Chapter VI: Part II (1)

Christianity Established Among the Gentiles

The Principles and Practice of the Gospel

LESSON XIV

THE GOSPEL TO THE GENTILES

It was a dramatic moment when Paul and Barnabas, with their helper, set sail from Seleucia, on the waters of the Mediterranean. Behind them lay Syria and Palestine and the history of the chosen people; in front of them was the west. The religion of Israel had emerged from its age-long seclusion; it had entered at last upon the conquest of the world.

The message that crossed the strait to Cyprus was destined to be carried over broader seas. A mighty enterprise was begun. It was an audacious thought! The missionaries might well have been overpowered by what lay before them--by the power of a world empire, by the prestige of a brilliant civilization. How insignificant were their own weapons! Would they ever even gain a hearing? But though the enterprise was begun in weakness it was begun in faith. At their departure from Antioch the missionaries were "committed to the grace of God."

The account of this first missionary journey is one of the most fascinating passages in The Acts. The interest never flags; incident follows incident in wonderful variety. In reading this narrative, we are transplanted into the midst of the ancient world, we come to breathe the very atmosphere of that cosmopolitan age. In the lesson of to-day the teacher has an unusual opportunity. If he uses it well, he may cause the Bible story to live again. Absolutely essential to that end is the judicious use of a map--preferably something larger than the small sketch map of the Text Book. A travel narrative without a map is a hopeless jumble. The map is an aid both to memory and to imagination. Tracing the route of the missionaries on the map, the teacher should endeavor to call up the scenes through which they passed. The student should be made to see the waters of the Mediterranean, with the hills of Cyprus beyond, the interminable stretches of the Roman roads, the lofty mountains of the Taurus, the perils of rivers and the perils of robbers, the teeming population of the countless cities--and through it all the simple missionaries of the cross, almost unnoticed amid the turmoil of the busy world, but rich in the possession of a world-conquering gospel and resistless through the power of the living God.

1. THE PROPHETS AND TEACHERS

Both prophecy and teaching were gifts of the Spirit. I Cor. 12:28-31. Prophecy was immediate revelation of the divine plan or of the divine will; teaching, apparently, was logical development of the truth already given. Which of the men who are mentioned in Acts 13:1 were prophets and which were teachers is not clear. If any division is intended it is probably between the first three and the last two. For this grouping there is perhaps some slight indication in the connectives that are used in the Greek, but the matter is not certain. Perhaps all five of the men were possessed of both gifts.

Lucius was perhaps one of the founders of the church, for he came from Cyrene. Compare Acts 11:20. Manaen is an interesting figure. He is called "foster-brother" of Herod the tetrarch. The word translated "foster-brother" is apparently sometimes used in a derived sense, to designate simply an intimate associate of a prince. If that be the meaning here, then at least one member of the church at Antioch was a man of some social standing. In Antioch, as in Corinth, probably "not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble" were called, I Cor. 1:26; but in Antioch as in Corinth there were exceptions. The Herod who is here meant is Herod Antipas, the "Herod" of the Gospels.

2. ELYMAS

When the Jewish sorcerer is first mentioned he is called Bar-Jesus--that is, "son of Jesus," Jesus being a common Jewish name. Then, a little below, the same man is called "Elymas the sorcerer," and the explanation is added, "for so is his name by interpretation." Apparently the new name Elymas is introduced without explanation, and then the Greek word for "sorcerer" is introduced as a translation of that. The word Elymas is variously derived from an Arabic word meaning "wise," or an Aramaic word meaning "strong." In either case the Greek word, "magos," for which our English Bible has "sorcerer," is a fair equivalent. That Greek word is the word that appears also in Matt. 2:1,7,16, where the English Bible has "Wise-men"; and words derived from the same root are used to describe Simon of Samaria in Acts 8:9,11. The word could designate men of different character. Some "magi" might be regarded as students of natural science; in others, superstition and charlatanism were dominant.

3. SAUL AND PAUL

At Acts 13:9 Luke introduces the name "Paul"--"Saul, who is also called Paul." Previously the narrative always uses the Jewish name "Saul"; after this "Paul" appears with equal regularity, except in the accounts of the conversion, where in three verses a special, entirely un-Greek form of "Saul" is used. Acts 22:7,13; 26:14. Since in our passage in the original the name of the proconsul, Paulus, is exactly like the name of the apostle, some have supposed that Paul assumed a new name in honor of his distinguished convert. That is altogether unlikely. More probable is the suggestion that although Paul had both names from the beginning, Luke is led to introduce the name Paul at just this point because of the coincidence with the name of the proconsul. Even this supposition, however, is extremely doubtful. Probably the Roman name, which Paul uses invariably in his letters, is introduced at this point simply because here for the first time Paul comes prominently forward in a distinctly Roman environment.

4. PAUL AND BARNABAS

Connected with this variation in name is the reversal in the relation between Paul and Barnabas. Previously Barnabas has been given the priority; but immediately after the incident at Paphos the missionaries are designated as "Paul and his company," Acts 13:13, and thereafter when the two are mentioned together, Paul, except at Acts 14:12,14; 15:12,25, appears first. In the presence of the Roman proconsul, Paul's Roman citizenship perhaps caused him to take the lead; and then inherent superiority made his leadership permanent.

5. THE RETURN OF JOHN MARK

The reasons for John Mark's return from Perga to Jerusalem can only be surmised. Perhaps he was simply unwilling, for some reason sufficient to him but insufficient to Paul, to undertake the hardships of the journey into the interior. Certainly it was an adventurous journey. Paul was not always an easy man to follow.

