The Ancient Church Part 8

When the apostle and his companions reached the Jewish capital, "the brethren received them gladly." [133:2] Paul was, however, given to understand that, as he was charged with encouraging the neglect of the Mosaic ceremonies, he must be prepared to meet a large amount of prejudice; and he was accordingly recommended to endeavour to pacify the mult.i.tude by giving some public proof that he himself "walked orderly and kept the law." [133:3] Acting on this advice, he joined with four men who had on them a Nazaritic vow; [133:4] and, "purifying himself with them, entered into the temple." [133:5] When there, he was observed by certain Jews from Asia Minor, who had probably become acquainted with his personal appearance during his residence in Ephesus; and as they had before seen him in the city with Trophimus, one of the seven deputies and a convert from paganism, whom they seem also to have known, [134:1]

they immediately concluded that he had now some Gentile companions along with him, and that he was encouraging the uncirc.u.mcised to pollute with their presence the sacred court of the Israelites. A tumult forthwith ensued; the report of the defilement of the holy place quickly circulated through the crowd; "all the city was moved;" [134:2] the people ran together; and Paul was seized and dragged out of the temple.

[134:3] The apostle would have fallen a victim to popular fury had it not been for the prompt interference of the officer who had the command of the Roman garrison in the tower of Antonia. This stronghold overlooked the courts of the sanctuary; and, no doubt, some of the sentinels on duty immediately gave notice of the commotion. The chief captain, whose name was Claudius Lysias, [134:4] at once "took soldiers and centurions," and running down to the rioters, arrived in time to prevent a fatal termination of the affray; for, as soon as the military made their appearance, the a.s.sailants "left beating of Paul." [134:5]

"Then the chief captain came near, and took him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains, and demanded who he was, and what he had done.

And some cried one thing, some another, among the mult.i.tude, and when he could not know the certainty for the tumult, he commanded him to be carried into the castle." [134:6] In proceeding thus, the commanding officer acted illegally; for, as Paul was a Roman citizen, he should not, without a trial, have been deprived of his liberty, and put in irons. But Lysias, in the hurry and confusion of the moment, had been deceived by false information; as he had been led to believe that his prisoner was an Egyptian, a notorious outlaw, who, "before these days,"

had created much alarm by leading "out into the wilderness four thousand men that were murderers." [135:1] He was quite astonished to find that the individual whom he had rescued from such imminent danger was a citizen of Tarsus in Cilicia who could speak Greek; and as it was now evident that there existed much misapprehension, the apostle was permitted to stand on the stairs of the fortress, and address the mult.i.tude. When they saw him preparing to make some statement, the noise subsided; and, "when they heard that he spake to them in the Hebrew tongue," that is, in the Aramaic, the current language of the country, "they kept the more silence." [135:2] Paul accordingly proceeded to give an account of his early life, of the remarkable circ.u.mstances of his conversion, and of his subsequent career; but, when he mentioned his mission to the Gentiles, it was at once apparent that the topic was most unpopular, for his auditors lost all patience. "They gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up their voices and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth, for it is not fit that he should live. And as they cried out, and cast off their clothes, and threw dust into the air, the chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle." [135:3]

The confinement of Paul, which now commenced at the feast of Pentecost in A.D. 58, continued about five years. It may be enough to notice the mere outline of his history during this tedious bondage. In the first place, for the purpose of ascertaining the exact nature of the charge against him, he was confronted with the Sanhedrim; but when he informed them that "of the hope and resurrection of the dead" he was called in question, [136:1] there "arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees" [136:2] const.i.tuting the council; and the chief captain, fearing lest his prisoner "should have been pulled in pieces of them, commanded the soldiers to go down, and to take him by force from among them, and to bring him into the castle." [136:3] Certain of the Jews, about forty in number, now entered into a conspiracy binding themselves "under a curse, saying, that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul;" [136:4] and it was arranged that the b.l.o.o.d.y vow should be executed when, under pretence of a new examination, he should be brought again before the Sanhedrim; but their proceedings meanwhile became known to the apostle's nephew; the chief captain received timely information; and the scheme thus miscarried. [136:5] Paul, protected by a strong military escort, was now sent away by night to Caesarea; and, when there, was repeatedly examined before Felix, the Roman magistrate who at this time, under the t.i.tle of Procurator, had the government of Judea. The historian Tacitus says of this imperial functionary that "in the practice of all kinds of cruelty and l.u.s.t, he exercised the power of a king with the mind of a slave;" [136:6] and it is a remarkable proof, as well of the intrepid faithfulness, as of the eloquence of the apostle, that he succeeded in arresting the attention, and in alarming the fears of this worthless profligate. Drusilla, his wife, a woman who had deserted her former husband, [136:7] was a Jewess; and, as she appears to have been desirous to see and hear the great Christian preacher who had been labouring with so much zeal to propagate his principles throughout the Empire, Paul, to satisfy her curiosity, was brought into her presence. But an interview, which seems to have been designed merely for the amus.e.m.e.nt of the Procurator and his partner, soon a.s.sumed an appearance of the deepest solemnity. As the grave and earnest orator went on to expound the faith of the gospel, and "as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled." [137:1] His apprehensions, however, soon pa.s.sed away, and though he was fully convinced that Paul had not incurred any legal penalty, he continued to keep him in confinement, basely expecting to obtain a bribe for his liberation. When disappointed in this hope, he still perversely refused to set him at liberty. Thus, "after two years,"

when "Porcius Festus came into Felix' room," the ex-Procurator, "willing to shew the Jews a pleasure, left Paul bound." [137:2]

The apostle was soon required to appear before the new Governor. Festus has left behind him the reputation of an equitable judge; [137:3] and though he was obviously most desirous to secure the good opinion of the Jews, he could not be induced by them to act with palpable injustice.

