,,the ,,expositor',s ,,bible ,,edited ,,by ,,the ,,rev4 ,w4 ,,robertson ,,nicoll1 ,m4,a41 ,,ll4,d4 ,editor of ,the ,expositor ,,the ,,acts ,,of ,,the ,,apostles ,,by ,g4 ,t4 ,,stokes1 ,d4,d4 ,,volume ,,ii ,,new ,,york ,a4 ,c4 ,,armstrong ,,and ,,son #ea ,,east ,,tenth ,,street #ahib ,,the ,,expositor',s ,,bible ,crown #hvo1 cloth1 price #a #ej;c4 each vol4 ,,first ,,series1 #ahhg-h4 ,colossians4 ,by ,a4 ,,maclaren1 ,d4,d4 ,st4 ,mark4 ,by ,very ,rev4 the ,dean of ,armagh4 ,genesis4 ,by ,prof4 ,,marcus ,,dods1 ,d4,d4 #a ,samuel4 ,by ,prof4 ,w4 ,g4 ,,blaikie1 ,d4,d4 #b ,samuel4 ,by the same ,author4 ,hebrews4 ,by ,principal ,t4 ,c4 ,,edwards1 ,d4,d4 ,,second ,,series1 #ahhh-i4 ,galatians4 ,by ,prof4 ,g4 ,g4 ,,findlay1 ,b4,a4 ,the ,pastoral ,epistles4 ,by ,rev4 ,a4 ,,plummer1 ,d4,d4 ,isaiah ,i4--,,xxxix4 ,by ,g4 ,a4 ,,smith1 ,m4,a4 ,vol4 ,i4 ,the ,book of ,revelation4 ,by ,prof4 ,w4 ,,milligan1 ,d4,d4 #a ,corinthians4 ,by ,prof4 ,,marcus ,,dods1 ,d4,d4 ,the ,epistles of ,st4 ,john4 ,by ,rt4 ,rev4 ,w4 ,,alexander1 ,d4,d4 ,,third ,,series1 #ahhi-ij4 ,judges and ,ruth4 ,by ,rev4 ,r4 ,a4 ,,watson1 ,d4,d4 ,jeremiah4 ,by ,rev4 ,c4 ,j4 ,,ball1 ,m4,a4 ,isaiah ,,xl4--,,lxvi4 ,by ,g4 ,a4 ,,smith1 ,m4,a4 ,vol4 ,,ii4 ,st4 ,matthew4 ,by ,rev4 ,j4 ,,monro ,,gibson1 ,d4,d4 ,exodus4 ,by ,very ,rev4 the ,dean of ,armagh4 ,st4 ,luke4 ,by ,rev4 ,h4 ,,burton1 ,b4,a4 ,,fourth ,,series1 #ahij-a4 ,ecclesiastes4 ,by ,rev4 ,,samuel ,,cox1 ,d4,d4 ,st4 ,james and ,st4 ,jude4 ,by ,rev4 ,a4 ,,plummer1 ,d4,d4 ,proverbs4 ,by ,rev4 ,r4 ,f4 ,,horton1 ,m4,a4 ,leviticus4 ,by ,rev4 ,s4 ,h4 ,,kellogg1 ,d4,d4 ,the ,gospel of ,st4 ,john4 ,by ,prof4 ,m4 ,,dods1 ,d4,d4 ,vol4 ,i4 ,the ,acts of the ,apostles4 ,by ,prof4 ,,stokes1 ,d4,d4 ,vol4 ,i4 ,,fifth ,,series1 #ahia-b4 ,the ,psalms4 ,by ,a4 ,,maclaren1 ,d4,d4 ,vol4 ,i4 #a and #b ,thessalonians4 ,by ,,jas4 ,,denney1 ,b4,d4 ,the ,book of ,job4 ,by ,r4 ,a4 ,,watson1 ,d4,d4 ,ephesians4 ,by ,prof4 ,g4 ,g4 ,,findlay1 ,b4,a4 ,the ,gospel of ,st4 ,john4 ,by ,prof4 ,m4 ,,dods1 ,d4,d4 ,vol4 ,,ii4 ,the ,acts of the ,apostles4 ,by ,prof4 ,,stokes1 ,d4,d4 ,vol4 ,,ii4 ,,sixth ,,series1 #ahib-c4 ,philippians4 ,by ,principal ,,rainy1 ,d4,d4 #a ,kings4 ,by ,ven4 ,archdeacon ,,farrar4 ,joshua4 ,by ,prof4 ,w4 ,g4 ,,blaikie1 ,d4,d4 ,the ,psalms4 ,by ,a4 ,,maclaren1 ,d4,d4 ,vol4 ,,ii4 ,daniel4 ,by ,prof4 ,,fuller1 ,m4,a4 ,ezra1 ,nehemiah1 ,esther4 ,by ,prof4 ,w4 ,f4 ,,adeney1 ,m4,a4 ,,new ,,york3 ,a4 ,c4 ,,armstrong ,,son1 #ea ,,east ,,tenth ,,street4 ,,the ,,acts ,,of ,,the ,,apostles ,,by ,,the ,,rev4 ,g4 ,t4 ,,stokes1 ,d4,d4 ,,professor ,,of ,,ecclesiastical ,,history ,,in ,,the ,,university ,,of ,,dublin ,,and ,,vicar ,,of ,,all ,,saints'1 ,,blackrock ,,volume ,,ii ,,new ,,york ,a4 ,c4 ,,armstrong ,,and ,,son #ea ,,east ,,tenth ,,street #ahib ,,preface4 ,the following volume terminates my survey and exposition of the ,acts of the ,holy ,apostles4 ,i have fully explained in the body of this work the reasons which led me to discuss the latter portion of that book more briefly than its earlier chapters4 ,i did this of set purpose4 ,the latter chapters of ,acts are occupied to a great extent with the work of ,st4 ,paul during a comparatively brief period1 while the first twenty chapters cover a space of well-nigh thirty years4 ,the riot in ,jerusalem and a few speeches at ,csarea occupy the larger portion of the later narrative1 and deal very largely with circumstances in ,st4 ,paul's life1 his conversion and mission to the ,gentiles1 of which the earlier portion of this volume treats at large4 ,upon these topics ,i had nothing fresh to say1 and was therefore necessarily obliged to refer my readers to pages previously written4 ,i do not think1 however1 that ,i have omitted any topic or passage suitable to the purposes of the ,expositor's ,bible4 ,some may desiderate longer notices of ,german theories concerning the origin and character of the ,acts4 ,but1 then1 an expositor's ,bible is not intended to deal at length with critical theories4 ,critical commentaries and works like ,dr4 ,salmon's ,introduction to the ,new ,testament take such subjects into consideration and discuss them fully1 omitting all mere exposition4 ,my duty is exposition1 and the supply or indication of material suitable for expository purposes4 ,if ,i had gone into the endless theories supplied by ,german ingenuity to explain what seems to us the simplest and plainest matters of fact demanding no explanation whatsoever1 ,i am afraid there would have been little space left for exposition1 and my readers would have been excessively few4 ,those who are interested in such discussions1 which are simply endless1 and will last as long as man's fancy and imagination continue to flourish1 will find ample satisfaction in the eighteenth chapter of ,dr4 ,salmon's ,introduction4 ,perhaps ,i had better notice one point urged by him1 as an illustration of the critical methods of ,english common sense4 ,german critics have tried to make out that the ,acts were written in the second century in order to establish a parallel between ,st4 ,peter and ,st4 ,paul when men wished to reconcile and unite in one common body the ,pauline and ,petrine parties4 ,this is the view set forth at length by ,zeller in his work on the ,acts1 vol4 ii41 p4 #bgh1 translated and published in the series printed some years ago under the auspices of the ,theological ,translation ,fund4 ,dr4 ,salmon's reply seems to me conclusive1 as contained in the following passage1 l4c41 p4 #ccf3 ,what ,i think proves conclusively that the making a parallel between ,peter and ,paul was not an idea present to the author's mind1 is the absence of the natural climax of such a parallel--the story of the martyrdom of both the ,apostles4 ,very early tradition makes both ,peter and ,paul close their lives by martyrdom at ,rome--the place where ,rationalist critics generally believe the ,acts to have been written4 ,the stories told in tolerably ancient times in that ,church which venerated with equal honour the memory of either apostle1 represented both as joined in harmonious resistance to the impostures of ,simon ,magus4 ,and though ,i believe these stories to be more modern than the latest period to which any one has ventured to assign the ,acts1 yet what an opportunity did that part of the story which is certainly ancient--that both ,apostles came to ,rome and died there for the faith 7,clem4 ,rom41 #e7--offer to any one desirous of blotting out the memory of all differences between the preaching of ,peter and ,paul1 and of setting both on equal pedestals of honour6 ,just as the names of ,ridley and ,latimer have been united in the memory of the ,church of ,england1 and no count has been taken of their previous doctrinal differences1 in the recollection of their first testimony for their common faith1 so have the names of ,peter and ,paul been constantly bound together by the fact that the martyrdom of both has been commemorated on the same day4 ,and if the object of the author of the ,acts had been what has been supposed1 it is scarcely credible that he could have missed so obvious an opportunity of bringing his book to its most worthy conclusion1 by telling how the two servants of ,christ--all previous differences1 if there had been any1 reconciled and forgotten--joined in witnessing a good confession before the tyrant emperor1 and encouraged each other to steadfastness in endurance to the end4 ,but though ,i have not dealt in any formal way with the critical theories urged concerning the ,acts1 ,i have taken every opportunity of pointing out the evidence for its early date and genuine character furnished by that particular line of historical exposition and illustration which ,i have adopted4 ,it will be at once seen how much indebted ,i am in this department to the researches of modern scholars and travellers1 especially to those of ,professor ,ramsay1 whose long residence and extended travels in ,asia ,minor have given him special advantages over all other critics4 ,i have made a diligent use of all his writings1 so far as they had appeared up to the time of writing1 and only regret that ,i was not able to use his paper on ,st4 ,paul's second journey1 which appeared in the ,expositor for ,october1 after this work had been composed and printed4 ,that article seems to me another admirable illustration of the critical methods used by our own home scholars as contrasted with those current abroad4 ,professor ,ramsay does not set to work to spin criticisms out of his own imagination and elaborate theories out of his own inner consciousness even as a spider weaves its web2 but he takes the ,acts of the ,apostles1 compares it with the facts of ,asia ,minor1 its scenery1 roads1 mountains1 ruins1 and then points out how exactly the text answers to the facts1 showing that the author of it wrote at the time alleged and must have been an eyewitness of the ,apostles' doings4 ,while again by a similar comparison in the case of the apocryphal acts of ,st4 ,paul and ,thecla he demonstrates how easily a forger fell into grievous mistakes4 ,i do not think a better illustration can be found of the difference between sound historical criticism and criticism based on mere imagination than this article by ,professor ,ramsay4 ,in conclusion ,i ought to explain that ,i systematically quote the ,fathers whenever ,i can out of the translations published by ,messrs4 ,t4 ,t4 ,clark1 or in the ,oxford ,library of the ,fathers4 ,it would have been very easy for me to give this book a very learned look by adding the references in ,greek or ,latin1 but ,i do not think ,i should have thus conduced much to its practical utility4 ,the ,fathers are now a collection of works much spoken of1 but very little read1 and the references in the original added to theological works are much more overlooked than consulted4 ,it would conduce much to a sound knowledge of primitive antiquity were the works translated of all the ,christian writers who flourished down to the triumph of ,christianity4 ,authors who fill their pages with quotations in ,latin and ,greek which they do not translate forget one simple fact1 that ten or twenty years in a country parish immersed in its endless details make the ,latin and ,greek of even good scholars somewhat rusty4 ,and if so1 what must be the case with those who are not good scholars1 or not scholars at all1 whether bad or good8 ,i am often surprised noting how much more exacting from their readers modern scholars are in this direction than our forefathers of two hundred years ago4 ,let any one1 for instance1 take up the works composed in ,english by ,hammond or ,thorndike discussing the subject of ,episcopacy1 and it will be found that in every case when they use a ,latin1 ,greek1 or ,hebrew quotation while they give the original they always add the translation4 ,finally ,i have to acknowledge1 what every page will show1 the great assistance ,i have derived from the ,lives of ,st4 ,paul written by ,archdeacon ,farrar1 ,mr4 ,lewin1 and ,messrs4 ,conybeare ,howson1 and to express a hope that this volume together with the previous one will be found helpful by some as they strive to form a better and truer conception of the manner in which the ,church of the living ,god was founded and built up amongst men4 ,,george ,t4 ,,stokes4 ,,all ,,saints' ,,vicarage1 ,,blackrock1 ,nov4 #dth1 #ahib4 ,,contents4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,,the ,,training ,,of ,,saul ,,the ,,rabbi4 ,,acts vii4 #eh2 xxii4 #c4 ,,page ,st4 ,paul's ,appearance on the ,christian ,stage and its ,results--,the ,tbingen ,theory--,his ,parentage--,birthplace-- ,testimony of ,st4 ,epiphanius--,early ,friends--,education-- ,trade--,gamaliel and his ,influence--,evidence of ,talmud-- ,pharisaic ,schools--,their ,casuistry and ,exegesis--,parallel between ,hagar and ,sarah #a-ba ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,the ,,conversion ,,of ,,the ,,persecutor4 ,,acts viii4 #c2 ix4 #a-f4 ,saul of ,tarsus and ,st4 ,stephen--,saul and the ,sanhedrin-- ,conduct of ,saul when ,unconverted--,continuity of ,judaism and ,christianity--,saul and ,blasphemy of ,christ--,sense of ,sin compatible with ,sense of ,forgiveness--,hooker on the ,litany--,jeremy ,taylor on ,humility--,saul's ,mission to ,damascus--,domestic ,tribunal permitted to the ,jews by the ,romans--,used against the ,men of the ,way--,meaning of this expression--,influence of it--,saul's ,journey--,scene of ,conversion--,lord ,lyttelton's ,observations upon ,st4 ,paul's ,conversion--,supernatural ,accompaniments appropriate to--,apostle's own ,narrative--,reflections of the ,venerable ,bede #bb-dg ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,the ,,new ,,convert ,,and ,,his ,,human ,,teacher4 ,,acts ix4 #aj1 #aa4 ,saul and the ,vision--,which probably produced ,ophthalmia-- ,portrait of ,st4 ,paul--,ananias of ,damascus--,straight ,street--,st4 ,chrysostom on the ,spiritual ,greatness of ,ananias--,seventeenth-century ,travellers in ,palestine-- ,conversation between ,jesus ,christ and ,ananias--,its ,theology--,meaning of word ,saint--,protest against ,antinomianism--,st4 ,paul and title ,vas ,electionis--,and ,doctrine of ,election--,balance of ,doctrine--,the ,new ,convert and ,prayer #dh-fg ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,,saul ,,and ,,sinai4 ,,acts ix4 #ai1 #bj4 ,visit of ,ananias to ,house of ,judas--,christ the ,true ,visitor--,keble's ,hymn for ,easter ,monday--,restoration of ,saul's ,sight--,his ,baptism--,language of ,ananias-- ,importance of this fact--,saul's ,work in ,damascus-- ,narrative in ,acts and in ,galatians--,difficulties-- ,reconciliation--,saul in ,arabia--,ancient ,explanations of--,discipline of--,value of ,seasons of ,retirement--,waste of ,vital ,spiritual ,tissues in ,activity--,abuse of this ,principle in ,monasticism--,celtic ,monasticism--,saul1 the ,vas ,electionis1 trained like ,jesus ,christ #fh-ia ,,chapter ,v4 ,,the ,,first ,,gentile ,,convert4 ,,acts x4 #a-f4 ,the ,turning-points of ,primitive ,church ,history--,conversion of ,saul and of ,cornelius--,saul's earliest ,ministry at ,jerusalem--,his ,escape to ,tarsus--,st4 ,peter and ,church in ,joppa--,temporary ,peace after ,saul's ,conversion-- ,caligula's attempt to erect his ,statue in ,jerusalem--,st4 ,peter and ,simon the ,tanner--,time of ,conversion of ,cornelius was ,providential--,place1 ,csarea-by-the-,sea1 ,providential--,cornelius1 a ,roman ,centurion--,the ,legions and ,palestine--,modern ,authorities confirm the ,acts--,new ,testament and ,favourable ,estimate of ,soldiers--,catholic ,nature of ,christianity--,value of ,discipline--,lessons ,taught by ,example of ,cornelius #ib-aad ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,,the ,,petrine ,,vision ,,at ,,joppa4 ,,acts x4 #i-ae4 ,st4 ,peter led to ,joppa ,unconsciously--,his ,period of ,repose--,joppa and ,missions to the ,gentile ,world-- ,jonah--,peter and the ,hour of ,prayer--,value of ,forms-- ,canonical ,hours--,tertullian's ,testimony--,nature of ,peter's ,vision--,conditioned by his ,natural ,state-- ,exactly suited to ,destroy his ,prejudices--,john ,calvin's ,view--,st4 ,peter at ,csarea--,his ,sermon--,not ,latitudinarian1 as some ,think--,but ,truly ,catholic--,peter presupposes some ,knowledge of ,gospel ,facts--,evidence of ,resurrection--,necessarily ,limited--,unless ,course of ,human ,affairs was to be ,upset--,and ,god's ,usual ,laws set ,aside--,outpouring of ,holy ,ghost on ,gentiles--,baptism of ,cornelius #aae-ada ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,,the ,,harvest ,,of ,,the ,,gentiles4 ,,acts xi4 #bf4 ,reception of ,news of ,gentile ,conversion at ,jerusalem-- ,debate and ,strife with ,st4 ,peter--,the ,early ,church ,knew ,nothing of the ,privilegium ,petri--,fable of ,pope ,marcellinus--,origin of ,antiochene ,church--,foundation of ,antioch--,scenery and ,history--,orators and ,water ,supply--,arrival of ,barnabas and of ,saul--,invention of the ,name ,christians--,remarks of ,archbishop ,trench-- ,the ,prophet ,agabus and the ,outgoings of ,charity #adb-afc ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,,the ,,defeat ,,of ,,pride4 ,,acts xii4 #a-c1 #bc1 #bd4 ,contact of ,sacred and ,secular ,history in this ,chapter-- ,story of ,herod ,agrippa--,illustration of ,principle of ,heredity--,first ,martyrdom among ,apostles--,character of ,james1 ,son of ,zebedee--,his ,spiritual ,eminence--,his ,death a ,real ,answer to ,prayer--,st4 ,peter's ,deliverance--,granted to a ,pleading ,church--,angelic ,interference--,and the ,proprieties of ,christianity--,clement of ,alexandria and the ,pdagogue--,herod's ,ostentation and ,miserable ,death-- ,testimony of ,josephus #afd-ahg ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,,st4 ,,paul',s ,,ordination ,,and ,,first ,,missionary ,,tour ,,acts xiii4 #b-d1 #ad2 xiv4 #a1 #bf4 ,thirteenth ,chapter may be called the ,watershed of the ,acts--,calvin and ,st4 ,paul's ,ordination--,title ,apostle ,henceforth ,applied to ,him--,ember ,seasons1 ,reason of-- ,first ,formal ,mission to the ,gentile ,world--,outline of ,apostolic ,tour--,saul and ,sergius ,paulus--,discoveries of ,general ,cesnola--,st4 ,paul's ,sermon at the ,pisidian ,antioch--,jewish ,jealousy and ,opposition--,iconium--,lystra and ,greek ,legends--,discovery of ,site of ,lystra--,roman ,police in ,asia ,minor--,dialects of ,asia ,minor--,museum of the ,evangelical ,school at ,smyrna--,st4 ,paul and ,church ,organisation #ahh-bah ,,chapter ,x4 ,,the ,,first ,,christian ,,council4 ,,acts xv4 #a1 #b1 #f1 #ai4 ,history of the great ,general ,councils--,originates at that of ,jerusalem--,date and ,subject-matter--,the ,controversy about ,circumcision--,social ,questions springing from it-- ,st4 ,paul's ,position--,his ,apparent ,inconsistencies-- ,lessons of ,apostolic ,council--,early ,church ,scene of ,controversies--,no ,infallible ,guide--,composition of ,council--,lay ,element in ,church ,synods--,hooker and the ,church of ,england--,witness of ,prayer ,book--,experience of ,irish ,church--,proceedings of the ,council--,triumph of ,gentile ,freedom #bai-bdd ,,chapter ,,xi4 ,,apostolic ,,quarrels ,,and ,,the ,,second ,,tour4 ,,acts xv4 #cf1 #ci2 xvi4 #f1 #h1 #i4 ,introduction of ,christianity to ,greece--,st4 ,peter and his ,asserted ,roman ,episcopate of ,twenty-five ,years--,quarrel between ,st4 ,paul and ,st4 ,barnabas--,between ,st4 ,paul and ,st4 ,peter--,patristic ,explanations--,st4 ,augustine and ,st4 ,jerome--,st4 ,paul's ,opposition to ,nepotism--,barnabas and ,mark--,blessings of ,sternness--,the ,wrath of ,man praises ,god--,outline of ,st4 ,paul's ,second ,tour--,ramsay's ,historical ,geography of ,asia ,minor--,timothy's ,ordination--,the ,gospel among the ,celts--,jeremy ,taylor and the ,via ,intelligenti--,the ,vision at ,troas #bde-bgj ,,chapter ,,xii4 ,,st4 ,,paul ,,in ,,macedonia4 ,,acts xvi4 #bi1 #ca2 xvii4 #a1 #b1 #aj4 ,ancient ,roads and ,rome--,the ,gospel at ,philippi--,history of that ,town--,constitution of ,roman ,colonies--,lydia and ,jewish ,oratory--,francis de ,sales and ,small ,congregations--,politics and ,christianity--,the ,apostle before the ,duumviri--,the ,jailer and the ,earthquake-- ,believe on the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 and ,thou shalt be ,saved--,the ,philippian ,church and ,persecution--,st4 ,paul at ,thessalonica and ,bera--,the ,politarchs #bga-cjj ,,chapter ,,xiii4 ,,st4 ,,paul ,,in ,,greece4 ,,acts xvii4 #af-ah2 xviii4 #a4 ,st4 ,paul and ,st4 ,athanasius1 a ,parallel--,escape to ,athens down the ,thermaic ,gulf--,visit of ,pausanias to that ,city--,ideal ,character of ,athenian ,paganism-- ,areopagus and ,st4 ,paul--,the ,unknown ,god--,the ,greek ,poets--,jesus and the ,resurrection--,the ,primitive ,athenian ,church and its ,theology--,aristides and his ,apology--,dionysius the ,areopagite and his reputed ,philosophy--,origin of ,corinthian ,church--,the ,saintly ,tentmakers--,the ,firstfruits of ,achaia--,gallio and the ,jews--,philosophy and ,christ #cja-ccj ,,chapter ,,xiv4 ,,the ,,ephesian ,,church ,,and ,,its ,,foundation4 ,,acts xviii4 #ai-ba1 #bd-bf2 xix4 #a4 ,history of ,ephesus--,cenchre and its ,church--,aquila and his ,vow--,christianity and ,external ,actions--,judaism and ,christianity confounded by ,romans--,st4 ,paul's ,journey to ,ephesus and ,jerusalem--,visit to ,galatia-- ,ephesus and ,john's ,disciples--,slow ,progress of ,gospel in ,apostolic ,age--,apollos and ,meyer's ,theory about ,baptism--,the ,baptismal ,formula--,the ,school of ,tyrannus--,ephesian ,magic and its ,professors--,story of ,st4 ,chrysostom--,the ,sons of ,sceva #cca-cef ,,chapter ,,xv4 ,,the ,,ephesian ,,riot ,,and ,a ,,prudent ,,town ,,clerk4 ,,acts xix4 #bc-bh4 ,duration of ,st4 ,paul's ,ministry at ,ephesus--,date of #ast ,corinthians--,diana of ,ephesus and her ,persian ,worship--,weakness of ,argument e silentio--,demetrius and the ,craftsmen--,artemisian ,festivals and ,christian ,sufferings--,testimony of ,achilles ,tatius--,martyrdom of ,polycarp--,celtic ,conventions--,mr4 ,wood's ,discoveries at ,ephesus--,gaius ,vibius ,salutarius--,extant ,specimen of ,ephesian ,silverwork--,speech of ,demetrius--,the ,asiarchs and the ,recorder--,apostolic ,controversy and its ,methods #ceg-chd ,,chapter ,,xvi4 ,,st4 ,,paul ,,and ,,the ,,christian ,,ministry4 ,,acts xx4 #a1 #g1 #ag-ai1 #bh4 ,st4 ,paul's ,position in ,a4,d4 #eg--,personal ,character of ,st4 ,luke's ,narrative--,defects of ,german ,criticism-- ,apostle's ,second ,visit to ,macedonia--,round about unto ,illyricum--,visitation of ,corinth--,passover at ,philippi-- ,holy ,communion at ,troas--,the ,lord's ,day in the ,primitive ,church--,argument from ,silence1 ,dangers of--,justin ,martyr on ,sunday--,eucharistic ,amen--,evening ,celebrations--,the ,agape--,fasting ,communion--,st4 ,paul's ,sermon and ,eutychus-- ,miletus and ,charge to ,ephesian ,elders--,its ,apologetic ,tone--,st4 ,paul's view of ,sermons--,decay of ,modern ,preaching--,apostolic ,power of ,prevision--,the ,ministry and ,personal ,religion--,the ,holy ,ghost and ,ordination-- ,origin of ,episcopacy--,dr4 ,hatch's ,theories unhistorical-- ,irenus on ,bishops--,derived from ,apostles--,communicatio ,idiomatum--,st4 ,paul's ,farewell #che-dba ,,chapter ,,xvii4 ,a ,,prisoner ,,in ,,bonds4 ,,acts xxi4 #b1 #c1 #ag1 #cc1 #ci1 #dj2 xxii4 #bb1 #cj2 xxiv4 #a2 xxvi4 #a4 ,st4 ,paul's ,voyage from ,miletus to ,jerusalem--,christianity at ,tyre--,the ,seed growing silently--,the ,church at ,csarea and its ,teachers--,st4 ,paul's ,interview with ,st4 ,james--,the ,nazarite ,vow--,st4 ,paul's ,arrest and ,appearance before the ,sanhedrin--,his ,defence before ,felix--,felix and ,drusilla-- ,lessons of ,st4 ,paul's ,vicissitudes--,agabus and ,prophesying-- ,st4 ,james and ,compromise--,st4 ,paul and the ,high ,priest--,his ,quickness and ,tact--,tertullian on ,flight in ,persecution-- ,quietism and ,quakerism--,st4 ,paul and the ,herodian ,family-- ,argument of his ,address before ,agrippa and ,bernice--,his ,appeal to ,csar #dbb-ddi ,,chapter ,,xviii4 ,,in ,,perils ,,on ,,the ,,sea4 ,,acts xxvii4 #a-c2 xxviii4 #af4 ,st4 ,paul as a ,traveller and a ,prisoner--,length of his ,imprisonment--,blessed ,results of his ,captivity--,the ,prisoner of the ,lord--,teaching of the ,seventeenth ,sunday after ,trinity--,his ,captivity ,benefited--7a7 ,his ,personal ,religion--7b7 ,the ,church at ,csarea--7c7 ,the ,church at ,rome--7d7 ,the ,universal ,church-- ,composition of ,st4 ,luke's ,gospel--,technical ,use of word ,gospel--,testimony of ,aristides and ,irenus--,epistles of the ,captivity--,story of the ,voyage to ,rome--,roman ,provincial ,organisation--,writings of ,mr4 ,james ,smith of ,jordanhills--,church at ,sidon--,the ,storm--,malta and ,puteoli--,christianity at ,pompeii--,christian ,inscription there ,discovered--,st4 ,paul's ,approach to ,rome--,intense ,humanity of the ,apostle--,interview with the local ,jewish ,sanhedrin--,christianity at ,rome-- ,investigations of ,harnack and ,schrer #dej-dga ,,chapter ,i4 ,,the ,,training ,,of ,,saul ,,the ,,rabbi4 ,a young man named ,saul4--,,acts vii4 #eh4 ,i am a ,jew1 born in ,tarsus of ,cilicia1 but brought up in this city1 at the feet of ,gamaliel1 instructed according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers1 being zealous for ,god1 even as ye all are this day4--,,acts xxii4 #c4 ,the appearance of ,st4 ,paul upon the stage of ,christian history marks a period of new development and of more enlarged activity4 ,the most casual reader of the ,acts of the ,apostles must see that a personality of vast power1 force1 individuality1 has now entered the bounds of the ,church1 and that henceforth ,st4 ,paul1 his teaching1 methods1 and actions1 will throw all others into the shade4 ,modern ,german critics have seized upon this undoubted fact and made it the foundation on which they have built elaborate theories concerning ,st4 ,paul and the ,acts of the ,apostles4 ,some of them have made ,st4 ,paul the inventor of a new form of ,christianity1 more elaborate1 artificial1 and dogmatic than the simple religion of nature which1 as they think1 ,jesus ,christ taught4 ,others have seen in ,st4 ,paul the great rival and antagonist of ,st4 ,peter1 and have seen in the ,acts a deliberate attempt to reconcile the opposing factions of ,peter and ,paul by representing ,st4 ,paul's career as modelled upon that of ,peter's4#a ,these theories are1 we believe1 utterly groundless2 but they show at the same time what an important event in early ,church history ,st4 ,paul's conversion was1 and how necessary a thorough comprehension of his life and training if we wish to understand the genesis of our holy religion4 #a ,see this portion of ,baur's theory refuted in ,dr4 ,salmon's ,introduction to the ,new ,testament1 ch4 xviii41 p4 #cce1 #dth ed41 where the writer admits a certain parallelism between the history of ,,ss4 ,peter and ,paul in the ,acts1 but denies that it was an invented parallelism4 ,he remarks on the next page1 ,what ,i think proves decisively that the making a parallel between ,st4 ,peter and ,st4 ,paul was not an idea present to the author's mind is the absence of the natural climax of such a parallel--the story of the martyrdom of both the ,apostles4444 ,if the object of the author of the ,acts had been what has been supposed1 it is scarcely credible that he could have missed so obvious an opportunity of bringing his book to its most worthy conclusion1 by telling how the two servants of ,christ--all previous differences1 if there had been any1 reconciled and forgotten--joined in witnessing a good confession before the tyrant emperor1 and encouraged each other in steadfastness in endurance to the end4 ,who and whence1 then1 was this enthusiastic man who is first introduced to our notice in connexion with ,st4 ,stephen's martyrdom8 ,what can we glean from ,scripture and from secular history concerning his earlier career8 ,i am not going to attempt to do what ,conybeare and ,howson thirty years ago1 or ,archdeacon ,farrar in later times1 have executed with a wealth of learning and a profuseness of imagination which ,i could not pretend to possess4 ,even did ,i possess them it would be impossible1 for want of space1 to write such a biography of ,st4 ,paul as these authors have given to the public4 ,let us1 however1 strive to gather up such details of ,st4 ,paul's early life and training as the ,new ,testament1 illustrated by history1 sets before us4 ,perhaps we shall find that more is told us than strikes the ordinary superficial reader4 ,his parentage is known to us from ,st4 ,paul's own statement4 ,his father and mother were ,jews of the ,dispersion1 as the ,jews scattered abroad amongst the ,gentiles were usually called2 they were residents at ,tarsus in ,cilicia1 and by profession belonged to the ,pharisees who then formed the more spiritual and earnest religious section of the ,jewish people4 ,we learn this from three passages4 ,in his defence before the ,council1 recorded in ,acts xxiii4 #f1 he tells us that he was a ,pharisee1 a son of ,pharisees4 ,there was no division in religious feeling between the parents4 ,his home life and his earliest years knew nothing of religious jars and strife4 ,husband and wife were joined not only in the external bonds of marriage1 but in the profounder union still of spiritual sentiment and hope1 a memory which may have inspired a deeper meaning begotten of personal experience in the warning delivered to the ,corinthians1 ,be not unequally yoked with unbelievers4 ,of the history of his parents and ancestors we know practically nothing more for certain1 but we can glean a little from other notices4 ,st4 ,paul tells us that he belonged to a special division among the ,jews1 of which we have spoken a good deal in the former volume when dealing with ,st4 ,stephen4 ,the ,jews at this period were divided into ,hebrews and ,hellenists3 that is1 ,hebrews who by preference and in their ordinary practice spoke the ,hebrew tongue1 and ,hellenists who spoke ,greek and adopted ,greek civilisation and customs4 ,st4 ,paul tells us in ,philippians iii4 #e that he was of the stock of ,israel1 of the tribe of ,benjamin1 a ,hebrew of ,hebrews1 a statement which he substantially repeats in #b ,corinthians xi4 #bb4 ,now it was almost an impossibility for a ,jew of the ,dispersion to belong to the ,hebrews4 ,his lot was cast in a foreign land1 his business mixed him up with the surrounding pagans1 so that the use of the ,greek language was an absolute necessity2 while the universal practice of his fellow-countrymen in conforming themselves to ,greek customs1 ,greek philosophy1 and ,greek civilisation rendered the position of one who would stand out for the old ,jewish national ideas and habits a very trying and a very peculiar one4 ,here1 however1 comes in an ancient tradition1 recorded by ,st4 ,jerome1 which throws some light upon the difficulty4 ,scripture tells us that ,st4 ,paul was born at ,tarsus4 ,our ,lord1 in ,his conversation with ,ananias in ,acts ix4 #aa1 calls him ,saul of ,tarsus1 while again the ,apostle himself in the twenty-second chapter describes himself as a ,jew born in ,tarsus4 ,but then the question arises1 how came his parents to ,tarsus1 and how1 being in ,tarsus1 could they be described as ,hebrews while all around and about them their countrymen were universally ,hellenists8 ,st4 ,jerome here steps in to help us4 ,he relates1 in his ,catalogue of ,illustrious ,writers1 that ,paul the ,apostle1 previously called ,saul1 being outside the number of the ,twelve1 was of the tribe of ,benjamin and of the city of the ,jewish ,gischala2 on the capture of which by the ,romans he migrated with them to ,tarsus4 ,now this statement of ,jerome1 written four hundred years after the event1 is clearly inaccurate in many respects1 and plainly contradicts the ,apostle's own words that he was born in ,tarsus4 ,but yet the story probably embodies a tradition substantially true1 that ,st4 ,paul's parents were originally from ,galilee4 ,galilee was intensely ,hebrew4 ,it was provincial1 and the provinces are always far less affected by advance in thought or in religion than the towns1 which are the chosen homes of innovation and of progress4 ,hellenism might flourish in ,jerusalem1 but in ,galilee it would not be tolerated2 and the tough1 sturdy ,galileans alone would have moral and religious grit enough to maintain the old ,hebrew customs and language1 even amid the abounding inducements to an opposite course which a great commercial centre like ,tarsus held out4 ,assuredly our own experience affords many parallels illustrating the religious history of ,st4 ,paul's family4 ,the ,evangelical revival1 the development of ,ritual in the ,church of ,england1 made their mark first of all in the towns1 and did not affect the distant country districts till long after4 ,the ,presbyterianism of the ,highlands is almost a different religion from the more enlightened and more cultured worship of ,edinburgh and ,glasgow4 ,the ,low ,church and ,orange developments of ,ulster bring us back to the times of the last century1 and seem passing strange to the citizens of ,london1 ,manchester1 or ,dublin1 who first make their acquaintance in districts where obsolete ideas and cries still retain a power quite forgotten in the vast tide of life and thought which sways the great cities4 ,and yet these rural backwaters1 as we may call them1 retain their influence1 and show strong evidence of life even in the great cities2 and so it is that even in ,london and ,edinburgh and ,glasgow and ,dublin congregations continue to exist in their remoter districts and back streets where the prejudices and ideas of the country find full sway and exercise4 ,the ,presbyterianism of the ,highlands and the ,orangeism of ,ulster will be sought in vain in fashionable churches1 but in smaller assemblies they will be found exercising a sway and developing a life which will often astonish a superficial observer4 ,so it was doubtless in ,tarsus4 ,the ,hebrews of ,galilee would delight to separate themselves4 ,they would look down upon the ,hellenism of their fellow-countrymen as a sad falling away from ancient orthodoxy1 but their declension would only add a keener zest to the zeal with which the descendants of the ,hebrews of ,gischala1 even in the third and fourth generations1 as it may have been1 would retain the ancient customs and language of their ,galilean forefathers4#b #b ,the tradition mentioned by ,st4 ,jerome is not the only one which deals with the early life of ,st4 ,paul4 ,another very learned writer of the same1 or perhaps we should rather say of a still earlier1 period was ,st4 ,epiphanius1 the historian of ,heresies and bishop of ,constantia1 or ,salamis1 in ,cyprus4 ,he wrote a great work describing the various heresies which had sprung up in the ,church1 containing much valuable information which his research and early date enabled him to incorporate in his pages4 ,he describes1 amongst others1 the ,ebionites1 telling us of their hostility to ,st4 ,paul and of the charges they brought against him4 ,the ,ebionites denied that he was a ,jew at all4 ,the words of ,epiphanius are ,they say that he was a ,greek1 and sprung from the ,gentiles1 and then afterwards became a proselyte1 in opposition to which he quotes the ,apostle's own words in ,phil4 iii4 #e and in #b ,cor4 xi4 #bb4 ,epiphanius then proceeds to explain how ,st4 ,paul might have been born in ,tarsus and yet have been a ,jew by nation1 because that1 under ,antiochus ,epiphanes and at other times1 vast numbers of the ,jews had been dispersed as captives among the ,gentiles4 ,see ,epiphanius1 in ,corpus ,hreseologicum1 ,ed4 ,oehler1 vol4 ii41 p4 #bhc4 ,berlin1 #ahei4 ,this is a good instance how the ,jewish hostility1 which pursued ,st4 ,paul through life1 had not quite died out three centuries later4 ,epiphanius was born about ,a4,d4 #caj4 ,he wrote his work on ,early ,heresies about ,a4,d4 #cge1 calling it ,panarion1 or1 as he himself explains in his introductory epistle1 the ,medicine ,chest1 full of remedies against the bite of the ,old ,serpent4 ,epiphanius must have had a great store of early literature at his command which has now completely perished4 ,see a long and critical account of him and his writings1 written by ,dr4 ,r4 ,a4 ,lipsius1 in the ,dict4 ,christ4 ,biog41 vol4 ii4 ,st4 ,paul and his parents might seem to an outsider mere ,hellenists1 but their ,galilean origin and training enabled them to retain the intenser ,judaism which qualified the ,apostle to describe himself as not only of the stock of ,israel1 but as a ,hebrew of the ,hebrews4 ,st4 ,paul's more immediate family connexions have also some light thrown upon them in the ,new ,testament4 ,we learn1 for instance1 from ,acts xxiii4 #af1 that he had a married sister1 who probably lived at ,jerusalem1 and may have been even a convert to ,christianity2 for we are told that her son1 having heard of the ,jewish plot to murder the ,apostle1 at once reported it to ,st4 ,paul himself1 who thereupon put his nephew into communication with the chief captain in whose custody he lay4 ,while again1 in ,romans xvi4 #g1 #aa1 he sends salutations to ,andronicus1 ,junias1 and ,herodion1 his kinsmen1 who were residents in ,rome2 and in verse #ba of the same chapter joins ,lucius and ,jason and ,sosipater1 his kinsmen1 with himself in the ,christian wishes for the welfare of the ,roman ,church1 with which he closes the ,epistle4 ,it is said1 indeed1 that this may mean simply that these men were ,jews1 and that ,st4 ,paul regarded all ,jews as his kinsmen4 ,but this notion is excluded by the form of the twenty-first verse1 where he first sends greetings from ,timothy1 whom ,st4 ,paul dearly loved1 and who was a circumcised ,jew1 not a proselyte merely1 but a true ,jew1 on his mother's side1 at least2 and then the ,apostle proceeds to name the persons whom he designates his kinsmen4 ,st4 ,paul evidently belonged to a family of some position in the ,jewish world1 whose ramifications were dispersed into very distant quarters of the empire4 ,every scrap of information which we can gain concerning the early life and associations of such a man is very precious2 we may therefore point out that we can even get a glimpse of the friends and acquaintances of his earliest days4 ,barnabas the ,levite was of ,cyprus1 an island only seventy miles distant from ,tarsus4 ,in all probability ,barnabas may have resorted to the ,jewish schools of ,tarsus1 or may have had some other connexions with the ,jewish colony of that city4 ,some such early friendship may have been the link which bound ,paul to ,barnabas and enabled the latter to stand sponsor for the newly converted ,saul when the ,jerusalem ,church was yet naturally suspicious of him4 ,and when he was come to ,jerusalem1 he assayed to join himself to the disciples3 and they were all afraid of him1 not believing that he was a disciple4 ,but ,barnabas took him1 and brought him to the apostles 7,acts ix4 #bf1 #bg74 ,this ancient friendship enabled ,barnabas to pursue the ,apostle with those offices of consolation which his nascent faith demanded4 ,he knew ,saul's boyhood haunts1 and therefore it is we read in ,acts xi4 #be that ,barnabas went forth to ,tarsus to seek for ,saul when a multitude of the ,gentiles began to pour into the ,church of ,antioch4 ,barnabas knew his old friend's vigorous1 enthusiastic character1 his genius1 his power of adaptation1 and therefore he brought him back to ,antioch1 where for a whole year they were joined in one holy brotherhood of devout and successful labour for their ,master4 ,the friendships and love of boyhood and of youth received a new consecration and were impressed with a loftier ideal from the example of ,saul and of ,barnabas4 ,then again there are other friends of his youth to whom he refers4 ,timothy's family lived at ,lystra1 and ,lystra was directly connected with ,tarsus by a great road which ran straight from ,tarsus to ,ephesus1 offering means for that frequent communication in which the ,jews ever delighted4 ,st4 ,paul's earliest memories carried him back to the devout atmosphere of the pious ,jewish family at ,lystra1 which he had long known1 where ,lois the grandmother and ,eunice the mother had laid the foundations of that spiritual life which under ,st4 ,paul's own later teaching flourished so wondrously in the life of ,timothy4#c ,let us pass on1 however1 to a period of later development4 ,st4 ,paul's earliest teaching at first was doubtless that of the home4 ,as with ,timothy so with the ,apostle2 his earliest religious teacher was doubtless his mother1 who from his infancy imbued him with the great rudimentary truths which lie at the basis of both the ,jewish and the ,christian faith4 ,his father too took his share4 ,he was a ,pharisee1 and would be anxious to fulfil every jot and tittle of the law and every minute rule which the ,jewish doctors had deduced by an attention and a subtlety concentrated for ages upon the text of the ,old ,testament4 ,and one great doctor had laid down1 ,when a boy begins to speak1 his father ought to talk with him in the sacred language1 and to teach him the law2 a rule which would exactly fall in with his father's natural inclination4#d ,he was a ,hebrew of the ,hebrews1 though dwelling among ,hellenists4 ,he prided himself on speaking the ,hebrew language alone1 and he therefore would take the greatest pains that the future ,apostle's earliest teachings should be in that same sacred tongue1 giving him from boyhood that command over ,hebrew and its dialects which he afterwards turned to the best of uses4 #c ,see #b ,tim4 i4 #e1 and iii4 #ad1 #ae4 ,it is evident that ,st4 ,paul's language implies an acquaintance with ,timothy's family of very long standing4 #d ,schttgen's ,hor4 ,hebr41 vol4 i41 p4 #hi2 ,lewin's ,st4 ,paul1 vol4 i41 p4 #g4 ,at five years old ,jewish children of parents like ,st4 ,paul's advanced to the direct study of the law under the guidance of some doctor1 whose school they daily attended1 as another rabbi had expressly enacted1 ,at five years old a boy should apply himself to the study of ,holy ,scripture4 ,between five and thirteen ,saul was certainly educated at ,tarsus1 during which period his whole attention was concentrated upon sacred learning and upon mechanical or industrial training4 ,it was at this period of his life that ,st4 ,paul must have learned the trade of tentmaking1 which during the last thirty years of his life stood him in such good stead1 rendering him independent of all external aid so far as his bodily wants were concerned4 ,a question has often been raised as to the social position of ,st4 ,paul's family2 and people1 bringing their ,western ideas with them1 have thought that the manual trade which he was taught betokened their humble rank4 ,but this is quite a mistake4 ,st4 ,paul's family must have occupied at least a fairly comfortable position1 when they were able to send a member of their house to ,jerusalem to be taught in the most celebrated rabbinical school of the time4 ,but it was the law of that school--and a very useful law it was too--that every ,jew1 and especially every teacher1 should possess a trade by which he might be supported did necessity call for it4 ,it was a common proverb among the ,jews at that time that ,he who taught not his son a trade taught him to be a thief4 ,it is incumbent on the father to circumcise his son1 to redeem him1 to teach him the law1 and to teach him some occupation1 for1 as ,rabbi ,judah saith1 whosoever teacheth not his son to do some work is as if he taught him robbery4 ,rabbin ,gamaliel saith1 ,he that hath a trade in his hand1 to what is he like8 ,he is like to a vineyard that is fenced4 ,such was the authoritative teaching of the schools1 and ,jewish practice was in accordance therewith4 ,some of the most celebrated rabbis of that time were masters of a mechanical art or trade4 ,the ,vice-president of the ,sanhedrin was a merchant for four years1 and then devoted himself to the study of the law4 ,one rabbi was a shoemaker2 ,rabbi ,juda1 the great ,cabbalist1 was a tailor2 ,rabbi ,jose was brought up as a tanner2 another rabbi as a baker1 and yet another as a carpenter4#e ,and so as a preparation for the office and life work to which his father had destined him1 ,st4 ,paul during his earlier years was taught one of the common trades of ,tarsus1 which consisted in making tents either out of the hair or the skin of the ,angora goats which browsed over the hills of central ,asia ,minor4 ,it was a trade that was common among ,jews4 ,aquila and his wife ,priscilla were tentmakers1 and therefore ,st4 ,paul united himself to them and wrought at his trade in their company at ,corinth 7,acts xviii4 #c74 ,it has often been asserted that at this period of his life ,st4 ,paul must have studied ,greek philosophy and literature1 and men have pointed to his quotations from the ,greek poets ,aratus1 ,epimenides1 and ,menander to prove the attention which the ,apostle must have bestowed upon them4#f ,tarsus was certainly one of the great universities of that age1 ranking in the first place along with ,athens and ,alexandria4 ,so great was its fame that the ,roman emperors even were wont to go to ,tarsus to look for tutors to instruct their sons4 ,but ,tarsus was at the very same time one of the most morally degraded spots within the bounds of the ,roman world1 and it is not at all likely that a strict ,hebrew1 a stern ,pharisee1 would have allowed his son to encounter the moral taint involved in freely mixing with such a degraded people and in the free study of a literature permeated through and through with sensuality and idolatry4 ,st4 ,paul doubtless at this early period of his life gained that colloquial knowledge of ,greek which was every day becoming more and more necessary for the ordinary purposes of secular life all over the ,roman ,empire1 even in the most backward parts of ,palestine4#g ,but it is not likely that his parents would have sanctioned his attendance at the lectures on philosophy and poetry delivered at the ,university of ,tarsus1 where he would have been initiated into all the abominations of paganism in a style most attractive to human nature4 #e ,josephus1 ,antiqq41 ,,xviii41 ix41 #a1 says of certain ,jews of ,babylon1 ,now there were two men1 ,asineus and ,anileus1 brethren to one another4 ,they were destitute of a father1 and their mother put them to learn the art of weaving curtains1 it not being esteemed a disgrace among them for men to be weavers of cloth4 ,then we find in the ,new ,testament ,simon of ,joppa was a tanner1 ,aquila a tentmaker1 the apostles fishermen1 and our ,lord a carpenter4 ,see a long note on this subject by ,mr4 ,lewin in his ,life of ,st4 ,paul1 vol4 i41 p4 #h4 ,massutius1 a ,jesuit commentator on ,st4 ,paul's life1 lib4 i41 cap4 iii41 notices that ,charlemagne1 according to his biographer ,eginhard1 would have his sons and daughters taught some mechanical trade4 #f ,see ,acts xvii4 #bh2 ,titus i4 #ab2 #a ,cor4 xv4 #cc4 #g ,see an article on ,greek the ,language of ,galilee in the time of ,christ1 by the ,rev4 ,dr4 ,abbott1 ,professor of ,hebrew in the ,university of ,dublin1 in his ,essays chiefly on the ,original ,texts of the ,old and ,new ,testaments4 ,london1 #ahia4 ,at thirteen years of age1 or thereabouts1 young ,saul1 having now learned all the sacred knowledge which the local rabbis could teach1 went up to ,jerusalem just as our ,lord did1 to assume the full obligations of a ,jew and to pursue his higher studies at the great ,rabbinical ,university of ,jerusalem4 ,to put it in modern language1 ,saul went up to ,jerusalem to be confirmed and admitted to the full privileges and complete obligations of the ,levitical ,law1 and he also went up to enter college4 ,st4 ,paul himself describes the period of life on which he now entered as that in which he was brought up at the feet of ,gamaliel4 ,we have already touched in a prior volume upon the subject of ,gamaliel's history and his relation to ,christianity1 but here it is necessary to say something of him as a teacher1 in which capacity he laid the foundations of modes of thought and reasoning1 the influence of which moulded ,st4 ,paul's whole soul and can be traced all through ,st4 ,paul's ,epistles4 ,gamaliel is an undoubtedly historical personage4 ,the introduction of him in the ,acts of the ,apostles is simply another instance of that marvellous historical accuracy which every fresh investigation and discovery show to be a distinguishing feature of this book4 ,the ,jewish ,talmud was not committed to writing for more than four centuries after ,gamaliel's time1#h and yet it presents ,gamaliel to us in exactly the same light as the inspired record does1 telling us that with the death of ,gamaliel ,i4 the reverence for the ,divine law ceased1 and the observance of purity and abstinence departed4 ,gamaliel came of a family distinguished in ,jewish history both before and after his own time4 ,he was of the royal ,house of ,david1 and possessed in this way great historical claims upon the respect of the nation4 ,his grandfather ,hillel and his father ,simeon were celebrated teachers and expounders of the law4 ,his grandfather had founded indeed one of the leading schools of interpretation then favoured by the rabbis4 ,his father ,simeon is said by some to have been the aged man who took up the infant ,christ in his arms and blessed ,god for ,his revealed salvation in the words of the ,nunc ,dimittis2 while1 as for ,gamaliel himself1 his teaching was marked by wisdom1 prudence1 liberality1 and spiritual depth so far as such qualities could exist in a professor of rabbinical learning4 ,gamaliel was a friend and contemporary of ,philo1 and this fact alone must have imported an element of liberality into his teaching4 ,philo was a widely read scholar who strove to unite the philosophy of ,greece to the religion of ,palestine1 and ,philo's ideas must have permeated more or less into some at least of the schools of ,jerusalem1 so that1 though ,st4 ,paul may not have come in contact with ,greek literature in ,tarsus1 he may very probably have learned much about it in a ,judaised1 purified1 spiritualised shape in ,jerusalem4 ,but the influence exercised on ,st4 ,paul by ,gamaliel and through him by ,philo1 or men of his school1 can be traced in other respects4#i #h ,basnage1 in his ,history of the ,jews1 translated by ,thomas ,taylor1 ,book ,,iii41 ch4 vi41 p4 #afh 7,london1 #agjh71 states1 ,it is agreed by the generality of ,jewish and ,christian doctors that the ,talmud was completed in the #ejeth year of the ,christian ra4 ,cf4 ,serarius1 ,de ,rabbinis1 ,lib4 ,i41 c4 ix41 p4 #bea2 ,bartolocci1 ,bibl4 ,rabbin41 t4 i41 p4 #dhh1 t4 iii41 p4 #cei2 ,morinus1 ,exerc4 ,bibl41 ,lib4 ,,ii41 ex4 #f1 c4 ii4 and iii41 p4 #bid4 ,schaff's ,encyclopdia of ,historical ,theology1 vol4 iii41 pp4 #bbib-if1 has a good article on the ,talmud1 giving a long list of authorities to which reference may be made by any one interested in this subject4 #i ,philo is the subject of a very long and learned article by ,dr4 ,edersheim in ,smith's ,dict4 ,christ4 ,biog41 vol4 iv41 with which may be compared a shorter article in ,schaff's ,encyclopdia of ,hist4 ,theol41 vol4 ii4 ,the teaching of ,gamaliel was as spiritual1 ,i have said1 as rabbinical teaching could have been2 but this is not saying very much from the ,christian point of view4 ,the schools at ,jerusalem in the time of ,gamaliel were wholly engaged in studies of the most wearisome1 narrow1 petty1 technical kind4 ,dr4 ,farrar has illustrated this subject with a great wealth of learning and examples in the fourth chapter of his ,life of ,st4 ,paul4 ,the ,talmud alone shows this1 throwing a fearful light upon the denunciations of our ,lord as regards the ,pharisees1 for it devotes a whole treatise to washings of the hands1 and another to the proper method of killing fowls4 ,the ,pharisaic section of the ,jews held1 indeed1 that there were two hundred and forty-eight commandments and three hundred and sixty-five prohibitions involved in the ,jewish ,law1 all of them equally binding1 and all of them so searching that if only one solitary ,jew could be found who for one day kept them all and transgressed in no one direction1 then the captivity of ,god's people would cease and the ,messiah would appear4#aj #aj ,these facts throw much light upon our ,lord's words in ,matt4 xv4 #a-i and xxii4 #cd-dj4 ,i am obliged to pass over this point somewhat rapidly1 and yet it is a most important one if we desire to know what kind of training the ,apostle received2 for1 no matter how ,god's grace may descend and the ,divine ,spirit may change the main directions of a man's life1 he never quite recovers himself from the effects of his early teaching4 ,dr4 ,farrar has bestowed much time and labour on this point4 ,the following brief extract from his eloquent words will give a vivid idea of the endless puerilities1 the infinite questions of pettiest1 most minute1 and most subtle bearing with which the time of ,st4 ,paul and his fellow-students must have been taken up1 and which must have made him bitterly feel in the depths of his inmost being that1 though the law may have been originally intended as a source of life1 it had been certainly changed as regards his own particular case1 and had become unto him an occasion of death4 ,moreover1 was there not mingled with all this nominal adoration of the ,law a deeply seated hypocrisy1 so deep that it was in a great measure unconscious8 ,even before the days of ,christ the rabbis had learnt the art of straining out gnats and swallowing camels4 ,they had long learnt to nullify what they professed to defend4 ,the ingenuity of ,hillel was quite capable of getting rid of any ,mosaic regulation which had been found practically burdensome4 ,pharisees and ,sadducees alike had managed to set aside in their own favour1 by the devices of the mixtures1 all that was disagreeable to themselves in the ,sabbath scrupulosity4#aa ,the fundamental institution of the ,sabbatic year had been stultified by the mere legal fiction of the ,prosbol4#ab ,teachers who were on the high road to a casuistry which could construct rules out of every superfluous particle1 had found it easy to win credit for ingenuity by elaborating prescriptions to which ,moses would have listened in mute astonishment4 ,if there be one thing more definitely laid down in the ,law than another1 it is the uncleanness of creeping things2 yet the ,talmud assures us that 'no one is appointed a member of the ,sanhedrin who does not possess sufficient ingenuity to prove from the written ,law that a creeping thing is ceremonially clean'2 and that there was an unimpeachable disciple at ,jabne who could adduce one hundred and fifty arguments in favour of the ceremonial cleanness of creeping things4 ,sophistry like this was at work even in the days when the young student of ,tarsus sat at the feet of ,gamaliel2 and can we imagine any period of his life when he would not have been wearied by a system at once so meaningless1 so stringent1 and so insincere8 #aa ,the rabbinical device of mixtures is fully explained in ,buxtorf's ,lexicon1 col4 #afeg1 ,ed4 ,basil 7#afci71 or in ,kitto's ,biblical ,encyclopdia1 under the article ,sabbath4 ,the ,talmud had a special treatise called ,tractatus ,mixtorum1 which taught how1 for instance1 dwellings might be mixed or mingled so as to avoid technical breaches of the ,sabbatical law4 ,planks were laid across intervening residences1 so that houses at a very great distance might be brought into touch and connexion1 and thus regarded as one common dwelling for a number of people who wished for a common feast on the ,sabbath4 ,this was called ,mixtio conclavium4 ,it was simply one of those wretched devices to which casuistry always leads2 something like the rules for banquets on fast days1 which we find in ,lacroix1 ,manners of the ,middle ,ages1 p4 #agj1 where a most sumptuous ,episcopal banquet is described4 ,it was given on a fast day1 therefore no flesh is included2 but its place was amply supplied by rare fish and other dainties3 see ,g4 ,t4 ,stokes1 ,ireland and ,anglo-,norman ,church1 p4 #adc4 #ab ,prosbol is simply a transliteration into ,hebrew of two ,greek words1 4 ,the ,jewish ,law enacted a cancelling of all debts in the ,sabbatic year on the part of ,jews towards their brethren4 ,this enactment was found to hinder commerce about the time of ,hillel--i4e41 #ge years ,b4,c4 ,the rich would not lend to the poor on account of the ,sabbatical year4 ,so the doctors devised the ,prosbol1 which was a declaration to the effect that the ,sabbatical year was not to affect the debt4 ,there was a legal fiction invented which made void the law4 ,the creditor said to the debtor1 ,in accordance with the ,sabbatical year ,i remit thee the debt1 and then the debtor replied1 ,nevertheless ,i wish to pay it1 and then the creditor was free from the obligation of ,deut4 xv4 ,these words are true1 thoroughly true1 in their extremest sense4 ,casuistry is at all times a dangerous weapon with which to play1 a dangerous science upon which to concentrate one's attention4 ,the mind is so pleased with the fascination of the precipice that one is perpetually tempted to see how near an approach can be made without a catastrophe1 and then the catastrophe happens when it is least expected4 ,but when the casuist's attention is concentrated upon one volume like the law of ,moses1 interpreted in the thousand methods and combinations open to the luxuriant imagination of the ,east1 then indeed the danger is infinitely increased1 and we cease to wonder at the vivid1 burning1 scorching denunciations of the ,lord as ,he proclaimed the sin of those who enacted that ,whosoever shall swear by the temple1 it is nothing2 but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple1 he is a debtor4 ,st4 ,paul's whole time must have been taken up in the school of ,gamaliel with an endless study of such casuistical trifles2 and yet that period of his life left marks which we can clearly trace throughout his writings4 ,the method1 for instance1 in which ,st4 ,paul quotes the ,old ,testament is thoroughly rabbinical4 ,it was derived from the rules prevalent in the ,jewish schools1 and therefore1 though it may seem to us at times forced and unnatural1 must have appeared to ,st4 ,paul and to the men of his time absolutely conclusive4 ,when reading the ,scriptures we ,westerns forget the great difference between ,orientals and the nations of ,western ,europe4 ,aristotle and his logic and his logical methods1 with major and minor premises and conclusions following therefrom1 absolutely dominate our thoughts4 ,the ,easterns knew nothing of ,aristotle1 and his methods availed nothing to their minds4 ,they argued in quite a different style1 and used a logic which he would have simply scorned4 ,analogy1 allegory1 illustration1 form the staple elements of ,eastern logic1 and in their use ,st4 ,paul was elaborately trained in ,gamaliel's classes1 and of their use his writings furnish abundant examples2 the most notable of which will be found in his allegorical interpretation of the events of the wilderness journey of ,israel in #a ,corinthians x4 #a-d1 where the pillar of cloud1 and the passage of the ,red ,sea1 and the manna1 and the smitten rock become the emblems and types of the ,christian ,sacraments2 and again1 in ,st4 ,paul's mystical explanation of ,galatians iv4 #ba-ca1 where ,hagar and ,sarah are represented as typical of the two covenants1 the old covenant leading to spiritual bondage and the new introducing to gospel freedom4#ac #ac ,the parallel between ,hagar and ,sarah is drawn out at full length after the rabbinical method in ,basnage's ,history of the ,jews 7,taylor's translation71 book iii41 ch4 #bb2 in ,lightfoot's ,galatians1 pp4 #agh1 #agi1 #ahi-ii1 and ,farrar's ,st4 ,paul1 ch4 iii4 ,philo in his writings uses the very same illustration4 ,perhaps it may be well to add the concluding words of ,bishop ,lightfoot when discussing on p4 #aig of his ,galatians1 the similar use made by ,st4 ,paul and by ,philo of this illustration of ,hagar3 ,at the same time we need not fear to allow that ,st4 ,paul's method of teaching here is coloured by his early education in the rabbinical schools4 ,it were as unreasonable to stake the ,apostle's inspiration on the turn of a metaphor or the character of an illustration or the form of an argument1 as on purity of diction4 ,no one now thinks of maintaining that the language of the inspired writers reaches the classical standard of correctness and elegance1 though at one time it was held almost a heresy to deny this4 ',a treasure contained in earthen vessels1' 'strength made perfect in weakness1' 'rudeness in speech1 yet not in knowledge1' such is the far nobler conception of inspired teaching1 which we may gather from the ,apostle's own language4 ,and this language we should do well to bear in mind4 ,but1 on the other hand it were mere dogmatism to set up the intellectual standard of our own age or country as an infallible rule4 ,the power of allegory has been differently felt in different ages1 as it is differently felt at any one time by diverse nations4 ,analogy1 allegory1 metaphor--by what boundaries are these separated the one from the other8 ,what is true or false1 correct or incorrect1 as an analogy or an allegory8 ,what argumentative force must be assigned to either8 ,we should at least be prepared with an answer to these questions before we venture to sit in judgment on any individual case4 ,these1 indeed1 are the most notable examples of ,st4 ,paul's method of exegesis derived from the school of ,gamaliel1 but there are numberless others scattered all through his writings4 ,if we view them through ,western spectacles1 we shall be disappointed and miss their force2 but if we view them sympathetically1 if we remember that the ,jews quoted and studied the ,old ,testament to find illustrations of their own ideas rather than proofs in our sense of the word1 studied them as an enthusiastic ,shakespeare or ,tennyson or ,wordsworth student pores over his favourite author to find parallels which others1 who are less bewitched1 find very slight and very dubious indeed1#ad then we shall come to see how it is that ,st4 ,paul quotes an illustration of his doctrine of justification by faith from ,habakkuk ii4 #d--,the soul of the proud man is not upright1 but the just man shall live by his steadfastness2 a passage which originally applied to the ,chaldeans and the ,jews1 predicting that the former should enjoy no stable prosperity1 but that the ,jews1 ideally represented as the just or upright man1 should live securely because of their fidelity2#ae and can find an allusion to the resurrection of ,christ in the sure mercies of ,david1 which ,god had promised to give ,his people in the third verse of the fifty-fifth of ,isaiah4#af #ad ,the latest instance of this method which ,i have noticed is ,illustrations of ,tennyson1 by ,j4 ,c4 ,collins1 reviewed by the ,dean of ,armagh in the ,january number of the ,bookman1 where a number of such parallelisms are quoted which seem to me rather dubious4 #ae ,bishop ,lightfoot1 on ,galatians iii4 #aa1 says of this verse1 ,in its original context the passage has reference to the temporal calamities inflicted by the ,chaldean invasion4 ,here a spiritual meaning and general application are given to words referring primarily to special external incidents4 ,see also ,farrar on ,st4 ,paul's method of scriptural quotation1 in his ,life of ,st4 ,paul1 ch4 iii4 #af ,see ,st4 ,paul's address to the ,jews of the ,pisidian ,antioch in ,acts xiii4 #cd4 ,other specimens of the same rabbinical method used by ,st4 ,paul will be found in ,rom4 iii41 iv41 and ix4 #cc2 #a ,cor4 ix4 ,eph4 iv4 #h4 ,rabbinical learning1 ,hebrew discipline1 ,greek experience and life1 these conspired together with natural impulse and character to frame and form and mould a man who must make his mark upon the world at large in whatever direction he chooses for his walk in life4 ,it will now be our duty to show what were the earliest results of this very varied education4#ag #ag ,the great leaders in the divine struggle for righteousness1 in every great onward movement on behalf of truth have always been men of this varied training4 ,moses1 ,david1 ,elijah1 ,ezra1 ,saul of ,tarsus1 were great leaders of thought and action and they were all men whose education had been developed in very various schools4 ,they were not men of books merely1 nor men of action alone4 ,they gained the flexibility of mind1 the genuine liberality of thought which led them out of the old rucks by experiences gained from very opposite directions4 ,the mere man of books may be very narrow2 the practical man1 whose knowledge is limited to every day affairs and whose horizon is bounded by to-morrow1 is often an unthinking bigot4 ,a man trained like ,moses1 or ,david1 or ,saul is the true leader of men for his mind is trained to receive truths from every quarter4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,the ,,conversion ,,of ,,the ,,persecutor4 ,but ,saul laid waste the church1 entering into every house1 and haling men and women committed them to prison4--,,acts viii4 #c4 ,but ,saul1 yet breathing threatening and slaughter against the disciples of the ,lord1 went unto the high priest1 and asked of him letters to ,damascus unto the synagogues1 that if he found any that were of the ,way1 whether men or women1 he might bring them bound to ,jerusalem4 ,and as he journeyed1 it came to pass that he drew nigh unto ,damascus3 and suddenly there shone round about him a light out of heaven3 and he fell upon the earth1 and heard a voice saying unto him1 ,saul1 ,saul1 why persecutest thou ,me8 ,and he said1 ,who art thou1 ,lord8 ,and ,he said1 ,i am ,jesus whom thou persecutest3 but rise1 and enter into the city1 and it shall be told thee what thou must do4--,,acts ix4 #a-f4 ,we have in the last chapter traced the course of ,st4 ,paul's life as we know it from his own reminiscences1 from hints in ,holy ,scripture1 and from ,jewish history and customs4 ,the ,jewish nation is exactly like all the nations of the ,east1 in one respect at least4 ,they are all intensely conservative1 and though time has necessarily introduced some modifications1 yet the course of education1 and the force of prejudice1 and the power of custom have in the main remained unchanged down to the present time4 ,we now proceed to view ,st4 ,paul1 not as we imagine his course of life and education to have been1 but as we follow him in the exhibition of his active powers1 in the full play and swing of that intellectual energy1 of those religious aims and objects for which he had been so long training4 ,st4 ,paul at his first appearance upon the stage of ,christian history1 upon the occasion of ,st4 ,stephen's martyrdom1 had arrived at the full stature of manhood both in body and in mind4 ,he was then the young man ,saul2 an expression which enables us to fix with some approach to accuracy the time of his birth4 ,st4 ,paul's contemporary ,philo in one of his works divides man's life into seven periods1 the fourth of which is young manhood1 which he assigns to the years between twenty-one and twenty-eight4 ,roughly speaking1 and without attempting any fine-drawn distinctions for which we have not sufficient material1 we may say that at the martyrdom of ,st4 ,stephen ,st4 ,paul was about thirty years of age1 or some ten years or thereabouts junior to our ,lord as ,his years would have been numbered according to those of the sons of men4 ,one circumstance1 indeed1 would seem to indicate that ,st4 ,paul must have been then over and above the exact line of thirty4 ,it is urged1 and that upon the ground of ,st4 ,paul's own language1 that he was a member of the ,sanhedrin4 ,in the twenty-sixth chapter1 defending himself before ,king ,agrippa1 ,st4 ,paul described his own course of action prior to his conversion as one of bitterest hostility to the ,christian cause3 ,i both shut up many of the saints in prisons1 having received authority from the chief priests1 and when they were put to death1 ,i gave my vote against them2 an expression which clearly indicates that he was a member of a body and possessed a vote in an assembly which determined questions of life and death1 and that could have been nothing else than the ,sanhedrin1 into which no one was admitted before he had completed thirty years4 ,st4 ,paul1 then1 when he is first introduced to our notice1 comes before us as a full-grown man and a well-trained1 carefully educated1 thoroughly disciplined rabbinical scholar1 whose prejudices were naturally excited against the new ,galilean sect1 and who had given public expression to his feelings by taking decided steps in opposition to its progress4 ,the sacred narrative now sets before us 7i7 the ,conduct of ,st4 ,paul in his unconverted state1 7ii7 his ,mission1 7iii7 his ,journey1 and 7iv7 his ,conversion4 ,let us take the many details and circumstances connected with this passage under these four divisions4 ,i4 ,the ,conduct of ,saul4 ,here we have a picture of ,st4 ,paul in his unconverted state3 ,saul1 yet breathing threatening and slaughter against the disciples of the ,lord4 ,this description is amply borne out by ,st4 ,paul himself1 in which he even enlarges and gives us additional touches of the intensity of his antichristian hate4 ,his ignorant zeal at this period seems to have printed itself deep upon memory's record4 ,there are no less than at least seven different notices in the ,acts or scattered through the ,epistles1 due to his own tongue or pen1 and dealing directly with his conduct as a persecutor4 ,no matter how he rejoiced in the fulness and blessedness of ,christ's pardon1 no matter how he experienced the power and working of ,god's ,holy ,spirit1 ,st4 ,paul never could forget the intense hatred with which he had originally followed the disciples of the ,master4 ,let us note them1 for they all bear out1 expand1 and explain the statement of the passage we are now considering4 ,in his address to the ,jews of ,jerusalem as recorded in ,acts xxii4 he appeals to his former conduct as an evidence of his sincerity4 ,in verses #d and #e he says1 ,i persecuted this ,way unto the death1 binding and delivering into prisons both men and women4 ,as also the high priest doth bear me witness1 and all the estate of the elders3 from whom also ,i received letters unto the brethren1#ah and journeyed to ,damascus1 to bring them also which were there unto ,jerusalem in bonds1 for to be punished4 ,in the same discourse he recurs a second time to this topic2 for1 telling his audience of the vision granted to him in the temple1 he says1 verse #ai1 ,and ,i said1 ,lord1 they themselves know that ,i imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on ,thee3 and when the blood of ,stephen ,thy witness was shed1 ,i also was standing by1 and consenting1 and keeping the garments of them that slew him4 ,st4 ,paul dwells upon the same topic in the twenty-sixth chapter1 when addressing ,king ,agrippa in verses #i-aa1 a passage already quoted in part3 ,i verily thought with myself1 that ,i ought to do many things contrary to the name of ,jesus of ,nazareth4 ,and this ,i also did in ,jerusalem3 and ,i both shut up many of the saints in prisons1 having received authority from the chief priests1 and when they were put to death1 ,i gave my vote against them4 ,and punishing them oftentimes in all the synagogues1 ,i strove to make them blaspheme2 and being exceedingly mad against them1 ,i persecuted them even unto foreign cities4 ,it is the same in his ,epistles4 ,in four different places does he refer to his conduct as a persecutor--in #a ,cor4 xv4 #i2 ,gal4 i4 #ac2 ,phil4 iii4 #f2 and #a ,tim4 i4 #ac2 while again in the chapter now under consideration1 the ninth of ,acts1 we find that the ,jews of the synagogue in ,damascus1 who were listening to ,st4 ,paul's earliest outburst of ,christian zeal1 asked1 ,is not this he that in ,jerusalem made havock of them which called on this name8 and he had come hither for this intent1 that he might bring them bound before the chief priests2 using the very same word making havock as ,st4 ,paul himself uses in the first of ,galatians1 which in ,greek is very strong1 expressing a course of action accompanied with fire and blood and murder such as occurs when a city is taken by storm4 #ah ,what an interesting anticipation of ,christian times do we find in this passage4 ,the estate of the elders is the ,presbytery in the original ,greek1 and the words the brethren by which ,st4 ,paul refers to his unconverted fellow-countrymen are an anticipation of the expression he always uses for the ,christian believers4 ,even in these little details ,christianity is but an expansion of ,judaism1 as1 in another direction1 the ,catacombs of ,rome and the ornamentation used therein were all derived from the customs of the ,jewish colony in ,rome long before the time of ,christ4 ,see a treatise by ,schurer1 called ,die ,gemeindeverfassung der ,juden in ,rom in der ,kaiserzeit1 p4 #ac 7,leipzig1 #ahgi71 where that learned writer points out the continuity between ,judaism in ,rome and early ,christianity4 ,now these passages have been thus set forth at length because they add many details to the bare statement of ,acts ix41 giving us a glimpse into those four or five dark and bloody years1 the thought of which henceforth weighed so heavily upon the ,apostle's mind and memory4 ,just let us notice these additional touches4 ,he shut up in prison many of the saints1 both men and women1 and that in ,jerusalem before he went to ,damascus at all4 ,he scourged the disciples in every synagogue1 meaning doubtless that he superintended the punishment1 as it was the duty of the ,chazan1 the minister or attendant of the synagogue1 to scourge the condemned1 and thus strove to make them blaspheme ,christ4 ,he voted for the execution of the disciples when he acted as a member of the ,sanhedrin4 ,and lastly he followed the disciples and persecuted them in foreign cities4 ,we gain in this way a much fuller idea of the young enthusiast's persecuting zeal than usually is formed from the words ,saul yet breathing threatening and slaughter against the disciples of the ,lord1 which seem to set forth ,saul as roused to wild and savage excitement by ,st4 ,stephen's death1 and then continuing that course in the city of ,jerusalem for a very brief period4 ,whereas1 on the contrary1 ,st4 ,paul's fuller statements1 when combined1 represent him as pursuing a course of steady1 systematic1 and cruel repression1 which ,st4 ,paul largely helped to inaugurate1 but which continued to exist as long as the ,jews had the power to inflict corporal punishments and death on the members of their own nation4 ,he visited all the synagogues in ,jerusalem and throughout ,palestine1 scourging and imprisoning4 ,he strove--and this is1 again1 another lifelike touch1--to compel the disciples to blaspheme the name of ,christ in the same manner as the ,romans were subsequently wont to test ,christians by calling upon them to cry anathema to the name of their ,master4#ai ,he even extended his activity beyond the bounds of the ,holy ,land1 and that in various directions4 ,the visit to ,damascus may not by any means have been his first journey to a foreign town with thoughts bent on the work of persecution4 ,he expressly says to ,agrippa1 ,i persecuted them even unto foreign cities4 ,he may have visited ,tarsus1 or ,lystra1 or the cities of ,cyprus or ,alexandria itself1 urged on by the consuming fire of his blind1 restless zeal1 before he entered upon the journey to ,damascus1 destined to be the last undertaken in opposition to ,jesus ,christ4 ,when we thus strive to realise the facts of the case1 we shall see that the scenes of blood and torture and death1 the ruined homes1 the tears1 the heartbreaking separations which the young man ,saul had caused in his blind zeal for the law1 and which are briefly summed up in the words he made havock of the ,church1 were quite sufficient to account for that profound impression of his own unworthiness and of ,god's great mercy towards him which he ever cherished to his dying day4#bj #ai ,st4 ,paul1 indeed1 in his persecuting days may have been the inventor of the test1 which seems to have consisted in a declaration that ,jesus was not the ,christ1 but an impostor4 ,we find a reference to the ,jewish custom of blaspheming the name of ,jesus in the ,epistle of ,james 7ii4 #f1 #g73 ,do not the rich oppress you1 and themselves drag you before the judgment-seats8 ,do not they blaspheme the honourable name by the which ye are called8 with which may be compared ,st4 ,paul's words in #a ,cor4 xii4 #c3 ,no man speaking in the ,spirit of ,god saith1 ,jesus is anathema4 ,the same custom continued in the second century1 as we learn from frequent notices in ,justin ,martyr's ,dialogue with ,trypho the ,jew1 as in the following quotations3 ch4 xvi41 cursing in your synagogues those that believe on ,christ2 in ch4 xlvii4 he enumerates amongst those who shall not be saved those who have anathematised and do anathematise this very ,christ in the synagogues2 and in ch4 cxxxvii4 he exhorts the ,jews1 ,assent1 therefore1 and pour no ridicule on the ,son of ,god2 obey not the ,pharisaic teachers1 and scoff not at the ,king of ,israel1 as the rulers of your synagogues teach you to do after your prayers4 ,the ,romans1 as ,i have said1 early borrowed the custom from the ,jews4 ,they strove to compel the ,christians to blaspheme1 as we see from ,pliny's well-known epistle to ,trajan in his ,epistles1 book x41 #ig1 where he describes certain persons brought before him as invoking the gods1 worshipping the emperor's statue1 and reviling the name of ,christ1 whereas there is no forcing those who are really ,christians into any of these compliances4 #bj ,st4 ,paul1 in #a ,tim4 i4 #ae1 says1 ,faithful is the saying1 and worthy of all acceptation1 that ,christ ,jesus came into the world to save sinners2 of whom ,i am chief4 ,this verse is of ancient and of very modern interest too4 ,it shows that to the last ,st4 ,paul retained the keenest sense of his early wickedness4 ,it is of present interest because it helps to correct a modern error4 ,there are people who object to use the ,litany and the ,lord's ,prayer because of the prayers for forgiveness of sins and the occurrence of such expressions as ,have mercy upon us1 miserable sinners4 ,their argument is1 that believers have been washed from all their sins1 and therefore should not describe themselves as miserable sinners4 ,st4 ,paul1 however1 saw no inconsistency between ,god's free forgiving love and his own humility in designating himself the chief of sinners4 ,god may have cast all our sins behind ,his back2 but1 viewing the matter from the human side1 it is well1 nay1 it is absolutely necessary1 if spiritual pride is to be hindered in its rapid growth1 for us to cherish a remembrance of the sins and backslidings of other days4 ,the greatest saints1 the richest spiritual teachers have ever felt the necessity of it4 ,st4 ,augustine in his ,confessions mingles perpetual reminiscences of his own wickedness with his assured sense of ,god's mercy4 ,hooker deals in his own profound style with such objection to the ,litany in the ,fifth ,book of his ,ecclesiastical ,polity1 ch4 xlvii41 where he writes1 replying to the objection that the expressions of the ,litany implying fear of ,god do not become ,god's saints3 ,the knowledge of our own unworthiness is not without belief in the merits of ,christ4 ,with that true fear which the one causeth there is coupled true boldness1 and encouragement drawn from the other4 ,the very silence which our own unworthiness putteth us unto doth itself make request for us1 and that in the consequence of ,his grace4 ,looking inward we are stricken dumb1 looking upward we speak and prevail4 ,o happy mixture1 wherein things contrary do so qualify and correct the danger of the other's excess1 that neither boldness can make us presume as long as we are kept under with the sense of our own wretchedness2 nor while we trust in the mercy of ,god through ,jesus ,christ1 fear be able to tyrannise over us6 ,as therefore our fear excludeth not that boldness which becometh saints2 so if their familiarity with ,god 7referring to his opponents7 do not savour of this fear1 it draweth too near that irreverent confidence wherewith true humility can never stand4 ,bishop ,jeremy ,taylor understood the bearing of ,st4 ,paul's view on personal religion4 ,in his ,holy ,living1 in the chapter on ,humility1 he teaches those who seek that grace thus3 ,every day call to mind some one of thy foulest sins1 or the most shameful of thy disgraces1 or the indiscreetest of thy actions1 or anything that did then most trouble thee1 and apply it to the present swelling of thy spirit and opinion1 and it may help to allay it4 ,,ii4 ,the ,mission of ,saul4 ,again1 we notice in this passage that ,saul1 having shown his activity in other directions1 now turned his attention to ,damascus4 ,there were political circumstances which may have hitherto hindered him from exercising the same supervision over the synagogue of ,damascus which he had already extended to other foreign cities4 ,the political history and circumstances of ,damascus at this period are indeed rather obscure4 ,the city seems to have been somewhat of a bone of contention between ,herod ,antipas1 ,aretas the king of ,petra1 and the ,romans4 ,about the time of ,st4 ,paul's conversion1 which may be fixed at ,a4,d4 #cg or #ch1 there was a period of great disturbance in ,palestine and ,southern ,syria4 ,pontius ,pilate was deposed from his office and sent to ,rome for judgment4 ,vitellius1 the president of the whole ,province of ,syria1 came into ,palestine1 changing the high priests1 conciliating the ,jews1 and intervening in the war which raged between ,herod ,antipas and ,aretas1 his father-in-law4 ,in the course of this last struggle ,damascus seems to have changed its masters1 and1 while a ,roman city till the year #cg1 it henceforth became an ,arabian city1 the property of ,king ,aretas1 till the reign of ,nero1 when it again returned beneath the ,roman sway4 ,some one or other1 or perhaps all these political circumstances combined may have hitherto prevented the ,sanhedrin from taking active measures against the disciples at ,damascus4 ,but now things became settled4 ,caiaphas was deposed from the office of high priest upon the departure of ,pontius ,pilate4 ,he had been a great friend and ally of ,pilate2 ,vitellius therefore deprived ,caiaphas of his sacred office1 appointing in his stead ,jonathan1 son of ,annas1 the high priest4 ,this ,jonathan did not1 however1 long continue to occupy the position1 as he was deposed by the same ,roman magistrate1 ,vitellius1 at the feast of ,pentecost in the very same year1 his brother ,theophilus being appointed high priest in his room2 so completely was the whole ,levitical hierarchy1 the entire ,jewish establishment1 ruled by the political officers of the ,roman state4 ,this ,theophilus continued to hold the office for five or six years1 and it must have been to ,theophilus that ,saul applied for letters unto ,damascus authorising him to arrest the adherents of the new religion4#ba #ba ,the references for all these changes are given in ,lewin's ,fasti1 and in his ,life of ,st4 ,paul1 with which ,josephus1 ,antiqq41 ,,xviii41 iv41 should be compared4 ,and now a question here arises1 ,how is it that the high priest could exercise such powers and arrest his co-religionists in a foreign town8 ,the answer to this sheds a flood of light upon the state of the ,jews of the ,dispersion1 as they were called4 ,i have already said a little on this point1 but it demands fuller discussion4#bb ,the high priest at ,jerusalem was regarded as a kind of head of the whole nation4 ,he was viewed by the ,romans as the ,prince of the ,jews1#bc with whom they could formally treat1 and by whom they could manage a nation which1 differing from all others in its manners and customs1 was scattered all over the world1 and often gave much trouble4 ,julius ,csar laid down the lines on which ,jewish privileges and ,roman policy were based1 and that half a century before the ,christian era4 ,julius ,csar had been greatly assisted in his ,alexandrian war by the ,jewish high priest ,hyrcanus1 so he issued an edict in the year #dg ,b4,c41 which1 after reciting the services of ,hyrcanus1 proceeds thus1 ,i command that ,hyrcanus and his children do retain all the rights of the high priest1 whether established by law or accorded by courtesy2 and if hereafter any question arise touching the ,jewish polity1 ,i desire that the determination thereof be referred to him2 an edict which1 confirmed as it was again and again1 not only by ,julius ,csar1 but by several subsequent emperors1 gave the high priest the fullest jurisdiction over the ,jews1 wherever they dwelt1 in things pertaining to their own religion4#bd ,it was therefore in strictest accord with ,roman law and custom that1 when ,saul wished to arrest members of the synagogue at ,damascus1 he should make application to the high priest ,theophilus for a warrant enabling him to effect his purpose4 #bb ,see vol4 i41 pp4 #agd-f1 #bga4 #bc ,the decree of ,julius ,csar1 upon which the ,jewish privileges were built1 expressly calls the high priest the ethnarch 771 or ruler1 of the ,jews4 ,see ,josephus1 ,antiqq41 ,,xiv41 x41 #c4 #bd ,this point is worked out at great length and with a multitude of references in ,lewin's ,life of ,st4 ,paul1 ch4 iv41 vol4 i41 pp4 #dd-g4 ,josephus1 in his ,antiquities1 book xiv41 ch4 x41 gives the words of ,csar's decree4 ,in ch4 viii4 of the same book he describes the warlike assistance lent by the ,jews to ,julius ,csar in his ,egyptian campaign4 ,the description1 too1 given of the disciples in this passage is very noteworthy and a striking evidence of the truthfulness of the narrative4 ,the disciples were the men of the ,way4 ,saul desired to bring any of the ,way found at ,damascus to be judged at ,jerusalem1 because the ,sanhedrin alone possessed the right to pass capital sentences in matters of religion4 ,the synagogues at ,damascus or anywhere else could flog culprits1 and a ,jew could get no redress for any such ill-treatment even if he sought it1 which would have not been at all likely2 but if the final sentence of death were to be passed1 the ,jerusalem ,sanhedrin was the only tribunal competent to entertain such questions4#be ,and the persons he desired to hale before this awful tribunal were the men of the ,way4 ,this was the name by which1 in its earliest and purest day1 the ,church called itself4 ,in the nineteenth chapter and ninth verse we read of ,st4 ,paul's labours at ,ephesus and the opposition he endured3 ,but when some were hardened and disobedient1 speaking evil of the ,way before the multitude2 while again1 in his defence before ,felix 7xxiv4 #ad71 we read1 ,but this ,i confess unto thee1 that after the ,way which they call a sect1 so serve ,i the ,god of our fathers4 ,the ,revised translation of the ,new ,testament has well brought out the force of the original in a manner that was utterly missed in the ,authorised ,version1 and has emphasized for us a great truth concerning the early ,christians4 ,there was a certain holy intolerance even about the very name they imposed upon the earliest ,church4 ,it was the ,way1 the only ,way1 the ,way of ,life4 ,the earliest ,christians had a lively recollection of what the ,apostles had heard from the mouth of the ,master ,himself1 ,i am the ,way1 the ,truth1 and the ,life2 no one cometh unto the ,father but by ,me2 and so1 realising the identity of ,christ and ,his people1 realising the continued presence of ,christ in ,his ,church1 they designated that ,church by a term which expressed their belief that in it alone was the road to peace1 the sole path of access to ,god4 ,this name the ,way expressed their sense of the importance of the truth4 ,their's was no easy-going religion which thought that it made not the slightest matter what form of belief a man professed4 ,they were awfully in earnest1 because they knew of only one way to ,god1 and that was the religion and ,church of ,jesus ,christ4 ,therefore it was that they were willing to suffer all things rather than that they should lose this ,way1 or that others should miss it through their default4 ,the marvellous1 the intense missionary efforts of the primitive ,church find their explanation in this expression1 the ,way4 ,god had revealed the ,way and had called themselves into it1 and their great duty in life was to make others know the greatness of this salvation2 or1 as ,st4 ,paul puts it1 ,necessity is laid upon me2 woe is unto me if ,i preach not the gospel4#bf #be ,i know it is a common opinion that the ,jews had no power of capital punishment and that the ,romans permitted the infliction merely of scourgings and such minor penalties4 ,lightfoot1 in his ,hor ,hebraic on ,matt4 xxvi4 #c2 ,john xviii4 #ca2 ,acts ix4 #b1 controverts this view in long and learned notes4 ,the ,jews certainly stated to ,pilate1 according to ,john xviii4 #ca1 ,it is not lawful for us to put any man to death4 ,but then1 on the other hand1 the ,sanhedrin put ,st4 ,stephen to death1 and ,st4 ,paul tells us that when the saints were put to death he voted against them2 showing that the ,sanhedrin did put many of the disciples to death4 ,lightfoot thinks that the ,jews merely wished to throw the odium of our ,lord's execution upon the ,romans1 and therefore pleaded their own inability to condemn ,him for a capital offence1 because of the particular chamber where the ,sanhedrin then sat1 where it was unlawful to judge a capital crime4 ,the ,pharisees1 too1 joined in the attempt to bring about our ,lord's death1 and their traditions made them averse to the shedding of ,jewish blood by the ,sanhedrin4 ,the ,sadducees were1 however1 the dominant party in the year #cg1 and they had no such scruples4 ,they were always of a cruel and bloodthirsty disposition and stern in their punishments1 as ,josephus tells us in his ,antiqq41 ,,xx41 ix41 #a4 ,this was of course the natural result of their material philosophy which regarded man as devoid of any immortal principle4 ,lightfoot gives instances too 7,matt4 xxvi4 #c7 of a priest's daughter burned to death and of a man stoned at ,lydda even after the destruction of the city1 showing that the ,sanhedrin still contrived to exercise capital jurisdiction4 ,the time when ,saul set out for ,damascus was very favourable from political reasons for any new or unusual assumptions of authority on the part of the ,sanhedrin4 ,vitellius the ,prefect was very anxious to be deferential in every way to the ,jewish authorities4 ,he had just restored the custody of the high priest's robes to the ,sanhedrin and the priests4 ,this may have encouraged them to adopt the fiercest and sternest measures against the new sectaries4 ,as for the minor punishment of flogging1 the synagogues in ,holland have been known to exercise it so lately as the seventeenth century4 #bf ,the ,acts of the ,apostles in this respect throws an interesting light upon the ,teaching of the ,twelve ,apostles1 published a few years ago by ,bishop ,bryennius1 and helps us to fix its early date4 ,that important relic of early ,christianity never speaks of the followers of the new religion as ,christians4 ,it opens by describing the two ways1 the way of ,life1 which is ,christianity1 and the way of ,death4 ,it must therefore have been composed when the memory of the ,church's earliest designation1 the ,way1 was still fresh4 ,by the time of ,aristides 7,a4,d4 #abe7 and of ,pliny the title ,christians was the common one both inside and outside the ,church4 ,the exclusive claims of ,christianity are thus early set forth2 and it was these same exclusive claims which caused ,christianity to be so hated and persecuted by the pagans4#bg ,the ,roman ,empire would not have so bitterly resented the preaching of ,christ1 if ,his followers would have accepted the position with which other religions were contented4 ,the ,roman ,empire was not intolerant of new ideas in matters of religion4 ,previous to the coming of our ,lord the pagans had welcomed the strange1 mystic rites and teaching of ,egypt4 ,they accepted from ,persia the curious system and worship of ,mithras within the first century after ,christ's crucifixion4 ,and tradition tells that at least two of the emperors were willing to admit the image of ,christ into the ,pantheon1 which they had consecrated to the memory of the great and good4#bh ,but the ,christians would have nothing to say or do with such partial honours for their ,master4 ,religion for them was ,christ alone or else it was nothing1 and that because ,he alone was the ,way4 ,as there was but one ,god for them1 so there was but one ,mediator1 ,christ ,jesus4 #bg ,this sense of the awful importance of ,christianity as the ,way made the ,christians enthusiastic and determined in their efforts to spread their religion4 ,in the earliest apology or defence of ,christianity1 that of ,aristides1 which ,i have fully described in the previous volume of this ,commentary1 we find this fact openly avowed and gloried in as in the following passage3 ,as for their servants or handmaids1 or their children1 if they have any1 they persuade them to become ,christians for the love they have towards them2 and when they have become so1 they call them without distinction brethren4 ,a system so broad as to view all religions as equally important would never have innate force enough to lead a man to become a missionary1 and most certainly never would have produced a martyr4 ,christianity really understood is a very broad religion2 its essential dogmas are very few2 but there is a kind of breadth in religion now fashionable which the early ,christians never understood or they would not have acted as they did4 ,who would have throw away his life amid the cruellest tortures if it was all the same whether men worshipped ,jupiter or ,jesus ,christ8 #bh ,tertullian1 about the year #bjj1 tells us 7,apologet41 ch4 v4 and xxi47 that the ,emperor ,tiberius1 under whom our ,lord suffered1 was so moved by ,pilate's report of the miracles and resurrection of ,christ as to propose a bill to the ,senate that ,christ should be received among the gods of ,rome2 while1 as for ,emperor ,alexander ,severus1 ,a4,d4 #bbb to #bce1 he went even further4 ,in ,christ he recognised a ,divine ,being equal with the other gods2 and in his domestic chapel he placed the bust of ,christ along with the images of those men whom he regarded as beings of a superior order--of ,apollonius of ,tyana1 and ,orpheus1 and such like4 ,heliogabalus1 ,a4,d4 #bai1 is credited with a desire to have blended ,christianity with the worship of the ,sun3 see ,neander1 ,church ,history1 vol4 i41 pp4 #abh1 #agc1 ,bohn's edition4 ,,iii4 ,saul's ,journey4 ,as he journeyed1 it came to pass that he drew nigh unto ,damascus4 ,this is the simple record left us in ,holy ,writ of this momentous event4 ,a comparison of the sacred record with any of the numerous lives of ,st4 ,paul which have been published will show us how very different their points of view4 ,the mere human narratives dwell upon the external features of the scene1 enlarge upon the light which modern discoveries have thrown upon the lines of road which connected ,jerusalem with ,southern ,syria1 become enthusiastic over the beauty of ,damascus as seen by the traveller from ,jerusalem1 over the eternal green of the groves and gardens which are still1 as of old1 made glad by the waters of ,abana and of ,pharpar2 while the sacred narrative passes over all external details and marches straight to the great central fact of the persecutor's conversion4 ,and we find no fault with this4 ,it is well that the human narratives should enlarge as they do upon the outward features and circumstances of the journey1 because they thus help us to realise the ,acts as a veritable history that was lived and acted4 ,we are too apt to idealise the ,bible1 to think of it as dealing with an unreal world1 and to regard the men and women thereof as beings of another type from ourselves4 ,books like ,farrar's and ,lewin's and ,conybeare and ,howson's ,lives of ,st4 ,paul correct this tendency1 and make the ,acts of the ,apostles infinitely more interesting by rendering ,st4 ,paul's career human and lifelike and clothing it with the charm of local detail4 ,it is thus that we can guess at the very road by which the enthusiastic ,saul travelled4 ,the caravans from ,egypt to ,damascus are intensely conservative in their routes4 ,in fact1 even in our own revolutionary ,west trade and commerce preserve in large measure the same routes to-day as they used two thousand years ago4 ,the great railways of ,england1 and much more the great main roads1 preserve in a large degree the same directions which the ancient ,roman roads observed4 ,in ,ireland1 with which ,i am still better acquainted1 ,i know that the great roads starting from ,dublin preserve in the main the same lines as in the days of ,st4 ,patrick4#bi ,and so it is1 but only to a much greater degree1 in ,palestine and throughout the ,east4 ,the road from ,jerusalem to ,jericho preserved in ,st4 ,jerome's time1 four centuries later1 the same direction and the same character as in our ,lord's day1 so that it was then called the ,bloody ,road1 from the frequent robberies2 and thus it is still1 for the pilgrims who now go to visit the ,jordan are furnished with a guard of ,turkish soldiers to protect them from the ,arab bandits4 ,and to-day1 as in the first century1 the caravans from ,egypt and ,jerusalem to ,damascus follow either of two roads3 one which proceeds through ,gaza and ,ramleh1 along the coast1 and then1 turning eastward about the borders of ,samaria and ,galilee1 crosses the ,jordan and proceeds through the desert to ,damascus--that is the ,egyptian road2#cj while the other1 which serves for travellers from ,jerusalem1 runs due north from that city and joins the other road at the entrance to ,galilee4 ,this latter was probably the road which ,st4 ,paul took4 ,the distance which he had to traverse is not very great4 ,one hundred and thirty-six miles separate ,jerusalem from ,damascus1 a journey which is performed in five or six days by such a company as ,saul had with him4 ,we get a hint1 too1 of the manner in which he travelled4 ,he rode probably on a horse or a mule1 like modern travellers on the same road1 as we gather from ,acts ix4 #d compared with xxii4 #g1 passages which represent ,saul and his companions as falling to the earth when the supernatural light flashed upon their astonished vision4 #bi ,see ,petrie's ,tara in the ,transactions of the ,royal ,irish ,academy1 t4 xviii41 and ,ireland and the ,celtic ,church1 by ,g4 ,t4 ,stokes1 pp4 #hj1 #ha1 for illustrations of this point4 #cj ,see ,geikie's ,the ,holy ,land and the ,bible1 p4 #ch4 ,the exact spot where ,saul was arrested in his mad career is a matter of some debate2 some fix it close to the city of ,damascus1 half a mile or so from the south gate on the high road to ,jerusalem4 ,dr4 ,porter1 whose long residence at ,damascus made him an authority on the locality1 places the scene of the conversion at the village of ,caucabe1 ten miles away1 where the traveller from ,jerusalem gets his first glimpse of the towers and groves of ,damascus4 ,we are not anxious to determine this point4 ,the great spiritual truth which is the centre and core of the whole matter remains1 and that central truth is this1 that it was when he drew near to ,damascus and the crowning act of violence seemed at hand1 then the ,lord put forth ,his power--as ,he so often still does just when men are about to commit some dire offence--arrested the persecutor1 and then1 amid the darkness of that abounding light1 there rose upon the vision of the astonished ,saul at ,caucabe1 the place of the star1 that true ,star of ,bethlehem which never ceased its clear shining for him till he came unto the perfect day4#ca #ca ,the question of the site of the conversion is discussed at length in ,lewin's ,st4 ,paul1 vol4 i41 ch4 v41 p4 #di4 ,,iv4 ,lastly we have the actual conversion of the ,apostle and the circumstances of it4 ,we have mention made in this connexion of the light1 the voice1 and the conversation4 ,these leading circumstances are described in exactly the same way in the three great accounts in the ninth1 in the twenty-second1 and in the twenty-sixth chapters4 ,there are minute differences between them1 but only such differences as are natural between the verbal descriptions given at different times by a truthful and vigorous speaker1 who1 conscious of honest purpose1 did not stop to weigh his every word4 ,all three accounts tell of the light2 they all agree on that4 ,st4 ,paul in his speeches at ,jerusalem unhesitatingly declares that the light which he beheld was a supernatural one1 above the brightness1 the fierce1 intolerable brightness of a ,syrian sun at midday2 and boldly asserts that the attendants and escort who were with him saw the light4 ,those who disbelieve in the supernatural reject1 of course1 this assertion1 and resolve the light into a fainting fit brought upon ,saul by the burning heat1 or into a passing sirocco blast from the ,arabian desert4 ,but the sincere and humble believer may fairly ask1 ,could a fainting fit or a breath of hot wind change a man who had stood out against ,stephen's eloquence and ,stephen's death and the witnessed sufferings and patience displayed by the multitudes of men and women whom he had pursued unto the death8 ,but it is not our purpose to discuss these questions in any controversial spirit4 ,time and space would fail to treat of them aright1 specially as they have been fully discussed already in works like ,lord ,lyttelton on the conversion of ,st4 ,paul1 wholly devoted to such aspects of these events4#cb ,but1 looking at them from a believer's point of view1 we can see good reasons why the supernatural light should have been granted4 ,next to the life and death and resurrection of our ,lord1 the conversion of ,st4 ,paul was the most important event the world ever saw4 ,our ,lord made to the fiery persecutor a special revelation of ,himself in the mode of ,his existence in the unseen world1 in the reality1 truth1 and fulness of ,his humanity1 such as ,he never made to any other human being4 ,the special character of the revelation shows the importance that ,christ attached to the person and the personal character of him who was the object of that revelation4 ,just1 then1 as we maintain that there was a fitness when there was an ,incarnation of ,god that miracles should attend it2 so1 too1 when the greatest instrument and agent in propagating a knowledge of that ,incarnation was to be converted1 it was natural that a supernatural agency should have been employed4 ,and then when the devout mind surveys the records of ,scripture how similar we see ,st4 ,paul's conversion to have been to other great conversions4 ,moses is converted from mere worldly thoughts and pastoral labours on which his soul is bent1 and sent back to tasks which he had abandoned for forty years1 to the great work of freeing the people of ,god and leading them to the ,land of ,promise2 and then a vision is granted1 where light1 a supernatural light1 the light of the burning bush1 is manifested4 ,isaiah and ,daniel had visions granted to them when a great work was to be done and a great witness had to be borne1 and supernatural light and glory played a great part in their cases4#cc ,when the ,lord was born in ,bethlehem1 and the revelation of the ,incarnate ,god had to be made to humble faith and lowly piety1 then the glory of the ,lord1 a light from out ,god's secret temple1 shone forth to lead the worshippers to ,bethlehem4 ,and so1 too1 in ,st4 ,paul's case2 a world's spiritual welfare was at stake1 a crisis in the world's spiritual history1 a great turning-point in the ,divine plan of salvation had arrived1 and it was most fitting that the veil which shrouds the unseen from mortal gaze should be drawn back for a moment1 and that not ,saul alone but his attendants should stand astonished at the glory of the light above the brightness of the sun which accompanied ,christ's manifestation4#cd #cb ,lord ,lyttelton's ,observations on the ,conversion of ,st4 ,paul is a work now almost unknown to ordinary students of the ,bible4 ,it was written in the reign of ,george ,,ii4 by the ,lord ,lyttelton of that day famous as a historian and a poet4 ,dr4 ,johnson said of it that it is a treatise to which infidelity has never been able to fabricate a specious answer4 ,it will be found reprinted in a cheap and handy shape by the ,religious ,tract ,society1 with a valuable preface by the well-known ,henry ,rogers4 ,lord ,lyttelton touches upon the subject of the light seen by ,st4 ,paul on p4 #afd1 and then adds1 ,that ,god should work miracles for the establishment of a most holy religion which1 from the insuperable difficulties that stood in the way of it1 could not have established itself without such an assistance1 is no way repugnant to human reason2 but that without any miracles such things 7as the light above the brightness of the sun and ,st4 ,paul's blindness7 should have happened as no adequate natural causes can be assigned for is what human reason cannot believe4 #cc ,see ,exod4 iii41 ,isa4 vi41 and ,dan4 x4 #cd ,here it may be well to point out that people should not fancy that their own spiritual experience must necessarily be like ,st4 ,paul's4 ,some persons have troubled themselves because they could not say that they had passed exactly through the same religious feelings and struggles as ,st4 ,paul's4 ,but as no two leaves are alike and as no two careers are exactly parallel1 so no two spiritual experiences are exactly the same4 ,the true course for any individual to adopt is not to strive and see whether ,god's dealings with himself and the response which his own spirit has made to the ,divine ,voice have been exactly like those of others4 ,his true course is rather to strive and ascertain whether he is now really following1 obeying1 and loving ,god4 ,he may leave all inquiry as to the methods by which ,god has guided his soul into the paths of peace to be hereafter resolved in the clear light of eternity4 ,some ,god awakens1 as ,he did ,st4 ,paul1 by an awful catastrophe2 others grow up before ,him from infancy like ,samuel and ,timothy2 others ,god gradually changes from sin and worldliness to peace and righteousness1 like ,jacob of old time4 ,then1 again1 we have the voice that was heard4 ,difficulties have been also raised in this direction4 ,in the ninth chapter ,st4 ,luke states that the attendant escort heard a voice2 in the twenty-second chapter ,st4 ,paul states they that were with me beheld indeed the light1 but they heard not the voice of ,him that spake to me4 ,this inconsistency is1 however1 a mere surface one4 ,just as it was in the case of our ,lord ,himself reported in ,john xii4 #bh1 #bi1 where the multitude heard a voice but understood not its meaning1 some saying that it thundered1 others that an angel had spoken1 while ,christ alone understood and interpreted it2 so it was in ,st4 ,paul's case2 the escort heard a noise1 but the ,apostle alone understood the sounds1 and for him alone they formed articulate words1 by him alone was heard the voice of ,him that spake4 ,and the cause of this is explained by ,st4 ,paul himself in chapter xxvi41 verse #ad1 where he tells ,king ,agrippa that the voice spake to him in the ,hebrew tongue1 the ancient ,hebrew that is1 which ,st4 ,paul as a learned rabbinical scholar could understand1 but which conveyed no meaning to the members of the temple-police1 the servants1 and constables of the ,sanhedrin who accompanied him4#ce ,many other questions have here been raised and difficulties without end propounded1 because we are dealing with a region of man's nature and of ,god's domain1 wherewith we have but little acquaintance and to which the laws of ordinary philosophy do not apply4 ,was the voice which ,paul heard1 was the vision of ,christ granted to him1 subjective or objective8 is1 for instance1 one of such idle queries4 ,we know1 indeed1 that these terms subjective and objective have a meaning for ordinary life4 ,subjective in such a connexion means that which has its origin1 its rise1 its existence wholly within man's soul2 objective that which comes from without and has its origin outside man's nature4 ,objective1 doubtless1 ,st4 ,paul's revelation was in this sense4 ,his revelation must have come from outside1 or else how do we account for the conversion of the persecuting ,sanhedrist1 and that in a moment8 ,he had withstood every other influence1 and now he yields himself in a moment the lifelong willing captive of ,christ when no human voice or argument or presence is near4 ,but then1 if asked how did he see ,christ when he was blinded with the heavenly glory8 how did he speak to ,christ when even the escort stood speechless8 we confess then that we are landed in a region of which we are totally ignorant and are merely striving to intrude into the things unseen4 ,but who is there that will now assert that the human eye is the only organ by which man can see8 that the human tongue is the only organ by which the spirit can converse8 ,the investigations of modern psychology have taught men to be somewhat more modest than they were a generation or two ago1 when man in his conceit thought that he had gained the very utmost limits of science and of knowledge4 ,these investigations have led men to realise that there are vast tracts of an unknown country1 man's spiritual and mental nature1 yet to be explored1 and even then there must always remain regions where no human student can ever venture and whence no traveller can ever return to tell the tale4 ,but all these regions are subject to ,god's absolute sway1 and vain will be our efforts to determine the methods of his actions in a sphere of which we are well-nigh completely ignorant4 ,for the ,christian it will be sufficient to accept on the testimony of ,st4 ,paul1 confirmed by ,ananias1 his earliest ,christian teacher1 that ,jesus ,christ was seen by him1#cf and that a voice was heard for the first time in the silence of his soul which never ceased to speak until the things of time and sense were exchanged for the full fruition of ,christ's glorious presence4 #ce ,the ,rev4 ,dr4 ,abbott1 ,fellow of ,trinity ,college1 ,dublin1 in a learned work1 ,biblical ,essays1 lately published1 pp4 #adb and #adf1 points out that the lower classes of the ,jewish population did not understand the ancient ,hebrew1 a knowledge of which was in his opinion confined to a few scholars4 ,cf4 also p4 #afh1 where he writes1 ,it deserves to be noticed that for the vast majority of the ,palestinians the ,greek ,bible was the only one accessible4 ,the knowledge of the ancient ,hebrew was confined to a few scholars1 in addition to which the ,hebrew books were extremely expensive4 #cf ,there is nothing about ,st4 ,paul's seeing the ,lord in the narrative of the conversion in ,acts ix4 #d-g2 but ,st4 ,paul asserts that he saw ,christ1 in his speech before ,agrippa1 when he represents our ,lord as saying 7xxvi4 #af73 ,for to this end have ,i appeared unto thee to appoint thee a minister1 etc4 ,and again in #a ,cor4 xv4 #h1 ,and last of all1 as unto one born out of due time1 ,he appeared to me also2 with which should be compared the words of ,ananias 7ix4 #ag73 ,the ,lord who appeared unto thee in the way which thou camest2 and those of ,barnabas 7ix4 #bg73 ,but ,barnabas declared unto them how ,saul had seen the ,lord in the way4 ,the reader would do well to consult ,lewin's ,st4 ,paul1 vol4 i41 ch4 iv41 p4 #ej1 for a learned note concerning the apparent inconsistencies in the various narratives of the conversion4 ,and then1 lastly1 we have the conversation held with the trembling penitent4 ,st4 ,luke's account of it in the ninth chapter is much briefer than ,st4 ,paul's own fuller statement in the twenty-sixth chapter1 and much of it will most naturally come under our notice at a subsequent period4 ,here1 however1 we note the expressive fact that the very name by which the future apostle was addressed by the ,lord was ,hebrew3 ,saul1 ,saul1 why persecutest thou ,me4 ,it is a point that our ,english translation cannot bring out1 no matter how accurate4 ,in the narrative hitherto the name used has been the ,greek form1 and he has been regularly called 4 ,but now the ,lord appeals to the very foundations of his religious life1 and throws him back upon the thought and manifestation of ,god as revealed of old time to ,his greatest leader and champion under the old covenant1 to ,moses in the bush2 and so ,christ uses not his ,greek name but the ,hebrew1 1 4 ,then we have ,st4 ,paul's query1 ,who art ,thou1 ,lord8 coupled with our ,lord's reply1 ,i am ,jesus whom thou persecutest1 or1 as ,st4 ,paul himself puts it in ,acts xxii4 #h1 ,i am ,jesus of ,nazareth1 whom thou persecutest4 ,ancient expositors have well noted the import of this language4 ,saul asks who is speaking to him1 and the answer is not1 ,the ,eternal ,word who is from everlasting1 the ,son of the ,infinite ,one who ruleth in the heavens4 ,saul would have acknowledged at once that his efforts were not aimed at ,him4 ,but the speaker cuts right across the line of ,saul's prejudices and feelings1 for ,he says1 ,i am ,jesus of ,nazareth1 whom you hate so intensely and against whom all your efforts are aimed1 emphasizing those points against which his ,pharisaic prejudices must have most of all revolted4 ,as an ancient ,english commentator who lived more than a thousand years ago1 treating of this passage1 remarks with profound spiritual insight1 ,saul is called in these words to view the depths of ,christ's humiliation that he may lay aside the scales of his own spiritual pride4#cg ,and then finally we have ,christ identifying ,himself with ,his people1 and echoing for us from heaven the language and teaching ,he had used upon earth4 ,i am ,jesus of ,nazareth whom thou persecutest are words embodying exactly the same teaching as the solemn language in the parable of the ,judgment scene contained in ,matthew xxv4 #ca-df3 ,inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these ,my brethren1 ye did it unto ,me4 ,christ and ,his people are evermore one2 their trials are ,his trials1 their sorrows are ,his sorrows1 their strength is ,his strength4 ,what marvellous power to sustain the soul1 to confirm the weakness1 to support and quicken the fainting courage of ,christ's people1 we find in this expression1 ,i am ,jesus whom thou persecutest6 ,they enable us to understand the undaunted spirit which henceforth animated the new convert1 and declare the secret spring of those triumphant expressions1 ,in all these things we are more than conquerors1 ,thanks be to ,god which giveth us the victory through our ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,if ,christ in the supra-sensuous world and we in the world of time are eternally one1 what matter the changes and chances of earth1 the persecutions and trials of time8 ,they may inflict upon us a little temporary inconvenience1 but they are all shared by ,one whose love makes them ,his own and whose grace amply sustains us beneath their burden4 ,christ's people faint not therefore1 for they are looking not at the things seen1 which are temporal1 but at the things unseen1 which are eternal4 #cg ,see ,cornelius ,lapide on ,acts ix4 #e1 quoting from ,bede2 and ,st4 ,chrysostom in ,cramer's ,catena1 p4 #aeb1 as quoted in ,conybeare and ,howson's ,st4 ,paul1 vol4 i41 ch4 iii41 p4 #aaa 7,london1 #ahgg74 ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,the ,,new ,,convert ,,and ,,his ,,human ,,teacher4 ,now there was a certain disciple at ,damascus1 named ,ananias2 and the ,lord said unto him in a vision1 ,ananias4 ,and he said1 ,behold1 ,i am here1 ,lord4 ,and the ,lord said unto him1 ,arise1 and go to the street which is called ,straight1 and inquire in the house of ,judas for one named ,saul1 a man of ,tarsus3 for behold1 he prayeth4--,,acts ix4 #aj1 #aa4 ,saul of ,tarsus was converted outside the city1 but the work was only begun there4 ,christ would put honour upon the work of human ministry1 and therefore ,he directs the stricken sinner to continue his journey and enter into ,damascus1 where he should be instructed in his future course of action1 though ,christ ,himself might have told him all that was needful4 ,it was much the same on the occasion of the so-called conversion of ,cornelius1 the pious centurion4#ch ,the ,lord made a revelation to the centurion1 but it was only a revelation directing him to send for ,peter who should instruct him in the way of salvation4 ,god instituted a human ministry that man might gain light and knowledge by the means and assistance of his brother-man1 and therefore in both cases the ,lord points the anxious inquirer to men like themselves1 who could speak to them in ,christ's stead and guide them into fuller knowledge4 ,why could not ,christ have revealed the whole story of ,his life1 the full meaning of ,his doctrine1 without human aid or intervention1 save that ,he wished1 even in the very case of the messenger whose call and apostleship were neither by man nor through man1 to honour the human agency which ,he had ordained for the dissemination and establishment of the gospel4 ,if immediate revelation and the conscious presence of ,god and the direct work of the ,spirit could ever have absolved penitent sinners from using a human ministry and seeking direction and help from mortals like themselves1 surely it was in the cases of ,saul of ,tarsus and ,cornelius of ,csarea2 and yet in both cases a very important portion of the revelation made consisted in a simple intimation where human assistance could be found4#ci #ch ,conversion is scarcely a fit word to apply to the ,lord's dealings with ,cornelius4 ,he had evidently been converted long before the angelic message and ,peter's preaching1 else whence his prayers and devotion8 ,the ,lord simply made by ,st4 ,peter a fuller revelation of ,his will to a soul longing to know more of ,god4 #ci ,we should carefully observe1 however1 that there is a marked difference between the cases of ,cornelius and ,saul4 ,an angel appeared to ,cornelius1 ,christ ,himself to ,saul4 ,st4 ,peter is sent to ,cornelius to instruct him in the revelation made by ,christ4 ,that revelation was made by ,christ ,himself to ,saul in the vision by the way1 during the three days of his blindness1 and probably during his stay in ,arabia4 ,ananias was sent to ,saul merely to baptize him1 and predict his future4 ,enter into the city and there it shall be told thee what thou shalt do1 is our ,lord's direction to ,saul4 ,st4 ,paul's knowledge of ,christ was neither by man nor through man4 ,his knowledge even about the institution of the sacraments was by immediate revelation3 see #a ,cor4 xi4 #bc4 ,saul after the vision rose up from the earth and was led by the hand into ,damascus4 ,he was there three days without sight1 wherein he neither did eat nor drink4 ,this period of his life and this terrible experience is regarded by many as the time to which may be traced the weakness of eyesight and the delicate vision under which he ever afterwards suffered4 ,the question has often been raised1 ,what was ,st4 ,paul's thorn1 or rather stake1 in the flesh8 ,various opinions have been hazarded1 but that which seems to me most likely to be true identifies the thorn or stake with severe ophthalmia4 ,six substantial reasons are brought forward by ,archdeacon ,farrar in defence of this view4 7#a7 ,when writing to the ,galatians ,st4 ,paul implies that his infirmity might well have made him an object of loathing to them2 and this is specially the case with ophthalmia in the ,east 7see ,gal4 iv4 #ad74 7#b7 ,this supposition again gives a deeper meaning to the ,apostle's words to these same ,galatians that they would at the beginning of their ,christian career have plucked out their eyes to place them at his service 7,gal4 iv4 #ae74 7#c7 ,the term a stake in the flesh is quite appropriate to the disease1 which imparts to the eyes the appearance of having been wounded by a sharp splinter4 7#d7 ,ophthalmia of that kind might have caused epilepsy4 7#e7 ,it would explain the words ,see with how large letters ,i have written unto you with mine own hand1 as a natural reference to the difficulties the ,apostle experienced in writing1 and would account for his constant use of amanuenses or secretaries in writing his ,epistles1 as noted1 for instance1 in ,romans xvi4 #bb and implied in #a ,corinthians xvi4 #ba4 7#f7 ,ophthalmia would account for ,st4 ,paul's ignorance of the person of the high priest 7,acts xxiii4 #e74dj ,this question has1 however1 been a moot point since the days of the second century1 when ,irenus of ,lyons discussed it in his great work against ,heresies1 book v41 ch4 iii41 and ,tertullian suggested that ,st4 ,paul's stake in the flesh was simply an exaggerated head-ache or ear-ache4#da #dj ,see ,tertullian's ,de ,pudicitia1 #ac1 and compare ,bishop ,lightfoot's ,galatians1 p4 #ahc note4 #da ,see ,dr4 ,farrar's long ,excursus ,x41 vol4 i41 p4 #feb1 in his ,life of ,st4 ,paul1 for a discussion of this question4 ,there is a portrait of ,st4 ,paul in ,lewin's ,st4 ,paul1 ii41 #baj1 which shows him as blear-eyed4 ,it is engraved from a ,roman diptych of the fourth century4 ,lightfoot takes quite another view of the thorn in his ,galatians1 pp4 #ahc-h4 ,let us now1 however1 turn to the more certain facts brought before us in the words of the sacred narrative4 ,st4 ,paul was led by the hand into ,damascus just as afterwards1 on account1 doubtless1 of the same bodily infirmity dating from this crisis1 he was sent forth to go as far as to the sea1 and then was conducted as far as ,athens 7cf4 ,acts xvii4 #aj1 #ad1 #ae74 ,from this time forth the kindly assistance of friends and companions became absolutely necessary to the ,apostle if his footsteps were to be guided aright1 and hence it is that he felt solitude such as he endured at ,athens a very trying time because he had no sense of security whenever he ventured to walk abroad4 ,he became1 in fact1 a blind man striving to thread his way through the crowded footpaths of life4 ,the high priest's commissary must then have drawn near to ,damascus under very different circumstances from those which fancy pictured for him a few days before4 ,we know not by what gate he entered the city4 ,we only know that he made his way to the house of ,judas1 where he remained for three days and three nights1 with his whole soul so wrapt up in the wonders revealed to him that he had no thoughts for bodily wants and no sense of their demands4 ,the sacred narrative has been amply vindicated so far as its topographical accuracy is concerned4 ,saul1 as he was led by the hand1 instructed his escort to go to the house of ,judas1 a leading man we may be sure among the ,jews of ,damascus4 ,he dwelt in ,straight ,street1 and that street remains to-day1 as in ,st4 ,paul's time1 a thoroughfare running in a direct line from the eastern to the western gate of the city4 ,like all ,oriental cities which have fallen under ,turkish dominion1 ,damascus no longer presents the stately1 well-preserved1 and flourishing aspect which it had in ,roman times2 and1 in keeping with the rest of the city1 ,straight ,street has lost a great deal of the magnificent proportions which it once possessed4 ,straight ,street in ,st4 ,paul's day extended from the eastern to the western gate1 completely intersecting the city4 ,it then was a noble thoroughfare one hundred feet broad1 divided by ,corinthian colonnades into three avenues1 the central one for foot passengers1 the side passages for chariots and horses going in opposite directions4 ,it was to a house in this principal street in the city1 the habitation of an opulent and distinguished ,jew1 that the escort brought the blind emissary of the ,sanhedrin1 and here they left him to await the development of ,god's purposes4#db #db ,in the ,roman age1 and up to the period of the 7,mahometan7 ,conquest1 a noble street extended in a straight line from ,bab-el-,jabyah 7the ,west gate7 to ,bab ,shurky 7the ,east gate71 thus completely intersecting the city4 ,it was divided by ,corinthian colonnades into three avenues1 of which the central was for foot passengers1 and of the others one was used for chariots and horsemen proceeding eastward1 and the second for those going in the opposite direction4 ,i have been enabled to trace the remains of the colonnades at various places over nearly one-third of the length of this street4 ,wherever excavations are made in the line fragments of columns are found in situ1 at the depth1 in some places1 of ten feet and more below the present surface1 so great has been the accumulation of rubbish during the course of ages4 ,there can scarcely be a doubt that this is 'the street called ,straight' referred to in the history of the ,apostle ,paul4 ,its extreme length is about an ,english mile1 and its breadth must have exceeded #ajj feet4--,,porter',s ,damascus1 p4 #dg4 ,i4 ,let us now consider the persons which cluster round the new convert1 and specially the agent whom ,christ used in the reception of ,saul into the ,church1 and see what ,scripture or tradition tells about them4 ,one man stands prominent2 his name was ,ananias1 a common one enough among the ,jews1 as the ,acts of the ,apostles has already shown us1 for when we have surveyed the first beginnings of sin and moral failure in the ,jerusalem ,church we have found that an ,ananias with ,sapphira his wife was connected therewith4#dc ,this ,ananias of ,damascus deserves special attention1 for his case reveals to us a good deal of primitive ,church history and is connected with many ancient traditions4 ,let us first strive to gain all the information we can about him from the direct statements of ,scripture and the necessary or legitimate deductions from the same4 ,ananias was a ,christian ,jew of ,damascus4 ,he must have held a leading position in the local ,christian ,assembly in that city1 within five years of the ,ascension1 for not only did our ,lord select him as ,his agent or medium of communication when dealing with the new convert1 but ,ananias was well acquainted1 by information derived from many persons1 with the course of conduct pursued at ,jerusalem by ,saul1 and knew of the commission lately intrusted to him by the high priest4 ,ananias was probably the head or chief teacher of the local ,christian or ,nazarene synagogue4 ,at the same time he was also in all probability one of the original company of ,jerusalem ,christians who had been scattered abroad by the first great persecution4 ,we are told in ,acts xi4 #ai that they that were scattered abroad upon the tribulation that arose about ,stephen travelled as far as ,phnicia1 and ,cyprus1 and ,antioch1 speaking the word to none save only to ,jews4 ,ananias was probably one of these fugitives from ,jerusalem who came to ,damascus1 and there sought refuge from the rage of the destroyer4 ,st4 ,paul himself tells us of the character which ,ananias sustained at ,damascus3 ,he was a devout man according to the law1 well reported of by all the ,jews that dwell there 7ch4 xxii4 #ab74 ,it is the character given of ,zacharias1 and ,elisabeth1 and of ,simeon4 ,ananias was1 like all the earliest disciples1 a rigid observer of the minutest particulars of ,jewish ordinances1 though he and they alike rested upon ,christ alone as their hope of salvation4 ,further than this1 the ,scriptures tell us nothing save that we can easily see from the words of the various narratives of the conversion that ,ananias was a man of that clear faith1 that deep spiritual life which enjoyed perpetual converse with the ,unseen4 ,he was not perturbed nor dismayed when ,christ revealed ,himself4 ,he conversed calmly with the heavenly ,visitor1 raised his objections1 received their solution1 and then departed in humble obedience to fulfil the mission committed to him4 ,there is a marvellous strength and power for the man of any age who lives1 as ,ananias did1 with a clear vision of the eternal world constantly visible to the spiritual eye4 ,life or death1 things present or things to come1 the world temporal or the world spiritual1 all are one to him who lives in the light of ,god's countenance and walks beneath the shadow of ,his wing2 for he feels and knows that underneath are the everlasting ,arms1 and he therefore discharges his tasks with an assured calmness1 a quiet dignity1 a heavenly strength of which the tempest-tossed and feverish children of time know nothing4 ,beyond these facts and these traits of character1 which we can read between the lines of ,holy ,scripture1 we are told nothing of ,ananias4#dd ,but tradition has not been so reticent4 ,the ancient ,church delighted to gather up every notice and every story concerning the early soldiers of the ,cross1 and ,ananias of ,damascus was not forgotten4 ,the ,martyrologies both of the ,greek and ,latin ,churches give us long accounts of him4 ,they tell that he was born in ,damascus1 and make him one of the seventy disciples1 which is not at all improbable4 ,then they describe him at one time as bishop1 at another time as a simple presbyter1 of the ,church at ,damascus4 ,they relate his abundant labours at ,damascus and in the neighbouring cities1 terminating with his martyrdom under a ,roman prefect called ,lucian4#de ,but these details1 though they may lend colour to the picture1 add nothing of spiritual significance to the information vouchsafed in ,scripture4 #dc ,josephus1 in his ,antiquities1 xx41 #bc1 tells us of an ,ananias1 a ,jewish merchant1 who was instrumental in the conversion of ,helena1 ,queen of ,adiabene4 ,the name ,ananias signifies ,pleasing to ,god4 ,ananias was also the name of the messenger who is said to have conveyed the pretended letter of ,abgar1 ,king of ,edessa1 to ,christ4 ,see ,the ,apocryphal ,acts of the ,apostles1 by ,r4 ,a4 ,lipsius 7,leipsic1 #ahia71 p4 #bgd4 #dd ,st4 ,chrysostom1 in his ,homilies on the ,acts1 notes the spiritual eminence of this hidden and unknown disciple4 ,in his nineteenth ,homily he observes that when ,st4 ,philip1 one of the seven1 was sent to baptize the eunuch1 ,christ did not appear but merely sent an angel to the evangelist2 but ,christ ,himself appeared to ,ananias1 and opened out ,his whole will to him about the future of ,st4 ,paul4 ,his conversation with our ,lord was1 too1 that of one accustomed to ,divine visitations and communion with ,heaven4 ,see ,massutius on the ,life of ,st4 ,paul1 p4 #ajg4 ,massutius was a ,jesuit commentator1 whose writings are often rich in spiritual suggestiveness4 ,he published his ,vita ,s4 ,pauli ,apostoli in #afcc4 ,in the first and ninth chapters of the second book he has many acute and learned remarks upon ,ananias and his history4 ,the calming effect upon life's fever of spiritual religion and close converse with ,god is a point often dwelt upon in ,scripture4 ,the ,old ,testament prophets knew this secret of a peaceful life right well4 ,isaiah often sings of it1 as in ch4 xii4 #b1 ,behold1 ,god is my salvation2 ,i will trust1 and not be afraid2 in ch4 xxvi4 #c1 ,thou wilt keep him in perfect peace1 whose mind is stayed on ,thee2 in ch4 xxviii4 #af1 ,he that believeth shall not make haste2 in ch4 xl4 #ca1 ,they that wait upon the ,lord shall renew their strength2 they shall mount up with wings as eagles2 they shall run1 and not be weary2 they shall walk1 and not faint4 ,habakkuk proclaims it in ch4 iii4 #ag3 ,for though the fig tree shall not blossom1 neither shall fruit be in the vines2 the labour of the olive shall fail1 and the fields shall yield no meat2 the flock shall be cut off from the fold1 and there shall be no herd in the stalls3 yet ,i will rejoice in the ,lord1 ,i will joy in the ,god of my salvation4 ,a strain which ,st4 ,paul takes up in his ,epistle to the ,philippians when he bids them 7ch4 iv4 #f71 ,in nothing be anxious2 but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto ,god2 to which he adds the promise1 not that their requests shall be answered1 for that would often be very unfortunate1 but the much more consoling one1 ,and the peace of ,god1 which passeth all understanding1 shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in ,christ ,jesus4 ,how much calmer and sweeter life would be did ,christ's people thus realise their privileges as ,god's ancient servants did6 ,ninety per cent4 of life's worries and anxieties would thus pass away for ever4 ,alas6 how pagan nominal ,christians are in this respect6 #de ,see1 for both the ,greek and ,latin stories about ,ananias1 ,acta ,sanctorum1 ,ed4 ,bolland41 #be ,jan41 ii41 #fac4 ,judas1 into whose house ,saul was received1 is another person brought before us1 upon whom a certain eternity of fame has been bestowed by his temporary connexion with the ,apostle4 ,he must have been a man of position and wealth among the ,jews of ,damascus to receive the official representative and deputy of the high priest4 ,it is possible that he may have been numbered among those early trophies of ,st4 ,paul's zeal which he won in the earliest days of his first love1 when he confounded the ,jews1 proving that ,jesus is ,christ4 ,judas has been by some identified with that ,judas who was sent with ,st4 ,paul1 ,silas1 and ,barnabas as deputies to console the ,church at ,antioch and restore it to peace when distracted with debates about circumcision 7ch4 xv4 #bb74df #df ,judas of ,acts xv4 #bb is surnamed ,barsabbas1 as is also ,joseph ,justus of ,acts i4 #bc4 ,lightfoot1 ,hor4 ,heb41 on ,acts i41 conjectures that ,judas of ,acts xv4 may have been the apostle of that name and that ,joseph ,justus was his brother4 ,and now1 to conclude this portion of our subject1 we may add that the traditional houses1 or at least the sites of the houses1 of ,ananias and ,judas1 together with the fountain where ,st4 ,paul was baptized1 were shown in ,damascus till the seventeenth century1 as ,quaresmius1 a traveller of that time1 tells us that he visited the ,straight ,street1 which is the bazaar1 and saw the house of ,judas1 a large and commodious building1 with traces of having been once a church and then a mosque2 that he visited the place of baptism1 which is not far off1 adding withal a ground plan of the house of ,ananias4 ,dean ,stanley1 however1 declares that the traditional house of ,judas is not in the street called ,straight at all4 ,let us turn aside from these details1 the mere fringes of the story1 to the spiritual heart and core thereof4#dg #dg ,the seventeenth-century travellers in ,palestine1 ,syria1 and the ,east often give us much valuable information4 ,see1 on the subject of ,damascus1 ,quaresmius1 ,elucidatio ,terr ,sanct1 t4 ii41 lib4 #g1 ,peregrinatio #f1 cap4 #c1 with which may be compared ,radzivilus1 ,peregrinatio1 p4 #cc1 ,a4,d4 #afad4 ,see also ,conybeare and ,howson's ,st4 ,paul1 ch4 iii4 ,,ii4 ,the conversation between ,christ and ,ananias next claims our attention4 ,here we may note that it was the ,lord ,jesus ,christ ,himself who appeared to ,ananias1 and when appearing makes the most tremendous claims for ,himself and allows them when made by ,ananias4 ,we are so accustomed to the words of the narrative that we do not recognise their bold assumptions and what they imply4 ,the ,lord calls ,ananias1 as ,he called ,samuel of old1 and then receives the same answer as ,samuel gave1 ,behold ,i am here1 ,lord4 ,ananias speaks to ,jesus ,christ of the disciples1 and describes them as ,thy saints1 who call upon ,thy name4 ,he knew that prayer to ,jesus ,christ was practised by them and constituted their special note or mark4 ,our ,lord describes ,st4 ,paul as a chosen vessel unto ,me1 to bear ,my name before the ,gentiles and kings1 and the children of ,israel1 for ,i will show him how many things he must suffer for ,my name's sake4 ,while again1 when ,ananias came into the house of ,judas1 he is so completely dominated by the idea of ,jesus ,christ1 ,his presence1 ,his power1 ,his mission1 that his words are1 ,the ,lord ,jesus hath sent me that thou mayest receive thy sight1 and be filled with the ,holy ,ghost4 ,in these passages we have a view of primitive ,christianity and its doctrine as taught by ,christ ,himself1 by ,his earliest disciples1 and as viewed and recorded by the second generation of ,christians1 and it is all the same from whatever point it is looked at4 ,the earliest form of ,christianity was ,christ and nothing else4 ,the personality of ,christ dominated every other idea4 ,there was no explaining away the historical facts of ,his life1 there was no watering down ,his supernatural actions and claims2 the ,lord ,jesus--and ,his ordinary human name was used--the ,lord ,jesus1 whom the ,jews had known as the carpenter's son1 and had rejected as the prophet of ,nazareth1 and had crucified as the pretended king of ,israel1 ,he was for ,ananias of ,damascus the supernatural ,being who now ruled the universe1 and struck down the persecutor of ,his people1 and sent ,his messengers and apostles that they might with ,divine power heal the wounded and comfort the broken-hearted4 ,ananias felt no difficulty in identifying ,jesus the despised1 the crucified1 with the ,lord of glory who had appeared to him1 upon whose name he called and with whom he communed4 ,jesus ,christ was not for him a dream or a ghost1 or a passing appearance1 or a distinguished teacher1 or a mighty prophet1 whose spirit lived with the souls of the good and blessed of every age at rest in paradise4 ,the ,jesus of ,ananias was no inhabitant or child of earth1 no matter how pure and exalted4 ,the ,jesus of ,nazareth was the ,being of beings1 who had a just right to call ,god's people ,his saints1 and to describe the great work of ,his messengers and ministers to be that of bearing ,his name before the ,gentiles1 because the ,christianity of ,ananias and of the earliest ,church was no poor1 weak1 diluted system of mere natural religion regarding ,jesus ,christ as a ,divine prophet1 but as nothing more4 ,it theorised not1 indeed1 about the ,incarnation and the modes of the ,divine existence4 ,it was too much wrapped up in adoring the ,divine manifestations to trouble itself about such questions1 which came to the front when love waxed cold and men had time to analyse and debate4 ,for ,ananias and for men like him it was sufficient to know that ,jesus ,christ was ,god manifest in the flesh4 ,for them and for the earliest ,church that one fact embodied the whole of ,christianity4 ,jesus ,christ1 the same when living in ,galilee1 suffering in ,jerusalem1 ascending from ,olivet1 reigning on the right hand of the ,majesty on high1 or manifesting ,himself to ,his people1 was the beginning and end of all religion4 ,this is a very important point to insist upon in the present age1 when men have endeavoured to represent the religion of the primitive ,church in quite a different light1 and to teach that ,st4 ,paul was the inventor of that dogmatic system which insists upon the supreme importance and the essential deity of the ,person of ,jesus ,christ4 ,st4 ,luke's narrative in this passage seems to me quite decisive against such a theory1 and shows us how ,christianity struck an independent mind like that of ,ananias1 and how it was taught at a distant ,christian ,church like ,damascus within five or at most seven years after the ,ascension of ,jesus ,christ4#dh #dh ,massutius1 loc4 cit41 has a long chapter 7book ii41 ch4 i47 on the date of ,st4 ,paul's conversion4 ,see ,findlay's ,epistles of ,st4 ,paul1 pp4 #e1 #f1 for a concise statement of the arguments concerning it4 ,lewin's ,fasti ,sacri1 pp4 lxvi4 and #bec1 contains long dissertations upon this point1 a simple reference to which must suffice4 ,then1 again1 we have in the vision granted to ,ananias and the revelation made to him a description of ,christ's disciples4 ,the description is a twofold one1 coming on the one hand from ,christ1 and on the other from ,ananias1 and yet they both agree4 ,ananias describes the religion of ,christ when he says1 ,lord1 ,i have heard from many of this man1 how much evil he did to ,thy saints at ,jerusalem2 and then he proceeds to identify ,his saints with those that called on ,christ's name at ,damascus4 ,we have already noted prayer to ,christ as a distinguishing feature of ,his people#di2 but here we find1 for the first time in the ,new ,testament1 the term saints applied to the ordinary followers of ,christ1 though in a short time it seems to have become the usual designation for the adherents of the crucified ,redeemer1 as we shall see by a reference to ,rom4 i4 #g2 #a ,cor4 i4 #b2 ,eph4 i4 #a1 and to numerous other passages scattered throughout the ,epistles4 ,our ,lord ,himself sanctions the use of this title1 and applies it ,himself in a different shape in the fuller account of the divine words given us by ,st4 ,paul in his speech before ,king ,agrippa 7ch4 xxvi4 #ah74 ,christ tells ,st4 ,paul of his destined work to turn the ,gentiles from darkness to light1 that they may receive an inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in ,me4 ,the followers of ,christ were recognised as saints in the true sense of the word saint--that is1 as separated1 dedicated1 consecrated persons1 who had been made to drink into one ,divine ,spirit1 had been made partakers of a new life1 had been admitted to a kingdom of light and a fellowship of love1 and who1 by virtue of these blessings1 had been cut off from the power of ,satan and the kingdom of darkness4 ,and all this had been and ever is to be effected by faith that is in ,christ4 ,christ's saints or separated people are sanctified by faith in ,christ4 ,not that the bare exercise of a faculty or feeling called faith will exercise a sanctifying influence upon human nature1--this would be simply to make man his own sanctifier1 and to usurp for his own poor weak wretched self the work and power which belong to the ,holy ,ghost alone1--but when ,christ is realised as including all the parts of ,god's final revelation1 when no partial or limited view is taken of ,christ's work as if it were limited to the ,incarnation alone1 or the ,atonement alone1 or the ,resurrection alone1 but when the diverse and various parts and laws of ,his revelation are recognised as divinely taught1 and therefore as tremendously important for the soul's health4 ,when the ,holy ,ghost and ,his mission1 and good works and their absolute necessity1 and ,christ's sacraments and ,his other appointed means of grace are duly honoured and reverently received1 then indeed1 and then alone1 faith is truly exercised in ,christ1 and men are not merely separated by an external consecration1 such as the ,jews received at circumcision1 and which qualified even that hard-hearted and stubborn people to be called a nation of saints2 but when ,christ is thus truly and fully received by faith into the hearts and affections of ,his people1 they walk worthy of the high vocation called upon them4 ,many a mistaken exposition has been offered of ,st4 ,paul's ,epistles1 and many an effort has been made to explain away the plainest statements1 because men will apply a false meaning to the word saints which ,ananias here uses4 ,if we first determine that the word saint could only have been applied to a truly converted man1 clothed in the robe of ,christ's imputed righteousness1 elected from eternity to everlasting salvation1 and who could never finally fall away1 and then find the term so defined applied1 for instance1 to the ,corinthian ,church as a whole1 we shall come to some strange results4 ,if truly converted men1 true saints of ,christ1 could be guilty of sins such as were not named amongst the heathen1 or could be drunk at the ,lord's ,table1 or could cherish all that long and dreary catalogue of spiritual crimes enumerated in the ,corinthian ,epistles1 then indeed the words true conversion have completely changed their meaning1 and ,christianity1 instead of being the principle and fountain of a regenerate life1 becomes a cloak under which all kinds of maliciousness and evil-doing may have free course and be glorified4 #di ,see vol4 i41 pp4 #cch-da4 ,our ,lord protests beforehand unto ,st4 ,paul against such a perversion of the gospel of free grace with which ,his great ,apostle had all his life to struggle4 ,antinomianism is as old as ,st4 ,paul's doctrine--so very much misunderstood--of justification4 ,our ,lord raises ,his voice against it in ,his earliest commission to ,st4 ,paul when ,he sends him to the ,gentiles to turn them from darkness to light1 that is1 from moral and spiritual darkness to moral and spiritual light1 and from the power of ,satan unto ,god4 ,and the ,new ,testament often enough tells us what is meant by the power of ,satan4 ,it was not any mere system of false beliefs alone1 but it was a wicked1 impure belief joined and leading to a wicked and impure practice2 and ,st4 ,paul's work was to turn the ,gentiles from a wicked faith1 combined with a still more wicked practice1 to a life sanctified and purified and renewed after the image of a living ,christ4#ej #ej ,i am referring in this passage to what we may designate the ,antinomian method of expounding ,first ,corinthians still current in many circles4 ,they first determine that the word saint is always used by ,st4 ,paul to express a truly converted man1 one1 therefore1 in their idea who has no need to ask pardon for sin and who never can finally fall away4 ,they then find this term saints applied to the ,corinthian ,church1 which must therefore have been composed of truly converted men alone1 else1 they think1 ,st4 ,paul would not have called them saints4 ,but then a difficulty arises1 ,how about the gross sins prevalent in that ,church8 ,their peculiar system of theology1 however1 rapidly solves this perplexing point4 ,all the sins of believers1 past1 present or to come1 have been forgiven long before they were born1 therefore these gross immoralities at ,corinth were mere believer's slips1 as ,i have heard them called4 ,a believer guilty of them should be sorry for them as causing scanda to the world1 but as far as final salvation is concerned he has nothing to do with them save to assure himself of their pardon wrought out by our ,lord on the cross4 ,abundant instances of this method of exposition will be found in the works of ,dr4 ,williams1 the ,nonconformist of the time of ,william ,,iii41 founder of the well-known library in ,grafton ,street1 ,london4 ,he had a great controversy with the ,antinomians of the day1 who represented themselves as the true champions of the doctrines of grace4 ,they were simply teaching the ancient ,gnostic heresy that the soul can be in communion with ,god while the body is all the time wallowing in the depths of sin4 ,precisely the same views are now commonly taught and called as in ,williams's day1 two hundred years ago1 the ,gospel4 ,if1 however1 we recognise the ,new ,testament use of the word saints as meaning dedicated to ,god1 consecrated to ,his service1 the meaning of the ,first ,corinthians and of the words of ,ananias is quite clear and plain1 and no such immoral results follow as the ,antinomian exegesis implies1 but rather the saintly character of baptized ,christians becomes the foundation of the most practical exhortations to holiness of life4 ,,iii4 ,finally1 we notice in this conversation1 and that only very briefly1 the title given by our ,lord to ,st4 ,paul1 which became the favourite designation of the ,apostle of the ,gentiles1 especially among the ,western doctors of the ancient ,church4 ,go thy way1 says ,christ to ,ananias1 for he is a chosen vessel unto ,me1 or1 as the ,revisers put it in the margin1 translating still more literally from the original1 for he is a vessel of election4 ,vas ,electionis is the usual title for ,st4 ,paul in ,st4 ,jerome's letters1 as also in ,st4 ,chrysostom's homilies1 and it expresses a side of his character which is prominent throughout his writings4 ,saul's early life was so alienated from ,christ1 his career had been so completely hostile to the gospel1 his conversion had been so entirely ,god's work and ,god's work alone1 that he ever felt and ever insisted more than the other ,new ,testament writers on ,god's electing love4 ,if we compare the writings of ,st4 ,john with those of ,st4 ,paul1 we shall see how naturally and completely they reflect in their tone the history of their lives4 ,st4 ,john's life was one long continuous steady growth in ,divine knowledge4 ,there were no great gaps or breaks in that life1 and so we find that his writings do not ignore ,god's electing love and preventing grace as the source of everything good in man4 ,we love ,him because ,he first loved us are words which show that ,st4 ,john's gospel was at bottom the same as ,st4 ,paul's4 ,but ,st4 ,john's favourite topic is the ,incarnation and its importance1 and its results in purity of heart and in a sweet consciousness of the ,divine ,spirit4 ,st4 ,paul's life1 on the other hand1 was no continuous upgrowth from youth's earliest day to life's latest eventide4 ,there was a great gap1 a tremendous yawning chasm separating the one portion from the other1 and ,paul never could forget that it was ,god's choice alone which turned the persecuting ,rabbi into the ,christian ,apostle4 ,his ,epistles to the ,romans1 ,ephesians1 and ,galatians amply testify to the effects of this doctrine upon his whole soul1 and show that the expositors of the early ,church displayed a true instinct and gauged his character aright when they designated him by this title1 ,vas ,electionis4 ,and yet the ,apostle proved his ,divine inspiration1 for he held and taught this truth in no one-sided manner4 ,he combined the doctrine of electing love with that of intense human free will and awful personal responsibility4 ,he made no effort intellectually to reconcile the two opposite sides of truth1 but1 wiser than many who followed him1 he accepted both and found in them both1 matter for practical guidance4 ,god's eternal and electing love made him humble2 man's free will and responsibility made him awfully in earnest4 ,two passages1 drawn from different ,epistles1 sufficiently explain ,st4 ,paul's view4 ,gal4 i4 #ae1 #af--,when it was the good pleasure of ,god1 who separated me1 even from my mother's womb1 and called me through ,his grace1 to reveal ,his ,son in me--are words which show how entirely ,st4 ,paul viewed himself as a ,vas ,electionis4 #a ,cor4 ix4 #bg--;,i buffet my body1 and bring it into bondage1 lest by any means1 after that ,i have preached to others1 ,i myself should be rejected--are words showing how real and profound was his fear of final defeat and ruin1 how convinced he was that no display of ,divine grace or love assured him of his own final perseverance4 ,it is well that people should notice this difference between the tone and spiritual experience of a ,paul and of a ,john4 ,at times sincere ,christians have been troubled because their spiritual experience and feelings have been very different from ,st4 ,paul's4 ,they have limited to a large extent their own reading of ,scripture to his writings1 and have not noticed the clear distinction which ,scripture makes between the tone and ideas of ,st4 ,paul and ,st4 ,peter1 ,st4 ,james and ,st4 ,john2 and why8 ,just to meet this very tendency1 and to show us that spiritual experiences1 feelings1 temptations1 must vary with the varying circumstances of each individual4 ,no saintly life can be taken as a universal model or standard2 and1 above all1 the conversion of a persecutor and blasphemer like ,st4 ,paul is not to be taken as the normal type of ,god's dealings with men1 who grow up1 like ,st4 ,john or like ,timothy1 in the paths of ,divine love from their earliest childhood4#ea #ea ,it should be carefully noted that the great end of ,st4 ,paul's election is set forth by our ,lord when speaking to ,ananias as to bear ,my name before the ,gentiles and kings1 and the children of ,israel4 ,from the very outset of ,paul's ,christian career his work as the ,apostle of the ,gentiles is thus clearly revealed through ,ananias4 ,i say through ,ananias1 and not to him2 for ,i suppose that ,ananias could not himself have realised the real force and meaning of the ,divine words4 ,there is one common feature1 however1 which can be traced in all religious lives1 whether sternly and even violently ordered like ,saul's1 or gently guided like ,st4 ,john's4 ,they all agree in presenting one feature when the fresh breath of the ,spirit blows upon them and the deeper sense of life's importance first dawns upon the vision1 and that is1 they are all marked by prayer4 ,of every sincere seeker the ,divine watcher1 ever on the outlook for the signs of spiritual life1 repeats ,behold1 he prayeth4 ,saul1 we may be sure1 had never forgotten his duty in the matter of the prescribed round of ,jewish devotions2 but now for the first time he rose above the level of mere mechanical saying of prayer to spiritual communion with ,god in ,christ2 now for the first time he prayed a ,christian prayer1 through ,christ and to ,christ2 now for the first time perhaps he learned one secret of the spiritual life1 which is this1 that prayer is something wider and nobler than mere asking4 ,prayer is communion of the spirit with ,god reconciled in ,christ ,jesus4 ,that communion is often deepest and most comforting when enjoyed in simple silence4 ,saul1 the converted persecutor1 could know but little yet of what to ask from ,christ4 ,but in the revelations made in those hours of darkness and penitence and silence1 there were vouchsafed to him renewed proofs of the truths already gained1 and of the awful trials which those truths1 realised and acted out1 would demand from him1 ,i will show him what things he must suffer for ,my sake4 ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,,saul ,,and ,,sinai4 ,saul was certain days with the disciples which were at ,damascus4 ,and straightway in the synagogues he proclaimed ,jesus1 that ,he is the ,son of ,god4--,,acts ix4 #ai1 #bj4 ,we have bestowed a great deal of attention upon the incidents at ,damascus1 because the conversion of ,saul of ,tarsus is more closely connected with the truth and authenticity of ,christianity than any other event save those immediately connected with the life and ministry of our ,lord ,himself4 ,we shall1 however1 in this chapter1 endeavour to discuss the remaining circumstances of it which the ,acts of the ,apostles brings under our notice4 ,i4 ,we are told in verse #ag of the visit of ,ananias to ,saul4 ,ananias departed1 and entered into the house2 and laying his hands on him said1 ,brother ,saul1 the ,lord1 even ,jesus1 who appeared unto thee in the way which thou camest1 hath sent me1 that thou mayest receive thy sight1 and be filled with the ,holy ,ghost4 ,this conversation with ,ananias is largely expanded by ,st4 ,paul himself in the account which he gives us in ,acts xxii41 while in his speech to ,agrippa in the twenty-sixth chapter he entirely omits all mention of ,ananias1 and seems to introduce our ,lord as the only person who spoke to him1 and yet there is no real inconsistency4 ,st4 ,paul1 in fact1 in the latter address is intent on setting vividly before ,agrippa the sum total of the revelations made by ,christ4 ,he ignores1 therefore1 every secondary agent4 ,ananias was ,christ's messenger4 ,his words were merely those which ,christ put into his mouth4 ,st4 ,paul goes1 therefore1 to the root of the matter1 and attributes everything1 whether uttered by our ,lord or by ,ananias1 to the former alone1 who was1 indeed1 the great ,inspirer of every expression1 the true ,director of every minutest portion of this important transaction4 ,the ninth chapter1 on the other hand1 breaks the story up into its component parts1 and shows us the various actors in the scene4 ,we see the ,lord ,jesus consciously presiding over all1 revealing ,himself now to this person and again to that person4 ,we get a glimpse for a moment behind the veil which ,divine ,providence throws around ,his doings and the doings of the children of men4 ,we see ,christ revealing ,himself now to ,saul and then to ,ananias1 informing the latter of the revelations made to the former2 just as ,he subsequently revealed ,himself almost simultaneously to ,cornelius at ,csarea and to ,simon ,peter at ,joppa1 preparing the one for the other4 ,the ,lord thus hints at an explanation of those simultaneous cravings1 aspirations1 and spiritual desires which we often find unaccountably arising amid far distant lands and in widely separated hearts4 ,the feelings may seem but vague aspirations and their coincidence a mere chance one1 but the typical cases of ,saul and ,ananias1 or of ,cornelius and ,st4 ,peter1 teach the believer to see in them the direct action and government of the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 turning the hearts of the fathers to the children and of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just4 ,surely we have an instance of such simultaneous operations of the ,divine ,spirit1 and that on the largest scale1 in the cravings of the world after a ,saviour at the age and time when our ,lord came6 ,virgil was then preaching in tones so ,christian concerning the coming ,saviour whom the world was expecting1 that the great ,italian poet ,dante exempts him from hell on account of his dim but real faith4 ,the ,wise ,men were then seeking ,christ from a far country2 ,caiaphas was prophesying concerning a man who was to die for ,god's people4 ,mankind1 all the world over1 was unconsciously longing with a divinely inspired desire for that very salvation which ,god was then revealing2 just as upon the narrower stage of ,damascus or ,csarea ,jesus ,christ inspired ,saul and ,cornelius with a ,divine want and prepared ,ananias and ,peter to satisfy it4 ,john ,keble in his poem for ,easter ,monday has well seized and illustrated this point1 so full of comfort and edification1 turning it into a practical direction for the life of the human spirit3-- ,even so the course of prayer who knows8 ,it springs in silence where it will1 ,springs out of sight1 and flows ,at first a lonely rill4 ,unheard by all but angel ears1 ,the good ,cornelius knelt alone1 ,nor dreamed his prayers and tears ,could help a world undone4 ,the while upon his terraced roof1 ,the loved apostle to the ,lord1 ,in silent thought aloof1 ,for heavenly vision soared4 ,the saint beside the ocean prayed1 ,the soldier in his chosen bower1 ,where all his eye surveyed ,seemed sacred in that hour4 ,to each unknown his brother's prayer1 ,yet brethren true in dearest love ,were they--and now they share ,fraternal joys above4 ,ananias1 guided by ,divine ,providence1 enters into ,saul's presence1 states his mission1 lays his hands upon him and restores him to sight4 ,ananias is careful1 however1 to disclaim all merit so far as he is himself concerned in the matter of this miracle4 ,his language is exactly the same in tone as that of the apostles ,peter and ,john when they had healed the impotent man3 ,why marvel ye at this man8 or why fasten ye your eyes on us1 as though by our own power or godliness we had made him to walk8444 ,by faith in ,his name hath ,his name made this man strong1 were their words to the people4 ,in the name of ,jesus ,christ of ,nazareth1 walk1 was their command to the man himself4 ,and so in the case of ,ananias1 he attributes the healing power to ,jesus ,christ alone4 ,the ,lord ,jesus1 who appeared unto thee1 444 hath sent me1 that thou mayest receive thy sight4 ,the theology and faith of the ,church at ,damascus were exactly the same as those of the ,apostles and ,church at ,jerusalem4 ,and what a confirmation of ,saul's own faith must this miracle have been6 ,it was then no passing vision1 no fancy of a heated imagination which he had experienced2 but he had the actual proof in his own person of their objective reality1 a demonstration that the power of ,jesus of ,nazareth ordered all things1 both in heaven and earth1 healing the bodily as it could illuminate the spiritual eye4 ,,ii4 ,ananias restored ,saul's sight4 ,according to the ninth of ,acts his mission was limited to this one point2 but1 according to ,st4 ,paul's own account in the twenty-second chapter1 he made a much longer communication to the future ,apostle3 ,the ,god of our fathers hath appointed thee to know ,his will1 and to see the ,righteous ,one1 and to hear a voice from ,his mouth4 ,for thou shalt be a witness for ,him unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard4 ,and now why tarriest thou8 ,arise1 and be baptized1 and wash away thy sins1 calling on ,his name4 ,ananias predicted to ,saul his future mission1 his apostleship to all nations1 and the fact that the ,apostle of the ,gentiles would find the root and sustenance of his work in the force of personal conviction with which his miraculous conversion had endowed him4 ,personal knowledge1 individual acquaintance with the things of the eternal world was then1 as it is still1 the first condition of successful work for ,jesus ,christ4 ,there may be intellectual power1 intense energy1 transcendent eloquence1 consummate ability2 but in the spiritual order these things avail nothing till there be joined thereto that sense of heavenly force and reality which a personal knowledge of the things unseen imparts4 ,then heart answers to heart1 and the great depths of man's nature respond and open themselves to the voice and teaching of one who speaks as ,st4 ,paul did of what he had seen and heard4 ,there are two points in this address of ,ananias as reported by ,st4 ,paul himself to which we would direct special attention4 ,ananias baptized ,saul1 and used very decided language on the subject1 language from which some would now shrink4 ,these two points embody important teaching4 ,ananias baptized ,saul though ,christ had personally called him4 ,this shows the importance which the ,holy ,scriptures attach to baptism1 and shows us something too of the nature of ,holy ,scripture itself4 ,st4 ,luke wrote the ,acts as a kind of continuation of his ,gospel1 to give an account to ,theophilus of the rise and progress of ,christianity down to his own time4 ,st4 ,luke in doing so tells us of the institution of the ,eucharist1 but he does not say one word in his ,gospel about the appointment of baptism4 ,he does not record the baptismal commission1 for which we must turn to ,st4 ,matthew xxviii4 #ai1 or to ,st4 ,mark xvi4 #af4 ,yet ,st4 ,luke is careful to report the baptism of the three thousand on the ,day of ,pentecost1 of the ,samaritans1 of the eunuch1 and now of ,st4 ,paul1 as afterwards of ,cornelius1 of ,lydia1 of the ,philippian jailor1 and of the ,ephesian followers of ,john the ,baptist4 ,he records the universality of ,christian baptism1 and thus proves its obligation2 but he does not give us a hint of the origin of this sacrament1 nor does he trace it back to any word or command of the ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,he evidently took all these things as quite well known and understood1 and merely describes the observance of a sacrament which needed no explanation on his part4 ,the writings of ,st4 ,luke were intended to instruct ,theophilus in the facts concerning our ,lord's life and the labours of certain leading individuals among ,his earliest followers2 but they make no pretence1 nor do the other ,gospels make any pretence1 of being an exhaustive history of our ,lord's ministry or of the practice of the earliest ,church2 and their silence does not necessarily prove that much was not known and practised in the early ,church about which they have no occasion to speak4#eb ,the words of ,ananias and the obedience of ,saul show us the importance which the ,holy ,spirit attached to this sacrament of baptism4 ,here was a man to whom ,christ ,himself had personally appeared1 whom ,christ had personally called1 and to whom ,he had made long-continued revelations of ,his will4 ,yet ,he instructed him by the mouth of ,ananias to receive the sacrament of baptism4 ,surely if any man was ever exempted from submission to what some would esteem the outward ordinance1 it was this penitent and privileged convert6 ,but no3 to him the words of ,god's messenger are the same as to the humblest sinner1 ,arise1 and be baptized1 and wash away thy sins4 ,i have known of truly good men who showed their want of spiritual humility1 or perhaps ,i should rather say of spiritual thought and reflection1 in this direction4 ,i have known of persons aroused from religious torpor and death by powerful though one-sided teaching4 ,god has blessed such teaching to the awakening in them of the first elements of spiritual life1 and then they have stopped short4 ,they were called1 as ,saul was1 in an unbaptized state4 ,they had never previously received the sacrament of regeneration according to ,christ's appointment1 and when ,christ aroused them they thought this primal blessing quite sufficient1 and judged it unnecessary to obey the full commands of ,christ and be united by baptism to ,his ,body the ,church4 ,they judged1 in fact1 that the blessing of conversion absolved them from the sacrament of responsibility2 but such was not the view of the primitive ,church4 ,the blessing of conversion as in ,st4 ,paul's case1 the visible and audible descent of the ,holy ,ghost as in the case of ,cornelius1 hindered not the importance nor dispensed with the necessity of the sacrament of baptism1 which was the door of admission to the ,divine society and to a higher level in the ,divine life than any hitherto attained4 ,persons who act as those misguided individuals of whom we have spoken stop short at the first principles of the doctrine of ,christ1 and they attain to none of its heights1 they sound none of its depths1 because they bend not their wills1 and learn not the sweetness and the power involved in spiritual humiliation and in lowly self-denying obedience taught by the ,master ,himself when ,he said1 ,blessed are the poor in spirit3 for theirs is the kingdom of heaven4#ec #eb ,archbishop ,whately used to make an important distinction between things anti-,scriptural and things un-,scriptural4 ,things anti-,scriptural cannot be tolerated by the ,church1 because they contradict the ,word of ,god4 ,things un-,scriptural1 that is1 things about which ,scripture is silent and for which no direct warrant can be produced1 may be right or wrong1 useful or vicious4 ,sunday schools1 for instance1 are in this sense unscriptural4 ,the ,scriptures are silent about them1 and if direct warrant with chapter and verse be required for them1 none such can be produced4 ,hooker1 in his ,third ,book1 ch4 v4-viii41 has a powerful argument upon this subject as against the ultra-reformers or ,puritans of his day1 who would have tied the ,church within much tighter bonds than ever ,judaism submitted to4 #ec ,i have known cases where baptism was rejected avowedly on these grounds4 ,this is of course a natural result of the pushing individualism in religion to an extreme1 and is often found among what we may call extreme ,protestants4 ,it naturally results from two errors4 ,first of all1 from a rejection of the article of the ,apostles' ,creed1 ,i believe in the ,holy ,catholic ,church4 ,such men reject the doctrine of a ,church as a great fundamental article of the ,creed1 one of the necessary articles of the ,christian faith1 and therefore they reject baptism which is the door of entrance into the ,divine society4 ,and1 secondly1 they reject the true definition and idea of a sacrament4 ,they view baptism1 for instance1 as the expression merely of a faith already received1 and as nothing more4 ,if1 then1 they express this faith sufficiently by their life and actions1 baptism seems to them an empty and vain ceremony4 ,but surely this was not ,st4 ,paul's view1 either when he received baptism at the hands of ,ananias1 or when he wrote in the sixth of ,romans ,we were buried therefore with ,him through baptism into death4 ,the language1 again1 of ,ananias about baptism sounds strange in some ears1 and yet the experience of missionaries is a sufficient explanation of it4 ,what is that language8 ,arise1 and be baptized1 and wash away thy sins4 ,these words sound startling to one accustomed to identify the washing away of sin with the exercise of faith1 and yet there they stand1 and no method of exegesis will avail to make them say anything else than this1 that baptism was for ,saul the washing away of sin1 so that if he did not accept baptism his sins would not have been washed away4 ,the experience1 however1 of those who labour in the mission field explains the whole difficulty4 ,baptism is the act of open confession and acknowledgment of ,christ4 ,st4 ,paul himself teaches the absolute importance of this confession3 ,with the heart man believeth unto righteousness2 with the mouth confession is made unto salvation4#ed ,pagan converts are even still abundantly found who are willing to accept the pure morality and the sublime teaching of ,christianity1 who are willing to believe and see in ,jesus ,christ the supreme revelation of ,god made to the human race1 but who are not willing to incur loss and persecution and trial for ,his sake by the reception of ,christian baptism and a public confession of their faith4 ,they may believe with the heart in the revelation of righteousness and may lead moral lives in consequence1 but they are not willing to make public confession leading them into a state of salvation4 ,they are1 in fact1 in the position of ,saul of ,tarsus as he prayed in the house of ,judas1 but they will go no farther4 ,they will not act as he did1 they will not take the decisive step1 they will not arise and be baptized and wash away their sins1 calling on the name of ,jesus ,christ4 ,and if ,saul of ,tarsus had been like them and had acted as they do1 he might have received the vision and have been convinced of the truth of ,jesus ,christ and of ,his mission1 but yet his moral cowardice would have spoilt the whole1 and ,saul would have remained in his sins1 unpardoned1 unaccepted1 reprobate from ,christ1 because he remained unbaptized4 ,christianity1 in fact1 is a covenant1 and forgiveness of sins is one of the blessings attached to this covenant4 ,until men perform its conditions and actually enter into the covenant the blessings of the covenant are not granted4 ,baptism is the door of entry into the covenant of grace1 and till men humbly enter within the door they do not exercise true faith4 ,they may believe intellectually in the truth and reality of ,christianity1 but1 till they take the decisive step and obey ,christ's law1 they do not possess that true faith of the heart which alone enables them1 like ,saul of ,tarsus1 to obey ,christ and therefore enter into peace4 #ed ,romans x4 #aj4 ,,iii4 ,the next step taken by the ,apostle is equally plainly stated3 ,straightway in the synagogues he proclaimed ,jesus1 that ,he is the ,son of ,god4 ,but1 though the words of the ,acts are plain enough1 it is not so easy to reconcile them with ,st4 ,paul's own account1 as given in the ,epistle to the ,galatians 7i4 #ae1 #af1 #ag71 where he states1 ,when it was the good pleasure of ,god to reveal ,his ,son in me1 immediately ,i conferred not with flesh and blood1 but ,i went away into ,arabia1 and again ,i returned to ,damascus4 ,in the ninth chapter of the ,acts we find the statement made that immediately after his baptism he preached ,christ in the synagogues of ,damascus1 while in his own biographical narrative he tells us that immediately after his baptism he went away into ,arabia4 ,is there any way in which we can reconcile them8 ,we think so1 and that a very simple one4 ,let us first reflect upon the story as told in the ,acts4 ,st4 ,luke is giving a rapid history1 a survey of ,st4 ,paul's life of public activity4 ,he is not telling the story of his inner spiritual experiences1 his conflicts1 temptations1 trials1 revelations1 as ,st4 ,paul himself set them forth4 ,he knew not of them1 in fact4 ,st4 ,luke knew merely the exterior public life of which man had cognisance4 ,he knew nothing1 or but little1 of the interior life of the ,apostle1 known only to himself and to ,god4 ,st4 ,luke therefore tells us of his early work at ,damascus4 ,st4 ,paul himself tells us of that early work1 but also shows us how he was prepared for that work by his retirement into ,arabia4 ,both agree in the main point1 however1 and place the scene of his earliest ,christian efforts in the very spot1 ,damascus1 which he had in his human prevision destined for himself as the field of his bitterest antagonism to the faith of the ,crucified4 ,this is an important point4 ,st4 ,luke wrote his historical narrative twenty-five years or thereabouts after ,st4 ,paul's conversion4 ,he may have often visited ,damascus4 ,tradition makes ,antioch1 a town of the same district1 his birthplace4 ,st4 ,luke must have had abundant opportunities of consulting witnesses who could tell the story of those eventful days1 and could describe ,st4 ,paul's earliest testimony to his new convictions4 ,but these men only knew ,st4 ,paul as he appeared in public4 ,they may have known very little of the inner history of his life as he reveals it in his ,epistle to the ,galatians when vindicating his apostolic authority and mission4#ee #ee ,st4 ,luke's informants1 twenty-five years after the events1 would naturally only remember the leading points1 the most striking events of ,st4 ,paul's early ,christian career4 ,few people realise how hard it is to recall the events of twenty-five years ago in anything like consecutive order4 ,we preserve upon the whole a lively and a true impression2 but till we go and consult documents1 diaries1 journals1 etc41 it is almost impossible to state the succession of events in accurate order4 ,i was trying the other day to recall the events of my own public life twenty-five years ago anent the controversy which raged about the disestablishment of the ,irish ,church1 into which ,i plunged with the vehemence of early manhood1 and ,i failed to distinguish events which must have been separated by months and even by years4 ,how much more easily must others have failed accurately to follow details of ,st4 ,paul's life known only to himself6 ,let us now see whether we cannot harmonise ,st4 ,paul's autobiographical narrative in the ,epistle with the ,evangelist's narrative in the ,acts2 always remembering1 however1 that an imperfect knowledge is never more completely felt than in such cases4 ,when we try to harmonise an account written from the subjective side by one individual with an objective and exterior narrative written by some one else1 we are like a man looking at a globe and trying to take it all in at one glance4 ,one side must be hidden from him2 and so in this case1 many circumstances are necessarily concealed from us which would solve difficulties that now completely puzzle us4 ,but let us to our task1 in which we have derived much assistance from the commentary of ,bishop ,lightfoot upon ,galatians4 ,st4 ,paul1 we are told in ch4 ix4 #ai1 received meat after the visit of ,ananias and was strengthened4 ,st4 ,paul was never one of those high-wrought fanatics who despise food and the care of the body4 ,there was nothing of the ,gnostic or the ,manichean about him1 leading him to despise and neglect the body which the ,lord has given to be the soul's instrument4 ,he recognised under all circumstances that if the human spirit is to do its work1 and if ,god's glory is to be promoted1 the human body must be sustained in force and vigour4 ,when he was on board ship and in imminent peril of shipwreck and death1 and men thought they should be at their prayers1 thinking of the next world alone1 he took bread and blessed and set the crew and passengers alike the healthy example of eating a hearty meal1 and thus keeping his body in due preparation for whatever deliverances the ,lord might work for them2 and so1 too1 at ,damascus1 his spiritual joy and hallowed peace and deep gratitude for his restoration to sight did not prevent him paying due attention to the wants of his body4 ,he took food1 and was strengthened4 ,and now comes the first note of time4 ,then was ,saul certain days with the disciples which were at ,damascus4 ,and straightway 77 he preached ,christ in the synagogues1 that ,he is the ,son of ,god4 ,the very same expression is used by ,st4 ,paul in ,galatians1 where1 after speaking of his conversion1 he says1 ,immediately 77 ,i conferred not with flesh and blood1 but went away into ,arabia1 and again returned unto ,damascus4 ,now my explanation1 and not mine alone1 but that of ,bishop ,lightfoot1 is this4 ,after the new convert had rested for a short time at ,damascus1 he retired into the ,sinaitic desert1 where he remained for several months1 perhaps for a whole year4 ,during this period he disappeared from the sight and knowledge of men as if the earth had opened its mouth and swallowed him4 ,then he returned to ,damascus and preached with such power that the ,jews formed a plot against his life1 enlisting the help of the governor on their side1 so that even the gates were watched that he might be arrested4 ,he escaped their hands1 however1 through the assistance of his converts1 and went up to ,jerusalem4#ef #ef ,mr4 ,lewin1 in his ,st4 ,paul1 vol4 i41 p4 #gb1 argues that the governor or ethnarch1 as he is called by ,st4 ,paul in #b ,cor4 xi4 #cb1 was the ,jewish chief magistrate of ,damascus1 appointed to that post by ,aretas1 ,king of ,petra1 who then held ,damascus4 ,the ,jews were allowed by the ,romans to have chief magistrates of their own wherever they lived in large colonies4 ,at ,alexandria1 for instance1 where they occupied a large portion of the city1 the ,jews were ruled by an ,alabarch4 ,mr4 ,lewin shows in the same place a picture of the exact spot in the walls where ,st4 ,paul is by tradition said to have escaped4 ,but here another difficulty arises4 ,the ,acts tells us that when ,saul was come to ,jerusalem1 he assayed to join himself to the disciples2 but they were all afraid of him1 and believed not that he was a disciple1 whereupon ,barnabas1 fulfilling his office of mediation1 explanation1 and consolation1 took him and introduced him to the ,apostles2 while on the other hand in the first chapter of ,galatians ,st4 ,paul himself speaks of his first visit to the ,jerusalem ,church thus3 ,then after three years ,i went up to ,jerusalem to visit ,cephas1 and tarried with him fifteen days4 ,but other of the ,apostles saw ,i none1 save ,james the ,lord's brother4 ,now the difficulty consists in this4 ,first1 how could the disciples at ,jerusalem have been suspicious of ,st4 ,paul1 if at least a year and a half had elapsed since his conversion8 for the ,jewish method of counting time would not require three whole years to have elapsed since that event4 ,secondly1 how could ,barnabas have brought him to the ,apostles as the ,acts states1 if ,st4 ,paul himself says he saw none of them save ,peter and ,james8 ,as to the first difficulty1 we acknowledge at once that it seems at first sight a very considerable one1 and yet a little reflection will show that there are many explanations of it4 ,if ,st4 ,paul kept quiet1 as we believe he did1 after his conversion and baptism1 and departed into the solitudes of ,arabia1 and then upon his return to ,damascus1 perhaps after a year's retirement1 began his aggressive work1 there may not have been time for the ,church at large to get knowledge of the facts4 ,communication1 again1 may have been interrupted because of the contest between ,herod and ,aretas1 in which ,damascus played no small part4 ,communication may not have been possible between the two ,churches4#eg ,then1 again1 the persecution raised by ,saul himself seems to have practically extirpated the ,jerusalem ,church for a time4 ,they were all scattered abroad except the ,apostles1 is the account given of the ,christian community at ,jerusalem4 ,the terror of that persecution may have lasted many a long month4 ,numbers of the original members may never have ventured back again to the ,holy ,city4 ,the ,jerusalem ,church may have been a new formation largely composed of new converts who never had heard of a wondrous circumstance which had happened a year or two before to the high priest's delegate1 which the ,sanhedrin would doubtless desire to keep secret4#eh #eg ,all thought about ,saul and his doings may just then have been swallowed up in the national excitement about ,caligula and his attempt to set up his statue in the ,temple4 ,the trouble connected with the ,nazarene sect would seem to every true ,jew but a small matter compared with the outrage to ,jehovah threatened by the mad emperor4 ,see more about this in the next chapter4 #eh ,it is expressly said in ,acts ix4 #bf that when ,saul came to ,jerusalem he tried to join himself to the disciples4 ,they1 knowing only of his record as a persecutor1 were afraid of him4 ,then ,barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles4 ,these and many other considerations offer themselves when we strive to throw ourselves back into the circumstances of the time and help to a solution of the first difficulty which we have indicated4 ,human life is such a complex thing that the strangest combinations may easily find place therein4 ,in this particular case we are so ignorant of the facts1 so many hypotheses offer themselves to account for the seeming inconsistencies1 that we hesitate not to identify the visit to ,jerusalem mentioned in the ,acts with that recorded by ,st4 ,paul in the ,epistle to the ,galatians4 ,the second difficulty to which we have alluded is this1 ,how could ,barnabas have brought him to the ,apostles1 if ,st4 ,paul himself states that he saw none of the ,apostles save ,peter and ,james the ,lord's brother8 ,we must remember1 however1 that ,st4 ,luke and ,st4 ,paul wrote with two distinct objects4 ,st4 ,paul1 in the ,galatians1 wished to show the independence of his revelations as regards the ,apostles of the circumcision1 the ,twelve technically so called4 ,of these ,apostles he saw not one1 save ,st4 ,peter4 ,st4 ,luke is giving a broad external account of the new convert's earliest religious history1 and he tells us that on his first visit to the ,holy ,city his conversion was acknowledged and guaranteed by the apostles1--not the ,twelve merely1 but the apostles1 that is1 the senior members of the ,christian community1 embracing not merely the original company chosen by ,christ1 but all the senior members of the ,church1 like ,barnabas1 ,james1 and others who may have formed a supreme council to guide the affairs of the infant society4 ,the word apostle1 in fact1 is used very variously in the ,new ,testament2 sometimes in a limited sense as confined to the ,twelve1 sometimes in a wider and more general sense1 embracing men like ,barnabas1 as in ,acts xiv4 #d1 #ad2 ,st4 ,james1 the ,lord's brother1 as in #a ,cor4 xv4 #g2 ,andronicus and ,junias1 as in ,rom4 xvi4 #g1 and many others4 ,it is quite possible1 then1 that ,barnabas may have brought ,saul to the ,apostolic council1 and told there the tale of his conversion though not one of the original ,twelve was present save ,st4 ,peter4#ei #ei ,see ,bishop ,lightfoot's dissertation upon ,st4 ,paul's first visit to ,jerusalem1 and the use of the term apostle in the ,new ,testament in his ,commentary on ,galatians1 pp4 #ia-aja4 ,cf4 ,volume ,i4 of this ,commentary1 p4 #cdh4 ,we have now endeavoured to explain some of the difficulties which a comparison of ,st4 ,paul's own autobiographical narrative with the ,acts discloses4 ,let us look again at the retirement into ,arabia4 ,this retirement seems to us full of instruction and pregnant with meaning for the hidden as well as the practical life of the soul4 ,st4 ,paul as soon as he was baptized retired into ,arabia2 and why1 it may be asked1 did he retire thither8 ,some of the ancient expositors1 as ,st4 ,chrysostom and ,st4 ,jerome1 both of whom wrote about the same period1 ,a4,d4 #djj1 thought that ,st4 ,paul retired into ,arabia in order that he might preach to the ,arabians4 ,st4 ,chrysostom1 for instance1 comments thus3 ,see how fervent was his soul1 he was eager to occupy lands yet untilled4 ,he forthwith attacked a barbarous and savage people1 choosing a life of conflict and of much toil4 ,and the explanations of ,hilary1 ,theodore of ,mopsuestia1 ,theodoret1 and cumenius1 all of them ancient and acute expositors1 are of exactly the same character4 ,now this would have been a reversal of the ,divine order in one important aspect4 ,the power of the keys1 the office of opening the kingdom of heaven to the ,gentiles had been committed to ,st4 ,peter by ,jesus ,christ4 ,he had not as yet baptized ,cornelius1 and thus formally opened the door of faith to the ,gentiles4 ,if ,st4 ,paul had preached to the ,arabians1 he would have usurped ,st4 ,peter's place and function4 ,we believe1 on the other hand1 that ,god led the converted persecutor into the deserts of ,arabia for very different purposes4 ,let us note a few of them4 ,the ,lord led ,saul there for the purpose of quiet and retirement4 ,the great commentators and expositors of the early ,church1 as we have already noted1 used to call ,st4 ,paul by the special title of ,vas ,electionis1 the chosen vessel par excellence1 chosen because surpassing in his gifts and graces and achievements all the other ,apostles4 ,now it was with the ,vas ,electionis in the ,new ,testament as with many of his types in the ,old ,testament4 ,when ,god would prepare ,moses for his life's work in shepherding1 ruling1 and guiding ,his people through the deserts of ,arabia1 ,he first called him for many a long day into retirement to the ,mount of ,horeb and the solitudes of the ,sinaitic desert4 ,when ,god would strengthen and console the spirit depressed1 wounded and severely smitten1 of his servant ,elijah1 ,he brought him to the same mysterious spot1 and there restored his moral and spiritual tone1 and equipped him with new strength for his warfare by the visions of the ,almighty lovingly vouchsafed to him4 ,the ,founder or ,former of the ,jewish ,dispensation and the ,reformer of the same ,dispensation were prepared and sustained for their work amid the solitudes of the ,arabian deserts2 and what more fitting place in which the ,vas ,electionis1 the chosen vessel of the ,new ,dispensation1 should be trained8 ,what more suitable locality where the ,lord ,jesus should make those fuller and completer revelations of ,christian doctrine and mystery which his soul needed1 than there where lightning-blasted cliff and towering mountains all alike spoke of ,god and of ,his dealings with mankind in the mysterious ages of a long-departed past8 ,the ,lord thus taught ,st4 ,paul1 and through him teaches the ,church of every age1 the need of seasons of retirement and communion with ,god preparatory to and in close connexion with any great work or scene of external activity1 such as ,st4 ,paul was now entering upon4 ,it is a lesson much needed by this age of ours when men are tempted to think so much of practical work which appears at once in evidence1 making its presence felt in tangible results1 and so very little of devotional work and spiritual retirement which cannot be estimated by any earthly standard or tabulated according to our modern methods4 ,men are now inclined to think laborare est orare1 and that active external work faithfully and vigorously rendered can take the place and supply the want of prayer and thought1 of quiet study and devout meditation4 ,against such a tendency the ,lord's dealings with ,st4 ,paul1 yea more1 the ,divine dealings with and leadings of the eternal ,son ,himself1 form a loud and speaking protest4 ,the world was perishing and men were going down to the grave in darkness and ,satan and sin were triumphing1 and yet ,jesus was led up of the ,spirit into the wilderness for forty days1 and ,saul was brought out into the deserts of ,arabia from amid the teeming crowds of ,damascus that he might learn those secrets of the ,divine life which are best communicated to those who wait upon ,god in patient prayer and holy retirement4 ,this is a lesson very necessary for this hot and fitful and feverish age of ours1 when men are in such a hurry to have everything set right and every abuse destroyed all at once4 ,their haste is not after the ,divine model1 and their work cannot expect the stability and solidity we find in ,god's4 ,the nineteenth-century extreme is reproved by ,st4 ,paul's retirement into ,arabia4#fj ,man is1 however1 such a creature that if he avoids one extreme he generally tumbles into another4 ,and so it is in this matter4 ,men have been ready to push this matter of retirement into an extreme1 and have considered that they were following ,st4 ,paul's example in retiring into the ,arabian and similar deserts and remaining there4 ,but they have made a great mistake4 ,st4 ,paul retired into ,arabia for a while1 and then returned again unto ,damascus4 ,they have retired into the deserts and have remained there engaged in the one selfish task of saving their own souls1 as they thought1 by the exercises of prayer and meditation1 apart from that life of active good works for the sake of others which constitutes another department of ,christianity equally vital to the health of the soul4 #fj ,we may apply this typical fact in primitive ,church history in a very modern direction4 ,it would be very well if candidates for the sacred ministry always imitated ,st4 ,paul's departure into ,arabia4 ,i have known a great many promising careers spoiled because young deacons would select a heavy1 laborious town or city charge for the opening work of their ministry4 ,they know nothing of life or the world4 ,they know nothing of preaching or pastoral work4 ,they have1 too1 all their mistakes to make1 and they select the most public place for their perpetration4 ,but this is not the worst4 ,they form habits of busy idleness and of mental dissipation which never leave them4 ,the first two or three years of a young clergyman's life generally determine his whole career4 ,his life never recovers the effect of the initial movement4 ,i think the great outcry1 in the ,church of ,england at least1 against sermons largely owing to the decay of study resulting from premature activity on the part of the junior clergy4 ,premature development in any direction is ever followed by premature decay1 and when a young priest or deacon is engaged every day and every night in the week from an early service at #h a4m4 till night-school is finished at #aj p4m4 in external work1 how can he prepare for teaching an educated congregation on ,sundays8 ,and surely there ought to be some little consideration for thinking men and educated women as well as for others4 ,the history of ,eastern monasticism is marked from its earliest days by an eager desire to follow ,st4 ,paul in his retirement into ,arabia1 and an equal disinclination to return with him unto ,damascus4 ,and this characteristic1 this intense devotion to a life of solitude strangely enough passed over to our own ,western islands1 and is a dominant feature of the monasticism which prevailed in ,great ,britain and ,ireland in the days of ,celtic ,christianity4 ,the ,syrian and ,egyptian monks passed over to ,lerins and ,southern ,gaul1 whence their disciples came to ,england and ,ireland1 where they established themselves1 bringing with them all their ,eastern love of solitary deserts4 ,this taste they perpetuated1 as may be seen especially on the western coast of ,ireland1 where the ruins of extensive monastic settlements still exist1 testifying to this craving4 ,the last islands1 for instance1 which a traveller sees as he steams away from ,cork to ,america1 are called the ,skelligs4 ,they are ten miles west of the ,kerry coast1 and yet there on these rocks where a boat cannot land sometimes for months together the early monks of the fifth and six centuries established themselves as in a desert in the ocean4 ,the topography of ,ireland is full of evidences and witnesses of this desire to imitate the ,apostle of the ,gentiles in his ,arabian retirement4 ,there are dozens of town lands--subdivisions of the parishes--which are called deserts or diserts1#fa because they constituted solitudes set apart for hermit life after the example of ,st4 ,paul in ,arabia and ,john the ,baptist in the deserts of ,juda4 ,while1 again1 when we turn northwards along the western seaboard of ,ireland1 we shall find numerous islands like the ,skelligs1 ,ardoilen or the ,high ,island1 off the coast of ,connemara1 and ,innismurry off the ,sligo coast1 where hermit cells in the regular ,egyptian and ,syrian fashion were built1 and still exist as they did a thousand years ago1 testifying to the longing of the human mind for such complete solitude and close communion with ,god as ,saul enjoyed when he departed from ,damascus4#fb ,the monks of ancient times may have run into one extreme3 well would it be for us if we could avoid the other1 and learn to cultivate self-communion1 meditation1 self-examination1 and that realisation of the eternal world which ,god grants to those who wait upon ,him apart from the bustle and din and dust of earth1 which clog the spiritual senses and dim the heavenly vision4 #fa ,see ,joyce's ,irish ,names of ,places1 vol4 i41 p4 #cbe4 #fb ,i have touched upon the subject of the connexion between ,syria and ,egypt and ,oriental monasticism on the one hand1 and ,gaul1 ,england1 and ,ireland on the other1 during the period which elapsed between ,a4,d4 #djj and #ijj1 in ,ireland and the ,celtic ,church1 chs4 ix4 and xi4 ,i have discussed it at greater length and with fuller details in two papers upon the ,knowledge of ,greek in ,gaul and ,ireland1 read before the ,royal ,irish ,academy in ,february #ahib1 now published in the ,proceedings of that body2 and also in two papers1 one upon the ,island ,monasteries of ,great ,britain and ,ireland and the other on ,st4 ,fechin of ,fore1 published1 the former in the ,journal of the ,royal ,society of ,antiquaries of ,ireland for #ahia1 and the latter in the same ,journal for ,april #ast1 #ahib4 ,we can see many other reasons why ,paul was led into ,arabia4 ,he was led there1 for instance1 that he might make a thorough scrutiny of his motives4 ,silence1 separation1 solitude1 have a wondrous tendency to make a man honest with himself and humbly honest before his ,god4 ,saul might have been a hypocrite or a formalist elsewhere1 where human eyes and jealous glances were bent upon him1 but scarcely when there alone with ,jehovah in the desert4 ,again1 ,saul was led there that his soul might be ennobled and enlarged by the power of magnificent scenery1 of high and hallowed associations4 ,mountain and cliff and flood1 specially those which have been magnified and made honourable by grand memories such as must have crowded upon ,saul's mind1 have a marvellous effect1 enlarging1 widening1 developing1 upon a soul like ,saul's1 long cribbed1 cabined1 and confined within the rigorous bonds of ,pharisaic religionism4 ,saul1 too1 was led up into those mysterious regions away from the busy life and work1 the pressing calls of ,damascus1 that he might speak a word in season to us all1 and especially to those young in the ,christian life1 who think in the first burst of their zeal and faith as if they had nothing to do but go in and possess the whole land4 ,saul did not set out at once to evangelise the masses of ,damascus1 or to waste the first weak beginnings of his spiritual life in striving to benefit or awaken others4 ,he was first led away into the deserts of ,arabia1 in order that there he might learn of the deep things of ,god and of the weak things of his own nature1 and then1 when ,god had developed his spiritual strength1 ,he led him back to ,damascus that he might testify out of the fulness of a heart which knew the secrets of the ,most ,high4 ,the teaching of ,saul's example speaks loudly to us all4 ,it was the same with ,saul as with a greater than he4 ,the ,eternal ,son ,himself was trained amid years and years of darkness and secrecy1 and even after ,his baptism the day of ,his manifestation unto ,israel was delayed yet a little4 ,jesus ,christ was no novice when ,he came preaching4 ,and ,saul of ,tarsus was no novice in the ,christian life when he appeared as the ,christian advocate in the synagogue of ,damascus4 ,well would it have been for many a soul had this ,divine example been more closely copied4 ,again and again have the young and ignorant and inexperienced been encouraged to stand up as public teachers immediately after they have been seriously impressed4 ,they have yielded to the unwise solicitation4 ,the vanity of the human heart has seconded the foolish advice given to them1 and they have tried to declare the deep things of ,god when as yet they have need of learning the very first principles of the doctrine of ,christ4 ,is it any wonder that such persons oftentimes make shipwreck of faith and a sound conscience8 ,truth is very large and wide and spacious1 and requires much time and thought if it is to be assimilated2 and even when truth is grasped in all its mighty fulness1 then there are spiritual enemies within and without and spiritual pitfalls to be avoided which can be known only by experience4 ,woe is then to that man who is not assisted by grace and guided by ,divine experience1 and who knows not ,god and the powers of the world to come1 and the devious paths of his own heart1 as these things can only be known and learned as ,saul of ,tarsus knew and learned them in the deserts of ,arabia4 ,there was marvellous wisdom contained in the brief apostolic law enacted for candidates for holy orders in words gathered from ,st4 ,paul's own personal history1 ,not a novice1 lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil4 ,,chapter ,v4 ,,the ,,first ,,gentile ,,convert4 ,now there was a certain man in ,csarea1 ,cornelius by name1 a centurion of the band called the ,italian band1 a devout man1 and one that feared ,god with all his house1 who gave much alms to the people1 and prayed to ,god alway4 ,he saw in a vision openly1 as it were about the ninth hour of the day1 an angel of ,god coming in unto him1 and saying to him1 ,cornelius4 ,and he1 fastening his eyes upon him1 and being affrighted1 said1 ,what is it1 ,lord8 ,and he said unto him1 ,thy prayers and thine alms are gone up for a memorial before ,god4 ,and now send men to ,joppa1 and fetch one ,simon1 who is surnamed ,peter3 he lodgeth with one ,simon a tanner1 whose house is by the sea side4--,,acts x4 #a-f4 ,we have now arrived at another crisis in the history of the early ,church of ,christ4 ,the ,day of ,pentecost1 the conversion of ,saul of ,tarsus1 the call of ,cornelius1 and the foundation of the ,gentile ,church of ,antioch are1 if we are to pick and choose amid the events related by ,st4 ,luke1 the turning-points of the earliest ecclesiastical history4 ,the conversion of ,st4 ,paul is placed by ,st4 ,luke before the conversion of ,cornelius1 and is closely connected with it4 ,let us then inquire by what events ,st4 ,luke unites the two4 ,german commentators of the modern school1 who are nothing unless they are original1 have not been willing to allow that ,st4 ,luke's narrative is continuous4 ,they have assigned various dates to the conversion of ,cornelius4 ,some have made it precede the conversion of ,st4 ,paul1 others have fixed it to the time of ,paul's sojourn in ,arabia1 and so on1 without any other solid reasons than what their own fancies suggest4 ,i prefer1 however1 to think that ,st4 ,luke's narrative follows the great broad outlines of the ,christian story1 and sets forth the events of the time in a divinely ordered sequence4 ,at any rate ,i prefer to follow the course of events as the narrative suggests them1 till ,i see some good reason to think otherwise4 ,i do not think that the mere fact that the sacred writer states events in a certain order is a sufficient reason to think that the true order must have been quite a different one4 ,taking them in this light they yield themselves very naturally to the work of an expositor4 ,let us reflect then upon that sequence as here set forth for us4 ,saul of ,tarsus went up to ,jerusalem to confer with ,st4 ,peter1 who had been hitherto the leading spirit of the apostolic conclave4 ,he laboured in ,jerusalem among the ,hellenistic synagogues for some fifteen days4 ,a conspiracy was then formed against his life4 ,the ,lord1 ever watchful over ,his chosen servant1 warned him to depart from ,jerusalem1 indicating to him as he prayed in the ,temple the scope and sphere of his future work1 saying1 ,depart3 for ,i will send thee forth far hence unto the ,gentiles 7see ,acts xxii4 #ba74 ,the ,christians of ,jerusalem1 having learned the designs of his enemies1 conveyed ,saul to ,csarea1 the chief ,roman port of ,palestine1 whence they despatched him to ,cilicia1 his native province1 where he laboured in obscurity and quietness for some time4 ,st4 ,peter may have been one of the rescue party who saved ,saul from the hands of his enemies escorting him to ,csarea1 and this circumstance may have led him to the western district of the country4 ,at any rate we find him soon after labouring in ,western ,palestine at some distance from ,jerusalem4 ,philip the ,evangelist had been over the same ground a short time previously1 and ,st4 ,peter may have been sent forth by the mother ,church to supervise his work and confer that formal imposition of hands which from the beginning has formed the completion of baptism1 and seems to have been reserved to the ,apostles or their immediate delegates4 ,peter's visit to ,western ,palestine1 to ,lydda and ,sharon and ,joppa1 may have been just like the visit he had paid some time previously1 in company with ,st4 ,john1 to the city of ,samaria1 when he came for the first time in contact with ,simon ,magus4 ,st4 ,luke gives us here a note of time helping us to fix approximately the date of the formal admission of ,cornelius and the ,gentiles into the ,church4 ,he mentions that the ,churches then enjoyed peace and quietness all through ,palestine1 enabling ,st4 ,peter to go upon his work of preaching and supervision4 ,it may perhaps strike some persons that this temporary peace must have been attained through the conversion of ,saul1 the most active persecutor4 ,but that event had happened more than two years before1 in the spring of #cg ,a4,d41 and1 far from diminishing1 would probably have rather intensified the hostility of the ,jewish hierarchy4 ,it was now the autumn of the year #ci1 and a bitter spirit still lingered at ,jerusalem1 as ,saul himself and the whole ,church had just proved4 ,external authorities1 ,jewish and ,roman history1 here step in to illustrate and confirm the sacred narrative4 ,the ,emperor ,caius ,caligula1 who ascended the throne of the empire about the time of ,stephen's martyrdom1 was a strange character4 ,he was wholly self-willed1 madly impious1 utterly careless of human life1 as indeed unregenerate mankind ever is4 ,christianity alone has taught the precious value of the individual human soul the awful importance of human life as the probation time for eternity1 and has thereby ameliorated the harshness of human laws1 the sternness of human rulers1 ready to inflict capital punishment on any pretence whatsoever4 ,caligula determined to establish the worship of himself throughout the world4 ,he had no opposition to dread from the pagans1 who were ready to adopt any creed or any cult1 no matter how degrading1 which their rulers prescribed4 ,caligula knew1 however1 that the ,jews were more obstinate1 because they alone were conscious that they possessed a ,divine revelation4 ,he issued orders1 therefore1 to ,petronius1 the ,roman governor of ,syria1 ,palestine1 and the ,east1 to erect his statue in ,jerusalem and to compel the ,jews to offer sacrifice thereto4 ,josephus tells us of the opposition which the ,jews offered to ,caligula2 how they abandoned their agricultural operations and assembled in thousands at different points1 desiring ,petronius to slay them at once1 as they could never live if the ,divine laws were so violated4 ,the whole energies of the nation were for months concentrated on this one object1 the repeal of the impious decree of ,caligula1 which they at last attained through their own determination and by the intervention of ,herod ,agrippa1 who was then at ,rome4#fc ,it was during this awful period of uncertainty and opposition that the infant ,church enjoyed a brief period of repose and quiet growth1 because the whole nation from the high priest to the lowest beggar had something else to think of than how to persecute a new sect that was as yet rigorously scrupulous in observing the law of ,moses4 ,during this period of repose from persecution ,st4 ,peter made his tour of inspection throughout all parts1 ,samaria1 ,galilee1 ,juda1 terminating with ,lydda1 where he healed1 or at least prayed for the healing of1 neas1#fd and with ,joppa1 where his prayer was followed by the restoration of ,tabitha or ,dorcas1 who has given a designation now widely applied to the assistance which devout women can give to their poorer sisters in ,christ4 #fc ,see the whole story told at length in ,josephus1 ,antiquities1 ,book ,,xviii41 ch4 viii41 #h1 and in his ,wars1 ,book ,,ii41 ch4 x4 ,this story1 which is little known to ,bible students1 is most interesting4 ,it fully explains the repose from persecution which the ,church enjoyed at the time of the conversion of ,cornelius and helps us to fix its date4 ,in the year #ci ,petronius1 the prefect of ,syria1 received orders from the ,emperor ,caligula to set up his statue as a god in the ,temple4 ,he advanced to fulfil the ,emperor's command with two legions and a number of auxiliary troops1 and came as far as ,ptolemais1 a maritime town of ,galilee1 which is mentioned in ,acts xxi4 #g as a place where ,st4 ,paul visited a ,church1 of which we hear nothing else4 ,the ,jewish nation met the prefect there in tens of thousands1 entreating him to desist or else to put them to immediate death4 ,he halted his army and appointed a further conference at ,tiberias1 where the people met him and continued their entreaties for fifty days1 though it was seed-time and a famine might result from their neglect of the spring operations4 ,petronius suspended his operations for the time1 and wrote back to the ,emperor an account of the ,jewish opposition4 ,herod ,agrippa too1 who was then at ,rome and in high favour with the ,emperor1 lent his assistance1 and obtained a temporary respite for the ,jews by a timely and expensive banquet which he prepared for him4 ,towards the close of ,a4,d4 #dj ,caligula1 however1 determined to set out and personally compel the obedience of the ,jews4 ,but his assassination in ,january #da relieved their apprehensions1 and freed the world from ,caligula's mad freaks4 ,during that period of anxiety1 lasting fully a year and a half1 the ,jews had neither time nor thought for the new sect1 which was opposed as strongly as themselves to the ,emperor's impious projects and whose members doubtless flung themselves as heartily into the opposition4 ,the ,jews at ,alexandria suffered at the same time a terrible persecution1 of which ,philo and ,josephus tell3 see ,mommsen's ,provinces of the ,roman ,empire1 vol4 ii41 pp4 #aij-if 7,dickson's ,translation74 ,this is one of those incidental touches which prove the wonderful accuracy of this book of the ,acts4 ,dr4 ,lightfoot has remarked 7,essays on ,supernatural ,religion7 that no book of the ,bible has so many points of contact with current history and politics as the ,acts1 and can therefore be more easily tested4 ,this special case is an interesting illustration of the learned bishop's view4 #fd ,perhaps it is well to note that this is not the classical word neas1 which in ,greek would be represented by 1 but a different name with a short e1 and is written in ,greek 4 ,the latter is found in ,thucydides and ,xenophon3 see ,meyer in loco4 ,we thus see how ,god by the secret guidance of ,his ,spirit1 shaping his course by ways and roads known only to ,himself1 led ,st4 ,peter to the house of ,simon the tanner1 where he abode many days waiting in patience to know ,god's mind and will which were soon to be opened out to him4 ,we have now traced the line of events which connect the conversion of ,saul of ,tarsus with that of ,cornelius the centurion of ,csarea4 ,let us apply ourselves to the circumstances surrounding the latter event1 which is of such vital importance to us ,gentile ,christians as having been the formal ,divine proclamation to the ,church and to the world that the mystery which had been hid for ages was now made manifest1 and that the ,gentiles were spiritually on an equality with the ,jews4 ,the ,church was now about to burst the bonds which had restrained it for five years at least4 ,we stand by the birth of ,european ,christendom and of modern civilisation4 ,it is well1 then1 that we should learn and inwardly digest every1 even the slightest1 detail concerning such a transcendent and notable crisis4 ,let us take them briefly one by one as the sacred narrative reports them4 ,i4 ,i note1 then1 in the first place that the time of this conversion was wisely and providentially chosen4 ,the time was just about eight years after the ,ascension and the foundation of the ,church4 ,time enough therefore had elapsed for ,christianity to take root among the ,jews4 ,this was most important4 ,the gospel was first planted among the ,jews1 took form and life and shape1 gained its initial impulse and direction among ,god's ancient people in order that the constitution1 the discipline1 and the worship of the ,church might be framed on the ancient ,jewish model and might be built up by men whose minds were cast in a conservative mould4 ,not that we have the old law with its wearisome and burdensome ritual perpetuated in the ,christian ,church4 ,that law was a yoke too heavy for man to bear4 ,but1 then1 the highest and best elements of the old ,jewish system have been perpetuated in the ,church4 ,there was in ,judaism by ,god's own appointment a public ministry1 a threefold public ministry too1 exercised by the high priest1 the priests1 and the ,levites4 ,there is in ,christianity a threefold ministry exercised by bishops1 presbyters or elders1 and deacons4#fe ,there were in ,judaism public and consecrated sanctuaries1 fixed liturgies1 public reading of ,god's ,word1 a service of choral worship1 hymns of joy and thanksgiving1 the sacraments of ,holy ,communion and baptism in a rudimentary shape2 all these were transferred from the old system that was passing away into the new system that was taking its place4 ,had the ,gentiles been admitted much earlier all this might not have so easily happened4 ,men do not easily change their habits4 ,habits1 indeed1 are chains which rivet themselves year by year with ever-increasing power round our natures2 and the ,jewish converts brought their habits of thought and worship into the ,church of ,christ1 establishing there those institutions of prayer and worship1 of sacramental communion and preaching which we still enjoy4 ,but we must observe1 on the other hand1 that1 had the ,gentiles been admitted a little later1 the ,church might have assumed too ,jewish and ,levitical an aspect4 ,this pause of eight years1 during which ,jews alone formed the ,church1 is another instance of those delays of the ,lord#ff which1 whether they happen in public or in private life1 are always found in the long run to be wise1 blessed1 and providential things1 though for a time they may seem dark and mysterious1 according to that ancient strain of the ,psalmist1 ,wait on the ,lord1 444 and ,he shall strengthen thine heart3 wait1 ,i say1 upon the ,lord4#fg #fe ,i do not intend to raise any disputed question as to ,church polity and government in this book1 and so ,i may point out1 without compromising my own views in the least1 that even a ,presbyterian may agree in this statement1 as he may hold that his own teaching elder or minister corresponds to the primitive bishop1 his ruling elders to the presbyters1 and his own deacons to the ancient deacons4 ,presbyterianism claims thus a threefold ministry as well as ,episcopacy4 #ff ,what a fine subject for historical study the delays of the ,lord would prove4 ,the delay of the ,incarnation till the world was ready is a supreme instance of them4 ,the delay of the triumph of ,christianity1 of the break up of the ,roman ,empire1 of the ,reformation so often attempted but never effected till the invention of printing and the revival of learning1--these and numerous other illustrations fling light upon the darkness which still surrounds the ,divine methods and dispensations amid which we live4 #fg ,this and several other thoughts in this chapter will be found worked out in a sermon of ,bishop ,jebb1 a well-known preacher of the last generation who is now almost forgotten4 ,yet he published several volumes of sermons and other theological works1 which had no small influence in laying the foundations of the ,oxford movement4 ,his sermons are full of matter1 though not composed in a modern style4 ,this cannot be wondered at when we find from his well-known correspondence with ,alexander ,knox that a single sermon sometimes was the work of several months1 if not even years4 ,the leisurely character of even busy lives in the opening years of this century is strikingly illustrated by the correspondence between these learned men4 ,bishop ,jebb preached a sermon in #ahjd on the well-known ,vincentian rule of faith1 ,quod semper1 quod ubique1 etc4 ,this sermon he elaborated till #ahae1 and then published it4 ,it played no small part in religious controversies between #ahae and #ahdj1 as a reference to the ,christian ,observer1 the ,christian ,examiner1 and other religious periodicals of that time will show4 ,,ii4 ,again1 the place where the ,church burst its ,jewish shell and emerged into full gospel freedom is noteworthy4 ,it was at ,csarea4 ,it is a great pity that people do not make more use of maps in their study of ,holy ,scripture4 ,sunday evenings are often a dull time in ,christian households1 and the bare mechanical reading of ,scripture and of good books often only makes them duller4 ,how much livelier1 interesting1 and instructive they would be were an attempt made to trace the journeys of the apostles with a map1 or to study the scenes where they laboured--,jerusalem1 ,csarea1 ,damascus1 ,ephesus1 ,athens1 and ,rome--with some of the helps which modern scholarship and commercial enterprise now place within easy reach4 ,i can speak thus with the force of personal experience1 for my own keen interest in this book which ,i am expounding dates from the ,sunday evenings of boyhood thus spent1 though without many of the aids which now lie within the reach of all4 ,this is essentially the modern method of study1 especially in matters historical4 ,a modern investigator and explorer of ,bible sites and lands has well expressed this truth when he said1 ,topography is the foundation of history4 ,if we are ever to understand history1 we must understand the places where that history was transacted4#fh ,the celebrated historians the late ,mr4 ,freeman and ,mr4 ,green worked a revolution in ,english historical methods by teaching people that an indefatigable use of maps and a careful study of the physical features of any country are absolutely needful for a true conception of its history4 ,in this respect at least secular history and sacred history are alike4 ,without a careful study of the map we cannot understand ,god's dealings with the ,church of ,christ1 as is manifest from the case of ,csarea at which we have arrived4 ,the narratives of the ,gospels and of the ,acts will be confused1 unintelligible1 unless we understand that there were two ,csareas in ,palestine1 one never mentioned in the ,gospels1 the other never mentioned in the ,acts4 ,csarea ,philippi was a celebrated city of ,north-eastern ,palestine4 ,it was when our ,lord was within its borders that ,st4 ,peter made his celebrated confession1 ,thou art the ,christ1 the ,son of the living ,god1 told of in ,st4 ,matthew xvi4 #ac-af4 ,this is the only ,csarea of which we hear in the ,gospels4 ,it was an inland town1 built by the ,herods in joint honour of themselves and of their patrons the ,emperors of ,rome1 and bore all the traces of its origin4 ,it was decorated with a splendid pagan temple1 was a thoroughly pagan town1 and was therefore abhorred by every true ,jew4 ,there was another ,csarea1 the great ,roman port of ,palestine and the capital1 where the ,roman governors resided4 ,it was situated in the borders of ,phnicia1 in a north-westerly direction from ,jerusalem1 with which it was connected by a fine military road4#fi ,this ,csarea had been originally built by ,herod the ,great4 ,he spent twelve years at this undertaking1 and succeeded in making it a splendid monument of the magnificence of his conceptions4 ,the seaboard of ,palestine is totally devoid to this day of safe harbours4 ,herod constructed a harbour at vast expense4 ,let us hear the story of its foundation in the very words of the ,jewish historian4 ,josephus tells us that ,herod1 observing that ,joppa and ,dora are not fit for havens on account of the impetuous south winds which beat upon them1 which1 rolling the sands which come from the sea against the shores1 do not admit of ships lying in their station2 but the merchants are generally there forced to ride at their anchors in the sea itself4 ,so ,herod endeavoured to rectify this inconvenience1 and laid out such a compass toward the land as might be sufficient for a haven1 wherein the great ships might lie in safety2 and this he effected by letting down vast stones of above fifty feet in length1 not less than eighteen in breadth and nine in depth1 into twenty fathoms deep4#gj ,the ,romans1 when they took possession of ,palestine1 adopted and developed ,herod's plans1 and established ,csarea on the coast as the permanent residence of the procurator of ,palestine4 ,and it was a wise policy4 ,the ,romans1 like the ,english1 had a genius for government4 ,they fixed their provincial capitals upon or near the sea-coast that their communications might be ever kept open4 ,thus in our own case ,calcutta1 ,bombay1 ,madras1 ,capetown1 ,quebec1 and ,dublin are all seaport towns4 ,and so in ancient times ,antioch1 ,alexandria1 ,tarsus1 ,ephesus1 ,marseilles1 ,corinth1 ,london1 were all seaports and provincial ,roman capitals as ,csarea was in ,palestine4 ,and it was a very wise policy4 ,the ,jews were a fierce1 bold1 determined people when they revolted4 ,if the seat of ,roman rule had been fixed at ,jerusalem1 a rebellion might completely cut off all effective relief from the besieged garrison1 which would never happen at ,csarea so long as the command of the sea was vested in the vast navies which the ,roman ,state possessed4 ,csarea was to a large extent a ,gentile city1 though within some seventy miles of ,jerusalem4 ,it had a considerable ,jewish population with their attendant synagogues1 but the most prominent features were pagan temples1 one of them serving for a lighthouse and beacon for the ships which crowded its harbour1 together with a theatre and an amphitheatre1 where scenes were daily enacted from which every sincere ,jew must have shrunk with horror4 ,such was the place--a most fitting place1 ,gentile1 pagan1 idolatrous to the very core and centre--where ,god chose to reveal ,himself as ,father of the ,gentiles as well as of the ,jews1 and showed ,christ's gospel as a light to lighten the ,gentiles as well as the glory of ,his people ,israel4 #fh ,see ,ramsay's ,historical ,geography of ,asia ,minor1 pp4 #ea1 #eb4 #fi ,the most detailed account of ,csarea-on-the-,sea1 its ruins and present state1 will be found in the ,memoirs of the ,survey of ,western ,palestine1 vol4 ii41 pp4 #ac-bi4 ,it is accompanied with plans and maps1 which show that ancient ,roman ,csarea was ten times the size of the medival city which the ,crusaders occupied4 ,geikie's ,the ,holy ,land and the ,bible1 ch4 iv41 gives a very interesting account of the ancient and modern state of ,csarea4 #gj ,see ,josephus1 ,antiquities1 ,,xv4 ix4 #f2 ,wars of ,jews1 ,i4 xxi4 ,mr4 ,lewin1 in his ,life of ,st4 ,paul1 vol4 ii41 ch4 iv41 spends several pages in an elaborate discussion of the buildings and plan of ,csarea1 to which it must here suffice to refer4 ,,iii4 ,then1 again1 the person chosen as the channel of this revelation is a striking character4 ,he was ,cornelius by name1 a centurion of the band called the ,italian band4#ga ,here1 then1 we note first of all that ,cornelius was a ,roman soldier4 ,let us pause and reflect upon this4 ,in no respect does the ,new ,testament display more clearly its ,divine origin than in the manner in which it rises superior to mere provincialism4 ,there are no narrow national prejudices about it like those which nowadays lead ,englishmen to despise other nations1 or those which in ancient times led a thorough-going ,jew to look down with sovereign contempt on the ,gentile world as mere dogs and outcasts4 ,the ,new ,testament taught that all men were equal and were brothers in blood1 and thus laid the foundations of those modern conceptions which have well-nigh swept slavery from the face of civilised ,christendom4 ,the ,new ,testament and its teaching is the parent of that modern liberalism which now rules every circle1 no matter what its political designation4 ,in no respect does this universal catholic feeling of the ,new ,testament display itself more clearly than in the pictures it presents to us of ,roman military men4 ,they are uniformly most favourable4 ,without one single exception the pictures drawn for us of every centurion and soldier mentioned in the books of the ,new ,testament are bright with some element of good shining out conspicuously by way of favourable contrast1 when brought side by side with the ,jewish people1 upon whom more abundant and more blessed privileges had been in vain lavished4 ,let us just note a few instances which will illustrate our view4 ,the soldiers sought ,john's baptism and humbly received ,john's penitential advice and direction when priests and scribes rejected the ,lord's messenger 7,luke iii4 #ad74 ,a soldier and a centurion received ,christ's commendation for the exercise of a faith surpassing in its range and spiritual perception any faith which the ,master had found within the bounds and limits of ,israel according to the flesh4 ,verily ,i have not found so great faith1 no1 not in ,israel1 were ,christ's almost wondering words as ,he heard the confession of ,his ,god-like nature1 ,his ,divine power involved in the centurion's prayer of humility1 ,i am not worthy that ,thou shouldest come under my roof3 but only say the word1 and my servant shall be healed 7cf4 ,matt4 viii4 #e-ac74 ,so was it again with the centurion to whom the details of our ,lord's execution were committed4 ,he too is painted in a favourable light4 ,he had an open mind1 willing to receive evidence4 ,he received that evidence under the most unfavourable conditions4 ,his mind was convinced of our ,lord's mission and character1 not by ,his triumphs1 but by ,his apparent defeat4 ,as the victim of ,jewish malice and prejudice yielded up the ghost and committed ,his pure1 unspotted soul to the hands of ,his heavenly ,father1 then it was that1 struck by the supernatural spirit of love and gentleness and forgiveness--those great forces of ,christianity which never at any other time or in any other age have had their full and fair play--the centurion yielded the assent of his affections and of his intellect to the ,divine mission of the suffering ,saviour1 and cried1 ,truly this man was the ,son of ,god 7,matt4 xxvii4 #ed74 ,so it was again with ,julius the centurion1 who courteously entreated ,st4 ,paul on his voyage as a prisoner to ,rome 7,acts xxvii4 #c72 and so again it was with ,cornelius the centurion1 of the band called the ,italian band4 #ga ,cornelius was a centurion of the ,italian band4 ,this is another of the accidental coincidences which attest the genuineness of the ,acts4 ,the ,roman army was divided into two broad divisions1 the legions and the auxiliary forces4 ,now the legions were never permanently quartered in ,palestine till the great war which ended in the destruction of ,jerusalem1 which began in ,a4,d4 #ff and ended in ,a4,d4 #gj4 ,a legion was then for the first time stationed with a fixed camp upon the site of the ,holy ,city3 see ,mommsen's ,roman ,provinces1 ii4 #bah4 ,the auxiliary forces were a kind of militia raised upon the spot4 ,palestine was made a province of the second rank in ,a4,d4 #f1 and from that time to the year #ff was garrisoned1 like all second-rank provinces1 exclusively by auxiliary troops1 the headquarters of which were at ,csarea4 ,these auxiliaries1 recruited amongst the ,samaritans and ,syrian ,greeks1 numbered one ala and five cohorts1 about three thousand men3 see ,mommsen1 loc4 cit41 p4 #ahf4 ,it would not have been prudent1 however1 to have a garrison in ,palestine exclusively composed of troops locally recruited1 even though restricted to ,samaritans and ,syrians1 just as no prudent ,english government would garrison ,ireland with a militia drawn from ,ulster ,orangemen alone4 ,the ,roman ,government therefore mingled with the garrison of ,csarea an auxiliary cohort composed of ,italians4 ,there were thirty-two ,italian auxiliary cohorts which were thus used as a salutary precaution against treachery on the part of the local militia4 ,see1 on this interesting point1 ,marquardt1 ,l' ,organisation ,militaire chez les ,romains1 p4 #ahi 7,french ,edition71 where this learned ,german writer often quotes the ,acts of the ,apostles to illustrate the military arrangements in ,palestine during the first sixty years of the first century4 ,such was the military organisation of ,palestine from ,a4,d4 #f to #ff4 ,after that period ,palestine was ruled in the sternest military manner1 and treated like a border province subject to martial law with legionaries scattered all over it4 ,now if the ,acts were written in the beginning of the second century1 a writer would almost certainly have missed the correct description of the troops stationed at ,csarea as ,st4 ,luke gives it in this passage4 ,see also the article ,exercitus in the new edition of ,smith's ,dictionary of ,roman and ,greek ,antiquities2 ,mommsen1 on the ,roman ,legions1 in ,ephemeris ,epigraphica1 vol4 v4 and ,pfitzner1 ,geschichte der ,rmischen ,kaiserlegionen4 ,now how comes this to pass8 ,what a striking evidence of the workings and presence of the ,divine ,spirit in the writers of our sacred books we may find in this fact6 ,the ,roman soldiers were of course the symbols to a patriotic ,jew of a hated foreign sway1 of an idolatrous jurisdiction and rule4 ,a ,jew uninfluenced by supernatural grace and unguided by ,divine inspiration would never have drawn such pictures of ,roman centurions as the ,new ,testament has handed down to us4 ,the pictures1 indeed1 drawn by the opposition press of any country is not generally a favourable one when dealing with the persons and officials of the dominant party4 ,but the apostles--,jews though they were of narrow1 provincial1 prejudiced ,galilee--had drunk deep of the spirit of the new religion4 ,they recognised that ,jesus ,christ1 the ,king of the kingdom of heaven1 cared nothing about what form of government men lived under4 ,they knew that ,christ ignored all differences of climate1 age1 sex1 nationality1 or employment4 ,they felt that the only distinctions recognised in ,christ's kingdom were spiritual distinctions1 and therefore they recognised the soul of goodness wherever found4 ,they welcomed the honest and true heart1 no matter beneath what skin it beat1 and found therefore in many of these ,roman soldiers some of the ablest1 the most devoted1 and the most effective servants and teachers of the ,cross of ,jesus ,christ4 ,verily the universal and catholic principles of the new religion which found their first formal proclamation in the age of ,cornelius met with an ample vindication and a full reward in the trophies won and the converts gained from such an unpromising source as the ranks of the ,roman army4 ,this seems to me one reason for the favourable notices of the ,roman soldiers in the ,new ,testament4 ,the ,divine ,spirit wished to impress upon mankind that birth1 position1 or employment have no influence upon a man's state in ,god's sight1 and to prove by a number of typical examples that spiritual conditions and excellence alone avail to find favour with the ,almighty4 ,another reason1 however1 may be found for this fact4 ,the ,scriptures never make light of discipline or training4 ,train up a child in the way he should go is a ,divine precept4 ,st4 ,paul1 in his ,pastoral ,epistles1 lays down as one great qualification for a bishop that he should have this power of exercising discipline and rule at home as well as abroad3 ,for if he knoweth not how to rule his own house1 how shall he take care of the ,church of ,god8 7#a ,tim4 iii4 #e74 ,by discipline1 the discipline of ,egypt and the wilderness1 did ,god prepare ,his people for ,canaan4 ,by the discipline of captivity and dispersion1 by the discipline of ,greek philosophy spreading novel intellectual ideas1 by the discipline of ,roman dominion executing mighty public works1 carrying roads and intercommunication to the remotest and most barbarous nations1 did ,god prepare the world for the revelation of ,his ,son4 ,by the discipline of life1 by joy and sorrow1 by strife and suffering1 by parting and by loss1 does ,god still prepare ,his faithful ones for the beatific vision of eternal beauty1 for the rest and joy of everlasting peace4 ,and discipline worked out its usual results on these military men1 even though it was only an imperfect and pagan discipline which these ,roman soldiers received4 ,let us note carefully how this was4 ,the world of unregenerate man at the time of our ,lord's appearance had become utterly selfish4 ,discipline of every kind had been flung off4 ,self-restraint was practically unknown1 and the devil and his works flourished in every circle1 bringing forth the fruits of wickedness1 uncleanness1 and impurity in every direction4 ,the army was the only place or region where in those times any kind of discipline or self-restraint was practised4 ,for no army can permit--even if it be an army of atheists--profligacy and drunkenness to rage1 flaunting themselves beneath the very eye of the sun4 ,and as the spiritual result we find that this small measure of pagan discipline acted as a preparation for ,christianity1 and became under the ,divine guidance the means of fitting men like ,cornelius of ,csarea for the reception of the gospel message of purity and peace4#gb #gb ,the ,roman camps were also the best training-schools for the old-fashioned virtues of faithfulness1 straightforwardness1 and hardihood2 and in them were to be found the best types of the old ,roman character1 which1 as moralists complained1 were to be found elsewhere no more4 ,if the funds of a country town had fallen into disorder1 or uprightness was needed for a special post1 the curator chosen by the ,government was often an old soldier1 who had long been tried and trusted2 and early ,christian history throws1 incidentally1 a favourable light upon the moral qualities of the ,roman officer4 ,these qualities were mainly formed by thoroughness of work and discipline4--,w4 ,w4 ,,capes1 ,the ,early ,empire1 p4 #baj4 ,but we observe that ,cornelius the centurion had one special feature which made him peculiarly fitted to be ,god's instrument for opening the ,christian faith to the ,gentile world4 ,the choice of ,cornelius is marked by all that skill and prudence1 that careful adaptation of means to ends which the ,divine workmanship1 whether in nature or in grace1 ever displays4 ,there were many ,roman centurions stationed at ,csarea1 yet none was chosen save ,cornelius1 and that because he was a devout man who feared ,god with all his house1 praying to ,god always1 and giving much alms to the people4 ,he feared ,jehovah1 he fasted1 prayed1 observed ,jewish hours of devotion4 ,his habits were much more those of a devout ,jew than of a pagan soldier4 ,he was popular with the ,jewish people therefore1 like another centurion of whom it was said by the ,jewish officials themselves he loveth our nation and hath built us a synagogue4 ,the selection of ,cornelius as the leader and firstfruits of the ,gentiles unto ,god was eminently prudent and wise4 ,god when ,he is working out ,his plans chooses ,his instruments carefully and skilfully4 ,he leaves nothing to chance4 ,he does nothing imperfectly4 ,work done by ,god will repay the keenest scrutiny1 the closest study1 for it is the model of what every man's work in life ought as far as possible to be--earnest1 wise1 complete1 perfect4 ,,iv4 ,again1 looking at the whole passage we perceive therein illustrations of two important laws of the ,divine life4 ,we recognise in the case of ,cornelius the working of that great principle of the kingdom of ,god often enunciated by the great ,master3 ,to him that hath shall be given1 and he shall have more abundantly1 ,if any man will do ,his will1 he shall know of the doctrine2 or1 to put it in other language1 that ,god always bestows more grace upon the man who diligently uses and improves the grace which he already possesses2 a principle which indeed we see constantly exemplified in things pertaining to