Paul: =Saul (q.v.) was born about the same time as our Lord. His
circumcision-name was Saul, and probably the name Paul was also given
to him in infancy "for use in the Gentile world," as "Saul" would be
his Hebrew home-name. He was a native of Tarsus, the capital of
Cilicia, a Roman province in the south-east of Asia Minor. That city
stood on the banks of the river Cydnus, which was navigable thus far;
hence it became a centre of extensive commercial traffic with many
countries along the shores of the Mediterranean, as well as with the
countries of central Asia Minor. It thus became a city distinguished
for the wealth of its inhabitants. Tarsus was also the seat of a
famous university, higher in reputation even than the universities of
Athens and Alexandria, the only others that then existed. Here Saul
was born, and here he spent his youth, doubtless enjoying the best
education his native city could afford. His father was of the
straitest sect of the Jews, a Pharisee, of the tribe of Benjamin, of
pure and unmixed Jewish blood
(Acts 23:6; Philippians 3:5) We learn nothing
regarding his mother; but there is reason to conclude that she was a
pious woman, and that, like-minded with her husband, she exercised
all a mother influence in moulding the character of her son, so that
he could afterwards speak of himself as being, from his youth up,
"touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless"
(Philippians 3:6)
We read of his sister and his sister's son
(Acts 23:16) and of other
relatives
(Romans 16:7,11,12) Though a Jew, his father was a Roman
citizen. How he obtained this privilege we are not informed. "It
might be bought, or won by distinguished service to the state, or
acquired in several other ways; at all events, his son was freeborn.
It was a valuable privilege, and one that was to prove of great use
to Paul, although not in the way in which his father might have been
expected to desire him to make use of it." Perhaps the most natural
career for the youth to follow was that of a merchant. "But it was
decided that...he should go to college and become a rabbi, that is, a
minister, a teacher, and a lawyer all in one." According to Jewish
custom, however, he learned a trade before entering on the more
direct preparation for the sacred profession. The trade he acquired
was the making of tents from goats' hair cloth, a trade which was one
of the commonest in Tarsus. His preliminary education having been
completed, Saul was sent, when about thirteen years of age probably,
to the great Jewish school of sacred learning at Jerusalem as a
student of the law. Here he became a pupil of the celebrated rabbi
Gamaliel, and here he spent many years in an elaborate study of the
Scriptures and of the many questions concerning them with which the
rabbis exercised themselves. During these years of diligent study he
lived "in all good conscience," unstained by the vices of that great
city. After the period of his student-life expired, he probably left
Jerusalem for Tarsus, where he may have been engaged in connection
with some synagogue for some years. But we find him back again at
Jerusalem very soon after the death of our Lord. Here he now learned
the particulars regarding the crucifixion, and the rise of the new
sect of the "Nazarenes." For some two years after Pentecost,
Christianity was quietly spreading its influence in Jerusalem. At
length Stephen, one of the seven deacons, gave forth more public and
aggressive testimony that Jesus was the Messiah, and this led to much
excitement among the Jews and much disputation in their synagogues.
Persecution arose against Stephen and the followers of Christ
generally, in which Saul of Tarsus took a prominent part. He was at
this time probably a member of the great Sanhedrin, and became the
active leader in the furious persecution by which the rulers then
sought to exterminate Christianity. But the object of this
persecution also failed. "They that were scattered abroad went
everywhere preaching the word." The anger of the persecutor was
thereby kindled into a fiercer flame. Hearing that fugitives had
taken refuge in Damascus, he obtained from the chief priest letters
authorizing him to proceed thither on his persecuting career. This
was a long journey of about 130 miles, which would occupy perhaps
six days, during which, with his few attendants, he steadily went
onward, "breathing out threatenings and slaughter." But the crisis of
his life was at hand. He had reached the last stage of his journey,
and was within sight of Damascus. As he and his companions rode on,
suddenly at mid-day a brilliant light shone round them, and Saul was
laid prostrate in terror on the ground, a voice sounding in his ears,
"Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" The risen Saviour was there,
clothed in the vesture of his glorified humanity. In answer to the
anxious inquiry of the stricken persecutor, "Who art thou, Lord?" he
said, "I am Jesus whom thou persecutest"
(Acts 9:5; 22:8; 26:15) This was
the moment of his conversion, the most solemn in all his life.
Blinded by the dazzling light
(Acts 9:8) his companions led him into the
city, where, absorbed in deep thought for three days, he neither ate
nor drank
(Acts 9:11) Ananias, a disciple living in Damascus, was
informed by a vision of the change that had happened to Saul, and was
sent to him to open his eyes and admit him by baptism into the
Christian church
(Acts 9:11-16) The whole purpose of his life was now
permanently changed. Immediately after his conversion he retired into
the solitudes of Arabia
(Galatians 1:17) perhaps of "Sinai in Arabia," for
the purpose, probably, of devout study and meditation on the
marvellous revelation that had been made to him. "A veil of thick
darkness hangs over this visit to Arabia. Of the scenes among which
he moved, of the thoughts and occupations which engaged him while
there, of all the circumstances of a crisis which must have shaped
the whole tenor of his after-life, absolutely nothing is known.
'Immediately,' says St. Paul, 'I went away into Arabia.' The
historian passes over the incident [comp.
(Acts 9:23; 1 Kings 11:38,39)
It is a mysterious pause, a moment of suspense, in the apostle's
history, a breathless calm, which ushers in the tumultuous storm of
his active missionary life." Coming back, after three years, to
Damascus, he began to preach the gospel "boldly in the name of Jesus"
(Acts 9:27) but was soon obliged to flee
(Acts 9:25; 2 Corinthians 11:33) from the
Jews and betake himself to Jerusalem. Here he tarried for three
weeks, but was again forced to flee
(Acts 9:28,29) from persecution. He
now returned to his native Tarsus
(Galatians 1:21) where, for probably about
three years, we lose sight of him. The time had not yet come for his
entering on his great life-work of preaching the gospel to the
Gentiles. At length the city of Antioch, the capital of Syria, became
the scene of great Christian activity. There the gospel gained a firm
footing, and the cause of Christ prospered. Barnabas (q.v.), who had
been sent from Jerusalem to superintend the work at Antioch, found it
too much for him, and remembering Saul, he set out to Tarsus to seek
for him. He readily responded to the call thus addressed to him, and
came down to Antioch, which for "a whole year" became the scene of
his labours, which were crowned with great success. The disciples
now, for the first time, were called "Christians"
(Acts 11:26) The
church at Antioch now proposed to send out missionaries to the
Gentiles, and Saul and Barnabas, with John Mark as their attendant,
were chosen for this work. This was a great epoch in the history of
the church. Now the disciples began to give effect to the Master's
command: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every
creature." The three missionaries went forth on the first missionary
tour. They sailed from Seleucia, the seaport of Antioch, across to
Cyprus, some 80 miles to the south-west. Here at Paphos, Sergius
Paulus, the Roman proconsul, was converted, and now Saul took the
lead, and was ever afterwards called Paul. The missionaries now
crossed to the mainland, and then proceeded 6 or 7 miles up the
river Cestrus to Perga
(Acts 13:13) where John Mark deserted the
work and returned to Jerusalem. The two then proceeded about 100
miles inland, passing through Pamphylia, Pisidia, and Lycaonia. The
towns mentioned in this tour are the Pisidian Antioch, where Paul
delivered his first address of which we have any record
(Acts 13:16-51)
comp.
(Acts 10:30-43) Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. They returned by the
same route to see and encourage the converts they had made, and
ordain elders in every city to watch over the churches which had been
gathered. From Perga they sailed direct for Antioch, from which they
had set out. After remaining "a long time", probably till A.D. 50
or 51 in Antioch, a great controversy broke out in the church there
regarding the relation of the Gentiles to the Mosaic law. For the
purpose of obtaining a settlement of this question, Paul and Barnabas
were sent as deputies to consult the church at Jerusalem. The council
or synod which was there held
(Acts 15:1)ff decided against the
Judaizing party; and the deputies, accompanied by Judas and Silas,
returned to Antioch, bringing with them the decree of the council.