The severity of Paul's judgment of Mark was not necessarily so great as has sometimes been supposed. One purpose of the second journey was to revisit the churches of the first journey. Acts 15:36. Whether for good or for bad reasons, Mark, as a matter of fact, had not been with the missionaries on a large part of that first journey, and was, therefore, unknown to many of the churches. For this reason, perhaps as much as on account of moral objections, Paul considered Mark an unsuitable helper. In his later epistles Paul speaks of Mark in the most cordial way. Col. 4:10; Philem. 24; II Tim. 4:11. In the last passage, he even says that Mark was useful to him for ministering--exactly what he had not been at the beginning of the second missionary journey.

6. HARDSHIPS AND PERSECUTIONS

It is evident from II Cor. 11:23-27 that Luke has recorded only a small fraction of the hardships which Paul endured as a missionary of the cross. The tendency to lay exaggerated stress upon martyrdom and suffering, which runs riot in the later legends of the saints, is in The Acts conspicuous by its absence. Of the trials which are vouched for by the unimpeachable testimony of Paul himself, only a few may be identified in the Lucan narrative. It is natural, however, to suppose that some of the "perils of rivers" and "perils of robbers" were encountered on the journey through the defiles of the Taurus mountains from Perga to Pisidian Antioch, and the one stoning which Paul mentions is clearly to be identified with the adventure at Lystra. In II Tim. 3:11 Paul mentions the persecutions at Antioch, Iconium and Lystra.

7. GEOGRAPHY OF THE FIRST JOURNEY

The first missionary journey led the missionaries into three Roman provinces: Cyprus, Pamphylia and Galatia. The name "Galatia" had originally designated a district in the north central part of Asia Minor, which had been colonized by certain Celtic tribes several centuries before Christ. By the Romans, however, other districts were added to this original Galatia, and in 25 B. C. the whole complex was organized into an imperial province under the name Galatia. In the first century after Christ, therefore, the name Galatia could be used in two distinct senses. In the first place, in the earlier, popular sense, it could designate Galatia proper. In the second place, in the later, official sense, it could designate the whole Roman province, which included not only Galatia proper, but also parts of a number of other districts, including Phrygia and Lycaonia. Of the cities visited on the first missionary journey, Pisidian Antioch--which was called "Pisidian" because it was near Pisidia--and Iconium were in Phrygia, and Lystra and Derbe in Lycaonia; but all four were included in the province of Galatia. Many scholars suppose that the churches in these cities were the churches which Paul addresses in the Epistle to the Galatians. That view is called the "South Galatian theory." Others--adherents of the "North Galatian theory"--suppose that the epistle is addressed to churches in Galatia proper, in the northern part of the Roman province, which were founded on the second missionary journey. This question will be noticed again in connection with the epistle.

8. TIME OF THE FIRST JOURNEY

Luke gives very little indication of the amount of time which was consumed on this first journey. The hasty reader probably estimates the time too low, since only a few incidents are narrated. The rapidity of the narrative should not be misinterpreted as indicating cursoriness of the labor. The passage through Cyprus, Acts 13:6, was probably accompanied by evangelizing; the extension of the gospel through the whole region of Antioch, v. 49, must have occupied more than a few days; the stay at Iconium is designated as "long time," Acts 14:3; the change of attitude on the part of the Lystran populace, v. 19, was probably not absolutely sudden; not only Lystra and Derbe but also the surrounding country were evangelized, v. 6; and finally the missionaries could hardly have returned to the cities from which they had been driven out, v. 21, unless the heat of persecution had been allowed to cool. Perhaps a full year would not be too high an estimate of the time that was occupied by the journey, and still higher estimates are by no means excluded.

9. THE SCENE AT LYSTRA

The account of the incident at Lystra is one of those inimitable bits of narrative which imprint upon The Acts the indisputable stamp of historicity. Lystra, though a Roman colony, lay somewhat off the beaten track of culture and of trade; hence the extreme superstition of the populace is what might be expected. It may seem rather strange that Paul and Barnabas should have been identified with great gods of Olympus rather than with lesser divinities or spirits, but who can place a limit upon the superstition of an uncultured people of the ancient world? The identification may have been rendered easier by the legend of Philemon and Baucis, which has been preserved for us by Ovid, the Latin poet. According to that legend, Zeus and Hermes appeared, once upon a time, in human form in Phrygia, the same general region in which Lystra was situated. Zeus and Hermes are the gods with whom Barnabas and Paul were identified; the English Bible simply substitutes for these Greek names the names of the corresponding Roman deities. The temple of Zeus-before-the-city and the preparations for sacrifices are described in a most lifelike way, in full accord with what is known of ancient religion. We find ourselves here in a somewhat different atmosphere from that which prevails in most of the scenes described in The Acts. It is a pagan atmosphere, and an atmosphere of ruder superstition than that which prevailed in the great cities. The "speech of Lycaonia," v. 11, is an especially characteristic touch. Apparently the all-pervading Greek was understood at Lystra even by the populace; but in the excitement of their superstition they fell very naturally into their native language.

As in the case of Peter's release from prison, so in this incident, wonderful lifelikeness of description is coupled with a miracle. The scene at Lystra is unintelligible without the miraculous healing of the lame man, with which it begins. It is impossible, in The Acts as well as in the Gospels, to separate the miraculous from the rest of the narrative. The evident truthfulness of the story applies to the supernatural elements as well as to the rest. The early Christian mission is evidently real; but it is just as evidently supernatural. It moved through the varied scenes of the real world, but it was not limited by the world. It was animated by a mysterious, superhuman power.

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IN THE LIBRARY.--Purves, "Christianity in the Apostolic Age," pp. 111-122. Davis, "Dictionary of the Bible": articles on "Cyprus," "Antioch" (2), "Iconium," "Lystra," "Derbe," "Galatia." Hastings, "Dictionary of the Bible": Muir, article on "Cyprus"; Massie, article on "Bar-Jesus"; Headlam, article on "Paulus, Sergius"; Ramsay, articles on "Antioch in Pisidia," "Iconium," "Lystra," "Derbe," "Galatia." Ramsay, "St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen," pp. 64-129; "The Cities of St. Paul," pp. 247-419; "Pictures of the Apostolic Church," pp. 129-153. Lewin, "The Life and Epistles of St. Paul," chapter viii. Conybeare and Howson, "The Life and Epistles of St. Paul," chapters v and vi. Stalker, "The Life of St. Paul," pp. 65-71. Lumby, pp. 155-183. Cook, pp. 437-451. Plumptre, pp. 79-93. Rackham, pp. 194-238.

LESSON XV

THE COUNCIL AT JERUSALEM

The lesson for to-day deals with one of the most important events in apostolic history. At the Jerusalem council the principles of the Gentile mission and of the entire life of the Church were brought to clear expression. If the original apostles had agreed with the Judaizers against Paul, the whole history of the Church would have been different. There would even have been room to doubt whether Paul was really a disciple of Jesus; for if he was, how could he come to differ so radically from those whom Jesus had taught? As a matter of fact, however, these dire consequences were avoided. When the issue was made between Paul and the Judaizers, the original apostles decided whole-heartedly for Paul. The unity of the Church was preserved. God was guiding the deliberations of the council.

1. THE ACTS AND GALATIANS

The treatment of to-day's lesson in the Student's Text Book is based upon the assumption that Gal. 2:1-10 is an account of the same visit of Paul to Jerusalem as the visit which is described in Acts 15:1-29. That assumption is not universally accepted. Some scholars identify the event of Gal. 2:1-10, not with the Apostolic Council of Acts 15:1-29, but with the "famine visit" of Acts 11:30; 12:25. Indeed, some maintain that the Epistle to the Galatians not only contains no account of the Apostolic Council, but was actually written before the council was held--say at Antioch, soon after the first missionary journey. Of course this early dating of Galatians can be adopted only in connection with the "South Galatian theory"; for according to the "North Galatian theory" the churches addressed in the epistle were not founded until after the council, namely at the time of Acts 16:6.

Undoubtedly the identification of Gal. 2:1-10 with Acts 11:30; 12:25, avoids some difficulties. If Gal. 2:1-10 be identified with Acts 15:1-29, then Paul in Galatians has passed over the famine visit without mention. Furthermore there are considerable differences between Gal. 2:1-10 and Acts 15:1-29. For example, if Paul is referring to the Apostolic Council, why has he not mentioned the apostolic decree of Acts 15:23-29? These difficulties, however, are not insuperable, and there are counter difficulties against the identification of Gal. 2:1-10 with the famine visit.

One such difficulty is connected with chronology. Paul says that his first visit to Jerusalem took place three years after his conversion, Gal. 1:18, and--according to the most natural interpretation of Gal. 2:1--that the visit of Gal. 2:1-10 took place fourteen years after the first visit. The conversion then occurred seventeen years before the time of Gal. 2:1-10. But if Gal. 2:1-10 describes the famine visit, then the time of Gal. 2:1-10 could not have been after about A. D. 46. Counting back seventeen years from A. D. 46 we should get A. D. 29 as the date of the conversion, which is, of course, too early.

This reasoning, it must be admitted, is not quite conclusive. The ancients had an inclusive method of reckoning time. According to this method three years after 1914 would be 1916. Hence, fourteen plus three might be only what we should call about fifteen years, instead of seventeen. Furthermore, Paul may mean in Gal. 2:1 that his conference with the apostles took place fourteen years after the conversion rather than fourteen years after the first visit.

The identification of Gal. 2:1-10 with the famine visit is not impossible. But on the whole the usual view, which identifies the event of Gal. 2:1-10 with the meeting at the time of the Apostolic Council of Acts 15:1-29, must be regarded as more probable. The Apostolic Council probably took place roughly at about A. D. 49. The conversion of Paul then should probably be put at about A. D. 32-34.

2. THE JUDAIZERS

Conceivably the question about the freedom of the Gentiles from the law might have arisen at an earlier time; for Gentiles had already been received into the Church before the first missionary journey. As a matter of fact, indeed, some objection had been raised to the reception of Cornelius. But that objection had easily been silenced by an appeal to the immediate guidance of God. Perhaps the case of Cornelius could be regarded as exceptional; and a similar reflection might possibly have been applied to the Gentile Christians at Antioch. There seemed to be no danger, at any rate, that the predominantly Jewish character of the Church would be lost. Now, however, after a regular Gentile mission had been carried on with signal success, the situation was materially altered. Evidently the influx of Gentile converts, if allowed to go on unhindered, would change the whole character of the Church. Christianity would appear altogether as a new dispensation: the prerogatives of Israel would be gone. The question of Gentile Christianity had existed before, but after the first missionary journey it became acute.

Perhaps, however, there was also another reason why the battle had not been fought out at an earlier time. It looks very much as though this bitter opposition to the Gentile mission had arisen only through the appearance of a new element in the Jerusalem church. Were these extreme legalists, who objected to the work of Paul and Barnabas--were these men present in the Church from the beginning? The question is more than doubtful. It is more probable that these legalists came into the Church during the period of prosperity which followed upon the persecution of Stephen and was only briefly interrupted by the persecution under Herod Agrippa I.

These Jewish Christian opponents of the Gentile mission--these "Judaizers"--must be examined with some care. They are described not only by Luke in The Acts but by Paul himself in Galatians. According to The Acts, some of them at least had belonged to the sect of the Pharisees before they had become Christians. Acts 15:5.

The activity of the Judaizers is described by Luke in complete independence of the account given by Paul. As usual, Luke contents himself with a record of external fact, while Paul uncovers the deeper motives of the Judaizers' actions. Yet the facts as reported by Luke fully justify the harsh words which Paul employs. According to Paul, these Judaizers were "false brethren privily brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage." Gal. 2:4. By calling them "false brethren" Paul means simply that they had not really grasped the fundamental principle of the gospel--the principle of justification by faith. They were still trying to earn their salvation by their works instead of receiving it as a gift of God. At heart they were still Jews rather than Christians. They came in privily into places where they did not belong--perhaps Paul means especially into the church at Antioch--in order to spy out Christian liberty. Gal. 2:4. Compare Acts 15:1.

The rise of this Judaizing party is easy to understand. In some respects the Judaizers were simply following the line of least resistance. By upholding the Mosaic law they would escape persecution and even obtain honor. We have seen that it was the Jews who instigated the early persecutions of the Church. Such persecutions would be avoided by the Judaizers, for they could say to their non-Christian countrymen: "We are engaged simply in one form of the world-wide Jewish mission. We are requiring our converts to keep the Mosaic law and unite themselves definitely with the people of Israel. Every convert that we gain is a convert to Judaism. The cross of Christ that we proclaim is supplementary to the law, not subversive of it. We deserve therefore from the Jews not persecution but honor." Compare what Paul says about the Judaizers in Galatia. Gal. 6:12,13.

3. THE APOSTOLIC DECREE

At first sight it seems rather strange that Paul in Galatians does not mention the apostolic decree. Some have supposed that his words even exclude any decree of that sort. In Gal. 2:6 Paul says that the pillars of the Jerusalem church "imparted nothing" to him. Yet according to The Acts they imparted to him this decree. The decree, moreover, seems to have a direct bearing upon the question that Paul was discussing in Galatians; for it involved the imposition of a part of the ceremonial law upon Gentile Christians. How then, if the decree really was passed as Luke says it was, could it have been left unmentioned by Paul?

There are various ways of overcoming the difficulty. In the first place it is not perfectly certain that any of the prohibitions contained in the decree are ceremonial in character. Three of them are probably ceremonial if the text of most manuscripts of The Acts is correct. Most manuscripts read, at Acts 15:29: "That ye abstain from things sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication; from which if ye keep yourselves, it shall be well with you." Here "things offered to idols" apparently describes not idolatrous worship, but food which had been dedicated to idols; and "blood" describes meat used for food without previous removal of the blood. This meaning of "blood" is apparently fixed by the addition of "things strangled." Since "things strangled" evidently refers to food, probably the two preceding expressions refer to food also. According to the great mass of our witnesses to the text, therefore, the apostolic decree contains a food law. A few witnesses, however, omit all reference to things strangled, not only at Acts 15:29 but also at v. 20 and at ch. 21:25. If this text be original, then it is possible to interpret the prohibitions as simply moral and not at all ceremonial in character. "Things offered to idols" may be interpreted simply of idolatry, and "blood" of murder. But if the prohibitions are prohibitions of immorality, then they cannot be said to have "imparted" anything to Paul; for of course he was as much opposed to immorality as anyone.

However, the more familiar form of the text is probably correct. The witnesses that omit the word "strangled" are those that attest the so-called "Western Text" of The Acts. This Western Text differs rather strikingly from the more familiar text in many places. The question as to how far the Western Text of The Acts is correct is a hotly debated question. On the whole, however, the Western readings are usually at any rate to be discredited.

In the second place, the difficulty about the decree may be overcome by regarding Gal. 2:1-10 as parallel not with Acts 15:1-29 but with Acts 11:30; 12:25. This solution has already been discussed.

In the third place, the difficulty may be overcome by that interpretation of the decree which is proposed in the Student's Text Book. The decree was not an addition to Paul's gospel. It was not imposed upon the Gentile Christians as though a part of the law were necessary to salvation. On the contrary it was simply an attempt to solve the practical problems of certain mixed churches--not the Pauline churches in general, but churches which stood in an especially close relation to Jerusalem. This interpretation of the decree is favored by the difficult verse, Acts 15:21. What James there means is probably that the Gentile Christians should avoid those things which would give the most serious offense to hearers of the law.

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IN THE LIBRARY.--Purves, "Christianity in the Apostolic Age," pp. 125-166. Lightfoot, "Saint Paul's Epistle to the Galatians," pp. 123-128 ("The later visit of St. Paul to Jerusalem"), 292-374 ("St. Paul and the Three"). Ramsay, "St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen," pp. 48-60, 152-175. Lewin, "The Life and Epistles of St. Paul," ch. ix. Conybeare and Howson, "The Life and Epistles of St. Paul," ch. vii. Stalker, "The Life of St. Paul," pp. 108-118. Lumby, pp. 185-200. Cook, pp. 451-458. Plumptre, pp. 93-101. Rackham, pp. 238-259, 263-270.

LESSON XVI

THE GOSPEL CARRIED INTO EUROPE

From the rich store of to-day's lesson only a few points can be selected for special comment.

1. TITUS AND TIMOTHY

At Lystra, Paul had Timothy circumcised. Acts 16:3. This action has been considered strange in view of the attitude which Paul had previously assumed. At Jerusalem, only a short time before, he had absolutely refused to permit the circumcision of Titus. Evidently, too, he had regarded the matter as of fundamental importance. Had Titus been circumcised, the freedom of the Gentile Christians would have been seriously endangered.

The presence of Titus at the Apostolic Council is mentioned only by Paul in Galatians. It is not mentioned in The Acts. Indeed, Titus does not appear in The Acts at all, though in the epistles he is rather prominent. This fact, however, really requires no further explanation than that the history of Luke is not intended to be exhaustive. The restraint exercised by the author of The Acts has already been observed, for example, in a comparison of the long list of hardships in II Cor. 11:23-27 with what Luke actually narrates. The helpers of Paul whom Luke mentions are usually those who traveled with him. Titus was sent by Paul on at least one important mission, II Cor. 7:13,14, but was apparently not his companion on the missionary journeys. Luke does not concern himself very much with the internal affairs of the churches, and it is in this field that Titus is especially prominent in the epistles. With regard to the presence of Titus in Jerusalem, the different purposes of the narratives in Galatians and in The Acts must be borne in mind. The non-circumcision of Titus, so strongly emphasized by Paul, was merely preliminary to the public action of the church in which Luke was interested. Luke has thought it sufficient to include Titus under the "certain other" of the Antioch Christians who went up with Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem.

The different policy which Paul adopted in the case of Timothy, as compared with his policy about Titus, is amply explained by the wide differences in the situation.

In the first place, when Titus was at Jerusalem, the matter of Gentile freedom was in dispute, whereas when Timothy was circumcised the question had already been settled by a formal pronouncement of the Jerusalem church. After Paul had won the victory of principle, he could afford to make concessions where no principle was involved. Timothy was recognized as a full member of the Church even before his circumcision. Circumcision was merely intended to make him a more efficient helper in work among the Jews.

In the second place--and this is even more important--Timothy was a half-Jew. It is perhaps doubtful whether Paul under any circumstances would have authorized the circumcision of a pure Gentile like Titus. But Timothy's mother was Jewish. It must always be borne in mind that Paul did not demand the relinquishment of the law on the part of Jews; and Timothy's parentage gave him at least the right of regarding himself as a Jew. If he had chosen to follow his Gentile father, the Jews could have regarded him as a renegade. His usefulness in the synagogues would have been lost. Obviously the circumcision of such a man involved nothing more than the maintenance of ancestral custom on the part of Jews. Where no principle was involved, Paul was the most concessive of men. See especially I Cor. 9:19-23. The final relinquishment of the law on the part of Jews was rightly left to the future guidance of God.

2. THE ROUTE THROUGH ASIA MINOR

The difficulty of tracing the route of the missionaries beyond Lystra is due largely to the difficulty of Acts 16:6. A literal translation of the decisive words in that verse would be either "the Phrygian and Galatian country" or "Phrygia and the Galatian country." According to the advocates of the "South Galatian theory," "the Galatian country" here refers not to Galatia proper but to the southern part of the Roman province Galatia. "The Phrygian and Galatian country" then perhaps means "The Phrygo-Galatic country," or "that part of Phrygia which is in the Roman province Galatia." The reference then is to Iconium, Pisidian Antioch and the surrounding country--after the missionaries had passed through the Lycaonian part of the province Galatia (Derbe and Lystra) they traversed the Phrygian part of the province. The chief objection to all such interpretations is found in the latter part of the verse: "having been forbidden of the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia." It looks as though the reason why they passed through "the Phrygian and Galatian country" was that they were forbidden to preach in Asia. But South Galatia was directly on the way to Asia. The impossibility of preaching in Asia could therefore hardly have been the reason for passing through south Galatia.

Apparently, therefore, the disputed phrase refers rather to some region which is not on the way to Asia. This requirement is satisfied if Galatia proper is meant--the country in the northern part of the Roman province Galatia. When they got to Pisidian Antioch, it would have been natural for them to proceed into the western part of Asia Minor, into "Asia." That they were forbidden to do. Hence they turned north, and went through Phrygia into Galatia proper. When they got to the border country between Mysia and Galatia proper, they tried to continue their journey north into Bithynia, but were prevented by the Spirit. Then they turned west, and passing through Mysia without preaching arrived at last at the coast, at Troas.

Nothing is said here about preaching in Galatia proper. But in Acts 18:23, in connection with the third missionary journey, it is said that when Paul passed through "the Galatian country and Phrygia" he established the disciples. There could not have been disciples in the "Galatian country," unless there had been preaching there on the previous journey. On the "North Galatian" theory, therefore, the founding of the Galatian churches to which the epistle is directed is to be placed at Acts 16:6, and the second visit to them, which seems to be presupposed by the epistle, is to be put at Acts 18:23. If it seems strange that Luke does not mention the founding of these churches, the hurried character of this section of the narrative must be borne in mind. Furthermore, the epistle seems to imply that the founding of the churches was rather incidental than an original purpose of the journey; for in Gal. 4:13 Paul says that it was because of an infirmity of the flesh that he preached the gospel in Galatia the former time. Apparently he had been hurrying through the country without stopping, but being detained by illness used his enforced leisure to preach to the inhabitants. It is not impossible to understand how Luke came to omit mention of such incidental preaching. On the second missionary journey attention is concentrated on Macedonia and Greece.

3. THE MOVEMENTS OF SILAS AND TIMOTHY

When Paul went to Athens, Silas and Timothy remained behind in Macedonia. Acts 17:14. They were directed to join Paul again as soon as possible. V. 15. In Acts 18:1,5 they are said to have joined him at Corinth. The narrative in The Acts must here be supplemented by the First Epistle to the Thessalonians. What Luke says is perfectly true, but his narrative is not complete. According to the most natural interpretation of I Thess. 3:1-5, Timothy was with Paul in Athens, and from there was sent to Thessalonica. The entire course of events was perhaps as follows: Silas and Timothy both joined Paul quickly at Athens according to directions. They were then sent away again--Timothy to Thessalonica, and Silas to some other place in Macedonia. Then, after the execution of their commissions, they finally joined Paul again at Corinth. Acts 18:5; I Thess. 3:6. Soon afterwards, all three missionaries were associated in the address of First Thessalonians.

4. PAUL AT ATHENS

In Athens Paul preached as usual in the synagogue to Jews and "God-fearers"; but he also adopted another and more unusual method--he simply took his stand without introduction in the market place, and spoke to those who chanced by. This method was characteristically Greek; it reminds us of the days of Socrates.

In the market place, Paul encountered certain of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. Both of these schools of philosophy had originated almost three hundred years before Christ, and both were prominent in the New Testament period. In their tenets they were very different. The Stoics were pantheists. They conceived of the world as a sort of great living being of which God is the soul. The world does not exist apart from God and God does not exist apart from the world. Such pantheism is far removed from the Christian belief in the living God, Maker of heaven and earth; but as against polytheism, pantheism and theism have something in common. Paul in his speech was able to start from this common ground. In ethics, the Stoics were perhaps nearer to Christianity than in metaphysics. The highest good they conceived to be a life that is led in accordance with reason--that reason which is the determining principle of the world. The passions must be conquered, pleasure is worthless, the wise man is independent of external conditions. Such an ethic worked itself out in practice in many admirable virtues--in some conception of the universal brotherhood of mankind, in charity, in heroic self-denial. But it lacked the warmth and glow of Christian love, and it lacked the living God.

The Epicureans were materialists. The world, for them, was a vast mechanism. They believed in the gods, but conceived of them as altogether without influence upon human affairs. Indeed, the deliverance of man from the fear of the gods was one of the purposes of the Epicurean philosophy. The Epicureans were interested chiefly in ethics. Pleasure, according to them, is the highest good. It need not be the pleasure of the senses; indeed Epicurus, at least, the founder of the school, insisted upon a calm life undisturbed by violent passions. Nevertheless it will readily be seen how little such a philosophy had in common with Christianity.

The conditions under which Paul made his speech cannot be determined with certainty. The difficulty arises from the ambiguity of "Areopagus." "Areopagus" means "Mars' hill." But the term was also applied to the court which held at least some of its meetings on the hill. Which meaning is intended here? Did Paul speak before the court, or did he speak on Mars' hill merely to those who were interested? On the whole, it is improbable at any rate that he was subjected to a formal trial.

The speech of Paul at Athens is one of the three important speeches of Paul, exclusive of his speeches in defense of himself at Jerusalem and at Cæsarea, which have been recorded in The Acts. These speeches are well chosen. One of them is a speech to Jews, Acts 13:16-41; one a speech to Gentiles, Acts 17:22-31; and the third a speech to Christians, Acts 20:18-35. Together they afford a very good idea of Paul's method as a missionary and as a pastor. As is to be expected, they differ strikingly from one another. Paul was large enough to comprehend the wonderful richness of Christian truth. His gospel was always the same, but he was able to adapt the presentation of it to the character of his hearers.

At Athens, an altar inscribed TO AN UNKNOWN GOD provided a starting point. The existence of such an altar is not at all surprising, although only altars to "unknown gods" (plural instead of singular) are attested elsewhere. Perhaps the inscription on this altar indicated simply that the builder of the altar did not know to which of the numberless gods he should offer thanks for a benefit that he had received, or to which he should address a prayer to ward off calamity. Under a polytheistic religion, where every department of life had its own god, it was sometimes difficult to pick out the right god to pray to for any particular purpose. Such an altar was at any rate an expression of ignorance, and that ignorance served as a starting point for Paul. "You are afraid that you have neglected the proper god in this case," says Paul in effect. "Yes, indeed, you have. You have neglected a very important god indeed, you have neglected the one true God, who made the world and all things therein."

In what follows, Paul appeals to the truth contained in Stoic pantheism. His words are of peculiar interest at the present day, when pantheism is rampant even within the Church. There is a great truth in pantheism. It emphasizes the immanence of God. But the truth of pantheism is contained also in theism. The theist, as well as the pantheist, believes that God is not far from every one of us, and that in him we live and move and have our being. The theist, as well as the pantheist, can say, "Closer is he than breathing, and nearer than hands and feet." The theist accepts all the truth of pantheism, but avoids the error. God is present in the world--not one sparrow "shall fall on the ground without your Father"--but he is not limited to the world. He is not just another name for the totality of things, but an awful, mysterious, holy, free and sovereign Person. He is present in the world, but also Master of the world.

