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diff --git a/42984-0.txt b/42984-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3b9a027 --- /dev/null +++ b/42984-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14689 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42984 *** + +Transcriber's Note: Italics are indicated by _underscores_. + + + + + Not Paul, But Jesus + + + BY JEREMY BENTHAM, ESQR.,--The Eminent + Philosopher of Sociology, Jurisprudence, + &c., of London. + + + With Preface Containing Sketches of His Life and + Works Together with Critical Notes by John + J. Crandall, Esqr., of the New Jersey Bar--author + of Right to Begin and Reply + + + + +EDITOR'S PREFACE. + + +Jeremy Bentham, an eminent English judicial or jural philosopher, was +born in London, February 15, 1748, and died at Westminster, his +residence for six years previously, June 6, 1832. His grandfather was a +London Attorney; his father, who followed the same profession, was a +shrewd man of business, and added considerably to his patrimony by land +speculations. These London Benthams were probably an offshoot from an +ancient York family of the same name, which boasted a Bishopric among +its members; but our author did not trouble himself to trace his +genealogy beyond the pawnbroker. His mother, Alicia Groove, was the +daughter of an Andover shopkeeper. Jeremy, the eldest, and for nine +years the only child of this marriage, was for the first sixteen years +of his life exceedingly puny, small and feeble. At the same time, he +exhibited a remarkable precocity which greatly stimulated the pride and +affection of his father. At five years of age he acquired a knowledge of +musical notes and learned to play the violin. At four or earlier, having +previously learned to write, he was initiated into Latin grammar, and in +his seventh year entered Westminster School. Meanwhile, he was taught +French by a private master at home and at seven read Telemaque, a book +which strongly impressed him. Learning to dance was a much more serious +undertaking, as he was so weak in his legs. + +Young as he was, he acquired distinction at Westminster as a fabricator +of Latin and Greek verses, the great end and aim of the instruction +given there. + +When twelve years old, he was entered as a Commoner at Queen's College, +Oxford, where he spent the next three years. Though very uncomfortable +at Oxford, he went through the exercises of the College with credit and +even with some distinction. Some Latin verses of his, on the accession +of George III, attracted a great deal of attention as the production of +one so young. Into all of the disputations which formed a part of the +College exercises, he entered with zeal and much satisfaction; yet he +never felt at home in the University because of its historical monotony, +and of all of which he retained the most unfavorable recollections. + +In 1763, while not yet sixteen, he took the degree of A.B. Shortly +after this he began his course of Law in Lincoln's Inn, and journeyed +back and forth to Oxford to hear Blackstone's Lectures. These lectures +were published and read throughout the realm of England and particularly +in the American Colonies. These were criticised by the whole school of +Cromwell, Milton and such followers as Priestly and others in England +and many in the Colonies in America. Young Bentham returned to London +and attended as a student the Court of the King's Bench, then presided +over by Mansfield, of whom he continued for some years a great admirer. + +Among the advocates, Dunning's clearness, directness and precision most +impressed him. He took the degree of A.M. at the age of 18, the +youngest graduate that had been known at the Universities; and in 1772 +he was admitted to the Bar. + +Young Bentham had breathed from infancy, at home, at school, at college +and in the Courts, an atmosphere conservative and submissive to +authority, yet in the progress of his law studies, he found a striking +contrast between the structural imperialism of the British Empire as +expounded by Blackstone and others of his day, and the philosophical +social state discussed by Aristotle, Plato, Aurelius, the struggling +patriots of France, and the new brotherhood, then agitating the colonies +of America. + +His father had hoped to see him Lord-Chancellor, and took great pains to +push him forward. But having perceived a shocking contrast between the +law as it was under the Church imperial structure and such as he +conceived it ought to be, he gradually abandoned the position of a +submissive and admiring student and assumed a position among the school +of reformers and afterwards the role of sharp critic and indignant +denouncer. + +He heroically suffered privations for several years in Lincoln's Inn +garrett, but persevered in study. He devoted some of his time to the +study of science. The writings of Hume, Helvetius and others led him to +adopt utility as the basis of Morals and Legislation. There had +developed two distinct parties in England: The Radicals and +Imperialists. The Radicals contended that the foundation of Legislation +was that utility which produced the greatest happiness to the greatest +number. + +Blackstone and the Ecclesiastics had adopted the theory of Locke, that +the foundation of Legislation was a kind of covenant of mankind to +conform to the laws of God and Nature, as interpreted by hereditarily +self-constituted rulers. + +Bentham contended that this was only a vague and uncertain collection of +words well adapted to the promotion of rule by dogmatic opinions of the +Lords and King and Ecclesiastics in combination well calculated to +deprive the people of the benefits of popular government. He conceived +the idea of codifying the laws so as to define them in terms of the +greatest good to the greatest number, and devoted a large share of the +balance of his life to this work. + +In 1775 he published a small book in defense of the policy of Lord North +toward the Colonies, but for fear of prosecution it was issued by one +John Lind and extensively read. A little later he published a book +entitled "A Fragment on Government." This created a great deal of +attention. Readers variously ascribed the book to Mansfield, to Camden +and to Dunning. The impatient pride of Bentham's father betrayed this +secret. It was variously interpreted as a philosophical Treatise and a +Critical Personal Attack upon the Government. But he persevered in the +advocacy of his principals of Morals and Government. He hoped also to be +appointed Secretary of the Commission sent out by Lord North to propose +terms to the revolted American Colonies. But as King George III had +contracted a dislike to him, he was disappointed in his plan of +Conference with the Colonies. His writings were, however, more +appreciated in France. He was openly espoused as a philosopher and +reformer by D'Alimbert, Castillux, Brissat and others. But in the +meantime some such men as Lord Shelbourne, Mills and others became his +friends and admirers, and encouraged him to persevere with his +philosophical Code of laws, largely gleaned from the ancient +philosophers of liberty and equality which had been smothered and +superseded by military and Church imperialism. + +In 1785 he took an extensive tour across the Alps and while at Kricov on +the Dou, he wrote his letters on Usury. These were printed in London, +which were now welcomed by the people largely on account of his +reputation in France as a philosopher of popular government. In the +meantime, Paley had printed a treatise on the Principle of applying +utility to morals and legislation. He determined to print his views in +French and address them to that people then struggling for liberal +government. + +He revised his sheets on his favorite penal Code and published them +under the title of "An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and +Legislation." The Principles enunciated in this treatise attracted the +attention of the liberals in France, as well as England and America. +Mirabeau and other French publishers spread his reputation far and wide. + +Meanwhile, Bentham with the idea of aiding the deliberations of the +States General of France, and encouraged by the liberals on both +continents, and especially such men as Franklin, Jefferson and others, +printed a "Draft of a Code for the organization of a Judicial +Establishment in France," for which services the National Assembly +conferred on him the Citizenship of France by a decree, August 23, 1792, +in which his name was included with those of Priestly, Paine, +Wilberforce, Clarkson, Mackintosh, Anacharsis, Clootz, Washington, +Klopstock, Kosiosco, and several others. + +In the meantime, in his travels, he conceived an extensive plan of +Prison reform which he strenuously urged the Crown Officers and the +English Parliament to adopt. After several years of strenuous labors and +the expenditure of a large part of the patrimony left him by his father, +the enterprise was thwarted by the refusal of the King to concur with +Parliament in the enterprise. This scheme is fully set forth in the +histories of the reign of George III. But to avoid persecution under the +drastic penal Codes of England, Bentham boasted that he was a man of no +party but a man of all countries and a fraternal unit of the human race, +he had come to occupy at home the position of a party chief. + +He espoused with characteristic zeal and enthusiasm the ideas of the +radicals, who, in spite of themselves, were ranked as a political party. +He went, indeed, the whole length, not merely republicanism, but on many +points of ancient democracy including Universal Suffrage and the +Emancipation of all Colonies. + +No matter how adroitly the Contention was managed, the Imperialists +insisted that it was merely resurrecting the historic struggle of the +days of Cromwell and his "bare bones." The Church establishment by way +of the Lords and Bishops and Bishop Lords was the real foundation of the +Crown rule in all its ramifications. This superstructure was protected +by all forms of penal laws against "lease" Majesty and even the +appearance of Church Creed heresy. The Radicals always confronted by +Crown detectives were compelled to be very wary in their attacks upon +this that they called imperial idolatry and were compelled to move by +indirect and flank attacks. + +The upheaval by Martin Luther in the reign of Henry VIII at the Council +of Trent and others over the Divine authenticity of the Athanasian Creed +never abated among the humanitarians of England or France. But in the +presence of criminal inquisitions too barbarous to mention, the Radicals +were handicapped and were compelled to work strategically and by pits +and mines beneath the superstructure of Church imperialism. The Church +structure as established in Europe is by common consent based upon the +hypothesis of Divinity in the life, works, and dogmas of one Saul of +Tarsus, or as denominated Paul, or the canonized St. Paul. The +substantial Creed might well be denominated Paulism. Hence the legendary +Paul has been one of the points of attack by the rationalists of the +centuries. + +While many of the contemporaries of Bentham both in England, America and +the Continent denied the verity of the whole Mosaic cosmogony and +historiology, yet Bentham seemed to ignore this task as superserviceable +and unimportant. He and his school of Radicals were devoted to the life +works and teachings of Jesus. Jesus was the idol of his school and he +heartily espoused the task of eliminating Paul as the nemesis of Jesus +and his Apostles, and a character invented and staged by imperialists to +subordinate the toiling classes to the production of resources to +subserve their personal luxuries. + +Bentham began writing a philosophic analysis of the Church's pretensions +concerning the divine agency of Paul. After several years of examination +and study, and while he was writing his famous treatise entitled "The +Rational of Judicial Evidence" afterwards collected and published by +Mill, he finished the manuscript criticisms of Paul and entitled them +"Not Paul but Jesus." + +For fear of prosecution for direct heresy or denunciation of the Creed +of the Church, he evaded the use of his own name as writer of the +Criticism and used the name of Conyers Middleton, a Cambridge Divine, +who by his writings had created a great deal of disturbance. He had been +convicted twice for heresy. He had been dead fifty years when Bentham +introduced him in the first lines in the Introduction to his Criticisms +herein published (See Introduction). Bentham, no doubt, intended to +evade prosecution, as it will be seen that his name does not appear in +the book, and yet at the same time used the name most obnoxious to the +Church in all its history. + +In 1729 Middleton published his "Letter from Rome" in which he boldly +essayed to demonstrate that the then religion of the Roman Church was +derived from their heathen ancestral idolaters. He published other works +on the uses of miracles and prophecy. But Bentham's "Not Paul but Jesus" +did not long remain anonymous. It was read extensively in France and +America. But this treatise formed a part of the labor of his life, which +was to promote the theory of the social state based upon "The greatest +good to the greatest number, and subordinate the whole to rational +calculations of utility." These views he continually urged in the form +of Codification so as to eliminate all pretensions of hierarchical +control by historical divine prophets, the faithful souls and agents of +Kings and princes. In the meantime, he was indefatigable in his attacks +upon the English System of Jurisprudence, which was being operated in +America as a kind of paternal inheritance. Dumont, in 1811, compiled +from the manuscripts of Bentham a complete code which was readily +adopted in France, because it conformed so closely to the old Roman +procedure which was held tenaciously in France. + +In the meantime, by importunity of Lord Brougham and others, and +particularly of his friends in America, such as Adams, Franklin and +others, he wrote to Madison offering his services to draw up a complete +code of laws for the United States. Mr. Madison caused these ideas to be +spread broadcast by pamphlets as pamphleteering was much in vogue for +such purposes in those days. But on account of our dual form of +government, and as the code would apply to the States separately, the +scheme as a whole failed. But some of the Governors, especially those +of Pennsylvania, Virginia and New Hampshire, got hold of the manuscripts +and many of the provisions were adopted and still obtain. + +In the meantime, Mr. Mill had collected his manuscripts on "The +Rationale of Judicial Evidence" and published them in 5 vols. They +shortly became a part of the libraries of the lawyers and statesmen of +England, and especially in the United States. His manuscripts on "Not +Paul but Jesus" were extensively read and universally admitted to be +rational and sound in point of rational jural demonstration. During this +time, Thomas Jefferson had been writing on the same subject and after +reading the prints of Bentham, he abandoned the part directed to the +criticism of Paul, but he arranged chronologically all of the verses +from the four gospels that pertain to the career of Jesus, omitting, +however, every verse or paragraph that to his mind was ambiguous or +controversial, and every statement of fact that would not have been +admitted as evidence in a Court of Justice. The original copy of what is +denominated as "Jefferson Bible," is now preserved in the National +Museum at Washington. It was purchased by the Government as a memento of +the author of the Declaration of Independence. + +This "The Thomas Jefferson Bible" has lately been republished by David +McKay, 604 S. Washington Sq., Philadelphia. The treatise "Not Paul but +Jesus" was published in 1825. The printing art was not as well advanced +as at present, and the division of subjects for discussion and +correlation were not arranged strictly methodically, so the Editor has +rearranged some of the titles with a view to improve the order of +sequence. With this change, every word has been preserved. + +It will all the time be borne in mind that the examination is Judicial +and the Character Paul had to be staged from many points of view and +examination. Jeremy Bentham has revolved him in the limelight of +inquisition with a thoroughness that commands the attention of all +thoughtful readers. With this view the Editor hopes to be justified in +its republication by the reading and inquiring public. + + J. J. CRANDALL. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +Illustrious, in the church of Jesus in general, and in the church of +England in particular, is the name of CONYERS MIDDLETON. Signal was, and +is, the service rendered by him to the religion of Jesus. By that bold, +though reverend, hand, it now stands cleared of many a heap of +pernicious rubbish, with which it had been incumbered and defiled, by +the unhallowed labours of a succession of writers, who,--without +personal intercourse with the founder, any more than we have now,--have, +from the mere circumstance of the comparative vicinity of their days to +those in which he lived, derived the exclusive possession of the +imposing title of _Fathers of the Church_, or, in one word, _The +Fathers_. + +So able, so effectual, has been this clearance, that, as it has been +observed by the Edinburgh Reviewers,--speaking of course of protestants, +and more particularly of English protestants,--till one unexpected +exception, which it mentions, had presented itself, they had thought +that in no man's opinion were those writers any "longer to be regarded +as guides, either in faith or morals." + +One step further was still wanting. One thorn still remained, to be +plucked out of the side of this so much injured religion,--and that was, +the addition made to it by _Saul of Tarsus_: by that _Saul_, who, under +the name of _Paul_, has,--as will be seen, without warrant from, and +even in the teeth of, the history of Jesus, as delivered by his +companions and biographers the four evangelists,--been dignified with +the title of _his_ apostle: his _apostle_, that is to say, his +_emissary_: his _emissary_, that is to say, _sent out_ by him: sent out, +by that Jesus, whose immediate disciples he so long persecuted and +destroyed, and whose person,--unless dreaming of a person after his +death, or professing to have dreamt of him, is seeing him,--he never +saw. + +In the course of the ensuing examination, the subject of _miracles_ has +come, unavoidably, under consideration. On this delicate ground, it has +been matter of no small comfort to the author, to behold precursors, +among divines of different persuasions, whose reputation for piety has +not been diminished by the spirit of critical inquiry which accompanies +it. Such were Mede, Sykes, and others, whose ingenious labours were, in +the case called that of the _daemoniacs_, employed in the endeavor to +remove the supernatural character, from what, in their eyes, was no more +than a natural appearance. On the success of these their labours, any +judgment would here be irrelevant. Not altogether so the observation, +that in no instance does it appear to him that any such latitude of +interpretation has been employed, as that which, on that occasion, was +found necessary for the conversion of _devils_ into _diseases_. + +The _dissentions_ which, at all times, have had place among persons +professing the religion of Jesus, are but too notorious. The +_mischiefs_, produced by these dissentions, are no less so. These +dissentions, and these mischiefs--in what have they had their source? In +certain words. These words, of whom have they been the words? Of Jesus? +No: this has not been so much as pretended. Of Paul, and of Paul alone: +he giving them all along not as the words of Jesus, but as his own +only:--he all along preaching (as will be seen) in declared opposition +to the eleven who were undisputedly the apostles of Jesus: thus, of Paul +only have they been the words. + +That, by these words, and, consequently, by him whose words they were +and are, all the mischiefs, which have been imputed to _the religion of +Jesus_, have been produced,--in so far as the dissentions, from which +these mischiefs flowed, have had these words for their subjects,--cannot +be denied. But, moreover, in these same words, that is to say, in the +doctrines delivered by them, cannot but be to be found the origin, and +the cause, of no small part--perhaps of the greatest part--of the +_opposition_, which _that religion, with its benevolent system of +morals_, has hitherto experienced. If this be so, then, by the clearing +it of this incumbrance, not only as yet unexampled purity, but +additional extent, may not unreasonably be expected to be given to it. + +It was by the frequent recurrence of these observations, that the author +of these pages was led to the inquiry, whether the religion of Paul,--as +contained in the writings ascribed to Paul, and with a degree of +propriety which the author sees no reason to dispute,--whether the +religion of Paul has any just title to be considered as forming a part +of the religion of Jesus. The result was in the negative. The +considerations, by which this result was produced, will form the matter +of the ensuing pages. + +If, by cutting off a source of useless privations and groundless +terrors, comfort and _inward peace_ should be restored or secured;--if, +by cutting off a source of bitter animosity,--good-will, and peace from +_without_, should be restored or secured;--if, by the removal of an +incongruous appendage, acceptance should be obtained for what is good in +the religion commonly ascribed to Jesus;--obtained at the hands of any +man, much more of many, to whom at present it is an object of +aversion;--if, in any one of these several ways, much more if in all of +them, the labours of the author should be crowned with success,--good +service will, so far, and on all hands, be allowed to have been rendered +to mankind. + +Whosoever, putting aside all prepossessions, feels strong enough in +mind, to look steadily at the originals, and from _them_ to take his +conceptions of the matter, not from the discourses of others,--whosoever +has this command over himself, will recognise, if the author does not +much deceive himself, that by the two persons in question, as +represented in the two sources of information--the Gospels and Paul's +Epistles,--two quite different, if not opposite, religions are +inculcated: and that, in the religion of Jesus may be found all the +_good_ that has ever been the result of the compound so incongruously +and unhappily made,--in the religion of Paul, all the _mischief_, which, +in such disastrous abundance, has so indisputably flowed from it. + +1. That Paul had no such commission as he professed to have;--2. that +his enterprize was a scheme of personal ambition, and nothing more;--3. +that his system of doctrine is fraught with mischief in a variety of +shapes, and, in so far as it departs from, or adds to, those of Jesus, +with good in none;--and that it has no warrant, in anything that, as far +as appears from any of the four gospels, was ever said or done by +Jesus;--such are the conclusions, which the author of these pages has +found himself compelled to deduce, from those materials with which +history has furnished us. The grounds of these conclusions he proceeds +to submit to the consideration of his readers. + + + + +PLAN OF THE WORK. + + +The work may be conceived as divided into five parts. + +1. In Part the first, the five different, and in many respects +discordant, accounts given of Paul's conversion, which, in these +accounts, is of course represented as being not only _outward_ but +_inward_, are confronted, and, so far as regards inward conversion, +shown to be, all of them, untrue: and, immediately after, the state of +things, which produced, accompanied, and immediately followed, his +outward conversion,--together with the time and manner in which that +change was declared,--is brought to view. This part occupies the first +two chapters. + +2. Part the Second is employed in showing,--that, from the first +commencement, of the intercourse, which, upon the tokens given of his +outward conversion, took place at Jerusalem between him and the +apostles, Acts 9:27, to the time when,--in consequence of the +interposition of the Roman commander, to save him from the unanimous +indignation of the whole people, more particularly of the disciples of +the apostles,--he was conveyed from thence under guard to Rome, a space, +according to the commonly received computation, not less than six and +twenty years, (Acts 21 and 23), no supernatural commission from Jesus, +nor any inward conversion, was,--either by those distinguished servants +and companions of Jesus, or by their disciples at Jerusalem,--believed +to have place in his instance. This part occupies eight chapters: to +wit, from the 3d to the 10th inclusive. + +3. In Part the Third, in further proof of the insincerity of his +character,--in addition to an oath proved to be false, are brought to +view two unquestionably false assertions:--each having for its subject a +matter of prime importance,--each deliberate and having in view a +particular purpose: the one, a false account of the number of the +witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus; 1 Cor. 15:6; the other, a +prediction of the end of the world before the death of persons then +living; 1 Thes. 4, 15, 16, 17. This part occupies Chapters 11 and 12. + +4. Part the Fourth is employed in showing,--that no proof, of his +alleged supernatural commission from the Almighty, is deducible, from +any account we have, of any of those scenes, in which he is commonly +regarded as having exercised a power of working miracles. For, that not +only he himself never made exercise of any such power,--on any of those +occasions, on which the demand for it, for the purpose of overcoming the +disbelief entertained of his story by the Apostles, was extreme,--but, +neither on those, nor any other occasions, did he ever take upon himself +to make reference, to so much as any one instance of any such proof of +special authority from the Almighty, as having been exhibited by him on +any other occasion: that, for the belief in any such gift, we have no +other ground, than the relations contained in the history called "_The +Acts of the Apostles_," or, for shortness, _The Acts_: and that such +throughout is,--on the one hand, the nature of the occurrence itself, on +the other hand, the character of the representation given of it,--that, +to a disbelief in the exercise of any such supernatural power, it is +not necessary that any such imputation as that of downright and wilful +falsehood should be cast upon the author of that narrative: the +occurrences in question being, mostly, if not entirely, such as lie +within the ordinary course of nature,--but, upon which, either by the +fancy, or by the artifice of the narrator, a sort of supernatural +colouring has been superinduced. For this purpose, these supposed +miracles are, each of them, separately brought to view and examined. +This part occupies the 13th chapter. + +5. Part the Fifth is employed in showing, that,--even if, on all these +several occasions, the exercise of a power of producing supernatural +effects had, by unequivocal statements, been ascribed to Paul by the +author of the Acts,--such testimony, independently of the virtual +contradiction given to it by the above-mentioned circumstantial +evidence,--could not, with any propriety, be regarded as affording +adequate proof--either of the fact of Paul's having received a divine +commission, and thereby, having become, inwardly as well as outwardly, a +convert to the religion of Jesus--either of that radical fact, or so +much as of any one of the alleged achievements, which, upon the face of +the accounts in question, are wont to present themselves as miraculous: +for that, in the first place, it is only by error that the history in +question has been ascribed to Saint Luke: it being, in respect of the +account given of the circumstances accompanying the ascension of Jesus, +inconsistent with the account given in the gospel of Saint Luke, when +compared with Acts 1:3 to 12,--and as to those attendant on the death of +Judas, inconsistent with the account in Saint Matthew 27:3 to 10 and +Acts 1:16 to 20: and moreover, such being the whole complexion of his +narrative, as to render it incapable of giving any tolerably adequate +support to any statement whereby the exercise of supernatural power is +asserted. This part occupies Chapter 14. + +In Part the Sixth, to give additional correctness and completeness, to +the conception supposed to be conveyed, of the character of Paul and his +attendant historiographer, jointly and severally considered,--a conjunct +view is given of _five_ reports of his five trials, as reported in the +Acts. This part has been added since the publication of the +above-mentioned Summary View. It occupies Chapter 15 of the present +work. + +Chapter XVI. and last, winds up the whole, with some general +observations on the self-declared oppositeness of Paul's Gospel, as he +calls it, to that of the Apostles: together with an indication of a real +Antichrist, in compensation for the fabulous one, created by Paul, and +nursed by the episcopal authors and editors of the Church of England, +translators of the Bible: and by Chapter 12 of the present work, the +imaginary Antichrist is, it is hoped, strangled. + +At the time of the publication of the Summary View,--for the more +complete and satisfactory demonstration of the relative insufficiency of +the narrative in question, a short but critical sketch was, as herein +stated, intended to be given, of the parts not before noticed of the +_History of the Church_,--from the ascension of Jesus, being the period +at which that narrative commences, to that at which it terminates,--to +wit, about two years after the arrival of Paul at Rome, Acts 28: the +history--to wit, as deducible from the materials which, in that same +narrative, are brought to view: the duration of the period being, +according to commonly received computations, about 28 or 30 years[A]: +the author of "_The Acts_" himself,--if he is to be believed,--an +eyewitness, during a considerable portion of the time, to the several +occurrences which he relates. + +On this occasion, and for this purpose,--the history in question had +been sifted, in the same manner and on the same principles, as any +profane history, in which, in a series of occurrences mostly natural, a +few, wearing a supernatural appearance, are, here and there, +interspersed: as, for instance, in Livy's, and even in Tacitus's Roman +History: on the one hand, the authority not being regarded as affording +a sufficient foundation, for a belief in the supernatural parts of the +narrative; nor, on the other hand, the sort of countenance, given to the +supernatural parts, as affording a sufficient reason, for the disbelief +of those, which have nothing in them that is unconformable to the +universally experienced course of nature. + +In respect of _doctrine_, the conclusion is--that no point of doctrine, +which has no other authority than that of Paul's writings for its +support, can justly be regarded as belonging to the religion of +Jesus,--any more than if, at this time of day, it were broached by any +man now living: that thus, in so far as he is seen to have _added_ +anything to the religion of Jesus, he is seen to set himself _above_ it +and _against_ it: that, therefore, if this be true, it rests with every +professor of the religion of Jesus, to settle with himself, to which of +the two religions, that of Jesus and that of Paul, he will adhere: and, +accordingly, either to say, _Not Jesus but Paul_,--or, in the words of +the title to this work, _Not Paul but Jesus_.[B] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[A] To prevent, if possible, an embarrassment, which might otherwise be +liable to have place on the part of the reader,--and therewith, the idea +of inconsistency, as having place here and there in the work,--the +following indication may be found to have its use. + +A cloud of uncertainty, to the length of one or two years, hangs over +the duration of the period embraced by this work: namely, that between +the point of time at which the conversion of Paul is stated to have +taken place, and the point of time at which the history, intituled The +Acts of the Apostles, as therein declared, concludes:--a point of time, +posterior by two years to that of his arrival at Rome. + +[B] For making the requisite separation, between the two religions of +Jesus and the religion of Paul,--an instrument, alike commodious and +unexceptionable, has--for these many years, though, assuredly, not with +any such view,--been presented to all hands, by Doctor _Gastrell_, an +English and Church of England Bishop: namely, in a well-known work, +intituled _The Christian Institutes_: date of the 14th Edition, 1808. It +is composed of a collection of points of faith and morality, and under +each are quoted the several texts, in the New Testament, which are +regarded by the author as affording grounds for the positions indicated. +If then, anywhere, in his composition of the ground, passages, one or +more, from this or that Epistle of Paul, are employed,--unaccompanied +with any passage, extracted from any of the four Gospels,--the reader +may, without much danger of error, venture to conclude, that it is to +the religion of Paul alone, that the point of doctrine thus supported +appertains, and not to the religion of Jesus. As to any of the Epistles, +which bear the name of any of the real Apostles of Jesus,--a +corresponding question may perhaps be here suggesting itself. But, with +regard to the design of the present work, scarcely will they be found +relevant. For, when compared with the sayings of Jesus as repeated in +the four Gospels, scarcely will they be found exhibiting any additional +points of doctrine: never, pregnant with any of those dissentions, +which, from the writings of Paul, have issued in such disastrous +abundance. Only lest they should be thought to have been overlooked, is +any mention here made, of those documents, which, how much soever on +other accounts entitled to regard, may, with reference to the question +between the religion of Jesus and the religion of Paul, be, as above, +and without impropriety, stated as irrelevant. + + + + +TABLE I. + + +OUTWARD CONVERSION. + + _Showing at one view, under the head of Paul's Conversion, the + different accounts from which the inference is drawn that the + Conversion was outward only, not inward._ + + +VISION I. ACTS ACCOUNT. + +Ch. ix. 1-9. + + 1.--But Saul, yet breathing threatening and slaughter against the + disciples of the Lord, went unto the High Priest, and asked of him + letters to Damascus unto the synagogues, that if he found any that + were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to + Jerusalem. And as he journeyed, it came to pass that he drew nigh + unto Damascus: and suddenly there shone around about him a light out + of heaven: and he fell upon the earth, and heard a voice saying unto + him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, + Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for + thee to kick against the pricks: (1) but rise, and enter into the + city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. And the men that + journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing the voice,--but + beholding no man. And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes + were opened, he saw nothing; (old version "no man") and they led him + by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days + without sight, and did neither eat nor drink. + + +II. PAUL'S FIRST PERSONAL ACCOUNT. + +As per Acts xxii. 3-11. + + I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, + at the feet of Gamaliel, instructed according to the strict manner + of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God, even as ye all are + this day: and I persecuted this Way unto the death, binding and + delivering into prisons both men and women. As also the High Priest + doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom + also I received letters unto the brethren; and journeyed to + Damascus, to bring them also which were there unto Jerusalem in + bonds, for to be punished. And it came to pass, that, as I made my + journey, and drew nigh unto Damascus, about noon, suddenly there + shown from heaven a great light round about me. And I fell unto the + ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why + persecutest thou me? And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said + unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. And they + that were with me beheld in deed the light, but they heard not the + voice of him that spake to me. And I said, What shall I do, Lord? + And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it + shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do. + And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by + the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus. + + +III. PAUL'S SECOND PERSONAL ACCOUNT. + +As per Acts xxvi. 9-20. + + I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things + contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And this I also did in + Jerusalem: and I both shut up many of the saints in prison, having + received authority from the Chief Priests, and when they were put to + death, I gave my vote against them. And punishing them oftentimes in + all the synagogues, I strove to make them blaspheme; and being + exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto foreign + cities. Whereupon as I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and + commission of the Chief Priests, at midday, O, king, I saw on the + way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining + round about me and them that journeyed with me. And when we were all + fallen to the earth, I heard a voice saying unto me in the Hebrew + language, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee + to kick against the goad. And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And the + Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. But arise, and stand + upon thy feet: for to this end have I appeared unto thee, to appoint + thee a minister and a witness both of thee, to appoint thee a + minister and a witness both of the things wherein thou hast seen me, + and of the things wherein I will appear unto thee; delivering thee + from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom I send thee, to + open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light, and from + the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive remission of sins + and an inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith in me. + Wherefore, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly + vision: but declared both to them of Damascus first, and at + Jerusalem, and throughout all the country of Judea, and also to the + Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, doing works + worthy of repentance. + + +IV. PAUL'S ALLUSIONS. + +I. As per Paul to Corinth. i. xv. 8. + + And last of all, as unto one born out of due time, he appeared to + me, also. + + +II. As per Paul to Gal. i. 12, 15, 16, 17. + + 12. For neither did I receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but + it came to me through revelation of Jesus Christ. + + 15. But when it was the good pleasure of God, who separated me, even + from my mother's womb, + + 16. And called me through his grace, to reveal his Son in me, that I + might preach him among the Gentiles; immediately I conferred not + with flesh and blood: + + 17. Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles + before me: but I went away into Arabia; and again I returned unto + Damascus. + + +II. VISION 2.--ANANIAS'S. + +_I. Acts Account._ + +ix. 10-16. + + 10. Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and + the Lord said unto him in a vision, Ananias! And he said, Behold, I + am here, Lord. And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go to the + street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas + for one named Saul, a man of Tarsus: for behold, he prayeth: and he + hath seen a man named Ananias coming in, and laying his hands on + him, that he might receive his sight. But Ananias answered, Lord, I + have heard from many of this man, how much evil he did to thy saints + at Jerusalem: and here he hath authority from the chief priests to + bind all that call upon thy name. But the Lord said unto him, Go thy + way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the + Gentiles and kings, and the children of Israel: for I will shew him + how many things he must suffer for my name's sake. + + +III. ANANIAS'S VISIT TO PAUL. + +_I. Acts Account._ + +ix. 17-22. + + And Ananias departed, and entered into the house; and laying his + hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord even Jesus, who appeared + unto thee in the way which thou camest, hath sent me, that thou + mayest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And + straightway there fell from his eyes as it were scales, and he + received his sight; and he arose and was baptized; and he took food + and was strengthened. + + And he was certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus. + And straightway in the synagogues he proclaimed Jesus, that he is + the Son of God. And all that heard him were amazed, and said, Is not + this he that in Jerusalem made havock of them which called on his + name? and he had come hither for this intent, that he might bring + them bound before the chief priests. But Saul increased the more in + strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving + that this is the Christ. + + +_II. Paul's Account._ + +As per Acts xxii. 12-16. + + xxii. 12. And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well + reported of by all the Jews that dwelt there, came unto me, and + standing by me said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And + in that very hour I looked up on him. And he said, The God of our + fathers hath appointed thee to know his will, and to see the + Righteous One, and to hear a voice from his mouth. For thou shalt be + a witness for him unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. And + now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy + sins, calling on his name. + + + + +NOT PAUL, BUT JESUS + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + _Paul's Conversion._[1]--_Improbability and Discordancy of the + Accounts of it._ + + +SECTION I. + +LIST OF THESE ACCOUNTS, WITH PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. + +(_See_ TABLE I., _in which they are confronted_.) + +In one single work, and that alone, is comprised the whole of the +information, in which, in relation to this momentous occurrence, any +particulars are at this time of day to be found. This is that historical +work, which in our edition of the Bible, has for its title _The Acts of +the Apostles_; for shortness, let us say _The Acts_. + +Of this same occurrence, in this one short work no fewer than three +separate accounts are visible; one, in which the story is related by the +historian in his own person; two others, in each of which Paul is +introduced as giving his own account of it. Of these three accounts, no +two will be found agreeing with each other. By the historian, Paul when +introduced as speaking in his own person, is represented as +contradicting not only the historian's account, but his own account. On +each occasion, it should seem, Paul's account is adapted to the +occasion. On the first occasion, the historian's account was not exactly +adapted to that same first occasion. By the historian's ingenuity, Paul +is accordingly represented as giving on that same occasion another and +better-adapted account. On the second occasion, neither was the +historian's account nor Paul's own account, as given on the former +occasion, found suitable to this fresh occasion; on this same fresh +occasion, a suitable amendment is accordingly framed. + +Here, at the very outset of the inquiry, the distance of time between +the point of time on which the occurrence is supposed to have taken +place, and the time at which the historian's account of it was penned, +are circumstances that present a claim to notice. + +The year 35 after the birth of Christ is the year which, according to +the received accounts, is assigned to the occurrence. According to these +same accounts, the year 63 is the date given to the last occurrence +mentioned by the historian, Acts 28: after which occurrence, two years +are stated by him as having elapsed, at the time at which the history +closes. Here then is an interval of about 30 years, between the time at +which the occurrence is stated to have happened, and the time at which +these three mutually contradictory accounts of it were framed. + +In regard to this radical occurrence in particular, namely Paul's +conversion,--for the foundation of this his report, what evidence was it +that the reporter had, or could have had in his possession, or at his +command? One answer may serve for all; the accounts given of the matter +by Paul himself. + +With Paul, then, what were this same reporter's means and mode of +intercourse? In the year 59, and not before, (such is the inference from +his own words) did it fall to his lot to be taken into the train of this +self-denominated Apostle. Then it is, that for the first time, in the +several accounts given by him of Paul's migrations from place to place, +the pronouns _us_, Acts 20:5, and _we_ make their appearance. From 34 to +59 years are 25. At the end of this interval came the earliest +opportunity, which, for anything that appears, he could have had of +hearing from his master's own mouth, whatsoever account, if any, it may +have been the pleasure of that same master to give, of an occurrence, in +relation to which there existed not among men any other percipient +witness. + +Having accompanied his master during the whole of his progress from +Jerusalem, the historian speaks of himself as being still in his train +on his arrival at Rome. Acts xxviii. 16, "And when we came to Rome," &c. +It is not precisely stated, nor can it very determinately be inferred, +whether at the point of time at which the history closes, the historian +was still at that capital; the negative supposition presents itself as +the most probable. Posterior to the closing of the real action of the +history, the penning of it will naturally be to be placed. + +"Paul, says the Acts xxviii. 30, dwelt two whole years in his own hired +house, and received all that came in unto him," &c. When this last verse +but one of the history was penning, had the historian been living with +Paul, he would naturally have given us to understand as much; instead of +_dwelt_, he would have said _has been dwelling_. + +By the tokens of carelessness afforded by the omission of so many +particulars, which in every work of an historical nature the reader will +naturally expect to see specified; such as the name of the historian, +the particulars, occasion and manner of his being taken into the company +of the illustrious missionary, and the time of that event;--by these +tokens, two inferences, how different soever their tendency, seem at +once to be suggested. One is, the genuineness of the narrative. A +writer, who was conscious that he was not the man he was thus +representing himself to be, viz. the companion of the missionary, would +hardly have slid in, in so careless a manner, the mention of so material +a circumstance. The other is, the slenderness of the author's +qualification for the task thus executed by him; the lowness of his +station in the scale of trustworthiness, and consequently the smallness +of the probative force, with which a mass of evidence thus circumstanced +can reasonably be considered as operating, in support of any alleged +matter of fact, which, (either by the extraordinariness of its nature, +or the temptation which the circumstances of the case afforded for +entire fiction or misrepresentation), presents itself as exposed to +doubt or controversy. + +A supernatural conversion, and the receipt of a supernatural commission +for the delivery of a fresh body of doctrine; such are the two events, +which, though in their nature so perfectly distinguishable, were +according to this narrative combined in one:--the conversion from an +unbelieving, cruel, and destructive persecutor of the new fellowship, +into a most zealous supporter and coadjutor: the body of doctrine such +as if it amounted to anything, could not but have been--what the person +in question declared it to be--a supplement to the religion taught by +Jesus while in the flesh;--a supplement, containing matter never +revealed to, and consequently never taught by, his Apostles. + +Now then, of all these supernatural occurrences, which, by the nameless +historiographer, are related to have happened to Paul, if anything had +really happened to him--on this supposition, (so many as were the +different sets of disciples of his, inhabitants of so many mutually +distant provinces, no fewer than eight in number); is it in the nature +of the case, that in no one instance, in any of his numerous Epistles, +he should have felt the necessity of stating and accordingly have +stated, to any of these his disciples, the circumstances attending the +event of his conversion--an event on which alone all his professions +were founded? circumstances to which, as stated in his historian's +narrative, could not from their nature have been known to any human +being other than himself? + +Yet, in no one of all his Epistles, to any one of these his disciples, +of any such particular, either in the way of direct assertion, or in the +way of allusion, is any trace to be found. Of _revelation_, yes: of +_revelation_--this one most momentous indeed, but at the same time most +mysterious and uninstructive word, repetitions we have in abundance. But +of the time and manner of the alleged communication, or of the matter +communicated, nothing is anywhere said. + +In these considerations may be seen a part, though but a part, of those, +on which, in due season, will be seen grounded the inference,--that at +no time, in all the personal conferences he had with the Apostles, was +any such story told by Paul, as is related by the author of the Acts. + +On the supposition that the narrative, such as it is, is +genuine,--taking it as a whole, a very important source of division, +from which it will require to be divided in idea into two parts or +periods, here presents itself. Period the first, containing the portion +of time _anterior_ to the historian's admission into the train of the +supposed Apostle: Period the second, containing the portion of time +_posterior_ to that event: this latter portion continuing, as far as +appears, to the time at which the history closes. + +In this latest and last-mentioned period are comprised all the several +facts, or supposed facts, in relation to which any grounds appear for +the supposition that the historian was, in his own person, a percipient +witness. + +In relation to all the several facts, or supposed facts, anterior to +this period,--the best evidence, which, for anything that appears, ever +came within his reach, was composed of such statements as, in the course +of his service, it may have been the pleasure of the master to make to, +or in the hearing of, this his attendant. Whatsoever may be the grounds +of suspicion that may be found attaching themselves to evidence passing +through such a channel, or issuing from such a source; other evidence +will, if taken in the lump, present itself as being in comparison much +less trustworthy. All other evidence consists of statements, coming from +we know not whom, at we know not what times, on we know not what +occasion, each of them with we know not how many reporting witnesses, +one after and from another, through so many different and successive +channels, between the percipient witness or witnesses, and the last +reporting witness or witnesses, from whom the historian received the +statement in the way of personal intercourse. + +The period of _rumour_, and the period of _observation_--By these two +appellations it should seem, may the two periods be not altogether +unaptly or uninstructively distinguished. + +With reference to the period of rumour,--whether, it was from Paul's own +statement, or from a source still more exposed to suspicion, that the +historian's conception was derived,--one consideration presents itself, +as requisite to be kept in mind. This is, With what facility, especially +in that age, upon an occurrence in itself true, and including nothing +that lies without the ordinary course of nature,--a circumstance out of +the course of nature, giving to the whole a supernatural, and to use the +ordinary word a miraculous, character, may, in and by the narrative, +have been superinduced.[2] Fact, for instance, as it _really_ was--at +the word of command, (suppose) a man, having the appearance of a +cripple, stands up erect and walks: untrue circumstances, one or both +superinduced by _rumour_--the man had been so from his birth; from his +birth down to that same time he had been an inhabitant of that same +place. + +In the chapter on Paul's supposable miracles, about a dozen occurrences +of this description will be found. On each one of these several +occasions, the propriety of bearing in mind the above-mentioned +consideration, will, it is believed, not appear open to dispute, +whatsoever on each several occasion may be the application made of it. + + +SECTION 2. + +VISION I.--DIALOGUE ON THE ROAD: PAUL HEARS A VOICE, SEES NOTHING. + +I. ACCOUNT.--_As per Acts_ ix. 1-9. + + ix. 1. And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter + against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,--and + _desired_ of him letters to Damascus to the _synagogues_, that if + he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might + bring them bound unto Jerusalem.--And as he journeyed, he came near + Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from + _heaven_:--and he fell to the earth, and _heard a voice_ saying + unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?--And he said, Who + art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou + persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.--And + he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to + do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it + shall be told thee what thou must do.--And the men which journeyed + with him stood speechless, _hearing a voice_ but _seeing no + man_.--And Saul arose from the earth; and _when his eyes were + opened, he saw no man_; but they led him by the hand, and brought + him into Damascus.--And he was _three days without sight, and + neither did eat nor drink_. + +II. PAUL'S supposed FIRST OR UNSTUDIED ACCOUNT.--_As per_ ACTS xxii. +3-11. + + xxii. 3. I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in + Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and + taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, + and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.--And I + persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into + prisons both men and women.--As also the high priest doth bear me + witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I + _received_ letters unto the _brethren_, and went to Damascus, to + bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem, for to be + punished.--And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was + come nigh unto Damascus _about noon_, suddenly there shone from + _heaven_ a great light round about me.--And I fell unto the ground, + and _heard a voice_ saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou + me?--And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am + Jesus of Nazareth whom thou persecutest.--And they that were with me + _saw indeed the light_, and were afraid; but _they heard not_ the + voice of him that spake to me.--And I said, What shall I do, Lord? + And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it + shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to + do.--And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led + by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus. + + +III. PAUL'S supposed ORATORICAL OR STUDIED ACCOUNT.--_As per_ ACTS xxvi. +9-20. + + xxvi. 9. I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many + things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.--Which thing I + also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in + prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when + they were put to death I gave my voice against them.--And I punished + them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and + being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto + strange cities.--Whereupon as I went to Damascus with _authority_ + and _commission_ from the _chief priests_,--at _midday_, O king, I + saw in the way a light from _heaven_, above the brightness of the + sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me.--And + when we were all fallen to the earth, _I heard_ a voice speaking + unto me, and saying _in the Hebrew tongue_, Saul, Saul, why + persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. + And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou + persecutest.--But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared + unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness + both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in + the which I will appear unto thee;--delivering thee from the people, + and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee. + + +On comparing the three accounts of Vision 1st, the particulars will be +found referable to twelve heads. Under no more than two of the twelve, +will the conformity among them be found entire. + +Where disconformity has place it may be clear or not clear of +contradiction. Clear it may be of contradiction, when it consists either +of mere deficiency or mere redundancy, or of both: deficiency or +redundancy, according as it is this or that account, which, on the +occasion of the comparison, is taken for the standard. + +On the occasion in question, such is the importance of the occurrence, +that the proper standard of reference and comparison is that which is +most ample: that which, if not strictly speaking complete, wants the +least of being so. On the part of the historian, speaking in his own +person, omission is in such a case without excuse. + +Not so, necessarily, in the case of a person whom the historian speaks +of as giving that person's own account of that same occurrence. What may +be is, that in the nature of the occasion in which the person is +represented as speaking of it, there is so much of suddenness, by reason +of impending danger, or urgent pressure, that, of the quantity of time +necessary for complete utterance, and even of that necessary for +complete and correct recollection, more or less was wanting. + +On the occasion of that account of the matter, which is the first of the +two on which the historian represents Paul as giving an account of this +momentous occurrence,--this justification for want of completeness, or +this excuse for want of correctness, might naturally enough have place. +For it was while pleading for his life at Jerusalem, before a mixed +multitude, no inconsiderable part of which were endeavouring at the +destruction of it, that Paul is represented as delivering this first of +his two accounts:--call that _the supposed unstudied or unpremeditated +account_. + +Not so, on the occasion on which he is represented as delivering the +second of these same two accounts. On this occasion, it is true, he is +represented as pleading in his defence. But it is pleading in and before +a regularly constituted judiciary, and after time for preparation in +much greater abundance than he could have wished:--call this _the +supposed studied or premeditated account_. + +In this view, the proper standard of comparison can not be dubious. The +historian being himself, in all three accounts, the immediately +reporting witness, and having had his own time for the forming of them +all,--that which he gives in his own person, and which therefore +naturally occupies the first place, should, in respect of both +qualities, as well as in that of clearness, have been, (and, setting +aside deceptious design, naturally would have been), as perfect as it +was in his power to make it. To the others alone could any excuse be +afforded, in respect of any one of those requisites, by any circumstance +peculiar to the respective cases. + +What is above being observed--Of the ten following instances of +disconformity, seven will be found to be cases of simple deficiency, +three of contradiction. + +In those which are cases of simple deficiency, it will be seen to have +urgency for its justification or excuse; for the others there appears no +justification or excuse.[3] Of the twelve distinguishable heads in +question, under two alone, viz. that of _place_ and that of _time_, will +the conformity be found complete. _Place_, a spot near to Damascus, in +the road leading from Jerusalem to Damascus: _Time_, meaning time of +_day_,--about noon. But, in the quality of trustworthiness deficient as +all three accounts will presently be shown to be, it will be seen how +little is contributed, by conformity as to the mere circumstances of +time and place. + +Now then let us see the subjects, in relation to which a want of +conformity is observable. To save words, the shortest form of +description possible will throughout be employed. + + {1. The light seen. + {2. The dialogue. + _Omissions_ {3. Falling to the ground. + {4. Language of the voice. + {5. Kicking against the pricks. + + {6. The Lord's commands. + {7. Paul's companions' posture. + _Contradictions_ {8. Paul's companions' hearing or not hearing. + {9. If hearing, what they heard. + {10. Nothing seen but light. + +1. _Light seen._ Between Acts account and Paul's 1st or supposed +unstudied account, no disconformity worth remarking. In Acts it is a +"_light_," in Paul 1st a "_great light_";[4] in both it is about midday. +But in Paul's 2d or supposed studied account, it is above the brightness +of the sun at that time of the day. + +In Acts the passage is simply narrative: in Paul's 1st, the urgency of +the occasion left no room for flowers. But in Paul's 2d, time being +abundant, flowers were to be collected, and this is one of them. In the +ordinary course of nature there exists not upon earth any light equal in +brightness to that of the sun; especially the sun at midday, and in such +a latitude. Supposing the light in question ever so much greater than +the midday sun, neither Paul nor this his historian could, without a +miracle on purpose, have had any means of knowing as much. For a miracle +for such a purpose, the existence of any effectual demand does not seem +probable. For the purpose mentioned,--namely the bereaving of the power +of vision every open eye that should direct itself towards it,--to wit, +so long as that same direction should continue,--the ordinary light of +the sun would have been quite sufficient. At the time and place in +question, whatever they may have been, suppose it true that, though +midday was the time, the atmosphere was cloudy, and in such sort cloudy, +that without something done for the purpose, a light productive of such +effects could not have been produced. Still, for this purpose, a +specially created body of light different from that of the sun, and +exceeding it in intensity, could not be needful. The removal of a single +cloud would have been amply sufficient:--a single cloud, and that a very +small one. + + * * * * * + +But if the light was really a light created for the purpose, and +brighter than that of the sun; of circumstances so important, mention +should not have been omitted in the standard narrative. + + * * * * * + +Here then is either a deficiency in the standard narrative,--and this +deficiency, as already observed, an inexcusable one,--or a redundancy in +the subsequent account: a redundancy, the cause of which seems +sufficiently obvious: a redundancy--in that account which, being +premeditated on the part of the historian, is given by him as being +premeditated on the part of the speaker, whom he represents as +delivering it: a redundancy,--and that in a word a falsehood: a +falsehood, and for what purpose?--for deception: the hero represented by +his historian as using endeavours to deceive. + +2. _Dialogue._ Per Acts, the Dialogue contained five speeches: to wit, +1. The voice's speech; 2. Paul's; 3. The Lord's, whose voice, Paul and +his historiographer[5], from what experience is not said, knew the voice +to be; 4. Paul's; 5. The Lord's. In Paul 1st, speeches the same in +number, order, and, save in one phrase about kicking against the +pricks, nearly so in terms. But in Paul 2d, the number of the speeches +is no more than three: and, as will be seen below, of the last the +import is widely different from that of any of those reported in the +other two accounts. + +3. _Falling to the ground._ Per Acts and Paul 1st, by Paul alone was +this prostration experienced. Per Paul 2d, by his unnumbered companions, +by the whole company of them, as well as by himself. Deficiency here on +the part of the proper standard; so, in the case of the unstudied +speech. In the studied speech it is supplied. + +4. _Language of the voice._ Per Acts and Paul 1st, of the language +nothing is said. Deficiency, as in the case last mentioned; to wit, in +the regular history, and in the unstudied speech. In the studied speech +it is supplied. Stage effect greater. Agrippa, to whom it was more +particularly addressed, being, under the Roman viceroy, a sort of king +of the Jews,--what seems to have occurred to the historian is--that it +might be a sort of gratification to him to be informed, that his own +language, the Hebrew, was the language which, on this occasion, was +employed by that voice, which by Paul, by whom it had never been heard +before, was immediately understood to be the Lord's; _i.e._ Jesus's; +_i.e._ God's. The character, in which Paul was on this occasion brought +by his historiographer on the stage, being that of a consummate orator, +furnished with all his graces,--this compliment was among the rest put +into his mouth. Moreover, by Jesus no language, for aught that appears, +but the Hebrew, having been ever spoken, hence the account became the +more consistent or credible. + +5. _Kicking against the pricks._[6] "Hard for thee to kick against the +pricks." Per Acts, this proverbial expression is employed by the voice, +as soon as it turns out to have been the Lord's. In the supposed and +hasty unstudied speech, it is dropped. This is natural enough. In Paul +2d--in that studied speech, it is employed: it stands there among the +flowers. + +6. _The Lord's Commands._ Commands delivered to Paul by the Lord. Under +this head there is a disastrous difference; a sad contradiction. Per +Acts, the command is for Paul to go into Damascus: there it stops. +Follows immediately an article of information, which is, that at that +time and place there is no information for him; but that, sooner or +later, some will be ready for him. After he has arrived at Damascus, it +shall there, by somebody or other, be told him, it is said, what he is +to do. So likewise in Paul 1st, in the unstudied speech, he is, in like +manner, to learn not merely what he is to do, but everything that he is +to do. Lastly comes, Paul 2d, the studied speech. By the time the +historian had arrived at this point in his history, he had forgotten +that, according to his own account of the matter, no information at all +had, during the road scene, been given to Paul by the Lord's voice; by +that voice which was so well known to be the Lord's. That the supposed +studied speech, by the charms of which the favour of the King was so +happily gained, might be the more impressive,--he makes his orator, in +direct contradiction to the account which, on the former occasion, had +by him (the historian) been given, enter, on the very spot, into all the +details of the Lord's commands. + +When the time had come for composing this supposed studied speech,--the +historian had, it should seem, forgot Ananias's vision, that subsidiary +vision, which we shall come to presently, containing a further promise +of the Lord's commands and instructions; and which, after all, unless it +is by this studied speech that they are to be regarded as given, are not +given by him anywhere. + +7. _Paul's companions--their posture._ Per Acts, though he fell, they +stood it out. Per Paul 1st, not said whether they fell or stood it out. +Per Paul 2d, they fell. The supposed studied oratorical account is here +in full contradiction with the historical one. + +8. _Paul's companions--their hearing or not hearing._ Per Acts, they not +only saw the light, but heard the voice. Per Paul 1st, they did NOT hear +the voice. In the supposed hasty and unstudied speech is the oratorical +account made to contradict the historical one. In this particular, which +of the accounts was true? If the historical, the haste must, in the +oratorical, be the apology, not only for the incompleteness but for the +incorrectness. In Paul 2d, nothing is said about their hearing or not +hearing. + +Supposing the story in any of the accounts to have had any truth in it, +there was a middle case, fully as possible and natural as either of +these extreme and mutually contradictory ones. It may have been, that +while some stood their ground, others fell. And the greater the numbers, +the greater the probability of this middle case. But as to their number, +all is darkness. + +9. _Paul's companions--if they heard, what it was they heard._ If they +heard anything, they heard, as far as appears, whatever Paul himself +heard. Per Acts, it is after the order given to Paul to go on to +Damascus,--with the promise thereupon, that there and then, and not +before, he should receive the information he should receive; it is after +the statement made of his hearing all this from the voice, that the +further statement comes, declaring that it was by Paul's companions also +that this same voice was heard. But this same voice was, it is said, the +Lord's voice. That when the voice had answered to the name by which Paul +called it, to wit, the name of Lord, it stopt there, so far as concerned +Paul's companions;--and that it reserved what followed, to wit, the +above-mentioned order with the promise, for Paul's single ear; true it +is, this may be _imagined_ as well as anything else: but at any rate it +is not _said_. + +If Paul 2d--the studied oratorical account--is to be believed, all the +information for the communication of which this miracle was performed +was, as will be seen, communicated here upon the road: viz. immediately +after the voice had been called by him _Lord_. But, if this was the +case, and, as above, Paul's companions heard all that he heard,--then so +it is, that the revelation was made as well to them as to him;--this +revelation, upon the strength of which we shall see him setting himself +up above all the Apostles; himself and that Gospel of his own, which he +says was his own, and none of theirs. Now then--these companions--was it +upon the same errand as his that they went, to wit, the bringing in +bonds to Jerusalem all the Damascus Christians? If so, or if on any +other account they were any of them in a condition to need +conversion,--they were converted as well as he; or else, so far as +concerned them, the miracle was thrown away. Companions as they were of +his, were they or were they not respectively attendants of his? +attendants going under his orders, and on the same errand? Unless, by +the Jerusalem rulers, on the part of the Damascus rulers, both will and +power were depended upon, as adequate to the task of apprehending the +followers of Jesus and sending them bound to Jerusalem, such these +companions ought to have been, every one of them--supposing always on +the part of this about-to-be Apostle an ordinary prudence: that sort and +degree of prudence with which no ordinary police-officer is unprovided. +Some persons under his orders he must have had, or he could never have +been sent on so extensively and strongly coercive an errand. + +These companions, if, on this occasion, any such or any other companions +he had, had each of them a name. To this vision, such as it was, they +being each of them respectively, as well as himself, whether in the way +of sight and hearing both, or in the way of sight alone, percipient +witnesses, their names, in the character of so many percipient +witnesses, ready upon every proper occasion to answer in the character +of _reporting_ witnesses, would have been of no small use: of use, were +it only for the giving to this story a little more substance than it has +in the form we see it in. + +As to Ananias--the supposed principal actor in the scene next to +Paul--for him, indeed, supposing any such person to have existed, a +name, it is seen, was found. But, with a view to any purpose of +evidence, how little that name amounted to, will be seen likewise. + +In this vision of Paul's, as it is called,--was any person seen, or +anything but light--light at midday? No; positively not any person, nor +as far as appears, the light excepted, anything whatsoever. Per Acts, +chap. ix:8, when "his eyes were opened,"--so it is expressly said,--"he +saw no man." This was after he had fallen to the earth; for it was after +he arose from the earth. But, it was before he fell to the earth, and +thereupon heard the voice, that, according to this same account, he saw +the extra light--the light created for the purpose: and, forasmuch as at +the conclusion of the dialogue with the five speeches in it--forasmuch +as at the conclusion of it, such was the effect produced upon him by the +light, as to render him at that time stone-blind, requiring to be led by +the hand, it could not from the first have been anything less effective. +Per Acts, in this state he continues all the way as far as Damascus, and +for three days after his arrival there. So likewise in the supposed +unstudied speech, Paul 1st. But in the studied speech, Paul 2d, there is +no blindness; the blindness is either forgotten or discarded. + +But the curious circumstance is, his being led by the hand--all the way +to Damascus led by the hand:--led by the hand by these same companions. +Now these same companions, how was it that they were able to lead him by +the hand? All that he saw was the light, and by that light he was +blinded. But all that he saw they saw: this same light they saw as well +as he. This same light, then, by which he was blinded--were they not +blinded likewise by it? Was it a privilege--a privilege reserved for a +chosen favourite--a privilege which it cost a miracle to produce--the +being blinded when nobody else was blinded? + +Blinded then as they were, how came he to be led by them, any more than +they by him? Can the blind lead the blind? Let Jesus answer. Shall they +not both fall into the ditch? + +Oh! but (says somebody) it is only in Paul 1st,--in Paul's supposed +unstudied speech, that the historian makes them see the light that Paul +saw. Answer. True: but neither in his own person does he say the +contrary. As to their seeing, all he says is, that _they_ saw no man, +"hearing a voice but seeing no man." (ver. 7.) But by the same account, +(ver. 8.) "When _his_ eyes were opened, he saw no man;" so that, though +in what he says in his own person the historian does not mention this +which he mentions, speaking in Paul's person,--yet he does not +contradict it. + +10. _Paul's companions. What part, if any, took they in the +conversation?_ Per Acts, they stood speechless: and it is after the +dialogue has been reported, that this is stated. In the unstudied +speech, nothing is said about their speech. In the studied speech, with +reference to them, no mention is made of speech; any more than of sight +or hearing. + +But, forasmuch as, according to Acts, whatever Paul saw and heard, they +saw and heard likewise; how happened it, that by no one of them, so much +as a word, on an occasion so interesting to all, was said--or a question +put? To be sure it was to Paul alone, that by the voice, whosever it +was, any address was made. It was his concern:--his alone, and none of +theirs. + +So, indeed, some might think; but, others in their situation, quite as +naturally might think otherwise. Sooner or later, at any rate, they +would recover whatever it was they lost: sight, if sight; speech, if +speech. Whenever recovered, speech would thereupon range with but the +greater freedom, for the restraint which, for a time, had been put upon +it:--range over the whole business, including whatever secrets Paul had +been put in possession of:--the commission, the sweeping and +incarcerating commission he had been intrusted with by the rulers, and +the unperformed promise that had been made to him by the voice, which +being at midday, accompanied by an extraordinary light, was of course +the Lord's voice. These things would naturally, by these his companions, +have been converted from secrets into town-talk. + +Nay but (says somebody) though it _is_ said he saw no _man_, it is _not_ +said, he saw not the Lord: and elsewhere he may be seen saying--saying +in the most positive terms, that he did see the Lord[7]. And if he did +see the Lord anywhere, why not here as well as anywhere else? + +"_Saw no man._" Yes: so says the English version. But the original is +more comprehensive:--Saw no person, says the original: that is, to speak +literally, saw no one of the masculine gender. No one what? No one +person of this gender: this is what the word means, if it means +anything. No person; and therefore no Lord: no God; if so it be that, +when applied to denote God, the word person means God, or as some say, a +part of God. + +Note, likewise,--that, when the companions are spoken of,--both in the +translation and in the original, the object to which the negative is +applied is expressed by the same word as when he, Paul, is spoken of. + + +SECTION 3. + +VISION II.--ANANIAS'S. + +TOPIC 1.--_Ananias's Description._ + +Of the vision itself there being but one account, by this singleness +discordancy is saved. + +But, of the description belonging to Ananias there are two accounts. +One the historical, as before: the other, the unpremeditated +oratorical account supposed to be given by Paul in the first of +his two supposed speeches, as above; and, room being thus given for +discordancy,--discordancy, as of course, enters--or at any rate a +strong suspicion of it. + +Per Acts, Ananias is a disciple: a disciple, to wit, a Christian; a +disciple immediately of Jesus or his Apostles: for, such is the +signification attached to the word _disciple_ in the Acts: such he would +on this occasion be of course understood to be; for, otherwise the word +would be uncharacteristic and insignificant. + +Materially different is the description supposed to have been given of +this same Ananias by Paul in that same supposed unpremeditated speech; +so different as to be not without effort, if by any effort, reconcilable +with it. + +He is now a disciple of Jesus and the Apostles; of that Jesus, by whom +the law, _i.e._ the Mosaic law, was after such repeated exposure of its +inaptitude, pronounced obsolete. He is now not only spoken of as being, +notwithstanding this conversion, a devout man according to that same +law; but, moreover, as having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt +there, to wit, at Damascus. Of the Jews? Yes; of "_all_" the Jews. + +If, notwithstanding his conversion to a religion by which that of the +Jews was slighted and declared to be superseded, he was still so happy +as to be the subject of this good _report_, which is as much as to +say--of a correspondently unanimous good opinion; this, it would seem, +would have been the man to preach to them that religion: especially if +that part of the story were true, according to which he was +distinguished by the same supernatural sort of communication; this man, +who was already a Christian, this man, and not Paul, who of all opposers +of Christianity had been the most fierce and the most mischievous, would +naturally have been the man to receive the supernatural commission. +Supposing his vision real, and the reports of it true, no difficulty, +rationally speaking, could he have found in obtaining credence for it at +the hands of the Apostles: those Apostles, at whose hands, from first to +last it will be seen, never was it the lot of Paul, with _his_ vision or +visions, to obtain credence. + +The audience, before which this speech was supposed to be delivered, of +whom was it composed? With the exception of a few Romans, to whom it was +probably unintelligible unless by accident, altogether of Jews; and +these--no one can say in what proportion, probably in by much the +largest, Jews not christianized. Hence then the sort of character, which +the occasion and the purpose required should be given, to this supposed +miraculously formed acquaintance of the person who, upon the strength of +this acquaintance, was to be numbered among the Apostles. + + +TOPIC 2.--_Mode of Conversation._ + +By this vision is produced a dialogue. Interlocutors, the Lord and +Ananias. In the course of the dialogue, speeches five: whereof, by the +Lord, three; the other two by Ananias. + +In and by the first pair of speeches the Lord calls the man by his name: +the man answers, Behold, says he, I am here, Lord. In the English +translation, to atone for the too great conciseness of the Greek +original, the words "_am here_" are not improperly interpolated. Giving +to this supposed supernatural intercourse what seemed to him a natural +cast--a cast suited to the occasion--seems to have been the object of +the historian in the composition of this dialogue. But, upon so +supernatural a body, a natural colouring, at any rate a colouring such +as this, does not seem to fit quite so completely as might have been +wished. On the road, when the voice,--which turned out to be that of the +Lord, that is, being interpreted, Jesus's,--addressed itself to Paul, +this being the first intercourse, there was a necessity for its +declaring itself, for its declaring whose it was; and the declaration +was made accordingly. Here, on the other hand, no sooner does Ananias +hear himself called by his name, than he knows who the person is by whom +he is thus addressed. Taken as it stands, an answer thus prompt includes +the supposition of an already established intercourse. Such intercourse +supposed--in what way on former occasions had it been carried on? Laying +such former occasion out of the question--in what way is it supposed to +be carried on on the occasion here in question? On the occasion of his +visit to Paul,--the Lord, to whomsoever he may have been audible, had +never, from first to last, as we have seen, been visible. On the +occasion of this visit of his to Ananias--was the Lord audible only, or +visible only, or both audible and visible? If both audible and visible, +or even if only visible,--the mode of revelation was more favourable to +this secondary and virtually unknown personage, than to the principal +one. + +Between mortal and mortal, when it is the desire of one man to have +personal communication with another whom he supposes to be within +hearing, but who is either not in his sight or not looking towards +him,--he calls to him by his name; and in token of his having heard, the +other answers. From man to man, such information is really necessary; +for--that the requisite attention has place where it is his desire that +it should have place, the human interlocutor has no other means of +knowing. Not considering, that the person to whom the information is +supposed to be conveyed is a sort of person to whom no such information +could be necessary, the historian represents his Ananias as giving to +the Lord, as if to a mere mortal, information of his presence. Behold, +Lord! I am here. + + +TOPIC 3.--_Lord's Commands and Information: Want of particularization a +disprobative Circumstance._ + +The conversation being thus begun, the interlocutors proceed to +business. In speech the 3d, Lord delivers to Ananias, the devout Jew, a +command, and thereupon a piece of information. The command is--to repair +to a place therein described, and find out Paul: the information +is--that at the time then present Paul is praying; and that, at an +anterior point of time not designated, he had seen a vision. + +In the command, the designation of the place wears, upon the face of it, +the appearance of that sort and degree of particularity, the exaction of +which is, in these days, in which genuine visions are never exemplified, +matter of course, on every occasion on which it is the real intention, +of those on whom it depends, that through the medium of personal +testimony the truth should be extracted. On every such occasion, the +object in question, whether it be an event or a quiescent state of +things, is endeavoured to be individualized: and, for the production of +this effect, the individual portion of space, and the individual portion +of time, are endeavoured to be brought to view together. + +On the occasion here in question, towards the individualization of the +portion of space some approach is made: the town being foreknown, to +wit, Damascus, the _street_ is particularized; it is the street called +_Straight_: as in Westminster we have _Long-ditch_, and in London +_Crooked-lane_. Moreover, the _house_ is particularized; it is the house +of Judas. To this Judas had any one of those marks of distinction been +added, which in that age and nation we find to have been common,--as in +the instance of the too notorious Judas the Iscariot, _i.e._, the +inhabitant of Iscara, and in that of Judas Barsabas, _i.e._, the son of +Sabas, or, as we should say, Sabasson, not long after mentioned, Acts +25:22,--it would have been something. But, destitute of such limitative +adjunct, _Judas_ of itself was nothing. In that age and country, even +without reckoning notorious traitors, there was never any want of +Judases. Not inferior in plenty were Ananiases: in the Acts we have +three of them;--this private inhabitant of Damascus: the High Priest, +whose seat was at Jerusalem; and the husband of Sapphira: and in +Josephus they vie in abundance with the Johns and Jesuses. + +But, on the occasion in question, and to the purpose in question, though +a distinctive adjunct as above would have done something, it would have +done very little. In the field of time,--seven-and-twenty years at +least, and we know not how much more, according to the received +chronology, was the distance between the event in question, and the +report given of it in this history. Neither in Damascus nor yet in +Jerusalem was any such thing as a newspaper,--not even an enslaved +newspaper, in existence; no, nor yet so much as a printing-press,--not +even an enslaved printing-press. For writing, the materials were +expensive; and handwriting was the only mode of copying. Publication was +not, as under the printing-press, promiscuous: unless by accident, for +an indefinite length of time, into no other hand did any copy find its +way, other than those of the author's confidential friends, or friends +separated from the author by a greater or less number of removes, as it +might happen; but all of them linked to one another by the bonds of +amity, and unity of principle and practice. + +In such a capital as Damascus, Straight Street might have been as long +as Oxford Street; and, unless the style of building in those earlier +days had much more of convenience and luxury in it than in these latter +days, was much more crowded. Conceive a man at this time of day, going +to Oxford Street with the intention of finding the house, in which, +thirty years ago, a man of the name of Brown or Smith had his +residence,--to wit, on some indeterminate day, of the number of those +included within the space of an indeterminate number of years; and this, +for the purpose of ascertaining whether, on this indeterminate day, and +by this Smith or this Brown, a vision, not seen by anybody else, had +been seen. Suppose a man in Rome set out on such an errand--and then say +what would be the probable result of it. + + +TOPIC 4.--_Vision reported to Ananias by the Lord as having been seen by +Paul._ + +Of the report then given of this anterior vision, the character is too +remarkable to be given, as it were, in a parenthesis: it is therefore +referred to a separate head. Acts ix. 12. "And Paul hath seen in a +vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him that +he might receive his sight." + + +TOPIC 5.--_Ananias's Objection to the Lord's Commands to visit Paul--He +informs the Lord what he had heard about Paul._ + +By the two first speeches of this dialogue, we are given to understand +that Ananias had already held intercourse with the Lord; an intercourse +which, the nature of the two parties considered, could not have been +other than a supernatural intercourse: yes, and on this very subject: +for, if not on this particular subject, the subject of it, whatever it +was, could not but have called for notice and communication. But, no +sooner does this next speech commence, than we are given to understand +that there had not--could not have been any such intercourse: for if +there had been, what follows would have been rendered useless and +needless. Upon receiving the command, Ananias's first thought is--to +endeavour to excuse himself from paying obedience to it; for in this +endeavour it is, that he gives the Lord a piece of information; to +wit--of what, in relation to Paul's character, he (Ananias) had heard. +Acts ix. 13: "Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this +man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem. And here he +hath authority from the Chief Priests to bind all that call on thy +name." Thus then, commands known to have been the Lord's, having that +instant been received,--the man by whom they have been received--so +small is the confidence, reposed in the Lord by this his favoured +disciple--instead of paying obedience to them, answers them by an +objection. This objection, prepared for it or not prepared for it, the +Lord, as might well be expected, immediately overrules. + +A question that here presents itself is--Since it was from _many_, i.e. +_many men_, that Ananias had heard, not only what everybody had been +hearing for weeks, or months, or years,--viz. of the evil that Paul had +been doing to the Jerusalem saints, but of the authority that he had so +lately received, to bind at Damascus all the Damascus saints he could +find--since it was from so many, who then were these many? How was it, +that in the compass of the three days (ver. 9), during which Paul had +remained without sight or nourishment, a commission,--to the execution +of which secrecy was so obviously necessary,--had to such a degree +transpired? Suppose the secret to have thus transpired,--two results +would, in any natural and credible state of things, have been among the +consequences. The persons thus devoted to destruction would have made +their escape; the commission by which alone the supposed proceedings +against them could have found a justification or a cause, not having +been delivered. On the other hand, hearing that Paul was there, and that +he either was, or pretended to be, in the house in question, or in some +other, in the extraordinary condition above described,--the persons +spoken of in the Acts under the name of _the Synagogue_, would not have +left him there, but would have convened him before them, and, if he +really had any such commission, have caused it to be produced, and read +it: convened before them, not only Paul with his supposed commission, +but those companions of his that we have already heard of, if any such +he had[8]. + +But of these there will be occasion to speak in another place. + + +TOPIC 6.--_The Lord's Answer, obviating the objection, and giving +intimation of his designs in favour of Paul._ + +This objection, no sooner has the Lord overruled it, than he undertakes +to answer it, and to explain to this his so singularly favoured old +disciple the intentions he had formed in favour of his intended new +convert, whose conversion is, however, as yet but in progress (ver. 14): +"But the Lord said to him, Go thy way; for he is a chosen vessel unto +me, to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings, and the children of +Israel:--For (continues the Lord) I will show him how great things he +must suffer for my name's sake." Being, and therefore at the time of +Paul's vision purposing to be, in relation to his designs for Paul, thus +communicative to this same Ananias, who is a perfect stranger to this +same Paul,--to what purpose, on the occasion of his supposed visionary +intercourse with Paul, should _the Lord_ have stopped short; reserving +the communication, for the intention of giving it him at second-hand by +the mouth of that same stranger? This is one of the swarms of questions +which an account of this sort could scarcely fail to present to any +inquiring mind. + +Meantime, as to the Lord's having thus stopped short, this we shall see +is in full contradiction with the account which the historian makes him +give in his supposed second reported speech, to wit, the supposed +premeditated one, spoken before Agrippa, who, under the proconsul +Festus, was king of the Jews, and who, on that occasion, is spoken of as +being assessor to the said proconsul Festus. On that occasion the Lord +is represented as explaining himself more fully to Paul himself, than +here, for the benefit of Paul, through Ananias. + + +SECTION 4. + +ANANIAS: HIS VISIT TO PAUL AT DAMASCUS. + +We now come to the visit, which, we are to understand, was, in reality, +paid to Paul by Ananias, in consequence of this vision, in obedience to +the command imagined to be given in it. + +Note that, though, in the original--in _the including vision_, as it may +be called--the command is given to inquire in the house in question for +the person (Saul) in question,--this is _all_ the command which, in that +least visionary of the two visions, is delivered. In the first instance +to make the inquiry, and in conclusion to go his way--this is all to +which the commands given to him in the direct way extend themselves. To +accomplish the object of this intercourse--to do anything towards it +beyond the making of this inquiry--he has to take hints and to draw +inferences:--inferences from the Lord's speech, which is thus continued, +Acts ix. 12: "And (Paul) _hath seen in a vision_ a man named Ananias +coming in, and putting his hand on him that he might receive his sight." +From having been told what--in a vision, to wit, this _contained or +included vision_--this same Paul had been _fancying_ he _had_ seen him +(Ananias) do--from this he was to conclude that it was the Lord's will +that he (Ananias) _should_ do _in reality_ that which Paul had been +fancying him to have done; though the only effect, for the doing of +which it had so been fancied to have been performed, had never been +produced. This was what he was to conclude was the Lord's will; although +the Lord himself, who (if any person) should have known how to speak +plainly and beyond danger of misconception, had forborne to tell him as +much. + +On the occasion of this important visit--this visit of Ananias to +Paul,--the double light--the light cast by the first of the two +oratorical accounts--to wit, the supposed unpremeditated one, upon the +historical one--recommences. + +Follows now--and from both sources--the account of the interview, and of +the cure performed in the course of it. + +ACTS' ACCOUNT.--Ch. ix. ver. 17-22. + + And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting + his hands on him, said: Brother Saul, the Lord, _even_ Jesus, that + _appeared_ unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that + thou mightest receive thy sight, _and be filled with the Holy + Ghost_.--And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been + _scales_: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and _was + baptized_.--And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. Then + was Saul _certain days_ with the disciples which were _at + Damascus_.--And straightway he _preached_ Christ in the synagogues, + that he is the Son of God.--But all that heard _him_ were amazed, + and said: Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this + name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might + bring them bound unto the Chief Priests?--But Saul _increased the + more_ in strength, and _confounded the Jews_ which dwelt at + _Damascus_, proving that this is very Christ. + +PAUL'S ACCOUNT.--ACTS, Ch. xxii. ver. 12-16. + + 12. And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a + good report of all the Jews which dwelt _there_,--Came unto me, and + stood, and said unto me: Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the + same hour I looked up upon him.--And he said: The God of our fathers + hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and _see_ that + Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth.--For thou shalt + be his witness unto all men of what thou hast _seen_ and heard.--And + now, why tarriest thou? arise, and _be baptized_, and wash away thy + sins; calling on the name of the Lord. + + +TOPIC 1.--_On visiting Paul, Ananias's Introductory Speech--Preliminary +Recital._ + +I. In the historical account, the speech has in it several +distinguishable parts. + +I. "Brother Saul." + +First comes the address, in which Saul, the future Paul, is addressed by +disciple Ananias by the name of _brother_. If, as between Jew and Jew, +this was a common form of salutation,--so far everything is in order. +But, if it was only in consideration of his having been denominated a +disciple, to wit, of Jesus,--the salutation is rather premature: the +conversion, supposing it effected, is, at any rate, not yet declared. +Not only in the historical account is this appellation employed, but +likewise in the oratorical one. + +The attention of Paul being thus bespoken by his visitor, mention is +thereupon made of the purpose of the visit. + +I. In the first place comes a recital. "The Lord (says he), even Jesus, +that _appeared_ unto thee on the way as thou camest, hath sent me".... +Unfortunately, according to the historian himself, this assertion, as we +have seen already, is not true. In no manner or shape did the Lord +Jesus, or any other person, make his appearance;--all that _did_ appear +was the light--the light at midday: so he has just been writing, and +before the ink, if ink it was that he used, was dry, already had he +forgotten it. + +This, however, is but a collateral averment:--a recital, an episode, +matter of _inducement_, as an English lawyer would phrase it. + + +TOPIC 2.--_Declared Purposes or Objects of the Visit._ + +Purpose the first. "That thou mightest," says Ananias, "receive thy +sight." Thus says Ananias in the historical account: in the supposed +oratorical one he is more concise. No supposed past occurrence referred +to:--no purpose declared. "Receive thy sight" are the words. + +Purpose the second. That thou mightest "be filled with the Holy Ghost," +says the historical account. But in a succeeding passage what is the +purpose, which, in the supposed oratorical account Ananias is made to +speak of, in the design that it should be taken for the purpose which +the Lord by his commandment meant to be accomplished? Not the being +filled by the Holy Ghost; only the being baptized. "And now, why +tarriest thou? (Acts xxii. ver. 16) Arise and be baptized, and wash away +thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord." Well but (says somebody) +receiving the Holy Ghost, and being baptized,--by these two +expressions, is not one, and no more than one effect--one and the same +effect--to be understood? No, in truth, if the historian himself is to +be believed. Turn to another chapter--the very next chapter before this, +Acts 12 to 17, and there you will see, that the being baptized was one +thing, the receiving the Holy Ghost another thing, and much more. For +administering the ceremony of baptism, a single Apostle, Philip, was +sufficient: whereas, for the causing the Holy Ghost to be received, +nothing less was requisite than the cooperation of two Apostles, and +those two commissioned by the rest. + +So serious always, according to this historian, was the difference, that +it was after he had been already baptized, and baptized gratis in a +crowd, that for the power of conferring this benefit, whatever it was +that it was composed of, Sorcerer Simon made to the two Apostles, those +offers--those pecuniary offers--which are said to have been no sooner +made than rejected. Acts 13 to 24. + + +TOPIC 3.--_Actual Effects of the Visit, and the Application in +consequence made in the course of it._ Effect 1. _Scales fall from Eyes, +and Sight is received in consequence._ + +In the historical narrative, the effect is as complete as it is +remarkable. Fall from his eyes a portion of matter of the nature or +resemblance of scales: whereupon he receives sight forthwith. + +In the supposed oratorical account, whatsoever had been meant by scales, +nothing is said of them. Neither is the declaration made of the +completeness of the case quite so explicit. One look he gave--gave to +his wonder-working surgeon--and instead of its being given forthwith--to +give this one look required, it should seem, if not a whole hour, at +any rate so little less, that any time less than an hour could +not--such, in this supposed unpremeditated speech, was the anxiety felt +for correctness--could not be ventured to be particularized. + +The more closely these scales, or things resembling scales, are looked +at, the more difficult will it be to find them amount to anything. In no +cure, performed upon eyes in any natural way, in these our days--upon +eyes that have lost their sight--do any scales fall off, or anything in +any degree resembling scales;--in no disorder of the eyes, known to have +place in these our days, do scales, or anything like scales, come over +the eyes. By the taking of matter from the eyes, sight, it is true, is +every now and then restored: but this matter is not matter, foreign in +relation to the eye and exterior to it; but one of the component parts +called _humours_ of the eye, which, by losing its transparency having +suspended the faculty of vision, is let out by a lancet; whereupon not +only is the faculty of sight restored, but the part which had been +extirpated restored likewise; and without any expense in the article of +miracles. + +On the supposition of falsity,--quere the use of this circumstance? +_Answer._ To afford support to the conception, that memory and not +imagination was the source from which the story was derived. True it is, +that, instead of support, a circumstance exposed to contradiction would +be an instrument of weakness: if, for example, on the supposition that +Paul had no companions on the road, names indicative of really existing +and well-known persons had been added, to the intimation given in the +_Acts_, of the existence of such companions. But to no such hazard was +the story of the scales exposed: not to any great danger, on the +supposition of the existence of Paul's Ananias: not to any danger at +all, upon the supposition of his non-existence. + +But, upon this occasion, now again once more present themselves--present +themselves to the mind's eye--Paul's companions. That they were blinded +at all can scarcely, it has been seen, be believed, if on this matter +the historian himself is believed. For, per Acts ix. 8, "they led him by +the hand:" so, per Paul 1st, Acts xxii. 11, "When I could not see for +the glory of that light, being led by the hand of those that were with +me, I came unto Damascus." But if, notwithstanding so it was that _they_ +too were blinded,--how was it with _their_ eyes? Had _their_ eyes scales +upon them? did these scales ever fall off?