the worse of, because a ne¬ 
 gative argument, since it carries so much rational 
 evidence along with it, that any man who is not 
 plainly biassed by interest will be satisfied with it. 
 
 ) 3. But let us proceed a little further to inquire, 
 
 whether we can meet any probable footsteps af¬ 
 terwards. About the year 53, towards the end 
 of Claudius's reign, St. Paul is thought to have 
 writ his epistle to the church of Rome, wherein he 
 spends the greatest part of one chapter in saluting 
 particular persons that were there; amongst whom 
 it might reasonably have been expected, that St, 
 Peter should have had the first place. And sup- 
 
 $ 
 
 I ' Ad. Ann. 39, num. 12, ad Ann. 34, num. 285. 
 
 ' M 2 
 
164 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 posing with Baronins, ^ that Peter at this time 
 might be absent from the city, preaching the gospel 
 in some parts of the west, yet we are not sure that 
 St. Paul knew of this; and if he did, it is strange 
 that in so large an epistle, wherein he had occasion 
 enough, there should be neither direct nor indirect 
 mention of him, or of any church there founded 
 by him. Nay, St. Paul himself intimates, what 
 an earnest desire he had to come thither, that he 
 might ' impart unto them some spiritual gifts, to 
 the end they might be established in the faith® 
 for which there could have been no such apparent 
 cause, had Peter been there so lately and so long 
 before him. Well, St. Paul himself, not many 
 years after, is sent to Rome, ann. Chr. 56, or as 
 Eusebius, 57; (though Baronius makes it two years 
 after;) about the second year of Nero: when he 
 comes thither, does he go to sojourn with Peter, as 
 it is likely he would, had he been there ? No, but 
 dwelt by himself in his own hired house. No 
 sooner was he come, but he called the chief of the 
 Jews together, acquainted them with the cause and 
 end of his coining, explains the doctrine of Chris¬ 
 tianity; which when they rejected, he tells them, 
 that ‘ henceforth the salvation of God was sent 
 unto the Gentiles,^ who would hear it, to whom he 
 wnuld now address himself. ^ Which seems to in¬ 
 timate, that however some few of the Gentiles 
 might have'been brought over, yet that no such 
 harvest had been made before his coming, as might 
 reasonably have been expected from St. Peter’s hav¬ 
 ing been so many years amongst them. Within 
 
 ^ Ad Ann. 68, n. 51. ^ Rom. i. 10, 11, 12. 
 
 ^ Acts, xxviii. 17* 
 
I 
 
 ST. PETER. 165 
 
 the two first years after St. Paul’s coming to Rome, 
 he wrote epistles to several churches, to the Colos- 
 sians, Ephesians, Philippians, and one to Philemon; 
 in none whereof is there the least mention of St. 
 ^ Peter, or from whence the least probability can be 
 I derived that he had been there. In that to the 
 Colossians, he tells them, that of the Jews at Rome 
 he had had ‘ no other fellow-workers unto the king¬ 
 dom of God, which had been a comfort unto him, 
 save only Aristarchus, Marcus, and Jesus, who was 
 called Justus^ which evidently excludes St. Peter. 
 And in that to Timothy, which Barcnius confesses 
 I to have been written a little before his martyrdom, 
 (though probably it was written at the same time 
 ' with the rest above mentioned,) he tells him, that 
 ^ at his first answer at Rome, no man stood with 
 ! him, but that all men forsook him j’® which we can 
 hardly believe St. Peter would have done, had he 
 : then been there. He further tells him, that ^ only 
 Luke was with himthat Crescens was gone to 
 this j3lace, Titus to that, and Tychicus left at ano- 
 I ther. Strange, that if Peter was at this time gone 
 from Rome, St. Paul should take no notice of it as 
 well as the rest! Was he so inconsiderable a per¬ 
 son as not to be worth the remembering ? or his 
 errand of so small importance as not to deserve a 
 1 place in St. Paul’s account, as well as that of Cres¬ 
 cens to Galatia, or of Titus to Dalmatia ? Surely 
 the true reason was, that St. Peter as yet had not 
 been at Rome, and so there could be no foundation 
 i for it. 
 
 4. It were no hard matter further to demonstrate 
 I the inconsistency of that account which Bellarmine 
 
 ' Acts, iv. 10 11. 
 
 2 1 Tim. iv. 16. 
 
166 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 r 
 
 and Baronins g'ive us, of Peter’s being at Rome 
 from the time of the apostolical synod at Jerusalem. 
 For if St. Paul went up to that council fourteen 
 years after his own conversion, as he plainly inti¬ 
 mates,' and that he himself was converted in the ^ 
 year 35, somewhat less than two years after the 
 death of Christ, then it plainly appears that this 
 council was holden in the year 48, in the sixth year 
 of Claudius, if not somewhat sooner; for St. Paul’s ' 
 3ta hfcareaadpwv irGiv does not necessarily imply that 
 fourteen years were completely past; ha signify¬ 
 ing circa, as well as fost; but that it was near 
 about that time. This being granted, (and if it be 
 not, it is easy to make it good) then three things 
 amongst others will follow from it. First, that 
 whereas, according to Bellarmine ^ and Baronius, ^ 
 
 St. Peter after his first coming to Rome, (which 
 they place in the year 44, and the second of Clau¬ 
 dius,) was seven years before he returned thence to 
 the council at Jerusalem; they are strangely out in 
 their story, there being but three, or at most four 
 years between his going thither and the celebra¬ 
 tion of that council. Secondly; that when they 
 tell us, that St. Peter’s leaving Rome to come to 
 the council, was upon the occasion of the decree of 
 Claudius, banishing all Jews out of the city,^ this 
 can no ways be; for Orosius does not only affirm ^ 
 but prove it from Josephus, that Claudius’s decree 
 was published in the ninth year of his reign, or 
 anno Chr. 51; three years at least after the cele- 
 
 ^ Gal. ii. 1. 
 
 ^ Bellarmin. de Rom. Pontif. lib. ii. c. 6, col. 615. 
 
 3 Baron ad Ann. 39. num. 15. 
 
 ‘‘ Ibid, et Baron, ad Ann. 51. num. 1. 3. 
 
 ® Lib. vii. c. 6, fol. 297? P» 2. 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 167 
 
 bration of the council. Thirdly ; that when Baro¬ 
 nins tells us,’ that the reason why Peter went to 
 Rome after the breaking up of the synod, was be¬ 
 cause Claudius was now dead, he not daring to go 
 before for fear of the decree; this can be no reason at 
 all, the council being ended at least three years be¬ 
 fore that decree took place; so that he might safely 
 have gone thither without the least danger from it. 
 It might further be showed (if it were necessary) 
 that the account which even they themselves give 
 us is not very consistent with itself. So fatally 
 does a bad cause draw men, whether they will or no, 
 into errors and mistakes. 
 
 5. The truth is, the learned men of that church 
 are not well agreed among themselves, to give in 
 their verdict in this case. And indeed how should 
 they, when the thing itself affords no solid founda¬ 
 tion for it ? Onuphrius, a man of great learning 
 and industry in all matters of antiquity, and who 
 (as the writer of Baronius’s life informs us de¬ 
 signed before Baronins to write the history of the 
 church, goes a way by himself, in assigning the 
 time of St. Peter’s founding his see both at Antioch 
 and Rome.® For finding, by the account of the 
 sacred story, that Peter did not leave Judaea for 
 the first ten years after our Lord’s ascension, and 
 consequently could not in that time erect his see at 
 Antioch, he affirms that he went first to Rome, 
 whence returning to the council at Jerusalem, he 
 thence went to Antioch, where he remained seven 
 years, till the death of Claudius; and having spent 
 almost the whole reign of Nero in several parts of 
 
 ^ Ad Ann. 58, n, 51. 
 
 2 Hier. Bamab. de Vit. Baron, lib. i. c. 18. 
 
 ® Onuphr. Annot. ad Plat, in Vit. Petr. p. 9, et in Fast. 
 
168 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 Europe, returned in the last of Nero’s reign to 
 Rome, and there died. An opinion for which he 
 is sufficiently chastised by Baronius ^ and others of 
 that party. And here I cannot but remark the in¬ 
 genuity (for the learning sufficiently commends 
 itself) of Monsieur Valois,^ who freely confesses the 
 mistake of Baronius, Petavius, &c., in making Peter 
 go to Rome in the year 44, the second year of Clau¬ 
 dius, whereas it is plain, says he, from the history 
 of the Acts, that Peter went not out of Judaea and 
 Syria, till the death of Herod, the fourth of Clau¬ 
 dius, two whole years after. Consonant to which, 
 as he observes, is what A pollonius, a writer of the 
 second century, reports from a tradition current in 
 his time, that the apostles did not depart asunder 
 till the twelfth year after Christ's ascension, our 
 Lord himself having so commanded them. In con¬ 
 firmation whereof, let me add a passage that I meet 
 with in Clemens of Alexandria,^ where from St. 
 Peter he records this speech of our Saviour to his 
 apostles, spoken, probably either a little before his 
 death or after his resurrection i ’Eav pev tic 
 S'eXr/o'jj t5 ^lapa-^X fieravorirxaL, Sia rS oyo/uarog pa 
 TTiTEVsiv ETTi TOP Qeop, a.(l)r]d£(rovTaL avTw at afxapTiai, 
 fXETO. ^whKa ETt]. 'E^eXOeTE eIq top KOfTpLOP, fJLT) TIQ 
 
 ftTT//, «/c i]KS(TaixEP. “ If any Israelite shall repent, 
 and believe in God through my name, his sins 
 shall be forgiven him after twelve years. Go ye 
 into the world, lest any should say. We have not 
 heard.” This passage, as ordinarily pointed in all 
 editions that I have seen, is scarce capable of any 
 tolerable sense; for what is the meaning of a peni¬ 
 tent Israelite’s being pardoned after twelve years ?” 
 
 * Ad Ann. 39, n. 12. ^ Annot. ad Euseb. lib. ii. c. 16, 
 
 ^ Stromat. lib. vi. p. 636. 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 169 
 
 i 
 
 It is therefore probable, yea, certain with me, that 
 the stop ought to be after a^iaprlai, and pera StoEeica 
 err} joined to the following clause, and then the 
 sense will run clear and smooth : ^^If any Jew shall 
 repent and believe the gospel, he shall be pardoned; 
 but after twelve years, go ye into all the world; 
 I that none may pretend that they have not heard 
 I the sound of the gospel.” The apostles were first 
 ; to preach the gospel to the Jews for some consi¬ 
 derable time, twelve years after Christ’s ascension, 
 in and about Judaea, and then to betake themselves to 
 I the provinces of the Gentile world, to make known 
 I to them the glad tidings of salvation; exactly ans- 
 ' werable to the tradition mentioned by Apollonius. 
 Besides, the Chronicon Alexandrinum tells us, that 
 Peter came not to Rome till the seventh year of 
 I Claudius, anno Christi, 49. So little certainty can 
 there be of any matter wherein there is no truth. 
 Nay, the same excellent man, before mentioned, ^ 
 i does not stick elsewhere to profess, he wonders at 
 :l Baronins, that he should make Peter come from 
 Rome, banished thence by Claudius’s edict, to the 
 synod at Jerusalem the same year, viz. the ninth 
 of Claudius; a thing absolutely inconsistent with 
 that story of the apostle’s acts recorded by St. 
 f Luke, wherein there is the space of no less than 
 three years, from the time of that synod to the de¬ 
 cree of Claudius. It being evident, what he ob¬ 
 serves, that after the celebration of the council, St. 
 Paul went back to Antioch; afterwards into Syria 
 and Cilicia, to preach the gospel; thence into 
 Phrygia, Galatia, and Mysia; from whence he 
 went into Macedonia, and first preached at Philippi, 
 
 * H. Vales. Annot. in Euseb. lib. ii. c. 18, p. 37. 
 
170 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 r 
 
 then at Thessalonica and Beroea, afterwards stayed 
 some considerable time at Athens, and last of all 
 went to Corinth, where he met with Aquila and 
 Priscilla, lately come from Italy, banished Rome, 
 with the rest of the Jews, by the decree of Claudius ; ^ 
 all which, by an easy and reasonable computation, 
 can make up no less than three years at least. 
 
 6. That which caused Baronius to split upon so 
 many rocks, was not so much want of seeing 
 them, which a man of his parts and industry could 
 not but in a great measure see, as the unhappy 
 necessity of defending those unsound principles 
 which he had undertaken to maintain. For being 
 to make good Peter’s five-nnd-twenty years presi¬ 
 dency over the church of Rome, he was forced to 
 confound times, and dislocate stories, that he might 
 bring all his ends together. What foundation this 
 story of PetePs being five-and-twenty years bishop 
 of Rome has in antiquity, I find not; unless it 
 sprang from hence, that Eusebius places Peters 
 coming to Rome in the second year of Claudius, 
 and his martyrdom in the fourteenth of Nero; be¬ 
 tween which there is just the space of five-and- 
 twenty years; whence those that came after con- ^ 
 eluded that he sat bishop there all that time. It a 
 cannot be denied but that in St. Jerome’s transla- I 
 tion it is expressly said, that he continued five-and- | 
 twenty years bishop of that city *. but then it is as i 
 evident that this was his own addition, who proba¬ 
 bly set things down as the report went in his time, 
 no such thing being to be found in the Greek copy 
 of Eusebius.^ Nor indeed does he ever there or 
 
 * Ilsrpoc 6 Kopv(pa7og njv 7rp(OTT}v ^£/i£Xiw- 
 
 cag iKKXrjffiav tig 'PtofxrjV airtiai KrjpvTTWV to tvayyt\iov> 
 Xpov. Kav. ad num. MF. p. 204. 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 171 
 
 elsewhere positively affirm St. Peter to have been 
 bishop of Rome, but only that he preached the 
 gospel there; and expressly affirms, that he and 
 St. Paul being dead, Linus was the first bishop of 
 Rome.^ To which I may add, that when the an¬ 
 cients speak of the bishops of Rome, and the first 
 originals of that church, they equally attribute the 
 founding and the episcopacy and government of it 
 to Peter and Paul, making the one as much con¬ 
 cerned in it as the other. Thus Epiphanius,^ reckon¬ 
 ing up the bishops of that see, places Peter and 
 Paul in the front, as the first bishops of Rome; iv 
 Pwjur/ yap yeyoyaai TTpatroi Hirpog Kj IlavXoc, ol cnrog- 
 ToXoL avTOL Kj 'ETTLCTKOTCOL Peter and Paul, apostles, 
 became the first bishops of Rome ; then Linus,” &c. 
 And again, a little after; ^ t&v ev 'Pwpp ^sTnaKo- 
 TTWV cladoxi) ravTrjv typi Tr)v a/co\»0/av: The succes¬ 
 sion of the bishops of Rome was in this manner; 
 Peter and Paul, Linus, Cletus,"^ &c. And Hege- 
 sippus, speaking of their coming to Rome, equally 
 says of them, that they were Doctores Christiano- 
 rum, sublimes operihus, clari magisterio The in¬ 
 structors of the Christians, admirable for miracles, 
 and renowned for their authority.” However, 
 granting not only that he was there, but that he 
 
 ^ Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. c. 2, p. 71. 
 
 The words of Eusebius are, that Clemens was the third among 
 the bishops from Peter and Paul; Linus having been the first, 
 and Anencletus the second. On this passage the learned editor, 
 Valesius observes, that it is not to be supposed that Paul was 
 more honourable than Peter because named first; that in the 
 seals of the Roman church he was placed on the right hand, and 
 Peter on the left; and that though Eusebius indeed does not 
 here number the apostles in the order of bishops, he, in his 
 Chronicon, ascribes the Roman episcopacy to Peter alone. 
 
 ^ Contr. Carpocrat. Heeres. xxvii. p. 51. 
 
 ^ De excid. Jud. lib. iii. c. 2, p. 292. 
 
172 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 V 
 
 was bishop, and that for five-and-twenty year's 
 together, vet what would this make for the un¬ 
 limited sovereignty and universality of that church, 
 unless a better evidence than ‘ feed my sheep’ could 
 be produced for its uncontrolable supremacy and 
 dominion over the whole Christian woild ? 
 
 7. The sum is this : granting what none that has 
 anv reverence for antiquity will deny, that St. 
 Peter was at Rome; he probably came thither some 
 few years before his death, joined with and as¬ 
 sisted St. Paul in preaching of the gospel, and 
 then both sealed the testimony of it with then- 
 blood. The date of his death is differently assigned 
 by the ancients. Eusebius^ places it in the year 
 69, in the fourteenth of Nero; Epiphanius in t e 
 twelfth.® That which seems to me most probable 
 is, that it was in the tenth, or the year 65; which 
 I thus compute. Nero’s burning of Rome is placed 
 by Tacitus," under the consulship of C. Lecanius 
 and M. Licinius, about the month of July, that is, 
 
 • anno Chr. 64. This act procured him the infinite 
 hatred and clamours of the people, which having 
 in vain endeavoured several ways to remove and 
 pacify, he at last resolved upon this project, to 
 drive the odium upon the Christians; whom theie- 
 fore, both to appease the gods and please the peo¬ 
 ple, he condemned as guilty of the fact, and caused 
 to be executed with all manner of acute and ex¬ 
 quisite tortures. This persecution we may sup¬ 
 pose began about the end of that, or the beginning 
 of the following year. And under this persecu¬ 
 tion, I doubt not, it was that St. Peter suffered, 
 and changed earth for heaven. 
 
 Chron. p. 1G2. ® Haeres. 27- p. 51. 
 
 3 Annal. lib. xv. c. 38, 41. p. 316, &c. 
 
 1 
 
173 
 
 AN APPENDIX 
 
 TO THE PRECEDING SECTION, 
 
 Containing a vindication of St. Peter s being at 
 
 Rome. 
 
 Finding the truth of what is supjDosed and grant¬ 
 ed in the foregoing section, to wit, St. Peter’s going 
 to and suffering at Rome, not only doubted of here¬ 
 tofore in the beginning of the Reformation, while 
 the paths of antiquity were less frequented and 
 beaten out; but now again, lately, in this broad day¬ 
 light of ecclesiastical knowledge, not only called 
 in question, but exploded as most vain and fabu¬ 
 lous, and that especially by a foreign professor of 
 name and note,^ it may not be amiss, having the 
 opportunity of this impression, to make some few 
 remarks for the better clearing of this matter. 
 
 2. And first, I observe that this matter of fact is 
 attested by witnesses of the most remote antiquity, 
 persons of great eminency and authority, and who 
 lived near enough to those times to know the truth 
 5 and certainty of those things which they reported. 
 And perhaps there is scarce any one piece of an- 
 
 ^ Fred. Spanhem. Dissert, de temere credita Petri in urb. 
 Romam profectione. L. Bat. edit 1679. Vid. etiam Brutum 
 Fulmen, or Observations on the Bull against Queen JElizabeth, 
 p. 86, &c. Lond. 1681. 4. 
 
 Spanhiem, the author alluded to, is a writer of great learning 
 and ability, but he expresses his opinions with the spirit of a 
 controversialist; and not only disputes facts which contradict 
 his views, but too frequently ascribes the actions and sentiments 
 of those to whom he is opposed to false motives.—E d. 
 
174 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 cient church history for which there is more clear, 
 full, and constant evidence, than there is for this. 
 Not to insist on that passage of Ignatius,' in his i 
 epistle to the Romans, which seems yet to look this 
 way, it is expressly asserted by Papias, bishop of 
 Hierapolis or Phrygia, who (as Irenseus tells us^) 
 was scholar to St. John, and fellow-pupil with St. 
 Polycarp; and though we should, with Eusebius,'^ 
 suppose it was not St. John the apostle, whose 
 scholar he was, but another sirnamed the Elder, 
 that lived at Ephesus, yet will this set him very 
 little lower in point of time. Now, Papias says'' 
 not only that St. Peter was at Rome, and preached 
 the Christian faith there, but that he wrote thence 
 his first epistle, and by his authority confirmed the 
 gospel, which St. Mark, his disciple and follower, 
 at the request of the Romans, had drawn up. And 
 that we may see that he did not carelessly take up 
 these things as common hearsays, it was his custom, 
 wherever he met with any that had conversed with 
 the apostles, to pick up what memoirs he could 
 meet with concerning them; and particularly to 
 inquire what Andrew, what Peter, what Philip, 
 what Thomas or James, or the rest of the disciples 
 of our Lord, had either said or done. Which suf¬ 
 ficiently shows what care he took to derive the most 
 accurate notices of these matters. 
 
 3. Next Papias comes Irenaeus, a man, as St. 
 Jerome styles him,"* of the apostolic times; and 
 was, he tells us, Papias’s own scholar; however, 
 
 * ’Ovx HsrpoQ iq ITawXog ^utTaaaoiiai vfuv Ikhvoi 
 ’Atto^oXol, tyi'o KuraKpirog. —Ep. ad Rom. p. 23. 
 
 2 Advers. Hsres. lib. v. c. 33, p. 498. 
 
 3 Lib. iii. cap. 39, p. 110. 
 
 ■* Ap. Euseb. lib. ii. c. 1-5, p. 53. 
 
 ^ Epist. ad Theod. p. 196. 
 
r 
 
 ST. PETER. 175 
 
 it is certain, from his own account^ that he was 
 disciple to St. Polycarp, a man famous for his 
 ^ learning, gravity, and piety, throughout the whole 
 Christian world. About the year 179 he was made 
 ^ bishoj) of the metropolitan church of Lyons, in 
 France; a little before which he had been dis¬ 
 patched upon a message to Rome, and had con¬ 
 versed with the great men there. Now, his testi¬ 
 mony in this case is uncontrollable; for he says, 
 that Peter and Paul preached the gospel at Rome, 
 and founded a church there;® and elsewhere, 
 I that the great and most ancient church of Rome 
 i was founded and constituted by the two glorious 
 1 apostles, Peter and Paul; and that these blessed 
 I apostles, having founded this church, delivered the 
 j episcopal care of it over unto Linus.^ Contem¬ 
 porary with Irenseus, or rather a little before him, 
 was Dionysius, bishop of Corinth, a man of singu- 
 c lar eminency and authority in those times; who, in 
 an epistle which he wrote to the church of Rome, 
 
 ^ compares the plantation of Christianity which 
 Peter and Paul had made both at Rome and Co¬ 
 rinth ; and says farther, that after they had sown 
 the seeds of the evangelical doctrine at Corinth, 
 they went together into Italy, where they taught the 
 faith, and suffered martyrdom. 
 
 4. Towards the latter end of the second century 
 flourished Clemens of Alexandria, presbyter of that 
 church, and regent of the catechetic school there 
 who, in his book of Institutions, gives the very 
 same testimony which we quoted from Papias be- 
 
 * Ap. Euseb. lib. v. c. 20, p. 188. 
 
 2 Adv. Haeres. lib iii. c. 1, p. 229. 
 
 ^ Ibid. c. 3, p. 232. 
 
 Ap. Euseb. lib. ii. c. 25, p. 66. 
 
176 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 4' 
 
 fore they being both brought in by Eusebius as 
 joint evidence in this matter. Tertullian, who lived 
 much about the same time at Carthage, that Clemens ^ 
 did at Alexandria, and had been, as is probable, j 
 more than once at Rome, affirms most expiessly, ^ 
 more than once and again,^ that the chuich of 
 Rome was happy in having its doctrine sealed with 
 apostolic blood 5 and that Peter was crucified in 
 that place, or, as he expresses it, passioni Dominica: 
 adcequatus; that Peter' baptized in Tiber, as 
 John the Baptist had done in Jordan and else¬ 
 where; that when Nero first dyed the yet tender 
 faith at Rome with the blood of its professors, then 
 it w^as that Peter was girt by another, and bound to 
 the cross.'^ 
 
 5. Next to Tertullian succeeds Caius, an eccle¬ 
 siastical person, as Eusebius calls him, flourishing 
 in the year 204, in the time of pope Zephyrin ; 
 who, in a book which he wrote against Proclus, | 
 one of the heads of the Cataphrygian sect, speak¬ 
 ing concerning the places where the bodies of St. 
 Peter and St. Paul were buried, has these words; 
 
 ‘‘ I am able to show the very tombs of the apostles; 
 for whether you go into the Vatican or into the | 
 Via Ostiensis, you will meet with the sepulchres of 
 those that founded that church,”" meaning the i 
 church of Rome. The last witness whom I shall 
 produce in this case is Origen, a man justly re¬ 
 verenced for his great learning and piety; and who 
 took a journey to Rome while pope Zephyrin yet 
 
 ^ Loc. supra citato. 
 
 2 De Prgescript. II$ret. cap. 36, p. 215. 
 
 3 De Baptism, cap. 4, p. 225. 
 
 ^ Scorpia. cap. ult. p. 500. 
 
 " Ap. Jiusub.lib. ii. c. 25, p. 67- 
 
 i 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 177 
 
 lived, on purpose, as himself tells us,' to behold 
 that church, so venerable for its antiquity; and 
 ^ theiefore cannot hut be supposed very inquisitive 
 to satisfy himself in all, especially the ecclesiastical 
 antiquities of that place. Now he expressly says 
 of Peter,® that after he had preached to the dis* 
 persed Jews of the eastern parts, he came at last to 
 Rome, where, according to his own request, he was 
 crucified with his head downwards. Lower than 
 Origen I need not descend; it being granted by 
 those who oppose this story, ^ that in the time of 
 Origen, the report of St. Peter’s going to, and suf¬ 
 fering martyrdom at Rome, was commonly re¬ 
 ceived in the Christian church. And now I would 
 fain know, what one passage of those ancient times 
 can be proved either by more, or by more consi¬ 
 derable evidence than this is: and, indeed, consi¬ 
 dering how small a portion of the writings of those 
 I first ages of the church have been transmitted to 
 us, there is much greater cause rather to wonder 
 that we should have so many witnesses in this case, 
 than that we have no more. 
 
 6. Secondly; I observe that the arguments brought 
 to shake the credit of this story, and the exceptions 
 made to these ancient testimonies, are very weak 
 , and trifling, and altogether unbecoming the learn¬ 
 ing and gravity of those that make them. For 
 ' arguments against it, what can be more weak and 
 li inconcluding than to assert the fabulousness of this 
 story, ^ because no mention is made of it by St. 
 Luke, in the apostolical history; no footsteps of it 
 
 * Ap. Euseb. lib. vi. c. 14, p. 216. 
 
 ' 2 Exposit. in Gen. ap, Euseb. lib. iii. c. 1, p. 71 . 
 
 ^ Span. ib. c. iii. n. 35, p. 130. 
 
 ^ Id. ib. c. 2, n. 3, p. 22. 
 
 VOL. I. TV 
 
 I 
 
178 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 to be found in any of St. Paul’s epistles written 
 from Rome : as if be might not come thither time 
 enough after the accounts of the sacred story do 
 expire. That St. Peter was never at Rome, be¬ 
 cause Clemens Romanus says nothing of it in his 
 epistle to the Corinthians, when yet he mentions 
 St. Paul’s coming to the bounds of the west;' and 
 what yet is more absurd, because no notice is 
 taken of it by the Roman historians® who wrote 
 the acts of that age; especially Tacitus, Suetonius, 
 and Dio: as if these great writers had had nothing 
 else to do but to fill their commentaries with ac¬ 
 counts concerning Christians, whom it is plain they 
 despised and scorned, and looked upon as a con¬ 
 temptible, execrable sort of men; and therefore 
 very little beside the bare mention of them, and 
 that too but rarely, is to be met with in any of 
 their writings; much less can it be expected that 
 they should give an account of the accidents and 
 circumstances of particular Christians: besides 
 that, this whole way of reasoning is negative, and 
 purely depends upon the silence of some few 
 authors, which can signify nothing where there is 
 such a current and uncontrolable tradition, and so 
 many positive authorities to the contrary. And 
 yet these are the best, and almost only arguments 
 that are offered in this matter. 
 
 7. And of no greater force or weight are the ex¬ 
 ceptions made to the testimonies of the ancients, 
 which we have produced, as will appear by a sum¬ 
 mary enumeration of the most material of them. 
 Against Papias’s evidence, it is excepted, that he 
 
 ‘ Ib. n. IG, p. 45. 
 
 2 Ib. n. 17, p. 47 . 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 179 
 
 was S0d^pa (x/iiKpog rov vSv,^ as Eusebius characters 
 him, “ a man of a very weak and undiscerning* judg¬ 
 ment, and that he derived several things strange 
 and unheard of from mere tradition. But all this 
 is said of him by Eusebius, only upon the account 
 of some doctrinal principles and opinions, and 
 some rash and absurd expositions of our Saviour’s 
 doctrine, carelessly taken up from others, and 
 handed down without due examination j particu¬ 
 larly his millennary or Chiliastic notions : but what 
 is this to invalidate his testimony in the case be¬ 
 fore us, a matter of a quite different nature from 
 those mentioned by Eusebius ? May not a man 
 be mistaken in abstruse speculations, and yet be 
 fit enough to judge in ordinary cases ? As if none 
 but a man of acute parts and a subtile apprehen¬ 
 sion, one able to pierce into the reasons, consis¬ 
 tency, and consequences of doctrinal conclusions, 
 were capable to deliver down matters of fact, 
 things fresh in memory, done within much less 
 than a hundred years; in themselves highly pro¬ 
 bable, and wherein no interest could be served, 
 either for him to deceive others, or for others to de¬ 
 ceive him. 
 
