ifeJll; i$&5?5K,V*''i 'MfolfiS ffl'.'gUii. 'jJttff:M$$0i | f oi- the founding of a. College in this CotoH^p ~** HORiE PAULINA: OR, THE TRUTH OF THE SCRIPTURE HISTORY OF ST. PAUL, EVINCED BY A COMPARISON OF TBE EPISTLES WHICH BEAR HIS NAME WITH THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, AND WITH ONE ANOTHER. By WILLIAM PALEY, D. D. 3rtfiDeacon of CCarMe. FOURTH EDITION. LONDON: PRINTED FOR R. FAULDER, NEW BOND-STEEET, BY ,]. BRETTILL, MAX.SHALL-STIt.EET, COLDEN-SQU ARE. 1805. TO THE RIGHT REVEREND JOHN LAW, D.D. LORD BISHOP OF KILLALA AND ACHONRY, AS A TESTIMONY OF ESTEEM FOR HIS VIRTUES AND LEARNING, AND OF GRATITUDE FOR THE LONG AND FAITHFUL FRIENDSHIP "WITH WHIClk THE AUTHOR HAS BEEN HONOURED BY kiM, THIS ATTEMPT TO CONFIRM THE EVIDENCE, OF THE CHRISTIAN HISTORY IS INSCRIBED BY HIS AFFECTIONATE, ' AND MOST 'OBUGED SERVANT, W. PALEY. THE CONTENTS. Pagt EXPOSITION TO THE ARGUMENT 1 THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS 20 THF FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS . . . 66 THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS . . 98 THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS ..... 152 THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 208 THE EPISTLE TO THE PH1LIPPIANS 255 THE EPISTLE TO THE CQLOSSIANS 278 THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS . 2QS THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS . 313 THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY 323 THE SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY 339 THE EPISTLE TO TITUS 357 THE EPISTLE TO PHILEMON 368 THE SUBSCRIPTIONS OF THE EPISTLES .... 378 THE CONCLUSION 386 THE TRUTH <3F THE SCRIPTURE HISTORY OF ST. PAUL EVINCED. 9®®®®®-«$»'-®$®(58' CHAP. I. EXPOSITION OF THE ARGUMENT. THE volume of Christian Scriptures con tains thirteen letters purporting to be written by St Paul ; it contains also a book, which, amongst other things, professes to deliver the history, or rather memoirs of the history, of this same person. By assuming the ge nuineness of the letters, we may prove the b substantia* 2 EXPOSITION OF THE ARGUMENT. Substantial truth of the history ; or, by as suming the truth of the history, we may argue strongly in support of the genuine ness of the letters. But I assume neither one nor the other. The reader is at liberty to suppose these writings to have been lately discovered in the library of the Escurial, and to come to our hands destitute of any extrinsic or collateral evidence whatever ; and the argument I am about to offer is calculated to shew, that a comparison of the different writings would, even under these circumstances, afford good reason to believe: the persons aqd transactions to have been real, the letters authentic, and the narration in the main to be true. Agreement or conformity between letters bearing the name of an ancient author, and a received history of that author's life, does not necessarily establish the credit of either : because, 1. The history may, like Middleton's Life of Cicero, or Jortin's Life of Erasmus, have been wholly, or in part, compiled from the letters ; in which case it is mani? fest that the history adds nothing, to, the evidence EXPOSITION OF THE ARGUMENT. * evidence already afforded by the letters : or, 2. The letters may have been fabricated out of the history : a species of imposture which is certainly practicable ; and which, without any accession of proof or autho rity, would necessarily produce the appear ance of consistency and agreement ; or, 3. The history and letters may have been founded upon some authority com mon to both ; as upon reports and tradi tions which prevailed in the age in which they were composed, or upon some ancient record now lost, which both writers con sulted : in which case also, the letters, with out being genuine, may exhibit marks of conformity with the history ; and the his tory, without being true, may agree with the letters. Agreement therefore, or conformity, is only to be relied upon so far as we can ex clude these several suppositions. Now the point to be noticed is, that, in the three cases above enumerated, conformity must be the effect of design. Where the history h compiled from the letters, which is the b 2 first 4 EXPOSITION OF THE AEGUMENT. first case, the design and composition, of the work are in general so confessed, or made so evident bry comparison, as to leave us in no danger of confounding the pro duction with original history, or of mis taking it for an independent authority. The agreement, it is probable, will be close and uniform, and will easily be perceived to result from the intention of the author, and from the plan and conduct of his work. — Where the letters are fabricated from the history, which is the second case, it is always for the purpose of imposing a forgery upon the public; and in order to give colour and probability to the fraud, names, places, and circumstances, found in the history, may be studiously intro duced into the letters, as well as a general consistency be endeavoured to be main tained. But here it is manifest, that what ever congruity 'appears, is the consequence of meditation, artifice, and design. — The third case is that wherein the history and the letters, without any direct privity or communication with each other, derive their materials from the same source; and, by EXPOSITION OF THE ARGUMENT. 5 by reason of their common original, fur nish instances of accordance and corres pondency. This is a situation in which we must allow it to be possible for ancient writings to be placed ; and it is a situation in which it is more difficult to distinguish spurious from genuine writings, than in either of the cases described in the pre ceding suppositions ; inasmuch as the con- gruities observable are so far accidental, as that they are not produced by the im mediate transplanting of names and cir cumstances out of one writing into the other. But although, with respect to each other, the agreement in these writings be mediate and secondary, yet is it not pro perly or absolutely undesigned ; because, with respect to the common original from which the information of the writers pro ceeds, it is studied and factitious. The case of which we treat must, as to the letters, be a case of forgery ; and when the writer, who is personating another, sits down to his composition — whether he have the history with which we now compare the letters, or feme other record, before him 6 EXPOSITION OF THE ARGUMENT. him; or whether he have onlv loose tra dition and reports to go by — he must adapt his imposture, as well as he can, to what he finds in these accounts ; and his adapta tions will be the result of counsel, scheme, and industry : art must be employed ; and vestiges will appear of management and de sign. Add to this, that, in most of the following examples, the circumstances in which the coincidence is remarked are of too particular and domestic a nature, to have floated down upon the stream of ge neral tradition. Of the three cases which we have stated, the difference between the first and the two others is, that in the first the design may be fair and honest, in the others it must be accompanied with the conscious ness of fraud : but in all there is design. In examining,, therefore, the agreement between ancient writings, the character of truth and originality is undesignedness: and this test applies to every supposition ; for, whether we suppose the history to be true, but the letters spurious ; or the letters to be genuine, but the history false ; or, lastly, EXPOSITION OF THE ARGUMENT. 7 lastly, falsehood to belong to both^— the history to be a fable, and the letters ficti tious ; the same inference will result — -that either there will be no agreement between them, or the agreement will be the effect of design. Nor will it elude the principle of this rule, to suppose the same person to have been the author of all the letters^ or even the author both of the letters and the history ; for no less design is neces sary to produce coincidence between dif ferent parts of a man's own writings^ espe cially when they are made to take th© different forms of a history and of origi nal letters, than to adjust them to the circumstances found in any other writ ing. With respect to those writings of the New Testament which are to be the sub ject of our present consideration, I think that, as to the authenticity of the epistles* this argument, where it is sufficiently sus tained by instances, is nearly conclusive ; for I cannot assign a supposition of forgery, in which coincidences of the kind we en quire after are likely to appear. As to the history. 8 EXPOSITION OF THE ARGUMENT. history, it extends to these points : — It proves the general reality of the circum stances ; it proves the historian's knowledge of these circumstances. In the present in stance it confirms his pretensions of having been a cotemporary, and in the latter part of his history a companion of St. Paul. In a word, it establishes the substantial truth of the narration; and substantial truth is that which, in every historical enquiry, ought to be the first thing sought after and ascertained ; it must be the ground work of every other observation. The reader then will please to remember this word undesignedness, as denoting that upon which the construction and validity of our argument chiefly depend. As to the proofs of undesignedness, I shall in this place say little ; for I had rather the reader's persuasion should arise from the instances themselves, and the se parate remarks with which they may be accompanied, than from any previous for mulary or description of argument. In a great plurality of examples, I trust he will be perfectly convinced that no design or contrivance EXPOSITION OF THE ARGUMENT. 9 contrivance whatever has been exercised ; and if some of the coincidences aileclged appear to be minute, circuitous, or ob lique, let him reflect that this very indi rectness and subtil ity is that which gives force "and propriety -to the example. Broad, obvious, and explicit agreements prove little ; because it may be suggested that the insertion of such is the ordinary expedient of every forgery : and though they may occur, and probably will occur, in genuine writings, yet it cannot be proved that they are peculiar to these. Thus what St. Paul declares in chap. xi. of 1 Cor. con cerning the institution of the eu diarist — " For I have received of the Lord that " which I also delivered unto you, that " the Lord Jesus, the same night in which " he was betrayed, took bread ; and when /' he had given thanks, he brake it, and " said, Take, eat ; this is my body, which " is broken for you ; this do in remem- " brance of me" — though it be in close and verbal conformily with the account of the same transaction preserved by St. Luke, is yet a conformity of which no use can be made 10 EXPOSITION OF THE' ARGUMENT. made in our argument ; for if it should be 'to* objected that this was a mere recital from the Gospel, borrowed by the author of the epistle, for the purpose of setting off his composition by an appearance of agree ment with the received account of the Lord's supper, I should not know how to repel the insinuation. In like manner, the description which St. Paul gives of himself in his epistle to the Philippians (iii. 5.) — ** Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock *' of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an " Hebrew of the Hebrews ; as touching " the law, a Pharisee ; concerning zeal, " persecuting the Church ; touching the " righteousness which is in the law, blame- " less" — is made up of particulars so plain ly delivered concerning him, in the Acts of the Apostles, the Epistle to the Romans, and the Epistle to the Galatians, that I cannot deny but that it would be easy for an imposter, who was fabricating a letter in the name of St. Paul, to collect these articles into one view. This, therefore, is a conformity which we do not adduce. But when I read, in the Acts of the Apos tles, EXPOSITION OF THE ARGUMENT. 11 ties, that " when Paul came to Derbe and " Lystra, behold a certain disciple was " there, named Timotheus, the sou of a " certain woman zahich was a Jewess;" and when, in an epistle addressed to Timo thy, I find him reminded of his " having " known the Holy Scriptures from a child," which implies that he must, on one side or both, have been brought, up by Jewish pa rents : I conceive that I remark a coinci dence which shews, by its very obliquity, that scheme was not employed in its forma tion. In like manner, if a coincidence de pend upon a comparison of dates, or rather of circumstances from which the dates are gathered— the more intricate that compari son shall be ,4 the more numerous the inter mediate steps through which the conclusion is deduced ; in a word, the more circiutom the investigation isj the better, because the agreement which finally results is thereby further removed from the suspicion of con trivance, affectation, or design. And it should be remembered, concerning theseco- incidences, that it is one thing to be mi nute, and another to he precarious; one 3 thing 12 EXPOSITION OF THE ARGUMENT. thing to be unobserved, and another to be obscure; one thing to be circuitous or oblique, and another to be forced, dubious, or fanciful. Aud this distinction ought always to be retained in our thoughts. The very particularity of St. Paul's epis tles ; the perpetual recurrence of names of persons and places ; the frequent allusions to the incidents of his private life, and the circumstances of his condition and history; and the connection and parallelism of these with the same circumstances in the Acts of the Apostles, so as to enable us, for the most part, to confront them one with another ; as well as therelation which subsists between the circumstances, as mentioned or referred to in the different epistles — afford no incon siderable proof of the genuineness of the writings, and the reality of the transactions. For as no advertency is sufficient to guard against slips and contradictions, when cir cumstances are multiplied, and when they are liable to be detected by cotemporary ac counts equally circumstantial, an impostor, I should expect, would either have avoided particulars entirely, contenting himself with doctrinal EXPOSITION OF THE ARGUMENT, 13 doctrinal discussions, moral precepts, and general reflexions * ; or if, for the sake of imitating St. Paul's style, he should have thought it necessary to intersperse his com position with names and circumstances, he would have placed them out of the reach of comparison with the history. And I am confirmed in this opinion by an inspection of two attempts to counterfeit St. Paul's epistles, which haye come down to us ; and the only attempts, of which we have any knowledge that are at all deserving of re- * This, however, must not be misunderstood. A per son writing to his friends, and upon a subject in which the transactions of his own life were concerned, would probably be led in. the course of his letter, ^especially if it was a long one, to refer to passages found in his his tory. A person addressing an epistle to the public at large, or under tbe form of an epistle delivering a dis course upon some speculative argument, would not, it is probable, meet with an occasion of alluding to the cir cumstances of his life at all ; he might, or he might not ; the chance on either side is nearly equal. This is the. situation of the catholic epistle. Although, therefore, the presence of these allusions and agreements be a valu able accession to the arguments by which the authenticity of a letter is maintained, yet the want of them certainly forms no positive objection. gard. 14 EXPOSITION OF THE ARGUMENT. gard. One of these is an epistle to the Laodiceans, extant in Latin, and preserved by Fabricius in his collection of apocryphal scriptures. The other purports to be an epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians, in answer to an epistle from the Corinthians to him. This was translated by Scroderus from a copy in the Armenian language which had been sent to W. Whiston, and was afterwards, from a more perfect copy procured at Aleppo, published by his sons, as an appendix to their edition of Moses Chorenensis. No Greek copy exists of either : they are not only not supported by ancient testimony, but they are negatived and excluded ; as they have never found admission into any catalogue of apostolical writings, acknowledged by, or known to, the early ages of Christianity. In the first of these I found, as I expected, a total evitation of circumstances. It is simply a collection of sentences from the canonical epistles, strung together with very little skill. The second, which is a more versute and specious forgery, is introduced with a list of names of persons who wrote to St. Paul EXPOSITION OF THE ARGUMENT. l£ Paul from Corinth ; and is preceded by an account sufficiently particular of the man ner in which the epistle was sent from Co rinth to St. Paul, and the answer returned. But they are names which no one ever heard of; and the account it is impossible to combine with any thing found in tbe Acts, or in the other epistles. It is not ne cessary for me to point out the internal marks of spuriousness and imposture which these compositions betray ; but it was neces sary to observe, that they do not afford those coincidences which we propose as proofs of authenticity in the epistles which we defend. Having explained the general scheme and formation of the argument, I may be permitted to subjoin a brief account of the manner of conducting it. I have disposed the several instances of agreement under separate numbers ; as well to mark more sensibly the divisions of the subject, as for another purpose, viz. that the reader may thereby be reminded that the instances are independent of one another. I have advanced nothing which I did not think probable ; but the degree of probabi lity, 16 EXPOSITION OF THE ARGUMENT. lity, by which different instances are sup ported, is undoubtedly very different. If the reader, therefore, meets with a number which contains an instance that appears to him unsatisfactory, or founded in mistake, he will dismiss that number from the argu ment, but without prejudice to any other. He will have occasion also to observe, that the coincidences discoverable in some epis tles are much fewer and weaker than what are supplied by others. But lie will add to his observation this important circumstance - — that whatever ascertains the original of one epistle, in some measure establishes the authority of the rest. For, whether these epistles be genuine or'spurious, every thing about them indicates that they come from the same hand. The diction, which it is extremely difficult to imitate, preserves its resemblance and peculiarity throughout all the epistles. Numerous expressions and singularities of style, found in no other part of the New Testament, are repeated in dif ferent epistles ; and occur, in their respective. places, without the smallest appearance of force or art. An involved "argumentation, frequent EXPOSITION OF THE ARGUMENT. 17 frequent obscurities, especially in the'order and transition of thought, piety, vehe mence, affection, bursts of rapture, and of unparalleled sublimity, are properties, all or most of them, discernible in every letter of the collection. But although these epis tles bear strong marks of proceeding from the same hand, I think it is still more cer tain that they were originally separate pub lications. They form no continued story; they compose no regular correspondence . they comprise not the transactions of any particular period ; they carry on no connec tion of argument ; they depend not upon one another ; except in one or two in stances, they refer not to one another. I will further undertake to say, that no study or care has been employed to produce or pre serve an appearance of consistency amongst them. All which observations shew that they were not intended by the person, who ever, he was, that wrote them, to come forth or be read together; that they ap peared at first separately, and have been collected since. c The 18 EXPOSITION OF THE ARGUMENT. The proper purpose of the following work is, to bring together, from the Acts of the Apostles, find from the different epis tles, such passages as furnish examples of undesigned coincidence ; but I have so far enlarged upon this plan, as to take into it some circumstances found in the epistles, which contributed strength to the con clusion, though not strictly objects of com parison. It appeared also a part of the same plan, to examine the difficulties which presented themselves in the course of our enquiry. I do hot know that the subject has been proposed or considered in this view before. Ludovicus Capelliis, Bishop Pearson, Dr. Benson, and Dr. Lardner, have each given a continued history of St. Paul's life, made up from the Acts Of the Apostles and the epistles joined together. But this, it is manifest, is a different undertaking from the present, and directed to a different purpose. If what is here offered shall add one thread to that complication of probabilities by EXPOSITION OF THE ARGUMENT. 19 by which the Christian history is attested, the reader's attention will be repaid by the supreme importance of the subject ; and my design will be fully answered. C2 CHAP. 20 CHAP; II. THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. No. I. THE first passage I shall produce from this epistle, and upon which a good deal of observation will be founded, is the fol lowing : "• But now I go unto Jerusalem, to mi- " nister unto- the saints ; for it hath pleased " them of Macedonia and Achaia to make " a certain contribution for the poor saints " which are at Jerusalem." Rom. xv. 25, 6". In this quotation three distinct circum stances are stated — a contribution in Ma cedonia for the relief of the Christians of Jerusalem, a contribution in Achaia for the same purpose, and an intended journey of St. Paul to Jerusalem. These circum stances are stated as taking place at the same time, and that to be the time when the epistle was written. Now let us enquire whether we can find these circumstances elsewhere ; THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 21 elsewhere; and whether, if we do find them, they meet together in respect of date. Turn to the Acts of the Apostles, chap. xx. ver. 2, 3, and you read the following ac count: " When he had gone over those " parts (viz. Macedonia), and had given " them much exhortation, he came into " Greece, and there abode three months ; " and when the Jews laid wait for him, as " he was about to sail into Syria, he pur- " posed to return through Macedonia." From this passage, compared with the ac count of St. Paul's travels given before, and from the sequel of the chapter, it ap pears, that upon St. Paul's second visit to the peninsula of Greece, his intention was, when he should leave the country, to proceed from Achaia directly by sea to Syria; but that, to avoid the Jews, who were lying in wait to intercept him in his route, he so far changed his purpose as to go back through Macedonia, embark at Philippi, and pursue his voyage from thence towards Jerusalem. Here therefore is a journey to Jerusalem ; but not a syllable of any contribution. And as St. Paul had taken several journeys to Jerusalem 22 The EplsTtE to the romans. Jerusalem before, and one also immediately after his first visit into the peninsula of Greece (Acts xviii. 21.), it cannot from hence be collected in which of these visits the epistle was written, or with certainty» that it was written in either. The silence of the historian, who professes to have been "with St. Paul at the time (c. xx, v. <6.), con cerning any contribution, might lead us to look out for some different journey, or might induce us perhaps to question the consistency of the two records, did not a very accidental reference, in another part of the same history, afford us sufficient ground to believe that this silence was omis sion. When St. Paul made his reply before Felix, to the accusations of Tertullus, he alledged, as was natural, that neither the errand which brought him to Jerusalem, nor his conduct whilst he remained there, merited the calumnies with which the Jews had aspersed him. " Now after many " years (i. e. of absence) I came to bring " alms to my nation and offerings; whereupon "certain Jews from Asia found me puri- " fied in the temple, neither with multitude " nor THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 23 " nor with tumult, who .ought to have been " here before thee, and object, if they had " ought against me." Acts xxiv. 17 — 1-9- This mention of alms apd offerings certainly brings the narrative in the Acts nearer to an accordancy with the epistle ; yet no one, I am persuaded, will suspect that this clause was put into St Paul's defence, either to supply the omission in the preceding narra tive, or with any view to such accordancy. After all, nothing is yet said or hinted concerning the place of the contribution ; nothing concerning Macedonia and Achaia. fura therefore to the First Epistle to the Corinthians, chap xvi. ver. 1—4, and you have St. Paul delivering ,the following di rections : " Concerning the collection for " the saints, as I have given orders to the " churches of Galatia, even so do ye : upon " the first day of the week let every one " .of you lay by him in store as God hath " prospered him, that there be no gather- " ings when I come. And when jl come, " whomsoever you, .shall approve by your " letters, them will I send to bring your " liberality unto .Jerusalem ; apd if it be " meet 24 THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. " meet that I go also, they shall go with " me." In this passage we find a contri bution carrying on at Corinth, the capital of Achaia, for the Christians of Jerusalem ; we find also a hint given of the possibility of St. Paul going up to Jerusalem himself, af ter he had paid his visit into Achaia : but this is spoken of rather as a possibility than as any settled intention ; for his first thought was, " Whomsoever you shall ap- " prove by your letters, them will I send to " bring your liberality to Jerusalem :" and, in the sixth verse he adds, " That ye may " ;bring me on my journey withersoever I " go." This epistle purports to be written after St. Paul had been at Corinth ; for it refers throughout to what he had done and said amongst them whilst he was there. The expression therefore, "When I come," must relate to a second visit ; against which visit the contribution spoken of was desired to be in readiness. jj But though the contribution in Achaia be expressly mentioned, nothing is here said concerning any contribution in Mace donia. oTum therefore, in the third place to THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 95 to the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, chap. viii. ver. 1 — 4, and you will discover the particular which remains to be sought for: " Moreover, brethren, we do you to " wit of the grace of God bestowed on the " Churches of Macedonia ; how that, in a " great trial of affliction, the abundance of " their joy and their deep poverty abounded " unto the riches of their liberality: for to " their power, 1 bear record, yea and be- " yond their power, they were willing of " themselves ; praying us, with much en- " treaty, that we would receive the gift, and " take upon us the fellowship of the minis- " tering to the saints." To which add chap. ix. ver. 2 : " I know the forwardness of your " mind, for which I boast of you to them " of Macedonia, that Achaia was ready a " year ago." In this epistle we find St. Paul advanced as far as Macedonia, upon that second visit to Corinth which he pro mised in his former epistle : we find also, in the passages now quoted from it, that a contribution was going on in Macedonia at the same time with, or soon however fol lowing, the contribution which was made in 26 THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. in Achaia ; but for whom the contribution was made does not appear in this epistle at all : that information must be supplied from the first epistle. Here therefore, at length, but fetched from three different writings, we have ob- obtained the several circumstances we en quired after, and which the Epistle to the Romans brings together, viz. a contribu tion in Achaia for the Christians of Jeru salem ; a contribution in Macedonia for the same ; and an approaching journey of St. Paul to Jerusalem. We have these cir cumstances — ¦each by some hint in the pas sage in which it is mentioned, or by the date of the writing in which the passage occurs— fixed to a particular time ; and we have that time turning out, upon examina tion, to be in all the same ; namely, to wards the close of St. Paul's second visit to the peninsula of Greece. This is an instance of conformity beyond the pos sibility, I will venture to say, of random writing to produce. I also assert, that it is in the highest degree improbable that it should have been the effect of contriv- 3 ance THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 27 ance and design. The imputation of de sign amounts to this, that the forger of the Epistle to the Romans inserted in it the passage upon which our observations are founded, for the purpose of giving co lour to his forgery by the appearance of conformity with other writings which were then extant. I reply, in the first place, that, if he did this to counternance his forgery, he did it for the purpose of an argument which would not strike one reader in ten thousand. Coincidences so circuitous as this answer not the ends of forgery; are seldom, I believe, attempted by it. In the second place I observe, that he must have had the Acts of the Apostles, and the two Epistles to the Corinthians, before him at the time. In the Acts of the Apostles, (I mean that part of the Acts which relates to this period) he would have found the jour ney to Jerusalem ; but nothing about the contribution. In the First Epistle to the Corinthians he would have found a con tribution going on in Achaia for the Chris tians of Jerusalem, and a distant hint of the possibility of the journey ; but nothing con cerning ~fc> THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. cerning a contribution in Macedonia. In the Second Epistle to the Corinthians he would have found a contribution in Mace donia accompanying that in Achaia ; but no intimation for whom either was in tended, and not a word about the journey. It was only by a close and attentive colla tion of the three writings, that he could have picked out the circumstances which he has united in his epistle ; and by a still more nice examination, that he could have deter mined them to belong to the same period. In the third, place I remark, what dimi nishes very much the suspicion of fraud, how aptly and connectedly the mention of the circumstances in question, viz. the journey to Jerusalem, and of the occasion of that journey, arises from the context. ¦' Whensoever I take my journey into Spain, " I will come to you ; for I trust to see you " in my journey, and to be brought on my " way thitherward by you, if first I be " somewhat filled with your company. il But now I go unto Jerusalem, to minister " unto the saints ; for it hath pleased them of " Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain " contribution THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 29 " contribution for the poor saints which are at " Jerusalem. It hath pleased them verily, " and their debtors they are ; for if the " Gentiles have been made partakers of " their spiritual things, their duty is also " to minister unto them in carnal things. " When therefore I have performed this, " and have sealed them to this fruit, I will " come by you into Spain." Is the passage in Italics like a passage foisted in for an ex traneous purpose? Does it not arise from what goes before, by a junction as easy as any example of writing upon real business can furnish ? Could any thing be more na tural than that St. Paul, in writing to the Romans, should speak of the time when he hoped to visit them ; should mention the business which then detained him ; and that he purposed to set forwards upon his journey to them, when that business was completed ? No. II. By means of the quotation which formed the subject of the preceding number, we collect, that the Epistle to the Romans was written SO THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. written at the conclusion of St. Paul's se cond visit to the peninsula of Greece ; but this we collect, not from the epistle itself, nor from any thing declared concerning the time and place in any part of the epistle, but from a comparison of circumstances referred to in the epistle, with the order of events recorded in the Acts, and with re ferences to the same circumstances, though for quite different purposes, in the two Epistles to the Corinthians. Now would the author of a forgery, who sought to gain credit to a spurious letter by congruities, depending upon the time and place in which the letter was supposed to be writ ten, have left that time and place to be made out, in a manner so obscure and in direct as this is ? If therefore coincidences of circumstances can be pointed out in this epistle, depending upon its date, or the place where it was written, whilst that date and place are only ascertained by other circumstances, such coincidences may fairly be stated as undesigned. Under this head I adduce Chap. xvi. 21—23. " Timotheus, my " work- THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 31 " wofk^fellow, and Lucius, and Jason, and " Sosipater, my kinsmen, salute you. I,Ter- " tius, who wrote this epistle, salute you in " the Lord. Gaius, mine host, and of the " whole chtirch, saluteth you; and QuartUs, " a brother." With this passage I compare Acts xx. 4. " And there accompanied him " into Asia, Sopater of Berea ; and, of "the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secun- " dus ; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timo- " theus ; and, of Asia, Tychicus, and Tro- *' phimus." The Epistle to the Romans, we have seen, was written just before St. Paul's departure from Greece, after his second visit to that peninsula; the persons men tioned in the quotation from the Acts are those who accompanied him in that very de parture. Of seven whose names are joined in the salutation of the church of Rome, three, viz. Sosipater, Gaius, and Timothy, are proved, by this passage in the Acts, to have been with St. Paul at the time. And this is perhaps as much coincidence as could be expected from reality, though less, I am apt to think, than would have been pro duced by design. Four are mentioned in the Acts 32 THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. Acts who are not joined in the salutation ; and it is in the nature 6f the case probable that there should be many attending St. Paul in Greece who knew nothing of the converts at Rome, nor were known by them. In like manner several are joined in the salutation who are not mentioned in the pas sage referred to in the Acts. This also was to be expected. The occasion of mention ing them in the Acts was their proceeding with St. Paul upon his journey. But we may be sure that there were many eminent Christians with St. Paul in Greece, besides those who accompanied him into Asia*. But * Of tliese Jason is one, whose presence upon this occasion is veiy naturally accounted for. Jason was an inhabitant of Thessalonica in Macedonia, and entertain ed St. Paul in his house upon his first visit to that coun try. Acts xvii. 7. — St. Paul, upon this his second visit, passed through Macedonia on his way to Greece, and, from the situation of Thessalonica, most likely through that city. It appears, from various instances in the Acts, to have been the practice of many converts to attend' St. Paul from place to place. It is therefore highly probable, I mean that it is highly consistent with the account in the history, that Jason, according to that ac count a zealous disciple, the inhabitant of a city at no great distance from Greece, and through which, as it should THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. S3 But if any one shall still contend that a forger of the epistle, with the Acts of the Apostles before him, and having settled his scheme of writing a letter as from St. Paul upon his second visit into Greece, would easily think of the expedient of putting in the names of those persons who appeared to be with St. Paul at the time, as an ob vious recommendation of the imposture ; I then repeat my observations ; first, that he would have made the catalogue more com^ plete; and secondly, that with this contriv ance in his thoughts, it was certainly his business, in order to avail himself of the arti fice, to have stated in the body of the epistle that St. Paul was in Greece when he wrote it, and that he was there upon his second should seem, St. Paul had lately passed, should have.ac- companied St. Paul into Greece, and have been with him there at this time. Lucius is another name in the epistle. A very slight alteration would convert \cvmos into Amoco*. Lucius into Luke, which -would produce an additional coincidence: for, if Luke was the author of the history, he was with St. Paul at this time ; inasmuch as describing the voyage which took place soon after the writing of this epistle, the historian uses the first person — " We sailed away from Philippi. Acts xx. 6. D visit. 34 THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. visit. Neither of which he has done, either directly, or even so as to be discoverable by "any circumstance found in the narrative delivered in the Acts. Under the same head, viz. of coincidences depending upon date, I cite from the epistle the following salutation: "Greet Priscilla " and Aquila, my helpers in Christ Jesus, " who have for my life laid down their own " necks ; unto whom not only I give thanks, " but also all the churches of the Gentiles." Chap. xvi. 3.— It appears from the Acts of the Apostles, that Priscilla and Aquila had originally been inhabitants of Rome ; fir we read, Acts xviii. 2, that " Paul found a " certain Jew, named Aquila, lately come " from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because " that Claudius had commanded all Jews to " depart from Rome." They were con nected therefore with the place to which the salutations are sent. That is one coin cidence : another is the following : St. Paul became acquainted with these persons at Corinth during his first visit into Greece. They accompanied him upon his return into Asia; were settled for some time at Ephesus, THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 35 Ephesus, Acts xviii. 19 — 26, and appear '* to have been with St. Paul when he wrote from that place his First Epistle to the Corinthians, 1 Cor. xvi. 1'9. Not long after the writing of which epistle St. Paul went from Ephesus into Macedonia, and, " after he had gone over those parts," proceeded from thence upon his second visit into Greece ; during which visit, or rather at the conclusion of it, the Epistle to the Roman's, as hath been shewn, was written. We have therefore the time of St. Paul's residence at Ephesus after he had written to the Corinthians, the time taken up by his pro gress through Macedonia (which is inde finite, and was probably considerable), and his three months' abode in Greece : we have the sum of these three periods allowed for Aquila and Priscilla going back to Rome, so as to be there when the epistle before us was written. Now what this quotation leads us to observe is, the danger of scatter ing names and circumstances in writings like the present, how implicated they often are with dates and places, and that nothing but truth can preserve consistency. Had the d 2 notes 36 THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. notes of time in the Epistle to the Romans fixed the writing of it to any date prior to St. Paul's first residence at Corinth, the sa lutation of Aquila and Priscilla would have contradicted the history, because it would have been prior to his acquaintance with these persons. If the notes of time had fixed it to any period during that residence at Corinth, during his journey to Jerusalem when he first returned out of Greece, dur ing his stay at Antioch, wither he went down from Jerusalem, or during his second progress through the Lesser Asia upon which he proceeded from Antioch, an equal con tradiction would have been incurred; because from Acts xviii. 