--if so, by what means were +they made to fall off? _their_ evidence would have been not much, if +anything, less impressive,--and it would have been much less open to +suspicion,--than Paul's evidence, supposing him to have spoken of these +scales--which the historian, to whom, if he is to be believed, their +existence is so well known, did not take upon him to represent Paul as +saying that he did. But if so it was, that, though rendered blind as +Paul's, no scales were superinduced upon, nor consequently made to fall +off, the eyes of those nameless and unknown persons,--how came they to +be superinduced upon and made to fall off from the eyes of their +singularly favoured principal? If, for a length of time more or less +considerable, they really were made blind,--it was, if the historian is +to be believed, by the same cause by which, in the instance of Paul's +eyes, this same effect was produced:--the same cause, to wit an +extraordinary light at noonday. If, whatsoever was the matter with them, +the eyes of these ordinary persons could be set to rights without a +miracle, what need could there be of a miracle for the producing the +same desirable effect in the person of this their leader or master, +extraordinary as this same leader or master was? + + +TOPIC 4.--_Baptism--was it performed? when, where, by whom, &c.?_ + +The baptism thus spoken of--was it performed? Yes: if you will believe +the historian, speaking in his own person, speaking in his own +historical account: "And forthwith," in the first place, "Paul +recovered his sight;"--then, when, his sight having been recovered, he +was able to go about as usual,--he arose and was baptized: +baptized--that is say, as from this expression taken by itself any one +would conclude--baptized, as soon as he arose, to wit, as soon as water +could be found for the purpose: that water, which his guest Ananias, +foreknowing what was to come to pass, and what was to be done to make it +come to pass, might naturally be expected to have provided, and this +without any supernatural foresight: in a word, without the expense of +any additional miracle in any shape:--the water being thus ready upon +the spot, and he in equal readiness to administer it. + +This, according to the historian, speaking in his own person: but, when +the time comes for giving an account of the matter in the person of Paul +himself,--to wit in the supposed unpremeditated oratorical +speech,--then, for whatever it was that stopped him, (whether the +supposed urgency of the occasion on which the supposed speech was +supposed to be made, or any thing and what else,) so it is, that he +gives not any such information: he leaves the matter to hang in +doubt:--a doubt, which, down to the present day remains unsolved. + +A command to this effect is spoken of as having been given: thus much +is said. But, what is not said is--whether to this same command any or +what obedience was paid. + +Thus it is that, instead of an _effect_ which it seems desired that we +should consider as being produced, what we see directly stated as being +produced, is nothing more than a _command_--a command, by which, as by +its cause, we are to suppose the effect to have been produced. What is +more, in the same blind way, is intimation given us, of another and very +different effect--_the washing away of sins_--as if produced by the +first-mentioned physical operation;--namely, by that of a man's being +dipped in, or sprinkled with, water: and thus it is, that from a mere +physical operation of the most trivial nature, we are called upon to +infer a spiritual and supernatural effect of the most awful importance; +the spiritual effect stated as if it were produced by the physical +operation, to which it has no perceptible real relation--nothing but the +mere verbal one thus given to it; produced by it, and following it, as +of course--just as if sins were a species of dirt, which, by washing, +could as surely be got off as any other dirt.[9] + +And was he then really baptized? If so he was, then also if, speaking in +the person of his hero, the historian is to be believed,--then also, by +this ceremony, the name of the Lord being at the same time called +upon,--then also were his sins washed away; his sins washed away; the +sinner, therefore and thereby, put into the same case as if the sins had +not any of them been ever committed. How can it be understood otherwise? +for if, in and by this passage, intimation--sufficiently perfect +information--is given, that the ceremony was performed--then also is +sufficiently perfect information given, that such was the effect +actually produced by it. "Arise" (Ananias is made to say)--"_Arise and +be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord._" + +This is no light matter: if so it really were, that according to the +religion of Jesus, by such a cause, such an effect was on that occasion +produced;--that such effect could, in a word, on any occasion, in any +case be produced,--that _murders_, or (not to embarrass the question +with conceits of local jurisprudence) _killings_ of men--killings of men +by persecution carried on, on a religious account--slaughters of +Christians by non-Christians--could thus, as in Paul's case, be divested +of all guilt, at any rate of all punishment, at the hands of Almighty +Justice;--if impunity could indeed be thus conferred by the sprinkling a +man with water or dipping him in it, then would it be matter of serious +consideration--not only what is the _verity_ of that religion, but what +the _usefulness_ of it, what the usefulness--with reference to the +present life at any rate, not to speak of a life to come: what the +usefulness of it; and on what ground stands its claim to support by all +the powers of factitious punishment and factitious reward, at the hands +of the temporal magistrate.[10] + + +TOPIC 5.--_Performance of the Promise, supposed to have been made by the +Lord, in favour of Paul, to Ananias._ + +If the supposed promise is inadequate to the occasion, the supposed +performance is still more inadequate with reference to the promise. + +In the supposed promise are two distinguishable parts, and in neither of +them is the one thing needful to be found. Of these two parts, the only +one in which in any direct stage the matter of a promise is contained, +is the one last mentioned: it is the promise to show him, (Paul) what +sufferings he will have to undergo in the course of the career, whatever +it is, in which he is about to engage: to wit, in name and profession, +the preaching the religion of Jesus: "for I will show him," says the +Lord, according to the historian,--"I will show him how great things he +must suffer for my name's sake." If so it was, that upon this promise, +such as it is, performance never followed, the regret for the failure +need not be very great. Whatsoever were the sufferings that he was +predestined to undergo, that which was _not_ in the nature of this +foreshowing, was--the lessening their aggregate amount; that which _was_ +in the nature of it was--the making an addition to that same afflicting +aggregate; to wit, by constant and unavoidable anticipation of the +approach of such sufferings. + +Of this talk, vague as it is, about sufferings, the obvious enough +object was--the giving exaltation to the idea meant to be conveyed of +the merits of the hero:--an object, which, by this and other means, has +accordingly, down to the present day, in no small degree been +accomplished. So much as to sufferings: as to enjoyments, by any idea +entertained of the enjoyments derived by him from the same source, this +design would have been--not promoted, but counteracted. But, when the +time arrives, whether the mass of suffering was not, to no small amount, +overbalanced by that of his enjoyments--meaning always worldly +sufferings and worldly enjoyments--the reader will be left to judge. + +Here then we have the only promise, which in any direct way is +expressed:--a promise which, in the first place would have been useless, +in the next place worse than useless. + + +TOPIC 6.--_Indirect Promise, that Paul shall spread the Name of Jesus._ + +In the whole substance of this promise, if there be anything, which, +with reference to the professed end--to wit the giving extension to the +religion of Jesus--would have been of use, it is in the foregoing part +that it must be looked for. In this part then, if there be any such +matter to be found, it will be this: to wit, a promise that he (Paul) +shall bear, and therefore that he shall be enabled to bear, the name of +the Lord, to wit, the name of Jesus, before the classes of persons +specified, to wit, the Gentiles, and kings, and children of Israel: Acts +ix. 15. But, only in an indirect way is this solely material part of the +promise expressed: "He is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name," &c. +_i.e._ When I chose him, it was my design that he should do so. But, in +the case of the Lord, according to the picture drawn of him by this +historian, how very inconclusive evidence _intention_ is of _execution_, +there will, in the course of this work, have been abundant occasion to +see. + +Bear the name of Jesus? so far, so good. But for this function no such +special and supernatural commission was necessary: without any such +commission, the name of Jesus had been borne to the people at large, if +in this particular the Gospel history is to be believed. Luke ix. 49, +50: "And John answered and said, 'Master, we saw one casting out devils +in thy name: and we forbad him, because he followed not with us.' And +Jesus said unto him, 'Forbid him not, for he that is not against us, is +for us.'" How inadequate soever, with reference to the professed end, to +wit, giving extension to the religion of Jesus, the promise was +perfectly adequate, and commensurate, to what we shall find to be Paul's +real design; to wit, the planting a Gospel of his own, as, and for, and +instead of, the Gospel of Jesus. The Gospel of Jesus was the Gospel of +Jesus: and the Gospel, which, availing himself of the name of Jesus, it +was Paul's design and practice to preach, was, as he himself +declares,--as we shall see him declaring in the plainest and most +express terms,--a Gospel of his own; a Gospel which was not the Gospel +of the Apostles, and which, for fear of its being opposed by them, he +kept studiously concealed from those confidential servants and real +associates of Jesus, as may be seen in the following passages: Gal. i. +9, 11, and 12; "As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach +any other Gospel unto you, than that ye have received, let him be +accursed.--But I certify you, brethren, that the Gospel which was +preached of me is not after man.--For I neither received it of man, +neither was I taught it but by the revelation of Jesus Christ." Gal. +2:2: "And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that +Gospel which I preach among the Gentiles; but privately to them which +were of reputation, lest by any means, I should run, or had run, in +vain." + +In the course of Paul's dialogue with the voice on the road--that voice +which we are given to understand was the Lord's, _i.e._ Jesus's--the +promise supposed to be made to Paul, it must be remembered, was--the +promise to tell him, when in the city, what he was to do. "What thou +must do," says the historian in his historical account:--"all things +which are appointed for thee to do," says the historian in the supposed +unpremeditated oratorical account, which, in this so often mentioned +first of the speeches, he is supposed by the historian to have +delivered. + +Among all these things,--one thing, which it is manifestly the design of +the historian, as it was that of his hero, to make men believe, was +accomplished: to wit, the satisfying them what was the religious +doctrine, for the dissemination of which the expense of this miracle +was incurred. This, moreover, is the promise; which, in the reading of +the story everybody looks for: this too is the promise which in the +reading of this same story, the believers in the religion of Jesus have +very generally been in the habit of considering as performed. Not in and +by this history, however, will they have any such satisfaction, when the +matter comes to be looked into. For, in respect of this information, +desirable as it is,--Paul is, in this strangely supposed intercourse, +put off--put off to another time and place: put off, for no reason +given, nor for any substantial reason that can be imagined. Further on, +when a show of performing the promise comes to be made, then, instead of +accomplishment, we have more evasion. Instead of furnishing the +information to Paul himself--to Paul directly--for, when the time and +place for performance comes, performance--what the Lord is not supposed +so much as to profess to do, what he professes to do is--to make the +communication to this man, who, his existence being supposed, was an +utter stranger to Paul--namely to this Ananias. Well, and for the +conveying the information, in this indirect and inadequate way--for +conveying it to and through this same Ananias--what is done?--as we have +seen, what amounts to nothing. + +When, for affording the information--had any information been intended +to be afforded--the time and place are come; when Ananias and Paul have +been brought together; what is it that, from the information afforded us +by the historian, we are to understand, passed? _Answer_, that, after +the scales had fallen from his eyes, Paul was baptized; that he ate +meat, and that after he had eaten meat he was strengthened: +strengthened, we are warranted to suppose, by the meat which he had so +eaten. Moreover, that somehow or other, in this large city he was +certain days--number not specified,--with certain disciples--neither +names nor number specified,--and preached Christ in the synagogues, +saying that he was the son of God. + +Thus far then we are got; and, of the supposed revelation, in all this +time nothing revealed. Promises, put-offs, evasions--and, after all, no +performance. + +Among the purposes of this work, is the satisfying the reader--not only +that Paul received not any revelation from the Almighty; but that, even +upon his own showing, never did he receive any such revelation: that, on +pretence of his having received it from the Almighty by a special +revelation, he preached indeed a certain doctrine; but that this +doctrine was partly one of his own, contrary to that of Jesus's +apostles, and therefore contrary to that of Jesus: and that, in the way +of revelation, he never did receive anything; neither that doctrine of +his own which he preached, nor anything else. + + +TOPIC 7.--_Doctrine, supposed to be preached by Paul at Damascus in the +synagogues._ + +Straightway, if the historian is to be believed;--straightway after +being strengthened by the meat;--and straightway after he had passed the +certain days with the disciples;--then did Paul preach Christ in the +synagogues--preach that he is the son of God. + +Here, had he really preached in any such places--here would have been +the time, and the best time, for telling us what, in pursuance of the +supposed revelation, he preached. For, whatever it was, if anything, +that he ever learnt from his supposed revelation, it was not till he had +learnt it, till he made this necessary acquisition, that the time for +beginning to preach in the synagogues in question or anywhere else was +come. And, no sooner had he received it, than then, when it was fresh in +his memory--then was the time for preaching it. But, never having +received any such thing as that which he pretended, and which the +historian has made so many people believe, he received,--no such thing +had he to preach at any time or place. + +Whatever of that nature he had had, if he had had at any _time_, +Damascus was not the _place_, at any rate at _that time_, for him to +preach it, or anything else, in synagogues--in any receptacle so +extensively open to the public eye. + +Preach, in the name of Jesus--in the name of that Jesus, whose +disciples, and with them whose religion, he now went thither with a +commission to exterminate,--preach in that name he could not, without +proclaiming his own religion--his own perfidy;--his own rebellion, +against the authorities, from which, at his own solicitation, the +commission so granted to him had been obtained:--his own perfidious +contempt--not only of those Jerusalem rulers, but of those Damascus +authorities, from whom, for that important and cruel purpose, he was +sent to receive instruction and assistance. At some seven-and-twenty +years distance in the field of time, and at we know not what distance in +the field of space, probably that between Rome and Damascus, it was as +easy for the historian to affirm the supposed preaching, as to deny it: +but, as to the preaching itself, whether it was within the bounds of +moral possibility, let the reader judge. + + +TOPIC 8.--_Supposed Amazement of the People of Damascus at this Paul's +supposed preaching of Christ in the Synagogues there._ + +Had there really been any such preaching, well might have amazement +followed it. But there was no such preaching, therefore no such +amazement. Had there been real preaching, and real amazement produced by +it--what would have been the subject of the amazement! Not so much the +audacity of the preacher--for madmen acting singly are to be seen in but +too great frequency: not so much the audacity of the speaker, as the +supineness of the constituted authorities; for, madmen acting in bodies +in the character of public functionaries have never yet been visible. +And if any such assemblage was ever seen, many such would be seen, +before any one could be seen, whose madness took the course of sitting +still, while an offender against their authority, coming to them single +and without support,--neither bringing with him support, nor finding it +there,--continued, at a public meeting, preaching against them, and +setting their authority at defiance. + + +TOPIC 9.--_Matter of the Revelation, which, in and by the supposed +unpremeditated Oratorical Account, is supposed to have been made._ + +Forgetting what, as we have seen, he had so lately been saying in his +own person--in the person of Paul,--he on this occasion, returns to the +subject: and more evasive is the result. + +On this occasion--this proper occasion--what is it that he, Paul, takes +upon him to give an account of.--That which the Lord had revealed to +him?--revealed, communicated in the supernatural way of revelation, to +him--Paul? No; but that which, according to him,--if he, and through him +the historian, is to be believed,--the Lord communicated to Ananias +concerning him--Paul. The Almighty having minded to communicate +something to a man, and yet not communicating to that man any part of +it, but communicating the whole of it to another! What a proceeding +_this_ to attribute to the Almighty, and upon such evidence! + +Still we shall see, supposing it communicated, and from such a source +communicated--still we shall see it amounted to nothing: to +nothing--always excepted the contradiction to what, in relation to this +subject, had, by this same historian, been a little before asserted. + +Observe what were the _purposes_, for which, by this Ananias, Paul is +supposed to be made to understand, that God--the God, says he, of our +fathers--had chosen him. + +1. Purpose the first--"To know his will." His will, respecting what? If +respecting anything to the great purpose here in question, respecting +the new doctrine which, to this Paul, to the exclusion of the Apostles +of Jesus, is all along supposed to have been revealed. Of no such +doctrine is any indication anywhere in these accounts to be found. + +2. Purpose the second--"And see this just one." Meaning, we are to +understand, the person all along spoken of under the name of the Lord; +to wit, Jesus. But, in the vision in question, if the historian is to be +believed, no Jesus did Paul see. All that he saw was a light,--an +extraordinary strong light at midday; so strong, that after it, till the +scales fell from his eyes, he saw not any person in any place: and this +light, whatever it was, was seen by all that were with him, as well as +by him. + +3. Purpose the third--"And shouldest hear the voice of his mouth." Oh! +yes; if what the historian says in that other place is to be +believed--hear a voice he did; and if the historian is to be again +believed, that voice was the Lord's. But, by hearing this voice, how was +he distinguished? those that were with him, according to the historian's +own account, heard it as well as he. And what was he the wiser? This +also, it is hoped, has been rendered sufficiently visible--just nothing. + +Purpose the fourth and last--"Thou shalt be his witness (the Lord's +witness), of everything thou hast seen and heard:"--that is, of that +which was nothing, and that which amounted to nothing. + +Unhappily, even this is not all: for, before the subject is concluded, +we must go back and take up once more the supposed premeditated and +studied speech, which, on the second occasion, the self-constituted +Apostle is supposed to have made to the Sub-king of the Jews, Agrippa, +sitting by the side of his superior--the Roman Proconsul, Festus. + +In the course of this long-studied speech,--to whom, is the +communication, such as it is,--to whom, in an immediate way, and without +the intervention of any other person, is it supposed to be made? Not to +Ananias;--not to any such superfluous and unknown personage;--not to +Ananias, but to Paul himself: viz. to the very person _by_ whom this +same communication, supposed to have been made to him, is supposed to be +reported (Acts xxvi. 16 to 18): to this principal, or rather, only +person concerned:--to this one person, the communication, such as it is, +and to him the whole of it at once, is supposed to be made. + +Here then is this Ananias discarded:--discarded with this vision of his, +and that other vision which we have seen within it: the communication, +which, speaking in the first place in his own person,--and then, on one +occasion, in the person of this same hero of his--the historian had just +been declaring, was made--not to Paul, but to Ananias;--this +all-important communication, speaking again in this same third person, +but on another occasion--the discourse being supposed to be a +long-studied one--he makes this same Paul declare, was given--not to any +Ananias, not to any other person--but directly to him, Paul, himself. + +Let us now see what it amounts to. In the most logical manner, it begins +with declaring the _purposes_ it is made for; and, when the purposes are +declared, all that it does is done. Ver. 16. "But now: rise, and stand +upon thy feet; for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose."...In +this purpose are several parts: let us look into them one by one. + +1. Part 1. "To make thee (says the Lord) a minister and a witness, both +of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I +will appear unto thee." But, as to the things which he had seen, by this +same account they amounted to nothing but a glare of light. Here then +was the light to _bear witness of_, if it was worth while: but, as to +the _ministering_, here was nothing at all to minister to: for the light +was past, and it required no ministering to, when it was present. Had it +been the light of a lamp--yes; but there was no lamp in the case. + +Thus much, as to these things which he had seen. Thereupon comes the +mention of those things "in the which, the Lord is supposed to say, I +will appear unto thee!" Here, as before, we have another put-off. If, in +the way in question, and of the sort in question, there had been +anything said, here was the time, the only time, for saying it. For +immediately upon the mention of this communication, such as it is, +follows the mention of what was due in consequence of it, in obedience +to the commands supposed to be embodied in it, and by the light of the +information supposed to be conveyed by it. "Whereupon, says he, King +Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision..." + +Part 2. The purpose continued.--"Delivering thee from the people, and +from the Gentiles, unto whom I now send thee." This, we see, is but a +continuation of the same put-off: no revelation, no doctrine, no Gospel +here. As to the doctrine--the Gospel--that Gospel which he preached, and +which he said was his own, no such Gospel is on this occasion given to +him; and, not being so much as reported to have been given to him on any +other occasion, was it not therefore of his own making, and without any +such supernatural assistance, as Christians have been hitherto made to +believe was given to him? + +As to the deliverance from the people and from the Gentiles, this is a +clause, put in with reference to the dangers, into which the +intemperance of his ambition had plunged him, and from whence in part it +had been his lot to escape. Here then the sub-king and his Roman +superior were desired to behold the accomplishment of a prophecy: but +the prophecy was of that sort which came after the fact.--"Unto whom now +I send thee..." In this they were desired to see a continuation of the +prophecy: for, as to this point, it was, in the hope of the prophet, of +the number of those, which not only announce, but by announcing +contribute to, their own accomplishment. + +Part 3. The purpose continued.--"To open their eyes, and to turn them +from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God..." Still +the same nothingness: to his life's end a man might be hearing stories +such as these, and still at the end of it be none the wiser:--no +additional doctrine--no additional gospel--no declaration at all--no +gospel at all--here. + +Part 4. The purpose continued and concluded... "that they may receive +forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by +faith that is in me." Good. But this is not doctrine; this is not +gospel; this is not itself the promised doctrine: but it is a +description of the effect, of which the promised doctrine was to be the +cause. + +Now it is, as we have just seen, that Paul is represented as commencing +his preaching, or sallying forth upon his mission; preaching, from +_instructions_ received in a supernatural way--received by revelation. +Yet, after all, no such _instructions_ has he received. Thrice has the +historian--once in his own person, twice in that of his hero--undertaken +to produce those instructions. But by no one, from first to last, have +they anywhere been produced. + +Truly, then, of his own making was this Gospel which Paul went +preaching; of his own making, as well as of his own using; that Gospel, +which he himself declares to his Galatians was not of man, was not, +therefore, of those Apostles, to whom the opposition made by him is thus +proclaimed. + +When, after having given in his own person an account of a supposed +occurrence,--an historian, on another occasion, takes up the same +occurrence; and, in the person of another individual, gives of that same +occurrence another account different from, and so different from, as to +be irreconcileable with it; can this historian, with any propriety, be +said to be himself a believer in this second account which he thus +gives? Instead of giving it as a true account, does he not, at any rate, +in respect of all the several distinguishable circumstances in which it +differs from the account given in his own person--give it in the +character of a fable? a fable invented on the occasion on which the +other person is supposed to speak--invented in the intent that it shall +promote the purpose for which this speech is supposed to be made? Yet +this account, which in the eyes of the very man by whom it is delivered +to us, is but a fable, even those to whom in this same character of a +fable it is delivered--this account it is that _Christians_ have thus +long persisted in regarding, supporting, and acting upon, as if it were +from beginning to end, a truth--a great body of truth!--O Locke! O +Newton! where was your discernment! + +On such evidence would any Judge fine a man a shilling? Would he give +effect to a claim to that amount? Yet such is the evidence, on the +belief of which the difference between happiness and misery, both in +intensity as well as duration, infinite, we are told, depends! + + +SECTION 5. + +VISION III.--PAUL'S ANTERIOR VISION, AS REPORTED BY THE LORD TO ANANIAS. + +By the nature of the acts which are the objects of it, the command, we +see, is necessarily pregnant with information: but now comes the +information given as such--the piece of information with which the +command is followed. This information--in and by which another, an +antecedent vision, is brought upon the carpet, and communicated--has +been reserved for a separate consideration. + +This information is in its complexion truly curious: to present a clear +view of it, is not an altogether easy task. The information thus given +by the Lord--given to this Ananias--this information, of which Paul is +the subject, is--what? that, on some former occasion, neither time nor +place mentioned, he, Ananias, to whom the Lord is giving the +information, had been seen by this same Paul performing, with a certain +intention, a certain action; the intention being--that, in relation to +this same Paul, a certain effect should be produced--to wit, that of his +receiving his sight. The Lord declares, Acts ix. 12, to Ananias, that +Paul "had _seen in a vision_ a man, Ananias himself, coming and putting +his hand on him, that he (Paul) might receive his sight." + +Well then--this action which the Lord thus informs Ananias that he, +Ananias, had performed,--did he, at any time and place, ever perform it? +Oh, no; that is not necessary: the question is not a fair one; for it +was only in a vision that it was performed. Well then--if it was only in +a vision that it was performed, then, in reality, it was never +performed. The Lord said that it had been performed; but in so saying +the Lord had said that which was not true. The Lord had caused him to +believe this--the Lord knowing all the while that it was not true. Such +is the deed, which, according to our historian, the Lord relates himself +to have achieved. + +But the _intention_, was that true? Oh, no; nor was there any need of +its being so: for the intention, with which the act was supposed to be +performed, was part and parcel of the divinely-taught untruth. + +The effect, the production of which had been the object of the +intention, was it then--had it then been--produced? Wait a little; no, +not at that time. But the time was not then as yet come; and now it is +coming apace. + +But this effect--what is it? a man's receiving his sight; this same +Paul's receiving his sight; this same Paul, of whom Ananias knew +nothing, nor had ever heard anything, except what he had just been +hearing--to wit, that, by a man of that name, he, Ananias, had once been +seen--seen to do so and so--he, all the while--he, the doer, knowing +nothing of what he was doing--knowing nothing at all about the matter. +However, only in a vision did all this pass; which being the case, no +proper subject of wonder was afforded to him by such otherwise somewhat +extraordinary ignorance. + +But this sight--which, at the hands of this seer of visions, to whom +this information is thus addressed, this stranger, whose name was still +_Saul_, was to receive--how happened it that it was to him, Ananias, +that he came to receive it? This faculty--at his birth, was he not, like +any other man, in possession of it? If he was, what was become of it? In +this particular, the information thus supposed to have been given by +Omniscience, was rather of the scantiest. + +Supposing the story to have any foundation in truth,--such, to Ananias, +it could not but have appeared; and, supposing him bold enough to ask +questions, or even to open his mouth, a question, in the view of finding +a supply for the deficiency, is what the assertion would naturally have +for its first result. No such curiosity, however, has Ananias: instead +of seeking at the hands of Omniscience an information, the demand for +which was so natural, the first use he makes of his speech, or rather +would have made of it, if, instead of being imagined in a vision, the +state of things in question had been true, is--the furnishing to +Omniscience a quantity of information of a sort in no small degree +extraordinary. For, hereupon begins a speech, in and by which Ananias +undertakes to give Omniscience to understand, what reports, in relation +to this same Paul, had reached his (Ananias's) ears. What he is willing +thus to _speak_ is more, however, than Omniscience is willing to _hear:_ +the story is cut short, and the story-teller bid to "go his way." "Then +Ananias," says the text, Acts ix. 13. "Then Ananias answered, Lord, I +have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints +at Jerusalem. And here he hath authority from the Chief Priests to bind +all that call on thy name. But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way; +for..." &c. + +But, though thus cut short, he is far from being in disgrace. So far +from it, that he is taken into confidence. Then comes--still in a +vision, and the same vision--information of the till then secret acts +and intentions of Omnipotence in relation to this same Paul: he had +actually been "chosen" as "a vessel to bear the Lord's name before the +Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:" and the determination +had been taken, says the Lord in this vision, "to show him how great +things he must suffer for my name's sake." "For I will show him," says +the Acts, ix. 16, "how great things he must suffer for my name's sake." +And, with the announcement thus made of this determination, the +historical account, thus by the historian in his own person given, of +this same vision, closes. + +Thus highly distinguished, and favoured with a confidence, equalling, if +not surpassing, any which, according to any of the Gospel accounts, +appears ever to have been imparted to any one of the Apostles, how comes +it that Ananias has never been put in the number of the _Saints?_ +meaning always the Calendar _Saints_--those persons, to wit, who, as a +mark of distinction and title of honour, behold their ordinary names +preceded by this extraordinary one? Still the answer is: Aye, but this +was but in vision: and of a vision one use is--that of the matter of +which all that there is _not_ a use for, is left to be taken for false; +all that there _is_ a use for, is taken, and is to pass, for true. When, +by the name of Ananias, who, humanly speaking, never existed but in +name, the service for which it was invented has been performed--to wit, +the giving a support to Paul and his vision,--it has done all that was +wanted of it: there is no, further use for it. + +Supposing that thirdly mentioned vision really seen, at what point of +time shall we place the seeing of it? In this too there seems to be no +small difficulty. + +Between the moment at which Paul is said to have had his vision, if a +vision that can be called in which, the time being midday, he saw +nothing but a glare of light,--between the moment of this vision, of +which a loss of sight was the instantaneous consequence--between the +moment of this loss of sight and the moment of the recovery of it, the +interval is mentioned: three days it was exactly. Acts ix. 9, "And he +was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink." + +The time during which, in verse 9, he has just been declared to have +been the whole time without sight,--this is the time, within which he is +declared--declared, if the historian is to be believed, declared by the +Lord himself--to have seen this introductory vision--this preparatory +vision, for which it is so difficult to find a use. And thus it is, that +in a vision, though _vision_ means seeing, it is not necessary a man +should have sight. + +Meantime, of all these matters, on which his own existence, not to speak +of the salvation of mankind, so absolutely depends, not a syllable is he +to know, but through the medium of this so perfectly obscure and +questionable personage--this personage so completely unknown to +him--this same Ananias. + +Three whole days he is kept from doing anything: during these three +whole days the business of the miracle stands still. For what purpose is +it thus kept at a stand? Is it that there might be time sufficient left +for his learning to see, when his sight is returned, this preparatory +vision, by which so little is done, and for which there is so little +use? + + +SECTION 6. + +VISIONS, WHY TWO OR THREE INSTEAD OF ONE. + +As to the matter of fact designated by the words _Paul's conversion_, so +far as regards _outward_ conversion, the truth of it is out of all +dispute:--that he was _converted, i.e._ that after having been a +persecutor of the votaries of the new religion, he turned full round, +and became a leader. Whether the so illustriously victorious effect, had +for its cause a supernatural intercourse of Paul with Jesus after his +resurrection and ascension, and thence for its accompaniment an _inward_ +conversion--in this lies the matter in dispute. + +From those, by whom, in its essential particular, the statement is +regarded as being true, a natural question may be--If the whole was an +invention of his own, to what cause can we refer the other vision, the +vision of Ananias? To what purpose should he have been at the pains of +inventing, remembering, and all along supporting and defending, the +vision of the unknown supposed associate? Answer.--To the purpose, it +should seem, of giving additional breadth to the basis of his +pretensions. + +Among that people, in those times, the story of a vision was so common +an article,--so difficultly distinguishable from, so easily confounded +with, on the one hand the true story of a dream, on the other hand a +completely false story of an occurrence, which, had it happened, would +have been a supernatural one, but which never did happen,--that a basis, +so indeterminate and aërial, would seem to have been in danger of not +proving strong enough to support the structure designed to be reared +upon it. + +On the supposition of falsity, the case seems to be--that, to +distinguish his vision from such as in those days were to be found among +every man's stories, as well as in every history,--and which, while +believed by some, were disbelieved and scorned by others,--either Paul +or his historian bethought himself of this contrivance of a _pair_ of +visions:--a pair of corresponding visions, each of which should, by +reference and acknowledgment, bear witness and give support to the +other: a _pair_ of visions: for, for simplicity of conception, it seems +good not to speak any further, of the antecedent vision interwoven so +curiously in the texture of one of them, after the similitude of the +flower termed by some gardeners _hose in hose_. + +Of this piece of machinery, which in the present instance has been seen +played off with such brilliant success upon the theological theatre, the +glory of the invention may, it is believed, be justly claimed, if not by +Paul, by his historian. With the exception of one that will be mentioned +presently[11], no similar one has, upon inquiry, been found to present +itself, in any history, Jewish or Gentile. + +The other pair of visions there alluded to, is--that which is also to be +found in the Acts: one of them ascribed to Saint Peter, the other to the +centurion Cornelius. + +Paul, or his historian?--The alternative was but the suggestion of the +first moment. To a second glance the claim of the historian presents +itself as incontestable. In the case of Peter's pair of visions, suppose +the story the work of invention, no assignable competitor has the +historian for the honour of it: in the case of Paul's pair of visions, +supposing _that_ the only pair, the invention was at least as likely to +have been the work of the historian as of the hero: add to this pair the +other pair--that other pair that presents itself in this same work of +this same history--all competition is at an end. In the case of even the +most fertile genius, copying is an easier task than invention: +and, where the original is of a man's own invention, copying is +an operation still easier than in the opposite case. That an +occurrence thus curious should find so much as a single inventor, +is a circumstance not a little extraordinary: but, that two separate +wits should jump in concurrence in the production of it, is a +supposition that swells the extraordinariness, and with it the +improbability, beyond all bounds. + + +SECTION 7. + +COMMISSION TO PAUL BY JERUSALEM RULERS--COMMISSION TO BRING IN BONDS +DAMASCUS CHRISTIANS--PAUL'S CONTEMPT PUT UPON IT. + +Per Acts, in the historical account, is stated the existence of a +commission:--granters, the Jerusalem rulers; persons to whom addressed, +Paul himself at Jerusalem; and the synagogues, _i.e._ the rulers of the +synagogues, at Damascus: object, the bringing in custody, from Damascus +to Jerusalem, all Christians found there: all adult Christians at any +rate, females as well as males; at Paul's own _desire_, adds this same +historical account (ix. 2.); "for to be punished," adds Paul 1st +supposed unpremeditated oratorical account, xxii. 5. In the supposed +premeditated oratorical account, Paul 2nd, the existence of authority +and commission granted to him by the Chief Priests is indeed mentioned, +xxvi. 12: but, of the object nothing is said. + +In the unpremeditated oratorical account, such is the boldness of the +historian, nothing will serve him but to make the orator call to witness +the constituted authorities--the Jerusalem rulers--whoever they were, +that were present,--to acknowledge the treachery and the aggravated +contempt he had been guilty of towards themselves or their predecessors: +towards themselves, if it be in the literal sense that what on this +occasion he says is to be understood: "As also the High Priest doth bear +me witness, and all the estate of the Elders, from whom also I received +letters," &c., Acts xxii. 5. In the premeditated oratorical account, the +boldness of the orator is not quite so prominent; he says--it was "with +authority and commission from the Chief Priests" at Jerusalem, that he +went to Damascus; but, for the correctness of this statement of his, he +does not now call upon them, or any of them, to bear witness. + +In respect of the description of the persons, of whom the Jerusalem +rulers, exercising authority in their behalf, were composed,--the +conformity, as between the several accounts, is altogether entire. In +the historical account, it is the authority of the High Priest, and the +High Priest alone, that is exercised: in the unpremeditated oratorical +account, it is that of the High Priest and all the estate of the Elders: +in the premeditated account, it is that of the Chief Priests: nothing +said either of High Priests or Elders. + +Neither, in the supposed unpremeditated oratorical account, is it +stated--that, at the time and place of the tumult, the rulers thus +called to witness, or any of them, were actually on the spot. But, the +spot being contiguous to the Temple--the Temple, out of which Paul had +been that instant dragged, before there had been time enough for +accomplishing the determination that had been formed for killing +him,--the distance, between the spot, at which Paul with the surrounding +multitude was standing, Paul being under the momentary protection of the +Roman commander--between this spot and the spot, whatever it was, at +which the question might have been put to them, or some of them, could +not be great. + +On the part of the historian, the boldness, requisite for the ascribing +the correspondent boldness to the orator, may be believed without much +difficulty. The materials for writing being at hand, there was no more +danger in employing them in the writing of these words, than in the +writing of an equal number of other words. + +Not so on the part of the orator himself. For, supposing the appeal +made, the multitude might have saved themselves the trouble of putting +him to death: the constituted authorities whom he was thus +invoking--those rulers, against whom, by his own confession, he had +committed this treason--would have been ready enough to proceed against +him in the regular way, and take the business out of the hands of an +unauthorized mob. + +The truth of the story, and for that purpose the trustworthiness of the +historian, being to be defended at any rate,--by some people, all this +contradiction, all this mass of self-contradiction, will of course be +referred to _artlessness_, or, to take the choice of another eulogistic +word, to _simplicity:_ and, of trustworthiness, this amiable quality, +whatever may be the name given to it, will be stated as constituting +sufficient proof. No such design, as that of deceiving, inhabited, it +will be said, his artless bosom: no such design was he capable of +harbouring: for, supposing any such wicked design harboured by him, +could he have been thus continually off his guard? + +But--by all this self-contradiction, the quality really proved is--not +artlessness, but weakness: and, with the desire of deceiving, no degree +of weakness, be it ever so high, is incompatible. By weakness, when +risen even to insanity, artfulness is not excluded: and, in the +fashioning, from beginning to end, of all this story, art, we see, is by +no means deficient, how unhappily soever applied. + +But the story being such as it is, what matters it, as to the credence +due to it, in what state, in respect of probity, was the author's mind? +Being, as it is, to such a degree untrustworthy and incredible, as that, +in so many parts of it, it is impossible it should have been true, the +truth of it is impossible: what matters it then, whether it be to the +weakness of the moral, or to that of the intellectual, quarter of the +author's mind, that the falsity is to be ascribed? + +Not only in the whole does this history, anonymous as it is, present +satisfactory marks of _genuineness_,--that is, of being written by the +sort of person it professes to be written by, namely, a person who in +the course of Paul's last excursion was taken into his suite; but in +many parts, so does it of _historic verity_. True or not true,--like any +other history ancient or modern, it has a claim to be provisionally +taken for true, as to every point, in relation to which no adequate +reason appears for the contrary: improbability, for example, of the +supposed facts as related, contradictoriness to itself, +contradictoriness to other more satisfactory evidence, or probable +subjection to sinister and mendacity-prompting interest. + +But, under so much self-contradiction as hath been seen,--whether _bias_ +be or be not considered, could any, the most ordinary fact, be regarded +as being sufficiently proved? + +Meantime, let not any man make to himself a pretence for rejecting the +important position thus offered to his consideration;--let him not, for +fear of its being the truth, shut his eyes against that which is +presented to him as and for the truth;--let him not shut his eyes, on +any such pretence, as that of its being deficient in the quality of +_seriousness_. If, indeed, there be any such duty, religious or moral, +as that of _seriousness_; and that the stating as absurd that which is +really absurd is a violation of that duty;--at that rate, _seriousness_ +is a quality, incompatible with the delivery and perception of truth on +all subjects, and in particular on this of the most vital importance: +seriousness is a disposition to cling to falsehood, and to reject truth. +In no part has any ridicule _ab extra_, been employed:--ridicule, by +allusion made to another object, and that an irrelevant one.[12] + + +SECTION 8. + +COMPANIONS--HAD PAUL ANY UPON THE ROAD? + +Meantime, if all these miraculous visions and other miracles must needs +be supposed,--a cluster of other miracles, though not mentioned, must be +supposed along with them: miracles, for the production of which a still +greater mass of supernatural force must have been expended. Here, their +existence being supposed, here were those companions of his, who, +unknown in names and number, saw or saw not all or anything that he saw, +and heard or heard not all or anything that he heard. These men, at any +rate, if so it be that they themselves, blind or not blind, led him, as +it is said they did, into the city, because he could not see to guide +himself,--must, in some way or other, have perceived that something in +no small degree extraordinary had happened to him: so extraordinary, +that, in the condition in which he was, and in which, if they saw +anything, they saw him to be--no such commission, as that, for the +execution of which, if, as well as companions, they were his destined +assistants, they were put under his command,--could, in any human +probability, receive execution at his hands. If they were apprised of +this commission of his, could they, whether with his consent or even +without his consent, avoid repairing to the constituted authorities to +tell them what had happened? This commission of his, so important in +itself, and granted to a man of letters by men of letters, could not but +have been in writing: and accordingly, in the form of letters we are, by +the historian, expressly informed it was. Of the existence of these +letters, on the tenor of which their future proceedings as well as his +depended,--these conductors of his, if _he_ did not, with or without his +consent would of course have given information, to the rulers to whom +these same letters were addressed. Not being struck dumb, nor having, +amongst the orders given by the voice, received any order to keep +silence, or so much as to keep secret anything of what little they had +heard, they would scarcely, under these circumstances, have maintained +either silence or secrecy. The historian, knowing what he (the +historian) intended to do with his hero--knowing that, at three days' +end, he intended not only to make scales fall from his eyes, but to fill +his belly,--might not feel any great anxiety on his account. But Paul +himself, if he, in the condition he is represented in by the +historian,--was, for three days together, with scales on his eyes, and +nothing in his stomach: and, at the end of the three days, as ignorant +as at the beginning, whether the scales would, at any time, and when, +drop off, and his stomach receive a supply: in such a state surely, a +man could not but feel a curiosity, not unattended with impatience, to +know when and how all this was to end. Under these circumstances, by +some means or other, would all these tongues have been to be stopped: +otherwise, instead of the house of Judas in Straight-street, Paul might +have had no other place, to receive his visitor in, than the town jail, +or some one other of those strong places, into which visitors do not +always find it more easy to gain entrance, than inmates to get out. + +These tongues then--Paul's tongue, his companions' tongues--this +assemblage of tongues, all so strongly urged to let themselves loose--by +what could they have been stopped? If, by anything, by a correspondent +cluster of miracles--nothing less. + +That, from Jerusalem, about the time in question, Paul went to +Damascus,--and that it was with some such letters in his +possession,--seems, as will be seen presently, altogether +probable;--also, that when there, he acted in the way his historian +speaks of, betraying the confidence reposed in him by the constituted +authorities, and joining with those whom he had solicited and received a +commission to destroy;--that these were among the circumstances of his +alleged conversion, seems probable enough:--though he, with all the need +he had of miracles, if any were to be had, gives not--in what he +himself, writing to his Galatian converts, says of his conversion--any +of the slightest hint of them. + +As to his conversion--meaning his _outward_ conversion, which was all +that was necessary to the production of the effect so notoriously +produced by him--to _that_, it will be seen, no miracle was necessary: +nothing but what belonged to the ordinary course of things. As to +companions on the journey--whether he had any or not; and if he had any, +whether they were attendants on his orders, or acquaintances of his not +under his orders; or mere strangers into whose company accident threw +him--all this we must satisfy ourselves, as well as we can, under the +ignorance of. + +That, for giving effect, by his means, to the sort of commission he went +entrusted with, the power of local authorities was trusted to, is a +supposition altogether natural. For bringing to Jerusalem "bound, for to +be punished (Acts ix. 2. xxii. 4), all the Christians that could be +found in Damascus, both men and women," if the Damascus rulers were +favourable to the persecuting design, no large force from Jerusalem +could be needful. Even a small one would be superfluous: and, by a +force, great or small, sent from the one set of constituted authorities, +a slight would be shown to the other. + + +SECTION 9. + +IN PAUL'S EPISTLE TO HIS GALATIANS,--BY HIS SILENCE, ACTS' ACCOUNTS OF +HIS CONVERSION ARE VIRTUALLY CONTRADICTED. + +Of Paul's _outward_ conversion--conversion from the character of an +authorized persecutor of the religion of Jesus, to that of a preacher of +a religion preached in the name of Jesus--such, as we have seen, is the +account given in the Acts; given by the author of the Acts, and by him +alone. For, what ought never to be out of mind, if instead of two +different accounts--declared by him as having been, on different +occasions, delivered by Paul--he had given two hundred, still they +would have been his:--not Paul's, but his. + +All this while, now for little less than 1800 years, from Paul's own pen +we have an account of this his conversion: and, of any such story as +that of its being effected through the instrumentality of visions,--in +this account of his, not any the slightest trace is to be found;--not +any the slightest allusion to it. + +At the time of his giving this account--supposing this story of the mode +of his conversion true--supposing even that, though false, it had been +got up and propagated--at the time of his giving the account which bears +such unquestionable marks of being his, was the occasion such as to +render it probable, that he could thus have omitted all allusion, to an +occurrence at once so extraordinary and so important? If not, then so it +is--that, by the silence of Paul himself, the story related by his +historian is virtually contradicted. + +The occasion here in view is--that of his writing the so often +mentioned, and so often about to be mentioned, Epistle to his Galatian +disciples. + +At the time of his writing this letter, so we shall have occasion to see +over and over again in the tenor of it, he was acting in +opposition--declared and violent opposition--to the Apostles: struggling +with them for the mastery; declaring that to them he was not beholden +for anything;--that the Gospel he preached was not their Gospel, but a +Gospel of his own, received by him directly from Jesus;--declaring, that +in Jerusalem itself, the seat of their authority, he had preached this +Gospel of his, which was not theirs; but confessing, at the same time, +that when he did so, it was in a secret manner, for fear of the +opposition, which he well knew, had they known of it, they could not +but have made to it. + +In this state of contention--supposing any such miracle as that in +question wrought in his favour--was it in the nature of the case that he +should have failed to avail himself of it?--to avail himself of the +account which the truth--the important truth--would have so well +warranted him in giving of it? Supposing it true, had there at that time +been witnesses to it--any percipient witnesses--the supposed +Ananias--the supposed companions on the road,--would he have failed +making his appeal to their testimony? Supposing even that there were +none such left, the truth of the occurrence--of an occurrence of such +momentous importance, would it not have inspired him with boldness, +sufficient for the assertion of it, with all that intensity for which +the case itself furnished so sufficient a warrant, and which the +vehemence of his character would have rendered it so impossible for him +to avoid? Supposing even the story an utter falsehood, yet, had it been +at this time got up and promulgated, could he, if he saw any tolerable +prospect of its obtaining credence, have failed to endeavour to avail +himself of it? + +No, surely. Yet, in this his address, made to his Galatian disciples, +and to all such inhabitants of that country, as he could see a prospect +of numbering among his disciples--in this address, written under a sense +of the necessity he was under, of making for his support against the +Apostles, the most plausible case his ingenuity could enable him to +make,--not any, so much as the slightest, hint of any such miracle, does +he venture to give. _Revelation! revelation!_--on this single word--on +the ideas, which, in the minds with which he had to deal, he hoped to +find associated with that word--on this ground, without any other, did +he see himself reduced to seek support in his contest with the Apostles. +Revelation? revelation from Jesus? from the Lord, speaking from heaven? +from the Almighty? On what occasion, in what place, at what time, in +what company, if in any, was it thus received? To no one of these +questions does he venture to furnish an answer--or so much as an +allusion to an answer. Why?--even because he had none to give. He had +been a persecutor of the disciples of Jesus--this he confesses and +declares: he became a preacher in the name of Jesus--this he also +declares; a preacher in the name of him, of whose disciples--the whole +fellowship of them--he had been a persecutor--a blood-thirsty and +blood-stained persecutor. His conversion, whatever it amounted to, how +came it about? what was the cause, the time, the place, the mode of it; +who the percipient witnesses of it? To all these questions, +_revelation_; in the single word is contained all the answer, which--in +this letter--in this plea of his--he, audacious as he was, could summon +up audacity enough to give. Why, on so pressing an occasion, this +forbearing? Why? but that, had he ventured to tell any such story, that +story being a false one, there were his opponents--there were the +Apostles, or men in connection with the Apostles--to contradict it--to +confute it. + +Had he made reference to any specific, to any individual, portion of +place and time, the pretended facts might have found themselves in +contradiction with some real and provable facts. But, time as well as +place being left thus unparticularized,--he left himself at liberty, on +each occasion, if called upon for time or place, to assign what portion +of time and place the occasion should point out to him as being most +convenient;--best adapted to the purpose of giving lodgment to an +appropriate falsity;--and without danger, or with little danger, of +exposure. + +At distinct and different times, _five_ interviews we shall see him +have, with the Apostles--one or more of them: the first interview +being,--according to his own account, as given in this very Epistle,--at +little if anything more, than three years' distance from the time of his +quitting the occupation of persecution. Then, says he, it was, Gal. i. +17 and 18, that "I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him +fifteen days." In all these days, is it possible, that, if the +conversion miracle had really taken place as stated in the Acts, with +the companions on the road and Ananias for witnesses,--he should not +have related to Peter, and, if not spontaneously, at any rate in answer +to such questions as a man in Peter's situation could not fail to put, +have brought to view, every the minutest circumstance? This then was the +time--or at least _one_ time--of his trial, on the question, _revelation +or no revelation_. Here then, when, with such vehemence, declaring--not +his independence merely, but his superiority, in relation to the +Apostles--and _that_ on no other ground than this alleged revelation, +was it, had the judgment in that trial been in his favour--was it +possible, that he should have omitted to avail himself of it? Yet no +such attempt, we see, does he make:--no attempt, to avail himself of +the issue of the trial, or of anything that passed on the occasion of +it. Altogether does he keep clear of any allusion to it: and indeed, if +his historian--the author of the Acts--is to be believed,--with very +good reason: for, whatever it was that, on that occasion, he said, in +the Acts it is expressly declared that, by the disciples at least, he +was utterly disbelieved. Acts ix. 26: "He assayed to join himself to the +disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was +a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the Apostles," &c. +Why it was, that, after the disciples had thus unanimously declared him +and his story unworthy of credit, the Apostles gave him notwithstanding +a sort of reception;--and that, by no countenance, which they on that +occasion gave him, was any ground afforded, for the supposition that any +more credence was given to him and his story, by them than by the +disciples at large,--will be explained in its place. + + + + +TABLE II.--PAUL DISBELIEVED. + + TABLE--_Showing, at one View, the Passages, from which the + Inference is drawn, that Paul's inward Conversion was never + believed, by any of the Apostles, or their Disciples._ + +_Explanations._--The Interviews here seen are between Paul and one or +more Apostles. Number of Interviews five,--of Visits the same: whereof, +by Paul to Peter, four,--by Peter to Paul,--one: besides the one +supposed fictitious. Of the Accounts, Paul's as far as it goes, is taken +for the standard. Of Paul's Epistles the genuineness is out of dispute: +Acts history is anonymous. Paul's evidence is that of an alleged +percipient witness. His historian's,--as to these matters, mostly that +of a narrator,--narrating--but from hearsay, Probably from Paul's. + + +INTERVIEWS, A.D. 35 (I); A.D. 52 (III). + +As per Paul, Gal. A.D. 58. + +1. _Introduction._ + +Gal. 1:1. "Paul, an apostle, not from men, neither through man, but +through Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead, +and all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia: +Grace to you and peace from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, +who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us out of this +present evil world, according to the will of our God and Father: to whom +be the glory for ever and ever. Amen." + +2. _Independence Declared._ + +Gal. 1:6. "I marvel that ye are so quickly removing from him that called +you in the grace of Christ unto a different gospel; which is not another +gospel: only there are some that trouble you, and would pervert the +gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach +unto you any gospel other than that which we preached unto you, let him +be anathema. As we have said before, so say I now again, if any man +preacheth unto you any gospel other than that which ye received, let him +be anathema. For am I now persuading men, or God? or am I seeking to +please men? if I were still pleasing men, I should not be a servant of +Christ. + +"For I make known to you, brethren, as touching the gospel which was +preached by me, that it is not after man. For neither did I receive it +from man, nor was I taught it, but it came to me through revelation of +Jesus Christ." + + +3. _Conversion Spoken Of._ + +Ver. 13. "For ye have heard of my manner of life in time past in the +Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, +and made havock of it: and I advanced in the Jews' religion beyond many +of mine own age among my countrymen, being more exceedingly zealous for +the traditions of my fathers. But when it was the good pleasure of God, +who separated me, even from my mother's womb and called me through his +grace, to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the +Gentiles; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: neither went +I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me: but I went away +into Arabia; and again I returned unto Damascus." + + +4. _Account of Interview I._ + +Ver. 18. "Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas, +and tarried with him fifteen days. But other of the apostles saw I none, +save James the Lord's brother. Now touching the things which I write +unto you, behold, before God, I lie not. Then I came into the regions of +Syria and Cilicia. And I was still unknown by face unto the churches of +Judea which were in Christ: but they only heard say, He that once +persecuted us now preacheth the faith of which he once made havock; and +they glorified God in me." + + +5. _Account of Interview III. II._ + +Gal. 2:1. "Then after the space of fourteen years I went up again to +Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus also with me. And I went up by +revelation; and I laid before them the gospel which I preach among the +Gentiles, but privately before them who were of repute, lest by any +means I should be running, or had run, in vain. But not even Titus who +was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised: and that +because of the false brethren privily brought in, who came in privily to +spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring +us into bondage: to whom we gave place in the way of subjection, no, not +for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you. But +from those who were reputed to be somewhat (whatsoever they were, it +maketh no matter to me: God accepteth not man's person)--they, I say, +who were of repute imparted nothing to me: but contrariwise, when they +say that I had been intrusted with the gospel of the uncircumcision, +even as Peter with the gospel of the circumcision, for he that wrought +for Peter unto the apostleship of the circumcision wrought for me also +unto the Gentiles." + + +6. _Partition Treaty._ + +Ver. 9. "And when they perceived the grace that was given unto me, +James and Cephas and John, they who were reputed to be pillars, gave to +me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship, that we should go unto +the Gentiles, and they unto the circumcision; only they would that we +should remember the poor; which very thing I was also zealous to do." + + +7. _Jealousy, Notwithstanding._ + +Ver. 11. "But when Cephas (Peter) came to Antioch, I resisted him to the +face, because he stood condemned. For before that certain came from +James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they came, he drew back +and separated himself, fearing them that were of the circumcision. And +the rest of the Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that even +Barnabas was carried away with their dissimulation. But when I saw that +they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said +unto Cephas before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest as do the +Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, how compellest thou the Gentiles to +live as do the Jews? We being Jews by nature, and not sinners of the +Gentiles, yet knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the +law, save through faith in Jesus Christ, even we believed on Christ +Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the +works of the law: because by the works of the law shall no flesh be +justified. But if, while we sought to be justified in Christ, we +ourselves also were found sinners, is Christ a minister of sin? God +forbid. For if I build up again those things which I destroyed, I prove +myself a transgressor. For I through the law died unto the law, that I +might live unto God. I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live; and +yet no longer I, but Christ liveth in me: and that life which I now live +in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who +loved me, and gave himself up for me. I do not make void the grace of +God: for if righteousness is through the law, then Christ died for +nought." + + +INTERVIEW I. A.D. 35. + +_Paul's Jerusalem Visit I._ + +Reconciliation Visit. + +(_Departure from Damascus._) + +Acts 9:23-30. "And when many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel +together to kill him: but their plot became known to Saul. And they +watched the gates also day and night that they might kill him: but his +disciples took him by night, and let him down through the wall, lowering +him in a basket." + +(_Arrival at Jerusalem--Results._) + +Ver. 26. "And when he was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself +to the disciples: and they were all afraid of him, not believing that he +was a disciple. But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, +and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he +had spoken to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the +name of Jesus. And he was with them going in and going out at Jerusalem, +preaching boldly in the name of the Lord." + +(_Departure--Cause._) + +Ver. 29. "And he spake and disputed against the Grecian Jews; but they +went about to kill him. And when the brethren knew it, they brought him +down to Cæsarea, and sent him forth to Tarsus." + + +INTERVIEW I. A.D. 35. + +_Departure--Cause._ + +In Paul's First Account. + +Acts 22:17-21. "And it came to pass, that, when I had returned to +Jerusalem, and while I prayed in the temple, I fell into a trance, and +saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of +Jerusalem: because they will not receive of thee testimony concerning +me. And I said, Lord, they themselves know that I imprisoned and beat in +every synagogue them that believed on thee: and when the blood of +Stephen thy witness was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting, +and keeping the garments of them that slew him. And he said unto me, +Depart: for I will send thee forth far hence unto the Gentiles." + + +INTERVIEW II. A.D. 43. + +_Paul's Jerusalem Visit II._ + +Money-Bringing Visit. + +Acts 11:22-30. "And the report concerning them came to the ears of the +church which was in Jerusalem: and then sent forth Barnabas as far as +Antioch: who, when he was come, and had seen the grace of God, was glad; +and he exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave +unto the Lord: for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of +faith: and much people was added unto the Lord. And he went forth to +Tarsus to seek for Saul: and when he had found him, he brought him unto +Antioch. And it came to pass, that even for a whole year they were +gathered together with the church, and taught much people; and that the +disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. + +"Now in these days there came down prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch. +And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit +that there should be a great famine over all the world: which came to +pass in the days of Claudius. And the disciples, every man according to +his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren that dwelt in +Judea: which also they did, sending it to the elders by the hand of +Barnabas and Saul." + + +INTERVIEW III. A.D. 52. + +_Paul's Jerusalem Visit III._ + +Deputation Visit. + +As per ACTS xv. 1-21. + +Acts 25:1-23. "And certain men came down from Judea and taught the +brethren, saying, Except ye be circumcised after the custom of Moses, +ye cannot be saved. And when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension +and questioning with them, the brethren appointed that Paul and +Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the +apostles and elders about this question. They therefore, being brought +on their way by the church, passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, +declaring the conversion of the Gentiles: and they caused great joy unto +all the brethren. And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were +received of the church and the apostles and the elders, and they +rehearsed all things that God had done with them. But there arose up +certain of the sect of the Pharisees who believed, saying, It is needful +to circumcise them, and to charge them to keep the law of Moses. + +"And the apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider of +this matter. And when there had been much questioning Peter rose up, and +said unto them, + +"Brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among you, +that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel, and +believe. And God, which knoweth the heart, bare them witness, giving +them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; and he made no distinction +between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. Now therefore why +tempt ye God, that ye should put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, +which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that +we shall be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in like manner as +they. + +"And all the multitude kept silence; and they hearkened unto Barnabas +and Paul rehearsing what signs and wonders God had wrought among the +Gentiles by them. And after they had held their peace, James answered, +saying, + +"Brethren, hearken unto me: Symeon hath rehearsed how first God did +visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And to +this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, + + "After these things I will return, + And I will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen; + And I will build again the ruins thereof, + And I will set it up: + That the residue of men may seek after the Lord, + And all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, + Saith the Lord, who maketh these things known from the beginning + of the world. + +"Wherefore my judgment is, that we trouble not them which from among the +Gentiles turn to God; but that we write unto them, that they abstain +from the pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from what is +strangled, and from blood. For Moses from generations of old hath in +every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every +sabbath." + + +INTERVIEW IV. A.D. 52. + +_Peter's Visit to Antioch._ + +Acts 15:22-33. "Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with +the whole church, to chose men out of their company, and send them to +Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas called Barsabbas, and +Silas, chief men among the brethren: and they wrote thus by them, The +apostles and the elder brethren unto the brethren which are of the +Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greeting: Forasmuch as we +have heard that certain which went out from us have troubled you with +words, subverting your souls; to whom we gave no commandment; it seemed +good unto us, having come to one accord, to choose out men and send them +unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men that have hazarded +their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have sent +therefore Judas and Silas, who themselves also shall tell you the same +things by word of mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to +us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; that +ye abstain from things sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from +things strangled, and from fornication; from which if ye keep +yourselves, it shall be well with you. Fare ye well. + +"So they, when they were dismissed, came down to Antioch; and having +gathered the multitude together, they delivered the epistle. And when +they had read it, they rejoiced for the consolation. And Judas and +Silas, being themselves also prophets, exhorted the brethren with many +words, and confirmed them. And after they had spent some time there, +they were dismissed in peace from the brethren unto those that had sent +them forth." + + +INTERVIEW A.D. 52. + +_Paul's Visit._ + +As per ACTS xviii. 19-23. + +(_Supposed Fictitious._) + +"And they came to Ephesus, and he left them there: but he himself +entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews. And when they +asked him to abide a longer time, he consented not; but taking his leave +of them and saying, I will return again unto you, if God will, he set +sail from Ephesus. And when he had landed at Cæsarea, he went up and +saluted the church, and went down to Antioch. And having spent some time +there, he departed, and went through the region of Galatia and Phrygia +in order, stablishing all the disciples." + + +INTERVIEW V. A.D. 60. + +_Paul's Jerusalem Visit IV._ + +Invasion Visit. + +(_Visit Proposed. A.D._ 56.) + +Acts 19:20-21. "Now after these things were ended, Paul purposed in the +spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to +Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome. And +having sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timothy +and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while." + +(_Visit Again Proposed. A.D._ 60.) + +Acts 20:16. "For Paul had determined to sail past Ephesus, that he might +not have to spend time in Asia; for he was hastening, if it were +possible for him, to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost. + +"And from Miletus he went to Ephesus, and called to him the elders of +the church. And when they were come to him, he said unto them, + +"Ye yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, after +that manner I was with you all the time, serving the Lord with all +lowliness of mind, and with tears, and with trials which befell me by +the lots of the Jews: how that I shrank not from declaring unto you +anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly, and from house +to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks repentance toward God, +and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, behold, I go bound in +the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me +there: save that the Holy Ghost testifieth unto me in every city, saying +that bonds and afflictions abide me. But I hold not my life of any +account, as dear unto myself, so that I may accomplish my course, and +the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel +of the grace of God. And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I +went about preaching the kingdom, shall see my face no more." + +Acts 21:7-9. "And when we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived +at Ptolemais; and we saluted the brethren, and abode with them one day. +And on the morrow we departed, and came unto Cæsarea: and entering into +the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, we abode +with him. Now this man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy." + +(_Visit Opposed. A.D._ 60.) + +Ver. 10. "And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judea +a certain prophet, named Agabus. (See Acts xi. 27.) + +"And coming to us, and taking Paul's girdle, he bound his own feet and +hands, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at +Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him +into the hands of the Gentiles. And when we heard these things, both we +and they of that place besought him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul +answered, What do ye, weeping and breaking my heart? for I am ready not +to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord +Jesus. And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will +of the Lord be done." + + +INTERVIEW V. A.D. 60. + +_Paul's Jerusalem Visit IV._ + +Invasion Visit--Results. + +_Arrival._ + +Acts 21:15-36. "And after these days we took up our baggage, and went up +to Jerusalem. And there went with us also certain of the disciples from +Cæsarea, bringing with them one Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, +with whom we should lodge. + +"And when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly." + +_Test, Proposed for Riddance._ + +"And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the +elders were present. And when he had saluted them, he rehearsed one by +one the things which God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry. +And they, when they heard it, glorified God; and they said unto him, +Thou seest, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of them +which have believed; and they are all zealous for the law: and they have +been informed concerning thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are +among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise +their children, neither to walk after the customs. What is it therefore? +they will certainly hear that thou art come. Do therefore this that we +say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them; these take, and +purify thyself with them, and be at charges for them, that they may +shave their heads: and all shall know that there is no truth in the +things whereof they have been informed concerning thee; but that thou +thyself also walkest orderly, keeping the law. But as touching the +Gentiles which have believed, we wrote, giving judgment that they +should keep themselves from things sacrificed to idols, and from blood, +and from what is strangled, and from fornication." + +_The Test Swallowed._ + +"Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them +went into the temple, declaring the fulfilment of the days of +purification, until the offering was offered for every one of them." + +_Indignation Universal._ + +"And when the seven days were almost completed, the Jews from Asia, when +they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the multitude, and laid hands +on him, crying out, Men of Israel, help: This is the man, that teacheth +all men everywhere against the people, and the law, and this place: and +moreover he brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath defiled this +holy place. For they had before seen with him in the city Trophimus the +Ephesian, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple. And +all the city was moved, and the people ran together: and they laid hold +on Paul, and dragged him out of the temple: and straightway the doors +were shut. And as they were seeking to kill him, tidings came up to the +chief captain of the band, that all Jerusalem was in confusion. And +forthwith he took soldiers and centurions, and ran down upon them: and +they, when they saw the chief captain and the soldiers, left off beating +Paul. Then the chief captain came near, and laid hold on him, and +commanded him to be bound with two chains; and inquired who he was, and +what he had done. And some shouted one thing, some another, among the +crowd: and when he could not know the certainty for the uproar, he +commanded him to be brought into the castle. And when he came upon the +stairs, so it was, that he was borne of the soldiers for the violence of +the crowd; for the multitude of the people followed after, crying out, +Away with him." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Of the word _conversion_, as employed everywhere and in all times in +speaking of Paul, commonly called Saint Paul, the import has been found +involved in such a cloud, as, on pain of perpetual misconception, it has +been found necessary, here at the outset, to clear away. That, from +being an ardent and destructive persecutor of the disciples of the +departed Jesus, he became their collaborator, and in _that_ sense their +ally,--preaching, in speech, and by writing, a religion under the name +of the religion of Jesus, assuming even the appellation of an _Apostle_ +of Jesus,--_Apostle_, that is to say, special envoy--(that being the +title by which the twelve most confidential servants of Jesus stood +distinguished), is altogether out of dispute. That in this sense he +became a _convert_ to the religion of Jesus, and that in this sense his +alleged conversion was real, is accordingly in this work not only +admitted, but affirmed. Few points of ancient history seem more +satisfactorily attested. In this sense then he was converted beyond +dispute. Call this then his _outward conversion_; and say, Paul's +_outward conversion_ is indubitable. But, that this conversion had for +its cause, or consequence, any supernatural intercourse with the +Almighty, or any belief in the supernatural character of Jesus himself; +this is the position, the erroneousness of which has, in the eyes of the +author, been rendered more and more assured, the more closely the +circumstances of the case have been looked into. That, in speech and +even in action, he was in outward appearance a convert to the religion +of Jesus; this is what is admitted: that, inwardly, he was a convert to +the religion of Jesus, believing Jesus to be God, or authorized by any +supernatural commission from God; this is the position, the negative of +which it is the object of the present work to render as evident to the +reader, as a close examination has rendered it to the author. The +consequence, the practical consequence, follows of itself. In the way of +doctrine, whatsoever, being in the Epistles of Paul is not in any one of +the Gospels, belongs to Paul, and Paul alone, and forms no part of the +religion of Jesus. This is what it seemed necessary to state at the +opening; and to this, in the character of a conclusion, the argument +will be seen all along to tend. + +[2] See Ch. 15. Paul's supposable miracles explained. + +[3] In regard to the matter testified, that is, in regard to the object +of the testimony; it is, first of all, a requisite condition, that what +is reported to be true should be possible, both absolutely, or as an +object of the elaborative Faculty, and relatively, or as an object of +the Presentative Faculties,--Perception, External or Internal. A thing +is possible absolutely, or in itself, when it can be construed to +thought, that is, when it is not inconsistent with the logical laws of +thinking; a thing is relatively possible as an object of perception, +External or Internal, when it can affect Sense or Self-consciousness, +and, through such affection, determine its apprehension by one or other +of these faculties. + +A testimony is, therefore, to be unconditionally rejected, if the fact +which it reports be either in itself impossible, or impossible as an +object of the representative faculties. + +But the impossibility of a thing, as an object of these faculties, must +be decided either upon physical, or upon metaphysical, principles. + +A thing is physically impossible as an object of sense, when the +existence itself, or its perception by us, is, by the laws of the +material world impossible.--Hamilton's Logic 460.--Ed. + +[4] "_Light_,--great _Light_."--It will be noticed that this "light" is +presented first objectively as a phenomenon, a thing, But what is +"light"? The universal answer is "That force in nature which, acting on +the Retina of the eye produces the sensation we call vision." This +vision is the total of the subjective effect of that agency of Nature, +the subjective realization through the functions of the Cerebellum. But +functions are accomplished through agencies called organs. The retina is +one of these organs. Through the operations of these organs and +cerebellum subjective apprehension is produced as an effect, but in some +cases of very forcible apprehensions they are interpreted as a diseased +condition of the organs of sense. Ideas sometimes acquire unusual +vividness and permanence and are, therefore, peculiarly liable to be +mistaken for their objective prototypes and hence specters, spectral +allusions which are very common in cases of emotional excitement. + +Further, it will be noticed all the time that the reporter, Luke, wrote +what Paul, or some other person or rumor had previously communicated to +him. Now Luke, was accustomed to pen these wonders, these superhuman +Chimerical prodigies. Take the example of the trial of Stephen, Acts 7. +After the Charges of the Complainants, Ib. 6-9, "Libertines" and others +had been heard by the High Priest, he inquired of Stephen personally as +to the verity of the charges, And Luke reports his responses, And then +to make sure of portraying fully the Emotional conditions of the +witnesses and the spectators, he reports, V. 54. "When they heard these +things, they were cut to the heart and they grabed on him with their +teeth; but he, Stephen, being full of the Holy Ghost looked up +steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at +the right hand of God, and said, Behold I see the heavens opened, and +the son of man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out +with a loud voice, and stopped their ears and ran upon him with one +accord, and cast him out of the City and stoned him, and the witnesses +laid down their clothes at a young man's feet whose name was Saul." + +This Saul, now Paul, must have acted as overseer or umpire. Paul, is by +chronologers reckoned to have been about 12 years of age; But it will be +seen that Luke, the narrator, is just such a superserviceable witness as +wholly impairs his credibility. He says first, Stephen was in fact +filled with the Holy Ghost, saw the glory of God, for he evidently was +gloriable, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God; and that in +addition thereto he states that Stephen, said he saw the same +wonders--with the addition that the heavens were opened, &c. If he had +been cross-examined and asked whether little Paul, did not behold all +these wonders, he no doubt would have answered in the affirmative and +volunteered the statement, That they all saw these wonders, the high +priest, the accusers, by-standers, and human canines that gnashed their +teeth upon Stephen. Consult any author on Psychology on the subject of +Emotions, Exstatic illusions, &c. + +But in the assembly inquisitors of Stephen, Paul and others before the +high priests, what special law or cannons were they accused of +violating? Answer, one cannon is quite conspicuous, to wit:--Ex. 22:28. +"Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of the people." + +When the inquisitor the high priest found the accused guilty, he was +delivered over to the witnesses for execution. The detectives enjoyed +the luxury of doing the stoning. If Christ's limitation had been in use, +to wit:--that none but the guiltless should throw stones, the accusing +sleuths might have been less zealous.--Ed. + +[5] Historiographer is used purposely by the author to denote a +specialist for the occasion. + +[6] "Goad" is the word used in the Douay Testament and in the late +revisions of The Protestants. + +[7] Cor. 15:8--"As unto one born out of due time, He appeared unto me +also." + +[8] Another question that here presents itself is--How could it have +happened that, Jerusalem being under one government, and Damascus under +another (if so the case was), the will of the local rulers at Jerusalem +found obedience, as it were of course, at the hands of the adequate +authorities at Damascus? To the question how this _actually_ happened, +it were too much to undertake to give an answer. For an answer to the +question how it may be _conceived_ to have happened, reference may be +made to existing English practice. The warrant issued by the constituted +authorities in Jerusalem expected to find, and found accordingly in +Damascus, an adequate authority disposed to back it. In whatsoever +Gentile countries Jews, in a number sufficient to compose a synagogue, +established themselves, a habit naturally enough took place, as of +course, among them--the habit of paying obedience, to a considerable +extent, to the functionaries who were regarded as rulers of the +synagogue. Few are or have been the conquered countries, in which some +share of subordinate power has not been left, as well to the natives of +the conquered nation as to any independent foreigners, to whom, in +numbers sufficient to constitute a sort of corporate body, it happened +from time to time to have become settlers. After all, what must be +confessed is--that, in all this there seems nothing but what might +readily enough have been conceived, without its having been thus +expressed. + +[9] It is well known that this dogma of Original sin--a disease that the +human family enjoys by sad inheritance, Christ treated with negligible +indifference. He dealt with the problems of man in a social state, as +socially conditioned only. A human being conditioned as isolated from +neighbors, friends and society, he did not as he scientifically could +not deal with, He discoursed upon social duties, however sublimely, N.B. +Acts 18:15, "But if thy brother shall offend against thee, go and rebuke +him between thee and him alone, If he shall hear thee thou hast gained +thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or +two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be +established. And if he shall neglect to hear them then tell it unto the +church. And if he neglect to hear the church, let him be to thee as the +heathen and publican, Amen I say unto you, Whatsoever you shall bind on +earth, shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever you shall loose on +earth shall be loosed also in heaven." + +Now without quibbling about the translation this scheme of social +arbitration contains the ultimate of justice, It contains the only +working hypothesis within any social condition of mankind. There is no +such thing as justice in the abstract or concrete, It is like heat and +electricity, a mere mode of motion, a form of action. And when a +controversy between Citizens is fairly submitted to the judgment of +normal men the voice of their consciousness, being the ultimate organ of +nature's Creator, must be "binding" so far as man is concerned socially. + +And as there does not appear to the natural man any appeal to heaven, +the arbitrament of man in the special case carries the seal of the +eternities and forecloses all further controversy. The speech of the +honorable Consciousness of Man is the voice of the Creator of his +personality.--Ed. + +[10] Since what is in the text was written, maturer thoughts have +suggested an interpretation, by which, if received, the sad inferences +presented by the doctrine, that misdeeds, and consequent suffering that +have had place, could by a dip into a piece of water be caused never to +have happened, may be repelled. According to this interpretation, the +act of being baptized--the bodily act--is one thing; an act of washing +away the sins--the spiritual act--another. The effect produced is--not +the causing the misdeeds and sufferings never to have had place, but the +causing them to be compensated for, by acts productive of enjoyment, or +of saving in the article of sufferings, to an equal or greater amount. + +[11] See Ch. xvii. §. v. 4. Peter's and Cornelius's visions. + +[12] See Bentham's _Church of Englandism examined_. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + _Outward Conversion--how produced--how planned._ + + +SECTION 1. + +MOTIVE, TEMPORAL ADVANTAGE--PLAN. + +How flourishing the state of the church had at this period become, will +be seen more fully in another place. Long before this period,--numbers +of converts, in Jerusalem alone, above three thousand. The aggregate, of +the property belonging to the individuals, had been formed into one +common fund: the management--too great a burden for the united labours +of the eleven Apostles, with their new associate Mathias--had, under the +name so inappositely represented at present by the English word +_deacon_, been committed to seven trustees; one of whom, Stephen, had, +at the instance of Paul, been made to pay, with his life, for the +imprudence, with which he had, in the most public manner, indulged +himself, in blaspheming the idol of the Jews--their temple.[13] + + +Of that flourishing condition, Paul, under his original name of Saul, +had all along been a witness. While carrying on against it that +persecution, in which, if not the original instigator, he had been a +most active instrument, persecuting, if he himself, in what he is made +to say, in Acts xxii. 4, is to be believed,--"persecuting unto the +death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women;"--while +thus occupied, he could not in the course of such his disastrous +employment, have failed to obtain a considerable insight into the state +of their worldly affairs. + +Samaria--the field of the exploits and renown of the great sorcerer +Simon, distinguished in those times by the name of _Magus_--Samaria, the +near neighbour and constant rival, not to say enemy, of Jerusalem;--is +not more than about five and forty miles distant from it. To Paul's +alert and busy mind,--the offer, made by the sorcerer, to purchase of +the Apostles a share in the government of the church, could not have +been a secret. + +At the hands of those rulers of the Christian Church, this offer had not +found acceptance. Shares in the direction of their affairs were not, +like those in the government of the British Empire in these our days, +objects of sale. The nine rulers would not come into any such bargain; +their disciples were not as cattle in their eyes: by those disciples +themselves no such bargain would have been endured; they were not as +cattle in their own eyes. + +But, though the bargain proposed by the sorcerer did not take place, +this evidence, which the offer of it so clearly affords,--this evidence, +of the value of a situation of that sort in a commercial point of view, +could not naturally either have remained a secret to Paul, or failed to +engage his attention, and present to his avidity and ambition a ground +of speculation--an inviting field of enterprise. + +From the time when he took that leading part, in the condemnation and +execution, of the too flamingly zealous manager, of the temporal +concerns of the associated disciples of that disastrous orator, by whom +the preaching and spiritual functions might, with so much happier an +issue, have been left in the hands of the Apostles--from that time, down +to that in which we find him, with letters in his pocket, from the +rulers of the Jews in their own country, to the rulers of the same +nation under the government of the neighbouring state of Damascus, he +continued, according to the Acts ix. 1; "yet breathing out threatenings +and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord." + +Of these letters, the object was--the employing the influence of the +authorities from which they came, viz. the High Priest and the Elders, +to the purpose of engaging those to whom they were addressed, to enable +him to bring in bonds, to Jerusalem from Damascus, all such converts to +the religion of Jesus, as should have been found in the place last +mentioned. + +In his own person the author of the Acts informs us--that, by Saul, +letters to this effect were _desired_[14]. In a subsequent chapter, in +the person of Paul, viz. in the speech, to the multitude by whom he had +been dragged out of the Temple, in the design of putting him to death, +he informs us they were actually _obtained_[15]. + +It was in the course of this his journey, and with these letters in his +pocket, that, in and by the vision seen by him while on the road--at +that time and not earlier--his conversion was, according to his own +account of the matter, effected. + +That which is thought to have been already proved, let it, at least for +argument's sake, be affirmed. Let us say accordingly--this vision-story +was a mere fable. On this supposition, then, what will be to be said of +those same letters?--of the views in which they were obtained?--of the +use which was eventually made of them?