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IN THE LIBRARY.--Purves, "Christianity in the Apostolic Age," pp. 177-197. Davis, "Dictionary of the Bible": articles on "Troas," "Philippi," "Thessalonica," "Athens," "Areopagus," "Stoics," "Epicureans," "Corinth," "Gallio," "Silas." Ramsay, "St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen," pp. 175-261; "Pictures of the Apostolic Church," pp. 197-239. Lewin, "The Life and Epistles of St. Paul," chs. x, xi, and xii. Conybeare and Howson, "The Life and Epistles of St. Paul," chs. viii, ix, x, xi, and xii. Stalker, "The Life of St. Paul," pp. 71-81. Lumby, pp. 200-239. Cook, pp. 458-476. Plumptre, pp. 101-124. Rackham, pp. 260-263, 271-331. For information about the recently discovered Gallio inscription, see "The Princeton Theological Review," vol. ix, 1911, pp. 290-298: Armstrong, "Epigraphical Note."

LESSON XVII

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR RECENT CONVERTS

The Pauline Epistles fall naturally into four groups: (1) the epistles of the second missionary journey (First and Second Thessalonians); (2) the epistles of the third missionary journey (Galatians, First and Second Corinthians and Romans); (3) the epistles of the first imprisonment (Colossians and Philemon, Ephesians and Philippians); (4) the epistles written after the period covered by The Acts (First Timothy, Titus and Second Timothy).

Each of these groups has its own characteristics. The first group is characterized by simplicity of subject matter, and by a special interest in the second coming of Christ. The second group is concerned especially with the doctrines of sin and grace. The third group displays a special interest in the person of Christ and in the Church. The fourth group deals with organization, and with the maintenance of sound instruction.

1. SIMPLICITY OF THE THESSALONIAN EPISTLES

The reason for the peculiarities of First and Second Thessalonians has often been sought in the early date of these epistles. On the second missionary journey, it is said, Paul had not yet developed the great doctrines which appear at later periods of his life. This explanation may perhaps contain an element of truth. Undoubtedly there was some progress in Paul's thinking. Not everything was revealed to him at once. The chief cause, however, for the simplicity of the Thessalonian epistles is not the early date but the peculiar occasion of these epistles. Paul is here imparting his first written instruction to an infant church. Naturally he must feed these recent converts with milk. The simplicity of the letters is due not to immaturity in Paul but to immaturity in the Thessalonian church. After all, at the time when the Thessalonian epistles were written, the major part of Paul's Christian life--including the decisive conflict with the Judaizers at Antioch and Jerusalem--lay already in the past.

At any rate the simplicity of the Thessalonian epistles must not be exaggerated. In these letters the great Pauline doctrines, though not discussed at length, are everywhere presupposed. There is the same lofty conception of Christ as in the other epistles, the same emphasis upon his resurrection, the same doctrine of salvation through his death. I Thess. 1:10; 5:9,10.

2. THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST

Undoubtedly the second advent, with the events which are immediately to precede it, occupies a central position in the Thessalonian epistles. A few words of explanation, therefore, may here be in order.

Evidently the expectation of Christ's coming was a fundamental part of Paul's belief, and had a fundamental place in his preaching. "Ye turned unto God from idols, to serve a living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven"--these words show clearly how the hope of Christ's appearing was instilled in the converts from the very beginning. I Thess. 1:9,10. To serve the living God and to wait for his Son--that is the sum and substance of the Christian life. All through the epistles the thought of the Parousia--the "presence" or "coming"--of Christ appears as a master motive. I Thess. 2:19; 3:13; 4:13 to 5:11,23,24; II Thess. 1:5 to 2:12.

This emphasis upon the second coming of Christ is explained if Paul expected Christ to come in the near future. The imminence of the Parousia for Paul appears to be indicated by I Thess. 4:15: "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we that are alive, that are left unto the coming of the Lord, shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep." This verse is often thought to indicate that Paul confidently expected before his death to witness the coming of the Lord. Apparently he classes himself with those who "are left unto the coming of the Lord" as over against those who will suffer death. In the later epistles, it is further said, Paul held a very different view. From Second Corinthians on, he faced ever more definitely the thought of death. II Cor. 5:1,8; Phil. 1:20-26. A comparison of I Cor. 15:51 with II Cor. 5:1,8 is thought to indicate that the deadly peril which Paul incurred between the writing of the two Corinthian epistles, II Cor. 1:8,9, had weakened his expectation of living until Christ should come. After he had once despaired of life, he could hardly expect with such perfect confidence to escape the experience of death. The possibility of death was too strong to be left completely out of sight.

Plausible as such a view is, it can be held only with certain reservations.

In the first place, we must not exaggerate the nearness of the Parousia according to Paul, even in the earliest period; for in II Thess. 2:1-12 the Thessalonians are reminded of certain events that must occur before Christ would come. The expression of the former epistle, I Thess. 5:2, that the day of the Lord would come as a thief in the night, was to be taken as a warning to unbelievers to repent while there was yet time, not as a ground for neglecting ordinary provision for the future. In Second Thessalonians Paul finds it necessary to calm the overstrained expectations of the Thessalonian Christians.

Furthermore, it is not only in the earlier epistles that expressions occur which seem to suggest that the Parousia is near. Rom. 13:11; Phil. 4:5. And then it is evident from II Cor. 11:23-29 and from I Cor. 15:30-32 that Paul had undergone dangers before the one mentioned in II Cor. 1:8,9, so that there is no reason to suppose that that one event caused any sudden change in his expectations.

Lastly, in I Cor. 6:14 Paul says that "God both raised the Lord, and will raise up us through his power." If that refers to the literal resurrection, then here Paul classes himself among those who are to die; for if he lived to the Parousia, then there would be no need for him to be raised up.