After a short rest at Antioch, Paul said to Barnabas: "Let us go again
and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word
of the Lord, and see how they do." Mark proposed again to accompany
them; but Paul refused to allow him to go. Barnabas was resolved to
take Mark, and thus he and Paul had a sharp contention. They
separated, and never again met. Paul, however, afterwards speaks with
honour of Barnabas, and sends for Mark to come to him at Rome
(Colossians 4:10; 2 Timothy 4:11) Paul took with him Silas, instead of Barnabas,
and began his second missionary journey about A.D. 51 This time he
went by land, revisiting the churches he had already founded in Asia.
But he longed to enter into "regions beyond," and still went forward
through Phrygia and Galatia
(Acts 16:6) Contrary to his intention, he
was constrained to linger in Galatia (q.v.), on account of some bodily
affliction
(Galatians 4:13,14) Bithynia, a populous province on the shore
of the Black Sea, lay now before him, and he wished to enter it; but
the way was shut, the Spirit in some manner guiding him in another
direction, till he came down to the shores of the AEgean and arrived
at Troas, on the north-western coast of Asia Minor
(Acts 16:8) Of
this long journey from Antioch to Troas we have no account except some
references to it in his Epistle to the Galatians
(Galatians 4:13) As he
waited at Troas for indications of the will of God as to his future
movements, he saw, in the vision of the night, a man from the opposite
shores of Macedonia standing before him, and heard him cry, "Come
over, and help us"
(Acts 16:9) Paul recognized in this vision a
message from the Lord, and the very next day set sail across the
Hellespont, which separated him from Europe, and carried the tidings
of the gospel into the Western world. In Macedonia, churches were
planted in Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea. Leaving this province,
Paul passed into Achaia, "the paradise of genius and renown." He
reached Athens, but quitted it after, probably, a brief sojourn
(Acts 17:17-31) The Athenians had received him with cold disdain, and
he never visited that city again. He passed over to Corinth, the seat
of the Roman government of Achaia, and remained there a year and a
half, labouring with much success. While at Corinth, he wrote his two
epistles to the church of Thessalonica, his earliest apostolic
letters, and then sailed for Syria, that he might be in time to keep
the feast of Pentecost at Jerusalem. He was accompanied by Aquila and
Priscilla, whom he left at Ephesus, at which he touched, after a
voyage of thirteen or fifteen days. He landed at Caesarea, and went up
to Jerusalem, and having "saluted the church" there, and kept the
feast, he left for Antioch, where he abode "some time"
(Acts 18:20-23)
He then began his third missionary tour. He journeyed by land in the
"upper coasts" (the more eastern parts) of Asia Minor, and at length
made his way to Ephesus, where he tarried for no less than three
years, engaged in ceaseless Christian labour. "This city was at the
time the Liverpool of the Mediterranean. It possessed a splendid
harbour, in which was concentrated the traffic of the sea which was
then the highway of the nations; and as Liverpool has behind her the
great towns of Lancashire, so had Ephesus behind and around her such
cities as those mentioned along with her in the epistles to the
churches in the book of Revelation, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira,
Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. It was a city of vast wealth, and
it was given over to every kind of pleasure, the fame of its theatres
and race-course being world-wide" (Stalker's Life of St. Paul). Here a
"great door and effectual" was opened to the apostle. His
fellow-labourers aided him in his work, carrying the gospel to Colosse
and Laodicea and other places which they could reach. Very shortly
before his departure from Ephesus, the apostle wrote his First Epistle
to the Corinthians (q.v.). The silversmiths, whose traffic in the
little images which they made was in danger
(See DEMETRIUS)
organized a riot against Paul, and he left the city, and proceeded to
Troas
(2 Corinthians 2:12) whence after some time he went to meet Titus in
Macedonia. Here, in consequence of the report Titus brought from
Corinth, he wrote his second epistle to that church. Having spent
probably most of the summer and autumn in Macedonia, visiting the
churches there, specially the churches of Philippi, Thessalonica, and
Berea, probably penetrating into the interior, to the shores of the
Adriatic
(Romans 15:19) he then came into Greece, where he abode three
month, spending probably the greater part of this time in Corinth
(Acts 20:2) During his stay in this city he wrote his Epistle to the
Galatians, and also the great Epistle to the Romans. At the end of the
three months he left Achaia for Macedonia, thence crossed into Asia
Minor, and touching at Miletus, there addressed the Ephesian
presbyters, whom he had sent for to meet him
(Acts 20:17) and then
sailed for Tyre, finally reaching Jerusalem, probably in the spring of
A.D. 58 While at Jerusalem, at the feast of Pentecost, he was almost
murdered by a Jewish mob in the temple.