2—18, 19—26, it appeal's that during all this time Aquila and Priscilla were either along with St. Paul, or were abiding at Ephesus. Lastly, had the notes of time in this epistle, which we have seen to be perfectly incidental, compared with the notes of time in the First Epistle to the Co rinthians, which are equally in&idental, fixed this epistle to be either cotemporary with that, or prior to it, a similar contradic tion would have ensued; because, first, when the THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 37 the Epistle to the Corinthians was written, Aquila and Priscilla were along with St. Paul, as they joined in the salutation of that church, 1 Cor. xvi. IQ ; and because, secondly, the history does not allow us to suppose, that between the time of their be coming acquainted with St. Paul, and the time of St. Paul's writing to the Corinthians, Aquila and Priscilla could have gone to Rome, so as to have been saluted in an - epistle to that city ; and then come back to St. Paul at Ephesus, so as to be joined with him in saluting the church of Corinth. As it is, all things are consistent. The Epistle to the Romans is posterior even to the Second Epistle to the Corinthians ; be cause it speaks of a contribution in Achaia being completed, which the Second Epistle totfhe Corinthians, chap viii. is only solicit ing. It is sufficiently therefore posterior to the First Epistle to the Corinthians, to allow time in the interval for Aquila and Priscilla's return from Ephesus to Rome. Before we dismiss these two persons, we may take notice of the terms of commenda tion in which St. Paul describes them, and of 38 THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. of the agreement . of that encomium with the history. " My helpers in Christ Jesus, " who have for my life laid down their " necks ; unto whom' not only I give thanks, " but also all the churches of the Gentiles." In the eighteenth chapter of the Acts, we are informed that Aquila and Priscilla were Jews ; that St. Paul first met with them at Corinth; that for some time he abode in the same house with them ; that St. Paul's contention at Corinth was with the unbe lieving Jews, who at first " opposed and " blasphemed, and afterwards with one ac- " cord raised an insurrection against him;'' that Aquila and Priscilla adhered, we may conclude, to St. Paul throughout this whole Contest ; for, when he left the city, they went with him, Acts viii. 18. Under these circumstances, it is highly probable that they should be involved in the dangers and persecutions which St. Paul Underwent from the Jews, being themselves Jews ; and, by adhering to St. Paul in this dispute, desert ers, as they would be accounted, of the Jew ish cause. Further, as they, though Jews, were assisting to St. Paul in preaching to the Gen tiles THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMASS. 39 tiles at Corinth,' they had taken a Hecided part in the great controversy of tha,t day, the admission of the Gentiles to a parity of religious situation with the Jews. For this conduct alone, if there was 110 qther reason, they may seem to have been intitled to " thanks from the churches of the Gentiles." They were Jews taking part with the Gen tiles. Yet is all this so indirectly intimated, or rather so much of it left to inference in the account given in'the Acts, that I do not think it probable that a forger either could pr would have drawn his representation from thence ; and still less probable do I think it, that, without having seen the Acts, he could, by mere accident, and without truth for his guide, have delivered a representation so conformable to the circumstances there re corded. The two congruities last adduced depend ed upon the time, the two following regard the place, of the epistle. 1. Chap. xvi. 23. " Erastus, the chamber- " lain of the city, saluteth you" — of what city ? .^fehave seen, that is, we have infer red from circumstances found in. the epistle, compared 40 THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. compared with circumstances found in the Acts of the Apostles, and in the two Epistles to the Corinthians, that our epistle was written during St. Paul's second visit to the peninsula of Greece. Again, as St. Paul, in his epistle to the church of Corinth, 1 Cor. xvi. 3, speaks of a collection going on in that city, and of his desire that it might be „ ready against he came thither; and as in this epistle he speaks of that col lection being ready, it follows that the epistle was written either whilst he was at Corinth, or after he had been there. Thirdly, since St. Paul speaks in this epistle of his journey to Jerusalem, as about instantly to take place ; and as we learn, Acts xx. 3, that his design and attempt was to sail upon that journey immediately from Greece, properly so called, i. e. as distinguished from Mace donia ; it is probable that he was in this c juntry when he wrote the epistle, in which he speaks of himself as upon the eve of set ting out. If in Greece, he was most likely at Corinth ; for the two Epistles to the Co rinthians shew that the principal end of his coming into Greece was to visit that city, where THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 41 where he had founded a church. Certainly we know no place in Greece in which his presence was so probable : at least, the placing of him at Corinth satisfies every circumstance. Now that Erastus was an inhabitant of Corinth, or had some connec tion with Corinth, is rendered a fair subject of presumption, by that which is accident ally said of him in the Second Epistle to Timothy, chap. iii. 20. "Erastus abode at /" Corinth.1" St. Paul complains of his soli tude, and is telling Timothy what.j.was become of his companions : " Erastus abode " at Corinth; butTrophimus have I left at " Miletum, sick." Erastus was one of those who had attended St. Paul in his travels, Acts xix. 22 ; and when those travels had, upon some occasion, brought our apostle and histrain'to Corinth, Erastus staid there, for no reason so probable as that it was his home. I allow that this coincidence is not so precise as some others, yet I think it too clear to be produced by accident; for, of the many places which this same epistle has assigned to different persons, and the innu merable others which it might have men tioned, '*% THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS, tioned, how came it to fix upon Corinth for Erastus ? And, as far as it is a coincidence, it is certainly undesigned on the part of the author of the Epistle to the Romans: be cause he has not told us of what city Erastus was the chamberlain ; or, which is the same thing, from what city the epistle was writ ten, the setting forth of which was abso lutely necessary to the display of the co incidence, if any such display had been thought of: nor could the author of the Epistle to Timothy leave Erastus at Corinth, from any thing he might have read in the Epistle to the Romans, because Corinth is no where in that epistle mentioned either by name or description. . 2. Chap. xvi. 1 — 3. " I commend unto " you Phoebe, our sister, which is a servant " of the church which is at Cenchrea, that " ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh " saints, and that ye assist her in whatso- " ever business she hath need of you ; for " she hath been a succourer of many, and " of myself also." Cenchrea adjoined to Corinth ; St. Paul therefore, at the time of writing the letter, was in the neighbourhood of THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 43 of the woman whom he thus recommends. But, further, that St. Paul had before this been at Cenchrea itself, appears from the eighteenth chapter of the Acts; and appears by a circumstance as incidental, and as un like design, as any that can be imagined. " Paul after this tarried there (viz. at Co- " rinth) yet a good while, and then took " his leave of the brethren, andsailed thence "into Syria, and with hirn'* Priscilla and " Aquila, having shorn his head in Cenchrea, " for he had a vow." xviii. 18. The shav ing of the head donoted the expiration of the Nazaritie vow. The historian therefore, by the mention of this circumstance, vir tually tells us that St. Paul's vow was ex pired before he set forward upon his voyage, having deferred probably his departure un til he should be released from the restrictions under which his vow laid him. Shall we saythattheauthorof the Actsof the Apostles feigned this anecdote of St. Paul, at Cenchrea, because he had read in the Epistle to the Romans that " Phcebe, a servant of ( the " church of Cenchrea, had been a succourer " of many, and of him also ?" or shall we *ay that the author of the Epistle to the Romans, 44 THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. Romans, outof hisownimagination, created Phcebe " aservant of the church at Cenchrea" because he read in the Acts of the Apostles that Paul had " shorn his head" in that place ? No. III. Chap. i. 13. " Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, but was let hitherto, that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles." Again, xv. 23, 24, " But now having no more place in these parts, and having a great desire these many years (%oKha, -oftentimes) to come unto you, whensoever! take my journey into Spain I will come to you ; for I trust to see you in my journey, and to be brought on my way thitherward by you : but now I go up unto Jerusalem, to minister to the saints. When therefore I have perform ed this, and have sealed to them this fruit, I will come by you into Spain." With these passages compare Acts xix. 21. " After these things were ended (viz. " at Ephesus), Paul purposed in the spirit, " when he had passed through Macedonia " and THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 45 " and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem; saying, " After T have been there, I must also see " Rome." Let it be observed that our epistle pur ports to have been written at the conclusion ' of St. Paul's second journey into Greece ; that the quotation from the Acts contains words said to have been spoken by St. Paul at Ephesus, some time before he set forwards upon that journey. Now I con tend that it is impossible that two indepen dent fictions should have attributed to St. " Paul the same purpose, especially a purpose so specific and particular as this? which was not merely a general design of visiting Rome, but a design of visiting Rome after he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, and after he had performed a voyage from these countries to Jerusalem. The confor mity between the history and the epistle is perfect. In the first quotation from the epistle, we find that a design of visiting Rome had long dAvelt in the apostle's mind : in the quotation from the Acts we find that design expressed a considerable time before the epistle was written. In the history *6 THE EPISTLE TO THE R.OMANS. history we find that the plan which St. Paul had formed, was to pass through Macedonia and Achaia ; after that to go to Jerusalem ; and, when he had finished his visit there, to sail for Rome. When the epistle was writ ten, he had executed so much of his plan, as to have passed through Macedonia and Achaia ; and was preparing to pursue the remained of it, by speedily setting out towards Jerusalem : and in this point of his travels he tells his friends at Rome, that, when he had completed the busi ness which carried him to Jerusalem, he would come to them., Secondly, I say that the very inspection of the passages will satisfy us that they were not made up from one another. " Whensoever I take my journey into «' Spain, I will come to you; for I trust to " see you in my journey, and to be brought " on my way thitherward by you : but " now i go up to Jerusalem, to minister to " the saints. When, therefore, I have per- " formed this, and.have sealed to them this " fruit, I will come by you into Spain." — This from the epistle. " Paul THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 47 " Paul purposed in the spirit, when he " had passed through Macedonia and " Achaia, to go to Jerusalem ; saying, After " I have been there, I must also see Rome." — This from the Acts. If the passage in the epistle was taken from that in the Acts, why was Spain put in ? if the passage in the Acts was taken from that in the epistle, why was Spain left out? If the two passages were unknown to each other, nothing cart account for their conformity but truth. Whether we suppose the history and the epistle tq be alike ficti tious, or the history to be true but the letter spmious, or the letter to be genuine but the history a fable, the meeting with this circumstance in both, if neither borrowed it from the other, is upon all these supposi tions, equally inexplicable. No. IV. The following quotation I offer for the purpose of pointing out a geographical co incidence, of so much importance, that Dr. Lardner considered it as a confirmation of the whole history of St. Paul's travels. Chap. 48 THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. Chap. xv. 19. " So that from Jerusalem, " and round about unto Illyricum, I have •' fully preached the gospel of Christ." I do not think that these words necessa rily import that St. Paul had penetrated into Illyricum, or preached the gospel in that province ; but rather that he had come to the confines of Illyricum (p-e^p* m iambus) and that these confines were the external boundary of his travels. St. Paul considers Jerusalem as the centre, and is here viewing the circumference to which his travels had extended. The form of expression in the original conveys this idea — euro 'lepsat&mi. v.at kuhaep^ 1 %£im), had passed so far to the west as to come into those parts of the country which were contiguous to Illyricum, if he did not enter into Illyricum itself. The his tory, therefore, and the epistle so far agree, and the agreement is much strengthened by je a coinci- 50 THE: EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. a coincidence of time. At the time the epistle was written, St. Paul might say, in confor mity with the history, that he had " come into Illyricum :" much before that time he could not have said so; for, upon his former journey to Macedonia, his r6ute is laid down from the time of his landing at Philippi to his sailing from Corinth. We trace him from Philippi to Amphipolis and Apollonia ; from thence to Thessalonica ; from Thessalonica to Berea; from Berea to Athens ; and from Athens to Corinth : which track confines him to the eastern side of the peninsula, and therefore keeps him all the while at a considerable distance from Illyricum. Upon his second visit to Mace donia, the history, we havte seen, leaves him at liberty. It must have been, there fore, upon that second visit, if at all, that he approached Illyricum; and this visit, we know, almost immediately preceded the writing of the epistle. It was' natural' thsit the apostle should refer to a journey whieli was fresh in his thoughts.' '" No. V. THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 61 '"iii ^fllf] '.ilj^- _, No. V. lfChap^(3cv. 30. " Now, I beseech you, *', brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, " and for the love of the Spirit, that ye " strive together with me in your prayers to " Gqd for me^ that, I may bedeliyered from " them that dp. not believe in Judaea/' — With tins compare Acts xx. 22, 23: '?. And now, behold, I go bound in the " spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the " things that shall befal me there, save that "the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every: city, ". saying that bonds and afflictions abide .... me. ,,- . | Let it be remarked that it is the same journey to Jerusalem which is spoken of in these two passages; that the epistle was written irnmediately before St. Paul set for wards upon th/is journey from Achaia ; that the words in the Acts were uttered by him when he had proceeded in that journey as far as Miletus, in Lesser Asia. This being remembered, I observe that the two pas sages, without any resemblance between them that could induce us to suspect that j .Qyj_ e 2 they 52 THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. they were borrowed from one another, repre sent the state of St. Paul's mind, with respect to the event of the journey, in terms of sub stantial agreement. They both express his sense of danger in the approaching visit to Jerusalem : they both express the doubt which dwelt uport his thoughts concerning what might there befal him. When, in .his epistle, he entreats the Roman Christians, "for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for " the love of the* Spirit, to strive together " with him in their prayers to God for him, " that he might be delivered from them " which do notbelieve, in Judaea," he suffi ciently confesses his fears. In the Acts of the A postles we see in him the same appre hensions, and the same uncertainty f " I go " bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not " knowing the things that shall befal me " there." The only difference is, that in the history his thoughts are more inclined to despondency than in the epistle. In the epistle, he retains his hope " that he should " come unto them with joy by the will of " God ;" in the history, his mind yields to »iiiv i-the THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 53 the reflection, " that the Holy Ghost wit- ¦" hesseth in every city that bonds and af- " flictions awaited him." Now that his fears should be greater, and his hopes less, in this stage of his journey than when he wrote his epistle, that is, when he first set out upon it, is no other alteration than might well bes,expected ; since those prophetic intima tions to. which he refers, when he says, " the 11 Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city," had probably been received, by him in the course of his journey, and were probably similar to what we "know he received in the remaining part of it at Tyre, xxi. 4. ; and afterwards: from Agabus at Caesarea, xxi ,11. ~t'<-i • No. VI. m There is another strong remark arising from the same passage in the epistle; to make which understood, it will be necessary to state the passage, over again, and some what more at length. ,«' I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord " Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of " the 34 THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. *' the Spirit, that ye strive together with '* me in your prayers to God for me, that ** I may be delivered from them that do not " believe in Judaea — that I may come unto " you with joy by the will of God, and may " with you be refreshed.'* I desire the reader to call to mind that part of St. Paul's history which took place after his arrival at Jerusalem, and which employs the seven last chapters of the Acts j and I build upon it this observation — that (supposing the Epistle to the Romans to have been a forgery, and the author of the forgery to have had the Acts of the Appstles before him, and to have there seen that St, Paul, in fact, " was not delivered from thfe " unbelieving Jews," but, on the contrary, that he was taken into custody at Jerusa lem, and brought to Rome a prisoner — it is next to impossible that he should have made St. Paul express expectations so contrary to What he saw had been the event ; and utter prayers, With apparent hopes of success, which he must have known were frustrated |n the issue. This single consideration convinces me, tha,t TliE EE1.STLE TO THE ROMANS, ,55 that no, concert or confederacy whatever subsisted between the Epistle and the Acts of the Apostles; and that whatever coin cidences have been or can be pointed out between them, are unsophisticated, and are the result of truth and reality. It also convinces me that the epistle was written not only in St. Paul's lifetime, but jbefore he arrived at Jerusalem ; for the important events relating to him which took place after his arrival at that city, must have been known to the Christian community soon after they happened: they form the most public part of his history. But had they been known to the author of the ^epistle — in other words, had they then ^aken place-^-the passage which we have quoted from the epistle would not have .been found there. No. VII. ..,,.„!, now proceed to state the conformity winch exists between the argument of this epistle and the history of its reputed au thor. It is enough for this purpose to pbsorve? that the object of the epistle, that is, v>6 THE EPISTLE TO, THE ROMANS. is, of the argumentative part of it, was to place the Gentile convert upon a parity of situation with the Jewish, in respect of his religious condition j and his rank in the divine favour. The epistle supports this point by a variety of arguments ; such as, that no man of either description was justified by the works of the law — for this plain reason, that no man had performed them ; that it became therefore necessary to appoint an other medium or condition of justification, in which new medium the Jewish pecu liarity was merged and lost ; that Abraham's own justification was anterior to the law, and independent of it ; that the Jewish con verts were to consider the law as now dead, and themselves as married to another ; that what the law in truth could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God had done by sending his Son : that God had rejected the unbelieving Jews, and had substituted in their.place a society of believers in Christ, collected indifferently from Jews and Gen-* tiles. Soon after the writing of this epistle, St. Paul, agreeably to the intention inti mated in the epistle itself, took his journey THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMAN'S. 57 to Jerusalem. 3 The day after he arrived there, he was introduced to the church. What passed at this interview is thus related, Acts xxi. 19: " Whenhehad saluted them,'1 " he declared' particularly what things God "had wrought among the Gentiles by his "ministry: and, when they heard it, they " glorified the Lord ; and said unto him, "• Thou seest, brother, how many thousands '*- of Jews there are which believe ; and they f> are all zealous of the law ; and they are " informed of thee, that thou teachest all the " Jews which are among the Gentiles to '* ."forsake Moses, saying, that they ought not " to circumcise their children, neithertowalk *'. after the customs." St. Paul disclaimed the charge ; but there must have been some thing to have led to it. Now it is only to suppose that St. Paul openly professed the principles which the epistle contains ; that, in the course of his ministry, he had uttered the sentiments which he is here made to write; and the matter is accounted for. Concerning the accusation which public rumour had brought against him to Jeru salem, I will not say that it was just; but I will 58 THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. I will say, that, if he was the author of the epistle before us, and if his preaching was consistent with his writing, it was ex tremely natural ; for though it be not a ne cessary, surely it is an easy inference, that if the Gentile convert, who did not observe the law of Moses, held as advantageous a situation in his religious interests: as ,\hp Jewish convert who did, there could bp no Strong reason for observing that law at,aU> The remonstrance therefore of the church of Jerusalem, and the report which occasioned it, were founded in no very violent miscon struction of the apostle's dpctrine, Hjs re ception at Jerusalem was exactly what I should, havp expected the author pf,.. this epistle to have met with. J am entitled therefore to argue that a separate narrative of effects, experienced by St. Paul, similar to what a person might be. expected to ex* perience, who held the doctrines aefvanced in this epistle, forms a proof that lie did hold these doctrines ; and that the epistle bearing his name, in which such doctrjnes are laid down, actually proceeded from him, No. VIIJ, THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 59 .No.Vlit,,'', This number is supplemental to the for mer. I propose to point out in it two par* riculars in the- conduct of the argument, perfectly adapted to the historical circum stances under which the epistle was written ; which yet are free from all appearance of contrivance, and which it would not, I think, have entered into the mind of a sophist to contrive. 1. The Epistle to the Galatians relates to the same general question as the Epistle to the Rpmans. St; Paul had founded the church of Galatia;«at Rome he had never been. Observe now a difference in his manner of treating of the same subject, corresponding with this difference in his situation. In the Epistle to the Galatians he puts the point in & great measure upon authority : " I marvel *' that ye are so soon removed from him that *' called you into the grace of Christ, unto f another gospel." Gal. i. 6. " I certify you, " brethren, that the 'gospel which was preach- fS ed of me, is not after man ; for I neither ft received it of man, neither was I taught "it CO THE EPISTLE T6 THE ROMANS. " it but by the revelation of Jesus Christ." Ch. i. 11, 12. " I am afraid lest I have be- " stowed upon you labour in vain." iv. 11, 12. " I desire to be present with you now, for " I stand in doubt of you." iv. 20. " Behold, " I, Paul, say unto you, that, if ye be circum- "cised, Christ shall profit you nothing." v. 2. "This persuasion cometh no(t of him " that called you." v. 8. This is the style in which he accosts the Galatians. In the epistle to the converts of Rome, where his authority was not established, nor his person known, tie puts the same point entirely upon argument. The perusal of the epistle will prove this to the satisfaction of every reader; and, as the observation relates to the whole contents of the epistle, I forbear adducing separate extracts. I repeat therefore that we have pointed out a distinction in the two epistles, suited to the relation in which the author stood to his different correspon dents. !i»0 ¦ ? - , jit \) (Another adaptation, and somewhat of the same kind, is the following : j j. 2. The Jews we know were very nume rous at Rome, and probably formed a princi- i"i\5* * pal THE -EPISTLE TO. THE ROMANS. 6l pal part amongst the new converts; so much so, that the Christians seem to have been known at Rome rather as a denomination of Jews, than as any thing else. In an epistle consequently to the Roman believers, the point to be endeavoured after by St. Paul was, to reconcile the Jewish converts to the opini on, that the Gentiles were admitted by God to a parity of religious situation with them selves, and that, without their being hound by the law of Moses. The Gentile converts would propably accede to this opinion very readily. In this epistle, therefore, though di rected to the Roman church in general, it is in truth a Jew writing to Jews. Accordingly you will take notice, that as often as his ar gument leads him to say any thing deroga tory from the Jewish institution, he constant ly follows it by a softening clause. Having (ii. 28, 29.) pronounced, not much perhaps to the satisfaction of the native Jews, " that " he is not a Jew which is one outwardly, tl neither that circumcision which is outward " in the flesh ;" he adds immediately, " What •'advantage then, hath the Jew, or what " profit is there in circumcision ? Much every 62 'THE EPtSTLE TO THE ROMANS'* " way." Having in the third chapter, ver. S?S, brought his argument to this formal conclu-^ sion, " that a man is justified byfaith with- "out the deeds of the law,'' he presently sub-* joins, ver. 31, " Do we then make void the " law through faith ? God forbid ! Yea1 we " establish the law.'* In the seventh chapter, when in the sixth verse he had advanced the bold assertion, that " now we are delivered " from the law, that being dead wherein " we were held ;" in the very next verse he comes in with this healing question, " What " shall we say then ? Is the law sin ? God for- " bid! Nay, I had not known sin but by the " law." Having in the following words in sinuated, or rather more than insinuated, the inefficacy of the Jewish law, viii. 3, " forwhat " the law could not do, in that it was weak " through the flesh, GodsendinghisownSon " in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, " condemned sin in the flesh;" after a di gression indeed, but that sort of a digression which he could never resist, a rapturous con templation of his Christian hope, and which occupies the latter part of this chapter ; we find him in the next, as if sensible that he had .THE EPISTLE T<5 THE ROMANS. 63 had said something which would give offence, returning; to his Jewish brethren in terms of the warmest affection and respect. " I say 'ft the truth; in Christ Jcsils j I lie not; my '' conscience also bearing me witness, in the "iljoly Ghost, that I have great heaviness '* and continual sorrow in my heart ; for I " could wish that myself were accursed from " Christ, for my brethren ,' my kinsmen ac- " cording to the flesh, who are Israelites, to ^ whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, «' and the covenants, and the giving of the law, '* and the service of God, and the promises ; ¦* whose are the fathers ; and of whom, as con- **¦ cerning the flesh, Chrht came." When, iii the thirty-first and thirty-second verses of this ninth chapter, he represented to the Jews the error of even the best of their na tion, by telling them that " Israel, which "followed after the law of righteousness, "had not attained to the law of righteous- ¦^ ness, because they sought it not by faith, **>-but as it were by the works of the law, for <* they stumbled at that stumbling-stones'* hr takes'care to annex to this declaratiori 64 THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. these conciliating expressions : "" Brethren * " my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel " is, that they might be saved ; for I bear " them record that they have a zeal of God, " but not according to knowledge." Lastly, having, ch. x. 20, 21, by the application of a passage in Isaiah insinuated the most ungrateful of all propositions to a Jewish ear, the rejection of the Jewish nation, as God's peculiar people ; he hastens, as it were, to qualify the intelligence of their fall by this interesting expostulation : " I „ say, then, hath God cast away his people " (i. e. wholly and entirely)? God forbid! " for I also am an Israelite, of the seed of " Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God " hath not \ cast away his people which he "foreknew:" and follows this thought* throughout the whole of the eleventh chapter, in a series of reflections calculated to soothe the Jewish converts, as well as to procure from their Gentile brethren respect to the Jewish institution. Now all this is perfectly natural. In a real St. Paul writing to real converts, it is what anxiety to THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 65 to bring them over to his persuasion Would naturally produce ; but there is an earnest^ ness and a personality, if I may so Call it, in the manner, which a cold forgery, I ap prehend, would neither have conceived nor supported. CUAt, 66 CHAP. III. the First epistle to the coeiW- THIANS. No; I. JoEFORE we proceed to compare this epistle with the history, or with any other epistle, we will employ one number in stat ing certain remarks applicable to our argu ment, which arises from a perusal of the epistle itself. By an expression in the first verse of the seventh chapter, " nowconcerning the things " whereof ye wrote unto me," it appears, that this letter to the Corinthians was writ ten by St. Paul in answer to one which he had received from them ; and that the se venth, and some of the following chapters are taken up in resolving certain doubts, and regulating certain points of order, concern ing which the Corinthians had in their letter consulted him. This alone is a circum stance considerably in favour of the authen ticity THE FIRST EPISTLE, &C. 67 ticity of the epistle : for it must have been a far-fetched contrivance in a forgery, first to have feigned the receipt of a letter from the Church of Corinth, which letter does not appear ; and then to have drawn up a ficti tious answer to it, relative to a great variety of doubts and enquiries, purely ceconomi- cal and domestic; and which, though like ly enough to have occurred to an infant society, in a situation and under an institu tion so novel as that of a Christian church then was, it must have very much exercised the author's invention, and could have an swered no imaginable purpose of forgery, to introduce the mention of at all. Particulars of the kind we refer to, are such as the fol lowing: the rule of duty and prudence re lative toenteringin to marriage, as applicable to virgins, to widows; the case of husbands married to unconverted wives, of wives hav ing unconverted husbands; that case where the unconverted party chooses to separate, where he chooses to continue the union; the effect which their conversion produced upon their prior state, of circumcision, of slavery; the eating of things offered to idols, as it was s a in 63 'THE FIRST EPISTLE in itself, as others were affected by it; the joining in idolatrous sacrifices ; the decorum to be observed in their religious assemblies, the order of speaking, the silence of wo men, the covering or uncovering of the head, as it became men, as it became wo men. These subjects, with their several sub-divisions, are so particular, minute, and numerous, that, though they be exactly agreeable to the circumstances of the per sons to whom the letter was written, no thing, I believe, but the existence and reality of those circumstances, could have suggested to the writer's thoughts, But this is not the only nor the principal observation upon the correspondence be tween the church of Corinth and their apostle, which I wish to point out. It appears, I think, in this correspondence, that, although the Corinthians had written to St. Paul, requesting his answer and his directions in the several points above enu merated, yet that they had not said one syllable about the enormities and disorders which had crept in amongst them, and in the blame of which they all shared ; but TO THE CORINTHIANS. 69 but that St. Paul's information concerning the irregularities then prevailing at Corinth, had come round to him from other quarters. The quarrels and disputes excited by their contentious adherence to their different teachers, and by -their placing of them' in competition with one another, were not mentioned in their letter, but communi cated to St. Paul by more private intelli gence : " It hath been declared unto me, my " brethren, by them which are of the house " of'Chloe, that there are contentions among " you. Now this I say, that every one of " you saith, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, " and I of Cephas, and I of Christ." (i. 11, 12.) The incestuous marriage " of a man with his father's wife," which St. Paul re prehends with so much severity in the fifth chapter of our epistle, and which was not the crime of an individual only, but a crime in which the whole church, by tolerating and conniving at it, had rendered themselves partakers, did not Come to St. Paul's know ledge by the letter, but by a rumour which had reached his ears : " Itisreported commonly " that there is fornication among you, and " such 70 THE FIRST EPISTLE '* such fornication as is not so much as " named among the Gentiles, that one *' should have his father's wife ; and ye are " puffed up, and have not rather mourned " that he that hath done this deed might " be taken away from among you." (v. 1, 2.) Their going to law before the judica ture of the country, rather than arbitrate and adjust their disputes among themselves, which St. Paul animadverts upon with his usual plainness, was not intimated to him in the letter, because he tells them his opinion of this conduct, before he comes to the con tents of the letter. Their litigiousness is censured by St. Paul in the sixth chapter of his epistle, and it is only at the beginning of the seventh chapter that he proceeds upon the articles which he found in their letter; and he proceeds upon them with this pre face : '* Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me," (vii. 1.); which intro duction he would not have used, if he had been already discussing any of the subjects concerning which they had written. Their irregularities in celebrating the Lord's sup-- per, and the utter perversion of the institu tion TO THE CORINTHIANS. 71 tion which ensued, were not in the letter, as is evident from the terms in which. St. Paul mentions the notice he had received of it : " Now in this that I declare Unto " you, I praise you not, that ye came to- *' gether not for the better, but for the " worse ; for first of all, when ye come " together in the church, I hear that there " be divisions among you, and I partly " believe it." Now that the Corinthians should in their own letter, exhibit the fair side of their conduct to the apostle, and conceal from him the faults of their beha viour, was extremely natural, and extremely probable : but it was a distinction which would not I think, have easily occurred to the author of a forgery ; and much less likely is it, that it should have entered into his thoughts to make the distinction appear in the way in which it does appear, viz. not by the original letter, not by any express observation upon it in the answer, but distantly by marks perceivable in the man ner, or in the order, in which St. Paul takes notice of their faults. No. II 7S THE FIRST EPISTLE No. II, Our epistle purports to have been written after St, Paul had already been' at Corinth : " I, brethren, when I came unto you, came not f< with excellency of speech or of wisdom," (ii. i.) : and in many other places to the same effect. It purports also to have been written upon the eve of another visit to that church : " I will come to you shortly, if the *' Lord will," (iv. 19.) ; and again, " I will " come to you when I shall pass through Ma- (i cedpnia," (xvi. 5.) Now the history relates that St, Paul did in fact visit Corinth twice ; once as recorded af length in the eighteenth, and a second time as mentioned briefly in the twentieth chapter of the Acts. The game history also informs us, Acts xx. 1, that it was from Ephesus St. Paul proceeded upon his second journey into Greece. There fore, as the epistle purports to have been written a short time preceding that jour ney; and as St. Paul, the history tells us, had resided more than two years at Ephesus before he set out upon it, it follows that it must have been from Ephesus, to be con-> sjstent TO THE CORINTHIANS. 73 sistent with the history, that the epistle was written ; and every note of place in the epistle agrees with this supposition. " If, " after the manner of men, I have fought f( with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth " it me, if the dead rise not ?" (xv. 32.) I allow that the apostle might say this, where- ever he was ; but it was more natural and more to the purpose to say it, if he was at Ephesus at the time, and in the midst of those conflicts to which the expression re lates. " The churches of Asia salute you." (xvi. 19.) Asia, throughout the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles of St. Paul, does not mean the whole of Asia Minor or Ana tolia, nor even the whole of the proconsular Asia, but a district in the anterior part of that country, called Lydian Asia, divided from the rest, much as Portugal is from Spain, and of which district Ephesus was the capital.—" Aquila and Priscilla salute you." (xvi. 19.) Aquila and Priscilla were at Ephe* sus during the period within which this epistle was written. (Acts xviii. 18. 26.) — " I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost." (xvi. 8.) This, I apprehend, is in terms al most 74 THE FIRST EPISTLE most asserting that he was at Ephesus at the time of writing the epistle. — " a great and effectual door is opened unto me." (xvi. 9-) How well this declaration corresponded with the state of things at Ephesus, and the pro gress of the gospel in these parts, we learn -from the reflection with which the historian concludes the account of certain transactions which passed there : " So mightily grew the Word of God and prevailed," (Acts xix. 20.) ; as well as from thecomplaint of Demetrius, " that not only at Ephesus, but also through- *' out all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and " turned away much people." (xix. 26.) — " And there arc many adversaries," says the epistle, (xvi. 9-) Look into the history of this period : " When divers were hardened " and believed not, but spake evil of that " way before the multitude, he departed " from them, and separated the disciples/' The conformity therefore upon this head, of comparison, is circumstantial and perfect. If any one think that this is a conformity so obvious, that any forger of tolerable cau tion and sagacity, would have taken care to preserve it, I must desire such a one to read the TO THE CORINTHIANS. the epistle for himself; and, when he has done so, to declare whether he has disco vered one mark of art or design ; whether the notes of time and place appear to him to be inserted with any reference to each other, with any view of their being com pared with each other, or for the purpose of establishing a visible agreement with the history, in respect of them. No. III. Chap. iv. 17 — 19- " For this cause I *' have sent unto you Timotheus, who is " my beloved son and faithful in the Lord, " who shall bring you into remembrance *' of my ways which be in Christ, as I " teach every where in every church. Now " some are puffed up, as though I would " not come unto you ; but I will come " unto you shortly, if the Lord will." With this I compare Acts xix. 21, 22 : " After these things were ended, Paul pur- *' posed in the spirit, when he had passed " through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to # Jerusalem ; saying, After I have beenthere, *' I must 76 THE FIRST EPISTLE " I must also see Rome : so he sent unto " Macedonia two of them that ministered " unto him, Timotheus and Erastus," Though it be not said, it appears I think with sufficient certainty, I mean from the history, independently of the epistle, that Timothy was sent upon this occasion into Achaia, of which Corinth was the capital city, as well as into Macedonia : forthe send? ing of Timothy and Erastus is, in the pas sage where it is mentioned, plainly connected with St. Paul's own journey : he sent them before him. As he therefore purposed to go into Achaia himself, it is highly probable that they were to go thither also. Neverthe less, they are said only to have been sent into Macedonia, because Macedonia was in truth the country to which they went immediately from Ephesus ; being directed, as we sup pose, to proceed afterwards from thence into Achaia. If this be so, the narrative agrees with the epistle ; and the agreement is attended with very little appearance of design. One thing at least concerning it is certain : that if this passage of St. Paul's history had been taken from his letter, it would ' TO THE CORINTHIANS. 