After he had brought them down to Caesarea, and listened to their complaints against the prisoner, he perceived that they could convict him of no violation of the law; but he proposed to gratify them so far as to have the case reheard in the holy city. Paul, however, well knew that they only sought such an opportunity to compa.s.s his a.s.sa.s.sination, and therefore peremptorily refused to consent to the arrangement. "I stand," said he, "at Caesar's judgment-seat, where I ought to be judged.

To the Jews have I done no wrong, as thou very well knowest. For if I be an offender, or have committed anything worthy of death, I refuse not to die; but if there be none of these things whereof these accuse me, no man may deliver me unto them. _I appeal unto Caesar._" [138:1]

The right of appeal from the decision of an inferior tribunal to the Emperor himself was one of the great privileges of a Roman citizen; and no magistrate could refuse to recognise it without exposing himself to condign punishment. There were, indeed, a few exceptional cases of a flagrant character in which such an appeal could not be received; and Festus here consulted with his a.s.sessors to ascertain in what light the law contemplated that of the apostle. It appeared, however, that he was at perfect liberty to demand a hearing before the tribunal of Nero.

"Then," says the evangelist, "when Festus had conferred with the council, he answered, Hast thou appealed unto Caesar? Unto Caesar shalt thou go." [138:2]

The Procurator was now placed in a somewhat awkward position; for, when sending Paul to Rome, he was required at the same time to report the crimes imputed to the prisoner; but the charges were so novel, and apparently so frivolous, that he did not well know how to embody them in an intelligible doc.u.ment. Meanwhile King Agrippa and his sister Bernice came to Caesarea "to salute Festus," [138:3] that is, to congratulate the new Governor on his arrival in the country; and the royal party expressed a desire to hear what the apostle had to say in his vindication. Agrippa was great-grandson of that Herod who reigned in Judea when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, and the son of the monarch of the same name whose sudden and awful death is recorded in the twelfth chapter of the Acts. On the demise of his father in A.D. 44, he was only seventeen years of age; and Judea, which was then reduced into the form a Roman province with Caesarea for its capital, had remained ever since under the government of Procurators. But though Agrippa had not been permitted to succeed to the dominions of his father, he had received various proofs of imperial favour; for he had obtained the government, first of the princ.i.p.ality of Chalcis, and then of several other districts; and he had been honoured with the t.i.tle of King. [139:1] The Gentile Procurators could not be expected to be very minutely acquainted with the ritual and polity of Israel; but as Agrippa was a Jew, and consequently familiar with the customs and sentiments of the native population, he had been entrusted with the care of the temple and its treasures, as well as with the appointment of the high priest. Festus, no doubt, felt that in a case such as that of Paul, the advice of this visitor should be solicited; and hoped that Agrippa would be able to supply some suggestion to relieve him out of his present perplexity. It was accordingly arranged that the apostle should be permitted to plead his cause in the hearing of the Jewish monarch. The affair seems to have created unusual interest; the public appear to have been partially admitted on the occasion; and seldom, or, perhaps, never before, had Paul enjoyed an opportunity of addressing such an influential and brilliant auditory. "Agrippa came, and Bernice, _with great pomp_, and entered into the place of hearing, with the chief captains, and princ.i.p.al men of the city." [139:2] Paul, still in bonds, made his appearance before this courtly throng; and though it might have been expected that a two years' confinement would have broken the spirit of the prisoner, he displayed powers of argument and eloquence which astonished and confounded his judges. The Procurator was quite bewildered by his reasoning, for he appealed to "the promise made unto the fathers," [139:3] and to things which "Moses and the prophets did say should come;" [140:1] and as Festus could not appreciate the lofty enthusiasm of the Christian orator (for he had never, when at Rome, been accustomed to hear the advocates of heathenism plead so earnestly in its defence), he "said with a loud voice--Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad." [140:2] But the apostle's self-possession was in nowise shaken by this blunt charge. "I am not mad, most n.o.ble Festus," he replied, "but speak forth the words of truth and soberness;" and then, turning to the royal stranger, vigorously pressed home his argument. "King Agrippa," he exclaimed, "believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest." [140:3] The King, thus challenged, was a libertine; and at this very time was believed to be living in incestuous intercourse with his sister Bernice; and yet he seems to have been staggered by Paul's solemn and pointed interrogatory.

