Skip to main content

Full text of "The last years of Saint Paul"

See other formats 


BS  2505  .F63213  1901 
Fouard,  Constant,  1837-1904. 
The  last  years  of  Saint  Paul 


THE    LAST    YEARS 

OF 

SAINT  PAUL 


REMIGIUS   LAFORT,  S.T.L. 

Censor  Librorutn. 


Imprimatur : 

*  MICHAEL  AUGUSTINUS, 

A  rchiepiscopus  Neo-Eboracensis> 


Neo-Eboraci,  die  25,  Octobris,  1900. 


t)*!; 


fret  e 


aV 


THE    LAST    YEARS 


OF 


SAINT  PAUL 


By  the   abbe   CONSTANT   FOUARD 


STransIateH  bjttfj  tfjc  ^utfjofs  sanction  nnti  cobpcratiott 
By  GEORGE   F.   X.    GRIFFITH 


NEW  YORK   AND    LONDON 

LONGMANS,   GREEN,  AND   CO, 

1901 


Copyright,  1900, 
By  George  F.  X.  GraFFiTH. 


First  Edition,  November,  1900 
Reprinted,  December,  1901 


UNIVERSITY    PRESS    •    JOHN    WILSON 
AND     SON      •      CAMBRIDGE,     U.S.A. 


PREFACE. 


To  me  to  live  is  Christ  and  to  die  is  gain. 

—  Philip,  i.  21. 

Those  missionary  journeys  of  Saint  Paul,  which  I  en- 
deavored to  set  forth  in  a  preceding  volume/  go  to  make 
up  the  longer  term  of  his  Apostolate  (from  42  to  62). 
No  more  than  five  years  of  life  were  destined  to  be  his 
after  his  arrival  in  Rome,  while  one  half  of  this  time  he 
was  to  drag  out  in  captivity.  And  yet,  restricted  in  every 
respect  though  this  closing  of  his  ministry  may  seem,  it  is 
of  an  importance  equal  to,  if  not  greater  than,  that  of  the 
longer  period  during  which  Paul  evangelized  Asia  and 
Greece.  His  main  object  in  the  course  of  those  seventeen 
years  of  mission-work  had  been  to  free  the  Christian  com- 
munities which  he  was  founding  from  the  bondage  of 
Judaism.  On  emerging  from  that  struggle  he  finds  that 
both  his  own  views,  as  well  as  his  sphere  of  action,  have 
widened.  Against  the  nascent  shadows  of  heresy  he 
must  needs  now  uphold  the  pure  light  of  the  Incarna- 
tion ;  unto  poor,  dying  Jerusalem  he  is  destined  to  dis- 
play Jesus,  High  Priest  from  everlasting  unto  everlasting, 
abolishing  the  ancient  worship  of  Mosaic  Law ;  to  all  he 
is  to  repeat  the  fact  that  this  Divine  Saviour  perpetuates 
His  life  in  the  Church ;  finally  he  develops  the  Hierarchy, 
which  was  destined  to  maintain  and  regulate  the  functions 
of  that  mystical  body  of  Christ. 

Vast,  indeed,  from  every  point  of  view,  was  this  labor, 
but  Paul  was  not  to  be  left  alone  to  work  out  its  accom- 

1  St.  Paul  and  His  Missions,  Longmans,  1894. 


vi  PREFACE. 

plishment.  The  same  Spirit  which  inspired  him  animated 
the  other  members  of  the  Apostolic  College  as  well,  thus 
breathing  into  the  hearts  of  one  and  all  a  like  solicitude 
for  their  Churches.  Of  this  we  have  plentiful  testimony 
in  the  four  letters  addressed  during  this  same  period  to 
the  believers  in  Asia.  Therein  James  and  Jude,  Peter 
especially,  while  combating  with  the  same  sectaries  as 
did  the  Apostles  of  the  Gentiles,  will  enable  us  to  follow 
with  keener  appreciation  the  rise  and  development  of  the 
Gnostic  heresies  which  were  to  harass  Christianity  for 
many  a  long  day.  We  are  bound  to  glean  every  slightest 
fact  we  can  from  these  writings ;  for,  together  with  the 
last  Epistles  of  Saint  Paul,  they  are  the  only  sources 
available  to  the  student  of  this  period  of  the  Church's 
infancy.  In  other  words,  I  have  had  to  content  myself 
with  constructing  a  history  without  historical  facts,  and, 
as  a  general  rule,  to  limit  myself  to  setting  forth  the 
meaning  of  the  Apostles,  in  default  of  any  knowledge  of 
their  acts. 

Even  these  few  documents  would  avail  us  nothing  if 
we  were  to  lend  an  ear  to  the  voice  of  rationalistic  crit- 
icism ;  for  in  the  Holy  Books  I  shall  have  to  make  use 
of  there  is  little  enough  left  that  is  authentic,  were  we  to 
listen  to  its  objections.  It  is  true,  indeed,  that  these 
critics  have  found  themselves  constrained,  step  by  step, 
to  order  back  their  attacking  lines  and  to  acknowledge 
that  the  majority  of  their  assaults  have  been  triumphantly 
repulsed.^  In  short,  we  may  assert,  without  unduly 
dwelling  on  this  point,  that  to-day  they  accept  the  Epis- 
tles to  the  Philippians  and  to  the  Colossians,  and  even 
that  addressed  to  the  Ephesians.     The  short  note  written 

1  This  tendency,  all  along  the  line,  to  accept  opinions  authorized  by 
Catholic  Tradition  is  particularly  noticeable  in  two  works  which  stand  in 
great  repute  at  the  date  of  writing.  One  is  that  of  Professor  Harnaek, 
cliief  of  tlie  new  school  in  Berlin  :  Die  Chrojiolo(/ie  der  altchristUchen 
Littprat.nr  bin  Eni^fhins  (Leijizig,  1897);  the  other  that  of  the  illustrious 
Professor  Blass  of  Halle  :  Acta  Aposfoloi'iim,  Editio  Philologica  (Gottingen, 
1895).  As  to  this  peculiar  right-about-face  of  rationalistic  exegesis,  con- 
sult: Les  Etudf.s  des  Peres  lie  la  Compagnie  de  Je'sus  (July,  1897),  pp. 
55-74,  and  La  Revue  Biblique  (July,  1897),  pp.  423-432. 


PREFACE.  Vii 

to  Philemon  is  very  generally  admitted.  To  assign  the 
first  Epistle  of  Saint  Peter  and  that  of  Saint  James  to  the 
time  when  I  shall  endeavor  to  show  they  were  composed, 
—  even  this  contention  no  longer  seems  to  them  so  alto- 
gether devoid  of  probability.  The  only  pieces  of  evidence 
adduced  in  this  volume  which  the  Ptationalists  agree  in 
throwing  out  of  court,  are  the  Epistles  to  Timothy,  to 
Titus,  to  the  Hebrews,  the  Epistles  of  Saint  Jude,  and 
Saint  Peter's  second  Letter.  It  does  not  enter  into  the 
scheme  of  this  work  to  try  to  refute,  one  by  one,  their 
quibbles  and  subtleties.  Our  biblical  manuals  provide  an 
ample  armory  for  this  irksome  warfare  of  controversy.^ 
There  the  student  will  find  that  we  are  amply  sustained 
in  our  right  to  hold  that  these  books  are  the  work  of  the 
very  Apostles  to  whom  Tradition  attributed  them.^ 

The  name  of  Saint  Paul,  once  more  made  use  of  to 
adorn  the  titlepage  of  this  work,  makes  it,  as  it  were,  the 
second  volume  of  his  life.  It  was  fitting  to  set  it  in  such 
strong  relief;  for,  though  the  Apostle  no  longer  stands 
before  us  alone  in  the  labors  of  these  his  last  years,  still, 
as  ever,  he  continues  to  play  the  principal  part  in  word 
and  in  deed ;  above  all,  it  is  now,  and  only  now,  that  he 
rises  to  that  supreme  height  of  virtue  which  was  destined 
to  set  the  seal  of  Heaven  upon  his  sanctity. 

We  must  bear  in  mind  what  was  the  origin  of  this 
Jewish  Scribe  who  was  felled  to  earth  that  day  on  the 
highway  to  Damascus ;  endowed  with  a  noble  heart,  he 
was  ever  impetuous  and  rash,  while  always  sensitive  in 
the  extreme.  This  alone  would  explain  certain  contra- 
dictory traits  which  we  encounter  during  the  first  years 
of  his  ministry ;  we  have  beheld  him  then,   when  the 

1  Consult  Comely  especially,  Introdnctio  specialis  in  singulos  Novi  Tes- 
tamenti  libros ;  Vigouronx  and  Bacuez,  Manuel  Bihlique,  vol.  iv. 

2  In  like  manner  I  have  taken  no  notice  of  certain  recent  theories 
which  would  have  us  believe  that  the  majority  of  St.  Paul's  epistles  show 
traces  of  numerous  interpolations,  and  that  some  are  really  nothing  more 
than  mere  compilations.  The  multiplicity  of  these  hypotheses,  which 
vary  according  to  the  caprice  of  each  individual  critic,  is  enough  to  prove 
that  they  have  no  solid  foundations.  The  student  will  find  them  summar- 
ized in  a  work  by  Dr.  Carl  Clemen,  Die  Einheitlichkeit  der  paidinischen 
Briefe  (Gottingen,  1894). 


viii  PREFACE. 

whole  man  was  uplifted  by  his  feelings  of  what  was  right 
and  just,  sweeping  away  every  barrier,  in  order  to  pursue 
and  defend  the  mission  confided  to  him  from  on  High ; 
spurning  John  Mark;  breaking  with  Barnabas;  reprov- 
ing Peter ;  like  one  who  was,  indeed,  no  "  respecter  of 
persons."  Yet  again  and  we  have  seen  this  lofty  enthu- 
siasm fail  him  in  hours  of  trial,  in  the  crises  of  his  bodily 
ills,  in  hours  of  loneliness  and  grief.  Then  Paul  proves 
himself  once  more  a  man  like  the  rest  of  us  poor  mortals, 
trembling,  weeping,  beseeching  of  God  His  pity  and  His 
grace.  And  yet,  whatever  may  have  been  the  emotions 
which  shook  that  great  heart  of  his,  one  passion  alone 
dominated  it,  one  only,  his  love  for  Jesus.  That  divine 
charity  had  so  profoundly  penetrated  the  very  depths  of 
his  being  that  we  have  heard  him  defy  life,  death,  earth, 
heaven,  and  hell  to  ever  tear  it  from  him.^  By  weaning 
him  little  by  little  from  all  other  ties,  this  Love  has  made 
forgetfulness  of  self  and  self-renunciation  to  become  in 
him  as  though  they  had  been  his  natural  virtues.  And, 
assuredly,  if  there  is  any  sacrifice  repugnant  to  our  in- 
stincts, it  is  to  consecrate  ourselves  to  some  work,  to  put 
into  it  our  whole  soul,  to  witness  its  triumph,  and  then, 
instead  of  taking  to  ourselves  the  glory,  abandon  it  all  to 
the  keeping  of  another. 

The  work  before  us  aims  to  show  how  Jesus  led  His 
disciple  to  this  pinnacle  of  self-conquest,  and  how  Paul 
accomplished  it.  The  Apostle  had  vanquished  the  Gen- 
tile world,  creating  in  every  land  Churches  and  Episcopal 
Sees ;  not  one  of  them  did  he  retain  as  his  own.  He 
feels  how  that  the  Divine  Master  is  moving  him  to  merge 
his  Apostolate  into  that  of  Peter  ;  hearkening  to  this  in- 
spiration, he  comes  to  Eome,  to  become  a  subordinate  in 
the  presence  of  the  supreme  pastor,  and  as  such  to  die. 
When  Paul  bends  his  head  beneath  the  sword  of  the  exe- 
cutioner there  is  naught  left  that  is  human  in  him :  the 
Heart  of  Jesus,  once  having  taken  possession  of  all  his 
powers,  has  consumed  all  else,  has  sanctified  and  crowned 
all  else. 

1  Romans  viii.  35-39. 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS. 


Page 
Preface v 


CHAPTER  I.. 

THE   FIRST   IMPRISONMENT   OF   SAINT   PAUL  AT   ROME. 

I.  The  Acts  of  Paul,  the  Prisoner. 

Nero  and  tis  court  at  the  time  of  the  Apostle's  first  imprisonment.  — 
Paul  under  detention  of  Pretorian  Guards.  —  His  interview  with  the 
Jews  of  Rome.  —  Success  of  his  Apostolate  among  the  Gentiles.  — 
Aid  offered  by  Philippians,  and  brought  to  him  by  Epaphroditus  .     .         1 

II.  The  Epistle  to  the  Philippians. 

Sojourn  and  ministry  of  Epaphroditus.  —  Expression  of  thanks  to  the 
Philippians.  —  Paul's  supernatural  joy.  —  Divisions  in  the  congre- 
gation at  Philippi.  —  Warns  them  against  the  Judaizers  ....       I? 

CHAPTER  IL 

SAINT  JAMES   OP   JERUSALEM. 

Errors  creeping  into  the  Churches  founded  by  Paul.  —  Corrupting  max- 
ims of  the  Judaizers.  —  Epistle  of  St.  James.  —  Rich  and  poor  in 
the  Church.  —  Faith  without  works.  —  Dangers  of  the  Tongue.  — 
Necessity  of  Prayer.  —  Asceticism  and  Influence  of  James.  —  His 
martyrdom.  —  Destruction  of  Jerusalem  foretold  by  Jesus,  son  of 
Hanan 28 


X  TABLE   OF  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   III. 

THE   EPISTLE   TO   THE   COLOSSIANS. 

Page 
Spread  of  heresy  in  Churches  of  Asia  Minor.  —  Source  of  these  errors : 
Pagan  philosophers,  Jewish  missionaries,  and  the  Essenes.  —  Epa- 
phras  in  Rome.  —  Epistle  to  the  Colossians.  —  The  Christ  is  every- 
thing :  all  things  are  by  Him,  for  Him,  in  Him.  —  The  Christ  is 
author  of  all  creation ;  Redeemer ;  in  Him  is  the  "  pleroma,"  the  pleni- 
tude of  knowledge  and  of  Divinity.  —  Jesus  Head  of  the  Church.  — 
Counsels  of  morality.  —  The  Christian  family 47 

CHAPTER  IV. 

PHILEMON  AND   ONESIMUS.  —  THE   EPISTLE   TO   THE   EPHESIANS. 
Paul's  companions  during  his  first  imprisonment.  —  Tychicus  hearer  of 
his  letter  to  the  Colossians.  —  Onesimus.  —  Christianity  and  Slavery. 

—  Letter  to  Philemon. — Epistle  to  the  Ephesians;  an  Encyclical 
letter  to  the  Christians  of  Asia.  —  Predestination  of  the  Elect.  — 
Every  perfect  gift  proceeds  from  the  Christ.  —  Jesus  living  in  the 
Church  and  by  the  Church.  —  Development  of  the  Hierarchy.  — 
Union  of  Jesus  with  the  Church  a  mystical  wedlock.  —  Duties  of 
parents  and  children,  of  masters  and  servants.  —  Spiritual  armor  of 

the  Christian 64 

CHAPTER  V. 

SAINT  Paul's  deliverance.  —  the  work  of  saint  luke. 

Paul  tried  and  acquitted.  —  His  journey  to  Spain.  —  Saint  Luke's  work 

destined  for  Gentile  Christians.  —  Sources  of  the  third  Gospel.  — 

Plan  of  Saint  Luke  ;  to  prove  by  the  Acts  of  Jesus  and  His  Apostles. 

—  The  well-foundedness  of  Paul's  teachings.  —  Salvation  offered  to 
Pagans  and  Jews  alike.  —  Faith  the  source  of  all  justification.  — 
Jesus,  Saviour  of  all  humanity.  —  Peculiar  charms  of  the  third 
Gospel    -. 85 

CHAPTER  YI. 

the   massacre    of   the    christians   of  ROME. 

I.     The  Burning  of  Rome. 

Tigellinus  and  Poppsea.  —  Nero's  passion  for  the  stage,  sports  of  the 
Circus  and  stately  Monuments.  —  Rome  on  fire.  —  Nero  suspected 
of  complicity 106 


TABLE   OF  CONTENTS.  xi 

II.     The  Massacre  of  the  Christians.  Paoe 

Rumors  accusing  Nero  of  incendiarism.  —  Tlie  Jews,  victims  of  popular 
hatred,  manage  to  cast  suspicion  upon  the  Christians.  —  Multitude 
of  believers  discovered  in  Rome  and  put  to  tortare.  —  The  sanguinary 
festival  of  August 118 

CHAPTER  VII. 

FIRST   GENERAL   PERSECUTION. 

I.  The  Edict  op  Persecution. 

Throughout  the  whole  empire  Christians  are  hunted  down.  —  Legisla- 
tion ;  method  of  procedure  in  Roman  courts.  —  The  edict  of  Nero    .     130 

II.  The  First  Letter  of  Saint  Peter. 

The  persecution  in  Asia  Minor.  —  Saint  Peter's  letter  delivered  by  Sil- 
vanus.  —  Originality  of  this  Epistle.  —  Eaith  in  the  risen  Christ. — 
Its  fruits  in  the  regenerated  soul.  —  Duties  of  Christians  under  per- 
secution. —  Functions  and  obligations  of  Pastors 138 

CHAPTEE  VIII. 

THE   EPISTLE   TO   THE   HEBREWS. 

Sufferings  of  the  Church  in  Jerusalem.  —  Albinus,  Governor  of  Judea. 

—  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  its  authenticity.  —  Analysis  of  the  Epistle. 

—  God  in  the  Old  Testament  worked  through  the  mediation  of  angels ; 
in  the  New,  He  speaks  through  the  mouth  of  His  own  Son.  —  The 
ancient  covenant  sets  forth  Moses  as  a  mediator ;  the  New  teaches 
that  Jesus  is  the  Supreme  Mediator.  —  The  Priesthood  of  Jesus 
Christ,  prefigured  by  Melchisedec,  is  greater  than  that  of  Aaron.  — 
Jesus  the  Eternal  Priest  and  Victim  of  His  own  Sacrifice.  —  Excel- 
lence  of  Faith. — Exhortation  to  Christian  virtues 154 

CHAPTEE  IX. 

THE   REBELLION   OF  JUDEA. 

I.     The  First  Uprisings  in  Jerusalem. 

Government  of  Gessius  Floras.  —  Popular  excitement.  —  Grewsome 
prognostics. —  Conflicts  with  Floras. —  Riots  in  Jerusalem. —  Triumph 
of  the  Rebels.  — The  Romans  driven  from  the  Holy  City   ....     174 


Xii  TABLE   OF   CONTENTS. 

11.    Massacre  of  the  Jews  in  the  East.— The  Campaign  or 

Cestius  Gallus.  Paqe 

Massacre  of  the  Jews  in  Csesarea,  Judea,  and  Alexandria.  —  Sufferings 

of  the  Christians.  —  Expedition  and  defeat  of  Cestius  Gallus   .     .     .     186 

CHAPTEE  X. 

THE   EPISTLE   OF   SAINT  JUDE.  —  SAINT   PAUL's   LAST   MISSION 
JOURNEY. 

Saint  Paul's  teaching  perverted  in  many  Churches.  —  Jude's  letter  meant 
to  stop  these  disorders  of  mind  and  manners.  —  Paul's  mission  in 
Crete.  —  Titus  set  over  the  Christian  congregations  of  the  Island      .     195 

CHAPTEH  XI. 

THE  EPISCOPATE.  —  PASTORAL  EPISTLES. 
Heresy  in  the  Churches  of  Asia.  —  Development  of  the  Hierarchy.  — 
Rules  laid  down  for  choice  of  Pastors,  Deacons,  and  Deaconesses.  — 
Christian  congregations  of  Asia  Minor  confided  to  Timothy.  —  Paul 
in  Macedonia.  —  First  letter  to  Timothy.  —  Controversies  with 
heretics.  —  Prayers  for  rulers  and  magistrates. —  Preservation  of 
order  in  the  Divine  Service,  in  the  Hierarchy,  and  in  the  household. 

—  Paul  in  Troas,  Ephesus,  Miletus,  and  Corinth.  —  Letter  to  Titus. 

—  Mission  work  in  Epirus.  —  Nicopolis.  —  Return  to   Corinth.  — 
Departure  of  Peter  and  Paul  for  Rome 207 

CHAPTER  XII. 

THE   DEATH   OP   SAINT   PETER  AND   SAINT  PAUL. 
Second  imprisonment  of  Saint  Paul. —  Solitary  confinement  during  this 
period.  —  First  hearing  and  adjournment  of  his  case.  —  Second  letter 
to  Timothy.  —  Saint  Peter's  second  letter.  —  "  Domine,  Quo  Vadis  ?  " 
Peter  and  Paul  in  the  Mamertine  prison. —  Their  martyrdom. —     229 
Their  tombs 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

ROME    AFTER  THE    DEATH   OF   SAINT   PETER   AND   SAINT   PAUL. 
Nero's  decline  in  popularity.  —  Tiridates  invested  at  Rome  with  the  king- 
ship of  Armenia.  —  Nero's  journey  Ihrougli  Greece.  —  His  mad  pas- 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS.  xiii 

Page 

sion  for  the  theatre  and  public  games.  —  Hclius  recalls  him  to  Italy 
and  to  Rome.  —  Insurrection  of  Gaul,  Spain,  and  the  Pretorian 
Guard.  —  Nero's  death.  —  Galba,  Otho,  Vitellius.  —  The  legions  of 
the  East  raise  Vespasian  to  the  throne 258 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

VESPASIAN   IN    GALILEE   AND   JUDEA. 

Situation  of  the  Christians  after  the  death  of  Peter  and  Paul.  —  Warlike 
preparations  in  Jerusalem  and  Judea.  —  Josephus,  Governor  of  Galilee. 
—  Siege  of  Jotapata.  —  Taking  of  Gamala,  Tiberias,  and  Giscala. — 
Simon-ben-Gioras.  —  The  Christians  of  Jerusalem  take  refuge  in 
PeUa 277 

CHAPTER  XV. 

THE   DESTRUCTION   OF  JERUSALEM. 

Titus  invests  Jerusalem.  —  Preliminary  encounters.  —  Taking  of  Bezetha 
and  Acra.  —  Besiegers  repulsed.  —  Intrenchment  of  Jerusalem. — 
Horrors  of  famine.  —  The  perpetual  sacrifice  interrupted.  —  Fresh 
attempts  of  the  besiegers.  —  Attack  and  taking  of  Antonia.  —  Burn- 
ing of  the  Temple. — Siege  and  fall  of  Sion.  —  Titus's  return  to 
Rome  and  triumphal  entry  of  the  Flavians 302 

INDEX 323 


Map  of  the  Roman  Empihe Frontispiece 

Map  op  Rome 106 

Map  of  Judea 174 

The  Temple  of  Jerusalem 292 

Jerusalem  at  the  time  of  its  Destruction  by  Titus  ....    802 


LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 


CHAPTER    I. 

THE  FIRST   IMPRISONMENT   OF   SAINT   PAUL  AT  ROME. 

I.    The  Acts  of  Paul,  the  Prisoner. 

Paul  entered  Rome  at  a  decisive  moment  in  the  reign 
of  Nero  ;  it  was  just  at  the  time  when  this  Prince,  shaking 
off  the  authority  of  Seneca  and  Burrhus,  inaugurated  his 
career  of  unbridled  license.  Steeped  in  vice  to  his  marrow, 
it  was  from  his  mother  he  had  inherited  his  blood-thirsty 
and  brutal  instincts,  without,  however,  one  trace  of  that 
savage  dignity  which  enveloped  Agrippina.  In  every- 
thing he  was  frivolous  ;  in  his  parade  of  ambition,  his  ab- 
surd pretensions  in  the  realm  of  Art,  his  showman's  tastes 
and  manners.  His  soul,  long  trained  to  play  such  oppo- 
site parts,  lent  itself  as  easily  to  the  accents  of  tragedy  as 
it  did  to  the  vulgarities  of  the  public  booth.  Agrippina 
had  moulded  him  after  her  own  image,  and  sealed  him 
with  her  own  seal,  with  this  one  end  in  view,  that  in  his 
person  she  might  rule. 

Of  what  value  was  her  son's  virtue  or  honor,  forsooth, 
to  this  ambitious  queen  ?  She  was  but  seeking  another 
instrument  of  power ;  and,  in  order  to  wield  it  more 
easily,  she  had  checked  or  misdirected  every  righteous 
spring  of  action  Nero  might  have  possessed.  As  it  seemed 
to  her  that  at  least  some  veneer  of  learning  was  requisite 
to  soften  the  hues  of  the  monster  she  was  modelling, 
Burrhus  and  Seneca  were  given  this  thankless  task. 
None  worthier  could  have  been  found  in  Rome  ;  but  de- 

1 


2  LAST   YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL, 

spite  the  masterful  spirit  of  the  former  and  the  profound 
mind  of  the  latter,  these  two  Stoics  vainly  endeavored  to 
infuse  some  of  the  sap  of  righteousness  into  a  heart  blasted 
from  the  cradle  up ;  at  most  they  could  but  instil  some 
smattering  of  art  and  poetry.  Happily,  for  several  years 
they  managed  to  maintain  their  ascendency  over  this 
young  decadent,  at  seventeen  become  master  of  the  world, 
and  they  made  use  of  it  to  inaugurate  an  equitable  and 
pacific  reign. 

The  five  years  of  this  regime  were  destined  to  remain 
famous,  cherished  above  all  others  in  the  memory  of  his 
people ;  ^  and  yet  this  peaceful  lull  in  the  midst  of  that 
century  of  violence  was  bought  at  the  price  of  extraordi- 
nary tolerance  on  his  tutors'  part.  Monstrous  as  were 
Nero's  passions,  they  terrified  his  guardians  far  less  than 
did  the  ferocity  they  found  embedded  in  his  soul.  "  Pre- 
serve him  from  the  taste  of  blood,"  said  Burrhus  ;  "the  wild 
beast  within  him,  once  awakened,  will  grow  insatiable."  ^ 
It  is  a  policy  often  practised  by  those  who  desire  to  rule 
in  the  stead  of  others,  to  distract  their  thoughts  from 
public  affairs  by  the  allurements  of  pleasure.  It  is  one 
which  has  never  produced  aught  but  fearful  failures  in 
the  end,  since  sooner  or  later  debauchery  hardens  a  man 
and  impels  him  to  crime.  Very  shortly  Nero  refused  to 
confine  his  excesses  to  his  palaces,  or  even  to  the  streets  of 
Eome ;  seizing  the  reins  from  the  hands  of  his  two 
masters,  he  rushed  madly  upon  whomsoever  he  fancied  to 
be  an  obstacle  in  his  way,  and  felled  each  at  a  blow,  — 
Britanicus  first,  then  Agrippina  herself.  Seneca  saw  him- 
self reduced  to  the  shameful  necessity  of  pleading  excuses 
for  a  parricide,  and  Burrhus  to  some  attempt  to  cover  him 
with  the  mantle  of  his  own  good  fame.  Their  authority 
was  but  weakened  by  these  acts  of  forbearance  ;  less  and 
less  respected  daily,  their  yoke  became  irksome  and  they 
themselves  fit  subjects  for  disgrace. 

Burrhus,  whose  long  military  power  had  rendered  him 

^  **Uti  merito  Trajaniis  soepius  testaretur  procul  differre  cimctos  piin- 
cipes  Neronis  quinquenino."     Aurelius  Victor,  Goes.  15. 
*  Juvenal's  Scoliast,  Ad.  Sat.  v.  109. 


FIRST  IMPRISONMENT  AT  ROME,  3 

the  more  inflexible  of  the  two,  was  the  first  to  disappear.^ 
His  death,  which  many  attributed  to  poison,  left  vacant 
one  of  the  most  important  posts  in  Eome,  the  command 
of  the  Praetorian  Guard.  This  office,  ordinarily  filled  by 
two  Prefects  of  equal  authority,  had  been  confided  entirely 
to  his  charge.  Nero  hastened  to  divide  its  duties  again, 
and  parcelled  them  out  to  two  of  his  own  creatures.  One, 
Sofonius  Tigillinus,  was  an  old-time  tool  and  boon  com- 
panion of  his  revels,  —  a  clever  mind,  but  bent  on  the 
pursuit  of  the  worst  forms  of  depravity,  and  without  one 
generous  spark  of  humanity.  The  other,  Fenius  Eufus, 
led  a  fairly  decent  life,  which  won  him  the  respect  of  the 
masses,  but  was  a  man  of  no  character.  Nero  need  feel 
no  fear  about  confiding  to  this  pair  the  command  of  the 
troops  which  guarded  Eome  and  his  palaces. 

These  were  the  cohorts  of  picked  men  who  watched 
over  such  as  had  appealed  to  the  Emperor's  tribunal.^ 
The  first  duty  of  the  Centurion  Julius  on  their  arrival 
was  to  hand  over  his  prisoners  to  them.  Traversing  the 
city,  he  conducted  the  Apostle  to  the  Praetorian  camp, 
situated  near  the  Via  Nomentana.  We  do  not  know 
which  of  the  two  Prefects  Paul  was  brought  before,  but 
there  is  reason  to  believe  that  it  was  Fenius  Eufus  ;  for 
Tigillinus  was  too  absorbed  in  court  intrigues  to  interest 
himself  in  the  affairs  of  the  Guard.  All  business  per- 
taining to  the  Prtetorium,  accordingly,  fell  to  his  col- 
league. Paul  was  treated  with  perfect  justice  by  him. 
The  report  of  the  Governor  of  Palestine,  the  details  added 
by  Julius,  witness  for  the  past  seven  months  of  his  pris- 
oner's virtues,  his  own  attitude,  —  everything,  indeed, 
declared  that  here  was  but  another  victim  of  Jewish  fanati- 
cism. Eufus  gave  orders  that  he  be  treated  as  humanely 
as  the  severity  of  the  law  allowed.     Though  subjected,  as 


1  In  March,  62,  according  to  some  writers,  even  earlier  according  to 
others,  in  the  month  of  January  or  February  of  the  same  year.  See 
"Wieseler,  Chronologie  des  apostolischen  Zeitalters,  p.  83,  note  1.  The 
rumor  that  Nero  had  ordered  him  to  be  poisoned  at  once  spread  abroad 
and  found  ready  credence.    Tacitus,  Annates,  xiv.  51  :  Suetonius,  Nero,  35. 

2  Mommsen,  Romisches  Staatsrecht,  voL  ii.,  p.  933. 


4         LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT   PAUL. 

at  Csesarea,  to  continual  surveillance,  never  going  out 
unless  chained  to  the  legionary,  who  was  always  with  him 
day  and  night,  he  was,  nevertheless,  left  free  to  lodge 
wherever  he  saw  fit.^  For  the  first  few  days  he  accepted 
the  hospitality  of  the  Christians  of  Rome  ;2  but  soon, 
making  use  of  the  funds  sent  him  from  Philippi^  to  re- 
gain his  independence,  he  withdrew  into  lodgings  hired  at 
his  own  expense.*  We  do  not  know  whereabouts  in 
Eome  this  dwelling-place  of  the  Apostle  was  located ;  ^ 
close  by  the  Imperial  Palace,  according  to  some ;  ^  in  the 
midst  of  the  Praetorian  camp,  according  to  others;^  at  all 
events  probably  somewhere  in  the  environs  of  this  camp, 
in  order  to  facilitate  the  services  of  his  keepers. 

For  two  years  Paul  awaited  the  judgment  of  Caesar  in 
this  retreat.  Long  delays  were  not  at  all  unusual  in  cases 
of  appeal ;  the  multitude  of  cases,  the  difficulty  of  collect- 
ing testimony  at  a  great  distance,^  a  mere  caprice  on  the 
part  of  the  judges,  always  exposed  the  accused  to  such 
annoyance.^  It  must  be  acknowledged,  however,  that, 
under  the  circumstances,  such  procrastination  is  rather 
surprising,  since  the  Jews,  who  so  bitterly  hated  the 
Apostle,  had  both  the  influence  and  the  means  of  push- 
ing it  in  Rome,  which  they  lacked  in  Ca^sarea.  For  a 
long  time  Herod's  descendants,  w^ho  had  been  detained 
and  educated  at  the  Imperial  court  for  political  reasons,^^ 

1  Acts  xxviii.  16.  It  lay  within  the  discretion  of  the  Prefect  of  the 
Prpetorium  to  decide,  according  to  the  rank  of  the  prisoner  and  the  gravity 
of  the  charges  brought  against  him,  whether  his  confinement  should  be 
more  or  less  strict.  Sometimes  he  allowed  the  accused  party  his  liberty 
under  bail ;  but,  as  a  general  rule,  he  kept  him  in  the  custody  of  his 
Praetorian  Guards.    See  Daremberg,  Dictionnaire  des  Antiquite's,   custodia. 

2  Ets  TTjv  ^eviau,  Acts  xxviii.  23.     Comp.  Acts  xxi.  16  ;  Philem.  22. 

3  Philip,  iv.  15-18. 

4  Ep  15l({}  fiLCTdihixaTL.     Acts  xxviii.  30. 

^  According  to  certain  local  traditions  the  Church  of  Santa  Maria  in 
Via  Lata,  on  the  Corso,  marks  the  location  of  this  building. 

6  Wieseler,  Chronologie  des  apostolischen  Zeitalters,  p.  403,  note  3. 

'  Lightfoot,  Philippians^  pp.  97  et  seq. 

8  Tacitus,  Annales,  xiii.  43,  52. 

3  Wieseler,  Chronologie  des  apostolischen  Zeitalters,  pp.  407  et  seq. 
1^  Josephus,  Antiq.  Jud.,  xvii.  i.  3  ;  xviii.  ii.  1,  3,  vi.  1 ;  Bell.  Jud.,  i. 
xxxviii.  4,  etc. 


FIRST  IMPRISONMENT  AT  ROME.  5 

had  enjoyed  the  highest  favor;  this  had  been  made  patent 
to  all  by  the  privileges  granted  to  the  children  of  Israel  by 
Caligula  and  Claudius.  Even  Nero,  despite  his  disdain 
for  any  and  every  religion,  showed  himself  far  from  indif- 
ferent to  their  good-will ;  one  of  the  objects  which  was 
destined  to  absorb  his  attention  toward  the  close  of  his 
life  was  Jerusalem,  whose  throne  a  prophecy  had  promised 
should  be  his.^  But  their  most  powerful  instrument,  and 
the  one  nearest  to  him,  was  his  favorite,  Poppsea,  a  mem- 
ber, like  many  other  Eoman  ladies  of  the  day,  of  their 
religion.2  This  woman,  who,  beside  all  other  feminine 
gifts,  possessed  something  that  was  almost  worthy  the 
name  of  virtue,^  just  now  reigned  without  a  rival.  Thanks 
to  her,  a  deputation  from  the  Sanhedrin,  despatched  to 
Rome  to  make  complamt  against  the  exactions  of  Agrippa, 
had  but  recently  departed,  having  won  their  case.^  Had 
other  emissaries  urged  her  to  take  action  against  the 
Apostle,  there  would  have  been  a  speedy  end  of  his  mis- 
sion and  his  life.  God  preserved  Paul  by  turning  the 
minds  of  the  fanatics  of  Jerusalem  into  other  channels, 
after  his  departure.  Absorbed  entirely  in  new  domestic 
broils,  not  only  did  they  fail  to  follow  him  on  his  journey 
Homewards,  but  they  did  not  so  much  as  take  the  pre- 
caution of  warning  their  brethren  of  the  capital  against 
him.  The  following  incident  told  us  in  the  Acts  gives 
striking  testimony  to  this  indifference,  in  strange  contrast 
to  their  relentless  persecutions  at  Jerusalem  and  Csesarea. 
Three  days  after  his  arrival,  Paul  desired,  according  to 
the  rule  he  followed  everywhere,  to  preach  first  to  the 
children  of  Israel.     Since   his  position  as  prisoner  pre- 

1  Suetonius,  Nero,  40. 

2  Josephus,  Antiq.  Jud.,  xx.  viii.  11 ;   Vita,  3. 

^  "  Huic  mulieri  cuncta  alia  fuere  preeter  honestum  animuni."  Tacitus, 
Annales,  xiii.  45. 

*  Josephus,  Antiq.  Jud.,  xx.  viii.  11.  The  object  of  contention  in  this 
quarrel  was  a  gallery  erected  by  Agrippa  on  the  very  summit  of  Mt.  Sion 
in  the  palace  of  the  Asmonseans,  whence  he  could  look  down  into  the 
Temple.  The  Jews  succeeded  in  having  it  demolished,  as  they  considered 
it  both  indiscreet  and  indecent  that  this  prince  should  thus  exercise  sur- 
veillance over  the  sacred  privacy  of  their  Sanctuary. 


6  LAST   YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

vented  him  from  going  to  them,  he  begged  them  to 
"  beseech  the  principal  personages  among  the  Jews  to 
come  to  him."  ^  Note  that  by  "principal  personages" 
we  are  not  to  understand  here  the  chiefs  of  a  commu- 
nity embracing  all  the  Jews  of  the  capital,  and  forming 
as  at  Alexandria  a  body  politic  of  the  state ;  Eome,  as 
we  have  seen  elsewhere,'^  would  never  have  tolerated 
within  her  walls  such  a  derogation  of  the  common  law. 
These  Jews,  with  whom  the  Apostle  desired  to  confer, 
were  probably  but  the  foremost  members  of  one  of  the 
synagogues  of  the  town,  either  the  best  known  or  the  one 
nearest  the  Praetorian  camp.  These  notabilities  came 
at  the  call  of  the  captive,  for  although  the  children  of 
Israel,  ever  since  their  return  to  Eome,^  had  broken  off 
all  intercourse  with  the  Christians,^  the  name  of  Paul,  so 
famous  at  Jerusalem  and  throughout  all  the  Orient, 
could  not  have  been  unknown  to  them. 

"  My  brethren,"  the  Apostle  began,  "  although  I  have 
committed  nothing  either  against  the  people  or  against 
the  customs  of  our  fathers,  I  have  been  made  a  prisoner 
at  Jerusalem,  and  delivered  into  the  hands  of  the  Komans. 
These,  after  they  had  examined  me,  desired  to  release 
me,  because  they  did  not  consider  me  guilty  of  any  crime 
worthy  of  death.  The  Jews  being  opposed  to  this,  I  have 
been  constrained  to  appeal  from  them  to  Csesar,  without, 
however,  any  design  of  accusing  in  aught  those  of  my 
nation.  Such  is  the  reason  of  my  having  called  you 
hither,  in  order  to  see  you  and  to  speak  with  you,  for 
'tis  for  the  Hope  of  Israel  that  I  am  bound  with  this 
chain." 

"  The  Hope  of  Israel ! "  This  was  none  else  than  the 
Messiah,   pouring    out   upon   the    chosen    people   glory, 

1  Acts  xxviii.  16,  17. 

2  St.  Peter  and  the  First  Years  of  Christianity,  chap,  xiv.,  St.  Peter 
AND  THE  Jews  of  Rome. 

3  The  Jews,  expelled  from  Rome  by  an  edict  of  Claudius,  managed  to 
cree])  back  again  shortly,  and  were  now  as  numerous  as  ever  heretofore. 
St.  Peter  and  the  First  Years  of  Christianitjj,  chap,  xiv.,  St.  Peter  and 
THE  Jews  of  Rome. 

*  Acts  xxviii.  22. 


FIRST  IMPRISONMENT  AT  ROME.  7 

wealth,  happiness.  By  exhibiting  himself  as  the  victim 
of  that  dream  of  hope,  Paul  won  their  hearts  and  awak- 
ened within  them  the  desire  to  hear  him.  The  response 
of  the  Jews  proves  this  by  its  cordial  tone.  Without 
waiting  for  the  Apostle  to  explam  the  belief  for  which 
they  beheld  him  there  loaded  with  chains,  of  their  own 
accord  they  desired  him  to  acquaint  them  with  it. 

"  We  have  not  received  any  letter  from  Judea  in  thy 
regard,"  they  said,  "  and  none  of  our  brethren  has  come 
here  who  has  told  us  any  harm  of  thee.  We  would  very 
willingly  have  knowledge  of  thy  thoughts ;  for  concern- 
ing the  sect  (which  thou  preachest)  all  we  know  is  that 
everywhere  it  is  spoken  against."  ^ 

Here  was  an  occasion  for  presenting  to  the  Jews  of 
Eome  just  such  a  complete  exposition  of  the  Glad  Tidings 
as  the  Apostle  had  been  wont  to  give  in  every  city  wliich 
he  had  visited.  He  was  quick  to  grasp  the  opportunity. 
However,  since  his  shackles  and  his  keeper  made  it  im- 
possible for  him  to  appear  in  the  pulpit  of  the  synagogue, 
it  was  agreed  that  they  should  meet  there  where  he  was ; 
for  the  house  was  large  enough  to  accommodate  a  con- 
siderable number  of  Jews  on  the  day  set.  The  Apostle 
preached  to  them  "  the  Kingdom  of  God,"  ^  declaring  that 
it  consisted,  not  in  flesh,  but  in  the  spirit,  and  meeting 
their  objections  with  proofs  drawn  from  the  one  and  only 
unimpeachable  witness,  the  testimony  of  Holy  Scripture, 
where,  on  every  page,  he  showed  them  the  supernat- 
ural reign  of  Christ  described  and  foretold.  This  dis- 
cussion lasted  one  whole  day  :  "  from  the  morning  until 
the  evening  he  sought  to  persuade  them  to  the  faith  of 
Jesus,  out  of  the  Law  of  Moses,  and  out  of  the  Prophets. 
Some  believed  the  things  which  he  said,  others  would 
not  believe."  ^  One  difference  is  to  be  noted,  however ; 
the  uproar  which  these  discussions  invariably  caused  in 
the  synagogues  did  not  take  place,  for  the  Praetorian 
who  guarded  the  Apostle  kept  them   in  check.     Could 

1  Acts  xxviii.  17-23.  3  i^ij.^  23-24. 

2  Ibid.,  23. 


8  LAST   YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

they  forget  that  it  was  the  riotous  quarrellings  in  their 
own  meetings,  —  aye,  and  concerning  this  same  Christ 
Whom  Paul  was  preaching,  —  that  ten  years  ago  had  de- 
cided Claudius  upon  banishing  them  ?  After  having  most 
discreetly  effected  their  return  to  Eome  and  far  from  anx- 
ious for  a  new  term  of  exile,  they  now  took  good  care  not 
to  draw  down  upon  them  anew  the  courtesies  of  the  urban 
police ;  but  without  coming  to  any  agreement,  either 
among  themselves  or  with  the  Apostles,  silently  they 
began  to  steal  away.^ 

Nothing  so  aroused  Paul's  indignation  as  such  veiled 
opposition,  so  politely  and  ambiguously  expressed.  De- 
tecting from  the  movement  of  the  throng  he  was  seeking 
to  enlighten  that  the  same  scene  he  had  been  accustomed 
to  in  other  Jewish  circles  was  now  repeating  itself  here  in 
Eome,  and  that  God's  summons  to  His  people  was  about 
to  be  disobeyed  once  more,  he  launched  at  those  Israel- 
ites who  were  withdrawing,  the  anathema  of  their  own 
great  prophet :  — 

"Well,  indeed,  did  the  Holy  Ghost,  speaking  to  your 
fathers  by  the  Prophet  Isaiah,  say  to  you,  '  Go  unto  this 
people,  and  tell  them,  "  Ye  shall  hear,  and  hearing  ye 
shall  not  understand ;  ye  shall  see,  and  seeing  ye  shall 
not  perceive."  For  the  heart  of  this  people  is  waxed 
gross,  and  their  ears  are  dull  of  hearing,  and  their  eyes 
have  they  closed,  for  fear  lest  that  they  should  see,  and 
their  ears  hear,  and  their  heart  understand,  and  that, 
being  converted,  I  might  heal  them.'  Know,  then,  that 
this  salvation  of  God  is  sent  unto  the  Gentiles  and  they 
will  receive  it."  ^ 

This  shaft,  hurled  so  vigorously  at  them,  completely 
routed  the  Jews.  They  made  good  their  retreat,  and  once 
outside,  began  a  lively  dispute  among  themselves,^  but 
the  rumor  of  their  quarrels  soon  died  out  in  the  ghettos 
of  the  capital,  without  bearing  other  fruit  than  a  few 
occasional  conversions  from  the  ranks  of  Israel.^ 

1  Actsxxviii.  25.  2  ibi,l.,  25-28.  3  ibid.,  29. 

*  M.  Sabatier  {DApotre  Paul,  p.  102)  regards  the  community  at  Korae 
as  a  Jewish-Christian  Church.     Just  the  contrary  opinion,  according  to 


FIRST  IMPRISONMENT  AT  ROME.  9 

Far  more  fruitful  was  the  seed  sown  in  Gentile  hearts. 
During  the'  two  years  of  his  detention  Paul  took  advan- 
tage of  his  permission  to  receive  all  such  as  came  to  him, 
"  preaching  the  Kingdom  of  God,  and  teaching  those  things 
which  concern  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  all  freedom,  no 
man  forbidding  him."  ^  And  w^hat  additional  power  and 
persuasiveness  the  prisoner's  garb  must  have  lent  to  the 
Apostle's  eloquence,  with  the  soldier  linked  to  his  side 
and  his  manacled  hands  declaring  still  more  clearly 
that  "  the  Word  is  not  to  be  bound."  One  of  the  first 
effects  of  his  intrepidity  was  to  reanimate  the  courage  of 
the  brethren  who  were  wont  to  visit  Paul's  lodging.  The 
faith  of  the  Christian  community  of  Eome  was  already 
well  known  all  over  the  world,^  but  rather  for  its  purity, 
doubtless,  than  for  any  other  reason,  since  that  zeal  which 
alone  bears  fruit  was  lacking.  It  was  this  defect  in  them 
which  the  Apostle  had  sought  to  remedy  some  two  years 
previously  when  he  wrote  from  Corinth  to  these  same  be- 
lievers :  "  Be  not  slothful  in  spirit,  remembering  that 't  is 
the  Lord  you  serve.  Do  good,  not  only  in  God's  sight,  but 
likewise  in  the  sight  of  all  men."  ^ 

These  exhortations  were  repeated  with  all  the  more 
urgency,  now  that  he  could  converse  daily  with  them  and 
show  them,  by  his  own  example,  with  what  proud  hardi- 
hood the  Christian  should  confess  and  propagate  his  faith. 
Even  the  weak-kneed  straightened  themselves  up  at  the 
sound  of  his  voice,  and  soon  they  too  received  from  him 
this  meed  of  praise  :  "  The  greater  number  of  the  brethren, 
waxing  confident  at  sight  of  my  bonds,  are  much  more 
emboldened  to  announce  the  word  of  God  without  fear."  * 

His  enthusiasm,  thus  communicated  to  the  Church  of 
Rome,  drew  along  with  it  many  more  souls  from  the  fact 
that  Paul  was  not  alone  in  encouraging  it.     The  oldest 


which  converted  Pagans  were  by  far  in  the  majority  among  them,  is,  it 
seems  to  me,  much  the  more  probable  one.  Consult  P.  Cornely  {Intro, 
ductio,  §  145)  and  Hort  {Proler/omena  to  the  Romans)  for  the  various  argu- 
ments adduced. 

1  Acts  xxviii.  30-31.  3  n^ij.^  xii.  1],  17 

2  Romans  i.  8.  *  Philip,  i.  14. 


10  LAST   YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

and  most  faithful  of  his  assistants  were  about  him  : 
Timothy,  best  beloved  of  all ;  ^  Luke,  his  fellow-traveller 
and  companion  in  shipwreck ;  ^  Tychicus  of  Asia ;  ^  Aris- 
tarchus  of  Thessalonica ;  ^  with  others  whom  the  Apostle 
names  in  terms  of  gratitude :  Demas,  who  was  soon  to 
forsake  him  for  the  world,  but  at  this  date  still  was  faith- 
ful;^ John  Mark,  disowned  at  Antioch,  as  evidencing 
small  worthiness  for  the  Apostolate,  but  whom  we  now 
find  reinstated  in  the  esteem  and  companionship  of  Paul.^ 
Beside  these  disciples  most  in  evidence,  we  know  the 
names  of  a  goodly  number  of  his  friends  to  whom  he  had 
sent  greetings  in  his  letter  to  the  Eomans ;  for  the  ma- 
jority, if  not  all  of  these,  were  still  in  the  city :  Aquila 
and  Priscilla  especially,  Epenetus,  Amplias,  and  Stachys,  — 
all  beloved  friends,  —  Mary,  "  who  had  toiled  so  much  for 
the  Church ; "  his  dear  Persis  ;  Tryphenus  and  Tryphosus, 
both  alike  zealous  in  the  cause.''  This  band  of  devoted 
spirits,  their  ardor  inflamed  by  the  Apostle's  example, 
spread  the  Gospel  so  actively  that,  when  two  years  later 
ISTero's  persecution  burst  upon  them,  the  Christians  of 
Eome  formed  a  body  of  believers  exceeding  that  of  the 
Jews  in  number,  —  "a  great  multitude,"  says  Tacitus.^ 

To  be  sure,  all  the  fruit  gathered  in  this  rich  harvest 
was  not  of  equal  value  :  scattered  amid  the  pure  grain 
there  sprung  up  tares  and  blighted  seed ;  for  the  Eoman 
Church,  though  drawn  for  the  most  part  from  the  ranks 
of  Paganism,  contained  its  quota  of  Judaizers,  bent  on 
propagating  their  Observances.  These  latter,  encouraged 
like  the  rest  by  Paul's  spirit,  were  eventually  no  less  eager 
to  preach  the  Gospel  which  they  had  forged.  In  vain  did 
the  Apostle  seek  to  purify  and  enfranchise  their  faith. 
His  anxiety  to  bring  back  these  wandering  ones  only 
made  them  more  headstrong  in  clinging  to  their  errors 
and  irritated  them  the  more  against  him.     This  bitter- 

1  Philip,  i.  1;  ii.  19-23;  Coloss.  i.  1  ;  Plnlem.  1. 

2  Co]oss.  iv.  14;  Philein.  24.  ^  Coloss.  iv.  10;  Philein.  24. 
2  Eplies.  vi.  21 ;  Coloss.  iv.  7.  "  Rom.  xvi.  3-12. 

*  Coloss.  iv.  10;  Philem.  24.  ^  Tacitus,  Annales,  xv.  44. 

5  Coloss.  iv.  14 ;  Philem.  24. 


FIRST  IMPRISONMENT  AT  ROME.  11 

ness,  nowhere  more  contagious  than  in  religious  quarrels, 
soon  turned  to  sullen  animosity.  Soon  they  no  longer 
preached  the  Christ  out  of  sincere  hearts,  but  from  a 
spirit  of  contention  and  jealousy,  in  hopes  of  thwart- 
ing their  adversary  and  wounding  him  mortally  in  his 
life's  work. 

"  They  lotted  thereby,"  says  the  Apostle,  "  on  making 
my  chains  the  heavier."  ^  They  forgot  that,  in  direct 
opposition  to  their  narrow  views,  the  true  Church  of 
Kome  had  recognized  the  pure  Gospel  in  the  teaching 
of  this  captive,  and  that  in  an  irresistible  outburst  of 
"  love  "  2  she  was  publishing  it  all  over  the  town.  Most 
of  all  did  they  misconceive  Paul's  own  heart,  too  gen- 
erous, too  superior  to  mean  resentments  to  be  even 
remotely  affected  by  them.  Indeed,  in  all  their  machi- 
nations, the  Apostle  saw  only  the  fact  that  Jesus  was 
being  made  known  and  beloved  by  the  souls  they  were 
trying  to  win  over  to  themselves.  "  Then  what  matters 
it  to  me,"  he  cried,  "  whether  their  preaching  is  prompted 
by  good  faith  or  be  but  a  pretence  ?  Provided  that  the 
Christ  be  preached,  I  rejoice  and  shall  rejoice  always."  ^ 

This  gladness  filled  Paul's  heart  for  more  reasons  than 
one.  First,  there  was  the  happiness  so  long  looked  for- 
ward to  of  being  in  Eome  ;  then  his  good  fortune  in  living 
there  so  generally  respected,  although  in  bonds,  and  really 
freer  than  ever  before  to  proclaim  the  Glad  Tidings,  but 
most  of  all  it  was  the  joy  of  watching  the  rapid  progress 
of  the  cause  of  Christ.  In  this  spreading  of  the  Word  the 
Apostle  took  the  leading  part,  owing  to  the  number  of 
visitors  whom  he  converted,  even  among  those  Praetorian 
Guards  who,  each  in  turn,  were  deputed  to  act  as  his 
jailers.  His  teachings  and  the  holiness  of  his  life  moved 
the  hearts  of  more  than  one  of  these  soldiers,  and  ren- 
dered their  prisoner  "  renowned  throughout  the  whole 
Praetorian  camp."* 

His  Faith  had  its  triumphs  in  still  higher  places ;  for 
he  describes  it  to  us  as  having  found  its  way,  even  then, 

1  Philip,  i.  15-17.  3  Philip,  i.  18. 

*  'E^  dydw-ns,  Ibid.,  1.  16-  ^  PMlip.  i.  13. 


12  LAST   YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

into  the  Imperial  Eesidence.  Who  were  they  that  carried 
it  thither  ?  Slaves,  probably,  or,  at  best,  the  freedmen  of 
the  palace.  Had  they  embraced  Christianity  before  Paul's 
coming,  or  did  they  receive  it  from  him  ?  This  we  do  not 
know ;  but  their  presence  at  court  cannot  be  contested ; 
he  himself  makes  express  mention  of  it  in  his  letter  to 
the  Philippians  :  "  All  the  brethren  salute  you,  but  chiefly 
those  that  are  of  Caesar's  household."  ^ 

Whatever  be  the  truth  concerning  these  Christians  and 
their  condition,  living  in  such  nearness  to  the  rulers  of  the 
world,  it  is  certain  that  this  band  of  believers  was  not 
very  numerous.  At  Eome,  as  everywhere  else,  the  great 
mass  of  converts  came  from  the  common  people,  nay, 
even  from  the  throngs  of  slaves.  This  class  was  not  only 
the  most  active  in  the  city,  it  was  also  the  most  open  and 
receptive  in  regard  of  intellectual  things  ;  a  number  of 
the  liberal  professions,  such  as  medicine,  the  teaching  of 
literature  and  art,  were  then  in  the  hands  of  freedmen. 
Nor  need  we  be  surprised  if  Christian  beliefs  and  hopes 
made  most  conquests  among  them. 

One  weighty  proof  of  this  we  find  in  the  predominance 
of  Greek  in  this  earliest  age  of  the  Eoman  Church  ;  for 
Greek  was  the  common  speech  of  the  lower  classes,  in 
which  the  foreign  element  predominated.  For  almost 
two  centuries  everything  in  the  Church  is  Greek  :  the 
names  of  Bishops  and  their  disciples ;  the  versions  of  the 
Scriptures ;  apologetical  writings ;  hybrid  inscriptions, 
wherein  Greek  letters  and  words  are  combined  with 
Latin  ones ;  even  the  liturgy  itself,  which,  even  to  our 
day,  has  preserved  traces  of  this  first  imprint. 

Paul  had  not  the  same  influence  over  Eomans  of  high 
rank  and  noble  family.  There  is  no  proof  of  any  value 
which  allows  of  our  reckoning  (as  some  have  done)  among 
those  converted  by  the  Apostle's  words  such  personages 
as  Actsea  and  Poppciea,^  Nero's  favorites  ;  Narcissus  ^  and 

1  Philip,  iv.  22. 

2  See  Greppo,  Trois  me'moires  relatifs  a  Vhistoire  ecclesiastique,  pp.  41 
et  seq. ;  Wolf,  De  prcescript.  Tertulliani  Comment.,  p.  582 ;  Baronius,  Ad. 
Ann.,  59,  ix. 

3  Bericelius,  Prmf.  in  Enchiridion  Epictet.;  Selden,  Otia  Theologica, 
exercit.  iii.  10. 


FIRST  IMPRISONMENT  AT  ROME.  13 

Epaphroditus,^  his  freedmen;  Seneca  and  the  members 
of  his  family.2  Paul,  it  is  true,  had  had  certain  relations 
with  the  one  last  named.  It  will  be  remembered  that  at 
Corinth  he  appeared  before  Gallio,  a  brother  of  the  philos- 
opher ;  but  from  these  purely  official  connections  as  well 
as  from  certain  pages  in  which  Seneca's  thoughts  recall  the 
Gospel  teachings  in  their  tone,  and  at  times  even  in  expres- 
sion, from  this  some  have  drawn  the  conclusion,  much 
too  rashly,  as  I  think,  that  the  Apostle  had  instructed  him 
and  made  him  his  disciple.  A  volume  of  correspondence 
between  the  two  has  been  forged  to  bolster  up  this 
hypothesis ;  but  a  mere  glance  through  these  letters  will 
suffice  to  convince  any  one  of  their  falsity.^  On  the  other 
hand,  we  have  seen  how  widely  the  Stoics  of  Eome  diverged 
from  Christian  teachings,  not  only  in  the  fundamentals  of 
doctrine,  but  in  the  moral  consequences  they  drew  there- 
from.* Seneca  remained  one  of  them  to  the  end,  and 
died,  as  he  had  lived,  a  Sage,  but  a  Pagan  Sage.  His  last 
act,  accor diner  to  Tacitus'  account,  was  to  order  "  a  libation 
to  Jupiter  the  Liberator."  ^ 

In  default  of  any  noble  proselytes  to  be  won  over  by 
him  to  Christianity,  Paul  found  certain  conquests  made 
before  his  arrival  among  the  Eoman  aristocracy.  The 
reader  has  already  made  the  acquaintance  of  the  most 
illustrious  of  these,  the  only  one,  indeed,  whose  name 
belongs  to  this  history,  —  Pomponia  Graecina.^ 

Ever  since  the  year  42  this  patrician  lady  had  led  the 
same  austere  and  retired  life,  the  mystery  of  which  had 
so  teased  the  curiosity  of  the  highest  society  in  Rome. 
Doubtless  they  were  used  to  seeing  women  of  elevated 
station  taking  violent  fancies  for  various  foreign  forms 

1  Greppo,  Trois  memoires,  pp.  61  et  seq. 

2  Amedee  Fleury,  St.  Paul  et  S€neque ;  Aubertin,  Seneque  et  St.  Paul; 
Lightfoot,  Philippians,  St.  Paul  and  Seneca,  pp.  2G8-326. 

3  Fleury,  St.  Paul  et  Seneque,  v.  ii.  pp.  255-347  ;  Lightfoot,  Philippians, 
pp.  327-331. 

*  St.  Peter  and  the  First  Days  of  Christianitij,  chap,  xvii.,  The  Stoics 
OF  the  Empire. 

5  Tacitus,  Annales,  xv.  64. 

^  St.  Peter  and  the  First  Days  of  Christianity,  chap,  xviii. 


14  LAST  YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

of  worship  and  frequenting  the  superstitious  rites  of  the 
East ;  but  these  were,  after  all,  but  the  fashionable  fads 
of  devotion  ;  their  whims  once  satisfied,  they  were  to  be 
met  again  in  the  usual  intercourse  of  society  and  at  their 
domestic  altars,  just  as  formerly,  and  in  no  way  differing 
from  their  contemporaries  in  their  conduct  of  life.  Pre- 
cisely the  contrary  was  true  of  Pomponia  Graecina  ;  she 
persisted  in  keeping  aloof  from  Pagan  society,  never  ap- 
peared in  public  save  in  mourning  garb,  and  although 
accused  by  the  town's  talk  of  being  addicted  to  "  foreign 
superstitions,"  —  that  is  to  say,  of  being  a  Christian,  — 
she  was  left  free  to  lead  this  singular  life.  Her  virtue 
placed  her  above  suspicion  by  the  decision  of  a  family 
council ;  her  husband's  protection,  even  the  isolation  she 
had  chosen  of  her  own  free  will,  finally  won  her  the  re- 
spect of  all  alike ;  according  to  Tacitus'  expression,  "  her 
constancy  turned  all  this  to  her  own  renown."  ^ 

It  is  not  likely  that  Pomponia  Grtecina  could  have 
practised  her  religion  openly  and  in  the  highest  circles  of 
Eoman  aristocracy,  without  her  example  and  words  mak- 
ing some  converts  to  the  Faith.  And  yet  we  have  no 
contemporary  documents  to  give  substantiality  to  this 
presumption ;  the  monuments  of  Eome  alone  preserve 
the  memory  of  certain  other  patricians  who  sought 
Christ  during  these  early  days.  One  of  the  oldest 
churches  in  the  city  bears  the  name  of  Saint  Praxedis, 
to  whom  it  was  dedicated.  Now  this  sanctuary,  accord- 
ing to  certain  apochryphal,  but  very  ancient  accounts,^ 
was  erected  on  property  belonging  to  the  father  of  this 
Christian  lady,  —  Pudens  by  name,  —  a  personage  whom 
we  shall  soon  encounter  again  in  Paul's  company  during 
the  second  imprisonment.^ 

Other  witnesses  (Acts  of  the  Martyrs,  Biographies  of 

1  Tacitus,  Annales^  xiii.  32. 

2  The  letters  of  Pastor  to  Timothy  [Act.  Sand.  Maii,  v.  iv  p.  299) ; 
letter  of  Pius  I.  to  Justus  of  Vienue  (Baronius,  Anna!.,  166,  i.),  and  a  note 
appended  in  some  MSS.  of  the  Liber  Pontijicalis  to  the  life  of  Pius  I. 
(Duchesne,  Liber  Pontijicalis,  v.  i.  pp.  132-133). 

8  2  Timothy  iv.  21. 


FIRST  IMPRISONMENT  AT  ROME.  15 

the  Popes,  Itineraries  of  the  sixth  and  seventh  cen- 
turies) allude  to  the  tombs  of  these  high-born  believers  as 
standing  in  a  cemetery  of  Apostolic  times,  one  to  which 
a  Christian  matron  called  Priscilla  had  given  her  name. 
There,  or  so  these  documents  tell  us,i  were  the  remains 
of  "  Prudentiana  and  Praxedis,  daughters  of  Pudens," 
and  near  them  ''  Aqmla  and  Priscilla"  the  Jewish  arti- 
sans whose  dwelling  on  the  Aventine  was  used  as  a 
meeting-place  by  the  Christians.^  Two  facts  of  no  less 
importance  than  these  have  been  proved  beyond  doubt 
by  recent  excavations  in  Eoman  territory:  one  is,  that 
the  Cemetery  of  Priscilla  was  originally  a  place  of  burial 
occupied  in  common  by  the  Cornelii  and  their  kinsfolk 
the  Acilii,  and  that  the  latter  had  Christian  tombs 
therein  ;  ^  the  other,  that  the  site  on  the  Aventine,  where 
the  house  of  Aquila  and  Priscilla  stood,  was  on  property 
belonging  to  the  Cornelii.  An  inscription  found  on  this 
spot  actually  bears  the  name  of  one  Pudens  Corneli- 
anus^  From  these  various  bits  of  evidence,  collated 
with  all  his  wonted  keenness,  Signer  de  Eossi  concludes, 
—  and  the  overpowering  weight  of  probability  is  on  the 
side  of  his  theory,  —  on  the  one  hand,  that  some  mem- 
bers of  the  Gens  Cornelia  (Pudens  and  his  two  daugh- 
ters, with  Prudentia  and  Praxedis,  at  least)  had  been 
converted  to  Christ  within  the  days  of  the  Apostles  ;  on 
the  other,  that,  as  Aquila  and  Priscilla  had  built  their 
dwelling  upon  the  Aventine  on  property  belonging  to  the 
Cornelii,  and  finally  found  their  last  resting-place  in  that 
family's  burial-ground,  they  must  have  been  dependents 
of  these  patricians,  either  as  their  freedmen  or  as  their 
clients,  ties  which  their  common  faith  would  but  make 


1  MaruccM,  Le  Memorie  dei  SS.  ApostoU  P'letro  e  Paolo,  Roma,  1894, 
p.  85. 

2  Rom.  xvi.  3,  5.  Concerning  this  mansion,  which  afterward  became 
the  Basilica  of  St.  Prisca,  consult  de  Rossi,  Bullettino  di  Archeolog.  Christ., 
1867,  5,  43-58  ;  1868,  35.  Compare  St.  Peter  and  the  First  Years  oj 
Christianity ,  chap,  xviii. 

3  De  Rossi,  Bullettino,  1867,  pp.  44  et  sea.;  1888-1889,  pp.  15-66, 
103-133. 

*  Marucchi,  Le  Memorie  dei  SS.  ApostoU  Pietro  e  Paolo,  p.  84. 


16  LAST   YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

the  more  binding.  We  know  what  affectionate  gratitude 
Paul  cherished  for  Aquila  and  Priscilla  ;  ^  through  them 
he  naturally  came  in  contact  with  those  patrician  con- 
verts whose  names  have  been  handed  down  to  us,  and 
are  still  preserved  by  the  dusty  monuments  of  Eome.^ 

Whether  we  agree  with  these  conclusions  or  not,^  at 
least  there  is  no  mention  of  Pudens  and  his  family  in  the 
letters  written  by  the  Apostle  in  the  period  which  we 
have  to  do  with  now.  The  disciples  he  most  delights  to 
mention  are  the  fellow-laborers  of  olden  days,  Timothy, 
Luke,  Aristarchus,  Tychicus,  Epaphras,  and  Mark,  cousin 
of  Barnabas.  From  them  alone,  probably,  he  received 
such  assistance  as  was  given  him  after  his  arrival,  with- 
out looking  for  anything  to  the  Church  of  Eome,  which 
was  not  his  domain,  and  without  accepting  from  the 
wealthy  members  of  this  community  any  contributions, 
which  in  his  eyes  would  have  seemed  to  straiten  the 
liberty  of  a  minister  of  God. 

The  Almighty  did  not  allow  this  condition  of  depend- 
ency, which  weighed  so  heavily  on  the  Apostle's  noble 
heart,  to  last  long.  News  travelled  quickly  along  the 
great  highways  of  the  Empire.  Hardly  had  he  quitted 
Csesarea  in  charge  of  the  Centurion  Julius,  before  the 
fact  was  bruited  alono;  the  Mediterranean  coasts.     Anti- 


1  St.  Paul  and  His  Missions,  chap.  vii.  §  1,  and  chap.  ix. 

-  Although  no  mention  is  made  of  these  two  artisans  in  his  letters 
written  during  the  first  imprisonment,  there  is  good  reason  to  believe  that 
the)'  had  not  left  the  capital  since  the  time  when  St.  Paul,  in  writing  his 
Epistle  to  the  Romans,  sends  them  greeting  (Rom.  xvi.  3,  4).  Their 
business  must  have  prospered  more  in  Rome  than  in  Corinth  or  in 
Ephesus,  since  here  we  find  them  in  possession  of  a  house  large  enough 
to  accommodate  all  the  brotherhood. 

3  I  cannot  omit  all  mention  of  these  pious  traditions  of  Christian 
Rome,  especially  since  the  learned  researches  of  de  Rossi  and  his  school 
prove  that  they  were  based  upon  some  foundation  of  truth.  The  few 
features  which  we  have  drawn  from  them  here,  out  of  a  mass  of  testimony 
for  the  most  part  legendary  and  apocryphal,  seem  to  me  something  more 
than  mere  conjectures ;  without  attiibuting  to  them  the  same  certitude  we 
do  to  historical  facts,  it  is  highly  fitting  that  we  should  examine  them 
most  respectfully.  Ample  and  judicious  criticism  of  these  various  ques- 
tions in  Christian  archaeology  may  he  found  in  Marucchi,  Le  Memorie  del 
SS.  Apostolt  Pietro  e  Paolo,  pp.  79-103. 


FIRST  IMPRISONMENT  AT  ROME.  17 

och,  Tarsus,  Epliesus,  Troas,  and  Philippi,  were  thrilled 
by  it,  especially  the  last  named,  on  which  Paul's  peculiar 
position  put  most  urgent  obligations.  Alone  of  all  these 
Christian  communities,  it  will  be  remembered,  she  had 
been  already  distinguished  as  having  offered  him  help 
which  had  not  been  refused.  Just  now  such  assistance 
was  becoming  more  necessary  than  ever,  for  the  Apostle 
was  about  to  enter  a  foreign  land;  and  who  could  fore- 
tell the  hardships  of  his  imprisonment  ?  The  rich  Lydia, 
with  her  sisters  and  brethren  in  the  Faith,  lost  no  time 
in  raising  a  collection,  and  intrusted  it  to  a  disciple  named 
Epaphroditus  to  carry  it  to  Eome.  This  man  was  one 
of  the  best  beloved  members  of  the  whole  community ,i 
that  one  of  them  who  with  Clement  had  toiled  there 
for  the  salvation  of  souls.^  Great  was  Paul's  joy  at  the 
arrival  of  this  messenger,  so  touching  a  proof  that  his 
dear  Philippians  had  not  forgotten  him.  Their  offerings 
were  superabundant,  in  harmony  with  the  promptings  of 
their  hearts.  The  Apostle  accepted  all,  for  he  was  thus 
not  only  enabled  to  meet  his  living  expenses  for  a  long 
time,  but  it  made  it  possible  for  him  to  hire  lodgings  for 
his  own  personal  use,  and  thereby  regain  the  feeling  of 
perfect  independence.^ 


II.   The  Epistle  to  the  Philippians. 

Epaphroditus  did  not  content  himself  with  merely 
delivering  into  Paul's  hands  the  funds  he  had  brought 
with  him ;  he  at  once  enrolled  himself  among  the  volun- 
teers for  the  holy  war  of  the  Cross.  His  apostolate  at 
Philippi  had  seasoned  him ;  accordingly,  while  not  for- 
getting his  office  of  ministering  to  the  prisoner's  needs,  he 
offered  himself  first  and  foremost  as  a  comrade  in  arms 
and  fellow-laborer.*  To  this  service  he  devoted  himself 
with  overmuch  zeal.  The  fatigues  of  preaching  and 
charitable  works,  perhaps  too  the  climate  of  Eome,  so 

1  Philip,  ii.  25-29.  3  Ibid.,  iv.  10-19. 

2  Ibid.,  iv.  3.  *  Ibid.,  ii.  25,  30. 


18        LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

fatal  to  foreigners,  soon  threatened  to  extinguish  his  high 
hopes ;  he  fell  grievously  sick  and  was  lying  at  death's 
door,  when  "  God  had  pity  on  him,"  says  the  Apostle ; 
"  and  not  only  on  him,  but  on  me  also,  lest  I  should  have 
sorrow  upon  sorrow."  ^ 

Though  out  of  danger,  the  attack  left  Epaphroditus 
nervously  prostrated,  with  that  uneasy  feeling  of  agitation 
which  is  the  usual  sequel  to  Eoman  fevers.  Tidings  of 
his  illness  having  reached  Philippi,  and  the  brethren  of 
that  Church  having  expressed  a  desire  to  see  their  mes- 
senger again,  Epaphroditus  hesitated  no  longer,  but  asked 
permission  to  leave.  Paul  yielded  to  his  wishes,^  without 
alluding  to  his  own  need  of  the  aid  tendered  him  by  this 
disciple;  for  self-forgetfulness  had  become  his  second 
nature.  Summoning  Timothy,  he  dictated  to  him  the 
words  of  thanks  which  Epaphroditus  should  carry  back 
with  him  to  the  Philippians  in  return  for  their  gifts.  It 
was  the  first  expression  of  his  gratitude  he  had  sent  them 
from  Eome,  and  he  put  his  whole  heart  into  it.  This 
message,  though  it  has  not  the  dogmatic  importance  of 
the  longer  Epistles,  has  been  preserved  for  us,  and  that 
most  fortunately,  because  here,  more  than  in  any  other  of 
his  letters,  Paul's  soul  displays  itself  just  as  it  was  known 
to  his  friends  in  the  ordinary  course  of  daily  life.  The 
letters  written  to  the  Corinthians  and  Galatians  show  him 
to  us,  indeed,  as  he  was,  under  the  very  fire  of  battle,  and 
consequently  aroused  beyond  his  wont.  Such  a  whirlwind 
of  thoughts  and  feelings,  mingled  with  depressions,  fears, 
and  loathings  of  life,^  were  with  him  but  passing  trans- 
ports of  emotion.  In  like  manner,  in  the  Epistle  to  the 
Eomans,  the  Apostle's  views  concerning  the  decadence  of 
man  strike  us  as  severe  indeed  ;  because,  all-absorbed  as 
he  was  in  the  spectacle  of  so  many  sad  failures,  he  dwells 
more  insistently  than  ever  on  the  corruption  of  human 
nature,  its  powerlessness  to  achieve  salvation,  its  absolute 
dependence  upon  Grace.     To  conclude,  however,  from  the 

1  Philip,  ii.  27.  ^  ]  Cor.  ii.  3  ;  2  Cor.  i.  8. 

a  Ibid.,  ii.  26-28. 


FIRST  IMPRISONMENT  AT  ROME.  19 

striking  relief  in  which  he  depicts  these  truths,  that  Paul's 
Christianity  was  but  a  gloomy  and  sorrowful  Faith,  —  a 
foreshadowing  of  Calvinism,  —  would  be  to  forget  that  the 
death  of  "  the  sinful  flesh  "  ^  is  to  him  but  the  prelude  to 
its  resurrection  ;  that,  beyond  and  above  this  corrupt  and 
corrupting  body  of  ours,  he  never  ceases  to  set  forth  Jesus 
living^  in  whomsoever  He  has  enfranchised.  His  Heart  is 
beating  within  them,  and  from  this  source  of  eternal  love, 
the  Christian  life  gushes  forth  free  and  radiant,  "in  a 
peace  which  passeth  all  understanding."  ^ 

The  Apostle  was  not  wanting  in  this  superhuman  calm. 
Although  certain  sources  of  man's  purest  delight,  such  as 
Nature  and  Art,  seem  to  have  been  a  sealed  book  to  him ; 
although  the  outer  world  was  to  him  but  a  "  dungheap  ;  "  ^ 
nevertheless,  a  joy  as  grave  and  austere  as  his  genius 
never  ceased  to  fill  the  very  depths  of  his  soul,  —  it  was 
the  secret  of  his  noble  contentedness  if  he  could  but  tri- 
umph over  the  Law,  over  sin,  over  all  that  constituted  "  the 
old  man ;  "  *  his  certainty  of  eternal  rewards,  above  all,  the 
happiness  of  living  no  longer  save  in  Jesus,  and  through 
Him  of  entering,  even  here  on  earth,  into  a  share  of  the  Life 
Divine.^ 

This  purified  and  supernatural  gladness  fills  to  overflow- 
ing the  letter  to  the  Philippians,  and  breaks  forth  at  the 
very  outset :  — 

"  I  thauk  my  God  every  time  that  I  remember  you,  and 
I  never  say  a  prayer  that  I  do  not  pray  also  for  you  all, 
experiencing  a  great  joy  for  that  you  have  received  the 
Gospel  and  have  persevered  in  it  from  the  first  day  until 
now.  ...  I  have  you  in  my  heart  as  being  partakers,  all  of 
you,  in  the  same  graces  as  I,  in  my  bonds,  in  the  defence 
and  confirmation  of  the  Gospel.  God  is  my  witness  with 
what  tenderness  I  love  you  in  the  bowels  of  Jesus  Christ; 
and  this  I  beg  of  Him,  that  your  charity  may  abound  more 
and  more  in  light  and  in  all  understanding,  that  so  you  may 
discern  the  things  which  are  excellent,  in  order  that  you 

1  Rom.  viii.  3.  *  Rom.  v.  1,5;  vi.  6 ;  vii.  9  ;  viii.  2. 

2  Philip,  iv.  7.  s  Ibid.,  vii.  10-26. 

3  Ibid.,  iii.  8. 


20  LAST  YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

may  remain  pure,  that  you  may  walk  without  stumbling 
until  the  day  of  the  Christ,  and  that  for  the  glory  and  praise 
of  God  you  may  be  filled  with  the  fruits  of  Righteousness 
through  Jesus  Christ." 

And  how  many  reasons  the  Apostle  had  to  adduce  for 
his  gladness  !  His  imprisonment,  far  from  hindering  the 
spread  of  the  Glad  Tidings,  had  but  aided  and  hastened 
the  work ;  the  same  preachers,  who  were  so  inert  and 
timid  before  his  coming,  had  been  emboldened  to  proclaim 
the  Christ  freely  in  Rome.  All  this  enthusiasm  was  for 
him  a  source  of  joy,  even  down  to  the  zeal  of  such  envi- 
ous souls  as  only  published  the  Good  News  from  a  spirit 
of  pique  and  rivalry.  If  but  the  Master  be  glorified 
thereby,  what  cared  he  ?  What  mattered  it  to  him,  this 
being  his  lofty  purpose,  whether  he  lived  or  died,  since  in 
either  case  all  was  to  work  together  to  the  Saviour's  glory  ? 
For  to  live,  to  the  Apostle's  thinking,  was  to  feel  Jesus 
living  within  him ;  and  to  die  was  to  "  throw  off  the 
chains  of  the  body,  to  be  with  Jesus  "  forevermore.  Far 
preferable  to  him  though  such  a  final  consummation  might 
be,  the  fact  remained  that  his  words  and  deeds  were 
necessary  to  them  still.  "  I  know,"  he  declares,  "  I  shall 
abide  and  continue  with  you  all  for  the  furtherance  and 
joy  of  your  Faith.  Only  see  to  it  that  you  conduct  your- 
selves in  a  manner  worthy  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  so  that 
whether  I  come  and  see  you  or  be  absent,  I  may  hear  that 
you  stand  firmly  in  one  and  the  same  spirit,  contending 
together  with  the  one  same  soul,  for  tlie  Faith  of  the 
Gospel." 

The  Apostle  thereupon  utters  gently  the  one  word  of 
reproach  merited  by  the  Church  of  Philippi.  For  certain 
reasons  so  trivial  that  no  mention  is  made  of  them,  their 
minds  had  been  divided,  and  this  division  in  intellectual 
questions  had  brought  about  one  far  more  serious  in 
spiritual  things.  Paul  prized  a  real  unity  of  feeling  so 
highly  that  now,  to  restore  it  among  his  dear  Philippi ans, 
he  appeals  to  what  was  their  noblest  trait,  —  to  their 
generosity  and  tenderness  of  heart,  but  especially  to  the 


FIRST  IMPRISONMENT  AT  ROME.  21 

consolations  they  had  already  tasted  in  the  Christian  life, 
to  the  charms  of  brotherly  love,  to  the  happiness  of  feel- 
ing themselves  united  by  the  one  same  spirit,  the  Spirit 
of  God. 

"  Make  my  joy  perfect,"  he  says  to  them,  ''by  having  the 
same  thoughts,  the  same  love,  the  same  soul,  only  thinking 
the  one  same  thing.  Do  naught  from  a  mere  spirit  of  par- 
tisanship or  vainglory;  but  let  each  one  in  all  humility 
account  his  neighbor  above  himself.  Let  each  one  look  after, 
not  merely  his  own  personal  interests,  but  those  of  others 
as  well.  Be  ye  of  the  self-same  mind  as  was  Christ  Jesus  : 
although  he  had  the  Form  (the  Nature)  ^  of  God,  He  did  not 
account  this  equality  with  God  as  a  usurpation.^  He  hum- 
bled Himself,  taking  the  form  of  a  slave,  making  Himself 
like  unto  men,  to  be  regarded  as  a  man,  in  so  far  as  what 
appeared  outwardly;  He  abased  Himself,  rendering  Him- 
self obedient  unto  death,  and  to  the  death  of  the  Cross. 
This,  then,  is  why  God  hath  raised  Him  up  and  given  Him  a 
Name  above  all  other  names,  that  at  the  Name  of  Jesus 
every  knee  should  bow  in  Heaven,  on  earth,  and  in  Hell, 
and  that  every  tongue  should  confess  that  Jesus  Christ  is 
Lord,  to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father."  ^ 

While  holding  up  to  the  Philippians  both  the  lowliness 
of  the  Christ,  as  well  as  his  glorification,  as  their  example, 
Paul  exhorts  them  to  persevere  in  the  Faith  by  abandon- 
ing themselves  to  God  Who  works  in  us  to  will  and  to 
do.  Happy  in  their  belief  in  Christ,  happier  still  in  suf- 
fering for  Him,  they  are  as  torches  amid  the  world  of 
shadows  round  about  them,  wherein  they  shed  the  shining 
rays  of  that  Word  of  Life  which  they  bear  within  them. 

1  Mo/)077,  signifying,  in  the  philosophical  terminology  of  the  Greeks, 
"form,"  that  which  makes  a  thing  what  it  is;  /iop07?  GeoO  would  seem  to 
be  used  here  as  synonymous  with  (pvcns,  ovaia  GeoO,  the  Essence,  the 
Divine  Nature.  Such  is  the  interpretation  of  St.  Cyril  of  Alexandria, 
Theodoret,  St.  Gregory  of  Nyssa,  St.  Athanasius,  St.  Basil,  St.  Augustine, 
St.  Leo,  and  St.  Thomas  Aquinas.  See  Corluy,  Spicilegium  Dogmatico- 
hiblicuvi,  vol.  ii.  pp.  66-71 ;  Lightfoot,  Philippians,  pp.  12.5-131. 

2  'Apirajfios,  literally,  the  booty,  the  prize,  the  glory  which  one  would 
not  relinquish  at  any  price. 

3  Philip,  ii.  2-11. 


22  LAST   YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

Nay,  he  would  go  further  and  say  that  by  the  trials  which 
they  share  with  the  Apostle,  persecutions,  imprisonments, 
and  the  rest,  they  too  are  become  the  sacrifice  and  the 
victims  of  their  Faith. 

^'  Were  it  needful  for  me/'  Paul  concludes,  "  to  pour  forth 
my  blood  on  your  oblation,  to  make  your  glory  assured,  I 
should  joy  thereat,  and  rejoice  with  you  all.  In  like  manner 
be  ye  also  joyful  and  rejoice  with  me."  ^ 

But  the  hour  had  not  struck  as  yet  for  so  generous  an 
act  of  self-immolation.  Of  this,  as  we  have  seen,  the 
Apostle  felt  intimately  assured.  He  hoped  to  visit 
Philippi  shortly ;  meanwhile  he  promises  to  send  Tim- 
othy thither,  as  soon  as  may  be.  This  was  the  dearest  of 
his  disciples  and  the  one  most  devoted  to  the  Philippians ; 
of  this  the  latter  were  well  aware,  for  they  had  watched 
him  during  his  labors  among  them,  "  one  with  Paul,  in 
mind  and  heart,"  serving  him  in  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel,  "  as  a  son  serves  his  father."  ^ 

The  Apostle's  first  intention  was  to  intrust  Epaphro- 
ditus  with  merely  a  short  missive,  —  a  note  of  warm 
thanks  to  his  dear  Philippians.  In  closing  it,  therefore, 
he  reverts  to  the  joyous  wishes  and  hopes  with  which  he 
had  begun  his  Epistle,^  when,  interrupted  by  some  inci- 
dent, he  finds  himself  constrained  to  put  off  its  conclusion 
to  some  other  time.  In  the  interval,  according  to  all 
appearances,  he  must  have  received  tidings  from  Mace- 
donia that  certain  Judaizers  had  started  out  from  that 
country.  Though  as  yet  not  in  the  very  midst  of  the 
Philippians,  these  sectaries  threatened  to  spread  disorder 
among  them ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  he  was  fearful 
lest,  out  of  pure  opposition  to  their  rigorism,  those  of  his 
flock  who  were  inclined  to  laxity  might  be  moved  to  ex- 
cesses to  which  they  would  fall  an  easy  prey.  These 
diverse  apprehensions  took  such  entire  possession  of  the 
Apostle  that  upon  recalling  Timothy,  in  order  to  dictate 
the  closing  lines  of  his  message,  without  wasting  a  thought 

1  Philip,  ii.  12-18.  2  jbid.,  ii.  19,  20,  22.  »  Ibid.,  iii.  i. 


FIRST  IMPRISONMENT  AT  ROME.  23 

on  the  joyous  expressions  of  the  first  part  of  the  letter, 
and  with  no  attempt  to  make  what  he  was  about  to  say- 
harmonize  with  it,  he  gives  forth  a  cry  of  alarm  quite 
similar  to  the  one  he  had  uttered  when  the  Galatians 
were  threatened  with  a  like  danger. 

"  Beware  of  the  Dogs,  of  the  Evil  Workmen,  and  of  the 
Concision.^  We  are  the  truly  circumcised,  we  who  serve 
God  in  spirit,  whose  boasting  is  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  whose 
confidence  is  not  in  the  flesh.  Albeit,  did  I  desire  to  place 
my  trust  in  the  flesh  and  rely  upon  it,  I  too  might  do  so, 
more  than  any  one  whomsoever !  I,  who  was  circumcised 
the  eighth  day,  of  the  stock  of  Israel,  of  the  tribe  of  Ben- 
jamin, a  Hebrew  and  the  son  of  a  Hebrew.  Is  it  a  question 
of  the  Law  ?  I  am  a  Pharisee  !  Of  zeal  for  Judaism  ?  I 
have  persecuted  the  Church !  Of  legal  righteousness  ?  In 
that  respect  I  am  unblameable.  Yet,  when  I  look  upon 
the  Christ,  all  these  advantages  I  consider  as  of  less  ac- 
count. I  will  go  further  —  it  seems  to  me  but  a  loss,  a 
hindrance,  since  what  time  I  perceived  how  transcendent 
is  the  knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus,  my  Lord.  For  love  of 
Him  I  have  lost  all  things,  counting  everything  but  as 
dung,  that  I  may  gain  the  Christ,  and  be  found  in  Him  ; 
not  having  my  own  righteousness,  that  which  is  of  the  Law, 
but  the  righteousness  which  is  born  of  faith  in  the  Christ, 
the  righteousness  which  proceedeth  from  God  through 
Faith.  My  will  is  to  know  Him,  Him  (the  Christ)  and  the 
power  of  His  resurrection  and  the  fellowship  of  His  suffer- 
ings, to  share  the  likeness  of  His  death,  if  by  any  means  I 
might  attain  unto  the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  ISTot  in- 
deed that  I  have  already  received  the  prize  which  I  hope 
for,  but  I  press  onward,  struggling  to  reach  the  goal  which 
the  Christ  set  before  me  when  He  laid  hold  on  me.  No, 
brethren,  I  do  not  think  that  I  have  as  yet  attained  that 
goal,  whitherward  I  strive;  my  only  longing  is  to  forget 
what  lies  behind  me  and  evermore  to  reach  forth  to  those 
things  which  are  before.      I  press  onward  straight  toward 

1  BX^Trere  tt]v  KaTaTO/jLrjV  i]fx€?s  ydp  eafiev  rj  Treptro/x??.  Their  circum- 
cision, performed  without  any  need  of  faith,  is  nothing  less  than  a  profit- 
less mutilation.  **  Circumcisio  quidem  arte  fit  ad  rem  purgandam  et 
expoliendam ;  concisio  vero  temere  et  cum  destructioue  rei."    Estius,  in  loco. 


24         LAST   YEARS    OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

the  mark,  to  the  heavenly  calling  whither  God  has  called 
us  in  Christ  Jesus.''  ^ 

It  was  for  the  benefit  of  but  a  few  of  the  faithful  that 
Paul  saw  fit  to  dwell  at  length  on  the  necessity  of  reviv- 
ing a  true  fervor  of  spirit ;  for,  in  general,  the  Philippians, 
"  steadfast  in  the  Lord,"  were  still  worthy  of  their  Apostle, 
and  still  "his  dearest  and  well  beloved  brethren,  his  joy 
and  his  crown."  ^  All  the  deeper  was  his  grief  on  real- 
izing that  this  Church,  so  richly  endowed,  should  be 
disfigured  by  any  evil  features  whatsoever.  He  gives 
utterance  to  his  sorrow  in  this  touching  reproach :  — 

"  There  be  many,  of  whom  I  have  ofttimes  told  you,  and 
now  tell  you  again  with  tears,  who  walk  as  enemies  of  the 
Cross  of  Christ,  whose  end  is  perdition,  whose  God  is  their 
belly,  whose  glory  is  in  their  shame,  who  have  no  thought 
for  aught  save  earthly  things.  As  for  us,  we  are  already 
citizens  of  Heaven,  and  't  is  there  that  we  await  the  Saviour, 
Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  shall  transform  our  body,  vile 
though  it  be,  that  it  may  be  fashioned  like  unto  His  glori- 
ous body,  by  virtue  of  that  power  whereby  He  is  able  even 
to  subdue  all  things  unto  Himself."  ^ 

In  the  closing  lines  of  this  letter  Paul  returns  anew  to 
the  divisions  which  were  troubling  the  peace  of  the 
Philippians.  Women,  as  we  have  seen,*  possessed  unusual 
influence  in  Macedonia,  and  in  these  quarrels,  more  bois- 
terous than  of  serious  import  apparently,  they  took  the 
leading  part ;  two  of  them  especially,  Evhodia  and  Syn- 
tache,  had  been  most  headstrong.  Notwithstanding  this, 
the  Apostle  still  held  these  Christian  women  in  grateful 
remembrance,  for  they  had  been  among  the  first  to  em- 
brace the  Faith,  thereafter  zealously  aiding  him  in  his 
ministry;^  he  was  not  content  with  merely  preaching 
unity  to  them,  he  urged  this  labor  of  peace-making  upon 
all  his   fellow-workers  in  the  Apostolate  at  Philippi,  — 

1  Philip,  iii.  2-14.  ^  jbi^.,  iii.  18-21. 

2  Ibid.,  iv.  1. 

*  St.  Paid  and  11  is  Missions,  chap,  v.,  §  1. 

5  Philip,  iv.  2,  3.  • 


FIRST  IMPRISONMENT  AT  ROME.  25 

upon  Epaphroditus,  the  bearer  of  this  letter,  on  Clement,^ 
and  on  a  number  of  others  whose  names  are  "  written  in 
the  Book  of  Life."  In  one  word  Paul  sums  up  what  was 
needful  to  restore  peace  and  joy  to  their  hearts,  —  "  mod- 
eration," moderation  in  all  personal  claims  and  ambitions, 
—  self-forgetfulness  and  forbearance,  even  when  one's 
own  rights  were  concerned;  all  this  at  the  dictates  of 
charity,  devotedness,  and  self-sacrifice. 

"  Whatsoever  is  true,"  he  adds,  "  whatsoever  is  vener- 
able, just,  pure,  endearing,  and  of  good  report,  —  if  there 
be  any  virtue  or  praiseworthy  design,  —  let  these  fill  your 
thoughts,  and  the  God  of  peace  shall  be  with  you." 

In  closing,  Paul  repeats  his  expressions  of  gratitude  to 
the  Philippians,  but  without  concealing  the  fact  that  he 
had  suspected  them  of  having  forgotten  him.  Where- 
upon, with  charming  tact,  he  hastens  to  add,  *'  But  doubt- 
less it  was  opportunity  and  not  memory,  that  failed  you." 
The  arrival  of  Epaphroditus,  however,  had  dissipated  the 
last  cloud  of  misunderstanding.  Of  this  he  warmly  as- 
sures them :  — 

"I  rejoiced  in  the  Lord  greatly  when  I  found  that  now, 
after  so  long  a  time,  your  friendship  for  me  was  blossoming 
anew.  You  have  thought  of  me,  you  were  thinking  of  me 
undoubtedly,  but  the  opportunity  of  proving  it  was  lacking. 
It  is  not  my  needs  that  prompt  me  to  speak  thus^  for  I  have 
learned  to  be  content   with  whatsoever  I  have.     I   know 

1  Is  the  Clement  mentioned  here  that  Bishop  of  Rome,  third  successor 
of  St.  Peter,  whose  letter  addressed  to  the  Corinthians  has  come  down  to 
us  ?  Ancient  writers  believe  that  it  was,  following  the  lead  and  probably 
on  the  authority  of  Origen  {In  Jonnn.,  i.  29  ;  Eusebius,  Historia  Ecclesi- 
astira,  iii.  4  ;  St.  Epiphanius,  Adv.  Hceres,  xxvii.  6 ;  St.  Jerome,  Ve  Vtr. 
Illust.,  15  Adv.  Jovin.  i.  11).  Nevertheless,  there  have  been  some  very 
serious  objections  raised  against  this  identification.  The  Clement  alluded 
to  in  the  epistle  of  St.  Paul  belongs  to  the  Church  of  Philippi,  the  author 
of  the  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  to  that  of  Rome.  There  is  nothing  to 
indicate  that  before  becoming  Bishop  of  the  city  the  latter  had  lived  in 
any  other  Christian  community.  Furthermore,  the  primitive  traditions 
speak  of  him  as  a  disciple,  not  of  St.  Paul,  but  of  St.  Peter.  (Tertullian, 
Z)e  Pnescript.,  Origen,  Philoc,  22,  etc.)  Is  it  not  most  natural  to  suppose 
that,  as  the  name  Clement  was  so  very  common  at  this  epoch,  Origen  and 
the  later  writers  have  confounded  two  distinct  peisonages  ?  (See  Light- 
foot,  Philippians,  pp.  166  ei  seq.) 


26         LAST   YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

how  to  bear  poverty  and  I  know  how  to  bear  a  superfluity. 
Having  tasted  all,  I  am  instructed  in  all,  whether  it  be  in 
abundance  or  in  privation.  I  can  do  all  things  through 
Him  that  strengtheneth  me.  Nevertheless  you  have  done 
well  in  helping  me  in  my  afflictions.  For  you  know,  Phil- 
ippians,  that,  at  the  beginning  of  my  preaching  among  you, 
after  I  had  left  Macedonia,  no  other  Church  had  made  me 
a  partaker  of  its  goods,  and  I  have  received  nothing  save 
from  you  alone.  Twice,  when  at  Thessalonica,  you  sent  me 
somewhat  to  minister  to  my  needs.  Not  that  I  seek  your 
gifts,  but  I  do  desire  the  abundant  fruits  which  you  shall 
reap  therefrom.  Now,  however,  I  am  amply  provided 
for,  — yes,  and  in  abundance.  I  am  loaded  down  with 
favors,  after  having  received  from  Epaphroditus  what 
you  sent  me.  It  is  an  odor  of  goodly  sweetness,  an  ac- 
ceptable sacrifice  to  God  and  well  pleasing  to  Him ;  and 
my  God  shall  fully  supply  all  your  needs  according  to  His 
riches,  gloriously,  in  Christ  Jesus.  Now  to  Our  God  and 
Father  be  the  glory  unto  the  ages  of  ages.     Amen."  ^ 

Justly  proud  of  such  a  token  of  gratitude,  the  Philip- 
pians  made  its  contents  known  to  such  of  Paul's  Churches 
as  were  within  their  reach ;  and  although  it  contained  no 
3xposition  of  doctrine  to  be  compared  with  the  teachings 
of  the  greater  Epistles,  none  the  less  did  each  one  of  these 
congregations  treasure  this  letter  most  devoutly ;  for  in 
it  they  recognized  anew  the  traits  of  their  Apostle,  the 
same  charm  of  nobility  and  generosity  which  had  won 
their  hearts  of  old ;  just  as  formerly,  Paul  displays  that 
jealous  vigilance  in  preserving  his  independence,  and  yet 
so  far  confides  in  their  friendship  as  to  accept,  and  rely 
upon,  their  generous  aid ;  careful  to  ennoble  his  expres- 
sions of  obligation  by  the  courtesy  and  dignity  of  his 
gratefulness,  yet  still  more  anxious  to  divest  his  soul 
of  any  personal  feelings,  self-seeking,  and  egoism.  Ee- 
nunciation,  a  joyous  self-forgetfulness  for  the  sake  of  the 
brethren  and  for  Jesus'  sake,  —  this  is  the  virtue  he  would 
fain  impress  and  exalt  by  means  of  this  Epistle.  To  this, 
it  would  seem,  Paul  seeks  to  reduce  the  whole  lesson  of 

1  Philip,  iv.  10-20. 


FIRST  IMPRISONMENT  AT  ROME.  27 

Christianity ;  and  rightly,  too,  since,  as  the  Christ  had 
gone  so  far  in  His  love  for  mankind  as  to  annihilate  Him- 
self and  die  for  us,  so  His  Heart  which  beats  within  that 
of  every  believing  soul  must  evermore  aspire  toward  the 
same  acts  of  self-sacrifice,  the  same  Christlike  Charity. 
To  use  the  very  words  of  the  Apostle,  the  true  Christian 
can  no  longer  live  nor  "  love  save  in  the  Heart  of  Jesus." 

1  PhiHp.  i.  8. 


CHAPTER  II. 

SAINT  JAMES  OF  JERUSALEM. 

Paul  never  bade  farewell  to  any  one  of  his  Churches 
without  a  haunting  fear  of  some  new  trial  awaiting  them ; 
dissensions  within  the  body,  or  some  lapses  either  in  doc- 
trine or  in  the  conduct  of  life.  Better  than  any  one  else, 
indeed,  he  realized  that,  with  many  of  the  converts,  bap- 
tism had  not  entirely  effaced  the  stigmata  of  sin,  but 
that  deep  down  in  their  hearts  there  still  nestled  a  secret 
attachment  to  certain  dangerous  errors.  One  reassuring 
fact,  however,  was  the  facility  with  which  these  seeds  of 
corruption  were  generally  rooted  out,  —  a  few  words  from 
him,  a  letter,  or  a  rumor  of  his  approaching  arrival  generally 
sufficed.  But  now  that  he  was  a  prisoner,  what  manner 
of  harvest  would  be  reaped  from  the  fields  bereft  of  the 
master,  with  these  foul  weeds  free  to  spread  and  thrive  ? 
This  was  the  cause  of  his  gravest  anxieties  while  in  his 
prison  cell  at  Caesarea.  Doubtless,  during  these  two  years, 
he  still  managed,  by  means  of  messages  and  the  mission 
work  of  his  disciples,  to  keep  tlie  disorder  within  certain 
bounds  ;  but  where  that  was  impossible  the  old  spirit 
sprang  to  life  again,  to  the  great  peril  of  souls.  A  letter 
written  by  James  toward  the  close  of  this  period  of  cap- 
tivity leaves  no  doubt  on  this  point.  It  shows  us  clearly 
that,  in  the  Churches  scattered  among  Pagan  lands,  those 
Christians  who  were  of  Jewish  origin  were  everywhere 
pushing  their  propaganda  and  dealing  deadly  blows  to 
the  pure  and  undefiled  teaching  of  the  Gospel. 

The  end  and  aim  of  these  unworthy  neophytes  was  not, 
as  was  that  of  the  Judaizers  at  Jerusalem,  to  model  the 
new  faith  upon  Mosaism ;  indeed  they  seem,  from  their 
intercourse  with  Gentiles,  to  have  grown   indifferent  to 


SAINT  JAMES  OF  JERUSALEM.  29 

such  irksome  Observances  ;  but  far  from  seeking  a  substi- 
tute for  these  in  the  ideal  of  Christian  perfection,  they 
sought  by  one  stroke  to  weaken  all  morality  in  the  con- 
duct of  life.  The  rebuke  James  addresses  to  them  in 
his  Epistle  shows  to  what  depths  they  had  descended, 
even  to  reechoing  the  most  impudent  of  the  Pharisaical 
doctrines,  that  one  whicli  reduced  the  sum  total  of  right- 
eousness to  a  belief  in  the  God  of  Circumcision :  "  The 
man  who  holds  this  faith,"  they  said,  "  may  sin  with  im- 
punity. God  does  not  impute  it  to  him  as  a  crime."  ^  We 
know  how  indignantly  Jesus  had  branded  such  hypo- 
crites, likening  them  to  those  whited  sepulchres  wliich, 
though  from  without  fair  to  behold,  within  hold  naught 
but  "  contagion,  rottenness,  and  dead  men's  bones."  ^ 

Despite  these  anathemas,  this  outward  show  of  right- 
eousness so  natural  to  the  Jews  continued  to  be  a  snare 
for  those  among  them  who  had  not  given  themselves  to 
the  Christ  out  of  a  full  heart.  The  justification  which 
Paul  preached,  a  justification  springing  from  faith,  not 
works,  became  a  stumbling-block  to  these  Christians  of 
base  alloy ;  they  regarded  it  as  his  authorization  and  ap- 
proval of  that  depravity  of  morals  which  they  yearned 
for ;  to  them  this  was  simply  the  easiest  way  imaginable 
of  making  a  display  of  honor  and  virtue  without  the 
sacrifice  of  a  single  one  of  their  vices. 

In  this  and  nothing  else,  or  so  they  would  have  the 

^  According  to  St.  Justin's  testimony,  this  wfis  the  teaching  of  very 
many  Hellenic  Jews :  "  Vostnetipsos  decipitis,  et  alii  quidani  vobis  hac  in 
re  similes,  qui  dicant,  etiam  si  peccatores  sint,  Deum  tamen,  modo  euni 
cognoscant,  non  imputaturum  illis  peccatum."  (Dialog,  cum  Triph.,  1-41.) 
The  arguments  of  those  false  Christians  whom  James  had  in  mind  were  of 
the  same  sort.  Upon  hearing  Paul  proclaim  that  man  is  justified  by  Faith 
without  the  works  of  the  Law,  they  jumped  at  the  conclusion  that  it  was 
sufficient  to  believe  in  the  Messiah  and  His  coming,  in  order  to  be  saved  ; 
and  that,  thereafter,  they  might  break  the  whole  Law,  even  its  moral 
precepts:  "  Quoniam  ergo  hsec  opinio  tunc  fuerat  exorta,  alise  apostolicae 
epistolse  Petri,  Johannis,  Jacobi,  Judifi  contra  eam  maxime  dirigunt  inten- 
tionem,  ut  vehementer  astruant  fidem  sine  operibus  non  prodesse ;  sicut 
etiam  ipse  Paulus,  non  qualeralibet  fidem,  qua  in  Deum  creditur,  sed  earn 
salubrem  planeque  evangelicam,  definivit,  cujus  opera  ex  dilectione  proce- 
dunt."     (St.  Augustine,  De  Fid.  et  Oper.,  21.) 

2  Matt,  xxiii.  27. 


30         LAST   YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

brethren  believe,  consisted  the  special  revelation  granted 
to  the  Apostle,  —  this  was  that  "freedom  from  the  bond- 
age of  the  Law  "  he  inculcated  so  zealously ;  of  that  death 
to  sin  which  is  presupposed  by  this  "  liberty  of  the  chil- 
dren of  God,"  ^  of  the  soul's  complete  regeneration  and  the 
fruits  of  righteousness  which  result  therefrom,  —  of  these 
they  made  not  the  slightest  mention. 

Paul  had  discerned  this  tendency,  in  the  depths  of  the 
Jewish  soul,  to  travesty  his  teachings,  and  it  was  for  this 
reason  that,  in  his  letter  to  the  Eomans,  he  made  no  dis- 
tinctions, but  launched  his  bitter  invective  against  his 
whole  race :  "  You  that  bear  the  Jewish  name,  repose 
securely  upon  the  Law,  and  boast  of  God's  favors,  .  .  . 
you  pride  yourselves  on  being  leaders  of  the  blind,  a  light 
to  those  that  are  in  darkness,  instructors  of  the  ignorant, 
teachers  of  the  simple  and  the  young,  possessing  in  the 
Law  the  rule  of  knowledge  and  of  truth.  And  notwith- 
standing you  teach  others,  you  do  not  teach  yourselves. 
You,  who  preach  that  a  man  ought  not  to  steal,  steal  your- 
selves ;  you,  who  say  that  a  man  should  not  commit  adul- 
tery, commit  adultery  yourselves  ;  you,  who  boast  in  the 
Law,  dishonor  God  by  breaking  the  Law.  It  is  because 
of  you,  as  saith  the  Scripture  that  the  name  of  God  is 
blasphemed  among  the  nations."  ^ 

It  is  easy  to  imagine  the  confusion  of  the  Judaizers  in 
the  presence  of  one  who,  with  such  a  vigorous  hand,  tore 
away  their  masks  ;  easy,  too,  to  imagine  the  fresh  out- 
breaks of  audacity  so  soon  as  they  realized  that  they 
were  rid  of  this  overmastering  spirit.  Hardly  had  the 
Apostle  disappeared  from  among  them  before  the  seeds 
of  immorality  began  to  bud  forth  more  plentifully  than 
ever;  in  every  Christian  congregation  where  the  Jews 
were  in  any  force,  the  believers  in  Paul's  Gospel  were 
saddened  and  distressed  by  hearing  this  shameless  doc- 
trine of  "  Faith  without  Works "  preached  from  the 
housetops. 

Infecting    as    it    did    in    an    especial    manner   those 

1  Rom.  viii.  21.  2  i\,u    n  17-24. 


SAINT  JAMES  OF  JERUSALEM.  31 

Churches  founded  by  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  this 
corruption  of  doctrine  seems  scarcely  to  have  excited  the 
alarm  of  the  Twelve,  who  were  dispersed  in  other  re- 
gions. The  only  one  among  them  who  was  led  to  suspect 
its  venomous  nature  was  James  of  Jerusalem  ;  for  the 
yearly  pilgrimages  brought  him  in  touch  wdth  large  num- 
bers of  Judaizers  from  Asia  Minor  and  Greece.  He  was 
in  a  position  to  note,  therefore,  what  dangers  threatened 
the  Gospel,  and  was  the  more  moved  thereby  since  the 
faction  among  the  converts  that  was  thus  conspiring  for 
the  ruin  of  faith  and  morals,  claimed  that  its  teachings 
were  approved  by  the  authority  of  Jerusalem  itself.^ 
Feeling  that  it  was  a  duty  demanded  by  his  own  con- 
science, he  resolved,  Paul  being  absent,  to  speak,  in  an 
encyclical  letter  and  in  the  name  of  the  Mother  Church, 
"  as  a  servant  of  the  God  of  Israel,  but  one  likewise  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  ^  Like  Peter,  an  Apostle  of  the 
Circumcision,  and  even  more  zealous  than  he  in  his  heart- 
felt attachment  to  the  Old  Law,  James  addresses  his 
words  especially  to  Christians  of  the  same  blood  and 
spirit  as  himself :  "  To  the  Twelve  Tribes  that  ake 
IN  THE  Dispersion  :  Greeting."  ^ 

James'  opening  sentences  are  prompted  by  a  feeling  of 
compassion  for  the  Christian  communities,  whose  faith  he 
longed  to  purify  and  strengthen.     He  realized  that  they 

1  It  will  be  remembered  that  at  the  assembly  held  in  this  city  Peter 
had  explained  and  reconciled  Paul's  teaching  concerning  justiiication. 
"  God  .  .  .  giveth  the  Holy  Spirit  unto  the  Gentiles  even  as  unto  us  : 
He  maketh  no  difference  between  them  and  us,  having  purified  their  hearts 
by  Faith." 

2  James  i.  1. 

^  This  salutation,  so  Hebraic  in  its  style,  and  other  similar  features  of 
the  Epistle,  have  led  Spitta  and  Massebieau  to  conclude  that  St,  James' 
letter  is  simply  some  document  of  Jewish  origin  and  character  (Spitta, 
Der  Brief  des  Jacobus  untersucht,  Gottingen,  1896;  Massebieau,  Revue  de 
I'histoire  des  religions^  novembre,  decembre,  1895).  The  Revue  Biblique 
for  October  contains  a  fine  refutation  of  this  singular  hypothesis.  Catho- 
lic exegetieal  scholars  are  by  no  means  alone  in  admitting  the  authenticity 
of  the  Epistle  of  St.  James  ;  the  majority  of  Protestants  are  quite  as  vigor- 
ous in  their  defence  of  it  against  the  attacks  of  the  Rationalists.  See  in 
the  Expositor  for  May,  1897,  pp.  321  et  seg.,  an  article  by  Mayer,  entitled 
Authenticity  of  the  Epistle  of  St,  James  against  Harnack  and  Spitta. 


32  LAST   YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

were  doomed  to  be  "  the  butt  of  various  temptations,"  ^ 
in  a  state  of  disquietude  so  oppressive  to  their  souls  that 
the  first  thing  necessary  was  to  revive  their  drooping 
courage.  With  this  end  in  view,  the  Apostle  reminds 
them  that  suffering  is  a  joy  to  the  disciple  of  Christ,  be- 
cause he  finds  in  the  exercise  of  patience  the  trial  of  his 
faith,2  and  as  a  reward  therefor  "  that  crown  of  life  prom- 
ised by  God  to  them  that  love  Him."  ^  The  line  of  de- 
marcation separating  rich  and  poor  was  now  becoming 
daily  more  noticeable  in  the  Church,  and  would  seem  to 
be  one  of  the  principal  grievances  which  the  Apostle  set 
himself  to  alleviate  and  correct ;  at  all  events  it  must 
have  been  uppermost  in  his  mind,  for  he  reverts  to  it 
constantly  in  this  letter  :  — 

''Let  the  brother  of  low  degree,"  he  writes,  '^ glory 
therein,  as  thereby  exalted ;  ^  and  let  the  rich  regard  [his 
wealth]  as  it  were  a  humiliation,  because  as  the  flower  of 
the  grass  he  shall  pass  away.  As  the  sun  riseth  with  burn- 
ing heat,  the  grass  withereth,  the  flower  thereof  faileth, 
and  the  grace  of  its  form  perisheth,  so  also  shall  the  rich 
fade  away  in  his  ways."  ^ 

Further  on  he  repeats  the  same  counsels :  — 

"My  brethren,  as  you  have  faith  in  Our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  [the  Lord]  of  glory,  make  no  distinction  between 
persons.^  For  if  there  come  into  your  synagogue  a  man 
wearing  a  golden  ring^  and  splendid  apparel,   and  there 

1  James  i.  2.  3  i]^[^     i  12. 

2  Ibid.,  i.  2-4. 

*  The  highest  beatitude  of  the  poor  man  lies  in  this,  that  by  his  poverty 
and  privations  he  shares  in  the  sufferings  of  the  Christ,  whereby  alone  lie 
possesses  a  glory  infinitely  superior  to  all  the  joys  which  the  rich  man  ob- 
tains from  his  wealth. 

^  James  i.  9-11. 

s  Literally,  "  Have  not  the  Faith  of  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  by  making 
respect  of  persons." 

]  In  olden  days  wealthy  women  were  not  the  only  ones  that  loaded 
their  fingers  with  rings  and  precious  stones;  in  this  respect  the  men  ri- 
valled them  in  such  dis])lays  of  luxury.  "  Senos  Charinus  omnibus  digitis 
gerit,  nee  nocte  ponit  annulos,  nee  dum  lavatur."  Martial,  xi.  60.  Cf. 
Lucian,  Sonm.,  12. 


SAINT  JAMES   OF  JERUSALEM.  33 

enter  also  some  poor  man  in  mean  garments,  and,  taking 
notice  of  him  who  is  magnificently  attired,  you  say  to  him, 

*  Sit  thou  here  in  a  fine  place ; '  and  say  to  the  poor  man, 

*  Stand  thou  over  there,'  or  '  Sit  thou  down  here,  below  my 
footstool/  is  not  that  to  make  a  difference  in  your  own 
mind  between  one  and  the  other  and  to  become  judges  of 
iniquitous  minds?  Hearken,  my  dearly  beloved  brethren  ! 
Hath  not  God  chosen  the  poor  of  this  world  to  be  rich  in 
faith  and  heirs  of  the  Kingdom  which  He  hath  promised  to 
them  that  love  Him  ?  And  would  you  despise  the  poor  ? 
Is  it  not  the  wealthy  that  oppress  you  ?  Who^  if  not  they, 
blaspheme  the  goodly  Name  [of  Christ]  whence  your  own 
is  taken  ?  If  you  fulfil  the  royal  law,  in  accordance  with 
that  precept  of  Scripture,  '  Thou  shalt  love  th}^  neighbor  as 
thyself,'  you  do  well.  But  if  you  have  regard  of  the  con- 
dition of  persons,  you  commit  sin,  and  are  condemned  by 
the^law  as  transgressors."  ^ 

This  misunderstanding  of  the  great  law  of  Christianity, 
the  law  of  Fraternal  Charity,  had  sprung  from  the  cor- 
rupting maxims  of  the  Judaizers.  James  strikes  straight 
at  the  roots  of  the  evil  and  strives  to  sever  them  from 
the  trunk.  First  and  foremost  were  the  fatalistic  theories 
of  certain  Pharisees,  who,  by  referring  man's  conduct  to 
an  irresistible  destiny, ^  discharged  man  of  anything  like 
individual  responsibility.  One  word  was  enough  to  shat- 
ter this  immoral  contention  :  — 

*^Let  no  man  when  he  is  tempted,  say,  ^I  am  tempted  by 
God ; '  for  God,  a  stranger  to  all  evil,  tempteth  not  any 
man,  but  every  man  under  temptation  is  enticed  and  led 
away  by  his  own  lust ;  then  lust,  when  it  has  conceived, 
bringeth  forth  sin,  and  sin,  once  consummated,  engenders 
death."  « 

Another  aberration  of  these  false  Christians  was  to 
impose  no  other  sondition  on  such  as  would  be  saved 
except  a  mere  acquiescence  to  the  Word  of  God,  without 

1  James  ii.  1-9. 

2  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  ii.  viii.  14  ;  Antiq.  Jud.,  xiii.  v.  9 ;  xviii.  i.  5, 

3  James  i.  13-15. 


34  LAST  YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

a  word  said  concerning  its  practice.     "  Unto  whom  might 
they  be  likened  in  this  fond  delusion?"  asks  James:  — 

"  To  a  man  who  considereth  his  natural  face  in  a  glass, 
and  who,  after  he  hath  cast  his  eyes  upon  it,  goeth  away  and 
straightway  forgetteth  what  manner  of  man  he  is.  So 
he  that  shall  have  closely  scrutinized  the  perfect  law,  the 
law  of  liberty,  and  shall  have  persevered  therein,  —  not 
merely  hearkening  and  forthwith  forgetting,  but  doing  that 
which  he  hath  heard,  —  this  man  shall  find  happiness  in 
his  deed.  If  any  one  deemeth  himself  pious  and  doth  not 
bridle  his  tongue,  but  deludeth  himself  in  his  own  heart,  his 
piety  is  vain.  Pure  religion  and  undefiled  in  the  sight  of 
God  the  Father  is  this  —  to  visit  the  fatherless  and  widows 
in  their  afflictions,  and  to  keep  one's  self  unspotted  from  the 
world."  ^ 

By  these  examples  James  clearly  indicated  the  charac- 
teristic notes  of  the  true  Faith ;  a  supernatural  Grace 
first  of  all,  it  is  true,  "  a  perfect  gift  coming  down  from 
on  High  from  the  Father  of  lights,"  ^  regeneratmg  "  the 
believer  by  the  word  of  truth,"  ^  nevertheless,  of  no  value 
for  salvation  save  on  condition  that  this  "word  implanted" 
in  the  soul  exclude  from  it  "  all  the  filthiness  and  excesses 
of  sin,"^  in  order  to  bring  forth  "the  fruits  of  righteous- 
ness"^ and  peace  and  mercy.  Nor  does  he  stop  there, 
but  boldly  attacks  the  capital  delusion  of  the  Judaizers, 
face  to  face  :  — 

"  My  brettiren,  what  doth  it  profit  any  one  to  say  that  he 
hath  the  Faith,  if  he  have  not  works  ?  Can  faith  save  him? 
If  a  brother  or  a  sister  are  without  clothing  and  destitute 
of  daily  bread,  and  one  of  you  say  unto  them,  *  Go  in  peace, 
be  ye  warmed  and  filled,'  without  giving  them  what  is  need- 
ful for  the  body,  of  what  profit  are  your  words  to  them  ? 
Even  so  Faith,  if  it  hath  not  works,  is  dead  in  itself."  ^ 

Some  have  professed  to  consider  this  teaching  as  the 
direct  antithesis   of   Paul's  doctrine,  "  Ye  are  saved  by 

1  James  i.  23-27.  *  Ibid.,  i.21. 

2  Ibid.,  i.  17.  5  jbid.,  iii.  18. 

8  Ibid.,  i.  18.  6  ibi(j    ii  i4_i7^ 


SAINT  JAMES  OF  JERUSALEM.  35 

Grace,  by  Faith,  .  .  .  and  this  is  not  won  by  works."  ^ 
But  the  contradiction  is  only  an  apparent  one.  It  vanishes 
as  soon  as  we  advert  to  the  fact  that,  on  the  one  hand, 
Paul  does  not  deny  the  efficacy  of  works  to  save  us,  except 
to  legal  works,  such  works  as  man  may  accomplish  with- 
out the  aid  of  Grace  ;  and  that,  on  the  other  hand,  when 
attributing  this  power  to  Faith,  he  has  in  mind,  not  any 
mere  inert  and  sterile  belief,  but  a  power  which  works 
within  the  soul  through  Charity.  Justification,  therefore, 
according  to  both  of  the  Apostles,  is  brought  about  in  the 
same  manner,  in  the  depths  of  the  soul,  purifying  and 
vivifying  it,  making  it  fruitful  in  works  of  righteousness 
and  sanctity.  Preoccupied  as  he  was  with  his  longing  to 
convince  the  Jews  of  the  powerlessness  of  their  own 
Legal  Works,  Paul  had  cited  Abraham,  as  showing  that 
that  Patriarch's  justification  was  by  Faith.^  Saint  James, 
recurring  to  the  same  example,  reminds  them  of  what 
manner  of  Faith  this  was  which  was  so  powerful,  lively, 
and  fecund  that  it  gave  birth  to  so  heroic  an  act. 