77 would have sent Timothy to Corinth by name, or expressly however into Achaia. But there is another circumstance in these two passages much less obvious, in which an agreement holds, without any room for suspicion that it was produced by design. We have observed that the sending of Ti mothy into the peninsula of Greece was connected in the narrative with St. Paul's own journey thither; it is stated as the ef fect of the same resolution. Paul purposed to go into Macedonia : " so he sent two of them that ministered unto him, Timotheus and Erastus." Now in the Epistle also you remark that, when the apostle men tions his having sent Timothy unto them, in the very next sentence he speaks of his own visit : " for this cause have I sent unto " you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, " &c. Now some are puffed up, as though " I would not come to you ; but I will " come to you shortly, if God will." Timo thy's jonrncy we see is mentioned in the his tory, and in the epistle, in close connection with St. Paul's own. Here is the same order of thought and intention ; yet con- , veyed 18 THE FIRST EPISTLE veyed under such diversity of circumstance and expression, and the mention of them in the epistle so allied to the occasion which introduces it, viz. the insinuation of his ad versaries that he would come to Corinth no more, that I am persuaded no attentive reader will believe, that these passages were written in concert with one another, or will! doubt but that the agreement is unsought and uncontrived. But, in the Acts, Erastus accompanied Timothy in this journey, of whom no men tion is made in the epistle. From what has been said in our observations upon the Epistle to the Romans, it appears probable that Eras tus was a Corinthian. If so, though he ac companied Timothy to Corinth, he was only returning home, and Timothy was the mes senger charged with St. Paul's orders. At any rate, this discrepancy shews that the passages were not taken from one another. No. IV. Chap. xvi. 10, 11. " Now, if Timotheus " come, see that he may be with you with- " out fear ; for he worketh the work of the 2 " Lord, TO THE CORINTHIANS. 79 M Lord, as I also do: let no man therefore " despise him, but conduct him forth in " peace, that he may come unto me, fori " look for him with the brethren." From the passage considered in the pre ceding number, it appears that Timothy was sent to Corinth, either with the epistle, or before it: " for this cause have I sent " unto you Timotheus." From the passage now quoted, we infer that Timothy was not sent with the epistle ; for had he been the bearer of the letter, or accompanied it, would St. Paul in that letter have said, " ^Timothy come ?" Nor is the sequel consistent with the supposition of his carrying the letter ; for if Timothy was with the Apostle when he wrote the letter, could he say, as he does, " I look for him with the brethren ?" I conclude therefore that Timothy had left St. Paul to proceed upon his journey before the letter was written. Further, the passage before us seems to imply, that. Timothy was not ex pected by St. Paul to arrive at Corinth, till after they had received the letter. He gives them directions in the letter how to treat him when he should arrive : " if he come,'1 act 80 THE FIRST EPISTLE act towards him so and so. Lastly, the" whole form of expression is most naturally applicable to the supposition of Timothy's coming to Corinth, not directly from St. Paul, but from some other quarter ; and that his instructions had been when he should reach Corinth, to return. Now, how stands this matter in the history ? Turn to the nine teenth chapter and twenty-first verse of the Acts, and you will find that Timothy did not, when sent from Ephesus, where he left St. Paul, and where the present epistle was written, proceed by a straight, course to Co rinth, but that he went round through Ma cedonia. This clears up every thing; for, although Timothy was sent forth upon his journey before the letter was written, yet, he might not reach Corinth till after the letter arrived there ; and he would come to Corinth, when he did come, not directly from St. Paul, at Ephesus, but from some part of Macedonia. Here therefore is a circumstantial and critical agreement, and unquestionably without design ; for neither of the two passages in the epistle mentions Timothy's journey into Macedonia at all, though TO THE CORINTHIANS, 81 though nothing but a circuit of that kind can explain and reconcile the expressions which the writer uses. No. V. '" ..!i-:' Chap. i. 12. " Now this I say, that *f every one of you saith, I am of Paul, and " I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of " Christ." Also iii. 6. "I have planted, Apollos " Watered, but God gave the increase." This expression, " I have planted, Apollos watered," imports two things; first, that Paul - had been at Corinth before Apollos; secondly, that Apollos had been at Corinth after Paul, but before the writing of this epistle. This im plied account of the several events,andof the order in which they took place, corresponds exactly with the history. St. Paul, after his first visit into Greece, returned from Corinth into Syria by the way of Ephesus ; and, drop ping his companions Aquila and Priscilla at Ephesus,heproceeded forwards to Jerusalem: from Jerusalem he descended to Antioch; and from, thence made a progress tbirough some q of 82 THE FIRST EPISTLE of the upper or northern provinces of the Lesser Asia, Acts xviii. 19-23 : during which progress, and consequently in the interval between St. Paul's first and second visit to Corinth, and consequently also before the writing of this epistle, which was at Ephe sus two years at least after the apostle's re turn from his progress, we hear of Apollos, and we hear of him at Corinth. Whilst St. Paul was engaged, as hath been said, in Phrygia and Galatia, Apollos eamedbwn to Ephesus ; and being, in St. Paul's absence, instructed by Aquila and Priscilla, and having obtained letters of recommendation from the churchat Ephesus, he passed over to Achaia; and when he was there, we read that he " helped them much which had believed through grace, for he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publicly." Actsxviii.27, 28* To have brought Apollos into Achaia, of which Corinth was the capital city, as well as the principal Christian church; and to have shewn that he preached the gospel in that country, would have been sufficient for our purpose. But the history happens also to mention Corinth by name, as the place in TO THE CORINTHIANS. 83 irt which Apollos, after his arrival in Achaia, fixed his residence; for, proceeding with the account of St. Paul's travelsj it tells us, that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper coasts; came down to Ephesus, xix. 1: What is said there fore of Apollos, in the epistle, coincides ex actly, and especially in the point of chrono logy, With what is delivered concerning him in the history. The only question now is* whether the allusions were made with a re gard to this coincidence. Now, the occa sions and purposes for which the name of Apollos is introduced in the Acts and in the Epistles, are so independent and so re mote* that it is impossible to discover the smallest reference from one to the other* Apollos is mentioned in the Acts, in im mediate connection with the history of Aquila and Priscilla, and for the very sin gular circumstance of his " knowing only the baptism of John.3' In the epistle* where none of thesecircumstances.are taken notice of, his name first occurs, for the purpose of reproving the contentious spirit of the Co rinthians; and it occurs only in conjunction a 2 with 81 THE FIRST EPISTLE with that of some others: " Every one of " you saith, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, " and I of Cephas, and I of Christ." The second passage in which Apollos appears, " I have planted, Apollos watered," fixes> as we have observed, the order of time amongst three distinct events; but it fixes this, I will venture to pronounce, without the writer perceiving that he was doing any such thing. The sentence fixes this order in exact conformity with the history; but it is itself introduced solely for the sake of the reflection which follows: f Neither is he " thatplanteth any thing, neither hethatwa- " tereth, but' God that giveth the increase." No. VI. Chap. iv. 11, 12. " Even unto thispre- " sent hour we both hunger and thirst, and " are naked, and are buffeted, and have " no certain dwelling-place; and labour, " working with our own hands." We are expressly told, in the history, that at Corinth St. Paul laboured with his own hands : " He found Aquila andPriscilla; and, " because he was of the same craft, he abode * with TO THE CORINTHIANS. 85 " with thein,and wrought; for by their oc- " cupation they were tent-makers." But, in the text before us, he is made to say, that " belaboured evenunto the present hour" that is, to the time of writing the epistle at Ephesus. Now, in the narration of St. Paul's transaction at Ephesus, delivered in the nineteenth chapter of the Acts, nothing is said of his working with his own hands ; but in the twentieth chapter we read, that upon his return from Greece, he sent for the elders of the church of Ephesus, to meet him at Miletus ; and in the discourse which he there addressed to them, amidst some other reflections which he calls to their remembrance, we find the following: " I " have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or " apparel; yea, you yourselves also know, " that these hands have ministered unto my " necessities, and to them that were with me." The reader will not forget to remark, that though St. Paul be now at Miletus, it is to the elders of the church of Ephesus he is,. speaking, when he says, " Ye yourselves " know that these hands have ministered to " my necessities ; and that the whole dis- .; course' 86 THE FIRST EPISTLE course relates to his conduct, during hiss last preceding residence at Ephesus. That manual labour therefore, which he had ex-: ercisedat Corinth, he continued at Ephesus; and not only so, but continued it during that particular residence at Ephesus, near the conclusion of which this epistle was written ; so that he might with the strictest truth, say, at the time of writing the epistle, " Even unto this present hour we labour, " working with our own hands." The coi> respondency is sufficient then, as to the un-r designedness of it. It is manifest to mJ judgment, that if the history, in this article, had been taken from the epistle, this cir cumstance, if it appeared at all, would have appeared in its place, that is, in the direct account of St. Paul's transactions atEphe-r sus. The correspondency would not have been affected, as it is, by a kind of reflected stroke, that is, by a reference in a subsequent speech, to whatmthe narrative was omitted. Nor is it likely, on the other hand, that a circumstance winch is not extant in the history of St. Paul at Ephesus, should have been made the subjectofafactitiousallusion, TO THE CORINTHIANS. 87 in an epistle purporting to be written by him from that place : not to mention that the allusion itself, especially as to time, is too oblique and general to answer any pur pose of forgery whatever. No. VII. Chap, ix. 20. " And unto the Jews I " became as a Jew, that I might gain the " Jews ; to them that are under the law, as " under the law." We have the disposition here described, exemplified in two instances which the his tory records; one, Acts xvi. 3 : "Him (Ti- " mothy) would Paul have to go forth with '¦ him, and took and circumcised him, be- fi cause of the Jews in those quarters ; for " they knew all that his father was a Greek." This was before the writing of the epistle. The other, Acts xxi. 23, 26, and after the writing of the epistle : " Do this that we " say to thee ; we have four men which have " a vow on them: them take, and purify " thyself with them, that they may shave " their heads; and all may know that those " things, wherepf they were informed conr " cerning 88 THE FIRST EPISTLE " ceming thee, are nothing ; but that thou " thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest " the law. — Then Paul took the men, and " the next day, purifying himself with them, " entered into the temple." Nor does this concurrence between the character and the instances look like the result of contrivance. St. Paul, in the epistle, describes, or is made to describe, his own accommodatingconduct towards Jews and towards Gentiles, towards the weak and over-scrupulous, towards men indeed of every variety of character ; to *" them that are without law as without law, " being not without law to God, but under " the law to Christ, that I might gain them " that are without law ; to the weak became " I as weak, that I might gain the weak ; I " am made all things to all men, that I might " gain some." This is the sequel of the text which stands at the head of the present num ber. Taking therefore the whole passage together, tl*e apostle's condescension to the Jews is mentioned only as a part of his general disposition towards all. It is not probable that this character should have been made up from the instances in the Acts, TO THE CORINTHIANS. 89 Acts, which relate solely to his dealings with the Jews. It is not probable that a sophist should take his hint from those instances, and then extend it so much beyond them : and it is still more incredible that the two instances in the Acts, circumstantially re lated and interwoven with the history, should have been fabricated in order to suit the character which St. Paul gives of himself in the epistle. No, VIII. Chap. i. 14—17. " I thank God that I " baptized none of you but Crispus and " Gaius, lest any should say that I baptized " in my own name; and I baptized also " the household of Stephanas: besides, I " know not whether I baptized any other; " for Christ sent me not to baptize, but to " preach the gospel." It may be expected, that'those whom the apostle baptized with his own hands, were converts distinguished from the rest by some circumstance, either of eminence, or of con nection with him. Accordingly, of the three • names J)0 THE FIRST EPISTLE names here mentioned, Crispus, we find, from Acts xviii. 8, was a " chief ruler of " the Jewish synagogue at Corinth, who be- " lieved in the Lord, with all his house." Gaius, it appears from Romans xvi. 23, was St. Paul's host at Corinth, and the host, he tells us, " of the whole church." The household of Stephanas, we read in the six teenth chapter of this epistle, " were the first " fruits of Achaia." Here therefore is the propriety we expected : and it is a proof of reality not to be contemned ; for their names appearing in the several places in which they occur, with a mark of distinc tion belonging to each, could hardly be the effect of chance, without any truth to di rect it : and, on the other hand, to suppose that they were picked out from these pas sages, and brought together in the text be fore us, in order to display a conformity of names, is both improbable in itself, and is rendered more so, by the purpose for which they are introduced . They come in to assist St. Paul's exculpation of himself, against the possible charge, of having assumed the cha? racter TO THE CORINTHIANS, gl racter of the founder of a separate religion, and with no other visible, or, as I think, imaginable design*. No, IX, * Chap. i. 1. " Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus f Christ, through the will of God, and Sosthenes, our f brother, unto the church of God, which is at Co^ •" rinth." — The only account we have of any person who bore the name of Sosthenes, is found in the eighteenth chapter of the Acts. When the Jews at Corinth had brought Paul before Gallio, and Gallio had dismissed. their complaint as unworthy of his interference, and had driven them from the judgment-seat; "then all the f Greeks," says the historian, " took Sosthenes, the chief f ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before thejudg- *' ment seat." The Sosthenes here spoken of was a Corinthian ; and if he was a Christian, and with St. Paul when he wrote this epistle, was likely enough to )>e joined with him in the salutation of the Corinthian church. But here occurs a difficulty. If Sosthenes was a Christian at the time of this uproar, why should the Greeks beat him ! The assault upon the Christians was made by the Jews. It was the Jews who had brought Paul before the magistrate. If it had been the Jews also who had beaten Sosthenes, I should not have doubted but that he had been a favourer of St. Paul, and the same person who isjpined with him in the epistle. Let us see therefore whether there be not some error in our present fext. Th.e Alexandrian manuscript gives varns alone, without 9.1 ?EMi««j and is followed in this reading by the Coptic version, by the Arabic version, published by fypenius,, 02 THE TIRST EPISTLE No. IX. Chap. xvi. 10, 11. " Now, if Timo- " theus come, let no man despise him."— Why despise him ? This charge is not given Erpenius, by the Vulgate, and by Bede's Latin version. Three Greek manuscripts again, as well as Chrysostom, give oi lovStxtm, in the place of °i 'hmwu: A great plurality of manuscripts authorize the reading which is retained in our copies. In this variety it appears to me extremely probable that the historian originally wrote mams alone, and that « 'em^vej, and hi lovSam have been respectively added as explanatory of what the word iramr was supposed to mean. The sentence, without the addition of either name, would run very perspicuously thus, " K«i aVnKaazi avrovs am mv f5riij.xTo$' ETrAafo/yiEiioj Xe %airts " 2wff0Eifljv rov apyiavvxyoiyoV) ztvtttov E^irpoovsv Toy @v){uzros' (t and he drove thern away from the judgment seat ; " and they all," viz. the crowd of Jews whom the judge had bid begone, " took Sosthenes, and beat him " before the judgment seat." It is certain that, as the whole body of the people were Greeks, the application of all to them is unusual and hard. If I was describ ing an insurrection at Paris, I might say all the Jews, all the Protestants, or all the English acted so and so ; but I should scarcely say all the French, when the whole mass of the community were of that description. As what is here offered is founded upo« a various read ing, and that in opposition to the greater part of. the manuscripts that are extant, I have not given it a place in the text. . con- TO THE CORINTHIANS. 93 concerning any other messenger whom St. Paul sent; and, in the different epistles, many such messengers are mentioned. Turn to I Timothy, chap. iv. 12, and you will find that Timothy was a, young m an, younger probably than those who were usually em ployed in the Christian mission; and that St. Paul, apprehending lest he should, on that account, be exposed to contempt, urges up on him the caution which is there inserted, " Let no man despise the youth." No. X. Chap. xvi. 1. " Now, concerning the " collection for the saints, as I have given " order to the churches of Galatia, even " so do ye." The churches of Galatia and Phrygia were the last churches which St. Paul had visited before the writing of this epistle. He was now at Ephesus, and he came thither immediately from visiting these churches : if He went over all the country of Galatia " and Phrygia, in order, strengthening all " the, disciples. And it came to pass that " Paul having passed through the upper " coasts," §4 The first epistle^ " coasts," (viz. the above-named countries* called the upper coasts, as being the nor thern part of Asia Minor,) " came to Ephe- " sus." Acts xviii. 23; xix. 1. These therefore, probably, were the last churches at which he had left directions for their public conduct during his absence. Ah though two years intervened between his journey to Ephesus, and his writing this epistle, yet it does not appear that during that time he visited any other church. That he had not been silent when he was in Galatia, upon this subject of contribution for the poor, is further made out from a hint which he lets fall in his epistle to that church 2 " Only they (viz. the other apostles) would " that we should remember the poor, the " same also which I was forward to do." No. XI. Chap. iv. 18 " Now, some are puffed *' up, as though I would not come unto " you." Why should they suppose that he would not come? Turn to the first chapter of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, and you will TO THE CORINTHIANS. 95 will find that he had already disappointed them: " I was minded to come unto you " before, that you might have a second ^' benefit; and to pass by you into Mace- " donia, and to come again out of Mace- " donia unto you, and of you to be brought " on my way toward Judaea. When I, " therefore, was thus minded, did I use " lightness? Or the things that I purpose, " do I purpose according to the flesh, that " with me, there should be yea, yea, and " nay, nay? But, as God is true, our word " toward yo.u was not yea and nay." It ap pears from this quotation, that he had not only intended, but that he had promised them a visit before; for, otherwise, why should he apologize for the change of his purpose, or express so much anxiety lest this change should be imputed to any culpable fickleness in his temper; and lest he should thereby seem to them, as one whose word was not, in any sort, to be depended upon ? Besides which, the terms made use of, plainly refer to a promise, " Our word toward you " was not yea and nay." St. Paul therefore had signified an intention which he had not been 96 THE FIRST EPISTLE been able to execute; and this seeming; breach of his word, and the delay of his visit, had, with some who were evil affected towards him, given birth to a suggestion that he would come no more to Corinth. No. XII. Chap, v- 7, 8. " For even Christ, our " passover, is sacrificed for us; therefore let " us keep the feast, not with old leaven, " neither with the leaven of malice and "wickedness, but with the unleavened " bread of sincerity and truth." Dr. Benson tells us, that from this passage, compared with chapter xvi. 8, it has been, conjectured that this epistle was written about the time of the Jewish passover; and to me the conjecture appears to be very well founded. The passage to which Dr. Benson refers us is this : " I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost." With this pas sage he ought to have joined another in the same context: " And it may be that I " will abide, yea, and winter with you:" for, from the two passages laid together, it follows that the epistle was written before Pentecost, TO THE CORINTHIANS. 97 Pentecost, yet after winter ; which necessa rily determines the date to the part of the year, within which the passover falls. It was written before Pentecost, because he says, " I will tarry at Ephesus until Pen- " tecost." It was written after winter, be cause he tells them, " It may be that I may " abide, yea, and winter with you." The winter which the apostle purposed to pass at Corinth, was undoubtedly the winter next ensuing to the date of the epistle ; yet it was a winter subsequent to the ensuing Pentecost, because he did not intend to set forwards upon his journey till after the feast. The words, " let us keep the feast, " not with old leaven, neither with the lea- " ven of malice and wickedness, but with " the unleavened bread of sincerity and " truth," look very like words suggested by the season ; at least they have, upon that supposition, a force and significancy which do not belong to them upon any other; and it is not a little remarkable, that the hints casually dropped in the epistle, concerning particular parts of the year, should coin cide with this supposition. h Chap. 88 THE SECOND EPISTLE CHAP. IV. ¦THE SECOND EPISTtE TO THE CORINTHIANS. No. I. I WILL not say that it is impossible, having seen the First Epistle to the Co rinthians, to construct a second with osten sible allusions to the first; or that it is im possible that both 'should be fabricated, so as to carry on an order and continuation of story, by successive references to the same events. But I say, that this, in either case, must be the effect of craft and design. Whereas, whoever examines the allusions to the former epistle which be finds in this whilst he will acknowledge them to be such as would rise spontaneously to the hand of the writer, from the very subject of the correspondence, and the situation of the cor responding parties, supposing these to foe real, will see no particle of reason to suspect, either that the clauses containing these allu sions ' TO THE CORINTHIANS. g9 sions were insertions for the purpose, or that the several transactions of the Corinthian church were feigned, in order to form a train of narrative, or to support the appear*- ance of connection between the two epistles. 1. In the First Epistle, St. Paul announces his intention of passing through MacedPnia, in his way to Corinth : " I will come to you " when I shall pass through Macedonia." In the Second Epistle, we find him arrived in Macedonia, and about to pursue his jour ney to Corinth. But observe the manner in which this is made to appear : " I know " the forwardness of your mind, for which " I boast of you to them of Macedonia, " that Achaia was ready a year ago, and " your zeal had provoked very many: yet " have I sent the brethren, lest our boast- " ing of you should be in vain in this behalf; " that, as I saids ye may be ready, lest hap- " ly, if they of Macedonia come with me, " and find you unprepared, we (that we say " not you) be ashamed in this same confi- " dent boasting." (Chap. ix. 2, 3, 4.) St. Paul's being in Macedonia at the time of writing the epistle, is, in this passage, in- h 3 ferred 100 THE SECOND EPISTLE ferred only from his saying, that he had, boasted to the Macedonians of the alacrity of his Achaian converts ; and the fear which he expresses, lest, if any of the Macedonian Christians should come with him unto Achaia, they should find his boasting un warranted by the event. The business of the contribution is the sole cause of men tioning Macedonia at all. Will it be insi nuated that this passage was framed merely to state that St. Paul was now in Mace donia ; and, by that statement, to produce au apparent agreement with the purpose of visiting Macedonia, notified in the Fjrst Epis tle? Or will it be thought probable, that, if a sophist had meant to place St. Paul in Macedonia, for the sake of giving counte nance to his forgery, he would have done it in so oblique a manner as through the medium of the contribution ? The same thing may be observed of another text in the epistle, in which the name of Macedo nian occurs : " Furthermore, when I came " to Troas to preach the gospel, and a door " was opened unto me of the Lord, I had " no rest in my spirit, because I found not " Titus, TO THE CORINTHIANS. 101 " Titus, my brother ; but taking my leave " of them, I went from thence into Mace- " donia." I mean, that it may be observed of this passage also, that there is a reason for inentioningMaeedonia,entirelydistinctfromthe purpose of shewing St. Paul to be there. Indeed, if the passage before us shew that point at all, it shews it so obscurely, that Grotius, though he did not doubt that Paul was now in Macedonia, refers this text to a different journey. Is this the hand of a forger, meditating to establish a false con formity ? The text, however, in which it is most strongly implied that St. Paul wrote the present epistle from Macedonia, is found in the fourth, fifth, and sixth verses of the seventh chapter : " I am filled with comfort, " I am exceeding joyful in all our tribula- " tion ; for, when we were come into Macedo- " nia, pur flesh had no rest ; without were " fightings, within were fears : nevertheless, " God, that comforteth those that are cast " down, comforted us by the coming of " Titus." Yet even here, I think, no one will contend, that St. Paul's coming to Ma cedonia, or being in Macedonia, was the principal 102 THE SECOND EPISTLE principal thing intended to be told ; or that the telling of it, indeed, was any part of the intention with which the text was written ; Pr that the mention even pf the name of Macedonia was not purely incidental, in the description of those tumultuous sorrows, with which the writer's mind had been lately agitated, and. from which he was re lieved by the coming' of Titus. The five first verses of the eighth chapter, which commend the liberality of the Macedonian churches, do not, in my opinion, by them selves, prove St. Paul to have been in Ma cedonia at the time of Avriting the epistle. 2. In the First Epistle, St. Paul denounces a severe Censure against, an incestuous mar riage, which had taken place amongst the Corinthian converts, with the connivance, not to say with the approbation, of the church ; and enjoins the church to purge itself of this scandal, by expelling the offen der from its society : " It is reported com- " monly, that there is fornication amorig " you, and such fornication, as is hot so " much as named amongst the Gentiles, that *.* one should have his father's wife ; and ye <« are TO THE CORINTHIANS. 103 " are puffed up, and have not rather mourn- " ed, that he that hath done this deed might " be taken away from among you; for I, " verily, as absent in body, but present in " spirit, have judged already, as though I " were present, concerning him that hath so " done this deed ; in the name of our Lord " Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered toge- " ther, and my spirit, with the power of ^ our Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver such a " one unto Satan for the destruction of the " flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the ft day of the Lord." (Chap. v. 1—5.) In the Second Epistle, we find this sentence executed, and the offender to be so affected with the punishment, that St. Paul now intercedes for his restoration : " Sufficient " to such a man is this punishment, which (i was inflicted of many; so that, contrari- fi wise, ye ought rather to forgive him and *' comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should " be swallowed up with over-much sorrow* '¦ wherefore I beseech you, that ye would confirm your love towards him." (2 Cor, chap. ii. 7, 8.) Is this whole business feigned for the sake of carrying on a conti nuation it kO-i THE, SECOND EFISTLE nuation of story through the two epistles ? The church also, np less than the offender, was brought by St. Paul's reproof to a deep sense of the impropriety of their conduct. Their penitence, and their respect to his au thority, were, as might be expected, exceed ingly grateful to St. Paul: " We were com- ^iforted..not by -Titus's coming only, but by "the consolation, wherewith he was com- " forted in you, when he told us your earnest " desire, your mourning, your fervent mind " towards me, so that I rejoiced the more ; "for, thpugh 4rfmade you sorry with a " letter, I do not repent, though I did re- " pent; fpr,I perceive that the same epistle " made you sorry, though it ivere but for a " season. Now I rejoice, not that ye were " made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to re- " pentance; for ye were made sorry after a " godly manner, that ye might receive da- " mage by us in nothing." (Chap. vii. 7 — 9-) That this passage is to be referred to the incestuousmarriage, is proved by the twelfth verse of the same chapter: " Though I " wrote unto you, I did it not for his cause " that had done the wrong, nor for his cause " that TO THE CORINTHIANS. 105 " that suffered wrong ; but that our care for " you, in the sight of God, might appear " unto you." There were, it is true, various topics of blame noticed in the First Epistle; but there was none, except this of the in cestuous marriage, which could be called a transaction between private parties, or of which it could be said that one particular person had " done the wrong,'Kand another particular person " had suffered it." Could all t this be without foundation ? or could it be put into the second epistle, merely to fur nish an obscure sequel to what had been said about an incestuous marriage in the first ? 3. In the sixteenth chapter of the First Epistle, a collection for the saints is recom mended to be set forwards at Corinth : " Now, concerning the collection for the ". saints, as I have given order to the " churches of Galatia, so do ye." (Chap. xvi. J.) In the ninth chapter of the Second Epistle, such a collection is spoken of, as in readiness to be received : " As touching the " ministering to the saints* it is superfluous ** for me to write to you, for I know the " forwardness of your mind, for which I a " boast JOG THE SECOND EPISTLE " boast of you to them of Macedonia, that *' Achaia was ready a year ago, and your " zeal hath provoked very many." Chap. ix. 1, 2.) This is such a continuation of the transaction as might be expected ; or, possibly it will be said, as might easily be counterfeited ; but there is a circumstance pf nicety in the agreement between the two epistles, which, I am convinced, the author pf a forgery would not have hit upon, or which, if he had hit upon it, he would have Set forth with more clearness, The Second Epistle speaks of the Corinthians as having begun this eleemosynary business a year ber fore : " This is expedient for you, who have " begun before, not only to do, but also to " be forward a year ago." (Chap. viii. 10.) " I boast of you to them of Macedonia, that " Achaia was ready g, year ago." (Chap4 ix, 2.) From these texts it is evident, that something had been done in the business a year before. It appears, however, from pther texts in the epistle, that the contribu* tion was not yet collected or paid ; for bre-r thren were sent from St. Paul to Corinth, ft to make up their bounty," (Chap. ix. 5.) They TO THE CORINTHIANS. 107 They are urged to " perform the doing of '' it." (Chap. viii. 11.) " And every man " was exhorted to give as he purposed in f his heart." (Chap. ix. 7-) The conffibur tion, therefore, as represented in our pre sent epistle, was in readiness, yet not re ceived from the contributors: was begun, was forward long before, yet not hitherto collepted. Now this representation agrees with one, and only with one, supposition, namely, that every man had laid by in store, had already provided the fund, from which he was afterwards to contribute — the very case which the First Epistle authorizes us tp suppose to have existed ; for in that epistle St. Paul had charged the Corinthians, up- ?' on the first day of the week, every one of ** them to lay by in store as God had pros- ^ pered him*." (1 Cor. chap. xvi. 2.) No. II. *' The following observations will satisfy us concern ing the purity of our apostle's conduct jn the suspicious business of a pecuniary contribution. 1 . He disclaims the having received any inspired au thority for the directions vvhich he is giving: " I speak ',' not by commandment, but by occasion of the forward- \f ness of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love.'' (g Cor. chap. viii. 8.) Who, that had a sinister purpose ft 108 THE SECOND EF1STLE No. II. In comparing the Second Epistle to the Corinthians with the Acts of the Apostles, we are soon brought to observe, not only that, there exists no vestige either of the epis tle having been taken from the history, or the history from the epistle ; but also that there appears in the contents of the epistle ppsitive evidence, that neither was borrowed from the other. Titus, who bears a conspi cuous to answer by the recommending of subscriptions, would thus distinguish, and thus lower the credit of his own recommendation ? 2. Although he asserts the general right of Christian ministers to a maintenance from their ministry, yet he protests against the making use of 'this right in his own perso.n : " Even so hath the Lord ordained, that they " which preach the gospel should live of the gospel ; but " I have used none of these things, neither have I writ- " ten these things that it should be so done unto me ; " for it were better for me to die, than that any man " should make my glorying, i. e. my professions of dis- " interested ness, void." (1 Cor', chap. ix. 14, 15.) S. He repeatedly proposes that there should be asso ciates with himself in the mangement of the public bounty; not colleagues of his own appointment; but per sons elected for that purpose by the contributors them selves : TO THE CORINTHIANS. 109 cuous part in the epistle, is not mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles at all. St. Paul's sufferings, enumerated, chap. xi. 24. " of " the Jews five times received I forty " stripes save one ; thrice was I beaten with " rods ; once was I stoned ; thrice I suffered " shipwreck; a night and a day I have been " in the deep," cannot be made out from selves: " And when I come, whomsoever ye shall ap- " prove ky your letters, them will I send to bring your " liberality unto Jerusalem ; and if it be meet that I go " also, they shall go with rrie " (1 Cor. chap. xvi. 3, 4). And in the Second Epistle, what is here proposed, we find actually done, and done for the very purpose of guarding his character against an}' imputation that might be brought upon it, in the discharge of a pecuniary trust: '* And we have sent with him the brother, whose praise " is in the gospel throughout all the churches: and not " that only, but who was also chosen of the churches to " travel with us with this grace (gift) which is adminis- " tered by us to the glory of the same Lord, and the " declaration of your ready mind ; avoiding this, that no " man should blame' us in this abundance which is ad- V ministered by us ; providing for things honest, not " only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight " of men ;" i. e. " not resting in the consciousness of " our own integrity, but, in such a subject, careful also umbpr,in our observations upon the First Epistle, that the insinuation pf certain of the church of Corinth, that he would come no more amongst them, was founded in some previous1 disappoint ment of their expectations, (j, ^ - - , I' ' - f ! ¦ ,¦ ¦' . ¦/'! f|t' No. V. TO THE CORINTHIANS. 125 1 , --j ; ¦ .¦ - Hr> :< * ¦ • ¦ , • ¦%;'\ . 'No. v. But if St. Paul had Changed his purpose before the writing of the First Epistle, why did he defer explaining himself to the Co rinthians,' concerning the reason of that change, until he wrote the Second ? This is a very fair question; and we are able, I think, to return to it a satisfactory answer, The real cause, and the cause at leno-th asV signed by St. Paul for postponing his visit to. Corinth, and not traveling by the route Which he had at first designed, was the dis orderly state of the Corinthian church at the time, and the painful severities which he should have found himself obliged to exer- cise, if he had come amongst them during the existence of these irregularities. He was willing therefore to try, before he came in person, what a letter of authoritative ob jurgation would do amongst them, and to leave time for the operation of the experi ment. That was his scheme in writing the First Epistle. But it was not for him to acquaint them with the scheme. After the epistle had produced its effect (and to the utmost \VMt does not mean that he Avas coming a third time, but that this Was, the third time he was in readiness to come, rpirov eroi^ag £^&jv.i'.I do not apprehend, that after this it can- be necessary to call to our aid the reading of the Alexandrian manuscript, which*1 gives eroi^ug txta e^sivi in the thir teenth chapter as Avell as in the tAvelfth; or of the Syriae and Coptic versions, which follow that reading; because I alloAv that this reading^ besides not being sufficiently supported Iby ancient copies, is probably paraphrastical, and has been inserter! for the purpose of expressing more unequivocally the sense, Avhich the shorter expression rpirov t8to [epwiMu was supposed to carry. Upon the whole, the matter is sufficiently certain ; nor do I propose it as a new interpretation of the text Avhich contains the difficulty, for the same Avas given by Grotius long ago; TO THE CORINTHIANS. 149 ago,' but, I thought it the clearest way of explaining the subject, to describe the. man ner in which, the difficulty, the solution,, and the proofs, of that solution, successively presented themselves to my inquiries. Now, in historical researches* a reconciled incon sistency becomes a positive argument. First, because an impostor generally guards against the appearance of inconsistency; and se condly, because, when apparent inconsist encies' are found, it is seldom that any thing but truth renders them capable of reconci liation. The .existence of the difficulty prpyes the: wantpr absence of that caution, which usually accompanies the conscious ness of fraud; and the solution proves, that it is i not the collusion of fortuitous propo- . si lions?, which we have to deal with, but that a thread of truth winds through the whole, which preserves every circumstance in its place. r.O,!* No. XIL , , Chap. x: 14— 16. ^ We are come as f>ifar as to you also, in preaching the fs Gospel of Christ; not boasting of things )Vlrwithouti No. II. In this number I shall endeavour to prove, 1. That the Epistle to the Galatians, and the Acts of the Apostles, were written with out any communication with each other. 2. That 158 EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 2. That the epistle, though written with out any coin mira ication with the history, by recital, implication, or reference, bears testi mony to many of the facts contained in it. I, The epistle and the Acts of the Apos tles were written without any communica tion with each other. To judge of this point, Ave must examine those passages in each, which describe the same transaction; for if the author of ei ther writing derived his information from the account which he had seen in the other, when he came to speak of the same trans action, he would follow that account. The history of St. Paul, at Damascus, as read in the Acts, and as referred to by the epis tle, forms an instance of this sort. Ac cording to the Acts, Paul (after his conver sion) was certain days with the " disciples " which were at Damascus. And straighfr- " way he preached Christ in the synagogues, " that he is the son of God. But all that " beard him were amazed, and said, Is not w this he which destroyed them Avhich called " on this name in Jerusalem, and came hi- " tber for that intent, that he might bring " them EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 159 " them bound unto the chief priests ? But " Saul increased the more in strength, con- "- founding the JeAvs Avhich were at Damas- " cus, proving that this is very Christ. And " after that many days were fulfilled, the " Jews took counsel to kill him. But their " laying wait was known of Saul : and they " watched the gates day and night to kill " him. fThen the disciples took him by night, rt and let him down by the wall in a basket. " And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he " assayed to join himself to the disciples." Aefcs, chap. ix. 19 — 26. According to the epistle, " when it pleased " God, who separated me from my mo- " ther's womb,'and called me by his grace, " to reveal his own son in me, that I *' might preach him among the heathen, " immediately I conferred not with flesh " and blood, neither Avent I up to Jerusa- " Jem to them which were apostles* before " me : 'but J» went into Arabia, and return- " ed again to Damascus : then, after three "' years, *I went up to Jerusalem." *d i-nii Z Beside the difference observable in the terms and general complexion of these two accounts, 100 EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. accounts, "the journey into Arabia," men tioned in the epistle, aud omitted in the his tory, affords full proof that there existed no correspondence between these Avriters. If the narrative in the Acts had been made up from the epistle, it is impossible that this Journey should have been passed over .in silence; if the Epistle had been composed out of what the author had read of St. Paul's history in the Acts, it is unaccountable that it should have been inserted.