"Almost," said he, "thou persuadest me to be a Christian." [140:4] It has been thought by some that these words were uttered with a sneer; but whatever may have been the frivolity of the Jewish King, they elicited from the apostle one of the n.o.blest rejoinders that ever issued from human lips, "And Paul said, I would to G.o.d that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost and altogether such as I am, except these bonds." [140:5]

The singularly able defence now made by the apostle convinced his judges of the futility of the charges preferred against him by the Sanhedrim.

But at this stage of the proceedings it was no longer practicable to quash the prosecution. When Paul concluded his address "the king rose up, and the governor, and Bernice, and they that sat with them. And when they were gone aside, they talked between themselves, saying--This man doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds. Then said Agrippa unto Festus--This man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed unto Caesar." [141:1]

At first sight it may appear extraordinary that so eminent a missionary in the meridian of his usefulness was subjected to so long an imprisonment. But "G.o.d's ways are not as our ways, nor His thoughts as our thoughts." When thus, to a great extent, laid aside from official duty, he had ample time to commune with his own heart, and to trace out, with adoring wonder, the glorious grace and the manifold wisdom of the work of redemption. Having himself partaken largely of affliction, and experienced the sustaining power of the gospel so abundantly, he was the better prepared to comfort the distressed; and hence his letters, written at this period, are so full of consolation. [141:2] And apart from other considerations, we may here recognise the fulfilment of a prophetic announcement. When Paul was converted, the Lord said to Ananias--"He is a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name before the Gentiles, and _kings_, and the children of Israel, for I will shew him _how great things he must suffer_ for my name's sake." [141:3] During his protracted confinement he exhibited alike to Jew and Gentile an ill.u.s.trious specimen of faith and constancy; and called attention to the truth in many quarters where otherwise it might have remained unknown.

Though he was chained to a soldier, he was not kept in very rigorous custody, so that he had frequent opportunities of proclaiming the great salvation. He was peculiarly fitted by his education and his genius for expounding Christianity to persons moving in the upper circles of society; and had he remained at liberty he could have expected to gain access very rarely to such auditors. But already, as a prisoner, he had pleaded the claims of the gospel before no inconsiderable portion of the aristocracy of Palestine. He had been heard by the chief captain in command of the garrison in the castle of Antonia, by the Sanhedrim, by Felix and Drusilla, by Festus, by King Agrippa and his sister Bernice, and probably by "the princ.i.p.al men" of both Caesarea and Jerusalem. In criminal cases the appeals of Roman citizens were heard by the Emperor himself, so that the apostle was about to appear as an amba.s.sador for Christ in the presence of the greatest of earth's potentates. Who can tell but that some of that splendid a.s.sembly of senators and n.o.bles who surrounded Nero, when Paul was brought before his judgment-seat, will have reason throughout all eternity to remember the occasion as the birth-day of their blessedness!

The apostle and "certain other prisoners" embarked for Rome in the autumn of A.D. 60. The compa.s.s was then unknown; in weather, "when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared," [142:1] the mariner was without a guide; and, late in the season, navigation was peculiarly dangerous. The voyage proved disastrous; after pa.s.sing into a second vessel at Myra, [142:2] a city of Lycia, Paul and his companions were wrecked on the coast of the island of Malta; [142:3] when they had remained there three months, they set sail once more in a corn ship of Alexandria, the Castor and Pollux; [142:4] and at length in the early part of A.D. 61, reached the harbour of Puteoli, [143:1] then the great shipping port of Italy.

The account of the voyage from Caesarea to Puteoli, as given in the Acts of the Apostles, is one of the most curious pa.s.sages to be found in the whole of the sacred volume. Some may think it strange that the inspired historian enters so much into details, and the nautical terms which he employs may puzzle not a few readers; but these features of his narrative attest its authenticity and genuineness. No one, who had not himself shared the perils of the scene, could have been expected to describe with so much accuracy the circ.u.mstances of the shipwreck. It has been remarked that, after the lapse of eighteen hundred years, the references of the evangelist to prevailing winds and currents, to the indentations of the coast, to islands, bays, and harbours, may still be exactly verified. Recent investigators have demonstrated that the sailors, in the midst of danger, displayed no little ability, and that their conduct in "undergirding the ship," [143:2] and in casting "four anchors out of the stern," [143:3] evidenced their skilful seamanship.

Luke states that, after a long period of anxiety and abstinence, "about midnight the shipmen deemed that they drew near to some country."

