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BS 2410 .R34 1914

Rail Harris Franklin, 1870.
New Testament history

Bible Study Textbook Series

DEC 1 1914

New Testament History

A STUDY OF THE BEGINNINGS
OF CHRISTIANITY

By
HARRIS FRANKLIN RALL, Ph.D.

President and Professor of Systematic Theology
The Iliff School of Theology, Denver, Colorado

THE ABINGDON PRESS
NEW YORK CINCINNATI

The Bible quotations used in this volume are taken from the American Standard

Edition of the Revised Bible, Copyright, 1901, by Thomas

Nelson & Sons, and are used by permission

R. S. J. R.

CONTENTS

PAGE

Publishers' Announcement 7

Introduction 9

PART I

THE WORLD OF THE EARLY CHURCH
chapter

I. The Roman-Grecian World 13

IL The Jewish World 20

PART II
JESUS

III. John the Baptist 29

IV. Birth and Childhood 33

V. The Call and the Temptation 40

VI. The Beginnings 46

VII. The Ministry of Healing 53

VIII. The Ministry of Forgiveness 57

IX. The Master Teacher 62

X. The Kingdom of God 69

XI. The Father 76

XII. The Life with God 82

XIII. The Life with Men 90

XIV. Foes and Conflicts 95

XV. Jesus and His Friends 100

XVI. Turning Points 104

XVII. Facing Jerusalem 112

XVIII. Closing Days 118

XIX. The Last Hours 127

XX. The Trial and Crucifixon 132

PART HI
THE JERUSALEM CHURCH

XXI. The Beginnings of the Church i39

XXII. The Faith and the Message I47

XXIII. The Life of the First Community i53

XXIV. From Jewish Sect to Christian Church 156

6 CONTENTS

PART IV
PAUL AND THE CHURCH OF THE EMPIRE

CHAPTER PAGE

XXV". The Man and His Task 169

XXVI. Conversion and Call 173

XXVII. Damascus, Syria, and Cilicia 180

XXVIII. Gentile and Jewish Christians 185

XXIX. Paul the AIissionary 191

XXX. Galatia 200

XXXI. Macedonia 207

XXXII. AcHAiA 217

XXXIII. Asia 222

XXXIV. The Life of an Early Church — 1 230

XXXV. The Life of an Early Church — II 237

XXXVI. Paul as Pastor and Church Organizer 245

XXXVII. Paul the Letter-Writer 254

XXXVIII. Paul the Prisoner 262

XXXIX. Paul the Man 273

PART V
THE LATER CHURCH

XL. The Faith of the Later Church 283

XLI. The Life of the Later Church 292

XLII. The Making of the New Testament 305

A Brief Bibliography 314

MAPS

Palestine in the Time of Jesus; 4 B. C.-30 A. D. Facing Page 20
St. Paul's Journeys and the Early Christian Church,

4.0-100 A. D 168

PUBLISHERS' ANNOUNCEMENT

For some time past there has been a growing conviction
of the need of a more complete and comprehensive study of
the Bible in all the colleges. Quite recently the matter has
received new emphasis and practical direction. A complete
course of Bible study has been outlined by a joint committee
representing the Eastern and Western sections of the Asso-
ciation of College Instructors in the Bible, the departments
of colleges and universities and of teacher training of the
Religious Education Association, the Student Y. M. C. A.
and Y. W. C. A., and Sunday School Council. The proposed
curriculum is not merely a theoretical outline but has
already been tested, in part, at some of the leading colleges
of the country.

The complete course will include the following books:
"Old Testament History," by Prof. Ismar J. Peritz, of
Syracuse University; "New Testament History," by Dr.
Harris Franklin Rail, President of Iliff School of Theology ;
"The Bible as Literature," by Prof. Irving F. Wood and
Prof. Elihu Grant, of Smith College ; "Social Institutions
and Ideals of the Bible," by Prof. Theodore G. Soares.
University of Chicago ; and "The History, Principles and
Methods of Religious Education," by Prof. F. H. Swift,
University of Minnesota.

The publishers take pleasure in announcing that the
volumes on New Testament History and The Bible as
Literature are now ready. Professor Peritz's volume on
Old Testament History will be published in time for use
during the second half of the college year 1914-1915. and
the remaining volumes by Professors Soares and Swift in
time for the opening of the 1915-1916 college year. These
books have been prepared with a view to the requirements
of the college course and the needs of the student. The

8 PUBLISHERS' ANNOUNCEMENT

authors are acknowledged experts in their respective fields — ■
scholars and teachers of wide repute. The publishers cor-
dially commend this course to the attention of Bible students
and teachers everywhere.

The Abingdon Press.

INTRODUCTION

This history might be more strictly called a study of the
beginnings of Christianity. While designed primarily for
use as a college textbook, it should be of equal value to any
reader who wishes to trace the story of Christianity in its
first days.

This is first of all a historical study. The average man
has been wont to regard Christianity as a fixed and finished
something that has been dropped down from the skies. If
you speak of the Christian religion he will think first of all
of a collection of writings, or of a body of doctrine, or of
the institution of the church. But these three, Bible and
doctrine and church, are simply the products of a greater
movement that lies back of them. To understand Christi-
anity we must go back to this great current of life, which
was at once the greatest revelation of the divine Spirit and
the greatest movement of the human spirit that mankind
has known. What was the world to which this new life
came? What did its Founder teach and do? How did
the world brotherhood come out of the little company of
Jews that followed him ?

This book is a study of religion. That is why this history
is of such supreme interest to us. It brings to us the religion
that dominates the faith and conscience of men to-day. and
shows us this religion in the person of its great founders
and in the transforming power of its first great enthusiasm.
It is a misconception of what New Testament study should
be, to burden it with the elaborate discussion of dates and
customs and the like. The supreme interest of the New
Testament writers is in religion. What they bring us is
not so much a history of this religion or a statement of its
doctrines. Their pages reflect, rather, the religion itself,
the rich and varied life out of which all doctrine and insti-

lo INTRODUCTION

tiitions grew. The study of this Hfe is the best possible
introduction to the understanding of rehgion.

The final aim of this volume is to secure the study of the
Bible itself. To this end directions for reading and study
are placed at the end of each chapter. The Scripture
passages here given should be read carefully in connection
with the text, after which the other directions for study
should be carried out. The instructor will naturally modify
these directions to suit the needs of the individual class. The
text aims to set the biblical materials in their historical
relations and to interpret them as part of a great movement.
The instructor, however, should not be content with question
and answer based upon the text, but should aim to secure
first of all an interested and intelligent reading of the Bible
itself.

While written frankly from the modern historical point
of view, this book does not concern itself primarily with
critical processes. Using the assured results of sober study,
it aims to set forth reverently and constructively the great
facts of this early history. It is a pleasure to acknowledge
the aid received, especially in the revision of the manuscript,
from my colleague, Professor Lindsay B. Longacre.

A brief bibliography is appended. The body of the work
contains no references to other authors. The Bible itself is
the only book needed. The student should have a copy of
the American Revised Version with marginal references.

Harris Franklin Rall.

PART I

THE WORLD OF THE EARLY
CHURCH

CHAPTER I
THE ROMAN-GRECIAN WORLD

We cannot understand even the beginnings of Christianity The world
without knowing something of the world to which it came, church^" ^
Jesus' life seems quiet enough in its little corner of the
world ; but Roman soldiers are present when he dies, Greek
and Latin and Hebrew stand over his cross, and the story
of his life goes forth to the world not in Hebrew but in
Greek. Paul's case is even more suggestive. He was a
Hebrew of the Hebrews, and he bore the message of a
Jewish Messiah ; but he spoke in Greek, he himself was a
Roman citizen, and his field was the Roman empire.

These three worlds must be studied separately: (i) the
Roman world, political and social; (2) the Grecian world
of language and culture and religion; (3) the Jewish world
which we study for its religion alone.

When Jesus was born in the reign of Augustus, Rome The Roman
had fully entered upon her great career as a world empire. 3 traver*^
The nations about the jMediterranean had been merged
under her rule. Great roads stretched everywhere for the
Roman soldier. The sea had been swept free of pirates.
Everywhere was safety and quiet. As a result trade and
travel of all kinds increased enormously. The Mediter-
ranean was one great highway. Travel was almost as
general in the empire as it is with us to-day. Paul, with
his long and constant jpurneyings, was not an isolated in-
stance. We can imagine some of those whom he must have
met upon the road : the wealthy merchant with his shipload
of corn bound from Alexandria to Rome; a company of
recruits traveling to join the army; university students
bound for Athens or Alexandria; travelers for pleasure,
numerous then as now; \yealthy Romans journeying in

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

The lot of
the common
people

Slavery

search of health to baths, or to cooler climes ; some throng
bound for the Isthmian games, or a company of Jews of the
dispersion on the way to a feast at Jerusalem; everywhere
the representatives of Rome, officials of administration or
officers and soldiers ; and finally the common folks, mer-
chants like Aquila and Priscilla, or artisans seeking for
work.

But the peace and increase of wealth meant little to the
common people. Rome was never a democracy, nor had
Greece ever been such. There was no great middle class,
prosperous and intelligent, to form the strength of the nation,
as with England or America. Of the fifty millions or m.ore
in the Roman world the wealth and power belonged to but
very few. Rome was a constant drain upon the provinces.
Augustus declares that he gave eight gladiatorial exhibits
in which ten thousand men fought, and twenty-six exhibits
of conflicts with wild beasts in which thirty-five hundred
African beasts were slain. At the same time he was making
his donations of food and money to scores of thousands of
Roman citizens at one time. All this had to come from the
toil of the poor. There was also the support of Roman
armies. The temple of Janus was closed three times in
Augustus's reign as a sign of universal peace, but the cost
of that peace was an armed host ready to be hurled east
or west or north at the first sign of uprising. In addition
to all this was the procession of governors and officers of
all kinds moving out to the provinces, amassing wealth in
their brief term of office, and then giving way to others.
No wonder the people compared themselves to the beggar,
who would not chase away the flies that fed at his sores
since to do so would only be to make room for others unfed
and more hungry.

Slavery is another side of this picture. Roman wars
brought in captives by the scores of thousands. They were
not necessarily of inferior race, and yet the power of the
Roman master was absolute. He could feed a slave to the

THE ROMAN-GRFXIAN WORLD 15

fishes if he would. And the Roman law provided that in case
any slave killed his master, the whole household of slaves,
young and old, innocent and guilty, might be put to death.

These common folks and slaves composed the mass of The gospel
the members of the early church. To them Christianity's
message of deliverance was indeed gospel — "good news."
It showed them that their souls might be free though their
bodies were in bondage. It introduced them into a fellow-
ship where all men were brothers. And it gave them the
sustaining hope of the new kingdom that was coming, which
their Master would speedily establish upon earth.

Despite all this, Roman rule wrought great results for what Rome
the spread of Christianity. It broke down the old barriers chris°Hanity
that divided race from race. The oneness of the empire
prepared the way for that great conception of one brother-
hood and one Father that Paul proclaimed. Peace and
unity of the empire made possible that active intercourse
and travel which did so much for the spread of the new
faith. It gave broad and safe highways on land and sea,
little dreaming that they would be remembered longest not
for the tread of proud armies, but for the journeys of a
humble Jewish preacher whose message was to lay the
foundations of a new and greater realm.

Equally extensive with the Roman rule was the world The Grecian
of thought and culture which we call Grecian. Greek was language
the language of the West ; the Roman conquerors had gone
to school to their captives and taken from them language
and philosophy and art. Greek was the language of the
East; Alexander's empire had not lasted long politically,
but he had carried Grecian culture wherever he went and
this had remained. The east coast of the Mediterranean
was dotted with Hellenistic cities, and they were found in
the interior as far as Persia and India. One language could
thus be used throughout the length and breadth of the
Roman world. Into that language the Old Testament had
been translated, and this Greek Old Testament was the

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Religion in
the empire

National
religions

Polytheism
could not last

Bible of the Jews outside of Palestine. It was in Greek
that Paul preached from Damascus and Antioch to Rome,
and in the same language our New Testament was written.
The language was thus like another Roman road, and even
more important. Along this road of the mind ideals and
influences of the greatest power could travel: the great
conceptions of Greek philosophy, the great religious ideals
of the Greek Old Testament, and finally the religious con-
ceptions that came from the farther east. To the considera-
tion of these we now turn.

Christianity did not come to a world without faith, or to
a time of religious decadence. It was a period of the most
active and eager religious thought and life. In the number
of religions and religious societies the situation was not
unlike that with us to-day, except that our societies are
mostly Christian. These religions were not all darkness
and error, while even their failures helped prepare the way
for Christianity. They may be studied under three head-
ings: I. The old national faiths and their decay. 2.
Grecian philosophy and its religious meaning. 3. The new
religions.

I. The National Religions. In ancient times religion
was the concern primarily of the tribe or the state, not of
the individual. It included all the life of a people. The
founding of a city, the making of war, the planting of grain
and gathering of harvests, the feasts and the mournings
were all accompanied and directed by religious rites; and
the welfare of state and people was held to depend upon
a proper regard for such observances.

With Greece and Rome this religion was polytheistic.
It was not a religion that could last. ( i ) It could not stand
the test of reason. The mind always seeks to find one cause
and one meaning back of all things. Men could not rest in
the thought of many gods. (2) It could not stand the test
of the growing moral sense. It was a Greek philosopher,
Anaxagoras, who wrote long before Christianity: "Every-

THE ROMAN-GRECIAN WORLD 17

thing that men count as disgraceful and immoral — theft,
adultery, and deceit — that Homer and Hesiod have ascribed
to the gods." (3) It could not meet the needs of men,
and that was the chief reason for its passing. It was more
the religion of a race in its childhood. It concerned itself
with the simpler needs of life: harvests, health, safety,
success in war. But men were asking deeper questions,
about deliverance from sorrow and sin and death, about the
hope of a life to come. The time of individualism was
coming; men wanted a life for themselves, and not simply
as part of a city or nation. The old faiths had no answer
for these questions.

2. Grecian Philosophy. The story of Grecian philosophy Grecian
is a noble chapter in human history. It has its great char- ^ 'osophy
acters like Socrates, the man of whom Xenophon could
write, "He was so devout that he never did anything without
the coimsel of the gods, so just that he never injured anyone
even in the least, so truly master of himself that he never
chose the agreeable instead of the good." In a later de-
velopment, which we call Stoicism, this philosophy could
show such spirits as Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius.
So closely do some of the thoughts of Seneca resemble
those of Paul that some writers used to hold that the former
had borrowed from the latter. The Greek philosophy in the
main was deeply religious. It was monotheistic ; though
the gods are often spoken of, it is one Divine Being that is
meant. It was ethical. Plato sets forth a noble ideal of
righteousness, of the just man who shows good to foe as
well as friend. The Stoic picture of the wise man is even
nobler, the man who is strong, self-contained, unmoved by
outward conditions of good or evil, showing the same spirit
toward the evil and the good.

But Grecian philosophy too failed to meet the needs of the where it
day. It had nothing for the common man. It was a religion *^*'^**
for the strong and the wise. The common man needs more
than a high ideal, he needs some power to help him reach it.

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

The mystery
religions

Their
character

Differ from
Christianity

There was no message here of any God who cared for men,
or who could redeem them. The world was waiting for a
religion of redemption, a religion of hope and help. The
Stoic God was like the Stoic wise man, serene and calm and
self-sufificient, but unmoved by the needs of men.

3. The mystery religions professed to meet this very
need. We may call them the new religions, for about this
time they began to pour into the Roman world from the
east. We do not know much about these religions, for the
classical writers of Greece and Rome looked down upon these
cults as beneath their notice. It was for the very same
reason that these writers did not mention Christianity. Like
Christianity, these were the religions of the "lower classes."
But the real religious life of the empire was in these faiths.
These, and not the old polytheism or the noble philosophies,
became the real competitors of Christianity.