"  Wilt  thou  know,  0  vain  man,  that  faith  without  works 
is  dead  ?  Was  not  our  father  Abraham  justified  by  works 
when  he  offered  his  sou  Isaac  upon  the  altar  ?  Seest  thou 
how  faith  wrought  with  his  works  and  by  works  was  his 
faith  made  perfect  ?  ...  As  the  body  without  the  soul  is 
dead,  so  faith  without  works  is  dead  also."  ^ 

This  last  sentence  cast  the  clarifying  rays  of  common- 
sense  upon  a  question  which  the  Judaizing  element  had 
befogged  to  the  best  of  their  ability.  It  disposed  of  it  in 
the  minds  of  all  sincere  and  honest  thinkers.  There  still 
remained  the  duty  of  healing  their  wounded  hearts,  and 
for  this  task  James'  well  known  attachment  to  the  Mosaic 
law  lent  him  just  that  air  of  authority  which  enabled  him 
to  bare  the  infected  spot  and  use  his  scalpel  without  fear. 
Unflinchingly  he  proceeds  to  expose  the  vices  of  his 
brethren  of  Israel,  "  bitter  jealousies  and  a  spirit  of  con- 

1  Ephes.  ii.  8,  9.  3  James  ii.  20-26. 

2  Rom.  iv.  J  Gal.  iii.  6-9. 


36  LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

tentiousness,"  intemperate  language,  impudent  claims  to 
universal  dominion,  of  bringing  all  creation  under  the 
sway  of  their  "terrestrial,  animal,  and  diabolical  wis- 
dom : "  1  sentiments  so  unseemly  in  followers  of  the 
Gospel,  he  branded  and  cauterized  in  a  manner  worthy 
of  the  olden  Prophets :  — 

''  From  whence  come  strifes  and  battles  among  jow.  ?  Is 
it  not  because  your  passions  wage  war  in  your  members  ? 
You  are  lustful,  and  you  have  naught ;  you  slay,  and  de- 
sire ardently  to  possess,  but  without  obtaining  aught ;  you 
appeal  to  the  courts,  you  make  war  and  you  gain  naught, 
because  you  ask  not ;  you  ask  and  receive  not,  because  you 
ask  amiss,  that  you  may  expend  it  upon  your  lusts.  Adul- 
terers !  ^  Know  you  not  that  the  friendship  of  the  world  is 
enmity  with  God  ?  Whosoever  will  be  a  friend  of  the  world 
makes  himself  an  enemy  of  God."  ^ 

The  bluntness  of  these  words  shows  how  completely 
James  realized  his  authority  over  Christians  of  his 
own  race,  as  one  of  right  empowered  to  speak  his  whole 
mind  to  them.  It  was  not,  however,  by  such  displays  of 
vigor  —  which  are,  for  that  matter,  of  only  occasional 
occurrence  in  this  letter  —  that  he  endeavored  to  reclaim 
the  strayed  sheep  of  the  flock  ;  on  the  contrary,  even  with 
this  end  in  view,  we  see  him  pouring  forth  from  his  heart 
those  treasures  of  ardent  charity,  with  all  that  grace  and 
tenderness  which  were  the  fruits  of  his  meditations  on 
the  Saviour's  words.  The  Glad  Tidings  seem  to  come 
to  life  once  more  in  his  letter ;  there  is  the  same 
simplicity   about    its    teachings,   the    same   charm    sur- 

1  James  iii.  14-16. 

2  The  Jews  regarded  God  as  the  Spouse  of  their  race  and  of  all  human- 
ity. Hence  this  exclamation  :  ' '  Adulterers  .  .  .  think  you  that  the 
Scripture  sayeth  in  vain,  '  The  Spirit  which  God  hath  sent  to  dwell  within 
you  loveth  j'ou  with  a  jealous  love '  V  These  last  words  are  not  intended 
to  be  taken  as  a  quotation  of  any  particular  text,  but  rather  as  a  concise 
expression  of  that  idea  so  variously  and  richly  illustrated  in  the  Scrip- 
tures ;  namely,  that  God,  by  breathing  into  us  His  Spirit,  is  become,  as  it 
were,  our  Spouse  ;  and  that  as  He  is  a  jealous  God,  He  will  in  no  wise 
suffer  us  to  divide  our  hearts  between  the  world  and  Him. 

3  James  iv.  1-4. 


SAINT  JAMES   OF  JERUSALEM.  37 

rounding  its  images,  drawn  from  the  fields,  the  lakes, 
and  the  clear  skies  of  Galilee.^  As  a  rule  James  sets 
forth  his  thoughts,  as  did  Jesus,  unconstrainedly,  with- 
out caring  to  preserve  the  continuity  of  thought  or  any 
methodical  order.  Here  and  there,  however,  taking 
the  Sapiential  Books  of  Israel  as  his  model,  by  some 
striking  picture  he  sets  his  particular  point  of  morality 
in  strong  relief :  — 

"If  any  one  offend  not  by  speaking,  the  same  is  a  perfect 
man  and  able  also  to  bridle  the  whole  body.  Behold  the 
horses'  bits;  these  we  pat  in  their  mouths  and  they  obey 
us,  and  thus  we  direct  their  whole  body  whithersoever  we 
would  go.  Behold  also  the  ships,  which  are  so  great  and 
driven  by  fierce  winds ;  yet  are  turned  about  with  a  very 
small  helm,  toward  whatever  direction  the  steersman  wills 
they  should  go.  Even  so  the  tongue  is  a  little  member ; 
and  yet  of  what  great  things  it  boasteth !  Behold  how 
great  a  forest  a  little  fire  may  enkindle  !  Yea,  the  tongue 
is  a  fire,  a  world  of  iniquities  ;  though  it  be  but  one  of  our 
members,  it  defileth  the  whole  body,  inflameth  the  whole 
course  of  our  life,  and  is  itself  inflamed  by  hell-fire.  For 
every  species  of  wild  beasts  and  birds,  reptiles  and  creatures 
of  the  sea  is  tamed,  and  hath  been  tamed,  by  the  human 
species.  But  the  tongue  no  mortal  can  tame.  'T  is  an  un- 
ruly evil,  full  of  deadly  poison.  By  it  we  bless  God  our 
Father,  and  by  it  we  curse  men  made  in  the  likeness  of 
God  ;  out  of  the  same  mouth  proceedeth  blessing  and  curs- 
ing. My  brethren,  it  ought  not  so  to  be.  Doth  a  fountain 
send  forth  from  the  same  opening  sweet  waters  and  bitter? 
Doth  a  fig-tree,  my  brethren,  bear  olives,  or  a  vine,  figs  ? 
From  a  salty  fountain  cometh  forth  no  fresh  streams."  ^ 

This  animated  passage  furnishes  us  with  a  key  to  the 
character   of   James,  revealing   as  it  does   the  puissant 

^  How  naturally  in  this  letter  James  turns  to  his  native  land  for  the 
images  and  comparisons  he  seeks  :  the  hillsides,  green  with  fig-trees, 
vines,  and  olive-orchards ;  the  pasture  lands,  so  fresh  at  dawn,  but  wither- 
ing away  beneath  the  midday  sun;  refreshing  fountains,  near  neighbors 
to  salty  springs  ;  on  the  soft  horizon-line,  the  azure  sea ;  and  the  rains  of 
spring-time  and  of  autumn,  the  husbandman's  one  hope.  (James  iii.  12  ; 
i  10,  11,  6;  V.  7.) 

2  James  iii.  2-12. 


38  LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

cliarm  of  his  genius,  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  nobility, 
the  loftiness  of  soul,  which  forced  all  Israel  to  bow  before 
him.  Loyalty  and  an  inflexible  uprightness  are  salient 
traits  of  his  sanctity.  To  this  rugged  ascetic,  hungering 
for  righteousness  and  truth,  it  would  be  useless  to  palter 
with  belief ;  prayer  that  was  half-hearted,  murmured  with 
doubting  lips,  would  be  impossible  to  him.  "  He  that 
wavereth,"  he  would  answer,  "  is  like  a  wave  of  the  sea, 
tossed  hither  and  thither.  Let  not  such  an  one  fancy  that 
he  shall  receive  anything  from  the  Lord :  he  is  a  double- 
minded  man,  unstable  in  all  his  ways."  ^  Thus,  to  vacil- 
late, "  to  know  the  good  and  not  to  do  it,  is  to  sin,"  ^  is 
"  to  lie  to  the  truth."  ^  "  Cleanse  your  hands,  ye  sinners, 
and  purify  your  souls,  ye  that  are  half-hearted."  *  "  Let 
your  yea  be  yea,  and  your  nay,  nay  ! "  ^ 

James'  first  thought  is  to  inculcate  this  sincerity  of 
soul,  this  serious  view  of  a  Christian's  life,  to  be  em- 
braced unreservedly  and  without  one  afterthought.  Like 
Paul,  as  we  have  seen,  he  made  no  attempt  to  conceal  the 
fact,  even  from  himself,  that  any  such  perfection  as  this  is 
"  a  perfect  gift  coming  down  from  on  High,  from  the  Father 
of  lights,  in  Whom  there  is  no  variableness,  neither 
shadow  of  turning ; "  ^  and  that,  therefore,  to  obtain  it 
we  must  ask  for  it,  and  '•'  draw  nigh  to  God,  if  we  would 
that  He  draw  nigh  unto  us."  ^  Hence  prayer  he  considered 
as  the  very  staff  of  spiritual  life,  and  to  a  life  of  prayer  he 
seeks  to  reduce  the  whole  practice  of  Taith  in  these 
closing  lines  of  his  letter :  — 

"  Is  any  one  among  you  afflicted  ?  Let  him  pray.  Is 
any  merry?  Let  him  sing  canticles  of  joy.  Is  any  one 
among  you  sick  ?     Let  him  call  in  the  Elders  ^  of  the  con- 

1  James  i.  6-8.  ^  Ibid.,  v.  12. 

2  Ibid.,  iv.  17o  «  Ibid.,  i.  17. 
8  Ibid.,  iii.  14.  '^  Ibid.,  iv.  8. 
4  Ibid.,  iv.  8. 

s  Tovs  -rpeafivTepovs  Trjs  eKKX-qcrias.  "Si  quis  dixerit  presb3^teros  Ec- 
olesiffi,  quos  beatus  Jacobus  adducendos  esse  ad  infirmum  inunguendum 
liortatur,  non  esse  sacerdotes  ab  Episcopo  ordinatos,  sed  aetate  seniores  iu 
quavis  communitate,  ob  idque  pvoprium  Extreme  Unctionis  ministrum  non 
esse  solum  sacerdotem  '.  anathema  sit. "  Concilium  Tridentinum,  sess.  xiv., 
De  Eoctrem.  Unci.,  can.  4. 


SAINT  JAMES   OF  JERUSALEM.  39 

gregation,  and  let  them  pray  for  him,  anointing  him  with 
oil  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  ;  and  the  prayer  of  Faith  shall 
save  the  sick,  and  the  Lord  shall  comfort  him,  and  if  he  hath 
committed  sins,  they  shall  be  forgiven  him.^  Confess  your 
faults  one  to  another  and  pray  one  for  another,  that  you 
may  be  healed ;  the  fervent  prayer  of  the  righteous  availeth 
much." 

We  have  no  means  of  knowing  the  effect  produced  by 
this  letter.  Did  James'  words,  so  thoroughly  Christian 
in  spirit,  although  Jewish  in  form,  and  very  different 
from  what  Paul  had  accustomed  the  faithful  to,  —  did 
this  eloquent  message  find  lodgment  in  their  souls  ? 
Were  not  even  the  Israelites  of  those  far  distant  Churches 
more  surprised  than  pleased  at  being  addressed  as  "  the 
Twelve  Tribes  of  the  Dispersion  "  ?  ^  on  hearing  Mosaism, 
once  branded  by  Paul  as  "  the  Law  of  sin  and  of  death," 
proclaimed  anew  by  James,  as  the  "  perfect "  ^  model  of 
Christianity,  the  absolute  "  Sovereign  Law,"  ^  all  of  whose 
commandments  must  be  kept;  and  this  so  rigorously 
that "  to  fail  in  one  point  is  to  be  guilty  of  all "  ?  ^  Purther- 
more,  were  James'  words  accepted  abroad  and  invested 
with  the  same  authority  that  they  bore  at  Jerusalem? 
Neither  Holy  Scripture  nor  Tradition  warrants  us  in 
answering  these  questions  in  the  afiirmative. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  fact  most  clearly  indicated  by 

1  The  Council  of  Trent  in  its  14th  session,  Doctrina  de  Sacra- 
mento Extreme  Unctionis,  has  commented  upon  these  words  of  the 
Apostle  at  length,  and  has  fixed  their  interpretation.  "  Instituta  est 
sacra  hsec  Unctio  infirmorum,  tanquam  vere  et  proprie  sacramentum 
Novi  Testamenti,  a  Christo  Domino  nostro  apud  Marcum  quidem  insinu- 
atum  (vi.  13),  per  Jacobum  autem  apostolum,  ac  Domini  fratrem,  fideli- 
bus  commendatum  ac  promulgatum.  Infirmatur,  inqnit,  quis  in  vobis, 
etc."  (Session  xiv.,  Doctrina  de  Sacramento  Extrem^e  Unctionis, 
chap.  i.). 

2  James  i.  1. 

^  f^Sfiov  reXeiov  rhv  tt]s  ihevdepias.  James  i.  2-5.  To  the  eyes  of  James 
the  Gospel  stands  forth  as  the  completion,  the  perfection,  of  the  Law. 
He  adds  that  it  is  "a  Law  of  Liberty;  "  certainly  not  because  the  ancient 
Law  appeared  to  him  as  one  of  servitude,  but  because  the  Gospel  teaches 
us  how  to  fulfil  the  older  in  all  its  perfectness,  through  our  own  free  and 
spontaneous  obedience. 

*  Nofiov  .  .  .  fiaa-iXiKoyj  James  i.  25.  ^  James  ii.  10. 


40  LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

these  traditions  is  the  growing  influence  of  James  in  the 
Holy  City.  Asceticism  is  held  in  high  esteem  in  the  East. 
Now  we  have  seen  to  what  an  extent  James  carried  his 
contempt  for  the  body.^  The  multitude  were  always 
overwhelmed  with  awe  as  often  as  they  beheld  this  Saint 
pass  by,  —  with  long,  untrimmed  locks,  barefooted,  his 
limbs  wasted  from  fasting;  or  when  gazing  upon  him 
absorbed  in  prayer,  kneeling  or  prostrate  on  the  hard 
ground,  a(]jain  reverence  overmastered  them :  Jews  and 
Christians  alike  bowed  their  heads  before  this  man,  who 
recalled  to  them  the  great  seers  of  their  race,  not  only  by 
his  rugged  exterior,  but  by  his  fiery  speech  as  well.  But 
it  was  the  common  people,  the  lowly  and  the  poor,  always 
so  numerous  in  Jerusalem,  who  listened  to  him  most 
eagerly ;  for  he  shared,  to  the  full,  their  aversion  for  the 
mighty  men  of  Israel,  and  with  unmeasured  scorn 
launched  his  anathemas  at  these  leaders,  branding  them 
for  their  corruption,  their  proud  and  haughty  worship  of 
self :  — 

"  Go  to,  now,  ye  wealthy,  weep  !  Howl  over  the  miseries 
that  shall  come  upon  you !  Your  riches  are  tainted ;  your 
gold  and  silver  are  cankered,  and  the  rust  of  them  shall  be 
a  witness  against  you,  and  shall  devour  your  flesh  as  it  were 
by  fire !  Lo !  this  is  the  treasure  which  you  have  heaped 
together  for  the  last  days.  Behold  now  the  hire,  whereof 
you  have  defrauded  the  laborers  who  have  reaped  down 
your  fields,  crieth  against  you,  and  the  cry  of  the  reapers 
hath  reached  the  ears  of  the  Lord  Sabaoth.  You  have  dal- 
lied with  pleasure  on  the  earth,  and  have  wantoned  in 
luxury;  you  have  fattened  yourselves,  like  victims  for  the 
sacrifice.  You  have  condemned,  ay,  killed  the  Just  One 
who  hath  not  resisted  you."  ^ 

On  hearing  such  invectives,  the  emotion  that  thrilled 
the  throngs  waxed  tremendous,  nor  was  the  rage  of  the 
ruling  class,  so  fiercely  scourged,  any  the  less  overpower- 
ing.    Elsewhere  we  have  studied  the  characteristics  of 

1  St.  Peter  and  the  First  Days  of  Christianitt/,  chap.  xi. 

2  James  v.  1-6. 


SAINT  JAMES   OF  JERUSALEM.  41 

this  aristocracy,  made  up  for  the  most  part  of  the  priestly- 
caste.^  Ill  their  hands  the  Pontificate,  auctioned  off  to  the 
highest  bidder,  became  an  instrument  of  tyranny .^  Were 
any  unfortunates  in  arrears  with  their  tithes,  forthwith  a 
swarm  of  hirelings  descended  upon  their  storehouses  and 
barns,  and  pillaged  them,  cruelly  maltreating  the  poor 
wight  who  ventured  to  remonstrate.  Small  wonder  that 
the  people  and  the  lower  clergy,  reduced  to  extremities 
by  their  exactions,  were  united  in  a  common  hatred  of 
their  oppressors.^  The  following  Anathema,  preserved  in 
the  pages  of  the  Talmud,  shows  what  rebellious  feelings 
were  seething  in  their  souls :  — 

"  A  bane  to  the  land  is  the  House  of  Boethos, 

A  curse  on  their  wands  of  office  1 
A  bane  to  the  land  is  the  House  of  Hannan  I 

A  curse  on  their  hissing  of  vipers  ! 
A  bane  to  the  land  is  the  House  of  Kataros  I 

A  curse  upon  their  plumes  ! 
A  bane  to  the  land  is  the  House  of  Ismael,  sons  of  Phabi  1 

A  curse  upon  their  mailed  fists  ! 

*'  They  are  High  Priests,  their  sons  are  Treasurers,  their  sons- 
in-law  Commanders,  and  their  varlets  beat  the  people  with  their 
staves ! "  * 

This  was  doubtless  some  popular  refrain  they  murmured 
beneath  their  breath.  But  little  recked  the  Pontiffs. 
What  mattered  it  to  them  if  the  lower  classes  chewed  the 
cud  of  ineffectual  wrath,  provided  that  no  outbreak 
occurred  to  disturb  the  peace  and  compromise  them  with 
Rome  ?  In  their  eyes  James  appeared  far  more  dangerous, 
since  his  sanctity  had  won  him  the  esteem  of  every  upright 
person  left  in  Jerusalem.  Even  the  Pharisees  revered  him 
on  account  of  his  fidelity  to  the  Law.  Now,  the  Pharisees 
constituted  what  was  properly  the  body  politic  of  the 
nation  ;  beside  them  were  only  the  Sadducees,  who  formed 
merely  an  immoral  and  sceptical  minority.     The  poHtica) 

1  St.  Peter,  etc.,  chap.  x. 

2  Derenbourg,  Ilistoire  de  la  Palestine,  p.  248. 

3  Josephus,  Antiq.  Jud.,  xv.  viii.  8  j  ix.  2. 
^  Pesachim,  57  a. 


42  LAST  YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

peril,  tlieir  own  wounded  pride,  and  rancorous  vices,  all 
demanded  the  suppression  of  this  preacher :  circumstances 
proved  propitious  for  the  Pontics'  plans. 

On  the  death  of  Festus,  in  Judea,  at  the  beginning  of 
the  year  62,  Albinus  was  appointed  by  Nero  to  succeed 
him.  The  new  Procurator  set  out  by  way  of  Egypt,  and 
consequently  took  several  months  to  reach  his  province. 
In  this  interval  the  Sovereign  Pontificate  likewise  changed 
hands ;  after  deposing  Joseph  Kabi,  Herod  Agrippa  in- 
stalled in  his  place  Annas  (Hannan),  son  of  the  High 
Priest  of  the  same  name,  —  a  name  rendered  infamously 
notorious  by  the  condemnation  and  death  of  Our  Saviour 
during  his  administration.  Malevolent  acts  of  violence 
were  hereditary  in  that  family,  but  Annas  the  younger 
was  especially  distinguished  among  them  all  for  his  hard- 
ness of  heart  and  arrogant  audacity.  Eealizing,  better 
than  any  one  else,  how  deeply  James'  holy  life  discredited 
him  and  his  compeers,  he  resolved  to  get  rid  of  him. 
Agrippa  just  then  chanced  to  be  away  from  Jerusalem; 
Albinus,  as  we  have  seen,  was  still  delaying  his  arrival ; 
it  was  a  unique  opportunity  to  commit  a  legal  murder, 
unhindered  and  unopposed  from  the  very  outset.  Annas 
seized  it,  hastily  convoked  the  Sanhedrin,  and  demanded 
that  James  and  some  of  the  brethren  be  sentenced  to  be 
stoned,  as  violators  of  the  Law.^  It  was  easy  enough  to 
reach  the  latter,  who  were  apparently  both  poor  and  of 
lowly  rank,  but  far  more  difficult  to  lay  hands  on  James, 
whom  the  whole  town  revered.  The  account  of  Heges- 
sipus,  which,  though  full  of  apochryphal  details,^  is  based 
on  historical  facts,  indicates  that  the  members  of  the 
Sanhedrin,  in  order  to  execute  their  sentence,  were  con- 
strained to  lay  a  trap  for  the  Apostle  and  take  him  by 
surprise. 

"  It  was  in  the  Paschal  season,"  says  the  ancient  chroni- 

1  Josephus,  Antiq.  Jud.,  xx.  ix.  ]  ;  Eusebius,  Historia  Ecdesiastica,  ii. 
xxiii. 

2  One  notableinistake  is  that  he  attributes  the  death  of  James  to  the 
Pharisees.  Now  the  Pharisees  composed  the  majority  of  the  people,  the 
masses  j  and  they,  as  we  have  seen,  were  deeply  devoted  to  the  Apostle. 


SAINT  JAMES  OF  JERUSALEM.  43 

cler ;  "  they  conducted  James  out  upon  the  terraces  of  the 
Temple  and  urged  him  to  dissuade  the  people,  gathered  in 
the  Porches,  from  following  after  the  crucified  Jesus. 

"  '  Why  do  you  question  me  concerning  Jesus,  the  Son 
of  Man  ? '  he  cried  in  a  loud  voice.  '  He  is  seated  in 
Heaven,  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Great  Power  of  God, 
and  He  shall  come  upon  the  clouds  of  heaven ! ' 

" '  Hosannah  to  the  Son  of  David ! '  was  the  response  of 
the  multitude. 

"  *  We  have  done  ill,'  the  Sanhedrin  members  muttered 
among  themselves,  '  by  bringing  down  on  ourselves  this 
testimony  to  Jesus;  let  us  go  up  thither  and  cast  him 
down  below,  that  so  the  terrified  mob  may  believe  in 
him  no  longer.' 

"  '  Oh  !  Oh  !  the  Just  One  himself  has  gone  mad  ! '  they 
began  to  shout ;  and,  hastily  mounting  the  terrace,  they 
threw  him  headlong  down  upon  the  pavements  of  the 
Porches  below. 

"  James  did  not  die  at  once,  but  drawing  himself  up 
upon  his  knees  he  repeated  that  prayer,  the  prayer  of  his 
Master  upon  the  Cross,  '  Lord  God,  our  Father,  I  beseech 
Thee,  forgive  them,  for  they  know  not  what  they  do ! ' 

"  The  Scribes'  only  reply  was  the  death-cry, '  Stone  him ! 
Stone  this  James  the  Just !'  and  they  began  to  hail  mis- 
siles on  his  devoted  head. 

"As  they  fell  upon  him,  a  priest  of  the  Eechabite  family  ^ 

1  The  origin  and  history  of  the  Eechabites  is  wrapped  in  obscurity. 
Are  these  ascetics,  —  Kenites  as  they  were  by  birth  (1  Par.  ii.  55),  — to  be 
considered  as  Israelites  ?  or  were  they  merely  affiliated  with  them  ?  and,  if 
so,  to  what  degree  ?  It  is  hard  to  give  a  precise  answer.  From  the  report 
given  us  by  Jeremy  (xxxv.  7),  the  following  rules  had  been  given  them  by 
Jonadab,  son  of  Rechab:  "You  shall  not  drink  of  wine,  neither  you  nor 
your  sons  forevermore.  You  shall  not  build  houses,  you  shall  not  sow 
grain,  you  shall  not  plant  vines,  neither  shall  you  possess  them,  but  you 
shall  dwell  in  tents  all  the  days  of  your  life."  Taken  together,  these  pre- 
cepts present  a  picture  of  some  tribe  living  in  the  open,  but  bound  by 
vows  to  lead  a  patriarchal  life.  When  the  invasion  of  Nabuchodonosor 
(598  B.  c.)  forced  them  to  take  refuge  in  Jerusalem,  they  were  quartered 
in  the  Porches  of  the  Temple,  where  the  disciples  of  Hanan,  son  of  Jig- 
dalia,  were  leading  a  life  very  like  their  own  (Jer.  xxxv.  4).  The  Recha- 
bites  seem  to  have  been  attached  for  a  long  period  of  time  to  the  Sanctuary 
of  Israel,  and  to  have  dwelt  there  as  servers  of  the  priests.     On  the  return 


44  LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

attempted  to  stop  them.  '  What  are  you  doing  ? '  he  said ; 
*  see,  the  Just  One  is  praying  for  you  ! ' 

•'  But  a  fuller  who  stood  by  swung  the  mallet  he  used 
in  fulling  cloth,  and  brought  it  down  upon  his  head. 
Thus  was  the  Apostle  martyred."  ^ 

This  murder  roused  the  indignation  of  even  the  Jews 
of  Jerusalem,  and  it  was  precisely  the  strict  observers  of 
the  Law  who  displayed  the  deepest  displeasure,  for  James 
was  their  boast.  Many  of  them  sent  despatches  secretly 
to  King  Agrippa,  begging  him  to  curb  Annas'  tyranny 
and  prevent  the  recurrence  of  such  deeds  of  violence ; 
others  sought  the  ear  of  the  new  Governor,  whose  com- 
pany they  joined  as  soon  as  he  left  Alexandria  for  Judea. 
On  hearing  their  report,  how,  without  his  assent  and  in 
defiance  of  his  rights,  the  Sanhedrin  had  been  assembled 
in  judicial  council,  Albinus  sent  the  Pontiff  an  angry  and 
threatening  letter ;  but  it  came  too  late  for  Annas  to  feel 
its  full  effect,  as  he  had  already  been  deposed  by  Agrippa, 
and  Jesus,  the  son  of  Damnseus,  appointed  in  his  stead. 
The  pontificate  of  Annas  had  lasted  but  three  months.^ 

This  satisfaction  accorded  to  popular  indignation  did 
not  suffice,  however,  to  banish  the  troubles  and  anxieties 
of  Jerusalem.  A  belief  that  God  would  avenge  the  Saint 
was  firmly  held  by  the  people ;  accordingly,  as  soon  as 
war  broke  out  in  the  land,  many  regarded  it  as  the  be- 
ginning of  the  dreaded  punishment.^  Indeed,  did  not  the 
whole  condition  of  affairs  in  the  Holy  City  demand  the 
interposition  of  the  Arm  of  Judgment  ?  Besides  the  cor- 
rupt magistrates,  there  were  impostors  of  every  descrip- 
tion who  kept  the  masses  in  a  perpetual  fever  of  rebel- 
lion ;  the  Zealots,  especially,  sowed  terror  in  their  path. 
Festus  had  repressed  them,  granting  no  quarter  and  no 
mercy ;  but  their  bands,  once  scattered  and  disseminated 

from  captivity  we  find  them  there  still  (1  Paral.,  ii.  55.  Cf.  Jerem.  xxxv. 
19),  and  from  Hegesippus'  testimony,  which  appears  most  plausible  in  this 
particular,  we  learn  that  in  the  first  century  some  of  these  ascetics  were 
still  to  be  encountered  there. 

1  Eusebius,  Hist  or  ia  Ecclesiastica,  i.  xxiii. 

2  Josephus,  Antiq.  Jud.,  xx.  ix.  1. 

3  Eusebius,  Hist.  Eccles.,  ii.  xxiii. 


SAINT  JAMES  OF  JERUSALEM.  45 

over  the  country,  could  not  be  easily  captured  and  de- 
stroyed ;  beaten  in  one  place,  they  soon  appeared  else- 
where. Albinus  did  not  long  continue  this  thankless 
task  ;  less  upright  than  his  predecessor,  he  preferred  to 
shut  his  eyes  to  the  enterprises  of  these  brigands  ;  worse 
still,  he  made  them  pay  for  his  tacit  connivance.^ 

In  this  state  of  demoralization,  what  could  unhappy 
Jerusalem  do,  save  gaze  with  horror  into  the  abyss  which 
threatened  to  engulf  her  people,  shuddering  at  its  unknown 
depths  ?  Toward  the  end  of  this  same  year  (62),  a  fore- 
boding clamor  began  to  make  itself  heard  within  the  walls. 
A  peasant  named  Jesus,  son  of  Hannan,  had  come  up  to 
the  Feast  of  the  Tabernacles :  like  another  Jeremiah,  he 
began  of  a  sudden  to  cry  out  in  the  Temple :  — 

"  Oh,  Voice  from  the  East !  Oh,  Voice  from  the  West ! 
Voice  of  the  four  winds  !  A  Voice  crying  out  against  Je- 
rusalem and  the  Temple  !  A  Voice  crying  out  against  the 
married  men  and  the  married  women  !  A  Voice  crying 
out  against  the  whole  people  ! " 

Night  and  day  he  rushed  through  the  streets  repeating 
the  same  anathemas.  Certain  men  in  authority,  weary  of 
hearing  his  maledictions,  caused  him  to  be  arrested  and 
whipped.  He  said  nothing,  asked  no  mercy,  but  contin- 
ued his  melancholy  cries  as  before.  Such  hardihood  dis- 
concerted the  magistrates ;  fearing  lest  this  voice  might 
be  from  God,  they  conducted  Jesus  to  the  Eoman  Gov- 
ernor, who  ordered  that  he  be  scourged  till  the  skin  was 
flayed  from  his  bones.  The  man  made  no  appeal,  shed 
not  a  tear,  but,  at  each  stroke,  repeated  in  pitiful  tones, 
"  Ah-h  !  Ah-h  !  Jerusalem  ! " 

Albinus  asked  him  who  he  was,  whence  he  came,  and 
what  was  the  reason  of  his  cries.  No  answer,  save  his 
wonted  song  of  lamentation. 

"  He  is  insane,"  said  the  Governor,  and  bade  them  let 
him  go. 

Thus,  until  the  siege,  Jesus,  son  of  Hannan,  continued 
his  wails,  speaking  to  no  one,  making  no  complaint  when 

1  Josephus,  Antiq,  JucL,  xx.  ix. ;  Bell.  Jud.,  ii.  xiv.  1. 


46  LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

maltreated,  nor  even  thanking  such  as  gave  him  some- 
thing to  eat.  On  festival  days  his  cries  were  redoubled 
in  strength,  although  his  voice  never  grew  hoarse.  As 
soon  as  the  city  was  blockaded,  he  proceeded  on  his 
rounds  on  top  of  the  walls,  chanting  "Woe  to  the  city! 
Woe  to  the  Temple  !  Woe  to  the  people  ! "  till  at  last  he 
added ,  "  Woe  to  me  !  "  and  fell  killed  by  a  stone  hurled 
from  a  catapult.^ 

The  destruction,  foretold  by  this  strange  seer  in  62  was 
not  to  befall  them  until  eight  years  later;  but  nothing 
thereafter  could  stay  its  approach  ;  for,  with  James,  the 
last  bulwark  that  stood  between  them  and  Divine  Justice 
had  fallen.  None  of  the  Apostles,  indeed,  came  thither 
to  replace  "  the  brother  of  the  Lord,"  ^  at  the  head  of  the 
Mother  Church.  Even  the  Christian  community  he  left 
to  persecutions  and  trials  was  soon  forced  to  flee.  Jeru- 
salem, now  abandoned  to  the  wrath  of  Heaven,  was  about 
to  suffer  the  penalty  for  that  Blood  Divine  which  she 
had  called  down  "  upon  herself  and  upon  her  children."  ^ 

1  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  vi.  v.  3. 

2  Gal.  i.  19. 

8  Matt,  xxvii.  25. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE  COLOSSIANS. 

While  Jerusalem  was  stilling  in  its  bosom  the  last 
germs  of  life  and  the  only  hope  of  salvation  left  to  it, 
Rome  was  eagerly  propagating  the  Faith  which  Paul  had 
been  commissioned  to  spread  throughout  the  Gentile 
world.  His  confinement  afforded  him  long  hours  of  soli- 
tude and  silence ;  and,  in  these  seasons  of  calm,  the  deeper 
meanings  of  the  teachings  of  Jesus  were  revealed  to  him. 
All  that  is  most  lofty  in  the  theology  of  the  Incarnation 
is,  indeed,  founded  upon  the  letters  which  Paul  wrote  at 
this  time ;  they  may  therefore  be  rightfully  regarded  as 
the  fruit  of  these  years  of  captivity,  when  God  permitted 
men  to  fetter  the  limbs  of  the  Apostle,  but  only  with  the 
knowledge  that  thus  his  soul  would  be  given  a  freer  flight 
toward  these  loftier  Revelations  which  were  to  be  allotted 
him.  This  access  of  Heavenly  light  was  destined,  all  in 
good  time,  to  dissipate  the  gloom  which  was  then  threat- 
ening to  enshroud  the  churches  founded  by  Paul. 

We  have  just  seen  how  deeply  James  was  alarmed  at 
these  perils  to  the  Faith,  and  how  he  did  his  best  to  avert 
them  ;  but  he  was  acquainted  with  only  a  few  of  them, 
and  those  the  least  formidable.  The  darkest  clouds  were 
not  those  that  lowered  over  Jerusalem,  but  in  far-off  Asia, 
the  last  scene  of  Paul's  ministry.  In  this  region  the  dog- 
matic questions  so  hotly  disputed  by  Christians  and 
Judaizers  —  the  utility  of  "  Observances  "  and  "  Salvation 
through  Faith "  —  seem  to  have  been  regarded  as  of 
secondary  interest.  These  men's  minds  were  keenly 
absorbed  in  a  very  different  spectacle :  it  was  the  awaken- 
ing  of  Philosophy  to  the  fact  that  a  new  Faith  was  born, 
and,  thereafter,  its  efforts  were  to  draw  it  within  its  own 


48  LAST   YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL, 

sphere,  to  incorporate  it  in  its  own  system,  in  a  word,  to 
absorb  it,  as  it  had  done  with  so  many  Pagan  mythologies. 
For  the  first  time  cahn  and  sceptical  reason  was  brought 
face  to  face  with  the  Gospel,  and  at  once  opened  a  con- 
flict which  is  destined  to  last  as  long  as  the  pride  of 
man  shall  endure. 

The  Roman  province  of  Asia  proved  a  propitious  field 
for  such  a  contest,  for  it  was  the  ancient  Ionia,  the 
mother  of  Thales  and  Heraclitus,  famed  of  old  for  its 
curiosity  concerning  intellectual  questions,  eager  for 
some  new  thing,  and  prompt  to  forge  new  fancies  from 
their  ov/n  chimerical  dreams.  Phrygia,  a  near  neigh- 
bor, fostered  its  own  grosser  Mysteries  among  them,  — 
the  worship  of  Cybele  and  Sabazius,  degrading  all  attri- 
butes of  divinity  to  the  creative  forces  of  Nature.  Added 
to  these  hereditary  influences,  there  was  the  never-ceasing 
seductiveness  of  foreign  theories,  brought  with  them  by 
the  visitors  who  were  attracted  thither  by  the  prosperity 
of  the  country,  and  who  came  from  the  most  widely 
separated  regions,  from  Greece  and  Alexandria  and  Judea 
and  the  far  East.  The  Phrygian  sects  of  the  succeeding 
century  give  us  some  notion  of  the  filthiness  which 
frothed  from  this  ferment  of  foreign  mixture ;  never 
perhaps  has  the  madness  of  lubricity  been  carried  to 
such  an  excess.^ 

In  the  epoch  with  which  we  are  concerned,  the  nas- 
cent contagion  had  not  as  yet  worked  such  havoc  as  it 
did  later  on.  Undoubtedly  it  had  already  tainted  the 
conduct  of  life,  but  its  flrst  care  was  to  lead  men's  minds 
astray.  The  wind  of  Error  which  was  rising  over  Paul's 
flocks  still  stirred  only  the  heights  above  ;  yet  it  was 
undermining,  and,  indeed,  bade    fair    to    overthrow,  the 


1  **  Omitto  Cataphiygas,  Ophitas,  Borboritas  et  Manichreos  :  nota  enim 
jam  hsec  humanpe  calamitatis  vocabula  sunt.  Quis  unquam  Passaloryncitas 
et  Ascodrobos  et  Astotyritas,  et  csetera  magis  portenta.quam  nomina  in 
aliqiia  parte  Romani  orbis  audivit  ?  Anti([uai  stultitioe  usque  hodie  manet 
vesticria."  St.  Jerome,  Comment,  in  Epist.  ad  Galat.,  i.  ii.,  prooem.  ;  cf. 
St.  Eijipbaiiius,  xlviii.  14  ;  xlix.  1,  2  ;  Philaster,  74-75  ;  Proidestinatus, 
lib.  i.,  passim  {Patrol.  Lat.,  Migne,  vol.  liii.  p.  588  et  seq.). 


THE  EPISTLE   TO   THE   COLOSSIANS.  49 

loftiest  teachings  of  the  Apostle,  those  which  he  had 
most  at  heart,  because  by  them  he  proclaimed  Jesus  to 
be  infinitely  raised  above  all  creatures,  —  God,  even  as 
is  the  Father,  in  Whose  bosom  He  liveth  forevermore. 

Under  what  form  did  the  new  Heresy  attack  this 
primordial  dogma  of  Christianity  ? 

To  help  us  to  divine  the  answer,  we  have  only  a  few 
allusions,  certain  significant  words  in  Saint  Paul's  Epis- 
tles, but  principally  the  doctrinal  exposition  which  the 
Apostle  used  opposing  it.  The  main  point  which  these 
various  indications  settle  beyond  all  question  is,  that 
the  errors  elaborated  by  the  Gnostics  of  the  following 
ages  were  already  recognizable  in  their  germs  here  in 
the  Christian  communities  of  Ephesus  and  Colossse. 

As  the  basis  of  all  these  fancies  we  find  the  same 
peculiar  propensities,  the  same  objects  in  view,  the  same 
aberrations  misleading  them.  "  Whence  cometh  Evil  ?  "  ^ 
To  this  query,  which  has  ever  been  a  torturing  one  for 
Reason,  left  to  its  own  powers  to  solve,  what  was  the 
answer  ?  Neither  suffering  nor  sin  could  emanate  from 
an  Infinite  Being,  good  both  in  Its  essence  and  in  the 
plenitude  of  Its  powers.  Their  only  alternative  was  to 
invent,  as  opposed  to  God,  some  adverse  principle,  eter- 
nal and  independent,  which  limits  and  impairs  His 
almighty  Attributes.  This  ill-omened  part  the  Gnostics 
assigned  to  Matter,  which  they  represented,  sometimes 
as  the  principle  of  inertia  and  death,  or,  again,  as  the 
leaven  of  corruption.  The  Dualism  of  the  Persians 
appears  at  the  very  core  of  their  speculations,  in  less 
striking  prominence,  doubtless,  than  in  the  religious 
doctrines  of  Iran,  but  originating  from  them  in  all 
likelihood.  From  the  same  source  it  would  seem  they 
borrowed  another  theory  of  equal  importance  to  Gnos- 
ticism, the  chain  of  Intermediaries  between  God  and 
the   creature,  which   they    multiplied    ad    infinitum,  in 


1  "Languens  enim  (quod  et  nunc  multi,  et  maxime  hseretici)  circa  mali 
quffistionem.  Unde  malum?  ..  ."  Tertullian,  ^(/y.  il/araone/w,  i.  2.  Qt 
De  Prcescript.,  7  ;  Eusebius,  Historia  Ecclesiastica,  v.  xvii. 

4 


50        LAST  YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

order  to  explain  how  a  Being,  essentially  good  and  pure, 
could  communicate  with  a  world  stained  by  sin.  To  solve 
this  problem  they  conceived  the  Deity  as  outpouring 
itself  in  a  succession  of  Emanations,  after  each  one  of 
them  evaporating  and  vanishing  more  and  more.  Thus 
the  gulf  between  the  infinite  and  finite  is  bridged  over, 
while  the  disproportion  gradually  diminishes,  until  it  is 
so  far  lessened  that  a  point  of  contact  between  the  two 
becomes  possible,  and  creation  begins  its  work.^ 

My  only  object  in  referring  here  to  these  parent  notions 
of  Gnosticism  is  in  order  to  make  more  striking  by  con- 
trast the  Theology  which  the  Apostle  urged  in  opposition ; 
for  far  be  it  from  me  to  attribute  any  such  complete  body 
of  doctrines  to  the  Heretics  whom  Saint  Paul  had  in  mind. 
There  was  no  leader  among  them  capable  of  condensing 
the  mass  of  floating  ideas  then  current  and  giving  them 
his  name ;  each  one  was  blown  hither  and  thither  by  his 
own  doubts,  and  though  it  is  true  that  a  current  was 
forming  which  was  dragging  their  minds  toward  the  same 
abyss,  this  was  simply  because  the  same  influences  were 
wafting  them  along. 

These  influences,  as  we  have  seen,  had  their  rise  for  the 
most  part  in  certain  Oriental  dogmas  imported  by  Pagan 
philosophers  who  were  imbued  with  them,  and  who  were 
flocking  from  every  direction  into  Ionia.  Another  source 
of  error  was  their  frequent  contact  with  certain  Israelites, 
half  traders,  half  missionaries,  who  hawked  their  wares 
and  their  doctrines  at  the  same  time,  the  latter  a  strange 
hodge-podge  of  truth  and  falsehood.  As  in  the  time  of 
Jesus,  these  men  "  compassed  land  and  sea  merely  to  make 
proselytes  twofold  worthier  of  Gehenna  than  they  them- 
selves." 2  The  most  active  among  them  were  the  fanatical 
followers  of  Mosaism,  the  so-called  Judaizers,  whose  tac- 
tics we  are  already  familiar  with.  Paul  knew  them  only 
too  well.     But  there  were  others  at  work  propagating 

1  See  Matter,  Histoire  Critique  dn  Gnosticisime  ;  Baur,  Christliche  GnO' 
sis ;  Lipsius'  article  on  Gnosticisimus  in  Ersch  und  Gruber  ;  Mansel,  The 
Gnostic  Heresies. 

3  Matt,  xxiii.  15. 


THE  EPISTLE   TO   TEE   COLOSSIANS.  51 

chimeras  analogous  to  those  we  have  been  considering ; 
these  they  had  borrowed  principally  from  a  sect  known 
to  us  already.^     I  allude  to  the  Essenes. 

From  the  very  outset  the  authority  of  these  ascetics 
had  been  great  in  Israel,  and  it  does  not  appear  that  the 
new-born  Christianity  had  in  any  wise  weakened  it.  From 
the  shores  of  the  Dead  Sea,^  where  they  still  dwelt,  their 
doctrines  were  being  continually  spread  abroad.  We 
cannot  pretend  to  go  into  details,  but  one  thing  is  sure,  — 
that  in  many  points  these  doctrines  were  in  harmony  with 
the  tendencies  of  Gnosticism.  Thus,  though  it  is  nowhere 
expressly  stated,  we  can  assert  with  certainty  that  both 
teachings  presuppose  similar  views  as  to  the  pernicious 
part  played  by  Matter,  as  well  as  the  existence  of  certain 
"  Intermediary  Beings  "  between  God  and  man. 

"  The  Essene,  indeed,  was  not  content,  like  the  com- 
mon run  of  Jews,  merely  to  be  exact  in  the  Observances  of 
the  Law;^  he  outdid  them  all  in  rigorousness,  going  so 
far  as  to  put  marriage  under  the  ban ;  ^  not  satisfied  with 
the  simple  distinction  between  clean  and  unclean  meats, 
he  abstained  from  wine,  oil,  and  the  flesh  of  animals.^ 
Evidently  this  strictness  had  no  other  object  save  the 
emancipation  of  the  soul  from  the  senses  and  from  mat- 
ter, the  reputed  source  of  all  evil.^ 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Essene,  like  the  Gnostic, 
plumed  himself  on  the   possession  of  superior  wisdom, 

1  See  The  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  vol.  i.  chap.  i. 

'^  Their  principal  communities  were  located  on  the  banks  of  this  sea 
(Plin}'-,  Historia  Naturalis,  v.  15  ;  Synesius,  Dio  3),  but  they  were  to  be 
found  likewise  in  many  towns  throughout  Judea  (Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  ii. 
viii.  4.  Philo,  Fragm.,  p.  632).  Although  we  have  no  testimony  to  prove 
their  presence  among  the  Jews  of  the  Dispersion,  there  is  not  the  slightest 
doubt  that  even  among  these  their  influence  was  felt.  See  Lightfoot, 
Colossians,  pp.   91  et  seq. 

3  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  ii.  viii.  5-12. 

4  Philo,  Fragm.,  p.  633  ;  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  ii.  viii.  2  ;  Pliny,  His- 
toria  Naturalis,  v.  15. 

^  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  ii.  viii.  3-5. 

^  For  the  same  reason,  the  Essenes  refused  to  believe  in  the  Resurrec- 
tion of  the  Body,  a  doctrine  held  by  the  Pharisees  (Josephus,  Bell.  Jud., 
ii.  viii.  11).  The  soul  imprisoned  in  its  fleshly  tabernacle  is  set  free  there- 
from by  death,  that  it  may  survive  alone,  transfigured  forevermore. 


52        LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

shared  exclusively  by  a  few  privileged  ones.  "  He  has 
the  same  pride  of  caste,  together  with  a  jealous  anxiety," 
says  the  historian  Josephus,  "  to  reserve  to  the  chosen 
adepts  the  Books  of  the  Sect  and  the  Names  of  the  An- 
gels." ^  What  are  we  to  understand  by  this  angelical 
nomenclature,  unless  the  allusion  be  to  some  system 
of  Emanations  analogous  to  the  £o7is  of  Gnosticism,  a 
chain  of  superior  beings  keeping  up  a  constant  communi- 
cation between  heaven  and  earth  ? 

Such  fancies  germinated  spontaneously  in  the  minds  of 
the  Jews,  accustomed  by  their  belief  to  conceive  of  a  plu- 
rality of  persons  in  the  Divinity.  Indeed  their  inspired 
Books  disclose,  under  the  name  of  "  Wisdom,"  a  God  ex- 
isting within  God  from  the  beginning,  assisting  at  every 
creative  act,  and  finding  Its  delight  in  dwelling  among 
the  children  of  men.  This  doctrine  was  preserved  in 
its  purity  by  the  orthodox  schools ;  for  the  Scribes,  sub- 
stituting for  the  term  "Wisdom"  that  of  Memera,  tlie 
Word,  the  Word  of  God,  still  taught  the  same  dogma, 
only  under  a  more  expressive  form.^  This,  however,  was 
not  at  all  the  case  in  profane  lands.  At  Alexandria, 
notably,  Philo  so  far  altered  the  truth  as  to  travesty  the 
Word  by  making  it  a  secondary  God,  the  mere  image  of 
the  iirst,  separate  and  distinct  from  the  Almighty,  and  in 
everything  inferior  to  Him.^ 

It  is  easy  to  imagine  what  food  these  speculations,  com- 
ing from  famous  schools,  must  have  furnished  for  the 
doubters  among  the  disciples  in  Asia,  half  Christian,  half 
Theosophists  as  they  were.  Even  more  surely  tlian  did 
the  ascendency  which  the  Orient  and  the  Essenes  wielded 
over  them,  such  teachings  led  them  insensibly  into  con- 
founding their  Christian  Faith  with  the  philosophical 
vagaries  of  the  period,  into  relegating  the  Supreme  Being 
into  the  realms  of  inaccessible  mystery,  till  finally  they 
raised  the  question  whether  Jesus,  as  Mediator  between 

^  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.y  ii.  viii.  7. 

2  See  The  Christ  the  Son  of  God,  vol.  i.  App.  ii.,  The  "  Word  "  of  Sr. 
John. 

2  Philo,  De  Con/us.  Ling.,  28,  Quod  Deus  sit  immut.,  6,  etc. 


THE  EPISTLE   TO   THE   COLOSSIANS.  53 

the  world  and  God,  did  not  hold  this  office  as  a  being  of 
secondary  rank,  more  human  than  divine. 

Paul  had  foreseen  the  speedy  development  of  these 
errors  in  the  Churches  of  Asia,  for  they  were  already  in 
process  of  fermentation  at  the  time  he  was  forced  by  the 
rioters  to  quit  Ephesus.  Fervent  as  these  Christian  com- 
munities were  when  he  left  them,  his  clear  eye  perceived 
that  they  would  always  fall  an  easy  prey  to  the  seduc- 
tions which  he  had  had  to  vanquish  as  a  preliminary  to 
their  foundation,  —  their  fondness  for  Magic  and  the  old 
national  Mysteries,  but  most  of  all,  this  infiltration  of 
Jewish  and  Alexandrine  doctrines.  On  the  occasion  of 
his  last  visit  to  the  shores  of  Miletus,  these  bodeful  mists 
had  seemed  to  him  more  dense  than  of  old,  more  ominous 
than  ever;  for  to  the  Elders  of  the  Churches,  who  thronged 
about  him,  he  spoke  of  naught  save  of  the  approaching 
ravages  in  their  flocks,  and  of  doctors  raised  up  in  the 
very  midst  of  the  faithful  to  spread  the  dreaded  conta- 
gion.i  And,  accordingly,  the  apparition  of  a  Heresy 
endowed  with  both  form  and  body,  was  not  likely  to 
surprise  him  now. 

Accounts  of  it  were  brought  to  him  while  at  Eome  by 
Epaphras,  the  Apostle  of  the  valley  of  the  Lycus.  From 
Colossse,  his  native  town,  this  pious  believer  exercised  a 
sort  of  Patriarchate  over  the  Christian  communities  round 
about,2  and  was  chosen  by  them,  as  soon  as  Paul's  impris- 
onment became  known,  to  go  and  comfort  him,  or  if  need 
be,  lend  him  aid.  Epaphras  fulfilled  this  mission  with 
such  devotion  that  Paul  calls  him  "  my  fellow-prisoner  in 
Christ  Jesus."  ^  Was  this  intended  for  a  mere  figure  of 
speech,  in  praise  of  his  assiduity  in  the  Apostle's  service, 
or  did  he  really,  owing  to  some  act  of  excessive  zeal,  enjoy 
the  honor  of  sharing  his  prison  and  his  chains  ?  No  pre- 
cise answer  to  this  question  can  be  gathered  from  the 
sacred  text,  but  so  much  is  clearly  evidenced  therein: 


1  Acts  XX.  29-30. 

2  See  St.  Paul  and  His  Missions,  chap.  x. 

3  Philem.  23. 


54         LAST  YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

Paul's  deep  attachment  to  this  disciple,  and  his  delight  at 
having  him  near  him  as  a  comforter  and  help. 

Living  in  such  intimacy  with  him,  there  was  every 
opportunity  for  Epaphras  to  give  a  full  account  of  the 
state  of  his  brethren  in  Asia,  especially  of  the  Colossians, 
whose  actual  pastor  he  seems  to  have  been.  He  described 
to  him  "  their  faith  in  Christ  Jesus,  their  charity  toward 
the  Saints,"  "  a  charity  altogether  of  the  spirit ;  "  ^  but  at 
the  same  time  he  spoke  plainly  of  the  errors  which 
threatened  them.  We  have  just  been  studying  this  per- 
nicious compound  of  Alexandrine  fantasies  and  Judaic 
rigorism.  In  Colossie  ^  many  were  being  carried  by  these 
chimeras  to  the  heights  of  folly,  not  stopping  at  any 
distinction  between  clean  and  unclean  food,  but  going  so 
far  as  to  deny  the  body  its  legitimate  rights.^  Further- 
more, by  exalting  and  disfiguring  the  office  of  the  Angels, 
they  made  them  the  mediators  between  God  and  man,* 
thereby  detracting  from  the  glory  due  to  the  Saviour 
alone.  Paul  was  cut  to  the  quick  by  this  attack  on  what 
to  him  was  the  dearest  thing  on  earth,  the  Divine  Power 
of  Jesus.  Eealizing  fully  how  pressing  was  the  danger 
of  this  new  enticement,  the  Apostle  resolved  to  write  to 
the  Colossians  without  delay.  Accordingly  he  summoned 
Timothy,^  and  to  him  he  dictated  a  short  Epistle,  over- 
flowing with  the  one  thought  which  was  filling  his  soul 
more  and  more,  —  the  Christ  is  all  in  all ;  all  things  are 
through  Him,  for  Him,  in  Him :  — 

"  He  is  the  image  of  the  invisible  God,  born  before  all 
creatures,^  for  by  Him  were  all  things  created  in  the  heavens 

1  Coloss.  i.  4-8. 

2  The  foremost  abettors  of  heresy  seem  to  have  been  Israelites,  for  amid 
their  vagaries  they  mingle  certain  Legal  Ordinances  ;  these  they  present  as 
a  practical  consequence  of  their  teaching ;  with  this  idea  they  earnestly 
inculcated  the  observance  of  certain  Jewish  Feasts,  New  Moons,  the  Sab- 
bath, and  even  Circumcision  as  well  (Coloss.  ii.  13-16).  As  we  have  seen 
elsewhere,  the  Jews  were  very  numerous  in  the  valley  of  Lycus.  St.  Paul 
and  His  Missions,  chap.  x. 

3  Coloss.  ii.  21-23.  4  Ibid.,  ii.  18.  ^  Ibid.,  i.  1. 

6  HpwTOTo/cos,  properly  speaking,  "the  first-born."  This  was  another 
Messianic  title  which  the  Jews  had  borrowed  from  Psalm  Ixxxviii.  28: 


THE  EPISTLE   TO   THE   COLOSSIANS,  55 

and  on  the  earth,  things  visible  and  invisible,  the  very- 
Thrones,  Principalities,  Dominations ;  all  were  created  by 
Him  and  for  Him.  He  is  before  all  things,  and  all  things 
subsist  in  Him.^  He  is  the  Head  of  the  body  of  the  Church, 
the  origin,  the  first-born  from  among  the  dead,  that  in  all 
things  His  place  might  be  the  first ;  for  it  has  so  pleased 
the  Father  that  all  fulness  should  dwell  in  Him,  and  that, 
having  pacified  by  the  Blood  of  His  Cross  all  that  is  on 
earth,  as  well  as  that  which  is  in  Heaven,  He  should  recon- 
cile all  things  by  Him  and  in  Him."  ^ 

The  fundamental  idea  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Colossians 
is  to  be  found  in  these  few  lines.  Six  years  later,  writing 
to  the  Corinthians,  Paul  merely  repeats  this  under  an 
abridged  form :  "  There  is  but  one  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by 
Whom  are  all  things  and  we  by  Him."  ^  Here  he  is  set- 
ting forth  the  doctrine  simply,  and  as  God  had  seen  fit  to 
develop  it  before  his  eyes  up  to  that  date,  but  just  as 
fully  as  was  necessary  at  this  critical  moment  in  order  to 
strengthen  the  faith  of  the  Asiatic  Christians.  In  opposi- 
tion to  any  "  Intermediary  Beings,"  independent  of  the 
Christ,  such  as  their  fancies  were  picturing  as  links  be- 
tween Heaven  and  earth,  Paul  holds  up  the  one  and  only 
Eedeemer,  Source  of  Grace  and  Principle  of   all  super- 


*'Et  ego  primocrentium  ponam  ilium/'  Whereby  they  meant  to  indicate, 
at  one  and  the  same  time,  that  the  Christ,  in  so  much  as  He  is  the  Word, 
is  anterior  to  all  creation,  and  accordingly  is  Lord  of  all.  Engendered 
before  the  beginning  of  time,  in  Himself  He  partakes  of  all  things  apper- 
taining unto  the  Father,  all  that  He  is.  But  it  is  not  simply  due  to  His 
title  as  only  Son  and  Heir  of  the  Father  that  He  is  Sovereign  of  the  uni- 
verse; this  He  is  likewise,  in  virtue  of  the  active  part  which  He  has  taken 
in  Creation  itself.  Through  Him  as  the  First  Cause,  united  with  the 
Father,  the  moving  Principle  of  all  Creation,  everything  has  been  created 
by  Him,  in  Heaven  and  on  Earth,  the  spiritual  world  as  well  as  the  ma- 
terial ;  all  things  have  been  subjected  unto  Him,  even  the  celestial  beings 
themselves,  —  Thrones,  Dominations,  Principalities,  Powers.  He  is  the 
first,  and  He  shall  be  the  last,  of  all  things ;  and  since  everything  pro- 
ceedeth  from  Him,  everything  shall  revert  unto  Him,  as  unto  its  supreme 
End. 

1  Th.  irdvra  iv  avr^  avviffT-nKev.  To  Creation,  so  manifold  in  its  aspects, 
He  gives  that  coherence  which  makes  it  a  compact  whole,  exhibiting  a 
Divine  order  and  harmony,  in  a  word,  the  Cosmos. 

2  Coloss.  i.  15-20.  8  1  Cor.  viii.  6. 


56  LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

natural  life,  whether  for  Angels  or  for  men,  Jesus,  the 
only  Son  of  God,  the  Son  of  His  Love,  begotten  before 
the  world,  in  Whom  overflows  the  fulness  of  the  Divine 
Being.  This  fulness  of  the  Deity,  this  "  Pleroma,"  ^  to 
use  the  shibboleth  of  Gnosticism,  is  not  relegated  to  the 
unknown  and  unknowable,  far  away,  beyond  some  gulf 
fixed  between  God  and  man.  No !  this  plenitude  dwells 
corporeally  in  Jesus.  It  is  precisely  from  this  Divinity 
of  the  Word  Incarnate  that  every  creative  act  proceeds  ; 
not  after  the  fashion  of  luminous  rays,  which  lose  their 
power  according  to  the  murkiness  of  the  clouds  they  must 
penetrate,  but  bursting  forth  in  a  splendor  unquenchable 
and  remaining  ever  divinely  the  same,  no  matter  how 
great  the  distance  or  what  gloomy  chasms  are  to  be 
crossed.  The  action  of  the  Creator-Christ  is  direct,  im- 
mediate. Universal  Lord,  He  is  all  in  all,  as  mighty 
in  the  least  of  beings  as  in  the  greatest.  Thus,  then, 
we  are  in  touch  with  God  through  the  Christ,  for  this 
Christ  is  supreme  God  in  Whom  dwells  the  divine 
"  Pleroma."  Between  the  Infinite  and  us  there  is  no 
intermediary. 

And  as  Jesus  is  Author  of  all  Creation,  so  is  He  also 
Author  of  our  Eedemption,  of  the  reconciliation  of  earth 
and  Heaven,  the  Blood  of  His  Cross  having  effaced  the 
sin  of  man.  For  this  stupendous  Deed  He  alone  was  suffi- 
cient ;  or,  rather.  He  and  only  He  was  capable  of  it,  be- 
cause it  required  a  person  at  once  Divine  and  human.^ 
What  could  the  Angels  accomplish  towards  this  ?  ^  Why 
try  to  shackle  and  impede  the  Work  Divine,  as  some  mis- 
guided minds  would  have  them  ?  These  latter  are  always 
in  Paul's  thoughts  ;  but  only  that  he  may  show  the  clearer 
how  they  are  vanquished  by  the  Christ,  despoiled  of  all 

1  The  irK-fipcafia  of  which  St.  Paul  is  speaking  of  (Coloss.  i.  19)  is  not 
merely  the  sum  total  of  powers  and  attributes  of  the  Divinity,  it  is  the 
Divine  Nature,  the  Essence  itself  in  its  fulness. 

2  Coloss.  ii.  11-14. 

*  In  the  epistles  of  this  period  we  find  no  trace  of  the  Eons  of  Gnosti- 
cism. As  yet  heresy  knew  no  other  beings  save  the  hierarchy  of  Angels 
revered  by  the  Jews,  and  these  they  made  use  of  to  suit  their  fanciful 
vascaries. 


THE  EPISTLE   TO   THE   COLOSSIANS.  57 

power,  driven  like  vile  rabble  before  His  triumphant 
chariot.^ 

This  theology  of  the  Incarnation  formed  a  body  of  doc- 
trine vast  enough  to  meet  the  enemy  at  every  point  and 
call  a  halt  to  Error.  It  only  remained  to  put  it  into  a  form 
which  would  be  acceptable  to  the  Christian  communities 
which  he  had  not  evangelized  personally,  nor  even  met 
face  to  face.2  He  begins  adroitly,  by  felicitating  the  Co- 
lossians  on  the  fruits  which  the  Word  of  Life  was  produc- 
ing unceasingly  among  them,  adding,  however,  that  ever 
since  Epaphras  had  described  their  state  of  mind  to  him, 
he  had  not  ceased  praying  and  beseeching  for  them  "  all 
wisdom,  all  spiritual  understanding,  that  their  conduct 
likewise  may  be  worthy  of  God."  ^  By  this  he  desires  to 
point  out  in  veiled  words  that  their  faith  was  in  need  of 
purification,  or  at  least  of  being  forearmed  against  the 
lowering  danger.  He  had  paved  the  way  for  this  from 
the  outset,  by  that  vivid  picture  of  the  Incarnation, 
wherein,  as  we  have  just  seen,  he  had  drawn  in  a  few 
broad  strokes  his  whole  ideal  of  the  Christ,  His  Godhead 
and  universal  Sovereignty. 

After  having  briefly  enunciated  the  Faith  in  which  they 
had  been  founded,  Paul  adjures  them  to  remain  steadfast  ^ 
therein,  and  close  their  eyes  to  all  such  visionaries  as 
would  lead  them  astray.  One  of  his  prime  grievances 
against  these  innovators  is  the  disdainful  egoism  of  their 
teachings.  Like  all  Gnostics,  they  assumed  to  be  the 
sole  possessors  of  real  learning,  of  unfathomable  wisdom. 
To  meet  this  sectarian  spirit,  Paul  exalts  the  universality 
of  the  Gospel.  This  mystery  of  the  Christ  which  he  had 
been  charged  to  preach,  this  he  proclaims  to  all  mankind 
of  whatsoever  station  :  "  exhorting  every  man,  instructing 
every  man,  in  all  wisdom,  that  we  may  present  every 
man  perfect  in  Jesus  Christ."  ^  "  Why,  then,  should  these 
haughty  thinkers  reserve  their  ideas  of  perfection  to  the 

1  Col  OSS.  ii.  15,  'ESety^artcrei' ;  these  vanquished  and  captive  foes  He 
parades  before  the  eyes  of  mankind,  as  it  were  in  a  triumphal  procession. 

2  Ibid.,  ii.  1.  *  Ibid.,  i.  23. 

3  Ibid.,  i.  9-10.  5  Ibid.,  i.  26-28. 


58  LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

few  initiated  alone  ?  The  treasures  of  knowledge,  which 
they  are  forever  boasting  of,  are  all  to  be  found  in  a 
knowledge  of  the  Christ,  in  Whose  eyes  philosophy  has 
but  a  subsidiary  value,  while  the  heart  enlightened  by 
Faith  is  everything.  Now  not  alone  the  Greek  and  the 
Jew,  but  even  those  most  devoid  of  culture,  Barbarians, 
Scythians,  —  all  are  called  unto  this  one  Faith.^  Noth- 
ing indeed  could  be  more  opposed  to  the  Gospel  teaching 
than  to  make  it  the  portion  of  a  few  chosen  souls  ;  for,  if 
it  be  an  eternal  truth  that  the  fulness  of  knowledge  is,  as 
it  were,  the  very  secret  and  mysterious  treasury  of  the 
Christ,^  then  it  follows  that  in  Him  this  Mystery  of  Wis- 
dom must  ever  be  accessible  to  all. 

Still  more  vehemently  does  the  Apostle  reproach  this 
Heresy,  because  it  would  bring  the  heavenly  teachings  of 
Jesus  down  to  the  level  of  those  philosophical  dreams 
which  Greece  and  the  Orient  were  never  weary  of  weav- 
ing, treating  them  as  they  would  any  one  of  their  own  base- 
less theories,  and  as  though  they  were  as  perishable  as  the 
individuals  from  whom  they  might  emanate.  Concerning 
the  character  of  this  new  attack,  Paul  is  neither  to  be  de- 
ceived, nor  does  he  hesitate  to  give  it  its  true  title.  It  is 
no  longer  a  question  of  faith  cajoled  or  wandering  of  its 
own  will  astray,  but  of  a  "  Philosophy"  ^  in  revolt  against 
the  Gospel,  and,  in  its  assaults,  borrowing  its  weapons 
from  all  her  foes :  "  from  human  traditions  and  vain  de- 
ceits ; "  '^  "  from  Judaism  of  the  baser  features  ; "  ^  "  from 
the  shadow  "  of  that  Truth  which  in  Jesus  has  taken  on  a 

1  Coloss.  iii.  11. 

2  01  drjaavpol  rrjs  (Tcocpias  Kol  yudlxrecos  d7r6Kpv(f)Oi,  Coloss.  ii.  3.  'AttS- 
Kpv(pos  is  a  favorite  expression  among  the  Gnostics,  as  for  that  matter,  are 
many  other  terms  employed  in  this  Epistle  :  aocpia,  (pus,  (tk6tos,  irX-fipufia, 
yuSxrisXo'^,  r4\€iov,  k.  t.  A.  Apocrypha  was  a  name  given  to  the  esoteric 
writings  of  their  sect  for  which  they  claimed  a  mysterious  and  irresistible 
authorit}^     (St.  Augustine,  Contra  Faust.,  xi.  2). 

^  Coloss.  ii.  8.      'O  (TvAaycoycav  dia  tt]5  (pi\ocro(plas. 

*  Ibid.      Kfvrjs  dirdT7]S  Kara  r^v  irapaSoaiv  ruv  dudpcaircov. 

5  Ibid.  Ta  o-TOixera,  literally,  "  the  letters  of  the  alphabet,"  here  sig- 
nifies rudimentary  instruction.  A  sort  of  preparation  for  the  reception  of 
the  truth.  Clement  of  Alexandria,  Stromata,  vi.  8  ;  Tertullian,  Adv. 
Marcion.,  v.  19. 


THE  EPISTLE   TO   THE   COLOSSIANS.  59 

bodily  form.i  To  the  fanatical  Israelite  bred  in  Mosaism 
Paul  had  proclaimed  redemption  and  justification  through 
the  Christ,  inward  and  entire  redemption  and  justification 
such  as  no  legal  practices  could  confer  on  him.  To  the 
Israelitish  Philosopher,  on  the  contrary,  while  still  attrib- 
uting some  natural  virtue  to  Circumcision,  abstinence,  the 
Sabbath,  and  the  religious  festivals  of  his  race,  he  declares 
that  the  same  Jesus  has  become  for  us  the  sole  and  imme- 
diate source  of  life,  —  a  proposition  which  sapped  their 
Observances  at  the  very  roots. 

"  All  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead,"  he  tells  them,  "  dwells 
bodily  in  Him.  In  Him  you  share  in  this  fulness,  in  Him 
Who  is  the  Head  of  every  Principality  and  Power.  In  Him 
you  have  been  circumcised  with  a  circumcision  not  made  by 
the  hand  of  man,  but  which  consists  in  the  putting  off  of  our 
carnal  flesh ;  [you  have  been  circumcised]  with  the  circum- 
cision of  the  Christ.  Buried  with  Him  in  Baptism,  in  the 
same  Baptism  you  are  risen  with  Him,  through  your  faith  in 
the  power  of  God  Who  has  raised  Him  from  the  dead.^  You 
were  dead  through  your  sins  and  the  uncircumcision  of  your 
flesh ;  He  has  quickened  you  to  life  with  Him,  having  for- 
given you  all  your  sins.  He  has  blotted  out  by  the  precepts 
[of  His  Gospel]  the  obligation,  the  condemnation  which  the 
Law  overwhelmed  us  withal.  He  has  made  it  as  though  it 
were  not,  by  nailing  it  to  the  Cross ;  and  having  disarmed 
the  Principalities  and  the  Powers,  He  has  led  them  in  tri- 
umph in  the  sight  of  all  men,  conquered  by  His  Cross."  ^ 

This  victory  demonstrates  that  the  Christ  towers,  not 
only  over  the  visible  world,  but  over  the  invisible  as  well ; 
and  with  Him  every  soul  that  is  bound  to  Him  by  faith 

1  Coloss.  ii.  17. 

2  To  Paul's  thiuking  the  baptismal  waters  are  like  a  tomb.  The  neo- 
phyte, once  immersed  therein,  buries  his  sins  of  the  past,  his  disorderly 
cravings,  all  that  is  of  the  old  man,  that  he  may  rise  again  unto  a  new  life. 
Baptism,  therefore,  does  not  simply  figure  forth  the  Death  and  Kesurrec- 
tion  of  tlie  Christ,  it  is  a  communion  in  tliese  Mysteries  as  well ;  a  super- 
natural union  which  is  the  work  of  faith  made  fruitful  by  Charity. 
*'  Believe  that  God  can  renew  your  soul,"  says  St.  John  Chrysostom,  "  and 
by  that  very  act  you  are  renewed."     In  Epist.  ad  Coloss.     Homil.  vi.  2. 

3  Coloss.  ii.  9-15. 


60  LAST   YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

and  love  is  likewise  exalted  to  the  same  heights.  To 
such  an  one  He  is  the  Head,  that  "  Head  from  Whom  the 
whole  body,  drawing  its  life  through  the  vessels  which 
connect  and  bind  all  its  parts,  draws  nourishment  and  in- 
creaseth  with  the  increase  of  God."  ^  This  being  so,  why 
talk  to  a  Christian,  so  closely  knit  to  the  Godhead,  of 
"  Beings  "  intervening  between  him  and  God,  —  beings  in- 
dependent of  the  Christ,  —  Angels,  whose  worship  might 
in  any  wise  become  comparable  to  that  due  to  the 
only  Redeemer  ?  Those  that  preach  such  vain  imaginings 
do  well  to  hide  themselves  behind  the  mask  of  humility, 
and  declare  themselves  unworthy  to  approach  God  save 
through  these  "  Intermediaries  ; "  their  vagaries  are  but 
"  pride,  puffed  up  by  thoughts  born  of  the  flesh,"  ^ —  of 
fear,  lilvcwise,  since  they  tremble  at  the  thought  of  fall- 
ing directly  into  the  hands  of  the  living  God. 

To  escape  this  union  with  the  Christ  so  dreaded  by  the 
natural  man,  inasmuch  as  it  means  his  death,  the  heretics 
of  ColossiB  sought  about  for  "  some  show  of  wisdom,  devo- 
tion, humility,"^  borrowing  them  from  the  sects  with  which 
they  were  in  touch.  From  the  Essenes  and  the  religious 
rites  of  the  region  round  about,  they  adopted  their  absti- 
nence and  mad  austerities  ;*  from  the  Jews,  their  cele- 
brations "of  Feast-days,  New  Moons,  and  Sabbaths."^ 
Futile  asceticism,  and  void  of  all  effect  on  the  concupis- 
cence of  the  flesh,  since  a  real  union  of  the  heart  with 
that  of  the  dying  Jesus  can  alone  destroy  in  us  the  old 
man ;  ^  empty  Observances,  unworthy  of  minds  enlight- 
ened by  the  new  Faith,  because  they  take  them  back  to 
rudiments  of  science,  to  spell  out  "  the  first  letters  of  the 
alphabet."  ^     "  Colossians,"  concludes   the  Apostle,  "  you 

1  Coloss.  ii.  19.  4  Ibid.,  ii.  20-23. 

2  Ibid.,  ii.  18.  6  Ibid.,  ii.  16. 
8  Ibid.,  ii.  23. 

^  An  austere  life,  without  that  interior  spirit  which  should  animate  it, 
is  of  no  value,  of  no  relief  or  help  from  sin.  The  only  real  remedy  against 
concupiscence  is  union  with  the  Saviour,  Jesus:  to  die  with  him  to  the 
world  is  to  bear  in  our  members  and  in  this  our  body  of  flesh  a  fruitful 
death,  whereby  it  is  given  unto  us  to  arise  with  Him  and  in  Him  to  take 
hold  upon  Eternal  Life. 

'  T^  (TToix^ta.   Coloss.  ii.  8. 


THE  EPISTLE   TO   THE   COLOSSIANS.  61 

were  dead  in  the  Christ  to  these  primary  teachings  of  the 
world ;  how  can  you  let  yourselves  be  overladen  with  Or- 
dinances "  so  outworn  ?  For  these  your  prohibitions,  your 
dread  of  being  contaminated,  —  "  Touch  not,  taste  not, 
handle  not,"  —  all  these  simply  bring  you  back  into  the 
bondage  of  Mosaism,  to  a  discipline  fit  only  for  children.^ 

"  If  then,  you  are  risen  with  the  Christ,  seek  those  things 
which  are  on  High,  where  the  Christ  is  seated  at  the  right 
hand  of  God.  Think  on  things  from  on  High,  not  on  things 
of  the  earth  ;  for  you  are  dead  and  your  life  is  hid  with  the 
Christ  in  God.  When  the  Christ,  Who  is  your  life,  shall 
appear,  then  shall  you  also  appear  in  glory.  Give  therefore 
unto  death  the  members  of  the  earthly  man  that  is  in  you, 
fornication,  uncleanness,  disorderly  appetites,  evil  desires. 
.  .  .  Put  off  the  old  man  with  his  works  and  put  on  the 
new,  who  renews  himself  without  ceasing  to  the  likeness  of 
[God]  his  Creator,  and  thus  attains  unto  the  perfect  knowl- 
edge.^ In  this  self-renewal  there  is  no  longer  either  Greek 
or  Jew,  circumcised  or  uncircumcised.  Barbarian  or  Scyth- 
ian, bond  or  free ;  the  Christ  is  all  in  all."  '^ 

The  counsels  concerning  the  conduct  of  life  with 
which  Paul  always  closes  his  letters,  in  the  Epistle  to 
the  Colossians  take  an  unwonted  turn.  Until  now  they 
had  been  addressed  to  the  whole  body  of  believers,  with- 
out bearing  particularly  on  any  class  or  condition  ;  here 
for  the  most  part  tliey  have  in  view  the  Christian  family. 
This  foundation  of  all  society  must  have  occupied  the 
Apostle's  thoughts  very  largely  at  that  time,  for  we  shall 
find  him  returning  to  the  subject  insistently  in  the  Epistle 
to  the  Ephesians.  Some  incident,  perhaps  some  irregulari- 
ties in  the  Christian  committees  of  Asia  as  reported  by 
Epaphras,  or  again,  not  to  search  so  far  afield,  it  may 
have  been  the  mere  intercourse  Paul  was  having  with 

o 

1  Coloss.  ii.  20-21. 

2  ^Eiriyvwcriv.  This  word,  of  frequent  occurrence  in  the  latter  Epistles 
of  St.  Paul,  is  used  to  designate  a  state  of  intelligence  and  knowledge 
higher  than  any  mere  science  ;  yvQais  is  the  fulness  of  understanding, 
the  pleroma  which  the  false  Gnosis  in  vain  promised  to  its  adepts. 

8  Coloss.  iii.  1-11. 


62  LAST   YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

the  Eoman  world,  —  something,  at  all  events,  had  turned 
his  thoughts  in  this  channel.  We  know,  indeed,  and  we 
have  been  reminded  of  it  elsewhere,^  that  the  Family,  the 
Gens,  in  the  Eoman  state  was  an  institution  of  incom- 
parable power,  but  at  the  same  time  excessive  in  its  rigor. 
There  the  father  exercised  absolute  sway  over  every  one 
and  everything,  —  wife,  children,  and  slaves.  Hence 
arose  those  habits  of  orderliness  and  obedience  which 
Paul  could  not  but  admire,  but  only  on  condition  that  he 
might  be  permitted  to  mitigate  them;  for  the  Christian 
soul,  to  whatever  age  or  sex,  or  social  state,  it  may  be- 
long, is  entitled  to  a  certain  respect  and  liberty  which 
the  laws  of  Eome  never  recognized. 

The  Apostle  needed  to  make  but  few  reservations  in 
setting  before  them  the  full  truth.  To  wives  he  recom- 
mends submissiveness,  but  "  as  it  is  fitting  in  the  Lord ; " 
to  husbands,  a  real  love  for  their  wives,  without  severity 
or  harshness;  to  children,  obedience,  "that  they  may  be 
well  pleasing  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord;"  to  parents,  not 
to  provoke  the  child,  or  break  its  spirit ;  to  slaves,  to  obey 
in  all  things  .  .  .  and  from  the  heart,  "  not  as  to  men, 
however,  but  neither  recognizing  nor  serving  any  other 
master  save  the  Lord  Christ."  ^  To  masters,  authorized 
by  social  customs  and  even  by  Law,  to  inflict  unmerciful 
hardships,  this  injunction  is  uttered,  almost  threatening 
in  its  wording :  "  Grant  to  your  slaves  that  which  is  just 
and  equitable,  remembering  that  you  also  have  a  Master 
in  the  Heavens."^  The  same  spirit,  the  very  breath  of 
charity,  animates  all  these  various  precepts ;  drawing 
their  souls  to  him,  by  inspiring  in  them  a  longing,  "  what- 
soever they  may  do,  whether  in  word  or  deed,  to  do  all  in 
the  Name  of  the  Lord  Jesus."  * 

^'  Put  ye  on,  therefore,  as  God's  holy  ones,  holy  and  well- 
beloved,  the  bowels  of  mercy,  kindness,  humility,  gentle- 
ness, long-suffering,  forbearing  one  another,  forgiving  one 
another,  if  any  deems  himself  aggrieved  by  his  brother. 

1  St.  Peter,  chap.  xvi.  3  Iliid.,  iv.  1. 

2  Coloss.  iii.  18-25.  *  Ibid.,  iii.  17. 


THE  EPISTLE   TO   THE   COLOSSIANS.  63 

The  Christ  has  pardoned  jow,  do  ye  likewise.  And  over 
all  the  rest  put  on  the  Garment  of  Love,  which  is  the  bond 
of  perfectness,  and  let  the  Peace  of  Christ,  to  which  you 
were  called  in  one  only  body,  rule  in  your  hearts."  ^ 

Thereupon  Paul  took  the  pen  in  his  own  heavily 
manacled  hand  and  appended  his  signature  with  these 
words :  "  Behold  the  salutation  which  I,  Paul,  add  hereto 
with  mine  own  hand :  Eemember  my  bonds.  Grace  be 
with  you  ! "  ^ 

1  Coloss.  iii.  12-15.  2  n^id.,  iy.  is. 


CHAPTEE   IV. 

PHILEMON  AND   ONESIMUS.  — THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE 
EPHESIANS. 

From  Saint  Paul's  letter  to  the  Colossians  it  is  easy  to 
detect  who  and  what  his  companions  were  when  he  was 
composing  it.  In  his  prison  at  Ptome,  as  everywhere  else 
for  that  matter,  there  were  very  few  converted  Jews. 
Only  four  are  mentioned  by  the  Apostle :  Timothy,  his 
secretary ;  Aristarchus,  the  Thessalonian ;  Mark,  the 
cousin  of  Barnabas,  and  a  certain  Jesus,  surnamed  "  The 
Just."  "  Of  the  Circumcision  these  only,"  he  adds  mourn- 
fully, "  are  my  fellow-laborers  for  the  Kingdom  of  God, 
and  have  been  a  comfort  to  me."  ^  As  three  of  their 
number  were  old  comrades  of  Saint  Paul,  what  may  we 
infer  concerning  the  Israelites  of  Eome  ?  On  the  other 
hand,  the  uncircumcision  had  furnished  him  with  many 
active  and  faithful  ministers  :  there  was  Luke,  "  the  phy- 
sician, dearly  beloved  by  the  Apostle  ;  Demas,  Tychicus 
of  Asia,  and  Epaphras  of  Colossse."  ^  The  latter,  as  we 
have  seen,  shared  the  Apostle's  prison  at  this  time,  con- 
strained thereto,  perhaps,  but  more  probably  of  his  own 
choice.  Does  it  not  appear,  indeed,  as  if,  at  the  close  of 
the  Epistle  to  the  Colossians,  Paul  is  excusing  himself  for 
not  having  sent  his  letter  through  Epaphras,  although  he 
seems  to  have  been  entirely  at  liberty  and  in  fact  desig- 
nated for  this  mission  ?  That  this  disciple  remains  with 
him  is  due  to  his  own  affection  and  not  to  any  coldness 
on  the  part  of  his  fellow-citizens ;  of  this  Paul  repeatedly 
assures  them :  "  Epaphras,  one  of  your  own,  a  bondsman 
of  Jesus  Christ,  salutes  you.  He  is  ever  contending  on 
your  behalf  in  his  prayers,  that  you  may  continue  perfect 

1  Coloss.  i.  1  ;  iv.  10,  11.  2  j^ij,^  i^.  7_i2, 14. 


PHILEMON  AND  ONESIMUS.  65 

and  steadfast  in  performing  fully  what  God  wills  of  you. 
I  bear  him  witness  that  he  is  working  for  you  with  all  his 
heart,  and  for  those  in  Laodicaea  and  Hierapolis."  ^ 

Tychicus,  also  a  native  of  the  Province  of  Asia,  was 
commissioned  to  carry  this  letter  to  Colossse.  Paul  had 
put  great  trust  in  this  disciple,  ever  since  he  had  been  an 
eye  witness  of  his  labors  during  his  third  mission  journey. 
In  him  he  had  found,  not  only  a  "  beloved  brother,"  but  a 
"  faithful  minister  of  the  Lord,  like  himself  devoted  to  the 
service  of  God,"  ^  and  of  souls.  Accordingly  he  had  en- 
trusted him  with  this  mission  of  visiting  the  Churches 
throughout  the  land,  to  learn  their  state,  and  to  comfort 
and  revive  their  drooping  spirits.^  There  was  no  lack  of 
anxieties  to  disquiet  the  Apostle's  mind.  In  Laodicaea, 
the  most  considerable  of  the  Christian  communities  on 
the  Lycus,  side  by  side  with  such  fervent  fraternities  as 
that  which  gathered  at  the  house  of  Nymphas,*  there  were 
others  in  a  languishing  condition.  In  one  of  these  latter, 
so  gross  was  the  negligence  of  its  pastor,  Archippus,  that 
Paul  bids  the  neighboring  Church  of  Colossas  address  to 
him  this  grave  warning :  "  Take  heed  to  the  ministry 
which  thou  hast  received  in  the  Lord,  and  fulfil  it."  ^  To 
some  of  these  churches  Tychicus  was  the  bearer  of  per- 
sonal letters  from  the  Apostle ;  ^  to  all  he  was  commis- 
sioned to  bear  news  of  him  and  communicate  by  word  of 
mouth  those  matters  of  detail  which  it  would  have  been 
imprudent  to  put  in  writing,  such  as  the  state  of  his  trial 
before  Caesar's  tribunal,  his  hopes  and  views  concerning 
the  future.*^ 

For  this  mission  he  was  given  a  fellow-laborer  whom 
Paul  had  rescued  from  the  very  lowest  surroundings  in 
Eome.  He  was  a  slave,  Onesimus  by  name,  the  property 
of  Philemon,  one  of  the  foremost  men  in  the  Church  of 
Colossal.  He  had  fled  from  his  master's  home  after  rob- 
bing him,  and,  like  so  many  others,  sought  to  hide  his 

1  Coloss.  iv.  12,  13.  s  Ibid.,  iv.  17. 

2  Ibid.,  iv.  7.  6  ibid.^  iv.  16. 

3  Ibid.,  iv.  7,  8.  7  Ibid.,  7. 
*  Ibid.,  iv.  15. 


66  LAST   YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL, 

identity  in  the  nameless  masses  which  were  ever  throng- 
ing into  the  metropolis.  Whether  conscience-stricken  at 
his  crime  or  impelled  by  urgent  want,  at  all  events  he 
made  himself  known  to  Epaphras,  whom  he  had  seen 
many  a  time  at  Philemon's  residence;  for  where  could 
he  seek  surer  refuge  than  in  the  tenderheartedness  of  a 
Christian  ? 

Paul,  to  whom  they  brought  him,  lost  no  time  in  using 
his  influence  over  a  soul  which  slavery  had  embittered 
and  led  to  sin,  yet  without  utterly  depraving  it.  The 
poor  fugitive  was  won  over  to  the  Christ,  his  dispositions 
so  excellent  that  he  was  willing  to  do  anything  for  the 
sake  of  right  and  justice.  But  what  was  right,  according 
to  the  New  Law  ?  and  what  was  the  duty  of  such  poor 
slaves  in  regard  of  their  masters  ?  On  this  question  the 
Apostle  never  hesitated ;  he  bade  them  obey  the  servile 
laws  ;  for,  though  he  recognized  the  fact  that  slavery,  as 
a  state,  was  contrary  to  Christian  ideals,  as  conducing  to 
the  worst  abuses,  on  the  other  hand  he  looked  upon  it  as 
an  institution  inherent  in  the  social  fabric  of  antiquity, 
and  one  not  to  be  summarily  torn  from  it  without  incal- 
culable acts  of  violence.^ 

In  his  time,  in  fact,  slaves  formed  half,  at  the  very 
least,  of  the  population  of  the  Empire,  while,  in  a  majority 
of  the  great  cities,  they  outnumbered  notably  the  free- 
men.2  In  Eome,  for  instance,  certain  wealthy  landowners 
possessed  as  many  as  twenty  thousand,  and  even  more.^ 
These  servile  masses,  for  the  most  part  incapable  of  keep- 
ing public  order  or  enjoying  their  liberty,  had  in  their 
hands  all  industrial  and  agricultural  occupations  :  to  in- 
cite them  to  seek  immediate  emancipation  would  have 
been  to  shake  the  very  foundations  of  society.  Very 
different  is  the  Church's  mission  on  earth :  into  the  hearts 

1  For  a  fuller  treatment  of  this  subject  I  can  refer  my  readers  to  no 
better  work  than  the  scholarly  treatise  by  M.  Paul  Allard,  entitled  Les 
Esclaves  Chretiens. 

2  See  Wallon,  Hlstoire  de  VEsclavage,  1.  ii.,  chap,  iii.;    Du"  nombre  et 

DE  l'eMPLOI  DES  ESCLAVES. 

3  Athenseus,  vi.,  p.  272.  See  Marquardt,  Das  Privailehen  der  Homer, 
vol.  i.,  p.  166  et  seg. 


PHILEMON  AND   ONESIMUS.  67 

of  men  slie  drops  those  words  of  Jesus:  "Ye  are  all 
brethren,"  ^  and  leaves  it  there  to  fructify,  knowing  that 
it  will  quietly  and  gently  transform  their  customs  and 
laws,  healing  the  social  body  of  the  cancer  which  con- 
sumes it,  not  by  steel  or  by  fire,  but  by  the  infusion  of  a 
new  life-blood. 

Certainly  Paul  could  have  found  no  more  decisive  argu- 
ment against  slavery  than  this  brotherhood  of  man ; 
rather,  to  make  it  more  emphatic,  he  reminds  them  that 
all  believers,  by  their  incorporation  with  the  Christ,  are 
not  merely  sons,  equally  heirs  to  all  rights,  all  graces 
emanating  from  the  same  Heavenly  Father,  rather  their 
union  with  him  is  so  close  that  it  approaches  some  sort 
of  identity.  "  There  is  no  longer  either  Jew  or  Greek, 
bond  or  free  ;  all,  all  are  one  in  Christ  Jesus."  ^  «  The 
Christ  is  all  in  all."  ^  Of  what  account  are  the  outward 
shows  of  existence  for  the  believer  who  has  once  attained 
to  this  high  plane  of  thinking?  Unquestionably  any- 
thing which  debases  man  is  incompatible  with  such  a  pro- 
fession of  faith.  But  serfdom  does  not  necessarily  imply 
a  state  of  moral  degradation  ;  it  may  be  but  a  humiliating 
condition  of  dependency  more  or  less  rigorous,  and  at  the 
same  time  leave  the  soul  untouched  in  its  nobility,  free 
and  master  of  its  true  self.  In  that  case,  each  irksome 
act  of  coercion  does  indeed  purify  it  and  exalt  it  above 
earthly  things  which  pass  away. 

There  was,  therefore,  about  the  condition  of  servitude 
nothing,  for  the  time  being,  which  deprived  it  of  respect 
in  the  Church.  In  the  meantime,  and  until  the  institu- 
tion itself  should  crumble  under  the  secret  workings  of 
the  Gospel,  the  one  thing  needful  was  to  prevent  any 
abuse  of  it.  This  Paul  provided  for  by  reminding  them, 
on  the  one  hand,  that  labor  is  the  law  of  mankind,  man's 
dignity  and  power  ;  on  the  other,  by  preaching  the  Christ 
as  One  who  had  come  to  us,  taking  on  the  form  of  a 
slave,*  "  to  serve,  not  to  be  served,"  ^  and  to  enkindle  in  all 

1  Matt,  xxiii.  8.  *  Philip,  ii.  7. 

2  Gal.  iii.  28.  6  Matt.  xx.  28. 

3  Coloss.  iii.  11. 


68        LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

hearts  Ms  lowly  and  gentle  charity.  It  was  in  this  divine 
flame  that  Paul  trusted  to  soften  the  hardships  of  the 
servile  code.  "Ye  masters,  also,"  he  said,  "show  some 
affection  for  your  servants.  Do  not  load  them  with 
threats,  remembering  that  both  you  and  they  have  one 
common  Master  in  Heaven,  and  with  Him  there  is  no 
respect  for  the  condition  of  persons."  ^ 

With  these  guarantees  of  his  rights  in  the  Church 
granted  to  the  Christian  slave,  the  Apostle  would  not 
even  advise  him  to  try  to  escape  from  bondage  :  "  Wast 
thou  in  slavery  at  the  time  of  thy  calling  ? "  he  asks ;  "  do 
not  disturb  thyself  thereat.  Even  though  thou  hast  it  in 
thy  power  to  gain  thy  freedom,  rather  make  good  use  of 
thy  condition  ;  for  the  slave,  who  has  been  called  in  the 
Lord,  is  the  Lord's  freedman,  and  likewise  the  freeman, 
who  has  been  called,  is  the  Christ's  slave.  .  .  .  Let  each 
one  remain  before  God  in  the  state  wherein  he  was 
called."  2  Thus  Paul  determines  the  duties  of  the  slave  : 
not  a  mere  resignedness  to  an  inevitable  lot,  but  a  yield- 
ing of  the  will,  a  prompt  and  conscientious  obedience 
springing  from  the  heart,  an  attachment  to  his  Master, 
which  is  born  of  fear  and  respect :  "  Slaves  obey  your 
masters.  ...  in  singleness  of  heart,  as  unto  the  Christ 
himself,  not  serving  them  only  when  under  their  eyes,  as 
though  you  would  but  please  men,  but  as  slaves  of  the 
Christ.  Serve  with  good-will,  as  bondsmen  of  the  Lord 
and  not  of  men."  ^ 

Thus  Paul  only  sought  to  elevate  the  slave  by  keeping 
him  under  the  yoke.  But  was  this,  then,  that  liberty 
brought  into  the  world  by  the  Christ,  and  promised  to  all 
in  His  name  ?  *  To  those  especially  who,  like  Onesi- 
mus,  were  under  the  ban  of  the  severest  laws  of  slavery, 
such  words  must  have  sounded  harshly  indeed.  The 
fugitive  slave  knew  that  for  him  the  law  was  merciless ; 
that  to  be  branded  on  the  forehead  with  a  red-hot  iron  ^ 

1  Ephes.  vi.  9.  ^  I  Cor.  vii.  21-24.  3  Ephes.  vi.  5-7. 

*  "You  shall  know  the  Truth,  and  the  Truth  shall  set  you  free." 
John  viii.  32. 

^  "  Inexpugnabili  litterarum  nota  per  sumniam  oris  contumeliam  inus- 


PHILEMON  AND   ONESIMUS.  69 

was  the  mildest  of  its  punishments ;  at  his  master's  good 
pleasure  he  might  be  cast  before  the  wild  beasts  in  the 
amphitheatre,  nailed  to  the  cross,  or  burned  alive  in  a 
garment  of  pitch  such  as  Nero  provided  for  our  earliest 
martyrs.^  Onesimus,  undoubtedly,  had  no  reason  to  fear 
such  treatment  from  a  Christian ;  but  he  no  longer  be- 
longed to  himself,  since  by  his  flight  he  had  done  violence 
to  the  right  of  proprietorship  which  Philemon  possessed 
over  him.  To  repair  the  damages  he  had  inflicted,  the  law 
bade  him  surrender  himself  into  his  master's  hands  and 
place  himself  at  his  mercy.  What  a  humiliation,  and 
what  agonies  of  spirit  were  involved  in  the  accomplish- 
ment of  this  duty. 

Paul's  first  intention  was  neither  to  refer  to  these 
weighty  obligations  nor  to  impose  them  upon  Onesimus. 
Kealizing  to  the  full  what  invaluable  assistance  this 
zealous  convert  could  render  him,  his  only  thought,  at 
first,  was  to  retain  him  near  him ;  indeed  he  knew 
Philemon's  heart  too  well  to  have  any  hesitation  about 
using  anything  belonging  to  this  disciple,  as  if  it  were  his 
own.  On  reflection,  however,  he  deemed  it  more  conform- 
able with  the  courtesy  and  refinement  of  true  charity  to 
do  nothing  in  the  premises  without  asking  his  consent. 
Accordingly,  he  persuaded  Onesimus  to  return  to  his 
master  and  to  take  advantage  of  Tychicus'  departure  to 
reach  Asia.  Although  the  companionship  of  this  disciple 
would  act  as  a  perfect  safeguard,  nevertheless,  to  still 
further  reassure  him,  Paul  dictated  to  Timothy  the  fol- 
lowing lines  and  intrusted  them  to  the  fugitive  slave  for 
delivery.  How  could  Philemon  help  being  moved  and 
yielding  to  this  touching  appeal  ?  — 

"Paul,  a  prisoner  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  brother 
Timothy,  to  Philemon  the  well  beloved  and  our  fellow- 
laborer,  and  to  Appia,^  our  sister,  to  Archippus,  our  comrade 

tus."  Yalerius  Maximiis,  vi.  viii.  7;  Cf.  Plautus,  Casina,  ii.  vi.  293; 
Martial,  viii.  Ixxv.  9  ;  Cicero,  De  Officiis,  ii.  7,  etc. 

1  Aulus  Gellius,  v.  14 ;  Plautus,  Casina,  ii.  vii.  330 ;  Miles  Gloriosus, 
ii.  iv.  361 ;  Petronius,  Satyricon,  53  ;   Plautus,  Captivi,  iii.  iv.  531. 

2  Appia's  name  is  so  closely  linked  with  that  of  Philemon  that  in  all 


70  LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

in  arms,  and  to  the  Church  which  is  at  thy  house  :  Grace  be 
to  you  all  and  peace  from  God  our  Father  and  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ ! 

"  Being  mindful  of  thee  without  ceasing  in  my  prayers,  I 
give  thanks  unto  my  God  for  that  I  learn  what  is  thy  faith 
toward  the  Lord  Jesus  and  thy  love  for  all  the  saints  ;  how 
the  generosity  born  of  that  faith  is  made  manifest  unto  all 
beholders  by  so  many  good  works  accomplished  in  thy 
house,^  for  the  love  of  Jesus  Christ.  Thy  charity  hath  filled 
me  with  joy,  because  that  the  bowels  of  the  saints  have 
been  rejoiced  through  thee,  brother.  So  this  is  why,  although 
I  should  have  a  perfect  right  in  the  Christ  to  enjoin  upon 
thee  that  which  is  thy  duty,  I  prefer  rather  in  the  name  of 
charity  to  beseech  thee,  as  the  aged  Paul,  yea  and  some- 
what more  just  now,  as  the  prisoner  of  Jesus  Christ. 

''  I  beseech  thee,  then,  for  ray  son,  whom  I  have  begotten 
on  my  bonds,  for  Onesimus  here,  who  in  days  past  was  hardly 
at  all  useful  ^  to  thee,  but  who  now  may  become  so,  both  to 
thee  and  to  me.  Him  I  send  back  to  thee  as  mine  own 
flesh  and  blood.  I  had  thought  at  first  of  keeping  him  with 
me,  that  he  might  serve  me  in  thy  stead  in  the  fetters  of 
the  Gospel;  but  I  was  unwilling  to  do  anything  without 
thy  decision,  that  the  good  deed  which  I  suggest  to  thee 
may  not  be  constrained,  but  come  from  thine  own  good-will. 
Perchance  Onesimus  has  been  parted  from  thee  but  for  a 
time  that  thou  mightst  recover  him  forever,  no  longer  as  a 
slave,  but  as  one  who,  from  a  slave,  has  become  a  dearly 
beloved  brother.  This  he  is  to  me ;  how  much  more  ought 
he  to  be  one  unto  thee,  both  according  to  the  flesh  and  in 
the  Lord.     If,  then,  thou  reckonest  me  as  one  closely  knit 


likelihood  we  are  correct  in  concluding  that  she  was  his  wife.  That  Ar- 
chippus  was  their  son  is  rather  doubtful.  As  we  have  seen,  this  faithful 
disciple  of  his  was  a  minister  in  the  Church  of  Colossi,  or  in  that  of 
Laodic?ea  {St.  Paul  and  his  Missions,  chap.  x. );  the  Apostolic  Constitu- 
tions (vii.  46)  go  further  and  state  that  he  was  Bishop  of  tlie  latter  city. 
This  high  function  of  his  or  some  other  of  like  importance  is  sufficient  rea- 
son that  he  should  be  mentioned  by  Paul  in  a  greeting  that  was  addressed 
not  merely  to  the  two  persons  to  whom  he  sends  the  letter,  but  to  the 
whole  fraternity  which  was  wont  to  gather  in  their  house. 

1  "  Non  dicit  m  te,  sed  in  vohis.     Per  hoc  significat  domesticam  Phile- 
monis  ecclesiam,  bonorum  operum  ejus  adjutricem."     Estius  in  loco. 

2  Here  the  Apostle  makes  a  neat  play  upon  the  name  Onesimus,  which 
in  Greek  means  "  useful." 


THE  EPISTLE   TO   THE  EPHESIANS.  71 

to  thee,  receive  him  as  if  he  were  myself.  Whatsoever  he 
has  wronged  thee  of,  or  if  he  owes  thee  anything,  set  it 
against  my  account." 

Paul  meant  by  this  to  furnish  Onesimus  with  a  veri- 
table letter  of  credit;  accordingly,  he  wrote  these  few 
words  himself:  — 

"I,  Paul,  write  this  with  mine  own  hand.  I  my- 
self WILL  repay  it,  without  REMINDING  THEE  OF  ALL 
THAT    THOU    ON    THY    SIDE    OWEST    ME." 

Handing  the  pen  back  to  Timothy  he  closed  with  these 
words :  — 

"  Yea,  brother,  may  I  receive  of  thee  this  joy  in  the  Lord. 
Comfort  my  offspring  in  the  Christ.  This  I  write  thee 
with  full  confidence  in  thy  submissiveness;  I  know  that 
thou  wilt  do  even  more  than  I  say.  Make  ready  a  lodging 
for  me  also,  for  I  trust  that,  thanks  to  your  prayers,  I  shall 
be  restored  to  you. 

"Epaphras,  my  fellow-prisoner  in  Christ  Jesus,  Mark, 
Aristarchus,  Demas,  and  Luke,  my  fellow-laborers,  salute 
thee.  May  the  grace  of  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  be  with  thy 
spirit." 

This  letter  and  the  Epistle  to  the  Colossians  were  not 
the  only  ones  which  Paul  confided  to  the  care  of  Tychicus. 
He  wrote  another  to  the  Church  of  Laodicsea,  at  the  same 
time  counselling  the  Colossians  to  procure  a  copy  of  it 
and  have  it  read  at  their  meetings.^  This  document  has 
disappeared,  but  in  its  stead  we  possess  another  of  great 
importance,  written  at  the  same  time  and  intrusted  to  the 
same  messengers.  Though  known  as  the  Epistle  to  the 
Ephesians,  it  does  not  appear  to  have  been  addressed 
exclusively  to  the  members  of  that  community.  It  is  to 
be  regarded  rather  as  a  circular  letter  which  Tychicus 
was  charged  to  deliver  to  the  various  Churches  he  was 
about  to  visit. 

Numerous  indications  combine  to  prove  this  oecumenical 

1  Coloss.  iv.  la. 


72  LAST   YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

destination  of  the  so-called  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians. 
Therein  the  Apostle  expresses  himself  constantly  in 
general  terms,  and  without  sending  greetings  to  any  one, 
either  at  the  opening  or  close,  as  had  always  been  his 
wont;  there  is  no  special  counsel  of  any  kind  in  the 
body  of  the  work  ;  no  allusion  to  any  particular  state  of 
the  Church.  Paul  seems  never  to  have  seen  or  evangelized 
the  congregations  he  is  writing  to.^  Would  he  have 
written  in  this  fashion,  if  he  had  meant  to  address  it 
especially  to  those  Ephesians  whom,  "  during  three  long 
years,  he  had  not  ceased,  by  day  and  by  night,  to  exhort 
with  tears  "  ?  ^  Could  he  have  failed  to  remind  them  of 
his  long  sojourn  in  their  city,  or  at  least  to  mention 
Timothy  whom  all  knew  so  well  ?  Knowing  as  he  did 
that  their  Church  had  been  recruited  from  the  ranks  of 
Gentiles  and  Jews  alike,  would  his  mind  have  been 
absorbed  in  questions  which  concerned  Pagan  converts 
alone  ? 

The  title  of  the  letter  merely  mentions,  as  the  persons 
to  whom  it  is  addressed,  "  the  Saints  and  the  faithful 
.  .  .  who  are  (in  Ephesus)."  ^  Now  we  do  not  find  these 
last  words  "  in  Ephesus "  in  two  of  the  most  ancient 
manuscripts.*  Saint  Basil  declares  that  he  did  not  come 
across  them  in  any  of  those  at  his  disposal.^  What  con- 
clusion are  we  to  draw  from  all  these  facts  except  that 
the  superscription  "  in  Ephesus  "  was  not  placed  by  Saint 
Paul  over  the  original,  of  which  many  copies  were  made 
and  intrusted  to  Tychicus  ?  The  address  was  for  the 
time  left  blank,  leaving  it  to  this  disciple  to  insert  the 
name  of  any  Church  he  might  visit.  But  as  Ephesus, 
the  metropolis  of  these  Asiatic  Churches,  was  brought 
into  closer  contact  with  foreign  travel  than  the  rest,  it  so 
happened,  in  all  probability,  that  the  copy  which  bore  its 
name  attained  the  widest  circulation  and  thus  perpetuated 
this  title,  "  Epistle  to  the   Ephesians,"   under  which  the 


1  Ephes.  i.  15 ;   iii.  2  et  seq.,  etc.       *  MSS.  of  the  Vatican  and  of  Sinai. 

2  Acts  XX.  31.  5  St.  Basil,  Contr.  Eunom.  ii.  19. 
8  Ephes.  i.  1. 


THE  EPISTLE  TO   THE  EPHESIANS,  73 

letter  came  to  be  known.  Of  course,  this  is,  after  all,  only 
an  hypothesis ;  but  it  fits  in  so  perfectly  with  the  peculi- 
arities of  the  Epistle  that  it  has  naturally  gained  wide 
credit  in  our  day.^  Furthermore,  we  only  enhance  the 
teaching  of  this  letter  by  treating  it  as  an  encyclical. 

Here  Paul  has  in  view  that  section  of  the  Church,  then 
the  most  active  and  probably  most  considerable  in  num- 
bers, which  for  a  long  time  to  come  was  destined  to  shed 
the  greatest  lustre  upon  Christianity.  The  weak  point 
in  this  body  of  believers  which  had  increased  so  rapidly 
that  it  already  embraced  the  whole  Province  of  Asia,  was 
that  its  members  had  not  drawn  their  supernatural  life 
from  the  teachings  of  the  Apostle  himself.  Begotten  in 
the  Faith  by  his  disciples,  they  did  not  possess  that  ful- 
ness of  grace  and  truth  which  elsewhere  enabled  the 
newly  converted  to  withstand  any  contagion  of  error; 
consequently  they  lent  a  more  or  less  willing  ear  to 
the  philosophical  vagaries  then  current  in  their  sur- 
roundings. 

Knowing  under  what  form,  and  just  how  far,  this  malady 
had  spread  in  Colossie,  Paul  was  enabled  to  apply  reme- 
dies for  each  symptom.  But  he  had  no  such  means  of 
informing  himself  concerning  the  other  Christian  congre- 
gations of  Asia.  All  that  he  could  learn  from  Epaphras 
was  that  similar  perils  threatened  the  faithful  there  also, 
and  that  the  most  insidious  of  all  emanated  from  the 
Jewish  inhabitants  of  the  region.  This  ignorance  of  local 
circumstances  led  him  to  rise  to  a  higher  plane  than  ever, 
in  the  letter  now  before  us ;  since,  as  he  could  not  trace 
their  errors  step  by  step  and  in  all  their  windings,  he 
set  himself  to  the  task  of  confronting  them  in  all  its 
splendor  with  that  dogma  which  was  more  and  more 
absorbing  all  his  thoughts,  —  Jesus  lives  in  the  souls  of 

1  Very  many  Catholic  scholars  of  note  have  adopted  it.  Hu^,  Einlei- 
tung,  ii.  pp.  406  ef  seq.  ;  Glaire,  Introduction,  vol.  vi.,  pp.  103  et  seq. ;  Val- 
roger,  Introduction  mix  Livres  du  Nouveau  Testament,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  272  et 
seq. ;  A.  Maier,  EinJeitung,  i)p.  309  et  seq. ;  Lamy,  Introduct.,  ii.  p.  354 ; 
Eisping,  Exeget.  Ilandb.,  vi.  2,  p.  8  ;  Guillemou,  Clef  des  Epitres  de  St. 
Paid,  vol.  ii.  pp.  9  and  10.  By  far  the  majority  of  exegetical  writers 
among  Protestants  hold  this  opinion. 


74        LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

men  and  perpetuates  this  divine  Life  by  the  operation 
of  the  Church. 

We  already  know  what  sort  of  adversaries  Paul  had  to 
encounter  in  this  struggle.  Not  men  like  the  Judaizers 
of  Syria  and  Galatia,  with  their  narrow  and  far  from 
enticing  formalism,  but  Israelites  versed  in  philosophic 
subtleties,  expert  in  the  art  of  dazzling  men's  minds  by 
that  Mysticism  which  they  valued  far  more  highly  than 
the  teachings  of  Christianity.  This  lowering  of  Jesus  to 
a  plane  on  a  level  with  their  human  fancies  is,  to  the 
Apostle's  mind,  an  intolerable  blasphemy.  He  spurns  it 
and  asserts  that  in  Faith  we  have  the  loftiest  revelation 
which  God  has  given  to  the  world  ;  without  its  pale  there 
is  no  salvation,  in  it  all  that  heart  can  desire,  —  justifica- 
tion, sanctification,  blessedness,  world-wide  redemption 
from  sin.  All  things  are  contained  in  the  Incarnate  Word, 
and  in  such  abundance  that  our  daily  speech  is  powerless 
to  utter  "  the  unfathomable  riches  of  the  Christ."  ^  For 
this  are  required  a  new  terminology  and  unwonted  figures 
of  speech,  such  as  we  meet  with  here  in  the  writings  of 
Paul.2  Nay,  it  required  something  more  than  even  his 
genius,  —  a  tongue  attuned  to  the  Thought  Divine.  And 
hence  it  is  that,  in  the  Apostle's  efforts  to  depict  Jesus  as 
He  had  been  revealed  to  him,  his  style  becomes  more 
involved  than  ever,  while  incidents  and  digressions  so 
crowd  upon  each  other  that  the  main  idea  is  well-nigh 
lost  sight  of  altogether. 

Hence  the  obscure  passages  in  this  letter,  which  are 
due,  as  we  shall  see,  to  the  depth  and  inexhaustible 
abundance  of  its  thoughts.  And,  notwithstanding,  these 
shadows  disappear  before  the  gaze  of  such  as  scrutinize 
them  humbly  ;  to  these  the  Apostle's  design  stands  re- 
vealed in  all  its  majestic  development,  —  namely,  to  con- 
front the  anti-Christian  speculations  of  the  Asiatics  with 
that  Divine  Mystery  which  was  destined  to  confound 
them,  —  the  Incarnation,  "  Christ's  love,  surpassing  all 
knowledge  [all  Gnosis],  giving  unto  us  God,  in  His  Ful- 

1  Ephes.  iii.  8.  ^  pe  Wette,  Ephes.  Einleit.,  p.    319. 


THE  EPISTLE   TO   THE  EPHESIANS.  75 

ness,"  ^  rendering  all  other  revelation  henceforth  superflu- 
ous, nay  more,  impossible. 

Prayer  had  grown  to  be  Paul's  very  life,  the  unbroken 
occupation  of  his  soul,  whenever  pastoral  cares  did  not 
demand  his  attention  for  earthly  things.  And  now  it 
was  with  a  mind  absorbed  in  God  that  he  dictated  this 
letter  to  the  Ephesians ;  one  which,  he  might  well  say,  is 
naught  but  an  act  of  thanksgiving  to  the  Father  who  gives 
us  every  perfect  gift  in  His  Incarnate  Son. 

"  Blessed  be  God,  the  Father  of  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
Who  has  poured  down  upon  us  all  manner  of  spiritual 
blessings  from  the  heavens  !  "  ^ 

From  all  eternity  He  has  chosen  us  in  the  Christ,  unto 
the  noblest  of  all  ends,  that  we  may  become  "  spotless 
and  holy  in  His  sight  in  love."  ^  Thereby  He  has  predes- 
tined us  to  become,  through  our  union  with  Christ,  His 
adopted  children,  and  by  the  Blood  of  Jesus  to  obtain 
redemption  and  forgiveness  of  sins.^  Thus  before  the 
Apostle's  inward  vision  the  eternal  counsel  of  God  seemed 
to  take  shape,  as  an  act  of  will  destined  to  remain  a  mys- 
tery until  the  hour  when,  the  time  He  had  set  fulfilled, 
this  Eevelation  was  vouchsafed  us  :  "  all  things  have  been 
united  in  the  Christ,  yea,  both  that  which  is  of  Heaven 
and  that  which  is  of  earth."  ^ 

Whoever,  by  Faith,  welcomes  "  this  Word  of  Life,  the 
Glad  Tidings  of  our  salvation,"^  that  man  is  stamped  by 
the  hand  of  God  "  with  the  seal  of  the  Spirit  promised  "  ^ 

1  VvQjvaL  .  .  .  Tr)V  virep^aXKovaav  ttjs  yvucreci}^  dyaTnjv  rod  'KptcfTod,  ha 
irXTjpwdrJTe  ets  ttSj'  t6  irX-qpwfia  rod  deov.     Ephes.  iii.  19. 

2  Ephes.  i.  3. 

3  "  Before  Him,"  in  other  words  so  imbued  with  holiness  down  to  the 
very  depths  of  our  being  that  even  the  eye  of  God  sees  nothing  there  save 
what  is  pure  ;  consequently  tenderly  united  unto  Him  "in  the  love  which  is 
God."  (i  John  iv.  8),  wherefrom,  as  in  an  ocean  of  grace,  every  true  be- 
liever draws  new  life  and  breath  ;  for  the  Christian  there  is  no  perfectness 
save  in  and  through  this  Love. 

*  Ephes.  i.  5,  7. 

^  Ibid.,  i.  10.  Literally  in  Him  are  all  things  condensed,  summed  up, 
linked  together  as  unto  the  sole  Head  of  all  creation  :  'AmKccpaXaiuja-aadai 
TO,  iravra  eu  t($  'KpicrrC}. 

6  Ephes.  1.  13.  7  Ibid. 


76  LAST   YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

by  Jesus.     Now  this  spirit  once  poured  into  the  believing 
soul  by  Grace  is  its  surety  that  it  shall  inherit  Heaven.^ 

In  painting  the  picture  of  the  universal  redemption, 
Paul  is  moved  by  a  peculiar  sentiment  of  mingled  joy 
and  tenderness  for  the  Church  of  Asia,  since  he  is  well 
aware  of  "  its  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  its  love  for  all 
the  Saints."  2 

"I  cease  not  to  give  thanks  for  you  in  my  prayers,' ' 
he  tells  them,  "beseeching  the  God  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  the  Father  of  Glory, ^  to  grant  you  the  Spirit  of 
Wisdom  and  of  Light  to  know  Him  ;  that  He  may  enlighten 
the  eyes  of  your  heart  to  know  what  is  the  hope  whereunto 
you  are  called,  how  great  are  the  riches  of  glory  prepared 
for  the  Saints,  how  surpassing  is  the  grandeur  of  the  power 
which  He  works  within  us  who  believe.  The  strength  of 
that  might  and  that  power  He  has  shewn  forth  in  the  Christ, 
by  raising  Him  from  the  dead,  seating  Him  on  His  own 
right  hand  in  Heaven,  above  every  Principality  and  Power 
and  Might  and  Domination,  above  every  name  which  is 
named,  not  only  in  this  present  age,  but  in  the  ages  that  are 
to  come ;  He  has  put  all  things  under  His  feet,  and  given 
Him  to  be  Head  over  all  things  in  the  Church  which  is  His 
body  ;  the  fulness  of  Him  fills  all  in  all."  * 

While  you  were  dead  in  sin,  he  continues,  you  were 
walking  in  the  ways  of  the  world,  as  also  you,  Jews,  de- 
livered over  to  the  concupiscence  of  the  flesh,  even  as 
were  we  by  nature  children  of  wrath.^ 

"  But  God  Who  is  rich  in  mercy,  constrained  by  the  great 
love  He  bears  us,  even  when  we  were  dead  in  sin,  restored 
us  to  life  in  the  Christ  .  .  .  has  raised  us  up  with  Him,^ 

1  Ephes.  i.  14.  2  i^i^i.^  i  15. 

3  Here  St.  Paul  uses  the  term  "Father  of  Glory"  in  speaking  of  the 
God  and  Father  of  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  order  to  emphasize  the  fact 
that  the  only  true  glory,  which  is  that  of  the  Divinity,  shone  forth  re- 
splendent in  the  Humanity  of  the  Christ. 

*  Ephes.  i.  16-23.  5  Ibid.,  ii.  1-3. 

®  Here  Paul  is  speaking  principally  of  the  resurrection  unto  life  of  the 
Soul  :  that  of  the  body  is  a  secondary  consideration  to  his  thinking  ;  it  is 
a  consequence  of  the  spiritual  resurrection  that  thus  the  whole  man  be 
born  again  unto  life. 


THE  EPISTLE  TO   THE  EPHESIANS.  77 

seated  us  in  Heaven  in  Jesus  Christ,  that  He  might  make 
manifest  unto  the  ages  to  come,  through  His  kindness  unto 
us  in  Christ  Jesus,  the  surpassing  riches  of  His  Grace.''  ^ 

But  Paul  is  not  so  wrapped  up  in  this  theological  ex- 
position of  Our  Lord's  Mission  as  to  leave  out  of  his 
Epistle  the  theme  of  his  earliest  strifes,  the  absolute 
gratuitousness  of  Grace.  He  is  careful  to  impress  this 
fundamental  dogma  on  the  minds  of  the  Asiatic  members 
who  were  by  origin  Gentiles,  and  to  reiterate  it  as  urgently 
to  them  as  to  the  Judaizers  of  Syria  and  Galatia.  In  the 
grand  scheme  of  Salvation,  what  place  have  these  new- 
comers ?  What  are  they  in  the  eyes  of  Israel,  which,  re- 
bellious though  it  be,  is  none  the  less  God's  chosen  race  ? 
"A  carnal  people,"  "  aliens  to  the  covenants  of  the  prom- 
ise, without  a  Messiah,  without  hope,  without  God  in  this 
world."  2  But,  now,  through  Jesus  alone,  and  by  the 
power  of  His  Blood,  they  who  were  once  afar  off  have 
been  brought  near.^ 

"For  this  is  our  peace,''  says  Paul,  "He  Who  has  made 
the  two  people  one,  Who  has  broken  down  the  wall  of  separ- 
ation, Who  in  His  flesh  has  destroyed  the  enmity  that 
parted  them,  — that  Law  weighted  with  so  many  precepts ; 
that  so  out  of  both  peoples  He  might  create  ^  in  Himself 
one  new  man.^  .  .  .  Therefore  is  He  come,  publishing  the 
Glad  Tidings  of  peace  to  you  that  were  afar  off,  and  peace 
to  them  that  were  near :  through  Him  we  both  have  access 
to  the  Father  in  the  fellowship  of  one  Spirit.^  .  .  .  For  this 
cause  I  bend  my  knee  before  the  Father,  the  Chief  and 
Head  of  the  whole  household,  in  Heaven  and  on  earth  ;  that, 
according  to  the  riches  of  His  glory  He  may  strengthen  you 

1  Ephes.  ii.  4-7.  »  Ibid.,  ii.  13. 

2  Ibid.,  ii.  11,  12. 

*  Again  and  again  St.  Paul  returns  to  this  thought,  —  that  our  redemp- 
tion is  a  new  creation  and  entire  regeneration,  which  transforms  us  into  the 
handiwork  of  Christ :  we  are  His  workmanship  created  in  Christ  Jesus  to 
do  good  works,  which  God  has  prepared  aforehand,  that  "  we  should  walk 
therein."  Ephes.  i.  10.  "You  have  learned  ...  to  put  on  the  new 
man,  created  after  God's  likeness  in  the  righteousness  and  holiness  of  the 
truth."     Ibid.,  iv.  24. 