--of the purpose to which they +were applied? For all these questions one solution may serve. From what +is known beyond dispute--on the one hand, of his former way of life and +connections--on the other hand, of his subsequent proceeding--an answer, +of the satisfactoriness of which the reader will have to judge, may, +without much expense of thought, be collected. + +If, in reality, no such vision was perceived by him, no circumstance +remains manifest whereby the change which so manifestly and notoriously +took place in his plan of life, came to be referred to _that_ point in +the field of time--in preference to any antecedent one. + +Supposing, then, the time of the change to have been antecedent to the +commencement of that journey of his to Damascus--antecedent to the time +of the application, in compliance with which his letter from the ruling +powers at Jerusalem the object of which was to place at his disposal the +lot of the Christians at Damascus, was obtained;--this supposed, what, +in the endeavour to obtain this letter, was his object? Manifestly to +place in his power these same Christians: to place them in his power, +and thereby to obtain from them whatsoever assistance was regarded by +him as necessary for the ulterior prosecution of his schemes, as above +indicated. + +On this supposition, in the event of their giving him that assistance, +which, in the shape of money and other necessary shapes, he +required--on this supposition, he made known to them his determination, +not only to spare their persons, but to join with them in their +religion; and, by taking the lead in it among the heathen, to whom he +was, in several respects, so much better qualified for communicating it +than any of the Apostles or their adherents, to promote it to the utmost +of his power. An offer of this nature--was it in the nature of things +that it should be refused? Whatsoever was most dear to them--their own +personal security, and the sacred interests of the new religion, the +zeal of which was yet flaming in their bosoms, concurred in pressing it +upon their acceptance. + +With the assistance thus obtained, the plan was--to become a declared +convert to the religion of Jesus, for the purpose of setting himself at +the head of it; and, by means of the expertness he had acquired in the +use of the Greek language, to preach, in the name of Jesus, that sort of +religion, by the preaching of which, an empire over the minds of his +converts, and, by that means, the power and opulence to which he +aspired, might, with the fairest prospect of success, be aimed at. + +But, towards the accomplishment of this design, what presented itself as +a necessary step, was--the entering into a sort of _treaty_, and forming +at least in appearance, a sort of junction, with the leaders of the new +religion and their adherents--the Apostles and the rest of the +disciples. As for _them_, in acceding to this proposal, on the +supposition of anything like sincerity and consistency on his part, +_they_ would naturally see much to gain and nothing to lose: much indeed +to gain; no less than peace and security, instead of that persecution, +by which, with the exception of the Apostles themselves, to all of whom +experience seems, without exception, to have imparted the gift of +prudence, the whole fraternity had so lately been driven from their +homes, and scattered abroad in various directions. + +With the Christians at Damascus, that projected junction was actually +effected by him: but, in this state of things, to return to Jerusalem +was not, at that time, to be thought of. In the eyes of the ruling +powers, he would have been a trust-breaker--a traitor to their cause: in +the eyes of the Christians, he would have been a murderer, with the +blood of the innocent still reeking on his hands: no one would he have +found so much as to lend an ear to his story, much less to endure it. In +Damascus, after making his agreement with his new brethren, there +remained little for him to do. Much had he to inform himself of +concerning Jesus. Damascus--where Jesus had already so many +followers--Damascus was a place for him to _learn_ in: not to _teach_ +in:--at any rate, at that time. + +Arabia, a promising field of enterprise--Arabia, a virgin soil, opened +to his view. There he would find none to abhor his person--none to +contradict his assertions: there his eloquence--and, under the direction +of his judgment, his invention--would find free scope: in that country +the reproach of inconsistency could not attach upon him: in that foreign +land he beheld his place of quarantine--his school of probation--the +scene of his novitiate. By a few years employed in the exercise of his +new calling--with that spirit and activity which would accompany him of +course in every occupation to which he could betake himself--he would +initiate himself in, and familiarize himself with, the connected +exercises of preaching and spiritual rule. At the end of that period, +whatsoever might be his success in that country, such a portion of +time, passed in innocence, would at any rate allay enmity: such a +portion of time, manifestly passed, in the endeavour at any rate to +render service to the common cause, might even establish confidence. + +At the end of that time, he might, nor altogether without hope of +success, present himself to the rulers of the church, in the metropolis +of their spiritual empire: "Behold, he might say, in me no longer a +persecutor, but a friend. The persecutor has long vanished: he has given +place to the friend. Too true it is, that I was so once your persecutor. +Years spent in unison with you--years spent in the service of the common +cause--have proved me. You see before you, a tried man--an ally of tried +fidelity: present me as such to your disciples: take me into your +councils: all my talent, all my faculties, shall be yours. The land of +Israel will continue, as it has been, the field of _your_ holy labours; +the land of the Gentiles shall be mine: we will carry on our operations +in concert; innumerable are the ways in which each of us will derive +from the other--information, assistance, and support." + +To Arabia he accordingly repaired: so, in his Epistle to the Galatians, +Gal. i. 17, he himself informs us: in that little-known country, he +continued three whole years--so also, in the same place, he informs us. +There it was, that he experienced that success, whatever it was, that +went to constitute the ground, of the recommendation given of him by +Barnabas to the Apostles. From thence he returned to Damascus: and, in +that city, presenting himself in his regenerated character, and having +realized by his subsequent conduct the expectations raised by his +promises at the outset of his career[16]; he planned, and as will be +seen, executed his expedition to Jerusalem: the expedition, the object +of which has just been brought to view. "Then," says Paul himself, "I +went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days." +Gal. 1:18. There, says the author of the Acts, Acts 9:27, 28, "Barnabas +took him and brought him to the Apostles ... and he was with them coming +in and going out of Jerusalem." + + +SECTION 2. + +AT DAMASCUS, NO SUCH ANANIAS PROBABLY. + +This same Ananias--of whom so much has been seen in the last +chapter--Paul's own imagination excepted, had he anywhere any existence? +The probability seems to be on the negative side: and, in the next +section, as to whether Paul's companions on the road are not in a +similar predicament, the reader will have to judge. But let us begin +with Ananias. + +At Damascus, at any rate--with such power in his hands, for securing +obsequiousness at the hands of those to whom he was addressing +himself--with such power in his hands, Paul could not have had much need +of anything in the shape of a vision:--he could not have had any need of +any such person as the seer of the correspondent vision--Ananias. + +For the purpose of aiding the operation of those considerations of +worldly prudence, which these powers of his enabled him to present, to +those whom it concerned,--there might be some perhaps, who, for yielding +to those considerations, and thus putting themselves under the command +of this formidable potentate, might look for an authority from the Lord +Jesus. But, forasmuch as, in this very case, even at this time of day, +visions, _two_ in name, but, in respect of probative force, reducible to +_one_--are so generally received as conclusive evidence,--no wonder if, +at that time of day, by persons so circumstanced, that _one_ vision +should be received in that same character. At Damascus, therefore, on +his first arrival, there could not be any occasion for any such +corroborating story as the story of the vision of Ananias. At +Damascus--unless he had already obtained, and instructed as his +confederate, a man of that name--no such story could, with any prospect +of success, have been circulated: for the purpose of learning the +particulars of an occurrence of such high importance, the residence of +this Ananias would have been inquired after: and, by supposition, no +satisfactory answer being capable of being given to any such +inquiries,--no such story could be ventured to be told. + +Such was the case, at that place and at that time. As to any such +evidence, as that afforded by the _principal_ vision, viz. Paul's +own,--perhaps no such evidence was found necessary: but, if it _was_ +found necessary, nothing could be easier than the furnishing it. As to +the _secondary_ vision, viz. that ascribed afterwards to a man of the +name of Ananias,--at that time scarcely could there have been any need +of it--any demand for it; and, had there been any such demand, scarcely, +unless previously provided, could any such correspondent supply have +been afforded. + +In other places and posterior times alone, could this supplemental +vision, therefore, have been put into circulation: accordingly, not till +a great many years after, was mention made of it by the author of the +Acts:--mention made by him, either in his own person, or as having been +related, or alluded to, by Paul himself. Even the author of the +Acts,--though in this same chapter he has been relating the story of +Ananias's vision,--yet, when he comes to speak, of the way, in which, +according to him, Paul, by means of his protector and benefactor +Barnabas, obtained an introduction to the Apostles, viz. all the +Apostles, in which, however, he is so pointedly contradicted by Paul +himself,--yet speaks not of Barnabas, as including, in the +recommendatory account he gave them, of Paul--his vision, and his +merits--any mention of this supplemental vision:--any mention of any +Ananias. Acts 9:27. + +At Damascus, howsoever it might be in regard to the Christians--neither +to Jews, nor to Gentiles, could the production, of any such letters as +those in question, have availed him anything. Such as had embraced +Christianity excepted, neither over Gentiles nor over Jews did those +letters give him any power: and, as to Jews, the character in +which--after any declaration made of his conversion--he would have +presented himself, would have been no better than that of an apostate, +and betrayer of a highly important public trust. To men of both these +descriptions, a plea of some sort or other, such as, if believed, would +be capable of accounting for so extraordinary a step, as that he should +change, from the condition of a most cruel and inveterate persecutor of +the new religion, to that of a most zealous supporter and leader,--could +not, therefore, but be altogether necessary. No sooner was he arrived at +Damascus, than, if the author of the Acts is to be believed, he began +pleading, with all his energy, the cause of that religion, which, almost +to that moment, he had with so much cruelty opposed. As to the story of +his vision,--what is certain is--that, sooner or later, for the purpose +of rendering to men of all descriptions a reason for a change so +preëminently extraordinary, he employed this story. But, forasmuch as of +no other account of it, as given by him, is any trace to be found;--nor +can any reason be found, why that which was certainly employed +afterwards might not as well be employed at and from the first;--hence +comes the probability, that from the first it accordingly was employed. + + +SECTION 3. + +ON DAMASCUS JOURNEY--COMPANIONS NONE. + +In the preceding chapter, a question was started, but no determinate +answer as yet found for it: this is--what became of the men, +who--according to all the accounts given by Paul, or from him, of his +conversion vision--were his _companions_ in the journey? At Damascus, if +any such men there were, they would in course arrive as well as he, and +at the same time with him. This circumstance considered, if any such men +there were,--and they were not in confederacy with him,--the imposition +must have been put upon _them_: and, for that purpose, he must, in their +presence, have uttered the sort of discourse, and exhibited the sort of +deportment, mentioned in the above accounts. + +To this difficulty, however, a very simple solution presents itself. _He +had no such companions._ Neither by name, nor so much as by any the most +general description,--either of the persons, or of the total number,--is +any designation to be found anywhere:--not in the account given in the +Acts; not in any account, given by himself, in any Epistle of his; or, +as from himself, in any part of the Acts. In the company of divers +others, a man was struck down, he says, or it is said of him, by a +supernatural light: and, at the instant, and on the spot, has a +conversation with somebody. Instead of saying who these _other_ men are, +the credit of the whole story is left to rest on the credit of this +_one_ man:--the credit, of a story, the natural improbability of which, +stood so much need of collateral evidence, to render it credible. + +Not till many years had elapsed, after this journey of his were these +accounts, any one of them, made public: and, in relation to these +pretended companions--supposing him interrogated at any time posterior +to the publication of the account in the Acts,--after the lapse of such +a number of years, he could, without much difficulty, especially his +situation and personal character considered, hold himself at full +liberty, to remember or to forget, as much or as little, as on each +occasion he should find convenient. + + +SECTION 4. + +FLIGHT FROM DAMASCUS: CAUSES--FALSE--TRUE. + +ACTS ix. 19-25. + + And when he had received meat he was strengthened. Then was Saul + certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus.--And + straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son + of God.--But all that heard him were amazed, and said: Is not this + he that destroyeth them which called on his name in Jerusalem; and + came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the + chief priests?--But Saul increased the more in strength, and + confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is + very Christ.--And after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took + counsel to kill him.--But their laying await was known of Saul. And + they watched the gates day and night to kill him.--Then the + disciples took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a + basket. + +The conception, which it was the evident design of this passage to +impress upon the mind of the reader, is--that, as soon almost as he was +arrived at Damascus, Paul not only went about preaching Jesus, but +preaching to that effect openly, and without reserve, in all the +synagogues: and that it was for this preaching, and nothing else, that +"the Jews," thus undiscriminating is the appellation, purposely it should +seem, employed, "went about to kill him:" that thereupon it was, that he +made his escape over the wall, and having so done, repaired immediately +to Jerusalem. + +In this conception, there seems to be evidently a mixture of truth and +falsehood. + +That he addressed himself, in a greater or less number, to the +disciples,--must assuredly have been true: to the accomplishment of his +designs, as above explained, intercourse with them could not but be +altogether necessary. + +That, when any probable hope of favourable attention and secrecy were +pointed out to him--that, in here and there an instance, he ventured so +far as to address himself to this or that individual, who was not as yet +enlisted in the number of disciples,--may also have been true: and, for +this purpose, he might have ventured perhaps to show himself in some +comparatively obscure synagogue or synagogues. + +But, as to his venturing himself so far as to preach in all synagogues +without distinction,--or in any synagogue frequented by any of the +constituted authorities,--this seems altogether incredible. + +To engage them to seek his life; to lie in wait to kill him; in other +words, to apprehend him for the purpose of trying him, and probably at +the upshot killing him,--this is no more than, considering what, in +their eyes, he had been guilty of, was a thing of course: a measure, +called for--not, for preaching the religion of Jesus; not, for any +boldness in any other way displayed; but, for the betraying of the +trust, reposed in him by the constituted authorities at Jerusalem: thus +protecting and cherishing those malefactors, for such they had been +pronounced by authority, for the apprehending and punishing of whom, he +had solicited the commission he thereupon betrayed. Independently of all +other offence, given by preaching or anything else,--in this there was +that, which, under any government whatever, would have amply +sufficed--would even more than sufficed--to draw down, upon the head of +the offender, a most exemplary punishment. + +In this view, note well the description, given in the Acts, of the +persons, by whose enmity he was driven out of Damascus; compare with it +what, in relation to this same point, is declared--most explicitly +declared--by Paul himself. + +By the account in the Acts, they were the persons to whom he had been +preaching Jesus; and who, by that preaching, had been confounded and +provoked. Among those persons, a conspiracy was formed for murdering +him; and it was to save him from this conspiracy that the disciples let +him down the wall in a basket. + +Such is the colour, put upon the matter by the author of the Acts. Now, +what is the truth--the manifest and necessary truth, as +related--explicitly related--by Paul himself? related, in the second of +his letters to his Corinthians, on an occasion when the truth would be +more to his purpose than the false gloss put upon it by his adherents as +above? The peril, by which he was driven thus to make his escape, +was--not a murderous conspiracy, formed against him by a set of +individuals provoked by his preaching;--it was the intention, formed by +the governor of the city. Intention? to do what? to put him to death +against law? No; but to "_apprehend_" him. To apprehend him? for what? +Evidently for the purpose of bringing him to justice in the regular +way--whatsoever was the regular way--for the offence he had so recently +committed: committed, by betraying his trust, and entering into a +confederacy with the offenders, whom he had been commissioned, and had +engaged, to occupy himself, in concert with the constituted authorities +of the place, in bringing to justice. + +"In Damascus," says he, 2 Cor. xi. 32, 33, "the governor under Aretas +the king kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desirous to +apprehend me. And through a window in a basket was I let down by the +wall, and escaped his hands." + +And on what _occasion_ is it, that this account of the matter is given +by him? It is at the close of a declamation, which occupies ten +verses--a declamation, the object of which is--to impress upon the minds +of his adherents the idea of his merits: viz. those which consisted in +labour, suffering, and perils: merits, on which he places his title to +the preference he claims above the competitors to whom he +alludes:--alludes, though without naming them: they being, as he +acknowledges therein, ministers of Christ, and probably enough, if not +any of them Apostles, persons commissioned by the Apostles. Greater, it +is evident, must have been the danger from the ruling powers of the +place, than from a set of individual intended murderers:--from the power +of the rulers there could not be so much as a hope of salvation, except +by escape: from the individuals there would be a naturally sufficient +means of salvation; the power of the rulers presenting a means of +salvation, and that naturally a sufficient one. + +Note here, by the by, one of the many exemplifications, of that +confusion which reigns throughout in Paul's discourses: the result, of +that mixture, which, in unascertainable proportions, seems to have had +place--that mixture of nature and artifice. It is at the end of a long +list of labours, sufferings, and perils, that this anecdote presents +itself. Was it accordingly at the end of them that the fact itself had +taken place?--No: it was _at_ the very commencement: or rather, so far +as concerned preaching, _before_ the commencement. Only in the way of +allusion--allusion in general terms--in terms of merely general +description, without mention of _time_ or _place_, or persons +concerned,--are any of the other sufferings or perils mentioned: in this +instance alone, is any mention made under any one of those heads: and +here we see it under two of them, viz. _place_ and _person_: and +moreover, by other circumstances, the _time_, viz. the _relative_ time, +is pretty effectually fixed. + +Immediately afterwards, this same indisputably false colouring will be +seen laid on, when the account comes to be given, of his departure for +Jerusalem: always for preaching Jesus is he sought after, never for +anything else. + +According to this representation, here are two governments--two +municipal governments--one of them, at the solicitation of a functionary +of its own, giving him a commission to negotiate with another, for the +purpose of obtaining, at his hands, an authority, for apprehending a set +of men, who, in the eyes of both, were guilty of an offence against +both. Instead of pursuing his commission, and using his endeavours to +obtain the desired cooperation, he betrays the trust reposed in him:--he +not only suffers the alleged malefactors to remain unapprehended and +untouched, but enters into a confederacy with them. To both governments, +this conduct of his is, according to him, matter of such entire +indifference, that he might have presented himself everywhere, as if +nothing had happened, had it not been for his preaching:--had it not +been for his standing forth _openly_, to preach to all that would hear +him, the very religion which he had been commissioned to extinguish. + +In such a state of things, is there anything that can, by any +supposition, be reconciled to the nature of man, in any situation,--or +to any form of government? + +Three years having been passed by him in that to him strange country, +what, during all that time, were his means of subsistence? To this +question an unquestionable answer will be afforded by the known nature +of his situation. He was bred to a trade, indeed a handicraft +trade--tent-making: an art, in which the operations of the architect +and the upholsterer are combined. But, it was not to practise either +that, or any other manual operation, that he paid his visit to that +country. When he really did practise it, he took care that this +condescension of his should not remain a secret: from that, as from +everything else he ever did or suffered, or pretended to have done or +suffered, he failed not to extract the matter of glory for himself, as +well as edification for his readers. In Arabia, his means of subsistence +were not then derived from his trade: if they had been, we should have +known it:--from what source then were they derived?[17] By the very +nature of his situation, this question has been already answered:--from +the purses of those, whom, having had it in his power, and even in his +commission, to destroy, he had saved. + +And now, as to all those things, which, from the relinquishment of his +labours in the field of persecution to the first of his four recorded +visits to Jerusalem, he is known to have done, answers have been +furnished:--answers, to the several questions _why_ and by what _means_, +such as, upon the supposition that the supernatural mode of his +conversion was but a fable, it will not, it is hoped, be easy to find +cause for objecting to as insufficient. + + +SECTION 5. + +ARABIA-VISIT--MENTIONED BY PAUL, NOT ACTS. + +Not altogether without special reason, seems the veil of obscurity to +have been cast over this long interval. In design, rather than accident, +or heedlessness, or want of information,--may be found, it should seem, +the cause, of a silence so pregnant with misrepresentation. In addition +to a length of time, more or less considerable, spent in Damascus, a +city in close communication with Jerusalem, in giving proofs of his +conversion,--three years spent in some part or other of the contiguous +indeed, but wide-extending, country of Arabia--(spent, if Paul is to be +believed, in preaching the religion of Jesus, and at any rate in a state +of peace and innoxiousness with relation to it)--afforded such proof of +a change of plan and sentiment, as, in the case of many a man, might, +without miracle or wonder, have sufficed to form a basis for the +projected alliance:--this proof, even of itself; much more, when +corroborated, by the sort of certificate, given to the Church by its +preeminent benefactor Barnabas, who, in introducing the new convert, to +the leaders among the Apostles, for the special purpose of proposing the +alliance,--took upon himself the personal responsibility, so inseparably +involved in such a mark of confidence. + +In this state of things then, which is expressly asserted by Paul to +have been, and appears indubitably to have been, a real +one,--considerations of an ordinary nature being sufficient--to +produce--not only the effect actually produced--but, in the case of many +a man, much more than the effect actually produced,--there was no +demand, at that time, for a miracle: no demand for a miracle, for any +such purpose, as that of working, upon the minds of the Apostles, to any +such effect as that of their maintaining, towards the new convert, a +conduct free from hostility, accompanied with a countenance of outward +amity. But, for other purposes, and in the course of his intercourse +with persons of other descriptions, it became necessary for him to have +had these visions: it became necessary--not only for the purpose of +proving connection on his part with the departed Jesus, to the +satisfaction of all those by whom such proof would be looked for,--but, +for the further purpose, of ascribing to Jesus, whatsoever doctrines the +prosecution of his design might from time to time call upon him to +promulgate;--those doctrines, in a word, which, (as will be seen), being +his and not Jesus's--not reported by anyone else as being Jesus's--we +shall find him, notwithstanding, preaching, and delivering,--so much at +his ease, and with unhesitating assurance. + +A miracle having therefore been deemed necessary (the miracle of the +conversion-vision), and reported accordingly,--thus it is, that, by the +appearance of suddenness, given to the sort and degree of confidence +thereupon reported as having been bestowed upon him by the Apostles, a +sort of confirmation is, in the Acts account, given to the report of the +miracle: according to this account, it was not by the three or four +years passed by him in the prosecution of their designs, or at least +without obstruction given to them;--it was not by any such proof of +amity, that the intercourse, such as it was, had been effected:--no: it +was by the report of the vision--that report which, in the first +instance, was made to them by their generous benefactor and powerful +supporter, Barnabas; confirmed, as, to every candid eye it could not +fail to be, by whatever accounts were, on the occasion of the personal +intercourse, delivered from his own lips. "But Barnabas (says the +author) took him and brought him to the Apostles, and declared unto them +how he had _seen_ the Lord by the way, and that he had spoken to him, +and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus." Acts +9:27. + +When in the year 57, Paul,[18] to so many other boastings, was added the +sufferings he would have us think were courted and endured by him, while +preaching in the name of Jesus, that gospel, which he proclaims to have +been his own, and not that of the Apostles, little assuredly did he +think, that five years after, or thereabout, from the hand of one of his +own attendants, a narrative was to appear, in which, of these same +sufferings a so much shorter list would be given; or that, by an odd +enough coincidence, more than seventeen centuries after, by a namesake +of his honored patron, Doctor Gamaliel, the contradiction thus given to +him, would be held up to view. + +In the second of his epistles to his Corinthians, dated A.D. 57,--the +following is the summary he gives of those same sufferings. Speaking of +certain unnamed persons, styled by him false Apostles, but whom reasons +are not wanting for believing to have been among the disciples of the +real ones,--"Are they," says he, 2 Cor. xi. 23, "ministers of Christ? I +speak as one beside himself, I am more: in labours more abundant: in +_stripes_ above measure: in prisons more frequent: in deaths, oft.--Of +the Jews five times received I forty stripes, save one.--Thrice was I +beaten with rods; once was I stoned: thrice I suffered shipwreck: a +night and a day have I been in the deep." Thus far as per _Paul_. + +Add from his former Epistle to the same in the same year, battle with +beasts, one. "If, after the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at +Ephesus, what advantageth it me," continues he, 1 Cor. XV. 32, "if the +dead rise not, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." + +Let us now see how the account stands, as per _Acts_. On the part of +this his panegyrist, whether any such habit had place as that of cutting +down below their real amount, either the sufferings or the actings of +his hero, the reader will have judged. Of both together, let it not be +forgotten, the Acts' account comes some five years lower, than the date +of the above tragical list: in it are included those sufferings and +perils which we have seen, namely, those produced by the voyage to Rome, +and which, at the time of Paul's list, had not taken their commencement. +Now then for the Acts' list. Stripes, nine-and-thirty in a parcel, none: +difference five. Beatings with rods, saving one possible one, of which +presently, none; difference, three. Stoning, one[19]. Shipwreck, as yet +none: the accident at Malta being three years subsequent. "Night and day +in the deep,"--according as it was _on_ or _in_ the deep--either nothing +at all, or an adventure considerably too singular to have been passed +over. _Diving-bells_ are not commonly supposed to have been, at that +time of day, in use; but whoever has a taste for predictions, may, if it +be agreeable to him, see those same scientific instruments or the +equivalent in this Gospel of Paul's predicted. + +As to the parcels of stripes, the self-constituted Apostle takes credit +for, they would have been,--supposing them administered,--administered, +all of them, according to law, meaning always the law of _Moses_: for, +it is in that law, (namely in Deuteronomy XXV. 3) that the clause, +limiting to nine-and-thirty, the number to be given at a time, is to be +found. Of these statements of Paul's, let it not pass unnoticed, the +place is--a formal and studied Epistle, not an extempore speech: so that +the falsehood in them, if any, was not less deliberate than the Temple +perjury. + +Of all these same boasted bodily sufferings, eight in the whole, when +put together,--one was, at the outset, reserved for consideration: let +us see what light, if any, is cast upon it by the Acts. One beating, the +Acts informs us of: and it was a beating by order of magistrates: and +accordingly, a beating according to law. But the law, according to which +it was given, was not Jewish law: the magistrates, by whose order it was +given, were not Jewish magistrates. The magistrates were heathens: and +it was for being Jews, and preaching in the Jewish style, that Paul, and +his companion Silas, were thus visited. It was at Philippi that the +affair happened: it was immediately preceded by their adventure with the +divineress, as per Acts 16:16; 34, Chap. 13: and brought about by the +resentment of her masters, to whose established business, the +innovation, introduced by these interlopers, had given disturbance: it +was followed--immediately followed--by the earthquake, which was so +dexterous in taking irons off. Whether therefore this beating was in +Paul's account comprised in the eight stripings and beatings, seems not +possible, humanly speaking, to know: not possible, unless so it be, that +Paul, being the wandering Jew, we have sometimes heard of, is still +alive,--still upon the look-out, for that aërial voyage, which, with or +without the expectation of an aërostatic vehicle, we have seen him so +confident in the assurance of. + +Remains the battle with the beasts. What these same beasts were, how +many there were of them,--how many legs they respectively had--for +example, two or four--in what way he was introduced into their +company,--whence his difference with them took its rise,--whether it was +of his own seeking, or by invitation that he entered the lists with +these his antagonists,--how it fared with _them_ when the affair was +over,--(for as to the hero himself, it does not appear that he was much +the worse for it);--these, amongst other questions, might be worth +answering, upon the supposition, that these antagonists of his were real +beings and real beasts, and not of the same class as the arch-beast of +his own begetting--Antichrist. But, the plain truth seems to be, that if +ever he fought with beasts, it was in one of his visions: in which case, +for proof of the occurrence, no visible mark of laceration could +reasonably be demanded. Meantime, to prove the negative, as far as, in a +case such as this, it is in the nature of a negative to be proved,--we +may, without much fear of the result, venture to call his ever-devoted +scribe. To this same Ephesus,--not more than a twelvemonth or +thereabouts, before the date of the Epistle--he brings his +patron,--finds appropriate employment for him,--and, off and on, keeps +him there for no inconsiderable length of time. There it is, that we +have seen, Chap. 13, §. 7., his handkerchiefs driving out devils as well +as diseases: there it is, and for no other reason than that _he_ is +there--there it is, that we have seen so many thousand pounds worth of +magical books burnt--and by their owners: there it is, that with a +single handkerchief of his,--which so it were but used, was an overmatch +for we know not how many devils,--we saw a single devil, with no other +hands than those of the man he lodged in, wounding and stripping to the +skin no fewer than seven men at the same time. If, then, with or without +a whole skin at the conclusion of it, he had really had any such +rencounter, with one knows not how many beasts, is it in the nature of +the case, that this same historiographer of his, should have kept us +ignorant of it? To be shut up with wild beasts, until torn to pieces by +them, was indeed one of the punishments, for which men were indebted to +the ingenuity of the Roman lawyers: but, if any such sentence was really +executed upon our self-constituted Apostle, his surviving it was a +miracle too brilliant not to have been placed at the head of all his +other miracles: at any rate, too extraordinary to have been passed by +altogether without notice. The biographer of Daniel was not thus +negligent. + +After all, was it really matter of pure invention--this same battle? or +may it not, like so many of the quasi-miracles in the Acts, have had a +more or less substantial foundation in fact? The case may it not have +been--that, while he was at Ephesus, somebody or other set a dog at him, +as men will sometimes do at a troublesome beggar? or that, whether with +hand or tongue, some person, male or female, set upon him with a degree +of vivacity, which, according to Paul's zoology, elucidated by Paul's +eloquence, entitled him or her to a place in the order of beasts?--Where +darkness is thus visible, no light can be so faint, as not to bring with +it some title to indulgence. + +Of the accounts, given us by the historiographer, of the exploits and +experiences of his hero while at Ephesus, one article more will complete +the list. When any such opportunity offered, as that of presenting him +to view, in his here assumed character, of a candidate for the honours +of martyrdom,--was it or was it not in the character of the +historiographer to let it pass unimproved? To our judgment on this +question, some further maturity may be given, by one more law-case, now +to be brought to view. Under some such name as that of the _Ephesian +Diana_, not unfrequent are the allusions to it. _Church of Diana +silversmiths versus Paul and Co._ is a name, by which, in an English law +report, it might with more strict propriety be designated. Plaintiffs, +silversmiths' company just named: Defendants, Paul and Co.; to wit, said +Paul, Alexander, Aristarchus, Alexander and others. Acts, 22:41. Action +on the case for words:--the words, in tenor not reported: purport, +importing injury in the way of trade. Out of the principal cause, we +shall see growing a sort of cross cause: a case of assault, in which +three of the defendants were, or might have been, plaintiffs: cause of +action, assault, terminating in false imprisonment. In this +exercetitious cause, defendants not individually specified: for, in +those early days, note-taking had not arrived at the pitch of +perfection, at which we see it at present. That which,--with reference +to the question--as to the truth of the beast-fighting story,--is more +particularly material in the two cases taken together,--is this: in the +situation, in which these junior partners of Paul found themselves, +there was some difficulty, not to say some danger. Pressed, as he +himself was afterwards, in his invasion of Jerusalem,--pressed in more +senses than one, _they_ found themselves by an accusing multitude. What +on this occasion does Paul? He slips his neck out of the collar. So far +from lending them a hand for their support, he will not so much as lend +them a syllable of his eloquence. Why? because forsooth, says his +historiographer, Acts xix. 30, 31, "the disciples suffered him not:" +_item_, v. 30, "certain" others of "his friends." When, as we have seen +him, spite of everything that could be said to him, he repaired to +Jerusalem on his _Invasion Visit_,--he was not quite so perfectly under +the government of his friends. On the present occasion, we shall find +him sufficiently tractable. Was this a man to be an antagonist and +overmatch for wild beasts? + +Now as to the above-mentioned principal case. Plaintiffs, dealers in +silver goods: Defendants, dealers in words. To be rivals in trade, it is +not necessary that men should deal exactly in the same articles:--the +sale of the words injured the sale of the goods: so at least the +plaintiffs took upon them to aver: for, in such a case, suspicion is not +apt to lie asleep. The church of Diana was the Established Church, of +that place and time. To the honour, the plaintiffs added the profit, of +being silversmiths to that same Excellent Church. To the value of that +sort of evidence, which it is the province of silversmiths to furnish, +no established church was ever insensible. The evidence, furnished by +the church silversmiths of these days, is composed of _chalices_: under +the Pagan dispensation, the evidence furnished by the church +silversmiths of the church of the Ephesian Diana, was composed of +_shrines_. When, with that resurrection of his own, and that Gospel of +his own, of which so copious a sample remains to us in his +Epistles,--Paul, with or without the name of Jesus in his mouth, made +his appearance in the market, Plaintiffs, as we have seen, took the +alarm. They proceeded, as the pious sons of an established church could +not fail to proceed. Before action commenced, to prepare the way for a +suitable judgment,--they set to work, and set on fire the inflammable +part of the public mind. The church was declared to be in danger, ver. +27: the church of Diana, just as the church of England and Ireland would +be, should any such sacrilegious proposition be seriously made, as that +of tearing out of her bosom any of those precious sinecures, of which +her vitals are composed. In Ephesus, it is not stated, that, at that +time, any society bearing the name of the _Vice Society_, or the +_Constitutional Association_, was on foot. But, of those pious +institutions the equivalent could not be wanting. Accordingly, the +charge of _blasphemy_, it may be seen, ver. 37, was not left unemployed. +So the defence shows: the defence, to wit, made by the probity and +wisdom of the judge: for, by the violence of the church mob,--who, but +for him, were prepared to have given a precedent, to that which set +Birmingham in flames,--the defendants were placed in the condition of +prisoners: and the judge, seeing the violence, of the prejudice they had +to encounter, felt the necessity, of adding to the function of judge, +that of counsel for the prisoners. + +But it is time to turn to the text: not a particle of it can be spared. + +ACTS xix. 22-41. + + 22. So he sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, + Timotheus and Erastus; but he himself stayed in Asia for a + season.--And the same time, there arose no small stir about that + way;--For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made + silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the + craftsmen;--Whom he called together with the workmen of like + occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our + wealth.--Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but + almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned + away much people, saying, that they be no gods, which are made + with hands:--So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set + at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana + should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom + all Asia and the world worshippeth.--And when they heard these + sayings, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is + Diana of the Ephesians.--And the whole city was filled with + confusion: and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of + Macedonia, Paul's companions in travel, they rushed with one accord + into the theatre.--And when Paul would have entered in, unto the + people, the disciples suffered him not.--And certain of the chief + of Asia, which were his friends, sent unto him, desiring him that + he would not adventure himself into the theatre.--Some, therefore, + cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly was confused; + and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together.--And + they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him + forward. And Alexander beckoned with the hand, and would have made + his defence unto the people;--But when they knew he was a Jew, all + with one voice, about the space of two hours, cried out, Great is + Diana of the Ephesians.--And when the town clerk had appeased the + people, he said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth + not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great + goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from + Jupiter?--Seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against, + ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly.--For ye have + brought hither these men, which are neither robbers of churches, + nor yet blasphemers of your goddess.--Wherefore, if Demetrius, and + the craftsmen which are with him, have a matter against any man, + the law is open, and there are deputies: let them implead one + another.--But if ye inquire anything concerning other matters, it + shall be determined in a lawful assembly.--For we are in danger to + be called in question for this day's uproar, there being no cause + whereby we may give an account of this concourse.--And when he had + thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly. + +The _Judge_ by whom the principal cause was tried, and the plaintiffs +non-suited, is styled, we see "_the Town Clerk_:" the more appropriate +and respected title would not on this occasion have been ill-applied to +him. Except what we have here been seeing, we know nothing of him that +is _positive_: but, seeing thus much of him, we see that he was an +honest man: and an honest man is not ill portrayed by negatives. He had +no coronet playing before his eyes: no overpaid places and sinecures for +relatives. He had not been made judge, for publishing a liturgy of the +church of Diana, with an embroidery composed of his own comments,--or +for circulating, with anonymous delicacy, a pious warning, never to be +absent from the shrine of Diana, when the sacred cup was, proffered by +the hands of holy priests. Accordingly, when the charge of _blasphemy_ +was brought before him,--being a heathen, he found no difficulty in +treating it, in that gentle and soothing mode, in which, when, from the +bosom of an established church it enters into a man, the spirit, which +calls itself the spirit of Christianity, renders him so averse to the +treating it. If, when his robes were off, he spoke of Diana what we now +think of her,--he did not, when they were on, foam or rave, +declare--that all, who would not swear to their belief in her, were not +fit to be believed, or so much as fit to live. + +By him, one man was not robbed of his rights, because another man, when +called upon as a witness, refused to perjure himself. By him, a man was +not refused to be heard as a witness, nor refused protection for the +fruits of his industry, nor deprived of the guardianship of his +children, because he waited to see Diana, before he declared himself a +believer in her existence. In the open theatre was pronounced the +judgment we have seen. He did not, by secret sittings, deprive men of +the protection of the public eye. He did not, we may stand assured--for +we see how far the people of Ephesus were from being tame enough to +endure it--he did not keep men's property in his hands, to be plundered +by himself, his children, or his creatures, till the property was +absorbed, and the proprietors sent broken-hearted to their graves. He +did not--for the people of Ephesus would not have endured it--wring out +of distress a princely income, on pretence of giving decisions, +declaring all the while his matchless incapacity for everything but +prating or raising doubts. He did not display,--he could not have +displayed--the people of Ephesus could not have endured it--any such +effrontery, as, when a judicatory was to sit upon his conduct, to set +himself down in it, and assume and carry on the management of it. He +would not have sought impunity--for if he had sought it in Ephesus, he +would not have found it there--he would not have sought impunity, in +eyes lifted up to heaven, or streaming with crocodile tears. + +Thus much as to his negative merits. But, we have seen enough of him, to +see one great positive one. When, from the inexhaustible source of +inflammation, a flame was kindled,--he did not fan the flame,--he +quenched it. + +The religion of Diana having thus come upon the carpet, a reflection +which could not be put by, is--spite of all efforts of the church +silversmiths, in how many essential points, negative as they are, the +religion of Diana had, on the ground of usefulness, the advantage of +that, which _is_ the religion of Paul, and _is called_ the religion of +Jesus. Diana drove no men out of their senses, by pictures or +preachments of never-ending torments. On pretence of saving men from +future sufferings, no men were consigned by it to present ones. No +mischievous, no pain-producing, no real vice, was promoted by it. It +compelled no perjury, no hypocrisy: it rewarded none. It committed, it +supported, it blessed, it lauded, no depredation, no oppression in any +shape: it plundered no man of the fruits of his industry, under the name +of _tithes_. For the enrichment of the sacred shrines,--money, in any +quantity, we may venture to say, received: received, yes: but in no +quantity extorted. One temple was sufficient for _that_ goddess. +Believing, or not believing in her divinity,--no men were compelled to +pay money, for more temples, more priests, or more shrines. + +_As to the religion of Jesus, true it is, that so long as it continued +the religion of Jesus, all was good government, all was equality, all +was harmony: free church, the whole; established church, none: monarchy, +none; constitution, democratical. Constitutive authority, the whole +community: legislative, the Apostles of Jesus_; executive, the +Commissioners of the Treasury: not Lords Commissioners, appointed by a +King Herod, but trustees or _stewards_; for such should have been the +word, and not _deacons_,--_agents elected by universal suffrage_. In +this felicitous state, how long it continued--we know not. What we do +know, is--that, _in the fourth century_, _despotism_ took possession of +it, and made an instrument of it. Becoming _established_, it became +noxious,--preponderantly noxious. For, where _established_ is the +adjunct to it, what does _religion_ mean? what but _depredation_, +corruption, oppression, hypocrisy? _depredation_, _corruption_, +_oppression_, _hypocrisy_--these four: with delusion, in all its forms +and trappings, for support. + +So pregnant is this same boasting passage--1 Cor. xv. 32, the labour it +has thrown upon us, is not altogether at an end. By what it says of the +resurrection, the memory has been led back, to what we have seen on the +same subject, in one of Paul's Epistles to his Thessalonians: brought +together, the two doctrines present a contrast too curious to be left +unnoticed. Of the apparatus employed by him in his trade of +_disciple-catcher_, his talk about the resurrection, was, it may well be +imagined, a capital article. Being, according to his own motto, _all +things to all men_, 1 Cor. ix. 22, whatever it happened to him to say on +the subject, was dished up, of course, according to the taste of those +he had to deal with. To some it was a _prediction_: for such, we have +seen, was the form it assumed when the people to be wrought upon were +the Thessalonians. To others, when occasion called, it was a statement +concerning something _past_, or supposed to be past. On an occasion of +this sort it was, that the name of Jesus, another article of that same +apparatus, was of so much use to him. True it is, that to the doctrine +of the _general_ resurrection in time future, he had, it must be +remembered, no need of declaring himself beholden to Jesus: at least, if +on this point, the Acts' history is to be believed: for, of the +Pharisees,--the sect to which Paul belonged--of the Pharisees, as +compared with the other sect the Sadducees, it was the distinctive +tenet. But, of the then future, the then past, as exemplified in the +_particular_ case of Jesus, could not but afford very impressive +circumstantial evidence. Of this momentous occurrence, there were the +real Apostles, ready to give their accounts,--conformable, it may be +presumed, to those we see given, as from them, by the four Evangelists. +These accounts, however, would not suit the purpose of the +self-constituted Apostle: in the first place, because they came from +the real Apostles, with whom, as we have so often seen, it was a +declared principle with him not to have had anything to do: in the next +place, because the Apostles were too scrupulous: they would not have +furnished him with witnesses enough. His own inexhaustible fund--his own +invention,--was therefore the fund, on this occasion, drawn upon: and, +accordingly, instead of the number of witnesses,--say _a score_ or two +at the utmost--he could have got from the Apostles,--it supplied him +with _five hundred_: five hundred, _all at once_: to which, if pressed, +he could have added any other number of percipient witnesses whatsoever, +provided only that it was at _different_ times they had been such. + +So much for explanation: now for the announced contrast. Whoever the +people were, whom he had to address himself to,--they had contracted, he +found, a bad habit: it was that of _eating and drinking_. Reason is but +too apt to be seduced by, and enlisted in the service of her most +dangerous enemy--_Appetite_. Not only did they eat and drink; but they +had found, as it seemed to them, _reason_ for so doing. They ate and +drank--why? because they were to die after it. "Let us eat and drink," +said the language we have seen him reproaching them with, 1 Cor. xv. 32. +"Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." + +The case is--that, in pleasure, in whatever shape they see her,--all +men, to whose ambition supernatural terrors supply an instrument of +dominion, behold their most formidable rival. Against such a rival, +wonderful indeed it would be, if their hostility were not +proportionable. No morality accordingly do they acknowledge, that does +not include, with or without other things, hatred,--with or without +contempt, of pleasure. Such, too, as is their morality, such is their +law. Death is scarce severe enough, for a pleasure, which they either +have, or would be thought to have, no relish for. So at least says what +they teach: but, teaching how to act is one thing; acting accordingly, +another. Thus we all see it is, in so many instances: and thus, without +much danger of injustice, we may venture to suppose it may have been, in +that of the self-constituted Apostle. + +Not so Jesus: no harm did he see in eating and drinking, unless with the +pleasure it produced greater pain. With this reserve, no harm,--for +anything that appears in any one of the four histories we have of +him,--no harm did he see in anything that gives pleasure. What every man +knows--and what Jesus knew as well as any man--for neither in words nor +in acts did he deny it--is,--that happiness, at what time soever +experienced,--happiness, to be anything, must be composed of pleasures: +and, be the man who he may, of what it is that gives pleasure to him, he +alone can be judge. + +But, to return to eating and drinking. Eating and drinking--he gives his +men to understand--even he, holy as he is, should not have had any +objection to, had it not been for this same resurrection of his, which +he was telling them of: eating and drinking--a practice, to which, +notwithstanding this resurrection of his, and so much as he had told +them of it, he had the mortification to find them so much addicted. So +much for his _Corinthians_. It was, as we see, _for want_ of their +paying, to what he was thus telling them about the resurrection, that +attention, to which it was so well entitled,--that _they_ still kept on +in that bad habit. But his _Thessalonians_--they too, as we have seen, +had got the same bad habit. Well: and what was it that gave it them? +What but their paying too much attention to this same resurrection of +his, dished up in the same or another manner, by the same inventive and +experienced hand. In conclusion, on laying the two cases together, what +seems evident enough is--that, in whatever manner served up to them, his +resurrection, whatever it was, was considerably more effectual in making +people eat and drink, than in weaning them from it. + + +SECTION 6. + +GAMALIEL--HAD HE PART IN PAUL'S PLAN? + +Gamaliel--in the working of this conversion, may it not be that +Gamaliel--a person whose reality seems little exposed to doubt--had +rather a more considerable share, than the above-mentioned unknown and +unknowable Ananias? + +Gamaliel was "a doctor of law" Acts 5:34--a person of sufficient note, +to have been a member of the council, in which the chief priests, under +the presidency of the High Priest, Acts 5:24, took cognizance of the +offence with which Peter and his associates had a little before this +been charged, on the occasion of their preaching Jesus. Under this +Gamaliel, had Paul, he so at least is made to tell us, studied, Acts +22:3. Between Paul and this Gamaliel, here then is a connection: a +connection--of that sort, which, in all places, at all times, has +existence,--and of which the nature is everywhere and at all times so +well understood--the connection between _protegé_ and protector. It was +by authority from the governing body, that Paul was, at this time, +lavishing his exertions in the persecution of the Apostles and their +adherents:--who then so likely, as this same Gamaliel, to have been the +patron, at whose recommendation the commission was obtained? Of the +cognizance which this Gamaliel took, of the conduct and mode of life of +the religionists in question,--the result was favourable. "Let them +alone," were his words. Acts v. 38. The maintenance, derived by the +_protegé_, on that same occasion, from the persecution of these +innoxious men--this maintenance being at once odious, dangerous, and +precarious,--while the maintenance, derivable from the taking a part in +the direction of their affairs, presented to view a promise of being at +once respectable, lucrative, and permanent;--what more natural then, +that this change, from left to right, had for its origin the advice of +this same patron?--advice, to which, all things considered, the epithet +_good_ could not very easily be refused. + + +FALSE PRETENCES EMPLOYED. + +To the self-constituted Apostle, false pretences were familiar. They +were not--they could not have been--without an object. One object was +power: this object, when pursued, is of itself abundantly sufficient to +call forth such means. But, another object with Paul was money: of its +being so, the passages referred to as above, will afford abundant +proofs. A man, in whose composition the appetite for money, and the +habit of using false pretences are conjoined, will be still more likely +to apply them to that productive purpose, than to any barren one. In the +character of a general argument, the observations thus submitted, are +not, it should seem, much exposed to controversy. + +But, of a particular instance, of money obtained by him on a false +pretence,--namely, by the pretence of its being for the use of others, +when his intention was to convert it to his own use,--a mass of evidence +we have, which presents itself as being in no slight degree probative. +It is composed of two several declarations of his own,--with, as above +referred to, the explanation of it, afforded by a body of circumstantial +evidence, which has already been under review: and as, in the nature of +the case, from an evil-doer of this sort, evidence to a fact of this +sort, cannot reasonably be expected to be frequently observable,--the +labour, employed in bringing it here to view, will not, it is presumed, +be chargeable, with being employed altogether without fruit. + +First, let us see a passage, in the first of his Epistles to his +_Corinthians_, date of it, A.D. 57. In this, we shall see a regularly +formed system of money-gathering: an extensive application of it to +various and mutually distant countries, with indication given of +particular times and places, in which it was his intention to pursue it: +also, intimation, of a special charitable purpose, to which it was his +professed intention to make application of the produce of it, at a place +specified: namely, Jerusalem. + +First then comes, 1 Cor. 16:1-8. A.D. 57. + +"Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to +the churches of _Galatia_, even so do _ye_.--Upon the _first day of the +week_, let every one of you _lay by him in store_, as God hath prospered +him, that there be no gatherings when I come.--And when I come, +whomsoever ye shall approve by your letters, them will I send to bring +your liberality unto _Jerusalem_.--And if it be meet that I go also, +they shall go with me.--Now I will come unto you when I shall pass +through Macedonia; for I do pass through _Macedonia_.--And it may be +that I will abide, yea and winter with you, that ye may bring me on my +journey whithersoever I go.--For I will not see you now by the way: but +I trust to tarry a while with _you_ if the Lord permit.--But I will +tarry at _Ephesus_ until Pentecost." At Ephesus, where he becomes an +object of jealousy, as we have seen, to the church-silversmiths; and, +from his declared business at those _other_ places, some evidence surely +is afforded of what was his probable business in _that_ place. + +Next let us see a passage in his Epistle to his _Romans_: date of it, +A.D. 58. Here, in two instances, we shall see the success, with which +this system was pursued by him: as also a maxim, laid down by him--a +maxim, in which the existence of this same system, on his part, is +acknowledged: a maxim, in which his hopes of success in the pursuit of +it, are declaredly founded. + +Rom. 15:24-28. A.D. 58. + +"Whensoever I take my journey into _Spain_, I will come to you; for I +trust to see you in my journey, and to be brought on my way thitherward +by you, if first I be somewhat filled with your company.--But now I go +unto _Jerusalem, to minister unto the Saints_.--For it hath pleased them +of _Macedonia_ and _Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor +saints which are at Jerusalem_.--It hath pleased them verily: and their +debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made _partakers of their +spiritual things_, their _duty_ is also _to minister unto them in carnal +things_.--When therefore I have performed this, and have sealed to them +this fruit, I will come _by you_ into _Spain_." + +In the instance in question, money (we see)--of the quantity of course +nothing said--is mentioned by him, as being actually in his hands: the +purpose, for which it was there,--and to which he would of course be +understood to intend applying it,--being also mentioned by +him:--applying it, at Jerusalem, to the use of the poor saints. So much +for _professed_ intentions. Now then for _real_ ones. Answer, in his own +words: that those Gentiles, who by him had been made partakers of his +spiritual things, might, as in "_duty_" bound, "minister" to him, so +much the more effectively "in carnal things:" that he, who preached, +what he called the Gospel, might, as he had been preaching to his +Corinthians also (1 Cor. ix. 14) be enabled so much the more comfortably +to "live by" it. + +"The poor saints which are at Jerusalem:"--_the_ poor saints--to wit, +not here and there a saint or two, but the whole Christian population +living together on a common stock--if now, A.D. 58, they were living, as +A.D. 53 they were (Acts ii. 44; vi. 1) and, in this particular, from the +beginning to the end of the history, no change is mentioned--in +Jerusalem--was it in the nature of man, in that state of men and +things,--was it in the nature of men and things, that any man, who had +any knowledge of their situation, and of the terms on which Paul, from +first to last, had been with them, could for a moment have thought of +lodging, for _their_ use, any the smallest sum of money in _his_ hands? +as well might it be said, at this moment--a man, whose wish it was to +convey money to Spain, for the use of the Cortes, would choose the hand +of the Duc d'Angouleme to send it by. All this time, _there_ were the +Apostles of Jesus--patrons of those same saints: and, anywhere more +easily than _there_, could he be. That, with this money in his hands, +among his objects was--the employing more or less of it in the endeavour +to form a party there, may not unreasonably be supposed, from what we +have seen of that _Invasion Visit_, by which his designs upon Jerusalem +were endeavoured to be carried into effect. For, according to Acts +19:21, already when he was at Ephesus, as above, was it his known +design, to try his fortune once more in Jerusalem, and after that in +Rome. This may have been among his designs, or not. Be this as it may, +this would have been no more than a particular way, of converting the +money to his own use. + +Not that, if at this time, and for _this purpose_ from even the quarters +in question, money had come, as he says it had, there was anything very +wonderful in its so doing. As to _us_ indeed _we_ know pretty well what +sort of terms he was on, from first to last, with the community in +question: _we_ know this, because his historiographer has made us know +it. But, as to the people of those same countries respectively,--at +their distance from Jerusalem, what, in their situation, might easily +enough happen was,--not to have, as to this point, any adequate +information till it was too late to profit by it: and, that such would +be their ignorance, is a matter, of which he might not less easily have +that which, to a man of his daring and sanguine temper, would be a +sufficient assurance. + +One thing there is, which, on the occasion of any view they took of this +subject, may perhaps have contributed to blind their eyes. This is--the +fact, of his having actually been concerned, in bringing money to +Jerusalem, for a similar purpose, though it must be confessed, not less +than fourteen years before this: to wit, from Antioch, as stated in +Chapter V., speaking of _that_--his second Jerusalem Visit, by the name +of the _Money-bringing Visit_. + +But,--what may easily enough have happened, distance in time and place, +together considered, is--that to those particulars, which composed no +more than the surface of the business, _their_ knowledge was confined: +while _we_, though at the distance of more than seventeen centuries, +know more or less of the inside of it,--let into it, as we have been, by +the author of the Acts. + +As to their arriving sooner or later, at the suspicion, or though it +were the discovery, that the money had not, any part of it, reached the +hands it was intended for, nor was in any way to do so,--what bar could +the apprehension of any such result oppose, to the enterprise, +systematic, as we see it was, of the creator of Antichrist? When, to a +man, who occupies a certain situation in the eye of the political world, +calls for accounts are become troublesome,--Scipio might have informed +him, if he had not well enough known of himself, how to answer them. + +When a charge made upon you is true--evidence full against you, +and none to oppose to it,--fly into a passion, magnify your own +excellence--magnify the depravity of your adversaries. This mode, of +parrying a charge, is perfectly well understood in our days, nor could +it have been much less well understood in Paul's days. As for _his_ +adversaries, Paul had a storm _in petto_ at all times ready for them: +for the materials, turn to any page of his Epistles: whatever, in this +way, he had for rivals,--_that_ and more he could not fail to have for +accusing witnesses. To the creator of Antichrist--sower of tares between +Pharisees and Sadducees,--whatever were the charges, defence, the most +triumphant, could never be wanting: arguments, suited with the utmost +nicety, to the taste of judges. He would warn them, against false +brethren, and liars, and wolves, and children of Satan, and so forth: +he would talk to them, about life and death, and sin and righteousness, +and faith and repentance, and this world and that world, and the Lord +and resurrection: he would talk backwards and forwards--give nonsense +for mystery, and terror for instruction: he would contradict everybody, +and himself not less than anybody: he would raise such a cloud of words, +with here and there an _ignis fatuus_ dancing in the smoke,--that the +judges, confounded and bewildered, would forget all the evidence, and +cry out _Not Guilty_ through pure lassitude. + +As to us,--the case being now before us, what shall be our verdict? +Obtaining money on false pretences is the charge. Guilty shall we say, +or not guilty? Obtainment on a certain pretence, is proved by _direct_ +evidence--his own evidence: proof, of falsity in the pretence, rests, as +it could not but rest, on _circumstantial_ evidence. + +One observation more: for another piece of circumstantial evidence has +just presented itself: it consists of the utter silence, about the +receipt of the money or any particle of it,--when, if there had been any +such receipt, occasions there were in such abundance for the mention of +it. A.D. 57, in his first to his Corinthians,--there it is, as we have +seen, that he urges them to lay by money for him, declaring it is for +the saints at Jerusalem; and that on this same errand it is, that he is +going to Macedonia,--and that in his way to Jerusalem he will give them +another call, to receive, for that same purpose, the intermediate +produce of these proposed _saving-banks_. In his letter to the Romans, +written the next year, A.D. 58--written at Corinth,--then it is, that he +has already made the said intended money-gathering visit, and with +success:--with success not only in Macedonia, as he had proposed, but in +Achaia likewise: and, with this money in his hand, and for the purpose +of delivering the money to those for whom he obtained it;--for this +purpose (he says) it is, that he is at that moment on his way to +Jerusalem--the place of their abode. This is in the year A.D. 58. Well +then: after this it is, that he takes up his abode at Ephesus. And when, +after his contests with the church silversmiths there, he departs from +thence, whither does he betake himself? To Jerusalem? No: he turns his +back upon Jerusalem, and goes for Macedonia (Acts xx. 1.) then into +Greece, where he stays three months; and purposes, Acts 20:3, to return +through Macedonia. A.D. 60, it is, that, for the first time, Acts 20:16, +any intention of his to visit Jerusalem is declared, he having coveted +no man's silver or gold, as his historian, Acts xx. 33, makes him assure +us. When, at length he arrived there, what his reception was, we have +seen. Had any of the _money_ been received there, would such as we have +seen have been the reception given to the _man_? When, by the Christians +at Jerusalem, Agabus was sent to him, to keep him if possible from +coming there,--is it in the nature of things, that they should have +already received any of it, or been in any expectation of it? In what +passed between him and the Elders, headed by the Apostle James, is any +the slightest allusion made to it? When, in Cæsarea, all in tears, Acts +21:12, 13, his attendants were striving, might and main, to dissuade him +from going to Jerusalem,--did he say anything about the money--the money +he had been so long charged with? Oh no; not a syllable: to Jerusalem he +is resolved to go indeed: Oh yes: but not the shadow of a reason can he +find for going there. + +When arrived at Jerusalem, the brethren, says the Acts 20:17, received +him gladly. The brethren: yes, what adherents he had, would of course +receive him gladly, or at least appear to do so. But the money? On their +side, was anything said about the money? Not a syllable. Either at this +time by his own hand, or any time before, by other hands, had they +received this money, or any considerable part of it, could they have +received him otherwise than not only gladly, but gratefully? + +All the time, the hero was thus employed in money-craving and +money-gathering, the historian, let it never be out of mind, was of the +party: four years before, A.D. 53, had he been taken into it; yet not +any the least hint about these money-matters does he give. So far indeed +as regarded what was avowedly for Paul's own use, neither could the +receipt nor the craving of the money from their customers, have been +unknown to him; for this was what they had to live upon. But the letters +his master wrote--wrote to their customers everywhere--letters, in which +the demand was made, for the so much more extensive purpose,--of these, +so many of which have reached these our times, the contents may to him +have easily enough remained a secret: little reason had he to expect, +none at all to fear, the exposure,--which now, at the end of more than +seventeen centuries, has, at length, been made of them,--confronted, as +they may now be, with the particulars he himself has furnished us with. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[13] Acts vii. ver. 47. Speech of St. Stephen. "But Solomon built him an +house. Howbeit the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as +saith the prophet, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what +house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my +rest?" In itself, perfectly comfortable all this, to the dictates of +reason and the instruction of Jesus: but not the less clear blasphemy +against the Mosaic law. + +[14] Acts ix. ver. 1 and 2. "And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings +and slaughter against the Disciples of the Lord, _went_ unto the _High +Priest_,--And _desired_ of him letters to Damascus to the Synagogues, +&c." + +[15] Acts xxii. ver. 5. "As also the High Priest doth bear me witness, +and all the estate of the Elders: from _whom also I received letters_ +unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there +bound unto Jerusalem for to be punished." + +[16] Yet, for even at the outset, after certain "days spent with the +disciples," and employed of course in receiving from them the necessary +instructions, he preached Jesus with such energy and success as not only +to "confound," Acts ix. 19 to 24, the unbelieving among the Jews, but to +provoke them to "take counsel to kill him." + +[17] Paul, says--2nd Cor. 11:6--"For though I be rude in speech yet am I +not in knowledge nay, in everything we have made it manifest among all +men to you-ward, or did I commit a sin in abasing myself that ye might +be exalted, because I preached to you the Gospel of God for naught? I +robbed other Churches, taking wages of them that I might minister unto +you; and when I was present with you I was in want, I was not a burden +on any man; for the brethren, when they came from Macedonia supplied the +measure of my want, and in everything I kept myself from being +burdensome unto you and so I will keep myself. As the truth of Christ is +in me no man shall stop me of this glorying in the regions of Achaia, +&c." + +When ever we get a Temperamental and psychological view of Paul, we see +verified the deductions of the author of this treatise, that he was a +transparent imposter. An unscrupulous adventurer. With talent well +adapted to dogmatically command the attention of the ignorant and +especially those of organized hereditary idolatry, the extreme vanity, +the vain glorious pretensions of this new priest was well adapted to +obtain obsequious complacence from such people. He always presents +himself in a controversial spirit of self-exaltation. + +His egotistic diction could hardly be made more manifest than in the +terms above quoted, to wit:--"I robbed other Churches taking wages of +them that I might minister unto you, &c." It presents a striking +contrast to the benevolent and fraternal spirit of Christ and his +disciples. + +[18] N.B. The editor at this place inserts pages of discussion--which +the author exhibited by way of an appendix. At the expense of a little +redundancy and incongruity the editor inserts it in this place.--Ed. + +[19] According to the Acts' account, this same stoning, if it was the +same, was much in the style of that same resurrection of Eutychus, which +we have seen in Chapter xiii. §. 10. As to Paul, when this martyrdom had +been suffered by him,--"some" says Acts xiv. 19, were "supposing he had +been dead:" and on that supposition, "drew him out of the city." Paul, +on the other hand, thought otherwise: he supposed himself alive, and, on +that supposition, he walked off, as if nothing had been the matter with +him. "Certain Jews ... say verses 19 and 20, having stoned Paul, drew +him out of the city, supposing he had been dead. Howbeit, as the +disciples stood round about him, he rose up, and came into the city: and +the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + _Paul disbelieved.--Neither his divine Commission nor his inward + Conversion ever credited by the Apostles or their Jerusalem + Disciples.--Source of Proof stated._ + + +SECTION 1. + +TO PAUL'S CONVERSION VISION, SOLE ORIGINAL WITNESS HIMSELF. + +Void, as we have seen, of all title to credence, is the story of Paul's +commission from Jesus:--void may it be seen to be, even if taken by +itself, and without need of resort to any counter-evidence. Who could +have expected to have found it, moreover, disproved by the most +irresistible counter-evidence--by the evidence of the Apostles +themselves? Yes: of the Apostles themselves, of whom it will plainly +enough be seen, that by not so much as one of them was it ever believed: +no, not to even the very latest period, of which any account has reached +us: namely that, at which the history of the Acts of the Apostles +closes, or that of the date of the last-written of Paul's Epistles, +whichsoever of the two may be the latest. + +In regard to the story of his conversion, its cause, and manner,--it has +been seen, that it is either from himself directly, or from an adherent +of his, the author of the Acts,--who had it from himself, unless Ananias +was a person known to the author of the Acts, and heard by him,--it is +from Paul, and Paul alone, that all the evidence, which the case has +happened to supply, has been derived. + +In regard to the degree of credence given, to his pretence to the having +received a commission from Jesus, still the same remark applies: still, +either from himself, or from the same partial, and, as will be seen, not +altogether trustworthy, narrator, comes the whole of the evidence, with +which the case happens to have furnished us. + + +SECTION 2. + +COUNTER-WITNESSES, THE APOSTLES. BY THEM, THE STORY WAS PROBABLY +NOT HEARD--CERTAINLY NOT CREDITED. + +Jerusalem, according to the Acts, was the headquarters of the noble army +of the Apostles: the ordinary residence of that goodly fellowship:--a +station, which they none of them ever quitted, for any considerable +length of time. + +In the course of the interval, between the date assigned by Paul to his +conversion, and that of the last particulars we have of his +history,--mention, more or less particular, may be found of four visits +of his--distinctly four related visits, and no more than four,--to that +metropolis of the new Church. On no one of these occasions, could he +have avoided using his endeavours, towards procuring admittance, to the +fellowship of the distinguished persons, so universally known in the +character of the select companions and most confidential servants of +Jesus: of that Jesus, whom, in the flesh at any rate, he never so much +as pretended to have ever seen: _from whom_ he had consequently, if they +thought proper to impart it, so much to learn, or at least to wish to +learn: while _to_ them he had nothing to impart, except that which, if +anything, it was only in the way of _vision_, if in any way, that he had +learned from Jesus. + +That on three at least of these four occasions, viz. the 1st, 3d, and +4th, he accordingly did use his endeavours to confer with them, will be +put out of dispute by direct evidence; and that, in the remaining one, +namely that which in the order of time stands second,--successfully or +not, his endeavours were directed to the same purpose,--will, it will be +seen, be reasonably to be inferred from circumstantial evidence. In the +character of an additional occasion of intercourse, between him and one +of the Apostles, namely, Peter, the chief of them,--will be to be added, +that which will be seen taking place at Antioch; immediately upon the +back, and in consequence, of the third of these same visits of his to +Jerusalem. + +As to the mode of his conversion as above stated,--the _time_, for him +to have stated it to them, was manifestly that of the first of these +four visits;--say his _reconciliation-visit_: and that, of that first +visit, to see them, or at any rate the chief of them, namely, Peter, was +the object,--is what, in his Epistle to the Galatians, we shall see him +declaring in express terms. + +After all--that story of his, in which the supposed manner of his +conversion is related, as above,--did he so much as venture to submit it +to them? The more closely it is examined, the less probable surely will +be seen to be--his having ventured, to submit any such narrative, to a +scrutiny so jealous, as theirs, under these circumstances, could not +fail to be. + +One of two things at any rate will, it is believed, be seen to a +certainty: namely, Either no such story as that which we see, nor +anything like it, was ever told to them by him; or, if yes, it obtained +no credit at their hands. + + +SECTION 3. + +IN PROOF OF THIS, SO MUCH OF THE ACTS HISTORY MUST HERE BE +ANTICIPATED. + +For proof, of the disbelief, which his story will, it is believed, be +found to have experienced, at the hands of those supremely competent +judges,--the time is now come, for collecting together, and submitting +in a confronted state to the reader, all the several particulars that +have reached us, in relation to these four important visits. + +Between the first-recorded and the last-recorded of the four, the length +of the interval being so considerable as it will be seen to be, namely, +upwards of 17 years at the least,--and, in the course of the interval, +so numerous and various a series of incidents being to be seen +comprised,--the consequence is--that this one topic will unavoidably +spread itself to such an extent, as to cover the whole of the +chronological field of the history of the Church in those eventful +times. A sort of necessity has thus been found, of taking a view of the +principal part of all those several incidents, in a sort of historical +order, in a succeeding part of this work: hence, of that which, for the +proof of what has just been advanced, will here be necessary to be +brought to view,--no inconsiderable portion will be an anticipation, of +that which belongs properly to the historical sketch, and, but for this +necessity, would have been reserved for it. + + +SECTION 4. + +TOPICS UNDER HIS SEVERAL JERUSALEM-VISITS. + +Thick clouds, and those covering no small portion of its extent, will, +after everything that can be done to dispel them, be found still hanging +over the field of this inquiry. But, if to the purpose of the present +question, sufficient light be elicited; in whatever darkness any +collateral points may remain still involved, the conclusion will not be +affected by it. + +As to the credibility of Paul's story,--taken in itself, and viewed from +the only position, from which we, at this time of day, can view it,--the +question has just been discussed. + +That which remains for discussion is--whether, from the Church, which +Paul found in existence--the Church composed of the Apostles of Jesus, +and his and their disciples--it ever obtained credence. + +On this occasion, to the Apostles more particularly must the attention +be directed: and this--not only because by their opinion, that of the +great body of those disciples would, of course, on a point of such vital +importance, be governed; but, because, in the case of these confidential +servants and habitual attendants of Jesus, the individuals, of whom the +body is composed, and who are designated by one and the same +denomination, are always determinable: determinable, in such sort, that, +at all times, wheresoever they are represented as being, the eye can +follow them. + +To judge with what aspect Paul with his pretensions was viewed by them, +always with a view to the main question--whether, in any particular, the +alleged supernatural cause of his outward conversion, and thence of his +presumable inward conversion, ever obtained credence from them;--one +primary object, which requires to be attended to, is--personal +intercourse; viz. the sort of personal intercourse, which between him on +the one part, and them, or some of them, on the other part, appears to +have had place. + +Of this intercourse, the several _interviews_, which appear to have +had place, will form the links. Correspondent to those _interviews_ +will be found to be so many _visits_: all of them, except one, +visits made by him to the great original metropolis of the Christian +world--Jerusalem:--the scene of the acts and sufferings of the departed +Jesus:--the ordinary abode of these his chosen disciples and successors. +If, to these visits of Paul's is to be added any other interview,--it +will be in another city, to wit, Antioch: and, in this instance, between +Paul, and not, as in the case of the other visits might naturally be +expected, the Apostles in a body; but one, or some other small number of +members, by whom a visit to that place was made, in consequence of their +having been selected for that purpose, and deputed by the rest. + +Of the interviews corresponding with these visits, the real number,--and +not only the real number, but the number upon record,--is unhappily, in +no inconsiderable degree, exposed to doubt; for, considering the terms +they were upon, as we shall see, at the interviews produced by Paul's +first Jerusalem visit, it does not by any means follow, that, between +the persons in question, because there were two more such visits, there +was, on each occasion, an interview. + +Two of them, however, at any rate, if any degree of credence whatever be +given to the documents, remain altogether clear of doubt: and whatever +uncertainty may be found to attach upon any of the others, may be +regarded as so many fixed points: fixed points, forming so many +standards of reference, to which the others may in speaking of them be +referred, and by reference to which the reality and time of those +others, will be endeavoured to be ascertained. + +For the designation of the visits which produced these two +unquestionable interviews, the terms _Reconciliation Visit_, and +_Invasion Visit_, will here be employed: the former being that which +gave rise to the first-mentioned of the two interviews, which, after the +conversion, appear for certain to have had place between the rival and +contending powers; the other, to the last. + +1. By the _Reconciliation Visit_ is here meant--that visit--by which was +produced the _first_ interview, which, after the conversion of Paul, had +place between him and any of the Apostles. Its title to this appellation +is altogether unquestionable. After these proceedings of Paul's, by +which the destruction of so many of the Christians had already been +effected, and that of all the rest was threatened,--it was not +possible, that, without a reconciliation,--if not an inward at any +rate an outward one,--any interview, on both sides voluntary, should +have taken place. Of the Apostles, Peter was the acknowledged chief: +that it was for the purpose of seeing Peter, that a visit of Paul's to +Jerusalem--the first of those mentioned by him--was made,--is +acknowledged by himself: acknowledged, in that Epistle of his, to his +Galatian disciples, of which so much will have to be said, Gal. i. and +ii.[20] Without the assistance of some mediator, scarcely was it in the +nature of the case, that, in any way, any such reconciliation could have +been effected. In the person of Barnabas,--a most munificent patron, as +will be seen, of the infant church,--this indispensable friend was +found. + +According to the received chronology, the time of this visit was A.D. +38. In the account, given in the Acts, Acts 16:6, of the conjunct +missionary excursion made from Antioch by Paul and Barnabas--an +excursion, the commencement of which is, by that same chronology, placed +in the year 53,--Galatia stands fifth, in the number of the places, +which they are spoken of as visiting. Of any visit, made in that +country, either before this or after it, no mention is to be found in +the Acts, except in Acts 18:23: on which occasion, he is spoken of as +revisiting Galatia, "strengthening the churches."[21] + +Of what passed on the occasion of this visit, the account, given as +above by Paul, will be seen receiving explanation, from what is said of +this same visit in the Acts. + +ACTS ix. 26 to 30. + + 26. And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself + to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not + that he was a disciple.--But Barnabas took him, and brought _him_ + to the Apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in + the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached + boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.--And he was with them + coming in and going out at Jerusalem.--And he spake boldly in the + name of the Lord Jesus, and disputed against the Grecians: but they + went about to slay him.--Which when the brethren knew, they brought + him down to Cæsarea, and sent him forth to Tarsus. + +2. By the _Invasion Visit_ is here meant--that visit of Paul to +Jerusalem, by which his arrestation, and consequent visit to Rome in a +state of confinement, were produced. _Invasion_ it may well be termed: +the object of it having manifestly been--the making, in that original +metropolis of the Christian world, spiritual conquests, at the expense +of the gentle sway of the Apostles: spiritual acquisitions--not to speak +of their natural consequences, temporal ones. It was undertaken, as will +be seen, in spite of the most strenuous exertions, made for the +prevention of it: made, not only by those, whose dominions he was so +needlessly invading, but by the unanimous remonstrances and entreaties +of his own adherents. + +The date--assigned to the commencement of this visit, is A.D. 60. +Interval, between this his last recorded visit and his first, according +to the received chronology, 22 years. + +Neither of the occasion of it, nor of any individual occurrence which +took place in the course of it, have we any account--from any other +source than the history of the Acts. Paul's account is all in generals. + + +3. Paul's Jerusalem Visit the Second.--According to the Acts, Acts +11:30, "which also they did, and sent it to the Elders by the hands of +Barnabas and Saul," between these two indisputable interviews of Paul's +with the Apostles occurs another visit, herein designated by the name of +the _Money-bringing Visit_. Under the apprehension of a predicted +dearth, money is sent from the Antioch to the Jerusalem saints. +Barnabas, and with him Paul, are employed in the conveyance of it. Time, +assigned to this Visit, A.D. 43. Of this visit, not any the least trace +is to be found in any Epistle of Paul's. Yet, in this Epistle of his to +his Galatians, he will be seen undertaking in a manner, to give an +account, of every visit of his to Jerusalem, in which, with reference to +spiritual dominion, between himself and the Apostles, anything material +had ever passed. + +By this silence of Paul's, no counter-evidence is opposed, to the +account given of this visit in the Acts. What may very well be is,--that +he went along with the money, and departed, without having had any +personal communication with any Apostle, or even with any one of their +disciples. + +4. _Deputation Visit._ Paul's Jerusalem Visit the Third--say his +Deputation Visit. According to the Acts,[22] Paul being at the Syrian +Antioch, certain men came thither from Judea, teaching, that Mosaic +circumcision is necessary to Christian salvation. Dissension being thus +produced, Paul, and Barnabas as usual with him, are dispatched to confer +on this subject with the Apostles and the Elders--Time, assigned to this +visit, A.D. 52. Interval between the first and this third visit--years +15. + +In addition to the first Jerusalem Visit, mentioned as above by Paul, to +wit, in the first chapter of his Epistle to his Galatians,--in the +second, mention is made of another. + +Of the incidents mentioned by Paul, as belonging to this other visit, +scarcely can any one, unless it be that of his having Barnabas for a +companion, be found, that presents itself as being the same with any +incident mentioned in the Acts, in the account given of the above named +Deputation Visit. But, between the two accounts, neither does any +repugnance manifest itself: and, forasmuch as, in a statement, the +purpose of which required that no interview, in which anything material +passed between him and the Apostles, should pass unnoticed,--he mentions +no more than one visit besides the first,--it seems reasonable to +conclude, that it was but one and the same visit, that, in the penning +of both these accounts, was in view. + +As far as appears, it is from the account thus given by Paul of the +second, of the two visits mentioned by him as made to Jerusalem, that +the received chronology has deduced the year, which it assigns to the +Deputation Visit, as recorded in the Acts. + +In Paul's account alone--in Paul's, and not in that in the Acts--is the +distance given in a determinate number of years. According to one of two +interpretations, 17--the number above mentioned as adopted in the +current chronology--is the number of years mentioned by Paul as +intervening between those two visits. But even in this place, a +circumstance that must not pass altogether unnoticed is,--that, +according to another interpretation, to which the text presents itself +as almost equally open, the length of the interval would be considerably +greater. Galatians i. 17: "Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which +were Apostles before me: but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto +Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, +and abode with him fifteen days." After what period?--after that of his +conversion? or after the expiration of this his second visit to +Damascus? Reckoning from this latter period, the interval may be ever so +much greater than that of the three years: for, to the three years may +be added an indefinite length of time for the second, and even for the +first, of his abodes at Damascus. But, as we advance, reason will appear +for concluding, that, being in the eyes of the Damascus rulers, as well +as the Jerusalem rulers, a traitor--in the highest degree a traitor--his +abode at Damascus could not, at either of these times, have been other +than short as well as secret. + +Gal. ii. 1: "Then, fourteen years after, I went up again to Jerusalem +with Barnabas, and took Titus also." This being supposed to be the +Deputation Visit, these fourteen added to the former three, make the +seventeen. + +5. _Peter's Antioch Visit._--In Paul's Epistle, addressed to his +Galatians, as above,--immediately after the mention of his own second +Jerusalem Visit as above, comes the mention of an interview, which he +says he has at Antioch with Peter: "Peter being come," he says, "to that +place." Gal. ii. 11. In the Acts, 15:22, immediately upon the back of +the accounts of the Deputation Visit, as above,--comes an account of +what may be called a _counter Deputation Visit_. Of the former +Deputation Visit, according to the Acts, the result is--from the +Apostles, the Elders, and the whole Church, a _letter_, concluding with +a _decree_: and "by men chosen of their own company," this letter is +stated as having been carried to Antioch: and, with these men, so +chosen, Paul and Barnabas are stated as returning to Antioch, from which +city, as above, they had been deputed. As and for the names of "chosen +men," those of Judas, surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, are mentioned: +"chief men among the brethren" is another title by which they are, both +of them, distinguished. To these, no other names are added: in +particular, not that of Peter. Thus far the Acts. + +As to Paul, in the account _he_ gives, of the discussion, to which, +after--and apparently, as above, in consequence of--his _secondly +mentioned_ interview with Peter at Jerusalem,--no mention is made either +of Judas Barsabas, or of Silas: of Peter--and him alone--it is, that, on +this occasion, any mention is made. Peter comes, as it should seem, to +Antioch from Jerusalem; which last city seems to have been his ordinary +abode. But, on this occasion likewise, in addition to this visitor, +mention is again made of Barnabas, of whom, as far as appears, from the +time of the Reconciliation Visit down to this time, Antioch was the +ordinary abode. In relation to each of these several Visits, a brief +preparatory indication of the topic or topics, which will be brought to +view, when an account comes to be given of it, may in this place have +its use. + +I. _Reconciliation Visit._--On this occasion, a difficulty that +naturally presents itself--is--if the relation is in substance true, and +the occasion is the same--how it can have happened, that if Peter was at +Antioch--Peter, the universally acknowledged chief of the Apostles--no +mention should be to be found of him in the Acts: instead of him, two +men as yet unknown--this _Judas Barsabas_, and this _Silas_--neither of +them of the number belonging to the goodly fellowship of the +Apostles,--being the only persons mentioned. + +But, for this difficulty, conjecture presents a solution, in which there +is nothing either in itself improbable, or inconsistent with either of +the two accounts--that of Paul as above, and that in the Acts. This +is--that those two were the men, and the only men, deputed in the first +instance: but, that after them, at no long interval, came thither to +their assistance that chief of the Apostles. Whether the importance of +the question be considered--to wit, whether, upon being received as +Christians, Gentiles should be obliged to submit to Mosaic +circumcision--whether the importance of the question, or the +strenuousness of the debates to which it is spoken of as having given +rise, Acts 15:2, be considered--the visit of the chief of the Apostles +at Jerusalem, to the scene of controversy at Antioch, presents not any +supposition, to which any imputation of improbability seems to attach. + +ACTS xv. 1 to 34. + + 1. And certain men which came down from Judea taught the brethren + and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye + cannot be saved.--When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small + dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and + Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto + the Apostles and Elders about this question.--And being brought on + their way by the Church, they passed through Phenice and Samaria, + declaring the conversion of the Gentiles, and they caused great joy + unto all the brethren.--And when they were come to Jerusalem, they + were received of the Church, and of the Apostles and Elders, and + they declared all things that God had done with them.--But there + rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, + saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them + to keep the law of Moses.--And the Apostles and Elders came + together for to consider of this matter.--And when there had been + much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and + brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among + us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the + Gospel, and believe.--And God which knoweth the hearts, bare them + witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us:--And + put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by + faith.--Now therefore why tempt ye God to put a yoke upon the necks + of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to + bear?--But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus + Christ, we shall be saved even as they.--Then all the multitude + kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring + what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by + them.--And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, + Men and brethren, hearken unto me.--Simeon hath declared how God at + the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for + his name.--And to this agree the words of the Prophets; as it is + written,--After this I will return, and will build again the + tabernacle of David which is fallen down; and I will build again + the ruins thereof, and I will set it up:--That the residue of men + might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name + is called, saith the Lord who doeth all these things.--Known unto + God are all his works from the beginning of the world.--Wherefore + my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the + Gentiles are turned to God:--But that we write unto them, that they + abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from + things strangled, and from blood.--For Moses of old time hath in + every city, them that preach him, being read in the synagogues + every sabbath-day.--Then pleased it the Apostles and Elders, with + the whole Church, to send chosen men of their own company to + Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; _namely_, Judas surnamed Barsabas, + and Silas, chief men among the brethren.--And they wrote letters by + them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send + greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and + Syria and Cilicia.--Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which + went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your + souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised; and keep the law; to whom we + gave no such commandment:--It seemed good unto us, being assembled + with one accord, to send chosen men unto you, with our beloved + Barnabas and Paul;--Men that have hazarded their lives for the name + of our Lord Jesus Christ.--We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, + who shall also tell you the same things by mouth.--For it seemed + good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater + burden than these necessary things;--That ye abstain from meats + offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and + from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do + well. Fare ye well.--So when they were dismissed, they came to + Antioch: and when they had gathered the multitude together, they + delivered the Epistle.--Which when they had read, they rejoiced for + the consolation.--And Judas and Silas, being prophets also + themselves, exhorted the brethren with many words, and confirmed + them.--And after they had tarried there a space, they were let go + in peace from the brethren unto the Apostles.--34. Notwithstanding + it pleased Silas to abide there still. + +GALATIANS ii. 1 to the end. + + 1. Then fourteen years after, I went up again to Jerusalem with + Barnabas, and took Titus with me also.--And I went up by + revelation, and communicated unto them that Gospel which I preach + among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, + lest by any means I should run, or had run in vain.--But neither + Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be + circumcised.--And that because of false brethren unawares brought + in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in + Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage.--To whom we + gave place by subjection, no not for an hour; that the truth of the + Gospel might continue with you.--But of those, who seemed to be + somewhat (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me; God + accepteth no man's person) for they who seemed _to be somewhat_, in + conference added nothing to me.--But contrariwise, when they saw + that the Gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the + Gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter:--For he that wrought + effectually in Peter to the Apostleship of the circumcision, the + same was mighty in me towards the Gentiles.--And when James, + Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace + that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right + hands of fellowship, that we should go unto the heathen, and they + unto the circumcision.--Only _they would_ that we should remember + the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.--But when Peter + was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to + be blamed.--For before that certain came from James, he did eat + with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew, and + separated himself, fearing them _which were_ of the + circumcision.