Of these mystery religions there were many kinds, and
yet they had certain aspects in common, (i) They were
usually founded upon some story, the mystery, the tale of
some god and of his life and death and coming to life again.
Such is the story of Osiris coming from Egypt, the story
of Mithra brought from Persia, and that of Dionysius in
Greece. (2) These religions are no longer national. They
come to men individually and unite them in societies, just
as the believers were joined together in the Christian
churches. (3) These religions were marked by ceremonies
and sacraments. The members were initiated into the myth,
or secret story of the god. There were sacred meals and
washings and other rites, sometimes bloody and barbarous,
sometimes involving gross excesses. (4) The great thought
was that of redemption. The great end was deliverance
from evil, especially death, by means of union with the god.

Looked at superficially, there is much here that suggests
the new Christian religion, and men have not been wanting
who held that Paul, for example, was deeply influenced in
his thought by these faiths. Here are societies like the

THE ROMAN-GRECIAN WORLD 19

churches, with sacraments of supper and baptism and the
story of a dying and risen god. And these rehgions, hke
Christianity, appeal as rehgions of redemption, ofit'ering to
save men. A very Httle study shows how deep the differ-
ences are. It is enough to point out two. ( i ) The salvation
which Christianity offered was ethical. While these religions
relied upon rites and magic, Christianity put at the center
a new spirit and a new life. It met the final problem : not
how to save men from sorrow, or even from death, but how
to save them from sin, to make character. (2) These
religions built upon a myth, a tale ; Christianity came with
a great historic fact — Christ as the revelation of the will of
God, as the bearer of the mercy and help of God.

Christianity
and the
Jewish faith

The Semitic
world

The land of
the Jews

CHAPTER II
THE JEWISH WORLD

Greece and Rome and the Orient all had their influence
upon Christianity and its development, but it was the Jewish
world from which the new faith directly sprang. Its founder
was a Jew and spoke a Semitic tongue. His work was done
within the narrow borders of the little Jewish province.
The early leaders of the movement, Paul, Peter, and James,
were all of the same race. Above all, it was the noble faith
of Israel in which Christianity rooted.

What was the place of the Jew in the Roman world?
The Jew was, first of all, a part of a larger Semitic world.
Rome's old enemies, the Carthaginians, belonged to this
race, as did the Phoenicians along the east coast of the
Mediterranean ; and other Semitic peoples extended as
far east as Babylonia. Most of these used a common
tongue called Aramaic. The Jews at this time used a
dialect of this tongue instead of the old Hebrew in which
the Old Testament was written.

Palestine was the old home of the Jews. It is usually
thought of as having been shut off from the rest of the
world and from the great movements of history. As a
matter of fact, it lay on the great highways that joined the
nations of antiquity. It was a meeting place for three
continents. Along these roads swept in turn the armies
of the great conquering nations, Babylonia, Assyria, Egypt,
Macedonia, Syria, Rome. Israel had felt the influence of
all these and yet had preserved her individuality. At the
time of Jesus' birth she was ruled by Herod the Great, a
selfish and cruel but strong monarch. The land had been
separated by Rome, however, into several divisions. The
province of Judaea was the principal one. This included

PALESTINE IN THE TIME OF JESUS. 4 B. C — 30 A. D.

(including the period Ol- HEROD 40-4 B. CO

THE JEWISH WORLD 21

Jdumsea to the south, Judaea proper (corresponding to the
old southern kingdom), and Samaria (corresponding to
the old kingdom of Israel). The chief Jewish population
lay in the two latter, which formed a territory but little
larger than half of the State of Iowa or Illinois. North
of Samaria lay Galilee, where Jesus' home was. It had
not long been settled by the Jews and was still half Gentile.
Across the Jordan lay Peraea, which was joined with Galilee
to form a tetrarchy. After Herod the Great the kingdom
was divided. At the time of Jesus' ministry the province of
Judsea was under the direct control of the emperor. The
governor appointed by him was called procurator, and at
this time was Pontius Pilate. The tetrarchy of Galilee
and Peraea at the time of the Gospels was under Herod
Antipas, whom Jesus called the fox. The Jews had a very
large measure of self-government in Judaea under their
high priest and Sanhedrin, or Senate. For the most part
their religious customs and scruples were respected. But
the crushing burden of taxation was never intermitted.
There were poverty and distress in abundance. The hated
publican was always present as a sign of their bondage,
and constantly smoldering underneath all was the religious-
patriotic passion which flamed forth at last in the hopeless
revolt against Rome that ended in the destruction of
Jerusalem,

But the Jew was not limited to Palestine then any more The jew in
than he is now. In their earlier history the Jews had been the empire
carried off by force into captivity, while in the later years
vastly greater numbers had gone into other lands of their
own free will. The scattered Jews were called the Diaspora,
or Dispersion. The Jew had once been a nomad with
herds and flocks, as his Arab cousin is to-day. When he
settled in Canaan he became an agriculturist. But before
the time of Christ he had begun the career of tradesman,
in which we know him so well. Theti, as now, he was
scattered throughout the world. Over a century before

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

The disper-
sion a prep-
aration for
Christianity

The religion
of the
prophets

Christ the Grecian geographer Strabo wrote, "One cannot
readily find any place in the world which has not received
this tribe and been taken possession of by it." There were
from four to four and a half million Jews in the empire,
probably not far from a twelfth of the whole population.
Then, as now, they were looked down upon and often
persecuted. And yet they enjoyed special privileges. They
usually formed in each city a special community with some
measure of self-government. The synagogue was the center
of the community, and over a hundred and fifty of these
are known to have been scattered throughout the empire.

This dispersion of the Jews was of the greatest signifi-
cance for Christianity. Rome built roads for the gospel,
Greece gave it a language, but the Jews had prepared the
approach to men's hearts and minds. Every Jewish syna-
gogue was a center of religious influence. About it there
was usually a fringe of converts, or proselytes, or at least
a number of interested inquirers and attendants who were
spoken of as "devout" or "God-fearing" (Acts lo. 22; 17.
4). Despite the prejudice against the Jews, the pure faith,
the simple worship, and the high moral ideals must have
proven attractive to many noble sovils in the Roman world.
Thus the leaven of the Old Testament moral and spiritual
ideals was spread throughout the empire, and Paul's first
and best converts were among these Gentiles that had
already been touched by Judaism.

The reUgion of Judaism is of supreme interest to the
Christian. Jesus did not profess to bring a new faith. He
came to the Jews with the faith of their fathers ; his God
was Jehovah, "the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob."
The highest expression of the Hebrew rehgion was in the
prophets and the psalms. It was not merely the thought
of one God, such as Grecian philosophy had reached; it
was the character of that God as a God of righteousness
and mercy. From this conception of God came the pure
and noble idea of religion ; for such a God asks of men not

THE JEWISH WORLD 23

sacrifice and ritual, but "to do justly, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with God" (Mic 6. 8). Upon this
religion of the prophets Jesus built, and we cannot under-
stand Christianity without it. Side by side with it in the
Old Testament is a great system of ceremonial law, but with
this priestly religion Jesus showed little sympathy.

There is a difference, however, between the Old Testa- Judaism and
ment religion and the religion of Jesus' day, or Judaism. A ® ^
living religion does not stand still. The last four centuries
before Christ were of great importance for the Jewish
religion, though we read little of this history in the Old
Testament. The Jews had become a part of Alexander's
empire. The Greeks, not contented with political rule,
wished to change the eastern civilization and Hellenize it.
At first they made some progress with the Jews. Grecian
games and customs were introduced. There was a strong
and growing liberal party. Then Antiochus, called Epi-
phanes, tried to force the process. He tried to compel the
Jews to give up circumcision, the Sabbath, and the books
of the law. As a result he merely strengthened the oppo-
sition and aroused the people. The party of the law
triumphed. Everything that separated the Jews from the
nations was emphasized. The passion of the Jews and the
chief concern of religion became more and more the mere
keeping of the many precepts of the law. All this bore its
fruits in Jesus' day. Religion was not fellowship with God.
God was far off. In his place were these laws which he had
given. Religion was keeping these laws, and the endless
traditions which had grown up about them. It was an
almost impossible burden, and many made no attempt at
all to carry it (Acts 15. 10).

Side by side with the law was the hope. We might The hope
describe the Jewish religion as an ellipse with the law and
the hope as the two foci about which it moved. This hope
we first meet in the Old Testament. It is the hope of the
Messianic kingdom, that at some time Israel's enemies are to

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Influences
from without

Pharisees

be overthrown and she is to reign in triumph. Prophets
like Isaiah give us a wonderful picture of the new earth
that is to come, in which peace and righteousness shall
prevail. Usually, though not always, the prophets spoke of
a Messiah who was to bring in this new kingdom. Such
a hope might be very broad and generous, as in Isa 19. 24,
25 : "In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and
with Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth; for that
Jehovah of hosts hath blessed them, saying, Blessed be
Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and
Israel mine inheritance." But it might be very narrow as
it was in Jesus' day, when the Jews dreamed only of their
own triumph and thought not so much of a reign of
righteousness as of material blessings.

The Jews had resisted every attempt to break down their
peculiar faith and to engulf them in the mixture of religions
and races which made the Hellenistic-Roman world. They
did not, however, remain uninfluenced. This is especially
seen in the changes that took place in the Messianic hope.
We see this in Jewish writings of this period. We hear
about angels and demons. The world is divided into two
opposing forces of light and darkness, and these are to meet
at last in a great conflict which is to bring in the new age.
There are to be resurrection and judgment, heaven and hell.
These ideas, which are lacking in the Old Testament, show
the influence of the East, and especially of Persia.

We have spoken so far as though there were no differences
of religious thought among the Jews. The New Testament
pages show us that there were different parties and classes.
First among these are the Pharisees. They were the separa-
tists, or Puritans, of their day. In the days of the struggle
against Antiochus and the Greek customs they stood for
the law and the separation of Israel from all the pagan life
about them. They favored the strictest observance of the
law and all the rules that had been built around it by
tradition. There were not many of them — Josephus says

THE JEWISH WORLD 25

six thousand — but their intluence with the people was very
great. With them are usuall}' mentioned in the New Testa-
ment the scribes. They were the teachers of the law, the
lawyers, and they usually belonged to the Pharisaic party.
They studied not so much the law as the mass of teachings
about the law which had been handed down from the older
rabbis. Their teaching was simply a remembering and
repeating of these traditions, a dreary and endless process
that sank more and more to trifles and puerilities, while
neglecting "the weightier matters of the law, justice, and
mercy, and faith."

The Sadducees were the aristocrats, the party of the sadducees
priestly nobility. They were conservatives in theology, dis-
regarding the traditions of the scribes, holding only to the
older written law, and refusing more modern doctrines like
those of the resurrection and of spirits. In religion, how-
ever, they represented the more liberal and worldly wing.
They were not so strict in observing the law and were quite
ready to make alliance with the Romans if it would keep
them in power. They had no influence with the people and
their power depended upon their control of the temple.
After the destruction of the temple and the city in the year
70 they disappear.

With all their faults the Pharisees were the real repre- The failure
sentatives of the religious life of the people. But if thev "f f "''6'°°

° _ ^ ^ - o( law

show the strength of Judaism, they show its weakness too.
The religion of the law could not save men. With those
who felt that they had kept the law, like the Pharisees, it
gendered formalism and pride. With others it created
either indifference or despair ; the law was no help, but an
impossible burden. Never did a people show more zeal for
religion. "I bear them witness that they have a zeal for
God," says Paul (Rom 10. 2). But it could not give men
peace of heart or moral victory. Judaism trained the
conscience which she could not still. She stood far above
the other religions of the day. She saw that salvation must

26 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

mean righteousness. Jeremiah had spoken of the law that
was to be written in men's hearts (31. 31-34). Ezekiel
had written of the new spirit that was to be given (36. 26,
27). The psahnist had uttered his great petition, "Create
in me a clean heart, O God ; and renew a right spirit within
me" (51. 10). But the religion of law could not bring this
about. That remained for a new faith.

PART II
JESUS

impression
upon his time

CHAPTER III

JOHN THE BAPTIST

There is no more striking figure in the Bible than that John's
of John the Baptist. Only a few words are given to him in
the Gospels, and yet how clear the picture stands before us :
the rude figure from the desert, the stern message of judg-
ment, the thronging multitudes, the tragic end. For Chris-
tian thought he has been overshadowed b\- Jesus ; on his own
age he made a profound impression. He had no pleasant
doctrine, and yet from Jerusalem and all Judaea there
flocked to his preaching the people of every class — common
folks and proud Pharisees, Sadducean aristocrats and plain
soldiers. His name was upon every lip when Jesus was still
unknown. Men asked one another whether he could be the
Messiah. His stern words reached the palace and led at
last to imprisonment and death. Yet even after his execution
men could not think him dead, and the first reports of
Jesus' work made them ask whether John was not risen
from the dead (Mark 6. 14; 8. 28). Paul found disciples of
his as remote as Ephesus, one of whom became a notable
leader in the church (Acts 18. 25; 19. 1-7). The tragedy
of the end helped to deepen the impression. Apparently
at the height of his power, Herod laid hold upon him.
The Gospels say it was because John had denounced Herod's
sin. Josephus declares that Herod feared lest John, with
his great influence over the people, might lead them to some
rebellion. Perhaps both reasons entered in. In any case,
the prison walls never opened for John again, and his
murder must have followed soon.

We cannot class John with any circle or party of his '^^^ prophet
day. He was, as Jesus said, a prophet. In him there came to
life again that great line of men who were Israel's con-

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

The message

The meaning
of John's
baptism

science and Israel's faith, and whose Uke no other nation
of antiquity can show. Like them, he came with no pomp
or heralding. His message constituted his credentials. He
might have said with Amos, "The Lord Jehovah hath
spoken; who can but prophesy?" John was a preacher,
"the voice of one crying in the wilderness."

The message of John is essentially that of the great
prophets. The great foundation for him, as for them, is
the truth that religion means righteousness. But there is
an urgency in John's message that comes from a special
cause : the kingdom of God is at hand. To the Jews that was
a welcome word. It meant that Jehovah was coming to
judge the nations and deliver his people. The rule of the
hated Romans was to be overthrown and Israel's glory
established. Into this easy-going hope John cuts with the
sharp sword of his word: "Repent ye. The judgment is
coming, but it will not be upon the Gentiles. Rather it will
be a sifting of Israel, and the test will be righteousness.
The Jews will not be saved because they have kept the
form of the law. The Messiah is at hand with his judg-
ment. He will lay his ax at the root of every evil tree. He
will winnow the wheat from the chaff with his fan. My
baptism is with water. His will be with fire that shall burn
up all the dross. The rule of God is at hand; repent and
make ready."

It is in the light of this message that we are to under-
stand the meaning of the baptism to which John invited the
people. This was something different from the practice
of the prophets. Was John, after preaching righteousness,
falling back into the idea that a mere ceremony could have
value in itself? There is no reason for thinking this. The
form itself was familiar to the Jews as a symbol of cleansing
in case of ceremonial defilement (Lev 15 and elsewhere).
It was also used when a Gentile convert, or proselyte, was
enrolled. Both these meanings appear with John, though
not as mere ceremony. It was first a sign of cleansing, of

JOHN THE BAPTIST

to the
message

repentance and turning from evil ; and second an enroll-
ment, a consecration to the new rule of God that was
at hand. It was the outward expression of the accept-
ance of his message : Repent, for the kingdom of God is
at hand.

The remarkable response of the people to John's message The response
was due first to its declaration that the kingdom of God was
at their doors. Chafing under the hated Roman rule, no
wonder that they flocked to him when the rumor of this
message spread. But the deeper and more lasting response
was awakened by his call to repentance. With all her
formalism Israel had a conscience, and a conscience like
that of no other nation of her day. True, her religion had
become largely legalism and her prophets had lost their
first place, but their work had not been in vain. She did
not want such preaching, any more than Florence wanted
Savonarola, but, like Florence, she answered to it, at least
for a time. John's message was fearless and searching.
He pointed out definite sins. And his appeal gained tre-
mendous power because he pictured the Messiah and his
judgment at the door.