 8. Against Irenaeus it is put in bar, that he gave 
 not this testimony till after his return from Rome;^ 
 that is, about a hundred and forty years after St. 
 Peters first pretended coming thither; which is no 
 great abatement in a testimony of so remote anti¬ 
 quity, when they had so many evidences and 
 opportunities of satisfying themselves in the truth 
 of things, which to us are utterly lost. That before 
 his time many frivolous traditions began to take 
 
 I 
 
 ' Ib. n. 20, p. 100. 
 
 N 2 
 
 ’ Id. ib. c. 3, n, 8, p. 79. 
 
180 
 
 LIVES or THE APOSTLES. 
 
 place, and that he himself is sometimes mistaken ; 
 the proper inference from which, if pursued to its 
 just issue, must be this, either that he is always 
 mistaken, or at least that he is so in this. 
 
 9. The authority of Dionysius of Corinth is 
 thrown off with this, that it is of no greater value 
 than that of Irenseus that churches then began to 
 emulate each other, by pretending to be of aposto¬ 
 lical foundation; and that Dionysius herein con¬ 
 sulted the honour of his own church, by deriving 
 upon it the authority of those two great apostles 
 Peter and Paul; and in that respect setting it on 
 the same level with Rome: which yet is a mere 
 suggestion of his own, and so far as it respects Dio¬ 
 nysius, is said without any just warrant from anti¬ 
 quity. Besides, his testimony itself is called in 
 question,^ for affirming that Peter and Paul went 
 together from Corinth into Italy, and there taught 
 and suffered martyrdom at the same time. Against 
 their coming together to Corinth, and thence pass¬ 
 ing into Italy, nothing is brought; but that the ac¬ 
 count St. Luke gives of the travels and preachings 
 of these apostles is not consistent witlq St. Peter’s 
 coming to Rome under Claudius; which let them , 
 look to whose interest it is that it should be so; I 
 mean them of the church of Rome. And for his 
 saying that they suffered martyrdom Kara rbv aWov 
 Kaipbv, at the same time; it does not necessarily 
 imply their suffering the same day and year, but 
 admits of some considerable distance of time: it 
 being elsewhere granted by our author,^ that this j 
 phrase, Kara r^rov rbv xpovov, is often used by 
 
 Ib. n. 2G, p. 113. 2 Ib. n. 27, p. 113. 
 
 3 Dissert, de Anno Convers. Paul. n. 17? p. 202, 
 
 1 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 181 
 
 Josephus in a lax sense, as including what hap¬ 
 pened within the compass of some years. 
 
 10. To enervate the testimony of Clemens Alex- 
 andrinus, it is said, ‘ (with how little pretence of 
 reason let any man judge,) that Eusebius quotes 
 it out of a book of Clemens, that is now lost; and 
 that he tells us not whence St. Clemens derived the 
 report: that abundance of apocryphal writings were 
 extant in his time; and that he himself inserts a 
 great many frivolous traditions into his writings. 
 Which if it were granted would do no service in this 
 cause; unless it were asserted, that all things he says 
 are doubtful or fabulous, because some few are so. 
 
 11. Much after the same rate it is argued asainst 
 
 _ O <5 
 
 Tertullian,^ that he was a man of great credulity; 
 that he sets down some passages concerning St. 
 John which are not related by other writers of those 
 times; that he was mistaken in our Saviour’s age 
 at the time of his passion;^ that he was imposed 
 upon in the account he says Tiberius the emperor 
 sent to the senate concerning Christ; which, for¬ 
 sooth, must needs be false, because no mention 
 is riiade of it by Suetonius, Tacitus, or Dio. 
 
 12. The exceptions to Caius are no whit stronger 
 than the former, viz.; that he flourished but in the 
 beginning of the third century, when many false 
 reports were set on foot; and that it is not reason¬ 
 able to believe, that in those times of persecution 
 the tombs of the apostles should be undefaced, and 
 had in such public honour and veneration.'^ As if 
 the places where the apostles were buried could 
 not be familiarly known to Christians, without be- 
 
 ’ Ubi supra, n. 18, p. 97. ^ Ib. n. 31, p. 123. 
 
 3 Ib. n. 32, p. 125. ^ Ib. n. 28, 29. 
 
182 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 ing commonly shown to their heathen persecutors, 
 or without erecting pompous and stately monu¬ 
 ments over their graves, to provoke the rage and 
 malice of their enemies to fall foul upon them. 
 
 13. Against Origen, nothing is pretended, but 
 what is notoriously vain and frivolous;' as, that 
 perhaps his reports concerning the travels of the 
 apostles are not sufficiently certain: that in some 
 other cases he produces testimonies out of apocryphal 
 writings; and that many things are reported con¬ 
 cerning himself which are at best obscure and am¬ 
 biguous; and that Baronius and Valesius cannot 
 agree about the time of his journey to Rome. I 
 have but lightly touched upon most of these excep¬ 
 tions, because the very mention of them is enough 
 to supersede a studied and operose confutation; 
 and, indeed, they are generally such as may with 
 equal force be levelled almost against any ancient 
 history* 
 
 V 
 
 14. Thirdly ; I observe how far zeal, even for the 
 best cause, may sometimes transport learned men 
 to secure it by undue and imprudent methods; and 
 such as one would think were made use of rather 
 to show the acumen and subtilty of the author, 
 than any strength or cogency in the arguments. ® 
 Plain it is, that they who set themselves to under¬ 
 mine this story, design therein to serve the interests 
 of the Protestant cause, against the vain and un¬ 
 just pretences of the see of Rome, and utterly to 
 subvert the very foundations of that title whereby 
 
 ' Ib. n. 34, p. 129. 
 
 ^ The observation of I.ord Bacon (Advancement of licarning, 
 p. 1,) may be aptly applied to more than one class of dispu¬ 
 tants : “ It is good to ask the question which Job asked of l)is 
 friends, ‘ Will you lie for God, as one man will do for an¬ 
 other ?’ ”—Ed. 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 183 
 
 they lay claim to St. Peter’s power. This indeed, 
 could it be fairly made good, and without offering 
 violence to the authority of those ancient and vene¬ 
 rable sages of the Christian church, would give a 
 mortal blow to the Eomish cause, and free us from 
 several of their groundless and sophistical allega¬ 
 tions. But when this cannot be done without call¬ 
 ing in question the first and most early records of 
 the church, and throwing off the authority of the 
 ancients, non tali auxilio —truth needs no such 
 weapons to defend itself, but is able to stand up, 
 and triumph in its own strength, without calling in 
 such indirect artifices to support it. We can safely 
 grant the main of the story, that St. Peter did go 
 to Rome, and came thither iv riXei, (as Origen 
 expressly says he did about the latter end of his 
 life, and there suffered martyrdom for the faith of 
 Christ; and yet this no disadvantage to ourselves; 
 nay, it is that which utterly confounds all their ac¬ 
 counts of things, and proves their pretended story 
 of St. Peter’s being twenty-five years bishop of that 
 see, to be not only vain, but false, as has been 
 sufficiently shown in the foregoing section. But 
 to deny that St. Peter ever was at Rome, contrary 
 to the whole stream and current of antiquity, and 
 the unanimous consent of the most early writers, ^ 
 and that merely upon little surmises, and trifling 
 
 * Exposit. in Gen. ubi supra. 
 
 2 “ Non habere mihi frontem videntur, qui base negant, repug- 
 nante omni antiquitate : quasi in historia aliundi sapere possi- 
 mus, quam ex antiquorum monumentis.”—J. G. Voss. Harm. 
 Evangel, lib. iii. c. 4, p. 407* 
 
 “ Omnes patres magno consensu asseruerunt Petrum Romam 
 esse profectum, eamque ecclesiam administrasse. Et mihi quidem 
 non facile vellicandus videtur tantus consensus.”—Chamier. Pan- 
 strat. Cath. de Rom. Pontif. lib. xiii. c. 4, p. 483. 
 
184 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 cavils; and in order thereunto to treat the revei’end 
 fathers, whose memories have ever been dear and 
 sacred in the Christian church, with rude reflec¬ 
 tions and spiteful insinuations, is a course, I con¬ 
 fess, not over ingenuous, and might give too much 
 occasion to our adversaries of the church of Rome, 
 to charge us (as they sometimes do, falsely enough) 
 with a neglect of antiquity, and contempt of the 
 fathers; hut that it is notoriously known, that all 
 the great names of the Protestant party, men most 
 celebrated for learning and piety, have always paid 
 a most just deference and veneration to antiquity; 
 and upon that account have freely allowed this 
 story of St. Peter’s going to Rome, as our author, 
 who opposes it, is forced to grant. 
 
 15. Fourthly; itdeservesto be considered,whether 
 the needless questioning a story so well attested, 
 may not in time open too wide a gap to shake 
 the credit of all history. For if things done at 
 so remote a distance of time, and which have all 
 the evidence that can be desired to make them good, 
 may be doubted of or denied, merely for the sake 
 of some few weak and insignificant exceptions 
 which may be made against them, what is there 
 that can be secure ? There are few passages of an¬ 
 cient history, against which a man of wit and parts 
 may not start some objections, either from the 
 writers of them, or from the account of the things 
 themselves ; and shall they therefore be piesently 
 discarded, or condemned to the number of the false 
 or fabulous ? If this liberty be indulged, farewell 
 church history; nay, it is to be feared, whether 
 the sacred story will be able long to maintain its 
 
 ‘ Ibid. c. 1, n. 11, p- 17* 
 
ST. PETER. 
 
 185 
 
 divine authority* We live in an age of great scep¬ 
 ticism and infidelity, wherein men have, in a great 
 measure, put off the reverence due to sacred things; 
 and witty men seem much delighted to hunt our 
 objections, bestow their censures, expose the credit 
 of former ages, and to believe little but what them¬ 
 selves either see or hear. And therefore it will 
 become wise and good men to be very tender how 
 they loosen, much more remove the old land¬ 
 marks which the fathers have set, lest we run our¬ 
 selves before we be aware into a labyrinth and con¬ 
 fusion, from whence it will not be easy to get out.* 
 
 * The value of these observations will be acknowledged by 
 every candid inquirer after truth : nor can it be doubted but 
 that, next to the generating of angry feeling, the greatest evil 
 which results from the existence of religious disputes, is the 
 habit of scepticism they foster, so that doubt is engendered with 
 regard to one class of truths by the very process employed to 
 subdue it in respect to another. This, however, is a conse¬ 
 quence of the disingenuousness with which inquiries are pursued 
 when undertaken in the spirit of partizanship, and is not a ne¬ 
 cessary attendant upon controversy, as the natural fruit of dif¬ 
 ference of opinion among men of active and inquisitive intellects. 
 To question the reality of a fact which cannot be distinctly dis¬ 
 proved is to place the system contended for in peril; for the 
 moment it is allowed that the disputed circumstance is of such 
 value to the opposite argument, that not to dispute it is to leave 
 the adversary in possession of the field, one of these things must 
 of necessity follow—either the testimony of history is invali¬ 
 dated by bold attacks on evidence sufficiently probable for con¬ 
 viction in all ordinary cases ; or the victory remains on the side 
 of those who have the fact, so confessedly important, for the sup¬ 
 port of their opinions.—E d. 
 
[87 
 
 ST. PAUL. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 Of St. Paul, from his Birth till his Conversion. 
 
 Though St. Paul was none of the twelve apostles, 
 yet had he the honour of being an apostle extraor¬ 
 dinary, and to be immediately called in a way 
 peculiar to himself. He justly deserves a place 
 next St. Peter; for as ^ in their lives they were 
 pleasant and lovely,^ so ^ in their death they were 
 not dividedespecially if it be true, that they both 
 suffered, not only for the same cause, but at the same 
 time, as well as place. St. Paul was born at Tar¬ 
 sus, the metropolis of Cilicia; a city infinitely rich 
 and populous: and what contributed more to the 
 fame and honour of it, an academy furnished with 
 schools of learning, where the scholars so closely 
 plied their studies, that, as Strabo informs us, they 
 excelled in all arts of polite learning and philoso¬ 
 phy those of other places; yea, even of Alexandria 
 and Athens itself; and that even Rome was be¬ 
 holden to it for many of its best professors.^ It 
 
 ' Geograph, lib. xvi. p. 403. 
 
188 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 was a Roman municipium, or free corporation, 
 invested with many franchises and privileges by 
 Julius Caesar and Augustus, who granted to the in¬ 
 habitants of it the honours and immunities of citi¬ 
 zens of Rome. In which respect St. Paul owned 
 and asserted it as the privilege of his birthright, 
 that he was a Roman, and thereby free from being 
 bound or beaten.^ True it is, that St. Jerome® 
 (followed herein by one who himself travelled in 
 those parts^) makes him born at Gischalis, a well- 
 fortified town in Judaea, which being besieged and 
 taken by the Roman army, his parents fled away 
 with him and dwelt at Tarsus. But besides that 
 this contradicts St. Paul, who expressly affirms 
 that he was born at Tarsus, there needs no more to 
 confute this opinion, than that St. Jerome else¬ 
 where slights it as a fabulous report.^ 
 
 2. His parents were Jews, and that of the ancient 
 stock, not entering in by the gate of proselytism, 
 but originally descended from that nation; which 
 surely he means when he says, that he was ' an 
 Hebrew of the Hebrewseither because both his 
 parents were Jews, or rather that all his ancestors 
 had been so. They belonged to the tribe of Ben¬ 
 jamin, whose founder was the youngest son of the 
 old patriarch Jacob, who thus prophesied of him : 
 "Benjamin shall raven as a wolf; in the morning 
 he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall 
 divide the spoil." ^ This prophetical character 
 Tertullian, and others after him, will have to be 
 accomplished in our apostle.® As a " ravening wolf 
 
 ' Acts, xxii. 25, 26. ^ De script. £ccl. in Paul. 
 
 ^ Bellon. Observ lib. ii. c. 99, p. 366. 
 
 Com. in Philem. p. 263, tom. ix. Gen. xlix. 27. 
 
 ^ Adv. Marc. lib. v. c. 1, p. 461. 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 189 
 
 in the morning devouring the preythat is, as a 
 persecutor of the churches in the first part of his 
 life, destroying the flock of God : ^ in the evening 
 dividing the spoilthat is, in his declining and 
 reduced age, as doctor of the nations, feeding and 
 distributing to Christ’s sheep. 
 
 3. We find him described by two names in 
 Scripture, one Hebrew and the other Latin; pro¬ 
 bably referring both to his Jewish and Roman 
 capacity and relation. The one Saul, a name fre¬ 
 quent and common in the tribe of Benjamin ever 
 since the first king of Israel, who was of that name, 
 was chosen out of that tribe; in memory whereof 
 they were wont to give their children this name at 
 their circumcision : his other was Paul, assumed 
 by him, as some think, at his conversion, to denote 
 his humility; as others, in memory of his convert¬ 
 ing Sergius Paulus, the Roman governor; in imi¬ 
 tation of the generals and emperors of Rome, who 
 were wont from the places and nations that they 
 conquered to assume the name, as an additional 
 honour and title to themselves: as Scipio Africa- 
 nus, Caesar Germanicus, Parthicus, Sarmaticus, 
 &c. But this seems no way consistent with the 
 great humility of this apostle. More probable 
 therefore it is, what Origen thinksj that he had a 
 double name given him at his circumcision; Saul, 
 relating to his Jewish original, and Paul, referring 
 to the Roman corporation where he was born : and 
 this the Scripture seems to favour when it says, 
 "Saul, who is also called Paul.’® And this, per¬ 
 haps, may be the reason why St. Luke, so long as 
 
 ‘ Praefat. in Ep. ad Rom. fol. 132, tom. iii. 
 
 ^ Vid. D. Lightf. Hot. Heb. in 1 ad Cor. c. 1, v. 1. 
 
190 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 he speaks of him as conversant among the Jews in 
 Syria, styles him Saul; but afterwards, when he 
 left those parts and went among the Gentiles, he 
 gives him the name of Paul, as a name more fre- * 
 quent and familiarly known to them : and, for the 
 same reason, no doubt, he constantly calls himself 
 by that name in all his epistles written to the Gen¬ 
 tile churches. Or, if it was taken up by him after¬ 
 wards, it was probably done at his conversion, 
 according to the custom and manner of the He- ^ 
 brews, who used many times, upon solemn and 
 eminent occasions, especially upon their entering . 
 upon a more strict and religious course of life, to 
 change their names, and assume one which they 
 had not before. 
 
 4. In his youth he was brought up in the schools 
 of Tarsus, fully instructed in all the liberal arts and 
 sciences, whereby he became admirably acquainted j 
 with foreign and external authors. Together with I 
 which, he was brought up to a particular trade and '' 
 course of life; according to the great maxim and j 
 principle of the Jews, that ^^He who teaches not , 
 his son a trade, teaches him to be a thief.”' They 
 thought it not only fit, but a necessary part of , 
 education, for their wisest and most learned rab¬ 
 bins to be brought up to a manual trade, whereby, 
 if occasion was, they might be able to maintain 
 themselves. Hence, as Drusius observes,® nothing 
 more common in their writings, than to have them 
 denominated from their callings. Rabbi Jose, the 
 
 ' un 
 
 ] Talm. Tract. Kiddusch. c. 1, apud Buxtorf. in voc. 
 
 Annot in Acts, xviii. 3. 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 191 
 
 tanner. Rabbi Joclianan, the shoemaker. Rabbi 
 .Tuda, the baker, &c. A custom taken up by the 
 Christians, especially the monks and ascetics of the 
 primitive times,* who, together with their strict pro- 
 , fession, and almost incredible exercises of devo¬ 
 tion, each took upon him a particular trade, whereat 
 he daily wrought, and by his own hand-labour 
 maintained himself. And this course of life the 
 Jews were very careful should be free from all sus- 
 j picion of scandal (as they call it,)^ 
 
 j a clean, that is, honest trade; being wont to say,, 
 
 j “ That he was happy that had his parents em- 
 I ployed in an honest and commendable calling;” 
 as he was miserable, who saw them conversant in 
 any sordid and dishonest course of life. The trade 
 our apostle was put to, was that of tent-making;^ 
 whereat he wrought, for some particular reasons, 
 
 ' even after his calling to the apostolate. An honest 
 * but mean course of life; and, as Chrysostom ob¬ 
 serves,^ an argument that his parents were not of 
 ! the nobler and better rank; however, it was a 
 useful and gainful trade, especially in those warlike 
 countries, where armies had such frequent use of 
 ' tents. 
 
 5. Having run through the whole circle of the 
 sciences, and laid the sure foundations of human 
 learning at Tarsus, he was by his parents sent to 
 Jerusalem, to be perfected in the study of the law, 
 and put under the tutorage of Rabban Gamaliel. 
 This Gamaliel was the son of Rabban Symeon 
 (probably presumed to be the same Symeon that 
 came into the temple, and took Christ into his 
 
 * Epiph. 80, p. 451. ® Buxtorf. ubi supra. 
 
 ^ Acts, xviii. 3- De Laud. S. Paul. tom. v. p. 512. 
 
192 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 arms^) president of the court of the sanhedrim: he 
 was a doctor of the law, a person of great wisdom 
 and prudence, and head at that time of one of the 
 families of the schools at Jerusalem. A man of 
 chief eminency and authority in the .Jewish sanhe¬ 
 drim, and president of it at that very time when our 
 blessed Saviour was brought before it. He lived to 
 a great age, and was buried by Onkelos the prose¬ 
 lyte, author of the Chaldee paraphrase, (one who | 
 infinitely loved and honoured him,) at his own vast i| 
 expense and charge. He it was that made that 
 wise and excellent speech in the sanhedrim, in 
 favour of the apostles and their religion. Nay, he 
 himself is said® (though I know not why) to have 
 been a Christian; and his sitting among the sena¬ 
 tors to have been connived at by the apostles, that 
 he might be the better friend to their affairs. Chry- 
 sippus,^ presbyter of the church of Jerusalem, 
 adds, that he was brother’s son to Nicodemus, ! 
 together with whom he and his son A bib were bap¬ 
 tized by Peter and John. This account he derives | 
 from Lucian, a presbyter also of that church, under 
 John, patriarch of Jerusalem; who in an epistle of 
 his still extant, tells us, that he had this, together 
 with some other things, communicated to him in a 
 vision by Gamaliel himself; which, if true, no better 
 evidence could be desired in this matter. At the 
 feet of this Gamaliel, St. Paul tells us, he was 
 brought up; alluding to the custom of the Jewish 
 masters, who were wont to sit, while their disciples 
 and scholars stood at their feet. Which honorary 
 
 ' Acts, xxii. 3, and iv. 34. 
 
 ® Clem. Recognit. lib. i. p. 16, 17. 
 
 ^ Ap. Phot. Cod. 171 , col. 384, extat Luciani hac de re 
 Epist. ap Sur. ad 3 Aug. p. 31, et Baron ad Ann. 415. 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 193 
 
 custom continued till the death of this Gamaliel, 
 and was then left off. Their own Talmud ‘ telling 
 . us, “That since our old Rabban Gamaliel died, the 
 honour of the law was perished, purity and phari- 
 saism weie destroyed. Which the gloss thus ex¬ 
 plains i “ That whilst he lived, men were sound, 
 and studied the law standing; but he being dead, 
 
 ' weakness crept into the world, and they were forced 
 to sit.” 
 
 6. Under the tuition of this great master,^ St. 
 Paul was educated in the knowledge of the law, 
 wherein he made such quick and vast improve¬ 
 ments, that he soon outstripped his fellow-disci¬ 
 ples. Amongst the various sects at that time in 
 I the Jewish church, he was especially educated in 
 the piinciples and institutions of the Pharisees j of 
 [ which sect was both his father and his master; 
 
 ; whereof he became a most earnest and zealous pro- 
 fessor : this being, as himself tells us, the strictest 
 sect of their religion. For the understanding 
 ‘ whereof, it may not be amiss a little to inquire 
 ‘ into the temper and manner of this sect. Jose- 
 ^ phus,^ though himself a Pharisee, gives this cha¬ 
 racter of them; “That they were a crafty and subtile 
 generation of men; and so perverse, even to princes 
 ^ themselves, that they would not fear, many times, 
 
 : openly to affront and oppose them.” And so far 
 ; had they insinuated themselves into the affections 
 and estimations of the populacy, that their good or 
 ill word was enough to make or blast any one with 
 the people; who would implicitly believe them, let 
 
 ‘ Sotah. c. 9, halac. 15, apud Lightf. in Hor. H. in Matt 
 . xni. 2. 
 
 ^ Gal. i. 14. 
 
 Antiq. Jud. b. xvii. cap. 3, p. 585. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
194 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 their report be never so false or malicious.' And 
 therefore Alexander Jannaeus, when he lay a-dying, 
 wisely advised his queen by all means to comply 
 with them, and to seem to govern by their counsel 
 and direction; affirming that this had been the 
 greatest cause of his fatal miscarriage, and that 
 which had derived the odium of the nation upon | 
 him y that he had offended this sort of men. Certain 1 
 it is, that they were infinitely proud and insolent, 
 surly and ill-natured ; that they hated all mankind 
 but themselves, and censured whoever would not 
 be of their way, as a villain and reprobate: greatly 
 zealous to gather proselytes to their party, not to 
 make them more religious, but more fierce and 
 cruel, more carping and censorious, more heady 
 and high-minded; in short, " twofold more the 
 children of the devil than they were before.’ All 
 religion and kindness was confined within the 
 bounds of their own party; and the first principles 
 wherewith they inspired their new converts were, I 
 that none but they were the godly party, and that 
 all other persons were slaves and sons of the earth; 
 and therefore especially endeavoured to inspire ! 
 them with a mighty zeal and fierceness against all 
 that differed from them ; so that if any one did but 
 speak a good word of our Saviour, he should be I 
 presently excommunicated and cast out, persecuted 
 and devoted to the death. To this end they were 
 wont not only to separate, but discriminate them¬ 
 selves from the herd and community, by some 
 peculiar notes and badges of distinction; such as 
 their long robes, broad phylacteries, and the large 
 fringes and borders of their garments, whereby 
 
 ‘ Antiq. Jud. lib. xiii. c. 23, p. 463. I 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 195 
 
 they made themselves known from the rest of men. 
 These dog-ged and ill-natured principles, together 
 with their seditious, unnatural, unjust, unmerciful, 
 and uncharitable behaviour, which otherwise would 
 have made them stink above ground in the nostrils 
 of men, they sought to palliate and varnish over 
 with a more than ordinary pretence and profession 
 of religion; but were especially active and diligent 
 in what cost them little, the outward instances of 
 religion . such duties especially as did more imme¬ 
 diately refer to God; as frequent fasting and pray¬ 
 ing, which they did very often and very long, with 
 demure and mortified looks, in a whining and an 
 affected tone, and this in almost every corner of 
 the streets; and indeed so contrived the scheme of 
 their religion, that what they did might appear 
 above-ground, where they might be seen of men to 
 the best advantage. 
 
 7. Though this seems to have been the general 
 temper and disposition of the party, yet doubtless 
 there w ere some amongst them of better and honester 
 pi inciples than the rest. In which number we 
 have just reason to reckon our apostle; who yet 
 was deeply leavened with the active and fiery o-e- 
 nius of the sect; not able to brook any opposite 
 party in religion, especially if late and novel. Inso¬ 
 much, that when the Jews were resolved to do exe¬ 
 cution upon Stephen, he stood by and kept the 
 clothes of them that did it. Whether he was any 
 further engaged in the death of this innocent and 
 good man we do not find. How^ever, this was 
 enough loudly to proclaim his approbation and 
 consent. And therefore, elsewhere, we find him in¬ 
 dicting himself for this fact, and pleading guilty. 
 
 " When the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, 
 
 o 2 
 
196 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 I also was standing by, and consenting unto bis 
 death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him.* 
 God chiefly inspects the heart, and if the vote be 
 passed there, writes the man guilty, though he stir 
 no further. It is easy to murder another by a 
 silent wish, or a passionate desire. In all moral 
 actions God values the will for the deed, and reckons 
 the man a companion in the sin, who, though pos¬ 
 sibly he may never actually join in it, does yet in¬ 
 wardly applaud and like it. The storm thus begun 
 increased apace: and a violent persecution began 
 to arise, which miserably afflicted and dispersed 
 the Christians at Jerusalem. In which our apostle 
 was a prime agent and minister, raging about in all 
 parts with a mad and ungovernable zeal, searching 
 out the saints, beating them in the synagogues, 
 compelling many to blaspheme, imprisoning others, 
 and procuring them to be put to death. Indeed, 
 he'was a kind of inquisitor heereticce praviiatis to 
 the high-priest, by whom he was employed to hunt 
 and find out these upstart heretics,® who preached 
 against the law of Moses and the traditions of the 
 fathers. Accordingly, having made strange havoc 
 at Jerusalem, he addressed himself to the Sanhe¬ 
 drim, and there took out a warrant and commission 
 to go down and ransack the synagogues at Damas¬ 
 cus.^ How eternally insatiable is fury and a mis- 
 
 ^ Acts, xxii. 20. ® Chap. ix. 1. 
 
 ^ Damascus is distant from Jerusalem about one hundred and 
 thirty miles, and. was once the capital of Syria. It was still, 
 when St. Paul visited it, one of the wealthiest and most splendid 
 cities of the east; and, like the rest of the country, was under 
 the dominion of the Romans. Plad the object of Saul been 
 otherwise than of a purely religious nature, he must have 
 referred to the heathen governor for the desired remedy ; but 
 the Romans, with their accustomed policy, had left the con- 
 
I 
 
 ST. PAUL. 197 
 
 guided zeal! How restless and unwearied in its de¬ 
 signs of cruelty! It had already sufficiently harassed 
 ^ the poor Christians at Jerusalem ; but not content 
 to have vexed them there, and to have driven them 
 thence, it persecuted them unto ‘strange cities;’ fol¬ 
 lowing them even to Damascus itself, whither many 
 of these persecuted Christians had fled for shelter; 
 resolving to bring up those whom he found there 
 i to Jerusalem, in order to their punishment and 
 execution. For the Jewish Sanhedrim had not 
 I only power of seizing and scourging offenders 
 against their law, within the bounds of their own 
 country, but, by the connivance and favour of the 
 Romans, might send into other countries, where 
 there were any synagogues that acknowledged a 
 dependance in religious matters upon the council at 
 Jerusalem, to apprehend them; as here they sent 
 p Paul to Damascus to fetch up what Christians he 
 ^ could find, to be arraigned and sentenced at Jeru¬ 
 salem. 
 