It is therefore very doubtful whether we can put any very definite change in the apostle's expectations as to his living or dying between First Corinthians and Second Corinthians. A gradual development in his feeling about the matter there no doubt was. During the early part of his life his mind dwelt less upon the prospect of death than it did after perils of all kinds had made that prospect more and more imminent. But at no time did the apostle regard the privilege of living until the Parousia as a certainty to be put at all in the same category with the Christian hope itself. Especially the passage in First Thessalonians can be rightly interpreted only in the light of the historical occasion for it. Until certain members of the church had died, the Thessalonian Christians had never faced the possibility of dying before the second coming of Christ. Hence they were troubled. Would the brethren who had fallen asleep miss the benefits of Christ's kingdom? Paul writes to reassure them. He does not contradict their hope of living till the coming of Christ, for God had not revealed to him that that hope would not be realized. But he tells them that, supposing that hope to be justified, even then they will have no advantage over their dead brethren. He classes himself with those who were still alive and might therefore live till Christ should come, as over against those who were already dead and could not therefore live till Christ should come.

Certain passages in the epistles of Paul, which are not confined to any one period of his life, seem to show that at any rate he did not exclude the very real possibility that Christ might come in the near future. At any rate, however, such an expectation of the early coming of Christ was just as far removed as possible from the expectations of fanatical chiliasts. It did not lead Paul to forget that the times and the seasons are entirely in the hand of God. It had no appreciable effect upon his ethics, except to make it more intense, more fully governed by the thought of the judgment seat of Christ. It did not prevent him from laying far-reaching plans, it did not prevent his developing a great philosophy of future history in Rom., chs. 9 to 11. How far he was from falling into the error he combated in Second Thessalonians! Despite his view of the temporary character of the things that are seen, how sane and healthy was his way of dealing with practical problems! He did his duty, and left the details of the future to God. Hence it is hard to discover what Paul thought as to how soon Christ would come--naturally so, for Paul did not try to discover it himself.

3. THE PERSONS ASSOCIATED IN THE ADDRESS

Almost always other persons are associated with Paul in the addresses of the epistles. With regard to the meaning of this custom, extreme views should be avoided. On the one hand, these persons--usually, at any rate--had no share in the actual composition of the epistles. The epistles bear the imprint of one striking personality. On the other hand, association in the address means something more than that the persons so named sent greetings; for mere greetings are placed at the end. The truth lies between the two extremes. Probably the persons associated with Paul in the address were made acquainted at least in general with the contents of the epistles, and desired to express their agreement with what was said. In the Thessalonian epistles Silas and Timothy, who had had a part in the founding of the Thessalonian church, appear very appropriately in the address.

A question related to that of the persons associated in the addresses is the question of the so-called "epistolary plural." The epistolary plural was analogous to our "editorial we" it was a usage by which the writer of a letter could substitute "we" for "I" in referring to himself alone. In many passages in the letters of Paul it is exceedingly difficult to tell whether a plural is merely epistolary, or whether it has some special significance. For example, whom, if anyone, is Paul including with himself in the "we" of I Thess. 3:1? In particular, the question often is whether, when Paul says "we," he is thinking of the persons who were associated with him in the address of the epistle. On the whole it seems impossible to deny that Paul sometimes uses the epistolary plural, though his use of it is probably not so extensive as has often been supposed.

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IN THE LIBRARY.--Purves, "Christianity in the Apostolic Age," pp. 197-203. Davis, "Dictionary of the Bible": Purves (supplemented), article on "Thessalonians, Epistles to the." Hastings, "Dictionary of the Bible": Lock, articles on "Thessalonians, First Epistle to the" and "Thessalonians, Second Epistle to the." M'Clymont, "The New Testament and Its Writers," pp. 47-57. Ramsay, "Pictures of the Apostolic Church," pp. 240-246. Stalker, "The Life of St. Paul," pp. 85-107. Ellicott, "A New Testament Commentary for English Readers," vol. iii, pp. 125-170: Mason, "The Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Thessalonians." "The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges": Findlay, "The Epistles to the Thessalonians." Zahn, "Introduction to the New Testament," vol. i, pp. 152-164, 203-255. Milligan, "St. Paul's Epistles to the Thessalonians." The two last-named works are intended primarily for those who have some knowledge of Greek, but can also be used by others.

LESSON XVIII

THE CONFLICT WITH THE JUDAIZERS

1. APOLLOS

Before the arrival of Paul at Ephesus an important event had taken place in that city--the meeting of Aquila and Priscilla with Apollos. Apollos was a Jew of Alexandrian descent. He had already received instruction about Jesus--perhaps in his native city. Of all the great cities of the Roman Empire Alexandria alone was approximately as near to Jerusalem as was Syrian Antioch. The founding of the church at Alexandria is obscure, but undoubtedly it took place at a very early time. At a later period Alexandria was of the utmost importance as the center of Christian learning, as it had been already the center of the learning of the pagan world. Until instructed by Aquila and Priscilla, Apollos had known only the baptism of John the Baptist. Apparently one important thing that he had lacked was an acquaintance with the peculiar Christian manifestation of the Holy Spirit. He seems to have been trained in Greek rhetoric, whether the word translated "eloquent" in Acts 18:24 means "eloquent" or "learned." Apollos did not remain long in Ephesus, but went to Corinth, where, as can be learned from First Corinthians as well as from The Acts, his work was of great importance.

2. GALATIANS A POLEMIC