this world as well as in matters belonging to the spiritual life4 ,thus it was with ,cornelius4 ,he was what was called among the ,jews a proselyte of the gate4 ,these proselytes were very numerous4 ,they were a kind of fringe hanging upon the outskirts of the ,jewish people4 ,they were admirers of ,jewish ideas1 doctrines1 and practices1 but they were not incorporated with the ,jewish nation nor bound by all their laws and ceremonial restraints4 ,the ,levitical ,law was not imposed upon them because they were not circumcised4 ,they were merely bound to worship the true ,god and observe certain moral precepts said to have been delivered to ,noah4#gc ,such was ,cornelius whom the providence of ,god had led from ,italy to ,csarea for this very purpose1 to fulfil ,his purposes of mercy towards the ,gentile world4 ,his residence there had taught him the truth and beauty of the pure worship of ,jehovah rendered by the ,jews4 ,he had learned too1 not only that ,god is1 but that ,he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek ,him4 ,cornelius had set himself1 therefore1 to the diligent discharge of all the duties of religion so far as he knew them4 ,he was earnest and diligent in prayer1 for he recognised himself as dependent upon an invisible ,god4 ,he was liberal in alms1 for he desired to show forth his gratitude1 for mercies daily received4 ,and acting thus he met with the divinely appointed reward4 ,cornelius is favoured with a fuller revelation and a clearer guidance by the angel's mouth1 who tells him to send and summon ,peter from ,joppa for this very purpose4 ,what an eminently practical lesson we may learn from ,god's dealings with this earliest ,gentile convert6 ,we learn from the ,divine dealings with ,cornelius that whosoever diligently improves the lower spiritual advantages which he possesses shall soon be admitted to higher and fuller blessings4 #gc ,see the article on ,proselytes in ,schaft's ,encyclopdia of ,theology4 ,it may well have been that ,god led him through successive stages and rewarded him under each4 ,in distant ,italy1 when residing amid the abounding superstitions of that country1 conscience was the only preacher1 but there the sermons of that monitor were heard with reverence and obeyed with diligence4 ,then ,god ordered the course of his life so that public duty summoned him to a distant land4 ,cornelius may have at the time counted his lot a hard one when despatched to ,palestine as a centurion1 for it was a province where1 from the nature of the warfare there prevalent1 there were abundant opportunities of death by assassination at the hands of the ,zealots1 and but few opportunities of distinction such as might be gained in border warfare with foreign enemies4 ,but the ,lord was shaping his career1 as ,he shapes all our careers1 with reference to our highest spiritual purposes4 ,he led ,cornelius1 therefore1 to a land and to a town where the pure worship of ,jehovah was practised and the elevated morality of ,judaism prevailed4 ,here1 then1 were new opportunities placed within the centurion's reach4 ,and again the same spiritual diligence is displayed1 and again the same law of spiritual development and enlarging blessing finds a place4 ,cornelius is devout and liberal and ,god-fearing1 and therefore a heavenly visitor directs his way to still fuller light and grander revelations1 and ,cornelius the centurion of the ,italian band leads the ,gentile hosts into the fulness of blessing1 the true land flowing with milk and honey1 found only in the dispensation of ,jesus ,christ and within the borders of the ,church of ,god4 ,this was ,god's course of dealing with the ,roman centurion1 and it is the course which the same loving dealings still pursues with human souls truly desirous of ,divine guidance4 ,the ,lord imparts one degree of light and knowledge and grace1 but withholds higher degrees till full use has been made of the lower4 ,he speaks to us at first in a whisper2 but if we reverently hearken1 there is a gradual deepening of the voice1 till it is as audible in the crowd as it is in the solitude1 and we are continually visited with the messages of the ,eternal ,king4 ,now cannot these ideas be easily applied to our own individual cases8 ,a young man1 for instance1 may be troubled with doubts and questions concerning certain portions of the ,christian faith4 ,some persons make such doubts an excuse for plunging into scenes of riot and dissipation1 quenching the light which ,god has given them and making certain their own spiritual destruction4 ,the case of ,cornelius points out the true course which should in such a case be adopted4 ,men may be troubled with doubts concerning certain doctrines of revelation4 ,but they have no doubt as to the dictates of conscience and the light which natural religion sheds upon the paths of morals and of life4 ,let them then use the light they have4 ,let them diligently practise the will of ,god as it has been revealed4 ,let them be earnest in prayer1 pure and reverent in life1 honest and upright in business1 and then in ,god's own time the doubts will vanish1 the darkness will clear away1 and the ancient promises will be fulfilled1 ,light is sown for the righteous1 ,the path of the just shineth more and more unto the perfect day1 ,in the way of righteousness is life1 and in the pathway thereof there is no death4 ,but the example of ,cornelius is of still wider application4 ,the position of ,cornelius was not a favourable one for the development of the religious life1 and yet he rose superior to all its difficulties1 and became thus an eminent example to all believers4 ,men may complain that they have but few spiritual advantages1 and that their station in life is thickly strewn with difficulties1 hindering the practices and duties of religion4 ,to such persons we would say1 compare yourselves with ,cornelius and the difficulties external and internal he had to overcome4 ,servants1 for instance1 may labour under great apparent disadvantages4 ,perhaps1 if living in an irreligious family1 they have few opportunities for prayer1 public or private4 ,men of business are compelled to spend days and nights in the management of their affairs4 ,persons of commanding intellect or of high station have their own disadvantages1 their own peculiar temptations1 growing out of their very prosperity4 ,the case of ,cornelius shows that each class can rise superior to their peculiar difficulties and grow in the hidden life of the soul1 if they but imitate his example as he grew from grace to grace1 improving his scanty store till it grew into a fuller and ampler one1 till it expanded into all the glory of ,christian privilege1 when ,cornelius1 like ,peter1 was enabled to rejoice in the knowledge and love of a risen and glorified ,redeemer4#gd #gd ,i owe a great many of the devout thoughts dealing with the latter portion of this subject to a volume of sermons preached by the celebrated ,golden ,lecturer1 the eloquent ,henry ,melville1 styled ,voices of the ,christian ,year4 ,melville is now as a preacher quite forgotten1 and yet he deserves to be gratefully remembered1 for he was the first of the old ,evangelical school to break through the traditional repetition of commonplaces which formed the main part of the preaching of the leading popular orators of fifty years ago4 ,from a preacher's point of view his sermons will still repay study4 ,his sermons1 for instance1 on the less known characters of ,scripture1 will teach a young divine how to extract edification and instruction out of most unpromising materials1 and to apply the essential principles of the ,bible to the changed circumstances of modern life4 ,and assuredly this is the real object of a pastor's preaching in a ,christian congregation1 not the mere repetition of the first elements of ,christianity1 but an application of its great principles1 first proclaimed in the language of the ,east1 to the actions and lives of the men of the ,west4 ,preaching of that kind need never be dull and uninteresting4 ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,,the ,,petrine ,,vision ,,at ,,joppa4 ,now on the morrow1 as they were on their journey1 and drew nigh unto the city1 ,peter went up upon the housetop to pray1 about the sixth hour3 and he became hungry1 and desired to eat3 but while they made ready1 he fell into a trance2 and he beholdeth the heaven opened1 and a certain vessel descending1 as it were a great sheet1 let down by four corners upon the earth3 wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts and creeping things of the earth and fowls of the heaven4 ,and there came a voice to him1 ,rise1 ,peter2 kill and eat4 ,but ,peter said1 ,not so1 ,lord2 for ,i have never eaten anything that is common and unclean4 ,and a voice came unto him again the second time1 ,what ,god hath cleansed1 make not thou common4--,,acts x4 #i-ae4 ,there are two central figures in the conversion of ,cornelius4 ,the one is the centurion himself1 the other is ,st4 ,peter1 the selected and predestined agent in that great work4 ,we have studied ,cornelius in the last chapter1 and have seen the typical character of all his circumstances4 ,his time1 his residence1 his training1 had all been providential1 indicating to us the careful superintendence1 the watchful oversight1 which ,god bestows upon the history of individuals as well as of the ,church at large4 ,let us now turn to the other figure1 ,st4 ,peter1 and see if the ,lord's providence may not be traced with equal clearness in the circumstances of his case also4 ,we have found ,cornelius at ,csarea1 the great ,roman port and garrison of ,palestine1 a very fitting and natural place for a ,roman centurion to be located4 ,we find ,peter at this very same time at ,joppa1 a spot that was consecrated by many a memory and specially associated with a mission to the ,gentiles in the times of the ,elder ,dispensation4 ,here we trace the hand of the ,lord providentially ruling the footsteps of ,peter though he knew it not1 and leading him1 as ,philip was led a short time before1 to the spot where his intended work lay4 ,the sickness and death of ,tabitha or ,dorcas led ,st4 ,peter to ,joppa4 ,the fame of his miracle upon that devout woman led to the conversion of many souls1 and this naturally induced ,peter to make a longer stay in ,joppa at the house of ,simon the tanner4 ,how natural and unpremeditated1 how very ordinary and unplanned to the natural eye seem the movements of ,st4 ,peter6 ,so they would have seemed to us had we been living at ,joppa1 and yet now we can see with the light which the sacred narrative throws upon the story that the ,lord was guiding ,st4 ,peter to the place where his work was cut out when the appointed time should come4 ,surely the history of ,peter and his actions have abundant comfort and sustaining hope for ourselves6 ,our lives may be very ordinary and commonplace2 the events may succeed one another in the most matter-of-fact style2 there may seem in them nothing at all worthy the attention of a ,divine ,ruler2 and yet those ordinary lives are just as much planned and guided by supernatural wisdom as the careers of men concerning whom all the world is talking4 ,only let us take care to follow ,st4 ,peter's example4 ,he yielded himself completely to the ,divine guidance1 trusted himself entirely to ,divine love and wisdom1 and then found in such trust not only life and safety1 but what is far better1 perfect peace and sweetest calm4 ,there is something very restful in the picture drawn for us of ,st4 ,peter at this crisis4 ,there is none of that feverish hurry and restlessness which make some good men and their methods very trying to others4 ,the notices of him have all an air of repose and ,christian dignity4 ,as ,peter went throughout all parts1 he came down also to the saints which dwelt at ,lydda2 ,peter put them all forth and prayed2 ,peter abode many days in ,joppa2 ,peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour4 ,st4 ,peter1 indeed1 did not live in an age of telegrams and postcards and express trains1 which all contribute more or less to that feverish activity and restlessness so characteristic of this age4 ,but even if he had lived in such a time1 ,i am sure his faith in ,god would have saved him from that fussiness1 that life of perpetual hurry1 yet never bringing forth any abiding fruit1 which we behold in so many moderns4 ,this results a good deal1 ,i believe1 from the development--,i was almost going to say the tyranny1 the unwitting tyranny of modern journalism1 which compels men to live so much in public and reports their every utterance4 ,there are men never tired of running from one committee to another1 and never weary of seeing their names in the morning papers4 ,they count that they have been busily and usefully employed if their names are perpetually appearing in newspaper reports as speaking1 or at any rate being present at innumerable meetings1 leaving themselves no time for that quiet meditation whereby ,st4 ,peter gained closest communion with heaven4 ,it is no wonder such men's fussiness should be fruitless1 because their natures are poor1 shallow1 uncultivated1 where the seed springs up rapidly but brings forth no fruit to perfection1 because it has no deepness of earth4 ,it is no wonder that ,st4 ,peter should have spoken with power at ,csarea and been successful in opening the door of faith to the ,gentiles1 because he prepared himself for doing the ,divine work by the discipline of meditation and thought and spiritual converse with his ,risen ,lord4 ,and here we may remark1 before we pass from this point1 that the conversion of the first ,gentile and the full and complete exercise of the power of the keys committed to ,st4 ,peter run on lines very parallel to those pertaining to the ,day of ,pentecost and the conversion of the earliest ,jews in one respect at least4 ,the ,day of ,pentecost was preceded by a period of ten days' waiting and spiritual repose4 ,the conversion of ,cornelius and the revelation of ,god's purposes to ,st4 ,peter were preceded by a season of meditation and prayer1 when an apostle could find time amid all his pressing cares to seek the housetop for midday prayer and to abide many days in the house of one ,simon a tanner4 ,a period of pause1 repose1 and quietness preceded a new onward movement of development and of action4 ,i4 ,now1 as in the case of ,cornelius1 so in the case of ,st4 ,peter1 we note the place where the chief actor in the scene abode4 ,it was at ,joppa1 and ,joppa was associated with many memories for the ,jews4 ,it has been from ancient times the port of ,jerusalem1 and is even now rising into somewhat of its former commercial greatness1 specially owing to the late development of the orange trade1 for the production of which fruit ,jaffa or ,joppa has become famous4 ,three thousand years ago ,joppa was a favourite resort of the ,phnician fleets1 which brought the cedars of ,lebanon to ,king ,solomon for the building of the temple 7#b ,chron4 ii4 #af74 ,at a later period1 when ,god would send ,jonah on a mission to ,gentile ,nineveh1 and when ,jonah desired to thwart ,god's merciful designs towards the outer world1 the prophet fled to ,joppa and there took ship in his vain effort to escape from the presence of the ,lord4 ,and now again ,joppa becomes the refuge of another prophet1 who feels the same natural hesitation about admitting the ,gentiles to ,god's mercy1 but who1 unlike ,jonah1 yields immediate assent to the heavenly message1 and finds peace and blessing in the paths of loving obedience4 ,the very house where ,st4 ,peter abode is still pointed out4#ge ,it is situated in the south-western part of the town1 and commands a view over the bay of ,joppa and the waters of that ,mediterranean ,sea which was soon to be the channel of communication whereby the gospel message should be borne to the nations of the distant ,west4 ,we remark1 too1 that it was with ,simon the tanner of ,joppa that ,st4 ,peter was staying4 ,when a great change is impending various little circumstances occur all showing the tendencies of the age4 ,by themselves and taken one by one they do not express much4 ,at the time when they happen men do not regard them or understand their meaning1 but afterwards1 and reading them in the light of accomplished facts1 men behold their significance4 ,thus it was with ,simon ,peter and his visit to ,simon the tanner of ,joppa4 ,tanners as a class were despised and comparatively outcast among the ,jews4 ,tanning was counted an unclean trade because of the necessary contact with dead bodies which it involved4 ,a tanyard must1 according to ,jewish law1 be separated by fifty yards at least from human dwellings4 ,if a man married a woman without informing her of his trade as a tanner1 she was granted a divorce4 ,the whole trade of tanners was under a ban1 and yet it was to a tanner's house that the ,apostle made his way1 and there he lodged for many days1 showing that the mind even of ,st4 ,peter was steadily rising above narrow ,jewish prejudices into that higher and nobler atmosphere where he learned in fullest degree that no man and no lawful trade is to be counted common or unclean4 #ge ,the house of ,simon the tanner is depicted in ,lewin's ,st4 ,paul1 vol4 i41 pp4 #hg1 #hh4 ,there is a good description of it1 as also of ,joppa at large1 in ,geikie's ,the ,holy ,land and the ,bible1 vol4 i41 p4 #ah1 from which we take the following3 ,on the south side of the town1 at the edge of the sea1 close to the lighthouse1 one is reminded of the visit of ,st4 ,peter to ,joppa by the claim of a paltry mosque to occupy the house of ,simon the tanner4 ,the present building is comparatively modern1 and cannot be the actual structure in which the ,apostle lodged4 ,it is1 however1 regarded by the ,mohammedans as sacred1 one of the rooms being used as a place of prayer in commemoration1 we are told1 of the ,lord ,jesus having once asked ,god1 while here1 for a meal2 on which a table forthwith came down from heaven4 ,strange variation of the story of ,st4 ,peter's vision6 ,the waves beat against the low wall of the courtyard1 so that1 like the actual house of ,simon1 it is close on the sea-shore4 ,tanning1 moreover1 in accordance with the unchanging character of the ,east1 is still extensively carried on in this part of the town4 ,,ii4 ,we note1 again1 the time when the vision was granted to ,st4 ,peter and the mind of the ,lord was more fully disclosed to him4 ,joppa is separated from ,csarea by a distance of thirty miles4 ,the leading coast towns were then connected by an excellent road1 along which horses and vehicles passed with ease4 ,the centurion ,cornelius1 when he received the angelic direction1 forthwith despatched two of his household servants and a devout soldier to summon ,st4 ,peter to his presence4 ,they doubtless travelled on horseback1 leading spare beasts for the accommodation of the ,apostle4 ,less than twenty-four hours after their departure from ,csarea they drew nigh to ,joppa1 and then it was that ,god revealed ,his purposes to ,his beloved servant4 ,the very hour can be fixed4 ,cornelius saw the angel at the ninth hour1 when1 as he himself tells us1 he was keeping the hour of prayer 7x4 #cj74 ,peter saw the vision at the sixth hour1 when he went up on the house top to pray1 according to the example of the ,psalmist when he sang1 ,in the evening and morning and at noon-day will ,i pray1 and that instantly4#gf ,st4 ,peter evidently was a careful observer of all the forms amid which his youthful training had been conducted4 ,he did not seek in the name of spiritual religion to discard these old forms4 ,he recognised the danger of any such course4 ,forms may often tend to formalism on account of the weakness of human nature4 ,but they also help to preserve and guard the spirit of ancient institutions in times of sloth and decay1 till the ,spirit from on high again breathes upon the dry bones and imparts fresh life4 ,st4 ,peter used the forms of ,jewish externalism1 imparting to them some of his own intense earnestness1 and the ,lord set ,his seal of approval upon his action by revealing the purposes of ,his mercy and love to the ,gentile world at the noontide hour of prayer4 ,the wisest masters of the spiritual life have ever followed ,st4 ,peter's teaching4 ,we may take1 for instance1 ,dr4 ,goulburn in his valuable treatise on ,personal ,religion4 ,in the sixth chapter of the fourth part of that work he has some wise thoughts on living by rule in the ,christian life1 where he points out the use of rules and their abuse1 strongly urging upon those who desire to grow in grace the formation of rules by which the practices of religion and the soul's inner life may be directed and shielded4 ,there is1 for instance1 no law of ,christ which ties men down to morning and evening prayer4 ,yet does not our own daily experience teach that1 if this unwritten rule of the ,christian life be relaxed under the pretence of higher spirituality1 and men pray only when they feel specially inclined to communion with the unseen1 the whole practice of private as well as of public prayer ceases1 and the soul lives in an atheistic atmosphere without any recognition or thought of ,god4#gg ,this danger has been recognised from the earliest times4 ,tertullian was a man of narrow views1 but of the most intense piety4 ,he was a devout student of the ,new ,testament1 and a careful observer of the example of our ,lord and ,his ,apostles4 ,the early ,christians adopted from the ,jews the custom of prayer at the various hours of the day1 and turned it into a practical rule of ,christian discipline1 acknowledging at the same time that there was no ,scriptural obligation in the rule1 but that it was a mere wise advice for the development of the spiritual life4 ,this was the origin of what is technically called the ,canonical ,hours1 ,matins with ,lauds1 ,prime1 ,tierce1 ,sext1 ,nones1 ,evensong1 and ,compline1 which can be traced back in germ to the age next after the ,apostles1 and were originally grounded upon the example of the ,apostles themselves1 and specially upon that of ,st4 ,peter's practice at ,joppa4 ,let us hear ,tertullian on this matter4 ,he wrote a treatise on prayer1 in which he presses upon the men of his time the duty of earnestness and intensity in that holy exercise1 and when doing so touches upon this very point3 ,as respecting the time of prayer the observance of certain hours will not be unprofitable--those common hours ,i mean which mark the intervals of the day--the third1 sixth1 ninth--which we find in ,scripture to have been made more solemn than the rest4 ,the first infusion of the ,holy ,spirit into the congregated disciples took place at the third hour4 ,peter saw his vision on the housetop at the sixth hour4 ,peter and ,john went into the ,temple at the ninth hour when he restored the paralytic to his health4 ,tertullian then adds the following wise observations1 showing that he quite grasped the essential distinction between the slavery of the law and the freedom of the gospel in the matter of external observances3 ,albeit these practices stand simply without any ,divine precept for their observance2 still it may be granted a good thing to establish some definite rule which may both add stringency to the admonition to pray and may as it were by a law tear us out of our ordinary business unto such a duty4 ,so that we pray not less than thrice in the day1 debtors as we are to ,three--,father1 ,son1 and ,holy ,spirit--besides of course our regular prayers on the entrance of light and of night4 ,the ecclesiastical practice of the ,hours may be turned into a mere formal repetition of certain prescribed tasks2 but1 like all other ordinances which trace themselves back to primitive ,christianity1 the ,hours are based on a true conception and a noble ideal of the prevailing and abounding place which prayer should occupy in the soul's life1 according to the ,saviour's own teaching when ,he spake a parable to ,his disciples to this end that men ought always to pray and not to faint4#gh #gf ,this is the rendering of ,psalm lv4 #ah according to the version in the ,book of ,common ,prayer4 #gg ,a deceased friend of mine1 a well-known member of the ,society of ,friends1 once remarked to me about this very point that his ,society1 to which he belonged to his dying day1 while aiming at the highest spirituality1 in its neglect of all rules1 and suitable therefore for persons of specially exalted tone1 had rendered itself unfitted for the training of children4 ,children cannot be trained without rules1 and a society which trusts to educate them in things religious without fixed and definite training must be a hopeless failure4 ,the original principles of ,friends preclude them from teaching children forms of private prayer1 from using fixed ,bible reading and regular religious instruction1 as well as from stated family worship4 ,efforts have been made in later times to remedy this effect1 but they are merely confessions of the failure of the principles inculcated by ,george ,fox and ,robert ,barclay and acknowledgments that the ,church from which they dissented was right4 #gh ,tertullian's treatise on ,prayer will be found in ,clark's translation of his works1 vol4 i41 pp4 #agh-bjd4 ,,iii4 ,we now arrive at the vision which ,peter saw upon the housetop4 ,the ,apostle1 having ascended upon the housetop commanding a view over the blue waters of the ,mediterranean lying shimmering and sweltering beneath the rays of the noonday sun1 became hungry1 as was natural enough1 because the usual time of the midday meal was drawing nigh4 ,but there was a deeper reason for the ,apostle's felt need of refreshment1 and a more immediate providence was watching over his natural powers and their action than ever before had been revealed4 ,the natural hunger was divinely inspired in order that just at that instant when the representatives and delegates of the ,gentile world were drawing nigh to his abode he might be prepared to accord them a fitting reception4 ,to the mere man of sense or to the mere carnal mind the hunger of ,st4 ,peter may seem a simple natural operation1 but to the devout believer in ,christianity1 who views it as the great and perfect revelation of ,god to man1 who knows that ,his covenants are in all things well-ordered and sure1 and that in ,his works in grace as well as in ,his works in nature the ,lord leaves nothing to mere chance1 but perfectly orders them all down to the minutest detail1 to such an one this human hunger of ,st4 ,peter's appears as divinely planned in order that a spiritual satisfaction and completeness may be imparted to his soul unconsciously craving after a fuller knowledge of the ,divine will4 ,st4 ,peter's hunger is1 in fact1 but a manifestation in the human sphere of that superhuman foresight which was directing the whole transaction from behind this visible scene2 teaching us1 in fact1 the lesson so often repeated in ,holy ,scripture that nothing1 not even our feelings1 our infirmities1 our passions1 our appetites1 are too minute for the ,divine love and care1 and encouraging us thereby to act more freely upon the apostolic injunction1 ,in everything by prayer and supplication let your requests be made known unto ,god4 ,if ,st4 ,peter's hunger were taken up and incorporated with the ,divine plan of salvation1 we may be sure that our own wants and trials do not escape the omniscient eye of ,him who plans all our lives1 appointing the end from the very beginning4 ,st4 ,peter was hungry1 and as food was preparing he fell into a trance1 and then the vision answering in its form to the hunger which he felt was granted4 ,vain questions may here be raised1 as we noted before in the case of ,st4 ,paul1 concerning the trance of the ,apostle and the communications he held with the unseen world4 ,they are vain questions for us to raise or to attempt to answer1 because they belong to an unexplored land full1 as many modern experiments show1 of strange mysterious facts peculiar to it4 ,this alone we can say1 some communication must have been made to ,st4 ,peter which he regarded as a ,divine revelation4 ,the conversion and reception by ,st4 ,peter of the ,gentile centurion are facts1 the prejudices of ,st4 ,peter against such a reception are also undoubted facts4 ,hitherto he shared the opinion common to all the ,twelve that such a reception was contrary to the ,divine law and purposes4 ,he must have received upon the housetop some kind of a heavenly communication which he regarded as equivalent in authority to that ancient rule by which he esteemed the promises and mercy of ,god limited to the seed of ,abraham4 ,but as for any endeavour to understand or explain the mode of ,god's action on this occasion1 it will be just as vain as attempts to pierce the mysteries of ,god's action in creation1 the incarnation1 or1 to come lower still1 in the processes by which life has been communicated to this world and is now sustained and continued thereon4 ,we are in very deed living and moving amid mysteries1 and if we refuse to learn or meditate till the mysteries we meet with1 the very first step we take1 be cleared1 we must cease to think and be content to pass life like the beasts that perish4 ,we know not1 indeed1 the exact manner in which ,god communicated with ,st4 ,peter1 or for that matter with any one else to whom ,he made revelation of ,his will4 ,we know nothing of the manner in which ,he spoke to ,moses out of the bush1 or to ,samuel in the night season1 or to ,isaiah in the ,temple4 ,as with these ,his servants of the ,elder ,dispensation1 so it was with ,st4 ,peter on the housetop4 ,we know1 however1 how ,st4 ,luke received his information as to the nature of the vision and all the other facts of the case4 ,st4 ,luke and ,st4 ,peter must have had many an opportunity for conversation in the thrilling1 all-important events amid which he had lived4 ,st4 ,luke too accompanied ,st4 ,paul on that journey to ,jerusalem described in the twenty-first chapter1 and was introduced to the ,christian ,sanhedrin or ,council over which ,st4 ,james the ,just presided4 ,but even if ,st4 ,luke had never seen ,st4 ,peter1 he had abundant opportunities of learning all about the vision4 ,st4 ,peter proclaimed it to the world from the very time it happened1 and was obliged to proclaim it as his defence against the party zealous for the law of ,moses4 ,st4 ,peter referred to what ,god had just shown him as soon as he came into the centurion's presence4 ,he described the vision at full length as soon as he came to ,jerusalem and met the assembled ,church1 where its power and meaning were so clearly recognised that the mouths of all ,st4 ,peter's adversaries were at once stopped4 ,and again at the ,council of ,jerusalem held1 as described in the fifteenth chapter1 ,st4 ,peter refers to the circumstances of this whole story as well known to the whole ,church in that city4 ,st4 ,luke then would have no difficulty1 writing some twenty years later1 in ascertaining the facts of this story1 and naturally enough1 when writing to a ,gentile convert and having in mind the needs and feelings of the ,gentiles1 he inserted the narrative of the vision as being the foundation-stone on which the growing and enlarging edifice of ,gentile ,christianity had been originally established4 ,the vision too was admirably suited to serve its purpose4 ,it based itself1 as ,i have said1 on ,peter's natural feelings and circumstances1 just as spiritual things ever base themselves upon and respond to the natural shadows of this lower life1 just as the ,holy ,communion1 for instance1 bases itself upon the natural craving for food and drink1 but rises and soars far away above and beyond the material sphere to the true food of the soul1 the ,divine banquet wherewith ,god's secret and loved ones are eternally fed4 ,peter was hungry1 and a sheet was seen let down from heaven containing all kinds of animals1 clean and unclean1 together with creeping things and fowls of heaven4 ,he was commanded to rise and slay and appease his hunger4 ,he states the objection1 quite natural in the mouth of a conscientious ,jew1 that nothing common or unclean had ever been eaten by him4 ,then the heavenly voice uttered words which struck for him the death-knell of the old haughty ,jewish exclusiveness1 inaugurating the grand spirit of ,christian liberalism and of human equality--,what ,god hath cleansed1 make thou not common4 ,the vision was thrice repeated to make the matter sure1 and then the heavens were shut up again1 and ,peter was left to interpret the ,divine teaching for himself4 ,peter1 in the light of the circumstances which a few moments later took place1 easily read the interpretation of the vision4 ,the distinction between animals and foods was for the ,jew but an emblem and type1 a mere object lesson of the distinction between the ,jews and other nations4 ,the ,gentiles ate every kind of animal and creeping thing2 the favourite food of the ,roman soldiers with whom the ,palestinian ,jews came most in contact being pork4 ,the differences which the ,divine law compelled the ,jew to make in the matter of food were simply the type of the difference and separation which ,god's love and grace had made between ,his covenant people and those outside that covenant4 ,and just then1 to clinch the matter and interpret the vision by the light of divinely ordered facts1 the ,spirit announced to the ,apostle1 as he was much perplexed in himself what the vision might mean1 that three men were seeking him1 and that he was to go with them doubting nothing1 for ,i have sent them4#gi ,the hour had at last come for the manifestation of ,god's everlasting purposes1 when the sacred society should assume its universal privileges and stand forth resplendent in its true character as ,god's ,holy ,catholic ,church1--of which the ,temple had been a temporary symbol and pledge1--a house of prayer for all nations1 the joy of the whole earth1 the city of the ,great ,king1 until the consummation of all things4 #gi ,calvin1 in his commentary on ,acts x4 #ab1 has some excellent remarks on the scope and meaning of this vision4 ,i think that hereby is shown to ,peter that the distinction which ,god hitherto made had now been removed4 ,for as ,he had made a difference between animals2 so by the choice of one nation for ,himself1 ,god showed that other nations were common and unclean4 ,now the distinction between animals being removed1 ,he consequently shows that there is no longer any difference between men1 and that the ,jew does not differ from the ,greek4 ,hence ,peter is warned not to shrink from contact with the ,gentiles as if they were unclean4 ,there is no doubt but that ,god wished to encourage ,peter to come boldly to ,cornelius4 ,therefore1 in order that he might be perfectly satisfied1 ,god shows him as in a picture that the distinctions made by the law between clean and unclean had been abolished2 whence he may conclude that the partition which had hitherto divided ,jews from ,gentiles was now overthrown4 ,now ,paul teaches that this mystery had been hid from the ages that the ,gentiles should be partakers with ,god's people and grafted into one body4 ,therefore ,peter never would have dared to open the gate of the ,kingdom of ,heaven1 unless ,god ,himself had shown him that the wall had been removed and that entrance was free to all4 ,he then goes on to consider the objection that ,st4 ,peter must have known of the call of the ,gentiles from the words of ,christ's commission to go and make disciples of all nations1 and therefore this vision was unnecessary4 ,i answer that there was so much difficulty in the novelty of the whole state of affairs that the apostles could not at once grasp the position4 ,they knew indeed in theory the prophecies and the precept of ,christ about preaching to the ,gentiles1 but when they came to practice1 struck by the awful novelty1 they hesitated4 ,wherefore it is not wonderful that the ,lord should confirm ,st4 ,peter's mind by a new sign4 ,calvin clearly recognised that the inspiration enjoyed by ,st4 ,peter did not remove his natural slowness of perception4 ,the apostles were like the bulk of ordinary men1 very slow to grasp the full meaning of a novel position or principle4 ,,iv4 ,the sacred historian next presents ,st4 ,peter at ,csarea4 ,the ,apostle rose up obedient to the ,divine communication1 admitted the men who sought him1 lodged them for the night1 departed back the next day along the same road which they had followed1 and arrived at ,csarea on the fourth day from the original appearance to ,cornelius2 so that if the angel had been seen by the centurion on ,saturday or the ,sabbath the vision would have been seen at ,joppa on the ,lord's ,day1 and then on ,tuesday ,st4 ,peter must have arrived at ,csarea4 ,st4 ,peter did not travel alone4 ,he doubtless communicated the vision he had seen to the ,church at ,joppa at the evening hour of devotion1 and determined to associate with himself six prominent members of that body in the fulfilment of his novel enterprise that they might be witnesses of ,god's actions and assistants to himself in the work of baptism and of teaching4 ,as soon as the missionary party arrived at the house of ,cornelius1 they found a large party assembled to meet them1 as ,cornelius had called together his kinsmen and acquaintances to hear the message from heaven4 ,cornelius received ,st4 ,peter with an expression of such profound reverence1 prostrating himself on the earth1 that ,st4 ,peter reproved him3 ,but ,peter raised him up1 saying1 ,stand up3 ,i myself also am a man4 ,cornelius1 with his mind formed in a pagan mould and permeated with pagan associations and ideas1 regarded ,peter as a superhuman being1 and worthy therefore of the reverence usually rendered to the ,roman ,emperor as the living embodiment of deity upon earth4 ,he fell down and adored ,st4 ,peter1 even as ,st4 ,john adored the angel who revealed to him the mysteries of the unseen world 7,rev4 xxii4 #h71 till reminded by ,st4 ,peter that he was a mere human being like the centurion himself1 full of human prejudices and narrow ideas which would have prevented him accepting the invitation of ,cornelius if ,god ,himself had not intervened4 ,cornelius then describes the circumstances of his vision and the angelic directions which he had received1 ending by requesting ,st4 ,peter to announce the revelation of which he was the guardian4 ,the ,apostle then proceeds to deliver an address1 of which we have recorded a mere synopsis alone2 the original address must have been much longer4 ,st4 ,peter begins the first sermon delivered to ,gentiles by an assertion of the catholic nature of the ,church1 a truth which he only just now learned3 ,of a truth ,i perceive that ,god is no respecter of persons3 but in every nation he that feareth ,him1 and worketh righteousness1 is acceptable to ,him3 a passage which has been much misunderstood4 ,people have thought that ,st4 ,peter proclaims by these words that it was no matter what religion a man professed1 provided only he led a moral life and worked righteousness4 ,his doctrine is of quite another type4 ,he had already proclaimed to the ,jews the exclusive claims of ,christ as the door and gate of eternal life4 ,in the fourth chapter and twelfth verse he had told the ,council at ,jerusalem that in none other than ,jesus ,christ of ,nazareth is there salvation3 for neither is there any other name under heaven1 that is given among men wherein we must be saved4 ,st4 ,peter had seen and heard nothing since which could have changed his views or made him think conscious faith in ,jesus ,christ utterly unimportant1 as this method of interpretation1 to which ,i refer1 would teach4 ,st4 ,peter's meaning is quite clear when we consider the circumstances amid which he stood4 ,he had hitherto thought that the privilege of accepting the salvation offered was limited to the ,jews4 ,now he had learned from ,heaven itself that the offer of ,god's grace and mercy was free to all1 and that wherever man was responding to the dictates of conscience and yielding assent to the guidance of the inner light with which every man was blessed1 there ,god's supreme revelation was to be proclaimed and for them the doors of ,god's ,church were to be opened wide4 ,st4 ,peter then proceeds1 in his address1 to recapitulate the leading facts of the gospel story4 ,he begins with ,john's baptism1 glances at ,christ's miracles1 ,his crucifixion1 resurrection1 and mission of the apostles1 concluding by announcing ,his future return to be the ,judge of quick and dead4 ,st4 ,peter must1 of course1 have entered into greater details than we possess in our narrative2 but it is not always noticed that he was addressing people not quite ignorant of the story which he had to tell4 ,st4 ,peter begins by expressly stating1 ,the word which ,god sent unto the children of ,israel1 preaching good tidings of peace by ,jesus ,christ 7,he is ,lord of all7--that saying ye yourselves know4 ,cornelius and his friends were devout and eager students of ,jewish religious movements1 and they had heard in ,csarea vague reports of the words and doings of the great prophet who had caused such commotion a few years before4 ,but then they were outside the bounds of ,israel1 whose religious authorities had rejected this prophet4 ,the religion of ,israel had illuminated their own pagan darkness1 and they therefore looked up to the decision of the high priests and of the ,sanhedrin with profound veneration1 and dared not to challenge it4 ,they had never previously come in personal contact with any of the new prophet's followers1 and if they had1 these followers would not have communicated to them anything of their message4 ,they simply knew that a wondrous teacher had appeared1 but that his teaching was universally repudiated by the men whose views they respected1 and therefore they remained content with their old convictions4 ,the information1 however1 which they had gained formed a solid foundation1 upon which ,st4 ,peter proceeded to raise the superstructure of ,christian doctrine1 impressing the points which the ,jews denied--the resurrection of ,christ and ,his future return to judge the world4 ,in this connexion ,st4 ,peter touches upon a point which has often exercised men's minds4 ,in speaking of the resurrection of ,christ he says1 ,him ,god raised up the third day1 and gave ,him to be made manifest1 not to all the people1 but unto witnesses that were chosen before of ,god1 even to us1 who did eat and drink with ,him after ,he rose from the dead4 ,from the time of ,celsus1 who lived in the second century1 people have asked1 ,why did not the risen ,saviour manifest ,himself to the chief priests and ,pharisees8 ,why did ,he show ,himself merely to ,his friends8 ,it is evident that from the very beginning this point was emphasised by the ,christians themselves1 as ,st4 ,peter expressly insists upon it on this occasion4 ,now several answers have been given to this objection4 ,bishop ,butler in his ,analogy deals with it4 ,he points out that it is only in accordance with the laws of ,god's dealings in ordinary life4 ,god never gives overwhelming evidence4 ,he merely gives sufficient evidence of the truth or wisdom of any course1 and till men improve the evidence which ,he gives ,he withholds further evidence4 ,christ gave the ,jews sufficient evidences of the truth of ,his work and mission in the miracles which ,he wrought and the gracious words which distilled like ,divine dew from ,his lips4 ,they refused the evidence which ,he gave1 and it would not have been in accordance with the principles of ,divine action that ,he should then give them more convincing evidence4 ,then1 again1 the learned ,butler argues that it would have been useless1 so far as we are concerned1 to have manifested ,christ to the ,jewish nation at large1 unless ,he was also revealed and demonstrated to be the risen ,saviour to the ,romans1 and not to them merely1 but also to each successive generation of men as they arose4 ,for surely if men can argue that the apostles and the five hundred brethren who saw ,christ were deceived1 or were the subjects of a temporary illusion1 it might be as justly argued that the high priests and the ,sanhedrin at ,jerusalem were in their turn deceived or the subjects of a hallucination which their longing desire for a ,messiah had produced4 ,in modern times1 again1 ,dr4 ,milligan in an able and acute work on the ,resurrection has argued that it was impossible1 from the nature of the resurrection body and the character of the resurrection state1 for ,christ to be thus manifested to the ,jewish nation4 ,he belonged to a different plane4 ,he lived now on a higher level4 ,he could not now be submitted to a coarse contact with gross carnal men4 ,he was obliged therefore to depend upon the testimony of ,his chosen witnesses1 fortified and confirmed by the evidence of miracles1 of prophecy1 and of the ,holy ,ghost speaking in them and working with them4 ,all these arguments are most true and sound1 and yet they fail to come home to many minds4 ,they leave something to be desired4 ,they fail in showing the wisdom of the actual course that was adopted4 ,they leave men thinking in their secret hearts1 would it not after all have been the best and most satisfactory course if the risen ,lord had been manifested to all the people and not merely to witnesses chosen before of ,god8 ,i think there is an argument which has not been sufficiently worked out1 and which directly meets and answers this objection4 ,the risen ,saviour was not manifested to all the people because such a course would have wrecked the great cause which ,he had at heart1 and defeated the great end of ,his ,incarnation1 which was to establish a ,church on the earth where righteousness and joy and peace in the ,holy ,ghost would find place and abound4 ,let us take it in this way4 ,let us inquire what would have been the immediate consequence had ,christ been revealed to all the people gathered in their millions for the celebration of the ,passover4 ,they would either have rejected ,him afresh or they would have accepted ,him4 ,if they rejected ,him1 they would be only intensifying their responsibility and their guilt4 ,if they accepted ,him as their long-expected ,messiah1 then would have come the catastrophe4 ,in their state of strained expectation and national excitement they would have swept away every barrier1 they would have rushed to arms and burst into open rebellion against the ,romans1 initiating a war which would have only ended with the annihilation of the ,jewish race or with the destruction of the ,roman ,empire4 ,the immediate result of the manifestation of the risen ,saviour to the chief priests and the people would have been a destruction of human life of such a widespread and awful character as the world had never seen4 ,this we know from history would have been infallibly the case4 ,again and again during the first and second centuries the ,jews burst forth into similar rebellions1 urged on by some fanatic who pretended to be the long-expected deliverer1 and tens of thousands1 aye1 even hundreds of thousands of human lives ,jewish and ,gentile were repeatedly sacrificed on the altar of this vain carnal expectation4 ,we are expressly informed too that our ,lord had experience in ,his own person of this very danger4 ,st4 ,john tells us that ,christ ,himself had on one occasion to escape from the ,jews when they were designing to take ,him by force and make ,him a ,king2 while again the first chapter of this ,book of ,acts and the query which the apostles propounded upon the very eve of the ,ascension show that even they with all the teaching which they had received from our ,lord concerning the purely spiritual and interior nature of ,his kingdom still shared in the national delusions1 and were cherishing dreams of a carnal empire and of human triumphs4 ,we conclude1 then1 on purely historical grounds1 and judging from the experience of the past1 that the course which ,god actually adopted was profoundly wise and eminently calculated to avoid the social dangers which surrounded the path of the ,divine developments4 ,i think that if we strive to realise the results which would have followed the manifestation of ,christ in the manner which objectors suggest1 we shall see that the whole spiritual object1 the great end of ,christ's ,incarnation1 would have been thus defeated4 ,that great end was to establish a kingdom of righteousness1 peace1 and humility2 and that was the purpose attained by the mode of action which was in fact adopted4 ,from the ,day of ,pentecost onward the ,church grew and flourished1 developing and putting in practice1 however imperfectly1 the laws of the ,sermon on the ,mount4 ,but if ,christ had revealed ,himself to the unconverted ,jews of ,jerusalem after the ,resurrection1 it would not have had the slightest effect towards making them ,christians after the model which ,he desired4 ,nay1 rather such an appearance would merely have intensified their narrow ,judaism and confirmed them in those sectarian prejudices1 that rigid exclusiveness from which ,christ had come to deliver ,his people4 ,the spiritual effects of such an appearance would have been absolutely nothing4 ,the temporal effects of it would have been awfully disastrous1 unless indeed ,god had consented to work the most prodigious and astounding miracles1 such as smiting the ,roman armies with destruction and interfering imperiously with the course of human society4 ,then again it is worthy of notice that such a method of dealing with the ,jews would have been contrary to ,christ's methods and laws of action as displayed during ,his earthly ministry4 ,he never worked miracles for the mere purposes of intellectual conviction4 ,when a sign from heaven was demanded from ,him for this very purpose ,he refused it4 ,he ever aimed at spiritual conversion4 ,an exhibition of the risen ,lord to the ,jewish nation might have been followed by a certain amount of intellectual conviction as to ,his ,divine authority and mission4 ,but1 apart from the power of the ,holy ,ghost1 which had not been then poured out1 this intellectual conviction would have been turned to disastrous purposes1 as we have now shown1 and have proved utterly useless towards spiritual conversion4 ,the case of the ,resurrection is1 in fact1 in many respects like the case of the ,incarnation4 ,we think in our human blindness that we would have managed the manifestations and revelations of ,god much better1 and we secretly find fault with the ,divine methods1 because ,christ did not come much earlier in the world's history and thousands of years had to elapse before the ,divine ,messenger appeared4 ,but then1 ,scripture assures us that it was in the fulness of time ,christ came1 and a profounder investigation will satisfy us that history and experience bear out the testimony of ,scripture4 ,in the same way human blindness imagines that it would have managed the ,resurrection far better1 and it has a scheme of its own whereby ,christ should have been manifested at once to the ,jews1 who would have been at once converted into ,christians of the type of the apostles1 and then ,christ should have advanced to the city of ,rome1 casting down the idols in ,his triumphant march1 and changing the ,roman ,empire into the ,kingdom of ,god4 ,this is something like the scheme which the human mind in secret substitutes for the ,divine plan1 a scheme which would have involved the most extravagant interruptions of the world's business1 the most extraordinary interpositions on ,god's part with the course of human affairs4 ,for one miracle which the ,divine method has necessitated1 the human plan1 which lies at the basis of the objections we are considering1 would have necessitated the working of a thousand miracles and these of a most stupendous type4 ,these considerations will help to show what bad judges we are of the ,divine methods of action1 and will tend towards spiritual and mental humility by impressing upon us the inextricable confusion into which we should inevitably land the world's affairs had we but the management of them for a very few hours4 ,verily as we contemplate the ,resurrection of ,christ and the management of the whole plan of salvation1 we gather glimpses of the supernatural wisdom whereby the whole was ordered1 and learn thus to sing with a deeper meaning the ancient strain1 ,thy way1 ,o ,god1 is in the sea1 and ,thy paths in the great waters1 and ,thy footsteps are not known4 ,thou leddest thy people like sheep1 by the hand of ,moses and ,aaron4#hj #hj ,the aim of ,christianity was to strike at the essential evil of the human heart4 ,one darling sin of man is ostentation4 ,it was one special vice of society in the age of the ,incarnation1 as students of the history of that period know right well4 ,now the real objection to the ,divine method of action about ,christ's ,resurrection is that it was not ostentatious4 ,if the human scheme had been adopted1 it would simply have encouraged and sanctioned the ostentation which already dominated the world4 ,but the ,divine rule ever is this1 ,the kingdom of ,god cometh not with observation1 and in the very method of its development ,christianity has taught men humility and self-abasement4 ,the sacred narrative then tells us that while ,peter yet spake these words1 the ,holy ,ghost fell on all them which heard the word4 ,the brethren which came from ,joppa1 strict observers of the law of ,moses as they were1 beheld the external proofs of ,god's presence1 and were amazed1 because that on the ,gentiles also was poured out the gift of the ,holy ,ghost1 which is further explained by the words1 they heard the ,gentiles speaking with tongues and magnifying ,god4 ,the gift of the ,holy ,ghost takes the same and yet a different shape from that in which it was manifested on the ,day of ,pentecost4 ,the gifts of tongues on the ,day of ,pentecost was manifested in a variety of languages1 because there was a vast variety of tongues and nationalities then present at ,jerusalem4 ,but it would seem as if on this occasion the ,holy ,ghost and ,his gift of speech displayed itself in sacred song and holy praise3 ,they heard them speak with tongues and magnify ,god4 ,greek was practically the one tongue of all those who were present4 ,the new converts had been inhabitants for years of ,csarea which was now one of the most thoroughly ,greek towns in ,palestine1 so that the gift of tongues as displayed on this occasion must have been of somewhat different character from that exercised on the ,day of ,pentecost1 when a vast variety of nations heard the company of the disciples and apostles speaking in their own languages4 ,there is another difference too between the original outpouring of the ,holy ,ghost and this repetition of the gift4 ,the ,holy ,ghost on the first occasion was poured out upon the preachers of the word to qualify them to preach to the people4 ,the ,holy ,ghost on the second occasion was poured out upon the persons to whom the word was preached to sanction and confirm the call of the ,gentiles4 ,the gifts of the ,holy ,spirit are confined to no rank or order4 ,they are displayed as the common property of all ,christian people1 and indicate the freedom and the plenteousness wherewith ,god's blessings shall be dispensed under the new covenant which was taking the place of the old ,levitical ,law4 ,and then comes the last touch which the narrative puts to the whole story3 ,then answered ,peter1 ,can any man forbid the water1 that these should not be baptized1 which have received the ,holy ,ghost as well as we8 ,and he commanded them to be baptized in the name of ,jesus ,christ4 ,what a corrective we here find of those ultra-spiritual views which make shipwreck of faith6 ,we have known intelligent men speak as if the apostles laid no stress upon holy baptism1 and valued it not one whit as compared with the interior gift of the ,holy ,ghost4 ,we have known intelligent members of the ,society of ,friends who could not see that the apostles taught the necessity for what they call water baptism4 ,for both these classes of objectors these words of ,st4 ,peter1 this incident in the story of ,cornelius have an important lesson4 ,they prove the absolute necessity in the apostolic estimation of the rite of ,holy ,baptism as perpetually practised in the ,church of ,god4 ,for surely if ever the washing of water in the name of the ,holy ,trinity could have been dispensed with1 it was in the case of men upon whom ,god had just poured the supernatural gift of the ,holy ,ghost2 and yet even in their case the divinely appointed sacrament of entrance into the sacred society could not be dispensed with4 ,they were baptized with water in the sacred name1 and then1 cherishing that sweet sense of duty fulfilled and obedience rendered and spiritual peace and joy possessed which ,god bestows upon ,his elect people1 they entered into that fuller knowledge and richer grace1 that feast of spiritual fat things which ,st4 ,peter could impart1 as he told them from his own personal knowledge of the life and teaching of ,christ ,jesus4 ,it is no wonder that the history of this critical event should terminate with these words3 ,then prayed they him to tarry certain days1#ha expressing their keen desire to drink more deeply of the well of life thus lately opened to their fainting souls4 #ha ,tradition tells very little about ,cornelius4 ,there is indeed a long article devoted to him by the ,bollandists1 ,acta ,sanctorum1 ,feb4 t4 #a1 p4 #bhj1 but there is nothing in it4 ,he is commemorated on ,feb4 #bnd4 ,the ,greeks make him bishop of ,scepsis1 the ,latins of ,csarea4 ,st4 ,jerome says that in his time the house of ,cornelius had been turned into a church4 ,the story of his life as told in the ,martyrologies is evidently a mere medival concoction4 ,at ,scepsis the prefect ,demetrius brings him into a temple of ,apollo1 when at his prayer the idol is smashed to pieces and the magistrate converted4 ,such stories are1 however1 the stock-in-trade of the legend-mongers of the ,middle ,ages4 ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,,the ,,harvest ,,of ,,the ,,gentiles4 ,the disciples were called ,christians first at ,antioch4--,,acts xi4 #bf4 ,the eleventh chapter of the ,acts is clearly divisible into two portions4 ,there is first the narrative of ,st4 ,peter's reception at ,jerusalem after the conversion of ,cornelius1 and secondly the story of the origin of the ,antiochene ,church1 the mother and metropolis of ,gentile ,christendom4 ,they are distinct the one from the other1 and yet they are closely connected together1 for they both deal with the same great topic1 the admission of the ,gentiles to full and free communion in the ,church of ,god4 ,let us then search out the line of thought which runs like a golden thread through this whole chapter1 sure that in doing so we shall find light shed upon some modern questions from this divinely written ecclesiastical history4 ,i4 ,st4 ,peter tarried a certain time with ,cornelius and the other new converts at ,csarea4 ,there was doubtless much to be taught and much to be set in order4 ,baptism was in the early ,church administered when the converts were yet immature in faith and knowledge4 ,the ,church was viewed as a hospital1 where the sick and feeble were to be admitted and cured4 ,it was not therefore demanded of candidates for admission that they should be perfectly instructed in all the articles and mysteries of the ,christian faith4 ,there were indeed some points in which they were not instructed at all till they had been buried with ,christ through baptism into death4 ,then when they had taken their stand upon the ,christian platform1 and were able to view the matter from the true vantage point1 they were admitted into fuller and deeper mysteries4 ,peter too must have had his work cut out for him at ,csarea in striving to organise the ,church4 ,st4 ,philip may have here lent his aid1 and may have been constituted the resident head of the local ,church4#hb ,after the baptism of the ,ethiopian eunuch he worked his way up to ,csarea1 preaching in all the towns and villages of that populous district4 ,there he seems to have fixed his residence1 as fifteen years or so later we find him permanently located in that city with his four daughters1 virgins1 which did prophesy 7,acts xxi4 #h1 #i74 ,we may be sure that some such ,church organisation was immediately started at ,csarea4 ,we have already traced the work of organisation in ,jerusalem4 ,the apostles originally embraced in themselves all ministerial offices1 as in turn these offices were originally all summed up in ,jesus ,christ4 ,the apostles had taken an important step in the establishment of the order of deacons at ,jerusalem1 retaining in their own hands the supreme power to which appeal and reports could be made4 ,at ,damascus it is evident that at the time of ,st4 ,paul's conversion there was an organised ,church1 ,ananias being the head and chief of it1 with whom communications were officially held2 while the notices about ,joppa and the six witnesses of his action whom ,st4 ,peter brought with him to ,csarea indicate that an assembly or ,church organised after the model of the ,jerusalem ,church existed in that town4 #hb ,the ,church tradition reports1 however1 that ,cornelius was first bishop of ,csarea1 but without any solid authority for the statement4 ,see1 however1 the note in last chapter1 p4 #ada4 ,having concluded his work in ,csarea ,st4 ,peter returned to ,jerusalem1 and there had to render an account of his action and was placed upon his defence4 ,when ,peter was come up to ,jerusalem1 they that were of the circumcision contended with him1 saying1 ,thou wentest in to men uncircumcised1 and didst eat with them4 ,this simple circumstance throws much light upon the character of earliest ,christianity4 ,it was to a large extent a ,christian democracy4 ,the apostles exercised the supreme executive power1 but the collective ,christian assembly claimed the exercise of their private judgment1 and1 above all1 knew not anything of the fancied privilege of ,st4 ,peter1 as ,prince of the ,apostles1 to lay down on his own authority the laws for the whole ,christian ,commonwealth4 ,here was ,st4 ,peter exercising his ministry and apostolic power among the earliest ,christians4 ,how were his ministry and authority received8 ,were they treated as if the personal authority and decision of ,st4 ,peter settled every question without any further appeal8 ,this will be best seen if we tell a story well known in the annals of ecclesiastical history4 ,the fable of ,papal ,supremacy began to be asserted about the year #ejj1 when a series of forgeries were circulated concerning the bishops of ,rome and their decisions during the ages of persecution4 ,one of these forgeries dealt with a pope named ,marcellinus1 who presided over the ,see of ,rome during the beginning of the great ,diocletian persecution4 ,the story goes on to tell that ,marcellinus fell into idolatry in order to save his life4 ,a council of three hundred bishops was summoned at ,sinuessa1 when the assembled bishops are reported to have refused to pass sentence on the ,pope1 the successor of ,st4 ,peter1 saying that the ,holy ,see may be judged by no man4 ,they therefore called upon the ,pope to condemn himself1 as he alone was a judge competent to exercise such a function4 ,this story1 according to ,dllinger1 was forged about the year #ejj1 and it clearly exhibits the different view taken of the position of ,st4 ,peter in the ,church of ,jerusalem and of his alleged successors in the ,church of ,rome five centuries later4 ,in the latter case ,st4 ,peter's successor cannot be judged or condemned by any mortal4#hc ,according to the ,acts of the ,apostles the members of the stricter party in the ,church of ,jerusalem had no hesitation in challenging the actions and teaching of ,st4 ,peter himself1 and it was only when he could prove the immediate and manifest approval of ,heaven that they ceased their opposition1 saying1 ,then to the ,gentiles also hath ,god granted repentance unto life4 #hc ,see the article on ,marcellinus 7#a7 in the ,dictionary of ,christian ,biography1 vol4 iii41 p4 #hjd1 where all the facts are told of this curious story4 ,we can in this incident see how the ,church was slowly but surely developing itself under the ,divine guidance4 ,the incident when the order of deacons was instituted was the primary step4 ,there was then first manifested that combination of authority and freedom united with open discussion which1 originating in the ,christian ,church1 has been the source of all modern society1 of modern governments1 and modern methods of legislation4 ,now we see the same ideas applied to questions of doctrine and discipline1 till we come in a short time to the perfection of this method in the celebrated ,council of ,jerusalem which framed the charter and traced out the main lines of development upon which the ,church of the ,gentiles and true gospel freedom were established4 ,,ii4 ,the centre of ,christian interest now shifts its position and fixes itself in the city of ,antioch1 where a further step in advance was taken4 ,our attention is first of all recalled to the results of ,st4 ,stephen's death4 ,they therefore that were scattered abroad upon the tribulation that arose about ,stephen travelled as far as ,phnicia1 and ,cyprus1 and ,antioch1 speaking the word to none save only to ,jews4 ,but there were some of them1 men of ,cyprus and ,cyrene1 who1 when they were come to ,antioch1 spake unto the ,greeks also1 preaching the ,lord ,jesus4 ,this is clearly a case of preaching the gospel to the ,gentiles1 and the question has been raised1 ,was the action of these men of ,cyprus and ,cyrene quite independent of the action of ,st4 ,peter or an immediate result of the same8 ,did the men of ,cyprus and ,cyrene preach the gospel to the ,gentiles of ,antioch of their own motion1 or did they wait till tidings of ,st4 ,peter's action had reached them1 and then1 yielding to the generous instincts which had been long beating in the hearts of these ,hellenistic ,jews1 did they proclaim at ,antioch the glad tidings of salvation which the ,gentiles of that gay and brilliant but very wicked city so much needed8 ,our answer to these queries is very short and plain4 ,we think that the preaching of the ,hellenists of ,cyprus to the ,gentiles of ,antioch must have been the result of ,st4 ,peter's action at ,csarea1 else why did they wait till ,antioch was reached to open their mouths to the pagan world8 ,surely if the sight of sin and wickedness and civilised depravity was necessary to stir them up to efforts for the spiritual welfare of the ,gentile world1 ,phnicia and ,cyprus abounded with scenes quite sufficient to unseal their lips4 ,but the force of national prejudice and of religious exclusiveness was too strong till they came to ,antioch1 where tidings must have reached them of the vision and action of ,st4 ,peter at ,csarea4 ,it is easy to see why this information reached the missionaries at ,antioch4 ,csarea was the ,roman capital of ,palestine1 and was a seaport4 ,antioch was the ,roman capital of the province of ,syria1 an immense extent of territory1 which included not merely the country which we call ,syria1 but extended to the ,euphrates on the west and to the desert intervening between ,palestine and ,egypt on the south4 ,the prefect of the ,east resided at ,antioch1 and he was one of the three or four greatest officials under the ,roman emperor4 ,palestine was1 in fact1 a part of the province of ,syria1 and its ruler or president was dependent upon the governor of ,syria4 ,it is therefore in strictest accordance with the facts of ,roman history when ,st4 ,luke tells in his ,gospel 7ii4 #b7 concerning the taxation of ,augustus ,csar1 ,this was the first enrolment made when ,quirinus was governor of ,syria4 ,antioch being then the seat of the central government of the eastern division of the ,roman ,empire1 and ,csarea being the headquarters of an important lieutenant of the ,syrian proconsul1 it is no wonder there should have been very constant intercourse between the two places4 ,the great magazines of arms for the entire east were located at ,antioch1 and there too the money was coined necessary to pay the troops and to carry on commercial intercourse4 ,it must have been very easy for an official like ,cornelius1 or even for any simple private soldier or for an ordinary ,jew or ,christian of ,csarea1 to communicate with ,antioch1 and to send word concerning the proceedings of ,st4 ,peter and the blessings vouchsafed by ,god to any devout person who might be there seeking after light and truth4#hd ,it is quite natural therefore that1 while the ,christians dispersed into various lands by the persecution at ,jerusalem restrained themselves to the ,jews alone throughout their previous labours1 when the men of ,cyprus and ,cyrene heard tidings at ,antioch of ,st4 ,peter and his doings and revelations at ,csarea1 they at last allowed free scope to their longings which long ago had found place in their more liberalised hearts1 and testified to the ,gentiles of ,antioch concerning the gladsome story of the gospel4 ,here again we behold another instance of the value of culture and travel and enlarged intelligence4 ,the ,hellenists of ,cyprus and ,cyrene were the first to realise and act out the principle which ,god had taught ,st4 ,peter4 ,they saw that ,god's mercies were not restrained to the particular case of ,cornelius4 ,they realised that his was a typical instance1 and that his conversion was intended to carry with it and to decide the possibility of ,gentile salvation and the formation of a ,gentile ,church all over the world1 and they put the principle in operation at once in one of the places where it was most needed3 ,when the men of ,cyprus and ,cyrene were come to ,antioch1 they spake unto the ,greeks also1 preaching the ,lord ,jesus4 ,the method of the ,divine development was in the primitive ages very similar to that we often still behold4 ,some improvement is required1 some new principle has to be set in motion4 ,if younger men begin the work1 or if souls notorious for their freer thought or less prejudiced understandings1 attempt to introduce the novel principle1 the vast mass of stolid conservative opposition and attachment to the past is at once quickened into lively action4 ,but then some ,peter or another1 some man of known rectitude and worth1 and yet of equally well-known narrow views and devoted adherence to the past1 takes some hesitating step in advance4 ,he may indeed strive to limit its application to the special case before him1 and he may earnestly deprecate any wider application of the principle on which he has acted4 ,but it is all in vain4 ,he has served the ,divine purposes4 ,his narrowness and respectability and personal weight have done their work1 and have sanctioned the introduction of the principle which then is applied upon a much wider scale by men whose minds have been liberalised and trained to seize a great broad principle and put it into practical operation4 #hd ,csarea and ,antioch were about two hundred miles distant from each other by sea4 ,a ,roman trireme travelling at express speed would easily have accomplished this distance in two or at most three days4 ,,iii4 ,when they came to ,antioch1 they spake the word to the ,greek also4 ,and verily the men of ,cyprus and ,cyrene chose a fitting spot to open the kingdom of heaven to the ,greek world and to found the mother ,church of ,gentile ,christendom1 for no city in the whole world was more completely ,satan's seat1 or more entirely devoted to those works which ,st4 ,john describes as the lusts of the flesh1 and the lust of the eye1 and the vain-glory of life4 ,let us reflect a little on the history and state of ,antioch1 and we shall then see the ,divine motive in selecting it as the site of the first great ,gentile ,church1 and we shall see too the ,divine guidance which led ,st4 ,luke in this typical ecclesiastical history to select the ,church of ,antioch for such frequent notice1 exceeding1 as it does1 all other ,churches save ,jerusalem in the amount of attention bestowed upon it in the ,acts of the ,apostles4#he #he ,the various ,lives of ,st4 ,paul and ,gibbon in his ,decline and ,fall give minute accounts of ,antioch1 its grandeur and wickedness2 ,k4 ,o4 ,mller's ,antiquities of ,antioch1 ,gttingen1 #ahci is an exhaustive work on the subject2 see also ,mommsen's ,provinces1 ,book ,,viii41 ch4 x4 ,antioch and ,alexandria were towns dating from the same epoch4 ,they came into existence about the year #cjj ,b4,c41 being the creation of ,alexander the ,great himself1 or of the generals who divided his empire between them4 ,the city of ,antioch was originally built by ,seleucus ,nicator1 the founder of the kingdom of ,syria1 but was subsequently enlarged1 so that in ,st4 ,paul's time it was divided into four independent districts or towns1 each surrounded by its own walls1 and all included within one vast wall some fifty feet high1 which surmounted mountain tops and was carried at vast expense across valleys and ravines4 ,antioch was in the first century counted the third city in the world1 ,rome being first1 ,alexandria second1 and ,antioch third4 ,it had marvellous natural advantages4 ,it was blessed with charming mountain scenery4 ,the peaks rising up on all sides could be seen from every part of the city1 imparting thus to life in ,antioch that sense not merely of beauty and grandeur1 but of the nearness of such beauty and grandeur combined with solitude and freedom from the madding crowd which seem so sweet to a man who passes his life amid the noise and hurry of a great city4 ,what a change in the conditions of life in ,london would be at once brought about could the scenery surrounding ,edinburgh or ,lucerne be transferred to the world's metropolis1 and the toiler in ,fleet ,street and the ,strand be enabled to look amid his daily labours upon cloud-piercing mountains or peaks clad in a robe of virgin white6 ,antioch was built upon the southern bank of the river ,orontes1 along which it extended about five miles4 ,the main street of the city1 otherwise called the ,street of ,herod after the celebrated ,herod the ,great who built it1 was four and a half miles long4 ,this street was unrivalled among the cities of the world1 and was furnished with an arcade on both sides extending its whole length1 beneath which the inhabitants could walk and transact business at all times free from the heat and from the rain4 ,the water supply of ,antioch was its special feature4 ,the great orator ,libanius1 a native of ,antioch1 who lived three hundred years later than ,st4 ,paul1 while the city yet stood in all its grandeur and beauty1 thus dwells on this feature of ,antioch in a panegyric composed under the ,emperor ,constantius3 ,that wherein we beat all other is the water supply of our city2 if in other respects any one may compete with us1 all give way so soon as we come to speak of the water1 its abundance and its excellence4 ,in the public baths every stream has the proportions of a river1 in the private baths several have the like1 and the rest not much less4 ,one measures the abundance of running water by the number of the dwelling-houses2 for as many as are the dwelling-houses1 so many are also the running waters4 ,therefore we have no fighting at the public wells as to who shall come first to draw--an evil under which so many considerable towns suffer1 when there is a violent crowding round the wells and outcry over broken jars4 ,with us the public fountains flow for ornament1 since every one has water within his doors4 ,and this water is so clear that the pail appears empty1 and so pleasant that it invites us to drink4#hf ,such was the description of a pagan who saw ,antioch even as ,st4 ,paul saw it1 and testified concerning the natural gifts with which ,god had endowed it4 ,but1 alas6 as with individuals1 so is it with cities4 ,god may lavish ,his best blessings1 and yet instead of bringing forth the fruits of righteousness ,his choicest gifts of nature may be turned into fruitful seed plots of lust and sin4 ,sodom and ,gomorrha were planted in a vale that was well watered and fair and fruitful1 even as the ,garden of the ,lord2 but the inhabitants thereof were wicked1 and sinners before the ,lord exceedingly2 and so it was with ,antioch4 ,this city so blessed in situation and in nature's richest and most precious gifts was celebrated for its wicked pre-eminence amid the awful corruption which then overspread the cities of the world4 ,when the ,roman satirist ,juvenal1 writing about this period of which we treat1 would fain account for the excessive dissolution of morals which then prevailed at ,rome1 his explanation of it was that the manners of ,antioch had invaded ,rome and corrupted its ancient purity3 ,jampridem ,syrus in ,tiberim defluxit ,orontes4#hg #hf ,the same orator informs us that the streets of ,antioch were lighted at night with public lamps4 ,in this respect it stood alone among the cities of antiquity3 see ,libanius1 ,i41 #cfc1 and the notes of ,valesius on ,ammianus ,marcellinus1 xiv41 #a1 #i4 #hg ,juv41 ,sat41 iii41 #fb4 ,see ,farrar's ,st4 ,paul1 ch4 xvi41 for a more minute account of the wickedness of ,antioch than we can give in this place4 ,he well remarks3 ,cities liable to the influx of heterogeneous races are rarely otherwise than immoral and debased4 ,even ,rome in the decadence of its ,csarism could groan to think of the dregs of its degradation--the quacks and pandars1 and musicians and dancing girls--poured into the ,tiber by the ,syrian ,orontes4444 ,it seems as though it were a law of human intercourse that1 when races are commingled in large masses1 the worst qualities of each appear intensified in the general iniquity4 ,amid the general wickedness of ,antioch there was one element of life and hope and purity4 ,the ,jews of ,antioch formed a large society in that city governed by their own laws and preserving themselves by their peculiar discipline free from the abounding vices of ,oriental paganism4 ,it was at ,antioch as it was at ,alexandria and ,damascus4 ,the ,jews at ,alexandria had their alabarch to whom they owed special allegiance and by whom alone they were ruled2 the ,jews of ,damascus had their ethnarch who exercised peculiar jurisdiction over them2 and so too had the ,jews of ,antioch a peculiar ruler of their own1 forming thus an imperium in imperio running counter to our ,western notions which in many respects demand an iron uniformity very foreign to the ,eastern mind1 and show themselves eminently deficient in that flexibility and diversity which found an abundant play even among the arrangements of the ,roman ,empire4#hh ,this ,jewish quarter of ,antioch had for centuries been growing and extending itself1 and its chief synagogue had been glorified by the reception of some of the choicest temple spoils which the kings of ,syria had at first carried captive from ,jerusalem and then in a fit of repentance or of prudent policy had bestowed upon the ,jewish colony in their capital city4 #hh ,we shall have frequent occasions to notice the numerous varieties of rule1 privileges1 and local liberties which prevailed under the ,roman ,empire4 ,the ,romans seem to have scrupulously respected ancient rights and customs wherever possible1 provided only the supreme sovereignty of ,rome was recognised4 ,such was the city to which the men of ,cyprus and ,cyrene were now carrying the news of the gospel1 intending1 doubtless1 to tell merely their ,jewish fellow-countrymen and religionists of the ,messiah whose love and power they had themselves experienced4 ,here1 however1 they were met by the startling information from ,csarea4 ,they were1 however1 prepared for it4 ,they were ,hellenistic ,jews like ,st4 ,stephen4 ,they had listened to his burning words1 and had followed closely his epoch-making speeches whereby he confounded the ,jews and clearly indicated the opening of a new era4 ,but then ,god's dispensations seemed to have terminated his teaching and put a fatal end to the hopes which he had raised4 ,men then misread ,god's dealings with ,his servants1 and interpreted ,his ways amiss4 ,the death of ,stephen seemed perhaps to some minds a visible condemnation of his views1 when in reality it was the direct channel by which ,god would work out a wider propagation of them1 as well as the conversion of the agent destined to diffuse them most powerfully4 ,apparent defeat is not always permanent disaster1 whether in things temporal or things spiritual2 nay1 rather the temporary check may be the necessary condition of the final and glorious victory4 ,so it was in this case1 as the men of ,cyprus and ,cyrene proved1 when the news of ,st4 ,peter's revelation and his decisive action arrived and they realised in action the principles of ,catholic ,christianity for which their loved teacher ,st4 ,stephen had died4 ,and their brave action was soon followed by blessed success1 by a rich harvest of souls3 ,the hand of the ,lord was with them2 and a great number that believed turned to the ,lord4 ,thus were laid the foundations of the headquarters1 the mother ,church of ,gentile ,christianity4 ,,iv4 ,now we come to another step in the development4 ,tidings of the action taken at ,antioch came to ,jerusalem4 ,the news must have travelled much the same road as that by which1 as we have indicated1 the story of ,st4 ,peter's action was carried to ,antioch4 ,the intercourse between ,jerusalem and ,antioch was frequent enough by land or by sea2 and no synagogue and no ,jewish society was more liberal in its gifts towards the support of the supreme council and hierarchy at ,jerusalem than the ,jewish colony and its synagogues at ,damascus4 ,and the old custom of communication with ,jerusalem naturally led the ,nazarenes of ,antioch to send word of their proceedings up to the apostles and supreme council who ruled their parent society in the same city4 ,we see a clear indication that the events at ,antioch happened subsequently to those at ,csarea in the manner in which the news was received at ,jerusalem4 ,there seems to have been no strife1 no discussion1 no controversy4 ,the question had been already raised and decided after ,st4 ,peter's return4 ,so the apostles simply select a fitting messenger to go forth with the authority of the apostles and to complete the work which1 having been initiated in baptism1 merely now demanded that imposition of hands which1 as we have seen in the case of the ,samaritan converts1 was one of the special functions of the apostles and chiefs of the ,church at ,jerusalem4 ,and in choosing ,barnabas the apostles made a wise choice4 ,they did not send one of the original ,twelve1 because not one of them was fitted for the peculiar work now demanded4 ,they were all narrow1 provincial1 untravelled1 devoid of that wide and generous training which ,god had given to ,barnabas4 ,it may be too that they felt restrained from going beyond the bounds of ,canaan before the twelve years had elapsed of which ancient ,christian tradition tells as the limit of their stay in ,jerusalem fixed by our ,lord ,himself4#hi ,he was a ,hellenistic ,jew1 and he could sympathise with the wider feelings and ideas of the ,hellenists4 ,he was a man of ,cyprus1 a friend and perhaps connexion of many1 both ,jews and ,gentiles1 among those whose new-born faith and hope were now in question4 ,and above all he was a man of kindly heart and genial temper and loving thought and blessed charity1 fitted to soothe jealousies and allay suspicions1 and make the long alienated and despised ,gentiles feel at home in the ,church and family of ,jesus ,christ4 ,barnabas was a person peculiarly fitted to prove a mediator and uniting link in a society where divergent elements found a place and asserted themselves4 ,he was not the man to take a new step or to have decided the question of the admission of the ,gentiles if it had not been already settled4 ,he must have come therefore fortified by the authority of the apostles1 and then1 knowing right well what they approved1 he was just the man to carry out the details of an arrangement requiring tact and skill and temper2 though he was by no means suited to decide a great question on its own merits or to initiate any great movement4 ,in the ,church of ,god then1 as in the ,church of ,god still1 there is a place and a work for the strong man of keen logic and vigorous intellect and profound thought4 ,and there is too a place and a work for the man of loving heart and a charity which evermore delights in compromise4 ,barnabas1 when he was come1 and had seen the grace of ,god1 was glad2 and he exhorted them all1 that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the ,lord4 ,for he was a good man1 and full of the ,holy ,ghost and faith2 and much people was added unto the ,lord4 ,barnabas had another virtue too4 ,he knew his own weakness4 ,he did not imagine like some men that he was specially strong where he was eminently weak4 ,he felt his want of the active vigorous mind of his friend of boyhood the new convert ,saul4 ,he knew where he was living in comparative obscurity and silence2 so after a little experience of the atmosphere of ,antioch he departed to ,tarsus to seek for him and bring him back where a great work was awaiting his peculiar turn of mind4 ,there is an ancient historian of ,antioch who has preserved for us many stories about that city in these apostolic and even in much earlier ages4 ,his name is ,john ,malalas2 he lived about six hundred years after ,christ1 but had access to many ancient documents and writers that are no longer known to us4 ,he tells us many things about the primitive ,church of ,antioch4 ,he has his own version of the quarrel between ,st4 ,paul and ,st4 ,peter which happened in that city2 and he fixes even the very spot where ,st4 ,paul first preached1 telling us that its name was ,singon ,street1 which stood near the ,pantheon4 ,this may seem to us a minuteness of detail too great to be believed4 ,but then we must remember that ,john ,malalas expressly cites ancient chronologers and historians as his authorities1 and he himself lived while as yet ,antioch retained all the ancient arrangements of streets and divisions4 ,and surely ,saul1 as he travelled from ,tarsus responding at once to the call of ,barnabas1 must have seen enough to stir his love to ,christ and to souls into heartiest exertion4 ,he came doubtless by sea and landed at ,seleucia1 the port of ,antioch1 some sixteen miles distant from the city4 ,as he travelled up to ,antioch he would get distant glimpses of the groves of ,daphne1 a park ten miles in circumference1 dedicated indeed to the poetic worship of ,apollo1 but dedicated also to the vilest purposes of wickedness intimately associated with that poetic worship4 ,poetry1 whether ancient or modern1 can be very blessed1 ennobling and elevating man's whole nature4 ,but the same poetry1 as in ancient paganism and in some modern writers1 can become a festering plague-spot1 the abounding source to its votaries of moral corruption and spiritual death4#ij #hi ,see ,eusebius1 ,eccles4 ,hist41 v41 #ah4 #ij ,there is a good description of ,daphne as ,st4 ,paul may have seen it in ,gibbon's ,decline and ,fall1 ch4 xxiii4 ,we borrow a few extracts from it to give a more vivid idea of ,antioch in ,st4 ,paul's day4 ,at the distance of five miles from ,antioch the ,macedonian kings of ,syria had consecrated to ,apollo one of the most elegant places of devotion in the pagan world4 ,a magnificent temple rose in honour of the ,god of light2 and his colossal figure almost filled the capacious sanctuary which was enriched with gold and gems and adorned by the skill of the ,grecian artists4 ,the deity was represented in a bending attitude1 with a golden cup in his hand1 pouring out a libation on the earth1 as if he supplicated the venerable mother to give to his arms the cold and beauteous ,daphne2 for the spot was ennobled by fiction1 and the fancy of the ,syrian poets had transported the amorous tale from the banks of the ,perseus to the town of the ,orontes4 ,the temple and village were deeply bosomed in a thick grove of laurels and cypresses1 which reached as far as a circumference of ten miles1 and proved in the most sultry summers a cool and impenetrable shade4 ,a thousand streams of the purest water1 issuing from every hill1 preserved the verdure of the earth and the temperature of the air2 the senses were gratified with harmonious sounds and aromatic odours2 and the peaceful grove was consecrated to health and joy1 to luxury and love4 ,the soldier and the philosopher wisely avoided the temptations of this sensual paradise1 where pleasure1 assuming the character of religion1 imperceptibly dissolved the firmness of manly virtue4 ,gibbon's notes abound with ample proof of the statements he makes4 ,to them we may refer the reader curious about the details of ancient paganism4 ,daphne and its associations would rouse the whole soul1 the healthy moral nature of ,saul of ,tarsus1 inherited originally from his ancient ,jewish training1 and now quickened and deepened by the spiritual revelations made to him in ,christ ,jesus4 ,it is no wonder then that here we read of ,st4 ,paul's first long and continuous period of ministerial work3 ,it came to pass that even for a whole year they were gathered together with the ,church1 and taught much people4 ,the results of the new force which ,barnabas introduced into the spiritual life of ,antioch soon became manifested4 ,the disciples were first called ,christians at ,antioch4 ,saul of ,tarsus possessed what ,barnabas did not possess4 ,he possessed a powerful1 a logical1 and a creative intellect4 ,he realised from the beginning what his own principles meant and to what they were leading him4 ,he taught not ,judaism or the ,law with an addition merely about ,jesus of ,nazareth4 ,he troubled not himself about circumcision or the old covenant1 but he taught from the very beginning ,christ ,jesus1 ,christ in ,his ,divine and human nature1 ,christ in ,his various offices1 ,jesus ,christ as the one hope for mankind4 ,this was now at ,antioch1 as before at ,damascus1 the staple topic of ,st4 ,paul's preaching1 and therefore the ,antiochenes1 with their ready wit and proverbial power of giving nicknames1 at once designated the new sect not ,nazarenes or ,galileans as the ,jews of ,jerusalem called them1 but ,christians or adherents of ,christ4#ia ,here1 however1 ,i prefer to avail myself of the exposition which one of the great spiritual teachers of the last generation gave us of this expression4 ,the well-known and learned ,archbishop of ,dublin1 ,dr4 ,trench1 in his ,study of ,words 7#bast ,ed43 ,lond4 #ahij71 p4 #ahi1 thus draws out the lesson connected with this word and the time of its appearance3 ',the disciples were called ,christians first in ,antioch4' ,that we have here a notice which we would not willingly have missed all will acknowledge1 even as nothing can be otherwise than curious which relates to the infancy of the ,church4 ,but there is here much more than a curious notice4 ,question it a little closer1 and how much it will be found to contain1 how much which it is waiting to yield up6 ,what light it throws on the whole story of the ,apostolic ,church to know where and when this name of ,christians was first imposed on the faithful2 for imposed by adversaries it certainly was1 not devised by themselves1 however afterwards they may have learned to glory in it as the name of highest dignity and honour4 ,they did not call themselves1 but1 as is expressly recorded1 they 'were called' ,christians first at ,antioch2 in agreement with which statement the name occurs nowhere in ,scripture1 except on the lips of those alien from or opposed to the faith 7,acts xxvi4 #bh2 #a ,peter iv4 #af74 ,and as it was a name imposed by adversaries1 so among these adversaries it was plainly heathens1 and not ,jews1 who were its authors2 for ,jews would never have called the followers of ,jesus of ,nazareth ',christians1' or those of ,christ1 the very point of their opposition to ,him being1 that ,he was not the ,christ1 but a false pretender to the name4 ,starting then from this point that ',christians' was a title given to the disciples by the heathen1 what may we deduce from it further8 ,at ,antioch they first obtained this name--at the city1 that is1 which was the headquarters of the ,church's mission to the heathen1 in the same sense as ,jerusalem had been the headquarters of the mission to the seed of ,abraham4 ,it was there and among the faithful there that a conviction of the world-wide destination of the gospel arose2 there it was first plainly seen as intended for all kindreds of the earth4 ,hitherto the faithful in ,christ had been called by their adversaries1 and indeed were often still called ',galileans' or ',nazarenes'--both names which indicated the ,jewish cradle wherein the ,church had been nursed1 and that the world saw in the new society no more than a ,jewish sect4 ,but it was plain that the ,church had now1 even in the world's eyes1 chipped its ,jewish shell4 ,the name ,christians or those of ,christ1 while it told that ,christ and the confession of ,him was felt even by the heathen to be the sum and centre of this new faith1 showed also that they comprehended now1 not all which the ,church would be1 but something of this2 saw this much1 namely1 that it was no mere sect and variety of ,judaism1 but a ,society with a mission and a destiny of its own4 ,nor will the thoughtful reader fail to observe that the coming up of this name is by closest juxtaposition connected in the sacred narrative1 and still more closely in the ,greek than in the ,english1 with the arrival at ,antioch1 and with the preaching there1 of that ,apostle who was ,god's appointed instrument for bringing the ,church to a full sense that the message which it had was not for some men only1 but for all4 ,as so often happens with the rise of new names1 the rise of this one marked a new epoch in the ,church's life1 and that it was entering upon a new stage of development4 ,this is a long extract1 but it sets forth in dignified and aptly chosen words1 such as ,archbishop ,trench always used1 the important lessons which the thoughtful student of the ,acts may gather from the time and place where the term ,christians first sprang into existence4 #ia ,the ,antiochenes were always famous for the dangerous power of ridicule and giving nicknames4 ,they quarrelled on this account with the emperors ,hadrian1 ,verus1 ,marcus1 ,severus1 and ,julian4 ,the last mentioned has celebrated these tendencies in his celebrated treatise entitled ,misopogon1 or the ,beard-hater4 ,even in its final overthrow the city preserved this distinction4 ,in the year #edj the ,persian king ,chosroes ,nushirvan took it by storm4 ,when he appeared before the city he was received with a shower of arrows mingled with obscene sarcasms1 which so enraged him that he removed the inhabitants when he had taken the town to a new ,antioch in the province of ,susa4 ,finally1 we notice in connexion with ,antioch that the foundation of the great ,gentile ,church was marked by the same universal impulse which we trace wherever ,christ was effectually preached4 ,the faith of the ,crucified evermore produced love to the brethren4 ,agabus1 a prophet whom we shall again meet many years after in the course of ,st4 ,paul's life1 and who then predicted his approaching arrest and captivity at ,jerusalem1 made his earliest recorded appearance at ,antioch1 where he announced an impending famine4 ,agabus exercised the office of a prophet1 which implied under the ,new ,dispensation rather the office of preaching than of prediction4 ,prediction1 indeed1 whether under the ,old or the ,new ,dispensation1 formed but a small portion of the prophetical office4 ,the work of the prophet was pre-eminently that of telling forth ,god's will and enforcing it upon a careless generation4 ,occasionally indeed1 as in the case of ,agabus1 that telling forth involved prediction or announcement of ,god's chastisements and visitations2 but far oftener the prophet's work was finished when he enforced the great principles of truth and righteousness as the ,christian preacher does still4 ,agabus seems to have been specially gifted in the direction of prediction4 ,he announced a famine as impending over the whole world1 which came to pass in the age of ,claudius1 offering to the ,gentile ,church of ,antioch an opportunity1 of which they gladly availed themselves1 to repay somewhat of the spiritual obligation which the ,gentiles owed to the ,jews according to ,st4 ,paul's own rule3 ,if the ,gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things1 they owe it to them also to minister unto them in carnal things4#ib ,we can trace here the force and power of ancient ,jewish customs4 ,we can see how the mould and form and external shape of the ,church was gained from the ,jew4 ,the ,jewish colony of ,antioch had been of old famous for the liberality of its gifts to the mother community at ,jerusalem4 ,the predominant element in the ,church of ,antioch was now ,gentile1 but still the ancient customs prevailed4 ,the ,gentile ,christian community acted towards the ,jerusalem ,church as the ,jewish community had been used to treat their countrymen3 ,the disciples1 every man according to his ability1 determined to send relief unto the brethren that dwelt in ,juda3 which also they did1 sending it to the elders by the hand of ,barnabas and ,saul4 #ib ,this famine is thoroughly historical4 ,it is noticed by several who wrote of this time1 as ,dion1 lx41 #aa2 ,suetonius1 ,claud41 #bj2 ,aurelius1 ,victor2 and is confirmed by the testimony of the coins3 see ,eckhel1 vi41 #bch1 #bci1 #bdj4 ,cf4 ,lewin's ,fasti ,sacri1 p4 #bgd1 ,a4,d4 #db4 ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,,the ,,defeat ,,of ,,pride4 ,now about that time ,herod the king put forth his hands to afflict certain of the ,church4 ,and he killed ,james the brother of ,john with the sword4 ,and when he saw that it pleased the ,jews1 he proceeded to seize ,peter also4444 ,immediately an angel of the ,lord smote ,herod1 because he gave not ,god the glory3 and he was eaten of worms1 and gave up the ghost4 ,but the word of ,god grew and multiplied4--,,acts xii4 #a-c1 #bc-bd4 ,the chapter at which we have now arrived is very important from a chronological point of view1 as it brings the sacred narrative into contact with the affairs of the external world concerning which we have independent knowledge4 ,the history of the ,christian ,church and of the outside world for the first time clearly intersect1 and we thus gain a fixed point of time to which we can refer4 ,this chronological character of the twelfth chapter of the ,acts arises from its introduction of ,herod and the narrative of the second notable persecution which the ,church at ,jerusalem had to endure4 ,the appearance of a ,herod on the scene and the tragedy in which he was the actor demand a certain amount of historical explanation1 for1 as we have already noted in the case of ,st4 ,stephen five or six years previously1 ,roman procurators and ,jewish priests and the ,sanhedrin then possessed or at least used the power of the sword in ,jerusalem1 while a word had not been heard of a ,herod exercising capital jurisdiction in ,juda for more than forty years4 ,who was this ,herod8 ,whence came he8 ,how does he emerge so suddenly upon the stage8 ,as great confusion exists in the minds of many ,bible students about the ramifications of the ,herodian family and the various offices and governments they held1 we must make a brief digression in order to show who and whence this ,herod was concerning whom we are told1 ,now about that time ,herod the king put forth his hands to afflict certain of the ,church4 ,this ,herod ,agrippa was a grandson of ,herod the ,great1 and displayed in the solitary notice of him which ,holy ,scripture has handed down many of the characteristics1 cruel1 bloodthirsty and yet magnificent1 which that celebrated sovereign manifested throughout his life4#ic ,the story of ,herod ,agrippa his grandson was a real romance4 ,he made trial of every station in life4 ,he had been at times a captive1 at times a conqueror4 ,he had at various periods experience of a prison house and of a throne4 ,he had felt the depths of poverty1 and had not known where to borrow money sufficient to pay his way to ,rome4 ,he had tasted of the sweetness of affluence1 and had enjoyed the pleasures of magnificent living4 ,he had been a subject and a ruler1 a dependant on a tyrant1 and the trusted friend and councillor of emperors4 ,his story is worth telling4 ,he was born about ten years before the ,christian era1 and was the son of ,aristobulus1 one of the sons of ,herod the ,great4 ,after the death of ,herod1 his grandfather1 the ,herodian family was scattered all over the world4 ,some obtained official positions2 others were obliged to shift for themselves1 depending on the fragments of the fortune which the great king had left them4 ,agrippa lived at ,rome till about the year #cj ,a4,d41 associating with ,drusus1 the son of the ,emperor ,tiberius1 by whom he was led into the wildest extravagance4 ,he was banished from ,rome about that year1 and was obliged to retire to ,palestine1 contenting himself with the small official post of dile of ,tiberias in ,galilee1 given him by his uncle ,herod ,antipas1 which he held about the time when our ,lord was teaching in that neighbourhood4 ,during the next six years the fortunes of ,agrippa were of the most chequered kind4 ,he soon quarrelled with ,antipas1 and is next found a fugitive at the court of ,antioch with the ,prefect of the ,east4 ,he there borrowed from a money-lender the sum of #hjj at #ab-a_/b per cent4 interest1 to enable him to go to ,rome and push his interests at the imperial court4 ,he was arrested1 however1 for a large debt due to the ,treasury just when he was embarking1 and consigned to prison1 whence the very next day he managed to escape1 and fled to ,alexandria4 ,there he again raised another timely loan1 and thus at last succeeded in getting to ,rome4 ,agrippa attached himself to ,caligula1 the heir of the empire1 and after various chances was appointed by him ,king of ,trachonitis1 a dominion which ,caligula and subsequently ,claudius enlarged by degrees1 till in the year #da he was invested with the kingdom of the whole of ,palestine1 including ,galilee1 ,samaria1 and ,juda1 of which ,agrippa proceeded to take formal possession about twelve months before the events recorded in the twelfth chapter of ,acts4#id #ic ,the ,herodian family form a notable instance of the modern doctrine of heredity1 which yet is only the ancient principle of ,divine action announced long ago in the ,second ,commandment1 ,visiting the sins of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation4 ,the moral taints which we behold in ,esau1 passion1 self-indulgence quenching all forethought1 ostentation joined with magnificent generosity1 displayed themselves in ,herod the ,great4 ,in him they were joined with absolute power1 and they produced their natural results4 ,they made his heart1 his life1 his home a howling wilderness1 and handed down to his descendants a legacy of wickedness which ceased not to bear fruit so long as his name survived4 ,herod's family cruelties were so celebrated that we are told by a pagan writer1 named ,macrobius1 that when the ,emperor ,augustus heard of the slaughter of the innocents of ,bethlehem1 thinking they were ,herod's children1 he jokingly said1 ,it were better to be ,herod's pigs than ,herod's children4 #id ,see ,lewin's ,fasti ,sacri1 ,a4,d4 #da1 p4 #bga1 for the authorities on the subject of ,herod's career4 ,herod's career had been marked by various changes1 but in one respect he had been consistent4 ,he was ever a thorough ,jew1 and a vigorous and useful friend to his fellow-countrymen4 ,we have already noticed that his influence had been used with ,caligula to induce the ,emperor to forgo his mad project of erecting his statue in the ,holy of ,holies at ,jerusalem4#ie ,herod had1 however1 one great drawback in the eyes of the priestly faction at ,jerusalem4 ,all the descendants of ,herod the ,great were tainted by their ,edomite blood1 which they inherited through him4 ,their kind offices and support were accepted indeed1 but only grudgingly4 ,herod felt this1 and it was quite natural therefore for the newly appointed king to strive to gain all the popularity he could with the dominant party at ,jerusalem by persecuting the new sect which was giving them so much trouble4 ,no incident could possibly have been more natural1 more consistent with the facts of history1 as well as with the known dispositions and tendencies of human nature1 than that recorded in these words--,now about that time ,herod the king put forth his hands to afflict certain of the ,church4 ,and he killed ,james the brother of ,john with the sword4 ,herod's act was a very politic one from a worldly point of view4 ,it was a hard dose enough for the ,jewish people to swallow1 to find a king imposed upon them by an idolatrous ,gentile power2 but it was some alleviation of their lot that the king was a ,jew1 and a ,jew so devoted to the service of the ruling hierarchy that he was willing to use his secular power to crush the troublesome ,nazarene sect whose doctrine threatened for ever to destroy all hopes of a temporal restoration for ,israel4 ,such being the historical setting of the picture presented to us1 let us apply ourselves to the spiritual application and lessons of this incident in apostolic history4 ,we have here a martyrdom1 a deliverance1 and a ,divine judgment1 which will all repay careful study4 #ie ,see p4 #ie above4 ,i4 ,a martyrdom is here brought under our notice1 and that the first martyrdom among the apostles4 ,stephen's was the first ,christian martyrdom1 but that of ,james was the first apostolic martyrdom4 ,when ,herod1 following his grandfather's footsteps1 would afflict the ,church1 he killed ,james the brother of ,john with the sword4 ,we must carefully distinguish between two martyrs of the same name who have both found a place in the commemorations of ,christian hope and love4 ,may-day is the feast devoted to the memory of ,st4 ,philip and ,st4 ,james1 ,july #beth is the anniversary consecrated to the memorial of ,st4 ,james the ,apostle1 whose death is recorded in the passage now under consideration4 ,the latter was the brother of ,john and son of ,zebedee2 the former was the brother or cousin according to the flesh of our ,lord4 ,st4 ,james the ,apostle perished early in the ,church's history4 ,st4 ,james the ,just flourished for more than thirty years after the ,resurrection4 ,he lived indeed to a comparatively advanced period of the ,church's history1 as is manifest from a study of the ,epistle which he wrote to the ,jewish ,christians of the ,dispersion4 ,he there rebukes shortcomings and faults1 respect for the rich and contempt of the poor1 oppression and outrage and irreverence1 which could never have found place in that first burst of love and devotion to ,god which the age of our ,herodian martyr witnessed1 but must have been the outcome of long years of worldly prosperity and ease4 ,james the ,just1 the stern censor of ,christian morals and customs1 whose language indeed in its severity has at times caused one-sided and narrow ,christians much trouble1 must often have looked back with regret and longing to the purer days of charity and devotion when ,james the brother of ,john perished by the sword of ,herod4 ,again1 we notice about this martyred apostle that1 though there is very little told us concerning his life and actions1 he must have been a very remarkable man4 ,he was clearly remarkable for his ,christian privileges4 ,he was one of the apostles specially favoured by our ,lord4 ,he was admitted by ,him into the closest spiritual converse4 ,thus we find that1 with ,peter and ,john1 ,james the ,apostle was one of the three selected by our ,lord to behold the first manifestation of ,his power over the realms of the dead when ,he restored the daughter of ,jairus to life2 with the same two1 ,peter and ,john1 he was privileged to behold our ,saviour receive the first foretaste of ,his heavenly glory upon the ,mount of ,transfiguration2 and with them too he was permitted to behold his great ,master drink the first draught of the cup of agony in the ,garden of ,gethsemane4 ,james the ,apostle had thus the first necessary qualification for an eminent worker in the ,lord's vineyard4 ,he had been admitted into ,christ's most intimate friendship1 he knew much of his ,lord's will and mind4 ,and the privileges thus conferred upon ,st4 ,james had not been misused or neglected4 ,he did not hide his talent in the dust of idleness1 nor wrap it round with the mantle of sloth4 ,he utilised his advantages4 ,he became a foremost1 if not indeed the foremost worker for his loved ,lord in the ,church of ,jerusalem1 as is intimated by the opening words of this passage1 which tells us that when ,herod wished to harass and vex the ,church he selected ,james the brother of ,john as his victim2 and we may be sure that with the keen instinct of a persecutor ,herod selected not the least prominent and useful1 but the most devoted and energetic champion of ,christ to satisfy his cruel purpose4 ,and yet1 though ,james was thus privileged and thus faithful and thus honoured by ,god1 his active career is shrouded thick round with clouds and darkness4 ,we know nothing of the good works and brave deeds and powerful sermons he devoted to his ,master's cause4 ,we are told simply of the death by which he glorified ,god4 ,all else is hidden with ,god till that day when the secret thoughts and deeds of every man shall be revealed4 ,this incident in early ,apostolic ,church history is a very typical one1 and teaches many a lesson very necessary for these times and for all times4 ,if an apostle so privileged and so faithful was content to do his work1 and then to pass away without a single line of memorial1 a single word to keep his name or his labours fresh among men1 how much more may we1 petty1 faithless1 trifling as we are1 be contented to do our duty1 and to pass away without any public recognition6 ,and yet how we all do crave after such recognition6 ,how intensely we long for human praise and approval6 ,how useless we esteem our labours unless they are followed by it6 ,how inclined we are to make the fallible judgment of man the standard by which we measure our actions1 instead of having the mind's eye ever steadily fixed as ,james the brother of ,john had on ,his approval alone who1 now seeing our secret trials1 struggles1 efforts1 will one day reward ,his faithful followers openly6 ,this is one great lesson which this typical passage by its silence as well as by its speech clearly teaches the ,church of every age4#if #if ,the tradition of the second century has only one story to tell about this martyrdom4 ,we find it in ,eusebius1 ,h4 ,e41 ii41 #i1 where we read3 ,concerning this ,james ,clement hands down a story worthy of remembrance in the seventh book of his ,hypotyposes 7or ,outlines7 delivering it from the traditions of his predecessors1 that the messenger who led him to the judgment-seat1 beholding his witness1 was moved to confess himself a ,christian4 ,both were therefore led away1 says he1 and on the road 7to execution7 he asked forgiveness from ,james4 ,and he1 having considered for a little1 said1 ,peace be to thee1 and he kissed him tenderly4 ,and thus both were beheaded together4 ,again1 this martyrdom of ,st4 ,james proclaims yet another lesson4 ,god hereby warns the ,church against the idolatry of human agents1 against vain trust in human support4 ,let us consider the circumstances of the ,church at that time4 ,the ,church had just passed through a season of violent persecution1 and had lost one of its bravest and foremost soldiers in the person of ,stephen1 the martyred deacon4 ,and now there was impending over the ,church what is often more trying far than a time short and sharp of violence and blood1--a period of temporal distress and suffering1 trying the principles and testing the endurance of the weaker brethren in a thousand petty trifles4 ,it was a time when the courage1 the wisdom1 the experience of the tried and trusted leaders would be specially required to guide the ,church amid the many new problems which day by day were cropping up4 ,and yet it was just then1 at such a crisis1 that the ,lord permits the bloody sword of ,herod to be stretched forth1 and removes one of the very chiefest champions of the ,christian host just when his presence seemed most necessary4 ,it must have appeared a dark and trying dispensation to the ,church of that day2 but though attended doubtless with some present drawbacks and apparent disadvantages1 it was well and wisely done to warn the ,church of every age against mere human dependence1 mere temporal refuges2 teaching by a typical example that it is not by human might or earthly wisdom1 not by the eloquence of man or the devices of earth that ,christ's ,church and people must be saved2 that it is by ,his own right hand1 and by ,his own holy arm alone our ,god will get ,himself the victory4 ,yet again we may learn from this incident another lesson rich laden with comfort and instruction4 ,this martyrdom of ,st4 ,james throws us back upon a circumstance which occurred during our ,lord's last journey to ,jerusalem before ,his crucifixion1 and interprets it for us4 ,let us recall it4 ,our ,lord was going up to ,jerusalem1 and ,his disciples were following ,him with wondering awe4 ,the shadow of the ,cross projecting itself forward made itself unconsciously felt throughout the little company1 and men were astonished1 though they knew not why4 ,they simply felt1 as men do on a close sultry summer's day when a thunderstorm is overhead1 that something awful was impending4 ,they had1 however1 a vague feeling that the kingdom of ,god would shortly appear1 and so the mother of ,zebedee's children1 with all that boldness which affection lends to feminine minds1 drew near and strove to secure a boon before all others for her own children4 ,she prayed that to her two sons might be granted the posts of honour in the temporal kingdom she thought of as now drawing so very near4 ,the ,lord replied to her request in very deep and far-reaching language1 the meaning of which she then understood not1 but learned afterwards through the discipline of pain and sorrow and death3 ,ye know not what ye ask4 ,are ye able to drink the cup that ,i am about to drink8 ,and then1 when ,james and ,john had professed their ability1 he predicts their future fate3 ,my cup indeed ye shall drink4 ,the mother and the sons alike spoke bold words1 and offered a sincere but an ignorant prayer4 ,little indeed did the mother dream as she presented her petition--,command that these my two sons may sit1 one on ,thy right hand1 and one on ,thy left hand in ,thy kingdom--how that prayer would be answered1 and yet answered it was4 ,to the one son1 ,james1 was granted the one post of honour4 ,he was made to sit on the ,master's right hand1 for he was the first of the apostles called to enter into ,paradise through a baptism of blood4 ,while to the other son1 ,st4 ,john1 was granted the other post of honour1 for he was left the longest upon earth to guide1 direct1 and sustain the ,church by his inspired wisdom1 large experience1 and apostolic authority4#ig ,the contrast between the prayer offered up to ,christ in ignorance and shortsightedness and the manner in which the same prayer was answered in richest abundance suggests to us the comforting reflection that no prayer offered up in sincerity and truth is ever really left unanswered4 ,we may indeed never see how the prayer is answered4 ,the mother of ,st4 ,james may little have dreamt as she beheld her son's lifeless body brought home to her that this trying dispensation was a real answer to her ambitious petition4 ,but we can now see that it was so1 and can thus learn a lesson of genuine confidence1 of holy boldness1 of strong faith in the power of sincere and loving communion with ,god4 ,let us only take care to cultivate the same spirit of genuine humility and