* *vitjh it, ^-Up on this part of his character thp h^toxy* makes St. Paul speak thus: " I am yerj}yja " man Avhich am a Jew, bom in Tarsus, a "pity of Cilicia, yet brpughtup;inj;hisicity?j "atfhefeet of Gamaliel, and .taugbjt-^c-. ','eprding to the perfect mauner<.qf\ the 4a, w ".of the fathers ; ^nd^vas, zealous towards. EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 163 *' God, as ye alL are this day." Acts, chap. xxii. 3. The epistle is as follows : " I profited in " the Jews religion above many my equals "in mine oavii nation, being more exceed- " ingly zealous' of the traditions of my fa rthers." 'Chap. i. 14. 2.' St. Paul, before his conversion, had been a fierce persecutor of the new 'sect. " As for Saul, he made havoc of the " chitrch ; entering into every house, and, " haling men and women, committed them " to prison." Acts, chap. viii. 3. This is the history of St. Paul, as deliver ed' in the Acts ; in the recital of his own history in the epistle, " Ye have beard,'' says 'he, " of my conversation in times past "iiri the Jews religion, hoAV that' beyond " 'measure! BersSebuted the churchof God." Chap. i*. 13: s dJi,i 3. St: Paul #&s miraculously converted on his way to Damascus. "And as he jour- " neyed he ckmenear to Damascus : and sud- "'denlythere' shined round about him a light *f from heaven : and he fell to the earth, and "' heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, m 2 " why 164 EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. " why persecutest thou me? And he said, "Who art thou, Lord ? And the Lord said, " I am Jesus, Avhom thou persecutest : it is " hard for thee to kick against the pricks. " And he, -trembling and astonished, said, H Lord, Avhat wilt thou have me to do ?" Acts, chap. ix4 3 — 6. With these com pare the epistle, chap. i. 15 — 17 ; " When " it pleased God, avIio separated me from " my mother's Avomb, and called me by his " grace to reveal his son in me, that I might "preach him among the heathen ; imme- " diately I conferred not Avith flesh and "blood, neither went I up to Jerusalem, to " them that were apostles before me ; but I " AArent into Arabia, and returned again " unto Damascus." . In tMs quotation from the epistle, I desire it to be remarked how incidently it appears, that the affair passed at Damascus.- In what may be called the direct part of the account, no, meatioa is made of the place of his. con version at all : a casual expression at the end, and an expression brought in fpF)a,dif* ferent ^purpose* alone fixes it to have been at Damascus : " I returned/again to Efaroas- " cus." EPISTLE TO THE GALATIAN*. l65 " cus." Nothing can be more like simpli city and undesignedness than this is. It also draAvs the agreement between the tAvo quo tations somewhat closer, to observe that they both state St. Paul to have preached the gospel immediately upon his call: "And "straightway he preached Christ in the "synagogues, that he is the son of God." Acts, chap. ix. 20. " When it pleased God " to reveal his son in me, that I might " preach him. among tbe heathen, imme- " diately I conferred not Avith flesh and, M blood." Gal. chap* i. 15. 4. The course of the apostle's travels after his conversion Avas this : He went from Da mascus to Jerusalem, and from Jerusalem into Syria and Cilicia. " At Damascus the disciples took him by night, and let him down«'by the Avail in a basket;; and' when Saul1 w*as- come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples." Acts, chap.tik. 25.^ Afterwards, " Avhen the bre thren 4tflew the conspiracy formed against himtat Jerusalem, they brought him dpwn to ^8$§&fgay and sent him forth to Tarsus, a d«5**in€ilicia/' Chap. ix. 30. In the epistle, St. Pau, 166 EPISTLE TO THE GALA1IAJJS. St., Paul gives the folloAving brief account of his proceedings within, the same period.: " After three years I Avent up to Jerusalem " to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen " days; afterwards I came into the regions " of Syria and Cilicia." The history, had told us that Paul passed from, Ceesarea to Tarsus : if he tppkthis journey by land, it would carry him through Syria into Cilicia; and he would come, after his visit at Jeru salem,, " into the regions of Syria and Ci- " hcia," in the, very order in which he men tions them in the epistle. Thissupposition of his going from Csesarea to Tarsus by land, clears up also another point. , It accounts for what St. Paul says in the same place con- cerningthe churches of Judea: "Afterwards " I came into the regions of Syria and, Ci- " licia, and Avas unknown j^y face unto the " churches of Judea, which Avere in Christ: " but they had heard °nly that he-- which, " persecuted us in times past, now preaeh- " eth the faith, which once he destroyed ; " and they glorified -God in mp." Upon Avhich passage J. observe, first, .that Avhatis, here said of the churches of Judea, is spoke&> in EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS". 167" in* connection with his journey into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. Secondly, that' the passage itself has little significancy, and that the connection is Inexplicable, unless St. Paui-AVent through Judea* (though proba-" bly by a hasty journey) at the timethathe' came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.' Suppose him to have passed1 by land from" Csesarea to Tarsus, all this, as bath been ob served, would be precisely true.^'w '^ '¦> 5. Barnabas was Avith St. Paul at Antioch. * " Then departed'Barnabas to Tarsus, for to li- seek Saul; arid when he had found him^ " he brought him unto Antioch. And ! it* " came to pass that a whole year they assem- " bled themselves with the church." Acts, chap. xi. 25, 26. f Again^ and upon ai> other occasion, " they (Paul and Barnabas)' * * Dr. Doddridge thought that the Coesare'a here nientroned was not the celebrated city of that hametipon tbe Mediterranean sea* "but Csesarea Philippi; .near the holders,- o/j Syria^ jwhich lies in a much, more direct Jipe from Jerusalem to Tarsus than the other7. The objec tion to this, Dr. Benson remarks, is,' that Csesarea' without ;any ' 'addition, -Wially'cfchdte's ¦Csesarea PMfe-' tkise^'i^g Si ti> j: ,: . : "l, i'J ': ¦<¦¦'. > i#U'i .:'(i!i i;J, i.'. :.,>.¦ : via • ' " sailed 168 EBJSTLE TO THE GALATIANS. "; sailed to Antioch; and there they conti- *' nued a long time Avith the disciples." Chap. xiv. 26. Now what says the epistle ? " When " Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood " him to the face, because he. was. to be " blamed ; and the other Jews dissembled " likewise with him ; insomuph that Bar- " nabas also was carried aAvay with their " dissimulation." Chap. ii. 11. 13. 6. The stated residence of the aposles Avas at„ .Jerusalem- " At that time there was a " great persecution against the church Avhich " was at Jerusalem ;; and they were all scat- " tered abroad throughout the regions of " Judea and Samaria, except the apostles." Acts, chap, viii. 1. " They (the, Chris-r '* tians at Antioch) determined that Paul " and Barnabas should go up to Jerusalem, " unto the apostles and, elders, about this "question/' Acts, chap, xv, 2,— With these accounts agrees the declaration in the epistle ; " Neither Avent I up to Jerusalem " to them Avhich were apostles before mea" chap, i, 17- : for this declaration implies, or rather assumes it to be known> that Jerusalem EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. M»9 Jerusalem was the place where the apostles were to be met Avith. 7- There were at Jerusalem two apostles, or at the least two eminent members of the church, of the name of James. This is directly inferred from the Acts of the Apo stles, which in the second verse of the twelfth chapter relates the death of James, the brother of John; and yet in the fifteenth chapter, and in a subsequent part of the his tory, records a speech delivered by James in 'the assembly of the apostles and elders. It is also strongly implied by the form of expression used in the epistle : " Other "apostles saw I none, save James, tbe " Lord's- brother;" i. e. to distinguish hira from James the brother of John. To us who ha ve been long conversant in the Christian history, as contained in the Acts of the Apostles, thesepointsareobviousi and; familiar ; nor do Ave readily apprdhend any greater difficulty in making them appear ia a letter purporting to have been writtea fey St. Paul, than there is in introducing: them* into a modern sermomi But, to judge correctly of the argUrneht beforeiis,1 Ave musfc discharge 170 EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. discharge this .knowledge from our thoughts. We must propose to" ourselves the situation of an author who; sat down to the Avriting of the epistle Avithout having seen the his tory; and then the concurrences we have deduced will be deemed of importance. They will at least be taken for separate confirmations o£ the several facts, and not only of these particular facts, but: of the general truth of the history. • For, Avhat is the rule with respect to cor roborative testimony vvhich prevails in courts of justice, and which prevails only because experience has proved that it is an useful guide to truth ? A principal Avitness in a cause delivers his account: his narrative,^in certain parts of it,> is confirmed by AvitnesSeS' who are called afterwards. The credit dejT rived from their testimony belongs not bitty1 to the particular circumstances in'Avhich fcne' auxiliary witnesses agree with the principal' witness, but in some measure to the whpre^ of his evidence ; because5 it is improbable that accident or fiction should 'draw a line1 Avhiclr* touched upon truth in so many points.1 In EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 1?1 In like manner,iftworecordsbeproduced, manifestly independent, that is, manifestly written without any participation of intelli gence, an agreement between them, even in few and slight circumstances (especially if, from the. different nature and design of the writings, few points only of agreement, and those incidental, could be exacted to occur,) would add a sensible AVeightTo the authority of both, in every part of their contents. The same rule is applicable to history, with at least as much reason as any other species of evidence. itWfi' .'. ' ' . nt > if; No. III. But although the references to various par ticulars in the epistle, compared with the di rect account of the same particulars in the history, afford a considerable proof of the truth not only- of these particulars but, of the- narrative which contains them; yet they, do. not shew, itfwill be said, that; the epistle was Avritten by St. Paul : for admitting (what sepnis to have been proved) that the writer^* whoever he was, had no recourse to the Acts of the Apostles, yet many of the facts referred-, to, 172 EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. to, such as St. Paul's miraculous conversion, his change from a virulent persecutor to an indefatigable preacher, his labours amongst the Gentiles, and his zeal for the liberties of the Gentile church, were so notorious as to occur readily to the mind of any Christian, who should choose to personate his character, and eounterffeiMiiis name: it was only to write Ayhat eve^body knevv. Now I think that this supposition — viz. that the epistle was com posed upon general information, and the general publicity of the facts alluded to, and that the author did no more than Avenve into his work what the common fame of the Christian church had reported to his ears — ¦ is repelled by the particularity of the recitals and references. This particularity is observ able in the folloAving instances; in perusing which, -I desire the reader to reflect, whether theyexhibit the language of a man who had nothing hut general reputation to proceed upon, or of a man actually speaking* of himself and of his own history, and conse quently of things concerning* which he pos* sessed a clear, Intimate, and circumstantial knowledge. 1. The EPISTLE, TO THE GALATIANS. ITS 1. The history, in giving an account of St. Paul after his conversion, relates, " that, after many. days," effecting, by the assist ance of the disciples, his escape from Da mascus, ,¦*,'. he proceeded to Jerusalem." Acts, chap. ix. 25. The epistle, Speak ing of the same period, makes St. Paul say that V he went, into ^gbia," that he returned again, to DamalKs, that after three years he Avent up to Jerusalem. Chap. i. 17, 18. 2. The history relates, that, when Saul Avas pome from Damascus, " he was with ?; the disciples coming in and going out." Acts, chap. ix. 28. The epistle, des cribing the same journey,- tells us "that *' hp, went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, V and , abode with him. fifteen days." Chap. i. 18. ,.,; , 3* The history relates, that, when, Paul was come, to Jerusalem, "Barnabas tpok " him and, brought him to the apostjes/ Acts,, chjip. i^- 2?. , The , epistle, ** that %,he saw Peter; but other of the aposties % saw he none, , save. James, the Lord's "¦. brother." Chap. i. 19.- „ i , Now ,174 EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. Noav this is as it should be. The histo rian delivers his account in general terms, as of facts to which he was not present. The person avIio is the subject of that ac count, whien he comes to speak of these fa_cts; himself, particularizes time, names, and circumstances. 4. The like^aotation of places, persons, and dates, is rral with in the account of St. Paul's journey to Jerusalem, given in the second chapter of the epistle. It was four teen years after his conversion ; it was in company with Barnabas and Titus; it was then that he met Avith James, Cephas, and John ; it Avas then also that it Avas agreed amongst them, that they should go to the circumcision, and he unto. the Gentiles. o. The dispute Avitta Peter, which occu pies the sequel of the second chapter; *is marked with the same particularity: It was at Antioch; it was after certain came from James ; it was Avhilst Barnabas Avas there, who Avas carried away by their dissimulation. These examples negative, the insinuation, that the epistle presents' nothing but indefi nite allusions to public facts. No. IV. EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS^ 175 No. IV. Chap. iv. 11—16. , "lam afraid of you, ",, jest J have bestoAved upon you labour " in, vain. Brethren, I .beseech you, be " as I am, for I am as ye are. Ye have "^ nPt injured me at all. Ye knoAv how, " through infirmity of the flesh, I preached "r^he gospel unto you at the first; and my ", temptation, which was in the flesh, ye des- " pised not, nor rejected; but received me "t,as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. 'f Where is thenthe blessedness you spake '! of,?, for I bear* you record, that, if it had' "njb,een possible, ye would have plucked out " your own eyes,, and. have given them "jun,to me. Am I therefore become your " .enemy, because I tell you the truth?" t With this passage compare 2 Cor. chap. x^,!— 9 : " It is not expedient for me*f " doubtless, to glory ; I will come to visions' "flajjd^ revelations of the Lord. I knew a '* man in Christ above fourteen years ago ifjther in (thp/ body I cannot tell, or' whether out of the body I cannot tell;' " God T?G EPISTLE TO THE GALATtANS. " God knoweth) ; such a one Avas caught up " to the third heaven ; and I kneAV such a " man (whether in the body or out of the " body 1 cannot tell, God knoweth), how ** that he Avas caught up into Paradise, " and heard unspeakable words, Avhich it is " hot lawful for a man to utter. Of such V a one will I jglory, yet of myself will I " not glory, but in mine infirmities : for, t-thoughl would desire to glory, I shall not "jbe a fool; for I will say the truth. But " now I forbear, lest any man should think " of me above that which he seeth me to be, " or that he beareth of me. And lest I " should be exalted above measure, through "the abundance of the revelations, there '^ was given to me a thorn in the flejh, the ".messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should " be exalted above measure. For this thing "I besought the Lord thrice, that it mifi;ht " depart from me. And he said Unto me, " My grace is sufficient for thee ; for my " strength is made perfect in weakness. '' Most gladly therefore will I rather 'glory " in my infirmities, that- the power of " Christ may rest upon me."- There EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 177 There can be no doubt but that "the temptation which was in the flesh," men tioned in the Epistle to the Galatians, and " the thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet him," mentioned in the Epis tle to the Corinthians, were intended to de note the same thing. Either therefore it was, what Ave pretend it to have been, the same person in both, alluding, as the occa sion led him, to some bodily infirmity under which he laboured ; that is, we are reading the real letters of a real apostle; or, it was that a sophist, who had seen the circumstance in one epistle, contrived, for the sake of cor respondency, to bring it into another ; or, lastly, it was a circumstance in St. Paul's personal condition, supposed to be well known to those into whose hands the epistle was likely to fall ; and, for that reason, in troduced into a writing designed to bear his name. I have extracted the quotations at length, in order to enable the reader to judge accurately of the manner in which the men tion of this particular comes in, in each; be cause that judgment, I think, will acquit the authors of the epistle of the Gharge of n haAring W* EOTSTL& TO THfi GALATIANS. having studiously inserted it, either with a view of producing an apparent agreement |>etween them, or for any other purpose whatever. .... b >,i ,> The context, by Avhich the circumstance before us is introduced, is in the two places totally different, and without anymarkof imitation: yet. in both places does the cir cumstance rise aptly and naturally out of the context, and that context from the. train of thought carried on in the epistle. .* isThe Epistle to the Galatians, from the beginning to the end, runs in a strain of angrycomplaint of their defection from the apostle, and from the principles which he had taught them. It was very natural to contrast with this conduct, the zeal with which they had once received him: and it was not less so to mention, as a proof of their former disposition towards him, the indul gence which, whilst he was amongst them, they had, sheAvn to his infirmity : "My " temptation Avhich was in the flesh ye de- " spised not, nor rejected, but received me " as an angel of God, even as. Christ Jesus. " Where is then the blessedness you spake " of, EPISTLE TO THE GALATlANSi. lfjj ¦" of, L e. the benedictions which you be- " stowed upon me? for I bear you record, " that if it had been possible, ye would " have plucked out your own eyes, and " have given them to me." In the tAvo epistles to the Corinthians, especially in the second, we have the apostle contending with certain teachers in Corinth, who had formed a party in that church against him. To vindicate his personal au thority, as well as the dignity and credit of his ministry amongst them, he takes occasion (but not without -apologizing repeatedly for the folly, that is, for the indecorum of pro nouncing his own panegyric*) to meet his adversaries, in their boastings : " Wherein- " soevier any is hold (I speak foolishly) I " am b©M also. Are they Hebrews ? so am *M. Are they Israelites? so am J. Are they . f " Would to God you would bear with me a little in "my folly, and indeed bear with me !" Cha,p. xi, 1. "That, which I speak, I speak^itjot after the ^ord, " hut as it were foolishly, in this confidence qf bqas^- "ing." Chap. xi. Jr.* " I am become a fool in glorying* ye have compelled 'fme.',' Ghap.xii. l,i. ; n 2. " the ISO HPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. " the seed of Abraham ? so am I. Are " they the ministers of Christ (I speak " as a fool) I am more ; in labours more " abundant, in stripes above measure, in " prisons more frequent, in deaths oft/' Being led to the subject, he goes on, as was natural, to recount his trials and dangers, his incessant cares and labours in the Christian mission. From the proofs Avhich he had given of his zeal and activity in the service of Christ, he passes (and that with the same A'iew of establishing his claim to be con sidered as " not a Avhit behind the very chief- est of the apostles") to the visions and re velations which from time to time had been vouchsafed to him. And then, by a close and easy connection, comes in the mention of his infirmity : Lest I should be exalt ed says he* " above measure, through. the " abundance of revelations, there was given ,* to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger " of Satan to buffet me." Thus then, in both epistles, the notice of his infirmity is suited to the place in which lit, is found. In they Epistle to ,the Corin thians, the train of thought draws up to the w.ij circum- EPISTLE TO THE GALATIAN1&. 181 circumstance by a regular approximation. In the epistle, it is suggested by the subject and occasion of the epistle itself. Which observation we offer as an argument to prove that it is not, in either epistle, a circum stance industriously brought forward for the sake of procuring credit to an imposture. A reader will be taught to perceive the force of this argument, who shall attempt to introduce a given circumstance into the body of a writing. To do this without abruptness, or without betraying marks of design in the transition, requires, he will find, more art than he expected to be ne cessary* ' certainly more than any one can believe to have been exercised in the com position of these epistles. No. V. Chap. iv. 29. " But as then he thai " was born after the flesh persecuted him , that Avas born after the spirit, even so is Mtnow." Chap. v. 11. " And I, brethren, if I yet " preaen circumcision, why do I yet suffer " per- V82 ETISTLE TO THE GA'LATIAKS. " persecution ? Then is the offence of the " cross ceased." Chap. vi. 17. " From henceforth, let no " man trouble me, for I hear in my body " the marks of the Lord Jesus:" From these several texts, it is apparent that the persecutions Avhich our apostle had undergone, were from the hands or by 'the instigation of the JeAVS ; that it Avas not for preaching Christianity in oppostion to heathenism, but it was for preaching it as distinct from Judaism, that he had brought ttpon himself the sufferings which had at tended his ministry. And this representation perfectly coincides Avith that Avhich results from the detail of St. Paul's history, as deli. vered in the Acts. At Antioch, in Pisidia,the " word of the Lord Avas published through- " out all the region; but the Jews stirred «' up the devout and honourable women and " the chief men of the city, and raised per- " sedition against Paul and Barnabas, and " expelled them out of their coasts." — (Acts, chap. xiii. 50.) Not long after, at Iconium, " a great multitude of the Jews " and also of the Greeks believed ; but the " unbe- EPISTLE TO THE 6ALATIAN9. 1831 " unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, " and made their minds evil affected against " the brethren." (Chap. xiv. 1, 2.) " At " Lystra there came certain Jews from An- " tioch and Iconium, who persuaded the " people ; and having stoned Paul, drew '? him out of the city, supposing he had been " dead." (Chap. xiv. 19. The same enmityT and from the same quarter, our apostle experienced in Greece: " At Thessalo'- " nica, some of them (the Jews) believed, " and consorted with Paul and Silas: and of "the devout Greeks a great multitude, and '* of the chief women not a few : but the Jews !¦* which believed not, moved with em'y, took " unto them certain lewd fellows of the " baser sort, and gathered a company, and " set all the city in an uproar, and assaulted " the house of Jason, and sought to bring " them out to the people." (Acts, chap. xvii. 4, 5.) Their persecutors follow them to Berea : " When the Jews of Thessalonica " had knowledge that the word of God was " preached of St. Paul at Berea, theyeame " thither also, and stirred up the people." (Chap. xvii. 13.) And lastly* at Corinth, when 184 EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. when Gallio was deputy of Achaia, " the " Jews made insurrection Avith one accord "against Paul, and brought him to the "judgment-seat." I think it does not ap pear that our apostle Avas ever set upon by the Gentiles, unless they Avere first stirred up by the Jews, except in two instances; in both which the persons who began the as sault were immediately interested in his ex pulsion from the place. Once this happened at Philippi, after the cure of the Pythoness : " When the masters saw the hope of their " gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, "jand drew them into the market-place un- '?¦ to the rulers." (Chap. xvi. 19-) And a, second time at Ephesus, at the instance, of Demetrius a silversmith which made silver shrines for Diana, " who called , together " workmen of like occupation, and said, §irs, "ye knoAv that by this craft Ave have our " wealth; moreover, ye see and hear that not " only at Ephesus, but almost throughout all " Asia, this Paul hath persuaded aAvay much "people, saying, that they be no gods which " are made Avith hands ; so that not only •^ this our craft is in danger to be set at iriV " nought, EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 185 " nought, but also that the temple of the " great goddess Diana should be despised, " and her magnificence should be destroy- " ed, whom all Asia and the world Avor- " shippeth." No; VI. I observe an agreement in a somewhat peculiar rule of Christian conduct, as laid doAvn in this epistle, and as exemplified in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians. It is not the repetition of the same general pre cept, which would have been a coincidence of little value ; but it is the general pre cept in one place, and the application of that precept to an actual occurrence in the other. In the sixth chapter and first verse of this epistle, our apostle gives the follow ing direction : " Brethren, if a man be over- " taken in a fault, ye, which are spiritual, " restore such a one in the spirit of meek- " ness." In 2 Cor. chap. ii. 6 — 8, he writes thus : " Sufficient to such a man" (the inr cestuous person mentioned in the First Epis tle) "is this punishment, which was inflict- ** ed of many ; so that, contrariwise, ye *' ought 185 EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. " ought rather to forgive him and comfort' " him, lest perhaps such a one should be " swallowed up with over-much sorrow ; " Avherefore I beseech you that ye would " confirm your love towards him." J have little doubt but that it was the same mind which dictated these two passages. No. VII. Our epistle goes farther than any of St. Paul's epistles; for itavoAVS in direct terms the supersession of the Jewish law, as an instrument of salvation, even to the Jews themselves. Not only were the Gentiles* exempt from its authority, but even the Jews were no longer either to place any* dependency upon it, or consider themselves as subject to it on a religious account. " Be- " fore faith came, Ave were ker*t under the " law, shut up unto the faith Avhich should " afterwards be revealed; wherefore the law " was our schoolmaster to bring us unto " Christ, that we might be justified by faith ; " but, after that faith is come, we are no longer " under a schoolmaster." (Ch. iii. 23 — 25.) This EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 187 This Avas undoubtedly spoken of Jews and to Jews. In like manner, chap. iv. 1 — 5: " Now I say that the heir, as long as " he is a child, differeth nothing, from a " servant, though he be lord of all; but is " under tutors and governors until the time " appointed of the father: even so we, when " we were children, were in bondage under " the elements of the Avorld ; but, AVhen the " fulness of time Avas come, God sent forth " his Son, made of a woman, made under " the laAv, to redeem them that were under " the law, that we might receive the adop- " tion of sons." These passages are no rthing short of a declaration, that the obliga tion of the Jewish law, considered as a reli gious dispensation, the effects of which were to take place in another life, had ceased, with respect even to the Jews themselves. What then should be the conduct of a Jew (for such St. Paul was) who preached this doctrine ? To be consistent with himself^ either he would no longer comply, in his OAvn person* with the directions of the law ; or, if he did comply, it would be for some other reason than any confidence which he placed 1.88 EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. placed in its efficacy, as a religious institu tion. Noav so it happens, that whenever St. Paul's compliance with the Jewish law is mentioned in the history, it is mentioned in connection with circumstances which point out the motive from which it pro ceeded; and this motive appears to have been always exoteric, namely, a love of order. and tranquillity, or an unwillingness to give unnecessary offence. Thus, Acts, chap. xvi. 3: "Him (Timothy) Avould Paul have to ",go forth Avith him, and took and circum- " cised him, because of the Jews which were " in those quarters." Again, Acts, chap. xxi. 2^, when Paul consented to exhibit an example of public compliance with a Jewish rite, by purifying himself in the tem ple, it is plainly intimated that he did this to satisfy many thousands of Jews Avho be lieved, and av ho were all zealous of the law." So far the instances related in one. book, correspond, with the doctrine deli vered in another. No. VIII. EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 189 No. VIII. Chap. i. 18. "Then, after three yearS, " I Avent up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and " abode with him fifteen days." The shortness of St. Paul's stay at Jerusa lem, is Avhat I desire the reader to remark. The direct account of the same journey in the Acts, chap. ix. 28, determines nothing concerning the time of his continuance there : " And he Avas Avith them (the " apostles) coming in, and going out, at Je- " rusalem ; and he spake boldly in the name " of the Lord Jesus, and disputed against " the Grecians: but theyAvent about to slay "him; which when the brethren knew, '* they brought him down to Caesarea." Or1 rather this account, taken by itself, wouldr lead a reader to suppose that St. Paul's abode at; Jerusalem had been longer than fifteen days. oBut turn to the twenty-second chap ter of the Acts, and you will find a reference' to this visit to Jerusalem, whiph plainly in dicates that Paul's continuance in that city had been of short duration: " And it came " to 190 EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. "to pass, that when I was come again to " Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the " temple, I Avas in a trance, and saAV him " saying unto me, Make haste, get thee " quickly out of Jerusalem, for they will " not receive thy testimony concerning me.4" Here we have the general terms of one text so explained by a distant text in the same book, as to bring an indeterminate expres sion into a close conformity Avith a specifi cation delivered in another book : a species of consistency not, I think, usually found in fabulous relations. No. IX. Chap* vi. 11. " Ye see how large a let- " ter I have Avritten unto you with mine " own hand." These words imply that he did not always write Avith his oavii hand ; which is consonant toAvhat AAefind intimated in some other of the epistles. The Epistle to the Romans was written by Tertius: " I, Tertius, who " wrote this epistle, salute you in the Lord." (Chap. xvi. 22.) The First Epistle to the EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 191 the Corinthians, the Epistle to the Colos- sians, and the Second to the Thessalonians, have all, near the conclusion, this clause. " The salutation of me, Paul, with mine OAvn " hand ;" which must be understood, and is universally understood to import, that the rest of the epistle was written by another hand. I do not think it improbable that an impostor, Avho had remarked this subscrip tion in some other epistle, should invent the same in a forgery ; but that is not done here. The author of this epistle does not imitate the manner of giving St. Paul's signature ; he only bids the Galatians observe hoAv large a letter he had written to them with his own hand. He does not say this was dif ferent from his ordinary usage ; that is left to implication. Now to suppose that this Avas an artifice to procure credit to an im posture, is to suppose that the author of the forgery, because he knew that others of St. Paul's Avere not written by himself, therefore made the apostle say that this was : which seems an Odd turn to give to the circumstance, and to be given for a pur pose which would more naturally and more directly 192 EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. directly have been answered, by subjoining the salutation or signature in the form in which it is found in other epistles*. No. X. An exact conformity appears in the man ner in Avhich a certain apostle or eminent Christian, whose name was James, is spo ken of in the epistle and in the history. Both Avri tings refer to a situation of his at Jerusalem, somewhat different from that of the other apostles; a kind of eminence or presidency in the church there, or at least a more fixed and stationary residence. Chap. ii. 12, " When Peter Avas at Antioch, *' before that certain came from James, he " did eat Avith the Gentiles." This text * The words vvbuuis yfamuurn may probably be meant to describe the character in which he wrote, and not the IeriS;th of. the letter. But "this will not alter the truth of our observation. I think however, that as St. Paul by the mention of his own hand designed to express to the Galatians the great concern which he felt for them, the. words, whatever they signify, belong to the whole of the epistle ; and not, as Grotius, after St. Jerom, in terprets it, to the few verses which follow. plainly EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 103 plainly attributes a kind of pre-eminency to James ; and, as we hear of him twice in the same epistle dAvelling at Jerusalem, chap. i. 19, and ii. 9. we must apply it to the situa tion Avhich he held in that church. In the Acts of the Apostles divers intimations occur, conveying the same idea of James's situation. When Peter was miraculously delivered from prison, and had surprised his friends by his appearance among, them, after declaring unto them how the Lord had brought him out of prison, " Go shew," says he, " these things unto James, and to " the brethren." (Acts, chap, xii, 17.) Here James is manifestly spoken of in terms of distinction. He appears again with like distinction in the tAventy-first chapter and the seventeenth and eighteenth verses : "And " when Ave (Paul and his company) were' " come to Jerusalem, the day following, Paul " went in with us unto James, and all the " elders were present." In the debate which took place upon the busines of the Gentile converts, in the council at Jerusalem, this same person seems to have taken the lead- It was he who closed the debate, and prp- o posed, 194 -EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. •posed the resolution in Avhich the council ultimately concurred : '? Wherefore my sen- " fence is, that we trouble not them Avhich "from among the Gentiles are turned to "God." ' Upon the whole, that there exists a con formity in the expressions, used concerning James, throughout the history, and in the epistle, is. unquestionable. , But admitting this conformity, and admitting also the. pn- designedness;of it, Avhatdoes it prove? It proves that the circumstance itself is founded in truth ; that is, that James Avas a real person, Avho held a situation of eminence in a real society of Christians at Jerusalem. It confirms also those parts of . the narrative Avhich are connected Avith this circumstance. Suppose, for instance,! the truth of the ac count of Peter's escape from prison Avas to be tried upon the testimony of a Avitness who, among Other with/ ii. 19. ( ii. 15,) ; I , ^^ iii. 10, 11, , C Ephes. ii. 14, 15, ~l C Colos. ii. 14. Also? ii. 16, >with2 ' i. 18—21. (. ii. £0, ' ) «-' ( ii- 7: neral EPJSTLE TO THE EPHESIANS* Sll neral tenor of the two Epistles, and in the run also and Avarmthof thought with Avhifih, they are, com posed, we may naturally expect, in letters produced under the circumsteMes, in Avhich these appear to have been written, a closer resemblance of style and diction, than between, other letters of the same per son, but of distant dates, or between letters adapted to different occasions, In particu lar we may look for many of the same ex pressions, and sometimes for Avhole sentences being alike ; since such expressions and sen tences Avould be repeated in the second let ter (Avhichever that was) as yet fresh in the author's ,. mind from the Avriting of the first. This repetition occurs in the follow ing examples* : Ephes. ch. i. ?. " In whom we have " jr^demption, through his bipod, the for- '." giveness of sins -f" l; * When verbal comparisons are relied upon, it be comes -necessary to state the original; ,but that the English reader may be interrupted- as little as may be, I shall iii general do this in the note. t Ephes. ch. i. 7- . .?.» •>* *X°f"» iw aitohir^umi hot tb miitaros xvtb, rm aficrif rut wafxitTwiuicTut. ' P 2 CbloS- SIS EtlSTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. Colos. ch. ii 14. -ofi*4 In Avhom Ave have "'redemption "through his blood, the for- "jffiveness of sins*/' Beside the sameness of the words, it is further remarkable that the sentence is, in both places, preceded by the same intro ductory idea. In the Epistle to the Ephe- sianS it is the "beloved" (viyuxvuxevu) ; ! in that to the Colossians it is " his dear Son," (ws rye ctyuirw uvrs,) "in Avhom Ave have " redemption." The sentence ; appears to have been suggested to the mind of the writer by the idea which had accompanied it before. > ' Ephes, ch. i. 10. " All things both which " are in heaven and Avhich are in earth, " everi in. him f." u Colos. ch. i. 20/.'. *' All'things by him,; " whether-they be things in earth, or things '* in heaven J." , *• Colos ch. 1. 14.. E» u cyfip-ct rx» aitat-vrqaiirit $tsc m aifjLXros *vr*f ww apttrnrmi(Mii>Tiuv. — However, it must be observed, that in this latter text many copies have BOt Sae ts -a.ipMTos.8VTH.. . X Ephes. ch. i. 10. T* n t» rots *f*>o« *«/ t« eari mt yvit, et avrif. f Colos. ch. i. 20. , A< aurtr, urt'rx 'vm Ttp yqt, tin rx + et rots veanis ? • '¦ ' . This EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. &3 This> quotation is the more observable, because the connecting5 of .-things in earth with thihgs in heaven is a very :s»g«$ar sentiment, and found no where else but'in these two Epistles. The AVords also are in troduced and followed by a train of thought nearly alike. They are introduced by de scribing the union, which Christ had ef fected, and they are followed by telling the Gentile churches that they- were incorpo rated into it.- m Ephes. ch. iii. 2. "The dispensation of "the grace of God, which is given me to "you ward*." >*k i. .Colos. ch. i. 25. " The dispensation of "God, which is given to me for you-f." Of these sentences it may likewise be observed, that the accompanying ideas are similar. ¦*> In both places they are immedi ately preceded by the mention of his pre sent sufferings ; in both places they are im mediately followed by the mention of the i * Ephes. ch. iii. 2. Tiiv o«ovo(ai«»< t*is ygtqirat t« ©is •iris Sofeo-fe' i^oi eis v^hs'. X Colos. ch. i. 35. Tij» omtopix? tov ©eov, tw 5o0««t<*ii *' '¦ >>, ' a *" ,•-.•¦ l^oi eis .'.ii., mystery 214 EPISTLE TO THE1 EPHESIA'NS.N mystery Avhich Avas the great Subject of his preaching. * ¦ , ^'Ephes. ch. v.' 19. " In psalms and " hymns and spiritual songs',' singing and " making melody in your heart to the "'Lord*." 'Colos. ch. iii. 16. " In psalms and hymns " and spiritual songs, singing Avith grace in " ydtir hearts to the Lord-j~." •' >!!Ephes. ch. vi. 22. " Whom I have sent " unto you for the same purpose, that ye " migfit know our affairs, and that he might "'comfort your hearts;]:." Colos. ch. iv. 8* " Whom I haA^e sent "'urito 'you for the same purpose, that he "might knoAV your estate, and comfort your "heart's!" In these examples, we do not perceive a cento of phrases gathered from one compo- * Ephes. ch. v. 19. T^W'f *<" i^'ois, km «W irnvtutTix.ot.is, peotres xai ¦\>aM.otTes et tjj xagSigc i/xuv rw Kvgiui. t Colos. ch. iii. 16. fa^jMis kxi " vitals' «aa a^xis imviiMTiKtHis, et xaS'TI ^ittes et rrt ya^ia l/put ru Kvfiw. "$. Ephes. ch. vi. 22.. 'Ot ewe^-a letters, or tAvo discourses, nearly upon the same subject, and at no great distance of time, but Avi^h- out any express recollection of what he had Avritten before, will .find, himself repeating some sentences in the very order pf^he Avords, in which he. had already used them; but he will more frequently, find himself employing some principal terms, with the other inadvertently changed* or Avith the other, disturbed by the intermixture pf other words and phrases expressive, of ideas rising up at the time ; or in many instances re peating not, single, Avords, nor yet whole sentences, Mbut parts, and flagmen ts^pf sen tences. Of all these varieties the examina tion of Pur two Epistles will furnish plain examples : and I should rely upon this class of instances more than upon the last J be cause, although an impostor might. tran scribe into a forgery entire sentences and phrases, yet the .dislocation of Avords, the -.,-.