6  Ephes.  ii.  Ibid.,  15.  6  Ibid.,  ii.  17,  18. 


78  LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

in  might  by  His  Spirit,  in  so  far  as  concerns  your  inner  man ; 
that  so  the  Christ  may  dwell  in  your  hearts  by  Faith,  and 
that  you  may  be  rooted  and  founded  ^  in  love.  Would  that 
you  might  comprehend,  with  all  the  Saints,  somewhat  of 
the  breadth,  the  length,  the  height,  and  the  depth  of  this 
Mystery,  and  know  the  love  of  Christ  which  passeth  all 
knowledge,  that  you  may  be  filled  therewith  even  unto  the 
fulness  of  God  Himself.  Now  unto  Him  Who,  by  the  Power 
which  works  within  us,^  can  do  infinitely  above  all  that  we 
ask  or  think,  unto  Him  be  glory  in  the  Church,  through 
Christ  Jesus,  from  generation  to  generation,  Amen ."  ^ 

The  last  words  of  this  prayer,  which  mention  Jesus  and 
the  Church  in  the  same  breath,  show  us  what  a  deep  hold 
the  latter  had  taken  upon  the  Apostle's  mind  in  his  medi- 
tations. Indeed,  the  only  way  to  prevent  such  lapses  in 
doctrine  as  were  now  disquieting  him,  was  to  provide  for 
some  definite  constitution  of  the  Hierarchy.  At  first,  it 
is  true,  the  teachings  of  the  Apostles,  and  in  the  absence 
of  the  Twelve,  the  abundance  of  spiritual  gifts  had  suf- 
ficed to  forestall  any  such  aberrations ;  but  already  this 
early  fervor  was  beginning  to  cool.  Grace,  which  at  the 
outset  had  endowed  their  souls  with  the  perfect  manhood 
of  Christianity,  now  that  they  were  no  longer  sufficiently 
devoid  of  self-seeking  to  be  freely  wrought  upon,  could 
breed  but  infants  in  the  supernatural  order ;  and  so  the 
Asiatic  Christians,  like  many  in  our  day,  were  drifting 
along,  "  tossed  about,  blown  hither  and  thither  by  every 
wind  of  doctrine,  falling  a  prey  to  the  trickiness  of 
men  and  their  cunning  devices  to  lead  them  astray  into 
crooked  ways."^  There  was  urgent  need  of  some  visible, 
divinely  constituted  authority  to  exercise  its  powers  with- 
out any  intermission  ;  in  a  word,  the  Church  alone  could 

1  These  two  figurative  expressions  probably  meant  to  recall  the  imagery 
employed  by  the  Saviour  to  depict  His  Church:  "Thou  art  Peter,  and 
upon  this  rock  I  will  build  my  Church."  Matt.  xvi.  18.  "I  am  the  stock 
of  the  vine,  you  the  branches."  John  xv.  4.  To  these  images,  as  we  shall 
see  shortly,  Paul  preferred  that  of  the  human  body. 

2  Manifestly  this  power  is  that  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  poured  into  our 
hearts  through  grace. 

8  Ephes.  iii.  14-21.  *  Ibid.,  iv.  14. 


THE  EPISTLE   TO   THE  EPHESIANS.  79 

keep  these  dreamers  in  the  unity  of  the  one  Faith  and 
majestically  reiterate  the  Apostle's  words  :  "  You  are  one 
body  and  one  spirit,  even  as  you  were  called  to  share  the 
common  hope.  There  is  but  one  Lord,  one  Faith,  one 
Baptism,  one  only  God,  Father  of  all.  Who  is  above  all, 
amid  all,  and  within  us  all."  ^ 

This  Church,  with  which  Paul's  thoughts  are  occupied 
in  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  is  no  mere  creature  of 
his  fancy,  no  phantom  of  power ;  she  lives,  speaks,  and 
acts, —  she  is  Jesus,  Jesus  evermore  pouring  forth  and 
perpetuating  His  life  within  the  body  of  the  faithful.  All 
that  is  wrought  by  the  Church  is  Jesus'  doing,  and  all 
that  Jesus  does  is  done  throusrh  the  Church.  Figures 
and  images  multiply  in  the  Apostle's  mind  when  he  en- 
deavors to  illustrate  this  Unity.  The  one  hallowed  by 
the  Master's  own  expression  occurs  most  naturally  to 
him,  —  the  Church  rises  before  him  as  "a  holy  Temple 
.  .  .  God's  Household,  built  upon  the  foundation  of  the 
Apostles  and  the  Prophets,"  yet  owing  all  its  stability 
to  "  Jesus,  its  Cornerstone."  ^ 

There  was  another  type,  however,  which  to  his  taste 
shadowed  forth  this  Divine  Unity  yet  more  completely, 
and  to  this  he  reverts  again  and  again.  The  Christ  is 
the  Head  of  the  regenerated  world ;  the  Church  is  His 
body  ;  all  true  believers  His  members,^  drawing  from  their 
Divine  Head  both  strength  and  action.  He  receives,  then, 
without  stint,  for  there  is  no  one  of  His  gifts  which  the 
Church  would  not  shower  on  us  :  His  glorified  Humanity, 
His  union  with  the  Father,  the  abundance  of  His  Spirit, 
all  He  possesses  is  given  to  them.  He  makes  the  Church 
His  other  self,  prolonging  and  developing  His  life  within 
her  so  unstintingly  that  Paul  does  not  hesitate  to  call  this 
mystical  body  of  Jesus  "  the  fulness  of  Him  Who  fills  all  in 
all."  *  By  virtue  of  this  union  with  Christ,  the  authority 
and  the  workings  of  the  Church  cover  the  entire  domain 


1  Ephes.  iv.  4-6.  2  jbi^,^  ij.  20,  21. 

3  1  Cor.  vi.  15  ;  X.  17  ;  xii.  12-27  ;  Rom.  xii.  4,  5. 
*  Ephes.  i.  23. 


80  LAST   YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

of  Him  Who  beholds  beneath  His  feet  the  whole  wide 
world,  matter,  mankind,  even  the  Angels  themselves.^ 

Nor  was  it  enough  to  exhibit  the  Church  invested  with 
this  panoply  of  power;  it  was  of  the  highest  importance 
to  show  through  what  organs  the  Christ  speaks  and  acts 
in  her.  We  have  already  seen  how  in  the  first  outpour- 
ings of  spiritual  graces  the  Holy  Spirit,  taking  possession 
at  will  of  some  one  or  another  of  the  disciples,  by  means 
of  these  inspired  instruments  instructed,  counselled,  and 
even  directed  the  Christian  communities.^  But  now  the 
time  had  come  to  concentrate  in  a  few  hands  the  author- 
ity thus  diffused.  Accordingly  the  Apostle,  though  not 
as  yet  giving  to  the  Hierarchy  the  determined  form  which 
we  find  in  the  letters  to  Timothy  and  Titus,  proceeds  al- 
ready to  restrict  to  certain  offices,  which  he  designates  by 
name,  the  right  of  speaking  in  the  Saviour's  stead.  The 
lengthy  list  of  spiritual  gifts  found  in  the  Epistle  to  the 
Corinthians  is  given  in  a  very  much  shortened  form  in 
his  message  to  the  Ephesians  ;  ^  aside  from  the  Apostolate 
—  centre  and  source  of  all  power  —  it  comprehends  no 
offices  save  such  as  make  for  the  maintenance  in  the 
Church  of  pure  teaching  and  orderly  discipline.  "  The 
prophets,  evangelists,  pastors,  doctors,"  labor  solely  for 
"  the  edification  of  the  body  of  Jesus  Christ,"  ^  and  they 
do  not  attain  "  to  the  state  of  perfect  manhood,  to  the 
fulness  which  Christ"  must  needs  have  in  the  Church, 
save  by  unity  of  faith  and  action.^  And  in  order  that 
Charity,  whence  this  increase  is  derived,  should  really  be 
operative  in  the  mystical  body  of  Christ,  it  is  necessary 
that  while  the  diverse  parts  of  the  organism  remain  bound 
together  and  well  adjusted,  life  should  likewise  circulate 
freely  through  all  the  vessels.^  Only  in  such  harmony 
"  this  bond  of  peace,"  ^  "  fulfilling  the  truth  in  love,  can 

1  Ephes.  iii.  10. 

^  St.  Paul  and  His  Missions,  chap.  viii. 
3  1  Cor.  xii.  6-11,  28  ;  Ephes.  iv.  11. 
*  Ephes.  iv.  11,  12. 

®  El's  tV  evoTTjTa  ttjs  Trtcrrews  .  .  .  els  dv5pa  t^Xclov,  ei's  fx^rpov  7]\iKias 
Tov  TrXripib/j-aTos  tov  Xpiarov.     Ephes.  iv.  13. 

^  Ephes.  iv.  16.  ^  n^i,].^  iy.  3. 


THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE  EPHESIANS.  81 

we  grow  up  in  all  things  in  the  Christ  which  is  our 
Head."  i 

The  practical  counsels  with  which  the  letter  closes  are 
merely,  as  is  fitting  in  an  encyclical,  general  precepts  of 
conduct.  Probably  his  remarks  on  immorality  and  wine- 
bibbing  ^  were  directed  at  failings  common  throughout 
the  province  of  Asia,  especially  among  those  false  teach- 
ers who  were  leading  the  Churches  of  this  region  astray. 
Paul  puts  his  disciples  on  their  guard  against  the  foolish 
vaporings  of  these  men. 

"  Have  no  dealings  with  them,"  he  says ;  "  you  were 
sometimes  darkness,  now  you  are  light  in  the  Lord. 
Walk  as  children  of  the  light.  Now,  the  fruit  of  the 
light  consists  in  all  goodness,  righteousness,  truth.^  .  .  . 
Have  no  fellowship  with  the  unfruitful  works  of  dark- 
ness, but  condemn  them,  for  it  is  a  shame  even  to  speak 
of  the  things  which  these  men  do  in  secret."  * 

Here  the  Apostle  is  alluding  in  veiled  terms  to  the  im- 
morality which  he  had  discovered  in  these  innovators, 
and  which  he  was  soon  to  denounce  openly :  ^  wherefore 
he  defies  them  to  stand  forth  as  they  are^  and  display 
themselves  in  that  light  which  searches  all  things,  in  the 
sight  of  any  Christian  "  clothed  in  the  new  man,  who  is 
created  according  to  God  in  the  righteousness  and  holiness 
of  truth."  ''  As  for  their  chimera  of  a  perfection  and  reve- 
lation superior  to  Christianity,  he  is  content  to  contrast 
theirs  with  the  sublime  calling  of  the  believers. 

"  Be  ye  imitators  of  God,  as  you  are  His  dearly  beloved 
children,  and  walk  in  love,  as  the  Christ  has  loved  us  and 
has  given  Himself  for  us,  an  Offering  and  a  Sacrifice  to 
God  for  a  sweet-smelling  savor."  ^ 

1  Ephes.  iv.  15.  2  i^id.,  iv.  19 ;  v.  3-12,  18.  _ 

8  All  these  expressions,  darkness,  light,  children  of  light,  fruits  of  light, 
so  common  among  the  Gnostics,  were  probably  as  much  in  use  among  the 
Theosophists  of  Asia. 

*  Ephes.  V.  7-12. 

6  1  Tim.  i.  19  ;  iv.  1-3  ;  vi.  3-5 ;  2  Tim.  ii.  17  ;  iii.  1-9  ;  Tit.  i.  11-16. 

6  Ephes.  V.  13. 

'  "  Righteousness"  here  seems  to  designate  a  perfect  equilibrium  of  all 
the  parts,  all  the  faculties  of  the  soul  ;  "holiness  "  the  perfection  of  the 
virtues  in  these  faculties. 

8  Ephes.  V.  1,  2.  t) 


82        LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL, 

The  attention  paid  to  family  duties  in  the  Epistle  to 
the  Colossians  is  to  be  noted  again  here.  Again  the 
Apostle  dwells  upon  the  mutual  obligations  of  children 
and  parents,  slaves  and  masters,^  man  and  wife ;  but  he 
speaks  in  the  same  lofty  tone  which  distinguishes  the 
Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  throughout.  Amid  his  deepest 
speculations  we  have  seen  how  the  idea  of  the  Church, 
with  which  Paul's  mind  was  then  filled,  dominates  every 
other  thought.  So,  then,  we  need  feel  no  surprise  to  find 
that  when  passing  to  moral  applications  he  can  think  of 
no  more  perfect  model  for  the  union  of  Christian  couples 
than  the  union  of  Jesus  with  this  Church. 

"  The  husband  is  the  head  of  the  wife,"  he  says,  "  as  the 
Christ  is  the  Head  of  the  Church,  even  as  He  is  its  Saviour. 
Therefore,  as  the  Church  is  subject  unto  the  Christ,  so  let 
the  wives  be  to  their  husbands  in  all  things.  And  you, 
husbands,  love  your  wives  as  the  Christ  has  loved  His 
Church  and  given  Himself  to  death  for  her,  that  He  might 
sanctify  her,  purifying  her  in  the  baptism  of  water  by  the 
word  of  truth, 2  that  so  she  might  appear  before  Him,  not 
having  spot,  or  wrinkle,  or  any  such  thing,  but  holy  and 
irreproachable." 

Her  quality  as  the  Bride  of  Christ  best  indicates  the 
free  choice  which  Jesus  has  made  of  the  Church,  His 
loving  forethought  and  tenderness  for  her.  This  Paul 
delights  in  dwelling  upon.  Nevertheless,  as  this  glorious 
title  does  not  sufficiently  declare  their  close,  their  com- 
plete Union,  he  returns  to  his  favorite  image  ;  he  adds  that 
the  Christ  by  espousing  the  Church  has  made  it  literally 
and  for  all  time  His  own  body,  "  bone  of  His  bone,  flesh  of 
His  flesh,"  ^  "  two  in  the  one  same  flesh."  *  This  prophetic 
utterance  had  been  verified  but  imperfectly  in  Adam  and 
Eve,  their  union  being  but  the  conjunction  of  two  beings. 

1  Ephes.  vi.  1-9. 

2  The  sacramental  words,  whicli  when  joined  to  the  pouring  of  the 
Water,  the  matter  of  Baptism,  regenerates  the  true  believer.  **  Detrahe 
verbum  et  quid  est  aqua  nisi  aqua  ?  Accedit  verbura  ad  elementum,  et  fit 
sacramentum."     St.  Augustine,  InJoayi.,  Tract.  Ixxx.  3. 

3  Gen.  ii.  23,  24.  4  Ephes.  v.  31. 


THE  EPISTLE   TO   THE  EPHESIANS.  83 

In  Jesus  and  the  Church,  "  this  great  Sacrament,"  the  mys- 
tery of  love,  is  consummated,  and  realizes  actual  oneness, 
unity.  In  the  Church  there  is  no  personality,^  no  distinct 
life,  no  action,  no  utterance,  save  as  Jesus  lives  again  in 
her  and  through  her.^ 

Since,  as  has  been  said,  Paul  had  no  particular  adver- 
saries in  mind,  he  was  not  obliged  in  this  letter,  as  in  the 
preceding  ones,  to  descend  into  the  lists,  in  order  to  meet 
the  foe  at  close  quarters ;  consequently  his  thought  con- 
tinued its  flight  in  those  serene  heights  where  it  was  wont 
to  soar,  afar  from  the  noisy  clamor  of  the  arena.  Before 
closing,  however,  he  realized  the  urgent  need  of  reminding 
his  Christian  flocks  of  Asia  that  this  was  no  time  for  in- 
dolence and  a  feeling  of  security  ;  the  Spirit  of  Evil,  the 
Prince  of  Darkness,  Satan,^  was  lulling  them  with  foolish 
dreams  to  which  they  were  lending  a  far  too  ready  belief. 
They  must  needs  rouse  themselves,  to  arms  !  Beat  back 
the  foe ! 

The  equipment  of  the  soldier  on  guard  over  Paul  fur- 

^  Here  it  is  a  question  of  the  Church  considered  as  an  ethical  person 
united  with  the  Christ,  and  not  as  a  collection  of  human  beings,  each 
having  his  own  physical  life  and  proper  activity  ;  a  life  and  activity 
which  can  be  attributed,  in  a  rigorous  sense,  to  Jesus  Christ  alone. 

2  ' '  The  Church,  in  so  far  as  She  is  the  Spouse,  belongeth  unto  Jesus 
Christ  by  His  own  choice  ;  the  Church,  in  so  far  as  She  is  the  body,  be- 
longeth to  Jesus  Christ  by  a  most  intimate  inworking  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
of  God.  Therewith  by  the  pledging  of  Heavenly  promises  the  Mystery  of 
Her  election  is  made  manifest  in  Her  title  of  Spouse  ;  and  the  mystery  of 
their  Unity,  perfected  by  the  infusion  of  the  Spirit,  appears  in  the  expres- 
sion, Her  body.  The  latter  gives  us  to  understand  how  entirely  the 
Church  belongeth  unto  Jesus  Christ ;  the  title  Spouse  gives  us  to  under- 
stand that  She  had  been  a  stranger  unto  Him  and  that  it  was  out  of  His 
own  choice  that  He  sought  Her  out.  Thus  the  name  of  Spouse  implies 
their  unity  through  love  and  through  free  will  ;  and  the  name  body  implies 
that  this  unity  is  natural ;  so  that  in  the  unity  of  the  body  there  would 
seem  to  be  implied  something  most  intimate,  and  in  the  Unity  of  the 
Spouse  something  most  sensitive  and  tender.  But  at  bottom  it  is  all  one 
and  the  same  ;  Jesus  Christ  hath  loved  the  Church  and  hath  chosen  Her  to 
be  His  Spouse  ;  He  hath  consummated  His  marriage  with  the  Church  and 
hath  made  Her  His  body  .  .  .  thus  the  Unity  of  body  is  the  final  seal 
whereby  Her  title  of  Spouse  is  confirmed.  Praise  be  to  God  for  the  weld- 
ing together  of  these  ever  adorable  truths  !  "  Bossuet,  Lettre  iv.  a  une 
Demoiselle  de  Metz,  xxxii. 

3  Ephes.  vi.  11, 12. 


84  LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

nished  him  with  details  of  the  divine  armor  wherewith  he 
wished  to  array  his  disciples  :  "  about  the  loins  the  girdle 
of  truth,^  for  your  breastplate  righteousness."  ^  "  Have 
your  feet  shod,"  ^  the  Apostle  proceeds,  to  protect  them 
from  the  roughness  of  the  roads,  and  thereby  to  be  ever 
alert  and  tireless.  At  the  least  signal  the  legionary  starts 
up  prepared  to  march ;  and  this  instant  eagerness  of  the 
soldier  at  the  battle-call,  this  the  Christian  should  show 
for  the  Gospel  of  Peace,  for  the  victories  long  since  sung  of 
by  Isaias :  "  How  lovely  on  the  mountains  are  the  feet  of 
the  bearers  of  the  Good  News,  the  messengers  of  Peace."  * 
''Above  all,"  adds  Paul,  "take  the  shield  of  raith,^ 
whereby  the  fiery  darts  of  the  wicked  shall  be  broken 
and  extinguished.  For  helmet,  take  ye  the  hope  of  salva- 
tion," ^  —  in  other  words,  the  assurance  of  victory.  Noth- 
ing is  more  effectual  than  this  steadfast  confidence  to 
prevent  all  wavering  and  fear,  to  make  one  master  of  one's 
self,  clear-headed,  with  that  just  and  calm  vision  which 
always  wins  the  day. 

Paul  puts  but  two  weapons  of  offence  into  the  hands  of 
his  warriors  :  "  the  Word  of  God  "  as  their  sword,  —  "  the 
Sword  of  the  Spirit,"  —  but,  above  all,  prayer.  "  Call 
upon  God,"  he  concludes,  "  through  the  Spirit  and  at  all 
times  .  .  .  watching  thereunto  in  all  perseverance.  Pray 
for  all  the  Saints,  and  for  me  likewise ;  that  it  may  be 
given  unto  me  to  open  my  mouth  boldly,  and  to  preach 
openly  the  mystery  of  the  Gospel,  whereof  I  am  the  am- 
bassador loaded  with  chains ;  (pray)  that  I  may  speak 
boldly  as  I  ought."  ^ 

1  To  gird  his  loins  in  order  to  present  a  sturdy  and  steadfast  figure  was 
the  soldier's  first  thought :  to  show  one's  self  in  all  things  true,  loyal,  and 
honest  is  the  very  foundation  of  Christianity,  without  which  no  virtue  is 
aught  save  a  delusion  and  a  snare. 

2  This  piece  of  armor  protects  the  vital  parts  of  the  body  :  in  like  man- 
ner the  sum  total  of  virtues  which  makes  a  soul  righteous  in  Christ  clothes 
it  with  a  Divine  Power,  and  guards  it  from  every  deadly  wound. 

3  Ephes.  vi.  15. 

*  Is.  lii.  7.  5  Ephes.  vi.  16. 

6  The  figure  under  this  form,  when  used  again  in  the  first  letter  to  the 
Thessalonians,  v.  8,  is  clearer  than  in  the  more  concise  expression  in  this 
Epistle,  "  Take  the  helmet  of  salvation." 

7  Ephes.  vi.  17-20. 


THE  EPISTLE   TO  THE  EPHESIANS.  85 

The  last  words,  set  as  a  signature  by  the  Apostle  at  the 
end  of  his  letter,  are  a  supreme  appeal  for  Union  in  the 
Faith,  a  supreme  warning  against  those  who  would  cor- 
rupt it :  "  Grace  be  with  all  those  who  love  Our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  preserving  them  from  all  corruption."  ^ 

1  Ephes.  vi.  24. 


GHAPTEK  V. 

SAINT  PAUL'S  DELIVEKANCE.  — THE   WORK  OF 
SAINT   LUKE. 

Two  years  had  dragged  along  since  the  day  the  Cen- 
turion Julius  delivered  Paul  over  to  the  Prefect  of  the 
Prietorium.  So  far  as  we  can  discover,  the  very  same 
combination  of  circumstances  which  then  saved  the 
Apostle  from  summary  execution  was  now  become  the 
cause  of  his  prolonged  detention.  The  Jews  of  Jerusa- 
lem, whose  attention  had  been  diverted  from  him  as  soon 
as  he  had  quitted  the  shores  of  Palestine,  sent  no  one  to 
Eome  to  press  the  charge  ;  even  Poppsea,  their  proselyte, 
although  all-powerful  at  that  stage  of  his  imprisonment, 
was  not  solicited  to  move  against  the  captive.  The  neg- 
ligence of  Israel  alone  preserved  Paul  during  the  two  years 
in  which  he  was  left  to  the  mercy  of  Nero  and  an  immoral 
woman. 

On  the  other  hand,  what  could  the  court  cognizant  of 
the  case  do,  except  await  the  witnesses  for  the  prosecu- 
tion, without  whom  no  accused  person  could  be  tried  ? 
In  the  present  instance  a  long  delay  was  inevitable,  since 
the  accusers  must  journey,  not  only  from  Judaea,  but  from 
the  scattered  Jewish  communities  which  the  bill  of  indict- 
ment undoubtedly  accused  the  Apostle  of  disturbing  by  his 
ministerial  work.^ 

Nevertheless,  since  for  this  a  delay  of  two  years  seemed 
amply  sufficient,  at  its  expiration  the  conclusion  forced 

1  "  The  appellant  must  needs  obtain  from  the  judge  in  the  first  instance 
certain  litterce  dimissorice  or  Apostoli ;  that  is  to  say,  a  brief  destined  to 
make  known  the  cause  of  appeal,  and  accompanied  by  the  documents  in 
the  case."  {Digest,  xlix.  6,  Paul,  Sent.,  v.  34;)  Daremberg,  Dictionnaire 
des  Antiquites,  Appellatio. 


SAINT  PAUL'S  DELIVERANCE.  87 

itself  upon  them  that  the  prosecution  had  failed  by  default. 
Little  as  they  may  have  been  versed  in  Jewish  affairs, 
wherein  hatred  and  fanaticism  played  so  prominent  a  part, 
such  a  conclusion  of  the  whole  business  would  surprise  no 
one.  The  governors  of  Judaea  knew  precisely  what  to  think 
of  the  sincerity  of  his  accusers.  In  most  of  the  denuncia- 
tions of  Paul,  both  Felix  and  Festus  had  been  able  to  dis- 
cern nothing  but  a  blind  and  furious  persecution,  in  no 
way  justified  by  the  facts.  The  Koman  tribunal  soon 
began  to  lean  to  the  same  view ;  for  this  Imperial  Court 
of  Appeals  was  composed  of  experts  perfectly  cognizant 
of  the  agitations  and  controversies  going  on  in  the  whole 
world,  even  of  the  religious  quarrels  of  Israel.^  Else- 
where we  have  seen  how  the  Apostle's  captivity  had  not 
hampered  his  ministry,  but  that  he  preached  Jesus  con- 
tinually, —  had  even  made  his  Master  known  and  loved 
in  the  palace  of  the  Caesars.*-^ 

Through  his  new  brethren  in  the  Christ,  he  became 
aware  of  the  favorable  sentiments  of  his  judges,  and  from 
this  fact  conceived  such  a  certitude  of  his  speedy  release 
that,  in  writing  to  Philemon,  he  begs  him  to  prepare  for 
him  a  lodging-place  in  some  Christian  community  in  Asia.^ 
Nor  was  this  confidence  deceived.  In  the  spring  of  64  the 
Court  of  Appeals  quashed  Paul's  indictment  and  ordered 
his  release.  It  was  high  time  to  save  him.  Only  a  few 
months  later  Nero's  fury  was  enkindled  against  the 
Church  of  Kome  and  worked  its  devastation. 


1  Mommsen,  Romisches  Staatsrecht,  vol.  ii.  pp.  948-952.  The  court 
before  which  Paul  appeared  was  a  Council  of  Justice  which  the  Emperor, 
in  common  with  all  Roman  magistrates,  kept  in  his  service  in  order  to 
enlighten  himself  in  the  exercise  of  his  judicial  functions.  Although 
this  body  was  not  then  so  perfectly  organized  as  it  was  later  under  the 
Antonines,  it  was  composed,  even  at  this  date,  of  a  chosen  few  (Dion  Cas- 
sius,  Ixxvi.  17)  over  whom  the  Emperor,  or  his  delegate,  presided,  their 
sessions  being  held  sometimes  in  the  Palace,  sometimes  in  the  Forum. 
The  president  stated  the  questions  ;  the  counsellors  handed  down  their 
opinions,  generally  based  on  the  brief,  whereafter  the  Emperor  gave  de- 
cision ;  but  the  latter  hardly  ever  did  anything  except  sanction  their  judg- 
ment, —  that  is,  in  all  cases  where  neither  his  passions  nor  his  caprices 
were  at  stake. 

3  Philip.  1.  13 ;  iv.  22.  3  philem.  22. 


88  LAST   YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

The  Apostle's  eyes  had  been  so  fixed  upon  Asia  during 
the  latter  days  of  his  imprisonment,  as  to  make  us  infer 
that  as  soon  as  he  was  liberated  he  would  turn  his  steps 
thitherward.  However,  his  plan,  so  long  cherished,  of 
evangelizing  Spain  returned  to  his  mind,^  and  so  insist- 
ently that  he  decided  to  accomplish  it  without  delay. 
Thereby,  doubtless,  he  conceived  that  he  was  fulfilling 
the  command  given  him  by  tlie  Lord,  "  I  have  set  thee  up 
to  be  a  light  unto  the  Gentiles,  to  bear  salvation  unto  the 
ends  of  the  earth."  ^  Spain  being  one  of  the  border  lines 
of  the  Eoman  world,  Paul  believed  himself  bound  to 
visit  it. 

Some  may  be  surprised,  perhaps,  that  I  should  weave  into 
the  tissue  of  history  a  fact  which  is  based  solely  on  an  in- 
tention expressed  in  one  short  line  written  by  the  Apostle, 
and  with  no  contemporary  testimony  to  uphold  it.  That  I 
so  readily  accept  it  is  because  the  authority  of  later  tradi- 
tions testifying  to  this  missionary  journey  seem  to  me 
weighty  enough  to  make  it  a  certainty.  Indeed,  only 
thirty  years  after  Paul's  death.  Pope  Saint  Clement  re- 
minds the  Corinthians  that  the  Apostle  had  preached  "  on 
the  confines  of  the  West ; "  ^  and  in  the  next  century  (about 
170)  a  list  of  the  Sacred  Books,  compiled  in  Kome,  men- 
tions in  express  terms  the  mission  to  Spain,  and  in  a  manner 
which  leaves  no  room  for  doubt  as  to  the  meaning  attrib- 
uted by  the  Roman  Church  to  the  words  of  its  third 
Bishop.^  Thereafter,  this  incident  in  Paul's  ministry  is 
everywhere  believed  and  given  out  as  historical.^  Such 
a  succession  of  witnesses,  going  back  to  the  first  centuries, 

1  Rom.  XV.  28.  2  Acts  xiii.  47. 

3  'ETTi  TO  T^p/xa  TTjs  dijaeios  eXddiv.     St.  Clement  of  Rome,  Ep.  ad.  Cor.  5. 

4  Muratorian  Fragment,  lines  37  and  38,  "  .  .  .  ised  profectione  Pauli  ab 
urbe  ad  Spaniam  proticescentis  .  .  ."  This  fragment  of  a  Latin  manuscript 
in  the  Ambrosian  Library  (Cod.  101)  contains  a  canon  of  the  books  of  the 
New  Testament  which  in  all  likelihood  was  once  part  of  some  apologetieal 
work  composed  in  Rome  about  170  at  the  latest.  It  was  published  for  the 
first  time  by  Muratori  in  his  Antiquitates  Italicce  (iii.  251  et  seq.)  ;  hence 
its  name. 

^  St.  Jerome,  In  Is.  ii.  10  ;  St.  Athanasius,  Ad  Dracont.,  iv. ;  St. 
Epiphanius,  Adv.  Hceres.,  xxvii.  6;  St.  John  Chrysostom,  In  2  Tim, 
Horn.  X.  3. 


SAINT  PAUL'S  DELIVERANCE.  89 

has  had  its  weight  with  even  the  radical  criticism  of  our 
times.  To  the  thinking  of  even  the  most  sceptical,  Saint 
Paul's  journey  into  Spain  scarcely  admits  of  a  doubt.^  It 
would  ill  become  us  to  be  more  exigent  than  they. 

Unfortunately  the  fact  of  his  having  labored  there  is 
the  only  advantage  gained ;  not  a  detail  has  come  down 
to  us  concerning  the  Apostle's  ministry  on  this  frontier 
of  the  ancient  world.  All  that  we  can  infer  is  that  the 
Apostle  must  have  made  the  journey  by  means  of  the 
coasting  barks  which  plied  their  trade  from  one  end  of 
the  Mediterranean  to  the  other.  If  he  adopted  this  usual 
route  of  travel,  he  could  not  have  passed  along  the  shores 
of  Gaul  without  touching  somewhere.  At  one  or  another 
of  these  ports  he  must  have  landed  in  France,  consecrated 
it  by  his  prayers,  and  obtained  for  it  that  it  should  become 
what  it  is  to  this  day,  a  land  of  Apostles,  a  most  Chris- 
tian folk. 

God  removed  Paul  from  Eome  on  the  eve  of  that  cruel 
trial  which  was  about  to  afflict  this  Church.  He  removed 
him  as  he  had  kept  Peter  away  likewise,  in  order  that 
these  two  Apostles  might  have  time  to  finish  their  work. 
Nevertheless  their  little  flock  was  not  to  be  left  untended. 
According  to  all  appearances  several  of  Paul's  disciples 
remained  there.^  But,  most  important  of  all,  they  had  in 
their  hands  a  Book,  wherefrom  they  could  breathe  again 
the  faith,  the  teaching,  the  very  spirit  of  the  Apostle  to 
the  Gentiles.  Thereby  I  allude  to  the  work  which  Saint 
Luke  put  the  finishing  touches  to  under  his  master's  eyes 
during  the  last  few  days  of  his  imprisonment.  These  in- 
spired pages  are  so  clearly  linked  with  the  preaching  of 
Saint  Paul  that,  to  show  how  far  they  seconded  it,  we 
must  needs  enter  into  certain  details,  and  for  this  purpose 
drop  the  thread  of  our  narrative  for  a  while. 

The  beginnings  of  our  Faith  are  retraced  by  Saint  Luke 
in  two  books  of  a  great  and  simple  beauty.  The  Life  of 
the  Saviour  is  told  in  the  first ;  in  the  second,  that  of  the 

1  "  Weighty  reasons  induce  us  to  believe  that  he  carried  out  his  project 
of  a  journey  to  Spain."    Eenan,  Antichrist,  p.  106. 

2  Hebr.  xiii.  23. 


90         LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

Church,  up  to  the  imprisonment  of  Saint  Paul.  There  is 
nothing  to  indicate  that  the  author  had  had  in  mind  this 
twofold  picture  from  the  outset.  His  original  purpose, 
probably,  went  no  further  than  to  put  in  writing  the  oral 
Gospel  in  the  form  which  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  was 
wont  to  deliver  it  to  his  congregations  ;  in  other  words,  to 
repeat  what  Saint  Matthew  had  done  for  the  Christians 
of  Jerusalem,  and  Saint  Mark  for  the  disciples  of  Peter. 
The  charm  and  success  of  this  first  painting  suggested  of 
itself  a  longing  for  a  companion  work  upon  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles,  and  thus  gave  rise  to  the  work  which  bears  that 
name. 

That  both  works  came  from  the  same  pen,  there  is 
no  doubt ;  ^  throughout  we  find  the  same  style,  the 
same  favorite  turns  of  speech,  the  same  manner  in 
composition.''^  The  author  introduces  himself  in  the 
book  of  the  Acts  as  the  companion  of  Paul  in  his  last 
journeyings,  but  without  giving  his  name,  which  is  fur- 
nished us  by  the  manuscripts  of  the  third  Gospel,^  as  well 

1  I  shall  not  weary  the  reader  with  the  discussion  of  the  question  as  to 
what  sources  the  author  may  have  used  iu  the  composition  of  his  work,  — 
a  question  overmuch  debated  in  our  day  !  Certain  modern  critics  have 
exercised  their  imagination  on  this  theme  to  such  good  purpose  as  to 
discover  as  many  as  eight  distinct  revisions  in  a  work  wherein,  on  the  con- 
trary, there  seems  to  reign  a  perfect  unity  of  thought  and  purpose.  Jiingst, 
£>ie  Quellen  der  Apostelgeschichte  (Gotha,  1895),  will  give  the  reader  ample 
information  concerning  these  hypotheses.  The  arbitrary  and  exaggerated 
character  of  these  phantasies  is  at  last  causing  reaction  among  more  rea- 
sonable thinkers.  See  in  particular  the  edition  of  the  Acts  recently  pub- 
lished by  Professor  Blass  :  Acta  Apostoloriivi,  sive  Lucae,  ad  Theophilum, 
liber  alter  (Gcittingen,  1895).  If  the  author  of  the  Acts  was,  as  he  states, 
Paul's  fellow-traveller,  he  would  have  had  no  need  of  other  than  his  own 
personal  recollections  when  narrating  events  in  which  he  took  part. 
As  for  the  others,  he  had  the  testimony  of  Christians  in  Jerusalem  and 
of  the  Apostolical  men  among  whom  he  lived,  Paul,  his  master,  Peter, 
James,  Philip,  Mark,  etc.  Even  the  discourses  which  he  inserts  in  his 
work  do  not  prove  that  he  had  any  written  documents  at  hand  ;  reduced  as 
they  are  for  the  most  pai't  to  a  few  sentences,  they  are  in  all  probability  but 
abstracts  of  the  original,  and  give  us  merely  the  essential  groundwork  of 
their  ideas. 

2  See  Beelen,  Commentarius  in  Act.  Apost.,  Prolegomena,  pp.  4,  5  ; 
Zeller,   Die  Apostelgesch.,   pp.  387  et  seq.,  414  et  seq. 

^  All  bear  the  heading,  BvayyeXiov  Kara  AovKav,  or  an  analogous  title  : 
Kara  Aovkuv  (B.  F.  5<)  ;  AovKas  (A°-),  etc. 


THE    WORK  OF  SAINT  LUKE.  91 

as  by  Tradition.  He  is  none  other,  as  we  know,  than  the 
Saint  Luke  w^hose  name  has  been  mentioned  so  often  in 
the  course  of  this  narrative.  According  to  Eusebius  and 
Saint  Jerome,  this  disciple  of  the  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles 
was  born  at  Antioch,i  of  a  Pagan  family,  who  had  him 
instructed  in  Greek  literature,  in  the  art  of  elegant  speak- 
ing in  that  tongue,  and  in  the  practical  science  of  medi- 
cine.2  The  exercise  of  his  profession  must  have  led  him 
far  away  from  his  native  town,  since  it  was  at  Troas  that 
he  met  Paul  and  became  his  follower.^  It  is  said  that  he 
combined  the  art  of  painting  with  the  practice  of  medicine, 
and  bequeathed  to  the  first  believers  several  portraits, 
among  them  one  of  the  Saviour,  His  Holy  Mother,  and  the 
Apostles.  This  tradition,  of  Greek  origin,  is  open  to  sus- 
picion.^ But  though  Luke  may  never  literally  have  plied 
the  brush,  he  deserves  no  less  the  painter's  high  renown, 
because  of  his  skill  in  coloring  his  narrative ;  he  has  left 
us  a  series  of  pictures  as  striking  and  animated  to-day  as 
in  the  age  of  the  Apostles. 

In  what  place  and  at  what  time  did  he  finish  his  work  ? 
His  last  history,  the  book  of  the  Acts,  so  brusquely  inter- 
rupted, makes  us  think  of  Eome  and  the  close  of  Paul's 
captivity,^  —  that  is  to  say,  somewhere  about  the  year  64. 
The  Apostle  once  liberated,  made  haste  to  set  out  for 
Spain,  and,  according  to  all  appearances,  would  seem  to 
have  taken  his  habitual  travelling  comrade  with  him. 
The  latter,  desiring  to  leave  his  second  work  with  Eoman 
friends,  and  forced  to  finish  it  at  once,  summed  up  in  one 
passage  the  two  years  which  the  Apostle  had  just  spent 
in  prison.  This  hypothesis  explains  so  naturally  the 
sudden  break  in  the  story,  his  silence  concerning  the  later 
labors  and  the  death  of  Saint  Paul,  that  it  is  very  gen- 
erally adopted.^ 

1  Eusebius,  Histor.  Eccles.,  iii.  iv. ;  St.  Jerome,  De  Vir.,  ch.  7. 

2  Coloss.  iv.  14.  3  Acts  xvi.  8-10. 

*  See  Tillemoiit,  Memoires  pour  servir  a  I'histoire  ecclesiastique,  Saint 
Luc.,  vol.  ii.  p.  137. 

5  Acts  xxviii.  30,  31. 

6  "  Historia  usque  ad  biennium  Romse  commorantis  Pauli  pervenit,  id 


92  LAST   YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

As  for  the  Gospel  of  Saint  Luke,  it  is  self-evident  that 
its  composition  preceded  that  of  the  Acts.  Probably  it 
was  written  in  the  period  already  discussed,^  during  Paul's 
imprisonment  at  Csesarea.  The  prospect  of  the  Apostle's 
detention  being  prolonged,  the  abandoned  condition  of  the 
Churches  accustomed  to  be  encouraged  by  his  words,  the 
opportunity  of  meeting  in  Judsea  the  eye-witnesses  of 
the  Saviour's  life,  and,  by  their  aid,  of  completing  the  Glad 
Tidings  as  preached  by  Paul,  —  all  these  circumstances 
impelled  Luke  to  yield  to  the  promptings  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Together  they  make  the  date  I  have  assigned  to 
the  completion  of  his  first  work  the  likeliest  one  as  yet 
proposed.  It  is  possible,  however,  that  it  was  not  pub- 
lished and  given  out  until  after  his  arrival  in  Eome. 

The  Author  dedicates  his  two  books  to  Theophilus,  an 
unknown  and  perhaps  fictitious  personage.  Even  in  the 
first  century,  scholars  like  Origenand  Saint  Epiphanius 
considered  this  name  as  merely  a  generic  term,  meant  to 
designate  any  one  who  loves  God  or  is  beloved  of  Him.^ 
Whatever  opinion  one  may  adopt  in  this  regard,  the  nature 
of  the  work  declares  plainly  that  the  Evangelist  had  in 
mind  some  particular  body  of  believers.  He  is  writing  for 
those  born  in  the  Gentile  world,  —  for  Greeks,  as  Origen 
and  Saint  Jerome  tell  us.^  Hence  his  care  to  avoid  any 
subject  offensive  to  Pagan  ears,  and  to  emphasize,  on  the 
contrary,  everything  which  does  them  honor  or  might 
increase  their  hopes  of  salvation. 

This  constant  preoccupation  of  mind  is  made  manifest 
to  any  one  who  simply  compares  the  same  facts  as  related 
by  Saint  Matthew  and  Saint  Luke.  In  the  first  Gospel, 
which  was  intended  for  the  Hebrews,  we  encounter  this 
command  of  the  Lord  to  His  Apostles  :  "  Go  ye  not  unto 

est  usque  ad  quartum  Neronis  annum,  ex  quo  intelligimus  in  ea  urbe 
librum  esse  compositum."  S.  Jerome,  De  vir.  ill.  vii.  This  testimonj'-, 
which  Professor  Harnack  makes  light  of,  deserves,  according  to  Professor 
Blass,  all  the  respectful  consideration  which  Catholic  Tradition  has  ever 
accorded  it. 

^  St.  Paul  and  His  Missiojis,  chap.  xvii. 

2  Origen,  In  Lucam  Horn.,  i.  ;  St.  Epiphanius,  Hceres.,  xxi.  7. 

3  Origen,  In  Matt.,  vol.  i.  ;  St.  Jerome,  Epist.  ad  Dora.,  20. 


THE    WORK  OF  SAINT  LUKE.  93 

the  Gentiles,  neither  enter  into  the  cities  of  the  Samari- 
tans ;  go  ye  rather  unto  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of 
Israel."  1  Saint  Luke  omits  this  prohibition.  Saint 
Matthew  reports  literally  another  sentence  of  the  Saviour : 
"  If  you  salute  your  brethren  only,  what  do  you  more 
than  others  ?  Do  not  even  the  Gentiles  so  ? "  ^  Saint 
Luke  softens  the  severity  of  this  line ;  he  says,  "  Sinners 
do  as  much."  ^  A  score  of  precautionary  measures  analo- 
gous to  this  might  be  cited ;  but  what  principally  charac- 
terizes Saint  Luke's  work  is  that  same  anxiety  to  omit 
nothing  which  might  breathe  the  hope  of  salvation  into 
Gentile  souls  which  characterizes  all  the  works  of  Saint 
Paul.  There  is  hardly  a  page  where  this  intention  is  not 
apparent.  The  genealogy  of  the  Christ,  which  starts  with 
Abraham  in  the  first  Gospel,*  in  Saint  Luke's  goes  back 
to  Adam,^  designing  to  show  thereby  that  not  only  the 
Jewish  people  but  all  humankind,  though  involved  in  the 
fall  of  the  first  man,  are  raised  up  by  the  new  Adam  and 
in  Him  regain  grace  and  life.  The  Angels  hovering  over 
the  cradle  of  the  Christ  sing  of  a  peace  offered  unto  all 
"men  of  good  will."^  Simeon,  in  the  Temple,  adores 
Jesus  as  "  the  Salvation  prepared  before  the  face  of  all 
nations,  the  Light  destined  to  enlighten  the  Gentiles."  ^ 
The  same  Gentiles  take  the  precedence  over  Israel, 
beginning  with  the  very  first  sermon  at  Nazareth.  The 
Saviour,  when  repulsed  by  His  fellow-countrymen,  tells 
them  whither  the  great  gifts  disdained  by  the  chosen 
people  shall  be  transferred,  —  unto  Pagans  :  "  There  were 
widows  in  Israel  in  the  days  of  Elias,  what  time  the 
heavens  were  shut  up  three  years  and  six  months,  inso- 
much as  there  was  a  great  famine  throughout  all  the  land, 
and  Elias  was  not  sent  to  any  one  of  them,  save  unto 
a  widow  of  Sarepta,  in  the  land  of  the  Sidonians.  And 
there  were  many  lepers  in  Israel  in  the  time  of  Eliseus 
the  Prophet,  and  none  of  them  was  cleansed  save  Naaman 

1  Matt.  X.  5,  6.  5  Luke  iii,  38. 

2  Ibid.,  V.  47.  6  lbicl.,i.  14. 

3  Lukevi.  32,  33.  "•  Ibid.,  ii.  30-32. 
*  Matt.  i.  1.  2. 


94  LAST   YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

the  Syrian  ! "  ^  The  same  deference  to  the  Gentiles  ap- 
pears in  the  narrative  of  John  Baptist's  preaching.  Saint 
Matthew  mentions  only  Jews  as  present ;  Saint  Luke  tells 
how  the  Forerunner  proclaimed  the  Messiah's  coming  to 
all,  without  distinction,  —  to  publicans  and  to  Pagan  sol- 
diers.'-^ It  would  take  too  long  to  turn  over  page  after 
page  of  Saint  Luke's  version  after  this  fashion :  what  I 
wisli  to  remark  concerning  the  plan  pursued  throughout 
his  two  works  will  complete  what  is  omitted  here  and 
will  prove  that  everywhere  this  disciple  of  Paul  was 
addressing  the  very  same  audience,  the  very  same  readers 
as  was  his  master,  —  a  Gentile  folk. 

This  unanimity  of  views  and  teaching  appeared  from 
the  very  beginning  so  manifestly  in  Saint  Luke's  first  book, 
his  Gospel,  that  Antiquity,  with  one  voice,  attributed  it 
to  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles.  "  Luke,"  they  said,  "  did 
no  more  than  put  in  writing,  as  it  were,  setting  in  order 
and  editing,  what  he  had  heard  Paul  preach."  ^  If  we  are 
to  believe  these  witnesses,  the  Evangelist's  part  in  the 
work  bearing  his  name  would  be  very  trifling;  it  is 
impossible,  however,  to  restrict  it  to  this  extent^  for,  in 
his  preface.  Saint  Luke  gives  us  a  very  different  idea  as 
to  the  originality  of  his  labors  and  of  the  end  he  had  in 
view :  "  Forasmuch  as  many,"  he  says,  "  have  already  set 
themselves  to  relate  the  story  of  those  things  which 
occurred  among  us,  as  they  have  been  handed  down  to  us 
by  those  who  from  the  beginning  have  been  eye-witnesses 
and  ministers  of  the  Word,  I  too  have  seen  fit,  after  ha,ving 
examined  all  things  with  care  from  the  outset,  to  give  to 
thee  in  writing  the  whole  order  of  events,  dear  Theophilus, 
that  so  thou  mayest  know  the  certainty  of  the  things 
wherein  thou  hast  been  instructed."^ 

From  this  it  follows  that  Saint  Luke  was  not  content 
with   merely  writing   down   some   oft-heard  evangelical 

1  Luke  iv.  25-27.  2  Matt.  iii.  5,  7  ;  Luke  iii.  7,  12,  H. 

3  "  LuciB  digestum  Paulo  adscribere  solent."  Tertulliau,  Adv.  Mar- 
cionem,  iv.  5.  "Lucas  sectator  Pauli,  quod  ab  illo  prjedieabatur  Evan- 
gelium  in  librocondidit."  St.  Ireu;eus,  Cont.  Hcer.,  iii.  1.  Cf.  Muratorian 
Fragment.,  i.  2-7,  etc, 

*  Luke  i.  1-4. 


THE    WORK  OF  SAINT  LUKE.  95 

version ;  that  his  work  is  not  that  of  a  mere  scribe,  but  of 
an  historian ;  that  he  goes  back  to  the  sources,  scrutiniz- 
ing them  carefully,  and  that  from  them  he  is  constructing 
an  orderly  narrative  which  is  properly  his  own.  Doubt- 
less, for  him,  Paul  is  always  the  principal  authority, "  the 
master,  the  enlightener,"  as  Tertullian  calls  him ;  ^  but 
besides  him  he  has  not  failed  to  consult  "  those  who  from 
the  beginning  have  seen  these  things  with  their  own  eyes." 
Frequent  occasions  were  offered  him  to  consult  these  eye- 
witnesses of  the  earliest  events.  In  Rome,  he  must  have 
talked  with  Peter ;  in  Csesarea,  with  Philip  the  Deacon, 
in  Jerusalem,  with  James  the  Less,  perhaps  even  with 
the  Mother  of  Jesus.  Many  contend  that  it  is  to  this 
Holy  Virgin  that  he  owes  the  story  of  the  Saviour's  Child- 
hood, and  the  supposition  is  far  from  unlikely.^ 

Were  the  first  two  Gospels  among  the  documents 
which  Luke  had  at  hand  ?  This  none  of  the  Fathers 
would  lead  us  to  infer,  and  Saint  Jerome  would  seem  to 
be  echoing  their  general  opinion  when  he  asserts  that 
Luke  wrote  down  what  he  had  heard,  not  what  he  had 
seen,^  or  what  he  had  gathered  from  the  foregoing  Gos- 
pels. It  does  not  follow  from  this  that  he  ignored  the 
work  of  his  predecessors.  We  have  just  heard  him  in 
his  preface  allude  to  the  many  narratives  of  the  Saviour's 
life  which  were  current  in  his  time  ;  why  suppose  that 
among  these  testimonies,  those  alone  should  have  escaped 
him  which  were  inspired  by  God  ?  So,  then,  according  to 
all  probability,  he  knew  them ;  but  by  so  saying  we  are 
not  admitting  that  from  them   he  slavishly  copied  pas- 

1  Tertullian,  Adv.  Marcionem,  book  iv.  chap.  2. 

2  Resell  claims  that  he  has  discovered  in  our  present  Gospel  the  traces 
of  two  earlier  narratives  which  St.  Luke  made  use  of:  1.  A  history  of  the 
childhood  of  the  Saviour,  written  in  Hebrew,  to  which  he  gives  the  name 
of  the  "Generations  of  Jesus  ;"  2.  A  primitive  Hebrew  Gospel,  entitled 
Td  Xoyta  'lijaou,  and  containing  the  words  and  deeds  of  Jesus.  Aussrj-canon- 
ische  Paralleltexte  zu  den  Evangellen  :  Paralleltexte  zu  Lucas  gesammelt  und 
untersucht  von  Resch.  [Texte  und  Untersuchutigen,  1895).  The  existence 
of  any  such  documents  is  too  problematical  for  us  to  give  them  a  place 
among  the  original  texts  which  St.  Luke  examined  when  composing  his 
work. 

^  St.  Jerome,  Commentariorum  in  Evang.  Matt.     Prologus. 


96  LAST  YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

sages  of  his  Gospel  where  the  same  events  are  related  in 
terms  more  or  less  similar.  How,  indeed,  did  it  happen, 
if  he  is  really  copying  from  them,  that  in  telling  the  same 
facts  he  omits  many  interesting  details  ?  Why,  for  no 
reason  whatever,  should  he  change  so  many  words  and 
phrases  ?  And  why  does  he  pass  over  altogether  a  no- 
table part  of  the  incidents  recounted  by  his  forerunners  ? 
The  one  plausible  explanation  of  these  differences  is 
that  which  we  have  seen  elsewhere,  when  treating  of  the 
composition  of  the  Gospels.^  For  the  early  Christians  no 
document,  however  highly  authorized  it  might  be,  could 
be  compared  with  a  recital  of  the  Saviour's  words  and 
acts  coming  from  the  very  lips  of  witnesses  of  His  life. 
This  they  never  tired  of  listening  to,  for  in  that  historical 
catechism  of  the  primitive  Church  it  often  happened  that 
some  new  trait,  some  new  detail,  till  then  omitted,  would 
occur  to  the  narrator's  remembrance  and  thereby  enriched 
the  treasury  of  belief.  Handed  down  in  this  wise,  the 
Glad  Tidings  did  not,  like  the  written  Gospels,  assume  an 
immutable  form  ;  it  still  preserved  the  sap,  the  ceaseless 
fecundity  of  life.  It  would  seem  that,  in  his  preface 
Saint  Luke  is  referring  principally  to  these  oral  tradi- 
tions/'^ Free  and  unfettered  as  they  may  have  seemed 
within  their  hallowed  bounds,  the  habitual  rehearsal  of 
the  same  facts,  their  anxiety  to  repeat  them  with  the 
utmost  fidelity,  must  have  brought  about  a  certain  fixity 
of  expression  ;  at  least  on  all  important  points  they  were 
bound  unavoidably  to  repeat  the  same  words  and  to  tell 
the  same  things.  Numerous  passages  where  it  would 
seem  vSaint  Luke  is  using  Saint  Matthew  and  Saint  Mark 
as  his  models  are  in  all  probability  merely  extracts  made 
by  him  from  this  common  fund,  —  the  Spoken  Gospel. 
From  it  he  borrowed,  as  did  the  two  Synoptics  before 
him,  without  stint,  as  he  was  moved  by  the  breath  of  the 
Spirit  from  on  High.^ 

1  St.  Peter,  chap.  xii.  1 ;  The  Evangelical  Preaching. 

^  Ka^cbs  Trapidocrav  rjfjuv  oi   air   dpxv^  avrbirTCLL   Kai    viryjp^Tai  yevofievoL 
Tov  \6yov.     Luke  i.  2. 

2  Schanz,  Comentar  ilber  das  EvangeUiim  des  Heiligen  Lucas,^.  12etseq.; 


THE   WORK   OF  SAINT  LUKE,  97 

To  me,  in  proportion  as  the  influence  of  Matthew  and 
Mark  appears  more  and  more  restricted  and  often  doubtful, 
so  much  the  more  does  that  of  Saint  Paul  seem  manifest 
throughout  the  whole  of  his  disciple's  work.  Saint  Luke 
asserts  it  himself ;  his  design  is  to  prove  to  his  readers, 
by  the  acts  of  the  Saviour  and  His  Apostles,  the  sound- 
ness of  the  teachings  they  had  received.^  Now  we  have 
seen  to  whom  he  addresses  these  words,  —  to  Christians 
instructed  by  Saint  Paul.  Consequently  it  was  the  cus- 
tomary teaching  of  the  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles  which  he 
intends  to  confirm  by  a  recital  of  the  Evangelical  Deeds. 
Thereby  he  means  to  illumine,  illustrate,  and  as  it  were 
revivify,  the  abstract  doctrines  of  his  master,  —  the  Em- 
pire wielded  by  Sin  over  the  World;  Eedemption,  through 
Faith  in  the  Christ ;  Salvation,  offered  to  Pagan  and  Jews 
alike ;  the  necessity,  the  universality,  the  divine  riches 
of  Grace.  In  Jesus,  Saint  Matthew  had  portrayed  the 
Messiah ;  Saint  Mark,  the  Son  of  God ;  while  Saint 
Luke  represents  Him  as  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  a 
Saviour  compassionate  and  helpful  to  all  alike,  no  dis- 
tinguisher  of  persons,  no  exclusive  heritage  of  any  race, 
religious  state,  or  moral  system.  Everywhere  of  course 
the  order  followed  by  the  Saviour  in  the  Synagogue  at 
Nazareth  ^  is  faithfully  observed,  —  to  the  Jews  first,  then 
to  the  Pagans  this  offer  of  Salvation  is  made.  But  upon 
its  rejection  by  the  former  the  door  is  flung  wide  open  to 
the  Gentile  world,  and  Saint  Luke  delights  in  showing 
the  eagerness  of  the  latter  to  fill  the  place  disdained 
by  the  chosen  race.  The  Samaritan  so  despised  by 
Israel,^  takes  the  place  of  honor  in  the  third  Gospel. 
'T  is  neither  Priest  nor  Levite  that  cares  for  the  hapless 
traveller  maltreated  by  bandits  and  left  groaning  along- 

Traditions  hypothese :  Tilh.  Quartahchr.  (1885),  pp.  216  ef  seq.;  Cornely, 
Tntroductio,  Sections  45-51 ;  Reithmaj^r,  Einleit,  pp.  345  et  seq. ;  Revue 
Biblique,  articles  by  the  R.  P.  Semeria  (1892,  pp.  520-559),  by  M.  Tabbe 
Batiffol  (1894,  pp.  377-381),  by  the  R.  P.  Lagrange  (1895,  pp.  4-22  ;  1896, 
pp.  5-38). 

1  Luke  i.3-4.  2  ibi,|_^  ^y^  16-30. 

^  See  The  Christ  the  Son  of  God,  voL  i.  ;  Appendix  v.,  The 
Samaritans. 

7 


98  LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

side  the  Jericho  road ;  't  is  the  good  Samaritan ;  and 
Jesus  gives  him  as  a  model  to  that  Doctor  of  the  Law 
who  came  to  tempt  Him.^  Of  the  ten  lepers  cured,  one 
alone  returns  to  throw  himself  at  the  Saviour's  feet  and 
offer  his  thanks,  —  "  and  he  was  a  Samaritan."  "  Where 
then  are  the  nine  others  ? "  asks  Jesus.  "  There  are  not 
found  that  returned  to  give  thanks  to  God,  save  only  this 
stranger."  ^ 

The  same  consideration  is  shown  to  the  Publicans,  an- 
other class  pursued  by  the  people's  scorn.  Saint  Luke 
depicts  them  as  submitting  willingly  to  baptism  at  the 
hands  of  John,^  in  like  manner  thronging  about  Christ, 
happy  at  welcoming  Him  to  their  homes  and  entertaining 
Him  at  their  boards.  Great  is  the  scandal  thereby  given 
to  the  Pharisees,  who  point  Him  out  as  a  glutton,  a  wine- 
bibber,  a  friend  of  publicans  and  sinners.*  Jesus'  only 
reply  to  this  is  a  description  of  the  Pharisee  praying  in 
the  Temple,  with  haughty  mien,  disdain  curling  his  lips ; 
far  behind  him  in  the  background  stands  the  Publican, 
not  daring  so  much  as  to  raise  his  eyes  from  the  ground, 
beating  his  breast  and  murmuring,  "  My  God,  be  merciful 
unto  me  who  am  a  sinner ! " 

"I  declare  unto  you,"  the  Saviour  concludes,  "this 
latter  went  on  his  homeward  way  justified,  and  not  the 
former."  ^ 

Nay,  lower  still  in  the  social  scale,  in  the  very  sink  of 
worldly  iniquity.  Saint  Luke  delights  to  portray  the  tri- 
umphs of  God's  grace.  Two  of  his  most  touching  pic- 
tures are  inspired  by  this  thought :  one,  the  Magdalene 
still  unshrived,  kissing  and  bathing  with  her  tears  the 
feet  of  Jesus ;  the  other,  the  Magdalene  purified,  rapt  in 
ecstasy  at  her  Saviour's  feet,  and  receiving  from  Him  the 
assurance  that  she  has  chosen  the  better  part.  ^ 

This,  doubtless,  is  but  the  fulfilment  of  the  words  re- 
peated by  the  three  other  Synoptical  writers,  "  I  am  come 

1  Luke  X.  25-37.  ^  Ibid.,  iii.  12-13. 

2  Ibid.,  xvii.  11-19. 

*  Ibid.,  V.  27-39;  vii.  29-34  ;  xv.  1-2  ;    xix.  2-10. 

6  Ibid.,  xviii.  9-14.  «  Ibid.,  vii.  37-48  ;  x.  38-42. 


TEE   WORK  OF  SAINT  LUKE.  99 

to  call,  not  the  righteous,  but  sinners  to  repentance ; "  ^ 
not  one  of  them,  however,  endeavors  to  illustrate  this 
principle  in  action  as  does  Saint  Luke. 

The  Acts,  even  more  than  his  Gospel,  serve  to  set  this 
economy  of  Eedemption  in  more  striking  relief.  In  the 
course  of  the  first  thirty  years  of  the  Church's  existence, 
the  salvation  so  persistently  rejected  by  Israel  was  being 
offered  to  all  such  as  the  Jews  abhorred  as  doomed  to 
infamy  and  sin.  Peter  takes  the  first  step  by  calling 
down  the  Heavenly  Spirit  upon  the  Samaritans,  and  on 
the  Pagans  of  Csesarea.^  Paul  follows  in  his  footsteps: 
once  driven  from  the  Synagogues  which  he  had  striven 
in  vain  to  evangelize,  he  seldom  seeks  to  return  thither 
save  to  warn  the  Jews  of  the  Lord's  sentence  of  disin- 
heritance: "You  were  the  first  to  whom  it  behooved  us  to 
proclaim  the  Word  of  God,  but  seeing  you  reject  it  and 
deem  yourselves  unworthy  of  everlasting  life,  we  are 
going  to  the  Pagans."^ 

To  this  Gentile  world  Saint  Luke  holds  out  no  other 
means  of  salvation  save  only  Faith,  which  his  master 
represented  as  sole  source  of  justification  and  holiness. 
This  Faith,  working  through  Charity,  is  all  that  is  needed 
to  transform  men's  hearts  and  infuse  therein  a  new  life, 
that  of  God  Himself.  Examples  of  such  wondrous  trans- 
formations abound.  Within  a  few  hours  Philip  makes  a 
Christian  of  the  eunuch  from  Ethiopia. 

"Who  hinders  me  from  being  baptized?"  asks  this 
Gentile. 

"  If  you  believe  with  your  whole  heart,"  the  Evangelist 
replies,  "you  may  be."* 

Still  more  rapid  is  the  working  of  grace  during  Peter's 
preaching  to  the  Pagans  of  C?esarea.  God's  Spirit  does 
not  wait  for  the  Apostle  to  finish  speaking,  but  forthwith 
descends  upon  them  and  communicates  to  them  the  Gift 
of  Tongues.  Peter's  companions  are  overwhelmed  with 
awe  at  the  suddenness  of  this  manifestation ;  he  himself 

1  Matt.  ix.  13  ;  Mark  ii.  17  ;  Luke  v.  32. 

2  Acts  viii.  14-15  ;  x.  44-47  ;  xi.  1-18. 

3  Ibid.,  xiii.  46.  *  Ibid.,  viii.  26-39. 


100  LAST  YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

can  but  cry  out,  '*  Can  any  one  refuse  them  baptism  ? 
They  have  received  the  Holy  Ghost  as  well  as  we."  ^  At 
once  he  orders  that  they  be  baptized  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Paul  and  Barnabas  spend  but  one 
week  in  Antioch  of  Pisidia,^  yet  they  leave  behind  them 
a  goodly  community  of  believers,  "filled  with  joy  and 
with  the  Holy  Ghost."  ^  Facts  like  these  need  no  com- 
mentary to  make  men  realize  the  might  of  regeneration 
inherent  in  Faith,  its  all-power  fulness  in  purifying  and 
sanctifying,  aye,  in  creating  a  supernatural  life  in  the 
souls  of  men,  even  as  God  created  the  world  in  one  out- 
burst of  Love. 

Nor  does  Saint  Luke  excel  simply  in  making  us  com- 
prehend the  effects  of  his  master's  Theology;  he  is  even 
happier  in  displaying  its  most  lovable  side.  The  third 
Gospel,  though  always  the  same  austere  revelation  granted 
by  Jesus  to  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  becomes  in  the 
hands  of  his  disciple  a  veritable  balm  of  life  poured  into 
the  wounds  of  sad  humanity ;  it  is  essentially  a  proclama- 
tion of  "  forgiveness,"  *  "  of  mercy  poured  forth  from  gen- 
eration to  generation,"^  —  the  Gospel  of  the  Heart  of 
Jesus.  Saint  Luke  alone  has  limned  those  first  rays  of 
the  reign  of  loving-kindness  which  emanated  from  the 
cradle  of  the  Divine  Babe :  John,  while  still  in  his 
mother's  womb,  is  thrilled  by  the  nearness  of  the 
Christ ;  ^  the  Forerunner  is  charged  to  preach  salvation, 
the  remission  of  sins  through  the  bowels  of  mercy  of  our 
God;^  the  angels,  choiring  over  the  Saviour's  crib,  sing 
"  Peace  on  earth  unto  men  of  good  will."  ^ 

In  the  recital  of  the  public  life  of  Jesus  there  is  ever 
the  same  underlying  thought.  His  first  act  in  the  Syna- 
gogue at  Nazareth  is  to  read  this  significant  oracle  from 
Isaiah :  "  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  Me.  He  hath 
anointed  Me  to  preach  the  Glad  Tidings  to  the  poor, 
deliverance  to  captives,  sight  to  the  blind,  to  set  at  lib- 

1  Acts  X.  44-49.  5  Ibid.,  i.  50. 

2  Ibid.,  xiii.  14,  42,  44.  e  j^id.,  i.  41. 

*  Ibid.,  xiii.  52.  '  Ibid.,  i.  77-78. 

*  Lukeiv.  19.  8  ibid.,  ii.  14. 


THE    WORK  OF  SAINT  LUKE.  101 

erty  them  that  are  bruised."  ^  To  James  and  John,  who 
would  fain  call  down  fire  from  heaven  upon  the  city  of 
the  Samaritans  which  had  spurned  them,  the  Lord  makes 
answer,  "  You  know  not  what  spirit  you  are  of.  The  Son 
of  Man  is  not  come  to  destroy  men,  but  to  save  them."  ^ 
And  how  His  Heart  beats  high  with  joy  at  the  thought 
that  the  Gospel,  hidden  from  the  wise  and  the  learned, 
is  revealed  to  His  little  ones !  ^  And  then  that  cry  of 
Divine  Love,  ''  I  am  come  to  spread  a  fire  on  the  earth, 
and  what  will  I,  if  not  that  it  be  kindled  now  ? "  *  He 
stays  the  arm  raised  to  chop  down  the  barren  fig-tree. 
"  Let  be,"  he  says,  "  till  I  dig  about  its  roots  and  dung  it : 
perchance  it  will  bear  fruit."  ^ 

In  Saint  Luke  as  in  Saint  Matthew,  small  is  the  num- 
ber of  the  elect,^  narrow  the  gate  of  Heaven,  and  a  manful 
struggle  lies  before  him  who  would  win  therein ;  ^  but 
Jesus  stands  waiting  there,  renewing  our  courage,  show- 
ing us  that  besides  the  reprobates  whose  unbelief  enchains 
them,  weeping  and  grinding  their  teeth,  there  is  a  whole 
multitude  of  the  elect  entering  the  Banquet  Hall.  "  They 
shall  come  from  the  East  and  from  the  West,  from  the 
North  and  from  the  South,  and  shall  sit  at  the  table  in 
the  Kingdom  of  God."  ^  A  strange  sight,  assuredly,  this 
festival  hall,  where,  jumbled  together,  beggars  and  crip- 
ples, the  blind  and  the  maimed  are  occupying  seats  dis- 
damed  by  those  guests  of  rank  who  were  the  first  to  be 
invited  to  the  board  !  And  as  there  are  still  many  empty 
places,  "  Go  forth !  "  the  master  bids  his  servant,  "  go  out 
into  the  highways  and  along  the  hedges  and  compel  them 
to  enter,  that  my  house  may  be  filled  ! "  ^  We  well  know 
whence  came  these  last  recruits  summoned  by  the  Saviour: 
from  the  dregs  of  the  populace,  publicans,  sinners,  courte- 
sans.^^    Seeing  Him  in  such  company,  the  Pharisees  are 

1  Luke  iv.  18-19.  *  Ibid.,  xii.  49. 

2  Ibid.,  ix.  52-56.  ^  i^d.,  xiii.  6-9. 
8  Ibid  X.,  21. 

6  Matt.  xix.  30 ;  xx.  16,  Luke  xiii.  30. 

7  Ibid.,  vii.  13,  14  ;  Luke  xiii.  24. 

8  Luke  xiii.  25-30.  »  Ibid,,  xiv.  16-23. 
M  Matt.  xxi.  31,  32  ;  Luke  vi.  34-50. 


102  LAST  YEAIiS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

loud  in  their  protestations  of  horror.^  But  Jesus  meets 
their  mutterings  with  some  of  His  most  touching  para- 
bles :  the  prodigal  son ;  ^  the  groat  lost  but  found  again  ;^ 
the  shepherd  leaving  his  flock  in  the  wilderness  while  he 
hastens  in  search  of  the  strayed  sheep,  then  returning 
bearing  it  upon  his  shoulders  in  great  joy;  "for  there 
shall  be  more  joy  in  Heaven  over  one  sinner  that  re- 
penteth  than  over  ninety  and  nine  just  persons  that 
need  no  repentance."* 

Such  is  the  picture  Saint  Luke  has  painted  for  us  of 
the  Divine  Master :  above  all  and  unto  all  a  Saviour,  so 
merciful  and  so  tender-hearted  that  even  in  the  Magda- 
lene's sin  He  sees  naught  but  the  love  whence  it  sprang, 
and  which  now  wipes  it  clean  away ;  "  Manifold  the  sins 
forgiven  her  because  she  hath  loved  much :  he  loveth  less 
to  whom  less  is  forgiven."^  Paul  is  thinking  of  these 
words  when  he  declares  that  "the  Law  has  intervened 
that  sin  might  be  multiplied,  that  there  where  sin  had 
abounded,  Grace  might  be  much  more  abundant."  ^  Yet 
it  is  only  when  we  set  this  commentary  of  the  Apostle 
side  by  side  with  the  Evangelist's  text  that  we  realize 
all  we  owe  to  Saint  Luke,  —  how,  by  inspiration  from 
on  High,  that  figure  of  Jesus  Whom  Paul  preached  is, 
so  to  say,  become  more  tender  and  gracious  under  the 
brush  of  his  disciple.  It  is  no  longer  the  Christ,  clothed 
in  dazzling  majesty,  Whom  he  describes  to  us,  combining 
in  Himself  "all  the  treasures  of  wisdom  and  of  knowl- 
edge," ^  __« the  Plenitude  of  the  Godhead; "«  a  Christ 
Who  is  "Image  of  the  invisible  God,"^  Master  of  that 
world  which  He  beholds  at  His  feet,^^  seated  at  the  right 
hand  of  the  Father,^^  hisrh  above  the  Angels  and  all  crea- 
tion  !  Here  we  have  rather  that  Christ  Whom  Paul  met 
upon  the  highway  leading  up  to  Damascus,  felling  to 
earth  the  malevolent  Scribe,  it  is  true,  yet  only  that  He 

1  Luke  XV.  1,  2.  ^  Coloss.  ii.  3. 

2  Ibid.,  XV.  11-32.  8  Ibid.,ii.  9. 

3  Ibid.,  XV.  8-10.  9  Ibid.,  i.  15. 

4  Ibid.,  XV.  4-7.  10  Ephes.  i.  22. 

6  Ibid.,  vii.  47.  "  Coloss.  ill.  1  ;  Ephes.  i.  20,  21. 

6  Rom.  V.  20. 


THE    WORK  OF  SAINT  LUKE.  103 

may  appeal  most  gently  to  him :  "  Saul,  Saul,  why  perse- 
cutest  thou  Me  ? "  1 

From  beginning  to  end  Saint  Luke  is  ever  searching 
for  similar  traits  in  the  Life  of  Jesus,  his  aim  always  to 
gather  up  such  words  and  acts  as  are  most  fitted  to  win 
the  hearts  of  men.  He  is  the  only  one  of  the  Evangelists 
who  has  handed  down  to  us  that  prayer  of  Jesus  upon  the 
Cross,  "  Father,  forgive  them  1  They  know  not  what  they 
do."  2  Matthew  and  Mark  tell  us  only  of  the  blasphemies 
uttered  by  the  thieves  crucified  at  either  hand ;  ^  Luke 
alone  gives  us  the  last  word,  the  coup  de  grace,  which 
converted  one  of  them,  as  well  as  the  accompanying 
dialogue,  which  so  marvellously  illustrates  the  all-power- 
fulness  of  Faith. 

"  Lord,  remember  me  when  Thou  shalt  come  into  Thy 
Kingdom ! " 

"  Of  a  truth  I  say  unto  thee :  this  very  day  thou  shalt 
be  with  Me  in  Paradise."  * 

Certainly,  while  trying  to  distinguish  in  the  third 
Gospel  the  share  due  to  the  disciple  from  that  due  to 
the  Apostle,  we  should  be  far  from  forgetting  how  greatly 
Paul  loved  the  Lord  and  made  others  love  Him.  No  one 
was  ever  completely  so  consumed  by  that  Love  Divine, 
none  has  ever  discoursed  thereof  in  terms  more  ardent ; 
but  the  flame  which  glows  within  him,  which  he  himself 
enkindled  in  men's  hearts  burns  upon  the  heights ;  Paul's 
concept  of  the  Christ  is  ever  that  of  the  loftiest  souls.  It 
would  seem  that  God  had  inspired  Saint  Luke  to  bring 
this  Divine  Saviour  within  the  limits  of  our  weakness. 
The  Jesus  Whom  he  depicts  for  our  adoration  is  the 
refuge  and  salvation  of  the  little  ones  of  this  earth,  the 
unlearned  and  the  lowly,  the  Crucified  Kedeemer,  Who 
reappears  in  the  Upper  Chamber,  stretching  forth  His 
pierced  hands  to  the  Apostles,  showing  them  His  wounded 
side  to  draw  them  thither  and  press  them  close  to  His 
Heart :  "  Peace  be  unto  you  all ;  't  is  I,  be  not  afraid."  ^ 

1  Acts  ix.  4.  3  Matt,  xxvii.  44  ;  Mark  xv.  32. 

2  Luke  xxiii.  34.  *  Luke  xxiii.  42,  43. 

5  Ibid.,  xxiv.  36.  A  reading  preserved  by  the  Vulgate  which  is  to  be 
found  in  quite  a  number  of  MSS.  (G.  P.,  etc. )  and  very  many  versions. 


104  LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

Saint  Luke  had  need  of  very  special  gifts  thus  to  com- 
pose a  Gospel  of  the  Glad  Tidings,  which  should  find  its 
way  to  every  sincere  and  loving  heart.  And  Heaven 
lavished  upon  him  all  that  was  necessary  for  his  task. 
In  contrast  to  the  other  writers  of  the  New  Testament, 
who  were  all  Hebrews  bearing  the  stamp  of  their  race 
and  age,  he  is  Greek  by  birth  as  well  as  by  education ; 
he  is  endowed  with  its  universal  genius,  —  its  order,  its 
simplicity,  clearness  of  thought,  a  charming  diction,  a 
wonderful  facility  in  conceiving,  expressing,  hinting  at 
what  he  will,  —  in  a  word,  its  "sweetness  and  light." 
These  qualities  render  his  work  all  the  more  attractive, 
inasmuch  as  imagery  and  feeling  dominate  it  throughout : 
they  render  lovable  and  accessible  to  all  that  doctrine 
which  the  strenuous  flights  of  thought  bear  so  far  aloft 
in  the  Epistles  of  Saint  Paul,  but  which  were  too  often 
obscured  to  the  eyes  of  the  plain  people  by  the  subtilty 
and  unfamiliar  method  of  the  Apostle's  reasoning.  Luke 
hardly  ever  has  recourse  to  such  dialectics ;  he  narrates, 
explains,  portrays  the  facts  in  such  luminous  pictures 
that  Christian  Art  has  always  gone  to  him  first  to  seek 
inspiration.  The  frescos  and  stained  windows  of  our 
temples  are  for  the  most  part  reproductions  of  scenes  in 
the  third  Gospel  or  the  Acts.  To  the  same  source  we 
owe  the  hymns  which,  re-echoed  there,  still  thrill  our 
souls,  the  Magnificat  .  .  .  the  Gloria  in  excelsis  .  .  . 
the  Benedictus  Dominus  Deus  Israel  .  .  .  the  Nunc 
DiMiTTis.  Luke  it  was  who  preserved  these  songs,  and 
thus  laid  upon  the  cradle  of  the  new-born  Church  the 
first  flowers  of  our  Liturgy. 

The  sphere  of  his  influence  in  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel  must,  therefore,  be  conceded  to  have  been  indeed 
considerable ;  without  likening  his  performance,  or  even 
considering  it  as  equal,  to  that  of  Saint  Paul,  his  master, 
it  certainly  aided,  and  in  some  respects  completed  it ; 
taken  together,  the  two  form  a  body  of  revelation 
wherein  nothing  essential  is  lacking.  Had  the  other 
writings  of  the  New  Testament  been  lost  to  us  together 
with  so  many  other  early  documents,  the  twofold  testi- 


THE    WORK  OF  SAINT  LUKE.  105 

mony  of  Paul  and  his  disciple  would  have  sufficed  to 
preserve  for  us  the  Christ,  His  Theology,  His  Life,  and 
His  Work.  And  this  testimony  of  theirs  is  the  most 
important  we  possess,  since  our  most  determined  foes 
are  forced  to  acknowledge  its  weight.  No  candid  critic 
nowadays  denies  the  authenticity  of  the  principal  Epis- 
tles of  Paul ;  none  disputes  the  fact  that  somewhere  in 
the  fifties,  that  is,  about  twenty  years  after  the  Saviour's 
death,  Luke  joined  company  with  the  Apostle  of  the 
Gentiles,^  and  began  his  task  of  collecting  the  data  he 
has  handed  down  to  posterity  concerning  Jesus  and  His 
Church.  It  is  generally  admitted,  therefore,  that  here  we 
have  witnesses  to  our  Faith  who  were  not  remote  from 
its  earliest  origins,  —  with  only  the  works  of  Paul  and 
his  disciples  we  can  study  its  first  foundations. 

1  Acts  xvi.  10. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
THE  MASSACRE  OF  THE  CHRISTIANS  OF  ROME. 

I.  The  Burning  of  Rome. 

Saint  Luke's  work  appeared  at  a  period  when  it  was 
most  needed  by  that  Roman  society  which  Nero  day  by 
day  was  plunging  deeper  in  an  abyss  of  debauchery  and 
bloodshed.  Paul  has  described  it  to  us  as  it  was  in  the 
latter  part  of  his  imprisonment,  "having  their  under- 
standing darkened  .  .  .  their  hearts  hardened,  no  feeling 
for  morality,  unbridled  in  their  lusts  ;  ever  eager  in  the 
search  for  new  impurities,  and  greedily  gorging  them- 
selves therewith ;  ^  "  what  they  do  in  secret,"  he  adds, 
"  modesty  forbids  me  so  much  as  to  mention."  ^  That  the 
Apostle  still  ventured  to  leave  his  faithful  followers,  de- 
spite the  danger  they  stood  in  of  contagion,  was  due 
doubtless  to  his  appreciation  of  the  fact  that  "  their 
loins  were  girt  about  with  Truth,  and  shielded  by  the 
buckler  of  Faith ; "  ^  due  likewise  to  the  fact  that  in 
"  The  Gospel  of  Peace,"  *  which  he  had  inspired  his  dis- 
ciple to  compile,  he  left  with  them  a  mighty  armor,  — 
"the  Word  of  Life,"^ — which  should  ward  off  all  the 
deadly  onslaughts  of  the  foe.  The  occasion  was  soon 
to  offer  itself  which  should  prove  how  far  this  confi- 
dence was  warranted  by  the  event,  for  hardly  had  Paul 
arrived  in  Spain  when  a  persecution,  as  formidable  as  it 
was  unforeseen,  assailed  the  Christians  of  Rome. 

This  tempest  was  one  of  the  whirlwinds  of  madness 
which  swept  down  from  the  Palatine  unnoticed  and  un- 

1  Ephes.  iv.  18,  19.  ^  Ibid.,  vi.  15. 

2  Ibid.,  V.  12.  6  Philip,  ii.  16. 
8  Ibid.,  vi.  14, 16. 


THE  BURNING  OF  ROME.  107 

checked,  now  that  Burrhus  and  Seneca  were  no  longer 
there  to  stay  their  insensate  fury.  Nero,  as  we  have 
seen,  was  but  the  puppet  of  two  councillors,  or  rather 
two  instigators  of  his  fury,  Tigellinus  and  Poppsea. 

What  power  the  former  possessed  was  used  solely  to 
gratify  his  avarice  and  revengefulness ;  "  he  was  a  man  in 
naught  save  his  appetite  for  crime."  ^  Cornelius  Sylla, 
Eubellius  Plautus,^  Octavia,^  were  his  first  victims ;  no 
one  ventures  to  record  the  list  after  Piso's  conspiracy. 
Denunciations,  confiscations,  torturings,  bloodshed,  —  all 
these  but  whetted  his  vilest  instincts,  which  waxed  daily 
worse  ;  but  at  the  time  we  are  speaking  of  he  stands  forth 
clearly  as  Nero's  evil  genius.*  It  was  in  the  year  64  that 
he  gave  his  festival  on  Agrippa's  Pool,  to  pander  to  the 
passions  of  his  master,  —  that  festival  of  direful  renown, 
its  excesses  forming  a  fitting  climax  to  this  reign  of 
shame.^  In  that  same  year  the  Christians  were  to  real- 
ize what  ferocious  lusts  lurked  in  this  creature,  blighted 
by  sin  from  childhood,  bred  in  an  atmosphere  of  crime, 
doomed  to  a  lascivious  old  age,  ending  in  suicide  amid  the 
orgies  of  his  foul  crew.^ 

The  influence  of  Poppsea,  though  quite  as  disastrous  to 
the  disciples  of  the  Christ,  was  less  degrading  to  Nero. 
This  woman,  though  destitute  of  moral  sense,  was  never- 
theless of  high  rank,  and  still  possessed  some  spark  of 
nobility  despite  her  dissolute  life.'''  True,  she  had  sold 
herself,  but  not  without  demanding  haughtily  her  price, 
even  if  it  were  to  the  dictating  of  new  laws.^   A  meek  and 

1  "Crudelitatum  mox,  deinde  avaritiamet  viriliasceleraexercuit  .  .  ." 
Tacitus,  Histor.,  i.  72, 

2  Tacitus,  AnnaL,  xiv.  57. 

3  Ibid.,  xiv.  61-64 ;  Suetonius,  Nero,  35,  57  ;  Dion  Cassius,  Ixii.  13. 
*  "  .  .  .  Corrupto  ad  omne  facinus  Neroue."  Tacitus,  Hist.,  i.  72. 
^  Tacitus,  Anna/.,  xv.  37. 

6  "  Sophonius  Tigellinus  obscuris  parentibus,  fseda  pueritia,  impudica 
senecta  .  .  .  accepto  apud  Sinuessanas  aquas  supremse  necessitatis  nuntio, 
inter  stupra  concubinarura  et  oscula  et  deformes  moras,  sectis  novacula 
faucibus,  infamem  vitam  foedavit  etiara  exitu  sero  et  inhonesto.  Tacitus, 
Histor.,  i.  72.  'AcrcXyeia  re  Kal  ixLaLipovlq.  irdura^  tovs  Kad'  eavrbv  avdpwpovs 
vTrepd4>avTa.     Dion  Cassius,  Ixii.  13. 

7  Tacitus,  AnnaL,  xiii.  45.  *  Ibid.,  xiii.  46. 


108  LAST   YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

gentle  freedwoman  named  Actsea  was  then  all-powerful 
with  Nero.  Poppsea  dared  to  characterize  this  liaison  as 
"  low  and  slavish,"  ^  and  succeeded,  if  not  in  breaking  it  off, 
at  least  in  weakening  its  bonds.  Octavia,  though  aban- 
doned, had  still  retained  her  position  as  wife  and  Queen. 
Poppaea  drove  her  from  it.  Then,  as  the  people  began  to 
mutter  at  the  outrage  offered  to  the  daughter  of  Claudius, 
she  demanded  her  rival's  head,  and  she  had  her  way.^ 
This  crime  proves  that  at  certain  times  she  was  capable 
of  rivalling,  if  not  excelling,  Nero  in  ferocity.  Usually, 
however,  her  better  instincts  had  the  upper  hand;  she  was 
in  sympathy  with  the  patrician  ladies,  then  so  numerous, 
for  whom  Eome  and  its  ephemeral  joys  were  not  enough, 
and  who  looked  forward  to  a  better  world  beyond  the 
tomb,  and  had  visions  of  a  light  and  peace  and  happiness 
without  shadow,  without  end.^  The  secret  of  this  future 
some  sought  to  discover  from  the  "  Mysteries  "  of  Asia  or 
of  Greece,  or  from  the  religions  of  the  East ;  ^  others  had 
recourse  to  the  soothsayers  of  all  races  who  haunted  their 
palaces.^  Poppsea's  apartments  were  always  open  to  such 
as  these ;  but  more  learned  counsellors  than  they,  like- 
wise,  had  found  admittance  therein,  and  had  initiated 
her  in  the  love  of  Mosaism.^  Till  death  she  remained  a 
devotee  of  Israel's  God:^  instead  of  being  burned,  accord- 
ing to  Eoman  customs,  her  body  was  embalmed,  as  among 
the  Jews.^  The  intellectual  assent  she  gave  to  their 
teachings  did  not,  as  we  have  seen,  prevent  her  from 
committing  base  cruelties  ;  these  simply  harmonized  with 
the  weaker  side  of  the  woman.  Poppsea  always,  even  in 
her  moments  of  coquetry,  preserved  a  certain  air  of  great- 


1  "Neronem,  pellice  ancilla  et  adsiietudine  Actes  devinctum  nil  e  con- 
tubernio  servili,  nisi  abjectum  et  sordidum  traxisse."  Tacitus,  Annal.y 
xii.  46. 

2  Tacitus,  xiv.  60-64. 

8  Friedlaender,  Moeurs  Romaines,  t.  i.  livre  5  ;  Les  Femmes. 
*  The  worship  of  Isis,  among  others,  was  in  high  favor  with  them. 
Juvenal,  vi.    526  et  seq.  ;  Tibullus  i.  iii.  23  et  seq. 

^  Juvenal,  vi.  542  et  seq.  "^  Tacitus,  Histor.^  i.  22. 

^  Josephus,  Antiq.  Jud.,  xx.  viii.  11 ;   Vita,  3. 
8  Tacitus,  Annal.,  xvi.  6. 


THE  BURNING   OF  ROME.  109 

uess ;  though  she  was  so  proud  of  the  beauty  which  had 
won  her  an  empire,  sparing  nothing  to  enhance  its  charms, 

—  even  to  having  five  hundred  she  asses  always  in  her 
train  in  order  to  bathe  in  their  milk,^  yet  on  the  day  that 
her  mirror  told  her  that  her  efforts  were  in  vain,  and 
that  age  was  withering  her  loveliness,  she  cried  on  death, 
rather  than  survive  this  loss.^  Mad  vanity  this  !  Granted, 
yet  it  betrays  pride  rather  than  corruption.  However 
terrible  her  crimes,  she  was  always  careful  not  to  lower 
herself,  always  to  remain  what  she  was  by  birth,  a  woman 
of  rank  and  exquisite  distinction.  No  ornament  was  lack- 
ing in  the  wardrobe  of  this  paragon  of  patrician  elegance, 
not  even  the  garb  of  modesty,  whose  allurements  she 
practised  so  well.  "  Very  rarely  did  she  appear  in  pub- 
lic, and  then  always  half  veiled,  perhaps  because  she 
would  not  satisfy  the  starers,  perhaps  because  thus  she 
but  added  to  her  charms."^  Sumptuous  refinement,^ 
brilliant  wit,  that  of  a  delightful  conversationalist,^ — all 
these  made  one  forget  the  courtesan  under  the  finished 
exterior  of  an  ideal  noblewoman. 

Nero  was  deeply  attached  to  her.     His  heart  was  won, 

—  indeed  it  is  no  exaggeration  to  assert  that  she  was 
the  only  woman  he  ever  loved.^  So  it  came  about  that 
after  he  had  given  her  her  death  wound  in  one  of  his 
fits  of  madness,  so  frantic  was  his  remorse  that  he  clung 
despairingly  to  any  and  every  one  who  reminded  him  of 
her  in  form  or  feature,  and  pursued  them  as  he  had  pur- 
sued her,  with  his  brutal  love.'' 

Poppsea's  empire  over  him  could  not  instil  into  Nero  a 
love  for  humanity  and  uprightness  of  living,  —  feelings 
this  woman  knew  naught  of,  —  but  it  contributed  toward 
fostering  in  him  a  love  for  the  arts  and  literature,  for  all 

1  Pliny,  Hist,  natur.,  xxviii.  50.  ^  Tacitus,  Anna!.,  xii.  1.  45. 

2  Dion  Cassius,  Ixii.  28, 

*  She  even  went  so  far  as  to  have  her  favorite  mules  shod  with  gold. 
Pliny,  Hist,  natur.,  xxxiii.  49. 

^  "Sermo  comis  nee  absurdum  ingenium.'"   Tacitus,  Anna!.,  xiii,  45. 

6  "  Poppaeam  .  .  .   dilexit  unice."     Suetonius,  Nero,  35. 

7  Suetonius,  Nero,  35  ;  Tacitus,  Anna!.,  xvi.  6  ;  Dion  Cassius,  Ixii.  28  ; 
Ixiii.  12,  13. 


110  LAST   YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

intellectual  culture.  Burrhus  and  Seneca,  while  they  had 
the  duty  of  instructing  the  son  of  Agrippina,  had  not 
failed  in  their  task  entirely  ;  their  pupil,  who,  when  left 
to  his  own  promptings,  proved  himself  a  monster  of  cru- 
elty and  debauchery,  always,  even  amid  his  most  abom- 
inable exhibitions  of  passion,  retained  his  tastes  for  poetry, 
music,  literary  fame ;  his  unchanging  ambition  was  to  be 
known  as  an  artist,  even  if  only  as  an  actor,  if  necessary, 
and  we  shall  see  that  to  this  phase  of  his  character  he 
was  faithful  to  the  end.^ 

He  but  exhausted  himself  in  his  ridiculous  efforts,  for 
his  education  had  given  him  merely  a  smattering  of  the 
arts.  Of  genius  he  had  not  a  spark,  and  little,  if  any, 
natural  talent.  He  strove  to  paint,  to  carve,  and  to  sing, 
accompanying  himself  on  the  lyre,  each  fresh  attempt 
but  emphasizing  his  mediocrity ;  his  verses  did  not  lack 
a  certain  easiness,^  but  tliey  were  spoiled  by  a  bombastic 
style,  false  emphasis,  and  striving  after  effect.  In  the 
hour  of  death  he  still  posed  in  the  presence  of  outraged 
and  rebellious  Eome,  while  he  racked  his  brain  for  the 
most  telling  retort.  True  enough,  these  were  the  most 
common  faults  of  his  day.  Seneca  himself  is  not  exempt 
from  them,  but,  in  him,  the  greatness  of  his  thought 
makes  us  forget  the  unlovely  robes  which  trammel  it. 
Nero  reflects  his  teacher  only  in  his  faults.  His  learning 
was  all  summed  up  in  a  fanatic  reverence  for  Greece,  its 
institutions,  its  mythological  dreams,  and  in  a  wild  desire 
to  imitate  them. 

Public  games,  held  in  so  great  esteem  among  the  Hel- 
lenes, had  never  gained  foothold  in  Eome.  The  narrow 
pride  of  the  Quirites  led  them  to  regard  these  amusements 
as  dishonorable,  and  they  abandoned  them  to  the  servile 
classes ;  Nero  resolved  to  rescue  them  from  this  ignominy 
by  appearing  in  person  as  a  charioteer  in  the  Great  Circus. 
This  was  during  the  days  when  Burrhus  and  Seneca  still 
retained  some  vestige  of  influence  over  him,  but  they 
realized   their   powerlessness  to  check  this  caprice  of  a 

1  Suetonius,  Nero,  39.  2  i|,ij.^  52,  53, 


THE  BURNING   OF  ROME.  Ill 

young  madman  made  master  of  the  world  at  twenty- 
two;  in  the  hope  of  avoiding  worse  extravagances,  they 
assisted  him  in  this. 

The  main  thing,  it  seemed  to  them,  was  to  keep  this 
degrading  spectacle  as  much  as  possible  from  public 
sight ;  to  this  end  they  chose  the  circus  begun  by  Cali- 
gula and  continued  by  Claudius  in  the  valley  of  the 
Vatican ;  ^  there  at  least  they  would  not  be  in  a  public 
domain,  but  surrounded  by  the  wide-reaching  gardens  of 
Nero.  Thus,  at  first,  the  ruler  had  only  his  own  courtiers 
for  spectators,  but  it  was  not  long  before  their  too  perfunc- 
tory applause  palled  on  his  ear  ;  the  gates  of  the  Imperial 
Circus  must  be  thrown  ajar  to  admit  the  plebeian  throngs 
whose  howls  of  delight  completely  upset  the  vainglorious 
Ctesar.  Thereafter  he  dreamt  of  nothing  but  the  theatre, 
forcing  consular  dignitaries,  even  patrician  nobles  to  play 
the  parts  of  clowns  and  ribald  louts ;  then  he  would  ap- 
pear among  them,  lyre  in  hand,  chanting  his  verses  before 
the  populace  and  bent  on  their  applause.^  Burrhus  was 
there  among  his  own  Prsetorians,  his  head  bowed  in  shame, 
groaning  secretly,  yet  covering  these  follies  by  the  pres- 
tige of  his  presence,  hoping  thereby  to  shield  the  world 
from  a  new  reign  of  terror.^ 

Nero's  passion  for  everything  Grecian  had,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  merit  of  inspiring  in  him  tastes  more 
becoming  to  a  prince.  He  loved  beautiful  things,  the 
masterpieces  of  Hellas  and  the  Orient,  statues,  precious 
vases,  anything  of  artistic  interest,  and  he  lavished  his 
gold  to  obtain  them.*     Especially  in  architecture,  he  let 


1  An  obelisk  brought  from  Heliopolis  and  to-day  standing  in  the  circle 
in  front  of  St.  Peter's.  In  that  day  the  obelisk  was  located  at  the  ex- 
tremity of  the  long  wall  (La  Spina)  which  divided  the  length  of  the  cii-cus 
in  half.  The  drivers  must  needs  turn  their  chariots  around  its  spacious 
pediment,  covered  with  marble,  upon  which  were  erected  a  profusion  of 
statues,  altars,  obelisks,  fountains,  and  trophies  of  every  description. 

2  Tacitus,  Annal,  xiv.  14-16  ;  Suetonius,  Nero,  11,  12,  21,  23,  24,  25, 
27,  30  ;  Dion  Cassius,  Ixi.  17-21  ;  Ixii.  15. 

3  "  Accesserat  cohors  militum,  centuriones  tribunique,  et  moereus  Bur- 
rus  ac  laudans."     Tacitus,  Annal,  xiv.  15. 

*  Suetonius,  Nero,  47  ;  Pliny,  Histor.  natur.y  xxxvii.  7. 


112  LAST   YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

his  fantasies  have  full  fling.  From  the  Csesars,  his  pre- 
decessors, he  had  inherited  an  estate  upon  the  Palatine, 
which  in  the  beginning  boasted  of  but  a  decent  dwelling 
occupied  by  Augustus ;  ^  Tiberius,  however,  had  notably 
enlarged  the  scope  of  the  original  plan,  while  Caligula, 
by  extending  it  till  it  embraced  the  entire  hill,  trans- 
formed it  into  such  a  majestic  residence  that  the  name 
Palatium,  "  Palace,"  has  remained  to  this  day  that  of  all 
royal  mansions  throughout  the  civilized  world. 

From  the  heights  covered  by  the  main  edifices,  the 
various  outbuildings  occupied  the  hillsides  down  to  the 
Forum,  and  stretched  as  far  as  the  temple  of  Castor  and 
Pollux,  which  served  as  a  sort  of  vestibule.  A  bridge 
near  by  connected  the  Palatine  with  the  Capitol,  thus 
permitting  the  master  of  the  world  to  visit  that  of  Olym- 
pus at  his  pleasure,  and  without  descending  to  the  plain 
below.^  Such  vast  undertakings  must  have  been  re- 
garded as  prodigies  of  human  effort.  Nero  treated  them 
as  unworthy  of  his  genius ;  scoffing  at  his  forebears  for 
their  stinginess,  he  boasted  that  he  would  show  the  world 
what  a  Coesar  could  do.^  Accordingly  he  bade  the  engi- 
neers, Severus  and  Celerus,  to  erect  provisorily,  an  out- 
line, as  it  were,  of  his  architectural  dreams. 

This  "  House  of  Passage,"  ^  as  he  styled  it,  rivalled  the 
most  extravagant  inventions  of  Egyptian  and  Assyrian 
monarchs.  His  fancy  tickled  by  this  first  essay,  he 
resolved  to  execute  the  work  in  such  magnificence  that 
it  might  justly  be  called  "  The  House  of  Gold."  But  one 
characteristic  trait  of  maniacs  is  that  they  can  never 
satisfy  themselves.  The  appurtenances  of  the  new  palace 
only  half  pleased  him ;  what  mattered  it  if  the  park  had 
been  extended  as  far  as  the  Gardens  of  Maecenas  on  the 
Esquiline  ?  ^     Nero  wanted  still  more  space,  and,  as  the 

1  Suetonius,  Augustus,  72.       2  ibid.,  Caius,  22.       ^  ibid.,  Nero,  37. 

*  "Non  in  alia  re  damnosior  quara  in  rediticando,  domum  a  Palatio 
Esquilias  usque  fecit.  Quara  primo  transitoriam,  mox,  incendio  absump- 
tam  restitutamque,  auream  nominavit."     Suetonius,  Nero,  31. 

s  "Palatium  et  Maecenatis  hortos  continuaverat."  Tacitus,  Annal., 
XV.  39. 


THE  BURNING   OF  ROME.  113 

Palatine  arose  from  the  heart  of  the  old  city,  he 
bethought  himself  how  he  could  sweep  away  these 
populous  quarters  and  thereby  enlarge  his  estate,  thus 
extending  it,  by  means  of  galleries  and  arcades,  even  as 
far  as  the  outlying  hills. 

An  event,  fortuitous  in  its  origin,  but  terrible  in  its 
consequences,  especially  to  the  Christians,  offered  him 
an  opportunity  of  realizing  his  dreams.  On  the  nine- 
teenth of  July,  64,  a  conflagration  burst  forth  not  far 
from  the  Porta  Capena,  at  the  extremity  of  the  Great 
Circus,  contiguous  to  the  Palatine  and  the  Cselius.^  Shops 
and  booths  were  here  crowded  most  densely,  and  all  filled 
with  inflammable  merchandise;  the  fire,  fanned  by  a 
strong  wind,  had  soon  invaded  the  Circus  from  end  to 
end,  its  rich  materials  adding  fuel  to  the  furnace.  The 
narrow,  crooked  streets  of  this  section  made  it  almost 
impossible  to  bring  any  aid ;  besides  which,  in  a  twink- 
ling, they  were  thronged  with  people,  half  crazed  by  the 
sudden  awakening  amid  the  crackling  flames,  unable  to 
save  themselves  and  shrieking  for  help:  this  frenzied 
multitude  swayed  this  way  and  that,  a  confused  and 
struggling  mass,  in  awful  tumult  and  disorder.^  En- 
countering no  obstacle,  the  fire  swept  on  triumphantly : 
from  the  valley  transformed  into  a  brazier  of  burning 
coals,  it  leaped  up  to  lick  the  heights  around  about, 
whence  it  rushed  more  fiercely  down  again,  like  tor- 
rents of  lava,  upon  the  lower  levels,  as  if  bent  on 
ravaging  the  whole  town. 

The  districts  which  encircled  the  Palatine,  —  the  Vela- 
brum,  the  Forum,  and  the  Carinse,  —  were  utterly  devas- 
tated. It  was  not  until  the  sixth  day  that  they  managed 
to  arrest  the  progress  of  this  scourge,  at  the  very  foot  of 
the  Esquiline,  "  by  levelling  a  goodly  number  of  buildings 
in  order  to  quell  this  devouring  contagion  by  bringing  it 
face  to  face,  so  to  say,  with  the  naked  wilderness  below 

1  Tacitus,  Annal,  xv.  38-44,  52  ;  Suetone,  Nero,  31,  38,  39  ;  Dion  Cas- 
sius,  Ixii.  16-18,  Cf.  Jordan,  Topographic  des  Stadt  Rotn  in  Alterthum, 
t.  i.  pp.  487-491. 

2  Dion  Cassins,  Ixii.  16. 


114  LAST   YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

and  the  naked  vault  of  heaven  above."  ^  The  number  of 
the  lost  was  considerable,  some  overtaken  by  the  flames, 
others  abandoning  themselves  to  their  fate  in  despair  at 
having  lost  their  all.  The  great  mass  of  the  populace 
survived  it,  however,  crowding  the  streets  and  lying 
about  the  open  campagna. 

The  terror  of  it  all  had  but  just  begun  to  die  down, 
when  the  conflagration,  suddenly  springing  up  again  on 
the  estate  of  Tigellinus,  raged  for  three  days  more ;  not 
so  violently,  however,  and  with  less  damage  to  property, 
for  in  the  temples  and  spacious  porches  of  this  district 
the  flames  found  less  to  feed  upon  than  in  the  centre  of 
the  town.2  Thereafter  it  began  to  be  possible  to  take 
some  account  of  the  enormity  of  the  disaster.  Out  of 
the  fourteen  districts  of  Eome,  four  alone  had  escaped 
unscathed;  everywhere  else  there  was  nothing  but  a 
waste  of  half  wrecked  houses,  a  huge  mass  of  smoking 
ruins. 

Nero  was  at  his  seaside  residence,  at  Antium,  when  the 
conflagration  first  started.^  At  the  earliest  reports  of  an 
accident  of  such  frequent  occurrence  in  the  city,  he 
evinced  little  if  any  emotion.  But  later  on,  learning 
that  the  combustion  was  gaining  ground  and  threatened 
to  consume  everything,  he  hastened  homewards,  and  at 
the  outset  was  entirely  preoccupied  by  his  eagerness  to 
combat  the  awful  scourge.  He  was  to  be  seen  during 
the  night  and  unattended,  rushing  hither  and  thither  in 
the  very  midst  of  the  flames  ;  it  was  by  his  order  that, 
after  six  days  of  ineffectual  labors,  the  great  battering- 
rams  were  brought  out  and  made  an  open  space  amid 
the  crowded  buildings,  the  manoeuvre  which  checked  the 
flames.  He  evidenced  his  sympathy  for  the  homeless 
multitudes  by  opening  the  public  monuments,  his  own 
private  gardens,  caused  shelters  to  be  built,  and  lowered 
the  price  of  bread.  But  that  monstrous  passion  of  his 
for  artistic  effects  shortly  regained  the  upper  hand  of  him. 
As  soon  as  he  became  wonted  to  the  horrors  of  this  public 

1  Tacitus,  Anna!.,  xv.  40.         2  jbid.         3  ibid.,  Annal.,  xv.  39. 


THE  BURNING   OF  ROME.  115 

calamity,  he  had  eyes  only  for  its  magnificence.  Did  he 
display  any  signs  of  indecent  delight  at  sight  of  this  dire- 
ful spectacle  ?  Did  the  onlookers  detect  in  his  words,  his 
expressions,  or  his  actions,  the  joy  he  felt  at  seeing  his 
"  Temporary  Eesidence "  reduced  to  ashes,  with  the  wide 
spaces  round  about  it  at  last  cleared  for  the  "  Golden 
House"  of  his  dreams,  —  in  a  word,  that  new  Eome  he 
meant  to  build?  One  is  justified  in  inferring  as  much, 
for  almost  immediately  a  rumor  was  noised  abroad  that 
the  conflagration  was  his  work,  that  he  alone  was  the 
Great  Incendiary. 

Certain  grievous  memories  went  to  support  this  sus- 
picion. The  fall  of  Troy  was,  of  all  incidents  recounted 
in  the  Grecian  Epic,  the  one  which  appealed  most  strongly 
to  his  imagination  ;  ^  as  a  child  he  was  fond  of  reproduc- 
ing it  in  his  plays  ;  later  on,  when  represented  in  his  own 
theatre,  the  scenes  depicting  its  destruction  by  fire  had 
excited  him  to  the  highest  pitch  of  passion. 

"  Happy  Priam ! "  he  would  cry,  "  to  have  beheld  his 
empire  and  his  country  perish  together  under  his  very 
eyes ! " 2 

Another  time,  when  listening  to  that  line  in  Euripides : 
"  At  my  death  may  earth  and  fire  be  confounded !  "  he  re- 
plied, "  Aye  !  say  rather  during  my  life." 

"He  acted  consistently,  therefore,"  adds  Suetonius. 
"  Feigning  a  great  disgust  for  the  ugliness  of  the  an- 
cient edifices,  the  narrow  and  tortuous  streets  of  the 
town,  he  burned  Eome,  and  did  it  so  brazenly  that  none 
durst  hinder  the  Praetorians  and  slaves  of  the  palace, 
when  caught  in  the  act,  within  the  imperial  possessions, 
with  torches  and  blazing  tow  in  their  hands.  The  site 
occupied  by  the  shops  which  surrounded  his  House  of 
Gold  were  the  special  object  of  his  envious  longings ; 
battering-rams  were  sent  to  demolish  their  walls,  which 
were  of  stone,  and  thus  give  free  passage  for  the  flames. 
.  .  .  From  his  lofty  lookout  place  on  the  Tower  Maecenas, 

1  "  Tener  adhue,  necduin  raatura  pueritia,  Circensibus  ludis  Trojam 
constantissime  favorabiliterque  lusit."     Suetonius,  Nero,  7. 

2  Dion  Cassius,  Ixii.  16. 


116       LAST  YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

Nero  gazed  his  fill  at  the  conflagration ;  ravished  by  the 
beauty  of  the  flames  (such  were  his  very  words),  he 
thereupon  decked  himself  in  a  theatrical  costume  and 
declaimed  the  destruction  of  Ilion."  ^ 

Such  is  the  story  as  it  was  generally  accredited  fifty 
years  after  the  event,  and  which  Pliny  and  Dion  Cassius 
accept  as  implicitly  as  does  Suetonius.^  Tacitus,  it  is 
true,  seems  to  cast  doubt  over  certain  details,  notably  the 
description  of  Nero  chanting  his  lays  over  the  smoking 
ashes  of  Eome.  He  raises  the  question  whether  the 
threatening  voices  which  forbade  any  one  to  extinguish 
the  flames,  the  unknown  forms  publicly  throwing  their  fire- 
brands, and  shouting  that  they  were  acting  under  orders, 
might  not  have  been  plunderers,  pure  and  simple,  using 
this  device  to  prosecute  their  business  unchecked.^  As 
regards  the  main  point,  however,  he  does  not  hesitate 
any  more  than  did  his  contemporaries,  to  reckon  the 
act  of  incendiarism  among  the  crimes  of  which  Nero 
is  justly  accused.*  The  part  played  in  it  by  the  Prince 
was  apparently  that  which  I  have  sketched  above  :  he 
neither  desired  nor  commanded  the  conflagration,  but, 
struck  with  its  awful  majesty,  he  was  filled  with  insane 
delight,  and  recognized  moreover  that  here  was  his  sole 
chance  to  clear  away  the  centre  of  Eome  and  make  room 
for  his  own  great  projects.  As  to  the  assertion  that  there- 
after he  directed  the  march  of  the  flames  along  certain 
lines  favorable  to  his  fantasies,  nothing  would  seem  more 
likely.  The  mysterous  kindling  of  the  conflagration  on 
the  estate  of  Tigellinus  was  enough  to  strengthen  this 
suspicion,  which  became  certitude  as  soon  as  it  was  re- 
marked how  eagerly  the  Prince  seized  upon  the  oppor- 
tunity of  turning  the  public  disaster  to  his  private  profit 
In  fact,  the  palace  of  gold  and  precious  stones  which  had 
floated  so  long  in  his  dreams,  was  erected  in  mad  haste 
over  the  ruins  of  the  "  Transitory  House."    The  neighbor- 

1  Suetonius,  iViero,  38. 

^  "  Neronis  principis  incendia,  quibus  cremavit  urbem."  Pliny,  Hist, 
natur.,  xvii.  1  ;  Dion  Cassius,  Ixii.  16,  17,  18, 

»  Tacitus,  Annal,  xv.  38.  *  Ibid,,  xv.  38,  67. 


THE  BURNING   OF  ROME,  117 

hood,  now  laid  waste  round  about  it,  was  converted  into 
a  huge  park.  Celerus  and  Severus  rivalled  each  other  in 
their  demands  upon  the  Prince's  treasury,  and  within  the 
enclosed  space,  designed  "  fertile  fields,  pools,  artificial 
solitudes,  groves,  terraces,  and  perspectives,  everything 
which  in  the  very  heart  of  a  city  might  produce  the  illu- 
sion of  the  countryside.^ 

Kome,  convinced  after  this  that  her  misfortunes  were 
due  to  no  blind  Chance,  looked  on  sadly  enough  at  this 
fever  of  restoration,  but  not  without  muttered  words  of 
discontent.  Up  to  this  their  ruler's  extravagance  had 
been  regarded  with  great  indulgence  by  the  common  folk  : 
what  had  they  to  do,  forsooth,  with  the  tragic  happenings 
at  court,  or  with  the  orgies  which  dishonored  it  ?  Nero 
took  good  care  to  keep  the  people  amused  as  no  Caesar 
before  him  had  done,  lavishing  upon  them  games  and 
shows,  one  festival  following  hard  upon  another.  So  long 
as  his  follies  resulted  only  in  degrading  the  Emperor  and 
the  nobility,  the  populace  applauded.  But  with  the  day 
when  they  beheld  the  lower  parts  of  the  town,  where 
were  the  quarters  of  the  poorer  classes,  in  flames,  and  real- 
ized that  they  were  to  be  driven  thence  by  the  insolent 
encroachments  of  the  imperial  domain,  then,  indeed,  their 
admiration  for  Nero  suddenly  ceased.  His  unpopularity 
was  of  course  increased  at  the  sight  of  the  blackened 
walls  of  the  Forum,  for  with  it  the  most  venerable  temples 
of  Eome,  together  with  its  most  time-hallowed  relics  had 
disappeared :  the  sanctuary  consecrated  to  Luna  by  Ser- 
vius  Tullius  ;  the  altar  of  Hercules,  Evander's  handi- 
work ;  the  temple  dedicated  by  Eomulus  to  Jupiter  Stator ; 
Numa's  Palace ;  the  Penates  of  the  Eoman  people  ;  the 
masterpieces  of  Greek  art,  trophies  of  so  many  victories, 
—  all  were  wiped  away.^  In  vain  Nero  endeavored  to 
dazzle  them  by  the  splendors  of  the  new  city  ;  mourn- 
fully they  stood  by  with  averted  gaze,  —  the  blow  had 
pierced  Home's  heart. 


^  Tacitus,  Annal.,  xv.  42 ;  Suetonius,  Nero,  38. 
^  Tacitus,  Annal.,  xv.  41  ;  Suetonius,  Nero,  38. 


118  LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 


II.  The  Massacke  of  the  Christians. 

Nero  was  too  fond  of  the  intoxication  which  he  was 
wont  to  imbibe  from  the  plaudits  of  the  multitude  to  re- 
sign himself  to  the  present  situation,  marking  only  the 
long  countenances  of  his  subjects,  and  hearing  only  the 
whispered  criticisms  of  his  whilom  friends. 

"  What  is  the  good  of  all  these  open  spaces  where  the 
sun  beats  down  upon  us  ? "  they  murmured  ;  "  the  shady 
nooks  of  our  old  streets  were  better  far."  ^ 

To  divert  their  minds  from  these  bitter  broodings  he 
tried  to  interest  them  in  religious  ceremonies.  But  in 
vain.  The  Sibylline  Books  had  been  opened,  and  what 
was  prescribed  therein  accomplished :  prayers  to  Vulcan, 
to  Ceres,  to  Proserpine,  lustrations  of  the  Eoman  ladies, 
supplications,  holy  vigils.^  Nothing  he  could  do,  how- 
ever, could  smother  the  sense  of  a  wrong  done  to  them, 
which  daily  waxed  more  insistent  in  its  demands  for  the 
culprit,  until  its  cries  rose  to  the  very  ears  of  the  Prince 
himself.  At  all  costs  he  must  needs  find  some  victim  as 
a  scapegoat  before  the  people.  Like  a  lost  man  Nero 
scanned  the  w^hole  earth  for  some  outlet  from  this  maze. 
At  last  some  one  suggested  the  Christians,  and  at  once, 
with  an  impetuosity  which  was  spurred  on  by  fear  and 
spite,  he  seized  at  the  idea. 

How  did  this  sudden  change  come  about,  and,  first  of 
all,  what  was  the  general  opinion  concerning  the  disciples 
of  Jesus  ?  Undoubtedly  their  numbers,  which  at  first 
glance  seemed  enormous, —  "an  immense  multitude," ^ 
says  Tacitus,  —  had  brought  them  into  prominence  even 
then.  But,  besides  this,  there  were  abominable  stories 
circulated  concerning  them,  and  their  kinship  by  origin 
with  the  Jews  quite  sufficiently  compromised  them  in 
public  opinion.  Indeed  the  East  was  looked  upon  as  the 
main  cesspool  of  iniquity.     "The  sewerage  which  con- 

1  Tacitus,  Annal,  xv.  43.  2  Ibid.  xv.  44. 

^  Ibid,  Annal.,  xv.  44.  St.  Clement  of  Rome  makes  use  of  the  same 
expression  :  iro\i>  ttXtjOos  e/cXe/fTw.     Ad  Corinth.,  i.  6. 


THE  MASSACRE   OF  THE   CHRISTIANS.         119 

taminates  our  reservoirs,"  Juvenal  declared,  "  is  the  Oron- 
tes,  that  Syrian  stream  which  disgorges  its  filth  into  the 
Tiber."! 

As  soon  as  Nero  evidenced  any  desire  to  catch  the  cul- 
prits, all  eyes  turned  instinctively  to  the  Jewish  quarters. 
Had  not  the  fire  started  upon  their  boundaries  ?  and  had 
not  its  progress  been  checked  at  the  very  regions  where 
the  Jews  were  to  be  found  in  largest  numbers,  the  dis- 
tricts of  Porta  Capena  and  Trastevere  ?  ^  Even  their 
writings  betrayed  them,  always  harping  upon  the  purifi- 
cation of  the  world  through  sword  and  flames :  "On  that 
same  day,"  it  is  written  in  the  Book  of  Henoch,  "  blood 
shall  flow  in  waves  like  a  stream.  .  .  .  From  the  rising 
of  the  sun  unto  the  going  down  thereof,  they  shall  slay 
one  another.  The  steed  shall  wade  in  the  blood  of  the 
sinner,  until  his  very  breastplate  be  wet,  and  the  chariot 
up  to  the  axle-trees.  Woe  unto  you,  sinners,  for  ye  shall 
burn  in  a  bed  of  flames  ! "  ^  These  threats  are  re-echoed 
by  the  song  of  the  Jewish  Sibyl :  "  From  heaven  there 
shall  fall  fiery  swords  upon  the  earth ;  huge  torches  shall 
fall  likewise,  and  shall  blaze  in  the  midst  of  mankind. 
.  .  .  God  shall  judge  them  all  .  .  .  by  fire."  * 

Between  the  preaching  of  crime  and  its  commission 
there  is  little  difference,  according  to  popular  logic; 
there  is  still  less  between  suspicion  and  certainty.  The 
Jews  realized  that  they  were  marked  out  for  victims,  and 
to  save  themselves  straightway  cast  all  the  odium  of  the 
conflagration  and  the  Emperor's  cruelties  upon  the  Chris- 
tians. One  line  of  St.  Clement's,  apparently  vague,  but 
most  significant  in  its  deep  meaning,  establishes  this  fact 
beyond  peradventure. 

"  This  persecution,"  he  writes,  ''  was  due  to  jealousy."  ^ 

The  expression  is  obscure  if  we  take  it  to  mean  tha 

^  Juvenal,  Sat.,  iii.  62.  2  gge  St.  Peter,  chap.  xiv. 

3  Das  Buck  Henoch  (ed.  Dillmann),  chap.  100. 

*  Carm.  Sibyl.,  iii.  672  et  seq.  This  expectation  of  a  fearful  conflagra- 
tion occurs  again  and  again  in  the  Sibylline  Apocalypses,  i.  199  et  seq. ; 
iii.  72  et  seq.,  82  et  seq. ;  vii.  118  et  seq.,  141  et  seq.  ;  viii.  203  et  seq.y  217 
et  seq.,  237  et  seq. 

^  St.  Clement,  Ad.  Cor.,  5. 


120  LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

animosity  between  Pagans  and  Christians,  or  internal 
feuds  among  the  latter:  his  meaning  is  clear  as  soon 
as  we  apply  it  to  the  Jews.  The  aversion  displayed 
by  Israel  toward  the  disciples  of  the  Crucified  is  matter 
of  history ;  we  have  encountered  it  at  every  step  in  this 
recital  of  the  beginnings  of  Christianity,  ever  growing  in 
intensity,  approaching  nearer  and  nearer  to  the  new  cen- 
tre, becoming  finally  a  sectarian  warfare,  a  family  feud. 