The hmitations of John's work are closely joined to its John's
strength. He represents the old at its highest. The moun- "'°'**"°''*
tain peaks of the Old Testament are the prophets, and in
John we hear their message again. But John did not get
beyond the old. Men needed the message of sin and judg-
ment ; but they needed something more — a message of
deliverance. John had gotten no farther than Paul before
his conversion. Paul too knew of law and righteousness
and judgment. But if these were not enough for Paul,
the man of moral earnestness and mighty will, how could
they save the throngs of common folks who came to John's
preaching? That was what Jesus meant when he said that
they that were but little in the kingdom of God were greater
than John. They knew the God of mercy and had learned
to say, "Our Father."

32 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

John and Johii himself knew that his work was not final, but a mere

preparation: "He that cometh after me is mightier than I."
How much farther John went we cannot know surely. He
did not cease his work after Jesus' appearance. He had
disciples who continued faithful, and that, too, long after
his death (Acts 19. 1-7). From his prison he sends a
message to Jesus by his disciples asking whether he be the
expected Messiah or no. Jesus' own estimate of John is
significant (Luke 7. 24-28). He sees his courage, earnest-
ness, and independence, and pays the remarkable tribute:
"Among them that are born of women there is none greater
than John." But the meaning of his work is preparation:

"This is he of whom it is written,
Behold I send my messenger before thy face,
Who shall prepare thy way before thee."

John's greatest work was to make ready the way for Jesus
and to call attention to him.

DIRECTIONS FOR READING AND STUDY

Birth: Luke i. S-25, 57-66, 80. Ministry: Luke 3. 1-20; Mark
I. 1-8; Matt 3. 1-12. Imprisonment: Mark 6. 14-29- Jesus and
John: Luke 7. 18-25.

Read carefully the reports of John's preaching and make a list
of the things he condemned and of the things he demanded.

Read Amos 3 and 4. What points of resemblance are there
between John's preaching and that of Amos?

Write out a simple statement of the facts of John's life as learned
from the Gospels.

CHAPTER IV
BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD

"John Stuart Mill, the great philosopher of positivism, jesusas
once said, that humanity could not be too often reminded of "JJJjy^"*'*'
the fact that there was once a man by the name of Soc-
rates. He was right; but it is more important to remind
humanity again and again that once there stood in her
midst a man by the name of Jesus Christ." To understand
the beginnings of the Christian religion one must first study
Jesus. It is not necessary to construct a biography. The
Gospels do not really afford the material for this. We
may study his life in broad outline, but the great aim is
to get a picture of Jesus himself, what he taught, what he
wrought, and what his spirit and purpose in life were. This
simple life, that came to so early a close, was the turning-
point of human history. What was this life to have produced
this result?

The story of Jesus' birth is given by only two of the four Matthew's
Gospels, and these two give us quite distinct accounts. ^*^°'^*
]\Iatthew's story is as follows : Joseph is informed by an
angel that Mary, to whom he is betrothed, shall bear a
child. To the mother and child in Bethlehem (nothing is
said of Nazareth) there come certain Magi with gifts, led
there by a star. Warned by an angel, Joseph flees to Egypt,
while Herod slays the little children of Bethlehem in the
effort to kill the one that "was born King of the Jews."
Joseph returns after Herod's death, but fears to go to
Judaea on account of Archelaus and so settles at Nazareth
in Galilee (Matt i. i8 to 2. 2T,).

Luke's story is longer and introduces a larger circle. Luke's story
Here it is Mary that is told of the wonderful child who
is to be the deliverer of his people. From their village

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

The two

stories

compared

The meaning
of the story

The virgin
birth

in Nazareth, Joseph and Mary go to their ancestral home
at Bethlehem near Jerusalem because of a census taken
by the Romans. Here she brings forth her child, while
simple shepherds, who have seen a light and heard a won-
derful song, come to worship from the nearby fields. In
Bethlehem they remain until they have fulfilled the re-
quirements of the law, first circumcising the child, then
after thirty-three days presenting the child in the temple
and offering for the mother the simple sacrifice that was
asked of the poor. This done, they return to Nazareth
(Luke 2. 1-39).

About these stories there has been a great deal of discus-
sion, and principally for two reasons : first, because of the
differences between them ; second, because of the story of
the virgin birth. As to the former, the differences include
not only those in the two stories just told but in the gen-
ealogies which both give. It is plain that the writers had
formed quite different pictures as to how the birth of Jesus
occurred. How far they can be reconciled is not really an
important matter. They agree as to the parents of the
child, the place of the birth and later home, and the won-
derful manner and meaning of that birth.

What is more important is to appreciate the beautiful
simplicity of the story, especially as told by Luke. There
is no stronger witness to its essential truth. It is not such
a story as men would have invented for the coming of a
king. The humble parents, the rude stable, the simple
shepherds, the quiet return home again — nothing could be
simpler, more human than this. The essential faith of the
early church is set forth here in truest manner. For that
church the life of Jesus was first of all a normal human
life, just as is shown here. Secondly, it was a life from
God, the life in which God came to men.

As to the story of the virgin birth, it has been pointed
out that the rest of the New Testament is silent upon this,
and that in Luke there is but a single clause that refers

BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD 35

to it. Two points should be made clear here. One is
that the virgin birth was evidently not essential for the
faith of the early church. Paul and John, who say nothing
concerning it, are the two writers who give us the highest
conception of the divinity of Jesus. The other is, that to the
church it has always seemed the fitting conception of the
mode of the coming of the Messiah. It is always to be re-
membered, however, that it is the character and life of
Jesus which lead us to believe in the virgin birth, and
not the virgin birth which leads us to believe in Jesus.

The exact date of Jesus' birth is not known, neither The date of
month nor day nor year. It was not till the sixth century *^* ^"*^
that men began to date events from the birth of Christ. It
was a Roman monk, Dionysius the Little, that proposed it.
His reckoning was not accurate, and the date of the birth
is probably about 5 B. C. So much is known, that the civ-
ilized world to-day, in every event that its histories record
and every document of business or of news, pays tribute to
that humble birth as the turning point of history.

Of the home life of Jesus there is little to be said. His The Nazareth
father is not mentioned in the Gospels, and tradition says
that he died early. That must have meant burdens of labor
and responsibility for Jesus as the oldest son. There were
at least seven children (]\Iatt 13. 55, 56), five of them sons.
It must have been a very humble home, probably but a
single room, and that used for the carpenter work as well.
But it must have been a very rich home. When we think
of the Jews of Jesus' day, we are apt to call up the New
Testament pictures of the formal Pharisees or the worldly
Sadducees. The first pages of Luke show us another
circle. Here are Elisabeth and Zacharias, Simeon and
Anna, Joseph and Mary. The songs of Mary and Zach-
arias and the words of Elisabeth and Simeon show us the
atmosphere in which these people moved, the simple piety
and the earnest expectation with which they looked for the
day of deliverance of their nation. There must have been

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

The educa-
tion of a
Jewish boy

many such simple, quiet lives in which the noblest spirit of
the Old Testament psalms and prophetic writings lived on.
And such was Jesus' home. We are told that Joseph was a
just, or kind, man. A devout man he must have been. He
gave his sons the old patriarchal names: Jesus (or Joshua),
James (or Jacob), Joseph, Simon, and Judas. Jesus' own
words seem to give us suggestions of what that home life
was. When he prays in the garden he uses the simple
word that Alary taught him to call Joseph as a little child,
the Aramaic word for father, "Abba." He cannot think of
a father who would give his child a stone for bread. Many
of his illustrations must have been taken from the old
home: the dough swelling and bubbling with the leaven,
the housewife sweeping the dark room for the lost coin,
the hungry children crowding around for a bit of bread,
the father abed at night with his children about him in
the one room of the house and unwilling to get up for the
neighbor who comes to borrow a loaf.

We can form some picture also of the training which
Jesus received. No other nation had such a system of edu-
cation as the Jews. It was for all children, not for the
few. The theme of instruction was the law. "Ask one of us
concerning the laws," says Josephus, the Jewish historian,
"and he can recite them all more readily than he could
repeat his own name." The mother began the work at
home, which was taken up by the father, and probably
carried on in the elementary village school connected with
the synagogue. The first words that Jesus thus learned at
home were probably the noble opening words from the
Shema, or confession of faith : "Hear, O Israel : Jehovah
our God is one Jehovah : and thou shalt love Jehovah thy
God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all
thy might" (Deut 6. 4). The various festivals of the
Jewish year, marking the great events in Jewish history,
were a part of this education, as were also the regular
gatherings at the synagogue. Luke tells how Jesus in his

BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD ^j

early ministry "came to Nazareth, where he had been
brought up : and he entered, as his custom was, into the
synagogue on the Sabbath day."

At the same time it is important to reahze that Jesus The influence
was brought up in GaHlee, not in Jerusalem or Judaea.
There was a wide gulf between the religion of the prophets
and psalmists that filled his heart, and the deadly formal-
ism, the slavery of the letter, the narrow bigotry and pride
that opposed him when he came to work as a man. There
is a humanness in his spirit, a breadth in his outlook, a
simplicity and directness in his teaching, that we cannot
associate with the streets of Jerusalem or the classrooms of
the rabbis.

One incident from the boyhood days tells us how deeply The first
the training took hold upon this youth. At the age of jg^^sriem
twelve or thirteen years the Jewish boy became a man in
matters of religion and assumed the full duties of the faith.
One of these was the journey thrice a year to the great
feasts at Jerusalem. The story of Jesus' first visit is the
only break in the silence that rests upon the years from
infancy to the day when he began his ministry. Later
legends tell of a precocious child confounding the learned
doctors in the temple by superhuman knowledge. Luke's
picture is very simple, though deeply suggestive. It is
that of a boy already thoughtful about the deep things of
life, and so stirred by the city and the temple and the
solemn ceremonies of the passover feast that he forgets
parents and all as he tarries in the temple. His one passion
is already the business of his Father. But it is all normal
and wholesome. He goes back as the dutiful son, and his
life unfolds as a boy's life should, growing in mind and
body, in the esteem of parents and friends, and in fellowship
with God (Luke 2. 40-52).

One other element in his training must be noted. As The training
the boy grew older, he came to know a larger world than '^^^^ ^^^^^^
his home and village. We know how deeply, the world of

38 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

nature impressed Jesus. Paul speaks of cities and soldiers
and athletic contests ; Jesus of birds and flowers, of fields
and flocks, of storms and sunsets. The Galilee of his day
was a beautiful and most fertile country. And then there
was the larger world of men. It has been a common
mistake to think of Nazareth as a quiet spot far from
the life of the great world, where Jesus was nurtured in
seclusion. That is far from the truth. The village itself
was not large, perhaps of but a few thousand inhabitants,
and it was hid away in a basin of the hills. But above it
rose the crest of these hills some fifteen hundred feet higher
than the sea level. How often Jesus must have looked out
from those heights upon "the kingdoms of the world, and
the glory of them." The smiling waters of Galilee lay
scarce more than fifteen miles to the east. Only a few
miles farther to the northwest was the Mediterranean. Near
by ran north and south the great highway which for cen-
turies joined the ancient kingdoms of Egypt and Babylonia,
along which so many armies had marched to victory or
defeat. Just below, to the south, was the great plain of
Esdraelon, where so many of Israel's battles had been fought.
All about was the teeming life of Galilee, with its numberless
villages and cities. The Roman world had crowded in
here. Jesus heard the Greek language spoken and the
Scriptures read in the Greek translation, and must have
known the language himself, though he probably preferred
the Aramaic. From the hills above his home he must have
seen at times the Roman legions on their march, and Roman
rulers with their brilliant following. Something of what
happened in the great Roman world he knew, for in one
of his parables he uses the incident of the embassy that
was sent after Archelaus, when this son of Herod went to
Rome to get his kingdom.

DIRECTIONS FOR READING AND STUDY

Matt I. i8 to 2. 2i; Luke i. 26 to 2. 52.

Write out the incidents of the annunciation and birth as given

BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD 39

respectively by Matthew and Luke. Note the apparent differences
and points of agreement.

Read carefully the songs of Mary, Zacharias, and Simeon. What
book of writings in the Old Testament do they resemble? What
is their central thought or interest? What do they suggest as to
the character of these persons? With the aid of a Bible that has
marginal references, make a list of the Old Testament passages that
are used or alluded to. Compare Mary's song with i Sam 2. i-io.

CHAPTER V
THE CALL AND THE TEMPTATION

The years
of quiet

The spirit of
the young
man

Jesus and
the preaching
of John

Among the hearers of John there had been many who
came down from GaHlee. Jesus had been among that num-
ber. It was John's word that called him forth at last
from the quiet of Nazareth to begin his life task. He was
about thirty when that work began. What had taken
place in these years of boyhood and young manhood? Of
all that time since he was twelve we have no record of a
word. The life that we do know, however, seems to
make some things clear about these earlier years.

In the first place, Jesus' life shows no sign of any moral
break in it. If we turn to great leaders like Paul and
Augustine and Luther, we get a very different picture.
Their Christian life stands forth from an earlier back-
ground of doubt and sin. They bear the marks of struggle
and the scars of past defeat. That is true of all the great
spiritual leaders — except Jesus. The spirit that is shown in
the boy in the temple filled his young manhood: the sense
of a close fellowship with his Father, and the passion to
do God's will. With these two there was a third: the
growing conviction as to the deliverance that Jehovah was
to bring his people. He shared that hope with the rest
of the nation, but with one great difference: with them it
was the deliverance from the rule of Rome, while Jesus
saw that it was the rule of evil in men's lives that was to be
overthrown. How often at dusk or dawn had he looked
out from the hill above Nazareth and asked what his part
was to be in God's plan.

No wonder that the news of John's work found a response
in him. "The kingdom is at hand." John was preaching
not the overthrow of Rome but repentance for sin. And

THE CALL AND THE TEMPTATION 41

the people were answering to the call. This was God's
doing. To Jesus it was a call to be about his Father's
business. And so he joins John's hearers and offers him-
self for baptism. Many have wondered how Jesus could
offer himself for a baptism of repentance. But we have
seen that this was not the only or the final meaning of
the rite. John vras another Elijah, summoning the people
to stand for this coming Jehovah or against him. Jesus
was ready to stand with John and with them, only it did
not mean for him repentance from an evil past as it did
with them. He was but showing in public the pledge of
allegiance which had ruled his whole life.

Mark's account of what happened at the baptism is the The baptism
simplest as it is the oldest. "And straightway coming out ^
of the water, he saw the heavens rent asunder, and the
Spirit as a dove descending upon him: and a voice came
out of the heavens, Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I
am well pleased" (Mark i. 10, 11). A young man's greatest
question is that of his life calling. Not till he was thirty
had the answer come to Jesus, for there is no sign that
he knew before this time that he was to be the deliverer of
the people. He had heard John's stirring words, had looked
at the throngs that bent under them, and had realized that
the day of deliverance was at hand. Now as he came out
of the water he heard his call, "Thou art my beloved Son."
These words are taken from the second psalm. It was a
Messianic psalm for the Jews, and the Son meant the Mes-
siah. It was the Father's call to him: "The kingdom is at
hand, and thou art my Son; thou art to be the deliverer,
the Messiah."

Jesus had always lived in fellowship with God. Now The forty
there came a new sense of God's presence to his soul, stirred ^^^ °*

. . prayer

to its depths at the same time by the sense of what his life
was to be. He must find solitude to meditate. Mark says
that he was "driven" by the Spirit into the wilderness. It
was the same need that drove him again and again in later

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

The
temptation

The story
from Jesus

Jesus' use
of picture
language

(lays to places of quiet. When he chooses his disciples,
in the hour before his arrest, and at other great turning
points of his life, we find him on the mountainside or be-
neath the trees in prayer. So at this time he goes forth to
gather strength and to meditate upon the work he is to do.

Out of this last comes his temptation. We have it in
strange picture form. The devil appears to him. He bids
Jesus turn stones to bread, lest he perish from hunger.
He carries him to a temple pinnacle and bids him cast
himself down. He shows him from a mountain the king-
doms of the world and offers them to Jesus if he will
worship him.