--And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him, + insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away by their + dissimulation.--But when I saw that they walked not uprightly, + according to the truth of the Gospel, I said unto Peter before them + all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and + not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do + the Jews?--We _who are_ Jews by nature, and not sinners of the + Gentiles,--Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the + law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in + Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and + not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no + flesh be justified.--But if while we seek to be justified by Christ + we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the + minister of sin? God forbid.--For if I build again the things which + I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.--For I through the law + am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.--I am crucified + with Christ. Nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in + me: and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith + of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.--21. I do + not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness _come_ by the + law, then Christ is dead in vain. + +Of the falsity of his story concerning the manner of his +conversion,--one proof, that has been given, has been deduced from the +inconsistency, of the several accounts which we have of it--all of them +originally from himself--as compared with one another. + +Of the erroneousness of the notion of his having ever been in the eyes +of the Apostles what he professed himself to be--of this, and at the +same time of the want of correctness, and trustworthiness, in every +account, which, by him, or from him, is to be seen rendered, of his +proceedings, adventures, and dangers--proof will, on the ensuing +occasions, be afforded, by evidence of this same kind: by similar +instances of inconsistency, which will be all along brought to view. + +On the occasion of his _first_ visit to Jerusalem--to the metropolis of +Christendom--will be to be noted--1. The cause and manner of his +arrival. 2. The circumstances of his abode--its duration, and business. +3. The cause and circumstances of his departure. 4. The general result +of this his expedition. + +1. Of the cause of his visit, and manner of his arrival, we shall see +two different accounts: namely, one, given by himself directly, in an +epistle of his to his disciples in Galatia; the other, by a man, who +afterwards became his adherent and travelling companion--namely the +author of the Acts. + +2. Of the duration and business of his abode, we shall see, in like +manner, two different accounts, delivered respectively by those same +pens. + +3. So, of the cause of his departure;--from the same two sources. + +4. So, of the circumstances of it. + +5. Of the general result of this same expedition of his, we have no +fewer than three different accounts: namely, the same two as above; with +the addition of a third, as reported, in the Acts, to have been given by +Paul himself, in the course of the speech he made, at the time of his +fourth visit, to an assembled multitude, headed by the constituted +authorities among the Jews:--when, after having been dragged by force +out of the Temple, he would--had he not been saved by a commander of the +Roman guard--have been torn to pieces. + +On this occasion, we shall find, that, by his own confession, made for a +particular purpose--for the purpose of saving his life--under an +exigency which allowed no time for the study of consistency, and +recorded by the blindness and inconsiderateness of his biographer;--we +shall find, that the account, whatever it was, which, on the occasion of +this his first visit, he gave of himself to the Apostles, failed +altogether in its endeavours to obtain credence. + + +SECTION 5. + +TOPICS UNDER VISIT II.--MONEY-BRINGING VISIT. + +Of the occasion and particulars of the second of these four visits, we +have but one account: viz. that which is to be seen in the Acts. + +Compared with what belongs to the other visits, that which belongs to +this is but of small importance. The information, to be collected from +it, will, however, be seen to be this: namely, that this was the second, +of the attempts he made to join himself to the Apostles: and that it +succeeded no better than the first. It did not even succeed so well: +for, notwithstanding the claims which the business of it gave him to +their regard--it was to bring them a sum of money, the fruit of the +liberality of the Church at Antioch--he could not so much as obtain +admittance into the presence of any one of them. Without much +hesitation, this may be affirmed. If he had, he would have made mention +of it: for, it will be seen, that, whatsoever apparent countenance he +ever succeeded in obtaining from them, it was his care to make the most +of it. + + +SECTION 6. + +REMARKS ON VISIT III.--DEPUTATION VISIT. + +Of the occasion, and particulars, and termination, of the _third_ of +these four visits, we have two, and but two, accounts: one--that given +in the Acts; the other--that given by Paul himself, as above, in his +letter to his Galatians: that in the Acts, the only one which goes into +particulars; and which must accordingly be taken for the basis of the +narrative, and in that character be brought to view in the first +instance: that given by Paul himself confining itself to generals; but, +as far as it goes, much more to be depended upon, and affording much +more instruction, than that given in the Acts. + +Among its immediate consequences, this third visit appears to have had +some sort of intercourse between Paul and Saint Peter at Antioch--the +next most considerable seat of the new religion after Jerusalem; at +Antioch, to which city, Paul,--who, with Barnabas, had been settled +there,--was on his return: Peter being then on a temporary visit, made +to that place, for the final settlement of the business, by which the +last preceding visit of Paul to Jerusalem had been occasioned. + +At the time of this visit, the residence of Paul was at this same +Antioch. The occasion of it was--the dissemination there, of a doctrine, +which, by certain persons not named, had been imported thither from +Jerusalem: a doctrine, according to which it was taught to the +brethren--"Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot +be saved." For the settlement of this important matter,--Barnabas, with +Paul for his companion, besides other companions not named, was, by the +brethren at Antioch, now, for the second time, sent, as a delegate, to +the brethren at Jerusalem. + +On every one of these three visits, it was under the protection of this +Barnabas (it will be seen) that Paul had presented himself:--on the +first of them, for the purpose of making known his conversion, and, if +possible, forming a connection with the brethren there;--the second, for +the purpose of bringing them money, the fruits of the respect and +affection of the brethren at Antioch;--the third time, for the +settlement of this important point of doctrine. As for Barnabas, he was +a _Cypriot_, who, as will be seen, had an establishment at Jerusalem: +and who, by his indefatigable zeal, added to his unrivalled munificence, +appears to have obtained an influence not exceeded by any but that of +the Apostles. + +Of this same Deputation Visit, being the third of the recorded visits of +Paul to Jerusalem,--followed by, and coupled with, one of Peter to +Antioch--Gal. ii. 11, the place of Paul's residence,--two most important +results, or alleged results, are mentioned: the first, mentioned by the +author of the Acts alone, the decree, of a council, composed of the +Apostles and certain other persons, by the name of Elders, at +Jerusalem;--which decree, together with a letter, was from thence sent +by the hands of Judas Barsabas and Silas, to the brethren at Antioch; +Paul and Barnabas being of the party, on their return to that same +place: the other result, mentioned by Paul alone, a sort of _partition +treaty_, by which the field of doctrinal labour, and thence of spiritual +dominion was divided between him, (Paul), on the one part, and the +Apostles on the other. The _Jewish world_, for a less ambiguous +designation would hardly find a sufficient warrant, to remain with the +Apostles; the _Gentile world_, to be left free to the exertions of the +declared convert and self-constituted Apostle. As to the _decree and +letter_, reasons for questioning the authenticity of these documents +will be hereinafter brought to view, Ch. 6. Of the _partition treaty_, +the reality presents itself as altogether natural and probable--and, by +circumstantial as well as direct evidence, sufficiently established: by +direct evidence supported, by circumstantial evidence confirmed. + + +SECTION 7. + +TOPICS UNDER VISIT IV.--INVASION VISIT. + +Of the occasion of the fourth and last of these four visits--call it +_Paul's Invasion Visit_--we have, though but from one immediate source, +what may, to some purposes, be called two distinct and different +accounts, included one within another: to wit, that which the historian +gives as from himself, and that which he puts into the mouth of his +hero, whose adventures he is relating. On this subject, from the mouth +of the hero, the historian has not given us, and probably could not give +us, anything but mystery. From the circumstances, it will be seen, +whether the appellation _Invasion Visit_, by which this last of his +recorded visits to Jerusalem is here distinguished, is not fully +justified. + +Neither, of the occurrences which took place during the course of it, +nor of the mode in which it terminated, have we any more than one +account; viz. the account which, speaking in his own person, is given of +it by the author of the Acts.[23] + +But, upon one part of this account--and that a part in itself in no +small degree obscure--light, and that such as, it is believed, will be +found to dispel the darkness, will be seen thrown, by an article of the +Mosaic law: upon which article, light will be seen reciprocally +reflected, by the application here recorded as having been made of it. +This regards the _Temple scene_:--an expensive ceremony spun out for +days together only to produce the effect of an _Oath_. + +On the occasion of this visit, in spite of a universal opposition on the +part of all concerned--his own adherents and dependents, as well as his +adversaries of all classes included,--Paul, for reasons by himself +studiously concealed,--and, if brought to light at all, brought to light +no otherways than by inference,--will be seen making his entry into +Jerusalem, as it were by force. In the hope of freeing themselves, as it +should seem, of this annoyance, it is,--that the rulers of the Christian +church, insist upon his clearing himself from certain suspicions, in the +harbouring of which the whole church had concurred.[24] + + +SECTION 8. + +SELF-WRITTEN BIOGRAPHY--ITS SUPERIOR VALUE AND CLAIM TO CREDENCE. + +On the occasion of this portion of history, it seems particularly +material, to bring to view an observation, which, on the occasion of +every portion of history, it will, it is believed, be of no small use to +have in remembrance. + +In comparison of self-written biography, scarcely does any other +biography deserve the name. + +Faint, indeterminate, uninstructive, deceptive, is the information +furnished by any other hand, of whatsoever concerns the state of the +mental frame, in comparison of what is furnished by a man's own. Even of +those particulars which make against himself,--even of those motives and +intentions which he would most anxiously conceal,--more clear and +correct, as far as it goes, if not more complete--is the information +given by him, than any which is commonly afforded, even by an impartial +hand. By a man's own hand, not unfrequently is information afforded, of +a sort which makes against himself, and which would not, because it +could not, have been afforded by any other hand, though ever so hostile. +He states the self-condemnatory mental facts, the blindness of +self-partiality concealing from his eyes the condemnatory inference: or, +even with his eyes open, he lays himself under the imputation: bartering +merit in this or that inferior shape, for the merit of candour, or for +the hope of augmenting the probative force of his own self-serving +evidence, in favour of every other merit for which it is his ambition to +gain credence. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[20] Gal. i. 18. "Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see +Peter, and abode with him fifteen days." + +[21] Of any mention made of Galatia, in any of the Books of the New +Testament, the following are, according to Cruden's Concordance, the +only instances: 1 Cor. xvi. 1. "... have given order to the churches at +Galatia." Times, assigned to these Epistles, A.D. 59. 2 Tim. iv. 10: +"Crescens is departed to Galatia." A.D. 66. 1 Pet. i. 1: "to the +strangers scattered in Galatia." Date A.D. 60. + +[22] Acts xv. 1-4. 1. "And certain men which came down from Judea taught +the brethren and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of +Moses, ye cannot be saved.--When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no +small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul +and Barnabas and certain other of them should go up to Jerusalem unto +the Apostles and Elders about this question.--And being brought on their +way by the church, they passed through Phenice and Samaria, declaring +the conversion of the Gentiles: and they caused great joy unto all the +brethren.--And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of +the Church, and of the Apostles and Elders, and they declared all things +that God had done with them." + +[23] Be this as it may, that he must have been in the way to hear, from +various persons present, accounts, such as they were, of what was said +by Paul,--seems to follow almost of course. This seems applicable even +to the _latest_ of the two occasions; for, though the place, Cæsarea, +was some distance from Jerusalem, 56 miles,--yet the distance was not so +great, but that the persons, who were attached to him, might, for the +most part, be naturally supposed to have followed him: and in particular +the historian, who, according to his history, continued in Paul's suite +till, at the conclusion of this his forced excursion, he arrived at +Rome. + +But, on the subject of _possible materials_, one concluding query here +presents itself. On a _subject_ such as that in question, on an +_occasion_, such as that in question, for a _purpose_ such as that in +question, a _speech_ such as either of those in question, might it not, +by a person in the historian's situation--not to speak of other +situations--be just as easily made without any special materials, as +with any the most correct and complete stock of materials? + +[24] Between Paul's third visit, and that which is here reckoned as his +fourth, another is, by some, supposed[I.] to, have been taken place; on +which supposition, this concluding one, which is here styled the fourth, +ought to be reckoned the fifth. + +But, for the support of this supposition, the grounds referred to for +this purpose do not seem sufficient:--not that, if the supposition were +true, any consequence material to the present purpose would follow. + +For this supposition, what ground there is, consists in a passage in the +Acts:--Acts 18:20, 21, 22. + +20. When they, the Jews at Ephesus, desired [him] to tarry longer time +with them, he consented not; + +But bade them farewell, saying, I _must_ by all means _keep this feast +that cometh in Jerusalem_; but I will return again unto you, if God +will. And he sailed from Ephesus. + +And when he had _landed_ at Cæsarea, and _gone up_, and saluted the +_church_, he _went down_ to Antioch. + +There we have the grounds of the supposition. But, what is the support +they give to it?--declaration, affirming the existence of an intention, +is one thing; actually existing intention is another. Even supposing the +existence of the intention in question,--intention is one thing; +corresponding action, another. Jerusalem is not mentioned. Cæsarea +being on the sea-coast, Jerusalem is indeed in the interior: and +therefore, it may be said, is a place, to which, if a man went from +Cæsarea, he would "_go up_:" but, from Cæsarea, it being on the coast, +a man could not go to any place in Judaea not on the coast, without +_going up_. + +So much for _place_:--and now as to _time_. The time mentioned as the +object of the _intention_, is the _passover_; but, that the time, at +which, being _gone up_, Paul "_saluted the church_"--this being all +which, upon this _going up_, he is here stated as doing--that this time +was the passover, is not stated. + +As to the _salute_ here stated as given to the _church_,--at the +conclusion, and as a material part of the result, of this inquiry, it +will appear plain beyond all doubt, that, if by "_the church_" be +understood any member of it at Jerusalem, besides two, or at most three, +of the Apostles,--according to this interpretation, from the time of his +Conversion Visit to Damascus antecedently to his first visit to +Jerusalem, down to the last visit here reckoned as his fourth--there +never was a day on which the _church_ would have received his salute. + +What will also be rendered manifest is--that it was an object with the +author of the Acts, to induce a belief, that Paul, before the conclusion +of his first visit, was upon good terms with the church, and so +continued to the last: and that, to this end, a purposed +misrepresentation was employed by the historian. + +Not that, in regard to the visit here in question, to the purpose of the +argument--it makes any sort of difference, whether it had place or had +not. If it had place, neither the conclusion, nor any part of the +argument, will be seen to require any variation in consequence. + + [I.] Wells's _Historical Geography of the Old and New Testament_, + ii. 271. Ch. 5. Of Saint Paul's Travels and Voyages into Asia. + "St. Paul" (says Wells very composedly) "_having kept_ the passover + at Jerusalem, went thence down, &c."--And for this the Acts are + quoted as above: but the Acts, it will here be seen, say no such + thing. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + Paul disbelieved _continued_.--_First of his four Visits to + Jerusalem after his Conversion_; _say_ Jerusalem Visit I. _or_ + Reconciliation Visit.--_Barnabas introducing him from Antioch to + the Apostles._ + + +SECTION 1. + +PAUL'S PROCEEDINGS BETWEEN HIS CONVERSION AND THIS +VISIT.--CONTRADICTION. PER PAUL, IT WAS NOT TILL AFTER THREE YEARS +SPENT IN ARABIA; PER ACTS, IMMEDIATELY. + +Already on another occasion, and for a different purpose, have the two +accounts, between which this self-contradiction manifests itself, been +brought to view: viz. on the occasion of the accounts, given or +supposed to be given, by Paul, of the cause and manner of his +conversion:--accounts given in the first place, in writing, and +consequently, with all requisite time for deliberation, in his Epistle +to the Galatians:--given, or supposed to be given, in the next place, by +a speech spoken, namely, that which, in the Acts is reported as spoken +by him, on the occasion of his trial, to Festus and Agrippa:--Festus, +the Roman Proconsul, Agrippa, the Jewish King. + +In the whole account of this matter, as given by Paul in his Epistle to +the Galatians, how much of truth there probably was, and how much of +falsehood or misrepresentation,--has been seen already in some measure, +ch. II. i. 5, and will be seen more fully as we advance. + +As to his motive for this visit, he has endeavoured to keep it to +himself: but, by the result, according to the account he himself gives +of it, it is betrayed. It was--to effect the so much needed +_reconciliation_:--his reconciliation with the Apostles:--the Apostles, +in relation to whom his disregard is professed, the need he had of them, +no otherwise than virtually, nor yet the less effectually confessed. +Without an interval of considerable length between his conversion and +this visit, all such reconciliation would have been plainly hopeless. +From this circumstance, the length, as alleged by him, of his abode in +Arabia, receives obvious and highly probative confirmation. The +confirmation is, indeed, reciprocal. The nature of his situation, proves +the need he had, of an interval of considerable length, before any hope +of reconciliation could be fulfilled, or, naturally speaking, so much +as conceived: by this circumstance, his abode in some other country is +rendered probable to us: and this other country may, for aught we know, +as well have been the country mentioned by him--to wit, _Arabia_, +as any other: and, thus it is, that this assertion, of his having +been three years in Arabia, between the time of his departure from +Jerusalem to Damascus, and his return to Jerusalem to see Peter, is +confirmed:--confirmed, by the natural length, of the interval, requisite +to the affording any, the least chance, that Peter could be induced to +meet upon terms of amity and intercourse a man, in whom he beheld the +murderer of a countless multitude of human beings, linked to him by the +closest bonds of self-regarding interest, as well as sympathy and +brotherly love. + +As to contradiction, contradiction cannot easily be much more pointed, +than it will be seen to be, between the account in respect of time, as +given in this instance by Paul, and the account given of it by his +historiographer in the Acts. On a double ground, it is Paul's account +that claims the precedence. Of _his_ account, such as it is, the rank, +in the scale of trustworthiness, is that of _immediate_ evidence; that +of his historiographer, no higher than that of _unimmediate_ +evidence:--evidence once removed; having, for its most probable and +least untrustworthy source, that same _immediate_ evidence. Paul's +evidence is, at the same time, not only more circumstantiated, but +supported by the reasons which he has combined with it. Not till three +years after his alleged miraculous conversion, did he go near to any of +the Apostles.--Why?--Because, though, _at_ that time, for reasons which +he has left us to guess, he had regarded himself as having considerable +need of them,--_till_ that time he did not regard himself as having any +need of them. And, why was it, that, for so great a length of time, he +did not regard himself as having any need of them?--The answer he +himself gives us, Gal. i. 10: ... "do I seek to please men?--I certify +to you, brethren, that the Gospel which was preached of me, is not after +man.--For I received it not of man, nor was I taught it but by the +revelation of Jesus Christ.--When it pleased God, who called me by his +grace,--to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the +heathen, _immediately_ I conferred not with flesh and blood:--Neither +went I up to Jerusalem to them which were Apostles before me; but I went +into Arabia, and returned _again_ unto Damascus.--Then after three years +I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen +days.--But other of the Apostles saw I none, save James, the Lord's +brother." + +Thus far Paul himself. Let us now see, what is said in regard to the +time, by his subsequent attendant and historiographer. Acts ix ... "as +he (Saul) journeyed, he came near Damascus, and, suddenly there shined +round him a light," &c.--ver. 8. "And Saul arose from the earth, and ... +they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.--And he was +three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.--And there was +a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord +in a vision...--...go into the street called _Straight_, and inquire +in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus...--17. And Ananias +... entered into the house, and ... said, Brother Saul, the Lord ... +hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight ...--And ... he +received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.--And when he had +received meat, he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the +disciples which were at Damascus.--And straightway he preached Christ +in the synagogues,...--22. ... and confounded the Jews which dwelt at +Damascus,...--And after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took +counsel to kill him.--... and they watched the gates day and night to +kill him.--Then the disciples took him by night, and let him down by the +wall in a basket.--And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to +join himself to the disciples: but they were _all_ afraid of him, and +_believed not that he was a disciple_.--But Barnabas took him, and +brought him to the _Apostles_, and declared unto them how he had seen +the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had +preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus." + +With what the historiographer says in his own person, agrees, as to the +particular point now in question, what, in the studied oration, he puts +into Paul's mouth. In that account likewise, immediately after the +mention of what Paul did at Damascus,--follows, the mention of what he +did at Jerusalem: and, as to everything done by him among the Gentiles, +not only does the mention of it come after the mention of what was done +by him at Jerusalem, but, between the two, comes the mention, of +whatever was done by him, in any of the coasts of Judea. Acts 26:19. +"Whereupon, O, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly +vision:--but showed, first unto them of Damascus, and of Jerusalem, and +throughout all the coasts of Judea; and then to the Gentiles, that they +should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance." + +Here then, according to Paul's own account, after his visit to Damascus +from Jerusalem, he visited Arabia, and moreover Damascus a second time, +before he made his visit to Jerusalem to see Peter: before this visit +did he make both those other visits; and, in making them, pass three +years, with or without the addition, of the time, occupied by his first +visit to Damascus,--and the time, occupied by his abode in Arabia. +According to Paul's own account then, between his second departure from, +and his arrival at, Jerusalem from thence, there was an interval either +of three years, or of so much more than three years. On the contrary, +according to both the accounts given of the matter by his +historiographer in the Acts, there was not between the two events in +question, any interval other than such as the journey from the one to +the other--about 130 British miles as the crow flies, say about 160, +allowance made for turnings and windings,--would require. + +Now, as between Jews and Gentiles, _alias_ heathens:--to which of these +two descriptions of persons, were his preachings addressed in the first +instance? + +According to his Epistle to his Galatians, preaching to the heathen +being his peculiar destination, this accordingly is the vocation upon +which he proceeded in the first place: and we have seen how probable it +is, not to say certain, that, in this particular, what he asserted was +true. His appointment being to "the heathen," he conferred not with +flesh and blood: _i.e._ with the Apostles, their immediate disciples, or +other flesh and blood of the Christian persuasion: for, of any such +conference--of any assistance or support from any such quarter, he has, +in this same Epistle, been declaring and protesting--most vehemently +protesting--that he had no need. Neither then for the purpose of +conference with "those who were Apostles," as he says, "before him," nor +for any other purpose, went he up to Jerusalem: no, not till either +three years after his conversion, or three years, with the addition of +another term of unmeasurable length. + +Now then, how stands this matter according to the Acts--according to the +speech put into Paul's mouth by the author of the Acts? Instead of the +Gentiles being the description of persons, to whom, in the first +instance, he applies his labours,--it is the Jews. What he _shows_ is +"_shown_," in the first place, to those "of Damascus;" then "at +Jerusalem;" then "throughout all the coasts of Judea;" and, not till +_then_--to the Gentiles: of his abode in Arabia--of any visit of his to +Arabia--not any of the slightest mention, or so much as allusion to it. +But, all this while, for anything that appears to the contrary, Arabia +was completely open to him: whereas, after the offence he had committed +against the authority of the ruling powers at Judea, it was not, morally +speaking, in the nature of things that he could have continued in any +place coming within that description--have continued, long enough to +make any sensible impression: and, in Jerusalem in particular, in this +same Epistle to the Galatians, from which the above particulars are +taken,--it was, as he himself declares, only in secrecy, that, even +fourteen years after this, he ventured to disseminate those doctrines, +whatever they were, that were peculiar to himself, 2nd Gal.: 1, 2. +"Then, fourteen years after, I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, +and took Titus with me. And I went up by revelation, and communicated +unto them that Gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but _privately_ +to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had +run, in vain." + +Thus stands the contrariety:--the contrariety, between Paul's own +account of his own proceedings, and the account, which, by the author of +the Acts, he is represented as giving of them, on another occasion. +Says Paul _himself_, in his own Epistle to his Galatians--After my +conversion, it was to the Gentiles that I applied myself first: to the +Jews, not till afterwards; nor then, to any considerable extent. Says +the author of the _Acts_, in a speech, which he puts into the mouth of +Paul--It was to the Jews that he applied himself first, and _that_ to a +great extent: to the Gentiles, not till afterwards. + +Thus stands the contrariety, taken in itself. As to the _cause_, it will +neither be far to seek, nor dubious. In the differences of situations, +occasions, and purposes in view--in the differences, that had place in +respect of all those particulars--it will be found. + +On the occasion, on which Paul himself speaks, what was the persuasion +which it was his endeavour to produce? It was--that, for a number of +years, commencing from the moment of his conversion,--with no persons, +who, to this purpose, could be called _Jews_, had he, to any such +purpose as this, had any intercourse: for, this being admitted, it +followed, of course, that, if, on the subject of the religion of Jesus, +he had really received the information he declared himself to have +received, it was _not_ from the Apostles, that he had had it, or any +part of it. "On them (says he) I am perfectly independent: to them I am +even superior. With Jesus _they_ had no communication but in a natural +way; with the same Jesus _I_ have had communication in a supernatural +way:--in the way of '_revelation_.' My communication with him is, +moreover, of a date posterior to theirs--to any that they can pretend +to: in so far as there is any contrariety between that I teach and what +they teach, it is for theirs, on both these accounts--it is for theirs, +to yield to mine. From God is my doctrine: in opposition to it, if +either they, or any other men presume to preserve, let the curse of God +be on their heads. ver. 8. Accordingly, at the time of my first visit to +Jerusalem after my conversion, no communication had I with them, for, no +such communication, teaching as I did from revelation, could I stand in +need of, I had already passed three years at least in Arabia, teaching +to the Gentiles there my peculiar doctrine. This peculiar doctrine, as I +made no scruple of teaching it to those Gentiles, as little, on the +occasion of that visit of mine to Jerusalem, did I make any scruple of +teaching it to Jews as well as Gentiles. True it is, I did not then +teach it publicly:--I did not teach my peculiar doctrine, so publicly as +they did theirs. But, as to this comparative secrecy, it had for its +cause the advantage of being free from opposition; for, had the fact of +my teaching this doctrine so different from theirs--been known to +them,--they might have opposed it, and thus my labours might have been +lost." + +Whether, in the representation here given of what he says to his +Galatians, there be any misrepresentation, the reader may judge. + +On the occasion, on which _his historian_ represents him as speaking, +what now, as to this same matter, was the persuasion, which the nature +of his situation required him to endeavour to produce? It was, that Jews +were the sort of persons, with whom, during the period in question, he +had, to the purpose in question, been holding intercourse: Jews, even in +preference to--not to say to the exclusion of--Gentiles: so far is he +from being _now_ represented, as stating himself to have held converse +with Gentiles, to the exclusion of Jews; which is, that of which he +_himself_ has been seen taking so much pains to persuade his Galatian +disciples. Yes: as far as competition could have place, Jews, on this +occasion, in _preference_, at least, to Gentiles: for, on this occasion, +what he was labouring at was--to recommend himself to the favour of his +Jewish Judge, King Agrippa, Acts 26:8-21, by magnifying the services he +had been rendering to the Jews, his very accusers not excepted: +services, to the rendering of which, close and continued intercourse, +during that same period, could not but have been necessary. + +On this occasion, being accused of--his historian does not choose to say +what,--his defence was--that, of the persecution he was suffering, his +preaching the _resurrection_ was the only real cause: that, having been +born and bred a Pharisee,--in preaching that doctrine, so far from +opposing, he had been supporting, with all his might, the principles +maintained by the constituted authorities: adducing, in proof of the +general proposition, the evidence furnished by a particular fact, the +resurrection, that had place in the case of Jesus, Acts 25:19: that +when, in his conversion vision, Jesus gave him his commission, the +principal object of that commission was--the instruction of the +Gentiles: to wit, by informing them--that, to such of them as would +believe in the resurrection, and repent of their sins, and do works +accordingly,--the benefit of it would be extended: that to this mandate, +it was true, he did not ultimately fail to pay substantial obedience: +yet, such was his affection for his brethren the Jews,--that it was not +till, for a considerable time, he had been conferring on _them_ the +benefit of his labours, that he betook himself to the Gentiles. Acts +26:19. "I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision:--But showed +first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the +coasts of Judea; and _then_ to the Gentiles, that they should repent, +&c.--For these causes the Jews caught me in the Temple, and went about +to kill me." + +The repugnancy (says somebody), the repugnancy, is--not between Paul and +Paul--but between Paul and the author of the Acts; and, since the facts +in question are occurrences in which Paul himself was either agent or +patient, to the author of the Acts, and not to Paul, is the +incorrectness, wherever it be, to be imputed. Be it so: for the purpose +of the argument at least, be it so: but, if so it be, what are we to +think of the author of the Acts? Take away the author of the Acts, what +becomes of Paul? Take away the authority of the Acts in the character of +an inspired writer--writing from supernatural inspiration, after an +immediate and continued intercourse, in some unexplained and +inexplicable manner, with the Almighty,--what remains, then, of the +evidence, on the ground of which the mighty fabric of Paul and his +doctrine has been erected? + +A man, who is thus continually in contradiction--sometimes with himself, +at other times with the most unimpeachable authorities--what credence +can, with reason and propriety, be given to his evidence, in relation to +any important matter of fact? at any rate, when any purpose, which he +himself has at heart, is to be served by it? Of such a man, the +testimony--the uncross-examined and uncross-examinable testimony--would +it, of itself, be sufficient to warrant a verdict, on a question of the +most inconsiderable pecuniary import? how much less then, on questions, +in comparison of which those of the greatest importance which the +affairs of this life admit of, shrink into insignificance? Even, suppose +veracity, and every other branch of probity, unimpeached and +unimpeachable,--if such confusion of mind, such want of memory, such +negligence, in relation to incidents and particulars, of too immensely +momentous a nature, to escape, at any interval of time, from the most +ordinary mind;--if such want of attention, such deficiency, in respect +of the most ordinary intellectual faculties and attainments, are +discernible in his narrative,--what solid, what substantial ground of +dependence can it furnish, or even leave in existence? + +Of this sort are the questions for which already no inconsiderable +warrant has, it is believed, been found; nor, if so, throughout the +whole remaining course of this inquiry, should they ever be out of mind. + + +SECTION 2. + +GROUNDS OF PAUL'S PROSPECT OF RECONCILIATION ON THIS OCCASION WITH +THE APOSTLES AND THEIR DISCIPLES. + +On this head, in addition to, and in explanation of, the sort of +narrative given in the Acts,--information, of the most instructive and +impressive stamp, may be seen furnished by himself: at the head of it, +may be placed that, which may be seen in his Epistle to his Galatian +converts. + +At Jerusalem was the board-room in which sat the Council of the +Apostles: of those men, to whom their bitterest enemies would not, any +more than their disciples and adherents, have refused the appellation of +constant companions and selected disciples of the departed Jesus. To +them was known, everything that, in relation to Jesus, was known to any +one else: and moreover, in unlimited abundance, particulars not capable +of being known by any one else. + +As to Paul, let us suppose him now a believer in Jesus; and, on this +supposition, note what could not but have been the state of his mind, +with relation to those select servants of Jesus. + +In them he beheld the witnesses--not only of the most material and +characteristic acts and sayings of their Master, but of his death, and +its supernatural consequences--the _resurrection_ and _ascension_, with +which it had been followed. + +In them he beheld--not only the witnesses of his _miracles_, but a set +of pupils, to whom such powers of working the like miracles--such +miraculous powers, in a word, as it had pleased him to impart,--had been +imparted. + +In their labours, he beheld the causes of whatsoever prosperity, he +found the society, established by them, in possession of. + +In himself, he beheld the man, who, with such distinguished acrimony and +perseverance, had done his utmost, for the destruction of that society, +into which, for the purposes, indication of which has been so clearly +given by his own pen, he was preparing to intrude himself. + +To form an ostensible cause for his intrusion,--in addition to such +information, as, by means of his persecution, it had happened to him to +extract from those whom he had been persecuting, what, on his part, had +he?--He had his own learning, his own talents, his own restless and +audacious temper, and the vision he had got up:--the baseless fabric of +that vision, a view of which has just been given. + +Of the representation thus given of the matter,--whether we take his own +account of it, or that of the Acts,--suppose the truth to rest upon no +other ground than this vision, with or without that other vision, which +has been seen so slenderly tacked to it, and so strangely inserted into +it,--thus slender is the ground, on which we shall find him embarking +upon his enterprize,--assuming to himself, without modification or +apology, the name of _an Apostle_,--thrusting himself into the society, +and putting himself altogether upon an equality, not to say more than an +equality, with the whole company of the men, whose title to that +appellation was above dispute:--those of them who, among the chosen, had +been the most favoured, not excepted. + + +GALATIANS i. 11-23. + + 11. But I certify you, brethren, that the Gospel which was preached + of me is not after man.--For I neither received it of man, neither + was I taught _it_, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.--For ye + have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, + how that beyond measure I persecuted the Church of God, and wasted + it:--And profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in + mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions + of my fathers.--But when it pleased God, who separated me from my + mother's womb, and called _me_ by his grace,--To reveal his Son in + me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I + conferred not with flesh and blood,--Neither went I up to Jerusalem + to them which were Apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and + returned again unto Damascus.--Then after three years I went up to + Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days.--But other + of the Apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother.--Now the + things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie + not.--Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia;--And + was unknown by face unto the Churches of Judea which were in + Christ.--But they had heard only, that he which persecuted us in + times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed. + +Thus, however indistinctly and incoherently stated, stands the matter, +on the surface of both these accounts. On the surface. But, by a little +reflection on the nature of the case--the obvious and indisputable +nature of the case--as collected from all accounts, as already brought +to view in a preceding chapter II, we shall be led to another +conception, and the only tenable one. + +The plan of worldly ambition--that plan by which we have already seen +his outward conversion produced--had been not only formed, but acted +upon:--acted upon, during a course of at least three years: of three +years, employed at Damascus in preparation,--in Arabia in probation. +What remained, and was now become necessary, was--some sort of +countenance from the Apostles: from the Apostles, and thence, if +possible, from the rest of the then existing Church. Necessary +altogether was this countenance for his support: for, to this plan the +_name_ of Jesus was essential. It was in that _name_, that all his +operations were to be carried on:--in that name, from the use of which +it was to be universally understood, that it was according to +directions, and with support, from the departed Jesus, that by this, his +newly-enlisted servant, everything was said and done. + +In Damascus--yes:--in Damascus, where were the only persons, with whom, +for the purpose of his dominion, he could with safety communicate: that +is to say, persons, whom his commission from the Jerusalem authorities +had placed under his power. In Arabia--yes: where, though he had made no +progress of which he saw any advantage in giving any account--he at any +rate had not experienced any opposition, of such a sort as to engage him +to drop his scheme. In those comparatively distant countries--yes. But, +in Jerusalem--the birthplace of Jesus and his religion,--in that +metropolis, within which, or the near neighbourhood of it, all the +witnesses of its rise and progress--all the proselytes, that had been +made to it, were collected,--and from whence, and to which, the votaries +of that religion, out of which it had sprung, would be continually +flocking from all quarters;--in this place, for a man, known so +notoriously to them all as a persecutor, in whose scheme of persecution +they had all of them been involved,--for such a man to have, all on a +sudden, begun preaching and acting, in the name of that Jesus, whom, to +use his own language, he had persecuted--such an enterprise as this, +which, even with the utmost support which it was in their power to give, +would have been audacity, would, without some sort of countenance from +them,--have been downright madness. + +To perfect success it was necessary, that not only these shepherds of +the Church pasture, but, through them the whole flock, should thus be +brought under management. So far as regarded those same _rulers_, we +shall find him, in a certain degree,--and even, with reference to his +purpose, in a sufficient degree,--successful. But, with reference to the +Disciples in general, and to all those rulers but three,--it will be +seen to have completely failed. + +Circumstanced as he was, to those rulers alone, was it possible for him +to have addressed himself, with any the smallest hope. To any assembly +of the faithful at large, to have repaired with no better recommendation +than his vision story,--even with Barnabas, ready, as we shall see, to +take him by the hand,--would have been plainly hopeless. Not less so +would it have been--to present himself to the Apostles,--if, in support +of such proposition as he had to make,--nothing more apposite, nothing +to them in their situation more credible, than this same vision +story,--had been capable of being produced. On them, therefore, the case +seems already pretty well ripe for the conclusion, that, no such story +was ever attempted to be passed. But, setting aside that aërial +argument,--inducements of a more substantial nature, such as we shall +find brought to view by Paul himself, were neither on this occasion +wanting,--nor could, at any time, have been out of the view of that same +Barnabas, whom we shall see appearing so often, in the character of his +generous patron and steady friend. "On this plan, might Barnabas say to +them,--On this plan, which he has chalked out for himself, he will be +acting--not only not in opposition to, but even in furtherance of, your +wishes and endeavors. Grecian as he is,--skilled in that language, and +that learning, which serves a man as a passport through the whole of the +Gentile world,--it is to that world that his labours will confine +themselves; a field surely ample enough for the most comprehensive +views. To you he will leave,--and leave certainly without privation, and +therefore naturally without regret,--that field, of which you are +already in possession,--and, by the boundaries of which, your means of +convenient culture are circumscribed." + +"On this plan,--not only will your exertions remain unimpeded, but the +influence of the name of Jesus--that name, on the influence of which +those same exertions are so materially dependent for their +success,--will, in proportion to Paul's success, be extended." + +In a discourse, to this effect, from the generous and enlightened +mediator,--may be seen the natural origin of that agreement, which, +further on in its place, under the name of the _partition treaty_, there +will be occasion to bring, in a more particular manner, under review. + +But, what is little less evident, than the propriety and prudence of +this plan, viewed at least in the point of view in which it might not +unnaturally be viewed by Barnabas, is--the impossibility, of coming +forward, with any tolerable prospect of success, with any such plan in +hand, in presence of a vast and promiscuous assemblage. To engage, on +the part of any such assemblage, not to say any steady confidence, but +any the slightest hope,--that, from an enemy even to death, the same man +would become a partner and assistant,--would require a most particular +and protracted exposition, of all those facts and arguments, which the +requisite confidence would require for its support:--a detail, which no +such assembly would so much as find time to listen to, were it possible +for it to find patience. + +Even in the case of the Apostles themselves,--taking the whole council +of them together, the nature of the plan, it will be seen, admitted not +of any successful negotiation. Accordingly, to the chief of them alone, +to wit, to Peter, was it so much as the intention of Paul to make any +communication of it in the first instance: and, in the whole length of +the intercourse, such as it was, that he kept up with, them--in all the +four visits, in the course of which that intercourse was kept up--being +a period of not less than twenty-five years, to wit, from the year 35 to +the year 60,--with no more than three of the eleven, will he be seen so +much as pretending to have had any personal interview: _they_ not seeing +him, except when they could not avoid it; and _the others_ never seeing +him at all. + + +SECTION 3. + +OCCASION OF THIS VISIT, AS PER PAUL'S OWN ACCOUNT. + +After his conversion--after the time at which, if he is to be believed, +he saw that first-mentioned of his visions--that vision, by which the +most strenuous opponent of the new religion was changed into one who, in +profession, was the most active of its supporters,--what was the course +he took? Did he repair immediately to Jerusalem from whence he came? Did +he present himself to the eleven Apostles--to the confidential +companions of the departed Jesus, to lay before them his credentials? to +report to those by whom everything about Jesus that was to be known to +man was known--what had been experienced by him?--by him, Paul, by whom, +till the moment of that experience, nothing of it whatever had been +known? Not he, indeed. Behold what he says himself. + +Instead of so doing, off he goes, in the first instance to Arabia; from +whence, at the end of a length of time not specified, he returns to +Damascus. At length, however, to Jerusalem he does repair: at length, +into the presence of those against whose lives he had so long +conspired,--he now uses his endeavours to intrude himself. + +At length? at the end then of what length of time? At the end of three +years? Yes: but from what point of time computed? From the time of his +conversion on the road,--or from the last day of his stay at Damascus, +upon his return thither from Arabia? By that man, let an answer to these +questions be given--by that man who can find grounds for it. + +Thus much, however, may, at any rate, be said:--of the length of this +interval three years is the minimum. + +In what view did it occur to him to seek this conference? in what view +to make the attempt? and in what view delay it? + +1. As to his view in seeking it,--it must be left to inference:--to +conjecture, grounded on circumstances. + +2. Being engaged, as he was, in the plan of making converts to a +religion, called by him the religion of Jesus,--and this among the +nations at large--among others besides those in the bosom of whose +religion the founder of the new religion had been born;--feeling, as it +seemed to him, the need, of information in various shapes--concerning +the acts and sayings of Jesus;--not having, for the purpose, had, as +yet, access, to any of the persons, to whom the benefit, of an interview +with Jesus, upon terms of peculiar confidence, had been imparted;--he +was desirous, of taking this--his only course--for rectifying the +misconception, under which, to no small extent, he must probably have +been labouring,--and filling up the deficiencies, under which he could +not but be labouring. + +3. Obvious is the need he had, of countenance from these universally +acknowledged chiefs, of the religion professed to be taught by him. + +Good, says some one: but, having, from the first, been thus long +labouring, under the need of information,--how happened it, that he so +long delayed, the exertions he made at length, for the obtaining of it? + +The answer is surely not unobvious. + +Had the time, of his presenting-himself, been when the memory of his +conversion was fresh,--when the memory, of the vision, by which it was +to be stated as having been effected, would, supposing it really +experienced, have been fresh also,--in such case, the narrative, true or +untrue, would have found, opposed to its reception, all imaginable +repugnance, in so many ulcerated minds: and, on the supposition of its +being untrue, he--the supposed percipient and actually narrating +witness--he, who knew nothing about the subject of his testimony, would +have had to submit himself to the severest imaginable cross-examination, +at the hands of those, to whom everything about Jesus was matter of +perfect knowledge. + +Thus the matter would have stood, in the first instance. On the other +hand, as time ran on, several results, favourable to his design, would +naturally have taken place. + +1. The exasperation, produced by the experience of the persecution +suffered at his hands, would have been diminished. + +2. His own recollection, of the particulars, might be supposed less +vivid. + +3. The curiosity, respecting them, would have become less eager. + +4. Time might have given admission to behaviour on his part, of a sort, +by which distrust might be lessened, confidence strengthened. + +Well; now we have him at Jerusalem,--and for the first time after his +conversion. When thus, at Jerusalem,--of those whom he went to see, whom +did he actually see? Answer, Peter for one; James, whom he styles the +Lord's brother, and who, according to him, though not literally a +brother, was, however, a kinsman of Jesus:--these two, according to his +own shewing; these two, and no more. "Then after three years I went up +to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days. But of the +other Apostles saw I none, save James, the Lord's brother." Gal. 1:18, +19. + + +SECTION 4. + +OCCASION, AS PER ACTS ACCOUNT COMPARED WITH PAUL'S. + +Such as hath been seen is Paul's account of the matter:--Paul's own +account, of the interval that elapsed, between his conversion, and the +first of his subsequent visits to Jerusalem:--to the residence of the +Christians, whom he had been persecuting, and of the rulers, under and +by the authority of whom, the persecution had been carried on. Such, +loose as it is, is his account, of the interval between these two +events: and of the place, in which, either almost the whole, or at any +rate the greatest part of it, was passed. + +Such was Paul's own account of his own proceedings,--at the distance of +twenty-five years and more. Compare with it, now, the account, given by +his historiographer--given, of the interval, that, according to him, had +place, between these same two events. Acts 9:19-29. + +Here, no three years' sojournment in Arabia: no visit to that country: +no notice, of any place, other than Damascus, as being a place, in which +the whole, or any part, of the time in question, was passed. In a +position, with respect to each other, scarcely different from that of +contiguity,--are the two events brought together. The blood of their +disciples scarce washed from off his hands, when, with Barnabas for his +introducer, he presents himself to the Apostles! + +At the very time, when the Jerusalem rulers, would have been expecting +to receive from him, the proofs of his punctuality, in the execution of +the important plan, of official oppression, of which, at his own +instance, he had been solemnly constituted and appointed the +instrument; when, after going over to and forming a league with the +criminals, for such they must have been called, whom he had been +commissioned by these rulers to bring to justice;--at this very time it +is, that he returns to the seat of their dominion:--to the place in +which, at that very time, his return to them, with the intended victims +in captivity, could not but be the subject of universal expectation! + +Let any one now judge, whether, in any state of things, natural or +supernatural, the sort of conduct thus supposed is credible. + +At Damascus, instead of presenting himself to the Damascus rulers, to +whom the commission of which he was the bearer was addressed,--the first +persons, whom, according to this account, Acts 9:19, he sees, are "the +disciples," _i.e._, the persons whom, by that commission, he was to +arrest: and, with them, instead of arresting them, he passes "certain +days." + +These certain days ended,--does he thereupon, with or without an +apology, present himself to these same rulers? Not he, indeed. Not +presenting himself to them, does he, by flight or otherwise, take any +measures, for securing himself, against their legitimate and necessarily +intended vengeance? No such thing:--instead of doing so, he runs in the +very face of it. He shows himself in the Jewish synagogues, in the +public places of worship: and there, instead of preaching Moses and his +law, he preaches Christ,--that Christ, whose disciples he was +commissioned to extirpate. + +This breach of trust--this transgression, which, however commendable in +itself, could not but,--in the eyes of all those by whom, or for whom, +he was in trust,--be a most flagitious and justly punishable act of +treachery,--could it even from the first, for so much as two days, +together, remain unknown? Not it, indeed: if, in this particular, to +this same conversion story, as related by this same author, any credit +is due. For, according to this same account,--in this same journey, and +at the very time of his conversion vision, was he alone? No; he had +companions: companions, who, whatsoever became of him, would, at the +very time of his entrance, unless any cause can be shown to the +contrary, have entered thither in due course. Well, then--ask the men in +authority,--"This Paul, in whose train you came,--where is he, what has +become of him?" Such would of course have been the questions put to +these, his companions, even on the supposition, that by these same +companions, no visit had, of their own accord, been paid to these same +rulers, under whose authority they went to place themselves. + +At length,--and the days which by this time had elapsed were +"_many_,"--he finds it expedient to quit Damascus. He is driven from +thence: but by what force? By the exercise of the legal authority of the +offended rulers? in a word, by public vengeance? No: but by a private +conspiracy--nothing more: for, to these rulers,--so different are they +from all other rulers,--whether their authority is obeyed or contemned, +has, all the while, been matter of indifference. + + +ACTS ix. 19-30. + + 19. And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. Then was + Saul _certain days_ with the _disciples_ which were at + Damascus.--And straightway he preached _Christ_ in the synagogues, + that he is the Son of God.--But all that heard him were amazed, and + said, Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name + in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring + them bound unto the chief priests?--But Saul increased the more in + strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving + that this is very Christ.--And after that _many days_ were + fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him:--But their laying + await was known of Saul. And they watched the gates day and night + to kill him.--Then the disciples took him by night, and let him + down by the wall in a _basket_.--And when Saul was come to + Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples: but they + were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a + disciple.--But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, + and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and + that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at + Damascus in the name of Jesus.--And he was with them coming in and + going out at Jerusalem.--And he spake boldly in the name of the + Lord Jesus, and disputed against the Grecians: but they went about + to slay him.--30. Which, when the brethren knew, they brought him + down to Cæsarea, and sent him forth to Tarsus. + +In the above account--a remarkable incident is presented, by the +occasion and manner of his escape from Damascus. In part, it has for its +support an assertion made by Paul himself; but, as usual, as to part it +is scarcely reconcileable with the account he gives of it. In respect of +the adventure of the _basket_, the two accounts agree: and thus the +occasion is identified and fixed. It is in respect of the description of +the persons, by whom the attack upon him was made or meditated, that the +accounts differ. According to the Acts, the hostile hands are those of +the Jews, who are spoken of as so many unauthorized and criminal +conspirators: but, according to Paul, they are those of the constituted +authorities--a governor acting under a king. + + 31. "In Damascus"--says he, in 2 Cor. 11:32-33--"In Damascus, the + governor under Aretas the king kept the city of the Damascenes with + a garrison, desirous to apprehend me. And through a window in a + basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his hands." + +Now, supposing the adverse force to have been that of a band of +conspirators, it was natural for them to watch the "city gates": a more +promising resource they could scarcely have had at their command. But, +suppose it to have been that of the governor,--what need had he to watch +the gates? he might have searched houses. By the reference made, to a +matter of fact, which, supposing it real, must in its nature have been +notorious--to wit, the existence of a king, of the name in question, in +the country in question, at the time in question--a comparative degree +of probability seems to be given to Paul's account. A curious +circumstance is--that, in this Epistle of Paul's, this anecdote of the +Basket stands completely insulated; it has not any the slightest +connection with anything that precedes or follows it. + +In the Acts' account, as already observed, Chap. 4, it looks as if it +was immediately after the adventure of the basket, that he went on this +his first visit to the Apostles at Jerusalem: for, as we see, it is +immediately thereupon that his arrival at that city is mentioned. If so, +the abode he had _then_ been making at Damascus, was probably _after_ +his return from Arabia: that return from Arabia, which we have seen him +speaking of in his Epistle to the Galatians, Gal. i. 15. "When it +pleased God ... to reveal his son to me, that I might preach him to the +heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood; Neither went +I up to Jerusalem, to them which were Apostles before me; but I went +into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus. _Then after_ three years, +I went up to Jerusalem, to see Peter." &c. + +"After three years?"--three years, reckoning from what _time_? Here we +see the ambiguity, and along with it the difficulty. If reckoning from +his conversion,--then we have the three years, to be spent--partly in +Damascus, partly in Arabia: in Damascus, in obtaining, perhaps, from the +Christianized Jews--in return for the impunity given to them by the +breach of the trust committed to him by the Jerusalem rulers--money, for +defraying his expenses while in Arabia. If, reckoning from his escape +from Damascus in a basket, then we have three years, during which not so +much as any the faintest trace of him is perceptible. All, therefore, +that is clear is--that according to his account of the matter, there was +an interval of at least three years between his conversion, and this +first of his subsequent Jerusalem visits--this visit of his to +Jerusalem, to see the Apostles. + +Between the two interpretations,--in respect of length of time, observe +here the difference. According to one of them, between the conversion +and the first Jerusalem visit, we have an interval of three years, and +no more: and, in this interval, three lengths of time--one passed in +Damascus, another in Arabia, a third, terminated by the basket +adventure, passed also in Damascus, are all included: the entire +interval determinate: but its parts, all of them, indeterminate. +According to the other interpretation, we have also three lengths of +time: the first, indeterminate, passed in Damascus; the second, as +indeterminate, passed in Arabia; the third, passed in Damascus, and this +a determinate one--namely, the three years. Thus, upon the first +supposition, the interval consists of three years, and no more: upon the +second supposition, it consists of three years, preceded by two lengths +of time, which are both indeterminate, but one of which--that passed in +Arabia--may have been to any amount protracted. + +Upon either supposition,--it seems not unlikely, that it was immediately +after his escape from Damascus, that this first visit of his to +Jerusalem took place. And, the greater the preceding interval of time, +whether passed in Arabia or Damascus, the less unpromising his prospect, +that the resentments, produced by the provocations given by him to the +Christians, by his persecution of them,--and to the Jewish rulers, by +his treachery towards them,--should, both, have to such a degree +subsided, as to render even so short a stay, as that of fifteen days +which he mentions, consistent with personal safety. Yet, as we see in +the Acts, are these two events spoken of as if they had been contiguous: +at any rate, it is in contiguity that they are spoken of. + +Uncertainties crowd upon uncertainties. At the time of Paul's +conversion,--had Damascus already this same king, named Aretas, with a +governor under him? If so, how happens it, that, of this state of the +government, no intimation is perceptible, in the account given of that +conversion in the Acts? Was it--that, at that time, there existed not +any such monarchical personage? but that, before the adventure of the +basket, some revolution had placed him there? + +According to Paul's account,--the state of things, produced in Damascus +by his exertions, was somewhat curious. On the face of this account, in +ordinary there was no _garrison_ in Damascus: it was only by special +order from the monarch, and for no other purpose than the bringing to +justice--or what was called justice--the person of the self-constituted +Apostle,--that a garrison was put into the town, with a governor for the +command of it. + +What a foundation all this for credence! and, with it, for a system of +religious doctrine to build itself upon!--religious doctrine--with the +difference between eternal happiness and eternal misery depending upon +it! + + +SECTION 5. + +CAUSE OF THE DISCORDANCE BETWEEN THE TWO ACCOUNTS. + +Between these two accounts, such being the discordance--where shall we +find the _cause_ of it? Answer: in the different views, in which, at the +time of writing, the two accounts were penned: in the different objects, +to the accomplishment of which, at the time of penning their respective +accounts, the endeavours of the two writers were directed. + +The author of the Acts--what, then, was _his_ object? To obtain for his +patron--his chief hero--alive or dead--a recognition, as universal as +possible, in his assumed character of an Apostle. The more complete the +recognition, bestowed upon him by those most competent of all +judges,--the more extensive the recognition he might look for, at the +hands of all other their fellow-believers. + +Sufficient was this--sufficient for the general purposes of the +party--in the eyes of a person other than Paul, even though that other +person was a protegé, a retainer, a satellite. + +Sufficient this was not, however, to the arrogance of the head of the +party--Paul himself: at least, at the time of his writing this his +letter to his Galatian converts. + +Think you, says he, that any relation, I have ever borne to any of those +who were Apostles before me, had, on my part, anything in it of +dependence? Think you, that I ever stood in need of anything at their +hands? Think you, that I had ever any more need of them, than they of +me? Not I, indeed. The Gospel, which I have always preached--neither +from them did I receive it, nor from them, in preaching it, did I ever +seek or receive any assistance. Gal. i. 11, 12. Think you, that I stood +in any need, or ever supposed myself to stand in any need, of any +acceptance or acknowledgement at their hands? Not I, indeed. When my +revelation had been received by me, did I present myself to them, for +any such purpose as that of remuneration and acceptance? Not I, indeed. +I went not to them: I went not so much as to Jerusalem, where they then +were: I conferred not with flesh and blood:--off I went to Arabia; and +when my business in Arabia was at an end, even then, did I repair to +Jerusalem? Not I, indeed. I returned again to Damascus. True it is, to +Jerusalem I did go at last.--But when?--Not till three years +afterwards. Well--and, when I was at Jerusalem, how many, and which of +them, think you that I saw? Think you, that I put myself to any such +trouble, as that of seeing them all together? the whole herd of them? +No. Peter was naturally a chief among them: with him I had accordingly +some business to settle:--him, accordingly, I saw, as also James, whom, +as being a brother, or other near kinsman, of Jesus, I had a curiosity +to see. + +Paul himself wrote at one time; this his disciple at another: each of +them pursued the purpose of the time. Not on this occasion, at any +rate,--perhaps not on any other, was there anything, that either wrote, +concerted between them.[25] Of this want of concert, what has just been +seen is one of the consequences. + +Reserved as we have seen him, in regard to time and other +circumstances,--one circumstance more there is, for which our curiosity +is to no small amount, debtor, to the author of the Acts. This +is--information, of the means--of the channel, through which Paul +obtained the introduction, which, without mention made of the object, we +have seen him acknowledging that, so far as concerned Peter, he was +desirous of: and _that_ to such a degree, as to undertake a journey from +Damascus to Jerusalem, some 120 or 130 miles, for the purpose. + +Repugnancy, so natural, and naturally so vehement--even at the end of +three years, or the still greater number of years--by what means could +he remove it, or so much as flatter himself with a prospect of being +able to remove it? To this question, it is to the author of the Acts +that we are indebted for an answer: and that answer a satisfactory +one:--it was by the assistance of Barnabas, that the object, so far as +it was accomplished, was accomplished. + +To the religion of Jesus, after as well as before this,--to the Apostles +in particular before this,--Barnabas was a supporter of no small +importance. + +At the time when the financial arrangements were for the second time +settled;[26]--when, from the substance of the opulent among the +faithful, enough was collected for the support of all the +indigent;--among those, by whom, on this second occasion, lands and +houses, were for this purpose sold, particular persons are, on this +second occasion, for the first time mentioned. The first place is +occupied by this Barnabas: and not till after him come Ananias and +Sapphira--the unfortunate pair, of whose fate mention will have to be +made in another place. + +Joses was, it seems, the original name--the proper name of this +beneficent protector: Barnabas, the _Son of consolation_, Acts 4:36, was +no more than a title of honour,--a token of gratitude. A title of +honour? and by whom conferred? Even by the Apostles. By Barnabas, +therefore, whatsoever thereafter comes to be reported as done,--it is by +_the Son of consolation_ that we are to understand it to have been, and +to be, done. + +As to the arguments, by which this son of consolation succeeded,--in +prevailing, upon two, and, if we are to believe Paul, no more than two, +of these so lately persecuted or threatened servants of Jesus,--to be, +for a few days, upon speaking terms, with him, who so lately had been +their deadly, as well as open enemy,--it is from imagination, with +judgment for her guide, that they must, if at all, be deduced from the +surrounding circumstances of the case. + +As to these arguments, however,--whatever were the rest of them, of two +of them a hint is given by the author of the Acts: these are,--the +story of the conversion,--and the boldness of the preaching, which at +Damascus was among the first-fruits of it. Those which, under the +guidance of judgment, imagination would not find much difficulty in +adding, are,--the evil--that might result from his enmity, in case the +advances then made by him were rejected,--and the useful service, which, +by the blessing of God, might be hoped for at his hands, if admitted in +the character of an ally and cooperator: at any rate, so long as the +whole field of his exertions, and in particular the geographical part of +it, continued different from theirs. + +With Peter, on whatever account, it was Paul's own desire to hold a +conference:--so we have seen him declaring to the Galatians. To this +Peter, whom he was desirous of seeing, and whom at length he succeeded +in seeing,--to this Peter did he then himself tell the story of his +vision, of his conversion, and the mode of it? If at any time he +did,--at any rate, if the author of the Acts is to be believed,--it was +not till Barnabas, the son of consolation, had told it for him. Had it +been by himself that his story had been to be told in the first +instance,--he would thereby have stood exposed to cross-examination: +and, among those things, which Barnabas might in his situation say for +him,--were many things, which, if at all, he could not, with anything +like an equal prospect of good effect, have said for himself. To any +asseveration of his own,--in any promises of future amity, it was not in +the nature of the case, that from his own mouth they should give +credence. But, when by Barnabas, of whose zeal in their cause they had +received such substantial proofs--when from this son of consolation they +received assurance, that Paul had actually engaged himself in that line +of service, which he professed himself desirous to embrace;--that he had +engaged so far, that no prospect of safe retreat could reasonably be in +his view;--then it was, that, without imprudence, they might, venture to +hold at least a conference with him, and hear and see what he had to say +for himself. + +As to the account, given on this occasion by Barnabas, of the famous +vision,--had it been but preserved, it would probably have been no less +curious than those which we have been already seeing. Though we cannot +be precisely assured in what way,--we may be pretty well assured, that, +in some way or other, additions would have been to be seen made in it, +to the list of _variations_. + +But, the great advantage,--producible, and probably produced, by +the opening of the matter, as performed by Barnabas,--was this: +in company with those arguments, by which the sincerity of Paul was +to be demonstrated,--would naturally come those, by which intimation +would be given, of the advantage there might be, in forbearing to +apply too strict a scrutiny, to this important statement. The +interests, which, in the character of motives, pleaded for the +acceptance, of the advance made towards reconciliation and mutually +advantageous cooperation,--would, in this manner, prepare the way, +for receiving, without any troublesome counter-interrogation, the +important narrative: or, perhaps, for considering the matter, as +already sufficiently explained, by the son of consolation,--in such +sort that, to the new Apostle, the trouble of repeating a narrative, +which he must already have so frequently found himself under the +necessity of repeating, might be spared. + +The greater was the importance, of the service thus rendered to Paul by +the son of consolation,--the more studiously, in giving the account, as +above, of the intercourse with the Apostles at Jerusalem,--the more +studiously, would he avoid all mention of it.[27] + + +SECTION 6. + +LENGTH OF THIS VISIT--PAUL'S EMPLOYMENT DURING IT. + +Fifteen days, if Paul is to be believed--fifteen days, and no more,--was +the length of time, during which his intercourse with Peter continued: +Gal. i. 18, that same length of time, and no greater, it may without +much rashness be inferred, was his stay at Jerusalem. + +These fifteen days,--or whatever, if anything longer, was the duration +of his stay in that seat of their common religion,--in what occupations +were they employed? It is in the Acts, if anywhere, that this question +will receive its answer. It was in "disputing against the Grecians." +Acts 9:29. + +That such should have been his occupation, is in his situation +altogether natural. + +Of a sort of _partition treaty_, as having, at one time, been entered +into between himself and Peter,--Paul, in his so-often mentioned +letters to the Galatians, informs us in express terms. As to the time, +which, on that occasion, he has in view,--it was, according to +appearance, not the time of _this_ his first visit, but of the third. At +that third visit, the treaty was, at any rate, either entered into for +the first time, or confirmed: receiving, at the same time, what was on +both sides agreed upon, as an amendment requisite to add to it, in +respect of clearness, correctness, or completeness. + +But, at this visit, it seems altogether natural, that, with more or less +of these same qualities, a treaty of this sort took place. By the sort +of relation, produced between them, by the state of interests,--the +existence of an agreement of this sort seems sufficiently probabilized: +and, from the few words, in which, by the author of the Acts, mention is +made of the Grecians, and of Paul's disputes with them,--the inference +receives the confirmation afforded by _direct_ evidence. + +With the Grecians then it was, that these disputations of Paul were +held. Why with the Grecians, and no other? The reason is no mystery. +Greek was the language of Paul: Greek, for anything that appears, was +not the language of Peter, or of any other of the Apostles. Applying +himself to the Grecians, and to them alone,--Paul might, to any amount, +have given additional extent to his own dominion, without subtracting +anything from theirs. + +Not productive, it should seem, of much fruit,--was this portion, of the +new Apostle's labours. No sooner are we informed, of the boon thus +offered to these Grecian Gentiles, than comes, moreover, the further +information, that some there were, that "went about to slay him. Which +when the brethren knew, they brought him," it is added, "to Cæsarea, +and sent him forth to Tarsus." Acts 9:29. + +Meantime, those men, who went about to slay him,--who were they? +Possibly they were Grecians, if by the disputation in question, the +annoyance produced was so intolerable to them, as to be productive of a +wish and enterprise thus flagitious: and, if the evidence afforded by +the rules of grammar be in this case regarded as conclusive,--the +pronoun _they_ having for its last possible antecedent the substantive +_Grecians_--these, and no other, must have been the intended murderers. +On the other hand, among the heathen--the philosophical disputants of +this nation,--disputations, having any such abstractions for their +subject, were not wont to be productive, of any such practical and +flagitious consequences. Among the heathens, moreover, it appears not, +that, antecedently to his conversion, the zeal of Paul had led him to +put any to death: on the other hand among the Christianized Jews, his +fellow-religionists, the number of persons, of whom he had put to death +some, and in other ways plagued others, was unhappily but too great. By +the religion _into_ which they had been converted,--revenge, it is true, +was not (as in that which they were converted _from_) magnified, but +prohibited: but, the influence of it has never been equally efficient +upon all minds. + +Be this as it may,--upon his leaving Jerusalem, it was to the region of +Syria and Cilicia, that, at this time, he betook himself. So, in his +letter to his Galatians, he himself says, Gal. 1:21; and, by what is +said in the Acts, he is not contradicted, but confirmed. By himself what +is mentioned is--the _region_, viz. Syria and Cilicia: by the Acts what +is mentioned is--the _cities_, viz. Cæsarea and Tarsus. +Cæsarea,--whether at that time it was in Syria or not,--was, at any +rate, little, if anything, out of the way, from Jerusalem to Tarsus. +Cæsarea was a town upon the coast:--one among those maritime towns, +which, whether parts or not of Syria, are in the way between the inland +city, of Jerusalem, and the coast of Cilicia: with which coast, by a +river,--Tarsus, marked in the map with the mark of a capital town, +appears to communicate. + +In speaking of this change of place, the terms employed by Paul, are +general terms,--"_I came._" By what _means_ he came, he does not +mention: nor does there appear any particular reason why he should have +mentioned them. + +In the Acts, the account is more particular:--he was, in a manner, +forced from the one place to the other:--he was, at any rate, +_escorted_: it was by "_the brethren_," he was so dealt with. "Which +when the brethren knew, they brought him down to Cæsarea, and sent him +forth to Tarsus." Acts 9:30. + +By the brethren?--Yes.--But by what brethren? By the general body of the +Christians, or any that belonged to it? No:--for, it was from their +wrath, that he was making his escape. No:--not by the justly exasperated +many; but by such few adherents as, under such prodigious disadvantage, +his indefatigable artifice and energy had found means to conciliate. + + +SECTION 7. + +MODE AND CAUSE OF ITS TERMINATION. + +In relation to this subject, we have two, and no more than two, +accounts,--both from the same pen,--that of the historiographer in the +Acts; and these two accounts, as usual, contradictory of each other. +The first, in the order of the history, is that given by him in his own +person: Acts 9:27, 28, 29. The other, is that given by him in the person +of Paul: namely, in the course of his supposed first-made and +unpremeditated speech,--when, on the occasion of his last visit to +Jerusalem--his Invasion Visit, he was pleading for his life before the +angry multitude. Acts 22:17, 18, 19, 20, 21. + +Now then, let us compare the two accounts. + +Speaking in his own person,--it is to the fear of certain Grecians, that +the historiographer ascribes Paul's departure for Jerusalem. In +disputing with them, he had been speaking "boldly in the name of the +Lord Jesus": and _thereupon_,--and as we are desired to believe, +_therefore_,--came certain designs and endeavours to slay him. Designs? +on the part of whom? Answer:--on the part of those same Grecians: cause +of these designs and endeavours, irritation, so it is intended we should +suppose,--irritation, produced in the breasts of those same +Grecians;--and produced by the dispute. + +Now, as to the words of the historiographer, speaking in his own person. +It is immediately after the mention of Paul's transactions with the +Apostles and the other disciples, that after saying, Acts 9:28, that +"... he was with them coming in and going out of Jerusalem," the +narrative continues thus: ver. 29; "And he spake boldly in the name of +the Lord Jesus, and disputed against the Grecians, but _they_ went about +to slay him: ver. 30; Which when _the brethren_ knew, they brought him +down to Cæsarea, and sent him forth to Tarsus." + +Such is the account given, of the departure of Paul from Jerusalem, on +the occasion in question--given by the historiographer, speaking in his +own person, of the manner of the departure, and at the same time of the +cause of it. Behold now how different is the account given, of the same +matter, by the same historiographer, in the same work, when speaking in +the person of his hero. Nothing now as to any disputes with Grecians: +nothing now of these, or any other human beings, in the character of +beings who were angry with him, and _that_ to such a degree, that, to +save his life, it was deemed necessary by his adherents,--styled on this +occasion "_the_ brethren," to take charge of him, as we have seen, and +convey him from Jerusalem to Cæsarea and elsewhere. + +The case seems to be--that, between the time of writing the account +which has just been seen, and the time for giving an account of the same +transaction in the person of the hero, as above,--a certain difficulty +presented itself to the mind of the historiographer: and, that it is for +the solution of this difficulty, that he has recourse, to one of his +sovereign solvents--_a trance_. The difficulty seems to have been this: +The class of persons, whom, on that first visit of his he had +exasperated, were--not "_Grecians_," or any other Gentiles, but +Christians: Christians, the whole body of them--Apostles and Disciples +together: the same class of persons, to which belonged those who, on the +occasion of this his last visit--the _Invasion Visit_--were to such a +degree exasperated, by this fourth intrusion of his, as to be attempting +his life. How hopeless any attempt would have been, to make them +believe, that it was not by themselves, but by a set of Heathens, that +his life was threatened on that former occasion, is sufficiently +manifest. Here then comes a demand, for a substitute, to that cause, +which, distant as the time was, could not, however, be altogether absent +from their memory: and which, so far as it was present, could not but +heighten their exasperation:--this substitute was _the trance_. + +The cause of the departure is now--not the fear of any human being, but +the express command of "_the Lord_":--a command delivered in the course, +and by means, of this same _trance_. Moreover, as if, from such a +quarter, _commands_ were not sufficient of themselves; on the present +occasion, it will be seen, they came backed by _reasons_. Was it that, +as the historiographer has been telling us in his own person, certain +Grecians were exasperated? No: but that the persons, to whom, with +Barnabas for his supporting witness, Acts 9:27, he had been telling his +story, gave no credit to it: so that, by a man with his reputation in +this state, nothing in the way of his business was to be done. + +But now let us see the text. It comes immediately after that passage, in +which Paul is made to speak of Ananias, as giving orders to him, in the +name of the Lord: orders, concluding in these words: Acts 22:16: ... +"arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of +the Lord." This said,--his story, as told to the multitude, continues +thus: "And it came to pass that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, +even while I prayed in the temple, I was in _a trance_: And saw him +saying unto me, Make _haste_, and get thee _quickly_ out of Jerusalem: +_for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me_. And I said, +Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue those that +believed on thee: And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I +also was standing by, and consenting to his death, and kept the raiment +of them that slew him. And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee +far hence unto the Gentiles. And they gave him audience unto this word, +and then lifted up their voices and said, Away with such a fellow from +the earth; for it is not fit that he should live." + +It may now be seen, how useful and convenient an implement this same +trance was: how well adapted, to the occasion on which it was employed. +Taken by itself, this story about the enraged Grecians might serve to +impose upon readers in general: but, to the knowledge of the really +enraged Christians, whose wrath he was endeavouring to assuage,--it was +not only too palpably false to be related to them, but too much so, to +be even for a moment supposed to be related to them: hence came the +demand for the supernatural cause. Nothing, it is evident, could be +better suited to the purpose. The assertion was of the sort of those, +which, how palpably soever untrue, are not exposed to contradiction by +direct evidence: and which, supposing them believed, ensure universal +respect, and put all gainsayers to silence. + +An incident not unworthy here of notice, is--the sort of acknowledgment +contained in the words--"for they will not receive thy testimony +concerning me." In this may be seen--a confirmation of the important +fact, so fully proved on the occasion of the first or _Reconciliation +Visit_: and we see--with what consistency and propriety, the mention of +it comes in, on the present occasion: namely, in a speech, made to a +multitude, of which, many of those,--by whom he had been disbelieved and +rejected on that former occasion,--must of course have formed a part. + +Such is the fact, which, after having communicated to us, in his own +person, Acts 9:26, "they were all afraid of him, and believed not that +he was a disciple," the historiographer is frank enough to communicate +to us a second time, through the mouths of Paul and "the Lord," the one +within the other. _True_ enough this information: and, moreover, at +Jerusalem, as well when the historiographer was writing, as when Paul +was speaking, _notorious_ enough: or we should hardly have had it _here_ +and _now_. But, what a truth to put into the mouth of Paul, whose title +to credence for his claim, is so effectually destroyed by it! + +To return to what, on the occasion of the first visit, is said by the +historiographer, in his own person, about the Grecians. That it was +false, as to the main point,--namely, that it was by the fear of those +same Gentiles that he was driven out of Jerusalem,--is now, it is hoped, +sufficiently evident. But, as to his having held disputation with +them,--in this there seems not to be anything inconsistent or +improbable: and this part, supposing it true, might, in so far as known, +help to gain credence for that which was false. + +A circumstance--not altogether clear, nor worth taking much trouble in +the endeavour to render it so, is--on the occasion of this dialogue, the +change made, of the supernatural vehicle, from a _vision_ into a +"_trance_." Whatsoever, if any, is the difference,--they agree in the +one essential point: namely, that it is in the power, of any man, at any +time, to have had as many of them as he pleases: hearing and seeing, +moreover, in every one of them, whatsoever things it suits his +convenience to have heard or seen.--"I saw a vision:" or, "I was in a +trance": either postulate granted, everything whatsoever follows. + +This _trance_, it may be observed, is of a much more substantial nature +than any of the _visions_. By Paul in his _road vision_,--vision as it +was,--neither _person_ nor _thing_, with the exception of a quantity of +light, was seen: only a voice, _said to be the Lord's_, heard. In this +trance, the Lord is not only heard, but seen. In those visions, that +which is said to have been heard, amounts to nothing: on the present +occasion, what is said to have been heard, is material to the purpose, +and perfectly intelligible. Not that there could be any use in Paul's +_actually_ hearing of it: for what it informed him of, was nothing more +than that which, at the very time, he was in full experience of. But, in +a situation such as his, it was really of use to him, to be _thought_ to +have heard it: and therefore it is, that, in the speech ascribed to him, +he is represented as _saying_ that he heard it. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[25] In the current chronology, this Epistle to the Galatians is placed +in the year 58; on the part of the author of the Acts, the first mention +of his being in the company of Paul is placed in the year next +following, to wit, 59. Note, that at the end of the Epistle to the +Galatians, it is stated to be written from Rome: yet, according to the +current chronology, his arrival at Rome, in custody, from Jerusalem,--at +which time unquestionably he had never as yet visited Rome,--did not +take place till the year 62. + +[26] First time, Acts ii. 45. Second time, Acts iv. 34. + +[27] "I conferred not with flesh and blood." (Gal. ii. 16.) "Of those +who seemed to be somewhat, whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to +me." Not till "after three years" did I go "up to Jerusalem to see +Peter." With language in this strain, it would have harmonized but +indifferently, to have added, "nor should I have seen him then, had it +not been for Barnabas." + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + _Paul disbelieved_ continued.--_Jerusalem Visit II._ + _Money-bringing Visit._--_Barnabas accompanying him from Antioch._ + + +SECTION 1. + +AT ANTIOCH, AGABUS HAVING PREDICTED A DEARTH, MONEY IS COLLECTED FOR THE +JERUSALEM SAINTS. + +At his own house it was, that we last left our self-declared Apostle: at +his own birthplace--Tarsus: what we have next to see is--what drew him +from thence. + +All this while there were other disciples that had not been idle. To the +new religion, already was Antioch, Antioch in Syria, become a new +Jerusalem. + +Upon the dispersion of the Jerusalem Christians, occasioned by +the judicial murder of the sainted trustee of the poor's +fund--Stephen,--some of them, among whom were some natives of +Cyprus,--in which island was situated the property of the son of +consolation, Barnabas,--had betaken themselves to that same island, +others to that same city of Antioch in Syria. + +ACTS xi. 19-24. + + 19. Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that + arose about Stephen, travelled as far as Phenice and Cyprus, and + Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only.--And + some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were + come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord + Jesus.--And the hand of the Lord was with them; and a great number + believed, and turned unto the Lord.--Then tidings of these things + came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they + sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch.--Who, + when he came and had seen the grace of God, was glad; and exhorted + them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the + Lord.--For he was a good man, full of the Holy Ghost and of faith: + and much people was added unto the Lord. + +Of these, some addressed themselves exclusively to the _Jews_: others +ventured so far, as to make an experiment upon the _Grecians_. +Unfortunately, these terms are, neither of them, wholly free from +ambiguity. By the word _Jews_, may have been meant either Jews by +_birth_ and _abode_, or Jews by _religion_: by the word _Grecians_, +either Jews who, born or dwelling within the field of quondam Grecian +dominion, used the Greek as their native language,--or Greeks, who were +such, not only by language, but by religion. In this latter case, their +lot was among the Gentiles, and much more extraordinary and conspicuous +was the importance of the success. + +"They which preach the Gospel, should live of the Gospel." Such, in his +own words, 1 Cor. 9:14, is the maxim laid down by Paul, for the +edification of his Corinthian disciples. To save doubts and disputation, +he prefaces it with the assurance--"even so hath the Lord ordained." No +great need of support from revelation, seems to attach upon a maxim so +natural, and so reasonable: from the time of the first planting of the +Gospel, it appears to have been, as indeed it could not fail to be, +universally acted upon; saving such few exceptions as a happy union of +zeal, with sufficient pecuniary means, might render possible. + +How, under the Apostolical aristocracy, it had been acted upon in +Jerusalem, has been seen already. The time was now come,--for its being +established, and acted upon in Antioch. + +At Jerusalem, under the spiritual dominion of the Apostles, +lived a man of the name of _Agabus_. Among the endowments,--of +which, in the character of _qualifications_, a demand was by some +understood to be created, by the business of propagating the new +religion,--qualifications, a list of which, according to his conception +of it, Paul, 1 Cor. 12:10, has given us,--was one, which, among these +endowments, was called the "_gift of prophecy_":--a gift, under which, +as under that of speech in general, particularly when applied to +occasions of importance, the faculty of _prediction_--of forming correct +judgments respecting future contingencies--would, if not necessarily, +very frequently at least, come to be included. + +In the instance of the _prophecy_ here in question, this same +prospective faculty, it should seem, was actually included. + +The _fact_, for the purpose of predicting, or giving information of +which, this useful emissary was, on the present occasion, sent from +Jerusalem to Antioch,--was--that of signifying, that there should be a +great dearth: an _inference_ deduced from it, was--that, at this same +Antioch, for the relief of the brethren at Jerusalem, _contributions_ +should be collected, and sent to Jerusalem. + +ACTS xi. 27-30. + + 27. And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto + Antioch.--And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and + signified by the spirit that there should be a great dearth + throughout all the world; which came to pass in the days of + Claudius Caesar.--Then the disciples, every man according to his + ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in + Judea:--Which also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands + of Barnabas and Saul. + +In the calamity of _dearth_ may be seen one of those events, of +which--especially if the time of it be not predesignated with too rigid +an exactness--a prediction may be hazarded,--and even by any +man,--without much risk of falling under the disgrace attached to the +appellation of _a false prophet_. Of this observation, an +exemplification seems to have been afforded, in the present instance. +With not unaccustomed prudence,--"the spirit," by which, on this +occasion, the calamity was "signified," forbore, as we see, from the +fixation of any particular year--either for the prophecy, or for the +accomplishment of it. "The days of Claudius Caesar" are mentioned as the +time of the accomplishment. By agreement of all chronologists,--the +duration of his reign is stated as occupying not less than thirteen +years. Whether this same reign had then already commenced,--is not, on +this occasion, mentioned: from the manner in which it is mentioned, the +negative seems not improbable; if so, then to find the time which the +prophecy had for finding its accomplishment to the definite term of +thirteen years, we must add another, and that an indefinite one. + +According to the situation, of the individuals by whom the word is +employed,--_worlds_ vary in their sizes. Of the dearth in question, the +whole world, "all the world," is, by the author of the Acts, stated as +having been the afflicted theatre: "great dearth throughout all the +world." Acts 11:28. As to the rest of the world, we may leave it to +itself. For the purpose then and now in question, it was and is +sufficient--that two cities, Jerusalem and Antioch, were included in it. +The calamity being thus universal,--no reason of the ordinary kind is +given, or seems discoverable--why, of any such contribution as should +come to be raised, the course should be--from Antioch to Jerusalem, +rather than from Jerusalem to Antioch. Inquired for, however, on +religious ground,--a _reason_ presents itself, without much difficulty. +What Rome became afterwards, Jerusalem was then--the capital of _that +world_, which now, for the first time, received the name of _Christian_. +According to one of the sayings of Jesus--if Paul, his self-appointed +Apostle, is to be trusted to--of them it was pronounced "_more blessed +to give than to receive_":[28] but in the eyes of the successors of St. +Peter at all times,--and at this time, as it should seem, in his own--it +was _more blessed to receive than give_. + + +SECTION 2. + +BARNABAS AND PAUL DISPATCHED WITH THE MONEY TO JERUSALEM. + +Of the _amount_ of the eleemosynary harvest, no intimation is to be +found. As to the _consequence_ of it, Barnabas, we see, is the man +stated as having, with obvious propriety, been chosen for the important +trust: Barnabas--of whose opulence, trustworthiness, steadiness, and +zeal, such ample proofs, not to speak of those subsequent ones, which +will be seen in their place, had already manifested themselves. In +consequence of the information, already received by the Mother Church +in Jerusalem, of the prosperity of the Daughter Church, Acts 11:20, 21, +planted, as above, in the capital of Syria,--this most active of all +Christian citizens had been sent to give increase to it. + +But, of the talents and activity of Paul, his indefatigable supporter +and powerful patron had had full occasion to be apprized. Accordingly, +without the aid of this his not less indefatigable helper, still was the +strength of the rising church, in the eyes of the patron, incomplete. "A +prophet," says a not ill-grounded proverb, "has no honor in his own +country." In his native city, among the witnesses of his youth, Paul had +indeed found _safety_: but, as the nature of the case manifests, in a +circle, from which respect stood excluded by familiarity, safety had not +been accompanied with _influence_: and, in eyes such as those of Paul, +safety without influence was valueless. Under these circumstances,--the +patron, going to Tarsus in person in quest of his protegé, could not +naturally find much difficulty in regaining possession of him, and +bringing with him the so highly-valued prize, on his return to Antioch. +"Then," says the Acts, 11:25, 26, "departed Barnabas to Tarsus, for to +seek Saul: And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch." + +At this place, with their united powers, they had been carrying on their +operations for the space of a twelvemonth, when the petition for +pecuniary assistance was received there. + +As for Paul,--from the moment of his conversion, notwithstanding the ill +success of his first attempt,--the prime object of his ambition--the +situation of President of the Christian Commonwealth--had never quitted +its hold on his concupiscence. Occasions, for renewing the enterprise, +were still watched for with unabated anxiety:--a more favourable one +than the one herein question, could not have presented itself to his +fondest wishes. The entire produce, of the filial bounty of the Daughter +Church, was now to be poured into the bosom of the necessitous Mother. +For the self-destined head of that rising Church, two more acceptable +occupations, than those which one and the same occasion brought to him, +could not have been found:--First, the collection of the +contributions;--and then the conveying of them, to the place of their +destination. Of the labours of such agents, in such circumstances, the +success, we are told, they found, was a natural result. "Then," says the +Acts 11:29, 30, "Then the disciples, every one according to his ability, +determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judea:--Which +also they did; and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and +Saul." Thus much as to the _public_ purpose. Very different was the lot +of Paul's _personal_ project. What the elders could not have any +objection to the receipt of, was--the money. But, what they had an +insuperable objection to, was--the receipt of the yoke of this their +outwardly-converted, but once already rejected, persecutor. This second +enterprise,--though still under the same powerful leader, and produced +by such flattering prospects,--succeeded no better than the first. +Five-and-twenty verses after, we are told of the _termination_ of this +their second Jerusalem visit; and this is all we hear of it: "And +Barnabas and Saul," says the Acts 12:25, "returned from Jerusalem, when +they had fulfilled their ministry, and took with them John, whose +surname was Mark." This same John Mark they got by their expedition: and +this, for anything that appears, was all they got by it. + +Between the mention of their arrival at Jerusalem, and the mention of +their departure from thence,--comes the episode about Peter:--his +incarceration and liberation under Herod; and the extraordinary death of +the royal prosecutor,--of which, in its place. As to the interval,--what +the length of it was, and in what manner, by Paul, under the wing of the +Son of Consolation, it was occupied,--are points, on which we are left +altogether in the dark: as also, whether the _time_ of these adventures +of Peter, the _mention_ of which stands inserted between the mention of +the two occurrences in the history of Paul, was comprised in that same +interval. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[28] Acts 20:35. It is in the parting scene--when about to break from +his dissuading disciples, and enter upon his invasion project--that Paul +is represented as saying to them: "Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, +how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive." Whence this +self-appointed and posthumous Apostle of Jesus got these words of +Jesus--if such they were--must be left to conjecture. In the works of +the four received biographers of Jesus, with _Cruden_ and his +_Concordance_ for guides, all search for them has been fruitless. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + _Paul disbelieved continued.--His third Jerusalem Visit.--Paul and + Barnabas delegated by Antioch Saints, to confer on the Necessity of + Jewish Rites to Heathen Converts to the Religion of Jesus._ + + +SECTION 1. + +OCCASION OF THIS VISIT. + +We come now to the transaction, on the occasion of which, the grand +object of Paul's ambition received, in part, its accomplishment: namely, +that, by which,--though without any such popular election as, in the +instance of Matthias, had been necessary to constitute a man an +associate to the Apostles,--he was, in some sort, taken by them into +fellowship, and admitted, with their consent, into a participation of +their labours. + +This occasion was--the dispute, which, in the Syrian Antioch, took +place, according to the author of the Acts, on the question--whether, +under the religion of Jesus, circumcision was necessary to salvation: a +question, in which,--whether explicitly or no,--was implicitly, it +should seem, and perhaps inextricably, understood to be involved, the so +much wider question--whether, under that same new religion, the old +ceremonial law should, in any part of it, be regarded as necessary. + +On this same occasion, two important subjects present themselves to view +at the same time: the one, a question of _doctrine_ relative to +circumcision, as above; the other, a question about _jurisdiction_, as +between Paul on the one part, and Peter, with or without the rest of the +Apostles. + +As to what concerns the debate about circumcision, we have no other +evidence than the statement of the author of the Acts. + +As to what concerns the jurisdiction question, we have the evidence of +Paul himself, as contained in his letter to the Galatian converts: and +an original letter, howsoever dubious the correctness of the author in +respect of matters of fact, is more trustworthy than a multitude of +anonymous narratives.[29] + +In respect of the progress made by the religion of Jesus,--Antioch, it +has already been observed--the Syrian Antioch--had become a second +Jerusalem; and, so far as concerned the Gentiles at large, its maritime +situation gave to it a convenience, that was not shared with it by that +inland city. + +At the time here in question,--the Gentiles had received more or less of +instruction, from three different sets of teachers:--1. from the +disciples who had been driven from Jerusalem by the tragical death of +Saint Stephen; 2. from Saint Peter, principally on the occasion of the +excursion made by him to Lydda, Saron, Joppa, and Cæsarea; and 3. from +Paul and Barnabas, on the occasion, and by the means, of the long tour, +made by them for that special purpose, as above. + +At this maritime metropolis of the faith, the new religion was spreading +itself,--and, as far at least as depended on exemption from all +disturbance from without, in a state of peace and tranquility;--when, by +a set of _nameless_ men from Judea,--if to the author of the Acts credit +is to be given on this point, for by him no mention is made of any one +of their names,--the harmony of the Church was disturbed. + +Converts as they were to the religion of Jesus, yet,--in their view of +the matter, if the author of the Acts is to be believed, without +circumcision, no salvation was to be had. + +By Paul it is said, "they came from James," Gal. 2:12, which is as much +as to say that they were sent by James: and accordingly, when James's +speech is seen, by him will these scruples of theirs be seen advocated. + +If the Gospel history, as delivered by the Evangelists, is to be +believed,--nothing could be more inconsistent, on many occasions with +the practice, and at length with the direct precepts, of Jesus, than +this deference to the Mosaic law: if human prudence is to be +regarded,--nothing could be more impolitic--nothing more likely to +narrow, instead of extending, the dominion of the Church. On this +principle, no man who was not born a Jew, could be a Christian without +first becoming a Jew, without embracing the Mosaic law; and thus loading +himself with two different, and mutually inconsistent, sets of +obligations. + +From Paul, this conceit,--as was natural,--experienced a strenuous +resistance. No recognition as yet had Paul received, from the body of +the Apostles. In Jerusalem, for anything that appears,--though this was +at least seventeen years after the death of Jesus--they remained +alive--all of them:--at any rate the two chiefs of them, if Paul is to +be believed, who, Gal. i. 19, says he saw them, namely, Saint Peter "and +James, the Lord's brother": which two, he says, he saw, out of a number, +the rest of whom, he studiously assures his Galatians that he did not +see: though by his historiographer, Acts 15:4, by his all-comprehensive +expression, "_the Apostles_," we are desired to believe, that he saw all +of them.[30] Whichever be the truth,--at Jerusalem, the metropolis of +Judaism, no employment could, under these circumstances, be reasonably +expected for Paul: whereas, _out_ of Judea,--wherever the language of +Greece was the mother tongue, or familiarly spoken,--the advantage, +which, in every address to the Gentiles, he would have over those +unlearned Jews, was universally manifest. + +Such, however, were the impressions, made by these unnamed manufacturers +and disseminators of scruples, who, if Paul is to be believed, came from +James the brother of our Lord--that, by the whole Church, as it is +called, of Antioch, a determination was taken--to send to Jerusalem, to +the Apostles and the Elders that were associated with them, a numerous +mission, headed by Paul and Barnabas, who are the only two persons +named. Accordingly, out they set, "after having been brought on their +way," says the author of the Acts, 15:3, "by the _Church_," which is as +much as to say, by the whole fraternity of Christians there established. + + +SECTION 2. + +THE DELEGATES HOW RECEIVED.--COUNCIL OF APOSTLES AND ELDERS. + +Against the pretensions of a man thus supported, vain, on the part of +the original and real Apostles, would have been any attempt, to resist +the pretensions of this their self-constituted rival: they, Barnabas and +Paul, were received, says the author of the Acts, of the Church and of +the Apostles and Elders.[31] + +Arrived at Jerusalem, Paul and Barnabas told their own story--related +their adventures and experiences--declared, to use the language of the +Acts 15:4, all things that God had done unto them. + + * * * * * + +Notwithstanding the utmost exertion of Paul's ever-ready +eloquence,--some, it is stated, there were, who, believers as, in a +certain sort, they were in the religion of Jesus,--were not to be +persuaded, to give up so much as a single tittle of the Mosaic law: +these were, as it was natural they should be, of the sect of Pharisees. +"There rose up," says the Acts 15:5, "certain of the sect of the +Pharisees which believed, saying that it was needful to circumcise them +(the Gentiles), and to command them to keep the law of Moses." + + * * * * * + +Of these private discussions, the result was--the convocation of an +assembly of the managing body, in which, associated with the Apostles, +we find others--under the name of _Elders_. + +How, on an occasion, on which the proposed subject of determination was +a question of such cardinal importance to the religion of Jesus;--how it +should have come to pass, that the Apostles, to whom alone, and by whom +alone, the whole tenor of the acts and sayings of Jesus had been made +known--made known by an uninterrupted habit of exclusive intimacy, and +especially during the short but momentous interval between his +resurrection and ascension;--how it should have happened, that, to the +Apostles, any other persons not possessed of these first of all titles +to credence and influence, should have come to be associated,--is not +mentioned. Upon no other authority than that of this author, are we to +believe it to be true? On the supposition of its being true,--there +seems to be, humanly speaking, but one way to account for it. That which +the Apostles, and they alone, _could_ contribute to the cause, was--the +authority and the evidence resulting from that peculiar intimacy: what +they could _not_ contribute was--money and influence derived from +ordinary and external sources: to the exclusive possession of these +latter titles to regard, will, therefore, it should seem, be to be +ascribed, supposing it credited, the circumstance of an incorporation +otherwise so incongruous. + +"Received," say the Acts 15:4, they were.--But by whom received?--By the +Church, by the Apostles, by the Elders, says that same history in that +same place. By _the_ Apostles: to wit--so as any one would conclude--by +_all_ the Apostles--by the whole fellowship of Apostles. + + * * * * * + +Whether in any, and, if so, in what degree that conclusion is correct, +we have no determinate means of knowing. + + * * * * * + +If, however, it was so to the utmost,--nothing appears in favor of the +notion, that between Paul on the one part, and the Apostles and their +disciples on the other, there existed at this time any real harmony. +For, in what character was it that he made his appearance? In that of a +commissioned envoy, from the whole body of the Church, established in +that station, which was next in importance to Jerusalem, to which he was +sent. And who was it that, at that time, as on both the former times, +he, Paul, had in his company? Still his constant patron and associate +Barnabas--the munificent friend and patron of that church which he was +visiting--the indefatigable Barnabas. + +By Paul himself, in his Epistle to the Galatians, 2:9, 10, 11, the idea +of any such extensive cordiality,--say rather of cordiality to any the +smallest extent,--is pretty plainly negatived.[32] On that occasion, it +was that of the Partition Treaty, what his interest required was--that, +on the part of the Apostles and their disciples, the concurrence given +to it, should appear as extensive as possible. If then they had all of +them, really and personally concurred in it,--or even if the contrary +had not been notorious, this is the conception which he would have been +forward to convey and inculcate. No such notion, however, does he +venture to convey. When speaking of them in general terms--of no +affection on either side, more kindly than that of ill humor, does he +give any intimation. Gal. 2:6. "Of those who seemed to be somewhat, +whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepted no man's +person: for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing +to me." + +When, again, he comes to speak of the sort of intercourse, such as it +was, which he had with the Apostles,--who are the persons that he speaks +of? All the Apostles? the body of the Apostles in general?--No: James, +Cephas, the Hebrew name of which Peter is a translation, and John: these +three, and no more. These are the men, whom, to him Paul and his +protector Barnabas in conjunction, he on that same occasion speaks of, +as "giving the right hand of fellowship:" to wit, for the purpose of the +Partition Treaty, the terms of which immediately follow. + +And, even of these men, in what way does he speak? As of men "who seemed +to be pillars:" so that, as to what concerned the rest of the Apostles, +he found himself reduced to speak no otherwise than by conjecture. And +this same "right hand of fellowship"--what was their inducement for +giving it?--It was, says he, that "they perceived the grace that was +given unto me": _i.e._, in plain language, and ungrounded pretension +apart,--the power, which they saw he had, of doing mischief:--of +passing, from the character of a jealous and restless rival, into that +of a declared enemy: into that character, in which he had originally +appeared, and with such disastrous effect. + +Immediately after this comes the mention of the visit, made by Peter to +Antioch: and therefore it is, that, no sooner is Peter--that chief of +the Apostles of Jesus--mentioned,--than he is mentioned, as a man whom +this Paul "withstood to his face, because he was to be blamed." Gal. +2:11. + +Peter was to be blamed: those other Jews that were come to Antioch from +James--they were to be blamed. Barnabas, under whose powerful +protection,--by the Church at Jerusalem, her justly odious persecutor +had, at three different times, been endured,--he too was to be blamed. +He too was, at that time, to be blamed; and, as will be seen presently +after, openly quarrelled with; and, if on this point the Acts are to be +believed, parted with. Acts 15:39. "And the contention was so sharp +between them, that they departed asunder one from the other: and so +Barnabas took Mark, and sailed unto Cyprus." + + +SECTION 3. + +DEBATES--COURSE CARRIED BY JAMES AGAINST PETER. + +Of what passed at this assembly, the only account we have--the account +given to us by the author of the Acts--is curious:--curious at any rate; +and whether it be in every particular circumstance true or not,--in so +far as it can be depended upon, instructive.[33] + +We have the persons mentioned as having spoken: they are, in the order +in which they are here enumerated, these four:--to wit, Peter, Barnabas, +Paul and James. Of the speech of Peter, the particulars are given: so +likewise of that of James: of Barnabas and Paul, nothing more than the +topic. + +Against the Mosaic law _in toto_, we find Peter; and such contribution +as he is represented as furnishing to this side of the cause in the +shape of argument. On the same side, were Barnabas and Paul: what they +furnished was matter of fact:--namely, in the language of the Acts, +"what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by +them:"--in plain language, the success they had met with among the +Gentiles. + +On this question, on the side of the chief of the Apostles, were--the +manifest interest of the religion of Jesus as to extent of +diffusion,--the authority derived from situation,--the express command +of Jesus as delivered in the Gospel history,--and Jesus' own practice: +not to speak of the inutility and unreasonableness of the observances +themselves. Yet, as far as appears from the author of the Acts,--of +these arguments, conclusive as they would or at least should have +been,--it appears not that any use was made: the success, he spoke of as +having been experienced by himself among the Gentiles,--in this may be +seen the sole argument employed in Peter's speech. Thus,--in so far as +this report is to be believed,--thus, upon their own respective +achievements, did,--not only Paul but Peter,--rest, each of them, the +whole strength of the cause. + +Spite of reason, religion, and Jesus, the victory is in this account, +given to James--to Jesus' kinsman, James. The motion is carried: the +course proposed, is a sort of middle course--a sort of compromise. At +the hands of Gentile proselytes, in deference to the Mosaic law, +abstinence from four things is required: namely, meats offered to +idols, blood, things strangled: these, and the irregularities of the +sexual appetite,--whatsoever they were, that were meant by the word, +rendered into English by the word _fornication_. + +If any such decision were really come to,--by nothing but +necessity--necessity produced by the circumstances of place and +time--will it be found excusable. Abstinence from food killed in the way +of sacrifice to heathen gods, on the occasion of public sacrifices: yes; +for, for such food, little relish could remain, on the part of persons +devoted to the religion of Jesus: from fornication, yes; for, for a +sacrifice in this shape, even among the Gentiles, some preparation had +been made by stoicism. But, as to blood and things strangled,[34] that +is to say, animals so slaughtered as to have more blood left in their +carcasses than the Mosaic law would allow to be left in them--animals +slaughtered otherwise than in the Jewish manner,--thus forbidding +teachings of the religion of Jesus, to eat a meal furnished by Gentile +hands,--this, as above observed, was depriving them of their most +favourable opportunities, for carrying their pious and beneficent +purposes into effect, by adding to the number of believers. + +Altogether remarkable is the consideration, upon the face of it, by +which, if the historian is to be believed, this decision was produced. +"For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being +read in synagogues every sabbath day," Acts 15:21. May be so: but what +if he has? what is that to the purpose? Good, if the question were about +the Jews: but, it is _not_ about the Jews: the Gentiles, and they only, +are the subjects of it. And the Gentiles--what know or care _they_ about +Moses? what is it that is to send _them_ into the synagogues, to hear +anything that is "read in synagogues"? + +By this imaginary abstinence from blood,--for, after all, by no exertion +of Mosaic ingenuity could the flesh ever be completely divested of the +blood that had circulated in it,--of this perfectly useless prohibition, +what would be the effect?--Not only to oppose obstacles, to the +exertions of Christian teachers, in their endeavors to make converts +among the Gentiles,--but, on the part of the Gentiles themselves to +oppose to them a needless difficulty, in the way of their conversion, by +rendering it impossible for them, consistently with the observance of +this prohibition, to associate with their unconverted friends and +families at convivial hours. Thus much as to what concerns the +Gentiles.[35] + +Since, and from that time, the religion of Jesus has spread itself:--we +all see to what extent. Spread itself: and by what means? By means of +the decision thus fathered upon the Apostles? Upon the Apostles, the +Elders, and the whole Church?--No: but in spite of it, and by the +neglect of it. + +Charged with a letter, containing this decision, did Paul, together with +his friend Barnabas, return from Jerusalem,--if the author of the Acts +is to be believed,--to the society of Christian converts, by which he +had been sent thither: charged with this letter, carrying with it the +authority of the whole fellowship of the Apostles. Paul himself--he +Paul--what sort of regard did he pay to it? _He wrote against it with +all his might._ No more Jewish rites! No more Mosaic law! Such is the +cry, that animates the whole body of those writings of his which have +reached us. + + +SECTION 4. + +RESULT, SUPPOSED APOSTOLIC DECREE AND LETTER TO ANTIOCH, WHICH, PER +ACTS, PAUL CIRCULATES. + +Of a decision, agreed upon and pronounced to the above effect--a +decision expressed by a decree;--and of a copy of that decree, included +in and prefaced by a letter addressed to the saints at Antioch,--were +Paul and Barnabas, along with others who were associated with them, on +their return to that city, the bearers:--that is to say, if, as to these +matters, credence is given, to the statement, made by the author of the +Acts; by whom the alleged decree and letter are given, in words, which, +according to him, were their very words:--these words are those which +follow: + +ACTS 15:22 to 32. + + 22. Then pleased it the Apostles and Elders, with the whole church, + to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch, with Paul and + Barnabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren.--And they wrote + letters by them after this manner: The Apostles and elders, and + brethren, _send_ greeting unto the brethren which are of the + Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia.--Forasmuch as we have + heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with + words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye _must_ be circumcised, and + keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment:--It seemed good + unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto + you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,--Men that have hazarded + their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.--We have sent + therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things + by mouth.--For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay + upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;--That ye + abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from + things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep + yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.--So when they were + dismissed, they came to Antioch; and when they had gathered the + multitude together, they delivered the epistle.--_Which_ when they + had read, they rejoiced for the consolation.--And Judas and Silas, + being prophets also themselves, exhorted the brethren with many + words, and confirmed _them_. + +Supposing it genuine,--a most curious, important and interesting +document, this letter and decree must be allowed to be. Supposing it +genuine: and, in favor of its genuineness, reasons present themselves, +which, so long as they remain unopposed, and no preponderating reasons +in support of the contrary opinion are produced, must decide our +judgment. + +Not long after the account of the acceptance given at Antioch to this +decision,--comes that of a conjunct missionary excursion from that place +made by Paul, with Timotheus, and perhaps Silas, for his companion. At +the very commencement of this excursion--if, in the decree spoken of, +this decree is to be understood as included; and there seems no reason +why it should not be, they are represented as taking an active part in +the distribution of it. Acts 16:4. "And says the historian, as they" +(Paul, &c.) "went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees +for to keep, that were ordained of the Apostles and Elders that were at +Jerusalem." + +That, by Paul, this token, of association with the Apostles, should at +that time be exhibited and made manifest, seems altogether natural. It +affords a further proof, of the need, which, at that period of his +labors, he regarded himself as having, of the appearance--the outward +signs at least--of a connection with the Apostles. + +True, it is, that the persuasion of any such need is altogether +inconsistent with that independence, which, in such precise and lofty +terms, we have seen him declaring in his Epistle to his Galatians,--is +sufficiently manifest. But, in the current chronology, the date, +ascribed to that Epistle, is by five years posterior, to the date +ascribed to the commencement of this excursion: date of the excursion, +A.D. 53; date of the Epistle, A.D. 58: difference, five years: and five +years are not too great a number of years, for the experience of success +and prosperity, to have raised to so high a pitch, the temperature of +his mind.[36] + +Even before this time, we find him even outstretching the concessions, +which, in that decree, in the case of the Gentiles, in compliance with +the scruples of the Jewish disciples they had to deal with, we have been +seeing made by the Apostles, in favor of the Mosaic law. +Abstinence--from meat offered to idols, from blood, from things +strangled, and from fornication--composed all the Mosaic observances +exacted in that decree. To these, he, in his practice, at this time, +added another, and _that_, in respect of extent, in a prodigious degree +a more important one: to wit, the submitting to circumcision. For, to +this painful observance,--in which a submission to all the other Mosaic +observances was implied,--he had already subjected his new convert +Timotheus, whom, in this excursion, in addition to Silas, he took with +him for a companion. Born of a Greek father as he was,--adult as he +was,--he took him, says the historian, and circumcised him. Circumcised +him--and why?--"_Because of the Jews, which were in those +quarters._"[37] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[29] Acts xv. 1 to 4:--"1. And certain men which came down from Judea, +taught the brethren, _and said_, Except ye be circumised after the +manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.--2. When therefore Paul and +Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they +determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go +up to Jerusalem unto the Apostles and Elders about this question.--3. +And being brought on their way by the Church, they passed through +Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles: and they +caused great joy unto all the brethren.--4. And when they were come to +Jerusalem, they were received of the Church, and of the Apostles and +Elders; and they declared all things that God had done with them." + +[30] Gal. i. 18, 19. "Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to +see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days.--9. But other of the +Apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother." + +Acts 15:4. "And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of +the Church, and of _the_ Apostles and Elders; and they declared all +things that God had done with them." + +The cause of this contrariety lies not far beneath the surface. Paul had +one object in view; his historiographer another. In the two passages, +they wrote at distant times, and with different purposes. In his address +to his Galatian disciples, Paul's object was to magnify his own +importance at the expense of that of the Apostles: to establish the +persuasion, not only of his independence of them, but of his superiority +over them. The generality of them were not worth his notice; but having +some business to settle with them, Peter, the chief of them, he "went" +to see, and James, as being "the Lord's brother," he vouchsafed to see. +On that particular occasion, such was the conception which Paul was +labouring to produce: and such, accordingly, was his discourse. As for +the historiographer, his object was, of course, throughout, to place the +importance of his hero on as high a ground as possible. But, in this +view, when once Paul had come to a settlement with the Apostles, the +more universal the acceptance understood to have been received by +him--received from the whole body of Christians, and from those their +illustrious leaders in particular,--the better adapted to this his +historiographer's general purposes would be the conception thus +conveyed: accordingly they were received, he says, "of the Church, and +the Apostles, and Elders." + +[31] Acts xv. 4. "And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were +received of the Church and of the Apostles and Elders, and they declared +all things that God had done unto them." + +[32] Gal. ii. 6. "But of those who seemed to be somewhat, whatsoever +they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man's person: for +they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me.--And +when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the +grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right +hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto +the circumcision.--Only they would that we should remember the poor; the +same which I also was forward to do.--But when Peter was come to +Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed." + +[33] Acts 15:5-21. 5. "But there rose up certain of the sect of the +Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise +them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.--And the Apostles +and Elders came together for to consider of this matter.--And when there +had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and +brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, +that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the Gospel and +believe.--And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving +them the Holy Ghost, even as _he did_ unto us;--And put no difference +between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.--Now therefore why +tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which +neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?--But we believe that +through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as +they.--Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to +Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought +among the Gentiles by them.--And after they had held their peace, James +answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me:--Simon hath +declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of +them a people for his name.--And to this agree the words of the +prophets; as it is written,--After this I will return, and will build +again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build +again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up:--That the residue of men +might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles upon whom my name is +called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things.--Known unto God are +all his works from the beginning of the world.--Wherefore my sentence +is,--that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned +to God:--But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions +of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from +blood.--For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, +being read in the synagogues every sabbath day." + +[34] After the word blood, the mention made of things strangled seems to +have been rather for explanation than as a separate ordinance. Of +strangling, instead of bleeding in the Jewish style,--what the effect +would be, other than that of retaining blood, which the Mosaic ordinance +required should be let out, is not very apparent. + +[35] Another observation there is that applies even to the Jews. By +Moses were all these several things forbidden. True: but so were a vast +multitude of other things, from, which (after the exceptions here in +question) the prohibition is, by this decision, taken off. These things, +still proposed to be prohibited, as often as they entered a synagogue, +they would hear prohibited: but, so would they all those other things, +which, by this decision, are left free. + +[36] In the account of this excursion, Galatia--now mentioned for the +first time in the Acts,--is mentioned, in the number of the countries, +which, in the course of it, he visited. It stands fourth: the preceding +places being Derbe, Lystra, Iconium and Phrygia. Acts 16:1 to 6. In Acts +18:23, "He ... went over [all] Galatia ... strengthening the disciples." + +[37] Acts 16:1 to 3. Then came he to Derbe and Lystra: and behold, a +certain disciple was there named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, +which was a Jewess and believed: but his father was a Greek:--Which was +well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium.--Him +would Paul have to go forth to him, and took and circumcised him, +because of the Jews which were in those quarters: for they knew all that +his father was a Greek. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + _Paul disbelieved continued.--After His Third Jerusalem Visit, + Contest Between Him and Peter at Antioch._ PARTITION TREATY: PAUL + _for Himself_: PETER, JAMES _and_ JOHN, _for the Apostles_. + + +SECTION 1. + +CONTEST AND PARTITION TREATY, AS PER ACTS, AND PAUL'S EPISTLES. + +GALATIANS ii. 1 to 16. + + 1. Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem with + Barnabas, and took Titus with _me_ also.--And I went up by + revelation, and communicated unto them that Gospel which I preach + among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, + lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain.--But neither + Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be + circumcised:--and that because of false brethren unawares brought + in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in + Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage.--To whom we + gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of + the Gospel might continue with you.--But of those who seemed to be + somewhat, whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God + accepteth no man's person: for they who seemed to be somewhat in + conference added nothing to me;--but contrariwise, when they saw + that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, _as + the gospel_ of the circumcision _was_ unto Peter;--For he that + wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the + circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:--and + when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived + the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the + right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and + they unto the circumcision.--Only they would that we should + remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.--But + _when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face_, + because he was to be blamed.--For before that certain came from + James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he + withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the + circumcision.--And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; + insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their + dissimulation.--But when I saw that they walked not uprightly + according to the truth of the Gospel, I said unto Peter before them + all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and + not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do + the Jews?--We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the + Gentiles,--knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the + law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in + Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, + and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall + no flesh be justified. + +So much for the question about Jewish rites. + +We come now to the state of affairs between Paul and Peter. Concerning +this, we have little, as hath been seen, from the author of the Acts: +from Paul himself, not much: but what there is of it is of prime +importance. + +On this occasion, to judge from the account given in the Acts,--between +Paul and Peter, all was harmony. In their principles, in their speeches, +they may be seen pleading on the same side: arguing, and arguing in +vain, both of them against the superior influence of James: of that +James, of whose written works, in comparison of those we have from Paul, +we have so little. But presently, on one side at least,--we shall see +contention--preserving contention--and rival ambition, for the cause of +it. + +In this pregnant and instructive letter,--Paul's second letter to his +Galatians,--the authenticity of which seems to be altogether out of the +reach of doubt,--among the particulars, that bear relation to this the +third visit, the following are those, by which the greatest share of +attention seems demanded at our hands. + +In the first place, let us view them in the order in which they _stand_: +that done, the degree of _importance_ may determine the order in which +they are _considered_. + +1. Fourteen is the number of years, between this third visit of his to +Jerusalem, reckoning either from the first of his visits made to that +same holy place after his conversion, or from his departure from +Damascus after his return thither from Arabia. + +2. On this journey of his to Jerusalem, he has with him not only +Barnabas, as mentioned in the Acts, but _Titus_, of whom no mention is +there made. + +3. It is by revelation, that this journey of his was undertaken. + +4. The Gospel, which he then and there preaches, is a Gospel of his own. + +5. Private at the same time, and for reasons thereupon given, is his +mode of communicating it. + +6. Titus, though at his disposal, he leaves uncircumcised. + +7. _False brethren_ is the appellation he bestows upon those, who, on +this occasion, standing up for the Mosaic law, give occasion to this +debate. + +8. Elders, Apostles, kinsmen of Jesus,--be they who they may,--he, Paul, +is not on this occasion a man to give place to any such persons: to give +place by _subjection_: say rather in the way of _subordination_. + +9. Unnamed are the persons, on whom the vituperation he discharges, is +poured forth. Thus much only is said of them: namely, verse 12, that +they "came from James," the brother of our Lord. Contemptuous throughout +is the manner in which he speaks of all those persons whom he does not +name. Quere, Who are they, to whom, in everything that goes before that +same verse, he is alluding? It seems from thence, that it was with +James, from whom they received support, that those scruples of theirs, +out of which sprung these differences and negotiations, originated. + +10. Leaving the Jews to Peter--he claims to himself as his own the whole +population of the Gentiles. + +11. To this effect, an explicit agreement was actually entered into; +parties, he and Barnabas of the one part; James, Peter, by his Hebrew +surname of Cephas, and John, of the other part. + +12. Of this agreement, one condition was--that, of such pecuniary +profit, as should be among the fruits of the labors of Paul among the +Gentiles, a part should be remitted, to be at the disposal of Peter. + +13. Paul, at the time of this visit, stood up against Peter. + +14. The cause, of his doing so, was--an alleged weakness and +inconsistency in the conduct of Peter, and his gaining to his side--not +only Jews of inferior account, but Barnabas. + +15. The weakness and inconsistency consisted in this: viz: that whereas +he himself had been in use to act with the Gentiles, yet after the +arrival at Antioch of those who came from James at Jerusalem,--he from +fear of the Jewish converts, not only ceased to eat with the Gentiles, +but to the extent of his influence forced the Gentile converts to live +after the manner of the Jews. + +16. On the occasion of this his dispute with Peter, he gave it +explicitly as his opinion,--that, to a convert to the religion of Jesus, +Jew or Gentile,--observance of the Mosaic law would, as to everything +peculiar to it, be useless, not to say worse than useless, Gal. 2:16, +"for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified." + +1. As to his place in relation to the Apostles. His was not inferior to +anybody's: upon terms altogether equal did he treat with the Apostles: +in and by the first partition treaty,--he, with Barnabas for his +colleague,--Barnabas, from whom, according to the Acts, he afterwards +separated,--obtains the whole of the Gentile world for the field of +their labors. Thus elevated, according to his account of the matter, was +the situation, occupied by him on the occasion of this his third visit +to Jerusalem, in comparison of what it had been at the time of his +first,--and, to all appearance, at the time of the second. At the time +of his first visit, the Apostles,--all but Peter and James, upon which +two Barnabas forced him,--turned their backs upon him: upon his second +visit, none of them, as far as appears, had anything to do with him: +now, upon his third visit, they deal with him upon equal terms: and now, +not only Peter and James, but John, are stated as having intercourse +with him. + +2. Of this partition treaty, important as it is, no mention is to be +found in the Acts. From first to last,--in the account given in the +Acts, no such figure does he make as in his own. In the Acts, of the +speech of Peter, and even of that of James, the substance is reported: +of Paul's, nothing more than the subject: viz. his own achievements +among the Gentiles: against Paul's opinion, as well as Peter's, the +compromise, moved by James, is represented as carried. + +3. As to the cause, or occasion, of his third visit to Jerusalem. In the +account given in the Acts, it is particularly and clearly enough +explained. It is in conjunction with Barnabas that he goes thither: both +of them, to confer with the Apostles and elders, on the subject of the +notion, entertained by numbers among the Jewish converts, that, by +conversion to the religion of Jesus, they were not set free from any of +the obligations imposed by the law of Moses. + +Of this commission,--creditable as it could not but have been to +him,--Paul, in his account of the matter, as given to the Galatians, +makes not the least mention. No: it is not from men on this occasion nor +on others, it is not from men, that he received his authority, but from +God: it is by revelation, that is, immediately from God, and by a sort +of miracle. + +4. What, in obedience to this revelation, he was to do, and did +accordingly, was,--the preaching of a gospel of his own; a gospel which +as yet he had not preached to any body but the Gentiles. Preaching? how +and where? in an assembly of the whole body of the believers in Jesus, +the Apostles themselves included? No: but privately, and only to the +leading men among them: "to them which were of reputation." + +A gospel of his own? Yes: that he did. Further on, it will be seen what +it was: a Gospel, of which, as far as appears from the evangelists, no +traces are to be found, in anything said by Jesus: especially, if what, +on that occasion, he, Paul, taught by word of mouth at Antioch, agreed +with what we shall find him teaching in his Epistles. + +5. "False brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out +our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring up into +bondage." Liberty? what liberty? evidently that liberty which consisted +in exemption from the ceremonials of the Mosaic law. Who then were these +false brethren, these sticklers for the ceremonial law? If the account +in the Acts is to be believed,--they were the greater part of the +fraternity of Christians in Jerusalem: a party so considerable, that +Peter, the chief of the Apostles, though in his sentiments on this +subject so decidedly and completely opposite to them, was obliged to +give way to it: and, as to several of the obligations,--by which, as +above stated, no small obstacle was opposed to the progress of the +religion of Jesus,--the whole body of the Apostles found themselves +under the like necessity. If he himself is to be believed, Gal. 2:12, +the men in question were men, who, if they continued in those scruples +in which they went beyond the brother of our Lord, had, at any rate, in +the first instance, received from that highly distinguished personage +their instructions. And shortly after this, Acts 16:3, in deference to +this party, Paul himself "took Timothy, a Gentile, and circumcised +him." But, supposing the public transactions, thus reported in the +history of the author of the Acts, to have really had place;--namely, +mission of Paul and Barnabas, from the Christians of Antioch to +Jerusalem,--mission of Judas Barsabas and Silas, from the Apostles and +elders, with Paul and Barnabas in their company, to Antioch,--letter of +the Apostles and elders sent by them to the Christians of Antioch,--all +this supposed, how erroneous soever in their opinions, in affirmance of +the obligatoriness of these ceremonials,--this majority, to whose +scruples the whole body of the Apostles saw reason to give way,--could +they, by this self-intruded convert, be considered as persons to whom +the epithet of _false brethren_, would be admitted to be applicable? + +6. Does it not seem, rather, that this story, about the deputation of +Paul and Barnabas to the Apostles and brethren at Jerusalem from the +Apostles at Antioch, and the counter deputation of Judas Barsabas, and +Silas, to accompany Paul and Barnabas on their return to Antioch, +bearing all of them together a letter from the Apostles at +Jerusalem,--was an invention of the anonymous author of the Acts? or +else a story, either altogether false, or false in great part, picked up +by him, and thus inserted? + +7. Mark now, in this letter of Paul, another circumstance: and judge +whether it tends not to cast discredit on what is said of Peter in the +Acts. + +In the Acts account we have seen Peter in the great council, supporting, +in a sort of speech, the liberty side--of the question,--Jesus against +Moses,--supporting it in the great council, in which, in that same +account, Paul, though present, is, as to that point, represented as +silent: in that same account, shall we see Peter, five years before this +time, addressing himself to the Gentiles,--using this same +liberty,--and, when called to account for doing so, employing _his_ pair +of visions, his and Cornelius's, Acts 10:30-41, in and for his defence: +we shall see him in this new part of his career,--in this part, for +which he was by both education and habits of life so ill qualified,--we +shall see him so much in earliest in this part of his labors, as to have +expended miracles,--a supernatural cure, and even a raising from the +dead,--for his support in it. + +Had any such facts really happened--facts in their nature so +notorious,--would Paul, in this letter of his to the Galatians, have +spoken of Peter, as if he had never made, or attempted to make, any +progress in the conversion of the Gentiles? Speaking of the sticklers +for Moses, as well as of Peter,--would he have said "When they saw that +the Gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the Gospel of +the circumcision was to Peter?" Gal. 2:7, "For he that wrought +effectually in Peter to the Apostleship of the circumcision, the same +was mighty in me toward the Gentiles?" + +That, in some way or other, Peter had tried his hand upon some persons +who were Gentiles--in this there is nothing but what may well enough be +believed: provided it be also believed--that, in the experiment so made +by him, he had little or no success:--for, that after the expenditure of +two such miracles of so public a nature, besides a pair of visions,--he +had after all made so poor a hand of it, as to be content to give up to +Paul the whole of his prospects from that quarter,--does it seem +credible? + +8. As to the partition-treaty itself,--whatsoever were the incidents +that had brought it about, nothing could be more natural--nothing more +probable--nothing more beneficial to the common cause--to the religion +of Jesus, meaning always so far as the religion taught by Paul was +comfortable to it. Each retained to himself the only part of the field, +for the cultivation of which he was qualified: each gave up no other +part of the field, than that, for the cultivation of which he was _not_ +qualified. + +9. Gal. 2:12. "For before that certain came from James, he did eat with +the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew, and separated +himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. + +10. "But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the +uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision +was unto Peter. + +11. "And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, +perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas +the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and +they unto the circumcision. + +12. Gal. 2:10. "Only they would that we should remember the poor; the +same which I also was forward to do. + +13. "But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, +because he was to be blamed. + +14. "For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the +Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew, and separated himself, +fearing them which were of the circumcision.--And the other Jews +dissembled likewise with him: insomuch that Barnabas also was carried +away with their dissimulation. + +15. "But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the +truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a +Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why +compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?" + +16. "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by +the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that +we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of +the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified." + +Note, in this same letter, the mention made of Peter's eating with the +Gentiles. "For before that certain came from James, he, Peter, did eat +with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated +himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision." + +Note here, an additional reason for discrediting the whole story of +Peter's expedition,--_miracles_ and visions included,--as reported in +the Acts. In regard to the _visions_,--from this circumstance it may be +seen, that either no such visions were, as stated in the Acts 11:1-13, +related by Peter, on his defence against the accusations preferred +against him on this ground,--or that, if any such relation was given, no +credit was given to it: for, it is after this, and, according to +appearance, long after,--that, according to the Acts 15:1-33, not less +than five years after, the meeting at Jerusalem took place; that +meeting, at which, at the motion of James, the adherence to the Mosaic +law was indeed in part dispensed with; but, so far as regards the +practice charged upon Peter as an offence,--namely the eating with the +Gentiles, insisted on and ordained. + +If Paul's evidence was good and conclusive evidence in support of Paul's +visions,--how came Peter's evidence not to be received as good and +conclusive evidence in support of Peter's visions? Paul's evidence, with +the visions reported by it, was not better evidence, in support of his +claim to the Apostleship,--than Peter's visions, if the account in the +Acts is to be believed, in support of the abrogation of the Mosaic law. +Yet, as, according to the author of the Acts, by Paul's account of his +visions, the Apostles were not any of them convinced; so here, according +to Paul, by Peter's account of his visions, if ever really related to +the fellowship of the Apostles, and to the elders,--their +associates,--that same goodly fellowship was not convinced. + + +SECTION 2. + +PARTITION-TREATY--PROBABILITY GIVEN, BY THE FINANCIAL STIPULATION, TO +PAUL'S ACCOUNT OF IT. + +Of this important treaty, mention may have been seen above. In the +financial stipulation which may have been observed in it,--may be seen a +circumstance, by which an additional degree of credibility seems to be +given, to Paul's account of the transaction; at the same time that light +is thrown upon the nature of it. Paul alone, with his adherents, were to +address themselves to the Gentiles: but, in return for the countenance +given to him by Peter and the rest of the Apostles, he was to _remember +the poor_; which is what, says he, "I also was forward to do." Now, as +to the remembering the poor, what is meant by it at this time of day, +was meant by it at that time of day, or it would not have been meant by +it at this:--supplying money, need it be added? for the use of the poor. +Whatsoever, in relation to this money, was the intention of the +rulers,--whether to retain any part in compensation for their own +trouble, or to distribute among the poor the whole of it, without +deduction;--in other words, whether profit as well as patronage,--or +patronage alone, and without profit,--was to be the fruit;--human nature +must, in this instance, have ceased to be human nature, if, to the men +in question--Apostles as they were--the money could have been altogether +an object of indifference. According to a statement, to which, as above, +ch. ii., though contained in this anonymous history, there seems no +reason to refuse credence,--community of goods--a principle, even now, +in these days, acted upon by the Moravian Christians--was a principle, +acted upon in those days, by the Jewish Christians. The property of each +was thrown into one common stock: and the disposal of it was committed +to a set of trustees, who--it is positively related--were confirmed, +and, to all appearance, were recommended by,--and continued to act under +the influence of,--the Apostles. + +On neither side were motives of the ordinary human complexion--motives +by which man's nature was made to be governed--wanting, to the +contracting parties. By Peter and the rest of the Apostles, much +experience had been acquired, of the activity and energy of this their +self-constituted colleague: within that field of action, which alone was +suited to their powers, and within which they had stood exposed to be +disturbed by his interference, within that field to be secured against +such interference,--was, to them and their interests, an object of no +small moment. Such seems to have been the consideration, on the part of +the acknowledged and indisputable Apostles. + +Not less obvious was the advantage, which, by the stipulation of this +same treaty in his favour, was in a still more effectual manner, +secured to Paul. That, when the whole transaction was so fresh,--all +that Paul was able to say for himself, with all that Barnabas was able +to say for him, had not been sufficient, to induce the Apostles to give +credence to his story about the manner of his conversion,--in a word, to +regard him in any other light than that of an impostor,--is directly +asserted by the author of the Acts. So again, in his unpremeditated +speech to the enraged multitude, Acts 22:18, "They will not receive thy +testimony concerning me," is the information which the Acts make him +report as having been communicated to him by the Lord, when "while I +prayed in the Temple," says he, ver. 17, "I was in a trance." Should a +charge to any such effect happen to encounter him in the course of his +labours;--should he, in a word, find himself stigmatized as an +impostor;--find himself encountered by a certificate of impostorship;--a +certificate, signed by the known and sole confidential servants, as well +as constant companions, of that Jesus, whom--without so much as +pretending any knowledge of his person, he had thus pretended to have +heard without seeing him,--and at a time and place, in which he was +neither heard nor seen by anybody else;--it is obvious enough, in any +such case, how formidable an obstruction of this sort was liable to +prove. On the other hand, so he were but once seen to be publicly +recognized, in the character of an associate and acknowledged labourer +in the same field,--a recognition of him in that character--a virtual +recognition at least, if not an express one--would be seen to have taken +place:--a recognition, such as it would scarcely, at any time after, be +in their power to revoke: since it would scarcely be possible for them, +ever to accuse him of the principal offence, without accusing themselves +of the correspondent connivance. Note, that, of this treaty, important +as it was--this partition-treaty--by which a division was made of the +whole Christian world--no mention, not any the least hint, is to be +found in the Acts. + +Thus much for this third visit of Paul's to Jerusalem, reckoning from +the time of his conversion: thus much for this third visit, and the +partition-treaty that was the result of it. In and by his fourth visit +to that original metropolis of the Christian world,--we shall see how +this same treaty was violated--violated, without any the slightest +reason or pretext, or so much as an attempt, on the part of his +anonymous biographer,--either by his own mouth, or by that of his +hero,--to assign a motive. Violated--that is to say, by and on the part +of Paul: for, of Peter, no further mention is, in all this history, to +be found. + +The truth is--that, instead of "the Acts of the Apostles," the History +of Paul--namely, from the time of his conversion to the time of his +arrival at Rome--would have been the more proper denomination of it. Of +any other of the Apostles, and their acts,--little, if anything, more is +said, than what is just sufficient, to prepare the reader, for the +history of Paul, by bringing to view the state of the Christian world, +at the time of his coming upon the stage. As to Saint Peter,--the +author's chief hero being all along Saint Paul, in whose train, during +this last-mentioned of his excursions, he represents himself as being +established,--what is said of Saint Peter and his achievements, stands, +as it were, but as an episode. And though, by this historiographer, no +mention is made of the _partition-treaty_, it has eventually been of use +to us, by serving to show what, at the time of entering into that +engagement, was the situation of St. Peter; and how good the title is, +which the transaction presents to our credence,--as being so natural, +because so manifestly for the advantage of both the contracting parties, +as well as of the religion of Jesus, in so far as that of Paul was +conformable to it. + + +SECTION 3. + +TIME OF THE PARTITION TREATY, MOST PROBABLY THAT OF VISIT I. + +The time, at which this partition-treaty took place, appears involved in +much obscurity, and presents some difficulties: question--whether it was +at the first, or not till the third, of these visits--of these four +visits of Paul's to Jerusalem. + +The consideration, by which the assigning to it the time of the first +visit has been determined, is--that it was at this first visit, that the +demand for it, in respect of all interests concerned, namely, that of +the religion of Jesus--that of the existing Christians in general,--as +well as that of the individuals particularly concerned on both +sides,--took place: that, from that time, so, as far as appears, did the +observance of it: and that it was not till a long time after, that +either symptoms, or complaints of non-observance, seem to have made +their appearance. + +4. Among the conditions of the treaty, the financial stipulation has +been brought to view:--party to be remembered, the poor--then under the +gentle sway of the Apostles: party, by whom they were to be remembered, +Paul--their recognized, though, for aught appears, no otherwise than +locally and negatively recognized, associate. In and by the Deputation +Visit, on the part of Paul, with the assistance of Barnabas,--we see +this stipulation actually conformed to and carried into effect. From the +Christians at Antioch to the Apostles at Jerusalem,--for the benefit of +the poor, at that metropolis of the Christian world, by the conjoined +hands of Paul and Barnabas,--money, it has been seen, was actually +brought. + +On the other hand, an observation which, at first sight, may seem to +shut the door against this supposition, is--that whereas in his letter, +to his Galatians, Gal. i. 18, 19, after saying, "I went up to Jerusalem +to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days," and adding, "But other +of the Apostles saw I none, save James, the Lord's brother"; he, not +more than fourteen verses afterwards, Gal. 2:9, in the verse in which +his account of this important treaty is continued,--speaks as if it was +at that very time that he had seen--not only the above two Apostles, on +this occasion designated by the names of James and Cephas--but John +likewise: and that this must have been his third Jerusalem visit, +because it is after _mention_ made of that same third visit, which, in a +passage intermediate between these, namely, Gal. 2:1, is stated, in +express terms, as being by fourteen years posterior to his first +visit,[38] that this circumstance, of his seeing John likewise, is +mentioned as having had place. + +But, in neither of these considerations, is there anything, that +presents itself as conclusive, against the supposition--that whatever +treaty there was, took place at the first visit. + +1. As to the first, at that time it is, that for giving intimation of +the treaty, _giving the right hands of fellowship_ is the expression +employed: and that if this union were to be taken in a literal, and +thence in a physical sense, as an agreement in which, as a token of +mutual consent, the physical operation of junction of hands was +employed,--here must have been an actual meeting, in which John was seen +as well as the two others--and, consequently, on the supposition that +the account thus given by Paul, is, in this particular, on both +occasions correct,--this must have been a different meeting from the +first: on which supposition, on comparison with the account given in the +Acts of Paul's second visit,--there can be no difficulty in determining +that this visit cannot have been any other than the third. But, so +evidently figurative is the turn of the expression,--that, even in the +language used in this country at this time, slight indeed, if it +amounted to anything at all, would be the force, of the inference drawn +from it, in favour of the supposition of mutual presence. To signify an +agreement on any point--especially if regarded as important--who is +there that would scruple to speak of his having given the right hand of +fellowship to another, although it were known to be only by letter? or, +even through the medium of a common friend, and without any personal +intercourse? + +2. As to the other consideration, whatsoever might be the force of it, +if applied to a composition of modern times--after so many intervening +centuries, during several of which the arts of literary composition +have, with the benefit of the facilities afforded by the press, been the +subject of general study and practice;--whatsoever on this supposition +might be the force of it, applied to the style and character of Paul, +little weight seems necessary to be attached to it. Of the +confusion--designed or undesigned--in which the style of this self-named +Apostle involves every point it touches upon, not a page can be read +without presenting samples in abundance, to every eye that can endure to +open itself to them: in this very work, some must probably have already +offered themselves to notice; and before it closes, many will be +presented in this express view: the point in question belongs to the +field of chronology: and, of the perturbate mode of his operation in +this field, a particular exemplification has been already brought to +view, Ch. 2, in a passage, in which, of a long train of sufferings and +perils,--some real, some to all appearance not so--the one first +undergone is last mentioned.[39] From the order in which two events are +mentioned by this writer, no argument, in any degree conclusive, can be +deduced, for the persuasion, that that which stands first mentioned, was +so much as intended by him to be regarded as that which first took +place. + +In the very passage, in which the giving the right hands of fellowship +to him and Barnabas is mentioned, and immediately after these very +words,--it is said--that "we _should go_ unto the heathen, and they unto +the circumcision." Thus, then, the conjunct excursion of Paul and +Barnabas--an excursion, not commenced till about ten years after this +same first visit, Acts 13 and 14, is mentioned, as an incident at _that_ +time future. True it is, that the word directly expressive of the future +is, in the English translation, but an interpretation, and as such +marked. But, had any prior excursion of this kind taken place before, +there seems no reason to suppose, that the event, which, by the context, +would surely have been taken for an event then as yet to come,--would, +had the intention been to represent it as no more than a repetition of +what had taken place already, have received a form, so ill adapted to +its intended purpose. + +But, two verses before, stands that, in which mention is made of the +circumstance, by which, according to Paul, the course taken by the +Apostles, in respect of their entering, into this treaty, is brought to +view. "But contrariwise," says he, Gal. 2:7, "when they saw that the +Gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as _the Gospel_ of +the circumcision was unto Peter:" 9. "And when James, Cephas, and John, +who seemed to be pillars, _perceived_ the grace that was given to me, +they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we +_should go_ unto the heathen," ... &c. + +Now these _perceptions_--the perceptions thus ascribed by him to the +Apostles--when was it that they were obtained? Evidently at no time +whatever, if not at the time of his _first_ visit: for, these were the +perceptions--say rather the conceptions--the conveyance of which is +beyond dispute manifest, not only from the whole nature of the case, +according to the accounts we have of it, but from the account expressly +given by the author of the Acts; and that account, in some part +confirmed, and not in any part contradicted, by Paul himself, and in +this very epistle.[40] + +To conclude. That, at the time of the Deputation Visit, Visit III., the +treaty in question could not but have been on the carpet, seems, it must +be confessed, altogether probable, not to say unquestionable. But, that +at the time of the Reconciliation Visit, Visit I.,--it was already on +the carpet, seems, if possible, still more so. For, without some +understanding between Paul and the Apostles--and that to the effect of +this same treaty (the impossibility that Paul's conversion story should +have been the cause, having, it is believed, been hereinabove +demonstrated) without some understanding of this sort, neither the +continuance ascribed to the Reconciliation Visit, nor the existence of +either of the two succeeding visits, to wit, the Money-bringing Visit, +and this Deputation Visit, seem within the bounds of moral +possibility.[41] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[38] Gal. 2:1. "Then fourteen years after, I went up again to Jerusalem +with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also." + +[39] 2 Cor. 2:32. "In Damascus, the governor under Aretas the king kept +the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me," +&c. namely, on his conversion. + +[40] To this same Partition Treaty, allusion seems discernible in Paul's +Epistle to his Roman adherents. Romans 15:15 to 22. "Nevertheless, +brethren, I have written the more boldly unto you, in some sort, as +putting you in mind, because of the grace that is given to me of +God,--That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, +ministering the Gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles +might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.--I have +therefore whereof I may glory through Jesus Christ in those things which +pertain to God.--For I will not dare to speak of any of those things +which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient by +word and deed,--through mighty signs and wonders by the power of the +spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I +have fully preached the Gospel of Christ.--Yea, so I have strived to +preach the Gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon +another man's foundation:--but, as it is written, To whom he was not +spoken of, they shall see: and they that have not heard shall +understand.--For which cause also I have been much hindered from coming +to you." + +[41] From this passage in Paul's Epistle to his Galatians[II.], compared +with a passage in his first Epistle to the Corinthians[III.]--the Bible +edited by Scholey, in a note to Acts xv. 39, (being the passage in which +the rupture between Paul and Barnabas is mentioned), draws the +inference, that, after this rupture between Paul and Barnabas, a +reconciliation took place. + + [II.] Gal. ii. 9. "They gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of + fellowship, that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the + circumcision." + + [III.] 1 Cor. ix. 6. "Or, I only, and Barnabas, have not we power to + forbear working?" + +From the passage in question, if taken by itself, true it is that this +supposition is a natural one enough. For, according to all appearances, +the date of this Epistle to the Corinthians is posterior to that of the +rupture: and, from the conjunct mention of the two names, if there were +no evidence on the other side, it might naturally enough be supposed +probable, how far soever from certain, that the intention was thereby, +to report the two persons, as operating in conjunction, and even in each +other's company. But, to the purpose of the argument no such supposition +(it will be seen) is necessary. Labouring they both were herein +represented to be, and to all appearance were, in the same field, viz. +the field of the Gentiles: labouring, after and in conformity to this +same treaty--the agreement made by them with the Apostles--the partition +treaty so often mentioned. But, from this it followed not, by any means, +that they were labouring in the _same part_ of that field. For the +purpose of the argument, the question was--What was the sort of +relation, that had taken place, between these two preachers on the one +part, and their respective disciples on the other? It is of this +relation that it is stated by Paul, and stated truly, that as between +him and Barnabas, it was the same: both being actual labourers in their +respective parts of the same field: both being equally at liberty to +cease from, to put an end to, their respective labours at any time: not +that both were labouring in the same place, or in any sort of concert. +"Or I only, and Barnabas, have not we, says Paul, power to forbear +working?" + +Thus inconclusive is the argument, by which the existence of a +reconciliation is inferred. Against evidence so weak, the contrary +evidence seems decisive. After mention made by him of the rupture,--had +any reconciliation ever taken place, within the compass of time embraced +by his history, would the author of the Acts have left it unnoticed? +That, among his objects was the painting every incident, in colours at +least as favourable, to the church in general, and to Paul in +particular, as he durst,--is sufficiently manifest. By a rupture between +two such holy persons,--a token, more or less impressive, of human +infirmity, could not but be presented to view: and, to any reflecting +mind--in those marks of _warmth_ at least, to say nothing worse, which, +from first to last, are so conspicuous, in the character and conduct, of +this the historian's patron and principal hero, ground could scarce fail +to be seen, for supposing--that it was to _his_ side rather than that of +Barnabas--the generous and ever-disinterested Barnabas--that the blame, +principally, if not exclusively, appertained. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + _Interview the Fourth.--Peter at Antioch.--Deputies to Antioch from + Jerusalem, Judas and Silas.--Paul disagrees with Peter and + Barnabas, quits Antioch, and on a Missionary Excursion takes with + him Silas. What concerns the Partition Treaty, down to this Period, + reviewed.--Peter and the Apostles justified._ + + +SECTION 1. + +PAUL'S ACCOUNT OF THIS INTERVIEW QUOTED.--ACTS ACCOUNT OF WHAT FOLLOWED +UPON IT. + +We now come to the last of the four different and more or less distant +occasions on which a personal intercourse, in some way or other, is +recorded as having had place, between Paul on the one part, and the +Apostles or some of them on the other, antecedently to that, on which +Paul's history, so far as any tolerably clear, distinct, and material, +information has descended to us, closes. Of this interview, the scene +lies at Antioch: Peter having, for some consideration no otherwise to be +looked for than by conjecture, been led to pay a visit, to that place of +Paul's _then_ habitual abode, after, and, as seems probable, in +consequence of, Paul's third recorded visit to Jerusalem--his +_Deputation Visit_. + +Let us now cast an eye on the documents. Respecting Paul's disagreement +with Peter, the only one we have, is that which has been furnished us +by Paul himself. It consists of the following passage in his Epistle to +his Galatians. + +GALATIANS 2:11 to 16. + + But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, + because he was to be blamed.--For before that certain came from + James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he + withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the + circumcision.--And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; + insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their + dissimulation.--But when I saw that they walked not uprightly + according to the truth of the Gospel, I said unto Peter before + _them_ all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of + Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles + to live as do the Jews?--We _who are_ Jews by nature and not + sinners of the Gentiles,--knowing that a man is not justified by + the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we + have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the + faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works + of the law shall no flesh be justified. + +Let us now see the account, given in the Acts, of what passed in +Antioch, in relation to Paul, Barnabas and Silas,--during a period, +which seems to be either the same, or one in contiguity with it, +probably antecedent to it. + +ACTS 15:35 to 41. + + Paul also and Barnabas continued in Antioch, teaching and preaching + the word of the Lord with _many others_ also.--And some days after, + Paul said unto Barnabas, Let us go again and visit our brethren, + in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see + how they do.--And Barnabas determined to take with them John whose + surname was Mark.--But Paul thought not good to take him with them, + who departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to + the work.--And the contention was so sharp between them, that they + departed asunder one from the other: and so Barnabas took Mark and + sailed unto Cyprus;--And Paul chose Silas and departed, being + recommended by the brethren unto the grace of God.--And he went + through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches. + +With regard to Paul's separation from Barnabas, departure from Antioch, +and taking Silas for a companion,--we have nothing from Paul himself: +nothing, from any other source, than, as above, the Acts. + +In Paul's account, however, may be seen a passage, Gal. 2:13, by which +some light is thrown upon the breach of Paul with Barnabas. In the Acts, +though the _"contention" is said to be "sharp,"_ no cause is stated for +it, other than a difference respecting the choice of a companion: +namely, on an excursion, which they are represented as having agreed to +make, in the company of each other, as before. + +But, according to Paul, he had had cause of complaint, against his old +friend Barnabas, on another account. Barnabas had sided with the +Apostles: Barnabas had been "carried away with their dissimulation"; by +the dissimulation of those Apostles of Jesus, the virtuous simplicity of +the self-constituted Apostle, so he desires his Galatian disciples to +believe, had been foiled. + + +SECTION 2. + +PAUL DISAGREES WITH PETER--AND BARNABAS--QUITS ANTIOCH, TAKING SILAS +FROM THE APOSTLES. + +In no place can this man exist, but to exercise hostility or provoke it: +with no man can he hold intercourse, without acting towards him, if not +in the character of a despot, in that either of an open and audacious, +or in that of a secret adversary, or both. Against Peter, at Jerusalem, +in his Deputation Visit, he is intriguing, while he is bargaining with +him. With the same Peter, when arrived at Antioch, he quarrels: for, at +Antioch, Peter was but a visitor--a stranger; Paul, with Barnabas for +his constant supporter, was on his own ground: no betrayed rulers +_there_ to fear--no persecuted Christians. He quarrels--so he himself +informs his Galatians--he quarrels with the chief of the Apostles: he +"withstands him to his face." Why? because, forsooth, "he was to be +blamed." In conclusion, to such a pitch,--by the degree of success, +whatever it was, which by this time he had experienced,--to such a pitch +of intemperance, had his mind swelled--he quarrels even with Barnabas: +with Barnabas--in all his three antecedent visits to Jerusalem, his +munificent protector, and steady adherent: with that Barnabas, in whose +company, and under whose wing, one of his missionary excursions had +already been performed. Acts 11:19-27; Ib. 2:37-40. + +At Antioch, the number of his competitors could not but be considerable: +at Antioch, the number of years, which he appears to have passed in that +city, considered,--the number of his enemies could not be small. He +accordingly plans, and executes, a new missionary excursion. He stands +now upon his own legs: no Barnabas now,--no necessary protector, to +share with him in his glory: to share with him, in equal or superior +proportion, in the profit of his profession: in that profit, the image +of which, in all its shapes, was flitting before his eyes,--and which we +shall accordingly see him gathering in, in such unequalled exuberance. +He now looks out for a humble companion--an assistant: he finds one in +Silas: that Silas, whom, with Judas Barsabas, we have seen come to +Antioch, deputed by the Apostles and their disciples, to conclude, in +that second metropolis, the negotiation, commenced in the first +metropolis of the new Christian world. Deserter from the service in +which he was sent, Silas enlists in that of the daring and indefatigable +adventurer. Thus much, and no more, do we learn concerning him: for, in +the picture drawn in the Acts, no character is given to him, except the +being found in company with Paul, in some of the places which Paul +visits: except this exercise of the locomotive faculty, nothing is there +to distinguish him from the common stock of still-life. + +From this fourth recorded epoch in the intercourse between Paul and the +Apostles, we now pass to that which stands fifth and last, to wit: that +which was produced by his fourth and last visit to Jerusalem:--his +_Invasion Visit_, A.D. 62. + +In the interval, come four years,--occupied by a series of successive +excursions and sojournments,--in the course of which, all mention of +Silas is dropped, without remark: dropped, in the same obscure and +inexplicit manner, in which the historian affords to the reader, +supposing him endowed with the requisite degree of attention, the means +of discovering, Acts 16:10, that not long after the commencement of this +same period, the historian himself, whoever he was, was taken into the +train of the self-constituted Apostle. To the reader is also left the +faculty, of amusing himself in conjecturing, about what time, and in +what manner, this latter event may have taken place; an event, from +which such important consequences have resulted. + +Of these portions of Paul's life, some view will come to be taken, in a +succeeding chapter, under another head:--under the head of Paul's +supposed miracles: for, it is in the account given of his achievements +and adventures, and of the transactions in which, in the course of this +period, he was engaged,--it is in the course of this account, that we +shall have to pick up, the supposed accounts of supposed miracles, +which, in this part of the Acts history lie interspersed. This review +must of necessity be taken, for the purpose of placing in a true light, +the evidence, supposed to be thus afforded, in support of his claims to +a supernatural commission. + +To this change of connection on the part of Silas,--from the service of +the Apostles of Jesus to that of the self-constituted Apostle,--the +character of _defection_ on the part of Silas,--_seduction_ on the part +of Paul,--may here be ascribed without difficulty. By the Apostles, one +Gospel was preached--the Gospel of Jesus:--we see it in the Evangelists. +By Paul, another and different Gospel was preached:--a Gospel, later and +better, according to him, than that which is to be seen in the +Evangelists:--a Gospel of his own. If, even down to this time, mutual +prudence prevented an open and generally conspicuous rupture,--there was +on his part, at any rate, an opposition. If, to men, whose conduct and +temper were such as they uniformly appear to have been,--any such word +as _party_ can, without disparagement, be applied, here were two +_parties_. He, who was _for_ the self-constituted Apostle, was _against_ +the Apostles of Jesus. In a word, in the language of modern party, +Silas was a _rat_. + + +SECTION 3. + +THE PARTITION TREATY, AND THE PROCEEDINGS, IN RELATION TO IT, DOWN TO +THIS PERIOD, REVIEWED. + +In regard to the Partition Treaty,--taking the matter from Paul's first, +or Reconciliation Visit, A.D. 35, to his departure from Antioch, on his +missionary excursion, after the interview he had had at that city with +Peter,--the state of the affairs, between Paul and the Apostles, seems +to have been thus:-- + +1. On the occasion, and at the time, of his first Jerusalem Visit--his +Reconciliation Visit--a sort of reconciliation--meaning at least an +outward one--could not,--consistently with the whole train, of what is +said of his subsequent intercourse and interviews with the +Apostles,--could not but have taken place. + +2. Of this reconciliation, the terms were--that, on condition of _his_ +preaching in the name of Jesus,--_they_ would not, to such persons in +Jerusalem and elsewhere, as were in connection with them,--_speak_ of +him any longer in the character of a persecutor: for, by his +disobedience and breach of trust, as towards the Jerusalem constituted +authorities,--such he had put it out of his power to _be_ any longer: +not speak of him as a persecutor, but, on the contrary, as an +associate:--he taking up the name of Jesus: and preaching--never in his +own, but on every occasion in that holy, name. + +3. On this occasion,--it being manifest to both parties, that, by his +intimate acquaintance with the Greek language, and with the learning +belonging to that language, he was in a peculiar degree well qualified +to spread the name of Jesus among the Gentiles in general;--that is, +among those to whom the Jewish was not a vernacular language;--whereas +their acquaintance with language was confined to their own, to wit, the +Jewish language;--on this occasion, it followed of course, from the +nature of the case, and almost without need of stipulation, +that,--leaving to _them_, for the field of their labours, Jerusalem, and +that part of the circumjacent country, in which the Jewish alone was the +language of the bulk of the population,--_he_ should confine his +exertions, principally if not exclusively, to those countries, of which +Greek was, or at any rate Hebrew was not, the vernacular language. + +To him, at that time, it was not in the nature of the case, that +absentation from Jerusalem, or any part of the country under the same +dominion, should be matter of regret. Within that circle, he could not, +for any length of time, abide publicly, for fear of the legal vengeance +of the constituted authorities: nor yet among the Christians; although +from their chiefs he had obtained, as above, a sort of prudential +endurance; considering the horror, which his persecution of them had +inspired, and the terror, with which, until his conversion had been +proved in the eyes of all by experience, he could not as yet fail to be +regarded. + +Whatever was the object of his concupiscence,--whether it were the +fund--and we have seen how attractive the bait was--which, at that time, +in that metropolis of the Christian world, offered itself to an +ambitious eye,--still, though his opportunities had as yet confined his +exertions to the _second_ city in that increasing world, his eyes never +ceased looking to the _first_. + +Twice, accordingly, between the first of his Visits,--his Reconciliation +Visit--and this his last interview with Peter,--we see him visiting that +inviting spot: each time, protected and escorted by the munificent +Barnabas and his influence--to make him endurable: each time with a +public commission--to make him respected:--the first time with money +in his hand--to make him welcome. + +That, all this while, neither _good faith_ nor _prudence_ were capable +of opposing to the violence of his ambition, any effectual check,--is +abundantly manifest. + +That _good faith_ was not, we learn distinctly from himself. For though, +from the very nature of the two correlative situations, it is out of all +question, as above, that, without some agreement to the effect above +mentioned, he could not, even with the benefit of every possible means +of concealment, have been preserved for two days together from the +vengeance which pressed upon him, from _below_ as well as from _above_; +yet still was he, by his secret intrigues, Gal. 1:11, violating the +treaty, at the expense of those upright, patient, and long-suffering +men, to whose observance of it, he was every day indebted for his life. + + +SECTION 4. + +PETER AND THE APOSTLES JUSTIFIED AS TO THE FINANCIAL STIPULATION IN +THE TREATY, AND THE SUCCEEDING MISSIONARY LABOURS OF PETER AMONG +THE GENTILES. + +Of the financial stipulation, the account we have has been seen:--an +account given by one of the parties to it--Paul:--the other party +being--the Apostles. In the instance of Paul, in the demonstration, +supposed to be given of it, the worldliness, of the motives which gave +birth to it, has in a manner been taken for granted. Well, then, if in +the one instance such was the character of it,--in the other instance, +can it have been any other? The question is a natural one; but not less +so is the answer. For note, the stipulation is express--that, by +Paul--by Paul out of the profits of his vocation--the poor, meaning the +poor of Jerusalem--the poor among the disciples of the Apostles--should +be remembered. Remembered, and how? Remembered, by payment of the +money--into the hands, either of the Apostles themselves, or, what comes +to the same thing, some other persons, in connection with them, and +acting under their influence. Now, then, once more. Of the man, by whom +the money was to be _paid_--of this man, the motives, you say, were +worldly: is it credible then, that they should have been less so, in the +instance of the men by whom they were to be _received_? + +Answer. Oh! yes, _that_ it is. Between the two cases, there is this +broad difference. Whatever Paul might receive, he would receive for +himself: whatever, after payment made, under the treaty, to the use of +the Jerusalem poor, he retained,--he might retain for his own use. But +the Apostles--that which, if anything, they received, in the name of the +poor, and as for the use of that same poor,--would they--could they, for +their own use, retain it, or any part of it? Not they, indeed. Not in +their hands were the poor's funds: not in theirs, but in a very +different set of hands:--in the hands of a set of trustees--of the +trustees already mentioned in this work, Ch. 2--of those administrators, +whose function, to every reader who has not the Greek original in view, +is so unfortunately disguised by the word _Deacons_. And these deacons, +by whom appointed? By the Apostles? No; but, by the whole communion of +the saints--by the whole number of the members of the Christian +commonwealth;--and in the way of free election,--_election, on the +principle of universal suffrage_. Monarchists and Aristocrats! mark +well!--_of universal suffrage_. + +So much for the treaty itself. Now, as to the subsequent conduct of the +parties, under it, and in relation to it. As to the partition--Paul to +the Gentiles, Peter and his associates to the Jews--such was the letter +of it. Such being the letter--what, at the same time, was the spirit of +it? Manifestly this: on the one hand, that the field, to which Paul's +exertions should apply themselves, and confine themselves, should be +that field, for the cultivation of which, with any prospect of success, +he was exclusively qualified: on the other hand, that the field, to +which their exertions should apply themselves and confine themselves, +should be that, for the cultivation of which, they were--if not +exclusively, at any rate more peculiarly, qualified. In a word--that, of +all that portion of the world, that presented itself as open to the +exertions, of those who preached in the name of Jesus,--they should +reserve to themselves that part which was already in their possession, +to wit, Jerusalem, and its near neighbourhood, together with such parts +of Judea, and its neighbourhood, of which their own language, the +Hebrew, was the vernacular language: this minute portion of the world +reserved, all the rest was to be left open to him: over every other part +of it he was to be at liberty to cast forth his shoe. Judea--the country +of the Jews? say, rather, the Jews themselves:--the Jews wherever found: +for, revelation apart, it was in _language_, that Paul's +pretensions--his exclusive qualifications--consisted. The Apostles spoke +nothing but Hebrew: Paul was learned, and eloquent, in a certain sort, +in Greek. + +In regard to the interpretation to be put upon this treaty,--suppose any +doubt to have place,--in the word _Gentile_, would obviously the seat +and source of it to be to be found. Suppose, on the one hand _persons_ +to be the objects, of which it was meant to be designative,--then, let +there be but so much as one single uncircumcised man in Jerusalem, or +elsewhere,--to whom, in the view of gaining him over to their communion, +the Apostles, or, with their cognizance, any of their disciples, +addressed themselves,--here would, on _their_ part, be a breach of the +treaty. Suppose, on the other hand, _places_ to be the objects, of which +it was meant to be designative,--on that supposition, within that tract +of country, within which alone, the necessary means, of communicating +with the bulk of the population, were in their possession,--they might +apply themselves, to all persons without restriction: and this, still +without any real breach of the agreement--of the spirit and real import +of the agreement. + +In respect either of _persons or places_, by the agreement, according to +this--the obvious sense of it--what was it that Paul gave up? In truth, +just nothing. Had his mind been in a sober state,--strange indeed, if +the field thus afforded by the whole heathen world, was not wide enough +for his labour: in all parts of it he could not be at once; and the most +promising parts were open to his choice. Cessation of Paul's +hostilities excepted, what was it that the Apostles gained? Not much +more. + +As already observed--what was not gained by it, is what is above: what +was really gained by it, is what follows. + +What Paul gained was--exemption from the annoyance, which otherwise he +would everywhere have been exposed to have received, by being designated +as the quondam notorious persecutor, and still unreconciled enemy, of +the Apostles and their disciples:--in a word, of all others who preached +in the name of Jesus. + +That which the Apostles actually gained, was--that confirmation and +extension of their influence, which followed of course, upon every +extension, received by that field, within which the influence of the +name of Jesus was extended. + +That which, besides what is above, they _ought to_ have gained, but did +not gain, is--exemption from all such annoyance, as could not but be +inflicted on them, in proportion as Paul, preaching to persons, to whom +_they_ had access, a Gospel which was his, and not theirs,--should, +while in pretence and name an associate, be, in truth and effect, an +adversary and opponent. + +This is what--though they not only should have gained, but might also +reasonably have expected to gain--they did _not_ gain. For, not to +insist any more on his secret intrigues in Jerusalem itself, and his +open opposition in the second Jerusalem, Antioch, as above; we +shall--when we come to the next and last of his interviews with the +Apostles on the occasion of his Invasion Visit--see, to what lengths the +madness of his ambition carried him, in that birthplace and metropolis +of the Christian world. + +By the sort of connection, which, notwithstanding such obvious and +naturally powerful principles of discrimination, have on each occasion, +been visible, as between the undoubted Apostles, and this self-styled +one--three distinguishable questions cannot but, from time to time, have +been presenting themselves:--1. The sort of countenance--partial, cold, +and guarded as it was--shown by the old established and goodly +fellowship to the ever-intruding individual--is it credible? 2. Can it, +in fact, have been manifested, in conjunction with a disbelief, on their +part, of his pretensions to a degree of supernatural favour with the +Almighty, equal or superior to their own? 3. And, if not only possible, +but actual--was it, in point of morality, justifiable? + +By a few obvious enough considerations, an answer--and, it is hoped, a +not altogether unsatisfactory one,--may be given to all these questions. + +As to whatever was natural in the course of the events, Barnabas was +necessary to the rising Church: and Paul was, all along, necessary, or, +at least, was so thought, to Barnabas. + +1. Barnabas was necessary to the Church. Already, it has been seen, how +preeminent was the support received by it from his munificence. In him, +it had found at once the most liberal of benefactors, and, unless Peter +be an exception, the most indefatigable of agents. On the part of no one +of even the chosen servants of Jesus, do proofs of equal zeal and +activity present themselves to our view. + +In an ensuing chapter, we shall see Peter trying his strength among the +Gentiles. Yet, from the direction thus given to his Apostolic zeal, no +violation of the treaty, it will be seen, can with justice be imputed to +him, if the interpretation above given to the word _Gentiles_ be +correct. + +1. In the first place,--according to the Acts, the date of this +excursion is _antecedent_ to that third interview, which took place on +the occasion of Paul's third Jerusalem Visit--his Deputation Visit: that +is to say, to the time, at which, and not before, though, if the above +reasoning be just, in a sort of general terms the preliminaries had been +agreed upon, the general preliminary arrangements were followed, +confirmed, explained, and liquidated, by more particular ones. + +2. In the next place--of all the places,--which, in the course of this +excursion of Peter's, are mentioned as having been visited by +him,--there is not one, that Paul is mentioned as having ever visited: +whereas, in the first of them that is mentioned, the Apostles are +mentioned as having already a band of disciples.[42] + +3. In the third place,--the date, assigned to this excursion of Peter's, +is, by several years, antecedent even to the first, of the several +excursions of Paul's, of which mention is made in the Acts. In the +received chronology--date assigned to the commencement of Peter's +excursion, A.D. 35; date assigned to Paul's first excursion, A.D. 45. + +While Peter was thus occupying himself, Paul was still at Tarsus:[43] at +Tarsus--his own birthplace--whereto,--in consequence of the danger, to +which his life had been exposed by his first Jerusalem Visit, his +Reconciliation Visit,--he had taken his flight.[44] + +4. In the fourth place,--notwithstanding the perpetual hostility of +Paul's mind, as towards Peter and the rest of the Apostles,--on no +occasion, on the score of any breach of this article in the partition +treaty, is any complaint, on the part of Paul, to be found. When +dissatisfaction is expressed, doctrine alone is mentioned by him as the +source of it: doctrine, the ostensible; dominion, the original and real +source. + +Spite of the treaty,--spite of the manifest interest, of the only +genuine religion of Jesus--the Gospel taught by the Apostles,--still in +places to which they had access--in places in which, in consequence, +they had formed connections,--he persisted in intruding himself: +intruding himself, with that Gospel which he says himself, was his, not +theirs--and not being theirs, was not Jesus's:--intruding himself, in +places, in which, even had his Gospel been Jesus's, _their_ connections +being established, there existed no demand for him and _his_. Can this +be doubted of? If yes, all doubt will at any rate be removed, +when,--spite of all the endeavours that could be employed, either by +them or by his own adherents, to prevail upon him to desist,--we shall +see him entering Jerusalem on his Invasion Visit: as if, while, for +preaching the religion of Jesus, all the world, with the exception of +the Jewish part of it, was not enough for this intruder,--the Apostles +of Jesus--eleven in number, with their elected associate, +Matthias,--were not, all together, enough, for that small part of it. + +The _name_ he preached in, _that_ indeed not his own, but Jesus's: but +the _doctrine_ he preached--the Gospel, as he called it--not _Jesus's_, +nor anybody else's, but his own. All this, as he has the assurance to +declare,--all this did he preach without their knowledge. And why +without their knowledge? because, as he himself has the still more +extraordinary assurance to _declare_--for _confession_ is the result not +of assurance, but weakness--because, as he himself acknowledges,--if so +it had been, that this Gospel of his had come to the knowledge of the +Apostles--of those associates, to whom he was all along holding out the +right hand of fellowship, this Gospel of his could not have been +listened to--this preaching of his would have been in vain. + +Already, however--for in this he may be believed--already, throughout +this _first_ intercourse, though the expression is not used till he came +to speak of the _third_,--already must the right hand of fellowship have +been held out, and on both sides: and, what followed of course,--and was +not only affirmed by his statement, but demonstrated by the result,--on +this last occasion was the treaty again brought upon the carpet and +confirmed, after such modifications as it may naturally have received, +from the consideration of intervening incidents. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[42] Acts 9:32. "And it came to pass, as Peter passed through all +quarters, he came down also to the saints which dwelt at Lydda." + +[43] Acts 11:25. "Then departed Barnabas for to seek Saul." A.D. 43. + +[44] Acts 9:30, "Which when the brethren knew, they brought him down to +Cæsarea and sent him forth to Tarsus." + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + _Paul disbelieved continued--The Fourth and Last Jerusalem Visit. + The Purpose concealed: Opposition universal; among his own + Disciples, and among those of the Apostles._ + + +SECTION 1. + +MOTIVES TO THIS VISIT. + +Of this momentous visit to say what were the real objects, must in a +great part be left to conjecture:--to inferences drawn from the known +circumstances of the case. By himself, as will be seen, they were +concealed with the most persevering anxiety. + +But, in default of direct evidence, the point may without much danger of +error be settled by circumstantial evidence. The common objects of +political concupiscence--money, power and vengeance--were all before his +eyes: _money_--in no less a quantity than that of the aggregate mass of +the property of the whole church:--that fund, for the management of +which, the Apostles' seven trustees, under the name of Deacons, were not +more than sufficient:--that fund, by which the repulsed concupiscence of +the sorcerer of Samaria had so lately been excited:--_power_, that +which was exercised by the direction of the consciences of the whole +number of the faithful, some time before this, not less in number than +three thousand: _vengeance_, for the repeated rebuffs, by which, at the +interval of so many years from each other, his endeavours to supplant +the Apostles had been repelled. + +In a general point of view, ambition,--rival ambition,--the same motive +which sent Caesar to Rome, may be stated as having sent Paul, at this +time, to Jerusalem: to Jerusalem--the metropolis of the Christian world, +by design; and thence, eventually and undesignedly, to the metropolis of +the whole civilized world. + +By two opposite desires--two antagonizing but correspondent and mutually +explanatory desires--desires, in both parts intense and active, the +external marks of which are sufficiently visible in two different +quarters,--the nature as well as prevalence of this motive, will, it is +believed, be found sufficiently proved:--a desire, in the breast of the +self-constituted Apostle, to establish himself in the original +metropolis of the Christian world:--a desire on the part of the +Apostles--of the Apostles constituted by Jesus--to keep him out of it. + + +SECTION 2. + +THE VISIT ANNOUNCED BY PAUL AND DEFERRED. + +Ephesus, at which place he had arrived not long after his departure from +Corinth, where he had made a stay, as it should seem, of more years than +one,[45] touching in the way at Cenchrea, where he shaved his head for +the performance of a vow--Ephesus is the place, at which, by the author +of the Acts, Paul is for the first time made to speak of himself, as +harbouring, having in mind the making of this visit: and on that +occasion, the visit is spoken of, as being the subject of a settled +determination, and in particular as being the time fixed upon by him for +the execution of this design. Acts 18:20, 21. "When they, the Jews at +Ephesus, desired him to tarry longer with them, he consented not; but +bade them farewell, saying, I must _by all means keep this feast_ that +cometh in Jerusalem: but I will return again to you if God will." + +As to the keeping of this or any other feast at Jerusalem or at any +other place--if it was under any such notion as that of contributing to +his own personal salvation by any such Mosaic work, it was an object +inconsistent with his own principles--with his own so repeatedly and +strenuously advocated principles:--and the like may be said of the +head-shaving and the vow, performed by him, at Cenchrea, in his way to +Ephesus from Corinth: and moreover, in this last-mentioned instance, +more particularly in contradiction with a precept so positively +delivered by Jesus, namely, _Swear not at all_,--if, under swearing, the +making of vows is to be understood to be included. + +Of this design, the next intimation which occurs in the Acts, is in the +next chapter, Acts 19:21, "When these things were ended," namely, the +discomfiture of the exorcists, and the burning of the books of curious +arts at Ephesus,--"Paul, it is said, _purposes in the spirit_, when he +had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, +After I have been there, I must also see Rome." + +Fortunate it is for the credit--either _of the spirit_, or of Paul, or +of the author of the Acts, that it was on this second occasion only, and +not on the first, that it was _in the spirit_ that he proposed to go to +Jerusalem by the then next feast: for, notwithstanding the "_must_" and +the "_by all means_,"--so it is, that between those his two +determinations as above, no less a space of time than two years is +stated as elapsing, on one occasion, at one and the same place.[46] And +this place--what was it? it was Ephesus: the same place, at which, on +his departure from it, the first determination was declared: after +which, and before this his second visit to Ephesus,--he is represented +as having visited Cæsarea and Antioch. + +The next mention, is that which occurs in the next chapter, chapter +20:16. "Paul," we are there told, being then at Miletus, "had determined +to sail by Ephesus, because he would not spend the time in Asia: for he +hasted, if it were possible for him, to be at Jerusalem the day of +Pentecost." + +At Miletus it is, that he sends for, and receives, from Ephesus, a +number of his adherents in that place. Upon their arrival, he is +represented as making a formal speech to them: and now, he not merely +proposes in the spirit, as before, but is "_bound in the spirit_," to go +thither.[47] Vain would be the attempt to ascertain, with any approach +to exactness, the interval of time, during which the operation of the +spirit remained in a sort of suspense between _purpose_ and +_obligation_: it may have been months, only: it may have been years. + +While, by one spirit, Paul was thus urged on, every now and then, +towards Jerusalem;--by the same spirit, or by another spirit, he was +pulled back.[48] + +In the very next verse, Acts 20:22, in which he speaks of his being +"bound in the spirit unto" that place, not knowing, as, in his speech, +he thereupon adds,--"not knowing the things that shall befall me +there,"--he goes on, and says: "Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in +every city, saying, that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of +these things," says he, ver. 24, "move me, neither count I my life dear +unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the +ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel +of the grace of God." + +To raise, in the breast of Paul, the expectation, that of his proceeding +in the course it was his way to take in preaching that religion, to +which, from a persecutor, he had, in appearance, become a convert, +affliction, in a variety of shapes, might prove to be the +fruits,--needed no information from the spirit; if, by receiving +information from the spirit, he meant any communication of a +supernatural kind--anything beyond information in the ordinary +shape;--be the effect--be the purpose, good or bad,--such is the lot, +that awaits innovation in the field of politics--the spiritual part +included, as well as the temporal--at all places, and all times. + +A passage, which now presents itself, helps to show how easily and +copiously, out of a few words, written in ancient times, mysteries and +miracles have been manufactured in modern times. In Acts 20:22, we have +seen Paul, "_bound in the spirit_," as he is made to assure us, to go +unto Jerusalem. In the next chapter, 21:4, we find disciples ... who +said to Paul, "_through the spirit_," that he should _not_ go up to +Jerusalem. Oh! what a useful word this word _spirit_! Let a man say +plainly and simply, I shall go, or be going, to Jerusalem--or, Don't go +to Jerusalem,--his words go for no more than they are worth: in either +case, with a proper proposition to introduce it, add the word "spirit," +the matter becomes serious. Out of a word or two, you thus add to the +Godhead a third person, who talks backward and forward for you, and does +for you whatever you please. + +At so small a price, even to this day, are manufactured, every day, a +sort of _verbal_ miracles, which, as many as are disposed, are welcome +to improve into real ones. + +To reconcile men to this expedition of Paul's, the spirit was the more +necessary,--inasmuch as it was not in his own power, or even in that of +any one of his numerous attendants and dependants, to assign so much as +one ostensible reason for it. + +That, to the advancement of religion--of the religion of Jesus--no such +presence of his was necessary;--that no good could result from it;--that +much evil could not but result from it;--was obvious to all eyes. Of the +original number of the Apostles,--for aught that appears, not less than +eleven were still remaining on the spot: men, to every one of whom, all +acts and sayings of Jesus were, by memory, rendered so familiar:--men, +on the part of some of whom, and, at any rate, on the part of the chief +of them, Peter,--there was no want of zeal and activity. While to these +men a single city, or, at the utmost, one small region--composed the +whole field of exertion--the whole earth besides is left open by them +to Paul: still, such is the ravenousness of his ambition, nothing can +content him, but he must be intruding himself--thrusting his restless +sickle into their ripening harvest. + + +SECTION 3. + +THE DESIGN INDEFENSIBLE. + +All this--is it not enough? Well then, take this one other--this +concluding proof. In the teeth of all their endeavours, and among them, +some that will be seen extraordinary enough, to prevent it,--was +undertaken the fourth and last of his four recorded visits to their +residence--Jerusalem. + +But, in the first place, in the utter indefensibility of the design, +shall be shown the _cause_, of the opposition so universally made to it. + +Tired of a mixture of successes and miscarriages,--disdaining the +conquests he had been making in so many remote, and comparatively +obscure regions of the world,--he had formed--but at what precise time, +the documents do not enable us to pronounce--the determination, to +exhibit his glories on the two most illustrious of theatres:--in the two +capitals--Jerusalem, of the Jewish, and now of the Christian world; +Rome, of the whole classical heathen world:--and in the first place, +Jerusalem, now, for the fourth time since his conversion. It was at +Ephesus, as we have seen, this determination was first declared. + +To Rome, he might have gone, and welcome: namely, in so far as his +doctrines could have confined themselves within the limits of those of +Jesus: which, however, it will be seen, they could not: but, success +being moreover supposed, nothing but good could such visit have had for +its result. + +But, by a visit to any place other than Jerusalem, various were the +points of spleen and ambition, that could not have been satisfied. +Nothing would serve him, but, over that Edom Jerusalem, he would, in the +first place, cast forth his shoe. + +Unless the eleven most confidential servants, selected by Jesus himself +to be the propagators of his religion, were altogether unworthy of the +task thus allotted to them,--nothing to the good purposes of that +religion could be more palpably unnecessary, nothing to the purposes of +peace and unity more pernicious, than the intrusion thus resolved upon. +That the number of these legitimately instituted Apostles had as yet +suffered any diminution, is not, by any of the documents, rendered so +much as probable. Neither in the works of Paul himself, nor in that of +his historiographer, is any intimation to any such effect to be found. +In their own judgments, had there been any need of coadjutors--any +deficiency of hands for the spiritual harvest,--they well knew how to +supply it. Of the sufficiency of such knowledge, they had given the +most incontestable proofs: the election of Matthias was the fruit of it. +They showed--and with a disinterestedness, which has never since had, +nor seems destined to have, any imitators--that, in the Christian world, +if government in any shape has divine right for its support, it is in +the shape of democracy;--representative democracy--operating by +universal suffrage. In the eye of the Christian, as well as of the +philosopher and the philanthropist, behold here the only legitimate +government: the form, the exclusion of which from the Christian world, +has been the object of that league, by which, by an unpunishable, yet +the most mischievous--if not the only mischievous--sort of blasphemy, +the name of Christian has been profaned. + +This method of filling offices, was no more to the taste of Paul, than +to that of a Napoleon or a George. He determined to open their eyes, and +prove to them by experience, that monarchy,--himself the first +monarch--was the only legitimate form of government. The difficulties of +the enterprise were such as could not escape any eyes:--least of all his +own: but to die or conquer was his resolve: so he himself declares.[49] +What, in case of success, would have been the use made by him of it? The +fate of the Apostles may be read in the catastrophe of Saint Stephen: +the vulgar herd would, in his eyes, have been as declaredly foolish as +the Galatians. Gal. 3:1. "O, foolish Galatians!" Who did bewitch you, +etc. + +The invasion was not less inconsistent with good faith, than with +brotherly love, peace and unity. It was a direct violation of the +_partition-treaty_: that treaty, of which he gives such unquestionable +evidence against himself, in the boast he makes of it to his Galatians. +Gal. 2:9. "When James, Cephas (Peter), and John, who seemed to be +pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me +and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship, that we should go unto the +heathen, and they unto the circumcision." + + +SECTION 4. + +OPPOSITION MADE TO IT BY HIS OWN ATTENDANTS AND OTHER ADHERENTS. + +To find so much as the colour of a reason for this perfidy, was too much +for the ingenuity of his attendant panegyrist. In the eyes of the whole +body of his attendants, of whom the historian was one, so completely +unjustifiable was his design in every point of view,--they joined in a +remonstrance to him, beseeching him to give it up. + + +ACTS 21:12 to 14. + + And when we heard these things, both we, and they of that place, + besought him not to go up to Jerusalem.--Then Paul answered, What + mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be + bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem, for the name of the Lord + Jesus.--And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The + will of the Lord be done. + +At no such loss, however, was Paul himself: for this, and for everything +else it was his will to do, he had a reason ready made. It was no less +concise and economical than convenient: a word, and no more than a word, +was the price paid for it:--_revelation_ was that word.[50] So he +assures his "foolish" Galatians: and if they were foolish enough to +believe it, these, though first, have not been last, in the career of +foolishness. + +Allow a man but the use of this one word, so it be in the sense in which +Paul here uses it--admit the matter of fact, of which it contains the +assertion,--the will of that man is not only sufficient reason, but +sufficient law, for everything: in all places, and to all persons, his +will is law. The will of this man is the will of that God, by whom this +revelation of it has been made to him: the will of God, what man shall +be audacious enough to dispute? + +The motives, which gave birth to this act of perfidy and hostility, will +now be visible enough, to every eye, that dares to open itself to them. +At the time in question, they were too manifest to need mentioning: and +at the same time too unjustifiable, to bear to be mentioned by his +dependent historian, when speaking of the opposition, which, even on the +part of his own dependents, it produced. They besought him--with tears +they besought him: but, as to the reflections by which these tears were +produced, they could not bear the light: it was not for a declared +adherent to give them utterance. The sort of colour, put upon the +project by Paul, with the help of one of his phrases--this was the only +colour that could be found for it. It was for the _name_ of the Lord +Jesus, Acts 21:13, that he was ready--"ready, not to be bound only, but +also to die." For the name? O, yes, for the name at all times; for, in +the name of Jesus, he beheld from first to last his necessary support: +and of the Lord Jesus, nothing, as we shall find,--nothing from first to +last, did he ever employ but the name. But, to be bound at Jerusalem--to +die at Jerusalem--to be bound--to die--supposing this to take +place,--where--to the religion of Jesus--would be, where could be, the +use of it? There, at Jerusalem, the Apostles--the real Apostles of +Jesus:--executing, without either dying or being bound for it, the +commission, which to them had been really given by Jesus. + + +SECTION 5. + +OPPOSITION MADE TO IT BY THE APOSTLES AND THEIR DISCIPLES. + +Thus indefensible and deplorable, in the eyes even of his own +dependents,--it may be imagined in what light the invasion presented +itself at Jerusalem, to those who found themselves so cruelly menaced by +it. + +At the first place, at which, after a voyage of some length, they landed +on their way to Judea,--they found the alarm already spread. This place +was Tyre: there they found "disciples," Acts 21:4, "who said to Paul," +and "through the Spirit, that he should not go up to Jerusalem." It was +through _their spirit_, that they bade him not to go; but _his +revelation_, as we have seen, bade him to go, notwithstanding:--his +revelation was too strong for their spirit. If it was from the _Lord +Jesus_, as he all along informs us, that his revelation came, while +their spirit was the _Holy Spirit_, otherwise called the _Holy +Ghost_,--already another schism was produced: a schism, in a council +still higher than that of the Apostles. + +At Ptolemais, on the road from Tyre to Jerusalem, they stayed but one +day: Acts 21:7, not long enough, it should seem, for any fresh marks of +opposition to this enterprise to manifest themselves. + +Continuing their approach to the metropolis, the next day they came to +Cæsarea, Acts 21:4, "The house," then "entered into," was that of +Philip, there styled the Evangelist, one of the seven trustees, who, +under the name, rendered in the English translation by that of Deacon, +at the recommendation of the Apostles, had been chosen by universal +suffrage, for the management of the pecuniary affairs of the Church. +Here they took up their quarters: and here a fresh scene awaited them. + +In the person of a man, whose name was Agabus, the Apostles and their +associates had found, as we have seen, an agent of approved talents, and +usefulness: to him they had been indebted, for the most important +service, of a temporal nature, which the history of the church in those +days furnishes:--the supply of money already received, as above +mentioned, from the first-born daughter of the church--the church of +Antioch, in Syria. At this place, Cæsarea, as a last resource, this +same Agabus, or another, was, as it should seem, dispatched to meet--at +any rate did meet--the self-appointed Apostle in his way; and, in the +character of a _prophet_, for so _this_ Agabus is styled, strained every +nerve, in the endeavour to divert the invader from the so anxiously +apprehended purpose. + +Whoever he was, employed on this occasion, but employed in vain, were +all the treasures of his eloquence. The Holy Ghost was once more, and by +name, set in array against Paul's Lord Jesus. The powers of verbal and +oral eloquence were not thought sufficient: action--and not only of that +sort which, in the eyes of Demosthenes, was an object of such prime +importance, but even pantomime--was employed in aid. Acts 21:11. As to +argument--fear in the bosom of the Church, for a life so precious, was +the only one, which the skill of the orator could permit him to employ: +as to fear for their own sakes, and resentment for the injury which they +were predestinated to suffer,--these were passions, too strongly felt +to be avowed. "He took Paul's girdle," Acts 21:11, "and bound his own +hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews +at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him +into the hands of the Gentiles." + +Supposing the Agabus mentioned on this occasion, to be the same Agabus +as he who was mentioned on the occasion of the apprehended +dearth--supposing this to be he--and no reason presents itself in favour +of the contrary supposition--well known indeed must he have been to +Paul, since it was by his means that Paul was indebted for the +opportunity of paying, to Jerusalem, that second visit of his, from +which, as we have seen, so little fruit was reaped. + +The singular circumstance here is, the manner, in which, on this second +occasion, mention is made of this name--Agabus: "a certain prophet named +Agabus," Acts 21:10. Whether this was, or was not, the same as the +former Agabus,--this mode of designation presents itself as alike +extraordinary. If he _was_ the same,--in that case, as, by the addition +of the adjunct "a certain prophet," a sort of cloud is thrown over his +identity,--so, by so simple an expedient as that of the non-insertion of +these redundant words, the clouds would have been dispelled. If he was +_not_ the same,--so expressive being the circumstances, by which +identity stands indicated--namely, the quarter _from_ whence the same; +the quarter _to_ which the same; the importance of the mission, and the +demand for talents and influence, in both cases so great; on this +supposition, to prevent misconception, no less obvious than urgent was +the demand, for some mark of distinction, to be added on this second +occasion: in a word, for that sort of mark of distinction, which, on +other occasions; may, in this same history, be seen more than once +employed: witness _that John_, twice distinguished by the name of _John, +whose surname was Mark_. Acts 22:25, _ib._ 25:37. + +Hence a suspicion, nor that an unnatural one--that, in this history, the +part, in which the name Agabus occurs for the first time, and the part, +in which that same name occurs for the second time, were not the work of +the same hand. + +With or without the assistance of the Holy Ghost, with the like +importunity, though in a tone corresponding to the difference of +situation, was a dissuasion, to the same effect, added, with one voice, +by the adherents, of whom the suite of the self-appointed Apostle was +composed, and by all the other Christians then present. "And when we +heard these things," says the author of the Acts, "both we, and they of +that place, Cæsarea, besought him not to go up to Jerusalem." Acts +21:12. + +The Holy Ghost, whom all the rest of the Church had for their advocate, +was no equal match for the Holy Ghost whom Paul had for his adviser. +"What mean ye," says he, "to weep and to break mine heart? for I am +ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of +the Lord Jesus." Acts 21:13. To a Holy Ghost so highly seated, +submission from a Holy Ghost of inferior rank, was the only course left. +"When he could not be persuaded, concludes the historian, we ceased, +saying, The will of the Lord be done." + +Paul die at Jerusalem, for the name of the Lord Jesus? He, Paul, this +self-constituted Apostle, who, upon his own showing, had never seen +Jesus? for the name of Jesus, forsooth, die at Jerusalem? at that +Jerusalem, at which the indisputable Apostles had been, and continued to +be, living and labouring, in the service of that same holy name, each of +them, or they are much misrepresented, not less ready and willing, both +to live and upon occasion to die for it, than he could be? Was it then +really to die for the name of Jesus? was it not rather to live? to live +for his own name, for his own glory, for his own profit, and for the +pleasure of depriving of their flock those shepherds of souls, by whom +his pretensions had been disallowed, his glory disbelieved, his advances +received with that distrust and jealousy, for which the long and bitter +experience they had had of him, afforded so amply sufficient a warrant? +men, in whose eyes, though in the clothing of a shepherd, he was still a +wolf? + +What was he to die for? By whose hands was he to die? By no danger, +since he had ceased to be their declared persecutor, had any Christians, +in their character of Christians, whether disciples or preachers, then, +or at any time, been menaced;[51] of no such danger, at any rate, is +any, the slightest, intimation ever to be found: if any danger awaited +him, it was by himself, by his own restless and insatiable ambition, by +his own overbearing and ungovernable temper, that it was created. Had he +but kept to his agreement; had the whole of the known world, with the +single exception of Judea, been wide enough for him: no danger would +have awaited him:--he and Jerusalem might have remained in peace. + +What service that _they_ could not, could _he_ hope to do to the cause? +For doctrine, they had nothing to do but to report the discourses; for +proof, the miracles which they had witnessed. To this, what could _he_ +add? Nothing, but facts, such as we have seen, out of his own head,--or, +at best, facts taken at second hand, or through any number of removes +from _them_,--and, in an infinity of shapes and degrees, travestied in +their passage. + +In this account, the curious thing is--that upon the face of it, the +Holy Ghost of prophet Agabus is mistaken: nothing happened in the manner +mentioned by him: for, in the same chapter comes the account of what did +happen, or at any rate is, by this same historian, stated as that which +happened:--by no Jews is the owner of the girdle bound: dragged by the +people out of the temple,--by that same people he is indeed attempted to +be killed, but bound he is not: for, with his being bound, the attempt +to kill him is not consistent: binding requires mastery, and a certain +length of time, which killing does not: a single blow from a stone may +suffice for it. + +As to the Jews delivering him unto the hands of the Gentiles,--it is by +the Gentiles that he is delivered out of the hands of the Jews: of the +Jews, the endeavour was--to deprive him of his life; of the Gentiles, to +save it. + + +SECTION 6. + +PLAN OF THE APOSTLES FOR RIDDING THEMSELVES OF PAUL. + +In this important contest, the Holy Ghost of Agabus was predestinated to +yield to the irresistible power of Paul's Lord Jesus. He made his entry +into Jerusalem, Acts 21:17, and the very next day commenced the storm, +by which, after having been on the point of perishing, he was driven, at +last, as far as from Jerusalem to Rome, but the particulars of which +belong not to the present purpose. + +What _is_ to the present purpose, however, is the company, which, upon +this occasion, he saw. James, it may be remembered, was one of the three +Apostles--out of the whole number, the only three who, on the occasion +of the partition treaty, could be prevailed upon to give him the right +hand of fellowship. Into the house of this James he entered: and there +what he saw was an assembly, met together for the purpose, of giving him +the advice, of which more particular mention will be made in its place. +It was--to clear himself of the charge,--a charge made against him by +the Jewish converts,--of teaching all the Jews, which are among the +Gentiles, to forsake Moses, and of inculcating that doctrine by his own +example, Acts 21:20-24. Well! at this assembly who were present? +Answer--the Elders--all of them: of the Apostles with the single +exception of James, at whose house it was held, not one: not even +John,--not even Peter:--the two other Apostles, by whom on their part, +the treaty had been entered into:--Peter, the chief of the +Apostles;--John "the disciple," John 19:26; 20:2; 21:7-20, whom Jesus +loved. The nerves of James it appears, from other tokens besides this, +were of a stronger texture than those of either of these his two +colleagues; he alone stood the brunt. As for Peter, he had been so +"withstood to his face" by Paul on the occasion of his first visit, +that he had no stomach to be so withstood a second time. + +James, it may be remembered, was the Apostle, at whose motion, against +the opinion and speech of Peter, the resolution insisting upon certain +Jewish observances, on the part of heathen converts to the Church, was +carried. + +Here then, in support of the proposition maintained, by James,--here, +was an assembly of the rulers of the Church convened: the Elders--the +elected coadjutors of the Apostles all of them present: of the Apostles +themselves, not one: James excepted, whose presence, it is evident, +could not, on this occasion, be dispensed with. Of this assembly, the +object, and sole object, was--the insisting upon Paul's taking, for the +sake of the peace of the Church, a certain measure. Now, the measure +thus insisted upon, what was it? The clearing himself of a certain +charge then mentioned. And this charge, what was it? A charge--of which, +consistently with truth,--of which without such direct falsehood, as if +committed would be notorious,--he could not clear himself. In this case, +one of two things would absolutely be the result. Either he would be +rash enough to commit the falsehood,--in which case his reputation and +power of disturbing the peace of the Church would be at an end; or, +shrinking from the summons, he would virtually confess himself guilty: +in which case likewise, he would find his situation, in the midst of an +universally adverse multitude, no longer tenable. + +For this clearance, a ceremony was prescribed to him:--a ceremony, the +effect of which was--to declare, in a manner, beyond all comparison, +more solemn and deliberate than that of anything which is commonly +understood by the word _oath_,--that he had not done anything, of that +which he stood charged with having done, and which it could not but be +generally known that he had done. Witness those Epistles of his, which +in another place we shall see, Ch. 12:--Epistles in which he will be +seen, so frequently, and upon such a variety of occasions, and in such a +variety of language, not only proclaiming the needlessness of +circumcision--its uselessness to salvation,--but, in a word, on all +points making war upon Moses. + +No course was so rash, that Paul would shrink from it, no ceremony so +awful, or so public that Paul would fear to profane it. Of the +asseveration, to which he was called upon to give, in an extraordinary +form, the sanction of an oath, the purport was universally notorious: +the falsity, no less so: the ceremony, a solemnity on which the powers +of sacerdotal ingenuity had been exhausted, in the endeavour to render +is efficaciously impressive. Place of performance, the most sacred among +the sacred: act of entrance, universally public, purpose universally +notorious; operations, whatever they were, inscrutably concealed from +vulgar eyes: person of the principal actor occasionally visible, but at +an awful elevation: time, requisite for accomplishment, Acts 21:27, not +less than seven days: the whole ceremony, effectually secured against +frequent profanation, by "charges" too heavy to be borne by the united +power of four ordinary purses.[52] With all the ingredients of the most +finished perjury in his breast,--perfect consciousness, fixed +intentionality, predetermined perseverance, and full view of the +sanction about to be violated,--we shall see him entering upon the task, +and persevering in it. While the long drama was thus acting in the +consecrated theatre, the mind of the multitude was accumulating heat +without doors. The seven days necessary, were as yet unaccomplished, +when indignation could hold no longer: they burst into the sacred +edifice, dragged him out, and were upon the point of putting him to +death, when the interference of a Roman officer saved him, and became +the first link in that chain of events, which terminated in his visit to +Rome, and belongs not to this place. + +Thus much, in order to have the clearer view of the plan of the +Apostles, and of the grounds of it, from which will be seen the +unexceptionableness of it, it seemed necessary for us here to +anticipate. But such rashness, with the result that followed--the +Apostles, in their situation, how could they have anticipated it? + +Baffled, in their former endeavours to keep the invader from entering +the holy city--that holy city, with the peace of which his presence was +so incompatible, such was the course which they devised and embraced +from driving him out of it. For the carrying of this measure into +effect, a general assembly of the governing body of the Church was +necessary. At this assembly had no Apostle been present, it could not, +in the eyes of the Church at large, have been what it was necessary it +should appear to be. Though, of the whole number of the Apostles, no +more than one was present,--yet, his being the house at which it was +held, and the others, whether summoned or no, being expected of course, +by the disciples at large, to be likewise present,--the Elders being +likewise "_all_" of them present,--this attendance was deemed +sufficient: as to the other Apostles--all of them but the one whose +presence was thus indispensable,--abhorrence, towards the man, whose +career had in their eyes commenced with murder, continued in imposture, +and had recently been stained with perfidy,--rendered the meeting him +face to face, a suffering too violent to be submitted to, when by any +means it could be avoided. + +On this occasion, the opinion, which, as we have seen, cannot but have +been entertained by them, concerning Paul and his pretensions to +Revelation, and to a share equal to their own in the confidence of +Jesus,--must not, for a moment, be out of mind. + +The whole fellowship of the Apostles,--all others, to whom, at the time, +anything about the matter was known, believed his story to be, the whole +of it, a pure invention. In their eyes it was a fabrication: though we, +at this time of day--we, who of ourselves know nothing about it, take +for granted, that it was all true. + +For proving the truth of it, all we have are his own accounts of it: his +own accounts, given, some of them, by himself directly: the rest +ultimately, his being the only mouth from which the accounts we have +seen in the _Acts_ could have been derived. Bearing all this in mind, +let us now form our judgment on the matter, and say, whether the light, +in which the Apostles viewed his character and conduct, and the course +pursued by them as above, was not from first to last, not only +conformable to the precepts of their master, but a model of patience, +forbearance, and prudence. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[45] Acts 18:11. "He continued there, at Corinth, a year and six +months."--18. "And Paul tarried there yet a good while, and then took +his leave." + +[46] Acts 19:10. "And this continued by the space of two years; so that +all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews +and Greeks." + +[47] Acts 20:22. "And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto +Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there." + +[48] Acts 20:23. "Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, +saying, that bonds and afflictions abide me." + +[49] Acts 20:24. "But none of these things move me, neither count I my +life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and +the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the +Gospel of the grace of God." + +Acts 21:13. "Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break my +heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem +for the name of the Lord Jesus." + +[50] Gal. ii. 2. "I went up by revelation." + +[51] In Acts 12:1, King Herod is indeed spoken of as having "stretched +forth his hands to vex certain of the Church, and he killed," it is +said, "James, the brother of John, with the sword." Then comes the story +of Peter's imprisonment and liberation. But the cause of these +inflictions had nothing to do with religion: the proof is--nor can there +be a more conclusive one--to no such cause are they attributed. + +[52] Acts 21:23, 24. "We have four men, say the Apostles and Elders, we +have four men which have a vow on them:--Them take, and purify thyself +with them, and be at charges with them." + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + _Paul disbelieved continued.--His Fourth Jerusalem Visit continued. + His Arrival and Reception. Accused by all the Disciples of the + Apostles, he commences an exculpatory Oath in the Temple. Dragged + out by them--rescued by a Roman Commander--sent in Custody to + Rome._ + + +SECTION 1. + +AT JERUSALEM, PAUL IS RECEIVED BY THE ELDERS AND JAMES, BUT BY NO OTHER +APOSTLE. + +Spite of the opposing Holy Ghost,--spite of the Apostles, and their +prophet,--there he is at Jerusalem. Now comes an incident--or say, +rather, a relation--which is altogether curious. + +At "Jerusalem," says the history, "the brethren received us gladly," +Acts 21:17. The brethren? what brethren? the brethren, by whom Agabus, +with his stage-trick, had been sent some sixty or seventy miles' +journey, in the endeavour to keep him at a distance? the thousands of +Jews thereupon immediately mentioned? those Jews, who, though believers +in Jesus, are not the "less zealous of the law," and enraged at Saul +for those breaches of it, with which he is charged? + +That, by such of them, if any, by whom--by the appearance he made, with +his suite, it had happened to be more or less overawed,--that by these, +an appearance of gladness was assumed, seems credible enough: look for +those, by whom he could have been received with real gladness--they will +not, it should seem, be very easy to be found. + +Not, till the next day after his arrival, do Paul and his suite present +themselves to any in authority in this spiritual commonwealth. The first +person, to whom, on this occasion, he presents himself, is James: that +one of the Apostles, who, with the exception of Peter, is the person, +and the only person, with whom Paul has, on the occasion of any of his +visits, been represented as holding converse. Not with this James--not +with any settled inhabitants of Jerusalem--has he had his lodging: only +with Mnason,[53] a man of Cyprus, whom, lest lodging should be wholly +wanting, they had brought with them from Cæsarea. Of this so +extensively apprehended arrival, there had been full time for ample +notice: among the rulers, those, who, as well as James, chose to see +him, were all present. Who were they? the elders--"all the elders." Of +the Apostles, not so much as one, besides James. Let it not be said, +that, under the word _elders_, the Apostles were meant to be included: +on other occasions, on which elders are mentioned, Acts 15:4; 6:23, the +Apostles are mentioned, as forming a body, distinct, as they naturally +would be,--distinct from these same elders. + +Salutations performed, he addresses the assembly in that strain, +which was so familiar to him: boasting upon boasting, and, above +all things, boasting that he does not boast: "declaring," says his +historian;--declaring? what? declaring what was his business at +Jerusalem? declaring what service, in his eyes the cause stood in need +of, at his hands? Not he, indeed: to any such effect, declaration might +not have been altogether so easy. What he declared, and that +"_particularly_," was--what "things God had wrought among the Gentiles +by his ministry." Exactly on this, as on his last preceding visit,--when +all, but himself, were speaking to the question before him--Peter on one +side; after him, James on the other side--nothing, is either he, or his +companion Barnabas, represented as saying, that belongs to the question; +nothing, but "declaring what miracles and wonders, God had wrought among +the Gentiles by them." Between what is represented, as having been said +on the two occasions,--one difference, and no more than one, is visible. +On the former occasion, "miracles and wonders"; on this latter occasion, +no miracles no wonders:--nothing more than _things_. Supposing any of +them particularized--neither miracles nor wonders had, it should seem, +been fortunate enough to obtain credence: for that reason, it should +seem, that, on this occasion, all mention of them is dropped. + +Hearing of these _things_, what did these elders? Being things that +"God," as they were informed, "had wrought," they could do no less than +glorify "the Lord." Acts 21:19-20. As in Paul's Epistles, so here, in +the Acts,--by _the Lord_, it is Jesus, who, as far as it appears, is the +person, all along meant to be designated. Here, _God_, it may be +observed, is the person, by whom everything good, that is done, is done: +Jesus--the Lord Jesus--the person, who is _glorified_ for it. + +To make his boasts, was _his_ business with _them_: but, to subscribe to +those same boasts, was not _their_ business with _him_. + +Their business was--to inform him, of the storm of unpopularity, which +by his audacity he had brought upon himself: to inform him of the storm, +and to point out the only course, which, in their view of the matter, +presented a chance for his escape from it. "Thou seest,"--say +they,--"thou seest how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; +and they are all zealous of the law. And they are informed of thee, that +thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake +Moses; saying, that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither +to walk after their customs," Acts 21:20. "What is it, therefore?" add +they, "the multitude must needs come together: for they will hear that +thou art come." + + +SECTION 2. + +LOW TONE ASSUMED BY HIM ON THIS OCCASION. + +On more accounts than one, remarkable,--and not a little instructive, is +the account we have of this last recorded visit: and, in particular, as +to what concerns the reception he experienced from the ruling powers of +the Church. + +It is, in some particulars, more especially to be depended +upon,--inasmuch as, at this important meeting, the author of the +Acts--if he is to be believed--was himself present. + +The first remarkable circumstance is--that, on this occasion, Paul, the +self-elected Apostle--instead of taking the lead, and introducing his +companions--keeps behind, and is introduced _by them_: such was the +pliancy, with which--even on this expedition, of invasion and projected +conquest,--an expedition,--undertaken, in spite of everything that could +be done, both on the part of the intended objects of the conquest, and +on the part of his own adherents--such was the pliancy, with which this +man, among whose boasts was that of being all things to all men, could +bend himself to circumstances. + +Acts 21:15-18. "And after those days, we took up our carriages, and went +to Jerusalem. There went with us, also, certain of the disciples of +Cæsarea, and brought with them one Mnason of Cyprus, an old disciple, +with whom we should lodge." At Jerusalem, not so much as a house, to +harbour them, could they have been assured of, but for this old +disciple--fellow countryman, of Paul's old patron, the Son of +Consolation, Barnabas. Not even with him could they have been assured of +this token of friendship, had he not either been already of their party, +or detached himself to meet them, and afford them the assurance: +although, at Cæsarea,--from some cause, of which, while the effect is +brought to view, no intimation is given,--they were fortunate enough to +obtain a hospitable reception, Acts 21:8, at the house of Philip. This, +however, be it observed, was not Philip, the Apostle, whether it may +have been Philip, styled here the Evangelist:--one of the seven +trustees, or directors, Acts 6:5, to whom, with his six colleagues, +under the name, so inexpressively rendered, in the English, by the word +_Deacons_,--the management of the common fund had, by the suffrages of +the disciples, been committed, must be left to conjecture. + +17. "And when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren," Acts 21:17, +"received _us_ gladly." What _brethren_? The Apostles, or any one of +them? no: The elders? no. Who then?--Who, but such of the members of the +Church, as, notwithstanding the general repugnancy,--as testified at +Tyre, and afterwards, by prophet Agabus, at Cæsarea,--could, by the +influence of the Cypriot Mnason, or otherwise, be prevailed upon to see +them. + +And, _to_ whom was it, that this sort of reception, whatsoever it was, +was afforded? Was it to Paul? No: it was to _those_, who, on other +occasions, were with _him_; but, with _whom_, on this occasion, his +prudence forced his pride to submit to be. + +Witness the next verse, Acts 21:18; "And the day following," not till +the day following, "Paul went in with us unto James." _With them_--with +these his attendants--did Paul, then and there, go in:--not _they with +him_. + +At the house of James--mark well, now--who were the persons present? +Answer--"all the elders." But, forasmuch as these elders were, _all_ of +them, present,--notice, within the compass of the two fragments of two +days,--notice, to and by all of them must have been given and received: +for it has just been seen, whether, between any of them, on the one +hand,--and Paul, or, so much as any one of his attendants, on the +other,--there could have been any such sort of good understanding, as to +have produced any the least personal intercourse, but at, and on, the +occasion of the general and formal meeting:--a meeting, which--as will +be seen presently--had, for its sole object, the imposing upon him, in +the event of his continuance at Jerusalem, an obligation: an +obligation--to a man in his circumstances--it has been seen, of how +perilous and repulsive a nature. + +Such, then, was the notice, as to have brought to the place, all the +Elders--All the Elders?--good. But, these _Elders_--Elders among the +_disciples in ordinary_,--on an occasion such as this, what were _they_ +in comparison of the Apostles--the only known chosen servants, and +constant companions of Jesus? Well, then, while--at this meeting--this +formally convened meeting--those Elders were, every one of them, +present--what was the number of _Apostles_ present? Answer--Besides +James, not one. + +And--why James?--manifestly, because it was at _his_ house, that the +meeting was held. + +And--why at _his_ house? Because, on the occasion, and for the purpose, +of the _partition treaty_,--that treaty, so necessary to the peace of +the Church,--on the one hand; and, to the carrying on of Paul's scheme +of dominion, on the other hand;--James was one, of the only three, who +could ever endure the sight of the self-declared Apostle: Peter and +John, as hath been seen, being the two others:--and, because, when, for +the purpose of investing the meeting, in the eyes of the disciples at +large, with the character of a meeting of the ruling administrative +body--the Apostles,--less than that one, if there were any, there could +not be. This one, James--under the pressure of the present +emergency--prevailed upon himself to be: and, to be so irksome an +intercourse--notwithstanding the obviousness of the demand for as great +a number, as could be collected, of that primarily influential body--of +no other of the Apostles, could the attendance be obtained: not even of +Peter, who, on a former occasion, had brought himself to endure the +hateful presence. + + +SECTION 3. + +POSTERIOR TO ALL HIS SUPPOSED MIRACLES, HIS SILENCE PROVES THEM UNREAL. + +Now, then, as to _miracles_. Had Paul, really and truly, ever received +from Jesus, any such preeminent and characteristic appendage and mark of +Apostleship,--here, of all others, was an occasion, on which it +concerned him to make proof of it. Here was an occasion, on which, with +the design, and for the purpose--the palpable, and almost universally +and so strenuously opposed design and purpose--of constituting himself +the superior of the Apostles, he was presenting himself--though in +circumstances of such humiliation--in the character of an equal, with +whom they had treated on equal terms. Here--in order to impose silence +on all gainsayers--here was the occasion, for his bringing to public +view, this most important of all items in the list of his credentials. +The Apostles, to whom--without any exception, by Jesus, if the +Evangelist, Mark 16:15-18, is to be believed--this power had, previously +to his ascension, been imparted,--these, if any, were the men--not to +say the only men--qualified to form a judgment on the question--whether, +by any other individual, and, more especially, by the individual before +them, namely, by this their self-declared colleague, any such +extraordinary power had, on any, and what, occasion, been exercised or +possessed. Of all imaginable occasions, this was the one, on which he +had most at stake, in the being able to make proof of so matchless an +endowment:--of an endowment, which in the character of a proof, in +support of all his claims, would, in the very nature of it, have been so +perfectly irresistible. + +Well, then: this proof of his title--did he use every endeavour, or make +any offer, to produce it? No: not so much did he venture upon, as, in +any the most general terms, to assert, or, so much as insinuate, the +existence of it. According to his own statement, what was the general +description of the tokens brought forward by him, for the purpose of +obtaining acceptance? Were they _signs and wonders_? Oh, no! His +historiographer, indeed--in that, or any other such indeterminate, and +conveniently ambiguous phrase--his historiographer, at some twenty or +seven-and-twenty years' distance, might venture, Acts 14:3, to speak of +his exploits--of the effects produced by his exertions: in the like +terms, in writing to his Corinthian disciples, he might, even himself, +venture, for once, to speak of his own exploits.[54] But, before an +assembly, so composed, was this boast, loose, and conveniently +ambiguous, as it was,--in his eyes, too much to venture. Acts +21:19--Behold here the passage: "And when he had saluted them, he +declared particularly"--what? what--signs and wonders? No: but +simply--"what _things_ God had wrought among the Gentiles by his +ministry." + +Had he hazarded so much as the general expression of signs and +wonders--well, and what were these signs and wonders? give us, at any +rate, something by way of a sample of them? In any one of them, was +there anything supernatural? anything--beyond the success, the +extraordinary success--we are to understand, your exertions were +attended with? Questions, to some such effect as this, which, in an +assembly, so composed, had he ventured upon any such expressions, he +could not but have expected to be annoyed with. + +The occurrences which, in the course of it, in the character of +_miracles_, he has ventured to present to view, will have been seen in +their place and order. Yet,--notwithstanding the mention there +respectively and severally made of them--no mention of them does he, in +the account given by him of the meeting, venture to put in his leader's +mouth. Why? because--forasmuch as, by Paul himself, no such pretence was +ventured to be made--the meeting was too important, and too notorious, +to render it safe to advance any such matter of fact; the face being +false; or, that any such pretensions were really made. + +But, hereupon come two questions. + +1. Had any such miracles been really wrought--was it in the nature of +things, that, on this occasion, Paul should have omitted all mention of +them? even so much as the most distant allusion to them? + +2. If any such intimation had really been given, by the historian +himself, is it in the nature of the case, that, on this occasion,--he +having been one of the witnesses, in whose presence they had been +performed,--all mention of such intimation should have been omitted? + +Well, then--suppose that to both these questions, let it but be a +negative answer or the true one, the consequence is plain--no such +miracles were wrought. Yet, in his narrative, has this man--exhibiting +himself, at the same time, in the character of a _percipient_ witness, +in relation to them--ventured to assert the existence, one after +another, of the whole list of these particularized miracles, not to +speak of the cluster of unparticularized ones. + + +SECTION 4. + +ACCUSED BY THE DISCIPLES, HE COMMENCES, AT THE RECOMMENDATION OF +THE APOSTLES, AN EXCULPATORY OATH IN THE TEMPLE. + +Such being in their eyes the danger; now comes their expedient for the +arresting of it. It is an altogether curious one: and among those +persons styled _elders_--all the elders--to every sincere and pious +Christian it will naturally be matter of no small satisfaction that no +one of the whole fellowship of the Apostles is to be found. + +According to the description here given of it, the expedient is of such +a sort, that--but for the occasion on which it is represented as being +proposed,--scarcely would it be possible to divine what is meant; what +it was that was proposed to be done; or, whatever it was, what could be +the use or effect of it? + +"Do therefore this," Acts 21:23, continues the speech attributed to +these elders, "do therefore this that we say to thee: we have four men +which have a vow on them:--Them take, and purify thyself with them, and +be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may +know that those things, whereof they were informed, are nothing; but +that thou thyself also walkest orderly and keepest the law.--As touching +the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they +observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things +offered to idols, and from blood and from fornication.--Then Paul," it +is added, "took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them +entered into the temple to signify the accomplishment of the days of +purification, until that an offering should be offered for every one of +them." + +In the terms of the historian, the matter of the accusation in question +is this: namely, "that thou," speaking to Paul, "teachest all the Jews +which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses": it then divides itself +into two branches: one is--that "they ought not to circumcise their +children"; the other is--that "they ought not to walk after the +customs":--_i. e._, conform to any part of the habitual +observances--acts and forbearances together--prescribed by the Mosaic +law. + +Such is the accusation: such the act charged upon him, in the character +of an offence:--the teaching of the doctrine in question. + +In regard to the question--whether the doctrine he is thus said to have +taught, had really ever been taught by him,--much will depend upon the +difference between simple _permission_ and _prohibition_: in English, +upon the difference between _need not_ and _ought not_. If,--in the +doctrine, the teaching of which is thus charged upon him as a +crime,--simple _permission_ was included--if, in speaking of the +converts in question, the saying was--that they _need_ not circumcise +their children--that they _need_ not walk after these customs--this and +no more;--in this case, that the charge, such as it is, was true, is +altogether out of doubt:--if, on the other hand, the act he was charged +with, went so far as to the teaching that they _ought_ not to circumcise +any of their children, or that they _ought_ not to walk after the +customs prescribed in the Mosaic law--on this supposition, the truth of +the charge will at any rate not be quite so clear as in the other case. + +According to the English translation, that which is charged as an +offence, was not committed, unless, in the doctrine taught, a direct +_prohibition_ was contained: to a doctrine importing nothing more than a +simple _permission_ to abstain from the acts and forbearances in +question, the charge would not have any application. Not thus +unambiguous, however, is the Greek original; either by prohibition, or +by ample permission, might the doctrine charged as criminal have been +taught. + +Such is the description of the obnoxious practice, with which Paul is +here stated as having been charged: the practice by which the odium is +stated as having been incurred. + +But this imaginary guilt, in what view do they mention it as imputed to +him? In this view evidently, viz., that at their recommendation he may +take that course, by which, in their view, he will escape from the wrath +of which he had become the object. The effect thus aimed at is,--that +the indignation of which he is the object, may be made to cease. How +made to cease? in one or other of two ways: for the nature of the case +admits not of any other: either by proving that _that_ which he had +been supposed to have taught, had not in truth ever been taught by him, +and thus, that no such offence as he was charged with, had, in fact, +ever been committed by him; or that, if any such offence had been +committed, the practice recommended might be accepted as an _atonement_: +or rather as an assurance, that whatever in his past conduct had given +them offence, would not be repeated by him in future. + +When the supposed remedial practice has been explained,--then +immediately after comes, we see, a more particular indication of the +good effects, for the production of which it is recommended. These +are--in the first place, that, whatsoever were the doctrines he was +charged with having taught it, it will be generally known that no such +doctrines were ever taught by him: in the next place, that it will in +like manner be known, that by himself no such habitual offence as that +of an habitual violation of the law in question was committed. + +Such are the effects, stated as resulting from his performing the +ceremony, the performance of which was thus recommended to him. + +This ceremony we see: and what we see at the same time is--that it could +not be, in the nature of it, productive of any such effects. + +Here is a certain doctrine, which he had been charged with having +taught. If the case was, that he had taught it; let him have purified +himself ever so purely, whatsoever was meant by purification,--let him +have purified himself ever so completely, let him have paid ever so much +money, let him have shaved his head ever so close,--by any, or all of +all these supposed meritorious acts, how could that be caused, not to +have happened, which in fact had happened? by what means could they +afford proof of his performance of any ceremony, other than those very +same purification ceremonies themselves? + +As to the purpose of furthering the temporal interest of the individual +in question; namely, by removing the load of odium, with which at that +time it seems he was burdened,--how far, in relation to this object, the +expedient promised to be an effectual cure, is more than at this time we +can find any ground for saying: as to any good purposes of any other +kind, that it was not in the nature of it to be productive of any, may +be pronounced without much danger of error. + +Here at any rate was a ceremony--a ceremony the object of which was--to +apply, to the purpose of ensuring obsequiousness, the power of the +religious sanction. + +The object, to which it was meant to apply that form, comes, it may be +seen, under the general denomination of an _oath_. An oath is either +assertory or promissory: if it be an oath of the promissory kind, it is +called a _vow_. An oath which is not a vow cannot respect anything but +what is past: upon that which is past, no human act can any longer +exercise any influence. A _vow_ has respect to something future--to the +future conduct of him by whom the vow is taken: and to this conduct a +man, in and by the taking of the vow, engages to give the form therein +mentioned. + +Whatsoever, therefore, these ceremonies were in themselves,--thus much +seems plain enough, respecting the immediate effect they were designed +to answer: namely, either the delivery of a certain species of +_evidence_, or the entering into an _engagement_ to a certain effect: +the evidence being a denial of the act charged: the engagement, a +promise not to practice any acts of the sort in question in future. + +Whatsoever was the effect looked for, and intended, by the +ceremony,--thus much we know, if the historian is here to be believed: +namely, that, in conformity to the advice, Paul betook himself to the +performance of it. + +But, in so doing, thus much also we know: namely, that he consented to, +and betook himself to one of two things: an act of perjury, if the +effect of the ceremony was to convey an assertion, that he had never +taught, that a Jew, on being converted to the religion of Jesus, _need_ +not circumcise his children, or walk after the Mosaic customs: an act of +apostasy, if the effect of it was an engagement never to teach this same +doctrine in future: an act of apostasy--and for what? only to save +himself from the displeasure entertained towards him on unjust grounds +by a set of ill-advised and inconsistent disciples. + +Under the general head of _Paul's Doctrines_, particular title _Faith +and Works_, it will be seen what pains he had taken, on so many +occasions, to weed out of men's breasts, Gentiles and Jews together, all +regard for the Mosaic law--to cause them, in the words of the charge, +_to forsake Moses_. "By the works of the law," says he in his letter to +the Galatians, Gal. 2:16, "by the works of the law shall no flesh be +justified." + +In this same letter, and in the same paragraph,--he speaks, of a speech +which he had made, of a reproof which, at Antioch, he had given to +Peter:--given to him, at a point of time long before the time here in +question, namely, that of his last preceding visit--his third visit to +Jerusalem,--this being the fourth. Let us see, once more, on what +occasion, and for what cause, this reproof: we shall thereby be the +better enabled to judge--how far, supposing the ceremony to have the +effect of an assertory oath,--how far that oath can have been +conformable to the truth. + +Speaking of Peter, "Time was," he says, "when he did eat with the +Gentiles: but at Antioch, as above, certain persons came from James": +Gal. 2:12, 13, and then it was that "he, Peter, withdrew and separated +himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.--And the Jews," +continues he, "dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also +was carried away with their dissimulation." Of his return to Judaism, or +at any rate of the dissimulation which accompanied it, what is the +judgment which, if he is to be believed, he pronounced? Answer, That in +so doing "they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the +Gospel." Thereupon it is, that he charged Peter with inconsistency, and +reproved him for it: "Because," says he, "he was to be blamed." Gal. +2:14. "When I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the +Gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest +after the manner of the Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest +thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?" + +Before me lies a book by Thomas Lewis, M. A., in four 8vo volumes, +entitled _Origines Hebraicae_. In this book, under titles _Vow_ and +_Purification_, my expectation was, to find some explanation of this +matter: as also of the other _vow_ taken by Paul at Cenchrea, Acts +17:18, in the interval between his third visit to Jerusalem, and this +fourth: but no mention is made of either: nor does anything appear, by +which any light can be reflected upon either. + +On the four men, whom, in pursuance of the recommendation in question, +Paul is said to have taken, that he might "purify himself along with +them," the intended effect of the ceremony in question is said to +be--the making or performance of a _vow_. But, from the circumstance of +its being a vow in their case, it follows not absolutely that it may not +have been an oath--an assertory oath, in his case. + +At Jerusalem, for the taking or performance of a vow, a man was received +into the temple:--a district more extensive by far, it appears, than the +district called _Rules of the King's Bench_ at London: from the account +given by Lewis, as well as by this,--it appears that, on every such +occasion, fees were taken by the priests. As to the four men here in +question--having already, as it is stated, a vow on them, but nothing as +yet done in consequence,--it looks as if it had been by poverty that +they had hitherto been kept from the accomplishment of their purpose: on +which supposition, Paul being the head of a considerable party, and as +such having a command of money,--part of the recommendation seems to +have been--that, to acquire the reputation of liberality, he should open +his purse to these his proposed companions, and pay their fees. + +On the occasion here in question, whatsoever was the purpose and +intended effect of the ceremony, what appears from verse 27, Acts 27, +is--that seven days were regarded as necessary for the accomplishment of +it: no mention of this in Lewis. + +On this occasion, by the author of the Acts, once more is mentioned the +conciliatory decree of the Apostles and Elders. Still, not a syllable +about it is to be found in any Epistle of Saint Paul, or in any other +of the Apostolical Epistles that have come down to us. + +Humanly speaking,--in what motives, in what circumstances, in what +considerations, shall we say, that the causes, final and efficient, of +this temperament--this _mezzo termino_--this middle course--are to be +found? The answer that presents itself is as follows: + +Two stumbling-blocks were to be steered clear of:--the scruples of the +Jewish converts, and the refractoriness of the Gentiles. So far as +regarded abstinence from idolatrous feasts, and from meat with the whole +blood in it, killed and dressed in a manner other than that in practice +among the Jews,--conformity, it was judged, need not be dispensed of, at +the hands of the Gentiles: and, so long as they would be content with +meat killed and dressed after the Jewish mode,--the Jewish teachers +might, without giving offence to their Jewish converts, have the +convenience of partaking of the tables of the Gentile converts. As to +the rest--the endless train of habitual observances, by which so large a +portion of a man's life was occupied and tormented, neither these +permanent plagues, nor the initiatory plague of circumcision, though the +affair of a minute, and performed once for all, were found endurable: +neither upon himself nor upon his children would a man submit to have it +practiced. + +After all, if the author of the Acts is to be believed,--it was by the +Jews of Asia, and not by those of Jerusalem, that, at Jerusalem, the +tumult was raised, by which this purification of Paul's was rendered +incomplete, and his stay at Jerusalem cut short: he being removed for +trial to Rome; at which place the history leaves him and concludes. + +Of the behaviour observed by the Jerusalem Christians, on that +occasion--Apostles, Elders, Deacons and ordinary brethren all +together--nothing is said. Yet, of these there were many thousands on +the spot, Acts 21:20: all of them of course informed of the place--the +holy place,--in which, at the recommendation of the Elders, Paul had +stationed himself. By the Jews of Asia were "all the people on this +occasion stirred up," Acts 21:27: yet, among so many thousands, no +protection, nor any endeavour to afford him protection, for aught that +appears, did he experience. Yet Asia it was, that had been, to the +exclusion of Judaea, the theatre of his labours: from Asia it was, that +the train of attendants he brought with him, were come--were come with +him to these brethren--"the brethren,"--as if it had been said, _all_ +the brethren,--by whom, according to the author of the Acts, they were +"received so gladly." + +At this period ends all that, on the present occasion, it will be +necessary to say, of this last recorded visit to Jerusalem. Of the two +inconsistent accounts said to have been given by him of his +conversion--one to the Jerusalem mob, the other to King Agrippa--full +notice has been taken under the head of his conversion: of the miracles +ascribed to him at Malta, mention is here made, in the chapter allotted +to the history of his supposed miracles. Of any other subsequent acts or +sayings of his, no notice will require to be taken in this place. The +matter here in question has been--the sort of relation, stated as having +had place, between this self-constituted Apostle, and those who beyond +controversy were constituted such by, and lived as such with, Jesus +himself: and to this have incidentally been added the causes, which have +continually been presenting themselves, for suspicion, in respect of the +verity and authenticity, or both, of the history, which, under the name +of the Acts of the Apostles, has come down to us, connected by the +operations of the bookbinder, in the same volume with the several +histories of the four Evangelists, and the Epistles--not only of Paul +himself but of others among the Apostles; and with the work styled, as +if in derision, "_The Revelations_." + + +SECTION 5. + +THE DESIGN OF THIS RECOMMENDATION JUSTIFIED. + +But the Apostles--says somebody--what are we to think of the Apostles? +If by Paul a _perjury_ was thus committed, were they not--all of them +who joined in this recommendation--so many _suborners_ of this same +perjury? + +The answer will, it is hoped, by most readers at least, have been +anticipated.--Yes or no, if so it be, that it was their expectation that +he would commit it: no, assuredly; if it were their expectation--their +assured expectation--that he would _not_ commit it: that, even in his +person, even after all they had witnessed in him, the union of +profligacy and rashness would never soar to so high a pitch. The +necessity they were under, of ridding themselves of his presence was +extreme:--of ridding _themselves_--and, what was so much more, their +_cause_. Stay in the same town, and in the same company with them, he +could not,--without being either their known _adversary_, or their known +_associate_. Their known _adversary_ he could not be, without either +continuing himself to be an object of universal horror, or else +rendering _them_ objects of horror, to the whole body of their +disciples. Their _associate_ he could not be, without involving _them_ +in that odium, with which he himself was, by the confession of his own +adherent and historiographer, covered. Under these circumstances, not to +speak of the cause of mankind, for saving _themselves_ and _their_ cause +from destruction,--what course could they take, so gentle, and at the +same time, to all appearance, so surely effectual, as the proposing to +him this test?--a test, which no man could rationally expect, that any +man in his circumstances would take. + + +SECTION 6. + +DRAGGED OUT OF THE TEMPLE BY JEWS OR CHRISTIANS, HE IS SAVED BY A +GENTILE, NAMELY, A ROMAN COMMANDER. + +With this occurrence concludes so much of Paul's history, as,--for the +purpose of perfecting the demonstration given, of the disbelief +manifested towards his pretensions to a supernatural intercourse with +the Almighty,--it was found necessary here to anticipate. + +In the matter of the chapter--the 13th--in which Paul's supposed +miracles are brought to view,--his history is, as to all those +particulars which seemed necessary to be brought to view for the purpose +of the present inquiry,--deduced to very near the time, at which the +historian of the Acts, having conducted him to Rome, leaves him there: +leaves him there, and with no other notice, than that of his having, at +the time, at which the history closes, passed two years at that capital, +in a sort of ambiguous state between freedom and confinement: waiting to +receive, at the hands of the constituted authorities, the final +determination of his fate. + +Meantime, lest anything should be wanting, that could have contributed +to the elucidation on a point of such supreme importance, follows in the +next chapter a concluding and more particular view of the grounds, on +which, on the occasion of his visit to the temple, the intention of +deliberate perjury was found necessary to be imputed to him. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[53] Acts 21:16. "There went with us also _certain_ of the disciples of +Cæsarea, and brought with them one Mnason of Cyprus, an old disciple, +with whom we should lodge." + +[54] 2 Cor. 12:12. "Truly the signs of an Apostle were wrought among you +in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds." Not that, by +the words assigns and wonders, when used by Paul, anything more was +meant, than what, but a few years after, was, according to him, doing, +or about to be done, by Antichrist. 2 Thess. 2:9. "Even him, whose +coming is, after the manner of Satan, with all powers, and signs, and +lying wonders." _Lying_ is, indeed, the adjunct prefixed, in this +instance; but, lying or not lying, if Paul be believed, they failed not +to produce the effect intended by them. Signs and wonders being such +equivocal thing, no great wonder if--writing at Corinth to nobody knows +what disciples of his at Rome, A.D. 58, Rom. 15:18, 19,--he could +venture, if this was venturing, to speak of what he had been doing in +Jerusalem and Illyricum, in the same terms. "For I will not dare to +speak, says he, of any of those things which Christ has not wrought by +me, to make the Gentiles obedient by word and deed.--Through mighty +signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from +Jerusalem, and round about, unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the +Gospel of Christ." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + _Paul disbelieved continued.--Paul's fourth Jerusalem Visit + continued.--Perjurious was the Purpose of the exculpatory Oath + commenced by him in the Temple._ + + +SECTION 1. + +GENERAL PROOF OF THE PERJURY FROM THE ACTS. + +We have seen the indignation produced by Paul's invasion of the dominion +of the Apostles: we have seen it carried to its height, by his +commencement of, and perseverance in, the exculpatory ceremony, for the +purpose of which he made his entrance, and took up his lodgment in the +temple. We have seen the fruits of that same indignation: we have seen +the general result of them. What remains is--to give a clearer and more +explicit conception, than can as yet have been given, of the _cause_ of +it. + +This was--neither more nor less, than an universal persuasion--that the +assertion,--to which, on his part, this ceremony had for its object the +attaching the sanction of an oath,--was, to his full knowledge, false: +the oath employed being, in its form, beyond comparison more impressive, +than any that has been known to be at any time in use, in this or any +other country: and that, accordingly, the confirmation given to the +falsehood, in and by means of that most elaborate and conspicuous +ceremony, was an act of _perjury_: of perjury, more deliberate and +barefaced, than anything, of which, in these days, any example can have +place. + +That, on this occasion, the conduct of the self-constituted Apostle was +stained with perjury, is a matter, intimation of which has unavoidably +come to have been already given, in more parts perhaps of this work than +one. But, for a support to a charge, which, if true, will of itself be +so completely destructive of Paul's pretensions--of all title to +respect, at the hands of every professor of the religion of Jesus--no +slight body of evidence could have been sufficient. + +For this purpose, let us, in the first place, bring together the several +elementary positions, proof or explanation of which, may be regarded as +necessary, and at the same time as sufficient, to warrant, in this case, +a verdict of _guilty_. + +To these charges, is immediately subjoined such part of the evidence, as +is furnished, by the account of the matter, as given in the Acts: in +another section will be brought to view the evidence, furnished by Paul +himself, in his Epistles. The evidence from the Acts is of the +_circumstantial kind_: the evidence from the Epistles is _direct_. + +1. To Paul was imputed as a misdeed, the having recommended the +forsaking of the Mosaic law. Recommended, namely, to such disciples of +his as, having been born and bred under it, were found by him settled in +some Gentile nation. Proof, Acts 21:21, ... "They," 'the Jews which +believe,' ver. 20, "are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the +Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying, that they +ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the +customs." + +2. To a great extent, the imputation was well grounded: for, to a great +extent, it had been his practice, to give the recommendation thus +described. Of this position the proof will follow presently. + +3. By Paul, the truth of this imputation was utterly denied: denied by +the opposite denegatory assertion: and, the imputation being as above +well grounded,--in so far as any such denegatory assertion had been made +by him, he had knowingly uttered a wilful falsehood. + +4. In proof of the sincerity of this denial, it was proposed to Paul, on +the part of the Apostles and Elders, to give a confirmation of it, by +the performance of a certain appropriate ceremony. + +5. The ceremony thus proposed, was one that was universally understood, +to have the effect of attaching, to any assertion, connected with it for +the purpose, the sanction of an oath. + +6. Knowing such to be the effect of the ceremony, he gave his assent to +the proposition, and determined, by means of it, to attach the sanction +of an oath to such his denial, as above: and thereby, the assertion +contained in that denial, being, as above, to his knowledge, false,--to +commit, in that extraordinary solemn and deliberate form and manner, an +act of perjury. + +7. In pursuance of such determination, he accordingly repaired for that +purpose to the temple and had his abode therein for several days: the +completion of the requisite number being no otherwise prevented, than by +the irruption of the indignant multitude, assured as they were of his +being occupied in the commission of a perjury. + +Proof of charges 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Acts 21:23, 24, 26, 27, 28. + +23. "_We_, the Apostles and the Elders, or at least the Apostle James, +ver. 18, have _four men_, which have a _vow_ on them; + +24. "Them take, and _purify thyself with them_, and be _at charges_ with +them, that ... _all_ may know that those things, whereof they were +informed concerning thee, are _nothing_; but _that_ thou thyself also +walkest orderly, and keepest the law. + +26. "Then Paul took the men, and _the next day purifying himself with +them_ entered into the temple, to _signify_ the accomplishment of the +days of purification, until that an _offering_ should be offered for +every one of them. + +27. "And when the _seven days were almost ended_, the Jews, which were +of Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people, and +laid hands on him. + +28. "Crying out, Men of Israel, help; This is the man, that teacheth all +men everywhere _against_ the people, and _the law_, and this place: and +further brought Greeks also into the temple; and hath _polluted_ this +holy place." + +Of the perjuriousness of Paul's intent, a short proof, namely of the +circumstantial kind, is thus already visible, in the indignation +excited,--its intensity, its immorality, and the bitter fruits of it. +Will it be said no? for that the indignation had, for its adequate +cause, his being thought to have spoken slightingly of the law in +question--it being the law of the land,--and that, to this imputation, +the ceremony, it being, as above the performance of a _vow_, had no +reference? Assuredly no: no such interpretation will be found tenable. +True it is, that, by the persuasion, that he had thus been dealing by +the Mosaic law,--by this persuasion, without need of anything else, the +indignation may well have been produced: but it could only have been by +the knowledge, that, upon his having been called upon to confess the +having so done, or to deny it, he had, in this most extraordinary and +universally conspicuous mode, given continuance and confirmation to his +denial--it could only have been by _this_ knowledge, that the excitement +was raised up to so high a pitch. For, What was it that the information +had charged him with? It was the forsaking Moses. What was the purpose, +for which the recommendation was given to him--the recommendation to +perform this ceremony? It was the _purifying_ himself, "that all might +know" that the information was groundless. "That those things," say the +Apostles with the Elders to him, "whereof they," the thousands of Jews +which believe, ver. 20, "were informed against thee were +_nothing_:"--"to _purify thyself_," says the official translation: more +appositely might it have said _to clear thyself_: for in that case, the +idea of an _imputation_ would clearly enough, though but implicitly, +have been conveyed: whereas, to some minds, the idea conveyed by the +word _purify_ may perhaps be no other than that of some _general_ +cleansing of the whole character, by means of some physical process, to +which, in so many minds, the psychological effect in question has, by +the influence of artifice on weakness, been attached. + +Such then, namely, the clearing himself of the imputation by so solemn a +confirmation of the denial of it,--such was the purpose, for which, in +the most unequivocal terms, his performance of the ceremony was +recommended: such, therefore, was the purpose for which it was +commenced; such, accordingly, was the purpose for which it would have +been consummated, but for the interruption which it experienced: +experienced not from his hands, but from hands among which, there seems +sufficient reason to believe, were the hands, if not of the very persons +by whom it had been recommended, at any rate of those who till that time +had been in use to be guided by their influence. + +To this interpretation, what objection is there that can be opposed? If +any, it can only be that which to some minds may perhaps be suggested by +the word _vow_. + +But the fact is--this word _vow_ is a mistranslation: the proper word +should have been _oath_. By an oath everyone understands at first +mention an _assertory_, not a _promissory_, declaration: by a _vow_, a +_promissory_, not an _assertory_ one. But an _assertory_ declaration, as +every one sees, is the only sort of declaration, that admits of any +application to the case in question. By nothing that, in Paul's +situation, a man could _promise_ to do, in addition to the performance +of the ceremony, could any evidence be given, of a man's having, or not +having, done so and so, in any time _past_. + +That by that which was actually done, that which was essential was +considered as having been done,--is proved, by what is put into Paul's +mouth in relation to this subject, in his defence against the accusation +brought afterwards against him, before the Roman governor _Felix_, by +the spokesman of the Jewish constituted authorities, _Tertullus_. There +it is, that, beyond all doubt, what he is speaking of, is his CLEARANCE, +as above: for there also, the word in the official translation, as well +as in the Greek original, is _purified_: in the past tense, purified. +This being assumed, it follows, as a necessary consequence, that either +in the course of that part, which at the time of the irruption, was +already elapsed of the _seven days'_ ceremony, in the temple; or, what +seems more probable, antecedently to the commencement of it, a +denegatory declaration--a declaration denying the fact charged in the +accusation,--had been made: for, that the ceremony itself was never +accomplished, is what is expressly stated:--of the term of seven days +stated as necessary to the accomplishment of it, no more than a part, it +is said, had elapsed, when the final interruption of it took place. + +To return to the time of Paul's entrance into the temple. + +Thus, as hath been seen, stands the matter, even upon the face of the +official English translation. But in verse 26, the word employed in the +Greek original, removes all doubt. "Then," says the translation, "Paul +took the men, and the next day _purifying himself_ with them, entered +into the temple." Purifying himself, in the present tense, says the +translation: and, even this alone taken into consideration, the +purifying process, whatever it was, might be supposed to have been but +commenced before the entrance into the temple, and as being thus as yet +in pendency, waiting the exit out of the temple for its accomplishment. +Thus it is, that, in the translation, the verb is in the present tense, +_purifying himself_: but, in the Greek original, it is in the past +tense, _having purified_ himself: so that, in the original, the +purification, whatever it may have been, is in express terms stated as +having, even before his entrance into the temple, already accomplished. + +Note that, if the historian is to be believed, he had on this occasion, +the fullest opportunity, of being, in the most particular manner, +acquainted with everything that passed. For, when, as above, the +recommendation was given to Paul, on his appearance before the Apostle +James and the Elders,--he, the historian, was actually present, "And the +day following," says he, Acts 21:18, "_Paul went in with us unto James_; +and all the Elders were present." + +Supposing _that_ the true interpretation,--of what use and effect then, +it may perhaps be asked, was the ceremony, of which the temple was the +theatre? The answer has been already given. It cannot have been any +other than the attaching, to the declaration that had been made, the +sanction, of an oath. Without the ceremony performed in the temple, the +declaration was a declaration _not_ upon oath, and as such not regarded +as sufficient evidence:--evidence, in the shape which, the historian +says, had been actually required for the purpose: when the ceremony, of +which the temple was the theatre, had been gone through, and the last of +the number of days, required for its accomplishment had been +terminated;--then, and not before, it was regarded as having been +converted into the appropriate and sufficient evidence. Thus it was, +that this seven days' ceremony was no more than an elaborate substitute +to the English ceremony of kissing the book, after hearing the dozen or +so of words pronounced by the official functionary. + +On this occasion, the Greek word rendered by the word _vow_, is a word +which in its ordinary sense was, among Gentiles as well as Jews, exactly +correspondent to our word _prayer_. But, the idea denoted by the word +_prayer_, applies in this case with no less propriety to an _assertory +oath_ than to a _promissory vow_. Directly and completely, it designates +neither. In both cases an address is made to some supposed supernatural +potentate: in cases such as the present, beseeching him to apply the +sanction of punishment to the _praying_ individual, in the event of a +want of sincerity on his part: in this case, in the event of his not +having done that which, on this occasion, he declares himself to have +done, or, what comes to the same thing, his having done that which he +declares himself _not_ to have done: in the other case, in the event of +his not doing that which he has promised to do, or doing that which he +has promised _not to do_.[55] + +All this while, it is not in a direct way, it may be observed, that this +word _vow_ is employed, and application made of it to Paul's case: not +in speaking of Paul himself in the first instance, but after speaking of +the _four other men_, whom it is proposed he should take for his +comrades, on his entrance into the temple. "We have four men," James and +the Elders are made to say, Acts 21:23, 24, "We have four men which have +a vow on them: Them take, and purify thyself with them ... that ... all +may know, that those things, whereof they," the multitude, ver. 22, +"were informed concerning thee, are nothing": no otherwise, therefore, +than by the case these four men were in, is the case designated, in +which it is proposed to Paul to put himself. + +As to the case these four men were in,--no otherwise than on account of +its connection with the case Paul was in,--is it in anywise of +importance. As probable a supposition as any seems to be--that of their +being in the same case with him: accused, as well as he, of teaching +"Jews to forsake Moses:" for, between their case and his, no intimation +is given of any difference: and, as the _"purifying himself"_ is what is +recommended to him, so is it what they are stated, as standing +eventually engaged to do on their part. If then, in _his_ instance, +purifying himself means--clearing himself of a charge made against +_him_,--so in their instance must it naturally, not to say necessarily, +have meant--clearing themselves of some charge made against _them_. +Moreover, when, as above, he is, in the Greek original, stated as having +actually purified himself, before his entrance into the temple, so are +they likewise; for it is "_with them_," that his purification is stated +as having been performed. + +This being assumed, it might not be impossible to find a use for the +word _vow_, even in its proper sense--its _promissory_ sense: for, what +might be supposed is--that before the entrance into the temple, at the +same time with the _denegatory declaration_, a _vow_ was made--a solemn +_promise_--to enter into the temple, and back of the declaration with +the sanction of an oath, by going through the ceremony. But, forasmuch, +as, in the import of the Greek word, no such idea, as that of a +_promise_, is comprised,--the only use of this interpretation would +be--to save the translators from the imputation of an impropriety, with +which it seems rather more probable that they stand chargeable. + +All this while, of Paul's conduct on this occasion, to what part was it +that the blame belonged?--Surely, not to the endeavour, to wean men from +their attachment to the Mosaic laws: for thus far he copied Jesus; and +in copying did not go against, but only beyond, the great original. True +it is, that, in so doing, he served his own personal and worldly +purposes: not less so, that, in this subserviency, he found the +inducement by which his conduct was determined: for, by how much +stronger men's attachment would continue to be to the dead lawgiver, by +so much, less strong would it be to the living preacher. But, in so far +as a man's conduct is serviceable to mankind at large, it certainly is +not rendered the less serviceable, or the less laudable, by his being +himself included in the number. The blame lay then--not in teaching men +to forsake Moses: for, thus far, instead of being blame-worthy, there +was nothing in his conduct, that did not merit positive praise. What +there was amiss in his conduct--in what, then, did it consist? Plainly +in this, and this alone: namely, that, on being taxed with having so +done,--instead of avowing and justifying it, he denied it: and, having +denied it, scrupled not to add to the falsehood the aggravation of such +extraordinarily deliberate and solemn perjury, as hath been so plainly +visible. And, to what purpose commit so flagrant a breach of the law of +morality? Plainly, to no other, than the fixing himself in Jerusalem, +and persevering in a project of insane and selfish ambition, which, in +spite of the most urgent remonstrances that could be made by his most +devoted adherents, had brought him thither: for, he had but to depart in +peace, and the Apostles of Jesus would have remained unmolested, and the +peace of Christendom undisturbed. + +An article of evidence, that must not be left unnoticed,--is the part +taken, on this occasion, by the historiographer. Nowhere does this +eyewitness take upon himself to declare,--nowhere so much as to +insinuate--that of the charge, thus made upon his hero, there was +anything that was not true: nowhere does he so much as insinuate, that +the declaration by which he says Paul had cleared himself of the charge, +and, as we have seen, _before_ his entrance into the temple for the +purpose of enforcing it by the sanction of an oath,--was anything short +of a downright falsehood. After this, he makes a defence for Paul before +Felix;[56] he makes a defence for Paul before Festus;[57] he makes a +defence for Paul before Festus and Agrippa;[58] and, on no one of all +those occasions, is the defence anything to the purpose. He, indeed, +makes Paul declare, that he, Paul, had always been a strict observer of +the Mosaic ordinances. This may have been either true or false: but, +true or false, it was equally foreign to the purpose. Not improbably, it +was, in a considerable degree, true: for if, while he gave to other Jews +his assurance, that the operations in question, burthensome as they +were, were of no use, he himself continued to bear the burthen +notwithstanding,--the persuasiveness of his advice would naturally be +augmented by the manifestation thus given of disinterestedness. It may +accordingly have been true: but, false or true, it was equally foreign +to the purpose: the question was--not what he had done himself; but what +he had recommended it to others to do. + + +Thus--from everything that appears, by all such persons as had the best +means of information--the charge made upon him was _believed_,--let it +now be seen, whether we should not be warranted in saying, _known_,--to +be true. + +As to "_The Jews of Asia_,"--and the mention made of this class of men, +as the instigators of the tumult--can any support be derived from it, +for the inference, that it was by something else in Paul's conduct, and +not by any such perjury as that in question, that the vent, thus given +to the indignation, was produced?[59] No, assuredly: altogether +inconsistent would any such supposition be, with the main part of the +narrative. Whoever were the persons with whom the manual violence +originated;--whatever were the reproaches cast upon the invader on other +grounds;--the purpose--the sole purpose--for which he entered upon the +ceremony, is rendered as plain as words can make it. It was the +clearing himself of the charge of teaching Jews to forsake Moses: and, +supposing the fact admitted, everything, in the way of justification, +being, before such a tribunal, manifestly inadmissible,--of no such +charge was it possible for him to clear himself, without denying the +truth of it. But, according to the historian, to confirm this denial, by +the solemnity, whatever it was,--was the purpose, and the sole purpose, +of it: of this, the negative assertion, contained in the denial, being +untrue, and, by him who made it, known to be so,--confirming such +denial, by the solemnity,--call it _oath_--call it _vow_--call it +anything else,--was committing an act of perjury: and, to believe that +such his denial was false, and yet not believing him guilty of +perjury--at any rate, on the supposition of the accomplishment of the +solemnity--was not possible. How numerous so ever may have been the +other causes of provocation, given by him--how numerous so ever, the +different descriptions of persons to whom they had been given;--no +disproof could, by all of them put together, be given, by this +solemnity, to the denial in question,--supposing it false. + +To the present purpose, the only question is--whether, by Paul, on the +occasion in question, an act of perjury was, or was not, committed? +not--what was the cause, whether that, or any other, of any indignation +of which he was the object. Even therefore, might it be allowed, that a +_vow_, in the sense of which it is contradistinguished from an _oath_, +was performed by him, or about to be performed,--still it would not be +the less undeniable, that it was for the purpose of converting the +simple declaration into a declaration upon oath, that he entered upon +the solemnity: and that, therefore, if in the simple declaration there +was anything to his knowledge false, the consequence is--that by his +converting it into a declaration upon oath, he rendered himself guilty +of perjury. + +The observation, thus applied, to what is said of the "_Jews of Asia_," +will be seen to be applicable, and, with equal propriety, to what is +said about his being charged with "bringing _Greeks into the temple_:" +and, in particular, about his being supposed to have brought in "_The +Ephesian Trophimus_:" and moreover, what may, in this last case, be +observable, is--that this about the Greeks is expressly stated as being +a _further_ charge, distinct from the main one: nor yet is it so much as +stated, that, by any such importation, to what degree so ever offensive, +any such effect, as that signified by the word _pollution_ was produced. + +Not altogether destitute of probability seems the supposition, that +these two circumstances--about the Jews of Asia, and about +Trophimus--may have been thrown in, by this adherent of Paul's, for the +purpose of throwing a cloud of confusion and obscurity over the real +charge: and if so, the two circumstances, with the addition of the three +different defences, put into the hero's mouth, on the three several +occasions of the endeavour,--must be acknowledged to have been employed, +not altogether without success. + +Here then closes that part of the evidence, which, to the purpose of a +judgment, to be passed at this distance of time from the facts, may be +considered as so much _circumstantial_ evidence: in the next section may +be seen that part, which comes under the denomination of direct +evidence. + + +SECTION 2. + +PROOF FROM THE EPISTLES. + +We come now to the _direct_ evidence: that evidence--all of it from +Paul's own pen:--all of it from his own Epistles. It consists in those +"teachings to forsake Moses," which will be now furnished, in such +unequivocal terms and such ample abundance, in and by those fruits of +his misty and crafty eloquence:--in the first place, in his letter to +the disciples, which he had made, or hoped to make at Rome:--date of it, +according to the received chronology, about four years anterior to the +time here in question:--in the next place, in two successive letters to +the disciples, whom, it appears, he had made at Corinth:--both these +addresses, set down, as belonging to the same year as the one to the +Romans. Moreover, in his so often mentioned Epistle to the Galatians, +matter of the same tendency is to be found. But, this last being, +according to that same chronology, of a date posterior by some years to +the time, at which the charge of having preached the sort of doctrine in +question was, on the present occasion, made,--it belongs not to the +present question, and is therefore left unemployed. And, in the same +case, is some matter that might be found in his Epistles to the +Thessalonians. + +1. First then as to the Mosaic "law and customs," taken in the +aggregate. + +On this subject, see in the first place what the oath-taker had said to +his _Romans_. + + + Rom 15:14. "I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there + is nothing unclean of itself; but to him that esteemeth anything to + be unclean, to him it is unclean."--17. "For the kingdom of God + is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the + Holy Ghost." + + Rom 3:20. "_By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be + justified_ in his, God's sight; for by the law is the knowledge of + sin." + + Rom. 3:27, 28, 29, 30, 31. "Where is boasting then? It is excluded. + By what law? of works? Nay; but by the law of the faith.-- + Therefore, we conclude, that _a man is justified by faith without + the deeds of the law_.--Is _he_ the God of the Jews only? is + _he_ not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:-- + Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by + faith, and uncircumcision through faith.--_Do we then make void_ + _the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law._" + + Rom. 10:9. "... if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord + Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him + from the dead, thou shalt be saved.[60]--12. For there is no + difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over + all is rich unto all that call upon him.--For whosoever shall + call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."[61] + + Rom 14:2. "... one believeth that he may eat all things: another + who is weak, eateth herbs.--Let not him that eateth despise him + that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that + eateth; for God hath received him.--_One man esteemeth one day + above another: another esteemeth every day alike._[62]" + + 1 Cor. 6:12. "_All things are lawful unto me_, but all things are + not expedient:" or _profitable_ margin, "all things are lawful for + me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.--_Meats + for the belly_, and _the belly for meats_; but God shall destroy + both it and them." + + 1 Cor. 8:8. "But _meat commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we + eat, are we the better; neither if we eat not, are we the + worse_.--Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will + eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to + offend." + + 1 Cor. 9:19-23. 19. "For though I be free from all men, yet have I + made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.--_And + unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews_; to + them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain + them that are under the law:--_To them that are without law, as + without law_, being not without law to God but under the law to + Christ, _that I might gain them that are without law_.--To the + weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all + things to all men, that I might by all means save some.--And + this I do for the Gospel's sake, that I might be partaker thereof + with you." + + 2 Cor. 3:12 to 17. "Seeing then that we have such hope, we use + great plainness of speech.--And not as _Moses, which put a vail + over his face, that the children of Israel could not steadfastly + look to the end of that which is abolished_.--But their minds + were blinded; for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken + away in the reading of the Old Testament; which vail is done away + in Christ.--But even unto this day, _when Moses is read, the + vail is upon their heart_.--Nevertheless _when it shall turn to + the Lord, the vail shall be taken away_.--Now the Lord is that + spirit; and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." + +Now as to _circumcision_ in particular. + + Rom. 2:25, 26, 27, 28, 29. "For _circumcision verily profiteth, if + thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy + circumcision is made uncircumcision.--Therefore if the + uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his + uncircumcision be counted for circumcision?_--And shall not + uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge + thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the + law?--For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly, neither is + that circumcision which is outward in the flesh:--But he is a + Jew, which is one inwardly: and circumcision is that of the heart, + in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, + but of God." + + Rom. 3:1, 2. "What advantages then hath the Jew? or what profit is + there of circumcision?--Much every way: chiefly, because that + unto them were committed the oracles of God." + + Rom. 4:9, 10, 11, 12. "_Cometh this blessedness then upon the + circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also?_ for we say + that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness.--How was + it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in + uncircumcision. Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.--And + he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness + of the faith which _he had yet_ being uncircumcised: that he might + be the father of all them that believe, though they be not + circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them + also:--And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the + circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of + our father Abraham, which he had being _yet_ uncircumcised." + + Rom. 15:8. "Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the + circumcision for the truth of God to confirm the premises made unto + the fathers." + + 1 Cor. 7:18. "Is any man called being circumcised? let him not + become uncircumcised. _Is any called in uncircumcision? let him not + be circumcised.--Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is + nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God._" + +From any one individual, who, in either of these distant cities, had +seen any one of these same Epistles,--let it now be seen whether +information of their contents, supposing it credited, would not have +sufficed to produce those effects, the existence of which is so +unquestionable. Not but that the same rashness, which suffered him to +furnish such abundant evidence against himself in those distant regions, +could scarce fail to have given birth to credence in abundance, of +various sorts, and of a character, which, on that occasion, would be +much more impressive. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[55] On this occasion, supposing the purpose of this ceremony to be, as +here contended, no other than that of applying, to a declaration +concerning a matter of fact, the supernatural penal sanction, by which +it was converted into an oath,--a natural enough subject of inquiry +is--to what cause is to be attributed the extraordinary length thus +given to it?--seven days at the least; to which, upon examination, would +be found virtually added, as much greater a length of time, as the holy +person, to whose custody the oath-taker consigned himself, might be +pleased to prescribe. Answer, without difficulty,--the affording time +and pretence for the exaction of his _surplice fees_:--namely, those +established by law,--with the addition of others, to as large an amount, +as the need which the oath-taker had of the accommodation thus to be +afforded to him, could engage him to submit to. As to the length of +time,--in the passage in question, the translation exhibits some +obscurity: nor is it altogether cleared up by the original. A +determinate number of days, to wit, seven, is indeed mentioned, ver. 27, +but immediately before this, ver. 26, comes a passage, from whence it +seems unquestionable, that, whatever were the time a man had been thus +detained, he was not to be let out, until, over and above what good +things it had been made necessary he should bring in with him, a further +payment, and as it should seem, in a pecuniary shape, had been made: "to +signify," says ver. 26, "the accomplishment of the days of purification, +until that an offering should be offered for every one of them." "And +when _the seven_ days were _almost_ ended," continues ver. 27: +immediately after which comes the account of the tumult, by which they +were prevented from being _quite_ ended. + +As to the phrase--"_to signify the accomplishment of the days_," what +seems to be meant by it is--to make known when the number requisite for +the completion of the train of operations had been _accomplished_. But, +to make known when that number had been _accomplished_, it was +previously requisite to make known when it had _commenced_: and, for +making _this_ known, the act, probably a public one, of making entrance +into the temple, was employed. + +As to the origin, as well as particular nature, of the ceremony,--though +no such word as _Nazarite_ is here employed, on turning to the Book of +_Numbers_, chapter the sixth, it will be manifest, that the ceremony +here in question is the same as that, by which, according to the receipt +there given, any man whatever, whether, and any woman also, must be left +to conjecture, might be converted into a _Nazarite_. _Nazarite_ is from +a Hebrew word, which meant originally neither more nor less than a +person _separated_. A person consigned himself to the custody of "_the +priest of the congregation_:" or, as we should now say, the _parson of +the parish_. The ceremony accomplished, the patient was thereby put into +a state of appropriate sanctity: and, from this metamorphosis, as the +priest and the Nazarite could agree, any inference might be drawn, and +any purpose at pleasure accomplished. Neither to the _extent_ of the +inference, nor therefore to the _purpose_ designed, were any limits +visible. Everything depended upon the priest: for, though of certain +particular operations made requisite, a most particular list is given, +all of them of the most insignificant character in themselves, yet so +thickly and so plainly sown are the seeds of _nullity_, that, when all +the appointed fees, of which there is also an enormous list[IV.], had +been paid, it would still lie at the option of the priest, to pronounce +the whole procedure null and void, unless, and until any such final +compliment as he chose to expect, were paid to him. Among the most +obviously, as well as extensively convenient purposes, to which it was +capable of being applied, is this of which the present case affords an +example: namely, the manufacturing of evidence: could he but find means +to satisfy the priest, a man might, to all legal purposes, and even to +the satisfaction of all appropriately disposed minds, prove, and with +conclusive effect, any thing to be false, which everybody knew to be +true. By fabrication, falsification, or suppression of evidence, what is +the right that may not be usurped? what is the wrong that may not, with +success and impunity, be committed? + +In the Mosaic law, immediately before _this_ institution Numbers, chap. +5., comes another, by means of which every man, who was tired of his +wife, might, in another way, with the assistance of a priest--and, for +aught that appears, any priest--clear himself of that incumbrance. All +the man had to do was--to _say_ he was "_jealous_" of her: the priest +thereupon took charge of her. If priest and husband were agreed, "_the +water of jealousy_" did its office: if not, the woman remained +imprisoned. Against the superhuman evidence, afforded by the purifying +process here in question, no quantity of human evidence was to be +available. In like manner, to warrant this poisoning process, not any +the smallest particle of human evidence was necessary: the case in which +it is to be performed, is "_if there be no witness against her, neither +she be taken_," says the text, _Numbers_ 5. 13. Verily, verily, not +without sufficient cause, did Jesus, from first to last, take every +occasion, to weaken the attachment of the people, to a system of law, of +which those institutions afford two, among so many samples. Yet, while +in the very act of depreciating it, is he represented as declaring his +purpose to be the _fulfilling it_: Matt. 5. 17. for, such was the verbal +veil, which the prejudices he had to encounter, rendered it necessary to +him at the moment, to throw over the tendency of his endeavors. Fulfill +the very law he was preaching against? Yes: but in one sense only: +namely, by fulfilling--not the real purpose of it,--the establishment of +the corrupt despotism of the priesthood,--but the professed purpose of +it, the good of the community: in regard to the law, fulfilling, in a +word, whatever there was that was good in it, whatever there was that +deserved to be fulfilled. Jesus, in whose opinion death was too severe a +punishment, for a wife, in the case of a breach, on _her_ part, of a +contract, the breach of which was by the _other_ contending party +practised with impunity--Jesus, who accordingly, in saving the offender, +exposed to merited disgrace the sanguinary law--was doubtless still +further from approving, that parish priests, in unlimited numbers, +should poison innocent women for the accommodation of their husbands, or +sell licenses to commit every imaginable wrong by perjury. + +_Vow_ is _oath_: this is not the only occasion, in which the +self-constituted Apostle, if his historiographer is to be believed, took +the benefit, whatever it was, of this ceremony. In Acts 18:16, he +"_shaved his head_," it is said, at Cenchrea:--why?--"for he had a vow +upon him." What the vow was, we are not told; this, however, we know, as +well from Acts 21:26, as from Numbers 6, he could not have got anything +by it, had the parson of the parish of Cenchrea been otherwise than +satisfied with the "_offering_" that was made. + +[IV.] In the bargain between vow-maker and vow-sanctifier, the following +list of fees, provided for sanctifier, by _Excellent Church_ of that +country, in those days whatever they were,--may serve to show the use of +it to one of the contracting parties. To complete our conception of the +nature and effects of the arrangement, nothing is wanting, but that +which so unhappily must for ever remain wanting--a history of the +_purposes_, to which from the commencement of the government to the +dissolution of it, the solemnity had been applied on the vow-maker's +side. Of these purposes, we must content ourselves as well as we can +with the sample, for which we are here indebted to the author of the +Acts. The table of fees is as follows: + +It is extracted from the Book of Numbers, chapter 6:1 to 21. + +Fees to be paid in all cases: fees liquidated in quantity, and thence in +value. + + { 1. He lamb of the first year, one. + I. { 2. Ewe-lamb of the first year, one. + { 3. Ram without blemish, one. + +Fees, not liquidated in quantity, and thus left to be liquidated in +quantity, and thence in value, by the will of the priest. + + { 4. Basket of unleavened bread, one. + { 5. Parcel of cakes of fine flour mingled with oil. + II. { 6. Parcel of wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil, one. + { 7. Meat-offering, one. + { 8. Drink-offerings--numbers and respective quantities not + liquidated. + +Fees payable, on a contingency: a contingency not describable without +more time and labour, than would be paid for by the result. + + III. { 9. Turtle-doves or pigeons, two. + { 10. Lamb of the first year, one. + +IV. Mysterious addition, the liquidation of which must be left to the +Hebrew scholar. Ver. 21. "Besides _that_ that his hand shall get:" +(whose hand? priest's or vow-maker's?) "according to the vow which he +vowed, so he must do after the law of his separation:"--probable +meaning, according to the purpose, for which he performed the +ceremony--the advantage which he looked for from it. + +Moreover, by any one whose curiosity will carry him through the inquiry, +causes of _nullity_ may be seen as sedulously and copiously provided, as +if by the _astutia_ of an English judge, or pair of judges, to whose +profit the fees were to be received: effect of the nullity, of course, +repetition; necessity of repeating the process, as in case of _new +trial_ or _arrest of judgment_, with the fees. + +Religion was thus no less aptly served at Jerusalem, under Mosaic +institutions,--than Justice is to this day, under matchless constitution +and English institutions, at Westminster. + +[56] Paul at the suit of Tertullus, A.D. 60. Acts 24:1, 2, 5, 6, 9, 11, +18. + +"And after five days Ananias the high priest descended with the elders, +and with a certain orator named Tertullus, who informed the governor +against Paul.--And when he was called forth, Tertullus began to accuse +him,--Saying, We have found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of +sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of +the sect of the Nazarenes:--Who also hath _gone about to profane the +temple_; whom we took, and would have judged according to our law.--And +the Jews also assented, saying, that these things were so.--Then Paul, +after that the governor had beckoned unto him to speak, answered,--Thou +mayest understand, that they are yet but twelve days since I went up to +Jerusalem for to worship.--Whereupon certain Jews from Asia _found me +purified in the temple_, neither with multitude nor with tumult." + +[57] Paul before Festus alone, A.D. 60. Acts 25:7, 8. + +"And when he was come, the Jews which came down from Jerusalem stood +round about, and laid many and grievous complaints against Paul, which +they could not prove:--While he answered for himself, Neither against +the law of the Jews, neither against the temple, nor yet against Caesar, +have I offended anything at all." + +[58] Paul before Festus and Agrippa, A.D. 62. Acts 26:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, +7, 20, 21. + +"Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Thou art permitted to speak for thyself. +Then Paul stretched forth the hand, and answered for himself:--I think +myself happy, King Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself this day +before thee, touching all the things whereof I am accused of the +Jews;--Especially because I know thee to be expert in all customs and +questions which are among the Jews; wherefore I beseech thee to hear me +patiently.--My manner of life from my youth, which was at the first +among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews;--Which knew me +from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most +straightest sect of our religion, I lived a Pharisee.--And now I stand +and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our +fathers:--Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God +day and night, hope to come. For which hope's sake, King Agrippa, I am +accused of the Jews.--20. But showed first unto them of Damascus and at +Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judea, and then to the +Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for +repentance.--For these causes, the Jews _caught me in the temple_, and +went about to kill me." + +[59] "And when the seven days were almost ended," says Acts 21:27, "_the +Jews which were of Asia_, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up +all the people, and laid hands on him." + +[60] A cheap enough rate this, at which salvation is thus put up. Of +what use then morality? Of what use is abstinence from mischievous acts, +in what degree so ever mischievous? "Oh! but," says somebody, "though +Paul said this, he meant no such thing:" and then comes +something--anything--which it may suit the defender's purpose to make +Paul say. + +[61] Another receipt for making salvation still cheaper than as above. +Not so Jesus. Matt. 7:21: "_Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, +Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven_; but he that doeth the +will of my Father which is in heaven." + +[62] Behold here the degree of importance attached by Paul to +_sabbaths_. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + More Falsehoods.--Resurrection Witnesses multiplied.--World's End + predicted.--To save credit, Antichrist invented. + + +SECTION 1. + +RESURRECTION-WITNESSES MULTIPLIED. + +After what has been seen of the seven days' course of perjury, proofs of +simple falsehood will be apt to appear superfluous. To make certainty +more sure, two preeminent ones shall, however, be brought to view. They +may have their use, were it only as examples of the palpableness, of +those falsehoods, which, for so many hundreds of years, and through so +many generations of commentators, are, under favourable circumstances, +capable of remaining undetected. The extravagance of the addition, made +by the audacious stranger, to the number of the Resurrection-witnesses, +as given by themselves:--the predicted end of the world in the prophet's +own lifetime,--and the creation of Antichrist for the purpose of putting +off that catastrophe,--may even be not altogether unamusing, by the +picture they will give, of that mixture of rashness and craftiness, +which constitutes not the least remarkable, of the ingredients in the +composition of this extraordinary character. Moreover, Antichrist being +in the number of the bug-bears, by the images of which many an enfeebled +mind has not yet ceased to be tormented;--putting an extinguisher upon +this hobgoblin may have the serious good effect, of calming a mass of +disquietude, which how completely soever groundless, is not the less +afflicting, to the minds into which it has found entrance. + +First, as to the resurrection-witnesses. In relation to a fact of such +cardinal importance, the accounts which have reached us from the four +biographers of Jesus are not, it must be confessed, altogether so clear +as could have been wished. But, on so ample a subject, howsoever +tempting the occasion, anything that could here be offered, with any +promise of usefulness, would occupy far too much space, and be by much +too wide a digression from the design of the present work.[63] + +Sufficient to the present purpose will be the observation, that nothing +can be more palpably or irreconcileably inconsistent with every one of +them, than the amply and round number, thus added by the effrontery of +this uninformed stranger, to the most ample that can be deduced from any +of the accounts, thus stated as given by the only description of +persons, whose situation would give to their testimony the character of +the best evidence. + +Behold now the account of the number and of the persons in Paul's own +words. It is in the fifteenth chapter of the first of his two letters to +his Corinthians. "Moreover, brethren," ver. 1, "I declare unto you the +Gospel, the good news, which I _preached_ unto you, which also ye have +received, and wherein ye stand.--By which also ye are saved, if ye +keep in memory what I preached unto you unless ye have believed in +vain.--For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also +received, how that Christ died for our sins, according to the +Scriptures:--And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third +day, according to the Scriptures:--And that he was seen of Cephas, +then of the twelve:--After that, he was seen of _above five hundred +brethren at once_; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, +but some are fallen asleep.--After that he was seen of James, then of +all the Apostles.--And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one +born out of due time.--For I am the least of the Apostles, which am +not meet to be called as Apostle, because I persecuted the church of +God."[64] + +As to the five hundred brethren at once, with the additions _in petto_, +the more closely the Gospel accounts are looked into, the more entire +will be a Man's conviction of the extravagance of this account. In +addition to the eleven Apostles that remained after the death of the +traitor Judas, it may be matter of question, whether so much as a single +individual can be found, who, in any one of the Gospels, is stated as +having, after the death of Jesus, received from the testimony of sense, +the demonstration of his presence. Of the percipient witnesses in +question, not to waste space and time in needless discussions, taking a +round number, and including both sexes taken together, no number +approaching to twenty can be made out from any one of the four Gospel +accounts, nor from all of them taken together. To what end then +substitute, to less than twenty, more than five hundred? To what, but to +supply by falsehood the deficiency left by truth. The thing to be done +was the coming up to the expectations, whatever they might be, of his +Corinthians. Number twenty,--said he to himself,--may perhaps fall +short: well then, strike out the twenty, and set down five hundred. Thus +did the self-constituted Apostle take a leaf out of the book of the +unjust steward. Luke 16:1-20. + +Now then as to mutually contradictory numbers--that given by the four +Evangelists, and that given by this one stranger,--to which shall we +give credence? As to the Evangelists,--whether, in the situation in +which they were, and writing for the purposes for which they +wrote,--these most intimate of the associates of the departed Jesus, and +percipient witnesses of the several facts in question,--all of them +spoken of in the same narration, all of them so fully apprised of the +whole real number--could have been disposed, any one of them, to get +down a number _short_ of the truth,--may be left to anyone to imagine. + +But, according to Paul's calculation, the truth would not come up to his +purpose:--to his particular purpose: a number, such as could not fail of +doing so, was therefore to be substituted. + +_Five hundred_ was as easily written as _twenty_. Had Jerusalem, or any +place in its neighbourhood, been the place, to which this letter of his +was to be addressed, some caution might have been necessary. But +Corinth--a place so remote from the scene of action--being the abode of +the disciples, to whom this letter of his was addressed,--and the +letters themselves, not destined to be seen by any other than devoted +eyes,--Invention found herself at ease. + +Meantime, while Jesus was thus magnified, Paul was not to be forgotten. +Insufficient still would be the cloud of witnesses, unless himself were +added to it. "Last of all," says he, 1 Cor. 15:8, "he," Jesus, "was seen +of me also." Seen by him Paul? at what place? at what time? At the time +of his conversion, when hearing a voice and seeing light, but nothing +else? But the whole constellation of his visions will here be crowding +to the reader's view, and any more particular reference to them would be +useless: suffice it to observe, that on no other occasion, either does +Paul himself, or his historiographer for him, take upon himself to say, +that he had ever seen Jesus any otherwise than in a _vision_, +whatsoever may have been meant by this so convenient term. On no +occasion is it so much as pretended, either by him or for him, that _in +the flesh_ Jesus was ever seen by him. By no fingers of his +murder-abetting hand, had ever been so much as pretended to have been +probed, the wounds of Jesus. Yet, what are the terms employed, by him, +in speaking of the _sight_, he pretended to have had of Jesus? exactly +the same, as those employed by him, when speaking of the evidence, +vouchsafed to the Apostles. + + +SECTION 2. + +FALSE PROPHECY,--THAT THE WORLD WOULD END IN THE LIFETIME OF +PERSONS THEN LIVING. + +The unsatiableness of Paul's ambition meets the eye at every page: the +fertility of his invention is no less conspicuous. So long as, between +this and the other world, the grave stood interposed,--the strongest +impression capable of being made by pictures of futurity, even when +drawn by so bold a hand, was not yet sufficient for stocking it with the +power it grasped at. This barrier, at whatever hazard, he accordingly +determined to remove. The future world being thus brought at both ends +into immediate contact with the present,--the obedient, for whom the +joys of heaven were provided, would behold the troubles of _the middle +passage_ saved to them, while the disobedient would see the jaws of hell +opened for their reception, without any such halting-place, as might +otherwise seem to be offered by the grave. In particular, by a nearer as +well as smoother road than that rugged one, he would make his way to +heaven: nor would they, whose obedience gave them a just claim to so +high a favour, be left behind. + +His Thessalonians were the disciples, chosen by him for the trial of +this experiment. Addressed to them we have two of his Epistles. In these +curious and instructive documents, the general purport--not only of what +had been said to the persons in question on a former occasion, but +likewise of the observation of which on _their_ part it had been +productive,--is rendered sufficiently manifest, by what we shall find +him saying in the first of them. "Good," said they, "as to _some_ of us, +whoever they may be: but, how is it to be with _the rest_? in +particular, with those who have actually died already: not to speak of +those others who will have been dying off in the meantime: for you do +not go so far as to promise, that we shall, all of us, be so sure of +escaping death as you yourself are." "Make yourselves easy," we shall +find him saying to them: "sooner or later, take my word for it, we +shall, all of us, mount up together in a body: those who are dead, those +who are to die, and those who are not to die--all of us at once, and by +the same conveyance: up, in the air, and through the clouds, we shall +go. The Lord will come down and meet us, and show us the way:--music, +vocal and instrumental, will come with him, and a rare noise altogether +there will be! Those who died first will have risen first; what little +differences there may be are not worth thinking about. Comfort +yourselves," concludes he, "with these words." Assuredly not easily +could more comfortable ones have been found:--always supposing them +followed by belief, as it appears they were. But it is time we should +see more particularly what they were. + +1 Thess. 4:10 to 18.--"And indeed ye do it," viz. love one another, ver. +9, "toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech +you, brethren, that ye increase more and more;--And that ye study to be +_quiet_, and to do _your own business, and to work with your own hands, +as we commanded you_;--That ye may walk honestly toward them that are +without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.--But I would not have you +to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are _asleep_, that ye +sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.--For if we believe that +Jesus died and rose again, even so _them also which sleep in Jesus will +God bring with him_.--For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, +that _we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall +not prevent them which are asleep_.--For the Lord himself shall descend +from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the +trump of God: and _the dead in Christ shall rise first.--Then we which +are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the +clouds_, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the +Lord.--Wherefore comfort one another with these words." Hereupon, +without any intervening matter, follows that of the next chapter. The +division into chapters,--though, for the purpose of reference, not +merely a useful, but an altogether necessary one,--is universally +acknowledged to have been a comparatively modern one. + +1 Thess. 5:1-11. "But _of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have +no need that I write unto you_.--For yourselves know perfectly, that +_the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night_.--For when they +shall say, Peace and safety, then _sudden destruction cometh upon them_, +as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.--_But ye, +brethren, are not in darkness_, that that day should overtake you as a +thief.--Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: +we are not of the night, nor of darkness.--Therefore _let us not sleep, +as do others; but let us watch and be sober_.--For they that sleep, +sleep in the night; and they that be drunken, are drunken in the +night.--But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the +breastplate of _faith_ and love; and for an helmet, the hope of +salvation.--For _God hath not appointed us to wrath_, but to obtain +salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.--Who died for us, that, whether we +wake or sleep, we should live together with him.--Wherefore _comfort +yourselves_ together, and edify one another, even as also ye do." + +An ingenious game was the one thus played by Paul, if ever there was +one. Of this prophecy,[65] what when once mentioned, is plainly enough +visible, is--this is of the number of those predictions, by which profit +is put in for, and no loss risked: for such is the shape given to it. So +long as the predictor lived, it would remain good and undisfulfilled: +at the end of a certain time--namely, at the end of the life of the +longest liver of the aggregate number of individuals in existence at +that time,--the disfulfillment would indeed take place. But if, by that +time, the predictor had made his exit,--as, in this case, being already +of a certain age, it is tolerably certain he would,--the reproach of +false prophecy would not have reached him: and, even, supposing it to +have reached him, as it would do if he survived the last of them, still +the speculation would not be a very bad one. His _prophecy_, his +_purposes_ would have been fulfilled. + +Not altogether without claim to observation, is the manner, in which, by +the adroitness of the soothsayer, the anxiety of questioners is evaded. +That he himself does not know, nor ever expects to know,--that is what +his prudence forbids his telling them. "The day of the Lord so cometh as +a thief in the night:" this is what, in answer to former importunities, +he had at _that_ time told them. "For you yourselves," says he, "know +this perfectly;" that is, in so far as they could know from _his +telling_: this being, in this instance, the only source,--of that +_delusion_, to which he gave the name of _knowledge_. This he had told +them _then_: and more, he takes care not to tell them _now_. "Of the +times and seasons, brethren," says he, "ye have no need that I write +unto you." Meantime, their hopes and fears, and therewith their +dependence upon his good pleasure, are kept still alive: in the first +place, the hope--that, knowing already more than he as yet desires to +disclose, he may by ulterior obsequiousness be prevailed upon to +disclose it: in the next place, the hope--that, though not as yet +possessed of the information, he may at some future period be able to +obtain it, and in that case give them the benefit of it. + +To a speculation of this sort,--in how particular a degree favourable +the mode of communication by letter was, is sufficiently visible. +Writing, was an operation not quite so prompt, in those days as in +these. Between Thessalonica and Athens,--from whence, as they tell us, +these Epistles were written,--there was not, it may be affirmed without +much danger of error, any established letter-post: and, even if there +was,--to this or that question, which a man sees in a letter, he makes +or does not make answer, as he finds convenient. Not exactly so, when +the questioner is at his elbow. + + +SECTION 3. + +DISORDER AND MISCHIEF PRODUCED BY THIS PREDICTION. + +We have seen the prophecy: let us now see the effects of it. They were +such as might have been expected. They were such as had been expected: +expected, as may have been observed, at a very early period. But there +was rather _more_ in them than had been expected. + +Of the confusion, which, by an expectation of this sort, in a state of +society, so much inferior, in the scale of moral conduct, to any, of +which in this our age and country we have experience, was capable of +being produced,--it can scarcely, at this time of day, be in any man's +power, to frame to himself anything approaching to an adequate +conception. So far as regards peaceable idleness, of the general nature +of it, some faint conception may under modern manners be formed, from +the accounts of the effects produced by a similar prediction, delivered +first in France, then in England, about the time of Queen Anne:--so far +as regards a mixture of idleness and positive mischief in a time of +terror, under ancient manners,--from the accounts, given by Thucydides, +of the effects produced at Athens, by the near approach of death, on the +occasion of the plague;--and, from that given by Josephus, of the +effects produced by the like cause, on the occasion of the siege, which, +under his eye, terminated in the final destruction of Jerusalem by the +Romans. + +According to each man's cast of mind, and the colour of the expectations +that had been imbibed by it,--terror and self-mortification, or +confidence and mischievous self-indulgence, would be the natural result: +terror and self-mortification, if apprehensions grounded on the +retrospect of past misconduct predominated--mischievous indulgence, if, +by the alleged or supposed all-sufficiency of faith,--of faith, of which +the preacher was the object--the importance of morality had, even in the +imagination of the disciple, been thrown into the back-ground: +confabulation without end, in the case of terror; cessation from work, +in both cases. + +Had he been somewhat less positive on the head of _time_,--the purposes +of those announcements of his might have been completely, and without +any deduction, fulfilled. The terror he infused could not be +unfavourable to those purposes, so long as it made no deduction, from +the value of the produce of their industry! It was his interest, that +they should "_walk honestly_," lest they should be punished for walking +otherwise:--punished, capitally or not capitally--and, in either case, +bring his teaching into disgrace. It was his interest, that they should +_work_, in such sort, as to earn each of them the expense of his +maintenance; lest, by abstaining from work, they should, any one of +them, impose a burthen upon the charity of the others, or be seen to +walk dishonestly, to the prejudice of the common cause, as above. It was +his interest, that they should, each of them, gain as much as could be +gained without reproach or danger; because, the greater the surplus +produced by each disciple, the greater the tribute, that could be paid +to the spiritual master, under whose command they had put themselves. +Thus far his interest and theirs were in agreement. But, it was his +interest, that, while working to these ends, their minds, at the expense +of whatever torment to themselves, should be kept in a state of constant +ferment, between the passions of hope and fear; because, the stronger +the influence of the two allied passions in their breasts, the more +abundant would be the contributions, of which, to the extent of each +man's ability, they might reasonably be expected to be productive. Here +it was, that his interest acted in a direction opposite to theirs: and +it was by too ardent a pursuit of this his separate interest, that so +much injury, as we shall see, was done to all those other interests. + +Of the disease which we shall see described, the description, such as it +is, is presented, by the matter furnished by the practitioner himself, +by whose prescription the disease was produced. This matter we must be +content to take, in that state of disorder, which constitutes one of the +most striking features of the issue of his brain. In speaking of the +symptoms,--addressed as his discourse is to nobody but the patients +themselves by whom these symptoms had been experienced,--only in the way +of allusion, and thence in very general terms, could they naturally have +been, as they will actually be seen to be, presented to view. As to +details,--from them to him, not from him to them, was, it will readily +be acknowledged, the only natural course. + +In the same Epistle,--namely in the second, which is the last, but, in a +passage which does not come till after the announcement, which, as will +be seen under the next head, was to operate as a remedy,--stands the +principal part of the matter from whence we have been enabled to collect +the nature of the disease. The chapter is the third and concluding +one:--the words that add nothing to the information, are here and there +omitted. + +1. "Finally, brethren, pray for us ...--that we may be delivered from +unreasonable and wicked men; for all men have not faith.--And we have +confidence in the Lord touching you, that ye both do and will do the +things which we _command_ you.--And the Lord direct your hearts ... into +the _patient waiting for Christ_.--Now we _command_ you, brethren ... +that ye _withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh +disorderly_, and not after the tradition which he received of us.--For +yourselves know how ye ought to follow _us_: for we _behaved not +ourselves disorderly among you:--Neither did we eat any man's bread for +nought_: but wrought with labour and travail night and day, that we +might not be chargeable to any of you.--_Not because we have not power_, +but to make ourselves an example unto you to follow us.--for _even when +we were with you_, this we _commanded_ you, that _if any would not work, +neither should he eat_.--For we hear that _there are some which walk +among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies_.--Now them +that are such, _we command_ and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, _that +with quietness they work, and eat their own bread_.--But ye brethren, +_be not weary in well-doing_.--And if any man obey not our word by this +Epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be +ashamed." + +By anything we have as yet seen, the symptoms of the disease, it may be +thought, are not painted in any very strong colours. But, of the +virulence of it there is no want of evidence. It may be seen, in the +drastic nature of the remedy:--a remedy, for the invention of which, we +shall, in the next section, see the ingenuity of the practitioner put to +so extraordinary a stretch. + + +SECTION 4. + +PAUL'S REMEDY FOR THE DISORDER, AND SALVO FOR HIMSELF.--ANTICHRIST +MUST FIRST COME. + +We have seen the disorder: we had before that seen the causes of it. We +now come to the remedy--the remedy provided by the practitioner for a +disease of his own creating. Of the shape given to this remedy, the +ingenuity will be seen to be truly worthy of the author of the disease. +It consists in the announcement made, of an intermediate state of +things, of the commencement of which, any more than of the termination, +nothing is said: except that it was to take place, antecedently to that +originally announced state of things, by the expectation of which the +disorder had been produced. Of the _time_ of its commencement, no: +except as above, on that point no information is given. But of its +_duration_, though no determinate information, yet such a description is +given, as suffices for giving his disciples to understand, that in the +nature of things, it could not be a short one: and that thus, before the +_principal_ state of things took place, there would be a proportionate +quantity of time for _preparation_. Satisfied of this, they would see +the necessity of conforming themselves to those reiterated "_commands_," +with which his prediction had from the first been accomplished; and to +which he had so erroneously trusted, when he regarded them as composing +a sufficient antidote to the poison he had infused. That the warning +thus provided for them would be a very short one, he left them, it will +be seen, no great reason to apprehend. A sort of spiritual monster,--a +sort of an ape of _Satan_, a rival to the Almighty,--and _that_ by no +means a contemptible one--was to enter upon the stage. + +What with force and what with fraud, such would be his power,--that the +fate of the Almighty would have appeared too precarious, had not the +spirits of his partisans been kept up, by the assurance, that when all +was over, the Almighty would remain master of the field. + +The time, originally fixed, by him for the aerial voyage, was too +_near_. By the hourly expectation of it, had been produced all those +disastrous effects which had ensued. After what had been said, an +_adjournment_ presented the only possible remedy. But this adjournment, +after what had been said, by what imaginable means could it be produced? +One only means was left by the nature of the case. + + 2 Thess. 2:1-12. "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of + our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto + him,--That ye _be not_ soon shaken in mind, or be _troubled_, + neither by spirit, nor by word, nor _by letter as from us,[66] as + that the day of Christ is at hand_.--Let no man deceive you by any + means; for _that day shall not come, except_[67] there come a + falling away first, and _that man of sin be revealed_, the son of + perdition;--_Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is + called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the + temple of God, showing himself that he is God_[68]--Remember ye + not, that when I was yet with you, I told you _these + things_[69]--And now ye know what withholdeth, that he might be + revealed in his time.--For the mystery of iniquity doth already + work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of + the way.--And _then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord_ + shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and _shall destroy with + the brightness of his coming_.[70]--Even _him, whose coming is + after the working of Satan,[71] with all power and signs and lying + wonders_[72]--And with all _deceivableness of unrighteousness_ in + them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, + that they might be saved.--And for this cause God shall send them + strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:[73]--That they all + might be _damned, who believed not the truth_,[74] but had pleasure + in unrighteousness." + +To this rival of his God--God and rival--both of them of his own +creation, the creator has not, we see, given any name. By this omission, +he has, perhaps, as perhaps he thought to do, rendered the bugbear but +the more terrible. The deficiency, such as it is, the Church of England +translators of the English official translation of the Bible, have +filled up: they have taken it in hand--this bantling of Paul's--and +christened it _Antichrist_. "He," Paul, "showeth," say they, "a +discovery of _Antichrist_, before the day of the Lord come." Such is the +discovery, communicated in the _heading_, prefixed to the second chapter +of the second of the two Epistles: and, of the readers of this so +abundantly and gratuitously distributed Bible, how few are there, by +whom any such distinction as that between the headings and the text is +borne in mind! The right reverend divines in question,--were they the +first authors of this discovery, or was it ready-made to their +hands?--made by that church, from the errors of which their own has been +so felicitously purified? To this question, let those look out for, and +find, the answer,--in whose eyes the profit is worth the trouble. + +Not a few are the divines, who have discovered Antichrist sitting in St. +Peter's chair, with a triple crown on his head. In the chair of Luther, +or in that of Calvin, would the triple monarch be disposed to discover +the hobgoblin, if he thought it worth while to look for him. Has he +ever, or has he not, made this discovery already? + +"Oh, but," says somebody, "_we_ does not here mean _we_ only who are +alive at this present writing; it means, _we_ Christians of all +ages:--any number of ages _after_ this, as well as this, included. In +the designation thus given, neither the individuals he was addressing, +nor he himself, were necessarily comprehended." This accordingly, if +anything, must be said, or the title of the self-constituted Apostle, to +the appellation of _false prophet_, must be admitted. Oh, yes! this may +be said, and must be said: but what will it avail him? In no such +comprehensive sense did _he_ use it; for, in that sense, it would not +have answered his purposes: not even his spiritual and declared +purposes, much less his temporal, selfish, and concealed purposes. Why +was it that these disciples of his, as well as he, were to be so +incessantly upon the watch! I Thess. 5:6, 7, 8. Why, but because "you +yourselves," says he, ver. 2, "know perfectly, that the day of the Lord +cometh like a thief in the night." Who, on that occasion, could be meant +by _we_, but himself and them? In no such comprehensive sense was it +understood by _them_: if it had been, no such consequences as we have +seen following, could have followed. After the experience he and they +had had, of the mischief produced by the narrow sense put upon the +all-important pronoun, would he have continued thus to use it in that +same narrow sense, if it had not been his wish that in that same sense +it should continue to be understood? Would he have been at all this +pains in creating the spiritual monster, for the declared purpose of +putting off their expectation of the great day, if, but for this +put-off, it would not have come on?[75] In what part of all his +preachings can any distinct ground be seen for any such supposition, as +that any portion of the field of _time_, beyond that by which his own +life was bounded, was ever present to his view? In the field of _place_, +yes: in that field his views were of no small amplitude: for in that +field it was by his ambition that they were marked out: but in the field +of _time_, no symptoms of any the smallest degree of enlargement will +anywhere be found. But, on this occasion, suppose other ages, and those +others to any extent, included in his views: from their including such +future ages, would it follow that they had no application to the age +then present?--But, supposing them understood to apply to that age, +thereupon in comes the mischief in full force. + +Any man that has been reading these Epistles,--let him suppose, in his +own breast, any the most anxious desire to raise an expectation, such as +that in question: and then let him ask himself, whether it be in the +power of that desire to suggest language, that would afford any +considerably better promise of giving effect to it. + +Of the _nature_ of the _disorder_, as well as of the cause of it,--the +persons, to whom the world is indebted for the preservation of these +remains of the self-constituted Apostle,--have given us, as above, some +conception. Of the _effect_ of the _remedy_, it would have been amusing +to be informed: unfortunately, this portion of his history is not +comprised in the labours of his historiographer.[76] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[63] The account given by Luke of the resurrection and ascension of +Jesus is contained in the last chapter, chap. 24:53. According to this +account, by no men was Jesus seen in the interval between those two +events, besides the eleven Apostles and a few others, all together not +more than enough, to sit down together at meat, in one of the houses of +a village. Luke 25:9, 28, 29, 30. Number of the occasions on which Jesus +was seen by the Apostles, two: the company the same without addition, +and both occasions having place within twenty-four hours. Between these +two occasions it is that Paul sticks in the one of his own invention, in +which Jesus was seen by above five hundred brethren at once. + +Point-blank on this head is the contradiction given to this story of +Paul's, by his own attendant and historiographer: namely, in the account +put into the mouth of Peter, speaking to Centurion Cornelius, Acts 10:39 +to 42. Expressly is it there said, ver. 40, "Him" (Jesus) "God raised up +the third day, and showed him openly;--Not to all the people, but unto +witnesses chosen before of God even to us, who did eat and drink with +him after he rose from the dead." When in the year 62, or some posterior +year, the author of the Acts was writing his history, nothing, it will +be inferred, did he know of the contradictory account given by his hero, +in writing in a letter written in the year 57. + +[64] Follows a sample of Paul's logic wrapped up as usual in a cloud of +tautologies and paralogisms, the substance of which amounts to +this:--Jesus resurrects; therefore all men will do the same. Admitting +the legitimacy of this induction, what will be the thing proved? That +every man, a few days after his death, will come to life again, and eat, +drink, and walk in company with his friends. + +[65] By the word _prophecy_ the idea meant to be conveyed in Jewish +language seems to be very generally misconceived. It is regarded as +exactly synonymous to _prediction_. Nothing can be more erroneous. In +New Testament language in particular, it is no less applicable to past +events than to future. Witness, "Prophecy who is it that smote thee." +Luke 17:64. In the Greek, the word is occasion, it meant evidently +neither more nor less than _speak out_. Hence it came to signify +speaking in public: hence again, speaking as a statesman: hence again, +writing as a statesman, as well as speaking. Not that a statesman could +ever or can ever be a statesman, and in the above sense, _a prophet_, +without being a _predictor_ likewise: as often as any proposed measure +is on the carpet, such he must be, or what he says must be nothing to +the purpose. Merely by uttering a prediction concerning future events, +Paul would not have included, in his prophecy, any such pretension, as +that of a supernatural communication received from the Almighty: but, +the one here in question was one which, supposing it true, could not +have come from any other source. + +[66] Here we have a sort of retractation. This shows how he was +frightened. + +[67] Here he gives the intermediate warning; thence the respite. + +[68] Here we see the rival of Paul's god: and we see how dangerous an +one. + +[69] Like enough; but in the same unintelligible style, in which he +tells all men all things. + +[70] All's well that ends well: the friends of the Almighty may now +dismiss their fears. + +[71] Here we see the rival of the Almighty sunk into the ape of Satan. +What if he and Satan had made an alliance? Happily they could not agree, +or time was wanting for settling the conditions. + +[72] All power, with _lying_ to boot. But for the above-mentioned +assurance, who would not have trembled for Paul's God? + +[73] This was fighting the ape of Satan with his own weapons. But--this +God of Paul's creation--in what, except an ultimate superiority of +power, is he distinguishable from Satan and his ape? Those, who have +been so quicksighted of late in the discovery of blasphemy, and so bent +on punishing it,--have they ever found so clear a case as this which is +before us? Would not they have begun at the more proper end, had they +begun with the editors of these Epistles? + +[74] For this damnation,--on the present as on so many other occasions, +those who are so eager to believe, that all who differ from them on a +question of evidence, will be consigned to everlasting torments, are +indebted to the right reverend translators: the original says +_condemned_. This may be understood to mean--_damned_ in the ordinary +sense of the word _damned_, or whatever less unpleasant result may be +more agreeable. + +[75] Of this child of the self-appointed Apostle's brain, it seems not +altogether improbable, that, in case of need, some further use was in +contemplation to be made: with the skin of this bugbear, might, upon +occasion, be invested, any person, to whom, either in the character of a +declared _adversary_, or in that of a _rival_, it might happen, to have +become in a certain degree troublesome: a _declared adversary_,--that +is, either a Gentile or an unbelieving Jew: _a rival_,--that is, one +who, believing in the religion of Jesus, adhered to that edition of it, +which had the Apostles of Jesus for its publishers, or followed any +other edition which was not _his_: one of those, for example, upon whom +we have seen him making such bitter war in his Epistle to his Galatians. +Of the two, the believing rival would of course be much more +troublesome, than the non-believing adversary, from whom, if let alone, +he would not experience an annoyance. Of this rival class were they +whose "_unrighteousness_," 2 Thess. 2:10, had recourse to +"_deceivableness_:" for as to non-believers, no need could they have of +_deceivableness_; to foil him, they had but to turn aside from him, and +stand as they were. Those men, whose unrighteousness had recourse to +deceivableness, who could they be, but the men of the same description +in this respect as those, whom in chapter third of his Epistle to his +Galatians, he complains of as having "bewitched" them; and _that_ in +such sort, as to have made him so far lose his temper as to call them +"_foolish_:" and that _they_ were rivals, is a matter altogether out of +doubt. In a word, rivals were the only troublesome sort of men, who, at +the writing of this Epistle, could, with the nameless monster since +named _Antichrist_, be yet to come. + +[76] As for that "_helmet of faith_," which, in the passage first +quoted, he has been seen commanding his disciples to put on--of that +faith, which is the everlasting object of his so indefatigably repeated +"_command_," and which is always faith in _Paul_,--for of Jesus scarcely +is so much as a word, except the name, to be found in any of his +Epistles,--as to this helmet, it is the sort of cap, which a man learned +how to put on, when he had made himself perfect, in what may be called +the _self-deceptive exercise_, or in a word _the exercise of faith_. It +is composed of two very simple operations: at the word of command, the +recruit turns its face _to_ the arguments on one side; at the word of +command, it turns its back to those on the other side. The test of +perfection is--its being able to hold in its embrace, for any length of +time, both parts together of a self-contradictory proposition; such as, +that three _man's-persons_,--to use the German word, or if any _other +sorts of persons_ there are three others,--are but one. When the helmet +sits close enough on his head to enable him to do this, there is no fear +of its falling off. Holding fast to improbabilities, how absurd and +extravagant soever, is thenceforward but child's play to him:--for +example, belief in the future existence of Paul's Antichrist: including, +the coming on of those scenes, in which that _raw-head and bloody bones_ +is to be the principal performer. + +To this, as to anything else, the mind of man is capable of being +brought, by assurances of infinite enjoyment, in case of his having made +himself perfect in this exercise, or of infinite torment in case of his +neglecting it: of course, still more effectually, by both assurances put +together; and, considering the facility of both operations, easier terms +could not very easily be imagined. A capital convenience is--that, for +producing faith in this way, not a particle of anything in the shape of +evidence is necessary: the place of evidence is supplied by +assurance:--by the intensity, real or apparent, of the persuasion, to +which expression has been given, by what the preacher has said or done. +The more intense the apparent assurance on the one part, the greater the +apparent _safety_, obtained by yielding to it, on the other: and thus it +is, that no absurdity can be so flagrant, that the side on which it is +found may not be embraced, under the notion of its being the _safe_ +side. When Paul, with his accustomed vehemence, was preaching the +world's end, so many of his Thessalonians as believed in it, believed, +that believing in it was being on the safe side. On the part of the +preacher, the more vehement and impudent the assurance, the greater on +the part of the disciple, the apparent _danger_ on the disbelieving, the +apparent _safety_ on the believing side. + +By this means are produced the signs and wonders we read of in the +Epistles of our modern missionaries; for, how conclusive soever the +evidence may be, which the assertions they employ might call in for +their support,--conclusive to every reasonable mind by which it was +received,--assuredly it is not by the evidence, but by the unsupported +assertion, that, on the occasion of those exploits of theirs,--whatever +credence has place, is produced. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + _Paul's supposable Miracles explained._ + + +SECTION 1. + +OBJECTIONS, APPLYING TO THEM IN THE AGGREGATE. + +But, it may be said, Paul's alleged commission from God was certainly +genuine; for it is proved by his miracles. Look at the Acts, no fewer +than twelve miracles of his you will find. If then taken by themselves, +for want of that accurate conception of the probative form of evidence, +to which maturer ages have given birth, the account of the miracle by +which his conversion was wrought fails of being completely +satisfactory,--look at his miracles, the deficiency will be filled up. +The man, to whom God had imparted such extraordinary powers--powers so +completely matchless in these our times,--can such a man have been a +liar--an impostor? a liar for the purpose of deceit--of giving support +to a system of deception--and that a lucrative one? An imposition so +persevering as to have been carried on, from youth to death, through, +perhaps, the greatest part of his life? + +The observation is plausible:--the answer will not be the less +satisfactory. + +The answer has two branches: one, _general_, applying to all the alleged +miracles in question, taken in the lump: the other _particular_, +applying to the several miracles separately considered. + +Observations applying to the whole together are, the following: + +1. Not by Paul himself, in any one of his own Epistles, is any such +general assertion made, as that he had received from God or from +Jesus,--or, in a word, that he was in possession of, any such power, as +the power of working miracles. + +2. Nowhere in the account given of his transactions by the author of the +Acts, is he in any of his speeches represented as making reference to +any one act of his in the character of a miracle. + +3. Nowhere in that same account, is he represented as stating himself to +be in possession of any such powers. + +4. Not by the author of the Acts, is he spoken of as being in possession +of any such power. + +5. Nowhere by the author of the Acts, is he in any general terms spoken +of, as producing any effects, such as, in respect of the power necessary +to the production of them, approach to those spoken of as having been +produced by Simon Magus; by that declared impostor, in whose instance, +no such commission from God is represented as having been received. + +6. Neither on the occasion of his conversion, nor on any other occasion, +is Paul stated to have received from Jesus any such power as that of +working miracles:--any such power as the real Apostles are--in Mark +16:15, 16, 17, 18--stated to have received from Jesus. + +Was it that, in his own conception, for gaining credence to his +pretension of a commission from Jesus--from Jesus, styled by him the +Lord Jesus--any need of miracles, or of a persuasion, on the part of +those with whom he had to deal, of _his_ having power to work miracles? +By no means. Of the negative, the story told by him of the manner of his +conversion is abundant proof. Of the efficient cause of this change in +his mind, the account given, is plainly given in the character of the +account of a miracle. But of this miracle, the proof given consists +solely in his own evidence: his own statement, unsupported by that of +any other person, or by reference to that of any other person: his +account, of the discourse, which on the occasion of the vision, in which +nothing was seen but a flood of light, he heard from the Lord Jesus: his +own account, of the vision, which he says was seen by Ananias: his own +account, of that other vision, which, according to Ananias, he, Paul, +had had, but of which Paul himself says nothing. + +In the work of his adherent and sole biographer, the author of _the +Acts_,--we have five speeches, made by him, in vindication of his +conduct, in the character of a preacher of the religion of Jesus; and, +from his own hand, Epistles out of number: yet nowhere is any reference +made, to so much as a single miracle wrought by his own hand, unless the +trance which he falls into when he is alone, and the vision which he +sees, when nobody else sees anything, are to be placed to the account of +miracles. Miracles? _On_ him, yes; _by_ him, no. True it is, that, on +one occasion, he speaks in general terms of "signs and wonders," as +having been wrought by him. But vague, in the highest degree, is the +import, as well as wide the extent, of those general terms: nor is it by +any means clear, that, even by himself, any such claim was meant to be +brought forward, as that of having exhibited any such manifestations of +supernatural power, as are commonly regarded as designated by the word +_miracles_. In the multitude of the persons, whom, in places so widely +distant from one another, he succeeded in numbering in the list of his +followers--in the depth of the impression, supposed to have been made on +the heart of this or that one of them--in all or any one of these +circumstances, it was natural he should himself behold, and, whether he +did or no, use his endeavours to cause others to behold, not only so +many sources of wonder, but so many circumstances; all conspiring to +increase the quantity of that confidence, which, with so much industry, +and, as far as appears, with such brilliant success, he was labouring +to plant in every breast: circumstances, serving, in the minds of his +adherents in general, in the character of a sign or proof, of the +legitimacy of his pretension, as above. + +But, of any such supernatural power as that which is here in question, +could any such loose and vague expressions be reasonably regarded as +affording any sort of proof? No:--unless whatsoever, in the affairs of +men, can justly be regarded as _wonderful_, ought also to be regarded as +a miracle. + +In one passage, and one alone, either in the Acts or in his own +Epistles, is he found laying any claim, how distant and vague soever, to +any such power, as having ever been exercised by him. And, in this +instance, no one individual incident being in any way brought to view or +referred to, what is said will be seen to amount absolutely to nothing, +being nothing more than, without incurring any such interpretation as +that of imposture, is at the present time continually averred by +Christians of different sects. + +He who makes so much of his _sufferings_, had he wrought any miracles, +would he have made nothing of his _miracles_? + +In the next place, although it must be admitted, that, on several +occasions, by his sole biographer and professed adherent, viz., the +author of the Acts, a sort of colour of the marvellous seems endeavoured +to be laid on; laid on over the incident itself, and over the part, +which on that occasion was taken by him; yet on no one of these +occasions, unless perhaps it be the last--of which presently,--does the +account, given by him of what passed, wear any such complexion as shall +render it matter of necessity, either to regard it as miraculous, or to +regard the biographer, as having on that occasion asserted a complete +and downright untruth. + + +SECTION 2. + +SUPPOSABLE MIRACLE I.--ELYMAS THE SORCERER BLINDED.--_Acts_ 13:6 to 12. + +1. Of these supposable miracles, the first that occurs is that which had +for its subject Elymas the sorcerer. + +At Paphos, in the island of Cyprus,[77] Paul and his associate Barnabas +are sent for, by "the deputy of the country," Sergius Paulus, who +desires to hear the word of God. But at that same place is a certain +Jew, of the name of Barjesus, alias Elymas,--a sorcerer by profession, +who "withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith." To +this man, it is not said, either where or when, Paul is thereupon +represented as making a short speech, at the end of which, after calling +him a child of the devil, and so forth; he says to him, "_Thou shalt be +blind, not seeing the sun for a season_. Thereupon," continues the +story, "immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went +about seeking some to lead him by the hand. Then the deputy," it +concludes, "when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the +doctrine of the Lord." + +Supposing this story to have had any foundation in fact,--of the +appearance of blindness thus exhibited, where shall we look for the +cause? In a suspension of the laws of nature, performed by the author +of nature, to no other assignable end, than the conversion of this Roman +governor? At no greater expense, than that of a speech from this same +Paul, the conversion of a king,--King Agrippa--if the author of the Acts +is to be believed, was nearly effected. "Almost," says Agrippa, "thou +hast persuaded me to become a Christian." So often as God is +represented, as operating in a direct--however secret and +mysterious--manner, upon the heart, _i.e._, the mind, of this and that +man,--while the accounts given of the suspension of the laws of nature +are comparatively so few--to speak in that sort of human language, in +which alone the nature of the case admits of our speaking, if the +expense of a miracle were not grudged,--might not, in the way above +mentioned, by a much less lavish use of supernatural power, the same +effect have been produced? viz., by a slight influence, exercised on the +heart of governor Paulus? + +Whatsoever may have been the real state of the case,--thus much seems +pretty clear, viz., that at this time of day, to a person whose judgment +on the subject should have, for its ground, the nature of the human mind +as manifested by experience,--another mode of accounting for the +appearance in question will be apt to present itself as much more +probable. That is--that, by an understanding between Paul and +Elymas--between the ex-persecutor and the sorcerer--the sorcerer, in the +view of all persons, in whose instance it was material that credence +should be given to the supposed miracle,--for and during "_the season_" +that was thought requisite, kept his eyes shut. + +The sorcerer was a Jew:--Paul was also a Jew. Between them here was +already one indissoluble bond of connection and channel of intercourse. +Elymas, by trade a sorcerer, _i.e._, an impostor--a person of the same +trade with Simon Magus, by whom so conspicuous a figure is cut in the +chapter of this history--was a sort of person, who, on the supposition +of an adequate motive, could not naturally feel any greater repugnance, +at the idea of practicing imposition, at so easy a rate as that of +keeping his eyes shut, than at the idea of practicing it, in any of the +shapes to which he had been accustomed:--shapes, requiring more +dexterity, and some, by which he would be more or less exposed, to that +detection, from which, in the mode here in question, it would be +altogether secure. + +But Paul--was he in a condition to render it worth the sorcerer's while +to give this shape to his imposture? Who can say that he was not? Yes: +if to a certain degree he had it in his power, either to benefit him or +to make him suffer? And who can say but that these two means of +operating, were one or other, or both of them, in his power? As to the +sorcerer's betraying him, this is what he could not have done, without +betraying himself. + +True it is, that, by acting this under part,--this self-humiliating +part,--so long as Paul stayed, so long was the sorcerer, not the first, +but only the second wonder-worker of the town. But no sooner did Paul's +departure take place, than Elymas, from being the second, became again +the first. + + +SECTION 3. + +SUPPOSABLE MIRACLE II.--AT LYSTRA, CRIPPLE CURED.--_Acts_ 14:8 to 11. + +Second of these supposed miracles,--cure of the cripple at Lystra. + +This miracle makes a bad match with the before-mentioned one. + +Seeing a man at Lystra, neither man's name, nor place's, except in that +general way, nor time, in any way mentioned,--seeing a man in the guise +of a cripple, "_Stand upright on thy feet_," says Paul to him with a +loud voice. "And," continues the story, "he leaped and walked, +steadfastly beholding and perceiving that he had faith to be healed." +Chorus of the people thereupon, "The Gods are come down to us in the +likeness of men." + +To the production of an appearance of this sort, what was necessary? a +real miracle? No, surely: so long as a vagrant was to be found, who, +without any risk, could act a part of this sort for a few pence, in an +age so fertile in imposture. + +True it is, that this same man, whoever he was, is represented as being +"impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother's womb, who never +had walked." But these words, how much more than any other words, of the +same length, in the same number, did the writing of them cost the author +of this story? As to the correctness of his narratives,--of the +self-contradictory accounts given by him of Paul's conversion, a sample +has been already given. As to detection, supposing this circumstance +false,--detection is what the account thus given of it renders +impossible. For--this same cripple, what was his name? from birth to +this time, where had he been living? Of this nothing is said. That, at +Lystra, or anywhere else, the account was ever made public, is neither +affirmed, nor so much as insinuated: not but that it might have been +published, and, at the same time, though as to everything but the scene +that exhibited itself to outward appearance, false,--might not have +found any person, at the same time able and willing to contradict the +falsity, and thus naturalize the miracle. + + +SECTION 4. + +SUPPOSABLE MIRACLE III.--DIVINERESS SILENCED.--_Acts_ 16:16-18. + +While Paul and his suite,--of whom, according to the author of the Acts, +he himself was one,--were at Philippi,--a Roman colony, and capital of a +part of Macedonia,--among their hearers, is Lydia--a purple-seller of +the City of Thyatira. Being converted, she receives the whole party into +her house. + +From this house, on their way to prayers,--probably in a Jewish +synagogue,--they are met by a certain damsel, as nameless as the +lame-born cripple, who, being possessed of a spirit of divination, or of +Python, brings to her masters, for masters it seems she had more than +one, much gain by soothsaying. Here then is a female, who, by being +possessed by or with a spirit,--a real spirit, whether devil or a spirit +of any other sort,--is converted into a prophetess, and, doubtless, in +the main a false prophetess. + +In the present instance, however, she is a true prophetess: for, +following Paul and his suite, she runs after them, saying, "These men +are the servants of the Most High God, which show unto us the way of +salvation. And this did she many days." + +If, instead of a demon, it had been an angel, that took her vocal organs +for the instrument of his communications, it is difficult to say, in +what manner he could have deserved better at the hands of these +"servants," real or pretended, "of the Most High God." + +Yet, from some cause or other that does not appear, so it was it +seems,--there was something about her with which Paul was not well +pleased. "Being grieved, he turns and says,"--not to the damsel herself, +but to the spirit, which _possessed her_, or rather, since for the +benefit of her masters, it brought her so much gain, which _she +possessed_,--"I command thee, in the name of Jesus Christ, to come out +of her." + +Amongst the superstitions of that and other ages, one was--the notion of +a property, possessed by such and such words--possessed, by these mere +evanescent sounds--by the air of the atmosphere, when made to vibrate in +a certain manner:--a property, of working effects in endless abundance +and variety, and those, too, supernatural ones. In some instances, the +wonders would be wrought by the words themselves, whatsoever were the +mouths by which they were uttered. In other instances, they required, +for the production of the effects, a person, who being possessed of a +particular and appropriate power, should, for the purpose of giving +exercise to such his power, give them passage through his lips. Of this +latter kind was the present case. The command issued as above, "he," for +it was a he-spirit, "came out of her," the damsel, "the same hour." + +When the devil that Josephus saw expelled, came out of the man, the +channel at which he made his exit, being manifest, it was accordingly +specified: it was the man's _nose_. This was something to know: +especially, in relation to an occurrence, the time of which was at so +great a distance from our own. At the same time, however, other +particulars present themselves, by which curiosity is excited, and for +want of which, the information thus bestowed must be confessed to be +rather imperfect. What the shape of the devil was? what the substance? +whence he last came? to what place, to what occupation, after being thus +dislodged, he betook himself, and so forth: not to speak of many others, +which howsoever instructive and satisfactory it would have been to be +acquainted with, yet now that all acquaintance with them is hopeless, it +would be tedious to enumerate. + +In the present instance, not only as to all these particulars, has the +historian,--eyewitness as it should seem he was of everything that +passed,--left us in the dark; but, neither has he vouchsafed to afford +us that single article of information, scanty as it was, for which, as +above, in the case mentioned by Josephus, we are indebted to Josephus: +to Josephus--that most respectable and instructive of the uninspired +historians of his age. + +In relation to this story, as well as to those others, the same question +still presents itself:--if told of the present time,--if spoken of in +some newspaper, as having happened in the present year,--exists here any +person, even among the most ignorant populace, with whom it would obtain +any permanent credence? + +But, a reported state of things--which, if reported as having had place +in the present century, would, by its disconformity to the manifest +state of things, and the whole course of nature, be regarded as too +absurd and flagrantly incredible to deserve to be entitled to a +moment's notice,--what is there that should render it more credible, +when reported as having happened in this same world of ours, at any +anterior point of time? + + +SECTION 5. + +SUPPOSABLE MIRACLE IV.--AT PHILIPPI, AN EARTHQUAKE: PAUL AND SILAS +FREED FROM PRISON, A.D. 53. + +The passage, in which these events are related, is in Acts 16:19-40, +inclusive. + +On this occasion three principal events are narrated;--the incarceration +of Paul, an earthquake, and the liberation of Paul. Between the +earthquake and the liberation of this prisoner, what was in reality the +connection? In the answer there is not much difficulty: The same as that +between the earthquake and any other event that took place after it. +But, by an answer thus simple, the purpose of the narrator would not +have been answered: the purpose was--to induce, on the part of his +readers, the belief--that it was for the purpose of bringing about the +liberation of the self-constituted Apostle of Jesus, that the earth was +made to shake. As to the liberation, by means altogether natural was +that event produced: so he himself has the candour to inform us. Of this +quasi-miracle, or of the last-mentioned one, Philippi, capital of +Macedonia, was the theatre. By order of the magistrates of that town, +Paul and his attendant had been beaten one evening, and thrown into +prison: next morning, came to the jailor an order of these same +magistrates, and in obedience to it the prisoners were discharged. That, +in the minds of these magistrates, there was any connection, between the +earthquake and the treatment they had given to these adventurers, is not +so much as insinuated. The purpose, which it had in view, was answered: +it was the ridding the town of a pair of visitors, whose visit to it had +produced disturbance to existing institutions. Acts 16:20-40. + +Be it as it may with regard to the historiographer,--that it was an +object with his hero to produce a notion of a connection between the +stripes and the imprisonment he had undergone on one hand, and the +earthquake on the other, is manifest enough. The person, in whose mind +the prisoner had endeavoured to produce the idea of such a connection, +was the jailor: and, for its having in this instance been successful, +there seems little difficulty in giving credit to the historiographer. +Everything that appears to have been said, either of Paul or by Paul, +tends to show the wonderful strength of his mind, and the facility and +promptitude, with which it enabled him to gain the ascendency over other +minds. In the language of the place and time, he had bid the +fortune-telling damsel cease her imposture, and the imposture ceased. +Acts 16:18. Committed to prison he formed a project for making a +proselyte of the keeper: and, in this too, and in so small a compass of +time as a few hours, there seems reason to believe he was successful. In +his presumption, in daring to execute the sentence of the law upon so +holy a person, the keeper saw the cause of the earthquake; and, whether +by Paul any very strenuous endeavours were used to correct so convenient +an error in geology, may be left to be imagined. Paul, when introduced +into the prison, found no want of comrades: how then happened it, that +it was to Paul's imprisonment that the earthquake, when it happened, was +attributed, and not to any of his fellow-prisoners? Answer: It happened +thus. + +Of the trade, which, with such brilliant success, Paul,--with this +journeyman of his,--was carrying on, a set of songs with the name of God +for the burthen of them, constituted a part of the capital, and, as it +should seem, not the least valuable. When midnight came, Paul--the +trader in godliness--treated the company in the prison with a duet: the +other prisoners, though they shared in the benefit of it, did not join +in it. While this duet was performing, came on the earthquake; and Paul +was not such a novice as to let pass unimproved the opportunity it put +into his hand. + +The historiographer, if he is to be believed, was at this time in Paul's +train, as well as Silas; for so, by the word _we_, in the tenth verse of +this same chapter, he, as it were, silently informs us. The beating and +the imprisonment were confined to the two principals; by his comparative +insignificance, as it should seem, the historiographer was saved from +it. From the relation, given to him by Paul or Silas, and in particular +by Paul,--must this conception, formed by the historiographer of what +passed on the occasion, have of course been derived. It was coloured of +course in Paul's manner: and in his colouring, there was of course no +want of the marvellous. By the earthquake, not only were "foundations +shaken" and "doors opened," but "bands loosened." The "feet" of the two +holy men had been "made ... fast in the stocks," ver. 24: from these +same stocks, the earthquake was ingenious enough to let them out, and, +as far as appears, without hurt: the unholy part of the prisoners had +each of them bands of some sort, by which they were confined; for, ver. +26, "everyone's bands were loosed:" in every instance if they were +locked, the earthquake performed the office of a picklock. Earthquakes +in these latter days, we have but too many, in breaking open doors they +find no great difficulty; but they have no such nicety of touch as the +earthquake, which produced to the self-constituted Apostle a family of +proselytes: they are no more able to let feet out of the stocks, or +hands out of hand-cuffs, than to make watches. + +These elucidations being furnished, the reader is desired to turn to the +text, and lay before him: to reprint it would require more paper than he +might choose to see thus employed. + +As to the name of God and the name of Jesus, the two names, it should +appear, were not--on the occasions in question--used at random. When the +fortune-telling damsel was the subject of Paul's holy labours, she +having been in some way or other already gained, ver. 17, the case was +already of a sort, in which the name of Jesus Christ, the name under +which the self-constituted Apostle enlisted all his followers,--might be +employed with advantage. + +When Paul and Silas were committed to prison, no such name as that of +"Jesus Christ" would as yet have served. Of "Jesus Christ" neither had +the keeper as yet heard anything, nor had the other prisoners. But, of +God, in some shape or other, they could not but have heard all of them: +_God_ accordingly was the name, by which at this time the sensibilities +of the persons in question were to be worked upon. When the earth +trembled, the jailor trembled likewise: he "came trembling and fell +down," ver. 29, before Paul and Silas. And brought them out, ver. 30, +and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" Now then was the time come +for the enlistment--for the enlistment in the spiritual warfare against +the devil and his angels: in the as yet new name of "the Lord Jesus +Christ" were these recruits accordingly enlisted, as now, for the +purpose of carnal warfare, in the name of King George. "And they said," +continues the narration, ver. 31, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and +thou shalt be saved, and thy house." + + +SECTION 6. + +SUPPOSABLE MIRACLE V.--AT CORINTH, PAUL COMFORTED BY THE LORD IN AN +UNSEEN VISION, A.D. 54.--_Acts_ 18:7-11. + +A vision, being a species of miracle, could, no more than a pantomime, +have place without some expense. In the present case, as in any other, a +natural question is--What was the object to be accomplished, upon which +the expense--whatever it was--was bestowed? The answer is--The keeping +his attendants, whoever they were, in the necessary state of +obsequiousness: for no other is perceptible. To the dependants in Paul's +train, it was no very uncommon sentiment to be not quite so well +satisfied with the course he took, as he himself was. Corinth was at +this time the theatre of his labours: of the men, whoever they were, who +had staked their fortunes upon _his_, some,--the historiographer, as it +should seem, of the number,--there were, whose wish it was to change the +scene. In that Gentile city,--the chief ruler of the Jewish synagogue, +Crispus by name--this man, besides another man, of the name of Justus, +"whose house joined hard to" that same synagogue, had become his +converts: "and many of the Corinthians hearing, believed and were +baptized." Eyes, however, there were, in which the success, whatsoever +it was, was not yet enough to afford a sufficient warrant for his stay. +A vision was necessary, and a vision accordingly, or at least a +something, which was called by that name, made its appearance. "Thus +spake the Lord," says the historiographer, ver. 9, "Thus spake the Lord +to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not +thy peace.----For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt +thee; for I have much people in this city." Nor was the vision without +its effect; for, as the next verse informs us, ver. 11, "He continued +_there_ a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them." + +That which, on this occasion, may be believed without much difficulty +is, that the word thus taught by Paul was Paul's word: and, that which +may be believed with as little, by those, whoever they may be, who +believe in his original conversion-vision, is--that it was God's word +likewise. From Paul himself must the account of this vision have been +delivered to the historiographer: for, unless at the expense of a sort +of miracle, in the shape of an additional vision at least, if not in +some more expensive shape, no information of any such thing could have +reached him. In these latter days, no ghost is ever seen but in a +_tete-a-tete_: in those days, no vision, as far as appears, was ever +seen but in the same degree of privacy. A vision is the word in these +pages, because such is the word in the authoritative translation made of +the historiographer's. That which Paul is related to have heard, +is--what we have just seen as above: but that, upon this occasion +he saw anything--that he saw so much as a flash of light, this is +what we are not told: any more than by what other means he became so +well assured, that the voice which he heard, supposing him to have heard +a voice, was the Lord's voice. In these latter days,--inquiries, of +some such sort as these, would as surely be put, by a counsel who were +against the vision,--as, in the case of the Cock-lane Ghost, which +gave so much exercise to the faith of the archlexicographer, +were put by the counsel who were against the ghost; but, by a +sort of general understanding,--than which nothing can be more +convenient,--inquiries, such as these,--how strictly soever in season +when applied to the 19th century of the vulgar ear, are altogether +out of season, as often as they are applied to the commencement of it. + +As to the speaking by a vision, the only intelligible way, in which any +such thing can really have place, is that, which under the pressure of +necessity has been realized by the ingenuity of dramatists in these +latter days. Such is the mode employed, when the actors, having been +struck dumb by the tyranny of foolish laws, and consequently having no +auditors, convey to the spectators what information seems necessary, by +an appropriate assortment of gold letters on a silk ground: whether the +Lord who, on this occasion, according to Paul, spoke to the eyes of +Paul, came provided with any such implement, he has not informed us. +Without much danger of error, we may venture to assert the negative: +for, if such was the mode of converse, there was nothing but what might +happen without sign or wonder: and, on this supposition, no addition was +made by it, to those signs and wonders, which, as has been seen, it was +his way to make reference to, in the character of evidence. + + +SECTION 7. + +SUPPOSABLE MIRACLE VI.--AT EPHESUS, DISEASES AND DEVILS EXPELLED BY +FOUL HANDKERCHIEFS.--_Acts_ 19:1-12. + +At Ephesus, Paul makes a stay of between two and three years; for "two +years" together, disputing "daily in the school of one Tyrannus," "so +that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both +Jews and Greeks. + +"And God," continues the history, "wrought special miracles by the hands +of Paul." + +These "_special_ miracles," what were they? Of the whole number, is +there so much as a single one particularized? No; not one. _Special_ as +they are, the following is the account, and the only account given of +them. "So that," continues the history, "from his body were brought unto +the sick, handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, +and the evil spirits went out of them." + +No circumstances whatever particularized, name of the person, name of +the place, description of the time--nothing, by means of which, in case +of falsity _in toto_, or incorrectness in circumstance, the misstatement +might have been exposed,--to what degree of credence, or so much as +consideration with a view to credence, vague generalities such as these, +can they present so much as the slightest claim? If allusions such as +these are to pass proof, where is the imposture, to which proofs--proofs +sufficient in number and value--can ever be wanting? + +Opposed as Paul was, wherever he went,--by gainsayers or +persecutors, or both--sometimes successful, sometimes altogether +unsuccessful,--sometimes in a slight degree successful--in so much as +any one occasion, either in this history, or in any one of his own +numerous Epistles, do we find so much as a single one of these +"_special miracles_," any more than of any other miracles, brought to +view by him, or so much as alluded to by him, in the character of proofs +of the commission to which he pretended? Answer: No, not one. + +Diseases cured, evil spirits driven out, by handkerchiefs and +aprons!--by handkerchiefs and aprons brought from a man's body! Diseases +cured and devils seared away by foul linen! By Jesus--by any one of his +Apostles--were any such implements, any such eye-traps ever employed? +No; never. As to diseases, if by such means a disease had been +_propagated_, the case would have been intelligible enough. But what was +wanted was a miracle: and this would have been no miracle. The price, +received by the holy wearer for any of these cast-off habiliments--the +price, of the precious effluvia thus conveyed--by any such little +circumstance, had it been mentioned, some light might have been cast on +what was done. + +One thing, indeed, may be stated with some assurance: and this is--that, +after a man, well or not well, had received one of these same dirty +handkerchiefs, or of these same dirty aprons, no evil spirit in him was +visible. + +One other thing may also be stated with no less confidence:--this is +that, infection out of the question, and supposing Paul free from all +contagious disease, if, without handkerchief or apron, the disease would +have had its exit,--by no such handkerchief or any such apron was the +exit of it prevented. + +Note, that all this time, according to this man, the author of the Acts, +he himself was in Paul's suite. Yet, taking credit for all these +miracles--taking credit thus for miracles out of number, not so much as +one of them all does he take upon himself to particularize.[78] + + +SECTION 8. + +SUPPOSABLE MIRACLE VII.--AT EPHESUS, EXORCISTS SCEVAS +BEDEVILED.--_Acts_ 19:13-20. + +Thus it is that, as under the last head has been observed, of all these +alleged successful exhibitions, not so much as a single one is +particularized. + +In lieu, however, of these successes of Paul's, something of a story to +a certain degree particularized we have. But this is--what? a successful +performance of Paul's? No: but an unsuccessful attempt of certain +persons,--here termed exorcists,--who took upon themselves to act +against him in the character of competitors. + +Well, then: when the time came for demonstrating supernatural powers by +experiment, these exorcists--these impostors, no doubt it was intended +they should be deemed--made a very indifferent hand of it. Good: but the +true man, Did he go beyond these same impostors? Not he, indeed: he did +not so much as attempt it. But, let us hear his historiographer, who all +this while was at his elbow. Acts 19:13-20. "Then certain of the +vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had +evil spirits, the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by +Jesus, whom Paul preacheth. + +"And there were," continues the narrative, ver. 14, "seven sons of +Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so." Thus far the +narrative. + +The sons of the chief of the priests? Such men styled not only +_exorcists_ but _vagabonds_? If they are not here, in express terms, +themselves styled _vagabonds_, at any rate, what is here imputed to them +is the doing those same things, the doers of which have just been +styled, not only _exorcists_, but at the same time _vagabonds_. But let +us continue, "And the evil spirit," ver. 15, "answered and said, Jesus, +I know, and Paul I know, but who are ye?--And the man, in whom the evil +spirit was, leaped on them and overcame them, and prevailed against +them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded." Thus far +the narrative. + +To whatsoever order of beings the hero of this tale may have +belonged;--whatsoever may have been his proper appellative,--a man with +two natures, one human, the other diabolical,--a man with a devil in +him, a madman,--or a man in his sound senses counterfeiting a diabolized +man or a madman,--the tale itself is surely an eminently curious one. Of +these human or superhuman antagonists of his--of these pretended masters +over evil spirits--the number is not less than seven: yet, in comparison +of him, so feeble and helpless are they all together, that he not only +masters them all seven, but gets them down, all seven together, and +while they are lying on the ground in a state of disablement, pulls the +clothes off their backs: but whether one after another, or all at the +same time, is not mentioned. Be this as it may, hereupon comes a +question or two. While he was stripping any one of them, what were the +others about all that time? The beating they received, was it such as to +render them senseless and motionless? No: this can scarcely have been +the case; for, when the devil had done his worst, and their sufferings +were at the height, out of the house did they flee, wounded as they +were. + +"Jesus I know, and Paul I know," says the mysterious hero, in the +fifteenth verse. Hereupon an observation or two calls for utterance. +Supposing him a man, who, knowing what he was about, counterfeited the +sort of being, who was half man, half devil,--one-half of this speech of +his, namely, _Paul I know_, may without much difficulty be believed. +But, upon this supposition, forasmuch as he acted with so much effect +against these rivals of Paul's,--a supposition not less natural, to say +the least of it, is--that to Paul he was not unknown, any more than Paul +to him: in a word, that on this occasion, between the evil spirit and +the self-constituted Apostle, a sort of understanding had place. Be this +as it may, how extraordinary a person must he not have been, to +undertake the complete mastery of seven men at once! Seven men, all of +them young enough to have a father, not only living, but officiating as +a priest: and at the same time, all of them old enough, if not to +exercise, mastery over evil spirits, at any rate to undertake it! + +In Paul's suite, all this time, as far as appears, was the author of +this narrative. The scene thus exhibited--was he then, or was he not, +himself an eyewitness of it? On a point so material and so natural, no +light has he afforded us. + +Another circumstance, not less curious, is--that it is immediately after +the story of the unnamed multitudes, so wonderfully cured by foul +clothes,--that this story of the devil-masters discomfited by a +rebellious servant of theirs, makes its appearance. Turn now to the +supposed true devil-master--on this score, what was it that he did? Just +nothing. The devil,--and a most mischievous one he was,--_he_ was doing +all this mischief:--the man, who had all such devils so completely in +his power, that they quit possession, and decamp at the mere sight or +smell of a dirty handkerchief or apron of his;--he, though seeing all +this mischief done,--done by this preëminently mischievous as well as +powerful devil,--still suffers him to go on;--and not any the least +restraint in any shape, does he impose upon him; but leaves him in +complete possession of that receptacle, which, according to the +narrative, he wanted neither the power nor the will to convert into an +instrument of so much mischief. Was it from Paul himself, that, on this +special occasion, for this special purpose, namely, the putting down +these presumptuous competitors, this mysterious being received so +extraordinary a gift? This is not said, but not improbably, as it should +seem, this was the miracle, which it was intended by the historian +should be believed. + +Occasions there are--and this we are desired to believe was one of +them--in which the impossibility of a thing is no bar to the knowledge +of it. + +"And this was known," continues the narrative, ver. 17, "And this was +known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus: and fear fell +on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified." + +Now, supposing this thing known, the fear stated as the result of it may +without difficulty be believed:--fear of being treated as those sons of +the chief of the Jewish priests had been: fear of the devil, by whom +those, his unequal antagonists, had been thus dealt with: fear of the +more skilful devil-master, under whose eye these bunglers had been thus +dealt with. + +But the name here said to be _magnified_--the name of the Lord +Jesus--how _that_ came to be _magnified_: in this lies all the while the +difficulty, and it seems no small one. + +The _name_, on this occasion, and thus said to be employed, whose was +it? It was, indeed, the Lord Jesus's. But was it successful? Quite the +contrary. It made bad worse. In the whole of this business, what was +there from which the name of Jesus could in any shape receive +magnification? Yes: if after the so eminently unsuccessful use, thus +made of it by those exorcists, a successful use had, on the same +occasion, been made of it by Paul. But, no: no such enterprise did he +venture upon. Madman, devil, counterfeit madman, counterfeit devil,--by +proxy, any of these he was ready to encounter, taking for his proxy one +of his foul handkerchiefs or aprons: any of this sort of work, if his +historiographer is to be believed, he was ready enough to do by proxy. +But, in person? No; he knew better things. + +"And many that believed," concludes this part of the narrative, ver. 18, +"came and confessed, and showed their deeds." Yes; supposing there were +any, by whom all this or any part of it was believed,--that they spoke +and acted in consequence, may be believed without much difficulty: and, +with this observation may the story, and the sort of elucidation +endeavouring to be given of it, be left to close. + + +SECTION 9. + +SUPPOSABLE MIRACLE VIII.--MAGICAL BOOKS BURNT BY THE +OWNERS.--_Acts_ 19:19, 20. + +Such as it was, the supposable miracle last mentioned was not without +its supposed fruit: destruction of property, such as it was--destruction +of property, and to an amount sufficiently wonderful for the +satisfaction of any ordinary appetite for wonders. But let us see the +text. It follows in the verse 19, next after that, in which mention is +made, as in the last preceding section, of what was done by the "many +who believed." + +"Many of them also," ver. 19, "which used curious arts, brought their +books together, and burned them before all men; and they counted the +price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver." "So +mightily," ver 20, "grew the word of God, and prevailed." And there ends +the story of the books of curious arts. + +As to the sum total, nothing can be more precise: as to the items, could +the list of them be but produced, this would be indeed a treasure. As to +the denomination _magical_, given in the title of this section to those +books, styled books "_of curious arts_,"--in the text, short is the only +apology that need be made for it. Of the number of those _curious arts_ +could not, most assuredly, have been any of the arts included at present +under the name of _fine arts_; of the character of the _arts_ here +designated by the appellation of _curious_, a sufficient indication is +afforded by the story, by which the mention of them is, as above, +immediately preceded. They were the arts, by which effects were +undertaken to be produced, such as the self-constituted Apostle +undertook to produce by so much more simple means. How vast soever were +the collection, what would be the value of it,--the whole taken +together,--when so much more than could be done by everything which it +professed to teach, could be done by about a score or a dozen words, on +the single condition, that the lips by which they were uttered were +properly commissioned lips, not to speak of the still more simple +operation of the touch of a used handkerchief? + +Of the state of art and science in the wake of the great temple of +Diana, the representation here given is of itself no small curiosity. +Books of curious arts--all of them arts of imposture--books, employed, +all of them, in teaching the most secret of all secrets--books of this +description, so well known to all men, as to bear a market-price! a +market-price, so well known to all men, as if it were the price of bread +and butcher's meat: and, in the single town of Ephesus, these books so +numerous,--such the multitude or the value,--or rather the multitude as +well as value, of them taken in the aggregate, that the price, that had +been given for such of them as were thus given up, and which are only +part, and, as it should seem by the word _many_, not the larger part, of +the whole number, of those, which, at that same place, were at that same +time in existence,--was, upon summing up, found actually to amount, so +we are required to believe, to that vast sum. + +Of the aggregate, of the prices that had been paid, we are told, for +this smaller part of the aggregate number of the books, then and there +existing on this single subject,--inadequate, indeed, would our +conception be of it were we to regard it as not exceeding the value of +the whole library collected by King George the Third, and given by his +successor to the English part of his subjects. _Data_, though not for +numeration, yet sufficient for conception, are by no means wanting. To +consult Arbuthnot, or any successor of his, would be mere illusion; in +so far as the value of money is unknown, prices in money serve but to +deceive. History--and _that_ the most appropriate history--has furnished +us with much surer grounds. Thirty pieces of silver, Matt. 28:3-10, was +the purchase-money of the field, called _the potters' field_, bought for +a burying-ground, with the money received and returned by the traitor, +Judas, as the reward for his treachery. Suppose it no more than half an +acre. What, in English money of the present day, would be the value of +half an acre of land in or close by a closely built metropolis? A +hundred pounds would, assuredly, be a very moderate allowance. Multiply +the hundred pounds by fifty thousand, you have five millions; divide the +five millions by thirty, you have, on the above supposition, 166,666_l_. +and odd for the value of these books. Look to the English translation, +look to the Greek original, the pieces of silver are the same. + + +SECTION 10. + +SUPPOSABLE MIRACLE IX.--AT TROAS, EUTYCHUS FOUND NOT TO BE +DEAD.--_Acts_ 20:7-12. + +In this story may be seen another example, of the facility with which, +when men are upon the hunt for miracles, something may be made out of +nothing: the most ordinary occurrence, by the addition of a loose word +or two, metamorphosed into a miracle. + +Paul, one evening, was treating his disciples with a sermon: he was at +the same time treating them, or they him, with a supper. The +architecture of the house was such, that, under favourable +circumstances, a fall might be got from the top of it, or thereabouts, +to the bottom, without much difficulty. If any difficulty there was, on +the occasion in question it was overcome. According to circumstances, +sermons produce on different minds different effects: from some, they +drive sleep; in others, they produce it. On the occasion in question, +the latter was the effect experienced by a certain youth. His station +is represented as being an elevated one:--so elevated that, after +the fall he got from it, it may be believed without difficulty, he +lay for some time motionless. Paul "went down" to him, we are told, +and embraced him. The youth received the embrace; Paul, the praise +of tender-heartedness:--this is what may be asserted with a safe +conscience, though it be without any special evidence. Trifling, +however, is the boon he received from that congregation, in comparison +of what he has been receiving from so many succeeding ones--the +reputation of having made so brilliant an addition to the catalogue of +his miracles. By the accident, whatever may have been the interruption, +given by it to the festivity, no end was put to it. Sermon and supper +ended, the rest of the congregation went their way: and with them went +the youth, to whom had anything serious happened, the historian would +scarcely have left us uninformed of it. + +On this occasion, between the hero and his historian, there is somewhat +of a difference. The historian will have it, that when Paul reached the +body he found it dead. Paul's own account of the matter is the direct +contrary: so the historian himself informs us. Here then the historian +and his hero are at issue. But, the historian, having the first word, +makes, if we may venture to say so, a rather unfair advantage of it, and +by this same first word gives a contradiction to what he makes his hero +say in the next. "He was taken up dead," says the historian, who was or +was not there: "His life is in him," says the preacher, who was there +beyond dispute. + +But let us see the text. + +ACTS 20:7-12. + + 7. And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came + together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart + on the morrow, and continued his speech till midnight.