The  obscurity  of  the  Church  at  Kome  must  have  spared 
it  for  a  long  while  from  any  such  violent  demonstrations, 
since,  on  Paul's  arrival,  the  heads  of  the  Eoman  Syna- 
gogue frankly  avowed  their  ignorance  of  the  new  doc- 
trine.i  But  a  new  era  began  with  the  appearance  of  the 
Apostle.  Its  propagandists,  inflamed  by  his  ardor,  pro- 
claimed the  Gospel  from  the  housetops  ;2  he  himself, 
more  than  all  the  rest  combined,  helped  to  spread  it ;  for 
the  words  uttered  by  this  man,  free  even  though  in  fet- 
ters, gained  great  renown  in  the  Prsetorium,  at  court,  and 
throughout  the  town.^  When  the  Apostle  departed  after 
his  two  years'  imprisonment,  he  left  behind  him  a  very 
different  body  of  believers,  no  longer  wrapped  in  shadows, 
but  standing  forth  in  the  light  of  day,  firm  and  prosper- 
ous. Thenceforth  the  hostility  of  the  Jews  was  a  matter 
of  course :  while  now,  made  all  the  keener  as  their  own 
peril  grew  more  threatening,  it  burst  all  bonds.  The 
weapon  they  used  was  a  calumny  which  would  ensure 
them  at  once  safety  and  revenge. 

Furthermore,  nothing  could  be  easier  than  to  make 
Pagans  believe  that  the  Church  had  foretold  their  sor- 
rows. Quite  as  often  as  the  Israelites,  and  perhaps  more 
openly,  the  Christians  had  been  wont  to  speak  of  the  final 
conflagration  and  the  flames  which  should  chase  away  the 
abominations  of  the  new  Babylon.  The  prophecy  which 
Peter,  then  their  acknowledojed  Head,  was  to  indite  two 
years  later  had  long  been  maturing  in  his  mind,  and  his 
instructions  were  repeated  by  his  flock :  — 

"  The  heavens  and  the  earth  are  to-day  reserved  unto 

1  Acts  xxviii.  22.  2  philip.  i.  14.  3  n^i^.,  i.  12,  13  ;  iv.  22, 


THE  MASSACRE   OF  THE   CHRISTIANS.         121 

fire,  against  the  Day  of  Judgment  and  the  perdition  of 
ungodly  men.  .  .  .  The  day  of  the  Lord  will  come  as  a 
thief,  and  on  that  day,  amid  the  howling  of  the  storm, 
the  heavens  shall  pass  away,  the  elements  shall  melt 
with  fervid  heat,  the  earth  also  shall  be  burned  up  to- 
gether with  all  which  it  contains."^ 

This  alone  made  them  suspicious  of  the  new  teaching. 
The  Jews  were  quick  to  see  their  advantage  and  were 
easily  enabled  to  disseminate  their  suspicions  among 
the  higher  classes,  for  their  influence  at  court  was  almost 
equal  to  that  of  the  favored  few.  Their  intrigues  during 
the  reign  of  Caligula  and  Claudius  had  been  more  than 
successful,  as  we  have  seen ;  ^  naturally  they  were  no  less 
active  in  Nero's  time.  Slaves,  freedmen,  and  actors  of 
their  race  thronged  about  him ;  ^  Poppsea,  half  Jewess  as 
she  was,  was  now  acknowledged  by  all  as  mistress  of  the 
court.  What  more  was  needed  to  accomplish  the  ruin  of 
that  detested  folk  ? 

The  Emperor,  angered  by  the  public  threats,  was  too 
much  concerned  in  clearing  his  own  skirts,  to  take  time 
for  verifying  the  proofs  of  these  accusations.  Like  a 
hound  he  dashed  upon  this  new  scent  with  all  the  pas- 
sionateness  of  his  worst  days,  with  all  the  instincts  of  a 
wild  beast.  True,  he  had  but  to  extend  his  hand  in  order 
to  seize  his  victims ;  in  his  own  palace  were  Christians 
with  whom  Paul  the  prisoner  had  been  in  close  relation  ;  * 
others  equally  distinguished  both  by  birth  and  wealth 
were  well  known  in  Eome.^  Many  of  them  when  cast 
into  prisons  confessed  their  faith  with  generous  fearless- 

1  2  Peter,  iii.  7,  10.  2  gi^  Peter,  chaps,  vi.,  viii.,  x. 

3  Mommsen,  Inscript.  regni  Neap.,  6467  ;  Josephus,   Vita,  3. 

4  Philip,  i.  13  ;  iv.  22. 

5  Though  to  me  it  seems  possible  that  Christians  of  high  rank  would 
naturally  be  exposed  to  the  first  onslaughts  of  persecution,  it  is  but  fitting 
to  add  that  believers  of  this  class  constituted,  evidently,  a  very  small 
minority  in  the  Roman  Church.  The  "  great  multitude  "  Tacitus  speaks 
of  belonged  to  the  plebeians,  the  humiliores,  who  by  law  were  liable  to  be 
flogged,  burned  at  the  stake,  crucified,  cast  before  wild  beasts  in  the  am- 
phitheatre. (Paul,  Sentent.  v.  xxix.  1.  "  Humiliores  bestiis  objiciuntur 
vel  vivi  exurtur  ;  lionestiores  capite  puniuntur."  )  Nero  might  go  to  any 
extremes  with  this  throng  legally  abandoned  to  his  tender  mercies. 


122  LAST  YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

ness.  Tacitus,  it  is  true,  accuses  these  first  victims  of 
having  yielded  to  torture  and  of  having  denounced  their 
brethren  ;  ^  however,  on  the  other  hand,  he  shows  him- 
self elsewhere  so  badly  informed  and  so  unjust  toward 
all  Christians,  that  this  calumny  has  met  with  very  little 
credence  ;  all  that  we  can  infer  from  it  is  that  the  heads 
of  the  Christian  community,  having  been  arrested  unex- 
pectedly, their  writings,  together  with  the  names  of  the 
believers  found  in  their  possession,  served  as  a  means  of 
identification  for  the  Eoman  police.  The  persecutors  were 
in  every  event  guided  promptly  and  surely,  for  the  first 
arrests  were  succeeded  by  an  unnumbered  throng  of 
others  ;  "  the  multitude  "  ^  incarcerated  in  its  prisons  was 
so  formidable  that  Kome  itself  was  alarmed. 

It  was  far  easier  to  lay  hands  upon  this  crowd  of  inno- 
cent people  and  to  harrow  them  by  the  state  tortures 
than  it  was  to  convict  them  of  the  crime  of  arson ;  but, 
this  crime  not  proven,  there  was  still  the  avowal  of  their 
faith,  their  abstention  from  the  state  worship,  as  well  as 
from  the  public  life  and  customs  of  Pagan  society.  Some 
deemed  them  guilty  of  a  general  "  hatred  of  all  human 
kind,"  2  —  a  vague  accusation,  but  one  well  calculated  to 
strike  the  vulgar  mind,  and  quite  analogous  to  that  terri- 
fying expression  "suspect,''  which  has  been  a  source  of 
agony  to  so  many  innocent  victims  in  this  land  of  mine. 
There  were  even  some  more  enlightened  minds  who  went 
further  in  their  hatred.  Tacitus,  as  we  know,  takes  the 
very  worst  meaning  out  of  all  their  words  and  acts :  in 
his  eyes,  Christianity  is  simply  an  "  execrable  supersti- 
tion," a  madness  fallen  upon  "men  detestable  for  their 
hateful  practices."  *     Still,  some  sympathy  is  shown  in 

1  Tacitus,  AnnaL,  xv.  44.  Monsieur  Paul  Allard  has  devoted  much 
serious  study  in  his  narrative  of  the  persecutions  to  a  criticism  of  all  the 
texts  which  make  any  mention  of  it.  We  cannot  do  better  than  refer  our 
readers  to  his  learned  work  :  Histoire  des  persecutions  pendant  les  deux  pre- 
miers  siecles  (1892),  pp.  35-57. 

2  Tacitus,  AnnaL,  xv.  44. 

^  "Hand  perinde  in  crimine  incendii  quam  odio  generis  humani  con- 
victi  sunt."     Tacitus,  AnnaL,  xv.  44. 

*  "  Exitiabilis  superstitio  .  .  ."  "Per  flagitia  invisos."  Tacitus, 
AnnaL,  xv.  44. 


THE  MASSACRE   OF  THE   CHRISTIANS.  123 

his  description  of  their  sufferings.  Suetonius  does  not 
grant  them  even  these  few  crumbs  of  commiseration  ; 
unreservedly  he  praises  iSTero  for  having  dehiged  the 
world  with  the  blood  of  a  new  and  mischievous  sect.^ 
However,  we  should  be  far  astray  if  we  took  the  opinions 
of  these  historians  as  those  prevailing  at  the  time  of  the 
first  persecution.  Eemember,  they  wrote  a  half-century 
later,  they  are  speaking  the  language  of  their  own  day, 
they  share  its  passionate  hatred,  together  with  all  the 
vile  prejudices  which  had  risen  up  against  a  Church 
which,  everywhere  increasing,  threatened  to  do  away 
with  Paganism  in  short  order.  In  64  the  Christians  of 
Kome  inspired  no  such  fears.  Although  even  then  they 
knew  that  they  were  charged  with  all  sorts  of  imaginary 
abominations,  denounced  as  the  foes  of  God  and  men, 
nevertheless,  in  this  instance  it  is  to  Nero,  to  the  coterie 
about  him,  especially  to  the  Jews,  that  the  infamy  of 
this  charge  must  be  attributed. 

Furthermore,  it  was  not  simply  by  such  calumnies  that 
the  persecutors  reckoned  upon  making  the  Christians 
odious.  There  was  also  the  horrible  nature  of  the  pun- 
ishment which  should  deepen  the  public  sense  of  their 
crime.  They  were  fully  convinced  that,  upon  seeing 
the  victims  doomed  to  unheard-of  torments,  the  mob 
would  be  finally  convinced  that  they  were  really  guilty. 
To  this  end  the  most  refined  tortures  were  invented,  and 
Nero  resolved  to  make  the  occasion  one  of  those  gory  fes- 
tivals ever  dear  to  the  populace  which  had  been  without 
them  ever  since  the  great  disaster.  In  fact,  Rome  had 
not  thrown  off  its  mourning  garb  since  the  terrible  con- 
flagration. After  nine  days'  struggle  against  that  terrible 
scourge,  the  citizens  saw  naught  about  them  save  heaps 
of  rubbish,  blackened  walls  which  were  being  pulled 
down  on  every  side ;  but  no  meeting-place,  no  room  for 
pleasure.  Weariness  had  settled  down  upon  them,  weari- 
ness —  more  dangerous  to  tyrants  than  open  revolt.    How 

1  "Afflicti  suppliciis  Christiani,  genus  hominum  superstitionis  novae  et 
maleficae."     Suetonius,  Nero^  16. 


124  LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

was  he  to  afford  them  once  more  those  joys  of  the  amphi- 
theatre which  had  become  to  them  as  necessary  as  their 
daily  bread  ?  The  Great  Circus,  although  the  first  prey 
of  the  flames,  still  smouldered,  only  half  consumed.  That 
of  Flaminius  stood  on  the  outskirts  of  Mars'  Field,  one  of 
the  wards  destroyed  in  the  second  outbreak  of  the  fire. 
But  even  if  these  buildings  should  prove  still  secure 
(which  would  seem  more  than  doubtful),  would  it  be 
possible  to  inaugurate  his  festival  there  in  the  very 
sight  of  a  ravaged  waste,  with  its  Temples  and  Sacred 
Porches  still  blackened  with  smoke  ?  ^ 

Nero's  mind  naturally  reverted  to  the  gardens  which 
he  possessed  on  the  further  bank  of  the  Tiber,  at  the  foot 
of  the  Vatican  Hill.  In  this  domain  of  his  stood  the 
Circus  whither  lie  was  wont  to  summon  the  populace 
to  various  exhibitions.  Thither,  again,  he  bade  them 
come  to  witness  this  act  of  public  expiation.  But  this 
time  the  cruelty  of  his  councillors,  egged  on  by  his  own 
beastly  instincts,  had  together  invented  such  an  abomi- 
nable scene  of  butchery  that  Eome  itself  shrank  back 
aghast.  Well  do  we  know  how  habituated  these  people 
were  to  scenes  of  blood.  The  gladiators'  combats  which 
they  were  always  so  passionately  fond  of  had  been  the 
cause,  year  after  year,  of  hundreds,  nay,  thousands,  of 
men  perishing  before  their  eyes.^  A  still  crueler  cus- 
tom had  been  long  in  vogue :  prisoners  of  war,  con- 
demned to  death,  were  cast  as  prey  before  the  wild 
beasts  of  the  amphitheatre ;  and  lest  there  should  ever 
be  lack  of  subjects  to  furnish  this  horrible  spectacle, 
from  all  the  provinces  of  the  empire  there  were  de- 
spatched to  Eome  troop  after  troop  of  these  victims, 
doomed  to  help  out  the  public  games.  Hardened  as 
were  the  folk  to  such  scenes  of  slaughter,  Nero  suc- 
ceeded at  last  in  disgusting  them  by  adding  to  the  hor- 
ror of  torture  both  mockery  and  abuse. 

The  festival  set  for  the  early  days  of  August  began 

1  Tacitus,  Annal.,  xv.  40. 

2  Suetonius,  Ccesar,  10  ;  Plutarcli,  Vita  CcEsaris,  v.  :  Horace,  Sat.,  ii. 
iii.  84 ;  Perseus,  vi.  48,  etc. 


THE  MASSACRE   OF   THE   CHRISTIANS.         125 

at  dawn  of  day,  with  a  series  of  combats  between  wild 
beasts ;  this  lasted,  according  to  custom,  the  whole  morn- 
ing.^ Nero  had  no  idea  of  letting  any  of  the  Christians 
appear  at  this  stage,  as  it  might  have  given  them  some 
occasion  of  exhibiting  their  courage.  Desirous  of  furnish- 
ing his  audience  with  a  spectacle  of  bloodshed  and  torture 
only,  he  gave  orders  that  they  be  conducted  in  single  file 
upon  the  scene,  and  then  made  to  run  the  gantlet  of 
their  jailers.  Lofty  posts  made  in  the  form  of  crosses 
had  been  set  up  around  the  arena.  To  these  one  set  of 
the  martyrs  had  been  either  bound  or  nailed ;  whereupon 
his  lions  and  panthers  were  set  upon  them  to  crunch  and 
tear  their  limbs.^  Still  other  believers  were  set  apart  for 
far  more  barbarous  devices  of  torture.  The  term  "  vena- 
tiones,"  ^  once  applied  to  fights  between  wild  beasts,  had 
suggested  to  his  mind  the  diabolical  idea  of  wrapping 
his  victims  in  the  skins  of  animals  ;  thus  muffled,  they 
were  thrown  into  the  Circus,  to  become  the  sport  of  dogs 
trained  to  hunt  down  such  animals.  These  brutes  ^  had 
been  carefully  selected  for  their  extreme  ferocity,^  and 
soon  tore  them  to  pieces  and  devoured  them. 

We  may  easily  fancy  that  women  were  in  no  wise 
spared  in  this  carnival  of  butchery.  Saint  Clement  of 
Kome  tells  us  of  Christian  ladies,  "  in  this  great  multi- 
tude of  God's  chosen  ones,  who,  after  long  exposure  to 
insults  and  tortures,  even  then  furnished  us  with  noble 
examples  of  fortitude."^  Although  compelled  to  enact, 
some  the  role  of  Danaides,  others  that  of  Dirce,  "  they 
bore  it  all,"  he  tells  us,  "impious  and  terrible  as  were 
these  outrages,  and   thus   have  they  attained   unto  the 

1  The  custom  during  the  Empire  of  inaugurating  the  public  festivals 
with  animal  combats  caused  them  to  be  known  as  the  Ludus  Matulinus. 
See  Marquardt,  Romische  Staatsverwaltung ,  t.  iii.  :  Die  Spiele,  4,  2. 

2  Tacitus,  AnnaL,  xv.  44. 

3  Marquardt,  Romische  Staatsverwaltung,  t.  iii  :_  Die  Spiele,  1,  2,  6  ; 
Friedlaender,  Mceurs  romaines,  t.  ii.,  lib.  vi.,  chap.  iii.  3. 

*  "  Pereuntibus  addita  ludibria,   ut    ferarum  tergis   contecti  laniatu 
canum  interirent."    Tacitus,  AnnaL,  xv.  44. 
^  Strabo,  Geogr.,  iv.  5. 
6  St.  Clement  of  Rome,  Ad  Cor.,  i.  6. 


126  LAST  YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

Divine  goal  of  our  Faith ;  and,  weak  in  body  though 
they  may  have  seemed,  they  have  won  the  prize  of 
Glory."  It  was  in  the  afternoon,  most  probably,  that 
these  abominations,  so  delicately  referred  to  by  the 
Bishop  of  Eome,  took  place.  To  the  onlookers,  now 
sated  to  the  point  of  disgust  at  such  cowardly  cruelties, 
Nero  proceeded  to  offer  some  of  those  mythological  scenes 
which  always  appealed  to  the  baser  instincts  of  the  mob, 
and  were  as  much  in  favor  as  were  the  gladiators'  sports. 
For  blood-shedding,  voluptuousness,  and  death,  each  had 
its  special  charm  in  their  eyes. 

The  brilliancy  of  the  scenery  and  costumes,  together 
with  a  perfection  of  stage  mechanism  which  gave  almost 
the  appearance  of  reality,  all  these  were  no  novelty  to  his 
public.  And  hence,  to  pique  their  curiosity,  he  was  wont 
to  have  all  the  parts  in  these  fabulous  dramas  played  after 
a  most  realistic  fashion.  Thus,  when  any  part  called  for 
the  torture  or  death  of  some  actor,  they  solved  the  diffi- 
culty by  casting  a  condemned  criminal  for  the  role.  There 
is  hardly  one  scene  of  terror  recounted  in  legend  or  his- 
tory which  Eome  had  not  witnessed  revived  after  this 
fashion  for  its  amusement :  Hercules  begirt  with  flames ; 
Ixion  bound  to  the  wheel ;  Orpheus  devoured  by  a  bear ; 
Attys  actually  mutilated  in  their  presence ;  Pasiphae  de- 
livered over  to  the  bull  ;  Daedalus  precipitated  from  the 
sky,  and  the  robber  Laureolus  nailed  to  the  cross.^  From 
Greece,  which  would  have  shrunk  in  horror  from  such 
monstrosities,  he  had  oftenest  borrowed  both  the  theme 
and  the  circumstances  of  these  representations,  at  the 
same  time,  however,  disfiguring  all  her  most  poetical 
conceptions  by  these  brutal  plagiarisms.  The  fad  of 
living  pictures,  that  is  to  say,  plastic  groups  supposed 
to  reproduce  the  masterpieces  of  art,  was  at  this  time 
all  the  rage.  Many  of  these  unfortunate  Christians  were 
compelled  to  enact  in  its  reality  a  sanguinary  tragedy 
which  the  celebrated  statuary  in  Naples*^  and  the  fres- 

1  Tertullian,  Apolog.,  15;  De  pudicit.,  22  ;  Suetonius,  iVero,  12;  Mar- 
tial, Spectac,  v.,  vii.,  viii.,  xxi. 

2  The  group  known  by  the  name  of  the  Famesian  Bull.     After  its  dis- 


THE  MASSACRE   OF  TEE   CHRISTIANS.         127 

COS  at  Pompeii^  represent  to  this  day:  the  sons  of 
Antiope,  to  avenge  their  mother,  binding  Dirce  to  the 
bull  which  was  destined  to  drag  her  over  the  crags  of 
Helicon.2  In  like  manner,  tied  by  their  hair  to  the 
horns  of  maddened  beasts,  these  Christian  women  were 
tossed  and  kicked  to  pieces  in  the  very  presence  of  a 
throng  gloating  over  their  torn  and  palpitating  members. 

St.  Clement,  together  with  the  Dirces,  mentions  the 
Danaides  as  having  also  watered  the  arena  with  their 
blood,  without  telling  us,  however,  what  sort  of  tortures 
were  assigned  to  the  latter.  The  perforated  cask  which 
the  fifty  daughters  of  Danaus  were  doomed  forevermore 
to  fill,  certainly  offers  no  opportunity  for  a  very  dramatic 
scene  j  but,  in  Tartary,  at  least,  every  sort  of  torture  had 
been  attributed  to  them  by  folk-lore ;  from  these  fables  it 
was  no  difficult  feat  to  borrow  enough  of  the  horrible  to 
add  zest  to  the  monotony  of  their  punishment.  At  all 
events,  as  St.  Clement  witnesses,  no  pains  were  spared 
to  affront  their  Christian  modesty .^  Yet  what  cared  these 
virgin  martyrs  in  the  cause  of  Christ  for  any  physical 
outrages  ?  Their  bodies  were  as  naught  to  these  souls 
self-consecrated  to  God.  Well  might  Nero  and  his  shame- 
less crew  seize  them  as  their  prey ;  in  their  resurrection 
they  would  but  appear  all  the  more  glorious  and  spotless 
in  His  sight. 

The  Emperor's  ferocity  was  not  glutted  even  after  a 
whole  day's  enjoyment  of  this  spectacle.  Still  other  vic- 
tims had  been  reserved  for  the  evening.  Always  Kome 
had  delighted  in  gay  festivals  of  the  night,  scenes  of  fairy- 
land, bonfires,  and  sparkling  illuminations  lighting  up  her 


covery  in  the  baths  of  Caracalla  it  was  transported  to  the  Farnesian  Palace, 
and  now  stands  in  the  Museum  of  Naples. 

1  Memoria  delta  R.  Accademia  Ercolanese,  t.  ii.  pp.  386  et  seq. ;  vol.  iv. 
part  1 ;  vol.  vii.  pp.  1  et  seq. 

2  "  Dircen  ad  taurum  crinibusreligatam  necant."    Hyginus,  Fabulce,  8. 

3  AlKLafxara  deiua  /cat  dvocna  iradoucraL.  St.  Clement,  Ad  Cor.,  i.  6. 
Nero  was  capable  of  every  conceivable  infamy.  The  hideous  details  left 
us  by  his  historians  give  some  idea  of  what  the  Christian  women  had  to 
endure  when  abandoned  to  the  mercy  of  such  a  monster.  Tacitus, 
AnnaL,  xv.  37  ;    Suetonius,   Nero,   29  ;    Dion  Cassius,  Ixiii.   13,  22. 


128  LAST   YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

lovely  skies.^  Nero  never  let  slip  any  opportunity  to  win 
popularity  by  such  means.  In  the  year  60,  when  inaug- 
urating the  Quinquennial  Games,  he  had  taken  care  to 
give  orders  that  this  kind  of  entertainment  should  last 
day  and  night.  ^  Nero's  nocturnal  festival  in  64  still 
sheds  its  baleful  light  adown  the  pages  of  history. 

On  this  occasion  the  Christians  were  clothed  in  the 
horrible  "•  tunic  of  the  incendiaries,"  ^  made  of  a  tissue 
soaked  in  pitch,  resin,  and  sulphur ;  thereafter,  bound  or 
impaled  upon  huge  stakes,  they  made  a  line  of  living 
torches  along  the  road.  At  nightfall,  when  the  Imperial 
Gardens  were  opened  to  the  populace,  these  human  flam- 
beaux were  lighted,  and  beneath  the  flickering  flames 
races  were  run.  In  these  the  Emperor  himself  took  part, 
dressed  in  a  driver's  habit,  at  times  directing  his  own 
chariot,  then  again  stepping  out  and  mingling  with  the 
crowd.  But  he  had  gone  too  far  ;  this  was  too  much ; 
amid  the  popular  acclamations  there  arose  a  murmur  of 
horror  and  pity  distinctly  audible  to  him.  Even  those 
who  were  most  convinced  of  the  guilt  of  his  victims  were 
indignant  at  the  thought  that  it  "  was  not  at  all  for  the 
general  good,  but  merely  to  satiate  the  cruelty  of  a  single 
person  that  they  were  thus  immolated."  * 

Nero  made  his  exit  from  this  scene  of  bloodshed  a  dis- 
appointed man,  still  feeling  that  terrible  burden  of  repro- 
bation weighing  upon  him  which  for  the  last  month  he 
had  felt  dragging  him  down,  and  which  he  had  vainly 
striven  to  shake  off.  The  real  triumph  still  belonged  to 
the  brethren  of  these  martyrs,  to  that  multitude  of  be- 
lievers which  his  guardsmen  had  been  unable  to  appre- 
hend. They  had  been  there,  though,  all  through  that 
cruel  night,  sustaining  the  witnesses  of  their  faith  by 
their  presence.  Beholding  these  holy  ones  fastened  to 
the  spikes  which  pierced  their  entrails,  burning  and  roast- 

1  Marquardt,  Romische  Staatsverwaltung :  Die  Spiele,  i.  p.  474  ;  Fried- 
laender,  Mceurs  romaines,  book  vii.  chap.  i. 

2  Tacitus,  Annul,  xiv.  19,  20,  21 ;  xvi.  5. 

3  The  tunica  molesta,  Juvenal,  Sat.,  i.  155-157;  viii.  233-335;  Mar- 
tial, Epigr.,  x.  xxv.  5. 

*  Tacitus,  Annal.y  xv.  44. 


THE  MASSACRE   OF  THE   CHRISTIANS.  129 

ing  in  unspeakable  torments,^  they  learned  the  lesson  of  a 
noble  pride  in  that  Christ  Who  had  given  to  weak  creat- 
ures such  superhuman  courage  and  holy  serenity  amid 
fearful  tortures  ;  more  earnestly  than  ever  before  they 
renewed  their  vows  to  this  Divine  Master,  to  live  and  die 
for  Him.2 

These,  then,  were  the  first  fruits  and  glories  of  the  Eo- 
man  Church,  trophies  of  wide-reaching  importance  for  the 
future ;  since  it  was  the  means  of  ensuring  her  perma- 
nence in  that  locality  whence  by  God's  will  she  was  there- 
after to  rule  the  souls  of  men.  This  domain  of  the 
Vatican  which  had  drunk  of  Christian  blood  was  to  re- 
main ever  sacred  in  the  eyes  of  Her  subjects,  was  to 
become,  as  it  were,  the  heart  of  Eome,  and  to  be  regarded 
as  holy  ground.  Nor  will  it  be  long  ere  we  shall  see 
them  bearing  thither  the  body  of  the  Head  of  the  Church, 
thus  transforming  Nero's  Gardens  into  the  very  See  of 
Peter,  than  which  no  place  in  the  world  is  more  vene- 
rated, save  only  the  Holy  Sepulchre  of  our  Divine  Lord. 

1  Pone  Tigellinum,  tseda  lucebis  in  ilia 
Qua  stantes  ardent,  qui  fixo  gutture  fumant 
Et  latum  media  sulcum  diducis  arena. 

Juvenal,  Sat,  i.  155-157. 
The  satirist,  according  to  all  appearances,  has  in  mind  this  nocturnal 
festival  of  64,  and  attributes  to  Tigellinus  the  horrible  invention  of  these 
living  torches. 

2  "In  two  of  his  letters  to  Lucilius  it  would  seem  that  Seneca,  in  his 
retirement  from  the  world  and  while  in  the  sumptuous  solitude  of  his 
beautiful  villas,  expiating  the  weaknesses  of  his  life,  makes  some  allusion 
to  the  awful  spectacle  prepared  by  Nero  for  the  delectation  of  the  Roman 
people  :  '  The  executioner's  sword,  the  burning  flame,  the  clank  of  chains, 
the  hosts  of  ferocious  beasts  glutting  themselves  on  human  entrails,  im- 
prisonment and  the  cross,  the  rack  and  the  hook,  the  stake  thrust  into  the 
victim's  trunk  and  protruding  through  his  head,  dismembered  limbs,  and 
the  tunic  coated  and  interwoven  with  inflammable  material  (Ep.  xiv.)  .  .  . 
Amid  such  suff"erings  some  uttered  not  a  groan,  — that  is  not  so  much  ;  nor 
cried  quarter,  —  that  is  not  so  much  ;  nor  answered  one  word,  —  that  is  not 
so  much  ;  but  rather  smiled,  and  smiled  out  of  a  full  heart'  (Ep.  78).  The 
ineff"able  smile  of  the  humble  Christian  expiring  for  his  God  in  the  Vatican 
Gardens,  pursued  and  thrilled  the  imagination  of  Nero's  former  tutor  like 
a  vision  at  once  sweet  and  poignant.  In  common  with  all  Romans  of  his 
day,  Seneca  had  often  seen  men  die  ;  he  had  never  seen  them  die  like  this." 
Paul  Allard,  Histoire  des  persecutions  pendant  les  deux  premiers  siecles, 
pp.  54-55. 


CHAPTEE  VII. 

FIKST  GENERAL  PERSECUTION. 

I.   The  Edict  of  Persecution. 

Every  battlefield  presents  but  a  wrecked  and  often 
deserted  aspect  on  the  morrow  after  the  strife.  This  one, 
whereon  the  Church  of  Eome  had  just  given  such  a  mag- 
nificent demonstration  of  its  heroism,  outwardly  appeared 
given  over  to  desolation  in  the  period  following  the  mas- 
sacres of  the  Vatican  heroes.  The  prisons,  crowded  to 
suffocation  as  they  were,  had  no  room  for  the  multitude 
of  Christians  arrested  in  the  capital  of  the  empire.  Those 
whom  the  magistrates  had  not  committed  during  the 
period  of  judicial  investigation,  found  no  difficulty  in 
concealing  themselves  in  the  great  city,  for  the  masses 
were  in  a  state  of  wilder  confusion  than  ever  before ; 
hunted  out  of  the  quarters  of  the  lower  classes,  where 
the  wreckers  were  tearing  down  the  ruins,  the  poor  folk 
had  to  seek  shelter  as  best  they  could.  Many  of  the 
believers,  however,  considered  it  their  safest  plan  to  leave 
Eome  and  to  scatter  themselves  throughout  Italy.  It  is 
these  Christians,  thus  dispersed  abroad,  that  St.  Paul 
in  his  letter  addresses  under  the  name  of  Hebrews,  an 
Epistle  which  we  will  shortly  have  to   consider.^ 

At  the  beginning  of  this  period  the  poor  fugitives  found 
some  semblance  of  security  in  the  scattered  towns  where 
they  had  sought  refuge.  At  first  they  were  viewed  with 
indifference  on  the  part  of  the  inhabitants,  were  toler- 
ated by  the  local  officials  to  whom  they  were  unknown, 
and  consequently  enjoyed  the  unwonted  privilege  of 
leading  their  life  of  prayer,  withdrawal  from  the  world, 

1  Ilebr.  xiii.  24. 


THE  EDICT  OF  PERSECUTION.  131 

pure  and  fraternal  union  unhindered.  But  the  influence 
and  example  of  Eome  little  by  little  drew  public  atten- 
tion upon  them  and  soon  put  obstacles  more  or  less  seri- 
ous in  the  path  of  the  adorers  of  Christ,  sometimes  simply 
insults,^  elsewhere  acts  of  bloodshed  and  violence. 

What  was  the  fate,  during  these  days  of  ill-omen  to  all 
Christians,  of  the  poor  prisoners  who  had  not  been  deliv- 
ered over  to  the  torturers  during  those  August  feast- 
days  ?  No  written  history  of  their  sufferings  has  come 
down  to  us  ;  nevertheless,  there  is  every  reason  to  believe 
that  the  murmurings  of  the  people,  which  had  made  them- 
selves audible  on  that  occasion,  had  likewise  put  a  stop  to 
the  massacre.^  Their  persecutor,  too,  had  found  much 
more  advantageous  use  for  the  lives  which  he  had  been 
forced  to  spare.  In  his  haste  to  see  his  plan  of  rebuild- 
ing Eome  completed,  he  was  impatiently  pushing  on  the 
work  by  employing  thousands  of  laborers  in  his  quarries, 
the  sooner  to  extract  the  materials  wherewith  he  meant 
to  reconstruct  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  city.'^     The 

1  In  all  probability  we  are  justified  in  supposing  that  certain  inscrip- 
tions found  in  a  Pompeian  mansion  are  to  be  traced  back  to  insults  such 
as  these.  The  name  "Christians"  charred  along  the  walls  of  this  dwell- 
ing has  given  rise  to  the  belief  that  it  served  as  a  meeting-place  for  the 
faithful ;  and  by  an  ingenious  restoration  vSignor  de  Rossi  extracts  from 
the  letters  which  precede  and  encircle  this  name  an  insolent  jest  aimed  at 
the  Faithful.  "  Audi  Christian os,  ssevos  olores."  "Hark  to  the  Chris- 
tians, the  cruel  swans."  (De  Rossi,  Bidlettino  dl  archeologia  Christiana 
(1864),  p.  69  ;  Corpus  Inscript.  Latin.,  vol.  iv.  pi.  xvi.  n.  3.)  This,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  celebrated  archaeologist,  is  an  allusion  to  the  last  words, 
the  Swan's  Song,  of  certain  Christian  Martyrs,  and  to  the  Divine  retribu- 
tion wherewith  they  threatened  their  torturers.  The  hypothesis  is  cer- 
tainly not  devoid  of  probability  ;  and  with  equal  likelihood  we  may 
regard  the  sentences  encircling  it  as  another  bit  of  raillery  flung  at  Chris- 
tian teachings  :  "  Here  a  mule  gives  lessons  to  flies."  "Falsehood  sends 
greeting  to  Truth."  Mulus  hic  Muscellas  Docuit.  Mendax  Veraci 
Salutem.  (De  Rossi,  Bidlettino,  1864,  p.  71.)  The  inscription  written  on 
the  outer  wall  seems  also  to  have  been  couched  in  the  same  spirit : 
**  No  room  for  loafers  here;  move  on,  ye  loungers."  Otiosis  Hic  Locus 
NoN  Est,  Discede  MoPwATOR.  (Corpus  Inscript.  Latin.,  t.  iv.,  p.  813.) 
There  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  the  Pompeians  did  not  stop  at  this, 
but  that  acts  of  violence  followed  hard  upon  the  heels  of  insult ;  for  the 
Jews,  here  as  everywhere  the  Christians'  most  formidable  foe,  had  their 
synagogue  close  by.     De  Rossi,  Bullettino,  1864,  p.  70. 

3  Tacitus,  Annal.,  xv.  44.       ^  Ibid.,  xv.  45  ;  Suetonius,  Nero,  31,  38. 


132       LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

number  of  free  or  servile  workmen  huddled  together  in 
Kome  could  not  meet  his  demands,  and  accordingly  or- 
ders were  sent  to  the  provinces  to  despatch  thither  all 
their  convicts.^  But  here,  near  at  hand  and  in  his  very 
grasp,  the  tyrant  had  his  Christian  prisoners ;  and  well 
did  he  make  use  of  them.  As  far  as  they  were  con- 
cerned, he  might  rest  assured  there  would  be  no  lack  of 
new  recruits  ;  for,  though  the  persecution  was  no  longer 
a  wholesale  massacre,  as  was  that  of  the  Vatican, 
Christian-bating  was  still  the  order  of  the  day,  and  had 
been  extended  beyond  the  walls  of  the  capital  and  the 
boundaries  of  Italy  itself,  thus  furnishing  to  the  master- 
workmen  who  were  thronging  toward  Eome  with  their 
tools,  victims  prepared  to  suffer  all  things  with  resig- 
nation. 

What  were  the  laws  by  which  these  iniquitous  pro- 
ceedings were  maintained  ?  We  have  at  hand  several 
scraps  of  testimony  which  enable  us  to  conjecture  the 
answer  to  the  question,  and  indicate  the  view-point  of 
Eoman  jurisprudence  in  the  premises.  At  the  outset 
of  the  persecution,  as  Tacitus  has  already  told  us.  Chris- 
tians "  were  convicted  not  so  much  of  the  crime  of  incen- 
diarism as  of  hating  all  human  kind."  ^  It  was,  therefore, 
under  the  last-named  charge  that  the  magistrates  con- 
demned them,  and  that  Nero  subjected  them  to  such  a 
horrible  punishment  in  the  Vatican  Garden.  Our  his- 
torian, who  regards  their  faith  as  an  "  execrable  supersti- 
tion," ^  makes  hardly  any  distinction  between  them  and 
the  sects  which  were  then  thronging  Eomeward,  and  were 
propagating  "  the  most  atrocious  and  shameful  teachings 

1  ' '  Quorum  operum  perficiendorum  gratia,  quod  ubique  esset  custodise 
in  Italian!  deportari,  etiam  scelere  convictos  non  nisi  ad  opus  damnari, 
prseceperat."     Suetonius,  Nei^o,  31. 

2  "  Hand  perinde  in  crimine  incendii  quam  odio  humani  generis  con- 
victi  sunt."  Tacitus,  Annul.,  xv.  44.  "Perhaps  they  may  have  allowed 
the  charge  of  incendiarism  to  stand  so  far  as  the  first  arrests  were  con- 
cerned ;  but  as  to  the  multitude  of  accused  that  came  after  them,  it  was 
not  as  incendiaries  but  as  'enemies  of  the  human  race/ that  they  were 
condemned  to  various  forms  of  punishment."  Allard,  Le  Chr'istianisme 
et  UEmpire  roma'in,  p.  15. 

3  "Exitiabilis  superstitio."    Ibid. 


THE  EDICT  OF  PERSECUTION.  133 

of  foreign  lands."  ^  Suetonius  also  uses  much  the  same 
language,  and  charges  the  Christians  with  spreading  "  a 
new  and  mischievous  superstition."  ^ 

These,  then,  are  the  only  direct  accusations  against 
them,  known  to  us,  in  the  period  we  have  in  hand.  Cal- 
umnies they  were,  of  course,  and  vaguely  worded,  it  is 
true;  nevertheless  sufficiently  damaging  when  we  con- 
sider their  bearing.  What,  indeed,  was  meant  by  that 
"  hatred  of  all  mankind,"  if  it  was  not  the  secluded  life 
and  systematic  withdrawal  from  the  world  which  Chris- 
tianity seemed  to  teach  the  faithful  ?  Yet  there  was  no 
other  way  of  escaping  the  idolatry  and  immorality  of 
their  enviroment,  save  to  shun  all  religious  festivals,  pub- 
lic games,  and  sometimes  even  family  intercourse.  Thus 
it  came  about  that  they  were  regarded  as  a  very  exclusive 
set,  forbidding  in  appearance,  and  generally  supposed  to 
be  a  party  of  malcontents,  simply  because  their  members 
kept  away  from  public  functions,  did  not  enter  the  militia, 
refused  to  take  the  oath  when  making  contracts,  would 
not  illuminate  their  dwellings  during  Pagan  solemnities,^ 
and,  finally,  deemed  themselves  but  strangers  and  pilgrims 
on  this  earth.*  Then,  when  the  time  came,  when  in  Eome 
they  had  become  that  "  multitude  "  ^  whereof  Tacitus 
speaks,  then  not  merely  the  common  folk,  but  great  states- 
men as  well,  realized  that  an  unconquerable  power  was 
growing  up  in  their  very  midst,  one  calculated  to  disturb, 

1  "Erumpebat  .  .  .  per  urbem  .  .  .  quo  cuncta  undique  atrocia  aut 
pudenda  confluunt."     Ibid. 

2  "  Afflicti  suppliciis  christiani,  genus  hominum  superstitionis  novse  et 
maleficse."     Suetonius,  Nero,  16. 

"  These  words  imply  permanent  and  systematic  repression,  urging  as  its 
provocation  'the  novelty'  and  the  mischievous  quality  of  the  Christian 
'superstition.'  The  context  must  be  studied  if  we  would  grasp  its  full 
meaning,  for  the  phrase  which  we  have  just  quoted  is  but  one  extract  from 
a  lengthy  enumeration  of  measures  meant  to  be  permanent,  judicial  rul- 
ings, laws,  and  edicts,  all  having  for  their  object  the  repression  of  abuses 
and  the  firmer  establishment  of  public  order."  Allard,  Le  Christianisme  et 
V Empire  romain,  p.  17. 

3  Tertullian,  De  Idol.,  17  ;  De  Cor.,  mil,  i.  15. 

*  1  Peter  ii.  11  ;  Hebr.  xi.  13  ;  Tertullian,  Apol.  i,  41  ;  Epitre  a  Diog- 
nete,  v.  5. 

5  Tacitus,  Annal.  xv.  44. 


134  LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

if  not  to  destroy,  the  social  fabric  so  intimately  bound  up, 
in  Eome  at  least,  with  the  traditional  worship. 

It  is  true  that  the  Jews  also  avoided  Pagan  temples, 
and  we  have  seen  before  this  that  they  were  often  con- 
founded with  the  disciples  of  Christ ;  but  at  least  they 
had  their  synagogues,  which  were  official  sanctuaries,  re- 
cognized by  law  and  under  the  surveillance  of  the  muni- 
cipal police.  The  Christians  gave  them  no  such  hold  over 
them ;  their  gatherings  being  held  in  private  houses,  if 
possible  at  night-time,  and  in  all  secrecy.  Now  all  this 
mystery  was  the  more  calculated  to  awaken  mistrust 
from  the  fact  that  the  secret  meetings  of  the  Oriental 
Eites  were  always  used  as  a  cloak  to  cover  the  deepest 
depravity.^  Suspicions  spread  rapidly  enough,  like  those 
calumnious  fables  which  found  ready  credence  in  the 
succeeding  centuries,^  charging  the  faithful  with  the 
crimes  of  which  the  populace  usually  accuses  magicians 
and  sorcerers,  —  of  child-murder,  abominable  banquets, 
and  incestuous  orgies.^  When  Tacitus  speaks  of  the 
crimes  which  rendered  the  new  faith  odious,*  he  is  only 

1  This  recalls  the  Bacchanals  (Titus  Livy,  xxxix.  16),  and  the  unhappy 
influence  upon  the  city  of  their  mysterious  orgies.  In  the  opinion  of  Ko- 
man  statesmen  all  foreign  religions,  illicit  colleges,  midnight  gatherings, 
and  infamies  of  every  description  followed  one  another  in  fatal  succession, 
like  a  steep  descent  whereon  once  you  set  your  foot,  you  are  doomed  to  be 
precipitated  to  the  bottom  ;  consequently  they  deemed  no  measures  too 
severe,  if  they  would  avert  such  perils. 

2  "  Three  accusations  are  brought  against  us,"  says  Athenagoras 
(Legat.,  3),  "  Atheism,  the  banquet  of  Thyestes,  and  the  incest  of 
tEdipus  ;  the  two  last-named  calumnies  were  especially  adapted  to  incite 
popular  hatred,  '  the  murder  of  children  to  be  devoured  at  their  midnight 
feasts,  and  such  like  instances  of  monstrous  debauchery.'  This  is  the  real 
meaning  of  the  infamous  slanders  attached  to  the  name  of  Christian  : 
'flagitia  cohserentia  nomini.'"     Pliny,  EpistoL,  x.  97. 

'^  Cicero,  In  Vatin.,  vi.  14;  Horace,  Epod.,v.;  Juvenal,  vi.  522; 
Arnold  (Die  NeroniscJie  Christenverfolgunfj,  pp.  65-66)  alludes  to  the 
curious  fact  that  magicians  are  called  " enemies  of  humankind"  in  the 
Justinian  Code  (ix.  tit.  18),  and  the  penalties  inflicted  upon  the  Christians 
by  Nero  are  the  same  to  which  the  laws  condemned  such  as  were  found 
guilty  of  sorcery.  "  Qui  sacra  impia  nocturnave  ut  quem  obtruncarent, 
defigerent,  obligarent,  fecerint,  faciendave  curaverint,  aut  crucibus  suffi- 
guntur  aut  bestiis  objiciuntur  .  .  .  Magiese  artis  conscios  summo  sup- 
plicio  adfici  placuit,  id  est  bestiis  objici  aut  crucibus  suffigi :  ipsi  autem 
magi  vivi  exuruntiir."     Paulus,  Sent.,  v. 

*  Tacitus,  AnnaL,  xv.  44. 


THE  EDICT  OF  PERSECUTION.  135 

the  echo  of  certain  rumors  which  after  the  year  64  were 
current  among  the  people,  until  their  mutterings  became 
a  growl  of  hatred. 

Accordingly  Nero  found  that  public  opinion  was  on  his 
side  in  his  treatment  of  the  Christians ;  that  he  could 
even  attain  his  end  and  arrest  them  without  referring  to 
the  ordinary  judges.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  was  the  duty 
of  the  City  Prefect,  in  all  urgent  cases,  to  punish  any 
class  of  men  coming  under  the  head  of  dangerous  ill- 
doers.  And  in  all  likelihood  it  was  to  this  personage 
that  the  Emperor,  in  the  month  of  August,  64,  intrusted 
the  task  of  hunting  down  the  Christians.  The  method 
of  procedure  used  against  prisoners  brought  before  this 
delegate  of  the  Emperor  was  much  more  expeditious  than 
that  of  the  other  courts ;  the  inquest,  examination,  and 
sentencing  of  the  accused  parties  were  all  got  through 
with  after  the  most  summary  fashion.^  Nero  now  felt 
himself  at  once  surer  of  his  victims  and  freer  to  divert 
to  them,  through  the  dread  inspired  by  their  sufferings, 
those  suspicious  looks  which  were  still  fastened  upon 
him. 

Such  was  the  first  act  in  the  persecution,  —  an  admin- 
istrative repression  of  crimes,  falsely  imputed  to  innocent 
men,  despotism  and  violence  given  full  sway.  Did  this 
state  of  things  continue  in  the  period  that  follows  ;  did 
they  still  persist  in  condemning  all  Christians,  as  a  police 
ordinance  necessary  for  the  maintenance  of  good  order, 

1  This  exceptional  course  of  procedure  is  designated  in  the  Eoman  Law 
as  "  cognitio ;  "  it  constituted  a  special  process  by  which  the  magistrate 
gave  decision  concerning  the  matter  submitted  to  him,  without  referring 
it  to  the  ordinary  judges.  The  Emperors,  by  arrogating  the  right  oi  cog- 
nitio as  their  own,  set  themselves  up  at  will  as  judges  both  in  civil  and 
criminal  affairs,  and  pronounced  sentence  either  directly  or  through  their 
delegates,  but  without  attempting  to  obtain  the  verdict  either  of  a  jury  or 
of  the  Senate.  (Mommsen,  Romisches  Staatsrecht,  vpl.  ii.  p,  925.)  The 
Prsefectus  Urbi  was  the  personage  to  whom  the  Emperor  delegated  this 
right  in  Rome.  (Ibid.,  p.  929.)  In  the  provinces  the  Governors  made 
use  of  the  same  process,  st3ded  cognitio.  (Ibid.,  p.  982.)  The  reader  will 
find  this  historical  point  in  Roman  Law  treated  at  length  by  Mommsen. 
Der  Religions/revel  nach  Romisch  Recht,  Historische  Zeitschrift  (1890)  ; 
Ramsay,  The  Church  in  the  Roman  Empire,  chaps,  ix.,  x.,  xi.  ;  Hardy, 
Christianity  and  the  Roman  Government,  sects,  iv.,  vi.,  vii. 


136  LAST   YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

without  going  to  the  trouble  of  passing  any  special  laws 
for  their  suppression  ?  The  provincial  governors  had  the 
same  prerogatives  and  powers  as  the  City  Prefect  of  the 
Capital.  Taking  the  hint  from  Eome,  did  they  too  pro- 
ceed as  was  their  wont  under  exceptional  circumstances, 
applying  to  the  profession  of  Christianity  those  punish- 
ments which  usually  were  the  penalties  for  the  crime  of 
sacrilege  or  lese-majest^  ?  This  theory  has  been  adopted 
by  very  many  historians  of  our  times. ^  It  appears  at  first 
glance  to  simplify  the  whole  matter,  as  well  as  to  explain 
the  diverse  aspects  of  its  prosecution  throughout  the  Em- 
pire, sometimes  undertaken  only  to  be  abandoned  and  then 
renewed  again,  always  pushed  forward  more  or  less  ac- 
tively according  to  the  good  pleasure  of  individual  magis- 
trates or  the  fickle  demands  of  the  mob. 

Nevertheless,  there  are  some  very  serious  objections  to 
be  brought  against  this  theory .^  First  and  foremost  this, 
that  our  most  ancient  ecclesiastical  authors  held  just  the 
contrary  opinion.  Not  alone  the  historians  of  the  fourtli 
century,  but  the  Apologists  of  the  preceding  ages  as  well, 
give  us  to  understand  that  both  Nero  and  Domitian  issued 
edicts  for  a  general  persecution.  About  the  year  170 
Melito  of  Sardis  declares  that  these  two  Emperors  "  were 
the  only  ones  who  sought  to  wipe  our  Faith  out  of  exist- 
ence by  means  of  calumny."  ^  TertuUian,  thirty  years 
later,  is  still  more  explicit.  "  All  Nero's  acts  have  been 
abrogated,"  he  tells  us ;  "  one  only  Neronian  contrivance 
subsists,"  his  "  condemnation  "  ^  of  the  Christians.  Is  not 
this  plain  enough  testimony  to  the  existence  of  that  Edict 

1  Mommsen,  Historische  Zeitschrift,  vol.  Ixiv.  (1890)  pp.  339-424  ;  Ex- 
positor, July  (1893),  pp.  5-6  ;  Neumann,  Die  romische  Staat  und  die  allgc- 
meine  Kirche  bis  auf  Diocletian,  1890,  vol.  i.  ;  Ramsay,  The  Church  in  the 
Roman  Empire,  pp.  171-374. 

2  They  have  been  set  forth  by  M.  Guerin  with  such  convincingness  as 
to  make  Mommsen's  theory  quite  untenable ;  he  insists,  as  does  M.  Allard 
{Histoire  des  persecutions  pendant  les  deux  premiers  siecles,  pp.  58-65), 
upon  the  existence  of  proscriptive  edicts  in  the  time  both  of  Nero  and 
Domitian. 

8  Melito  in  Eusebius,  Historia  ecclesiastica,  iv.  26,  9. 
*  "  Sub  Nerone  damnatio  invaluit  .  .  .  permansit  erasis  omnibus  hoc 
solum  institutum  Neronianum."     TertuUian,  Ad  Nationes,  i.  7. 


THE  EDICT  OF  PERSECUTION.  137 

of  Persecution  so  often  alluded  to  in  the  writings  of 
Christian  antiquity  ? 

And  once  its  existence  is  admitted,  it  certainly  becomes 
easier  to  clear  up  certain  obscure  points  in  the  history  of  the 
first  persecutions.  Granting  this,  Pliny's  correspondence 
with  Trajan  in  the  matter  of  certain  Asiatics  denounced 
as  Christians,  presents  no  further  difficulties  ;  for  while 
it  is  well-nigh  impossible  to  conceive  why  an  Imperial 
Legate  should  need  advice  as  to  the  exercise  of  powers 
purely  despotic;  on  the  other  hand,  nothing  could  be 
more  natural  than  his  perplexity  when  confronted  with 
an  implacable  statute  attainting  an  enormous  throng  of 
individuals,  or  than  the  monarch's  reply,  wherein  he  goes 
out  of  his  way  to  urge  his  Legate  to  temper  the  severi- 
ties of  the  law.^  The  same  may  be  said  of  the  methods 
of  procedure  which  the  Acts  of  the  Martyrs  are  always 
referring  to  during  this  period ;  in  their  formal  and  terse 
style  they  all  take  for  granted  the  fact  that  there  was  an 
Imperial  Edict  which  transformed  the  mere  profession  of 
Christianity  into  a  capital  crime.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
we  never  find  the  judges  investigating  as  to  whether  the 
accused  have  committed  any  one  of  those  misdemean- 
ors which  come  under  the  head  of  "  Majestas "  or 
"  Sacrilegium." 

As  a  general  rule  the  examination  was  limited  to  this 
single  question,  "Are  you  a  Christian,  and  are  you  re- 
solved to  remain  one  ? "  A  simple  confession  of  faith, 
especially  any  firmness  in  professing  it,  entailed  inevi- 
tably the   conviction  of  the  accused.^     It  would   seem, 

1  The  letter  to  Trajan  flatly  contradicts  the  new  theories  which  connect 
the  persecutions  with  the  cultus  due  to  the  Emperor,  either  to  the  Sacri- 
legium or  to  the  Majestas.  Guerin,  Nouvelle  '  Revue  historique  de  droit 
(1895),  p.  636.  The  study  which  this  learned  jurist  has  devoted  to  this 
document  warrants  his  assertion  in  every  particular.  Compare  Ramsay, 
The  Church  in  the  Roman  Empire,  pp.  196-225  ;  Hardy,  Christianity  and 
the  Roman  Government,  pp.  102-139. 

2  "  The  avowal  made  thus  before  a  magistrate  was  styled  confessio,  and 
the  delinquent  who  had  recourse  to  it  was  known  as  a  confessus,  against 
whom  it  was  no  longer  necessary  to  bring  any  proof  of  the  facts  alleged. 
The  confessio  carried  with  it  certain  very  serious  consequences  to  the  pris- 
oner at  the  bar  ;  once  uttered,  there  was  no  more  defence  possible,  and  the 


138  LAST   YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

therefore,  that  Sulpicius  Severus  gives  the  correct  notion 
of  both  the  origin  and  further  progress  of  these  judicial 
proceedings.  After  having  narrated  the  horrors  com- 
mitted in  the  Vatican  Gardens,  he  goes  on  to  say,  "  This 
was  the  beginning  of  the  persecution  of  the  Christians; 
afterwards  laws  were  passed  interdicting  their  religion, 
and  by  virtue  of  certain  Edicts  which  were  published 
abroad  officially,  it  was  no  longer  lawful  to  be  a  Chris- 
tian." 1  In  all  probability  Nero  issued  the  first  of  these 
Edicts  in  the  period  immediately  following  the  August 
massacres,  while  Domitian  re-enacted  them  thirty  years 
later.2 

II.  The  First  Letter  of  St.  Peter. 

But  few  authentic  traces  of  Nero's  persecution  have 
been  unearthed  in  Eome.  Indeed  it  is  difficult  to  dis- 
cover on  what  authority  certain  traditions  are  based,  when 
referring  the  death  of  many  Martyrs  to  this  early  date.^ 
The  most  illustrious  of  these  Confessors  belonged  to 
Milan,  —  Saints  Gervaise  and  Protaise,  Nazarus  and  Cel- 
sus.  The  finding  and  translation  of  their  relics  in  the 
fourth  century  gave  to  the  names  of  these  Saints  a  wide 

assistance  of  an  advocate  became  superfluous.  The  penalty  inflicted  by 
the  law  must  be  at  once  pronounced,  and  Roman  lawyers  were  wont  to  say, 
in  their  terse  and  energetic  style,  that  the  accused  passed  sentence  on  him- 
self." (Guerin,  op.  cit.,  p.  722. )  "  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  Christians 
adopted  this  name  of  Confessi,  or  Confessors  of  the  Faith,  as  a  glorious 
title  indicating  that  they  had  affirmed  their  faith  in  the  face  of  a  magistrate. 
Had  they  been  prosecuted  for  sacrilege,  lese  majeste,  or  any  other  offence, 
they  certainly  would  never  have  done  this.  For  the  confessio  was  then 
applied  to  this  misdemeanor,  and  not  to  the  Christian  Faith."  Ibid., 
note  1. 

1  Sulpicius  Severus,  Chron.,  ii.  41. 

2  Imperial  edicts  remained  obligatory  only  during  the  life  of  the  Prince 
that  uttered  them  ;  but  they  were  often  confirmed,  sometimes  by  the  Sen- 
ate, sometimes  by  a  succeeding  Emperor.  Daremberg,  Dictionnaire  des  An- 
tiquities, Edictum,  p.  451. 

,«  St.  Paulinus  and  St.  Torpetus,  of  Pisa ;  St.  Ptomanus  of  Nepi ;  St. 
Ursisinus;  St.  Vitalis  ;  St.  Valeria  of  Ravenna  ;  St.  Hermagorus  and  St. 
Fortunatus,  of  Aquileia.  See  Tillemont,  Memoires  pour  servir  a  I'histoire 
ecdesiastique,  vol.  ii.  Persecution  de  l'Eglise  par  NEron,  and  notes 
iii.,  iv.,  v.,  vi. 


THE  FIRST  LETTER   OF  SAINT  PETER,         139 

renown,^  but  nowhere  in  contemporary  documents  con- 
cerning these  famous  solemnities  do  we  find  it  stated 
that  they  suffered  in  Nero's  day.  The  tradition  which 
assigns  them  to  this  date  appears  for  the  first  time  in  the 
sixth  century.  Was  there  any  foundation  for  the  asser- 
tion ?  We  at  least  know  of  none ;  for  in  the  preceding 
century  Paulinus,  when  writing  the  life  of  Saint  Ambrose, 
declares  that  he  had  been  unable  to  discover  at  what 
time  Saint  Nazarus  was  martyred.^ 

The  only  quarter  of  the  empire  where  we  come  upon 
any  unmistakable  marks  of  the  persecution  is  Asia 
Minor,  and  notably  the  Churches  of  that  country  to 
which  Saint  Peter  addresses  his  first  Epistle.  We  may 
assert  as  an  established  fact  that  the  Apostle  conceived 
this  letter  with  the  idea  of  helping  the  faithful  to  bear 
the  terrible  tests  they  were  put  to  after  the  massacres  at 
Eome.  Everything  about  it  would  indicate  this  design. 
When  writing  it  Peter  evidently  had  the  Epistle  to  the 
Ephesians  before  him ;  again  and  again  it  recurs  to  his 
mind  and  inspires  his  words.  Consequently  his  letter 
cannot  be  of  an  earlier  date  than  64.  On  the  other  hand, 
he  makes  the  most  manifest  allusions  to  a  persecution  of 
far  greater  proportions  than  the  seditions  which,  as  we 
have  seen,  pursued  Paul's  footsteps  in  Galatia,  or  in  Mace- 
donia, at  Corinth,  Ephesus,  and  Jerusalem. 

Of  these  uprisings  the  most  riotous  in  character  were 
at  worst  but  fleeting  and  purely  local.  Almost  always 
the  departure  of  the  Apostle  and  his  companions  sufficed 
to  quell  the  storm.  This  trial  which  Peter  describes  the 
Church  as  undergoing  has,  on  the  contrary,  every  appear- 
ance of  a  persecution  lowering  over  all  the  Asiatic  prov- 
inces, —  Pontus,  Galatia,  Cappadocia,  Proconsular  Asia, 
and  Bithynia.^  Indeed  this  is  to  state  it  too  mildly,  since 
the  text  adds  that  "  throughout  the  whole  world  ruled  by 
Eome,"  "  Christian  communities  are  made  the  sport  of  the 

1  Tillemont,  Memoires,  vol.  ii.  :  St.  Gervaise  et  St.  Protaise  ;  St. 
Nazaire  et  St.  Celse. 

2  Patroloaice  latince  (ed.  Migne),  vol.  xiv.  p.  .38. 
8  1  Peter"!.  1. 


140  LAST   YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

self-same  afflictions  ;  "  ^  "  everywhere  they  were  likely  to 
be  haled  before  the  courts,  there  to  make  answer  to  such 
as  demanded  of  them  the  reason  of  their  hopes."  ^  The 
advice  he  here  gives  all  believers  to  urge  their  defence 
"  respectfully,  with  sweetness  and  discretion,"  ^  is  another 
sign  that  the  Apostle  had  in  mind  those  magistrates  of 
the  Empire  whom  he  so  urgently  bids  them  honor  and 
obey  :  "  Be  ye  subject  to  the  King  who  is  over  all,  as  well 
as  to  the  governors  sent  by  him  for  the  punishment  of 
evil-doers,  and  for  the  praise  of  them  who  do  right."  *  In 
the  Apostle's  letters  written  previously  to  the  massacres 
at  Eome,  we  shall  look  in  vain  for  any  such  precise  ad- 
monitions as  to  the  conduct  to  be  observed  when  brought 
before  the  bar  of  justice.  From  these  facts,  therefore, 
we  are  justified  in  drawing  two  conclusions,  one  that  the 
Christians  were  being  hunted  down  through  the  length 
and  breadth  of  the  Empire,  the  other  that  Saint  Peter's 
letter  to  the  Christians  of  Asia  dates  from  the  time  of 
these  persecutions.^ 

Peter  notes  that  he  is  writing  from  Eome,  which  in  his 
letter  he  designates  by  the  symbolic  term  of  Babylon. 
Of  course  it  would  be  well-nigh  absurd  to  take  the  latter 
name  literally  and  understand  him  as  meaning  the  an- 
cient city  of  the  Euphrates.  What  likelihood  is  there 
that  the  Apostle  should  have  wandered  so  far  afield  to  a 
city  then  tenantless,^  and  but  lately  deserted  by  the  rem- 
nant of  Jews  who  had  clung  to  the  ruins  ?  ^  Indeed,  the 
Churches  of  Mesopotamia,  anxious  as  they  have  always 

1  1  Peter  v.  9.  3  Hjjd.,  Hi.  iq, 

2  Ibid.,  iii.  15.  *  Ibid.,  ii.  13-14. 

s  III  this  letter  St.  Peter  exhorts  the  faithful  not  to  be  ashamed  of  the 
name  of  Christians  for  which  they  suffer,  but  to  use  their  own  good  works 
to  confound  such  as  treat  them  as  evil-doers.  Similar  expressions  occur 
in  the  narratives  which  Roman  historians  have  left  us  of  this  persecution. 
"  Quresitissimis  psenis  affecit  eos,  quos  per  flagitia  invisos  vulgus  Chris- 
tianos  appellabat."  Tacitus,  Annal.,  xv.  44.  "  Afflicti  suppliciis  sunt 
Christiani,  genus  hominum  superstitionis  novse  et  maleficce."  Suetonius, 
Nero,  16,  These  are  certainly  curious  and  interesting  resemblances,  but  to 
me  at  least  they  do  not  warrant  our  deducing  from  them  any  precise  date 
for  the  Apostolic  letter. 

6  Strabo,  xvi.  i.  5;  Pliny,  Histor.  Nat.,  vi.  26. 

^  Josephus,  Antiq.  Jud.,  xviii.  ix.  8. 


THE  FIRST  LETTER   OF  SAINT  PETER.         141 

been  to  plume  themselves  upon  their  Apostolic  origin, 
have  never  claimed  Peter  among  their  founders.  With 
Papias,  Clement  of  Alexandria,  Eusebius,  Saint  Jerome,^ 
with  all  antiquity,  in  fact,  they  too  recognized  in  the 
Babylon  of  this  Epistle,  the  one  city  then  Queen  of  the 
World,  v^hose  wanton  wickedness  recalled  the  capital  of 
Assyria  so  often  anathematized  by  the  Prophets.  Chris- 
tians as  well  as  Jews  used  this  mystical  name  among 
themselves,  the  more  freely  to  stigmatize  that  pest-hole 
of  iniquity  wherein  they  were  forced  to  live :  "  the  Beast 
with  the  blasphemous  names,"  "  that  great  Babylon,  the 
mother  of  harlots  and  all  the  abominations  of  the  earth."  ^ 
Considering  the  circumstances  they  were  then  living  in, 
it  was  only  natural  that  Peter  should  indicate  his 
place  of  residence  under  veiled  terms.  Though  at  some 
distance  from  Rome  during  the  August  massacres,  he  had 
returned  thither  to  breathe  new  life  into  the  blood-stained 
remnant  of  his  Church,  yet  he  could  hope  to  escape  the 
vigilance  of  the  Roman  police  only  by  observing  the 
strictest  secrecy  as  to  his  whereabouts. 

Any  words  spoken  by  him  during  the  season  of  trial 
are  made  all  the  more  memorable  because  they  come  to 
us  like  a  voice  from  the  realm  of  the  unknown  and 
unchronicled,  in  which  we  have  been  forced  to  leave  the 
Head  of  the  Church  for  a  period  of  ten  years  now  past. 
The  part  taken  by  him  in  the  Assembly  at  Jerusalem  and 
his  discussion  with  Paul  at  Antioch  are  the  last  mentions 
made  of  him  in  our  Holy  Books;  some  facts,  it  is  true, 
we  have  sought  to  supply  by  the  aid  of  Roman  tradition, 
but  without  trying  to  deceive  ourselves  as  to  the  large 
measure  of  uncertainty  and  conjecture  in  these  docu- 
ments.^ Here  our  feet  are  again  on  solid  ground,  for  the 
authenticity  of  the  first  Epistle  of  Saint  Peter  is  not 
questioned  by  any  save  the  most  prejudiced  critics,  and 
we  have  just  seen  with  what  perfect  probability  this  let- 
ter fits  into  the  circumstances  of  the  first  persecution. 

1  Eusebius,  Hist.  Eccles.,  ii.  15  ;  St.  Jerome,  De  vir.  ill.,  iii.  8. 

2  Apoc.  xiv.  8. 

*  See  St.  Peter,  chap,  xviii.,  St.  Peter's  Ministry  in  Rome. 


142  LAST   YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

The  task  of  bearing  Peter's  message  to  the  Asiatics  was 
confided  to  Silvanus,  a  fellow-worker  of  Paul's  in  his 
second  missionary  journey.^  What  had  become  of  this 
disciple  since  the  day  we  saw  him  for  the  last  time  at 
Corinth  ?  ^  At  that  time  we  agreed  that  in  all  probability, 
after  having  followed  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  to  Jeru- 
salem, he  saw  fit  to  remain  there  when  the  latter  departed 
to  visit  Asia  Minor  for  a  third  time.^  But  Silvanus  had 
led  too  active  a  life,  and  was  too  imbued  with  Paul's  ideas 
as  to  the  free  scope  of  the  Faith,  to  dwell  for  long  con- 
tented in  any  communities  half  Jewish  in  character, 
narrow  in  notions,  and  close-barred  against  all  ideas  of  pro- 
gress. It  is  unthinkable  that  he  should  have  been  trans- 
formed so  suddenly  and  completely  in  ideas  and  plans  as 
to  see  nothing  beyond  the  walls  of  Jerusalem,  or  that  he 
should  have  shut  himself  up  among  them  for  half  a  score 
of  years  (from  55  to  64).  No,  his  zeal  for  the  Apostolate 
must  soon  have  led  him  back  into  Pagan  lands,  to  those 
Christian  congregations  which  he  had  evangelized  with 
Saint  Paul.  Perhaps  he  was  intrusted  by  the  latter  with 
the  mission  of  watching  over  these  communities,  acting 
as  a  guide  and  a  guardian  to  them.  Perhaps,  again,  Peter 
confided  to  him  the  same  functions  as  far  as  concerned 
the  Churches  of  Bithynia,  Pontus,  and  Cappadocia.  Be 
this  as  it  may,  we  know  from  the  Apostolic  Epistle  that 
Silvanus  was  just  then  in  the  company  of  Peter,  and  that 
he  was  charged  with  the  responsibility  of  carrying  his 
messages.*  From  this  it  seems  we  are  justified  in  infer- 
ring that  this  disciple  was  in  closer  relationship  than  any 
other  at  his  disposal  with  the  Christian  congregations  of 
Asia  ;  indeed  it  would  seem  reasonable  to  suppose  that  he 
had  come  thither  in  their  name  to  inform  the  heads  of  the 
Church  of  the  persecution  threatening  them,  and  to  seek 
from  their  leaders  means  to  enlighten  and  strengthen  their 
souls. 

1  Acts  XV.  40.    Silas  (ZiXas)  is  a  contraction  of  Silvanus  {ZiKovavSs). 

2  Ibid.,  xviii.  5. 

^  See  St.  Paul  and  His  Mission,  chap.  ix. 
*  1  Peter  v.  12. 


THE  FIRST  LETTER  OF  SAINT  PETER.         143 

But  Paul  had  departed  upon  his  journey  Spain  ward, 
and  was  no  longer  at  hand  to  speak  words  of  assurance  to 
his  faithful  converts.  Peter  alone  remained,  and  he  alone 
was  in  a  position  —  let  us  say  rather,  under  an  obligation  — 
to  exercise  his  supremacy  and  thus  prove  himself  a  father 
and  a  pastor  to  the  Christians  converted  by  Paul,  as  well 
as  to  his  own.  Here  for  the  first  time  we  see  him  making 
full  use  of  those  powers  which  the  Saviour  had  conferred 
on  him  when  establishing  him  as  Head  of  the  whole 
Church.  But  the  time  had  come  for  this  change ;  since 
the  rule  laid  down  by  the  Apostles  themselves  "  not  to 
build  upon  foundations  laid  by  another,"^  though  ex- 
pedient in  the  earlier  days,  was  not  so  necessary  now  that 
the  Christian  communities,  having  attained  both  form  and 
consistency,  had  each  an  individual  existence  of  its  own. 

Five  years  previous  to  this  Paul  had  declared  his  inde- 
pendence of  this  custom,  by  writing  his  Epistle  to  the 
Romans.  Since  then  he  had  not  hesitated,  during  his  two 
years  of  imprisonment,  to  evangelize  Rome,  despite  the 
fact  that  he  was  actually  within  the  domain  allotted  to 
Peter.  The  latter  acted  in  like  manner  so  far  as  con- 
cerned the  Churches  of  Asia,  and  this  all  the  more  freely 
because  he  felt  the  bonds  of  unity  between  him  and  the 
Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  drawing  them  ever  closer  and 
closer  together.  Peter  had  grown  to  love  this  generous 
heart,  whose  genius,  though  very  different  from  his  own, 
yet  overflowed  with  the  spirit  of  the  Master,  Who  was 
the  Life  of  both.  For  this  reason  the  Epistles  of  Paul, 
"  his  well-beloved  brother,"  ^  were  especially  dear  to  him  ; 
indeed  he  had  meditated  deeply  upon  them,  for  the  Apos- 
tle's words  seemed  to  him  sometimes  hard  to  comprehend.^ 
This,  however,  did  not  prevent  his  fondness  for  them  ; 
often  he  seeks  his  inspiration  from  them,  and  this  so 
plainly  that,  if  we  may  believe  certain  critics,  numerous 
passages  in  his  first  letter  are  actually  borrowed  from  the 
writings  of  Paul.  This  is,  however,  an  exaggerated  view, 
and  one  tending  to  rob  the  Apostolic  Epistle  in  a  way  no 

1  Rom.  XV.  20.  2  2  Peter  iii.  15.  3  Yb{A    m  kj. 


144  LAST   YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

interpreter  of  sound  sense  and  unprejudiced  mind  would  be 
willing  to  justify.  Undoubtedly  we  do  come  across  many 
striking  resemblances  in  its  style  to  that  of  Paul ;  here 
and  there  we  find  the  same  expressions,  the  same  turn  of 
a  sentence,  the  same  counsels  concerning  the  conduct  of 
life,  couched  in  similar  terms.^  From  this  general  con- 
formity it  follows,  evidently,  that  Peter  retains  in  his 
memory  the  very  words  of  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles, 
and  that  he  appropriates  them  when  the  occasion  calls 
for  it ;  indeed  it  is  more  than  likely  that  at  this  time  he 
had  the  Epistles  to  the  llomans  and  Ephesians  at  hand,^ 
for  between  these  two  documents  and  Peter's  letters  there 
are  some  curious  correspondences  to  be  noted  ;  and  yet  no 
matter  how  far  we  may  push  these  parallelisms,  this 
Work  of  the  chief  of  the  Apostles  is  none  the  less  his 
own  ;  even  the  very  phrases  borrowed  from  Saint  Paul 
take  on  an  individual  character  as  they  fall  from  his  pen ; 
he  coins  them  anew  and  stamps  them  with  his  own  image 
and  superscription.^ 

Furthermore,  not  only  in  its  expression  but  still  more 
in  its  conception,  the  whole  work  is  original  with  Peter ; 
Christianity,  while  appearing  to  him  in  the  same  light  as 
it  did  to  Paul,  is  set  forth  in  his  Epistles  from  a  different 
view-point.  For  him,  one  word  sums  up  the  Glad  Tid- 
ings, —  Grace,  "  the  true  grace  of  God."  ^     Later  on,  in  his 

1  The  student  will  find  a  long  list  of  these  similarities  in  Meyer  and  De 
Wette's  Commentaries,  and  in  Schenkel's  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  iv.  pp. 
496  et  seq. 

2  1  Peter  i.  3  ;  Ephes.  i.  3  :  1  Peter  i.  14  ;  Rom.  xii.  2  :  1  Peter  i.  21  ; 
Rom.  iv.  :  1  Peter  ii.  1,  2,  5  ;  Ephes.  ii.  3  ;  Coloss.  iii.  8  ;  Rom.  xii.  1  : 
1  Peter  ii.  13  ;  Rom.  xiii.  1-4  :  1  Peter  ii.  16  ;  Gal.  v.  13  :  1  Peter  ii. 
18  ;  Ephes.  vi.  5  :  1  Peter  ii.  24  ;  Rom.  vi.  18:1  Peter  iii.  1  ;  Ephes.  v. 
22  :  1  Peter  iii.  9  ;  Rom.  xii.  17  :  1  Peter  iv.  10,  11  ;  Rom.  xii.  6,  7  : 
1  Peter  v.  8  ;  1  Thess.  5,  6  :  1  Peter  v.  14  ;   1  Cor.  xvi.  20. 

'  Thus  St.  Paul's  phrase  "to  live  in  God,"  fcDi'ras  ry  dec^,  becomes  in 
St.  Peter  "to  live  unto  justice,"  rri  biKaLoavvrj  ^■{jcrwfj.ev  (Rom.  vi.  11; 
1  Peter  ii.  24)  ;  obedience  unto  the  Faith,  els  viraKorjv  TrtVrews,  obedience 
unto  the  Truth,  cv  rfi  vwaKorj  ttjs  aKrjdelas  (Rom.  i.  5  ;  1  Peter  i.  22)  ; 
"things  hidden  in  the  heart,"  to.  Kpvirra  r^s  Kapdlas,  "the  hidden  man 
of  the  heart,"  6  kpvtttos  ttjs  KapdLas  dudpuTros.  1  Cor.  xvi.  25;  1  Peter 
iii.  4. 

*  1  Peter  v.  12. 


THE  FIRST  LETTER   OF  SAINT  PETER.         145 

second  letter,  we  shall  hear  him  explain  what  he  under- 
stands this  to  mean,  —  "a  participation  in  the  Divine 
Nature."  ^  Thereafter  he  does  little  more  than  enlarge 
and  comment  upon  this  definition,  the  most  exact,  let  it 
be  noted,  as  well  as  the  most  complete,  which  it  would  be 
possible  to  give  of  this  supernatural  state. 

The  first  rays  of  Grace  are  revealed  to  his  mind's  eye 
as  he  gazes  upon  the  predestination  of  the  Christ  and  the 
calling  of  the  chosen  race ;  ^  but  it  is  only  in  the  resur- 
rection that  it  unveils  itself  in  all  its  splendor.  This 
glorious  Mystery  becomes  to  him  the  focus,  as  it  were, 
whence  stream  all  light  and  life :  the  regeneration  of  the 
soul,  baptism,  faith,  hope,  merit,  and  the  power  to  glorify 
God.^  In  other  words,  the  Christ  Whom  Peter  adores  and 
proclaims  to  mankind,  is  not  so  much  that  Jesus  of  Beth- 
lehem and  Nazareth  and  the  three  years  of  evangelical 
ministry,  but  rather  the  Christ  risen  from  the  tomb,  the 
Christ  of  glory  and  of  eternity.  Even  in  the  Passion  he 
sees  naught  but  the  resurrected  Divinity,  cares  only  to 
prove  Him  Conqueror  over  Death,  opening  the  gates  of 
Hell,  "  ascending  into  Heaven,  seated  at  the  right  hand 
of  God,  and  there  holding  sway  over  Angels,  Dominations, 
and  Powers."  *  His  eyes  fixed  on  this  crowning  consum- 
mation of  the  Life  of  Jesus,  Peter  is  all-absorbed  with 
visions  of  the  future  and  its  high  hopes ;  with  Eternity 
also,  which  to  his  thought  seems  so  nigh  unto  us  that, 
when  encouraging  his  faithful  followers  to  bear  up  under 
the  present  persecution,  he  reminds  them  time  and  again 
that  they  are  but  strangers  in  a  land  of  trial,  —  wayfarers, 
who,  if  they  but  push  forward  toward  their  native  land 
which  is  their  goal,  are  already  within  sight  of  Home.^ 

Such  views  concerning  Faith  constantly  intermingled 
with  practical  advice  concerning  the  Christian  virtues, 
make  Saint  Peter's  Epistle  less  a  didactic  work  than  a 
sort  of  homily,  a  sublime  and  touching  exhortation  to  the 
sufferers  and  martyrs.     Here  it  would  be  but  labor  lost 

1  2  Peter  i.  4.  ^  I  Peter  i.  10-12,  20. 

3  Ibid.,  i.  3,  21  ;  iii.  18-22;  iv.  13  ;  v.  1. 
*  Ibid.,  iii.  22.  ^  Ibid.,  ii.  11. 

10 


146  LAST  YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL, 

were  we  to  seek  to  distinguish,  as  in  the  letters  of  Saint 
Paul,  between  the  parts  devoted  to  doctrinal  discussion, 
and  others  following  consecrated  to  moral  precepts. 
Here  everything  tends,  unbrokenly  and  yet  unhampered, 
toward  the  one  object  in  view,  —  to  arouse  and  strengthen 
their  courage  in  the  presence  of  persecution.  Not  with- 
out a  purpose  have  I  insisted  so  at  length  upon  the 
originality  of  this  Inspired  Document,  since  it  has  been 
so  widely  contested  in  our  day ;  nevertheless,  I  repeat, 
it  would  seem  that  all  Peter  owed  to  the  Apostle  of 
the  Gentiles  is  the  exterior  form  of  his  letter ;  the  wide- 
sweeping  sentences,  loaded  with  epigrams  so  striking  and  so 
illuminating  that  too  often  the  reader's  mind  halts,  diverted 
from  the  principal  thought  which  the  Author  has  in 
view ;  the  greetings,  too,  which  begin  and  terminate  the 
letter  with  so  much  majesty ;  finally,  the  Doxologies,  which 
breathe  forth  the  grateful  adoration  of  the  writer. 

With  one  of  these  beautiful  hymns  of  praise  to  God  the 
letter  opens,  and  its  doctrine,  as  set  forth  above,  is  per- 
fectly embodied  in  it :  — 

"Blessed  be  God  and  the  Father  of  Our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  Who,  according  to  His  great  mercy,  hath  regener- 
ated us  unto  a  lively  hope,  by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus 
Christ  from  the  dead,  unto  an  incorruptible  heritage,  stain- 
less, unfading,  which  is  reserved  in  the  Heavens,  for  you 
whom  the  power  of  God  guardeth  by  Faith,  that  you  may 
partake  of  the  joys  of  salvation.  .  .   ."  ^ 

At  the  thought  of  the  merciful  designs  of  the  eternal 
Father,  and  of  Jesus,  drawing  nigh  unto  men's  souls  to 
breathe  therein  His  life,  Peter's  first  impulse  is  to  break 
forth  in  a  transport  of  joy  and  gratitude  toward  the 
Divine  Saviour. 

"You  love  Him,"  he  says  to  his  faithful  followers,  "al- 
though you  have  not  seen  Him  ;  you  believe  in  Him,  though 
as  yet  you  see  Him  not ;  and  therefore  you  shall  be  filled 
with  joy  unspeakable,  glorified,  and  win  salvation  for  your 
souls,  which  is  the  end  and  recompense  of  your  Faith."  ^ 

1  1  Peter  i.  3-5.  2  jbid.,  i.  8,  9. 


THE  FIRST  LETTER   OF  SAINT  PETER.         147 

This  Salvation  which  the  Prophets  have  hastened  by 
their  instant  supphcations,^  and  which  even  the  Angels 
envy  us,  is  a  boon  so  priceless  that  it  may  well  concen- 
trate all  our  hopes,  keep  us  ever  on  the  alert,  and  incite 
us  to  become  holy,  even  as  is  the  God  Who  calls  us 
thereto.  Peter  reduces  the  rule  of  sanctity  to  two  prin- 
cipal duties :  to  keep  our  souls  pure  by  a  loving  obedi- 
ence to  the  Lord  ;  to  love  our  brethren  without  feigning, 
or  rather,  with  an  ardent  charity  which  springs  from  the 
depths  of  the  heart.'*^  A  little  later  the  Apostle  will  con- 
sider in  detail  those  virtues  which  go  to  make  up  Chris- 
tian perfection  as  a  whole,  but  for  the  present  he  is 
content  to  remind  his  readers  of  the  immovable  founda- 
tion whereon  they  must  needs  build. 

"  Being  born  again,  not  of  corruptible  substance,  but 
of  an  incorruptible,  by  the  Word  of  God  which  liveth 
and  abide th  forever,"  ^  theirs  is  a  firm  basis,  their  corner- 
stone is  ever  living,  and  once  come  in  touch  with  Him, 
"  they  too  become  living  stones  built  into  the  structure 
of  the  Edifice."*  Thus  the  Church  is  formed,  "  a  Spiritual 
House,  a  holy  Priesthood,  to  offer  unto  God  spiritual  sacri- 
fice, acceptable  unto  Him  through  Jesus  Christ."  ^  All, 
thus  united  to  the  Saviour,  partake  in  some  measure  in 
the  very  Being  of  Him  Who  is  their  Divine  Head :  to  all 
Peter  addresses  these  words  :  — 

"  You  are  a  chosen  race,  a  royal  Priesthood,  a  holy  na- 
tion, a  people  whom  God  hath  set  apart  unto  Himself,  that 
you  may  declare  the  might  ^  of  Hiin  Who  hath  called  you 
out  of  darkness  into  His  marvellous  light." ' 

Let  them  but  keep  their  gaze  fixed  upon  this  heavenly 
vision,  their  Eternal  Home,  and  they  have  naught  to  do 
here  below,  save  to  press  onward  as  "  strangers  and  travel- 
lers, stripping  themselves  of  all  carnal  desires  which  war 

1  1  Peter  i.  10-12.  4  Ibid.,  ii.  4,  5. 

2  Ibid.,  i.  22.  5  Ibid.,  ii.  5. 

3  Ibid.,  i.  23. 

^  Tots  dperas :  literally,  "the  virtues,"  —  that  is  to  say,  the  all-powerful 
and  merciful  action  of  God. 
'  1  Peter  ii.  9. 


148  LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

against  the  soul,^  ever  on  their  guard,  more  vigilantly  now 
than  of  yore,  since  they  are  journeying  through  a  world 
grown  doubly  hostile  and  malevolent  in  its  persecutions. 
"Wherefore  conduct  yourselves  honestly  among  the 
Gentiles,"  pursues  the  Apostle  ;  "  they  accuse  you  of  being 
*  a  mischievous  set ; '  ^  see  to  it  that  on  the  day  which 
they  shall  set  for  your  examination  ^  they  shall  be  con- 
strained to  glorify  God,  beholding  your  good  deeds." 
Whereupon  he  proceeds  to  discuss  at  length  the  fruits  of 
a  Christian  life :  submissiveness  to  all  established  author- 
ity, to  the  Emperor  first  as  their  over-lord,  and  to  the 
governors  appointed  by  him.  Nevertheless,  it  must  be 
the  obedience  of  free  men,  who,  liberated  by  Christ,  are 
no  longer  slaves  of  aught  save  duty,  righteousness,  and 
God  ;  wherefore,  "  honor  all  men,  love  the  brotherhood, 
fear  God,  respect  the  King."  ^  No  class  nor  condition  of 
life  is  omitted :  "  Slaves  be  subject  to  your  masters  with 
all  deference,  not  only  to  such  as  are  good  and  kind,  but 
also  to  the  harsh  and  frov/ard."  And  if  it  be  that  when 
doing  good  you  suffer  unjustly,  remember  that  it  is  to 
this  you  are  called,  "because  the  Christ  by  suffering 
for  you,  has  left  you  an  example,  that  you  might  follow 
in  His  footsteps.  .  .  .  Who  when  he  was  reviled,  reviled 
not,  .  .  .  but  delivered  Himself  to  Him  who  judgeth 
justly."  ^ 

"  And  you,  women,  be  subject  to  your  husbands  ;  win  them 
back  to  the  Faith  if  they  have  wandered  from  it,  without 
wearying  them  with  many  words,  but  simply  by  the  purity 
of  your  conduct.  Adorn  yourselves,  not  outwardly  by  curl- 
ing of  the  locks,  trinkets  of  gold,  or  the  fineness  of  your 

1  1  Peter  ii.  11. 

2  Ka/fOTTOicD;/.  As  we  have  seen  above,  Suetonius  expresses  himself  in 
similar  terms  :  "  Superstitionis  novae  et  malejicce."     Nero,  16. 

2  Eu  i)/jL^pq.  iTTLa-KOTrrjs,  in  die  visitationis.  "Diem  visitationis  CEcu- 
menius,  Aria  Montano  sufFragante,  exponit  inquisitionem  hominum 
mundanorum,  scilicet  eorura  qui  male  de  Christianis  loquebantur."  This 
interpretation  of  (Ecumenius,  Estius  regards  as  most  plausible. 

4  1  Peter  ii.  17,  25. 

^  Ilapedidov  de  rcpKpivovTi.  diKaius.  Sensus  igitur  grsecse  lectionis  est  : 
Christus  non  seipsum  vindicabat,  sed  tradebat  seu  committebat  causam 
suam  Deo,  qui  juste  judicat,judicandam  etvindicandam."    Estius,  in  loco. 


THE  FIRST  LETTER   OF  SAINT  PETER.         149 

apparel ;  rather  adorn  the  invisible  man  hidden  in  the 
heart,  by  the  incorruptible  purity  of  a  gentle  and  peace- 
able spirit,  which  is  of  such  great  value  in  the  sight  of  God. 
.  .  .  Likewise  you,  husbands,  live  wisely  with  your  wives, 
giving  honor  to  this  weaker  sex,  which  is  heir  even  as  you 
to  that  grace  which  giveth  life."  ^ 

"  In  fine,  let  there  be  between  you  a  unity  of  feeling, 
kindly  forbearance,  love  of  the  brotherhood,  compassionate 
charity,  and  humility.  Do  not  return  evil  for  good,  nor 
insult  for  insult ;  answer  only  with  words  of  benediction  ; 
for  unto  this  have  you  been  called."  ^ 

Here  we  have  not  so  much  an  ideal  sketch  of  Perfection 
as  it  was  set  forth  in  Apostolic  times,  but  rather  a  faith- 
ful picture  of  the  Christian  life,  as  it  then  existed  in  very 
many  Churches.  "And  who  is  he,"  cries  Peter,  "who 
would  wish  to  do  you  wrong  if  your  only  thought  be 
but  to  do  good  ? "  3  Yet  forthwith,  his  mind  recalled  to  the 
sad  realities  of  the  present,  to  that  persecution  that  was 
threatening,  nay,  even  now  harassed  his  faithful  follow- 
ers in  Asia,  "  But  if,  notwithstanding,"  he  adds,  "  we  must 
needs  suffer  for  righteousness'  sake,  be  glad  and  rejoice ! 
Fear  not  the  evils  wherewith  they  shall  try  to  terrify 
you,  and  be  not  troubled  thereby,  but  sanctify  the  Lord, 
the  Christ  in  your  souls.^  Be  always  ready  to  answer 
[before  the  bar  of  justice]  with  modesty  and  respect 
toward  whosoever  shall  ask  of  you  the  reason  of  the  hope 
which  is  within  you.  In  all  things  preserve  a  clear  con- 
science, so  that  those  who  malign  the  holy  life  which  you 
lead  in  the  Christ  shall  blush  for  having  thus  defamed 
you."  ^  In  case  that  even  your  manifest  innocence  does 
not  disarm  them,  you  have  but  to  lift  your  eyes  unto  the 
Christ,  "  Who  likewise  suffered  for  sins,  the  just  for  the 
unjust,  that  He  might  lead  you  unto  God."  ^ 

And  how  wide-reaching  and  generous  is  this  Eedemp- 

i  1  Peter,  iii.  1-7.  ^  Ibid.,  iii.  13. 

2  Ibid.,  iii.  8-9. 

*  That  is  to  say,  they  should  be  a  temple,  a  sanctuary,  wherein  Jesus 
abides ;  thenceforth  what  trouble  could  shake  their  souls  ? 
6  1  Peter  iii.  14-16.  ^  Ibid.,  iii.  18. 


150  LAST   YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

tion  !  When  the  Soul  of  Jesus,  for  awhile  separated  from 
His  Body,  descended  into  Limbo,  it  found  among  the 
other  prisoners  there  many  sinners  who  had  repented 
what  time  the  Deluge  swallowed  up  all  save  such  as 
were  in  the  ark  of  Noe.  The  world  might  well  believe 
that  only  those  eight  persons  had  escaped  the  universal 
condemnation.  But  the  Divine  Mercy  had  discerned 
among  that  throng  of  victims  some  penitent  hearts,  and 
Jesus  went  to  them,  that  by  publishing  unto  them  the 
Glad  Tidings  for  the  last  time  He  might  accomplish  their 
purification  and  conduct  them  into  Paradise.  The  waters 
of  the  Deluge  had  but  prefigured  the  waters  of  Baptism ; 
but  how  much  more  fruitful  are  the  latter  for  our  Salva- 
tion !  1  "  The  Christ,  therefore,  having  suffered  death  in 
His  flesh,  be  you  likewise  armed  with  the  same  thought,"  ^ 
with  this  resolution  to  suffer  and  to  die  in  Him. 

No  thought  occurs  oftener  in  the  course  of  the  Epistle 
than  this  earnest  exhortation  to  seek  strength  from  the 
Passion  of  Jesus,  and  from  the  Blood  Divine  which  waters 
our  souls  at  every  outpouring  of  Grace.^  Unto  this  Peter 
looked  as.  to  the  source  of  all  strength  and  of  all  patience, 
those  two  virtues  doubly  necessary  to  his  followers  in 
these  trying  times.  His  aim  was  not,  as  was  the  case 
with  Paul  in  the  majority  of  his  letters,  to  clear  up  dis- 
puted points  of  doctrine,  to  wage  war  against  certain 
errors  threatening  the  Faith,  or  against  internal  dissen- 
sions and  a  disorderly  conduct  of  life.  The  persecution 
which  was  born  of  the  inherent  antagonism  between  the 
religion  of  Christ  and  Pagan  customs,  was  monopolizing 
all  their  thoughts ;  accordingly  we  find  that  it  is  the  sole 
danger  singled  out  by  the  Apostle  as  threatening  them  : 
"  They  think  it  strange  indeed  that  you  no  longer  run 
with  them,  as  once  you  did,  into  the  same  slough  of  de- 
bauchery,* wherefore  it  is  that  they  take  occasion  to  heap 

1  Here  I  thought  I  could  not  do  better  than  simply  summarize  the 
commentary  of  Estius;  for  no  more  satisfactory  interpretation  of  this 
difficult  passage  has  as  yet  been  given. 

2  1  Peter  iv.  1. 

3  Ibid.,  i.  2,  11,  19  ;  ii.  21-24  ;  iii.  18  ;  iv.  1,  13  ;  v.  i. 

*  This  passage  would  seem  to  imply  tliat  the  persecution  was  set  on 


THE  FIRST  LETTER   OF  SAINT  PETER.         151 

their  curses  upon  you."i  Face  to  face  with  this  deadly 
hatred,  Peter  strives  to  fortify  the  faithful  by  mingling, 
ever  more  tenderly,  words  of  comfort  and  consolation  the 
while  he  bids  them  be  of  good  courage  in  the  presence 
of  their  foes. 

"My  dearly  beloved,  be  not  astonished  at  the  burning 
flame  which  is  within  your  midst,  ...  as  though  something 
extraordinary  were  befalling  you ;  rejoice  rather  for  that 
you  are  made  partakers  in  the  sufferings  of  the  Christ ;  be 
exceedingly  glad  in  the  manifestation  of  His  Glory.  If 
you  be  insulted  because  of  the  Name  of  the  Christ,  rejoice, 
for  the  Spirit  of  Glory,  the  Spirit  of  God,  resteth  upon 
you ;  but  let  none  of  you  suffer  as  a  murderer  or  thief,  as 
an  evil-doer,  or  as  a  meddler  in  the  affairs  of  others  ;  but  if 
he  suffer  as  a  Christian,  let  him  not  be  ashamed ;  let  him 
rather  glorify  God  !  " 

The  last  thought  which  still  preoccupied  the  Apostle's 
mind  when  bringing  his  letter  to  a  close,  rose  from  his  anx- 
iety in  regard  of  the  maintenance  in  every  Christian  con- 
gregation of  perfect  unity,  obedience,  a  thorough  and  stern 
discipline  in  the  face  of  the  enemy.  The  Episcopate  not 
being  as  yet  constituted  in  the  Churches  of  Asia,  their 
government  still  continued  to  be  exercised  as  in  the  early 
days,  by  a  body  of  Pastors.^  Unity  of  action  among 
these  several  heads,  purity  of  living,  and  an  absolute  de- 
foot  by  Pagans,  and  not  by  Jews,  andrthat  the  raostlfrequent  cause  for  it 
is  to  be  found  in  the  refusal  of  the  Christians  to  take  part  in  their  ceremonies 
and  licentious  festivals. 

1  1  Peter  iv.  4. 

2  There  is  in  fact  nothing  in  the  Epistle  to  indicate  that  we  should 
regard  these  "  Elders  "  {irpea^vripovs)  as  Bishops  in  the  proper  sense  of  the 
word.  It  was  only  two  years  later,  in  QQ,  that,  as  we  shall  see,  Paul  puts 
Timothy  over  the  Church  of  Ephesus,  intrusts  him  with  the  functions  of 
the  Episcopate,  with  a  charge  to  govern  Priests  and  Deacons,  to  censure 
them  and  to  entertain  accusation  brought  against  them,  and  administer 
justice.  (1  Tim.  iii.  1-13  ;  iv.  12;  v.  17,  19-20.)  Hitherto,  in  all  likeli- 
hood, the  direction  of  the  Christian  congregations  in  Asia  had  remained  in 
the  hands  of  certain  Colleges  of  Priests,  which  were  visited  and  superin- 
tended in  the  name  of  the  Apostles  by  some  of  the  more  renowned  among 
their  disciples,  —  Epaphras  for  the  region  of  the  Lycus,  Silvanus  for  all 
Asia. 


152  LAST   YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

pendence  on  the  Christ,  the  Prince  of  Pastors,  —  all  these 
were  of  more  urgent  necessity  than  ever.  Of  this  Peter 
reminds  them,  adjuring  them  to  feed  the  flock  of  God  in- 
trusted to  their  care  ;  not  perfunctorily,  because  it  is  their 
profession,  but  willingly  from  a  sincere  inclination  ;  ^  not 
for  filthy  gain,  but  out  of  a  full  heart,^  generously,  think- 
ing far  less  of  lording  over  their  flocks  than  of  showing 
an  example  to  be  copied.  For  this  alone  as  their  reward, 
they  shall  receive  from  the  Sovereign  Pastor  "  a  never- 
fading  crown  of  glory  ; "  ^  but  as  for  their  flocks,^  one  word 
sums  up  all  their  duties,  —  humble  submissiveness. 

"  Be  you  humble,  therefore,"  Peter  concludes,  "  under 
the  mighty  hand  of  God  ;  leaving  it  unto  Him  to  exalt 
you  when  the  time  shall  come;  casting  all  your  care  upon 
Him,  for  He  hath  charge  over  you.  Be  sober  and  on  your 
guard.  Your  adversary  the  Devil,  like  a  roaring  lion,  prowl- 
eth  about  you,  seeking  whom  he  may  devour.  Withstand 
him,  firm  in  the  Faith,  knowing  that  your  brethren  scat- 
tered throughout  the  world  are  suffering  the  same  afdictions 
as  you. 

"  The  God  of  all  grace  Who  hath  called  you  unto  His 
everlasting  Glory  in  Christ  Jesus,  after  you  have  suffered 
for  a  short  season,  will  Himself  accomplish  your  perfection, 
will  strengthen  you,  fortify  you,  and  establish  you  upon  an 
immovable  foundation.  To  Him  be  glory  and  empire  for 
ever  and  ever.     Amen."  ^ 

Such  is  the  letter  of  St.  Peter  to  the  Churches  of  Asia, 
the  first  of  those  encyclicals  which,  once  sent  forth  from 
Eome,  have  never  since  that  day  ceased  to  instruct  and 
edify  the  world.  The  Chief  of  the  Apostles  here  reveals 
an  eloquent  and  lofty  train  of  thought  of  which  we  have 

1  Mr?  dvayKacTTibs,  dXXd  eKovcriojs. 

2  Mi^de  ahxpoKepddb's  dXXa  Trpo66/ui.(ji}s. 

3  1  Peter  v.  2-4. 

*  In  common  with  the  Venerable  Bede,  Cajetan,  and  Estius,  I  am  of  the 
opinion  that  veu)T€poi  ought  not  to  be  translated  here  by  "  young  people." 
This  word,  used  in  contradistinction  to  irpeafivTepoi,  refers  to  the  disciples, 
believers,  inferior  to  tlicm  in  rank  rather  than  in  age ;  in  other  words,  to 
the  college  of  Elders  who  ruled  thcui. 

&  1  Peter  v.  6-11. 


THE  FIRST  LETTER   OF  SAINT  PETER.         153 

had  no  inkling,  to  judge  him  by  his  discourses  as  reported 
in  the  Acts  :  it  was  his  love  for  Jesus,  his  ceaseless  con- 
templation of  Him  during  a  quarter  of  a  century,  which 
had  brought  about  this  transformation.  His  character, 
however,  still  remains  just  what  it  was  at  the  begin- 
ning :  always  vehement,  and  far  more  prone  to  action 
than  to  speculative  thought.  There  are  no  long  and  sub- 
tle processes  of  reasoning  to  be  noted  in  his  letter,  nor 
any  of  that  outpouring  of  doctrine,  or  of  those  visions 
of  Infinity  which  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  marshals 
before  our  gaze ;  here  are  but  the  raptures  of  a  believing 
soul,  streaming  forth  like  flashes  of  sunshine  from  the 
clear  sky. 

ISTor  should  we  forget  what  changeableness,  and  what 
weaknesses  had  been  intermingled  by  nature  with  the  im- 
petuosity which  Peter  always  had  shown.  Of  this  his  act, 
at  once  presumptuous  and  defiant,  of  walking  upon  the 
waters  of  Genesareth,i  especially  his  denial  of  his  Master,^ 
furnish  us  with  unequivocal  testimony  taken  from  the 
Gospel  itself.  Though  reclaimed  thereafter  by  one  glance 
from  the  eyes  of  Jesus  ;^  confirmed  in  grace;  invested  with 
a  Spirit  from  on  High  ;  none  the  less  did  the  Apostle, 
knowing  full  well  his  inborn  frailty,  feel  continual  need 
of  his  Saviour's  aid.  This  feeling  of  deep  humility  is 
very  apparent  in  his  letter,  and  makes  it  one  of  the  most 
helpful  sources  of  meditation  to  hearts  torn  by  the  trials 
of  this  life.  Peter  had  all  the  more  compassion  for  the 
miseries  of  mankind,  since  he  had  shared  them  all ;  he 
knows  full  well  where  the  remedy  is  to  be  sought  — 
't  is  that  same  Jesus  Who  had  confided  unto  him,  together 
with  the  high  charge  of  binding  and  loosing,  that  of  lead- 
ing and  strengthening  men's  souls  by  Faith  and  love. 
"  And  thou,  when  thou  shalt  be  converted,  confirm  thy 
brethren."  * 

1  Matt.  xiv.  28-31.  3  Luke  xxii.  61. 

2  Ibid.,  xxvi.  69-75.  *  Ibid.,  xxii.  32. 


CHAPTEE   VIII. 

THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE  HEBREWS. 

The  persecution  which  was  then  raging  throughout  the 
Eoman  world  did  not  spare  the  Church  in  Jerusalem,  but 
there  it  sprang  from  other  causes.  The  after  effects  of 
any  arbitrary  measures  taken  in  Eome  were  not  felt  so 
keenly  in  Judea  as  in  the  other  provinces.  What  mat- 
tered it  to  the  Jewish  tribunals  what  the  magistrates  of 
the  Empire  might  think  or  decide,  especially  in  questions 
of  religion?  On  this  point  their  fanaticism  was  so  vio- 
lent and  so  extremely  susceptible  that  Eome  had  been 
obliged  to  give  up  the  attempt  to  make  them  bow  their 
necks  beneath  the  common  yoke.  The  trial  of  all  cases 
touching  their  public  worship  had  remained  in  their 
hands,  the  Procurator  never  appearing  except  to  reverse 
the  sentence  when  some  too  crying  act  of  injustice  had 
been  brought  before  him  on  appeal.^  Notably  no  sen- 
tence of  capital  punishment  could  be  inflicted  without 
his  consent ;  for  this  reason  they  were  forced  to  hand 
over  the  Saviour  to  Pilate. 

To  this  higher  jurisdiction  of  the  Governors  the  Chris- 
tians of  Jerusalem  owed  their  comparative  immunity,  and 
thus  rarely  were  in  peril  of  death  or  bloodshed.  But 
though  the  right  of  passing  the  death  sentence  was  de- 
nied to  the  judges  of  Israel,  nevertheless  full  license  was 
granted  them  to  inflict  lighter  punishments  ;  now,  nothing 
so  effectually  protected  the  faithful  against  such  acts  of 
violence  as  did  the  esteem  and  sympathy  which  they  had 
won  from  the  populace  and  from  the  Pharisees.  Let  but 
this  popular  favor,  during  some  period  of  broils  or  mutiny, 

1  Matt.  XX vi.  65  ;  John  xix.  7  ;  Acts  iv. ;  v. ;  vi.  13,  19  ;  xxiii. 


THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE  HEBREWS.  155 

fail  actively  to  protect  them,  forthwith  they  would  find 
themselves  at  the  mercy  of  their  direst  foes,  the  magis- 
trates of  Jerusalem,  who  for  the  most  part  were  Sadducees. 

It  was  just  such  a  crisis,  following  the  death  of  Festus, 
which  gave  birth  to  the  persecution  of  which  we  are  now 
to  speak,  and  whose  first  victims,  James,  with  many  of 
his  disciples,  we  have  spoken  of  elsewhere.  The  arrival 
of  Albinus  a  few  months  later,  put  a  stop  to  these  san- 
guinary executions ;  but  the  new  Procurator,  like  his 
predecessors,  confined  himself  to  merely  insisting  upon 
his  rights  over  life  and  death,  and  thus  left  them  free  to 
continue  the  usual  course  of  harassments ;  thus  many  of 
the  Christians  of  Rome  were  despoiled  of  their  property 
and  thrown  into  prison. ^  Thereafter  there  was  nothing 
to  hinder  the  members  of  the  Sanhedrin  from  wreaking 
their  vengeance  on  them  ;  for,  after  the  departure  of  Fes- 
tus, there  was  no  government  worthy  of  the  name  left  in 
Judea.  That  of  Albinus,  in  particular,  was  but  one  long 
reign  of  venality,  extortion,  peculations,  and  ceaseless 
uprisings  of  the  people.  In  the  beginning,  it  is  true,  the 
brigands  were  hunted  down,  as  under  the  foregoing  ad- 
ministration ;  ^  but  the  hint  once  taken  that  it  would  be 
well  to  purchase  impunity  to  continue  their  career  of 
crime,  even  at  the  price  of  a  goodly  tribute,  they  soon 
found  that  they  were  free  to  ravage  the  country  and  levy 
contributions  at  their  own  good  pleasure.  The  prisons 
furnished  the  Governor  with  another  means  of  satisfying 
his  rapacity  by  similar  demands  of  ransom ;  ^  soon  only 
those  among  the  condemned  who  were  too  poor  to  pay 
for  their  liberation  were  left  within  their  walls.*  Sucli 
shameful  dealings  in  no  wise  hindered  Albinus  in  his 
schemes  to  crush  the  country  under  the  weight  of  taxes ; 
as  the  prey  was  to  be  his  but  for  a  few  short  years,  he  was 
bound  to  drain  from  it  every  drop  he  could. 

Of  those  around  him,  two  men  alone  were  clever  enough 
to   make  themselves  his  associates  and  fellow-plunder- 


1  Hebr.  x.  32-34.  ^  ibid.,  Bell.  Jud.,  ii.  xiv.  1. 

2  Joseplius,  Antiq.  Jud.,  xx.  ix.  2.         ^  Ibid. 


156  LAST   YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

ers,  —  Ananias  and  Agrippa.  The  first-named,  formerly 
High  Priest,  owed  his  influence  over  Albinus  partly  to 
his  great  wealth,  partly  to  his  stern  and  haughty  charac- 
ter; he  diverted  to  himself  the  quit-rents,  dues  which  had 
hitherto  gone  to  the  support  of  the  inferior  Levites.  Many 
of  these  unfortunates,  robbed  of  their  last  penny,  were 
reduced  to  the  direst  extremities.^  As  for  Agrippa, 
the  sole  power  which  Kome  had  left  him  in  Jerusalem, 
namely,  full  authority  over  the  Temple,  and  the  right  to 
nominate  the  Pontiffs,  alone  afforded  him  fruitful  oppor- 
tunities for  selling  his  favors ;  and  these  he  took  care  not 
to  neglect.  An  ambitious  woman  of  the  sacerdotal  family 
of  the  Boethos,  Miriam  by  name,  was  desirous  of  obtain- 
ing for  her  husband,  Josue,  son  of  Gamaliel,  the  dignity 
of  the  High  Priesthood.  Agrippa,  won  over  by  the  gold 
which  she  poured  into  his  treasury  by  the  measureful,^  to 
satisfy  her,  deposed  Jesus,  son  of  Damnaeus,^  the  Pontiff 
created  by  him  during  the  preceding  year  (63).  A  strange 
abuse  of  his  functions  this,  on  the  part  of  a  prince  other- 
wise so  pious,  but  in  whose  nature  selfishness  had  always 
the  upper  hand.  Of  this  trait  he  gave  a  striking  proof 
by  quitting  Jerusalem  when  the  disturbances  were  at 
their  height  and  the  city  was  toppling  on  the  verge  of 
ruin ;  it  was  then  that  he  saw  fit  to  transport  to  Caesarea 
of  Philippi,  and  to  Beyrout  the  splendors  of  his  court. 

To  make  matters  worse  for  the  Holy  City,  he  left  be- 
hind him  a  band  of  his  partisans,  who,  under  the  com- 
mand of  two  of  his  relatives,  Saul  and  Costebar,  set  to 
work  pillaging  the  land  in  every  direction.^  The  priestly 
aristocracy  took  up  arms  to  resist  these  acts  of  violence. 
The  High  Priest  in  charge  had  his  own  body-guard,  Ana- 
nias had  his;  the  wealthiest  would  naturally  gather 
together  the  strongest  force,  and  we  know  that  both 
numbered  many  men,  for  work  upon  the  Temple  had 
just  been  finished,  leaving  some  eighteen  thousand  labor- 
ers in  search  of  livelihood.^     To  cap  the  climax,  Albinus, 

1  Antiq.  Jud.,  xx.  ix.  2.  ^  Ibid. 

2  loma,  18  a ;  lebamot,  61  a.  ^  Ibid. 
^  Josephus,  Antiq.  Jud.,  xx.  ix.  4. 


THE  EPISTLE   TO   THE  HEBREWS.  157 

hearing  a  rumor  that  Eome  was  looking  about  for  some 
one  to  replace  him,  threw  open  the  prisons,  put  to  death 
the  vilest  criminals,  and  after  having  made  the  others 
buy  their  liberty  with  what  little  they  could  raise,  set 
them  free  to  dwell  in  the  city.  Jerusalem,  abandoned  to 
the  tender  mercies  of  these  several  gangs,  beheld  within 
her  walls  naught  but  brawling  deeds  of  vengeance  and 
pillaging,^  wherein  the  humbler  classes,  to  which  the 
Christians  generally  belonged,  were,  as  always,  the  first 
to  be  attacked  and  cut  to  pieces.  ^ 

In  these  days  of  ill-omen  there  appeared  a  document 
destined  to  revive  the  courage  of  the  faithful.  There  is 
no  superscription  on  it  to  indicate  its  author  :  the  most 
ancient  manuscripts  have  only  this  simple  title :  "  To  The 
Hebrews''  but  there  are  numerous  features  in  it  which 
give  us  plainly  to  understand  that  the  epistle  is  addressed 
to  the  converted  Jews  of  Jerusalem ;  the  writer  reminds 
them  that  they  were  the  first  to  receive  the  Gospel; 
wherefore  by  right  and  in  order  of  time,  they  ought  to 
be  the  masters  ^  of  all  the  others.  As  yet,  hardly  illumi- 
nated by  the  Faith,  they  had  been  caught,  as  it  were,  in 
the  whirlpool  of  persecution,  "  made  a  gazing-stock  to 
the  world  by  reason  of  the  infamies  and  the  afflictions 
they  suffered,*  "notwithstanding  serving  as  models  to 
mankind,  for  they  have  given  unto  their  brethren  in 
bondage  their  goods,  taken  joyfully  the  spoiling  of  their 
goods,  knowing  that  elsewhere  far  other  goods  are  re- 
served for  them  exceeding  them  in  value,  and  which  shall 
not  perish  for  evermore."  ^ 

They  have  therefore  valiantly  faced  the  first  fire  of 
battle,  thereby  proving  themselves  worthy  followers  of 
leaders  like  Stephen  and  the  two  Jameses,  who  had  died 
for  the  Faith.^  But  now  at  last,  it  would  seem,  their 
courage  is  weakening ;  at  present  not  one  of  their  Pas- 

1  Josephus,  Antiq.  Jud.,  xx.  ix.  5. 

2  This  state  of  things  lasted  for  the  whole  year  64,  for  Florus  did  not 
replace  Albinus  till  the  beginning  of  65. 

3  Hebr.  v.  12.  &  Ibid.,  x.  34. 

4  Ibid.,  x.  32,  33.  «  Ibid.,  xiii.  7. 


158  LAST  YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

tors  exercises  over  them  an  ascendency  like  that  of  their 
forerunners,  watchful  though  they  be  to  fulfil  their 
duties  "  with  groaning "  ^  for  they  behold  about  them 
none  but  "  lax  hands "  and  weak  knees,^  while  many  of 
the  faithful  are  deserting  the  Christian  gatherings  ^  with 
their  too  simple  ritual,  and  are  returning  to  the  Mosaic 
worship,  whose  brilliant  splendors  are  so  seductive  to  the 
senses.  All  the  older  writers  believed  that  these  features, 
taken  as  a  whole,  were  meant  to  designate  the  Church  of 
Jerusalem,  and  that  period  of  defection  which  ensued 
upon  the  death  of  the  Pastor  who  had  sustained  their 
spirits  until  then,  —  James  the  "  brother  "  of  the  Lord. 
Their  agreement  on  this  one  point  is  so  entirely  perfect 
that  we  cannot  question  this  opinion.  * 

Tradition  has  not  furnished  us  with  such  a  unanimous 
decision  as  to  the  authorship  of  the  work.  In  it  the  en- 
tire Greek  Church  from  the  outset  recotrnized  the  genius 
and  the  very  soul  of  Paul ;  but  the  East  remained  for 
three  centuries  very  unsettled  and  uncertain  concerning 
it.  Tertullian,  and  African  writers  generally,  attributed 
it  to  Barnabas ;  ^  in  Eome,^  and  in  Gaul "  no  one  seems  to 
have  had  knowledge  of  it.  At  least  it  was  not  ranked 
with  the  other  letters  of  the  Apostle.    It  is  only  in  the 

1  Hebr.  xiii.  17.  s  ibid.,  x.  25. 

2  Ibid.,  xii.  12. 

*  The  theories  most  in  favor  nowadays  contend  that  the  Christians  of 
Kome  and  of  Alexandria  were  the  recipients  of  this  Epistle,  but  there  is 
.scarcely  an  Apostolical  Church  whose  title  to  this  honor  some  exegetical 
scholar  has  not  supported  :  Corinth,  Ephesus,  Thessaloniea,  Cyprus,  An- 
tioch,  Spain,  Lycaonia,  Galatia,  Asia  Minor,  etc.  A  long  and  almost  com- 
plete list  of  them  is  to  be  found  in  Meyer,  Kritisch  Exegetisches  Handbuch, 
xiii.  {3d  ed.),  pp.  35  et  seq.  The  very  diversity  of  these  hy[)otheses  would 
alone  suffice  to  show  that  no  one  of  them  carries  conviction  with  it. 

^  Tertullian,  De  pndicit.,  20. 

^  In  the  Muratorian  Fragment,  tlie  first  catalogue  of  the  Koman 
Church  we  possess,  no  mention  is  made  of  it.  Nor  do  two  other  most 
ancient  writers  of  the  Eoinan  Church,  St.  Hippolytus  and  Caius  the 
Priest,  include  this  letter  in  their  lists  of  St.  Paul's  Epistles.  Photius, 
Biblioth.,  Cod.  121,  232;  Eu.sebius,  Llistor.  eccles.,yi.  26. 

■^  St.  Irena^us,  who  makes  such  frequent  use  of  St.  Paul's  other  letters, 
never  quotes  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  ;  Eusebius,  nevertheless,  assures 
us  that  he  does  make  mention  of  it  in  a  book  now  lost  to  us.  Eusebius, 
Hist,  eccles.,  v.  26. 


THE  EPISTLE   TO   THE  HEBREWS.  159 

time  of  St.  Hilary  (354),  that  the  clouds  are  dispersed 
and  the  whole  Church  proclaims  what  has  been  ever  since 
her  established  teaching,  that  to  St.  Paul  is  due  so  large 
a  share  in  the  composition  of  this  document  that  he  needs 
must  be  regarded  as  its  author. 

To  this  simple  statement  I  have  reduced  the  question 
of  the  authenticity  of  the  Epistle  before  us ;  for  it  is  im- 
possible not  to  recognize  between  it  and  the  other  letters 
of  the  Apostle  very  notable  differences  both  in  style  and 
in  methods  of  reasoning.  With  the  exception  of  the  few 
last  verses,  in  which  the  author  informs  them  of  the  re- 
lease of  Timothy,  and  sends  his  greetings  to  the  brethren 
he  is  addressing,  the  work  bears  not  so  much  as  a  trace 
of  his  epistolary  manner ;  it  is  an  exposition  of  Christian 
doctrine,  pure  and  simple,  or  to  put  it  better,  a  homily 
intended  to  enlighten  men's  souls  under  trial,  and  to 
"console"  them.^  The  thoughts  are  indeed  Paul's,  but 
the  manner  of  setting  forth  and  developing  his  arguments 
are  peculiar  to  the  writer ;  its  allegorical  exegesis  recalls 
the  mysticism  of  the  Alexandrians ;  in  style  especially  it 
is  unlike  Paul's ;  far  richer  and  more  sustained  than  that 
of  the  Apostle,  it  has  on  the  other  hand  neither  the  same 
enthusiasm,  nor  like  his  does  it  proceed  so  unhampered 
by  any  rules,  and  therefore  often  disproportioned,  hurried 
forward,  or  interrupted  by  the  influence  of  the  moment. 

These  diversities  have  led  the  most  judicious  among 
our  own  interpreters  of  the  Scripture  to  admit  that,  while 
the  general  conception,  the  order  and  the  sequence  of 
ideas  in  the  work  belong  properly  to  the  Apostle,  in  in- 
ternal form  it  cannot  be  his.*^  Paul,  knowing  that  the 
Christians  of  Jerusalem  had  a  poor  opinion  of  his  teach- 
ings, thought  that  the  most  prudent  way  to  make  them 
accept  the  teachings  of  his  Epistle  would  be  not  merely 

1  Hebr.  xiii.  22. 

2  "  Omuino  dicendum  arbitramur  subjectum,  sive  materiam  totiiis  Epis- 
tolpe,  simul  et  ordinem  a  Paulo  fuisse  subministratura,  sed  compositionem 
et  ornatum  esse  cujusdam  alterius,  cujus  opera  Paulus  utendum  putaverit." 
Estius,  Prolegomena  in  Epistolam  ad  Hebrceos,  questio  ii.  ;  Bellannin,  A. 
Maier,  Hug,  Reithmayr,  De  Valroger,  Comely,  Bacuez  uphold  the  same 
opinion. 


160        LAST   YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

to  omit  all  mention  of  his  name,  but  to  intrust  to  some 
one  else  the  task  of  expressing  his  thoughts.^  It  is  a 
pure  matter  of  conjecture  as  to  whom  he  may  have 
chosen  for  this  work  of  composition,  —  in  all  likelihood 
some  one  of  the  Apostolic  men,  whose  manner  ^  certain 
critics  have  from  the  beginning  believed  that  they  could 
recognize  therein :  either  Clement,  Luke,  or  Barnabas.^  The 
style  of  the  first  two  mentioned  does,  it  is  true,  bear  some 
resemblance  to  that  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  ;  but, 
on  the  other  hand,  there  was  nothing  to  recommend  them 
to  Paul  as  collaborators  in  a  document  destined  for  those 
children  of  Israel  who  were  most  Jewish  in  their  ten- 
dencies. Both  of  them  were  Gentiles  by  birth  and  edu- 
cation, and  both  were  scarcely  known  in  Jerusalem,  with 
which  city  they  themselves  were  little  acquainted.  How, 
then,  could  they  so  mould  the  Apostle's  thoughts  as  to  win 
the  confidence  and  good-will  of  the  Christians  in  Judea  ? 