First of all we must remember that this story could come
only from Jesus himself. It is not unlikely that he told
it to his disciples in those last days when he had set his
face to go to Jerusalem. They saw his danger from his
foes. He was teaching them that death might come, that
it was his duty simply to do God's will, and that it was such
self-sacrifice that was to bring in the kingdom and not any
outward triumph. At such a time he may have told them
the story of his own first period of temptation. Studied
thoughtfully, it is a story of supreme value for our under-
standing of Jesus' life and work. It is a bit of autobiography
in which Jesus reveals his inmost self.

We must remember, in the second place, that it is a pic-
ture form which Jesus uses. This picture language was
Jesus' common method as a teacher, and he uses it not
simply in the parables. He speaks of the devil here just
as when he says to Peter, "Get thee behind me, Satan,"
and for the same reason, for he sees in Peter's suggestion
the same evil that he discerned in the tempting thoughts
that came to him in the wilderness. Thus, at another time,
when he welcomed back the disciples who had been out
preaching and healing, Jesus did not say, "This is the be-
ginning of the overthrow of evil." He said, "I beheld
Satan fallen as lightning from heaven." The significant

THE CALL AND THE TEMPTATION 43

fact is not that there was a literal bodily Satan whom Jesus
allowed to carry him to temple and mountain, but that
Jesus in the thoughts and conflicts of those days saw through
many of the ideas which the people held as to the Mes-
siah, and knew that they were evil.

What, then, was the conflict? The question which con- The conflict:
cerned Jesus in those days was this : What is the nature ^"'^ should

11 -1 he do his

of the kingdom to be, and how shall the Messiah do his work?
work? What the people expected we know. The enemies
of Israel were to be cast down. Israel was to be delivered
from want and oppression. She was to have her place
of rule and glory, and the nations were to bow down be-
fore her. This was not the picture in the heart of Jesus.
It was not this that attracted him to John. The kingdom
of God, or the kingship of God, meant God's rule in the
hearts of men, as well as the overthrow of all evil and suf-
fering and wrong in the world. But in one point he agreed
with them: God was to establish this kingdom and the
Messiah was to proclaim it and bring it in. And so the
personal question came at the end of his meditation : How
was the Messiah to do his work and what was to become
of him?

The order of the temptations we do not know. Matthew jesus wiii
and Luke differ. Both Matthew and Luke susfsfest that the °°* ^'"'. ^^^

bb^

people by

temptation as to the bread came at the end of the forty working
days. We will put this last and follow Matthew in the •^a<=i«s
other two. If such be the order, then the first question
was this: How shall I announce myself to the people? If
I am to preach to them and lead them, I must prove that
I am the Messiah. Is it not written of the Messiah, that
Jehovah's angels will keep him, lest he dash his foot against
a stone? (Psa 91. 11, 12.) Why not cast myself down from
a temple pinnacle before the multitudes? They will see
that I am the Messiah and follow me. But Jesus' clear
vision sees that such a plan is of the Evil One. That would
be tempting God, not trusting him. It would be gaining

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Jesus will
not win by
compromise

Not self-
saving, but
trust and
obedience

an outward following, not a spiritual allegiance. Jesus
refused to be a mere miracle-worker. He used his power to
help men, not to dazzle them.

The next question also concerned the method of his work.
How could God's kingdom be established in the world if
all the power of the world were against it ? Why not make
some concessions at the beginning, perhaps make some sort
of alliance with the regular leaders of the people? Or it
might be possible to enlist the thousands who were ready
to follow a leader if they saw it meant Israel's triumph.
Once gained, it would be time enough to teach them the
higher spiritual truth of the kingdom. Many leaders have
yielded to this temptation of compromise. Not so Jesus.
He saw that this was simply the prince of the world offer-
ing him its kingdoms if he would fall down and worship.
"Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God," was his answer.
His trust would be absolutely in God, and in God only.

These temptations must not be conceived as coming at
one time. They were at the heart of the whole matter which
filled his mind in those forty days. The third temptation,
we are told, came at the close of this period. He had for-
gotten about food. Now he was seized with sudden weak-
ness and hunger. If he were the Messiah, why not turn
these stones to bread? What would become of the king-
dom if the deliverer should perish? Was it not his first
duty to preserve himself? Here too he conquered. No,
the first duty was not to preserve himself; it was to do
the will of God. That in the end is what man must live
by, not bread but the "word that proceedeth out of the
mouth of God." It was the same answer as before, obedi-
ence and trust, and this too Jesus carried through his life.
He knew his power and he used it, but always for others,
never for himself. They taunted him when he was on the
cross, "He saved others; himself he cannot save" (Matt 27.
42). But that was what he had been doing all his life —
saving others, not himself.

THE CALL AND THE TEMPTATION 45

Three things are inade clear by this story. ( i ) The spir-
itual insight of Jesus. How clearly he sees the principles
at stake. What all other men are saying does not confuse
him or lead him astray. (2) The moral victory of Jesus.
Whatever powers may oppose him, whatever danger or ap-
parent defeat may threaten, he trusts only in God and will
obey him alone. (3) The human life of Jesus. He is
victorious in temptation, but he is not untempted. There is
real fighting here, and it comes not once but again and
again.

DIRECTIONS FOR READING AND STUDY

Mark i. 9-13; Matt 3. 13 to 4. 11; Luke 3. 21 to 4. 13.

Compare carefully the three accounts of the baptism and note
the differences, observing that Mark is the oldest. Is the tendency
to literalize figures of speech modern or ancient?

Are there any moral difficulties in the way of literalizing the story
of the temptation? Would it have been a real temptation if a
literal Satan had stood before him, or had carried him physically
to a temple pinnacle?

Read the story of Gethsemane in Mark 14. 32-42. Note the na-
ture of the temptation and the way Jesus met it. Is there any
analogy in these two points between this and the wilderness temp-
tation ?

CHAPTER VI
THE BEGINNINGS
J,^^ , It is not easv to trace the outline of Jesus' life in the

Gospels not ^ ' "^

biographies Gospels. The Gospels are not biographies, and do not
claim to be. The fourth Gospel states what is the common
purpose of all: "These are written, that ye may believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God" (John 20. 31).
The Gospels are sermons rather than biographies. In them
the materials are collected which the early church used for
its preaching. Their interest is to set forth Jesus, that men
may believe, not to describe the development of his life or
the progress of his work. The first chapters, it is true, give
us the story of the beginnings, and at the close there is the
story of his sufferings and death. But we cannot be sure
of the order of what comes in between. It is not even
known how long the period of Jesus' ministry was, and
scholars have estimated it at from one to three years or more.

The stages gy^- -^hiig ^e cauuot tracc out a biography, there are

of the life . , ..

certain questions that must be raised. How did Jesus begin
his work, and what was his aim? How did he wan his
disciples, and how did he make his enemies? And how, in
the end, did his death come about? To these questions, the
Gospel of Mark, the oldest of the four, gives some reply.
If the suggestions of Mark be followed, five stages in the
life and work of Jesus may be traced, (i) Jesus begins
his ministry in Galilee, teaching and ministering to men,
drawing great multitudes in apparent success, and gath-
ering a few special followers about him. (2) As the mean-
ing of his teaching becomes clear a change takes place. The
people desert him because he does not fulfill their hopes of
an earthly kingdom. The scribes and Pharisees grow
bitterly hostile because he attacks their teaching and threat-

TT-IE BEGINNINGS

ens their leadership. The little group of his disciples, how-
ever, through Peter, confesses its faith in him as the Messiah.
(3) More and more Jesus withdraws from the crowds and
gives himself to the training of the inner circle of his dis-
ciples. (4) Finally he turns toward Jerusalem, realizing
the danger, but convinced that by his death he is to save
men, and that he will return again and set up the Kingdom.
(5) His last appeal to the people fails after a brief outburst
of enthusiasm, and his life closes with his trial and cruci-
fixion. We shall study the work of Jesus according to this
outline, taking up his teachings separately.

How did Jesus begin his work? According to the syn-
optic Gospels, Jesus began his work quietly and simply as
a teacher. Why Jesus did this we can understand from
the last chapter. The temptation story shows that he clearly
recognized the gulf that lay between his idea of the king-
dom and that of the people. With the latter, the kingdom
meant an earthly realm. The Messiah was one that would
come with splendor and deeds of power, overthrowing their
foes and establishing this political realm. For Jesus the
Kingdom was spiritual and ethical, a kingdom of right-
eousness and love. The great obstacle for them was their
enemies. The great obstacle for Jesus was ignorance and
sin. To have announced himself as Messiah would have
defeated all his higher ends. There was only one thing to
do. He had fought out the question in the wilderness. He
must teach this people the true meaning of the Kingdom,
and he must preach to this people and lead them to peni-
tence and to a new life with God.

The fourth Gospel gives a most vivid and interesting
narrative of the beginnings of Jesus' work in Judaea. We
read here how he meets certain Galilreans among the fol-
lowers of John the Baptist : Andrew and his brother Peter,
Philip and probably John, with Nathanael. Such a meet-
ing would explain how Jesus later called these men in
Galilee and how they followed him. The later call was not

Jesus begins
as a teacher

Jesus in
Judaea

48 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

a chance meeting and was not at first sight ; the men them-
selves were men whom he had thus had opportunity to meet
before. There are other reasons for thinking that Jesus
began his work in Judaea. Mark suggests this when he
says that Jesus came into Galilee "after John was delivered
up" (Mark i. 14). It seems implied in Jesus' words of
lament over Jerusalem, "How often would I have gathered
thy children together" (Luke 13. 34). If Jesus' ministry
lasted more than one year, it is probable that he would at
least have attended the yearly passover feasts at Jerusalem.
Jesus begins j^ jg ^.^ Q^ijiee that we must turn, however, and to Mark's

at Capernaum ' _ '

Gospel, for the first clear and definite account of Jesus'
public work. Whatever he may have done in Judaea, it is
Galilee that he chooses for the real field of his labor. The
city where he begins is not Nazareth, but Capernaum. To
this he may well have been led because his friends Peter and
Andrew lived there. But there was a stronger reason. Ca-
pernaum was a populous city lying on the northwest shore
of Lake Galilee, being the chief port for the fishermen of
the lake. Round about it lay the most fruitful and populous
regions of the province. By it swept the great road that
led from Damascus to the Mediterranean. Jesus was here
in the midst of a busy pulsing life. Here he could bring
his message to the people and from this center he could go
through the villages of Galilee. It is Capernaum, with the
nearby cities of Chorazin and Bethsaida, that Jesus declared
had seen his mighty works (Matt 11. 20-24).
Jesus as Wg have sccu why Jesus would begin his work by teach-

ing and preaching, and this is the way in which the
Gospels represent it. "Jesus came into Galilee, preaching
the gospel of God" (Mark i. 14). "He went round
about the villages teaching" (Mark 6. 6). "He was
preaching in the synagogues of Galilee" (Luke 4. 44).
The scribe, or teacher, was a familiar figure with the Jews.
Such a life on Jesus' part would excite no wonder. But
the people very soon saw with wonder the difference be-

prophet

THE BEGINNINGS 49

tween Jesus and the scribes. The teaching of the scribes
all looked to the past, to the law that God had once given
and to the traditions that had been built up around it. Jesus
spoke directly out of his own heart. "And they were as-
tonished at his teaching; for he taught them as having au-
thority" (Mark i. 22). And so they called him a prophet,
a John or an Elijah (Mark 6. 15 ; 8. 28). They rejoiced to
think that God had thus come to them again (Luke 7. 16).
Even after his death it was as "a prophet mighty in deed
and word" that his disciples spoke of him (Luke 24. 19).
His relation to the prophets was evident in his teaching.
It was not the priestly and legal side of the Old Testa-
ment that appeared in him, but the prophetic. Their dis-
regard of form and ritual, their appeal to conscience, their
emphasis on righteousness, all reappear in his teaching.

And yet Jesus was not simply a prophet even in his J^^"^ ™o''«
teaching. The prophets had the special word which was prophet
given to them to speak. They came with a "Thus saith
the Lord," and spoke only as commanded. Jesus' message
is not simply a word given to him. It is a spirit and a
life within him. Out of the fullness of that life he speaks.
It is no formal message. It is the giving of a life. He
gives it in the synagogue or b}' the wayside, to the throng-
ing multitudes, to the little group of his friends, or to some
single soul. He can speak with the passion and power of
the prophet, but he can stop to comfort a poor woman or
greet a child. And the difference is even more plain in his
life. He is more than a messenger ; he is a neighbor, a com-
rade, a friend. He is not the stern executor of fiery judgment
that John saw. He can stop to caress the children in the
marketplace. He has time for a wedding feast, or to meet
Levi's friends at a dinner party, or to rest at the fireside
of his intimates. He drew the line at no class. They
criticized him because he accepted table hospitality even
from "sinners." On the other hand, he was not afraid of
the homes of the rich. But we must remember one other

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

The call of
the first
disciples

Jesus and the
synagogue

In the

synagogue at
Nazareth

thing as we picture this ministry that was so different
from that of rabbi or priest or even prophet: while Jesus
Hved this common Hfe, he never suffered it to be common-
place. He touched all this life only to bless it, and his
greatest blessing was to light it up everywhere with the
divine life and meaning.

Mark pictures to us with vivid detail the first days at
Capernaum. We can understand this detailed knowledge
when we remember the probability that it was from Peter
himself that Mark obtained this story. Its first Incident is
the call of the two pairs of brothers, Simon Peter and An-
drew, James and John, all of them fishermen. They had
been among those that had answered to John's call, but they
had seen in Jesus the One greater than John. Now that
he was ready to take up his public work, they were ready
to follow him.

The Sabbath at Capernaum comes next. Luke tells
us that Jesus was accustomed to go to the synagogue on
the Sabbath (4. 16). The custom may not only have been
for the sake of worship, but because the synagogue worship
afforded him, as later on with Paul, an opportunity to give
his message. No institution is connected more closely with
the beginnings of Christianity than the synagogue. Its
worship was simple and democratic. It laid stress upon
teaching, as does the Protestant Church with its pulpit and
with its Sunday school. It was no mere place of ritual,
like the temple. At a stated place in the service there was
opportunity for exhortation or for explanation of the Scrip-
tures that had been read. Any one might be called upon
here, but especially a visiting teacher or scribe. Here
Jesus spoke and astounded them because he did not quote
Rabbi This or Rabbi That, but "taught them as having
authority."

What Jesus' message was Mark does not record. Luke,
however, reports a synagogue address which Jesus gave
in his home town of Nazareth (Luke 4. 16-22). This must

THE BEGINNINGS 51

have occurred later in Jesus' ministry. We take it up
here because it gives another synagogue scene and because
in it Jesus speaks of the aims of his ministry. We can
easily imagine the little village synagogue crowded with
Jesus' neighbors and boy-time friends, eager to see and
hear the young man whose teachings and doings had made
such a stir. From the roll of the prophet Isaiah which is
given to him Jesus chooses his lesson. The beautiful pas-
sage is the confession of his purpose, and descriptive of the
work which filled his days at this time :

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

Because he anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor :

He hath sent me to proclaim release to the captives,

And recovering of sight to the blind,

To set at liberty them that are bruised.

To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.

Jesus' message begins like that of John. First comes The good
the good news, the word which we translate "gospel" : The
longed-for kingdom is at the door, the acceptable year is
at hand, the rule of God is about to be established. So
near at hand did he feel it that he could say, a little later,
"There are some here of them that stand by, who shall in
no wise taste of death till they see the kingdom of God
come with power" (Mark 9. i). Men were to repent, as
John declared, but they were to do much more ; they were
to live like children of their Father by being pure of heart
and kindly and merciful in deed. This teaching we mtist
study more fully later. The deeds of healing which Mark
records in this story of that first Capernaum Sabbath will
occupy the next chapter.

DIRECTIONS FOR READING AND STUDY

Alark i. 14-28: Luke 4. 14-22; 5. i-ii; John i. 35-51.

