The History of Christianity - John S. C. Abbott (bookstand for reading .txt) 📗
- Author: John S. C. Abbott
- Performer: -
Book online «The History of Christianity - John S. C. Abbott (bookstand for reading .txt) 📗». Author John S. C. Abbott
Then Barnabas and Paul gave an account of their missionary tour through Asia Minor, and of the wonderful success with which God had blessed the preaching of the gospel among the Gentiles. James then rose, whose opinion as presiding officer, and pastor of the metropolitan church, would have great weight with the council, and very earnestly and convincingly sustained the views advocated by Peter, Paul, and Barnabas. The result recorded by Luke was as follows:—
“Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren: and they wrote letters by them after this manner:—
“The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia: Forasmuch as we have heard that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law (to whom we gave no such commandment), it seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,—men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have sent, therefore, Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth: for it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things,—that ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication; from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.”122
The brethren returned to Antioch, and communicated to the assembled church there the result of the council. It gave great satisfaction; and though, for a time, the all-important question continued here and there to trouble the churches, eventually there was universal acquiescence in the decision of the brethren at Jerusalem. After this, Paul and Barnabas continued some time in Antioch, “teaching and preaching the word of the Lord.”
In the mean time, Peter came to Antioch to assist the brethren in their labors there. Impetuous and versatile, and far from infallible, he at first lived in free intercourse with the Gentile converts, eating with them, and meeting them in social friendship on terms of entire equality; but suddenly, “through fear of those who were of the circumcision,” we find him withdrawing from those whom he had just been treating as equals, and giving his example in favor of those who demanded that the Gentiles should become Jews.
This vacillation and inconsistency on the part of Peter excited the indignation of Paul. The account which Paul gives of this transaction is as follows:—
“But, when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. For, before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles; but, when they were come, he withdrew, and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him, insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. But, when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all,—
“If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ,—even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”123
There is no evidence that this event caused any permanent alienation between the two apostles. It is more probable that Peter, whose mind was susceptible of such rapid changes, immediately relented, and, with all the gushings of his generous and loving nature, returned to duty. It is pleasant to read in one of the subsequent epistles of Peter the words, “Even as our beloved brother Paul hath written unto you.”124
Soon after this, the enterprising spirit of Paul induced him to leave the comparative tranquillity of his home and labors in Antioch, and to revisit all the cities and villages in Asia Minor, where he, with Barnabas, had established churches. He 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.”125
TRAVELS OF THE APOSTLE PAUL
Barnabas wished to take Mark with them again as an attendant. This John Mark, the same one who wrote the Gospel under his name, was the nephew of Barnabas, being his sister’s son. Paul was unwilling to take him, being displeased with his conduct on their previous tour, when he “departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to their work.” Barnabas was probably not a man of very much force of character, as is indicated by his being carried away with the dissimulation of Peter to which we have alluded. He had certainly occupied a secondary position on the previous missionary tour, and Paul was perhaps not unwilling to exchange him for some other brother.
There is no evidence that there was any angry controversy here,—any thing inconsistent with the Christian integrity and brotherly kindness of the two men. Barnabas took Mark with him, and, embarking at Seleucia, sailed for the Island of Cyprus. Paul chose Silas as his companion, one of the delegates who had been sent from the council at Jerusalem to Antioch. Journeying by land, and probably on foot through Syria and Cilicia, they visited the churches in Asia Minor, in a route from east to west, instead of, as before, from west to east.
Proceeding through Derbe, he came to Lystra, where, on the previous tour, he had been cruelly stoned. Here he found a young convert by the name of Timothy, for whom he formed the strongest of earthly attachments. Timothy’s mother was a Jewess; but his father was a Gentile, a Greek. His lineage was good, as Paul speaks of “the unfeigned faith which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois and thy mother Eunice.”126 Timothy attached himself to Paul, and ever after they were associated as father and son. Paul repeatedly calls him “my son,” “my own son in the faith,” and writes, “Ye know, that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel.”127
Timothy was the son of a Jewess; and his father, though a Greek, was unquestionably not an idolater, but a proselyte. While Paul was carrying “to all the churches” the decision of the council in Jerusalem,—that Gentiles were not to be forced into Judaism upon becoming Christians,—still, out of regard to the strong prejudices of the Jews among whom he was going, he caused Timothy to be circumcised. Some have regarded this as inconsistent conduct on the part of Paul; others have considered it but an indication of his far-sighted wisdom and caution. But for this, the hostile Jews would have had a new and formidable weapon of opposition to wield against him. As Timothy could not be regarded as a Gentile, the action of Paul could not be deemed inconsistent with the decision of the council at Jerusalem.
Paul, Silas, and Timothy passed through the whole central region of Asia Minor, preaching the gospel in all its cities and villages; but we have no record of the incidents which attended their labors, or of the adventures which they encountered. It was undoubtedly a successful excursion; for the sacred historian writes, “And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in numbers daily.”128
Passing through the provinces of Phrygia and Mysia, they came to Troas, on the eastern coast of the Ægean Sea, not far from the mouth of the Hellespont. Here the vision of a man appeared to Paul in the night, saying, “Come over into Macedonia and help us.” They therefore took a vessel at Troas, and sailed in a north-westerly direction, among the islands of the Ægean Sea, till they came to the important Island of Samothracia. Passing around this island on the north, they directed their course to Philippi, on the Macedonian coast. This was the chief city of that part of Macedonia. There was an important Roman colony established here, and a synagogue of the Jews outside of the walls. Here they remained several days, probably, as was ever their custom, on the week-days preaching the gospel in the streets of the city, and from house to house. On the sabbath, they went to the Jewish synagogue by a river-side. The following incident is recorded as occurring at this time and place:—
“A certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us; whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.”129
Thus peacefully the gospel was first transplanted into Europe. But in this life, “after the calm, the storm” seems to be the rule. Some persons of influence owned a slave-girl, who was believed to be possessed “with a spirit of divination.” How much of this was imposture cannot now be known. But the owners of this damsel derived much profit from the many credulous people who flocked to her to have their fortunes told. Impelled by some unexplained influence, as she met Paul and Silas day after day, she exclaimed, in the hearing of all the people,—
“These men are the servants of the most high God, which show unto us the way of salvation.”
At length, Paul, “being grieved, turned and said, I command thee, in the name of Jesus Christ, to come out of her.”
Her powers of divination, whatever they were, immediately left her. Her masters were enraged. All hope of future gain was at an end. They seized Paul and Silas, and dragged them before the city authorities. It was not easy to bring any accusation against them; for the law allowed no remedy for property depreciated by exorcism. They therefore framed a charge in which truth and falsehood were singularly blended.
“These men,” said they, “being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, and teach customs which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans.”
The Jews had recently, in consequence of some disturbance, been all driven out of Rome.130 They were generally hated and despised. It was also a principle in Roman law, that any religious innovations which threatened to unsettle the minds of the people, or to create tumult, were to be rigorously suppressed. Under these circumstances, it was not difficult to rouse the violence of the mob.
The magistrates, apparently without listening to any defence, ordered them to be led to the whipping-post and scourged. The scourging upon the bare back by the brawny arms of a
Comments (0)