 8. But God, who had designed him for work of 
 another nature, and ‘ separated him from his mo- 
 j I ther’s womb to the preaching of the gospel,^ ‘ stop¬ 
 ped him in his journey. For while he was, together 
 with his company, travelling on the road, not far 
 
 , quered people to arrange their religious affairs according to their 
 own wishes; and though the authority of the Sanhedrim could 
 not properly be regarded as extending to Damascus, the stretch 
 of power was allowed, since the price of conciliating so strong a 
 party as the Pharisees would, in this instance, be only the sacri¬ 
 fice of some unknown and, perhaps, seditious individuals. It 
 has been remarked on this subject, that the power of the San¬ 
 hedrim and the high-priest, like the authority of the pope by the 
 Papists, was acknowledged by the Jews of all countries ; but 
 of course it could only be exercised by the sufferance of the civil 
 magistrate. —Ed. 
 
 ' Gal. i. 15. 
 
198 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES, 
 
 from Damascus, on a sudden a gleam of ligbt, be¬ 
 yond the splendour and brightness of the sun, was 
 darted from heaven upon them; whereat, being ^ 
 strangely amazed and confounded, they all fell to 
 the ground, a voice calling to him, ‘ Saul, Saul, 
 why persecutest thou me ? To which he replied, 
 
 ^ Lord, who art thou Who told him, that ‘ he 
 was Jesus whom he persecuted ; that what was done 
 to the members was done to the head; that it was 
 hard for him ^ to kick against the pricks that he ; 
 now appeared to him to make choice of him for a 
 ‘ minister’ and a ‘ witness’ of what he had now seen 
 and should after hear; that he would stand by him, 
 and preserve him, and make him a great instill¬ 
 ment in the conversion of the Gentile world. This 
 said, he asked our Lord ‘ what he would have him 
 to dowho bade him go into the city, where he ^ 
 should receive his answer. St. Paul’s companions, m 
 who had been present at this transaction,' heard the 
 voice, but saw not him that spoke to him ; though 
 elsewhere the apostle himself affirms, that they ‘ saw 
 the light, but heard not the voice’ of him that spake: 
 that is, they heard a confused sound, but not a 
 distinct and articulate voice; or, more probably, 
 being ignorant of the Hebrew language, wherein 
 our Lord spake to St. Paul, they heard the words, j 
 but knew not the sense and meaning of them. 
 
 9. St. Paul by this time was gotten up, but 
 though he found his feet, yet he had lost his eyes, 
 being stricken blind with the extraordinary bright¬ 
 ness of the light; and was accordingly led by his 
 companions into Damascus. In which condition 
 he there remained, fasting three days together. At 
 
 ' Acts, xxii. 9. 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 199 
 
 this time we may probably suppose it was, that he 
 had that vision and ecstasy, wherein he was taken 
 up into the ^ third heaven,^^ where he saw and heard 
 things great and unutterable, and was fully instruct¬ 
 ed in the mysteries of the gospel; and hence ex¬ 
 pressly affirms, that he was not " taught the gospel 
 p which he preached by man, but by the revelation 
 I of Jesus Christ.^ ^ There was, at this time, at Damas¬ 
 cus one Ananias, a very devout and religious man, 
 (one of the seventy disciples, as the ancients inform 
 us, and probably the first planter of the Christian 
 church in this city,) and though a Christian, yet of 
 great reputation amongst all the Jews. To him our 
 Lord appeared, commanding him to go into such 
 a street, and to such a house, and there ^ inquire 
 for one Saul of Tarsus,^ who was now at prayer, 
 and had seen him in a vision coming to him, to lay 
 his hands upon him, that he might receive his 
 I ~ sight. Ananias startled at the name of the man, 
 having heard of his bloody temper and practices, 
 
 I and upon what errand he was now come down to 
 ^ the city. But our Lord, to take off his fears, told 
 \ him, that he mistook the man, that be had now 
 [ taken him to be a chosen vessel, to preach the gos- 
 W pel both to Jews and Gentiles, and before the great- 
 . est potentates upon earth, acquainting him with 
 what great things he should both do and suffer for 
 " his sake; what chains and- imprisonments, what 
 racks and scourges, what hunger and thirst, what 
 shipwrecks and death he should undergo. Upon 
 ^ this Ananias went, laid his hands upon him, told 
 him that our Lord had sent him to him that he 
 might receive his sight, and be filled with the Holy 
 
 • 2 Cor. xii. 1. 
 
 2 Gal. i. 10, 11. 
 
200 
 
 lives of the apostles. 
 
 Ghost; which was no sooner done, thick film , 
 like scales, fell from his eyes, and his sight re¬ 
 turned. And the next thing he did was to he bap¬ 
 tized, and solemnly initiated into Chnstm 
 faith. Aaer which he joined himself ^ 
 ciples of that place, to the equal joy and wondei 
 of the church, that the wolf should so soon lay 
 down its fierceness, and put on the meek nature ot 
 a lamb; that he who had lately been so violent a 
 
 persecutor, should now become not a professor only, 
 
 but a preacher of that faith which before he had 
 routed and destroyed. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 Of St. Paul, from his Conversion till the Council at 
 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 
 Saint Paul staid not long at Damascus after Ins 
 conversion/ but having received an immediate in- 
 timation from heaven, probably m the ecstasy 
 wherein he was caught up thither, he waited foi 
 no other counsel or direction in the case, l^st he 
 should seem to derive his mission and authority 
 from men, and ‘ being not disobedient to the hea¬ 
 venly vision,' he presently retired out of the city , 
 and the sooner, probably, to decline the odium o 
 
 
 I Our author dates the conversion of the ^ 
 
 earlier than other writers. I.ardner, after a '''p ^ , umost 
 of different circumstances and testimonies, “"duties Aat it m . 
 probably took place about tlie year .16 or 37.-" ork,. 
 vi. p. 241 .—Ed. 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 201 
 
 the Jews, and the effects of that rage and malice 
 which he was sure would pursue and follow him. 
 He withdrew into the parts of Arabia, (those parts 
 of it that lay next to the AafxaaKrjv^, ^ the 
 ‘ region of Damascus nay, Damascus itself was 
 sometimes accounted part of Arabia, as we shall 
 ^ note by and by from Tertullian,) where he spent 
 ^ the first-fruits of his ministry, preaching up and 
 down for three years together. After which he re¬ 
 turned back to Damascus, ^ preached openly in the 
 synagogues, and convinced the Jews of Christ’s 
 messiahship, and the truth of his religion. Angry 
 and enraged hereat, they resolved his ruin; which 
 they knew no better way to effect, than by exaspe¬ 
 rating and incensing the civil powers against him. 
 Damascus was a place not more venerable for its 
 antiquity, (if not built by, at least it gave title to 
 Abraham’s steward, hence called Eliezer of Damas¬ 
 cus,) than it was considerable for its strength, state¬ 
 liness, and situation : it was the noblest city of all 
 Syria, (as Justin of old,^ and the Arabian geo- 
 ^ grapher,^ has since informed us; and the pro- 
 1 phet Isaiah® before both, calls it the 
 
 B head of Syria,”) seated in a most healthful air, in 
 * a most fruitful soil, watered with most pleasant 
 fountains and rivers, rich in merchandize, adorned 
 with stately buildings, goodly and magnificent 
 temples, and fortified with strong guards and gar¬ 
 risons; in all which respects, Julian® calls it the 
 holy and great Damascus, top rrjs 'Ewac aTracrriQ 
 i d^fiaXpov, “ the eye of the whole east.” Situate it 
 
 ’ Gal. i. 17 , 18. ^ Acts, ix. 23 ; 2 Cor. xi. 32, 33. 
 
 * Justin, lib. xxxvi. c. 2, p. 425. 
 
 •• Geograph. Nub. dim. 3, part. 5, p. 116. 
 
 ® Isa. vii. 7 . ® Epist. xxiv. p. 145. 
 
202 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 was between Libanus and Mount Hermon ; and 
 though probably belonging to Syria, yet Arabite 
 retro deputahatur (as Tertullian tells us') was 
 anciently reckoned to Arabia. Accordingly at this 
 time it was under the government of Aretas/ (father- 
 in-law to Herod Antipas, the tetrarch, whose daugh¬ 
 ter the said Herod had married, but afterwards 
 turned off; which became the occasion of a war be¬ 
 tween those two princes,) king of Arabia Petrsea, 
 a prince tributary to the Roman empire. By him 
 there was an edvap'xpQ, or governor, who had juris¬ 
 diction over the whole Syria Damascena, placed 
 over it, who kept constant residence in the city, as 
 a place of very great importance. To him the Jews 
 made their address, with crafty and cunning insi¬ 
 nuations, persuading him to apprehend St. Paul, 
 possibly under the notion of a spy, there being war 
 at this time between the Romans afid that king. 
 Plereupon the gates were shut, and extraordinary 
 guards set, and all engines that could be laid to 
 take him. But the disciples, to prevent their cruel 
 designs, at night put him into a basket, and let him 
 down over the city wall. And the place, we are 
 told,^ is still showed to travellers, not far from the 
 gate, thence called St. Paul’s gate at this day. 
 
 2. Having thus made his escape, he set forwards 
 for Jerusalem, where when he arrived, he addressed 
 himself to the church.^ But they, knowing the 
 former temper and principles of the man, univer¬ 
 sally shunned his company; till Barnabas brought 
 him to Peter, who was not yet cast into prison, and 
 
 ‘ Adv. Marc. lib. iii. c. 13, p. 404. 
 
 2 Vid. Joseph. Antiq. lib. xviii. c. 7 , p. G2C. 
 
 ^ G. Sion, et J. Hesron. de Urb. Orient, c. 4, p. 11. 
 
 ^ Acts, ix. 2G ; Gal. i. 18, 19. 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 203 
 
 I 
 
 to James, our Lord’s brother, bishop of Jerusalem, 
 acquainting them with the manner of his conver¬ 
 sion ; and by them he was familiarly entertained. 
 Here he staid fifteen days, preaching Christ, and 
 , confuting the Hellenist Jews with a mighty cou¬ 
 rage and resolution. But snares were here again 
 r laid to entrap him ; as malice can as well cease to 
 j be, as to be restless and active. Whereupon he 
 ‘ was warned by God in a vision, that his testimony 
 would not find acceptance in that place; that 
 therefore he should leave it, and betake himself to 
 the Gentiles. Accordingly, being conducted by 
 the brethren to Caesarea,^ he set sail for Tarsus, 
 his native city; from whence, not long after, he 
 was fetched by Barnabas to Antioch,* to assist him 
 in propagating Christianity in that place: in 
 which employment they continued there a whole 
 year. And now it was that the disciples of the 
 religion were at this place first called Christians; 
 according to the manner of all other institutions, 
 who were wont to take their denominations from 
 ^ the first authors and founders of them. Before 
 I this they were usually styled Nazarenes,^ as being 
 pthe disciples and followers of Jesus of Nazareth, a- 
 ^ name by which the Jews in scorn call them to this 
 day, with the same intent that the Gentiles of old 
 used to call them Galileans. The name of Naza- 
 renes was henceforward fixed upon those Jewish 
 converts, who mixed the law and the gospel, and 
 compounded a religion out of Judaism and Chris- 
 1, tianity. The fixing this honourable name upon 
 the disciples of the crucified Jesus was done at 
 
 ■j * Acts, ix. 30. ^ Chap. xi. 26. 
 
 ^ Na^apaioi to iraXaiov ol vvv —Euseb. 
 
 f de loc. Hebr. in voc. 
 
204 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 Antioch, (as an ancient historian informs us‘) . 
 about the beginning of Claudius’s reign, ten years “ 
 after Christ’s ascension; nay, he further adds, that 
 Euodius, lately ordained bishop of that place, was 
 the person that imposed this name upon them, 
 styling them Christians, who before were called 
 Nazarenes and Galileans: T5 avrS ’eTricncoTrs ’Evo^/« ^ 
 TrporTOfxiKiiaavTOQ avrolg, icj kirSiicravTOQ avTolg to ovofxa 
 tSto. Tvpwrjv yap Na^^apaTot ekoXswo, Kj TaXiXaloi 
 £/caXgvro ol )(pi<rtavot, as my author’s words are. I 
 may not omit, what a learned man has observed,^ 
 that the word y^-pixariaai, used by St. Luke, (they 
 were called,) implies the thing to have been done 
 by some public and solemn act and declaration of 
 the whole church ; such being the use of the word n 
 in the imperial edicts and proclamations of those 
 times, the emperors being said ’^pr^fxari^ELv, “ to style 
 themselves,” when they publicly proclaimed by 
 what titles they would be called. When any pro¬ 
 vince submitted itself to the Roman empire, the em¬ 
 peror was wont by public edict, '^prjfxaTti^eiv savroy 
 to entitle himself to the government and jurisdic-^ 
 tion of it, and the people to several great privi-l 
 leges and immunities. In a grateful sense whereof,! 
 the people usually made this time the solemn date ' 
 of their common epocha, or computation. Thus 
 (as the forementioned historian informs us^) it was 
 in the particular case of Antioch ; and thence their 
 public aera was called yjprjfiaTiapiog tCjv Avno^ctwv, , 
 "Hhe ascription of the people at Antioch.” Such 
 being the general acceptation of the word, St. ' 
 Luke, (who was himself a native of this city) makes 
 
 * Joan. Antiochen. in Chronol. j\lS. a Selden, cit. de Synedr. 
 lib. i. c. 8, p. 226. Vid. Suid. in voc. luia^apdXog. 
 
 ~ Greg. not. et obs. cap. 36. ® J. Antioch. Chron. lib. ix. 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 205 
 
 use of it to express that solemn declaration whereby 
 the disciples of the religion entitled themselves to 
 the name of Christians. 
 
 3. It happened, about this time, that a terrible 
 famine, foretold by Agabus,' afflicted several parts 
 of the Roman empire, but especially Judaea; the 
 consideration whereof made the Christians at An¬ 
 tioch compassionate the case of their suffering breth¬ 
 ren, and they accordingly raised considerable con¬ 
 tributions for their relief and succour, which they 
 sent to Jerusalem by Barnabas and Paul; who 
 having dispatched their errand in that city, went 
 back to Antioch; where, while they were joining 
 in the public exercises of their religion, it was re¬ 
 vealed to them by the Holy Ghost, that they should 
 set apart Paul and Barnabas to preach the gospel 
 in other places which was done accordingly, and 
 they, by prayer, fasting, and imposition of hand s, were 
 immediately deputed for that service. Hence they 
 departed to Seleucia, and thence sailed to Cyprus, 
 where at Salamis, a great city in that island, they 
 preached in the synagogues of the Jews. Plence 
 |l they removed to Paphos, the residence of Sergius 
 Ip Paulus, the proconsul of the island, a man of great 
 f wisdom and prudence, but miserably seduced by 
 the wicked artifices of Bar-Jesus, a Jewish im¬ 
 postor, who calling himself Elymas, or the magi¬ 
 cian, vehemently opposed the apostles, and kept 
 the proconsul from embracing of the faith. Nay, 
 one who pretends to be ancient enough to know 
 * it,^ seems to intimate, that he not only spake, but 
 wrote against St. Paul’s doctrine, and the faith of 
 
 ' Acts, xi. 27 . _ Acts, xiii. 2. 
 
 3 Dionys. Areop. de divin. nomin. c. 0. p. 623. 
 
206 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 Christ. However, the proconsul calls for the apos- 
 ties and St. Paul first takes Elymas to task; and 
 havkff severely checked him for his malicious op- . 
 posing of the truth, told him, that the divine ven- 
 geance was now ready to seize upon him. pon ^ 
 which he was immediately struck blind. The ven¬ 
 geance of God observing herein a kind of just || 
 proportion, that he should be punished with the | 
 loss of his bodily eyes, who had so wilfully and m 
 maliciously shut the eyes of his mind against the I 
 light of the gospel, and had endeavoured keep J 
 not only himself, but others under so much blind¬ 
 ness and darkness. This miracle turned the scale 
 with the proconsul, and quickly brought him o\ ei < 
 
 a convert to the faith. ^ 
 
 4. After this success in Cyprus, he went to Perga, 
 in Pamphylia,' where taking Titus along with him 
 in the room of Mark, who was returned to Jeru¬ 
 salem, they went to Antioch, the metropolis oi - 
 Pisidia:® where entering into the Jewish syna¬ 
 gogue on the Sabbath-day, after some sections of 
 the law were read, they were invited by the rulers of , 
 the synagogue to discourse a little to the people; 
 which St. Paul did in a large and eloquent sermon, ■ 
 wherein he put them in mind of the many gieat ^ 
 and particular blessings which God had heaped 
 upon the Jews, from the first originals of that na¬ 
 tion ; that he had crowned them all with the send¬ 
 ing of his Son to be the Messiah and the Savioui; 
 that though the Jews had ignorantly crucified this 
 
 * Acts, xiii. 13, 14. 
 
 The Antioch here mentioned is distinguished as the metro¬ 
 polis of Pisidia, to prevent its being confounded with the city of 
 the same name in Syria, where the believers were first called 
 Christians. Pisidia was a province of Asia Minor.—E d. 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 207 
 
 just, innocent person, yet that God, according to his 
 own predictions, had raised him up from the dead ; 
 that through him they preached forgiveness of sins, 
 and that by him alone it was that men, if ever, 
 must be justified and acquitted from that guilt and 
 condemnation which all the pompous ceremonies 
 . and ministries of the Mosaic law could never do 
 ► away; that therefore they should do well to take 
 ^ heed, lest by their opposing this way of salvation, 
 they should bring upon themselves that prophetical 
 curse which God had threatened to the Jews of old, 
 for their great contumacy and neglect. This sermon 
 wanted not its due effects. The proselyte Jews 
 desired the apostles to discourse again to them of 
 this matter the next Sabbath-day; the apostles also 
 persuading them to continue firm in the belief of 
 these things. The day was no sooner come, but 
 the whole city, almost, flocked to be their auditors; 
 which when the Jews saw, actuated by a spirit of 
 envy, they began to blaspheme, and to contradict 
 the apostles; who, nothing daunted, told them, that * 
 our Lord had charged them first to preach the 
 M gospel to the Jews, which since they so obstinately 
 jk rejected, they were now to address themselves to 
 m the Gentiles; who hearing this, exceedingly re¬ 
 joiced at the good news, and magnified the word 
 of God; and as many of them as were thus pre¬ 
 pared and disposed towards eternal life, heartily 
 closed with it and embraced it. The apostles 
 preaching not there only, but through the whole 
 country round about. The Jews, more exaspe¬ 
 rated than before, resolved to be rid of their com¬ 
 pany, and to that end persuaded some of the more 
 devout and honourable women to deal with their 
 husbands, persons of prime rank and quality in 
 
208 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 the city, by whose means they were driven out 
 of those parts. Whereat St Paul and Barnabas 
 shaking off the dust of their feet, as a testimony 
 against their ingratitude and infidelity, departed 
 from them. 
 
 5. The next place they went to was Tconium; 
 where at first they found kind entertainment and 
 good success 5 God setting a seal to their doctrine 
 by the testimony of his miracles.’ But here the , 
 Jewish malice began again to ferment, exciting the 
 people to sedition, and mutiny against them. In- | 
 somuch, that hearing ol a design to stone them, 
 they seasonably withdrew to Lystra; where they 
 first made their way by a miraculous cure. For 
 St. Paul seeing an impotent cripple, that had been 
 lame from his mother’s womb, cured him with the 
 speaking of a word. The people who beheld the 
 miracle, had so much natural logic as to infer 
 that there was a divinity in the thing; though 
 mistaking the author, they applied it to the instru¬ 
 ments, crying out, that the gods in human shape 
 were come down from heaven. Paul, as being 
 chief speaker, they termed Mercury, the god of j 
 speech and eloquence ; Barnabas, by reason of his ■ 
 age and gravity, they called Jupiter, the father of ^ 
 their gods; accordingly the Syriac interpreter here 
 renders Jupiter, the Lord, or sovereign of the 
 gods.” The fame of this being spread over the 
 city, the priest of Jupiter brought oxen dressed up 
 with garlands, after the Gentile rites, to the house 
 where the apostles were, to do sacrifice to them. 
 Which they no sooner understood, but in detestation 
 of those undue honours offered them; they rent 
 
 * Acts, xiv. 1. 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 209 
 
 their clothes, and told them that they were men of 
 the same make and temper, of the same passions 
 and infirmities with themselves; that the design of 
 their preaching was to convert them fro m these 
 vain idolatries and superstitions to the worship of 
 the true God, the great Parent of the world; who 
 i though heretofore he had left men to themselves, 
 
 I to go on in their own ways of idolatrous worship, 
 
 I yet had he given sufficient evidence of himself in 
 the constant returns of a gracious and benign pro¬ 
 vidence, in crowning the year with fruitful seasons, 
 and other acts of common kindness and bounty to 
 mankind. 
 
 6. A short discourse; but very rational and con- 
 victive, which it may not be amiss a little more 
 particularly to consider, and the method which the 
 apostle uses to convince these blind idolaters. He 
 proves divine honours to be due to God alone, as 
 the sovereign Being of the world; and that there 
 is such a supreme infinite Being he argues from 
 his works both of creation and providence. Crea¬ 
 tion : He is the living God that made heaven 
 & and earth, the sea, and all things that are therein.” 
 B Providence: He left not himself without witness,* 
 
 P in that he did good, and gave rain from heaven and 
 fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and 
 gladness.^’ Than which no argument can be more 
 apt and proper to work upon the minds of men. 
 
 " That which may be known of God is manifest to 
 
 * Kai TOi i/j) Tov Aia ^ thq Qesg, tV rhiv yeyovoTOJv aTrrjp- 
 KSi TrpoQ TO aidelffOai rrjg Trpovoiag, T(p y eaidpfxovt K) sk ev- 
 Xccpi'7(p ^ fXTp Tonwv TO, fxeydXa, avTo tsto to ek Troag 
 yaXa yeivdaOai, ek ydXaKrog rvpdv') ek Skp/xarog ipia' 
 
 Tig E^lV b TTETTOipKMg TaVTtt, 7} ETTlVEVOtJKMg ; H bk Eig iprjUlV" 
 
 u) peydXpg dvai(rxvvTiag, dvaKjQrjdtag. —Arrian. Dissert, 
 
 lib. i. c. 16, p. 126. 
 
 VOL I. p 
 
lives of the apostles. 
 
 210 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES*. 
 
 the Gentiles, for God hath showed it unto them. 
 For the invisible things of him, from the creation 
 of the world, even his eternal power and godhead, 
 are clearly seen and understood by the things that 
 are made.’ It being impossible impartially to sur¬ 
 vey the several parts of the creation, and not see m 
 every place evident footsteps of an infinite wisdom, 
 power, and goodness. Who can look up unto the 
 heavens, and not there discern an Almighty wis¬ 
 dom beautifully garnishing those upper region^s, 
 distinguishing the circuits, and perpetuating the 
 motions of the heavenly lights ? Placing the sun 
 in the middle of the heavens, that he might equally 
 dispense and communicate his light and heat to all 
 parts of the world, and not burn the earth with the 
 too near approach of his scorching beams. by 
 which means the creatures are refreshed and cheered, 
 the earth impregnated with fruits and flowers by 
 the benign influence of a vital heat j and the vicis¬ 
 situdes and seasons of the year regularly distin¬ 
 guished by their constant and orderly revolutions. 
 Whence are the great orbs of heaven kept in conti¬ 
 nual motion, always going in the same tract, but 
 because there is a superior power that keeps these 
 great wheels a-going ? Who is it" that poises the 
 balancings of the clouds; that divides a water-course 
 for the overflowing of waters, and a w^ay for the 
 lightning of the thunder?^ Who can ‘bind the 
 sweet influences of the Pleiades, or loose the bands 
 of Orion Or who can ‘ bring forth Mazaroth in 
 his season, or guide Arcturus with his sons ? Do 
 these come by chance ? Or by the secret appoint¬ 
 ment of infinite wisdom ? Who can consider the 
 admirable thinness and purity of the air; its im¬ 
 mediate subserviency to the great ends of the crea- 
 
 1 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 211 
 
 tion, its being the treasury of vital breath to all 
 living creatures, without which the next moment 
 must put a period to our days, and not reflect upon 
 that Divine wisdom that contrived it ? If we come 
 down upon the earth, there we discover a divine 
 Providence, supporting it with the pillars of an in- 
 . visible power, " stretching the north over the empty 
 I space, and hanging the earth upon nothingfilling 
 it with great variety of admirable and useful crea¬ 
 tures, and maintaining them all according to their 
 kinds at his own cost and charges. It is he that 
 clothes the grass with a delightful verdure; that 
 ‘ crowns the year with his loving-kindness,^ and 
 ‘ makes the valleys stand thick with corn that 
 causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb 
 for the service of man; that he may bring forth 
 food out of the earth, and wine that maketh glad 
 the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, 
 and bread which strengtheneth man’s heart;’ that 
 beautifies the lilies that neither toil nor spin, and 
 that with a glory that outshines Solomon in all his 
 pomp and grandeur. From land let us ship our 
 
 t observations to sea, and there we may descry the 
 wise effects of infinite understanding: a wide ocean 
 fitly disposed for the mutual commerce and corre¬ 
 spondence of one part of mankind with another; 
 filled with great and admirable fishes, and enriched 
 with the treasures of the deep. What but an 
 Almighty arm can shut in the sea with doors, bind 
 it by a perpetual decree that it cannot pass, and 
 P' tie up its wild raging waves with no stronger cord¬ 
 age than ropes of sand ? Who but he commands 
 the storm, and stills the tempest P and brings the 
 mariner, when at his wiPs end in the midst of the 
 greatest dangers, to his desired haven ? ‘ They that 
 
 p 2 
 
 
212 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 go down to the sea in ships, and do business in 
 great waters; these see the works of the Lord, and 
 his wonders in the deep.’ So impossible is it for a 
 man to stand in any part of the creation, wherein 
 he may not discern evidences enough of an in¬ 
 finitely wise, gracious, and omnipotent Being. 
 Thus much I thought good to add, to illustrate the 
 apostle’s argument; whence he strongly infers, that 
 it is very reasonable that we should worship and 
 adore this great Creator and benefactor, and not 
 transfer the honours due to him alone upon men of 
 frail and sinful passions, and much less upon dumb 
 idols, unable either to make or to help themselves. 
 An argument, which though very plain and plaus¬ 
 ible, and adapted to the meanest understandings; 
 yet was all little enough to restrain the people 
 from offering sacrifice to them. But how soon was 
 the wind turned into another corner ? The old 
 spirit of the Jews did still haunt and pursue them; 
 who coming from Antioch and Iconium, exaspe¬ 
 rated and stirred up the multitude. And they 
 who just before accounted them as gods, used them 
 now worse, not only than ordinary men, but slaves. 
 For in a mighty rage they fall upon St. Paul, stone 
 him, (as they thought, dead,) and then drag him 
 out of the city: whither the Christians of that place 
 coming, probably to inter him; he suddenly re¬ 
 vived, and rose up amongst them, and the next 
 day went thence to Derbe. 
 
 7. Here they preached the gospel, and then re¬ 
 turned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch of Pisidia, 
 confirming the Christians of those places in the be¬ 
 lief and profession of Christianity, earnestly per¬ 
 suading them to persevere, and not be discouraged 
 with those troubles and persecutions which they 
 
 I 
 
 4 
 
 % 
 
 H 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 213 
 
 must expect would attend the profession of the 
 gospel. And that all this might succeed the better, 
 wdth fasting and prayer they ordained governors 
 and pastors in every church; and having recom¬ 
 mended them to the grace of God, departed from 
 them. From hence they passed through Pisidia, 
 
 ( and thence came to Pamphylia; and having preach¬ 
 ed to the people at Perga, they went down to At- 
 talia. And thus, having at this time finished the 
 whole circuit of their ministry, they returned back 
 to Antioch, in Syria, the place whence they had 
 first set out. Here they acquainted the church 
 with the various transactions and successes of their 
 travels, and how great a door had thereby been 
 opened to the conversion of the Gentile world. 
 
 8. While St. Paul staid at Antioch, there arose 
 that famous controversy about the observation of 
 the Mosaic rites,^ set on foot and brought in by 
 some Jewish converts that came down thither, 
 whereby great disturbances and distractions were 
 made in the minds of the people. For the com¬ 
 posing whereof, the church of Antioch resolved to 
 
 k send Paul and Barnabas to consult with the apos¬ 
 tles and church at Jerusalem. In their way 
 thither, they declared to the brethren, as they went 
 along, what success they had had in the conversion 
 of the Gentiles. Being come to Jerusalem, they 
 first addressed themselves to Peter, James, and 
 John, the pillars and principal persons in that 
 place; by whom they were kindly entertained, and 
 r adniitted to the ^ right hand of fellowship.’ And 
 perceiving by the account which St. Paul gave 
 them, that the ^ gospel of the uncircumcision was 
 
 ^ Acts, XV. 1. 
 
LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 214 
 
 committed’ to him, as that of the ^ circumcision 
 was to Peter; they ratified it by compact and agree¬ 
 ment, that Peter should preach to the Jews and 
 Paul to the Gentiles. Hereupon a council was 
 summoned, wherein Peter having declared his 
 sense of things, Paul and Barnabas acquainted 
 them what great things God by their ministry had 
 done among the Gentiles. A plain evidence, that, 
 though uncircumcised, they were accepted by God 
 as well as the Jews with all their legal rites and 
 privileges. The issue of the debate was, that the 
 Gentiles were not under the obligation of 
 Moses; and that therefore some persons of their 
 own should be joined with Paul and Barnabas, to 
 carry the canons and decrees of the council down 
 to Antioch, for their fuller satisfaction in this mat¬ 
 ter. But of this affair we shall give the reader 
 a more distinct and particular account in another 
 
 ◄ 
 
 A 
 
 4 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 Of St. Paul, from the time of the Synod at Jerusalem, 
 till his departure from Athens. 
 
 Saint Paul and his companionshaving received the 
 decretal epistle, returned to Antioch; where they 
 had not been long before Peter came thithei to 
 them ; and according to the decree of the council, 
 freely and inoffensively conversed with the Gen¬ 
 tiles ; till some of the Jews coming down thither 
 from Jerusalem, he withdrew his converse, as if it 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 215 
 
 were a thing unwarrantable and unlawful. By 
 which means the minds of many were dissatisfied, 
 and their consciences very much ensnared. Whereat 
 St. Paul being exceedingly troubled, publicly re¬ 
 buked him for it, and that, as the case required, 
 with great sharpness and severity. It was not long 
 after, that St. Paul and Barnabas resolved upon 
 visiting the churches, which they had lately planted 
 among the Gentiles/ To which end Barnabas de¬ 
 termined to take his cousin Mark along with them. 
 This Paul would by no means agree to, he having 
 deserted them in their former journey. A little 
 spark, which yet kindled a great feud and dissen¬ 
 sion between these two good men, and arose to that 
 height, that in some discontent they parted from 
 each other. So natural is it for the best of men 
 sometimes to indulge an unwarrantable passion, 
 and so far to espouse the interest of a private and 
 particular humour, or rather to hazard the great 
 law of charity, and violate the bands of friendship, 
 than to recede from it.^ The effect was, Barnabas, 
 taking his nephew, went for Cyprus, his native 
 
 ‘ Acts, XV. 3. 
 
 ^ There does not appear to be sufficient ground for the no¬ 
 tion which our author has here espoused, that the difference 
 between Paul and Barnabas partook of the nature of ‘ an unwar¬ 
 rantable passion.’ The arguments for and against taking Mark 
 as a companion in their journey, might be urged with great 
 zeal and earnestness, and yet leave their minds quite free from the 
 leaven of malice. Surely it may be believed that the spirit and 
 grace of God had sufficient power over the hearts of his chosen 
 ministers, to prevent their falling into so fearful a sin as that of 
 wrath. But if the Greek phrase, eyevero ovv Trapo^vfffiog, 
 “ there was, therefore, a paroxysm,” must be taken as implying 
 anger against each other, the fault, it has been observed, is to 
 be chiefly ascribed to Barnabas, who manifested too great a 
 partiality for his relative; Paul only contending for the inte¬ 
 rests of their mission.—E d. 
 
216 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 country. St. Paul made choice of Silas; and the 
 success of his undertaking being first recommended 
 to the divine care and goodness, they set forwards 
 on their journey. 
 
 2. Their first passage was into Syria and Cilicia, 
 confirming the churches as they went along. And 
 to that end they left with them copies of the synodi¬ 
 cal decrees, lately ordained in the council at Jeru¬ 
 salem. Hence we may suppose it was that he set 
 sail for Crete, where he preached and propagated 
 Christianity, and constituted Titus to be the first 
 bishop and pastor of that island, whom he left 
 there, to settle and dispose those affairs, which the 
 shortness of his own stay in those parts would not 
 suffer him to do. Hence he returned back unto 
 Cilicia, and came to Lystra, where he found Timo¬ 
 thy, whose father was a Greek, his mother a Jewish 
 convert, by whom he had been brought up under 
 all the advantages of a pious and religious educa¬ 
 tion, and especially an incomparable skill and dex-. 
 terity in the holy Scriptures. St. Paul designed 
 him for the companion of his travels, and a special 
 instrument in the ministry of the gospel; and know¬ 
 ing that his being uncircumcised would be a mighty 
 prejudice in the opinion and estimation of the Jews, 
 caused him to be circumcised ; being willing, in all 
 lawful and indifferent matters, (such was circum¬ 
 cision now become,) to accommodate himself to 
 men’s humours and apprehensions for the saving 
 of their souls. 
 
 3. From hence with his company he passed 
 through Phrygia, and the country of Galatia,' 
 where he was entertained by them with as mighty a 
 
 ' Acts, xvi. G. 
 
ST.‘ PAUL. 
 
 217 
 
 kindness and veneration as if he had been an angel 
 immediately sent from heaven. And being by re¬ 
 velation forbidden to go into Asia, by a second 
 vision he was commanded to direct his journey to 
 Macedonia. And here it was that St. Luke joined 
 himself to his company, and became ever after his 
 inseparable companion. Sailing from Troas, they 
 arrived at the island Samothracia, and thence to 
 Neapolis; from whence they went to Philippi, the 
 chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a Roman 
 colony; where he stayed some considerable time to 
 plant the Christian faith, and where his ministry 
 had more particular success on Lydia, a purple- 
 seller, born at Thyatira, baptized together with her 
 whole family; and with her the apostle sojourned 
 during his residence in that place. A little with¬ 
 out this city there was sl proseucha, (an oratory, or 
 house of prayer,) whereto the apostle and his com¬ 
 pany used frequently to retire, for the exercise of 
 their religion, and for preaching the gospel to those 
 that resorted thither. The Jews had three sorts of 
 places for their public worship ; the temple at Jeru- 
 salem, which was like the cathedral, or mother- 
 church, where all sacrifices and oblations were 
 offered, and where all males were bound, three 
 times a year, personally to pay their devotions; 
 their synagogue, (many whereof they had almost in 
 every place, not unlike our parochial churches,) 
 where the Scriptures were read and expounded, 
 and the people taught their duty. ‘ Moses of old 
 time hath in every city them that preach him, being 
 read in the synagogues every Sabbath-day.’^ And 
 then they had their proseuchce, (ra Kara TroXeig Trpo- 
 
 * Acts, XV. 21, 
 
218 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 (TEVKTripia, as Philo sometimes calls them,') or ora¬ 
 tories, which were like chapels of ease to the tem¬ 
 ple and synagogues, whither the people were wont 
 to come solemnly to offer up their prayers to hea¬ 
 ven. They were built (as Epiphanius informs us,®) 
 £uw rrjg ttoXeojq, ev aipi ai^££W roirip, without the 
 city, in the open air, and uncovered; totvhq TcXarElg 
 (j)6p(i)v ^Lurjy, TrpoaEvx^Q ravTag ekuXsv ; being large, 
 spacious places, after the manner of fora, or mar¬ 
 ket-places, and these they called proseuchas. And 
 that the Jews and Samaritans had such places of 
 devotion, he proves from this very place at Philippi, 
 where St. Paul preached. For they had them not 
 in Judaea only, but even at Rome itself,'^ where 
 Tiberius (as Philo tells Gains the emperor'') suf¬ 
 fered the Jews to inhabit the trans-tiberine region, 
 and undisturbedly to live according to the rites of 
 their institutions : icj irpoaEvx^Q ^ avviivaL Eig 
 
 avrdg, Kj pdXi’^a kv roTtg lEpalg, k^dopaig, 6te drjpoaic^ 
 rw Trdrpioy TraidEvovrat (f>iXoaocl)iav, and also to have 
 their proseuchas, and to meet in them, especially 
 upon their holy sabbaths, that they might be fami¬ 
 liarly instructed in the laws and religion of their 
 country. Such they had also in other places, espe¬ 
 cially where they had not, or were not suffered to 
 have synagogues for their public worship. But to 
 return. 
 
 4. As they were going to this oratory, they were 
 often followed by a Pythoness, a maid-servant, 
 acted by a spirit of divination, who openly cried 
 
 ‘ De Vit. Mos. lib. iii. p. 685. 
 
 2 Adv. Massal. Hceres. Ixxx. p. 850. 
 
 ^ In qua te quaere proseucha ?”—Juv. Sat. 3, v. 296. 
 
 “ Proseuclia] Locus Judaeorum, ubi orant.”—Vet. Schol. 
 ibid. '' De Legat. ad Caium, p. 1014. 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 219 
 
 out, that these men were the servants of the most 
 high God, who came to show the way of salvation 
 to the worldso easily can heaven extort a testi¬ 
 mony from the mouth of hell. But St. Paul, to 
 show how little he needed Satan to be his witness, 
 commanded the demon to come out, which imme- 
 « diately left her. The evil spirit thus thrown out of 
 i possession, presently raised a storm against the 
 apostles; for the masters of the damsel, who used 
 by her diabolical arts to raise great advantages to 
 themselves, being sensible that now their gainful 
 trade was spoiled, resolved to be revenged on them 
 that had spoiled it. Accordingly they laid hold upon 
 them, and dragged them before the seat of judica¬ 
 ture, insinuating to the governors that these men 
 were Jews, and sought to introduce different cus¬ 
 toms and ways of worship, contrary to the laws of 
 the Roman empire. The magistrates and people 
 were soon agreed, the one to give sentence, the 
 other to set upon the execution. In fine, they 
 were stript, beaten, and then commanded to be 
 thrown into prison, and the gaoler charged to keep 
 
 t them with all possible care and strictness: who 
 to make sure of his charge, thrust them into the 
 inner dungeon, and made their feet fast in the 
 stocks. But a good man can turn a prison into a 
 chapel, and make a den of thieves to be a house 
 of prayer. Our feet cannot be bound so fast to 
 the earth but that still our hearts may mount up 
 to heaven. At midnight the apostles were over- 
 ii, heard by their fellow-prisoners, praying, and sing¬ 
 ing hymns to God. But after the still voice came 
 the tempest. An earthquake suddenly shook the 
 foundations of the prison, the doors flew open, 
 and their chains fell off. The gaoler awaking with 
 
220 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 this amazing accident, concluded with himself ' 
 that the prisoners were fled and to prevent the 
 sentence of public justice, was going to lay violent 
 hands upon himself; which St. Paul espying, 
 called out to him to hold his hand, and told him 
 they were all there. Who thereupon came in to 
 them with a greater earthquake in his own con- %.\ 
 science, and falling down before them, asked them, k 
 ‘ What he should do to be saved ?’ They told him, \ 
 
 there was no other way of salvation for him or his, j 
 
 than a hearty and sincere embracing of the faith I 
 of Christ. What a happy change does Christi- ! 
 anity make in the minds of men ! How plain does | 
 it smooth the roughest tempers, and instil the 
 sweetest principles of civility and good-nature ! i 
 He who a little before had tyrannized over the 
 apostles with the most merciless and cruel usage, 
 began now to treat them with all the arts of kind- j 
 ness and charity ; bringing them out of the dun¬ 
 geon, and washing their stripes and wounds, and 
 being more fully instructed in the principles of 
 Christianity, was, together with his whole family, 
 immediately baptized by them. Early in the morn- ■ 
 ing the magistrates sent officers privately to release P 
 them; which the apostles refused, telling them, 
 that they were not only innocent persons, but 
 Romans; that they had been illegally condemned 
 and beaten; that therefore their delivery should be 
 as public as the injury, and an open vindication of 
 their innocency; and that they themselves, who 
 had sent them thither, should fetch them thence. 4 
 For the Roman government was very tender of the 
 
 * “ Milites, si amiserint custodias, ipsi in periculum deducun- 
 tur.”—L. 12. fF. de custod. et exhib. reor. tit. 3. 
 

 !. 
 
 ST. PAUL. 
 
 221 
 
 lives and liberties of its own subjects, those espe¬ 
 cially that were free denizens of Rome; every in- 
 juiy offered to a Roman being- looked upon as an 
 affront against the majesty of the whole people of 
 ome. Such a one might not be beaten : but to 
 be scourged or bound, without being first legally 
 heard and tried, was not only against the Roman, 
 f but the laws of all other nations:^ and the more 
 public any injury was, the greater was its aggrava¬ 
 tion; and the laws required a more strict apd 
 solemn lepaiation. St. Paul, who was a Roman, 
 and veiy well understood the laws and privileges 
 of Rome, insisted upon this, to the great startling 
 and affrighting of the magistrates; who sensible of 
 their error, came to the prison, and entreated them 
 to depart. Whereupon going to Lydias house, 
 and having saluted and encourag'ed the brethren, 
 they departed from that place. 
 
 5. Leaving Philippi, they came next to Thessa- 
 lonica, the metropolis of Macedonia, where Paul, 
 according to his custom, presently went to the 
 Jewish synagogue, for three sabbath-days, reason¬ 
 ing and disputing with them f proving from the 
 
 Ista laus primum majorum nostrorum, Quirites, qui lenitate 
 legum vestram libertatem munitam esse voluerunt. Quamobrem 
 inviolatum corpus omnium civium Romanorum integrum liber- 
 tatis defendo servari opertere. Porcia lex virgas ab omnium 
 civium Rom. corpore amovit. C. Gracchus legem tulit, ne de 
 capite civium Rom. injussu vestro judicaretur.”—Cic. Oratio pro 
 C. Rabir. p. 314, tom. ii. ^ 
 
 ^ L. 7, fF. de injuriis, lib. Ixix. tit. 10. 
 
 ^ Paul, by thus carefuUy avoiding giving the Jews cause of 
 complaint against him, both acted in conformity with the spirit 
 of our Lord’s directions, and greatly furthered the object of his 
 ministry. Had he been less wise, or less holy ; had he been an 
 impostor, or a fanatic, he would not have thus sought to diffuse 
 the knowledge he had to impart through the acknowledged and 
 
 i 
 
222 
 
 lives of the apostles. 
 
 predictions of the Old Testament, that the Messiah 
 was to suffer, and to rise again ; and that the 
 blessed Jesus was this Messiah. Great numbers, 
 especially of religious proselytes, were converted . 
 by his preaching; while, like the sun which melts 
 wax but hardens clay, it wrought quite a contrary 
 effect in the unbelieving Jews, who presently set j 
 themselves to blow up the city into a tumult and i 
 an uproar, and missing St. Paul, (who had with¬ 
 drawn himself,) they fell foul upon Jason, in whose 
 house he lodged, representing to the magistrates 
 that they were enemies to Caesar, and sought to 
 undermine the peace and prosperity of the Roman 
 empire. At night Paul and Silas were conducted 
 by the brethren to Beroea; where going to the syna¬ 
 gogue, they found the people of a more noble and 
 generous, a more pliable and ingenuous temper, 
 ready to entertain the Christian doctrine, but yet 
 not willing to take it merely upon the apostle’ •. 
 word, till they had first compared his preaching 
 with what the scriptures say of the Messiah and 
 his doctrine. And the success was answerable in 
 those great numbers that came over to them. But 
 the Jewish malice pursued them still j foi healing 
 at Thessalonica what entertainment they had found, 
 in this place, they presently came down to exas-| 
 perate and stir up the people 5 to avoid which,, 
 St. Paul, leaving Silas and Timothy behind him^ 
 thought good to withdraw himself from tha^ 
 
 place. 
 
 6 . From Beroea he went to Athens,' one ol th( 
 
 legal channels of communication, but would have published a 
 once, and with every species of popular art, his notions to 1 1 
 
 Gentiles.—E d. 
 
 1 Acts, xvii. 15. 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 223 
 
 most renowned cities in the world, excelling all 
 others (says an ancient historian') in antiquity, 
 humanity, and learning. Indeed it was the great 
 seat of arts and learning ; and as Cicero^ will have 
 it, the fountain whence civility, learning, religion, 
 arts, and laws, were derived into all other nations. 
 ‘ So universally flocked to by all that had but the 
 least kindness for the muses, or good manners, that 
 he who had not seen Athens was accounted a 
 block; he who having seen it was not in love with 
 it, a dull, stupid ass; and he who after he had 
 seen it could be willing to leave it, fit for nothing 
 to be but a pack-horse.^ Here among the several 
 sects of philosophers, he had more particular contests 
 with the Stoics and Epicureans, who beyond all 
 the rest,, seemed enemies to Christianity. The 
 < Epicureans, because they found their pleasure and 
 -jovial humour, and their loose and exorbitant 
 "course of life so much checked and controlled by 
 the strict and severe precepts of Christ; and that 
 Christianity so plainly and positively asserted a 
 divine providence, that governs the world, and 
 
 ( that will adjudge to men suitable rewards and 
 punishments in another world. The Stoics, on 
 the other hand, though pretending to principles of 
 great and uncommon rigour and severity, and such 
 as had nearest affinity to the doctrines of the Chris¬ 
 tian religion, yet found themselves aggrieved with 
 it. That meek and humble temper of mind, that 
 
 I ' Cornel. Nep. in Vit. Attic, c. 3, p. 267- 
 Orat. pro Flacc. tom. ii. 
 
 ^ El jw?) TtdBaaai rag ’AOrjvag, '^sXexog d. 
 
 Ei dk TiQkaaaiy ju)) rsOrfpevcrai de', ovog. 
 
 Et ^e’ ivaps^o)v aTrorpe^EiCj KavOrjXtov. 
 
 Lysipp. comic, apucl Dicsearch. de vit. Graec. a 
 Steph. edit. cap. 3, p. 18. 
 
224 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 modesty and self-denial, which the gospel so ear¬ 
 nestly recommends to us, and so strictly requires 
 of us, being so directly contrary to the immode¬ 
 rate pride and ambition of that sect, who beyond 
 all proportions of reason, were not ashamed to 
 make their wise men equal to, and in some things 
 to exceed God himself.^ 
 
 7 . While St. Paul staid at Athens, in expectation 
 of Silas and Timothy to come to him, he went up 
 and down to take a more curious view and survey 
 of the city, which he found miserably overgrown 
 wdth superstition and idolatry; as indeed Athens 
 was noted by all their own writers for far greater 
 numbers of deities and idols than all Greece 
 besides.^ They were ^jairep irepl rd dXXa <piXo^ei'5v- 
 
 Tsg, bVw Kj Tvepl TroXXa yap rwv ^eviKoiv 
 
 kpMv Trapede^avTo as Strabo notes; ^ not more 
 fond of strangers and novelties in other things, 
 than forward to comply with novelties in religion : 
 
 ^ “ Tantum sapienti sua quantum deo omnis *tas patet. Est 
 aliquid quo sapiens antecedat Deum. Ille natures beneficio non 
 timet, suo sapiens. Ecce res magna, habere imbecillitatem 
 hominis, securitatem Dei.”—Senec. Epist. 53, p. 131. “ Sole- 
 
 bat Sextius dicere, Jovem plus n^n posse, quam bonum virum. 
 Plura Jupiter habet, quas preestat hominibus: sed inter duos 
 bonos non est melior, qui locupletior. Jupiter quo antecedit 
 virum bonum ? diutius bonus est. Sapiens nihilo se minoris 
 sestimat, quod virtutes ejus spatio breviore clauduntur.”—Id: 
 Epist. 37, p. 203. 
 
 AkXeKTttL ds poi K, Trporepov wg ’A9t]vaioiQ Trepi(r(76Tep6v 
 Tt ^ TOi'Q clAXoiq siQ Tci^Eict (TTVsS't'jQ* Pausau. lib. 1. p. 42. 
 Tstsq Se H rd tig (piXavQpoJTciav povov KaOk'rijKeVf dXXd ^ 
 tig Qtiig evcretelv dXXiov TrXkov. —Id. 
 
 0 eoi ^eviKoi Trapd ^A^r]vaioig ripiovTai, ng KaraXeyei 
 ’ATtoXXo(pdvrig Kpjjai.—Hesych. in voc. Qeoi p. 438. 
 
 -- aiei Se Beopp^TOJV irepi pv^cov 
 
 'ArOiSog dpxaiijg ^iXoTrevBeeg eicFi TToXirai. 
 
 Nonn. Dionys. lib. xxxviii. 542. 
 
 ® Geograph, p. 325. 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 225 
 
 ready to entertain any foreign deities and rites of 
 worship; no divinity that was elsewhere adored 
 coming amiss to them. Whence Athens is by one 
 
 ^ ed^ TO fxeyi<TOP rijg evae- 
 
 teiag "" the great sum and centre of piety 
 
 and religion. ^ And he there aggravates the im¬ 
 piety of Epicurus, in speaking unworthily and 
 irreverently of the gods, from the place where he 
 did it; at Athens, a place so pious, so devoted to 
 them. Indeed herein justly commendable, that 
 they could not brook the least dishonourable re¬ 
 flection upon any deity, and therefore Apollonius 
 Tyaneus tells Timasion, that the safest way was 
 
 * Himer. Orat. in Epicur. ap. Phot, cod 243, col. 1086. 
 
 But this Appollonius, so celebrated in his times for 
 Ithe success with which he practised the arts of magic that 
 rim was set up by the pagans as the rival of Christ, has been 
 shown _ to have clearly professed his belief in one mighty and 
 mysterious Being, who created all things. The contradiction 
 'Rjich existed between this notion, and that of the sentiment 
 above stated, was only an apparent contradiction in the theology 
 of the period, and was supposed to be fully explained by the 
 reasonings of the philosophers. “ The truth of this whole busi- 
 ness,” observes the venerable Cudworth, “ seems to be this : 
 that the ancient pagans did physiologize in their theology; and 
 whether looking upon the whole world animated, as the supreme 
 God, and consequently the several parts of it as his living mem- 
 bers; or else, apprehending it at least to be a mirror or visible 
 image of the invisible Deity, and consequently all its several 
 j^rts and things of nature but so many several manifestations of 
 the Divine power and providence : they pretended that all their 
 devotion towards the Deity ought not to be huddled up in one 
 general and confused acknowledgment of a supreme invisible 
 Being, the creator and governor of all; but that all the several 
 manifestations of the Deity in the world, considered singly and 
 apart by themselves, should be made so many distinct objects 
 of their devout veneration,”—Intellectual System, Book I. chap, 
 iv. p. 228, ed. 1743. The awful corruption which followed in 
 the train of every mythological invention, proves the perfect 
 falseness of this philosophic theory ; the grand error of which 
 seems to have been, that it confounded the will of Deity 
 
 VOL. I. n 
 
226 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 to speak well of all the gods; and especially at 
 Athens, where altars were dedicated even to un¬ 
 known gods.' And so St. Paul here found it, for 
 among the several shrines and places of worship 
 and devotion, he took more particular notice of one , 
 altar inscribed to the unknown God. The entire 
 inscription, whereof the apostle quotes only part ^ 
 of the last words, is thought to have been this : 
 
 i 
 
 GEOIS A2IAS KAI EYPOnHS KAI AIBYH2- 0EQi. 
 
 AENQSTQt KAI SENQi. 
 
 “to the gods of ASIA, EUROPE, AND AFRICA; 
 
 TO THE STRANGE AND UNKNOWN GOD.” 
 
 St. Jerome ^ represents it in the same manner, only 
 makes it gods, in the plural number; which, be¬ 
 cause, says he, St. Paul needed not, he only cite 
 it in the singular.'' Which surely he affirms with 
 out any just ground and warrant; though it cannot 
 be denied, but that heathen writers make frequent 
 mention of the altars of unknown gods that were at 
 Athens, as there want not others who speak of 
 some erected there to an unknown god. This no- 
 
 with the operations carried on by its energy; for each of the 
 gods being evidently regarded as possessing a distinct person¬ 
 ality, must also have been considered to possess a distinct will; 
 distinct in itself, however subjected occasionally to the greater 
 power of the higher god or gods. From this variety of wills, 
 existing in the variously exhibited and divided godhead, arose, 
 we apprehend, all that confusion of principles, that dark cloud 
 of enormous vice, which overspread the whole heathen world. 
 —Ed. 
 
 I 
 
 ' Philostor. de vit. Appollon. lib. vi. cap. 2, p. 262, et ex, eo, 
 Suid. in voc. Tijuacriwv. 
 
 * Oecumen. Schol. in Act. 17, p. 137. 
 
 ^ Com. in Tit. cap. 1, ad Paul, et Eustoch. p. 248, tom. ix. 
 
 ■* It is supposed by some learned authors that the plural 
 might be used, not to express that there were altars to many un¬ 
 known gods, but that there were many altars to the one.— Ed. 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 227 
 
 tion the Athenians might probably borrow from 
 the Hebrews, who had the name of God in great 
 secrecy and veneration. This being one of the 
 titles given him by the prophet nnriDD 
 . hidden God,' or a God that hides himself.^ Sure 
 I am, that Justin Martyr* tells us, that one of the 
 ► principal names given to God by some of the 
 heathens, was Ilay/CjOi/^oe, ^ one altogether hidden.’ 
 Hence, the Egyptians^ probably derived their 
 great God Ammon, or more truly Amun, which 
 signifies occult,’ or ^hidden.’ Accordingly, in 
 this passage of St. Paul, the Syriac interpreter 
 renders it, the ^ altar of the hidden God.^ The 
 Jews were infinitely superstitious in concealing the 
 name of God, not thinking it lawful ordinarily to 
 pronounce it. This made the Gentiles, strangers at 
 best both to the language and religion of the Jews, 
 at a great loss by what name to call him; one 
 ' styling him in general an " uncertain, unspeakable, 
 invisible deity whence Caligula,'' in his ranting 
 oration to the Jews, told them, that wretches as 
 they were, though they refused to own him, wliom 
 
 t all others had confessed to be a deity, yet they 
 could worship rov aKaray6fia~ov vfjuv, ' their own 
 
 j Isaiah, xlv. 14. ^ * Parsn. ad Grac. p. 37. 
 
 T(x)V 7roWix)V VOfil^OVTiJJV iSlOV Trap A-lyVTTTlOlQ 
 ' ovofxa TS Alog rov Afxsv (oi/ TrapayovTtg Apfi^va 
 
 Xeyofiev) MaveBiog fisv o ^ebtvvirrjg roi' KSicpvfinivov oUrai, 
 ^ rrjv Kpvipiv VTTO ravrpg dTjXsaSrai Trjg Plutarch, 
 
 lib. de Isid. et Osir. 354. 
 
 ——— “ dedita sacris Incerti Judaea Dei.”—Lucan. Pharsal. 
 lib. ii. incertum Mosis numen. Trebel. Poll, in vit. Claud, c 2 
 
 p. 800. ■ ’ 
 
 Judffii meiite sold, unumque numen intelligunt ^ summum 
 
 illud et aeternum, neque mutabile, neque interiturum.”_Tacit. 
 
 , Histor. lib. v. c. 5. p. 535. 
 
 ^ ^ Phil, de legat. ad Cai. p. 1041. 
 
228 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 nameless God.' And hence, the Gentiles derived 
 their custom of keeping secret the name of their 
 gods; thus Plutarch^ tells us of the tutelar deity of 
 Rome, that it was not lawful to name it, or so much 
 as to inquire what sex it was of, whether god or 
 goddess; and that for once revealing it, Valerius 
 Soranus, though tribune of the people, came to an 
 untimely end, and was crucified; the vilest and 
 most dishonourable kind of death. Whereof, 
 among other reasons, he assigns this, that by con¬ 
 cealing the author of their public safety, pj) povov 
 rsToy, aXkd Travrag viro t&v ttoXit-wv desg 
 
 TLfxaaBai, not he only, but all the other gods might 
 have due honour and worship paid to them. Hence, 
 in their public adorations, after the invocation of 
 particular deities, they were wont to add some more 
 general and comprehensive form, as when Cicero 
 had been making his address to most of their par¬ 
 ticular gods, he concludes with a ^ Cccteros item Deos, 
 Deasque omnes imploro atque ohtestor.’^ Usually 
 the form was ‘nil DEiEQUE omnes.’ The reason 
 whereof was this, that not being assured many times 
 what that peculiar deity was, that was proper to 
 their purpose, or what numbers of gods there were 
 in the world, they would not affront or offend any, 
 by seeming to neglect and pass them by. And 
 this Chrysostom^ thinks to have been particularly 
 
 
 \ 
 
 ■I 
 
 I 
 
 * Quasst. Rom. p. 279, vid. Serv. ad illud Virgilii Georgic. ^ 
 lib. i. “ Dii patrii indigites,” &.c. 
 