Locate upon the map Capernaum, Chorazin, and Bethsaida.
Using the scale of miles, estimate their distance apart. Note the
relative position of Nazareth to these three and its approximate
distance.

news

52 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Look carefully through the first five chapters of Mark and note
(i) the number of passages which refer to Jesus as teaching, and
(2) the number which refer to the crowds of people that came to
him. Make a list of the passages in both cases.

Make a list of the different places and conditions in which Jesus
taught as referred to in these five chapters.

Read carefully the accounts of the call of the first disciples as
given by Mark, Luke, and John in the references above. Are they
necessarily exclusive of each other?

CHAPTER VII
THE MINISTRY OF HEALING

We have seen that, like John the Baptist, Jesus was a
preacher, and he put his work of preaching and teaching
first. But that was not all of Jesus' work, and a study of
their lives shows the marked contrast between the two men.
Jesus himself notes the difference in quoting the perverse
criticism of their common enemies : "John is come neither
eating nor drinking, and ye say. He hath a demon. The Son
of man is come eating and drinking, and ye say. Behold, a
gluttonous man and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and
sinners !" Back of this caricature lay the truth, John was
an ascetic and lived apart. He was "a voice crying in the
wilderness." Jesus was a man among men. He had open
eyes for the beauties of nature : he notes sunset and storm-
clouds and lightning flash, the sprouting wheat and ripening
grain, and all the life of out-of-doors. Above all, the
world of human life appeals to him. He has his close
friends. He craves companions. He accepts hospitality.
He is found even at the table of the rich; indeed, to one
rich man's home he invites himself (Luke 19. 5). He goes
to the quiet places for prayer, but he comes back to the
crowded ways to live. He chooses busy Capernaum, not
little Nazareth, populous Decapolis and not the wilderness.
We find him by the lakeside with the fishermen, at the
customhouse, in the market place or the synagogue; and
everywhere he is talking with men.

Two reasons lie back of this difference between Jesus
and John. One lies in the spirit of Jesus, his broad hu-
manity, his intense sympathy. The Gospels show this sym-
pathy again and again: when the sick are brought to him,
when he sees the people scattered as sheep without a shep-

Jesus in
contrast with
John

The reasons
for the
difference

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Demon
possession

Three

healings

herd, when he flames in anger against the Pharisees because
these leaders are only leading folks astray, "blind leaders
of the blind." He will not let the little children be pushed
aside. He will not send the multitudes away hungry. He
hears the cry of the blind man by the roadside despite the
crowds. The second reason lay in Jesus' conception of
his work. John was the herald. Jesus was the Aiessiah.
The kingdom was already present in him, if only in its
beginning. Men's sins were being forgiven and their sick-
ness healed. That was what the rule of God meant, and
that was what he was come for, "not to be ministered unto,
but to minister." And that was why he pointed the dis-
ciples whom John sent to these works (Alatt ii. 2-6). Thus
both Jesus' spirit of sympathy and his idea of his work
impelled him to a ministry far broader than that of John.

The ministry of service may be considered under two
heads. There is, first, the ministry of healing, in which
Jesus dealt with demon possession and other forms of sick-
ness ; and there is the ministry of forgiveness which shows
Jesus in his relation to sinners.

The Old Testament has httle to say about spirits, evil
or good. The New Testament world seems to be filled
with them. The belief in them came from without, from
Persia, in the last couple of centuries before Christ. Men
were thought to be in constant danger of having evil spirits
enter them. Their presence was the explanation of special
forms of disease such as seemed to demand some unusual
cause. Among these were particularly mental and nervous
disorders, like insanity and epilepsy, as well as diseases
like paralysis and lepros3\ There seem to have been cases
also of moral degeneracy, where we read of unclean spirits.

Mark's Gospel gives us three typical cases. The first
occurs in the Capernaum synagogue on that first Sunday.
This may have been a man of evil life, whom Jesus aroused
by the power of his appeal. The case served to stir the
people and spread Jesus' fame at the very beginning. The

THE MINISTRY OF HEALING 55

second is the man in the Gerasene country across the lake
from Capernaum, a case of violent insanity, the poor wretch
living as an outcast among the tombs (Mark 5. 1-20), The
third is a case of epilepsy, that of a boy whom the disciples
had first tried in vain to heal.

Such cases of demoniac healing were an undoubted part Forjesus
of Jesus' work. We cannot, of course, be sure of all details, ^^j '^p "^^
iVs to Jesus' own conception we cannot tell. So far overcome
as ordinary knowledge is concerned, we find him else-
where sharing the opinions of his time. In any case his
religious insight here is true. The evil spirits are here only
to be overcome. There is no room for the superstition and
fear which usually goes with the belief in demons, only
the perfect confidence in the power and goodness of his
Father.

The same day at Capernaum brings to Jesus the second J^^"^ ^^^

til 6 sick

class of the needy to whom he ministered, the sick. Return-
ing home after the synagogue service, he heals Peter's
mother-in-law, whom he finds ill with a fever. This, joined
to the case of the demoniac, rouses the city. No sooner
is the sun set and the Sabbath over, according to Jewish
reckoning, than they begin bringing the sick to the door of
Peter's house for Jesus to heal. Mark does not say that
he healed them all, but that "he healed many that were sick
with divers diseases and cast out many demons."

It was enough to still further move the city. Jesus had Jesus will
no need to fear a lack of following. A great ministry a mere healer
seemed to be opening to him at Capernaum. But Jesus
judged the situation differently. Here were the elements of
danger that he had fought against in his temptation. It
was not a spiritual following won by his message. It was
a popular and outward success won by these signs of power.
And Jesus puts it aside. He will not become a worker of
signs. His great work is not here. It is to bring to men's
minds a vision of God, to their hearts a new spirit in prepara-
tion for the coming Kingdom. The crowds that come early

a fact

56 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

in the morning do not find him. He has been meeting this
new crisis, as he met the first, in a desert place in prayer.
His decision is ready when the disciples find him: "Let us
go elsewhere into the next towns, that I may preach there
also; for to this end came I forth" (Mark i. 38). He does
not cease his ministry of healing. He is moved with com-
passion when the leper comes. But he charges him sternly
to tell no man about it (Mark i. 40-45).
The healings These stories of healing have been the cause of a great
deal of discussion. Scholars of all kinds to-day are gener-
ally inclined to admit them. They are so deeply embedded
in the gospel narratives that they could hardly be taken out
without giving up the entire gospel story. How they were
wrought it is neither necessary nor possible for us to
determine. It is important to notice that Jesus performed
these cures out of sympathy for men, and not to atract men
or win their faith. He did not want a following that was
due to signs and wonders. He wanted a moral and spiritual
faith and insight. Such a faith is still of most importance
with his followers.

DIRECTIONS FOR READING AND STUDY

Read and compare the three stories of the healings of demoniacs
found in Mark i. 23-27; 5. 1-20; 9. 14-29.

Does Jesus' word of heaHng seem to have been conditioned by
what he found in others? Illustrate answer from following pas-
sages: Luke 7. i-io; Mark 5. 21-43; 10. 46-52; Matt 15. 21-28.

Note Jesus' motive in this ministry as given Matt 9. 35-38.

Make a list of the passages in the first eight chapters of Mark
which refer to the crowds about Jesus, noting the indications as
to the reasons for his popularity.

What was Jesus' attitude as to the demand for miracles, and
his estimate of their value in his work? Read Matt 12. 38-42 and
note Mark 5. 43; 7. 36; 8. 26.

CHAPTER VIII
THE MINISTRY OF FORGIVENESS

There was another class of people with whom Jesus came jesus and
in contact at the very beginning of the Capernaum ministry. ** sinners
They are referred to as the sinners. Nothing in Jesus'
ministry caused more comment and more criticism than his
relations with these people, and nothing is more character-
istic of his spirit.

The word "sinners" in these references is not used in The Pharisaic
exactly our sense. We must not be misled by the fact that reUgion
harlots and publicans are sometimes specially mentioned in and of sin
this connection. By sinners are not always meant the
morally reprobate. The idea of sin depends upon the idea
of religion. With the Jewish leaders at this time, religion
meant the keeping of a great sum of rules which touched
every part of a Jew's life. These were supposed to be the
laws of Moses, all taken from the Old Testament. As a
matter of fact, they consisted for the most part of the
"traditions of the elders," the endless rules on all subjects
that had been deduced from these laws and built up around
them. In large part they centered about the idea of cere-
monial purity. Everything was divided into clean and
unclean: food, vessels, people, acts, and objects. Minute
rules governed all these points as well as the endless routine
of sacrifices, gifts, washings, bathings, prayers, penances,
and the like.

To live this life according to the highest standards of ^^**
that time required knowledge and leisure and money. The required
scribes were the experts in this field, and so are sometimes
called lawyers. It took leisure because it required time to
fulfill such a round of duties. It took money because it
interfered with ordinary business. That was especially true

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Publicans

Jesus'
attitude

Jesus for-
gives the
paralytic

in Galilee, where there were so many non-Jews, to mingle
with whom meant impurity. The Pharisees were the strict
keepers of the law. As such they were held in the highest
esteem by the common people. This esteem they returned
with contempt (John 7. 49). The poor Jew in our large
cities to-day is handicapped in just the same way if he is
strictly orthodox. Many of these work only five days in
the week. They will not work on Saturday and cannot
work on Sunday, and sometimes they are driven to the
pedlar's pushcart because men will not hire them in other
occupations for only five days.

Of course the sinners included also the immoral. Among
these the tax collectors especially stood forth. The tax-
gatherer is not popular even to-day. He was doubly
hateful to the Jews. In part the Roman system of
farming out taxes was responsible. The contractor for a
given province paid the government a fixed svmi and
squeezed this sum, and as much more as he could get, from
the people. His ol^cers, or agents, were the publicans
whom we meet in the Gospels. Some occupied higher
positions, like Zacchseus, and were correspondingly rich.
Some were of the rank and file, as, apparently, Matthew.
Aside from their exactions, the Jews hated these because
they were renegades, men who took sides for hire with the
hated Roman master.

For all these people the heart of Jesus stirred with sym-
pathy. They were as sheep not having a shepherd. He
felt a special mission just to these classes, and he asserts it
again and again. *T came not to call the righteous, but
sinners." "The Son of man is come to seek and to save
that which was lost." He felt himself sent to save "the lost
sheep of the house of Israel," "to preach good tidings to the
poor."

J\Iark tells us in his second chapter of the beginning of
this ministry. The crowds who followed Jesus because of
the report of his healings had driven him out into the

THE MINISTRY OF FORGIVENESS

Jesus and the

Capernaum

publicans

"desert places," that is, the untilled country. Now he
comes back quietly to Peter's home in Capernaum, ap-
parently for rest. But the people discover him and fill the
house and the street. A poor paralytic, brought by his
friends, can get to Jesus only by being let down through
the roof. Jesus' first word to him, however, is not one of
healing but of forgiveness. That seemed to Jesus the deeper
need. The word stirred the ire of his enemies. What right
had he to forgive sins?

A later event angered them still more. Situated on a
great highway near the border of Herod's territory, Caper-
naum was an important place for the collection of customs,
and contained a good many publicans. One of these, named
Levi, had evidently heard Jesus' teaching and in turn had
been noted by Jesus. Passing by the customhouse, Jesus
calls him and invites him to follow, apparently to become
one of the little circle of his regular companions. Not only
did Levi, or Alatthew, as he is also called, follow him at
once, but he made a supper for Jesus, to which he invited
his friends. All of them, of course, were "sinners," people
who did not even make a pretense of keeping the cere-
monial law ; many of them were hated publicans like
Matthew himself. The strict Jew would not have spoken
to such men. To sit down at table with them was not
only to scorn all the conventions of society, but to flout
the laws which were the very essence of rehgion for these
Pharisees. But Jesus saw in this his opportunity.

Luke records a similar incident, where Jesus sought out
one of these men. It is the story of Zacch^eus, a "chief
publican" and a rich man. The time is the latter part of
Jesus' ministry, the occasion is his passage through Jericho,
and Jesus does not simply accept an invitation, but selects
the house of this despised publican for his stay (Luke 19.
i-io).

The Gospels show us that a large part of Jesus' ministry The ministry
was connected with these people. Luke especially brings *°^"^®"

A chief
publican

6o NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

out this side of Jesus' work. It was not simply that Jesus
saw their need and gave himself to them ; these people in a
special manner turned to him. He found with them the
response which the scribes and Pharisees refused, John
had had the same experience (Luke 7. 29, 30). The religion
of formalism had left these people unmoved, or else they
were of the poor who could not keep these laws. They
had accepted the contempt of the Pharisees as a right ver-
dict, and there was no hope in their hearts. Jesus' message
of God and righteousness and repentance pricked their
conscience. At the same time he stirred them with hope.
They were to him not "people of the earth," but brothers.
He made them feel that God cared for each one of them.
He taught them to look up and say, "Father."
The response The response of these people to his ministry stirred the
heart of Jesus deeply. Luke brings this out in an incident
he relates (7. 36-50). Jesus had been invited to the home
of a Pharisee, when a woman of the city, evidently a
notorious character, came in and stood behind the couch
where he was reclining at table. She was one whom Jesus'
word of forgiveness had reached and to whom it had brought
a new life. Moved with gratitude, she had bought a flask
of ointment, and now, weeping and wiping his feet with her
hair, she poured the ointment upon them. His host, Simon
by name, paid no attention to this act of devotion which
supplied his own omission of courtesy, in that he had not
washed the feet of his guest. Simon saw only that this
was a sinner and that Jesus permitted her defiling touch.
He could not believe that Jesus knew what she was. Jesus'
answer was the story of the lender and the two debtors.
Like the debtor to whom the heavy debt had been remitted,
so these people showed a depth of gratitude which he had
not found with people of higher standing. He found even
more than this : a spirit of humility and openness and desire
which was so lacking with the Pharisees (Luke 18. 9-14).
He did not minimize their past disobedience, yet in the end

THE MINISTRY OF FORGIVENESS 6i

it was they who went into the kingdom of God and not the
piously protesting Pharisees (Alatt 21. 28-32). The parable
of the king's wedding feast sets forth Jesus' own experience :
the invitation is refused by the people of standing to whom
it goes, and it is the poor and maimed and blind and lame
that at last come in (Luke 14. 15-24; Matt 22. i-io).

This entire ministry of Jesus, in its teaching and healing jesus as the
and forgiving, is the beginning and source of that marvelous i^g^|j.^y^jj
development of education and philanthropy and missions of service
which has marked the history of Christianity. The Jews
laid great stress upon alms, but with them it was just one
more precept to be kept. Their interest was in keeping the
law ; Jesus' center of interest was not in the law but in his
brother. Nietzsche has criticized Christianity from this
point of view, calling it the religion of the submerged, the
morality of the weak. He felt that there was a certain
superiority or contempt toward the weak in all this pity.
That was a misconception. The ethics of Jesus was that
of the strong, only not of the strong living for themselves
but for others. In his service was no spirit of condescension
or scorn. Like our modern social service, which he has
inspired, it was democratic ; back of it lay the reverence
for men as his brothers, as sons of the Father.

DIRECTIONS FOR READING AND STUDY

Mark 2. 1-17; Luke 18. 9-14; Matt 21. 28-32; Luke 14. 15-24:
Matt 22. i-io.

Read Luke 7. 36-50 and compare with the story told in Mark 14. 3-9
and Matt 26. 6-13. Give reasons for or against the opinion that
these refer to the same event.

As against the identification, note the characteristic words of
Jesus in both instances ; state the difference in their point and
meaning.

Carefully look through chapters 4 to 8 of Luke, making a list
of the deeds of heaHng and forgiving. Do they warrant the
assertion that the third Gospel shows a special interest in the poor
and suffering and outcasts?

CHAPTER IX

THE MASTER TEACHER

The place
of teaching

The faith of
a teacher

It is as a teacher first of all that Jesus appears in his
ministry. He began his work in this manner, and neither
success nor defeat turned him aside from this course. When
the crowds left him he devoted himself to his disciples, but
his work was still that of teaching. It is as a teacher in
the temple that he spends his last days at Jerusalem, making
a final appeal to the people. His last night is given to his
disciples in instruction.

