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diff --git a/old/52694-0.txt b/old/52694-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 686084f..0000000 --- a/old/52694-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3314 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of St. Paul the Hero, by Rufus M. Jones - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: St. Paul the Hero - -Author: Rufus M. Jones - -Release Date: August 1, 2016 [EBook #52694] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ST. PAUL THE HERO *** - - - - -Produced by Charlene Taylor and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - - [Illustration: Macmillan colophon] - - THE MACMILLAN COMPANY - - NEW YORK · BOSTON · CHICAGO · DALLAS - ATLANTA · SAN FRANCISCO - - MACMILLAN & CO., LIMITED - - LONDON · BOMBAY · CALCUTTA - MELBOURNE - - THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD. - - TORONTO - - [Illustration: TARSUS] - - - - - ST. PAUL THE HERO - - - - - BY - RUFUS M. JONES - Author of “The Inner Life,” etc. - - - - - _ILLUSTRATED_ - - - - - New York - THE MACMILLAN COMPANY - 1917 - - _All rights reserved_ - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1917 - BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY - - ------- - - Set up and electrotyped. Published, March, 1917. - - - - - CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - - I THE BOY OF TEN YEARS 1 - - II HIS HEROES 9 - - III IN JERUSALEM 17 - - IV IN RABBI GAMALIEL’S SCHOOL 25 - - V TENT-MAKING IN TARSUS 32 - - VI THE GREAT TEACHER OF GALILEE 40 - - VII IN JERUSALEM AGAIN 48 - - VIII THE MAN WITH A SHINING FACE 55 - - IX ON THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS 63 - - X IN ARABIA 73 - - XI FIFTEEN WONDERFUL DAYS 80 - - XII THE FIRST GREAT MISSIONARY JOURNEY 88 - - XIII THE FIRST GREAT PROBLEM 97 - - XIV A LETTER TO HIS CHURCHES 104 - - XV “COME OVER INTO MACEDONIA AND HELP US” 111 - - XVI ALONE IN ATHENS 119 - - XVII CORINTH AND EPHESUS 126 - - XVIII “READY TO BE BOUND” 139 - - XIX IN THE PRISON AT CAESAREA 148 - - XX THE STORMY JOURNEY TO ROME 157 - - XXI THE TRIUMPH OF THE HERO 165 - - - - - PICTURES AND MAPS - - - Tarsus _Frontispiece_ - - FACING - PAGE - - Falls of the Cydnus 3 - - Antioch 88 - - Map [North East Corner Medit.] 94 - - Map [2nd Missionary Journey] 112 - - Mars Hill, Athens 122 - - Ephesus 129 - - Temple of Diana 137 - - - - - ST. PAUL THE HERO - - - - - I - - THE BOY OF TEN YEARS - - -“Father, who made the mountains that reach clear up into the sky over -there where the sun goes down in the west?” - -“It was God, my dear little boy. Don’t you remember the psalm we read in -the synagogue last week: ‘I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains, -from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord who made the -heavens and the earth’? God made the Taurus Mountains on the west of our -dear city and He made those peaks of the Amanus you see off there in the -East, over which the storks fly in the autumn, and He made this -wonderful river, the Cydnus, which dashes through the cleft in the -mountains and makes those great waterfalls which you love and which -rushes headlong through the city on its way to the blue sea.” - -“Well, Father, He must be wonderful if He did that! But I don’t see how -He ever could spread out this great blue tent of a sky over all these -fields and over all the city and over both the mountain ranges and as -far as men have ever been. All the way to holy Jerusalem it goes—and -farther, to Alexandria where the man lives, who wrote the book you read -to me yesterday. Is there any end to that tent and what is it made of? -Nobody in all our province of Cilicia can weave tent-cloth like that!” - -“No, my son, nobody has ever found an end to the tent of the sky. It -covers the whole world. It is harder to get to the end of it than it is -to go to the end of the rainbow, which you tried to find a few days ago. -But, my dear boy, God has made something more wonderful than the -mountains, more wonderful than the river, more wonderful even than the -blue canopy of the sky, that covers the world.” - -[Illustration: FALLS OF THE CYDNUS] - -“What can it be, Father, that is more wonderful than these things? Do -you mean the sea, which you sail over when you go as a pilgrim to holy -Jerusalem, to the passover?” - -“No, not the sea, though that _is_ wonderful and dreadful. I mean the -law which God wrote with His own finger and gave to our great prophet -Moses. That is God’s greatest gift to our race. I want my little boy to -love the beauty of the mountains and the river and the sky and the sea. -But beyond all things, I want him to love the holy law of God, to learn -it by heart, to keep every word of it and to grow up and be one of -Jehovah’s own men. My boy comes of the tribe of Benjamin, the favourite -of all the sons of our father Jacob, and some day this little boy may -become the leader and deliverer of God’s longsuffering people. Will -little Saul promise to be Jehovah’s man, and will he always love and -keep the whole law which our God gave to Moses?” - -“Will it be very hard to do, Father, and must I give up all the things I -like to do?” - -“Yes, my dear boy, it will often be very hard and you will have to give -up some things you like to do. But if you keep the whole law of God and -make yourself perfect and do everything God asks you to do in the holy -law, all the people of our race forever will call you blessed, and you -will be the hero of the tribe of Benjamin, and you will help to bring -the Messiah for whom we long and pray, and Jehovah will give you eternal -life in His kingdom.” - -“Oh, Father, I don’t care how hard it is, I will do it. I will let my -pet stork out of his cage, so that he can fly off with the other storks -over the mountains. I will not do one single thing on the holy Sabbath -that is wrong. I will not play by the river any more with little Gentile -boys. I will learn every word of Moses’ law and say it all to mother -when she puts me to bed. I will be ready to serve my race when God calls -for some one to do the great deed, as David did in the book we read.” - -His father patted his boy on the head and smiled, as they walked home -along the banks of the rushing Cydnus and looked off at the sun-lit tops -of the Taurus Mountains. - -Little Saul had had ten birth-days and he had already caught the spirit -of his race which was very strong in his father and mother who kept -feeding him on the stories of the past and waking in him the desire to -be the hero of his tribe. Tarsus, a beautiful city of the province of -Cilicia, was his home. The city was twelve miles from the Mediterranean -Sea and ships came up the river to the great wharves on either bank. Not -far away to the south was the great island of Cyprus and through a pass -in the Amanus Mountains a road went to Jerusalem and the land of his -fathers. He had been often ill and weak during the ten years he had -lived and often he had lain by the window and looked out on the world -and wondered. More than once he had seen an army go marching up the -street, carrying the Roman eagles and flashing Damascus blades in the -sun. He wondered where they were going and what they would do with these -terrible swords. - -He had an older sister who was too old to play games with him, but she -took him on walks by the river and like everybody else she told him -Hebrew stories about the heroes he loved. She would picture to him often -a city on a great hill, with valleys running round it, with a gorgeous -temple in it, and she would say, “Some day you and I will go there to -live and that will be our home and we shall be where we can see the -temple of God every day!” - -Saul’s father was proud of many things. He had married a wise and -beautiful woman, of his own tribe, who made his home a very happy one. -He was proud of his wife. He was proud of this strange boy who pondered -and wondered and who promised to become some day a great Rabbi and -leader. He was proud of his tribe and of his race. He was still more -proud to be a Pharisee and to be classed among those who strictly kept -the law and worshipped every least letter of it, and then he was proud -that he was a Roman citizen. He had done some service to the empire and -the great honour of being enrolled a citizen had been conferred upon -him, so that little Saul had been born a Roman citizen and had received -a double name, one for his home people—Saul, and one for Roman citizens -to call him by, Paul, which meant, “the little one.” - -This was the boy who talked with his father by the shore of the Cydnus, -one evening about twenty years after Christ was born in Bethlehem. - - - - - II - - HIS HEROES - - -Months passed by and the little boy of Tarsus grew stronger and more -eager and earnest. His father had sailed from the port of Messina for -Tyre and Ptolemais and Cæsarea, on his way to Jerusalem to keep the -Passover in the Holy Land. Little Saul had begged to be taken with him -that he might see the Temple and stand on the very ground over which the -great heroes of his race had walked, but he was told that he must wait -until he was a few years older and then he should go to Jerusalem to -study with a great Rabbi who could answer all his questions. For a long -time he had gazed at the sky where the sun had gone down over the -Taurus. He was really not looking at anything—he was just gazing off -into space and wondering. He wondered whether he would ever see the -world beyond those mountains, the world he had heard men talk about, the -world of Asia and Greece and Rome. Then he turned to look toward the -dim, yet shimmering peaks in the East and he wondered whether he would -some day climb those ranges and go through the pass into Syria and on -into the land he loved best—the real world of his own race. - -He had not yet read any of the stories of Greece. He had dimly heard of -the Trojan war, but it was only a name of little meaning. Theseus and -Jason and Achilles and Ulysses were not his heroes. They were never -mentioned in his home, though he sometimes heard the boys in the street -speak of them. _His_ heroes had all lived over the other mountains. -Their names he heard almost every day. They were household words. He -sometimes made believe that he was David and he would run with a little -hand sling and kill again the mighty Philistine giant that threatened -his people. When he climbed a high hill-top he imagined himself Moses on -Nebo, looking over Jordan on the wonderful land of promise, and every -peak covered with a cloud that looked like smoke seemed to him once more -Sinai, with the Lord above giving the law in the darkness and the -thunder. He wished he could see the Seraphim as Isaiah did, with two -wings over their faces, and two wings all the way down to their feet and -two wings moving like a bird’s to carry them wherever the Lord willed -them to go. And still more he wished that he could see that wonderful -figure which Ezekiel saw by the river Chebar—a living creature with the -face of a man, and a calf and a lion and an eagle, all woven in and out -with wings and all full of eyes, flashing like lightning, whirling like -wheels, and moving wherever the Spirit of God carried the strange living -creature. He thrilled whenever he heard the story of Daniel and he -wondered whether he himself would have dared to pray to Jehovah and go -to the lions for it. He had seen a lion once who was being carried to -Ephesus in a cage, to be let out in the amphitheatre. The lion roared -and shook his cage and showed his terrible teeth. Then little Saul -thought of calm, brave Daniel going down into a den full of beasts like -that. - -And Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, the three heroes of the burning -fiery furnace, were men he loved to hear about. “Be it known unto thee O -King, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image -which thou hast set up.” Those words always stirred him like a trumpet. -And he waited every time to hear once more about one like unto a son of -God walking with these brave Jews in the midst of Nebuchadnezzar’s fire. -But best of all he liked the story of the faith of great father Abraham. -He could almost see him laying the sticks of wood on the altar and -binding his own only boy upon them. He wondered if _his_ father would -have done it with him, if _he_ heard the Lord tell him to do it! Then -suddenly came the joyous relief: the ram in the thicket, and little -Isaac spared, just as the dreadful knife flashed in the air. - -These heroes were going in procession through his mind as he gazed at -the eastern gate in the mountains through which the road ran that led on -toward the one city of all the world. Just then his mother stood by his -side and took his hand in hers. She could see that big thoughts were -moving in him and she felt a kind of awe as she looked down at the pale -earnest face. - -“Mother, which is the hardest of all the commandments to keep—I mean, -really to keep, and not to break at all?” - -In her mind, the fond Jewish mother standing in the dusk by the boy she -loved, ran over all the commandments. “Thou shalt not have any other -gods but Jehovah.” - -“Thou shalt not make any graven image.” - -“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” - -“Thou shalt observe the Sabbath day and keep it holy.” - -“Thou shalt honour thy father and mother.” - -“Thou shalt do no murder.” - -“Thou shalt not commit adultery.” - -“Thou shalt not steal.” - -“Thou shalt not bear false witness.” - -“Thou shalt not covet, or desire.” While she was thinking how to answer, -little Saul said: “I know which is the easiest.” - -“And which is it?” asked his mother. - -“Thou shalt honour thy father and mother. It is the easiest thing there -is to do. I don’t have to stop to think to do that! It is not so easy, -though, to keep the Sabbath day holy. There are so many things to -remember. Now that I have let my pet stork go, I do not feel tempted any -more to play with him on the Sabbath day. But sometimes I start off for -a walk before I think, and I carry things that are too heavy to be -lifted on the Sabbath day. I wonder if I shall ever get so righteous, -like our great Hebrew saints, that I shall not do anything wrong on the -Sabbath day. It is very, very hard to be perfectly good. Do you not -think, Mother, that this is the hardest of all the commandments to -keep?” - -“No, my dear Saul, there is one which you will find much harder to keep. -It is the last one in the list: “Thou shalt not want things—thou shalt -not desire.” This commandment has to do with what goes on inside. All -the others are about things we do in the world outside. This one is in -there where you think. It says that you must rule your own spirit and -not want or desire what you ought not to have or ought not to do. That -my little boy, as he grows larger, will find very hard indeed to keep. -Only the great God who guided Abraham our father all the way from Ur of -the Chaldees to the dear land of Canaan can help my boy to keep that -commandment.” - -“Anyway I shall try, mother. It isn’t any harder is it than going into a -den of lions or into Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery furnace?” - -“Ah, but my Saul will never have any such dreadful things to do, for he -is born a Roman citizen and he can always appeal to Cæsar. Now it is -time little boys were in bed.” - - - - - III - - IN JERUSALEM - - -The days grew to weeks and the weeks to months; the months added -themselves and made years in Tarsus in the first century just as happens -now where my young reader lives. Time and the multiplication table go on -in one century exactly as in another, no matter what else changes. -Before the father and mother could quite realise it, or believe it -possible, Saul, once our little boy, who looked out on his world and -wondered, was old enough to go away from his home to a great school in -Jerusalem where perhaps all his questions could be answered though only -for a little while. His sister had married now and lived in Jerusalem -and it was arranged for Saul to have his home with her while he was -studying with the famous Rabbi Gamaliel, who knew better than almost any -one else the law, and the rules by which the daily life of a strict Jew -should be guided so that he might be perfect. - -Through the Syrian Gate in the Amanus ridge, Saul had gone with his -father on their way to the holy city for the Passover and for a short -time of sight-seeing and visit before the hard work of the school began. -They came on through Antioch of Syria, the first great city which Saul -had ever seen and one which some day he would know much better; then -they journeyed on by hard and dangerous roads until they saw Damascus, -with its two beautiful rivers and its high city walls. Some day Saul -would know this city better too! And the time would come when he would -find out how high those city walls were! Every foot of the road from -Damascus was crowded with interest and excitement for this -fifteen-year-old boy who was seeing the holy land for the first time. -Now he thrilled in a new way as he actually saw with his eyes the scenes -which before he had only pictured in imagination. When they crossed the -Jordan, just south of the blue lake of Gennesareth, he could hardly -contain himself. More than once he threw himself on the ground with his -arms outspread as though he were trying to grasp the country and embrace -it. - -The road up from Jericho to Jerusalem was so dangerous and he had heard -so many tales of robbers there that he was too frightened to enjoy the -journey. But when at length _the city_—the city of all the world—with -its shining temple gleaming in the sun came in sight, he forgot all -about robbers and dangers and his sore and tired feet, and fell on his -face and thanked God for letting him see the Holy City about which he -had dreamed and imagined ever since he was a tiny boy. There it was! It -was no dream but a real city, with real streets and walls and houses, -and above all the temple, to his mind the holiest place in all the -world. - -The next day when he came to the temple, his heart beating and his -throat swelling with emotion, he read with pride the inscription carved -on the stones: “Only he that is a Jew may enter this sacred temple. If -any one that is not a Jew enters he will be answerable for his death, -which will ensue.” Around him thronged a vast multitude of people who -had come from all parts of the known world to be present on the Great -Day of Atonement. He could see the choirs of singing men and he could -hear the far-away sound of harps, and then he saw the long line of -priests with their dress as Moses had described it in the books of the -law and the high-priest with his gorgeous robe, and on his breast were -the mysterious stones which no man understood save he who had them. - -After the great days of the sacred week had passed and he had seen the -wonders of the city, Saul entered the cloister door and came into the -sombre room where the learned doctor, Gamaliel, gathered his students at -his feet to teach them. The boy was filled with awe as he got his first -sight of the white-haired man who was to be his guide in the mysteries -of the law and he made a deep salaam before him and remained bowed until -the Master said: “Rise, my son, and be seated here.” - -The quick-eyed boy noticed at once that his new teacher was as full of -kindness as he was of wisdom. There was something in the face of the old -Rabbi that gave him confidence and dismissed his fear. - -“Dost thou know the commandments?” asked the teacher. - -“I know them all,” answered the youth. “I have said them many times to -my mother in Tarsus.” - -“Dost thou know what the law requires a faithful son of Abraham to do on -the Sabbath day?” - -The youth surprised his teacher as he ran through the long and -complicated lists of things that a faithful Jew might do and might not -do on the Sabbath day. At last the teacher stopped the boy and gravely -asked, “where hast thou studied?” - -“With my father and with my mother in the long evenings at Tarsus. My -father is one of the wisest and one of the most strict of all the tribe -of Benjamin and my mother is like the woman of whom the wise king Lemuel -wrote in the Roll of Proverbs. They have taught me many things but I -lack much and therefore have I come to Rabban Gamaliel.” - -“Canst thou recite the fifth book of Moses without a mistake?” - -“I can recite every word duly, for the book itself says ‘Lest ye -forget.’” - -“Thou hast done well, my son, and thou hast walked many steps in wisdom -for one so young, but now thou must learn the _authorities_, thou must -become skilful to interpret, thou must know the unwritten law and all -the traditions of the Elders and Scribes and thou must fill thy mind -with all the gathered wisdom of the great Rabbis until thou canst -explain every passage in the Rolls of the books which Jehovah our God -has given us through the holy men of old. Thou must work with diligence, -beginning early in the morning and continuing so long as the light -lasts, and thou must spend years here with me until thou hast won the -truth and until thou knowest clearly what brings God’s righteousness to -a man. Art thou ready to give up the years of strong youth; art thou -willing to lose the pleasures of the world; art thou able to endure the -toil; wilt thou go all the way to the end with me?” - -Saul stepped one step nearer, raised his fine face and his dark eyes -full of eagerness to the master’s face and calmly said: “Great Rabban, -for that I come. I have left the things that are behind. I seek only one -thing in this world—to be righteous, to know the whole secret of God, to -be a perfect son of Abraham. Let it cost what it will, I follow where -the wise Gamaliel shall take me, even to the end of the long road to -truth.” - -Then the teacher bowed his head and prayed that the great Jehovah of the -fathers would bless and enlighten the youth from Tarsus who was to be -for many months in the cloister of Gamaliel. - - - - - IV - - IN RABBI GAMALIEL’S SCHOOL - - -The person who is a real hero in spirit and nature can be a hero at -school as well as anywhere else. In fact those who prove to be heroes in -later life are almost always heroes in their school-days. This youth who -had come to Jerusalem from Tarsus of Cilicia did not have to wait for -some occasion, with all the world looking on, before he could rise to -heroic actions. He found a chance to be heroic even in the quiet -uneventful cloisters of Gamaliel’s school. All the boys and young men -who gathered round this famous teacher very soon knew that a brave -fellow and a real, born leader had joined their ranks. When a hard and -difficult thing was to be done they turned naturally to him. When a -question was asked which taxed everybody’s brain, they all looked for -him to answer. - -There was no end to his zeal. Nothing seemed too hard for him. He had -learned Greek as a boy in his home at Tarsus and he had always known the -current Hebrew speech, but now he learned carefully the ancient Hebrew -of his fathers. He pored over the Rolls of Scripture and took note of -each jot and tittle. He learned all the fine points of grammar which his -great Rabban could teach him. His patience seemed never to give out and -he would work on in his search for truth long after the others had -rolled up in their strange mat-like beds and were lost in peaceful -slumber. - -He seemed to think of ignorance as a great giant enemy to be fought with -and to be killed, no matter how long and hard the fight might be. It was -in this fight he showed his true heroic fibre. He was always hunting a -new weapon to fight with, or he was sharpening an old weapon in his -possession. He would travel miles to find a book he wanted or to -discover what a strange word meant or to consult some authority whose -opinion he desired. - -“What do you suppose that Saul of Tarsus will be when he grows up?” the -boys would ask of one another. - -“He will surely be a great Rabbi and have a school in Jerusalem, like -our master,” one would say. - -“I think he will be greater even than that,” another would say. “I think -sometimes, as I look at his face and watch him while he reads, that -perhaps he will be a new prophet and bring a new word of God to our -people.” - -“But that is not possible,” a pious youth from a Jerusalem family would -answer. “The words of God have already all been given. There will be -nothing new until Messiah comes. I have heard my father say that many -times.” - -This coming of Messiah was one of the things our youth from Tarsus -studied most carefully. The books and traditions had much to say about -it, but it was hard to decide just what would happen and just how to get -ready for this greatest event of all the world. With the help of -Gamaliel and his books, young Saul came to believe that a great day was -soon to come for Jerusalem and for all good Jews. A new king, like -David, only greater and wiser and better and stronger would suddenly -appear. He would have power to turn stones to bread, or to leap from the -top of the temple to the ground without being hurt in the least. He -would break the Roman army all to pieces in a minute. He would call -hosts of angel soldiers from the sky at the sound of a trumpet and they -would destroy or carry away all who had been bad Jews and had not kept -the law. Then he would make Jerusalem a perfect city. The streets would -all be cleansed and purified, until one could see his face reflected in -every pavement. The walls would be changed into precious stones, the -gates into pearls, and every person left in the city would be as pure as -the city itself. Nobody would be sick any more, nobody would die, or -have any sorrow. And best of all, all the good Jews who had ever lived -would be brought back to life again to live in the perfect Jerusalem -with the good people who were there with the great king. This king of -their hopes and dreams was called “Messiah,” because he would be -“anointed” by God himself to rule forever. Saul believed that his people -were the only ones out of all the world who would have this king for -their king and this perfect city, and all who had ever done anything -against his nation would suffer and suffer and suffer, while the happy -Jews were enjoying their beautiful Mount Zion. - -He believed, too, and he thought his books proved it, that he and others -who were willing to work for it, could hurry up this great day and make -it come sooner. This is the way you could do it. It couldn’t come until -there were a great many persons who were good enough to start the new -world and the perfect city. The king, Messiah, would not come until he -could find a large number of people all ready for him and as near -perfect as you could be. Now to be perfect you must keep all the law and -do everything that God commanded in the Old Testament and in the -traditions of the Rabbis. If you broke one single commandment, it was as -bad as though you broke them all, for if you broke _one_, then you had -not kept the whole law. - -Now my reader will see, I hope, what a hero this young Saul was. He had -decided to be one of the men who would be ready for this mighty king and -he was resolved to live the kind of life that would help bring him soon. -He was going to live as though the perfect city had come already. He -would not do one thing that would seem like disobeying God—even the -littlest. Gamaliel had one student who was trying with all his might to -be perfect, and that meant, to be a hero. - - - - - V - - TENT-MAKING IN TARSUS - - -Like winged birds, the time flew by, just as it does now for school-boys -and school-girls and Saul’s years at the feet of Gamaliel were over. He -had changed very much while he had been in Jerusalem. Soft hair was -growing on his face now. His forehead was broader and fuller, but his -shoulders were bowed over and he walked with a stoop because he had bent -over his books so long and had taken very little exercise in these years -of eager study. His hands were soft as a woman’s and he seemed thin and -worn with the strain of his thoughts. But the same fire was in his dark -eyes and the same fine beautiful light shone on his face. He wondered as -he came up the river Cydnus from Messina to Tarsus (for he returned by -sea), whether his mother would know him. The news had spread that the -boat was coming and the whole family in the home at Tarsus were on the -watch for the returning scholar. He did not have much time to wonder -whether his mother would know him, for he soon felt her arms around his -neck and he found himself once more in the dear home with everybody -looking him over and asking him questions until he needed three or four -tongues to answer them all. His mother did not like the stoop in his -shoulders but everything else pleased her. The father was too proud of -his splendid son and too much moved with joy to say much, though he had -already given a brief prayer of thanksgiving to Jehovah for the safe -return, and for the wonderful gift of such a man-child as this. Meantime -a servant was killing the fattest of all the full-grown kids for the -feast of joy which all the household joined in preparing, and the whole -day was given up to rejoicing. - -It was a proud moment for the family the next Sabbath when young Saul -was given the Roll of Scripture at the Synagogue and was asked to read -the lesson and explain it. There he stood with all the Jewish families -of Tarsus looking on and listening while he told them things they had -never heard before. When the lesson was finished many a man turned to -Saul’s father and said: “God has given you a remarkable son. He will be -an honour to our race and to our city.” - -Now the time had come when Saul’s trade must be decided upon, for all -young men who were to be Rabbis were expected to learn a trade, so that -they could support themselves. Early and late in the home the question -was discussed: What was the best trade for a slight, thin, soft-handed -youth who was a great scholar and who was soon to be a famous teacher? -The mother wanted him to learn a trade that would straighten his -shoulders and make him strong and robust. The father thought he ought to -select some occupation that would be refined and dignified and very -honourable. After long and careful consideration, it was finally settled -that Saul should learn the trade of weaving the goats’ hair to make -heavy tent-cloth and to cut the cloth into tent patterns and to sew the -long tent seams. - -It was strange work for the delicate scholar—so different from poring -over books and settling points of the law. At first the soft hands -blistered and the muscles were very tired with the work of the stiff -hand-loom. But little by little the hands grew harder and the arms -learned the trick of the motions and the work became natural and easy. -Saul went at this work the way he did everything else. “It is,” he would -say, “a part of my life. I cannot succeed unless I can support myself -and so I must make tents a little better than anybody else can do it. -Some good stiff work now and the habit of doing every part of it right -will make the whole thing easy for me later.” - -He went to the best maker of tents in the city and worked with him, for -he knew the worth of a good teacher. But this teacher was so different -from his old master in the school at Jerusalem! Like Gamaliel, this man -also knew every fine point in his field of work. He had the secret of -selecting the finest goats’ hair and he knew the best weaves for making -water-tight cloth and he drew the best patterns for both large tents and -for small ones, and he had new ways of sewing seams that would neither -rip in the wind nor leak in the hardest rains. The only trouble with him -was that he was a Gentile and not a man of Saul’s race. But he, too, was -a scholar. He had studied in the great University of Tarsus and he knew -many books which Saul had never read or even heard about. While they -worked at the tent-cloth the master workman talked much to Saul of what -he had learned in the University under his Stoic teachers, for Tarsus -was one of the greatest centres of Stoic wisdom in all the world. - -“Do you know,” he would say, as they sat sewing the long seams, “all my -books say that God is a great Spirit who fills all the universe, just -the way the soul dwells in and fills the body. This Spirit is in the -ocean and in the river, in the mountains and in the trees, in the air -and in the cloud, in the stars and in the sun and above all it is in the -mind of man. It makes everything full of purpose, and intelligent. The -bee and the spider are wise because this Spirit dwells in them and -teaches them. One of our own poets who lived here in Tarsus, in a great -hymn to the Allwise One, says that we men of earth are children of God -because our spirits have come from his Spirit, and this Spirit lives and -moves in us, if we are good and wise. The human soul is like a little -inlet into which the great sea flows. Bad and wicked men have become bad -and wicked because they shut themselves off from the inflowing tides of -that great divine Spirit. Those who have most of this divine Spirit in -their souls do not fuss or worry. They are not disturbed over what -happens to them. They say that the only thing that matters is to be -master of your own spirit and not to be conquered by anything in the -world. If I should lose all my goats and all my tent-cloth, and if all -my looms should burn up, I could still be a brave man and start again -just as though nothing had happened, but if I lost my spirit and began -to whine and lament, nobody could cure me of that. Then I should be -beaten and defeated. We Stoics try to be citizens, not only of our own -city but of the whole world. We love our own people. We are proud of our -own race, but we want more than that. We take an interest in all men -everywhere. We want all cities to be good cities. We want all people -everywhere to know God and love him, and we want to make one great -family on the earth, all living in harmony under the great Spirit.” - -Saul stopped sewing and sat perfectly still. It was different from -anything he had heard in Jerusalem. It could not be true or Gamaliel -would have known it and yet it was so wonderful and beautiful. He would -think about it more, and he would read some of the books of the Stoics -who said that we are the offspring of God! - - - - - VI - - THE GREAT TEACHER OF GALILEE - - -While the young scholar was working at his new trade of weaving -tent-cloth and making tents in the busy, thriving town of Tarsus, -wonderful things were occurring beyond the Amanus Mountains, in the land -of Palestine. Every traveller who came from Galilee and every pilgrim -who passed through Capernaum brought tidings of a strange and -extraordinary Teacher, totally unlike the great Rabbis and Scribes. - -In far-away Tarsus not much was reported at first of what this Teacher -said. The travellers told, first of all, of the wonderful things He did. - -One man had heard, as he came through Galilee, of a little girl who had -been very ill. Nobody could help her. At last in despair the father went -out to search for this Teacher, to see if He could do anything to save -his daughter. He found Him by the lakeside preaching to a great -multitude of people, and he begged Him to come at once, to make his -daughter whole. Many strange and unusual things happened on the way and, -at last, when they arrived, the little girl seemed beyond help, for she -lay all still and did not breathe. But this remarkable Person took her -by the hand and spoke some words in His own Hebrew language and the girl -rose up and walked and was instantly well, and everybody wondered. - -Many other such things they told of this Teacher. He made all kinds of -sick people well. He even made totally blind persons see. All the towns -around the Lake of Gennesareth were full of excitement over His cures -and His other miraculous doings, and in all the country throughout -Galilee people everywhere talked about Him and went long journeys to see -Him, and to bring sick persons to Him. - -Then, slowly, reports began to come of His words and His teachings. They -said He seemed to have found out something new and strange about God. He -was not afraid of God as other people were. He loved Him and talked -about Him as though He knew Him. He kept calling God His Father, and He -said God wanted to be Father to all persons, because He was full of love -and tenderness for everybody in the world. He kept telling, in all His -talks with the people who came to hear Him, about a new kingdom which He -was trying to set up in the world. It was very hard to tell from the -vague reports, which the travellers brought, what this kingdom was to -be. It did not seem like the “new Jerusalem,” that Saul had learned -about in Gamaliel’s school. It seemed even greater than that, for it -seemed like a new kind of world for everybody. Everybody, who loved God -and learned how to live a life of love and kindness to all people -everywhere, could be in it, and it would grow and spread like seeds of -grain in the field. - -Then, later, when the people who had gone up from Tarsus to the -Passover, came back from Jerusalem, they brought news of a terrible -thing that had happened there during the Passover week. This Teacher, it -would seem, had come up to keep the Passover and the common people had -discovered Him and they thought at first that He must be the -long-expected Messiah and they had made a procession for Him and had -tried to proclaim Him their king. But this and other things frightened -the rulers in Jerusalem and they sent by night and seized Him and got -Pilate, the governor of Palestine, to condemn Him and crucify Him. Then -all the people turned against Him and thronged out of the city in great -multitudes to see Him nailed on the cross and to see Him die hanging in -the air. And the pilgrim who brought the reports said He was not like -any other victim that was ever crucified. Instead of shouting and -wailing and cursing, He had been calm and unmoved. Every time He spoke, -His words were full of love. Once He spoke in a quiet, gentle way to a -thief who was crucified on a cross near Him. And once, and this was the -strangest thing they reported, He looked up toward the sky and then out -toward the great multitude of shouting people and said in a gentle voice -which reached out over all the throng, “Father, forgive these people. -They do not know what they are doing.” - -A few who came back later had another story which they told but they -couldn’t make anybody at Tarsus believe it. They said that some of the -followers and friends of this wonderful Teacher from Galilee declared -that they had seen Him alive after He was crucified. Some of these -followers said they had heard Him speak just the way He used to do -before He was crucified, and they claimed that He told them when they -were on the way going up to Jerusalem that He would be crucified, but -that He would come back to life again. - -When Saul heard these strange reports he was at first very much moved by -them. He could not sleep at night because he thought so much over the -stories he heard from the travellers. But little by little he made up -his mind that they were just idle tales such as travellers love to tell -to those who stay at home. He said to himself: “It isn’t likely that -there really was any such person in Galilee as this one they tell about. -I should have heard about him while I was in Jerusalem, for he could not -have got his power suddenly and if he was beginning to do these -wonderful things then, it would have been known in the city. But nobody -had heard of him at all. If he got his power suddenly, without any -preparation and without studying in any of the schools, it is probable -that some evil spirit, like Beelzebub, has helped him and revealed -secrets to him. It is almost certain that he was not sent by God, for -the books of the law do not tell about any such Teacher who would come -and die for his truth, and the words they bring about his teaching are -not at all like what we know of God from our sacred books. No, either -there was no such person, or, if there was, he was deluded and -misguided.” - -But when Saul was talking one beautiful evening with his mother, who -seemed now much older than when she talked about the commandments with -her little boy, suddenly Saul said: “Wouldn’t it be strange, Mother, if -what that Galilean Teacher, of whom the travellers talk, said about God -were really true—I mean, that God is a Father and loves men, even men -who do wrong and sin. My tent-maker thinks that God is a great Spirit -who dwells in everything and is everywhere. But _this_ is more -wonderful, that God is full of love and tenderness for all kinds of -people in the world. It cannot, however, be true, for the Rabbis would -have known it if it had been so!” - -And the mother answered: “Ah, yes, no doubt the wise Rabbis would know. -But is there not something just a little like that in some of the -beautiful psalms which we sing in the Synagogue—‘Like as a Father’?” - -“But, Mother, this man, they say, died on a cross, and no good man, whom -God approved, could die that way, for our law says that all who are -hanged on trees are cursed and disapproved of by God, so that we need -not think any more about him.” But try as he would, Saul could not get -these things out of his mind. - - - - - VII - - IN JERUSALEM AGAIN - - -All through the quiet period in Tarsus while Saul was learning his trade -and living with his father and mother in the dear old home where he had -been a boy, he was wondering what his life was going to be. He always -felt, even as a little boy, that a great life-work lay before him. It -was too sacred and solemn to talk about and he did not tell even his -mother, but all the time, down deep in his soul, he dimly knew that he -was destined to have an unusual life and to do something signal and -wonderful. When he lay ill and everybody thought he would die, he felt -very sure that he was not going to die yet, for the great work of his -life was still to be done! He had often been in great danger, on his -journey up to Jerusalem and on the ship coming back to Tarsus, and many -times before he left home, but he always knew that somehow he would come -through the danger and be spared. - -He was eager now to find his life-work and to start in on his great -career. He was, therefore, very happy when a traveller of his own race, -coming from the holy land, brought him a letter from the authorities in -Jerusalem saying that they had work for him to do in that city. They -wanted a young and learned Rabbi to teach the Jews living in Jerusalem -who spoke Greek and who were called “Hellenists.” There were, my readers -must know, two kinds of Jews. There were the Jews, first, who lived all -the time in Palestine. They could keep the law more perfectly and more -completely than other people could. They thought of themselves as the -truly real Jews and as the inner circle of God’s own people. Then, -secondly, there were the Jews who lived and did business in the great -cities of the Roman Empire—cities like Rome and Alexandria, and Ephesus -and Antioch and Philippi and Corinth and Tarsus. They could not keep -themselves as pure or as perfect as the Palestine Jews could, for they -had to meet and mingle with Gentiles who were not pure according to the -law and who defiled those that came in contact with them. Then, too, -these out-dwellers could not get to the temple very often to make -sacrifices and to keep the requirements of the law. They used the -language which the worldly people around them used. That was generally -Greek. They had their Scriptures translated into Greek and many of them -did not know and could not read Hebrew at all. But these Hellenists, or -Greek-speaking Jews, went up to Jerusalem as often as they could and -when it was possible for them to do so, they would stay in Jerusalem for -long periods in order to be near the temple. They had a synagogue of -their own in Jerusalem where they went for their lessons and for their -Sabbath services and where their little children were taught while the -parents were staying in Jerusalem. It was to this Synagogue that Saul, -the young Rabbi, was to go, to teach the Jews who came from all the -far-away countries to sojourn in Jerusalem. - -It was very different for him, going to Jerusalem now from what it had -been for the fifteen-year-old boy the first time he went. Now he was -going, not for a few years, but for life. Now he was setting his hand to -carry out the great dreams and hopes of his life. Now he was leaving his -mother, perhaps for the last time. His father would still continue to go -to the Passover and Saul would perhaps see him there, but his mother -would never leave home again and it would surely be many years before he -would come back through the mountain-gate, or up the Cydnus River, to -his birth-place. Nobody knows just what goes on in a young man’s heart -when he takes this great venture and pushes out from the home he loves -to begin his real life in the strange and difficult world, where some -succeed and where some fail, where some keep pure and good, and where -some go wrong. - -Many things seemed to have changed in Jerusalem during the short period -since Saul had left it. Everybody was talking of the strange events that -had taken place recently. A new people had appeared in the city. They -called themselves “the people of the way,” or “those of the way,” or -“those of Jesus’ way.” Others called them “Galileans,” or “Nazarenes.” -They were men and women who believed that Jesus the great Teacher of -Galilee was the Messiah and they declared that He was still alive and -would soon return to be king and lord. They were growing fast in numbers -and spreading in every part of the city. They met every day from house -to house and ate their evening meal together in great joy and -fellowship. They took care of all their poor people and their sick and -they shared everything they had with one another as though they were all -brothers and belonged to one great family. - -The rulers in Jerusalem, however, did not like to see them spreading -through the city. They watched them carefully and arrested the leaders -when they found them doing anything to attract attention or trying to -get others to join them. They did not like to be told that the person -they had Pilate crucify was the Messiah, or that He was raised from the -dead and was now alive. It was easy to see that there was sure to be -trouble in Jerusalem, if these people went on increasing and if they -would not keep quiet. - -There were some of “those of the way” in the Synagogue where Saul was to -be Rabbi. They were always ready to talk about their wonderful Teacher, -who had been crucified and they were eager to prove that He was the real -Messiah that had been so long expected. Saul thought he could very soon -teach them sense and show them how foolish they were. He would quickly -prove to them that Jesus could not be the Messiah, for the Messiah would -surely never be crucified! He would come in splendour and glory, and if -the Romans tried to crucify Him He would call down from heaven an army -of angels and destroy all His enemies in a moment! And He would break -the Roman Empire all to pieces, as one breaks an old jar of pottery. It -would be only a few days, Saul felt sure, when he would be able to stop -all this talk about a crucified Messiah. He would argue them down and -make them ashamed to say such things any more. But Saul did not know how -hard his task really was. He was to discover that some things in this -world cannot be hushed up, or argued down! - - - - - VIII - - THE MAN WITH A SHINING FACE - - -There was one man in this Synagogue of the Hellenists more remarkable -than any of the other people who belonged to it. His name was Stephen. I -do not know what city he came from. But he was one of the -“out-dwellers,” and he had become a follower of Jesus, “one of the -way”—“a Nazarene.” He was different from any of the other followers of -Jesus. He saw farther than the rest did. He seems to have been the first -of “those of the way” to realise that Jesus did not come to be the -Messiah of the Jews alone and to purify their customs. Stephen thought -He came to bring life and light and joy to _all_ the world. The other -followers of Jesus in this early period were loyal, devoted Jews. They -went every day to the temple and they kept the law as the other Jews -did. They supposed that Jesus was to be the king in Jerusalem and that -only Jews were to be His people. Those who were not Jews could have no -share in the good news which He proclaimed. - -Stephen was so pure and good and wise that he got a new idea of what the -coming of Jesus meant. The truth was far bigger than the others dreamed, -and he began to see it, and to tell about it. If God is Father, as Jesus -kept saying He was, then He must love all men as well as Jews, and if -God is Life and Spirit, then He can come into men’s lives everywhere -without any temple and without priests and sacrifices. Stephen began to -wonder, as he thought about all that Jesus had said and taught and done, -whether His message was not far greater and more wonderful even than the -law of Moses, whether some day it would not take the place of the old -system of laws and customs and sacrifices and whether even the temple -itself might no longer be needed to worship God in, for men might -worship Him anywhere where they happened to be. - -Stephen was so bold and fearless, and he was so full of his great idea, -that he tried to tell the people in Saul’s Synagogue about it. They all -turned upon him and called him a dangerous man. They tried to make him -see that he was not true to the religion of his fathers, that he was -teaching new ideas, that he was turning people away from the old -customs, and that if the people followed his teaching they would -overthrow the whole wonderful system of Moses, and so make it impossible -for the Messiah to come, for whom all good Jews were waiting and -longing. - -Saul, with all his learning and his knowledge, thought he could easily -answer Stephen and prove that he was entirely wrong. But every time he -tried, Stephen got the best of him. Saul would quote texts from the Old -Testament and Stephen would rise up and show that these texts meant -something quite different from what Saul had always thought they meant. -He was so powerful and his life was so noble that all the people who -listened felt that even if he was wrong in his ideas he was great in his -soul, and they began to wonder if he perhaps might be right and Saul -wrong. Day after day the discussion went on without any end to it. At -last Saul decided that this would never do. Some way must be found to -stop this dangerous man who was leading the members of his Synagogue -astray. He told the rulers in Jerusalem that he had discovered a traitor -who must be arrested. “He talks against Moses,” he said. “He does not -love our holy land, or our holy law, or our holy temple, the way all -true Jews should.” Then the Council in Jerusalem had Stephen arrested -and brought before them for trial, and witnesses came in and told all -the things they could think of to make the Council condemn him. - -While they were talking against him they all saw a light shine on his -face, and he looked more like an angel than like an ordinary man, and -everybody wondered what he would say in answer to the charges that were -made against him. And Saul must have been eager to see what was going to -happen to this man with the shining face, whom nobody could defeat in an -argument. Then quietly Stephen began to speak for himself. He did not -try to prove that the things which had been said against him were false. -He paid no attention to his own case. He told the Council that all -through the history of their Hebrew race the people had always failed to -see new light when God brought it to them; they had always missed the -path when God was trying to lead them into a new way, and they had -always misunderstood when God was trying to teach them new ideas. They -cried out against Moses, he told them, in the wilderness. They -worshipped a golden calf just at the time when he was giving them the -law of God, and when the prophets came to teach them more about God, -they served Moloch and other false gods instead of Him. Their great, -wise king Solomon had told them, when he built the temple, that no -temple, however wonderful, could contain the great God who fills the -universe, but the people did not understand his words and seemed to -think that God lived only in their temple. “You have always failed to -see the truth,” Stephen cried. “You have always persecuted prophets when -God has sent them to you. You have killed those who told about the -coming of Jesus. And now _you, yourselves_, have betrayed and killed Him -when He did come. You talk about the law and you say that God gave it -through angels. But you do not understand it and you do not really keep -it.” - -That was more than they could stand. They forgot that they were judges -and were having an orderly trial. They all rushed at Stephen. They -showed their teeth at him and howled him down. But he was as calm and -steady as though everything were peaceful. In the midst of the uproar, -they suddenly heard him say: “I see Jesus! There He is, up there in the -open sky, at the right of God in His glory.” Then they all stopped their -ears, so that they might not hear what he said, and they rushed at him -and dragged him out of the city and stoned him. As the people who stoned -him pulled off their garments so that they could throw the stones -better, they gave their garments to Saul to hold. He did not join in -throwing the stones, but he approved of what the others were doing and -he ran along with them and carried the garments. And he could see -Stephen’s wonderful face which was shining more than ever now! He did -not say one hard word against those who were killing him. But just at -the end, Saul heard him say: “Lord Jesus, do not blame these people for -what they are doing”—“Wilt thou now receive my spirit to Thyself.” And -then, with the stones raining round him, the brave, good Stephen -died—with the light still on his face. - -Saul never forgot that face. He thought Stephen was wrong and he -believed that he must be stopped or he would bring harm to God’s people. -But he had never seen anybody die like that before! And the more he -meditated and thought about it, the more he wondered at what Stephen had -said, and still more over his dying words and his happy, shining face! - - - - - IX - - ON THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS - - -This young man who now unexpectedly found himself a persecutor was by -nature kind and tender-hearted. He had never wilfully hurt any creature -or given pain to anybody. He had come up to Jerusalem for his -life-career with the highest hopes and the noblest aspirations. His -whole being was aflame with a passion for his nation. Ever since he was -old enough to know the story of his own people he had dreamed of the -splendid future that was soon to dawn. All that the greatest prophets -had seen in distant vision, he believed he should one day see with his -own eyes. He had tried, with almost superhuman effort, to make his own -life perfect so that he might be one of the little inner circle of -perfect Jews, who would help to bring the Messiah and the perfect age -and who would be ready for this glorious king when he should come. - -Now he suddenly found, in his own Synagogue even, people who said that -the Messiah _had come already_, that the rulers and Pharisees who were -expecting Him and preparing for Him had not recognised Him when He did -come and had crucified Him. This seemed to Saul an awful idea—an -unbelievable tale. He was sure the Messiah could not be crucified. But -he was afraid that these enthusiastic and misguided followers of Jesus -would ruin his hopes. Everything that could be done must be done at once -to stop their teaching and to destroy their influence. He saw only one -way to guard the hope of Israel and that was to crush this movement -absolutely and to shut up or kill every person who went about claiming -that Jesus was the Messiah. It was a very disagreeable task, but it must -be done for the good of the nation and, however hard and distasteful it -might be, Saul was resolved to carry it through and to leave nobody who -would ever again dare to say that Jesus, the crucified, was the -long-expected king. - -Into the peaceful homes of the “Nazarenes” he went and seized both men -and women and carried them away to prison. He had to separate husbands -from their wives. He had to take mothers away from their tender little -babies. He had to break up meetings and drag away those who were -preaching the new gospel to their eager listeners. But everywhere he -went he found that these people had something which he did not have. In -the midst of their sufferings and their trials they were calm and -peaceful and happy and triumphant and radiant. When they were persecuted -their faces shone with a light that seemed almost heavenly. They prayed -for those who injured them and were not disturbed by any troubles. They -kept saying most remarkable words about Jesus and their faith in Him, -and they all seemed to believe that He was still alive and that they -would all soon be with Him. - -Saul had been trying all his life to be perfect, to be fully righteous. -He had worked with all his might to keep all the law and all the -commandments. But he knew deep down in his soul that he had failed to -reach his aim. He could not do it. He found something in himself which -he could not govern. If he didn’t break one commandment, he broke -another. If he was strong at one point he was sure to be weak at -another. That commandment which his mother had told him was the hardest -to keep—“thou shalt not covet or desire”—was always bothering him. Even -when he did not actually _do_ wrong things, he found himself _wanting_ -to do them, and _that_ he knew was wrong. It all filled him with -discouragement, and sometimes with despair. - -But these people whom he was persecuting and dragging away to prisons -seemed to be good almost without trying. They had found a new power -somewhere that seemed to help them. It made him wonder whether they were -perhaps right and he possibly was wrong. He hated what he was doing. How -gladly he would stop it, if only he could be sure that God did not want -him to persecute these strange followers of Jesus. But until God should -make it perfectly plain to him, he must go on with his hard duty. - -He had heard of some of these “Jesus-people” in the city of Damascus. He -would go to that city and stop them before they had time to spread. He -got documents from the rulers in Jerusalem giving him power to ride to -Damascus and to seize these people and to treat them as he had treated -those in Jerusalem. With his band of helpers he started off on his -journey, looking bold and fearless in his face, but feeling in his soul -that it was the most disagreeable journey he had ever set out upon, and -wishing all the time that he could ride straight on through Damascus and -the Syrian gate in the mountains to Tarsus, and give up the whole sorry -work of dragging mothers away from their children. As he rode he thought -and wondered. - -The road took him through Capernaum and around the magnificent lake -where Jesus had done much of His work, where He had preached His divine -messages and where He healed multitudes of people. Saul could hardly -stay at any inn in that country without hearing some wonderful story of -the Galilean Teacher. He might easily see the father of the little girl -who had been raised from her bed by this Teacher. He might talk with a -man whose eyes had been opened, or with a person who had been delivered -from leprosy or insanity, which the people in that day called being -“possessed with devils.” He might hear men tell how they themselves had -heard this wonderful Galilean talk about God His Father and about the -kingdom of