profound submission which possessed the souls of those primitive ,christians enabling them to say1 no matter how their petitions were answered1 whether in joy or sorrow1 in smiles or tears1 in riches or poverty1 ,not my will1 but thine1 ,o ,lord1 be done4 #ig ,bishop ,lightfoot1 in his celebrated essay on the ,christian ,ministry1 ,philippians1 pp4 #bjj-bje1 #bnd edition1 regards ,episcopacy as the work of ,st4 ,john4 ,by whom was the new constitution organised8 ,to this question only one answer can be given4 ,this great work must be ascribed to the surviving apostles4 ,st4 ,john especially1 who built up the speculative theology of the ,church1 was mainly instrumental in completing its external constitution also1 for ,asia ,minor was the centre from which the new movement spread4 ,these words occur in his analysis of ,rothe's views1 with which ,dr4 ,lightfoot substantially agrees4 ,,ii4 ,we have again in this twelfth chapter the record of a ,divine deliverance4 ,herod1 seeing that the ,jewish authorities were pleased because they had now a sympathetic ruler who understood their religious troubles and was resolved to help in quelling them1 determined to proceed farther in the work of repression4 ,he arrested another prominent leader1 ,st4 ,peter1 and cast him into prison4 ,the details are given to us of ,herod's action and ,peter's arrest4 ,peter was now making his first acquaintance with ,roman methods of punishment4 ,he had been indeed previously arrested and imprisoned1 but his arrest had been carried out by the ,jewish authorities1 and he had been consigned to the care of the ,temple police1 and had occupied the ,temple prison4 ,but ,herod1 though a strict ,jew in religion1 had been thoroughly ,romanised in matters of rule and government1 and therefore he treated ,st4 ,peter after the ,roman fashion3 ,when he had taken him1 he put him in prison1 and delivered him to four quarternions of soldiers to guard him2 intending after the ,passover to bring him forth to the people4 ,he was delivered to sixteen men1 who divided the night into four watches1 four men watching at a time1 after the ,roman method of discipline4#ih ,and then1 in contrast to all this preparation1 we are told how the ,church betook herself to her sure refuge and strong tower of defence3 ,peter therefore was kept in prison2 but prayer was made earnestly of the ,church unto ,god for him4 ,these early ,christians had not had their faith limited or weakened by discussions whether petition for temporal blessings were a proper subject of prayer1 or whether spiritual blessings did not alone supply true matter for supplication before the ,divine throne4 ,they were in the first fervour of ,christian love1 and they did not theorise1 define1 or debate about prayer and its efficacy4 ,they only knew that their ,master had told them to pray1 and had promised to answer sincere prayer1 as ,he alone knew how2 and so they gathered themselves in instant ceaseless prayer at the foot of the throne of grace4 ,i say ceaseless prayer because it seems that the ,jerusalem ,church1 feeling its danger1 organised a continuous service of prayer4 ,prayer was made earnestly of the ,church unto ,god for him is the statement of the fifth verse1 and then when ,st4 ,peter was released he came to the house of ,mary1 where many were gathered together and were praying1 though the night must have been far advanced4 ,the crisis was a terrible one2 the foremost champion1 ,st4 ,james1 had been taken1 and now another great leader was threatened1 and therefore the ,church flung herself at the feet of the ,master seeking deliverance1 and was not disappointed1 as the ,church has never since been disappointed when she has cast herself in lowliness and profound submission before the same holy sanctuary4#ii ,the narrative then proceeds to give us the particulars of ,st4 ,peter's deliverance1 as ,st4 ,peter himself seems to have told it to ,st4 ,luke1 for we have details given us which could only have come either directly or indirectly from the person most immediately concerned4 ,but of these we shall treat in a little4 ,the story now introduces the supernatural1 and for the believer this is quite in keeping with the facts of the case4 ,a great crisis in the history of the ,jerusalem ,church has arrived4 ,the mother ,church of all ,christendom1 the fountain and source of original ,christianity1 is threatened with extinction4 ,the life of the greatest existing leader of that ,church is at stake1 and that before his work is done4 ,the very existence of the ,christian revelation seems imperilled1 and ,god sends forth an angel1 a heavenly messenger1 to rescue ,his endangered servant1 and to prove to unbelieving ,jew1 to the haughty ,herod1 and to the frightened but praying disciples alike the care which ,he ever exercises over ,his ,church and people4 ,here1 however1 a question may be raised4 ,how was it that an angel1 a supernatural messenger1 was despatched to the special rescue of ,st4 ,peter8 ,why was not the same assistance vouchsafed to ,st4 ,james who had just been put to death8 ,why was not the same assistance vouchsafed to ,st4 ,peter himself when he was martyred at ,rome1 or to ,st4 ,paul when he lay in the dungeon in the same city of ,rome or at ,csarea8 ,simply1 we reply1 because ,god's hour was not yet come and the ,apostle's work was not yet done4 ,st4 ,james's work was done1 and therefore the ,lord did not immediately interfere1 or rather ,he summoned ,his servant to ,his assigned post of honour by the ministry of ,herod4 ,the wrath of man became the instrument whereby the praises of ,god were chanted and the soul of the righteous conveyed to its appointed place4 ,the ,lord did not interfere when ,st4 ,paul was cast into the prison house at ,csarea1 or ,st4 ,peter incarcerated in the ,roman dungeon1 because they had then a great work to do in showing how ,his servants can suffer as well as work4 ,but now ,st4 ,peter had many a long year of active labour before him and much work to do as the ,apostle of the ,circumcision in preventing that schism with which the diverse parties and opposing ideas of ,jew and ,gentile threatened the infant ,church1 in smoothing over and reconciling the manifold oppositions1 jealousies1 difficulties1 misunderstandings1 which ever attend such a season of transition and transformation as now was fast dawning upon the ,divine society4 ,the arrest of ,st4 ,peter and his threatened death was a great crisis in the history of the primitive ,church4 ,st4 ,peter's life was very precious to the existence of that ,church1 it was very precious for the welfare of mankind at large1 and so it was a fitting time for ,god to raise up a banner against triumphant pride and worldly force by the hand of a supernatural messenger4 #ih ,these elaborate precautions were doubtless taken on account of his escape on the previous occasion1 when the ,sanhedrin had arrested him1 as narrated in the nineteenth verse of the fifth chapter4 #ii ,in the fifth century an order of monks was established at ,constantinople who practised this ceaseless worship4 ,they were called ,acoimet1 or the ,watchers4 ,they are described at length in ,bingham's ,antiquities1 ,book ,,vii41 ch4 ii41 sect4 #aj1 and in ,smith's ,dict4 ,christ4 ,antiqq41 vol4 i41 p4 #ac4 ,a similar attempt was made in the reigns of ,james ,i4 and ,charles ,i4 by the well-known ,nicholas ,ferrar in a monastic institution which he planned in connection with the ,church of ,england3 see the article in the ,dictionary of ,national ,biography upon his name4 ,the steps by which ,st4 ,peter was delivered are all of them full of edification and comfort4 ,let us mark them4 ,when ,herod was about to bring him forth1 the same night ,peter was sleeping between two soldiers1 bound with two chains3 and guards before the door kept the prison4 ,it was on that fateful night the same as when the angels descended on the ,resurrection morning3 the guards were in their rightful place and discharging their accustomed duties1 but when ,god intervenes then human precautions are all useless4 ,the words of the narrative are striking in their quiet dignity4 ,there is no working up of details4 ,there is no pandering to mere human curiosity4 ,everything is in keeping with the sustained force1 sublimity1 elevation which we ever behold in the ,divine action4 ,peter was sleeping between two soldiers2 one chained to each arm1 so that he could not move without awaking them4 ,he was sleeping profoundly and calmly1 because he felt himself in the hands of an ,almighty ,father who will order everything for the best4 ,the interior rest amid the greatest trials which an assured confidence like that enjoyed by ,st4 ,peter can confer is something marvellous1 and has not been confined to apostolic times4 ,our ,lord's servants have in every age proved the same wondrous power4 ,i know of course that criminals are often said to enjoy a profound sleep the night before their execution4 ,but then habitual criminals and hardened murderers have their spiritual natures so completely overmastered and dominated by their lower material powers that they realise nothing beyond the present4 ,they are little better than the beasts which perish1 and think as little of the future as they do4 ,but persons with highly strung nervous powers1 who realise the awful change impending over them1 cannot be as they1 specially if they have no such sure hope as that which sustained ,st4 ,peter4 ,he slept calmly here as ,paul and ,silas rejoiced in the ,philippian prison house1 as the ,master ,himself slept calmly in the stern of the wave-rocked boat on the ,galilean lake1 because he knew himself to be reposing in the arms of ,everlasting ,love1 and this knowledge bestowed upon him a sweet and calm repose at the moment of supreme danger of which the fevered children of time know nothing4 ,and now all the circumstances of the celestial visit are found to be most suitable and becoming4 ,the angel stood by ,peter4 ,a light shined in the cell1 because light is the very element in which these heavenly beings spend their existence4 ,the chains which bind ,st4 ,peter fell off without any effort human or angelic1 just as in a few moments the great gate of the prison opened of its own accord1 because all these things1 bonds and bolts and bars1 derive all their coercive power from the will of ,god1 and when that will changes or is withdrawn they cease to be operative1 or become the instruments of the very opposite purpose1 assisting and not hindering ,his servants4 ,then the angel's actions and directions are characteristic in their dignified vigour4 ,he told the awakened sleeper to act promptly3 ,he smote him on the side1 and awoke him1 saying1 ,rise up quickly4 ,but there is no undue haste4 ,as on the ,resurrection morning the napkin that was upon ,christ's head was found not lying with the rest of the grave-cloths1 but rolled up in a place by itself1 so too on this occasion the angel shows minute care for ,peter's personal appearance4 ,there must be nothing undignified1 careless1 untidy even1 about the dress of the rescued apostle3 ,gird thyself1 and bind on thy sandals4 ,st4 ,peter had naturally laid aside his external garments1 had unloosed his inner robes1 and taken off his sandals when preparing for sleep4 ,nothing1 however1 escapes the heavenly messenger1 and so he says1 ,cast thy garment about thee1 and follow me1 referring to the loose upper robe or overcoat which the ,jews wore over their underclothes2 and then the angel led him forth1 teaching the ,church the perpetual lesson that external dignity of appearance is evermore becoming to ,god's people1 when not even an angel considered these things beneath his notice amid all the excitement of a midnight rescue1 nor did the inspired writer omit to record such apparently petty details4 ,nothing about ,st4 ,peter was too trivial for the angel's notice and direction1 as again nothing in life is too trivial for the sanctifying and elevating care of our holy religion4 ,dress1 food1 education1 marriage1 amusements1 all of life's work and of life's interests1 are the subject-matter whereon the principles inculcated by ,jesus ,christ and taught by the ministry of ,his ,church are to find their due scope and exercise4#ajj #ajj ,the early ,church has left us a treatise showing how thoroughly it recognised its duty in this respect4 ,the ,pdagogue or the ,instructor of ,clement of ,alexandria is a handbook of the social life of the early ,christians1 teaching them what to do and wear and say under every conceivable circumstance4 ,clement thinks nothing too trivial for the rule of ,christian principle1 prescribing the kind of clothes1 shoes1 and beds which should be used4 ,he may seem at times to border on the ludicrous in his minuteness2 but then we cannot realise how profoundly paganism had corrupted human life and manners4 ,thus in ,book ,,iii41 ch4 xi41 he treats of the management of the hair by men4 ,paganism had introduced many sensual practices in this direction4 ,clement lays down3 ,let the head of men be shaven1 unless it has curly hair4 ,but let the chin have the hair4 ,but let not twisted locks hang far down from the head gliding into womanish ringlets4444 ,since cropping is to be adopted1 not on account of elegance1 but for the necessity of the case2 the hair of the head1 that it may not grow so long as to come down and interfere with the eyes1 and that of the moustache similarly which is dirtied in eating1 is to be cut round1 not by a razor1 for that were unbecoming1 but by a pair of cropping scissors4 ,but the hair on the chin is not to be disturbed1 as it gives no trouble1 and lends to the face dignity and paternal terror4 ,this treatise of a very early ,christian writer can be easily consulted in ,clark's ,ante-,nicene ,library4 ,peter's deliverance was now complete4 ,the angel conducted him through one street to assure him that he was really free and secure him from bewilderment1 and then departed4 ,the ,apostle thereupon sought out the well-known centre of ,christian worship1 the house of ,mary the mother of ,john1 whose surname was ,mark1 where stood the upper chamber1 honoured as no other upper chamber had ever been4 ,there he made known his escape1 and then retired to some secret place where ,herod could not find him1 remaining there concealed till ,herod was dead and direct ,roman law and authority were once more in operation at ,jerusalem4#aja ,there are two or three details in this narrative that are deserving of special notice1 as showing that ,st4 ,luke received the story most probably from ,st4 ,peter himself4 ,these touches are expressions of ,st4 ,peter's inner thoughts1 which could have been known only to ,st4 ,peter1 and must have been derived from him4 ,thus we are told about his state of mind when the angel appeared3 ,he wist not that it was true which was done by the angel1 but thought he saw a vision4 ,again1 after his deliverance1 we are told of the thoughts which passed through his mind1 the words which rose to his lips when he found himself once again a free man3 ,when ,peter was come to himself1 he said1 ,now ,i know of a truth that the ,lord hath sent forth ,his angel1 and delivered me out of the hand of ,herod1 and from all the expectation of the people of the ,jews4 ,while1 again1 how true to life and to the female nature is the incident of the damsel ,rhoda6 ,she came across the courtyard to hearken and see who was knocking at the outer gate at that late hour3 ,when she knew ,peter's voice1 she opened not the gate for joy1 but ran in and told that ,peter stood before the gate4 ,we behold the impulsiveness of the maid4 ,she quite forgot the ,apostle's knocking at the gate in her eager desire to convey the news to his friends4 ,and1 again1 how true to nature their scepticism6 ,they were gathered praying for ,peter's release1 but so little did they expect an answer to their prayers that1 when the answer does come1 and in the precise way that they were asking for it and longing for it1 they are astonished1 and tell the maid-servant who bore the tidings1 ,thou art mad4 ,we pray as the primitive ,church did1 and that constantly2 but is it not with us as with them8 ,we pray indeed1 but we do not expect our prayers to be answered1 and therefore we do not profit by them as we might4 #aja ,there is an ancient tradition that our ,lord bade the apostles remain twelve years in ,jerusalem before they dispersed to preach the gospel all the world over 7,eusebius1 ,h4 ,e41 ,v41 xviii474 ,some think that the famine and persecution which now happened may have been the occasion of their dispersion4 ,such were the circumstances of ,st4 ,peter's deliverance1 which was a critical one for the ,church4 ,it struck a blow at ,herod's new policy of persecution unto death2 it may have induced him to depart from ,jerusalem and descend to ,csarea1 where he met his end1 leaving the ,church at ,jerusalem in peace2 and the deliverance must have thrown a certain marvellous halo round ,st4 ,peter when he appeared again at ,jerusalem1 enabling him to occupy a more prominent position without any fear for his life4 ,,iii4 ,we have also recorded in this chapter a notable defeat of pride1 ostentation1 and earthly power4 ,the circumstances are well known4 ,herod1 vexed perhaps by his disappointment in the matter of ,peter1 went down to ,csarea1 which his grandfather had magnificently adorned4 ,but he had other reasons too4 ,he had a quarrel with the men of ,tyre and ,sidon1 and he would take effective measures against them4 ,tyre and ,sidon were great seaports and commercial towns1 but their country did not produce food sufficient for the maintenance of its inhabitants1 just as ,england1 the emporium of the world's commerce1 is obliged to depend for its food supplies upon other and distant lands4#ajb ,the men of ,tyre and ,sidon were not1 however1 unacquainted with the ways of ,eastern courts4 ,they bribed the king's chamberlain1 and ,herod was appeased4 ,there was another motive which led ,herod to ,csarea4 ,it was connected with his ,roman experience and with his courtier-life4 ,the ,emperor ,claudius ,csar was his friend and patron4 ,to him ,herod owed his restoration to the rich dominions of his grandfather4 ,that emperor had gone in the previous year1 ,a4,d4 #dc1 to conquer ,britain4 ,he spent six months in our northern regions in ,gaul and ,britain1 and then1 when smitten by the cold blasts of midwinter1 he fled to the south again1 as so many of our own people do now4 ,he arrived in ,rome in the ,january of the year #dd1 and immediately ordered public games to be celebrated in honour of his safe return1 assuming as a special name the title ,britannicus4 ,these public shows were imitated everywhere throughout the empire as soon as the news of the ,roman celebrations arrived4 ,the tidings would take two or three months to arrive at ,palestine1 and the ,passover may have passed before ,herod heard of his patron's doings4 ,jewish scruples would not allow him to celebrate games after the ,roman fashion at ,jerusalem1 and for this purpose therefore he descended to the ,romanised city of ,csarea1 where all the appliances necessary for that purpose were kept in readiness4 ,there is thus a link which binds together the history of our own nation and this interesting incident in early ,christian history4 ,the games were duly celebrated1 but they were destined to be ,herod's last act4 ,on an appointed day he sat in the theatre of ,csarea to receive the ambassadors from ,tyre and ,sidon4 ,he presented himself early in the morning to the sight of the multitude clad in a robe of silver which flashed in the light reflecting back the rays of the early sun and dazzling the mixed multitude--supple1 crafty ,syrians1 paganised ,samaritans1 self-seeking and worldly-wise ,phnicians4 ,he made a speech in response to the address of the envoys1 and then the flattering shout arose1 ,the voice of a god1 and not of a man4 ,whereupon the messenger of ,god smote ,herod with that terrible form of disease which accompanies unbounded self-indulgence and luxury1 and the proud tyrant learned what a plaything of time1 what a mere creature of a day is a king as much as a beggar1 as shown by the narrative preserved by ,josephus of this event4 ,he tells us that1 when seized by the mortal disease1 ,herod looked upon his friends1 and said1 ,i1 whom you call a god1 am commanded presently to depart this life2 while ,providence thus reproves the lying words you just now said to me2 and ,i1 who was by you called immortal1 am immediately to be hurried away by death4#ajc ,what a striking picture of life's changes and chances1 and of the poetic retributions we at times behold in the course of ,god's ,providence6 ,one short chapter of the ,acts shows us ,herod triumphant side by side with ,herod laid low1 ,herod smiting apostles with the sword side by side with ,herod himself smitten to death by the ,divine sword4 ,a month's time may have covered all the incidents narrated in this chapter4 ,but1 short as the period was1 it must have been rich in support and consolation to the apostles ,saul and ,barnabas1 who were doubtless deeply interested spectators of the rapidly shifting scene1 telling them clearly of the heavenly watch exercised over the ,church4 ,they had come up from ,antioch1 bringing alms to render aid to their afflicted brethren in ,christ4 ,the famine1 as we have just now seen from the anxiety of the men of ,tyre and ,sidon to be on friendly terms with ,herod1 was rapidly making itself felt throughout ,palestine and the adjacent lands1 and so the deputies of the ,antiochene ,church hurried up to ,jerusalem with the much-needed gifts4#ajd ,it may indeed be said1 how could ,st4 ,paul hope to escape at such a time8 ,would it not have been madness for him to risk his safety in a city where he had once been so well known8 ,but1 then1 we must remember that it was at the ,passover season ,saul and ,barnabas went from ,antioch to ,jerusalem4 ,vast crowds then entered the ,holy ,city1 and a solitary ,jew or two from ,antioch might easily escape notice among the myriads which then assembled from all quarters4 ,st4 ,paul enjoyed too a wondrous measure of the ,spirit's guidance1 and that ,spirit told him that he had yet much work to do for ,god4 ,the ,apostle had wondrous prudence joined with wondrous courage1 and we may be sure that he took wisest precautions to escape the sword of ,herod which would have so eagerly drunk his blood4 ,he remained in ,jerusalem all the time of the ,passover4 ,his clear vision of the spiritual world must then have been most precious and most sustaining4 ,all the apostles were doubtless scattered2 ,james was dead1 and ,peter doomed to death4 ,the temporal troubles1 famine and poverty1 which called ,saul and ,barnabas to ,jerusalem1 brought with them corresponding spiritual blessings1 as we still so often find1 and the brave words of the chosen vessel1 the ,vas ,electionis1 aided by the sweet gifts of the ,son of ,consolation1 may have been very precious and very helpful to those deepest souls in the ,jerusalem ,church who gathered themselves for continuous prayer in the house of ,mary the mother of ,john1 teaching them the true character1 the profound views1 the genuine religion of one whose earlier life had been so very different and whose later views may have been somewhat suspected4 ,saul and ,barnabas arrived in ,jerusalem at a terrible crisis1 they saw the crisis safely passed1 and then they returned to an atmosphere freer and broader than that of ,jerusalem1 and there in the exercise of a devoted ministry awaited the further manifestation of the ,divine purposes4 #ajb ,it is noteworthy1 indeed1 that it was with ,tyre and ,sidon in the days of ,herod as it was with them in the earlier days of ,king ,solomon and of the prophets4 ,in #a ,kings v4 #aj1 #aa we see that ,hiram1 king of ,tyre1 depended on ,solomon for food3 ,so ,hiram gave ,solomon timber of cedar and timber of fir according to all his desire4 ,and ,solomon gave ,hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat for food to his household1 and twenty measures of pure oil3 thus gave ,solomon to ,hiram year by year2 with which may be compared ,ezekiel xxvii4 #ag4 #ajc ,the story of the death of ,herod ,agrippa as told by ,josephus1 ,antiqq41 ,book ,,xix41 ch4 viii41 is in striking unison with that given in the ,acts4 ,now when ,agrippa had reigned three years over all ,judea1 he came to the city ,csarea1 formerly called ,strato's ,tower2 and there he exhibited shows in honour of ,csar1 upon his being informed that there was a certain festival celebrated on account of his safety4 ,at which festival a great multitude was gotten together of the principal persons1 and such as were of dignity through his province4 ,on the second day of which shows he put on a garment made wholly of silver1 and of a contexture truly wonderful1 and came into the theatre early in the morning2 at which time the silver of his garment1 being illuminated by the fresh reflexion of the sun's rays upon it1 shone out after a surprising manner1 and was so resplendent as to spread a terror over those that looked intently upon him2 and presently his flatterers cried out1 one from one place1 and another from another 7though not for his good71 that he was a god2 and they added1 ',be thou merciful to us2 for though we have hitherto reverenced thee only as a man1 yet shall we henceforth own thee as superior to mortal nature4' ,upon this the king did neither rebuke them1 nor reject their impious flattery4 ,but as he presently afterwards looked up he saw an owl sitting on a certain rope over his head1 and immediately understood that this bird was the messenger of ill tidings1 as it had once been the messenger of good tidings to him1 and fell into the deepest sorrow4 ,a severe pain also arose in his stomach1 and began in a most violent manner4 ,he therefore looked upon his friends1 and said1 ',i1 whom you call a god1 am commanded presently to depart this life2 while ,providence thus reproves the lying words you just now said to me2 and ,i1 who was by you called immortal1 am immediately to be hurried away by death4 ,but ,i am bound to accept of what ,providence allots1 as it pleases ,god2 for we have by no means lived ill1 but in a splendid and happy manner4' ,when he said this his pain became violent1 and he was carried into the palace4 ,the reference to the owl relates to a story about ,agrippa's earlier life told by ,josephus in his ,antiqq41 ,book ,,xviii41 ch4 vi4 ,the ,emperor ,tiberius had bound ,agrippa1 and placed him in his purple garments opposite his palace1 with a number of other prisoners1 among whom was a ,german4 ,an owl perched on a tree near ,agrippa1 whereupon the ,german predicted that he would be freed from his bonds1 and be raised to highest station2 but that when he saw the owl again his death would be only five days distant4 #ajd ,the ,jews themselves received at the same time the support of their foreign proselytes4 ,helena1 ,queen of ,adiabene1 sent liberal gifts to ,jerusalem to support the famine-stricken multitudes of that city1 as ,josephus tells in his ,antiquities1 ,,xx41 ii41 #e4 ,cf4 ,lewin's ,life of ,st4 ,paul1 vol4 i41 p4 #ajh1 where the reader will find engravings of her mausoleum as it is still to be seen at ,jerusalem4 ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,,st4 ,,paul',s ,,ordination ,,and ,,first ,,missionary ,,tour4 ,as they ministered to the ,lord1 and fasted1 the ,holy ,ghost said1 ,separate me ,barnabas and ,saul for the work whereunto ,i have called them4 ,then1 when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them1 they sent them away4 ,so they1 being sent forth by the ,holy ,ghost1 went down to ,seleucia2 and from thence they sailed to ,cyprus4444 ,but they1 passing through from ,perga1 came to ,antioch of ,pisidia2 and they went into the synagogue on the sabbath day1 and sat down4--,,acts xiii4 #b-d1 #ad4 ,and it came to pass in ,iconium1 that they entered together into the synagogue of the ,jews1 and so spake1 that a great multitude both of ,jews and of ,greeks believed4444 ,they sailed to ,antioch1 from whence they had been committed to the grace of ,god for the work which they had fulfilled4--,,acts xiv4 #a1 #bf4 ,we have now arrived at what we might call the watershed of the ,acts of the ,apostles4 ,hitherto we have had very various scenes1 characters1 personages to consider4 ,henceforth ,st4 ,paul1 his labours1 his disputes1 his speeches1 occupy the entire field1 and every other name that is introduced into the narrative plays a very subordinate part4 ,this is only natural4 ,st4 ,luke knew of the earlier history by information gained from various persons1 but he knew of the later history1 and specially of ,st4 ,paul's journeys1 by personal experience4 ,he could say that he had formed a portion and played no small part in the work of which he was telling1 and therefore ,st4 ,paul's activity naturally supplies the chief subject of his narrative4 ,st4 ,luke in this respect was exactly like ourselves4 ,what we take an active part in1 where our own powers are specially called into operation1 there our interest is specially aroused4 ,st4 ,luke personally knew of ,st4 ,paul's missionary journeys and labours1 and therefore when telling ,theophilus of the history of the ,church down to the year #fj or thereabouts1 he deals with that part of it which he specially knows4 ,this limitation of ,st4 ,luke's vision limits also our range of exposition4 ,the earlier portion of the ,acts is much richer from an expositor's point of view1 comprises more typical narratives1 scenes1 events than the latter portion1 though this latter portion may be richer in points of contact1 historical and geographical1 with the world of life and action4 ,it is with an expositor or preacher exactly the opposite as with the ,church historian or biographer of ,st4 ,paul4 ,a writer gifted with the exuberant imagination1 the minute knowledge of a ,rnan or a ,farrar naturally finds in the details of travel with which the latter portion of the ,acts is crowded matter for abundant discussion4 ,he can pour forth the treasures of information which modern archological research has furnished shedding light upon the movements of the ,apostle4 ,but with the preacher or expositor it is otherwise4 ,there are numerous incidents which lend themselves to his purpose in the journeys recorded in this latter portion of the book2 but while a preacher might find endless subjects for spiritual exposition in the conversion of ,st4 ,paul or the martyrdom of ,st4 ,stephen1 he finds himself confined to historical and geographical discussions in large portions of the story dealing with ,st4 ,paul's journeys4 ,we shall1 however1 strive to unite both functions1 and while endeavouring to treat the history from an expositor's point of view1 we shall not overlook details of another type which will impart colour and interest to the exposition4 ,i4 ,the thirteenth chapter of the ,acts records the opening of ,st4 ,paul's official missionary labours1 and its earliest verses tell us of the formal separation or consecration for that work which ,st4 ,paul received4 ,now the question may here be raised1 ,why did ,st4 ,paul receive such a solemn ordination as that we here read of8 ,had he not been called by ,christ immediately8 ,had he not been designated to the work in ,gentile lands by the voice of the same ,jesus ,christ speaking to ,ananias at ,damascus and afterwards to ,paul himself in the ,temple at ,jerusalem8 ,what was the necessity for such a solemn external imposition of hands as that here recorded8 ,john ,calvin1 in his commentary on this passage1 offers a very good suggestion1 and shows that he was able to throw himself back into the feelings and ideas of the times far better than many a modern writer4 ,calvin thinks that this revelation of the ,holy ,ghost and this ordination by the hands of the ,antiochene prophets were absolutely necessary to complete the work begun by ,st4 ,peter at ,csarea1 and for this reason4 ,the prejudices of the ,jewish ,christians against their ,gentile brethren were so strong1 that they would regard the vision at ,joppa as applying1 not as a general rule1 but as a mere personal matter1 authorising the reception of ,cornelius and his party alone4 ,they would not see nor understand that it authorised the active evangelisation of the ,gentile world and the prosecution of aggressive ,christian efforts among the heathen4 ,the ,holy ,ghost therefore1 as the abiding and guiding power in the ,church1 and expressing ,his will through the agency of the prophets then present1 said1 ,separate me ,barnabas and ,saul for the work whereunto ,i have called them2 and that work to which they were expressly sent forth by the ,holy ,ghost was the work of aggressive effort beginning with the ,jews--but not terminating with them--and including the ,gentiles4 ,this seems to me thoroughly true1 and shows how ,calvin realised the intellectual weakness1 the spiritual hardness of heart and slowness of judgment which prevailed among the apostles4 ,the battle of ,christian freedom and of catholic truth was not won in a moment4 ,old prejudices did not depart in an hour4 ,new principles were not assimilated and applied in a few days4 ,those who hold nobler views and higher principles than the crowd must not be surprised or dismayed if they find that year after year they have to fight the same battles and to proclaim the same fundamental truths and to maintain what may seem at times even a losing conflict with the forces of unreasoning prejudices4 ,if this was the case in the primitive ,church with all its unity and love and spiritual gifts1 we may well expect the same state of affairs in the ,church of our time4#aje #aje ,one great lesson which the true expositor will derive from this typical history is this1 the long1 doubtful1 painful strife which the battle of truth and justice ever involves4 ,the struggle for ,gentile freedom waged by ,st4 ,paul is typical of the battle for freedom of conscience1 for freedom of knowledge1 for human rights against slavery1 and of every other battle against tyranny and wrong which the world has ever seen4 ,the combat has ever been long and wearisome1 and the chiefest of ,god's champions have always been compelled to suffer much for their support of the truth1 which must1 however1 triumph in the long run4 ,an illustration borrowed from ,church history will explain this4 ,nothing can well be more completely contrary to the spirit of ,christianity than religious persecution4 ,nothing can be imagined more completely consonant with the spirit of the ,christian religion than freedom of conscience4 ,yet how hard has been the struggle for it6 ,the early ,christians suffered in defence of religious freedom1 but they had no sooner gained the battle than they adopted the very principle against which they had fought4 ,they became religiously intolerant1 because religious intolerance was part and parcel of the ,roman state under which they had been reared4 ,the ,reformation again was a battle for religious freedom4 ,if it were not1 the ,reformers who suffered in it would have no more claim to our compassion and sympathy on account of the deaths they suffered than soldiers who die in battle4 ,a soldier merely suffers what he is prepared to inflict1 and so it was with the martyrs of the ,reformation unless theirs was a struggle for religious freedom4 ,yet no sooner had the battle of the ,reformation been won than all the ,reformed ,churches adopted the very principle which had striven to crush themselves4 ,it is terribly difficult to emancipate ourselves from the influence and ideas of bygone ages1 and so it was with the ,jewish ,christians4 ,they could not bring themselves to adopt missionary work among the ,gentiles4 ,they believed indeed intellectually that ,god had granted unto the ,gentiles repentance unto life1 but that belief was not accompanied with any of the enthusiasm which alone lends life and power to mental conceptions4 ,the ,holy ,ghost therefore1 as the ,paraclete1 the loving ,comforter1 ,exhorter1 and ,guide of the ,church1 interposes afresh1 and by a new revelation ordains apostles whose great work shall consist in preaching to the ,gentile world4 ,this seems to me one great reason for the prominent place this incident at ,antioch holds4 ,the work of ,gentile conversion proceeded from ,antioch1 which may therefore well be regarded as the mother ,church of ,gentile ,christendom2 and the apostles of the ,gentiles were there solemnly set apart and constituted4 ,barnabas and ,saul were not previously called apostles4 ,henceforth this title is expressly applied to them1#ajf and independent apostolic action is taken by them4 ,but there seems to me another reason why ,barnabas and ,saul were thus solemnly set apart1 notwithstanding all their previous gifts and callings and history4 ,the ,holy ,ghost wished to lay down at the very beginning of the ,gentile ,church the law of orderly development1 the rule of external ordination1 and the necessity for its perpetual observance4 ,and therefore ,he issued ,his mandate for their visible separation to the work of evangelisation4 ,all the circumstances too are typical4 ,the ,church was engaged in a season of special devotion when the ,holy ,ghost spoke4 ,a special blessing was vouchsafed1 as before at ,pentecost1 when the people of ,god were specially waiting upon ,him4 ,the ,church at ,antioch as represented by its leading teachers were fasting and praying and ministering to the ,lord when the ,divine mandate was issued1 and then they fasted and prayed again4 ,the ordination of the first apostles to the ,gentiles was accompanied by special prayer and by fasting1 and the ,church took good care afterwards to follow closely this primitive example4 ,the institution of the four ,ember seasons as times for solemn ordinations is derived from this incident4 ,the ,ember seasons are periods for solemn prayer and fasting1 not only for those about to be ordained1 but also for the whole ,church1 because she recognises that the whole body of ,christ's people are interested most deeply and vitally in the nature and character of the ,christian ministry4 ,if the members of that ministry are devoted1 earnest1 inspired with ,divine love1 then indeed the work of ,christ flourishes in the ,church1 while if the ministry of ,god be careless and unspiritual1 the people of ,god suffer terrible injury4 ,and we observe1 further1 that not only the ,church subsequent to the apostolic age followed this example at ,antioch1 but ,st4 ,paul himself followed it and prescribed it to his disciples4 ,he ordained elders in every ,church1 and that from the beginning4 ,he acted thus on his very first missionary journey1 ordaining by the imposition of hands accompanied with prayer and fasting1 as we learn from the fourteenth chapter and twenty-third verse4 ,he reminded ,timothy of the gift imparted to that youthful evangelist by the imposition of ,st4 ,paul's own hands1 as well as by those of the presbytery2 and yet he does not hesitate to designate the elders of ,ephesus and ,miletus who were thus ordained by ,st4 ,paul as bishops set over ,god's flock by the ,holy ,ghost ,himself4 ,st4 ,paul and the ,apostolic ,church1 in fact1 looked behind this visible scene4 ,they realised vividly the truth of ,christ's promise about the presence of the ,holy ,ghost in the ,church4 ,they took no miserably low and ,erastian views of the sacred ministry1 as if it were an office of mere human order and appointment4 ,they viewed it as a supernatural and ,divine office1 which no mere human power1 no matter how exalted1 could confer4 ,they realised the human instruments indeed in their true position as nothing but instruments1 powerless in themselves1 and mighty only through ,god1 and therefore ,st4 ,paul regarded his own ordination of the elders whom he appointed at ,derbe1 ,iconium1 ,lystra1 or ,ephesus as a separation by the ,holy ,ghost to their ,divine offices4 ,the ,church was1 in fact1 then instinct with life and spiritual vigour1 because it thankfully recognised the present power1 the living force and vigour of the third person of the ,holy ,trinity4 #ajf ,see1 for instance1 ch4 xiv4 #d3 ,part held with the ,jews and part with the apostles2 and again1 verse #ad3 ,but when the apostles ,barnabas and ,paul heard of it4 ,it must be remembered that the term apostle was one used very freely among the ,jews to signify the official delegates of the high priest1 the ,sanhedrin1 or even the smallest synagogue4 ,it has1 however1 gained a sanctity and special application in the ,christian ,church which causes a certain amount of mental confusion4 ,at the same time1 we must remember that the title apostle was continued in the primitive ,church after the age of the ,twelve4 ,it was applied to their successors1 as we learn from the ,didache1 xi42 ,hermas1 ,sim4 ix42 #ae1 #af1 #be4 ,cf4 ,origen on ,john iv41 and ,euseb41 ,h4 ,e41 i4 #ab4 ,,ii4 ,the apostles having been thus commissioned lost no time4 ,they at once departed upon their great work4 ,and now let us briefly indicate the scope of the first great missionary tour undertaken by ,st4 ,paul1 and sketch its outline1 filling in the details afterwards4 ,according to early tradition the headquarters of the ,antiochene ,church were in ,singon ,street1 in the southern quarter of ,antioch4#ajg ,after earnest and prolonged religious services they left their ,christian brethren4 ,st4 ,paul's own practice recorded at ,ephesus1 ,miletus1 and at ,tyre shows us that prayer marked such separation from the ,christian brethren1 and we know that the same practice was perpetuated in the early ,church2 ,tertullian1 for instance1 telling us that a brother should not leave a ,christian house until he had been commended to ,god's keeping4 ,they then crossed the bridge1 and proceeded along the northern bank of the ,orontes to ,seleucia1 the port of ,antioch1 where the ruins still testify to the vastness of the architectural conceptions cherished by the ,syrian kings4 ,from ,seleucia the apostles sailed to the island of ,cyprus1 whose peaks they could see eighty miles distant shining bright and clear through the pellucid air4 ,various circumstances would lead them thither4 ,barnabas was of ,cyprus1 and he doubtless had many friends there4 ,cyprus had then an immense ,jewish population1 as we have already pointed out2 and though the apostles were specially designated for work among the ,gentiles1 they ever made the ,jews the starting-point whence to influence the outside world1 always used them as the lever whereby to move the stolid mass of paganism4 ,the apostles showed a wholesome example to all missionaries and to all teachers by this method of action4 ,they addressed the ,jews first because they had most in common with them4 ,and ,st4 ,paul deliberately and of set purpose worked on this principle1 whether with ,jews or ,gentiles4 ,he sought out the ideas or the ground common to himself and his hearers1 and then1 having found the points on which they agreed1 he worked out from them4 ,it is the true method of controversy4 ,i have seen the opposite course adopted1 and with very disastrous effects4 ,i have seen a method of controversial argument pursued1 consisting simply in attacks upon errors without any attempt to follow the apostolic example and discover the truths which both parties held in common1 and the result has been the very natural one1 that ill-will and bad feeling have been aroused without effecting any changes in conviction4 ,we can easily understand the reason of this1 if we consider how the matter would stand with ourselves4 ,if a man comes up to us1 and without any attempt to discover our ideas or enter into sympathetic relations with us1 makes a very aggressive assault upon all our particular notions and practices1 our backs are at once put up1 we are thrown into a defensive mood1 our pride is stirred1 we resent the tone1 the air of the aggressor1 and unconsciously determine not to be convinced by him4 ,controversial preaching of that class1 hard1 unloving1 censorious1 never does any permanent good1 but rather strengthens and confirms the person against whose belief it is directed4 ,nothing of this kind will ever be found in the wise1 courteous teaching of the apostle ,paul1 whose few recorded speeches to ,jews and ,gentiles may be commended to the careful study of all teachers at home or abroad as models of mission preaching1 being at once prudent and loving1 faithful and courageous4 #ajg ,an elaborate plan of ancient ,antioch1 accompanied with a description of its various parts and references to the authorities for the same1 will be found in ,lewin's ,st4 ,paul1 vol4 i41 p4 #ib4 ,from ,seleucia the apostles itinerated through the whole island unto ,paphos1 celebrated in classical antiquity as the favourite seat of the goddess ,venus1 where they came for the first time into contact with a great ,roman official1 ,sergius ,paulus1 the proconsul of the island4 ,from ,paphos they sailed across to the mainland of ,asia ,minor1 landed at ,perga1 where ,john ,mark abandoned the work to which he had put his hand4 ,they do not seem to have stayed for long at ,perga4 ,they doubtless declared their message at the local synagogue to the ,jews and proselytes who assembled there1 for we are not to conclude1 because a synagogue is not expressly mentioned as belonging to any special town1 that therefore it did not exist4 ,modern discoveries have shown that ,jewish synagogues were found in every considerable town or city of ,asia ,minor1 preparing the way by their pure morality and monotheistic teaching for the fuller and richer truths of ,christianity4#ajh ,but ,st4 ,paul had fixed his eagle gaze upon ,antioch of ,pisidia1 a town which had been made by ,augustus ,csar the great centre of this part of ,asia ,minor1 whence military roads radiated in every direction1 lending thereby the assistance of imperial organisation to the progress of the gospel4 ,its situation was1 in fact1 the circumstance which determined the original foundation of ,antioch by the ,syrian princes4#aji #ajh ,hyppa1 for instance1 was a celebrated sanctuary of ,diana1 between ,sardis and ,ephesus4 ,jewish inscriptions have been found there proving that a ,jewish synagogue and community existed even in that pagan stronghold3 see ,revue ,archologique for #ahhe1 vol4 ii41 p4 #aaa4 #aji ,there is a series of plates in ,lewin's ,life of ,st4 ,paul1 vol4 i41 pp4 #acj-cf1 depicting the site and ruins of ,antioch1 and showing the roads which connected it with all the leading towns of the neighbourhood1 ,iconium1 ,lystra1 ,derbe4 ,professor ,ramsay1 in his ,historical ,geography of ,asia ,minor1 bestows a good deal of attention on ,antioch of ,pisidia and its position3 see pp4 #dg1 #eg1 #he1 #cia1 #dec4 ,facility of access1 commercial convenience were points at which they chiefly aimed in selecting the sites of the cities they built1 and the wisdom of their choice in the case of ,antioch in ,pisidia was confirmed when ,augustus and ,tiberius1 some few years previous to ,st4 ,paul's visit1 made ,antioch the centre from which diverged the whole system of military roads throughout this portion of ,asia ,minor4 ,it was a very large city1 and its ruins and aqueducts testify to this day concerning the important position it held as the great centre of all the ,roman colonies and fortresses which ,augustus planted in the year ,b4,c4 #f along the skirts of the ,taurus ,range to restrain the incursions of the rude mountaineers of ,isauria and ,pisidia4 ,when persecution compelled the apostles to retire from ,antioch they took their way therefore to ,iconium1 which was some sixty miles south-east of ,antioch along one of these military roads of which we have spoken1 constructed for the purpose of putting down the brigands which then1 as in modern times1 constituted one of the great plagues of ,asia ,minor4#aaj ,but why did the apostles retire to ,iconium8 ,surely one might say1 if the ,jews had influence enough at ,antioch to stir up the chief men of the city against the missionaries1 they would have had influence enough to secure a warrant for their arrest in a neighbouring city4 ,at first sight it seems somewhat difficult to account for the line of travel or flight adopted by the apostles4 ,but a reference to ancient geography throws some light upon the problem4 ,strabo1 a geographer of ,st4 ,paul's own day1 tells us that ,iconium was an independent principality or tetrarchy1 surrounded indeed on all sides by ,roman territory1 but still enjoying a certain amount of independence4 ,the apostles fled to ,iconium when persecution waxed hot because they had a good road thither1 and also because at ,iconium they were secure from any legal molestation being under a new jurisdiction4#aaa #aaj ,st4 ,paul1 writing in #bnd ,corinthians1 speaks of himself as at times in perils of robbers4 ,this danger may well have happened to him in the central districts of ,asia ,minor4 ,there is an interesting story of ,st4 ,john and the bandits in ,eusebius1 ,h4 ,e41 iii41 #bc4 ,the incidents there told took place in ,asia ,minor4 #aaa ,iconium was in ,st4 ,paul's day the centre of an independent tetrarchy ruled by native princes4 ,see ,pliny's ,nat4 ,hist41 v4 #bg4 ,the site of ,iconium has never been uncertain4 ,it was made the capital of their dominions by the ,sultans of the ,seldjuk ,turks1 and continued to occupy that position till the conquest of ,constantinople4 ,it is still called ,konia1 a modification of its original name1 and still continues to attract a large population on account of the beauty and convenience of its situation1 which gives it the title of the ,damascus of ,asia ,minor4 ,according to tradition ,sosipatros1 one of the seventy disciples1 was the bishop of ,iconium1 and was succeeded by ,terentius1 another member of the same sacred company2 ,acta ,sanctorum1 ,june #bjth1 p4 #fg2 ,ramsay1 ,historical ,geography of ,asia ,minor1 p4 #ccb4 ,the latest account of ,iconium as it is at present will be found in ,sterrett's ,epigraphical ,journey in ,asia ,minor1 printed among the ,papers of the ,american ,school of ,classical ,studies at ,athens1 ,boston1 #ahhd4 vol4 ii41 p4 #ahh-bbe4 ,after a time1 however1 the ,jews from ,antioch made their way to ,iconium and began the same process which had proved so successful at ,antioch4 ,they first excited the members of the ,jewish synagogue against the apostles1 and through them influenced the towns-people at large1 so that1 though successful in winning converts1 ,st4 ,paul and his companion were in danger of being stoned by a joint mob of ,jews and ,gentiles4 ,they had therefore to fly a second time1 and when doing so they acted on the same principle as before4 ,they again removed themselves out of the local jurisdiction of their enemies1 and passed to ,derbe and ,lystra1 cities of ,lycaonia1 a ,roman province which had just been formed by the ,emperor ,claudius4#aab #aab ,the apostles seem to have acted as in former times persons harassed by legal processes could do in this country4 ,a writ directed to a sheriff only ran within his own county4 ,a man could not be arrested under it if he passed one step beyond the county bounds1 till countersigned by the sheriff of the county into which the delinquent had passed4 ,under the ,roman empire the local liberties and jurisdictions were simply infinite1 a fact which of course lent much assistance to persons persecuted as the apostles were4 ,derbe1 for instance1 was a native city of ,lycaonia1 and belonged to the ,koinon or local assembly of that province4 ,lystra was situated indeed in ,lycaonia1 but being a ,roman colony had therefore exceptional privileges1 and scorned to belong to the local ,assembly of native cities4 ,see ,ramsay1 ,hist4 ,geog41 pp4 #ccb1 #cge1 #cgf4 ,then after a time1 when the disturbances which the ,jews persistently raised wherever they came had subsided1 the apostles returned back over the same ground1 no longer indeed publicly preaching1 but organising quietly and secretly the ,churches which they had founded in the different towns through which they had passed1 till they arrived back at ,perga1 where perhaps1 finding no ship sailing to ,antioch1 they travelled to the port of ,attalia1 where they succeeded in finding a passage to that city of ,antioch whence they had been sent forth4#aac ,this brief sketch will give a general view of the first missionary tour made in the realms of paganism1 and will show that it dealt with little more than two provinces of ,asia ,minor1 ,pisidia and ,lycaonia1 and was followed by what men would count but scanty results1 the foundation and organisation of a few scattered ,christian communities in some of the leading towns of these districts4 #aac ,it is well perhaps to note that the in this name is long1 representing the diphthong 1 the ,greek name of the town being 4 ,,iii4 ,let us now more particularly notice some of the details recorded concerning this journey4 ,the apostles began their work at ,cyprus1 where they proclaimed the gospel in the ,jewish synagogues4 ,they were attracted as we have said to this island1 first1 because it was the native land of ,barnabas1 and then because its population was in large degree ,jewish1 owing to the possession of the famous copper mines of the island by ,herod the ,great4#aad ,synagogues were scattered all over the island and proselytes appertained to each synagogue1 and thus a basis of operations was ready whence the gospel message might operate4 ,it was just the same even at ,paphos1 where ,st4 ,paul came in contact with the proconsul ,sergius ,paulus4 ,the ,jewish element here again appears1 though in more active opposition than seems to have been elsewhere offered4 ,sergius ,paulus was a ,roman citizen like ,cornelius of ,csarea4 ,he had become dissatisfied with the belief of his forefathers4 ,he had now come into contact with the mystic ,east1 and had yielded himself to the guidance of a man who professed the ,jewish religion1 which seems to have charmed by its pure morality and simple monotheism many of the noblest minds of that age4 ,but1 like all outsiders1 ,sergius ,paulus did not make accurate and just distinctions between man and man4 ,he yielded himself to the guidance of a man who traded on the name of a ,jew1 but who really practised those rites of weird sorcery which real ,judaism utterly repudiated and denounced4 ,this alone accounts for the stern language of ,st4 ,paul3 ,o full of all guile and all villany1 thou son of the devil1 thou enemy of all righteousness1 wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the ,lord8 ,st4 ,paul never addressed a lawful opponent in this manner4 ,he did not believe in the efficacy of strong language in itself1 nor did he abuse those who withstood him in honest argument4 ,but he did not hesitate1 on the other hand1 to brand a deceiver as he deserved1 or to denounce in scathing terms those who were guilty of conscious fraud4 ,st4 ,paul might well be taken as a model controversialist in this respect4 ,he knew how to distinguish between the genuine opponent who might be mistaken but was certainly conscientious1 and the fraudulent hypocrite devoid of all convictions save the conviction of the value of money4 ,with the former ,st4 ,paul was full of courtesy1 patience1 consideration1 because he had in himself experience of the power of blind unthinking prejudice4 ,for the latter class ,st4 ,paul had no consideration1 and with them he wasted no time4 ,his honest soul took their measure at once4 ,he denounced them as he did ,elymas on this occasion1 and then passed on to deal with nobler and purer souls1 where honest and good hearts offered more promising soil for the reception of the ,word of the ,kingdom4 ,controversy of every kind is very trying to tongue and temper1 but religious controversy such as that in which ,st4 ,paul spent his life is specially trying to the character4 ,the subject is so important that it seems to excuse an over zeal and earnestness which terminates in bad temper and unwise language4 ,and yet we sometimes cannot shrink from controversy1 because conscience demands it on our part4 ,when that happens to be the case1 it will be well for us to exercise the most rigorous control over our feelings and our words2 from time to time to realise by a momentary effort of introspection ,christ hanging upon the cross and bearing for us the unworthy and unjust reproaches of mankind2 for thus and thus only will pride be kept down and hot temper restrained and that great advantage for the truth secured which self-control always bestows upon its possessor4 #aad ,see vol4 i41 p4 #baf4 ,there is an interesting illustration of the historic accuracy of ,st4 ,luke connected with the apostolic visit to ,paphos and to ,sergius ,paulus the proconsul4 ,thrice over in the narrative of ,st4 ,luke1 ,sergius ,paulus is called proconsul--first in the seventh verse of the thirteenth chapter1 where ,elymas the sorcerer is described thus1 who was with the proconsul1 ,sergius ,paulus1 a man of understanding1 while again the same title of proconsul is applied to ,sergius in the eighth and twelfth verses4 ,this has been the cause of much misunderstanding and of no small reproach hurled against the sacred writer4 ,let us inquire into its justice and the facts of the case4 ,the ,roman provinces were divided into two classes1 senatorial and imperial4 ,the senatorial provinces were ruled by proconsuls appointed by the ,senate2 the imperial by proprtors appointed by the emperors4 ,this arrangement was made by ,augustus ,csar1 and is reported to us by ,strabo who lived and wrote during ,st4 ,paul's early manhood4 ,but now a difficulty arises4 ,strabo gives us the list of the provinces senatorial and imperial alike1 and expressly classes ,cyprus amongst the imperial provinces1 which were ruled by proprtors and not by proconsuls4 ,in the opinion of the older critics1 ,st4 ,luke was thus plainly convicted of a mistake and of a flagrant contradiction of that great authority the geographer ,strabo4 ,but it is never safe to jump to conclusions of that kind with respect to a contemporaneous writer who has proved himself accurate on other occasions4 ,it is far better and far safer to say1 ,let us wait awhile1 and see what further investigations will reveal4 ,and so it has proved in this special case4 ,strabo tells us of the original arrangement made about thirty years ,b4,c4 between the ,emperor ,augustus and the ,senate1 when ,cyprus was most certainly numbered amongst the imperial provinces2 but he omits to tell us what another historian of the same century1 ,dion ,cassius1 does relate1 that the same ,emperor modified this arrangement five years later1 handing ,cyprus and ,gallia ,narbonensis over to the rule of the ,senate1 so that from that date and henceforth throughout the first century of our era ,cyprus was governed by proconsuls alone1 as ,st4 ,luke most accurately1 though only incidentally1 reports4#aae ,here1 too1 the results of modern investigation among inscriptions and coins have come in to supplement and support the testimony of historians4 ,the ,greek inscriptions discovered prior to and during the earlier half of this century have been collected together in ,boeckh's ,corpus of ,greek ,inscriptions1 which is1 indeed1 a vast repertory of original documents concerning the life1 ,pagan and ,christian1 of the ,greek world4 ,in the inscriptions numbered #bfca and #bfcb in that valuable work we have the names of ,q4 ,julius ,cordus and ,l4 ,annius ,bassus expressly mentioned as proconsuls of ,cyprus in ,a4,d4 #ea1 #eb2 while on coins of ,cyprus have been found the names of ,cominius ,proclus and ,quadratus1 who held the same office4 ,but the very latest investigations have borne striking testimony to the same fact4 ,the name of the very proconsul whom ,st4 ,paul addressed appears on an inscription discovered in our own time4 ,cyprus has been thoroughly investigated since it passed into ,british hands1 specially by ,general ,cesnola1 who has written a work on the subject which is well worth reading by those who take an interest in ,scripture lands and the scenes where the apostles laboured4 ,in that work1 p4 #dbe1 ,cesnola tells us of a mutilated inscription which he recovered dealing with some subject of no special importance1 but bearing the following precious notice giving its date as ,under ,paulus the ,proconsul2 proving to us by contemporary evidence that ,sergius ,paulus ruled the island1 and ruled it with the special title of proconsul4 ,surely an instance like this--and we shall have several such to notice--is quite enough to make fair minds suspend their judgment when charges of inaccuracy are alleged against ,st4 ,luke dependent upon our own ignorance alone of the entire facts of the case4 ,a wider knowledge1 a larger investigation we may well be sure will suffice to clear the difficulty and vindicate the fair fame of the sacred historian4 #aae ,the words of ,dion are3 ,eo tempore ,cyprum ac ,galliam ,narbonensem1 quia nihil armis suis indigerent1 populo reddidit2 atque ita proconsules etiam in istas provincias mitti cperunt4 ,see the works of ,dion1 edited by ,h4 ,valerius1 vol4 i41 p4 #gcc 7,hamburg1 #agej74 ,valerius1 in his note on this passage1 notes the inaccuracies into which the older critics--,grotius1 ,hammond1 ,baronius--had fallen about ,acts xiii4 #g4 ,from ,cyprus the apostles passed over to the continent1 and opened their missionary work at ,antioch of ,pisidia1 where the first recorded address of ,st4 ,paul was delivered4 ,this sermon1 delivered in the ,pisidian synagogue1 is deserving of our special notice because it is the only missionary address delivered by ,st4 ,paul to the ,jews of the ,dispersion which has been handed down to us1 unless we include the few words delivered to the ,roman ,jews reported in the twenty-eighth chapter from the seventeenth to the twenty-eighth verses4 ,let us briefly analyse it1 premising that it should be carefully compared with the addresses of ,st4 ,peter to the ,jews upon the ,day of ,pentecost and with the speech delivered by ,st4 ,stephen before the ,sanhedrin1 when all three will be found to run upon the same lines4 ,the apostles having reached ,antioch waited until the ,sabbath came round1 and then sought the local meeting-place of the ,jews4 ,the apostles felt indeed that they were entrusted with a great mission important for the human race1 but yet they knew right well that feverish impetuosity or restless activity was not the true way to advance the cause they had in hand4 ,they did not believe in wild irregular actions which only stir up opposition4 ,they were calm and dignified in their methods1 because they were consciously guided by the ,divine ,spirit of ,him concerning whom it was said in the days of ,his flesh1 ,he did not strive nor cry1 neither did any man hear ,his voice in the streets4 ,on the ,sabbath day they entered the synagogue1 and took their place on a bench set apart for the reception of those who were regarded as teachers4 ,at the conclusion of the public worship and the reading of the lessons out of the law and the prophets1 such as still are read in the synagogue worship1 the ,rulers of the ,synagogue sent to them the minister or apostle of the synagogue intimating their permission to address the assembled congregation1 whereupon ,st4 ,paul arose and delivered an address1 of which the following is an analysis4 ,st4 ,paul opened his sermon by a reference to the lessons which had just been read in the service1 which--as all the writers of the ,apostle's life1 ,lewin1 ,conybeare and ,howson1 and ,archdeacon ,farrar1 agree--were taken from the first chapter of ,deuteronomy and the first of ,isaiah4 ,he points out1 as ,st4 ,stephen had done1 the providential dealings of ,god with their forefathers from the time of the original choice of ,abraham down to ,david4 ,the ,jews had been divinely guided throughout their history down to ,david's days1 and that ,divine guidance had not then ceased1 but continued down to the present1 as the ,apostle then proceeds to show4 ,in ,david's seed there had been left a hope for ,israel which every true ,jew still cherished4 ,he then announces that the long-cherished hope had now at last been fulfilled4 ,this fact depended not on his testimony alone4 ,the ,messiah whom they had long expected had been preceded by a prophet whose reputation had spread into these distant regions1 and had gained disciples1 as we shall afterwards find1 at ,ephesus4 ,john the ,baptist had announced the ,messiah's appearance1 and proclaimed his own inferiority to ,him4 ,but then an objection occurs to the ,apostle which might naturally be raised4 ,if ,john's reputation and doctrine had penetrated to ,antioch1 the story of the crucifixion of ,jesus may also have been reported there1 and the local ,jews may therefore have concluded that such an ignominious death was conclusive against the claims of ,jesus8 ,the ,apostle then proceeds to show how that the providential rule of ,god had been exercised even in that matter4 ,the wrath of man had been compelled to praise ,god1 and even while the rulers at ,jerusalem were striving to crush ,jesus ,christ they were in reality fulfilling the voices of the prophets which went beforehand and proclaimed the sufferings of the ,messiah exactly as they had happened4 ,and further still1 ,god had set ,his seal to the truth of the story by raising ,jesus ,christ from the dead according to the predictions of the ,old ,testament1 which he expounds after the manner of the ,jewish schools1 finding a hint of the ,resurrection of ,christ in ,isaiah lv4 #c3 ,i will give you the holy and sure blessings of ,david2 and a still clearer one in ,psalm xvi4 #aj3 ,thou wilt not give ,thine ,holy ,one to see corruption4 ,the ,apostle1 after quoting this text1 which from its use by ,st4 ,peter on the ,day of ,pentecost seems to have been a passage commonly quoted in the ,jewish controversy1 terminates his discourse with a proclamation of the exalted blessings which the ,messiah has brought1 indicating briefly but clearly the universal character of the gospel promises1 and finishing with a warning against stupid obstinate resistance drawn from ,habakkuk i4 #e1 which primarily referred to the disbelief in impending ,chaldan invasion exhibited by the ,jews1 but which the ,apostle applies to the ,jews of ,antioch and their spiritual dangers arising from similar wilful obstinacy4 ,we have of course not much more than the heads of the apostolic sermon4 ,five or seven minutes of a not very rapid speaker would amply suffice to exhaust the exact words attributed to ,st4 ,paul4 ,he must have enlarged on the various topics4 ,he could not have introduced ,john the ,baptist in the abrupt manner in which he is noticed in the text of our ,new ,testament4 ,it seems quite natural enough to us that he should be thus named1 because ,john occupies a very high and exalted position in our mental horizon from our earliest childhood4 ,but who was ,john the ,baptist for these ,jewish settlers in the ,pisidian ,antioch8 ,he was simply a prophet of whom they may have heard a vague report1 who appeared before ,israel for a year or two1 and then suffered death at the hands of ,herod the ,tetrarch3 and so it must have been with many other topics introduced into this discourse4 ,they must have been much more copiously treated1 elaborated1 discussed1 or else the audience in the ,pisidian synagogue must have loved concentrated discourse more keenly than any other assembly that ever met together4 ,and yet1 though the real discourse must have been much longer--and did we only possess the sermon in its fulness many a difficulty which now puzzles us would disappear at once--we can still see the line of the apostolic argument and grasp its force4 ,the ,apostle argues1 in fact1 that ,god had chosen the original fathers of the ,jewish race4 ,he had gone on conferring ever fresh and larger blessings in the wilderness1 in ,canaan1 under the ,judges1 and then under the ,kings1 till the time of ,david1 from whose seed ,god had raised up the greatest gift of all in the person of ,jesus ,christ1 through whom blessings unknown before and unsurpassed were offered to mankind4 ,st4 ,paul contends exactly as ,st4 ,stephen had done1 that true religion has been a perpetual advance and development2 that ,christianity is not something distinct from ,judaism1 but is essentially one with it1 being the flower of a plant which ,god ,himself had planted1 the crown and glory of the work which ,he had ,himself begun4 ,this address1 as we have already noticed in the preface to the first volume of this work1 will repay careful study2 for it shows the methods adopted by the early ,christian when dealing with the ,jews4#aaf ,they did not attack any of their peculiar views or practices1 but confining themselves to what they held in common strove to convince them that ,christianity was the logical outcome of their own principles4 #aaf ,cf4 vol4 i41 pp4 xi1 #cjj4 ,the results of this address were very indicative of the future4 ,the ,jews of the synagogue seem to have been for a time impressed by ,st4 ,paul's words4 ,several of them1 together with a number of the proselytes1 attached themselves to him as his disciples1 and were further instructed in the faith4 ,the proselytes especially must have been attracted by the ,apostle's words4 ,they were1 like ,cornelius1 ,proselytes of the ,gate1 who observed merely the seven precepts of ,noah and renounced idolatry1 but were not circumcised or subject to the restrictions and duties of the ,jewish ritual4 ,they must have welcomed tidings of a religion embodying all that which they venerated in the ,jewish ,law and yet devoid of its narrowness and disadvantages4 ,next ,sabbath the whole city was stirred with excitement1 and then ,jewish jealousy burst into a flame4 ,they saw that their national distinctions and glory were in danger4 ,they refused to listen or permit any further proclamation of what must have seemed to them a revolutionary teaching disloyal to the traditions and existence of their religion and their nation4 ,they used their influence therefore with the chief men of the city1 exercising it through their wives1 who were in many cases attracted by the ,jewish worship1 or who may have been themselves of ,jewish birth1 and the result was that the apostles were driven forth to preach in other cities of the same central region of ,asia ,minor4 ,this was the first attack made by the ,jews upon ,st4 ,paul in his mission journeys4 ,he had already had experience of their hostility at ,damascus and at ,jerusalem1 but this hostility was doubtless provoked by reason of their resentment at the apostasy to the ,nazarene sect of their chosen champion4 ,but here at ,antioch we perceive the first symptom of that bitter hostility to ,st4 ,paul because of his catholic principles1 his proclamation of salvation as open to all alike1 ,jew or ,gentile1 free from any burdensome or restrictive conditions1 a hostility which we shall find persistently pursuing him1 both within the ,church1 and still more without the ,church1 at ,iconium1 at ,lystra1 at ,thessalonica1 at ,corinth1 and at ,jerusalem4 ,it would seem indeed as if the invention of the term ,christian at ,antioch marked a crisis in the history of the early ,church4 ,henceforth ,st4 ,paul and his friends became the objects of keenest hatred1 because the ,jews had recognised that they taught a form of belief absolutely inconsistent with the ,jewish faith as hitherto known2 a hatred which seems1 however1 to have been limited to ,st4 ,paul and his ,antiochene friends1 for the temporising measures and the personal prejudices1 the whole atmosphere1 in fact1 of the ,jerusalem ,church led the unbelieving ,jews to make a broad distinction between the disciples at ,jerusalem and the followers of ,st4 ,paul4 ,,iv4 ,so far we have dealt with ,st4 ,paul's address at ,antioch as typical of his methods in dealing with the ,jews1 and their treatment of the ,apostle as typical of that hostility which the ,jews ever displayed to the earliest teachers of ,christian truth1 as witnessed not only by the ,new ,testament1 but also by the writings and histories of ,justin ,martyr1 and of ,polycarp of ,smyrna1 and of all the early apologists4 ,but we are not left in this typical ,church history without a specimen of ,st4 ,paul's earlier methods when dealing with the heathen4 ,st4 ,paul1 after his rejection at ,antioch1 escaped to ,iconium1 sixty miles distant1 and thence1 when ,jewish persecution again waxed hot1 betook himself to ,lystra1 some forty miles to the south4 ,there the ,apostle found himself in a new atmosphere and amid new surroundings4 ,antioch and ,iconium had large ,jewish populations1 and were permeated with ,jewish ideas4 ,lystra was a thoroughly ,gentile town with only a very few ,jewish inhabitants4 ,the whole air of the place--its manners1 customs1 popular legends--was thoroughly pagan4 ,this offered ,st4 ,paul a new field for his activity1 of which he availed himself right diligently1 finishing up his work with healing a lifelong cripple1 a miracle which so impressed the mob of ,lystra that they immediately cried out in the native speech of ,lycaonia1 ,the gods are coming down to us in the likeness of men1 calling ,barnabas ,jupiter1 on account of his lofty stature and more commanding appearance1 and ,paul ,mercurius or ,hermes1 because of his more insignificant size and more copious eloquence4 ,here again we have1 in our writer's words1 an incidental and even unconscious witness to the truth of our narrative4 ,the cry of the men of ,lystra1 these rude barbarian people of the original inhabitants of the land1 who1 though they could understand ,greek1 naturally fell back on their native ,lycaonian language to express their deeper feelings1--this cry1 ,i say1 refers to an ancient legend connected with their history1 of which we find a lengthened account in the works of the poet ,ovid4 ,jupiter attended by ,mercury once descended to visit the earth and see how man was faring4 ,some scoffed at the deities1 and were punished4 ,others received them1 and were blessed accordingly4#aag ,the wondrous work performed on the cripple naturally led the men of ,lystra to think that the ,divine ,epiphany had been repeated4 ,the colony of ,lystra--for ,lystra was a ,roman colony#aah--was devoted to the worship of ,jupiter1 in memory doubtless of this celebrated visit4 ,a temple to ,jupiter stood before and outside the gate of the city1 as the temple of ,diana stood outside the gate of ,ephesus1 lending sanctity and protection to the neighbouring town4 ,the priest and the people act upon the spur of the moment4 ,they bring victims and garlands prepared to offer sacrifice to the deities who1 as they thought1 had revisited their ancient haunts4 ,they were approaching the house where the apostles were dwelling--perhaps that of ,lois and ,eunice and ,timothy--when ,paul sprang forward and delivered a short impassioned address deprecating the threatened adoration4 ,let us quote the address in order that we may see its full force3 ,sirs1 why do ye these things8 ,we also are men of like passions with you1 and bring you good tidings1 that ye should turn from these vain things unto the living ,god1 who made the heaven and the earth and the sea1 and all that in them is3 who in the generations gone by suffered all the nations to walk in their own ways4 ,and yet ,he left not ,himself without witness1 in that ,he did good1 and gave you from heaven rains and fruitful seasons1 filling your hearts with food and gladness4 ,how very different ,st4 ,paul's words to the pagans are from those he addressed to the ,jews and proselytes1 believers in the true ,god and in the facts of revelation6 ,he proves himself a born orator1 able to adapt himself to different classes of hearers1 and1 grasping their special ideas and feelings1 to suit his arguments to their various conditions4 ,st4 ,paul's short address on this occasion may be compared with his speech to the men of ,athens1 and the first chapter of the ,epistle to the ,romans1 and the various apologies composed by the earliest advocates of ,christianity during the second century4 ,take1 for instance1 the ,apology of ,aristides1 of which we gave an account in the preface to the first volume of this commentary on the ,acts4 ,we shall find1 when we examine it and compare it with the various passages of ,scripture to which we have just referred1 that all run upon exactly the same lines4 ,they all appeal to the evidence of nature and of natural religion4 ,they say not one word about ,scripture concerning which their hearers know nothing4 ,they are not like unwise ,christian advocates among ourselves who think they can overthrow an infidel with a text out of ,scripture1 begging the question at issue1 the very point to be decided being this1 whether there is such a thing at all as ,scripture4 ,st4 ,paul does with the men of ,lystra and the men of ,athens what ,aristides did when writing for the ,emperor ,hadrian1 and what every wise missionary will still do with the heathen or the unbeliever whose salvation he is seeking4 ,the ,apostle takes up the ground that is common to himself and his hearers4 ,he shows them the unworthiness of the conception they have formed of the ,godhead4 ,he appeals to the testimony of ,god's works and to the interior witness of conscience prophesying perpetually in the secret tabernacle of man's heart1 and thus appealing in ,god's behalf to the eternal verities and evidences of nature exterior and interior to man1 he vindicates the ,divine authority1 glorifies the ,divine character1 and restrains the capricious and ignorant folly of the men of ,lystra4 #aag ,see the story of ,philemon and ,baucis as told in ,smith's ,dictionary of ,classical ,biography and ,mythology4 #aah ,the site of ,lystra and the fact that it was a ,roman colony were unknown till #ahhd1 when ,sterrett discovered an inscription which ascertained both facts3 see ,ramsay's ,historical ,geography of ,asia ,minor1 p4 #ccb1 and ,sterrett's ,epigraph4 ,journey1 already quoted1 from ,papers of ,american ,school at ,athens1 vol4 iii41 p4 #adb 7,boston1 #ahhh74 ,artemas1 one of the seventy disciples1 is said to have been bishop of ,lystra3 see ,acta ,sanct41 ,june #bjth1 p4 #fg4 ,lastly1 we find in this narrative two typical suggestions for the missionary activity of the ,church in every age4 ,the men of ,lystra with marvellous facility soon changed their opinion concerning ,st4 ,paul4 ,m4 ,rnan has well pointed out that to the pagans of those times a miracle was no necessary proof of a ,divine mission4 ,it was just as easily a proof to them of a diabolical or magical power4 ,the ,jews1 therefore1 who followed ,st4 ,paul1 had no difficulty in persuading the men of ,lystra that this assailant of their hereditary deities was a mere charlatan1 a clever trickster moved by wicked powers to lead them astray4 ,their character and reputation as ,jews1 worshippers of one ,god alone1 would lend weight to this charge1 and enable them the more easily to effect their purpose of killing ,st4 ,paul1 in which they had failed at ,antioch and ,iconium4 ,the fickle mob easily lent themselves to the purposes of the ,jews1 and having stoned ,st4 ,paul dragged his body outside the city walls1 thinking him dead4 ,a few faithful disciples followed the crowd1 however4 ,perhaps1 too1 the eirenarch or local police authority with his subordinates had interfered1 and the rioters1 apprehensive of punishment for their disturbance of the peace1 had retired4#aai ,as the disciples stood around weeping for the loss they had sustained1 the ,apostle awoke from the swoon into which he had fallen1 and was carried into the city by the faithful few1 among whom doubtless were ,timothy and his parents4 ,lystra1 however1 was no longer safe for ,st4 ,paul4 ,he retired1 therefore1 some twenty miles to ,derbe1 where he continued for some time labouring with success1 till the storm and the excitement had subsided at ,lystra4 ,then he returned back over the same ground which he had already traversed4 ,he might have pushed on along the great ,eastern ,road1 nigh as ,derbe was to the passes through the ,taurus ,range which led directly to ,cilicia and ,tarsus4 ,he wished to go back indeed to ,antioch4 ,he had been a year or so absent on this first excursion into the vast fields of ,gentile paganism4 ,wider and more extensive missions had now to be planned4 ,the wisdom gained by personal experience had now to be utilised in consultation with the brethren4 ,but still a work had to be done in ,lycaonia and ,pisidia if the results of his labours were not to be lost4 ,he had quitted in great haste each town he had visited1 forced out by persecution1 and leaving the organisation of the ,church incomplete4 ,st4 ,paul came1 like his ,master1 not merely to proclaim a doctrine3 he came still more to found and organise a ,divine society4 ,he returns therefore back again along the route he had first taken4 ,he does not preach in public1 nor run any risks of raising riots anew4 ,his work is now entirely of a character interior to the ,church4 ,he strengthens the disciples by his teaching1 he points out that earthly trials and persecutions are marks of ,god's love and favour rather than tokens of ,his wrath1 he notes for them that it is needful through many tribulations to enter into the kingdom of ,god1 and above all he secures the permanence of his work by ordaining presbyters after the fashion of the ,church at ,antioch1 with prayer and fasting and imposition of hands4 ,this is one great typical lesson taught us here by ,st4 ,paul's return journey through ,lystra1 ,iconium1 and ,antioch of ,pisidia4 ,preaching and evangelistic work are important2 but pastoral work and ,church consolidation and ,church order are equally important1 if any permanent fruits are to be garnered and preserved4 ,and the other typical lesson is implied in the few words wherein the termination of his first great missionary journey is narrated4 ,when they had spoken the word in ,perga1 they went down to ,attalia2 and thence they sailed to ,antioch1 from whence they had been committed to the grace of ,god for the work which they had fulfilled4 #aai ,the ,romans had a local police in ,asia ,minor1 organised after the manner of our own local police4 ,the chief of the police in each town was called the eirenarch1 and was annually appointed by the proconsul4 ,the ,romans never made the mistake of placing the police in the hands of discontented subjects4 ,see1 on this curious topic1 ,le ,bas and ,waddington's ,voyage ,archologique1 t4 iii41 pp4 #bg and #bee4 ,antioch was the centre whence ,paul and ,barnabas had issued forth to preach among the ,gentiles1 and to ,antioch the apostles returned to cheer the ,church with the narrative of their labours and successes1 and to restore themselves and their exhausted powers with the sweetness of ,christian fellowship1 of brotherly love and kindness such as then flourished1 as never before or since1 amongst the children of men4 ,mission work such as ,st4 ,paul did on this great tour is very exhausting1 and it can always be best performed from a great centre4 ,mission work1 evangelistic work of any kind1 if it is to be successful1 makes terrible demands on man's whole nature1 physical1 mental1 spiritual1 and bodily4 ,the best restorative for that nature when so exhausted is conversation and intercourse with men of like minds1 such as ,st4 ,paul found when1 returning to ,antioch1 he cheered the hearts and encouraged the hopes of the ,church by narrating the wonders he had seen done and the triumphs he had seen won through the power of the ,holy ,ghost4#abj #abj ,it has often been argued that the gift of tongues conferred by the ,holy ,ghost at ,pentecost was not necessary1 as ,greek was universally spoken in ,asia ,minor4 ,the use of the ,lycaonian tongue at ,lystra1 even though a ,roman colony1 is an important fact on the other side4 ,mr4 ,ramsay1 in his ,hist4 ,geog4 of ,asia ,minor1 says2 ,greek was not the popular language of the plateau1 even in the third century after ,christ2 the mass of the people spoke ,lycaonian and ,galatian and ,phrygian1 though those who wrote books wrote ,greek and those who governed spoke ,latin4 ,cf4 pp4 #ih1 #ii of ,mr4 ,ramsay's work1 and p4 #ajc of the previous volume of this commentary4 ,this subject of the original languages of ,asia ,minor and their survival to ,christian times is an interesting and novel subject of study1 for which materials are gradually accumulating4 ,thus the ancient ,cappadocian language is discussed and a lexicon of it compiled in a monograph which appeared in the ,museum of the ,evangelical school at ,smyrna 7#ahhj-hd71 pp4 #dg-bfe4 ,a large number of inscriptions in the ,phrygian language have also been recovered4 ,st4 ,paul1 addressing the natives of the central plateau of ,asia ,minor in ,greek1 would have been like an ,englishman preaching to the inhabitants of ,wales or of ,connemara in ,english4 ,i never heard of any powerful results thus following1 save in the case of ,giraldus ,cambrensis who tells us in his ,itinerary in ,wales of the melting character of his own ,latin sermons upon the ,welsh people1 though they did not understand a word of them4 ,but then ,giraldus was1 to say the least1 an imaginative historian4 ,,chapter ,x4 ,,the ,,first ,,christian ,,council4 ,and certain men came down from ,juda and taught the brethren1 saying1 ,except ye be circumcised after the custom of ,moses1 ye cannot be saved4 ,and when ,paul and ,barnabas had no small dissension and questioning with them1 the brethren appointed that ,paul and ,barnabas1 and certain other of them1 should go up to ,jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question4444 ,and the apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider of this matter4444 ,james said1 ,my judgment is1 that we trouble not them which from among the ,gentiles turn to ,god4--,,acts xv4 #a1 #b1 #f1 #ai4 ,i have headed this chapter1 which treats of ,acts xv4 and its incidents1 the ,first ,christian ,council1 and that of set purpose and following eminent ecclesiastical example4 ,people often hear the canons of the great ,councils quoted1 the canons of ,nice1 ,constantinople1 ,ephesus1 and ,chalcedon1 those great assemblies which threshed out the controversies concerning the person and nature of ,jesus ,christ and determined with marvellous precision the methods of expressing the true doctrine on these points1 and they wonder where or how such ancient documents have been preserved4 ,well1 the answer is simple enough4 ,if any reader1 curious about the doings of these ancient assemblies1 desires to study the decrees which proceeded from them1 and even the debates which occurred in them1 he need only ask in any great library for a history of the ,councils1 edited either by ,hardouin or ,labbe and ,cossart1 or1 best and latest of all1 by ,mansi4 ,they are not externally very attractive volumes1 being vast folios2 nor are they light or interesting reading4 ,the industrious student will learn much from them1 however2 and he will find that they all begin the history of the ,christian ,councils by placing at the very head and forefront thereof the history and acts of the ,council of ,jerusalem held about the year #dh or #di ,a4,d41 wherein we find a typical example of a ,church synod which set a fashion perpetuated throughout the ages in councils1 conferences1 and congresses down to the present time4 ,let us inquire then into the origin1 the procedure1 and the results of this ,assembly1 sure that a council conducted under such auspices1 reported by such a divinely guided historian1 and dealing with such burning questions1 must have important lessons for the ,church of every age4#aba #aba ,mansi1 ,a4,d4 #afib-agfi1 was ,archbishop of ,lucca4 ,he was a very learned man4 ,besides valuable editions of other men's works he published his ,sarcorum ,conciliorum ,collectio in thirty-one vols4 folio1 ,florence and ,venice1 #agei-ih4 ,mansi fixes the date of the ,jerusalem ,synod either to #di or #ea ,a4,d4 ,he counts it the third synod1 regarding as the first synod that held for the election of ,matthias1 and as the second that assembled for the choice of the deacons4 ,i4 ,the question1 however1 naturally meets us at the very threshold of our inquiry as to the date of this assembly1 and the position which it holds in the process of development through which the ,christian ,church was passing4 ,the decision of this ,synod at ,jerusalem did not finally settle the questions about the law and its obligatory character4 ,the relations between the ,jewish and ,gentile sections of the ,church continued in some places1 especially in the ,east1 more or less unsettled well into the second century2 for the ,jews found it very hard indeed to surrender all their cherished privileges and ancient national distinctions4 ,but the decree of the ,jerusalem ,assembly1 though only a partial settlement1 mere articles of peace1 as it has been well called1 to tide over a pressing local controversy1 formed in ,st4 ,paul's hands a powerful weapon whereby the freedom1 the unity1 and the catholicity of the ,church was finally achieved4 ,where1 then1 do we locate this ,synod in the story of ,st4 ,paul's labours8 ,the narrative of the ,acts clearly enough places it between the first and the second missionary tours in ,asia ,minor undertaken by that apostle4 ,paul and ,barnabas laboured for the first time in ,asia ,minor probably from the autumn of #dd till the spring or summer of #df4 ,their work at that time must have extended over at least eighteen months or more4 ,their journeys on foot must alone have taken up no small time4 ,they traversed from ,perga1 where they landed1 to ,derbe1 whence they turned back upon their work1 a space of at least two hundred and fifty miles4 ,they made lengthened sojourns in large cities like ,antioch and ,iconium4 ,they doubtless visited other places of which we are told nothing4 ,then1 having completed their aggressive work1 they retraced their steps along the same route1 and began their work of consolidation and ,church organisation1 which must have occupied on their return journey almost as much1 if not more1 time that they had spent in aggressive labour upon their earlier journey4 ,when we consider all this1 and strive to realise the conditions of life and travel in ,asia ,minor at that time1 eighteen months will not appear too long for the work which the apostles actually performed4 ,after their return to ,antioch they took up their abode in that city for a considerable period4 ,they tarried no little time with the disciples are the exact words of ,st4 ,luke telling of their stay at ,antioch4 ,then comes the tale of ,jewish intrigues and insinuations1 followed by debates1 strife1 and oppositions concerning the universally binding character of the ,jewish law1 terminating with the formal deputation from ,antioch to ,jerusalem4 ,these latter events at ,antioch may have happened in a few weeks or months1 or they may have extended over a couple of years4 ,but then1 on the other hand1 we note that ,st4 ,paul's second missionary journey began soon after the ,synod of ,jerusalem4 ,that journey was very lengthened4 ,it led ,st4 ,paul right through ,asia ,minor1 and thence into ,europe1 where he must have made a stay of at least two years4 ,he was at ,corinth for eighteen months when ,gallio arrived as proconsul about the middle of the year #ec1 and previously to that he had worked his way through ,macedonia and ,greece4 ,st4 ,paul on his second tour must have been then at least four years absent from ,antioch1 which he must therefore have left about the year #di or #ej4 ,the ,synod of ,jerusalem must therefore be assigned to the year #dh ,a4,d4 or thereabouts2 or1 in other words1 not quite twenty years after the ,crucifixion4 ,,ii4 ,and now this leads us to consider the occasion of the ,synod4 ,the time was not1 as we have said1 quite twenty years after the ,crucifixion1 yet that brief space had been quite sufficient to raise questions undreamt of in earlier days4 ,the ,church was at first completely homogeneous1 its members being all ,jews2 but the admission of the ,gentiles and the action of ,st4 ,peter in the matter of ,cornelius had destroyed this characteristic so dear to the ,jewish heart4 ,the ,divine revelation at ,joppa to ,st4 ,peter and the gift of the ,holy ,ghost to ,cornelius had for a time quenched the opposition to the admission of the ,gentiles to baptism2 but1 as we have already said1 the extreme ,jewish party were only silenced for a time1 they were not destroyed4 ,they took up a new position4 ,the case of ,cornelius merely decided that a man might be baptized without having been previously circumcised2 but it decided nothing in their opinion about the subsequent necessity for circumcision and admission into the ranks of the ,jewish nation4 ,their view1 in fact1 was the same as of old4 ,salvation belonged exclusively to the ,jewish nation1 and therefore if the converted ,gentiles were to be saved it must be by incorporation into that body to which salvation alone belonged4 ,the strict ,jewish section of the ,church insisted the more upon this point1 because they saw rising up in the ,church of ,antioch1 and elsewhere among the ,churches of ,syria and ,cilicia1 a grave social danger threatening the existence of their nation as a separate people4 ,there were just then two classes of disciples in these ,churches4 ,there were disciples who lived after the ,jewish fashion1--abstaining from unlawful foods1 using food slain by ,jewish butchers1 and scrupulous in washings and lustrations2 and there were ,gentiles who lived after the ,gentile fashion1 and in especial ate pork and things strangled4 ,the strict ,jews knew right well the tendency of a majority to swallow up a minority1 specially when they were all members of the same religious community1 enjoying the same privileges and partakers of the same hope4 ,a majority does not indeed necessarily absorb a minority4 ,roman ,catholicism is the religion of the majority in ,ireland and ,france2 yet it has not absorbed the small ,protestant minority4 ,the adherents of ,judaism were scattered in ,st4 ,paul's day all over the world1 yet ,paganism had not swallowed them up4 ,in these cases1 however1 the minority have been completely separated from the majority by a middle wall1 a barrier of rigid discipline1 and of strong1 yea1 even violent religious repugnance4 ,but the prospect now before the strict ,jewish party was quite different4 ,in the ,syrian ,church as they beheld it growing up ,jew and ,gentile would be closely linked together1 professing the same faith1 saying the same prayers1 joining in the same sacraments1 worshipping in the same buildings4 ,all the advantages1 too1 would be on the side of the ,gentile4 ,he was freed from the troublesome restrictions--the more troublesome because so petty and minute--of the ,levitical ,law4 ,he could eat what he liked1 and join in social converse and general life without hesitation or fear4 ,in a short time a ,jewish disciple would come to ask himself1 ,what do ,i gain by all these observances1 this yoke of ordinances1 which neither we nor our fathers have been able perfectly to bear8 ,if a ,gentile disciple can be saved without them1 why should ,i trouble myself with them8 ,the ,jewish party saw clearly enough that toleration of the presence of the ,gentiles in the ,church and their admission to full communion and complete ,christian privileges simply involved the certain overthrow of ,jewish customs1 ,jewish privileges1 and ,jewish national expectations4 ,they saw that it was a case of war to the death1 one party or the other must conquer1 and therefore in self-defence they raised the cry1 ,unless the ,gentile converts be circumcised after the manner of ,moses they cannot be saved4 ,antioch was recognised at ,jerusalem as the centre of ,gentile ,christianity4 ,certain1 therefore1 of the zealous1 ,judaising disciples of ,jerusalem repaired to ,antioch1 joined the ,church1 and secretly proceeded to organise opposition to the dominant practice1 using for that purpose all the authority connected with the name of ,james the ,lord's brother1 who presided over the ,mother ,church of the ,holy ,city4 ,now let us see what position ,st4 ,paul took up with respect to these false brethren privily brought in1 who came in privily to spy out the liberty he enjoyed in ,christ ,jesus4 ,paul and ,barnabas both set themselves undauntedly to fight against such teaching4 ,they had seen and known the spiritual life which flourished free from all ,jewish observances in the ,church of the ,gentiles4 ,they had seen the gospel bringing forth the fruits of purity and faith1 of joy and peace in the ,holy ,ghost2 they knew that these things prepare the soul for the beatific vision of ,god1 and confer a present salvation here below2 and they could not tolerate the idea that a ,jewish ceremony was necessary over and above the life which ,christ confers if men are to gain final salvation4 ,here1 perhaps1 is the proper place to set forth ,st4 ,paul's view of circumcision and of all external ,jewish ordinances1 as we gather it from a broad review of his writings4 ,st4 ,paul vigorously opposed all those who taught the necessity of ,jewish rites so far as salvation is concerned4 ,this is evident from this chapter and from the ,epistle to the ,galatians4 ,but1 on the other hand1 ,st4 ,paul had not the slightest objection to men observing the law and submitting to circumcision1 if they only realised that these things were mere national customs and observed them as national customs1 and even as religious rites1 but not as necessary religious rites4 ,if men took a right view of circumcision1 ,st4 ,paul had not the slightest objection to it4 ,it was not to circumcision ,st4 ,paul objected1 but to the extreme stress laid upon it1 the intolerant views connected with it4 ,circumcision as a voluntary practice1 an interesting historical relic of ancient ideas and customs1 he never rejected1--nay1 further1 he even practised it1 as we shall see in the case of ,timothy2 circumcision as a compulsory practice binding upon all men ,st4 ,paul utterly abhorred4 ,we may1 perhaps1 draw an illustration from a modern ,church in this respect4 ,the ,coptic and ,abyssinian ,churches retain the ancient ,jewish practice of circumcision4 ,these ,churches date back to the earliest ,christian times1 and retain doubtless in this respect the practice of the primitive ,christian ,church4 ,the ,copts circumcise their children on the eighth day and before they are baptized2 but they regard this rite as a mere national custom1 and treat it as absolutely devoid of any religious meaning1 significance1 or necessity4 ,st4 ,paul would have had no objection to circumcision in this aspect any more than he would have objected to a ,turk for wearing a fez1 or a ,chinaman for wearing a pigtail1 or a ,hindoo for wearing a turban4 ,national customs as such were things absolutely indifferent in his view4 ,but if ,turkish or ,chinese ,christians were to insist upon all men wearing their peculiar dress and observing their peculiar national customs as being things absolutely necessary to salvation1 ,st4 ,paul1 were he alive1 would denounce and oppose them as vigorously as he did the ,judaisers of his own day4#abb #abb ,we miss the true standpoint whence to judge ,st4 ,paul's conduct aright1 when we think as people generally do that ,st4 ,paul opposed circumcision per se4 ,he simply opposed it when connected with wrong ideas4 ,the ,judaising disciples viewed the ,jewish nation as the covenant people to whom alone salvation belonged4 ,st4 ,paul viewed the ,church as the body to whom alone salvation belonged1 admission to which was gained by baptism4 ,if any ,christian holding ,st4 ,paul's view chose to add any private ceremony such as circumcision in order to gain admission into any human society1 ,st4 ,paul would not have opposed him any more than1 if he were now alive1 he would have opposed or denounced a ,christian man because he became a ,freemason1 or an ,orangeman1 or joined the ,oddfellows1 observing the special ceremonies appointed for admission4 ,the nearest approach in later times to the position taken up by the strict ,jewish party will be found in the history of medival monasticism4 ,the ,cistercians and subsequently the ,mendicant ,orders endeavoured to persuade every person that every one who wished to be saved must join their ,orders and assume their peculiar dress4 ,on this account ,fitz ,ralph1 ,archbishop of ,armagh1 and his friend ,wickliffe denounced them most vigorously4 ,i have given some amusing instances of the opposition to the ,cistercians evoked two centuries earlier by similar claims in ,ireland and the ,anglo-,norman ,church1 p4 #db4 ,this is the explanation of ,st4 ,paul's own conduct4 ,some have regarded him as at times inconsistent with his own principles with regard to the law of ,moses4 ,and yet if men will but look closer and think more deeply1 they will see that ,st4 ,paul never violated the rules which he had imposed upon himself4 ,he refused to circumcise ,titus1 for instance1 because the ,judaising party at ,jerusalem were insisting upon the absolute necessity of circumcising the ,gentiles if they were to be saved4 ,had ,st4 ,paul consented to the circumcision of ,titus1 he would have been yielding assent1 or seeming to yield assent1 to their contention 7see ,gal4 ii4 #c74 ,he circumcised ,timothy at ,lystra because of the ,jews in that neighbourhood2 not indeed because they thought it necessary to salvation that an uncircumcised man should be so treated1 but because they knew that his mother was a ,jewess1 and the principle of the ,jewish law1 and of the ,roman law too1 was that a man's nationality and status followed that of his mother1 not that of his father1 so that the son of a ,jewess must be incorporated with ,israel4 ,timothy was circumcised in obedience to national law and custom not upon any compromise of religious principle4 ,st4 ,paul himself made a vow and cut off his hair and offered sacrifices in the ,temple as being the national customs of a ,jew4 ,these were things in themselves utterly meaningless and indifferent2 but they pleased other people4 ,they cost him a little time and trouble2 but they helped on the great work he had in hand1 and tended to make his opponents more willing to listen to him4 ,st4 ,paul1 therefore1 with his great large mind1 willing to please others for their good to edification1 gratified them by doing what they thought became a ,jew with a true national spirit beating within his breast4 ,mere externals mattered nothing in ,st4 ,paul's estimation4 ,he would wear any vestments1 or take any position1 or use any ceremony1 esteeming them all things indifferent1 provided only they conciliated human prejudices and cleared difficulties out of the way of the truth4 ,but if men insisted upon them as things necessary1 then he opposed with all his might4 ,this is the golden thread which will rule our footsteps wandering amid the mazes of this earliest ,christian controversy4 ,it will amply vindicate ,st4 ,paul's consistency1 and show that he never violated the principles he had laid down for his own guidance4 ,had the spirit of ,st4 ,paul animated the ,church of succeeding ages1 how many a controversy and division would have been thereby escaped6#abc #abc ,i have often noted what ,i consider an unfair use of this controversy and of ,st4 ,paul's position in it4 ,men in the heat of argument have represented the ,high ,church1 or rather the so-called ,ritualists in the ,church of ,england1 as answering to the ,judaisers of ,st4 ,paul's day4 ,there seems to me1 however1 no parallel between them4 ,the ,judaisers contended for a certain ceremony as necessary to salvation4 ,i never heard of any ,ritualist who considered any of his dearest practices in this light4 ,he may view them as lawful1 as edifying1 and very necessary for the instruction of the people2 but ,i have never heard of their most extreme adherents contending for their necessity to salvation4 ,it would be just as true to identify their opponents with the ,judaisers1 because they have insisted1 and often with great vigour1 upon the use of the black gown in the pulpit4 ,i have known extreme men to take up the position that the gospel could not be preached where the black gown was not used4 ,any one who will take the trouble to read the ,life of ,bishop ,blomfield of ,london1 edited by his son1 vol4 ii41 will see some striking illustrations of the extent to which such views were pushed half a century ago4 ,,iii4 ,now let us turn our attention to the actual history of the controversy and strife which raged at ,antioch and ,jerusalem1 and endeavour to read the lessons the sacred narrative teaches4 ,what a striking picture of early ,church life is here presented6 ,how full of teaching1 of comfort1 and of warning6 ,how corrective of the false notions we are apt to cherish of the state of the primitive ,church6 ,there we behold the ,church of ,antioch rejoicing one day in the tidings of a gospel free to the world1 and on the next day torn with dissension as to the points and qualifications necessary to salvation4 ,for we must observe that the discussion started at ,antioch touched no secondary question1 and dealt with no mere point of ritual4 ,it was a fundamental question which troubled the ,church4 ,and yet that ,church had apostles and teachers abiding in it who could work miracles and speak with tongues1 and who received from time to time direct revelations from heaven1 and were endowed with the extraordinary presence of the ,holy ,ghost4 ,yet there it was that controversy with all its troubles raised its head1 and ,paul and ,barnabas had no small dissension with their opponents4 ,what a necessary warning for every age1 and specially for our own1 we behold in this narrative6 ,has not this sacred ,book a message in this passage specially applicable to our own time8 ,a great ,romeward movement has within the last seventy years1 more powerful in the earlier portion of that period than in the latter1 extended itself over ,europe4 ,english people think that they have themselves been the only persons who have experienced it4 ,but this is a great mistake4 ,germany forty and fifty years ago felt it also to a large extent4 ,and what was the great predisposing cause of that tendency8 ,men had simply become tired of the perpetual controversies which raged within the churches and communions outside the sway of ,rome4 ,they longed for the perpetual peace and rest which seemed to them to exist within the ,papal domains1 and they therefore flung themselves headlong into the arms of a ,church which promised them relief from the exercise of that private judgment and personal responsibility which had become for them a crushing burden too heavy to be borne4 ,and yet they forgot several things1 the sudden discovery of which has sent many of these intellectual and spiritual cowards in various directions1 some back to their original homes1 some far away into the regions of scepticism and spiritual darkness4 ,they forgot1 for instance1 to inquire how far the charmer who was alluring them from the land of their nativity by specious promises could satisfy the hopes she was raising4 ,they hoped to get rid of dissension and controversy2 but did they8 ,when they had left their childhood's home and their father's house and sought the house of the stranger1 did they find there halcyon peace8 ,nay1 rather did they not find there as bitter strife1 nay1 far more bitter strife1 on questions like the ,immaculate ,conception and ,papal ,infallibility than ever raged at home8 ,did they not find1 and do they not find still1 that no man and no society can put a hook in the jaws of that ,leviathan1 the right of private judgment1 which none can tame or restrain1 and which asserts itself still in the ,roman ,communion as vigorously as ever even now when the decree of ,papal infallibility has elevated that dogma into the rank of those necessary to salvation8 ,else whence come those dissensions and discussions between minimisers and maximisers of that decree8 ,how is it that no two doctors or theologians will give precisely the same explanation of it1 and that1 as we in ,ireland have seen1 every curate fresh from ,maynooth claims to be able to express his own private judgment and determination whether any special ,papal decree or bull is binding or not8#abd ,this is one important point forgotten by those who have sought the ,roman ,communion because of its promises of freedom from controversy4 ,they forgot to ask1 ,can these promises be fulfilled8 ,and many of them1 in the perpetual unrest and strife in which they have found themselves involved as much in their new home as in their old1 have proved the specious hopes held out to be the veriest mirage of the ,sahara desert4 ,but this was not the only omission of which such persons were guilty4 ,they forgot that1 suppose the ,roman ,church could fulfil its promises and prove a religious home of perfect peace and freedom from diverging opinions1 it would in that case have been very unlike the primitive ,church4 ,the ,church of ,antioch or of ,jerusalem1 enjoying the ministry of ,peter and ,john and ,james and ,paul1--these pillar-men1 as ,st4 ,paul calls some of them1--was much more like the ,church of ,england of fifty years ago than any society which offered perfect freedom from theological strife2 for the ,churches of ancient times in their earliest and purest days were swept by the winds of controversy and tossed by the tempests of intellectual and religious inquiry just like the ,church of ,england1 and they took exactly the same measures for the safety of the souls entrusted to them as she did4 ,they depended upon the power of free debate1 of unlimited discussion1 of earnest prayer1 of ,christian charity to carry them on till they reached that haven of rest where every doubt and question shall be perfectly solved in the light of the unveiled vision of ,god4 #abd ,the conduct of the ,romish clergy in ,ireland when the ,papal rescripts were issued concerning the ,parnell tribute1 boycotting1 and the ,plan of the ,campaign was an amusing commentary on their view of ,papal ,infallibility4 ,any one who will take the trouble to search the columns of the ,freeman's ,journal at that time will see how freely curates even criticised the ,papal infallible utterances4 ,one of them remarked to me at the time1 ,i think we have taught the old gentleman a lesson he will not forget1 referring to the ,papal rescripts4 ,infallibility is very good so long as it is with us1 but when against us it becomes very fallible4 ,such is clearly the view of ,irish ,roman ,catholics4 ,then1 again1 we learn another important lesson from a consideration of the persons who raised the trouble at ,antioch4 ,the opening words of the fifteenth chapter thus describes the authors of it3 ,certain men came down from ,juda4 ,it is just the same with the persons who a short time after compelled ,st4 ,peter to stagger in his course at the same ,antioch3 ,when certain came from ,james1 then ,st4 ,peter separated himself1 fearing them of the circumcision 7,gal4 ii4 #ab74 ,certain bigots1 that is1 of the ,jewish party1 came1 pretending to teach with the authority of the ,mother ,church1 and secretly disturbing weak minds4 ,but they were only pretenders1 as the apostolic ,epistle expressly tells us3 ,forasmuch as we have heard1 that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words1 subverting your souls2 444 to whom we gave no such commandment4 ,these religious agitators1 with their narrow views about life and ritual1 displayed the characteristics of like-minded men ever since4 ,they secretly crept into the ,church4 ,there was a want of manly honesty about them4 ,their pettiness of vision and of thought affected their whole nature1 their entire conduct4 ,they loved the by-ways of intrigue and fraud1 and therefore they hesitated not to claim an authority which they had never received1 invoking apostolic names on behalf of a doctrine which the apostles had never sanctioned4 ,the characteristics thus displayed by these ,judaisers have ever been seen in their legitimate descendants in every church and society1 ,east and ,west alike4 ,narrowness of mind1 pettiness and intolerance in thought1 have ever brought their own penalty with them and have ever been connected with the same want of moral uprightness4 ,the miserable conception1 the wretched fragment of truth upon which such men seize1 elevating it out of its due place and rank1 seems to destroy their sense of proportion1 and leads them to think it worth any lie which they may tell1 any breach of ,christian charity of which they may be guilty1 any sacrifice of truth and honesty which they may make on behalf of their beloved idol4 ,the ,judaisers misrepresented religious truth1 and in doing so they misrepresented themselves1 and sacrificed the great interests of moral truth in order that they might gain their ends4 ,,iv4 ,the distractions and controversies of ,antioch were overruled1 however1 by the ,divine providence to the greater glory of ,god4 ,as the ,judaisers continually appealed to the authority of the ,church at ,jerusalem1 the brethren at ,antioch determined to send to that body and ask the opinion of the apostles and elders upon this question4 ,they therefore despatched ,paul and ,barnabas and certain other of them1 among whom was ,titus1 an uncircumcised ,gentile convert1 as a deputation to represent their own views4 ,when they came to ,jerusalem the ,antiochene deputies held a series of private conferences with the leading men of ,jerusalem4 ,this we learn1 not from the ,acts of the ,apostles1 but from ,st4 ,paul's independent narrative in ,galatians ii41 identifying as we do the visit there recorded with the visit narrated in ,acts xv4#abe ,st4 ,paul here exhibits all that tact and prudence we ever trace in his character4 ,he did not depend solely upon his own authority1 his reputation1 his success4 ,he felt within himself the conscious guidance of the ,divine ,spirit aiding and guiding a singularly clear and powerful mind4 ,yet he disdained no legitimate precaution4 ,he knew that the presence and guidance of the ,spirit does not absolve a man anxious for the truth from using all the means in his power to ensure its success4 ,he recognised that the truth1 though it must finally triumph1 might be eclipsed or defeated for a time through man's neglect and carelessness2 and therefore he engaged in a series of private conferences1 explaining difficulties1 conciliating the support1 and gaining the assistance of the most influential members of the ,church1 including1 of course1 ,james1 ,cephas1 and ,john1 who were reputed to be pillars4 #abe ,the reader should consult what ,mr4 ,findlay has written on this point in his ,galatians1 chs4 vi4 and vii41 pp4 #ib-aab4 ,is there not something very modern in the glimpse thus given us of the negotiations and private meetings which preceded the formal meeting of the ,apostolic ,council8 ,some persons may think that the presence and power of the ,holy ,ghost must have superseded all such human arrangements and forethought4 ,but the simple testimony of the ,bible dispels at once all such objections1 and shows us that as the primitive ,church was just like the modern ,church1 torn with dissension1 swept with the winds and storms of controversy1 so too the divinely guided and inspired leaders of the ,church then took precisely the same human means to attain their ends and carry out their views of truth as now find place in the meetings of synods and convocations and parliaments of the present time4 ,the presence of the ,holy ,ghost did not dispense with the necessity of human exertions in the days of the apostles2 and surely we may1 on the other hand1 believe that similar human exertions in our time may be quite consonant with the presence of the ,spirit in our modern assemblies1 overruling and guiding human plans and intrigues to the honour of ,god and the blessing of man4 ,after these private conferences the apostles and elders came together to consider the difficult subject laid before them4 ,and now many questions rise up which we can only very briefly consider4 ,the composition of this ,synod is one important point4 ,who sat in it1 and who debated there8 ,it is quite clear1 from the text of the ,acts1 as to the persons who were present at this ,synod4 ,the sixth verse says1 ,the apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider of this matter2 the twelfth verse tells us that all the multitude kept silence1 and hearkened unto ,barnabas and ,paul rehearsing what signs and wonders ,god had wrought among the ,gentiles by them2 in the twenty-second verse we read1 ,then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders1 with the whole ,church1 to choose men out of their company1 and to send them to ,antioch2 while1 finally1 in the twenty-third verse we read the superscription of the final decree of the ,council1 which ran thus1 ,the apostles and the elder brethren unto the brethren which are of the ,gentiles in ,antioch and ,syria and ,cilicia4 ,it seems to me that any plain man reading these verses would come to the conclusion that the whole multitude1 the great body of the ,church in ,jerusalem1 were present and took part in this assembly4#abf ,a great battle indeed has raged round the words of the ,authorized ,version of the twenty-third verse1 ,the apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the ,gentiles1 which are otherwise rendered in the ,revised ,version4 ,the presence or the absence of the and between elders and brethren has formed the battle-ground between two parties1 the one upholding1 the other opposing the right of the laity to take part in ,church synods and councils4 ,upon a broad review of the whole affair this ,apostolic ,assembly seems to me to have an important bearing upon this point4 ,there are various views involved4 ,some persons think that none but bishops should take part in ,church synods2 others think that none but clergymen1 spiritual persons1 in the technical and legal sense of the word spiritual1 should enter these assemblies1 specially when treating of questions touching doctrine and discipline4#abg ,looking at the subject from the standpoint of the ,apostolic ,council1 we cannot agree with either party4 ,we are certainly told of the speeches of four individuals merely--,paul1 ,barnabas1 ,peter1 and ,james--to whom may be conceded the position of bishops1 and even more4 ,but1 then1 it is evident that the whole multitude of the ,church was present at this ,synod1 and took an active part in it4 ,we are expressly told 7vv4 #d and #e73 ,when they were come to ,jerusalem1 they were received of the ,church and the apostles and the elders4444 ,but there rose up certain of the sect of the ,pharisees who believed1 saying1 ,it is needful to circumcise them4 ,this indeed happened at the first meeting of the ,church held to receive the ,antiochene deputation when they arrived4 ,but there does not seem to have been any difference between the constitution and authority of the first and second meetings4 ,both were what we should call ,ecclesiastical ,assemblies4 ,laymen joined in the discussions of the first1 and doubtless laymen joined in the discussions and much questioning of the second4 #abf ,the fifth verse states that after ,paul had rehearsed the wonders done among the ,gentiles certain of the sect of the ,pharisees rose up saying1 ,it is needful to circumcise them4 ,some maintain that this was in a missionary meeting before the ,synod1 but that this is no proof that such laymen1 if they were laymen1 were allowed to raise the question in the ,synod4 ,of course the next verse states that the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter2 but it also states that there was much questioning before ,st4 ,peter opened his mouth to speak on the subject4 ,surely the much questioning must have been on the part of the certain of the sect of the ,pharisees who believed6 #abg ,it is a curious thing that three parties otherwise very much opposed unite in this view3 the extreme ,high ,church party in ,england1 the ,roman ,catholic ,church1 and the ,wesleyan ,conference1 which latter body restrains all questions of doctrine and discipline to ministers alone as rigorously as either of the others4 ,the ,presbyterian ,assemblies are in many respects open to the same charge1 the elders who represent the laity being ordained by imposition of hands as truly as the ministers and signing the same doctrinal tests4 ,i cannot say how far this may be true of the ,established ,assembly in ,scotland1 but as far as the ,free ,church and the ,irish ,general ,assemblies are concerned1 ,i am bold to say that no unordained layman sits in them4 ,i was much amused some time ago reading the charge of a ,wesleyan ,president of ,conference to the newly ordained ministers of the ,irish ,conference1 when he bid them remember that ,christ had entrusted to them alone the care of all questions touching doctrine and discipline4 ,see for the ,high ,anglican theory1 which is just the same as the ,wesleyan ,president's1 ,joyce's ,acts of the ,church1 ,a4,d4 #aeca-ahhe1 p4 #ab4 ,there is not indeed a hint which would lead us to conclude that the ,pharisees1 who rose up and argued on behalf of the binding character of the law of ,moses1 held any spiritual office whatsoever4 ,so far as the sacred text puts it1 they may have been laymen pure and simple1 such as were the ordinary ,pharisees4 ,i cannot1 indeed1 see how any member of the ,church of ,england can consistently maintain either from ,holy ,scripture1 ancient ecclesiastical history1 or the history of his own ,church1 that laymen are quite shut out from councils debating questions touching ,christian faith1 and that their consideration must be limited to bishops1 or at least clergymen alone4 ,the ,apostolic ,church seems to have admitted the freest discussion4 ,the ,general ,councils most certainly tolerated very considerable lay interference4 ,the ,emperor ,constantine1 though not even baptized1 obtruded much of his presence and exercised much of his influence upon the great ,nicene ,council4 ,why even down to the sixteenth century1 till the ,tridentine ,council1 the ambassadors of the great ,christian ,powers of ,europe sat in ,church synods as representing the laity2 and it was only in the ,council of the ,vatican1 which met in #ahgj1 that even the ,roman ,catholic ,church formally denied the right of the people to exercise a certain influence in the determination of questions touching faith and discipline by the exclusion of the ambassadors who had in every previous council held a certain defined place4 ,while again1 when we come to the history of the ,church of ,england1 we find that the celebrated ,hooker1 the vindicator of its ,church polity1 expressly defended the royal supremacy as exercised within that ,church on the ground that the king represented by delegation the vast body of the laity1 who through him exercised a real influence upon all questions1 whether of doctrine or discipline4 ,i feel a personal interest in this question1 because one of the charges most freely hurled against the ,church of ,ireland is this1 that she has admitted laymen to discussions and votes concerning such questions4 ,i cannot see how consistently with her past history as an established ,church she could have done otherwise4 ,i cannot see how the ,church of ,england1 if she comes in the future to be disestablished1 can do otherwise4 ,that ,church has always admitted a vast amount of lay interference1 even prior to the ,reformation1 and still more since that important event4 ,extreme men may scoff at those branches of their own ,communion which have admitted laymen to vote in ,church synods upon all questions whatsoever2 but they forget when doing so that statements and decrees most dear to themselves bear manifest traces of far more extreme lay intervention4 ,the ,ornaments ,rubric1 standing before the order for ,morning ,prayer1 is a striking evidence of this4 ,it is dear to the hearts of many1 because it orders the use of eucharistic vestments and the preservation of the chancels in the ancient style2 but on what grounds does it do so8 ,let the precise words of the rubric be the answer3 ,here it is to be noted that such ornaments of the ,church and of the ministers thereof1 at all times of their ministration1 shall be retained1 and be in use1 as were in this ,church of ,england1 by the authority of ,parliament1 in the second year of the reign of ,king ,edward the ,sixth4 ,objections to the determinations1 rules1 and canons of the ,irish ,church ,synod might have some weight did they profess1 as this rubric does1 to have been ordained and imposed by the order of laymen alone4 ,but when the bishops of a ,church have an independent vote1 the clergy an independent vote1 the free and independent vote of the laity is totally powerless by itself to introduce any novelty1 and is only powerful to prevent change in the ancient order4 ,i do not feel bound to defend some ill-judged expressions and foolish speeches which some lay representatives may have made in the ,irish ,church ,synod as again no member of the ,church of ,england need trouble himself to defend some rash speeches made in ,parliament on ,church topics4 ,in the first moments of unaccustomed freedom ,irish laymen did and said some rash things1 and1 overawing the clergy by their fierce expressions1 may have caused the introduction of some hasty and ill-advised measures4 ,but sure ,i am that every sincere member of the ,church to which ,i belong will agree that the admission of the lay representatives to a free discussion and free vote upon every topic has had a marvellous influence in broadening their conceptions of ,scripture truth and deepening their affections and attachment to their ,mother ,church which has treated and trusted them thus generously4#abh #abh ,i may perhaps be allowed to refer to a little tract of my own on this topic published at the time1 on ,the ,work of the ,laity in the ,church of ,ireland1 as embodying the principles of ,hooker applied to modern times and needs4 ,v4 ,the proceedings of the ,apostolic ,synod next demand our attention4 ,the account which has been handed down is doubtless a mere outline of what actually happened4 ,we are not told anything concerning the opening of the ,assembly or how the discussion was begun4 ,st4 ,luke was intent merely on setting forth the main gist of affairs1 and therefore he reports but two speeches and tells of two others4 ,some ,christian ,pharisee having put forward his objections to the position occupied by the ,gentile converts1 ,st4 ,peter arose1 as was natural1 he having been the person through whose action the present discussion and trouble had originated4 ,st4 ,peter's speech is marked on this occasion by the same want of assumption of any higher authority than belonged to his brethren which we have noted before when objections were taken to his dealings with ,cornelius4 ,his speech claims nothing for himself1 does not even quote the ,scriptures of the ,old ,testament1 but simply repeats in a concise shape the story of the conversion of ,cornelius1 points out that ,god put no difference between ,jew and ,gentile1 suggesting that if ,god had put no difference between them why should man dare to do so1 and then ends with proclaiming the great doctrine of grace that men1 whether ,jews or ,gentiles1 are saved through faith in ,christ alone1 which purifies their hearts and lives4 ,after ,peter's speech there arose ,james the ,lord's brother1 who from ancient times has been regarded as the first bishop of ,jerusalem1 and who most certainly1 from the various references to him both here and elsewhere in the ,acts 7chs4 xii4 #ag1 xxi4 #ah7 and in the ,epistle to the ,galatians1 seems to have occupied the supreme place in that ,church4 ,james was a striking figure4 ,there is a long account of him left us by ,hegesippus1 a very ancient ,church historian1 who bordered on apostolic times1 and now preserved for us in the ,ecclesiastical ,history of ,eusebius1 ii41 #bc4 ,there he is described as an ascetic and a ,nazarite1 like ,john the ,baptist1 from his earliest childhood4 ,he drank neither wine nor fermented liquors1 and abstained from animal food4 ,a razor never came upon his head1 he never anointed with oil1 and never used the bath4 ,he alone was allowed to enter the sanctuary4 ,he never wore woollen1 but linen garments4 ,he was in the habit of entering the ,temple alone1 and was often found upon his bended knees1 and interceding for the forgiveness of the people2 so that his knees became as hard as camels'1 in consequence of his habitual supplication and kneeling before ,god4 ,and indeed on account of his exceeding great piety he was called the ,just and ,oblias1 which signifies the ,rampart of the ,people4 ,this description is the explanation of the power and authority of ,james the ,just in the ,apostolic ,assembly4 ,he was a strict legalist himself4 ,he desired no freedom for his own share1 but rejoiced in observances and restrictions far beyond the common lot of the ,jews4 ,when such a man pronounced against the attempt made to impose circumcision and the law as a necessary condition of salvation1 the ,judaisers must have felt that their cause was lost4 ,st4 ,james expressed his views in no uncertain terms4 ,he begins by referring to ,st4 ,peter's speech and the conversion of ,cornelius4 ,he then proceeds to show how the prophets foretold the ingathering of the ,gentiles1 quoting a passage 7,amos ix4 #aa1 #ab7 which the ,jewish expositors themselves applied to the ,messiah4 ,his method of ,scriptural interpretation is exactly the same as that of ,st4 ,paul and ,st4 ,peter4 ,it is very different from ours1 but it was the universal method of his day2 and when we wish to arrive at the meaning of the ,scriptures1 or for that matter of any work1 we ought to strive and place ourselves at the standpoint and amid the circumstances of the writers and actors4 ,the prophet ,amos speaks of the tabernacle of ,david as fallen down4 ,the rebuilding of it is then foretold1 and ,james sees in the conversion of the ,gentiles this predicted rebuilding4 ,he then pronounces in the most decided language against troubling those who from among the ,gentiles are turned to ,god in the matter of legal observances1 laying down at the same time the concessions which should be demanded from the ,gentiles so as not to cause offence to their ,jewish brethren4 ,the sentence thus authoritatively pronounced by the strictest ,jewish ,christian was naturally adopted by the ,apostolic ,synod1 and they wrote a letter to the disciples in ,syria and ,cilicia embodying their decision1 which for a time settled the controversy which had been raised4 ,this epistle begins by disclaiming utterly and at once the agitators who had gone forth to ,antioch and had raised the disturbances4 ,it declared that circumcision was unnecessary for the ,gentile converts4 ,this was the great point upon which ,st4 ,paul was most anxious4 ,he had no objection1 as we have already said1 to the ,jews observing their legal rites and ceremonies1 but he was totally opposed to the ,gentiles coming under any such rule as a thing necessary to salvation4 ,the epistle then proceeds to lay down certain concessions which the ,gentiles should in turn make4 ,they should abstain from meats offered in sacrifice unto idols1 from blood1 from things strangled1 and from fornication2 all of them points upon which the public opinion of the ,gentiles laid no stress1 but which were most abhorrent to a true ,jew4 ,the decrees of the ,synod of ,jerusalem1 as the inspired historian expressly terms them in ch4 xvi4 #d1 were mere temporary expedients4 ,they determined indeed one important question1 that circumcision should not be imposed on the ,gentiles--that ,judaism1 in fact1 was not in and by itself a saving dispensation2 but left unsolved many other questions1 even touching this very subject of circumcision and the ,jewish law1 which had afterwards to be debated and threshed out1 as ,st4 ,paul's ,epistle to the ,galatians proves4 ,but1 turning our eyes from the obsolete controversy which evoked the ,apostolic ,epistle1 and viewing the subject from a wider and a modern standpoint1 we may say that the decrees of this primitive ,synod narrated in this typical history bestow their sanction upon the great principles of prudence1 wisdom1 and growth in the ,divine life and in ,church work4 ,it was with the apostles themselves as with the ,church ever since4 ,apostles even must not make haste1 but must be contented to wait upon the developments of ,god's providence4 ,perfection is an excellent thing1 but then perfection cannot be attained at once4 ,here a little and there a little is the ,divine law under the ,new as under the ,old ,dispensation4 ,truth is the fairest and most excellent of all possessions1 but the advocates of truth must not expect it to be grasped in all its bearings by all sorts and conditions of men at one and the same time4 ,they must be content1 as ,st4 ,paul was1 if one step be taken at a time2 if progress be in the right and not in the wrong direction2 and must be willing to concede much to the feelings and long-descended prejudices of short-sighted human nature4 ,,chapter ,,xi4 ,,apostolic ,,quarrels ,,and ,,the ,,second ,,tour4 ,and after some days ,paul said unto ,barnabas1 ,let us return now and visit the brethren in every city wherein we proclaimed the word of the ,lord1 and see how they fare4444 ,and there arose a sharp contention between them1 so that they parted asunder one from the other4--,,acts xv4 #cf1 #ci4 ,and they went through the region of ,phrygia and ,galatia1 having been forbidden of the ,holy ,ghost to speak the word in ,asia4444 ,they came down to ,troas4 ,and a vision appeared to ,paul in the night2 ,there was a man of ,macedonia standing1 beseeching him1 and saying1 ,come over into ,macedonia and help us4--,,acts xvi4 #f1 #h1 #i4 ,the second missionary tour of ,st4 ,paul now claims our attention1 specially because it involves the first proclamation of ,christianity by an apostle within the boundaries of ,europe4 ,the course of the narrative up to this will show that any ,christian effort in ,europe by an apostle1 ,st4 ,peter or any one else prior to ,st4 ,paul's work1 was almost impossible4 ,to the ,twelve and to men like-minded with them1 it must have seemed a daring innovation to bring the gospel message directly to bear upon the masses of ,gentile paganism4 ,men of conservative minds like the ,twelve doubtless restrained their own efforts up to the time of ,st4 ,paul's second tour within the bounds of ,israel according to the flesh in ,palestine and the neighbouring lands1 finding there an ample field upon which to exercise their diligence4 ,and then when we turn to ,st4 ,paul and ,st4 ,barnabas1 who had dared to realise the freeness and fulness of the gospel message1 we shall see that the ,syrian ,antioch and ,syria itself and ,asia ,minor had hitherto afforded to them scope quite sufficient to engage their utmost attention4 ,a few moments' reflection upon the circumstances of the primitive ,christian ,church and the developments through which ,apostolic ,christianity passed are quite sufficient to dispel all such fabulous incrustations upon the original record as those involved in ,st4 ,peter's episcopate at ,antioch or his lengthened rule over the ,church at ,rome4 ,if the latter story was to be accepted1 ,st4 ,peter must have been ,bishop of ,rome long before a mission was despatched to the ,gentiles from ,antioch1 if not even before the vision was seen at ,joppa by ,st4 ,peter when the admission of the ,gentiles to the ,church was first authorised under any terms whatsoever4#abi ,in fact1 it would be impossible to fit the actions of ,st4 ,peter into any scheme whatsoever1 if we bring him to ,rome and make him bishop there for twenty-five years beginning at the year #db1 the time usually assigned by ,roman ,catholic historians4 ,it is hard enough to frame a hypothetical scheme1 which will find a due and fitting place for the various recorded actions of ,st4 ,peter1 quite apart from any supposed ,roman episcopate lasting over such an extended period4 ,st4 ,peter and ,st4 ,paul had1 for instance1 a dispute at ,antioch of which we read much in the second chapter of the ,galatian ,epistle4 ,where shall we fix that dispute8 ,some place it during the interval between the ,synod at ,jerusalem and the second missionary tour of which we now propose to treat4 ,others place it at the conclusion of that tour1 when ,st4 ,paul was resting at ,antioch for a little after the work of that second journey4 ,as we are not writing the life of ,st4 ,paul1 but simply commenting upon the narratives of his labours as told in the ,acts1 we must be content to refer to the ,lives of ,st4 ,paul by ,conybeare and ,howson1 and ,archdeacon ,farrar1 and to ,bishop ,lightfoot's ,galatians1 all of whom place this quarrel before the second tour1 and to ,mr4 ,findlay's ,galatians in our own series1 who upholds the other view4 ,supposing1 however1 that we take the former view in deference to the weighty authorities just mentioned1 we then find that there were two serious quarrels which must for a time have marred the unity and ,christian concord of the ,antiochene ,church4 #abi ,st4 ,jerome places the beginning of ,st4 ,peter's twenty-five years' episcopate at ,rome in ,a4,d4 #db--that is1 two years before ,herod's attempt to put ,st4 ,peter to death4 ,this idea has been worked up into an elaborate story1 which will be found duly set forth in great detail in ,fleury's ,ecclesiastical ,history1 ,book ,i41 where ,st4 ,peter is made ,bishop of ,rome prior to the death of ,herod ,agrippa1 whence he despatches disciples to found ,churches in various towns of ,italy1 and whence he writes his first ,epistle to the ,jews of the ,dispersion in ,asia ,minor4 ,a simple statement of this is sufficient refutation for any one who knows the bare text of the ,acts4 ,there seems1 however1 no reason whatsoever to doubt the ancient tradition which fixes the martyrdom of ,st4 ,peter at ,rome4 ,see on the whole subject the interesting article on ,st4 ,peter in ,schaff's ,encyclopdia of ,theology1 p4 #ahad4 ,in the ,acta ,sanctorum1 published by the ,bollandists1 ,april1 vol4 iii41 p4 #cdf1 we are told that ,st4 ,peter despatched ,st4 ,mark to found the ,church of ,aquileia1 which claims the next rank to the ,church of ,rome among the ,italian sees4 ,in fact1 the ,bishops of ,aquileia regarded themselves as of such importance1 owing to their apostolic origin1 that they headed a separation from the ,church of ,rome1 which lasted from about ,a4,d4 #egj to #gjj4 ,see ,robertson's ,history of the ,church1 ii41 p4 #cjf1 and the authorities there quoted1 on this interesting anticipation of the ,reformation in ,england4 ,the reproof of ,st4 ,peter by ,st4 ,paul for his dissimulation was made on a public occasion before the whole ,church4 ,it must have caused considerable excitement and discussion1 and raised much human feeling in ,antioch4 ,barnabas too1 the chosen friend and companion of ,st4 ,paul1 was involved in the matter1 and must have felt himself condemned in the strong language addressed to ,st4 ,peter4 ,this may have caused for a time a certain amount of estrangement between the various parties4 ,a close study of the ,acts of the ,apostles dispels at once the notion men would fain cherish1 that the apostles and the early ,christians lived just like angels without any trace of human passion or discord4 ,the apostles had their differences and misunderstandings very like our own4 ,hot tempers and subsequent coolnesses arose1 and produced evil results between men entrusted with the very highest offices1 and paved the way1 as quarrels always do1 for fresh disturbances at some future time4 ,so it was at ,antioch1 where the public reproof of ,st4 ,peter by ,st4 ,paul involved ,st4 ,barnabas1 and may have left traces upon the gentle soul of the ,son of ,consolation which were not wholly eradicated by the time that a new source of trouble arose4 ,the ministry of ,st4 ,paul at ,antioch was prolonged for some time after the ,jerusalem ,synod1 and then the ,holy ,ghost again impelled him to return and visit all the ,churches which he had founded in ,cyprus and ,asia ,minor4 ,he recognised the necessity for supervision1 support1 and guidance as far as the new converts were concerned4 ,the seed might be from heaven and the work might be ,god's own1 but still human effort must take its share and do its duty1 or else the work may fail and the good seed never attain perfection4 ,st4 ,paul therefore proposed to ,barnabas a second joint mission1 intending to visit the brethren in every city wherein they had proclaimed the word of the ,lord4 ,barnabas desired to take with them his kinsman ,mark1 but ,paul1 remembering his weakness and defection on their previous journey1 would have nothing to say to the young man4 ,then there arose a sharp contention between them1 or1 as the original expression is1 there arose a paroxysm between the apostles1 so that the loving ,christian workers and friends of bygone years1 men who had hazarded their lives for the name of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 separated the one from the other1 and worked from henceforth in widely different localities4 ,i4 ,there are few portions of the ,acts more fruitful in spiritual instruction1 or teeming with more abundant lessons1 or richer in application to present difficulties1 than this very incident4 ,let us note a few of them4 ,one thought1 for instance1 which occurs at once to any reflecting mind is this3 what an extraordinary thing it is that two such holy and devoted men as ,paul and ,barnabas should have had a quarrel at all2 and when they did quarrel1 would it not have been far better to have hushed the matter up and never have let the world know anything at all about it8 ,now ,i do not say that it is well for ,christian people always to proclaim aloud and tell the world at large all about the various unpleasant circumstances of their lives1 their quarrels1 their misunderstandings1 their personal failings and backslidings4 ,life would be simply intolerable did we live always1 at all times1 and under all circumstances beneath the full glare of publicity4 ,personal quarrels too1 family jars and bickerings have a rapid tendency to heal themselves1 if kept in the gloom1 the soft1 toned1 shaded light of retirement4 ,they have an unhappy tendency to harden and perpetuate themselves when dragged beneath the fierce light of public opinion and the outside world4 ,yet it is well for the ,church at large that such a record has been left for us of the fact that the quarrel between ,paul and ,barnabas waxed so fierce that they departed the one from the other1 to teach us what we are apt to forget1 the true character of the apostles4 ,human nature is intensely inclined to idolatry4 ,one idol may be knocked down1 but as soon as it is displaced the heart straightway sets to work to erect another idol in its stead1 and men have been ready to make idols of the apostles4 ,they have been ready to imagine them supernatural characters1 tainted with no sin1 tempted by no passion1 weakened by no infirmity4 ,if these incidents had not been recorded--the quarrel with ,peter and the quarrel with ,barnabas--we should have been apt to forget that the apostles were men of like passions with ourselves1 and thus to lose the full force--the bracing1 stimulating force--of such exhortations as that delivered by ,st4 ,paul when he said to a primitive ,church1 ,follow me1 as ,i1 a poor1 weak1 failing1 passionate man1 have followed ,christ4 ,we have the thorough humanity of the apostles vigorously presented and enforced in this passage4 ,there is no suppression of weak points1 no accentuation of strong points1 no hiding of defects and weaknesses1 no dwelling upon virtues and graces4 ,we have the apostles presented at times vigorous1 united1 harmonious2 at other times weak1 timorous1 and cowardly4 ,again1 we note that this passage not only shows us the human frailties and weaknesses which marked the apostles1 and found a place in characters and persons called to the very highest places2 it has also a lesson for the ,church of all time in the circumstances which led to the quarrel between ,paul and ,barnabas4 ,we do well to mark carefully that ,antioch saw two such quarrels1 the one of which1 as we have already pointed out1 may have had something to say to the other4 ,the quarrel between ,st4 ,paul and ,st4 ,peter indeed has a history which strikingly illustrates this tendency of which we have just now spoken4 ,some expositors1 jealous of the good fame and reputation and temper of the apostles1 have explained the quarrel at ,antioch between ,st4 ,paul and ,st4 ,peter as not having been a real quarrel at all1 but an edifying piece of acting1 a dispute got up between the apostles to enforce and proclaim the freedom of the ,gentiles1 a mere piece of knavery and deception utterly foreign to such a truth-loving character as was ,st4 ,paul's4#acj ,it is interesting1 however1 to note as manifesting their natural characteristics1 which were not destroyed1 but merely elevated1 purified1 and sanctified by ,divine grace1 that the apostles ,paul and ,barnabas quarrelled about a purely personal matter4 ,they had finished their first missionary tour on which they had been accompanied by ,st4 ,mark1 who had acted as their attendant or servant1 carrying1 we may suppose1 their luggage1 and discharging all the subordinate offices such service might involve4 ,the labour and toil and personal danger incident to such a career were too much for the young man4 ,so with all the fickleness1 the weakness1 the want of strong definite purpose we often find in young people1 he abandoned his work simply because it involved the exercise of a certain amount of self-sacrifice4 ,and now1 when ,paul and ,barnabas are setting out again1 and ,barnabas wishes to take the same favourite relative with them1#aca ,st4 ,paul naturally objects1 and then the bitter passionate quarrel ensues4 ,st4 ,paul just experienced here what we all must more or less experience1 the crosses and trials of public life1 if we wish to pass through that life with a good conscience4 ,public life1 ,i say--and ,i mean thereby not political life1 which alone we usually dignify by that name1 but the ordinary life which every man and every woman amongst us must live as we go in and out and discharge our duties amid our fellow-men1--public life1 the life we live once we leave our closet communion with ,god in the early morning till we return thereto in the eventide1 is in all its departments most trying4 ,it is trying to temper1 and it is trying to principle1 and no one can hope to pass through it without serious and grievous temptations4 ,i do not wonder that men have often felt1 as the old ,eastern monks did1 that salvation was more easily won in solitude than in living and working amid the busy haunts of men where bad temper and hot words so often conspire to make one return home from a hard day's work feeling miserable within on account of repeated falls and shortcomings4 ,shall we then act as they did8 ,shall we shut out the world completely and cease to take any part in a struggle which seems to tell so disastrously upon the equable calm of our spiritual life8 ,nay indeed1 for such a course would be unworthy a soldier of the ,cross1 and very unlike the example shown by the blessed apostle ,st4 ,paul1 who had to battle not only against others1 but had also to battle against himself and his own passionate nature1 and was crowned as a victor1 not because he ran away1 but because he conquered through the grace of ,christ4 #acj ,origen started this theory that the dispute between ,peter and ,paul was simulated2 in other words1 being of one mind in the matter they got up this scene that ,st4 ,paul might the more effectually condemn the ,judaisers through the chief of the apostles1 who1 acknowledging the justice of the rebuke1 set them an example of submission4 ,thus he1 in fact1 substituted the much graver charge of dishonesty against both apostles in order to exculpate the one from the comparatively venial offence of moral cowardice and inconsistency4 ,nevertheless this view commended itself to a large number of subsequent writers1 and for some time may be said to have reigned supreme4 7,lightfoot's ,galatians1 p4 #abi47 ,st4 ,chrysostom and ,st4 ,jerome maintained the same view1 while ,st4 ,augustine opposed it4 ,the epistles exchanged between ,jerome and ,augustine on this topic are very interesting4 ,they may be most easily perused in ,augustine's ,epistles1 vol4 i41 pp4 #aca and #bhj1 as translated in ,t4 ,t4 ,clark's series 7,edinburgh1 #ahgb74 #aca ,mark is usually regarded as nephew to ,barnabas4 ,this opinion is grounded upon ,col4 iv4 #aj1 as translated in the ,authorised ,version4 ,they were1 however1 cousins merely4 ,the ,revised ,version translates ,col4 iv4 #aj thus3 ,mark1 the cousin of ,barnabas4 ,dr4 ,lightfoot1 in his ,colossians1 p4 #bcf1 has a long note showing that the word used about ,st4 ,mark in that passage is 1 which always means cousin german3 see ,thayer's edition of ,grimm's ,lexicon of ,new ,testament1 s4v4 ,and now it is well that we should note the special trials he had to endure4 ,he had to fight against the spirit of cowardly self-indulgence in others1 and he had to fight against the spirit of jobbery4 ,these things indeed caused the rupture in the apostolic friendship4 ,st4 ,barnabas1 apostle though he was1 thought far more of the interests of his cousin than of the interests of ,christ's mission4 ,st4 ,paul with his devotion to ,christ may have been a little intolerant of the weakness of youth1 but he rightly judged that one who had proved untrustworthy before should not be rapidly and at once trusted again4 ,and ,st4 ,paul was thoroughly right1 and has left a very useful and practical example4 ,many young men among us are like ,st4 ,mark4 ,the ,st4 ,marks of our own day are a very numerous class4 ,they have no respect for their engagements4 ,they will undertake work and allow themselves to be calculated upon1 and arrangements to be made accordingly4 ,but then comes the stress of action1 and their place is found wanting1 and the work undertaken by them is found undone4 ,and then they wonder and complain that their lives are unsuccessful1 and that men and women who are in earnest will not trust or employ them in the future6 ,these are the men who are the social wrecks in life4 ,they proclaim loudly in streets and highways the hard treatment which they have received4 ,they tell forth their own misery1 and speak as if they were the most deserving and at the same time the most ill-treated of men2 and yet they are but reaping as they have sown1 and their failures and their misfortunes are only the due and fitting rewards of their want of earnestness1 diligence1 and self-denial4 ,to the young this episode proclaims aloud3 ,respect your engagements1 regard public employments as solemn contracts in ,god's sight4 ,take pains with your work4 ,be willing to endure any trouble for its sake4 ,there is no such thing as genius in ordinary life4 ,genius has been well defined as an infinite capacity for taking pains4 ,and thus avoid the miserable weakness of ,st4 ,mark1 who fled from his work because it entailed trouble and self-denial on his part4 ,then1 again1 we view ,st4 ,paul with admiration because he withstood the spirit of jobbery when it displayed itself even in a saint4 ,barnabas in plain language wished to perpetrate a job in favour of a member of his family1 and ,st4 ,paul withstood him4 ,and how often since has the same spirit thus displayed itself to the injury of ,god's cause6 ,let us note how the case stood4 ,st4 ,barnabas was a good pious man of very strong emotional feelings4 ,but he allowed himself to be guided1 as pious people often do1 by their emotions1 affections1 prejudices1 not by their reason and judgment4 ,with such men when their affections come into play jobbery is the most natural thing in the world4 ,it is the very breath of their nostrils4 ,it is the atmosphere in which they revel4 ,barnabas loved his cousin ,john ,mark1 with strong1 powerful1 absorbing love1 and that emotion blinded ,barnabas to ,mark's faults1 and led him on his behalf to quarrel with his firmer1 wiser1 and more vigorous friend4 ,jobbery is a vice peculiar to no age and to no profession4 ,it flourishes in the most religious as in the most worldly circles4 ,in religious circles it often takes the most sickening forms1 when miserable1 narrow selfishness assumes the garb and adopts the language of ,christian piety4 ,st4 ,paul's action proclaims to ,christian men a very needful lesson4 ,it says1 in fact1 ,set your faces against jobbery of every kind4 ,regard power1 influence1 patronage as a sacred trust4 ,permit not fear1 affection1 or party spirit to blind your eyes or prejudice your judgment against real merit2 so shall you be following in the footsteps of the great ,apostle of the ,gentiles1 with his heroic championship of that which was righteous and true1 and of ,one higher still1 for thus you shall be following the ,master's own example1 whose highest praise was this3 ,he loved righteousness1 and hated iniquity4#acb #acb ,the sequel of this story as made known through the ,epistles is most interesting4 ,the quarrel between ,st4 ,paul and ,st4 ,barnabas was not a permanent one4 ,five years or so later1 when writing the #ast ,epistle to the ,corinthians 7ix4 #f71 ,st4 ,paul associates himself with ,barnabas as if they were companions once again3 ,or ,i only1 and ,barnabas1 have we not a right to forbear working8 ,it is interesting too to trace the change that came in subsequent years over the relations between ,st4 ,paul and ,st4 ,mark as revealed by the ,epistles4 ,about the year #ej ,st4 ,paul treated ,mark sternly1 and that same sternness was most beneficial to the young man4 ,it was just what his character wanted4 ,fifteen years passed over both their heads1 and the scene was then very different4 ,in ,col4 iv4 #aj1 #aa ,mark is commended unto the ,church of ,coloss as one of the few ,jewish ,christians who had been a comfort in his bonds to the prisoner of ,jesus ,christ2 while again1 when on the point of his departure1 in the #bnd ,epistle to ,timothy1 iv4 #aa1 the once weak disciple is most touchingly and lovingly remembered3 ,only ,luke is with me4 ,take ,mark1 and bring him with thee3 for he is useful to me for ministering4 ,st4 ,mark1 after being the cause of this quarrel1 appears no more in the ,acts4 ,the traditions about him will be found collected in ,english in ,nelson's ,fasts and ,festivals1 under his ,feast ,day1 ,april #beth2 or better still in ,cave's ,lives of the ,apostles1 pp4 #bag-bc 7,london1 #afhd72 and in ,latin in the ,acta ,sanctorum1 ,ed4 ,boll41 ,april1 iii41 #cdd-eh4 ,cave and the ,bollandists give all the traditions about his foundation of the ,church of ,alexandria1 the patriarchs of which still claim descent from him4 ,some historical writers have maintained1 that they used to be ordained by the imposition of ,st4 ,mark's dead hand4 ,this seems a mistake1 however4 ,mr4 ,butler1 in his ,coptic ,churches of ,egypt1 vol4 ii41 p4 #caa1 says that the newly ordained ,patriarch of ,alexandria used to hold ,st4 ,mark's head in his hands during the celebration of ,mass after his consecration4 7,see also ,,coptic ,,church in ,dict4 ,christ4 ,biog474 ,renaudot1 a learned ,french writer1 published a history of the ,alexandrian ,patriarchate in #agac1 which industriously collects all the details of ,st4 ,mark's life true and imaginary alike4 ,st4 ,mark's supposed body was carried to ,venice from ,alexandria about ,a4,d4 #abce4 ,we have now bestowed a lengthened notice upon this quarrel1 because it corrects a very mistaken notion about the apostles1 and shows us how thoroughly natural and human1 how very like our own1 was the everyday life of the primitive ,church4 ,it takes away the false halo of infallibility and impeccability with which we are apt to invest the apostles1 making us view them as real1 fallible1 weak1 sinful men like ourselves1#acc and thereby exalts the power of that grace which made them so eminent in ,christian character1 so abundant in ,christian labours4 ,let us now apply ourselves to trace the course of ,st4 ,paul's second tour4 #acc ,it is curious to note how widespread is this notion that the apostles always possessed supernatural powers in virtue of their office1 enabling them1 for instance1 infallibly to read men's hearts and thoughts4 ,in a letter in the ,church ,times for ,august #aith1 #ahib1 from an eminent dignitary of the ,church of ,england1 ,i noticed an example of it4 ,he was discussing a question with which ,i have nothing to say1 and in doing so writes3 ,the commission given by our ,lord to the apostles cannot be used in precisely the same sense by ourselves4 ,the apostles' powers were miraculous4444 ,they could tell whether the condition of the soul of the recipient of their gifts was right or the reverse in a manner not possible for us4444 ,they could perceive and gauge faith in a way that is not our prerogative4444 ,it is clear that the apostles could have perceived whether repentance and faith were genuine4 ,i do not deny that ,god sometimes made such special revelations to them4 ,but qu apostles they had no such gift of discerning spirits1 else why did ,peter baptize ,simon ,magus1 or ,st4 ,paul and ,barnabas take ,mark with them at all1 or ,st4 ,paul tolerate ,demas even for a moment1 or why did he not indicate the grievous wolves who should ravage the ,ephesian ,church after his departure8 ,the effect of the quarrel between the friends was that ,st4 ,paul took ,silas and ,st4 ,barnabas took ,mark1 and they separated2 the latter going to ,cyprus1 the native country of ,barnabas1 while ,paul and ,silas devoted themselves to ,syria and ,asia ,minor and their ,churches4 ,the division between these holy men became thus doubly profitable to the ,church of ,christ4 ,it is perpetually profitable1 by way of warning and example1 as we have just now shown2 and then it became profitable because it led to two distinct missions being carried on1 the one in the island of ,cyprus1 the other on the continent of ,asia4 ,the wrath of man is thus again overruled to the greater glory of ,god1 and human weakness is made to promote the interests of the gospel4 ,we read1 too1 they parted asunder the one from the other4 ,how very differently they acted from the manner in which modern ,christians do6 ,their difference in opinion did not lead them to depart into exactly the same district1 and there pursue a policy of opposition the one against the other4 ,they sought rather districts widely separated1 where their social differences could have no effect upon the cause they both loved4 ,how very differently modern ,christians act1 and how very disastrous the consequent results6 ,how very scandalous1 how very injurious to ,christ's cause1 when ,christian missionaries of different communions appear warring one with another in face of the pagan world6 ,surely the world of paganism is wide enough and large enough to afford scope for the utmost efforts of all ,christians without ,european ,christendom exporting its divisions and quarrels to afford matter for mockery to scoffing idolaters6 ,we have heard lately a great deal about the differences between ,roman ,catholic and ,protestant missionaries in ,central ,africa1 terminating in war and bloodshed and in the most miserable recriminations threatening the peace and welfare of the nations of ,europe4 ,surely there must have been an error of judgment somewhere or another in this case1 and ,africa must be ample enough to afford abundant room for the independent action of the largest bodies of missionaries without resorting to armed conflicts which recall the religious wars between the ,roman ,catholic and ,protestant ,cantons of ,switzerland6 ,with the subsequent labours of ,barnabas we have nothing to do1 as he now disappears from the ,acts of the ,apostles1#acd though it would appear from a reference by ,st4 ,paul--#a ,cor4 ix4 #f1 ,or ,i only1 and ,barnabas1 have we not a right to forbear working8--as if at that time four or five years after the quarrel they were again labouring together at ,ephesus1 where ,first ,corinthians was written1 or else why should ,barnabas be mentioned in that connexion at all8 #acd ,ecclesiastical history and tradition tell us more about ,barnabas and ,cyprus4 ,they represent ,barnabas as the ,apostle of the ,church of ,cyprus4 ,this idea played a prominent part in the fifth century4 ,the ancient connection between ,antioch and ,cyprus was then kept up1 and the patriarchs of ,antioch wished to subject the ,archbishop and ,bishops of ,cyprus to their rule4 ,the ,seventh ,session of the ,great ,council of ,ephesus1 which dealt with the ,nestorian controversy1 was engaged with this question of ,cyprus4 ,the session was held on ,july #cast1 #dca4 ,the ,cypriote bishops claimed that they had been free from the dominion of ,antioch back to apostolic times1 and the ,council confirmed their freedom3 see ,mansi's ,councils1 iv41 #adfe-adgj2 ,hefele's ,councils 7,t4 ,t4 ,clark's translation71 vol4 ii41 p4 #gb4 ,forty years later the same claim was advanced by the celebrated ,peter the ,fuller1 ,patriarch of ,antioch1 and resisted by ,anthemius1 ,bishop of ,salamis or ,constantia4 ,the bishops of ,cyprus were again successful1 owing to the timely discovery of the body of ,barnabas lying in a tomb with a copy of the ,gospel of ,st4 ,matthew upon his heart1 which1 according to the opinion of the times1 settled the point in dispute3 see ,anthemius in the ,dict4 ,christ4 ,biog41 vol4 i41 p4 #aah4 ,cave1 in his ,apostolici1 or ,lives of the ,fathers1 pp4 #cc-dc1 diligently collects every scrap of information about ,st4 ,barnabas4 ,an early tradition found in the ,clementine ,recognitions1 lib4 i41 cap4 #g1 and dating from about ,a4,d4 #bjj1 makes him the first apostle to preach in ,rome1 preceding ,st4 ,peter himself1 against which theory as trenching on ,st4 ,peter's prerogatives ,cardinal ,baronius disputes very vigorously in his ,annals1 ,a4,d4 #ea1 lii4-liv42 see also ,dr4 ,salmon on ,clementine ,literature in the ,dict4 ,christ4 ,biog41 i41 #efh4 ,let us now briefly indicate the course of ,st4 ,paul's labours during the next three years1 as his second missionary tour must have extended over at least that space of time4 ,st4 ,paul and his companion ,silas left ,antioch amid the prayers of the whole ,church4 ,evidently the brethren viewed ,paul's conduct with approbation1 and accompanied him therefore with fervent supplications for success in his self-denying labours4 ,he proceeded by land into ,cilicia and ,asia ,minor1 and wherever he went he delivered the apostolic decree in order that he might counteract the workings of the ,judaisers4 ,this decree served a twofold purpose4 ,it relieved the minds of the ,gentile brethren with respect to the law and its observances1 and it also showed to them that the ,jerusalem ,church and apostles recognised the ,divine authority and apostolate of ,st4 ,paul himself1 which these false brethren from ,jerusalem had already assailed1 as they did four or five years later both in ,galatia and at ,corinth4 ,we know not what special towns ,st4 ,paul visited in ,cilicia1 but we may be sure that the ,church of ,tarsus1 his native place1 where in the first fervour of his conversion he had already laboured for a considerable period1 must have received a visit from him4 ,we may be certain that his opponents would not leave such an important town unvisited1 and we may be equally certain that ,st4 ,paul1 who1 as his ,epistles show1 was always keenly alive to the opinion of his converts with respect to his apostolic authority1 would have been specially anxious to let his fellow townsmen at ,tarsus see that he was no unauthorised or false teacher1 but that the ,jerusalem ,church recognised his work and teaching in the amplest manner4 ,starting then anew from ,tarsus1 ,paul and ,silas set out upon an enormous journey1 penetrating1 as few modern travellers even now do1 from the south-eastern extremity of ,asia ,minor to the north-western coast1 a journey which1 with its necessarily prolonged delays1 must have taken them at least a year and a half4 ,st4 ,paul seems to have carefully availed himself of the ,roman road system4 ,we are merely given the very barest outline of the course which he pursued1 but then when we take up the index maps of ,asia ,minor inserted in ,ramsay's ,historical ,geography of ,asia ,minor1 showing the road systems at various periods1 we see that a great ,roman road followed the very route which ,st4 ,paul took4 ,it started from ,tarsus and passed to ,derbe1 whence of course the road to ,lystra1 ,iconium1 and ,antioch had already been traversed by ,st4 ,paul4#ace ,he must have made lengthened visits to all these places1 as he had much to do and much to teach4 ,he had to expound the decree of the ,apostolic ,council1 to explain ,christian truth1 to correct the errors and abuses which were daily creeping in1 and to enlarge the organisation of the ,christian ,church by fresh ordinations4 ,take the case of ,timothy as an example of the trouble ,st4 ,paul must have experienced4 ,he came to ,derbe1 where he first found some of the converts made on his earlier tour2 whence he passed to ,lystra1 where he met ,timothy1 whose acquaintance he had doubtless made on his first journey4 ,he was the son of a ,jewess1 though his father was a ,gentile4 ,st4 ,paul took and circumcised him to conciliate the ,jews4 ,the ,apostle must have bestowed a great deal of trouble on this point alone1 explaining to the ,gentile portion of the ,christian community the principles on which he acted and their perfect consistency with his own conduct at ,jerusalem and his advocacy of ,gentile freedom from the law4 ,then he ordained him4 ,this we do not learn from the ,acts1 but from ,st4 ,paul's ,epistles to ,timothy4 ,the ,acts simply says of ,timothy1 ,him would ,paul have to go forth with him4 ,but then when we turn to the ,epistles written to ,timothy1 we find that it was not as an ordinary companion that ,timothy was taken4 ,he went forth as ,st4 ,paul himself had gone forth from the ,church of ,antioch1 a duly ordained and publicly recognised messenger of ,christ4 ,we can glean from ,st4 ,paul's letters to ,timothy the order and ceremonies of this primitive ordination4 ,the rite1 as ministered on that occasion1 embraced prophesyings or preachings by ,st4 ,paul himself and by others upon the serious character of the office then undertaken4 ,this seems plainly intimated in #a ,tim4 i4 #ah3 ,this charge ,i commit unto thee1 my child ,timothy1 according to the prophecies which went before on thee2 while there seems a reference to his own exhortations and directions in #b ,tim4 ii4 #b1 where he writes1 ,the things which thou hast heard from me among many witnesses1 the same commit thou to faithful men4 ,after this there was probably1 as in modern ordinations1 a searching examination of the candidate1 with a solemn profession of faith on his part1 to which ,st4 ,paul refers in #a ,tim4 vi4 #ab1 ,fight the good fight of faith1 lay hold on the life eternal1 whereunto thou wast called1 and didst confess the good confession in the sight of many witnesses4 ,i charge thee in the sight of ,god who quickeneth all things1 and of ,christ ,jesus1 who before ,pontius ,pilate witnessed the good confession2 that thou keep the commandment1 without spot1 without reproach1 until the appearing of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,and finally there came the imposition of hands1 in which the local presbyters assisted ,st4 ,paul1 though ,st4 ,paul was so far the guiding and ruling personage that1 though in one place 7#a ,tim4 iv4 #ad7 he speaks of the gift of ,god which ,timothy possessed1 as given by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery1 in another place he describes it as given to the young evangelist by the imposition of ,st4 ,paul's own hands 7#b ,tim4 i4 #f74 ,this ordination of ,timothy#acf and adoption of him as his special attendant stood at the very beginning of a prolonged tour throughout the central and northern districts of ,asia ,minor1 of which we get only a mere hint in ,acts xvi4 #f-h3 ,they went through the region of ,phrygia and ,galatia1 having been forbidden of the ,holy ,ghost to speak the word in ,asia2 and when they were come over against ,mysia1 they assayed to go into ,bithynia2 and the ,spirit of ,jesus suffered them not2 and passing by ,mysia1 they came unto ,troas4 ,this is the brief sketch of ,st4 ,paul's labours through the north-western provinces of ,asia ,minor1 during which he visited the district of ,galatia and preached the gospel amid the various tribal communities of ,celts who inhabited that district4 #ace ,the record of a very similar journey performed five years ago in ,july #ahhg may be read in the ,journal of ,hellenic ,studies for ,april #ahij4 ,mr4 ,d4 ,g4 ,hogarth1 who writes the story1 travelled on that occasion from the borders of ,galatia to the ,cilician coast4 ,his narrative gives a vivid picture of the scenery over the ,taurus ,range as ,st4 ,paul must have seen it on this second missionary tour1 and of the difficulties by which he must have been surrounded4 ,cf4 ,ramsay's ,historical ,geography of ,asia ,minor1 p4 #cfb4 #acf ,cave has a long account of ,timothy in his ,apostolici1 or ,lives of the ,fathers1 pp4 #de-ec1 where he gives an account of ,timothy's martyrdom at ,ephesus from ,photius1 the celebrated ,greek scholar and patriarch of the ninth century3 see ,photius1 ,bibliotheca1 cod4 #bed1 and the ,acta ,sanctorum for ,january1 vol4 ii41 pp4 #efb-fi4 ,timothy is said in the ,martyrologies to have been buried on ,mount ,prion1 a hill upon the side of which ancient ,ephesus was built 7see ,wood's ,ephesus1 chap4 i471 after he was cruelly put to death by the ,ephesians enraged at his protest against one of their popular feasts4 ,he suffered under ,domitian about thirty years after ,st4 ,paul1 and according to ,photius was succeeded at ,ephesus by ,st4 ,john1 who had been recalled from exile4 ,his feast-day in the ,calendar is ,january #bdth4 ,st4 ,paul's work in ,galatia is specially interesting to ourselves4 ,the ,celtic race certainly furnished the groundwork of the population in ,england1 ,ireland1 and ,scotland1 and finds to this day lineal representatives in the ,celtic-speaking inhabitants of these three islands4 ,galatia was thoroughly ,celtic in ,st4 ,paul's day4 ,but how1 it may be said1 did the ,gauls come there8 ,we all know of the ,gauls or ,celts in ,western ,europe1 and every person of even moderate education has heard of the ,gauls who invaded ,italy and sacked ,rome when that city was yet an unknown factor in the world's history1 and yet but very few know that the same wave of invasion which brought the ,gauls to ,rome led another division of them into ,asia ,minor1 where--as ,dr4 ,lightfoot shows in his ,introduction to his ,commentary--about three hundred years before ,st4 ,paul's day they settled down in the region called after them ,galatia1 perpetuating in that neighbourhood the tribal organisation1 the language1#acg the national feelings1 habits1 and customs which have universally marked the ,celtic race whether in ancient or in modern times4 ,st4 ,paul on this second missionary tour paid his first visit to this district of ,galatia4 ,st4 ,paul usually directed his attention to great cities4 ,where vast masses of humanity were gathered together1 there ,st4 ,paul loved to fling himself with all the mighty force of his unquenchable enthusiasm4 ,but ,galatia was quite unlike other districts with which he had dealt in this special respect4 ,like the ,celtic race all the world over1 the ,gauls of ,galatia specially delighted in village communities4 ,they did not care for the society and tone of great towns1 and ,galatia was wanting in such4 ,st4 ,paul1 too1 does not seem originally to have intended to labour amongst the ,galatians at all4 ,in view of his great design to preach in large cities1 and concentrate his efforts where they could most effectually tell upon the masses1 he seems to have been hurrying through ,galatia when ,god laid ,his heavy hand upon the ,apostle and delayed his course that we might be able to see how the gospel could tell upon ,gauls and ,celts even as upon other nations4 ,this interesting circumstance is made known to us by ,st4 ,paul himself in the ,epistle to the ,galatians iv4 #ac3 ,ye know that because of an infirmity of the flesh ,i preached the gospel unto you for the first time4 ,paul1 to put it in plain language1 fell sick in ,galatia4#ach ,he was delayed on his journey by the ophthalmia or some other form of disease1 which was his thorn in the flesh1 and then1 utilising the compulsory delay1 and turning every moment to advantage1 he evangelised the village communities of ,galatia with which he came in contact1 so that his ,epistle is directed1 not as in other cases to the ,church of a city or to an individual man1 but the ,epistle in which he deals with great fundamental questions of ,christian freedom is addressed to the ,churches of ,galatia1 a vast district of country4 ,mere accident1 as it would seem to the eye of sense1 produced the ,epistle to the ,galatians1 which shows us the peculiar weakness and the peculiar strength of the ,celtic race1 their enthusiasm1 their genuine warmth1 their fickleness1 their love for that which is striking1 showy1 material1 exterior4#aci ,but when we pass from ,galatia we know nothing of the course of ,st4 ,paul's further labours in ,asia ,minor4 ,st4 ,luke was not with him during this portion of his work1 and so the details given us are very few4 ,we are told that the ,spirit of ,jesus would not permit him to preach in ,bithynia1 though ,bithynia became afterwards rich in ,christian ,churches1 and was one of the districts to which ,st4 ,peter some years later addressed his first ,epistle4#adj ,the ,jews were numerous in the districts of ,bithynia and ,asia1 and the ,spirit of ,jesus or the ,holy ,ghost--for the sacred writer seems to use the terms as equivalent the one to the other--had determined to utilise ,st4 ,paul in working directly among the ,gentiles1 reserving the preaching of the gospel to the ,dispersion1 as the scattered ,jews were called1 to ,st4 ,peter and his friends4 ,it is thus we would explain the restraint exercised upon ,st4 ,paul on this occasion4 ,divine providence had cut out his great work in ,europe1 and was impelling him westward even when he desired to tarry in ,asia4 ,how the ,spirit exercised this restraint or communicated ,his will we know not4 ,st4 ,paul lived1 however1 in an atmosphere of ,divine communion4 ,he cultivated perpetually a sense of the ,divine presence1 and those who do so1 experience a guidance of which the outer world knows nothing4 ,bishop ,jeremy ,taylor1 in one of his marvellous spiritual discourses called the ,via ,intelligenti1 or ,the ,way of ,knowledge1 speaks much on this subject1 pointing out that they who live closest to ,god have a knowledge and a love peculiar to themselves4#ada ,and surely every sincere and earnest follower of ,christ has experienced somewhat of the same mystical blessings6 ,god's truest servants commit their lives and their actions in devout prayer to the guidance of their heavenly ,father1 and then when they look back over the past they see how marvellously they have been restrained from courses which would have been fraught with evil1 how strangely they have been led by ways which have been full of mercy and goodness and blessing4 ,thus it was that ,st4 ,paul was at length led down to the ancient city of ,troas1 where ,god revealed to him in a new fashion his ordained field of labour4 ,a man of ,macedonia appeared in a night vision inviting him over to ,europe1 and saying1 ,come over into ,macedonia1 and help us4 ,troas was a very fitting place in which this vision should appear4 ,of old time and in days of classic fable ,troas had been the meeting-place where1 as ,homer and as ,virgil tell1 ,europe and ,asia had met in stern conflict1 and where ,europe as represented by ,greece had come off victorious1 bringing home the spoils which human nature counted most precious4 ,europe and ,asia again meet at ,troas1 but no longer in carnal conflict or in deadly fight4 ,the interests of ,europe and of ,asia again touch one another1 and ,europe again carries off from the same spot spoil more precious far than ,grecian poet ever dreamt of1 for when ,paul had seen the vision1 straightway we sought to go forth into ,macedonia1 concluding that ,god called us for to preach the gospel unto them4 ,whereupon we notice two points and offer just two observations4 ,the vision created an enthusiasm1 and that enthusiasm was contagious4 ,the vision was seen by ,paul alone1 but was communicated by ,st4 ,paul unto ,silas and to ,st4 ,luke1 who now had joined to lend perhaps the assistance of his medical knowledge to the afflicted and suffering ,apostle4 ,enthusiasm is a marvellous power1 and endows a man with wondrous force4 ,st4 ,paul was boiling over with enthusiasm1 but he could not always impart it4 ,the two non-apostolic ,evangelists are marked contrasts as brought before us in this history4 ,st4 ,paul was enthusiastic on his first tour1 but that enthusiasm was not communicated to ,st4 ,mark4 ,he turned back from the hardships and dangers of the work in ,asia ,minor4 ,st4 ,paul was boiling over again with enthusiasm for the new work in ,europe4 ,he has now with him in ,st4 ,luke a congenial soul who1 when he hears the vision1 gathers at once its import1 joyfully anticipates the work1 and straightway sought to go forth into ,macedonia4 ,enthusiasm in any kind of work is a great assistance1 and nothing great or successful is done without it4 ,but above all in ,divine work1 in the work of preaching the gospel1 the man devoid of enthusiasm begotten of living communion with ,god such as ,st4 ,paul and ,st4 ,luke enjoyed is sure to be a lamentable and complete failure4 #acg ,the provinces of ,asia ,minor all retained their ancient languages at the time of ,st4 ,paul4 ,latin and ,greek were the language of society1 but the mass of the people all spoke the original language of the country4 ,in the time of ,st4 ,jerome1 four centuries after ,st4 ,paul1 ,celtic was still spoken in ,galatia as well as in ,gaul4 ,st4 ,paul must then have heard a language identical with that of ,wales and the western districts of ,ireland and ,scotland1 as is shown by ,bishop ,lightfoot in his ,galatians1 pp4 #bdj-dd1 by his analysis of the remains of the ,galatian language which ancient writers have handed down to us4 ,texier1 a modern ,french traveller1 thought that he could even trace ,celtic features in the present inhabitants of the district4 ,cf4 ,lightfoot's ,galatians1 p4 #ab4 ,it is very probable that a careful study of the existing language of ,galatia1 when treated according to the methods of modern scientific philology1 would disclose ,celtic elements4 ,when ,celtic elements survived in ,england and ,france1 it is not likely they died out in ,galatia4 ,we know at any rate that the other original languages of ,asia ,minor have not perished without leaving some traces behind4 ,there is a learned ,review published at ,smyrna from time to time4 ,it is called the ,museum of the ,evangelical ,school of ,smyrna4 ,in the volume published for #ahhj-hd there is an article of more than #bjj pages treating of the ancient ,cappadocian and ,lycaonian dialects1 and the traces of them which remain4 ,on p4 #ga there is a notice of the accuracy with which ,acts xiv4 #aa mentions the speech or dialect of the men of ,lystra1 which ,mr4 ,hogarth1 in the article in the ,journal of ,hellenic ,studies1 ,april #ahij1 p4 #aeg1 to which we have already referred1 identifies with the ,phrygian dialect spoken till the sixth century of our era4 ,mr4 ,hogarth copied several inscriptions in this ancient ,lycaonian or ,phrygian speech4 ,see also an ,english article by ,professor ,w4 ,m4 ,ramsay in ,khn's ,journal of ,comparative ,philology for #ahhg1 where he treats of this ,lycaonian speech1 and avows his belief 7p4 #chb7 that ,grco-,roman civilisation and language did not begin to affect the rural parts of ,northern and ,eastern ,phrygia till ,a4,d4 #ajj1 long after ,st4 ,paul's day4 ,the mass of the people spoke nothing but the original ,phrygian4 ,the reader who wishes to investigate what ,i consider the bearing of this subject on the gift of tongues should consult another article in ,english by ,professor ,ramsay1 styled ,laodicea ,combusta1 in the ,transactions of the ,german ,archological ,institute1 vol4 xiii41 p4 #bdh 7,athens1 #ahhh74 #ach ,see ,lightfoot's ,galatians1 pp4 #bb and #agb4 #aci ,those who have access to great libraries will see a good description of ,galatia accompanied with splendid plates in ,texier's ,description de l',asie1 in #c vols4 folio1 published at ,paris between #ahci and #ahdi4 ,mr4 ,lewin has reproduced some of the pictures in his ,life of ,st4 ,paul4 #adj ,we owe one of the earliest glimpses of the ,christian ,church after apostolic days to this same province of ,bithynia4 ,pliny went there as proconsul about #aaj ,a4,d4 ,he found the whole country covered with ,christians1 and the ,church organised1 with deaconesses even1 as in ,greece and ,ephesus4 ,see the first volume of this commentary1 p4 #bgd4 ,the picture of the saintly slave deaconesses tortured for their faith within ten years of ,st4 ,john's death is an interesting confirmation of the faith4 ,it would be instructive to trace back the connexion of the second-century martyrs who have been well authenticated1 with the ,churches founded by the apostles4 ,justin ,martyr suffered1 for instance1 at ,rome about ,a4,d4 #afe4 ,with him there died ,hierax1 who had been born of ,christian parents at ,iconium4 ,his grandfather might have been converted by ,st4 ,paul4 ,in his examination he dwells upon the fact that he had been born of believing parents4 ,see ,ruinart's ,acta ,sincera1 p4 #dd1 a translation of which passage will be found in the works of ,justin ,martyr1 in ,clark's ,series of ,ante-,nicene ,writers4 #ada ,see this sermon in ,taylor's works1 vol4 viii41 ,ed4 ,c4 ,p4 ,eden 7,london1 #ahej74 ,on p4 #chj we find the following eloquent and profound passage bearing on this point3 ,lastly there is a sort of ,god's dear servants who walk in perfectness1 who perfect holiness in the fear of ,god1 and they have a degree of charity and divine knowledge more than we can discourse of1 and more certain than the demonstrations of geometry1 brighter than the sun and indeficient as the light of heaven4 ,this is called by the ,apostle the 4 ,christ is this 'brightness of ,god' manifested in the hearts of ,his dearest servants4 ,but ,i shall say no more of this at this time1 for this is to be felt and not to be talked of2 and they that have never touched it with their finger1 may secretly perhaps laugh at it in their heart1 and be never the wiser4 ,all that ,i have now to say of it is1 that a good man is united unto ,god1 1 as a flame touches a flame and combines into splendour and glory2 so is the spirit of a man united unto ,christ by the ,spirit of ,god4 ,these are the friends of ,god1 and they best know ,god's mind1 and they only that are so know how much such men do know4 ,they have a special unction from above4 ,then again1 and lastly1 we note the slow progress of the gospel as shown to us by this incident at ,troas4 ,here we are a good twenty years after the ,crucifixion1 and yet the chief ministers and leaders of the ,church had not yet crossed into ,europe4 ,there were sporadic ,churches here and there4 ,at ,rome and at possibly a few ,italian seaports1 whence intercourse with ,palestine was frequent1 there were small ,christian communities2 but ,macedonia and ,greece were absolutely untouched up to the present4 ,we are very apt to overrate the progress of the gospel during those first days of the ,church's earliest ,church life4 ,we are inclined to view the history of the ,church of the first three centuries all on an heap as it were4 ,we have much need to distinguish century from century and decennium from decennium4 ,the first ten years of the ,church's history saw the gospel preached in ,jerusalem and ,palestine1 but not much farther4 ,the second decennium saw it proclaimed to ,asia ,minor2 but it is only when the third decennium is opening that ,christ despatches a formal mission to that ,europe where the greatest triumphs of the gospel were afterwards to be won4 ,ignorance and prejudice and narrow views had been allowed to hinder the progress of the gospel then1 as they are hindering the progress of the gospel still2 and an express record of this has been handed down to us in this typical history in order that if we too suffer the same we may not be astonished as if some strange thing had happened1 but may understand that we are bearing the same burden and enduring the same trials as the ,new ,testament saints have borne before us4 ,,chapter ,,xii4 ,,st4 ,,paul ,,in ,,macedonia4 ,the jailor called for lights1 and sprang in1 and1 trembling for fear1 fell down before ,paul and ,silas1 and said1 ,sirs1 what must ,i do to be saved8 ,and they said1 ,believe on the ,lord ,jesus1 and thou shalt be saved1 thou and thy house--,,acts xvi4 #bi-ca4 ,when they had passed through ,amphipolis and ,apollonia1 they came to ,thessalonica1 where was a synagogue of the ,jews3 and ,paul1 as his custom was1 went in unto them1 and for three ,sabbath days reasoned with them from the ,scriptures4444 ,and the brethren immediately sent away ,paul and ,silas by night into ,bera3 who when they were come thither went into the synagogue of the ,jews4--,,acts xvii4 #a1 #b1 #aj4 ,troas was at this time the termination of ,st4 ,paul's ,asiatic travels4 ,he had passed diagonally right through ,asia ,minor1 following the great ,roman roads which determined his line of march4 ,from ,troas he proceeded to ,philippi1 and for exactly the same reason4 ,all the great roads formed under the emperors down to the time of ,constantine the ,great led to ,rome4 ,when the seat of empire was moved to ,constantinople1 all the ,asiatic roads converged upon that city2 but in ,st4 ,paul's day ,rome was the world's centre of attraction1 and thither the highways all tended4 ,this fact explains ,st4 ,paul's movements4 ,the ,egnatian ,road was one of the great channels of communication established for ,state purposes by ,rome1 and this road ran from ,neapolis1 where ,st4 ,paul landed1 through ,philippi on to ,dyrrachium1 a port on the ,adriatic1 whence the traveller took ship to ,brundusium1 the modern ,brindisi1 and thence reached ,rome4 ,what a striking commentary we find in this simple fact upon the words of ,st4 ,paul in ,galatians iv4 #d3 ,when the fulness of the time came ,god sent forth ,his ,son4 ,roman dominion involved much suffering and war and bloodshed1 but it secured the network of communication1 the internal peace1 and the steady1 regular government which now covered ,europe as well as ,asia1 and thus for the first time in the world's history rendered the diffusion of the gospel possible1 as ,st4 ,paul's example here shows4 ,the voyage from ,troas to ,neapolis was taken by the ,apostle after the usual fashion of the time4#adb ,neapolis was the port of ,philippi1 whence it is distant some eight miles4 ,travellers from the ,east to ,rome always landed there1 and then took the ,egnatian ,road which started from ,neapolis4 ,if they were official persons they could use the public postal service1 post-houses being established at a distance of six miles from one another1 where relays of horses were kept at the public expense1 to carry persons travelling on the imperial service4#adc ,paul and ,silas1 ,timothy and ,luke1 must1 however1 have travelled on foot along the ,egnatian ,road from ,neapolis to ,philippi1 which was their first objective point1 according to ,st4 ,paul's usual policy1 of attacking large and important centres of population1 and then leaving the sacred leaven to work out into the surrounding mass of paganism4 ,philippi amply rewarded the wisdom of his plan1 and the ,philippian ,church became notable for its zeal1 its faith1 its activity1 among the ,churches which owed their origin to the ,apostle1 as we learn from the ,epistles addressed to the ,corinthians and to the ,philippians themselves a short time after the foundation of the ,philippian ,church4 #adb ,both ,lewin and ,conybeare and ,howson in their ,lives of ,st4 ,paul enter into great details about the scenery and other circumstances of ,st4 ,paul's voyage from ,troas to ,neapolis1 which would be out of place in this commentary1 even if space did allow their insertion4 ,mr4 ,lewin's account is specially interesting1 as he gives the impressions made upon himself when going over the ground4 ,these writers all point out that ,st4 ,paul must have travelled with a fair wind2 ,conybeare and ,howson even try to determine its exact direction1 which they maintain was from the southward4 ,otherwise he could not have made the passage in two days1 or followed the course actually taken4 ,on a subsequent occasion 7,acts xx4 #f7 ,st4 ,paul took five days in sailing from ,philippi to ,troas4 #adc ,posts for the conveyance of intelligence were established by ,augustus 7see ,suetonius1 ,aug41 #di74 ,gibbon1 in the second chapter of his ,history1 has much information on this point4 ,the reader curious in such matters will find a learned account of the ,roman postal service in ,godefroy's ,commentary on the ,theodosian ,code1 vol4 ii41 p4 #ebf1 where he traces the system down from ,augustus to the year #djj ,a4,d4 ,it was somewhat similar to that which now prevails in ,russia4 ,an interesting story is told concerning ,constantine the ,great1 which illustrates the system4 ,during the ,diocletian persecution ,constantine1 whose leanings towards ,christianity were suspected1 was residing in ,asia ,minor with the ,emperor ,galerius1 the determined enemy of ,christianity4 ,constantine knew that there was a plot against him1 so1 having obtained the authority necessary to use the post1 he fled secretly one night1 and as he rode along took fresh horses1 and at the same time brought the tired animals with him4 ,when his enemies followed him next day1 they found the post stables empty1 and their prey escaped without any possibility of pursuit4 ,see ,dict4 ,christ4 ,biog41 vol4 i41 p4 #ebf1 ,art4 ,constantinus ,i41 and ,de ,broglie1 ,l'glise et ,l',empire1 vol4 i41 p4 #aib4 ,now let us look at the circumstances under which that foundation was laid4 ,to understand them we must go back upon the course of history4 ,philippi was a city built by ,king ,philip1 the father of ,alexander the ,great4 ,after the conquest of ,macedonia by the ,romans1 it became famous as the scene of the great battle between ,brutus and ,cassius on the one hand1 and ,mark ,antony and ,augustus on the other1 which decided the fate of the empire and influenced the course of the world's history as few other battles have done4 ,at the time of ,st4 ,paul's visit the memory of that battle was fresh1 and the outward and visible signs thereof were to be seen on every side1 as indeed some of them are still to be seen1 the triumphal arches1 for instance1 erected in memory of the victory and the mound or rampart of earth raised by ,brutus to hinder the advance of the opposing forces4#add ,but these things had for the holy travellers a very slight interest1 as their hearts were set upon a mightier conflict and a nobler war far than any ever before waged upon earth's surface4 ,there is no mention made in the sacred narrative of the memories connected with the place1 and yet ,st4 ,luke1 as an honest writer setting down facts of which he had formed an important part1 lets slip some expressions which involve and throw us back upon the history of the place for an explanation1 showing how impossible it is to grasp the full force and meaning of the sacred writers unless we strive to read the ,bible with the eyes of the people who lived at the time and for whom it was written4 ,st4 ,luke calls ,philippi a city of ,macedonia1 the first of the district1 a colony4 ,now this means that in that time it was situated in the ,roman province of ,macedonia1 that it was either the capital of the division of ,macedonia1 in which it was situated1 ,macedonia being subdivided into four distinct divisions which were kept perfectly separate1 or else that it was the first city the traveller met upon entering ,macedonia from ,asia1 and further that it was a ,roman colony1 and thus possessed peculiar privileges4 ,when we read in the ,bible of colonies we must not understand the word in our modern sense4 ,colonies were then simply transcripts of the original city whence they had come4 ,roman colonies were miniatures or copies of ,rome itself transplanted into the provinces1 and ruling as such amid the conquered races where they were placed4 ,they served a twofold purpose4 ,they acted as garrisons to restrain the turbulence of the neighbouring tribes2 and if we study ,roman geography carefully we shall find that they were always placed in neighbourhoods where their military importance is plainly manifest2 and further still1 they were used as convenient places to locate the veteran soldiers of ,italy who had served their time1 where they were rewarded with grants of land1 and were utilising at the same time the skill and experience in military matters which they had gained1 for the general benefit of the ,state4 #add ,the remains of this rampart still exist4 ,they are described in the ,mission ,archologique de ,macdoine1 p4 #ajc1 carried out under the direction of ,m4 ,leon ,heuzey1 by order of ,napoleon ,,iii41 and published at ,paris between #ahfd and #ahgf4 ,augustus made ,philippi into a colony1 erecting a triumphal arch to celebrate his victory over ,brutus1 and placing there a large settlement of his veterans who secured for him this important outpost4 ,the colonies which were thus dispersed along the military frontier1 as we should put it in modern language1 were specially privileged4 ,all the settlers were ,roman citizens1 and the government of the colony was like that of the mother city itself1 in the hands of two magistrates1 called in ,greek ,strategoi1 or in ,latin ,prtors1#ade who ruled according to the laws of the ,twelve ,tables and after ,roman methods1 though perhaps all the neighbouring cities were still using their ancient laws and customs handed down from times long prior to the ,roman ,conquest4 ,the details given us by ,st4 ,luke are in the strictest accordance in all these respects with the facts which we know independently concerning the history and political status of ,philippi4 #ade ,the proper official title of the highest magistrates of a colony was ,duumviri4 ,the colonies where a ,greek spirit prevailed did not like this title1 and called themselves ,prtors1 or 1 as in the case of ,philippi4 ,in exact accordance with ,st4 ,luke's usage ,cicero1 a century earlier1 tells us in one of his ,epistles1 speaking of the vanity of ,capua1 which was thoroughly ,greek in spirit1 and therefore very vain3 ,while in other colonies the magistrates are called ,duumviri1 these wish themselves to be styled ,prtors1 a weakness laughed at in ,horace's ,satires1 lib4 i41 v4 #cd-f4 ,dion ,chrysostom1 a ,greek rhetorician of ,st4 ,paul's day1 mocks the ,greeks for the same flashy spirit4 ,st4 ,paul and his companions arrived in ,philippi in the early part of the week4 ,he was by this time a thoroughly experienced traveller4 ,five years later1 when writing his ,second ,epistle to ,corinth1 he tells us that he had been already three times shipwrecked2 so that1 unless peculiarly unfortunate1 he must have already made extended and repeated sea voyages1 though up to the present we have only heard of the journeys from ,antioch to ,cyprus1 from ,cyprus to ,perga1 and from ,attaleia back to ,antioch4#adf ,a two days' voyage across the fresh and rolling waters of the ,mediterranean1 following by a steep climb over ,mountain ,pangus which intervenes between ,philippi and its port ,neapolis1 made1 however1 a rest of a day or two very acceptable to the ,apostle and his friends4 ,st4 ,paul never expected too much from his own body1 or from the bodies of his companions2 and though he knew the work of a world's salvation was pressing1 yet he could take and enjoy a well-earned holiday from time to time4 ,there was nothing in ,st4 ,paul of that eternal fussiness which we at times see in people of strong imaginations but weak self-control1 who1 realising the awful amount of woe and wickedness in the world1 can never be at rest even for a little4 ,the men of ,god remained quiet therefore 7ch4 xvi4 #ab1 #ac7 till the ,sabbath ,day1 when1 after their usual custom1 they sought out in the early morning the ,jewish place of worship1 where ,st4 ,paul always first proclaimed the gospel4 ,the ,jewish colony resident at ,philippi must have been a very small one4 ,the ,rabbinical rule was that where ten wise men existed there a synagogue might be established4#adg ,there cannot therefore have been ten learned1 respectable1 and substantial ,jews in ,philippi competent to act as a local sanhedrin or court4 ,where1 however1 the ,jews could not establish a synagogue1 they did not live without any external expression of religion4 ,they knew how easily neglect of public worship is followed by practical atheism1 as we often see4 ,men may say indeed that ,god can be realised1 and can be worshipped anywhere1--a very great truth and a very precious one for those who are unavoidably cut off from the public worship of the ,most ,high2 but a truth which has no application to those who wilfully cut themselves off from that worship which has the covenanted promise of ,his presence4 ,it is not a good sign for the young men of this generation that so many of them utterly neglect public worship2 for as surely as men act so1 then present neglect will be followed by a total forgetfulness of the ,eternal1 and by a disregard of the laws which ,he has established amongst men4 ,the ,jews at ,philippi did not follow this example2 when they could not establish a synagogue they set apart an oratory or ,place of ,prayer1 whither they resorted on the ,sabbath ,day to honour the ,god of their fathers1 and to keep alive in their children's hearts the memory of ,his laws and doings4#adh #adf ,the common pronunciation of ,attaleia1 or as it is spelt in the ,authorised ,version1 ,attalia1 is with the short4 ,the i represents1 however1 the ,greek diphthong 1 and is long4 #adg ,see ,dr4 ,john ,lightfoot's ,hor ,hebraic on ,matt4 iv4 #bc2 ,works 7,london1 #afhd71 vol4 ii41 pp4 #acb-cd1 for the ,rabbinical legislation on ,synagogues and their erection4 #adh ,a local illustration of this typical ,church history occurs to me4 ,oliver ,cromwell planted ,ireland1 especially the golden vale of ,tipperary1 with his ,puritan soldiers4 ,they were strong ,nonconformists1 and refused therefore after the ,restoration to worship according to the forms of the ,established ,church4 ,their children after a generation or two almost universally fell into the arms of the ,church of ,rome1 and now many of the leading members of the ,national ,league are ,roman ,catholic descendants of ,cromwell's ,puritans1 and display still the same vigorous qualities which adorned their ,protestant ancestors in the copious abuse they pour upon the memory of the men from whom they are descended4 ,the original name of ,philippi was ,crenides1 or ,place of ,streams4#adi ,beside one of these streams the ,jews had placed their oratory1 and there ,st4 ,paul preached his first sermon in ,europe and gained ,lydia1 his first ,european convert1 a ,jewess by blood1 a woman of ,thyatira in ,asia ,minor by birth1 of ,philippi in ,macedonia by residence1 and a dyer in purple by trade4#aej ,the congregation of women assembled at that oratory must have been a very small one4 ,when ,philippi did not afford a sufficient ,jewish population for the erection of a synagogue such as was found among the smaller towns of ,asia ,minor1 and such as we shall in the course of the present tour find to have existed at towns and cities of no great size in ,greece and ,macedonia1 then we may be sure that the female population1 who assembled that ,sabbath morning to pray and listen to the ,scriptures1 must have been a small one4 ,but ,st4 ,paul and his companions had learned already one great secret of the true evangelist's life4 ,they never despised a congregation because of its smallness4 ,i have read somewhere in the writings of ,st4 ,francis de ,sales1 ,bishop of ,geneva1 a remark bearing on this point4 ,de ,sales was an extreme ,roman ,catholic1 and his mind was injured and his mental views perverted in many respects by the peculiar training he thus received4 ,but still he was in many respects a very saintly man1 and his writings embody much that is good for every one4 ,in one of his letters which ,i have read he deals with this very point1 and speaks of the importance of small congregations1 first1 because they have no tendency to feed the preacher's pride1 but rather help to keep him humble2 and secondly1 because some of the most effective and fruitful sermons have been preached to extremely small congregations1 two or three persons at most1 some one of whom has afterwards turned out to be a most vigorous soldier of the ,cross of ,christ4 ,the most effective sermon perhaps that ever was preached was that delivered to ,saul of ,tarsus when to him alone came the voice1 ,saul1 ,saul1 why persecutest thou ,me8 ,and here again1 in the ,philippian ,oratory1 the congregation was but a small one1 yet the ,apostle despised it not4 ,he and his companions bent all their powers to the work1 threw their whole hearts into it1 and as the result the ,lord rewarded their earnest1 thorough1 faithful service as ,he rewards such service in every department of life's action4 ,the ,lord opened the heart of ,lydia so that she attended to the apostolic teaching1 and she and all her household when duly instructed became baptized disciples of ,jesus of ,nazareth4 #adi ,i am here reminded of a place with exactly the same name which became as famous in the history of the ,celtic ,church as ,philippi did in that of the ,macedonian ,church4 ,fore1 in the county of ,westmeath1 means ,place or ,valley of ,streams4 ,it was celebrated in the seventh century as a great missionary establishment1 at the head of which stood ,st4 ,fechin1 a primitive ,celtic missionary4 ,his oratory1 cell1 and ancient church are still to be seen4 ,i have described them in a paper contributed to the ,journal of the ,society of ,irish ,antiquaries for this year 7#ahib74 ,a comparison of ,st4 ,paul's missionary methods with those of ,st4 ,fechin would be interesting4 ,they are fully described in ,colgan's ,acts of the ,irish ,saints4 #aej ,the guild of dyers at ,thyatira is celebrated in the inscriptions belonging to that city found in ,bckh's ,corpus ,inscriptionum ,grcarum4 ,this was an important incident in the history of the ,philippian ,church1 and was attended by far-reaching results4 ,lydia herself1 like so many others of ,god's most eminent saints1 disappears at once and for ever from the scene4 ,but her conversion was a fruitful one4 ,st4 ,paul and his friends continued quietly but regularly working and teaching at the oratory4 ,lydia would seem to have been a widow1 and must have been a woman of some position in the little community2 for she was able to entertain the ,apostle and his company as soon as she embraced the faith and felt its exceeding preciousness4 ,when inviting them1 too1 she uses the language of a woman independent of all other control4 ,if ye have judged me to be faithful to the ,lord1 come into my house and abide there1 are words with the tone of one who as a widow owned no superior1 and whose will was law within her own household2 as well as the language of a woman who felt that the gospel she had embraced demanded and deserved the consecration to its service of all her worldly possessions4 ,previously to this conversion ,st4 ,paul had lived in hired lodgings1 but now he moved to ,lydia's residence1 abiding there1 and thence regularly worshipping at the ,jewish oratory4 ,the presence of these ,jewish strangers soon attracted attention4 ,their teaching too got noised abroad1 exaggerated doubtless and distorted after the manner of popular reports4 ,and the crowd were ready to be suspicious of all ,eastern foreigners4 ,the settlers in the colony of ,philippi belonged to the rural population of ,italy1 who1 after the manner of countrified folk of every generation1 were a good way behind1 for good or ill1 their city brethren4 ,the excavations made at ,philippi have brought to light the fact that the colonists there were worshippers of the primitive ,italian rustic gods1 specially of the god ,silvanus1 eschewing the fashionable ,greek deities1 ,jupiter1 ,juno1 ,venus1 ,diana1 ,apollo1 and such like4 ,a temple of ,silvanus was erected at ,philippi for the hardy ,italian veterans1 and numerous inscriptions have been found and have been duly described by the ,french ,mission in ,macedonia to which we have already referred1 telling of the building of the temple and of the persons who contributed towards it4#aea ,these simple ,western soldiers were easily prejudiced against the ,eastern strangers by reports spread concerning their doctrines1 and specially concerning the ,jewish ,king1 of whose kingdom they were the heralds4 ,political considerations were at once raised4 ,we can scarcely now realise the suspicions which must have been roused against the early preachers of ,christianity by the very language they used4 ,their sacramental language concerning the body and blood of ,christ1 the language of ,christian love and union which they used1 designating themselves brethren and sisters1 caused for more than two centuries the dissemination of the most frightful rumours concerning the horrible nature of ,christian love-feasts4 ,they were accused of cannibalism and of the most degraded and immoral practices2 and when we take up the ,apologists of the second century1 ,justin ,martyr and such like1 we shall find that the efforts of these men are largely directed to the refutation of such dreadful charges4#aeb ,and as it was in morals so was it too in politics4 ,the sacred and religious language of the ,christians caused them to be suspected of designs hostile to the ,roman ,government4 ,the apostles preached about a ,king who ruled the kingdom of ,god4 ,now the ,romans abhorred the very name and title of king1 which they associated with the cruel acts of the early tyrants who reigned in the times of ,rome's fabulous antiquity4 ,the hostility to the title was so great that1 though the ,roman people endured a despotism much worse and crushing at the hands of the ,csars1 they never would allow them to assume the title of kings1 but simply called them emperors1 imperators or commanders of the army1 a name which to their ears connoted nothing savouring of the kingly office1 though for moderns the title of emperor expresses the kingly office and much more4 ,the colonists in ,philippi1 being ,italians1 would feel these prejudices in their full force4 ,easterns indeed would have had no objection to the title of king1 as we see from the cry raised by the mob of ,jerusalem when they cried in reference to ,christ's claim1 ,we have no king but ,csar4 ,but the rough and rude ,roman veterans1 when they heard vague reports of ,st4 ,paul's teaching to the ,jews who met at the oratory by the river-side1 quite naturally mistook the nature of his doctrine1 and thought that he was simply a political agitator organising a revolt against imperial authority4#aec ,an incident which then occurred fanned the slumbering embers into a flame4 ,there was a female slave the property of some crafty men who by her means traded on the simplicity of the colonists4 ,she was possessed with a spirit of divination4 ,what the nature of this spirit was we have not the means of now determining4 ,some would resolve it into mere epilepsy1 but such an explanation is not consistent with ,st4 ,paul's action and words4 ,he addressed the spirit1 ,i charge thee in the name of ,jesus ,christ to come out of her4 ,and the spirit1 we are told1 came out that very hour4 ,the simple fact is that psychology is at the best a very obscure science1 and the mysteries of the soul a very puzzling region1 even under the ,christian ,dispensation and surrounded by the spiritual blessings of the kingdom of ,god4 ,but paganism was the kingdom of ,satan1 where he ruled with a power and freedom he no longer enjoys1 and we can form no conception of the frightful disturbances ,satanic agency may have raised amid the dark places of the human spirit4 ,without attempting explanations therefore1 which must be insufficient1 ,i am content to accept the statement of the sacred writer1 who was an eye-witness of the cure1 that the spirit of divination1 the spirit of ,python1 as the original puts it1 yielded obedience to the invocation of the sacred ,name which is above every name1 leaving the damsel's inner nature once more calm and at union within itself4 ,this was the signal for a riot4 ,the slave owners recognised that their hopes of gain had fled4 ,they were not willing to confess that these despised ,jews possessed a power transcending far that which dwelt in the human instrument who had served their covetous purposes4 ,they may have heard1 it may be1 of the tumults excited about this same time by the ,jews at ,rome and of their expulsion from the capital by the decree of the ,emperor1 so the owners of the slave-girl and the mob of the city dragged the ,apostles before the local ,duumvirs and accused them of like disturbances3 ,these men1 being ,jews1 do exceedingly trouble our city1 and set forth customs which it is not lawful for us to receive or to observe1 being ,romans4 ,the accusation was sufficient4 ,no proof was demanded1 no time for protest allowed4 ,the magistrates with their own hands dragged the clothes off the backs of the ,apostles1 and they were flogged at once by the lictors or sergeants1 as our translation calls them1 in attendance upon the ,duumvirs1 who then despatched their victims to the common prison4 ,here a question may be raised1 ,why did not ,st4 ,paul save himself by protesting that he was a ,roman citizen1 as he did subsequently at ,jerusalem when he was about to be similarly treated8 ,several explanations occur4 ,the colonists were ,italians and spoke ,latin4 ,st4 ,paul spoke ,hebrew and ,greek1 and though he may have known ,latin too1 his ,latin may not have been understood by these rough ,roman soldiers4 ,the mob again was excited1 and when a mob gets excited it is but very little its members attend to an unfortunate prisoner's words4 ,we know too1 not only from ,st4 ,paul's own words1 but from the testimony of ,cicero himself1 in his celebrated oration against ,verres1 that in remote districts this claim was often disregarded1 even when urged by ,italians1 and much more when made by despised ,jews4 ,st4 ,paul tells us in #b ,cor4 xi4 #be1 that he received three ,roman floggings notwithstanding his ,roman citizenship1 and though the ,philippian magistrates were afraid when they heard next day of the illegal violence of which they had been guilty1 the mob1 who could not be held accountable1 probably took right good care that ,st4 ,paul's protest never reached the official ears to which it was addressed4 ,these considerations sufficiently account for the omission of any notice of a protest on the ,apostle's part4 ,he simply had not the opportunity1 and then when the tumultuous scene was over ,paul and ,silas were hurried off to the common dungeon1 where they were secured in the stocks and thrust into the innermost prison as notorious and scandalous offenders4 #aea ,see ,leon ,heuzey's ,mission ,archologique de ,macdoine1 p4 #ga 7,paris1 #ahfd-gf74 ,one tablet found furnishes a list of benefactions4 ,one man gives a bronze statue of the deity1 another helps to roof the building4 ,another tablet gives a list of the officials of the temple worship4 ,curiously enough among these officials occur names well known to us from ,st4 ,paul's ,epistles1 as ,crescens1 ,secundus1 ,trophimus1 ,aristarchus1 ,pudens1 ,urbanus1 and ,clemens3 cf4 the ,philippian inscriptions in the ,corpus ,inscriptionum ,latinarum1 vol4 iii41 par4 i41 pp4 #abj-bh4 ,among these rude ,italian veterans1 unspoilt by the glitter and vices of ,greek idolatry and civilisation1 the ,cross may have found out many true soldiers of ,jesus ,christ3 see ,lewin's ,st4 ,paul1 vol4 i41 p4 #baj4 ,it is interesting to notice that a similar set of tablets commemorating the benefactors of the temple of ,diana at ,ephesus was discovered in the excavations made twenty years ago at that place4 ,the inscriptions are translated in the ,appendix to ,wood's ,ephesus4 #aeb ,see1 for instance1 ,justin ,martyr's ,first ,apology1 ch4 xxix41 ,second ,apology1 ch4 xii41 and ,athenagoras' ,apology1 chs4 xxxi4-xxxv4 ,these passages will be found in ,justin ,martyr and ,athenagoras as translated in ,t4 ,t4 ,clark's ,ante-,nicene ,series1 pp4 #cb1 #ha1 #dae-ai4 #aec ,this political prejudice against ,christianity lasted into the second century3 see the ,first ,apology of ,justin ,martyr1 ch4 xi43 ,when you hear that we look for a kingdom1 you suppose1 without making any inquiry1 that we speak of a human kingdom2 whereas we speak of that which is with ,god1 as appears also from the confession of their faith made by those who are charged with being ,christians1 though they know that death is the punishment awarded to him who so confesses2 words which imply that in ,justin's day many had been martyred on mere political accusations4 ,no ill-treatment could1 however1 destroy that secret source of joy and peace which ,st4 ,paul possessed in his loved ,master's conscious presence4 ,i take pleasure in weaknesses1 in injuries1 in necessities1 in persecutions1 in distresses for ,christ's sake1 is his own triumphant expression when looking back a few years later over the way by which the ,lord had led him1 and therefore at midnight the astonished prisoners heard the inner dungeon ringing with unwonted songs of praise raised by the ,jewish strangers4 ,an earthquake1 too1 lent its terrors to the strange scene1 shaking the prison to its foundations and loosing the staples to which the prisoners' chains were fastened4 ,the jailor1 roused from sleep1 and seeing the prison doors opened wide1 would have committed suicide were it not for ,paul's restraining and authoritative voice2 and then the astonished official1 who must have heard the strange rumours to which the words of the demoniac alluded--,these men are the servants of the ,most ,high ,god1 which proclaim unto you the way of salvation--rushed into the presence of the ,apostles crying out in words which have ever since been famous1 ,sirs1 what must ,i do to be saved8 to which the equally famous answer was given1 ,believe on the ,lord ,jesus1 and thou shalt be saved1 thou and thy house4 ,the jailor then took the ,apostles1 bathed their bruised bodies1 set food before them1 gathered his household to listen to the glad tidings1 which they received so rapidly and grasped so thoroughly that they were at once baptized and enabled to rejoice with that deep spiritual joy which an experimental knowledge of ,god always confers4 ,the jailor1 feeling for the first time in his life the peace which passeth all understanding1 realised the truth which ,st4 ,augustine afterwards embodied in the immortal words3 ,thou1 ,o ,god1 hast formed us for ,thyself1 and our hearts are restless till they find rest in ,thee4#aed #aed ,augustine's ,confessions1 i4 #a4 ,let us look for a little at the question of the jailor and the answer of the ,apostle4 ,they are words very often used1 and very often misused4 ,the jailor1 when he rushed into ,st4 ,paul's presence crying out ,what must ,i do to be saved8 was certainly not the type of a conscience-stricken sinner1 convinced of his own sin and spiritual danger1 as men sometimes regard him4 ,he was simply in a state of fright and astonishment4 ,he had heard that these ,jewish prisoners committed to him were preaching about some salvation which they had to offer4 ,the earthquake seemed to him the expression of some deity's wrath at their harsh treatment1 and so in his terror he desires to know what he must do to be saved from this wrath4 ,his words were notable1 but they were not ,christian words1 for he had yet much to learn of the nature of sin and the nature of the salvation from it which the ,apostles were preaching4 ,the ,philippian jailor was a specimen of those who are saved violently and by fear4 ,terror forced him into communion with the ,apostles1 broke down the barriers which hindered the approach of the ,word1 and then the power of the ,holy ,ghost1 working through ,st4 ,paul1 effected the remainder1 opening his eyes to the true character of salvation and his own profound need of it4 ,st4 ,paul's words have been misunderstood4 ,i have heard them addressed to a ,christian congregation and explained as meaning that the jailor had nothing to do but just realise ,christ ,jesus as his ,saviour1 whereupon he was perfect and complete so far as the spiritual life was concerned2 and then they were applied to the congregation present as teaching that1 as it was with the jailor1 so was it with all ,christians2 they have simply to believe as he did1 and then they have nothing more to do1--a kind of teaching which infallibly produces antinomian results4#aee ,such an explanation ignores the fact that there is a great difference between the jailor1 who was not a ,christian in any sense and knew nothing about ,christ when he flung himself at ,st4 ,paul's feet1 and a ,christian congregation1 who know about ,christ and believe in ,him4 ,but this explanation is still more erroneous4 ,it misrepresents what ,st4 ,paul meant and what his hearers understood him to mean4 ,what did any ordinary ,jew or any ordinary pagan with whom ,st4 ,paul came in contact understand him to mean when he said1 ,believe on the ,lord ,jesus1 and thou shalt be saved8 ,they first had to ask him who ,jesus ,christ was1 whence ,he had come1 what ,he had taught1 what were the obligations of ,his religion4 ,st4 ,paul had to open out to them the nature of sin and salvation1 and to explain the obligation and blessing of the sacrament of baptism as well as the necessity of bodily holiness and purity4 ,the initial sacrament of baptism must have held a foremost place in that midnight colloquy or conference concerning ,christian truth4 ,st4 ,paul was not the man to perform a rite of which his converts understood nothing1 and to which they could attach no meaning4 ,believe on the ,lord ,jesus involved repentance and contrition and submission to ,christian truth1 and these things involved the exposition of ,christian truth1 history1 doctrines1 and duties4 #aee ,see more on this point in vol4 i41 pp4 #acd-cg1 where ,i have given conclusive proofs of the misuse of this text from the writers of the seventeenth century4 ,this text1 ,believe on the ,lord ,jesus1 and thou shalt be saved1 is often quoted in one-sided and narrow teaching to show that man has nothing to do to be saved4 ,of course in one sense this is perfectly true4 ,we can do nothing meritoriously towards salvation2 from first to last our salvation is all of ,god's free grace2 but then1 viewing the matter from the human side1 we have much to do to be saved4 ,we have to repent1 to seek ,god for ourselves1 to realise ,christ and ,his laws in our life1 to seek after that holiness without which no man shall see the ,lord4 ,there were two different types of men who at different times addressed practically the same inquiry to the ,apostles4 ,they were both outside the ,church1 and they were both seekers blindly after ,god4 ,the ,jews on the day of ,pentecost said1 ,brethren1 what shall we do8 and ,peter replied1 ,repent ye1 and be baptized1 every one of you1 in the name of ,jesus ,christ1 unto the remission of your sins1 and ye shall receive the gift of the ,holy ,ghost4 ,such was apostolic teaching to the ,jews of ,jerusalem4 ,the jailer demanded1 ,what must ,i do to be saved8 and ,st4 ,paul replied1 ,believe on the ,lord ,jesus1 and thou shalt be saved4 ,such was apostolic teaching to an ignorant pagan at ,philippi2 more concise than the ,jerusalem answer1 but meaning the same thing1 and involving precisely the same doctrines in the hands of such a great master of the spiritual life as was the ,apostle of the ,gentiles4#aef #aef ,mr4 ,sadler1 in his ,commentary on the ,acts1 treating of this passage has a long explanation identical in meaning with that which we have above urged4 ,he says1 for instance1 p4 #cad3 ,this statement of the way of salvation is one of the most important in the ,new ,testament4 ,it contains the seed of the whole body of apostolic doctrine respecting salvation by ,christ4 ,when ,i say apostolic1 ,i mean the doctrine of ,,ss4 ,peter and ,john1 as well as of ,st4 ,paul2 for all being full of the ,holy ,ghost preached the same4 ,few places have been more perverted in order to uphold a heresy which1 if ,st4 ,paul had been alive now1 he would have abhorred1 and denounced as fatal to the whole revelation of the ,son of ,god1 and that is antinomianism4444 ,the ,philippian jailor to whom the words were first addressed had never in all probability heard the name of ,jesus ,christ before4444 ',believe on the ,lord ,jesus ,christ' then meant to him1 ',believe on ,him whom we are now about to set forth to thee4' ,and they there and then began to set ,him forth1 for they spake unto him 'the word of the ,lord4'444 ,this ,word must have shown him how--on what principle--he could exercise faith in ,him so as to be saved4 ,but did they call on him in his then state to believe anything respecting the ,church and the sacraments of ,christ8 ,unquestionably2 for ,st4 ,paul would certainly not baptize a man who was totally ignorant of the grace of union with ,christ which he would receive1 and the obligations to serve ,christ which he would come under1 by being baptized4 ,the remainder of the story is soon told4 ,when the morning came there came quiet reflection with it as far as the magistrates were concerned4 ,they became conscious of their illegal conduct1 and they sent their lictors to order the release of the ,apostles4 ,st4 ,paul now stood upon his rights4 ,his protest had been disregarded by the mob4 ,he now claimed his rights as a ,roman citizen4 ,they have beaten us publicly1 uncondemned men1 that are ,romans1 and have cast us into prison2 and do they now cast us out privily8 ,nay1 verily2 but let them come themselves and bring us out4 ,these are ,st4 ,paul's words1 and they are brave1 and at the same time wise words4 ,they were brave words because it took a strong man to send back such an answer to magistrates who had treated him so outrageously only the day before4 ,they were wise words1 for they give us an apostle's interpretation of our ,lord's language in the ,sermon upon the ,mount concerning the non-resistance of evil1 and show us that in ,st4 ,paul's estimation ,christ's law did not bind a man to tolerate foul injustice4 ,such toleration1 in fact1 is very wrong if it can be helped2 because it is simply an encouragement to the wicked doers to treat others in the same scandalous manner4 ,toleration of outrage and injustice is unfair and uncharitable towards others1 if they can be lawfully redressed or at least apologised for4 ,it is a ,christian man's duty to bring public evil-doers and tyrants1 instruments of unrighteousness like these ,duumvirs of ,philippi1 to their senses1 not for his own sake1 but in order that he may prevent the exercise of similar cruelties against the weaker brethren4 ,we may be sure that the spirited action of ,st4 ,paul1 compelling these provincial magnates to humble themselves before the despised strangers1 must have had a very wholesome effect in restraining them from similar violence during the rest of their term of office4 ,such was ,st4 ,paul's stay at ,philippi4 ,it lasted a considerable time1 and made its mark1 as a flourishing ,church was established there1 to which he addressed an ,epistle when he lay the first time a captive at ,rome4 ,this ,epistle naturally forms a most interesting commentary on the notices of the ,philippian visit in the ,acts of the ,apostles1 a point which is worked out at large in ,bishop ,lightfoot's ,commentary on ,philippians and in ,paley's ,hor ,paulin4 ,the careful student of ,holy ,writ will find that ,st4 ,paul's letter and ,st4 ,luke's narrative when compared illuminate one another in a wondrous manner4 ,we cannot afford space to draw out this comparison in detail1 and it is the less necessary to do so as ,dr4 ,lightfoot's writings are so generally accessible4 ,let us1 however1 notice one point in this ,epistle to the ,philippians1 which was written about the same time 7a few months previously1 in fact7 as the ,acts of the ,apostles4 ,it corroborates the ,acts as to the circumstances under which the ,church of ,philippi was founded4 ,st4 ,paul in the ,epistle refers again and again to the persecutions and afflictions of the ,philippian ,church1 and implies that he was a fellow-sufferer with them4#aeg ,st4 ,paul dwells on this in the beginning of the ,epistle in words whose force cannot be understood unless we grasp this fact4 ,in the sixth verse of the first chapter he expresses himself as1 ,confident of this very thing1 that ,he which began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of ,jesus ,christ3 even as it is right for me to be thus minded on behalf of you all1 because ,i have you in my heart1 inasmuch as1 both in my bonds and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel1 ye all are partakers with me of grace4 ,st4 ,paul speaks of the ,philippians as personally acquainted with chains and sufferings and prison-houses for ,christ's sake1 and regards these things as a proof of ,god's grace vouchsafed not only to the ,apostle1 but also to the ,philippians2 for ,st4 ,paul was living at that high level when he could view bonds and trials and persecutions as marks of the ,divine love4 ,in the twenty-eighth verse of the same chapter he exhorts them to be in no wise affrighted by the adversaries1 and in the next two describes them as persons to whom it hath been granted in the behalf of ,christ1 not only to believe on ,him1 but also to suffer in ,his behalf3 having the same conflict which ye saw in me1 and now hear to be in me1 words which can only refer to the violence and afflictions which they witnessed as practised against himself1 and which they were now themselves suffering in turn4 ,while to complete ,st4 ,paul's references we notice that in an ,epistle written some five years later than his first visit to ,philippi he expressly refers to the persecutions which the ,philippian ,church in common with all the ,macedonian ,churches seems to have suffered from the very beginning4 ,in #b ,cor4 viii4 #a1 #b1 he writes3 ,moreover1 brethren1 we make known to you the grace of ,god which hath been given in the ,churches of ,macedonia2 how that in much proof of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality4 ,now all these passages put together confirm for us what the ,acts expressly affirms1 that from the very outset of their ,christian career the ,philippian ,church had endured the greatest trials1 and experienced a fellowship in the ,apostle's sufferings4 ,and surely we may see in the character of the ,philippian ,epistle something eminently characteristic of this experience6 ,it has been remarked that the ,philippian ,epistle is the only ,epistle addressed to a ,church in which there is no trace of blame or reproof4 ,temptation and trial and chastisement had there worked their appointed purpose4 ,the ,philippian ,church had been baptized in blood1 and grounded in afflictions1 and purified by the cleansing fires of persecution1 and consequently the tried ,church gathered itself closer to its ,divine ,lord1 and was perfected above all others in ,his likeness1 and profited above all others in the ,divine life4#aeh #aeg ,bishop ,lightfoot 7,philippians1 p4 #eg7 says3 ,st4 ,paul's first visit to ,philippi closed abruptly amid the storm of persecution4 ,it was not to be expected that where the life of the teacher had been so seriously endangered1 the scholars would escape all penalties4 ,the ,apostle left behind him a legacy of suffering to this newly born ,church4 ,this is not a mere conjecture2 the affliction of the ,macedonian ,christians1 and of the ,philippians especially1 are more than once mentioned in ,st4 ,paul's ,epistles 7cf4 #a ,thess4 ii4 #b74 ,if it was their privilege to believe in ,christ1 it was equally their privilege to suffer for ,him4 #aeh ,bishop ,lightfoot1 in his ,commentary on ,philippians1 l4c41 dwells on this point3 ,the unwavering loyalty of his ,philippian converts is the constant solace of the ,apostle in his manifold trails1 the one bright ray of happiness piercing the dark clouds which gather ever thicker about the evening of his life4 ,they are his 'joy and crown1 his brethren beloved and eagerly desired4' ,from them alone he consents to receive alms for the relief of his personal wants4 ,to them alone he writes in language unclouded by any shadow of displeasure or disappointment4 ,after the terrible experience of ,philippi ,paul and ,silas passed on to other towns of the same province of ,macedonia4 ,the ,apostle1 however1 when quitting ,philippi to do the same evangelistic work1 breaking up the ground in other towns after the manner of a pioneer1 did not leave the ,church of ,philippi devoid of wisest pastoral care4 ,it is most likely1 as ,dr4 ,lightfoot points out in the ,introduction to his ,commentary on ,philippians1 that ,st4 ,luke was left behind to consolidate the work which had been thus begun by such a noble company4 ,then ,paul and ,silas and ,timotheus proceeded to ,thessalonica1 one hundred miles west1 the capital of the province1 where the proconsul resided1 and where was a considerable ,jewish population1 as we see1 not only from the fact that a synagogue is expressly said to have existed there1 but also because the ,jews were able to excite the city pagan mob against the ,apostles and drag them before the local magistrates4#aei ,st4 ,paul at ,philippi had for the first time experienced a purely pagan persecution4 ,he had indeed previously suffered at the hands of the heathen at ,lystra1 but they were urged on by the ,jews4 ,at ,philippi he gained his first glimpse of that long vista of purely ,gentile persecution through which the ,church had to pass till ,christianity seated itself in the person of ,constantine on the throne of the ,csars4 ,but as soon as he got to ,thessalonica he again experienced the undying hostility of his ,jewish fellow-countrymen using for their wicked purposes the baser portion of the city rabble4#afj ,st4 ,paul remained three weeks in ,thessalonica teaching privately and publicly the gospel message1 without experiencing any ,jewish opposition4 ,it is an interesting fact that to this day ,st4 ,paul's visit to ,thessalonica is remembered1 and in one of the local mosques1 which was formerly the ,church of ,sancta ,sophia1 a marble pulpit is shown1 said to have been the very one occupied by the ,apostle1 while in the surrounding plains trees and groves are pointed out as marking spots where he tarried for a time4 ,the ,jews were at last1 however1 roused to opposition1 possibly because of ,st4 ,paul's success among the ,gentiles1 who received his doctrines with such avidity that there believed of the devout ,greeks a great multitude1 and of the chief women not a few4 ,in ,thessalonica1 as elsewhere1 the spirit of religious selfishness1 desiring to have gospel promises and a ,messiah all to themselves1 was the ruin of the ,jewish people4 ,the ,jews therefore1 assisted by the pagans1 assaulted the residence of ,jason1 with whom ,st4 ,paul and his friends were staying4 ,they missed the ,apostles themselves1 but they seized ,jason and some of the apostolic band1 or at least some of their converts whom they found in ,jason's house1 and brought them before the town magistrates1 who1 acting under the eye of the resident proconsul1 did not lend themselves to any irregular proceedings like the ,philippian prtors4 ,a charge of treason was formally brought against the prisoners3 ,these all act contrary to the decrees of ,csar1 