The parable of the sower sets forth Jesus' faith as a
teacher, which he passes on to the disciples for their en-
couragement (Mark 4. 1-9), He was like one with good
seed, scattering it wherever he went. He saw the hard
hearts upon which it fell in vain, and the shallow hearts of
those who responded with quick enthusiasm only to turn
as quickly away. None of these things moved him. He
knew that there was life in the seed, in his message, and
that it was his work to sow ; and he saw the future harvest
of thirty and sixty and a hundredfold, Jesus wrote no
book. He established no church, and we have no record that
he gave orders for its establishment. He was a sower. He
scattered his living words constantly, prodigally. He gave
them forth to all men, on all occasions, to eager throngs in
Galilee, to hostile crowds at Jerusalem, to his little company
of followers, to children in the market place, to folks met
casually by the wayside. Only a few comparatively have
come down to us, but they have justified his faith. These
words, flung out upon the air like scattered seed, have Hved
on in the hearts of men and the lives of nations to comfort,
to guide, to cast down, to lift up, to transform. And never

independence

THE MASTER TEACHER 63

before have they l)ccn so closely studied, so widely spread,
or so mighty in their influence as to-day.

The first mark of Jesus' teaching is its freedom and Authority and
authority. It is truth welling up directly from life. That
is seen not merely in Jesus' attitude toward tradition, but
toward the Old Testament as well. These Scriptures were
indeed part of his inner life. In his moments of deepest need,
in the wilderness temptation and on the cross, their words
come to his lips. He quoted them too as authority against
his foes. And yet back of this we find an attitude of inde-
pendence and sometimes of criticism. There are several
ways in which this attitude appears : ( i ) Jesus was not
simply dependent upon the Old Testament. He proclaimed
the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob; but this was a
living God, and Jesus saw him in the world and knew him
in his own life, and therefore was not limited to the record
of the past. (2) Jesus did not take from the Old Testa-
ment indifferently; he discriminated and chose. He pre-
ferred the prophetic writings, especially the second part
of Isaiah, Deuteronomy, and the Psalms. There were large
portions which he left wholly to one side. (3) He set
scripture against scripture. He went back of the Alosaic
law of divorce (Deut 24. i) to assert a higher law that was
at the beginning (Mark 10, 2-12). (4) He definitely set
aside, upon his own authority, certain Old Testament pre-
cepts or laws. "Ye have heard that it was said. An eye for
an eye, and a tooth for a tooth ; but I say unto you, Resist
not him that is evil" (Matt 5. 38, 39). In his own practice
he disregarded ceremonial laws, and not merely those of
the rabbis but of the Old Testament also. When called to
account he simply declared, that it was not what went into
a man's body but what came out of his heart that made him
unclean (Mark 7. 1-23). By this word he calmly set aside
entire sections of the law which the people regarded as
holy and unchangeable. And the evangelist points out this
conclusion (Mark 7. 19). (5) Finally, he recognized that

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

How Jesus
fuimied

The teaching
occasional
and vital

Teaching by
pictures

a new day had come with him. He revered the old, but a
better was now at hand; "one greater than the temple is
here" (Matt 12. 6). The new wine had come; why should
it be put in the old wine-skins that could no longer hold it ?
If the old forms interfere with the new spirit, let the old
forms drop off (Mark 2. 18-22). That, indeed, was what
Jesus did. He did not argue against the old. He simply
let it slough off.

One passage in Matthew seems to contradict this inter-
pretation (5. 17-20). There Jesus seems to assert that
every least letter of the law must stand forever. Against
Jesus' clear and consistent teaching and conduct this cannot
stand. Verses 18 and 19 may have been inserted, as some
think. There is a more probable interpretation: that Jesus
had been criticized as one who was destroying all law and
overturning all authority, that he responded by saying:
"You are the destroyers of the law, not I. I am fulfilling
it by standing for its real spirit. There is not one truth
that I am overturning. But unless your righteousness
exceeds that of the letter, you shall never enter the
Kingdom."

Jesus' method of teaching was not systematic but occa-
sional. He was not a college professor lecturing upon his
subject, taking up one doctrine after another. He walked
through the world of men and brought the truth to men
as he saw their need. He saw men anxious and troubled,
and showed them the birds and the flowers for which God
was caring (Matt 6. 25-34), but he never sat down to give
his disciples a lecture upon the divine immanence or provi-
dence. Two of his disciples came with their petty ambitions ;
he made it the occasion for his great lesson on the meaning
of life as a chance to give, not to get (Matt 20. 20-28).
Jesus' teaching was vital, practical. He was interested in
life, not in ideas (Luke 13. 1-5).

The materials for his teaching Jesus took from the life
of the people to whom he spoke. He was popular in the

THE MASTER TEACHER 65

best sense of the word. In pedagogical wisdom he was a
teacher of the highest order. He spoke the language that
people knew. He took their common world and made it
teach his highest lessons. All the life of that day looks
out upon us from his pages. We see the world of nature :
the glowing sunset that promises fair weather, the red of
the morning that suggests the storm, the lightning that
flashes from end to end of heaven, the bright flowers and
the quickly fading grass, the slow-growing grain, the field
where wheat and tares are mixed together, the fig tree
showing its first tender green, the vineyard ready for the
gathering, and the bending heads of the rich harvest that
promises its hundredfold. We see the living creatures : the
birds that have their nests, the foxes with their holes, the
carrion birds gathering where the carcass is, the hungry
flock settling down on the new-sown field, the little dead
sparrow whom God notices, though men do not. We see
men busy at their daily tasks : the farmer, the merchant,
the landowner, the judge. How many different characters
he shows us ! — the poor widow and the unjust judge, the
faithful shepherd, the poor beggar, the successful farmer
whom Jesus brands as fool. No pictures are more sug-
gestive than those that show us the home and the children :
the mother kneading her dough, the windowless house where
you must search long for your lost coin, the closed house
where the father and children are in bed, the picture of the
children about the table with the dogs underneath, the
evening hour with the lamp upon the stand giving light to
all in the house. And the children ! We see them busily
playing their games of funeral or wedding as they might
to-day, or coming hungry to their father, sure that they
will get bread and not a stone, or placed once more by
Jesus in the midst to preach the great lesson of the open,
trustful heart. There are shadows too: the laborers that
wait in the market place and have no one to hire them,
that toil all day and then must serve their master at nisfht

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Effectiveness
and art

The forms of
the picture
teaching

Likenesses

before they can eat, or that feel the cruel scourge for some
misdeed, the beggar lying at the gate while the feast goes
on within, the debtor on his way to prison, the criminal
bearing his own cross to the place of execution.

Such teaching was of the highest effectiveness. It comes
to us, indeed, from another world and a long-past age, yet
so simple is its form and so human the relations it uses that
every age since then has heard it as its own. There are
vivid pictures, pregnant phrases, that have long since passed
into common speech : salt of the earth, whited sepulchers,
wolves in sheep's clothing, grapes from thorns, the house
divided against itself. Jesus is an artist. There is a beauty
in these words that neither the years of verbal tradition
nor the loss through translation has destroyed. In beauty
of phrase, in economy of line, in their picture language,
and, above all, in the perfection of their thought, we have
here poetry and painting at its highest. There is a finality
of form which marks the highest art. And yet we hardly
dare to use that word, which suggests effort and thought
of effect, for everything here is free, natural, spontaneous.

We have already seen how much of Jesus' teaching is
figurative, and how he takes it from the life all about him.
He took this common world which men knew and made them
see the spiritual truths about which they were so blind.
We may distinguish three forms in this picture teaching of
Jesus: likenesses, examples, and parables.

First come the likenesses. Often the comparison is
implied, not expressed. "Ye are the salt of the earth." "Ye
are the light of the world." "A city set on a hill cannot be
hid." "No man putteth new wine into old wine-skins."
"Do men gather grapes of thorns?" Sometimes the com-
parison is stated, as in the picture of the perverse children.
He found people like some children at play. Their comrades
propose that they play wedding, and begin to pipe, but they
do not want to play wedding and so will not dance to the
music. And when their friends offer to play funeral and

THE MASTER TEACHER

Parables

Start to wailing, instead of beating their breasts and playing
mourner they refuse this game also. John came as an
ascetic ; they would not hear him but said, "He has a demon."
Jesus came and joined in all the life of men ; him too they
would not hear, he was a glutton and winebibber (Matt
II. 16-19).

The examples form another class. These are usually Examples
classed with the parables. They are really impressive illus-
trations setting forth some Christian principle. There are
four of these: The good Samaritan (Luke 10. 29-37) 5 the
Pharisee and the publican (Luke 18. 9-14) ; the rich fool
(Luke 12. 16-21) ; and Dives and Lazarus (Luke 16. 19-31).

The parables form the third class. The parable is an
invented tale like a fable, except that the parable is some-
thing that might naturally happen. There are no talking
animals in a parable as in the fables of ^T^sop. The purpose
of the parable is to persuade or explain. It may be defined
as an argument or explanation from analogy, in which a
natural happening in a lower sphere is made to show the
truth in a higher sphere. The parable of the prodigal son
is such an argument. Jesus tells the story of a father who
forgives the returning son that has done wrong, instead of
casting him out. IMen could understand and appreciate this
incident. Jesus transfers it to a higher realm and says:
That is the way with our Father in heaven.

Few parts of the teaching of Jesus have been more mis-
used than the parables. The common mistake has been to
treat them as if they were allegories. In Spenser's Faerie
Qucene and Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress we have good
examples of the allegory. An allegory is an extended simile.
Every figure or character in the allegory represents some
spiritual fact or truth. It is like two lines running parallel
with point corresponding to point. The parable is like two
curves which touch at only one point ; it is an argument
usually meant to prove or illustrate just one thing. The
parable of the prodigal son proves one truth — God is

The mistake
of allegorizing

of legalizing

68 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

merciful as the best fathers of earth are. It is a mistake,
then, to use it as is commonly done to prove a hundred
other points, to find some hidden spiritual meaning in the
swine and the husks and the strangers, the robe, the ring,
the shoes, and all the rest.
The mistake The Other mistake that has been made in interpreting
the teaching of Jesus has been the attempt to make of it a
set of rules or laws. Jesus had no thought of bringing laws
to men. His whole teaching is a protest against a religion
of laws. He was interested in the life of men, in leading
men into the rich life with God which he himself possessed.
To this end his teachings are designed to stir repentance,
to quicken desire, to bring a higher vision, to lead men to
decision for God and to trust in him. Like a good physician,
he does not prescribe the same for every man. He calls
Levi to follow him, but the Gadarene demoniac who wanted
to follow him he sends to his home. Zacchseus and Lazarus
may keep their home and their wealth ; the rich young
ruler he bids sell all and follow him.

DIRECTIONS FOR READING AND STUDY

Mark 2. 18-22; 4. 1-9; 7. 1-23; 10. 2-12; Matt 5. 17-48.

Using the marginal references of the Standard Revision, make
a list of Old Testament quotations and allusions found in the
account of the temptation and in the Sermon on the Mount.

In the first five instances of likenesses given in this chapter,
write out the comparison in full.

What is the religious principle illustrated in the four examples
given above.

Give the argument or analogy of the parables found in the
following passages: Matt 7. 24-27; 13. 44; 25. 14-30.

CHAPTER X

THE KINGDOM OF GOD

"The kingdom of God" is a phrase that meets us through-
out the Gospels. As we have seen, John began with this
message and Jesus made it his own. Both declared that the
expected Kingdom was near at hand. The same thought
was in the minds of all the people. They were ready to
ask of John as of Jesus, *Ts he the Messiah who will bring
in the Kingdom?" Jesus' deeds of healing stirred their
expectation: "Perhaps this is he." And when, at last, he
entered Jerusalem the multitude was ready to shout, "Blessed
is he that cometh in the name of the Lord : Blessed is the
kingdom that cometh, the kingdom of our father David"
(Mark ii. 9, 10). The people were especially interested
at this time. Rome's rule was becoming intolerable. The
deliverance must be near at hand.

The thought of the Kingdom was an essential part of
Jewish belief. It sprang from their faith in God. It really
meant the kingship of God, God's rule. The earth was the
Lord's. If there was evil in It, if his people were oppressed,
that could only be for a time. The day must come when he
would overthrow every power and rule himself. "And in
the days of those kings shall the God of heaven set up a
kingdom which shall never be destroyed. And the kingdom
. . . shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most
High" (Dan 2. 44; 7. 27). Here was the heart of their
hope — the rule of God meant for them the rule of Israel.
God would overthrow her enemies and set Israel upon the
throne.

Jesus too believed that the rule of God was coming in the
earth, that there would be a new world without evil and
oppression and wrong. He proclaimed the good news that
this rule was near at hand. And yet the kingdom of God in

The interest
in the
Kingdom

Its place in
Jewish faith

Jesus' idea of
the Kingdom
and his idea
of God

70 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Jesus' teaching had a different meaning. Nothing is said
about Rome, nothing of the overthrow of Israel's enemies
and her triumphant rule. What he has to say does not
concern men as Jews, but men as men. He even bids them
render to Ccesar the things that are Caesar's. He declares
that many shall come from the east and the west and sit
down in the Kingdom while Jews themselves are cast out.
The real difference lay in the different thought of God. If
the Kingdom means the rule of God, then it is the nature of
God that decides what that rule shall be. For the Jews
Jehovah was King of Israel and his kingship meant Israel's
rule. For Jesus the King was Father, holy and loving, and
Father of all men. The rule of such a God could not mean
armies and thrones ; it must mean the reign of righteousness
and peace and good will which Jesus set forth as the heart
of God.
The Kingdom YoT Jesus the kingdom of God was, first of all, a gift, the

as the highest , . , , . . , , . t- . ,., ,

good highest good that man could desire. It is like the treasure

which the man found in the field, for whose sake he sold
all that he had that he might buy the field. It is like the
pearl to gain which the merchant parted with all that he
possessed (]\Iatt 13. 44-46). Having this, everything else
would be added to a man (Matt 6. 33). At its highest this
treasure means to see God (Matt 5. 8). For that reason the
first gift of God's rule is forgiveness by which we are
admitted to God's fellowship (Luke i. yy ; 24. 47). Else-
where Jesus uses the word "life," or the term "eternal life,"
as meaning the same as the Kingdom, as will be seen by
comparing Mark 10. 17, 30 with 10. 23 and Matt 7. 14 with
7. 21. For Jesus the rule of God was the great hope of men ;
it meant the overcoming of all evil, the coming of all good.
For that reason the message is called gospel, "good news."
INIatt II. 25-30, one of the most beautiful passages in the
Gospels, breathes this spirit of joy, while at the same time
its closing verses suggest some of the blessings of the
Kingdom.

THE KINGDOM OP" GOD

But the coming rule of God meant also a challenge and
a test. Who were the men who could meet such a God?
The test that Jesus puts is a very simple one. It is the test
of obedience springing from a true life within. The test of
the tree is the fruit. "Not everyone that saith unto me,
Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but
he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven"
(Alatt 7. 15-23). Only such a life would stand in that day
(Matt 7. 24-27). In another passage Jesus tells more par-
ticularly what this obedience means, that it is the service of
our fellow men in their need, no matter who they are
(]\Iatt 25. 31-46). Such obedience is not simply a prepara-
tion for the Kingdom ; it is of the essence of the Kingdom,
for the rule of God means the righteousness of man: "Seek
ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness." Here
the sharp difference between Jesus and the people stands
out. The Jews were luxuriating in imagining all the joys
and delights of the future age of the Kingdom. Jesus was
summoning his disciples to earnestness and watchfulness.
This message of watchfulness is given us in two striking
parables, that of the ten virgins and that of the master and
the servants (Matt 25. 1-13; Luke 12. 35-46).