•- partial SI 6- EPISTLE jSEfti TjH^ EPHE#jAN9s partial recollection of phrasesand sentences,- th,p intermixture of new. terms and new ideas with terms and ideas before used,' Avhich Avill appear in the examples that fol-' low, and which are the natural properties of' writings produced under the circumstances in, which these ; Epistles are represented to have been composed—would ..not, I think,** have occurred to the invention of a forger; ' nor, if they had occurred, would they haye been so. easily executed, j This studied va-' riation wasr,a refinement in forgery which ' I believe did not exist; or, if Ave can sup-1 pose it to have been practised in the instances adduced beloAV,ywhy, it may be asked, jwas not the same art exercised upon those Avhich ' we have collected in the preceding class ? " rEphes< ch. i. 19- ch. ii. a. n" ToAvards " us who believe according to the working "pf his mighty * power, which he Avrought " in Christ, fAvhen he raised him from the " dead (and set him at his own right hand, "in the heavenly places, far above all prin cipality, and power, and might, and domi-A- "nion^ and every name that is named, not * " only in this wtfrld, but iii that which is" " to EPISTLE TO THE EPHESI-ANS. 2lf *' to come.'h And hath put all thihgs under ""his feet; and gave him to be the head' " over all things, to the church, Avhich is his - " body,; the fulness of all things, f hdt filleth '"all in all) : and yon bath he quickened, " who were dead in trespasses and sins'" " (wherein in time past ye walked according r *' to the course of this worlds according' to " the prince ©f the power of the air, the " spirit that now worketh in the Children " ©f disobedience ; among whom also we " had all our conversation, in times past, in Ci the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires "of the flesh and of the mind, and Avere bf "nature the children - of wrath, even .'as1' " others'. But God*, who is rich in mercy, " for his great love wherewith beloved hs); " even when we were dead in sins, hath "'jquickeneds us together Avith Christ*/' ^ ' uColosych. ii. 12, ,13. f( Through il&fc" " faith of the operation of God* cwluo hath n>'> ,i". ' *[l i. ir"J -iH* jfi'/fji'^l JSe .io>#$:P»'^; '" * Ephes. ch. i. 19, 20; ii. 1. 5. Tow w ¦n :U •-;<'. • ' ¦ T>iv eiipyeixt roV xpurovS rVis i&%vbs Oaitot/f tit ttyf*ftltn* ey . Tji, Xpity,'' tytigxi i*tfro*'i* tedpuf 'xi« fK&OiifcV tt Qe%:tc '*tlW>"toj VbA itaii>j«^<»»--ju*i £f*«t ovcks , 9exy oW" riis %a|jie#Wfy8aifci lett'teul &.p.upri*ts—x.xi itTas yftMS texppvs «if irx$xiiT&>iMt&*f »yte£j'»l>*W^)«.)^ Tu XptTu, <. i ! ' ¦ " raised 218 EPI-STLR TO THE EPHESIANS. "raised him from the dead, and you being " dead in your sins and the uncircumcision " of the flesh, hath he. quickened .together " Avith him*."w>, f-)if;f^rtlO jr;.ft -in/stm o"- trOut of the long quotation from the Ephe-^ sians, take away the parentheses, and youi have left a sentence almost in terms the? same as the short quotation from the Colos sians. The resemblance is more visible inthe original than in our translation ; for what is rendered in one place " the working,"* and in another the "operation," is the same Greek term evepyem; in one place it is, roug > msevovrcts- aarx rv\v7 svepyeiav: in the Other*,* hu rvig Ki^eus r^.evepystag. Here therefore^ Ave have the same sentiment, and nearly in the same words ; but, in the Ephesians, twice broken or interrupted by incidental thoughts, Avhich St. Paul, as his .manner was, enlarges upon by the Avayt, and then returns to the thread of his , discourse. It is interrupted the first time by a view Avhich * Colos. ,. ch. ii. 12, 13. A/* Tns itifeuis rtis etepyeias roj; 0£OV rou eyagxtTos avrm . ex , rmt .texppt. Kau iifuxs texpous e*xa* > p .rois $txpxve. gvp-Avpy. ¦ .., „ .... ,.a„ -.«,«#•<, »^»w ra • c -,..k. .n-^t^.vI*. *,,, f Vide Locke, in foe. ¦ .".. Jf ,,W(W , i>tmtu "•' breaks EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 2fj) breaks in upon his mind of the exaltation of Christ; and the second time by a de scription of heathen depravity. I have only to remark that Griesbach, in his very ac curate edition, gives the parentheses very nearly in the same manner, in which they ard here placed ; and that without any: re spect to the comparison, Avhich we are pro posing. *" Ephes. ch. iv. 2 — 4. " With all Ioav- " liness and meekness, Avith long-suffering, "forbearing one another in love ; endea- "' vouring to keep the unity of the spirit, in " the bond of peace, there is one body and ""one spirit, even as ye are called in one " hoTyiTac Ton ittevf/MTOs m To cvtoeafAu m t/^j- rns. *E» e-vjMi xxi h TttevyM, xaSais x«i -x"nj8tjT- et pa sKir^i rut yXritrews bjAiit. ' ' ¦^sUru* " quarrel 220 EPISTLE TO THE EPHESTAN'S."- "quarrel against any, even as Christ for- " gave youj so also do ye; and, aboAe'all " these thihgS', put oh charity, Avhich is- the " bond of perfectness ; and let the peace of " God rule in your hearts^ to the which " also ye are called in one- body*." J u In these two quotations the words ikiti- votypoirvvvi, Tpddrqg, fi.&HpeQvfiicc, u.vz.%o\itvov aX-- aiiawv, occur in exactly the same order;- «^ is also found in both, : but in a diffe rent connection : o-wfco-pog Ttjs upms answers to ewh o"/xo5 rvfi rtXetorvirog : s HhvfiyTe ev~ hi 'ta^kr-t to & cinp.« xtcbug ntn exXiiflvi'TC sv \Mp s\mSt : yetristhis similitude found in the midst of sentences otherwise very different. Ephes. ch. iv. 16. "From Whom the " Avhole bod)' 'jfitly joined together, and "compacted by that which every joint sup- " plieth, according tp the effectual working * ., *¦, ¦i ^ . .¦- , ., - . " ..if, ; -t:*]nv j-., ¦sM*^.jhr'.c«*.;.- r.« * Colos. ch. iii. 12 — 15. Et$vo-xo-6e out us exb.ex.roi rati , ¦ i >. 4, --r ... -" <.-- v»w*> tfv >,i , J'< .»*'1 "'¦» ¦»!."". ©tov ayidf xxi y)yxmj*etoi, aiiXxyyQix oixTipput, yMfongra, TapEyio- $oi)»: xxQt/s xxi a X^ifts evafuram if*'»j """fa xxi Ifais ' rtn itao-i St tovtois tdv ayamit, iiTis 15-4 "iWvS&o* /twr T»f rAtioTtjToj* x«/ i ttgnn njy ©eov fyxQtvtra et reus xit$j#i£- bftcutj lis tit xxi e\Xii(h)Ts tt ev< c-jifi.xri. " in EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 221 " in the measure of every part, maketh in- " creasp of the body *•" . ri,, ~ Col. ch. ii. 19- " Prom which all the *f bpdy, by joints and. bands, having nou- "i rishment ministered and knit together/ *' increaseth with. the. increase of God f/' In tbese quotations are read£E iv am to <7£op.« i7Ujxgig«?o/«,fvov. in , both places, *T*%opj- youp.tv.ov answering to «f'%o?iy««f :-,?«? t«» 4$«v;; to &p iT^ffHS «(©v'e : KU%et TV,V .«u2lff<" to %wir hath. forgiven you %!' , -Colas, ch. iih- \5k " Forbearing one " ^nother and forgiving one another; if any' * Ephes. ch. iv. \6. E§ ou mat to a-upa o--u»a£(*oXoyov/m»oi xxi -.(¦!-. . ¦ - ,¦•'* X Colds, ch. ii, 19. E| ok way T9 o-a)/i*« Six Tut afm xxi BV»Seir^iW»' erfijipgyyovfittot xxi avjjSiloX^o^tot, w$ft tw> uvfyiati tou . $ Ephes. ch. iv. 32. TiteifDt St tts' aM^^vs'^piistii, tv- en&.titfftotf'xaffyft.emi latmis, xa6vs xtxt o ©W it Xpiru tvafitran lp.it. ,v " man 222 EPISTLE TO THE ErPHESIASTS. ' "..man have a quarrel against any, even as " Christ forgave you, so also dp ye*.". ui t<- Here Ave have f forgiving. one another, *' Even, as God, for Christ's sake (*y Xp^a), " hath forgiven you," in the first quotation, substantially repeated in the .second. ,,But in the second the, sentence is brplient.by the interposition of a new clause, " if any. man " have a quarrel against anyj/' and the lat ter part is a little varied ; instead ;,of(|" God in Christ," it is " Christ hath forgiven you." Ephes. ch. iv. 22— 24. ,£ That, ye put " off concerning the former conversation "the old man, which is corrupt according " to the decpitful lusts, and, be reneAved in " the spirit of your mind ;, and that ye put " on the new man, which, after God., is cre mated in righteousness and true hqlinesst." * Colos. ch. iii. 13. An'^p(i.etoi aKh-nXui, xai ^x^ofAejot ixvTais, ext Tts mqos Titx eyrj yiop.tyw xxBus xxi o Xgi$-os eyxgi.- trdro fait, oufai xxi l(j.eis. .. t Ephes. ch, iv,, 22—24. Am9ar9xt vims xxtx tot •>»£«- Trgxt- xtoiirpotyr.t, to» nxKxiot ¦atSpamn Tot /j.etov xxrx Tas tTrtr 6vu.ixs this a-vxTW atunovu9xt Se Ty •ativfA.ayi tu toos ii/iut, xa-i etiua-a v- 6.—8? ^'* t»ut* yag Jpj£STeu £ opyn Tow fiwy TO Toms Ifinfis. rvf airei9eixs.. Mw om, y/yso& orti/AjwTojgpi uvrm. Hri yxp wots o-xoTOfy tut Ss t^u/s {a JC(i^y" o)S Tixtx $utos •jrtpiirxTeire . ,X- Cp'os. ch,. iii. 6'—- 8. A* <* tpx^™ " W* T0V ®"11 *ltl Ioi(j l,v>v s vns qfBufytius' » Its xxi ly-eis •ni^iiiraTnayuTi tfaTe^ o-e f|»Te « UMTOif. JHyti tie. 'a<£»£ %pi- ir«T.«); " fof Avhich I am an ambassador in bonds" " (wrap dv »pef€fiUM ev ixufff^ to " for which '? I am also inJbbnds," (&' d *«< dehimi); M ' iEphes. ch. v. 22; " Wives submit your selves ta your own husbands j as unto tM " Lord, for the husband is the head of the "wife, even as Christ is the head of the " Church, and he is the saviour of the body. " Therefore, as the church is subject unto :' ColoS'. ch.' IV'. 5^ 41''' Ilpocrevxppetot a/jux xat ttepi «/xaiy, ivx. i @fos* mottyi ifj.it Slvpxr tov Aotyov, MMicMt to ^vjufioy ToV Xf tfov 5V» a xxi SeS^»S«,' >So ought men tolove " their Wives as their own bodies. He that " ioveth his Avife, loveth himself; for no " man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nou- " rishethand cherisheth it, even as the Lord "^ the church for- we are members of his "body, of his flesh, and of his bonesv For " this cause shall a man leave his father dud ^ his mother, and be joined unto his wife, *' and they two shall be one flesh. 3Ms is " a great mystery; but I speak concerning " Christ and the church. nNeA'ertheless, let " every one of you in particular, so love his " Avife even as himself; and the wife see "¦ that she reverence her husband. Children, " obey your parents in the Lord, for this is ",ris;ht. Honour thy, father and thy mo- " rhpr .J fj .3 us anxet et Kvpiai. Ephes. 230 EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. " wives, and be not bitter against them. " Children, obey your parents in all things, " for this is Avell pleasing unto the Lord. «' Fathers, provoke not your children to an- " ger, lest they be discouraged. Servants, *e obey in all things your masters according " to the flesh ; not with eye service, as men. " pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing "C ' (un xxt' otp9ahii.oSovXeixt us xt9fuirapt.ev9epos, ; Colos. 'Of SovAo/, v^raKOVETt xxtx itxnx tois xxtx otxoxx ''¦it': '¦'>..., » I'M •¦ 1 - ¦ '¦ "', > .' ..J. . , v"'J~ .- - xvptots, (/xi et o^9a>.^mo\iKeiaiSy us at9puntapeaxoi, «U' ev airKfTriTt ¦ ¦ ^ -^.j). i, } ¦;. , . Y-fi^aJv.-.f. '"ii.* -¦- xxpdixs , ^oZovfJ-em Toy ©eov" xxi irxt 0, ti ' eat iroiyTt, ex 4">X">S ipyaZfaie, us tu j^Kv(>/*,i xxi ovx xtSpumts, siSotbs oti awo Kvfjov antoXri-^,ea9e ' Ttrt «yTa9iq&ofpy Tr,s xXupovo/Aiai .tu. ,yap Kvpiu Xpfrai tiovtevert. , • . ,*'">•;» ; ,1. 1'. > ; i-i ii •,. >¦[ .' .-•' iflf ; * japopyt^eTi, lec^o.nqn sfernenda, Ghiesbach, ,,. , "God; EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. ' 231 " God>; and whatever ye do, dp it heartily, ' "as to the Lord, and not unto men, know- " ing that of the Lord ye shall receive the J", reward of the inheritance, for ye;sei-ve "the Lord Christ. But he that doeth wrong ^tishall .receive for the wrong Avhich he hath dbdpee ; and there is no respect of persons. '? Masters, give unto your ji servants that *' which is just and equal, knowing that ye " also have a master in heaven." ,, _ -,. , , The passages marked by Italics in the quo tation from the Ephesians,beaVa strictresem- blahce, not only in signification but in terms, to the quotation from theColossians. Both the words and the order of the Avords are in many clauses a duplicate of one another. In the Epistle to the Colossians, these passages are laid together; in that to the Ephesiaris, they are divided by intermediate matter, especi ally by a long digressive allusion to the mys terious union bctAveen Christ and hischurch; which", possessing? as Mr. Locke hath well observed, the mind of the apostle, from being an incidental thought, grows up into the principal subject. The affinity between these tAvo passages in signification, in terms, : f>Qp ,¦' and 232 EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. and in the order of the Avords, is closer than can be pointed out between any parts (of any two epistles in the volume, •oavfr&ilol • ¦ If the reader Avould • see how the same subject is treated by a different hand, and how distinguishable it is from the produc tion of the same pen, let him turn to the Second and third chapters of the First Epistle of St. Peter. The duties of servants, pf wives and of husbands, are enlarged upon in that epistle, as they are in the Epistle to the Ephesians ; but the subjects both occur in a different order, and the train of sentiment subjoined to each is totally unlike. no " 3. In two letters issuing, from the same person, nearly at the same time, and upon the same general occasion, we may expect to trace the influence of association in the order in which the topics folloAvione an other. Certain ideas universally or usually suggest others. « Here the order is Avhat we call natural, and from such an order nothing; can be concluded. But%heri the drderis arbitrary, yet alike, the concurrence indi- ,, cates the effect of that principle, by which ideaSj which have been once joined," corh- Kifttoffs monly EPlSTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 23S inonly revisit the thoughts together. The epistles under consideration furnish the two following remarkable instances of this spe cies of agreement: Ephes. ch. iv. 24. " And that ye -put "'Onrthe new man, which after God is cre1- " ated in righteousness and true holiness ; " wherefore, putting away lying, speak " every man truth with his neighbour, for ft we 'are members one of another*/' Colos. ch. iii. 9. " Lie not one to " another ; seeing that ye have put off the " old mart, Avith his deeds; and have put " on the neAv man, which is renewed in " knowledge t" "in The vice of "lying," or a correction of that vice, does not seem to bear any nearer relation to the " putting on the neAV man/' than a reformation in any other article of >* Ephes. ch. iv. 24, 25. Ka< t^veraa9xi Tot xxmv at. jBpannt, Tot xxtx Qeor -xTio-QetTa, et dixxioavti xxi oa-ioTnxi. tiis xhyQstxs' o/o ait,eTx T« TTtyariot avra' «T' eajj,et xM^iXut /heAji, + Colos. ch. iii. i). Mii^ei:deiT9eeisaX\yi\tis,aiTexSv<7xjj.e- toi rot itxhxiov atiOpwaot, am Tats ntpafyeit avTov, xxi itSvtTX(/.stoi to* »««<, Toy atxxxiiniJ.ewt us asiytuaitt y Bll morals 234 EPISTLE TO THE EFHEBIAN*. morals. Yet these tAvo ideas, Ave see, stimd in «both epistles in immediate connection. Ephes. ch. v. 20* 21. " Giving! thank* " always for all things unto God andthe " Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus " Christ; submitting yourselves one to au- " other, in the fear of God. Wives, suh- " mit yourselves unto your own husbands, " as unto the Lord*." .Colos. ch. iii. 17- "Whatsoever ye do, " in Avord or deed, do all in the name of "the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God 'land the father by him. Wives, submit " yourselves upto your own husbands, as "it is fit in the Lordf." Kiln both these passages, submission fol lows giving of thanks, Avithout any simili tude in the ideas which should account for the transition. * Ephes. ch. v. 20— 22. ^JJ^xpiTHtTes iratTOTi litep irxt' Ti-'V, EV OtO[A.XTl Tu Kvpiu Vt(J,Ut \l)t No. II. There is such a thing as a peculiar Ayord, or phrase cleaving, as it, Avere, to the me mory of a Avriter or speaker, and presenting itself to his utterance at every turn. When we observe this, Ave call it a caiit word, or a cant phrase. It is a natural effect of habit ; and Avould appear more frequently than(jt does, had not the rules of good Avriting taught the ear to be offended Avith the itera nt :'° ' ' ¦¦",''. tion of the same sound, and oftentimes causp4 us to reject, op that account, the word vvhich offered itself first to our recollection. With, a Avritecwhp, like St. .P^ul, either knew not, these rules, or disregarded thern, such Avords Ayill not be avoided. The truth is, an ex ample of this kincfruns thrpugh several of his epistles, and in the epistle before us abounds; an^j, that is, in ,thc woxd ric/i,^ (%\ovrog,) used metaphorically as an aug mentative EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. &Sf tnentative of the idea to Avhich it happens to be subjoined. Thus, " the riehes of his glory/' "his riches in glory," A1- riches of the glory of his inheritance," " riches of the glory of this mystery," Rom. ch. ix. 23, Ephes. ch. iii. 16, Ephes. ch. i. 18, Colos. ch! i. 27 ;," riches of his grace," twice in the Ephesians, ch. i. 7> and ch. ii. 7 5 " riches of the full assurance of understanding/' Colos. ch. ii. 2 ; " riches of his good riess," Rom. ch. ii. 4; "riches of the wisdom of God," Rom. ch. xi. 33 ; " riches of Christ," Ephes. ch. iii. 8. In a like sense the adjective. Rom, ch. x. '12, " rich unto all that call upon him;" Ephes. ch. ii. 4, " rich in mer cy./' 1 Tim. ch. vi. 18, " rich in good. Avorks." Also the adverb, Colos. ch. iii. 16, " let* the word of Christ Swell in you richly." This figurative use of the Avord, thouo-h so familiar to St. Paul, does riot be- cur in any part of the New Testament, ex cept once in the epistle of St. James, ch. ii. 5. " Hath not God chosen the poor of this " Avorld, 'rich' in faith?" Avhere it is ma- nifestly suggested by the antithesis. I pro pose 238 EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. pose the frequent, yet seemingly unaffected use of this phrase, in the epistle before !lis^ as one internal mark of its genuineness. J No. III. ,i There is another singularity in St. Paul's style, which, Avherever it is found, maybe deemed a badge of authenticity ; because/if it Avere noticed, it Avould not,* I think, be imitated, inasmuch as it almost always pro duces embarrassment and interruption in the reasoning: This singularity is a species of digression which may probably, I think, be denominated going off at a word. It is turning aside from the Subject upon the oc currence of some particular word, forsaking the train of thought then in hand, and en tering upon a parenthetic sentence in which that Avord is the prevailing term. I shall lay before the reader some examples of this, collected from the other epistles, and then propose two examples of it which are found' in", the Epistle to the Ephesians. 2 Cor. ch. ii. 14, at the word savour : " Ndw thanks " be unto God, Avhich always causeth us " to triumph in Christ, and maketh ma«, "nifest EP1STLJS, -W) THE EPHESIA.NS. Si©?; " nifestrthe savour of his knowledge by u«j "in every place (for Ave are unto God a " sweet savow of j Christ, in them that are " saved, and in them that perish ; to the " one we are the sama.tr of death unto death, *'eand to the other the savour of life unto "elife; and Avho is sufficient for these things? ; "For Ave are not as many which corrupt the "word of God, but as of sincerity* but as " of God; in the sight of God speak Ave in , "Christ" Again, 2 Cor. ch. iii. 1, at the AViord epi&th. /;' Need Ave, as, some others,! ".epistles of commendation to you? or of "?pommendation from you ?4 (ye are our "epistle, written in our hearts, known and' 'Vread.of all men ; forasmuch as ye are ma-; " nifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ, " ministered by us, ; Avritten not Avith ink, "?but Avjth the spirit of the living God ; not " in tables of stone, but in the fleshly tables " pf the heart " The position of the words inj.fhp original, shews more strongly than in jfche translation, that it Avas the occurrence of,it|ie , word , ew"^ which gave birth to 1 thj sentence ^tha^follpws :( 2 Cor. nehap. ¦ in.p.^. ,. E» jmj xp^oiiev, , , ,t«s %Mf}^.<{WT(.!TiKu? EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. SW/STOXMU TpOS , W/MSff, H £^ tyt-W o"UffT#T/>i«ll J ^| fTf* ctoAvj ^wv v/x£js tare, ,«yyeyp«/A(j(,£Vij «» tsis naphetcr jjjawv, y7( " changed \...i..n- EMsSTLfe"T6 THE SPHEsIAnS; 9*U "ehan^d^nfi©, the same image from glory "•• to glory, even as by the spirit of the Lord.* " Therefore, seeing Avehave this ministry, as " we havp received mercy, we faint not." '^ Who sees not that this whole allegory of the t>a«7 arises entirely out of the occurrence^ of the word, in telling us that " Moses put "a vail over his face,"1 and that it drew the apostle away from the proper subject of his discourse, the dignity of the office in which he was engaged : which subject he fetches up again almost in the words' with which he had left it ; " therefore, seeing we have " this- ministry , as we have received mercy, '* we -faint not." a The sentence which he bad before been -going on with, and in which he had been interrupted ^ by the 'Vail, was, " seeing then that^Ave have such hope, we " use great plainness of speech." M nod?* " In the Epistle to the Ephesians, the reader aviM remark two instances in Avhich the same habit' of composition .obtains; he* will re cognize the same pen. One he will find, chap. iv. 8— -11, at the nvord ascended: *' Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up .„¦*.? #»ihigh, he led captivity captive, and gave «'., :,i v r " gifts EPISTLE TO THE EPHEilANS. "giftsunto men.-} (Now that he nme&dwk "what is it but that he also-descended fifst ''unto the lower parts ^of the earth ? He " that descended is the same also that ascended " up far above all heavens, that he might " fill all things.) >? And he gave some, app- " sties," &c.» ¦• t) The other appears, chap.iv. 12 — 15,:at the word light: " For it is a shame ©yxidH 10. And in this point, }viz. of St. Paul 'having preached for a considerable length of time at Ephesus,' the history is confirmed by the two Epistles to the i Corinthians, and ' by the two Epistles to Timothy.. ',' I will tarry " at Ephesusunto Pentecost," 1 Cor. ch. xvi. ver. 8. v." We would not have you ignorant ""'of our trouble Avhicfroame to usin Asia," 2 Cor. ch. i.^8. tf " As I besought thee to "abide still at Ephesus, Avhen I went into " Macedonia,"^ 1 Tim. ch. i. 3. "And in "how -many things he ministered tp me " at Ephesus thou knoAvest Avell," ^2 Tim. ch. i.f 18. I adduce these testimonies, be cause, had it been a competition of credit between the history and the epistle, I should have thought myself bound- to have prefer red the epistle. Now, every epistle Avhich St. Paul wrote to churches, Avhich he him self had founded, or Avhich he had visited; abounds Avith references, and appeals to what had passed during the time that he was pre sent amongst them ; Avhereas there is not a IP text in the Epistle to the Ephesiaris, from t AvHicn we can collect that he had ever been EPISTLE' TO THE EPHESIANS;' *'43 Ut Ephesus* at all. -The two Epistles to the Corinthians, theEpistleto the Galatians, the Epistle to the Philippians, and the tAvo Epis tles to the; Thessalonians, are of this class; ' w&d they are full of allusions to the apostle's history, his reception, and his conduct, Avhilst amongst them; the total want of Avhich, in the epistle before'us, is very difficult to ac count for, if it was in truth Avritfen to the church of Ephesus, in Avhich city he had resided for*so long a time. This is the first and Strongest objection. But further, the Epistle to the Colossians Avas addressed to a church, in which St. Paul had never been. This we infer from the first verse of the se cond chapter ':*" For If would that ye knew '"what great conflict I have for you and for " them at Laodicea, and for as many as have *< not seen my face fin the flesh." There* could -be no propriety in thus joining the Colossians and Laodiceans with those " Ayho " had not seen his face in the flesh," if they did hot also belong to the same description*.' E'Joct e< TodJ 8fi9-iodw ; m9rlJ no. in Ji . * Dr. Lardner contends against the validity of this conclusion; but, I think, yvithout success.' Lardnek, vol: xiv. p. 473. edit/1757. :iwS£y-/, ..-..'* J* " Now, 246 EPISTLE TO THE EPHBSIANS. Now, his address to the Colossians^ whom he had not visited, is precisely the same .ast his address to the Christians, to whom he Avrote in the epistle, which we are noAV con sidering: "We give thanks to God and the *5 Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying " always for you, since we heard of your faith " in Christ Jesus, and of the love Avhich '* ye have to all the saints," Col. ch. i. 3.* Thus, he speaks to the Colossians, in the epistle before us, as follows: "Wherefore I " also, after I heard of your faith in the Lerd " Jesus, and love unto all the saints, cease " not to give thanks for you in my prayers," chap. i. 15/ The terms of this address are observable. > The words " having heard of " your faith and love," are the very words, we see, Avhich he uses towards strangers ; and it is not probable that he should employ the same in accosting a church in which he had long exercised his ministry, and whose' " faith and loVe," he must have personally known *. The Epistle to the Romans was written 1 >dj •?ph;>r,yb nor - m frjv i,, ,*,-ijo' , * Mr. Locke endeavours «o avoid this difficulty, %y explaining ".their faith, of which St. Paul had he aid," -iva ' t0 EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.- S4?\ Avritten before St. Paul had been at Rome; and his address to them runs in the same strain with that just now quoted ; " I thank " my God, through Jesus Christ, for you ';' all, that your faith is spoken of throughout " the Avhole Avorld." Rom. chap. i. 8. Let us now see what Avas the form in Avhich our apostle was accustomed to introduce his epistles, when he wrote to those with Avhom he Avas already acquainted. To the Corin thians it was this : " I thank my God al- '*• ways on -your behalf, for the grace of Gpd ''which is giA^en you by Christ Jesus," 1 Cor. ch. i. 4. To the Philippians : '»' I "thank my God upon every remembrance " of you," Phil. ch. i. 3. To the Thes salonians : " We give thanks to God always " for you all, making mention of you in to mean the; stedfastness of their persuasion that they Were called into the kingdom of God, without subjection to the Mosaic institution. But this interpretation seems to me extremely hard; for, in the manner in which faith fs here joined with love, in the expression, "your faith and krve," it oould not be meant to denote any particu lar tenet which distinguished one set of Christians from others ; forasmuch as the expression describes the gene ral virtues of the 'Christian: profession. -J Vide Locke, in loc. " our a ?4t8. EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.' "our prayers, remembering without ceasing1 "your work of faith, and labour Of love/* l/Dhess. chap, i, 3. To Timothy : "J thank ";God, Avhom I server from my forefathers "with pure conscience, that Avithout ceas-^ ''»,ipg, I; have remembrance of thee in my ", prayers night and day," 2 Tim. chap. i. 4. In -these quotations, it is usually this ^re membrance, and never his hearing of them, which he makes the subject of his thank fulness to God. As great difficulties stand "in the Avay of, supposing the epistle before us to have been written to the church of Ephesus, so I think it probable that it is actually the Epistle'to the Laodiceans, referred to in the fourth chapter of 'the Epistle to the Colossians. The text which contains that reference is this: '.' When this epistle is read among you, eause " that it be read also in the church of the " Laodiceans, and that ye likewise read the " epistle „ from Laodicea, chap. iv. a-16'i The " epistle from Laodicea" Avasan epistle sent by St. Paul to that church, and by them transmitted to Colosse. J The two churches Asje$e? mutually tAicpmmunicate the epistles they EPISTLE I TO THE' E-PlIESiANS. 4$f they had TPceived. This' is ''the AVayin' which the "d'itection is explained by the greater part of commentators, and is the most probable sense that can be given to it.' Itds also probable that the epistle alluded to* was an epistle Avhich had been received by the church of Laodicea lately}'9 It appears thenjwith a considerable degree of evidence/ that: there existed an epistle of St. Paul's nearly of the same date with the Epistle to the Colossians, and an epistle directed to a Church (fori such the church of Laodicea was) in which St. Paul had never been. What has been observed concerning the epistle before us, shews that it ansAvers per^ fectly to that character. >* ,<#no>ifaxHni. pdi -Nor does the mistake seem very difficult to account for. ^'WhoeATer inspects the map of Asia Minor will J see, that a person pro ceeding from Rome to Laodicea AvOuld pro-* bably land at Ephesus,* as the nearest fre quented sea-port in that direction. ' Might nPtTychicus then, in passing through Ephe sus/ communicate to^the Christians of that place the letter, wi th which he was charged ? And might not copiesipf that letter be mul^ 5()fM tiplied Sfi&V EM9TLE TO THE EPHESIANS.' tiplied and preserved at Ephesus ? Might not' softie of the copies drop the words of de^ signation ev r^ A*ohneip*3 which it Avas of no consequence to an Ephesian to retain ? Might not copies of the letter come out into the Christian church at large from Ephesus ;>' and might not this give occasion to a belief that the letter AvassAvritten to that church? And, 'lastly, might not this belief produce •>, o,m -Wi i ; oi. i * And it is remarkable that there seem to have been sorrle an Kent copies without the words of designation, either the words in Ephesus, or the worlds in Laodicea: St. Basil, a writer of the fourth century, speaking of tho present epistle, has this very singular passage: ". And; " writing to the Ephesians, as truly united to him who a is' through knowledge/ he (Paul) callcth them in a " peculiar sense such who ate, saying, to the taints who'im " and (or even) the faithful in Christ Jems ; for so those '{ before us have transmitted it, and we have found it in> " ancient copies." Dr. Mill interprets (and, notwith- standing some objections that have been made to him in jm'y opinion rightly interprets) these worcls of Basil, as declaring that this father had seen certain copies of the Epistle in which the words " in Ephesus" were wanting. And the passage, ,1 think, must be considered as Basil's fanciful way of explaining what was really a corrupt sitra defective reading ; for I do hot believe it possible' that the author tit" the Epistle could have originally written fWl3"l acr"'' without any name of place to follow it. n ierifr.ii the EPISTLE TO THlf KPHESLSMSJ 351? the error which we suppose to have crept into the inscription ? No. V. c As our epistle purports to have been writ ten during St. Paul's imprisonment at Rome, Avhich lies beyond the period, to which the Acts of the Apostles brings up his history; and as we have seen and acknowledged that the epistle contains no reference to any transaction at Ephesus during the apostle's residence in that city, we cannot expect that it should supply many marks of agreement with the narrative. One coincidence hoAV- ever occurs,, and a coincidence of that mi nute and less obvious kind, which, as hath been repeatedly observed, is of all others the most to be relied upon. Chap. Vi. 19* 20, we read, " praying for " me, that I may open my mouth boldly, " to make knoAvn the mystery of the gospel* " for which I am an ambassador in bonds/* " In bonds," tv Aao««, in a chain. In the twenty-eighth chapter of the Acts we are in> formed, that Paul, after his arrival at Rome, wassaffered to dwell by himself wkb&soldiers that 232 EPISTLE TO THE EPHES"lANs. that kept him. Dr: Lard ner has shewn' that1 this mode of custody was in use amongst the f Romans,^ and1 l that Avhenever it AvaS adopted the prisoner Avas bound to the soldier by fa single chain; in reference to Avhich St. Paul, in the twentieth verse of this chap- , ter, tells the Jetos,' Avhom he had assembled, " For this cause therefore have I called for "you to see you/ and to speak Avith ybu, " because that for the hope of Israel I am "bound with9 this chain "[rw *'w™ ' raxirvp ¦xtpnteilLcu. aiJt is in exact conformity there fore Avith the truth of St. Paul's situation at" the time, that he declares of himself in the* epistle ¦apesttvoi ev iiWo-Bi. :' And the exactness* is the' more remarkable, as dKv&ts (a chain) is ho Avliere used in the singular number to5 express any other kind of custody. When' the prisoner's' ha*nds or feet Avere bound to gether, the Avord' Avas '&<»#» (bonds), as in' the twenty-sixth' chapter of the Acts, Avhere* Paul replies to Agrippa, "I would to God* " that riot only thou, but also all that hear me! if this day, Avere'both'almost arid altogether' 'f Such as I am, except these' bonds," Tapfevt-1 TH>sxTtbv- kcr^uv roiirxv. When the prisoner f::.\j Avas E-BIST--LE..T-P fiH*. EPHESIANS. &>§ ' >vas confined between two soldiers, as in the ease $£ Peter,, Acts, chap, xii, 6, two phains Avere employed ; and it< is said, upon his miraculous deliverance, that the " chains?,' faliMTetg, in the plural) -',' fell from his hands/' Aw^ the noun, Qnd fema' the verb, being general terms, ' were, applicable to this in comhiqn Avith any other species of personal coercion ; but #au«?, in the singular num ber, to* none but this. -. : • nj^-jf it can be suspected that the writer jof the present epistle,, who, in no other parti cular, appears to have availed himself pf the information concerning St. Paul deliveredjn th^, Acts,T,ha4, in, this verse, borrowed the w.prdi which he read in that bpok, and had adapted his. expression to f what he .found there 'recorded ,of St. Paul's treatment^ Rome; in short, that the coincidence here noted was pfjfepted by craft and design;;, I think it a strong reply to remark, that, in the parallel passage of the Epistle to thoCo-!. Ipssians, thp; same allusion is not -preserved : thf^i words there are, " praying alsojfqjj.us, "^that God would open nnto us a door of " utterance to speak the mystery of Christ, "for 254 EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. " for Avhich I am also in bonds," &' 6 km §£?&#(. After Avhat has been shewn in a preceding number, there can be little doubt but that these two epistles were written by the same person. If the writer, therefore, sought for, and fraudulently inserted, the correspondency into one epistle, why did he not do it in the other ? A real prisoner might use either general words Avhich comr prehended this amongst many other modes of custody ; or might use appropriate Avords which specified this, and distinguished it from any other mode. It would be acci dental Avhich forto of expression befell wpon. But an impostor, Avho had the arts, in one place, to employ the appropriate term for the purpose of fraud, would have used it in both places. CHAP. S&5* CIJAP. VII. Q'Huk EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS. ; No. I. WHEN a transaction is referred to in suph a manner, as that the reference ^easily and immediately understood by thasQj.who are beforehand, or from other quarters, acquainted with the fact, but is ©foscure, or imperfect, or requires in vestiga* tion, or a. comparison of different parts, in order to be made clear to other readers* the transaction so referred to is probably real; because, had it been fictitious, the writer would have set forth his story more fully and plainly, not merely as conscious of the fiction, but as conscious that his readers could have no other knowledge of the sub ject of his allusion than from the informa tion of which he put them in possession. The 256 EPISTLE TO THE PHIL1PPIANS. The account of Epaphroditus, in the Epis tle to the Philippians, of hisv journey to Rome, and of the business which brought him thither, is the article to Avhich I mean to apply this observation. There are three passages in the epistle Avhich relate to this subject. The first, chap. i. 7, " Even as " it is meet for me to think this of you " all, because I have you in my heart, inas- " much as both in my bonds, and in the " defence and confirmation of the- gospel, *' ye all are avymivmoi /wj, t»is %upirog, joint *' contributors to the gift Avhich I have re- *' ceived*." Nothing more is said in this place. In the latter part of the_ second chap ter, and at the distance^ of i half the- epistle from the last quotation, the subject appears again : " Yet I supposed it necessary to send " to you Epaphroditus, my brother and *' companion in labour, and felloAV soldier, * Pearce, I believe, was the first commentator who gave this sense to the expression ; and I bejive also, that his exposition is now generally assented to. He inter- pretsjn the same sense the phrase in the fifth verse, which our translation renders, " your fellowship in the gospel ;" but which in the original is ' not xoitmix tou ivxyye\tov, Or, Ktnuttp et Vb'wiayyt'hiu ; but xotriiiftsceis to tvxyyehiot.- ¦ » " but EPiSTLE TO THE PHILtPPIANS. 257* xi but your messenger, and he that ministered "to my wants : for he longed after you all, " and Avas full of heaviness^ because that ye " had heard that he had been sick': for in- " deed he was sick nigh unto death; but God "had mercy on him, and not on him only, " but on me also^ lest I should have sorrow " upon sorroAV. I sent him therefore the " more Carefully, that Avhen ye see him "again ye may rejoice, and that I maybe " the less sorrowful. Receive him therefore "'in the Lord Avith all gladness ; and hold * " such in reputation : because for the work "'pf Christ he was nigh unto death, riot rd- "¦ yarding his life to supply your lack of service "•toward me." Chap. ii. 25 — SO. The matter is here dropped,* and no furthet mention made of it till it is taken up near the conclusion of the epistle as follows : " But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that *'¦ iioav at the last your care of me hath, " flourished again ; Avherein ye were also "careful, but ye lacked opportunity : riot " that I speak in Vespect of want ; for I have " .learned in whatsoever state I am, there- " Avith to be content. I know -both* how-to - k. s " be 258 EPJSTLE TO THE PHILIPPIAN9. " be abased, and I knoAv hpw to jabqund ; "every where ^ and in, all, things I am in- " structedbofh to be full and to be hungry, " both to abound, and |o suffer ^need. I " can do all things through Christ Avhich " strengtheneth me, Notwithstanding ye *i* have well done that ye did communicate *' with my affliction., Now ye, Philippjans, ** knoAv also that in the beginning of the " gospel, when I departed from Macedpnja, " no church communicated with me as qpn- '* cerning giving and receiving,, but ye only ; " for even in Thessalonica ye sent once " and again unto my necessity : not because " I desire a gift ; but I desire fruit that may "abound to your account. But I have all, " and abound; I am full, having^ received " of Epaphroditus the things which Avere " sent from you/'; Chap. iv. 10 — 18. To the Philippian reader, who line w that con tributions were want to- be made in that church for the apostle's subsistence and re-. lief, that the supply which they Avere ac customed to send to him had been delayed by the want of opportunity, that Epaphrodi tus had undertaken the charge of conveying their EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS. 259 their liberality to the hands of the apostle, that he had acquitted himself of this com- "mission at the peril of his life, by hastening to Rome under the oppression of a grievous sickness, / to a reader who knew all this beforehand, every line in the above quota tions would be plain and Plear. But how is it with a stranger ? The knoAvledge of these several particulars is necessary to the perception and explanation of the references; yet that knowledge^must be gathered from a comparison of passages lying at a great distance from one another. Texts must be interpreted by texts long-subsequent to them, .which necessarily produces embarrassment rind' suspense. The passage quoted from the beginning of the epistle contains an ac knowledgment, on the part of the apostle, of the liberality Avhich the Philippians had exercised towards him; but the allusion is so general and indeterminate, that, had nothing more been said in the sequel of the epistle, it would hardly have been applied to this occasion at all. In the se cond f quotation, Epaphroditus is declared to have " ministered to the apostle's wants," s a and CGO EPISTLE TO THE PHILlPPtAtfS". and " to have supplied their lack of service " towardshim ;" but how, that is, at whose Pxpence, or from what fund he," ministered," or Avhat was the " lack of service" which he supplied, are left very much unexplained, till we arrive at the third quotation, where we find that Epaphroditus, " ministered to " St. Paul's Avants/' only by'ebnveying'to his hands the contributions of the Phiiip- pians; "L am full, having received of Epa- " phroditus the things Avhich Avere sentfrorn "you:" and that "the lack of service " which he supplied" was a delay or inter ruption of their accustomed bounty, occa sioned by the Avant of opportunity; " I re- " joiced in the Lord greatly, that now at " the last your care of me hath flourished " again; Avherein ye were also careful, but " ye lacked opportunity." The affikir at length comes out clear; but it comes out by piecemeal. The clearness is the result of the reciprocal illustration of divided texts. Should any one choose therefore to insinu ate, that this Avhole story of Epaphroditus, of his journey, his errand, his sickness, or even his existence, might, for Avhat we know, EPISTLE TQ_ THE PI1IL1PPIANS. 261 knpw, have qo other foundation than in the invention of the forger of the epistle ; I an swer, that, a forger Avould have set forth his story connectedly, and also more fully and more .perspicuously. If the epistle be au thentic, and the, transaction real, then every thing. Avhich is said concerning Epaphroditus and his commission, would beclear to those into whose hands the epistle was expected to come. Considering the Philippians as his readers, a person might naturajly write upon the subject, as the author of the epis tle has Avritten; but there is no supposition of forgery with which it Avill suit. No. II. ," The history of Epaphroditus supplies another observation: " Indeed he Avas sick, " nigh, unto, death ; but God had mercy on him, and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have soitoav upon sor row." In this passage, no intimation is given that, .Erjaphroditus's recp\'ery Avas mi raculous. It is plainly, I think, spoken of .