saying that there is another ,king1 one ,jesus2 in the words of which charge we get a glimpse of the leading topic on which the ,apostles insisted4 ,jesus ,christ1 the crucified1 risen1 glorified ,king and ,head of ,his people1 was the great subject of ,st4 ,paul's teaching as it struck the heathen4 ,the ,thessalonian magistrates acted very fairly4 ,they entered the charge which was a serious one in the eye of ,roman law4 ,bail was then taken for the accused and they were set free4 ,the ,apostles1 however1 escaped arrest1 and the local brethren determined that they should incur no danger2 so while the accused remained to stand their trial1 ,paul and ,silas and ,timotheus were despatched to ,bera1 where they were for a time welcomed1 and free discussion permitted in the synagogue concerning the truths taught by the ,evangelists4 ,after a time1 however1 tidings having reached ,thessalonica1 agents were despatched to ,bera1 who stirring up the ,jewish residents1 ,st4 ,paul was despatched in charge of some trusty messengers who guided the steps of the hunted servant of ,god to the city of ,athens4 ,we see the physical infirmities of ,st4 ,paul1 the difficulties he had to contend with1 hinted at in the fourteenth and fifteenth verses of the seventeenth chapter4 ,then immediately the brethren sent forth ,paul1 and ,they that conducted ,paul brought him to ,athens1 words which give us a glimpse of his fearfully defective eyesight4 ,his enemies might be pressing upon him and danger might be imminent1 but he could make no unaided effort to save himself4 ,he depended upon the kindly help of others that he might escape his untiring foes and find his way to a place of safety4 #aei ,thessalonica is to this day the abode of a large ,jewish population4 ,tozer1 in his ,highlands of ,turkey1 vol4 i41 p4 #adf1 says3 ,of the sixty thousand inhabitants of ,salonica two-thirds are ,jews1 the rest being ,turks and ,greeks4444 ,from early times the ,hebrew race seem to have been attracted by the commercial advantages of ,salonica4 ,thus when ,st4 ,paul preached there he found a considerable ,jewish community4444 ,a large number of the ,salonica ,jews are rich merchants1 and a great part of the wealth of the place is in their hands4 ,mr4 ,lewin1 in his ,st4 ,paul1 vol4 i41 p4 #bbb1 gives a table of the distances all along ,st4 ,paul's route4 #afj ,mr4 ,findlay1 in a little work lately published1 ,the ,epistles of ,paul the ,apostle1 has many valuable observations on the subject of the ,jewish opposition experienced by the ,apostle at ,thessalonica4 ,thus ended ,st4 ,paul's first visit to ,thessalonica so far as the ,acts of the ,apostles is concerned2 but we have interesting light thrown upon it from an ,epistle which ,st4 ,paul himself wrote to the ,thessalonians soon after his departure from amongst them4 ,a comparison of ,first ,thessalonians with the text of the ,acts will furnish the careful student with much information concerning the circumstances of that notable visit1 just as we have seen that the text of the ,philippian ,epistle throws light upon his doings at ,philippi4 ,the ,thessalonian ,epistles are more helpful even than the ,philippians in this respect1 because they were written only a few months after ,st4 ,paul's visit to ,thessalonica1 while years elapsed1 eight or ten at least1 before the ,philippian ,epistle was indited4 ,first ,thessalonians shows us1 for instance1 that ,st4 ,paul's visit to ,thessalonica lasted a considerable time4 ,in the ,acts we read of his discussing in the synagogue three ,sabbath days1 and then it would appear as if the riot was raised which drove him to ,bera and ,athens4 ,the impression left on our minds by ,st4 ,luke's narrative is that ,st4 ,paul's labours were almost entirely concentrated upon the ,jews in ,thessalonica1 and that he bestowed very little attention indeed upon the pagans4 ,the ,epistle corrects this impression4 ,when we read the first chapter of ,first ,thessalonians we see that it was almost altogether a church of converted idolaters1 not of converted ,jews4 ,st4 ,paul speaks of the ,thessalonians as having turned from idols to serve the living ,god2 he refers to the instructions on various points like the resurrection1 the ascension1 the second coming of ,christ1 which he had imparted1 and describes their faith and works as celebrated throughout all ,macedonia and ,achaia4 ,a large and flourishing church like that1 composed of former pagans1 could not have been founded in the course of three weeks1 during which time ,st4 ,paul's attention was principally bestowed on the ,jewish residents4 ,then too1 when we turn to ,philippians iv4 #af1 we find that ,st4 ,paul stayed long enough in ,thessalonica to receive no less than two remittances of money from the brethren at ,philippi to sustain himself and his brethren4 ,his whole attention too was not bestowed upon mission work2 he spent his days and nights in manual labour4 ,in the ninth verse of the second chapter of ,first ,thessalonians he reminds them of the fact that he supported himself in their city1 ,for ye remember1 brethren1 our labour and travail3 working night and day1 that we might not burden any of you1 we preached unto you the gospel of ,god4 ,when we realise these things we shall feel that the ,apostle must have spent at least a couple of months in ,thessalonica4 ,it was perhaps his tremendous success among the heathen which so stirred up the passions of the town mob as enabled the ,jews to instigate them to raise the riot1 they themselves keeping all the while in the background4 ,st4 ,paul1 in ,first ,thessalonians1 describes the riots raised against the ,christians as being the immediate work of the pagans3 ,ye1 brethren1 became imitators of the ,churches of ,god which are in ,juda in ,christ ,jesus4 ,for ye also suffered the same things of your own countrymen as they did of the ,jews2 a statement which is quite consistent with the theory that the persecution was originally inspired by the ,jews4 ,but we cannot further pursue this interesting line of inquiry which has been thoroughly worked out by ,mr4 ,lewin in vol4 ii41 ch4 xi41 by ,conybeare and ,howson in ch4 ix41 and by ,archdeacon ,farrar1 as well as by ,dr4 ,salmon in his ,introduction to the ,new ,testament1 ch4 xx4 ,the careful student will find in all these works most interesting light reflected back upon the ,acts from the apostolic letters1 and will see how thoroughly the ,epistles1 which were much the earlier documents1 confirm the independent account of ,st4 ,luke1 writing at a subsequent period4 ,before we terminate this chapter we desire to call attention to one other point where the investigations of modern travel have helped to illustrate the genuineness of the ,acts of the ,apostles4 ,it has been the contention of the rationalistic party that the ,acts was a composition of the second century1 worked up by a clever forger out of the materials at his command4 ,there are various lines of proof by which this theory can be refuted1 but none appeal so forcibly to ordinary men as the minute accuracy which marks it when describing the towns of ,asia ,minor and ,macedonia4 ,macedonia is a notable case4 ,we have already pointed out how the ,acts give their proper title to the magistrates of ,philippi and recognise its peculiar constitution as a colony4 ,thessalonica forms an interesting contrast to ,philippi4 ,thessalonica was a free city1 like ,antioch in ,syria1 ,tarsus1 and ,athens1 and therefore1 though the residence of the proconsul who ruled the province of ,macedonia1 was governed by its own ancient magistrates and its own ancient laws1 without any interference on the part of the proconsul4 ,st4 ,luke makes a marked distinction between ,philippi and ,thessalonica4 ,at ,philippi the ,apostles were brought before the prtors1 at ,thessalonica they were brought before the politarchs1#afa a title strange to classical antiquity1 but which has been found upon a triumphal arch which existed till a few years ago across the main street of the modern city of ,thessalonica4 ,that arch has now disappeared2 but the fragments containing the inscription were fortunately preserved and have been now placed in the ,british ,museum1 where they form a precious relic proving the genuineness of the sacred narrative4 #afa ,this case of ,thessalonica is an interesting illustration of ,bishop ,lightfoot's statement3--,the government of the ,roman provinces at this time was peculiarly dangerous ground for the romance-writer to venture upon 7,essays on ,supernatural ,religion1 p4 #bia74 ,if the ,roman provinces were a dangerous ground for a romance-writer1 such as some critics would make the author of the ,acts1 the government of the large ,grco-,roman towns and cities was still more dangerous1 as scarcely any two successive ones were alike4 ,thessalonica is a good instance of this4 ,st4 ,luke calls the magistrates politarchs1 and the triumphal arch at ,thessalonica calls them politarchs2 a title which seems to have been a very rare one1 as only one other instance of its occurrence has been discovered4 ,monastir1 in the north-west of ,macedonia1 is an important town1 and there an inscription belonging to the ancient ,deuriopus1 twelve miles distant1 was found more than twenty years ago containing the same title1 politarchs4 ,surely the stones out of the walls of ,thessalonica and of ,monastir cry out in defence of ,st4 ,luke's accuracy6 ,see ,mr4 ,tozer's ,highlands of ,turkey1 vol4 i41 p4 #ade1 and vol4 ii41 p4 #ceh1 ,append4 ,b2 ,bckh's ,corp4 ,ins4 ,grc41 ,no4 #aifg2 articles by the ,abb ,belley in the ,acad4 des ,inscript41 xxxviii41 p4 #abe1 and by ,mr4 ,vaux in the ,trans4 of ,roy4 ,soc4 of ,literature1 vol4 viii41 new series4 ,,chapter ,,xiii4 ,,st4 ,,paul ,,in ,,greece4 ,now while ,paul waited for them at ,athens1 his spirit was provoked within him1 as he beheld the city full of idols4 ,so he reasoned in the synagogue with the ,jews and the devout persons1 and in the market-place every day with them that met with him4 ,and certain also of the ,epicurean and ,stoic philosophers encountered him4 ,and some said1 ,what would this babbler say8 other some1 ,he seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods3 because he preached ,jesus and the resurrection4--,,acts xvii4 #af-ah4 ,after these things ,paul departed from ,athens1 and came to ,corinth4--,,acts xviii4 #a4 ,there are parallelisms in history which are very striking1 and yet these parallelisms can be easily explained4 ,the stress and strain of difficulties acting upon large masses of men evolve and call forth similar types of character1 and demand the exercise of similar powers4 ,st4 ,paul and ,st4 ,athanasius are illustrations of this statement4 ,they were both little men1 both enthusiastic in their views1 both pursued all their lives long with bitter hostility1 and both had experience of the most marvellous and hairbreadth escapes4 ,if any reader will take up ,dean ,stanley's ,history of the ,eastern ,church1 and read the account given of ,st4 ,athanasius in the seventh chapter of that work1 he will be strikingly reminded of ,st4 ,paul in these various aspects1 but specially in the matter of his wondrous escapes from his deadly enemies1 which were so numerous that at last they came to regard ,athanasius as a magician who eluded their designs by the help of his familiar spirits4 ,it was much the same with ,st4 ,paul4 ,hairbreadth escapes were his daily experience1 as he himself points out in the eleventh chapter of his ,second ,epistle to ,corinth4 ,he there enumerates a few of them1 but quite omits his escapes from ,jerusalem1 from the ,pisidian ,antioch1 from ,iconium1 ,lystra1 ,thessalonica1 and last of all from ,bera1 whence he was driven by the renewed machinations of the ,thessalonian ,jews1 who found out after a time whither the object of their hatred had fled4 ,paul's ministry at ,bera was not fruitless1 short as it may have been4 ,he established a ,church there which took good care of the precious life entrusted to its keeping1 and therefore as soon as the deputies of the ,thessalonian synagogue came to ,bera and began to work upon the ,jews of the local synagogue1 as well as upon the pagan mob of the town1 the ,beran disciples took ,paul1 who was the special object of ,jewish hatred1 and despatched him down to the sea-coast1 some twenty miles distant1 in charge of certain trusty messengers1 while ,silas remained behind1 in temporary concealment doubtless1 in order that he might consolidate the ,church4#afb ,here we get a hint1 a passing glimpse of ,st4 ,paul's infirmity4 ,he was despatched in charge of trusty messengers1 ,i have said1 who were to show him the way4 ,they that conducted ,paul brought him as far as ,athens4 ,his ophthalmia1 perhaps1 had become specially bad owing to the rough usage he had experienced1 and so he could not escape all solitary and alone as he did in earlier years from ,damascus1 and therefore guides were necessary who should conduct him as far as the sea1 and then1 when they had got that far1 they did not leave him alone4 ,they embarked in the ship with him1 and1 sailing to ,athens1 deposited him safely in a lodging4 ,the journey was by sea1 not by land1 because a sea journey was necessarily much easier for the sickly and weary ,apostle than the land route would have been1 offering too a much surer escape from the dangers of pursuit4 #afb ,it is well1 perhaps1 to bear in mind the distances which separate the various stages of ,st4 ,paul's progress through ,macedonia4 ,thessalonica was about a hundred miles from ,philippi1 ,bera fifty from ,thessalonica1 and the sea-coast of the ,thermaic ,gulf1 or the ,gulf of ,salonica1 as it is now called1 some twenty miles from ,bera4 ,the voyage was an easy one1 and not too prolonged4 ,the boat or ship in which the ,apostle was embarked passed through splendid scenery4 ,on his right hand1 as he steered for the south1 was the magnificent mountain of ,olympus1 the fabled abode of the gods1 rising a clear ten thousand feet into the region of perpetual snow1 while on his left was ,mount ,athos1 upon which he had been looking ever since the day that he left ,troas4 ,but the ,apostle had no eye for the scenery1 nor had ,st4 ,luke a word to bestow upon its description1 though he often passed through it1 absorbed as they were in the contemplation of the awful realities of a world unseen4 ,the sea voyage from the place where ,st4 ,paul embarked till he came to ,phalerum1 the port of ,athens1 where he landed1 lasted perhaps three or four days1 and covered about two hundred miles1 being somewhat similar in distance1 scenery1 and surroundings to the voyage from ,glasgow to ,dublin or ,bristol1 land in both cases being in sight all the time and splendid mountain ranges bounding the views on either side4#afc #afc ,the best description which ,i know of this neighbourhood is that given by ,mr4 ,tozer in his ,highlands of ,turkey1 vol4 ii41 p4 #h4 ,st4 ,paul embarked at the head of the long1 narrow gulf1 called anciently the ,thermaic ,gulf1 leading up to the city of ,thessalonica4 ,the ,apostle must have sailed in a mere fishing smack or good-sized boat1 as the iron-bound western coast of this gulf is devoid of harbours sufficient for large ships4 ,mr4 ,tozer himself sailed from ,thessalonica in such a vessel1 see l4c41 vol4 ii41 p4 #d3 ,we chartered a vessel to convey us down the bay1 a six-oared ,smyrna caque1 quite elegant in her appointments as compared with the ordinary lumbering market boats and coasters of these seas1 and a tight little craft withal1 for though not more than six feet in width1 and without a deck1 she had made a voyage to the ,crimea during the war4 ,cicero1 even when going as proconsul into ,asia travelled in the undecked vessel of the ,rhodians1 of whose weakness and slowness he complains3 see his letters to ,atticus1 v4 #ab and #ac4 ,st4 ,paul landed about ,november #ast1 #ea1 at ,phalerum1 one of the two ports of ancient ,athens1 the ,pirus being the other1 and thence his uncertain steps were guided to the city itself1 where he was left alone in some lodging4 ,the ,beran ,christians to whom he was entrusted returned perhaps in the same vessel in which they had previously travelled1 as the winter season1 when navigation largely ceased1 was now fast advancing1 bearing with them a message to ,timothy and ,silas to come as rapidly as possible to his assistance1 the ,apostle being practically helpless when deprived of his trusted friends4 ,at ,athens ,st4 ,paul for a time moved about examining the city for himself1 a process which soon roused him to action and brought matters to a crisis4 ,st4 ,paul was well used to pagan towns and the sights with which they were filled4 ,from his earliest youth in ,tarsus idolatry and its abominations must have been a pain and grief to him2 but ,athens he found to exceed them all1 so that his spirit was provoked within him as he beheld the city full of idols4 ,we have in ancient ,greek literature the most interesting confirmation of the statement here made by ,st4 ,luke4 ,we still possess a descriptive account of ,greece written by a chatty ,greek traveller named ,pausanias1 in the days of the ,antonines1 that is1 less than a hundred years after ,st4 ,paul's visit1 and when ,athens was practically the same as in the ,apostle's day4 ,pausanias enters into the greatest details about ,athens1 describing the statues of gods and heroes1 the temples1 the worship1 the customs of the people1 bestowing the first thirty chapters of his first book upon ,athens alone4 ,pausanias's ,description of ,greece#afd is most interesting to every one because he saw ,athens in the height of its literary glory and architectural splendour1 and it is specially interesting to the ,bible student because it amply confirms and illustrates the details of ,st4 ,paul's visit4 #afd ,this important work may be most easily consulted in ,shilleto's translation1 published in ,bohn's ,classical ,library1 ,bell ,sons1 ,london1 #ahhf4 ,thus we are told in words just quoted that ,st4 ,paul found the city full of idols1 and this provoked his spirit over and above the usual provocation he received wherever he found dead idols like these usurping the place rightfully belonging to the ,lord of the universe4 ,now let us take up ,pausanias1 and what does he tell us8 ,in his first chapter he tells how the ports of ,athens were crowded on every side with temples1 and adorned with statues of gold and silver4 ,phalerum1 the port where ,paul landed1 had temples of ,demeter1 of ,athene1 of ,zeus1 and altars of gods unknown1 of which we shall presently speak4 ,then we can peruse chapter after chapter crowded with descriptions of statues and temples1 till in the seventeenth chapter we read how in their pantheistic enthusiasm they idolised the most impalpable of things3 ,the ,athenians have in the market-place1 among other things not universally notable1 an altar of ,mercy1 to whom1 though most useful of all the gods to the life of man and its vicissitudes1 the ,athenians alone of all the ,greeks assign honours4 ,and not only is philanthropy more regarded among them1 but they also exhibit more piety to the gods than others2 for they have also an altar to ,shame and ,rumour and ,energy4 ,and it is clear that those people who have a larger share of piety than others have also a larger share of good fortune4 ,while again1 in chapter xxiv41 dwelling upon the statues of ,hercules and ,athene1 ,pausanias remarks1 ,i have said before that the ,athenians1 more than any other ,greeks1 have a zeal for religion4 ,athens was1 at the time of ,st4 ,paul's visit1 the leading university of the world1 and university life then was permeated with the spirit of paganism1 the lovers of philosophy and science delighting to adorn ,athens with temples and statues and endowments as expressions of the gratitude they felt for the culture which they had there gained4#afe ,these things had1 however1 no charm for the ,apostle ,paul4 ,some moderns1 viewing him from an unsympathetic point of view1 would describe him in their peculiar language as a mere ,philistine in spirit1 unable to recognise the material beauty and glory which lay around4 ,and this is true4 ,the beauty which the architect and the sculptor would admire was for the ,apostle to a large extent non-existent1 owing to his defective eyesight2 but even when recognised it was an object rather of dislike and of abhorrence than of admiration and pleasure1 because the ,apostle saw deeper than the man of mere superficial culture and sthetic taste4 ,the ,apostle saw these idols and the temples consecrated to their use from the moral and spiritual standpoint1 and viewed them therefore as the outward and visible signs of an inward festering corruption and rottenness1 the more beautiful perhaps because of the more awful decay which lay beneath4 #afe ,the ,emperor ,hadrian1 for instance1 adorned ,athens with expensive buildings and libraries1 and enriched it with endowments4 ,see ,duhr's work1 p4 #dd1 on the ,journeys of the ,emperor ,hadrian1 published in the ,proceedings of the ,archological ,society of ,vienna2 and cf4 ,pausanias1 i4 #ah4 ,the glimpses which ,st4 ,paul got of ,athens as he wandered about roused his spirit and quickened him to action4 ,he followed his usual course therefore4 ,he first sought his own countrymen the ,jews4 ,there was a colony of ,jews at ,athens1 as we know from independent sources4 ,philo was a ,jew the authenticity of whose writings1 at least in great part1 has never been questioned4 ,he lived at ,alexandria at this very period1 and was sent1 about twelve years earlier1 as an ambassador to ,rome to protest against the cruel persecutions to which the ,alexandrian ,jews had been subjected at the time when ,caligula made the attempt to erect his statue at ,jerusalem1 of which we have spoken in a previous chapter4 ,he wrote an account of his journey to ,rome and his treatment by the ,emperor1 which is called ,legatio ad ,caium1 and in it he mentions ,athens as one of the cities where a considerable ,jewish colony existed4#aff ,we know practically nothing more about this ,jewish colony save what we are told here by ,st4 ,luke1 that it was large enough to have a synagogue1 not a mere oratory like the ,philippian ,jews4#afg ,it cannot1 however1 have been a very large one4 ,athens was not a seat of any considerable trade1 and therefore had no such attractions for the ,jews as either ,thessalonica or ,corinth2 while its abounding idolatry and its countless images would be repellant to their feelings4 ,modern investigations have1 indeed1 brought to light a few ancient inscriptions testifying to the presence of ,jews at ,athens in these earlier ages2 but otherwise we know nothing about them4 ,the synagogue seems to have imbibed a good deal of the same easy-going contemptuously tolerant spirit with which the whole atmosphere of ,athens was infected4 ,jews and pagans alike listened to ,st4 ,paul1 and then turned away to their own pursuits4 ,in a city where every religion was represented1 and every religion discussed and laughed at1 how could any one be very much in earnest8 ,st4 ,paul then turned from the ,jews to the ,gentiles4 ,he frequented the market-place1 a well-known spot1 near to the favourite meeting-place of the ,stoic philosophers4#afh ,there ,st4 ,paul entered into discussion with individuals or with groups as they presented themselves4 ,the philosophers soon took notice of the new-comer4 ,his manner1 terribly in earnest1 would soon have secured attention in any society1 and much more in ,athens1 where whole-souled and intense enthusiasm was the one intellectual quality which was completely wanting4 ,for who but a man that had heard the voice of ,god and had seen the vision of the ,almighty could be in earnest in a city where residents and strangers sojourning there all alike spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing8 ,the philosophers and ,stoics and ,epicureans alike were attracted by ,st4 ,paul's manner4 ,they listened to him as he discoursed of ,jesus and the ,resurrection1 the two topics which absorbed him4 ,they mistook his meaning in a manner very natural to the place1 strange as it may seem to us4 ,in ,athens the popular worship was thoroughly ,pantheistic4 ,every desire1 passion1 infirmity even of human nature was deified and adored1 and therefore1 as we have already pointed out1 ,pity and ,shame and ,energy and ,rumour1 the last indeed the most fitting and significant of them all for a people who simply lived to talk1 found spirits willing to prostrate themselves in their service and altars dedicated to their honour4 ,the philosophers heard this new ,jewish teacher proclaiming the virtues and blessings of ,jesus and the ,resurrection1 and they concluded ,jesus to be one divinity and the ,resurrection another divinity1 lately imported from the mysterious ,east4 ,the philosophers were the aristocracy of the ,athenian city1 reverenced as the ,university professors in a ,german or ,scotch town1 and they at once brought the new-comer before the court of ,areopagus1 the highest in ,athens1 charged1 as in the time of ,socrates1 with the duty of supervising the affairs of the national religion1 and punishing all attacks and innovations thereon4 ,the ,apostle was led up the steps or stairs which still remain1 the judges took their places on the rock-hewn benches1 ,st4 ,paul was placed upon the defendant's stone1 called1 as ,pausanias tells us1 the ,stone of ,impudence1 and then the trial began4 #aff ,any one wishing to consult the writings of this contemporary of ,st4 ,paul can find ,philo's works translated into ,english in #d vols4 in ,bohn's ,library of ,ecclesiastical ,antiquity4 ,a comparison of ,st4 ,paul's writings with those of ,philo will show us the wondrous superiority of those of the ,christian ,apostle1 owing to his inspiration by the ,holy ,ghost4 ,st4 ,paul's writings are a perpetual feast of fat things nourishing the soul unto everlasting life4 ,the writings of ,philo are curious and interesting1 but no one would dream of taking them as a spiritual guide of life4 #afg ,the ,athenians had for a long time previous to ,st4 ,paul's visit some commercial relations with the ,jewish nation4 ,josephus1 ,antiqq41 ,,xiv4 #h1 tells us how they erected a brass statue of the high priest ,hyrcanus1 as an expression of their good will to the ,jewish nation4 ,this was a hundred years before ,st4 ,paul's visit4 ,bayet discovered early ,jewish inscriptions among the ,athenian cemeteries4 ,see his ,de ,titulis ,attic ,christianis1 pp4 #abb-bd1 of which we treat in a note infra4 #afh ,pausanias1 i4 #ae1 gives a description of the ,porch or ,painted ,chamber1 the ,stoa ,pcile1 whence the ,stoics derived their name1 showing that it was close to the ,agora1 or market-place1 where ,paul disputed4 ,the ,athenian philosophers were cultured1 and they were polite4 ,they demand1 therefore1 in bland tones1 ,may we know what this new teaching is1 which is spoken by thee8 ,for thou bringest certain strange things to our ears2 we would know1 therefore1 what these things mean4 ,and now ,st4 ,paul has got his chance of a listening audience4 ,he has come across a new type of hearers1 such as he has not enjoyed since those early days of his first ,christian love1 when1 after his escape from ,jerusalem1 he resided at the university city of ,tarsus for a long time1 till sought out by ,barnabas to come and minister to the crowds of ,gentiles who were flocking into the ,church at ,antioch4#afi ,st4 ,paul knew right well the tenets of the two classes of men1 the ,stoics and the ,epicureans1 with whom he had to contend1 and he deals with them effectually in the speech which he delivered before the court4 ,of that address we have only the barest outline4 ,the report given in the ,acts contains about two hundred and fifty words1 and must have lasted little more than two minutes if that was all ,st4 ,paul said4 ,it embodies1 however1 merely the leading arguments used by the ,apostle as ,timothy or some other disciple recollected them and told them to ,st4 ,luke4 ,let us see what these arguments were4 ,he begins with a compliment to the ,athenians4 ,the ,authorised1 and even the ,revised1 ,version represent him indeed as beginning like an unskilled and unwise speaker with giving his audience a slap in the face4 ,ye men of ,athens1 in all things ,i perceive that ye are somewhat superstitious1 would not have been the most conciliatory form of address to a keen-witted assembly like that before which he was now standing4 ,it would have tended to set their backs up at once4 ,if we study ,st4 ,paul's ,epistles1 specially his ,first ,epistle to ,corinth1 we shall find that even when he had to find the most grievous faults with his disciples1 he always began like a prudent man by conciliating their feelings1 praising them for whatever he could find good or blessed in them4 ,surely if ,st4 ,paul acted thus with believers living unworthy of their heavenly calling1 he would be still more careful not to offend men whom he wished to win over to ,christ6 ,st4 ,paul's exordium was complimentary rather than otherwise1 bearing out the description which ,pausanias gives of the ,athenians of his own day1 that they have more than other ,greeks1 a zeal for religion4 ,let us expand his thoughts somewhat that we may grasp their force4 ,men of ,athens1 in all things ,i perceive that ye are more religious and more devoted to the worship of the deity than other men4 ,for as ,i passed along and observed the objects of your worship1 ,i found also an altar with this inscription1 ,to the unknown ,god4 ,st4 ,paul here displays his readiness as a practised orator4 ,he shows his power and readiness to become all things to all men4 ,he seizes upon the excessive devotion of the ,athenians4 ,he does not abuse them on account of it1 he uses it rather as a good and useful foundation on which he may build a worthier structure1 as a good and sacred principle1 hitherto misapplied1 but henceforth to be dedicated to a nobler purpose4 ,the circumstance upon which ,st4 ,paul seized1 the existence of an altar dedicated to the unknown ,god1 is amply confirmed by historic evidence4 ,st4 ,paul may have noticed such altars as he passed up the road from ,phalerum1 where he landed1 to the city of ,athens1 where1 as we learn from ,pausanias1 the next-century traveller1 such altars existed in his time2 or he may have seen them on the very hill of ,areopagus on which he was standing1 where1 from ancient times1 as we learn from another writer1 altars existed dedicated to the unknown gods who sent a plague upon ,athens4#agj ,st4 ,paul's argument then was this4 ,the ,athenians were already worshippers of the ,unknown ,god4 ,this was the very deity he came proclaiming1 and therefore he could not be a setter forth of strange gods nor liable to punishment in consequence4 ,he then proceeds to declare more fully the nature of the ,deity hitherto unknown4 ,he was the ,god that made the world and all things therein4 ,he was not identical therefore with the visible creation as the ,pantheism of the ,stoics declared1#aga but gave to all out of ,his own immense fulness life and wealth1 and all things2 neither was ,he like the gods of the ,epicureans who sat far aloof from all care and thought about this lower world4 ,st4 ,paul taught ,god's personal existence as against the ,stoics1 and ,god's providence as against the ,epicureans4 ,then he struck straight at the root of that national pride1 that supreme contempt for the outside barbaric world1 which existed as strongly among these cultured agnostic ,greek philosophers as among the most narrow1 fanatical1 and bigoted ,jews3 ,he made of one every nation of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth1 having determined their appointed seasons1 and the bounds of their habitation2 that they should seek ,god1 if haply they might feel after ,him1 and find ,him4 ,a doctrine which must have sounded exceeding strange to these ,greeks accustomed to despise the barbarian world1 looking down upon it from the height of their learning and civilisation1 and regarding themselves as the only favourites of ,heaven4 ,st4 ,paul proclaims on the ,hill of ,mars ,christian liberalism1 the catholic and cosmopolitan character of the true religion in opposition to this ,greek contempt grounded on mere human position and privilege1 as clearly and as loudly as he proclaimed the same great truth at ,jerusalem or in the synagogues of the ,dispersion in opposition to ,jewish exclusiveness grounded on the ,divine covenant4 ,st4 ,paul had grasped the great lesson taught by the prophets of the ,old ,testament as they prophesied concerning ,babylon1 ,egypt1 and ,tyre4 ,they proclaimed the lesson which ,jewish ears were slow to learn1 they taught the ,jews the truth which ,paul preached to the philosophers of ,athens1 they acted upon the principle which it was the great work of ,paul's life to exemplify1 that ,god's care and love and providence are over all ,his works1 that ,his mercies are not restrained to any one nation1 but that1 having made of one all nations upon the face of the earth1 ,his blessings are bestowed upon them all alike4 ,this truth here taught by ,st4 ,paul has been slow to make its way4 ,men have been slow to acknowledge the equality of all nations in ,god's sight1 very slow to give up their own claims to exceptional treatment and blessing on the part of the ,almighty4 ,the great principle enunciated by the ,apostle struck1 for instance1 at the evil of slavery1 yet how slowly it made its way4 ,till thirty years ago really good and pious men saw nothing inconsistent with ,christianity in negro slavery4 ,christian communions even were established grounded on this fundamental principle1 the righteous character of slavery4 ,john ,newton was a slave trader1 and seems to have seen nothing wrong in it4 ,george ,whitfield owned slaves1 and bequeathed them as part of his property to be held for his ,orphan ,house in ,america4 ,but it is not only slavery that this great principle overthrows4 ,it strikes down every form of injustice and wrong4 ,god has made all men of one2 they are all equally ,his care1 and therefore every act of injustice is a violation of the ,divine law which is thus expressed4 ,such ideas must have seemed exceedingly strange1 and even unnatural to men accustomed to reverence the teaching and study the writings of guides like ,aristotle1 whose dogma was that slavery was based on the very constitution of nature itself which formed some men to rule and others to be slaves4 #afi ,that period of retirement at ,tarsus may have been utilised by ,st4 ,paul in studying classical literature and ,greek philosophy by way of preparation for that life's work among the ,gentiles1 to which he was appointed at his conversion4 #agj ,there are frequent notices of the altars to the unknown gods in ancient ,greek writers3 as in ,pausanias1 ,description of ,greece1 vol4 i41 p4 #b 7,shilleto's translation72 ,life of ,apollonius1 by ,philostratus1 vi41 #c2 ,lucian's ,philopatris1 #bi4 ,see1 however1 for exhaustive discussions of this point1 and the whole subject of the topography of ancient ,athens1 ,lewin's ,st4 ,paul1 vol4 i41 p4 #bdb2 ,farrar's ,st4 ,paul1 ch4 xxvii41 and ,conybeare and ,howson's ,st4 ,paul1 vol4 i41 ch4 x4 ,spon and ,wheeler were travellers of the seventeenth century1 whose works on this subject are important as showing ,athens as it existed before modern changes4 ,some of the reports of travels in ,greece1 made by eminent scholars in the same century1 and now very little known1 may be found in the early volumes of the ,philosophical ,transactions of the ,royal ,society4 #aga ,st4 ,paul shows that he could sympathise with the true element in pantheistic stoicism by his famous words which have a certain pantheistic ring1 but still a very different one from that of the ,stoics3 ,in ,him we live and move and have our being4 ,st4 ,paul does not finish with this4 ,he has not yet exhausted all his message4 ,he had now dealt with the intellectual errors and mistakes of his hearers4 ,he had around him and above him1 if he could but see the magnificent figure of ,athene1 the pride and glory of the ,acropolis1 with its surrounding temples1 the most striking proofs how their intellectual mistakes had led the wise of this world into fatal and degrading practices4 ,in the course of his argument1 having shown the nearness of ,god to man1 ,in ,him we live and move and have our being1 and the ,divine desire that man should seek after and know ,god1 he quoted a passage common to several well-known poets1 ,for we are also ,his offspring4#agb ,this was sufficient for ,st4 ,paul1 who as we see1 in all his ,epistles1 often flies off at a tangent when a word slips as it were by chance from his pen1 leading him off to a new train of ideas4 ,we are the offspring of ,god4 ,how is it then that men can conceive the ,godhead1 that which is ,divine1 to be like unto those gold and silver1 brass or marble statues1 even though wrought with the greatest possible skill4 ,the philosophers indeed pretended to distinguish between the ,eternal ,godhead and these divinities and images innumerable1 which were but representations of his several characteristics and attributes4 ,but even if they distinguished intellectually1 they did not distinguish in practice1 and the people from the highest to the lowest identified the idol with the deity itself1 and rendered thereto the honour due to ,god4#agc #agb ,these words are directly and literally taken out of the ,phnomena of ,aratus1 a ,greek poet of ,cilicia and a fellow-countryman of the orator4 ,he was absolutely correct1 however1 in saying certain of your own poets1 as the same sentiment is found in a hymn to ,jupiter1 composed by the ,stoic philosopher and poet ,cleanthes1 a poem which will be found with a ,latin version in ,cudworth's ,intellectual ,system4 ,cleanthes was the immediate successor of ,zeno1 the founder of ,stoicism4 ,his words therefore would have the more weight with his disciples three centuries later4 ,he died1 like a ,stoic1 of hunger1 aged eighty1 and a statue was erected to him by the ,roman ,senate in his native place ,assos1 a town of olis in ,greece4 ,see for more about ,cleanthes and ,aratus1 ,fabricius1 ,bibliotheca ,grca1 or ,smith's ,dict4 ,greek and ,rom4 ,biog4 #agc ,as it was with the ancient image worshippers1 so is it with the modern4 ,the excuses made for the pagans in ancient times are exactly the same as those made for the image worshippers of the eighth and later centuries3 see the article on ,iconoclasm in the ,dict4 ,christ4 ,biog4 ,st4 ,paul then proceeds to enunciate his own doctrines4 ,he lightly touches upon1 as he did previously at ,lystra 7ch4 xiv4 #af71 a subject which neither the time at his disposal nor the position of his hearers would permit him to discuss4 ,he glances at1 but does not attempt to explain1 why ,god had postponed to that late date this novel teaching3 ,the times of ignorance ,god overlooked2 but now ,he commandeth men that they should all everywhere repent4 ,this doctrine of repentance1 involving a sense of sin and sorrow for it1 must have sounded exceeding strange to those philosophic ears1 as did the announcement with which the ,apostle follows it up1 the proclamation of a future judgment by a ,man whom ,god had ordained for the purpose1 and authenticated by raising him from the dead4 ,here the crowd interrupted him4 ,the ,resurrection1 or ,anastasis1 which ,paul preached was not then a new deity1 but an impossible process through which no man save in fable had ever passed4 ,when the ,apostle got thus far the assembly broke up4 ,the idea of a resurrection of a dead man was too much for them4 ,it was too ludicrous for belief4 ,some mocked3 but others said1 ,we will hear thee again of this matter1 and thus ended ,st4 ,paul's address1 and thus ended too the ,athenian opportunity1 for ,st4 ,paul soon passed away from such a society of learned triflers and scoffers4 ,they sat in the seat of the scorner1 and the seat of the scorner is never a good one for a learner to occupy who wishes to profit4 ,he felt that he had no great work to do in such a place4 ,his opportunity lay where hearts were broken with sin and sorrow1 where the burden of life weighed upon the soul1 and men heavy laden and sore pressed were longing for real deliverance and for a higher1 nobler life than the world could offer4 ,his work1 however1 was not all in vain1 nor were his personal discussions and his public address devoid of results4 ,the ,church of ,athens was one of those which could look back to ,st4 ,paul as its founder4 ,not many wise after the flesh were called in that city of wisdom and beauty1 but some were called1 among whom was one of those very judges who sat to investigate the ,apostle's teaching3 ,but certain clave unto him1 and believed3 among whom also was ,dionysius the ,areopagite1 and a woman named ,damaris1 and others with them4 ,and this ,church thus founded became famous2 ,dionysius the ,areopagite became afterwards a celebrated man1 because his name was attached some five centuries later to a notorious forgery which has played no small part in later ,christian history4#agd ,dionysius was the first bishop of the ,athenian ,church according to the testimony of another ,dionysius1 ,bishop of ,corinth1 who lived in the middle of the second century1 while persons were yet living who could remember the ,areopagite4 ,he was succeeded by ,publius1 who presided over the ,church at an important period of its existence4 ,the ,emperor ,hadrian came to ,athens1 and was charmed with it about the year #abe a4d4 ,at that time the ,athenian ,church must have included among its members several learned men2 for the two earliest ,apologies in defence of ,christianity were produced by it4 ,the ,athenian ,church had just then been purified by the fiery trials of persecution4 ,quadratus and ,aristides stood forth to plead its cause before the ,emperor4#age ,of ,quadratus and his work we know but little4 ,eusebius1 the great ,church historian1 had1 however1 seen it1 and gives us 7,h4 ,e41 iv4 #c7 a brief abstract of it1 appealing to the miracles of our ,saviour1 and stating that some of the dead whom ,christ had raised had lived to his own time4 ,while as for ,aristides1 the other apologist1 his work1 after lying hidden from the sight of ,christendom1 was printed and published last year1 as we have told in the former volume of this commentary4 ,that ,apology of ,aristides has much important teaching for us1 as we have there tried to show4 ,there is one point1 however1 to which we did not allude4 ,the ,apology of ,aristides shows us that the ,athenian ,church accepted in the fullest degree and preserved the great ,pauline doctrine of the freedom and catholic nature of ,christianity4 ,in the year #abe ,judaism and ,christianity were still struggling together within the ,church in other places2 but at ,athens they had clean separated the one from the other4 ,till that year no one but a circumcised ,jewish ,christian had ever presided over the ,mother ,church of ,jerusalem1 which sixty years after the martyrdom of ,st4 ,peter and ,st4 ,paul preserved exactly the same attitude as in the days of ,james the ,just4#agf ,the ,church of ,athens1 on the other hand1 as a thoroughly ,gentile ,church1 had from the first enjoyed the ministry of ,dionysius the ,areopagite1 a ,gentile of culture and education4 ,he had been attracted by the broad liberal teaching of the ,apostle in his address upon ,mars' ,hill1 enunciating a religion free from all narrow national limitations4 ,he embraced this catholic teaching with his whole heart1 and transmitted it to his successors1 so that when some seventy years later a learned ,athenian stood forth in the person of ,aristides1 to explain the doctrines of the ,church1 contrasting them with the errors and mistakes of all other nations1 ,aristides does not spare even the ,jews4 ,he praises them indeed when compared with the pagans1 who had erred on the primary questions of morals2 but he blames them because they had not reached the final and absolute position occupied by the ,christians4 ,listen to the words of ,aristides which proclaim the true ,pauline doctrine taught in ,st4 ,paul's sermons1 re-echoed by the ,epistles1 ,nevertheless the ,jews too have gone astray from accurate knowledge1 and they suppose in their minds that they are serving ,god1 but in the methods of their service1 their service is to angels and not to ,god1 in that they observe ,sabbaths and new moons1 and the passover1 and the great fast1 and the fast and circumcision1 and cleanness of meats1 words which sound exactly the same note and embody the same conception as ,st4 ,paul in his indignant language to the ,galatians 7iv4 #i-aa73 ,now that ye have come to know ,god1 or rather to be known of ,god1 how turn ye back again to the weak and beggarly elements1 whereunto ye desire to be in bondage over again8 ,ye observe days1 and months1 and seasons1 and years4 ,i am afraid of you1 lest by any means ,i have bestowed labour upon you in vain4#agg #agd ,few biblical characters have been so surrounded with a haze of fable as ,dionysius the ,areopagite4 ,all that we certainly know about him is from this passage in the ,acts1 and from two notices by ,eusebius1 ,h4 ,e41 iii4 #d1 and iv4 #bc4 ,in the ,acta ,sanctorum the ,bollandists bestow an immense quantity of space on ,dionysius and the literature of the subject under the date ,oct4 #ith1 in their ,fourth ,volume for ,october1 pp4 #fif-ihg4 ,the name of ,dionysius became specially celebrated when about the year #ejj it was attached to an impudent forgery called the ,heavenly ,hierarchy1 from which has been largely derived the modern ,roman doctrine of the ,assumption of the ,blessed ,virgin1 and which has also exercised a great influence on the development of modern pantheism3 see the article on ,dionysius in vol4 i4 of ,smith's ,dict4 ,christ4 ,biog4 ,johannes ,scotus ,erigena1 an ,irish scholar of the ninth century1 was the only man in ,france found capable of translating these ,greek works when brought to ,western ,europe from the ,east3 see ,vett4 ,epistt4 ,hibernic4 ,sylloge1 xxii41 xxiii41 xxiv41 in ,ussher's ,works 7,ed4 ,elrington71 iv4 #dgd-hg4 ,dionysius is commemorated on ,oct4 #crd in the ancient ,latin ,martyrologies1 on ,oct4 #ith in the modern ,roman ,martyrology4 ,the ancient ,martyrologies--the ancient ,roman1 ,ado's1 ,usaurd's--have a curious notice stating that ,aristides the ,athenian1 in a work which he wrote about the ,christian religion1 described the martyrdom of ,dionysius in the reign of ,hadrian4 ,there is no notice of this in the ,apology of ,aristides which has lately come to light4 ,a curious story is told in one of his alleged letters1 addressed to ,polycarp4 ,apollophanes1 a pagan sophist1 was attacking ,polycarp about ,christianity4 ,dionysius tells ,polycarp to remind his opponent of the miraculous darkness on the day of ,crucifixion which ,dionysius and ,apollophanes had seen at ,hierapolis1 where they were then both students1 when ,dionysius said1 ,either the ,god of nature suffers1 or the world is in process of dissolution4 #age ,the visits of the ,emperor ,hadrian to ,athens1 and his delight in that city1 have been confirmed by the latest antiquarian investigations in the region of coins and inscriptions4 ,the student who wishes to make acquaintance with the evidence on this point1 which has an important bearing upon the historic proof of our holy religion1 should consult the learned treatise of ,julius ,drr1 styled1 ,die ,reisen der ,kaisers ,hadrian1 7,vienna1 #ahha74 ,it minutely investigates the records of ,hadrian's life1 and shows us that ,hadrian visited and lived at ,athens in ,a4,d4 #abe4 ,this work was published ten years before the ,apology of the ,athenian ,christian ,aristides was discovered1 serving to illustrate its history from an independent point of view4 ,i have endeavoured to set forth the bearing of this point at greater length than ,i can now bestow upon it in a series of papers on the ,apology of ,aristides in the ,sunday at ,home for #ahia-b4 ,mrs4 ,rendal ,harris1 the wife of the discoverer of it1 has published an interesting work on this ,apology1 to which ,i would refer the reader 7,london3 ,hodder ,stoughton1 #ahib74 ,the ,apology itself was published in #ahia1 in the series called ,cambridge ,texts and ,studies4 #agf ,the testimony of ,eusebius1 ,h4 ,e41 iv4 #e1 is express on this point3 ,down to the siege of the ,jews under ,hadrian there were fifteen bishops in the ,church of ,jerusalem1 all of whom1 as they say1 were ,hebrews from the first1 and received the genuine knowledge of ,christ1 so that in the estimation of those able to judge they were counted worthy of the episcopal office4 #agg ,the whole subject of the origin and history of the primitive ,church of ,athens has been minutely investigated by a modern ,french scholar1 ,c4 ,bayet1 a member of the ,french school of antiquaries at ,athens4 ,the title of his book1 to which ,i have already referred1 is ,de ,titulis ,attic ,christianis ,antiquissimis ,commentatio 7,thorin3 ,paris1 #ahgh74 ,he gives a large number of primitive ,christian and ,jewish inscriptions found at ,athens4 ,the above quotation from ,aristides will be found in ,rendal ,harris's edition1 p4 #dh1 in the ,cambridge ,texts and ,studies4 ,st4 ,paul did not stay long at ,athens4 ,five or six weeks perhaps1 two months at most1 was probably the length of his visit1 time enough just for his ,beran guides to go back to their own city two hundred miles away1 and forward their message to ,thessalonica fifty miles distant1 desiring ,timothy and ,silas to come to him4 ,timothy1 doubtless1 soon started upon his way1 tarried with the ,apostle for a little1 and then returned to ,thessalonica1 as we learn from #a ,thess4 iii4 #a3 ,when we could no longer forbear1 we thought it good to be left at ,athens alone1 and sent ,timothy to establish you and comfort you4 ,and now he was again all alone in that scoffing city where neither the religious1 moral1 nor intellectual atmosphere could have been pleasing to a man like ,st4 ,paul4 ,he quitted ,athens therefore and came to ,corinth4 ,in that city he laboured for a period of a year and a half at least2 and yet the record of his brief visit to ,athens1 unsuccessful as it was so far as immediate results are concerned1 is much longer than the record of his prolonged work in ,corinth4 ,now if we were writing a life of ,st4 ,paul instead of a commentary on the history told us in the ,acts1 we should be able to supplement the brief narrative of the historical book with the ample details contained in the ,epistles of ,st4 ,paul1 especially the two ,epistles written to ,corinth itself1 which illustrate the life of the ,apostle1 his work at ,corinth1 and the state of the ,corinthians themselves prior and subsequent to their conversion4 ,a consideration of these points would1 however1 lead me to intrude on the sphere of the commentator on the ,corinthian ,epistles1 and demand an amount of space which we cannot afford4 ,in addition1 the three great biographies of ,st4 ,paul to which we have so often referred--,lewin's1 ,farrar's1 and that of ,conybeare and ,howson--treat this subject at such great length and with such a profusion of archological learning as practically leave a fresh writer nothing new to say in this direction4 ,let us1 however1 look briefly at the record in the ,acts of ,st4 ,paul's work in ,corinth1 viewing it from the expositor's point of view4 ,st4 ,paul went from ,athens to ,corinth discouraged1 it may have been1 by the results of his ,athenian labours4 ,opposition never frightened ,st4 ,paul2 but learned carelessness1 haughty contemptuous indifference to his ,divine message1 the outcome of a spirit devoid of any true spiritual life1 quenched his ardour1 chilled his enthusiasm4 ,he must indeed have been sorely repelled by ,athens when he set out all alone for the great capital of ,achaia1 the wicked1 immoral1 debased city of ,corinth4 ,when he came thither he united himself with ,aquila1 a ,jew of ,pontus1 and ,priscilla his wife1 because they were members of the same craft4 ,they had been lately expelled from ,rome1 and1 like the ,apostle1 were tentmakers3 for convenience' sake therefore1 and to save expense1 they all lodged together4#agh ,here again ,st4 ,paul experienced the wisdom of his father's training and of the ,rabbinical law1 which thus made him in ,corinth1 as before in ,thessalonica1 thoroughly independent of all external circumstances1 and able with his own hands to minister to his body's wants4 ,and it was a fortunate thing too for the gospel's sake that he was able to do so4 ,st4 ,paul never permits any one to think for a moment that the claim of ,christ's ministry for a fitting support is a doubtful one4 ,he expressly teaches again and again1 as in #a ,cor4 ix41 that it is the ,scriptural as well as rational duty of the people to contribute according to their means to the maintenance of ,christ's public ministry4 ,but there were certain circumstances at ,thessalonica1 and above all at ,corinth1 which made ,st4 ,paul waive his just claim and even cramp1 limit1 and confine his exertions1 by imposing on himself the work of earning his daily food4 ,thessalonica and ,corinth had immense ,jewish populations4 ,the ,jews were notorious in that age as furnishing the greatest number of impostors1 quack magicians and every other kind of agency which traded upon human credulity for the purposes of gain4 ,st4 ,paul was determined that neither ,jew nor ,gentile in either place should be able to hinder the work of the gospel by accusing him of self-seeking or covetous purposes4 ,for this purpose he united with ,aquila and ,priscilla in working at their common trade as tentmakers1 employing the ,sabbath days in debating after his usual fashion in the ,jewish synagogues2 and upon ordinary days improving the hours during which his hands laboured upon the coarse hair cloth of which tents were made1 either in expounding to his fellow-workmen the glorious news which he proclaimed or else in meditating upon the trials of his converts in ,macedonia1 or perhaps1 most of all1 in that perpetual communion with ,god1 that never-ceasing intercession for which he ever found room and time in the secret chambers of the soul4 ,st4 ,paul's intercessions as we read of them in his ,epistles were immense4 ,intercessory prayers for his individual converts are frequently mentioned by him4 ,it would have been impossible for a man so hard pressed with labours of every kind temporal and spiritual to find place for them all in formal prayers if ,st4 ,paul did not cultivate the habit of ceaseless communion with his ,father in heaven1 perpetually bringing before ,god those cases and persons which lay dearest to his heart4 ,this habit of secret prayer must be the explanation of ,st4 ,paul's widespread intercessions1 and for this reason4 ,he commends the same practice again and again to his converts4 ,pray without ceasing is his language to the ,thessalonians 7#a ,thess4 v4 #ag74 ,now this could not mean1 prolong your private devotions to an inordinate length1 because great numbers of his converts were slaves who were not masters of their time4 ,but it does mean cultivate a perpetual sense of ,god's presence and of your own communion with ,him1 which will turn life and its busiest work into a season of refreshing prayer and untiring intercession4 #agh ,this expulsion of the ,jews from ,rome by ,claudius1 which in the providence of ,god brought ,aquila and ,priscilla into contact with ,st4 ,paul1 is mentioned by the ,roman historian ,suetonius1 ,claudius1 #be1 in the following suggestive words3 ,he expelled the ,jews who were continually creating tumults1 ,chestus impelling them4 ,the tumults roused by the teaching of ,christian doctrine1 like those in the ,thessalonian and ,beran synagogues1 were evidently the origin of the edict4 ,aquila and ,priscilla were constant travellers1 and seem to have been influential ,christians4 ,we find them afterwards at ,ephesus1 where they tarried some time3 see ,acts xviii4 #ah1 #ai1 #bf2 #a ,cor4 xvi4 #ai2 and subsequently #b ,tim4 iv4 #ai4 ,they also lived at ,rome for a period between their two residences at ,ephesus1 as we learn from the fact that ,st4 ,paul sends a salutation to them in ,romans xvi4 #c1 #d4 ,meanwhile1 according to ,acts xviii4 #e1 ,silas and ,timothy arrived from ,macedonia1 bringing contributions for the ,apostle's support1 which enabled him to fling himself entirely into ministerial and evangelistic work4 ,this renewed activity soon told4 ,st4 ,paul had no longer to complain of contemptuous or listless conduct1 as at ,athens4 ,he experienced at ,jewish hands in ,corinth exactly the same treatment as at ,thessalonica and ,bera4 ,paul preached that ,jesus was the ,christ4 ,the ,jews blasphemed ,him1 and called ,him accursed4 ,their attitude became so threatening that ,paul was at length compelled to retire from the synagogue1 and1 separating his disciples1 ,jews and ,gentiles alike1 he withdrew to the house of one ,justus1 a man whose ,latin name bespeaks his ,western origin1 who lived next door to the synagogue4 ,thenceforth he threw himself with all his energy into his work4 ,god too directly encouraged him4 ,the very proximity of the ,christian ,church to the ,jewish ,synagogue constituted a special danger to himself personally when he had to deal with fanatical ,jews4 ,a heavenly visitor appeared1 therefore1 to refresh the wearied saint4 ,in his hour of danger and of weakness ,god's strength and grace were perfected1 and assurance was granted that the ,lord had much people in the city of ,corinth1 and that no harm should happen to him while striving to seek out and gather ,god's sheep that were scattered abroad in the midst of the naughty world of ,corinthian life4 ,and the secret vision did not stand alone4 ,external circumstances lent their assistance and support4 ,crispus1 the chief ruler of the synagogue1 and his family became converts1 and were baptized4 ,gaius and ,stephanas were important converts gathered from amongst the ,gentiles2 so important indeed were these three individuals and their families that ,st4 ,paul turned aside from his purely evangelistic and missionary labours and devoted himself to the pastoral work of preparing them for baptism administering personally that holy sacrament1 a duty which he usually left to his assistants1 who were not so well qualified for the rough pioneer efforts of controversy1 which he had marked out for himself4#agi ,and so the work went on for a year and a half1 till the ,jews thought they saw their opportunity for crushing the audacious apostate who was thus making havoc even among the officials of their own organisation1 inducing them to join his ,nazarene synagogue4#ahj ,achaia1 of which ,corinth was the capital1 was a ,roman province1 embracing1 broadly speaking1 the territory comprised in the modern kingdom of ,greece4 ,like a great many other provinces1 and specially like ,cyprus1 to which we have already called attention1 ,achaia was at times an imperial1 at times a senatorial province4 ,forty years earlier it was an imperial province4 ,the ,acts describes it as just then1 that is1 about ,a4,d4 #ec1 a senatorial or proconsular province2 and ,suetonius1 an independent ,roman historian1 confirms this1 telling us 7,claud41 #be7 that the ,emperor ,claudius restored it to the senate4 #agi ,see #a ,cor4 i4 #ad-ag3 ,i thank ,god that ,i baptized none of you1 save ,crispus and ,gaius2 lest any man should say that ye were baptized into my name4 ,and ,i baptized also the household of ,stephanas3 besides1 ,i know not whether ,i baptized any other4 ,for ,christ sent me not to baptize1 but to preach the gospel4 ,i have often heard a very wrong conclusion drawn from this passage4 ,people think that ,st4 ,paul was here casting a certain slight upon baptism as contrasted with preaching4 ,his meaning1 however1 is evident to any one who will realise the circumstances4 ,the ,corinthians were breaking up into sects1 calling themselves by the names of various ,christian leaders4 ,st4 ,paul thanks ,god that very few can call themselves by his name1 as they had not even the poor excuse for doing so1 which his officiating at their baptism might give4 ,to him1 in ,god's providence1 had been assigned the rough1 dangerous pioneer work of preaching to the adversaries1 ,jews and pagans1 outside the ,church2 to others the work of introducing the converts made by him into the ,mystical ,body of ,christ4 #ahj ,in vol4 i41 p4 #bgj1 ,i have pointed out that in ,corinth the ,christians probably adopted1 not only the name1 but the organisation of the synagogues4 ,gallio1 a brother of the celebrated philosophic writer ,seneca1 had been sent to it as proconsul1 and the ,jews thought they now saw their opportunity4 ,gallio1 whose original and proper name was ,annus ,novatus1 was a man distinguished by what in ,rome was considered his sweet1 gentle1 and loving disposition4 ,his reputation may have preceded him1 and the ,jews of ,corinth may have thought that they would play upon his easy-going temper4 ,the ,jews1 being a very numerous community at ,corinth1 had it of course in their power to prove very unpleasant to any ruler1 and specially to one of ,gallio's reputed temper4#aha ,the ,roman governors were invested with tremendous powers2 they were absolute despots1 in fact1 for the time being1 and yet they were often very anxious to gain popularity1 especially with any troublesome body of their temporary subjects4 ,the ,roman proconsuls1 in fact1 adopted a principle we sometimes see still acted out in political life1 as if it were the highest type of statesmanship4 ,they were anxious to gain popularity by gratifying those who made themselves specially obnoxious and raised the loudest cries4 ,they petted the naughty1 and they neglected the good4 ,so it was with ,pontius ,pilate1 who perpetrated a judicial murder because it contented the multitude2 so it was with ,festus1 who left an innocent man in bonds at ,csarea because he desired to gain favour with the ,jews2 and so too1 thought the ,jews of ,corinth1 it would be with ,gallio4 ,they arrested the ,apostle1 therefore1 using the messengers of the synagogue for the purpose1 and brought him to the proconsular court1 where they set him before the bema1 or elevated platform1 whence the ,roman magistrates dispensed justice4 ,then they laid their formal accusation against him3 ,this man persuadeth men to worship ,god contrary to the law2 expecting perhaps that he would be remitted by the proconsul to the judgment and discipline of their own domestic tribunal1 even as ,pilate said to the ,jews about our ,lord and their accusation against ,him3 ,take ye ,him1 and judge ,him according to your law4 ,but the philosophic brother of the ,stoic ,seneca had a profound contempt for these agitating ,jews4 ,his ,stoic education too had trained him to allow external things as little influence upon the mind as possible4 ,the philosophic apathy which the ,stoics cultivated must have more or less affected his whole nature1 as he soon showed the ,jews2 for before the ,apostle had time to reply to the charge ,gallio burst in contemptuously4 ,if it were a matter of law and order1 he declares1 it would be right to attend to it2 but if your complaint is touching your own national law and customs ,i will have nothing to say to it4 ,and then he commanded his lictors to clear the court4 ,thus ended the attempt on ,st4 ,paul's freedom or life1 an attempt which was indeed more disastrous to the ,jews themselves than to any one else2 for the ,gentile mob of ,corinth1 hating the ,jews1 and glad to see them baulked of their expected prey1 seized the chief accuser ,sosthenes1 the ruler of the synagogue1 and beat him before the judgment-seat2 while ,gallio all the while cared for none of these things1 despising the mob1 ,jew and ,gentile alike1 and contemptuously pitying them from the height of his philosophic self-contentment4 ,gallio has been at all times regarded as the type of the mere worldling1 who1 wrapped in material interests1 cares for nothing higher or nobler4 ,but this is scarcely fair to ,gallio4 ,the ,stoic philosopher was not dead to better things4 ,but he is the type rather of men who1 blinded by lower truths and mere intellectual wisdom1 are thereby rendered careless of those spiritual matters in which the soul's true life alone consists4 ,he had so thoroughly cultivated a philosophic contempt for the outside world and its business1 the sayings and doings1 the joys and the sorrows of the puny mortals who fume and strut and fret their lives away upon this earthly stage1 that he lost the opportunity of hearing from the ,apostle's lips of a grander philosophy1 a deeper contentment1 of a truer1 more satisfying peace than was ever dreamt of in stoical speculation4 ,and this type of man is not extinct4 ,philosophy1 science1 art1 literature1 politics1 they are all great facts1 all offer vast fields for human activity1 and all may serve for a time so thoroughly to content and satisfy man's inner being as to render him careless of that life in ,christ which alone abideth for evermore4 #aha ,cicero1 in his oration ,pro ,flacco1 ch4 xxviii41 shows how troublesome and dangerous1 even to the very highest persons1 the ,jews at ,rome could be one hundred years earlier than ,gallio's day4 ,the attempt of the ,jews marked the termination of ,st4 ,paul's work in ,corinth4 ,it was at least the beginning of the end4 ,he had now laboured longer in ,corinth than anywhere else since he started out from ,antioch4 ,he had organised and consolidated the ,church1 as we can see from his ,corinthian ,epistles and now he longed once more to visit his old friends1 and report what ,god had wrought by his means during his long absence4 ,he tarried1 therefore1 yet a while1 visiting doubtless the various ,churches which he had established throughout all the province of ,achaia1 and then1 accompanied by a few companions1 set sail for ,syria1 to declare the results of his eventful mission1 taking ,ephesus on his way4 ,this was his first visit to that great city1 and he was probably led to pay it owing to the commercial necessities of ,aquila4 ,life's actions and deeds1 even in the case of an apostle1 are moulded by very little things4 ,a glance1 a chance word1 a passing courtesy1 forgotten as soon as done1 and life is very different from what it otherwise would have been4 ,and so1 too1 the tent-making and tent-selling of ,aquila brought ,paul to ,ephesus1 shaped the remainder of his career1 and endowed the ,church with the rich spiritual heritage of the teaching imparted to the ,ephesian disciples by word and epistle4 ,,chapter ,,xiv4 ,,the ,,ephesian ,,church ,,and ,,its ,,foundation4 ,paul1 and with him ,priscilla and ,aquila1 came to ,ephesus1 and he left them here3 but he himself entered into the synagogue1 and reasoned with the ,jews4 ,and when they asked him to abide a longer time1 he consented not2 but taking his leave of them1 and saying1 ,i will return again unto you1 if ,god will1 he set sail from ,ephesus4444 ,now a certain man named ,apollos1 an ,alexandrian by race1 a learned man1 came to ,ephesus2 and he was mighty in the ,scriptures4 ,this man had been instructed in the way of the ,lord2 and being fervent in spirit1 he spake and taught carefully the things concerning ,jesus1 knowing only the baptism of ,john3 and he began to speak boldly in the synagogue4 ,but when ,priscilla and ,aquila heard him1 they took him unto them1 and expounded unto him the way of ,god more carefully4--,,acts xviii4 #ai-ba1 #bd-bf4 ,and it came to pass1 that1 while ,apollos was at ,corinth1 ,paul having passed through the upper country1 came to ,ephesus4--,,acts xix4 #a4 ,ephesus has been from very ancient times a distinguished city4 ,it was famous in the religious history of ,asia ,minor in times long prior to the ,christian ,era4 ,it was celebrated at the time of the ,roman ,empire as the chief seat of the worship of ,diana and of the magical practices associated with that worship2 and ,ephesus became more celebrated still in ,christian times as the city where one of the great cumenical ,councils was held which served to determine the expression of the ,church's faith in her ,divine ,lord and ,master4 ,it must then be of great interest to the ,christian student to note the first beginnings of such a vast transformation as that whereby a chief seat of pagan idolatry was turned into a special stronghold of ,christian orthodoxy4 ,let us then devote this chapter to tracing the upgrowth of the ,ephesian ,church1 and to noting the lessons the modern ,church may derive therefrom4 ,st4 ,paul terminated his work in ,corinth some time about the middle or towards the close of the year #ec ,a4,d4 ,in the early summer of that year ,gallio came as proconsul to ,achaia1 and the ,jewish riot was raised4 ,after a due interval1 to show that he was not driven out by ,jewish machinations1 ,st4 ,paul determined to return once more to ,jerusalem and ,antioch1 which he had left some four years at least before4 ,he went down therefore to ,cenchre1 the port of departure for passengers going from ,corinth to ,ephesus1 ,asia ,minor1 and ,syria4 ,a ,christian ,church had been established there by the exertions of ,st4 ,paul or some of his ,corinthian disciples4 ,as soon as an early ,christian was turned from sin to righteousness1 from the adoration of idols to the worship of the true ,god1 he began to try and do something for ,him whose love and grace he had experienced4 ,it was no wonder that the ,church then spread rapidly when all its individual members were instinct with life1 and every one considered himself personally responsible to labour diligently for ,god4 ,the ,church of ,cenchre was elaborately organised4 ,it had not only its deacons1 it had also its deaconesses1 one of whom1 ,phbe1 was specially kind and useful to ,st4 ,paul upon his visits to that busy seaport1 and is by him commended to the help and care of the ,roman ,church 7,rom4 xvi4 #a1 #b74 ,from ,cenchre ,st4 ,paul1 ,aquila1 and ,priscilla sailed for ,ephesus1 where1 as we have already hinted1 it is most likely the latter pair had some special business avocations which led them to stay at that city4 ,they may have been large manufacturers of tents1 and have had a branch establishment at ,ephesus1 which was then a great mercantile emporium for that part of ,asia ,minor4 ,an incidental remark of the sacred writer having shorn his head in ,cenchre1 for he had a vow1 has raised a controverted question4 ,some refer this expression to ,aquila1 and ,i think with much the greater probability4 ,it was customary with the ,jews at that time when in any special danger to take a temporary ,nazarite vow1 binding themselves to abstain from wine and from cutting their hair till a certain definite period had elapsed4 ,then when the fixed date had arrived1 the hair was cut off and preserved till it could be burned in the fire of a sacrifice offered up at ,jerusalem upon the individual's next visit to the ,holy ,city4 ,the grammatical order of the words naturally refer to ,aquila as the maker of this vow2 but ,i cannot agree in one reason urged for this latter theory4 ,some have argued that it was impossible for ,paul to have made this vow2 that it would1 in fact1 have been a return to the bondage of ,judaism1 which would have been utterly inconsistent on his part4 ,people who argue thus do not understand ,st4 ,paul's position with respect to ,jewish rites as being things utterly unimportant1 and1 as such1 things which a wise born ,jew would do well to observe in order to please his countrymen4 ,if ,st4 ,paul made a vow at ,corinth it would have been simply an illustration of his own principle1 ,to the ,jews ,i became as a ,jew1 in order that ,i might gain the ,jews4 ,but further1 ,i must say that the taking of a vow1 though derived from ,judaism1 need not have necessarily appeared to ,st4 ,paul and the men of his time a purely ,jewish ceremony4 ,vows1 in fact1 naturally passed over from ,judaism to ,christianity4#ahb ,vows1 indeed1 of this peculiar character1 and with this peculiar external sign of long hair1 are no longer customary amongst ,christians2 but surely special vows cannot be said to have gone out of fashion1 when we consider the wide spread of the teetotal movement1 with its vows identical in one important element with that of the ,nazarites6 ,but viewing the matter from a still wider standpoint1 people1 when contending thus1 forget what a large part the tradition of ancient customs must have played in the life1 manners1 and customs of ,st4 ,paul4 ,all his early life he was a strict ,pharisaic ,jew1 and down to the end of life his early training must have largely modified his habits4 ,to take but one instance1 pork was the common and favourite food of the ,romans at this period4 ,now ,i am sure that ,st4 ,paul would have vigorously resisted all attempts to prevent the ,gentile ,christians eating bacon or ham2 but ,i should not be in the least surprised if ,st4 ,paul1 trained in ,pharisaic habits1 never once touched a food he had been taught to abhor from his earliest youth4 ,life is a continuous thing1 and the memories of the past are very powerful4 ,we can to this day trace among ourselves many customs and traditions dating back to the times antecedent to the ,reformation1 and much farther4 ,the fires still lighted on ,st4 ,john's ,eve throughout ,ireland1 and once customary in ,scotland1 are survivals of the times of ,druidical paganism in these islands4 ,the ceremonies and social customs of ,shrove ,tuesday and ,hallow ,e'en are survivals of the rude mirth of our pre-,reformation forefathers1 on the nights before a celebrated fast1 ,ash ,wednesday1 in one case1 before a celebrated feast1 ,all ,saints' ,day1 in the other4 ,or perhaps ,i may take another instance more closely analogous still which every reader can verify for himself4 ,the use of the ,church of ,england has to this day a curious instance of the power of tradition as opposed to written law4 ,there is a general rubric placed in the ,book of ,common ,prayer before the first ,lord's ,prayer4 ,it runs as follows3 ,then the minister shall kneel and say the ,lord's ,prayer with an audible voice2 the people also kneeling and repeating it with him1 both here1 and wheresoever else it is used in ,divine ,service4 ,this rubric plainly prescribes that clergy and people shall always say the ,lord's ,prayer conjointly4 ,and yet1 let my readers go into any church of the ,anglican ,communion on ,sunday next1 ,i care not what the tone of its theological thought1 and observe the first ,lord's ,prayer used at the beginning of the ,communion ,service4 ,they will find that this general rubric is universally neglected1 and the celebrating priest says the opening ,lord's ,prayer by himself with no voice of the people raised to accompany him4 ,now whence comes this universal fact8 ,it is simply an illustration of the strength of tradition4 ,it is a survival of the practice before the ,reformation handed down by tradition to the present time1 and over-riding a positive and written law4 ,in the days before the ,reformation1 as in the ,roman ,catholic ,church of the present day1 the opening ,dominical or ,lord's ,prayer in the ,mass was said by the priest alone4 ,when the service was translated into ,english the old custom still prevailed1 and has lasted to the present day4#ahc ,this was only human nature1 which abhors unnecessary changes1 and is intensely conservative of every practice which is linked with the fond memories of the past4 ,this human nature was found strong in ,st4 ,paul1 as in other men1 and it would have argued no moral or spiritual weakness1 no desire to play fast and loose with gospel liberties1 had he1 instead of ,aquila1 resorted to the old ,jewish practice and bound himself by a vow in connexion with some special blessing which he had received1 or some special danger he had incurred4 ,when we are studying the ,acts we must never forget that ,judaism gave the tone and form1 the whole outer framework to ,christianity1 even as ,england gave the outward shape and form to the constitutions of the ,united ,states and her own numberless colonies throughout the world4 ,st4 ,paul did not invent a brand new religion1 as some people think2 he changed as little as possible1 so that his own practice and worship must have been to mere pagan eyes exactly the same as that of the ,jews1 as indeed we might conclude beforehand from the fact that the ,roman authorities seem to have viewed the ,christians as a mere ,jewish sect down to the close of the second century4#ahd #ahb ,jeremy ,taylor1 in his ,holy ,living1 in his chapter on ,prayer1 has some wise remarks on vows4 ,he includes them under the head of ,prayer3 ,a vow to ,god is an act of prayer and a great degree and instance of opportunity1 and an increase of duty by some new uncommanded instance1 or some more eminent degree of duty or frequency of action1 or earnestness of spirit in the same4 ,and because it hath pleased ,god in all ages of the world to admit of intercourse with ,his servants in the matter of vows1 it is not ill advice that we make vows to ,god in those cases in which we have great need or great danger4 ,he then proceeds to lay down rules and cautions for making vows4 #ahc ,see ,procter on the ,common ,prayer1 p4 #bab2 ,canon ,evan ,daniel on the ,prayer ,book1 pp4 #hg and #cjj4 #ahd ,see on this subject of the confusion of ,christianity with ,judaism by the ,romans1 ,wieseler's ,die ,christenverfolgungen der ,csaren1 pp4 #a-aj4 ,i4 ,let us now take a rapid survey of the extensive journey which our book disposes of in very concise fashion4 ,st4 ,paul and his companions1 ,aquila and ,priscilla1 ,timothy and ,silas1 sailed from ,cenchre to ,ephesus1 which city up to this seems to have been untouched by ,christian influences4 ,st4 ,paul1 in the earlier portion of his second tour1 had been prohibited by the ,holy ,spirit from preaching in ,ephesus1 or in any portion of the provinces of ,asia or ,bithynia4 ,important as the human eye of ,st4 ,paul may have viewed them1 still the ,divine ,guide of the ,church saw that neither ,asia nor ,bithynia1 with all their magnificent cities1 their accumulated wealth1 and their political position1 were half so important as the cities and provinces of ,europe1 viewed from the standpoint of the world's conversion4 ,but now the gospel has secured a substantial foothold in ,europe1 has taken a firm grasp of that imperial race which then ruled the world1 and so the ,apostle is permitted to visit ,ephesus for the first time4 ,he seems to have then paid a mere passing visit to it1 lasting perhaps while the ship discharged the portion of her cargo destined for ,ephesus4 ,but ,st4 ,paul never allowed time to hang heavy on his hands for want of employment4 ,he left ,aquila and ,priscilla engaged in their mercantile transactions1 and1 entering himself into the principal synagogue1 proceeded to expound his views4 ,these do not seem to have then aroused any opposition2 nay1 the ,jews even went so far as to desire him to tarry longer and open out his doctrines at greater length4 ,we may conclude from this that ,st4 ,paul did not remain during this first visit much beyond one ,sabbath day4 ,if he had bestowed a second ,sabbath day upon the ,ephesian synagogue1 his ideas and doctrines would have been made so clear and manifest that the ,jews would not have required much further exposition in order to see their drift4 ,st4 ,paul1 after promising a second visit to them1 left his old friends and associates1 ,aquila and his wife1 with whom he had lived for nearly two years1 at ,ephesus1 and pushed on to ,csarea1 a town which he must have already well known1 and with which he was subsequently destined to make a long and unpleasant acquaintanceship1 arriving at ,jerusalem in time probably for the ,feast of ,tabernacles1 which was celebrated on ,september #afth1 ,a4,d4 #ec4 ,concerning the details of that visit we know nothing4 ,four years at least must have elapsed since he had seen ,james and the other venerated heads of the ,mother ,church4 ,we can imagine then how joyously he would have told them1 how eagerly they would have heard the glad story of the wonders ,god had wrought among the ,gentiles through the power of ,jesus ,christ4 ,after a short sojourn at ,jerusalem ,st4 ,paul returned back to ,csarea1 and thence went on to ,antioch1 the original seat of the ,gentile mission for the propagation of the faith4 ,after refreshing himself with the kindly offices of fraternal intercourse and conversation at this great ,christian centre1 where broad liberal sentiment and wide ,christian culture1 free from any narrow prejudices1 must have infused a tone into society far more agreeable to ,st4 ,paul than the unprogressive ,judaising views which flourished in ,jerusalem1 ,st4 ,paul then determined to set off upon his third great tour1 which must have begun at the earliest some time in the spring of ,a4,d4 #ed1 as soon as the snows of winter had passed away and the passes through the ,taurus ,range into the central regions of ,asia ,minor had been opened4 ,we know nothing more concerning the extended journey he took on this occasion4 ,he seems to have avoided towns like ,lystra and ,derbe1 and to have directed his march straight to ,galatia1 where he had sufficient work to engage all his thought4 ,we have no mention of the names of the particular ,churches where he laboured4 ,ancyra1 as it was then called1 ,angora as it is now named1 in all probability demanded ,st4 ,paul's attention4 ,if he visited it1 he looked as the traveller does still upon the temple dedicated to the deity of ,augustus and of ,rome1 the ruins of which have attracted the notice of every modern antiquary4 ,glad1 however1 as we should have been to gratify our curiosity by details like these1 we are obliged to content ourselves with the information which ,st4 ,luke gives us1 that ,st4 ,paul went through the region of ,galatia and ,phrygia1 in order1 stablishing all the disciples1 leaving us a speaking example of the energising power1 the invigorating effects1 of a visitation such as ,st4 ,paul now conducted1 sustaining the weak1 arousing the careless1 restraining the rash1 guiding the whole body of the ,church with the counsels of sanctified wisdom and heavenly prudence4 ,then1 after his ,phrygian and ,galatian work was finished1 ,st4 ,paul betook himself to a field which he long since desired to occupy1 and determined to fulfil the promise made a year previously at least to his ,jewish friends of the ,ephesian ,synagogue4 ,,ii4 ,now we come to the foundation of the ,ephesian ,church some time in the latter part of the year #ed ,a4,d4 ,here it may strike some reader as an extraordinary thing that more than twenty years after the ,crucifixion ,ephesus was as yet totally untouched by the gospel1 so that the tidings of salvation were quite a novel sound in the great ,asiatic capital4 ,people sometimes think of the primitive ,church as if1 after the ,day of ,pentecost1 every individual ,christian rushed off to preach in the most distant parts of the world1 and that the whole earth was evangelised straight off4 ,they forget the teaching of ,christ about the gospel leaven1 and leaven never works all on an heap as it were2 it is slow1 regular1 progressive in its operations4 ,the tradition1 too1 that the apostles did not leave ,jerusalem till twelve years after ,his ascension ought to be a sufficient corrective of this false notion2 and though this tradition may not have any considerable historical basis1 yet it shows that the primitive ,church did not cherish the very modern idea that enormous and immediate successes followed upon the preaching of the gospel after ,pentecost1 and that the conversion of vast populations at once occurred4 ,the case was exactly contrary4 ,for many a long year nothing at all was done towards the conversion of the ,gentile world1 and then for many another long year the preaching of the gospel among the ,gentiles entirely depended upon ,st4 ,paul alone4 ,he was the one evangelist of the ,gentiles1 and therefore it is no wonder he should have said in #a ,cor4 i4 #ag1 ,christ sent me not to baptize1 but to preach the gospel4 ,he was the one man fitted to deal with the prejudices1 the ignorance1 the sensuality1 the grossness with which the ,gentile world was overspread1 and therefore no other work1 no matter how important1 was to be allowed to interfere with that one task which he alone could perform4 ,this seems to me the explanation of the question which might otherwise cause some difficulty1 how was it that the ,ephesians1 ,jews and ,gentiles alike1 inhabiting this distinguished city1 were still in such dire ignorance of the gospel message twenty years after the ,ascension8 ,now let us come to the story of the circumstances amid which ,ephesian ,christianity took its rise4 ,st4 ,paul1 as we have already said1 paid a passing visit to ,ephesus just a year before when going up to ,jerusalem1 when he seems to have made a considerable impression in the synagogue4 ,he left behind him ,aquila and ,priscilla1 who1 with their household1 formed a small ,christian congregation1 meeting doubtless for the celebration of the ,lord's ,supper in their own house while yet frequenting the stated worship of the synagogue4 ,this we conclude from the following circumstance which is expressly mentioned in ,acts xviii4 #bf4 ,apollos1 a ,jew1 born in ,alexandria1 and a learned man1 as was natural coming from that great centre of ,greek and ,oriental culture1 came to ,ephesus4 ,he had been baptized by some of ,john's disciples1 either at ,alexandria or in ,palestine4 ,it may very possibly have been at ,alexandria4 ,st4 ,john's doctrines and followers may have spread to ,alexandria by that time1 as we are expressly informed they had been diffused as far as ,ephesus 7see ch4 xix4 #a-d74 ,apollos1 when he came to ,ephesus1 entered1 like ,st4 ,paul1 into the synagogue1 and spake and taught carefully the things concerning ,jesus1 knowing only the baptism of ,john4 ,he knew about ,jesus ,christ1 but with an imperfect knowledge such merely as ,john himself possessed4 ,this man began to speak boldly in the synagogue on the topic of the ,messiah whom ,john had preached4 ,aquila and ,priscilla were present in the synagogue1 heard the disputant1 recognised his earnestness and his defects1 and then1 having taken him1 expounded to him the way of ,god more fully1 initiating him into the full mysteries of the faith by baptism into the name of the ,father1 ,son1 and ,holy ,ghost4#ahe ,this incident has an important bearing upon the foundation and development of the ,ephesian ,church1 but it hears more directly still upon the point on which we have been dwelling4 ,apollos disputed in the synagogues where ,aquila and ,priscilla heard him1 so that they must have been regular worshippers there notwithstanding their ,christian profession and their close intercourse with ,st4 ,paul for more than eighteen months4 ,after a little time further1 ,apollos desired to pass over to ,greece4 ,the little ,christian ,church which met at ,aquila's house told him of the wonders they had seen and heard in ,achaia and of the flourishing state of the ,church in ,corinth4 ,they gave him letters commendatory to that ,church1 whither ,apollos passed over1 and rendered such valuable help that his name a year or two later became one of the watchwords of ,corinthian party strife4 ,the way was now prepared for ,st4 ,paul's great mission to ,ephesus1 exceeding in length any mission he had hitherto conducted1 surpassing in its duration of three years the time spent even at ,corinth itself4 ,his own brief visit of the year before1 the visit and work of the ,alexandrian ,jew1 the quiet conversations1 the holy lives1 the sanctified examples of ,aquila and ,priscilla1 these had done the preliminary work4 ,they had roused expectation1 provoked discussion1 developed thought4 ,everything was ready for the great masterful teacher to step upon the ground and complete the work which he had already so auspiciously begun4 #ahe ,meyer1 in his ,commentary on ch4 xix4 #e1 enunciates the following extraordinary theory about ,apollos1 which plainly shows that1 valuable as may be his textual criticism1 his conception of ,christian doctrine and of ,apostolic ,church life is very defective3 ,we may not infer from this passage that the disciples of ,john1 who passed over to ,christianity1 were uniformly re-baptized2 for in the case of the apostles who passed over from ,john to ,jesus this certainly did not take place2 and even as regards ,apollos the common opinion that he was baptized by ,aquila is purely arbitrary1 as in xviii4 #bf his instruction in ,christianity1 and not his baptism1 is narrated4 ,again3 ,apollos could dispense with re-baptism1 seeing that he1 with his fervid spirit1 following the references of ,john to ,christ1 and the instruction of his teachers1 penetrated without any new baptismal consecration into the pneumatic elements of life4 ,meyer evidently fails to grasp what the sacrament of baptism was1 as conceived by ,st4 ,paul1 and uses the most dangerous line of argument1 that from silence1 concluding that1 because there is no mention of the ,christian baptism of ,apollos1 therefore such a baptism never took place4 ,but this is not all4 ,meyer's theory cannot possibly explain why baptism was necessary for ,cornelius1 though he enjoyed the gift of the ,holy ,ghost1 while it was not necessary for ,apollos1 who penetrated without any new baptismal consecration into the pneumatic element of life4 ,meyer says1 indeed1 that in the whole ,new ,testament there is no example except in xix4 #a-e of the re-baptism of a disciple of ,john4 ,but then in the ,acts and ,epistles1 where alone we read of the administration of ,christian baptism1 there are only two examples of the admission of ,john's disciples4 ,in one case twelve such were admitted1 and they were all baptized by ,paul's own order4 ,in the case of ,apollos there is silence4 ,surely the sounder conclusion is that ,christian baptism was administered there too1 though nothing is said about it6 ,as for the apostles not being baptized with ,christian baptism1 the explanation is not far to seek4 ,baptism is the reception of a disciple into covenant with ,christ through the medium of water4 ,in the case of the apostles this reception took place in person1 and not through any medium4 ,in the apostles' case1 too1 there is another consideration4 ,meyer's conclusion is simply one e silentio even in their case4 ,we know not1 however1 everything that ,christ did as regards ,his apostles4 ,i do not propose to discuss the roads by which ,st4 ,paul may have travelled through the province of ,asia on this eventful visit1 nor to discuss the architectural features1 or the geographical position of the city of ,ephesus4 ,these things ,i shall leave to the writers who have treated of ,st4 ,paul's life4 ,i now confine myself to the notices inserted by ,st4 ,luke concerning the ,apostle's ,ephesian work1 and about it ,i note that upon his arrival ,st4 ,paul came in contact with a small congregation of the disciples of ,john the ,baptist1#ahf who had hitherto escaped the notice of the small ,church existing at ,ephesus4 ,this need not excite our wonder4 ,we are apt to think that because ,christianity is now such a dominant element in our own intellectual and religious atmosphere it must always have been the same4 ,ephesus1 too1 was then an immense city1 with a large population of ,jews1 who may have had many synagogues4 ,these few disciples of ,john the ,baptist may have worshipped in a synagogue which never heard of the brief visit of a ,cilician ,jew1 a teacher named ,saul of ,tarsus1 much less of the quiet efforts of ,aquila and ,priscilla1 the tentmakers1 lately come from ,corinth4 ,st4 ,paul1 on his second visit1 soon came in contact with these men4 ,he at once asked them a question which tested their position and attainments in the ,divine life1 and sheds for us a vivid light upon apostolic doctrine and practice4 ,did ye receive the ,holy ,ghost when ye believed8 is plainly an inquiry whether they had enjoyed the blessing connected with the solemn imposition of hands1 from which has been derived the rite of confirmation1 as ,i showed in the previous volume4 ,the disciples soon revealed the imperfect character of their religion by their reply3 ,nay1 we did not so much as hear whether the ,holy ,ghost was1 words which led ,st4 ,paul to demand what in that case was the nature of their baptism4 ,into what then were ye baptized8 and they said1 ,into ,john's baptism4 #ahf ,the movement instituted by ,st4 ,john the ,baptist was perpetuated into the second century1 and in some measure developed into1 or connected itself with1 the sect subsequently called the ,hemerobaptists4 ,the history of this movement from apostolic days is elaborately traced by ,bishop ,lightfoot in his ,essay on the ,essenes1 contained in his ,colossians and ,philemon2 see especially pp4 #djj-djg1 to which we must refer the reader desirous of more information4 ,the ,hemerobaptists are mentioned in the ,clementine ,recognitions1 i4 #ed1 the ,clementine ,homilies1 ii4 #bc1 which date from about #bjj ,a4,d41 and in the ,apostolic ,constitutions1 vi4 #f1 which may be put down as a century later4 ,this shows the continuity of the sect4 ,there are still some fragments of it existing in ,babylonia1 under the name of ,mandeans3 see further the article ,sabians in ,smith's ,dict4 ,christ4 ,biog41 iv4 #efi-gc4 ,now the simple explanation of the disciples' ignorance was that they had been baptized with ,john's baptism1 which had no reference to or mention of the ,holy ,ghost4 ,st4 ,paul1 understanding them to be baptized disciples1 could not understand their ignorance of the personal existence and present power of the ,holy ,ghost1 till he learned from them the nature of their baptism1 and then his surprise ceased4 ,but then we must observe that the question of the ,apostle astonished at their defective state--,into what then were ye baptized8--implies that1 if baptized with ,christian baptism1 they would have known of the existence of the ,holy ,ghost1 and therefore further implies that the baptismal formula into the name of the ,father1 ,son1 and ,holy ,ghost1 was of universal application among ,christians2 for surely if this formula were not universally used by the ,church1 many ,christians might be in exactly the same position as these disciples of ,john1 and never have heard of the ,holy ,ghost6#ahg ,st4 ,paul1 having expounded the difference between the inchoate1 imperfect1 beginning knowledge1 of the ,baptist1 and the richer1 fuller teaching of ,jesus ,christ1 then handed them over for further preparation to his assistants1 by whom1 after due fasting and prayer1 they were baptized1#ahh and at once presented to the ,apostle for the imposition of hands2 when the ,holy ,ghost was vouchsafed in present effects1 they spake with tongues and prophesied1 as if to sanction in a special manner the decided action taken by the ,apostle on this occasion4 #ahg ,see my remarks on this topic on pp4 #ada1 #adb of my first volume on ,acts4 #ahh ,see the ,didache1 or ,teaching of the ,twelve ,apostles1 concerning the methods used in preparation for baptism4 ,the details concerning this affair1 given to us by the sacred writer1 are most important4 ,they set forth at greater length and with larger fulness the methods ordinarily used by the ,apostle than on other similar occasions4 ,the ,philippian jailor was converted and baptized1 but we read nothing of the imposition of hands4 ,dionysius and ,damaris1 ,aquila and ,priscilla1 and many others at ,athens and ,corinth1 were converted1 but there is no mention of either baptism or any other holy rite4 ,it might have been very possible to argue that the silence of the writer implied utter contempt of the sacraments of the gospel and the rite of confirmation on these occasions1 were it not that we have this detailed account of the manner in which ,st4 ,paul dealt with half-instructed1 unbaptized1 and unconfirmed disciples of ,christ ,jesus4 ,they were instructed1 baptized1 and confirmed1 and thus introduced into the fulness of blessing1 required by the discipline of the ,lord1 as ministered by his faithful servant4 ,if this were the routine observed with those who had been taught carefully the things of ,jesus1 knowing only the baptism of ,john1 how much more would it have been the case with those rescued out of the pollutions of paganism and called into the kingdom of light6 ,,iii4 ,after this favourable beginning1 and seeing the borders of the infant ,church extended by the union of these twelve disciples1 ,st4 ,paul1 after his usual fashion1 flung himself into work amongst the ,jews of ,ephesus upon whom he had previously made a favourable impression4 ,he was well received for a time4 ,he continued for three months reasoning and persuading as to the things concerning the kingdom of ,god4 ,but1 as it was elsewhere1 so was it at ,ephesus1 the offence of the ,cross told in the long run upon the worshippers of the synagogue4 ,the original ,christian ,church was ,jewish4 ,aquila and ,priscilla1 ,apollos and ,timothy1 and the disciples of ,john the ,baptist would have excited no resentment in the minds of the ,jews2 but when ,st4 ,paul began to open out the hope which lay for ,gentiles as well as for ,jews in the gospel which he preached1 then the objections of the synagogue were multiplied1 riots and disturbances became1 as elsewhere1 matters of daily occurrence1 and the opposition became at last so bitter that1 as at ,corinth1 so here again at ,ephesus the ,apostle was obliged to separate his own followers1 and gather them into the school of one ,tyrannus1 a teacher of philosophy or rhetoric1 whom perhaps he had converted1 where the blasphemous denunciations against the ,divine ,way which he taught could no longer be heard4#ahi ,in this school or lecture-hall ,st4 ,paul continued labouring for more than two years1 bestowing upon the city of ,ephesus a longer period of continuous labour than he ever vouchsafed to any place else4 ,we have ,st4 ,paul's own statement as to his method of life at this period in the address he subsequently delivered to the elders of ,ephesus4 ,the ,apostle pursued at ,ephesus the same course which he adopted at ,corinth in one important direction at least4 ,he supported himself and his immediate companions1 ,timothy and ,sosthenes1 by his own labour1 and that we may presume for precisely the same reason at ,ephesus as at ,corinth4 ,he desired to cut off all occasion of accusation against himself4 ,ephesus was a city devoted to commerce and to magic4 ,it was full of impostors too1 many of them ,jewish1 who made gain out of the names of angels and magical formul derived from the pretended wisdom of ,solomon handed down to them by secret succession1 or derived to them from contact with the lands of the far-distant ,east4 ,st4 ,paul determined1 therefore1 that he would give no opportunity of charging him with trading upon the credulity of his followers1 or working with an eye to covetous or dishonest gains4 ,i coveted no man's silver or gold or apparel4 ,ye yourselves know that these hands ministered unto my necessities1 and to them that were with me1 is the description he gave of the manner in which he discharged his apostolic office in ,ephesus1 when addressing the elders of that city4 ,we can thus trace ,st4 ,paul labouring at his trade as a tentmaker for nearly a period of five years1 combining the time spent at ,ephesus with that spent at ,corinth4 ,notwithstanding1 however1 the attention and energy which this exercise of his trade demanded1 he found time for enormous evangelistic and pastoral work4 ,in fact1 we find ,st4 ,paul nowhere else so much occupied with pastoral work as at ,ephesus4 ,elsewhere we see the devoted evangelist1 rushing in with the pioneers1 breaking down all hindrances1 heading the stormers to whom was committed the fiercest struggle1 the most deadly conflict1 and then at once moving into fresh conflicts1 leaving the spoils of victory and the calmer work of peaceful pastoral labours to others4 ,but here in ,ephesus we see ,st4 ,paul's marvellous power of adaptation4 ,he is at one hour a clever artisan capable of gaining support sufficient for others as well as for himself2 then he is the skilful controversialist reasoning daily in the school of one ,tyrannus2 and then he is the indefatigable pastor of souls teaching publicly1 and from house to house1 and ceasing not to admonish every one night and day with tears4 #ahi ,see pp4 #cb1 #cc above for some remarks on this title1 the ,way1 used in the ,acts for the ,gospel ,dispensation or the ,christian ,church4 ,cf4 also ch4 ix4 #b1 xix4 #bc1 xxii4 #d1 xxiv4 #ad1 and the expression the ,way of ,life in the ,didache4 ,but this was not all1 or nearly all1 the burden the ,apostle carried4 ,he had to be perpetually on the alert against ,jewish plots4 ,we hear nothing directly of ,jewish attempts on his life or liberty during the period of just three years which he spent on this prolonged visit4 ,we might be sure1 however1 from our previous experience of the synagogues1 that he must have run no small danger in this direction2 but then when we turn to the same address we hear something of them4 ,he is recalling to the minds of the ,ephesian elders the circumstances of his life in their community from the beginning1 and he therefore appeals thus3 ,ye yourselves know from the first day that ,i set foot in ,asia1 after what manner ,i was with you all the time1 serving the ,lord with all lowliness of mind1 and with tears1 and with trials which befell me with plots of the ,jews4 ,ephesus again was a great field wherein he personally worked2 it was also a great centre for missionary operations which he superintended4 ,it was the capital of the province of ,asia1 the richest and most important of all the ,roman provinces1 teeming with resources1 abounding in highly civilised and populous cities1 connected with one another by an elaborate network of admirably constructed roads4 ,ephesus was cut out by nature and by art alike as a missionary centre whence the gospel should radiate out into all the surrounding districts4 ,and so it did4 ,all they which dwelt in ,asia heard the word of the ,lord1 both ,jews and ,greeks1 is the testimony of ,st4 ,luke with respect to the wondrous progress of the gospel1 not in ,ephesus alone1 but also throughout all the province1 a statement which we find corroborated a little lower down in the same nineteenth chapter by the independent testimony of ,demetrius the silversmith1 who1 when he was endeavouring to stir up his fellow-craftsmen to active exertions in defence of their endangered trade1 says1 ,ye see and hear that not alone at ,ephesus1 but almost throughout all ,asia1 this ,paul hath persuaded and turned away much people4 ,st4 ,paul's disciples laboured1 too1 in the other cities of ,asia1 as ,epaphras for instance in ,coloss4 ,and ,st4 ,paul himself1 we may be certain1 bestowed the gifts and blessings of his apostolic office by visiting these local ,churches1 as far as he could consistently with the pressing character of his engagements in ,ephesus4#aij ,but even the superintendence of vast missions throughout the province of ,asia did not exhaust the prodigious labours of ,st4 ,paul4 ,he perpetually bore about in his bosom anxious thoughts for the welfare1 trials1 and sorrows of the numerous ,churches he had established in ,europe and ,asia alike4 ,he was constant in prayers for them1 mentioning the individual members by name1 and he was unwearied in keeping up communications with them1 either by verbal messages or by written epistles1 one specimen of which remains in the ,first ,epistle to the ,corinthians1 written to them from ,ephesus1 and showing us the minute care1 the comprehensive interest1 the intense sympathy which dwelt within his breast with regard to his distant converts all the while that the work at ,ephesus1 controversial1 evangelistic and pastoral1 to say nothing at all of his tentmaking1 was making the most tremendous demands on body and soul alike1 and apparently absorbing all his attention4 ,it is only when we thus realise bit by bit what the weak1 delicate1 emaciated ,apostle must have been doing1 that we are able to grasp the full meaning of his own words to the ,corinthians3 ,besides those things that are without1 there is that which presseth upon me daily1 anxiety for all the ,churches4 #aij ,bishop ,lightfoot1 ,colossians1 ,introd41 p4 #cj1 has some good remarks bearing on this topic3 ,how or when the conversion of the ,colossians took place we have no direct information4 ,yet it can hardly be wrong to connect the event with ,st4 ,paul's long sojourn at ,ephesus4 ,here he remained preaching for three whole years4 ,it is possible1 indeed1 that during this period he paid short visits to other neighbouring cities of ,asia2 but if so1 the notices in the ,acts oblige us to suppose these interruptions to his residence in ,ephesus to have been slight and infrequent4 ,yet1 though the ,apostle himself was stationary in the capital1 the ,apostolic influence and teaching spread far beyond the limits of the city and its immediate neighbourhood4 ,it was hardly an exaggeration when ,demetrius declared that 'almost throughout all ,asia this ,paul had persuaded and turned away much people4' ,the sacred historian himself uses equally strong language in describing the effects of the ,apostle's preaching3 ',all they which dwelt in ,asia heard the word of the ,lord1 both ,jews and ,greeks4' ,in accordance with these notices the ,apostle himself1 in an ,epistle written during this sojourn1 sends salutations to ,corinth1 not from the ,church of ,ephesus specially1 as might have been anticipated1 but from the ',churches of ,asia' generally 7#a ,cor4 xvi4 #ai74 ,st4 ,luke1 it should be observed1 ascribes this dissemination of the gospel not to journeys undertaken by the ,apostle1 but to his preaching at ,ephesus itself4 ,thither1 as to the metropolis of ,western ,asia1 would flock crowds from all the towns and villages far and near4 ,thence they would carry away1 each to his own neighbourhood1 the spiritual treasure which they had so unexpectedly found4 ,this lengthened period of intense activity of mind and body terminated in an incident which illustrates the peculiar character of ,st4 ,paul's ,ephesian ministry4 ,ephesus was a town where the spiritual and moral atmosphere simply reeked with the fumes1 ideas1 and practices of ,oriental paganism1 of which magical incantations formed the predominant feature4 ,magic prevailed all over the pagan world at this time4 ,in ,rome1 however1 magical practices were always more or less under the ban of public opinion1 though at times resorted to even by those whose office called upon them to suppress illegal actions4 ,a couple of years before the very time at which we have arrived1 workers in magic1 among whom were included astrologers1 or mathematicians1 as the ,roman law called them1 were banished from ,rome simultaneously with the ,jews1 who always enjoyed an unenviable notoriety for such occult practices4#aia ,in ,asia ,minor and the ,east they flourished at this time under the patronage of religion1 and continued to flourish in all the great cities down to ,christian times4 ,christianity itself could not wholly banish magic which retained its hold upon the half-converted ,christians who flocked into the ,church in crowds during the second half of the fourth century2 and we learn from ,st4 ,chrysostom himself1 that when a young man he had a narrow escape for his life owing to the continuance of magical practices in ,antioch1 more than three hundred years after ,st4 ,paul4#aib ,it is no wonder that when ,diana's worship reigned supreme at ,ephesus1 magical practices should also flourish there4 ,if1 however1 there existed a special development of the power of evil at ,ephesus1 ,god also bestowed a special manifestation of ,divine power in the person and ministry of ,st4 ,paul1 as ,st4 ,luke expressly declares3 ,god wrought special miracles by the hands of ,paul1 insomuch that unto the sick were carried away from his body handkerchiefs or aprons1 and the diseases departed from them1 and the evil spirits departed from them4 ,this passage has been often found a stumbling-block by many persons4 ,they have thought that it has a certain legendary air about it1 as they in turn think that there is a certain air of legend about the similar passage in ,acts v4 #ab-af1 which makes much the same statement about ,st4 ,peter4 ,when writing about this latter passage in my previous volume1 p4 #bcj1 ,i offered some suggestions which lessen1 if they do not quite take away1 the difficulty2 to these ,i shall now only refer my readers4 ,but ,i think we can see a local reason for the peculiar development or manifestation of miraculous power through ,st4 ,paul4 ,the devil's seat was just then specially at ,ephesus1 so far as the great province of ,asia was concerned4 ,the powers of evil had concentrated all their force and all their wealth of external grandeur1 intellectual cleverness1 and spiritual trickery in order to lead men captive2 and there ,god1 in order that ,he might secure a more striking victory for truth upon this magnificent stage1 armed ,his faithful servant with an extraordinary development of the good powers of the world to come1 enabling him to work special wonders in the sight of the heathen4 ,can we not read an echo of the fearful struggle just then waged in the metropolis of ,asia in words addressed some years later to the members of the same ,church1 ,for our wrestling is not against flesh and blood1 but against the principalities1 against the powers1 against the world-rulers of this darkness1 against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places8 ,we make a great mistake when we think of the apostles as working miracles when and as they liked4 ,at times their evangelistic work seems to have been conducted without any extraordinary manifestations1 and then at other times1 when the power of ,satan was specially put forth1 ,god displayed ,his special strength1 enabling ,his servants to work wonders and signs in ,his ,name4 ,it was much the same as in the ,old ,testament4 ,the ,old ,testament miracles will be found to cluster themselves round the deliverance of ,israel out of ,egypt1 and its ,reformation at the hand of ,elijah4 ,so1 too1 the recorded miracles of the apostles will be found to gather round ,st4 ,peter's earlier work in ,jerusalem1 where ,satan strove to counter-work ,god's designs in one way1 and ,st4 ,paul's ministry in ,ephesus1 where ,satan strove to counter-work them in another way4 ,one incident at ,ephesus attracted special attention4 ,there was a priestly family1 consisting of seven sons1 belonging to the ,jews at ,ephesus4 ,their father had occupied high position among the various courses which in turn served the ,temple1 even as ,zacharias1 the father of the ,baptist1 did4 ,these men observed the power with which ,st4 ,paul dealt with human spirits disordered by the powers of evil1 using for that purpose the sacred name of ,jesus4 ,they undertook to use the same sacred invocation2 but it proved1 like the censers of ,korah1 ,dathan and ,abiram1 a strange fire kindled against their own souls4 ,the man possessed by the evil spirit recognised not their presumptuous efforts1 but attacked them1 and did them serious bodily injury4 ,this circumstance spread the fame of the man of ,god wider and wider4 ,the power of magic and of the demons fell before him1 even as the image of ,dagon fell before the ,ark4 ,many of the nominal believers in ,christianity had still retained their magical practices as of yore1 even as nominal ,christians retained them in the days of ,st4 ,chrysostom4 ,the reality of ,st4 ,paul's power1 demonstrated by the awful example of ,sceva's sons1 smote them in their inmost conscience4 ,they came1 confessed their deeds1 brought their magical books together1#aic and gave the greatest proof of their honest convictions2 for they burned them in the sight of all1 and counting the price thereof found it fifty thousand pieces of silver1 or more than two thousand pounds of our money4 ,so mightily grew the word of the ,lord and prevailed in the very chosen seat of the ,ephesian ,diana4 #aia ,i allude1 of course1 to the decree of ,claudius against the ,jews in ,a4,d4 #eb1 to which ,suetonius 7,claudius1 #be7 and ,dio ,cassius1 lx4 #f1 refer2 cf4 ,tacitus1 ,annals1 xii4 #eb1 and ,lewin's ,fasti ,sacri1 ,a4,d4 #eb4 #aib ,the story is an interesting one4 ,it will be found in ,stephens' ,life of ,st4 ,chrysostom1 p4 #fa4 ,the ,emperor ,valens had discovered that some of his enemies had been endeavouring1 through magical contrivances something like table-rapping1 to spell out the name of his successor1 and had succeeded so far that they had found out the first part of the name as ,theod1 but the oracle could tell nothing more4 ,the jealous ,emperor ordered every prominent man with the names ,theodore or ,theodosius to be slain1 vainly thinking to kill his own successor4 ,he also ordered every one found with magical books in their possession to be at once slain4 ,chrysostom and a friend were walking in ,a4,d4 #cgd on the banks of the ,orontes when they saw a book floating down the stream4 ,they stretched forth and rescued it1 when1 seeing that it was a magical book1 they at once flung it back into the river1 and not a moment too soon1 as just then a police officer on detective duty appeared on the scene1 from whom a moment earlier they could not have escaped4 ,st4 ,chrysostom always regarded this as one of the great escapes of his life3 see ,art4 ,chrysostom in ,dict4 ,christ4 ,biog41 vol4 i41 p4 #ebj1 and his own reference to the escape in his #chth ,homily on the ,acts1 translated in the ,oxford ,library of the ,fathers4 ,mr4 ,stephens1 l4c41 gives an account of the magical rites and their ceremonial1 which was doubtless much the same in ,a4,d4 #cgd as in ,a4,d4 #ed1 whence we take a brief extract3 ,the twenty-four letters of the alphabet were arranged at intervals round the rim of a kind of charger1 which was placed on a tripod consecrated by magic songs and frequent ceremonies4 ,the diviner1 habited as a heathen priest1 in linen robes1 sandals1 and with a fillet wreathed about his head1 chanted a hymn to ,apollo1 the god of prophecy1 while a ring in the centre of the charger was slipped rapidly round a slender thread4 ,the letters in front of which the ring successively stopped indicated the character of the oracle4 #aic ,the magical books thus consigned to the flames by the ,christian believers who practised magic were filled with figures or characters technically called ,ephesian letters1 4 ,these were mystic characters and strange words which were engraven on the crown1 zone1 and feet of the goddess4 ,clement of ,alexandria discusses their use1 and says the ,greeks were greatly addicted to them1 in his ,stromata1 v4 #h1 as translated in ,clement's works1 vol4 ii41 p4 #bdg1 in ,clark's ,ante-,nicene ,library4 ,the same use of curious mystic words passed over to the ,manichans and other secret sects of medival times4 ,see also ,guhl's ,ephesiaca1 p4 #id 7,berlin1 #ahdc71 where all the authorities on this curious subject are collected together4 ,conybeare and ,howson1 ch4 xiv41 give them from ,guhl in a handy shape4 ,great quantities of these ,ephesian letters have been found among the ,faym ,manuscripts discovered in ,egypt1 which almost universally make a large use of the name ,iao or ,jehovah1 showing their contact with ,judaism4 ,,chapter ,,xv4 ,,the ,,ephesian ,,riot ,,and ,a ,,prudent ,,town ,,clerk4 ,about that time there arose no small stir concerning the ,way4 ,for a certain man named ,demetrius1 a silversmith1 which made silver shrines of ,diana1 brought no little business unto the craftsmen2 whom he gathered together1 with the workmen of like occupation1 and said1 ,sirs1 ye know that by this business we have our wealth4 ,and ye see and hear1 that not alone at ,ephesus1 but almost throughout all ,asia1 this ,paul hath persuaded and turned away much people1 saying that they be no gods1 which are made with hands2 and not only is there danger that this our trade come into disrepute2 but also that the temple of the great goddess ,diana be made of no account1 and