 2 In Verr. Actio. 7, p. 223. “ Post specialem invocationem, 
 transit ad generalitatem, ne quod numen praetereat, more pon- - 
 tificum per quos ritu veteri in omnibus sacris, post speciales 
 Deos, quos ad ipsum sacrum, quod fiebat, necesse erat invocari, , 
 generaliter omnia numina invocabantur.”—Serv. in illud Virgil. 
 Georg, lib. i. Diique Deaeque omnes. 
 
 ® Homil. xxxviii. in Act. p. 705. 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 229 
 
 j designed in the erection of this Athenian altar, 
 j firiTTOTE Kal aXXoQ rig y avrdlg jiev yvoj- 
 
 , pifj.og, ^epairev6fxevog de aXXaj(5 they were afraid 
 I lest there might be some other deity (besides 
 ^ those whom they particularly worshipped) as yet 
 i unknown to them, though honoured and adored 
 , ^ elsewhere; and therefore vTrep TrXeiovog aaipaXei- 
 ; ac, "tor the more security,’ they dedicated an 
 
 I altar to the unknown god. As for the particu¬ 
 lar occasion of erecting these altars at Athens, 
 
 I (omitting that of Pan’s appearing to Philippides, 
 
 ; mentioned by Oecumenius,) the most probable 
 
 • seems to be this. When a great plague raged at 
 
 ^ Athens, and several means had been attempted 
 
 ! for the removal of it, they were advised by Epime- 
 
 nides the philosopher, to build an altar, and dedi¬ 
 cate it tS TTpocryjKovTi ‘to the proper and pecu¬ 
 liar deity to whom it did appertain,^ be he what he 
 , would. A course which, proving successful, no 
 doubt gave occasion to them, by way of gratitude, 
 
 ^ to erect more shrines to this unknown God. And 
 
 accordingly Laertius, who lived long after St. PauPs 
 1 £ time, tells us that there were such nameless altars 
 I (he means such as were not inscribed to any par- 
 I ticular deity) in and about Athens in bis days, as 
 ^ monuments of that eminent deliverance.® 
 
 I [ * Laert. lib. i. in vit. Epimen. p. 78. 
 
 Cud worth (Intellec. Sys. b. 1. c. 4,) quotes from Lucian’s 
 ^lalogue, Philopatzs, to illustrate this point, the expression of 
 I Critias; N?; tov A.yviij(TTOv i.v ’AOrjvaig. “No, by the un¬ 
 known god of Athens and this of Triephon : Upelg dk rov iv 
 ^ AQrivaiQ^ Kyviixyrov epevpovTEg 7rpo(TKVV7](Tavregy 
 
 eig kpavov SKrelvavreg, rovrip svxapiarrjffopev, wg rara^ioj- 
 ^ Oevreg, See. “Butwe, having found out that unknown god at 
 Athens, and worshipped him with hands stretched up to heaven, 
 will give thanks to him, as having been thought worthy to be 
 
 • made subject to this power.”— Ed . 
 
230 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 7. But whatever the particular cause might he, 
 hence it w^as that St. Paul took occasion to dis¬ 
 course of the true, but to them unknown God. For 
 the philosophers had before treated him with a 
 great deal of scorn and derision, asking what that 
 idle and prating fellow had to say to them ? Others 
 looking upon him as a propagator of new and 
 strange gods, because he preached to them Jesus 
 and the anastasis, or resurrection, which they 
 looked upon as two upstart deities, lately come into 
 the world. Hereupon they brought him to the place 
 where stood the famous senate-house of the Areo- 
 pagites; and according to the Athenian humour, 
 which altogether delighted in curious novelties, 
 running up and down the forum and places of pub¬ 
 lic concourse to see any strange accident, or hear 
 any new report, (a vice which their own great orator’ 
 long since taxed them with,) they asked him, what 
 that new and strange doctrine was which he preached 
 to them ? Whereupon, in a neat and elegant dis¬ 
 course he began to tell them, he had observed how 
 much they were overrun with superstition;® that 
 their zeal for religion was indeed generous and 
 commendable, but which miserably over-shot its 
 due measures and proportions; that he had taken 
 notice of an altar among them inscribed, to the un¬ 
 known God; and therefore, in compassion to their 
 blind and misguided zeal, he would declare unto 
 them the Deity which they ignorantly worshipped; 
 
 1 Toasrov xpovov tnrsda^ere, oaov av KaS^rjcrSre, a/csovrec 
 i]V TrpocrayysX^y ri veiorepov —Demosth. Philip. 4, p. 53. 
 
 2 The word Aei<ndaiixo)v, here translated superstition, was used 
 by the apostle in its best, or mildest sense; in which manner it 
 is found employed by many heathen authors. Com. in Act. 
 Apos. Poli Synopos. i. h. 1 .—Ed. 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 231 
 
 and this was no other than the g-reat God, the 
 creator of all thing’s, the supreme governor and 
 ruler of the world, who was incapable of being con¬ 
 fined within any temple or human fabric; that no 
 image could be made as a proper instrument to re¬ 
 present him; that he needed no gifts or sacrifices, 
 being himself the fountain, from whence life, 
 breath, and all other blessings were derived to par¬ 
 ticular beings: that from one common original he 
 had made the whole race of mankind; and had 
 wisely fixed and determined the times and bounds 
 of their habitation; and all to this end, that men 
 might be the stronglier obliged to seek after him, 
 and sincerely to serve and worship him. A duty 
 which they might easily attain to, (though other¬ 
 wise sunk into the deepest degeneracy, and over¬ 
 spread with the grossest darkness,) he every where 
 affording such palpable evidences of his own being 
 and providence, that he seemed to stand near and 
 touch us; it being entirely from him that we de¬ 
 rive our life, motion, and subsistence. A thing ac¬ 
 knowledged even by their own poet,' that " we also 
 are his offspring." If, therefore, God was our 
 creator, it was highly unreasonable to think that 
 w^e could make any image or representation of him : 
 that it was too long already, that the divine patience 
 had borne with the manners of men, and suffered 
 them to go on in their blind idolatries; that now 
 he expected a general repentance and reformation 
 
 1 - TrdvTt) Se Aibg KiKp^fxtSfa iravreg. 
 
 TOY TAP KAI PENOS E2MEN. 6 r/Triog 
 Ak^ia crrjixaivei. —Arat. Phaen. in prin. dv^ptbiroKn. rrpbg rb 
 TTarijp avdpibv re Beojvre el yap avrbg ravra ebr]pLispyr]<je 
 Tcpog^ TO Tolg av9pu)7roig (StocpeXegy dvrs av KXrjOeitjjjieV') avrbv 
 Trarepa brjfxispybv e7nypa<p6p.e'voi. —Schol. ibid. 
 
232 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 from the world, especially having, by the publish¬ 
 ing of his gospel, put out of all dispute the case of 
 a future judgment, and particularly appointed the 
 Holy Jesus to be the person that should sentence 
 and judge the world : by whose resurrection he ^ 
 had given sufficient evidence and assurance of it. 
 
 No sooner had he mentioned the resurrection, but 
 some of the philosophers (no doubt Epicureans, | 
 who were wont to laugh at the notion of a future ’ 
 state) mocked and derided him; others more 
 gravely answered, that they would hear him again , 
 
 concerning this matter. But his discourse, however , 
 
 scorned and slighted, did not wholly want its de- ^ 
 
 sired effect, and that upon some of the greatest ] 
 
 quality and rank among them. In the number of j 
 
 whom was Dionysius, one of the grave senators \ 
 
 and judges of the Areopagus; and Damaris, whom 
 the ancients not improbably make his wife. 
 
 8. This Dionysius was bred at Athens, in all the yi 
 learned arts and sciences: at five-and-twenty years ; 
 of age he is said to have travelled into Egypt, to 
 perfect himself in the study of astrology ; for which 
 that nation had the credit and renown. Here be- ^ 
 holding the miraculous eclipse that was at the time ^ 
 of our Saviour’s passion,^ he concluded that some 
 great accident must needs be coming upon the 
 world. Returning to Athens, he became one of j 
 the senators of the Areopagus, disputed with St. 
 Paul, and was by him converted from his errors and i 
 idolatry; and being throughly instructed, was by ^ 
 him (as the ancients inform us^) made the first bishop 
 
 ‘ Chrysost. de Sacerdot. lib. iv. c. 7^ P- ^7, T» 4. < 
 
 2 Vid. inter alios Suid. in voc. Aiovv(nog.^ 
 
 2 Dionys. Corinth. Episc. ap. Euseb.lib. iii. c. 4, p. /4 ; lib. 
 iv. c. 22, p. 144. 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 233 
 
 of Athens. As for those that tell us,^ that he went 
 afterwards into France, by the direction of Clemens 
 I of Rome, planted Christianity at, and became bishop 
 
 j of Paris; of his suffering- martyrdom there under 
 , Domitian, his carrying his head for the space of 
 i two miles in his hand, after it had been cut off, and 
 the rest of his miracles done before and after his 
 death, I have as little leisure to inquire into them 
 as I have faith to believe them. Indeed, the foun¬ 
 dation of all is justly denied; viz., that ever he was 
 j there, a thing never heard of till the times of 
 Charles the Great; though since that, volumes 
 I have been written of this controversy, both hereto¬ 
 fore and of later times; among which, J. Sirmondus, 
 the J esuit, and Monsieur Launoy, one of the learned 
 doctors of the Sorbon, have unanswerably proved 
 the Athenian and Parisinian Dionysius to be dis¬ 
 tinct persons. For the books that go under his 
 ^ name, M. Daille has sufficiently evinced them to 
 ! be of a date many hundred years younger than St. 
 Denys though I doubt not but they may claim a 
 greater antiquity than what he allows them. But 
 I: whoever was their author, I am sure Suidas has 
 i, overstretched the praise of them beyond all pro¬ 
 portion, when he gives them this character, el rig 
 aTTidoL Trpog ra fcdAXr/ rwv avriov Xoyujv, fcai tcl jSd^r] 
 
 \, 1 Martyrium S. Dionys. per S. Metaph. ap, Sur. ad diem 9. 
 
 . Octob. Epist. Hilduin. Abb et Hincm. Rhem. item passio ejus 
 I aliaque ibid. Niceph. lib. ii. c. 20, p. 167. 
 
 2 Dupin has entered at full into the examination of these 
 ' supposed works of Dionysius the Areopagite; and concludes 
 that they were most probably forged towards the close of the 
 fifth, or at the beginning of the sixth century ; that it is certain 
 they were written since the fourth century, and before the mid¬ 
 dle of the sixth ; while the intentional forgery is made plain by 
 the author’s evidently affecting to have lived m the apostolic 
 age. Biblioth. Pat. vol. i. p. 36 .—Ed. 
 
234 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 rwv vorjfidrojv, dvSrpwTrivrjg ^vaidog ravra vofiLffoi 
 ytvviifiaTa, aWd tlvoq dtcrjpaTa Kal ^eiag dvvdfxewg, 
 that whoever considers the elegancy of his dis¬ 
 courses, and the profoundness of his notions and 
 speculations, must needs conclude that they are 
 not the issue of any human understanding, but of 
 some divine and immaterial power. But to return 
 to our apostle. 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 Of St. Paul's acts at Corinth and Ephesus. 
 
 After his departure from Athens,' he went to Co¬ 
 rinth, the metropolis of Greece, and the residence of 
 the proconsul of Achaia; where he found Aquila and 
 Priscilla lately come from Italy, banished out of Rome 
 by the decree of Claudius; and they being of the same 
 trade and profession wherein he had been educated 
 in his youth, he wrought together with them, lest 
 he should be unnecessarily burthensome unto any, 
 which for the same reason he did in some other 
 places. Hither, after some time, Silas and Timothy 
 came to him. In the synagogue he frequently dis¬ 
 puted with the Jews and proselytes, reasoning and 
 proving, that Jesus was the true Messiah. They, 
 according to the nature of the men, made head 
 and opposed him; and what they could not con¬ 
 quer by argument and force of reason, they en¬ 
 deavoured to carry by noise and clamour, mixed 
 
 ^ Acts, xviii, 1. 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 235 
 
 with blasphemies and revilings, the last refuges of 
 an impotent and baffled cause. Whereat to testify 
 his resentment, he shook his garments and told 
 them, since he saw them resolved to pull down 
 vengeance and destruction upon their own heads, 
 he for his part was guiltless and innocent, and 
 would henceforth address himself unto the Gen¬ 
 tiles. Accordingly he left them, and went into 
 the house of Justus, a religious proselyte, where, 
 by his preaching and the many miracles which 
 he wrought, he converted great numbers to the 
 faith. Amongst which were Crispus, the chief 
 ruler of the synagogue, Gaius and Stephanus, who, 
 together with their families, embraced the doctrine 
 of the gospel, and were baptized into the Christian 
 faith. But the constant returns of malice and in¬ 
 gratitude are enough to tire the largest charity, 
 and cool the most generous resolution. Therefore, 
 that the apostle might not be discouraged by the 
 restless attempts and machinations of his enemies, 
 our Lord appeared to him in a vision, told him 
 that notwithstanding the bad success he had 
 hitherto met with, there was a great harvest to be 
 gathered in that place; that he should not be afraid 
 of his enemies, but go on to preach confidently 
 and securely, for that he himself would stand by 
 him and preserve him. 
 
 2. About this time,' as is most probable, he 
 wrote his first epistle to the Thessalonians ; Silas 
 and Timothy being lately returned from thence, 
 and having done the message for which he had sent 
 them thither. The main design of the epistle is 
 
 ' That is, at the close of the year 51, or the beginning of the 
 following year.—E d. 
 
236 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 to confirm them in the belief of the Christian re¬ 
 ligion, and that they would persevere in it, not¬ 
 withstanding all the afflictions and persecutions 
 which he had told them would ensue upon their 
 profession of the gospel, and to instruct them in 
 the main duties of a Christian and religious life. 
 While the apostle was thus employed, the malice 
 of the Jews was no less at work against him; and 
 universally combining together, they brought him 
 before Gallio, the proconsul of the province, elder 
 brother to the famous Seneca: before him they 
 accused the apostle as an innovator in religion, 
 that sought to introduce a new way of worship, 
 contrary to what was established by the Jewish 
 law, and permitted by the Roman powers. The 
 apostle was ready to have pleaded his own cause, 
 but the proconsul told them, that had it been a 
 matter of right or wrong, that had fallen under 
 the cognizance of the civil judicature, it had been 
 very fit and reasonable that he should have heard 
 and determined the case ; but since the controversy 
 was only concerning the punctilios and niceties of 
 their religion, it was very improper for him to be a 
 judge in such matters. And when they still cla- ^ 
 moured about it, he threw out their indictment, 
 and commanded his officers to drive them out of 
 court. Whereupon some of the townsmen seized 
 upon Sosthenes, one of the rulers of the Jewish ' 
 consistory, a man active and busy in this insurrec¬ 
 tion, andbeathim even before the courtof judicature, ’j 
 the proconsul not at all concerning himself about l| 
 it. A year and a half St. Paul continued in this 
 place, and before his departure thence, wrote his ^ 
 second epistle to the Thessalonians, to supply the 
 want of his coming to them, which in his former 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 237 
 
 he had resolved on, and for which, in a manner, he 
 had eng-aged his promise. In this, therefore, he 
 endeavours again to confirm their minds in the 
 truth of the gospel, and that they would not be 
 , shaken with those troubles which the wicked un¬ 
 believing Jews would not cease to create them; a 
 lost and undone race of men, and whom the divine 
 vengeance was ready finally to overtake. And 
 because some passages in his former letter, relating 
 to this destruction, had been misunderstood, as if 
 this day of the Lord were just then at hand, he 
 rectifies those mistakes, and shows what must pre¬ 
 cede our Lord’s coming unto judgment. 
 
 3. St. Paul having thus fully planted and culti¬ 
 vated the church at Corinth, resolved now for 
 Syria.^ And taking along with him Aquila and 
 Priscilla, at Cenchrea, the port and harbour of 
 Corinth, Aquila (for of him it is certainly to be 
 understood) shaved his head, in performance of a 
 Nazarite vow he had formerly made, the time 
 ■ whereof was now run out. In his passage into 
 Syria he came to Ephesus, where he preached 
 awhile in the synagogue of the Jews. And though 
 ^ desired to stay with them, yet having resolved to 
 be at Jerusalem at the passover, (probably that he 
 might have the fitter opportunity to meet his 
 friends, and preach the gospel to those vast num¬ 
 bers that usually flocked to that great solemnity,) 
 he promised that in his return he would come 
 again to them. Sailing thence, he landed at 
 Caesarea, and thence went up to Jerusalem; where 
 having visited the church, and kept the feast, he 
 went down to Antioch. Here having staid some 
 
 ^ Acts, xviii. 18. 
 
238 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 time, be traversed the countries of Galatia and 
 Phrygia, confirming, as he went, the new-converted 
 Christians, and so came to Ephesus; where finding 
 certain Christian disciples, he inquired of them, 
 whether, since their conversion, they had received 
 the miraculous gifts and powers of the Holy 
 Ghost.' They told him, that the doctrine which 
 they had received had nothing in it of that natuie, 
 nor had they ever heard that any such extraordi¬ 
 nary spirit had of late been bestowed upon the 
 church. Hereupon he further inquired unto what 
 they had been baptised ? (the Christian baptism 
 being administered in the name of the Holy 
 Ghost.) They answered, they had received no 
 more than John’s baptism; which though it obliged 
 men to repentance, yet did it explicitly spea 
 nothing of the Holy Ghost, or its gifts and powers. 
 To this the Apostle replied, that though Johns 
 baptism did openly oblige to nothing but repent¬ 
 ance, yet that it did implicitly acknowledge the 
 whole doctrine concerning Christ and the Holy 
 Ghost. Whereto they assenting, were solemnly 
 initiated by Christian baptism, and the apostle 
 laying his hands upon them, they immediately 
 received the Holy Ghost, in the gift of tongues, 
 prophecy, and other miraculous powers conferred 
 
 upon them. 
 
 4. After this he entered into the Jewish syna¬ 
 gogues, where for the first three months he con¬ 
 tended and disputed with the Jews, endeavouring 
 with great earnestness and resolution to convince 
 them of the truth of those things that concerned the 
 Christian religion. But when, instead of success. 
 
 ' Acts, xix. 1. 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 239 
 
 he met with nothing but refractoriness and infi¬ 
 delity, he left the synagogue, and taking those with 
 him whom he had converted, instructed them, and 
 others that resorted to him, in the school of one 
 Tyrannus, a place where scholars were wont to be 
 educated and instructed.^ In this manner he con¬ 
 tinued for two years together; in which time the 
 Jews and proselytes of the whole proconsular Asia 
 had opportunity of having the gospel preached to 
 them. And because miracles are the clearest evi¬ 
 dence of a divine commission, and the most imme¬ 
 diate credentials of heaven, those which do nearliest 
 affect our senses, and consequently have the strong¬ 
 est influence upon our minds, therefore God was 
 pleased to ratify the doctrine which St. Paul de¬ 
 livered by great and miraculous operations; and 
 those of somewhat a more peculiar and extraor¬ 
 dinary nature. Insomuch that he did not only heal 
 those that came to him, but if napkins or handker¬ 
 chiefs were but touched by him, and applied unto 
 the sick, their diseases immediately vanished, and 
 the demons and evil spirits departed out of those 
 that were possessed by them. 
 
 5. Ephesus,* above all other places in the world, 
 was noted of old for the study of magic, and all 
 secret and hidden arts, whence the 
 fj,ara SO often spoken of by the ancients, which 
 
 ^ Some commentators have conjectured that Tyrannus was a 
 title, not a name; but there appears no sufficient ground for 
 this supposition. He is generally believed to have been the 
 master of one of those schools which were common among the 
 Jews, and were instituted for private instruction, as those over 
 which the rabbis, or a consistory presided, were for the teaching 
 of the law in a more public way.— Ed. ^ 
 
 * ’E0i(Tia Ypdfifiara, krrqidai riveg ^vaTrapdKo\s9r}Toi. 
 Suid. m voc. ’E^eo-. Ypafifi. vid. Clem. Alex. Strom, lib. i. 
 
240 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 were certain obscure and mystical spells and charms, 
 by which they endeavoured to heal diseases and 
 drive away evil spirits, and do things beyond the 
 reach and apprehensions of common people.' Be¬ 
 sides other professors of this black art, theie weie 
 at this time at Ephesus certain Jews, who dealt in 
 the arts of exorcism and incantation; a craft and 
 mystery which Josephus ^ affirms to have been de¬ 
 rived from Solomon;^ who, he tells us, did not 
 only find it out, but composed forms of exorcism 
 and enchantment, whereby to cure diseases, and 
 expel demons, so as they should never return again; 
 and adds, ical avrrj ^epaireia 
 
 TrXet'Tov’ ^^that this art was still in foice 
 
 among the Jews;” instances whereof, he tells us, 
 he himself had seen, having beheld one Eleazar, a 
 
 ^ Much curious learning has been employed in the examin¬ 
 ations of this subject. The Ephesian incantations, ’E(ps<na 
 dXt^KpdpfxaKa, are alluded to as a proverb by Menander; • 
 and the ’Ecpeaia ypapixara, or Ephesian letters, appear to have 
 been six mystical words, which being bound on some part of 
 the person, in a similar manner probably as the phylacteries of 
 the Jews, were considered a sufficient protection against harm. 
 The names of these letters were 1. Askion ; 2. Kataskion; , 
 3. Lin; 4. Tetras ; 5. Damnamenens ; 6. Asion ; the significa- 
 tion of which was said to be :—darkness, light, the earth, the f 
 year, the sun, and truth. Combatants in the public games werfe " 
 accustomed to wear these charms about them as a means of 
 strength.— Ed. 
 
 2 Antiq. Jud. lib. viii. cap. 2, p. 257- 
 
 2 Solomon might have imbibed a love of magical arts from 
 some of the heathen women, who blinded his understanding in 
 so many other respects; or the extensive knowledge of nature 
 which he possessed might, amotig an uneducated people, have 
 led to the notion of his using incantations ; as was the case with 
 the scholars and philosophers who advanced beyond their co¬ 
 temporaries in the middle ages. But there is no room for be¬ 
 lieving that the enchantments practised by the Jewish exorcists 
 had their origin with the son of David, whose name was proba¬ 
 bly only used to give dignity and authority to the art.— Ed. 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 241 
 
 Jew, m the presence of Vespasian, his sons, and 
 the great officers of his army, curing demoniacs, by 
 holding a ring to their nose, under whose seal was 
 hid the root of a certain plant, prescribed by Solo- 
 ^ mon, at the scent whereof the demon presently 
 took leave and was gone, the patient falling to the 
 ground, while the exorcist, by mentioning Solomon, 
 and reciting some charms made by him, stood over 
 him, and charged the evil spirit never to return. 
 And to let them see that he was really gone, he 
 commanded the demon, as he went out, to over¬ 
 turn a cup full of water, which he had caused to 
 be set in the room before them. In the number of 
 these conjurers now at Ephesus, there were the 
 seven sons of Sceva, one of the chief heads of the 
 families of the priests, who seeing what great things 
 were done by calling over demoniacs the name of 
 Christ, attempted themselves to do the like, con- 
 . juring the evil spirit in the name of that Jesus, 
 whom Paul preached, to depart. But the stubborn 
 demon would not obey the warrant, telling them, 
 he knew who Jesus and Paul were, but did not 
 r understand what authority they had to use his 
 I name. And not content with this, forced the de¬ 
 moniac violently to fall upon them, to tear their 
 clothes, and wound their bodies; scarce suffering 
 them to escape with the safety of their lives. An 
 accident that begot great terror in the minds of 
 men, and became the occasion of converting many 
 to the faith; who came to the apostle, and con¬ 
 fessed the former course and manner of their lives. 
 Several also, who had traded in curious arts, and 
 the mysterious methods of spells and charms, freely 
 brought their books of magic rites, (whose price, 
 had they been to be sold, according to the rates 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
J 
 
 242 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 which men who dealt in those cursed mysteries 
 put upon them, would have amounted to the value 
 of above one thousand five hundred pounds,^) and 
 openly burnt them before the people; themselves 
 adiudo-ing them to those flames to which they were ^ 
 condemned by the laws of the empire.^ For so we 
 find the Roman laws® prohibiting any to keep , 
 books of magic arts, and that where any such were ^ 
 found, their goods should be forfeited, the books 
 publicly burned, the persons banished; and, if of a 
 meaner rank, beheaded. These books the penitent 
 converts did of their own accord sacrifice to the fire, 
 not tempted to spare them either by their former 
 love to them, or the present price and value of 
 them. With so mighty an efficacy did the gospel 
 
 prevail over the minds of men. 
 
 6. About this time it was that the apostle writ his 
 epistle to the Galatians. For he had heard that 
 since his departure, corrupt opinions had got in ► 
 amongst them about the necessary observation of 
 the legal rites; and that several impostors w^ere crept 
 into that church, who knew no better way to under- 
 mine the doctrine he had planted there, than by 4 
 vilifying his person, slighting him as an apostle I 
 
 ^ Acts xix. 19. (TvvsiprjcpKrav rag Tifidg avTiov, Kj^vpov 
 inyvoU ^Lvt,MSae irivTU ’Apyipwv Gr«corum valmt Drach- 
 mam Atticam, adedque nostii 7d. ob. Ac proinde Apyvp.- 
 mvriades quinque nummi nostri summam conliciunt 
 
 ' But reckoning the pieces of silver as Jewish shekels, at 
 
 three shillings each, the value usually assigned them 
 
 1 1-J_ 4-P oo C'i-kY' 
 
 tnree biiuunu& caLu, txiv. j ^ 
 
 was seven thousand five hundred pounds ; or if, as some authors 
 
 ^ , • __ __xVi TToiiiQ +np HnOKS 
 
 think, the Roman sestertius was meant, the value of the books ( 
 
 ’ - -1 1. __ j_J _ . T7t\ 
 
 was only a little more than four hundred pounds.—LD. 
 
 3 Paul. J. C. Sentent. lih. v. Sent. 21, Sect. 4, Tit. 23, ad 
 leg. Cornel, de Sicar. et Venefic. vid. leg. 4, ff. famil. hercisc. 
 Sect. 1, lib. X. T. 2, et lib. xii. C. Theod. de Malef. et Mathem. 
 lib. ix. Tit. 16. 
 
 1 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 243 
 
 only at the second hand^ not to be compared with 
 Petei, James, and John, who had familiarly con¬ 
 versed with Christ in the days of his flesh, and been 
 immediately deputed by him. In this epistle, there¬ 
 fore, he reproves them with some necessary smart¬ 
 ness and severity, that they had been so soon led out 
 of that right way wherein he had set them, and had 
 so easily suffered themselves to be imposed upon 
 by the crafty artifices of seducers. He vindicates 
 the honour of his apostolate, and the immediate 
 receiving his commission from Christ, wherein he 
 shows, that he came not behind the very best of 
 those apostles. He largely refutes those judaical 
 opinions that had tainted and infected them, and 
 in the conclusion instructs them in the rules and 
 duties of a holy life. While the apostle thus 
 stayed at Ephesus, he resolved with himself to pass 
 1 through Macedonia and Achaia, thence to Jeru- 
 „ Salem, and so to Rome. But for the present al¬ 
 tered his resolution, and continued still at Ephesus. 
 
 7. During his stay in this place, an accident 
 li happened, that involved him in great trouble and 
 danger. Ephesus, above all the cities of the east, 
 f was renewed for the famous temple of Diana, one 
 of the stateliest temples of the world. It was (as 
 Pliny tells us^) the very wonder of magnificence, 
 built at the common charges of all Asia properly so 
 called, two hundred and twenty years (elsewhere 
 he says four hundred in building, which we are 
 to understand of its successive rebuildings and re¬ 
 parations, being often wasted and destroyed. It 
 
 ^ H. Natur. lib. xxxvi. c. 14, p. 71G. 
 
 2 Lib. xvi. c. 40, p. 336. 
 
 2oi 1 ^ ’A/xa^ovideg - 
 
 "Evkots TrappaXh/Eipecxii (3peTag idpv<yavro. 
 