- as anatural event. This instanqe, together Avith a a 262 EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPINES, with one in the Second Epistle to TifnothyJ- (" Trophiinus haA'e I left at Miletum sick/'). affords a proof that the power of perform ing cures, and, by parity of reason, of: working other miracles, was a poAver Avhich only Visited the apostles occasionally, and did not at all depend upon their oAvn will. Paul undoubtedly would have healed Epa phroditus if he could. Nor, if the power of working cures had awaited his disposal, would he have left his fellow traveller at - Miletum sick. This, I think, is a fair ob- Servation upon the instances adduced; but it is not the observation I am concerned to make. It is more for the purpose of my argument to remark, that forgery, upon such an occasion, would not have spared a miracle ; much less would it have intro duced St. Paul professing the utmost anxiety for the safety of his friend, yet acknow ledging himself unable to help him : Avhich he does almost expressly, in the case of Trophiinus, for he " left him sick;" and virtually kvthe passage before us, in which he felicitates 'himself upon the recovery of Epaphroditus, in terms which almost ex clude EPiSTLETTO -THE FHILIPPIA-NSv 2.03.- elude the supposition of any supernatural means being employed to effect it. ; This is a reserve which nothing but truth Avpuld have imposed1. No. III. Chap0.' iv. 15, 16. " Now yc, Philip- " piaris, know also that in the beginning '* of the gospel, av hen I departed from Ma- '" cedonia, no church communicated with "me as concerning giving and receiving, " but ye Pnly: for even iri' Thessalonica ye " sent once and again unto my necessity." It will be necessary to state the Greek of this passage, because our translation does not, I think, give the sense of it accurately. Otdure de y.ui vpeig, ;A QecaaXovw^, and denote, as I inter pret the passage, two distinct uabomarions, or rather donations at two distinct periods, one at Thessalonica, «*«£ ««' hg, the other after his departure from Macedonia, lots e^aSov mo M«Ke5ovi«ff*. I would render the passage, so as to mark these different periods, thus:':" Now ye, Philippians, know Lailsio, " that in the beginning of the gospeh when " I was departed from Macedonia, no church " communicated with me as concerning giv- 'King, and, receiving, but ye only; and that "; also in Thessalonica ye sent once and again " unto my necessity." Now with this ex position of the passage compare;^.; Cor. chap., xii 8^ 9: "I robbed other churches, * Luke, ch. ii. 15. Kxi eyeteTo, us a-nnx9ot xv' avruv us tov vpxtot oi ayfeXot) " as the angels were gone away," i. e. after their departure, °< voipeies eiiiot irpo's' atMitiss. Matfh. ch. Xt'l. 43, 'Orav tie to axaSapTot meviJ-x- tt;e\9y aita Va aifyuitu, " when the unclean . spirit is gone," i. &. after his .departure, ^tip%eTai, . Jphn, cj^.^ xiii. SO, 'Cm;£|i^9j (I«W) " when he was gone," i. e. after his departure, heyet \itans. Acts, ch. X. 7j *s de awn\9et o ay!e\os o Ka\uy. tu KoptnXtu, " and when the1 angel vvhich 'spifie unto " him was departed," 'i. e. after his departure; ^w*$ Svp Tm oixeTm, §fcc. " tak ing EWSTJfcE TO THE; PHILIPPIANS. 265 <5? taking wages. of them to do you service: "and when iii was present Avith you and "wanted, 1 3 was chargeable to no man; *!;ifor that Avhich Avas lacking t to me the "brethren which; came from Macedonia ^isupplied." iluo/ •' ,f bit appears from St. Paul's history, as re lated in the Acts of the Apostles, that upon leaving Macedonia he passed, after a very short! stay at Athens, into Achaia. It ap pears, secondlyj from the quotation out of theEpistle to the Corinthians-,' that in Achaia he accepted no pecuniary assistance from the converts of that country ;-but that he drew a supply for his vvants from the Macedonian Christians. Agreeably Avhereunto it appears, in the third place,- from the text which is the subject of the present number, that the brethren in Philippi, a city of Macedonia, had followed him with their, munificence, en i^Afioy a%o , Mam$ovistgr Avhen he avhs de parted from Macedonia, that is, when he Avas come into Achaia. The passage under consideration affords another circumstance of agreement deserA'- ingef our notice. The gift alluded to in the Epistle 265 EPrSTLS TO THE PHILIPPIANS. Epistle to the Philippians is stated to have been made " in the beginning of the gospel." This phrase is most naturally explained, to signify the first preaching of the gospel in these parts ; viz. on that side of the iEgean sea. The succours referred to in the Epistle to the Corinthians^ as received from Mace donia, are stated to have been received by him upon his first visit to the peninsula of Greece. The dates therefore assigned to the donation in the two epistles agree ; yet is the date in one ascertained very inciden tally, namely, by the considerations which fix the date of the epistle itself; and in the other, by an expression ("the beginning of " the gospel") much too general to have been used, if the text had been penned With any view to the correspondency we are re-" marking; : Further, the phrase, " in the beginning of " the gospel," raises an idea in the reader's mind that the gospel had been preached there more than once. The Avriter Avould hardly have called the visit to' which he re fers the " beginning of the gospel," if he " had not also A'isited them in some other stage " of EPJSTLE' TO THE PHILIPPIANS. 267 of it. The fact corresponds with this idea. If we consult the sixteenth and tAventieth chapters of the Acts, Ave shall find, that St. Paul, before his imprisonment at Ronae» during which this epistle purports to have been written, had been twice in Macedonia* and each time at Philippi. No. IV. That Timothy had been long with St* Paul; at Philippi is a fact which seems tp be implied in this epistle twice. First, he joins in the salutation with which the epistleopens* "-Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus " Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus " which are at Philippi." Secondly, and more directly, the point is inferred from Avhat is said^ concerning him, chap. ii. 10 z " But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send,Ti- " motheus shortly unto you, that I also may " be of good comfort when I know your "state; for I have no man likp minded, *' who will naturally care ?fqr, your state; *' for all seek, their own, .not the, things " which %Q$, EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS. "which are, Jesus Christ's; but ye know the, 'A .proof of him, that as a son with.the/'ather, "he hath served with mp in the gospel." Had Timothy's presence with St. Paul at Philippi, Avhen he preached the gospel there, been expressly remarked, insthe ^cts qf the Apostles, this qupfation : mjght bethought tp.ppntain a contrived adaptation to the his tory ; although, even in tha|case,,tlie aver ment, or rather the allusion in the epistle, is, too oblique to afford much room, for such suspicion. But tlie truth is, that in the his tory of St., Paul's transactions at Plnlippi, which occupies the greatest part of the six teenth, chapter; of the Acts, no mention,^ made of Timothy at all, What appears concerning Timothy in fhe hjstory, so far as relates to the, present subject, is this ¦; "When Paul came to Derbe and Lystra, ".behokl.a certain disciple, was there nanied " Timotheus, Avhom.Paul Avould haA'e to go " forthwith him." The narrative then pro ceeds with the account of St. Paul's progress through varipus provinces of the. Lesser Asia, till it brings him dpwn to Troas. , At Troas he was, Avarne.d in a vision tp pass over into Macedonia. P.1MSTLATO THE PHILIPPIANS. #50'- Macedonia. Ih obedience lo which he crossed the /Egean sea to Samothracia, the next clay to Neapolis, and from thence -to Philippi. His preaching, miracles; and persecutions at Philippi follow next; after which Paul arid his' company, Avhen they had passed through Amphipolis and Apol- loriia, came to Thessalonica, and from Thessalonica to Berea. From Berea the brethren sent away Paul ; " but Silas and " Timotheus abode there still." The iti nerary, of Avhich the above is an abstract, is'Undoubtedly sufficient to suppdrt'an in ference that Timothy was along Avith St. Paul at Philippi. We find them settihg out together upon this progress from Derbe, iii LyCaohia ; we find them together near the conclusion of it, idt Berea, in Macedonia. It "is1 highly probable, therefore, that they came together to Philippi, 'through which their route between these two places lay. If this be thought pifbbable, it is sufficient. For v/hat I wish. to be observed is, 'that in. comparing, upon this subject, the "epistle with the history, we do not find a recital in one' place of what is related in another; but 270 BPISTL1K TO THE PHILIPPIANS. but that we find, what is much more to be relied upon, an oblique allusion to an im plied fact. No. V. Our epistle purports to have been written near the conclusion of St. Paul's imprison ment at Rome, and after a residence in that city of considerable duration. These cir cumstances are made out by different inti mations, and the intimations upon the sub ject preserve among themselves a just con sistency, and a consistency certainly unme ditated. First, the apostle had already been a prisoner at Rome so long, as that the re putation of his bonds, and of his constancy under them, had contributed to advance the success of the gospel : " But I wouid ye "should understand, brethren, that the things " which happened unto me have fallen out ' " rather unto the furtherance of the gospel ; " so that my bonds in Christ are manifest in " all the palace, and in all other places; and " many of the brethren in the.Lord waxing " confident by my bonds, are much more " bold EFIS^S: TO THE PHILIP-PI ANS. 271 -}" bold to speak the word without fear/' Secondly, the account given of Epaphrodi tus imports, that St. Paul, when he wrote the epistle, had been in Rome a considerable time ; " He longed after you all, and was " full of heaviness, because that ye had ¦¦¦'¦heard that he had been sick" Epaphro- -ditus was with St. Paul at Rome. He had been sick. The Philippians had heard of his sickness, and he again had received an ac count how much they had been affected by the intelligence. The passing and repassing of these advices must necessarily have occu pied a large portion of time, and must have all taken place during St. Paul's residence at Rome. Thirdly, after a residence at Rpme thus proved to have been of considerable duration, he now regards the decision of ahis fate as nigh at hand. He contemplates either alternative, that of his deliverance, ch. ii. 23, " Him therefore (Timothy) I " hope to send presently, so soon as I shall see " hoAV it Avillgo Avith me; but I trust in the i " Lord that I alsomyself shall come shortly;" that of his condemnation, ver. 17, "Yea, and aionx i. -..- .?Jji... " if >;»i-- " 472 EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS. " if I be offered* upon the sacrifice andser- " vice of your faith, I joy and rejoice with " you all." This consistency is material, if the consideration of it be confined to the epistle. It is further material, as itagrees* with respect to theduration of St. Paul's first imprisonmentatRome, with the account de livered in the Acts, Avhich, having brought the, apostle fo Rome, closes the history by telling us, " that he dwelt there two. whok " years in his own hired house." > . , - No. VI. Chap. i. 25. " For I am in a strait be- " twixt two, having a desire to depart, and " to be with Christ ;' which is far better." With this compare 2 Cor. 'chap.' v. 8. " We are confident and Avilling rather to " be absent from the body, and to be pre- " sent Avith the Lord." The samenesss of sentiment in these two quotations is obvious. I rely however not so much upon that, as upon the similitude AM et xxt ^'netoofj.ai eirt Tu 5v iv: 3: " Withal praying ak ";so for us, that God would oprin unto ; us "n door of utterance to speak the mystery " -of j. Christ, for Avhich Lam also in bonds/' What that " mystery of ^Christ" was,' the Epistle to the Ephesiansjudistinctly informs us; " whereby- Avhen ye "read ye may un* " derstand my knoAvledge in the mystery of "Christ, which,' in other ages, Avas not " made known unto the sons of men', as it "is now revealed" unto his holy j apostles •^ and prophets by < the $piritj, that the Gen- jj.vtf v tiles " 2S0 EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS.' " t{les should be fellow- heirs, and of the same "body, and partakers of his promise in Christ ".by the gospel." This, therefore, Avas the confession for which he declares himself to be in bonds. Now let us enquire how the occasion of St. Paul's imprisonment is re presented in the history. The apostle had not long returned to Jerusalem from his- se cond visit into Greece, Avhen an uproar Avas excited in that city by the clamour of certain Asiatic JeAvs, who, " having seen" " Paul in the temple, stirred up all the " people, and laid hands on him."': The" charge advanced against him Avas, that " he " taught all men every where against, the " people, and the law, and this place'; and1 "further brought Greeks also intouthe "temple, and polluted that holy place." The former part of the charge seems to point at . the doctrine, Avhich he main tained, of the admission of the > Gentiles^ under the new dispensation, to an indiscri minate participation of God's favour Avith the JeAvs. But what follows makes the matter s clear, ft When, by the interference of the chief captain, Paul had been rescued out EPISTYLE rYQ THE "fcdLOSSlAltfs'.3 $BX* out- of the hands of the populace, and was permitted to address'the multitude who had followed him to the stairs of the castle, he delivered a brief account of his birth, of the early course of his life', of his miracu lous conversion ; and is proceeding in his narrative, until he comes to describe a vision! Avhich' Avas presented' to him, as ,he was' praying in the temple; and which bid him' depart out of ^Jerusalem, " for I will send ¦', thee : far hertce untoUhe Gentiles." in Acts xxii. ' SI.1'?1 " They "gave hirn ^audience/* says the historian, "unto this word; arid 'S, then lift up their voices, and said, Awaiy "with such a fellow from the earth !" No- tfai«6g can shew more strongly than this ac-'" count doesy what was the offence Avhich drew dpwnnpon St. Paul the vengeance of his countrymen. 6 His mission to the Gen tiles, and Jiis open avoAval of that mission, was. the intolerable part of the apostle's crime. »iBut although' the real motive of the prosecution appears to have been the apostle's conduct towards the GentuW; yet, when his* accusers came before a Roman ^agt^itejiaJ charge was'tP be framed of a - "' * more Co2 EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. more legal form. The profanation of the temple was the article they chose to, rely upon. This, therefore, became the imme diate subject of Tertullus's oration before Felix, and of Paul's defence}. But that he all along considered his ministry amongst*' the Gentiles as the actual source of the en mity that had been exercised against him, and in particular as the cause of the insur rection in Avhich his person had been seized/, is apparent from the conclusion of i his dis course before Agrippa: " I have appeared " unto thee," says he, describing what passed upon his journey to Damascus, "for this " purpose, to make thee a minister and a "••witness, both of these things which thou " hast seed, and of those thingsin the which " I Avill appear unto thee* delivering thee ", from the people and from, the Gentiles, "unto Avhom now I send thee, to open " their eyes, and to turn them from dark- " ness to light, and from the poAyer of " Satan unto God, that they may receive " forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among '* them Avhich are sanctified by faith that is ^ in me. Whereupon, O king Agrippai "I was EflSTLE TO THE C0L0SSIAI!*S#3 283- "-Dwas not disobedient unto the heavenly " vision; but .shewed first unto them of " Damascus, and of Jerusalem, andthrough- " out all the coasts of Judea, and then to » " the Gentiles, that they should repent and "turn to God, and|his imprisonment at Rome Atas the Continuation and effect;*' was not in consequence of any general f persecution ^ set on foot against Christi-* arirty ; nor did' it befal him simply, as professing or teaching Christ's i religion, which James aridvthe elders at Jerusalem did' as well as he ''(and yet for any thing that appears remained at that time unmo lested); Mit It was distinctly and specifically brought upon him by his activity in preach ing to the "*" Gentiles, and by his „; boldly placing them upon a level 'with the once-* favoured and still self-flattered posterity of Abraharn. ;?;'How well- St. Paul's letters,' k->k '*- purporting 284 BPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. purporting to be written during this im prisonment, agree Avith this riccouutrjof its cause and origin, Ave have already seen. ¦ ."<-• No. II. -.i. " Chap. iv. 10. " Aristarchus my fel- " low-prisoner saluteth you, and Marcus, " sister's son to Barnabas, touching whom " ye received commandments. If he come *'¦ unto you, receive him, and Jesus, Avhich "is called Justus, Avho are of the circum*- *' cision." ¦ ¦• <¦ We find Aristarchus as a companion! of our apostle in the nineteenth chapter of the Acts, and the- twenty-ninth A'crse:*" And "the Avhole city of Ephesus Avas filled Avith " confusion ; and having caught Gaius and "Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul's *f companions in travel, they rushed Avith one " accord into the theatre."- And- we find him upon his journey with St. Paul to Rome/in the twenty-seventh chapter, and the second verse : " And when it Avas determined that .£' we should sail into Italy, they delivered EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. "Paul and certain other prisoners unto one '¦' named Julius, a centurion pf Augustus's "'band; and, entering into a ship of Adra- " myttium, we launched, meaning to sail "j by the coast of Asia; one Aristarchus, a " Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us." But might not, the author of the epistle have consulted the history ; and, observing that the historian had brought Aristarchus along with Paul to Rome, might he not for that reason, and Avithout any other foundation, have put down his name amongst the sa lutations of an » epistle, purporting to be written by the apostle frofn that "place? I MloAv so rarach of possibility to this objec tion, that I should not have proposed, this in the number of coincidences clearly unde signed, hadf Aristarchus stood alone. -^The ©bservatiPri that strikes me in. reading the passage is, that together with Aristarchus, whose journey ( to Rome we trace in the 4istoijy, are joined. Marcus and Justus, of whose coming to Rome the history, says nothing.! Aristarchus alone appears in the history, and Aristarchus alone AVould have ^appeared in the epistle, if the author had iuLj'I ' regulated 28(5 EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. - gulated himself by that conformity. ; 'Or if you take it the other way; if you suppose t the history to have been made out of the epistle, why the journey of Aristarchus to Rome should be' recorded* and not that of Marcus arid ^Justus, if the groundwork of the narrative, was the appearance of Aris- jj tarchus's name in the epistle, seemsitofee •* unaccountable. fcytioffW+v-ynⅈ :v«v 'unoi- to1 V " Marcus, sister's son to Barnabas/' Does not this hint account for Barnabas's adhe rence to Mark in the contest that arose With our apostle concerning him? " And some " days after Paul said unto Barnabas, Let us _" go again and visit our brethren in every „ " city where we have preached 'the wdrd *J' Of the Lord, and see how they do: and *' Barnabas determined to take with them "John, whose surname was Mark; but " Paul thought not good to take him with j," therri,who departed from Pamphylia,; and " went not with them to the Avork ; and the b" contention was sosharp between them, that " they departed asunder one from the other; - " and so Barnabas took Mark and sailed un- " to Cyprus/' The history whichurecords .. 0 »» . >i the ETISTLE'TO THE COLOSSIANS. 287 t\the dispute has not preserved the circum stance of Mark's relationship to Barnabas. o It is no Avhere noticed but in- the text before us. As far, therefore, as it applies, the ap- ; plication is certainly undesigned. " Sisters son to Barnabas/' This woman, the mother of Mark, and the sister of Bar- nabas,Avas, as might be expected, a person of some eminence amongst the Christians of Jerusalem. It so happens that Ave hear of her in the history. " When Peter was de- wk». " are of the circumcision, iv. offi which iii"* knoAv no example. The Supposition of design, I > think, is ex cluded, not only because the purpose to Which the designamust have been directed, viz. the verification of the passage in our epistle, in which it is said 'concerning One simus,' " he is on'e^of you," is a purpose which would be'f lost <* upon ninety-nine readers out of a hundred; but because the means made use rof are too' circuitous to have been tlie subjectfelf affectatidff and cc;\- trivance. v Would a forger, Avho had tins purpose in view, have left his readers'' to- hunt it out, by agoing forward and back ward from one epistle to another, in order 3isi ,8oqqirioiA ci \iA2:i .rloipri- *sdi to 292 EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. to connect Onesimus with Philemon, Phile mon with Archippus, and Archippus Avith Colosse ? all Avhich he/ must do before he arrives at his discovery, that it was truly said of 'Onesimus, " he is brie of you." CHAP. 293 CHAP. IX. THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS. No. I. jLT is known to every reader of Scripture> that the First Epistle to the Thessalonians speaks of the coming of Christ in terms which indicate an expectation of his speedy appearance : " For this Ave say unto you by " the word of the Lord, that we which are " aliA'e and remain unto the coming of the " Lord shall not prevent them which are " asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend " from heaven with a shout, with the voice " of the archangel, and Avith the trump of " God, and the dead in Christ shall rise " first ; then we which are alive and remain, " shall be caught up together with them " in the clouds — But ye, brethren, are not " in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief," (chap, iv. 15, 16, 17, chap. v. 4.) WhateA'er a 294 THE FIRST EPISTLE Whatever other construction these texts may bear, ^he idea they leave upon the mind of an ordinary reader, is that of the author of the epistle looking for the day of judgment to take place in' his OAvntime, or near to it. Now the use Avhich I make of this circumstance, is to deduce from it a proof that the epistle itself was not the production pf a suhsequept age. "Would an impostor have given this expectation to St. Paul, after experience had proved it to be erroneous? or would he have put into the apostle's mouth, or, Avhich is the same thing, into Avritings purporting to come from his hand, expressions, if not necessarily conveying, at least easily interpreted to convey, an opinion which was. then known to be founded in mistake 'il I state this as, an argument to shew that tl^e epjstle was contemporary AVith St. Paul, which is little less than to shew that it actually proceeded from his pen. For I question whether any ancient forge ries Avei e executed iri the life-time of the person whose riariie they bear; nor Avas the primitive situation of the church likely tb give birth to such an attempt. No. II. TO THE THESSALONIANS. 2Q5 No. II. i Our epistle concludes with a direction, thatij;; should be publicly read in the church to,f\yhichj it Avas addressed :, " I charge you ",bvjf, the Lord, that this epistle be read " unto all the holy brethren." The exis tence of thi£ clause in the body of the epistle is an svjLdjenpe of its authenticity; because to produce a letter purporting to have bepn publiply read in the church of Thes salonica, when no such letter in. truth had been read or heard of in that church, would be fp produce an imposture destructive of itself., At least, it seems unlikely that tbe author of an imposture would volun tarily, and even officiously, afford a handle to so plain an objection. Either the epistle was publicly read in the church of Thessa lonica during St. Paul's life-time, or it Avas not" ,-, If it Avas, no publication could be more authentic, no species of notoriety more ^questionable, no method of preserving the. integrity of the copy more secure. If it was not, the clause; we produce would re- T main $g6 THE FIRST EPISTLE main a standing condemnation of the for gery, and, one Avould suppose, an invincible impediment to its success. „ If we connect this article with the pre ceding, we shall perceive thati they com bine into one strong proof of, the genuine-? ness of the epistle. The preceding article carries up the date of the epistle to the time of St. Paul ; the present article fixes,the publication of it to the church of Thessalo nica. Either therefore the church of Thes salonica Avas imposed upon by a false epistle* which in St. Paul's life-time they received and read publicly as his, carrying on a com munication Avith him all the while, and the; epistle referring to the continuanpe of that communication; or other Christian churches in jfhe same life-time of the apos.tle, i> re ceived an epistle purporting to have been publicly read in the church of Thessalo nica, Avhich nevertheless had not, been heard of, in that church,; or lastly, the con clusion remains,, that the epistle now in our hands is genuine. No. III. TO THE THESSALONIANS, 297 M No. III. Between our epistle and the history the accordancy in many points is circumstantial and -complete. The history relates, that, after Paul and Silas had been beaten Avith many stripes at Philippi, shut, up in the inner prison, and their feet made fast in the stocks, as soon as they were discharged from their Confinement they departed from thence^ and, when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, came to Thes salonica, where Paul opened and alleged that Jesus was the Christ, Acts xvi. 23, &c. The epistle written in the name of Paul and Sylvanus (Silas), and of Timotheus, Avho also appears to haye been along with them at Philippi, (vide Phil. No. iv.) speaks to the church of Thessalonica thus : " Even after " that Ave had suffered before, and Avere " shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Phi- " lippi, Ave were bold in our God to speak " unto you the gospel of God Avith much " contention," (ii. 21). The history relates, that after they had been some time at Thessalonica, " the "Jews 2&& THE F-IRSf EPISTLE " Jews who believed not set all the city in. " an uproar, and assaulted the house of Ja- " son where Paul and Silas were, and sought "to bring them1 out to the people/*' 1 Acts xvii. 5. The epistle declares,' " when i we "Ave re with you, we told you before that " We should suffer tribulation v even ?os!# " came to pass, arid ye know" (iii. 4). snob 1 The history brings Paul and Silas- and Timothy together at Corinth, soon after the preaching of the gospel at Thessalonica : •* And Avhen Silas and Timotheus were " come from Macedonia (to Corinth), Paul " was pressed in spirit." Acts xviii. 5.t The epistle is Avritten in the name of these three persons, who consequently must havebeeti together at the time, and speaks through* out of their mihistry at Thessalonica as a recent' transaction: " We brethren1, being "taken from you for a, short time, in" pre- " sence not in heart, endeavoured the more " abundantly to see your face, Avith grea^; * desire," (ii. 17). The harmony is indubitable; but the points of history in which it consists, are SO' expressly set forth in the narrative, and so TO THE TH'ESSA>L©N1«JS. 2JJ9> so directly referred to in the epistle, that it becomes necessary for us to shew, that the facts sin one writing were not copied from tbe/other. , Now amidst some minuter dis crepancies, ' which will be noticed beloAV, thefe is one circumstance which mixes it- Selfwifaball the allusions in the epistle, but does not appear in the history,, any Avhere; and that is of a visit which^St.^Paul had intended to pay to the Thessalonians dur ing the time ofi his residing at /Corinth : ^Wherefore we Avould have come unto ^ybu (even>I Paul) once and again, but "•'Satan hindered us," (ii. 1.) " Night and "day praying exceedingly that Ave might fV«ee yoilr face, i and t might rperfect that ir which' is lacking iin your faith. nrjNow '¦ God 'himself and our Father, and our " Lord JeSus Christy* direct our Avay unto f' you," (iii. 10,* 11). ^Concerning a de sign which was'^not executed, although the person himself, Avho was conscious of his OAvn purpose, should make mention in his letters, nothing is more probable than tjhat h% historian should^ be silent, if not igno rant. -The author ©f the-: epistle could not nri how- 300 THE FIRST EPISTLE however have learnt this circumstance from the history, for it is not there to be met Avith ; nor, if the historiari had drawn his materials from the epistle, is it likely that he Avould have passed over a circumstance, Avhich is amongst the most obvious and prominent of the facts to be Collected from that source of information. No. IV. ¦ ¦ \ i •¦:.>,-•< i-uq/: Chap. iii. 1 — 7- " Wherefore Avhen We " could' no longer forbear, we thought it "good to be left at Athens alone, and sent " Timotheus, our brother and minister of " God, to establish you, and to comfort you " concerning your faith ;— but uoav when ¦" Timotheus came from you unto us, and "brought us good tidings of your faith and " charity, Ave Avere comforted over you in " all our affliction and distress by your " faith." ¦•"' The history relates, that when Paul came out of Macedonia to Athens, Silas and Ti mothy staid behind ¦ at Berea: "Thebre- " thfen sent aAvay Paul to go as it were to " the TO THE THESSALONIANS. 301 "the sea; but Silas and Timotheus abode "-there. still ; and they that conducted Paul ^brought him to Athens." Acts, eh. xviii I4i,,15: The ^history further relates, that after Paul had tarried some time at Athens* and had proceeded from „tbence to Corinth, whilst her was exercising his ministry in that city, Silas and Timothy came to him from Macedonia, Acts, chap, xviii. 5. But to reconcile the history with the clause in the epistle which makes St. Paul say, " I thought "it good to be left' at 'Athens alone, and to f send Timothy unto you/^it is necessary tp4uppose that Timothy had come up, with ^t.-rPaul at Athens : a circumstance Avhich thp history does not mention. I remark .therefore, that, although. the history dp.not Expressly notice this arrival, yet it contains (intimations which render it extremely pro bable that the fact took place. First, as soon as Paul had reached Athens, he sent a message back to Silas and Timothy " for "to come to him with all speed." Acts, chap.fjxviu 15. h Secondly,^ his ^ stayrj at Athens was on purpose that they might join diira there: "Now whilst Paul waited for ^1 -.>?/ " them THE FIRST ETISTLE -v " them at Athens,'- his spifrit Avas stirred in "him." Acts, chap. xvii. 16. Thirdly, his departure from Athens does not appear to have been in any sort hastened or abrupt; It is said, ," after these things," viz. his dis putation with the Jews, his conferences with the philosophers, his discourse at Areo pagus, and the gaining of some converts, "he departed from Athens and came to " Corinth." It is not hinted that he quitted Athens before the time that he had intend ed to leave it; it is not suggested that he waSidriven from thence, as he Avas from many cities, by * tumults or persecutions, or j because his life was. I no longer safe; Observe then the particulars which the his tory does notice — that Paul had ordered Ti mothy toj follow him without delay, that he Availed at * Athens on' purpose that Th- mothy might come up with him, that he staid there as long as his own choice led him to continue. Layingwthese vcireum- stances which the history does disclose to* gether* it is highly probable that Timothy came to the apostle ab Athens, a fact which the epistle, we have seen, virtually asserts when TO W»B,. THEfiSsMsONI'AJJS. SOS when iti is *riot preserved in the history ; bnt wtech) makes av hat is { said in the history more^ignifieant, probable, and consistent. 'I^bisitipry bears^marks ""'of an omission; t&etfflpistlei by reference furnishes a circum stance: which suppiliesi that omission. ¦$?¦-"* M'tx-it No. V. 304 THE FIRST EPISTLE No. V. Chap. ii. 14. "For ye, brethren, be- " came followers of the churches of God " which in Judea are in Chrisst Jesiis; for ye " also have suffered like things of your own " tountrymen, even as they have of the "Jews," -Vk" , To a reader of the Acts of the Apostles, it might seem, at first sight, that the per secutions which the preachers aaai converts of Christianity underwent, were suffered at the hands of their old adversaries the Jews. But, if Ave attend carefully to the accounts there delivered, Ave shall observe, that, though the opposition made to the gospel usually originated from the enmity of the Jews, ^yet in almost all places the Jews went about to accomplish their purpose, by stirring up the Gentile inhabitants, against their converted countrymen. Out of Ju dea they had not poAver to do much mis- ¦chief in any other way. This was the case at Thessalonica in particular: " The JeAvs " which believed not, moved with envy, set " all the city in an uproar." Acts, ch, xvii. ver. 5. TO THE THESSALONIANS. 305 ver. 5. It Avas the same a short time after wards at Berea : " When the Jews of " Thessalonica had knoAvledge that the " Avord of God Avas preached of Paul at Be- " rea, they came thither also, and stirred "hp the people." Acts, ch. xvii. 13. And before this our apostle had met Avith a like species of persecution, in his progress through the Lesser Asia; " in every city the " unbelieving JeAvs stirred up the Gentiles, " and made their minds evil affected against "the brethren." Acts, ch. xiv. 2. The epistle -therefore represents the case accu rately as the history states it. It was the Jews always -who set on foot the persecu-^ tions against the apostles and their folloAv- ers. He speaks truly therefore of them, Avhen he says in this epistle^ " they both " killed the Lord Jesus and their own pro- " phets, and have persecuted m^forbiddirig " us to speak unto the Gentiles/' (ii. 15. 16V) But' out of Judea it was at the hands ofthe Gentiles, it was " of their own coiin- " try men," that the injuries they under went were immediately sustained : " Ye have x " suf- S06 THE FIRST EPISTLE " suffered like things of your own country- " men, even as they have of the Jews." /, . No. VI. The apparent discrepancies betAveen our epistle and the history, though of magnitude sufficient to repel the imputation of con federacy or transcription (in which view they form a part of our argument), are nei ther numerous, nor very difficult to recon cile. One of these may be observed in the ninth and tenth verses ofthe second chapter: " For ye remember, brethren, our labour " and travel ; for labouring night and day, " because we would not be chargeable unto " any of you, we preached unto you the *' gospel of God. Ye ate witnesses, and " God also, hoAV holily, and justly, and un- " blameably we behaved ourselves among ** you that believe." A person who reads this passage is naturally led by it to sup- •pose, that the writer had dwelt at Thessa- " lonica for sbme considerable time; yet of St. Paul's ministry in that city, the history "ii'&> ¦* e. gives TO THE THESSALONIANS. 307 gives.no other account than the folloAving: " that he came to Thessalonica, where Avas " a synagogue of the Jcavs : that, as his " manner was, he Avent in unto them, and " three sabbath days reasoned with them out " of the Scriptures ; that some of them be- " lieved and consorted Avith Paul and Silas." The history then proceeds to tell us, that the Jews which believed not set the city in an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, where Paul and his companions lodged ; that the consequence of this outrage was, that " the brethren immediately sent away " Paul and Silas by night unto Berea." Acts, ch. xvii. 1 — 10. From the men tion of his preaching three sabbath days in the Jewish synagogue, and from the want of any further specification of his ministry, it has usually been taken for granted that Paul did not continue at Thessalonica more than three weeks. This, hoAvever, is in ferred Avithout necessity. It appears to have been St. Paul's practice, in almost every place that he came to, upon his first arrival to repair to the synagogue. He thought x 2 himself 308 THE FIRST EPISTLE himself bound to propose the gospel to the JeAvs first, agreeably to what he declared at Antioch in Pisidia ; " it was necessary " that the Avord' of God should first have " been spoken to yoii." Acts, ch. xiii. 46. If the JeAvs rejected his ministry, he quit ted the synagogue, and betook himself to a Gentile audience. At Corinth, upon his first coming thither, he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath; " but when the "Jewsopposed themselves, and blasphemed, " he departed thence," expressly telling them, " from henceforth I will go unto the " Gentiles ; and he remained in that city a " year and six months," Acts, ch. xviii. 6* — 11. At EphesUs, in like manner, for the space of three months he went into the synagogue; but " when divers were " hardened and believed not, but spake evil " of that way, he departed from them and " separated the disciples, disputing daily in "the school of one Tyrannus; and this " continued by the space of two years." Acts, ch. xix. 95 10- Upon inspecting the history, I see nothing in it which nega tes TO THE THESSALONIANS. 309 fives the supposition, that St. Paul pursued the same plan at Thessalonica Avhich he adopted in other places ; and that, though h^e resorted to the synagogue only three sab bath days, yet he remained in the city, and in the exercise of his ministry amongst the gentile citizens., much longer ; and until the success of his preaching had provoked the Jews to excite the tumult and insurrection. by which he, was driven away. Another seeming discrepancy is found in the ninth verse of the first chapter of the epistle : For they themselves show of us "what manner of entering in Ave had unto "you, and how ye turned to God from idols " to serve the living and true God." Thjs text contains an assertion, that, by means pf St. Paul's ministry at Thessalonica, many idolatrous Gentiles had been brought over to Christianity. Yet the history, in describing the effects of that ministry, only says, that " some of the Jews believed, and of the de- " vout Greeks a great multitude, and ofthe " chief women not a few." (ch. xvii. 4.) The devout Greeks Avere those who already WOT- 310 THE FIKST EPISTLE worshipped the one true God ; and therefore could not be said, by embracing Christianity, " to be turned to God from idols." This is the difficulty. The ansAver may be assisted by the following observations : The Alexandrian and Cambridge manu scripts read (for rmv aeto^evm eKhvpwv tcau TrAvjflos) rcfv treto^eviav v.ai eKXyvoiv toau itXvfiog. In which reading they are also con firmed by the Vulgate Latin. And this reading is, in my opinion, strongly sup ported by the considerations, first, that it eeto\Levoi alone, i. e. Avithout eKkv^veg^ is used in this sense in this same chapter — Paul being come to Athens lieteyero ev ry evvuyuytf, roig laSuioig axi roig aetopevoig ; secondly, that oeto- (j,evoi and fAA>]v until he be taken out of the way ; arid* " then shall that Avicked be revealed, whom " the Lord shall consume Avith the spirit " of his mouth, and shall destroy with the " brightness of his coming." It Avere su perfluous to prove, because it is in vain to > deny, that this passage is invoked in great obscurity, more especially the clauses distin guished by Italics. Now the observation I have to offer is founded upon this, that the passage expressly refers to a conversation Avhich the author had previously holden Avith the Thessalonians upon the same sub ject : " Remember ye not, that when I Avas " yet with you I told you these things ? And " now ye know what Avithholdeth." If such conversation actually passed; if, whilst" he was yet with them,* " he told therii those " things," 314 THE SECOND EPISTLE • " things," then it follows that the epistle is authentic. And of the reality of this con versation it appears to be a proof, that Avhat it said in the epistle might be understood by those who had been present to such conver sation, and yet be incapable of being ex plained by any other. No man writes un intelligibly on purpose. But it may easily happen, that a part of a letter Avhich relates to a subject, upon Avhich the parties had conversed together before, which refers to Avhat had been before said, Avhich is in truth a portion or continuation of a former discourse, may be utterly without mean ing to a stranger, who should pick up the letter upon the road, and yet be per fectly clear to the person to Avhom it is di rected, and Avith whom the previous com munication had passed. And if, in a letter which thus accidentally fell into my hands, I found a passage expressly referring to a former conversation, and difficult to be ex plained Avithout knowing that conversation, I should consider this very difficulty as a proof that the conversation had actually passed, and consequently that the letter con tained TO THE THESSALONIANS. 