that she should even be deposed from her magnificence1 whom all ,asia and the world worshippeth4--,,acts xix4 #bc-h4 ,st4 ,paul's labours at ,ephesus covered1 as he informs us himself1 when addressing the elders of that city1 a space of three years4 ,the greater portion of that period had now expired1 and had been spent in peaceful labours so far as the heathen world and the ,roman authorities were concerned4 ,the ,jews1 indeed1 had been very troublesome at times4 ,it is in all probability to them and their plots ,st4 ,paul refers when in #a ,cor4 xv4 #cb he says1 ,if after the manner of men ,i fought with beasts at ,ephesus1 what doth it profit me8 as the unbelieving ,gentiles do not seem to have raised any insurrection against his teaching till he felt his work was done1 and he was1 in fact1 preparing to leave ,ephesus4 ,before1 however1 we proceed to discuss the startling events which finally decided his immediate departure1 we must consider a brief passage which connects the story of ,sceva's sons and their impious temerity with that of the silversmith ,demetrius and the ,ephesian riot4 ,the incident connected with ,sceva's sons led to the triumph over the workers in magic1 when the secret professors of that art came and publicly acknowledged their hidden sins1 proving their reality by burning the instruments of their wickedness4 ,here1 then1 ,st4 ,luke inserts a notice which has proved to be of the very greatest importance in the history of the ,christian ,church4 ,let us insert it in full that we may see its bearing3 ,now after these things were ended1 ,paul purposed in the spirit1 when he had passed through ,macedonia and ,achaia1 to go to ,jerusalem1 saying1 ,after ,i have been there1 ,i must also see ,rome4 ,and having sent into ,macedonia two of them that ministered unto him1 ,timothy and ,erastus1 he himself stayed in ,asia for a while4 ,this passage tells us that ,st4 ,paul1 after his triumph over the practices of magic1 and feeling too that the ,church had been effectually cleansed1 so far as human foresight and care could effect it1 from the corroding effects of the prevalent ,ephesian vice1 now determined to transfer the scene of his labours to ,macedonia and ,achaia1 wishing to visit those ,churches which five years before he had founded4 ,it was full five years1 at least1 since he had seen the ,philippian1 ,thessalonian1 and ,beran congregations4 ,better than three years had elapsed since he had left ,corinth1 the scene of more prolonged work than he had ever bestowed on any other city except ,ephesus4 ,he had heard again and again from all these places1 and some of the reports1 especially those from ,corinth1 had been very disquieting4 ,the ,apostle wished1 therefore1 to go and see for himself how the ,churches of ,christ in ,macedonia and ,achaia were faring4 ,he next wished to pay a visit to ,jerusalem to consult with his brethren1 and then felt his destiny pushing him still westwards1 desiring to see ,rome1 the world's capital1 and the ,church which had sprung up there1 of which his friends ,priscilla and ,aquila must have told him much4 ,such seems to have been his intentions in the spring of the year #eg1 to which his three years' sojourn in ,ephesus seems now to have brought him4 ,the interval of time covered by the two verses which ,i have quoted above is specially interesting1 because it was just then that the ,first ,epistle to the ,corinthians was written4 ,all the circumstances and all the indications of time which the ,epistle itself offers conspire to fix the writing of it to this special date and place4 ,the ,epistle1 for instance1 refers to ,timothy as having been already sent into ,macedonia and ,greece3 ,for this cause have ,i sent unto you ,timothy1 who shall put you in remembrance of my ways which be in ,christ 7#a ,cor4 iv4 #ag74 ,in ,acts xix4 #bb we have it stated1 ,having sent into ,macedonia ,timothy and ,erastus4 ,the ,epistle again plainly tells us the very season of the year in which it was written4 ,the references to the ,passover season--,for our passover also hath been sacrificed1 even ,christ2 wherefore let us keep the feast--are words which naturally were suggested by the actual celebration of the ,jewish feast1 to a mind like ,st4 ,paul's1 which readily grasped at every passing allusion or chance incident to illustrate his present teaching4 ,timothy and ,erastus had been despatched in the early spring1 as soon as the passes and roads were thoroughly open and navigation established4 ,the ,passover in ,a4,d4 #eg happened on ,april #gth1 and the ,apostle fixes the exact date of the ,first ,epistle to ,corinth1 when in the sixteenth chapter and eighth verse he says to the ,corinthians1 ,i will tarry at ,ephesus until ,pentecost4 ,i merely refer now to this point to illustrate the vastness of the ,apostle's labours1 and to call attention to the necessity for comparing together the ,acts and the ,epistles in the minute manner exemplified by ,paley in the ,hor ,paulin1 if we wish to gain a complete view of a life like ,st4 ,paul's1 so completely consecrated to one great purpose4#aid #aid ,this subject properly belongs to commentators on #a ,corinthians4 ,paley1 in ,hor ,paulin1 ch4 iii41 and ,dr4 ,marcus ,dods1 in his ,introduction to the ,new ,testament1 pp4 #ajd1 #aje1 set forth the evidence in a convenient shape4 ,i may remark that here1 as elsewhere1 ,i adopt in the main ,mr4 ,lewin's chronology1 as contained in his ,fasti ,sacri4 ,without pledging myself to agree in all his details1 his scheme forms a good working hypothesis1 on which a writer can work when composing an expositor's commentary1 not one for professed critics or profound scholars4 ,man may propose1 but even an apostle cannot dispose of his fate as he will1 or foretell under ordinary circumstances how the course of events will affect him4 ,st4 ,paul intended to stay at ,ephesus till ,pentecost1 which that year happened on ,may #bhth4 ,circumstances however hastened his departure4 ,we have been considering the story of ,st4 ,paul's residence in ,ephesus1 but hitherto we have not heard one word about the great ,ephesian deity1 ,diana1 as the ,romans called her1 or ,artemis1 as ,st4 ,luke1 according to the ordinary local use1 correctly calls her in the ,greek text of the ,acts1 or ,anatis1 as her ancient name had been from early times at ,ephesus and throughout ,asia ,minor4#aie ,if this riot had not happened1 if our attention had not been thus called to ,diana and her worship1 there might have been a total blank in ,st4 ,luke's narrative concerning this famous deity1 and her equally famous temple1 which was at the time one of the wonders of the world4 ,and then some scoffers reading in ancient history concerning the wonders of this temple1 and finding the records of modern discoveries confirming the statements of antiquity might have triumphantly pointed to ,st4 ,luke's silence about ,diana and the ,ephesian temple as a proof of his ignorance4 ,a mere passing riot alone has saved us from this difficulty4 ,now this case well illustrates the danger of arguing from silence4 ,silence concerning any special point is sometimes used as a proof that a particular writer knew nothing about it4 ,but this is not the sound conclusion4 ,silence proves in itself nothing more than that the person who is silent either had no occasion to speak upon that point or else thought it wiser or more expedient to hold his tongue4 ,josephus1 for instance1 is silent about ,christianity2 but that is no proof that ,christianity did not exist in his time1 or that he knew nothing about it4 ,his silence may simply have arisen because he found ,christianity an awkward fact1 and not knowing how to deal with it he left it alone4 ,it is well to bear this simple law of historical evidence in mind1 for a great many of the popular objections to the sacred narratives1 both of the ,old and ,new ,testaments1 are based upon the very dangerous ground of silence alone4#aif ,let us1 however1 return to ,diana of the ,ephesians4 ,the worship of the goddess ,artemis dominated the whole city of ,ephesus1#aig and helped to shape the destinies of ,st4 ,paul at this season1 for while intending to stay at ,ephesus till ,pentecost at the end of ,may1 the annual celebration of ,artemisia1 the feast of the patron deity of the city1 happened1 of which celebration ,demetrius took advantage to raise a disturbance which hastened ,st4 ,paul's departure into ,macedonia4 #aie ,the student may consult on the identification of ,artemis and the ,oriental or ,persian deity ,anatis1 the ,revue ,archologique for #ahhe1 vol4 ii41 pp4 #aje-aae1 and ,derenbourg and ,saglio's ,dict4 des ,antiq41 s4v4 ,diana4 #aif ,this argument may be pressed further4 ,the silence which we observe in much of second-century literature about the ,new ,testament ,canon and ,episcopacy is of the same character4 ,the best known and most notorious facts are those about which authors are most apt to be silent when writing for contemporaries1 simply because every person acknowledges them and takes them for granted4 #aig ,this is manifest at once if the reader will consult ,mr4 ,wood's ,ephesus or ,guhl's ,ephesiaca1 a work which1 though published 7in #ahdc7 before modern discoveries had taught all we now know1 is a most elaborate account of ancient ,ephesus gleaned out of ancient writers4 ,we have now cleared the way for the consideration of the narrative of the riot1 which is full of the most interesting information concerning the progress of the gospel1 and offers us the most wonderful instances of the minute accuracy of ,st4 ,luke1 which again have been illustrated and confirmed in the fullest manner by the researches so abundantly bestowed upon ,ephesus within the lifetime of the present generation4 ,let us take the narrative in the exact order given us by ,st4 ,luke3 ,about that time there arose no small stir about the ,way4 ,but why about that special time8 ,we have already said that here we find an indication of the date of the riot4 ,it must have happened during the latter part of ,april1 ,a4,d4 #eg1 and we know that at ,ephesus almost the whole month of ,april1 or ,artemisius1 was dedicated to the honour and worship of ,artemis4#aih ,but here it may be asked1 ,how did it come to pass that ,artemis or ,diana occupied such a large share in the public worship of ,ephesus and the province of ,asia8 ,has modern research confirmed the impression which this chapter leaves upon the mind1 that the ,ephesian people were above all else devoted to the worship of the deity8 ,the answers to both these queries are not hard to give1 and serve to confirm our belief in the honesty and accuracy of the sacred penman4 ,the worship of ,artemis1 or of ,anatis rather1 prevailed in the peninsula of ,asia ,minor from the time of ,cyrus1 who introduced it six or seven centuries before4#aii ,anatis was the ,asiatic deity of fruitfulness1 the same as ,ashtoreth of the ,bible1 whom the ,greeks soon identified with their own goddess ,artemis4 ,her worship quickly spread1 specially through that portion of the country which afterwards became the province of ,asia1 and through the adjacent districts2 showing how rapidly an evil taint introduced into a nation's spiritual life-blood spreads throughout its whole organisation1 and when once introduced how persistently it holds its ground2 a lesson taught here in ,new ,testament times1 as in ,old ,testament days it was proclaimed in ,israel's case by the oft-repeated statement concerning her kings1 ,howbeit from the sins of ,jeroboam king after king departed not4 ,the spiritual life and tone of a nation is a very precious thing1 and because it is so the ,church of ,england does well to bestow so much of her public supplication upon those who have power1 like ,cyrus and ,jeroboam1 to taint it at the very foundation and origin thereof4 ,when1 for instance1 ,st4 ,paul landed at ,perga in ,pamphylia1 on the first occasion when he visited ,asia ,minor as a ,christian missionary1 his eye was saluted with the splendid temple of ,diana on the side of the hill beneath which the city was built1 and all over the country at every important town similar temples were erected in her honour1 where their ruins have been traced by modern travellers4#bjj ,the cult or worship introduced by ,cyrus exactly suited the morals and disposition of these ,oriental ,greeks1 and flourished accordingly4 #aih ,see on the exact time of the ,macedonian and ,ephesian month of ,artemisius1 ,ussher's treatise on the ,macedonian and ,asiatic solar year1 in the seventh volume of his works ,ed4 ,elrington1 p4 #dbe1 with which may be compared ,bishop ,lightfoot's ,ignatius1 i4 #ffj-gjj4 ,mr4 ,lewin1 in his ,fasti ,sacri1 p4 #cji1 makes it the month of ,may4 ,the ,macedonian month ,artemisius extended from ,march #beth to ,april #bdth4 ,this point is further discussed in ,lewin's ,st4 ,paul1 vol4 i41 p4 #dje4 ,if ,st4 ,paul wrote #a ,corinthians at or shortly before ,april #gth1 the date of the ,passover1 the riot which hastened his departure must have happened within the succeeding fortnight4 ,bckh1 in the ,corpus of ,greek ,inscriptions1 ,no4 #bied1 inserts a long ,greek inscription1 found one hundred and seventy years ago at ,ephesus1 laying down the ceremonial to be observed in honour of the deity throughout the whole month1 which ,mr4 ,lewin translates1 vol4 i41 p4 #dje4 ,see1 however1 more upon this below4 #aii ,the ,persian language was still used in the worship of ,diana at ,hierocsarea and ,hyppa1 two well-known towns of the province of ,asia in the second century of our era4 ,see ,pausanias1 v4 #bg2 cf4 ,tacitus1 ,annals1 iii4 #fb1 and ,ramsay's ,hist4 ,geog41 p4 #abh4 #bjj ,voluntary associations were formed all over ,asia ,minor to cultivate the worship of ,artemis4 ,modern research1 for instance1 has found inscriptions raised by the ,xenoi ,tekmoreioi indicating their peculiar devotion to ,diana and her worship4 ,they specially flourished at a place called ,saghir1 near ,antioch in ,pisidia4 ,it is a curious fact that the cult of the ,b4,v4,m4 has been substituted for that of ,artemis by the ,greeks of the neighbourhood1 and a feast in her honour is celebrated at the same time as the ancient feast4 ,see ,revue ,archologique1 #ahhg1 vol4 i41 p4 #if2 ,ramsay1 in his ,geography of ,asia ,minor1 p4 #dji1 and in ,jour4 ,hell4 ,studies for #ahhc4 ,artemis was esteemed the protectress of the cities where her temples were built1 which1 as in the case of ,ephesus and of ,perga1 were placed outside the gates like the temple of ,jupiter at ,lystra1 in order that their presence might cast a halo of protection over the adjacent communities4 ,the temple of ,diana at ,ephesus was a splendid building4 ,it had been several times destroyed by fire notwithstanding its revered character and the presence of the sacred image1#bja and had been as often rebuilt with greater splendour than before1 till the temple was erected existing in ,st4 ,paul's day1 which justly excited the wonder of mankind1 as its splendid ruins have shown1 which ,mr4 ,wood has excavated in our own time at the expense of the ,english ,government4#bjb ,the devotion of the ,ephesians to this ancient ,asiatic deity had even been increasing of late years when ,st4 ,paul visited ,ephesus1 as a decree still exists in its original shape graven in stone exactly as ,st4 ,paul must have seen it enacting extended honours to the deity4 ,as this decree bears directly upon the famous riot which ,demetrius raised1 we insert it here in full1 as an interesting confirmation and illustration of the sacred narrative3 ,to the ,ephesian ,diana4 ,forasmuch as it is notorious that not only among the ,ephesians1 but also everywhere among the ,greek nations1 temples are consecrated to her1 and sacred precincts1 and that she hath images and altars dedicated to her on account of her plain manifestations of herself1 and that1 besides1 the greatest token of veneration paid to her1 a month is called after her name1 by us ,artemision1 by the ,macedonians and other ,greek nations and their cities1 ,artemisius1 in which month general gatherings and festivals are celebrated1 and more especially in our own city1 the nurse of its own1 the ,ephesian goddess4 ,now the people of ,ephesus deeming it proper that the whole month called by her name should be sacred and set apart to the goddess1 have resolved by this decree1 that the observation of it by them be altered4 ,therefore it is enacted1 that the whole month ,artemision in all the days of it shall be holy1 and that throughout the month there shall be a continued celebration of feasts and the ,artemisian festivals and the holy days1 seeing that the entire month is sacred to the goddess2 for from this improvement in her worship our city shall receive additional lustre and enjoy perpetual prosperity4#bjc ,now this decree1 which preceded ,st4 ,paul's labours perhaps by twenty years or more1 has an important bearing on our subject4 ,st4 ,luke tells us that about this time there arose no small stir about the ,way2 and it was only quite natural and quite in accord with what we know of other pagan persecutions1 and of human nature in general1 that the precise time at which the ,apostle had then arrived should have been marked by this riot4 ,the whole city of ,ephesus was then given up to the celebration of the festival held in honour of what we may call the national religion and the national deity4 ,that festival lasted the whole month1 and was accompanied1 as all human festivals are apt to be accompanied1 with a vast deal of drunkenness and vice1 as we are expressly told in an ancient ,greek romance1 written by a ,greek of whom little is known1 named ,achilles ,tatius4#bjd ,the people of ,ephesus were1 in fact1 mad with excitement1 and it did not require any great skill to stir them up to excesses in defence of the endangered deity whose worship was the glory of their city4 ,we know from one or two similar cases that the attack made upon ,st4 ,paul at this pagan festival had exact parallels in these early ages4 #bja ,the original sacred image1 which was preserved inside a screen or curtain in the inmost temple1 was a shapeless mass of wood something like the prehistoric blocks of wood or stone which were esteemed at ,athens and elsewhere the most venerable images of their favourite deities3 see ,pausanias1 ,description of ,greece1 i4 #bf4 ,the legend at ,ephesus was just the same as at ,athens and elsewhere1 that these prehistoric images had fallen down from heaven4 ,some of them may have been aerolites4 #bjb ,the temple of ,ephesus is depicted in ,conybeare and ,howson's and ,lewin's ,st4 ,paul1 as well as it could have been restored from a study of books4 ,at the time of their publication neither ,mr4 ,wood's discoveries had been made nor his work on ,ephesus published4 ,the plans and engravings in ,mr4 ,wood's work of course supersede all others4 ,the plans1 etc41 in the other works are sufficiently accurate to enable the reader to realise the language of the ,acts4 #bjc ,the original of this decree will be found in ,bckh's ,corp4 ,inscriptt4 ,grc41 ,no4 #bied1 and the translation in ,lewin's ,st4 ,paul1 #dje4 #bjd ,there is a long account of ,achilles ,tatius in the ,bibliotheca ,grca of ,fabricius4 ,he was a pagan first1 and then became a ,christian4 ,his age is uncertain1 but he certainly seems to have lived when pagan feasts were still observed in their ancient splendour4 ,the book in which he describes them is called ,de ,amoribus ,clitophontis et ,leucippes1 where in ,book ,,vi41 ch4 iii4 there is an account of the drunkenness and idleness at the feast of ,diana4 ,the words of ,achilles ,tatius bring the scene vividly before us as ,st4 ,paul must have seen it3 ,it was the festival of ,artemis1 and every place was full of drunken men1 and all the market-place was full of a multitude of men through the whole night4 ,in ,mason's ,diocletian ,persecution1 p4 #cfa1 there will be found an account of a festival celebrated in honour of ,artemis in the same spring season at ,ancyra in ,galatia4 ,this latter account is useful as giving us an authentic account of a ,celtic festival of ,diana about the year #cjf ,a4,d4 ,it would seem as if an annual public washing of the image of ,diana constituted an important part of the ceremonial4 ,both at ,ancyra as told in the ,acts of ,st4 ,theodotus and at ,ephesus the image of ,diana was annually carried about in a waggon drawn by mules3 see ,guhl's ,ephesiaca1 p4 #aad4 ,at ,ancyra1 during the ,diocletian persecution1 seven ,christian virgins were dressed as priestesses of ,diana and condemned to publicly wash the idol4 ,upon their refusal they were all drowned in the lake where the image was washed4 ,the ,seven ,virgins of ,ancyra are celebrated in the annals of ,christian martyrdom for their heroic resistance on this occasion4 ,see ,mason1 l4c41 and the ,dict4 ,christ4 ,biog41 s4v4 ,seven ,virgins of ,ancyra and ,theodotus4 ,this festival in honour of ,diana was generally utilised as the meeting-time of the local diet or parliament of the province of ,asia1 where deputies from all the cities of the province met together to consult on their common wants and transmit their decisions to the proconsul1 a point to which we shall later on have occasion to refer4 ,just ninety years later one of the most celebrated of the primitive martyrs suffered upon the same occasion at ,smyrna4 ,polycarp1 the disciple of ,st4 ,john1 lived to a very advanced period1 and helped to hand down the tradition of apostolic life and doctrine to another generation4 ,polycarp1 is1 in fact1 through ,irenus1 one of the chief historic links uniting the ,church of later times with the apostles4 ,polycarp suffered martyrdom amid the excitement raised during the meeting of the same diet of ,asia held1 not at ,ephesus1 but at ,smyrna1 and attended by the same religious ceremonies and observances4 ,or let us again turn towards the ,west1 and we shall find it the same4 ,the martyrdoms of ,vienne and ,lyons described by ,eusebius in the fifth book of his history are among the most celebrated in the whole history of the ,church1 and as such have been already referred to and used in this commentary4#bje ,these martyrdoms are an illustration of the same fact that the ,christians were always exposed to peculiar danger at the annual pagan celebrations4 ,the ,gallic tribes1 the seven nations of the ,gauls1 as they were called1 were holding their annual diet or assembly1 and celebrating the worship of the national deities when their zeal was excited to red-hot pitch against the ,christians of ,vienne and ,lyons1 resulting in the terrible outbreak of which ,eusebius in his fifth book tells us4#bjf ,as it was in ,gaul about #agg ,a4,d4 and in ,smyrna about #aee ,a4,d41 so was it in ,ephesus in the year #eg2 the month's festival1 celebrated in honour of ,diana1 accompanied with eating and drinking and idleness in abundance1 told upon the populace1 and made them ready for any excess1 so that it is no wonder we should read1 ,about that time there arose no small stir about the ,way4 ,then too there is another circumstance which may have stirred up ,demetrius to special violence4 ,his trade was probably falling off owing to ,st4 ,paul's labours1 and this may have been brought home to him with special force by the results of the festival which was then in process of celebration or perhaps almost finished4 ,all the circumstances fit this hypothesis4 ,the shrine-makers were1 we know1 a very important element in the population of ,ephesus1 and the trade of shrine-making and the manufacture of other silver ornaments conduced in no small degree to the commercial prosperity of the city of ,ephesus4 ,this is plainly stated upon the face of our narrative3 ,ye know that by this business we have our wealth1 and ye see and hear that not alone at ,ephesus1 but almost throughout all ,asia1 this ,paul hath turned away much people1 facts which could not have been more forcibly brought home to them than by the decreasing call they were experiencing for the particular articles which they produced4 #bje ,see vol4 i41 pp4 #h1 #i4 #bjf ,see the articles on ,polycarp in the ,dict4 ,christ4 ,biog41 iv4 #dbf1 and on ,martyrs of ,lyons1 iii4 #gfd4 ,as regards ,polycarp1 see also ,lightfoot's ,ignatius1 vol4 i41 p4 #dcf2 and as regards the ,martyrs of ,lyons1 see ,rnan's ,marc-,aurle1 pp4 #cbi1 #cca4 ,it is interesting to notice1 in the writings of ,st4 ,paulinus of ,nola written about the year #djj ,a4,d41 his complaints about the abuses1 drunkenness and idleness1 connected with the feasts and holy days observed in honour of his great patron and hero ,st4 ,felix the ,martyr4 ,a similar feeling of the moral dangers connected with religious holy days led to the abbreviation of the week's holiday following ,easter and ,whitsunday to ,monday and ,tuesday as at present4 ,now the question may be proposed1 ,was this the fact8 ,was ,ephesus celebrated for its shrine-makers1 and were shrines and silver ornaments a favourite manufacture in that city8 ,here modern research comes in to testify to the marked truthfulness1 the minute accuracy of ,st4 ,luke4 ,we do not now need to appeal to ancient authors1 as ,lives of ,st4 ,paul like those written by ,mr4 ,lewin or by ,messrs4 ,conybeare and ,howson do4 ,the excavations which have taken place at ,ephesus since the publication of these valuable works have amply vindicated the historic character of our narrative on this point4 ,mr4 ,wood in the course of his excavations at ,ephesus discovered a vast number of inscriptions and sculptures which had once adorned the temple of ,ephesus1 but upon its destruction had been removed to the theatre1 which continued in full operation long after the pagan temple had disappeared4#bjg ,among these inscriptions there was one enormous one brought to light4 ,it was erected some forty years or so after ,st4 ,paul's time1 but it serves in the minuteness of its details to illustrate the story of ,demetrius1 the speech he made1 and the riot he raised4 ,this inscription was raised in honour of a wealthy ,roman named ,gaius ,vibius ,salutarius1 who had dedicated to ,artemis a large number of silver images weighing from three to seven pounds each1 and had even provided a competent endowment for keeping up a public festival in her honour1 which was to be celebrated on the birthday of the goddess1 which happened in the month of ,april or ,may4 ,the inscription1 which contains the particulars of the offering made by this ,roman1 would take up quite too much space if we desired to insert it4 ,we can only now refer our readers to ,mr4 ,wood's book on ,ephesus1 where they will find it given at full length4 ,a few lines may1 however1 be quoted to illustrate the extent to which the manufacture of silver shrines and silver ornaments in honour of ,artemis must have flourished in ,ephesus4 ,this inscription enumerates the images dedicated to the goddess which ,salutarius had provided by his endowments1 entering into the most minute details as to their treatment and care4 ,the following passage gives a vivid picture of ,ephesian idolatry as the ,apostle saw it3 ,let two statues of ,artemis of the weight of three pounds three ounces be religiously kept in the custody of ,salutarius1 who himself consecrated them1 and after the death of ,salutarius1 let the aforesaid statues be restored to the town-clerk of the ,ephesians1 and let it be made a rule that they be placed at the public meetings above the seat of the council in the theatre before the golden statue of ,artemis and the other statues4 ,and a golden ,artemis weighing three pounds and two silver deer attending her1 and the rest of the images of the weight of two pounds ten ounces and five grammes1 and a silver statue of the ,sacred ,senate of the weight of four pounds two ounces1 and a silver statue of the council of the ,ephesians4 ,likewise a silver ,artemis bearing a torch of the weight of six pounds1 and a silver statue of the ,roman people4 ,and so the inscription proceeds to name and devote silver and golden statues literally by dozens1 which ,salutarius intended to be borne in solemn procession on the feast-day of ,diana4 ,it is quite evident that did we possess but this inscription alone1 we have here amply sufficient evidence showing us that one of the staple trades of ,ephesus1 one upon which the prosperity and welfare of a large section of its inhabitants depended1 was this manufacture of silver and gold ornaments directly connected with the worship of the goddess4#bjh ,for it must be remembered that the guild of shrine-makers did not depend alone upon the chance liberality of a stray wealthy ,roman or ,greek like ,salutarius1 who might feel moved to create a special endowment or bestow special gifts upon the temple4 ,the guild of shrine-makers depended upon the large and regular demand of a vast population who required a supply of cheap and handy shrines to satisfy their religious cravings4 ,the population of the surrounding districts and towns poured into ,ephesus at this annual festival of ,diana and paid their devotions in her temple4 ,but even the pagans required some kind of social and family religion4 ,they could not live as too many nominal ,christians are contented to live1 without any family or personal acknowledgment of their dependence upon a higher power4 ,there was no provision for public worship in the rural districts answering to our parochial system1 and so they supplied the want by purchasing on occasions like this feast of ,diana1 shrines1 little silver images1 or likenesses of the central cell of the great temple where the sacred image rested1 and which served as central points to fix their thoughts and excite the gratitude due to the goddess whom they adored4 ,demetrius and his fellow-craftsmen depended upon the demand created by a vast population of devout believers in ,artemis1 and when this demand began to fall off ,demetrius traced the bad trade which he and his fellows were experiencing to the true source4 ,he recognised the ,christian teaching imparted by ,st4 ,paul as the deadly enemy of his unrighteous gains1 and naturally directed the rage of the mob against the preacher of truth and righteousness4 ,the actual words of ,demetrius are deserving of the most careful study1 for they too have been illustrated by modern discovery in the most striking manner4 ,having spoken of the results of ,st4 ,paul's teaching in ,asia of which they all had had personal experience1 he then proceeds to expatiate on its dangerous character1 not only as regards their own personal interests1 but as regards the goddess and her sacred dignity as well3 ,and not only is there danger that this our trade come into disrepute1 but also that the temple of the great goddess ,diana be made of no account1 and that she should be deposed from her magnificence whom all ,asia and the world worshippeth4 ,demetrius cleverly but lightly touches upon the self-interest of the workmen4 ,he does not dwell on that topic too long1 because it is never well for an orator who wishes to rouse his hearers to enthusiasm to dwell too long or too openly upon merely selfish consideration4 ,man is indeed intensely selfish by nature1 but then he does not like to be told so too openly1 or to have his own selfishness paraded too frequently before his face4 ,he likes to be flattered as if he cherished a belief in higher things1 and to have his low ends and baser motives clothed in a similitude of noble enthusiasm4 ,demetrius hints therefore at their own impoverishment as the results of ,paul's teaching1 but expatiates on the certain destruction which awaits the glory of their time-honoured and world-renowned deity if free course be any longer permitted to such doctrine4 ,this speech is a skilful composition all through4 ,it shows that the ancient rhetorical skill of the ,greeks still flourished in ,ephesus1 and not the least skilful1 and at the same time not the least true touch in the speech was that wherein ,demetrius reminded his hearers that the world were onlookers and watchers of their conduct1 noting whether or not they would vindicate ,diana's assailed dignity4 ,it was a true touch1 ,i say1 for modern research has shown that the worship of the ,ephesian ,artemis was world-wide in its extent2 it had come from the distant east1 and had travelled to the farthest west4 ,we have already noted the testimony of modern travellers showing that her worship extended over ,asia ,minor in every direction4 ,this fact ,demetrius long ago told the ,ephesians1 and ancient authors have repeated his testimony1 and modern travellers have merely corroborated them4 ,but we were not aware how accurate was ,demetrius about the whole world worshipping ,artemis1 till in our own time the statues and temples of the ,ephesian goddess were found existing so far west as ,southern ,gaul1 ,marseilles1 and the coast of ,spain1 proving that wherever ,asiatic sailors and ,asiatic merchants came thither they brought with them the worship of their favourite deity4#bji #bjg ,the pagan temples were almost universally destroyed about the year #djj4 ,the edicts dealing with this matter and an ample commentary upon them will be found in the ,theodosian ,code1 edited by that eminent scholar ,godefroy4 #bjh ,an interesting confirmation of this fact came to light in modern times4 ,in the year #ahcj there was found in ,southern ,france a piece of such ,ephesian silver work wrought in honour of ,artemis1 and carried into ,gaul by one of her worshippers4 ,it is now deposited in the ,bibliothque ,nationale1 and has been fully described in an interesting article in the ,journal of ,hellenic ,studies1 vol4 iii41 pp4 #ajd-ajf1 written by that eminent antiquary ,c4 ,waldstein4 #bji ,see the ,revue ,archologique for #ahhf1 vol4 ii41 p4 #beg1 about the worship of the ,ephesian ,artemis in ,marseilles and ,southern ,gaul1 and an article in the ,journal of ,hellenic ,studies for #ahhi1 vol4 x41 p4 #baf1 by ,professor ,ramsay1 on the vast extent of ,artemis worship in ,asia4 ,in the same journal1 for #ahij1 vol4 xi41 p4 #bce1 we have an account of the discovery of one of the original seats of ,artemis worship in ,eastern ,cilicia by ,mr4 ,j4 ,t4 ,bent2 while again1 in vol4 iv41 p4 #dj-dc1 ,ramsay gives us a subscription list raised in ,pisidia for the purpose of building a temple of ,artemis in a country district4 ,let us pass on1 however1 and see whether the remainder of this narrative will not afford us subject-matter for abundant illustrations4 ,the mob drank in the speech of ,demetrius1 and responded with the national shout1 ,great is ,diana of the ,ephesians1 a cry which has been found inscribed on altars and tablets all over the province of ,asia1 showing that it was a kind of watchword among the inhabitants of that district4 ,the crowd of workmen whom ,demetrius had been addressing then rushed into the theatre1 the usual place of assembly for the people of ,ephesus1 dragging with them ,gaius and ,aristarchus1#baj men of ,macedonia1 ,paul's companions in travel4 ,the ,jews too followed the mob1 eager to make the unexpected tumult serve their own hostile purposes against ,st4 ,paul4 ,news of the riot was soon carried to the ,apostle1 who learning of the danger to which his friends were exposed desired to enter that theatre the magnificent proportions and ornamentation of which have been for the first time displayed to modern eyes by the labours of ,mr4 ,wood4 ,but the local ,christians knew the ,ephesian mob and their state of excitement better than ,st4 ,paul did1 and so they would not allow him to risk his life amid the infuriated crowd4 ,the ,apostle's teaching too had reached the very highest ranks of ,ephesian and ,asiatic society4 ,the very ,asiarchs1 being his friends1 sent unto him and requested him not to enter the theatre4 ,here again we come across one of those incidental references which display ,st4 ,luke's acquaintance with the local peculiarities of the ,ephesian constitution1 and which have been only really appreciated in the light of modern discoveries4 ,in the time of ,king ,james ,i41 when the ,authorised ,version was made1 the translators knew nothing of the proof of the sacred writer's accuracy which lay under their hands in the words1 ,certain of the ,asiarchs or chief officers of ,asia1 and so they translated them very literally but very incorrectly1 ,certain of the chief of ,asia1 ignoring completely the official rank and title which these men possessed4 ,a few words must suffice to give a brief explanation of the office these men held4 ,the province of ,asia from ancient times had celebrated this feast of ,artemis at an assembly of all the cities of ,asia4 ,this we have already explained4 ,the ,romans united with the worship of ,artemis the worship of the ,emperor and of the ,city of ,rome2 so that loyalty to the ,emperor and loyalty to the national religion went hand in hand4 ,they appointed certain officials to preside at these games1 they made them presidents of the local diets or parliaments which assembled to discuss local matters at these national assemblies1 they gave them the highest positions in the province next to the proconsul1 they surrounded them with great pomp1 and endued them with considerable power so long as the festival lasted1 and then1 being intent on uniting economy with their generosity1 they made these ,asiarchs1 as they were called1 responsible for all the expenses incurred in the celebration of the games and diets4 ,it was a clever policy1 as it secured the maximum of contentment on the people's part with the minimum of expense to the imperial government4 ,this arrangement clearly limited the position of the ,asiarchate to rich men1 as they alone could afford the enormous expenses involved4 ,the ,greeks1 specially those of ,asia1 as we have already pointed out1 were very flashy in their disposition4 ,they loved titles and decorations2 so much so that one of their own orators of ,st4 ,paul's day1 ,dion ,chrysostom1 tells us that1 provided they got a title1 they would suffer any indignity4 ,there were therefore crowds of rich men always ready to take the office of ,asiarch1 which by degrees was turned into a kind of life peerage1 a man once an ,asiarch always retaining the title1 while his wife was called the ,asiarchess1 as we find from the inscriptions4 ,the ,asiarchs were1 in fact1 the official aristocracy of the province of ,asia4 ,they had assembled on this occasion for the purpose of sitting in the local parliament and presiding over the annual games in honour of ,diana4#baa ,their interests and their honour were all bound up with the worship of the goddess1 and yet the preaching of ,st4 ,paul had told so powerfully upon the whole province1 that even among the very officials of the ,state religion ,st4 ,paul had friends and supporters anxious to preserve his life1 and therefore sent him a message not to adventure himself into the theatre4 ,it is no wonder that ,demetrius the silversmith roused his fellow-craftsmen into activity and fanned the flame of their wrath1 for the worship of ,diana of the ,ephesians was indeed in danger when the very men whose office bound them to its support were in league with such an uncompromising opponent as this ,paul of ,tarsus4 ,st4 ,luke thus gives a glimpse of the constitution of ,ephesus and of the province of ,asia in his time4 ,he shows us the peculiar institution of the ,asiarchate1 and then when we turn to the inscriptions which ,mr4 ,wood and other modern discoverers have unearthed1 we find that the ,asiarchs occupy a most prominent position in them1 vindicating in the amplest manner the introduction of them by ,st4 ,luke as assembled at ,ephesus at this special season1 and there interesting themselves in the welfare of the great ,apostle4#bab #baj ,aristarchus is described in the ,martyrologies as the first bishop of ,thessalonica1 and is said to have suffered martyrdom under ,nero4 ,he is commemorated on ,august #dth4 #baa ,these local parliaments under the ,roman ,empire have been the subject of much modern investigation at the hands of ,french and ,german scholars4 ,see for references to the authorities on the point an article which ,i wrote in ,macmillan's ,magazine for #ahhb4 #bab ,see the index to ,lightfoot's ,ignatius and ,polycarp for extended references to the ,asiarchate1 and also ,mommsen's ,roman ,provinces 7,dickson's translation71 vol4 i41 pp4 #cde-g4 ,but now there comes on the scene another official1 whose title and office have been the subject of many an illustration furnished by modern research4 ,the ,jews who followed the mob into the theatre1 when they did not see ,st4 ,paul there1 put forward one ,alexander as their spokesman4#bac ,this man has been by some identified with ,alexander the coppersmith1 to whom ,st4 ,paul refers 7#b ,tim4 iv4 #ad7 when writing to ,timothy1 then resident at ,ephesus1 as a man who had done much injury to the ,christian cause4 ,he may have been well known as a brother-tradesman by the ,ephesian silversmiths1 and he seems to have been regarded by the ,jews as a kind of leader who might be useful in directing the rage of the mob against the ,christians whom they hated4 ,the rioters1 however1 did not distinguish as clearly as the ,jews would have wished between the ,christians and the ,jews4 ,they made the same mistake as the ,romans did for more than a century later1 and confounded ,jews and ,christians together4 ,they were all1 in any case1 opponents of idol worship and chiefly of their favourite goddess1 and therefore the sight of ,alexander merely intensified their rage1 so much that for the space of two hours they continued to vociferate their favourite cry1 ,great is ,diana of the ,ephesians4 #bac ,the ,ephesian mob four hundred years later displayed at the third ,general ,council held at ,ephesus in #dca an extraordinary power of keeping up the same cry for hours4 ,see the story of the ,council as told by ,hefele in the third volume of his ,general ,councils 7,clark's translation74 ,nothing will give such a vigorous idea of the confusion which then prevailed at ,ephesus as a glance at ,mansi's ,acts of that ,council4 ,the cry ,anathema to ,nestorius1 the heretic against whom the ,council declared1 was maintained so long and so continuously that one would imagine that orthodoxy depended on strength of lungs4 ,now1 however1 there appeared another official1 whose title and character have become famous through his action on this occasion3 ,when the town-clerk had quieted the multitude1 he saith1 ,ye men of ,ephesus1 what man is there who knoweth not that the city of the ,ephesians is temple-keeper 7or ,neocoros7 of the great ,diana1 and of the image which fell down from ,jupiter8 ,here we have several terms which have been illustrated and confirmed by the excavations of ,mr4 ,wood4 ,the town-clerk or recorder is introduced1 because he was the chief executive officer of the city of ,ephesus1 and1 as such1 responsible to the ,roman authorities for the peace and order of the city4 ,the city of ,ephesus was a free city1 retaining its ancient laws and customs like ,athens and ,thessalonica1 but only on the condition that these laws were effective and peace duly kept4 ,otherwise the ,roman authorities and their police would step in4 ,these town-clerks or recorders of ,ephesus are known from this one passage in the ,acts of the ,apostles1 but they are still better known from the inscriptions which have been brought to light at ,ephesus4 ,i have mentioned1 for instance1 the immense inscription which ,mr4 ,wood discovered in the theatre commemorating the gift to the temple of ,diana of a vast number of gold and silver images made by one ,vibius ,salutarius4 ,this inscription lays down that the images should be kept in the custody of the town-clerk or recorder when not required for use in the solemn religious processions made through the city4 ,the names of a great many town-clerks have been recovered from the ruins of ,ephesus1 some of them coming from the reign of ,nero1 the very period when this riot took place4 ,it is not impossible that we may yet recover the very name of the town-clerk who gave the riotous mob this very prudent advice1 ,ye ought to be quiet1 and to do nothing rash1 which has made him immortal4 ,then1 again1 a title for the city of ,ephesus is used in this pacific oration which is strictly historical1 and such as would naturally have been used by a man in the town-clerk's position4 ,he calls ,ephesus the temple-keeper1 or ,neocoros1 as the word literally is1 of the goddess ,diana1 and this is one of the most usual and common titles in the lately discovered inscriptions4 ,ephesus and the ,ephesians were indeed so devoted to the worship of that deity and so affected by the honour she conferred upon them that they delighted to call themselves the temple-sweepers1 or sextons1 of the great ,diana's temple4 ,in fact1 their devotion to the worship of the goddess so far surpassed that of ordinary cities that the ,ephesians were accustomed to subordinate their reverence for the ,emperors to their reverence for their religion1 and thus in the decree passed by them honouring ,vibius ,salutarius who endowed their temple with many splendid gifts1 to which we have already referred1 they begin by describing themselves thus3 ,in the presidency of ,tiberius ,claudius ,antipater ,julianus1 on the sixth day of the first decade of the month ,poseideon1 it was resolved by the ,council and the ,public ,assembly of the ,necori 7of ,artemis7 and ,lovers of ,augustus4 ,the ,ephesians must have been profoundly devoted to ,diana's worship when in that age of gross materialism they would dare to place any deity higher than that of the reigning emperor1 the only god in whom a true ,roman really believed2 for unregenerate human nature at that time looked at the things alone which are seen and believed in nothing else4 ,the rest of the town-clerk's speech is equally deserving of study from every point of view4 ,he gives us a glimpse of the ,apostle's method of controversy3 it was wise1 courteous1 conciliatory4 ,it did not hurt the feelings or outrage the sentiments of natural reverence1 which ought ever to be treated with the greatest respect1 for natural reverence is a delicate plant1 and even when directed towards a wrong object ought to be most gently handled4 ,ye have brought hither these men1 which are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of our goddess4#bad ,if therefore ,demetrius1 and the craftsmen that are with him1 have a matter against any man1 the courts are open1 and there are proconsuls3 let them accuse one another4 ,modern research has thrown additional light upon these words4 ,the ,roman system of provincial government anticipated the ,english system of assize courts1 moving from place to place1 introduced by ,henry ,,ii4 for the purpose of bringing justice home to every man's door4#bae ,it was quite natural for the proconsul of ,asia to hold his court at the same time as the annual assembly of the province of ,asia and the great festival of ,diana4 ,the great concourse of people rendered such a course specially convenient1 while the presence of the proconsul helped to keep the peace1 as1 to take a well-known instance1 the presence of ,pontius ,pilate at the great annual ,paschal feast at ,jerusalem secured the ,romans against any sudden rebellion1 and also enabled him to dispense justice after the manner of an assize judge1 to which fact we would find an allusion in the words of ,st4 ,mark 7xv4 #f71 ,now at the feast he used to release unto them one prisoner1 whom they asked of him4 #bad ,st4 ,paul's zeal never outran his discretion4 ,he never blasphemed or spoke lightly of ideas and names held sacred by his hearers4 ,i remember in our local ecclesiastical history an example of the opposite course which has often found imitators4 ,when ,charles ,wesley first visited ,dublin about the year #agdg1 he left behind a zealous but very unwise preacher to continue his work4 ,his language was so violent that the mob were roused to burn his meeting-house1 which stood in ,marlborough ,street near the spot where the ,roman ,catholic ,cathedral now stands4 ,he then took his stand on ,oxmantown ,green in the northern suburbs1 where he preached in the open air4 ,on ,christmas ,day he took the ,incarnation as his subject1 and began1 as ,st4 ,paul never would have done1 by crying aloud1 ,i curse and blaspheme all gods and goddesses in heaven and earth1 save the ,babe that was born in ,bethlehem and was wrapped in swaddling clothes1 whereupon the ,dublin mob with their ready wit in the matter of nick-names called the ,methodists swaddlers1 a title which has ever since stuck to them in ,ireland1 and is to this day commonly used by the ,roman ,catholics4 ,this seems an interesting illustration of the typical character of the ,acts4 #bae ,see ,preface by ,bishop ,stubbs to ,benedict of ,peterborough1 ,gesta ,regis ,hen4 ,,ii41 t4 ii41 pp4 lxv4-lxxi4 7,rolls ,series72 ,madox1 ,hist4 of ,exchequer1 pp4 #hd-if1 for an account of the rise of the ,english ,assize ,system2 see ,le ,blant1 ,les ,actes des ,martyrs1 pp4 #ej-aba1 and ,marquardt's ,rm4 ,staatsverwalt1 p4 #cfe about ,roman assizes4 ,there were eleven circuits in ,asia4 ,it has been said1 indeed1 that ,st4 ,luke here puts into the town-clerk's mouth words he could never have used1 representing him as saying there are proconsuls when1 in fact1 there was never more than one proconsul in the province of ,asia4 ,such criticism is of the weakest character4 ,surely every man that ever speaks in public knows that one of the commonest usages is to say there are judges or magistrates1 using the plural when one judge or magistrate may alone be exercising jurisdiction6 ,but there is another explanation1 which completely solves the difficulty and vindicates ,st4 ,luke's minute accuracy4 ,three hundred years ago ,john ,calvin1 in his commentary1 noted the difficulty1 and explained it by the supposition that the proconsul had appointed deputies or assessors who held the courts in his name4 ,there is1 however1 a more satisfactory explanation4 ,it was the reign of ,nero1 and his brutal example had begun to debauch the officials through the provinces4 ,silanus1 the proconsul of ,asia1 was disliked by ,nero and by his mother as a possible candidate for the imperial crown1 being of the family of ,augustus4 ,two of his subordinates1 ,celer and lius1 the collectors of the imperial revenue in ,asia1 poisoned him1 and as a reward were permitted to govern the province1 enjoying perhaps in common the title of proconsul and exercising the jurisdiction of the office4#baf ,finally1 the tone of the town-clerk's words as he ends his address is thoroughly that of a ,roman official4 ,he feels himself responsible for the riot1 and knows that he may be called upon to account for it4 ,peace was what the ,roman authorities sought and desired at all hazards1 and every measure which threatened the peace1 or every organisation1 no matter how desirable1 a fire brigade even1 which might conceivably be turned to purposes of political agitation1 was strictly discouraged4 #baf ,see ,lewin's ,st4 ,paul1 i4 #ccg1 #cch4 ,the correspondence of ,pliny with the ,emperor ,trajan some fifty years or so later than this riot is the best commentary upon the town-clerk's speech4 ,we find1 for instance1 in ,pliny's ,letters1 ,book ,x41 ,no4 #db1 a letter telling about a fire which broke out in ,nicomedia1 the capital of ,bithynia1 of which province ,pliny was proconsul4 ,he wrote to the ,emperor describing the damage done1 and suggesting that a fire brigade numbering one hundred and fifty men might be instituted4 ,the ,emperor would not hear of it1 however4 ,such clubs or societies he considered dangerous1 and so he wrote back a letter which proves how continuous was ,roman policy1 how abhorrent to the imperial authorities were all voluntary organisations which might be used for the purposes of public agitation3 ,you are of opinion that it would be proper to establish a company of fire-men in ,nicomedia1 agreeably to what has been practised in several other cities4 ,but it is to be remembered that societies of this sort have greatly disturbed the peace of the province in general and of those cities in particular4 ,whatever name we give them1 and for whatever purposes they may be founded1 they will not fail to form themselves into factious assemblies1 however short their meetings will be2 and so ,pliny was obliged to devise other measures for the security and welfare of the cities committed to his charge4#bag ,the accidental burning of a city would not be attributed to him as a fault1 while the occurrence of a street riot might be the beginning of a social war which would bring down ruin upon the ,empire at large4 #bag ,a similar jealousy of voluntary organisations is still perpetuated in ,france under the code ,napoleon1 which largely embodies ,roman methods and ideas4 ,when the recorder of ,ephesus had ended his speech he dismissed the assembly1 leaving to us a precious record illustrative of the methods of ,roman government1 of the interior life of ,ephesus in days long gone by1 and1 above all else1 of the thorough honesty of the writer whom the ,holy ,spirit impelled to trace the earliest triumphs of the ,cross amid the teeming fields of ,gentile paganism4 ,,chapter ,,xvi4 ,,st4 ,,paul ,,and ,,the ,,christian ,,ministry4 ,and after the uproar was ceased1 ,paul having sent for the disciples and exhorted them1 took leave of them1 and departed for to go into ,macedonia4444 ,and upon the first day of the week1 when we were gathered together 7at ,troas7 to break bread1 ,paul discoursed with them1 intending to depart on the morrow2 and prolonged his speech until midnight4444 ,and from ,miletus he sent to ,ephesus1 and called to him the elders of the church4 ,and when they were come to him1 he said unto them1 ,ye yourselves know1 from the first day ,i set foot in ,asia1 after what manner ,i was with you all the time1 serving the ,lord with all lowliness of mind1 and with tears4444 ,take heed unto yourselves1 and to all the flock1 in the which the ,holy ,ghost hath made you bishops1 to feed the ,church of ,god1 which ,he purchased with ,his own blood4--,,acts xx4 #a1 #g1 #ag-ai1 #bh4 ,the period of ,st4 ,paul's career at which we have now arrived was full of life1 vigour1 activity4 ,he was in the very height of his powers1 was surrounded with responsibilities1 was pressed with cares and anxieties2 and yet the character of the sacred narrative is very peculiar4 ,from the passover of the year #eg1 soon after which the ,apostle had to leave ,ephesus1 till the passover of the next year1 we learn but very little of ,st4 ,paul's work from the narrative of ,st4 ,luke4 ,the five verses with which the twentieth chapter begins tell us all that ,st4 ,luke apparently knew about the ,apostle's actions during that time4 ,he gives us the story of a mere outsider1 who knew next to nothing of the work ,st4 ,paul was doing4 ,the ,apostle left ,ephesus and went into ,macedonia1 whence he departed into ,greece4 ,three months were occupied in teaching at ,corinth1 and then1 intending to sail from ,cenchre to ,ephesus1 he suddenly changed his mind upon the discovery of a ,jewish plot1 altered his route1 disappointed his foes1 and paid a second visit to ,macedonia4 ,in this narrative1 which is all ,st4 ,luke gives1 we have the account1 brief and concise1 of one who was acquainted merely with the bare outlines of the ,apostle's work1 and knew nothing of his inner life and trials4 ,st4 ,luke1 in fact1 was so much taken up with his own duties at ,philippi1 where he had been labouring for the previous five years1 that he had no time to think of what was going on elsewhere4 ,at any rate his friend and pupil ,theophilus had simply asked him for a narrative so far as he knew it of the progress of the gospel4 ,he had no idea that he was writing anything more than a story for the private use of ,theophilus1 and he therefore put down what he knew and had experienced1 without troubling himself concerning other matters4 ,i have read criticisms of the ,acts--proceeding principally1 ,i must confess1 from ,german sources--which seem to proceed on the supposition that ,st4 ,luke was consciously writing an ecclesiastical history of the whole early ,church which he knew and felt was destined to serve for ages4#bah ,but this was evidently not the case4 ,st4 ,luke was consciously writing a story merely for a friend's study1 and dreamt not of the wider fame and use destined for his book4 ,this accounts in a simple and natural way1 not only for what ,st4 ,luke inserts1 but also for what he leaves out1 and he manifestly left out a great deal4 ,we may take this passage at which we have now arrived as an illustration of his methods of writing sacred history4 ,this period of ten months1 from the time ,st4 ,paul left ,ephesus till he returned to ,philippi at the following ,easter season1 was filled with most important labours which have borne fruit unto all ages of the ,church1 yet ,st4 ,luke dismisses them in a few words4 ,just let us realise what happened in these eventful months4 ,st4 ,paul wrote ,first ,corinthians in ,april ,a4,d4 #eg4 ,in ,may he passed to ,troas1 where1 as we learn from ,second ,corinthians1 he laboured for a short time with much success4 ,he then passed into ,macedonia1 urged on by his restless anxiety concerning the ,corinthian ,church4 ,in ,macedonia he laboured during the following five or six months4 ,how intense and absorbing must have been his work during that time6 ,it was then that he preached the gospel with signs and wonders round about even unto ,illyricum1 as he notes in ,romans xvi4 #ai1 an epistle written this very year from ,corinth4 ,the last time that he had been in ,macedonia he was a hunted fugitive fleeing from place to place4 ,now he seems to have lived in comparative peace1 so far at least as the ,jewish synagogues were concerned4 ,he penetrated1 therefore1 into the mountainous districts west of ,bera1 bearing the gospel tidings into cities and villages which had as yet heard nothing of them4 ,but preaching was not his only work in ,macedonia4 ,he had written his first ,epistle to ,corinth from ,ephesus a few months before4 ,in ,macedonia he received from ,titus1 his messenger1 an account of the manner in which that epistle had been received1 and so from ,macedonia he despatched his second ,corinthian ,epistle1 which must be carefully studied if we desire to get an adequate idea of the labours and anxieties amid which the ,apostle was then immersed 7see #b ,cor4 ii4 #ac1 and vii4 #e and #f74 ,and then he passed into ,greece1 where he spent three months at ,corinth1 settling the affairs of that very celebrated but very disorderly ,christian community4 ,the three months spent there must have been a period of overwhelming business4 ,let us recount the subjects which must have taken up every moment of ,st4 ,paul's time4 ,first there were the affairs of the ,corinthian ,church itself4 ,he had to reprove1 comfort1 direct1 set in order4 ,the whole moral1 spiritual1 social1 intellectual conceptions of ,corinth had gone wrong4 ,there was not a question1 from the most elementary topic of morals and the social considerations connected with female dress and activities1 to the most solemn points of doctrine and worship1 the ,resurrection and the ,holy ,communion1 concerning which difficulties1 disorders1 and dissensions had not been raised4 ,all these had to be investigated and decided by the ,apostle4 ,then1 again1 the ,jewish controversy1 and the oppositions to himself personally which the ,judaising party had excited1 demanded his careful attention4 ,this controversy was a troublesome one in ,corinth just then1 but it was a still more troublesome one in ,galatia1 and was fast raising its head in ,rome4 ,the affairs of both these great and important churches1 the one in the ,east1 the other in the ,west1 were pressing upon ,st4 ,paul at this very time4 ,while he was immersed in all the local troubles of ,corinth1 he had to find time at ,corinth to write the ,epistle to the ,galatians and the ,epistle to the ,romans4 ,how hard it must have been for the ,apostle to concentrate his attention on the affairs of ,corinth when his heart and brain were torn with anxieties about the schisms1 divisions1 and false doctrines which were flourishing among his ,galatian converts1 or threatening to invade the ,church at ,rome1 where as yet he had not been able to set forth his own conception of gospel truth1 and thus fortify the disciples against the attacks of those subtle foes of ,christ who were doing their best to turn the ,catholic ,church into a mere narrow ,jewish sect1 devoid of all spiritual power and life4 ,but this was not all1 or nearly all4 ,st4 ,paul was at the same time engaged in organising a great collection throughout all the churches where he had ministered on behalf of the poor ,christians at ,jerusalem1 and he was compelled to walk most warily and carefully in this matter4 ,every step he took was watched by foes ready to interpret it unfavourably2 every appointment he made1 every arrangement1 no matter how wise or prudent1 was the subject of keenest scrutiny and criticism4 ,with all these various matters accumulating upon him it is no wonder that ,st4 ,paul should have written of himself at this very period in words which vividly describe his distractions3 ,beside those things that are without1 there is that which presseth upon me daily1 the care of all the churches4 ,and yet ,st4 ,paul gives us a glimpse of the greatness of his soul as we read the epistles which were the outcome of this period of intense but fruitful labour4 ,he carried a mighty load1 but yet he carried it lightly4 ,his present anxieties were numerous1 but they did not shut out all thoughts upon other topics4 ,the busiest man then was just the same as the busiest man still4 ,he was the man who had the most time and leisure to bestow thought upon the future4 ,the anxieties and worries of the present were numerous and exacting1 but ,st4 ,paul did not allow his mind to be so swallowed up in them as to shut out all care about other questions equally important4 ,while he was engaged in the manifold cares which present controversies brought1 he was all the while meditating a mission to ,rome1 and contemplating a journey still farther to ,spain and ,gaul1#bai and the bounds of the ,western ocean4 ,and then1 finally1 there was the care of ,st4 ,paul's own soul1 the sustenance and development of his spirit by prayer and meditation and worship and reading1 which he never neglected under any circumstances4 ,all these things combined must have rendered this period of close upon twelve months one of the ,apostle's busiest and intensest times1 and yet ,st4 ,luke disposes of it in a few brief verses of this twentieth chapter4 #bah ,i do not wish to decry the industry and learning of ,german critics1 to whom ,i owe much1 as my various references show2 but ,i am always suspicious of their historical conclusions1 simply because they are pure students1 and are therefore ignorant of life and men4 ,the more industrious and secluded a life a man may lead1 so much the more ignorant of the practical world a man becomes1 and so much the more unfitted to be a real historian1 who must know men as well as books4 ,history is a picture of real life in the past1 and to paint it a man must know real life in the present4 ,as well might we set an academic scientist who regarded all lines as straight and all bars as rigid to build the ,forth ,bridge1 as set a man who knows nothing of human nature and how it acts under the stress of practical affairs to write the story of human life two thousand years ago4 ,we may take and use ,german investigations1 but we should apply ,english common sense and experience to test ,german conclusions4 ,this rule is1 ,i fear1 too much forgotten in a great deal of the literature that is now being pawned off upon the ,english world in the name of criticism4 ,surely the fate of ,baur's theories ought to be a warning to all young men against swallowing as the latest results of scholarship everything that comes clothed in the ,german language6 ,the ,english nation has a reputation for solid common sense4 ,what fools the ,germans would be did they take everything ,english as full of common sense because printed in our language6 #bai ,i say to ,gaul1 because ,i take it that he would have sailed to ,marseilles1 which was then the great port of communication with ,asia ,minor1 as we have noted above1 pp4 #cgb-gd1 when treating of the worship of ,diana and its extension from the ,east to ,marseilles4 ,after ,st4 ,paul's stay at ,corinth1 he determined to proceed to ,jerusalem according to his predetermined plan1 bringing with him the proceeds of the collection which he had made4 ,he wished to go by sea1 as he had done some three years before1 sailing from ,cenchre direct to ,syria4 ,the ,jews of ,corinth1 however1 were as hostile as ever1 and so they hatched a plot to murder him before his embarkation4 ,st4 ,paul1 however1 having learned their designs1 suddenly changed his route1 and took his journey by land through ,macedonia1 visiting once more his former converts1 and tarrying to keep the passover at ,philippi with the little company of ,christian ,jews who there resided4 ,this circumstance throws light upon verses #d and #e of this twentieth chapter1 which run thus3 ,there accompanied him as far as ,asia ,sopater of ,bera1 the son of ,pyrrhus2 and of the ,thessalonians1 ,aristarchus and ,secundus2 and ,gaius of ,derbe1 and ,timothy2 and of ,asia1 ,tychicus and ,trophimus4 ,but these had gone before1 and were waiting for us at ,troas4 ,st4 ,paul came to ,philippi1 found ,st4 ,luke there1 celebrated the passover1 and then sailed away with ,st4 ,luke to join the company who had gone before4 ,and they had gone before for a very good reason4 ,they were all1 except ,timothy1 ,gentile ,christians1 persons therefore who1 unlike ,st4 ,paul1 had nothing to do with the national rites and customs of born ,jews1 and who might be much more profitably exercised in working among the ,gentile converts at ,troas1 free from any danger of either giving or taking offence in connexion with the passover1 a lively instance of which danger ,trophimus1 one of their number1 subsequently afforded in ,jerusalem1 when his presence alone in ,st4 ,paul's company caused the spread of a rumour which raised the riot so fatal to ,st4 ,paul's liberty3 ,for they had seen with him in the city ,trophimus the ,ephesian1 whom they supposed that ,paul had brought into the temple 7xxi4 #bi74 ,this incident1 together with ,st4 ,paul's conduct at ,jerusalem as told in the twenty-sixth verse of the twenty-first chapter illustrates vividly ,st4 ,paul's view of the ,jewish law and ,jewish rites and ceremonies4 ,they were for ,jews national ceremonies4 ,they had a meaning for them4 ,they commemorated certain national deliverances1 and as such might be lawfully used4 ,st4 ,paul himself could eat the passover and cherish the feelings of a ,jew1 heartily thankful to ,god for the deliverance from ,egypt wrought out through ,moses centuries ago for his ancestors1 and his mind could then go on and rejoice over a greater deliverance still wrought out at this same paschal season by a greater than ,moses4 ,st4 ,paul openly proclaimed the lawfulness of the ,jewish rites for ,jews1 but opposed their imposition upon the ,gentiles4 ,he regarded them as tolerabiles inepti1 and therefore observed them to please his weaker brethren2 but sent his ,gentile converts on before1 lest perhaps the sight of his own example might weaken their faith and lead them to a compliance with that ,judaising party who were ever ready to avail themselves of any opportunity to weaken ,st4 ,paul's teaching and authority4 ,st4 ,paul always strove to unite wisdom and prudence with faithfulness to principle lest by any means his labour should be in vain4 ,st4 ,luke now joined ,st4 ,paul at ,philippi1 and henceforth gives his own account of what happened on this eventful journey4 ,from ,philippi they crossed to ,troas4 ,it was the spring-time1 and the weather was more boisterous than later in the year1 and so the voyage took five days to accomplish1 while two days had sufficed on a previous occasion4 ,they came to ,troas1 and there remained for a week1 owing doubtless to the exigencies of the ship and its cargo4 ,on the first day of the week ,st4 ,paul assembled the ,church for worship4 ,the meeting was held on what we should call ,saturday evening2 but we must remember that the ,jewish first day began from sundown on ,saturday or the ,sabbath4#bbj ,this is the first notice in the ,acts of the observance of the ,lord's day as the time of special ,christian worship4 ,we have1 however1 earlier notices of the first day in connexion with ,christian observances4 ,the apostles1 for instance1 met together on the first day1 as we are told in ,john xx4 #ai1 and again eight days after1 as the twenty-sixth verse of the same chapter tells4 ,st4 ,paul's first ,epistle to ,corinth was written twelve months earlier than this visit to ,troas1 and it expressly mentions 7ch4 xvi4 #b7 the first day of the week as the time ordered by ,st4 ,paul for the setting apart of the ,galatian contribution to the collection for the poor saints at ,jerusalem2 and so here again at ,troas we see that the ,asiatic ,christians observed the same solemn time for worship and the celebration of the ,eucharist4 ,such glimpses--chance notices1 we might call them1 were there not a higher ,providence watching over the unconscious writer--show us how little we can conclude from mere silence about the ritual1 worship1 and government of the ,apostolic ,church1#bba and illustrate the vast importance of studying carefully the extant records of the ,christian ,church in the second century if we wish to gain fresh light upon the history and customs of the apostolic age4 ,if three or four brief texts were blotted out of the ,new ,testament1 it would be quite possible to argue from silence merely that the apostles and their immediate followers did not observe the ,lord's ,day in any way whatsoever1 and that the custom of stated worship and solemn eucharistic celebrations on that day were a corruption introduced in post-apostolic times4 ,the best interpreters of the ,new ,testament are1 as ,john ,wesley long ago well pointed out in his preface to his celebrated but now almost unknown ,christian ,library1 the apostolic fathers and the writers of the age next following the apostles4#bbb ,we may take it for a certain rule of interpretation that1 whenever we find a widely established practice or custom mentioned in the writings of a ,christian author of the second century1 it originated in apostolic times4 ,it was only natural that this should have been the case4 ,we are all inclined to venerate the past1 and to cry it up as the golden age4 ,now this tendency must have been intensified tenfold in the case of the ,christians of the second century4 ,the first century was the time of our ,lord and the age of the apostles4 ,sacred memories clustered thick round it1 and every ceremony and rite which came from that time must have been profoundly reverenced1 while every new ceremony or custom must have been rudely challenged1 and its author keenly scrutinised as one who presumptuously thought he could improve upon the wisdom of men inspired by the ,holy ,ghost and miraculously gifted by ,god4 ,it is for this reason we regard the second-century doctors and apologists as the best commentary upon the sacred writers1 because in them we see the ,church of the apostolic age living1 acting1 displaying itself amid the circumstances and scenes of actual life4 #bbj ,there is to this day a trace of this custom in the ,book of ,common ,prayer in the rubric which prescribes that the collect for ,sunday shall be said on ,saturday evening4 ,in colleges1 too1 according to ,archbishop ,laud's rules1 surplices are worn on ,saturday evenings as well as on ,sundays4 #bba ,see above1 pp4 #cdb and #cfa1 where ,i have pointed out the dangerous character of the argument from mere silence4 ,i may perhaps recur to the example of ,meyer1 the eminent textual critic1 to illustrate my view of ,german critics stated in my first note to this chapter1 p4 #chf above4 ,meyer is an exhaustive textual critic1 but as soon as he ventures on the region of history he falls into this trap1 and concludes from the argument of silence that ,apollos was never baptized with ,christian baptism because he was so clever and spiritually enlightened that he did not need it4 ,but1 then1 how does he account for the case of ,st4 ,paul8 ,was ,apollos superior to ,st4 ,paul8 ,and yet he was baptized4 ,but the illustrations of the fallacies of this method of argumentation would be endless4 ,if the argument of silence is sufficient to prove a negative1 what are we to do with female communicants8 ,there is not a single instance of them in the ,new ,testament4 ,it is here1 however1 that the study of the second-century writers is so valuable as illustrating the silence of the first4 ,see my note on p4 #cdb above4 #bbb ,the ,christian library was a series of fifty volumes which ,wesley published for the use of his followers4 ,they were begun in #agdi and completed in #agee4 ,the opening volume contains1 #a4 ,the ,epistles of the apostolical fathers ,clement1 ,ignatius1 and ,polycarp1 whom he believed to be endued with the extraordinary assistance of the ,holy ,spirit1 and whose writings1 though not of equal authority with the ,holy ,scriptures1 are worthy of a much greater respect than any composures that have been made since4 #b4 ,the martyrdoms of ,ignatius and ,polycarp4 #c4 ,an extract from the ,homilies of ,macarius1 born about the year #cja4 ,see ,tyerman's ,life of ,wesley1 ii4 #be1 #fe-fg4 ,just let us take as an illustration the case of this observance of the first day of the week4 ,the ,acts of the ,apostles tells us but very little about it1 simply because there is but little occasion to mention what must have seemed to ,st4 ,luke one of the commonest and best-known facts4 ,but ,justin ,martyr some eighty years later was describing ,christianity for the ,roman ,emperor4 ,he was defending it against the outrageous and immoral charges brought against it1 and depicting the purity1 the innocency1 and simplicity of its sacred rites4 ,among other subjects dealt with1 he touches upon the time when ,christians offered up formal and stated worship4 ,it was absolutely necessary therefore for him to treat of the subject of the ,lord's ,day4 ,in the sixty-seventh chapter of ,justin's ,first ,apology1 we find him describing the ,christian weekly festival in words which throw back an interesting light upon the language of ,st4 ,luke touching the ,lord's ,day which ,st4 ,paul passed at ,troas4 ,justin writes thus on this topic3 ,upon the day called ,sunday all who live in cities or in the country gather together unto one place1 and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read1 as long as time permits2 then1 when the reader has ceased1 the president verbally instructs1 and exhorts to the imitation of these good things4 ,then we all rise together and pray1 and as we before said1 when our prayer is ended1 bread and wine and water are brought1 and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings according to his ability1 and the people assent1 saying ,amen2#bbc and there is a distribution to each1 and a participation of that over which thanks have been given1 and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons4 ,and those who are well to do and willing1 give what each thinks fit2 and what is collected is deposited with the president1 who succours the orphans and widows1 and those who through sickness or any other cause are in want1 and those who are in bonds1 and the strangers sojourning among us1 and in a word takes care of all who are in need4 ,but ,sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly1 because it is the first day on which ,god1 having wrought a change in the darkness and matter1 made the world2 and ,jesus ,christ our ,saviour on the same day rose from the dead4 ,this passage gives us a full account of ,christian customs in the first half of the second century1 when thousands must have been still alive who remembered the times of the apostles1 enabling us to realise what must have been the character of the assembly and of the worship in which ,st4 ,paul played a leading part at ,troas4#bbd #bbc ,here we have an illustration of #a ,cor4 xiv4 #af3 ,else if thou bless with the ,spirit1 how shall he that filleth the place of the unlearned say the ,amen at the giving of thanks1 seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest8 ,see also ch4 lxv4 of ,justin's same ,apology for another reference to the ,amen1 and cf4 ,apost4 ,constitutions1 viii4 #aj2 ,cyril of ,jerusalem1 ,cat41 ch4 v42 ,euseb41 ,h4 ,e41 vi4 #dc and vii4 #i2 ,ambros4 ,de ,sacrament41 iv4 #d2 ,jerom41 ,epist41 #fb2 ,chrysost41 ,hom41 xxxv4 on #ast ,cor42 ,bingham's ,antiqq41 ,,xv4 iii4 #bf2 and the article on ,amen in the first volume of ,smith's ,dict4 ,christ4 ,antiqq4 ,the preceding chapters of ,justin's ,apology1 lxv4 and lxvi41 are full of information4 ,they expressly state that in the ,primitive ,church no unbaptized person was allowed to communicate1 an elementary point of ,christian practice about which some persons and some ,christian societies seem at present very uncertain4 ,hooker's words1 ,eccles4 ,pol41 ,book ,v4 ch4 lxvii41 are very clear on this topic4 #bbd ,the continuous character1 the strong conservatism of the early ,christian ,church receives an interesting illustration from the history of the ,sabbath as distinguished from the ,lord's ,day4 ,the ,jewish ,church gave the outward form to ,christianity2 and though ,christianity parted company with ,judaism by the end of the first century1 yet the sacred character of the ,sabbath was still perpetuated among the ,gentiles notwithstanding ,st4 ,paul's strong language in ,galatians and ,colossians4 ,in the fourth century the ,sabbath was observed in many places in the same manner as the ,lord's ,day4 ,st4 ,athanasius says3 ,we meet on the ,sabbath1 not indeed being infected with ,judaism1 but to worship ,jesus1 the ,lord of the ,sabbath4 ,timothy1 one of his successors at ,alexandria1 says that the ,holy ,communion was administered on the ,sabbath as on the ,lord's ,day1 and that these two were the only days on which it was celebrated in that city4 ,in the time of ,st4 ,chrysostom the two great weekly festivals were the ,sabbath and the ,lord's ,day4 ,it was the same in the fifth century in the ,egyptian monasteries1 where the services for ,saturday and ,sunday were exactly the same4 ,see a full account of this matter in ,bingham's ,antiquities1 ,book ,,xiii4 ch4 ix4 sec4 iii4 ,there was1 however1 a difference between the celebration at ,troas and the celebrations of which ,justin ,martyr speaks1 though we learn not of this difference from ,justin himself1 but from ,pliny's letter to ,trajan1 concerning which we have often spoken4 ,st4 ,paul met the ,christians of ,troas in the evening1 and celebrated the ,holy ,communion with them about midnight4 ,it was the first day of the week according to ,jewish computation1 though it was what we should call ,saturday evening4 ,the ship in which the apostolic company was travelling was about to sail on the morrow1 and so ,st4 ,paul gladly joined the local church in its weekly breaking of bread4 ,it was exactly the same here at ,troas as reported by ,st4 ,luke1 as it was at ,corinth where the evening celebrations were turned into occasions of gluttony and ostentation1 as ,st4 ,paul tells us in the eleventh of ,first ,corinthians4 ,the ,christians evidently met at this time in the evening to celebrate the ,lord's ,supper4 ,it has been often thought that ,st4 ,paul1 having referred just twelve months before in the ,first ,corinthian ,epistle to the gross abuses connected with the evening celebrations at ,corinth1 and having promised to set the abuses of ,corinth in order when he visited that church1 did actually change the time of the celebration of ,holy ,communion from the evening to the morning1 when he spent the three months there of which this chapter speaks4#bbe ,perhaps he did make the change1 but we have no information on the point2 and if he did make the change for ,corinth1 it is evident that he did not intend to impose it as a rule upon the whole ,christian ,church when a few weeks after leaving ,corinth he celebrated the ,lord's ,supper at ,troas in the evening4 ,by the second century1 however1 the change had been made4 ,justin ,martyr indeed does not give a hint as to the time when ,holy ,communion was administered in the passages to which we have referred4 ,he tells us that none but baptized persons were admitted to partake of it1 but gives us no minor details4 ,pliny1 however1 writing of the state of affairs in ,bithynia1--and it bordered upon the province where ,troas was situated1--tells us from the confession extracted out of apostate ,christians that the whole of their fault lay in this1 that they were wont to meet together on a stated day1 before it was light1 and sing among themselves alternately a hymn to ,christ as ,god1 and to bind themselves by a sacrament 7or oath7 not to the commission of any wickedness1 but not to be guilty of theft or robbery or adultery4 ,after this early service they then separated1 and assembled again in the evening to partake of a common meal4 ,the ,agape or ,love-,feast was united with the ,holy ,communion in ,st4 ,paul's day4 ,experience1 however1 showed that such a union must lead to grave abuses1 and so in that final consolidation which the ,church received during the last quarter of the first century1 when the ,lord's ,second ,coming was seen to be not so immediate as some at first expected1 the two institutions were divided2 the ,holy ,communion being appointed as the early morning service of the ,lord's ,day1 while the ,agape was left in its original position as an evening meal4 ,and so have matters continued ever since4 ,the ,agape indeed has almost died out4 ,a trace of it perhaps remains in the blessed bread distributed in ,roman ,catholic churches on the ,continent2 while again the love-feasts instituted by ,john ,wesley and continued among his followers were an avowed imitation of this primitive institution4 ,the ,agape continued indeed in vigorous existence for centuries1 but it was almost always found associated with grave abuses4 ,it might have been innocent and useful so long as ,christian love continued to burn with the fervour of apostolic days1 though even then1 as ,corinth showed1 there were lurking dangers in it2 but when we reach the fourth and fifth centuries we find council after council denouncing the evils of the ,agape1 and restricting its celebration with such effect that during the ,middle ,ages it ceased to exist as a distinctive ,christian ordinance4#bbf ,the change of the ,holy ,communion to the earlier portion of the day took almost universal effect1 and that from the earliest times4 ,tertullian 7,de ,corona1 iii47 testifies that in his time the ,eucharist was received before daybreak1 though ,christ had instituted it at a meal-time4 ,cyprian witnesses to the same usage in his sixty-third ,epistle1 where he speaks of ,christ as instituting the ,sacrament in the evening1 that the very hour of the sacrifice might intimate the evening of the world1 but then describes himself as celebrating the resurrection of the ,lord in the morning4#bbg ,st4 ,augustine1 as quoted above1 writing about #djj1 speaks of fasting communion as the general rule2 so general1 indeed1 that he regards it as having come down from apostolic appointment4 ,at the same time ,st4 ,augustine recognises the time of its original institution1 and mentions the custom of the ,african ,church which once a year had an evening communion on ,thursday before ,easter in remembrance of the ,last ,supper and of our ,lord's action in connection with it4 ,my own feeling on the matter is1 that early fasting communion when there is health and strength is far the most edifying4 ,there is an element of self-denial about it1 and the more real self-denial there is about our worship the more blessed will that worship be4 ,a worship that costs nothing in mind1 body1 or estate is but a very poor thing to offer unto the ,lord of the universe4 ,but there is no ground either in ,holy ,scripture or the history of the primitive ,church justifying an attempt to put a yoke on the neck of the disciples which they cannot bear and to teach that fasting communion is binding upon all ,christians4 ,st4 ,augustine speaks most strongly in a passage we have already referred to 7,epist4 cxviii41 ,ad ,januar47 about the benefit of fasting communion2 but he admits the lawfulness of non-fasting participation1 as does also that great ,greek divine ,st4 ,chrysostom1 who quotes the examples of ,st4 ,paul and of our ,lord ,himself in justification of such a course4#bbh #bbe ,st4 ,augustine1 in ,epist41 cxviii41 ,ad ,januar41 cc4 vi4 vii41 was one of the first to suggest this idea4 ,the passage is quoted by ,bingham1 ,antiqq41 ,,xv4 vii4 #h4 #bbf ,see the exhaustive article on ,agap in ,smith's ,dict4 ,christ4 ,antiqq41 vol4 i41 p4 #ci4 #bbg ,the early ,christians celebrated the ,holy ,communion in memory of ,christ's resurrection as much as in memory of ,his death4 ,the resurrection of ,christ was1 in fact1 the central point of their belief and thought4 ,this alone would have conduced to the practice of early morning communion1 even before day1 inasmuch as it was at that time the resurrection took place4 ,cf4 ,dict4 ,christ4 ,antiqq41 vol4 i41 p4 #dai1 on the hours of celebration of the ,holy ,communion4 ,on p4 #da of the same volume the writer of the article on the ,agap makes an extraordinary statement that it was only at the third ,council of ,carthage1 ,a4,d4 #cia1 that the time of ,eucharistic celebration was changed to the morning1 and that then the ,agape was first separated from the ,holy ,communion4 ,the change and the separation had taken place in ,pliny's time1 as ,i have already shown4 #bbh ,this whole subject of fasting communion is discussed at length with all the authorities duly given in ,bingham's ,antiquities1 ,book ,,xv4 ch4 vii4 sec4 #h1 whence ,i have taken my references1 and where he quotes ,bishop ,fell's ,notes on ,cyprian1 ,epist4 lxiii4 p4 #aef1 who says that the custom of communicating after supper lasted for a long time in the ,church3 cf4 ,socrates1 ,h4 ,e41 v4 #bb1 and the ,dict4 ,christ4 ,antiqq41 vol4 i41 p4 #dag1 on ,fasting ,reception of ,h4 ,c4 ,the celebration of the ,eucharist was not the only subject which engaged ,st4 ,paul's attention at ,troas4 ,he preached unto the people as well2 and following his example we find from ,justin ,martyr's narrative that preaching was an essential part of the communion office in the days immediately following the apostles' age2 and then1 descending to lower times still1 we know that preaching is an equally essential portion of the eucharistic service in the ,western ,church1 the only formal provision for a sermon according to the ,english liturgy being the rubric in the service for the ,holy ,communion1 which lays down that after the ,nicene ,creed1 ,then shall follow the sermon or one of the ,homilies already set forth1 or hereafter to be set forth1 by authority4 ,st4 ,paul's discourse was no mere mechanical homily1 however4 ,he was not what man regarded as a powerful1 but he was a ready speaker1 and one who carried his hearers away by the rapt intense earnestness of his manner4 ,his whole soul was full of his subject4 ,he was convinced that this was his last visit to the churches of ,asia4 ,he foresaw too a thousand dangers to which they would be exposed after his departure1 and he therefore prolonged his sermon far into the night1 so far indeed that human nature asserted its claims upon a young man named ,eutychus1 who sat in a window of the room where they were assembled4 ,human nature indeed was never for a moment absent from these primitive ,church assemblies4 ,if it was absent in one shape1 it was present in another1 just as really as in our modern congregations1 and so ,eutychus fell fast asleep under the heart-searching exhortations of an inspired apostle1 even as men fall asleep under less powerful sermons of smaller men2 and as the natural result1 sitting in a window left open for the sake of ventilation1 he fell down into the courtyard1 and was taken up apparently lifeless4 ,st4 ,paul was not put out1 however4 ,he took interruptions in his work as the ,master took them4 ,he was not upset by them1 but he seized them1 utilised them1 and then1 having extracted the sweetness and blessedness which they brought with them1 he returned from them back to his interrupted work4 ,st4 ,paul descended to ,eutychus1 found him in a lifeless state1 and then restored him4 ,men have disputed whether the ,apostle worked a miracle on this occasion1 or merely perceived that the young man was in a temporary faint4 ,i do not see that it makes any matter which opinion we form4 ,st4 ,paul's supernatural and miraculous powers stand on quite an independent ground1 no matter what way we decide this particular case4 ,it seems to me indeed from the language of ,st4 ,paul--,make ye no ado2 for his life is in him--that the young man had merely fainted1 and that ,st4 ,paul recognised this fact as soon as he touched him4 ,but if any one has strong opinions on the opposite side ,i should be sorry to spend time disputing a question which has absolutely no evidential bearing4 ,the great point is1 that ,eutychus was restored1 that ,st4 ,paul's long sermon was attended by no fatal consequences1 and that the ,apostle has left us a striking example showing how that1 with pastors and people alike1 intense enthusiasm1 high-strung interest in the affairs of the spiritual world1 can enable human nature to rise superior to all human wants1 and prove itself master even of the conquering powers of sleep3 ,and when he was gone up1 and had broken the bread1 and eaten1 and had talked with them a long while1 even till break of day1 so he departed4 ,we know nothing of what the particular topics were which engaged ,st4 ,paul's attention at ,troas1 but we may guess them from the subject-matter of the address to the elders of ,ephesus1 which takes up the latter half of this twentieth chapter4 ,troas and ,ephesus1 in fact1 were so near and so similarly circumstanced that the dangers and trials of both must have been much alike4 ,he next passed from ,troas to ,miletus4 ,this is a considerable journey along the western shore of ,asia ,minor4 ,st4 ,paul was eagerly striving to get to ,jerusalem by ,pentecost1 or by ,whitsuntide1 as we should say4 ,he had left ,philippi after ,easter1 and now there had elapsed more than a fortnight of the seven weeks which remained available for the journey to ,jerusalem4 ,how often ,st4 ,paul must have chafed against the manifold delays of the trading vessel in which he sailed2 how frequently he must have counted the days to see if sufficient time remained to execute his purpose6 ,st4 ,paul1 however1 was a rigid economist of time4 ,he saved every fragment of it as carefully as possible4 ,it was thus with him at ,troas4 ,the ship in which he was travelling left ,troas early in the morning4 ,it had to round a promontory in its way to the port of ,assos1 which could be reached direct by ,st4 ,paul in half the time4 ,the ,apostle therefore took the shorter route1 while ,st4 ,luke and his companions embarked on board the vessel4 ,st4 ,paul evidently chose the land route because it gave him a time of solitary communion with ,god and with himself4 ,he felt1 in fact1 that the perpetual strain upon his spiritual nature demanded special spiritual support and refreshment1 which could only be obtained in the case of one who led such a busy life by seizing upon every such occasion as then offered for meditation and prayer4 ,st4 ,paul left ,troas some time on ,sunday morning4 ,he joined the ship at ,assos1 and after three days' coasting voyage landed at ,miletus on ,wednesday1 whence he despatched a messenger summoning the elders of the ,church of ,ephesus to meet him4#bbi ,the ship was evidently to make a delay of several days at ,miletus4 ,we conclude this from the following reason4 ,miletus is a town separated by a distance of thirty miles from ,ephesus4 ,a space therefore of at least two days would be required in order to secure the presence of the ,ephesian elders4 ,if a messenger--,st4 ,luke1 for instance--started immediately on ,st4 ,paul's arrival at ,miletus1 no matter how quickly he travelled1 he could not arrive at ,miletus sooner than ,thursday at midday4 ,the work of collecting the elders and making known to them the apostolic summons would take up the afternoon at least1 and then the journey to ,ephesus either by land or water must have occupied the whole of ,friday4 ,it is very possible that the sermon recorded in this twentieth of ,acts was delivered on the ,sabbath1 which1 as we have noted above1 was as yet kept sacred by ,christians as well as by ,jews1 or else upon the ,lord's ,day1 when1 as upon that day week at ,troas1 the elders of ,ephesus had assembled with the ,christians of ,miletus in order to commemorate the ,lord's resurrection4 #bbi ,the ,lives of ,st4 ,paul by ,lewin and by ,conybeare and ,howson enter into minute computations as to the days of the month upon which the ,apostle touched at the various towns mentioned in the ,acts4 ,i can now merely refer the reader to these works for such details about ,st4 ,paul's life1 as they scarcely come within the scope of an expositor's duty4 ,we have already pointed out that we know not the subject of ,st4 ,paul's sermon at ,troas1 but we do know the topics upon which he enlarged at ,miletus1 and we may conclude that1 considering the circumstances of the time1 they must have been much the same as those upon which he dwelt at ,troas4 ,some critics have found fault with ,st4 ,paul's sermon as being quite too much taken up with himself and his own vindication4 ,but they forget the peculiar position in which ,st4 ,paul was placed1 and the manner in which the truth of the gospel was then associated in the closest manner with ,st4 ,paul's own personal character and teaching4 ,the ,apostle was just then assailed all over the ,christian world wherever he had laboured1 and even sometimes where he was only known by name1 with the most frightful charges2 ambition1 pride1 covetousness1 deceit1 lying1 all these things and much more were imputed to him by his opponents who wished to seduce the ,gentiles from that simplicity and liberty in ,christ into which he had led them4 ,corinth had been desolated by such teachers2 ,galatia had succumbed to them2 ,asia was in great peril4 ,st4 ,paul therefore1 foreseeing future dangers1 warned the shepherds of the flock at ,ephesus against the machinations of his enemies1 who always began their preliminary operations by making attacks upon ,st4 ,paul's character4 ,this sufficiently explains the apologetic tone of ,st4 ,paul's address1 of which we have doubtless merely a brief and condensed abstract indicating the subjects of a prolonged conversation with the elders of ,ephesus1 ,miletus1 and such neighbouring churches as could be gathered together4 ,we conclude that ,st4 ,paul's conference on this occasion must have been a long one for this reason4 ,if ,st4 ,paul could find matter sufficient to engage his attention for a whole night1 from sundown till sunrise1 in a place like ,troas1 where he had laboured but a very short time1 how much more must he have found to say to the presbyters of the numerous congregations which must have been flourishing at ,ephesus where he had laboured for years with such success as to make ,christianity a prominent feature in the social and religious life of that idolatrous city6 ,let us now notice some of the topics of this address4 ,it may be divided into four portions4 ,the first part is retrospective1 and autobiographical2 the second is prospective1 and sets forth his conception of his future course2 the third is hortatory1 expounding the dangers threatening the ,ephesian ,church2 and the fourth is valedictory4 ,i4 ,we have the biographical portion4 ,he begins his discourse by recalling to the minds of his hearers his own manner of life1--,ye yourselves know1 from the first day that ,i set foot in ,asia1 after what manner ,i was with you all the time1 serving the ,lord with all lowliness of mind1 and with tears1 and with trials which befell me by the plots of the ,jews2 words which show us that from the earliest portion of his ministry at ,ephesus1 and as soon as they realised the meaning of his message1 the ,jews had become as hostile to the ,apostle at ,ephesus as they had repeatedly shown themselves at ,corinth1 again and again making attempts upon his life4 ,the foundations indeed of the ,ephesian ,church were laid in the synagogue during the first three months of his work1 as we are expressly told in ch4 xix4 #h2 but the ,ephesian ,church must have been predominantly ,gentile in its composition1 or else the language of ,demetrius must have been exaggerated and the riot raised by him meaningless4 ,how could ,demetrius have said1 ,ye see that at ,ephesus this ,paul hath persuaded and turned away much people1 saying that they be no gods which are made with hands1 unless the vast majority of his converts were drawn from the ranks of those pagans who worshipped ,diana8 ,these words also show us that during his extended ministry at ,ephesus he was left at peace by the heathen4 ,st4 ,paul here makes no mention of trials experienced from pagan plots4 ,he speaks of the ,jews alone as making assaults upon his work or his person1 incidentally confirming the statement of ch4 xix4 #bc1 that it was only when he was purposing to retire from ,ephesus1 and during the celebration of the ,artemisian games which marked his last days there1 that the opposition of the pagans developed itself in a violent shape4 ,st4 ,paul begins his address by fixing upon ,jewish opposition outside the ,church as his great trial at ,ephesus1 just as the same kind of opposition inside the ,church had been his great trial at ,corinth1 and was yet destined to be a source of trial to him in the ,ephesian ,church itself1 as we can see from the ,pastoral ,epistles4 ,he then proceeds to speak of the doctrines he had taught and how he had taught them2 reminding them how that ,i shrank not from declaring unto you anything that was profitable1 and teaching you publicly1 and from house to house1 testifying both to ,jews and ,greeks repentance toward ,god1 and faith toward our ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,st4 ,paul sets forth his manner of teaching4 ,he taught publicly1 and public teaching was most effective in his case1 because he came armed with a double power1 the powers of spiritual and of intellectual preparation4 ,st4 ,paul was not a man who thought that prayer and spiritual life could dispense with thought and mental culture4 ,or again1 he would be the last to tolerate the idea that diligent visitation from house to house would make up for the neglect of that public teaching which he so constantly and so profitably practised4 ,public preaching and teaching1 pastoral visitation and work1 are two distinct branches of labour1 which at various periods of the ,church's history have been regarded in very different lights4 ,st4 ,paul evidently viewed them as equally important1 the tendency in the present age is1 however1 to decry and neglect preaching and to exalt pastoral work--including under that head ,church services--out of its due position4 ,this is1 indeed1 a great and lamentable mistake4 ,the teaching publicly to which ,st4 ,paul refers is the only opportunity which the majority of men possess of hearing the authorised ministers of religion1 and if the latter neglect the office of public preaching1 and think the fag end of a week devoted to external and secular labours and devoid of any mental study and preparation stirring the soul and refreshing the spirit1 to be quite sufficient for pulpit preparation1 they cannot be surprised if men come to despise the religion that is presented in such a miserable light and by such inefficient ambassadors4#bcj #bcj ,i do not think there is any greater want in the ,church of ,england than the revival of preaching4 ,it is simply lamentable to see the numbers who under usual circumstances will walk out of church before the sermon1 and still more lamentable to see the number of men who do not go to church at all4 ,this ,i attribute to the low estate to which the ordinary sermon has fallen4 ,in the days of evangelical supremacy the pulpit may have been unduly exalted2 now it is unduly neglected1 and with terrible results4 ,st4 ,paul insists in this passage on the publicity and boldness of his teaching4 ,there was no secrecy about him1 no hypocrisy2 he did not come pretending one view or one line of doctrine1 and then1 having stolen in secretly1 teaching a distinct system4 ,in this passage1 which may seem laudatory of his own methods1 ,st4 ,paul is1 in fact1 warning against the underhand and hypocritical methods adopted by the ,judaising party1 whether at ,antioch1 ,galatia1 or ,corinth4 ,in this division of his sermon ,st4 ,paul then sets forth the doctrines which were the sum and substance of the teaching which he had given both publicly and from house to house4 ,they were repentance towards ,god1 and faith towards our ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 and that not only in the case of the ,jews1 but also of the ,greeks4 ,now here we shall miss the implied reference of ,st4 ,paul1 unless we emphasize the words ,i shrank not from declaring unto you anything that was profitable4 ,his ,judaising opponents thought there were many other things profitable for men besides these two points round which ,st4 ,paul's teaching turned4 ,they regarded circumcision and ,jewish festivals1 washings and sacrifices1 as very necessary and very profitable for the ,gentiles2 while1 as far as the ,jews were concerned1 they thought that the doctrines on which ,st4 ,paul insisted might possibly be profitable1 but were not at all necessary4 ,st4 ,paul impresses by his words the great characteristic differences between the ,ebionite view of ,christ and of ,christianity and that catholic view which has regenerated society and become a source of life and light to the human race4#bca #bca ,i think ,i hear in ,st4 ,paul's words in this passage an echo of the ,epistle to the ,romans which he had written a month or two previously4 ,the idea1 ,repentance towards ,god1 and faith towards our ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 as the essence of ,christianity is the central idea of that ,epistle4 ,,ii4 ,we have1 then1 the prospective portion of his discourse4 ,st4 ,paul announces his journey to ,jerusalem1 and professes his ignorance of his fate there4 ,he was warned merely by the testimony of the ,holy ,spirit that bonds and afflictions were his portion in every city4 ,he was prepared for them1 however1 and for death itself1 so that he might accomplish the ministry with which the ,lord ,jesus ,christ had put him in trust4 ,he concluded this part of his address by expressing his belief that he would never see them again4 ,his work among them was done1 and he called them to witness that he was pure from the blood of all men1 seeing that he had declared unto them the whole counsel of ,god4 ,this passage has given rise to much debate1 because of ,st4 ,paul's statement that he knew that he should never see them again1 while the ,epistles to ,timothy and that to ,titus prove that after ,st4 ,paul's first imprisonment1 with the notice of which this book of the ,acts ends1 he laboured for several years in the neighbourhood of ,asia ,minor1 and paid lengthened visits to ,ephesus4 ,we cannot now bestow space in proving this point1 which will be found fully discussed in the various ,lives of ,st4 ,paul which we have so often quoted3 as1 for instance1 in ,lewin1 vol4 ii41 p4 #id1 and in ,conybeare and ,howson1 vol4 ii41 p4 #edg4 ,we shall now merely indicate the line of proof for this4 ,in the ,epistle to ,philemon1 ver4 #bb1 written during his first ,roman imprisonment1 and therefore years subsequent to this address1 he indicates his expectation of a speedy deliverance from his bonds1 and his determination to travel eastward to ,coloss1 where ,philemon lived 7cf4 ,philippians i4 #be1 ii4 #bd74 ,he then visited ,ephesus1 where he left ,timothy1 who had been his companion in the latter portion of his ,roman imprisonment 7cf4 ,philem4 #a and #a ,tim4 i4 #c71 expecting soon to return to him in the same city 7#a ,tim4 iii4 #ad72 while again in #b ,tim4 i4 #ah he speaks of ,onesiphorus having ministered to himself in ,ephesus1 and then in the same ,epistle 7ch4 iv4 #bj71 written during his second ,roman imprisonment1 he speaks of having just left ,trophimus at ,miletus sick4 ,this brief outline1 which can be followed up in the volumes to which we have referred1 and especially in ,appendix ,,ii4 in ,conybeare and ,howson on the date of the ,pastoral ,epistles1 must suffice to prove that ,st4 ,paul was expressing a mere human expectation when he told the ,ephesian elders that he should see their faces no more4 ,st4 ,luke1 in fact1 thus shows us that ,st4 ,paul was not omniscient in his knowledge1 and that the inspiration which he possessed did not remove him1 as some persons think1 out of the category of ordinary men or free him from their infirmities4 ,the ,apostle was1 in fact1 supernaturally inspired upon occasions4 ,the ,holy ,ghost now and again illuminated the darkness of the future when such illumination was necessary for the ,church's guidance2 but on other occasions ,st4 ,paul and his brother apostles were left to the guidance of their own understandings and to the conclusions and expectations of common sense1 else why did not ,st4 ,peter and ,st4 ,john read the character of ,ananias and ,sapphira or of ,simon ,magus before their sins were committed8 why did ,st4 ,peter know nothing of his deliverance from ,herod's prison-house before the angel appeared1 when his undissembled surprise is sufficient evidence that he had no expectation of any such rescue8 ,these instances1 which might be multiplied abundantly out of ,st4 ,paul's career and writings1 show us that ,st4 ,paul's confident statement in this passage was a mere human anticipation which was disappointed by the course of events4 ,the supernatural knowledge of the apostles ran on precisely the same lines as their supernatural power4 ,god bestowed them both for use according as ,he saw fit and beneficial1 but not for common ordinary every-day purposes1 else why did ,st4 ,paul leave ,trophimus at ,miletus sick1 or endure the tortures of his own ophthalmia1 or exhort ,timothy to take a little wine on account of his bodily weakness1 if he could have healed them all by his miraculous power8 ,before we leave this point we may notice that here we have an incidental proof of the early date of the composition of the ,acts4 ,st4 ,luke1 as we have often maintained1 wrote this book about the close of ,st4 ,paul's first imprisonment4 ,assuredly if he had written it at a later period1 and above all1 if he wrote it twenty years later1 he would have either modified the words of his synopsis of ,st4 ,paul's speech1 or else given us a hint that subsequent events had shown that the ,apostle was mistaken in his expectations1 a thing which he could easily have done1 because he cherished none of these extreme notions about ,st4 ,paul's office and dignity which have led some to assume that it was impossible for him ever to make a mistake about the smallest matters4#bcb #bcb ,see on this point ,dr4 ,salmon's ,introduction to ,new ,testament1 #dth ed41 p4 #dde4 ,,iii4 ,this discourse1 again1 is hortatory1 and its exhortations contain very important doctrinal statements4 ,st4 ,paul begins this third division with an exhortation like that which our ,lord gave to ,his apostles under the same circumstances1 ,take heed unto yourselves4 ,the ,apostle never forgot that an effective ministry of souls must be based on deep personal knowledge of the things of ,god4 ,he knew1 too1 from his own experience that it is very easy to be so completely taken up with the care of other men's souls and the external work of the ,church1 as to forget that inner life which can only be kept alive by close communion with ,god4 ,then1 having based his exhortations on their own spiritual life1 he exhorts the elders to diligence in the pastoral office3 ,take heed unto yourselves1 and to all the flock1 in the which the ,holy ,ghost hath made you bishops1 to feed the ,church of ,god1 which ,he purchased with ,his own blood4 ,st4 ,paul in these words shows us his estimate of the ministerial office4 ,the elders of ,ephesus had been all ordained by ,st4 ,paul himself with the imposition of hands1 a rite that has ever been esteemed essential to ordination4 ,it was derived from the ,jewish ,church1 and was perpetuated into the ,christian ,church by that same spirit of conservatism1 that law of continuity which in every department of life enacts that everything shall continue as it was unless there be some circumstance to cause an alteration4#bcc ,now there was no cause for alteration in this case2 nay1 rather there was every reason to bring about a continuance of this custom1 because imposition of hands indicates for the people the persons ordained1 and assures the ordained themselves that they have been individually chosen and set apart4 ,but ,st4 ,paul by these words teaches us a higher and nobler view of the ministry4 ,he teaches us that he was himself but the instrument of a higher power1 and that the imposition of hands was the sign and symbol to the ordained that the ,holy ,ghost had chosen them and appointed them to feed the flock of ,god4 ,st4 ,paul here shows that in ordination1 as in the sacraments1 we should by faith look away beyond and behind the human instrument1 and view the actions of the ,church of ,christ as the very operations and manifestations in the world of time and sense of the ,holy ,ghost ,himself1 the ,lord and ,giver of life4 ,he teaches the ,ephesian elders1 in fact1 exactly what he taught the ,corinthian ,church some few months earlier1 ,we have this treasure in earthen vessels1 that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of ,god1 and not from ourselves 7#b ,cor4 iv4 #g72 the treasure and the power were everything1 the only things1 in fact1 worth naming1 the earthen vessels which contained them for a little time were nothing at all4 ,how awful1 solemn1 heart-searching a view of the ministerial office this was6 ,how sustaining a view when its holders are called upon to discharge functions for which they feel themselves all inadequate in their natural strength6 ,is it any wonder that the ,church1 taking the same view as ,st4 ,paul did1 has ever held and taught that the ministerial office thus conferred by supernatural power is no mere human function to be taken up or laid down at man's pleasure1 but is a life-long office to be discharged at the holder's peril1--a savour of life unto life for the worthy recipient1 a savour of death unto death for the unworthy and the careless4 #bcc ,this rule or law is the principle of ,butler's great argument for a future life in the first chapter of his ,analogy4 ,he expressly states in the following words1 ,there is in every case a probability that things will continue as we experience they are1 in all respects1 except those in which we have some reason to think they will be altered4 ,this is that kind of presumption of probability from analogy expressed in the word continuance which seems our only natural reason for believing the course of the world will continue to-morrow as it has done so far back as our experience or knowledge of history can carry us back4 ,in connexion with this statement made by ,st4 ,paul concerning the source of the ministry we find a title given to the ,ephesian presbyters round which much controversy has centred4 ,st4 ,paul says1 ,take heed unto the flock1 over which the ,holy ,ghost has made you bishops4 ,i do not1 however1 propose to spend much time over this topic1 as all parties are now agreed that in the ,new ,testament the term presbyter and bishop are interchangeable and applied to the same persons4#bcd ,the question to be decided is not about a name1 but about an office1 whether1 in fact1 any persons succeeded in apostolic times to the office of rule and government exercised by ,st4 ,paul and the rest of the apostles1 as well as by ,timothy1 ,titus1 and the other delegates of the ,apostle1 and whether the term bishop1 as used in the second century1 was applied to such successors of the apostles4#bce ,this1 however1 is not a question which comes directly within the purview of an expositor of the ,acts of the ,apostles1 as the appointment of ,timothy and ,titus to manage the affairs of the ,church in ,ephesus and in ,crete lies beyond the period covered by the text of the ,acts1 and properly belongs to the commentary on the ,pastoral ,epistles4 ,st4 ,paul's words in this connexion have1 however1 an important bearing on fundamental doctrinal questions connected with the person of the ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,st4 ,paul speaks of the presbyters as called to feed the ,church of ,god1 which ,he hath purchased with ,his own blood4 ,these words are very strong1 so strong indeed that various readings have been put forward to mitigate their force4 ,some have read ,lord instead of ,god1 others have substituted ,christ for it2 but the ,revised ,version1 following the text of ,westcott and ,hort1 have accepted the strongest form of the verse on purely critical ground1 and translates it as the ,church of ,god1 which ,he hath purchased with ,his own blood4 ,this passage1 then1 is decisive as to the ,christological views of ,st4 ,luke and the ,pauline circle generally4 ,they believed so strongly in the deity of ,jesus ,christ and ,his essential unity with the ,father that they hesitated not to speak of ,his sacrifice on ,calvary as a shedding of the blood of ,god1 an expression which some fifty years afterwards we find in the ,epistle of ,ignatius to the ,ephesians1 where ,st4 ,ignatius speaks of them as kindled into living fire by the blood of ,god1 and a hundred years later still1 in ,tertullian1 ,ad ,uxor41 ii4 #c4 ,this passage has been used in scientific theology as the basis of a principle or theory called the ,communicatio ,idiomatum1 a theory which finds an illustration in two other notable passages of ,scripture1 ,st4 ,john iii4 #ac and #a ,cor4 ii4 #h4 ,in the former passage our ,lord says of ,himself1 ,no man hath ascended into heaven1 but ,he that descended out of heaven1 even the ,son of man which is in heaven1 where the ,son of man is spoken of as in heaven as well as upon earth at the same time1 though the ,son of man1 according to ,his humanity1 could only be in one place at a time4 ,in the second passage ,st4 ,paul says1 ,which none of the rulers of this world knew2 for had they known it1 they would not have crucified the ,lord of ,glory1 where crucifixion is attributed to the ,lord of ,glory1 a title derived from ,his ,divine nature4 ,now the term ,communicatio ,idiomatum1 or transference of peculiar properties1 is given to this usage because in all these texts the properties of the nature pertaining either to ,god or to man are spoken of as if they belonged to the other2 or1 to put it far better in the stately language of ,hooker1 v4 liii4 where he speaks of those cross and circulatory speeches wherein there are attributed to ,god such things as belong to manhood1 and to man such as properly concern the deity of ,jesus ,christ1 the cause whereof is the association of natures in one subject4 ,a kind of mutual commutation there is1 whereby those concrete names1 ,god and man1 when we speak of ,christ1 do take interchangeably one another's room1 so that for truth of speech it skilleth not whether we say that the ,son of ,god hath created the world and the ,son of man by ,his death hath saved it1 or else that the ,son of man did create and the ,son of ,god die to save the world4 ,this is a subject of profound speculative and doctrinal interest1 not only in connexion with the apostolic view of our ,lord's ,person1 but also in reference to the whole