[143:4] The headland they were approaching is very low, and in a stormy night is said to be invisible even at the distance of a quarter of a mile; [143:5] but the sailors could detect the sh.o.r.e by other indications. Even in a storm _the roar of breakers_ can be distinguished from other sounds by the practised ear of a mariner; [144:1] and it can be shewn that, with such a gale as was then blowing, the sea still dashes with amazing violence against the very same point of land off which Paul and his companions were that night labouring. In the depth of the water at the place there is another most remarkable coincidence. We are told that the sailors "sounded and found it _twenty fathoms_, and when they had gone a little farther, they sounded, and found it _fifteen fathoms_." [144:2] "But what," observes a modern writer, "are the soundings at this point? They are now _twenty fathoms_. If we proceed a little farther we find _fifteen fathoms_. It may be said that this, in itself is nothing remarkable. But if we add that the fifteen-fathom depth is _in the direction of the vessel's drift_ (W. by N.) from the twenty-fathom depth, the coincidence is startling." [144:3] It may be stated also that the "creek with a sh.o.r.e" [144:4] or sandy beach, and the "place where two seas met," [144:5] and where "they ran the ship aground" may still be recognised in what is now called St Paul's Bay at Malta. [144:6] Even in the nature of the submarine strata we have a most striking confirmation of the truth of the inspired history. It appears that the four anchors cast out of the stern retained their hold, and it is well known that the ground in St Paul's Bay is remarkably firm; for in our English sailing directions it is mentioned that "while the cables hold, there is no danger, as the anchors will never start." [144:7] Luke reports that when the ship ran aground, "the fore-part stuck fast and remained unmoveable" [144:8]--a statement which is corroborated by the fact that "the bottom is mud graduating into tenacious clay"

[145:1]--exactly the species of deposit from which such a result might be antic.i.p.ated.

When Paul landed at Puteoli, he must have contemplated with deep emotion the prospect of his arrival in Rome. The city to which he now approached contained, perhaps, upwards of a million of human beings. [145:2] But the amount of its inhabitants was one of the least remarkable of its extraordinary distinctions. It was the capital of the mightiest empire that had ever yet existed; one hundred races speaking one hundred languages were under its dominion; [145:3] and the sceptre which ruled so many subject provinces was wielded by an absolute potentate. This great autocrat was the high priest of heathenism--thus combining the grandeur of temporal majesty with the sacredness of religious elevation.

Senators and generals, petty kings and provincial governors, were all obliged to bow obsequiously to his mandates. In this vast metropolis might be found natives of almost every clime; some engaged in its trade; some who had travelled to it from distant countries to solicit the imperial favour; some, like Paul, conveyed to it as prisoners; some stimulated to visit it by curiosity; and some attracted to it by the vague hope of bettering their condition. The city of the Caesars might well be described as "sitting upon many waters;" [145:4] for, though fourteen or fifteen miles from the mouth of the Tiber, the mistress of the world was placed on a peninsula stretching out into the middle of a great inland sea over which she reigned without a rival. In the summer months almost every port of every country along the sh.o.r.es of the Mediterranean sent forth vessels freighted with cargoes for the merchants of Rome. [146:1] The fleet from Alexandria laden with wheat for the supply of the city was treated with peculiar honour; for its ships alone were permitted to hoist their topsails as they approached the sh.o.r.e; a deputation of senators awaited its arrival; and, as soon as it appeared, the whole surrounding population streamed to the pier, and observed the day as a season of general jubilee. But an endless supply of other articles in which the poor were less interested found their way to Rome. The mines of Spain furnished the great capital with gold and silver, whilst its sheep yielded wool of superior excellence; and, in those times of Roman conquest, slaves were often transported from the sh.o.r.es of Britain. The horses and chariots and fine linen of Egypt, the gums and spices and silk and ivory and pearls of India, the Chian and the Lesbian wines, and the beautiful marble of Greece and Asia Minor, all met with purchasers in the mighty metropolis. [146:2] As John surveyed in vision the fall of Rome, and as he thought of the almost countless commodities which ministered to her insatiable luxury, well might he represent the world's traffic as destroyed by the catastrophe; and well might he speak of the merchants of the earth as weeping and mourning over her, because "no man buyeth their merchandise any more."

[146:3]

Paul had often desired to prosecute his ministry in the imperial city; for he knew that if Christianity could obtain a firm footing in that great centre of civilisation and of power, its influence would soon be transmitted to the ends of the earth: but he now appeared there under circ.u.mstances equally painful and discouraging. And yet even in this embarra.s.sing position he was not overwhelmed with despondency. At Puteoli he "found brethren," [146:4] and through the indulgence of Julius, the centurion to whose care he was committed, he was courteously allowed to spend a week [147:1] with the little Church of which they were members. He now set out on his way to the metropolis; but the intelligence of his arrival had travelled before him, and after crossing the Pomptine marshes, he was, no doubt, delighted to find a number of Christian friends from Rome a.s.sembled at Appii Forum to tender to him the a.s.surances of their sympathy and affection. The place was twenty-seven miles from the capital; and yet, at a time when travelling was so tedious and so irksome, they had undertaken this lengthened journey to visit the poor, weather-beaten, and tempest-tossed prisoner.

At the Three Taverns, ten miles nearer to the city, he met another party of disciples [147:2] anxious to testify their attachment to so distinguished a servant of their Divine Master. These tokens of respect and love made a deep impression upon the susceptible mind of the apostle; and it is accordingly stated that, when he saw the brethren, "he thanked G.o.d and took courage." [147:3]

The important services he had been able to render on the voyage gave him a claim to particular indulgence; and accordingly, when he reached Rome, and when the centurion delivered the prisoners to the Praetorian Prefect, or the commander-in-chief of the Praetorian guards, [147:4]

"Paul was suffered to dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him."