315 tained the real correspondence of real per sons. » No. II. Chap. iii. 8. " Neither did Ave eat any " man's bread for nought, but wrought with " labour night and day, that Ave might not " be chargeable to any of you : not because " Ave have not poAver, but to make ourselves " an ensample unto you to folloAV." In a letter, purporting to have been Avrit ten to another of the Macedonic churches, Ave find the following declaration : " Noav ye, Philippians, know also that in " the beginning of the gospel, when I de- " parted from Macedonia, no church tommu- " nicated with me as concerning giving and " receiving, but ye only." The conformity between these two pas sages is strong and plain. They confine the transaction to the same period. The epistle to the Philippians refers to what passed " in " the beginning ofthe gospel/' that is to say, during the first preaching of the gospel on that side of the iEgean sea. The epistle to the Thessaloniansspeaksof the apostle'scon- duct 316 THE SECOND EPISTLE duct in that city upon " his first entrancein "unto them," Avhich the history informs us was in the course of his first visit to the peninsula of Greece. •¦d •> H:n^ " ha-> As St. Paul tells the Philippians, " that " no church communicated with him, as " concerning giving and receiving, but they " '.only/' he could not^ consistently! Avith the truth of this declaration, have received any thing from the neighbouring church of Thessalonica. What thus appears byige- neral implication in an epistle to another church, when he writes to the Thessalonians themselves, is noticed expressly and parti cularly; " neither did we eat any man's " bread for nought, but wrought night and " day, that Ave might not be chargeable to "any of you." *&*}&• -tit it.ilJ. »n«l»i h The texts here cited further also exhibit a mark of conformity Avith what St. Paul is made to say of himself in the Acts of the Apostles. The apostle, not only reminds the Thessalonians that he had not been chargeable tp any of them, but he states likewise the motive Avhich dictated this re serve ; "mot because avc have not power, but 2 dT "to TO THE THESSALONIANS. 317 " to make ourselves an ensample unto yoii " to follow us." (ch. iii. 9-) This conduct and, what is much more precise, the end which he had in view by it, was the very same as that which the history attri butes to St. Paul in a discourse, which it re presents him to have addressed to the elders ofthe church of Ephesus: " Yea, yeyour- " selves also knoAv that these hands have " ministered unto my necessities, and to "them that were Avith me. I have showed " you all things,, how that so labouring, ye *S ought to support the weak." Acts», ch. xx. 34. The sentiment in the epistle and in the speech is in both parts of it so much alike, and yet the words Avhich convey it show so little of (imitation or even of resem blance, that the agreement eannot well be explained Avithout supposing the speech and the letter to have really proceeded from the ..same person. No. Ill, Our reader remembers the passage in the First Epistle to the Thessalonians, in which St. Paul spoke of the coming of Christ: "This S18 THE SECOND EPISTLE " This we say unto you by the Avord of the " Lord, that we which are alive, and remain " unto the coming of the Lord, shall not " prevent them Avhich are asleep; for the "Lord himself shall descend from heaA'en, " and the dead in Christ shall rise first ; then " we which are alive and remain, shall be " caught up together with them in the " clouds, and so shall Ave be ever with the " Lord. — But ye, brethren, are not in dark- " ness, that that day should overtake you as a " thief." 1 Thess. iv. 15-^17, and ch. v. 4. It should seem that the Thessalonians, or some however amongst them, had from this passage conceived an opinion (and that not very unnaturally) that the coming of Christ was to take place instantly, fat e ve etvpiev * ; and that this persuasion had produced, as it well might, much agitation in the church. The apostle therefore now writes, amongst other purposes, to quiet this alarm, and to rectify the misconstruction that had been * 'On eteimxet, nempe hoc anno, says Grotius, tna-Twe* hie dieitur de re prsesenti, ut Pom. viii. 38. 1. Cor. iii. 22. GaJ. i. 4. Heb. ix. 9. • put TO THE THESSALONIANS. 313 put upon his words : " Now we beseech " you, brethren, by the Coming of our Lord "Jesus Christ, and by our gathering toge- " ther unto him, that ye be not soon shaken " in mind, or be troubled neither by spirit " nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that " the day of Christ is at hand." If the al lusion which we contend for be admitted, namely, if it be admitted, that the passage in the second epistle relates to the passage in the first, it amounts to a considerable proof of the genuineness of both epistles. I have no conception, because I know no example, of such a device in a forgery, as first to frame an ambiguous passage in a letter, then to represent the persons to Avhom the letter is addressed as mistaking the meaning of the passage, and lastly, to Avrite a second letter in order to correct this mistake. I have said that this argument arises out of the text, if the allusion be admitted : for I am not ignorant that many expositors un derstand the passage in the second epistle, as referring tosome forged letters, Avhich had been produced in St. Paul's name, and in which the apostle had been made to say that the 320 THE SECOND EPISTLE the coming of Christ was then at hand. In defence, however, ofthe explanation which we propose, the reader is desired to observe, 1. The strong fact, that there exists a passage in the first epistle, to Avhich that in the second is capable of being referred, i. e. which accounts for the error the writer is solicitous to remove. Had no other epistle than the second been extant, and had it un der these circumstances come to be consi dered, whether the text before us related to a forged epistle or to some misconstruction of a true one, many conjectures and many probabilities might have been admitted in the enquiry, which can have little weight when an epistle is produced, containing the very sort of passage we were seeking, that is, a passage liable to the misinterpretation which the apostle protests against. 2. That the clause which introduces the passage in the second epistle bears a particu lar affinity to Avhat is found in the passage cited from the first epistle. The clause is this : " We beseech you, brethren, by the " coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by " our gathering together unto him." Noav in the fO THE THESSALONIANS. 321 the first epistle the description of the com ing of Christ is accompanied with the men tion of this very circumstance of his saints " being collected round him." " The Lord "himself shall descend from heaven with a "shout, with the voice of the archangel, and "with the trump of God, and the dead in " Christ shall rise first; then we which are " alive and remain shall be caught up toge- " ther with them in the clouds, to meet the " Lord in the air." 1 Thess. chap. iv. 16, 17. This I suppose to be the " ga- " thering together unto him" intended in the second epistle; and that the author, when he used these words, retained in his thoughts what he had written on the sub- ject before. 3. The second epistle is written in the joint name of Paul, Silvanus, and Timo theus, and it cautions the Thessalonians ' ¦¦ * ¦ i\* against being misled " by letter as from us" (we 3;' vijxwv). Do not these1* words '5f'.(^«v,' appropriate the reference to some writing which bore the name of these three teach ers ? Now this circumstance, which is a very close one, belongs to u the epistle at y present EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS. present in our hands ; for the epistle which we call the First Epistle to the Thessalonians contains these names in its superscription. 4. The words in the original, as far as they are material to be stated, are these : etg ro /x») ra%eiag au\evbi\vat vpttg avo ts vooi, y.\\re %.poeiabcti, pvpre ha •xvev^arog, pyre hee Koys, pyre h' ennrroKyg, 5>g h' ^f*wv, dg in evearwev 5 ^epx ts Xoio-rs. Under the weight of the preceding observations rriay riot the words (xvjte ha Aoy«, (j.v\re h' e%iarohv^g, dg h' ^wv, be construed to signify quasi nos quid tale out dixerimus aut scripserinius*, intimating that their words had been mistaken, and that they had in truth said or written no such thing. CHAP. * Should a- contrary interpretation be preferred, 1 do not think that it implies the conclusion that a false epistle had then been published in the apostle's name. It will completely satisfy the allusion in the te^t to allow, that some one or other at Thessalonica had pretended to have been told by St. Paul and his companions, or to have seen a letter from them, in which thejr had said, that the day of Christ was at hand. In like manner as Acts xv. 1, 24. it is recorded that some had pretended to have received instructions from the church at Jerusalem, which sis CHAP. XL THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY* 3FrioM the^ third verse of the first chap ter, " as I besought thee to abide still at " Ephesus Avhen I went into Macedonia,'* it is evident that this Epistle was written' soon after St. Paul had gone to Macedonia from Ephesus. Dr. Benson fixes its date to the time of St. Paul's journey j recorded in the beginning of the twentieth chapter of the Acts : " And after the uproar (excited " by Demetrius at Ephesus) Avas ceased, " Paul called unto him the disciples, and " embraced them, and departed for to go *' into Macedonia/' And in this opinion Dr. Benson is followed by Michaelis, as he was which had not been received " to whom they gave no "such commandment." And thus Dr. Benson inter preted the passage (*»m SpotKrfla/, f(TO ha ing from the history, refers, briefly indeed, . • but FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 33f but decisively, to a similar establishment, subsisting some years afterwards at Ephesus. This agreement indicates that both writings were founded upon real circumstances. But, in this article, the material thing to be noticed is the mode of expression ; " Let not a widoAv be taken into the num- " ber." No previous account or explana tion is given, to which these words, " into " the number," can refer ; but the direction comes concisely and unpreparedly. " Let " not a widoAv be taken into the number." Now this is the way in Avhich a man writes,. who is conscious that he is writing to per sons already acquainted with the subject of his letter ; and who, he knows, will readily apprehend and apply what he says by vir tue of their being so acquainted; but it is not the way in which a man writes upon any other occasion ; and least of all, in Avhich a man would draw up a feigned let ter, or introduce a supposititious fact *. No, III. * It is not altogether unconnected with our gpneyal purpose to remark, in the passage before us, the selec tion and reserve which St. Paul recommends to the go vernors 332 FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. No. III. Chap. iii. %, 3. "A bishop must be " blameless, the husband of one wife, yigi- " lant, sober, of good behaviour, given to " hospitality, apt to teach ; not given to " Avine, no striker, not greedy of filthy " lucre, but patient, not a brawler, not co- " vetous ; one that ruleth Avell his own " house." "No Vernors of the. church of Ephesus, in the bestowing re lief upon the poor, because it refutes a calumny which bas been insinuated, that the liberality of the first Christians was an artifice to catch converts ; or oiie of the temptations, however, by which the idle, and men. dicant were drawn into this society : " Let not a widow. - seldom I believe in any other luction. For the moment a man re gards SS6 First epistle to timothy. . t gards what he Avrites as a composition, which the author of a forgery would, of all others, be the first to do, notions of order, in the Arrangement and succession, of his thoughts, present themselves to his judgment, and guide his pen. [, . , J;J 'No. V. Chap. i.. 15, 16. " This is a faithful "saying, and worthy of all acceptation, " that Christ Jesus came into the world to " save sinners, of Avhom I am phi ef. How- " beit, for this, cause I obtained mercy, that " in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth " all long-suffering, for* a pattern to them " which should hereafter believe in him to "life everlasting." What Avas the mercy which St. Paul here commemorates, and what was the crime of Avhich he accuses himself, is ap- parent from the verses immediately preced ing : " I thank Christ Jesus, our Lord, Avho "hath enabled me, for that he counted me " faithful, putting me into the ministry," " who was before a blasphemer, and a perse- " cut or first epistle to timothy. 337 " cutor and injurious ; but I obtained mercy, " because I did it ignorantly in unbelief," (ch. i. 12, 13). The whole quotation plainly refers to St. Paul's original enmity to the Christian name, the interposition of provi dence in his conversion, and his subsequent designation to the ministry of the gospel ; and by this reference affirms indeed the sub stance of the apostle's history delivered in the Acts. But what in the passage strikes my mind most powerfully, is the observa tion that is raised out of the fact: " For this " cause I obtained mercy, that in me first " Jesus Christ might shew forth all long- " suffering, for a pattern to them which " should hereafter believe on him to life " everlasting." It is a just and solemn re flection, springing from the circumstances of the author's conversion, or rather from the impression which that great event had left upon his memory. It will be said per haps, that an impostor acquainted Avith St. Paul's history, may have put such a senti ment into his mouth ; or, what is the same thing, into a letter drawn up in his name. But where, we may ask, is such an impos- z tor 33S first epistle to timothy. tor to be found ? The piety, the truth, the benevolence of the thought ought to protect it from this imputation. Tor, though we should allow that one of the great masters of the ancient tragedy could have given to his scene a sentiment as virtuous and as ele vated as this is, and, at the same time as appropriate, and as Avell suited to the par ticular situation of the, person rwho delivers it; yet Ayhoever, is conversant in these en- qyirjes will acknowledge, that„to do $his in a fictitious production is beyond the(S reach of the understandings Avhich have been employed upon any fabrication^ that have come dpAyn to us uncl^r (Christian names. CHAP. 339 CHAP. XII. 1JI1E, SECONt) EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY, No. I. JLT'was the uniform tradition of the primi tive church, that St. Paul visited Rome twice, and twice there suffered imprisonment; and that he was put to death at Rome at the con clusion of his second imprisonment. This opinion Concerning St. Paul's two journeys to Rome is confirmed by a great variety of hints and allusions in the epistle before us, compared Avith what fell from the apostle's pen in other letters purporting to have been written from Rome., That our present epistle Avas written whilst St. Paul was a prisoner, is distinctly intimated by the eighth verse of the first chapter : " Be not thou " therefore ashamed of the testimony of our " Lord, nor of me his prisoner." And .whilst he was a prisoner at Rome, by the sixteenth and seventeenth verses ofthe same z a chapter : S40 SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. chapter: " The Lord give mercy unto the " house of Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed " me, and was not ashamed of my chain : but " when he was in R,ome he sought me out " very diligently, and found me." Since it appears from the former quotation that St. Paul Avrote this epistle, in confinement,11 it will hardly admit of doubt that the Avord chain, in the latter quotation, refers to that confinement; the chain by which he was then bound, the custody in Avhich he was, then kept. And if the word chain desig- . nate the author's confinement at the time of writing the epistle, the next words deter mine it to have been written from Rome: " He was not ashamed of my chain ; but " when he was in Rome he sought me out " Aery diligently." Now that if was not written during the apostle's first imprison ment at Rome, or during the same iinpri- L sonment in which the Epistles to the Ephe- sians, the Colossians, the Philippians; and Philemon, were written^, may be gathered, with considerable evidence, from a com parison of these severai epistles with the present. •. , J I. In SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 341 I. In the former epistles the author confi dently looked forward to his liberation from confinement, and his speedy departure from Rome. He tells the Philippians (ch. ii. 24.) " I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall " come shortly." Philemon he bids to pre pare for him a lodging ; " for I trust," says he, " that through your prayers, I shall be " given unto you," (ver. 22). In the'epistle before us he holds a language extremely different : " I am now ready to be offered, " and the time of my departure is at hand. " I have fought a good fight ; I have finish- " ed my course ; I have kept the faith : " henceforth there is laid up for me a croAvn " of righteousness, Avhich the Lord, the " righteous Judge, shall give me at that " day" (ch. iv. 6-~8). II. When the former epistles Avere Avrit ten from Rome, Timothy Avas with St. Paul ; and is joined with him in Avriting to the Cplossians, the Philippiaris, and to Phi lemon. The present epistle implies that he Avas absent. ILL In the former epistles Demas Avas Avith St. Paul, at Rome : " Luke, the be- " loved 344 secoWB Epistle to timothy. "loved physician, and Demas, greet you/* In the f' epistle now before lis; " Demas "!hath forsaken him, having loved this " present world, and is gone to Thessa- " lonica." IV. In'the former epistle, Mark 'ivas with St. Paul, arid joins in Saluting the Co lossians. In the' present epistle, Timothy is ordered to " bring him Avith him,' for " he is profitable to rrie for the ministry," (ch. iv. 11). ^*The case' of Timothy and of Mark might be very well accounted for, by supposing the present epistle to have been wfitteri be fore the others; so that Timothy,' 'who is here exhorted " to come shortly unto him," (chap. iv.'9), might have arrived,"and that Mark, " whom he wasUo bring with him," (chap, iv. 11), might have also reached Rome in sufficient time to have been Avith St. Paul when' the four epistles were Avriti ten : but then such a supposition is incon sistent Avith what' is said of Demas; by Avhich the posteriority of this to the other epistles is strongly indicated : for in the other epistles Demas was with St. Paul, in the SECOND- EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 443 the present he hath "forsaken him,, and is V gone to Thessalonica." The opposition also of sentiment, with respect, to the event ofthe persecution, is hardly reconcileableto the same imprisonment. The two following considerations, Avhich Avere first suggested upon this question by Ludovicus Capellus, are still more conclu-r sive. 1. In the twentieth verse of the fourth chapter, St. Paul informs Timothy, " that " Erastus abode at Corinth," Epao-Tos eiuivev iv Kopiv&u. The form of expression implies* that Erastus had staid behind at Corinth, when St. Paul left it. But this could not be meant of any journey from Corinth which St. Paul took prior, to his first impri sonment at Rome ; for when, Paul departed from Corinth, as related in the twentieth chapter of. the Acts, Timothy ; was with him : and this was the last time the apostle left Corinth before his coming to Rome ; because he left it to proceed on his way to Jerusalem, soon after his arrival at which place he was taken into, custody, and con tinued in that custody till he was .carried to jrf*. Cesar's S44 SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. Caesar's tribunal. There could be no need therefore to inform Timothy that " Erastus " staid behind at Corinth" upon this occa sion, because, if the fact Avas so, it must have been known to Timothy who was pre sent, as well as to St. Paul. 2. In the same verse our epistle also states the following article: " Trophimus have I " left at Miletum sick." When St. Paul passed through Miletum on his way to Je rusalem, as related Acts xx., Trophimus was not left behind, but accompanied him to that city. He Avas indeed the occasion of the uproar at Jerusalem, in consequence of which St. Paul Avas apprehended ; for " they "had seen," says the historian, " before " Avith him in the city, Trophimus, an " Ephesian, Avhom they supposed that Paul *' had brought into the temple." This was evidently the last time of -Paul's being at Miletus before his first imprisonment; for, as hath been said, after his apprehension at Jerusalem, he remained in custody till he was sent to Rome. In these. tAvo articles Ave have a journey referred to, Avhich must have taken place subsequent SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. S4S subsequent to the conclusion of St. Luke's history, and of course after St. Paul's libe ration from his first imprisonment. The epistle, therefore, which, contains this refer- -enqev since it appears from other parts of it to have been written while St. Paul was a prisoner at Rome* proves that he had re turned to that city again, and undergone there a second imprisonment. 1 I do not produce these particulars for the sake of the support which they lend to the testimony of the fathers concerning St. Paul's second imprisonment, hut to remark their consistency and agreement with one another. They are all resolvable into one supposition : and although the supposition itself be in some sort only negative, viz, that the epistle was not written during St. Paul's first residence at Rome, but in some future imprisonment in that city; yet is the con sistency not less worthy of observation; for the epistle touches upon names and cir cumstances connected with the date and with the history of the first imprisonment, and mentioned in letters written during that imprisonment, and so touches upon them, , i .as 346 second Epistle to timothy-. as to leave what is said of one consistent Avith Avhat is said of others, and consistent also with Avhat is said of them in different epistles. Had one of these circumstances been so described as to have fixed the date of the epistle to the first imprisonment, it would have involved the rest in contradic tion. And when the number and particu larity of the articles Avhich have been brought together under his head are con sidered ; and Avhen it is considered also, that the comparisons Ave have formed amongst them, were in all probability neither pro vided for, nor thought of, by the writer of the epistle, it will be deemed something very like the effect of truth, that no in vincible repugnancy is perceived between them. No. II. In the Acts of the Apostles, in the six teenth chapter, and at the first verse, we are told that Paul " came to Derbe and " Lystra, and behold a certain disciple Avas " there named Timotheus, the son of a ccr- " tain SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. S47 " tain woman Avhich was a Jewess, and be- *' lieved ; but his father Avas a Greek." In the epistle before us, in the first chapter and at the fifth verse, St. Paul Avrites to Ti mothy thus : " Greatly desiring to see theej " being mindful of thy tears, that I maybe " filled with joy, when I call to remem- " brance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, " Avhich dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, " andthy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded " that in thee also." Here Ave have a fair unforced example of coincidence. In the history Timothy was the " son of a Jewess " that believed :" in the epistle St. Paul ap plauds ¦" the faith Avhich dwelt in his mother "Eunice." In the history it is said of the mother, " that she was a Jewess, and be- " lieved ;" of the father, " that he was a " Greek. Now Avhen it is said of the mo ther alone " that she believed," the father being nevertheless mentioned in the same sentence, we are led to suppose of the father that he did not believe, i. e. either that he was dead, or that he remained unconverted. Agreeably hereunto, whilst praise is. bestow ed in the epistle upon one parent, and upon her 343 SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. her sincerity in the faith, no notice is taken of the other. The mention of the grand mother is the addition of a circumstance not found in the history; but it is a circum stance which, as well as the, names of the parties, might naturally be expected to, be known to the apostle, though overlooked by his historian. No. in. Chap. iii. 15. " And that from a child " thou hast known the Holy Scriptures which " are able to make thee wise unto salvation." This verse discloses a circumstance Avhich agrees exactly with what is intimated in the quotation from the Acts, adduced in the last number. In that quotation it is recorded of Timothy's mother " that she was a Jewess." This description is virtually, though, I am satisfied, undesignedly, recognized in the epistle, when Timothy is reminded in it, "that from a child he had known the Holy ** Scriptures." " The Holy Scriptures" un doubtedly meant the scriptures of the Old Testament. The expression bears that sense in SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 349 in every place in which it Occurs. Those of the NeAV1 had not yet acquired the name, not to mention, that in Timothy's child hood, probably none of them existed. In what manner then could Timothy have knoAvn " from a child," the Jewish scriptures had he not been born, on one side or on both, of Jewish parentage ? Perhaps he was not less likely to be carefully instructed in them, for that his mother alone professed that religion. No. IV. Chap. ii. 22. " Flee also youthful lusts, "but follow righteousness, faith, charity, " peace with them that call on the Lord out " of a pure heart." " Flee also youthful lusts." The suitable ness of this precept to the age of the person to whom it is addressed, is gathered from 1 Tim. chap. iv. 12 ; " Let no man de- ',' spise thy youth." Nor do I deem the less of this coincidence, because the propriety resides in a single epithet ; or because this one precept is joined with, and folloAved by, a train of others, not more applicable to Timothy 350 : SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. Timothy than to any ordinary convert. It isan these transient and cursory allusioas that the argument is best founded. When a writer dwells and rests upon a point in which some coincidence is discerned, it may be doubted whether he himsejf had not fa»- bricated the conformity, and was endeavour ing to display and set it off. .-' But when'the reference is contained in a single word, un observed perhaps by most readers, the writer passing on to other subjects, as unconscious that he had hit upon a correspondency, or nnsolicitous whether it were remarked? or notj we may be pretty well assured that no fraud was exercised, no imposition in* tended. .. .No-Y- Chap. iii. 10, ,11. " But thou hast fully " known my doctrine, manner of life, pur- " pose, ., faith, long-suffering, charity, pa- " tience,, persecutions, afflictions, which "came, unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at ," Lystra.;. v/hat persecutions I endured: but " out of them all the Lord delivered me," The Antioch here mentioned .was not Antioch SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. S61 Antioch the capital of Syria, where Paul and Barnabas resided " a long time ; but Antioch in Pisidia, to Avhich place Paul and Barnabas came in their first apostolic pro gress, and where Paul delivered a memo rable discourse,Avhich is preserved in the thir teenth chapter of the Acts. At this Antioch the history relates, that " the JeAvs stirred " up the: devout and honourable Avomen, " and the, chief men of the city, and raised " persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and " expelled them out of their coasts. But " they shook off the dust of their feet against " them, and came unto Iconium .... And " it came to pass in Iconium, that they went " both together into the synagogue of the " Jews, and so spake that a great multitude " both of the Jews and also of the Greeks " believed ; but the unbelieving Jews stirred " up the Gentiles,, and made their minds " e\ril-affected, against the brethren. Long " time therefore abode they speaking boldly " in the Lord, which, gave testimony unto " the Avord of his grace, and granted signs "and Avondefsto be .done, by their hands. " But the multitude ofthe cjty Avas divided ; n an d ,S5S SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. " and pa,ft held with the Jews, and part " with the apostles. And when there was an " assault made both ofthe Gentiles and also " of the Jews, with their rulers, to use them " deipitefutty and to stone them, they were " aWareof it, and fled unto Lystra and Derbe, " cities of Lycaonia, and unto the region that " lieth roundabout, and there they preached " the gospel .... And there came thither " certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, " who persuaded the people, and having "stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, *' supposing he had been dead. Howbeit, " as the disciples stood round about him, he " rose rip and came into the city ; and the " riext day he departed with Barnabas to " Derbe: and when they had preached the " gospel in that city, and had taught many, " they returned again to Lystra, and to Ico- " nium, and to Antioch." This account comprises the period to which the allusion in the epistle is to be referred. We have so far therefore a conformity between the his tory and the epistle, that St. Paul is asserted in the history to have suffered persecutions in'the three cities, his persecutions at which are SECOND EPISTLE- TO i TIMOTHY* , 353 are. appealed to in the epistle; andt not only so, but to. have suffered these persecutions both in immediate succession, and in the order in which the cities are mentioned in the, epistle. The conformity also extends to another circumstance. n In the apostolic history Lystra and Derbe are commonly mentioned together: in the quotation frpm the epistle Lystra is mentioned, and not Derbe. And the distinction will appear on this occasion to be, accurate ; for St. Paul is here enumerating his persecutions: and^ah- though he underwent grievous persecutions in each of the three cities through Aylnch he passed to Derbe, at Der.be itself he met with none : ." The next day hie departed," says the historian, " to Derbe;, and when they had "preached the gospel to that city, and had " tanght in any, they returned again to Lys- " tra." The epistle, therefore, in the names of the cities,; in the order in which they are enumerated, .and in the place at which tlie enumeration stops, corresponds exactly with the history. But a second question remains, namely, how these persecutions were " known" to a a Timothy, 354 SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. Timothy, or why the apostle should reeal these in particular to his remembrance, ra*- ther than many other persecutions with. Which his ministry had been attended* When some time, probably three years, after- Wards (vide Pearson's Annales Paulinas*) St. Paul made a second journey through the, same country, " in order to go again and "'visit the brethren in every city Avhere he "had preached the word of the Lord," Ave read, Acts, chap. xvi. 1. that, " when " he came to Derbe and Lystra, behold a " certain disciple was there named Timo- *' theus." One or other therefore of these Cities was the place of Timothy's abode. We read moreover that he was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium ; so that he must have been well acquainted with these places. Also again, when Paul came to Derbe and Lystra, Ti mothy was already a disciple : " Behold a " certain disciple was there named Timo- " theus." He must therefore have been converted before. But since it is expressly stated in the epistle, that Timothy was con verted by St.. Paul himself, that he was " his ***.>' " OAvn SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. S55 " own son in the faith :" it follows that he must have been converted by him upon his former journey into those parts; which was the very time when the apostle underwent the persecutions referred to in the epistle. Upon the whole, then, persecutions at the several cities named in the epistle are ex pressly recorded in the Acts ; and Timo thy's knowledge of this part of St. Paul's history, Avhich knoAvledge is appealed to in the epistle, is fairly deduced from the place of his abode, and the time of his conver sion. It may further be observed, that it is probable from this account, that St. Paul was in the midst of these persecutions when Timothy became knoAvn to him. No wonj der then that the apostle, though in a letter" written long afterwards, should remind his favourite convert of those scenes of afflic tion and distress under Avhich they first met. Although this coincidence, as to the names of the cities, be more specific and di-> rect than many which we have pointed out, yet I apprehend there is no just reason for thinking it to be artificial ; for had the writer of the epistle sought a coincidence A a & »* with 356 SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. with the history upon this head, and searched the Acts of the Apostles for the purpose, I conceive he Avouid have sent us at once to Philippi and Thessalonica, Avhere Paul suffered persecution, and where from what is stated, it may easily be gathered that Timothy accompanied him, rather than have appealed to persecutions as known to Timothy, in the account of Avhich persecu tions Timothy's presence is not mentioned; it not being till after one entire chapter, arid in the history of a journey three years fu ture to this, that Timothy's name occurs in the Acts of the Apostles for the first time. CHAP. 357 CHAP. XIII. THE EPISTLE TO TITUS. No. I. -A. VjERY characteristic circumstance in this Epistle, is the quotation from Epime- nides, chap. i. 12 : " One of themselves, *¦* even a prophet of their own, said, the " Cretans are always liars, eA'il beasts, slow ** bellies," 'Kjujres aei ^evo-rxi, xaxu 'tyi'tt, yanrepeg a\yai. 1 call this quotation characteristic, be cause no Avriter in the New Testament, ex cept St. Paul, appealed to heathen testi mony ; and because St. Paul repeatedly did so. In his celebrated speech at Athens, preserved in the seventeenth chapter of the Acts, he tells his audience, that " in God " we live, and move, and have our being; "as certain also of your own poets have " said, for we are also his offspring." — -ts yap xxi yevog eo-(j.ev. » The 358 - EPISTLE TO TITUS, The reader*$ft! perceive much similarity pf manner in these tAvo passages. The re ference in the speech is to a heathen poet; it is the same in the epistle. In the speech the apostle urges his hearers with the authority of a poet of their own; in the epistle he avails himself of the same advantage. Yet there is a variation, which shows that the hint of in serting a quotation in the epistle Avas not, as it may be suspected, borrowed from seeing the like practice attributed to St. Paul in the history ; and it is this, that in the epistle the author cited is called a prophet, " one of *' themselves, even a prophet of their own." Whatever might be the reason for calling 4 Epimenides a. prophet ; Avhether the names pf poet and prophet were occasionally con vertible ; whether Epimenides in particular had obtained that title, as Grotius seems to have proved; or whether the appellation was given to him, in this instance, as hav ing delivered a description of the Cretan character, Avhich the future state of morals among them verified; whatever Avas the reason (and any of these reasons will ac- pount for the variation, supposing St. Paul ' to EPISTLE TO TITUS. 3&Q to have been the author), one point is plain, namely, if the epistje had bepn forged, and the author had inserted a quotation in it merely from having seen an example of the same kind in a speeph ascribed to St. Paul, he would so far haA'e imitated his original, as to have introduced his quotation, in the same manner, that is, hp would have given to Epimenides the title Avhich he saAv there given to Aratus. The other side of the- al ternative is, that the history tqpk the hinj: from the epistle. But that the author o£ the Acts of the Apostles had not the epistkj to Titus before him, at least that he did nojs use it as one pf the documents pr materials of his narrative is rendered nearly certain by the observation that the name of Titus does not once occur in his book. It is well known, and was remarked by St., Jerome, that the apophthegm inthefiftejenth chapter of the Corinthians, " evjl coxnmu- nicatpons corrupt good manners," is an Iambic of Menander's : •SSf^i^tv w0i$ %W?P' i[iiXiai nanai. Here Ave have another .unaffected instance of the same turn aiid, habit of composition. Probably 360 EPISTLE TO TITUS. Probably there are some hitherto unnoticed ; and more, which the- loss of the original authors render impossible to be now Ascer tained. ;> '"•'; 5 ; ' No. II. There exists a visible affinity between the Epistle to Titus and the First Epistle to Ti mothy. Both letters Avere addressed to*persdns left by the writer to preside in their respec tive churches during his absence. Both letters are principally occupied in describing the qualifications to be sought for, in those whom they should appoint to offices in the church ; and the ingredients of this descrip tion are in both letters nearly the same. Timothy and Titus are likewise cautioned against the same prevailingeorruptions,- and, in particular, against the same misdirection of their cares and Studies. This affinity obtains, not only in the subject of the let ters, which, from the similarity of situation in the persons to Avhom they were ad dressed, might be expected' to be somewhat alike, but extends, in a great variety of in^ stances, to the phrases and expressions, The writer accosts his two friends with the sattle salvia EPISTLE TO TITUS. . S6l salutation, and passes on to the business of his letter by the same transition. " Unto Timothy, my own son in the "faith, grace, mercy, and peace from God *' our Father, and Jesus Christ our Lord : " as I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, " when I went into Macedonia,'" &c. 1 Tim. chap. i. 2, 3. " To Titus, mine own ' son after the com- *' mon faith, grace, mercy, and peace from " God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ " our Saviour; for this cause left I thee in -" Crete."* i Tit. chap. i. 4, 5. If Timothy was " not to give heed to f( fables and endless genealogies, which mi- " nister questions," lTim. chap. 1. 4, ; Titus •also Avas to " avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions," (chap. iii. 9) ; f' and was to rebuke them sharply, not "i giving heed to Jewish fables," (chap. i. 14), If Timothy - was to bes a pattern (rvirog), 1 Tim. chap, iv, 12; so was Titus, (chap. ii. 7)- If Timothy Avas to " let no man despise his youth," 1 Tim. chap. iv. 12; Titus also Avas to " let *' no man despise him," ((chap, ii. lp). .*Li This 362 EPISTiE TO TITUS. This verbal consent is also observable in some very peculiar expressions, Avhich have no relation to the particular character of Timothy or Titus. The phrase, " it is a faithful saying/' (%io-rog i loyog), made use of to preface some sentence upon which the writer lays a more than ordinary stress, occurs three times in the First Epistle to Timothy, once in the Second, and once in the epistle before us, and in no other part of St. Paul's writ ings ; and it is remarkable that these three epistles were probably all written towards the conclusion of his life ; and that they are the only epistles which were written after bis first imprisonment at Rome. The same observation belongs to another singularity of expression, and that is in the epithet " sound," (vytmvuv), as applied to words or doctrine. It is thus used, tjvice in the First Epistle to Timothy, tAvice in the Second, and three times in the Epistle to Titus, beside two cognate expressions, •iyiaivovrccg r^ittarei and hoyov iyivi, and it is found, in the same sense, in no other part of the Ncav Testament, The EPISTLE TO TITUS. 36.1 The phrase " God our Saviour" stands in nearly the same predicament. It is repeated three times in the First Epistle to Timothy, as many in the Epistle to Titus, and in no other book of the New Testament occurs at all, except once in the Epistle of Jude. Similar terms, intermixed indeed Avith others, are employed, in the two Epistles, in enumerating the qualifications required in those who should be advanced to stations pf authority in the church. " A bishop must be blameless, the husband " of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good be- *' haviour, given to hospitality; apt to teach, '* not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of M filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, ?' not covetous, one that ruleth well his *' own house, having his children in sub- f' jection with all gravity*." 1 Tim. chap. jii. 2 — 4. " If any be blameless, the husband of one *' wife, having faithful children, not accused * " t\u 8v Tot eittTxo'Kot atetst'kvitTot tttxt, pixs yvtatxts atSpx, yifyx\tot, trutppota, xr>o-/j.tot, M vit-vxrvt, /j.v aio~%jpoxepSn' «M' eirtetxii, a/jaypt, atyiKxpyvpot ; T8 fan otxa k*>ws 'Hr%o'if«fMtw, moot i^er* it Srmrtvyy peT* nsxtrns nu.wtvnu' •fU.iJH- *, ; -n ? of 361 EPISTLE TO TITUS. " of :riot, or unruly ; for a bishop must be " blameless as the steward of , God, not splf- " Avilled, not soon angry, not given to wine,. " nojlriker, not given to filthy lucre, but a- " lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, " sober,, just, holy, .temperate*." Titus, chap. i. 6r— 8. < . > . » The most natural account Avhich can be given of these resemblances,., is to suppose that the two epistles were Avritten nearly, at the same time, and whilst the same ideas and phrases dwelt in the Avriter's mind. Let us enquire therefore, whether. the notes of time, extant in the two epistles, in any manner favour, this supposition. We have seen that it Avas necessary to refer the First Epistle to, Timothy to a date subse quent to St. Paul's first imprisonment at Rome, because there was no journey into Macedonia prior to that event, which ac corded Avith the circumstance of leaving " Timothyi behind at Ephesus,." i The jour- * "-Ei tis e?tt xteyxMns, pnxs yvtxixos anp], Textx ey^ut irtrx, y.rt et .IxxTyyapiai airuTixs,. ,u .xtviroTxxrx, Att yag Tot. epttixamw ateyxhriTot ettxt, us Qepv otxotoy,ot, j/n av9xtin, ytf opytXot, lu, wxpoitot, fj.if irKyxTyy, fj.n ato-^oxegSn' xi&a $>iAo|s»ov,, " e e that, 3|0 EBLSTLE 'TO PHILEMQET. that, >inti;uth, Onesimns was, sent at, that time, to Cp|os$§: ';' All my state shall Ty-> '4tchicus declare, whom ,1, have seqt unto "^on for the same purpose, ,wkh Onesimus, *\ a faithfu;! and beloved brother/' , Colos. chap. iv. 7—9- ly.2.. ¥- 1 beseech thee fprmy spn Onesimqs, "r-^houi I haqe begotten in. my bonds," (ver. V$kl It appears from the preceding quota tion, th0 Onesimus was with St, Paul when he Avrote the Epistle to, the Colossians; and tha^ bewipte that e\)ist}$.jnjmprisonmmt is evident from his declaration in the fourth chapter and third verse ; " Praying also for " us, that God Avould open unto us a door " of utterance, to speak the mystery of " Christ, for which I am also in bonds." 