1  Clement  of  Alexandria,  quoted  by  Eusebius. 

2  As  early  as  the  second  century  we  find  that  the  Alexandrian  doctors 
were  much  struck  by  the  difference  in  style  presented  by  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews  when  compared  with  the  other  letters  of  St.  Paul.  Pantsenus 
(about  170)  and  his  disciple,  Clement  of  Alexandria,  concede  that  the 
Apostle  composed  the  Epistle  in  Hebrew,  and  that  St.  Luke  translated  it 
into  Greek.  (Eusebius,  Hlstoria  ecclesiastica,  vol.  vi.  chaps,  xiii.,  xiv.) 
Origen  would  concede  a  still  smaller  share  in  its  composition  to  St.  Paul. 
"  The  thoughts  are  his,"  he  says  ;  "  the  expressions  and  the  arrangements 
of  the  words  are  those  of  some  one  else,  who  probably  reproduced  the 
Apostle's  words  from  memory,  and,  so  to  speak,  is  explaining  what  his 
master  said,  after  the  manner  of  a  Scholiast.  Accordingly,  if  any  Church 
would  hold  that  this  Epistle  is  Paul's,  we  should  not  (quarrel  with  then)  ; 
for  it  was  not  without  good  reason  that  the  ancients  handed  it  down  to  us 
as  being  Paul's  work.  As  for  any  final  decision  concerning  the  personality 
of  its  author,  we  can  only  say,  God  alone  knows  who  he  was."  (Origen, 
Homil.  in  epist.  ad  Hehr.,  fragm.)  These  words  of  the  Alexandrian  doctors 
must  be  regarded  as  of  great  importance  if  we  take  into  consideration  the 
renowned  school  whose  opinion  in  the  premises  they  embody.  For  there 
from  the  very  outset  scholars  had  interested  themselves  in  Sacred  Liter- 
ature, and  more  than  anywhere  else  whatever  pertained  to  these  studies 
was  eagerly  examined  and  preserved  ;  these  are  not,  therefore,  mere  hypoth- 
eses or  individual  opinions  which  they  transmit  to  us,  but  a  faithful  re- 
flection of  the  ideas  current  in  Apostolical  times. 

2  "  Epistola  qu8e  fertur  ad  Hebrfeos  non  ejus  creditur,  propter  styli 
sermonisque  dissonantiam,  sed  vel  Barnabse  juxta  Tertullianum,  vel  Luese 
Evangelistfe  juxta  quosdam,  vel  dementis  Romance  postea  Ecclesise  Epis- 
copi."     St.  Jerome,  De  vir.  iilustr.,  v. 


THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE  HEBREWS.  161 

Furthermore,  neither  in  the  two  books  written  by  Saint 
Luke  nor  in  the  Epistle  of  Saint  Clement  is  there  any 
trace  of  the  Alexandrian  influence  so  often  betrayed  in 
the  letter  to  the  Hebrews. 

It  is  quite  another  matter  when  we  come  to  Barnabas. 
As  a  Jew  born  of  the  tribe  of  Levi,  he  was  known  and 
loved  by  the  Mother  Church,  where  his  mildness  of 
speech  had  won  for  him  the  name  of  "  Son  of  Consola- 
tion." ^  He  was  known  also  to  be  deeply  attached  to  Paul, 
and  nevertheless  independent  of  him;  for  after  their  last 
mission-journey  together,  Barnabas  had  abandoned  him 
in  order  to  consecrate  his  missionary  labors  to  the  Chris- 
tian communities  of  Cyprus  and  the  Orient.  As  a  Levite 
he  would  be  the  first  to  be  chosen  from  among  Paul's  im- 
mediate companions  when  the  latter  desired  to  enlighten 
his  brethren  of  Israel  concerning  the  Sacrifice  and  the 
Priesthood  of  Jesus,  and  to  prove  to  them  that  the  Mo- 
saic rites  were  meant  but  to  prefigure  and  foretell  Him. 
Thus,  as  we  see,  none  could  have  been  better  fitted  either 
to  act  as  the  Apostle's  interpreter  or  to  lend  authority  to 
his  words.2  That  he  should  have  done  this  by  using  a 
manner  of  speech,  exposition,  and  exegesis  which  are  so  re- 
miniscent of  Philo  and  the  Alexandrians,  surely  this  has 
nothing  surprising  about  it.  Cyprus,  the  head  centre  of 
his  Apostolate,  kept  up  a  busy  commerce  with  the  shores  of 
Egypt,  and  Tradition  has  it  that  Mark,  his  cousin  and 
disciple,  was  the  founder  of  the  Church  of  Alexandria.^ 

1  Acts  iv.  36  ;  ix.  27  ;  xi.  22-26  ;  xv.  12,  22,  25. 

2  Though  the  weight  of  argument  compels  us  to  regard  St.  Barnabas  as 
the  "  editor  "  of  the  Hebraic  Epistle,  it  may  yet  be  that  antiquity  was  not 
altogether  wrong  in  assigning  some  share  in  the  work  to  St.  Luke,  or,  even 
with  more  reason,  to  St.  Clement.  In  fact  it  was  necessary,  in  order  to 
render  the  letter  accessible  to  the  majority  of  the  Churches,  that  it  should 
be  translated  into  Greek.  Now  this  is  precisely  the  part  which  tradition 
attributed  to  these  two  Apostolic  men,  especially  to  St.  Clement  ;  for  St. 
Luke  would  seem  to  have  been  mentioned  only  on  account  of  the  intimate 
relations  which  marked  him  out  to  be  Paul's  Evangelist  and  the  historian 
of  his  acts.  Eu sebius  (i/i's^o?-.  eccles.,  iii.  xxxviii,),  Euthalius  of  Alex- 
andria (In  Hebr.  Arg.),  Theodoret  (In  Hehr.  Arg.),  St.  Jerome  {De  vir. 
iliustr.,  V.)  hold  that  there  is  much  better  authority  for  the  opinion  which 
recognizes  the  handiwork  of  St.  Clement  in  the  Greek  version  now  in  our 
possession. 

3  See  St.  Peter,  chap.  xx.  11 


162  LAST   YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

Paul  remarks,  toward  the  close  of  the  Epistle,  that  he  is 
writing  while  in  the  society  of  the  "  Christians  of  Italy."  ^ 
The  best  opinion  is  that  it  is  not  Eome  which  is  desig- 
nated by  this  expression,^  but  some  one  of  the  seaport 
towns,  such  as  Puteoli,  where  eastward-bound  ships  on 
their  way  were  wont  to  touch.  The  sea  routes  were  by 
far  the  most  comfortable  and  safest  for  the  Apostle  when, 
on  quitting  Spain,  he  set  out  to  visit  for  the  last  time  his 
Christian  followers  in  Greece  and  Asia.  It  was  therefore 
at  one  of  these  landing-places  along  the  Italian  coast,  as 
we  may  well  fancy,  that  he  was  informed  of  the  trials  of 
the  Mother  Church,  and  was  moved  to  address  her  with 
this  "  word  of  consolation."  ^  There  is  nothing  in  this  let- 
ter to  indicate  that  Paul  despatched  it  during  the  period 
of  his  first  imprisonment ;  *  hence  it  only  remains  to  refer 
it  to  the  time  and  place  which  I  have  given  for  its  com- 
position above.  Furthermore,  his  meeting  with  Barnabas 
under  such  circumstances  has  nothing  improbable  about 
it,  for  a  pious  tradition  still  exists  that  the  latter  pursued 
his  Apostolic  labors  in  Italy,  and  the  Church  of  Milan 
considers  him  as  its  founder.^  As  Paul's  fellow-worker 
in  his  earliest  efforts,  it  was  natural  that  he  should  rejoin 
him,  to  finish  the  work  undertaken  twenty  years  before, 
and  thus  together  proclaim,  not  only  to  the  Gentile  world, 

1  Hebr.  xiii.  24. 

2  The  Apostle  would  have  mentioned  it  under  veiled  terms,  at  least,  as 
St.  Peter  did  in  his  first  Epistle.     1  Peter  v.  13. 

3  Hebr.  xiii.  22. 

^  Two  passages  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  have  been  appealed  to  as 
proving  that  the  Apostle  must  have  written  it  at  that  date  :  x.  34  and  xiii. 
19  ;  especially  the  first,  which  by  translating  the  Apostle's  words  by  "You 
have  had  compassion  on  my  bonds,"  is  made  to  refer  to  his  captivity.  The 
difficulty  with  this  interpretation  is  that  it  rests  solely  upon  the  reading, 
Vinculis  meis  compassi  estis,  toIs  dea-fiols  avveTradrjaare  which  is  with  good 
reason  rejected  by  the  Vulgate,  most  of  the  Versions,  and  by  all  of  the  best 
modern  editions.  The  real  reading  is  toTs  deafiioLS  fiov  ffweirad-qaaTe  :  "  You 
have  had  compassion  on  those  who  were  in  bonds."  As  to  the  second  pas- 
sage, to  construe  those  vague  terms,  "  Pray  .  .  .  that  I  may  be  restored  to 
you  the  sooner,"  as  an  indication  that  Paul  is  expecting  a  speedy  release  from 
his  imprisonment,  would  seem  to  me  at  least  a  very  hazardous  conclusion. 

5  See  Braunsberger,  Der.  Ap.  Barnabas,  Mainz  (1893),  pp.  83  et  seq. 
Cf.  Recognitiones,  i.  7,  where  St.  Barnabas  is  represented  as  preaching  in 
Rome  and  converting  St.  Clement. 


THE  EPISTLE   TO   THE  HEBREWS.  163 

but  to  Israel  as  well,  the  decisive  victory  of  their  Faith 
over  Mosaism. 

The  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  is  an  eloquent  memorial 
of  this  superiority,  drawn  from  the  very  heart  of  Chris- 
tianity and  exemplified  in  the  Sacrifice  and  Priesthood  of 
Jesus.  Paul  does  not,  however,  confine  himself  to  the 
setting  forth  of  this  pre-eminence  of  the  Christ.  Israel 
laid  claim  to  three  peculiar  titles,  of  glorious  import :  its 
Patriarchs  and  its  Prophets,  who,  by  the  ministry  of  An- 
gels, were  honored  by  the  visitation  and  the  messages  of 
God  ;  its  Law,  which  the  Eternal  had  placed  in  the  hands 
of  Moses  ;  its  Temples  and  its  sacrifices,  alone  acceptable 
unto  the  Lord.  The  Apostle  begins  his  Epistle  by  re- 
minding them  that  the  two  first-named  prerogatives  find 
their  completion  in  Jesus,  and  in  Him  alone. 

How  imperfect,  indeed,  do  the  revelations  of  the  Old 
Testament  seem  to  us  —  revealing  as  they  do  but  fragments 
of  the  truth  "  at  sundry  times  and  in  divers  manners  "  ^  — 
when  brought  face  to  face  with  that  full,  midday  light 
whereof  the  Christ  is  the  Sun  of  Eighteousness  !  In  that 
one  expression,  "  the  Word,"  God  has  summed  up  the 
whole  matter,  —  His  "  Son,  Who  is  the  Heir  of  all  things," 
because,  since  all  things  have  their  being  through  Him, 
all  must  belong  to  Him.^  This  Son  in  the  bosom  of  God 
is  "  the  resplendency  of  His  Glory,  and  the  express  image 
of  His  Substance ;  He  upholds  all  things  in  the  created 
world  by  the  might  of  his  word  ; "  ^  He  purifies  the  World 
of  Souls  from  their  sins;*  by  this  threefold  title  of  Ee- 
deemer,  Creator,  and  Son,  having  the  same  Substance,  the 
same  Glory  as  God,  He  is  set  above  all  things,  "  seated  at 
the  right  hand  of  the  Majesty  on  High."^ 

Now,  God  did  more  than  merely  speak  to  the  Saints  of 
the  Old  Testament ;  He  manifested  Himself  to  the  Patri- 
archs and  Prophets  by  the  mediation  of  Angels.  These 
pure  Spirits  were  indeed  clothed  in  human  form,  but  so 

1  rioXu/ieptDs  KoL  TToXvTpSirws. 

2  Hebr.  i,  2 ;  'Ev  vlQ  5v  idrjKeu  KXr]pop6/xov  ttolvtoov,  di'od  /cat  roivs  atwvas 
iTToirjaev. 

8  Hebr.  i.  3.  *  jbid.  6  ibid. 


164  LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

utterly  divested  of  their  own  personality  that  the  move- 
ment and  speech  of  God  shone  through  them  as  the  sun's 
rays  through  a  crystal.  Abraham,  Jacob,  and  all  the  Seers 
of  old  had  no  difficulty  in  recognizing  their  Lord  in  these 
Apparitions.  And  yet  what  were  these  preludes  to  the 
Incarnation  beside  the  reality,  God  personally  uniting 
Himself  to  Humanity,  and  taking  to  Himself  man's  body 
and  soul,  in  order  to  dwell  and  to  converse  with  us  ?  To 
which  one  of  the  Angels  was  it  given  to  hear  from  the 
Father's  lips  the  words  which  He  addresses  unto  Him 
Who  became  flesh  for  us,  "  Thou  art  my  Son,  this  day 
have  I  begotten  Thee,"  —  the  changeless  Day  of  all  Eter- 
nity ?^  To  none  of  the  Angels  as  unto  the  Christ  are  at- 
tributed those  two  powers  peculiar  to  the  Godhead : 
Immutability,  and  the  power  to  create  all  things.^  Not 
to  the  Angels  is  it  given  to  enjoy  sovereignty  over  the 
world  of  the  future,  the  Christian  world,  but  only  unto 
Jesus.^  Wherefore  if  the  Hebrews  were  willing  to  obey 
the  Law,  as  proclaimed  to  them  by  Angels,  then  all  the 
more  are  they  bound  to  submit  themselves  to  the  Christ.^ 

Why,  then,  should  they  falter  because  by  reason  of  His 
sufferings  and  His  death  this  Divine  Christ  may  have  ap- 
peared for  a  little  as  lower  than  the  Heavenly  Spirits  ?  ^ 
"  We  behold  Him  crowned  with  glory  and  honor  because 
of  the  death  which  He  has  suffered,"  God  in  His  goodness 
having  willed  that  He  should  die  for  all.^  To  this  end 
it  behooved  Him  that  He  should  clothe  Himself  in  a  na- 
ture like  unto  ours,  composed  of  "  flesh  and  blood  ; "  ^  unto 
this  end  "  become  in  all  things  like  unto  His  brethren. 
He  remaineth  steadfast  in  His  ministry  before  God,  a 
merciful  and  faithful  Pontiff,  Who  maketh  expiation  for 
the  sins  of  the  people.  For  it  is  from  those  very  suffer- 
ings, whereby  He  hath  been  tried,  that  He  obtaineth  the 
Power  to  succor  such  as  are  themselves  tempted."  ^ 

Jesus  is  not  merely  an  Angel,  a  Divine  Messenger  Who 

1  Hebr.  i.  5  ;  Ps.  ii.  7.  ^  Ibid.,  ii.  7-9. 

2  Ibid.,  i.  7-14.  6  Ibid.,  ii.  9. 

3  Ibid.,  ii.  5-9.  ^  Ibid.,  ii.  14. 

4  Ibid.,  ii.  1-4.  »  jbid.,  ii.  17-18. 


THE  EPISTLE   TO   THE  HEBREWS.  165 

brings  us  the  law  of  Grace  ;  He  dwells  forevermore  among 
us,  set  between  Heaven  and  Earth  to  be  the  Mediator  of 
the  New  Covenant,  as  Moses  was  of  the  Old ;  but  vested 
with  a  very  different  perfection.  Moses  was  but  as  a 
servant  in  the  house  of  God.  Jesus,  as  the  Son,  holds 
sway  over  his  household.^  Moses  had  not  been  able  to 
keep  the  unbelieving  Jews  from  wandering  forty  years  in 
the  wilderness  ;  ^  but  we,  once  united  unto  the  Christ,  enter 
into  the  rest,  "  the  Great  Sabbath  of  the  people  of  God ;"  ^ 
trusting  in  the  new  Josue  who  leads  us  onward  ;  believ- 
ing in  His  Word  which  is  the  very  word  of  God,  "  living 
and  working,  sharper  than  any  two-edged  sword,  piercing 
even  to  the  dividing  asunder  of  soul  and  spirit.  .  .  ."* 
Nor  can  that  be  said  of  our  Mediator  which  is  true  of 
Moses,  who  was  not  permitted  to  conduct  Israel  into  the 
Promised  Land,  nor  himself  to  enter  therein.  Jesus  has 
penetrated  within  the  region  of  Everlasting  Eest ;  He  has 
ascended  unto  the  highest  of  the  heavens,  seated  Himself 
upon  "  a  throne  of  grace,"  ^  and  there  remains  clothed 
in  the  sublimest  of  His  functions,  at  once  Priest  and 
Victim. 

This  Priesthood,  this  Sacrifice  of  Jesus,  is  the  prof ound- 
est  of  His  Mysteries  ;  it  is  His  loftiest  and  crowning 
achievement.  "  It  is  finished,"  ^  all  things  are  consum- 
mated, as  said  the  Saviour  when  dying  on  the  Cross. 
Heretofore,  to  judge  from  the  letters  of  his  which  we 
possess,  Paul  had  never  touched  upon  the  transcendent 
aspect  of  our  beliefs,  but  now  he  was  under  the  necessity 
of  explaining  them  to  minds  far  less  adapted  to  under- 
stand them,  —  to  those  Christians  of  Jerusalem,  always 
loath  to  renounce  the  spirit  of  Mosaism.  "  The  spirit  of 
slumber,"  '^  which  overwhelmed  the  rest  of  Israel,  in  like 
fashion  weighed  heavily  upon  them ;  "  bowed  down  to  the 
Earth,"  ^  they  seemed  often  "  to  have  eyes  that  they  should 

1  Hebr.  iii.  1-6.  <  Ibid.,  iv.  12. 

2  Ibid.,  iii.  7-11  ;  15-19.  ^  j^id.,  iv.  14-16. 
8  Ibid.,  iv.  9.  6  John  xix.  30. 

'  Rom.  xi.  8. 

8  Tov  vCoTOP  avTup  diaTravrbs  aijyKafx^f/ov.     Rom.  xi.  10. 


166  LAST  YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

not  see,  ears  that  they  should  not  hear."  ^  The  Apostle 
appears  to  hesitate  even  at  the  thought  of  trying  to  ex- 
pound the  Eternal  Priesthood  of  Jesus  before  such  hear- 
ers, and  complains  in  vehement  terms  of  their  dulness 
of  soul  and  of  Faith. 

"  I  shall  have  many  things  to  say  on  this  subject,  but 
'twill  be  hard  to  explain  them  because  you  are  so  dull  of 
understanding,  instead  of  being  teachers  as  you  ought  to 
be,  seeing  what  a  long  time  you  have  been  under  instruc- 
tions ;  indeed  you  yourselves  are  still  in  need  of  being 
taught  the  first  rudiments  of  the  Word  of  God."  ^ 

Ought  he,  then,  out  of  regard  for  the  lowest  element 
in  the  Mother  Church,  to  deprive  the  more  earnest  minds 
among  them  of  all  lofty  instructions  ?  Paul  thought  not. 
Why  should  he  preach  to  none  but  unworthy  followers  ? 
The  first  to  become  Christians,  and  filled  to  overflowing 
with  the  gifts  of  Grace,  it  had  been  theirs  to  relish  the 
riches  of  God's  favor  more  abundantly  than  any  others ; 
no  others  like  them  had  been  eye-witnesses  of  the  miracles 
accompanying  the  Gospel's  reign  on  earth ;  ^  so  then,  if 
they  swerve  and  fall  away  now,  it  cannot  be  blamed  to 
their  ignorance  or  human  weakness,  but  to  pure  mali- 
ciousness and  nothing  else.  They  know  full  well  what 
they  are  doing  by  going  back  to  Judaism ;  they  are  ren- 
dering any  return  to  Christ  impossible  ;  *  for,  with  malice 
aforethought,  they  are  taking  sides  with  the  enemies  of 
Jesus,  to  crucify  Him  anew  and  flaunt  their  Deicide  in 
the  eyes  of  the  whole  world.^  For  such  apostates,  in 
Paul's  opinion,  there  was  no  escape  from  the  terrors  of 
Judgment  and  the  flame  which  dieth  not.^ 

1  Rom.  xi.  8.  2  Hebr.  v.  11-12.  3  ibid.  vi.  4,  5. 

*  An  impossibility,  not  on  God's  part,  ready  as  He  is  to  pardon  us  to 
the  very  last,  but  by  reason  of  the  obstacles,  the  deep  pit  they  of  their 
own  malice  have  dug  to  separate  themselves  from  the  Divine  Mercy. 
Their  sin  is  like  that  of  Lucifer's  rebelling  and  blasplieming  in  His  very 
face.  How  find  words  persuasive  enough  to  touch  hearts  so  hardened  and 
set  in  the  hatred  of  their  Saviour  ?  What  sacrifice  powerful  enough  to 
open  a  way  for  grace  to  enter  and  soften  them  ? 

6  Hebr.  vi.  6.  6  ibid.,  xi.  26-31. 


THE  EPISTLE   TO   THE  HEBREWS.  167 

But  even  while  launching  these  invectives  against  the 
stiff-necked,  and  the  renegades  in  Israel,  Paul  never  for- 
gets to  express  his  tender  solicitude  for  those  among  his 
brethren  who  had  not  as  yet  fallen  away  quite  so  far,  but 
were  still  struggling  onward  amid  tears  and  groanings. 
These  he  endeavors  to  encourage  by  means  of  this  letter, 
bidding  them  have  confidence  in  themselves :  — 

"And  while  speaking  thus,  dear  brethren,  know  that  I 
cherish  a  better  opinion  of  you  and  your  Salvation.  God  is 
not  unjust,  nor  does  He  forget  your  good  works  and  the 
charity  you  have  displayed  in  His  name,  by  the  services 
you  have  rendered  and  still  render  to  the  Saints.  I  desire 
earnestly  that  every  one  of  you  might  show  the  same  zeal, 
UDto  the  end  that  your  Hope  may  be  fulfilled/'  ^ 

This  "  Hope  "  of  the  Christian  soul  tossed  about  by  the 
tempest  of  our  earthly  life  "  is  the  anchor  which  gives 
him  steadiness  and  assurance,"  ^  for  it  is  cast  by  the  true 
believer,  not  merely  close  to  the  sheltering  shores  of 
Eternity,  but  down  into  the  depths  of  the  world  Divine, 
within  the  Sanctuary,  and  "  beyond  the  veil,  whither 
Jesus  has  entered  as  our  forerunner,  being  become  the 
Sovereign  Sacrificer  unto  all  times  to  come."  ^ 

Here  Paul  reverts  to  the  original  thought  which  ani- 
mates his  Epistle,  the  Priesthood  of  the  Christ  according 
to  the  order  of  Melchisedec.  There  is  nothing  more  august 
and  mysterious  in  the  Old  Testament  than  the  descrip- 
tion of  this  personage.  Suddenly  and  without  warning, 
he  steps  forth  into  the  history  of  the  Father  of  all  true 
Believers,  not  affiliated  in  any  way  with  the  chosen  people, 
"  without  father  or  mother,  having  neither  genealogy  nor 
beginning  nor  end  of  days."*  Clothed  with  a  mystical 
empire,  "  King  of  Eighteousness,  King  of  Salem,  that  is 
to  say,  King  of  Peace,"  ^  he  approaches  Abraham  as  one 
mightier  than  that  "  Conqueror  of  Kings,"  since  he  blesses 
the  Patriarch  and  receives  from  him  a  tithe  of  all  his 

1  Hebr.  vi.  9-11.  *  Ibid.,  vii.  3. 

3  Ibid.,  vi.  19.  5  Ibid.,  vii.  2. 

3  Ibid.,  vi.  19-20. 


168  LAST  YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

spoils.^  Coming  forth  from  out  the  mists  of  Eternity, 
thither  he  returns,  to  remain  as  he  had  appeared  upon 
earth,  "  likened  unto  the  Son  of  God,  a  Priest  unto  all 
ages."  2  Now,  as  the  very  counterpart  of  Melchisedec,  a 
Sacrificer  stands  forth  in  the  New  Covenant,  born  not  of 
Levi  but  of  Judah,  a  tribe  to  which  Moses  had  never  in- 
trusted priestly  powers  ;  ^  endowed  with  this  ministry, 
"  not  by  virtue  of  a  carnal  succession,  but  by  the  might 
of  His  own  Immortal  Life."  *  He  stands  forth  of  Himself 
and  forevermore  sufficient  unto  this  ministry  :  — 

"  For  though  there  have  been  many  Priests  hitherto,  be- 
cause death  hindered  their  continuance,  this  one,  because 
He  remaineth  forever,  hath  an  Eternal  Priesthood.  Where- 
fore, also.  He  is  able  to  save  them  forevermore  who  approach 
unto  God  by  Him,  seeing  that  He  ever  liveth  to  make  inter- 
cession for  us.  For  such  a  Sovereign  Sacrificer  was  fitting 
for  us,  Who  is  holy,  innocent,  spotless,  separate  from  sin- 
ners, and  higher  than  the  Heavens  ;  Who  needeth  not  daily, 
like  other  High  Priests,  to  offer  up  Sacrifice,  first  for  their 
own  sins,  and  then  for  the  peoples' ;  this  he  hath  done  once 
for  all  by  offering  up  Himself."  ^ 

Jesus  does  indeed  continue  to  be  both  Victim  and  Priest 
of  His  own  Sacrifice.  This  is  one  of  the  profoundest 
Mysteries  of  our  Faith,  and  yet  one  which  the  Hebrews 
were  better  fitted  to  understand  than  any  other  nation, 
for  everything  in  their  worship  tended  to  prepare  them 
for  it.  For  above  the  splendors  of  the  Mosaic  rit- 
ual, and  over  their  Temple,  one  of  the  marvels  of  the 
world,  over  and  above  the  Tabernacle,  veiled  by  the 
wings  of  the  Cherubim,^  over  and  above  all  these  hov- 
ered a  dark  cloud  of  blood.  Always  they  must  needs 
have  recourse  to  blood  if  they  would  cleanse  and  purify 

1  Hebr.,  vii.  1,  2.  Abraham,  Chieftain  and  Father  of  the  whole  chosen 
race,  by  paying  tithes  to  Melchisedec  and  receiving  his  blessing,  recog- 
nizes thereby  that  he  and  all  his  nation,  in  which  the  tribe  of  Levi  is  in- 
cluded, were  inferior  to  this  mysterious  priest. 

2  Hebr.,  vii.  3.  6  Ibid.,  vii.  23-27. 
8  Ibid.,  vii.  14.  6  Ibid.,  ix.  1-5. 

^  Ibid.,  vii.  16. 


THE  EPISTLE   TO  TEE  HEBREWS.  169 

their  sin-stained  souls  ;  for  "  there  is  no  remission  with- 
out shedding  of  blood."  ^  In  blood  Moses  had  inaugu- 
rated the  Law,2  and  it  was  with  blood-stained  hands  that 
the  High  Priest  entered  once  a  year  within  the  Holy  of 
Holies.^  What  were  all  these  immolations  of  rams  and 
bulls  intended  to  figure  forth  ?  Jesus,  the  Supreme  Sacri- 
ficer,  shedding  for  us  His  own  Blood,  "  offering  Himself 
to  God  as  a  Spotless  Victim,*  and  thereby  obtaining  for 
us  an  Eternal  Eedemption. "  ^  This  Divine  Oblation  was 
the  first  act  of  the  Incarnate  Son  of  God. 

"  Coming  into  the  World  He  hath  said,  ^  Thou  hast  de- 
sired neither  sacrifice  nor  offering,  but  a  naked  body  hast 
thou  prepared  Me  ;  neither  holocausts  nor  sacrifices  for  sin 
were  pleasing  unto  Thee  ;  then  said  I,  "  Behold  I  come,  as 
it  is  written  of  Me  in  the  book,  to  do  Thy  Will,  0  God !  "  ' 
.  .  .  and  in  that  will  of  God  we  are  sanctified,  by  the  Obla- 
tion of  the  Body  of  Jesus  Christ,  once  for  all.  Every  other 
sanctifier  standetb  daily  sacrificing  and  offering  oftentimes 
the  same  host  which  can  never  take  away  sins ;  but  He, 
after  He  had  offered  one  Sacrifice  for  sins,  hath  seated  Him- 
self for  ever  and  ever  on  the  right  hand  of  God,  henceforth 
expecting,  till  His  enemies  be  made  His  footstool.  For  by 
this  one  Offering  He  hath  perfected  forever  the  purification 
of  those  whom  He  hath  sanctified."  ^ 

What  did  the  Christians  of  Jerusalem  still  lack  to  help 
them  descry  and  appreciate  from  out  the  mists  of  ancient 
worship  the  true  Sacrifice,  the  Eternal  Priesthood  ?  Be- 
lief in  Christ  Who  went  forth  from  out  her  pale  that  He 
might  concentrate  and  incarnate  in  Himself  all  religions, 
as  well  as  all  righteousness  and  all  truth  ;  but  they  must 

1  Hebr.  ix.  22. 

2  "The  first  Covenant  was  not  inaugurated  without  shedding  of  blood ; 
for  when  Moses  had  proclaimed  before  all  the  people  every  ordinance  of  the 
Law,  he  took  the  blood  of  the  calves  and  goats,  with  water  and  scarlet 
wool,  and  hyssop,  and  sprinkled  the  book  itself  and  all  the  people,  saying, 
"This  is  the  blood  of  the  Covenant,  which  God  hath  made  for  your  sake." 
And  in  like  manner  he  sprinkled  the  Tabernacle  with  blood  also  and  all 
the  vessels  of  worship."     Hebr.  ix.  18-21. 

8  Hebr.  ix.  7-8.  5  Ibid,,  ix.  12. 

*  Ibid.,  ix.  14.  «  Ibid.  x.  5-7,  10-14. 


170  LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

needs  believe  with  that  "  full  faith  "  which  presupposes  the 
existence  of  a  "  sincere  heart,  cleansed  from  all  stains  of 
an  evil  conscience."  ^  Paul  knew  well  that  the  souls  of 
this  metal  were  far  from  being  numerous  in  Israel ;  even 
among  those  who  "had  had  knowledge  of  the  truth." ^ 
How  many  backsliders  there  were  with  eyes  fixed  not  on 
the  future,  but  on  the  past!  Eenegades  too,  "trampling 
under  foot  the  Son  of  God  ;  counting  the  blood  of  the 
Covenant,  which  had  sanctified  them,  as  it  were  something 
vile  and  profane ;  doing  despite  unto  the  Spirit  of  Grace ! "  ^ 
The  Apostle  pronounces  sentence  on  these  apostates  in 
one  short  line,  but  one  of  direful  import :  "  It  is  a  fearful 
thing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  living  God."  * 

And,  nevertheless,  far  removed  from  this  throng  of  un- 
believers, Paul's  gaze  could  single  out  a  chosen  few,  drawn 
likewise  from  the  ranks  of  Judaism,  but  united  unto  the 
Christ  henceforth  and  forever.  How  could  he  strengthen 
them  in  this  union  more  effectually  than  by  proving  to 
them  that  all  holiness  and  all  greatness,  from  the  very 
beginning  of  time,  proceeds  from  faith  in  the  Christ? 
It  was  this  virtue  which,  long  since,  had  inspired  the 
Saints  of  the  olden  Law  to  plant  deep  down  in  our  hearts 
a  "  steadfast  expectation  ^  of  that  for  which  we  hope ; 
the  full  conviction  of  that  which  we  as  yet  see  not."  ^ 
'T  was  for  this  faith  that  they  "  tarried  here  below  as  in  a 
strange  land,  dwelling  in  tents ;  .  .  .  they  were  awaiting 
that  city  of  everlasting  foundations,  whereof  God  Him- 
self is  the  Creator  and  the  Architect ;  .  .  .  these  all  died 
in  Faith,  not  having  received  the  things  which  were  prom- 
ised unto  them,  but  having  seen  them  afar  off  and  em- 
braced them,  confessing  that  they  were  but  strangers  and 
pilgrims  upon  Earth."  Thus  have  lived  all  those  great 
and  holy  ones  still  treasured  in  the  memory  of  Israel,  — 

1  Hebr.  X.  22.  »  Ibid.,  x.  29. 

2  Ibid.,  X.  26.  _  4  Ibid.,  X.  31. 

^  Beelen,  Maier,  Bisping,  and  the  majority  of  modern  critics  are  riglit 
ill  .giving  to  vTroaTacns  the  meaning  of  "  firm  expectation,"  for  this  significa- 
tion here  required  by  the  context  is  the  same  which  the  Greek  word  has 
in  other  passages  of  Scripture.     Hebr.  iii.  14  ;  Ezek.  xix.  5. 

6  Hebr.  xi.  i. 


THE  EPISTLE   TO   THE  HEBREWS.  171 

Abel,  Henoch,  Noe,  Abraham,  Isaac,  Jacob,  Joseph,  Moses, 
even  Eahab  the  harlot.^ 

"  What  shall  I  more  say  ?  "  proceeds  the  Apostle.  "  Time 
would  fail  me  to  tell  of  Gideon,  and  of  Barak,  of  Samson, 
of  Jephtha,  of  David,  of  Samuel,  and  of  the  Prophets,  who 
through  Faith  subdued  kingdoms,  held  righteous  sway,  ob- 
tained the  fulfilment  of  the  promises,  stopped  the  mouths 
of  lions,  quenched  the  violence  of  fire,  escaped  the  edge  of 
the  sword,  came  forth  strong  out  of  sickness,  waxed  valiant 
in  battle,  turned  to  flight  the  armies  of  aliens,  restored  to 
women  their  children  raised  to  life  again.  Some  were 
broken  on  the  wheel,  not  deigning  to  barter  for  their  lives, 
and  thus  obtaining  a  better  one  in  the  Resurrection  ;  others 
have  suffered  mockings  and  the  lash,  chains  also,  and  im- 
prisonments ;  they  were  stoned,  sawn  asunder,  tortured ; 
they  were  slain  with  the  sword ;  they  wandered  about  in 
sheepskins  and  goatskins,  being  destitute,  afflicted,  tor- 
mented, —  they  of  whom  the  world  was  not  worthy,  —  roam- 
ing through  the  deserts  and  on  mountain-sides,  dwelling  in 
dens  and  caves  of  the  earth.  All  these  holy  ones,  whose 
faith  the  Scripture  celebrates,  did  not  behold  the  realization 
of  the  promises,  God  having  willed  it  as  a  particular  favor 
unto  us  that  without  us  they  should  not  attain  unto  the 
accomplishment  of  their  joy.  Compassed  about  with  so 
great  a  cloud  of  witnesses,  let  us  run  with  patience  the  race 
that  is  set  before  us,  looking  onward  to  Jesus,  the  Author 
and  the  Finisher  of  the  Faith."  ^ 

Paul  felt  himself  more  justified  in  urging  upon  them 
the  necessity  of  courage,  because  as  a  rule  the  Christians 
of  Jerusalem  had  not  been  forced  as  others  had  been  to 
struggle  and  "  to  resist  unto  blood."  ^  What  were  their 
present  trials  compared  with  the  sufferings  of  their  breth- 
ren ?  At  most  but  a  fatherly  chastisement,  a  kindly  dis- 
cipline, whose  only  fruits  were  righteousness  and  peace.* 
And,  on  the  other  hand,  how  many  higher  motives  were 
theirs  not  to  yield  one  whit  in  generosity  to  the  Saints 
and  Martyrs  of  the  olden  Covenant  ?     These  had  never 

1  Joshua  ii.  1-21  ;  vi.  17.  ^  ibi^.,  xii.  4. 

2  Hebr.  xi.  32-40  ;  xii.  1,  2.  *  Ibid.,  xii.  6-11. 


172  LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

beheld  God  and  His  Law,  save  on  a  burning  mountain 
shrouded  in  darkness,  in  the  roar  of  the  storm,  and  in 
the  lightning's  flash  ;  so  terrible  then  was  the  voice  of  the 
Lord  that  they  had  entreated  Him  to  speak  to  them  ^  no 
longer.  Instead  of  this  awe-inspiring  pomp,  the  New 
Faith  comes  to  them  in  the  unclouded  light  of  day,  plainly 
distinguishable,  offering  unto  them  every  good  thing  which 
Israel  long  had  languished  for,  —  the  true  "  Mt.  Sion,  the 
City  of  the  living  God,  the  Heavenly  Jerusalem  ;  in  whose 
bosom  are  the  Angels  in  myriad  throngs  ;  the  congrega- 
tion of  the  first  born,  written  in  the  Heavens  ;  God,  Judge 
of  all  mankind ;  the  souls  of  the  righteous  made  perfect 
in  glory ;  Jesus  the  Mediator  of  the  New  Covenant ;  His 
Blood  shed  for  us  speaking  more  eloquently  than  did  that 
of  Abel."  2 

Henceforth  this  immolation  of  the  Saviour,  symbolized 
by  His  Cross,  will  remain  forever  the  most  abiding  Glory 
of  Jerusalem,  the  very  central  point  of  it,  and  focussing 
in  itself  all  that  is  left  to  them  of  life  and  salvation. 
Thitherward  Paul  never  tires  of  directing  the  gaze  of  the 
faithful  of  the  Holy  City,  showing  them  that  every  one 
of  the  virtues  which  he  urges  upon  them  is  in  some  sense 
an  act  of  worship ;  ^  the  "  sacrifice  of  praise  "  *  in  prayer ; 
the  sacrifice  of  charity  in  almsgiving,  hospitality,  and 
brotherly  love ;  ^  and  in  the  whole  sum  of  the  Christian 
life,  a  communion  through  Grace,  with  the  Oblation  of 
the  Saviour,  —  the  one  veritable  Holocaust  "  whereof  God 
is  the  consuming  fire."  ^  One,  too,  which  differs  so  widely 
from  those  of  Mosaism,  in  that  it  will  never  be  extin- 
guished ;  for  the  soul  of  this  Sacrifice,  "  Jesus  Christ,  is 
the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever."  "*  Paul's  last 
thought  is  of  this  Eternal  Pontiff. 

"Now  may  God,"  he  says  in  his  closing  greetings  to  the 
Hebrews,  "  the  God  of  peace,  Who  raised  up  from  the  dead 
Our  Lord  Jesus,  the  Great  Shepherd  of  the  sheep,  through 

'-  Hebr.  xii.  18-21.  6  ibid.,  xiii.  16. 

2  Ibid.,  xii.  22-24.  6  i^id.,  xii.  29. 

3  Ibid.,  xii.  28.  '  Ibid.,  xiii.  8. 
'^  Ibid.,  xiii.  15. 


THE  EPISTLE  TO   THE  HEBREWS.  173 

the  Blood,  which  maketh  this  Covenant  everlasting ;  [may 
this  God]  incline  you  to  do  every  good  work,  He  Himself 
working  in  you  that  which  is  pleasing  unto  Him,  through 
Jesus  Christ,  unto  Whom  be  glory  forever  and  ever. 
Amen."  ^ 

We  are  inclined  to  believe  that  the  Epistle  when  it  left 
the  hands  of  Barnabas  ended  with  this  benediction.  What 
followed  would  seem  to  have  been  dictated  by  Paul  him- 
self, when  the  letter  which  was  to  set  forth  his  ideas  was 
submitted  to  him  for  his  approval,  and  had  received  from 
him  the  stamp  of  authenticity. 

"  I  beseech  of  you,  brethren,  to  bear  with  these  words  of 
consolation  ;  I  have  written  to  you  in  a  few  words.^  Know 
that  our  brother  Timothy  has  been  set  at  liberty ;  with  him, 
if  he  come  speedily,  I  will  see  you.  Salute  all  them  that 
are  your  leaders,  and  all  the  Saints.  Those  of  Italy  salute 
you.     May  Grace  be  with  you  all.     Amen.''  ^ 

1  Hebr.  xiii.  20,  21. 

2  The  first  words  in  this  additional  passage  which  certain  interpreters 
find  very  difficult  to  explain  become  clear  and  significant  when  understood 
in  the  light  of  our  hypothesis.  The  Aorists  ^ypa^pa,  ^irefx^a,  eiriaTeiXa 
often  correspond  to  our  "  present  "  in  his  letters.  The  same  is  true  of  the 
Latin,  scripsi,  misi.  See  Winer,  Grammatik  des  Neutestamentlichen  Sprach- 
idioms,  sect.  40,  5,  b.  2. 

8  Hebr.  xiii.  22-25. 


CHAPTEK  IX. 

THE  EEBELLION  OF  JUDEA. 

I.    The  Fiest  Uprisings  in  Jerusalem. 

The  persecutions  which  Paul  had  been  arming  the 
faith  of  the  Mother  Church  against  lost  much  of  their 
violence  in  the  period  which  followed  the  despatch  of  his 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews.  As  always,  their  instigators  had 
been  certain  leaders  of  the  aristocracy,  but  now,  the  latter 
tormented  in  their  turn  by  the  lower  elements  of  the  pop- 
ulace, whose  wrath  had  been  excited  by  their  cringing 
attitude  toward  Kome,  speedily  found  themselves  in- 
volved in  a  life  and  death  struggle  against  a  rebellion 
which  for  some  time  past  had  been  smouldering  in  Jeru- 
salem and  now  burst  into  flames.  It  was  under  the  gov- 
ernorship of  Gessius  Elorus  that  the  Holy  City  assumed 
this  threatening  aspect. 

The  new  governor  found  Judea  very  different  from 
what  it  had  been  a  -hundred  and  thirty  years  previ- 
ously, when  Pompey  brought  it  under  the  yoke ;  for 
Kome,  generally  so  skilful  in  absorbing  conquered  pop- 
ulation into  the  body  politic,  had  here  made  complete 
failure.  One  of  the  most  efficacious  means  toward  attain- 
ing this  end  was  military  service.  •  Thereby  the  provin- 
cials, when  once  enrolled  in  the  auxiliary  cohorts,  their 
discipline  modelled  upon  that  of  the  legionaries  surround- 
ing them,  became  little  by  little  comrades  in  arms  and 
compatriots  of  the  latter.  Nothing  of  the  sort  was  to 
be  hoped  for  from  the  Jews,  whose  Law,  and  especially 
that  of  the  Sabbatical  Best,  could  not  be  made  to  har- 
monize with  military  discipline.  Similar  considerations 
made  them  absent  themselves  from  the  courts  of  com- 


?  ><^ " 


THE  FIRST  UPRISINGS  IN  JERUSALEM.        175 

mon  law.  Israel  had  its  own  code  dictated  by  God,  its 
own  national  judges,  in  the  persons  of  the  president  of 
each  Synagogue  ;  to  them  they  had  recourse,  and  per- 
sisted so  stubbornly  in  this  line  of  conduct  that  Eome 
was  forced,  if  only  for  the  sake  of  keeping  peace,  to 
tolerate  and  sometimes  even  to  authorize  their  independ- 
ent jurisdiction.^ 

But  the  deepest  gulf  between  them  was  that  of  their 
belief.  Some  sort  of  harmony  of  attributes  and  powers 
was  easily  brought  about  between  the  gods  of  the  Capitol 
and  those  of  the  rest  of  the  Pagan  world  ;  indeed,  they 
succeeded  in  making  them  scarcely  distinguishable  one 
from  another  ;  furthermore,  a  new  worship,  that  of  Caesar, 
was  made  obligatory  for  all,  and  thus  gathered  together 
about  the  same  altar  representatives  from  every  quarter 
of  the  empire.^  The  God  of  Israel  alone  brooked  neither 
rivalry  nor  partnership.  Alone  He  reigned  within  His 
Holy  Temple,  encompassing  with  His  Infinity,  not  only 
the  Holy  City,  but  the  Synagogues  scattered  throughout 
the  whole  known  world ;  for  in  them  every  adoring  Is- 
raelite set  his  face  Sionwards.  Nowhere  else  might  one 
offer  sacrifice ;  but  each  one  of  them  longingly  looked 
forward  to  the  day  when  he  might  accomplish  the  rites 
of  his  worship,  as  a  pilgrim  offering  his  sacrifice  upon  the 
solitary  Altar  acceptable  unto  the  Lord. 

The  majesty  of  the  Eoman  name  was  dimmed  and  over- 
shadowed by  the  greatness  of  this  Sanctuary.  In  order 
to  revive  its  prestige  the  Procurators  withdrew  to  Cses- 
area,  trusting  that  from  this  city,  half-Greek,  half-Jewish, 
they  might  wield  their  authority  more  imposingly.  The 
effect  of  this  measure,  though  in  certain  respects  politic, 
was  to  isolate  Jerusalem  from  all  external  influences  and 
to  leave  her  just  what  she  had  become  during  the  past 
centuries  of  withdrawal  from,  and  horror  of,  the  heathen 
world.     The  large  majority  of  the  population,  made  up  of 

1  Here  I  have  not  intended  to  do  more  than  to  summarize  certain  points 
treated  of  at  length  in  the  Third  Chapter  of  St.  Peter :  "  The  Jews  of  the 
Dispersion." 

2  St.  Paul,  chap.  i. 


176  LAST   YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

men  of  business,  merchants,  and  small  tradesmen,  en- 
deavored to  form  a  decent  and  peaceable  party  from 
among  them,  much  attached  to  their  Faith,  and  conse- 
quently dreading  any  revolt  likely  to  bring  the  Temple 
and  the  City  in  peril.  This  inborn  preference  for  tran- 
quillity rendered  the  Jews,  as  a  rule,  docile  subjects,  but 
without  inspiring  in  them  any  feeling  of  esteem  toward 
those  who  governed  them  ;  for  the  latter,  whether  princes 
of  the  Priesthood  or  former  officials  and  courtiers  of 
Herod,  were  all  notable  for  the  same  lack  of  faith  and 
morality.  Though  hated  for  their  impiety,  their  osten- 
tation, and  insulting  arrogance,  they  were  none  the  less 
masters  of  the  Sanhedrin,  and  still  shared  among  them- 
selves the  highest  positions  in  the  Pontificate  and  the 
Government.  Under  such  leaders,  bent  solely  on  in- 
creasing their  own  fortunes,  we  may  easily  imagine  that 
the  average  Jew  was  minded  to  keep  the  peace  at  any 
price. 

This  very  servility,  however,  became  a  constant  source 
of  trouble  for  Jerusalem.  Besides  the  middle  class,  which 
for  motives  of  self-interest,  pretended  not  to  see  all  this, 
there  was  always  an  uneasy  and  turbulent  element  among 
the  lower  populace.  With  no  other  heritage  save  the 
greatness  of  their  race,  they  lent  a  willing  ear  to  any  one 
who  spoke  of  restoring  it,  and  of  making  them  sharers  in 
its  riches  and  honors.  Amid  this  throng,  aggravated  on 
the  one  hand  by  their  own  destitution,  and  on  the  other 
by  deeds  of  violence  on  the  part  of  the  aristocracy,  revo- 
lutionary preachers  were  to  be  heard  daily.  Some  of 
these  fanatics  were  in  good  faith,  thinking  that  by  foster- 
ing rebellion  they  were  doing  the  work  of  God,  and  has- 
tening the  coming  of  His  Kingdom  ;  others  were  less 
disinterested,  watching  their  opportunity  for  private 
profit  out  of  every  public  disorder ;  crews  of  adventurers 
and  brigands,  always  drawing  new  recruits,  forced  into 
their  ranks  by  the  wretchedness  of  the  surrounding 
country,  ravaged  the  land  in  bands  of  such  redoubtable 
strength  that  the  Eoman  magistrates  had  been  forced  more 
than  once  to  come  to  some  compromise  with  them.    Un- 


THE  FIRST  UPRISINGS  IN  JERUSALEM.        177 

der  their  true  colors  they  could  not  have  done  more  than 
breed  terror  and  destruction,  but  in  company  with  sincere 
Zealots,  and  wearing  the  cloak  of  the  latters'  piety,  they 
were  well  fitted  to  incite  Jerusalem  to  revolt.  "  Liberty 
is  the  highest  right  of  all,"  they  proclaimed ;  "  we  must 
wrest  it,  if  needful  by  force,  from  those  who  prefer  slav- 
ery." 1  Secretly,  and  sometimes  by  public  attacks,  they 
supported  their  theories,  making  their  campaign  a  con- 
tinuous source  of  terror.^ 

Other  terrors  followed  in  rapid  succession,  all  conspir- 
ing to  agitate  the  minds  of  the  people.  The  one  theme 
of  general  conversation  just  then  was  the  appearance  of 
direful  portents  in  the  heavens.  "  Signs  of  our  approach- 
ing liberty  !  "  ^  cried  the  Zealots.  The  excitement  caused 
by  these  prodigies  was  so  great  that  rumors  of  them  reached 
Eome  itself.  Tacitus,  as  well  as  Josephus,^  records  them. 
For  a  whole  year  a  sword-shaped  comet  had  remained 
suspended  over  the  city  ;  but  it  was  in  the  year  65  that 
such  phenomena  were  most  in  evidence.  At  the  Pass- 
over festival,  about  three  hours  after  midnight,  a  great 
light  suddenly  enveloped  Mt.  Moriah  ;  so  dazzling  was  it 
that  the  people  assembled  together  for  the  Feast  of  Un- 
leavened Bread  beheld  the  Temple  and  the  Altar  as 
plainly  as  in  the  glare  of  noonday. 

Another  prodigy  occurred  to  disturb  the  same  solem- 
nities. The  brazen  gates  of  the  Temple,  so  huge  and 
heavy  that  it  required  twenty  men  to  work  them,  opened 
of  themselves,  and  were  closed  again  only  after  prodi- 
gious labors.  A  few  days  later,  just  before  dawn,  the  sky 
appeared  to  be  filled  with  visions  and  mutterings  of  war ; 
beholders  descried  rushing  chariots,  the  shock  of  contend- 
ing armies,  and  cities  encircled  with  trenches.  Still  more 
sinister  were  the  presages  on  the  Day  of  Pentecost ;  for 
the  Priests,  when  entering  at  night  into  the  Temple  to 
perform  their  functions,  were  alarmed  by  the  noise  of  a 
great  tumult,  the   sound  of  myriad  footsteps,  as  it  were 


1  Jose])hiis,  Bell  Jud.,  ii.  xiii.  6.        2  ibid.,  ii.  xiii.  3,  4.        ^  ibid 
4  Tacitus,  Eistori<£,  v.  13  ;  Joseplius,  Bell.  Jud.,  vi.  v.  3. 

12 


178  LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

of  a  multitude  in  flight,  shrieking  with  one  voice,  "  Let 
us  flee  from  here !    Let  us  flee  from  here  !" 

But  why  was  not  Florus  on  hand  to  check  and  pacify 
his  province  during  these  days  of  wild  excitement? 
Simply  because  he  was  the  worst  governor  as  yet  sent 
to  them  by  Kome.  Once  raised  to  this  post  of  honor 
through  the  influence  of  his  wife,  Poppsea's  friend,  he 
seems  never  to  have  had  any  other  end  in  view  save  to 
rival  and  outdo  his  fellow-magistrates  of  the  Orient  in 
the  speedy  accumulation  of  a  fortune.^  His  prestige  at 
the  Imperial  court  insured  him  perfect  impunity,  and  he 
availed  himself  of  it  so  efficiently  as  to  make  even  the 
scoundrelly  Albinus  regretted.  The  latter  had  shown 
some  discretion  in  his  exactions.  Florus  proceeded 
unchecked  and  unashamed.  He  pillaged  cities  and  citi- 
zens with  both  hands,  and  withal  so  fiercely  as  to  depopu- 
late the  regions  roundabout ;  not  only  villages,  but  towns 
as  well,  were  almost  deserted.  Cestius  Gallus  was  then 
Administrator  of  Syria,  the  province  whereof  Judea,  with 
its  Procurators,  was  a  dependency.  He  visited  Jerusalem 
during  the  Passover,  and  found  Jews  assembled  there  for 
this  Solemnity  to  the  number  of  three  millions,  or  so 
Josephus  tells  us.^  At  once  there  arose  an  outcry  against 
Florus,  whom  they  accused  before  him  of  being  the  bane 
of  their  country.  Meanwhile,  the  latter  standing  at  the 
right  hand  of  the  Imperial  Legate,  simply  smiled  at  their 
angry  tirades,  well  aware  how  futile  they  were.  For 
Cestius  proved  true  to  his  bond,  and  on  his  departure  the 
lot  of  wretched  Judea  waxed  only  the  more  pitiable.^ 

Thereupon,  whether  out  of  revenge  or  through  mere  cu- 
pidity, Florus  threw  off  all  self-restraint.  He  gave  orders 
for  the  levying  of  seventeen  talents  (about  $18,360.00 
in  our  money)  upon  the  treasury  of  the  Temple,  hitherto 
held  inviolate ;  for  therein  was  accumulated  the  tribute 
paid  by  the  Jews  all  over  the  world.*  Jerusalem  shud- 
dered at  this  sacrilege,  which  thousands  of  voices  clam- 

1  Josephus,  Antiq.  Jud.,  xx.  xi.  1 ;  Bell.  Jud.,  ii.  xiv.  3, 

2  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  ii.  xiv.  3. 

8  Ibid.,  ii.  xiv.  3.  *  ibid.,  ii.  xiv.  6. 


THE  FIRST  UPRISINGS  IN  JERUSALEM.        179 

orously  denounced  ;  some  of  the  most  infuriated  citizens 
traversed  the  streets  with  a  beggar's  cup  in  their  hands, 
asking  alms  "  for  the  poor  representative  of  Caesar  1 " 
Ever  on  the  watch  Florus  here  scented  his  opportunity ; 
he  made  his  entry  into  Jerusalem  in  full  force  and  bade 
the  authorities  deliver  up  to  him  these  insulting  wretches. 
The  Sanhedrin  did  its  utmost  to  obtain  indulgence  for 
words  and  deeds  which  they  claimed  were  the  outcome 
of  mere  thoughtlessness,  furthermore  urging  the  impos- 
sibility of  discovering  the  real  culprits.  To  this  Florus's 
only  reply  was  to  bid  his  soldiers  charge  upon  the  people, 
adding  full  permission  to  rob  and  slay  all  who  stopped 
their  path.  Men,  women,  and  children,  to  the  number 
of  3,600  perished  under  the  sword  or  were  trampled  to 
death  by  the  fleeing  throng.  Certain  Jews,  who  availed 
themselves  of  their  rights  of  Roman  citizenship,  were 
haled  before  the  Pretorium  ;  Florus  had  them  whipped 
and  crucified.^  Vainly  did  Agrippa's  wife,  Berenice,  send 
message  after  message  to  the  Procurator,  conjuring  him 
to  stay  the  massacre ;  she  even  appeared  in  person,  in  sup- 
pliant guise  and  barefooted,  before  his  tribunal ;  but  it 
only  resulted  in  her  beholding  her  unfortunate  fellow- 
countrymen  beaten  with  rods  and  butchered  before  her 
own  eyes  ;  she  herself  was  so  threatened  that  she  was 
fain  to  escape  with  all  speed  from  the  fury  of  the  soldiers.^ 
On  the  morrow,  Jerusalem,  contrary  to  all  expectations, 
remained  wrapped  in  peace  and  quiet.  The  people  were 
endeavoring  to  restrain  their  rage,  yielding  to  the  urgent 
prayers  of  their  leaders  ;  but  this  state  of  mournful  resig- 
nation was  not  at  all  to  the  taste  of  Florus  ;  since,  accord- 
ing to  Josephus,  at  least,  he  was  trying  to  force  them  into 
rebellion.  Of  course  the  principal  object  he  had  in  view 
was  the  Treasury.  In  order  to  keep  the  people  away 
from  that  locality  he  gave  orders  that  they  were  to  go  with- 
out the  walls  to  meet  the  two  cohorts  which  were  about 
to  enter  the  city,  and  to  greet  them  on  their  approach. 
The  populace  at  once  fathomed  his  ruse,  and  became  more 

1  Josephus,  Bell.  JucL,  ii.  xiv.  8,  9.  ^  ibj^,  [{^  xv.  3. 


180  LAST  YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

threatening  than  before.  To  pacify  them,  the  Priests  and 
Levites  were  forced  to  appear  in  their  midst,  their  heads 
sprinkled  with  ashes,  their  garments  tattered,  bearing  be- 
fore them  the  sacred  vessels ;  these  they  held  up  aloft 
before  the  populace,  crying  out  that  they  were  in  danger 
of  falling  into  sacrilegious  hands  if  any  resistance  was 
offered.  Once  more  the  Jews  saw  fit  to  acquiesce,  and 
went  out  to  welcome  with  the  usual  acclamations  the 
Syrian  Guards  and  that  idolater  Eome  had  just  put  over 
them.^  The  latter  responded  to  their  shouts  with  words 
of  the  most  outrageous  contempt.  This  was  too  much  to 
be  borne  by  a  multitude  whose  patience  and  self-restraint 
were  now  utterly  exhausted ;  there  was  an  outburst  of 
mutterings  and  imprecations  against  Florus.  It  would 
seem  that  the  cohorts  were  only  waiting  for  this  pretext ; 
they  fell  upon  the  Jews,  beating  them  with  their  staves, 
stamping  out  the  lives  of  those  who  fell  beneath  the  feet 
of  their  horses,  and  driving  them  back  in  bloody  tumult 
within  the  gates. 

These  fresh  troops  then  rapidly  crossed  the  suburb  of 
Bezetha  and  pushed  their  way  toward  the  Antonia  and 
the  Temple.  Florus,  on  his  side,  marshalling  all  the 
legionaries  in  his  command,  hastened  to  the  same  spot. 
This  concerted  movement  leaves  no  doubt  that  the  Treas- 
ury was  his  objective  point.  The  Jews  hurried  madly  to 
its  defence ;  perched  upon  the  housetops  they  showered 
down  stones  on  the  soldiers,  while  others  set  to  work 
pulling  down  the  viaduct  which  was  used  by  the  Lords 
of  Antonia  to  make  their  entrance  into  the  Sanctuary. 
Florus  realizing  that  the  opportunity  had  slipped  througli 
his  fingers,  called  a  halt,  and  a  little  later,  leaving  only 
one  cohort  in  the  city,  took  his  departure  for  Csesarea. 

He  left  Jerusalem  still  bleeding  and  incensed,  readier 
than  ever  before  to  lend  a  willing  ear  to  the  promptings 
of  the  Zealots  ;  for  the  authority  of  the  aristocracy  had 
waned  with  that  of  Eome.  What  was  the  use  of  preach- 
ing prudence  to  a  mob  which   had   just   measured  its 

1  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  ii.  xv.  1. 


THE  FIRST  UPRISINGS  IN  JERUSALEM,        181 

strength  with  that  of  its  tyrannical  rulers  ?  Does  not 
the  departure  of  Florus,  utterly  impolitic  as  it  was,  and 
so  well  fitted  to  encourage  revolt,  prove  that  the  Procura- 
tor, fearful  of  being  denounced,  was  actually  anxious  to 
foment  the  rebellion  ?  To  save  himself,  no  more  effica- 
cious means  suggested  itself  than  the  outbreak  of  an  or- 
ganized insurrection,  thereby  enabling  him  to  stifle  the 
complaints  which  his  own  acts  of  rapacity  and  sanguinary 
rage  justified.^ 

One  last  resort  was  still  left  to  the  moderate  party,  in 
the  person  of  Agrippa,  who,  acting  in  concert  with  them, 
had  hitherto  done  all  in  his  power  to  prevent  a  rupture 
with  Eome.  This  prince,  now  on  his  return  from  Egypt 
with  his  wife  Berenice,  was  making  a  short  stay  in  the 
Holy  City.  Both  of  them  earnestly  endeavored  to  ex- 
tinguish the  sparks  which  threatened  a  general  confla- 
gration. Agrippa  assembled  the  people  in  the  great 
square  of  Jerusalem  called  the  Xystus  ;  he  represented 
to  them  the  folly  of  entering  upon  a  struggle  with  that 
one  power  which  had  the  whole  world  at  its  feet.  The 
leaders  of  the  priesthood,  quite  as  anxious  as  he  to  pre- 
serve the  peace,  seconded  him  with  what  vestige  of  au- 
thority was  still  left  them.  Finally  Berenice  contributed 
all  the  influence  of  her  beauty  and  supplications.  Ap- 
pearing before  them  upon  one  of  the  terraces  of  the  pal- 
ace which  overlooked  the  Xystus,  she  besought  them  with 
tears  and  sobs,  —  a  sight  most  touching  to  their  hearts  ; 
for  the  people  all  loved  this  princess,  whom  they  regarded 
with  the  same  affection  they  had  once  lavished  on  the 
lovely  Mariamne,  the  Asmonsean.  At  first  it  seemed  that 
they  would  come  to  some  general  agreement,  so  far  as 
keeping  the  peace  witli  Eome  was  concerned  ;  but  Agrippa 
was  so  imprudent  as  to  push  this  first  advantage  to  the 
extreme  by  insisting  that  until  the  arrival  of  a  new  proc- 
urator they  should  yield  obedience  to  Florus.  This  was 
too  much.  At  that  detested  name,  angry  reproaches,  in- 
sults, and  a  shower  of  stones  greeted  the  speaker.     Dis- 

1  Joso^ilms,  Bell,  JucL,  ii.  xv.  2,  6. 


182  LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

couraged  by  this  rude   reception,  the  prince  forthwith 
abandoned  the  city  and  witlidrew  into  Batanroa.^ 

Thereafter  the  fanatics  found  the  field  free  for  their  cam- 
paign, and  they  at  once  took  advantage  of  it  to  commit  a 
definite  act  of  rebellion.  Two  days'  journey  from  Jerusa- 
lem, on  the  shores  of  the  Dead  Sea,  stood  the  impregnable 
fortress  Masada.  The  fiercest  of  the  Zealots  hastened 
thither,  stormed  and  seized  it  by  surprise,  butchered  the 
Koman  garrison,  and  left  a  detachment  of  their  followers 
in  possession .2  This,  however,  was  but  an  isolated  act  of 
violence,  which  in  no  way  compromised  the  entire  nation, 
since  Jerusalem  remained  still  in  the  hands  of  the  mod- 
erate party.  Eeinforced  by  the  Koman  cohort  which 
guarded  the  Antonia,  the  sacerdotal  aristocracy  still  held 
the  upper  hand  over  the  people  ;  their  leader,  especially 
the  former  High  Priest,  Ananias,^  was  quite  capable, 
if  not  of  subjugating  the  seditious  element,  at  least  of 
holding  it  in  check.  Unfortunately,  those  who  had 
seemed  to  be  in  a  position  to  inspire  him  with  courage 
were  the  very  ones  who  made  him  waver.  Foremost 
among  them  was  his  own  son,  Eleazar,  Captain  of  the 
Temx^le.  This  high  office  insured  the  latter  complete 
sway  over  the  rank  and  file  of  the  Levites.  Now  it  is 
well  known  how  grievously  these  inferior  ministers  suf- 
fered from  the  exactions  of  their  superiors,  as  well  as 
from  their  overbearing  pride.  Any  demagogue  who  prom- 
ised to  restore  to  them  their  former  dignities  and  rights 

1  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  ii.  xvi.  and  xvii.  1. 

2  Ibid.,  ii.  xvii.  2.  Masada  (the  nioderu  Sebbeh),  situated  on  the  east- 
ern shore  of  the  Dead  Sea,  just  below  Engaddi.  In  the  time  of  the  Macca- 
bees a  fortress  was  erected  upon  this  cliff  by  the  High  Priest  Jonathan. 
Herod  the  Great  increased  its  strategetical  importance.  (Josephus,  Bell. 
Jud.,  vii.  viii.  3.)  Traces  of  the  besiegers'  works,  when  the  Roinans  in  73 
tried  to  reduce  the  Zealots,  are  still  visible.  Robinson,  Biblical  Researches, 
iii.pp.  241  et  seq.;  De  Saulcy,  Voijage  autour  de  la  Mer  Morte  (1853),  vol.  i. 
pp.  199  et  seq.  ;  Atlas  plate,  xi-xiii.  ;  The  Survey  of  Weslern  Palestine, 
Memoirs  by  Conder  and  Kitchener,  iii.  pp.  418-421  ;  Tuch,  Masada,  die 
Herodianische  Felsenfeste  nach  Fl.  Josephus  und  neueren  Beobachtangen, 
Leipzig,  1863. 

^  The  High  Priest  then  in  office  was  Matthias,  son  of  Theophilus.  All 
that  we  know  of  him  is  that,  so  far  as  we  can  discover,  he  was  the  last 
Pontiff  regularly  appointed. 


THE  FIRST  UPRISINGS  IN  JERUSALEM.        183 

was  sure  of  gaining  a  hearing.  In  this  instance  the  first 
plank  in  the  platform  of  restoration  was  cleverly  devised ; 
namely,  to  abolish  the  Sacrifice  which  they  offered  daily 
for  the  Emperor.  For  now  many  years  it  had  become 
the  established  custom  to  receive  such  gifts  as  the  for- 
eign princes  were  pleased  to  make  to  the  Temple,  and  to 
accept  their  offerings  of  victims  for  the  Altar.^  Eleazar 
persuaded  the  Levites  to  proscribe  this  usage  and  to  de- 
cree that  in  the  future  no  offerings  should  be  made  upon 
the  Altar  of  Jehovah  save  such  as  were  donated  by  the 
Jews  and  for  the  Jews. 

This  act  of  intolerance  constituted  a  mortal  insult  to 
Eome,  and  one  all  the  more  keenly  felt,  since  this  Mis- 
tress of  the  World  everywhere  attached  the  greatest 
importance  to  such  participation  in  the  worship  of  the 
subject  nations.  Pontiffs,  members  of  the  Sanhedrin,  the 
Pharisee,  —  all  men  in  fact  who  were  still  able  to  think 
calmly,  —  at  once  realized  what  such  an  act  of  madness 
would  entail,  and  set  themselves  to  work  to  oppose  it. 
On  various  occasions  the  chief  men  of  the  Priesthood 
harangued  the  people,  representing  to  them  that  to  reject 
the  Emperor's  offerings  was  to  declare  him,  and  with 
him  the  whole  Eoman  world,  unworthy  of  taking  part  in 
prayer  with  Israel,  and  that  thereby  they  would  lay  them- 
selves open  to  direful  acts  of  reprisal.  Their  most  famous 
Doctors  employed  all  the  learning  at  their  command  to 
prove  by  the  authority  of  Scripture  that  from  time  im- 
memorial the  sacrifices  of  foreigners  had  been  received  in 
the  Temple ;  and  that  this  practice,  far  from  being  sacri- 
legious, constituted  the  most  striking  act  of  homage  to 
the  only  true  God.  All  this,  however,  failed  to  move 
the  Levites  one  whit.  Fascinated  by  the  eloquence  of 
Eleazar,  they  obstinately  persisted  in  their  refusal  to 
offer  sacrifice  for  the  Emperor.^ 

1  Jer.  xxix.  7;  Baruch  i.  10,  11  ;  1  Esdr.  vi.  10  ;  2  Mace.  iii.  2  ;  v. 
16  ;  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  ii,  x.  4,  iv.  iii.  10,  v.  xiii.  6  ;  Antiq.  Jud.,  xiii. 
iii.  4  ;  Contr.  Apion.,  ii.  5,  6  ;  Philo,  Legal,  ad  Caium,  sects,  xxiii.,  xxxvii., 
xl.,  xlv.  ;  Aboth.,  iii.  2. 

2  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  ii.  xvii.  3,  4. 


184  LAST   YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

Members  of  the  moderate  party  now  realized  that  Jeru- 
salem was  slipping  from  their  grasp;  powerless  to  stay 
the  tide  of  insurrection  which  threatened  to  engulf  them, 
they  appealed  for  aid  to  Florus  and  once  more  to  Agrippa. 
The  Procurator,  however,  was  only  too  eager  to  add  fuel 
to  the  flame;  and  with  unconcealed  delight  at  these 
tidings,  or  so  Josephus  assures  us,  he  dismissed  the  mes- 
sengers without  granting  them  any  satisfaction.^  Agrippa, 
on  the  contrary,  hastened  to  send  three  thousand  of  his 
cavaliers,  by  whose  aid  the  better  class  of  citizens  could 
hold  their  own  and  retain  the  upper  quarter  of  Jerusalem 
in  their  possession,^  while  leaving  the  lower  town  and  the 
Temple  in  the  hands  of  the  rebels.  After  a  few  days  of 
tentative  sallies  and  skirmishes,  a  veritable  battle  was 
fought.  On  the  14th  of  August  the  insurgents  attacked 
the  upper  city,  carried  it  by  storm,  set  fire  to  the  residence 
of  Ananias,  to  the  lower  part  of  Agrippa's  palace,  and  what 
was  to  them  the  most  important  of  all,  to  the  Chamber  of 
Archives,  which  contained  all  the  mortgages  and  claims 
due  the  State.  The  practical  effect  of  this  was  to  liber- 
ate at  one  stroke  the  throng  of  debtors  then  so  numerous 
in  Jerusalem,  and  to  win  them  over  to  their  side.  Their 
victory  was  complete ;  the  prince's  cavalry,  the  Koman 
soldiery,  and  the  pontiff's,  together  with  the  principal 
personages  of  the  city,  had  barely  time  to  take  refuge  in 
the  upper  part  of  Agrippa's  palace.  On  the  morrow  their 
conquerors  stormed  the  Tower  of  Antonia ;  this  they  car- 
ried after  two  days'  fighting,  set  fire  to  it,  and  put  the  gar- 
rison to  the  sword.  Thence  they  returned  to  what  was 
still  left  of  the  Palace  of  the  Asmoneeans,  this  time,  how- 
ever, to  be  met  by  a  most  desperate  resistance  ;  indeed, 
they  had  almost  resigned  themselves  to  the  prospect  of 
carrying  it  by  siege,  when  an  unexpected  reinforcement 
hastened  their  triumph.^ 

Manahem,  son  of  the  famous  Judas  the  Galilean,  who 
sixty  years  earlier  had  been  the  first  to  attempt  to  arouse 

1  Josephus,  Bell.  Jnd.,  ii.  xvii.  4. 

2  The  districts  occupied  nowadays  by  the  Armenians  and  Jews, 
^  Josephus,  BeU.JucL,  ii.  xvii.  5,  7. 


THE  FIRST   UPRISINGS  IN  JERUSALEM.        185 

Judea  against  Rome,^  —  Manahem  had  inherited  the  same 
fanatic  spirit  which  had  brought  his  father  and  elder 
brother  to  the  executioner's  block.  Seeing  Jerusalem  in 
its  present  state  of  insurrection,  he  too  believed  that  his 
hour  had  come,  and  appeared  suddenly  within  the  fortress 
of  Masada,  but  lately  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Zeal- 
ots. Putting  himself  at  their  head,  he  made  his  entrance 
as  a  king  into  Jerusalem,  assumed  the  command  over  the 
troops,  and  pushed  the  assault  upon  the  Upper  Palace  so 
vigorously  that  the  besieged  were  forced  to  capitulate. 
Agrippa's  cavalry  were  allowed  to  retire  from  the  city ; 
as  for  the  Romans,  however,  now  too  reduced  in  numbers 
to  fight  their  own  way  out  of  the  town,  some  were  mas- 
sacred on  the  spot,  others  took  refuge  in  the  three  towers 
named  after  Hippicus,  Phasael,  and  Mariamne,  and  made 
these  their  last  stand.  On  the  following  morning  An- 
anias was  discovered  hiding  in  an  aqueduct  leading  to 
the  Palace,  and  was  hacked  to  pieces  by  their  swords.^ 
This  arrogant  Pontiff,  who  for  so  many  a  day,  had  held 
both  Priests  and  Levites  in  his  implacable  grasp,  could 
hope  for  neither  pity  nor  protection.  This,  Paul,  when 
buffeted  in  the  face  by  his  orders,  had  foretold  him :  he 
in  his  turn  should  be  struck,  but  by  the  Hand  of  God.^ 

This  violent  end  of  a  hated  life,  well  merited  though  it 
was,  seemed  none  the  less  shocking  to  the  populace,  and 
Eleazar  was  quick  to  take  advantage  of  the  general  feel- 
ing to  demand  vengeance  for  his  father.  Roused  to  fury 
by  his  tirades,  the  mob  seized  upon  Manahem,  slew  him 
with  all  imaginable  cruelty,  and  constrained  his  Zealots 
to  make  the  best  of  their  way  back  to  Masada.  All  that 
was  left  now  of  their  enemies  was  a  little  band  of  Romans 
shut  up  in  the  towers  of  the  palace.  Wearied  of  war- 
fare, these  finally  surrendered,  under  a  promise  of  safe 
conduct,  it  is  true,  but  scarcely  had  they  laid  down  their 
arms  when  the  perjurer  Eleazar  gave  the  signal  to  his 

1  Acts  V.  37.  Josephus,  Antiq,  Jud.,  xviii.  i.  1.  Consult  The  Christ 
the  Son  of  God,  book  ii.  chap,  i.,  and  St.  Peter,  chap.  ii. 

2  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.y  ii.  xvii.  8,  9. 

3  Acts  xxiii.  3. 


186  LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

men  to  slaughter  them.  Metilius,  commander  of  the  co- 
hort, was  the  only  one  spared,  and  that  only  at  the  cost 
of  an  active  cowardice  on  his  part,  —  by  allowing  himself 
to  be  circumcised.^ 

Jerusalem  was  lost  to  the  Eomans,  and  with  it  almost 
the  whole  of  Judea,  for  all  the  garrisons  roundabout,  in- 
cluding those  of  Jericho  and  the  Dead  Sea,  made  haste  to 
capitulate.^  The  insurrectionists  were  thus  left  masters 
of  the  country,  free  to  organize  the  most  formidable  sort 
of  resistance  known  to  history,  —  that  of  a  mob  drunken 
with  fanatical  rage,  without  leaders  or  councillors,  ready, 
if  need  be,  to  bury  themselves  beneath  the  ruins  of  the 
State. 

II.  Massacre  of  the  Jews  in  the  East. 

THE   campaign   OF   CESTIUS   GALLUS. 

riorus  had  abandoned  Jerusalem  to  its  fate  sometime 
during  the  month  of  May,  66,  and  the  last  Koman  guard 
succumbed  there  about  the  end  of  September  ;2  thus 
during  four  months  the  insurrection  had  been  allowed  to 
develop  its  forces  without  anything  having  been  done  on 
the  part  of  Eome  to  stay  its  progress.  How  are  we  to 
account  for  this  inactivity  ?  Josephus,  as  we  have  seen, 
explains  it,  so  far  as  Florus  is  concerned,  by  imputing  to 
him  a  plot  to  force  matters  to  the  last  extremity.  But 
there  was  Cassius  as  well,  on  whom  this  Procurator  was 
dependent,  and  who  was  responsible  for  this  entire  quar- 
ter of  the  Empire.  Why  was  he  so  slow  to  act  ?  His 
indolence  and  well  known  incapacity  when  he  was  pushed 
to  the  necessity  of  taking  up  arms,  furnish  in  some  meas- 
ure the  reason  for  his  conduct ;  but  furthermore  we  know 
that  from  the  very  first  he  had  shown  himself  utterly 

1  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  ii.  xvii.  9,  10. 

2  Ibid.,  Bell.  Jud.,  ii.  xviii.  6. 

8  "  On  the  17th  ofEloul  (September)  the  Romans  withdrew  from  Juda 
and  Jerusalem."  Megillath  Taanith,  xiv.  The  outbreak  at  Jerusalem,  re- 
sulting from  the  sacrilegious  demands  of  Florus,  took  place  in  the  course 
of  the  preceding  month  of  May.     Josephus,  Bell,  Jud.,  ii.  xv.  2. 


MASSACRE   OF  THE  JEWS  IN   THE  EAST.        187 

devoid  of  discernment.  Accustomed  as  he  was  to  the  sec- 
tarian strifes  which  were  constantly  dividing  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Jerusalem  into  hostile  camps,  he  could  not  bring 
himself  to  believe  that  the  revolt  of  the  city  would  ex- 
tend itself  beyond  its  walls ;  consequently,  he  argued,  of 
what  use  was  it  to  expose  himself  to  the  fury  of  a  few 
fanatics  who  were  fated  to  tear  each  other  to  pieces,  and 
whose  madness  inspired  only  fear  and  repulsion  among 
the  neighboring  peoples  ?  This  sudden  uprising  on  the 
part  of  all  Judea  must  have  upset  all  his  anticipations. 

The  signal  for  the  outbreak  of  this  tumult  issued  from 
Caesarea.  There,  more  than  elsewhere  in  Palestine,  the 
situation  of  the  Israelites  was  exceedingly  precarious, 
owing  to  the  fact  that  they  made  up  scarcely  one-half  of 
the  population.  The  rest  of  the  citizens,  Syrians  and 
Greeks  for  the  most  part,  were  dependent  upon  the  Eo- 
mans,  who  had  established  the  seat  of  their  government 
there.  But  here,  as  everywhere  else,  Jews  and  Pagans 
found  it  hard  to  dwell  together  in  harmony.  The  latter, 
always  assured  of  enjoying  the  confidence,  or  at  least  the 
tolerance  of  the  magistrates,  lost  no  opportunity  of  mo- 
lesting those  of  their  fellow-citizens  who  for  so  many 
reasons  were  hateful  to  them.  Hitherto  this  feeling  had 
vented  itself  in  midnight  brawls  and  secret  ambushes, 
more  or  less  sanguinary  in  their  results,  but  which  the 
leading  men  in  the  city  put  a  stop  to  as  promptly  as  pos- 
sible. Upon  the  news  that  Jerusalem  had  succeeded  in 
expelling  the  Eomans  neck  and  crop  from  out  her  walls, 
however,  the  Pagans  of  Csesarea,  believing  that  war  had 
been  declared,  lost  no  time  in  attacking  the  Jews.  In 
the  space  of  one  hour  twenty  thousand  of  the  latter  were 
slain,  nor  was  a  single  one  left  in  the  city  ;  for  Florus 
gave  orders  that  all  who  escaped  the  massacre  should  be 
seized  and  sent  to  the  galleys.^ 

All  Judea  was  thrilled  with  horror  by  the  reports  of 
this  carnage,  and  believed  itself  threatened  with  actual 
extermination.     Bands  of  guerillas  were  hastily  formed, 

1  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud,^  ii.  xviii,  1,\ 


188  LAST   YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

and  these,  sweeping  down  suddenly  upon  the  towns  and 
villages  of  the  Syrians,  committed  frightful  deeds  of 
reprisal.  Philadelphia,  Hesebon,  Gerasa,  and  Pella  were 
ravaged  ;  the  Decapolis  and  Gaulanitis  suffered  the  same 
fate.  Troops  of  insurgents  swept  hither  and  thither,  with 
no  concerted  plan  of  action,  moved  only  by  the  lust  for 
vengeance  which  filled  their  souls.  After  a  daring  inroad 
upon  the  Tyrian  cities,  and  even  upon  Csesarea  itself, 
they  fell  back  to  the  southward,  put  Ascalon  to  the  torch 
and  razed  Anthedon  and  Gaza  to  the  ground.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  Syrians  displayed  a  desperation  as  fierce 
as  their  own  ;  not  content  with  returning  murder  for  mur- 
der, they  believed  that  there  was  no  safety  for  them  in 
many  of  the  districts  until  they  had  massacred  all  the 
Jews  in  the  neighboring  parts.  Even  where  they  did  not 
proceed  to  such  extremities,  the  situation  became  none 
the  less  intolerable.  In  every  town  there  were  two  hos- 
tile camps ;  the  nights  were  passed  in  alarms,  the  days  in 
deeds  of  violence.  One  incident  related  by  Josephus,  is 
the  best  witness  to  the  ferocity  exhibited  on  both  sides.^ 

In  Scythopolis  the  Jews  had  joined  forces  with  the 
Syrians  in  the  hope  of  repelling  the  rebel  bands  which 
were  threatening  the  city.  The  Pagan  population,  scent- 
ing some  treachery  in  this  proffered  aid,  accepted  it  on 
condition  of  their  withdrawal  every  evening  with  their 
families  into  a  forest  close  by.  On  the  third  night  the 
Syrians  fell  upon  the  unfortunate  allies  unexpectedly,  and 
massacred  thirteen  thousand  of  them.  One  of  the  noblest 
among  these  children  of  Israel,  Simon,  son  of  Saul,  who 
had  distinguished  himself  during  the  engagements  of  the 
preceding  days,  felt  all  the  old  faith  grow  great  within 
him  as  his  last  hour  drew  near.  In  a  loud  voice  and  with 
a  majestic  gesture  bidding  his  assailants  halt,  he  cried  out 
to  them  that  he,  indeed,  deserved  to  die  for  having  fought 
in  their  ranks  against  his  fellow-countrymen,  but  that  he 
would  not  receive  the  death-stroke  from  any  Pagan  hand. 
Thereupon  he  seized  his  aged  father  and  slew  him.     His 

1  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  ii.  xviii.  1,  2,  5 ;   Vita,  6. 


MASSACRE   OF  THE  JEWS  IN   THE  EAST.        189 

mother,  his  wife,  his  children,  willingly  suffered  death  at 
his  hands ;  only  then,  and  standing  upon  their  dead 
bodies  he  drove  his  sword  into  his  own  heart.  The  horri- 
fied Syrians  realized  then  what  they  had  to  expect  from 
men  capable  of  such  passions.^ 

The  storm  covering  such  a  territory  in  Judea  could  not 
fail  to  affect  the  neighboring  regions.  Cassius  and  Agrippa 
had  succeeded  in  assuaging  it  in  Syria,  but  in  Egypt  it 
raged  with  all  its  violence.  Here  the  Israelites  had  mul- 
tiplied to  such  an  extent  that  their  dwellings  occupied 
a  whole  quarter  of  Alexandria,  or,  to  be  more  exact, 
that  half  of  the  city  called  the  Delta.  Within  this  do- 
main of  theirs,  although  enjoying  complete  autonomy, 
having  their  tribal  courts  with  their  own  leaders,  they 
went  further  and  laid  claim  to  privileges  granted  to  the 
Pagan  city,  and  in  consequence  frequently  came  in  con- 
flict with  the  latter. 

The  tidings  which  came  from  Judea  agitated  them  now 
more  than  ordinarily  would  have  been  the  case.  Learn- 
ing that  the  citizens  of  Alexandria  were  deliberating  in 
the  Circus  as  to  the  sending  of  a  special  ambassador  to 
Nero,  the  Jews  were  desirous  of  entering  with  them  and 
taking  part  in  their  assembly ;  they  were,  however,  received 
with  violence  and  forcibly  ejected ;  whereupon  they  re- 
turned in  a  body,  bearing  burning  torches  to  set  fire  to 
the  amphitheatre  ;  and  this  they  would  have  done,  had 
not  Alexander,  Governor  of  the  city,  arrived  in  time. 

The  latter  personage  was  a  man  of  their  own  blood, 
and  Philo's  nephew.  He  exerted  himself  to  the  utmost 
to  calm  them,  but  seeing  that  his  efforts  were  only  met 
with  scoffing  and  he  himself  showered  with  insult  and 
contempt,  he  was  forced  to  have  recourse  to  arms.  His 
troops  actually  consisted  of  a  whole  army  corps ;  for, 
besides  the  two  legions  quartered  in  the  city,  five  thou- 
sand men,  lately  arrived  from  Lybia,  were  there  at  this 
juncture. 

Driven  back  into  their  own  section  of  the  city  by  the 

1  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  ii.  xviii.  3,  4. 


190  LAST   YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

soldiers,  the  Jews  offered  a  desperate  resistance,  but  over- 
whelmed by  mere  numbers,  they  perished  to  the  last  man. 
When  the  riot  was  at  last  quelled,  fifty  thousand  corpses 
blocked  the  streets  of  the  Delta.^ 

These  conflicts  resolved  themselves,  in  fact,  into  racial 
and  religious  wars.  In  Palestine  their  ravages  were  ex- 
tended over  a  period  of  many  months,  enveloping  the 
whole  population  in  the  same  dreadful  and  lamentable 
fate.  Amid  all  these  troubles,  what  had  become  of  the 
disciples  of  Christ  ?  Undoubtedly  a  large  number  of 
them  perished  too,  and  of  these  the  larger  number,  per- 
haps, fell  victims  to  the  fury  of  the  Jews  rather  than  to 
that  of  the  Pagans.  In  fact,  Josephus  speaks  of  certain 
"  Judaizers  "  whom  the  Syrians  and  Greeks  did  not  con- 
found with  the  Jews  by  birth,  and  whose  lives  they  there- 
fore spared.^  Under  this  appellation  the  Christians  were 
always  comprised  together  with  the  Pagans  affiliated  with 
Mosaism.  Although  they  were  less  clearly  marked  out 
for  popular  vengeance  than  were  the  Jews,  they  were 
none  the  less  looked  upon  with  suspicion  by  their  neigh- 
bors, among  whom  they  lived  as  strangers  in  a  strange 
land.  We  may  well  believe  also  that  even  in  places  where 
they  escaped  slaughter  they  were  not  safe  from  acts  of 
rapine  which  were  always  the  sequel  to  a  general  mas- 
sacre.^ The  disciples  of  Jesus  would  naturally  be  the  first 
to  suffer  such  unjust  spoliation,  and  accordingly  once  more 
they  accepted  their  fate  with  calmness  and  resignation ; 
their  hopes  and  thoughts  all  set  upon  that  Saviour  Who, 
as  Paul  had  but  now  reminded  them,  is  ever  ready  and 
faithful  in  recompensing  the  patience  of  His  Martyrs  by 
the  bestowal  of  infinite  rewards.  "  For  yet  a  little  while 
and  He  that  cometh  shall  be  come,  and  He  shall  not 
tarry."  * 

When  this  state  of  anarchy,  in  the  throes  of  which 
Judea  was  struggling,  began  to  spread  its  terrors  through- 
out the  surrounding  countries,  Cestius  Gallus  at  last  saw 
lit  to  attempt  some  measures  for  its  relief.     He  marched 

1  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  ii.  xviii.  7-8.  ^  Ibid. 

2  Ibid.,  ii.  xviii.  2.  *  Hebr.  x.  37. 


MASSACRE   OF  THE  JEWS  IN  THE  EAST.        191 

up  from  Antioch  toward  Jerusalem,  at  the  head  of  a  ver- 
itable army ;  for  besides  the  thirteen  thousand  men  be- 
longing to  the  regular  troops  at  his  disposal,  he  had 
collected  an  equal  number  of  auxiliaries,  furnished  by 
those  Syrian  towns  in  which  the  hereditary  hatred  of  the 
Jews  was  most  inveterate.  Two  allied  princes  rode  at 
their  head :  Sohemus  of  Emesus  and  the  Jewish  King 
Agrippa.  In  Galilee  and  along  the  coast  they  met  with 
feeble  resistance,  and  speedily  reduced  these  districts  to 
subjection.  On  the  24th  of  October  Cestius  pitched  his 
camp  at  Gabaon,  some  fifty  stadia  distant  from  Jerusalem.^ 
It  was  just  at  the  time  of  the  Feast  of  the  Tabernacles, 
and  he  expected  to  encounter  a  disorganized  mob,  a  mere 
throng  of  pilgrims  incapable  of  facing  for  a  moment  his 
disciplined  troops.  This  fresh  blunder  cost  him  dearly. 
There  were  certain  well-seasoned  warriors  among  these 
strangers  on  their  way  Jerusalemwards,  —  Niger  of  Peraea ; 
Simon,  the  son  of  Gioras  ;  one  of  Agrippa  the  Second's  for- 
mer lieutenants,  Silas  of  Babylon,  with  two  princes  of 
Adiabene,  —  Monobazus  and  Cenedseus.  These  leaders 
marshalled  those  of  the  people  who  were  under  arms  in 
orderly  ranks,  distributed  the  several  masses  in  formidable 
array,  then  gave  the  signal  to  charge  upon  their  foes. 
The  rout  of  the  Koman  troops  would  have  been  complete 
and  final  had  not  their  cavalry  succeeded  in  turning  the 
Jews  and  attacking  their  flank.  They  were  forced  thereby 
to  call  a  halt  if  they  would  not  be  cut  off  from  their  base. 
The  Legate  was  none  the  less  baffled  and  disconcerted  by 
this  vigorous  feat  of  arms.  For  several  days  afterward 
he  dared  not  venture  an  attack  upon  the  city.^ 

Agrippa  profited  by  this  respite  to  attempt  a  supreme 
effort  to  use  his  influence  over  his  compatriots.  In  the 
name  of  Eome  he  offered  them  a  free  and  entire  amnesty. 
Many  of  them  lent  a  willing  ear  to  his  appeals,  and  per- 
haps he  might  have  succeeded  had  not  the  Zealots,  sud- 

1  Nearly  six  miles.  Gabaon,  the  modern  El  Dgib,  is  the  city  of 
Gibeon,  frequently  mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament.  See  Guerin,  Judee, 
i.  385,  391. 

^  Josepbus,  Bell.  Jud.,  ii.  xviii.  9-11 ;  xix.  1,  2. 


192  LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

denly  falling  upon  the  two  envoys  of  the  Prince,  killed 
one,  wounded  the  other,  and  scattered  all  those  of  their 
own  party  who  showed  any  signs  of  yielding,  with  blows 
and  a  shower  of  stones.  Once  more  they  were  left  mas- 
ters of  Jerusalem,  and  were  able  and  in  a  position  to 
demand  war  to  the  death.^ 

The  only  advantage  the  Romans  reaped  from  this  em- 
bassy,—  an  important  advantage,  however,  —  was  the  dis- 
covery that  the  town  was  divided  in  sentiment ;  that  there 
were  many  there  who  were  disposed  to  submit.  Cestius, 
who  set  great  stock  upon  the  aid  of  this  more  temperate 
element,  regained  all  his  former  confidence  ;  drew  up  his 
troops  closer  to  the  ramparts,  about  half  an  hour's  journey 
distant,  upon  the  heights  of  Scopus,  which  commands  all 
the  region  roundabout.^  There  for  three  days  he  awaited 
the  result  of  the  intrigue  set  on  foot  by  his  agents.  Finally, 
on  the  30th  of  October,  finding  that  his  plans  were  inef- 
fectual, he  gave  the  command  to  advance.  The  rebels 
fell  back  before  the  legions,  so  imposing  when  drawn  up 
in  battle  array,  and  took  refuge  within  the  Temple  and  in 
the  Upper  City.  Cestius  occupied  without  resistance  the 
entire  northern  district  of  the  town,  set  fire  to  the  quarter 
of  the  city  known  as  Bezetha,  and  did  not  halt  until  arrived 
at  the  foot  of  Sion,  before  the  Palace  of  the  Asmonseans. 
There  again  he  called  a  halt,  always  counting  on  the  pos- 
sibility that  the  gates  would  be  opened  to  him ;  but  the 
Zealots  were  there  on  guard,  fully  prepared  to  stifle  the 
first  spark  of  collusion  with  the  enemy.  Suspecting  cer- 
tain leaders  of  the  moderate  party  of  carrying  on  under- 
hand dealings,  they  fiung  them  down  from  the  top  of 
the  walls,  and  thus  demonstrated  to  the  Romans  the 
value  of  their  expectations. 

Finally,  on  the  5th  of  November,  Cestius  decided  to 
give  the  command  to  assault ;  the  point  of  attack  was  the 

1  Josephus  Be^L  Jud. ,  ii.  xix.  3. 

2  The  Scopus  is  "a  slightly  elevated  platform  which  commands  the 
northwest  extremity  of  the  Valley  of  Josapliat."  Guerin,  Description  de  la 
Jud^e,  vol.  i.  pp.  402,  403.  "  On  the  west  it  approaches  the  ramparts ;  a 
distance  of  seven  stadia  separates  it  from  the  city."  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.y 
V.  ii.  3. 


MASSACRE   OF  THE  JEWS  IN  THE  EAST.        193 

northern  side  of  the  Temple.  The  legionaries  raised  their 
shields  above  their  heads,  thereby  forming  an  iron  vault, 
known  in  military  parlance  as  the  "  turtle -back,"  which 
allowed  of  their  approaching  the  ramparts  without  being 
crushed  by  missiles  hurled  from  above,  and  forthwith  be- 
gan the  work  of  undermining. 

The  sound  of  these  muffled  and  ever-redoubled  blows 
struck  terror  to  the  souls  of  the  besieged ;  even  the  wild- 
est enthusiasts  began  to  lose  heart,  and  the  peace  party 
was  getting  the  upper  hand ;  one  final  effort  on  the  part 
of  the  Romans  would  have  carried  the  day  for  them,  when 
suddenly  Cestius  abandoned  his  prey  and  bade  his  buglers 
sound  the  retreat.^  How  account  for  this  incredible  panic  ? 
In  his  ignorance  of  the  real  state  of  their  minds,  did  he 
mistake  their  cries  of  powerless  rage  for  those  of  indomi- 
table fanaticism  ?  Or  was  he  fearful  that  the  multitude  of 
pilgrims  who  were  then  tenting  about  the  walls  would  block 
his  retreat  and  smother  his  forces  beneath  the  ramparts  ? 
This  we  shall  never  know.  But  the  man  who  had  shown 
himself  so  ill-advised  in  the  council  chamber  could  hardly 
have  been  expected  to  evince  any  foresight  or  fearlessness 
in  the  field. 

At  this  stroke  of  good  fortune  the  rebels  for  the  moment 
could  scarcely  believe  their  eyes,  but  speedily  recovering 
their  former  confidence  and  audacity,  they  sallied  forth  in 
pursuit  of  the  Romans.  On  the  following  day  Cestius, 
after  being  continually  harassed  by  them,  was  forced  to 
relinquish  Scopus,  and  began  a  retreat  as  shameful  as  it 
was  bloody.  His  legions,  in  heavy  marching  order,  ad- 
vanced but  slowly,  surrounded  by  a  swarm  of  foes  which 
hovered  about  the  flanks  of  his  army  and  attacked  them 
on  every  side.  By  the  time  they  reached  Gabaon,  their 
first  encampment,  they  had  left  a  trail  of  dead  bodies  in 
their  rear,  and  among  these  many  of  their  leaders.  Even 
here  no  rest  was  given  them,  and  after  two  days  of  dread- 
ful suffering  they  were  forced  to  resume  their  retreat  in 
all  haste  toward  Csesarea. 


1  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  ii.  xix.  4-6. 
13 


194  LAST  YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

The  slopes  of  Bethoron,  which  the  Eoinans  were  now  to 
descend,  form  a  pass  renowned  in  the  chronicles  of  Israel, 
but  of  direful  omen  to  its  foes.  It  was  there  that  Josue 
had  beheld  the  flight  of  the  Five  Kings  of  Chanaan,  over- 
whelmed by  the  power  of  God.  There  too,  addressing 
the  Eternal,  he  had  cried  out,  "  Sun,  stay  thy  course  over 
Gabaon,  and  thou,  0  Moon,  in  the  valley  of  Aialon  .  .  . 
And  the  sun  stayed  in  its  course  for  one  whole  day,  and 
there  has  not  been,  either  before  or  since,  a  day  like  unto 
that  wherein  the  Eternal  barkened  to  the  voice  of  a  man ; 
for  the  Eternal  was  fighting  on  the  side  of  Israel."  ^  This 
ancient  hymn  from  the  book  of  Jashar  must  have  been 
ringing  in  the  ears  of  the  Jews  when  they  beheld  the 
legions  swallowed  up  in  that  narrow  defile.  In  swarms 
they  thronged  up  the  rocks  which  overhang  it ;  crouched 
in  ambush  in  gorges,  some  firing  from  above  a  fusillade  of 
missiles  upon  them,  while  others,  from  front  and  rear,  cut 
off  their  path.  Had  not  night  fallen,  not  one  Roman 
would  have  escaped.  The  Legate  took  advantage  of  the 
darkness  to  make  good  his  escape  to  the  plain  below,  with 
the  remnant  of  the  troops  left  to  him.  He  had  lost  five 
thousand  men  and  the  Eagle  of  the  Twelfth  Legion. 
Since  the  defeat  of  Varus  in  the  forests  of  Germany, 
Rome  had  never  suffered  a  like  disgrace.  It  was  the 
death-blow  of  Cestius.^ 

1  Josue  X.  12-14.  *  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  ii.  xix.  7-9. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  EPISTLE  OF  ST.  JUDE  — ST.   PAUL'S  LAST 
MISSION  JOURNEY. 

The  Christians  of  Judea  had  little  leisure  during  the 
dark  days  through  which  their  land  was  passing  to  amuse 
themselves  with  fantastic  dreams  or  dogmatic  discussions 
as  of  yore.  Persecuted  by  the  priestly  aristocracy,  there- 
after caught  in  the  meshes  of  a  sanguinary  rebellion,  they 
simply  clung  to  their  faith  without  dealing  in  any  subtil- 
ties,  but  satisfied  if  they  could  but  follow  the  example  of 
James  and  the  Elders.  Very  different  was  the  conduct 
of  their  brethren  in  Upper  Syria  and  Asia  Minor;  the 
intellectual  divigations  and  wanton  living  against  which 
the  Bishop  of  Jerusalem  has  spoken  so  strongly  ^  were 
still  too  much  in  evidence  among  a  goodly  number  of 
believers.  Certain  false  doctors  persisted  in  propagating 
this  evil  by  distorting  Paul's  doctrine  concerning  the 
abrogation  of  the  Law.  Pretending  to  understand  thereby 
the  whole  code  of  morality,  they  asserted  that  the  Apostle 
had  released  suifering  humanity  from  all  its  bonds  and 
given  it  free  license  to  satisfy  its  appetites,  no  matter 
what  they  might  be.  This  was  nothing  less  than  to  trans- 
form his  proclamation  of  a  spiritual  emancipation,  and  of 
a  perfectly  pure  and  heavenly  grace  which  should  accom- 
pany it,  into  a  propaganda  of  licentiousness.^  To  give 
some  show  of  authority  to  this  debasement  of  the  human 
senses,  they  must  needs  begin  by  corrupting  the  souls  of 
their  hearers  and  obscure  the  clear  rays  which  Jesus  sheds 
on  all  alike.  Nor  were  these  children  of  darkness  found 
wanting  in  this  respect ;  they  even  went  so  far  as  to  deny 
that  Divine  Saviour  and  to  treat  both  His  reign  here  below,^ 

1  See  Chapter  II.  2  jude  4.  8  Ibid. 


196  LAST   YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

and  His  return  to  judge  the  world  as  a  dream  and  a 
chimera.^ 

One  voice  was  raised  in  indignant  protest  against  this 
work  of  corruption,  apparently  some  time  during  the 
period  now  occupying  our  attention.^  It  was  the  voice  of 
Jude,  one  of  the  Twelve,  which  made  itself  heard  in  tones 
so  vigorous  and  with  a  forcefulness  of  thought  well  fitted 
to  surprise  us,  coming  from  an  Apostle  whose  history  and 
whose  person  had  hitherto  been  kept  completely  in  the 
shade.  After  the  mention  of  his  calling,  he  appears  but 
once  during  the  Public  Life  of  the  Saviour,  and  then  only 
to  interrupt  the  Master's  speech  and  show  himself 
strangely  dull  of  comprehension.^      In  the  Evangelist's 

1  Jude  14,  15. 

2  The  numerous  similarities  to  be  noticed  in  the  eleventh  chapter  of 
the  Second  Epistle  of  St.  Peter,  and  St.  Jude's  letter,  form  the  only  basis 
we  have  for  determining  the  date  of  the  latter.  Indeed,  we  have  only  to 
compare  the  two  works  to  convince  ourselves  that  one  of  these  Apostles 
was  an  actual  eye-witness  of  the  events  which  the  other  one  had  written 
about,  and  that  he  is  referring  to  him.  Now  for  the  following  reason  it 
would  seem  that  the  priority  ought  to  be  conceded  to  St.  Jude's  Epistle. 
This  short  missive  is  not  couched  in  the  style  of  a  commentary,  or  of  a 
letter  carefully  composed  with  the  idea  of  explaining  and  confirming  some 
earlier  work.  It  is  a  sudden  and  spontaneous  effort  directed  against  cor- 
rupters of  the  faithful.  Jude  makes  no  mention  of  the  -Apostles,  whose 
authority  would  have  lent  great  weight  to  his  words.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  heresy  anathematized  in  both  Epistles  is  better  known  to  St.  Peter,  set 
forth  by  him  in  greater  detail,  and  refuted  by  arguments  far  clearer  and 
more  convincing.  From  this  it  is  natural  to  conclude  that  the  first  Avas 
written  by  Jude  at  a  time  when  these  errors  had  not  as  yet  obtained  their 
full  development,  or  were  known  only  imperfectly,  and  for  this  reason  he 
could  not  speak  in  more  explicit  terms.  Furthermore,  if  he  really  had  in 
his  possession  the  work  of  the  Prince  of  the  Apostles,  how  are  we  to  ex- 
plain the  fact  that  he  omitted  to  make  use  of  certain  of  its  features  ad- 
mirably fitted  for  his  purposes  ?  For  instance,  when  citing  the  same  examples 
of  a  Divine  retribution,  how  did  he  come  to  pass  over  the  most  striking  one, 
the  Deluge  ?  (2  Peter  ii.  5.)  If  we  take  the  other  hypothesis,  these  diffi- 
culties disappear  :  St.  Peter,  writing  with  the  idea  of  completing  and 
confirming  Jude's  letter,  explains  certain  passages  more  at  length,  omits 
certain  others,  and  elsewhere  alludes  so  briefly  to  certain  points  that  his 
meaning  would  be  more  than  doubtful  to  us  if  we  had  not  Jude's  letter  to 
cast  some  some  light  upon  it.  (2  Peter  ii.  11;  Jude  9.)  For  a  compara- 
tive study  of  the  two  texts,  De  Wette-Briickner,  Handhuch,  vol.  i.  p.  3, 
pp.  163-170  ;  Hundhausen,  Die  beiden  Pontificatschr.  des  Ap.  Petrus,  ii., 
pp.  100-112;  Rampf,  Der  Brief  Judoe,  pp.  156-162. 

3  John  xiv,  22.  See  the  interpretation  of  this  passage  in  The  Christ 
The  Son  of  God,  book  vi.,  chap,  v.,  sect.  1 


THE  EPISTLE   OF  SAINT  JUDE.  197 

eyes  it  would  seem  that  the  only  illustrious  thing  about 
him  was  his  birth,  by  virtue  of  which  he  was  the  son  of 
Mary,  sister  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,^  and  the  brother  of 
James.^  The  latter  title  in  the  primitive  Church  served 
to  distinguish  him  from  Judas  Iscariot,^  as  well  as  from 
the  various  other  Judases.  He  himself  makes  use  of  it,* 
as  if  he  too  delighted  to  recall  the  fact  that  such  intimate 
ties  united  him  to  the  great  Bishop  of  Jerusalem. 

But  something  far  closer  than  mere  kinship  of  blood,  a 
brotherhood  of  the  soul,  bound  these  two  together.  The 
single  page  which  we  possess  from  the  pen  of  Jude  proves 
that  he  was  as  much  attached  to  the  Olden  Covenant  as  was 
James  ;  like  him  nourishing  his  mind  upon  the  great  past 
of  Israel,  its  glorious  annals,  its  Prophets,  and  its  traditions 
as  well.  Ever  since  the  era  of  the  Machabees,  the  latter 
had  been  carefully  gathered  up  by  the  Jews,  and  consti- 
tuted a  series  of  so-called  Apochrypha,  a  notable  portion 
of  which  has  come  down  to  us.  Whether  Jude  really  had 
these  documents  at  his  disposal,  or  whether  he  was  draw- 
ing simply  on  the  original  traditions  themselves,  he 
unquestionably  made  use  of  these  sources  when  writing 
his  Epistle.  We  can  trace  in  particular  the  influences 
upon  his  mind  of  the  "  Visions  "  attributed  to  Henoch,^ 

1  Matt.  xiii.  55.  3  John  xiv.  22. 

2  Luke  vi.  16.  *  Jude  1. 

^  The  Prayer  of  Manassah,  Third  Book  of  Esdras,  Third  and  Fourth 
Books  of  the  Macchabees,  The  Book  of  Henoch,  The  Psalms  of  Solomon, 
The  Apocalypse,  and  The  Assumption  of  Moses,  and  a  part  of  the  Sibylline 
Books  (verses  97-828  of  the  Third  Book). 

^  Henoch,  raised  up  by  God,  like  Elias  (Gen.  v.  24),  was  one  of  the 
most  venerated  personages  in  the  Old  Testament ;  one  of  those  through 
whose  mediation  they  expected  to  both  see  and  hear  tlie  manifestation  of 
the  Eternal.  Some  few  authentic  sayings  of  this  Patriarch  were  in  all 
likelihood  preserved  by  oral  tradition,  and  formed  the  kernel  about  which, 
in  the  course  of  time,  there  grew  up  a  mass  of  apocryphal  visions  and  reve- 
lations. In  the  second  century  before  Christ,  these  traditions,  for  the  most 
part  legendary,  were  embodied  in  the  so-called  Book  of  Henoch,  an  apoc- 
alyptical document,  composed  originally  in  Aramaean,  afterwards  trans- 
lated into  Greek,  revised  and  altered  again  and  again  in  the  course  of 
of  time,  —  in  the  final  instance  probably  by  some  Jewish  convert  to  Chris- 
tianity. Though  this  work  enjoyed  great  renown  in  the  first  centuries  of 
the  Church,  it  never  found  a  place  either  in  the  Canon  of  the  Jews  or  in 
that  of  the  Christians.  To-day  we  possess  no  integral  copy  of  it  except  in 
an  Ethiopian  version,  discovered  by  Bruce  in  Abyssinia  (1773),  and  very 


198  LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

as  well  as  of  the  narrative  whose  subject  matter  was  the 
death  and  assumption  of  Moses.^  The  Divine  Spirit 
revealed  to  the  Apostle  the  foundation  of  truth  on  which 
these  echoing  chambers  of  the  past  were  erected,  while 
from  the  more  or  less  authentic  sayings  of  Henoch,  God 
gave  him  power  to  distinguish  certain  words  actually 
pronounced  by  that  Patriarch.^  Among  all  the  legends 
which  the  mysterious  burial  of  Moses  had  given  rise  to, 
the  Holy  Ghost  here  certifies  to  the  fact  that  Satan  had 
sought  to  steal  his  body,  intending  to  exhibit  it  for  the 
adoration  of  the  Jews,  and  that  to  thwart  his  designs  the 
Archangel  Michael  needed  but  to  call  down  the  name  and 
the  judgment  of  God  upon  him. 

This  constant  reference  to  traditional  incidents,  of  as 
little  interest  to  the  Gentile  world  as  they  were  dear  to 
the  Israelites,  is  proof  enough  that  Jude  was  addressing 
an  audience  of  converted  Jews.  But  from  what  locality 
was  he  writing  to  them  ?  This  we  are  unable  to  decide  with 
any  degree  of  certitude,  since  no  precise  data  are  left  us 
concerning  the  ministry  of  this  Apostle.  In  the  fourth  and 
fifth  centuries.  Upper  Syria  and  Mesopotamia,^  near  neigh- 
carefully  edited  by  Dillmann  (1851).  George  le  Syneelle,  however,  has 
preserved  certain  fragments  of  the  Greek  text,  and  M.  Bouriant  recovered 
the  first  thirty-two  chapters  of  this  version  in  1886. 

1  The  death  of  Moses  is  recounted  in  Deuteronomy  (xxxiv.  5,  6)  as  fol- 
lows :  "  And  Moses,  the  servant  of  the  Eternal,  died  there,  in  the  land  of 
Moab,  according  to  the  word  of  the  Eternal ;  and  He  buried  him  in  the 
valley  of  the  land  of  Moab  over  against  Beth-Peor  ;  and  no  one  unto  this 
day  knoweth  of  his  se[)ulchre."  The  mystery  enshrouding  his  burial  place 
gave  rise  to  many  legends,  which  were  collected  in  the  Apocryphal  book 
entitled:  'Avd\7]\j/LS  Mwuo-ews,  The  Assumption  of  Moses.  All  we  know  of 
this  work  is  contained  in  a  fragment  discovered  in  the  Ambrosian  Library 
of  Milan  in  1861:  (Ceriani,  Monnmenta  sacra  et  profana,  vol.  i.,  fasc.  1, 
pp.  55-62),  and  through  certain  quotations  by  the  Fathers  (Clement  of 
Alexandria,  Adumbr.  in  ep.  Jud.  [Zahn,  Supplementum  Ciementinum, 
p.  84]  ;  Strom.,  i.  22,  153;  vi.  15,  132;  Origen,  De  principiis,  iii.  21; 
In  Josuam,  Horn.,  ii,  1;  Didymus  of  Alexandria,  In  Epist.  Judm,  enarratio, 
etc. )  St.  Jude  may  have  been  acquainted  with  this  work,  for  the  best 
critics,  Ewall,  Wieseler,  Drummond,  and  Dillmann,  agree  in  referring  its 
composition  to  the  time  of  our  Lord. 

2  "  Scripsisse  cjuidem  nonnulla  divina  Enoch  ilium  septimum  ab  Adam 
negare  non  possumus,  cum  hoc  in  epistola  cauonica  Judas  apostolus  dicat." 
St.  Augustine,  De  Civitate  Dei,  xv.  23,  4. 

^  Eusebius,  Historia  ecclesiastica,  i.   13 ;    St.  Jerome,  in  Matth.,  x.  4  ; 


THE  EPISTLE   OF  SAINT  JUDE. 

bors  of  the  Christian  congregation  of  Asia  founded  by  Saint 
Paul,  were  believed  to  have  been  the  field  of  his  evangeli- 
cal labors.  It  was  to  the  last-named  Churches,  as  we  have 
seen,  that  James  wrote  his  letter;  ^  and  according  to  all 
appearance  it  was  for  them  also  that  Jude  destined  his. 
He  has  in  view  the  same  corrupters  of  faith  and  morals, 
who,  in  place  of  the  illumination  from  on  High,  were  seek- 
ing to  substitute  their  own  animal  and  diabolical  wisdom, 
the  mere  instinct  of  brutes  devoid  of  reason ;  these  were 
the  same  adulterous  souls  which  were  polluting  the  Agape, 
whose  calm  they  disturbed  by  mocking  words  and  arrogant 
discourses,  defiling  all  they  came  in  contact  with  by  their 
lewd  touch.2 

James  had  foreseen  the  effect  his  Epistle  would  have  on 
these  carnal  men  :  the  mirror  he  held  up  to  them  reflected 
their  image  but  too  faithfully ;  they  would  slink  away 
abashed  even  while  he  was  beseeching  them  to  listen  to 
right  reason.^  Thus,  so  far  as  they  were  concerned,  the 
Apostle's  words  were  destined  to  bear  no  fruit ;  they  had 
persisted  in  this  workmanship  of  death,  —  with  no  noise, 
however,  but  "  creeping  stealthily,"^  like  venom  poured  in 
the  veins  of  the  Churches  whose  bodies  they  infected. 
The  plague  spot  had  pushed  its  roots  deeper  than  Jude 
had  any  notion  of  when  he  first  conceived  the  idea  of 
writing  to  these  Christians.  Indeed,  it  had  been  a  long- 
cherished  project  of  his  to  do  something  toward  encourag- 
ing the  Asiatic  communities  by  reminding  them  of  "  salva- 
tion common  unto  all  the  elect,  the  beloved  of  God  the 
Father."^  Accordingly  his  letter,  prepared  "with  great 
care,"^  was  simply  intended  in  the  first  instance  as  an 
exhortation  couched  in  such  terms  as  would  be  best 
adapted  to  encourage  those  Christian  congregations  which 

Nicephorus  Callistus,  Historia  ecclesiastica,  ii.  40 ;  Assemani,  Bihiloth. 
Orient,  III.  2. 

1  Chapter  II.,  p.  31. 

2  James  ii.  2-4,  6,  7;  iii.  14,  15;  iv.  2,  4,  16  ;  v.  1-6 ;  Jude  7,  8,  10, 
11,  12,  16. 

3  James  i.  23,  24. 

*  Jude  4,  Tiapeicrebvcrav.  5  Ibid.,  3. 

^  Ibid.,  Ilacrav  awovdriv  iroiov/xevos  ypd<p€cu. 


200  LAST  YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

Paul's  prolonged  absence  had  left  leaderless.  But  some 
fortuitous  circumstance  put  him  in  possession  of  more 
definite  news  concerning  the  true  state  of  these  Churches, 
and  of  the  corruption  breeding  in  their  midst ;  Jude  real- 
ized forthwith  that  at  such  a  crisis  heroic  remedies  were 
needed ;  he  must  needs  use  his  scalpel  vigorously  if  he 
would  remove  all  danger  of  mortification  to  the  body,  and 
save  the  true  souls  by  cutting  off  the  false.  This  explains 
the  energetic  spirit  which  animates  his  Epistle,  making  it 
read  like  a  veritable  battle-cry  cast  in  the  teeth  of  heresy : 

"  Jude,  the  slave  of  Jesus  Christ  and  brother  of  James,  to 
them  that  are  chosen  as  the  well  beloved  of  God  the  Father 
and  preserved  by  Jesus  Christ !  May  Mercy,  Peace,  and 
Love  increase  within  you  more  and  more. 

"  Dearly  beloved  :  Even  whilst  I  was  taking  every  care  to 
write  unto  you  on  the  subject  of  our  common  salvation,  I 
found  myself  under  the  necessity  of  addressing  you  these 
words,  to  conjure  you  to  defend  the  Faith  which  hath  been 
taught  unto  the  Saints  once  for  all.  For  certain  men  have 
stolen  in  among  you  (of  whom  it  had  been  foretold  long 
since  that  they  would  incur  this  judgment)  who  turn  the 
grace  of  God  into  profligacy,  and  deny  our  only  Master  and 
Lord,  Jesus  Christ. 

"  Now,  therefore,  I  wish  to  remind  you  of  what  you  learned 
erstwhile,  namely,  that  the  Lord,  having  saved  the  people 
out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  did  afterward  destroy  such  as 
showed  themselves  unbelieving ;  ^  that  He  detained  them 
bound  in  the  land  of  darkness,  and  reserveth  unto  the  judg- 
ment of  the  Great  Da}''  those  Angels  who  did  not  maintain 
their  pristine  dignity,  but  forsook  their  own  habitation  ;  and 
that  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  and  the  neighboring  cities,  for 
having  given  themselves  to  fornication  and  fallen  into  the 
abuse  of  strange  flesh,  were  made  an  example  of,  suffering 
the  punishment  of  eternal  fire.^  In  like  manner  these 
visionaries  also  defile  the  flesh,  despise  all  authority,  con- 
temn all  dignities.  The  Archangel  Michael  himself  durst 
not  use  words  of  execration  against  Satan  when  he  dis- 
puted with  him  touching  the  body  of  Moses,  and  was  content 
to  say  to  him,  'May  God  display  His  Power  over  thee!' 

1  Num.  xiv.  37.  '<*  Gen.  xix.  24. 


THE  EPISTLE  OF  SAINT  JUDE.  201 

But  these  men  blaspheme  that  of  which  they  are  utterly 
ignorant ;  and  whatsoever  things  they  know  naturally,  like 
beasts  devoid  of  reason,  these  they  corrupt.  Woe  unto 
them!  For  they  are  walking  in  the  path  of  Cain,^  and  for 
money  they  are  plunging  into  the  devious  ways  of  Balaam.^ 
Imitators  of  the  rebellious  Korah,^  like  him  they  shall 
perish.  These  men  are  a  disgrace  to  your  Agape ;  there 
in  your  company  they  feast  shamelessly,  thinking  of  naught 
but  to  fill  their  bellies.  These  are  but  clouds  without  water, 
borne  hither  and  thither  by  the  winds ;  barren  trees  which 
flourish  only  in  the  autumn,  twice  dead,  plucked  up  by  the 
roots,  raging  waves  of  the  sea,  casting  up  the  spume  of 
their  infamies ;  wandering  stars  unto  whom  the  shades  of 
darkness  are  reserved  for  all  eternity.  '  T  was  of  them  that 
Henoch,  the  seventh  Patriarch  after  Adam,  prophesied  in 
these  terms :  *  Behold  the  Lord  cometh  with  His  Myriad 
Saints  to  execute  His  judgment  on  all ;  to  convict  the  un- 
godly of  every  work  of  ungodliness  which  they  have  com- 
mitted, and  of  every  blasphemous  word  which  these  ungodly 
sinners  have  uttered  against  Him.'  ^  Murmurers  these, 
ceaselessly  complaining,  they  walk  according  to  their  own 
lusts  ;  their  mouths  are  full  of  pompous  words,  but  they 
speak  only  for  the  admiration  of  men,  to  further  their  own 
interests. 

''As  for  you,  my  dearly  beloved,  be  mindful  of  what 
hath  been  foretold  you  by  the  Apostles  of  Our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  They  told  you  that  in  the  later  days  there  would 
appear  impostors  walking  according  to  their  own  ungodly 
lusts.  These  be  they  who  separate  themselves;  being  sensual 
men,  they  have  not  the  Spirit.  But  you,  dearly  beloved, 
building  yourselves  upon  the  foundation  of  Our  Most  Holy 
Faith,  and  praying  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  keep  yourselves  in 
the  love  of  God  in  expectation  of  the  Mercy  of  Our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  unto  Life  Everlasting.  Eeprove  them  that 
strive  against  you,  but  others  there  be  whom  you  shall  save 
by  snatching  them  out  of  the  burning ;  others,  too,  on  whom 
you  shall  have  compassion,  taking  good  heed  unto  your- 

1  Gen.  iv.  8-16. 

2  Num.  xxii.  7,  18-21  ;  xxv.  1-9  ;  xxxi.  15,  16. 
8  Ibid.,  xvi. 

*  In  the  Book  of  Henoch  (i.  9)  we  find  a  passage  analogous  to  this  quo- 
tation in  St.  Jude. 