[147:5] But though he enjoyed this comparative liberty, he was chained to his military care-taker, so that his position must still have been very far from comfortable. And yet even thus he continued his ministry with as much ardour as if he had been without restraint, and as if he had been cheered on by the applause of his generation. Three days after his arrival in the city he "called the chief of the Jews together,"

[148:1] and gave them an account of the circ.u.mstances of his committal, and of his appeal to the imperial tribunal. They informed him that his case had not been reported to them by their brethren in Judea; and then expressed a desire to hear from him a statement of the claims of Christianity. "And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of G.o.d, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses and out of the prophets from morning till evening." [148:2] His appeals produced a favourable impression upon only a part of his audience. "Some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not." [148:3]

Several years prior to this date a Christian Church existed in the Western metropolis, and at this time there were probably several ministers in the city; but the apostle, in all likelihood, now entered upon some field of labour which had not hitherto been occupied. He "dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him--preaching the kingdom of G.o.d, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no man forbidding him." [148:4] All this time Paul's right hand was chained to the left hand of a soldier, who was responsible for the safe keeping of his prisoner. The soldiers relieved each other in this duty. [148:5] It would appear that Paul's chain might be relaxed at meal-times, and perhaps he was occasionally granted some little additional indulgence; but day and night he and his care-taker must have remained in close proximity, as the life of the soldier was forfeited should his ward escape. We can well conceive that the very appearance of the preacher at this period invited special attention to his ministrations. He was now "Paul the aged;" [149:1] he had perhaps pa.s.sed the verge of threescore years; and though his detractors had formerly objected that "his bodily presence was weak," [149:2] all would at this time have, probably, admitted, that his aspect was venerable. His life had been a career of unabated exertion; and now, though worn down by toils, and hardships, and imprisonments, his zeal burned with unquenched ardour. As the soldier who kept him belonged to the Praetorian guards, it has been thought that the apostle spent much of his time in the neighbourhood of their quarters on the Palatine hill, [149:3] and that as he was now so much conversant with military sights and sounds, we may in this way account for some of the allusions to be found in his epistles written during his present confinement. Thus, he speaks of Archippus and Epaphroditus as his "fellow-soldiers;" [149:4] and he exhorts his brethren to "put on the whole armour of G.o.d," including "the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit." [149:5] As the indefatigable old man, with the soldier who had charge of him, pa.s.sed from house to house inviting attendance on his services, the very appearance of such "yoke-fellows"

[149:6] must have created some interest; and, when the congregation a.s.sembled, who could remain unmoved as the apostle stretched forth his chained hand, [149:7] and proceeded to expound his message! He seems himself to have thought that the very position which he occupied, as "the prisoner of the Lord," [149:8] imparted somewhat to the power of his testimony. Hence we find him saying--"I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto _the furtherance of the gospel_, so that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the Praetorium, [150:1] and in all other places; and many of the brethren in the Lord waxing confident by my bonds are much more bold to speak the word without fear." [150:2]

During this imprisonment at Rome, Paul dictated a number of his epistles. Of these, the letter to Philemon, a Christian of Colosse, seems to have been first written. The bearer of this communication was Onesimus, who had at one time been a slave in the service of the individual to whom it is addressed; and who, as it appears, after robbing his master, had left the country. The thief made his way to Rome, where he was converted under the ministry of the apostle; and where he had since greatly recommended himself as a zealous and trustworthy disciple. He was now sent back to Colosse with this Epistle to Philemon, in which the writer undertakes to be accountable for the property that had been pilfered, [150:3] and entreats his correspondent to give a kindly reception to the penitent fugitive. Onesimus, when conveying the letter to his old master, was accompanied by Tychicus, whom the apostle describes as "a beloved brother and a faithful minister and fellow-servant in the Lord" [150:4] who was entrusted with the Epistle to the Colossians. Error, in the form of false philosophy and Judaizing superst.i.tion, had been creeping into the Colossian Church, [150:5] and the apostle in this letter exhorts his brethren to beware of its encroachments. About the same time Paul wrote the Epistle to the Ephesians; and Tychicus was also the bearer of this communication.

[150:6] Unlike most of the other epistles, it has no salutations at the close; it is addressed, not only "to the saints which are at Ephesus" in particular, but also "to the faithful in Christ Jesus" [151:1] in general; and as its very superscription thus bears evidence that it was originally intended to be a circular letter, it is probably "the epistle from Laodicea" mentioned in the Epistle to the Colossians. [151:2] The first division of it is eminently distinguished by the profound and comprehensive views of the Christian system it exhibits; whilst the latter portion is no less remarkable for the variety, pertinency, and wisdom, of its practical admonitions. The Epistle to the Philippians was likewise written about this period. Paul always took a deep interest in the well-being of his earliest European converts, and here he speaks in most hopeful terms of their spiritual condition. [151:3] They were less disturbed by divisions and heresies than perhaps any other of the Apostolic Churches.

CHAPTER X.

PAUL'S SECOND IMPRISONMENT, AND MARTYRDOM; PETER, HIS EPISTLES, HIS MARTYRDOM, AND THE ROMAN CHURCH.