3. St. Paul bids Philemon prepare for him a lodging: -" Fori trust," says he," that, "j^hipugh ypur prayers, I shall be, gh/en " unto you." This agrees, with the expec- tatipn of speedy deliverance, which lie ex^ pressed in another epistle Avritten during the same imprisonment" Him," (Timo thy) " I hope to send presently, sp soon as "I shall see 4hoy it AviU go^ with me ; tbui £ " trust EPTSTLE TO PHiLEMOl*. 3?1 "trust in the Lord that I also my&lf shall come n shortly." Phil, chap. ii. 23, 24. 4. As the letter to Philemon, and that to the Colossians, were Avritten at the same time, and Sent by the same rhesserigei', the one to a particular inhabitant, the other to the church of Colosse, it may be expected that the same, or nearly the sarrie, persons would be' about St. Paul, and join with Mrifr, ris was the practice, in the salutations Ofthe epistle. Accordingly we find the names of Aristarchus, Marcus, Epaphras, Luke, an& Demris, in both epistles. Timothy, who is joined with St. Paul in the superscription of the Epistle to the ColoSsians, is joined wfth him in this. Tychicus did not saliitfe Pfai- lemori;' because he accompanied the epistle to Colosse, and Avould undoubtedly there see him. Yet the reader of the Epistle to Philemon will remark one considerable di versity in the catalogue of Saluting friends, and AVhich sIioavs that the catalogue was not copied from that to the Colossians. ' Th the Epistle to the Colossians, Aristarchus is called by St. Paul his felloAv-prisoner, Colos. chap. iv. 10.; in the Epistle to Philemon, Aris* BBS tarchus 372 EPISTLE TO PHILEMON, tarchus is mentioned Avithout any addition, and the title of fellow-prisoner is given to Epaphras?. ,; ,. And let it also be^observed, that notwithr standing .the close and circumstantial agree ment betAveen the two epistles, , this, is npt the case pf an opening left in a genuine writing, which an impostor is induced to fill up ;;. nor of a reference to some writing not «iSta>nt, which sefs a sophist at work to sup ply tb^:lQss1» in like manner! as, because -St. Paul-was supposed, Colos. chap. iv. 16, to allude to an epistle written by him to the La-odiceans, some person has from thence taken the hint of uttering a forgery under that title. The present, I say, is not tha$ ease; for Philemon's name is not mentioned in the Epistle to, the Colossians ;; Onesimus' servile condition is no where hinted at, any * Dr. Benson observes, and perhaps trcily, that thfe appellation of fellow-prisoner, as applied by St. Paul to Epaphras, did not imply that they were imprisoned to gether ,at the time ; any more than your calling, a person your fellow-traveller, imports that you are then upon your travels'. If he had, upon airy former occasion, tra velled with you, you might. afterwards speak of birri under that title. It is just so witty the^ term fellow-prisoner, j 6. ,yr v more EPISTLE TO PHILEMON. §?% smore* than 'his Crime, his flight, or the place or time of his conversion. The story therefore of the epistle, if it be a fiction, is a fictiori towhicn the author Could not have been guided, by any thing he had read iri St. Paul's genuine writings. No. III. Ver. 4, 5. " I thank my God, making 4t mention of thee ahvays in my prayef s '; " hearing of thy love and faith/which thou " hast toward the Lord Jesus, and toward «* all saints." "¦Hearing of thy love and faith." .This is ihe form of speech which St. Paul Avas Avorit to use toAvards those churches which he had n6t seen, "-or then visited ; see Rom. chap. i. 8; Ephes. chap; i. 15; Col. chap. i. 3, 4". Toward those churches and persons, with whom he was previously acquainted, he elhployed '" a "different phrase';1 as, " I "thank my God ahva}'s on your behalf/ J Cor. chap. i. 4; 2 Thess. chap, i. 3; ¦&i,<" upon every remembrance of you/' Phf1?ch*p.'j.-:'S,^1f'i-ThdJS.' clkp. i, 2, 3; IW,::' 2 Tim. 3f4 EMSTfcE TO PHILEMON'. % Tim. chap. i. 3 : and never speaks of hearing of them. Yet, I think, it must be concluded, from the nineteenth verse of this epistle, that Philemon had been converted by St. Paul himself ; " Albeit, I do not say to " thee, how thou , owest unto me even thine V own self besides." Here then is a peculiarity. Let us enquire whether, the epistle supplies any circumstance which will account for it. We have seen that it may foe made *out, not from the epistle itself, but from a comparison of the epistle with that to the Colossians, that Philemon was an inhabitant of Colosse; and it further appears,' from the Epistle to the Co lossians, that St. Paul had mever been in that city ; " I would that ye knew what great con-? " flict I have for you and for them at Laodi- " cea, and for as many as have not seen " my face in the flesh. Col. ch. ii. 1. Al though, therefore, St. Paul had formerly met with Philemon at some other place, and had been the immediate instrument of his con version, yet Philemon's faith and conduct afterwards, inasmuch as he lived in a city which St; Paul had never visited, could only be known to him by fame and reputation. No. IV. EPISTLE TO PHILEMON". No. IV. The tenderness and delicacy of this epistle have been long admired : " Though I might " be much bold in Christ to enjoin thee that " Avhich is convenient, yet for love's sake "I rather beseech thee, being such a one as " Pauhthe aged, and now also a prisoner of " Jesus Christ. I beseech thee for my son " Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my " bonds." There is something certainly very melting and persuasive in this, and every part of the epistle. Yet, in my opinion, the character of St. Paul prevails in if throughout. The Avarm, affectionate, au thoritative teacher is interceding with an absent friend for a beloved convert. He urges his suit Avith an earnestness, befitting perhaps not so much the occasion, as the ar dour and sensibility of his own mind. Here also, as every where, he shows himself con scious of the Aveight and dignity of his mis sion ;*nor does he suffer Philemon for a mo ment to forget it: "I might be much bold " in Christ to enjoin thee that which is 3-7-6 EPISTLE TO PHILEMON. "convenient." He is careful also to recall, though obliquely, to Philemon's memory, the sacred obligation under Avhich he had laid him, by bringing to him the knowledge of Jesus Christ ; " I do not say to thee, how *'¦ thou OA^est to me even thine ' own self "besides." Without laying aside, there fore, Ibe apostolic character, our author sof tens the, imperative 'style of his- address, by mixing Avith it every sentiment and 'consi deration -that could move. the heart of his correspondent. Aged and in prison, he is content to supplicate and entreat. Onesi mus was rendered dear to him by his con version and his services; the child of his affliction, and " ministering untp him in the "Jponds of the gospel." This ought to re commend h,im, whatever had been his fault, to Philemon's forgiveness: ¦ " Receive him as " myself, as my own bowels/' Every thing, however, should be voluntary. St. Paul was determined that Philemon's compliance should floAv from his own bounty : " With- •' out thy mind Avould I do nothing, that " thy benefit should not be as it were of " necessity, but willingly ; trusting never- it_yvv theless EPISTLE TO PHILEMON. 377 theless to his gratitude and attachment for the performance of all that he requested, and for more : " Having confidence in thy *' obedience, I Avrote unto thee, knowing " that thou wilt also do more than I say." St. Paul's discourse at Miletus ; his speech before Agrippa ; his Epistle to the Romans, as hath been remarked (No. VIII ) ; that to the Galatians, chap. iv. 11 — 20; to the Phi lippians, chap. i. 29 — ch. ii. 2 ; the Second to the Corinthians, chap. vi. 1 — 13 ; and indeed some part or other of almost every epistle exhibits examples of a similar ap plication to the feelings and affections ofthe persons whom he addresses. And it is ob servable, that these pathetic effusions, drawn for the most part from his OAvn sufferings and situation, usually precede a command, soften a rebuke, or mitigate the harshness of some disagreeable truth. CHAP. 378 CHAP. XV. THE SUBSCRIPTIONS OF THE EPISTLES. fe>IX of these subscriptiojis are felse or im probable; that is, they are either abso lutely contradicted by the contents of the epistle, or are difficult to be reconciled Avith them. I. The subscription of the First Epistle to the Corinthians states that it was Avritten from Philippi, notwithstanding that, in the sixteenth chapter and the eight verse of the epistle, St, Paul informs the Corinthians, that he Avill " tarry at Ephesus until Pentc- " cost;" and notwithstanding that he begins the salutations in the epistle, by telling them " the churches of Asia salute you ;" a pretty evident indication that he himself was in Asia at this time. II. The Epistle to the Galatians is by the subscription dated from Rome; yet, in the epistle itself, St. Paul expresses his surprise " that SUBSCRIPTIONS OP THE EPISTLES. 379 " that they were so soon removing from him " that called them ;" Avhereas his journey to Rome was ten years posterior to the conver sion of the Galatians. And what, I think, is more conclusive, the author, though speaking of himself in this.more than any other epistle, does not -once mention his bonds, or call himself a prisoner ; which he had not failed to do in every one of the four epistles written from that city, and during that imprisonment. »tq « III.The First Epistle to the Thessalonians was Avritten, the subscription tells us, from Athens ; yet the epistle refers expressly to the coming of Timotheus from Thessalo-^ nica (ch. iii. 6) : and the history informs us, Acts xviii. 5, that Timothy came out of .'Macedonia to St. Paul at Corinth. 3i.IV. The Second Epistle to the Thessalo nians is dated, and Avithout anydiscover- afele reason, from Athens also. If it bo* truly the second;, if it refer, as it appears to do, (ch. ii. 2,) to the first, and the (first was written from Corinth, the place must bel erroneously assigned, for the history does pot allow us to suppose? tfJatiiSt. Paul after. he 380 SUBSCRIPTIONS OF THE EPISTLES. he had reached Corinth, Avent back to Athens. V. The First Epistle to Timothy the sub scription asserts to have been sent from Lao dicea; yet, when St. Paul Avrites, " I be- " sought thee to abide still at Ephesus, " ftopevopevog eig MuxeSovictv (when I set out " for Macedonia,)" the reader is naturally led to conclude, that he Avrote the letter upon his arrival in that country. VI. The Epistle to Titus is dated from Nicopolis in Macedonia), whilst no city of that name is known to have existed in that province. The use, and the only use, Avhich I make of these observations, is to show, how easily errors and contradictions steal in where the writer is not guided by original knowledge. There are only eleven distinct assignments of date to St. Paul's Epistles (for the four written from Rome may be considered as plainly cotemporary); and of these, six seem to be erroneous. I. do not attribute any authority to these subscriptions. I believe- them to have been conjectures founded sometimes upon loose traditions, but more ' gene- SUBSCRIPTIONS QE THE, EPISTLES* 381 generally upon a consideration of some par ticular text, without sufficiently comparing it^with, other parts of the epistle, with diffe rent epistles, pr with the history. Suppo'se. then^fhat the subscriptions had come down tons as authentic, parts of the epistles* there Avould have been more contrarieties and dif ficulties arising out of these final verses, than from. all the rest of the volume. Yet, if the epistles had been forged, the whole must haye been made up ofthe same elements as those of Avhich the subscriptions are com posed, viz. tradition, conjecture, and infer ence : and it would have remained , to be accounted for, hoAv, whilst so many errprs Avere crowded into the concluding clauses of the letters, so much consistency shpuld be preserved in other parts. ,fnv The same reflection arises. from observing the oversights and mistakes which learned men have committed, when arguing upon allusions which relate to time and place, ,or Avhen endeavouring tp digest scattered .cir cumstances into a continued story. n It is indeed the, .same case ; , for these subscrip- tiqns must be regarded as ancient scholia, and 382 strBscEiptiONsi of The epistlEsy and as nothing more. Of this liability to ef- ror I can present the reader with a notable instance ; and Avhich I bring forward -for no other purpose than that to which I apply the erroneous subscriptions. Ludovieris Capellus, in that part of his HistOfia Apos- tolica Illustrata, Which is entitled De Ordine, Epist. Paid, writing upon the Second Epistle 10 the Corinthians, triumphs unmercifully" over the want of sagacity in Baronius, Avho* it seems, makes St. Paul write his Epistle to Titus from Mafcedonia upon his second visit into that province ; whereas it appears from the history, That "Titus, instead of being in Crete Avhere the epistle places him, Avas at that time sent by the apostle from Ma cedonia to Corinth. " Ahirhadvertere est." says Capellus, " magnam liominis illius •* xeti-ptav, qui vult Titum a Paulo in Cre- " tamabductum.illicque relictum; cum inde " Nicopolim navigaret, quern tamen agnos- " cit a Paulo ex Macedonia rriisslim esseCo- " rinthum." This probably will be thought a detection of inconsistency iri BaroniuS. But what is the most remarkable, is* that in the same chapter in Avhich he thus iri* dulges SUBSCRIPTIONS OF *HE EPISTLES, 38^ dulges his: contempt of Baronius's judg ment, Capellus himself falls into an error of tbe same kind* and more gross and palpable t^ian .that Avhich he reproves. For he be gins the chapter by stating the Second Epis tle to the Corinthians and the First Epistle tq, Timothy to be nearly cotemporary; to? have, been both written during the apostle's second visit into Macedonia ; and that a doubt subsisted concerning the immediate priority of their dates ,;•" Posterior ad eosdemv 'f Corinthios EpisfoJa, es Frio* ad Timo- " theum certant de prioritate, et sub judices " lis est; utraque autem scripta est paulo '? postquam Paulus Epheso discessisset, *'; a;deoque dum Macedonian! peragraret, sedt '* iltTatemppre praecedat, non liquet." Now, in, the first place, it is highly improbable that>thfi two epistles should have been writ- ^n, either nearly together, or during th© same journey .through f Macedonia ; for in* the Epistle to the Corinthians, Timothy ap pears to have been fpdth St. Paul ; in the epistle addressed to him, to ;have been left bghindat Ephesus, and not only left behind, tjHt directed to continue there, till St.. Paul should iui> 40* «ITMM»1"1M0N9 OF THE EPKTISS. should return to that city. In the second * place, it is inconceivable, tbsafl; a 'question should be proposed concerning the^priority jof date of the two epistles ; for,*when St. *Paul,in his Epistle to.Timothy, opens his address to him by saying, " as: I besought " thee to abide still at Ephesus when I went " into Macedonia," no reader can doubt but that he here refers to the last interview which had passed between them ; that he had not seen him' since ; whereas if the epistle be posterior to that to the Corin thians, yet written upon the same visit into Macedonia, this could not be true ; for as Timothy was along Avith St. Paul when he Avrote to the Corinthians, he must, upon this supposition, have passed over to St. Paul in Macedonia after he had been left by him at Ephesus, and must have returned to Ephesus again before the epistle was written. What misled Ludovi- cus Capellus was simply this, that he had entirely overlooked Timothy's name in the superscription of the Second Episde to the ' Corinthians. Which oversight appears not only in the quotation which we have given, but « SUBSCRIPTIONS OF THE EPISTLES. 385 but from his telling us, as he does, that Timothy came from Ephesus to St. Paul at Corinth, whereas the superscription proves that Timothy was already with St. Paul when he Avrote to the Corinthians from Macedonia. C C CHAP. 386* CHAP. XVI. THE CONCLUSION. Jin the outset of this enquiry, the reader was directed to consider the Acts of the Apostles and the thirteen Epistles of St. Paul as certain ancient manuscripts lately discovered in the closet of some celebrated library. We haie adhered to this view of the subject. External evidence of every kind . has been removed out of sight; and our en deavours have been employed to collect the . indications of truth and authenticity, Avhich appeared to exist in the Avritings themselves, j and to result from a comparison of their dif- , ferent parts. It is not hoAvever necessary to continue this supposition longer. The testi-, 1110113' Avhich other remains of cotemporary, or the monuments of adjoining ages afford. to the reception, notoriety, and public esti mation of a book, form no doubt the first proof of its genuineness.. Arid in no books whatever, is this proof more complete, than r , : - ;. in CONCLUSION. 387 in those at present under our consideration. The enquiries of learned men, and, above all of the excellent Lardner, who never overstates a point of evidence, and whose fidelity in citing his authorities has in no one instance been impeached, have esta-» blished, concerning these writings, the fol- loAving propositions : I. That in the age immediately posterior to that in which St. Paul lived, his letters Avere publicly read and ackriowledged. Some of them are quoted or alluded to by almost every Christian writer that fol lowed, by Clement of Rome, by Hermas, by Ignatius, by Polycarp, disciples or co- temporaries ofthe apostles ; by Justin Mar tyr, by the churches of Gaul, by Iremeus, by Athenagoras, by Theophilus, by Cle-^ ment of Alexandria, by Hermias, by Ter tullian, who occupied the succeeding age. Noav Avhen Ave find a book quoted or re ferred to by an ancient author, we are en titled to conclude/ that it was read and re- ceived in the age and country in which that author lived. And this conclusion does not, inuafiy degree, rest upon the judgment or c c 2 character 58-8 CONCLUSION. character of the author making such refe rence. Proceeding by this rule, Ave have, concerning the First Epistle to the Corin thians in. particular, Avithin forty years after the epistle was written, evidence, not only of its being extant at Corinth, but of its being known and read at Rome. Clement, bishop of that city, Avriting to the church of Corinth1, uses these Avords': " Take into " your hands the Epistle ofthe blessed Paul " the apostle. What did he at first Avrite " unto you in the beginning of the gospel ? " Verily he did by the Spirit admonish you ''-concerning himself and Cephas, and Apol- ¦" los, because that even then you did form "parties*." This Avas written at a time when probably some must have been living at Corinth, av ho remembered St. Paul's mi nistry there and the receipt of the epistle. The testimony is still more valuable, as..it shoAvs that the epistles Avere preserved in the churches to Avhich they Avere sent, and that they were spread and propagated from them to the rest of the Christian commu nity. Agreeably to which natural mode * See Lardner, vol. xii. p. 29, and CONCLUSION. Then he goes on : " Is Achaia near you ? You haveCorinth. " If you are not far from Macedonia,' you " have Philippi, yon have Thessalonica! If " you can go to Asia, you have Ephesus ; "but if you are near to Italy, you have " Rome*." I adduce this, passage toshoAv, that the distinct churches or Christian so cieties, to which St, Paul's Epistles Avere sent, subsisted for some ages afterwards; that his several epistles Avere all along re spectively read in those churches; that Chris tians at large received them from those churches, and appealed to, those churches for their originality and authenticity. , ; Arguing innlike manner from citations and allusions,! we have, within, the space of a hundred and fifty years from the time * Lardner, vol. ii. p. 598. that 390 CONCLUSION. that the first of St. Paul's Epistles was Avrit ten, proofs of almost all of them being read, in Palestine, Syria, the countries of Asia Minor, in Egypt, in that part of Africa which used the Latin tongue, in Greece, Italy, and Gaul*. I do nPt mean simply to assert, that, within the space of a hun dred and fifty years, St. Paul's Epistles Avere read in those countries, for I believe that they were read and circulated from the be ginning • but that proofs of their being so read occur within that period. And Avhen it is considered how feAv of the primitive Christians wrote, and of what was Avritten how much is lost, Ave are to account it ex traordinary, or rather as a sure proof of the extensiveness of the reputation of these writings, and of the general respect in which they Avere held, that so many testi monies, and of such antiquity, are still ex tant. " In the remaining works of Ire- " naeus, Clement of Alexandria, and Ter- " tullian, there are perhaps more and " larger quotations of the small volume of " the New Testament, than of all the works * See Lardner's Recapitulation, vol. xii. p. 53. T " of CONCLUSION. Sy4 " of Cicero, in the writings of all characters "for several ages*." We must add, tba^ the Epistles of Paul come in for their full share of this observation ; and that all tjie thirteen epistles, except that to Philemon, which is not quoted by Irenaeus or Cle ment, and -which probably escaped notice merely by its brevity, are severally cited, and expressly recognized as St. Paul's by each of these Christian Avriters. The Ebir onites, an early, though inconsiderable Christian sect, rejected St. Paul and his epistles ^; that is, they rejected these epis tles, not because they Avere not, but because they Avere St. Paul's ; and because, adheiv ing to the obligation of ^he Jewish law, they. chose to dispute his. doctrine and au thority. Their suffrage as. to the genuine ness of the epistles does, not contradict that of other Christians. Marcion, an heretical writer in the former part of the second cen tury, is said by Tertullian to have rejected three of the epistles .Avhich we, now receive, viz. the two Epistles to Timothy and the * Sec Lardner's Recapitulation, vo!. xii. p, A3, t Lardner, vol. ii". p. 8QS.t Epistle 393, CONCLUSION. Epistle to Titus. It appears to me not irh-. probable, that Marcion might make some such distinction as this, that no apostolic epistle was to be admitted Avhich Avas not read or attested by the church to Avhich it was sent ; for it is remarkable that, together with these epistles to private persons, he re jected also the catholic epistles. Now the catholic epistles and the epistles to private persons agree in the circumstance of Avant- ing this particular species of attestation. Marcion, it seems, acknoAvledged the Epis tle to Philemon, and is upbraided for his inconsistency in doing so by Tertullian*, Avho asks " why, when he received a letter " Avritten to a single person, he should re- " fuse two to Timothy and one to Titus " composed upon the affairs ofthe church?" This passage so far favours our account of Marcion's objection, as it shows that the objection was supposed by Tertullian to have been founded in something, Avhich be longed to the nature of a private letter. Nothing of the works of Marcion re mains. Probably he was, after all, a rash, * Lardner, vol. xiv. p. 455. arbitrary, CONCLUSION. 303 arbitrary, licentious" critic (if he deserved indeed the name of critic), and Avho offered no reason for his determination. What St. Jerome says of him intimates this, and is beside founded in good sense : speaking of him and Basilides, " If they had assigned '4 any reasons," says he, " why they did not " reckon these epistles," viz. the first and second to Timothy and the Epistle to Titus, "to be the apostle's, we would have endea- " voured to have answered them, and per- " haps might have satisfied the reader: but " when they take upon them, by their own " authority, to pronounce one epistle to be " Paul's, and another not, they can only " be replied to in the same manner*." Let it be remembered, however, that Marcion received ten of these espitles. His autho rity therefore, even if his credit had been better than it is, forms a very small excep tion to the uniformity of the evidence. Of Basilides We knoAv still less than we do of Marcion. The same observation however belongs to him, viz. that his objection, as * Lardner, vol. xiv. p- 45£. far 3§4 CON0ttf&ION. fer as appears from this passage of St. Je rome, Avas confined to the three* private* epistles. Yet is this the only opinion .which can be said to disturb the consent of the two first centuries of the Christian aera; for as to Tatian, who is reported by Jerome alone to have rejected some of St. Paul's Epistlfesy the extravagant or rather delirious notions into Avhich he fell, take away all weigh* and credit from his judgment. If, /in deed, Jerome's account of this circumstance be correct; for it appears from much older writers than' Jerome, that Tatian owned and used many of these espistles *. II. They, who in those ages disputed about so many other points, agreed in ac-* knowledging the Scriptures now before us* Contending sects appealed1 to them in their controversies ' with equal and unreserved submission. When they Avere urged, by one side, however they might be initerpreted or- misinterpreted by the other, their authority was not questioned, " Reliqui omnes/Vsaysi IrenaeuS,' speaking Of Marcion, " falso sei^ " entiae nomine; inflati, scripturas quidem * Lardner, vol. i. p. 313. K- -W " confi- CONCLUSION. 395 ** confitentur, interpretationes vero con-* "wertunt*." <-, III. When the genuineness of some other writings which were in circulation, and even of a few which are now received into the canon, was contested, these were never called into dispute. Whatever was the ob jection, or whether, in truth,' there ever Was* any real objection to the authenticity of the{Second Epistle of Peter, the Second and "Third of John, the Epistle of James, or that of Jude, or to the book of the Re-* relations of St. John, the doubts that ap pear to have been entertained concerning them, exceedingly strengthen the force of the testimony as to those Avritings, about Which there was no doubt ; because it shows, that the matter Avas a subject, amongst the early Christians, of examination and dis cussion ;f and < that, where there Avas any. roorri to doubt, they did doubt, ' *What Eusebius hath left upon the sub ject is' directly fee the puilpose of this obser vation. Eusebius, it is Avell -known, dk- * Ireh. advers. User, quoted ' by hAidaet, vol. xv. p. 425. , | -» .4prt.\ vided 396 coNCLUsroN. vided the ecclesiastical writings' which -were extant in his time into three classes; tlie uavavrtp"pvtra) uncontradicted/' as he calls them in one chapter ; or " Scriptures uni- " versally acknowledged/' as he calls them in another; the "controverted, yet welt " knoAvn and approved by! inany/'fM..i»;.:hJ#;', ports 409 CONCLUSION. ports and stories, which were current at the time, Ave may observe that, Avith respect to i the Epistles, this is impossible. A man can- j not write the history of his own life .from.: reports ; nor, what is the same thing, bd led by reports to refer to passages and transac tions in which he states himself toha»0 been immediately present and active. I do not allow that this insinuation is applied to the historical part of the New Testament with any colour of justice or .probability;. but I say, that to the Epistles it is not ap plicable at all. III. These letters proA^e that the converts to Christianity Avere not drawn from the barbarous, the mean, or the ignorant set of men, which the representations of infidelity would sometimes make them. Wo learn from letters- the character not only of the writer, but, in some measure, of the persons to whom -s they are written. To suppose that these letters were addressed to a rude tribe, incapable of thought or reflection, is just as reasonable as to suppose Locke's Essay on the Human Understanding tohave beeq written for the instruction of savages. Whatever CONCLUSION. 409 Whatever may be thought of these letters in other respects, either of diction or argu ment, they are certainly removed as far as possible from the habits and comprehension of a barbarous people. IV. St. Paul's history, I mean so much of it as may be collected from his letters, is so implicated with that of the Other apostles, and Avith the substance indeed ofthe Chris tian history itself, that I apprehend it will be found impossible to admit St. Paul's story (I do not speak of the miraculous part of it) to be true, and yet to reject the rest as fabu lous. Eor instance, can any one believe that there was such a man as Paul, a preacher of * Christianity in the age which we assign to him, and not believe that there were also at the same time such men as Peter and James, and other apostles, Avho had been compa nions of Christ during his life, and who after his death published and avoAved the same things concerning him which Paul taught? Judea, and especially Jerusalem, Avas the scene of Christ's ministry. The witnesses of his miracles lived there, ^t St. JParf, by his own account, as Well as that '¦t^-j-yi , of 410 CONCLUSION. of his historian, appears tO'hrtVe frequently visited that city ; to have carried on a com munication with the church there; to have associated Avith the rulers and elders of that church, Avho Avere some "of them apostles : to have acted, as occasions offered, -in cor respondence, and sometimes in conjunction with them. Can it,- after this, be doubted, but that the religion and the general facts relating to it, Avhich St. Paul appears by his letters to have delivered to the several churches which he established at a distance, were at the same time taught and published at Jerusalem itself, the place Avhere the bu siness was transacted ; and taught and pub lished by those who had attended the founder of the institution in his miraculous, or pre- tendedly miraculous, ministry? ;»j!n*i&9 iu& It is observable, for so it appears both in the Epistles and from the Acts of the Apo stles, that Jerusalem, and the society of be lievers in that citv,lonubts,3and -to ',meiou Avhosc CONCLUSION. 411 whose relief, in times of public distress, they remitted their charitable assistance. This observation I think material, because it proves that this Avas not the case of giving our accounts in one country of what is transacted in another, without affording the hearers an opportunity of knoAving Avhether the things related Avere credited by any, or even published, in the place where they are reported to have passed. V- St. Paul's letters furnish evidence (and what better evidence than a man's OAvn let ters can be desired ?) of the soundness and sobriety of his judgment. His caution in distinguishing between the occasional sug gestions of inspiration, and the ordinary ex ercise of his natural understanding, is with out example in the history of human enthu* siasm. His morality is every where calm, pure, and rational : adapted to the condition, the activity, and the business of social life, and of its various relations; free from the over-scrupulousness and austerities of super stition, and from, vvhat Avas more perhaps to be apprehended, the abstractions of quietism, and; the soarings and extravagancies of fana ticism. 4&2 CONCLUSION. ticism. His judgment concerning' a hesi tating conscience ; his opinion of the moral indifferency of many actions, yet of the pru dence and even the duty of compliaooe, where non-compliance would produce evil effects upon the minds of the persons who observed it, is as correct and just as the most liberal and enlightened moralist could form at this day. The accuracy of modern ethics has found nothing to amend iri these fdeten- ininations. What Lord Ly ttelton has remarked of the preference ascribed by St. Paul to in ward rec titude of principle aboveevery other religious accomplishment is very material to our pre sent purpose. " In his Frist Epistle to the "¦•Corinthians, chap. xiii. 1 — 3, St. Paul " has these words:* " Though I speak with the " tongue of men and of angels, aftd have not " charity, I am become as sounding brass, or " a tinkling cymbal. And though I have ike ^ gift of prophecy,. and understand all mys- " teries^td all knowledge*, and tlmugh I have .*f all faith, so that! could remove mountains, " and have not charity, I am, nothing. Atui 5* though I bestowallmy goods to feed, the poor, " and CONCLUSION. 4] 3 '*' and though I give my body to be burned, " and nave not charity, itprofiteth me nothing. "Is this the language of i enthusiasm ? " Did ever enthusiast prefer that universal " benevolence which oomprehendeth all "- moral virtues, and Avhich, as appeareth " by the following verses, is meant by cha- " rity here ; did ever enthusiast, I say, pre- " fer that benevolence" (which we may add is attainable by every man) " to faith and " to miracles, to those religious opinions " which he had embraced, and to those su- " pernatural graces and gifts .which- he " imagined he had acquired : nay even to " the merit of martyrdom.? Is it not the " genius of enthusiasm to set moral virtues " infinitely beloAV the merit of faith ; aud of " all moral virtues to value that least which "is most particularly enforced by St. Paul, " a spirit of candour, moderation, and " peace? Certainly neither the temper nor " the opinions of a man subject to fanatic " delusions are to be found in this passage/' Lordsv Lyttelton's ^Considerations ,:on Athe Conversion, &c. . I see no reason therefore to question the integrity 414 CONCLUSION, integrity of his understanding. To call him a visionary, because he appealed to visions; or an enthusiast, because he pretended to inspiration, is to take the Avhole question for granted. It is to take for granted that no such visions or inspirations existed ; at least it is to assume, contrary to his own asser tions, that he had no other proofs than these to offer of his mission, or of the truth of his relations. One thing I allow, that his letters every where discover great zeal and earnestness in the cause in which he Avas engaged ; that is to say, he was convinced of the truth of what he taught; he was deeply impressed, ibut not more so than the occasion merited, Avith a sense of its importance. This pro duces a corresponding animation and soli citude in the exercise of his ministry. But would not these considerations, supposing them to be well founded, have holdert the same place, and produced the same effect, in a mind the strongest and the most sedate ? VI. These letters are decisive as to the sufferings of the author ; also as to the dis tressed state of the Christian church, and the CONCLUSION. 415 rthe clangers which attended the preaching ;of the gospel. ®3 ,',-- Whereof I Faiil am made a minister, " who. now rejoice in my sufferings for you, " and fill up that Avhich is behind of the " afflictions of Christ in my flesh, for his -** body's sake, which is the* church." Coh eh. i. 24. J;o " If in this life only Ave have hope in " Christ, Ave are of all men the most misera- •" ble/' Cor. ch. xv. 19- I 'Ttr ;*.*,) m " Whytj stand T we in yjeopardy every g'Uiour ? I protest by your rejoicing, Avhich " I have in Christ Jesus, I die daily. If, '' after the manner of-men,f*I have fought " Avith beasts at Ephesus, what advan.tageth " it me if the dead rise not?"fll Cor. ch. xv! 30, &c. ju " If children, then heirs ; heirs of God, and Q" joint heirs -with Christ; if so be that we suf- " fer with him, that we may be also glorified T "together. For I. reckon that the sufferings ^ of this present time are not Avorthy, to be ."compared with the glory that shall4he re- ."i-vealed; in us." . > Rom. ch. viii. f, 17, .18. ii 416 CONCLUSION, " Who shall separate us from the love of " Christ ? shall tribulation, or distress, or " persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or " peril, or sword ? As it is Avritten, for thy " sake we are killed all the day long, we are *' accounted as sheep for the slaughter." Rom. ch. viii. 35, 36. " Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, " continuing instant in prayer." Rom. ch. xii. 12. " Now concerning virgins. I have no " commandment of the Lord ; yet I give " my judgment as one that hath obtained " mercy of the Lord to be faithful. I sup- " pose therefore that this is good for the " present distress ; I say that it is good for a " man so to be." 1 Cor. ch. vii. 25, 26. " For unto you it is given, in the behalf " of Christ, not only to believe in him, but " also to suffer for his sake, having the same " conflict which ye saw in me, and now " hear to be in me." Phil. ch. i. 29, 30. " God forbid that I should glory, save in " the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by " Avhom the Avorld is crucified unto me, " and I unto the world." " From CONCLUSION. 4 it " From ' henceforth let no man trouble " me, for I bear in my body the marks of " the Lord Jesus." Gal. ch. vi. 14, 17. " Ye became followers of us, and of the " Lord, having received the word in much " affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost." 1 Thess. ch. i. 6. " We ourselves glory in you in the " chucches of God for your patience and " faith in all your persecutions and tribula- " tions that ye endure." 2 Thess. ch. i. 4. We may seem to have accumulated texts unnecessarily; but beside that the point, Avhich they are brought to prove, is of great importance, there is this also to be remarked in every one of the passages cited, that the allusion is drawn from the Avriter by the argument or the occasion ; that the notice Avhich is taken of his sufferings* and of the suffering condition of Christianity, is per fectly incidental, and is dictated by no de sign of stating the facts themselves. Indeed they are not stated at all : they may rather be said to be assumed, v This is a distinction upon- which we have relied a good deal in former parts of this treatise ; and where the e e Avriter's 4l8 CONCLUSION. Avriter's information cannot be doubted, it alvvays, in my opinion, adds greatly to the value and credit of the testimony. If aiiy reader require from the apostle more direct and explicit assertions of the sariie thing, he will receive full satisfaction in the following quotations. " Are they ministers of Christ ? (I speak " as a fool) I am more ; in labours more " abundant, in stripes above measure, in " prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of " the Jews five times received I forty stripes " save one: thrice Avas I beaten Avith rods, " once was I stoned; thrice I suffered ship- " wreck, a night and day I have been in " the deep; in journeyings often, in perils " of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils " by mine own countrymen, in perils by " the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils " in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in " perils among false brethren ; in weari- " ness and painfulness, in watchings often, " in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in " cold and nakedness." 2 Cor. ch. xi. 23—28. Can it be necessary to add more ! " I " think CONCLUSION. 419 " think that God hath set forth us the apos- " sties last, as it were appointed to death ; " for Ave are made a spectacle unto the " world, and to angels, and to men. Even " unto this present hour we both hunger " and thirst, and are naked, and are buffet- " ed, and have no certain dwelling-place, " and labour, working with our own " hands ; being reviled, Ave bless ; being " persecuted, we suffer it; being defamed, " we entreat: we are made as the filth of " the earth, and are the off-scouring of all " things unto this day." 1 Cor. ch. iv. 9 — 13. I subjoin this passage to the former, because it extends to the other apostles of Chris tianity much of that which St. Paul declared concerning himself. In the following quotations, the refe rence to the author's sufferings is accom panied with a specification of time and place, and Avith an appeal for the truth pf what he declares to the knowledge of the persons Avhom he addresses : " Even after " that Ave had suffered before, and were " shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Phi- *' lippi, we AArere bold in our God to, speak E E 2 " unto 420 CONCLUSION. " unto you the gospel of God Avith much " contention." 1 Thess. ch. ii. 2. " But thou hast fully known my doctrine, " manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suf- " fering, persecutions, afflictions, Avhich " came to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at "Lystra; Avhat persecutions I endured: " but out of them all the Lord delivered " me." 2 Tim. ch. iii. 10, 11. I apprehend that to this point, as far as the testimony of St. Paul is credited, the evidence from his letters is complete and full. It appears under every form in which it could appear, by occasional allusions and by direct assertions, by general declarations, and by specific examples. VII. St. Paul in these letters asserts, in po- sitiveand unequivocal terms, his performance of miracles strictly and properly so called. " He therefore that ministereth to you " the spirit, and AVorketh miracles (enpym " Swaiieig) among you, doth he it by the " works of the laAV, or by the hearing of " faith ?" Gal. ch. iii. 5. " For I will 'not dare to speak of those " things AA-hich 'Christ hath not wrought by " me, CONCLUSION. 421 • me*, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed, through mighty signs and ' Wonders (ev dvvctjJLei o^e/cov wi reparmvY by " the power of the Spirit of God ; so that " from Jerusalem and round about unto II- " lyricum I have fully preached the gospel "of Christ." Rom. ch. xv. 18, 19. 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