 R 2 
 
244 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 was four hundred and twenty-five feet long, two 
 hundred and twenty broad, supported by one hun¬ 
 dred and twenty-seven pillars, sixty feet high ; for 
 its antiquity, it was in some degree before the times 
 of Bacchus, equal to the reign of the Amazons, (by 
 whom it is generally said to have been first built,) as 
 the Ephesian ambassadors told Tiberius,' till by de¬ 
 grees it grew up into that greatness and splendour, 
 that it was generally reckoned one of the seven won¬ 
 ders of the world. But that which gave the greatest 
 fame and reputation to it, was an image of Diana kept 
 there, made of no very costly materials, but which the 
 crafty priests persuaded the people was beyond all 
 human artifice or contrivement j and that it was im¬ 
 mediately formed by Jupiter, and dropped down 
 from heaven; having first killed, or banished the 
 artists that made it, (as Suidas infonns us,") that 
 the cheat might not be discovered; by which means 
 they drew not Ephesus only, but the whole world .. 
 into a mighty veneration of it. Besides there were 
 within this temple multitudes of silver cabinets, or 
 chappelets, little shrines, made in fashion of the 
 temple, wherein was placed the image of Diana, 
 For the making of these holy shrines, great num- f 
 bers of silversmiths were employed and main¬ 
 tained; among whom one Demetrius was a leading ( 
 man, who foreseeing that if the Christian religion | 
 still got ground, their gainful trade would soon ] 
 come to nothing, presently called together the men 
 of his profession, especially those whom he himself 
 
 - th an S'fwrfjOCV oipSTai r/wg, ^ 
 
 Ovd’ d^veioregov' pea Kev YlvQS)va rrapekOoi. 
 
 Callim. in Dian. Hymn. 2, p. 23. - 
 
 -- TTspiuxTLOV dvSpd(Ti S'ai'/.ia. 
 
 Dionys. Perieg. v. 829. , 
 
 ' Tacit. Annal. lib iii. 61, p. 117. " Suid. in voc. AioTrsreg. 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 245 
 
 set on work; told them, that now their welfare and 
 livelihood were concerned, and that the fortunes 
 of their wives and children lay at stake; that it 
 was plain that this Paul had perverted city and 
 country and persuaded the people that the images 
 which they made and worshipped were no real 
 r? V which means their trade was not only 
 like to fall to the ground, but also the honour and 
 magnificence of the great goddess Diana, whom 
 not Asia only, but the whole world did worship 
 and adore. Enraged with this discourse, they 
 
 was Diana of 
 
 the Ephesians.’ The whole city was presently in 
 an uproar, and seizing upon two of St. Paul’s com¬ 
 panions, they hurried them into the theatre, probably 
 with a design to have cast them to the wild beasts, 
 bt. Paul hearing of their danger, would have ven¬ 
 tured himself among them, had not the Christians 
 nay, some even of the Gentile priests, governors of 
 the popular games and sports, earnestly dissuaded 
 him from it; well knowing that the people were 
 resolved, if they could meet with him, to throw him 
 to the wild beasts, that were kept there for the 
 disport and pleasure of the people. And this 
 doubtless he means, when elsewhere he tells us, 
 that " he fought with beasts at Ephesus probably 
 intending what the people designed, though he did 
 not actually suffer; though the brutish rage, the 
 savage and inhuman manners of this people did 
 sufficiently deserve that the censure and character 
 should be fixed upon themselves. 
 
 8. Great was the confusion of the multitude, the 
 major part not knowing the reason of the concourse ; 
 
 * 1 Cor. XV. 
 
246 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 in which distraction Alexander, a Jewish convert, 
 being thrust forward by the Jews, to be questioned 
 and examined about this matter, he would accord¬ 
 ingly have made his apology to the people, intend¬ 
 ing no doubt to clear himself by casting the whole 
 blame upon St. Paul; this being, very probably, that 
 Alexander the coppersmith, of whom our apostle , 
 elsewhere complains, Hhat he did him much evil, j 
 and greatly withstood his words^ and ‘ whom he j 
 delivered over unto satan’ for his apostacy, for | 
 blaspheming Christ, and reproaching Christianity. | 
 But the multitude perceiving him to be a Jew, and 
 thereby suspecting him to be one of St. Paul’s asso- | 
 dates, began to raise an outcry for near two hours 
 together, wherein nothing could be heard, but 
 ^ Great is Diana of the Ephesians.’ The noise 
 being a little over, the recorder, a discreet and pru¬ 
 dent man, came out and calmly told them, that it 
 was sufficiently known to all the world, what a 
 mighty honour and veneration the city of Ephesus 
 had for the great goddess Diana, and the famous , 
 image which fell from heaven, that therefore there I 
 needed not this stir to vindicate and assert it; that J 
 they had seized persons who were not guilty either l| 
 of sacrilege or blasphemy towards their goddess; I 
 that if Demetrius and his company had any just \ 
 charge against them, the courts were sitting, and 
 they might prefer their indictment; or if the con- ^ 
 troversy were about any other matter, it might be 
 referred to such a proper judicature as the law ap¬ 
 points for the determination of such cases; that ^ 
 therefore they should do well to be quiet, having 
 done more already than they could answer, if - 
 
 * 2 Tim. iv. 14; 1 Tim. i. 20. 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 247 
 
 galled in question, (as it is like they would,) there 
 )eing no cause sufficient to justify that day’s riot- 
 )us assembly. With which prudent discourse he 
 Jrppeased and dismissed the multitude. 
 
 9. It was about this time that St. Paul heard of 
 some disturbance in the church at Corinth, hatched 
 ind fomented by a pack of false, heretical teachers, 
 brept in among them, who endeavoured to draw 
 |them into parties and factions, by persuading one 
 t party to be for Peter, another for Paul, a third for 
 Apollos; as if the main of religion consisted in 
 ‘being of this or that denomination, or in a warm 
 [active zeal to decry and oppose whoever is not of 
 ’ )ur narrow sect. It is a very weak and slender 
 fclaim, when a man holds his religion by no better 
 title than that he has joined himself to this man’s 
 lurch, or that man’s congregation, and is zealously 
 irnest to maintain and promote it; to be child- 
 shly and passionately clamorous for one man’s 
 inode and way of administration, or for some par¬ 
 ticular humour or opinion; as if religion lay in nice 
 and curious disputes, or in separating from our 
 brethren, and not rather ^ in righteousness, peace, 
 and joy in the Holy Ghost.’ By this means schisms 
 and factions broke into the Corinthian church, 
 whereby many wild and extravagant opinions, and 
 some of them such as undermined the fundamental 
 articles of Christianity, were planted, and had taken 
 root there. As the envious man never fishes more 
 successfully than in troubled waters. To cure 
 these distempers St. Paul (who had received an 
 account of all these by letters which Apollos and 
 «ome others had brought to him from the church of 
 ^Corinth) writes his first epistle to them : wherein he 
 smartly reproves them for their schisms and parties, 
 
248 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 I 
 
 conjures them to peace and unity, corrects tlios< 
 gross corruptions that were introduced amont 
 them, and paiticularly resolves those many casej 
 and controversies wherein they had requested his 
 advice and counsel. Shortly after Apollos design¬ 
 ing to go for Crete, by him and Zenas St. Pau: 
 sends his epistle to Titus, whom he made bishop o 
 that island, and had left there for the propagating 
 of the gospel. Herein he fully instructs him in tht 
 execution of his office, how to carry himself, and 
 what directions he should give to others, to all ! 
 paiticular ranks and relations of men, especially^ 
 those who were to be advanced to places of office’ 
 and authority in the church. J 
 
 10. A little before St. Paul’s departure fronJ 
 Ephesus, we may not improbably suppose, th J 
 Apollonius Tyaneus, the famous philosopher an] 
 magician of the heathen world, (a man remarkab® 
 foi the strictness of his manners, and his sober anff 
 regular course of life, but especially for the grer' 
 miracles said to have been done by him; whon 
 theiefore the heathens generally set up as the great 
 co-rival of our Saviour; though some of ‘his own 
 party, and particularly Euphratus^ the i^hiloso- 
 
 Hierocl. p. 530, ad calc. Demonst 
 
 Lardner observes on a passage in Cudworth, which nearl 
 agrees with the words of our author, that he cannot assen 
 to the opinion it conveys, though he believes it to be that o 
 many other learned men : With due submission,” says he, « : 
 
 0 not think that Apollonius was a man of so great importance 
 as IS here supposed; for it does not appear that anyadver 
 sanes of the Christians, either Celsus or Porphyry, or any othei 
 before Hierocles, at the beginning of the fourth century, undei 
 ^loclesian s persecut on, ever took any notice of him in any oi 
 their arguments.”—Works, vol. viii. p. 264. ^ 
 
 The heathen w r, Moeragenes, does not simply call him a 
 
r 
 
 ST. PAUL. 
 
 * 249 
 
 <pher, who lived with him nf 
 'accused him for doing his stranoTfe^rh*^ 
 
 'came to Ephesus. The enemv of , I 
 
 ■bly designing to obstruct the /• 
 
 tianity, by setting up one wh^hTth^^'^" ‘’J! 
 
 •niight, at least in tife voe-ue m f of magic 
 
 people, equal, or eclipse ^he of the 
 
 Certain it is, if we commre t“"'“ 
 down by the writer of Ms lif actions set 
 
 he came hither abom the be 
 
 and he particuMy 
 
 that were done bv him • n ^ strangle things 
 city of a ?rievous%*;rg;e 
 
 'Ephesus had him in = ’t, " ^P<^ople of 
 
 •erected a statue to him a^t ‘hat they 
 
 Hid divine honour toTt But and 
 
 cbre St. Paul's goin. thence T 
 e ie to determine • it*^cpp ^ upon 
 
 ^i>een done afterwards. pi'obable to have 
 
 ^ -- infamous 
 
 tratus; from which, however S t ^>7 Phi£. 
 
 I ^ent proof that Apollonius was Jo fa^ fro f 
 
 I 'ared with our Lord, that he did not ^ ‘^^^erving to be com- 
 I- ^en moderately honest men.-ED ^^th 
 
 . 2, P. 194, confer, lib. v. ibid.^m’ P* e. 
 
 in Hierocl. lib. iv. apud Philostr. p.^ 457 .^' Euseb. 
 
 ! 
 
 >i.» 
 
 I 
 
2.^0 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 St. Paul’s acts, from his departure from Ephesus 
 till his arraignment before Felix. 
 
 It was not long after the tumult at Ephesus, when 
 St. Paul having called the church together, and 
 constituted Timothy bishop of that place, took his « 
 leave, and departed by Troas for Macedonia. Anc 
 at this time it was, that, as he himself tells us, he 
 ‘preached the gospel round about unto Illy ricum, 
 since called Sclavonia, some parts of Macedonia 
 bordering on that province. From Macedonia, he 
 returned back unto Greece, where he abode three 
 months, and met with Titus, lately come with great 
 contributions from the church at Corinth. By whose 
 example he stirred up the liberality of the Macedo-jJ 
 nians, who very freely, and somewhat beyond their 1 
 ability, contributed to the poor Christians at Jeru-1 
 Salem. From Titus he had an account of the pie-* 
 sent state of the church at Corinth ; and by him a» 
 his return, together with St. Luke, he sent his se-1 
 cond epistle to them. Wherein he endeavours toi 
 set right what his former epistle had not yet effected ."I 
 to vindicate his apostleship from that contempt and^ 
 scorn, and himself from those slanders and asper¬ 
 sions, which the seducers, who had found them¬ 
 selves lashed by his first epistle, had cast upon him, ' 
 together with some other particular cases relating to 
 them. Much about the same time" he writ his first 
 
 1 A.cts 1* 
 
 ® That is, about the year 57; but this date is strongly ob- 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 251 
 
 epistle to Timothy, whom he had left at Ephesus, 
 wherein at large he counsels him how to carry him¬ 
 self in the discharge of that great place and autho¬ 
 rity in the church, which he had committed to him ; 
 instructs him in the particular qualifications of 
 those whom he should make choice of, to he bishops 
 and ministers in the church; how to order the 
 deaconesses, and to instruct servants j warning him 
 withal of that pestilent generation of heretics and 
 seducers that would arise in the church. During 
 his three months stay in Greece, he went to Corinth, 
 whence he wrote his famous epistle to the Romans, 
 which he sent by Phoebe, a deaconess of the church 
 of Cenchrea, nigh Corinth; wherein his main de¬ 
 sign is fully to state and determine the great con¬ 
 troversy between the Jews and Gentiles, about the 
 obligation of the rites and ceremonies of the Jewish 
 law, and those main and material doctrines of 
 Christianity, which did depend upon it, such as 
 of Christian liberty, the use of indifferent things, 
 &c. And which is the main end of all religion, in¬ 
 structs them in, and presses them to the duties of 
 a holy and good life, such as the Christian doc¬ 
 trine does naturally tend to oblige men to. 
 
 2. St. Paul being now resolved for Syria, to con¬ 
 vey the contributions to the brethren at Jerusalem, 
 was awhile diverted from that resolution, by a de¬ 
 sign he was told of which the Jews had to kOl and 
 rob him by the way. Whereupon he went back 
 into Macedonia, and so came to Philippi, and ' 
 thence went to Troas; where having stayed a week, 
 
 jected to by many critics, who think there is sufficient internal 
 evidence to prove that the epistle was written subsequently to 
 the apostle’s imprisonment at Rome, or as late as the year 
 
252 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 on the Lord’s-day, the church met together to re¬ 
 ceive the holy sacrament. Here St. Paul preached 
 to them, and continued his discourse till midnight, 
 the longer probably, being the next day to depart 
 from them. The length of his discourse, and the 
 time of the night, had caused some of his auditors 
 to be overtaken with sleep and drowsiness, among 
 whom a young man called Eutychus, being fast 
 asleep, fell down from the third story, and was 
 taken up dead, but whom St. Paul presently re¬ 
 stored to life and health. How indefatigable was 
 the industry of our apostle ; how close did he tread 
 in his master’s steps, who ^ went about doing good 
 He compassed sea and land, preached and wrought 
 miracles wherever he came. In every place, like 
 a wise master-builder, he either laid a foundation, 
 or raised the superstructure. He was " instant in 
 season and out of season,’ and spared not his pains, 
 either night or day, that he might do good to the 
 souls of men. The night being thus spent in holy 
 exercises, St. Paul in the morning took his leave, 
 and went on foot to Assos, a sea-port town, whither 
 he had sent his company by sea. Thence they set 
 sail to Mitylene; from thence to Samos, and hav¬ 
 ing stayed some little time at Trogyllium, the next 
 day came to Miletus, not so much as putting in at 
 Ephesus, because the apostle was resolved, if pos¬ 
 sible, to be at Jerusalem at the feast of Pente¬ 
 cost, 
 
 3. At Miletus he sent to Ephesus,' to summon 
 the bishops and governors of the church, who being 
 come, he put them in mind with what uprightness 
 and integrity, with what affection and humility. 
 
 * Acts, xxi. 17- 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 263 
 
 with how great trouble and danger, with how much 
 faithfulness to their souls he had been conversant 
 among them, and had preached the gospel to them, 
 ever since his first coming into those parts; that he 
 I had not failed to acquaint them, both publicly and 
 I privately, with whatever might be useful and pro- 
 I fitable to them, urging, both upon Jews and Gen- 
 
 1 tiles, repentance and reformation of life, and a 
 
 I hearty entertainment of the faith of Christ; that 
 \ now he was resolved to go to Jerusalem, where he 
 did not know what particular sufferings would be¬ 
 fall him, more than this, that it had been foretold 
 him in every place by those who were endued with 
 the prophetical gifts of the Holy Ghost, that afflic- 
 i tions and imprisonment would attend him there; 
 
 I but that he was not troubled at this, no, nor un¬ 
 willing to lay down his life, so he might but success¬ 
 fully preach the gospel, and faithfully serve his 
 ^ Lord in that place and station wherein he had set 
 him; that he knew that henceforth they should see 
 his face no more; but that this was his encourage¬ 
 ment and satisfaction, that they themselves could 
 I beai him witness, that he bad not, by concealing 
 , from them any parts of the Christian doctrine, be¬ 
 trayed their souls: that as for themselves, whom 
 : God had made bishops and pastors of his church, 
 they should be careful to feed, guide, and direct 
 I those Christians under their inspection, and be in- 
 I finitely tender of the good of souls, for whose re- 
 I demption Christ laid down his own life; that all 
 I the care they could use was no more than neces¬ 
 sary, it being certain, that after his departure, 
 heretical teachers would break in among them, and 
 endanger the ruin of men^s souls : nay, that even 
 among themselves, there would some arise, who by 
 
254 OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 w;1p and crafty methods, by corrupt and per- 
 
 ""”to..ether warned them of these things ; tha 
 he—ended them to the divine care and 
 now uc instructions ot the 
 
 lleTwhrch if adhered to, would certainly dispose 
 USrfect them for that state of happiness which 
 r i^Vind nrenared for good men m heaven. In 
 htt ttt as he had all along dealt faithfully and 
 upri4tly with them, they might hnow from hence, 
 thaUn all his preaching he had no crafty oi co - 
 ot designs upL any man’s estate or riches; having 
 fas themselve^s could witness) industriously lahour- 
 edtdrhis own hands, and hy his own -rk main¬ 
 tained both himself and his company ; herein leav¬ 
 ing them an example, what or 
 
 taL to support the weak, and relieve the pooi. 
 
 rather than to he themselves chargeable ""p ° ’ g^’ 
 according to that incomparable saying of our , 
 lur (Which surely St. Paul receded fr m^ 
 some of those that had conversed with him 
 days of the flesh,) ‘It is more blessed ^ 
 to receive.’ This concio ad. clerum, oi visitation 
 
 sei-mon being ended, the aP^^^ji^on^Ihey a^^^ 
 concluded all with prayer. Which ^ ^ 
 
 melted into tears, and with the greatest p ' 
 of sorrow attended him to the ship, 
 which made the deepest impression upon then 
 minds was, that he had told them, that th y 
 
 should see his face no more.’ _ 
 
 4 Departing from Miletus, they arrived at Coos 
 
 thence came to Rhodes, thence to Patara, thence 
 
 ■I 
 
 j 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 266 
 
 Tyre;‘ where meeting with some Christians, he was 
 advised by those among them who had the gift of 
 piophecy, that he should not go up to Jerusalem : 
 with them he staid a w’eek, and then going all 
 together to the shore, he kneeled down and prayed 
 with them; and having mutually embraced one 
 anothei, he went on board, and came to Ptolemais, 
 where only saluting the brethren, they came next 
 day unto Caesarea. Here they lodged in the house 
 of Philip the evangelist, one of the seven deacons 
 that were at first set apart by the apostles, who had 
 four virgin daughters, all endued with the gift of 
 piophecy. During their stay in this place, Agabus, 
 a Christian prophet, came down hither from Judaea, 
 who taking PauPs girdle, bound with it his own 
 hands and feet, telling them, that by this external 
 symbol the Holy Ghost did signify and declare, 
 that St. Paul should be thus served by the Jews at 
 Jerusalem, and be by them delivered over into the 
 hands of the Gentiles. Whereupon they all pas¬ 
 sionately besought him that he would divert his 
 course to some other place. The apostle asked 
 , them what they meant by these compassionate dis- 
 suasives to add more affliction to his sorrow; that 
 he was willing and resolved not only to be im¬ 
 prisoned ; but, if need were, to die at Jerusalem for 
 the sake of Christ and his religion. Finding his 
 . resolution fixed and immovable, they importuned 
 him no further, but left the event to the divine will 
 and pleasure. All things being in readiness, they 
 set forwards on their journey; and being come to 
 Jerusalem, were kindly and joyfully entertained by 
 the Christians there. 
 
 1 Acts, xxi. 1. 
 
1 
 
 256 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 5. The next day after their arrival, St. Paul and 
 his company went to the house of St. James the 
 apostle, where the rest of the bishops and gover¬ 
 nors of the church were met together after mu¬ 
 tual salutations, he gave them a particular account 
 with what success God had blessed him in propi^ 
 gating Christianity among the Gentiles; for whkh . 
 they all heartily blessed God; but withal told him, 
 that he was now come to a place where there were 
 many thousands of Jewish converts, who all re¬ 
 tained a mighty zeal and veneration for the law ot 
 Moses; and who had been informed of him, that 
 he taught the Jews, whom he had converted, in 
 every place, to renounce circumcision and the ce¬ 
 remonies of the law; that as soon as the multitude 
 heard of his arrival, they would come together to 
 see how he behaved himself in this matter; and 
 therefore to prevent so much disturbance, it was 
 advisable that, there being four men there at that 
 time who were to accomplish a vow, (probably 
 not the Nazarite vow, but some other, which they 
 had made for deliverance from sickness, or some 
 other imminent danger and distress; for so Jose¬ 
 phus tells us“ they were wont to do in such cases, 
 and before they came to offer the accustomed sa¬ 
 crifices, to abstain for some time from wine, and 
 to shave their heads,) he should join himself to 
 them, perform the usual rites and ceremonies with 
 them, and provide such sacrifices for them as the 
 law required in that case; and that, in discharge 
 of their vow, they might shave their heads: 
 whereby it would appear, that the reports which 
 were spread concerning him were false and ground- 
 
 1 Acts, xxi. 18. 
 
 ^ De Bell. Jud. lib. ii. c. 15. 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 257 
 
 less, and that he himself did still observe the rites 
 and orders of the Mosaical institution; that as 
 for the Gentile converts, they required no such 
 obseivances at their hands, nor expected any 
 thing" moie from them in these indifferent matters, 
 than what had been before determined by the 
 apostolical synod in that place. St. Paul (who 
 in such things was willing ^ to become all things to 
 all men, that he might gain the more’) consented 
 to the counsel which they gave him; and taking 
 the persons along with him to the temple, told the 
 priests, that the time of a vow which they had 
 made being now run out, and having purified 
 themselves, as the nature of the case required, they 
 
 were come to make their offerings according to the 
 law. 
 
 t). The seven days wherein those sacrifices were 
 to be ofiered being now almost ended, some Jews 
 that were come from Asia, (where, probably, they 
 had opposed St. Paul,) now finding him in the 
 temple, began to raise a tumult and uproar; and 
 laying hold of him, called out to the rest of the 
 ^Jews for their assistance; telling them, that this 
 ^was the fellow that everywhere vented doctrines 
 derogatory to the prerogative of the Jewish nation, 
 destructive to the institutions of the law, and to 
 the purity of that place, which he had profaned 
 '^by bringing in uncircumcised Greeks into it; posi¬ 
 tively concluding, that because they had seen 
 Trophimus, a Gentile convert of Ephesus with 
 him in the city, therefore he had brought him also 
 into the temple. So apt is malice to make any 
 premises from whence it may infer its own con¬ 
 clusion. Hereupon the whole city was presently 
 in an uproar, and seizing upon him, they dragged 
 
 VOL. f. s 
 
258 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 him out of the temple, the doors being presently 
 shut against him. Nor had they failed there to 
 put a period to all his troubles, had not Claudius 
 Lysias, commander of the Roman garrison in the 
 tower of Antonia, come in with some soldiers to 
 his rescue and deliverance; and supposing him to 
 be a more than ordinary malefactor, commanded 
 a double chain to be put upon him, though as yet 
 altogether ignorant, either who he, or what his 
 crime was, and wherein he could receive little sa- ^ 
 tisfaction from the clamourous multitude, who i 
 called for nothing but his death, following the cry 1 
 with such crowds and numbers that the soldiers 
 were forced to take him into their arms, to secure 
 him from the present rage and violence of the , 
 people. As they were going up into the castle, ' 
 St. Paul asked the governor whether he might | 
 have the liberty to speak to him, who finding him j! 
 to speak Greek, inquired of him whether he was j 
 not that Egyptian which a few years before had 
 raised a sedition in Judsea, and headed a party of 
 four thousand debauched and profligate wietches. 
 The apostle replied, that he was a Jew of Tarsus, 
 a freeman of a rich and honourable city, and 
 therefore begged of him, that he might have leave 
 to speak to the people; which the captain readily 
 granted; and standing near the door of the castle, 
 and making signs that they would hold their peace, 
 he began to address himself to them in the Hebrew 
 language: which when they heard they became a 
 little more calm and quiet, while he discoursed to 
 them to this effect. 
 
 7. He gave them an account of himself from 
 his birth ; of his education in his youth, of the 
 mighty zeal which he had for the rites and customs 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 259 
 
 of tlieir religion, and with what a passionate ear¬ 
 nestness he persecuted and put to death all the 
 Christians that he met with, whereof the high- 
 priest and the Sanhedrim could be sufficient wit¬ 
 nesses.^ He next gave them an entire and punctual 
 lelation of the way and manner of his conversion; 
 and how that he had received an immediate com¬ 
 mand from God himself to depart Jerusalem, and 
 preach unto the Gentiles. At this word the pa¬ 
 tience of the Jews could hold no longer, but they 
 I unanimously cried out to have him put to death, 
 it not being fit that such a villain should live upon 
 the earth. And the more to express their fury, 
 they threw off their clothes, and cast dust into 
 the air, as if they immediately designed to stone 
 1 him ; to avoid which the captain of the guard com¬ 
 manded him to be brought within the castle, and 
 that he should be examined by whipping, till he 
 4 ^ confessed the reason of so much rage against 
 I him. While the lictor was binding him in order 
 ■ to it, he asked the centurion that stood by, whether 
 they could justify the scourging a citizen of 
 ^ Rome, and that before any sentence legally passed 
 upon him This the centurion presently inti- 
 '' mated to the governor of the castle, bidding him 
 I have a care what he did, for the prisoner was a 
 I Roman. Whereat the governor himself came, and 
 
 I 
 
 ^ Acts, xxii. 1. 
 
 2 «c CaRdebatur virgis in medio foro Messanas Civis Romanus, 
 cum interea nullus gemitus, nulla vox alia istius miseri audieba- 
 , tur, nisi haec, civis Romanus sum. Hac se commemoratione 
 ‘ civitatis omnia verbera depulsurum arbitrabatur.—O nomen 
 dulce libertatis ! O jus eximium nostras civitatis ! O lex Por- 
 cia, legesque Sempronias !”—Cicer. in Ver. lib. vii. tom. ii. p. 
 218. “ Facinus est vincire civem Romanum, scelus verberare.” 
 —Id. ib. p. 220, vid. supr^ sect. 3, num. 4. 
 
 s 2 
 
 f 
 
260 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 asked him, whether he was a free denizen of Rome ; 
 and being told that he was, he replied, that it was 
 a great privilege, a privilege which he himself had 
 purchased at a considerable rate. To whom St. 
 Paul answered, that it was his birth-right, and the 
 privilege of the place where he was born and bred.' 
 Hereupon they gave over their design of whipping 
 him; the commander himself being a little startled, 
 that he had bound and chained a denizen of 
 Rome. 
 
 8. The next day the governor ordered his chains 
 to be knocked off; and that he might throughly 
 satisfy himself in the matter, commanded the San¬ 
 hedrim to meet, and brought down Paul before 
 them: where being set before the council, he told 
 them, that in all passages of his life he had 
 been careful to act according to the severest rules 
 and conscience of his duty. ‘ Men and brethren, 
 I have lived in all good conscience before God 
 until this day.’^ Behold here the great security of 
 a good man, and what invisible supports inno- 
 cency affords under the greatest danger!^ With 
 how generous a confidence does virtue and honesty 
 guard the breast of a good man ! as indeed nothing 
 
 ‘ Tarsus, it is supposed, derived its privileges as a free 
 Roman city from a grant made by Julius Caesar; and there is 
 every reason to believe that Paul owed his Roman citizenship to 
 his birth in this place; but some learned men have conjectured 
 that he derived it from his father, who is thought to have been 
 made free of Rome for his services to the state.— Ed. 
 
 ® Acts, xxiii. 1. 
 
 3 Ei'c avrbv (xvvtCKs, (pixyiv ex^i to XoyiKOv yiysfioviKbv, 
 kavTi^ dpKeiaOai biKaioTrpaySvri, ^ Trap avrb tsto yaXrjvrjv 
 cX 0 VTi» —M. Ant. TMv tiQ tavT^ lib. vii. sect. 28, p, 63. 
 
 Justum et tenacem propositi virum, 
 
 N on civium ardor prava jubentium. 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 261 
 
 
 else can lay a firm basis and foundation for satis- 
 action and tranquillity, when any misery or cala¬ 
 mity does overtake us. Relig-ion and a good con¬ 
 science beget peace and a heaven in the man’s 
 bosom, beyond the power of the little accidents of 
 this world to ruflle and discompose. Whence 
 eneca compares the mind of a wise and good 
 man to the state of the upper region, which is 
 always serene and calm. The high-priest Ananias 
 being offended at the holy and ingenuous freedom 
 of our apostle, as if by asserting his own innocency 
 he had reproached the justice of their tribunal, 
 commanded those that stood next him, to strike 
 him in the face; whereto the apostle tartly replied, 
 that God would smite him, hyprocrite as he was, 
 who under a pretence of doing justice, had illegally 
 commanded him to be punished, before the law 
 condemned him for a malefactor. Whereupon they 
 that stood by asked him, how he durst thus affront 
 so sacred and venerable a person as God’s high- 
 priest. He calmly returned, that he did not know 
 (or own) Ananias to be a high-priest (of God’s 
 appointment.)^ However, being a person in autho- 
 
 Non vultus instantis tyranni 
 
 Mente quatit solida; neque auster 
 Dux inquieti turbidus Adrise, 
 
 Nec fulminantis magna Jovis manus. 
 