202  LAST   YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

selves,  however,  and  hating  even  the  garment  which  the 
flesh  hath  soiled.^ 

''Now,  unto  Him  Who  is  able  to  preserve  you  without 
sin,  and  to  present  you  spotless  before  the  Throne  of  His 
Glory,  with  exceeding  joy,  unto  the  only  God  Our  Saviour 
through  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  be  Glory,  Majesty,  Power, 
and  Empire  before  all  ages,  and  now  and  forever  and  ever' 
more.  Amen." 

The  vigorous  tone  of  this  Apostolical  missive  won  for  it 
many  readers  and  great  renown  everywhere  in  the  East. 
This  we  know  from  the  fact  that  when  Peter  was  ap- 
proaching his  end  and  wrote  his  second  letter  to  the 
Churches  of  those  parts,  he  could  conceive  no  means 
better  fitted  to  touch  their  hearts  than  by  making  Jude's 
words  his  own.  Paul,  too,  on  his  part,  was  never  for- 
getful of  these  Christian  congregations,  the  first  fruits  of 
his  Apostolate  in  Pagan  lands,  and  was  now  returning 
from  the  confines  of  the  East  to  consecrate  his  final  labors 
to  their  welfare.  We  have  already  seen  him,  while  tarry- 
ing in  some  part  of  Italy,  dictating  to  one  of  his  disciples 
his  letter  to  the  Hebrews,  and  addressing  it  to  the  Mother 
Church,  then  so  sorely  tried. 

There  were  other  Christians,  however,  no  less  exposed 
to  perils,  especially  those  of  Crete,  which  lay  directly  on 
his  route,  travelling  by  sea  from  Spain  to  Asia  Minor. 
Paul  did  not  know  them  personally,  having  merely 
touched  the  island  during  a  storm  which  swept  his  vessel 
from  the  docks  of  Myra  on  to  the  rocks  of  Malta  ;2  but 
he  had  been  informed  that  these  communities  were  in 
a  state  of  abandonment,  leaderless,  and  perpetually  in 
danger  of  falling  into  error.     He  resolved  to  visit  them 

1  Here  St.  Jude  would  seem  to  distinguish  between  three  sorts  of  per- 
sons infected  by  the  heresy.  The  first  are  the  obstinate  sectaries,  dis- 
putants to  whom  no  consideration  is  due,  nor  is  of  any  avail  ;  let  them  be 
condemned  unhesitatingly.  The  second  class,  over  whom  the  Faith  still 
retained  some  ascendency,  must  be  vigorously  snatched  like  brands  from 
the  burning.  As  for  the  last  mentioned,  who  are  not  completely  under 
their  sway,  but  are  yet  capable  of  embracing  the  truth  and  finding  salva- 
tion, to  all  such  it  behooves  them  to  display  a  tender  compassion.  Let 
them  be  on  their  guard,  however,  in  this  charitable  business,  lest  they  soil 
themselves  and  breathe  in  the  pestilential  error. 

*  See  St.  Paul  and  his  Missions,  chap,  xviii. 


THE  EPISTLE   OF  SAINT  JUDE.  203 

together  with  Titus,  and  to  supply  them  with  what  was 
most  needed  for  their  preservation,  namely,  a  body  of 
Pastors  united  to  the  Apostolic  College. 

How  are  we  to  account  for  the  absence  of  a  regular 
constitution  in  the  island  of  Crete  ?  Evidently  because 
neither  the  Twelve  nor  any  of  their  delegates  had  founded 
these  Christian  congregations.  The  seeds  of  the  true  faith 
had  been  wafted  hither  from  the  coast  cities  of  Asia,  where 
it  was  blossoming  so  luxuriantly,  perchance  from  Jeru- 
salem itself ;  and  this  must  have  happened  at  the  very 
outset,  for  Cretans  are  mentioned  in  the  Acts  among  the 
eye-witnesses  of  the  Pentecost.^  In  the  period  which 
followed,  that  intercourse  which  was  never  allowed  to 
flag  between  the  various  synagogues  of  the  Eoman  world 
kept  alive  among  Christians  of  Crete  the  same  eager  in- 
terest which  the  name  and  deeds  of  Jesus  everywhere 
awakened.  Furthermore,  there  is  every  reason  to  believe 
that  some  disciples  of  the  Saviour  were  to  be  found  among 
the  sons  of  Israel  whose  duty  it  was  to  visit  the  numer- 
ous colonies  of  Jews  throughout  the  island  where  they 
resided.^  By  some  such  means  the  Glad  Tidings  had  been 
spread  throughout  this  region. 

From  whatever  point  they  may  have  come,  these  seeds 
of  Faith  had  budded  forth  and  borne  fruit  already :  for  in 
many  of  the  island  cities  Paul  encountered  Christian  fra- 
ternities. Deprived  of  leaders  as  they  were,  these  groups  of 
Christians  were  of  anything  but  sturdy  growth.  Another 
cause,  however,  and  one  still  more  enervating,  helped  to 
increase  this  spiritual  languor.  The  Cretans  had  an  un- 
fortunate reputation,  so  far  as  morality  and  character  were 
concerned.  Ancient  writers  depict  them  as  the  readiest 
of  liars,^  avaricious,  greedy,  crafty ;  *  and  Saint  Paul  says 
nothing  to  lessen  their  ill-repute. 

1  Acts  ii.  11. 

2  Josephus,  Antiq.  Jud.,  xvii.  xii.  1  ;  Bell.  Jud.,  ii.  vii.  1  ;  Philo.,  Leg. 
ad  Cai.,  sect.  36. 

^  Polybius,  vi.  47,  5  ;  viii.  21,  5  ;  Ovid,  Ars  Amatoi-,  i.  297.  KprjTi^eLu, 
' '  to  speak  Cretan,"  and  "  to  lie ''  are  synonymous  terms  in  Greek  :  kptjtL- 
^€iv  7rp6s  Kp^ras  eireidr]  xpedcrrai  Kal  diraTewves  eiai.     Suidas. 

*  Polybius,  iv.  8,  11;  vi.  46,  3;  Plutarch,  Paul.  JE mil. y  23;  Titus 
Livy,  xliv.  45,  etc. 


204  LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

What  could  he  expect  from  neophytes  bred  in  this 
tainted  atmosphere  ?  Jews  and  Pagans  alike  had  breathed 
in  the  seeds  of  contagion.  Their  unwholesome  natures 
were  ill-adapted  to  answer  the  promptings  of  Grace.  In 
many  souls  faith  had  operated  so  freely  as  to  revive  in 
them  the  noble  instincts  of  their  race,  thus  rendering 
them  upright  and  pure :  but  others  there  were,  not  less 
numerous,  who  were  still  only  partly  redeemed  from  the 
corrupting  influences  about  them.  Christians  in  name, 
at  bottom  they  differed  hardly  at  all  from  the  unbelievers ; 
"  reason,  conscience,  all  that  was  in  them,  were  still  de- 
filed." ^  "  They  profess  to  know  God,"  says  Paul,  "  but 
they  deny  Him  by  their  works,  being  abominable,  rebel- 
lious, and  reprobate  to  every  good  work."  ^  It  was  espe- 
cially among  the  Jews  that  the  Apostle  encountered  such 
rebellious  hearts  and  self-opinionated  minds,  —  men  wdio 
seemed  to  have  accepted  the  Faith  with  the  sole  idea  of 
distorting  it.  "  They  busied  themselves  solely  in  leading 
astray  men's  souls  by  filling  their  minds  with  foolish 
fables,"^  —  those  pernicious  fables  which  Paul  had  al- 
ready combated  at  Ephesus  and  Colossse.*  From  these; 
Churches,  near  neighbors  of  Crete,  the  weeds  and  tares  had 
infested  this  island,  taking  root  as  speedily  as  the  good 
grain,  and  threatening  its  extinction ;  for  these  "  vain 
babblers  "  ^  knew  well  how  to  make  the  greatest  impres- 
sion, and  thus  gain  an  audience  for  their  idle  fancies. 
Paul  beheld ''  whole  households  subverted  by  them  ;"^  but 
his  indignation  was  not  excited  so  much  by  the  renown 
enjoyed  by  these  seducers  as  it  was  by  the  tireless  energy 
which  they  evinced.  He  saw  at  once  that  preaching  was 
merely  a  means  of  coining  money  in  the  eyes  of  these 
mercenary  souls,  and  that  they  were  but  carrying  on  a 
traffic  at  the  expense  of  their  dupes.^  It  was  easy  for 
the  Apostle,  by  simply  tearing  away  the  mask  which 
covered  their  base  cupidity,  to  render  them  odious  ;  but  in 

1  Tit.  i.  15.  4  See  Chapters  III.  and  IV. 

2  Ibid.,  i.  16.  5  MaTaioUyoi.     Tit.  1.  10. 

3  Ibid.,  i.  10.  6  Tit.  i.  11. 

^  AiddcrKOVTes  h  fxr]  5e?  aiaxpov  nipdovs  X'^P'-^'     Tit.  i.  11. 


THE  EPISTLE   OF  SAINT  JUDE.  205 

order  to  nullify  their  influence  completely,  a  persevering 
and  prolonged  struggle  would  be  required.  Nor,  indeed, 
would  it  be  enough  for  him  to  meet  and  overwhelm  those 
corrupters  of  morals  whom  he  met  on  his  way.  It  be- 
hooved him  to  prevent  them  from  regaining  any  ascen- 
dency over  men's  minds.  Now,  to  attain  this  end,  nothing 
was  of  greater  importance  than  the  constitution  of  a  body 
of  Pastors,  the  lack  of  which  they  had  so  grievously  felt 
in  the  Island  of  Crete. ^ 

With  so  many  other  pressing  duties  on  his  hands,  Paul 
could  not  linger  long  enough  to  make  the  preparations 
necessary  for  the  laying  of  such  solid  foundations  in  the 
Churches  of  this  region.  But  he  had  with  him  his  dis- 
ciple Titus,  the  one  man  after  him  the  most  capable  of 
displaying  the  requisite  persistency  and  vigor.  We  have 
beheld  him  in  Corinth,  speaking  with  such  authority  in 
the  name  of  his  teacher  that  the  culprits  trembled  before 
him  and  hastened  to  submit.^  Paul,  realizing  that  in  this 
"  son  worthy  of  him  "  ^  there  beat  a  heart  steadfast  as  it 
was  valiant,  relied  on  his  strong  arm  in  many  a  critical 
hour.  But  there  was  another  quality  in  Titus's  character 
which  he  esteemed  as  highly  as  he  did  this  strength  of 
soul,  and  that  was  the  unselfishness  which  he  displayed 
in  devoting  himself  to  his  Apostolical  labors,  refusing,  as 
did  his  master,  to  be  indebted  in  any  way  to  those  he 
evangelized.  In  order  to  silence  certain  Corinthians  who 
taunted  him  with  self-seeking,  Paul  needed  but  to  remind 
them  of  the  generosity  of  his  companion.  "Did  Titus 
enrich  himself  at  your  expense  ?  Did  we  not  act  in  the 
same  spirit  ?     Did  we  not  walk  in  the  same  steps  ? "  * 

It  was  precisely  such  an  example  of  indifference  to  self 
that  he  wished  displayed  to  the  Cretans  as  in  most  strik- 
ing contrast  to  the  covetousness  of  their  own  misleaders. 
Nothing  could  be  better  calculated  to  undeceive  the  minds 
of  well-meaning  men  than  such  a  comparison.  This  lofty 
virtue  had  been  ripened  in  Titus  by  the  experience  and 

1  Tit.  i.  5. 

2  St.  Paul  and  his  Missions,  chap,  xii.,  p.  294. 

3  Tvri(Tl(i) TiKP(p.     Tit.  i.  4.  *  2  Cor.  xii.  18. 


206  LAST   YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

the  maturity  requisite  to  make  it  bear  full  fruit.  Paul 
had  no  hesitation  in  confiding  to  him  the  task  of  reviving 
the  Faith  in  the  island,  relying  on  him  to  complete 
and  to  fill  in  the  v^ork  along  lines  which  he  had  barely 
sketched.  As  for  himself,  it  behooved  him  to  make  haste 
and  cross  over  to  the  shores  of  Asia,  there  to  visit  his 
own  Churches,  which,  as  he  was  well  aware,  had  long 
since  fallen  into  the  snares  of  the  sectarians.  The  mise- 
ries created  everywhere  here  in  Crete  by  heresy  made  him 
fearful  of  discovering  worse  ravages  among  their  Christian 
neighbors  on  the  mainland. 


CHAPTER  XL 

THE  EPISCOPATE  —  PASTORAL  EPISTLES. 

The  fears  of  the  Apostle  were  but  too  well  founded ; 
the  predictions  made  by  him  to  the  Elders  of  Ephesus  on 
the  strands  of  Miletus  had  been  fulfilled  only  too  literally  : 
the  wolves  had  indeed  fallen  upon  the  liock  and  were 
spreading  death  and  destruction  everywhere.^  These 
destroyers  were  of  the  Synagogue  party,  wherein,  if  we 
are  to  understand  Saint  Paul's  expression  literally,  they 
were  ranked  among  the  "  Doctors  of  the  Law. "  ^  The 
high  sounding  speeches  whereby  they  seduced  the  weak 
minded,  women  especially,  were  a  mere  redundancy  of 
words ;  since,  as  they  had  but  the  vaguest  idea  of  their 
own  meaning,  they  were  quite  at  a  loss  when  seeking  to 
prove  the  assertions  which  they  shouted  so  lustily,  lest 
their  hearers  might  discern  the  emptiness  of  their  phrases. 
These  crude  imaginings  were  compounded  of  a  little  of 
everything,  —  Jewish  fables,  cunning  myths,  and  inter- 
minable genealogies,^  which  the  Gnostics  were  soon  to 
transform  into  their  chains  of  Eons,  ever  intermingling 
and  begetting  other  forms.*  These  artificers  of  error 
loudly  proclaimed  that  they  had  a  loftier  doctrine  than 
the  Gospel,  but  in  fact  all  that  they  had  to  offer  the  peo- 
ple was  but  a  lot  of  outworn  beliefs  gathered  from  the 
rubbish  heap  of  the  nations.  To  bring  some  show  of  order 
out  of  this  chaos  of  discordant  conceptions,  they  held  that 
everything  was  to  be  taken  in  an  allegorical  sense,  declar- 

1  Acts  XX.  29. 

2  Nofjt,odi8daKa\ot.     1  Tim.  1.  7. 

3  'lovdaLKoU  fxvdot^,  Tit.  1. 14.  ^e^r}\ovs  Kol  ypacideis  jxidov^,  1  Tim. 
iv.  7.      TeveaKoyiais  direpavTOLS,  1  Tim.  1,  4. 

4  We  have  examined  these  vain  imaginings  of  heresy  already  in  the 
third  chapter  ;  lience  I  simply  refer  to  them  here  in  a  few  words. 


208  LAST  YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

ing,  for  instance,  that  the  one  and  only  Eesurrection  had 
already  taken  place,  since  it  is  simply  a  transformation 
of  the  soul  wakened  from  the  death  of  ignorance  unto  the 
life  of  truth.i 

Such  were  the  mad  speculations  wherein  Paul  found 
his  Christian  communities  had  gone  astray,  quarrelling 
among  themselves  to  the  ruin  of  all  brotherly  love,^  and 
clinging  so  tenaciously  to  their  errors  that  it  needed  all 
his  strength  to  detach  them.  The  leaders  of  the  heresy 
were  Hymenj^us,  Philetus,  and  a  coppersmith  named 
Alexander.^  The  latter  in  particular  opposed  him  most 
obstinately  and  showed  so  much  bitterness  that  the 
Apostle  could  never  forget  this  sad  incident.  However, 
there  was  no  way  left  of  silencing  the  sectaries  save  by 
casting  them  out  of  the  Church.*  Their  excommunication 
sufficed  for  the  time  being  to  disarm  the  worst  of  his  foes, 
but  was  it  not  to  be  feared  that  the  disturbances,  now 
held  in  check  by  the  presence  of  the  Apostle,  would  be 
renewed  after  his  departure  ?  At  Ephesus,  as  in  Crete, 
Paul  realized  that  the  only  remedy  for  this  evil  consisted 
in  a  stronger  f]jovernment  set  over  each  Church,  and  his 
thoughts  were  all  absorbed  in  its  institution. 

Elsewhere^  we  have  had  glimpses  of  the  Hierarchy  as 
it  was  constituted  in  those  communities  wherein  super- 
natural gifts  were  remarkable  for  their  profusion,  in  so 
much  that,  without  distinction  of  persons,  each  and  every 
believer,  when  impelled  by  the  Divine  Spirit,  rose  up 
among  the  brethren  to  reveal  the  future,  to  instruct  and 
to  guide  them.  Under  these  extraordinary  conditions, 
which  were  not,  however,  destined  to  last  long,  what 
became  of  the  authority  devised  to  the  College  of  Elders 
and  Priests  set  over  each  Church  ?  They  were  content, 
as  we  have  seen,  to  simply  fulfil  their  sacerdotal  functions 
and  to  preside  over  their  meetings  ;  as,  however,  the  latter 
duty  in  many  cases  could  not  be  undertaken  collectively, 

1  2  Tim.  ii.  18.  2  i  Tim.  vi.  4,  5. 

8  1  Tim.  i.  20  ;  2  Tim.  ii.  17  ;  iv.  14. 

*  1  Tim.  i.  20. 

*  St.  Paul  ami  his  Missions,  chap.  viii. 


THE  EPISCOPATE.  209 

they  had  been  moved  to  designate  one  of  their  Pastors  to 
act  in  the  name  of  the  body  and  carry  out  their  joint 
resolutions.  Tlie  same  motives  which  determined  their 
choice  of  a  candidate,  such  as  the  confidence  placed  in 
him  by  the  faithful,  his  social  standing  and  aptitude  for 
the  task,  impelled  them  to  keep  such  an  one  in  ofhce  and 
leave  the  common  administration  in  his  hands.  The 
Elder  or  Priest  to  whom  such  powers  were  delegated 
became  logically  the  Director  of  the  Church,  "  the  Over- 
seer "  1  of  its  intimate  life,  of  its  external  relations,  and  its 
temporal  interests. 

Such  was  in  all  likelihood  the  course  marked  out  by 
the  Apostles  for  the  evolution  of  the  Hierarchy ;  a  slow 
transformation,  whereby  they  were  quietly  preparing  and 
inclining  their  flocks  to  accept  as  leader  and  Pastor  a 
single  Bishop,  in  place  of  the  body  of  Elders  which  had 
governed  them  at  the  outset.  It  is  evident,  however, 
that  under  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  they  would 
make  no  undue  haste  in  the  matter,  but  wait  until  the 
time  when  the  supernatural  gifts  of  prophecy,  counsel, 
and  government,  which  were  becoming  daily  less  super- 
abundant, should  give  place  to  a  more  regular  and  defini- 
tive condition  of  things.  However,  the  Twelve  never 
forgot  that  while  they  lived  the  highest  jurisdiction  in 
the  Church  was  to  remain  in  their  hands,  and  that  the 
Bishops  were  as  yet  but  their  appointed  successors.  The 
one  thing  needful  was  to  arrange  matters  beforehand  in 
such  wise  that  on  their  decease  this  succession  would  be 
accepted  naturally ;  that  each  branch  of  Christendom, 
each  single  Church,  should  thereby  be  joined,  either 
directly  or  through  an  intermediary,  to  the  Apostolic 
trunk.  True  it  is  that  no  trace  of  any  instructions  given 
them  upon  this  subject  are  to  be  gleaned  from  the  letters 
of  Saint  Peter  and  Saint  Paul ;  but,  from  among  the  many 
traditions  which  they  bequeathed  to  the  Roman  Church, 
Saint  Clement  cites  "  the  rules  laid  down  by  the  Apostles 
to  insure  the  rights  of  succession  in  such  a  manner  that 

1  'ETTtV/coTTOj,  the  Bishop. 
14 


210        LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

after  their  death  other  men  of  well  proven  ability  should 
be  invested  with  their  charge."  ^  Everything  goes  to 
confirm  the  existence  of  such  arrangements,  which,  with- 
out making  any  changes  for  the  present,  were  a  guaran- 
tee for  the  future ;  in  proof  of  which  we  have  the  list  of 
Bishops  going  back  as  far  as  the  Apostles,  given  on  the 
authority  of  such  writers  as  Hegesippus,  Saint  Irenieus, 
and  Saint  Dionysius  of  Corinth,  and  this  fact  especially, 
that  only  fifty  years  later  we  find  the  Episcopate  estab- 
lished throughout  the  Christian  world.  Such  a  consensus 
of  fact  and  feeling  throughout  Christendom  can  only  be 
explained  on  the  supposition  that  the  government  of  a 
single  head  over  each  Church  is  of  Apostolic  institution.^ 
Some  perhaps  may  be  astonished  that  I  do  not  try  to 
prove  from  the  Epistles  to  Titus  and  to  Timothy  ^  that 

1  St.  Clement,  Epist  ad  Corinth.,  xliv.  ;  St.  Irenseus  (Adv/Hceres. 
iii.  2,  3)  tells  us  that  this  letter  is  a  faithful  tradition  which  the  Roman 
Church  held  as  a  sacred  heritage  from  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul.  It  is  their 
faith  and  their  teaching  that  we  find  therein  ;  just  as  in  the  Epistle  of  St. 
Polycarp  we  possess  the  traditions  which  St.  John  left  to  the  Churches  of 
Smyrna  and  Ephesus. 

2  Concerning  the  formation  of  the  Episcopate,  see  De  Smedt,  Organisa- 
tion des  Eglises  chretiennes  jusqu'au  milieu  du  III^  siecle  ;  Duchesne,  les 
Origines  chretiennes,  chap.  vi.  ;  cf.  Lightfoot,  Phi/ippians,  The  Christian 
Ministry,  pp.  179-267 ;  Ramsay,  The  Church  in  the  Roman  Empire, 
pp.  364-374. 

^  These  three  are  generally  known  by  the  name  "  Pastoral  Epistles,'' 
because  they  treat  of  the  Pastors'  ministry.  From  the  beginning,  and  all 
during  the  first  three  centuries,  we  always  find  them  attributed  to  St.  Paul 
by  orthodox  writers.  The  sole  objection,  and  a  very  specious  one  it  is, 
brought  by  the  Rationalists  of  our  day  against  the  unanimous  tradition,  is 
the  difference  of  the  style  which  they  make  so  nnich  of  between  the  Pas- 
toral and  the  preceding  Epistles  of  the  Apostle.  Tliis  diversity,  which 
they  exaggerate  at  will,  has  nothing  strange  or  remarkable  about  it  to  any- 
one who  honestly  tries  to  understand  under  what  circumstances  St.  Paul 
wrote  his  last  letters  ;  for  the  style  of  every  man  varies  according  to  his 
age,  the  subject  in  question,  and  the  more  or  less  sustained  attention  de- 
v^oted  to  it  by  the  writer.  On  the  other  hand,  compare  the  Pastorals  with 
the  bits  of  practical  advice  which  terminate  the  greater  Epistles,  and  it 
will  no  longer  be  the  difference  of  style  which  will  strike  the  student,  but 
rather  the  similarity  in  composition,  in  language,  even  in  the  tricks  of 
speech.  There  are  reasons  in  abundance  which  go  to  establish  its  authen- 
ticity ;  Catholics  and  Protestants  alike  have  made  good  use  of  them.  See 
in  particular:  Cornely,  Introd  actio,  seats.  182,  183  ;  Vigouroux  and  Bacuez, 
Manuel  Biblique,  vol.  iv.,  pp.  775-778  ;  Farrar,  Life  of  St.  Paul,  vol.  ii. : 
Appendix,  Excursus  ix. ;  Alford,  Prolegomena  on  the  Pastoral  Epistles. 


PASTORAL  EPISTLES.  211 

even  then  Paul  meant  to  impress  a  monarchical  form  upon 
certain  Churches.  But  to  any  one  who  compares  the 
various  passages  contained  in  these  letters,  it  will  be  clear 
that  the  terms  Priest  and  Bishop  continue  to  be  used  here 
as  synonyms,  and  that  the  Apostle  does  not  take  the 
latter  title  in  the  special  sense  which  we  give  it.^  On  the 
other  hand,  there  is  nothing  to  indicate  that  wdien  leaving 
Titus  in  Crete  and  Timothy  at  Ephesus  he  intrusted  them 
with  any  other  mission  than  one  of  temporary  functions, 
a  supervision  analogous  to  that  which  Epaphras  exercised 
over  the  congregations  of  the  Lycus.^  There  seems,  there- 
fore, no  more  reason  for  attributing  to  Paul  with  any 
degree  of  certainty  the  creation  of  Bishops  during  this 
latter  period  than  hitherto ;  in  all  probability  the  Apostle 
confined  himself  to  indicating,  in  the  principal  flocks  under 
his  care,  which  pastor  was  to  succeed  him  in  this  superior 
rank  of  the  Hierarchy.^ 

But  these  were  merely  precautionary  means  taken  in 
view  of  eventualities  which  would  follow  upon  the  death 
of  the  Apostle ;  the  necessities  of  the  moment  were  not 

1  In  the  Epistle  to  Titus,  the  Priests  "  TrpecrjSyrepoi,"  whom  Paul  bids 
him  ordain  in  every  Christian  community,  are  called  b}^  him  in  the  same 
passage  eirlaKOirou  KaraaTrjaris  Kara  ttoKlv  irpecr^vTepovs  ...  el'  tls  iariv 
dveyKXrjTos  .  .  .  del  yap  tov  iiricTKoirov  aveyKkriTov  ehai.  Tit.  i.  5-7.  ;  cf. 
Acts  XX.  17,  28  ;  1  Peter  v.  1,  2,  etc. 

2  The  Christian  community  of  Jerusalem  was  the  only  Church,  so  far 
as  we  have  seen,  during  the  earliest  days,  which  was  governed  by  a  single 
Pastor.     See  St.  Peter,  chap.  xi. 

^  "Catholic  theologians,  even  while  contending,  as  they  generally  do, 
that  the  institution  of  the  Episcopate,  as  an  order  distinct  from  that  of 
simple  priests,  is  of  Divine  Right,  may  nevertheless  concede,  without  any 
disadvantage  to  their  contention,  that  this  institution  did  not  attain  to  its 
complete  development  and  its  definitive  form  until  after  tlie  time  of  the 
Apostles.  As  long  as  the  latter  lived  the  Church  possessed  in  them  a  vis- 
ible and  living  Authority,  distinctly  recognized  and  to  which  belonged  the 
mission  of  preserving  and  transmitting  the  deposit  of  Faith,  the  moral 
doctrine  of  Jesus  Christ.  .  .  .  Nothing  forbids  our  sup])Osing,  or  at  least 
regarding  as  possible,  that  the  Apostles  always  retained  the  government  of 
the  Churches  in  their  own  hands  ;  using  as  their  assistants  and  substitutes 
in  the  ordinary  and  regular  exercises  of  worship,  as  well  as  in  certain 
functions  of  administration,  those  whom  we  call  simple  priests,  who  govern 
in  their  name.  In  that  case,  the  IMshops  of  a  later  day,  would  be  in  the 
rigorous  sense  of  the  word,  successors  of  the  Apostles."  De  Smedt,  VOr- 
ganisatio7i  des  l^glises  chre'liennes  jusr/H^au  milieu  du  IIP  siecle,  pp.  13,  14. 


212  LAS2'   YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

less  urgent.  Paul  provided  for  this  by  his  vigilance  in 
fortifying,  and  to  the  same  end  reforming,  the  body  of 
Elders  which  he  left  in  charge  of  the  Churches.  Hitherto 
these  Pastors  had  not  been  chosen  by  any  fixed  rules ;  in 
one  place  by  merit  or  because  of  their  known  virtues ;  in 
another,  and  this  was  oftenest  the  case,  as  having  been 
designated  for  the  position  by  the  Apostle  or  Evangelist 
who  had  founded  the  congregation.  In  his  letters  to 
Timothy  and  to  Titus  Paul  lays  down  the  following  condi- 
tions :  Every  member  who  aspires  to  take  his  place 
among  the  Elders,  the  Freshyteri,  must  make  a  solemn 
profession  to  detach  himself  from  the  world,  that  he  may 
belong  to  God  alone ;  ^  doubtless  it  is  lawful  for  him  to 
desire  this  ministry,  which  in  itself  is  a  good  and  saintly 
work; 2  but  thereby  he  pledges  himself  to  strive  after  a 
higher  state  of  perfection,  since  the  Pastor,  once  invested 
with  this  supervision  ^  over  the  flock,  becomes  the  dis- 
penser, "  the  steward  of  God."  *  By  virtue  of  this  title  it 
behooves  him  to  be  "  an  example  to  all,  a  pattern  to  the 
faithful  in  his  words  and  conduct ;  in  Charity,  in  Faith,  in 
Chastity;"^  in  a  word,  he  must  be  ever  "  beyond  reproach,"^ 
not  only  in  the  sight  of  his  flock,  but  in  that  of  the  pagans 
as  well.^  He  must  prove  himself,  therefore,  to  be  "  neither 
self-willed  nor  easily  provoked  nor  given  to  wine-bibbing, 
nor  hasty  to  strike,  nor  greedy  of  filthy  gains ;  but  hospi- 
table, loving  the  good,  wise,  just,  pious,  continent."  ^  He 
must  have  married  but  one  wife,  ruling  his  own  family 
well  and  keeping  his  children  in  subjection  with  all  grav- 
ity ;  for  if  a  man  knows  not  how  to  conduct  his  own 
household,  how  can  he  take  charge  of  the  Church  of  God  ?  ^ 
Any  new  convert  must  be  regarded  as  ineligible,  lest  being 
puffed  up  by  pride  he  fall  under  the  same  condemnation 
as  the  Devil.10     Why  should  they  look  to  a  neophyte  to 

1  2  Tim.  ii.  4.  2  1  ibi^i.^  iii.  1, 
^  The  word  'e-rr  la  kotos  has  this  signification  both  in  classical  Greek  and 
in  the  Septuagint. 

4  Seov  olKOPofios.  Tit.  i.  7.                  8  Tit.  i.  7,  8  ;  1  Tim.  iii.  2.  3. 

5  1  Tim.  iv.  12.  9  1  Tim.  iii.  2,  4,  5  ;  Tit.  i.  6. 

6  Ibid.,  iii.  2.  JO  1  Tim.  iii.  6. 
'  Ibid.,  iii.  7. 


PASTORAL  EPISTLES.  213 

instruct  the  Faithful,  since  this  weighty  duty  demands  a 
Pastor  "  deeply  attached  to  the  truths  of  the  Faith  as  he 
has  received  them,  capable  of  exhorting  them  in  sound 
doctrines  and  of  rebuking  such  as  gainsay  them  ?  "  ^ 

Paul  gave  them  similar  counsels  in  regard  to  the 
Deaconship.  We  have  seen  that  from  the  outset  this 
office  was  committed  only  to  men  "  filled  with  the  Holy 
Ghost  and  with  wisdom."  ^  The  Apostle's  one  hope  was 
to  keep  the  secondary  ministers  of  the  Hierarchy  true  to 
this  high  ideal,  and  he  urges  them  to  strive  after  perfection 
as  earnestly  as  he  does  the  Priests.  Grave,  sincere,  and 
temperate,  let  them  choose  some  honest  means  of  liveli- 
hood, keeping  the  mystery  of  the  Faith  with  a  pure  con- 
science. Let  their  wives  also  be  women  of  gravity,  not 
scandal-mongers,  but  sober  and  faithful  in  all  things. 
Like  the  Priests,  finally,  the  Deacons  must  be  married  but 
once,  and  take  good  heed  to  the  conduct  of  their  children 
and  their  households.  The  Deacon,  although  a  server  by 
name  and  by  office,  is  none  the  less  raised  to  a  rank  of 
eminence  in  the  Church ;  his  is  the  mission  to  teach  and 
defend  the  Faith  of  the  Christ  Jesus  with  great  hardihood. 
This  ministry,  therefore,  should  be  intrusted  to  such  only 
of  the  Faithful  as  have  been  put  to  the  proof  and  been 
recognized  as  without  reproach.^ 

Taken  together  these  rules  actually  constituted  the 
Hierarchy.*  There  remained,  however,  a  point  of  great 
importance  which  Paul  was  careful  not  to  neglect,  namely, 
the  guidance  of  women  in  the  Church.  They,  too,  had  had 
a  large  share  in  the  diffusion  of  supernatural  gifts.  In 
Csesarea,  as  we  have  seen,  the  four  daughters  of  Philip  were 
endowed  with  the  gift  of  Prophecy  ;  ^  in  Corinth,  likewise, 

1  Tit.  i.  9.  2  ^cts  vi.  3.     See  St.  Peter,  chap.  iv. 

3  1  Tim.  iii.  8-13. 

*  As  to  the  organization  of  the  Hierarchy  see,  besides  De  Smedt  and 
Duchesne  quoted  above,  Lightfoot,  Epistle  to  the  Philippians  (1888); 
Di  sert.  i.,  The  Christian  Ministry  ;  A.  Harnack,  Lehreder  ztvolfApos" 
tel  (1884);  R.  Sohm,  Kirchenrecht,  vol.  1  (1892);  P.  Batiffol,  I'Eglise  nais- 
sante;  iii.,  les  Institutiones  Jderarchiques  de  VEglise,  in  the  Revue  bihlique, 
October,  1895,  i»p.  473-500  ;  J.  Re'ville,  les  Ongines  de  V e'piscopat  (1894). 

S  Acts  xxi.  8,  9. 


214  LAST  YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

we  found  inspired  women  praying  in  a  loud  voice  and 
foretelling  the  future  in  the  Christian  gatherings.^  The 
Apostle  was  compelled  to  intervene  and  inculcate  a  more 
modest  reserve,  but  at  the  same  time  he  took  care  to  find 
some  means  of  employing  the  ardor  of  their  faith  and 
charity.  It  was  he,  apparently,  who  had  instituted 
throughout  the  Christian  congregations  of  Asia  the  order 
of  Deaconesses  to  which  belonged  "  Phoebe,  the  servant  of 
the  Church  at  Kenchrese."  ^  These  corporations  of  pious 
women  he  organized  after  the  pattern  of  the  Deaconship, 
and  intrusted  them  with  analogous  functions,  —  the  assist- 
ance of  the  poor,  visiting  the  sick,  and  the  duties  of 
hospitality.  He  even  confided  to  them  some  share  in  the 
higher  functions  in  the  ministry ;  such  as  the  duty  of 
instructing  and  consoling  persons  of  their  own  sex,  pre- 
paring them  for  Baptism,  confirming  them  in  faith  and 
piety,  as  well  as  superintending  them  in  the  religious 
meetings.^ 

It  would  seem  that  at  first  the  conditions  of  member- 
ship in  this  Diaconate  for  women  were  hardly  at  all 
restricted;  virgins  and  widows  of  whatever  age  were 
cordially  welcomed,  once  they  signified  their  willingness 
to  offer  themselves  to  the  Christ  and  to  His  Church.  But 
here,  as  everywhere  else,  once  the  first  fervor  died  out, 
serious  abuses  came  to  light  It  was  discovered  that  the 
young  women  soon  returned  to  a  life  of  ease  and  idleness  ; 
prattlers  and  busybodies,  they  would  run  from  house  to 
house,  with  no  womanly  reserve  or  regard  to  propriety  in 
their  gossipingo  The  Pagans  made  this  another  excuse  to 
decry  the  Faith,  ridiculing  these  women  who  after  conse- 
crating themselves  to  the  Christ,  made  their  one  aim  in 
life  the  quest  of  another  husband.*  Paul  realized  the  urgent 
necessity  of  putting  a  stop  to  these  disorders  ;  this  he  did 
l)y  laying  down  strict  rules  concerning  the  selection  of 
Deaconesses.  Only  on  condition  that  she  had  been  joined 
in  wedlock  but  once,  and  that  she  had  reached  sixty  years 

1  1  Cor.  xi.  5 ;  xiv.  34,  35.  ^  ^qxh,  xvi.  1. 

^  Kraus,  Real-Encijklopddie  der  christUchen  Alterthiimer,  DiAKONisSEN. 

*  1  Tim.  V.  11-1.5. 


PASTORAL  EPISTLES.  215 

of  age,  could  any  widow  become  a  member  of  this  order ; 
most  of  all  was  it  requisite  that  she  possess  good  and  suffi- 
cient testimony  to  the  virtuousness  of  her  life,  having 
brought  up  her  children  well,  exercised  hospitality,  washed 
the  feet  of  the  Saints,  given  aid  to  the  afflicted,  and  in  a 
word,  devoted  herself  to  every  sort  of  good  works.^  Nor 
are  their  obligations  to  be  confined  to  these  charitable 
offices ;  in  return  for  the  responsibility  assumed  by  their 
brethren  to  provide  for  their  wants,  Paul  bids  them  keep 
vigil  for  all  in  prayer,^  becoming,  to  borrow  a  figure 
employed  by  St.  Poly  carp,  "  God's  Altar,"  ^  whereon  "  night 
and  day  "  ^  is  offered  unto  the  Lord  the  "sacrifice  of  prayer, 
the  fruit  of  the  lips  which  give  glory  unto  His  Name."  ^ 
Thus  the  whole  list  of  duties  which  nowadays  are  divided 
among  the  Active  and  Contemplative  Orders  of  the  Church, 
were  then  intrusted  to  the  Deaconesses  alone.  Paul  made 
them  the  model  for  the  religious  life.  Under  the  divers 
forms  in  which  this  life  is  clothed  in  our  times,  all  that  is 
essential  to  the  Apostolical  institution  still  remains,  with 
the  exception  of  a  few  details  which  were  aimed  at  pas- 
sing irregularities.  The  advanced  age,  for  instance,  was 
not  a  condition  intended  to  be  per  ma  men  t;  accordingly 
we  find  that  it  fell  into  desuetude,  —  gradually,  however, 
and  in  the  course  of  centuries  ;  ^  so  sacred  did  men  hold 
the  slightest  directions  coming  from  the  Apostles !  ^ 

The  reform  of  the  Hierarchy  in  the  manner  devised  by 
Saint  Paul,  the  details  of  which  we  have  just  been  study- 
ing, was  not  the  work  of  a  day.  Great  caution  and  pru- 
dence were  requisite  to  substitute  quietly  a  definitive  order 
in  place  of  their  acquired  rights.     The  Apostle  was  given 

1  1  Tim.  V.  7-10.  2  Ibid.,  V.  5. 

3  QvfftaaTrjpLov  deov.     St.  Polycarp,  Epist.  ad  Philip.,  iv. 

4  1  Tim.  V.  5.  5  Hebr.  xiii.  15. 

6  Tertnllian,  De  velandis  virginibiis,  ix.  ;  S.  Basil,  Epist.,  199,  xxiv.  ; 
Concil.  Chalcedon.,  xv. 

7  Here  it  is  taken  for  granted  that  both  the  deaconesses  and  widows 
belong  to  one  and  the  same  body  of  holy  women  consecrated  to  the  service 
of  the  Church.  There  is  nothing  in  the  Apostolical  times  to  authorize  us 
in  regarding  these  two  names  as  referring  to  two  distinct  Hierarchical  or- 
ders, and  it  would  seem  difficult  to  prove  that  it  was  otherwise  in  the  cen- 
turies immediately  following. 


216  LAST  YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

no  leisure  for  such  patient  labors ;  his  anxieties  concern- 
ing the  Christians  of  Macedonia,  and  their  appeals,  perhaps, 
as  well,  were  hastening  his  departure.  He  made  up  his 
mind,  here  in  Asia  Minor  as  well  as  in  Crete,  to  intrust 
the  mission  of  completing  his  work  to  some  one  of  those 
in  his  company,  and  his  choice  fell  upon  Timothy ;  not 
without  some  hesitation,  seemingly,  for  Paul  tenderly 
loved  this  disciple  of  his.  Would  not  this  new  burden 
which  he  was  about  to  lay  upon  his  shoulders  prove  too 
heavy  and  crushing  for  his  delicate  health  ?  ^  Did  not  his 
character,  as  loving  as  it  was  lovable,  yet  retiring  and  dif- 
fident withal,  little  fit  him  for  the  struggle  ahead  ?  ^  Young 
as  he  was  in  age,  youthful,  too,  in  soul  and  ideas,^  would 
Timothy  inspire  respect  in  the  eyes  of  priests  older  than 
himself,  whom  he  was  charged  to  command,  to  guide,  to 
rule  in  temporal  matters,  and  even  to  judge,  should  the 
necessity  arise?*  Would  he  be  obeyed  by  those  Deacon- 
esses whose  number  he  must  needs  reduce,  and  substitute 
strict  discipline  for  their  free  and  easy  ways  ? 

And  who  was  to  sustain  him  in  his  warfare  against  the 
heretics  ?  Paul  could  still  reckon  upon  the  co-operation  of 
many  friends  in  Ephesus,  among  whom  Onesiphorus  and 
his  family  are  especially  mentioned  by  him  at  this  date.^ 
His  influence,  however,  had  largely  suffered,  and  from  the 
mournful  impressions  left  on  his  mind  by  his  struggles 
with  the  sectaries,  we  gather  that  their  audacity,  their 
persistency,  and  their  subtilty  in  an  argument  appeared 
to  him  the  danger  to  be  dreaded  most  of  all.  But  would 
Timothy,  even  when  sustained  by  these  brethren  who  had 
remained  faithful,  have  the  vigor  needful  when  brought 
face  to  face  with  the  rebels,  and  resist  them  by  taking  his 
stand  simply  and  firmly  on  the  "  sound  doctrine  according 

1  1  Tim.  V.  23.  2  2  Tim.  i.  7,  8  ;  ii.  3,  22. 

^  1  Tim.  iv.  12.  As  Timothy  was  quite  young  at  the  time  of  St.  Paul's 
first  mission  (in  51),  he  may  have  been  thirty-five  or  thirt)^-six  years  old 
when  the  Apostle  wrote  this  letter  to  him.  He  had  not,  therefore,  arrived 
at  that  mature  age  which  seemed  requisite  for  tlie  weighty  and  difficult 
functions  confided  to  him;  hence  those  words  of  St.  Paul,  "Let  none 
contenm  thy  youth."  1  Tim.  iv.  12.  "  Flee  from  the  passions  of  young 
people."     2  Tim.  ii.  22. 

*  1  Tim.  V.  17-22.  °  2  Tim.  i.  16. 


PASTORAL  EPISTLES.  217 

to  the  Gospel,"  ^  without  allownig  himself  to  become  in- 
volved in  the  interminable  quibblings  which  was  their 
forte?  In  such  discussions,  foolish  and  unavailing  as 
they  were,  Timothy  in  such  an  unwonted  position  would 
be  only  too  likely  to  run  to  extremes,  and  to  reply  with 
too  great  severity ,2  on  occasions  when  all  that  the  situation 
required  was  to  confront  them  with  God's  truth  boldly 
and  unashamed. 

Certainly  these  were  reasons  enough  to  justify  the 
Apostle's  apprehension,  and  yet  in  the  end  he  yielded  to 
the  perfect  confidence  which  he  had  ever  placed  in  Tim- 
othy. He  knew  his  "unfeigned  faith," ^  enlightened  from 
childhood  by  study  of  the  Holy  Scriptures^  On  the  other 
hand,  he  was  not  lacking  in  experience  so  far  as  Apos- 
tolical labors  were  concerned,  since  for  fourteen  years  he 
had  worked  side  by  side  with  his  master,  and  had  always 
succeeded  in  accomplishing  whatever  missions  the  Apostle 
had  confided  to  him.  Accordingly  Paul  intrusted  him 
with  the  task  of  restoring  the  Church  of  Ephesus  to  its 
former  condition,  a  heavy  task,  indeed,  and  one  which  he 
undertook  with  a  full  understanding  both  of  the  difficul- 
ties involved  in  it,  but  most  of  all  what  the  parting  with 
his  master  meant  to  him.  Even  when  bidding  him  fare- 
well, Paul  noted  that  the  tears  stood  in  his  disciple's  eyes.^ 
With  comforting  words  he  heartened  up  this  "beloved 
son,"^  bade  him  rely  upon  the  grace  of  God,  then,  after 
having  bidden  adieu  to  the  town,  pursued  his  usual  route 
northward  along  the  coast  of  the  Troad. 

Doubtless  before  leaving  Ephesus  Paul  had  put  his  disci- 
ple on  his  guard  against  the  perils  which  he  most  dreaded, 
and  yet  none  the  less  was  his  mind  filled  with  anxiety  in 
regard  to  the  outcome  of  the  struggle.  For  some  fears  he 
must  have  felt  lest  Timothy,  when  brought  under  the 
enemy's  fire,  should  forget  his  commander's  warnings.  So 
then,  while  in  Macedonia,^  he  resolved  to  put  them  in 

1  1  Tim.  i.  11 ;  iv.  6  ;  vi.  3.  5  jbid.,  i.  4. 

2  Ibid,  V.  1.  G  Ibid.,  i.  2. 
8  2  Tim.  i.  5.  7  1  Tim.  i.  3. 
4  Ibid.,  iii.  15. 


218  LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

writing,  and  addressed  a  letter  to  him  which  has  ever  been 
treasured  up  by  the  Church,  and  has  become,  as  it  were,  a 
manual  of  the  Pastoral  Ministry.  When  writing  it,  Paul 
assuredly  had  no  idea  of  lending  such  importance  to  this 
missive ;  he  is  simply  conversing  with  his  disciple  famil- 
iarly and  with  perfect  freedom ;  in  fact,  it  would  be  labor 
lost  to  try  to  evolve  any  course  of  reasoning  or  any  ani- 
mating thought  from  this  short  letter  as  from  the  greater 
Epistles.  We  must  needs  examine  his  ideas  one  by  one, 
just  as  they  occurred  to  the  mind  of  the  author.  Natu- 
rally, his  first  thought  was  directed  to  those  preachers  of 
falsehoods  whose  stilted  verbiage  still  echoed  in  his  ears. 
He  urges  Timothy  to  follow  his  own  example  and  despise 
the  vain  babblings  of  teachers  who  do  not  even  understand 
themselves;^  let  him  beware  of  so  much  as  an  attempt  at 
refuting  their  fables  and  the  "endless  genealogies  " ^  pre- 
sented by  these  false  teachers  as  the  authentic  interpre- 
tation and  fruit  of  the  Law.  The  true  accomplishment 
and  perfection  of  these  Divine  Commandments  is  to  be 
found  by  the  disciples  of  Christ  in  the  "  love  proceeding 
from  a  pure  heart,  good  conscience,  and  unfeigned  faith."  ^ 
The  Law  serves  only  to  lead  the  impious  and  sinful  to  the 
gates  of  these  supernatural  heights ;  thither  it  had  con- 
ducted Paul,  who  was  a  "  blasphemer,  a  persecutor,  and 
injurious,"  in  order  that  in  him  "the  grace  of  the  Lord 
should  be  made  exceeding  abundant  with  the  Faith  and 
Love  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus."*  The  story  of  his  own 
conversion  had  always  been  Paul's  favorite  argument  to 
silence  his  opponents.  "  Behold  what  Jesus  has  made  of 
me,"  he  repeated  again  and  again.  Nor  could  Timothy,  "  in 
the  good  fight  "^  he  was  to  sustain,  find  any  better  plan 
of  action  than  to  confront  the  insidious  tactics  of  heresy 
with  the  plain  words  of  the  Gospel,  thereby  proving  its 
ability,  in  the  past,  present,  and  for  all  time,  to  inculcate 
all  wisdom  and  virtue. 

Kumors  of  the  revolution  at  Jerusalem  were  then  rife 

1  1  Tim.  i.  7.  *  Ibid.,  i.  9-14. 

2  Ibid.,  i.  4.  6  Ibid.,  vi.  12. 
«  Ibid.,  i.  5. 


PASTORAL  EPISTLES.  219 

throughout  the  Empire.  It  is  more  than  likely  that  the 
false  teachers  at  Ephesus  relied  upon  them  to  foment  new 
troubles  and  urge  their  hearers  to  shake  off  their  yoke ; 
for  Paul  concludes  his  warnings  against  the  sectaries  with 
a  very  characteristic  exhortation.  Timothy  should  see  to 
it  that  the  usual  prayers  for  the  Emperor  and  the  magis- 
trates be  said  regularly  in  all  Christian  sanctuaries,  that 
thus  the  Church,  at  peace  with  Eome,  might  continue 
"to  lead  a  quiet  and  tranquil  life  in  all  godliness  and 
honesty."  ^ 

No  less  insistently  did  the  Apostle  recommend  the 
keeping  of  good  order  in  all  other  parts  of  the  Divine 
service.  In  this  respect  the  Christian  women  of  Asia, 
like  those  of  Corinth,  were  only  too  prone  to  take  great 
liberties ;  they  attended  God's  house  for  the  sake  of  ex- 
hibiting their  apparel,  which  was  most  unseemly  in  dis- 
ciples of  the  Christ,  their  long  braids,  heavy  with  gold 
and  precious  stones,  —  and  rivalling  each  other  in  the  sump- 
tuousness  of  their  raiment.^  Paul  bids  him  recall  them  to 
their  sense  of  duty,  and  sharply  too.  "  Let  them  be  silent, 
with  all  subjection,  when  they  are  instructed.  But  I 
suffer  not  a  woman  to  teach  or  to  usurp  authority  over 
her  husband ;  she  must  keep  silence,  for  Adam  was  formed 
first,  then  Eve;  and  it  was  not  Adam  who  was  seduced, 
but  the  woman,  who,  by  allowing  herself  to  be  seduced, 
committed  the  transgression.  Her  salvation  shall  be  in 
the  children  which  she  shall  bring  into  the  world,  if  she 
bring  them  up  in  faith  and  charity  and  holiness  and  a 
well-ordered  life."^ 

The  duty  of  maintaining  this  orderliness  in  the  Chris- 
tian communities,  both  in  the  family  circle  and  in  religious 
gatherings,  belonged  to  the  spiritual  heads  of  the  brother- 
hood. Everything  must  depend  upon  them,  on  their 
unity  of  spirit,  their  zeal,  and  their  success  in  governing. 
Hence  Paul's  unremittent  anxiety  to  make  this  body  of 
Pastors  still  more  fruitful  and  vigorous  in  their  ministry. 
Although,  before  his  departure,  he  had  taken  the  initial 
steps  toward  a  reform  in  the  Hierarchy,  he  would  not  miss 

1  1  Tim.  ii.  1,  2.  ^  jj^ij,^  ii.  9,  3  ibid.,  ii.  11-15. 


220  LAST   YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

the  opportunity  offered  him  by  this  letter  to  Timothy  to 
map  out  its  broader  lines/  and  to  insist  upon  certain 
points  rendered  more  urgent  by  the  crisis  tliey  were  pass- 
ing through :  —  not  to  lay  hands  suddenly  on  any  one,^ 
and  to  assure  to  the  ministers  of  the  Word  a  fitting  live 
lihood;^  not  to  entertain  an  accusation  against  them, 
save  on  the  oath  of  two  or  three  witnesses,  nor  yet  to  fail 
in  rebuking  them  publicly  if  they  were  really  guilty.*  By 
thus  seasoning  liis  firmness  with  circumspection  Timothy 
would  be  constituting  and  maintaining  everywhere  the 
authority  of  a  Church  which  is  the  "  Assembly  of  the 
living  God,  the  pillar  and  groundwork  of  the  Truth ; "  ^ 
the  mystic  abode  wherein  is  accomplished  "  the  great 
mystery  of  godliness  "  of  the  Christian  life,  — 

"  Manifested  in  the  flesh. 
Justified  by  the  Spirit, 
Contemplated  by  the  Angels, 
Preached  unto  the  Nations, 
Believed  on  in  the  World, 
Received  up  into  Glory."  « 

As  we  have  seen  in  the  Epistles  to  the  Colossians  ^  and 
to  the  Ephesians,^  the  constitution  of  the  Christian 
family  engrossed  the  attention  of  the  Apostle  quite  as 
much  as  did  that  of  the  Hierarchy.  He  returns  to  this 
subject  in  his  letter  to  Timothy,  and  explains  to  him  at 
length  his  duties  in  the  matter.  The  aged  and  the  youth- 
ful, young  women  and  old,  widows,  slaves,  no  class  is 
omitted  in  his  study  of  the  social  fabric.  Paul  is  care- 
ful to  see  that  the  Christian  life  circulates  through  all 
the  smallest  arteries.^ 

1  1  Tim.  iii.  1-13.  *  Ibid.,  v.  19,  20. 

2  Ibid.,  V.  22.  5  Ibid.,  iii.  15. 

3  Ibid.,  V.  17,  18. 

6  The  syrainetrical  arrangement  and  rbythmical  cadence  of  these  phrases 
justify  ns  in  supposing  that  this  was  one  of  those  spiritual  canticles  which 
the  early  Christians  had  composed  and  were  accustomed  to  ciiant  unto  the 
Lord,  whether  in  their  private  reunions  or  at  the  liturgical  gatherings. 
Ephes,  V.  19;  Coloss.  iii.  16.  As  to  these  h3'mns,  see  St.  Paul  and  his 
Missions,  chap.  viii. 

7  Coloss.  iii.  18-22;  iv.  1.  8  Ephes.  v.  22-28  ;  vi.  1-9. 

^"  Rebuke  not  an  aged  man  sternly,  but  warn  him  as  thou  wouldst  a 


PASTORAL  EPISTLES.  221 

Nevertheless,  the  ruling  thought  of  this  Epistle  is 
is  ever  his  dread  of  heresy.  He  returns  to  it  at  every 
opportunity,  to  put  his  disciple  on  his  guard  against  these 
apostates  and  the  absurd  or  immoral  consequences  of  their 
teaching.  They  are  indeed,  he  tells  him,  "  impertinent 
follies,  old  wives'  tales  .  .  .  diabolical  doctrines  taught 
by  hypocritical  impostors,  whose  consciences  are  blackened 
with  crime.^  They  go  so  far  in  their  madness  as  to  put 
under  the  ban  marriage  and  the  use  of  flesh  meats,  which 
God  created  to  be  accepted  with  thanksgiving  by  the 
faithful  and  by  those  who  have  received  a  knowledge  of 
the  truth.  Now,  every  creature  of  God  is  good,  and 
nothing  which  is  eaten  with  thankfulness  should  be  dis- 
dained, for  it  is  sanctified  by  the  Word  of  God  and 
prayer."  2 

Was  not  Timothy  himself,  perhaps,  a  little  prone  to  this 
ostentation  of  austerity  ?  Or  was  it  simply  to  be  put  down 
to  his  frugal  manner  of  life,  that  he  never  drank  anything 
but  water  ?  With  affectionate  condescension  Paul  gives 
utterance  to  his  fears,  and  descends  to  this  bit  of  warn- 
ing :  "  Drink  a  little  wine  for  thy  stomach's  sake  and 
thine  often  infirmities."  ^  But,  in  the  main,  corporal 
practices  have  little  value  in  the  Apostle's  eyes.     Godli- 

father ;  treat  young  men  as  brothers,  the  aged  women  as  mothers,  the 
younger  as  sisters,  in  all  purity.  Honor  the  widows  that  are  widows  indeed. 
But  if  any  widow  has  children  or  grandchildren,  let  them  learn  first  to 
show  their  godliness  towards  their  own  household,  and  to  requite  those 
from  whom  they  are  descended  for  the  care  they  have  received  from  them, 
for  this  is  acceptable  unto  God.  Let  the  widow  who  is  really  widowed 
and  friendless  set  her  hopes  in  God  and  persevere  day  and  night  in  prayer 
and  supplication.  As  for  her  who  lives  in  pleasure,  she  is  dead  thougli 
she  seem  to  live.  ...  I  much  prefer  that  the  younger  marry,  bear  chil- 
dren, rule  their  household,  and  give  no  occasion  to  the  enemies  of  our  re- 
ligion to  reproach  us  ;  for  some  there  are  who  have  already  gone  asti'ay 
after  Satan.  If  there  be  any  believer  who  has  widows  that  are  akin  to 
him,  let  him  relieve  them  and  let  not  the  Church  be  burdened  with  them, 
that  it  may  support  those  that  are  widows  indeed.  .  .  .  Let  as  many  slaves 
as  are  under  the  yoke  esteem  their  own  masters  worthy  of  all  honor,  lest 
the  name  of  God  and  His  Doctrine  be  blasphemed  ;  let  those  whose  mas- 
ters are  believers  not  despise  them  because  tliey  are  bretliren,  but  serve 
them  with  the  more  subjection,  because  those  who  benefit  by  their  good 
services  are  believing  and  beloved."  1  Tim.  v.  1-16,  14-16  ;  vi.  1,  2. 
1  1  Tim.  iv.  7,  1,  2.  2  ibi,i,^  i^.  3_5,  3  jbij,^  y,  23. 


222  LAST   YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

ness  is  the  one  thing  needful.  It  is  useful  for  all,^  and 
even  in  this  life  of  ours  is  equivalent  to  great  wealth, 
since  it  teaches  us  to  be  content  with  what  sufhces  for 
our  needs.^  "  We  brought  nothing  into  this  world  ;  cer- 
tain it  is  that  we  can  carry  nothing  out.  Having, 
therefore,  food  and  wherewithal  to  cover  us,  let  us  be 
satisfied  therewith."  ^  Paul  insists  strongly  on  this  entire 
detachment,  as  necessary  to  the  true  Christian.  "  They 
that  would  be  rich,"  he  assures  us,  "  fall  .  .  .  into  use- 
less and  hurtful  lusts,  which  drown  men  in  ruin  and 
perdition.    For  the  love  of  money  is  a  root  of  all  evil."  ^ 

The  final  words  of  the  Epistle  sum  up  these  various 
counsels  in  one  general  line  of  conduct :  "  O  Timothy, 
keep  the  deposit  which  is  committed  to  thy  trust !  **  ^ 
An  attachment  to  Tradition,  to  the  words  of  truth  apd 
life  which  the  Apostles  had  received  from  Jesus  and 
had  transmitted  to  the  Church,  constitute  the  main  duty 
of  Pastors.  For,  once  bound  by  the  unity  of  Faith,  they 
are  "  putting  their  trust  in  God,  Who  quicken eth  unto 
life  all  things  that  live,'  ^  indissolubly  attached  to  Him 
through  the  Christ,  "  the  only  Potentate,  King  of  kings. 
Lord  of  lords,  Who  only  hath  immortality,  dwelling  in 
the  light  which  no  man  can  approach  unto,  ...  to 
Whom  be  honor  and  power  everlasting."^ 

Twice  in  this  Epistle  the  Apostle  expresses  so  firm 
an  intention  of  returning  to  Ephesus    as    soon    as  pos- 

1  1  Tim.  iv.  8.  "It  is  the  whole  man,"  says  Bossuet,  Oraison  funehre 
de  Louis  de  Bourbon. 

2  Tim.  vi.  6.  3  i^id.,  yi.  7,  8. 

^  1  Tim.  vi.  9,  10.  This  disentanglement  from  the  pursuit  of  wealth 
seemed  to  him  of  such  imi)ortance,  in  an  opulent  and  luxurious  town  like 
Ki)hesus,  that  after  the  Doxology  with  whicli  his  Epistle  would  naturally 
terminate,  he  again  takes  up  his  pen  to  insist  anew  upon  the  spirit  of 
poverty  and  generosity  of  heart  as  needful  ahove  all  for  the  true  Christiai'  : 
"Charge  those  who  are  rich  in  this  present  world  not  to  he  haughty,  ni)r 
to  put  their  trust  in  uncertain  riches,  hut  in  the  God  Who  pi'ovides  abun- 
dantly all  things  needful  for  our  life  ;  charge  them  to  |)ractise  benevolenc*^, 
to  be  rich  in  good  works  ;  let  them  be  i-eady  in  giving,  bountiful,  storing 
up  for  themselves  as  their  treasure  a  good  foundation  for  the  future,  that 
they  may  lay  hold  on  what  is  truly  life."     1  Tim.  vi.  17-19. 

6  1  Tim.  vi.  20.  6  lbid.,vi.  13. 

'  Ibid.,  vi.  15,  16. 


PASTORAL  EPISTLES.  223 

sible,^  that  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  he 
fulfilled  his  plan.  So,  then,  for  the  last  time,  he  set 
sail  by  the  same  route  he  had  taken  fifteen  years  ear- 
lier to  conquer  Macedonia  and  Greece  to  the  cause  of 
Christ,  and  passed  over  from  Neapolis  into  Troas.  In 
the  latter  city  he  tarried  in  the  house  of  a  Christian 
named  Carpus ;  some  fortuitous  circumstance,  however, 
perhaps  a  renewed  persecution  on  the  part  of  the  Jews  or 
Pagans,  must  have  constrained  him  to  depart  in  all  haste, 
for  he  left  with  this  disciple  certain  of  his  belongings  of 
which  he  stood  in  need,  and  which  he  reclaimed  when  the 
opportunity  presented  itself,  —  his  cloak,  his  books,  and 
certain  manuscripts  whicli  he  valued  highly .^  Nothing 
is  known  to  us  of  this  second  trip  to  Ephesus,  but  we 
may  well  imagine  that  he  met  Aquila  and  Priscilla,  driven 
thither  from  Eome  by  the  Persecutions.^  Paul  had  good 
reason  to  value  these  two  helpers  of  his  and  drew  renewed 
courage  from  the  thought  that  they  were  to  be  with 
Timothy. 

Miletus  would  seem  to  have  been  the  farthest  point  on 
the  coast  of  Asia  which  the  Apostle  visited.  He  had  just 
embarked  with  the  disciples  who  were  to  accompany  him, 
when  one  of  them,  named  Trophimus,  took  dangerously 
sick,  and  the  Apostle  was  forced  to  leave  him  behind.* 
Again,  upon  the  Greek  shore  at  Achaia,  he  was  compelled 
to  make  another  such  sacrifice  :  a  distinguished  Christian 
of  that  country,  Erastus  by  name,  had  joined  his  band 
and  accompanied  him  thus  far.  But,  once  arrived  in 
Corinth,  he  decided  to  remain  there,^  probably  by  the 
advice  of  the  Apostle.  No  one,  indeed,  could  have  been 
better  fitted  than  was  this  disciple  to  defend  and  mahitain 
the  Faith  in  Achaia.  The  high  social  position  which  he 
held  before  his  conversion,^  his  knowledge  of  the  Gospel, 

1  1  Tim.  iii.  14;  iv.  13.  The  incidents  mentioned  in  the  second  letter 
to  Timothy  (iv.  13,  20)  seem  to  me  to  fit  in  naturally  with  this  last 
journey  around  the  archipelago. 

2  2  Tim.  iv.  13.  ^  Ibid. 

3  Ibid.,  iv.  19.  ^  Rom.  xvi.  23. 
*  Ibid.,  iv.  20. 


224  LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL, 

the  experience  he  had  acquired  in  Paul's  company,  the 
missions  which  he  had  undertaken  in  his  name/  all  these 
promised  a  bountiful  harvest  for  the  ministry  of  Erastus. 
Such  considerations  had  always  great  weight  with  the 
Apostle,  and  accordingly  he  left  his  disciple  at  Corinth  ; 
but  regretfully,  we  may  feel  sure,  for  he  had  more  than 
ever  need  of  helpers  in  the  mission  work  before  him  in 
Epirus.  Consequently  he  decided  to  recall  Titus,  consid- 
ering that  his  presence  in  Crete  was  no  longer  indispen- 
sable, and  that  another  disciple,  either  Artemas  or 
Tychicus,  might  fully  as  well  complete  his  work.  He 
was  still  hesitating  between  the  two  when  he  took  up  his 
pen  to  acquaint  Titus  with  his  intentions,  and  to  prepare 
him  for  a  speedy  departure.^ 

We  have  this  letter,  which  differs  but  slightly  in  its 
fundamental  ideas  from  that  which  Paul  had  just  written 
to  Timothy ;  the  same  rules  are  recalled  as  to  the  choice 
of  Pastors,^  the  same  submissiveness  recommended  in 
regard  to  princes  and  magistrates,*  the  same  counsels  as 
to  the  right  ordering  of  Christian  households.  Let  them 
conduct  themselves  irreproachably  in  the  sight  of  the 
heathen.  "  Let  the  aged  men  be  sober,  grave,  prudent,  in 
faith,  in  charity,  in  patience."  The  aged  women,  likewise, 
"  inspiring  wisdom  in  their  younger  sisters  ;  teaching  them 
to  love  their  husbands  and  their  children ;  to  be  discreet, 
chaste,  keepers  at  home ;  good  and  obedient  to  their  own 
husbands,  that  the  Word  of  God  be  not  blasphemed."^ 
Let  slaves,  too,  prove  by  their  conduct  what  the  "  grace  of 
God  Our  Saviour,  visible  to  all  men,"^  can  make  of  even  a 
servile  soul.  In  all  obedience  to  their  masters,  "  let  them 
endeavor  to  please  them  well  in  all  things ;  neither  con- 
tradicting them  nor  purloining  from  them  their  goods, 
but  in  everything  displaying  perfect  fidelity."  '' 

While  dwelling  upon  these  duties  of  a  Christian  life, 
Paul  exhorts  Titus  to  recommend  them  the  more  earnestly 

1  Acts  xix.  22.  5  Ibid.,  ii.  1-6. 

2  Tit.  ill.  12.  6  Ibid.,  ii.  11. 

8  Tit.  i.  5,  9.  ^  Ibid.,  ii.  9,  10. 

*  Ibid.,  iii.  1. 


PASTORAL  EPISTLES.  225 

during  the  latter  period  of  his  sojourn  in  Crete.  But  so 
far  as  heresy  was  concerned,  here,  just  as  at  Ephesus, 
he  deemed  any  discussion  with  them  superfluous,  seeing 
that  they  were  but  a  farrago  "  of  foolish  questions,  geneal- 
ogies, quarrelling,  and  disputes  concerning  the  Law, 
all  vain  and  fruitless."  ^  In  regard  to  the  sectaries,  it 
behooved  him  to  make  full  use  of  his  authority,  to  ad- 
monish them  once  or  twice,^  and  if  they  were  obstinate, 
put  them  without  the  pale  of  the  Church.  In  this  the 
Apostle  was  in  no  wise  departing  from  the  Evangelical 
Law  of  Charity,  but  was  laying  down  a  law  for  Pastors 
to  follow  with  souls  that  sympathized  secretly  with  error 
and  allowed  themselves  to  be  misled  by  it.^  Their  only 
hope  of  salvation  was  to  snatch  them  bodily  from  the 
danger,  and  by  main  force  rescue  them  from  the  yawning 
abyss  which  threatened  to  engulf  them.  Now,  Titus 
must  needs  display  this  vigor ;  for  the  Cretans  that  had 
fallen  away  from  the  cause  reverted  instinctively  to  the 
vices  of  their  race,  thereby  giving  fresh  proof  that  the 
picture  painted  of  them  by  their  fellow-countryman,  Epi- 
menides,  was  not  exaggerated,  for  they  are  "obstinate 
liars,  evil  beasts,  slow  bellies."  *  This  is  the  testimony  of 
one  of  themselves,  of  their  own  prophet,^  Paul  tells  his 
disciple,  and  it  is  unfortunately  but  too  true.  "  Wherefore 
rebuke  them  sharply,  that  they  may  remain  sound  in  the 
Faith,  not  giving  heed  to  Jewish  fables  and  the  com- 
mandments of  men  which  turn  from  the  truth."  ^ 
There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  this  letter  was 

1  Tit.  i.  10,  14  ;  iii.  9.  2  ibid.,  iii.  10. 

3  "Reject  the  sectarian  .  .  .  knowing  that  such  a  man  is  perverted  ; 
that  he  sins  and  thereby  condemns  himself."     Tit.  iii.  10, 11. 

^  Tit.  i.  12.  Epimenides  belonged  to  the  heroic  age  of  Greece,  when  all 
men  agreed  in  recognizing  in  him  something  divine.  'Avrjp  6elo$,  Plato, 
De  Leg.  116(pos  irepl  to.  deia,  Plutarch,  Sol.,  xii.  Aeti/os  to.  dda,  Maximus 
of  Tyre,  Dissert.,  22.  At  once  a  poet  and  a  prophet,  he  has  left  one  work 
upon  the  Sacrifices,  another  upon  the  Oracles.  The  words  quoted  by  St. 
Paul  are  taken  from  the  latter.  (Calliniaehus,  Hymn  ad  Jov.,  viii.)  Epi- 
menides, born  at  Phcestus  in  Crete,  lived  to  a  ripe  old  age  (157  years, 
according  to  Pliny,  Histor.  Natur.  vii.  49),  and  died  in  that  island,  or,  it 
may  be  in  Sparta,  where  his  tomb  was  pointed  out. 

6  Tit.  i.  12.  ^  Ibid.,  i.  13,  14. 

15 


226  LAST   YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

written  during  66,  in  autumn,  or  perhaps  in  the  summer. 
For,  though  the  Apostle  bids  Titus  meet  him  at  Nicopo- 
lis,  where  he  expects  to  pass  the  winter,^  he  nevertheless 
recommends  him,  not  merely  to  await  the  arrival  of  his 
successor,^  but  to  send  two  other  disciples  in  advance. 
These  were  Zenas,  the  lawyer,  and  Apollos,  who  were 
in  the  island.^  The  stormy  season,  therefore,  could  not 
have  been  close  at  hand. 

Paul's  eagerness  in  gathering  about  him  numerous  and 
able  fellow-workers  is  the  best  proof  of  the  importance 
he  attached  to  the  mission  he  was  to  undertake,  or,  rather 
let  us  say,  accomplish,  in  Epirus,  since  he  had  already 
preached  the  Gospel  in  those  parts.  We  have  seen  how, 
during  his  third  Apostolical  journey,  he  had  followed  the 
Egnatian  Eoad,  and  thus  reached  the  Adriatic  coast.* 
This  highway,  which  branches  off  at  some  distance  from 
the  sea  (at  Clodiana),  ends  at  the  two  seaports  of  Apol- 
lonia  and  Dyrrhachium.  The  latter  was  the  favorite  point 
of  embarkment  for  Brundisium  and  Italy.  In  all  likeli- 
hood it  was  there  that  Paul  located  the  centre  of  his 
Apostolate,  thereby  enabling  him  to  spread  the  Glad  Tid- 
ings throughout  Illyria  and  perhaps  even  in  Dalmatia.^ 

Mcopolis,  which  he  selected  as  his  residence,  during  his 
second  mission,  was  entirely  different  from  these  maritime 
cities,  but  not  less  propitious  for  the  propagation  of  the 
Gospel.  It  lay  further  to  the  south,  and,  as  the  capital 
of  Epirus,  preserved  the  importance  given  to  it  by  its 
founder,  Augustus.^  Its  name,  the  "  City  of  Victory,"  '^  re- 
called that  naval  combat  which  terminated  the  struggle 
between  Antony  and  Octavius,  and  left  the  latter  Master 
of  the  World.  The  site  of  the  conqueror's  encampment 
before  entering  into  action  was  on  the  narrow  isthmus 
which  divides  the  bay  of   Actium   from   the  Adriatic.^ 

1  Tit.  iii.  12.  3  Ibid.,  iii.  13. 

2  Ibid.,  iiL  12. 

*  See  St.  Paul  and  his  ^fissions,  chap,  xiii.,  p.  311  et  seq, 
6  Rom.  XV.  19  ;  2  Tim.  iv.  10. 

6  Dion  Cassius,  li.  1  ;  Strabo,   vii.  7;  Suetonius,  Octav.,  18. 
^  NtK6-7roXts.  8  Dion  Cassius,  1.  12. 


PASTORAL  EPISTLES.  227 

Mcopolis  stood  as  a  memorial  of  this  great  event,  but 
with  other  titles  to  glory  besides  that  one  triumph.  As  a 
free  town,  a  Eoman  colony,  and  one  represented  in  the 
Amphictyonic  Council,^  it  rose  at  once  to  the  dignity  of 
a  city  of  the  first  rank,^  endowed  with  splendid  monu- 
ments ;  for  the  foreign  princes,  hoping  thereby  to  flatter 
the  vanity  of  their  Emperors,  vied  with  each  other  in 
adorning  it ;  while,  more  than  all  the  rest,  Herod  the 
Great  distinguished  himself  by  his  munificent  gifts. ^  Such 
large  outlay  of  moneys  naturally  drew  thither  numerous 
settlers,  and  the  town  speedily  grew  in  population  as  well 
as  renown.  The  games  celebrated  on  the  Isthmus  in 
honor  of  Apollo,  hitherto  of  a  modest  character,  now 
waxed  in  splendor,  until  they  rivalled  those  of  Olympia.* 

What  events  marked  the  winter  which  Paul  and  his 
companions  spent  hereabouts  ?  Of  this  we  have  no  idea ; 
we  only  know  that  about  the  beginning  of  the  following 
year  the  Apostle  was  again  a  prisoner  in  Eome.  It  has 
been  surmised  that,  upon  being  arrested  in  Nicopolis  by 
the  magistrates  of  the  city,  he  appealed,  as  once  before  in 
Judea,  to  Caesar,  and  succeeded  in  having  his  case  referred 
to  the  Imperial  tribunal.  Others  hold  that  Paul  made 
Nicopolis  the  starting-point  of  his  journey,  of  which  the 
stopping-places  are  mentioned  in  his  second  letter  to  Tim- 
othy as  having  been  Troas,  Ephesus,  and  Miletus ;  ^  and 
that  it  was  at  Ephesus  that  some  new  outbreak  of  perse- 
cution claimed  him  as  its  victim.  There  is  a  tower  still 
pointed  out  amid  the  ruins  of  that  city  and  called  the 
Prison  of  St.  Paul ;  this,  they  hold,  was  the  place  where 
the  Apostle  was  detained  while  awaiting  his  transportation 
to  Eome. 

These  various  suppositions,  however,  deserve  scanty 
notice  at  the  hands  of  the  historian,  while  the  testimony 
gathered  by  Eusebius  is  far  more  credible.     Therein  Dio- 

1  Pliny,  Histor.  natur.,  iv.  2  ;  Tacitus,  Annal.,  v.  10;  Pausanias,  x.  8. 

2  Strabo,  vii.  7. 

3  Joseplms,  Antiq.  Jud.,  xvi.  v.  3. 

*  Strabo,  vii.  7;  Suetonius,  Octav.,  xviii. 
6  2  Tim.  iv.  13,  20. 


228  LAS 2'  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

nysius,  one  of  the  first  Bishops  of  Corinth,  speaks  of  Peter 
and  Paul  as  having  met  in  that  city  to  publish  the  Glad 
Tidings  for  the  last  time  there,  and  thence  "together 
departing  for  Italy,  there  terminating  their  Apostolate  to- 
gether by  martyrdom."  ^  Vague  as  these  words  are,  they 
faithfully  report  the  tradition  of  the  Church  at  Corinth  in 
the  second  century.  Now,  there  is  nothing  to  indicate 
that  Paul  was  arrested  in  Greece  and  carried  a  prisoner  to 
Corinth.  On  the  contrary,  it  would  appear  that  he  went 
there  of  his  own  free  will,  on  leaving  Nicopolis,  in  order 
to  meet  the  Prince  of  the  Apostles,  and  resume  his  journey 
Romewards  in  his  company.  This  was,  in  all  likelihood, 
in  the  spring  of  the  year  67.  Peter  and  Paul  had  but  a 
few  more  months  to  live. 

}  St.  Dionysius  of  Corinth,  quoted  by  Eusebius,  Histor.  Eccles.,  ii.  25. 


CHAPTEK  XIL 

THE  DEATH  OF  SAINT  PETER  AND  SAINT   PAUL. 

The  Eome  which  Paul  beheld  on  his  return  bore  but 
little  resemblance  to  the  city  he  had  left  three  years  before 
on  his  departure  for  Spain.  Two-thirds  of  the  town,  that 
portion  regarded  as  the  very  soul  of  its  ancient  glory,  had 
disappeared  in  the  flames,^  and  a  new  city  had  been 
erected  upon  its  ashes.  The  buildings  of  regular  propor- 
tions, built  of  stone  taken  from  Alban  or  from  Gabii,  the 
broad  and  regular  streets  bordered  with  arcades,  these  in  no 
way  recalled  the  old  town  with  its  crooked  lanes,  and  time- 
stained  dwellings  of  ungainly  height.^  People  came  from 
all  parts  of  the  Empire  to  admire  the  "  Golden  House," 
renowned  far  and  wide.^  It  had  needed  all  the  prodigality 
of  a  despot  and  a  madman  to  accomplish  such  marvels  in 
so  short  a  time. 

Indeed,  Nero  had  spared  nothing,  making  the  removal 
of  the  ruins  and  the  construction  of  the  porches  his  own 
affair,  while  at  the  same  time  richly  rewarding  any  citizen 
according  to  the  speed  with  which  the  owner  set  about  re- 
building, after  plans  laid  down  by  him.*  To  meet  these 
extraordinary  expenses,  the  provinces  had  been  plundered 
and  even  the  treasures  of  their  temples  ransacked.^  But  it 
was  Piso's  conspiracy  which  enabled  him  to  replenish  his 
empty  pockets  from  that  of  Rome  itself.  As  capital 
punishment  carried  with  it  confiscation  of  property,^  all 
that  was  necessary  to  enable  him  to  lay  hands  upon  great 
fortunes  was  to  pass  sentence  of  death  upon  their  owners. 

1  Tacitus,  Annul,  xv.  40,  41. 

2  See  Friedlander,  Mceurs  romaines,  vol.  i.,  La  ville. 

3  Tacitus,  Annal,  xv.  42,  43.  &  Ibid.,  xv.  45. 

*  Ibid.,  Annal.,  xv.  43. 

*  Daremberg,  Dictionnaire  des  Antiquit€s,  Confiscatio. 


230  LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

Now,  there  was  no  lack  of  pretext  for  such  accusations  in 
a  period  when  Thrasea's  austereness  of  morals  alone  was 
adjudged  to  be  an  act  of  conspiracy  by  the  Senate,  and 
brought  about  his  death.^  Supported  by  this  obsequious 
body,  Nero  needed  only  to  stimulate  the  activity  of  his 
informers  by  giving  them  a  handsome  share  in  the  spoils 
of  their  victims.  The  two  accusers  of  Thrasea,  for  in- 
stance, received  from  him  five  million  sesterces  (about 
$225,000)  apiece ;  that  of  Soranus,  twelve  hundred  thou- 
sand (about  $54,000)  together  with  the  qusestorship.^ 
All  men  w^ere  taken  stock  of  and  Eome  was  filled  with 
spies,  a  terror  to  the  nobility  and  wealthy.  Fear  spread 
abroad  in  the  land  as  in  the  worst  days  of  Tiberius.^ 
Nor  was  it  wealth  alone  they  attacked.  No  singularity 
in  religious  practices,  no  superiority  in  moral  conduct, 
could  escape  their  eyes,  but  everything  they  did  was 
travestied  into  senseless  rebellion,  into  an  attack  upon 
the  worship  of  Kome  and  its  Emperor,  in  a  word,  into 
the  crime  of  lese-majestc.  This  last  count  against  the 
accused  was  of  all  the  most  needful  to  his  indictment, 
since  every  case  successful  in  this  regard  was  worth 
some  pecuniary  remuneration  to  the  informer.* 

We  may  easily  imagine  what  dangers  were  incurred 
by  the  Apostles  in  a   city    burdened   by  such   tyranny. 

1  Tacitus,  Annal.,  xvL,  23-35.  "  Trucidatis  tot  insignibus  viris,  ad 
postremum  Nero  virtutem  ipsam  exscindere  concupivit,  interfecto  Thrasea 
Pyeto  et  Barea  Sorano." 

2  Tacitus,  Annal.,  xvi.  33. 

3  The  Delation,  in  the  criminal  procedure,  bore  with  it  no  stigma  of 
disgrace.  It  was  the  act  of  any  citizen  who  brought  to  the  knowledge  of 
justice  some  crime  or  misdemeanor,  indicating  at  the  same  time  its  nature 
and  its  author, — the  so-called  "  nominis  delatio."  But  this  practice, 
though  quite  explicable  and  even  justiiiable  in  the  beginning,  on  account 
of  the  lack  of  any  public  bureaus  of  information  among  the  Romans,  led  to 
intolerable  abuses.  It  is  well  known  what  extremities  they  went  to  under 
Tiberius  :  "  Never  has  there  reigned  in  Rome  such  a  state  of  consternation 
and  terror.  Men  tremble  in  the  presence  of  their  nearest  kinsfolk  ;  they 
dare  neither  accost  one  another  nor  hold  converse ;  known  or  unknown, 
every  hearer  is  suspected.  Even  dumb  and  inanimate  things  inspire  mis- 
givings. Uneasy  glances  search  the  very  walls  and  ceilings."  Tacitus, 
Annal.  iv.  69. 

*  Tacitus,  Annal.,  iv.  30. 


DEATH  OF  SAINT  PETER  AND  SAINT  PAUL.      231 

Paul,  especially,  could  not  linger  long  unknown  there. 
For  two  whole  years  his  name  had  been  in  every  one's 
mouth,  not  only  in  the  Praetorian  Camp,  but  in  Nero's 
court  as  well,^  and  he  was  not  the  man  either  to  deny  his 
identity  or  to  keep  silence.  Far  from  keeping  the  Word 
of  God  in  bonds,^  he  preached  boldly  as  ever  had  been  his 
wont,  thus  making  himself  an  easy  prey  for  informers, 
and  was  speedily  arrested  by  the  municipal  magistracy. 

This  second  imprisonment  was  not  accompanied  by  any 
of  those  kindly  manifestations  which  had  lightened  his 
previous  experience.  It  will  be  remembered  that  then 
the  captive  was  allowed  to  lodge  with  his  jailer  wherever 
he  saw  fit,  and  had  permission  to  receive  his  disciples 
and  strangers  in  the  house  which  he  had  rented,  as  well 
as  to  preach  to  all  comers.  This  time  he  was  incarce- 
rated from  the  very  first.  Onesiphorus,  who  had  arrived 
from  Ephesus  in  the  meanwhile,  found  great  difficulty 
in  discovering  in  what  prison  he  was  confined.^  None 
of  his  disciples  nor  any  of  the  Christians  of  Eome  aided 
him  in  his  search.  Had  they,  then,  forsaken  the  Apostle 
so  entirely  as  not  to  know  even  the  locality  where  he  was 
kept  confined  ?  As  regards  his  converts  of  Asiatic  origin, 
there  is  not  the  slightest  doubt  that  they  did  desert  him 
thus.  "  All  they  that  are  from  Asia  have  turned  away 
from  me,"  says  the  Apostle ;  "  Phygellus  and  Hermogenes 
are  of  this  number."  ^  Evidently  Paul  counted  especially 
upon  these  two  Christians ;  their  defection  was  therefore 
the  bitterer  to  him. 

Far  more  illustrious  disciples  were  with  their  master  on 
his  arrival  in  Eome  :  Titus,  Luke,  Tychicus,  Crescens,  and 
Demas.^  The  latter  alone  is  branded  by  him  in  his  aban- 
donment :  "  Demas  has  forsaken  me,  having  loved  this  pres- 
ent world,  and  is  departed  unto  Thessalonica."  ^  The 
Apostle  simply  mentions  the  departure  of  the  others 
without  a  word  of  blame  added,  and  we  should  hesitate  to 

1  Philip,  i.  13  ;  iv.  22.  2  2  Tim.  ii.  9. 

^  Vevofxevos  iu'^w/Jiri,  airovdaiios  i^-qrecFe  fxe  Kai  evpe.    2  Tim.  i.  17. 

*  2  Tim.  i.  15.        '  6  ibid.,  iv.  9. 

»  2  Tim.  iv.  9-12. 


232  LAST   YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

believe  them  capable  of  such  cowardice.  Then  what  are 
we  to  infer  ?  Only  this,  that  Paul  before  his  imprison- 
ment had  deputed  them  to  visit  various  Churches  :  Cres- 
ceus  was  sent  to  Galatia,^  Titus  into  Dalmatia,  Tychicus 
to  Ephesus/^  while  Luke,  whom  we  shall  soon  find  once 
more  with  him,^  had  received  some  less  distant  mission. 
To  all  appearances  Onesiphorus  alone  remained  to  succor 
and  visit  the  captive  ;  this  he  did  with  so  much  devotion 
that  Paul  was  greatly  moved  by  his  willingness  to  risk  all 
for  his  sake,  and  took  the  first  opportunity  of  expressing 
his  gratitude.  **  Often  has  he  consoled  me,"  he  writes  to 
Timothy,  "  nor  was  he  ashamed  of  my  chains."  *  To  this 
token  of  his  gratitude  the  Apostle  adds  the  following  in- 
vocation :  "  May  the  Lord  grant  unto  him  mercy  in  that 
Day  !  "  ^  What  did  he  mean  by  "  that  Day  "  ?  The  Day 
of  Eternity,  in  all  likelihood,  which  dawned  on  Onesi- 
phorus during  Paul's  captivity,  and  even  ere  he  had 
appeared  before  his  judges ;  since  this  Apostle  declares 
that  he  faced  their  tribunal  absolutely  alone  and  forsaken 
by  all.  6 

And,  nevertheless,  he  had  never  stood  more  in  need  of 
the  good  offices  of  some  tried  friend  ;  for  up  to  that  time 
he  had  never  been  confronted  with  judges  more  prejudiced 
against  him,  and  for  that  reason  more  to  be  dreaded  by 
him.  This  was  no  longer  a  period  when  the  magistrates 
of  the  Empire  rivalled  each  other  in  dispensing  justice 

1  Els  TaXariav  (2  Tim.  iv.  10)  is  the  reading  authorized  by  the  Vul- 
gate and  the  greater  number  of  MSS.  Some  ot"  the  latter,  however,  the 
Sinaitic  Codex  and  that  of  Ephrem,  and  the  MSS.  in  cursive  letters  73, 
80,  123,  give  the  variant  ils  TaWiav,  "in  Gaul,"  which  is  probably  merely 
the  interpretation  given  by  the  Greek  Church  to  Paul's  text  (Eusebiiis, 
Hist,  ecctes.,  in.,  iv. ;  St.  Epiphanius,  Hceres,  li.  ii,  11 ;  Theodoret,  in 
loc,  etc.).  "It  is  hard  to  dispute  the  fact,"  says  Tillemont,  "that  tliere 
was  a  tradition  commonly  received  throughout  the  East  that  Crescens 
had  preached  in  Gaul."  M€moires  pour  servir  a  Vhistoire  ecclesiastique, 
vol.  i.,  note  Ixxxi.,  on  St.  Paul.  Both  statements  may  be  reconciled  by 
dating  the  preaching  of  Crescens  in  Gaul  aiter  the  fulfilment  of  the  mis- 
sion which  Paul  had  intrusted  him  with  in  Galatia. 

2  2  Tim.  iv.  10-12.  *  Ibid.,  i.  16. 
8  Ibid.,  iv.  11.  6  iHd.,  i.  18. 

6  "  The  first  time  that  I  defended  my  case,  no  one  stood  by  me,  but  all 
forsook  me."     2  Tim.  iv.  16. 


DEATH  OF  SAINT  PETER  AND  SAINT  PAUL.      233 

with  impartiality,  as  in  the  days  when  Gallio,  Fehx,  and 
Festus  laid  hands  upon  him  solely  with  the  idea  of  saving 
him  from  the  fury  of  the  mob.  Nor  was  it  even  like  that 
time,  still  recent,  when,  as  he  appeared  before  the  Prefect 
of  the  Prsetorium,  he  could  feel  that  he  was  protected  by 
the  favorable  reports  of  the  Governor  of  Judea  and  of  the 
centurion  who  had  brought  him  to  Eome.  The  burning 
of  the  city  had  dried  up  the  very  springs  of  equity,  so  far 
as  the  Christians  were  concerned  ;  even  their  sufferings, 
more  calculated  to  inspire  dread  than  pity,  had  not  entirely 
destroyed  the  evil  effect  of  the  calumnies  against  them ; 
the  populace,  the  police,  and  the  courts  still  looked  upon 
them  as  suspicious  personages.  Paul,  being  well  known 
as  one  of  the  principal  leaders  of  their  sect,  was  doomed 
to  experience  the  full  effects  of  this  change  in  popular 
feeling.  We  have  seen  that  his  captivity  was  rendered 
thereby  the  stricter,  and  his  condemnation  in  no  wise 
belied  the  rest  in  harshness. 

Who  were  the  magistrates  called  upon  to  pass  sentence 
on  the  Apostle  ?  The  question  is  difficult  to  determine 
because  we  have  no  knowledge  of  the  nature  of  the  accu- 
sation against  him.  If  the  crime  charged  came  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  common  law,  it  would  fall  under 
the  Permanent  Commission  (Qucestiones  Perpetuce).  On  the 
contrary,  if  it  was  listed  under  such  cases  as  were  reserved 
for  the  Senate,  it  had  to  be  submitted  to  a  court  of  law, 
selected  from  that  great  body.^  Whichever  tribunal  it 
may  have  been,  we  know  that  neither  the  Emperor,  who 
was  absent  at  this  juncture,^  nor  any  of  his  more  influen- 
tial ministers  conducted  the  proceedings.  Indeed,  Saint 
Clement  of  Eome  would  lead  us  to  infer  that  the  Apostle 
had  to  do  with  a  mere  assembly  of  magistrates.^  This 
would  have  been  some  security  against  despotism,  but  by 
no   means   an   assurance  of  justice;    for  the  prejudices 

1  Mommsen,  Romisches  Staatsrecht,  vol.  ii.,  p.  Ill  et  seq.  ;  Willems,  Le 
Droit  public  romain,  p.  472,  473. 

2  He  had  left  for  Greece  toward  the  end  of  the  year  66.  Dion  Cassius, 
Ixiii.  8  ;  Tillemont,  Histoire  des  empereurs ;  NiiiRON,  art.  xxv. 

3  Mapru/j'^cras  iirl  tCjv  ijyovfieuuv,    St.  Clement,  Ad.  Corinth.,  v. 


234  LAST   YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

against  the  Christians  were  as  rife  among  the  lawyers  as 
they  were  among  the  immediate  companions  of  Nero 
himself.  The  New  Faith,  almost  unknown  to  them  a  few 
years  previously,  had  revealed  itself  during  the  persecu- 
tion of  64  as  an  occult  force,  gifted  with  surprising  energy  ; 
a  seditious  element  which  it  behooved  them  to  watch 
closely  and  suppress  at  the  slightest  sign  of  an  uprising. 
'T  was  therefore  before  judges  prejudiced  and  ill-disposed 
that  Paul  must  stand  once  more  on  his  defence. 

He  found  no  one  in  that  court  ready  to  risk  a  word  in 
his  behalf,  not  an  advocate,  nor  a  single  witness  for  the 
prisoner.  Assuredly  in  Eonie  there  was  no  lack  of  people 
who  might  have  deposed  in  his  favor  and  attested  his 
innocence ;  but  terror  had  frozen  their  courage.  Eemem- 
bering  this,  the  Apostle,  while  realizing  keenly  the  bitter- 
ness of  their  silence,  besought  God  not  to  impute  it  against 
them.^  Furthermore  we  know  that  they  had  not  awaited 
the  day  of  trial  to  forsake  him.  With  the  exception  of 
Onesiphorus,  they  all,  as  we  have  just  seen,  had  kept  aloof 
from  his  prison  cell,  fearing  lest  they  should  be  implicated 
in  his  troubles,  which  were  rendered  specially  ominous  on 
account  of  the  unfortunate  reputation  of  Christians  in 
general,  and  the  great  fame  of  the  accused. 

But  Paul,  in  his  abandonment  by  men,  was  not  left 
alone.  He  felt  the  assistance  of  that  Spirit  promised  by 
the  Master  to  all  such  as  are  haled  before  human  tribu- 
nals.2  Calm  and  collected  as  usual,  he  went  forth  from  his 
prison  cell  and  allowed  himself  to  be  conducted  to  one  of 
those  Basilicas  where  justice  was  administered ;  he  trav- 
ersed its  long  nave,  at  the  extremity  of  which  were  ranged 
the  magistrates,  seated  on  a  long  tribune.  On  his  way 
thither  he  had  to  pass  through  a  dense  throng  of  curiosity 
seekers.  The  Apostle,  noting  that  here  was  such  a  mix- 
ture of  races  as  Eome  alone  could  afford,  seized  the  occa- 
sion to  proclaim  once  more  the  Gospel  delivered  unto  all 
peoples,  and  thus,  as  it  were  by  a  few  final  words,  crowned 
his  life  of  preacher.^     By  God's  aid  "  Who  strengthened 

1  2  Tim.  iv.  16.  2  L^ke  xii.  11,  12. 

*  "  When  I  was  first  heard  in  my  defence  ...  the  Lord  assisted  and 


DEATH  OF  SAINT  PETER  AND  SAINT  PAUL.      235 

him,"  he  gave  utterance  to  the  faith  that  was  in  him, 
enveloping  the  name  of  Christ  with  such  glory  that  his 
accusers  were  left  speechless.  Nevertheless,  they  still 
growled  about  the  heels  of  their  prey,  though  for  that  one 
day,  as  Paul  tells  us,  he  "  was  saved  from  the  jaws  of  the 
lion."  1 

Some  have  thought  that  under  this  figure  he  referred  to 
Nero;  but  they  are  wrong,  since,  as  we  have  seen,  the 
Emperor  spent  this  year  in  Greece.  The  ministers  to  his 
ferocity,  however,  he  had  left  behind  him  in  Eome,  — 
Tigellinus,  doubly  powerful  as  Prefect  of  the  Praetorium,^ 
and  the  Emperor's  prime  favorite,  but  especially  the  freed- 
man  Helius,  whom  the  tyrant  had  invested  with  full 
powers  over  Rome  and  the  Senate.^  One  of  these  creatures 
of  the  tyrant  is,  apparently,  the  "  lion  "  spoken  of  by  the 
Apostle,  from  whose  claws  he  escaped  at  such  great  pains. 
Though  not  actually  presiding  over  the  judicial  proceed- 
ings, these  representatives  of  Nero  were  always  at  hand, 
ready,  if  need  were,  to  intervene  ;  that  they  did  not  go 
so  far  as  to  demand  his  immediate  condemnation  was  due, 
we  may  believe,  to  the  commotion  excited  by  Paul's 
harangue,  and  to  the  clamorous  approval  shown  him  by 
the  crowd.  The  case  was  adjourned,  but  the  Apostle  could 
not  conceal  from  himself  the  fact  that  its  renewal  would 
follow  at  no  late  date,  and  would  inevitably  prove  fatal  to 
him.  Thereafter  he  was  far  too  renowned  and  too  closely 
watched  by  his  powerful  foes  to  cherish  any  hope  of  escap- 
ing their  clutches.^ 

The  triumph  of  the  accused  did  not  go  so  far  as  to  admit 
of  his  release  under  bail.  Once  more  he  entered  his  little 
cell,  his  gaze  fixed  heavenward,  expecting  nothing  from 
this  earth  but  the  one  last  struggle  for  the  Christ ;  yet  well 
assured  of  bearing  his  share  in  the  combat  valiantly.    This 

strengthened  me  that  I  might  complete  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  and 
that  all  the  nations  might  hear  it."     2  Tim.  iv.  16,  17. 

1  Ibid. 

2  Hirschfeld,  Untersuchungen  auf  dem  Gebiete  der  Romischen  Verwalt- 
unggeschichte,  vol.  i.,  p.  221. 

3  Dion  Cassiiis,  Ixiii.  18.  *  2  Tim.  iv.  6. 


236  LAST  YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

aid  which  he  received  from  God  in  his  first  meeting  with 
the  enemy,  had  swept  away  every  apprehension,  all  un- 
certainty. "  He  shall  deliver  me  from  every  evil  deed,"  he 
said,  "and  by  saving  me  shall  conduct  me  unto  His 
Heavenly  Kingdom,  to  Whom  be  glory,  forever  and  ever."  ^ 
Once  more  the  days  of  weary  w^aiting  in  his  imprison- 
ment loomed  large  before  the  Apostle,  lightened  this  time, 
however,  by  the  presence  of  Luke,  who  on  his  return  to 
Eome  had  hastened  to  resume  his  place  beside  his  master. 
Paul  remarked  sadly  that  of  all  the  foreign  Christians,  this 
disciple  alone  remained  faithful  to  him.  From  the  bitter- 
ness of  this  complaint  does  it  not  seem  evident  that  there 
were  many  such  in  the  Capital  of  the  Empire,  —  those 
whom  he  had  known  well  and  eA^angelized,  either  in  Greece 
or  in  Asia,  but  whom  personal  fear  kept  aloof  from  him  ?  ^ 
The  Church  of  Eome,  at  least,  is  not  to  be  accused  of  such 
cowardice ;  some  of  its  most  distinguished  members  assisted 
Luke  in  his  ministrations  to  him.  These  were  Eubulus, 
Pudens,  of  a  senatorial  family,  according  to  ancient  tradi- 
tions,^ Claudia  *  and  Linus,  who  was  to  be  Peter's  successor 
on  the  Pontifical  throne.^  Nor  were  they  the  only  ones  to 
evidence  their  eager  affection.  In  the  letter  which  he 
wrote  Timothy  during  this  imprisonment  he  greets  him  in 
the  name  of  "all  the  brethren"^  who  were  with  him.  So 
far,  then,  it  appears,  he  was  much  less  strictly  guarded  after 
his  first  appearance  in  court,  and  was  permitted  to  receive 
many  Eoman  Christians  who  boldly  visited  him  in  his 
prison. 

1  2  Tim.  iv.  18.  3  See  Chapter  I.,  p.  15. 

2  Ibid.,  iv.  21. 

•*  Some  would  make  Claudia  the  wife  of  Pudens,  and  regard  them  as  the 
happy  pair  whose  union  Martial  celebrates  in  one  of  his  Epigrams  : 
"Claudia,  Rufe,  meo  nubit  peregrina  Pudenti."  (?]pigr.,  iv.  13.)  Un- 
fortunately, there  are  certain  decisive  objections  which  destroy  this  pretty 
conjecture ;  difficulties  of  chronology  are  insurmountable,  while  it  is  im- 
possible to  conceive  how  Martial,  if  he  had  a  Christian  friend,  should 
address  to  him  some  of  his  coarsest  epigrams.  See  Lightfoot,  St.  Clement 
of  Rome,  vol.  i.,  pp.  76-79. 

^  De  Smedt,  Dissertationes  selectee,  pp.  305-312 ;  Duchesne,  Liber  Pon- 
tificalis,  vol.  i.,  pp.  Ixxi-lxxiii,  and  p.  121. 

6  2  Tim.  iv.  21. 


DEATH  OF  SAINT  PETER  AND  SAINT  PAUL.      237 

This  band  of  faithful  disciples  comforted  the  prisoner's 
last  days,  though  without  diverting  his  thoughts  from  the 
end,  which  now  all  realized  was  inevitable.  In  this  solemn 
period  of  preparation,  the  longing  in  Paul's  heart  to  see  his 
best-beloved  disciple  again  grew  daily  stronger.  It  was 
toward  the  middle  of  summer ;  there  was  still  time  for  a 
letter  to  reach  Ephesus  and  give  Timothy  opportunity  to 
arrange  everything  in  view  of  his  absence,  and  reach  Kome 
before  winter  set  in.^  Furthermore,  he  did  not  anticipate 
that  his  case  would  be  reopened  at  an  earlier  date ;  the 
remembrance  of  the  judicial  delays  during  his  former 
imprisonment  warranted  him  in  this  belief.  Accordingly, 
he  resolved  to  write  to  Timothy  and  urge  him  to  come  to 
him. 

This  letter,  one  of  the  most  touching  of  all  the  Apostle's 
writings,  reveals  him  to  us  as  he  was  in  his  prison  on  the 
eve  of  death.  The  fatigues  of  his  laborious  ministry  had 
exhausted  his  body,  never  naturally  robust;  now  about 
seventy  years  old,  Paul  was  more  than  usually  susceptible 
to  the  infirmities  of  age.  This  is  betrayed  even  in  his 
language,  which  no  longer  has  the  hardihood  and  impetu- 
osity which  animate  the  great  Epistles  ;  in  the  trend  of  his 
thoughts,  now  grown  more  moral  and  dogmatic  ;  and  in  his 
fondness  for  recalling  the  past,  —  those  first  adventures  of 
his  outside  of  Judea,  the  pious  mothers,  Lois  and  Eunice, 
whom  he  had  first  met  in  Lycaonia  nourishing  their  son 
Timothy  with  the  heavenly  food  of  Scripture,  inspiring 
him  with  so  lively  a  faith  that  his  soul  opened,  as  it  were, 
of  itself  to  receive  the  Christ.^  The  Apostle  yearns  to 
revive  in  his  "  dearly  beloved  son  "  ^  the  fervor  of  those 
early  days,  that  fire  of  Divine  Grace  which  burned  within 
him  when  he  first  laid  his  hands  upon  him.*     Even  the 

*  This  period  would  seem  to  be  determined  by  the  death  of  Paul, 
which  tradition  has  fixed  as  occurring  on  the  29th  of  June,  and  by 
the  Apostle's  recommendations  as  well  :  *'  Do  thy  utmost  to  come  to  me 
speedily.  .  .  .  Hasten  to  come  before  winter."  (2  Tim.  iv,  8,  21.)  The 
last  sentence  especially  goes  to  show  that  Timothy  had  but  just  time  to 
put  everything  in  order  at  Ephesus  before  the  advent  of  the  stormy  season 
would  close  the  sea  routes. 

2  2  Tim.  i.  5.  ^  ibid.,  i.  2.  *  Ibid.,  i.  6. 


238  LAST   YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

Apostolate  which  he  sets  before  him  as  his  model  is  his 
own  first  mission  in  Pagan  lands :  "  Thou  hast  fully 
known  my  teaching,  my  manner  of  life,  my  purpose,  my 
faith,  forbearance,  love,  patience,  persecution,  my  suffer- 
ings at  Antioch,  Iconium,  and  Lystra,  what  persecutions 
I  endured  then ;  out  of  all  of  them  the  Lord  delivered 
me."i 

Yet,  though  Paul,  weighed  down  with  the  burden  of 
years  and  labors,  has  eyes  but  for  the  course  now  nearly 
run,  and  though  now  no  new  thoughts  absorb  his  mind 
and  suggest  new  teachings,  nevertheless  his  heart  is  still 
the  same,  his  energy  still  unconquerable.  This  he  him- 
self declares  boldly  in  his  last  letter :  "  G-od  has  not  given 
us  the  spirit  of  cowardice,  but  a  power  of  love  and  of 
counsel."  ^  Tidings  lately  received  from  Asia  had  doubt- 
less made  him  fear  lest  Timothy,  naturally  gentle  and 
timid,  should  not  govern  with  a  firm  enough  hand,  lest 
he  should  lean  too  much  toward  caution  and  compromise, 
to  eluding  and  disarming  persecution  rather  than  con- 
fronting it  manfully.  Paul  reminds  his  disciple  that  the 
Christian's  first  duty  is  to  fight  and  suffer  for  the  Christ. 
"  Be  not  now,  therefore,  ashamed  to  confess  Our  Lord ; 
neither  be  ashamed  of  me.  His  prisoner,  but  be  thou  par- 
takers of  the  affliction  of  the  Gospel,  strong  in  the  Almighty 
power  of  God,  which  worketh  in  us."  ^  'T  is  this  Gospel 
"  whereunto  I  have  been  appointed  preacher  and  Apostle 
and  a  teacher  of  the  nations ;  for  the  which  cause  I  also 
suffer  all  these  things.  Nevertheless,  I  am  not  ashamed 
thereof,  for  I  know  Whom  I  have  believed,  and  I  am  per- 
suaded that  He  is  able  to  keep  for  me  that  which  I  have 

1  2  Tim.  iii.  11. 

^  Ibid.,  i.  7.  ^wcppoviafjLov,  which  I  have  here  rendered  b}-  the  vague 
word  "  counsel,"  signifies  the  gift  of  mouhling  and  tempering  souls. 

<*  Paul  in  developing  this  sentence  sums  up  his  whole  teaching  concern- 
ing the  absolute  gratuitousness  of  Salvation.  "  Suffer  with  me,"  he  says 
to  Timothy,  "according  to  the  power  of  God  who  has  saved  us  and  called 
us  with  a  holy  calling,  not  according  to  our  works,  but  according  to  the 
decree  of  His  will,  and  according  to  His  own  Grace,  which  was  bestowed 
on  us  in  the  Christ  Jesus  before  all  ages,  but  is  now  made  manifest  by 
the  appearing  of  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  Who  has  destroyed  death,  and 
by  His  Gospel  has  made  life  and  immortality  to  shiue."     2  Tim.  i.  8,  10. 


DEATH  OF  SAINT  PETER  AND  SAINT  PAUL.      239 

committed  unto  Him  against  that   day  of  His  Eternal 
Kingdom."  ^ 

o 

"  Thou,  therefore,  my  son,  be  strong  in  the  grace  that  is 
in  the  Christ  Jesus  .  .  .  take  thy  share  in  afflictions  as  a  good 
soldier  of  Jesus  Christ.  No  man  that  embraceth  the  career 
of  arms  entangleth  himself  with  worldly  affairs  ;  he  thinketh 
rather  only  on  how  he  may  satisfy  him  who  hath  enrolled 
him;  in  like  manner  he  who  runneth  in  the  arena  is  not 
crowned  except  he  strive  lawfully;  the  husbandman  first 
toileth  and  thereafter  partaketh  of  the  fruits.  .  .  .  Eemem- 
ber  that  Jesus  Christ  was  raised  from  the  dead.  ...  I  suffer 
much  for  the  Gospel,  even  unto  bonds  as  an  evil-doer.  Nev- 
ertheless, the  word  of  God  is  not  bound.  Therefore  I  endure 
all  things  for  love  of  the  elect,  that  they  also  may  obtain  the 
salvation  which  is  in  the  Christ  Jesus  with  glory  everlast- 
ing ;  for  faithful  is  this  saying :  — 

*If  we  die  with  Him,  with  Him  we  shall  live ; 
K  we  suffer  with  Him,  with  Him  shall  we  reign ; 
If  we  deny  Him,  He  also  will  deny  us ; 
If  we  be  faithless,  yet  He  abideth  faithful ; 
For  He  cannot  deny  Himself.'  "  ^ 

The  foes  whom  the  Apostle  adjures  his  disciple  so  ur- 
gently to  be  on  his  guard  against,  are  the  same  heretics  he 
had  singled  out  in  his  preceding  letters.  Like  a  pestilen- 
tial spot  their  preaching  continued  to  spread,^  and  still 
threatened  more  and  more  to  poison  the  whole  body.  Paul 
denounces  by  name  the  most  dangerous  babblers,  Hyme- 
nicus  and  Philetus.*  He  reminds  him  of  the  dangerous 
tendency  of  their  interminable  discourses,  as  being  nothing 
less  than  to  deprive  the  dogmas  of  Christian  Faith  of  all 
consistency  by  turning  them  into  allegorical  fables,  pure 

1  The  following  greeting  addressed  to  the  Thessalonians  would  seem  to 
indicate  what  that  deposit  was  which  Paul  has  here  in  mind,  and  whicli 
he  confides  to  the  hand  of  the  Lord  :  * '  Let  all  that  is  within  you,  spirit, 
soul,  and  body,  be  preserved  spotless  unto  the  coming  of  Our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  Faithful  is  He  Who  has  called  you,  and  He  will  fulfil  this  in  you." 
1  Thess.  V.  23,  24. 

2  Concerning  these  rhythmical  phrases,  see  what  has  been  said  in  the 
preceding  chapter,  p.  220. 

8  2  Tim.  ii.,  17.  *  Ibid. 


240  LAST   YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

myths.^  Why  talk  of  a  Eesurrection  to  come  ?  they  said. 
The  Eesurrection  is  already  accomplished;'^  it  takes  place 
daily  in  every  man  who  awakens  from  the  slumber  of 
ignorance  and  is  raised  up  unto  the  truth.  This  one  error 
is  singled  out  among  the  false  doctrines  of  these  sectaries, 
doubtless  because,  having  taken  wider  hold  upon  the  pop- 
ular mind,  it  must  needs  be  combated  in  a  special  manner. 
Paul,  however,  persisted  in  his  belief  that  in  most  in- 
stances it  was  time  thrown  away  to  dispute  with  the  her- 
etics at  any  great  length.  Nay,  it  was  to  make  one's  self 
their  dupe  if  a  man  allowed  himself  to  be  entangled  in  the 
maze  of  their  perfidious  circumlocution  by  beginning  to 
debate  with  them  "  in  words  which  in  no  wise  profit  but 
rather  pervert  the  hearers."^  The  one  thing  needful  was 
to  confront  them  with  the  truth  in  its  simplicity ;  then,  if 
they  still  obstinately  shut  their  eyes,  let  them  be  avoided 
like  a  pestilence.  For  thereafter  it  was  to  be  feared  that 
their  blindness  was  not  one  of  the  mind,  but  of  the  heart ; 
and  the  mists  which  obscured  their  intelligence  and  robbed 
them  of  the  light  of  faith  arose  from  this  sink  of  iniquity. 
Such  would  be  the  causes  of  the  universal  corruption 
which  would  herald  the  end  of  the  world.  God's  Holy 
Spirit  unveiled  to  Paul's  gaze  the  horrors  of  those  last 
days,  without,  however,  revealing  to  him  whether  they 
were  near  or  far  off.  The  Apostle  sketches  the  larger 
outline  of  this  picture  for  the  benefit  of  his  disciple.  Were 
they  themselves  really  to  behold  these  awful  events? 
This  he  knew  not ;  but  what  that  Antichrist  was  to  be 
like  when  appearing  in  his  full  panoply  of  evil,  this  Paul 
could  glimpse  from  the  enemies  of  Jesus,  among  whom 
Timothy  now  was.  Making  no  distinction  of  persons, 
he  depicts  them  all  as  bearing  the  same  features :  "  selfish, 
covetous,  boasters,  haughty,  blasphemous,  disobedient  to 
their  parents,  ungrateful,  unholy,  without  natural  affec- 
tion, ruthless,  calumniators,  incontinent,  cruel,  haters  of 

1  Bej8?7Xous  K€vo(f}U}viai  .  .  .  fxojpas  Kal  dTraideijTOVs  ^rjT'^creis  .  .  .  roi)j 
fx6dovs.  *'  Idle  and  profane  speec^hes  .  .  .  foolish  and  impertinent  dispu- 
tations .  .  .  mere  fables."     2  Tim,  ii.  16-23  ;  iv.  4. 

2  2  Tim.  ii.   18.  -  Ibid.,  ii.  14. 


DEATH  OF  SAINT  PETER   AND  SAINT  PAUL.      241 

the  good,  treacherous,  insolent,  puffed  up  with  pride,  lov- 
ing pleasure  more  than  God,  having  an  outward  form  of 
godliness,  but  destroying  its  truth  and  power." ^  "Avoid 
them,"  Paul  adds ;  they  are  of  that  number  whom  thou 
seest  "creeping  into  houses,  taking  captive  sin-laden 
women,  led  away  by  lusts  of  all  kinds,  which  they  are 
perpetually  learning,  yet  never  coming  to  a  knowledge  of 
the  truth.  Now  as  Jannes  and  Jambres^  resisted  Moses, 
so  do  these  men  resist  the  truth ;  they  are  corrupt  in 
mind,  perverted  in  faith;  but  they  shall  not  advance 
farther,  for  their  folly  shall  be  made  openly  manifest  to 
all,  as  was  that  of  these  magicians  of  old."^ 

Evidently  Paul  has  here  in  view  only  those  heresiarchs 
who  persisted  stubbornly  in  their  errors.  For  should  but 
a  spark  of  life  still  exist  in  those  souls  who  "  resist  the 
Truth,"  ^  the  Apostle  bids  Timothy,  far  from  avoiding  them, 
"  teach  them  with  all  kindness,  in  hope  that  God  may 
grant  them  repentance  and  release  them  from  the  snares 
of  the  Devil  who  holds  them  captive."^ 

These  various  counsels  go  to  make  up  the  Second  Epistle 
to  Timothy,  —  a  letter  most  intimate  in  its  character, 
wherein  the  aforetime  teacher  like  a  father  now  unbosoms 
himself  to  his  "  dearly  beloved  son."^  A  feeling  of  appre- 
hension constantly  pervades  it,  a  dread  of  having  laid  too 
heavy  a  burden  on  the  shoulders  of  the  disciple  whom  he 
loved  best  of  all.     In  his  tenderness  Paul  can  never  ac- 

1  2  Tim.  iii.  2-5. 

2  The  Latin  versions  and  the  Codex  Augiensis  (F)  adopt  the  reading 
'la/x/SpTjs  instead  of  Ma/x/3p^j.  These  are  the  names  wliich  the  Jews  gave 
those  magicians  who  in  Pharoah's  presence  rivalled  Moses  in  the  perform- 
ance of  miracles,  but  finally  acknowledged  themselves  vanquished.  (Exod. 
vii.  9-12,  22 ;  viii.  7,  18,  19  ;  ix.  11.  The  Targum  of  Jonathan,  on 
Exodus,  vi.  11,  on  Numbers,  xxii.  22.)  According  to  these  traditions 
Jannes  and  Jambres,  sons  of  Balaam,  drew  down  upon  Israel  one  misfortune 
after  another  by  their  teachings  and  evil  counsels.  They  perished  in  the 
passage  of  the  Red  Sea,  according  to  some,  — according  to  others,  during 
the  turmoil  which  ensued  upon  the  setting  up  of  the  Golden  Calf,  built  by 
their  orders.  See  Schottgen,  Horce  Hebraicce,  in  loco.  Needless  to  add  it 
is  not  from  the  Holy  Books,  but  from  the  Jewish  traditions,  that  the 
Apostle  borrows  these  two  names. 

3  2  Tim.  iii.  5-9.  5  ibi^^^  n  25,  26. 

4  Ibid.,  ii.  25.  c  Ibid.  i.  2. 

IG 


242  LAST   YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

custom  himself  to  look  upon  or  treat  Timothy  otherwise 
than  as  he  had  known  and  loved  him  in  the  early  days ; 
youthful  of  soul  and  of  heart, ^  and  for  this  reason  less 
fitted  for  the  combat  than  he  could  have  wished.  By  day 
and  by  night  he  prays  for  him,  ^  recalls  his  tears,^  longs 
only  to  see  him  once  more  at  his  side,  and  keeps  up  a 
good  heart  that  "  this  hope  "  ^  will  be  granted  him,  since  his 
death,  though  ever  foremost  in  his  mind,  did  not  however, 
appear  to  him  so  near  as  it  was  destined  to  be.  As  he 
expects  to  pass  the  winter  in  prison,  he  begs  Timothy  to 
bring  with  him  the  travelling  cloak  which  he  had  left  at 
Troas  with  Carpus.^  This  heavy  garment  had  stood  him 
in  good  stead  during  his  apostolical  journeys,  and  he  de- 
sires it  as  a  protection  from  the  cold  and  dampness  of  his 
cell,  which  was  destined  to  be  his  last  lodging-place  here 
below. 

He  asked  also  for  the  books,  the  parchments  especially, 
he  had  left  in  care  of  that  disciple  ;  ^  for,  despite  the  anxie- 
ties of  the  Apostolate,  Paul  remained  the  same  man  we 
saw  long  since  at  the  feet  of  Gamaliel,  ever  eager  for 
study.  Even  among  the  Pagans  he  was  renowned  for  his 
scholarship.  We  have  but  to  recall  the  words  of  Festus 
when  the  Apostle  was  haled  before  him :  "  Thy  great 
learning  hath  made  thee  mad." "  What  were  the  parch- 
ments that  he  set  such  store  by  ?  In  all  likelihood  the 
long  rolls  whereon  the  Jews  were  wont  to  copy  the  Law, 
the  Psalms,  and  the  Prophets.  To  the  Apostle's  thinking 
no  literature  could  be  compared  to  this  "  for  teaching,  for 
convincing,  for  correcting,  for  righteous  discipline,  render- 
ing the  man  of  God  perfect,  ready  and  prepared  for  every 
good  work."^  In  the  quiet  of  his  prison  he  longed  to 
meditate  anew  upon  the  inspired  words,  drawing  from 
them  new  strength  to  suffer  and  die  for  his  God. 

The  close  of  the  letter  shows  us  how  Paul  prepared  him- 

1  Tas  vewreptKttS  eiTLOvfiias  (pevye.     2  Tim.  ii.  22. 

2  2  Tim.  i.  3.  *  Ibid., 

3  Ibid.,i.  4.  5  ibid.,iv.  13. 
^  Td  /3i/3\ia  /xaXiara  rds  jxeix^pavas.      2  Tim.  iv.  13. 

'  Acts  xxvi.  24.  8  9  Tim.  iii.  16,  17. 


DEATH  OF  SAINT  PETER  AND  SAINT  PAUL.      243 

self  for  this  supreme  duty,  with  the  same  serene  faith  he 
had  displayed  ever  since  his  conversion.  The  Christ  had 
indeed  overwhelmed  him  on  the  highway  going  up  to 
Damascus,  but  only  to  possess  him  more  entirely,  more 
intimately,  making  him  his  "  chosen  instrument."  ^  And 
when  restoring  him,  had  shown  him  his  mission  afar  off,^ 
the  Pagan  world  he  was  to  conquer,  to  turn  them  from 
darkness  into  light,  from  the  power  of  Satan  into  the 
hands  of  God."3 

With  no  thought  of  how  immense  was  the  work  before 
him,  a  superhuman  task,  "  a  divine  folly,  in  the  world's 
eyes,"*  but  undismayed,  Paul  had  gone  forth  with  full  con- 
fidence in  the  Heavenly  Vision  and  in  the  Christ  Who  had 
called  him.  For  thirty  years  he  had  lived  but  for  this 
Jesus  to  whom  he  had  given  himself  without  reserve. 
His  Apostolate  was  not  to  be  likened  unto  the  race  run  by 
an  athlete,  but  to  a  warfare  valiantly  carried  on,  or,^  rather, 
a  slow  sacrifice  wherein  ceaseless  dangers,  toil,  anxiety, 
suffering,  tears  by  day  and  by  night,  had  drained  his  life's 
blood  to  the  last  drop. 

But  the  hour  was  drawing  ever  nearer  when  this  self- 
immolation  was  to  be  consummated.  His  first  hearing 
before  the  court  was  but  the  libation  poured  over  the 
victim  destined  to  the  slaughter.^  Upon  the  very  altar  of 
sacrifice  he  lifts  up  his  heart  in  a  supreme  outburst  of 
gratitude  toward  Him  Who,  while  recompensing  his  gifts 
according  to  our  merits,  none  the  less  remains  ever  the 
"  Just  Judge ; "  ^  for  the  crown  which  Paul  beheld  prepared 
for  him  very  rarely  encircles  the  brow  of  a  mere  man ;  it 
was  neither  that  of  pity  nor  favor,  it  was  the  "  Crown  of 
Justice."  ^ 

And,  of  a  truth,  the  unwavering  fidelity  of  the  Apostle 

1  Acts  ix.  15.  2  Els  ^6uT]  fiaKpav  i^aTToa-TeXQ  (xe.     Acts  xxii.  21. 

3  Acts  xxvi.  17-18.  *  1  Cor.  i.  23,  25.  ^  2  Tim.  iv.  7. 

^  'Eyw  ij8T]  a-rrevdofxat..  2  Tim.  iv.  6.  "As  for  me,  I  already  serve  as  a 
libation,  and  the  time  of  my  departure  is  at  hand.  I  have  fought  the  good 
fight,  I  have  finished  my  course,  I  have  kept  the  faith.  I  look  for  naught 
save  the  crown  of  righteousness  whieli  the  Lord,  the  Just  Judge,  shall 
give  me  in  that  CJreat  Day." 

'  2  Tim.  iv.  8.  ^  'q  ^^^  StKaioa-vuTjs  aT^4>avos.     2  Tim.  iv.  8. 


244  LAST  YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

had  merited  it ;  for  at  that  very  moment,  in  perfect  self- 
forgetfuhiess,  he  thought  of  Jesus  only,  urging  Timothy, 
hefore  his  departure,  to  engage  in  a  final  and  more  vigor- 
ous onslaught  upon  the  foes  of  their  common  Master :  — 

"  I  adjure  thee,  before  God  and  Christ  Jesus,  Who  will 
judge  the  living  and  the  dead  at  His  glorious  Advent  and 
at  the  setting  up  of  His  Kingdom,  be  urgent  in  season  and 
out  of  season ;  convince,  rebuke,  exhort,  in  all  forbearance 
and  doctrine.  There  will  come  a  time  when  men  will  no 
longer  endure  sound  teaching.  Moreover,  in  their  itch  to 
hear  what  tickles  their  fancy,  they  will  heap  up  for  them- 
selves teachers  fitted  to  their  lust;  turning  away  their  ears 
from  the  truth,  they  will  turn  aside  to  fables.  But  do  thou 
be  sober  in  all  things  ;  endure  affliction ;  do  the  work  of  an 
Evangelist ;  accomplish  thy  ministry  in  full  measure."  ^ 

About  the  time  when  this  letter  was  despatched  to 
Ephesus,  another  Epistle,  not  destined  to  an  individual, 
but  to  all  the  Churches  of  Asia,  was  sent  from  Eome  by 
the  Chief  of  the  Apostles.^  Eor  a  longer  season  than 
was  given  to  Paul,  Peter  had  enjoyed  his  liberty  in  the 
Capital,  for  doubtless  the  loving  solicitude  of  his  faithful 
subjects  had  kept  his  presence  there  concealed.  From  the 
same  Churches  to  which  he  had  addressed  his  first  letter, 
he  had  received  tidings  of  such  grave  import  that  he  felt 
urgently  impelled  to  write  to  them  once  more.  It  was  the 
same  heresy  whose  venomous  character  we  have  just  been 
noting  in  the  Epistle  to  Timothy  that  now  alarmed  the 
Head  of  the  Church.     Though  deep  rooted  at  Ephesus, 

1  2  Tim.  iv.  1-5. 

2  According  to  the  report  of  tradition,  St.  Peter  left  to  some  one  of  his 
disciples  the  task  of  expressing  his  thoughts  in  writing,  confining  himself, 
as  St.  Paul  did  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  to  furnishing  them  with  main 
ideas,  tlie  arrangement  and  general  trend  of  the  work.  "Hence  it  comes," 
says  St.  Jerome  (arf  Hed.  Epist.  120,  11 ),  "that  the  two  Epistles  which  bear 
his  name  differ  widely  in  style  and  chai'acter,  as  well  as  in  the  arrangement 
of  the  words.  These  diversities  show  us  that  he  changed  his  interpreters 
as  circumstances  required."  Was  Sylvanus,  chosen  to  carry  the  first  letter, 
Atd  HiXovauou  vjjlIv  . .  .  ^ypacpa  (1  Peter  v.  12),  its  editor  as  well  ?  There  is 
nothing  to  indicate  this  in  the  document  itself,  for  the  words  just  quoted 
may  signify  simply,  Sylvanus  bears  you  this  message.  See  Cornely,  Intro- 
duciio  Specialis  in  Nov.  Test.  Libros,  sect.  222. 


DEATH  OF  SAINT  PETER  AND  SAINT  PAUL.      245 

the  plague  was  no  less  obstinately  spreading  among  the 
other  Christian  communities  of  that  region.  In  Pontus, 
Galatia,  Cappadocia,  and  Bithynia,  as  well  as  in  the  prov- 
ince of  Asia,  the  sectaries  were  displaying  daily  greater 
audacity  in  propagating  their  false  doctrines,  and  that 
irruption  of  lewdness  as  well  which  was  their  sequel  or 
their  bait.  Before  his  death  Peter  was  desirous  of  sending 
a  last  word  of  encouragement  to  the  believers  who  must 
needs  defend  themselves  against  this  seduction. 

He  begins  by  reminding  them  of  how  they  had  ob- 
tained a  knowledge  of  Jesus,  "  the  precious  gift  of  Faith."  ^ 
Through  this  Faith  the  power  of  God  rescues  our  souls 
from  the  corruption  of  the  world,  maintains  within  us  a 
never-failing  fountain  of  "life  and  godliness ;"2  or,  to  put 
it  more  plainly,  thereby  God  Himself  works  within  us, 
and  we  commune  with  Him ;  "  we  partake  of  the  Divine 
Nature."  ^  It  is  the  root  of  our  supernatural  life,  is  this 
Divine  Faith ;  and  from  it  are  born,  begotten  one  of  an- 
other, all  those  virtues  which  sow  and  make  to  germinate 
within  us  a  true  knowledge  of  Jesus,  —  strength  and 
vigor  and  well-doing,*  a  keen  insight  to  discern  evil,^  com- 
plete mastery  of  one's  self,^  forbearance,  loving  godliness, 
brotherly  kindness,  all  together  blossoming  forth  in  that 
charity  which  completes  and  crowns  the  development  of 
a  Christian  soul.  Such  are  the  fruits  which  ripen  of 
themselves  from  its  union  with  the  Christ. 

We  bear  witness  to  it,  Peter  concludes,  not  on  the 
strength  of  "cunningly  devised  fables,""  as  do  the  heretics; 
we  speak  "as  eye-witnesses  of  His  Majesty;"^  for  we  were 
present  when  He  received  from  God  the  Father  honor  and 
glory ;  when,  from  the  cloud  whence  streamed  the  Efful- 
gence of  God,  this  Voice  was  heard  :  "  Behold  My  beloved 
Son  in  Whom  I  have    placed   all  my    love !      And  we 

1  2  Peter  i.  1. 

-  JldvTa  .  .  .  TCL  irpbs  fwV  kuI  eiae^etav.    2  Peter  i.  3. 

^  Tev^crde  deias  KOivibvoi  ^iJcrews.    2  Peter  i.  4. 

*  Tr}v  aper-qv.     Ibid.,  5.  ^  Tr/v  yvmiv.    Ibid, 

6  ^riv  iyKpdTeiav.    Ibid.,  6. 

7  Se(ro0i(T/A^vois  fiijdois.     2  Peter  i.  16. 

8  2  Peter  i.  16. 


246  LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

[Peter,  James,  and  John],  we  heard  this  Voice  come  from 
Heaven,  being  with  Him  on  the  Holy  Mount."  ^  This 
apparition,  and  the  other  manifestations  of  the  Godhead 
in  Jesus,  verify  the  "great  and  precious  promises"^  of 
the  Prophets  foretelling  the  coming  of  a  Divine  Messiah, 
and  they  give  a  still  more  steadfast  authority  to  those 
oracles  of  God. ^  'Tis  "by  this  torch  shining  in  the 
midst  of  our  darkness"*  that  it  behooves  them  to 
enlighten  themselves,  for  throughout  the  Scriptures 
"  the  saints  of  God  speak  to  us  under  the  impulse  of  the 
Holy  Ghost."  5 

Among  the  inspired  books  which  the  Apostle  recom- 
mends to  his  believing  hearers,  the  Epistles  of  Saint  Paul 
are  singled  out  in  an  especial  manner.  Peter  realizes  that 
they  contain  some  things  "hard  to  understand ; "  he  is 
well  aware  that "  certain  unlearned  and  unstable  minds 
wrest  them,  as  they  do  the  other  Scriptures,  and  thereby 
work  their  own  ruin."  None  the  less  is  his  admiration 
for  that  depth  of  wisdom^  which  can  come  from  God 
alone ;  he  desires  that  all  should  meditate  upon  the  word 
"  of  a  brother  whom  he  cherishes  "  so  exceedingly,'^  but 
that  in  their  meditations  they  be  likewise  on  their  guard 
against  those  sectaries  who  profane  his  words  by  their 
base  interpretations. 

No  more  efficacious  plan  suggested  itself  if  he  would 
arouse  them  to  this  salutary  state  of  distrust,  and  even 
transform  it  into  serious  aversion,  than  to  at  once  unmask 
their  fine  talkers  and  expose  to  all  eyes  their  moral  per- 
versity, the  wickedness  of  their  ulterior  designs.  This 
Jude  had  done,  and  with  a  great  measure  of  success ;  for 
his  short  note  was  known  far  and  wide  throughout  the 
Orient,  had  even  reached  Kome  and  fallen  into  Peter's 
hands.  The  latter  believed  he  could  not  do  better  than 
make  use  of  the  same  picture,  accentuate  the  stronger 

1  2  Peter  i.  17-18. 

2  Ta  fi^yLara  KalTlixLaeirayyi\iJ.aTa.    2  Peter  i.  4. 

3  2  Peter  i.  19.  &  Ibid.,  i.  21. 

*  Ibid.  6  Ibid.,  iii.  16. 

'  'O  dyaTTTjTbs  7]/j.Qu  dSeX^os  UavXos.    2  Peter  iii.  15. 


DEATH  OF  SAINT  PETER  AND  SAINT  PAUL.      247 

lines,  and  add  certain  details  which  the  ever  increasing 
corruption  of  heresy  had  since  then  brought  to  light.  The 
authority  lent  to  it  by  the  Prince  of  the  Apostles  made 
still  more  striking  a  picture  already  popular,  adding  to  it 
a  vivid  tone  well  fitted  to  open  all  men's  eyes. 

Like  Jude,  he  proves  that  these  false  doctors  preach 
from  motives  of  cupidity.  "  They  make  merchandise  of 
your  souls,"  he  tells  them,  "to  satisfy  their  covetous- 
ness  "  ^  True  sons  of  Balaam,  they  are  ready  to  do  any- 
thing for  "the  wages  of  unrighteousness." ^  Haughty, 
presumptuous,  and  fond  only  of  themselves,  they  hold 
all  authority  in  contempt.^  But  it  is  not  so  much 
by  their  insolent  discourses  that  they  lead  souls  astray, 
rather  is  it  by  the  passions  of  the  flesh  and  sensual 
delights.  "  Like  beasts  devoid  of  reason,  who  follow  the 
instincts  of  their  brute  nature  and  are  born  to  be  captured 
and  destroyed,  so  these  men  blaspheme  the  things  they 
understand  not  and  shall  perish  of  their  own  corruption  ;^ 
and  this  shall  be  the  just  reward  of  their  iniquity.  For, 
by  staking  all  their  happiness  on  the  pleasures  of  a  day, 
they  are  become  our  opprobrium ;  abandoning  themselves 
to  the  extravagances  of  the  tongue,  in  the  Agapae  they 
hold  with  you,  their  eyes  full  of  adultery,  they  cease  not 
to  sin.^  .  .  .  Wells  without  water,  clouds  driven  by  the 
storm,  to  whom  the  mist  of  darkness  is  reserved  forever,"^ 
the  darkness  which  enchains  the  Angels  that  were  cast 
into  the  abyss ;  '^  for  if  God  spared  not  these  rebel  spirits,^ 
if,  when  drowning  the  ancient  world  in  the  Deluge,  "  He 
saved  none  but  Noe,  the  preacher  of  righteousness,"  and 
the  seven  just  ones  of  his  household,^  if  He  reduced  to 
ashes  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,^^  "  doubtless  He  is  reserving 
these  sinners  to  punish  them  in  the  Day  of  Judgment."  ^^ 

1  2  Peter  ii.  3  ;  Jude  11.  5  2  Peter  ii.  13,  14  ;  Jude  12. 

2  2  Peter  ii.  15.  «  2  Peter  ii.  17;  Jude  12,  13. 

3  Ibid.,  ii.  10  ;  Jude  8,  16.  "^  2  Peter  ii.  4 ;  Jude  6. 

4  2  Peter  ii.  2,  10,  12  ;  Jude  8,  10.  ^  2  Peter  ii.  4. 

9  "  And  that  same  day  Noe  and  Sem  and  Cham,  and  Japhet,  sons  of 
Noe,  and  the  wife  of  Noe  and  the  three  wives  of  his  sons  with  him,  entered 
into  the  Ark."     2  Gen.  vii.  13. 

10  2  Peter  ii.  6  ;  Jude  7.  "  2  Peter  ii.  9. 


248  LAST   YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

Their  condemnation,  long  since  a  foregone  conclusion, 
approacheth  already  ;  the  hand  of  Him  Who  shall  utterly 
destroy  them  is  not  benumbed."  ^ 

Woe,  then,  to  these  corrupters  of  souls  I  But  woe  like- 
wise to  those  who,  but  lately  redeemed  from  error,  allow 
themselves  to  be  led  astray  by  these  men,  slaves  of  corrup- 
tion, who  promise  them  liberty,  but  all  in  vain,  since 
"  a  man  is  a  slave  of  him  by  whom  he  is  vanquished."  ^ 

"  If,  having  escaped  the  pollution  of  the  world  through  the 
knowledge  of  the  Saviour  and  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  they  plunge 
therein  anew  and  are  overcome  by  it,  their  last  state  is 
worse  than  the  first ;  it  had  been  better  for  them  not  to 
have  known  the  way  of  righteousness  than  to  turn  aside, 
after  they  have  known  it,  from  the  Holy  Law  which  was 
delivered  to  them.  The  true  saying  of  the  proverb  is  ful- 
filled in  them:  ^The  dog  is  returned  to  his  vomit,  and  the 
sow  that  was  washed  to  her  wallowing  in  the  mire.' "  ^ 

The  sectaries  were  no  longer  content,  as  the  day  when 
Jude  was  scourging  them,  "with  denying  the  Lord  Who 
had  purchased  them."  *  Noting  the  terror  caused  in  men's 
souls  by  their  expectation  of  a  Christ  Who  was  to  return, 
at  an  hour  unlooked-for  and  perhaps  close  at  hand,  to 
judge  apostates,  they  strove  hard  to  prove  this  return  a 
trumped-up  fiction,  and  never  tired  jesting  at  those  who 
dreaded  it.^  The  Apostle  rebukes  their  mockeries  by 
reminding  them  of  what  Time  really  is  in  the  eyes  of  Him 
unto  Whom  "  a  day  is  as  a  thousand  years,  and  a  thousand 
years  as  one  day."  ^  And  if  the  Saviour  delays  His  coming, 
't  is  because  He  is  "  long-suffering  to  us-ward,  not  willing 
that  any  should  perish,  but  that  all  should  come  to  repent- 
ance."'' Nevertheless,  let  none  cherish  any  doubt  of  His 
return,  for  the  word  of  the  Lord  has  been  pledged  thereto  : 
for  't  is  according  to  "  His  promise  that  we  await  new 
heavens  and  a  new  earth  wherein  righteousness  shall 
dwell."  8 

1  2  Peter  ii.  3.  «  Ibid.,   iii.  3-4. 

2  Ibid.,  ii.  18-19.  e  ibid.,  iii.  8. 

3  Ibid.,  ii.  20-22.  7  n.id.^  iii.  9. 

*  2  Peter  ii.  1 ;  Jude  4.  »  Ibid.,  iii.  13. 


DEATH  OF  SAINT  PETER  AND  SAINT  PAUL.      249 

Peter,  like  Paul,  like  all  the  Apostles,  indeed,  knows 
naught  concerning  the  date  of  this  last  Advent,  nor  can 
he  discern  in  the  revelation  made  to  him  whether  the 
hour  is  close  at  hand  or  afar  off;  but  this  he  does  know, 
that  "  the  day  of  the  Lord  shall  come  like  a  thief,  and  in 
that  day  the  heavens  shall  pass  away  in  the  roar  of  the 
tempest,  the  elements  shall  melt  with  fervent  heat,  and  the 
earth  shall  be  burnt  up  with  all  it  contains."^ 

*'  Seeing,  then,"  concludes  the  Apostle,  'Hhat  all  these 
things  are  doomed  to  perish,  what  ought  yoM  to  do,  and 
what  ought  to  be  the  holiness  of  your  life  and  piety  ?  .  .  . 
Living  in  this  expectation,  labor  in  peace,  that  God  may  find 
you  pure  and  blameless.  .  .  .  Let  all  those  of  you,  clearly 
beloved,  who  know  these  things  beforehand,  take  heed  lest, 
being  led  away  by  the  error  of  the  perverse,  you  fall  from  your 
own  steadfastness,  but  grow  in  grace  and  the  knowledge  of 
Our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ.  To  Him  be  glory,  both 
now  and  to  the  day  of  Eternity  !     Amen."  ^ 

These  weighty  instructions  were  the  last  which  Peter 
was  to  leave  to  the  Church.  "  The  hour  of  his  death  was 
approaching  rapidly ;  this  the  Lord  himself  had  revealed 
to  him ; "  ^  but  he  had  taken  every  precaution  lest  after 
him  Christ's  flock  should  be  left  shepherdless,  and  he  had 
seen  to  it  that  the  apostolical  authority  and  tradition 
should  continue  in  the  See  of  Peter  ever  living  and  fruit- 
ful.'* Thereafter,  like  the  patriarchs  of  old,  the  Fathers 
and  patterns  of  his  race,  he  had  but  to  await  beneath  his 
tent  the  day  so  close  at  hand  when  he  was  to  fold  it  ^  foi 
the  last  time,  to  enter  "  into  the  everlasting  realm  of  his 
Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus."  ^ 

Of  these  last  days  of   the  Apostle  in  Eome  there  has 

1  2  Peter  iii.  10.  »  Ibid.,  i.  14. 

2  Ibid.,  iii.  11,  14,  17,  18. 

*  "  Moreover,  I  will  endeavor  that  even  after  ray  death  you  may  be  able 
to  have  these  things  always  in  remembrance."     2  Peter  i.  15. 

^  "  I  esteem  it  just,  so  long  as  I  am  [in  this  body  as]  in  a  tent,  to  arouse 
you  by  recalling  these  things  to  your  nK-mory,  knowing  that  the  hour  for 
striking  my  tent  approaches  rapidly."     2  Peter  i.  13,  14. 

6  2  Peter  i.  11. 


250  LAST  YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

come  down  to  us  no  word  save  certain  legendary  narra- 
tives which  would  be  out  of  place  in  this  history  ;  one 
alone  I  would  make  an  exception  of.  Near  the  Appian 
way  stands  a  little  edifice  which  bears  the  name  of 
"  Domine,  Quo  Vadis,"  "  Lord,  whither  goest  Thou  ? "  The 
Apparition  whereof  this  sanctuary  is  a  pious  memorial  is 
related  in  the  following  terms  by  Saint  Ambrose.^  Yielding 
to  the  entreaties  of  his  disciples,  Peter  had  decided  to 
escape  the  storm  of  persecution  by  quitting  Eome.  On 
emerging  from  the  gates  he  beheld  Jesus  approaching  as 
if  about  to  enter  the  city. 

"  Lord,  whither  goest  Thou  ? "  he  asked  Him. 

"  I  am  come  to  be  crucified  anew,"  replied  the  Saviour. 

The  Apostle  grasped  the  import  of  this  miraculous  vision 
which  traced  out  for  him  his  duty,  and  turned  back  to  face 
death. 

This  tale  was,  as  we  know,  of  venerable  antiquity  even 
in  Saint  Ambrose's  day,  since  two  centuries  earlier  Origen 
had  read  it,  as  it  would  appear,  in  the  Apocryphal  Acts  of 
Saint  Paul.^  Beneath  certain  details  more  or  less  legendary 
it  is  easy  to  descry  a  basis  of  truth,  the  fact  which  the 
Roman  Church  had  ever  kept  in  memory,  how  Peter, 
during  these  last  few  days  had  hesitated  whether  he  should 
flee  from  persecution,  and  how  an  inspiration  born  of  God 
himself  had  made  him  resolve  to  meet  it.  That  resolution 
once  taken,  he  displayed  the  same  whole-souled  ardor  which 
with  him  was  always  the  sequel  to  his  first  waverings,  and 
boldly  braved  the  coming  danger. 

But  this  he  was  not  long  to  do  with  impunity.  Paul's 
arrest  attracted  public  attention  to  the  Christians  and 
induced  the  magistrates  to  investigate  their  organization 
and  their  leaders.  A  single  imprudent  reply  would  suffice 
to  betray  the  fact  that  the  principal  personage  in  the 
Church  was  then  in  Eome,  and  thus  put  him  in  the  power 
of  judges  who  were  wont  to  show  scant  ceremony  in  their 
treatment  of  the  faithful.    Nor  could  the  Apostle,  as  Paul 

1  St.  Ambrose,  Cont.  Auxenimm,  13. 

2  Origen,  In  Joan.,  xx.  12. 


•  DEATH  OF  SAINT  PETER  AND  SAINT  PAUL.      251 

by  right  of  his  Eoman  citizenship  had  done,  lay  claim  to 
a  legal  inquiry  into  his  case.  He  was  a  mere  stranger 
within  their  gates,  one  of  those  "  humiliores,"  those  luck- 
less wights  of  no  account,  whom  a  relentless  law  delivered 
over  to  the  wild  beasts,  to  the  stake,  and  to  the  cross. 
As  the  fancy  of  his  judges  had  fallen  upon  the  latter 
form  of  execution,  Peter  was  left  to  languish  in  the 
Mamertine  prison  until  the  time  for  its  fulfilment. 

Roman  traditions  are  unanimous  concerning  this  two- 
fold fact,^  and  they  add  that  Paul,  now  also  condemned  to 
death,  met  his  brother  in  the  Apostolate  within  its  walls.^ 
There  is  nothing  impossible  about  these  pious  beliefs,  for 
under  the  Empire  as  under  the  Republic,  the  Mamertine 
was  still  used  as  a  place  of  detention  for  those  condemned 
to  death.3  It  is  not  likely,  however,  that  Peter  and  Paul 
were  made  acquainted  with  the  horrors  of  the  Ttcllianum, 
that  murky  and  foul  dungeon  deep  below  the  prison 
properly  so-called ;  only  those  condemned  persons  w^ho 
were  to  be  strangled  forthwith  were  immured  there.  So, 
then,  in  all  likelihood  it  was  in  the  upper  prison  *  that 
the  two  Apostles  met  again  together,  prepared  for  death. 

Though  the  testimony  of  tradition  is  so  unanimous  as 
to  the  place  where  they  were  detained,  they  do  not  agree 

1  Paul,  Sent.,  v.  22;  cf.  ibid.,  21-23;  Dig.  xlviii.  19,  28,  sect.  1. 

2  This  tradition  appears  for  the  first  time  in  the  fifth  century  in  the 
Acts  of  Sts.  Procesus  and  Martinianus ;  tliese  Acts  are  not  authentic,  in- 
deed, but  the  Bollandist  Fathers  consider  that  they  are  not  to  be  rejected 
in  toto.     Acta  SS.  Julii,  vol.  i.,  p.  269. 

8  The  Mamertine  Prison,  as  it  appears  to-day,  consists  of  two  cells,  one 
above  the  other ;  the  upper  story  is  the  Mamertinum,  twenty  feet  in  length 
and  sixteen  in  width,  which  communicates  by  a  narrow  opening  with  the 
lower  cell,  or  Tullianum.  This  gloomy  dungeon,  circular  in  form,  dates 
back,  it  is  said,  to  the  time  of  Servius  Tullius  ;  hence  its  name.  Here 
Jugurtha  died  of  starvation  after  six  days'  torture  ;  but  ordinarily  the  con- 
demned persons  cast  therein  were  strangled  immediately ;  thus  perished 
the  accomplices  of  Cataline,  Vercingetorix,  etc.  The  corpses  were  taken 
out  of  the  dungeon  to  be  exposed  on  the  Gemonii,  and  thence  cast  into  the 
Tiber.  The  picture  drawn  by  Sallust  of  this  horrid  dungeon  remains  in- 
delibly fixed  on  the  memory  :  "incultu,  tenebris,  odore,  foeda  atque  terri- 
bilis  ejus  facies  est."     {Caii/ina,  Iv.) 

*  The  Career  Mamertinus  was  very  large  ;  there  is  therefore  no  reason 
to  be  surprised  that  th(;  Apostles,  although  they  were  but  obscure  prison- 
ers, should  have  spent  their  days  there. 


252  LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

SO  closely  concerning  the  spot  where  Peter  met  martyr- 
dom. Some  locate  it  on  the  heights  of  Janiculum,  where 
in  our  time  stands  the  Church  of  San  Pietro  in  Montorio  ; 
but  others,  more  ancient  and  consequently  worthier  of 
credence,  insist  that  he  was  crucified  "  in  the  Vatican  near 
Nero's  palace."  ^  This  region  we  know  well,  for  it  was 
there  that  in  64  that  great  immolation  of  Eoman  Christians 
was  accomplished.  God  so  willed  it  that  there  too  in  his 
turn  their  Pastor  should  be  crucified,  that  thus  the  blood 
of  the  Apostle  shed  on  that  holy  ground  should  complete 
its  consecration  and  make  it  forevermore  the  domain  of 
Peter. 

There  Nero  had  sumptuously  completed  the  Circus 
commenced  by  Caligula  and  upon  the  broad  and  lengthy 
mole  {La  Spina)  which  divided  the  arena  in  two,  he  had 
erected  the  obelisk  of  Heliopolis.^  It  was  near  this 
monument  and  between  the  two  goals  which  marked 
the  extremities  of  La  Spina  that  the  tools  of  execution  ^ 
were  prepared. 

The  Apostle,  when  he  advanced  to  the  cross,  beheld 
not  so  much  the  tortures  whereof  it  was  the  instrument, 
but  only  the  splendor  of  its  future.  For  from  the  Vatican 
that  cross  was  to  shed  its  rays  athwart  the  wide,  wide 
world,  spreading  everywhere  its  sovereign  action.  There 
on  that  very  spot  was  destined  to  be  fulfilled  for  ever- 
more the  Saviour's  prophecy :  "  When  I  shall  have  been 


1  "  Sepultus  est  .  .  .  juxta  locum  ubi  crucifixus  est,  juxta  palatium 
Neronianum,  in  Vaticannm,  juxta  territorium  Triumphalem."  Liber  Port- 
tijicalis,  vol.  i.  p.  118,  Duchesne's  ed.  The  two  traditions  are  narrated  and 
learnedly  discussed  in  Marucchi's  work,  Le  Memorie  dei  SS.  Apostoli  Pietro- 
e  Paolo  nella  Citta  di  Roma  (Rome,  1894),  pp.  74-78.  His  conclusions 
are  those  which  I  have  adopted  above,  and  they  seem  to  me  to  be  well 
founded. 

2  This  obelisk  had  been  brought  from  Heliopolis  to  Rome  by  the  order 
of  Caligula.  Pliny,  xvi.  76,  5  ;  xxxvi.  14,  15.  It  was  transported  to  the 
middle  of  the  square  of  St.  Peter  in  1586  by  the  order  of  Sixtus  V. 

3  "Apud  palatium  Ncronianura  juxta  obeliscum  inter  duas  metas." 
Acta  Aposfolorum  apocr)/pJta,  ed,  Tischendorf,  sect.  8  ;  (;f.  Bosio,  Roma 
softer.,  p.  74  et  seq.  ;  Bihlioth.  max-patr.,  ii.  These  details,  though  taken 
from  apocryphal  writings,  seem  to  me  too  precise  to  be  considered  as  pure 
fancies. 


DEATH  OF  SAINT  PETER  AND  SAINT  PAUL.      253 

raised  up  from  the  earth  I  will  draw  all  men  unto  me."  ^ 
To  ascend  this  throne  of  glory  and  die  there  as  Jesus 
died,  with  brow  uplifted  and  arms  outspread  to  embrace 
all  humanity,  seemed  too  high  an  honor  to  the  penitent 
soul,  who  even  in  these  last  moments  never  forgot  his 
boastful  pledge  to  follow  his  Master  whithersoever  He 
went,  and  his  threefold  denial  of  Him  thereafter.  He 
asked,  then,  to  be  crucified  head  downward,  and  obtained 
his  request.^  By  this  final  act  of  humilit}^  this  self- 
annihilation  in  the  hour  of  death,  Peter  took  good  care  to 
bequeath  unto  his  successors  but  the  one  sole  Cross,  the 
Cross  which  saves  the  world,  the  Cross  of  Jesus. 

On  the  same  day,^  the  twenty-ninth  of  June,  Paul  died, 
like  his  brother  in  the  Apostolate,  a  Martyr  to  the  Christ. 
His  case,  suddenly  reopened,  had  resulted  for  him  also  in 
the  sentence  of  death  ;  but  by  right  of  his  Eoman  citizen- 
ship ^  he  was  accorded  the  honor  of  decapitation.^  The 
centurion  appointed  to  execute  the  sentence  conducted 
the  Apostle  quite  a  distance  from  Eome,  an  hour's  journey 
from    the    Ostian    gate.^     To   the   left  of  the  highroad 

1  John  xii.  32. 

■■2  Acta  Petri  et  Pauli,  c.  81  ;  Origen,  quoted  by  Eusebius,  Historia 
ecdesiastica,  iii.  1  ;  Eusebius,  De7n.  ev.,  iii.  5;  St.  Jerome,  De  riV.  ill.,  1  ; 
cf.  Seneca,  Consol.  ad  Marciam,  20. 

3  The  tradition  that  Peter  and  Paul  died  on  the  same  day  can  be  traced 
back  to  the  second  century  (Dionysius  of  Corinth,  quoted  by  Eusebius, 
Hist.  eccL,  ii.  25),  and  is  accepted  by  St.  Jerome  {De  vir.  illust.,  v.),  in 
the  decree  falsely  attributed  to  St.  Gelasius  (Migne,  Patr.  Lat.,  vol.  lix., 
p.  167),  and  the  Liber  Pontificalis  (Duchesne's  ed.,  vol.  i.,  pp.  118,  119, 
note  12),  etc.  As  to  the  date  of  this  double  martyrdom,  common  opinion 
nowadays  places  it  in  the  year  67.  This  is  the  date  given  by  St.  Jerome 
[Liber  Pontificalis,  etc.),  and  is  adopted  by  Baronius,  Petau,  Patvizi,  Bar- 
tolini  ;  the  last-named  may  be  consulted  with  especial  profit :  Sopra  I'anno 
67  dell'  era  volgare,  se  fosse  quel  de'  martirio  de  gloriosi  Apostoli,  Roma,  1868. 

4  Paul,  Sent.,  v.  xxix,  1. 

5  Tertullian,  De  prescript.,  36  ;  Scorp.,  15  ;  Eusebius,  Hist.  eccL,  ii. 
25  ;  Lactantius,  De  morte  persec.  2  ;  St.  Jerome,  De  vir.  ill.  v. 

6  Paul  was  well  known  in  Rome  ;  the  fear  lest  his  execution  might 
cause  some  outbreak  among  the  people  was  probably  what  determined 
them  to  have  him  beheaded  so  far  outside  the  city.  Similar  motives  caused 
Calpurnius  Galerianus  to  be  put  to  death  without  the  walls  of  Rome. 
"  Custodia  militari  cinctus,  ne  in  ipsa  urbe  conspectior  mors  foret,  ad 
quadragesimum  ab  urbe  Lapidem,  via  Appia,  fuso  per  venas  sanguine  ex- 
tinguitur."     Tacitus,  Histor.,  iv.  11. 


254  LAST   YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

known  by  this  name,  the  Via  ArcUea,  which  joins  it, 
leads  to  a  little  hollow  surrounded  by  a  low  line  of 
hills  and  known  by  the  name  of  the  Wholesome  AVaters. 
The  soldiers  halted  the  Martyr  beneath  the  shade  of  a 
pine  tree,  renowned  in  olden  times,^  and  stripped  his  back 
for  the  scourGfin".^  For  the  last  time  Paul  must  needs 
bend  his  back  to  the  whip,  and  then,  baring  his  neck  to 
the  headsman's  sword,  he  breathed  forth  his  spirit  and 
was  at  long  last  united  with  his  Lord. 

Neither  the  words  nor  the  thoughts  of  the  Apostle  at 
this  supreme  moment  have  come  down  to  us,  yet  it  is  not 
hard  to  conceive  what  they  must  have  been,  for  the  death 
of  God's  holy  ones  is  but  the  consummation  of  their  life. 
Saint  Theresa  is  lifted  up  in  a  final  ecstasy.  Saint  Francis 
of  Assizi  smiles  and  sings  in  the  face  of  death,  and  accosts 
it  by  the  tender  little  "  Sister."  Paul's  career  had  been 
one  long  warfare  for  Jesus  against  sin  ;  he  beheld  that  old 
foe  of  his,  now  checked  and  overcome  by  Grace,  that 
Grace  whose  efficacy  he  had  preached  everywhere,  bearing 
the  Good  News  unto  the  ends  of  the  known  world.^  He, 
then,  died  as  a  "soldier  of  the  Christ,"^  rejoicing  for  that 
he  was  deemed  worthy  to  shed  his  blood  for  his  Master, 
and  repeating  that  glad  cry  which  long  since  we  heard 
from  his  holy  lips,  "  0  Death,  where  is  thy  sting  ?  0 
Grave,  where  is  thy  victory  ?  .  .  .  Thanks  be  to  God, 
Who  giveth  us  the  victory  through  Jesus  Christ  Our 
Lord."  ^ 

This  has  been  always,  indeed,  the  feeling  of  the  Eoman 
Church  in  regard  of  their  two  leaders,  thus  slain  for  the 
Cause.  Piously  reposing  their  relics  in  the  neighborhood 
of  their  martyrdom,  their  disciples  erected,  not  sepulchres, 
but  Tro'phies  ;  for  by  this  title,  as  we  shall  see  in  the  suc- 

1  Acta  Apostolorum  apocrypha,  Tischendorf,  p.  35  ;  St.  Gregory  the 
Great,  Epist.,  xiv.  xiv.  ;  the  Itineraries  of  the  pilgrims,  quoted  by  Signor 
de  Rossi  in  Roma  sotferranea,  vol.  i.,  p.  182. 

2  "  Nudatos  virgis  cfedunt  secnvique  feriunt."  Titus  Livy,  ii.  6, 
Very  many  ])assages  in  Tacitus  go  to  show  that,  under  Nero,  prisoners 
were  customnrily  beheaded,  not  with  the  axe,  but  by  the  sword. 

3  Acts  xiii.  47.  ^  KaXbs  arpaTLur-rjs  XpiaroO.    2  Tim.  ii.  3. 
^  1  Cor.  XV.  55-57. 


DEATH   OF  SAINT  PETER  AND  SAINT  PAUL.      255 

ceeding  ages,  the  tombs  of  Peter  and  Paul  were  known. 
"  As  for  me,"  says  Caius,  one  of  his  own  priests  in  the 
beginning  of  the  third  century,  "  I  can  show  you  the 
Trophies  of  the  Apostles  ;  whether  you  go  to  the  Vatican, 
or  whether  you  take  the  Ostian  highway,  you  will  find 
these  Trophies  of  the  men  who  founded  our  Church."  ^ 

As  the  disciples  possessed  no  place  of  sepulture  near  the 
Tre  Fontane,  they  were  forced  to  carry  the  body  of  Paul 
half-way  to  Eome  on  the  Ostian  Road,  where  now  stands 
the  magnificent  Basilica  of  the  Apostle.  But  for  Peter, 
they  had  a  shorter  distance  to  traverse.  There  was  a  burial- 
ground  close  by  the  gardens  of  Nero,  between  the  new  Via 
Aureliana  and  the  A^ia  Triumphalis.^  In  all  likelihood, 
ever  since  the  year  64  the  Christians  of  Rome  had  prepared 
a  place  of  burial  thereabouts  for  their  brethren  who  had 
fallen  victims  to  the  ferocity  of  Nero ;  at  all  events,  there 
is  no  doubt  about  the  fact  that  they  possessed  a  cemetery 
there  shortly  after  the  death  of  the  Apostle,  since  we  know 
that  the  Popes,  until  the  end  of  the  second  century,  were 
buried  there.^  Accordingly,  the  relics  of  Peter  rested 
hereabouts  for  almost  two  hundred  years,  where  they  are 
now  overshadowed  by  the  dome  of  the  Vatican.  In  258 
an  edict  of  Valerian  put  all  the  Christian  cemeteries  under 
the  law  of  sequestration,  and  forbade  the  Christians  to 
forgather  there.  Owing  to  this  and  to  the  dread  of  see- 
ing the  two  tombs  of  the  Apostles  profaned,  they  thought 
best  to  transfer  their  relics  to  a  safer  resting-place.     The 

1  These  words  of  Caius,  recorded  by  Eusebius  (Histor.  eccL,  ii.  25),  ac- 
quaint us,  not  only  with  the  tradition  of  his  time,  but  witli  that  of  the  age 
which  preceded  it.  The  authenticity  of  these  niouuments  up  to  the  sec- 
ond century  is  therefore  incontestible.  It  is  established  in  the  fourth  cen- 
tury by  the  basilicas  which  Constantine  erected  over  the  two  tombs,  by 
the  testimony  of  Eusebius  (Histor.  eccL,  ii.  25),  and  of  Optatus  of  Mileto 
{De  Schismat.  Donastit.,  i.  ii.  2  ;  and  in  the  fifth  century  by  that  of  St. 
Jerome  {Devir.  illustr.  i.),  and  of  Prudentius  (Peristeph.,  Hymn  xii. ). 

2  The  numerous  Pagan  inscriptions  unearthed  round  about  the  "Con- 
fession "  of  St.  Peter,  when  the  basilica  was  rebuilt,  leave  no  doubt  as  to 
this  fact.     Armellini,  Le  Chiese  cli  Roma,  p.  697  etseq. 

3  The  Liber  Pontijicalis  gives  the  following  direction:  **  Sepultus  est 
juxta  corpus  beati  Petri  in  Vaticauo,"  to  indicate  the  tombs  of  the  first 
Popes :  Linus,  Cletus,  Anacletus,  Evaristus,  Xystus,  Telesphorus,  Hyginus, 
Pius,  Eleutherus,  and  Victor. 


256  LAST   YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

locality  called  "Ad  Cataciimhas,''  a  little  over  two  miles 
on  the  Appian  highway,  seemed  to  them  to  offer  perfect 
security.  Accordingly  those  precious  relics  were  trans- 
ported thither,  and  there  remained  for  a  year  and  seven 
months,  according  to  the  Apocryphal  Acts  of  Peter  and 
Paul,i  but  forty  years  longer  if  we  are  to  take  the  testimony 
of  the  itineraries  written  by  the  pilgrims  of  the  seventh 
century.^ 

Whatever  question  there  may  be  concerning  these  va- 
rious witnesses,  at  least  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  bodies 
of  these  Saints  were  brought  back  to  their  first  place  of 
burial,  and  that  whole  and  intact;  for  it  is  impossible  to 
put  any  credence  in  the  legend  which  tells  us  that  Saint 
Sylvester  mingled  the  sacred  ashes  at  the  time  of  the  sec- 
ond translation,  that  thus  Peter  and  Paul  should  be  ever 
venerated,  both  on  the  Ostian  Way  and  at  the  Vatican. 
Such  an  idea  is  not  merely  devoid  of  historical  foundation,^ 
but  would  seem  repugnant  to  the  true  Christian  feeling 
concerning  the  foundation  of  the  Church.  For  it  is  not 
true  that  Jesus  had  set  two  heads  over  the  Apostolical  Col- 
lege ;  only  one  had  He  chosen,  Peter  alone.  That  Paul 
was  commissioned  to  lend  him  aid,  and  that  he  accom- 
plished the  task  with  perfect  freedom,  but  respectfully 
and  with  such  heartfelt  devotion  withal  that  Peter  never 
ceased  to  admire  and  cherish  him,  —  this  fact  our  narra- 
tive has  ever  insisted  upon.  It  is  that,  in  fact,  which  is 
ever  proclaimed  by  the  Eoman  Church,  which,  in  its  liturgy 
always  intertwines  the  memory  and  the  veneration  of  both 
its  holy  founders.  However,  with  this  pious  remembrance 
of  brotherly  unity  there  ends  any  likeness  between  the 
two  Apostles.  Paul,  great  and  glorious  as  he  appears  to 
us,  was  but  a  Voice,  "a  Word,"*  the  most  powerful  and 

1  Fiorentini,  Vetust.  MartyroL,  p.  iii. 

2  De  Rossi,  Roma  Softer.,  vol.  i,,  p.  180.  Concerning  this  translation, 
see  Duchesne,  Liher  Pontificalis,  vol.  i.,  pp.  civ-cvii  ;  Marucchi,  Le 
Memorie,  pp.  39-68  ;  De  Waal,  Die  Apostelgruft  ad  Catacumhas  an  der 
Via  Appia,  Roma,  1894. 

2  Marucchi,  Le  Memorie,  p.  72. 

*  "  Dux  verbi."  Acts  xiv.  11  ;  cf.  Ephes.  iii.  8  ;  Hebr.  iv.  12;  Ephes. 
vi.  17. 


DEATH   OF  SAINT  PETER  AND  SAINT  PAUL.      257 

the  most  fruitful  after  that  of  Jesus  Himself;  but  the 
mission  of  the  Apostle  unto  the  Gentiles  ended  with  him. 
That  of  Peter  was  to  last  forever :  to  him  alone  and  for 
evermore,  since  he  lives  always  in  his  successors,  and  only 
unto  him,  God  has  confided  all  that  which  constitutes  the 
very  life  of  the  Church,  her  holy  faith,  her  teaching,  her 
government,  her  power  of  binding  and  loosing.^  It  was 
therefore  fitting  that  he  alone  should  rest  beneath  the  Vati- 
can, under  that  vast  cupola  whereon  the  words  which 
made  him  the  sole  sovereign  even  to-day  enlighten  and 
rule  the  world :  "  Thou  art  Peter,  and  on  this  rock  I  will 
build  my  Church."  ^ 

<*TU   ES   PETEUS   ET   SUPER   HANG   PETRAM 
^DIEICABO   ECCLESIAM   MEAM." 

Thus,  then,  even  in  death,  Paul  played  a  subordinate  part. 
His  body,  it  is  true,  reposes  in  Rome,  but  "  without  the 
walls,"  ^  mingled  with  and  well-nigh  eclipsed  by  the  glory 
of  Saint  Peter.  The  three  words  graven  upon  his  tomb 
sum  up  his  whole  life  and  all  its  greatness, — 

PAUL.  APOSTLE.  MARTYR. 

PAULO 
APOSTOLO  MART.-* 


1  Luke  xxii.  32 ;  Jolin  xxi.  15-17 ;  Matt.  xvi.  18,  19. 

2  Matt.  xvi.  18.  This  inscription  fills  out  the  whole  circumference  of 
the  frieze  in  golden  letters  six  and  a  half  (6^)  feet  high  on  a  blue  ground. 

3  As  is  well  known,  the  basilica  erected  over  the  Apostle's  tomb  is  thus 
designated  :  S.  Paolo  fiiori  le  Mura. 

*  This  inscription,  discovered  entire  in  1838,  during  the  work  on  the 
new  basilica,  dates  back  to  the  time  of  Constantine.  Such  at  least  is  the 
opinion  of  Signor  de  Rossi  {Bull,  di  Archceol.  Christ.,  1883,  p.  153),  an 
opinion  adopted  and  confirmed  by  Father  Grisar  in  his  learned  work  en- 
titled Le  Tombe  apostoliche  di  Roma  ;  (Studi  e  documenti  di  storia  e  diritto, 
1892). 


17 


CHAPTEK  XIII. 

ROME  AFTER  THE  DEATH  OF  SAINT  PETER  AND 
SAINT  PAUL. 

We  have  seen  that  from  the  time  of  the  burning  of 
Eome  Nero  had  declined  in  popular  favor, ^  After  this 
disaster  and  the  inevitable  massacre  which  was  its  sequel, 
his  popularity  waned  the  more.  To  avert  a  final  and  de- 
cisive misfortune,  he  deemed  the  best  course  for  him  to 
pursue  was  to  revive  those  spectacles  which  had  never 
failed  to  delight  the  lower  classes.  After  the  year  65  the 
list  of  chariot  races  was  largely  augmented.^  In  the  same 
year  the  celebration  of  the  Quinquennial  Sports  was  re- 
newed.2  In  fact,  this  Imperial  actor  had  never  before  gone 
to  such  lengths,  and  Eome  beheld  the  strange  sight  of  an 
emperor,  lord  over  the  whole  world,  walking  the  boards 
and  contending  with  low-born  players  for  a  singer's  prize. 
Once  his  act  was  concluded,  he  bowed  his  knee,  and  with 
a  humble  gesture  besought  the  suffrages  of  his  audience, 
pretending  that  he  awaited  them  in  great  anxiety.*  Of 
course  there  was  no  question  as  to  the  response  his  appeal 

1  Tacitus,  Annates,  xv.  44,  45. 

2  Ibid.,  XV.  74. 

^  Ibid.,  xvi.  4.  Friedlander  (Moeurs  romaines  au  temps  d'Auguste,  vol. 
ii.  p.  255)  holds  that  these  contests  took  place  in  the  year  64,  iDasing  his 
theory  on  the  Greek  custom,  which  was  to  renew  these  festivals  every  four 
years  :  now,  the  first  celebration  occurred  in  the  year  60.  (Tacitus,  Annales, 
xiv.  20-21;  Eckhel,  Doctrina  nuvimornm  reterum,  vi.,  p.  264.)  This  is 
a  mistake  which  Schiller  ((rescA^'cA^e  des  romischen  Kaiserreichs  unter  der 
Regierung  des  Nero,  p.  198)  rectifies  with  good  reason.  Now  Tacitus' 
expression  ought  to  be  taken  literally :  "  Quinfjuennale  ludicrum  Ronice 
institutura  est  ad  morem  Grseci  certaminis."  Annales,  xiv.  20 ;  cf.  Sueto- 
nius, Nero,  12  :  "  Instituit  et  quinquennale  certamen  primus  omnium 
Romae,  more  Grseco." 

*  Tacitus,  Annales,  xvi.  4  :  "Postremo  flexus  genu  et  coetum  ilium 
manu  veneratus,  sententias  judicum  opperiebatur  ficto  pavore." 


ROME.  259 

would  meet  with ;  his  own  guards,  scattered  among  the 
spectators,  were  the  leaders  of  the  applause ;  at  the  least 
sign  of  weakness  or  hesitancy  they  rained  down  blows 
upon  the  onlookers.  Vespasian  was  forced  to  pay  dearly 
for  his  heinous  crime,  because  in  a  moment  of  fatigue  he 
yielded  to  his  overpowering  need  of  sleep.^ 

But  of  what  use  were  such  amusements  to  stay  the 
wrath  of  the  multitude  so  embittered,  and  furthermore 
afflicted  by  a  plague  whereof  Tacitus  has  left  a  terrific 
description?  "  There  was  to  be  noted,"  he  says,  "  no  token 
of  corruption  in  the  air,  and  yet  the  dwellings  were  cum- 
bered with  corpses  and  the  streets  with  funeral  trains ; 
neither  sex  nor  age  escaped  the  scourge ;  all  men,  whether 
slave  or  free,  were  mowed  down  alike  speedily.  They 
breathed  their  last  amid  the  lamentations  of  their  wives 
and  children,  who  themselves  were  attacked  even  while 
kneeling  at  their  deathbed,  and  oftentimes  were  burnt  on 
the  same  funeral  pyre."^  When  the  plague  had  run  its 
course,  there  were  over  thirty  thousand  deaths  to  be  reck- 
oned in  the  city.^ 

Would  the  people  show  more  appreciation  for  glorious 
deeds  of  war  ?  This,  Nero  in  the  following  year  was  fain 
to  discover.  The  world,  then  at  peace,  or  at  least  held  in 
awe  of  established  authority,  knew  of  no  rebels  except  the 
Parthians.  In  the  year  63,  Corbulo  had  succeeded  in  put- 
ting a  stop  to  their  inroads,  and  had  succeeded  in  arrang- 
ing to  have  Tiridates,  brother  of  their  king,  receive  from 
Eome  the  kingship  over  Armenia:*  an  act  of  great  diplom- 
acy this,  which,  by  interposing  a  tributary  state  between 
the  two  Empires,  would  use  it  as  a  buffer  between  the 
contending  armies,  and  thereby  render  them  less  formi- 
dable to  the  provinces  of  Asia.  Hitherto,  Tiridates  had 
deferred  his  entrance  into  Rome  there  to  be  crowned. 
Nero  resolved  to  recall  him  and  to  exhibit  this  man,  whom 
the  whole  East  saluted  as  "  King  of  kings,"  kneeling  be- 
fore him  as  his  vassal.     To  draw  some  prestige  to  himself 

1  Tacitus,  Annales,  xvi.  5.  3  Suetonius,  Nero,  39. 

2  Ibid.,  xvi.  13.  *  Tacitus,  Annales,  xv.  29,  31. 


260  LAST   YEARS    OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

from  this  triumphal  progress,  he  bade  that  it  be  surrounded 
with  uuheard-of  magnificence.  Tiridates  traversed  Asia, 
Thrace,  Illyria,  and  Italy  with  a  whole  army  as  his  escort, 
pillaging  and  destroying  the  towns  which  were  forced  to 
entertain  him.  All  Kome,  bidden  to  his  coronation,  beheld 
this  prince  prostrate  before  the  Emperor  and  accepting  from 
him  the  royal  diadem.  They  heard,  too,  his  exaggerated 
words  of  thanks  couched  in  the  Oriental  fashion,  — 

"  My  Lord,  as  thy  slave  am  I  come  unto  thee  who  art 
my  God,  to  worship  thee  as  the  Sun  itself.  I  will  be 
what  thou  makest  of  me,  for  thou  art  my  lot  and  my 
fortune."  ^ 

All  in  vain  were  those  lying  words  of  flattery !  Un- 
availing, too,  his  splendid  progress !  Eome  had  had  her 
fill  of  such  scenes  of  servility ;  she  was  sated  with  exhi- 
bitions of  bloodshed  and  disgrace ;  nor  would  she  applaud 
them  any  more  unless  constrained  by  force. 

Nero,  now  despairing  of  any  return  of  his  pristine  popu- 
larity, sought  elsewhere  those  acclamations  without  which 
his  vanity  could  not  exist.  Greece,  that  mother  of  all 
the  fine  arts,  still  worshipped  at  their  shrine,  and  could 
still  reckon  upon  a  goodly  number  of  connoisseurs.  Ac- 
cordingly he  decided  to  appeal  to  these  judges  in  matters 
of  taste  from  the  contemptuous  reception  he  had  met 
with  at  the  hands  of  a  low-born  and  common  populace. 

It  was  in  the  year  66  that  he  set  out  upon  his  journey 
toward  Greece.  His  departure,  however,  in  no  wise  light- 
ened the  burden  of  terror  which  weighed  upon  Eome,  for 
he  left  behind  him  two  most  active  ministers  of  his  cru- 
elty, Tigellinus  and  Helius,  the  freedmen.  Peter  and 
Paul,  as  we  have  just  seen,  are  to  be  numbered  among 
their  victims.  Nevertheless,  it  would  seem  that  during 
his  absence  there  was  not  so  much  bloodshed  as  previ- 
ously ;  for  the  Tyrant's  attention  was  altogether  absorbed 
in  his  passion  for  the  stage ;  those  visions  of  warlike  con- 
quest had  at  length  turned,  in  his  poor  brain,  into  a  mad 
desire  to  be  greeted  as  a  great  actor.     Tor  soldiers  he 

1  Dion  Cassius,  Ixiii.  2,  7. 


ROME.  261 

brought  with  him  into  Achaia  whole  legions  of  ballet- 
dancers,  fully  equipped  with  masks  and  lyres  and  instru- 
ments of  music.^  But  no  crown  of  military  or  artistic 
glory  was  destined  to  fall  to  the  lot  of  the  persecutor  of 
the  Christians.  God  was  paving  the  way  for  him  toward 
that  final  goal  when  he  shoald  be  overwhelmed  by  the 
scorn  of  all  mankind ;  nor  were  any  trophies  henceforth 
to  be  accorded  him  save  the  showman's  awards,  and  these 
wrung  from  the  obsequiousness,  or  of fcenest  from  the  fear, 
of  his  judges. 

Greece  dared  not,  indeed,  refuse  anything  to  the  Master 
of  the  World  come  thither  to  demand  applause.  The 
Olympian  Games  were  deferred  that  he  might  win  his 
triumph  there :  ^  a  wretched  victory,  indeed,  since  he  was 
upset  in  the  chariot  race  and  nearly  lost  his  life ;  an  acci- 
dent which  in  no  way  hindered  them  from  awarding  him 
the  prize.^  He  knew  well,  however,  the  best  way  to  dis- 
courage his  rivals.  On  the  occasion  of  the  Isthmian 
Sports,  one  actor  was  so  imprudent  as  to  win  the  audi- 
ence's appreciation  by  his  fine  voice.  The  tyrant  ordered 
him  to  be  strangled  on  the  very  scene  of  his  success.* 
Thereafter  these  contests  degenerated  into  an  attempt  on 
the  part  of  his  rivals  to  let  themselves  be  beaten  grace- 
fully. Nero  received  over  eighteen  hundred  crowns  in  the 
various  arenas  where  he  appeared/^  For  fear  lest  he  should 
take  umbrage  even  at  past  glories,  they  hastened  every- 
where to  pull  down  the  statues  of  former  winners.^  Nero 
ordained  days  of  thanksgiving  to  the  gods,  in  Eome  and 
throughout  the  Empire,"^  in  return  for  these  miserable 
triumphs.  Greece,  too,  was  bountifully  rewarded  for 
its  complacency,  and  was  declared  a  free  land,^  and 
thereby  escaped  all  taxation  and  all  subjection  to  Eoman 
governors. 

1  Dion  Cassius,  Ixiii.  8. 

2  Suetonius,  Nero,  23  ;  Eusebius,  Chronicorum,  book  ii.  Ann.  X*^  67, 
^  Dion  Cassius,  Ixiii.  14  ;  Suetonius,  Nero,  24. 

*  Lucian,  Nero  seu  de  isthmo,  9. 

s  Dion  Cassius,  Ixiii.  21.  ^  Suetonius,  Nero,  24. 

■^  Dion  Cassius,  Ixiii.  18. 

*  Suetonius,  Nero,  24  ;  Dion  Cassius,  Ixiii.  11. 


262  LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

Certain  localities,  however,  did  not  lend  themselves  so 
easily  to  help  out  this  farce.  At  Eleusis,  the  tyrant, 
stained  with  his  scores  of  murders,  durst  not  be  initiated 
into  its  mysteries.  For  there  the  herald  had  cried  out, 
"  Stand  back,  all  impious  and  wicked  men  ! "  The  Furies, 
who  once  had  fallen  upon  the  parricide  Orestes,  were  still 
watching  over  Athens.  Nero  took  good  care  not  to  en- 
counter them.  Nor  did  he  even  enter  their  city,  the 
Queen  of  Greece  and  the  sanctuary  of  her  genius.^ 

Other  anxieties,  too,  still  further  aggravated  his  troubles. 
The  Empire,  throughout  its  length  and  breadth,  shuddered 
with  fear  of  the  despot,  who  was  bankrupting  them.  His 
exactions  from  the  provinces  began  after  the  burning  of 
Rome ;  ^  thereafter  they  only  increased,  for  he  required 
fabulous  sums  to  pay  for  the  royal  pomp  whereon  he 
based  his  whole  political  policy.^  Even  Greece,  which  had 
so  pandered  to  his  passions,  paid  dearly  for  the  tyrant's 
love  of  the  fine  arts.  From  Delphi  he  took  away  with 
him  five  hundred  statues ;  from  the  Thespians  the  glori- 
ous Eros  of  Praxiteles ;  elsewhere  other  marvels  of  art.* 

But  far  more  than  these  acts  of  vandalism  did  Nero's 
treatment  of  his  army  precipitate  his  fall.  He  angered 
both  the  veterans  and  legionaries  by  his  remissness  in 
paying  their  wage,  and  alienated  their  leaders  by  putting 
them  under  control  of  his  freedmen,  and  leaving  them  to 
the  mercy  of  his  informers.^  All  those  whom  personal 
worth  or  success  in  arms  had  rendered  popular  became 
forthwith  objects  of  suspicion ;  disgrace  and  the  oblivion 
of  some  minor  post  was  the  lot  of  the  more  fortunate ; 
the  most  illustrious  of  their  number  were  put  to  death. 
Two  brothers  of  the  noble  house  of  Scribonia,  Rufus  and 
Procullus,  were  then  renowned  commanders.  Recalled 
by  the  Emperor  on  their  way  home,  they  were  met  with 
further  orders  to  do  away  with  themselves.     Nor  did  the 

1  Suetonius,  Nero,  34.  ^  Tacitus,  Annales,  xv.  45. 

2  The  journey  of  Tiridates  alone  cost  him  about  twelve  million  dollars 
of  our  money.     Suetonius,  Nero,  80. 

*  Pausanias,  v.  xxv.  9 ;  xxvi.  3 ;  ix.  xxvii.  8 ;  x.  vii.  1  ;  Dion  Cassius. 
Ixiii.  11. 

^  Tacitus,  Annales,  xiv.  39. 


ROME.  263 

services  rendered  by  Corbulo  in  the  war  with  the  Par- 
thians,  nor  the  esteem  in  which  he  was  held  throughout 
the  whole  Empire,  suffice  to  save  him.  He,  too,  sum- 
moned to  meet  Nero,  met  his  condemnation  when  about 
to  take  ship  from  the  harbor  of  Kenchraea.  Forthwith 
he  slew  himself  with  his  own  sword.  "  I  have  deserved 
this  "  he  said,  regretting  only  that  he  had  not  anticipated 
the  monster  and  delivered  the  world  from  his  tyranny.^ 

Nor  was  he  alone  in  cherishing  such  feelings.  The 
freedman  Helius,  to  whom  Nero  had  left  absolute  power 
in  Eome,  noted  daily,  with  more  and  more  distinctness, 
the  stifled  mutterings  of  revolt.  He  wrote  to  Greece 
urging  the  Emperor  to  return,  and  when  no  reply  came, 
went  thither  in  person  to  rouse  him  from  his  dreams.^ 
Nero,  now  thoroughly  alarmed,  decided  to  go  back  to 
Italy.  This  step,  notwithstanding,  he  would  not  consent 
to,  save  in  his  assumed  character  of  conqueror ;  for  the 
laurels  of  the  stage  had  more  value  in  his  eyes  than  the 
Imperial  crown.  It  was  an  olden  custom  that  victors  in 
the  Olympian  Sports  should  re-enter  their  native  town, 
not  through  the  gates,  but  through  a  breach  made  in  the 
walls ;  and  this  homage  he  exacted  from  all  the  cities  he 
passed  through,  —  from  Naples,  Antium,  and  Albanum. 

But  it  was  for  his  entry  into  Eome  that  he  reserved  all 
the  sumptuousness  and  display  his  diseased  imagination 
could  elaborate.  He  appeared  before  his  people  mounted 
in  the  same  chariot  in  which  Augustus  had  made  his  tri- 
umphal progress,  with  the  Olympian  crown  encircling  his 
brow,  and  in  his  hand  that  of  the  Pythians ;  roundabout 
him  were  his  other  awards,  bearing  inscriptions  which 
told  where  he  had  won  them,  over  what  rivals,  in  what 
place,  and  in  what  role.  Sacrifices  were  offered  all  along 
his  line  of  march  ;  clouds  of  incense  arose ;  while  ap- 
plauding throngs  proclaimed  themselves  his  companions 
in  strife,  the  soldiers  who  shared  his  glory. 

"  Long  live  the  victor  of  Olympia  !  "  shouted  the  crowd. 

"  Long  live  the  winner  at  the  Pythian  Games  ! " 

1  Dion  Cassius,  Ixiii.  17.  ^  ibid.  Ixiii.  19, 


264       LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

"  Long  life  to  Nero,  tlie  Hercules  !  " 

"  To  Nero,  the  Apollo  !  " 

"Augustus  !  Augustus  !  0  Godlike  voice  !  happy  is  he 
who  harkeneth  unto  thee  ! " 

Among  such  acclamations  the  eighteen  hundred  crowns 
were  carried  before  him  into  one  of  the  circuses  of  Eome.^ 
Which  one  it  was,  we  do  not  know,  —  perhaps  the  Great 
Circus  at  the  foot  of  the  Palatine ;  more  probably  that  of 
the  Vatican,  the  latter  being  Nero's  own  amphitheatre 
and  individual  domain.  There  is  good  reason  to  believe 
that  these  histrionic  trophies  of  his  were  hung  about  that 
same  obelisk  which  had  looked  down  upon  the  horrible 
martyrdom  of  the  Christians  and  the  crucifixion  of  Peter. 

Nevertheless,  there  were  portentous  signs  of  the  fast 
approaching  calamity.  Judea  was  now  in  the  throes  of  a 
general  rebellion,  and,  even  while  in  Greece,  he  had  been 
forced  to  despatch  thither  one  of  the  greatest  generals  of 
the  Empire,  Vespasian.^  Spain,  too,  was  on  the  point  of 
an  uprising,  but  it  was  Gaul  which  was  the  first  to  shake 
off  the  yoke  with  some  prospect  of  success.  A  descend- 
ant of  the  old  kings  of  Aquitania,  Julius  Vindex,  was 
then  governor  of  this  province,  and  his  ancestry  made  the 
base  lord  in  whose  name  he  ruled  doubly  detestable  to 
him.  Every  day  news  came  from  Eome  telling  of  infa- 
mous acts,  so  much  so  that  it  rose  in  his  gorge  and  made 
him  ready  for  rebellion.  At  his  call  the  brave  and  ancient 
races  which  had  withstood  Caesar  —  the  ^dui,  the  Sequani, 
and  the  Averni  —  rose  in  revolt.  A  hundred  thousand  men 
were  put  on  a  war  footing  at  once,  and  the  remainder 
held  in  reserve.^  Strong  in  the  confidence  inspired  by 
this  outburst,  Vindex  opened  negotiations  with  the 
Governor  of  Spain.  From  Lusitania,  Otho,  former  hus- 
band of  Poppsea,  despatched  generous  subsidies.  Galba 
did  more :  he  levied  two  legions  from  Tarasconian  Spain, 
and  set  out  toward  the  Pyrenees.* 

1  Suetonius,  Nero,  25  ;  Dion  Cassius,  Ixiii.  20. 

2  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  iii.  iv.  2. 

3  Dion  Cassius,  Ixiii.  22. 

*  Ibid.,  Ixiii.  23  ;  Suetonius,  Galba^  9. 


ROME.  265 

Nero  had  returned  to  Naples  when  news  of  the  revolt 
reached  his  ears.  At  first  he  learned  only  of  the  upris- 
ing of  the  Gauls,  and  these  tidings  he  greeted  after  such 
a  manner  as  to  give  rise  to  the  suspicion  that  he  re- 
garded it  merely  as  a  stroke  of  good  luck,  —  another 
occasion  for  pillaging  one  of  the  richest  provinces  of 
the  Empire  with  his  mailed  fist.  Showing  no  sign  of 
trouble  or  disquiet,  he  betook  himself  to  the  gymnasium, 
and  there  displayed  the  greatest  interest  in  his  duties  as 
umpire  over  the  athletic  sports.  This  indifference  lasted 
one  whole  week,  during  which  he  neither  gave  any  orders 
nor  even  spoke  of  the  rebellion,  appearing  to  have  forgot- 
ten all  about  it.  All  in  vain  did  despatch  after  despatch 
arrive,  growing  daily  more  urgent.  One  alone  of  these 
missives  had  power  to  move  him ;  it  contained  a  procla- 
mation wherein  Vindex  alluded  to  him  as  a  "  poor  singer." 
Cut  to  the  quick  in  his  tenderest  point,  he  wrote  a  note 
to  the  Senate,  bidding  that  body  avenge  him.  Whereupon 
he  went  hither  and  thither,  demanding  of  every  one 
"  whether  really  any  greater  artist  than  he  had  been 
known  to  mankind."  The  despatches,  however,  became 
of  so  alarming  a  tone  that  he  finally  took  fright  and 
returned  to  Eome,  though  at  first  this  was  only  to  busy 
himself  in  the  same  futile  pursuits  which  had  now 
become  his  only  thought  in  life.  Calling  together  an 
assemblage  of  the  foremost  citizens,  he  spent  the  whole 
day  in  making  trial  of  certain  novel  instruments  of 
music  in  their  presence.^ 

Nor  were  his  eyes  opened  until  the  moment  when  he 
was  informed  that  the  cohorts  of  Gaul  were  making 
common  cause  with  the  rebel  nations,  and  that  Galba 
had  joined  their  forces,  together  with  the  soldiers  of 
Spain.  He  was  dining  when  this  news  was  brought 
him ;  beside  himself,  he  tore  up  the  letter,  overturned 
the  table,  and  shattered  upon  the  ground  two  wrought 
goblets  of  great  price,  whence  he  was  wont  to  drink. 
The  fit  of  madness  having  spent  itself,  he  fell  to  the  floor 

1  Suetonius,  Nero,  40,  41;  Dion  Cassius,  Ixiii.  26. 


266  LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

and  there  remained  for  a  long  time  senseless  and  half 
dead.^  The  most  fantastical  schemes  seethed  within  his 
brain,  now  outworn  by  his  excesses.  He  talked  of  hav- 
ing the  governors  of  provinces  slaughtered,  and  of  butcher- 
ing all  the  natives  of  Gaul  then  in  Eome,  of  poisoning 
the  Senate,  of  setting  fire  to  the  city,  and  at  the  same 
time  of  letting  loose  the  wild  beasts  of  the  amphitheatre 
upon  the  populace.  To  these  transports  of  rage  succeeded 
other  very  different  feelings.  Trembling  before  the  im- 
pending catastrophe,  he  thought  only  of  beseeching  mercy 
from  his  foes. 

"  I  will  go,"  he  said,  "  and  show  myself  unarmed  before 
the  rebellious  legions,  and  I  shall  need  but  to  exhibit  my 
tear-stained  countenance.  So  speedy  a  repentance  will 
win  them  back  to  me,  and  on  the  morrow  we  shall  all 
rejoice  together  and  chant  a  paean  of  victory.  I  will  go 
and  compose  it  at  once."  ^ 

Any  defence  organized  by  such  a  madman  could  not  be 
other  than  absurd  and  farcical.  In  default  of  the  urban 
districts,  which  refused  to  furnish  their  quota,  he  formed 
his  legions  from  the  servile  class.  More  than  this,  he  even 
enrolled  his  own  women-folk,  in  the  garb  of  Amazons,  their 
locks  shorn,  and  armed  with  battle-axes  and  shields.  His 
principal  care,  however,  at  this  moment  of  imminent 
danger,  was  to  look  out  for  his  theatrical  baggage  and  his 
musical  instruments ;  he  spared  no  pains  to  collect  the 
chariots  necessary  to  transport  them  in  his  train .^ 

At  the  first  onslaught  of  an  armed  foe  this  sinister 
clown  must  have  met  with  overpowering  defeat.  An 
unforeseen  happening,  however,  prolonged  the  period  of 
his  tyranny  for  a  few  days.  The  city  of  Lyons,  which 
had  recently  suffered  from  a  conflagration  and  been  suc- 
cored by  him,  retained  a  grateful  recollection*  of  his 
bounty.  During  the  defection  of  the  other  parts  of  Gaul 
this  town  remained  faithful  to  him  and  summoned  to  its 
aid  the  legions  of  Germany.     At  the  head  of  the  latter 

1  Suetonius,  Nero,  42. 

2  Ibid.,  43  ;  Dion  Cassius,  Ixiii.  27. 

^  Suetonius,  Nero,  44.  *  Tacitus,  Annates,  xvi.  13. 


ROME.  267 

was  Verginius  Rufus,  a  man  of  action,  as  loyal  as  he  was 
brave,  and  permeated  with  respect  for  the  laws,  the  Senate, 
and  the  Roman  majesty.  Seeing  in  Vindex  but  a  dis- 
turber of  public  order,  he  marched  against  him,  and 
although  at  a  conference  held  between  them  the  two 
generals  reached  an  agreement,  their  armies  of  their  own 
accord  came  to  blows.  Twenty  thousand  Gauls  suc- 
cumbed, and  in  despair  Vindex  slew  himself.  Verginius 
was  left  master  of  the  field,  his  legions  proclaiming  him 
Emperor.  Devoid  as  he  was  of  personal  ambition,  he 
bade  them  cease,  and  himself  awaited  further  orders  from 
Rome.^ 

The  decision  arrived  speedily,  not  from  the  Senate, 
which,  long  accustomed  to  obey,  had  now  grown  timid 
and  nerveless,  but  from  the  Pretorian  Guard.  Tigellinus, 
one  of  their  Prefects,  was  negotiating  secretly  with  Galba ; 
the  other,  Nymphidius  by  name,  hastened  the  final  issue 
of  events.  Having  persuaded  his  soldiers  that  Nero  had 
sought  safety  in  flight,  he  promised  them  in  Galba's  name, 
thirty  thousand  sestertii  a  man,^  and  this  induced  them 
to  proclaim  him  Emperor.^ 

On  the  eighth  day  of  June  this  military  revolution 
was  accomplished  and  the  soldiers  quitted  the  palace. 
Awakened  in  the  middle  of  the  night,  Nero  beheld  him- 
self without  a  single  guardsman.  He  sprang  from  bed 
and  sent  messengers  throughout  the  city  in  quest  of  his 
friends.  As  not  one  of  them  put  in  an  appearance,  he 
rushed  through  the  streets  of  Rome,  knocking  at  one  door 
after  another.  Not  one  was  opened  to  him.  On  his  return 
he  found  that  his  sleeping  apartments  had  been  rifled  and 
a  vial  of  poison  which  Locusta  had  prepared  for  such  an 
emergency,  had  disappeared.  In  vain  did  he  beseech  that 
a  gladiator  from  the  amphitheatre  be  sent  to  give  him  the 
death  thrust. 

"  So,  then,"  he  cried,  "  I  have  neither  friends  nor  enemies 
any  more ! "  and  in  his  desperation  dashed  forth  again  to 

1  Dion  Cassius,  Ixiii.  24,  25;  Plutarch,  Galba,  vi. 

2  About  four  hundred  dollars. 

3  Tacitus,  Historice,  i.  72 ;  Plutarch,  Galba,  ii. 


268  LAST   YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

throw  himself  into  the  Tiber.  But  his  cowardice  halted 
him  on  the  river-brink  and  he  returned  to  the  Palace, 
now  left  silent  and  desolate.-^ 

Certain  freedmen  of  his,  however,  had  not  fled  as  yet ; 
one  of  them,  Phaon  by  name,  owned  a  villa  about  four 
miles  from  Kome,  between  the  Salarian  and  the  Nomen- 
tana  roads.  Touched  with  pity,  he  offered  to  conduct  the 
unhappy  wretch  thither,  and  mounted  him  in  all  haste 
upon  a  sorry  beast.  The  darkness  of  the  night  covered 
their  escape.  Nero  fled  barefooted,  half-dressed,  and  covered 
with  an  old  cloak  which  he  wrapped  about  his  head  to 
escape  recognition.  Phaon,  Sporus,  his  secretary  Epaphro- 
ditus,  and  one  other  of  his  freedmen  were  the  only  ones 
who  accompanied  him.  They  had  hardly  started  on  their 
road  when  bodeful  signs  and  portents  greeted  them;  a 
thunderbolt  fell  so  close  that  it  seemed  to  strike  him  full 
in  the  face ;  the  ground  rocked  wildly  beneath  their  feet. 
"  It  seemed,"  says  the  historian  Dion,  "■  as  if  it  were  about 
to  open,  and  that  the  spirits  of  all  those  whom  he  had 
slain  were  going  to  cast  themselves  upon  him."  ^  At  the 
Collina  Gate  he  heard  the  shouts  of  his  Pretorian  guards- 
men in  their  camp.  They  were  cursing  him  and  acclaim- 
ing Galba.^ 

Though  partially  recognized  by  a  few  wayfarers,  he  was 
successful,  nevertheless,  in  making  good  his  escape  and 
reaching  the  country-house  of  Phaon.  It  behooved  him 
to  enter  unnoticed.  The  little  group  therefore  dismounted, 
and  took  a  footpath  strewn  with  brambles  and  thorns. 
Along  this  Nero  slunk  with  great  difficulty,  trying  to 
make  his  mantle  serve  as  some  protection  for  his  bare 
feet.  Thus  by  degrees  they  reached  the  rear  of  the  villa, 
where  a  ditch,  lined  with  pozzolana,  led  up  to  the  enclos- 
ure ;  from  this  approacli  the  freedmen  set  to  work  boring 
a  hole  beneath  the  wall  in  order  to  effect  a  secret  entrance. 
During  this  labor,  Phaon  urged  Nero  to  hide  within  the 
ditch,  but  this  he  refused  to  do,  declaring  that  it  was  not 

1  Saetonius,  Nero,  47.  ^  Suetonius,  Nero,  48. 

2  Dion  Cassius,  Ixiii.  28. 


ROME.  269 

to  his  taste  to  bury  himself  alive,  and  then  threw  himself 
flat  upon  his  belly  amid  the  thorn-bushes.  The  pangs  of 
thirst  tormented  him ;  in  his  hands  he  scooped  up  the 
water  from  a  pool  close  by.  "  Lo  !  this  is  the  drink  of  a 
Nero ! ''  he  exclaimed.  By  these  words  he  simply  was 
striving  after  effect ;  nor  did  any  more  serious  ones  fall 
from  his  lips,  even  in  that  dread  hour ;  not  a  sign  of  any 
qualms  of  conscience,  no  backward  glance  at  his  past  in 
this  miserable  creature,  worn  out  by  crime  and  debauchery ; 
there  remained  but  the  soul  of  a  poor  buffoon} 

Through  the  hole  which  they  had  succeeded  in  making 
beneath  the  wall,  he  dragged  himself  into  a  neighboring 
room.  There  he  threw  himself  down  upon  a  cot  tremb- 
ling with  fear,  sobbing,  only  now  and  then  starting  up 
from  his  stupor  of  grief  to  declaim  a  few  lines  of  tragedy 
verse.  He  was  overheard  muttering^  those  lines  from 
CEdipus,  which  depicted  his  distressful  state,  — 

"  My  Wife,  my  Mother,  and  my  Father 
Pronounced  on  me  sentence  of  death." 

The  witnesses  of  this  cowardly  agony  were  fain  to  see 
an  end  to  it,  and  besought  Nero  to  seek  death  as  a  refuge 
from  the  indignities  which  threatened  him.  He  bade 
them  dig  his  grave  so  as  to  fit  his  body ;  told  them  what 
precious  marbles  they  should  ornament  it  with ;  then 
demanded  that  water  and  wood  be  brought  for  his  funeral 
rites.  At  each  fresh  order  he  wept,  and  never  ceased 
repeating,    "  What  an  artist  the  world  is  about  to  lose  ! " 

In  the  interval  a  message  is  handed  Phaon :  Nero 
seizes  it ;  therein  he  reads  that  the  Senate  denounces  him 
as  an  enemy  of  his  fatherland  and  ordains  that  he  be 
punished  according  to  the  ancient  law. 

"  What  sort  of  punishment  is  that  ? "  he  demands. 

They  answer  him  that  the  condemned  man  be  stripped 
of  his  garments,  his  head  thrust  in  the  stocks,  and  that  he 
be  then  beaten  with  rods  until  he  be  dead,  whereafter  his 
body  must  be  dragged  down  with  iron  hooks  and  thrown 

1  Suetonius,  Nero,  48. 


270  LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

into  the  Tiber.  For  an  instant  this  vision  seems  to  give 
him  some  decision.  He  takes  up  two  daggers  which  he 
wore  upon  his  person,  tries  their  points,  then  thrusts  them 
hack  into  their  sheaths. 

"  The  fatal  moment  has  not  yet  arrived,"  he  says ;  the 
scoundrel  was  bent  on  fighting  off  the  approach  of  death 
and  covering  his  last  hours  with  shame,  as  has  been  so 
strikingly  depicted  by  Suetonius. 

"  Now  he  would  beseech  Sporus  to  weep  and  mourn  with 
him,  and  again,  beg  some  one  to  give  him  courage  to  die 
by  killing  himself  with  him.  Sometimes,  too,  he  rebuked 
himself  for  his  cowardice  ;  he  would  say,  "  I  am  but  drag- 
ging out  a  wicked  and  miserable  life,"  and  then  added : 
"  This  is  not  fitting  a  Nero  ;  this  befits  me  not !  Each  man 
must  needs  be  resigned  at  such  moments ;  come,  then, 
arouse  thyself,  my  soul ! "  Already  were  approaching  the 
horseguards  who  had  been  ordered  to  take  him  alive. 
When  he  heard  them,  with  trembling  lips  he  repeated 
this  line  in  Greek,  — 

"  The  fast  flying  feet  of  quivering  coursers  now  I  hear;  "  ^ 

whereupon  he  drove  the  steel  into  his  side,  aided  by  the 
hand  of  his  secretary,  Epaphroditus. 

He  was  still  breathing  when  the  centurion  entered,  who, 
feigninor  that  he  was  come  to  assist  him,  wanted  to  bind 
up  the  wound. 

"  Too  late,  too  late,"  said  Nero,  and  added,  "  Is  this  thy 
plighted  faith  ? " 

He  expired  while  uttering  these  words,  with  wide-open 
and  staring  eyes,  an  object  of  horror  and  fear  to  those  who 
gazed  upon  him.  ^  That  fidelity  which  the  dying  Nero 
sought  in  vain  from  those  about  him,  was  confined  to  three 
lowly  women  who  refused  to  abandon  his  corpse.  Two  of 
them  had  helped  to  bring  him  up,  and  remembered  nothing 
else  save  the  charms  of  his  childish  hours.  The  other, 
Actaea,  though  belonging  to  the  servile  class,  had  been 

1  Homer,  Iliad,  x.  .535. 

2  Suetonius,  Nero,  48  ;  Dion  Cassius,  Ixiii.  28,  29. 


ROME.  271 

loved  by  him  in  the  old  days,  before  he  had  given  himself 
up  to  his  later  excesses.  ^  Some  say  that  she  is  that 
favorite  of  Nero  spoken  of  by  St.  John  Chrysostom  and 
whom  Saint  Paul  converted  ;2  this  conjecture  has  little 
historical  foundation,  unhappily,  for  it  would  be  a  pleasing 
thought  that  it  was  a  Christian  woman  who  performed 
the  last  pious  rites  for  the  persecutor  of  her  Faith. 

Eome  indeed  felt  far  too  happy  at  its  deliverance  from 
such  a  monster  to  dole  him  out  the  poorest  funeral  honors. 
While  the  joyous  throng  went  dancing  through  the  streets, 
waving  their  liberty  caps,  his  three  pious  friends  were  left 
free  to  burn  his  body,  wrapped  in  a  costly  shroud,  and  to 
repose  his  ashes  in  the  burial-place  of  the  Domitius,  on  the 
Hill  of  the  Gardens  (the  Pincio  of  to-day).^  From  these 
heights  he  continued  for  many  a  day  to  exert  an  indefin- 
able sway  to  terrorize  men's  souls  ;  unknown  hands  each 
year  left  flowers  on  his  tomb,  whether  it  was  to  appease 
his  Manes,  or  to  avert  his  vengeance,^  since  even  the  fact 
of  his  death  remained  shrouded  in  doubt  to  some  minds, 
and  they  feared  him  too  greatly  not  to  dread  his  possible 
return.  Happily  for  the  world,  Nero  had  disappeared 
forever.  But  a  few  years  later  the  elder  Pliny  uttered  the 
verdict  of  history,  and  unconsciously  in  a  few  words  per- 
formed an  act  of  righteous  retribution :  using  against  the 
tyrant  the  same  weapon,  that  same  accusation  of  infamous 
practices,  which  he  had  had  recourse  to  in  his  persecutions 
of  the  Christians,  he  brands  him  as  "  the  enemy  of  the 
human  race."  ^  The  widespread  horror  felt  for  the  tyrant 
by  the  general  public  worked  in  favor  of  the  Christians, 
as  of  his  other  victims ;  for  men  had  become  sated  and 
disgusted  with  torture  and  bloodshed.     Furthermore,  the 


1  Suetonius,  Nero^  50. 

2  St.  John  Chrysostom.  Adversus  oppiignatores  vitce  monasticce,  vol.  i. 
3  ;  Greppo,  Trois  memoires  relatifs  a  Vhistoire  ecclesiastiqite  des  premiers 
siedes  chre'dens,  pp.  41  et  seq. 

3  Suetonius,  Nero,  50  ;  Dion  Cassius,  Ixiii.  29. 

*  Suetonius,  Nero,  57;  Dion  Chrysostom,  Orat.,  xxi.  10;  Plutarch, 
Galha,  vii.  ;  Tacitus,  Histor.,  ii.  8  ;  Sulpicius  Severus,  Histor.,  ii.  29  ; 
Lactantius,  De  morte  persecnt.,  2. 

*  Pliny,  Historia  naturalis,  vii.  46. 


272  LAST   YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 


disorders  which  were  just  then  racking  the  Empire  helped 
to  divert  public  attention  from  the  faithful.  To  over- 
throw Nero,  not  only  Eome  and  the  Praetorian  camp  had 
taken  up  arms,  but  the  provinces  and  their  legions  as 
well ;  each  of  these  different  parties  clung  to  its  own 
ambitious  views  and  individual  interests ;  the  death  of 
Vindex  and  the  military  uprightness  of  Verginius  alone 
delayed  for  a  few  days  the  outbreak  of  civil  war.  Galba, 
the  Emperor  elected  out  of  Spain,  was  accordingly  per- 
mitted to  take  in  hand  the  reins  of  power,  but  with  too 
feeble  a  grasp  to  handle  them  aright.  The  new  Caesar  had 
administrated  successively  four  provinces  ^  with  inflexible 
honesty,  and  looked  forward  to  manifesting  in  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  Empire  the  same  unfaltering  justice. 
Unhappily,  having  reached  the  age  of  seventy-three, 
and  crippled  with  gout,  he  was  far  too  broken  in  body 
to  regenerate  a  world  which  had  unlearned  every  lesson 
of  virtuous  conduct  and  asked  only  to  be  amused.  Nor 
had  he  even  the  talent  required  to  select  ministers  capa- 
ble of  supplying  what  he  lacked.  Kather,  he  allowed 
the  reaction  against  the  preceding  reign  to  turn  into  a 
very  unwise  and  uncalled-for  persecution,  while  by  his 
niggardliness  he  disaffected  both  the  people  and  the 
troops  of  Eome,  long  wonted  to  generous  displays  of  lux- 
ury.2  "  The  slightest  largess,"  says  Tacitus,  "  would  have 
kept  the  soldiers  true  to  their  duty  ;  he  ruined  himself 
by  this  old-fashioned  sternness,  and  by  a  rigorousness  too 
severe  for  our  manner  of  life."  ^  These  same  tendencies 
led  him  astray  in  the  choice  of  a  successor :  instead  of 
restoring  his  popularity  by  this  act,  as  he  had  hoped,  he 
merely  hastened  its  decline.  Otho,  who  had  but  recently 
well-nigh  ruined  himself  in  the  cause  in  Spain,  regarded  it 
as  the  basest  ingratitude  that  his  friend  should  have  pre- 

1  Aquitania,  lT])per  Germany,  Africa,  and  Tarraconensis.     Suetonius, 
Galba,  6,  7,  8. 

2  Suetonius,  Galba,  12-"16;  Dion  Cassius,  Ixiv.  1-3;  Plutarch,  Galba, 
xv.-xviii. 

3  Tacitus,  Histor.,  i.  18. 


ROME.  273 

ferred  to  him  Piso,  a  young  man  whose  sole  recommenda- 
tion was  the  austerity  of  his  life.  Eage  and  disappointment 
made  Otho  take  sides  with  the  Praetorian  Guards.  This 
band  of  picked  men,  already  ripe  for  revolt,  were  easily 
won  over  by  his  flatteries,  his  promises,  and  the  little 
wealth  left  him,  all  of  which  he  showered  upon  them. 
Whereupon  they  responded  by  acclaiming  him  Lord  and 
Master  of  the  World.  Galba  was  forthwith  overwhelmed 
in  the  onslaught  of  conspirators,  and  massacred  in  the 
open  forum.i 

There  could  be  no  doubt  as  to  what  was  expected  of 
Otho  by  the  populace  and  the  soldiery.  All  remembered 
the  part  taken  by  him  in  the  luxurious  debaucheries  in 
the  preceding  reign  ;  it  was  almost  as  much  as  if  his 
word  was  pledged  to  revive  them.  And  at  first  he  seemed 
fain  to  float  with  the  tide,  allowing  himself  to  be  saluted 
by  the  name  of  Nero,  re-erecting  the  statues  which  Nero 
had  built,  putting  his  favorites  back  in  office,  and  giving 
orders  to  complete  the  "  Golden  House."  But  beneath 
these  politic  acts  he  was  concealing  hopes  most  creditable 
to  himself.  He,  too,  after  the  example  of  Galba,  har- 
bored designs  of  managing  Eome  like  the  province  of 
Lusitania,  which  he  had  governed  uprightly  for  ten  years. 
Time  alone  failed  him.  The  legions  of  Lower  Germany, 
now  escaped  from  the  iron  grasp  of  Galba,  had  saluted  as 
Emperor  their  chosen  chief  Vitellius.  Those  of  Upper 
Germany  and  of  Brittany  had  joined  forces  with  them,  — 
in  all,  eleven  legions ;  and  these,  the  most  valiant  in  the 
Empire,  began  to  march  Eomewards  on  learning  of  the 
murder  of  Galba.  This  redoubtable  army  came  pouring 
down  ever  more  speedily,  and  met  in  conflict,  on  the  fields 
of  Bedriacum,2  with  the  forces  which  Otho  had  been  too 
tardy  in  collecting.  The  latter  were  scattered  in  every 
direction,  and  eighty  thousand  bodies  encumbered  the 
ground.    His  friends  urged  Otho  to  continue  the  struggle. 

1  Dion  Cassius,  Ixiv.,  5,  6 ;  Plutarch,  Galba,  xxi.-xxix.  ;  Suetonius, 
Galba,  17,  19,  20;  Tacitus,  Histor.,  i.  12-42. 

'^  Between  Cremona  and  Verona.  The  site  of  Bedriacum  has  never  been 
exactly  determined. 

18 


274  LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

"  One  such  battle  should  suffice,"  he  said,  and  leisurely, 
but  with  his  wonted  calm,  he  slew  himself.^  He  had 
been  in  power  only  eighty-eight  days,  and  he  yielded 
place  to  a  person  of  infamous  renown,  whose  reign  was 
to  be  but  one  long  orgy.  The  name  of  Yitellius  will  last 
as  long  as  time,  but  only  as  a  term  of  reproach,  to  brand 
weaknesses  lower  even  than  those  of  Nero:  disgusting 
excesses  at  the  banquet  board. 

The  East,  though  docile  hitherto,  was  at  last  aroused 
by  the  never  ending  train  of  revolutions  it  was  forced  to 
submit  to.  Mucianus,  who  was  then  in  command  of  the 
Syrian  legions,  was  far  too  politic  to  risk  a  military  u^)- 
risinsj.  But  in  his  neif]jhborhood  was  a  man  of  harder 
temperament,  Vespasian,  sent  by  Nero  to  put  down  the 
Jews,  and  who  had,  in  fact,  driven  them  back  into  Jeru- 
salem. This  soldier's  parentage,  lowly  as  it  was  honest, 
was  not  calculated  to  excite  rivalry,  despite  the  fact  that 
his  long  campaigns  and  his  triumph  in  Britain  left  him 
without  a  peer  among  the  generals  of  the  world.  Nor 
was  he  less  distinguished  for  his  integrity  in  the  admin- 
istration of  government  affairs.  So  poor  was  he  on  leav- 
ing his  province  of  Africa  that  he  was  compelled  to  gain 
a  livelihood  by  turning  horse-dealer.  No  arm  would  seem 
more  capable  of  recovering  Eome  and  strangling  the  per- 
nicious germs  left  there  by  the  Saturnalia  of  Nero.  No 
more  than  Mucianus,  however,  although  for  very  different 
reasons,  was  Vespasian  the  man  to  attempt  the  enterprise ; 
but  he  had  with  him  his  son  Titus,  a  loftier  spirit  and 
one  far  bolder,  who,  discerning  the  straits  the  Empire  had 
reached,  would  not  fail  in  his  duty.  Mucianus,  though 
not  desirous  of  being  Emperor  himself,  was  not  loath  to 
have  a  hand  in  the  making  of  one  :  he  urged  Titus  to 
realize  his  plan,  and  tendered  him  all  the  influence  of  his 
name  and  credit  in  the  East. 

The  most  intimate,  the  most  powerful  of  these  influ- 
ences brought  to  bear  upon  him  was  that  of  Berenice,  sister 

1  Dion  Cassius,  xliv.  7-15  ;  Suetonius,  Otho,  5-11;  Tacitus,  Histor.,  i 
44-90  ;  ii.  11-49  ;  Plutarch,  Otho. 


ROME.  275 

of  Agrippa  II.  The  lovely  Jewess  had  inspired  an  over- 
mastering passion  in  the  breast  of  Titus,  and  now  pressed 
him  to  ascend  the  throne,  always  secretly  cherishing  the 
dream  of  sitting  there  beside  him.  To  this  end  she 
spared  no  resource  at  her  command :  keen,  wily,  versed 
in  the  arts  of  intrigue,  and  of  an  irresistible  charm  of 
person,  she  won  over  to  Vespasian  the  princes  of  Syria 
and  all  who  were  either  allied  to  or  connected  with  her 
family.  The  movement  once  set  in  motion  spread  to 
neighboring  countries;  Egypt  yielded  its  allegiance; 
even  the  Parthians  themselves  offered  their  aid.^ 

Vespasian  himself  had  done  absolutely  nothing  to  win 
such  a  hazard  of  fortune :  Titus  and  his  supporters  per- 
suaded him  at  least  to  do  nothing  to  thwart  it;  moreover, 
they  took  good  care  to  work  upon  his  mind  by  mysteri- 
ous voices.  Pagan  oracles  from  Paphos  and  Carmel,^  which 
kept  repeating  whithersoever  he  went  that  the  "  Master 
of  the  World"  was  about  to  come  forth  out  of  Judaea. 
The  subjugated  Jews  who  thronged  the  Eoman  camp 
were  prodigal  of  similar  predictions  ;  the  most  illustrious 
among  them,  the  historian  Josephus,  loaded  with  chains 
and  brought  before  the  conqueror,  had  addressed  him  only 
in  the  character  of  a  prophet :  "  Do  not  thou  send  me 
unto  Nero,  keep  me  with  you  in  fetters.  Soon  thou  shalt 
be  sovereign  lord  of  the  earth,  of  the  sea,  and  the  whole 
human  race. "  ^ 

Thus  incited  on  every  hand,  Vespasian  had  but  to  per- 
mit himself  to  be  elevated  to  the  supreme  power.  Never- 
theless he  halted  in  Egypt  until  his  legions  from  the  East 
should  have  cleared  the  way  before  him.  Mucianus 
marched  at  their  head  upon  Eome  ;  the  army  of  the 
Danube,  with  which  he  intended  to  combine  forces,  an- 
ticipated him  and  invaded  Italy,  where  the  legions  of 
Germany  were   drawn  up  in  defence  of  their  unhappy 

1  Tacitus,  Histor.,  ii.  73-81  ;  Suetonius,  Vespasianus,  1-5. 

'^  Tacitus,  Histor.,  ii.  4-78  ;  Dion  Cassius,  Ixv.  9  ;  Suetonius,  Ves- 
pasianus, 5. 

8  .Tosephus,  Bell,  .hid.,  iii.  iii.  3,  9;  iv.  x.  7  ;  Suetonius,  Vespasianus, 
5;  Dion  Cassias,  Ixvi.  1. 


276  LAST   YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

choice.  Civil  war  now  raged,  and  after  awful  scenes  of 
carnage,  victory  rested  with  the  Flavians.  But  at  what  a 
price  !  Cremona  sacked,  in  Eome  forty  thousand  corpses, 
the  Capitol  in  flames,  everywhere  bloodshed  and  pillage. 
Vitellius,  wallowing  in  the  mire  of  his  base  enjoyments, 
at  first  had  refused  to  notice  anything  or  give  a  com- 
mand ;  "  like  to  those  unclean  animals  who,  once  gorged 
with  food,  think  only  of  sleeping."  ^  Nor  did  he  rouse 
himself  from  this  torpor  save  for  an  instant  of  agitation, 
doomed  to  die  as  befitted  him,  covered  with  disgrace.  He 
had  taken  refuge  in  a  porter's  lodge.  The  soldiers  of 
Mucianus  haled  him  forth  and  dragged  him  along  the 
whole  length  of  the  Sacred  Way,  half  naked,  a  rope 
around  his  neck,  amid  the  insults  and  the  mockeries  of 
the  populace.  After  this  fashion  they  pushed  and  jostled 
him  as  far  as  the  Gemonii,  where  he  succumbed,  hacked 
to  pieces ;  thence  the  still  quivering  remnants,  impaled  on 
a  hook,  were  cast  into  the  Tiber.  *^ 

Thereafter  Vespasian  reigned  without  a  rival,  and  very 
shortly  with  none  to  contest  his  right ;  for  Mucianus 
knew  well  how  to  conciliate  all  parties,  sparing  the  feel- 
ings of  the  vanquished,  while  restoring  discipline  in  the 
army  and  order  in  Kome.  When  his  able  lieutenant 
arrived  at  Brundusium,  together  with  the  Senate,  to  re- 
ceive the  new  Augustus,  he  gave  into  the  hands  of  his 
lord  an  Empire,  drained  of  blood  and  treasure,  it  is  true, 
but  glutted  with  revolution,  and  demanding  no  other 
boon  save  to  breathe  the  air  of  peace  and  safety. 

1  "Vitellius  .  .  .  curis  liixum  obtendebat :  non  parare  arma  non 
alloquio  exercitioque  militera  firmare,  non  in  ore  vulgi  agere  :  seel  um- 
braculis  hortorum  abditus,  ut  ignava  animalia,  quibiis  si  cibum  suggeras, 
jacent  tor])entque,  praeterita,  instantia,  futura,  pari  oblivione  dimiserat." 
Tacitus,  Historice,  iii.  36. 

2  Suetonius,  Vespasianus,  15-17  ;  Dion  Cassius,  Ixv.  8-21 ;  Tacitus, 
Historice,  iii. 


CHAPTEE  XIV. 

VESPASIAN  IN  GALILEE   AND  JUD^A. 

From  the  incidents  I  have  just  been  relating  the  reader 
may  imagine  what  the  four  years  which  succeeded  the 
burning  of  Eome  must  have  been  to  the  Christians  of 
that  city,  —  an  unbroken  series  of  alarms.  Even  when 
they  were  not  involved  in  a  general  bloodshed,  those  con- 
vulsions which  shook  the  world,  the  legions  of  the  East 
and  West  met  in  mortal  combat,  the  fearful  state  of  con- 
fusion wherein  it  seemed  that  the  Empire  must  crumble 
to  the  earth ;  all  things,  indeed,  recalled  to  the  minds  of 
the  believers  those  catastrophes  foretold  by  the  Master  as 
the  prelude  to  His  return.^  Many  believed  that  the  world 
had  arrived  at  that  "  beginning  of  the  great  sorrow,"  ^  to 
an  overthrow  of  everything  existing,  whence  were  to 
arise  "new  heavens  and  a  new  earth  wherein  righteous- 
ness shall  abide."  ^ 

The  advent  of  the  Flavians  dissipated  this  dream  by 
proving  that  Eome  was  not  arrived  at  the  eve  of  its  dis- 
solution. On  the  contrary  this  Queen  of  the  world  re- 
tained sufficient  vitality  to  further  broaden  her  views, 
enlarge  her  form  of  government,  and  even  find  room  for 
her  Christian  subjects,  under  certain  conditions  hard  to 
be  borne,  it  is  true,  but  at  least  not  insupportable.  This 
they  began  to  comprehend  in  proportion  as  the  tolerance 
shown  by  the  new  heads  of  the  State  made  itself  more 
widely  felt :  their  thoughts,  wearied  with  meditating  on 
the  sudden  and  triumphant  return  of  Jesus,  began  to  be 

1  Matt.  xxiv.  1-51  ;  Mark  xiii.  1-37;  Luke  xxi.  5-33. 

2  Mark  xiii.  8.  8  2  Peter  iii.  ]  3. 


278  LAST   YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

absorbed  once  more  with  that  sole  kingdom  which  the 
Saviour  came  to  found,  His  Church,  whose  mission  it  is 
to  regenerate  the  world,  obscurely  and  slowly,  through 
tedious  centuries  of  toil  and  tribulation. 

Peter  and  Paul  had  devoted  their  final  moments  on 
earth  to  fortifying  this  Divine  society  of  souls,  to  en- 
dowing it  with  a  stricter  discipline  and  a  well-ordered 
hierarchy,  and  consequently  a  more  lasting  form  of  gov- 
ernment. Once  reassured  and  fully  informed  as  to  the 
re-establishment  of  order  throughout  the  Empire,  the 
disciples  began  at  last  to  realize  what  their  teachers  had 
tried  to  make  them  understand  ere  they  were  called  from 
them.  Though  never  forgetting  that  the  Day  of  the  Lord 
is  to  come  unexpectedly,  they  now  ceased  to  make  this 
fact  the  one  absorbing  theme  of  consideration,  and  set 
about  awaiting  it,  as  it  behooves  us  all  to  do,  by  devoting 
a  large  share  of  our  efforts  to  the  duties  and  cares  of  the 
present  life.  They  sought  after  Jesus,  no  longer  as  though 
He  were  a  phantom  hovering  over  the  distant  horizon,  but 
ever  present  in  the  Church,  His  visible  Body  here  below. 
Thenceforth  all  their  efforts  were  absorbed,  as  the  Apos- 
tle's had  been,  in  fortifying  the  Holy  City  wherein  it  be- 
hooved them  to  dwell  until  summoned  thence  by  the 
Master,  and  in  binding  more  closely  together  the  numer- 
ous bodies  of  brethren  composing  it.  Hereafter  what 
place  was  to  be  occupied  by  Jerusalem  in  the  company 
which  these  communities  went  to  make  up?  Though 
hitherto  known  as  the  Mother  Church,  was  she  destined 
to  sustain  this  character  forever,  remaining  always  the 
centre  and  metropolis  of  Christianity  ?  On  this  point, 
likewise,  the  Flavians  were  commissioned  by  God  to  shed 
new  and  unlooked-for  light.  Their  mission  during  this 
decisive  phase  of  Christianity  was  so  important  that  in 
order  to  present  any  adequate  picture  of  it  as  a  whole, 
we  must  go  back  a  few  years  and  resume  our  narrative 
of  the  insurrection  at  Jerusalem  in  67. 

The  defeat  of  Cestius  had  but  aggravated  the  situation 
of  that  unhappy  city,  for  Eome,  obeyed  everywhere,  could 
not  remain  quiet  under  the  humiliating  blow  inflicted  on 


VESPASIAN  IN  GALILEE  AND  JUDAEA.         279 

her  by  one  of  the  smallest  provinces  of  the  Empire.^  No 
wise  or  thoughtful  Israelite  could  deceive  himself  as  to 
the  immanence  of  the  danger  or  the  impossibility  of  avert- 
ing it.  Where  were  the  men  to  muster  against  those  legions 
now  about  to  invade  Judciea  thirsting  for  revenge  ?  From 
the  neighboring  countries,  all  hostile  to  tliem,^  there  was 
no  aid  to  be  looked  for.  Messengers  had  been  despatched 
to  the  Jews  settled  in  the  kingdom  of  the  Parthians,  and 
all  throughout  the  East.^  Some  responded  to  their  ap- 
peal, but  the  majority  displayed  but  little  willingness  to 
compromise  themselves  in  so  risky  a  business  ;  still  others 
had  all  they  could  do  to  defend  themselves  within  their 
own  borders,  for  the  massacres  had  begun  afresh  upon 
the  rumor  that  the  victorious  sedition  was  threatening  all 
the  lands  lying  roundabout.  At  Damascus,  despite  the 
fact  that  most  of  the  women  were  affiliated  to  Mosaism, 
they  slaughtered  all  the  Jews :  the  sole  precaution  taken 
by  the  Pagans  was  to  surprise  their  victims  so  suddenly 
as  to  preclude  the  possibility  of  any  general  tumult.* 

Thus  isolated,  Jerusalem  displayed  only  the  greater 
ardor  in  preparing  the  defence ;  so  overvrhelming  was  the 
enthusiasm  that  even  the  moderate  party  yielded  to  it. 
At  this  juncture  there  was  but  one  small  group  of  Hero- 
dians  who,  out  of  their  attachment  to  their  princes,  rejoined 
them,  and  thus  took  sides  with  the  Eomans.^  Did  the 
party  composed  of  politic  and  prudent  Israelites  thus 
make  common  cause  with  the  Zealots  out  of  the  fulness  of 
their  hearts  and  without  ulterior  motives  ?  did  they,  like 
the  latter,  foster  the  illusion  that  Heaven  would  perform 
a  miracle  in  their  defence  ?  or  was  it  solely  with  the  hope 
of  moderating  the  movement,  and  in  the  final  instance 

1  **  Augebant  iras  quod  soli  Judsei  iion  cessissent."  Tacitus,  Historice, 
V.  1. 

^  In  this  war  the  neighboring  kings  of  Syria  and  Palestine  lent  their 
aid  to  the  Romans  :  Antiochus,  King  of  Commagene,  Sohemus  of  Emesa, 
and  one  of  the  Arabian  chieftains  named  Malchus.  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.y 
iii.  iv.  2, 

3  Josephus,  Bell.  Jiid.  Proem.  2 ;  vi.  vii,  2 ;  Dion  Cassius,  Ixvi.  4. 

*  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  ii.  xx.  2  ;   Vita,  6. 

5  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  ii.  xx.  1 ;  Vita,  6. 


280  LAST  YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

arranging  a  compromise  with  Eome  ?  However  this  may 
be,  there  seemed  at  first  no  division  of  opinion  among 
them.  The  Priestly  aristocracy  and  the  most  learned 
Pharisees  threw  themselves  into  the  struggle  with  the 
same  ardor  as  did  the  Zealots.  Gn  every  hand  young 
men  were  being  drilled ;  arms,  machinery,  and  materials 
of  war  were  being  collected  in  all  haste ;  Jerusalem  and 
every  hamlet  in  the  land  which  could  fortify  itself,  was 
shielded  by  ramparts ;  all  Judaea  rose  up  as  one  man  to 
defend  its  Faith,  its  Temple,  its  national  existence,  unto 
the  death.^  The  harmony  existing  between  them  was  so 
complete  and  so  unanimous  during  the  first  burst  of 
patriotism  that  —  and  this  is  a  rare  thing  in  times  of 
revolution — the  government  was  constituted  according 
to  law  and  intrusted  to  the  worthiest  citizens.  The  sov- 
ereignty of  the  Sanhedrin  was  respected,  the  police  and 
the  urban  administration  were  left  in  the  hands  of  the 
customary  magistrates.  They  did  more  than  this :  an 
assembly  held  in  the  Temple  conferred  all  powers,  so  far 
as  the  government  and  preparation  for  war  were  concerned, 
on  two  men  of  the  highest  rank,  Joseph  ben  Gorion,  and 
Hanan  (son  of  Annas,  who  condemned  Jesus),  the  oldest 
of  the  High  Priests.^ 

With  such  men  standing  at  its  front,  the  party  of  re- 
sistance could  claim  the  suffrages  of  the  very  dlite  of  the 
nation.  The  scholars  and  noted  thinkers  of  Israel,  Josue 
ben  Gamala,  Simeon  ben  Gamaliel,  Hillel's  grandson,  the 
sacerdotal  aristocracy,  the  upper  middle  classes,  all,  in 
fact,  with  one  accord  joined  hands  in  the  movement. 

Their  choice  of  governors  for  the  provinces  in  like  man- 
ner fell  upon  men  of  personal  weight,  moderate  opinions, 
all  accustomed  to  wield  power.  The  historian  Josephus 
was  of  this  number;  and,  although  his  writings  have 
given  him  more  renown  than  his  political  career,  none 
the  less  was  the  part  he  now  took  upon  himself  in  this 
national  war  a  glorious  one  ;  for  to  him  was  confided  the 
position  which  was  most  exposed  to  the  onslaughts  of  the 

J  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  iii.  xxii.  1.        ^  Ibid.,  Bell.  Jud.,  iii.  xx.  3, 


VESPASIAN  IN  GALILEE  AND  JUD.EA.         281 

enemy,  the  land  of  Galilee.^  The  defence  of  this  region 
was  quite  as  difficult  to  organize  as  it  was  thereafter  to 
maintain ;  for  the  country  appeared  very  much  divided  as 
to  the  proper  course  to  pursue.  Its  capital,  Sephoris, 
called  upon  the  Komans  as  with  one  voice.^  The  lower 
classes  were  mad  partisans  of  the  war  in  Tiberias,  but 
the  aristocracy  remained  faithful  to  Agrippa,  sharing 
his  conciliatory  and  peaceful  views.^  At  Giscala,  the 
former  bandit  chieftain,  named  John,  had  set  the  people's 
minds  aflame,  and  dreamed  of  becoming  himself  King 
of  Galilee.*  Similar  disorders  were  breaking  out  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Jordan  ;  bands  of  brigands  were  harry- 
ing the  countryside,  despoiling  the  towns,  pillaging  and 
massacring  all  who  withstood  them.  There  was  no 
other  way  left  for  Josephus  except  to  come  to  some 
agreement  with  these  predatory  bands  ;  putting  them  on 
his  pay-rolls  he  formed  from  their  number  a  formidable 
wing  of  his  army."  Nor  was  it  a  lighter  task  to  restore 
order,  unity  of  plan  and  action  in  the  towns  with  whose 
defence  he  had  been  intrusted.  In  all  this  he  gave  evi- 
dence of  as  much  presence  of  mind  as  he  did  of  diplo- 
macy ;  triumphing  by  wily  plots  when  a  vigorous  stroke 
would  have  ruined  everything.  By  these  means  he  suc- 
ceeded in  collecting  together  some  three  score  thousand 
men  and  stationed  garrisons  in  various  places  which  he 
fortified :  Jotapata,  Tarichsea,  Tiberias,  Itabyrium,  on  the 
Thabor.^  Doubtless  when  compared  with  the  legions  of 
Eome  these  were  but  a  heterogeneous  mass  of  recruits, 
soldiers  of  fortune,  scarce  knowing  the  meaning  of  the 
word  "  discipline  "  ;  but  their  love  of  their  native  land 
was  to  render  them  capable  of  enduring  all  and  of  daring 
anything. 

In  the  spring  of  the  year  67  Vespasian  proceeded  to 
Antioch,  where  he  organized  the  expedition  confided  to 
him.     This  prudent  general  had  no  idea  of  confronting 

1  Joseplms,  Bell.  Jud.,  ii.  xx.  4. 

2  Ibid.,  Vita,  Q7,  71 ;  Bell.  Jud.,  in.  iv.  1. 

8  Ibid.,  Vita,  9.  5  Ibid  ,  Vita,  14. 

*  Ibid.,  Bell.  Jud.,  xxi.  1.       «  Ibid.,  Bell.  Jud.,  ii.  xx.  6 ;  Vita,  37. 


282  LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

the  insurrectionists  with  other  than  an  adequate  equip- 
ment; for  this  reason  his  son,  Titus,  had  braved  the 
perils  of  a  winter's  voyage  in  order  to  bring  him  troops 
from  Egypt.^  This  reinforcement  put  at  his  disposal 
three  legions,  twenty-three  cohorts,  a  goodly  number  of 
auxiliaries,  —  in  all,  sixty  thousand  well  disciplined  men 
skilled  in  warfare,  robust  and  well  able  to  withstand  the 
hardships  of  any  campaign. 

Putting  himself  at  their  head,  Vespasian  proceeded 
along  the  usual  highway  from  Syria  into  Palestine  along 
the  sea-coast,  and  established  his  headquarters  at  Ptole- 
mais  (St.  John  of  Acre).  Sephoris  was  not  far  away 
from  this  first  encampment.  Eealizing  that  it  was  now 
under  protection,  the  town  gave  free  utterance  to  its  feel- 
ings and  declared  itself  for  Eome.^  Gabara  was  not  so 
prudent,  and  its  hostility  gave  Vespasian  an  opportunity 
of  making  an  example  of  it:  the  entire  male  population  was 
put  to  the  sword,  the  city  and  its  suburbs  were  burned, 
and  all  that  escaped  death  were  doomed  to  slavery.^  But 
even  more  fearful  to  the  souls  of  the  inhabitants  was  the 
appearance  of  his  legions  among  them.  They  found  their 
way  within  the  deepest  valleys,  marching  in  extended 
order  and  in  close  array,  always  as  prompt  to  meet  the  foe 
as  to  answer  the  bugle-call.  A  host  of  scouts  beat  the 
country  in  front  of  them,  and  in  their  rear  the  auxiliary 
troops  carried  with  them  a  formidable  train  of  supplies 
and  machinery  of  warfare.^  In  vain  did  Josephus  endeavor 
to  arrest  their  progress;  forsaken  by  the  troops  he  had 
gathered  together,  ill-accustomed  to  war,  he  was  fain  to 

1  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  iii.  iv.  2.  ^  Ibid.,  Bell.  Jud.,  iii.  ii.  4. 

3  Ibid.,  Bell.  Jud.,  iii.  vii,  1.  The  existing  text  of  Josephus  has 
Gadara ;  ttj  TroXet  tQ)v  Vabdpewv.  But  in  all  probability  Gabara  is 
the  proper  reading.  Cadara  (the  modern  Oummkeis)  is  indeed  located 
to  the  east  of  the  Lake  of  Genesareth,  and  it  is  scarcely  probable  that 
Vespasian,  at  the  outset  of  the  expedition,  should  have  pushed  forward  so 
far  with  his  army.  Gabara  {Kabarah),  on  the  contrary,  being  in  close 
jtroximity  to  St.  John  of  Acre,  the  Romans'  first  encampment,  their  first 
attack  would  naturally  be  directed  at  this  city,  one  of  the  most  important 
in  the  province.  (Josephus,  Vita,  25.)  See  Robinson,  Biblical  Researches^ 
vol.  iii.,  p.  87. 

*  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud..  iii.  vi.  2. 


VESPASIAN  IN  GALILEE  AND  JUDAEA.  283 

beat  a  retreat  towards  Tiberias,^  whereupon,  seeing  that 
they  were  about  to  attack  Jotapata,  he  hastened  thither 
to  its  defence.^ 

In  all  Galilee  there  was  no  citadel  more  difficult  than 
this  to  carry .^  Located  in  the  midst  of  mountains  and 
forests,  it  stands  upon  a  promontory  connected  on  only 
one  side  with  the  neighboring  heights,  with  so  steep  a 
declivity,  and  so  deep  withal  that  one  can  scarcely  descry 
the  depths  of  the  ravines  which  encircle  it>  The  most 
determined  men  among  the  Galileans,  somewhere  in  the 
neighborhood  of  forty  thousand,  had  taken  refuge  on  this 
mountainous  spur,  which  they  regarded  as  impregnable, 
if  not  inaccessible.  Vespasian,  having  learned  from  a  de- 
serter that  Josephus  was  then  in  Jotapata,  together  with 
the  picked  men  of  his  forces,  massed  all  his  troops,  hop- 
ing thereby  to  crush  the  rebellion  and  its  leader  at  one 
blow.  When  the  besieged  saw  from  afar  their  forests 
falling  beneath  the  sappers'  axe,  they  realized  that  they 
must  either  conquer  or  die. 

Five  assaults  having  been  repulsed,  Vespasian  invested 
the  city  by  a  regular  siege.  A  bulwark  of  stone  and 
wood  was  constructed  upon  the  ridge  on  that  side  where 
the  circumvallation  was  approachable.  This  work,  erected 
at  great  cost  of  lives,  beneath  a  shower  of  darts,  over- 
topped the  ramparts  and  permitted  the  besiegers  to  con- 
trol the  town  ;  but  the  Jews,  who  in  a  few  days  raised 
their  walls,  were  once  again  under  cover.  Still  further 
they  succeeded  in  protecting  themselves  against  the  dread- 
some  battering-ram  by  the  aid  of  sacks  of  straw  which 
deadened  its  blows.  Even  the  ''  turtle-hack,"  that  unfail- 
ing resource  of  the  legionaries  when  every  other  method 
of  attack  failed,  was  of  no  avail  against  Jotapata.     Boil- 

1  Joseplms,  iii.  vi.  3.  ^  ibid.,  iii.  vii.  3. 

8  In  1847  Shultz  located,  to  the  north  of  Sephoris,  and  in  the  modern 
village  of  Jefat,  the  site  of  ancient  Jotapata.  Zeitschrifl  der  deutschens 
morgrnland.  GeseUschnft,  vol.  iii.  p.  49  et  seq. ;  59  et  seq. ;  Ritter,  Erd- 
hnnde,  xvi.  764-768;  Robinson,  Biblical  Researches,  iii.,  ji.  105  ;  Gue'rin, 
Galilee,  i.  pp.  476-487  ;  The  Survey  of  Palestine,  Conder  and  Kitchener, 
i.  289,  311-313. 

*  Josephus,  Bell,  Jud,,  ii.  vii.  7. 


284  LAST   YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

ing  oil  poured  in  torrents  upon  the  besiegers,  rushed  over 
their  vault  of  shields  ^  and  consumed  the  legionaries. 

Emboldened  by  these  ineffectual  attacks,  Josephus  and 
his  soldiers  suddenly  became  the  aggressors.  Sallying 
out,  armed  with  torches,  they  fell  upon  the  assaulters' 
outworks,  and  in  a  few  hours  destroyed  gabionades,  pal- 
ings, wooden  towers,  and  military  engines  of  every 
description. 

But  that  tenacious  spirit  of  the  Eoman,  which  ever 
rose  superior  to  any  rebuff,  speedily  repaired  the  damage 
it  had  suffered.  The  overthrown  battering-rams  were  re- 
erected,  no  matter  how  great  the  obstacles  proffered  on 
the  part  of  their  foes  ;  day  and  night  they  kept  on  at 
their  work,  beating  upon  the  walls.  It  happened  one 
evening  that,  while  Vespasian  was  directing  their  blows  in 
person,  a  javelin  struck  him;  overmastering  the  pain 
which  he  must  have  felt,  he  dashed  through  the  breach 
made  by  his  soldiers  now  made  furious  by  the  sight  of 
his  wounds.  A  terrible  hand-to-hand  encounter  there- 
upon ensued  and  lasted  until  morning.  The  ballistee 
exerted  all  their  weapons  against  the  ramparts,  crush- 
ing men  and  walls  alike  beneath  their  shower  of  stones  ; 
the  clash  of  arms  and  the  battle  cries  of  the  combatants 
found  their  answer  throughout  the  city  in  the  frightened 
shrieks  of  women  and  children.  At  daybreak,  when 
the  soldiers'  arms,  tired  of  cutting  and  hacking,  fell  back 
listless,  the  blood  of  the  besiegers  lapped  the  base  of  the 
walls  in  great  pools ;  thereabouts  the  dead  were  heaped 
one  upon  another  so  closely  that  upon  these  corpses  one 
might  climb  over  the  outer  walls  :  but  within  this  blood- 
encircled  enclosure,  the  Galileans  still  stood,  unconquered 
nor  yielding  one  whit,  since  they  had  found  means  of  re- 
pairing the  breach. 