(See TEMPLE, HEROD'S)
Rescued from their violence by the Roman commandant, he was conveyed
as a prisoner to Caesarea, where, from various causes, he was detained
a prisoner for two years in Herod's praetorium
(Acts 23:35) "Paul was
not kept in close confinement; he had at least the range of the
barracks in which he was detained. There we can imagine him pacing the
ramparts on the edge of the Mediterranean, and gazing wistfully across
the blue waters in the direction of Macedonia, Achaia, and Ephesus,
where his spiritual children were pining for him, or perhaps
encountering dangers in which they sorely needed his presence. It was
a mysterious providence which thus arrested his energies and condemned
the ardent worker to inactivity; yet we can now see the reason for it.
Paul was needing rest. After twenty years of incessant evangelization,
he required leisure to garner the harvest of experience...During these
two years he wrote nothing; it was a time of internal mental activity
and silent progress" (Stalker's Life of St. Paul). At the end of these
two years Felix (q.v.) was succeeded in the governorship of Palestine
by Porcius Festus, before whom the apostle was again heard. But
judging it right at this crisis to claim the privilege of a Roman
citizen, he appealed to the emperor
(Acts 25:11) Such an appeal could
not be disregarded, and Paul was at once sent on to Rome under the
charge of one Julius, a centurion of the "Augustan cohort." After a
long and perilous voyage, he at length reached the imperial city in
the early spring, probably, of A.D. 61 Here he was permitted to occupy
his own hired house, under constant military custody. This privilege
was accorded to him, no doubt, because he was a Roman citizen, and as
such could not be put into prison without a trial. The soldiers who
kept guard over Paul were of course changed at frequent intervals, and
thus he had the opportunity of preaching the gospel to many of them
during these "two whole years," and with the blessed result of
spreading among the imperial guards, and even in Caesar's household,
an interest in the truth
(Philippians 1:13) His rooms were resorted to by
many anxious inquirers, both Jews and Gentiles
(Acts 28:23,30,31) and
thus his imprisonment "turned rather to the furtherance of the
gospel," and his "hired house" became the centre of a gracious
influence which spread over the whole city. According to a Jewish
tradition, it was situated on the borders of the modern Ghetto, which
has been the Jewish quarters in Rome from the time of Pompey to the
present day. During this period the apostle wrote his epistles to the
Colossians, Ephesians, Philippians, and to Philemon, and probably also
to the Hebrews. This first imprisonment came at length to a close,
Paul having been acquitted, probably because no witnesses appeared
against him. Once more he set out on his missionary labours, probably
visiting western and eastern Europe and Asia Minor. During this period
of freedom he wrote his First Epistle to Timothy and his Epistle to
Titus. The year of his release was signalized by the burning of Rome,
which Nero saw fit to attribute to the Christians. A fierce
persecution now broke out against the Christians. Paul was siezed, and
once more conveyed to Rome a prisoner. During this imprisonment he
probably wrote the Second Epistle to Timothy, the last he ever wrote.
"There can be little doubt that he appered again at Nero's bar, and
this time the charge did not break down. In all history there is not a
more startling illustration of the irony of human life than this scene
of Paul at the bar of Nero. On the judgment-seat, clad in the imperial
purple, sat a man who, in a bad world, had attained the eminence of
being the very worst and meanest being in it, a man stained with every
crime, a man whose whole being was so steeped in every nameable and
unnameable vice, that body and soul of him were, as some one said at
the time, nothing but a compound of mud and blood; and in the
prisoner's dock stood the best man the world possessed, his hair
whitened with labours for the good of men and the glory of God. The
trial ended: Paul was condemned, and delivered over to the
executioner. He was led out of the city, with a crowd of the lowest
rabble at his heels. The fatal spot was reached; he knelt beside the
block; the headsman's axe gleamed in the sun and fell; and the head of
the apostle of the world rolled down in the dust" (probably A.D. 66)
four years before the fall of Jerusalem.