--And there + were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered + together.--And there sat in a window a certain young man named + Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long + preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third + loft, and was taken up dead.--And Paul went down, and fell on him, + and embracing him, said, Trouble not yourselves, for his life is in + him.--When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, + and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he + departed.--And they brought the young man alive, and were not a + little comforted. + +At this time of day, any such contrariety might produce some +embarrassment; but, when it is considered how long ago the thing +happened, no such uneasy sensation is experienced. A supposition, by +which all embarrassment is excluded, is so immediately obvious, as to be +scarce worth mentioning. When Paul reached the body, the soul was +already in the other world; but, with the kisses goes a whisper, and the +soul comes back again. Whether from indolence or from archness, there is +something amusing in the course the historian takes for enlivening his +narration with these flowers: he sketches out the outline, but leaves it +to our imaginations to fill it up. + + +SECTION 11. + +SUPPOSABLE MIRACLE X.--ON SHIPBOARD, PAUL COMFORTED BY AN ANGEL. + +ACTS 27:20-25. + + And when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small + tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be preserved was + thenceforth taken away.--But after long abstinence Paul stood in + the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened to me, + and not have loosed from Crete, but have prevented this harm and + damage.--And now I exhort you to be of good courage: for there + shall be no loss of life among you, but of the ship, _there shall + be loss_.--For there stood by me this night an angel of that God, + whose I am, and whom I serve, saying,--Fear not, Paul, thou must be + brought before Caesar; and lo, God hath graciously given to thee + all who sail with thee.--Wherefore, Sirs, be of good courage: for I + believe God, that it will be as it hath been told me. + +The sea being stormy, the crew are alarmed. The storm, however, is not +so violent, but that Paul is able to make a speech, and they to hear it. +To keep up their spirits, and, at the same time, let them see the sort +of terms he is upon with the Almighty, he tells them a story about an +angel. The angel had been sent to him upon a visit, and was but just +gone. The business of the angel was to quiet the mind of the Apostle. +The matter had been settled. The precious life was in no danger: and, +not only so, but, out of compliment to him, God had been pleased to +grant to him the lives of all who were happy enough to be in his +company. + +In the situation, in which so many lives are represented as being +placed,--no very severe condemnation can easily be passed upon any +little fraud, by which they might be saved. But, is it really to be +believed, that this angel, whom, in a deckless vessel, for the vessels +of _those_ times were not like the vessels of present times, no person +but Paul either saw or heard, was really sent express from the sky by +God Almighty, on such an errand? If not, then have we this additional +proof,--if any additional proof can be needed,--to help to satisfy +us,--that, where a purpose was to be answered, falsehood, or as he would +have called it _lying_, was not among the obstacles, by which Paul would +be stopped, in his endeavours to accomplish it. + + +SECTION 12. + +SUPPOSABLE MIRACLE XI.--AT MALTA, A REPTILE SHAKEN OFF BY PAUL +WITHOUT HURT.--_Acts_ 28:1-6. + +A fire of sticks being kindled, a reptile, here called a viper, is +represented as "coming out of the heat," and fastening on Paul's hand. +On beholding this incident,--"the barbarous people," as the inhabitants +are called, whose hospitality kindled the fire for the relief of the +shipwrecked company, concluded that Paul was a murderer: and were, +accordingly, in expectation of seeing him "swollen, or fallen down dead +suddenly." Nothing of this sort happened, their next conclusion was, +_that he was a God_. As such, did these barbarians, as did the civilized +inhabitants of Lystra, sacrifice to him, or in any other way worship +him? No: these conceptions of theirs reported, there the story ends. + +Of this story, what is to be made? At this time of day, among Christians +in general, what we should expect to find is, that it passed for a +miracle. But, if by miracle is meant, not merely an accident, somewhat +singular and extraordinary,--but, by a special act of Almighty power, an +effect produced, by means disconformable to the uniform course of +nature,--it might be too much to say, that even by the reporter himself, +it is for the decided purpose of its being taken for miracle, that it is +brought to view. + +If, however, the design was not here, that the incident should be taken +for a miracle,--the story amounted to nothing, and was not worth the +telling. But, if it _is_ to be made into a miracle, where is the matter +in it, out of which a miracle can be made? + +The reptile--was it really a viper? Neither the barbarians of Malta, nor +the reporter of this story, nor in a word, at that time of day, any +other persons whatever, were either very complete or very correct, in +their conception of matters belonging to the field of natural history. +At present, reptiles are crawling creatures. At this time of day, when +_leeches_ are excepted, to fasten upon the part they have bitten is not +the practice with any reptiles that we know of. If, instead of _viper_, +the Greek word had been one that could have been translated +_leech_,--the story would have been probable enough, but, were it only +for that very reason, no miracle could have been made out of it. Shaken +down into the fire, that is, into the burning fuel,--a small reptile, +such as a leech, how brisk soever in the water, would be very apt to be +overpowered by the heat, before it could make its escape: with a reptile +of the ordinary size of a viper, this would hardly be the case. + +Be this as it may, "he felt,"--so says the story,--"he felt no harm." +How came it that he felt no harm? Because the Almighty performed a +miracle to preserve him from harm? So long as eyes are open, causes out +of number--causes that have nothing wonderful in them--present +themselves to view before this. "The beast," as it is translated, "was +not a viper":--if really a viper, it happened, at that moment, not to be +provided with a competent stock of venom: it had already expended it +upon some other object:--by some accident or other, it had lost the +appropriate tooth. Not to look out for others,--any mind that was not +bent upon having a miracle at any price, would lay hold of some such +cause as one of these, sooner than give itself any such trouble as that +of torturing the incident into a miracle. + +To bring under calculation the quantity of supernatural power necessary +to the production of a given effect is no very easy task. At any +rate,--without more or less of expense in a certain shape, nothing in +that way could ever be done. In the case here in question, what could +have been the object of any such expense? Was it the saving the +self-constituted Apostle the pain of a bite? The expense then, would it +not have been less--the operation, so to speak, more economical--had a +slight turn been given to Paul's hand, or to the course of the reptile? +But, in either case, neither would the name of the Lord, nor--what was +rather more material--that of his Apostle, have received that +glorification which was so needful to it. + +Any such design, as that of giving an unequivocal manifestation of +Almighty power, such as should stand the test of scrutiny, testifying +the verity of Paul's commission to the end of time,--any such design +could the incident have had for its final cause? A more equivocal,--a +less conclusive,--proof of the manifestation of supernatural power, +seems not very easy to imagine. + +Here then comes once more the so often repeated conclusion:--the +narrative began to be in want of a miracle, and the miracle was made. + +In those days, among that people, miracles were so much in course, that +without a reasonable number of them, a history would hardly have +obtained credence: at any rate it would not have obtained readers, and +without readers no history can ever obtain much credence. + + +SECTION 13. + +SUPPOSABLE MIRACLE XII.--AT MALTA, DEPUTY PUBLIUS'S FATHER +CURED.--_Acts_ 28:7-10. + +"In the same quarters," says the story--it follows immediately upon that +of the viper. "In the same quarters were possessions of the chief man of +the island, whose name was _Publius_, who received us and lodged us +three days courteously.--And it came to pass, that the father of Publius +lay sick of a fever, and of a bloody flux, to whom Paul entered in and +prayed, and laid his hands on him and healed him.--So when this was +done, others also which had diseases in the island, came and were +healed.--Who also honoured us with many honours, and when we departed, +they laded us with such things as were necessary." + +Of the fevers, which, within the compass of any given spot, and any +given space of time, have place, it almost always happens, that a +certain number go off of themselves. Of, perhaps, all sorts of +fever,--at least of almost all sorts at present known, thus much is +agreed upon by all physicians:--they have at least two regular courses, +one of which terminates in death, the other or others in recovery. +Supposing the person in question to have had a fever,--what is pretty +clear is--that, if _of itself_, it would have taken a favourable +termination, there was nothing, in the forms employed by Paul, viz., +utterance of prayers and imposition of hands, that could have any +natural tendency to _cause_ it to take an unfavourable one. + +But--the course afterwards taken by the fever, was there anything in it +to distinguish it from the ordinary favourable course? If not, in that +case, so far from miraculous, there is nothing that is so much as +wonderful in the case. + +Note here two things--the narrator one of the party; the narrative so +loose and uncircumstantial. But _to see_ is one thing; _to narrate_, +another. + +Three days, it seems, and no more, did Paul and his suite stay at the +house of this Publius. Was it during that time, or not till afterwards, +that Paul performed on him those ceremonies, of which healing is +represented as having been the consequence? Was it within that same +space of time, or not till afterwards, that the healing is supposed to +have taken place? As to the English word _healing_, it cannot be accused +of being indecisive. But in some languages they have words, by which a +very convenient veil is thrown over the result. In the languages in +question, for the endeavour to heal, whether successful or unsuccessful, +the word employed is the same. The Latin affords one of these convenient +words, _curo_. The Greek has another, _iasato_, and in the Greek +original of this history, this is the word employed. + +In a case where a ceremony and nothing else is trusted to, it being +supposed that the patient really has the disease, the safe and prudent +course is, so to order times and seasons, that between the time of +performing the ceremony, and the time at which restoration to health is +expected to take place, the time shall have come for the practitioner to +have shifted quarters; for, in this case, this is an interval more or +less considerable during which it being taken for granted that the +desired result will take place of course, reward, in the shapes of +profit and honour, will pour in upon the scientific head. + +Here, as elsewhere, not only no _symptoms_ are particularized, but no +_place_ is mentioned: no _time_ is particularized, no _persons_ are +mentioned as _percipient witnesses_: even the individual who was the +subject of the cure is not mentioned by name. + +As to the givers of the supposed honours and presents--persons are +indeed mentioned:--mentioned, but no otherwise than by the name of +_others_. One individual alone is particularized: particularized as +having received the benefit of these ceremonies. This is the father of +Publius. This man, to use the phraseology of the passage, was _also +healed_. But--this man who was he? He was no less a person than the +father of the chief man in the island. Well then, what are the honours, +what the allotment of "_such things as were necessary_?" What were the +proofs of gratitude, afforded by this man, who was so much better able +to afford such presents, than any of those other persons cured? By such +proofs of remuneration, some evidence--some circumstantial +evidence,--supposing them exhibited at a proper time, would have been +afforded, in proof of the reality of the service. But, neither by the +person thus spoken of as healed, nor by his son--the chief man in the +island,--is it said that any such proofs were afforded. For such a +silence when the case of an individual was brought to view, coupled with +the express declaration made, of gifts presented by persons +unnamed,--three cases cannot but present themselves, as being any one of +them more probable, than that, on this occasion, a real miracle was +performed. One is--that there was no disease, perhaps no such person: +another is, that though there was a disease, it went off of itself: the +third is, that it never went off at all. + +One thing may be asserted without much fear of contradiction: +and that is, that in this country, if in terms such as these, +accounts were inserted in the public prints;--accounts of diseases +cured without medicine;--diseases cured by nothing but words and +gesticulations;--though the accounts given were ever so numerous, not +the smallest notice would they be thought worthy of,--not the smallest +attention would they receive from anyone, unless it were for the joke's +sake. + +What is more,--numerous are the publications, in which, encompassed +with circumstantiality in all manner of shapes, not only the names of +the fortunate patients are mentioned, but under the signatures of those +patients declarations made, assuring the public of the reality of the +cure,--and yet, when at the same time, by competent persons, due inquiry +has been made, it turns out after all that no such cure has been +performed. + +Accounts, which would not be believed were they to come out at a time of +so widely diffused knowledge, are they to be believed, merely because +the time they belonged to,--facts and accounts together,--was, as to all +such matters, a time of universal ignorance? The less a man understands +the subject, the more firmly is he to be believed, as to everything he +says of it? Or is it that, between then and now, _men_ and _things_ have +undergone a total change? and, if so, when did it take place? + + +SECTION 14. + +CONCLUSION: THE SUPPOSABLE MIRACLES CLASSED AND SUMMED UP. + +Inferences,--conveying more or less of instruction,--may, perhaps, be +found deducible,--at any rate our conception of the whole series taken +together, will be rendered so much the clearer, by bringing the same +supposed marvels again under review, arranged in the order of time. + +For this purpose, the time may be considered as divided into three +periods. + +In the first are included--those, which are represented as having had +place during the time when at the outset of his missionary expedition, +Paul had Barnabas for his associate. Of these there are two, viz. 1. At +Paphos, A.D. 45, Sorcerer Elymas blinded. 2. At Lystra, A.D. 46, cripple +cured. Of this part of the expedition, the commencement, as in the +current account, placed in the year 45. + +In the second period are included--those, which are represented as +having had place, during the time when Paul, after his separation from +Barnabas, had Silas for his associate, and the unnamed author of the +Acts for an attendant. This ends with his arrival at Jerusalem, on the +occasion of his fourth visit--the Invasion Visit. + +In the current accounts, this event is placed in the year 60. Within +this period, we have the seven following supposed marvels: 1. At +Philippi, A.D. 53, divineress silenced. 2. At Philippi, A.D. 53, +earthquake: Paul and Silas freed from prison. 3. At Corinth, A.D. 54, +Paul comforted by the Lord in an unseen vision. 4. At Ephesus, A.D. 56, +diseases and devils expelled by Paul's foul handkerchiefs. 5. At +Ephesus, A.D. 55, Exorcist Scevas bedeviled. 6. At Ephesus, A.D. 56, +magic books burned by the owners. 7. At Troas, A.D. 59, Eutychus found +not to be dead. + +In the third period are included--those which are represented as having +had place, in the interval between his forced departure from Jerusalem +for Rome, and his arrival at Rome. + +In the current accounts, this event is placed in the year 62. Within +this concluding period, we have the following supposed marvels: 1. On +shipboard, A.D. 62, Paul comforted by an angel. 2. At Malta, A.D. 62, a +reptile shaken off by Paul without his being hurt. 3. At Malta, A.D. 62, +Deputy Publius's father cured by Paul of some disorder. Year of all +these three last marvels, the same as that of Paul's arrival at Rome. +Total number of supposed marvels, twelve. + +To the first of these three periods belong two supposed marvels, which, +supposing them to have any foundation in truth, present themselves as +being, in a greater degree than most of the others, exposed to the +suspicion of contrivance. A moderate sum, greater or less according to +the state more or less flourishing of his practice, might suffice to +engage a sorcerer, for a few minutes or hours, to declare himself +struck blind: a still more moderate sum might suffice to engage an +itinerant beggar, to exhibit himself with one leg tied up, and after +hearing what was proper to be heard, or seeing what was proper to be +seen, to declare himself cured. + +This was the period, during which Paul had Barnabas, or Barnabas Paul, +for an associate. In these cases, if fraud in any shape had place,--it +is not without reluctance, that any such supposition could be +entertained, as that Barnabas--the generous, the conciliating, the +beneficent, the persevering Barnabas--was privy to it. But, times and +temptation considered, even might this supposition be assented to, on +rather more substantial grounds, than that which stands in competition +with it: namely, that for the production of two effects,--comparatively +so inconsiderable, and not represented as having been followed by any +determinate effects of greater moment,--the ordinary course of nature +was, by a special interposition of Almighty power, broken through and +disturbed. + +Is it or is it not a matter worth remarking--that, of all these twelve +supposed occurrences, such as they are,--in not more than four is the +hero represented,--even by his own attendant, historian, and +panegyrist,--as decidedly taking any active part in the production of +the effect? These are--the blinding of the sorcerer, the cure of the +cripple, the silencing of the divineress, the curing of Deputy Publius's +father: the three first, at the commencement of this supposed +wonder-working part of his career; the last,--with an interval of +fifteen years between that and the first,--at the very close of it. In +the eight intermediate instances, either the effect itself amounted to +nothing, or the hero is scarcely represented as being instrumental in +the production of it. These are--the being let out of prison after an +earthquake had happened--being comforted, whether by God or man, in a +vision or without one--having handkerchiefs, by which, when he had done +with them, diseases and devils were expelled--being present when a gang +of exorcists were beaten and stripped by a devil, whom they had +undertaken to drive out of a man--being in a place, in which some +nonsensical books were burned by their owners--being in a house, in +which a youth said to be dead, was found not to be so--being comforted +by an angel, who had the kindness to come on board ship +uninvited--shaking off a reptile, without being hurt by it. + +Whatever store may be set at this time of day upon all these marvels, +less cannot easily be set upon them by anybody than was by Paul himself. +For proof, take the whole tenor of his own Epistles, as well as the +whole tenor of his visions, as delivered by his attendant. Numberless as +were the scrapes he got himself into,--numberless as were the hosts of +enemies he everywhere made himself,--open as all ears were to everything +that presented itself as marvellous,--unable as men were to distinguish +what could be done from what could not be done,--pressing as was at all +times the need he had of evidence, that could arrest the hands of +enemies,--on no occasion do we find him calling into his aid, so much as +a single one of all these supposed irrefragable evidences. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[77] _And they had also John to their minister_, 13:5. What _John_ was +this? Answer, see chap. 15:37 to 40. This appears to have been that +John, whose surname was Mark, who was the cause of the angry separation +of Paul from Barnabas. + +[78] Another branch of his trade, already mentioned in this same +chapter, as having been carried on by him in this same place, namely, +Ephesus,--and which, where circumstances created a demand for the +article, appears to have been more profitable than that of expelling +devils or diseases,--is _that_, of which the Holy Ghost was the subject. +This power of conferring--that is to say, of being thought to +confer--the Holy Ghost,--such, and of such sort was the value of it, +that Simon Magus, as there may be occasion to mention in another +chapter, had, not less than one-and-twenty years before this, offered +the Apostles money for it. Acts 8:18-24, A.D. 34. This power, two +preceding verses of the same 19th chapter, namely the 5th and 6th, +represent Paul as exercising: and, whatsoever was the benefit derived, +twelve is the number of the persons here spoken of as having received +it. + +Acts 19:5-7. After "they," the above twelve, v. 7, disciples, v. 9, +"were baptized, v. 5, in the name of the Lord Jesus;" when Paul, v. 6, +"had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they +spake with tongues, and prophesied." Here then, if, by thus laying on of +hands, it is by _Paul_ that any operation is performed, it is the +conferring of "the Holy Ghost." But this power, whence had Paul received +it? Not from Jesus, had the self-constituted Apostle received this gift, +whatever it was, any more than he had baptism, by which ceremony, as +appears from Acts 8:16, it was regularly preceded: as in the case of the +magician it actually had been. Not from Jesus: no such thing is anywhere +so much as pretended. Not from the Apostles, or any of them; from two, +for example, by commission from the rest--as in the case of Peter and +John, Acts 8:14-19:--no such thing is anywhere so much as pretended. In +no such persons could this--would this--their self-declared superior, +have vouchsafed to acknowledge the existence, of a power in which he had +no share. On this occasion, as on every other, independently of the +Apostles did he act, and in spite of the Apostles. + +As to the "_speaking with tongues and prophesying_," these are +pretensions, which may be acknowledged without much difficulty. +_Tongues_ are the organs most men speak with. As to _prophesying_, it +was an operation that might as well be performed after the fact as +before the fact: witness in Luke 22:64, "Prophesy, who is it that smote +thee?" Read the Bible over from beginning to end, a _prophet_, whatever +else be meant, if there be anything else meant, you will find to have +been _a politician: to prophesy_ was to talk _politics_. Make a new +translation, or, what would be shorter, a list of _corrigenda_, and +instead of _prophet_ put _politician_,--a world of labour, now employed +in explanations, will be saved. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + _Acts, part false, part true: Author not Saint Luke._ + + +SECTION 1. + +BY THE FALSE PARTS, THE GOSPEL NOT AFFECTED: MOST PARTS TRUE. + +In regard to the Acts, a notion, generally, not to say universally, +received, is--that it had Saint Luke for its author: and that, +accordingly, it may with propriety be regarded as a continuation of the +Gospel of that Evangelist, written by the same hand. Were this +conception a correct one, whatsoever shock were given to the credit of +the Acts, would unavoidably extend itself to the Gospel history: at any +rate, to that part of it which bears the name of Luke. + +Before this chapter is at an end,--the reader, if the author is not much +mistaken, will not only be convinced that that opinion is untenable, but +see no small ground for wondering, how by any person, by whom any survey +had been taken of the two objects in that point of view, any such notion +should ever have come to be entertained. + +Another memento, of which, if made before, even the repetition may in +this place, perhaps, be not without its use, is--that, from nothing that +is here said, is any such conception meant to be conveyed, as that the +history called _The Acts_, is from beginning to end, like that of +Geoffrey of Monmouth's _History of Britain_, a mere falsity. In a +great part, perhaps even by much the greatest, it is here looked upon as +true: in great part true, although in no inconsiderable part incorrect, +to say no worse: and, in particular, on every point, on which the colour +of the marvellous is visible. As to the sort and degree of evidence due +to it, one general assumption there is, by which the whole of this +inquiry has, from first to last, been guided. This is--that, in relation +to one and the same work, whatsoever be the subject of it, credence may, +without inconsistency or impropriety, by one and the same person, be +given and withholden: given, on this or that occasion; withholden, on +this or that other occasion: given, in so far as the truth of the +contents seems probable; withholden, as far as it seems improbable. + +For the support of this assumption,--all that, on the present occasion, +can be offered, is--an appeal to universal experience. As to the general +foundations of the law of evidence,--for any excursion into so wide an +expanse, neither this chapter nor any other part of this work would, it +has been thought, be generally regarded as a proper place. What had been +written on that subject has accordingly been discarded. + + +SECTION 2. + +TIME BETWEEN RESURRECTION AND ASCENSION--ACTS CONTRADICTS LUKE. + +In the first place then, Saint Luke cannot have been the author of the +Acts. + +The reason is very simple. In respect of the time between Jesus's +resurrection and his ascension,--the one of these narratives gives one +account, the other, another account: and, so wide is the difference +between the two, that by one and the same person they could not have +both been given. According to Saint Luke, the time during which, after +his resurrection, and before his ascension, Jesus was seen by his +disciples, extended not beyond _one_ day: according to the Acts, it +extended as far as _forty_ days. By Saint Luke, that the time was not +more than a day, is not indeed said in so many words; but upon +examination of the text, it will be found, that, consistently with the +particulars given, no longer duration can be assigned to it. In the +Acts, that the time, during which he continued showing himself after his +_passion_, Acts 1:3,[79] to the Apostles, was "_forty days_," is +affirmed in those very words. + +The point here in question, be it observed, is not _truth_, but +_consistency_: not the truth of either of the two accounts; but their +consistency, the one with the other: and, instead of consistency, so +palpable is the inconsistency, that the conclusion is,--by no one man, +who did not, on one or other of the two occasions, intend thereby to +deceive, can both of them, morally speaking, have been penned. + +Now for the proof. First, let us hear Saint Luke: it is all of it in his +last chapter--the 24th. In verse 10, mention is made of certain women, +three named, others not named. In verses 2 and 3, "they entered into," +it is said, "the sepulchre," ver. 2, "and found not the body of the Lord +Jesus." In ver. 9, "they returned," it is said, "from the sepulchre, and +told all these things to the eleven, and to all the rest." Thereupon it +is, that, of all them, "two" ver. 13, of whom Cleopas, ver. 18, was one, +"went _that same day_ to Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about sixty +furlongs: and while they communed together," it was that "Jesus," ver. +15, "drew near, and went with them," whereupon between him and them a +conversation therein reported, ensued. The conversation,--the same +conversation, as reported in verses from 16 to 27,--continues till their +arrival at the village, ver. 28, namely, Emmaus, as per ver. 13. +According to the next verse, ver. 29, "the day," namely, that same day, +"being far spent," at that same place, "he went in to tarry with them," +they having "constrained him." Then also it is that, ver. 30, "he sat at +meat with them:" and, ver. 31, "they knew him, and he vanished out of +their sight." Moreover, "at that same hour" it is, ver. 33, that "they +returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them +that were with them, saying," ver. 34, "The Lord is risen indeed, and +hath appeared unto Simon." Then it is also, that, ver. 36, they +reporting what had passed, "as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in +the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you." Thereupon +follows a conversation, reported in verses from 37 to 49, in the course +of which he, ver. 43, "did eat before them." Then it is, that, +immediately after the last words, which, in ver. 49, he is stated to +have uttered, come these words, ver. 50, "And he led them out as far as +to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed them. And it came to +pass," says the next verse, ver. 51, "while he blessed them, he was +parted from them, and carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him," +continues the next verse, ver. 52, "and returned to Jerusalem with great +joy." And, with the next verse, which says, "they were continually in +the temple, praising and blessing God,"--the chapter, and with it the +Gospel, ends. + +So much for Saint Luke. Now for the author of the Acts, chapter 1, ver. +3, "To whom," says he, namely the Apostles, ver. 2, "he," namely Jesus, +ver. 1, "showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible +proofs, being seen of them _forty_ days..." + +Thus while, according to the author of the Acts the time--during which +Jesus was seen by the persons in question was not less than _forty_ +days,--according to Saint Luke, the whole time, during which this same +Jesus was seen by those same persons, was not more than _one_ day. And +who was this historian, who, on the supposition of the identity, +speaking of this all-important scene, on one occasion says, that it +lasted no more than _one_ day; and, on another occasion, professing, +Acts 1:1, to be giving continuance to such his former discourse, +declares, in so many words, that it lasted "forty days"? It is Saint +Luke, one of the Apostles of Jesus;--one, of the eleven, before whose +eyes, everything of that which has just been read, is stated as having +passed. + +With all this before him, does the editor of the edition of the Bible, +called Scholey's Bible, in a note to the commencement of the Acts, very +composedly assure us, that "from its style, and other internal marks, it +is evidently the production of Luke": quoting for his authority, Bishop +of Lincoln's _Elements of Christian Theology_, vol. 4. Who this same +Bishop of Lincoln was, by whose Elements of Christian Theology, +instruction such as this is administered, let those inquire, in whose +eyes the profit of the inquiry promises payment for the trouble. From +any such particular inquiry, the profit will perhaps appear the less, +the greater appears the probability, that, in the minds of all +Bishops,--from the first that ever committed his instructions in +theology to the press, down to those by whom the Christian world is +illuminated at this present writing,--the same sort of discernment, or +the same sort of sincerity, has all along had place. + +When 20,000_l_, a year--or though it were but 20_l_, once told--or, +though it were but salvation from everlasting torment--is to be gained; +gained, by the perception, that two men, the one of whom writes in +point-blank contradiction to the other, are one and the same man,--the +task is not, naturally speaking, of the number of those, by the +performance of which much wonder need be excited. + +The sort of improvement, made by the author of the later history, upon +the account given in the earlier, has now been seen. Would anyone wish +to see the inducement? He will not have far to look for it. For making +the impression, which it was his desire to make,--the _one_ day, +allotted to the occurrence by one of the company, was not, in the +estimation of the anonymous writer, sufficient. To render it sufficient, +he calls in the powers of arithmetic: he multiplies the _one_ by forty; +and thus, to the unquestionable satisfaction of a host of +mathematicians,--Barrow, Newton, and so many other mathematical divines, +not to speak of Locke, of the number--thus is done what is required to +be done: thus, by so simple an operation, is the probative force of the +occurrence multiplied forty-fold.[80] + + +SECTION 3. + +AS TO ASCENSION, ACTS IS INCONSISTENT WITH LUKE. + +Thus far, the embellishments, made by our anonymous artist, have had for +their ground the work of the original hand: meaning always Saint Luke, +with whom the common error has identified him. Here comes an instance, +in which the whole is altogether of his own workmanship. This is the +story of the "two men in white apparel," by whom, what, in his eyes, +were the deficiencies in the instruction offered by Jesus to the +witnesses of his ascension, may be seen supplied. + +Still the same delicacy as before: by his own hand no miracle made: only +a quantity of matter, fit for this purpose, put into the hands of +readers; and to their imagination is left a task so natural and so, +agreeable. + +Scarcely, after finishing his instructions to his Apostles, has Jesus +ceased to be visible to them, when, if Acts is to be believed, "two men +in white apparel"--two men, _to_ whom none of them were known, and _by_ +whom none of them were known, make their appearance, and from nobody +knows where. But these same two men in white, who are they? "Oh!" says +_Imagination_, for the hints we have already seen given to her are quite +sufficient, "Oh!" says Imagination, "they were angels. Think for a +moment, and say what else they can have been. Had they been men, could +they have been thus unknowing and unknown? could their appearance have +been thus sudden? not less sudden than the vanishing of a spirit? not to +speak of the beautiful white clothes you see they had,--and would they +have been thus dressed? To believe them men, would be to believe in +direct contradiction to Saint Luke; for, in his account of the matter, +as you may see, from first to last, not two men were there in the whole +party, that were not in the most intimate manner known to each other. +But though, by Saint Luke's account, so decided a negative is put upon +all men-strangers, yet nothing is said about angels. Angels, therefore, +they may have been,--you may venture to say they _were_: and the report +made by all persons present, remains nevertheless uncontradicted." + +"Another proof, that they cannot have been men, and that therefore they +were angels. Of these beings, who were then unknown to all the company, +what was the errand? It was no less than the giving to the whole company +of the companions of Jesus,--of that Jesus, by whom, after giving to +them such instructions as he thought fit to give to them, they had but +that moment been left,--the giving to them some _other_ instructions, +which he had not thought fit, or else had forgot, to give to them. But, +as by no men-strangers could any such conceit have been entertained, as +that, by the party in question, any such instructions would be listened +to,--so, by no men-strangers can it be that any such instructions were +given:--an additional proof that they cannot have been anything but +angels." Thus readily does the imagination of the reader, answer with +her logic, the call given to her by the imagination of the author. + +Angels if they were, they appear not to have been very knowing ones. +Sent, for the purpose of giving information,--and such information, +nothing of that which was known to all those, to whom they came to give +it,--nothing, if they themselves are to be believed, was known to them. +Addressing themselves to the company--the company whom Jesus had but +that moment left,--"Whom saw ye going up," say they, ver. 11, "into +heaven"? Then comes the information, which Jesus, on his departure, +Jesus, we are expected to believe, has not thought fit, or else had +forgot, to give. "This same Jesus," say they, ver. 11, "which is taken +up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen +him go into heaven." Here we have the information and--they to whom it +was given,--what can they have been the better for it?--"Shall so come." +Yes: but when and where, and to what end, and what to do? points these, +as to all which, the information is altogether mute. + +One other proof is yet behind. What has been seen as yet is in the first +chapter. The tenth of his eight and twenty chapters is not finished, +where, speaking in agreement with Saint Luke, he now disagrees with +himself. On this occasion, it is by the mouth of Peter that he speaks. +"God," he makes Peter say, Acts 10:41, "God showed him," Jesus, +"openly."--Showed him, let anybody ask, and to whom? "Not," says he, "to +all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us who +did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead." Thus again it +is, that for any men-strangers, not a particle of room is left. But, +for angels, considering the materials they are made of, no quantity of +room can be insufficient: therefore, once more, nothing can these men +have been but angels. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[79] As to the word _passion_, that by this word could not have been +meant the same event as that denoted by the word _resurrection_, cannot +but be acknowledged. But, with regard to the alleged inconsistency, this +distinction will not be found to make any difference: for, as will be +seen, it is not till after his resurrection, that, by Saint Luke, Jesus +is represented as having begun to show himself. + +[80] In chapter XII. of this work, section 1, notice has already been +taken, of a similar operation as having been performed by Paul himself: +of the improvement made in _that_ case, the subject was the number of +the witnesses: according to the real Apostle, who was one of the +company, the number, as we have seen, was eleven, and a few more: this +number, whatever it was, the self-constituted Apostle, who knew nothing +about the matter, took in hand, and multiplied till he had raised it to +five hundred. Thus, with or without concert, with like effect,--and it +is almost needless to say, with the same object, and from the same +inducement,--may be seen the master and the journeyman, working on +different occasions, but with well-matched industry, at the +manufacturing of evidence. Add now together the results of the two +operations, and note the aggregate. Number of witnesses, according to +Luke, say,--for the sake of round numbers,--twenty; though there seems +little reason to suppose it so great: addition made to it by Paul, 480. +Number of days,--during which, as above, they continued seeing and +hearing what they saw and heard,--according to Saint Luke, but one: +according to Paul's attendant, 40. Multiply together the two +improvements, that is to say, the 480 by the 40, you have 19,200 for the +sum total of probative force, added by the arguments of the author of +the Acts to the amount of the original quantity, as reported by Saint +Luke. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + _Law Report.--Jews versus Paul: Trials five, with Observations._ + + +SECTION 1. + +INTRODUCTION. + +On the occasion of what passed at the Temple, the report of a great +law-case,--to speak in modern and English language,--the case of _The +Jews against Paul_, was begun. The judicatory before which he underwent +that trial,--partly before the Jewish multitude, partly before the Roman +chief by whom he was rescued,--was a sort of mixed and extempore +judicatory, something betwixt a legal and an illegal one: for, as has +been seen in the case of Saint Stephen, and as may be seen in the case +of the woman taken in adultery, and moreover, in the body of the law +itself, a sort of mob-law might, not altogether without ground, be +stated as forming part and parcel of the law of Moses. To this sort of +irregular trial, succeeded, before the definite judgment was pronounced, +no fewer than four others, each of them before a tribunal, as regular as +any the most zealous supporter of what is called legitimacy could +desire. In execution of this definitive judgment it was, that Paul was +sent, on that half-forced, half-voluntary expedition of his, to Rome: at +which place, on his arrival at that capital, the Acts history closes. Of +the reports of these several trials, as given in the Acts,--follows a +summary view, accompanied with a few remarks for elucidation. + + +SECTION 2. + +TRIAL I. PLACE, JERUSALEM TEMPLE.--JUDICATORY, THE MIXED +MULTITUDE.--_Acts_ 22:1 to 21. + +Scene, the Temple. Judges, prosecutors, and--stated as intended +executioners, a Jerusalem multitude. Sole class, by whom any declared or +special cause of irritation had been received, the Christianized Jews, +provoked by Paul's preachings against the law of the land, to which they +as yet maintained their adherence; by his intrusion upon their society, +by which, were it only for his former persecution, he could not but be +abhorred; and by the notorious perjury he was at that moment committing, +having chosen to commit it, rather than cease to obtrude upon them the +object of their abhorrence. + +Of the particulars of the accusation nothing is said: but, the above +circumstances, and the subsequent charges made upon him the next day by +the constituted authorities,--who immediately took up the matter, and +carried on a regular prosecution against him,--sufficiently show, what, +if expressed, would have been the purport of them. By the preparations +made for execution, we shall see broken off the defence, before it had +come, if ever it was designed to come, to the substance of the alleged +offence. + +Points touched upon in it are these:-- + +1. Defendant's birthplace, Tarsus; parentage, Jewish; religious +persuasion, Pharasaical; education, under Gamaliel, verse 3. + +2. Part, borne by him, in the persecution of the Christians, when +Stephen was stoned: his commission for that purpose stated, and the High +Priest and Elders called to witness, verses 4 and 5. + + N.B. Time of _that_ same commission, according to the received + chronology, not less than 26 years before this. + +3. Story, of that first vision, of which so much has been seen: namely, +that from whence his conversion was dated: occasion, his journey to +Damascus, for the execution of that same commission, verses 6 to 16. + +4. Story of his trance: for this see Chapter IV. §. 7. In this state, +"the Lord" seen by him.--_Lord to Defendant._ "Get thee quickly out of +Jerusalem, for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me." +_Defendant, to Lord._ Informing or reminding said Lord of the details of +the part borne by said defendant in the persecution of Saint +Stephen.--_Lord to Defendant._ "Depart, for I will send thee far hence +unto the Gentiles." Note, Defendant cut short: Lord's patience no match +for defendant's eloquence. + +_Judges and executioners._--At the word _Gentiles_, exclamation:--"Away +with him ... he is not fit to live":--clothes cast off, as in Stephen's +case, as if to prepare for stoning him.[81] "Dust thrown into the air." +Present, chief captain Claudius Lysias, who commands him to be "brought +into the castle," and "examined by scourging." While, for this purpose, +they are binding him, on Defendant crying out, "_I am a Roman citizen_," +the binding ceases, no scourging commences: the next day he is released, +and the "chief priests and all their council" are "sent for," and +Defendant is "set before them." + + +SECTION 3. + +TRIAL II. JUDICATORY, JERUSALEM COUNCIL-BOARD.--_Acts_ 23:1 to 10. + +Judges, chief priests in council assembled: present, the high priests. +Prosecutors, the said judge: other prosecutors, as far as appears, none. +In modern Rome-bred law, this mode of procedure, in which the parts of +judge and prosecutor are performed by the same person, is styled the +_inquisitorial_: in contradistinction to this, that in which the part of +prosecutor is borne by a different person, is stiled the _accusatorial_. + +Charges or questions put, not stated. + +_Defendant._ "I am a Pharisee ... the son of a Pharisee. Of the hope and +resurrection of the dead I am called in question." + +Thereupon, ver. 9, "great cry" ...--"Great dissention." "Chief captain, +fearing lest," Defendant, "Paul should have been pulled in pieces of +them," inuendo the said judges, "commands soldiers," who take him back +into the castle. + +"Cry? dissention?"--whence all this? Acts has not here been explicit +enough to inform us. As to Defendant's plea, that it was for believing +in the resurrection that he was prosecuted,--what could not but be +perfectly known to him was,--that it neither was true, nor by +possibility could be so. Among said Judges, parties two--Pharisees and +Sadducees: Pharisees the predominant. "The Sadducees," on this occasion, +says ver. 8, "say there is no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit; +but the Pharisees confess both." Prosecuting a Pharisee for preaching +the resurrection, meaning always the general resurrection, would have +been as if a Church-of-Englandist Priest were indicted in the King's +Bench, for reading the Athanasian creed. Accordingly--it was a stratagem +of the Defendant's--this same misstatement: such it is expressly stated +to be:--when defendant "_perceived_," ver. 6, "that the one part were +Sadducees, and the other Pharisees,"--then it was that he came out with +it: and, already it has been seen, how effectually it answered its +purpose. + +Enter once more the history of the _trance_. Note here the sudden +termination of Defendant's first Jerusalem visit, alias his +_Reconciliation Visit_, and turn back to Chapter IV. §. 7, Cause of +it,--historian speaking in his own person--"Grecians," Acts 9:29, "went +about to slay him," for disputing with them:--historian, speaking, to +wit, here, in defendant's person, Christianized Jews' disbelief of his +conversion, and of that vision story of his, that he produced in +evidence of it. It is on the occasion of the just-mentioned Temple +trial, that Defendant is made to come out with it. On that occasion, as +hath been seen, it was of no use: but, in this second trial, it will be +seen to be of prime use. That it was told over again at this trial is +not indeed expressly said: but, that it was so is sufficiently manifest. +This and no other is the handle which his supporters in the council lay +hold of: and this they could not have done, had he not, as will be seen +presently, put it into their hands. "The Scribes," says ver. 9, "that +were of the Pharisees' part, arose, and strove, saying, We find no evil +in this man; but if a spirit or an angel hath spoken to him, let us not +fight against God." Well then--this spirit, or this angel, who was he? +Who but that spirit, whom defendant had so manifestly told them of, and +who was no other than that "_Lord_" of his, whom he had seen in the +trance: in the trance, which, while the multitude were beating him, +invention had furnished him with for the purpose. + +Mark now, how apposite a weapon the Pharisees found, in this same +trance, in their war against the Sadducees. As to Jesus,--though from +first to last, so far from being recognized by their sect, he had been +the object of that enmity of theirs under which he sunk,--yet, so far +as, in general terms, he preached the _general_ resurrection,--his +doctrine not only agreed with theirs, but was of no small use to them: +it was of use to them, against those political rivals, whose opposition +to their sect was the sole cause of everything that was troublesome to +it. As to Paul,--had he confined himself, to the speaking of Jesus's +_particular_ resurrection,--this indeed was what no Pharisee could be +disposed to admit: but if, by Paul or anyone else, Jesus, or any other +person, was at any time seen in an incorporeal state,--here was a piece +of evidence on their side. With relation to any interview of the +_Apostles_ with Jesus after his resurrection, nothing that Paul had to +say--to say with truth or colour of truth--was anything more than +_hearsay_ evidence: but, as to that, which on this occasion, he had been +relating about the Lord, whom he had seen in his trance,--this, how +false soever, was not only _direct_, but _immediate_ evidence: evidence, +in the delivery of which, the _relating_ witness stated himself to have +been, with relation to the alleged fact in question, a _percipient_ +witness. + +That, on this occasion, Paul dwelt, with any particularity, on the +appearance of Jesus in the flesh after his resurrection, is not said: +and, as it would not have contributed anything to the purpose, the less +particular the safer and the better. _Lord_ or not _Lord_, that which +appeared was at any rate a _spirit_: and for the war against the +Sadducees, a spirit was all that was wanted: no matter of what sort. + + +SECTION 4. + +TRIAL III. PLACE, CÆSAREA.--_Acts_ 24:1-23. + +SCENE, "Governor" Felix's judicatory. Judge, said Governor. Prosecutor, +Orator Tertullus: Present, his clients,--the "High Priest" and "the +Elders." Procedure, accusatorial. Time, "twelve days," ver. 11, "after +Trial 1; eleven, after Trial 2." + +I. Counsel's Speech--Points touched upon in it, these:--verses 1-4. + +1. Opening compliment to Governor Judge.--His "providence" and +"clemency." + +II. 1. Vituperative surplusage, of course, as if in B. R.: though not +paid for, in fees and taxes, by the sheet.--Defendant, "a pestilent +fellow." + +Charges three. To make the matter more intelligible, had the proceeding +been by writing in the first instance, they might have been styled +counts. + +2. Charge 1. Defendant "a mover of sedition among all the Jews +throughout the world." + +3. Charge 2. Said Defendant "a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes." + +4. Charge 3. Defendant "gone about to profane the temple." + +5. Statement made of Trial 2, and the termination given to it by Roman +chief captain Lysias, taking said Defendant out of their hands, and +commanding accusers' appearance in this court: verses 7, 8. + +6. _Viva voce_ evidence accordant: witnesses, neither quality nor number +stated. "And _the Jews_ also assented, saying that these things were +so." ver. 9. + +III. Defendant's defence: verses 10-21. + +Points touched upon in it, these:-- + +1. Defendant's confidence in this his judge. + +2. At Jerusalem "to worship" was his errand. The ostensible one, yes: of +the real one,--supplanting the Apostles,--of course nothing said. + +3. In the temple, defendant was not "found by _them_," by whom? +"disputing with any man." Disputing? No. It was to take the oath--the +seven-days-long false oath,--that he went there:--this, and nothing +else. The priests, in whose keeping he was, and on whose acceptance the +validity and efficacy of the ceremony depended, were not men to be +disputed with. + +4. Defendant not found by them "raising up the people, neither in the +synagogues, nor in the city." ver. 12. No: neither was any such raising +charged upon him: nor would it have suited his purpose. Seditious _acts_ +are one thing; seditious _discourses_, another. From seditious acts he +had nothing to gain; from seditious discourses everything: to wit, in so +far as the effect of it was to weaken men's attachment to the law of the +land, and engage them to transfer it to the schism he had raised in the +religion of Jesus. + +5. General denial: but not amounting to _Not Guilty_. "Neither _can they +prove_ the things whereof they now accuse me." ver. 13. + +6. In verses 14, 15, 16, matter nothing to the purpose. Orthodox his +belief: among the objects of it, the resurrection: void of offence +towards God and man, his conscience. + +7. False pretence--object of this his visit to Jerusalem--of this his +_Invasion Visit_--falsely stated. "Now after many years I came to bring +alms to my nation, and offerings." ver. 17. + +8. When Defendant was "found purified in the temple," it was "neither +with multitude, nor with tumult." True: but nothing to the purpose: the +priests, in whose boarding-house he was, while the _purifying_, that is +to say, the eating and paying, process was carrying on, were not a +_multitude_: nor would _tumult_ have been either profitable or +practicable. + +9. The men, who so found Defendant there, were "certain Jews from Asia," +and, if they were accusers or witnesses, ought to have appeared in that +character on the present occasion. "Who ought," says ver. 19, "to have +been here before thee, and object, if they had aught against me." Ought? +why ought they? Defendant called no witnesses: by non-appearance of +witnesses, if against him, so far from being injured, he was benefited. +The proceeding, too, was _inquisitorial_, not _accusatorial_: it +required no accusers. Jews of Asia indeed? as if there were any Jews of +Asia, to whom any more natural or legitimate cause of indignation could +have been given by his misdeeds, than had been given by them to all the +Jews in Jerusalem, not to speak of the rest of the world, or the +Christianized Jews. + +10. By Defendant's saying to the judges in Trial 2, that it was for +preaching the resurrection that he stood accused by and before them--by +this, without anything else, the indignation thereupon expressed by them +against him had been excited. "Or else," say verses 20, 21, "let these +same here say, if they have found any evil doing in me, while I stood +before the council, Except it be for this one voice, that I cried, +standing among them, Touching the resurrection of the dead I am called +in question by you this day." + +Follows the judge's decision, "When Felix," says ver. 22, "heard these +things, having more perfect knowledge of that way, he deferred them, and +said, When Lysias the chief captain shall come down, I will know the +uttermost of your matter." Such is stated to have been the decision of +the judge: and, so far as regarded what passed on Defendant's trial +before Jerusalem council, it was clearly the only proper one: a more +impartial, as well as, in every point of view, suitable witness, the +case could hardly have afforded: and, as to the main question, nothing +could be more natural, than that what it had fallen in Lysias's way on +that occasion to observe, might afford instructive light. + +Interlocutory order. Defendant recommitted: but access to him free for +everybody. "And he commanded a centurion," says ver. 23, "to keep Paul, +and to let him have liberty, and that he should forbid none of his +acquaintance to minister, or come unto him." + +In this state continues Paul for "two years": at which time, says ver. +27, "Porcius Festus came into Felix's room: and Felix, willing to show +the Jews a pleasure, left Paul bound." + +In verses 24, 25, 26, this interval of delay is filled up with an +account, such as it is, of certain intrigues, of which the Defendant was +the subject. The Roman has a Jewess for his wife. The prisoner is sent +for, and wife shares with husband the benefit of his eloquence. +Self-constituted Apostle preaches: heathen trembles: trembling, however, +prevents not his "hoping" to get money out of the prisoner, if this part +of the history is to be believed. "And after certain days," says ver. +24, "when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he +sent for Paul, and heard him concerning," what is here called, "the +faith in Christ." Faith _in Christ_ indeed? After the word _faith_, the +word _Christ_ costs no more to write than the word _Paul_: but in +whatever was said about faith by Paul, which would be the most prominent +figure,--Christ or Paul--may by this time be imagined. As for any faith +which it was in the nature of the case, that the Roman heathen should +derive from the Greek Jew's eloquence, it must have been faith in Paul, +and Paul only. Paul he had seen and heard, Christ he had neither seen +nor heard; nor, for aught that appears, anything concerning him, till +that very time. + +"And as he reasoned," says ver. 25, "of righteousness, temperance, and +judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this +time, when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee. He hoped," +continues ver. 26, "that money should have been given him of Paul, that +he might loose him: wherefore he sent for him the oftener, and communed +with him." + + +SECTION 5. + +TRIAL IV. PLACE AGAIN, CÆSAREA.--_Acts_ 25:1-12. + +SCENE, Cæsarea judicatory.--Judge, new Roman governor, Festus. +Accusers, "Jews," not named, sent by the high priest and his colleagues +from Jerusalem to Cæsarea for the purpose. Defendant still in the +prison at Cæsarea: Roman judge, at Jerusalem. Prosecutors, the council +there--petition to have Defendant brought thither. Judge chooses rather +to go to him at Cæsarea, than thus send for him to Jerusalem. + +According to the _historian_, it was for the purpose of causing +Defendant to be murdered, in the way to the judicatory, that the +prosecutors were so earnest as they were to obtain the _habeas corpus_: +according to _probability_, it was for any purpose, rather than that of +committing any such outrage upon the authority of their constituted +superior, with an army at his command. Be this as it may, instead of +sending for Defendant to Jerusalem, the judge returned himself to +Cæsarea. + +"Now," says ver. 1, "when Festus was come into the province, after three +days he ascended from Cæsarea to Jerusalem.--Then the high priest and +the chief of the Jews informed him against Paul, and besought him.--And +desired favour against him, that he would send for him to Jerusalem, +laying wait in the way to kill him.--But Festus answered, that Paul +should be kept at Cæsarea, and that he himself would depart shortly +thither.--Let them therefore, said he, which among you are able, go down +with me, and accuse this man, if there be any wickedness in him.--And +when he had tarried among them more than ten days, he went down unto +Cæsarea; and the next day sitting on the judgment-seat commanded Paul +to be brought." + +Charges, not particularized: said of them, not so much as that they were +the same as before. "Many and grievous complaints against Paul, which +they could not prove": ver. 7--such is the only account given of them. + +Defence--points contained in it. As before, no offence, says ver. 8, +against the law--no offence against "the temple." One point added, "Nor +yet against Caesar." Good. But how comes this here? Here we have a +defence, against what, it is plain, was never charged. + +_Festus_--judge, to Defendant, ver. 9: "Wilt thou go up to Jerusalem, +and there be judged of these things _before me_?" + +Defendant to judge, ver. 10: "I stand at Caesar's judgment-seat, where I +ought to be judged": meaning, as appears from the direct words of appeal +in the next verse,--by a Roman, not by a Jewish judicatory, ought I to +be tried. Against the being judged at Cæsarea, instead of Jerusalem, he +could not naturally have meant to object: at least, if the historian +speaks true, in what he says about the plot for murdering the prisoner +on the road. + +2. "To the Jews," says ver. 10, "have I done no wrong." Thus far nothing +more is said than _Not Guilty_. But now follows another trait of that +effrontery, which was so leading a feature in Paul's eloquence, "as," +continues he, "thou very well knowest." Now what anybody may see +is,--that Festus neither did know, nor could know, any such thing. +Witness the historiographer himself, who, but eight verses after, (18, +19, 20,) makes Festus himself, in discourse with King Agrippa, declare +as much. But the more audacious, the more in Defendant's character; and +the greater the probability, that, in the conflict between the +Law-Report and the narrative, truth is on the side of the Report. + +3. Conclusion: ver. 11, defendant gives judge to understand, that if he, +the Defendant, has done any of the things he has been charged with, he +has no objection to be put to death: but in the same breath ends with +saying, "I appeal to Caesar!" submitting thus to Festus's judgment, +whatever it may be, and at the same time appealing from it. + +Festus judge: ver. 12, "when he had conferred with _the council_," +whoever they were,--"Hast thou appealed unto Caesar? unto Caesar thou +shalt go." Here ends Trial IV. + + +SECTION 6. + +TRIAL V. AND LAST.--PLACE, STILL CÆSAREA. + +This requires some previous explanation. + +A few days after the last preceding trial, came to Cæsarea, says verse +13, _Agrippa and Bernice_: Festus being still there: Agrippa, sub-king +of the Jews under the Romans: Bernice, it may be presumed, his queen: +saluting this their superior, their only business mentioned. Follows +thereupon a conversation, of which Defendant is the subject, and which +continues the length of fourteen verses. Defendant having appealed to +Caesar, judge has determined to send him to Caesar accordingly. But, +considering that, by the emperor, on the arrival of a man sent to him in +the character of a prisoner, some assigned cause, for his having been +put into that condition, will naturally be looked for; and, as the only +offences, the Jew stands charged with, are of a sort, which, while to +the heathen emperor they would not be intelligible, would to a Jew +sub-king, if to any one, be sufficiently so;--thereupon it is, that he +desires his sub-majesty to join with him in the hearing of the cause, +and by that means put him in a way to report upon it. + +Speaking of the accusers, "they brought," says Festus to Agrippa in +verse 18, "none accusation of such things as I supposed.--But had +certain questions against him of their own superstition, and of one +Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive.--And because I +doubted of such manner of questions, I asked him whether he would go to +Jerusalem, and there be judged of these matters.--But Paul...had +appealed to be reserved unto the hearing of Augustus..." Such, as +above noticed, is the declaration which the historian puts into the +mouth of Festus: and this, after having so recently made Paul tell +Festus, that his, Paul's, having done no wrong to the Jews, was to him, +Festus, matter of such perfect knowledge.[82] + +Now then comes the trial, Acts 26:1. Scene, at Cæsarea, the Emperor's +Bench. Lord chief justice, Roman governor Festus; Puisne judge, Jew +sub-king Agrippa. Present, "Bernice...chief captains and principal men +of the city." Special accusers, none. Sole speaker, whose speech is +reported, the Defendant. + +Points in Defendant's speech, these: + +1. Verses 2 and 3. Patient hearing requested, acknowledgment of +Agrippa's special confidence. + +2. Verses 4 and 5. Protestation of Phariseeism. + +3. Verses 6, 7, 8. Same false insinuation as before,--Phariseeism the +sole crime imputed to him. + +4. Verses 9, 10, 11. Confession or avowal, whichever it is to be called, +of his proceedings six-and-twenty years before, against the +Christianized Jews, shutting them up in prison, in pursuance of +authority from "the chief priests," down to the time of his +conversion-vision. See Table I. Conversion Table. + +5. Verses 12 to 20. Account of this same vision. See that same Table. + +6. Declaration. "For _these_ causes the Jews caught me in the temple, +and went about to kill me."--For these causes? For what causes? If for +being a Pharisee, or preaching the general resurrection, or even the +particular one,--assuredly no. But, if for the breach of trust, in +joining with the state offenders, the Christianized Jews, whom he was +commissioned to apprehend;--joining with those state offenders, and then +bringing out the vision-story for an excuse;--if telling everybody that +would hear him, that the law of the land was a dead letter;--and, if the +denying he had ever done so; and, for giving himself the benefit of such +mendacious denial, rendering the temple an instrument of notorious +perjury;--if it was for all this, that they "went about" indeed "to kill +him,"--but to kill him no otherwise than in the manner prescribed by +that same law,--Jewishly speaking, they were not to blame in what they +did,--humanly speaking, nothing can be seen that is not altogether +natural in it. + +7. Conclusion: namely, if not of what he would have said,--at any rate, +of what, according to the reporter, he was permitted to say:--it is +formed by a passage, in which, in continuance of his plan for keeping up +his interest with the Pharisee part of the council, his ingenuity +employs itself in strengthening the connection between the particular +resurrection of Jesus, and the general resurrection maintained by the +Pharisees. + +"Having therefore," says verse 22, "obtained help of God, I continue +unto this day, _witnessing_ both to small and great, saying none other +things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should +come:--That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that +should rise from the dead, and should show light unto the people, and to +the Gentiles."--Lord Chief Justice Festus, "with a loud voice, as he," +the Defendant, "thus spake for himself--Paul, thou art beside thyself; +much learning hath made thee mad." In the mouth of a Roman, and that +Roman so high in rank, the notion thus expressed had nothing in it but +what was natural enough. As to the _general_ resurrection, _that_ was +one of the above-mentioned "questions about their own superstition," +which he therefore left to the Jewish judges: as to the _particular_ +resurrection, of this he had heard no better evidence than the +defendant's: and what, in discriminating eyes, _that_ was likely to be +worth, the reader has by this time judged. + +8. Defendant in reply, ver. 25: Not mad, but sober:--for confirmation, +appeal to the Jewish sub-monarch, then and there present. "I am not mad, +most noble Festus; but speak for the words of truth and soberness.--For +the King knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely; for I +am persuaded, that none of these things are hidden from him; for this +was not done in a corner." Here would have been a place for the five +hundred, by whom, after his resurrection, Jesus was seen at once--see +above chapter--but, upon the present occasion, the general expression, +here employed, was deemed preferable. "King Agrippa," continues verse +27, "believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest." + +King Agrippa to Paul, ver. 28. "Almost thou persuadest me to be a +Christian." + +Paul to Agrippa: "I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that +hear me this day were both almost and altogether such as I am, _except +these bonds_." No bad trait of polite oratory this exception. + +Assembly breaks up.--"And when he had thus spoken, the King rose up, and +the governor and Bernice, and they that sat with them. And when they +were gone aside, they talked between themselves, saying, This man doeth +nothing worthy of death or of bonds. Then said Agrippa unto Festus, This +man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed unto Caesar." +Observation. In this observation, something of the obscure seems to +present itself. For, Paul himself being the appellant, and _that_ for no +other purpose than the saving himself from death or bonds, he had but to +withdraw the appeal, and, supposing a judgment pronounced to the effect +thus mentioned, this was everything he could have wished from it. But, +Paul having already, to judge from his Epistle to the Romans, laid the +foundation of a spiritual kingdom in the metropolis of the civilized +world,--it looks as if he had no objection to figure there, as we shall +find him figuring accordingly, in the character of a state-prisoner, for +the purpose of displaying, and in the eye of the Caesar of that day, a +sample of his eloquence, in a cause so much greater than any in which +that of the first Caesar could ever have displayed itself. Reason is not +wanting for the supposition, that it was by what passed at the council, +that the idea was first suggested to him: for "the night following, the +Lord," says 23:11, "stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul; for +as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness +also at Rome." The Lord has commanded me so and so, is the sort of +language in which he would naturally make communication of this idea to +his attendants. + +The circumstantiated and dramatic style of this part of the narrative, +seems to add to the probability, that, on this occasion, the historian +himself was present. On this supposition, though in the Greek as well as +in the English, they are represented as if they had quitted the +justice-room,--any conversation, that took place among them immediately +after, in the street, might not unnaturally have been overheard by him. +In chapter 24, ver. 23, stands Felix's order of admittance, as above, +for Paul's acquaintance, to minister or come to him. One other attendant +has appeared, in the character of his sister's son, Acts 23:16; by whom +information was given to Felix, that the men there spoken of were lying +in wait for him to kill him. On the occasion of this invasion of his, it +would have been interesting enough to have had a complete list of his +staff. + +Here ends trial fifth and last: and in the next verse it is, that, +together with other prisoners, and the historian at least for his free +attendant, he is dispatched on his voyage. Acts 27:1. "And when it was +determined that we should sail into Italy, they delivered Paul and +certain other prisoners unto one named Julius, a centurion of Augustus' +band.--And entering into a ship of Adramyttium, _we_ launched..." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[81] If in any former part of this work, in speaking of this scene, the +persons in question have been spoken of as having actually proceeded to +acts of manual violence, it was an oversight. + +As to the examination by scourging,--singular enough will naturally +appear this mode of collecting evidence: declared purpose of it, "that +he," the captain, "might know wherefore _they_," the Jews, "cried out +against him," meaning the defendant. A simpler way would have been to +have asked _them_; and, as to the scourge, what use it could have been +of is not altogether obvious. To begin with torturing a man, and proceed +by questioning him, was, however, among the Romans a well-known mode of +obtaining evidence. But, then and there, as now and everywhere, unless +the United States form an exception, "whatever is--is right," provided +always that it is by power that it is done. + +[82] Acts 25:12-27. + +"Then Festus, when he had conferred with the council, answered, Hast +thou appealed unto Caesar? unto Caesar shalt thou go.--And after certain +days king Agrippa and Bernice came unto Cæsarea to salute Festus.--And +when they had been there many days, Festus declared Paul's cause unto +the king, saying, There is a certain man left in bonds by Felix:--About +whom, when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the +Jews informed me, desiring to have judgment against him.--To whom I +answered, It is not the manner of the Romans to deliver any man to die, +before that he which is accused have the accusers face to face, and have +license to answer for himself concerning the crime laid against +him.--Therefore, when they were come hither, without any delay on the +morrow I sat on the judgment-seat, and commanded the man to be brought +forth:--Against whom, when the accusers stood up, they brought none +accusation of such things as I supposed:--But had certain questions +against him of their own superstition, and of one Jesus, which was dead, +whom Paul affirmed to be alive.--And because I doubted of such manner of +questions, I asked him whether he would go to Jerusalem, and there be +judged of these matters.--But when Paul had appealed to be reserved unto +the hearing of Augustus, I commanded him to be kept till I might send +him to Caesar.--Then Agrippa said unto Festus, I would also hear the man +myself. To-morrow, said he, thou shalt hear him.--And on the morrow, +when Agrippa was come, and Bernice, with great pomp, and was entered +into the place of hearing, with the chief captains and principal men of +the city, at Festus' commandment Paul was brought forth.--And Festus +said, King Agrippa, and all men which are present with us, ye see this +man about whom all the multitude of the Jews have dealt with me, both at +Jerusalem and also here, crying that he ought not to live any +longer.--But when I found that he had committed nothing worthy of death, +and that he himself hath appealed to Augustus, I have determined to send +him.--Of whom I have no certain thing to write unto my lord, wherefore I +have brought him forth before you, and specially before thee, O, King +Agrippa, that after examination had, I might have somewhat to +write.--For it seemeth to me unreasonable to send a prisoner, and not +withal to signify the crimes laid against him." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + _Paul's Doctrines Anti-apostolic_.--_Was he not Anti-Christ?_ + + +SECTION 1. + +PAUL'S DOCTRINE WAS AT VARIANCE WITH THAT OF THE APOSTLES. + +If Paul's pretensions to a supernatural intercourse with the Almighty +were no better than a pretence;--his visit to Jerusalem, from first to +last, an object of abhorrence to the Apostles and all their disciples; +in a word, to all, who in the birthplace of Christianity, bore the name +of Christian, and were regarded as belonging to the religion of +Jesus;--if, not only to _their_ knowledge, but to that of the whole +population of Jerusalem, he was a depraved character, marked by the +stain,--not merely of habitual insincerity, but of perjury in its most +aggravated form;--if it was no otherwise than by his having declared +himself a Roman citizen, that he escaped from the punishment--apparently +a capital one--attached by the law of the land to the crimes of which he +had been guilty; if, in a word, it was only in places, in which +Jesus--his doctrines, and his Apostles--were alike unknown, that this +self-declared Apostle of Jesus was received as such;--if all, or though +it were but some, of these points may be regarded as established,--any +further proof, in support of the position, that no doctrine of his, +which is not contained in some one or other of the four Gospels, has any +pretension to be regarded as part and parcel of the religion of Jesus, +might well, in any ordinary case, be regarded as superfluous: and, of +the several charges here brought to view, whether there be any one, of +the truth of which the demonstration is not complete, the reader has all +along been invited to consider with himself, and judge. If thereupon the +judgment be condemnatory, the result is--that whatever is in Paul, and +is not to be found in any one of the four Gospels, is not Christianity, +but Paulism. + +In any case of ordinary complexion, sufficient then, it is presumed, to +every judicious eye, would be what the reader has seen already: but the +present case is no ordinary case. An error, if such it be, which +notwithstanding all the sources of correction, which in the course of +the work have at length been laid open and brought to view, has now, for +upwards of seventeen centuries past, maintained its ground throughout +the Christian world, cannot, without the utmost reluctance, be parted +with: for dissolving the association so unhappily formed, scarcely, +therefore, can any argument which reason offers be deemed superfluous. + +For this purpose, one such argument, though on a preceding occasion +already touched upon, remains to be brought to view. It consists of his +own confession. Confession? say rather avowal: for--such is the temper +of the man--in the way of boasting it is, not in the way of concession +and self-humiliation that he comes out with it. Be this as it may--when, +speaking of the undoubted Apostles, he himself declares, that he has +received nothing from them, and that he has doctrines which are not +theirs, shall he not obtain credence? Yes: for this once, it should +seem, he may, without much danger of error, be taken at his word. + +To see this--if he can endure the sight--will not cost the reader much +trouble, Table II. _Paul disbelieved Table_, lies before him. Under the +head of _Independence declared_, in Paul's Epistle to his Galatians, +chapter 1, verses 11, 12, he will find these words. "But I certify you, +brethren, that the Gospel which was _preached of me is not after man_: +for _I neither received it of man_, neither was _I taught, but by the +revelation of Jesus Christ_." Thus far Paul. If then it was not received +by him by the revelation of Jesus Christ--this Gospel of his; nor yet, +as he assures us, "_of man_,"--the consequence is a necessary one--it +was made by him, out of his own head. + + +SECTION 2. + +OF CONFORMITY, USE MADE OF THE NAME OF JESUS NO PROOF. + +Of the name of Jesus, whatever use he may have made--made (as it was +seen) without authority--can any use, made in contradiction to this his +own confession, afford any the slightest ground for regarding _his_ +Gospel, whatever it be,--his Gospel, or any part of it,--as belonging to +the religion of Jesus? If so, then are all impostors the persons they +falsely pretend to be--all counterfeit productions of any kind, genuine +ones. + +While preaching to Gentiles at a distance from Jerusalem, from any use +he could have the assurance to make of so revered a name, it is almost +superfluous to observe, how much he had to gain, and how little to lose. +In a case of this sort, how much soever there may be that is offensive +in the demeanour of the pretended agent eulogizing, no part of it is +ascribed to the pretended principal eulogized: and, in such his eulogy, +the pretended agent is not hampered by any of those considerations, by +which he would stand precluded from all prospect of advantage, had he +the effrontery to lay it in equally strong colours on himself. Thus, in +the case of Paul, from putting in the foreground where he did, the name +of Jesus, there was this great advantage to gain: and, the pretended +principal being never present to disavow him, the consequence was--that, +so long as no accredited and credited agents, of that same principal, +were at hand to contradict his pretensions,--the mere name of this +principal would be no obstacle, to the preaching of doctrines, ever so +decidedly at variance with his. + +If, on the other hand,--in a company, in which he was preaching +doctrines of his own, which were not Jesus's,--men should happen to be +present, to whom, by reason of their personal acquaintance with Jesus, +or with any immediate disciples of Jesus, these same doctrines of Paul's +should be perceived and declared not to be Jesus's, here would be an +inconvenience: and, on this account,--wherever, without using the name +of Jesus, or any other name than his own, he could be sufficiently +assured, of obtaining a degree of confidence sufficient for his +purpose,--this course, supposing it successful, would, on several +accounts, be more advantageous. + +Here then, on each occasion, or at any rate on some occasions, would be +an option for him to make: namely, either to preach in the name of +Jesus, or else to set up for himself:--to set up for himself, and, on +the strength of a pretended revelation from the Almighty, without the +intervention of Jesus, preach in no other human name than his own. + +From a passage, in the first of his two Epistles to his Corinthian +disciples, it looks as if an experiment of this kind--an experiment for +adding nominal independence to real--had actually been tried: but that, +the success of it was not such as to be followed by continuance. For +this suspicion--for it is but a suspicion,--any reader who thinks it +worth his while may see the grounds in the subjoined note.[83] + + +SECTION 3. + +PAUL, WAS HE NOT ANTICHRIST? + +A child, of Paul's ready and fruitful brain--a bugbear, which the +officious hands of the English official translators of his Epistles, +have in their way christened, so to speak, by the name of +_Antichrist_,--has been already brought to view. See Chap. XII. §. 4. If +there be any persons, to whose religion,--in addition to a devil, with +or without horns and tail,--with or without other spirits, in no less +carnal howsoever unrepulsive forms,--an Antichrist is necessary for the +completion of the polytheistical official establishment; and if, in +place of an ideal, they can put up with a real Antichrist,--an +Antichrist of flesh and blood,--they need not go far to look for one. Of +Saul, alias Paul, the existence is not fabulous. If, in his time, a +being there was, in whom, with the exception of some two or three +attendants of his own, every person, that bore the name of Christian, +beheld, and felt an opponent, and that opponent an indefatigable +adversary, it was this same Paul: Yes, such he was, if, in this +particular, one may venture to give credence, to what has been seen so +continually testified,--testified, not by any enemy of his, but by his +own dependent,--his own historiographer,--his own panegyrist,--his own +steady friend. Here then, for anybody that wants an Antichrist, here is +an Antichrist, and he an undeniable one. + +Antichrist, as everybody sees, Antichrist means neither more nor less +than that which is opposed to Christ. To Christ himself, the bugbear, +christened by the English bishops _Antichrist_, was not, by its creator, +spoken of as opposing itself. To Christ himself, Paul himself could not, +at that time, be an opponent: the Jesus, whom he called Christ, was no +longer in the flesh. But of all that, in the customary figurative +sense--of all that, in any intelligible sense, could on this occasion be +called _Christ_--namely, the real Apostles of Jesus, and their disciples +and followers,--Paul, if he himself is to be believed, was an opponent, +if ever there was one. + +Paul preached the resurrection of the dead. Agreed. But did not all +Pharisees do so, too? And was not Paul a Pharisee? And Jesus--had he not +in all Pharisees so many opponents? And the real Christians, had they +anywhere in his lifetime, any other opponent so acrid or so persevering +as this same Paul? + +Paul preached the resurrection of the dead. Agreed. But _that_ +resurrection of the dead which he preached, was it not a resurrection, +that was to take place in the lifetime of himself and other persons then +living? And--any such resurrection, did it accordingly take place?[84] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[83] "Were ye baptized," says he, speaking to his Corinthians, 2 Cor. +ii. 13. "Were ye baptized in the name of Paul?--I thank God," continues +he, "that I baptized none of you but Crispus and Gaius,--Lest any man +should say that I had baptized in mine own name.--And I baptized also +the household of Stephanas; besides, I know not whether I baptized any +other." For an experiment of this kind, it should seem from that +Epistle, that motives were by no means wanting. For, among these same +disciples, in the preaching of his doctrines, he had found himself +annoyed by divers names more or less formidable: there was the name, +though probably never the person--of _Cephas_, the real Hebrew name, of +which, in the four Gospels, written as they are in Greek, _Peter_ is the +translation: there was the name, and not improbably the person--of +_Apollos_, whom, about three years before, Acts 18:18-26, two female +disciples of Paul's, Aquila and Priscilla, had at Ephesus enlisted under +his banners: there was, according to him, _the name of Christ_, though +assuredly, never the person of _Jesus_. + +"For it hath been declared unto me of you, brethren," says he, 1 Cor. i. +11, "that there are contentions among you,--Now this I say, that every +one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I +of Christ." Thereupon follows immediately a short flourish of Paulian +eloquence:--"Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye +baptized in the name of Paul?" and so forth, as above. + +"Division," says he, "among you:" in this phrase may be seen the style +of modern royalty. Towards a will so intimately connected with the +divine as the royal, no such temper of mind, so intolerable as +opposition, is ever to be supposed: were it on all occasions equally +known--known to all, and alike interpreted by all, no division could +have place: but, some put one interpretation upon it, some another: in +some eyes, this course is regarded as best adapted to the giving effect +to it; in others, that: hence that division, to which, on every +occasion, it is the duty of all to put the speediest end. Now then as to +Paul. This same assumed fatherly affection, under the name of +elder-brotherly--this desire of seeing concord among brethren--what was +it in plain truth? Answer, love of power. Would you have proof? Take in +hand this same Epistle of his to his Corinthians, or, if at verse the +tenth, it will be to this purpose early enough, and read on, till you +come to chapter iv. verses 15, 16. "Now I beseech you, brethren, by the +name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and +that there be no divisions among you: but that ye be perfectly joined +together in the same mind, and in the same judgment.--For it hath been +declared unto me," and so forth, as above. Read on, and at length you +will come to the essence of all this good advice, 1 Cor. 4:15. "For, +though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ," says he, "yet have +ye not many fathers; for, in Christ Jesus, _I have begotten you_, +through the Gospel.--Wherefore, I beseech you, _be ye followers of me_." + +At this time, it should seem that, on the occasion of this his courtship +of the Jews of Corinth, not only was the name of Peter an object of his +declared rivalry, but the name and person of his own sub-disciple +Apollos, an object of his jealousy. "For, while one saith," 1 Cor. iii. +4, "I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not," says he, +"carnal?--Who then," continues he, "is Paul, and who is Apollos, but +ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?--I +have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.--Now he that +planteth and he that watereth are one; and every man shall receive his +own reward according to his own labour." Fifteen verses after comes a +flourish, in which Apollos is spoken of for the last time. "Whether +Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things +present, or things to come, all are yours;--23. And ye are Christ's, and +Christ is God's." At the word _Cephas_ ends, it may have been observed, +common sense: what follows being dust for the eyes: dust, composed of +the flowers of Saulo-Paulian eloquence. + +As to Apollos, if so it was, that, at one time, in the mind of our +spiritual monarch, any such sentiment as jealousy, in regard to this +sub-minister had place, it seems to have been afterwards, in some way or +other, removed: for, in his Epistle to Titus, bearing date about seven +years after, namely A.D. 64, the devotion of the subject seems to have +been entire. Speaking to Titus, Tit. 3:13, "Bring with you," says Paul, +"Zenas the lawyer, and Apollos, on their journey diligently, that +nothing be wanting to them." + +[84] Paul must have thought that he had the Church at Corinth under +complete control of his hypnotic suggestion or otherwise so much under +his control as to assume the exalted office of Clairvoyant Oracle +without question. He says, 2 Cor. 1-7, "I must needs glory, though it is +not expedient; but I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord, I +know a man in Christ, fourteen years ago (whether in the body I know +not; or whether out of the body, I know not, God knoweth). Such a one +caught up even to the third heaven. And I know such a man (whether in +the body, or apart from the body, I know not, God knoweth); how that he +was caught up into Paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is +not lawful for a man to utter. On behalf of such a one will I glory: but +on mine own behalf I will not glory, save in my weakness. For if I +should desire to glory, I shall not be foolish; for I shall speak the +truth: but I forbear, lest any man should account of me above that which +he seeth me to be, or heareth from me. + +"And by reason of the exceeding greatness of the revelations--wherefore, +that I should not be exalted overmuch, there was given to me _a thorn in +the flesh_, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, that I should not be +exalted overmuch. Concerning this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that +it might depart from me. + +"And he has said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee." + +It would require a Swift, Dryden, Pope, Milton or Knowles to stage the +above so as make appreciable objective quantities out of the above +verbal terms. They might create characters and give them the plumage of +angels, nymphs, spirits, heathen gods, etc., and so feast the +imagination into paranoia. + +"Thorn in the flesh." This phrase has baffled the Ecclesiastics. The +earlier Commentators interpreted it to mean Paul's great disappointment +in all his schemes to subordinate the Apostles of Christ to his +personal dominion of which so much has been disparaged by the author. + + + + +END. + + + + +INDEX TO CONTENTS. + + + TABLE I-XXII + + + CHAPTER I. + + Paul's Conversion. Improbability and Discordancy of the + Accounts of it 1 + + 1. List of these Accounts, with preliminary Observations. + Table in which they are confronted 1 + + 2. Vision I. Dialogue on the road: Paul hears a voice, + sees nothing 8 + + 3. Vision II. Ananias's 21, 34 + + 4. Ananias: his Visit to Paul at Damascus 26, 57 + + 5. Vision III. Paul's anterior Vision, as reported by the + Lord to Ananias. _Acts_ ix. 12 62 + + 6. Visions, why two or three, instead of one? 64 + + 7. Commission to Paul by Jerusalem Rulers--Commission + to bring in Bonds Damascus Christians--Paul's Contempt + put upon it 69 + + 8. Companions--had Paul any upon the road? 72 + + 9. In Paul's Epistle to his Galatians,--by his silence, Acts + Accounts of his Conversion are virtually contradicted 77 + + + TABLE II + + CHAPTER II. + + Outward Conversion--how produced--how planned 89 + + 1. Motive, Temporal Advantage--Plan 93 + + 2. At Damascus, no such Ananias probably 97 + + 3. On Damascus journey--Companions none 100 + + 4. Flight from Damascus: Causes--false--true 101 + + 5. Arabia Visit--mentioned by Paul, not _Acts_ 108, 113 + + 6. Gamaliel--had he part in Paul's plan? 125 + + + CHAPTER III. + + _Paul disbelieved_.--Neither his divine Commission nor his + inward Conversion ever credited by the Apostles or their + Jerusalem Disciples.--Source of Proof stated 135 + + 1. To Paul's Conversion Vision, sole original Witness + himself 135 + + 2. Counter-Witnesses, the Apostles: by them, the Story + probably not heard--certainly not credited 136 + + 3. In proof, so much of the _Acts_ history must here be + anticipated 138 + + 4. Topics under his several Jerusalem Visits: _viz_. + I. Reconciliation Visit 139, 143 + + 5. Topics under Visit II.--Money-bringing Visit 153 + + 6. Remarks on Visit III.--Deputation Visit 154 + + 7. Topics under Visit IV.--Invasion Visit 156 + + 8. Self-written Biography--its superior Value and Claim + to Credence 159 + + + CHAPTER IV. + + _Paul disbelieved_ continued. _First_ of his four Visits + to Jerusalem after his Conversion--say _Jerusalem Visit + I_. or _Reconciliation Visit_.--Barnabas introducing him + from Antioch to the Apostles 160 + + 1. Paul's Proceedings between his Conversion and this + Visit.--Contradiction. Per Paul, it was not till after + three Years spent in Arabia; per _Acts_, immediately 164 + + 2. Grounds of Paul's Prospect of Reconciliation on this + Occasion with the Apostles and their Disciples 171 + + 3. Occasion of this Visit, as per _Paul's_ own Account 177 + + 4. Occasion, as per _Acts_ Account compared with Paul's 180 + + 5. Cause of the Discordance between the two Accounts 188 + + 6. Length of this Visit 192 + + 7. Mode and Cause of its Termination 197 + + + CHAPTER V. + + _Paul disbelieved_ continued. _Jerusalem Visit II._ + _Money-bringing Visit._--Barnabas accompanying him + from Antioch 203 + + 1. At Antioch, Agabus having predicted a Dearth, Money + is collected for the Jerusalem Saints 203 + + + 2. Barnabas and Paul dispatched with the Money to Jerusalem 208 + + + CHAPTER VI. + + _Paul disbelieved_ continued.--_Jerusalem Visit III._ + _Deputation Visit._--_Paul_ and _Barnabas_ delegated by + _Antioch_ Saints, to confer on the Necessity of Jewish Rites + to Heathen Converts to the Religion of Jesus 211 + + 1. Occasion of this Visit 211 + + 2. The Delegates how received.--Council of Apostles and + Elders 215 + + 3. Debates--Course carried by _James_ against _Peter_ 220 + + 4. Result, supposed Apostolic Decree and Letter to + _Antioch_, which, per _Acts_, Paul circulates 224 + + + CHAPTER VII. + + _Paul disbelieved_ continued. After his third Jerusalem + Visit, Contest between him and _Peter_ at Antioch. + _Partition Treaty_: _Paul_ for himself: _Peter_, _James_ + and _John_ for the Apostles 228 + + 1. _Contest_ and _Partition-Treaty_, as per _Acts_ and + _Paul's Epistles_ 228 + + 2. Partition-Treaty--_Probability_, given by the _financial + Stipulation_, to Paul's Account of it 238 + + 3. _Time_ of the Partition-Treaty, most probably that of + _Visit I_ 242 + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + _Interview the Fourth._--_Peter_ at _Antioch_.--Deputies to + Antioch from Jerusalem, _Judas_ and _Silas_.--Paul disagrees + with _Peter_ and _Barnabas_, quits Antioch, and on a + Missionary Excursion takes with him _Silas_. What concerns + the Partition Treaty, down to this Period, reviewed.--Peter + and the Apostles justified 249 + + 1. _Paul's_ Account of this Interview quoted.--_Acts_ + Account of what followed upon it 249 + + 2. Paul disagrees with _Peter_ and _Barnabas_; quits + Antioch, taking _Silas_ from the Apostles 252 + + 3. The _Partition Treaty_, and the proceedings in relation + to it, down to this Period, _reviewed_ 255 + + 4. Peter and the Apostles justified, as to the _financial + Stipulation_ in the Treaty, and the succeeding Missionary + Labours of _Peter_ among the _Gentiles_ 258 + + + CHAPTER IX. + + _Paul disbelieved_ continued.--_Jerusalem Visit IV._ and + last _Invasion Visit_. The Purpose concealed: Opposition + universal; among his own Disciples, and among those of the + Apostles 266 + + 1. Motives to this Visit 266 + + 2. The Visit _announced_ by Paul and _deferred_ 267 + + 3. The design indefensible 272 + + 4. Opposition made to it by his own _attendants_ and other + _adherents_ 275 + + 5. Opposition made to it by the _Apostles_ and their + disciples 277 + + 6. Plan of the _Apostles_ for _ridding themselves_ of Paul 282 + + + CHAPTER X. + + _Paul disbelieved_ continued.--_Jerusalem Visit IV._ + continued. His Arrival and Reception. Accused by all the + Disciples of the Apostles, he commences an _exculpatory + Oath_ in the Temple. Dragged out by them--rescued by a + Roman Commander--sent in Custody to Rome 288 + + 1. At Jerusalem, Paul is received by the _Elders_ and + _James_; but by _no other Apostle_ 288 + + 2. Low Tone assumed by him on this Occasion 291 + + 3. Posterior to all his supposed Miracles, his Silence + proves them unreal 295 + + 4. Accused by the Disciples, he commences, at the + Recommendation of the Apostles, an _exculpatory + Oath_ in the Temple 298 + + 5. The Design of this Recommendation justified 308 + + 6. Dragged out of the Temple by _Jews_ or _Christians_, + he is saved by a Roman Commander 309 + + + CHAPTER XI. + + _Paul disbelieved_ continued.--Paul's _fourth Jerusalem + Visit_ continued. _Perjurious_ was the Purpose of the + exculpatory Ceremony commenced in the Temple 310 + + 1. General Proof of the Perjury from the Acts 310 + + 2. Proof from the Epistles 327 + + + CHAPTER XII. + + More Falsehoods.--Resurrection-Witnesses multiplied.--World's + End predicted.--To save credit, Antichrist invented 333 + + 1. Resurrection-Witnesses multiplied 333 + + 2. False Prophecy, that the World would end in the Lifetime + of Persons then living 338 + + 3. Disorder and Mischief produced by this Prediction 343 + + 4. Paul's Remedy for the Disorder, and Salvo for himself. + _Antichrist_ must first come 347 + + + CHAPTER XIII. + + Paul's supposable _Miracles_ explained 354 + + 1. Objections, applying to them in the Aggregate 354 + + 2. Supposable Miracle I. Elymas the Sorcerer blinded.--_Acts_ + xiii. 6-12 358 + + 3. Supposable Miracle II.--At Lystra, Cripple cured.--_Acts_ + xiv. 8-11 361 + + 4. Supposable Miracle III.--Divineress silenced.--_Acts_ + xvi 16-18 362 + + 5. Supposable Miracle IV.--At Philippi, an Earthquake: + Paul and Silas freed from Prison, A.D. 53 365 + + 6. Supposable Miracle V.--At Corinth, Paul comforted by + the Lord in an _unseen_ Vision, A.D. 54--_Acts_ + xviii. 7-11 369 + + 7. Supposable Miracle VI.--At Ephesus, Diseases and + Devils expelled by foul Handkerchiefs.--_Acts_ + xix. 1-12 372 + + 8. Supposable Miracle VII.--At Ephesus, Exorcist Scevas + bedeviled.--_Acts_ xix. 13-20 373 + + 9. Supposable Miracle VIII.--Magical Books burnt by the + Owners.--_Acts_ xix. 19, 20 380 + + 10. Supposable Miracle IX.--At Troas, Eutychus found + not to be dead.--_Acts_ xx. 7-12 382 + + 11. Supposable Miracle X.--On Shipboard, Paul comforted + by an Angel.--_Acts_ xxvii. 20-25 385 + + 12. Supposable Miracle XI.--At Malta, a Reptile shaken off + by Paul without hurt.--_Acts_ xxviii. 1-6 386 + + 13. Supposable Miracle XII.--At Malta, Deputy Publius's + Father cured.--_Acts_ xxviii. 7, 8 389 + + 14. Conclusion: the Supposable Miracles classed and + summed up 393 + + + CHAPTER XIV. + + Acts, Part false, Part true: Author not Saint Luke 397 + + 1. By the false Parts, the Gospel not affected: most Parts + true 397 + + 2. Time between Resurrection and Ascension--Acts contradicts + Luke 398 + + 3. As to Ascension, Acts inconsistent with Luke 403 + + + CHAPTER XV. + + Law Report.--Jews _versus_ Paul: Trials five, with + Observations 406 + + 1. Introduction 406 + + 2. Trial I. Place, Jerusalem-Temple.--Judicatory, the mixed + Multitude.--_Acts_ xxii. 1-21 407 + + 3. Trial II. Judicatory, Jerusalem Council-Board.--_Acts_ + xxiii. 1-10 409 + + 4. Trial III. Place, Cæsarea.--_Acts_ xxiv. 1-23 413 + + 5. Trial IV. Place, again, Cæsarea.--_Acts_ xxv. 1-12 417 + + 6. Trial V. and last.--Place, still Cæsarea 420 + + + CHAPTER XVI. + + Paul's Doctrines Anti-Apostolic.--Was he not Antichrist? 426 + + 1. Paul's Doctrine was at variance with that of the + Apostles 426 + + 2. Of Conformity, use made of the Name of Jesus no Proof 428 + + 3. Paul, was he not Antichrist? 432 + + + * * * * * + +TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES: +Punctuation corrected without comment. Original spelling retained with +the exception of the following apparent typesetting errors: + +Pg iv "D'unning's" changed to "Dunning's"--"Dunning's clearness" + +Pg xxiv "Stright" changed to "Straight"--"street which is called +Straight," + +Pg 13 "read" changed to "road"--"in the road leading"; "was" changed +to "what"--"But what is" + +Pg 14 "superservicable" changed to "superserviceable"--"such a +superserviceable witness" + +Pg 75 "proveable" changed to "provable"--"real and provable facts." + +Pg 79 "he" changed to "the"--"uprightly according to the truth of the +gospel" + +Pg 81 "Casearea" changed to "Caesarea"--"down to Caesarea" + +Pg 82 "Cladius" changed to "Claudius"--"in the days of Claudius" + +Pg 83 "Gentile" changed to "Gentiles"--"among the Gentiles"; missing +word "brethren" added "unto the brethren" + +Pg 84 "the" changed to "they"--"when they were dismissed"; "Casearea" +changed to "Caesarea"--"landed at Caesarea" + +Pg 119 "pourtrayed" changed to "portrayed"--"is not ill portrayed" + +Pg 120 "woud" changed to "would"--"Ephesus would not"; "coud" changed +to "could"--"could not have endured" + +Pg 142 and 226 "Galacia" changed to "Galatia"--"Galatia stands fifth," +and "over [all] Galatia" + +Pg 178 numbering corrected. Original had two 1's. + +Pg 179 "narative" changed to "narrative"--"in such case, the narrative" + +Pg 222 "cosideration" changed to "consideration"--"is the consideration, +upon" + +Pg 251 "saled" changed to "sailed"--"Mark and sailed unto" + +Pg 261 "has" changed to "his"--"Had his mind been" + +Pg 262 "unsatifactory" changed to "unsatisfactory"--"not altogether +unsatisfactory" + +Pg 273 "probably" changed to "probable"--"so much as probable."; +"ligitimate" changed to "legitimate"--"the only legitimate government:" + +Pg 275 "attedant" changed to "attendant"--"of his attendant" + +Pg 280 "distiguished" changed to "distinguished"--"distinguished by +the name"; "dissuation" changed to "dissuasion"--"was a dissuasion to +the" + +Pg 292 "and" changed to "an"--"an old disciple" + +Pg 296 "irrestible" changed to "irresistible"--"so perfectly +irresistible." + +Pg 318 "previoulsy" changed to "previously"--"it was previously +requisite" + +Pg 319 "chcarge" changed to "charge"--"took charge of her." + +Pg 337 "be to" changed to "to be"--"not to be forgotten." + +Pg 363 "in" changed to "on"--"on their way" + +Pg 365 "absurb" changed to "absurd"--"too absurd and flagrantly" + +Pg 366 "succussful" changed to "successful"--"instance been successful" + +Pg 376 "epirits" changed to "spirits"--"masters over evil spirits" + +Pg 386 missing word "be" added--"purpose was to be answered"; "their" +changed to "theirs"--"conceptions of theirs reported," + +Pg 415 numbering corrected, II changed to III; 13 changed to 10. + +Pg 438 "Galations" changed to "Galatians"--"In Paul's Epistle to +his Galatians" + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Not Paul, But Jesus, by Jeremy Bentham + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42984 *** |