round of methodised and scientific theology4 ,we cannot1 however1 afford further space for this subject4 ,we must be content to have pointed it out as an interesting topic of inquiry1 and1 merely referring the reader to ,hooker and to ,liddon's ,bampton ,lectures 7,lect4 ,v47 for more information1 must hurry on to a conclusion4 ,st4 ,paul terminates this part of his discourse with expressing his belief in the rapid development of false doctrines and false guides as soon as his repressive influence shall have been removed2 a belief which the devout student of the ,new ,testament will find to have been realised when in #a ,tim4 i4 #bj1 in #b ,tim4 i4 #ae1 and ii4 #ag1 #ah he finds the ,apostle warning the youthful ,bishop of ,ephesus against ,phygelus and ,hermogenes1 who had turned all ,asia away from ,st4 ,paul1 and against ,hymenus1 ,philetus1 and ,alexander1 who had imbibed the ,gnostic error concerning matter1 which had already led the ,corinthians to deny the future character of the ,resurrection4 ,st4 ,paul then terminates his discourse with a solemn commendation of the ,ephesian elders to that ,divine grace which is as necessary for an apostle as for the humblest ,christian4 ,he exhorts them to self-sacrifice and self-denial1 reminding them of his own example1 having supported himself and his companions by his labour as a tentmaker at ,ephesus1 and above all of the words of the ,lord ,jesus1 which they apparently knew from some source which has not come down to us1 ,it is more blessed to give than to receive4 #bcd ,irenus1 however1 writing in the second century1 states that the bishops and presbyters of ,ephesus and the neighbouring cities were assembled at ,miletus1 so that he distinguishes between bishops and presbyters even on this occasion3 see his work ,against ,heresies1 iii4 #ad4 ,dr4 ,hatch had an extraordinary theory1 which he elaborates in his article ,priest in the ,dictionary of ,christian ,antiquities1 vol4 ii41 p4 #agjj4 ,he thus states it3 ,whether the institution of ,presbyters existed in the first instance outside the limits of the ,judo-,christian communities is doubtful4 ,there is no evidence that it did so2 the presumption is that it did not1 for when ,st4 ,paul1 writing to the churches which were presumably non-,jewish in their character1 recognises the existence of church officers1 he designates them by other names3 7#a ,thess4 v4 #ab71 7,philip4 i4 #a74 ,to put it briefly1 his idea is that bishop as a title was confined to predominantly ,greek communities1 and presbyter as a title was confined to predominantly ,gentile communities4 ,will this theory and the instances he gives stand the test of facts8 ,philippi was1 he thinks1 a predominantly ,gentile ,church1 so thoroughly ,gentile that its members would necessarily prefer titles drawn from impure pagan sources rather than from ,judaism4 ,but was ,philippi so thoroughly ,gentile8 ,if so1 why did ,st4 ,paul stay there and celebrate the days of unleavened bread and the passover1 as we have above noted8 ,a large element in the church must have been ,jewish when this happened4 ,again1 take ,thessalonica4 ,we have already noted that the majority of that church must have been ,gentile in origin2 but there must have been a large and influential minority ,jewish by race in a town where the ,jews were so large an element in the population4 ,again1 we find the title presbyter applied to the church officials of ,ephesus4 ,dr4 ,hatch on the same page enumerates ,ephesus among the ,judo-,christian communities1 one1 therefore1 which would presumably prefer ,jewish titles for its clergy4 ,but was it predominantly ,jewish8 ,st4 ,paul laboured three months in the synagogue at ,ephesus1 and was then expelled4 ,he laboured there for two years among the ,gentiles with such success1 that ,demetrius describes him as having turned away all ,asia from ,diana's worship4 ,surely if ever there was a ,gentile ,christian ,church it was ,ephesus6 7,cf4 ,ephes4 ii4 and iii41 where the ,gentile character of the ,ephesian ,church is expressly asserted47 ,yet here we have the title presbyter in use4 ,dr4 ,hatch's is not scientific historical reasoning1 but the exercise of what ,bishop ,butler well designates1 that delusive faculty called man's imagination and fancy4 ,upon this whole question of the origin of ,christian presbyters1 ,i may notice an exhaustive ,biblical inquiry1 called ,the ,ruling ,elder1 by the ,rev4 ,robert ,king of ,ballymena1 the learned author of a well-known ,irish ,church ,history4 ,it appeared after this chapter was written4 #bce ,in the second century bishops were often called presbyters1 though presbyters were not called bishops1 or1 to quote ,bishop ,lightfoot1 ,essay on the ,ministry1 ,philippians1 p4 #bbf3 ,in the language of ,irenus1 a presbyter is never designated a bishop1 while on the other hand he very frequently speaks of a bishop as a presbyter4 ,this usage long continued in the ,church4 ,cyprian often expresses himself thus3 cf4 article on word ,senior in ,dict4 ,christ4 ,antiqq4 ,many instances of it occur in the literature of the early ,celtic ,church in ,ireland1 which was an offshoot of the ,gallican ,church and1 through ,gaul1 of the ,church of ,western ,asia ,minor4 ,in fact1 this custom of calling bishops seniors or presbyters was used in ,ireland till the twelfth century3 see ,ussher's ,works1 ,ed4 ,elrington1 vi4 #eag1 #ebh4 ,st4 ,bernard1 for instance1 in his ,life of ,st4 ,malachy1 calls the ,bishop of ,lismore ,senior ,lesmorensis4 ,i do not1 as ,i have said1 propose to enter any further into the debateable subject of ,church government2 but as ,i have come across this passage1 and as ,i have already announced that ,i am writing this commentary as a decided ,churchman1 ,i may be permitted to state my own views1 as history seems to me to set them forth1 without entering into any discussion on the point4 ,during the apostolic age the terms bishop and presbyter were interchangeable4 ,as the apostles passed away1 they seem to me to have established ,episcopacy as the normal rule of the ,church1 though1 doubtless1 it was only by degrees that the title of bishop was appropriated to the office so created4 ,by the time of ,ignatius1 that is1 about #aaj ,a4,d41 this appropriation was complete4 ,as regards my authority for saying the apostles established ,episcopacy1 ,i simply appeal to ,irenus1 who1 in his great work against ,heresies1 ,book ,,iii41 ch4 iii41 states in section i4 that the apostles instituted bishops in the churches1 and then in sec4 #c proceeds to trace the line of these bishops in the ,roman ,church1 beginning with ,linus1 into whose hands the blessed apostles committed the office of the ,episcopate4 ,now it is upon ,irenus we largely depend for the proof of the canon of the ,new ,testament and the ,johannine origin of the ,fourth ,gospel4 ,surely if ,irenus is a witness sufficient to establish the apostolic origin of the ,gospels1 he should be quite sufficient to establish the apostolic origin of ,episcopacy6 ,if ,irenus is a competent witness to the true authorship of an anonymous document like the ,fourth ,gospel1 he is surely competent to tell us of the true origin of a worldwide institution like ,episcopacy4 ,it is assuredly much easier to learn the origin of institutions than of documents4 ,when the ,apostle had thus terminated his address1 which doubtless was a very lengthened one1 he knelt down1 probably on the shore1 as we shall find him kneeling in the next chapter 7xxi4 #e1 #f7 on the shore at ,tyre4 ,he then commended them in solemn prayer to ,god1 and they all parted in deep sorrow on account of the final separation which ,st4 ,paul's words indicated as imminent2 for though the primitive ,christians believed in the reality of the next life with an intensity of faith of which we have no conception1 and longed for its peace and rest1 yet they gave free scope to those natural affections which bind men one to another according to the flesh and were sanctified by the ,master ,himself when ,he wept by the grave of ,lazarus4 ,christianity is not a religion of stoical apathy1 but of sanctified human affections4 ,,chapter ,,xvii4 ,a ,,prisoner ,,in ,,bonds4 ,having found a ship crossing over unto ,phnicia1 we went aboard1 and set sail4444 ,we sailed unto ,syria1 and landed at ,tyre3 for there the ship was to unload her burden4444 ,when we were come to ,jerusalem1 the brethren received us gladly4444 ,then the chief captain came near1 and laid hold on him1 and commanded him to be bound with two chains2 and inquired who he was1 and what he had done4444 ,but ,paul said1 ,i am a ,jew1 of ,tarsus in ,cilicia1 a citizen of no mean city3 and ,i beseech thee1 give me leave to speak unto the people4--,,acts xxi4 #b1 #c1 #ag1 #cc1 #ci1 #dj4 ,and they gave him audience unto this word2 and they lifted up their voice1 and said1 ,away with such a fellow from the earth3 for it is not fit that he should live4444 ,but on the morrow1 desiring to know the certainty1 wherefore he was accused of the ,jews1 he loosed him1 and commanded the chief priests and all the council to come together1 and brought ,paul down1 and set him before them4--,,acts xxii4 #bb1 #cj4 ,and after five days the high priest ,ananias came down with certain elders1 and with an orator1 one ,tertullus2 and they informed the governor against ,paul4--,,acts xxiv4 #a4 ,and ,agrippa said unto ,paul1 ,thou art permitted to speak for thyself4 ,then ,paul stretched forth his hand1 and made his defence4--,,acts xxvi4 #a4 ,the title we have given to this chapter1 ,a ,prisoner in ,bonds1 expresses the central idea of the last eight chapters of the ,acts4 ,twenty years and more had now elapsed since ,st4 ,paul's conversion on the road to ,damascus4 ,these twenty years had been times of unceasing and intense activity4 ,now we come to some five years when the external labours1 the turmoil and the cares of active life1 have to be put aside1 and ,st4 ,paul was called upon to stand apart and learn the lesson which every-day experience teaches to all1--how easily the world can get along without us1 how smoothly ,god's designs fulfil themselves without our puny assistance4 ,the various passages we have placed at the head of this chapter cover six chapters of the ,acts1 from the twenty-first to the twenty-sixth4 ,it may seem a large extent of the text to be comprised within the limits of one of our chapters1 but it must be remembered that a great deal of the space thus included is taken up with the narrative of ,st4 ,paul's conversion1 which is twice set forth at great length1 first to the multitude from the stairs of the tower of ,antonia1 and then in his defence which he delivered before ,agrippa and ,bernice and ,festus1 or else with the speeches delivered by him before the assembled ,sanhedrin and before ,felix the governor1 wherein he dwells on points previously and sufficiently discussed4#bcf ,we have already considered the narrative of the ,apostle's conversion at great length1 and noted the particular directions in which ,st4 ,paul's own later versions at ,jerusalem and ,csarea throw light upon ,st4 ,luke's independent account4 ,to the earlier chapters of this book we therefore would refer the reader who wishes to discuss ,st4 ,paul's conversion1 and several of the other subjects which he introduces4 ,let us now1 however1 endeavour1 first of all1 to gather up into one connected story the tale of ,st4 ,paul's journeys1 sufferings1 and imprisonments from the time he left ,miletus after his famous address till he set sail for ,rome from the port of ,csarea1 a prisoner destined for the judgment-seat of ,nero4 ,this narrative will embrace from at least the summer of ,a4,d4 #eh1 when he was arrested at ,jerusalem1 to the autumn of #fj1 when he set sail for ,rome4 ,this connected story will enable us to see the close union of the various parts of the narrative which is now hidden from us because of the division into chapters1 and will enable us to fix more easily upon the leading points which lend themselves to the purposes of an expositor4 #bcf ,thus in ch4 xxiv4 #aj-af he enlarges upon the subject of the ,way which they call a sect1 a topic and a name fully discussed above on pp4 #cb1 #cc4 ,i4 ,st4 ,paul1 after parting from the ,ephesian ,church1 embarked on board his ship1 and then coasted along the western shore of ,asia ,minor for three days1 sailing amid scenery of the most enchanting description1 specially in that late spring or early summer season at which the year had then arrived4 ,it was about the first of ,may1 and all nature was bursting into new life1 when even hearts1 the hardest and least receptive of external influences1 feel as if they were living a portion of their youth over again4 ,and even ,st4 ,paul1 rapt away in the contemplation of things unseen1 must have felt himself touched by the beauty of the scenes through which he was passing1 though ,st4 ,luke tells us nothing but the bare succession of events4 ,three days after leaving ,miletus the sacred company reached ,patara1 a town at the south-western corner of ,asia ,minor1 where the coast begins to turn round towards the east4 ,here ,st4 ,paul found a trading ship sailing direct to ,tyre and ,palestine1 and therefore with all haste transferred himself and his party into it4 ,the ship seems to have been on the point of sailing1 which suited ,st4 ,paul so much the better1 anxious as he was to reach ,jerusalem in time for ,pentecost4 ,the journey direct from ,patara to ,tyre is about three hundred and fifty miles1 a three days' sail under favourable circumstances for the trading vessels of the ancients1 and the circumstances were favourable4 ,the north-west wind is to this day the prevailing wind in the eastern ,mediterranean during the late spring and early summer season1 and the north-west wind would be the most favourable wind for an ancient trader almost entirely depending on an immense main sail for its motive power4 ,with such a wind the merchantmen of that age could travel at the rate of a hundred to a hundred and fifty miles a day1 and would therefore traverse the distance between ,patara and ,tyre in three days1 the time we have specified4 ,when the vessel arrived at ,tyre ,st4 ,paul sought out the local ,christian congregation4 ,the ship was chartered to bring a cargo probably of wheat or wine to ,tyre1 inasmuch as ,tyre was a purely commercial city1 and the territory naturally belonging to it was utterly unable to furnish it with necessary provisions1 as we have already noted on the occasion of ,herod ,agrippa's death4 ,a week1 therefore1 was spent in unloading the cargo1 during which ,st4 ,paul devoted himself to the instruction of the local ,christian ,church4 ,after a week's close communion with this eminent servant of ,god1 the ,tyrian ,christians1 like the elders of ,ephesus and ,miletus1 with their wives and children accompanied him till they reached the shore1 where they commended one another in prayer to ,god's care and blessing4 ,from ,tyre he sailed to ,ptolemais1 thirty miles distant4 ,there again he found another ,christian congregation1 with whom he tarried one day1 and then leaving the ship proceeded by the great coast road to ,csarea1 a town which he already knew right well1 and to which he was so soon to return as a prisoner in bonds4 ,at ,csarea there must now have been a very considerable ,christian congregation4 ,in ,csarea ,philip the ,evangelist lived and ministered permanently4 ,there too resided his daughters1 eminent as teachers1 and exercising in their preaching or prophetical functions a great influence among the very mixed female population of the political capital of ,palestine4 ,st4 ,paul and ,st4 ,luke abode in ,csarea several days in the house of ,philip the ,evangelist4 ,he did not wish to arrive in ,jerusalem till close on the ,feast of ,pentecost1 and owing to the fair winds with which he had been favoured he must have had a week or more to stay in ,csarea4 ,here ,agabus again appears upon the scene4 ,fourteen years before he had predicted the famine which led ,st4 ,paul to pay a visit to ,jerusalem when bringing up the alms of the ,antiochene ,church to assist the poor brethren at ,jerusalem1 and now he predicts the ,apostle's approaching captivity4 ,the prospect moved the ,church so much that the brethren besought ,st4 ,paul to change his mind and not enter the ,holy ,city4 ,but his mind was made up1 and nothing would dissuade him from celebrating the ,feast as he had all along proposed4 ,he went up therefore to ,jerusalem1 lodging with ,mnason1 an early disciple1 as the ,revised ,version puts it1 one therefore who traced his ,christian convictions back probably to the celebrated ,pentecost a quarter of a century earlier1 when the ,holy ,ghost first displayed ,his supernatural power in converting multitudes of human souls4 ,next day he went to visit ,james1 the ,bishop of ,jerusalem1 who received him warmly1 grasped his position1 warned him of the rumours which had been industriously and falsely circulated as to his opposition to the ,law of ,moses1 even in the case of born ,jews1 and gave him some prudent advice as to his course of action4 ,st4 ,james recommended that ,st4 ,paul should unite himself with certain ,christian ,nazarites1 and perform the ,jewish rites usual in such cases4 ,a ,nazarite1 as we have already mentioned1 when he took the ,nazarite vow for a limited time after some special deliverance vouchsafed to him1 allowed his hair to grow till he could cut it off in the ,temple1 and have it burned in the fire of the sacrifices offered up on his behalf4 ,these sacrifices were very expensive1 as will be seen at once by a reference to ,numbers vi4 #ac-ah1 where they are prescribed at full length1 and it was always regarded as a mark of patriotic piety when any stranger coming to ,jerusalem offered to defray the necessary charges for the poorer ,jews1 and thus completed the ceremonies connected with the ,nazarite vow4 ,st4 ,james advised ,st4 ,paul to adopt this course1 to unite himself with the members of the local ,christian ,church who were unable to defray the customary expenses1 to pay their charges1 join with them in the sacrifices1 and thus publicly proclaim to those who opposed him that1 though he differed from them as regards the ,gentiles1 holding in that matter with ,st4 ,james himself and with the apostles1 yet as regards the ,jews1 whether at ,jerusalem or throughout the world at large1 he was totally misrepresented when men asserted that he taught the ,jews to reject the ,law of ,moses4 ,st4 ,paul was guided by the advice of ,james1 and proceeded to complete the ceremonial prescribed for the ,nazarites4 ,this was the turning-point of his fate4 ,jerusalem was then thronged with strangers from every part of the world4 ,ephesus and the province of ,asia1 as a great commercial centre1 and therefore a great ,jewish resort1 furnished a very large contingent4#bcg ,to these1 then1 ,paul was well known as an enthusiastic ,christian teacher1 toward whom the synagogues of ,ephesus felt the bitterest hostility4 ,they had often plotted against him at ,ephesus1 as ,st4 ,paul himself told the elders in his address at ,miletus1 but had hitherto failed to effect their purpose4 ,now1 however1 they seemed to see their chance4 ,they thought they had a popular cry and a legal accusation under which he might be done to death under the forms of law4 ,these ,ephesian ,jews had seen him in the city in company with ,trophimus1 an uncircumcised ,christian1 belonging to their own city1 one therefore whose presence within the temple was a capital offence1 even according to ,roman law4#bch ,they raised a cry therefore that he had defiled the ,holy ,place by bringing into it an uncircumcised ,greek2 and thus roused the populace to seize the ,apostle1 drag him from the sacred precincts1 and murder him4 ,during the celebration of the ,feasts the ,roman sentinels1 stationed upon the neighbouring tower of ,antonia which overlooked the ,temple courts1 watched the assembled crowds most narrowly1 apprehensive of a riot4 ,as soon therefore as the first symptoms of an outbreak occurred1 the alarm was given1 the chief captain ,lysias hurried to the spot1 and ,st4 ,paul was rescued for the moment4 ,at the request of the ,apostle1 who was being carried up into the castle1 he was allowed to address the multitude from the stairs4 ,they listened to the narrative of his conversion very quietly till he came to tell of the vision ,god vouchsafed to him in the ,temple some twenty years before1 warning him to leave ,jerusalem1 when at the words ,depart1 for ,i will send thee forth far hence unto the ,gentiles1 all their pent-up rage and pride and national jealousy burst forth anew4 ,st4 ,paul had been addressing them in the ,hebrew language which the chief captain understood not1 and the mob probably expressed their rage and passion in the same language4 ,the chief captain ordered ,st4 ,paul to be examined by flogging to know why they were so outrageous against him4 ,more fortunate1 however1 on this occasion than at ,philippi1 he claimed his privilege as a ,roman citizen1 and escaped the torture4 ,the chief captain was still in ignorance of the prisoner's crime1 and therefore he brought him the very next day before the ,sanhedrin1 when ,st4 ,paul by a happy stroke caused such a division between the ,sadducees and ,pharisees that the chief captain was again obliged to intervene and rescue the prisoner from the contending factions4 ,next day1 however1 the ,jews formed a conspiracy to murder the ,apostle1 which his nephew discovered and revealed to ,st4 ,paul and to ,claudius ,lysias1 who that same night despatched him to ,csarea4#bci #bcg ,see ,lightfoot's ,ignatius1 vol4 i41 p4 #deb1 upon the presence of ,jews in the towns and cities of ,proconsular ,asia4 ,antiochus the ,great transported two thousand ,jewish families to these parts from ,babylonia and ,mesopotamia4 #bch ,inscriptions1 according to ,josephus1 were graven in ,greek and ,latin on stones fixed in a wall or balustrade which ran round the ,temple1 warning the ,gentiles not to enter on pain of death3 see ,josephus1 ,wars1 ,v4 v4 #b2 ,antiqq41 ,,xv4 xi4 #e4 ,one of these stones was discovered some twenty years ago by ,m4 ,clermont ,ganneau1 with the inscription intact4 ,it had been buried in the ground on the ,via ,dolorosa in ,jerusalem1 where this learned ,frenchman discovered it4 ,a transcript of it can now be seen in ,lewin's ,st4 ,paul1 ii4 #acc4 ,the inscription literally translated runs thus3 ,no alien to pass within the balustrade round the ,temple and the inclosure4 ,whosoever shall be caught 7so doing7 must blame himself for the death that will ensue4 ,this stone must often have been read by our ,lord and ,his apostles1 as they frequented the temple4 #bci ,it is very curious how perpetually ,st4 ,paul escaped the plots of the ,jews at ,corinth1 ,ephesus1 and elsewhere4 ,at ,corinth the plot formed was revealed as it would seem just as he was about to go on board his vessel 7ch4 xx4 #c74 ,doubtless there were concealed ,christians to whose ears the plots came and by whom they were revealed4 ,all these events1 from his conference with ,james to his arrival under guard at ,csarea1 cannot have covered more than eight days at the utmost1 and yet the story of them extends from the middle of the twenty-first chapter to the close of the twenty-third1 while the record of twelve months' hard work preaching1 writing1 organising is embraced within the first six verses of the twentieth chapter1 showing how very different was ,st4 ,luke's narrative of affairs1 according as he was present or absent when they were transacted4#bdj #bdj ,see ,lewin's ,fasti ,sacri1 pp4 #cad-af1 for an elaborate account of each day's proceedings1 and a discussion of the various problems1 chronological and otherwise1 which they raise4 ,from the beginning of the twenty-fourth chapter to the close of the twenty-sixth is taken up with the account of ,st4 ,paul's trials1 at first before ,felix1 and then before ,festus1 his successor in the procuratorship of ,palestine4 ,just let us summarise the course of events and distinguish between them4 ,st4 ,paul was despatched by ,claudius ,lysias to ,felix accompanied by a letter in which he contrives to put the best construction on his own actions1 representing himself as specially anxious about ,st4 ,paul because he was a ,roman citizen1 on which account indeed he describes himself as rescuing him from the clutches of the mob4 ,after the lapse of five days ,st4 ,paul was brought up before ,felix and accused by the ,jews of three serious crimes in the eyes of ,roman law as administered in ,palestine4 ,first1 he was a mover of seditions among the ,jews2#bda second1 a ringleader of a new sect1 the ,nazarenes1 unknown to ,jewish law2 and third1 a profaner of the ,temple1 contrary to the law which the ,romans themselves had sanctioned4 ,on all these points ,paul challenged investigation and demanded proof1 asking where were the ,jews from ,asia who had accused him of profaning the ,temple4 ,the ,jews doubtless thought that ,paul was a common ,jew1 who would be yielded up to their clamour by the procurator1 and knew nothing of his ,roman citizenship4 ,their want of witnesses brought about their failure1 but did not lead to ,st4 ,paul's release4 ,he was committed to the custody of a centurion1 and freedom of access was granted to his friends4 ,in this state ,st4 ,paul continued two full years1 from midsummer #eh to the same period of ,a4,d4 #fj1 when ,felix was superseded by ,festus4 ,during these two years ,felix often conversed with ,st4 ,paul4 ,felix was a thoroughly bad man4 ,he exercised1 as a historian of that time said of him1 the power of a king with the mind of a slave4 ,he was tyrannical1 licentious1 and corrupt1 and hoped to be bribed by ,st4 ,paul when he would have set him at liberty4 ,at this period of his life ,st4 ,paul twice came in contact with the ,herodian house which thenceforth disappears from sacred history4 ,felix about the period of ,st4 ,paul's arrest enticed ,drusilla1 the great-granddaughter of ,herod the ,great1 from her husband through the medium as many think1 of ,simon ,magus4 ,drusilla was very young and very beautiful1 and1 like all the ,herodian women1 very wicked4#bdb ,felix was an open adulterer1 therefore1 and it is no wonder that when ,paul reasoned before the guilty pair concerning righteousness1 temperance1 and the judgment to come1 conscience should have smitten them and ,felix should have trembled4 ,st4 ,paul had another opportunity of bearing witness before this wicked and bloodstained family4 ,festus succeeded ,felix as procurator of ,palestine about ,june ,a4,d4 #fj4 ,within the following month ,agrippa ,,ii41 the son of the ,herod ,agrippa who had died the terrible death at ,csarea of which the twelfth chapter tells1 came to ,csarea to pay his respects unto the new governor4 ,agrippa was ruler of the kingdom of ,chalcis1 a district north of ,palestine and about the ,lebanon ,range4 ,he was accompanied by his sister ,bernice1 who afterwards became the mistress of ,titus1 the conqueror of ,jerusalem in the last great siege4 ,festus had already heard ,st4 ,paul's case1 and had allowed his appeal unto ,csar4 ,he wished1 however1 to have his case investigated before two ,jewish experts1 ,agrippa and ,bernice1 who could instruct his own ignorance on the charges laid against him by the ,jews1 enabling him to write a more satisfactory report for the ,emperor's guidance4 ,he brought ,st4 ,paul therefore before them1 and gave the great ,christian champion another opportunity of bearing witness for his ,master before a family which now for more than sixty years had been more or less mixed up1 but never for their own blessing1 with ,christian history4 ,after a period of two years and three months' detention1 varied by different public appearances1 ,st4 ,paul was despatched to ,rome to stand his trial and make his defence before the ,emperor ,nero1 whose name has become a synonym for vice1 brutality1 and self-will4 #bda ,the ,romans were always afraid of ,jewish seditions4 ,seven years before ,st4 ,paul's imprisonment there had been a terrible outburst1 in which ,ananias the high priest had been himself involved1 and which led to the despatch of ,felix himself as procurator4 ,he had effectually put down all disturbances1 which led to the prolongation of his rule in ,palestine for the very unusual period of eight years1 from #eb to #fj ,a4,d4 ,this accounts for the words of ,tertullus 7ch4 xxiv4 #b73 ,seeing that by thee we enjoy much peace1 and that by thy providence evils are corrected for this nation4 ,see ,lewin's ,fasti1 pp4 #bif-ih1 #cae1 #cbj2 ,conybeare and ,howson1 ch4 xxii42 and for the latest authority1 ,schrer's ,geschichte des ,jdischen ,volkes1 i4 #dgg-hc1 ii4 #agj 7,leipzig1 #ahhf74 #bdb ,drusilla perished with her child by this union with ,felix in the famous eruption of ,vesuvius ,a4,d4 #gi4 ,,ii4 ,we have now given a connected outline of ,st4 ,paul's history extending over a period of more than two years4 ,let us omit his formal defences1 which have already come under our notice1 and take for our meditation a number of points which are peculiar to the narrative4 ,we have in the story of the voyage1 arrest1 and imprisonment of ,st4 ,paul1 many circumstances which illustrate ,god's methods of action in the world1 or else ,his dealings with the spiritual life4 ,let us take a few instances4 ,first1 then1 we direct attention to the steady though quiet progress of the ,christian faith as revealed in these chapters4 ,st4 ,paul landed at ,tyre1 and from ,tyre he proceeded some thirty miles south to ,ptolemais4 ,these are both of them towns which have never hitherto occurred in our narrative as places of ,christian activity4 ,st4 ,paul and ,st4 ,peter and ,barnabas and the other active leaders of the ,church must often have passed through these towns1 and wherever they went they strove to make known the tidings of the gospel4 ,but we hear nothing in the ,acts1 and tradition tells us nothing of when or by whom the ,christian ,church was founded in these localities4#bdc #bdc ,see my remarks in the next chapter on the case of the church at ,puteoli1 which ,st4 ,paul found flourishing there on his voyage to ,rome4 ,we get glimpses1 too1 of the ancient organisation of the ,church1 but only glimpses2 we have no complete statement1 because ,st4 ,luke was writing for a man who lived amidst it1 and could supply the gaps which his informant left4 ,the presbyters are mentioned at ,miletus1 and ,agabus the prophet appeared at ,antioch years before1 and now again he appears at ,csarea1 where ,philip the ,evangelist and his daughters the prophetesses appear4 ,prophets and prophesying are not confined to ,palestine and ,antioch1 though the ,acts tells us nothing of them as existing elsewhere4 ,the ,epistle to ,corinth shows us that the prophets occupied a very important place in that ,christian community4 ,prophesying indeed was principally preaching at ,corinth2 but it did not exclude prediction1 and that after the ancient ,jewish method1 by action as well as by word1 for ,agabus took ,st4 ,paul's girdle1 and binding his own hands and feet declared that the ,holy ,ghost told him1 ,so shall the ,jews at ,jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle1 and deliver him into the hands of the ,gentiles4#bdd ,but how little we know of the details of the upgrowth of the ,church in all save the more prominent places6 ,how entirely ignorant we are1 for instance1 of the methods by which the gospel spread to ,tyre and ,ptolemais and ,puteoli6 ,here we find in the ,acts the fulfilment of our ,lord's words as reported in ,st4 ,mark iv4 #bf3 ,so is the kingdom of ,god1 as if a man should cast seed upon the earth2 444 and the seed should spring up and grow1 he knoweth not how4 ,it was with the last and grander temple of ,god as it was with the first4 ,its foundations were laid1 and its walls were built1 not with sound of axe and hammer1 but in the penitence of humbled souls1 in the godly testimony of sanctified spirits1 in the earnest lives of holy men hidden from the scoffing world1 known only to the ,almighty4 #bdd ,this prophecy was not literally fulfilled4 ,the ,jews did not bind ,st4 ,paul1 nor deliver him into ,gentile hands4 ,the ,romans took him out of ,jewish hands1 and bound him for their own purposes4 ,the ,jews1 however1 brought this binding about1 and were the cause of his captivity in ,roman hands4 ,on the question of prophets and prophesying in the primitive ,church1 see ,dr4 ,salmon's article on ,hermas1 in the ,dictionary of ,christian ,biography1 vol4 ii41 pp4 #iaf-ai4 ,again1 we notice the advice given by ,james and the course actually adopted by ,st4 ,paul when he arrived at ,jerusalem4 ,it has the appearance of compromise of truth1 and yet it has the appearance merely1 not the reality of compromise4 ,it was in effect wise and sound advice1 and such as teaches lessons useful for our own guidance in life4 ,we have already set forth ,st4 ,paul's conception of ,jewish rites and ceremonies4 ,they were nothing in the world one way or another1 as viewed from the ,divine standpoint4 ,their presence did not help on the work of man's salvation2 their absence did not detract from it4 ,the ,apostle therefore took part in them freely enough1 as when he celebrated the passover and the days of unleavened bread at ,philippi1 viewing them as mere national rites4#bde ,he had been successful in the very highest degree in converting to this view even the highest and strictest members of the ,jerusalem ,church4 ,st4 ,james1 in advising ,st4 ,paul how to act on this occasion1 when such prejudices had been excited against him1 clearly shows that he had come round to ,st4 ,paul's view4 ,he tells ,st4 ,paul that the multitude or body of the ,judo-,christian ,church at ,jerusalem had been excited against him1 because they had been informed that he taught the ,jews of the ,dispersion to forsake ,moses1 the very thing ,st4 ,paul did not do4 ,st4 ,james grasped1 however1 ,st4 ,paul's view that ,moses and the ,levitical ,law might be good things for the ,jews1 but had no relation to the ,gentiles1 and must not be imposed on them4 ,st4 ,james had taught this view ten years earlier at the ,apostolic ,council4 ,his opinions and teaching had percolated downwards1 and the majority of the ,jerusalem ,church now held the same view as regards the ,gentiles1 but were as strong as ever and as patriotic as ever so far as the ,jews were concerned1 and the obligation of the ,jewish ,law upon them and their children4 ,st4 ,paul had carried his point as regards ,gentile freedom4 ,and now there came a time when he had in turn to show consideration and care for ,jewish prejudices1 and act out his own principle that circumcision was nothing and uncircumcision was nothing4 ,concessions1 in fact1 were not to be all on one side1 and ,st4 ,paul had now to make a concession4 ,the ,judo-,christian congregations of ,jerusalem were much excited1 and ,st4 ,paul by a certain course of conduct1 perfectly innocent and harmless1 could pacify their excited patriotic feelings1 and demonstrate to them that he was still a true1 a genuine1 and not a renegade ,jew4 ,it was but a little thing that ,st4 ,james advised and public feeling demanded4 ,he had but to join himself to a party of ,nazarites and pay their expenses1 and thus ,paul would place himself en rapport with the ,mother ,church of ,christendom4 ,st4 ,paul acted wisely1 charitably1 and in a ,christlike spirit when he consented to do as ,st4 ,james advised4 ,st4 ,paul was always eminently prudent4 ,there are some religious men who seem to think that to advise a wise or prudent course is all the same as to advise a wicked or unprincipled course4 ,they seem to consider success in any course as a clear evidence of sin1 and failure as a proof of honesty and true principle4 ,concession1 however1 is not the same as unworthy compromise4 ,it is our duty in life to see and make our course of conduct as fruitful and as successful as possible4 ,concession on little points has a wondrous power in smoothing the path of action and gaining true success4 ,many an honest man ruins a good cause simply because he cannot distinguish1 as ,st4 ,paul did1 things necessary and essential from things accidental and trivial4 ,pig-headed obstinacy1 to use a very homely but a very expressive phrase1 which indeed is often only disguised pride1 is a great enemy to the peace and harmony of societies and churches4 ,st4 ,paul displayed great boldness here4 ,he was not afraid of being misrepresented1 that ghost which frightens so many a popularity hunter from the course which is true and right4 ,how easily his fierce opponents1 the men who had gone to ,corinth and ,galatia to oppose him1 might misrepresent his action in joining himself to the ,nazarites6 ,they were the extreme men of the ,jerusalem ,church4 ,they were the men for whom the decisions of the ,apostolic ,council had no weight1 and who held still as of old that unless a man be circumcised he could not be saved4 ,how easily1 ,i say1 these men could despatch their emissaries1 who should proclaim that their opponent ,paul had conceded all their demands and was himself observing the law at ,jerusalem4 ,st4 ,paul was not afraid of this misrepresentation1 but boldly took the course which seemed to him right and true1 and charitable1 despite the malicious tongues of his adversaries4 ,the ,apostle of the ,gentiles left us an example which many still require4 ,how many a man is kept from adopting a course that is charitable and tends to peace and edification1 solely because he is afraid of what opponents may say1 or how they may twist and misrepresent his action4 ,st4 ,paul was possessed with none of this moral cowardice which specially flourishes among so-called party-leaders1 men who1 instead of leading1 are always led and governed by the opinions of their followers4#bdf ,st4 ,paul simply determined in his conscience what was right1 and then fearlessly acted out his determination4 #bde ,st4 ,paul1 writing twelve months earlier than his arrest1 expressly lays down this principle in #a ,corinthians vii4 #ah-bj3 ,was any man called being circumcised8 let him not become uncircumcised4 ,hath any been called in uncircumcision8 let him not be circumcised4 ,circumcision is nothing1 and uncircumcision is nothing2 but the keeping of the commandments of ,god4 ,let each man abide in that calling wherein he was called4 #bdf ,we see enough of this in politics4 ,we see it in the ,church as well4 ,writing as one with nearly a quarter of a century's experience of a disestablished1 and therefore of a popularly governed ,church1 ,i have seen a great deal of this tendency in ecclesiastical matters4 ,prominent and ambitious men are ever apt to fall into the snare here noted4 ,the tendency of popular assemblies is ever to develop a class of men who will have but little backbone1 and will be always ready to rectify their convictions to suit their constituencies4 ,show thou me the way ,i should walk in1 but in a very different sense from the ,psalmist's1 is the unuttered prayer of their lives1 addressed to the popular audiences of whose opinions they are the mere expressions1 not the guides4 ,for such men this typical history has many a reproof in ,st4 ,paul's brave conduct upon this and every other occasion4 ,he was never afraid of a little temporary misrepresentation1 and therefore he proved a real guide to the ,church of his own and of every age4 ,some persons perhaps would argue that the result of his action showed that he was wrong and had unworthily compromised the cause of ,christian freedom4 ,they think that had he not consented to appear as a ,nazarite in the ,temple no riot would have occurred1 his arrest would have been avoided1 and the course of history might have been very different4 ,but here we would join issue on the spot4 ,the results of his action vindicated his ,christian wisdom4 ,the great body of the ,jerusalem ,church were convinced of his sincerity and realised his position4 ,he maintained his influence over them1 which had been seriously imperilled previously1 and thus helped on the course of development which had been going on4 ,ten years before the advocates of ,gentile freedom were but a small body4 ,now the vast majority of the local church at ,jerusalem held fast to this idea1 while still clinging fast to the obligation laid upon the ,jews to observe the law4 ,st4 ,paul did his best to maintain his friendship and alliance with the ,jerusalem ,church4 ,to put himself right with them he travelled up to ,jerusalem1 when fresh fields and splendid prospects were opening up for him in the ,west4 ,for this purpose he submitted to several days restraint and attendance in the ,temple1 and the results vindicated his determination4 ,the ,jerusalem ,church continued the same course of orderly development1 and when1 ten years later1 ,jerusalem was threatened with destruction1 the ,christian congregations alone rose above the narrow bigoted patriotism which bound the ,jews to the ,holy ,city4 ,the ,christians alone realised that the day of the ,mosaic ,law was at length passed1 and1 retiring to the neighbouring city of ,pella1 escaped the destruction which awaited the fanatical adherents of the ,law and the ,temple4#bdg #bdg ,see ,eusebius1 ,h4 ,e41 iii4 #e1 and the notes of ,valesius on that passage4 ,another answer1 too1 may be made to this objection4 ,it was not his action in the matter of the ,nazarites that brought about the riot and the arrest and his consequent imprisonment4 ,it was the hostility of the ,jews of ,asia2 and they would have assailed him whenever and wherever they met him4 ,studying the matter too even in view of results1 we should draw the opposite conclusion4 ,god ,himself approved his course4 ,a ,divine vision was vouchsafed to him in the guard-room of ,antonia1 after he had twice experienced ,jewish violence1 and bestowed upon him the approbation of ,heaven3 ,the night following the ,lord stood by him1 and said1 ,be of good cheer2 for as thou hast testified concerning ,me at ,jerusalem1 so must thou bear witness also at ,rome4 ,his courageous and at the same time charitable action was vindicated by its results on the ,jerusalem ,church1 by the sanction of ,christ ,himself1 and lastly1 by its blessed results upon the development of the ,church at large in leading ,st4 ,paul to ,rome1 in giving him a wider and more influential sphere for his efforts1 and in affording him leisure to write epistles like those to ,ephesus1 ,philippi1 and ,coloss1 which have been so instructive and useful for the ,church of all ages4 ,another point which has exercised men's minds is found in ,st4 ,paul's attitude and words when brought before the ,sanhedrin on the day after his arrest4 ,the story is told in the opening verses of the twenty-third chapter4 ,let us quote them1 as they vividly present the difficulty3 ,and ,paul1 looking stedfastly on the council1 said1 ,brethren1 ,i have lived before ,god in all good conscience until this day4 ,and the high priest ,ananias commanded them that stood by him to smite him on the mouth4 ,then said ,paul unto him1 ,god shall smite thee1 thou whited wall3 and sittest thou to judge me according to the law1 and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law8 ,and they that stood by said1 ,revilest thou ,god's high priest8 ,and ,paul said1 ,i wist not1 brethren1 that he was high priest3 for it is written1 ,thou shalt not speak evil of a ruler of thy people4 ,two difficulties here present themselves4 7a7 ,there is ,st4 ,paul's language1 which certainly seems wanting in ,christian meekness1 and not exactly modelled after the example of ,christ1 who1 when ,he was reviled1 reviled not again1 and laid down in ,his ,sermon on the ,mount a law of suffering to which ,st4 ,paul does not here conform4 ,but this is only a difficulty for those who have formed a superhuman estimate of ,st4 ,paul against which we have several times protested1 and against which this very book of the ,acts seems to take special care to warn its readers4 ,if people will make the ,apostle as sinless and as perfect as our ,lord1 they will of course be surprised at his language on this occasion4 ,but if they regard him in the light in which ,st4 ,luke portrays him1 as a man of like passions and infirmities with themselves1 then they will feel no difficulty in the fact that ,st4 ,paul's natural temper was roused at the brutal and illegal command to smite a helpless prisoner on the mouth because he had made a statement which a member of the court did not relish4 ,this passage seems to me not a difficulty1 but a divinely guided passage witnessing to the inspiring influence of the ,holy ,ghost1 and inserted to chasten our wandering fancy which would exalt the ,apostle to a position equal to that which rightly belongs to his ,divine ,master alone4 7b7 ,then there is a second difficulty4 ,some have thought that ,st4 ,paul told a lie in this passage1 and that1 when defending himself from the charge of unscriptural insolence to the high priest1 he merely pretended ignorance of his person1 saying1 ,i wist not1 brethren1 that he was high priest4 ,the older commentators devised various explanations of this passage4 ,dr4 ,john ,lightfoot1 in his ,hor ,hebraic1 treating of this verse1 sums them all up as follows4 ,either ,st4 ,paul means that he did not recognise ,ananias as high priest because he did not lawfully occupy the office1 or else because that ,christ was now the only high priest2 or else because there had been so many and so frequent changes that as a matter of fact he did not know who was the actual high priest4 ,none of these is a satisfactory explanation4 ,mr4 ,lewin offers what strikes me as the most natural explanation1 considering all the circumstances4 ,ananias was appointed high priest about #dg1 continued in office till #ei1 and was killed in the beginning of the great ,jewish war4 ,he was a thoroughly historical character1 and his high priesthood is guaranteed for us by the testimony of ,josephus1 who tells us of his varied fortunes and of his tragic death4 ,but ,st4 ,paul never probably once saw him1 as he was absent from ,jerusalem1 except for one brief visit all the time while he enjoyed supreme office4 ,now the ,sanhedrin consisted of seventy-one judges1 they sat in a large hall with a crowd of scribes and pupils in front of them1 and the high priest1 as we have already pointed out 7vol4 i41 p4 #aha71 was not necessarily president or chairman4 ,st4 ,paul was very short-sighted1 and the ophthalmia under which he continually suffered was probably much intensified by the violent treatment he had experienced the day before4 ,could anything be more natural than that a shortsighted man should not recognise in such a crowd the particular person who had uttered this very brief1 but very tyrannical command1 ,smite him on the mouth8 ,surely an impartial review of ,st4 ,paul's life shows him ever to have been at least a man of striking courage1 and therefore one who would never have descended to cloke his own hasty words with even the shadow of an untruth6#bdh #bdh ,there is no necessity to adopt forced and unnatural explanations when an easy one lies ready to our hand1 and we all have daily experience how hard it is for even a keen-sighted man to distinguish among a crowd the person who utters a brief exclamation2 a fact which the debates in the ,house of ,commons often illustrate4 ,i can myself quite appreciate ,st4 ,paul's difficulty4 ,i am extremely short-sighted1 and am never able to discern--say in a meeting of one of our synods--who it is that interrupts or contradicts me4 ,again1 the readiness and quickness of ,st4 ,paul in seizing upon every opportunity of escape have important teaching for us4 ,upon four different occasions at this crisis he displayed this characteristic4 ,let us note them for our guidance4 ,when he was rescued by the chief captain and was carried into the castle1 the captain ordered him to be examined by scourging to elicit the true cause of the riot1 ,st4 ,paul then availed himself of his privilege as a ,roman citizen to escape that torture4 ,when he stood before the council he perceived the old division between the ,pharisees and the ,sadducees to be still in existence1 which he had known long ago when he was himself connected with it4 ,he skilfully availed himself of that circumstance to raise dissension among his opponents4 ,he grasped the essential principle which lay at the basis of his teaching1 and that was the doctrine of the ,resurrection and the assertion of the reality of the spiritual world4 ,without that doctrine ,christianity and ,christian teaching was utterly meaningless1 and in that doctrine ,pharisees and ,christians were united4 ,dropping the line of defence he was about to offer1 which probably would have proceeded to show how true to conscience and to ,divine light had been his course of life1 he cried out1 ,i am a ,pharisee1 a son of ,pharisees3 touching the hope and resurrection of the dead ,i am called in question4 ,grotius1 an old and learned commentator1 dealing with ch4 xxiii4 #f1 has well summed up the principles on which ,st4 ,paul acted on this occasion in the following words3 ,st4 ,paul was not lacking in human prudence1 making use of which for the service of the gospel1 he intermingled the wisdom of the serpent with the gentleness of the dove1 and thus utilised the dissensions of his enemies4 ,yet once more we see the same tact in operation4 ,after the meeting of the ,sanhedrin and his rescue from out of its very midst1 a plot was formed to assassinate him1 of which he was informed by his nephew4 ,then again ,st4 ,paul did not let things slide1 trusting in the ,divine care alone4 ,he knew right well that ,god demanded of men of faith that they should be fellow-workers with ,god and lend ,him their co-operation4 ,he knew too the horror which the ,roman authorities had of riot and of all illegal measures2 he despatched his nephew therefore to the chief captain1 and by his readiness of resource saved himself from imminent danger4 ,lastly1 we find the same characteristic trait coming out at ,csarea4 ,his experience of ,roman rule taught him the anxiety of new governors to please the people among whom they came4 ,he knew that ,festus would be anxious to gratify the ,jewish authorities in any way he possibly could4 ,they were very desirous to have the ,apostle transferred from ,csarea to ,jerusalem1 sure that in some way or another they could there dispose of him4 ,knowing therefore the dangerous position in which he stood1 ,st4 ,paul's readiness and tact again came to his help4 ,he knew ,roman law thoroughly well4 ,he knew that as a ,roman citizen he had one resource left by which in one brief sentence he could transfer himself out of the jurisdiction of ,sanhedrin and ,procurator alike1 and of this he availed himself at the critical moment1 pronouncing the magic words ,csarem ,appello 7,i appeal unto ,csar74 ,st4 ,paul left in all these cases a healthy example which the ,church urgently required in subsequent years4 ,he had no morbid craving after suffering or death4 ,no man ever lived in a closer communion with his ,god1 or in a more steadfast readiness to depart and be with ,christ4 ,but he knew that it was his duty to remain at his post till the ,captain of his salvation gave a clear note of withdrawal1 and that clear note was only given when every avenue of escape was cut off4 ,st4 ,paul therefore used his knowledge and his tact in order to ascertain the ,master's will and discover whether it was ,his wish that ,his faithful servant should depart or tarry yet awhile for the discharge of his earthly duties4 ,i have said that this was an example necessary for the ,church in subsequent ages4 ,the question of flight in persecution became a very practical one as soon as the ,roman ,empire assumed an attitude definitely hostile to the ,church4 ,the more extreme and fanatical party not only refused to take any measures to secure their safety or escape death1 but rather rushed headlong upon it1 and upbraided those as traitors and renegades who tried in any way to avoid suffering4#bdi ,from the earliest times1 from the days of ,ignatius of ,antioch himself1 we see this morbid tendency displaying itself2 while the ,church in the person of several of its greatest leaders--men like ,polycarp and ,cyprian1 who themselves retired from impending danger till the ,roman authorities discovered them--showed that ,st4 ,paul's wiser teaching and example were not thrown away4#bej ,quietism was a view which two centuries ago made a great stir both in ,england and ,france1 and seems embodied to some extent in certain modern forms of thought4 ,it taught that believers should lie quite passive in ,god's hands and make no effort for themselves4 ,quietism would never have found a follower in the vigorous mind of ,st4 ,paul1 who proved himself through all those trials and vicissitudes of more than two years ever ready with some new device wherewith to meet the hatred of his foes4#bea #bdi ,any reader who wishes to see how this question was discussed about the year #bjj ,a4 ,d4 should turn to ,tertullian's treatise ,de ,fuga in ,persecutione1 c4 #f41 in his works translated in ,clark's ,ante-,nicene ,library1 vol4 i41 p4 #cfd1 where ,tertullian admits that the apostles fled in time of persecution1 but argues that the permission to do so was merely temporary and personal to the apostles4 ,the study of ,church history is specially useful in showing us how exactly the same tendencies emerge in ancient and modern schisms and sects4 ,tertullian would have been a ,quietist had he lived in the seventeenth century2 see note #b1 p4 #ddf4 #bej ,st4 ,ignatius of ,antioch was very desirous of martyrdom4 ,st4 ,polycarp fifty years avoided it till he was arrested4 ,st4 ,clement of ,alexandria1 in his ,stromata1 iv4 #af1 #ag1 condemns the suicidal passion for martyrdom4 ,st4 ,cyprian1 enthusiastic as he was1 retired like ,polycarp till escape was impossible4 ,these holy men all acted like ,st4 ,paul4 ,they waited till ,god had intimated ,his will by shutting up all way of escape4 ,the story of ,polycarp has an interesting warning against presumptuous rushing upon trials4 ,quintus1 one of ,st4 ,polycarp's flock1 gave himself up to death4 ,his courage failed him at the last1 and he became an apostate3 see on this subject ,lightfoot's ,ignatius and ,polycarp1 vol4 i41 pp4 #ch1 #cic1 #fjc4 #bea ,quietism1 ,jansenism1 and ,quakerism were all manifestations of the same spirit1 and arose about the same time4 ,molinos was the founder of ,quietism in ,spain4 ,a concise account of the movement will be found in ,schaffs ,theological ,encyclopdia in connexion with the names of ,molinos and ,guyon4 ,,iii4 ,we notice lastly in the narrative of ,st4 ,paul's imprisonment his interviews with and his testimony before the members of the house of ,herod4 ,st4 ,peter had experience of the father of ,herod ,agrippa1 and now ,st4 ,paul comes into contact with the children1 ,agrippa1 ,drusilla and ,bernice4 ,and thus it came about4 ,felix the procurator1 as we have already explained1 was a very bad man1 and had enticed ,drusilla from her husband4 ,he doubtless told her of the ,jewish prisoner who lay a captive in the city where she was living4 ,the ,herods were a clever race1 and they knew all about ,jewish hopes and ,messianic expectations1 and they ever seem to have been haunted by a certain curiosity concerning the new sect of the ,nazarenes4 ,one ,herod desired for a long time to see ,jesus ,christ1 and was delighted when ,pilate gratified his longing4 ,drusilla1 doubtless1 was equally curious1 and easily persuaded her husband to gratify her desire4 ,we therefore read in ch4 xxiv4 #bd1 ,but after certain days1 ,felix came with ,drusilla1 his wife1 which was a ,jewess1 and sent for ,paul1 and heard him concerning the faith in ,christ ,jesus4 ,neither of them calculated on the kind of man they had to do with4 ,st4 ,paul knew all the circumstances of the case4 ,he adapted his speech thereto4 ,he made a powerful appeal to the conscience of the guilty pair4 ,he reasoned of righteousness1 temperance1 and the judgment to come1 and beneath his weighty words ,felix trembled4 ,his convictions were roused4 ,he experienced a transient season of penitence1 such as touched another guilty member of the ,herodian house who feared ,john and did many things gladly to win his approval4 ,but habits of sin had grasped ,felix too firmly4 ,he temporised with his conscience4 ,he put off the day of salvation when it was dawning on him1 and his words1 ,go thy way for this time1 and when ,i have a convenient season ,i will call thee unto me1 became the typical language of all those souls for whom procrastination1 want of decision1 trifling with spiritual feelings1 have been the omens and the causes of eternal ruin4 ,but ,felix and ,drusilla were not the only members of the ,herodian house with whom ,paul came in contact4 ,felix and ,drusilla left ,palestine when two years of ,st4 ,paul's imprisonment had elapsed4 ,festus1 another procurator1 followed1 and began his course1 as all the ,roman rulers of ,palestine began theirs4 ,the ,jews1 when ,felix visited ,jerusalem1 besought him to deliver the prisoner lying bound at ,csarea to the judgment of their ,sanhedrin4 ,festus1 all powerful as a ,roman governor usually was1 dared not treat a ,roman citizen thus without his own consent1 and when that consent was asked ,paul at once refused1 knowing right well the intentions of the ,jews1 and appealed unto ,csar4 ,a ,roman governor1 however1 would not send a prisoner to the judgment of the ,emperor without stating the crime imputed to him4 ,just at that moment ,herod ,agrippa1 king of ,chalcis and of the district of ,itura1 together with his sister ,bernice1 appeared on the scene4 ,he was a ,jew1 and was well acquainted therefore with the accusations brought against the ,apostle1 and could inform the procurator what report he should send to the ,emperor4 ,festus therefore brought ,paul before them1 and gave him another opportunity of expounding the faith of ,jesus ,christ and the law of love and purity which that faith involved to a family who ever treated that law with profound contempt4 ,st4 ,paul availed himself of that opportunity4 ,he addressed his whole discourse to the king1 and that discourse was typical of those he addressed to ,jewish audiences4 ,it was like the sermon delivered to the ,jews in the synagogue of ,antioch in ,pisidia in one important aspect4 ,both discourses gathered round the resurrection of ,jesus ,christ as their central idea4 ,st4 ,paul began his address before ,agrippa with that doctrine1 and he ended with the same4 ,the hope of ,israel1 towards which their continuous worship tended1 was the resurrection of the dead4 ,that was ,st4 ,paul's opening idea4 ,the same note lay beneath the narrative of his own conversion1 and then he returned back to his original statement that the ,risen ,christ was the hope of ,israel and of the world taught by ,moses and proclaimed by prophets4 ,but it was all in vain as regards ,agrippa and ,bernice4 ,the ,herods were magnificent1 clever1 beautiful4 ,but they were of the earth1 earthy4 ,agrippa said indeed to ,paul1 ,with but little persuasion thou wouldest fain make me a ,christian4 ,but it was not souls like his for whom the gospel message was intended4 ,the ,herods knew nothing of the burden of sin or the keen longing of souls desirous of holiness and of ,god4 ,they were satisfied with the present transient scene1 and enjoyed it thoroughly4 ,agrippa's father when he lay a-dying at ,csarea consoled himself with the reflection that though his career was prematurely cut short1 yet at any rate he had lived a splendid life4 ,and such as the parent had been1 such were the children4 ,king ,agrippa and his sister ,bernice were true types of the stony-ground hearers1 with whom the care of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word4 ,and they choked the word so effectually in his case1 even when taught by ,st4 ,paul1 that the only result upon ,agrippa1 as ,st4 ,luke reports it1 was this3 ,agrippa said unto ,festus1 ,this man might have been set at liberty1 if he had not appealed unto ,csar4 ,,chapter ,,xviii4 ,,in ,,perils ,,on ,,the ,,sea4 ,and when it was determined that we should sail for ,italy1 they delivered ,paul and certain other prisoners to a centurion named ,julius1 of the ,augustan band4 ,and embarking in a ship of ,adramyttium1 which was about to sail unto the places on the coast of ,asia1 we put to sea1 ,aristarchus1 a ,macedonian of ,thessalonica1 being with us4 ,and the next day we touched at ,sidon3 and ,julius treated ,paul kindly1 and gave him leave to go unto his friends and refresh himself4--,,acts xxvii4 #a-c4 ,and when we entered into ,rome1 ,paul was suffered to abide by himself with the soldier that guarded him4--,,acts xxviii4 #af4 ,this chapter terminates our survey of the ,acts of the ,apostles1 and leads us at the same time to contemplate the ,apostle of the ,gentiles in a new light as a traveller and as a prisoner1 in both which aspects he has much to teach us4 ,when ,st4 ,paul was despatched to the judgment-seat of ,csar from the port of ,csarea1 he had arrived at the middle of his long captivity4 ,broadly speaking he was five years a prisoner from the day of his arrest at ,jerusalem till his release by the decision of ,nero4 ,he was a prisoner for more than two years when ,festus sent him to ,rome1 and then at ,rome he spent two more years in captivity1 while his voyage occupied fully six months4 ,let us now first of all look at that captivity1 and strive to discover those purposes of good therein which ,god hides amidst all his dispensations and chastisements4 ,we do not always realise what a length of time was consumed in the imprisonments of ,st4 ,paul4 ,he must have spent from the middle of #eh to the beginning of #fc as a prisoner cut off from many of those various activities in which he had previously laboured so profitably for ,god's cause4 ,that must have seemed to himself and to many others a terrible loss to the gospel2 and yet now1 as we look back from our vantage-point1 we can see many reasons why the guidance of his heavenly ,father may have led directly to this imprisonment1 which proved exceedingly useful for himself and his own soul's health1 for the past guidance and for the perpetual edification of the ,church of ,christ4 ,there is a text in ,ephesians iv4 #a which throws some light on this incident4 ,in that ,epistle1 written when ,st4 ,paul was a captive at ,rome1 he describes himself thus1 ,i therefore the prisoner in the ,lord1 or the prisoner of the ,lord1 as the ,authorised ,version puts it4 ,these words occur as the beginning of the ,epistle for the ,seventeenth ,sunday after ,trinity4 ,now there is often a marvellous amount of spiritual wisdom and instruction to be gained from a comparison between the epistles and gospels and the collects for each ,sunday4 ,all my readers may not agree in the whole theological system which underlies the ,prayer ,book1 but every one will acknowledge that its services and their construction are the result of rich and varied spiritual experiences extending over a period of more than a thousand years4 ,the mere contrast of an epistle and of a collect will often suggest thoughts deep and searching4 ,so it is with this text1 ,i therefore the prisoner in the ,lord4 ,it is preceded by the brief pithy prayer1 ,lord1 we pray ,thee that ,thy grace may always prevent and follow us1 and make us continually to be given to all good works1 through ,jesus ,christ our ,lord4 ,the words of ,st4 ,paul to the ,ephesians speaking of himself as the prisoner of ,god and in ,god suggested immediately the idea of ,god's grace surrounding1 shaping1 constraining to ,his service every external circumstance2 and thus led to the formation of the collect which in fact prays that we may realise ourselves as so completely ,god's as1 like the ,apostle1 continually to be given to all good works4 ,st4 ,paul realised himself as so prevented1 using that word in its ancient sense1 preceded and followed by ,god's grace1 guarded before and behind by it1 that he looked beyond the things seen1 and discarding all secondary agents and all lower instruments1 he viewed his imprisonment as ,god's own immediate work4 ,i4 ,let us then see in what way we may regard ,st4 ,paul's imprisonment as an arrangement and outcome of ,divine love4 ,take1 for instance1 ,st4 ,paul in his own personal life4 ,this period of imprisonment1 of enforced rest and retirement1 may have been absolutely necessary for him4 ,st4 ,paul had spent many a long and busy year building up the spiritual life of others1 founding churches1 teaching converts1 preaching1 debating1 struggling1 suffering4 ,his life had been one of intense spiritual1 intellectual1 bodily activity on behalf of others4 ,but no one can be engaged in intense activity without wasting some of the spiritual life and force necessary for himself4 ,religious work1 the most direct spiritual activity1 visiting the sick1 or preaching the gospel1 or celebrating the sacraments1 make a tremendous call upon our devotional powers and directly tend to lower our spiritual vitality1 unless we seek abundant and frequent renewal thereof at the source of all spiritual vitality and life4 ,now ,god by this long imprisonment took ,st4 ,paul aside once again1 as ,he had taken him aside twenty years before1 amid the rocks of ,sinai4 ,god laid hold of him in his career of external business1 as ,he laid hold of ,moses in the court of ,pharaoh1 leading him into the wilderness of ,midian for forty long years4 ,god made ,st4 ,paul ,his prisoner that1 having laboured for others1 and having tended diligently their spiritual vineyard1 he might now watch over and tend his own for a time4 ,and the wondrous manner in which he profited by his imprisonment is manifest from this very ,epistle to the ,ephesians1 in which he describes himself as ,god's prisoner--not1 be it observed1 the prisoner of the ,jews1 or of the ,romans1 or of ,csar1 but as the prisoner of ,god--dealing in the profoundest manner1 as that ,epistle does1 with the greatest mysteries of the ,christian faith4 ,st4 ,paul had an opportunity during those four or five years1 such as he never had before1 of realising2 digesting1 and assimilating in all their fulness the doctrines he had so long proclaimed to others1 and was thus enabled out of the depth of his own personal experience to preach what he felt and knew to be true1 the only kind of teaching which will ever be worth anything4 ,again1 ,st4 ,paul designates himself the prisoner of the ,lord because of the benefits his imprisonment conferred upon the ,church of ,christ in various ways4 ,take his imprisonment at ,csarea alone4 ,we are not expressly told anything about his labours during that time4 ,but knowing ,st4 ,paul's intense energy we may be sure that the whole local ,christian community established in that important centre whence the gospel could diffuse itself as far as the extremest west on the one side and the extremest east on the other1 was permeated by his teaching and vitalised by his example4 ,he was allowed great freedom1 as the ,acts declares4 ,felix gave orders to the centurion that he should be kept in charge1 and should have indulgence2 and not to forbid any of his friends to minister unto him4 ,if we take the various centurions to whom he was intrusted1 we may be sure that ,st4 ,paul must have omitted no opportunity of leading them to ,christ4 ,st4 ,paul seems to have known how to make his way to the hearts of ,roman soldiers1 as his subsequent treatment by ,julius the centurion shows1 and that permission of the governor would be liberally interpreted when deputies from distant churches sought his presence4 ,messengers from the various missions he had founded must have had recourse to ,csarea during those two years spent there1 and thence too was doubtless despatched many a missive of advice and exhortation4 ,at ,csarea1 too1 may then have been written the ,gospel of ,st4 ,luke4 ,lewin 7vol4 i41 p4 #bba71 indeed1 places its composition at ,philippi1 where ,st4 ,luke laboured for several years prior to ,st4 ,paul's visit in #eg ,a4,d4 after leaving ,ephesus2 and he gives as his reason for this conclusion that ,st4 ,paul called ,st4 ,luke in #b ,cor4 viii4 #ah1 written about that time1 the brother whose praise is in the ,gospel1 referring to his ,gospel then lately published4#beb ,i think the suggestion much more likely that ,st4 ,luke took advantage of this pause in ,st4 ,paul's activity to write his ,gospel at ,csarea when he had not merely the assistance of the ,apostle himself1 but of ,philip the deacon1 and was within easy reach of ,st4 ,james and the ,jerusalem ,church4 ,st4 ,luke's ,gospel bears evident traces of ,st4 ,paul's ideas and doctrine1 was declared by ,irenus 7,hr41 iii4 #a7 to have been composed under his direction1#bec and may with much probability be regarded as one of the blessed results flowing forth from ,st4 ,paul's detention as ,christ's prisoner given by ,him in charge to the ,roman governor4 #beb ,this involves1 however1 the supposition that ,st4 ,luke's narrative had then obtained its more modern name of the ,gospel1 which is in my opinion an anachronism4 ,in the earliest writings which refer to apostolic narratives they are simply called the writings or memoirs or commentaries of the apostles1 as in ,aristides1 c4 xvi41 and ,justin ,martyr1 ,apol41 i4 #fg4 ,in ,aristides there is one passage in ch4 ii4 where the word gospel is used1 but not in the sense of a special title for a book3 ,this is taught from that ,gospel which a little while ago was spoken among them as being preached2 wherein if ye also will read1 ye will comprehend the power that is upon it4 ,irenus1 ,,iii4 xi4 #g1 #h1 is the earliest ,i can now recall who uses the word gospel in this technical sense4 ,he speaks there of the ,gospel of ,st4 ,matthew1 etc4 ,but this was in the last quarter of the second century4 ,in the year #eg1 when ,second ,corinthians was written1 the word gospel was applied to the whole body of revealed truth held by the ,church1 and not to a book4 #bec ,iren41 iii4 #a3 ,luke1 also the companion of ,paul1 recorded in a book the gospel preached by him4 ,with respect to the relation between ,st4 ,paul and ,st4 ,luke1 see also ,iren41 iii41 xiv41 xv4 ,the ,apostle's ,roman imprisonment again was most profitable to the ,church of the imperial capital4 ,the ,church of ,rome had been founded by the efforts of individuals4 ,private ,christians did the work1 not apostles or eminent evangelists4 ,st4 ,paul came to it first of all as a prisoner1 and found it a flourishing church4 ,and yet he benefited and blessed it greatly4 ,he could not1 indeed1 preach to crowded audiences in synagogues or porticoes as he had done elsewhere4 ,but he blessed the ,church of ,rome most chiefly by his individual efforts4 ,this man came to him into his own hired house1 and that man followed him attracted by the magnetic influence he seemed to bear about4 ,the soldiers appointed as his keepers were told the story of the ,cross and the glad tidings of the resurrection life1 and these individual efforts were fruitful in vast results1 so that even into the household and palace of the ,csars did this patient1 quiet1 evangelistic work extend its influence4#bed ,nowhere else1 in fact1 not even in ,corinth1 where ,st4 ,paul spent two whole years openly teaching without any serious interruption2 not even in ,ephesus1 where he laboured so long that all who dwelt in ,asia heard the word2 nowhere else1 was the ,apostle's ministry so effective as here in ,rome1 where the prisoner of the ,lord was confined to individual effort and completely laid aside from more public and enlarged activity4 ,it was with ,st4 ,paul as it is with ,god's messengers still4 ,it is not eloquent or excited public efforts1 or platform addresses1 or public debates1 or clever books that are most fruitful in spiritual results4 ,nay1 it is often the quiet individual efforts of private ,christians1 the testimony of a patient sufferer perhaps1 the witness all-powerful with men1 of a life transformed through and through by ,christian principle1 and lived in the perpetual sunshine of ,god's reconciled countenance4 ,these are the testimonies that speak most effectually for ,god1 most directly to souls4 #bed ,the subject of ,christianity and the household of ,csarea would form an interesting subject of inquiry did only space permit4 ,i have1 however1 the less hesitation in passing it over because it has been exhaustively discussed by ,bishop ,lightfoot in the following places1 to which ,i must refer my readers3 ,philippians1 ,introduction pp4 #a-bh1 and in dissertations on1 pp4 #ig-ajb and #afi-gf4 ,this is also the subject of an elaborate monograph by ,professor ,harnack in the ,princeton ,review for ,july #ahgh1 entitled ,christians and ,rome1 with which should be compared ,schrer's ,geschichte des ,jdischen ,volkes1 ii4 #ejf-eab1 and a treatise published by him ,die ,gemeindeverfassung der ,juden in ,rom41 ,leipzig #ahgi4 ,lastly1 ,st4 ,paul's imprisonment blessed the ,church of every age1 and through it blessed mankind at large far more than his liberty and his external activity could have done in one other direction4 ,is it not a contradiction in terms to say that the imprisonment of this courageous leader1 this eloquent preacher1 this keen1 subtle debater should have been more profitable to the ,church than the exercise of his external freedom and liberty1 when all these dormant powers would have found ample scope for their complete manifestation8 ,and yet if ,christ had not laid ,his arresting hand upon the active1 external labour in which ,st4 ,paul had been absorbed1 if ,christ had not cast the busy ,apostle into the ,roman prison-house1 the ,church of all future time would have been deprived of those masterly expositions of ,christian truth which she now enjoys in the various ,epistles of the ,captivity1 and specially in those addressed to the churches of ,ephesus1 ,philippi1 and ,coloss4 ,we have now noted some of the blessings resulting from ,st4 ,paul's five years' captivity1 and indicated a line of thought which may be applied to the whole narrative contained in the two chapters with which we are dealing4 ,st4 ,paul was a captive1 and that captivity gave him access at ,csarea to various classes of society1 to the soldiers1 and to all that immense crowd of officials connected with the seat of government1 qustors1 tribunes1 assessors1 apparitors1 scribes1 advocates4 ,his captivity then led him on board ship1 and brought him into contact with the sailors and with a number of passengers drawn from diverse lands4 ,a storm came on1 and then the ,apostle's self-possession1 his calm ,christian courage1 when every one else was panic-stricken1 gave him influence over the motley crowd4 ,the waves flung the ship of ,alexandria in which he was travelling upon ,malta1 and his stay there during the tempestuous winter months became the basis of the conversion of its inhabitants4 ,everywhere in ,st4 ,paul's life and course at this season we can trace the outcome of ,divine love1 the power of ,divine providence shaping ,god's servant for ,his own purposes1 restraining man's wrath when it waxed too fierce1 and causing the remainder of that wrath to praise ,him by its blessed results4 ,,ii4 ,let us now gather up into a brief narrative the story contained in these two chapters1 so that we may gain a bird's eye view over the whole4 ,festus entered upon his provincial rule about ,june ,a4,d4 #fj4 ,according to ,roman law the outgoing governor1 of whatever kind he was1 had to await his successor's arrival and hand over the reins of government--a very natural and proper rule which all civilised governments observe4 ,we have no idea how vast the apparatus of provincial1 or1 as we should say1 colonial government among the ,romans was1 and how minute their regulations were1 till we take up one of those helps which ,german scholars have furnished towards the knowledge of antiquity1 as1 for instance1 ,mommsen's ,roman ,provinces1 which can be read in ,english1 or ,marquardt's ,rmische ,staatsverwaltung1 vol4 i41 which can be studied either in ,german or ,french4#bee ,the very city where first the new governor was to appear and the method of fulfilling his duties as the ,judge of ,assize were minutely laid down and duly followed a well-established routine4 ,we find these things indicated in the case of ,festus4 ,he arrived at ,csarea4 ,he waited three days till his predecessor had left for ,rome1 and then he ascended to ,jerusalem to make the acquaintance of that very troublesome and very influential city4 ,felix then returned to ,csarea after ten days spent in gaining an intimate knowledge of the various points of a city which often before had been the centre of rebellion1 and where he might at any moment be called upon to act with sternness and decision4 ,he at once heard ,st4 ,paul's cause as the ,jews had demanded1 brought him a second time before ,agrippa1 and then in virtue of his appeal to ,csar despatched him to ,rome in care of a centurion and a small band of soldiers1 a large guard not being necessary1 as the prisoners were not ordinary criminals1 but for the most part men of some position1 ,roman citizens1 doubtless1 who had1 like the ,apostle1 appealed unto the judgment of ,csar4#bef ,st4 ,paul embarked1 accompanied by ,luke and ,aristarchus1 as the ship1 being an ordinary trading vessel1 contained not only prisoners1 but also passengers as well4 ,we do not intend to enter upon the details of ,st4 ,paul's voyage1 because that lies beyond our range1 and also because it has been thoroughly done in the various ,lives of the ,apostle1 and above all in the exhaustive work of ,mr4 ,james ,smith of ,jordanhills4 ,he has devoted a volume to this one topic1 has explored every source of knowledge1 has entered into discussions touching the build and rigging of ancient ships and the direction of ,mediterranean winds1 has minutely investigated the scenery and history of such places as ,malta where the ,apostle was wrecked1 and has illustrated the whole with beautiful plates and carefully drawn maps4 ,that work has gone through four editions at least1 and deserves a place in every man's library who wishes to understand the life and labours of ,st4 ,paul or study the ,acts of the ,apostles4 ,we may1 however1 without trenching on ,mr4 ,smith's field1 indicate the outline of the route followed by the holy travellers4 ,they embarked at ,csarea under the care of a centurion of the ,augustan cohort1 or regiment1 as we should say1 whose name was ,julius4#beg ,they took their passage at first in a ship of ,adramyttium1 which was probably sailing from ,csarea to lie up for the winter4 ,adramyttium was a seaport situated up in the north-west of ,asia ,minor near ,troas1 and the ,sea of ,marmora1 or1 to put it in modern language1 near ,constantinople4 ,the ship was1 in fact1 about to travel over exactly the same ground as ,st4 ,paul himself had traversed more than two years before when he proceeded from ,troas to ,jerusalem4 ,surely1 some one may say1 this was not the direct route to ,rome6 ,but then we must throw ourselves back into the circumstances of the period4 ,there was then no regular transport service4 ,people1 even the most exalted1 had to avail themselves of whatever means of communication chance offered4 ,cicero1 when chief governor of ,asia1 had1 as we have already noted1 to travel part of the way from ,rome in undecked vessels1 while ten years later than ,st4 ,paul's voyage the ,emperor ,vespasian himself1 the greatest potentate in the world1 had no trireme or warship waiting upon him1 but when he wished to proceed from ,palestine to ,rome at the time of the great siege of ,jerusalem was obliged to take a passage in an ordinary merchant vessel or corn ship4#beh ,it is no wonder1 then1 that the prisoners were put on board a coasting vessel of ,asia1 the centurion knowing right well that in sailing along by the various ports which studded the shore of that province they would find some other vessel into which they could be transferred4 ,and this expectation was realised4 ,the centurion and his prisoners sailed first of all to ,sidon1 where ,st4 ,paul found a ,christian ,church4 ,this circumstance illustrates again the quiet and steady growth of the gospel kingdom1 and also gave ,julius an opportunity of exhibiting his kindly feelings towards the ,apostle by permitting him to go and visit the brethren4 ,in fact1 we would conclude from this circumstance that ,st4 ,paul had already begun to establish an influence over the mind of ,julius which must have culminated in his conversion4 ,here1 at ,sidon1 he permits him to visit his ,christian friends2 a short time after his regard for ,paul leads him to restrain his troops from executing the merciless purposes their ,roman discipline had taught them and slaying all the prisoners lest they should escape2 and yet once again when the prisoners land on ,italian soil and stand beside the charming scenery of the ,bay of ,naples he permits the ,apostle to spend a week with the ,christians of ,puteoli4 ,after this brief visit to the ,sidonian ,church1 the vessel bearing the ,apostle pursues its way by ,cyprus to the port of ,myra at the south-western corner of ,asia ,minor1 a neighbourhood which ,st4 ,paul knew right well and had often visited4 ,it was there at ,patara close at hand that he had embarked on board the vessel which carried him two years before to ,palestine1 and it was there too at ,perga of ,pamphylia that he had first landed on the shores of the ,asiatic province seeking to gather its teeming millions into the fold of ,jesus ,christ4 ,here at ,myra the centurion realised his expectations1 and finding an ,alexandrian transport sailing to ,italy he put the prisoners on board4 ,from ,myra they seem to have sailed at once1 and from the day they left it their misfortunes began4 ,the wind was contrary1 blowing from the west1 and to make any way they had to sail to the island ,cnidus1 which lay north-west of ,myra4 ,after a time1 when the wind became favourable1 they sailed south-west till they reached the island of ,crete1 which lay half-way between ,greece and ,asia ,minor4 ,they then proceeded along the southern coast of this island till they were struck by a sudden wind coming from the north-east1 which drove them first to the neighbouring island of ,clauda1 and then1 after a fortnight's drifting through a tempestuous sea1 hurled the ship upon the shores of ,malta4 ,the wreck took place towards the close of ,october or early in ,november1 and the whole party were obliged to remain in ,malta till the spring season permitted the opening of navigation4 ,during his stay in ,malta ,st4 ,paul performed several miracles4 ,with his intensely practical and helpful nature the ,apostle flung himself into the work of common life1 as soon as the shipwrecked party had got safe to land4 ,he always did so4 ,he never despised1 like some religious fanatics1 the duties of this world4 ,on board the ship he had been the most useful adviser to the whole party4 ,he had exhorted the captain of the ship not to leave a good haven2 he had stirred up the soldiers to prevent the sailors' escape2 he had urged them all alike1 crew and passengers and soldiers1 to take food1 foreseeing the terrible struggle they would have to make when the ship broke up4 ,he was the most practical adviser his companions could possibly have had1 and he was their wisest and most religious adviser too4 ,his words on board ship teem with lessons for ourselves1 as well as for his fellow-passengers4 ,he trusted in ,god1 and received special revelations from heaven1 but he did not therefore neglect every necessary human precaution4 ,the will of ,god was revealed to him that he had been given all the souls that sailed with him1 and the angel of ,god cheered and comforted him in that storm-driven vessel in ,adria1 as often before when howling mobs thirsted like evening wolves for his blood4 ,but the knowledge of ,god's purposes did not cause his exertions to relax4 ,he knew that ,god's promises are conditional upon man's exertions1 and therefore he urged his companions to be fellow-workers with ,god in the matter of their own salvation from impending death4 ,and as it was on board the ship1 so was it on the shore4 ,the rain was descending in torrents1 and the drenched passengers were shivering in the cold4 ,st4 ,paul shows the example1 so contagious in a crowd1 of a man who had his wits about him1 knew what to do1 and would do it4 ,he gathered therefore a bundle of sticks1 and helped to raise a larger fire in the house which had received him4 ,a man is marvellously helpful among a cowering and panic-stricken crowd which has just escaped death who will rouse them to some practical efforts for themselves1 and will lead the way as the ,apostle did on this occasion4 ,and his action brought its own reward4 ,he had gained influence over the passengers1 soldiers1 and crew by his practical helpfulness4 ,he was now to gain influence over the barbarian islanders in exactly the same way4 ,a viper issued from the fire and fastened on his hand4 ,the natives expected to see him fall down dead2 but after looking awhile and perceiving no change1 they concluded him to be a god who had come to visit them4 ,this report soon spread4 ,the chief man therefore of the island sought out ,st4 ,paul and entertained him4 ,his father was sick of dysentery and the ,apostle healed him1 using prayer and the imposition of hands as the outward symbols and means of the cure1 which spread his fame still farther and led to other miraculous cures4 ,three months thus passed away4 ,no distinct missionary work is indeed recorded by ,st4 ,luke1 but this is his usual custom in writing his narrative4 ,he supposes that ,theophilus1 his friend and correspondent1 will understand that the ,apostle ever kept the great end of his life in view1 never omitting to teach ,christ and ,him crucified to the perishing multitudes where his lot was cast4 ,but ,st4 ,luke was not one of those who are always attempting to chronicle spiritual successes or to tabulate the number of souls led to ,christ4 ,he left that to another day and to a better and more infallible judge4 ,in three months' time1 when ,february's days grew longer and milder winds began to blow1 the rescued travellers joined a corn ship of ,alexandria which had wintered in the island1 and all set forward towards ,rome4 ,they touched at ,syracuse in ,sicily1 sailed thence to ,rhegium1 passing through the ,straits of ,messina1 whence1 a favourable south wind springing up1 and the vessel running before it at the rate of seven knots an hour1 the usual speed for ancient vessels under such circumstances1 they arrived at ,puteoli1 one hundred and eighty-two miles distant from ,rhegium1 in the course of some thirty hours4 ,at ,puteoli the sea voyage ended4 ,it may at first seem strange to us with our modern notions that ,st4 ,paul was allowed to tarry at ,puteoli with the local ,christian ,church for seven days4 ,but then we must remember that ,st4 ,paul and the centurion did not live in the days of telegraphs and railway trains4 ,there was doubtless a guard-room1 barrack or prison in which the prisoners could be accommodated4 ,the centurion and guard were weary after a long and dangerous journey1 and they would be glad of a brief period of repose before they set out again towards the capital4 ,this hypothesis alone would be quite sufficient to account for the indulgence granted to ,st4 ,paul1 even supposing that his ,christian teaching had made no impression on the centurion4 ,the ,church existing then at ,puteoli is another instance of that quiet diffusion of the gospel which was going on all over the world without any noise or boasting4 ,we have frequently called attention to this1 as at ,tyre1 ,ptolemais1 ,sidon1 and here again we find a little company of saintly men and women gathered out of the world and living the ideal life of purity and faith beside the waters of the ,bay of ,naples4 ,and yet it is quite natural that we should find them at ,puteoli1 because it was one of the great ports which received the corn ships of ,alexandria and the merchantmen of ,csarea and ,antioch into her harbour1 and in these ships many a ,christian came bringing the seed of eternal life which he diligently sowed as he travelled along the journey of life4 ,in fact1 seeing that the ,church of ,rome had sprung up and flourished so abundantly1 taking its origin not from any apostle's teaching1 but simply from such sporadic effects1 we cannot wonder that ,puteoli1 which lay right on the road from the ,east to ,rome1 should also have gained a blessing4#bei ,a circumstance1 however1 has come to light within the last thirty years which does surprise us concerning this same neighbourhood1 showing how extensively the gospel had permeated and honeycombed the country parts of ,italy within the lifetime of the first apostles and disciples of ,jesus ,christ4 ,puteoli was a trading town1 and ,jews congregated in such places1 and trade lends an element of seriousness to life which prepares a ground fitted for the good seed of the kingdom4 ,but pleasure pure and unmitigated and a life devoted to its pursuit does not prepare such a soil4 ,puteoli was a trading city1 but ,pompeii was a pleasure-loving city thinking of nothing else1 and where sin and iniquity consequently abounded4 ,yet ,christianity had made its way into ,pompeii in the lifetime of the apostles4 ,how then do we know this8 ,this is one of the results of modern archological investigations and of epigraphical research1 two great sources of new light upon early ,christian history which have been only of late years duly appreciated4 ,pompeii1 as every person of moderate education knows1 was totally overthrown by the first great eruption of ,mount ,vesuvius in the year #gi ,a4,d4 ,it is a curious circumstance that contemporaneous authors make but the very slightest and most dubious references to that destruction1 though one would have thought that the literature of the time would have rung with it2 proving conclusively1 if proof be needed1 how little the argument from silence is worth1 when the great writers who tell minutely about the intrigues and vices of emperors and statesmen of ,rome do not bestow a single chapter upon the catastrophe which overtook two whole cities of ,italy4#bfj ,these cities remained for seventeen hundred years concealed from human sight or knowledge till revealed in the year #agee by excavations systematically pursued4 ,all the inscriptions found therein were undoubtedly and necessarily the work of persons who lived before ,a4,d4 #gi and then perished4 ,now at the time that ,pompeii was destroyed there was a municipal election going on1 and there were found on the walls numerous inscriptions formed with charcoal which were the substitutes then used for the literature and placards with which every election decorates our walls4 ,among these inscriptions of mere passing and transitory interest1 there was one found which illustrates the point at which we have been labouring1 for there1 amid the election notices of #gi ,a4,d41 there appeared scribbled by some idle hand the brief words1 ,igni gaude1 ,christiane 7,o ,christian1 rejoice in the fire71 proving clearly that ,christians existed in ,pompeii at that time1 that they were known as ,christians and not under any other appellation1 that persecution and death had reached them1 and that they possessed and displayed the same undaunted spirit as their great leader and teacher ,st4 ,paul1 being enabled like him to rejoice even amid the sevenfold-heated fires1 and in view of the resurrection life to lift the victorious pan1 ,thanks be to ,god1 which giveth us the victory through our ,lord ,jesus ,christ4#bfa #bee ,the governors brought with them regular bodies of assessors1 who assisted them like a privy council4 ,there is a reference to this council in ,acts xxv4 #ab and xxvi4 #cj4 ,these councils served as training schools in law and statesmanship for the young ,roman nobility4 ,see ,marquardt1 l4c41 p4 #cia4 #bef ,roman citizens had the right of appeal no matter where they were born or of what race they came or how humble their lot in life4 ,mere provincials devoid of citizenship1 no matter how distinguished their position1 had not that right4 #beg ,julius is one of those unknown characters of ,scripture about whom we would desire more information4 ,he is described as a centurion of the ,augustan band1 which was the imperial guard1 and was always stationed at ,rome4 ,julius may possibly have been an officer of this guard sent out with ,festus and now returning back to his duties4 #beh ,see ,josephus1 ,wars1 ,,vii4 ii4 #a4 ,it was exactly the same with ,titus1 ,vespasian's son1 after the war ended4 ,he travelled from ,alexandria to ,italy in a trading vessel4 ,suet41 ,tit41 c4 #e4 #bei ,the accuracy of the ,acts in representing ,puteoli as the seat of an early church has been amply illustrated by modern investigations4 ,judaism was flourishing there from the earliest times4 ,in the year #d ,b4,c4 a colony of wealthy ,jews was established at ,puteoli 7,josephus1 ,wars1 ,,ii4 vii4 #a74 ,an inscription has been found there commemorating a ,jewish merchant of ,ascalon named ,herod 7,schrer's ,jdisch4 ,volk41 ,i4 #bcd74 #bfj ,this point is elaborated by ,mr4 ,cazenove in an article on the ,theban ,legion contained in the ,dictionary of ,christian ,biography1 iii4 #fdb4 #bfa ,this interesting inscription will be found in ,mommsen1 ,corpus of ,latin ,inscriptions1 vol4 iv41 ,no4 #fgi4 ,i described it in the ,contemporary ,review for ,january #ahha1 p4 #ig1 in an article on ,latin ,christian ,inscriptions4 ,this inscription fully bears out ,lord ,lytton in the picture he gives of the introduction of ,christianity into the neighbourhood of ,vesuvius and ,naples in his ,last ,days of ,pompeii4 ,after the week's rest at ,puteoli the centurion marched towards ,rome4 ,the ,roman congregation had received notice of ,st4 ,paul's arrival by this time1 and so the brethren despatched a deputation to meet an apostle with whom they were already well acquainted through the epistle he had sent them1 as well as through the reports of various private ,christians like ,phbe1 the deaconness of ,cenchre4#bfb ,two deputations from the ,roman ,church met him1 one at ,appii ,forum1 about thirty miles1 another at the ,three ,taverns1 about twenty miles1 from the city4 ,how wonderfully the heart of the ,apostle must have been cheered by these kindly ,christian attentions6 ,we have before noticed in the cases of his ,athenian sojourn and elsewhere how keenly alive he was to the offices of ,christian friendship1 how cheered and strengthened he was by ,christian companionship4 ,it was now the same once again as it was then4 ,support and sympathy were now more needed than ever before1 for ,st4 ,paul was going up to ,rome not knowing what should happen to him there or what should be his sentence at the hands of that emperor whose cruel character was now famous4 ,and as it was at ,athens and at ,corinth and elsewhere1 so was it here on the ,appian ,way and amid the depressing surroundings and unhealthy atmosphere of those ,pomptine ,marshes through which he was passing2 when ,paul saw the brethren1 he thanked ,god1 and took courage4 ,and now the whole company of primitive ,christians proceeded together to ,rome1 allowed doubtless by the courtesy and thoughtfulness of ,julius ample opportunities of private conversation4 ,having arrived at the imperial city1 the centurion hastened to present himself and his charge to the captain of the prtorian guard1 whose duty it was to receive prisoners consigned to the judgment of the ,emperor4 ,upon the favourable report of ,julius1 ,st4 ,paul was not detained in custody1 but suffered to dwell in his own hired lodgings1 where he established a mission station whence he laboured most effectively both amongst ,jews and ,gentiles during two whole years4 ,st4 ,paul began his work at ,rome exactly as he did everywhere else4 ,he called together the chief of the ,jews1 and through them strove to gain a lodgment in the synagogue4 ,he began work at once4 ,after three days1 as soon as he had recovered from the fatigue of the rapid march along the ,appian ,way1 he sent for the chiefs of the ,roman ,synagogues which were very numerous4#bfc ,how1 it may be thought1 could an unknown ,jew entering ,rome venture to summon the heads of the ,jewish community1 many of them men of wealth and position8 ,but1 then1 we must remember that ,st4 ,paul was no ordinary ,jew from the point of view taken by ,roman society4 ,he had arrived in ,rome a state prisoner1 and he was a ,roman citizen of ,jewish birth1 and this at once gave him position entitling him to a certain amount of consideration4 ,st4 ,paul told his story to these chief men of the ,jews1 the local ,sanhedrin perhaps1 recounted the bad treatment he had received at the hands of the ,jews of ,jerusalem1 and indicated the character of his teaching which he wished to expound to them4 ,for this cause therefore did ,i entreat you to see and speak with me3 for because of the hope of ,israel ,i am bound with this chain1 emphasizing the ,hope of ,israel1 or their ,messianic expectation1 as the cause of his imprisonment1 exactly as he had done some months before when pleading before ,king ,agrippa 7ch4 xxvi4 #f1 #g1 #bb1 #bc74 ,having thus briefly indicated his desires1 the ,jewish council intimated that no communication had been made to them from ,jerusalem about ,st4 ,paul4 ,it may have been that his lengthened imprisonment at ,csarea had caused the ,sanhedrin to relax their vigilance1 though we see that their hostility still continued as bitter as ever when ,festus arrived in ,jerusalem and afterwards led to ,st4 ,paul's appeal2 or perhaps they had not had time to forward a communication from the ,jerusalem ,sanhedrin to the ,jewish authorities at ,rome2 or perhaps1 which is the most likely of all1 they thought it useless to prosecute their suit before ,nero1 who would scoff at the real charges which dealt merely with questions of ,jewish customs1 and which imperial lawyers therefore would regard as utterly unworthy the imprisonment or death of a ,roman citizen4 ,at any rate the ,jewish council gave him a hearing1 when ,st4 ,paul followed exactly the same lines as in the synagogue at ,antioch of ,pisidia and in his speech before ,agrippa4 ,he pointed out the gradual development of ,god's purposes in the law and the prophets1 showing how they had been all fulfilled in ,jesus ,christ4 ,it was with the ,jews at ,rome as with the ,jews elsewhere4 ,some believed and some believed not as ,paul preached unto them4 ,the meeting was much more one for discussion than for addresses4 ,from morning till evening the disputation continued1 till at last the ,apostle dismissed them with the stern words of the ,prophet ,isaiah1 taken from the sixth chapter of his prophecy1 where he depicts the hopeless state of those who obstinately close their ears to the voice of conviction4 ,but the ,jews of ,rome do not seem to have been like those of ,thessalonica1 ,ephesus1 ,corinth1 and ,jerusalem in one respect4 ,they did not actively oppose ,st4 ,paul or attempt to silence him by violent means1 for the last glimpse we get of the ,apostle in ,st4 ,luke's narrative is this3 ,he abode two whole years in his own hired dwelling1 and received all that went in unto him1 preaching the kingdom of ,god1 and teaching the things concerning the ,lord ,jesus ,christ with all boldness1 none forbidding him4#bfd #bfb ,romans xvi4 is a sufficient witness of the intimate knowledge of the ,roman ,church and its membership possessed by ,st4 ,paul4 ,we may be sure that many mentioned in that catalogue written three or four years before found a place in the two deputations who went to meet ,st4 ,paul4 #bfc ,see for proof of this ,harnack's article in the ,princeton ,review1 quoted above4 #bfd ,the various biographies of the ,apostle1 and specially that of ,conybeare ,howson1 follow the ,apostle's history in great detail during these two years2 but the story of that period more properly falls under the consideration of the writers upon the ,epistles of the ,captivity than of one dealing with the ,acts of the ,apostles4 ,if ,i were to discuss ,st4 ,paul's life at ,rome ,i should have simply to borrow all my details from these ,epistles4 ,the abruptness of ,st4 ,luke's termination of his narrative is very noteworthy1 and the best proof of the early date of the ,acts4 ,i do not think ,i need add anything to ,dr4 ,salmon's argument on this point contained in the following words1 which ,i take from chap4 xviii4 of his ,introduction3 ,to my mind the simplest explanation why ,st4 ,luke has told us no more is1 that he knew no more2 and that he knew no more1 because at the time nothing more had happened--in other words1 that the book of the ,acts was written a little more than two years after ,paul's arrival in ,rome4 ,,index4 ,abbott1 ,dr41 ,biblical ,essays1 #ab1 #dc4 ,abgar1 ,king1 #ec4 ,achaia1 ,province of1 #cbf4 ,achilles ,tatius1 #cfg4 ,acoimet1 or ,watching ,monks1 #agf4 ,acta ,sanctorum1 #ef1 #ada1 #bjj1 #bac1 #bdg4 neas1 #ig4 ,agabus1 the prophet1 #afb1 #dbf1 #dcd4 ,agape1 #cii1 #djj4 ,agrippa ,,ii41 #dcb1 #ddh4 ,alabarch1 #ha1 #aec4 ,alexander1 the ,coppersmith1 #cgh4 ,amen1 ,eucharistic1 #cif4 ,ammianus ,marcellinus1 #aeb4 ,ananias1 of ,damascus1 #ec1 #ed1 #ee1 #eg1 #eh1 #ei1 #fh4 ,ananias1 the high priest1 #dca1 #ddj-ddc4 ,ancyra1 #cci1 #cfg4 ,annas1 #cj4 ,antinomianism1 #fb4 ,antioch1 7,syrian7 church of1 #adf1 #aed4 ---- city of1 #aej-ac4 ---- synagogue of1 #aee4 ---- people of1 and nicknames1 #aei4 ---- of ,pisidia1 #aih4 ,apollos1 #cda-dc1 #cdg4 ,apostle1 meaning of1 #hc1 #hd1 #aic4 ,apostolic ,constitt41 #cdd4 ,aquila and ,priscilla1 #cbb1 #cbc1 #ccb1 #ccc1 #ccg1 #cda1 #cdg4 ,aquileia1 church of1 #bdg4 ,aratus1 #aa1 #cae4 ,areopagus1 court of1 #cji-ag4 ,aretas1 #cj1 #ha4 ,aristides1 #ce1 #bad1 #cah-bj4 ,artemas1 bishop of ,lystra1 #bac4 ,artemis 7see ,diana71 #cfj1 #cfb1 #cgf4 ,artemisius1 month of1 #cfb4 ,asiarchs1 #cge-gh4 ,assize ,courts1 #chb4 ,athanasius1 ,st41 #cja4 ,athenagoras1 ,apol41 #bhb4 ---- church of1 #cba4 ,athens1 topography of1 #cab4 ,attalia1 #bja1 #bgf4 ,augustine1 ,st41 ,confessions of1 #bi1 #bhf4 ---- ,epp41 #cih1 #dja4 ,aurelius1 ,victor1 #afc4 ,baptismal formula1 #cde4 ,barclay1 ,robert1 #abb4 ,barnabas1 ,st41 #g1 #h1 #ha1 #aee1 #beh4 ,baronius1 ,annals of1 #bei4 ,bartolocci1 ,bibl4 ,rabbin41 #ac4 ,basnage1 ,history of the ,jews1 #ac1 #ai4 ,baur1 #a4 ,bayet1 ,de ,titulis ,attic ,christ41 #cjh1 #cba4 ,bent1 ,j4 ,t41 #cgd4 ,bernard1 ,st41 ,life of ,st4 ,malachy1 #dag4 ,bernice1 #dcb1 #ddh4 ,bera1 #bif1 #cjb4 ,bingham's ,antiqq41 #agf1 #cif4 ,bishops1 origin of1 #daf-ah4 ,blomfield1 ,bishop1 #bbi4 ,boeckh1 ,gr4 ,ins41 ,corp4 #bje1 #bgh1 #cjj1 #cfc1 #cff4 ,butler1 ,bishop1 ,analogy of1 #acc1 #dac4 ,butler's ,coptic ,churches1 #bef4 ,buxtorf's ,lexicon1 #af4 ,csar1 ,augustus1 #bgc4 ---- ,claudius1 #cbc4 ---- ,julius1 #ca4 ---- ,tiberius1 #cf1 #aff1 #ahe4 ,csarea-on-the-,sea1 #aja1 #adg4 ,caiaphas1 #cj4 ,caligula1 #hb1 #id1 #aff1 #afg4 ,calvin's ,commentary ,n4,t41 #abh1 #chc4 ,capes1 ,w4 ,w41 ,the ,early ,empire1 #aji4 ,cave's ,lives of the ,apostles1 #bef1 #bei1 #bfc4 ,celebrations1 evening1 #cih-dja4 ,celtic language1 #bfd4 ,cenchre1 #ccb4 ,cesnola1 ,general1 #bje4 ,charlemagne1 #aa4 ,chosroes1 ,king1 #aei4 ,christian ,library1 #cid4 ,christian1 title of1 #aei-fb1 #baa4 ,chrysostom1 ,dion1 #bgf1 #cgg4 ,chrysostom1 ,st41 #df1 #hd1 #bea1 #ceb4 ---- ,homilies1 #ee4 ,cicero1 #bge1 #cjd1 #cbg4 ,circumcision1 controversy about1 #bbb1 #bbh4 ,cistercians1 #bbg4 ,cleanthes1 #cae4 ,clement of ,alexandria1 ,pdagogue1 #ahj4 ---- ,stromata1 #cef1 #ddf4 ,clement1 ,recognitions of1 #bei1 #cdd4 ---- ,homilies1 #cdd4 ,clermont ,ganneau1 #dbh4 ,communion ,office1 rubrics of1 #cce1 #ccf4 ---- evening1 #cih-dja4 ,communicatio ,idiomatum1 #dai4 ,constantine1 ,emperor1 #bch1 #bgc4 ,contemporary ,review1 #dfh4 ,conybeare and ,howson1 ,st4 ,paul1 #df1 #eg4 ,corinth1 ,first ,epistle to1 date of1 #cei1 #chg4 ,cornelius ,lapide1 #df4 ,cornelius1 the ,centurion1 chaps4 v41 vi4 ---- baptism of1 #adj4 ,council of ,jerusalem1 chap4 x4 ,councils1 histories of1 #bai4 ,cramer's ,catena1 #df4 ,crispus1 #cbe1 #cbf4 ,cudworth's ,intellect4 ,syst41 #cae4 ,cyprus1 gospel in1 #aif1 #bja-bjf1 #beh4 ,cyril of ,jerusalem1 #cif4 ,damascus1 #cj1 #cf4 ,daphne1 #aeg1 #aeh4 ,de ,broglie1 ,l'glise et l',empire1 #bgc4 ,demetrius1 #cej1 #cfi1 #cgb-ge4 ,derbe1 #bjj1 #baf1 #bfj4 ,derenbourg and ,saglio1 ,dict4 des ,antiqq41 #cfa4 ,diana 7see ,artemis71 #cca1 #cfj4 ,didache1 #cd1 #cde4 ,dion ,cassius1 #afc1 #bjd4 ,dion ,chrysostom1 #bgf1 #cgg4 ,dionysius1 ,areop41 #cag1 #cah1 #cbj4 ,discipline1 #ajg4 ,dods1 ,dr4 ,m41 ,introd4 ,n4,t41 #cfj4 ,dllinger1 ,dr41 #ade4 ,dorcas1 #ig4 ,drusilla1 #dca1 #ddg4 ,duhr's ,journeys of ,hadrian1 #cjf4 ,duumviri1 #bge4 ,ebionites1 #f4 ,eckhel1 on ,coins1 #afc4 ,edersheim1 ,dr41 #ad4 ,egnatian ,road1 #bga4 ,elymas1 #bjc4 ,ember seasons1 #aid4 ,enthusiasm1 power of1 #bfi4 ,epaphras1 #cej4 ,ephesian letters1 #cee4 ,ephesus1 council of1 #beh4 ,epimenides1 #aa4 ,epiphanes1 ,antiochus1 #f4 ,epiphanius1 in ,corpus ,hreseolog41 #f4 ,ethnarch1 #aec4 ,eucharist1 celebration of1 #cic-dja4 ,eusebius1 ,h4 ,e41 #aga1 #aha1 #aii1 #bda1 #cbj4 ,eutychus1 #djc4 ,expositor1 viii4 ,fabricius1 ,biblioth4 ,grc41 #cae1 #cfg4 ,farrar's ,st4 ,paul1 #ae1 #af1 #ai1 #bj1 #ej1 #ea1 #aeb4 ,faym ,,mss41 #cef4 ,fechin1 ,st41 #hi1 #bgh4 ,felix1 #dcj-dcb4 ,fell1 ,bishop1 on ,cyprian1 #dja4 ,ferrar1 ,nicholas1 #agf4 ,festus1 #ddh4 ,findlay1 ,epp4 of ,st4 ,paul1 #fj1 #bie4 ---- on ,galatians1 #bcd4 ,fitz ,ralph1 ,archbishop of ,armagh1 #bbg4 ,fleury's ,eccles4 ,hist41 #bdf4 ,forms1 use of1 #aba4 ,fox1 ,george1 #abb4 ,francis de ,sales1 ,st41 #bgi4 ,friends1 ,society of1 #abb1 #adb4 ,gaius1 #cbf4 ,galerius1 ,emperor1 #bgc4 ,gallio1 #cbg-bi4 ,gamaliel1 #ac1 #ad1 #ae4 ,geikie1 ,holy ,land1 #ch1 #aja1 #aai4 ,german criticism1 #chf4 ,gibbon1 ,decline and ,fall1 #aej1 #aeh1 #bgc4 ,gischala1 #d1 #f4 ,gnosticism1 #dbj4 ,godefroy's ,comment4 on ,theodos4 ,code1 #bgc4 ,gospel1 slow progress of1 #bfi4 ,goulburn's ,personal ,religion1 #aba4 ,guhl's ,ephesiaca1 #cef1 #cfb1 #cfg4 ,guyon1 ,madame1 #ddf4 ,habakkuk1 #bj4 ,hadrian1 ,emperor1 #cjf4 ,harris1 ,rendal1 on ,aristides1 #cba4 ,hatch1 ,dr41 on ,episcopacy1 #daf4 ,hefele's ,councils1 #cgi4 ,hegesippus1 #bda4 ,helena1 ,queen1 #ahf4 ,heliogabalus1 #cf4 ,hemerobaptists1 #cdd4 ,hermas1 #dcd4 ,herod the ,great1 #ajb1 #aea1 #aff4 ---- ,antipas1 #cj1 #aff4 ---- ,agrippa1 #ie1 #afd1 #afh1 #ahc-ahg4 ,heuzey1 ,leon1 ,mission ,archol41 #bgd1 #bha4 ,hilary1 #hd4 ,hiram of ,tyre1 #ahc4 ,hogarth1 ,d4 ,g41 #bfa4 ,holy ,ghost and ,ordination1 #dad4 ,hooker1 ,eccles4 ,pol41 #bi1 #gd1 #bch1 #cif1 #dai4 ,horace's ,satires1 #bgf4 ,hours1 canonical1 #abb4 ,hyppa1 #aih4 ,hyrcanus1 #ca4 ,iconium1 #aii1 #bfj4 ,imposition of hands1 #dad4 ,incarnation1 delay of1 #ii4 ,inscriptions on ,temple wall1 #dbh4 ,irenus1 #daf-dah4 ,irenarch1 #baf4 ,irish ,academy1 ,royal1 #hi4 ,island monasteries1 #hi4 ,italian band1 #ajc4 ,jailor1 ,phillippian1 #bhf-ij4 ,james1 apostle and martyr1 #afh-gd4 ,james1 ,bishop of ,jerusalem1 #bda1 #dbf1 #dbg4 ,jebb1 ,bishop1 #ii4 ,jerome1 ,st41 #hd1 #ada1 #bea4 ---- ,cat4 of ,illust4 ,writers1 #d1 #f4 ,jews1 hostility of1 to early ,church1 #bab4 ---- at ,athens1 #cjh4 ---- at ,ephesus1 #dbg4 ,johannes ,scotus1 #cah4 ,john's ,eve1 ,st41 #cce4 ,john ,baptist1 disciples of1 #cdb-dd4 ,jonah1 #aai4 ,jonathan1 #cj4 ,joppa1 #aah4 ,josephus1 ,antiqq41 #aa1 #ca1 #cb1 #cc4 ,journal of ,hellenic ,studies1 #bfa1 #bfe1 #cfd1 #cgb1 #cgd1 #ec1 #ie1 #ajb1 #ahe1 #dbh4 ---- ,wars1 #ie1 #ajb1 #dbh4 ,joyce's ,acts of the ,church1 #bcg4 ---- ,irish ,names1 #hh4 ,judas1 #ef4 ,julius1 the centurion #dfj4 ,justin ,martyr1 ,apologies1 #bg1 #bfg1 #bhb1 #cie1 #cif4 ,justus1 #cbe4 ,juvenal's ,satires1 #aeb4 ,keble1 ,john1 #gj4 ,king1 ,rev4 ,robert1 ,the ,ruling ,elder1 #dag4 ,kitto's ,bib4 ,encycl41 #af4 ,knox1 ,alexander1 #ajj4 ,khn's ,journal ,comp4 ,philol41 #bfe4 ,lacroix1 ,manners of ,middle ,ages1 #af4 ,laymen in synods1 #bcf4 ,le ,bas and ,waddington1 ,voy4 ,archol41 #baf4 ,legions in ,palestine1 #ajc4 ,lewin1 ,fasti1 #ca1 #fj1 #afc1 #afg1 #cfj4 ---- ,st4 ,paul1 #ca1 #cb1 #ci1 #de1 #hj1 #ajb1 #aai1 #ahf1 #aih4 ,libanius1 #aea1 #aeb4 ,liddon's1 ,bampt4 ,lect41 #dbj4 ,lightfoot1 ,bishop1 on the ,essenes1 #cdd4 ---- ,colossians1 #beb1 #cej4 ---- ,essays1 #if1 #cjj4 ---- ,galatians1 #ai1 #bj1 #ej1 #gi1 #hd1 #bdg1 #bea1 #bfd1 #bff4 ---- ,ignatius1 #cfc1 #cgh1 #dbg4 ---- ,philippians1 #agc1 #bia-ic1 #dag4 ,lightfoot1 ,dr4 ,j41 ,hor4 ,heb41 #cb1 #eg1 #dda4 ,lipsius1 ,r4 ,a41 #e4 ---- ,apoc4 ,acts1 #ec4 ,lord's ,day1 observance of1 #cic-cig4 ,lucian's ,philopatris41 #cab4 ,luke1 ,st41 at ,philippi1 #cia4 ,lycaonia1 language of1 #bab1 #bfe4 ,lydia1 #bgh4 ,lysias1 ,claudius1 #dbi4 ,lystra1 #bjj1 #bab-ag1 #bfj4 ,lyttelton1 ,lord1 on ,conver4 ,st4 ,paul1 #dj4 ,lytton1 ,lord1 ,last ,days of ,pompeii4 ,macmillan's ,mag41 #cgg4 ,magic at ,ephesus1 #ceb4 ,malalas1 ,john1 #aeg4 ,malta1 #dfb4 ,mandeans1 #cdd4 ,mansi's ,councils1 #bbj1 #bei1 #cgi4 ,maps1 use of1 #ajj4 ,marcellinus1 ,pope1 #add4 ,mark1 ,st41 #beb-ed1 #bef4 ,marquardt1 #ajd1 #deh4 ,marseilles1 #cgd1 #cij4 ,mason's ,diocletian ,persecution1 #cfg4 ,massutius1 ,vita ,s4 ,pauli1 #aa1 #ee1 #fj4 ,melville1 ,henry1 ,voices of the ,year1 #aad4 ,menander1 #aa4 ,mendicant orders1 #bbg4 ,meyer's ,theory of ,baptism1 #cdb4 ,miletus1 #dje4 ,milligan1 ,dr41 on ,resurrection1 #acd4 ,misopogon1 #aei4 ,mithras1 #ce4 ,mnason1 #dbf4 ,molinos1 #ddf4 ,mommsen's ,provinces1 #if1 #ajc1 #aej1 #cgh4 ---- ,corp4 ,ins4 ,lat41 #bha1 #dfh4 ---- in ,ephem4 ,epig41 #adj4 ,monasticism1 ,celtic1 #hh4 ,morinus1 ,exerc4 ,bibl41 #ac4 ,mller's ,antiqq4 of ,antioch41 #aej4 ,museum ,evang4 ,sch4 of ,smyrna1 #bfd4 ,nazarite vow1 #ccc1 #dcf4 ,neapolis1 #bgb4 ,nelson's ,fasts and ,festivals1 #bef4 ,neocoros1 #cgi1 #chj4 ,nero1 ,emperor1 #dcc1 #dgj4 ,nestorianism1 #beh4 cumenius1 #hd4 ,oehler1 #f4 ,ordination and imposition of hands1 #aid1 #dad4 ,ornaments rubric1 #bci4 ,orontes1 #aea1 #aif4 ,paley's ,hor ,paulin1 #bia1 #cfj4 ,pangus1 ,mount1 #bgf4 ,papal ,infallibility1 #bcj4 ---- ,supremacy1 rise of1 #add4 ,paphos1 #aig1 #bja4 ,paul1 ,st41 in ,antioch 7,pisidian71 #bjf-aj4 ---- in ,antioch 7,syrian71 #aeg4 ---- in ,arabia1 #gg-ia4 ---- in ,athens1 #cje-ba4 ---- baptism of1 #gb-gg4 ---- birthplace of1 #d4 ---- at ,csarea1 chap4 xvii4 ---- and ,church organisation1 #baf4 ---- and circumcision1 #bbe-bh1 #cib1 #dce4 ---- conversion of1 chap4 ii4 ---- at ,corinth1 chap4 xiii4 ---- dispute at ,antioch1 #bdg4 ---- at ,ephesus1 chaps4 xiv41 xv4 ---- exegesis of1 #ah1 #ai1 #bjg4 ---- family of1 #g4 ---- in ,galatia1 #bfc4 ---- language of1 #i4 ---- in ,macedonia1 chap4 xii4 ---- at ,malta1 chap4 xviii4 ---- martyrdom of1 #bdf4 ---- at ,miletus1 #dje-ba4 ---- on ordination1 #dad1 #dae4 ---- ordination of1 chap4 ix4 ---- at ,patara1 #dbd4 ---- portrait of1 #ea4 ---- at ,puteoli1 #dfe4 ---- quarrel with ,barnabas1 #bdh-bea4 ---- and ,roman4 ,see1 #bdf4 ---- and ,sanhedrin1 #bc1 #dbi1 #ddb4 ---- second tour of1 chap4 xi4 ---- at ,sidon1 #dfa4 ---- speech at ,apostolic ,council1 #bda4 ---- thorn in flesh1 #di1 #bif4 ---- trade of1 #aj1 #cdh4 ---- at ,troas1 #bfh1 #cib-djf4 ---- at ,tyre1 #dbe4 ---- voyage to ,rome1 chap4 xviii4 ,paulinus of ,nola1 ,st41 #cfi4 ,pausanius1 ,descr4 of ,greece1 #cje1 #cjh1 #cab1 #cfc1 #cfe4 ,perga1 #aig1 #bja1 #cfd4 ,persecution1 religious1 #aib4 ,peter1 ,st41 on baptism1 #adj4 ---- on the resurrection1 #acc4 ---- sermon at ,csarea1 #aca-da4 ---- vision at ,joppa1 chap4 vi4 ---- in prison1 #agd-hb4 ,petrie's ,tara1 #cg4 ,petronius1 #ie4 ,pfitzner1 #ajd4 ,phalerum1 #cjc4 ,pharisees1 #cc4 ,philemon and ,baucis1 story of1 #bac4 ,philip1 ,st41 evangelist1 #adc1 #dbf4 ,philippi1 gospel at1 #bgc-hi4 ,philo1 #ad1 #ai1 #bc1 #if1 #cjg4 ,philostratus1 ,life of ,apollonius1 #cab4 ,phbe1 #ccb4 ,photius1 #bfc4 ,pliny1 ,epistles of1 #bh1 #ce1 #bff1 #chc4 ---- ,nat4 ,hist41 #aii4 ,police1 ,roman1 #baf4 ,politarchs1 #cjj4 ,polycarp1 #cfg1 #ddf4 ,pompeii1 #dff4 ,pontius ,pilate1 #cj4 ,pork1 use of1 #abh4 ,porter's ,damascus1 #ch1 #ec4 ,postal service under the ,romans1 #bgb4 ,prayer1 #ff4 ,preaching1 decline of1 #dji4 ,prion1 ,mount1 #bfc4 ,procter on ,b4 ,c4 ,p41 #ccf4 ,prophets1 #dcd4 ,prosbol1 #af4 ,proselytes1 #aaj1 #baj4 ,provinces1 ,roman1 division of1 #bjc-bjf4 ,ptolemais1 #if1 #dbe4 ,puteoli1 #dfe4 ,quadratus1 #cah4 ,quaresmius1 ,eluc4 ,ter4 ,sanct41 #eg4 ,quietism1 #ddf4 ,radzivilus1 ,peregrinatio1 #eg4 ,ramsay1 ,prof41 ,hist4 ,geog41 #ajj1 #aih1 #bjj1 #bac1 #bfj1 #bfa1 #cfc1 #cfd4 ---- on ,artemis worship1 #cgd4 ,rnan1 #bae1 #cfi4 ,renaudot1 #bef4 ,resurrection1 evidence of1 #acc4 ,revue ,archol41 #aih1 #cfa1 #cfd1 #cgd4 ,roads1 ancient1 #cg1 #bfj1 #bga4 ,robbers and the ,apostles1 #aii4 ,ruinart's ,acta ,sincera1 #bfg4 ,sabbath1 #af1 #cig4 ,sabians1 #cdd4 ,sadducees1 #cc4 ,sadler on the ,acts1 #bhi4 ,saint1 meaning of1 #fj1 #fb1 #fc1 #fd4 ,salamis1 #aig4 ,salmon1 ,dr41 ,introduction to ,n4 ,t41 vi4 #a1 #dac4 ---- on ,clementine literature1 #bei4 ,sceva's sons1 #cee4 ,schaff's ,encyclop41 #ac1 #aaj1 #bdg4 ,schttgen's ,hor4 ,hebr41 #i4 ,schrer1 #be1 #dca4 ,seleucia1 #aeg1 #aif4 ,senior1 title of1 #dag4 ,serarius1 ,de ,rabbinis1 #ac4 ,sergius ,paulus1 #bja-bjf4 ,shrine-makers1 ,ephesian1 #cfi4 ,sidon1 church at1 #dfa4 ,silas1 #beg1 #cbe4 ,silence1 argument from1 #cdb1 #cfa1 #cic4 ,simon the ,tanner1 #aai4 ,singon ,street1 #aeg4 ,sinuessa1 ,council of1 #add4 ,skelligs1 #hh4 ,slavery1 #cad4 ,smith1 ,mr4 ,james1 of ,jordanhills1 on ,voyage of ,st4 ,paul1 #dei4 ,smith1 ,dict4 ,christ4 ,biog41 #f1 #ad1 #bei1 #bgc1 #cdd1 #cec1 #cfg1 #dcd4 ---- ,dict4 ,rom4 ,antiqq41 #ajd4 ---- ,dict4 ,christ4 ,antiqq41 #agf4 ---- ,dict4 of ,class4 ,biog41 #bac4 ,sosipatros1 #aii4 ,spon and ,wheeler1 #cab4 ,stanley1 ,dean1 #eg4 ---- ,hist4 ,east4 ,ch41 #cja4 ,stephanas1 #cbf4 ,stephens' ,st4 ,chrysost41 #ceb4 ,sterrett's ,epig4 ,journ41 #bjj1 #bac4 ,stokes1 ,g4 ,t41 ,anglo-,norman ,church1 #af1 #bbg4 ---- ,celtic ,church1 #cg1 #hi4 ,strabo1 #aii1 #bjd4 ,straight ,street1 #eb4 ,suetonius1 #afc1 #bgc1 #cbc1 #cbg4 ,survey of ,palestine1 ,memoirs of1 #aja4 ,synagogue1 #bgg4 ,tacitus1 ,annals1 #ceb1 #cfc4 ,talmud1 #ac1 #af4 ,tanning1 #abj4 ,taylor1 ,jeremy1 ,holy ,living1 #bi1 #ccd4 ---- ,via ,intellig41 #bfg4 ,tertullian1 ,apol41 #cf4 ---- ,de ,corona1 #djj4 ---- ,de ,fuga1 #dde4 ---- ,de ,pudic41 #ej4 ---- on ,prayer1 #abb-bd1 #aie4 ,texier on ,galatia1 #bff4 ,thayer's edition of ,grimm's ,lex4 ,n4 ,t41 #beb4 ,theodore of ,mopsuestia1 #hd4 ,theodoret1 #hd4 ,theodosian ,code1 #cgj4 ,theophilus1 #cj1 #cb4 ,thessalonica1 #bid-cjj4 ,timothy1 #cbe1 #cdg4 ---- and circumcision1 #bbg4 ---- family of1 #h1 #i4 ---- martyrdom of1 #bfc4 ---- ordination of1 #bfa4 ,tozer's ,highlands of ,turkey1 #bid1 #cjj1 #cjc4 ,trajan1 #bh4 ,trench1 ,archbishop1 on ,words1 #aei4 ,tridentine ,council1 #bch4 ,tyrannus1 #cdg4 ,ussher's ,works1 #cah1 #cfb4 ,valens1 ,emperor1 #ceb4 ,valesius1 #dci4 ,vas ,electionis1 #fd1 #fe4 ,vatican ,council1 #bch4 ,vespasian1 ,emperor1 #dfj4 ,vibius ,salutarius1 ,gaius1 #cgj1 #cga4 ,vincentian rule1 #ajj4 ,virgil1 #gj4 ,vitellius1 #cj1 #cc4 ,waldstein1 ,c41 #cgb4 ,way1 meaning of1 #cb1 #cc1 #cd1 #cdg1 #cfb1 #dbc4 ,wesley1 ,charles1 #cha4 ---- ,john1 #cid4 ,whately1 ,archbishop1 #gc4 ,wickliffe1 #bbg4 ,wieseler's ,die ,christenverfolg4 der ,csaren1 #ccf4 ,williams1 ,dr41 #fd4 ,wood's ,ephesus1 #bha1 #cfb4 ,xenoi ,tekmoreioi1 ,societies of1 #cfd4 ,zeller1 ,on the ,acts1 vi4 ,,the ,,end4 99 99 99 99 99 ,transcriber's note3 ,text enclosed by underscores is in italics 7italics74 ,small capital text has been replaced with all capitals4 ,variations in spelling1 punctuation and hyphenation have been retained except in obvious cases of typographical error4 ,missing page numbers are page numbers that were not shown in the original text4 ,page #afe3 ,footnote #ic 444 he jokingly said1 ',it were better to be ,herod's pigs 444' ,the transcriber has added the word ,it4 ,page #cgh3 ,footnote anchor number #bac was missing and was supplied by the transcriber4 ,the ,ephesian mob 4444 ,the cover for the e,book version of this book was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain4