Part 140

"How then should Paul and Barnabas proceed? To leave Syria they must go first to Seleuceia, the harbour of Antioch, where they would find ships going south to the Syrian coast and Egypt, and west either by way of Cyprus or along the coast of Asia Minor. The western route led toward the Roman world, to which all Paul's subsequent history proves that he considered himself called by the Spirit. The Apostles embarked in a ship for Cyprus, which was very closely connected by commerce and general intercourse with the Syrian coast. After traversing the island from east to west, they must go onward. Ships going westward naturally went across the coast of Pamphylia, and the Apostles, after reaching Paphos, near the west end of Cyprus, sailed in one of these ships, and landed at Attalia in Pamphylia."

_W. M. Ramsay. The Church in the Roman Empire, page 60._

"The work starting from Antioch, by which access to the faith is opened to the Gentiles, the formation of (preponderatingly) Gentile Christian communities, now introduces into the original Christian development an important problem, which (about the year 52, probably not later), (Galatians ii.; Acts xv.) leads to discussions and explanations at the so-called Apostolic Council [at Jerusalem]. … For Paul, who has risen to perfect independence by the energy of his own peculiar stamp of gospel, there now begin the years of his powerful activity, in which he not only again visits and extends his former missionary field in Asia Minor, but gains a firm footing in Macedonia (Philippi), Athens, and Achaia (Corinth); then on the so-called third missionary journey he exercises a comprehensive influence during a stay of nearly three years at Ephesus, and finally looks from Achaia towards the metropolis of the world."

_W. Moeller, History of the Christian Church, pages 57-59._

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"If the heathen whom he (Paul) had won to the faith and received into the Church were to be persuaded to adopt circumcision and the law before they could attain to full participation in the Christian salvation, his preaching had fallen short of his aim, it had been in vain, since it was very doubtful whether the Gentiles gained over to believe in the Messiah would submit to the condition. Paul could only look on those who made such a demand as false brethren, who having no claim to Christian brotherhood had forced themselves into the Church at Antioch in an unauthorized way (Galatians ii. 4), and was persuaded that neither the primitive Church as such, nor its rulers, shared this view. In order therefore to prevent the Gentile Christians from being disturbed on this point, he determined to go to Jerusalem and there to challenge a decision in the matter that should put an end to the strife (ii. 2). The Church at Antioch also recognized this necessity; hence followed the proceedings in Jerusalem [about A. D. 52], whither Paul and Barnabas repaired with other associates (Galatians ii. 1, Acts xv. 2 ff). … It is certain that when Paul laid his (free) gospel before the authorities in Jerusalem, they added nothing to it (Galatians ii. 2-6). i. e., they did not require that the gospel he preached to the Gentiles should, besides the sole condition of faith which he laid down, impose Judaism upon them as a condition of participation in salvation. … Paul's stipulations with the authorities in Jerusalem respecting their future work were just as important for him as the recognition of his free gospel (Galatians ii. 7-10). They had for their basis a recognition on the part of the primitive apostles that he was entrusted with the gospel of the uncircumcision, to which they could add nothing (ii. 6), just as Peter (as admittedly the most prominent among the primitive apostles) was entrusted with that of the circumcision."

_Bernhard Weiss, A Manual of Introduction to the New Testament, volume 1, pages 172-175, 178._

"It seems clear that the first meetings of the Christians as a community apart—meetings that is of a private rather than a proselytising character—took place, as we see from Acts i. 13-15, in private apartments, the upper rooms or large guest-chambers in the houses of individual members. Such a room was doubtless provided by the liberality of Titus Justus (Acts xviii. 7), such a room again was the upper chamber in which St. Paul preached at Troas (Acts xx. 7, 8); in such assembled the converts saluted by the Apostle as the church which is in the house of Aquila and Prisca, of Nymphas and of Philemon. … The primitive Roman house had only one story, but as the cities grew to be more densely populated upper stories came into use, and it was the custom to place in these dining apartments, which were called cenacula. Such apartments would answer to the 'upper rooms' … associated with the early days of Christianity. … The Christian communities contained from an early period members of wealth and social position, who could accommodate in their houses large gatherings of the faithful; and it is interesting to reflect that while some of the mansions of an ancient city might be witnessing in suppers of a Trimalchio or a Virro, scenes more revolting to modern taste than almost anything presented by the pagan world, others, perhaps in the same street, might be the seat of Christian worship or of the simple Christian meal."

_G. B. Brown, From Schola to Cathedral, pages 38-43._

CHRISTIANITY: Asia Minor and Greece.

"Our knowledge of the Apostle Paul's life is far from being complete. We have only a brief sketch of journeys and toils that extended over a period of thirty years. Large spaces are passed over in silence. For example, in the catalogue of his sufferings, incidentally given, he refers to the fact that he had been shipwrecked three times, and these disasters were all prior to the shipwreck on the Island of Malta described by Luke. Shortly after the conference at Jerusalem he started on his second missionary tour. He was accompanied by Silas, and was joined by Timothy at Lystra. He revisited his converts in Eastern Asia Minor, founded churches in Galatia and Phrygia, and from Troas, obedient to a heavenly summons, crossed over to Europe. Having planted at Philippi a church that remained remarkably devoted and loyal to him, he followed the great Roman road to Thessalonica, the most important city in Macedonia. Driven from there and from Berea, he proceeded to Athens [see ATHENS: A. D. 54 (?)]. In that renowned and cultivated city he discoursed on Mars Hill to auditors eager for new ideas in philosophy and religion, and in private debated with Stoics and Epicureans. At Corinth, which had risen from its ruins and was once more rich and prosperous, he remained for a year and a half. It was there, probably, that he wrote his two Epistles to the Thessalonian Christians. After a short stay at Ephesus he returned to Antioch by way of Cesarea and Jerusalem. It was not long before Paul—a second Alexander, but on a peaceful expedition—began his third great missionary journey. Taking the land route from Antioch, he traversed Asia Minor to Ephesus, a flourishing commercial mart, the capital of the Roman province of Asia. There, with occasional absences, he made his abode for upwards of two years. From Ephesus, probably, he wrote the Epistle to the Galatians. … From Ephesus Paul also wrote the First Epistle to the Corinthians. The Second Epistle to the Corinthians he probably wrote from Philippi. … Coming down through Greece, he remained there three months. There he composed his Epistle to the Romans. … The untiring Apostle now turned his face towards Jerusalem. He desired to be present at the festival of the Pentecost. In order to save time, he sailed past Ephesus, and at Miletus bade a tender farewell to the Ephesian elders. He had fulfilled his pledge given at the conference, and he now carried contributions from the Christians of Macedonia and Achaia for the poor at Jerusalem."

_G. P. Fisher, History of the Christian Church, pages 27-28._

"We may safely say that if Saul had been less of a Jew, Paul the Apostle would have been less bold and independent. His work would have been more superficial, and his mind less unfettered. God did not choose a heathen to be the apostle for the heathen; for he might have been ensnared by the traditions of Judaism, by its priestly hierarchy and the splendours of its worship, as indeed it happened with the church of the second century. On the contrary God chose a Pharisee. But this Pharisee had the most complete experience of the emptiness of external ceremonies and the crushing yoke of the law. There was no fear that he would ever look back, that he would be tempted to set up again what the grace of God had justly overthrown (Galatians ii. 18). Judaism was wholly vanquished in his soul, for it was wholly displaced."

_A. Sabatier, The Apostle Paul, page 69._

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"Notwithstanding the opposition he met from his countrymen, in spite of all the liberal and the awakened sympathies which he derived from his work, despite the necessity of contending daily and hourly for the freedom of the Gospel among the Gentiles, he never ceased to be a Jew. … The most ardent patriot could not enlarge with greater pride on the glories of the chosen race than he does in the Epistle to the Romans. His care for the poor in Judæa is a touching proof of the strength of this national feeling. His attendance at the great annual festivals in Jerusalem is still more significant. 'I must spend the coming feast at Jerusalem.' This language becomes the more striking when we remember that he was then intending to open out a new field of missionary labour in the far West, and was bidding perhaps his last farewell to the Holy City, the joy of the whole earth."

_J. B. Lightfoot, Biblical Essays, pages 209-210._

"The Macedonian Churches are honorably distinguished above all others by their fidelity to the Gospel and their affectionate regard for St. Paul himself. While the Church of Corinth disgraced herself by gross moral delinquencies, while the Galatians bartered the liberty of the Gospel for a narrow formalism, while the believers of Ephesus drifted into the wildest speculative errors, no such stain attaches to the brethren of Philippi and Thessalonica. It is to the Macedonian congregations that the Apostle ever turns for solace in the midst of his severest trials and sufferings. Time seems not to have chilled these feelings of mutual affection. The Epistle to the Philippians was written about ten years after the Thessalonian letters. It is the more surprising therefore that they should resemble each other so strongly in tone. In both alike St. Paul drops his official title at the outset, … and in both he adopts throughout the same tone of confidence and affection. In this interval of ten years we meet with one notice of the Macedonian Churches. It is conceived in terms of unmeasured praise. The Macedonians had been called upon to contribute to the wants of their poorer brethren in Judæa, who were suffering from famine. They had responded nobly to the call. Deep-sunk in poverty and sorely tried by persecution, they came forward with eager joy and poured out the riches of their liberality, straining their means to the utmost in order to relieve the sufferers. … We may imagine that the people still retained something of those simpler habits and that sturdier character, which triumphed over Greeks and Orientals in the days of Philip and Alexander, and thus in the early warfare of the Christian Church the Macedonian phalanx offered a successful resistance to the assaults of an enemy, before which the lax and enervated ranks of Asia and Achaia had yielded ignominiously."

_J. B. Lightfoot, Biblical Essays, pages 249-250._

At Jerusalem, "the Apostle was rescued by a detachment of the Roman garrison from a mob of Jewish malignants, was held in custody for two years at Cesarea, and was finally enabled to accomplish a long-cherished intention to go to Rome, by being conveyed there as a prisoner, he having made an appeal to Cæsar. After being wrecked on the Mediterranean and cast ashore on the Island of Malta, under the circumstances related in Luke's graphic and accurate description of the voyage, he went on his way in safety to the capital."

_G. P. Fisher, History of the Christian Church, page 29._

"Paul's apostolic career, as known to us, lasted … twenty-nine or thirty years; and it falls into three distinct periods which are summarized in the following chronological table:

First Period Essentially Missionary: 35 A. D., Conversion of Paul, Journey to Arabia; 38, First visit to Jerusalem; 38-49, Mission in Syria and Cilicia-Tarsus and Antioch; 50-51, First missionary journey Cyprus, Pamphylia and Galatia (Acts xiii., xiv.); 52, Conference at Jerusalem (Acts xv.; Galatians ii.); 52-55, Second missionary journey Epistles to the Thessalonians (from Corinth).

Second Period The Great Conflicts, and the Great Epistles: 54, Return to Antioch Controversy with Peter (Gal. ii. 12-22); 55-57, Mission to Ephesus and Asia; 56, Epistle to the Galatians; 57 or 58 (Passover), First Epistle to the Corinthians (Ephesus); 57 or 58 (Autumn), Second Epistle to the Corinthians. (Macedonia); 58 (Winter), Epistle to the Romans.

Third Period The Captivity: 58 or 59 (Pentecost), Paul is arrested at Jerusalem; 58-60, or 59-61, Captivity at Cæsarea Epistles to Philemon, Colossians and Ephesians; 60 or 61 (Autumn), Departure for Rome; 61 or 62 (Spring), Arrival of Paul in Rome; 62-63, Epistle to the Philippians; 63 or 64, End of the narrative of the Acts of the Apostles."

_A. Sabatier, The Apostle Paul, pages 21-22._

"The impression that we get from Acts is, that the evangelisation of Asia Minor originated from St. Paul; and that from his initiative the new religion gradually spread over the country through the action of many other missionaries (Acts xix. 10). Moreover, missionaries not trained by him, were at work in South Galatia and in Ephesus as early as 54-56 A. D. (Gal. volume 7-10; Acts xviii. 25). … The Christian Church in Asia Minor was always opposed to the primitive native character. It was Christianity, and not the Imperial government, which finally destroyed the native languages, and made Greek the universal language of Asia Minor. The new religion was strong in the towns before it had any hold of the country parts. The ruder and the less civilised any district was, the slower was Christianity in permeating it. Christianity in the early centuries was the religion of the more advanced, not of the 'barbarian' peoples; and in fact it seems to be nearly confined within the limits of the Roman world, and practically to take little thought of any people beyond, though in theory, 'Barbarian and Scythian' are included in it. … The First Epistle of John was in all probability 'addressed primarily to the circle of Asiatic Churches, of which Ephesus was the centre.'"

_W. M. Ramsay, The Church in the Roman Empire, pages 284, 44, 303._

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"Unless we are prepared to reject without a hearing all the traditions of Christianity, we cannot refuse to believe that the latest years of the Apostle St. John were spent in the Roman province of Asia and chiefly in Ephesus its capital. This tradition is singularly full, consistent and well-authenticated. Here he gathered disciples about him, organized churches, appointed bishops and presbyters. A whole chorus of voices unite in bearing testimony to its truth. One who passed his earlier life in these parts and had heard his aged master, a disciple of St. John himself, recount his personal reminiscences of the great Apostle; another, who held this very see of Ephesus, and writing less than a century after the Apostle's death was linked with the past by a chain of relatives all bishops in the Christian Church; a third who also flourished about the close of the century and numbered among his teachers an old man from this very district—are the principal, because the most distinct; witnesses to a fact which is implied in several other notices of earlier or contemporary writers. As to the time at which St. John left his original home and settled in this new abode no direct account is preserved; but a very probable conjecture may be hazarded. The impending fall of the Holy City was the signal for the dispersion of the followers of Christ. About this same time the three other great Apostles, St. Peter, St. Paul and St. James, died a martyr's death; and on St. John, the lust surviving of the four great pillars of the Church, devolved the work of developing the theology of the Gospel and completing the organization of the Church. It was not unnatural that at such a crisis he should fix his residence in the centre of a large and growing Christian community, which had been planted by the Apostle of the Gentiles, and watered by the Apostle of the Circumcision. The missionary labours of St. Paul and St. Peter in Asia Minor were confirmed and extended by the prolonged residence of their younger contemporary. At all events such evidence as we possess is favourable to this view of the date of St. John's settlement at Ephesus. Assuming that the Apocalypse is the work of the beloved Apostle, and accepting the view which assigns it to the close of Nero's reign or thereabouts, we find him now for the first time in the immediate neighbourhood of Asia Minor and in direct communication with Ephesus and the neighbouring Churches. St. John however was not alone. Whether drawn thither by the attraction of his presence or acting in pursuance of some common agreement, the few surviving personal disciples of the Lord would seem to have chosen Asia Minor as their permanent abode, or at all events as their recognised headquarters. Here at least we meet with the friend of St. John's youth and perhaps his fellow-townsman, Andrew of Bethsaida, who with him had first listened to John the Baptist, and with him also had been the earliest to recognise Jesus as the Christ. Here too we encounter Philip the Evangelist with his daughters, and perhaps also Philip of Bethsaida, the Apostle. Here also was settled the Apostle's namesake, John the Presbyter, also a personal disciple of Jesus, and one Aristion, not otherwise known to us, who likewise had heard the Lord. And possibly also other Apostles whose traditions Papias recorded [see _J. B. Lightfoot, Apostolic Fathers, page 527_], Matthew and Thomas and James, may have had some connexion, temporary or permanent, with this district. Thus surrounded by the surviving disciples of the Lord, by bishops and presbyters of his own appointment, and by the pupils who gathered about him and looked to him for instruction, St. John was the focus of a large and active society of believers. In this respect he holds a unique position among the great teachers of the new faith. St. Peter and St. Paul converted disciples and organized congregations; St. John alone was the centre of a school. His life prolonged till the close of the century, when the Church was firmly rooted and widely extended, combined with his fixed abode in the centre of an established community to give a certain definiteness to his personal influence which would be wanting to the wider labours of these strictly missionary preachers. Hence the notices of St. John have a more solid basis and claim greater attention than stories relating to the other Apostles."

_J. B. Lightfoot, Biblical Essays, pages 51-53._

"In the parable of Jesus, of which we are speaking, it is said that 'the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself;'—that is, to transfer the Greek term into English, 'automatically.' That epithet is chosen which denotes most precisely a self-acting, spontaneous energy, inherent in the seed which Jesus, through his discourses, his acts of mercy and power, and his patience unto death, was sowing in the world. This grand prophetic declaration, uttered in a figure so simple and beautiful, in the ears of a little company of Galileans, was to be wonderfully verified in the coming ages of Christian history."

_G. P. Fisher, The Nature and Method of Revelation, page 47._

CHRISTIANITY: Alexandria.

"Plutarch looked upon it as the great mission of Alexander to transplant Grecian culture into distant countries, and to conciliate Greeks and barbarians, and to fuse them into one. He says of him, not without reason, that he was sent of God for this purpose; though the historian did not divine that this end itself was only subsidiary to, and the means of, one still higher—the making, viz., the united peoples of the East and West more accessible to the new creation which was to proceed from Christianity, and by the combination of the elements of Oriental and Hellenic culture the preparing for Christianity a material in which it might develop itself. If we overlook this ulterior end, and do not fix our regards on the higher quickening spirit destined to reanimate, for some new end, that combination which already bore within itself a germ of corruption, we might well doubt whether that union was really a gain to either party; whether, at least, it was not everywhere attended with a correspondent loss. For the fresh vigour which it infused into the old national spirit must have been constantly repressed by the violence which the foreign element did to it. To introduce into that combination a new living principle of development, and, without prejudice to their original essence, to unite peculiarities the most diverse into a whole in which each part should be a complement to the other, required something higher than any element of human culture. The true living communion between the East and the West, which should combine together the two peculiar principles that were equally necessary for a complete exhibition of the type of humanity, could first come only from Christianity. But still, as preparatory thereto, the influence which, for three centuries, went forth from Alexandria, that centre of the intercourse of the world, was of great importance."

_A. Neander, General History of the Christian Religion and Church, volume 1, introduction._

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