The Book of the Acts terminates abruptly; and the subsequent history of Paul is involved in much obscurity. Some have contended that the apostle was never released from his first imprisonment at Rome, and accordingly consider that he was one of the earliest Christian martyrs who suffered under the Emperor Nero. But this theory is enc.u.mbered with insuperable difficulties. In his letters written after his first appearance in Rome, Paul evidently antic.i.p.ates his liberation; [152:1] and in some of them he apparently speaks prophetically. Thus, he says to the Philippians--"I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better--nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you--and having this confidence _I know that I shall abide and continue_ with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith."

[152:2] The apostle had long cherished a desire to visit Spain; [152:3]

and there is evidence that he actually preached the gospel in that country; for Clemens Roma.n.u.s, who was his contemporary and fellow-labourer, positively affirms that he travelled "to the extremity of the west." [153:1] Clemens appears to have been himself a native of the great metropolis; [153:2] and as he makes the statement just quoted in a letter written from Rome, it cannot be supposed that, under such circ.u.mstances, he would have described Italy as the boundary of the earth. The Second Epistle to Timothy, which is generally admitted to have been written immediately before Paul's death, contains several pa.s.sages which obviously indicate that the author had been very recently at liberty. Thus, he says-"The cloak [153:3] (or, as some render it, _the case_) [153:4] that I left at Troas, with Carpus, when thou comest bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments." [153:5]

These words suggest that the apostle had lately visited Troas on the coast of Asia Minor. Again, he remarks--"Erastus abode at Corinth, but Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick." [153:6] Any ordinary reader would at once infer from this observation that the writer had just arrived from Miletum. [153:7] The language of the concluding verses of the Acts warrants the impression that Paul's confinement had ended some time before the book was completed; for had the apostle been still in bondage, it would scarcely have been said that, when a prisoner, he dwelt for two whole years in his own hired house--thereby implying that the period of his residence, at least in that abode, had terminated. And if Paul was released at the expiration of these two years, we can well understand why the sacred historian may have deemed it inexpedient to give an account of his liberation. The subjects of Rome at that time were literally living under a reign of terror; and it would perhaps have been most unwise to have proceeded farther with the narrative. Paul, as Peter once before, [154:1] may have been miraculously delivered; and prudence may have required the concealment of his subsequent movements.

Or, the history of his release may have been so mixed up with the freaks of the tyrant who then oppressed the Roman world, that its publication might have brought down the imperial vengeance on the head of the evangelist.

We have seen that Paul arrived in Rome as a prisoner in the beginning of A.D. 61; and if at this time his confinement continued only two years, he must have been liberated in the early part of A.D. 63. Nero had not then commenced his memorable persecution of the Church; for the burning of the city took place in the summer of A.D. 64; and, until that date, the disciples do not appear to have been singled out as the special objects of his cruelty. It is probable that Paul, after his release, accomplished his intention of visiting the Spanish Peninsula; and, on his return to Italy, he appears to have written the Epistle to the Hebrews. [154:2] The destruction of Jerusalem was at this time approaching; and, as the apostle demonstrates in this letter that the law was fulfilled in Christ, he thus prepares the Jewish Christians for the extinction of the Mosaic ritual. In all likelihood he now once more visited Jerusalem, travelling by Corinth, [155:1] Philippi, [155:2] and Troas, [155:3] where he left for the use of Carpus the case with the books and parchments which he mentions in his Second Epistle to Timothy.

Pa.s.sing on then to Colosse, [155:4] he may have visited Antioch in Pisidia and other cities of Asia Minor, the scenes of his early ministrations; and reached Jerusalem [155:5] by way of Antioch in Syria.

He perhaps returned from Palestine to Rome by sea, leaving Trophimus sick [155:6] at Miletum in Crete. The journey did not probably occupy much time; and, on his return to Italy, he seems to have been immediately incarcerated. His condition was now very different from what it had been during his former confinement; for he was deserted by his friends, and treated as a malefactor. [155:7] When he wrote to Timothy he had already been brought before the judgment-seat, and had narrowly escaped martyrdom. "At my first answer," says he, "no man stood with me, but all men forsook me. I pray G.o.d that it may not be laid to their charge. Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear; [155:8] and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion."

[155:9] The prospect, however, still continued gloomy; and he had no hope of ultimate escape. In the antic.i.p.ation of his condemnation, he wrote those words so full of Christian faith and heroism, "I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight--I have finished my course--I have kept the faith.

Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me in that day, and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." [156:1]

Paul was martyred perhaps about A.D. 66. Tradition reports that he was beheaded; [156:2] and as he was a Roman citizen, it is not probable that he suffered any more ignominious fate. About the third or fourth century, a statement appeared to the effect that he and Peter were put to death at Rome on the same day; [156:3] but all the early doc.u.mentary evidence we possess is quite opposed to such a representation. If Peter really finished his career in the Western metropolis, it would seem that he did not arrive there until very shortly before the decapitation of the Apostle of the Gentiles; for Paul makes no reference, in any of his writings, to the presence of such a fellow-labourer in the capital of the Empire. In the Epistle to the Romans, containing so many salutations to the brethren in the great city, the name of Peter is not found; and in none of the letters written _from_ Rome is he ever mentioned. In the last of his Epistles--the Second to Timothy--the writer says--"_only Luke_ is with me" [156:4]--and had Peter then been in the place, Paul would not have thus ignored the existence of the apostle of the circ.u.mcision.