Is the kingdom of God in Jesus' teaching something
purely inner and spiritual, or is it something outer, a new
society? Undoubtedly it is the inner and spiritual upon
which Jesus lays stress. It means eternal life, as we have
seen. It works in hidden manner like the leaven, and grows
inconspicuously like the mustard seed (Matt 13. 31-33).
And what Jesus says about the people who enter the King-
dom or to whom it belongs, points the same way; it is the
inner spirit that is decisive. To enter the Kingdom one
must have the spirit of a child (Matt 18. 3). It is hard
for the rich to enter, for they are apt to be proud and
contented (Mark 10. 2t,). In beautiful }ct searching manner
the Beatitudes set forth this inner spirit of the Kingdom,
whose blessings belong to the poor in spirit, the meek, the

The Kingdom
demands
righteous-
ness, repent-
ance, watch-
fulness

The Kingdom
as inner and
spiritual

as social

72 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

pure in heart, and those that hunger for its righteousness
(Matt 5. 3-12). When the Pharisees asked him when the
Kingdom would come, he answered : "The kingdom of God
Cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo,
here ! or, There ! for lo, the kingdom of God is within you"
(Luke 17. 20, 21), They were thinking of a political state;
for Jesus the Kingdom was, first of all, the rule of God in
men's hearts. It is true that the Jews spoke of repentance
and obedience to the law as necessary before the Kingdom
could come. When Jesus speaks of obedience and mercy,
however, he is not speaking simply of the condition upon
which men may obtain the Kingdom ; these are for him the
spirit and essence of the Kingdom itself.
The Kingdom Yet while the Kingdom is, first of all, something inner
and spiritual, it is social in its meaning and consequence.
Jesus was neither political dreamer nor social reformer,
but his teaching of the Kingdom has tremendous social
meaning. Three points make this clear, (i) The Kingdom
means God's rule in all the life of men. God is already
in his world, but when the Kingdom comes, there will be
no life not ruled by him. That means for us his rule in
government and industry. That means no war, no oppres-
sion in state, no injustice in industry. The Kingdom begins
in men's hearts, but it does not end until the spirit of God
rules in every institution and relation of life. (2) The
spirit of the Kingdom is essentially social. It must always
be working out in the life of men. The love and service of
others is the real test of God's kingship with men (Matt
25. 31-46). In his Kingdom the first is to be the last, the
servant (Mark 9. 35). "Whosoever would become great
among you, shall be 3-our minister ; and whosoever would be
first among you, shall be servant of all" (Mark 10. 35-45).
The fruit of this spirit has been the noble history of missions
and philanthropies, the modern movements of reform and
social service, and the modern passion for social justice.
(3) The Kingdom involved a community, a brotherhood.

THE KINGDOM OF GOD

Jesus thought of the men of the Kingdom not as sul)jects
but as sons, and sonship means brotherhood. The spirit of
the Kingdom must bring the members of the Kingdom to-
gether. The first circle of Jesus' disciples was the promise
of what was to come. The church as a fellowship was the
inevitable expression of the Kingdom. The end could
only be what Paul foresaw, the breaking down of the divi-
sions and enmities that had separated men in classes and
nations, and the final bringing together of all men into one
brotherhood, the family of God.

Was the Kingdom in the future with Jesus, or was it "^^^ Kingdom

. as future and

already present? It seems certain that Jesus thought that as present
the Kingdom was in the future, although very near. That
is the meaning of the word, "The kingdom of God is at
hand." It is at the door. "There are some here of them
that stand by," he said, "who shall in no wise taste of
death, till they see the kingdom of God come with power"
(Mark 9. i). On the other hand, it seems just as clear
that Jesus thought that the beginnings of the Kingdom were
already present. The rule of God meant the overthrow of
evil in the world and the reign of God in men's lives. That
he saw already taking place. He saw the sons of the King-
dom present (Matt 17. 26), the sons of the bridechamber
(Mark 2. 19). He saw publicans and harlots going into
the kingdom of God (Matt 21. 31). He pointed John's
disciples to what was already taking place (]\Iatt 11. 2-6).
And he discerned it especially in his healings. He had
entered the house of the strong man and had bound the
powers of evil ; he had seen Satan fallen as lightning from
heaven (Luke 10. 18). It was God's rule even now dis-
placing the rule of evil. "If I by the Spirit of God cast out
demons, then is the kingdom of God come upon you"
(Matt 12. 22-29).

These were, indeed, only small beginnings. On every
side the power of evil still lay, while the Kingdom itself
was coming quietly and almost unnoticed. There are three

Parables
of encour-
agement

74 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

parables of the Kingdom that Jesus seems to have spoken
primarily to hearten his disciples who might be discouraged
by these facts. They are those of the wheat and tares, the
mustard seed, and the leaven (Matt 13. 24-33). The seed
which they were scattering was growing slowly and there
were tares, but it was growing surely, and grain and weed
would be made manifest some day. The Kingdom was only
a mustard seed now ; it would be a tree by and by. Now
it was like hidden leaven, but it would permeate the whole
lump after a while. Above all, they were to remember
this, that it was theirs simply to scatter the seed ; the fruitage
came from a power not their own. "The earth beareth fruit
of herself ; first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain
in the ear" (Mark 4. 26-29).
The meaning Tlicsc two couvictious apparently lay side by side in the
Kingdom mind of Jesus : first, that the Kingdom was already here
wherever God's will was being done and sinners were
turning to him and evil was being overthrown ; second, that
in its fullness and power it should come some time in the
near future. The important element in Jesus' teaching is
not this thought of the exact time of the coming; he himself
said that no one knew the day or the hour except his Father
in heaven (Mark 13. 28-32). It lay, rather, in three great
truths : ( i ) there shall be a new earth in which the rule of
God shall prevail in all the world ; (2) this rule, or kingdom,
will be ethical and spiritual, not an outer political reign, but
an inner spirit of righteousness and love; (3) this rule will
show itself in the way in which men live together, in all
the relations and institutions of life; and its final manifes-
tation will be a family, or community, of brothers upon the
earth.

DIRECTIONS FOR READING AND STUDY

Parables of the Kingdom: Matt 13. 24-52; 25. 1-13; Luke 12. 35-
46; Mark 4. 26, 29. Other passages: Matt 11. 25-30; 7. 15-27;
5. 3-12; II. 2-6; 12. 22-29; Mark 13. 28-32.

Read the following parables and state what thought concerning

THE KINGDOM OF GOD 75

the Kingdom each of these conveys : the hidden treasure and the
pearl (Matt 13. 44-46) ; the net and the fishes (Matt 13. 47-50) ;
the wheat and the tares (Matt 13. 24-30) ; the virgins (Matt 25.
1-13) ; the v^^atchful servants (Luke 12. 35-46) ; the mustard seed
(Matt 13. 31, 32); the leaven (Matt 13. 33); the earth bearing
fruit (^lark 4. 26, 29).

CHAPTER XI

THE FATHER

Jesus' central
thought

The God of
the prophets

The God of
Judaism

Despite the place which it occupied, it is not the idea of
the Kingdom that determines the faith and the message of
Jesus so much as the thought of God. It was this thought
of God that filled his own life. His conception of the world
and of men, of what man must do and what he may hope
for, all depended upon God.

Jesus does not come proclaiming any new God. He
brings to men Jehovah, the God of their fathers, "the God
of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob"
(Mark 12. 26). He speaks the simple ancient creed: "Hear,
O Israel ; the Lord our God, the Lord is one" (Mark 12. 29).
We may note three elements in that lofty prophetic faith
upon which Jesus built: (i) Jehovah was one God, God of
all the earth ; and not merely creator and ruler of nature
(Gen i), but ruling the nations and moving in their history
(Isa 40 and 45). (2) He was the God of mercy, the
covenant God who had chosen this nation and redeemed
it (Deut 5. 6; Hos 11). (3) He was the holy God, and it
was holiness that he asked from men. This holiness was
not sacrifice and ritual, but justice and mercy to fellow men
(Isa I ; Mic 6. 6-8; Amos 5. 21-24).

Israel had not kept this height. Her religion had become
narrow, centered in her own welfare. She had lost the
sense of Jehovah as the living God, present with her and
speaking to her. A great system of laws and rules had taken
God's place. God was a great bookkeeper, keeping record
of men's obedience. Religion was to observe these laws.
If she did this, Israel believed that at some future time God
would again assert himself and rule in her midst. For the

THE FATHER -JJ

present, since God was holy he must be separate from this
evil world.

Tesus sroes back to the faith of the prophets ; though not J^sus and

•> <=> . , the prophets

dependent upon them, (i) For Jesus too there is but one
God, the God of all power, whom men are to reverence and
fear. He teaches his disciples to pray, "Our Father, who
art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name" (Matt 6. 9, 10) . This
reverence is in his own soul; 'T thank thee, O Father, Lord
of heaven and earth," he prays (Matt 11. 25). With this
God all things are possible (Mark 10. 27), Jesus chides the
questioning Sadducees with not knowing the power of God.
Their petty quibbling, with wdiich they tried to make him
ridiculous, falls down before his great thought of God
(Mark 12. 18, o.'j). There is nothing here of the mere
sentimental good nature that some people have read into the
teaching of Jesus. He says plainly that men are to fear
God (Matt 10. 28). (2) God is the living God, present in
his world. As the parables show, this world was constantly
speaking to Jesus about God. The birds and the flowers
were witnesses of God's care (Matt 6. 26-30). He could
even say of the worthless sparrow dead by the roadside,
that it had not fallen without his Father's knowledge (Matt
10. 29). (3) That Jesus believed in the holiness of God
need not be pointed out. He did not often use the word,
because it had come to mean something ritualistic and ex-
ternal, but the Sermon on the Mount shows the prophetic
thought of a God whose supreme concern is the holy life,
and whose kingdom belongs to the pure and merciful and
those that hunger after righteousness.

The heart of Jesus' thought of God is the idea of Father- The Father
hood. It is the mark of his influence over the faith of men
that it is this name by which men everywhere to-day call
upon God, The change is more apparent when we realize
that in the Psalms, Israel's book of worship, Jehovah is
never called upon as Father. The Old Testament shows us
God as the Father of his people, that is, of the nation, and

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

The law of
Fatherhood

God values
every single
soul

as Father of the king as representative of the nation ; but
he is not referred to as the Father of individual men and
men do not pray to him as such (Hos ii. i ; Isa i. 2; Deut
I. 31 ; Isa 63. 16). For Israel Jehovah was the King. The
King, like any ruler, would show fatherly kindness, but he
was first of all King, and religion was obedience to him.
For Jesus God is, first of all. Father. That is his nature,
his heart. And religion is being a son ; it is fellowship with
the heavenly Father. There is no question that the source
for this idea of God and of religion was Jesus' own con-
sciousness. It was out of this consciousness that Jesus said,
"All things have been deHvered unto me of my Father :
and no one knoweth the Son, save the Father; neither doth
any know the Father, save the Son" (Matt 11. 27).

The law of Fatherhood Jesus shows to be forgiveness and
grace. The religion of Jesus' day was steeped in legalism.
It was a matter of earning and getting. It brought about,
on the one hand, a spirit of pride in those that were con-
scious of keeping the law, on the other hand a hard and even
contemptuous spirit toward others. "I thank thee, that I
am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, kdulterers,
or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week; I give
tithes of all that I get" (Luke 18. 11, 12). Men who could
pray in this fashion naturally criticized Jesus severely. For
Jesus, as we have seen, received men who were not keeping
the law, he sat at table with them, and even forgave their
sins. Jesus seemed to the Pharisees to be undermining the
very foundations of religion, which they saw in the ideas
of law and of merit and reward.

Jesus answered them in a series of parables In which he
justified his own course by pointing out this nature of God
as Father. Three of these parables are found in Luke 15,
though probably not all spoken on the same occasion. The
first two have the same meaning. These sinners, he would
say, are the Father's children, his possession. Every one is
of value to him. The shepherd who has lost a sheep is not

THE FATHER 79

satisfied, though he may have ninety-nine in the fold He
must find that lost sheep. Like the woman who has found
her lost coin, he rejoices over his lost sheep that he has
found. And so these sinners that are turning to the Kingdom
are filling their Father's heart with joy (Luke 15. i-io).
The point of the parahle is the value of the human soul.
The same thought is in the story of Zacchseus. There too
he was criticized because he had "gone in to lodge with a
man that is a sinner" ; and his answer was, "He also is a
son of Abraham."

Luke's third parable is commonly known as that of the The parable
prodigal son. It might better be called the parable of the i^g father
forgiving father. It is not meant as a picture of sin and
its consequences. It is a picture of the forgiving heart of
God. When the lost son comes back an earthly father does
not weigh his desert. He rejoices that he has regained his
son, and forgives. That is the way with God. All the rest
of the parable, the boy's impertinent demand, his foolishness
and wickedness, his degradation, his filth and rags — these
are simply the strong colors that Jesus uses to bring out
more clearly the wholly unmerited mercy of the father.
But he makes us see that this is really the heart of God
(Luke 15. 11-32).

The parable of the laborers is more drastic still in routing The parable
out the whole merit and reward idea of religion (Matt 20. laborers
1-16). A steward, or overseer, is hiring men in the market
place. Some he finds early in the morning and sets at
work. Fie goes back in the forenoon, at noon, and in the
afternoon, hiring others as he finds them. Late in the
afternoon he finds still others, who work for him the brief
remainder of the day. When night comes each man receives
the regular day's wage, and the last named as much as the
rest. At which the first complain, pointing to the greater
work that they had done. The steward's answer was, "Is
it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? or
is thine eye evil, because I am good?" The old allegorical

8o NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

method, by which each point and person in the parable had
a special meaning, would land us here in endless difficulties.
If we are contented with the central point or argument,
then the meaning is clear. God is giving the Kingdom to
penitent sinners as the steward paid the late comers among
the workmen ; it is not what they have earned but what his
goodness bestows. The complaining workmen are like
the Pharisees, grudging this gift. But God is not the master,
giving servants what they earn, he is the Father, giving
and forgiving because that is his nature. Matt 5. 43-48
brings out the same truth.
God's King- The King is Father, therefore, not taskmaster. But that

ship and .

man's trust IS not all, the Father is King. This gracious and merciful
Father rules all the world and therefore men may trust
in him and be unafraid. Very beautifully Jesus brings this
out: "Behold the birds of the heaven, that they sow not,
neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; and your
heavenly Father feedeth them. Consider the lilies of the
field, how they grow ; they toil not, neither do they spin :
yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was
not arrayed like one of these" (Matt 6. 26, 28, 29). Jesus
saw love and power joined together. That was why men,
when they feared God, could rejoice and fear nothing else.
"Be not afraid of them that kill the body," he told his
disciples, "but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear
him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are
not two sparrows sold for a penny? and not one of them
shall fall on the ground without your Father : but the very
hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore :
ye are of more value than many sparrows" (Matt 10. 28-31).
God gives But the greatest gift of this Fatherhood is not this care,

fellowship rior cvcu forgivcucss, but fellowship. That is what the
forgiveness of the Father means ; it is the admission of the
sons to the Father despite their sin and ill desert (Luke 15.
20-24). Such a fellowship meant peace of conscience and
quiet of soul, and the strength that comes from trust when

THE FATHER 8i

a man knows that all his life is under God's care. The
deepest meaning of this fellowship, or sonship, Jesus showed
in his own life. The disciples saw it in his praying, and
asked him to teach his secret to them (Luke ii. i). He
himself was conscious that it was his great task to lead
men into this life of sonship. That, indeed, was his double
task: to show men the Father, to make men sons. That
consciousness is expressed in a wonderful passage that
rises to a lyric note: "1 thank thee, O Father, Lord of
heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from
the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.
Even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight. All
things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man
knoweth the Son, but the Father ; neither knoweth any man
the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son
will reveal him. Come unto me, all }'e that labor and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon
you, and learn of me ; for I am meek and lowly in heart :
and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is
easy, and my burden is light" (jMatt ii. 25-30). It was
this fellowship, with its love and gratitude and trust, that
was for Jesus' followers the spirit and power of a new life.

DIRECTIONS FOR READING AND STUDY

Read Matt 6. 25-34: 10. 23-31; 11. 25-30.