life and love. And he might hear strange stories of what had -happened after the crucifixion—how fishermen who had lived by that lake -all their lives had seen Jesus in glorified form, after He had been dead -and buried. - -Saul would ride on from Galilee with new thoughts surging in his mind. -The simple faith of those who saw with their own eyes and heard with -their own ears would stir him with fresh meditation as he rode over the -stretch of country between Gennesareth and Damascus. - -One thing had always made it impossible for him to believe that Jesus -was divine, that He was sent by God or that He was the long-looked for -Messiah: _He had suffered and died on the cross._ Saul felt sure that, -if God had sent Him and He had been divine, He would not have had to -suffer, but He would have come in glory and power. But as he rode along -in silence and in deep thought, he remembered that he had heard these -followers of Jesus say in their meetings that the Old Testament was full -of prophecies which said that Christ must suffer. He began to think more -carefully about these passages—especially the one in the fifty-third -chapter of Isaiah: “He was despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrow -and acquainted with grief.” “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried -our sorrows.” “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for -our iniquities.” “As a lamb that is led to the slaughter and as a sheep -that before her shearers is dumb; yea he opened not his mouth.” “For the -transgression of my people was he smitten.” “He poured out his soul unto -death and was counted with the transgressors, yet he bore the sins of -many.” - -This might mean that God’s great servant would not be glorious and full -of power when He came but a sufferer. It might be that He would come and -suffer for the sins of others, and that He would do for men what they -could not do for themselves. He might be the perfect one and He might -through His suffering and death bring them a new power to live by. If he -was only sure that God had raised Him from the dead and had brought Him -triumphantly through His sufferings and His crucifixion, then he could -believe that this Galilean was the Saviour and the divine Deliverer for -whom they had been waiting. - -Stephen had cried out in his dying moments, “I see Jesus there, at the -right hand of God.” Saul had heard how others claimed that they had seen -Him alive and glorified. He would be likely to say to himself as he rode -along: “If _I_ could only see Him as these others say they have done, I -would believe as they do. I would stop this miserable work I am doing -and I would follow Him forever and I would make everybody believe in -Him.” - -Then in the stillness there suddenly broke in upon this young man a -light which seemed brighter than the mid-day sun in the sky and he saw -Jesus and heard Him speak and call him and his whole life was forever -changed by this wonderful thing that happened on the road to Damascus. - - - - - X - - IN ARABIA - - -Though dazed and blinded by the light, which seemed to come from another -world beyond this world, Saul nevertheless felt perfectly sure that he -_saw_ Jesus glorified. Through all the rest of his life, he always said -that he had _seen_ Christ—he had seen Him as Stephen saw Him. He had -seen Him as Peter and James and John saw Him and he never had any doubt -any more that He was alive and victorious over death. He had heard Him -speak, too, in that wonderful meeting outside the gate of the city. He -had heard Him say: “I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.” “Why persecutest -thou _me_?” - -All the rest of the way into Damascus, he walked in darkness. His outer -eyes were still blind from the light, but in the city his sight came -back again and he could see once more. He knew that a mighty change had -come within himself, but he did not know at once all that it meant. He -wanted to go far away from all the old scenes of his life, far away from -everybody he knew, far away from the noisy, busy world, and think out -what had happened. Even before talking with Peter and the other -disciples of Jesus, he wished to meditate alone and find his bearing in -the new experience which had so suddenly come to him. - -The greatest leaders of Saul’s race had found out the meaning of life, -alone with God, in the wilderness, or in the mountains, or on the edge -of the desert. Moses had come face to face with God on Mount Sinai. -Elijah had heard the still small voice speaking to him, far away from -the rush and din of the world. John the Baptist got his preparation for -his mission in the solitary wilderness undisturbed by people. Jesus had -discovered in the desert how to come forth victorious over temptation -and here he had realised that His kingdom was not to rest on force and -worldly power. So, too, Saul now felt that he must go away from the city -and live for a time in the heart of nature and open his soul to God. - -He decided to go to Arabia for his period of quiet and of meditation. -Perhaps he went, as Moses had gone, to Sinai, or to some other region of -this strange, mysterious land of wilderness, mountains and deserts. He -has not told us a word about his life in Arabia and none of his friends -has given us any reports of these months of solitude and meditation. -To-day, if any man wished to prepare for a great career of ministry or -missionary service, he would go to some college or university or -seminary or training school and learn how to do the work which lay -before him, and he would train his body with games of skill and athletic -courses, so as to be at his very best in mind and heart and body. Saul -had nothing of this sort open to him. He had finished his years of study -but they only prepared him to be a Jewish Rabbi, a teacher of the law. -Now he wanted to learn how to tell the world the full message, the good -news, which Jesus had brought to men. There was no school where this was -taught. There were no Christian colleges or universities or seminaries -yet. There were only a few followers of Jesus. Most of them lived in -Jerusalem, and they were ignorant people—fishermen, and -tax-collectors—who had had no chance to study. The best thing Saul could -do was, therefore, to go away alone and read and think and let God teach -him. - -At first he supposed that the good news which Jesus had brought was for -his own people alone but as he meditated and studied and listened he -began to see that God’s love reached everybody and that the great -Galilean had come to bring new life to all people in the world. It was -many years perhaps before Saul fully realised all that this meant, but I -think he began to see it in Arabia. Another thing kept coming before him -all the time. He was eager to find out why Jesus had died on the cross, -why He had suffered, and what it all meant. That also took years of -thought before he understood it, but here in the quiet of the mountains -he began to _see_. How we wish he had written some letters from Arabia -and told what he was doing and thinking! If he had only written to his -mother once a week, or even once a month, and she had preserved the -letters, how eagerly we would read them now! But there is not a word -about it all. We only know that in the stillness his spirit was -gathering power and his soul was growing richer. - -At last he felt that he was “ready.” This is one of his great words—“I -am now ready.” The time of quiet was over and the busy life must begin. -He felt sure he could make everybody believe in his Christ. It was all -so plain and wonderful that people would be bound to listen as he told -them what he had seen and known and felt! He decided to go back to -Damascus and begin there—near the place where he had first seen Jesus -and where the great change in his life had come. - -But it was not as easy as he expected. In the first place he soon -discovered that he needed to know more about the life of Jesus. He had -not talked with anybody yet who had been with Him in Galilee and in -Jerusalem. He must learn more about Him before he could move people with -his words. And then he found that the people did not want to hear about -Jesus. The Jews in Damascus all thought Saul was a traitor. He had -started for their city to persecute the followers of Jesus and now he -was one of the followers himself, trying to make them believe. They -decided to seize him and do to him what he used to do to the followers -of Jesus. They would soon put him where he would not talk any more about -this Galilean Teacher. They watched all the gates of the city so that -Saul could not get away and they had men hunting for him through the -streets. But some of Saul’s friends put him in a great basket and in the -dark of the night, by a long rope, they let him down the side of the -wall and he got far away from the dangerous city before the morning sun -came up. - -He must have felt a strange thrill as he passed by the place where he -saw the great light and heard the voice saying: “Saul, why persecutest -thou me?” But he hurried on over the road through Galilee and came to -Jerusalem, which he had left three years before. He had started out a -persecutor. He came back a follower of Jesus. He had crossed the “great -divide.” - - - - - XI - - FIFTEEN WONDERFUL DAYS - - -We have invented a little instrument called a “dictaphone.” If one of -these instruments is hidden away in a room, a person at the other end of -the dictaphone can overhear all the conversation that goes on in the -room where it is concealed, and the entire conversation can be written -down and kept. How we wish now that there had been a dictaphone in the -room in which Saul staid with St. Peter for fifteen days in Jerusalem. -Part of the time James, the brother of Jesus, was there, too, with them. -But the rest of the time they were alone—talking, talking, talking. St. -Peter was telling Saul the things he wanted to know about the life of -Jesus and about His death and resurrection. What a wonderful story it -would be, if we could only get it all back, word for word! There was -that keen and eager face of the man still young, with all his life-work -before him, and opposite the older man whose whole life had been boating -and fishing until one with authority had said to him, “Follow me.” The -older man knew more about this Galilean life than anybody else knew, -unless it were that other fisherman, named John, and he could answer all -the questions the young man asked so long as they were just questions -about events, for he had seen with his eyes and he had heard with his -ears and he had handled with his hands and he _knew_. - -The pity of it is, not a word of this conversation has been preserved. -We can imagine what some of the questions were and we can guess what -some of the answers would be, but the actual words are gone. They are -lost forever. What we do know, however, is that at the end of these -fifteen days of wonderful talk, Saul went away from Jerusalem, his mind -stored with truth about Jesus. He had heard from Peter’s lips the -supreme facts about the life of the Person who was henceforth to be Lord -and Master of his own life. Peter and James told all their friends in -Jerusalem what had happened to Saul, how his career had suddenly -changed, how the man who once dragged harmless Christians to prison was -now getting ready to give his whole life to the work of telling the good -news about Jesus and they already saw that a mighty champion of the -truth had joined them and they all thanked God for Saul of Tarsus. When -he left Jerusalem, after his memorable visit with Peter, Saul probably -went home to Tarsus, and he lived and worked for a time in the home -province of Cilicia. There is a long period of his life at this time -about which we know nothing at all. He must have been at work for he -could not settle down and rest. There was a tremendous drive in his -glowing spirit, and wherever he was something was always happening. If -he spent some years in Tarsus, as is probable, it is certain that many -people there heard of Jesus from him and we can well believe that he -went from town to town through the mountain province to tell in all the -synagogues the truth which he had learned. - -It is possible, however, that he may at this time have had a long period -of serious illness. He has himself given us one single glimpse into this -unknown period of his life. In the twelfth chapter of Second -Corinthians, he says that a tremendous experience came to him fourteen -years before—that would be in this period. He was suddenly “caught up” -into a higher world where he saw what nobody can see with ordinary eyes -and where he understood the mysteries of life in a new way. It seemed -for a moment as though he had lost his body and found his soul, as -though he had leaped across all the space of the universe and had come -to God’s dwelling-place and everything lay plain and clear before him. -But about this time, he says further, some terrible illness came upon -him, which was so bad that it felt like “a thorn,” or “a stake in his -body”—a piercing, racking pain that seemed to bore into his quivering -flesh. It was almost more than he could endure. He begged and besought -that he might be relieved of it but it lasted on and on. We do not know -certainly what this painful disease was but perhaps a little later, as -we go on with his life, we may get some idea of what it was, for it -appears to have come back again when he was in Galatia. - -What we do know is that, while he was living in Tarsus, a man named -Barnabas thought of Saul and came to Tarsus to find him. Barnabas was -another man something like Stephen. He saw farther than most of the -others did. He was always ready for new things and he was full of faith -and activity. Like Saul, he could not rest—he wanted to tell everybody -what he had discovered. He heard of a new movement in the great city of -Antioch, the capital of the province of Syria, and he went off to -Antioch to see what this movement really was. When he got there he found -that some followers of Jesus who had been forced to leave Jerusalem, -because of the persecutions, had come to Antioch and had begun a little -church there and were preaching to everybody who would listen. It did -not make any difference to them whether the people who came to hear were -Jews or not. They were as ready to tell the good news about Christ to -Greeks as to the people of their own race. It was the first time and the -first place in all the world that anybody had done this. In Jerusalem, -“those of the way” were all Jews and they had nothing to do with anybody -else. They never dreamed that peoples of all races were alike and were -equally dear to God and that Christ came to bless and save all men. They -made a sharp distinction between Jews and Gentiles. But in Antioch it -was all different. Those who formed the church in Antioch forgot about -race and thought only about brotherhood. Greeks flocked into the same -room with Jews and together they worshipped God like brothers. And here -in Antioch where this new spirit was born and where this new movement -began, the followers of Christ were for the first time called -“Christians.” In Jerusalem this word was not used or thought of, because -no outside people came in and there was no need of a new name. But in -Antioch where the Greeks joined the movement and where everybody -discovered that a new religion was born they needed a word to name it -with and so they called these persons who talked so much about Christ, -“Christians.” Barnabas was filled with joy when he found what was going -on in Antioch. It looked like the beginning of a movement that would -sweep across the world and change the whole empire. He saw at once that -he must have the best man whom he could find to help him push the work -along, and as he sat thinking of the different persons who could do this -great work, suddenly he remembered the young man whose persecutions had -driven these first Christians to Antioch and he knew that Saul was now a -changed man and a powerful champion of the truth. Whereupon he hurried -off through the Syrian gate in the mountains to fetch Saul to Antioch -and Saul went back with him to begin the greatest work any man has ever -done in the world. - - - - - XII - - THE FIRST GREAT MISSIONARY JOURNEY - - -Antioch, the great Syrian city, from this time on became Saul’s new -home. He was henceforth to be very closely connected with the -flourishing capital of Syria. This was now to be the mother-church of -all his activities. From Antioch he started out on all his missionary -journeys and he came back to Antioch at the end of each of his -far-reaching travels. Here were faithful Christians praying for him as -he worked and suffered and here, when he arrived weary and worn with -labour, were dear friends to welcome him and to refresh him. Antioch was -the first city in the world to have Gentile Christians in it and it was -from this city that Christianity spread out over the world and conquered -the Roman Empire and became a world movement, and, as we shall see, the -man from Tarsus was in this great undertaking the foremost leader and -the untiring worker. - -[Illustration: ANTIOCH] - -For a whole year Barnabas and Saul worked in the city of Antioch, -spreading the knowledge of Christ through that region, gathering in new -people all the time, teaching them the truth and helping them to live -the new way. It was joyous work and while they were doing it they were -constantly discovering fresh light and were learning all the time how to -tell the world their “good news” and how to build churches out of people -who had before been heathen and idol-worshippers. At the end of the -first year when the Antioch church had become strong and vigorous—full -of life and power—Barnabas and Saul decided, with the approval of the -entire church, to go out and tell their message to the great world -around them. They felt sure that God called them to be missionaries and -they resolved to go wherever He wanted them to go and to do whatever -they felt in their hearts that He wanted them to do. These two men took -with them as their companion and helper a third man, named John Mark, -who had come from Jerusalem to Antioch and who was Barnabas’ nephew. It -was probably this young man who later in life wrote the wonderful book -which we call “The Gospel according to Mark.” - -The whole church came together for a very solemn meeting and prayed for -the travellers and then the three men, full of joy and enthusiasm, set -out on their journey down the river to Selucia, where they took ship -for the island of Cyprus which lies west of the Syrian coast. They -visited all the cities of the island, going from the eastern end across -to the western edge, to the city of Paphos where the governor of the -island lived. This governor was greatly impressed with the message and -the extraordinary power of the missionaries and he, Roman as he was, -believed the wonderful new truths which they told him about God and -about the Christ who had come to reveal Him. - -From Paphos the little band of travellers struck out for a new field of -work. They had been so successful in Cyprus that they now decided to -attack a still larger and more difficult region of the earth. They -sailed almost north from Paphos, to the shores of the Mediterranean, -lying west of the Taurus mountains over which Saul gazed as a boy. They -landed in the district of Pamphilia and came to the city of Perga, a -little way in from the Sea. From this time on, our hero is never called -Saul any more. His name suddenly changes here to Paul. It is probably -due to the fact that the field of his work is now widening out to the -Gentile world. He is leaving behind the narrow circle of his own people -who always called him by his Jewish name and he is going out among the -Greeks who henceforth call him by his Greek name, that has become so -familiar to us. - -Three things that concern our story seem to have happened at Perga. Paul -appears to have been taken ill here with some dangerous disease. It was -probably a return of the trouble which he had a few years before and -which he called “a stake in his flesh.” The reason why we think he was -taken ill here is that he wrote afterwards to his friends in Galatia -that he came to them because he had an illness, and he seems to have -gone directly to Galatia now from Perga. The illness may quite likely -have been malaria, though there is no way to prove it. The few -references to his trouble have made some scholars think that it was -malaria—a disease which comes back again and again and is dreadfully -annoying to a person who wants to do a great work. The low land of -Pamphilia may quite likely have brought on a new attack and compelled -our travellers to move up to a higher and healthier region. Anyway, -whether this theory is correct or not, Paul and Barnabas decided to push -on farther north to the hill country of Pisidia. This was the second of -the three things. And the third was that Mark refused to go on with -them. Something about the undertaking disturbed and frightened him. He -turned back and went off home. Paul did not like Mark’s desertion, but -Barnabas, who was his uncle, did not treat it as quite so serious. - -The two men now started off alone up over the hills and through the -dangerous robber-infested country to the finely situated city of Antioch -in Pisidia, which my reader must remember is very different from the -other Antioch in Syria, from which Paul started on his journey. This -second Antioch is in the Roman province of Galatia and we must now -realise that on this first great missionary journey of his life Paul -came to one of the cities of Galatia where, so far as we know, he -founded the first of his missionary churches. - -He began his work in the Jewish Synagogue in Antioch of Pisidia and he -and Barnabas preached to the Jews of that city and to the other people -who sympathised with them and who were called “God-fearers” because they -were eager to learn about the God of the Jews. But after a little time -the Jews disagreed with the message which the missionaries brought them -and so Paul and Barnabas gave up trying to convince the Jews and set to -work to tell their good news to the Greeks, just as they had done in -Syrian Antioch, and these people flocked to hear them and believed their -message with great joy, and were ready almost to pluck out their eyes -and give them to Paul. From this first city of the Galatian province -they went on to other important cities of the same province—Iconium, -Derbe and Lystra. These four cities, we shall now assume, were the four -centres of the churches of Galatia. One remarkable incident happened -while Paul and Barnabas were working in the city of Lystra. The simple -country people here made up their minds that Paul and Barnabas must be -gods come down from heaven to visit them and they brought out their oxen -and were ready to sacrifice them to Barnabas and Paul, who they thought -were Jupiter and Mercury. It was here in this very region around Lystra -that Baucis and Philemon once lived. And according to the old Greek -stories, Jupiter and Mercury came down to earth on a visit. They came -looking like common men and nobody knew that they were gods and when -they came to men’s houses asking to be taken in and entertained, nobody -would receive them. Finally they came to the poverty-stricken home of -Baucis and Philemon, who received their visitors with much joy. They -killed their only chicken for the supper and did the best they could to -show true hospitality. Suddenly the two visitors stood forth as mighty -gods. They blessed and thanked Baucis and Philemon and turned their -humble dwelling into a splendid temple and glorified the two poor people -who had received them so kindly. - -Well, these simple people at Lystra evidently thought when they listened -to Paul and Barnabas and saw their wonderful deeds that Jupiter and -Mercury had come back again and they were resolved not to make a second -mistake and miss the blessing. Paul and Barnabas had no desire to be -treated as gods nor to have sacrifices made to them, but they had -difficult work getting the simple hearted people to treat them as men -and to drive their oxen home. - -[Illustration: MAP [NORTH EAST CORNER MEDIT.]] - - - - - XIII - - THE FIRST GREAT PROBLEM - - -Paul and Barnabas had another experience at Lystra which was very -different from that of being taken for gods. Paul’s own people, the -Jews, had begun to see now that he was not like them. He did not care -for the things which were as important to them as life. His entire -interest lay in telling not about Moses and his law but about Christ and -the new life which men could live in His power. To the faithful Jews he -seemed like a traitor. They did not want to hear him preach and they -were determined to make him stop telling these new things to the people, -if they possibly could. - -The Jews got together from the cities which Paul and Barnabas had -visited and they came in a body to Lystra and stirred up the fickle, -changeable peasants and set them against the missionaries who had come -to help them. They dragged them out of the city and stoned them until -they thought they were dead. Paul must have thought of Stephen as the -stones rained down upon him and he knew now how it felt to be stoned by -the very people he wanted most to help. Fortunately the stones did not -kill him. They only wounded him severely and when the mob had gone away -he got up and came back into the city and preached again to his friends -who had learned to love him and to believe in him. The next day he and -Barnabas left Lystra and went to Derbe. Then they returned and revisited -all the churches they had started in Galatia—in Derbe, Lystra, Iconium -and Antioch of Pisidia, after which they went back to their home-church -in great Antioch. It must have been a happy moment, as the two -travellers sat in the midst of the group at Antioch and told of the -wonderful events of their long and dangerous journey and as they related -how in the far-away province of Galatia they had built up new and -flourishing churches out of people who just before had been ignorant -heathen. But the happiness and joy were not long undisturbed, for some -members of the church in Jerusalem came to Antioch and told the -Christians there that Paul was wrong in his ideas and in his teaching, -that Barnabas was wrong and that the church there in Antioch was wrong. -These men insisted that nobody except Jews could be Christians. If any -Gentile wanted to be a Christian and come into the church, they said -that he must first be circumcised and become a Jew and he must keep the -whole law of Moses. Christ came only for Jews, they said. If anybody -went about teaching that Greeks and barbarians and men of all races and -all customs could be Christ’s followers, that man was wrong and was a -dangerous teacher. What these people said struck right against -everything Paul was doing. According to their views most of the people -in the church at Antioch were not real Christians. They would have to -change all their ways of living. They would need to accept the whole -system of Moses and all the sacrifices set forth in the Old Testament -before they could have any part in Christ and His “good news.” - -Paul was determined not to yield to these men from Jerusalem and he saw -that he must go to Jerusalem himself and prove to the whole church there -that this idea that only Jews could be Christians was false. He must -make them see that the new idea which he and the Christians at Antioch -held was true and right; the idea that all men everywhere, of every race -and of every colour and of every custom could follow Christ and come to -God through Him and live by the power of His Spirit without becoming -Jews at all. - -Paul and Barnabas, with one of their new converts, Titus, who was a -Greek and who had never become a Jew, went together to Jerusalem to have -a council with the church there and to settle forever, if they could, -this important and difficult question. Paul threw himself into the -discussion with all the earnestness and fire that were in his nature. He -brought in Titus, as a specimen and exhibit of the kind of Christians -the Greeks made when they gave their lives to Christ. Paul refused to -let Titus be circumcised. He declared that Titus was already a full -Christian without doing anything to make himself a Jew. As Paul talked -and showed what Christ meant to him and told of the wonderful things -Christ had done through him the men in Jerusalem who had been disciples -of Christ were convinced that he was right and they gave him their hands -as a token of their faith in him and of their regard for him. But the -other members of the church were not yet ready for the new teaching and -the new ideas. They were old-fashioned people who could not change their -habits. They listened to Paul and were impressed with his shining face -and his glowing words, but when he was done speaking they thought just -as they did before! - -Soon after he had returned from the great conference in Jerusalem, when -he thought he had convinced the church in Jerusalem that his position -was the right one, he heard that men from Jerusalem had gone to the -cities in Galatia and had told his new converts there—in Derbe and -Lystra and Iconium and in Pisidia—that the two missionaries, who had -recently visited them and had told them about Christ, were false -teachers and had led them astray. These Jerusalem men worked upon the -simple-minded Galatian people until they made them really believe that -Paul and Barnabas were wrong. Their new visitors told the people in -Galatia that they must go on now and become Jews. They must be -circumcised and keep the law of Moses and they said that if they did -that they could have the privilege of enjoying Christ. But if they did -not do _that_, then they could have no part in Christ. - -It was an unspeakable shock to Paul when this piece of news reached him -about his Galatian friends. He saw how helpless they had been. He -realised how hard it would be to answer their visitors and he knew that -these simple peasants were not to blame for being confused. But he -quickly saw that he must save them. He must not let them go astray. He -must come to their help and he must write them a letter that would open -their eyes and show them the full truth. I am inclined to think this -letter was the first of all his wonderful epistles. We must turn and see -how the great leader wrote to his beloved friends and young disciples in -the hill country of Galatia. - - - - - XIV - - A LETTER TO HIS CHURCHES - - -When Paul sat down to write to the churches in the province of Galatia -he was facing one of the greatest crises of his life. If he could not -convince them that he was right in his teaching and that all men -everywhere could follow Christ and become His disciples, then his -missionary work was ended and his career was over. He had been proud -once to be a Jew. He had gloried in the privilege of belonging to the -chosen people and he had hoped to become perfectly righteous by keeping -all the law and the commandments. He had tried this plan with all his -energy and it had miserably failed. He had never made himself perfect -and he had discovered that nobody ever could reach perfection that way. -Just at the moment when he realised his failure most, he had suddenly -found Christ and through His life and power he had learned how to live -in joy and peace and triumph. It was the most wonderful discovery! The -whole world seemed new and all nature seemed changed! The whole business -of his life was to go out and tell people everywhere about his discovery -and what it meant. - -And now these men from Jerusalem had gone out to his new churches and -made them think that all his work was wrong, that all that he told them -was false. They must become Jews. They must try with all their might to -keep the law. They must do what Paul had endeavoured to do before he -found Christ. They must strain and struggle on, all their lives, to make -themselves good, and then, if they succeeded, they could enjoy Christ. -It seemed to Paul a pitiful drop from his great and wonderful message. -_He_ could never go out and tell people that. If his discovery and his -message were not true, then he could never go out again on a missionary -journey. There was nothing left for him but to go back to Tarsus and -make tents and then to die and be buried like the rest of men. Now if -ever he must make his new converts see and understand his discovery and -he must absolutely convince them that he was right and that God was with -him. That is what the Epistle to the Galatians was written for. - -Intense and eager and determined as he was, he was also tender and -loving. This letter is all full of passages in which you can almost feel -this great man’s heart throb. “You are,” he tells them, “just like my -own children. I came to you when you were living in sin and ignorance -and, like a father full of love, I helped you into a new life. I brought -you to Christ and I showed you how to get free from your old bondage and -how to rise into a life of joy and power. I cannot bear to see you drop -back into bondage again. If you believe what these visitors have told -you, you will never be free again, you will have to carry burdens all -your days.” “When I came first among you,” he wrote, “you were full of -joy. You loved me and believed me, as though I had been an angel or a -god come to visit you. You would have plucked out your eyes and given -them to me, if you could have done it. I want now to be your friend and -I want you to believe that what I tell you is the truth.” Then he showed -them how foolish was the story which the Jews from Jerusalem had told -them. They had said that only those who were “sons of Abraham” could -share in the promises of Christ. “Sons of Abraham,” Paul cried out to -them, “who are the real sons of Abraham!” “Not those who become Jews and -keep the law but those who are full of faith, who trust Christ and live -by His power. The most wonderful thing about Abraham was his _faith_. He -believed God. He trusted God. He walked with God. He did not keep the -law, because the law was not given until many centuries after Abraham -had died. If you want to be ‘a son of Abraham’ you must live by faith. -You must trust God and take Christ for your leader, your helper, your -inward strength.” - -He drew, in his letter, a wonderful picture of the true way to live. He -gave his friends an account of his own life and told them they could -also have what had come to him. “Why,” he said, “God has revealed His -Son in my soul. I used to do wrong and go wrong. I could not keep -myself. I tried to live by the law but it would not work. Now I live by -faith—faith in Christ, and the life I now live is really the life He -lives in me. I do not care any more for the things people do to make -themselves good. I feel Christ coming into me and giving me strength and -power, just as the sun comes into the tree and builds its life from -within. You can all have that power formed in you. You can all feel the -life of Christ sweep into your lives and that will make you free. And -you will cry ‘Abba, Father,’ for you will find the life and spirit of -God in your own hearts. When that happens you will not think much about -those things which these Jews from Jerusalem have been telling you you -must do to be saved! - -“There are two great forces in the world,” he told them. “One is the -force that makes people do wrong. There seems to be something in us too -strong for us to resist. We mean to do right, but often before we know -it, something seems to push us into evil. We go the way of instinct. We -fight, or we tell lies, or we take what is not ours, or we get angry, or -we do things which are not pure and clean and beautiful. How are we to -stop this force from pushing us and controlling us and spoiling us?” -“You must get a new spirit,” Paul says. “The law and the commandments -and the customs of Moses will not bring you life and power. You must -find a new and higher force which will come into you and raise you out -of your old self into a new way of life. Just that is what Christ does. -When He helps you and comes into you, a new spirit is formed and you get -love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, -and endurance in your own souls. It is like discovering a new world. It -is like a new creation. That is what Christ does. He makes people new -creatures. These people who came to you from Jerusalem cannot tell you -how to do that—but I can tell you. I bear in my body the marks of this -new creation which Christ has formed in me.” - -Something like that Paul wrote to his friends in Galatia and the best of -it is, they believed him and stood by him. When they had read his -letter, they said: Paul is right. It is so. We will take his way. We -will have Christ and not the law-system—and so Paul had won his first -great battle. - - - - - XV - - “COME OVER INTO MACEDONIA AND HELP US” - - -The old heroes of Greece were heroes because they went out to fight with -beasts and to free the world of terrible monsters. Then, again, there -were heroes who fought with giants, or with deadly enemies of their -country, and who risked their lives for their friends or for their -people. Paul was a new kind of hero. His great battle was a battle with -false ideas, a battle for the truth, a battle for the good news which -Christ had brought to the world. It is harder to be this kind of a hero. -Most people do not recognise the new kind of hero when he comes. They do -not know that he _is_ a hero. He often has to fight alone and he is -misunderstood even by his friends. Paul had many lonely hours. He could -not have stood the strain and struggle if he had not been sure of -Christ’s presence and help and if he had not known that he was the -champion of the greatest truth in the world. - -Now that he had won the victory in this important contest in Galatia, -and now that he had settled the question that Christ was the Saviour of -all men of all races, he could go out again on another great -out-reaching missionary journey. Paul wanted to go again with Barnabas, -but Barnabas was determined to take Mark once more as companion and Paul -was just as determined not to have Mark, because he deserted them on -their former journey, so that they finally agreed to separate. Barnabas -went to Cyprus with Mark, and Paul took a companion named Silas, and -started out without quite knowing what country he would travel to before -his return. He and Silas went, probably by land, through the Syrian gate -in the mountains, to Tarsus and visited the Christian settlements in the -province of Cilicia, then directly on to see his friends in Galatia who -had been through so much since he saw them last. How we wish we knew -what he said to them and what they said to him! But we do not know a -single word that passed while Paul was living among the disciples of -Galatia. We only know that he decided to take one of these Galatian -Christians along with him as a helper in his work. This was a young man -named Timothy whose home was in Derbe. He became one of Paul’s greatest -friends and a wonderful help to him, clear through to the end of his -life. Being with Paul made Timothy a hero too. - -After the three men had visited all the communities of Galatia, they -started off toward the north and visited the cities in the district of -Phrygia which belonged to the province of Galatia, and then they decided -to strike across west and visit the great cities of the province of -Asia, the capital of which was Ephesus, but they soon felt that the time -had not come yet for this journey. They next tried to go to the country -lying along the shores of the Black Sea, but something made them realise -that this was not the right course for them to take, so that they went -on to Troas on the shores of the Ægean Sea, without quite knowing where -they would go next. Troas was the site of the old city of Troy where the -Greeks and Trojans fought for ten years, and where some of the bravest -deeds were done that the world ever saw. Here was the tomb of Achilles. -Here Alexander the Great had come on his way to the conquest of the -world. A greater conqueror had now come to Troas. Alexander went toward -the east for his victories; the new conqueror was to go west! - -While they were here in Troas without any clear plan of action, Paul -felt in his soul that the next course was to sail across the Ægean Sea -into Europe. He felt it so clearly and strongly that it seemed to him as -though he heard a man from the European side of the sea calling to him -and saying: “Come across into Macedonia and bring us help.” But it was -more than Macedonia that was calling. It was the whole of Greece. It was -more than Greece that was calling. It was the whole of Europe. It was -more than Europe that was calling. It was undiscovered America that was -stretching out its hands that night and saying: “Come over and help us.” -You see, if Paul had not gone into Europe, across the Ægean, perhaps we -who live in America and in England would never have been followers of -Christ, so that this call meant very much! Paul heard it and he was -“ready” at once. He answered: “Yes, I will come.” The next morning he -set sail from Troas on the eastern shore to Philippi on the western -shore of the Ægean. Silas and Timothy were with him and he also found -here a new companion. This new travelling-companion kept a Diary and -wrote the account of this journey and of other journeys, too. You can -find his Diary in the sections of the Book of Acts that say “we”—“the We -Narratives.” Philippi in Macedonia is the first spot in Europe on which -Paul set his foot and so far as we know the people in Philippi were the -first people of all Europe who heard of Christ. They were not as eager -to hear as you might expect. If they were calling to Paul to come over -and help them, they did not recognise him when he arrived, for they very -soon seized him and put him in prison and beat him with rods. Some of -the people in Philippi, however, did recognise him. They were very glad -to hear him and they were full of love for him and for his truth. They -joined him and worked with him and a new church was formed—perhaps the -first in all Europe. These Christians in Philippi were very dear to -Paul’s heart and they loved him as though he had been their own father, -and they remembered him later when he lay in prison in Rome and was -lonely. When he left Philippi, he went on through the great cities of -Macedonia, preaching and building up churches, wherever he could find -people ready to listen to his message. In the city of Thessalonica, -which is now called Salonika, Paul found many listeners and formed a -successful church to which a little later he wrote two epistles. He -found another splendid group in the city of Berœa and formed a church -there. But in all these cities of Macedonia he had serious trouble, just -as he had had in the province of Galatia. The Jews hated him and -everywhere he came they raised a riot and tried to drive him out of the -city or to get him into prison. They set the mob against him in some of -the cities and in others they had him arrested and badly treated. But in -spite of all their efforts to hinder him, he succeeded in doing a great -work and in forming Christian churches all up and down the famous -province of Macedonia. - -From the time Paul heard the voice calling him over into Macedonia, most -of the rest of his life was to be lived and most of his future work in -the world was to be done around the shores of the Ægean Sea. All the -churches which he gathered after this time were around the Ægean and all -his epistles from this time were written either to Ægean cities, or -written while he was living in Ægean cities. It was Paul who shifted the -centre of Christianity from Jerusalem to the Western World and during -his life-time the great centres were around the shores of this famous -Sea. The most famous of all the cities around the coasts of this Sea was -Athens, the home of Socrates and Plato and of a hundred other great men, -and to this wonderful city of the ancient world Paul now came. - -[Illustration: MAP [2ND MISSIONARY JOURNEY]] - - - - - XVI - - ALONE IN ATHENS - - -As Paul’s two companions, Silas and Timothy, had been left behind in -Berœa to finish the work which had been begun in Macedonia Paul found -himself “alone in Athens.” It was the most interesting city in the world -for a traveller to visit. It was the “eye of Greece” and Greece had for -five hundred years been leading the world in art, in poetry, in -philosophy, in architecture and in many other things. The most beautiful -temples that had ever been built were there for Paul to see. The most -wonderful statues that had ever been carved were there for him to gaze -upon. The most perfect poems that had ever been written were in the -libraries there in Athens for him to read. A short walk would take him -to the garden of the Academe where Plato once had his school. He could -stand where Socrates stood. He could see the home of Stoic philosophy -which he had heard about all his life. He was under the most perfect sky -the sun shines through. He looked over the glorious hills where great -deeds had been wrought. Delightful air wrapped him round and inspiring -sights met him at every turn. - -But Paul thought little of these things. His mind was filled with -something else which seemed to him more important. He wanted to make -this famous city see what he saw. He wanted to build a church of Christ -in the city that had built the Parthenon. He wanted to tell his message -of truth to the people who gloried in the wisdom of Plato and Aristotle. -As he was walking about alone in the city, he noticed an altar with the -inscription on it: “To God Unknown.” At once, he thought, “How I should -like to make these people know the God whom I know, but whom they have -not found yet. They want to find Him, or they would not build altars -like that. All their philosophers have wanted to find Him, and sometimes -they almost did find Him. Oh, if I could only make them see!” While Paul -was walking around the city, wishing for a chance to tell his message, -the Athenian people in the streets and market-places were watching him. -They saw at once that he was a stranger and of a different race. They -noticed him gazing around. Some of them asked him questions and sounded -him to see whether he brought any new ideas. But they did not expect -much from a mere Jew. They thought from the little they listened to that -he believed in two gods—or a god and a goddess—whom they had never heard -of before, for he spoke of Jesus and of the resurrection. They thought -Jesus was a new god and that the Resurrection was a new goddess. But -most of the people thought that he was a “babbler”—a man who was talking -about trifles. They never dreamed that this foreign visitor, this Jew, -could teach them, wise Athenians as they were, anything that mattered to -them. But some of the inquisitive and curious ones got Paul to come up -to their great meeting-place on the Hill of Mars, which they called the -Areopagus, and speak to them. That was exactly what Paul wanted. Now he -had a chance to tell them his great truth. Would they listen? Would they -understand? - -With a polite wave of the hand, he began to speak in the Greek which he -had learned as a boy at Tarsus. “Athenian men,” he said, “you are very -religious people. I see altars everywhere and you have filled your city -with objects of worship. One strange thing I noticed as I walked about. -I saw an altar on which was this inscription, ‘To God Unknown.’ That -means that you have not quite found God yet. Let me tell you about Him, -for I know. He made the world. He made all things above and all things -beneath. But He does not dwell in temples. He does not need the things -which men make with their hands, idols and images and statues. He has -given life and breath to all living beings. He has planned the universe -and put His wisdom into all the parts of it. He has arranged everything -for men. He expects them to become one great family. He has put -something into men’s hearts which makes them seek after Him and which -makes them try to feel their way, as blind persons do, to find Him if -they can. But He is never far away from anybody. He is near, within -reach. We live in God. We move in Him. All our life is flooded with Him, -and without Him we could not live at all. Your poets knew that. They -have tried to tell you about it. One of them in his poem says that we -are ‘offspring of God’—we have come from Him. If that is true, as your -poet says it is, you ought not to think that God is like silver or gold -or marble, or that He can be carved and made into a statue. All that is -childlike and is the result of ignorance. When men were in the child -stage and did not know any better, God excused them and waited for them -to learn. But now that you are older and wiser, there is no excuse. God -expects everybody now to live differently, to change their lives, and to -prepare for the great beyond. He has sent His Son to show them how to do -it, and He has raised Him from the dead.” - -They did not listen very well and when they found that the Resurrection -was not a new goddess they were not interested any longer. They drifted -away to look for something that was more exciting and they politely told -Paul that they would hear him again some other time. One man who was a -senator and one woman, who had listened eagerly, were convinced that -this was the truth about God and they believed and accepted Paul’s way -of life. But Athens was not ready yet for the great message and so the -chance went by! In a few days Paul sailed away, out of that wonderful -harbour, looking back on the beautiful city that had missed its -opportunity, and landed in the great seaport city of Corinth, at that -time the capital of the province of Achaia. - -[Illustration: MARS HILL—ATHENS] - - - - - XVII - - CORINTH AND EPHESUS - - -In Corinth Paul made two new friends who became very dear to him and who -were able to be great helpers in his work. Their names were Aquila—a Jew -from Pontus who had lived sometime in Italy—and his wife Priscilla who -was a very remarkable woman. They became followers of Christ and joined -with Paul in the work of spreading Christianity in the great Greek city -of Corinth. Aquila and Priscilla were also tent-makers and part of the -time they all worked at this trade to get money to live by. Then they -gave all the rest of their time to the main business for which Paul had -come to Corinth. It was a very happy group of workers for they all loved -and enjoyed each other and they all loved and enjoyed their work. As -Corinth was a great city close to the sea, people from all countries in -the world came there. There were men of many colours and men of many -languages. They had not learned how to live good and beautiful lives. -Very wrong things were done in Corinth. We sometimes think that the -world is wicked to-day but if we could see the way the Corinthians lived -and then see how men live to-day we should discover that there has been -some improvement. - -For a year and a half, this little group of missionaries laboured in the -city, telling about Christ and His love and His death for men and His -resurrection and of His Spirit working in the hearts of men. All kinds -of people were changed by the power of this message. Jews and Greeks and -persons from many lands listened and rejoiced and believed and followed -Christ. Paul’s old enemies, the Jews, who had heard about his past life, -made all the trouble they could for him, but he had been through trouble -before and he knew how to bear it now. He went straight ahead with his -work and was not disturbed by the difficulties. His soul was filled with -joy as he saw his little church growing larger every day. New persons -kept coming and there were more all the time who were trying to live the -new way. All kinds of people came in to form the new church in Corinth. -A few of them were learned and well off, but most of them were poor and -ignorant. They were working people who had never had any real _life_ -before, and now the whole world seemed changed for them. It was as -though they had been living in a dark cave before and now they had come -into the beautiful world where the bright sun was shining. - -[Illustration: EPHESUS] - -After eighteen months of this hard and happy work, Paul, with his two -companions, and with his two new friends, sailed away from Corinth, -leaving behind a great group of Christian men and women and children -gathered into a church. We can well believe that all these people, who -had found the new life, were on the shore of the harbour at Cenchrea to -say “farewell” and to wave their last greetings as the missionaries -pushed out to sea. They sailed in and out among the famous islands of -the Ægean and across its blue waters to the eastern shore and came to -Ephesus. Paul had wanted to go to Ephesus at the beginning of this long -missionary journey, but he had not been able to accomplish his desire -then. Now after wonderful experiences, dangers and trials and after many -months of work in Europe he found himself at last in the great city of -Ephesus. He knew that this was to be one of the most important fields of -his entire lifework, but he still felt that the time for his work in -Ephesus had not come yet. So he left Aquila and Priscilla there and went -on by ship to Cæsarea and then to his beloved home church group at -Antioch. - -There were many things to tell as the Christian Jews and Greeks of -Antioch flocked in to hear Paul recount the wonderful events of the -greatest journey of his life. How the field had widened and how -Christianity had spread in these eventful years since he last saw -Antioch! After a short stay at Antioch, Paul went once more, and this -was to be the last time, to see his dear friends in Galatia. When this -visit was finished, he came over the great stretch of country which -formed the ancient province of Asia to its capital, Ephesus. He had made -a little beginning of work here before his return to Antioch and now he -came back to finish what he had begun. - -Ephesus was much larger than Corinth and it was also, like Corinth, a -very wicked city. There was much to do here and much to suffer before -Ephesus could be changed into a city of pure and beautiful citizens. But -nothing ever discouraged Paul. He went at his great task as though he -fully expected to see it done. It was like fighting beasts in the arena -to work among the hard and wicked people who tried every way they could -to defeat Paul and spoil his work. Steadily he fought on—gaining a -little all the time—explaining to everybody who came to hear and proving -that he had found a new way to live. - -Right in the midst of this great work of transforming and remaking -Ephesus, Paul heard very bad news from Corinth, across the Ægean. He -heard that the church there was in sad trouble. The people had divided -into parties and were quarrelling. Some of the people had gone wrong and -were doing the kind of things they used to do when they were heathen. -Paul wrote a wonderful letter to them—our First Corinthians. It was full -of good advice and counsel and it showed them how to get back into the -new way of living. The most wonderful thing in the letter was what Paul -said to them about love. He told them, in the most beautiful words that -perhaps were ever written that love was the greatest thing in the world, -that when everything else failed love would not fail and when everything -else vanished away love would still abide. - -You would have thought this letter would have settled all their troubles -but it did not. When people get wrong it is very hard setting them right -again and it often takes a long time and much patience. Things went from -bad to worse. Finally Paul had to leave his work in Ephesus and go -across to Corinth, to see the people there in person and to straighten -out their trouble. But even when he got among them, they remained -stubborn and difficult, and he had to go back without getting the -trouble settled. Then he sent Timothy over and he failed. It looked as -though the church would fall to pieces and Paul would lose all his -friends in Corinth. Then he wrote another letter, full of pleading, -which he sent by his friend Titus, who was now his companion. - -While he was waiting, full of anxiety, for Titus to come back with the -answer from Corinth, some dreadful catastrophe happened in Ephesus. -There was a great uprising in the city against Paul. It seemed for a -time as though there was no hope that his life could be saved. He has -told us that the sentence of death was pronounced against him—probably -the sentence that he should be thrown into the arena to fight with -lions. For a time there seemed no hope. But his friends Aquila and -Priscilla, whom Paul sometimes calls “Prisca,” saved his life. He says -that they “risked their necks” for him and that he was “delivered from -death.” - -This catastrophe may very likely be connected in some way with the -strange event so powerfully described in the nineteenth chapter of Acts. -It happened this way. There was a man in Ephesus named Demetrius. He was -a silversmith and made little silver images of the goddess Diana which -he sold in great numbers to the people. These images were little copies -of the great statue of Diana which the Ephesians believed had fallen -down from heaven, and so it was looked upon with awe and was very -sacred. One of the most beautiful temples in the world—one of the seven -“wonders”—had been built to Diana in Ephesus and in this temple stood -the famous statue. Now Demetrius made a great deal of money selling his -silver images to those who visited the temple. But suddenly he -discovered that people were not buying as many of his silver Dianas as -they used to do. He began to wonder what was happening and he hit upon -the idea that all the trouble was caused by the preaching of Paul! Paul -was calling people to Christ and when they believed in Christ, they no -longer worshipped Diana. They stopped going to her temple and they did -not care to have copies of the great statue. Demetrius was losing money. -His business was in danger. Something must be done. He called together -all the silversmiths and stirred them up to do something at once to -drive Paul out of the city. “Just see,” he cried, “how our trade is -going down! We are losing all our business! We are making no money! This -stranger has come to our city and he has told people that gods are not -made of silver and gold; that gods made by hands are no gods at all! He -has carried people away with his new ideas. They won’t buy our images -now. Not only is our business in danger, but our whole city will suffer -as well. People will stop coming to see the great temple which all the -world admired. We must act. We must save the city and defend the great -goddess!” Then all the silversmiths and goldsmiths and coppersmiths and -workers in iron and brass began to make processions through the city, -shouting as they marched, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians.” “Great is -Diana of the Ephesians.” The whole city was aroused. People rushed out -of their houses to see what was happening and a great commotion and -excitement followed. The throng pressed into the immense city theatre -and everybody kept shouting, some one thing and some another, as -generally happens in a vast mob of excited people. Paul tried to get -into the theatre. He was, as usual, ready to face the danger and stand -his ground. But his friends kept him back and would not let him risk his -life in such a wild and seething and furious crowd. When any one tried -to speak the mob drowned the voice of the speaker with their shouts. A -man named Alexander—perhaps he was “Alexander, the coppersmith,” who, -Paul says, did him “much evil,” a little later—tried to speak, when -suddenly the vast throng of excited people began crying again, “Great is -Diana of the Ephesians.” “Great is Diana of the Ephesians.” For two -hours nobody could stop this cry which went on and on, with the -continual shout, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians.” At last the -town-clerk of the city got the people quiet and made a sensible speech -to them, telling them if they had any charge against Paul the right -thing to do was to take the matter to the courts and not to get up a -riot and endanger the liberty and reputation of the city. Then he sent -the people away to their homes. - -How this uproar affected Paul we do not know. What danger threatened him -now because of the hate of Demetrius and the silversmiths we cannot -tell. Nobody knows exactly what happened, but in some way Paul escaped -from the city, never to go back again. He got to Troas in safety and -then crossed over the Ægean at the same place where he crossed the first -time he entered Europe, and reached Macedonia where he was among his -friends. - -Here in Macedonia where Paul was waiting, worn and perplexed and -weary—but not cast down—Titus came to him from Corinth and told him the -good news that his letter to Corinth had done its work, had saved the -day, and that now his church there was ready to be faithful to him. -Nothing in his life ever touched his soul with more joy than did that -report which Titus brought. If you wish to see how he felt, you must -read the first nine chapters of Second Corinthians, for he wrote those -chapters just after Titus came to him. It makes you love Paul to find -how eagerly he loved his friends and his churches, and to see how much -he suffered when they did wrong or turned against him. Soon after this -he went to Corinth and spent three months there with his old and new -friends of that city. - -[Illustration: TEMPLE OF DIANA] - - - - - XVIII - - “READY TO BE BOUND” - - -There were many things to do in Corinth, on this last visit of Paul’s -life to the city where he had worked so long and suffered so much. He -had many things to tell them. There were many changes to make in the -management of the church. There were many families to visit and all the -time there were new people being added to the church. Then Paul was -raising a great fund of money which he hoped to carry up to Jerusalem on -his return, for the support of the church in that city. Finally he had -letters to write to his other churches, advice to give them, -difficulties to settle and problems to solve. Perhaps the most important -thing he did during this stay in Corinth—certainly the most important -for us—was to write a letter, which we now call an Epistle, to the -Christians in the city of Rome. It is the longest of all Paul’s Epistles -and the one in which he sets forth most carefully and fully his entire -message about Christ. He had not been to Rome yet and he had not met the -Christians there, but he was planning to go to Rome, after he had been -to Jerusalem, on his way to Spain and he wanted to prepare the -Christians in the great capital of the empire for the teaching which he -expected to give them when he arrived. He little thought as he was -writing this wonderful letter that when he did come to Rome he would -come chained to two soldiers and that this would be the end of his -journey! He told the people at Rome, in this letter, how hard he had -tried as a young man to make himself perfect, how he had resolved to -keep the law and be absolutely righteous, and how miserably he had -failed. “When I meant to do right,” he wrote, “I did wrong. The things I -wanted to do I did not do. The things I did, were just those things -which I ought not to have done. And when I was defeated and beaten and -hopeless then suddenly I discovered the love of God which Christ -revealed to me. I found a power to live by, which delivered me from the -old power of sin in my nature. Now through that love and that power I am -more than conqueror. I know now that nothing can ever separate me from -the love of God. Neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, -nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor -depth, nor anything that has ever been made in the universe, can -separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus.” - -He told these unseen friends of his in the far-away city how to live the -new way day by day in the difficult world. He told them not to overcome -evil by doing evil in return but to overcome it by being good and by -doing good. He told them not to worry, or fret, or be disturbed, when -things were hard and difficult, but to keep calm and steady and full of -faith in the love of God, and when they had done the best they could, to -leave it all with God. They were, as far as possible, to live in peace -and love with all kinds of people and no matter what others did to them, -they were to go right on loving them and doing good to them. - -When he had sent off his great epistle, and had done all that he could -to strengthen the church in Corinth and had received a large collection -for Jerusalem and had gathered his friends around him, Paul said -farewell to Corinth and started on his return journey, accompanied by a -number of companions. He went back through Macedonia—Berœa, -Thessalonica, Philippi—and then across the Ægean to Troas where he had -first heard the call to go to Europe. There must have been a church -there on “the plains of windy Troy,” for Paul remained seven days and -held meetings far into the night, but we do not know very much about -this church by the Simois River—only that one of the young men there -went to sleep while the meeting was going on and fell out of a window in -the third story to the ground! Here at Troas Paul found again his old -friend, the writer of the Diary—“the We Narrative”—who joined the party -for the journey to Jerusalem. They went part of the way by land and part -of the way by sea, stopping at Assos and Mitylene, touching at the -famous island of Samos, and disembarking at Miletus. Here at Miletus, -the leaders of the church at Ephesus came down to see the man whom they -had learned to love, to hear his message and to say farewell to him. It -was probably not safe for Paul to go to Ephesus with its beasts. There -were too many dangers there for him. After all his years of work and his -perils in that city it was a joy to see the men and women with whom he -had lived and laboured and to have one more chance to speak to them -about the highest things in life. It was a very solemn time as they -gathered on the seashore and Paul told them of the troubles and dangers -that lay before them and before him. He then told them that they would -never see each other again. They loved him as though he had been a -father to each one and they all wept as he left them to go into the ship -to sail for Syria. As they went on their way Paul realised, from what he -heard at every port where the ship stopped, that it would be very -dangerous for him in Jerusalem. He had not been in the Holy City since -the great conference there with Peter and James and John. Since that -time tremendous things had happened across the world. Paul had -succeeded, but the more he succeeded the more the Jews hated him. They -had made trouble for him in every city. They had come to regard him as a -traitor and as the enemy of their race and they were eager to get rid of -him forever. He knew how they felt. He saw the danger ahead. He -understood that if he went to Jerusalem it would be like going into the -lion’s mouth. But he was determined to go, danger or no danger, for Paul -was a hero. He had a great gift to carry up to the poor and needy -Christians in Jerusalem and he must have thought that he could win them -over and make them see his truth at last. He believed that this was the -greatest opportunity of his life. Perhaps now, after all the wonderful -work around the Ægean Sea he might be able to make his own people see -the truth that had meant so much to the Greeks and to the Galatians. -Perhaps now he could join both branches together—those who were Jewish -Christians and those who were Gentile-Christians—and have one great -world church with no division in it. It was worth trying anyhow. It was -worth any kind of risk. The great gift would soften their hearts and he -would plead with them, and then it would be done! When prophets on the -way told Paul how dangerous the risk was, he said to them: “Do not talk -to me of danger. Do not try to change my course. I am _ready_, not only -to be bound in Jerusalem, but if necessary to die there for this -cause”—and on he went, like the hero he was. - -He very soon found that he was in the midst of enemies. James told him -that there were many thousands of Christian-Jews who had heard serious -charges against him, how he no longer kept the law of Moses and how he -taught his converts that they did not need to become Jews, or to do the -things which all good Jews considered necessary and he showed Paul how -stern they were sure to be toward him. - -He had hardly begun to live in Jerusalem when some Jews discovered him -in the city. They gave a cry and raised a mob and rushed at him and -seized him. They were so furious that they nearly killed him on the -spot, but a Roman captain with a troop of soldiers came up just in time -to rescue him and to carry him away to the military castle where the mob -could not get at him. But he could hear them cry and shout: “Away with -him! away with him!” - - - - - XIX - - IN THE PRISON AT CÆSAREA - - -Standing on the steps of the castle, with the angry, surging people in -front of him Paul beckoned for silence and then spoke to the most -difficult audience he ever addressed. He calmly told them the story of -his life. He gave them an account of that great moment on the road to -Damascus when Jesus met him and called him to a new life and a new -mission. He explained to them how he tried to tell the good news to his -own people and how God sent him to the great world of Gentiles. Then, -all of a sudden, the people cried out in a fury: “Away with such a -fellow from the earth.” They threw off their garments and would have -ended his life in a moment if they could have reached him. It was -another scene like the one which occurred when Jesus was on his way to -Calvary, and when Stephen was being hurried out of the gates of -Jerusalem and Paul himself held the garments of the men who threw the -stones. - -This time the crowd was powerless for they could not get their victim. -The soldiers guarded him and took him into the castle where he was to be -scourged, that is beaten with rods. The soldiers tied Paul up to the -wall with thongs and were ready to begin the terrible scourging when he -quietly asked the centurion if it was lawful to scourge a Roman citizen -who had not been found guilty of any crime. The centurion went out and -told the chief captain that Paul was a Roman, and he immediately stopped -the scourging. The next day Paul had an opportunity to address the great -council of the Jews in the presence of Ananias, the high-priest, but the -council divided in their opinion of Paul, some approving of him and some -disapproving, until they nearly tore him in pieces in their excitement. -Once more the soldiers saved him by rushing in and carrying him away to -the castle. Meantime, a band of men got together and formed a secret -plot to kill Paul and have done with him. This time it was not the Roman -soldiers who saved him. It was his nephew. Paul, we remember, had a -sister in Jerusalem. And in some way her son discovered this plot. He -got into the castle and told his uncle, who brought him to a centurion -and the centurion took the young man to the chief captain where he told -all he knew of the plot. The brave boy saved his uncle’s life, for the -chief captain, when he heard the boy’s story, ordered two hundred -soldiers and seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen to take Paul by -night to Cæsarea, where the Roman governor had his home and headquarters -and where Paul would be safe until his trial was over. He was taken at -first to Herod’s palace, though we may be pretty sure that the part in -which Paul lived was more like a prison than a palace, but this -wonderful man had something in his soul which changed even prisons into -palaces. - -Soon after his arrival, Ananias, the high-priest, with a lawyer named -Tertullus, came down to Cæsarea to lay before Felix, the Roman governor, -the charges against Paul. Tertullus made a speech charging Paul with -being “a pestilent fellow,” “a mover of insurrections” up and down the -empire wherever he travelled. He said Paul was “a ringleader of the -Nazarenes” and that he did things contrary to the laws and customs of -the Jews. Tertullus made out as bad a case as he could and the other -Jews who had come down with him added whatever they could think of -against the prisoner. - -Then Felix made a sign that Paul might speak in his own defence. He -declared, in calm and persuasive words that he had never wilfully -stirred up the crowd, or encouraged a riot. He told the governor that -his whole business in the world was to live the way of life that God had -revealed as the true way. A little later Paul spoke again before -Drusilla, a Jewess, who was Felix’s wife. He spoke so powerfully this -time of righteousness and self-control and the perfect way of life and -of the future of joy and woe, that the old Roman governor trembled as he -listened. But he did not change his life. He was weak of will and he had -woven a chain of habits which he could not break. He had heard that Paul -had brought great sums of money to Jerusalem and he hoped that Paul -would offer a large bribe for his liberty so that Felix kept him in -prison two years. Felix saw him occasionally and gave him a chance to -offer a bribe, which never was offered! Thus two long years dragged by. -Paul was longing to go on with the work that had been changing the -world. He was eager to see his old friends and to help them in their -troubles, but all the time he was fast bound with chains in the strong -prison at Cæsarea. There is in the Second Epistle to Timothy a fragment -of a letter which Paul may have written from Cæsarea. He asks Timothy to -bring him the cloak which he left at Troas. The prison by the sea was a -cold place. And more touching still, he asks him to bring his books—I -wish we knew the titles of these books—and his pieces of parchment, so -that he could write letters to his churches and to his friends. After -two years had dragged by, there came a change of governors. Porcius -Festus succeeded Felix. The Jerusalem Jews made a great effort to -prejudice the new governor against Paul and he proposed to push the -trial through at once and have the case settled. It was evident that -Paul could hardly have a fair trial in Cæsarea. The Jews were full of -passion against him. They were ready to use all the ways known to them -to secure his condemnation and death. And Paul saw that he had little -chance of escape in the local court, so that as the crisis approached he -used his privilege as a Roman citizen and appealed to be tried before -Cæsar in Rome, and Festus immediately granted the appeal. - -Before the time came for Paul to start on his momentous journey to Rome, -King Agrippa and his wife Bernice came to Cæsarea to bring greetings to -the new governor and they heard from Festus of the famous prisoner who -had appealed to Cæsar. King Agrippa very much desired to see Paul and to -hear him speak and Festus arranged for Agrippa to hear him. The king sat -on a throne with much splendour. All the distinguished persons of the -court were there. Soldiers with helmets and with the Roman eagles were -stationed round the hall. And into the midst Paul was led by his guard -and then was given permission to speak. It was a great moment for the -prisoner. His one thought was to make some of these people understand -his great message. Once more he told the story of his life and how the -light had shined upon him at Damascus and how he had obeyed the heavenly -message which came to him then. He thought he might make the king -Agrippa see that God always meant to send His Son to bring light and -life to the world and he was telling him about the great prophecies in -the Old Testament when suddenly Festus interrupted. He told Paul that he -was wild and deluded, that he had thought over these things until he had -lost his reason. Unmoved Paul answered and said “I am not deluded. I am -calm and sober. I am talking about things which are absolutely certain -and real. King Agrippa knows that these things are so.” Then turning to -the king, he said, “King Agrippa dost thou believe what our prophets -have said? I know that thou must believe.” - -Then king Agrippa found it difficult to answer. It would not do to have -a prisoner go on talking that way to a king and yet this prisoner seemed -to be right. King Agrippa shrugged his shoulders and said: “With a very -little argument you seem to think you can make _me_ a Christian!” Paul -with dignity raised his chained hands and said: “Whether my argument is -little or great, I would to God that not only thou but everybody here -who hears me speak to-day might feel what I feel, and see what I see, -and have the kind of life I have and become such a person as I am—only -without these chains which are on my hands!” - -After Paul had retired King Agrippa said to Festus: “If this man had not -appealed to Cæsar he might have been set free.” - - - - - XX - - THE STORMY JOURNEY TO ROME - - -The journey from Cæsarea to Rome was at best a long and dangerous one. -Paul was accustomed to the sea, for he had taken sea voyages ever since -his early youth. He had already been shipwrecked three times and once he -had clung to a piece of the wreck for twenty-four hours before he was -rescued. But this was the first time he had gone on board ship as a -prisoner and it was a new experience to be at sea in the charge of -soldiers. The change from the prison in Cæsarea to the ship was, -however, a welcome one, and now at last he was going to Rome and, he -hoped, to freedom. - -He was in the charge of the Augustan cohort, with Julius for centurion -and there were other prisoners besides himself. A little band of friends -attended him and among them was the writer of the famous “We-Diary” who -has given us a wonderful account of this journey. The ship touched first -at Sidon where the good-hearted centurion allowed Paul to go on shore, -to visit his friends and to have a good home meal, which must have been -a welcome change after the long tedious period of prison fare. Then they -sailed under the lee of Cyprus and skirted the shore of Paul’s beloved -Cilicia. There were the mountains of his childhood in the -distance—Amanus in the east, Taurus in the west. He could see the -gleaming of the Cydnus on its way to the sea and imagination pictured -the beautiful city on both banks of the river where he played and -dreamed as a boy—the city he would never see again. Next came Pamphylia -on whose shores he had landed years before and his mind ran on over the -hills to a precious group of churches in the cities of Galatia. - -From the city of Myra in the province of Lycia they found an Alexandrian -ship sailing for Italy and the centurion transferred his prisoners to -it. They went far to the south of the Ægean, around whose shores the -great work of Paul’s life had been done and where now groups of friends -were praying for him. The ship took them to the south of the great -island of Crete and finally the wind forced them to put into Fair Havens -near the middle of the island. Paul warned the centurion not to go on -because of the certain danger of the voyage in the stormy season, but -the master of the vessel was determined to have the ship sail and as -soon as a favourable wind appeared they launched forth. But the ship had -not been long at sea when a Mediterranean hurricane struck it and drove -it on through the desperate waters. The ship was wrenched and twisted by -the fury of the storm and it leaked seriously so that the sailors were -compelled to put undergirding around it to tighten up the seams. In the -fearful danger they threw overboard the freight which the ship was -carrying and finally they threw out the tackling and furniture of the -ship to make it as light as possible. For fourteen days and nights they -floundered about in the Sea of Adria at the mercy of the wind and the -boisterous billows. No sun appeared by day and the nights were -appallingly dark. Fear lay on everybody except one and all hope was gone -in the minds of everybody but one. This one man had no fear and he was -full of hope and confidence. He had never seen battles such as the -centurion with his cohort had been through, but he had passed through -great experiences and he had learned to trust God absolutely. He had -received five terrible beatings from the Jews; three times he had been -given the Roman scourge. He had been in many prisons. He had faced death -again and again on his journeys. He had often been where no escape -seemed possible, when an unexpected door had opened and he had gone on -in safety. He was the man, then, for this dreadful hour. He had the hero -spirit and he could calm the others and kindle their courage. - -Suddenly he stepped forth on deck and spoke to the men: “Be full of -cheer and hope. We shall come through. My God has told me so. And I -believe God. His I am. Him I serve and I know that He has given me all -who sail with me in the ship. Not a life shall be lost!” - -Then when the sailors had sounded and had found the water growing -shallow they threw out four anchors and waited for morning to come. We -have just seen that Paul had four anchors, too—four anchors to his soul: -“I believe God”; “His I am”; “Him I serve”; “He has given me those who -sail with me.” In the morning they loosened the four anchors and let the -sea drive the ship toward the shore at a place where two seas met and -formed a cove, and there they beached it. The force of the waves broke -the ship to pieces and the soldiers were for killing all the prisoners -but the centurion had learned to respect Paul and was determined to save -him, so that he allowed everybody on board to swim or float to shore and -all were saved. The island turned out to be Malta, south of Sicily. Here -the ship’s crew and the soldiers and the prisoners spent three months. -Paul was able here once again to preach to the people and he worked -wonders among them. At the end of the three months they started out -again on the treacherous sea to complete the journey. The ship on which -they sailed from Malta bore the sign of “the Twins,” Castor and Pollux, -who were supposed by the Romans to be the guardians of sailors. The new -ship touched at Syracuse, the famous capital of Sicily, where Plato had -come with his wisdom, and, after two days, it brought its precious load -into port at Puteoli, near Naples, in sight of a beautiful, quiet -mountain peak, named Vesuvius, which, a few years later, was to spout -lava and cinders over the towns lying on the shores of this wonderful -blue bay. Here in the Italian port, Paul found a group of Christian -believers who greatly refreshed him, and his kind centurion allowed him -to stay there an entire week. These Christians at Puteoli were the first -people in Italy to hear the great teacher of the new way of life. Then -on foot or by horses, the strange troop wound up the glorious valley, -leading from Puteoli to Rome. At the Forum of Appius, about ten miles -out of the imperial city, a band of Roman Christians came to meet him as -though he were a hero coming in triumph to their city. They found a -prisoner kept by soldiers. When Paul saw these devoted Christian men -coming to share their love and fellowship with him he forgot all about -being a prisoner. Here were dear friends who loved him and that was -enough. The long and arduous journey of many months was over. Here in -front was Rome. Nero might be there, and his court and prison might be -waiting for him, but the most important thing was that there was a -church of Christ in Rome and Paul could see the members and make the -church grow larger! - - - - - XXI - - THE TRIUMPH OF THE HERO - - -“I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,” Paul had said in his letter -to Rome. “It is the _power_ of God.” Rome was the most powerful city the -world had ever seen up to that time. Its armies had gone everywhere and -this city on the Tiber had become the conqueror of all lands and -peoples. Out from the capital of the empire the roads ran like the -spokes of a wheel from the hub, and the soldiers marched forth from this -centre to subdue countries and to hold them wherever the emperor wished -to send them. Here was power which all eyes could see and which all men -could feel. Over against this visible power, Paul knew that he had -discovered a new kind of power. It could not be seen as armies could be -seen, but it changed lives and it remade cities and it upheld and -supported men and women in the hardest suffering and trial. Here was -this man now bound with chains, guarded by soldiers, a prisoner of the -emperor’s, weak, frail, alone, but in reality the bravest, strongest, -most powerful man in the whole empire. Nero is dead now. His empire has -passed away. But Paul is still a mighty power in the world. Eight -million copies of his letters are sold every year. Everybody reads what -he wrote and he still goes on working in the world as though he were yet -alive and speaking. - -At first, when he came to Rome, he was treated kindly and was allowed to -have his own house, though of course he was under the care of Roman -soldiers. The guard was changed every day so that he constantly had new -soldiers by him. It gave him a splendid chance to preach his gospel to -the Roman army, for he would surely never let a soldier stay all day by -him without telling him of Christ. It must have _worked_, too, for, in -his letter to the church at Philippi, he writes that “the saints in -Cæsar’s household send greetings,” and he also says that he has been -able to spread the news of Christ through the whole prætorian guard. -Perhaps he did more as a prisoner than he could have done as a -travelling preacher. Paul was the kind of man that would appeal to -soldiers. They could see at once that he was as brave as they were, and -they could feel that he was in his way a hero, and they were ready to -listen to his story and we may be sure that many of them went back to -Cæsar’s palace changed into “saints.” Others went out with the army and -carried the truth about Christ into the lands where they were stationed. -“It has all happened right,” Paul wrote to his friends. “My chains have -helped to spread the gospel!” - -During the first part of the time in Rome, Paul expected to be freed. He -thought his trial would come off favourably, and he was full of hope. In -this early period he wrote a beautiful letter to his friend Philemon, -who lived in Asia. He told this friend that he expected soon to be free -and he playfully added you can get me a lodging, for I shall be coming -to Asia before long. He had found in Rome a run-away slave that belonged -to Philemon. He had told the slave, who was named Onesimus, about Christ -and Onesimus had become a follower of Christ. Paul sent him back to his -master, changed from a slave to a brother and Paul calls him his “own -son in Christ.” This was the way Paul’s gospel worked for all kinds of -people. It made them new men, and it gave them a new relationship to -everybody. One day a poor, mean slave, the next day a brother and a son! -In this letter Paul calls himself an old man. He writes: “I am Paul the -aged.” He could not have been very old in years—probably not more than -fifty-five—but his years in prison and the terrible hardships, through -which he had been, had left their mark upon him and he seemed old before -he was old. - -As time went on, and Paul had had two years in “his own hired house,” he -seems to have been taken to some imperial prison, perhaps to the famous -Mamertine prison, which was deep underground, and very dark, cold and -damp. It became more and more evident that the wonderful prisoner was -not to go free again. His friends in Philippi remembered him and sent -one of their number all the way to Rome to comfort him and to carry to -him the things he needed in his hard prison life. He was very deeply -touched by their love and kindness and he wrote an extraordinary letter -of thanks to his first Christian believers in Europe—those men of -Macedonia who called him to them. He told them that he did not know -whether the outcome of his trial was to be life or death, but that he -was “ready” for either event that might come. “I have learned” he wrote, -“how to be contented with what comes to me. I know how to be successful -and how to be defeated. I know how to be happy when I am full and I know -how to be happy when I am hungry. I can do everything with Christ’s -help.” “I want you,” he told his friends, “to learn the secret. I want -you to rejoice and again to _rejoice_, and evermore to REJOICE.” - -What happened at last, we do not know. Nobody has written for us any -“We-Narrative” about the last prison days and about the trial in Cæsar’s -court. Some people think that the great prisoner got his freedom and -went on for many years doing missionary work across the world, -travelling with Timothy and Titus and the other helpers, and preaching -in new lands and in new cities. But I do not think so. I think that he -never left Rome again. The Jews who were opposed to him had a very -strong case against him. They could prove that in almost every city in -the empire where Paul had been there had been riots and uprisings and -they could make it seem that Paul was the cause of these things. He was -one lone man with a whole multitude of furious enemies and in Cæsar’s -court the testimony against him would count for very much, and would -weigh very heavily. It seems most likely that the trial ended with a -decision against the great missionary. If he was condemned, as I believe -he was, then he was soon after executed, and, as a Roman citizen, he -would be put to death with the sword. That is the steady tradition in -Rome that he was taken out to the place now called the Three Fountains -and there beheaded. We shall probably never know any more about the end -of our hero’s life. - -One great fragment of a letter has been preserved for us. It does not -tell anything about the prison, or the trial, or the manner of the -death. But it does tell about his courage, his calmness, his faith and -his noble spirit. It is a letter to Timothy, his young friend, written -by “Paul the aged.” It says: “I am already being offered up now, and the -time of my departure is come. I have fought the good fight. I have -finished my course. I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up -for me a crown of righteousness.” At the end, as always through his -life, he was “ready.” Unmoved and undefeated, and, we may be sure, with -his face shining, as Stephen’s shone that memorable day in Paul’s youth, -he went to meet his death. They could kill his body with their sharp -sword, but they could not crush his spirit or conquer his faith and -hope. When his eyes could no longer see Rome with its capital and its -coliseum, he could see his Christ, and when his ears could not hear the -shouting and the cries of the people, he could hear a gentle voice say: -“Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of thy Lord.” -The hero got home with God at last. - - - - - PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - - - - - -------------- - - The following pages contain advertisements of - books by the same author or on kindred subjects. - - -------------- - - - - - _BY THE SAME AUTHOR_ - - -The Inner Life - - - _$1.00_ - - -This book is a plea for religion, worship, prayer—for the inner life. -Darwin, James, Bergson and others are discussed. The facts of science -and of Biblical criticism are surveyed, and the conclusion that is -reached is that there is a world of spirit, and that in this spiritual -life Jesus is the best guide. The author’s style of writing is vigorous, -eloquent and suggestive. - -“A book of unusually fine quality. The author has a great message for -such a time as this. The book will help men to be efficient instruments -of God in the world.”—_Christian Intelligencer._ - -“A book from the pen of this Quaker professor is always worth while, and -this little volume is in the same worthy class. It combines scholarship -and mystic interpretation, and furnishes at once food for thought and -inspiration for devotion.”—_Western Christian Advocate._ - - - - -Studies in Mystical Religion - - - _Cloth, gilt top, 518 pages, $3.00_ - - - PRESS NOTICES - - -“The book is written with clearness and quiet dignity. It is animated -throughout by breadth of fine and kindly sympathies, and by a sense of -the character of religion as a light and a power that from within -control all the social fulfilments of our nature.”—_Philosophical -Review._ - -“Such a work as this is not only a contribution of great timeliness in -these days when the thoughts of scholarly men are turning perhaps as not -before for centuries toward religion, but will go far to give mysticism, -of which perhaps Quakerism is the best American illustration, a standing -even at the bar of science.”—_American Journal of Religious Psychology._ - -“It is a book of wide and conscientious research, solid and steady -structure and noble aim. The style is clear and definite, free of any -attempt to dazzle or confuse. Those who have come to feel that the seat -of authority in religion lies in the first-hand experience of the soul -will turn eagerly to it, opening up as it does so many channels of the -spiritual life in the past.”—_North American Review._ - -“It is a careful study of subjective religion, from the New Testament -down to modern times. A vast field is covered and covered completely. -The writer has made excellent use of his materials and given a -sympathetic study of religion on its subjective and personal side.”—_New -York Times._ - -“It shows abundant evidence of conscientious research and a careful -study of sources either not easily accessible or generally passed over -by the student. Sufficient attention has been given to the analytical -investigation of the subject.”—_The Churchman._ - -“His study is distinguished by moderation and justice, high intent and -reverent spirit. It has a peculiar significance for us, because, in a -generation when many are following will-o’-the-wisps and garish lights, -it studies classic and enduring experiences; and because it reminds us -of a mystic strain which is our inheritance, and, I hope, our genius, -and which in time will have its own poets, philosophers, and prophets. -If this comes not even in some measure in our own day, it will still be -splendid to have prepared the way and made straight the path by some -such notable achievement as this study in mystical religion by Professor -Jones.”—_Boston Transcript._ - - - - -Spiritual Reformers of the Sixteenth and -Seventeenth Centuries - - - _Cloth, 8vo, $3.00_ - - -Professor Rufus Jones is well known in this country and in England for -his earlier writings on the history of Quakerism and other phases of -mystical religion, and this new work on some of the more obscure -teachers among the Reformers will be received with interest. - -The book opens with a general survey of the main currents of the -Reformation, and in succeeding chapters he deals with the following -subjects: II. Hans Denck and the Inward Word; III. Two Prospects of the -Inward Word—Bunderlein and Entfelder; IV. Sebastian Franck; V. Caesar -Schwenckfeld; VI. Sebastian Castello; VII. Coornhert and the -Collegiants—A Movement for Spiritual Religion in Holland; VIII. -Valentine Weigel and Nature Mysticism; IX. Jacob Boehme: His Life and -Spirit; X. Boehme’s Universe; XI. Boehme’s “Way of Salvation”; XII. -Boehme’s Influence in England; XIII. Early English Interpreters—John -Everard and Giles Randall, and others; XIV. Spiritual Religion in High -Places—Rous, Vane, and Sterry; XV. Benjamin Whichcote, the First of the -“Latitude Men”; XVI. John Smith, Platonist; XVII. The Spiritual Poets of -the Seventeenth Century. - - - - - The Quakers in the American Colonies - - - BY PROF. RUFUS M. JONES, M.A., D.LITT. - - ASSISTED BY - - ISAAC SHARPLESS, D.SC. - - AND - - AMELIA M. GUMMERE - - _8vo, $3.00_ - - -This volume is a historical and critical study of the Quaker religious -movement; a movement important both for the history of the development -of religion and for the history of the American Colonies. The subject is -presented not only in its external setting but also in the light of its -inner meaning. The story of the Quaker invasion of the Colonies in the -New World has often been told in fragmentary fashion, but no adequate -study of the entire Quaker movement in Colonial times has yet been made -from original sources, free from partisan or sectarian prejudice and -with due historical perspective. The accounts written from the Quaker -point of view do not furnish a critical investigation of Quakerism and -its work in the New World; while those written from the anti-Quaker -point of view are for the most part one-sided and colored by prejudice, -and are obviously lacking in penetration into the inner meaning of the -type of religion which they undertake to present. By avoiding these -extremes and by furnishing a critical investigation of Quakerism both in -its outer forms and its inner spirit, Professor Jones has produced an -excellent piece of work, done in an impartial and historical spirit and -not too brief to admit of details. The account is an able and clear -treatment of the religious principles of Quakerism, replete with -first-hand knowledge and with concrete details, and thus it presents a -truly historical picture of this great movement which bore no small part -in the early political and religious life of this country. - -This volume is divided into five books. Book I. deals with the Quakers -in New England; Book II. with Quakerism in the Colony of New York; Book -III. with the Quakers in the Southern Colonies; Book IV. deals with the -early Quakers in New Jersey, and Book V. with the Quakers in -Pennsylvania. - -The work thus admirably assists the man of to-day to visualize the life -history of the Quaker movement on this continent. - - - - - _CHURCH PRINCIPLES FOR LAY PEOPLE_ - - - _Each $1.00_ - -Why Men Pray - - BY DR. CHARLES L. SLATTERY - -“A book with a live and spiritual message ... eminently clear and -reasonable, and as such will appeal to the mind of the average -layman.”—_Springfield Republican._ - -“Eminently sensible and will appeal to those who want to get a more -definite conception of prayer than they have ever had.”—_Boston Herald._ - -The Episcopal Church: Its Faith and Order - - BY DR. GEORGE HODGES - -“The author writes for humanity, and no better book for religious study, -for clergy, laity, and for the younger members of churches has appeared -in some time.”—_Review of Reviews._ - -“Contains material to strengthen faith and create respect.”—_Boston -Herald._ - -The Apostles’ Creed To-day - - BY DR. EDWARD S. DROWN - -Dr. Drown gives an historical interpretation of the origin and growth of -the Apostles’ Creed. He takes up one after another the different -articles of the Creed relating each to the whole, and showing how each -of them embodies a universal and continuing truth. - - - THE MACMILLAN COMPANY - Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - Transcriber’s Note - - -Punctuation has been normalized. Variations in hyphenation have been -retained as they were in the original publication. The following changes -have been made: - - “new Jersualem,” —> Jerusalem {page 42} - the saints in Cæsar’s househould —> household {page 167} - -Italicized phrases are presented by surrounding the text with -_underscores_. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of St. Paul the Hero, by Rufus M. Jones - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ST. 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