But still there is a very ancient and apparently a well authenticated tradition that Peter suffered martyrdom at Rome; [156:5] and if, as is not improbable, Paul met him in Jerusalem, during his visit to that city after his release from his first imprisonment, it may be that he was then encouraged to undertake a journey to the West. [156:6] It is not improbable that he was recommended, at the same time, to visit the Churches of Asia Minor for the purpose of using his influence to defeat the efforts of the Judaizing zealots; and if, after pa.s.sing through Galatia, Bithynia, and other districts, he continued his course to Home, we can well understand why, on reaching the seat of Empire, he addressed his first epistle to the Christians with whom he had so recently held intercourse. The tradition that the "Babylon" from which this letter was written, [157:1] is no other than Rome, or the mystical Babylon of the Apocalypse, [157:2] is unquestionably of great antiquity; [157:3] and some of the announcements it contains are certainly quite in unison with such an interpretation. Thus, Peter tells his brethren of "the fiery trial" which was "to try" them, [157:4] alluding, in all likelihood, to the extension of the Neronian persecution to the provinces; and it may be presumed that, in the capital, and in communication with some of "Caesar's household," he had means of information in reference to such matters, to which elsewhere he could have had no access, Mark, who probably arrived in Rome about the time of the death of Paul, [157:5]

was with Peter when this letter was written; [157:6] and we have thus additional evidence that the apostle of the circ.u.mcision was now in the Western capital. It is also worthy of remark that this epistle was transmitted to its destination by Silas, or Silva.n.u.s, [157:7] apparently the same individual who had so frequently accompanied the Apostle Paul on his missionary journeys. [157:8] Silva.n.u.s had been for many years acquainted with the brethren to whom the letter is addressed, and therefore was well suited to be its bearer. But though he had long occupied a prominent position in the Church, he seems to have been very little known to Peter; and hence the somewhat singular manner in which he is noticed towards the close of this epistle--"By Silva.n.u.s, a faithful brother unto you, as I suppose, I have written briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of G.o.d wherein ye stand." [158:1]

If this letter was written from Rome about the time of the death of Paul, it is not strange that Peter deemed it prudent to conceal his place of residence under the designation of Babylon. Nero was then seeking the extermination of the Christians in the capital; and they had enemies in all quarters who would have rejoiced to point out to him such a distinguished victim as the aged apostle. And how could Peter more appropriately describe the seat of Empire than by naming it _Babylon?_ Nebuchadnezzar, who reigned so gloriously in the great Eastern capital, had destroyed the temple of G.o.d; and now Nero, who ruled in the Western metropolis, was seeking to ruin the Church of G.o.d. Nebuchadnezzar had led the Jews into captivity; but Rome now enthralled both Jews and Gentiles. If Nebuchadnezzar had an ant.i.type in Nero, a.s.suredly Babylon had an ant.i.type in Rome. [158:2]

The Second Epistle of Peter was written soon after the first, and was addressed to the same Churches. [158:3] The author now contemplated the near approach of death, so that the advices he here gives may be regarded as his dying instructions. "I think it meet," says he, "_as long as I am in this tabernacle_, [158:4] to stir you up by putting you in remembrance--knowing that _shortly_ I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me." [159:1] If then Peter was martyred at Rome, we may infer that this letter must have been written somewhere in the same neighbourhood, and probably in the same city. We have thus a corroborative proof that the Babylon of the first letter is no other than the great metropolis.

It deserves notice that in this second epistle, Peter bears emphatic testimony to the character and inspiration of Paul. The Judaizing party, as there is reason to think, were in the habit of pleading that they were supported by the authority of the apostle of the circ.u.mcision; and as many of these zealots were to be found in the Churches of Asia Minor, [159:2] such a recognition of the claims of the Apostle of the Gentiles was calculated to exert a most salutary influence. "The strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,"

[159:3] were thus given to understand that all the true heralds of the gospel had but "one faith;" and that any attempt to create divisions in the Church, by representing the doctrine of one inspired teacher as opposed to the doctrine of another, was most unwarrantable. The reference to Paul, to be found in the Second Epistle of Peter, is favourable to the supposition that the Apostle of the Gentiles was now dead; as, had he been still living to correct such misinterpretations, it would scarcely have been said that in all his epistles were things "hard to be understood" which "the unlearned and unstable" wrested "unto their own destruction." [159:4] It would seem, too, that Peter here alludes particularly to the Epistle to the Hebrews--a letter, as we have seen, addressed to Jewish Christians, and written after Paul's liberation from his first Roman imprisonment. It must be admitted that this letter contains pa.s.sages [159:5] which have often proved perplexing to interpreters; but, notwithstanding, it bears the impress of a divine original; and Peter, who maintains that all the writings of Paul were dictated by unerring wisdom, places them upon a level with "the _other Scriptures_" [160:1] either of the evangelists or of the Old Testament.