 Si fractus illabatur orb is, 
 
 Impavidum ferient ruiuEe,” 
 
 Horat. Carm. lib. iii. Od. 3, p. 154. 
 
 * “Sapiens ille est plenus gaudio, hilaris, et placidus, incon- 
 cussus, cum diis ex pari vivit: per dies noctesque par et eequalis 
 animi tenor erecti et placentis sibi est.—Talis est sapientis 
 animus, qualis mundi status super lunam, semper illic serenum 
 est, nunquam sine gaudio est. Gaudium hoc non nascitur, 
 nisj ex virtutum conscientia.”—Senec. Epist. 59, p. 152 
 ^ “ Hasc Pauli verba Ananias et apparitores sic accipiebant. 
 
262 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES, 
 
 rity, it was not lawful to revile him, God himself 
 having commanded, that *no man should speak 
 evil of the ruler of the people.' The apostle, who, 
 as he never laid aside the innocency of the dove, 
 so knew how, when occasion was, to make use of 
 the wisdom of the serpent; perceiving the council 
 to consist partly of Sadducees and partly of Pha¬ 
 risees, openly told them that he was a Pharisee, 
 and the son of a Pharisee; and that the main 
 thing he was questioned for, was his belief of a 
 future resurrection. This quickly divided the 
 council; the Pharisees being zealous patrons of 
 that article, and the Sadducees as stifly denying 
 that there is either angel (that is, of a spiritual 
 and immortal nature, really subsisting of itself; 
 for otherwise they cannot be supposed to have 
 utterly denied all sorts of angels, seeing they 
 owned the Pentateuch, wherein there is frequent 
 
 quasi excusaret Paulus quod sibi in istis malis constitute non 
 satis in mentem venisset, quicum sibi res esset. Verum laten- 
 tior sensus suberat, non esse eum sacerdotem, aut principem 
 senatus, qui eas dignitates pretio comparasset. Didicerat enini 
 hoc a Gamaliele Paulus; Judicem qui honoris consequendi 
 causa pecunias dederit, revera neque judicem esse, neque hono- 
 randum, sed asini habendum loco, ut est in Titulo Talmudicn 
 de Synedrio.’^—Grot, in loc. 
 
 ‘ It is plain from the general tendency of Paul’s doctrine and 
 behaviour, that if he refused to own Ananias as high-priest, he 
 did so not from his own private opinions of his demerits, but 
 from the certainty that the law was against his holding that 
 office ; and it is scarcely to be believed, that if he thus solemnly 
 disputed his authority he would have so suddenly softened his 
 rebuke. The more probable supposition is, that Paul’s long 
 absence from Jerusalem, the changes which had taken place in 
 the high offices of the nation, together with the confusion that 
 prevailed in the assembly described, did really prevent him from 
 knowing the person of the high-priest, who it is to be remem¬ 
 bered was not clad as if he had been ministeriug in the temple. 
 —Ed. 
 
ST. PACT. 
 
 263 
 
 mention of them) or spirit, or that human souls do 
 exist in a separate state, and consequently that 
 there is no resurrection. Presently the doctors of 
 the law, who were Pharisees, stood up to acquit 
 him, affirming he had done nothing amiss; that it 
 was possible he had received some intimation from 
 heaven by an angel, or the revelation of the Holy 
 Spirit j and if so, then in opposing his doctrine, 
 they might fight against God himself. 
 
 9. Great were the dissensions in the council 
 about this matter, insomuch that the governor fear¬ 
 ing St. Paul would be torn in pieces, commanded 
 the soldiers to take him from the bar, and return 
 him back into the castle. That night, to comfort 
 him after all his frights and fears, God was pleased 
 to appear to him in a vision, encouraging him to 
 constancy and resolution, assuring him, that as he 
 had borne witness to his cause at Jerusalem, so, in 
 despite of all his enemies, he should live to bear his 
 testimony even at Rome itself The next morning 
 the Jews, who could as well cease to be as to be 
 mischievous and malicious, finding that these di¬ 
 latory proceedings were not like to do the work, re¬ 
 solved upon a quicker dispatch. To which end 
 above forty of them entered into a wicked confe¬ 
 deracy, which they ratified by oath and execration, 
 never to eat or drink till they had killed him; and 
 having acquainted the Sanhedrim with their de- 
 sign, they entreated them to importune the go¬ 
 vernor, that he might again, the next day, be 
 brought down before them, under pretence of a more 
 strict trial of his case, and that they themselves 
 would lie in ambush by the way, and not fail to 
 dispatch him. But that Divine Providence which 
 peculiarly superintends the safety of good men. 
 
264 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 ‘ disappoints the devices of the crafty. The desi^ 
 was discovered to St. Paul by a nephew of his, and. 
 by him imparted to the governor, who immediately 
 commanded two parties of foot and horse to be 
 ready by nine of the clock that night, and provision 
 to be made for St. Paul’s carriage to Felix, the 
 Roman governor of that province: to whom also 
 he wrote, signifying whom he had sent, how the 
 Jews had used him; and that his enemies also 
 should appear before him to manage the charge 
 and accusation. Accordingly he was, by night, 
 conducted to Antipatris, and afterwards to Ceesa- 
 rea, where the letters being delivered to Felix, the 
 apostle was presented to him; and finding that he 
 belonged to the province of Cilicia, he told him, 
 that as soon as his accusers were arrived he should 
 have a hearing; commanding him in the mean 
 time to be secured in the place called Herod s 
 Hall. 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 Of St. Paul, from his first trial before Felix till his 
 
 coining to Rome. 
 
 Not many days after, down comes Ananias’ the 
 high-priest, with some others of the Sanhedrim, to 
 Ceesarea, accompanied with Tertullus, their advo¬ 
 cate, who, in a short, but neat speech, set off with 
 all the flattering and insinuative arts of eloquence. 
 
 ^ Acts, xxiv. 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 265 
 
 bogan to implead our apostle, charging" him with 
 sedition, heresy, and the profanation of the temple, 
 and adding, that they would have saved the governor 
 the trouble of this hearing, by judging him accord¬ 
 ing to their own law, had not Lysias the com¬ 
 mander violently taken him from them, and sent 
 both him and them down thither. To all which the 
 Jews that were with him gave in their vote and 
 testimony. St. Paul having leave from Felix to 
 defend himself, and having told him how much he 
 was satisfied in having to plead before one who, for 
 so many years had been governor of that nation, dis- 
 ! tinctly answered to the several parts of the charge. 
 
 ( 2. And first, for sedition : he point-blank denied 
 
 it, affirming that they found him behaving h im self 
 ^ quietly and peaceably in the temple, not so much 
 as disputing there, nor stiring up the people either 
 in the synagogues, or any other place of the city. 
 And though this was plausibly pretended by them, 
 yet were they never able to make it good. As for 
 , the charge of heresy, that he was a ring-leader of 
 the sect of the Nazarenes, he ingenuously acknow¬ 
 ledged that after the way which they counted he- 
 resy, so he worshipped God; the same way in sub¬ 
 stance wherein all the patriarchs of the Jewish 
 nation had worshipped God before him, taking 
 nothing into his creed, but what the authentic 
 , writers of the Jewstliemselves did own and justify; 
 that he firmly believed what the better of them¬ 
 selves were ready to grant, another life, and a future 
 resurrection; in the hope and expectation whereof 
 he was careful to live unblamable, and conscien¬ 
 tiously to do his duty both to God and men. As for 
 the third part of the charge, his profaning of the 
 temple, he shows how little foundation there was 
 
266 
 
 lives of the apostles. 
 
 for it; that the design of his coming to Jerusalem 
 was to bring charitable contributions to his dis¬ 
 tressed brethren; that he was indeed in the temple, 
 but not as some Asiatic Jews falsely suggested, 
 either with tumult or with multitude; but only 
 purifying himself according to the rites and customs 
 of the Mosaic law; and that if any would affirm U 
 the contrary, they should now come into open 
 court and make it good. Nay, that he appealed j 
 to those of the Sanhedrim that were there presen , 
 whether he had not been acquitted by their own : 
 great council at Jerusalem, where nothing ot mo- 
 ment had been laid to his charge, except by them 
 of the Sadducean party, who quarrelled with him , 
 only for asserting the doctrine of the resurrection. | 
 Felix having thus heard both parties argue, refused 
 to make any final determination in the case, till e ^ 
 had more fully advised about it, and spoken with f 
 Lysias, commander of the garrison, who was best 
 able to give an account of the sedition and the 
 tumult; commanding, in the mean time, that St. 
 Paul should be under guard; but yet in so free a 
 custody that none of his friends should be hindered , 
 from visiting him, or perforaiing any office of kind¬ 
 ness and friendship to him. 
 
 3. It was not long after this before his wife, Diu- 
 silla, (a Jewess, daughter of the elder Herod, and 
 whom Tacitus, I fear by a mistake for his former , 
 wife, Drusilla, daughter to J uba, king of Mauritania, 
 makes niece to Anthony and Cleopatra,) came to 
 him to Csesarea. Who being present, he sent or 
 St. Paul to appear before them, and gave liini leave 
 to discourse concerning the doctrine of Christianity. 
 In his discourse he took occasion particularly to 
 insist upon the great obligation which the laws o 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 267 
 
 Christ lay upon men to justice and righteousness 
 toward one another, to sobriety and chastity both 
 towards themselves and others; withal urging that 
 severe and impartial account that must be given in 
 the judgment of the other world, wherein men shall 
 be arraigned for all the actions of their past life, 
 and be eternally punished or rewarded according 
 to their w orks. A discourse wisely adapted by the 
 apostle to Felix’s state and temper. But corro¬ 
 sives are very uneasy to a guilty mind: men natu¬ 
 rally hate that which brings their sins to their 
 remembrance,’ and sharpens the sting of a violated 
 conscience. The prince was so nettled with the 
 apostle’s reasonings, that he fell a trembling, and 
 caused the apostle to break off abruptly, telling 
 him, he would hear the rest [at some other season. 
 And good reason there was that -Felix’s conscience 
 should be sensibly alarmed with these reflections, 
 being a man notoriously infamous for rapine and 
 violence. Tacitus^ tells us of him, that he made 
 his wdll the law of his government, practising all 
 manner of cruelty and injustice. And then for in- 
 continency, he was given over to luxury and de¬ 
 bauchery; for the compassing whereof he scrupled 
 not to violate all laws both of God and man. 
 Whereof this very wife Drusilla was a famous in¬ 
 stance.® For, being married by her brother, to 
 Azis, king of the Emisenes, Felix, who had heard 
 of her incomparable beauty, by the help of Simon 
 the magician, a Jew of Cyprus, ravished her from 
 her husband’s bed; and in defiance of all law and 
 right, kept her for his own wife.'* To these quali- 
 
 1 Histor. lib. v. c. 9,p. 538, vid. Annal. lib. xii. c. 54, p. 234. 
 
 ^ Joseph. Antiquit. Jud. lib. xx. c. 5, p. 693. 
 
 ^ This Drusilla was the youngest daughter of Herod Agrippa, 
 
268 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 ties he had added bribery and covetousness; and 
 therefore frequently sent for St. Paul to discourse 
 with him, expecting that he should have given him 
 a considerable sum for his release; and the rather 
 probably, because he had heard that St. Paul had 
 lately brought up great sums of money to Jeru¬ 
 salem. But finding no offers made, either by the 
 apostle or his friends, he kept him prisoner for two 
 years together, so long as himself continued procu¬ 
 rator of that nation; when being displaced by 
 Nero, he left St. Paul still in prison, on purpose to 
 gratify the Jews, and engage them to speak better 
 of him after his departure from them. 
 
 4. To him succeeded Portius Festus,^ in the pro- 
 curatorship of the province; at whose first coming to 
 Jerusalem, the high-priest and Sanhedrim pre¬ 
 sently began to prefer to him an indictment against 
 St. Paul, desiring, that in order to his trial, he 
 might be sent for up from Caesarea; designing, . 
 this pretence, that assassins should lie in the way 
 to murder him. Festus told them, that he him¬ 
 self was going shortly for Caesarea, and that if 
 they had any thing against St. Paul, they should ’ 
 come down thither and accuse him. Accordingly, , 
 being come to Caesarea, and sitting in open judica¬ 
 ture, the Jews began to renew the charge which 
 they had heretofore brought against St. Paul; of 
 
 and had been originally betrothed to Epiphanes, the son of An- 
 tiochus; but this contract was broken, Epiphanes refusing to 
 submit, as he had promised, to the rite of circumcision. Josephus 
 states as above related, that she was enticed from Azizus by the 
 artful persuasions of Simon, the creature of Felix ; but adds the 
 important circumstance, that her chief motive for yielding was 
 to avoid the envy and evil machinations of her sister, Bernice, 
 who hated her because of the admiration she excited by her 
 beauty.—E d. 
 
 ^ Acts, XXV. 1. 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 269 
 
 Jail which he cleared himself, they not being able to 
 i make any proof against him. However, Festus 
 A being willing to oblige the Jews in the entrance 
 j upon his government, asked him whether he would 
 ; go up and be tried before him at Jerusalem. The 
 i, apostle, well understanding the consequences of 
 that proposal, told him that he was a Roman, and 
 therefore ought to be judged by their laws; that he 
 fi stood now at Caesar’s own judgment-seat, (as in- 
 t deed what was done by the emperor’s procurator 
 f m any province, the law' reckoned as done by the 
 fei emperor himself,) and though he should submit to 
 ^the Jewish tribunal, yet he himself saw that they 
 had nothing which they could prove against him; 
 that if he had done any thing which really deserved 
 capital punishment, he was willing to undergo it; 
 fibut if not, he ought not to be delivered over to his 
 I enemies, who were before-hand resolved to take 
 ,!away his life. However, as the safest course, he 
 solemnly made his appeal to the Roman emperor, 
 f who should judge between them." Whereupon 
 f Festus advising with the Jewish Sanhedrim, re- 
 |. ceived his appeal, and told him he should go to 
 t Caesar. This way of appealing was Sequent among 
 the Romans, introduced to defend and secure the 
 lives and fortunes of the populacy from the unjust 
 : encroachments, and over-rigorous severities of the 
 
 1 L. i. fF. de Offic. Procur. Caesar, lib. i. tit. 19. 
 
 It is not unworthy of observation, that the apostle of the 
 Centiles thus appealed for jnstice to a tribunal, and a system of 
 laws, acknowledged by the world at large. The legal institutions 
 ot his own nation were mingled with precepts, on which corrupt 
 1 ' interpreters had founded arguments destructive of the univer¬ 
 sality of its moral equity. But he was the first of his people 
 the first pre-eminently of Christ’s disciples, who declared, by a 
 ^ species of providential influence, that the civil institutions of 
 Israel had lost all power and authority,— Ed. 
 
270 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 magistrates; whereby it was lawful in cases of op¬ 
 pression to appeal to the people for redress and 
 rescue, a thing more than once and again settled 
 by the sanction of the Valerian laws. These ap¬ 
 peals ^ were wont to be made in Avriting, by appel- 
 latory libels given in, wherein was contained an ac¬ 
 count of the appellant; the person against whom, 
 and from whose sentence he did appeal. But where 
 the case was done in open court, it was enough for 
 the criminal verbally to declare that he did appeal 
 in great and weighty cases appeals were made to 
 the prince himself, and that not only at Rome; but 
 in the provinces of the empire, all proconsuls and 
 governors of provinces being strictly forbidden^ 
 to execute, scourge, bind, or put any badge of ser¬ 
 vility upon a citizen, or any that had the privilege 
 of a citizen of Rome, who had made his appeal; or 
 any ways to hinder him from going thither, to ob¬ 
 tain justice at the hands of the emperor, who had 
 as much regard to the liberty of his subjects (says 
 the law itself) as they could have of good-will 
 and obedience to him. And this was exactly St. 
 Paul’s case, who knowing that he should have 
 no fair and equitable dealing at the hands of the 
 governor, when once he came to be swayed by the 
 Jews, his sworn and inveterate enemies, appealed 
 from him to the emperor; the reason why Festus 
 durst not deny his demand, it being a privilege so 
 often, so plainly settled and confirmed by the Roman 
 laws. 
 
 5. Some time after king Agrippa, who succeeded 
 
 1 Leg. 1, Sect. 4, fF. de appellat. lib. xlix. tit. 1. 
 
 ^ Leg. 2 et 3, ibid. 
 
 Ibid. Leg. 25, et 1. 7, ff- ad Leg. Jul. de vi public, lib. 
 xlviii. tit. 6. 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 271 
 
 Herod in the tetrarchate of Galilee,, and liis sister 
 Bernice came to Caesarea, to make a visit to the 
 new come governor. To him Festus gave an ac- 
 j( count of St. Paul, and the great stir and trouble 
 t that had been made about him; and how for his 
 safety and vindication he had immediately appealed ' 
 to Caesar. Agrippa was very desirous to see and 
 I hear him, and accordingly the next day the king 
 and his sister, accompanied with Festus the go¬ 
 vernor, and other persons of quality, came into the 
 court with a pompous and magnificent retinue, 
 where the prisoner was brought forth before him. 
 Festus having acquainted the king and the assem¬ 
 bly, how much he had been solicited by the Jews, 
 both at Caesarea and Jerusalem, concerning the 
 prisoner at the bar, that as a notorious malefactor 
 :| he might be put to death; but that having found 
 him guilty of no capital crime, and the prisoner 
 himself having appealed to Caesar, he was resolved 
 to send him to Rome; but yet was willing to have 
 his case again discussed before Agrippa, that so he 
 might be furnished with some material instructions 
 to send along with him, since it was very absurd to 
 send a prisoner, without signifying what crimes 
 were charged upon him. 
 
 6. Hereupon Agrippa ]^told the apostle, he had 
 liberty to make his own defence d to whom, after 
 silence made, he particularly addressed his speech. 
 He tells him, in the first place, what a happiness 
 he had, that he was to plead before one so exactly 
 versed in all the rites and customs, the questions'and 
 the controversies of the Jewish law; that the Jews 
 themselves knew what had been the course and 
 
 ^ Acts, xxvi. 1. 
 
272 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 manner of his life, how he had been educated 
 under the institutions of the Pharisees, the strictest 
 sect of the whole Jewish religion, and had been 
 particularly disquieted and arraigned for what had 
 been the constant belief of all their fathers, what 
 was ^ sufficiently credible in itself, and plainly 
 enough revealed in the Scripture, the resurrection 
 of the dead. He next gave him an account with 
 what a bitter and implacable zeal he had formerly 
 persecuted Christianity; told him the whole story 
 and method of his conversion, and that, in com¬ 
 pliance with a particular vision from heaven, he 
 had preached repentance and reformation of life 
 first to the Jews, and then after to the Gentiles; 
 that it was for no other things than these that the 
 Jews apprehended him in the temple, and designed 
 to murder him; but being rescued and upheld by 
 a divine power, he continued in this testimony to 
 this day, asserting nothing but what was perfectly 
 agreeable to Moses and the prophets, who had 
 plainly foretold that the Messiah should be put 
 to death and rise again, and by ^his doctrine en¬ 
 lighten both the Jewish and the Gentile world. 
 While he was thus discoursing, Festus openly cried 
 out, that he talked like a madman,^ that his over¬ 
 much study had put him beside himself. The 
 apostle calmly replied, that he was far from being 
 transported with idle and distracted humours, that 
 he spake nothing but what was mo.st true and real in 
 
 ^ The exclamation of Festus afforded a singular testimony to 
 the merits and ability of the apostle. It was evidently forced 
 from him by impatience and astonishment; but it served to cut 
 the knot which his doubts and the difficulty of the case had 
 suddenly created. Paul’s politic conduct in appealing to Caesar, 
 was a sufficient proof of his coolness and prudence, as well as 
 sanity,— Ed. 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 273 
 
 itself, and what very well became that grave, sober 
 auditory. And then, again addressing himself to 
 Agiippa, told him, that these things having been 
 open and public, he could not but be acquainted 
 with them ; that he was confident that he believed 
 t the prophets, and must needs therefore know that 
 I those prophecies were fulfilled in Christ. Hereat 
 Agrippa replied, that he had almost persuaded 
 him to embrace the Christian faith; to which 
 the apostle returned, that he heartily prayed that 
 not only he but the whole auditory were, not 
 only in some measure, but altogether, though not 
 I prisoners, yet as much Christians as he himself 
 was. This done, the king, and the governor, and 
 the rest of the council withdrew awhile, to confer 
 I privately about this matter; and finding, by the 
 accusations brought against him, that he was not 
 guilty by the Roman laws of any capital offence, 
 no, nor of any that deserved so much as imprison¬ 
 ment, Agrippa told Festus that he might have 
 been released if he had not appealed unto Ceesar; 
 for the appeal being once made, the judge had 
 then no power either to absolve or condemn, the 
 cause being entirely reserved to the cognizance of 
 that superior to whom the criminal had appealed. 
 
 7. It was now finally resolved that St. Paul 
 should be sent to Rome in order whereunto he 
 was, with some other prisoners of note, com¬ 
 mitted to the charge of Julius, commander of a 
 company belonging to the legion of Augustus. 
 Accompanied by St. Luke, Aristarchus, Trophi- 
 1 mus, and some others, in September, ann. Chr. 
 •56, or as others, 57, he went on board a ship 
 
 ^ Acts, xxvii. ]. 
 
 VOL. r. T 
 
274 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 of Adramyttium, and sailed to Sidon, where the 
 captain civilly gave the apostle leave to go ashore, 
 to visit his friends and refresh himself: thence to 
 Cyprus, till they came to the Fair-Havens, a place 
 near Myra, a city of Lycia. Here, winter growing 
 on and St. Paul foreseeing it would be a dangerous 
 voyage, persuaded them to put in and winter. 
 But the captain preferring the judgment of the 
 master of the ship, and especially because of the 
 incommodiousness of the harbour, resolved, if pos¬ 
 sible, to reach Phoenice, a port of Crete, and to 
 winter there. But it was not long before they 
 found themselves disappointed of their hopes; for 
 the calm southerly gale that blew before, suddenly 
 changed into a stormy and blustering north-east 
 wind, which so bore down all before it, that they 
 were forced to let the ship drive at the pleasure of 
 the wind; but as much as might be, to prevent i 
 splitting or running aground, they threw out a ■ 
 great part of their lading and the tackle of the ' 
 ship. Fourteen days they remained in this despe¬ 
 rate and uncomfortable condition, neither sun nor i 
 stars appearing for a great part of the time: the ' 
 apostle putting them in mind how ill advised they , 
 were in not taking his counsel; howbeit they should 
 be of good cheer, for that that God whom he served 
 and worshipped, had the last night purposely sent 
 an angel from heaven, to let him know, that not- < 
 withstanding the present danger they w^ere in, yet 
 that he should be brought safe before Nero; that 
 they should be shipwrecked indeed, and cast upon 
 an island ; but that for his sake God had spared all 
 in the ship, not one whereof should perish; and 
 that he did not doubt but that it would according¬ 
 ly come to pass. On the fourteenth night, upon 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 27o 
 
 sounding, they found themselves nigh some coast; 
 and therefore, to avoid rocks, thought good to come 
 to an anchor, till the morning might give them 
 better information. In the mean time the seamen 
 (who best understood the danger) were preparing 
 to get into the skiff to save themselves; which St. 
 Paul espying, told the captain, that unless they all 
 stayed in the ship none could be safe; whereupon 
 the soldiers cut the ropes, and let the skiff fall off into 
 the sea. Between this and day-break, the apostle 
 advised them to eat and refresh themselves, having 
 all this time kept no ordinary and regular meals, 
 assuring them they should all escape; himself 
 first taking bread, and having blessed God for it 
 before them all, the rest followed his example, and 
 cheerfully fell to their meat; which done, they 
 lightened the ship of what remained, and endea¬ 
 voured to put into a creek, which they discovered 
 not far off; but falling into a place where two seas 
 met, the forepart of the ship ran aground, while 
 the hinderpart was beaten in pieces with the vio¬ 
 lence of the waves. Awakened with the danger 
 they were in, the soldiers cried out to kill the pri¬ 
 soners to prevent their escape; which the captain, 
 desirous to save St. Paul, and probably in confidence 
 of what he had told them, refused to do; com¬ 
 manding, that every one should shift for himself: 
 the issue was, that part by swimming, part on 
 planks, part on pieces of the broken ship, they all, 
 to the number of two hundred threescore and six¬ 
 teen, (the whole number in the ship,) got safe to 
 shore. 
 
 8. The island upon which they were cast was 
 Melita,' (now Malta,) situate in the Libyan sea, 
 
 ’ Acts, xxviii. 1. 
 
276 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 between Syracuse and Africa. Here they found 
 civility among barbarians, and the plain acknow¬ 
 ledgments of a divine justice written among the | 
 naked and untutored notions of men’s minds. The j 
 people treated them with great humanity, enter¬ 
 taining them with all necessary accommodations: 
 but while St. Paul was throwing sticks upon the i 
 fire, a viper dislodged by the heat, came out of the , 
 wood, and fastened on his hand. This the people | 
 no sooner espied, but presently concluded, that i 
 
 surelv he was some notorious murderer, whom 
 % 
 
 though the divine vengeance had suffered to escape 
 the hue-and-cry of the sea, yet had only reserved ! 
 him for a more public and solemn execution. But 
 when they saw him shake it off into the fire, and 
 not presently swell, and drop down, they changed j 
 their opinions, and concluded him to be some god. [ 
 So easily are light and credulous minds transpoited i 
 from one extreme to another. Not far off lived | 
 Publius, a man of great estate and authority, and j 
 (as we may probably guess from an inscription 
 found there, and set down by Grotius, ^ wherein j 
 the IIPOTO^ MEAITAION is reckoned amongst j 
 the Roman officers) governor of the island: by | 
 him they were courteously entertained three days j 
 at his own charge; and his father lying at that time ' 
 sick of a fever and a dysentery, St. Paul went in, 
 and having prayed, and laid his hands upon him, 
 healed him; as he did also many of the inhabi¬ 
 tants, who by this miracle were encouraged to bring 
 their diseased to him; whereby great honours were I 
 heaped upon him, and both he and his company 
 furnished with provisions necessary for the rest of 
 
 ^ Annot. in loc. 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 277 
 
 their voyage. Nay, Publius himself is said, by some, 
 to have been hereby converted to the faith, ‘ and 
 by St. Paul to have been constituted bishop of the 
 island; and that this was he that succeeded St. 
 Denis, the Areopagite, in the see of Athens, and 
 was afterwards crowned with martyrdom. 
 
 9. After three months’ stay in this island, they 
 went on board the Castor and Pollux, a ship of 
 Alexandria, bound for Italy. At Syracuse they 
 put in, and stayed three days; thence sailed to 
 Rhegium, and so to Puteoli; where they landed, 
 and finding some Christians there, staid a w^eek 
 with them, and then set forward in their journey to 
 Rome. The Christians at Rome having heard of 
 their arrival, several of them came part of the way 
 to meet them, some as far as the Three Taverns, a 
 place thirty-three miles from Rome, others as far as 
 Appii Forum, fifty-one miles distant thence. Great 
 was their mutual salutation, and the encourage¬ 
 ment which the apostle received by it; glad, no 
 doubt, to see that Christians found so much liberty 
 at Rome. By them he was conducted in a kind of 
 triumph into the city; where, when they were ar¬ 
 rived, the rest of the prisoners were delivered over 
 to the captain of the guard, and by him disposed 
 in the common jail, while St. Paul (probably at 
 Julius’s request and recommendation) was per¬ 
 mitted to stay in a private house, only with a sol¬ 
 dier to secure and guard him. 
 
 ^ Bar. ad Ann. LVIII. n. 173, vid. Aden, martyr, ad xii, 
 Kal. Febr. Martyr. Rom. ad diem 21 Jan. Euseb. lib. iv. c. 23, 
 p. 143. 
 
278 
 
 SECTION VII. 
 
 St, Paul's acts, from his coming to Rome till his 
 
 martyrdom. 
 
 The first thing St. Paul did after he came to Rome, 
 was to summon the heads of the Jewish consistoiy 
 there, whom he accj^uainted with the cause and 
 manner of his coming : that though he had 
 been guilty of no violation of the law of their reli¬ 
 gion, yet had he been delivered by the Jews into 
 the hands of the Roman governors; who would have 
 acquitted him once and again, as innocent of any 
 capital offence, but by the perverseness of the Jews 
 he was forced, not with an intention to charge his 
 own nation, (already sufficiently odious to the Ro¬ 
 mans,) but only to vindicate and clear himself, to 
 make his appeal to Caesar; that being come, he had 
 sent for them, to let them know that it was for his 
 constant asserting the resurrection, the hope of all 
 true Israelites, that he was bound with that chain 
 which they saw upon him. The Jews replied, that 
 they had received no advice concerning him, nor 
 had any of the nation that came from Judaea, 
 brought any charge against him : only for the reli¬ 
 gion which he had espoused, they desired to be a 
 little better informed about it, it being every where 
 decried, both by Jew and Gentile. Accordingly, 
 upon a day appointed, he discoursed to them from 
 morning to night, concerning the religion and doc¬ 
 trine of the holy Jesus, proving from the promises 
 and predictions of the Old Testament, that he was 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 279 
 
 the true Messiah. His discourse succeeded not 
 with all alike, some being convinced, others per¬ 
 sisted in their infidelity; and as they were depart¬ 
 ing in some discontent at each other, the apostle 
 told them, it was now too plain, God had accom¬ 
 plished upon them the prophetical curse, of being 
 left to their own wilful hardness and impenitency, 
 to be blind at noon-day, and to run themselves 
 against all means and methods into irrecoverable 
 ruin; that since the case was thus with them, they 
 must expect, that henceforth he should turn his 
 preaching to the Gentiles, who would be most ready 
 to entertain what they had so scornfully rejected, 
 the glad tidings of the gospel.' 
 
 2. It was not, probably, long after this, that he 
 was brought to his first hearing before the emperor, 
 where those friends whom he most expected should 
 stand by him, plainly deserted him : afraid it seems 
 of appearing in so ticklish a cause before so unrea¬ 
 sonable a judge, who governed himself by no other 
 measures than the brutish and extravagant pleasure 
 of his lust or humour. But God stood by him, 
 and encouraged him; as indeed divine consolations 
 are many times then nearest to us, when human 
 assistances are furthest from us. This cowardice of 
 theirs the apostle had a charity large enough to 
 cover, heartily praying, that it might not be brought 
 against them in the accounts of the great day.® 
 Two years he dwelt at Rome in a house which he 
 hired for his own use, wherein he constantly em- 
 
 ‘ It is a remarkable fact, that the prejudices which prevailed 
 among the Jews in their own country, should have thus infected 
 them even in the midst of a highly free and cultivated people. 
 —Ed. 
 
 2 1 Tim. iv. 16. 
 
280 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 ployed himself in preaching and writing for the 
 good of the church. He preached daily, without 
 interruption, to all that came to him, and with 
 good success; yea, even upon some of the better 
 rank and quality, and those belonging to the court 
 itself. Among which, the Roman martyrology ^ 
 reckons Torpes, an officer of prime note in Nero’s 
 palace, and afterwards a martyr for the faith; and 
 Chrysostom (if Baronins® cites him right) tells us 
 of Nero’s cupbearer, and one of his concubines, j 
 supposed by some to have been Poppaea Sabina, of 
 whom Tacitus ^ gives this character, that she wanted i 
 nothing to render her one of the most accomplished > 
 ladies in the world, but a chaste and a virtuous i 
 mind; and I know not how far it may seem to J 
 countenance her conversion, at least inclination to 
 a better religion than that of paganism, that Jose- 31 
 phus^ styles her a pious woman, and tells us that 
 she effectually solicited the cause of the Jews with 
 her husband, Nero; and what favours Josephus 
 himself received from her at Rome, he relates in 
 his own life. 
 
 3. Amongst other of our apostle’s converts at 
 Rome was Onesimus, who had formerly been ser¬ 
 vant to Philemon, a person of eminency in Colosse; 
 but had run away from his master, and taken things 
 of some value with him. Having rambled as far as 
 Rome, he was now converted by St. Paul, and by 
 him returned with recommendatory letters to Phile¬ 
 mon, his master, to beg his pardon, and that he 
 
 ‘ Ad diem. XVII. Maii. p. 308. 
 
 ^ Ad An. 59, n. 9, vid. Chrysost. adv. vituper. vit. monast. 
 lib. i. c. 4, p. 361, tom. iv. 
 
 3 Anna!, lib. xiii, c. 45, p. 263. 
 
 ^ Antiq. Jud. lib. xx. cap. 7? p. 697; de vit. sua, p. 999. 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 281 
 
 might be received into favour, being now of a much 
 better temper, more faithful and diligent, and use¬ 
 ful to his master than he had been before; as in¬ 
 deed Christianity, where it is heartily entertained, 
 makes men good in all relations; no laws being so 
 wisely contrived for the peace and happiness of the 
 world, as the laws of the gospel, as may appear by 
 this particular case of servants: what admirable 
 rules, what severe laws does it lay upon them for 
 the discharge of their duties! It commands them to 
 honour their masters as their superiors, and to take 
 heed of making their authority light and cheap, by 
 familiar and contemptible thoughts and carriages, 
 to obey them in all honest and lawful things, and 
 that ‘ not with eye-service, as men-pleasers, but in 
 singleness of heart, as unto God;’ that they be faith¬ 
 ful to the trust committed to them, and manage 
 their master’s interest with as much care and con¬ 
 science as if it were their own; that they entertain 
 their reproofs, counsels, corrections with all si¬ 
 lence and sobriety, not returning any rude, surly 
 answers; and this carriage to be observed, not only 
 to masters of a mild and gentle, but of a cross and 
 peevish disposition; that ^whatever they do, they 
 do it heartily, not as to men only, but to the Lord; 
 knowing that of the Lord they shall receive the re- 
 w^ard of the inheritance, for that they serve the 
 Lord Christ.’ Imbued with these excellent prin¬ 
 ciples, Onesimus is again returned unto his mas¬ 
 ter ; for Christian religion, though it improves 
 men’s tempers, does not cancel their relations; it 
 'teaches them to abide in their callings, and ^ not 
 ' to despise their masters, because they are brethren, 
 but rather do them service because they are faith¬ 
 ful,’ And being thus improved, St. Paul the more 
 
282 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 confidently begged his pardon. And, indeed, had 
 not Philemon been a Christian, and by the princi¬ 
 ples of his religion, both disposed and obliged to 
 mildness and mercy, there had been great reason 
 why St. Paul should be thus importunate with him 
 for Onesimus’s pardon; the case of servants in those 
 days being very hard, for all masters were looked 
 upon as having an unlimited power over their ser¬ 
 vants, and that not only by the Roman,' but by the 
 laws of all nations; whereby, without asking the | 
 magistrate’s leave, or any public and formal trial, 
 they might adjudge and condemn them to what 
 work or punishment they pleased, even to the 
 taking away of life itself. But the severity and i 
 exorbitancy of this power was afterwards somewhat j 
 curbed by the laws of succeeding emperors, espe- I 
 daily after the empire submitted itself to Christi- | 
 anity, which makes better provision for persons in I 
 that capacity and relation ; and in case of unjust i 
 and over-rigorous usage, enables them to appeal to i 
 a more righteous and impartial tribunal, where | 
 master and servant shall both stand upon even ! 
 ground; ^ where he that doth wrong shall receive j 
 for the wrong which he hath done; and there is no < 
 respect of persons.’ i 
 
 4. The Christians at Philippi having heard of ) 
 St. Paubs imprisonment at Rome, and not knowing 
 what straits he might be reduced to, raised a con¬ 
 tribution for him, and sent it by Epaphroditus, 
 their bishop, who was now come to Rome, where 
 he shortly after fell dangerously sick: but being 
 recovered, and upon the point to return, by him 
 
 * L. 1 et 2, fF. de his, qui sui vel alieni juris sunt, lib. 1, tit. j 
 6, vid. Instit. lib. i. tit. 8. 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 283 
 
 St. Paul sent his epistle to the Philippians, wherein 
 he gives them some account of the state of affairs 
 at Rome, gratefully acknowledges their kindness to 
 him, and warns them of those dangerous opinions 
 which the Judaizing teachers began to vent among 
 them. The apostle had heretofore, for some years, 
 lived at Ephesus, and perfectly understood the state 
 and condition of that place ; and therefore now, by 
 Tychicus, writes his epistle to the Ephesians, en¬ 
 deavouring to countermine the principles and prac¬ 
 tices both of Jews and Gentiles, to confirm them in 
 ) the belief and obedience of the Christian doctrine, 
 
 ■ to represent the infinite riches of the divine good¬ 
 ness in admitting the Gentile world to the unsearch¬ 
 able treasures of Christianity, especially pressing 
 them to express the life and spirit of it in the gene- 
 1 ral duties of religion, and in the duties of their par¬ 
 ticular relations. Much about the same time, or 
 a little after, he wrote his epistle to the Colossians, 
 among whom he had never been, and sent it by Epa- 
 phras,'who for some time had been his fellow-prisoner 
 at Rome. The design of it is, for the greatest part, 
 the same with that to the Ephesians, to settle and 
 confirm them in the faith of the Gospel, against the 
 errors both of Judaism, and the superstitious ob¬ 
 servances of the heathen world, some whereof had 
 taken root amongst them. 
 
 5. It is not improbable but that about this, or 
 rather some considerable time before, St. Paul 
 wrote his second epistle to Timothy. I know Euse¬ 
 bius, and the ancients, and most moderns after 
 them, will have it written a little before his martyr¬ 
 dom; induced thereunto by that passage in it, that 
 he was then ‘ ready to be offered, and that the 
 time of his departure was at hand.’ But surely it 
 
284 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 is most reasonable to think, that it was written at 
 his first being at Rome, and that at his first coming 
 thither, presently after his trial before Nero. Ac¬ 
 cordingly, the passage before mentioned may im¬ 
 port no more, than that he was in imminent danger 
 of his life, and had received the sentence of death 
 in himself, not hoping to escape out of the paws of 
 Nero; but that" God had delivered him out of the 
 mouth of the lion,’ i. e. the great danger he was in 
 at his coming thither: which exactly agrees to his 
 case at his first being at Rome, but cannot be re¬ 
 conciled with his last coming thither; together with 
 many more circumstances in this epistle, which 
 render it next door to certain. In it he appoints 
 Timothy shortly to come to him, who accordingly 
 came, and whose name is joined together with his in 
 the front of several epistles to the Philippians, Co- | 
 lossians, and to Philemon. The only thing that | 
 can be levelled against this is, that in his epistle to 1 
 Timothy, he tells him, that he had sent Tychicus 
 to Ephesus, by whom it is plain that the epistles to 
 the Ephesians and Philippians were dispatched; and , 
 that therefore this to Timothy must be written after 
 them. But I see no inconvenience to affirm, that 
 Tychicus might come to Rome presently after St. g 
 Paul’s arrival there; might be by him immediately 
 sent back to Ephesus upon some emergent affair of 
 that church; and after his return to Rome be sent 
 with those two epistles. The design of the epistle 
 was to excite the holy man to a mighty zeal and 
 diligence, care, and fidelity in his office, and to 
 antidote the people against those poisonous princi- 
 • pies that in those parts especially began to debauch 
 the minds of men. 
 
 6. As for the epistle to the Hebrews, it is very 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 285 
 
 uncertain* when, or whence, and (for some ages 
 doubted) by whom it was written. Eusebius tells 
 us,^ it was not received by many, because rejected 
 by the church of Rome, as none of St. PauPs ge¬ 
 nuine epistles. Origen^ affirms the style and phrase 
 of it to be more fine and elegant, and to contain in 
 it a rich vein of purer Greek than is usually 
 found in St. Paul’s epistles; as every one that is 
 able to judge of a style, must needs confess; that 
 the sentences indeed are grave and weighty, and 
 such as breathe the spirit and majesty of an apostle; 
 that therefore it was his judgment that the matter 
 contained in it had been dictated by some apostle; 
 but that it had been put into phrase, form, and 
 order by some other person that did attend upon 
 him ; that if any church owned it for St. Paul’s, 
 they were not to be condemned, it not being with¬ 
 out reason by the ancients ascribed to him; though 
 God only knew who was the true author of it. He 
 further tells us, that report had handed it down to 
 his time, that it had been composed partly by 
 Clemens of Rome, partly by Luke the evangelist. 
 Tertullian adds,'’ that it was writ by Barnabas. 
 What seems most likely in such variety of opinions 
 is, that St. Paul originally wrote it in Hebrew; it 
 being to be sent to the Jews, his countrymen, and 
 by some other person, probably St. Luke, or 
 Clemens Romanus, translated into Greek; espe¬ 
 cially since both Eusebius'’ and St. Jerome’’ ob- 
 %> 
 
 served of old such a great affinity both in style and 
 
 I ’ Lib. iii. c. 3. p. 27- 
 I 2 Apud Euseb. lib. vi. c. 25, p. 227. 
 
 ' 3 j)g Pudic c. 20, p. 582, Vid. Clem. Alex, in lib. Hyp. 
 
 I apud Euseb. lib. vi. c. 14, p. 216. 
 
 Euseb. lib. iii. c. 38, p. 110. 
 
 ® Hier. de Scrip. Eccl. in Clem. 
 
286 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 sense between this and Clemens s epiiltle to the 
 Corinthians, as thence positively to conclude him to 
 be the translator of it. It was written, as we may 
 conjecture, a little after he was restored to his 
 liberty, and probably while he was yet in some 
 parts of Italy, whence he dates his salutations.' 
 The main design of it is to magnify Christ and the 
 religion of the gospel, above Moses and the Jewish 
 economy and ministration; that by this means he 
 might the better establish and confirm the convert 
 Jews in the firm belief and profession of Christi¬ 
 anity, notwithstanding those sufferings and persecu¬ 
 tions that came upon them; endeavouring through¬ 
 out to arm and fortify them against apostacy from 
 that noble and excellent religion wherein they had , 
 so happily engaged themselves. And great need 
 there was for the apostle severely to urge them to i 
 it; heavy persecutions, both from Je ws and Gentiles, ' 
 pressing in upon them on every side, besides those | 
 trains of specious and plausible insinuations that ; 
 were laid to reduce them to their ancient institu- j 
 tions. Hence, the apostle calls apostacy ‘the sin 
 which did so easily beset them,’® to which there i 
 were such frequent temptations, and into which 
 they were so prone to be betrayed in those suffering 
 times. And the more to deter them from it, he , 
 once and again sets before them the dreadful state 
 and condition of apostates; those who have been 
 ‘ once enlightened,’^ and baptized into the Christian 
 faith, ‘ tasted’ the promises of the gospel, and been 
 ‘ made partakers’ of the miraculous gifts of the 
 ‘ Holy Ghost/ those ‘ powers’ which in the ‘ world. 
 
 ' Heb. xiii. 24. 
 
 Cap. xii. 1. 
 
 ^ Cap. vi. 4, 5, 6. 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 287 
 
 to come/ or this new state of things, were^to be 
 conferred upon the church; if after all this, ^ these 
 men fall away/ and renounce Christianity, it is 
 very hard, and even ^impossible to renew them 
 again unto repentance/ For by this means ‘ they 
 trod under foot,’ and ^ crucified the Son of God 
 afresh,’ and put him to an open shame,’ profaned 
 ' the blood of the covenant,’ and ^ did despite to the 
 spirit of grace.’ So, that ^ to sin’ thus " wilfully 
 after they had received the knowledge of the truth, 
 there’ could ^ remain’ for them ^ no more sacrifice 
 for Ws;’ nothing ‘ but a certain fearful looking for 
 of judgment and fiery indignation which should 
 devour’these ^adversaries.’ And ^a fearful thing 
 it was,’ in such circumstances, to fall into the hands 
 of the living God;’^ who had particularly said of 
 this sort of sinners, that ^ if any man drew back, his 
 soul should have no pleasure in him.’ Hence it is, 
 that every where in this epistle he mixes exhorta¬ 
 tions to this purpose, that 'they would give earnest 
 heed to the things which they had heard, lest at any 
 time they should let them slip;’ that 'they would 
 hold fast the confidence, and the rejoicing of the 
 hope, firm unto the end,’ and 'beware, lest by an 
 evil heart of unbelief they departed from the living 
 God;’ that they would'labour to enter into his 
 rest, lest any man fall after the example of unbe¬ 
 lief; that leaving the’ first ‘ principles of the doc¬ 
 trine of Christ, they would go on to perfection, 
 showing diligence to the full assurance of hope 
 unto the end ; not being slothful, but followers of 
 them, who through faith and patience inherit the 
 promises;’ that they would 'hold fast the profes- 
 
 Cap. X. 26—31. 
 
 1 
 
LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 288 
 
 Sion of the faith without wavering, not forsaking 
 the assembling of themselves together, (as the 
 manner of some was,’) nor ^ cast away their conh- 
 dence, which had great recompence of rewai^ ; 
 that ‘ they had need of patience, that after they 
 had done the will of God, they might receive the 
 promisethat they ^ would not be of them who 
 drew back unto perdition, but of them that be¬ 
 lieved to the saving of the soul; that ' being en¬ 
 compassed about with so great a cloud of wit¬ 
 nesses,' who with the most unconquerable con¬ 
 stancy and resolution had all holden on in the 
 way to heaven, "they would lay aside every 
 weight, and the sin which did so easily beset them, 
 and run with patience the race that was set betore 
 them;’ especially " looking unto Jesus, the author 
 and finisher of their faith, who endured the cross 
 and despised the shame; thattherefoie they s ou c 
 consider him that endured such contradiction ot 
 sinners against himself, lest they should be wea¬ 
 ried and faint in their minds;’ for that ‘ they had 
 not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sm ; 
 looking diligently, lest any man should fail of the 
 grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing 
 up should trouble them, and thereby many be de¬ 
 filed.' By all which, and much more that might 
 be observed to this purpose, it is evident what 
 our apostle’s great design was in this excellent 
 
 epistle. 
 
 7. Our apostle being now, after two years cus¬ 
 tody, perfectly restored to liberty, remembered that 
 he was the apostle of the Gentiles, and had there¬ 
 fore a larger diocess than Rome, and accoidingly 
 prepared himself for a greater circuit, though 
 which way he directed his course is not absolutely 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 289 
 
 certain. By some he is said to have returned back 
 into Greece, and the parts of Asia, upon no other 
 ground that I know of, than a few intimations in 
 some of his epistles that he intended to do so. By 
 others he is thought to have preached both in the 
 eastern and western parts, which is not inconsis¬ 
 tent with the time he had after his departure from 
 Rome. But of the latter we have better evidence. 
 Sure I am, an author beyond all exception, St. 
 Paul’s contemporary and fellow-labourer, I mean 
 Clemens,^ in his famous epistle to the Corinthians, 
 expressly tells us, that being a preacher both in 
 the east and west, he taught righteousness to the 
 whole world, and went to the utmost bounds of the 
 west: which makes me the more wonder at the 
 confidence of one (otherwise a man of great parts 
 and learning) who so peremptorily denies that 
 ever our apostle preached in the west, merely be¬ 
 cause there are no monuments left in primitive 
 antiquity of any particular churches there founded 
 by him f as if all the particular passages of his 
 life, done at so vast a distance, must needs have 
 been recorded, or those records have come down to 
 us, when it is so notoriously known, that almost 
 all the wu’itings and monuments of those first ages 
 of Christianity are long since perished; or as if 
 we were not sufficiently assured of the thing in 
 general, though not of what particulars he djid 
 there. Probable it is, that he went into Spain, a 
 thing which himself tells us he had formerly once 
 
 * Krjpv'^ yivoiisvoQ ev ry avaroXy ^ kv ry dvaei, dtKaioffv- 
 vyv Siid^ag oXov rbv koctijlov, ^ kiri to Tspfxa Tijg bvcreug 
 kX9(x)v- —Ep. ad Cor. p. 8. 
 
 2 L. Cappell. Append, ad Hist. App. p. 33. 
 
 VOL. I. U 
 
290 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 and again resolved on.' Certain it is, that the an¬ 
 cients do generally assert it, without seeming in 
 the least to doubt of it.^ Theodoret and others 
 tell us, that he preached not only in Spain, but 
 that he went to other nations, and brought the 
 gospel into the isles of the sea, by Avhich he un¬ 
 doubtedly means Britain ; and therefore elsewhere 
 reckons the Gauls and Britons among the nations 
 which the apostles, and particularly the tent-maker, 
 persuaded to embrace the law of Christ. Nor is 
 he the only man that has said it,^ others having 
 given in their testimony and suffrage in this case."* 
 
 8. To what other parts of the world St. Paul I 
 preached the gospel, we find no certain footsteps i 
 in antiquity, nor any further mention of him till 
 his return to Rome, which probably was about the 
 eighth or ninth year of Nero’s reign. Here he met 
 with Peter, and was, together with him, thrown into 
 prison; no doubt in the general persecution raised 
 ao-ainst the Christians, under the pretence that 
 they had fired the city. Besides the general, we 
 may reasonably suppose there were particular 
 causes of his imprisonment. Some of the ancients 
 
 1 Rom. XV. 24—28. 
 
 2 Epiphan. Hcores. 27, p. 51 ; Chrysost. de Laud. Paul. p. 
 536, tom. V. Cyril. Catech. 17, p. 457; Theod. in 2 Tim. iv. 16,' 
 et in Psalm cxvi. id. de cur. Grcec. Affect. Serm. 9, p. 125 ; 
 Athan. Epist. ad Dracont. p. 737. 
 
 Sophron. Serm. de Natali App. 
 
 Transit et Oceanum, vel qua facit insula portum, 
 
 Quasque Britannus habet terras, atque ultima Thule.” 
 
 Venant. Fortun. de vit. Martin, lib. iii. non procul a fine 
 
 ^ It is on an expression in the epistle of Clemens Romanus 
 to the Corinthians, that the opinion respecting Paul’s journey 
 into Spain chiefly rests. Clemens says, that “ he came to the , 
 borders of the westbut it is argued on the other side, that 
 Rome or Italy only was intended by this expression.— Ed. 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 291 
 
 make him engaged with Peter in procuring the 
 fall of Simon Magus, and that that derived the 
 empemr’s fury and rage upon him. St. Chrysos¬ 
 tom gives us this account;’ that having converted 
 one of NeiVs concubines, a woman of whom he 
 vtas infinitely fond, and reduced her to a life of 
 gieat strictness and chastity, so that now she wholly 
 refused to comply with his wanton and impure 
 embiaces; the emperor stormed thereat, calling the 
 apostle a villain and imposter, a wretched perverter 
 and debaucher of others, giving order that he 
 should be cast into prison; and when he still per¬ 
 sisted in persuading the lad}^ to continue her chaste 
 and pious resolutions, commanding him to be put 
 to death. 
 
 9. How long he remained in prison is not cer¬ 
 tainly known: at last his execution was resolved 
 on f what his preparatory treatment was, whether 
 scourged as malefactors were wont to be in order 
 to their death, we find not. Asa Roman citizen by 
 the Valerian and the Porcian law, he was exempted 
 from it; though by the law of the twelve tables 
 notorious malefactors, condemned by the centuriate 
 assemblies, were first to be scourged, and then put 
 to death; and Baronius tells us, that in the church 
 of St. Mary, beyond the bridge of Rome, the pil¬ 
 lars are yet extant, to which both Peter and Paul 
 are said to have been bound and scourged,^ As he 
 was led to execution, he is said to have converted 
 three of the soldiers that were sent to conduct and 
 guard him, who within few days after, by the em¬ 
 peror’s command, became martyrs for the faith. 
 
 , ‘ Adv. vit. Monast. vituperat. lib. i. c. 4, p. 361; tom. iv. 
 
 i 2 That is, about the year 64 or 65 .—Ed. 
 
 I 
 
292 
 
 liyes of the apostles. 
 
 Being come to the place, which w_as the 
 vise, three miles from Rome, after some solemn 
 preparation, he cheerfully gave his neck to the fata 
 stroke As a Roman he might not be put upon the 
 c^^str too infamous a death for any but the worst 
 of slaves and malefactors, and therefore was e 
 headed; accounted a more noble kind of death, n 
 among the Romans only,' but among othei na¬ 
 tions, as being fitter for persons of better qualitj, 
 and more ingenuous education ; and from this in¬ 
 strument of his execution the custom, no doubt 
 first arose, that in all pictures and images of th^ 
 apostle, he is constantly represented with a swoi 
 in his right hand. Tradition reports (justified 
 herein by the suffrage of many of the ^theis ) 
 that when he was beheaded, a liquor 
 milk than blood flowed from his veins, and yirte 
 upon the clothes of his executioner; and had i is - 
 or leisure for such things, I might entertain the 
 reader with little glosses that are made upon it 
 St. Chrysostom adds, that it became a means o 
 converting his executioner, and many more o e 
 faith; and that the apostle suffered in the six y- 
 eio-hth year of his age. Some question there is, 
 whether he suffered at the same time with Petei, 
 many of the ancients positively affirm, that both 
 suffered on the same day and year;" others, thoug 
 
 ‘ KXfapYog ^ ol dWoi <^parr)yol dTroTfxnQivTeg ' 
 
 Xac ocTTrep fcaXXiToc ^ravariov tSoKSi eivai.—Xenop . . j 
 
 pS: CySib?ii. in fin. p. 293. “ Servi sunt in crucem sublatl, : 
 
 militibus cervices absciss®.”—Hist, de ‘ tom ’ iii. ' 
 
 2 Ambr. de nat. Petr, et Paul, feerm. 68, p. 294, tom. 
 
 Chrys. Serm. in Petr, et Paul. tom. yi. p. 267- . 
 
 3 Dion. Corinth, ap. Euseb. liK n. c- 25, p. , j 
 
 Serm. 66, p. 291; Max. Taur. Horn. 5, de Petr, et Paul. 
 
 p. 231. I 
 
ST. PAUL. 
 
 293 
 
 allowing the same clay, tell us that St. Paul suf¬ 
 fered not till the year after; nay, some interpose 
 the distance of several years.' A manuscript writer 
 of the lives and travels of Peter and Paul/ brought 
 amongst other venerable monuments of antiquity 
 out of Greece, will have Paul to have suffered no 
 less than five years after Peter, which he justifies 
 by the authority of no less than Justin Martyr and 
 Irenaeus. But what credit is to be given to this 
 nameless author, I see not; and therefore lay no 
 weight upon it, nor think it fit to be put into the 
 balance with the testimonies of the ancients. Cer¬ 
 tainly if he suffered not at the v-ery same time with 
 Peter, it could not be long after, not above a year 
 at most. The best is, which of them soever started 
 first, they both came at last to the same end of the 
 race; to those palms and crowns which are reserved 
 for all good men in heaven, but most eminently for 
 the martyrs of the Christian faith. 
 
 10. He was buried in the Via Ostiensis, about 
 two miles from Rome, over whose grave, about the 
 year 318, Constantine the Great,^ at the instance 
 of pope Sylvester, built a stately church, within a 
 
 1 Prudent. Peristeph. in Pass. Petr, et Paul. Hymn. 12, p. 
 518 ; Arat. Act. App. lib. ii. in fin. p. 700 ; Aug. de Sanct. 
 Serm. 28, tom. x. ; Col. 1225, Greg. Turon. de glor. Martyr, 
 lib. i. c. 29, p. 35. 
 
 ® AsyscTL de rivsQ TrpoXateiv tov Usrpov svtavrdv sva, Kj 
 Tov fxaKapiov iKeivo de^acrB'ai SscxTroriKOV TrdOog, rrjv 
 xpvxfjv vTrkp tS)V irpotidTwv 7rpo9sp,evov’ dKo\s9r](rat de 
 rsr<p TOV pLsyav ’Atto^oXov nauAoj/, o)q 'IstIvoq ^ 
 vaiog (j)aaiv ecp’ oXoig erect ttevts’ Kaiye rsroig eyw 7ret0o- 
 juctt pdXXov. —Apud P. Jun. not. in Clem. Ep. ad Cor. ad p. 
 8, forsan ex S. Metaphr. qui totidem verbis eadem habet ap. 
 Sur. ad 29 Jun. n. 23, p. 357. 
 
 ^ Hamas. Pont, in vit. Sylvestr. vid. Onuphr. de 7j Urb. 
 Basil, p. 87. 
 
294 
 
 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 farm which Lucina, a noble Christian matron of 
 Rome, had long before settled upon that church. 
 He adorned it with a hundred of the best marble 
 columns, and beautified it with the most exquisite 
 workmanship; the many rich gifts and endowments 
 which he bestowed upon it, being particularly set 
 down in the life of Sylvester. This church, as too 
 narrow and little for the honour of so great an 
 apostle, Valentinian, or rather Theodosius the em¬ 
 peror, (the one but finishing what the other began,) 
 by a rescript ‘ directed to Sallustius, prefect of the 
 city, caused to be taken down, and a larger and 
 more noble church to be built in the room of it: 
 further beautified (as appears from an ancient in¬ 
 scription^) by Placidia the empress, at the per¬ 
 suasion of Leo, bishop of Rome. What other ad¬ 
 ditions of wealth, honour, or stateliness, it has 
 received since, concerns not me to inquire. 
 
 1 Apud Bar. ad An. 385, p. 527, ex Cod. Vatic. 
 
 2 Ibid, in Addend, ad tom. iv. p. 12. 
 
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