In  despair  of  carrying  the  place  by  assault,  Vespasian 
restricted  all  his  efforts  to  keeping  up  the  blockade,  never 
ceasing,   however,  to  harass  his   foes.     He   caused  fifty 


1  Tins  roof,  which  the  soldiers  formed  with  their  shields  raised  together 
over  their  heads,  allowed  them  to  approach  the  walls  and  undermine  them. 


VESPASIAN  IN  GALILEE  AND  JUD^A.  285 

towers  shielded  by  iron  to  be  built,  high  enough  to  over- 
look the  town  and  control  it.  On  these  towers  his  best 
bowmen  were  stationed,  with  orders  to  strike  down  who- 
ever put  his  head  above  the  ramparts.  While  very 
many  of  the  besieged  perished  thus,  hunger  and  thirst 
killed  off  many  more.  Both  salt  and  water  were  lack- 
ing, and  forty-seven  days'  struggle  had  exhausted  their 
strength  as  well  as  their  means  of  subsistence.  From  a 
deserter  Vespasian  was  given  to  understand  that  their 
sentinels  could  not  be  relieved,  and  were  so  wearied  that 
they  were  forced  to  sleep  on  post.  One  foggy  night  cer- 
tain picked  men  of  his  force  crept  within  the  lines  noise- 
lessly, slaughtered  the  slumbering  guards,  and  took  pos- 
session of  the  citadel ;  after  them  came  the  whole  army. 
On  awakening,  the  town  realized  that  it  was  doomed  to 
death.  Merciless  was  the  massacre  ;  neither  women  nor 
children  were  spared  by  the  exasperated  Eomans.  A  little 
crowd  of  men  took  refuge  in  the  furthermost  part  of  the 
city ;  when  descried,  and  seeing  they  were  overwhelmed 
by  mere  numbers,  they  killed  one  another.^ 

Although  the  town  was  taken,  it  mattered  nothing  un- 
less Josephus  was  made  a  prisoner.  For  three  long  days 
Vespasian  searched  for  him  in  vain,  but  finally  a  woman 
betrayed  him  and  disclosed  the  cave  wherein  he  had  con- 
cealed himself,  together  with  forty  of  his  partisans.  The 
Eoman  general  summoned  him  into  his  presence,  and 
Josephus  was  fain  to  accede  to  his  wishes  ;  but  his  com- 
rades in  arms  stood  between  them,  declaring  that  nothing 
but  death  should  separate  them.  Josephus  was  endowed 
with  all  the  wily  diplomacy  inborn  in  his  race,  ever  ready 
to  extricate  himself  from  the  worst  situations.  He  won 
over  his  fanatical  followers  to  the  idea  that  the  greatest 
part  they  could  play  in  the  tragedy,  would  be  to  kill  one 
another,  drawing  lots  to  decide  which  one  should  be  first 
in  the  order  of  sacrifice.  By  shrewdly  manipulating  the 
ballots  he  managed  to  leave  himself  with  but  one  other 


1  Josephus,   Bell.  Jud.,  iii.  vii.  4-36.     See  Parent,  Siege  de  Jotapata 
(1866). 


286  LAST   YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

survivor,  who  it  seemed  was  no  more  anxious  to  die  than 
was  his  chief.  But  Josephus  did  not  stop  at  this ;  unable 
to  overcome  the  Komans  by  force  of  arms,  he  endeavored 
to  circumvent  them  by  Jewish  diplomacy.  Accordingly 
he  turned  at  once,  and  without  the  least  token  of  scrupu- 
lousness, from  the  maddest  partisan  of  Jewry  to  a  most 
respectful  worshipper  of  Eome.  When  brought  to  the 
presence  of  the  Flavians,  he  decked  himself  in  the  garb 
of  a  Prophet  of  his  nation,  disclosed  to  them  that  in  the 
Oracles  of  Israel  a  glorious  future  awaited  them,  and  thus 
wormed  himself  into  their  good  graces.  Speedily  he 
became  the  bosom  friend  of  Titus,  and  with  him  took 
part  in  the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  despised  by  his  fellow- 
countrymen,  it  is  true,  but  caring  little  or  nothing  for 
their  respect.  Luck  seemed  to  him  to  be  on  the  side  of 
the  Eomans;  and  on  the  winning  side,  whichever  it 
might  be,  he  was  always  to  be  reckoned.^ 

The  taking  of  Jotapata  put  into  Vespasian's  hands 
all  Galilee  from  the  sea  to  the  hither  shore  of  the  Lake 
of  Genesareth ;  but  on  the  opposite  side  stood  Gamala,^  a 
fortress  not  less  impregnable,  both  on  account  of  its 
site  and  on  account  of  the  courage  of  its  defenders. 
As  at  Jotapata,  their  resistance  was  that  of  heroes,  and 
their  fate  even  more  tragical.  In  this  citadel,  which  was 
perched  upon  a  craggy  height  rising  from  the  heart  of  the 
city,  the  Jews,  once  brought  to  bay,  their  forces  all  ex- 
hausted, embraced  their  wives  and  children,  then  with 
their  offspring  in  their  arms,  they  flung  themselves  into  the 
depths  below.  Only  two  women  survived,  not  one  child : 
the  remnant  of  the  living  and  wounded  the  Eomans  cast 
down  from  the  tops  of  the  walls. ^ 

^  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  iii.  viii.  1-9;  Suetonius,  Vespasianus,  5;  Dion 
Cassius,  Ixvi.  1. 

2  Josephus  locates  Gamala  in  lower  Gaulanitis  on  the  lake  over  against 
Tarichyea  {Bell.  Jud.,  iv.  1.)  The  height  covered  with  ruins  now  known 
by  the  name  of  KaJa  and  Hasen,  on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  lake  is  the 
locality  which  corresponds  best  to  these  indications.  Guerin,  Galilee,  i. 
317-321  ;  cf.  Furrer,  Zeitschrift  des  deutschen  Paldstina  Vereins,  ii.  1879, 
pp.  70-72;  xii.  1889,  pp.  148-151;  Merrill,  East  of  the  Jordan,  1881, 
pp.  161,  164,  168. 

8  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  iv.  i.  2,  7. 


VESPASIAN  IN  GALILEE  AND  JUDyEA.  287 

Tiberias  and  Tarichaea  fell  victims  to  the  same  inexo- 
rable vengeance.^  The  citizens  of  these  towns,  near  neigh- 
bors, had  taken  refuge  in  sailing-vessels.  Putting  himself 
at  the  head  of  a  flotilla,  Vespasian  pursued  and  mas- 
sacred them  so  furiously  that  the  lake,  as  well  as  its 
shores,  for  a  long  time  after,  stank  from  the  corruption  of 
dead  bodies.  The  rest  of  the  insurgents  had  laid  down 
their  arms  under  a  promise  of  safe  conduct;  but  this 
time  Vespasian  smirched  his  high  reputation  by  failing 
to  keep  faith.  The  wretched  throng  was  driven  into  the 
Hippodrome  of  Tiberias  and  there  cut  out  like  a  bunch 
of  cattle  ;  twelve  hundred  of  them  were  aged  and  infirm  : 
these  they  slaughtered  ;  six  thousand  of  the  more  robust 
were  sent  off  to  Nero  to  help  dig  out  the  Isthmus  of 
Corinth ;  thirty-six  thousand  four  hundred  were  sold  as 
slaves.2  Everywhere  when  the  inhabitants  hesitated  about 
swearing  allegiance,  they  were  exterminated  by  Vespasian 
at  once,  and  in  harmony  with  his  preconceived  policy. 

In  all  Galilee  there  was  but  a  single  outpost  wliich  had 
not  been  disarmed.  This  was  Giscala ;  ^  not  indeed  that 
the  peasant  population  of  this  town  evinced  any  special 
longing  to  enter  upon  a  hopeless  struggle,  but  rather  be- 
cause they  dreaded  most  their  leader,  an  adventurer  and 
a  fellow-townsman,  John,  the  son  of  Levi.  The  hordes 
of  insurgents  who  had  flocked  to  his  standard  were  ca- 
pable of  going  to  the  last  extremity  if  a  sudden  onslaught 
was  attempted  to  inflame  their  wrath.  Happily  for  Gis- 
cala, Titus  was  the  one  intrusted  with  the  task  of  reduc- 
ing the  town.     With  his  wonted  moderation  he  began  by 

1  Tarichoea  stood  some  thirty  stadia  to  the  south  of  Tiberias  ;  the  Arab 
village  of  Kharbet-el-Kerah  marks  its  site.  Gnerin,  Galilee,  i.,  pp.  275  et 
seq. ;  Robinson,  Biblical  Researches,  ii,  387  :  Ritter,  Erdkunde,  xv.  1, 
344  et  seq.;  Conder,  Palestine  Exploration  Fund,  Quarterlj  Statements^ 
1878,  pp.  190-192. 

2  Josephus,  Bell.  Jiid.,  iii.  x.  1-10. 

3  The  hamlet  known  to-day  as  El-Djich,  situated  to  the  north  of  Safed 
on  the  heights  above  Lake  Meron,  has  preserved  the  name  of  Giscala. 
"The  plateau  covered  by  it  is  elevated  some  six  hundred  feet  above  the 
lake  ;  nowadays  it  is  planted  with  vineyards,  fig-trees,  and  olive  orchards, 
and  divided  into  a  large  number  of  separate  fields."  Guerin,  Galilee,  vol. 
ii.,  p.  96;    cf.  Conder,  The  Snrvoj  of  Western  Palestine,  i.  198,  224-226. 


288  LAST   YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

offering  the  city  very  advantageous  terms  of  capitulation, 
and  these  John  accepted,  for  it  offered  him  an  opportunity 
of  marching  out  of  the  city  which  he  had  found  great 
difficulty  in  controlling,  and  of  betaking  himself  to  a  ter- 
ritory better  adapted  to  his  mode  of  warfare.  Making 
sharp  use  of  the  occasion,  he  managed  to  find  time  to 
slip  through  the  fingers  of  the  Eomans ;  pretending  that 
he  was  a  scrupulous  observer  of  the  Law,  he  asked  that 
his  surrender  might  not  take  place  on  the  same  day, 
which  happened  to  be  the  Sabbath.  Titus  did  not  con- 
fine his  clemency  to  merely  granting  this  respite,  but 
together  with  his  troops  withdrew  into  the  neighboring 
city  of  Cydissa. 

About  midnight,  John,  seeing  that  the  highways  were  left 
open  to  him,  and  no  Eoman  outposts  at  hand  to  sound  an 
alarm,  crept  out  with  his  companions  and  all  those  citizens 
of  Giscala  who  were  loath  to  be  delivered  into  the  hands 
of  the  enemy ;  even  the  wives  and  children  of  the  latter 
followed  in  his  rear.  He  speedily  realized  that  the  latter 
were  retarding  his  flight,  and  gave  orders  that  they  should 
be  abandoned  by  the  wayside.  A  useless  sacrifice  this,  for 
Titus'  cavalry  overtook  him  and  killed  six  thousand  of 
his  men.  Only  with  the  greatest  difficulty  did  he  man- 
age to  escape  with  a  handful  of  his  troopers  and  take 
refuge  in  Jerusalem.^  This  was  in  the  last  months  of 
67 ;  Vespasian  and  Titus  went  into  winter  quarters  at 
Csesarea,  deferring  the  final  blow  of  their  campaign  till 
the  following  year. 

They  were  well  aware,  however,  that  the  suspension  of 
actual  hostilities  would  work  to  their  advantage,  and  that 
the  only  profit  that  the  Jews  would  make  of  it  would 
be  to  foment  internal  dissensions.  For  difference  of 
opinion,  waxing  daily  more  acute,  had  indeed  succeeded 
their  unanimity  during  the  early  days  of  the  war.  Han  an 
and  the  leaders  of  the  aristocracy  elected  to  office  with 
him,  had  too  much  common-sense  not  to  recognize,  on 
sober  second  thought,  that  for  them  to  put  themselves 

1  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  iv.  ii.  1-5. 


VESPASIAN  IN  GALILEE  AND  JUDJEA.         289 

against  Rome  was  sheer  madness.  Working  by  under- 
hand means,  they  sought  to  calm  down  their  over-excited 
spirits  and  retard  their  preparations  for  defence.  Although 
they  were  informed  of  the  fact  that  Galilee  was  in  its 
last  extremities,  they  did  not  so  much  as  raise  a  hand  to  aid 
it.  The  more  enthusiastic  minds,  suspecting  this  double 
play,  shuddered  at  the  thoughts,  and  their  number  in- 
creased constantly  ;  for  the  progress  made  by  the  Romans 
in  the  North  was  constantly  driving  before  them  numbers 
of  malcontents  in  the  dii'ection  of  the  Holy  City.  Ac- 
cordingly, when  the  prime  leader  of  the  resistance,  John 
of  Giscala,  appeared  at  the  gates  of  Jerusalem,  a  horrified 
throng  Hocked  to  greet  him.  John  understood  full-well 
that  what  his  fellow-countrymen  desired  was  not  fruit- 
less lamentations,  but  bold,  nay,  presumptuous  speech, 
which  alone  in  moments  of  disaster  can  reawaken  men's 
hopes.  And  so,  although  his  little  band  was  still  breath- 
less and  plainly  exhausted,  he  brazened  it  all  out,  declar- 
ing that  neither  he  nor  his  men  were  fugitives,  but  were 
simply  come  to  seek  a  more  advantageous  post  of  battle. 
"  What,  forsooth,  were  the  hamlets  of  Galilee  that  he 
should  spend  his  forces  for  them  ?  Before  all,  it  behooved 
him  to  help  save  the  mother  city  !  As  for  the  Romans, 
there  was  no  need  to  fear  anything  from  that  quarter ; 
he  had  watched  their  machines  as  they  broke  in  pieces 
against  the  walls  of  Giscala,  while  they  themselves  were 
easily  entrapped  by  the  most  childish  stratagems  of  war  : 
unless  they  grew  wings  in  the  meantime  they  would  not 
find  an  entrance  into  Sion."  ^ 

The  wiser  ones  among  them  trembled  on  hearing  the 
shouts  of  acclamation  which  greeted  his  speech ;  it  meant 
that  the  reins  of  power  were  slipping  from  their  grasp ; 
that  Jerusalem  w^as  doomed  to  be  divided  anew  into  two 
irreconcilable  parties,  —  and  not  only  the  Holy  City,  but 
all  the  towns  roundabout.  Everywhere,  indeed,  a  majority 
of  the  citizens  were  in  favor  of  yielding  as  best  they 
could.     But  that  very  timidity  which  led  them  to  prefer 

1  Josephus,  Bell.  Jitd.,  iv.  iii.  1. 
19 


290  LAST   YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

peace,  made  them  submit  to  the  enraged  throng  which 
clamored  for  war.  Soon  these  fanatics  were  no  longer 
content  to  terrify  their  fellow-citizens  :  sallying  forth 
from  the  towns  where  they  dwelt,  they  formed  into  bands 
and  scoured  the  countryside,  proclaiming  that  it  was  their 
mission  to  seek  out  and  punish  all  traitors.  Using  this 
as  their  pretext,  it  was  easy  for  them  to  spread  red-handed 
pillage  and  incendiarism  in  every  direction.  Jerusalem 
was  where  they  foregathered  whenever  they  were  weary 
of  ravaging  the  country  roundabout.  From  every  hand 
they  hastened  thither,  and  at  once  joining  the  war  party, 
they  contributed  that  leaven  of  savagery  which  daily 
waxed  more  powerful;  little  by  little  the  Zealots  pro- 
ceeded to  more  daring  acts  of  violence.  It  was  not  long 
before  they  began  to  usurp  the  authority  of  the  magis- 
trates, inventing  and  then  attaching  long  lists  of  sus- 
pected persons.  Men  of  the  highest  rank,  and  among 
them  three  members  of  Herod's  family,  were  after  this 
fashion  thrown  into  prison,  and  shortly  after  put  to 
death. ^ 

No  remonstrance  being  made  on  the  part  of  the  popu- 
lace against  these  outrages,  the  hot-headed  enthusiasts 
were  encouraged  to  proceed  to  still  more  daring  deeds  of 
lawlessness  ;  they  were  emboldened  to  lay  hands  on  the 
Pontificate,  thereby  hoping  to  obtain  complete  master- 
ship. By  isolating  the  noble  families  whose  right  it  had 
been  for  many  a  long  day  to  furnish  the  High  Priest  from 
out  their  number,  the  fanatics  conceived  the  idea  of  hav- 
ing the  High  Priest  chosen  by  lot,  and  that  from  one  of 
the  lowliest  branches  of  the  Levitical  tribe.  This  was 
equivalent  to  abandoning  themselves  to  blind  chance  and 
to  incurring  the  risk  of  the  most  humiliating  complica- 
tions. The  lot  fell  upon  a  rustic  brought  up  on  the  farm, 
utterly  incapable  of  comporting  himself  with  dignity  and 
respectability  in  the  position  to  which  he  was  elevated 
against  his  will,  despite  the  sumptuous  vestments  in 
which  they  dressed  him  up.     The  clownish  bearing  of 

1  Josephns,  Bell.  JucL,  iv.  iii.  2-6. 


VESPASIAN  IN   GALILEE  AND  JUDAEA.  291 

the  unfortunate  man  excited  the  laughter  of  the  people  ; 
but  such  a  piece  of  buffoonery  overstepped  the  limits,  and 
a  reaction  set  in.^ 

Hanan  profited  by  this  turn  in  the  tide  of  popular  feel- 
ing to  bar  the  way  before  these  madmen  who  were  doing 
their  best  to  ruin  everything.  This  High  Priest,  as 
shrewd  as  he  was  resolute,  was  the  one  man  able  to 
have  saved  Jerusalem  had  he  lived  ;  at  least  his  is  the 
honor  of  having  tried  to  do  so.  Terrified  at  seeing  him 
take  this  stand  against  them,  the  Zealots  took  refuge  in 
the  Temple,  whereupon  Hanan  convoked  a  general  as- 
sembly of  the  city  whereof  he  was  the  lawfully  elected 
head,  and  he  set  forth  to  them  the  disgrace  of  submitting 
to  a  tyranny  worse  than  that  of  the  Eomans.  The  latter 
had  at  least  respected  the  Sanctuary  of  Israel ;  the  Zealots 
had  used  it  as  a  barracks,  as  a  hospital  for  their  wounded, 
and  as  the  scene  of  their  worst  disorders.  Turning  his 
eyes  filled  with  tears  toward  the  Temple,  he  spoke  of  it  to 
them  in  words  of  such  heart-broken  grief  that  the  people 
besought  him  to  lead  them  forthwith  against  the  defilers. 
Hanan  was  arming  them  for  the  attack,  whereupon  the 
Zealots,  now  forewarned,  flung  themselves  upon  this  mass 
of  men  as  yet  not  organized  to  resist  them,  and  at  the 
first  assault  drove  them  back ;  but  in  their  turn  yielding 
to  superiority  of  numbers,  they  were  forced  back  into  the 
Temple.  The  assailants  entered  with  them,  and  took 
possession  of  the  first  enclosure,  that  vast  esplanade  open 
to  the  Gentiles.  Hanan,  now  soiled  with  blood,  as  were 
also  those  with  him,  durst  not  press  forward  any  further 
within  that  part  of  the  Sanctuary,  which  no  Israelite 
might  enter  without  first  purifying  himself.  He  was 
content  with  investing  these  inner  porches,  and  that  so 
closely  that  the  besieged,  in  despair  of  finding  any  exit, 
summoned  to  their  aid  the  Idumoeans.^ 

A  strange  recourse  this  on  the  part  of  the  self-styled 
Zealots  of  the  Law  ;  for  the  name  of  Edom  was  and  still 

1  Josephns,  Bell.  Jud.,  iv.  iii.  8 ;  cf.  Dei'enbourg,  Essai  sur  I'histoire 
de  la  Palestine,  p.  269. 

2  Josephus,  Bdl.  JiuL,  iv.  iii.  7-12. 


292  LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

is  to-day,  held  in  abomination  by  Israel.  Yet  no  other 
hope  was  left  them,  and  they  knew  they  were  sure  of 
being  heard.  Full  well  did  they  know  what  to  expect 
from  them,  for  in  their  forays  they  had  many  a  time  en- 
countered those  wandering  hordes,  more  like  brigands 
than  shepherds,  in  every  respect  similar  to  the  Bedouins 
of  our  day.  Like  the  latter,  the  descendants  of  Esau, 
half  Jewish,  and  half  savage,  always  panted  for  the  fray  ; 
they  rushed  to  the  combat  as  if  it  were  a  festival.  Their 
chieftains  needed  but  to  sound  the  war-cry  in  the  moun- 
tain passes  of  Idumaea,  and  in  a  few  days  twenty  thousand 
men,  gathered  together  at  their  call,  were  marching  under 
their  command  and  appeared  before  the  walls  of  Jeru- 
salem. The  city,  taken  by  surprise,  had  barely  time  to 
close  its  gates. 

The  Idumasans  were  not  the  men  to  relinquish  their 
prey  :  though  repulsed  by  Hanan,  they  pitched  their  tents 
below  the  walls  and  awaited  their  opportunity.  This 
occasion  a  tempest  and  the  blackness  of  night  combined 
to  offer  them.  The  hurricane  swept  down  with  an  un- 
heard-of violence ;  the  solid  earth  shook  under  the  impact 
of  wind  and  thunderbolts.  Taking  advantage  of  the  up- 
roar, certain  Zealots  sawed  down  the  gates  of  the  en- 
closure wherein  they  were  blockaded,  and  traversed  the 
Court  of  the  Gentiles :  the  only  thought  of  the  senti- 
nels had  been  to  seek  shelter  from  the  cyclone.  Thus 
unhindered  they  managed  to  reach  the  gates  of  the  city, 
forced  them  open,  and  joining  forces  with  the  Idumgeans, 
with  them  re-entered  Jerusalem.  Thereafter  it  was 
merely  a  question  of  penetrating  within  the  outer  porches 
of  the  Temple  by  piercing  the  lines  which  the  Zealots 
held  in  durance.  Six  thousand  men  had  been  intrusted 
with  the  investment ;  but  dumfounded  by  this  furious 
and  unexpected  attack  from  without,  they  fled,  giving 
themselves  up  for  lost  and  throwing  away  their  arms. 
The  majority  were  slain,  powerless  to  escape  ;  others,  mad 
with  terror,  leaped  from  the  lofty  walls  of  the  Temple, 
down  into  the  town  below,  and  were  dashed  to  pieces. 
One  group  of  young  men  alone  retaining  their  presence 


SCALE   OF   METERS 


THE  TEMPLE  OF  JERUSALEM 

After  the  plans  made  by  if.  de  Vogvs 


VESPASIAN  IN   GALILEE  AND  JVD^A.  293 

of  mind,  engaged  the  foe  in  combat,  but  soon,  surrounded 
on  all  sides,  they  too  were  slaughtered  pitilessly. 

When  the  day  broke,  eight  thousand  five  hundred 
corpses  were  to  be  seen  strewn  over  the  Porches  of  the 
Gentiles ;  their  blood  streamed  down  in  rivulets ;  all 
Jerusalem  was  plunged  in  dreadful  grief  and  terror ; 
tliis  was  the  opportunity  the  Idumseans  were  waiting 
for  to  loot  and  ravage.  The  High  Priests,  Hanan  and 
Jesus,  son  of  Gamala,  had  been  marked  out  for  their  ven- 
geance as  the  two  arch-traitors  who  had  tried  to  deliver 
Judaea  over  to  Rome ;  by  dint  of  long  seeking  they 
discovered  their  hiding-place,  slew  them,  and  cast  their 
bodies  to  the  dogs  and  vultures.  Such  an  outrage  had 
never  been  heard  of  in  Israel,  where  the  most  miserable 
criminals  received  the  rites  of  burial  on  the  very  evening 
of  their  execution :  it  shows  the  depths  of  the  abyss  in 
which  the  city  was  striving. 

With  Hanan  disappeared  the  last  vestige  of  lawful 
government  in  Jerusalem,  the  last  hope  of  salvation. 
Massacres  followed  in  swift  succession.  Scouring  the 
streets,  the  Zealots  and  Idumaeans  killed  all  such  as 
came  under  the  ban  of  their  suspicion  :  the  lower  classes 
swiftly  and  on  the  spot ;  men  of  high  birth,  youths 
especially,  after  the  most  cruel  ordeals;  most  of  them, 
thrown  into  prison,  were  constrained  by  torture  to  take 
sides  with  the  rebels  or  perish  after  frightful  suffering. 
Twelve  thousand  persons,  the  most  noble  and  most  highly 
respected  in  the  city,  succumbed  during  these  dreadful 
days.^ 

The  Idumaeans,  however,  were  not  blinded  by  the  same 
hatred,  the  same  fanaticism,  as  were  the  Zealots.  They 
speedily  came  to  recognize  the  fact  that  the  Romans  were 
not  before  the  city  gates,  as  they  had  been  led  to  believe, 
but  that  they  themselves  had  been  summoned  there  simply 
to  insure  the  triumph  of  a  faction.  Disgusted  with  the 
part  assigned  them  and  with  the  bloodshed  which  inun- 
dated them,  they  decided  to  return  to  their  mountain 

1  Joseplius,  Bell.  Jud.,  iv.  iv.  1-7  ;  v.  1-3. 


294  LAST  YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

homes ;  but  this  they  would  not  do  until  they  had  first 
opened  wide  the  prison  doors.  Perchance  they  believed 
that  thereby  they  were  repairing  in  part  the  deeds  of  vio- 
lence in  which  they  had  been  accomplices ;  in  reality 
they  reinforced  their  allies,  the  abettors  of  murder,  by 
some  two  thousand  hired  assassins.^ 

Jerusalem  had  small  need  of  such  recruits.  Neverthe- 
less, at  the  departure  of  the  Idumasans,  the  city  began  to 
breathe  again  and  to  pick  up  some  little  hope;  but  the 
Zealots  lost  no  time  in  dissipating  their  illusions  on  this 
score ;  the  massacres  began  again.  Too  great  freedom  of 
speech  caused  the  downfall  of  Gorion,  a  man  of  illustrious 
birth.  Neither  his  preference  for  a  popular  form  of  gov- 
ernment nor  his  liberal  views  preserved  him  from  the 
daggers  of  the  fanatics.  Quite  as  unjustly  perished  Nico- 
las of  Persea,  the  ablest  military  tactician  in  Judaea,  and 
who  had  played  a  leading  part  in  the  defeat  of  Cestius. 
As  he  was  dragged  along  the  streets  of  Jerusalem  he 
displayed  the  honorable  wounds  he  had  received  in  their 
defence,  but  in  vain.  He  died  calling  down  upon  his 
executioners  famine,  pestilence,  and  the  mailed  fist  of 
Eome,  exclaiming  that  he  hoped  they  might  slaughter 
one  another.^ 

While  uttering  these  invectives,  Nicolas  might  have 
foreseen  their  fulfilment ;  for  even  then  the  Zealots'  party 
was  broken  up  into  factions :  John  of  Giscala  had  been 
intriguing  for  some  time  among  these  and  the  partisans 
of  peace,  although  both  from  past  experiences  and  his 
own  natural  bent,  he  must  have  leaned  towards  the  peace 
party.  Without  much  outward  demonstration  he  deter- 
mined upon  the  part  he  would  take  ;  and  stealing  in,  so 
to  say,  within  the  ranks  of  the  contending  parties,  he  suc- 
ceeded in  overmastering  them  by  the  same  means  which 
had  served  him  so  well  at  Giscala,  —  by  either  mislead- 
ing or  frightening  them.  When  the  Idumseans  quitted 
Jerusalem,  John  was  already  in  command  of  an  armed 
company  altogether  independent  of  the  Zealots ;   though, 

1  Joseplius,  Bell.  Jud.,  iv.  v.  5  ;  vi.  1.  ^  l])i^,^  iv,  vi.  1. 


VESPASIAN  IN  GALILEE  AND  JUDJEA.         295 

like  the  troops  of  the  latter,  their  whole  activity  was  con- 
fined to  proscribing  and  massacring  the  poor  people.^ 
Thus  the  Holy  City  rested  under  the  weight  of  a  twofold 
tyranny :  soon  a  third  was  to  come  to  crown  and  com- 
plete their  miseries. 

As  we  have  seen,'^  when  Cestius  was  defeated  a  troop 
of  maddened  Zealots  had  taken  possession  of  Masada  on 
the  shores  of  the  Dead  Sea,  and  made  this  impregnable 
fortress  their  retreat.^  One  of  the  robber  chieftains  well 
known  throughout  the  countryside,  Simon-ben-Gioras, 
had  set  himself  up  as  their  lord  and  master.  Though  far 
less  gifted  with  intelligence  than  was  John  of  Giscala, 
this  bandit  overawed  his  followers  by  his  lofty  stature 
and  headlong  bravery.  As  much  and  even  more  than 
his  fellow  insurrectionist,  John,  had  been  in  Galilee,  he 
was  the  very  soul  of  the  rebellion  throughout  the  south- 
ern districts  of  the  province.  Forty  thousand  volunteers, 
drawn  about  his  standard  by  his  ever-increasing  renown, 
had  grouped  themselves  about  the  little  band  which  he 
had  from  the  first  trained  and  disciplined  in  warfare. 
Together  they  formed  a  horde  of  fanatics  ready  to  follow 
their  leader  blindly.  First  they  ravaged  Idumaea,  then 
sacked  Hebron,  burning  and  laying  waste  everything  in 
their  path.  The  terrified  Zealots  rose  to  arms  and  en- 
deavored to  withstand  them.  Though  repulsed  at  the  first 
encounter,  they  succeeded  in  capturing  one  of  Simon's 
wives  and  held  her  as  a  hostage.  The  maddened  bandit 
proceeded  to  the  very  walls  of  Jerusalem,  torturing  and 
slaying  whomsoever  came  in  his  path  ;  whereupon  he  cut 
off  the  hands  of  the  majority  of  his  prisoners  and  then 
sent  them  inside  the  city  walls  bidding  them  to  say  that 
Simon  had  sworn  before  God  to  treat  all  the  inhabitants 
of  the  town  in  like  manner.  Every  one  knew  that  he  was 
a  man  of  his  word :  immediately  his  wife  was  restored  to 
him,  and  he  withdrew  his  troops  for  the  while,  but  only 
to  return  speedily  to  encamp  beneath  the  walls. 


1  Josephiis,  Bell.  Jud.,  iv.  iii.  13  ;  vii.  1.  ^  Chapter  IX. 

8  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  iv.  vii.  2. 


296  LAST   YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

Oftentimes  some  pressing  danger  will  suggest  some 
strange  means  to  banish  it.  The  moderate  party,  first 
overwhelmed  by  the  Zealots,  but  now  seeing  them  in 
turn  fearful  of  Simon's  robber  band,  conceived  the  plan 
of  appealing  to  the  latter  in  order  to  overcome  their 
oppressors.  Nor  was  this  resolution  taken  under  the  in- 
fluence of  a  sudden  panic,  as  one  might  be  tempted  to 
think ;  rather  it  was  the  result  of  a  debate  calmly  con- 
ducted by  the  High  Priests  themselves.  One  of  them, 
named  Matthias,  was  intrusted  with  the  lofty  function 
of  sealing  the  alliance  and  of  escorting  the  sham  allies 
within  the  Upper  City.  This  was  equivalent  to  aban- 
doning the  last  stronghold  left  in  their  hands.  Thereafter 
poor  Jerusalem  was  left  to  the  mercy  of  a  robber  chief.^ 

All  these  lamentable  happenings  were  speedily  re> 
ported  in  the  Koman  camp.  Every  one  of  his  staff  officers 
urged  Vespasian  to  take  advantage  of  these  dissensions  to 
make  an  attack  upon  Jerusalem. 

"  Wait,  wait ! "  he  answered ;  "  wait  a  bit,  and  these  fools 
will  destroy  one  another.  By  attacking  them  we  shall 
only  bring  about  an  end  to  their  discords.  God  is  a 
wiser  leader  than  I  am;  and  'tis  He  that  fights  for  us 
and  will  deliver  unto  us  the  enemy  when  exhausted  and 
brought  to  naught."  ^ 

This  system  of  warfare  he  kept  up  during  the  two  years 
which  succeeded  the  submission  of  Galilee :  making  slow 
advances;  occupying  all  the  outposts  whence  Jerusalem 
might  hope  for  aid ;  driving  before  him  the  robber  hordes  ; 
taking  good  heed,  however,  not  to  exterminate  them,  but 
rather  encouraging  them  by  every  means  to  foment  re- 
bellion and  thus  enclose  the  doomed  city  in  a  network  of 
its  own  making.  Now  master  of  the  Mediterranean  sea- 
coast,  he  re-conquered  all  the  land  east  of  the  Jordan  and 
the  Dead  Sea  and  subjugated  Idumc^a;  then,  leading 
his  troops  up  toward  the  Holy  City,  he  took  possession 
one  by  one  of  the  outposts  which  encircled  it:  Lydda, 
Emmaus,  Jericho.^     During  the  month  of  July,  69,  the 

1  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  iv.  ix.  3-12.  2  n^ij.^  iv.  vi.  2, 

2  Ibid.,  iv.  iii.  2  ;  vii.  3-6 ;   viii.  1  ;   ix.  1. 


VESPASIAN  IN   GALILEE  AND  JUDJBA.         297 

insurrectionists  held  but  three  isolated  fortresses  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  Dead  Sea.  The  Eoman  invasion 
creeping  up  on  all  sides  was  now  enclosing  the  city. 
Vespasian's  horsemen  were  already  aiming  their  arrows 
against  the  sentinels  on  the  ramparts,  with  no  one  to 
impede  them.  He  had  made  all  arrangements  for  begin- 
ning the  siege,  when  his  sudden  elevation  to  the  throne 
occurred  and  thus  retarded  the  destruction  of  the  Holy 
City  for  a  few  months.^ 

The  unhappy  town  was  no  longer  capable  of  utilizing 
this  last  respite  afforded  it  to  plead  for  truce,  or  to 
strengthen  its  fortifications ;  the  city  was  at  the  mercy 
of  numberless  factions.  Even  the  Temple,  on  the  eve  of 
its  destruction,  had  become  a  field  of  battle.  From  the 
heights  of  Mount  Moriah  the  Zealots,  with  their  leader 
Eleazar,  still  remained  sole  masters  of  the  holy  enclosure 
of  both  the  Sanctuary  and  the  Inner  Porches.  With  six 
thousand  of  his  followers,  John  of  Giscala  was  camping 
in  the  wide  spaces  of  the  Gentiles'  Court,  while  Simon, 
with  his  ten  thousand  brigands,  held  possession  of  the 
Hill  of  Sion. 

These  three  bodies  of  men,  now  collected  within  their 
own  fortified  positions,  were  merely  bent  on  destroying 
one  another  ;  each  day  occurred  new  hand-to-hand  en- 
counters. Oftenest  Simon  was  the  aggressor.  He  real- 
ized full  well  that  Jerusalem  would  not  be  his  until  he 
had  captured  the  Temple,  —  that  very  hearthstone  and 
soul  of  the  Holy  City.  All  his  efforts,  however,  were 
powerless  when  directed  against  the  lofty  walls  of  God's 
Sanctuary.  Even  more  than  the  prodigious  elevation  of 
these  ramparts,  did  the  presence  there  of  John  of  Giscala 
render  them  impregnable.  Not  content  with  repulsing 
the  assaults  of  Simon,  he  pursued  his  troops  into  the 
Lower  City,  taking  advantage  of  these  sallies  to  re-victual 
his  men.  This  he  did,  not  as  a  friend,  but  as  a  ravaging 
foe,  spreading  havoc  among  the  poor  folk  who  had  taken 
refuge  thereabouts,  and  now  beheld  their  houses  sacked 

1  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  iv.  ix.  2. 


298  LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

during  these  street  fights,  while  the  provisions  which 
they  had  stored  up  for  a  siege  were  either  pillaged  or 
destroyed  by  fire.^ 

Happily  for  these  unfortunate  creatures,  John  dared 
not  hazard  such  sorties  as  these  except  upon  occasions 
when  he  knew  that  the  Zealots  were  either  weary  of 
fighting  or  steeped  in  wine,  since  he  himself  had  need  to 
be  on  his  watch  against  the  foe. 

The  Zealots,  indeed,  had  all  the  advantages  of  position, 
and  from  the  upper  terraces  of  the  Temple  sent  down  a 
shower  of  arrows  upon  the  Galileans  who  were  crowded 
into  the  first  enclosure.  John  knew  of  no  better  way  of 
repelling  their  attacks  than  by  use  of  his  catapults  and 
balist?e.  Eocks  thrown  by  these  machines  of  war  not  only 
laid  low  the  soldiers  of  Eleazar,  but  falling  into  the  very 
heart  of  the  Sanctuary,  crushed  down  both  priest  and  vic- 
tim before  God's  altar ;  for  even  amid  the  worst  of  these 
sanguinary  strifes  the  Holy  Sacrifice  was  still  oftered. 
By  common  consent  the  Galileans  and  the  Zealots  had 
allowed  free  entrance  to  each  and  every  Israelite  who 
wished  to  approach  the  Sanctuary  to  perform  some  rite 
of  his  religion.  No  one,  however,  penetrated  therein 
without  realizing  that  he  held  his  life  in  his  hands ;  nay, 
more,  a  thrill  of  horror  must  have  seized  them  on  be- 
holding God's  House  stained  with  blood,  and  the  Sacred 
Porches  encumbered  with  dead  bodies,  which  none  durst 
so  much  as  touch. 

A  similar  state  of  desolation,  moreover,  reigned  throu^^h- 
out  the  whole  city ;  the  people  were  all  a  prey  to  this 
overwhelming  terror,  though  not  daring  so  much  as  to 
whisper  their  fears,  since  the  slightest  sign  of  discourage- 
ment on  their  part  was  treated  as  a  crime.  Nor  was  there 
longer  any  opportunity  to  fiee  for  refuge  to  the  Eomans  : 
all  exits  were  guarded,  and  whoever  ventured  an  escape 
was  slain  on  the  spot.^  Strict  as  was  this  surveillance,  a 
considerable  number  of  the  citizens  managed  to  make 
good  their  flight ;  these  were  the  Christians  of  the  Holy 

1  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  v.  1-3.  ^  Joseplius,  Bell.  Jud.,  v,  1-5. 


VESPASIAN  IN  GALILEE  AND  JUDAEA.         299 

Oity.^  It  is  well  known  how  exceedingly  dear  Jerusalem 
was  to  them ;  up  to  the  end  they  had  remained  steadfast 
in  this  feeling,  considering  that  nowhere  else  might  they 
adore  Jesus  so  well  as  within  the  Temple.  Their  grief 
equalled  that  of  the  Jews  when  they  beheld  their 
common  sanctuary  desecrated  by  so  many  murders,  and 
realized  that  they  must  needs  forego  their  customary 
ascent  thither  for  daily  prayer.  Yet  that  prophecy  of 
the  Lord  came  back  to  their  memories :  — 

"  When  you  shall  behold  the  abomination  of  desolation 
established  within  the  Holy  Place.^  .  .  .  When  you  shall 
behold  the  hosts  encompassing  Jerusalem,  know  that  its 
ruin  is  nigh.  Then  let  them  that  are  in  Judea  flee  into 
the  mountains,  and  let  them  that  are  in  Jerusalem  with- 
draw therefrom,  and  let  not  them  who  are  in  the  fields 
enter  therein.  For  thereupon  shall  ensue  the  days  of 
vengeance.  .  .  .  Woe  to  the  women  with  child  and  them 
that  give  suck  in  those  days,  for  there  shall  be  then 
great  affliction  throughout  the  land,  and  wrath  shall  fall 
upon  this  people.  And  they  shall  fall  by  the  edge  of  the 
sword  and  shall  be  led  away  captive  into  all  nations,  and 
Jerusalem  shall  be  trodden  under  foot  by  the  Gentiles."^ 

So  clear  and  precise  was  this  Oracle  of  God  that  none 
could  fail  to  recognize  its  fulfilment.  If  we  are  to  be- 
lieve St.  Epiphanius,  an  Angel  was  sent  from  Heaven  to 
confirm  them  in  this  belief,  and  to  announce  to  the  lead- 
ing men  of  the  congregation  that  the  hour  for  flight  had 
come.* 

The  Mother  Church  did  indeed  merit  the  honor  of  some 
such  divine  warning  ;  for  its  piety,  bigoted  though  it  may 
have  seemed,  was  nevertheless  sincere  and  ever  amenable 

1  'HviKa  ^/xeXXeu  rj  ttoXu  oKicJKeaOaL  virb  tS>v  'Po/xatW  .  .  .  ttjs  ttoXcws 
fxeWotjaris  dpdrjv  airoWvcrdaL.  St.  Epiphanius,  De  mensuris  et  ponderibus,  15 
(cf.  Hceres,  xxix.  7. )  These  words  wouki  seem  to  indicate  that  the  flight  of 
the  Christians  took  place  durinsj  the  period  immediately  preceding  the  defi- 
nite investment  of  the  city  by  Titus  ;  it  may  likewise  be  noticed  tliat  I  am 
a  little  more  specific  in  my  statements  here  than  in  The  Christ  the  Son 
of  God,  book  vi.  chap.  iii. 

2  Matt.  xxiv.  15.  3  i^^ke  xxi.  20-24. 

4  St.  Epiphanius,  De  Mensuris,  15  ;  Hcer.,  xxix.  7  ;  Eusebius,  Histor. 
eccles.,  iii.  5. 


300  LAST  YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

to  any  commands  from  on  High.  So  now  all  departed 
forthwith  at  the  call  of  their  Pastors,  hastily,  nor  even 
casting  one  backward  glance.  The  Saviour  had  bidden 
them  pray  that  their  flight  should  not  encounter  any 
obstacle,  that  it  should  take  place  neither  in  the  winter 
nor  on  the  Sabbath  day.^  Doubtless  the  congregation  of 
Saints,  instructed  by  James,  must  have  been  instant  in 
beseeching  this  favor,  and  powerful  enough  with  God  to 
obtain  it.  During  those  dreadful  days  when  Simon  with 
his  robber  horde  had  turned  upon  John  of  Giscala,  in  the 
excitement  of  their  encounters  and  the  exhaustion  which 
was  their  natural  sequel,  the  watch  kept  on  the  city  gates 
must  have  been  less  rigorous.  In  all  likelihood  they  took 
advantage  of  some  such  hour  of  relaxation  to  make  good 
their  escape.  One  day  of  rapid  marching  would  suffice 
to  reach  and  cross  the  Jordan  ;  once  on  the  other  side  tlie 
Christians  needed  no  longer  fear  any  pursuit  on  the  part 
of  the  Zealots.  Nevertheless,  they  saw  fit  to  increase  the 
distance  between  them  and  Jerusalem,  and  pushed  on 
toward  the  north  into  Decapolis.  Their  leaders,  by  a 
happy  choice,  had  designated  Pella^  as  the  place  of  refuge 
where  they  should  forgather. 

This  town  and  Scythopolis  were  the  only  two  free  cities 
in  that  region,  but  Pella  had  the  advantage  of  being 
without  a  Eoman  garrison,  and  hence  quieter  and  more 
retired.  Its  site  is  an  admirable  one,  built  upon  a  high- 
land, elevated  some  thousand  feet  above  the  Jordan 
Valley ;  while  plentiful  springs  dash  down  in  waterfalls 
into  the  ravines  roundabout.  The  delightful  character 
of  the  region  had  attracted  thither  many  of  Alexander's 
veterans,  who  gave  it  the  name  of  a  market  town  in 

1  Matt.  xxiv.  20. 

2  The  modern  Kharhet  Fahil.  The  vast  ruins  hereabout  cover  a  beauti- 
ful platform  beneath  whicli  a  stream  gushes  forth,  ' '  which  not  being,  as 
then  it  was,  channelled  out  and  divided  into  various  waterways,  to  irrigate 
the  orchards  first,  and  then  the  fields,  now  spreads  itself  over  an  extremely- 
fertile  valley  which  it  has  changed  into  a  marsh  covered  with  a  dense 
thicket  of  rushes,  agnus  castus,  laurel-roses,  and  willows,  the  lair  of  num- 
berless wild  boars."  Guerin,  Galilee,  i.  pp.  289  et  seq. ;  cf.  Robinson, 
Biblical  Researches,  iii.  320-325  ;   Merrill,  East  of  the  Jordan,  pp.  442-447. 


VESPASIAN  IN  GALILEE  AND  JUD^A.         301 

Macedonia,  their  general's  native  place.^  Thenceforth 
Pella  had  been  more  Pagan  than  Jewish  in  character.  In 
vain  did  Alexander  Jannseus,  in  his  anger  at  their  refusal 
to  participate  in  the  Judaic  rites,  put  the  town  to  the 
sword ;  ^  once  restored  by  the  Eomans,  it  remained  there- 
after a  Syrian  city.^  The  refugees  from  the  Mother 
Church  found  peace  and  tolerance,  and  from  their  coign 
of  vantage  could  contemplate  the  dying  throes  of  poor 
Jerusalem,  whence  God  had  rescued  them.  Surely  no 
spectacle  could  have  filled  their  hearts  with  deeper  grief, 
and  yet  none  was  so  needful  to  convince  them  that  but 
one  Israel  w^as  destined  to  abide  forever,  an  Israel,  not  of 
the  flesh,  but  of  the  spirit,  —  "  The  Israel  of  God."^ 

1  Georges  Syncelle,  p.  274,  Paris  ;  Stephen  of  Byzantium,  Meineke's  ed. 
V.    Aioj',  ttoKls  .  .  .  KolXt]?  Iivpias,  KTia/xa  'AXe^dvdpov  /cat  Il^XXa. 

2  Josephus,  Bell.  Jiid.,  i.  iv.  8 ;  Antiq.  JucL,  xxiii.  xv.  4. 

*  Ibid.,  Bell.  Jud.,  i.  vii,  7  ;  Antiq.  Jud.,  xiv.  iv.  4. 

*  Galat.,  vi.  16. 


CHAPTEE   XV. 

THE  DESTKUCTION  OF  JERUSALEM. 

On  his  elevation  to  the  throne  Vespasian  left  C?esarea 
and  repaired  in  all  pomp  to  Beyrout,  Antioch,  and  Alex- 
andria, one  after  another.  His  son  Titus  accompanied 
him.i  The  absence  of  the  leaders  of  the  expedition  nat- 
urally caused  suspension  of  hostilities,  and  for  several 
months  permitted  free  access  to  Jerusalem.  During  this 
short  respite  the  fever  which  had  been  consuming  the 
city  seemed  to  have  been  lowered  a  little  in  temperature ; 
as  the  approach  of  the  Passover-tide  brought  with  it  some 
sort  of  truce  between  the  factions,  the  Jews  were  quick 
to  profit  thereby  to  liock  thither  from  all  parts  unto  the 
great  feast  of  their  nation.  Although  the  throngs  appear 
to  have  been  less  numerous  than  in  years  of  peace,  when 
the  number  of  the  pilgrims  sometimes  reached  three 
millions,^  still  it  was  so  considerable  that  the  city,  which 
on  ordinary  occasions  contained  about  one  hundred  thou- 
sand souls,  held  six  times  that  number  when  Titus 
returned  to  invest  it.  As  usual,  this  mass  of  people  had 
camped  about  the  walls.  On  the  approach  of  the  Eomans 
they  rushed  within  the  gates,  some  moved  by  fear,  others 
by  fanaticism,  ])ut  all  alike  doomed  thenceforth  to  the 
same  fearful  fate. 

Titus  had  only  been  waiting  for  the  close  of  the  stormy 
season  to  permit  of  his  leaving  Alexandria.  During  the 
month  of  March,  70,  some  time  before  the  Jewish  Pass- 
over,^ he  had  betaken  himself  to  Ci^i'sarea,  there  to  take  his 

1  Joseplius,  Bell.Jnd.,  iv.  x.  6  ;  xi.  1  ;  Tacitus,  Histor.,  ii.  81-83. 

2  Josephus,  Bell.  Jnd.,  ii.  xiv.  3  ;  vi.  ix.  3. 

3  Hoffmann,  De  imperatoris  Titi  temporibus  recte  definiendis,  pp.  19, 
20.  The  Jewish  Passover,  according  to  the  calculation  made  by  M.  I'Ahbe 
Memain,  occurred  in  the  year  70  on  the  14th  of  April.  La  connaissance 
des  temps  evanr/eliques,  chap,  v.,  pp.   429,  431,  435,  507  et  seq. 


B      nay  IC         \     y' 


Iki  Icuiplt 

1    U   J  fUulies 

Huly  Place 
I    P  tests   Court 
t    Altar  o/Bu     t  Ojffe  i 
)  Co     toftelsae  tea 
G  Court  of  t  e  Monen 
i  Court  oftlie  Oe  tiles 


Lo  igman6  Green  t&  Co 


THE  DESTRUCTION  OF  JERUSALEM.  303 

place  at  the  head  of  his  troops.  An  imposing  body  of 
men  had  been  massed  together:  there  were  the  three 
legions  but  lately  commanded  by  Vespasian ;  there  was 
the  famous  Twelfth,  come  thither  from  Antioch  and  burn- 
ing to  avenge  its  defeat  under  Cestius  ;  there  were  twenty 
cohorts  from  the  Syrian  towns,  and  a  large  squadron 
of  cavalry  from  Arabia.^  Together  they  formed  a  for- 
midable army,  —  some  fifty  thousand  men  most  ably  gene- 
railed  ;  for  Titus,  while  more  politic  and  less  harsh  than 
his  father,  was  quite  his  equal  in  handling  military  forces, 
and  exceeded  him  in  the  art  of  besieging.  There  were 
valiant  officers  on  his  staff,  and  among  them  many  Jews 
of  note  who  had  rallied  around  his  standard  at  Eome  and 
now  shared  his  headquarters ;  there  was  Agrippa,  the 
historian  Josephus,  and  Tiberius  Alexander,  who  held  the 
high  rank  of  Prefect  of  the  Pretorium  near  his  person.^ 

Gabaath-Saul,^  lyi^o  nearly  four  miles  from  Jerusalem, 
had  been  selected  as  the  rendezvous  for  the  various 
detachments.  Titus  hastened  on  ahead  with  six  hundred 
horsemen,  to  reconnoitre  the  approaches  to  the  region, 
and  came  very  near  losing  his  life  in  the  venture.  Seeing 
the  gates  of  the  city  closed,  and  no  one  either  without  the 
walls  or  on  the  ramparts,  he  spurred  on  unsuspectingly ; 
suddenly  a  swarm  of  Jews  swept  down  upon  him  and 
separated  him  from  his  escort.  He  had  barely  time  to 
urge  his  horse  fiercely  through  the  affray  in  hand-to-hand 
fight  and  make  good  his  escape  beneath  a  shower  of 
darts.*  A  few  days  later  another  sortie,  quite  as  unex- 
pected, cast  panic  into  the  ranks  of  the  Tenth  Legion 
while  occupied  in  pitching  their  camp.  Titus,  rushing  up 
in  the  midst  of  the  confusion,  found  this  picked  body  of 

1  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  v.  i,  6  ;  Tacitus,  Histor.,  v.  1. 

2  Mommseu,  Ephemeris  epigraphica,  vol.  v.,  p.  578;  Hermes,  Bd. 
xix.  1884,  p.  644  et  seq. ;  Leon  Renier  :  Memoire  sur  les  officiers  qui  assis- 
terent  au  conseil  de  guerre  tenu  par  Titus,  avaut  de  livrer  avant  I'assaut 
du  temple  de  Jerusalem.  In  the  Me'moires  de  I'Academie  des  Inscriptions 
et  Belles-lettres,  vol.  xxvi.,  1867,pp.  264-321.  Cf.  i\Iommseu,  Ephemeris 
epigraphica. 

3  The  modern  Tell-el-Foxd  (Hill  of  Beans).  Cf.  Guerin,  Samarie,  vol. 
1.,  p.  188  et  seq.  ;  Robinson,  Biblical  Researches,  vol.  1.,  pp.  577-579. 

4  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  v.  ii.  1-2. 


304  LAST   YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

men  routed  by  tlie  suddenness  of  the  shock.  With  great 
difficulty  he  managed  to  rally  them  about  him,  but  was 
forced  to  prolong  the  combat  that  whole  day  before  quiet 
was  once  more  restored.^  The  intrepidity  shown  by  the 
Jews  in  these  first  skirmishes,  and  their  audacity  in  at- 
tempting them,  awakened  the  Eomans  to  the  fact  that 
they  had  entered  upon  a  relentless  war.  All  their  reck- 
oning based  upon  the  hope  that  the  dissensions  existing 
among  the  besieged  would  weaken  their  resistance,  now 
proved  to  be  altogether  at  fault ;  every  disagreement  was 
forgotten  as  soon  as  it  became  a  question  of  attacking  or 
repelling  their  common  foe.  Eleazar,  John,  and  Simon 
had  joined  together  in  preparing  the  sortie  made  upon  the 
Tenth  Legion  and  had  conducted  it  in  concert.  Further- 
more, circumstances  had  reduced  to  two  the  three  factions 
which  had  hitherto  divided  the  city.  The  Galileans  prof- 
iting by  the  free  entrance  permitted  to  pilgrims  during 
the  Passover,  had  found  their  way  with  them  into  the 
Sanctuary  and  had  succeeded  in  subjugating  the  Zealots. 
Thus,  then,  John,  now  holding  possession  of  the  entire 
Temple,  and  Simon  intrenched  upon  the  Hill  of  Sion, 
were  left  sole  masters  of  Jerusalem.^ 

Titus,  put  on  his  guard  by  the  dangers  run  during  the 
earlier  engagement,  left  nothing  neglected  which  would 
prevent  in  future  any  such  unforeseen  attacks.  A  screen 
of  orchards  and  woodland  separated  the  walls  of  the  city 
from  Mount  Scopus,  whereon  the  Koman  army  was  en- 
camped ;  as  the  trees  and  gardens,  then  green  and  flourish- 
ing, impeded  military  operations,  he  ordered  them  cut 
down,  and  levelled  the  outlying  land  up  to  the  very  foot 
of  the  ramparts.^  Now  free  and  secure  in  prosecuting 
his  manoeuvres  on  this  denuded  soil,  he  pushed  up  closer 

1  Ibid,,  V.  ii.  4. 

2  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  v.  iii.  1;  Tacitus,  Histor.,  v.  12. 

3  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  v.  iii.  2.  The  olive  trees,  always  revered  in  the 
Garden  of  Gethsemane  as  witnesses  of  the  Saviour's  agony,  may  have 
escaped  this  devastation.  Standing  as  they  did  in  the  lower  valley,  they 
could  not  interfere  with  the  manceuvres  of  the  Romans  as  did  the  trees 
which  Titus  ordered  to  be  cut  down,  these  lying  for  the  most  part  to  the 
north  of  the  town. 


THE  DESTRUCTION  OF  JERUSALEM.  305 

and  located  his  headquarters  close  to  the  Psephina  tower  ;i 
another  division  of  his  army  he  posted  on  a  level  with  the 
high  tower  of  Hippicus  ;  ^  the  Tenth  Legion  he  stationed 
on  the  Mount  of  Olives.  Thus  he  encompassed  the  whole 
northern  part  of  the  city,  the  only  side  where  it  offered 
any  chance  of  capture,  since  everywhere  else  its  walls 
overlooked  steep  gorges,  rendering  them  absolutely 
inaccessible. 

Quite  as  much  as  this  formidable  wall,  did  the  site 
itself  of  Jerusalem,  rising  in  terraces  upon  a  group  of 
hills,  make  it  one  of  the  most  strongly  fortified  positions 
known  to  antiquity.  From  the  heights  of  Scopus  it  ap- 
peared to  be  cut  in  two  by  a  ravine  which  ran  from  north 
to  south,  the  so-called  TyropoBon.  To  the  east  of  this 
valley  stands  Mount  Moriah,  crowned  with  the  strong- 
hold Antonia,  and  the  Temple  ;  to  the  west  the  highest 
crest  of  Jerusalem,  Sion,  the  ancient  city  of  David.  The 
lower  quarter  of  Acra  extended  from  the  foot  of  this  hill 
to  the  northward ;  further  on  in  the  same  direction  was 
Bezetha,  the  vast  suburb  which  Agrippa  had  but  recently 
reunited  with  the  Holy  City.  Each  of  these  regions 
possessed  its  own  walls,  thus  making  five  strongholds, 
Bezetha,  Acra,  Antonia,  the  Temple,  and  Sion,  which  the 
Romans  must  needs  carry  one  by  one.^ 

Titus  knew  well  the  weak  spot  in  this  line  of  ramparts, 
—  between  the  present  gate  of  Damascus  and  the  tower 
of  Psephina.  Hereabout  Agrippa  had  been  unable  to  give 
to  the  walls  of  Bezetha  the  dimensions  he  had  planned, 
which  would  have  rendered  them  impregnable  ;  fearful 
of  future  trouble,  Rome  had  checked  his  cherished 
scheme.*     Nevertheless,  as  it  was,  it  presented  an   ob- 

1  This  tower,  seventy  cubits  high  (Josephus,  Bell.  Jad.,  v.  iv.  3). 
crowned  the  corner  formed  by  the  ramparts  of  Jerusalem  to  the  northeast. 

2  In  the  citadel  of  Jerusalem  the  Tower  of  David  marks  the  site  of  that 
of  Hippicus. 

3  Menke,  Bibelatlas.  Bl.  v.  ;  Zimmermann,  Karten  und  Plane  zur 
Topographie  des  Alten  Jerusalem  ;  Wilson,  Ordnance  Survey  of  Jerusalem 
during  1864-1865.  See  in  The  Christ  the  Son  of  God,  vol.  i.,  Appen.  i., 
Jerusalem  and  the  Temple. 

*  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud,,  v.  iv.  2. 

20 


306  LAST  YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

stacle  so  serious  as  to  necessitate  a  systematic  attack. 
Three  earth  embankments,  held  up  by  fascines  and  logs, 
were  raised  little  by  little  to  the  level  of  the  walls ;  over 
these  they  rolled  up  the  moving  towers  which  were  to 
overlook  the  ramparts  and  cover  the  approach  of  the  bat- 
tering-rams. At  the  outset  the  resistance  would  seem  to 
have  been  as  vigorous  as  the  attack.  Unused  to  the 
handling  of  balistie,  the  Jews  preferred  a  hand-to-hand 
encounter,  and  swept  down  in  torrents  upon  the  foe. 
Once  and  again  did  the  legions  sway  back  before  the  fury 
of  these  sallies ;  their  machines  of  war  were  burned,  and 
one  of  their  wooden  towers  felled.  None  the  less  steadily 
did  their  battering-rams  beat  against  the  walls,  and  on 
the  fifteenth  day  they  succeeded  in  effecting  a  wide 
breach.^ 

Through  this  the  Eoman  army  entered  unchecked ; 
exhausted  by  two  weeks  of  sanguinary  struggle,  the  be- 
sieged did  not  so  much  as  try  to  make  a  stand  against  the 
enemy,  but  evacuated  the  vast  enclosure  of  Bezetha,  to 
shut  themselves  up  in  that  of  Acra,  their  second  line  of 
fortification.  Here  the  breach  took  less  time  to  accom- 
plish, since  after  five  days'  labor  the  bugle  sounded  the 
assault,  but  the  defence  became  only  the  more  deadly. 
Step  by  step  the  Jews  disputed  the  ground  in  the  narrow 
streets  and  alleys  of  these  lower  quarters ;  it  cost  the 
legions  a  full  five  days'  more  fighting  before  they  were 
masters  of  Acra.^ 

The  two  lines  of  fortifications  carried  after  such  pro- 
digious labors  put  the  Eomans  in  possession  of  the  lower 
part  of  the  city  only ;  all  the  Upper  City  remained  to 
conquer.  Seated  proudly  on  their  three  hills,  Sion,  the 
Temple,  and  Antonia  formed  as  many  immense  citadels, 
so  lofty  and  so  steep  that  they  might  well  discourage  tlie 
most  daring.  On  every  side  Sion  frowned  down  upon 
them  from  its  lofty  perch  ;  the  wall  above  its  crest  was 
arranged  in  jutting  and  retiring  angles  in  such  wise  as  to 
leave  the  enemy's  flank  always  exposed.^     In  front  rose 

1  Josephus,  Bell.  JucL,  v.  vi.  2 ;  vii.  2.      ^  i}3i(j_  y.  vii.  3-4  ;  viii.  1-2. 
8  Tacitus,  Histor.,  v.  11 ;  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  v.  iv.  1-3. 


THE  DESTRUCTION  OF  JERUSALEM.  307 

the  Temple,  fortified  still  more  carefully ;  the  piece  of 
wall  left  undestroyed  at  the  foot  of  Haram  shows  us  to 
this  day  what  must  have  been  the  streugth  of  the  ram- 
parts erected  in  similar  warlike  pomp  up  to  the  very  sum- 
mit. The  Porches  alone  which  crowned  the  heights  would 
have  sufficed  to  constitute  a  formidable  line  of  defence.^ 

To  order  an  immediate  attack  upon  such  gigantic  works 
as  these  would  have  been  madness.  This  Titus  realized 
the  more,  seeing  how  his  legions  were  losing  spirit  on 
recognizing  that  the  foe  was  more  enthusiastic  than  ever, 
and  that  his  retreat  was  impregnable.  Accordingly  he 
gave  his  worn-out  troops  a  few  days'  rest,  and  profited  by 
it  to  review  in  person  all  the  regiments  in  his  command. 
The  pretext  alleged  for  this  manoeuvre,  which  he  bade  be 
made  as  imposing  as  possible,  was  his  desire  to  distribute 
among  the  soldiers  their  pay ;  his  real  motive,  however, 
was  to  restore  confidence  to  the  legions  in  themselves, 
and  to  overawe  Jerusalem  by  this  spectacular  deploy- 
ment of  the  forces  destined  to  overcome  it.  When  he 
deemed  the  desired  effect  had  been  produced  he  sent 
Josephus  as  liis  envoy  to  propose  honorable  terms  of  sur- 
render to  the  besieged,  but  their  only  answer  was  jeers 
and  words  of  bitter  sarcasm.^  At  this  insolence  Titus 
was  beside  himself  ;  now  instead  of  generosity  which 
they  scorned,  he  would  try  what  terror  would  do.  Every 
night  many  half -starved  wretches  slunk  out  to  dig  up 
such  roots  and  vegetables  as  they  could  find  in  the  fields  ; 
he  bade  them  be  watched  and  seized.  Every  morning 
thereafter  five  hundred  of  these  unfortunates,  sometimes 
more,  were  hung  up  on  crosses  where  they  could  be  seen 
by  the  besieged.  Nor  did  he  cry  a  halt  until  wood  and 
space  were  both  lacking  for  the  gibbets.  An  odious  piece 
of  barbarism  this,  whose  sole  effect  was  to  exasperate  the 
Jews  and  at  the  same  time  cast  a  grievous  blot  upon 
Titus'  reputation.     He  needs  must  revert  to  the  weari- 

1  "Templum  in  modum  arcis,  propriique  muri,  labore  et  opere  ante 
alios  ;  ipsa  porticus,  quis  templum  ambiebatur,  egregium  propugnaculiim." 
Tacitus,  Histor.,  v.  12;  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  v.  v.  1-6. 

2  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  v.  ix.  1-4. 


308  LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

some  labors  of  a  siege  and  await  such  results  as  they 
might  accomplish  against  these  fortresses  perched  high 
above  his  grasp.^ 

Two  embankments  were  erected  in  front  of  Sion  whilo 
two  others  were  directed  against  Antonia.  These  works 
had  cost  seventeen  days  of  hard  labor,  and  seemed  all 
but  finished  when  of  a  sudden  the  earth  and  wood  works 
which  threatened  Antonia  collapsed  amid  a  cloud  of  dust 
and  smoke.  John  had  succeeded  in  undermining  the 
ground  beneath  and  filling  tunnels  with  sulphur  and  pitch  ; 
at  a  signal  the  whole  structure  sunk  down  into  a  burn- 
ing furnace.  Two  days  later  Simon's  robber  hordes  threw 
themselves  on  the  outworks  erected  against  them,  and 
put  them  to  the  torch,  evincing  such  fury  that  the  Eo- 
mans,  wrapped  in  flames,  recoiled  in  terror  and  were 
forced  to  flee  before  their  pursuers  into  their  own  camp 
lines.  This  double  blow  left  Titus  in  a  precarious  situa- 
tion, with  his  machines  of  war  destroyed  and  his  soldiers 
in  their  discouragement  muttering  among  themselves  that 
old  cry  of  the  Jews,  "  Jerusalem  is  impregnable."  He 
must  needs  resign  himself  to  continue  the  blockade  and 
to  wait  for  famine  to  do  what  he  could  not  accomplish 
by  assault.2  Thereupon  there  arose  that  wall  of  ill-omen 
whereof  Jesus  had  foretold  them  as  He  wept  over  the 
city  :  "  The  day  shall  come  upon  thee  when  thine  enemies 
shall  cast  a  trench  about  thee  and  encompass  thee  round 
on  every  side  and  overturn  thee  flat  to  the  ground,  —  thee 
and  thy  children  within  thee ;  because  thou  hast  not 
known  the  time  when  God  hath  visited  thee."  ^  The 
soldiers,  everjoyed  at  entering  upon  a  task  from  which 
they  looked  for  sure  and  definite  results,  now  evinced 
an  almost  unbelievable  activity  :  "  The  hand  of  God  was 
urging  them  on,"  says  Josephus.*  In  three  days  a  wall 
of  stone  and  earth  thirty-nine  stadia  in  length  (a  little 
over  four  miles)  encircled  Jerusalem.     The  circumvalla- 

1  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  v.  xi.  1. 

2  Ibid.,  V.  xi.  4-6;  xii.  1.  3  l^^].^  xix.  43-44. 

*  'OpfiT]  di  TLS  e/ATTtTTTct  8aifj.6i^ios  Tots  (jTpaTidjTaLS.  Joseplius,  BeU.  Jud., 
V.  xii.  2. 


THE  DESTRUCTION  OF  JERUSALEM.  309 

tion  traversed  Bezetha  and  Kedron,  ascended  the  Mount 
of  Olives,  and  crowned  its  heights  ;  numerous  redoubts 
fortified  it  on  this  side,  for  a  surprise  on  the  part  of  the 
Zealots  sallying  forth  from  the  fortresses  of  the  Bead 
Sea  was  possible  at  any  moment :  against  this  it  be- 
hooved them  to  be  on  their  guard.^ 

Thereafter,  enclosed  and  hemmed  in  on  all  sides,  Jeru- 
salem was  left  a  prey  to  that  consuming  fever  which 
had  reached  the  delirium  point ;  and  now  famine  came 
to  add  the  last  touch  of  horror.  Such  provisions  as  were 
left  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  men  in  arms,  and  in 
vain  did  the  throng  beg  for  a  handful  of  wheat  or  barley ; 
not  a  kernel  could  they  obtain,  no,  not  even  at  the  price 
of  a  fortune.  Men  fought  for  the  skins  of  animals,  a  bit 
of  leather  from  their  buckles,  nay,  even  for  the  dung  of 
cattle.  Even  the  sewers  they  madly  searched  for  food. 
The  fierce  pangs  of  hunger  had  deadened  every  other 
natural  feeling ;  husbands  and  wives,  mothers  and  chil- 
dren snatched  from  one  another  the  poorest  scraps  of 
food.2 

The  robbers  and  the  Zealots  alike  looked  calmly  down 
upon  the  death  throes  of  the  people.  Scanning  the  faces 
of  each  citizen  to  note  whether  some  sign  of  strength 
might  not  betray  a  hidden  stock  of  victuals,  they  pro- 
ceeded to  torture  any  such  unfortunate  until  they  had 
robbed  the  inhabitants  of  their  very  last  resources.  To 
this  famine-stricken  throng  death  came  as  a  deliverance ; 
and  generously,  at  least,  did  death  do  its  work.  The 
houses  were  filled  with  corpses,  the  streets  and  squares 
strewn  with  them,  for  none  were  buried  any  more.  Ac- 
cording to  the  tale  of  a  deserter,  more  than  a  hundred 
thousand  bodies  had  been  interred  within  the  space  of 
two  months  and  a  half.^  But  now  their  arms  were  weak- 
ened by  privation,  nor  had  any  one  the  money  to  pay  for 
this  pressing  need ;  they  were  forced  to  throw  their  dead 
from  the  tops  of  the  ramparts  into  the  gorges  overlooked 

1  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  v.  xii.  2. 

2  Ibid.,  V.  X.  2,  3. 

^  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  v.  xiii.  7. 


310  LAST   YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

by  the  Temple  and  Sion ;  there  they  lay  heaped  up,  and 
putrefied  in  the  sun.  Chancing  to  pass  by  one  of  these 
charnel  heaps,  Titus  showed  himself  most  deeply  moved ; 
lifting  his  hands  toward  Heaven,  he  protested  that  these 
horrors  were  no  doings  of  his.^ 

Indeed  he  had  left  no  stone  unturned  to  prevent  them ; 
yet  what  means  could  be  used  to  influence  a  city  now 
under  a  reign  of  terror  ?  Certain  men,  formerly  leaders 
of  the  people,  many  of  the  High  Priests,  and  among  them 
Matthias,  who  had  been  the  means  of  introducing  Simon 
into  Jerusalem,  were  suspected  of  favoring  a  capitulation : 
they  were  sentenced  to  be  executed  without  respite  or 
pity ;  the  sole  favor  begged  by  Matthias,  that  of  dying 
before  his  children,  even  this  was  refused  him.^  A  blind 
belief  had  taken  possession  of  these  fanatics,  namely,  that 
God  would  never  abandon  His  Temple.  His  arm  alone 
would  work  prodigies  in  its  defence.  This  faith,  ardently 
propagated,  so  completely  swayed  their  souls,  that  many 
who  might  have  found  safety  in  flight  refused  to  depart. 
They  were  bent  on  remaining  upon  the  Holy  Mountain 
to  behold  the  great  miracle.^ 

But  now  Titus,  his  patience  exhausted,  finally  per- 
suaded his  legionaries  to  resume  labor  on  the  approaches. 
No  more  wood  was  to  be  found  within  the  outskirts  of 
Jerusalem  ;  to  obtain  it  they  had  to  go  as  far  as  ninety 
stadia  from  the  town  (about  ten  miles).*  Their  eagerness 
to  make  an  end  of  it  all  helped  them  to  triumph  over  all 
obstacles ;  at  the  end  of  twenty-one  days  four  embank- 
ments, mounted  by  war  towers,  overtopped  the  heights  of 
Antonia.  Once  more  did  the  Jews  sally  forth  to  set  fire 
to  these  outworks,  but  this  time,  weak  and  famished  as 
they  were,  they  were  repelled  and  forced  to  withstand  the 
enemy's  assaults  at  these  points  threatened.  Their  resist- 
ance lasted  but  for  four  days ;  on  the  fifth  of  July  an 
unexpected  night  attack  delivered  Antonia  into  the  hands 
of  the  Eomans.     Titus  gave  commands  that  this  fortress 

1  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  v.  xii.  3-4.      ^  Ibid.,  vi,  ii.  1  ;  v.  2. 

2  Ibid..,v.  xiii.  1.  *  Ibid.,  v.  xii.  4. 


THE  DESTRUCTION  OF  JERUSALEM.  311 

be  razed  almost  to  the  ground  in  order  to  give  free  play- 
to  his  machines  of  war,  and  thereby  finally  overcome  that 
Temple  where  all  that  was  left  of  life  in  Jerusalem  now 
writhed  in  the  throes  of  a  last  agony.  ^ 

Here  again  Famine  lent  her  helping  hand :  even  the 
men-at-arms,  their  scanty  store  of  provisions  exhausted, 
raced  hither  and  thither  like  dogs  in  pursuit  of  their 
quarry.  A  band  of  these  fanatics  scenting  the  odor  of 
roasting  meat,  broke  their  way  into  the  house  whence  it 
came.  There  they  found  themselves  face  to  face  with  a 
once  wealthy  woman  named  Mary,  daughter  of  Eleazar. 
This  wretched  creature  had  just  finished  cooking  her  child 
and  was  ravenously  devouring  her  repast.  Offering  them 
what  was  left,  she  said  :  "  Eat ;  it  cannot  be  more  repul- 
sive to  you  than  it  is  to  its  mother ! "  They  recoiled  in 
horror.2 

The  Eomans,  to  whom  this  crime  was  reported,  might 
well  judge  thereby  to  what  extremities  the  town  was  re- 
duced. About  the  same  time  another  accident  revealed 
their  abject  condition  even  more  strikingly.  On  the 
twelfth  of  July  the  perpetual  sacrifice  ceased  to  be  offered 
in  the  Temple,  for  lack  of  men,  says  Josephus,  but  more 
probably  for  lack  of  victims.^  No  similar  interruption 
had  occurred  save  in  the  gloomiest  days  of  their  history, 
during  the  captivity  in  Babylon  and  the  persecution  of 
Antiochus.  Great  was  the  emotion  that  thrilled  the 
hearts  of  the  Jews,  for  with  it  was  mingled  a  vague  appre- 
hension that  their  worship  had  ceased  for  all  time.  Nor 
was  this  presentiment  unwarranted:  never  more  was 
Israel  destined  to  offer  sacrifice  upon  the  Holy  Mount, 
and  to  this  very  day  the  chosen  people  set  aside  a  solemn 
day  of  fasting  and  lamentation  to  commemorate  this  sad 
event.* 

Titus  took  advantage  of  the  impression  produced  in  the 
Temple  by  this  happening,  to  attempt  once  again  to  bring 
them  to  terms.  By  his  orders  Josephus,  drawing  near 
enough  to  be  heard,  cried  out  with  a  loud  voice  to  the 

1  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  vi.  i.  1-7.  ^  Ibid.,  vi.  ii.  1. 

2  Ibid.,  vi.  iii,  3-4.  *  Mishna,  Taanith,  iv.  6. 


312  LAST   YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL, 

Zealots  that  Titus  offered  a  safe  conduct  to  John,  who 
might  withdraw  with  all  the  men  he  saw  fit  to  select ;  he 
promised  furthermore  to  have  the  lawful  sacrifices  in  the 
Temple,  and  to  employ  for  this  purpose  such  ministers  as 
the  Jews  might  designate.  "  We  have  naught  to  fear," 
replied  John,  "  the  Temple  is  the  City  of  God."  ^ 

Thus  an  assault  w^as  become  inevitable;  Titus  bade 
them  to  make  ready  to  storm  the  place,  and  on  their  side 
the  Jews  were  busy  making  preparations.  Eesolved  to 
concentrate  the  defence  within  the  upper  part  of  the  Tem- 
ple, they  burned  everything  round  about  that  might  serve 
as  a  shield  for  the  assailants  ;  first,  the  gallery  which  con- 
nected the  Sanctuary  with  Antonia,  and  thereafter  the 
Porches  of  the  first  enclosure  to  the  north  and  to  west- 
ward. The  Eomans  now  masters  of  this  wide-spreading 
esplanade,  rolled  thither  their  battering-rams,  and  the 
last  act  in  this  tragic  war  was  begun.  For  five  long  days 
their  most  powerful  machines  battered  away  at  the  walls 
without  making  any  impression  upon  them :  the  stones 
were  of  such  huge  dimensions,  grooved  and  fitted  together 
so  firmly,  that  nothing  could  shake  them.  Their  frequent 
attempts  to  scale  the  walls  were  equally  fruitless ;  the 
ladders  heavily  weighted  with  soldiers  were  pushed  away 
from  the  wall,  and  their  human  freight  dashed  to  pieces 
on  the  pavement  below.  On  the  eighth  of  August,  how- 
ever, the  Eomans  succeeded  in  setting  fire  to  the  lower 
part  of  the  gate  which  separates  the  Court  of  the  Gentiles 
from  the  higher  part  of  the  Temple.  The  silver  and  gold 
which  covered  the  folding  doors,  ran  down  in  rivulets  of 
flame  into  the  Inner  Porches  and  thus  spread  conflagra- 
tion. The  Jews  had  never  conceived  the  possibility  of 
such  a  misfortune ;  now  suddenly  enveloped  in  fire,  they 
stood  rooted  to  the  spot  and  allowed  the  porticos  of  the 
second  enclosure  to  burn  unchecked  beneath  their  very 
eyes.  These  magnificent  edifices  were  almost  entirely 
consumed,  when  Titus  gave  the  command  to  save  what 
little  was  left  of  them.^ 

1  Josephus,  BcII.  Jml.,  vi.  ii.  1.  2  ibid,,  vi.  iv.  1,  2. 


THE  DESTRUCTION  OF  JERUSALEM.  313 

The  gates  once  burned,  there  was  free  access  opened  to 
the  Temple ;  nevertheless,  like  a  gaping  wound  it  loomed 
before  their  gaze  one  whole  day,  nor  did  a  single  soul  dare 
to  cross  that  threshold.  A  superstitious  terror  held  the 
legionaries  back,  habituated  though  they  were  to  brave 
all  danger.  They  hesitated  in  awe  before  a  sanctuary 
wherein  no  profane  person  ever  entered,  or  so  folks  said, 
save  to  meet  death. ^  Still  other  apprehensions  checked 
and  disturbed  their  general ;  on  the  one  hand,  his  anxiety 
to  preserve  a  monument  which  Berenice,  Agrippa,  and 
Josephus  had  taught  him  to  cherish  and  well-nigh  wor- 
ship ;  on  the  other  hand  was  the  thought  that,  in  destroy- 
ing the  edifice  to  which  the  Jews  and  Christians  alike 
were  so  deeply  attached,  he  would  be  destroying  at  a 
single  blow  two  superstitions  which  were  disturbing  the 
Empire.2  Feeling  that  the  question  was  too  deep  for  him 
to  solve,  he  called  his  staff  officers  together  and  deliber- 
ated with  them  whether  it  were  better  to  burn  the  Tem- 
ple or  carry  it  by  storm.  Titus,  according  to  Josephus, 
inclined  to  the  latter  opinion ;  ^  while,  according  to  Tacitus, 
he  was  anxious  to  destroy  it  altogether.*  However  this 
may  be,  the  resolution  to  preserve  the  sanctuary  of  Israel, 
even  at  the  cost  of  a  sanguinary  struggle,  prevailed,  and 
they  began  anew  the  assault. 

In  this  the  Jews  forestalled  them,  for  on  the  morning 
of  the  tenth  of  August  they  essayed  to  sally  forth  in  a 
body.  Halted  by  the  legionaries,  who  sustained  the  en- 
counter with  great  energy,  they  kept  up  the  hand-to-hand 

1  Dion  Cassius,  Ixvi.  6.  ^  Sulpicius  Severus,  Chronicon,  ii.  30. 

3  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  vi.  iv.  3. 

*  "  Nonnullis  videbatur  sedem  sacratam  ultra  omnia  mortal ia  illustrem 
non  oportere  deleri  ...  At  contra  alii,  et  Titus  ipse,  evertendum  in 
primo  templuni  censebant,  quo  plenius  Judseorum  et  Christianorum  religio 
tolleretur ;  quippe  has  religiones,  licet  contrarias  sibi,  iisdem  tanien  ab 
auctoribus  profectas  ;  Christianos  ex  Judseis  extitisse  :  radice  sublata, 
stirpem  facile  perituram."  (Sulpicius  Severus,  Chroiiicon,  ii.  30.)  Pro- 
fessor Bernays,  by  his  scholarly  investigation,  has  left  no  doubt  about 
the  fact  that  here,  as  elsewhere,  Sulpicius  Severus  is  simply  following 
in  the  lead  of  Tacitus,  and  that  we  may  regard  this  passage  as  another 
extract  made  from  a  part  of  the  "History"  now  lost  to  us.  {Ueber  die 
Chronih  des  Sulpicms  Severus,  pp.  48-61.)  Cf.  Schiller,  Geschichte  der 
romisclicn  Kaiserzeit,  i.  399. 


314  LAST   YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

struggle  all  day  long,  nor  yielded  a  foot  of  ground  until 
trampled  by  the  cavalry,  which  had  been  brought  up  on 
the  esplanade  and  succeeded  in  sweeping  all  before  it.  At 
nightfall  Titus  retired  to  his  tent  believing  the  battle  over ; 
but  despair  rendered  the  Zealots  tireless.  After  a  few 
moments'  rest,  new  streams  of  the  besieged  fell  suddenly 
upon  the  Eomans  ;  this  time  they  were  repulsed  with 
such  vigor  that  the  enemy  entered  pell-mell  upon  their 
heels  right  into  the  porches  of  the  Israelites,  and  pursued 
them  to  the  very  gates  of  the  Sanctuary.  There  a  soldier, 
acting  without  orders,  but  as  if  inspired  by  God,^  seized 
a  beam  which  was  still  burning  in  the  porches  set  on  fire 
two  days  before,  and  aided  by  one  of  his  comrades,  hurled 
it  into  the  chambers  which  surrounded  the  Holy  Place ; 
in  a  few  instants  these  wooden  halls  shot  up  in  flames 
and  the  Temple  was  burning.  The  Jews  uttered  a  shriek 
of  horror  at  this  spectacle.  Titus  hastened  up  and  by  word 
and  gesture  he  bade  them  extinguish  the  conflagration, 
but  his  voice  was  lost  in  the  tumult.  The  soldiers,  the 
first  steps  once  taken  within  the  Sanctuary,  had  shaken 
off  their  fears ;  dazzled  by  the  gold  that  glittered  on  all 
sides,  they  thought  of  nothing  but  their  booty.  Titus 
was  swept  aside  by  this  throng,  too  greedy  for  their  prey 
to  see  or  heed  aught  else,  and  he  was  fain  to  proceed  with 
some  of  his  officers  into  the  Sanctuary  as  yet  left  intact ; 
here  he  stopped  to  gaze  about  for  an  instant,  then  entered 
into  the  Holy  of  Holies.  The  majesty  of  the  place  sur- 
passed all  his  expectations,  it  moved  him  so  deeply  that 
he  rushed  forth  at  once,  resolved  at  any  cost  to  save  such 
a  marvel  of  beauty.  But  while  repelling  the  pillagers 
and  exhausting  himself  with  crying  out  to  his  men  to 
quench  the  flames,  one  of  his  own  soldiers  who  had  lin- 
gered behind  him,  set  fire  to  the  interior.  The  smoke  and 
fiery  tongues  were  now  spreading  on  every  hand.  Titus 
realized  that  the  Temple's  doom  was  sealed,  and  he 
withdrew.^ 


1  AaifMovl({}  upfirj  TLVL  xpc^Mfos*     Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  vi.  iv.  5. 

2  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  vi.  iv.  3-7. 


THE  DESTRUCTION  OF  JERUSALEM.  315 

The  conflagration,  sweeping  on  thenceforth  unhindered, 
speedily  converted  the  crest  of  Mount  Moriah  into  a  fear- 
some brazier :  it  seemed  as  if  the  mountain  would  burn 
to  its  very  base.  From  Sion  and  the  neighboring  heights, 
the  Jews  gazed,  eating  their  hearts  out  with  rage  at  the 
annihilation  of  their  last  hope.  Cries  of  agony  and  exe- 
cration rose  from  this  throng  and  mingled  with  the  ring- 
ing shouts  of  the  legionaries  and  the  shrieks  of  the 
slaughtered.  So  tremendous  was  the  clamor  at  that 
dread  hour  that  it  was  heard  over  beyond  Jordan.^  Nev- 
ertheless, the  flames  did  not  put  a  stop  to  the  carnage. 
Now  drunk  with  bloodshed,  walking  on  a  pavement 
carpeted  with  corpses,  the  Eomans  killed  every  one  that 
came  in  their  path.  The  majority  of  the  Jews,  let  it  be 
said,  in  their  madness  and  desperation,  sought  death  of 
their  own  will ;  some  throwing  themselves  upon  the 
swords  of  the  legionaries,  others  flinging  themselves  into 
the  flames,  or  killing  one  another.  Certain  priests,  having 
climbed  the  pinnacle  of  the  Temple,  wrenched  off  the 
golden  points,  with  their  fastenings  of  lead,  and  hurled 
them  down  upon  the  assailants ;  but  soon  they  too  disap- 
peared in  the  flames.  One  little  band  of  Zealots  alone, 
rallied  together  by  John  of  Giscala,  succeeded  in  breaking 
through  the  Eoman  ranks  and  rejoined  Simon  by  means 
of  the  bridge  which  connected  Sion  with  the  Temple. 
The  rest  of  the  children  of  Israel,  whom  the  expectation 
of  a  great  miracle  had  massed  together  on  Mount  Moriah, 
was  now  lost  beyond  peradventure.  Six  thousand  of 
these  unfortunates,  for  the  most  part  old  folk,  with  women 
and  children,  had  taken  refuge  beneath  one  of  the  porches  ; 
these  were  put  to  the  torch  and  all  perished.^  When  the 
flames  died  down  there  remained  on  the  Holy  Mount  but 
two  blackened  gates  and  the  ruins  of  the  enclosure  re- 
served for  women.  The  legions  collected  together  their 
Eagles,  and  amid  the  smoking  debris  offered  sacrifice 
of  thanksgiving  to  these  idolatrous  emblems.^    At  this 


1  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  vi.  v.  1.  ^  l\)i^,  vi.  vi.  1. 

2  Ibid.,  vi.  V.  1-2. 


316  LAST   YEARS   OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

crowning  insult  the  Jews'  eyes  were  opened.  That 
"abomination  of  desolation " ^  begun  by  the  Zealots  was 
now  accomplished  before  their  very  eyes.  The  God  whom 
they  had  misprized  had  forsaken  the  Holy  Place ;  where 
howsoever  long  He  had  willed  that  men  should  adore 
Him,  He  now  rejected  them  and  their  worship. 

The  task  of  the  conquerors  was  not,  however,  finished ; 
it  remained  for  them  to  carry  the  real  citadel  of  Jeru- 
salem, ancient  Sion.  The  ramparts  of  this  Upper  City 
still  stood  intact ;  the  most  fanatical  of  the  insurgents 
had  gathered  there  and  at  their  head  were  John  and  Simon, 
who  had  joined  forces  for  a  supreme  struggle.  And, 
nevertheless,  when  the  moment  for  action  arrived  the  two 
leaders  hesitated;  realizing  how  exhausted  their  men 
were,  they  asked  the  Eoman  general  for  a  parley.  They 
offered  to  evacuate  the  stronghold  provided  that  they  were 
allowed  to  withdraw  into  the  desert,  together  with  their 
wives  and  children.  Titus  had  intended  simply  to  par- 
don them ;  but  angry  that  they  should  dare  to  impose 
conditions,  he  cut  short  the  interview,  declaring  that 
nothing  was  left  them  but  death.'^ 

Thus  he  must  needs  begin  a  new  siege,  one  no  less 
laborious  than  those  preceding  it.  For  in  Sion,  in  itself 
so  formidable,  the  Jews  held  possession  of  a  stronghold 
fitted  to  withstand  all  attacks ;  this  was  the  Palace  of 
Herod,  flanked  by  its  three  enormous  towers,  Hippicus, 
Phasael,  and  Mariamne.  For  eighteen  days  the  four 
legions  were  occupied  in  erecting  embankments  against 
the  western  wall  contiguous  to  this  Palace.  On  the 
seventh  of  September,  their  labors  completed,  the  ma- 
chines of  war  were  set  battering  at  the  ramparts  and 
soon  made  a  breach.  To  their  great  surprise,  the  legions 
met  with  no  resistance  upon  their  entrance.  Famine  and 
fever  had  done  their  work  in  enfeebling  the  defenders ; 
half  dead,  they  had  but  enough  breath  left  in  their  ema- 
ciated bodies  to  flee  in  every  direction  and  bury  them- 
selves in  the  underground  cavities  over  which  Jerusalem 

1  Matt.  xxiv.  15.  '^  Joseplius,  Bell.  Jud.,  vi.  vi.  2,  3. 


THE  DESTRUCTION  OF  JERUSALEM.  317 

is  built.  All  clay  long  the  Komans  rushed  about  through 
the  narrow  streets  of  Sion,  lootmg,  slaying,  and  burning 
everything  in  their  path,  but  from  many  of  the  dwellings 
whence  they  expected  to  reap  rich  booty,  they  were  forced 
to  recoil,  suffocated  by  the  stench  of  corpses  with  which 
they  were  filled.  Night  put  an  end  to  the  carnage  and 
gave  the  flames  full  sway  to  complete  the  work  of  de- 
struction. When  Titus  arrived  upon  the  blazing  hill-top 
and  beheld  intact  those  towers  of  Herod  which  no  ma- 
chine of  war  could  ever  have  impaired,  this  last  victory 
of  his,  easy  as  it  was,  seemed  to  him  a  miracle,  and  he 
gave  thanks  unto  the  God  who  had  fought  for  him.^ 

The  following  days  were  employed  in  ransacking  the 
sewers  and  underground  passages  of  the  city,  whence 
they  dragged  many  thousand  new  captives,  discovering 
two  immense  treasures  which,  when  added  to  the  booty 
gathered  from  the  rest  of  Jerusalem,  formed  such  a  mass 
of  gold  that  the  price  of  that  metal  fell  by  one-half 
l:liroughout  Syria.  Titus'  share  of  the  spoils  comprised 
the  sacred  objects  saved  from  the  Sanctuary  of  the 
Temple  :  the  Yeil  of  the  Holy  of  Holies,  the  Book  of 
the  Law,  the  Table  of  the  Bread  of  Proposition,  and  the 
Seven-Branched  Candlestick;  these  he  set  aside  to  be 
used  in  his  triumph.  Beside  these  trophies,  an  enormous 
number  of  prisoners  remained  in  his  hands  ;  Josephus 
reckons  them  as  being  about  ninety-seven  thousand. 
This  throng,  driven  toward  the  Temple,  were  there  herded 
together  like  cattle  within  a  part  of  the  enclosure  still 
standing,  and  there  the  soldiers,  like  cowboys  of  the  plains, 
rushed  in  and  cut  them  out.  All  such  as  had  borne  arms 
were  slaughtered ;  the  only  ones  spared  were  seven  hun- 
dred young  men  of  fine  figure  and  exceptional  beauty, 
who  were  destined  to  lend  lustre  to  the  triumph  of  the 
conqueror.  As  to  the  others,  those  wlio  were  less  than 
seventeen  years  of  age  were  sold;  the  rest  were  reserved  for 
the  mines  or  the  amphitheatre.  Such  was  the  exhausted 
condition  of  these  captives  that  during  the  few  days  de- 

1  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  vi.  viii.  1,  4,  5  ;  ix.  1. 


318  LAST  YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

voted  to  this  work  of  selection  thousands  of  them  died 
from  weakness,  others  from  despair.^ 

The  two  leaders  of  the  rebellion  were  not  among  the 
number  of  these  unfortunates,  and  they  were  searched 
for  in  vain.  John  of  Giscala  was  the  first  whom  hunger 
constrained  to  reveal  himself ;  he  gave  himself  up  to 
Titus,  who  spared  his  life  and  was  content  merely  to  im- 
prison him.^  Simon  had  a  larger  stock  of  victuals  at  his 
disposal ;  it  was  only  toward  the  end  of  October  that  the 
soldiers  who  guarded  the  Temple  saw  rising  out  of  the 
ground  a  creature  wasted  to  a  skeleton,  covered  with  a 
white  tunic  and  purple  mantle.  It  was  Simon,  who,  his 
provisions  and  his  strength  alike  exhausted,  was  attempt- 
ing to  pass  through  their  lines  in  the  guise  of  a  ghost. 
He  was  arrested,  speedily  recognized,  and  despatched  to 
Caesarea  to  be  left  at  the  disposal  of  Titus.^ 

For  at  this  period  the  Prince,  having  left  Jerusalem, 
was  making  his  progress  through  Syria  in  celebration  of 
his  victory.  The  prisoners  he  had  in  his  train  formed  an 
ample  stock  to  draw  from  for  the  cruel  sports  of  the  circus. 
In  the  amphitheatre  at  Cyesarea-Philippi  two  thousand 
five  hundred  were  burned  alive,  thrown  before  wild 
beasts,  or  forced  to  kill  one  another.  At  Beyrout  there 
was  a  similar  massacre.  After  this  fashion  the  conqueror 
marched  on  as  far  as  Antioch  and  the  Euphrates,  every- 
where acclaimed.*  Turning  back  towards  Egypt,  he  called 
a  halt  on  the  way  and  expressed  a  desire  to  see  Jeru- 
salem again.  The  destruction  ordered  by  him  was  ac- 
complished. Of  all  that  city  whose  haughty  beauty  had 
dazzled  his  eyes  only  six  months  previous,  a  city  so 
mighty  in  armed  men  and  good  as  to  be  able  to  defy 
Eome,  —  of  all  this  wonder  of  the  world  there  remained 
but  a  heap  of  ruins.  The  Tenth  Legion  pitched  their 
camp  on  the  littered  site  of  the  Temple.  On  the  summit 
of  Mount  Sion,  Herod's  three  towers,  rCwSpected  by  his 
commands,  still  stood  as  witnesses  to  the  obstacles  he 


1  Josephus,  Bell.Jud.,  vi.  ix.  2-4.  ^  lt)i,|.^  yii.  ji.  i. 

2  Ibid.,  vi.  ix.  4.  *  Ibid,,  vii.  ii.  ;  i 


iii.  1  ;  V.  1,  2. 


THE  DESTRUCTION  OF  JERUSALEM.  319 

had  triumphed  over :  some  walls  of  buildings  were  like- 
wise left  along  the  spur  of  this  hill,  and  among  them  the 
Cenaculum,^  where  Jesus  had  substituted  for  the  Mosaic 
Eitual  a  worship  in  spirit  and  in  truth,  the  Eternal  Sacri- 
fice, the  Eucharist. 

The  other  quarters  of  Jerusalem,  Bezetha,  Acra,  and 
Ophel,  had  disappeared  entirely,  and  a  similar  state  of 
devastation  reigned  for  more  than  five  miles  roundabout. 
The  outskirts  of  Jerusalem,  where  once  luxuriant  gardens 
gladdened  the  eye,  had  been  turned  into  a  waste  of  rocks 
and  rubbish  such  as  it  is  to-day.  Touched  to  the  heart, 
Titus  wept  over  the  unfortunate  town,  and  cursed  those 
madmen  who  had  forced  him  thus  to  spread  havoc  about 
their  own  hearthstones.  Even  the  fame  he  had  won  from 
this  war  seemed  to  him  now  an  oppressive  burden  ;  to 
those  who  lavished  congratulations  upon  him,  he  was  wont 
to  reply,  "  'T  was  not  I  that  conquered.  God  in  His  wrath 
against  these  Jews  made  use  of  my  arm."  ^ 

These  sentiments  which  Pagans  and  Jews  alike  ascribe 
to  Titus,  in  no  wise  altered  his  determination  to  make  a 
triumphal  entry  into  Eome.  Vespasian's  stern  simplicity 
was  not  at  all  to  his  taste  ;  his  son's  enthusiasm  swept  away 
all  his  objections  and  forced  him  to  consent  to  surround 
the  ceremony  with  a  pomp  exceeding  anything  ever  known 
hitherto.  To  the  fascinated  gaze  of  Josephus  the  pro- 
cession appeared  like  a  scintillating  stream  of  gold  and 
silver  and  ivory  and  precious  stones  pouring  in  waves  of 
color  along  the  Via  Sacra.  All  the  marvels  of  the  Orient 
found  their  place  in  this  gorgeous  display,  costly  tapes- 
tries, rare  animals  magnificently  caparisoned,  everything 
in  fact,  which  art  and  nature  had  combined  to  produce 
in  those  foreign  parts.  Great  scaffoldings,  three  or  four 
stories  high,  were  dragged  along  in  front  of  the  onlook- 
ers, displaying  for  their  benefit  the  various  episodes  of  the 
great  war  in  a  series  of  tableaux.  Thereafter,  as  living 
trophies,  marched  the  picked  men  among  the  captives, 

1  St.  Epiphaiiins,  De  mensuris,  14. 

2  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  vii.  v.  2  ;  Philostratus,  vi,  29. 


320  LAST   YEARS  OF  SAINT  PAUL. 

those  seven  hundred  youths,  the  most  splendid  specimens 
of  the  Jewish  race,  whom  he  had  kept  in  reserve  for  this 
pageant;  at  their  head  stalked  Simon-ben-Gioras,  the 
hangman's  noose  about  his  neck ;  by  this  they  led  him 
along  to  death,  scourging  him  at  every  step.  Vespasian 
and  Titus  in  their  triumphal  chariot  brought  up  the  rear, 
but  before  them  were  carried  all  that  truly  symbolized 
the  victory  won  in  this  war,  —  the  Book  of  the  Law  and 
the  sacred  spoils  snatched  from  the  burning  Temple,  the 
Table  of  Gold,  the  Seven-Branched  Candlestick,  and  the 
Veil  of  Purple  from  the  Holy  of  Holies.^  According  to 
ancient  usage,  the  procession  halted  at  the  foot  of  the 
Capitol,  and  Simon  was  dragged  into  the  Mamertine 
prison,  flung  into  the  Tullianum  dungeon,  then  strangled. 
After  but  a  few  moments  a  messenger  announced  to  the 
Caesars  that  the  enemy  of  Eome  was  no  more :  there- 
upon sacrifices  were  offered  and  the  day  ended  in  merry- 
making.2 

To  Vespasian  all  this  parade  had  been  but  as  a  weari- 
ness to  the  flesh  and  a  waste  of  time  ;  ^  to  Titus  it  was 
the  triumph  of  his  life  to  have  obtained  his  father's 
permission  for  it ;  in  it  he  saw  at  once  the  reflex  of  his 
glory  and  an  assurance  that  henceforth  the  Empire  was 
bound  to  remain  in  the  hands  of  his  family.  Neither 
one  of  them  had  the  least  idea  that  in  the  designs  of 
God  their  triumph  was  but  the  crowning  and  the  con- 
secration of  that  great  work  to  the  accomplishment  of 
which,  for  now  forty  years,  so  many  lowly  martyrs  had 
toiled,  first  among  them  Peter  and  Paul  witli  their  brethren 
in  the  Apostolate.  This  Law  against  which  Paul  had 
waged  a  tireless  warfare,  uttering  that  famous  rebuke, 
that,  though  good  in  itself  as  it  was,  it  did  but  beget  "  the 
wrath  of  God,  sin  and  death,"  *  —  this  same  Law  the  Eo- 


1  The  arch  of  Titus  in  the  Forum  preserves  to  this  day  the  memory  of 
his  triumphal  progress,  as  well  as  a  picture  of  the  various  tokens  borne  be- 
fore him  :  the  Table  of  Gold,  the  Seven-Branched  Candlestick,  the  Cen- 
sers, and  the  Silver  Trumpets. 

2  Josephus,  Bell.  Jud.,  vii.  v.  3-6.         *  Rom.  iv.  15 ;  viii.  2  ;  vii.  6. 

3  Suetonius,  Vespasianus,  12. 


THE  DESTRUCTION  OF  JERUSALEM.  321 

mans  were  displaying  in  their  pageants,  as  now  powerless 
and  enslaved,  in  that  Book  which  they  carried  along  the 
triumphal  way.  The  trophies  taken  from  the  Temple 
bore  witness,  on  their  part,  to  the  worth  of  the  whole 
Mosaic  worship :  these,  "  the  shadows  and  figures  of 
heavenly  "  ^  realities  had  given  place  to  the  Eternal  Priest- 
hood, an  undying  Sacrifice.  Thus,  then,  was  all  Jeru- 
salem abolished,  —  "  that  Jerusalem  here  below  doomed, 
she  and  her  children  alike  unto  bondage."  ^  In  her  stead 
had  arisen  that  mystical  "  Sion  "  ^  greeted  from  afar  by 
the  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles,  "  a  Jerusalem  on  High,  alto- 
gether of  the  Heavens."^  In  the  new  order  of  things 
Eome  was  destined  to  take  the  place  of  the  Jewish  me- 
tropolis in  the  olden  Covenant ;  she  was  to  become  the 
Queen  City  and  the  Mother,  not  of  a  race,  but  of  the 
whole  world.  All  this  glory,  destined  to  wax  greater, 
and  to  the  end  of  time,  —  all  this  she  owed,  not  to  the 
Flavian  Emperors,  but  to  the  two  humble  Apostles  whom 
Jesus  sent  thither  to  die  among  her  people,  that  thus 
Peter  should  take  in  hand  Paul's  work,  and  remain 
forevermore  that  steadfast  foundation  which  not  even 
the  powers  of  Hell  shall  prevail  against.^ 

1  Hebr.  viii.  5.  3  Hebr.  xii.  22. 

2  Gal.  iv.  25.  *  Gal.  iv.  26  ;  Hebr.  xii.  22. 

5  "  Thou  art  Peter,  and  upon  tbis  Rock  will  I  build  My  Church  ;  and 
the  Gates  of  Hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it."     Matt.  xvi.  18. 


21 


INDEX. 


Abraham,  164. 

AcT.EA,  not  Paul's  convert,  12;   107 

et  seq. ;  at  Nero's  death-bed,  270. 
Agrippa,  42;  associated  with  Albinus, 

156;     intercedes    for     people,    179; 

pleads  for  peace,  181 ;  withdraws  into 

Batausea,  182;   sends   cavalry,  184; 

palace  burnt,  184,  303. 
Albinus,  42;    made  Procurator,   155 

et  seq. 
Alexander,  Philo's  nephew,  189. 
Alexander  of  Ephesus,  208. 
Alexandria,  massacre,  189. 
Ananias,    associated    with    Albinus, 

156 ;  head  of  conservative  party,  182 ; 

attacked  bv  Zealots,  184  ;  his  death, 

185. 
Annas,  appointed  High  Priest,  42. 
Aquila   and    Priscilla  with   Paul    in 

Rome,  chap    x.,  15,  16 ;  in  Ephesus, 

223. 
Archives,  chamber  of  at  Jerusalem 

burned,  184. 

Babylon,  meaning  Rome,  140. 

Barnabas,  part  in  composition  of  He- 
brews, 158  et  seq. 

Bedriacum,  273. 

Berenice,  intercedes  for  people,  179; 
pleads  for  peace,  181  ;  friend  of 
Titus,  274. 

BuRRHUS,  Nero's  tutor;  inability  to 
instruct  Nero,  110,  111. 

C^sarea,  outbreak  of  rebellion,  187. 
Carpus,  Paul's  host,  223. 
Celerus,  architect,  112,  117. 
Cenaculum,  preserved,  319. 
Cestius,  178 ;  campaign  of,  186  et  seq.  ; 

his  overwhelming  defeat,  193  et  seq. 
Christians  (of  Jerusalem),  take  flight 

to  Pella,  300. 
Church,  the,  79  et  seq. 
Claudia,  wife  of  Pudens  (?),  236,  n.  4. 


Clement,  25 ;  testimony  as  to  perse- 
cutions, 119  et  seq. ;  as  to  martyr- 
dom, 125;  part  in  composition  of 
Hebrews,  160  et  seq.,  161,  162,  n.  5. 

Corbulo,  victories  in  the  East,  259  ; 
suicide,  263. 

Cornelia  (Gens)  15. 

Court  of  Appeals,  86  et  seq. 

Crescens,  sent  to  Galatia,  231. 

Cretans,  their  character,  203. 

Crete,  revisited  by  Paul,  202  et  seq. 

Dalmatia,  evangelized,  226. 
Deaconesses,  qualification,  213  et  seq. 
Deacons,  qualification,  213. 
Decapolis,  ravaged,  188. 
Delation,  its  meaning,  230,  n.  3. 
"DoMiNE,  Quo  Vadis?"  250. 

Edict,  of  persecution,  chap,  vii.,  §  I. 

Eleazar,  Captain  of  the  Temple,  182; 
a  perjurer,  185. 

Epaphroditus,  17, 18. 

Ephesians,  Epistle  to,  71  et  seq. 

Ephesus,  visited  by  Paul,  207;  re- 
visited by  Paul,  216  et  seq. 

Episcopate,  chap.  xi. 

Epistle,  to  the  Philippians,  17  et  seq. ; 
to  the  Colossians,  chap,  iii.;  to  Phile- 
mon, chap.  iv. ;  to  Laodicaeans,  lost, 
71;  to  Ephesians,  71  et  seq.;  1st  of 
St.  Peter,  chap,  vii.,  §  H. ;  Hebrews, 
chap,  viii.;  to  Timothy,  218  et  seq.; 
to  Titus,  224  et  seq. ;  2d  of  St.  Peter, 
244  et  seq. 

Erastus,  223. 

Essenes,  doctrine,  51  et  seq. 

Extreme  Unction,  38  et  seq. 

Galba,  death,  273. 
Ga:mes  (Quinquennial),  128. 
Gates,  of  the  Temple,  177. 
Gaul,  in  rebellion,  264. 
Gaulanitis,  ravaged,  188. 


!24 


INDEX. 


Gerasa,  ravaged,  188. 

Gkssius  Flohus,  governor  of  Judaea, 
174  et  seq. ;  stirring  up  rebellion, 
178;  abandons  Jerusalem,  186. 

Gnostics,  tendencies,  49  et  seq. 

Golden  House,  112  et  seq.,  116  ;  com- 
pleted, 229. 

GEiECiNA  (Pomponia),  histor}-^,  13. 

Greece,  visited  by  Nero,  260  et  seq. 


Hanan,  leader  of  Jews,  291 ;  death,  291. 

Hebrews,  chap.  viii. 

Henoch,  171. 

Henoch  (Book  of),  quoted,  119;  by 

Jude,  197  et  seq. 
Helius,   235 ;    power  in  Rome,   260 ; 

recalls  Nero,  263. 
Heretics,    of   Rome,    10;    Gnostics, 

chap,    iii.;   scourged    by    St.    Jude, 

195  et  seq.,  221,  239  et  seq. ;  rebuked 

by  Peter,  245  et  seq. 
Hesebon,  ravaged,  188. 
Hierarchy,  chap.  xi. 
HiPPicus,  tower,  185. 
Hymen^us,  208. 
Hymns,  222,  239. 

Idum^ans,  enter  Jerusalem,  292. 
Illyria,  evangelized,  226. 
Incarnation,  taught  by  Paul,  57. 


James  (St.),  chap.  ii. ;  death,  42  et  seq. 

Jericho,  surrenders  to  rebels,  186. 

Jerusalem,  first  persecution  154, 
et  seq. ;  first  uprising,  chap,  ix.,  §  I. ; 
destruction  of,  chap.  xv. 

Jesus  (son  of  Hannan),  history,  45. 

Jews,  of  Rome,  5;  animosit}'-  toward 
Christians,  120  et  seq. 

John  of  Giscala,  capitulates,  287; 
flight,  288;  enters  Jerusalem,  288; 
imprisonment,  318. 

JosEPHUS,  Governor  of  Galilee,  280; 
loses  Gabara,  282;  undertakes  siege 
of  Jotapata,  283 ;  made  prisoner,  285, 
303. 

JosuE,  165. 

JuD^A  (rebellion  of),  chap.  ix. 

JuDAizERS,  at  Rome,  10;  in  Macedonia, 
22,  30;  at  Colossi,  54;  again  com- 
bated by  Paul,  73  et  seq.;  term 
applied  to  Christians,  190. 

Jude,  Epistle  of,  chap.  x. ;  translation, 
200. 

Julius  (Centurion),  delivers  Paul  to 
Roman  authorities. 

Justification,  34  et  seq. 


Levites,  180. 

Linus,  Peter's  successor,  236. 
Luke,  part  in  composition  of  Hebrews, 
160 ;  with  Paul  in  Rome,  231. 


Malta,  revisited  by  Paul,  202. 
Mamertine  (prison),  251,  n.  3. 
Man  ahem,  184;  his  death,  185. 
Mariamnb,     the     Asmona;an,     181; 

tower,  185. 
Mark,  with  Paul  in  Rome,  chap,  x., 

16,  64. 
Martyrs,  118  et  seq. 
Masada,  captured  by  Zealots,  182. 
Massacres,  of  the  Christians  by  Nero, 

118  et  seq.;  of  Jews  in  the  East,  186 

et  seq. 
Matthias,  310. 

Melchisedec,  history  of,  167  et  seq. 
Mesopotamia,    field     of    St.    Jude's 

labors,  199. 
Metilius,  cowardl}'  surrender,  186. 
Michael     (Archangel),     quoted     by 

Jude,  198. 
Moriah  (Mt.),  illuminated,  177. 
Moses,   165 ;  meeting  with  Melchise- 
dec, 168 ;  assumption,  198. 

Nero,  youthful  history,  pp.  1-4  ;  his 
attachment  to  Poppaea,  109;  his  de- 
generac3%  110;  his  part  in  the  burn- 
ing of  Rome,  114  et  seq.;  massacre 
of  Christians,  chap.  vi. ;  edict  of  per- 
secution, 135  et  seq.  ;  reconstructs 
Rome,  229  et  seq. ;  despoils  the 
wealthy,  229  et  seq. ;  decline  in 
popular  favor,  258  et  seq. ;  crowns 
Tiridates,  259;  visits  Greece,  260; 
miserable  triumphs,  261 ;  recalled  to 
Rome,  263;  mad  conduct  in  face  of 
revolt,  265;  deserted  by  Pretorian 
guard,  267;  flight,  268;  cowardice, 
269;  death,  270;  burial,  271. 

NicopoLis,  Paul's  headquarters,  226. 

Noe,  171. 


Octavia,  108. 

Olympian  Games,  won  by  Nero,  261. 

Onesimus,  chap.  iv. 

Onesiphorus,  with  Paul  in  Rome,  231. 

Otho,  joins  revolt,  264  et  seq. ;  takes 

sides   with    Pretorian    Guards,  272; 

his  death,  273. 

Palatium,  112. 

Pastoral  Epistles,  chapter  xi. 


INDEX. 


325 


Pastors,  regulated  by  Paul,  203  et  seq. ; 
qualifications,  212;  instructed,  225. 

Paul,  first  imprisonment,  chap,  i.; 
preaches  to  Jews  of  Rome,  v  et  seq. ; 
writestoPhilippians, ITe^.se^. ;  writes 
to  Colossians,  47  etseq. ;  to  Philemon, 
64  et  seq.;  to  Laodicasans,  71;  to 
Ephesians,  71  et  seq. ;  released,  86 
et  seq. ;  journey  to  Spain,  88  et  seq. ; 
Peter's  fondness  for  him  and  his 
works,  143  et  seq. ;  author  of  He- 
brews (?),  158 ;  revisits  Crete,  202  et 
seq.;  leaves  for  Asia,  206;  journey- 
ings,  chapters  x.-xii. ;  writes  to  Tim- 
othy and  Titus,  chap,  xi.;  writes 
again  to  Timoth}'-,  237  et  seq. ;  death, 
chap.  xii. ;  date  of  martyrdom,  253 
n.  3;  burial-place,  255. 

Pella,  ravaged,  188;  described,  300 
et  seq. 

Persecution,  first  general  one,  chap, 
vii. 

Peter,  89;  Vatican  his  See,  129;  first 
letter,  chap,  vii.,  §  II.;  makes  use  of 
Jude's  Epistle,  202;  meets  Paul  in 
Nicopolis,  228 ;  second  Epistle,  244 
et  seq. ;  his  death,  chap.  xii. ;  date 
of  martyraom,  253  n.  3 ;  burial-place, 
255. 

Phaon,  friend  of  Nero. 

Pharisees,  tendencies,  41  et  seq. 

Phasael  tower,  185. 

Philadelphia,  ravaged,  188. 

Philemon,  cnap.  iv. 

Philetus,  208. 

Philip,  his  four  daughters,  213. 

Philippians,  gifts  to  Paul,  Epistle  to 
the,  chap,  i.,  §  II. 

Phcebe,  214. 

Piso,  107,  229. 

Pliny,  concerning  edict,  137. 

Pompeii,  abuse  of  Christians,  131. 

Pontificate,  corruption  of,  41  et  seq. 

Popp^A,  a  Jewish  proselyte,  5;  not 
Paul's  convert,  12;  her  character, 
107  et  seq. ;  her  death,  109  ;  sketch 
of  her  life,  121;  friend  of  Florus's 
wife,  178. 

Pr^etorium,  where  located,  3. 

Prayer,  in  Paul's  life,  75  et  seq. 

Presages,  177. 

Presbytery,  151;  qualifications,  212. 

Priesthood,  163  et  seq. 

Priests,  180;  qualifications,  212  et 
seq. 

Pudens,  14;  ministers  to  Paul,  236. 

PUTEOLI,  162. 

Qu^stiones  Perpetuae,  233. 


Rationalist,  authenticity  of  Paul's 

Epistles,  vi-vii. 
Robbers,  of  Judaea,  155. 
Rome,   burning  of,   chap,   vi.,   §   I.; 

propaganda  of  Church,  120 ;  termed 

Babylon,  140. 
RuFUS,    made    Prefect    of   Pretorian 

Guards. 


Sacrifice,  Holy,  still  offered,  298; 
could  never  more  be  held,  311. 

Sanhedrin,  intercedes  with  Florus, 
179. 

Scopus,  encampment  of  Roman  army, 
192. 

Scythopolis,  story  of,  188. 

Seneca,  Nero's  tutor,  chap,  i.;  in- 
ability to  instruct  Nero,  110;  allusion 
to  persecution,  129, w.  2;  not  Paul's 
convert,  chap.  xiii. 

Severus,  architect,  112,  117. 

Sibylline  Books,  118. 

SiLVANUS,  history,  142. 

Simon,  his  death,  188  et  seq. 

SiON,  its  capture  by  Titus,  chap.  xv. 

Slaves,  of  Rome,  12;  duties  of,  62; 
Onesimus,  65;  during  the  first  cen- 
turies of  Christianity,  66  et  seq. 

Sohemus,  191. 

Spain,  Paul's  journey  to,  88  et  seq. ; 
homeward  journey,  162. 

Sporus,  270. 

Suetonius,  115;  testimony  concern- 
ing Christians,  122. 


Tacitus,  testimony  concerning  Chris- 
tians, 122,  132, 

Tarich^a,  destroyed  by  Vespasian, 
287. 

Temple,  175  ;  presages  of  destruction, 
177;  despoiled  of  its  treasury',  178. 

Theophilus,  92. 

Tiberias,  destroyed  by  Vespasian, 
287. 

TiGELLiNUS,  made  Prefect  of  Pretorian 
Guard,  chap,  iii.,  107;  responsibility 
to  Nero,  266  et  seq. ;  for  conflagra- 
tion, 114,  116;  traitor  to. 

TiGELLiNUS,  Prefect  of  Pretorium,  235, 
260. 

Timothy,  in  Rome,  64;  copies  Epistle 
to  Philemon,  69;  made  Bishop  of 
Crete,  216:  Epistle  to,  218  et  seq.; 
second  letter,  237  et  seq. 

Timothy,  with  Paul  in  Rome,  chap,  x., 
16  ;  copies  down  Epistle  to  the  Philip- 
pians, 18. 


326 


INDEX. 


TiKiDATES,  crowned  King  of  Armenia, 

259. 
Titus  (St.),  left  as  Bishop  of  Crete, 

205 ;  recalled  from  Crete,  224  et  seq. ; 

with  Paul  in   Rome,   231;    sent  to 

Dalmatia,  232. 
Titus  (son  of  Vespasian),  chap.  xv. 
Tradition,  in  Paul's  teachings,  222. 
Treasury,  180. 

Tke  Fontane,  scene  of  Paul's  martyr- 
dom, 255. 
Trophies,  254. 
Trophimus,  223. 
Tryphenus,    with    Paul    in    Rome, 

chap.  X. 
Tryphosus,    with    Paul    in     Rome, 

chap.  X. 
TuLLiANUM,  described,  251,  n.  3. 
Tychicus,  with  Paul  in  Rome,  chap. 

X.  16,  231;  sent  to  Ephesus,  232. 

Vatican,  Nero's  Gardens,  111;  scene 
of  martyrdom,  124;  Peter's  See,  129; 


scene  of  his  martyrdom,  252  et  seq. ; 

scene  of  Nero's  triumph,  264. 
Vespasian,    sent    into    Judasa,    264; 

poverty,  274. 
ViNDEX  (Julius),   raises  standard  of 

revolt,  264  et  seq. ;  his  death,  272. 
Virgin  (the  Blessed),   cousin  of   St. 

Jude,  197. 
Vitellius,  conquers  Rome,  274;  death, 

276. 

Wives,  duties  of,  62,  82. 

Women,  of  Macedonia,  24,  62 ;  Peter's 
advice  to,  148;  Paul's  directions,  213 
et  seq. ;  of  Asia  rebuked,  219. 

Word  of  God,  52. 

Xystus,  meeting-place  of  people,  181. 

Zealots,  incite  Jerusalem  to  revolt, 
177,  180;  storm  Masada,  182;  take 
possession  of  Jerusalem,  184  et  seq. ; 
admit  Idumoeans,  292  et  seq. 


P™«ton  TheoIX?    «  V  ,1 


'{™"]'5'l2  01252  4395 


Date  Due 

^fl    '.J 

? 

j 

]':ry'A 

• 

VIP    1'54 

MR22'r^ 

^f^ 

i0fe..i^^ 

W^ 

f)