According to a current tradition, Peter suffered death at Rome by crucifixion. [160:2] He was not a Roman citizen; and was, therefore, like our Lord himself, consigned to a mode of punishment inflicted on slaves and the lowest cla.s.s of malefactors. The story that, at his own request, he was crucified with his head downwards as more painful and ignominious than the doom of his Master, [160:3] is apparently the invention of an age when the pure light of evangelical religion was greatly obscured; for the apostle was too well acquainted with the truth to believe that he was at liberty to inflict upon himself any unnecessary suffering. The tradition that he died on the same day of the same month as Paul, but exactly a year afterwards, [160:4] is not dest.i.tute of probability. According to this statement he suffered A.D.

67; and he may have been about a year in Rome before his martyrdom.

In the New Testament it is impossible to find a trace of either the primacy of Peter or the supremacy of the Pope; but the facts already stated throw some light on the history of that great spiritual despotism whose seat of government has been so long established in the city of the Caesars. It is obvious that at a very early period various circ.u.mstances contributed to give prominence to the Church of Rome. The epistle addressed to it contains a more complete exhibition of Christian doctrine than any other of the apostolical letters; and, in that remarkable communication, Paul expresses an earnest desire to visit a community already celebrated all over the world. Five or six of his letters, now forming part of the inspired canon, were dictated in the capital of the Empire. The two epistles of the apostle of the circ.u.mcision appear to have emanated from the same metropolis. There is every reason to believe that the book of the Acts was written at Rome; and it is highly probable that the great city was also the birthplace of the Gospels of Mark and Luke. Thus, a large portion of the New Testament issued from the seat of Empire. Rome could also boast that it was for some time the residence of two of the most eminent of the apostles. Paul was there for at least two years as a prisoner; and Peter may have resided for twelve months within its walls. Some of the most ill.u.s.trious of the early converts were members of the Church of Rome; for in the days of the Apostle of the Gentiles there were disciples in "Caesar's household." [161:1] And when Nero signalised himself as the first Imperial persecutor of the Christians, the Church of Rome suffered terribly from his insane and savage cruelty. Even the historian Tacitus acknowledges that the tortures to which its adherents were exposed excited the commiseration of the heathen mult.i.tude. Paul and Peter were cut off in his reign; and the soil of Rome absorbed the blood of these apostolic martyrs. [161:2] It was not strange, therefore, that the Roman Church was soon regarded with peculiar respect by all the disciples throughout the Empire. As time pa.s.sed on, it increased rapidly in numbers and in affluence; and circ.u.mstances, which properly possessed nothing more than an historic interest, began to be urged as arguments in favour of its claims to pre-eminence. At first these claims a.s.sumed no very definite form; and, at the termination of a century after the days of Paul and Peter, they amounted simply to the recognition of something like an honorary precedence. At that period it was, perhaps, deemed equally imprudent and ungracious to quarrel with its pretensions, more especially as the community by which they were advanced was distributing its bounty all around, and was itself n.o.bly sustaining the brunt of almost every persecution. In the course of time, the Church of Rome proceeded to challenge a substantial supremacy; and then the facts of its early history were mis-stated and exaggerated in accommodation to the demands of its growing ambition. It was said at first that "its faith was spoken of throughout the whole world;" it was at length alleged that its creed should be universally adopted. It was admitted at an early period that, as it had enjoyed the ministrations of Peter and Paul, it should be considered an apostolic church; it was at length a.s.serted that, as an apostle was ent.i.tled to deference from ordinary pastors, a church instructed by two of the most eminent apostles had a claim to the obedience of other churches. In process of time it was discovered that Paul was rather an inconvenient companion for the apostle of the circ.u.mcision; and Peter alone then began to be spoken of as the founder and first bishop of the Church of Rome. Strange to say, a system founded on a fiction has since sustained the shocks of so many centuries. One of the greatest marvels of this "mystery of iniquity" is its tenacity of life; and did not the sure word of prophecy announce that the time would come when it would be able to boast of its antiquity, and did we not know that paganism can plead a more remote original, we might be perplexed by its longevity. But "the vision is yet for an appointed time--at the end it shall speak and not lie. Though it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come, it will not tarry."

[162:1]

CHAPTER XI.

THE PERSECUTIONS OF THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH, AND ITS CONDITION AT THE TERMINATION OF THE FIRST CENTURY.

Jesus Christ was a Jew, and it might have been expected that the advent of the most ill.u.s.trious of His race, in the character of the Prophet announced by Moses, would have been hailed with enthusiasm by His countrymen. But the result was far otherwise. "He came unto his own, and his own received him not." [163:1] The Jews cried "Away with him, away with him, crucify him;" [163:2] and He suffered the fate of the vilest criminal. The enmity of the posterity of Abraham to our Lord did not terminate with His death; they long maintained the bad pre-eminence of being the most inveterate of the persecutors of His early followers.