Read the four parables in Luke 15 and Matt 20. 1-16. Tell the
story and bring out the argument of each.

Read Matt 5. 43-48 and Luke 19. i-io. Recall from previous
study the instances of a Pharisee and of a publican from whom
Jesus accepted hospitality.

Jesus' idea
of religion

Jesus' idea
righteous-
ness

CHAPTER XII
THE LIFE WITH GOD

Jesus' conception of religion may perhaps best be stated
in the phrase, fellowship with God in the service of men ;
to live first as a son with the Father, second as a brother
with men.

The central idea of religion for the Jews of Jesus' day
was righteousness. In the Sermon on the Mount IMatthew
has brought together the teachings of Jesus in which his
idea of righteousness is set forth in contrast with that of
the Pharisees, who were the acknowledged leaders of the
people. The life with God that Jesus taught demanded
righteousness also, but it is something far different from
the keeping of rules which the Pharisees taught, (i) It
was an inner righteousness; not many laws but one spirit.
They had criticized him for his practice (Luke 15. 2) ; he
declared that it was simply a higher righteousness for which
he stood (Matt 5. 20). Outward deeds may do for a serv-
ant, but the son must have an inner spirit like his father.
The angry spirit is a sin as truly as the deed of murder.
The lustful glance is as truly wrong as adultery. It is not
enough to avoid profanity ; there must be a simple sincerity
back of our speech. The mere rule of give as you get,
both good and evil, will not suffice ; there must be an inner
spirit of good will such as our Father shows to all men
(Matt 5. 21-48). Long before this, Jeremiah had spoken
of the day when the law was to be no more an outward
rule but an inner spirit (Jer 31. 31-34), and the psalmist
had prayed for inner purity (Psa 51. 10). Such teaching
Jesus was completing, or "fulfilling" (Matt 5. 17). (2) It
was a social righteousness ; men were to show it in serving
their brethren. That was to be the test in the judgment

THE LIFE WITH GOD 83

(Matt 25. 40). The way to show love to God was by
showing- it to men: "Whosoever shall receive one of such
little children in my name, receiveth me: and whosoever
receiveth me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me" (Mark
9. 37). To be reconciled to one's brother was more im-
portant than bringing a gift to the altar (Matt 5. 21-24).
(3) It was an ethical righteousness. Mere religious rules
and ceremonies did not count. Jesus protested against the
Pharisees that they were defeating morality by their very
rules (Matt 7. 1-13). It was the heart of a man that
counted, not the ritual (Mark 7. 14-23). (4) This righteous-
ness in one word meant sonship, "that ye may be sons of
your Father who is in heaven" (Matt 5. 45). Higher than
that it is not possible to go : "Ye therefore shall be perfect,
as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matt 5. 48). In a
mere religion of law such a demand would be impossible.
But Jesus' religion is one of grace, and not simply of de-
mand. God does not ask men to become sons before he
will receive them. Sonship is a gift, not simply a task.
That is the meaning of forgiveness : God receives men as
sons, though they are sinners, that by his help they may live
as sons.

It is the term "sonship," not "righteousness," that gives The religion
us the best description of Jesus' idea of religion and the o^ sorisiiip of

i^ •' o humility and

life with God. The first characteristic of this religion of of desire
sonship is the spirit of humility and desire. That follows
from its very nature as God's gracious gift to us. God's
first need is to find in us an openness and a longing for
what he has to give. That is the meaning of his word
about the child : "Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom
of God as a little child, he shall in no wise enter therein"
(Mark 10. 15). "Except ye turn, and become as little
children, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of
heaven" (Matt 18, 3), It is the same spirit that he praises
in the Beatitudes, The Kingdom is God's gift, but men
must have the humble spirit and the earnest desire in order

84 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

to receive it. And so his beatitude is for the poor in spirit,
for those that mourn, for the meek, for those that hunger
and thirst after righteousness (Matt 5. 3-9). It was this
spirit that he found wanting in the Pharisees and in so
many others. They were too well satisfied with themselves
(Luke 18. 11) ; for Jesus there is a divinity in discontent.
That is the meaning of the parable of the great supper.
It was called forth by a pious ejaculation on the part of
some man who was at the supper table with Jesus : "Blessed
is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God." In
reply, Jesus tells the story of those that refused the great
invitation (Luke 14. 15-24). As a matter of fact, he says,
when the great invitation comes men refuse it. That, as
we have seen, was what stirred him with joy in his contact
with so many sinners : these were humble and eager, were
pressing into the kingdom of God, were even taking it in
their eagerness by storm (Matt 21. 31; 11. 12).

This leads to the second quality that Jesus demands —
a certain decision of character, a whole-hearted surrender
of life. Religion was no incident with him ; it meant a
man's whole life. What God gives is everything; he de-
mands everything in return. Jesus has a fine impatience
with the superficial life : it is not saying, "Lord, Lord," that
counts, but doing the will of his Father (Matt 7. 21). He
has as little place for the divided life: "No man can serve
two masters." Such a life means anxiety, and anxiety
means wickedness (Matt 6. 24, 25). Jesus' own life was
all of one piece. It had the strength that comes with a
great and dominant purpose. The double life, he saw,
meant not only weakness but darkness. Moral vision comes
with singleness and sincerity of soul. "If therefore thine
eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But
if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness"
(Matt 6. 22, 23). The stern demands that Jesus makes do
not mean narrowness or asceticism, but simpl)' spiritual
vision and moral earnestness. "Narrow is the gate, and

THE LIFE WITH GOD

straitened the way, that leadeth unto hfe" (Matt 7. 13, 14).
"He that doth not take his cross and follow after me, is not
worthy of me" (Matt 10. 34-39). The foundation of a strong
life is not a passing impulse but a clear decision that counts
the cost. The man who builds or the king who makes
war ought to look to the end and not simply the beginning.
A man must deliberately decide that if necessary he will
sacrifice the closest tie or give up life itself. That is what
Jesus means by the startling word, "If any man cometh
unto me, and hateth not his own father, and mother, and
wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his
own life also, he cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14. 25-33).
This is not asceticism. Asceticism is the denial of life.
Jesus' attitude toward life is everywhere affirmative. Cut
off thy right hand, he says, pluck out the right eye, but
make sure of life (Mark 9. 43-48),

These demands of Jesus raise the question as to his at- Jesus' atti-
titude toward the world in general and toward riches in ^'^^ towud

° the world

particular. As to the world of nature, Jesus' teaching as and riches

we have noted it so far shows his simple pleasure in birds

and flowers and growing grain and all the life about him.

It was his Father's house, and it spoke to him of his

Father's wisdom and goodness. There is no dualism here.

But his clear vision showed him that all about him were

men who were losing their life because they saw and loved

only the world of things. No more searching words are

found in his teaching than those that warn of the peril of

riches. But it is not hatred of the world that sounds in

them, only the love of men. Three stories bring us this

lesson, each in some special aspect. The first shows us how

wealth blinds a man to the real meaning and the real riches

of life. It is the story of the rich farmer joining field to

field and adding barn to barn, as though that were the

end of life, Jesus writes his epitaph in two words: "thou

fool" (Luke 12, 13-21). The second shows how wealth

dulls a man's ears to any spiritual appeal and hardens his

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

The life
of trust

The place
of prayer
with Jesus

heart toward his fellows. Dives feasts and has no thought
for Lazarus. Dives thinks that his brothers would repent
if Lazarus were sent back to earth, but Abraham points out
that his brothers have what he had on earth, Moses and the
prophets (Luke i6. 19-31). Riches tend to make a man
self-sufficient and proud. The rich man is used to having
men defer to his judgment and bow to his will. He is
usually far removed from that humility and sense of need
which Jesus set forth. It is hard for such a man to enter
into the kingdom of heaven. The third is the story of the
rich young ruler. Here, at least, is a man of wealth and
station who seems wholly in earnest: "What shall I do
that I may inherit eternal life?" Mark says that he ran
to meet Jesus and knelt before him. But he cannot meet
the final test. Jesus finds his point of weakness. He would
fain have eternal life, but there is one thing that he rates
still higher. And so he turns away (Mark 10. 17-27). A
man's wealth so easily becomes his master, and "No man
can serve two masters. . . . Ye canot serve God and mam-
mon."

The third principle of the life of sonship is trust. If
the love of the world is wrong, as we have just seen, so
also is the fear of the world. Jesus puts them side by side
(Matt 6. 19-34). Both of them are paganism, putting-
something else up as a god, or as a power to stand beside
God. For Jesus God stood not only first but alone. When
a man really loved God everything else was given to him
with that (Matt 6. 33). When a man really feared God,
there was nothing else of which to be afraid. Anxiety,
therefore, was a sin. In beautiful pictures Jesus shows
us the God who cares for all the world, even the little
worthless sparrow. His own life showed the strength and
peace which came from such a trust, as he moved on sure of
God and fearless of all else (Luke 13. 31, 32).

Prayer is the simplest and most natural expression of
this life of trust. How important it was for Jesus himself

THE LIFE WITH GOD 87

we have already seen. The times of crisis in his life show
Jesus at prayer. This is in connection with the days of
meditation and temptation before he begins his ministry.
It appears again at Capernaum. He spends the night in
prayer before he chooses the twelve. It is the same at
Cassarea Philippi, the turning point in his work, and again
at Gethsemane, when he faces the cross and death.

Jesus found men ignorant of the life of praver and in- The cncour-

.. -f, . _, , , , . . ' , . agement to

diiierent to it ; God was master and religion was keeping prayer
laws and earning rewards. Jesus' doctrine of prayer fol-
lowed inevitably from the teaching about the character of
the Father and the nature of the life of his sons. If the
fathers that we know give good gifts to their children, shall
not the Father who is all goodness do this and much more?
Therefore take courage ; pray. If you ask, it shall be given
you. If you seek, you shall find. If you knock, it shall be
opened to you (Matt. 7. 7-1 1). This confident spirit, he
said, is the greatest power in our lives. He puts this truth
in his usual picture speech: "If ye had faith as a grain of
mustard seed, ye would say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou
rooted up, and be thou planted in the sea ; and it would
obey you" (Luke 17: 6). "All things are possible to him
that believeth" (Mark 9. 23).

The same lesson of encouragement to prayer is brought Two parables
by two parables that are often misunderstood. The first agement
is the story of the unwilling friend, whose neighbor has
had unexpected guests. These have come at night and
there is no bread in the house. So he goes to his friend.
The friend is in bed and does not want to be disturbed,
but he gives in at last just because the neighbor keeps up
his knocking (Luke 11. 5-13). The second is the story of
the unjust judge. He has no interest in the poor widow,
and no impulse of justice moves him to hear her case. But
he yields at last just to get rid of her (Luke 18. 1-8).
These parables do not teach importunity in prayer. It
is the pagan heart that diinks it shall be heard for its

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

How to
pray

Faith in God,
not faith in
prayers

much speaking (Matt 6. 7). God is not an unwilling
friend or an unrighteous judge who will hear us at last
just to get rid of us. Jesus' argument is this: If such
men, evil or unwilling, will yet give in the end, how much
more will God hear us who is our gracious Father?

Jesus not only encouraged men to pray, and showed
them the power of this attitude of faith, but he showed them
what prayer was and how to pray. He showed them by
his example, which moved the deeply impressed disciples
to ask him to teach them to pray (Luke 11. 1-4). He showed
them the difference between praying and making prayers.
They are not to say prayers, as the Pharisees do, who are
not averse to being caught upon the street corner when the
time for prayer comes, so that men may see how devout
they are. Prayer with him is fellowship, talking with God.
Let them go apart, therefore, and let their speech with God
be simple and sincere (Matt 6. 5-15). Then he gives what
we know as the Lord's Prayer. The spirit of Jesus' re-
ligion is nowhere more beautifully or truly expressed than
in the Beatitudes and in this prayer. Here is the utter
devotion to God, his name, his will, his kingdom. Here
is the quiet and strength that comes with perfect trust.
There is no clamorous petition here. The need of bread
and forgiveness and daily help is brought to God, but only
that it may be left with him.

Jesus' teaching as to prayer has often been misunder-
stood. The words that he used to encourage men to pray
(Mark 11. 22-24) have been taken as indicating a sort of
magical power in prayer, that prayers themselves must
bring certain results. And so men have talked about faith
in prayer. But this was just what Jesus protested against
in the Pharisees. With him it was not faith in prayers,
but faith in God. Petition has its place in prayer, but trust
and fellowship are the supreme words. This fellowship,
for example, demands that we shall have the forgiving spirit
when we pray to the forgiving God (Matt 6. 12-15). What

THE LIFE WITH GOD 89

the trust means is shown us in the example of Jesus' own
praying (Luke 22. 42). Jesus does not say, "Thy will
be done," because he cannot get what he asks, but because
God's will is his supreme desire. It follows from his trust
in God that God's will is the highest good. It is the same
spirit of devotion and trust that breathes in the quiet words
of the Lord's Prayer.

DIRECTIONS FOR READING AND STUDY

Make a topical outline of the Sermon on the Mount (Matt S to 7).

Scholars agree that this is a collection of sayings made by
Matthew, brought together here and arranged probably for pur-
poses of use in instruction. Find the general subject, for example,
of 5. 21-48 and 6. 1-18.

Using a synopsis or harmony, note that this material is wholly
lacking in Mark, who deals more in incidents and less in teaching.
Comparing Matthew and Luke, note several instances in which
Luke seems to give the correct historical setting for some saying
included by Matthew in his collection.

As to the spirit of humility and desire, read in addition Mark
9- 33-37; 10. 13-16; Matt 18. 1-6; Luke 14. 15-24.

As to the demand of decision and devotion, read Matt 10. 34-39;
Luke 14. 25-33; Mark 9. 43-48.

Read the stories of the three rich men : Luke 12. 13-21 ; 16. 19-
31 ; Mark 10. 17-27.

As to pra3^er, read Mark 11. 22-25; Luke 11. 5-13; 18. 1-8.

CHAPTER XIII
THE LIFE WITH MEN

With Jesus
religion and
morality
are one

All realize to-day that religion and morals must go to-
gether. It was not so in Jesus' time. In the Roman world
religion was quite distinct from matters of conduct and char-
acter. The leaders of the Jewish faith laid the stress
upon innumerable rites and rules which were to be observed
for their own sake. With Jesus religion and ethics are
one. He knows no such thing as a religion which does not
issue in ethics, or a morality that does not spring from re-
ligion. The oneness is apparent from three considerations,
(i) It is seen in the great commandment in which Jesus
sums up all religion : "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy
mind. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (Matt 22.
34-40). Given in double form, the commandment really is
one. The Pharisees summed up duty in six hundred and
thirteen rules. Jesus has but one, and that is not a rule
but an inner spirit. In that spirit faith and service are one ;
it is the same spirit whether turned toward God or man.
(2) Jesus declares that our love of God must be shown
in the service of his brethren, of God's children (Matt 25.
31-40), The mere forms of religion had no interest for
Jesus. To be reconciled to one's brother comes before the
gift at the altar. The Sabbath was not a form to be kept
or a work to be done for God ; it was a gift to man, and a
good deed was the right way of keeping it. It was mercy,
not sacrifice, that God wanted, as the prophet had taught
long ago (Matt 12. 1-8; Mark 2. 23-28; 3. 1-5). (3) The
heart of Jesus' ethics comes from his faith. To be a brother
sums up the whole relation to men, but what that means
we know only as we look to God. From his spirit as

THE LIFE WITH MEN 91

Father we learn what we are to be as sons, merciful as he
is merciful. And from his Fatherhood we learn that all
men are our brothers, evil as well as good. Looking back
to-da}-, we know that there never has been any real and
full brotherhood except as there has been this faith in God
as Father.

The first principle in the practice of brotherhood is that "^^e law of

rsvGrciiCG

of reverence, the regard for humanity as sacred. Here, as
at every point in the practice of brotherhood, the ideal
is simply that men are to be "sons of the Father who is
in heaven." God values men, as we have seen, and even
welcomes back those that have been sinful (Luke 15).
Human life is the one thing that is worth more than all
the world (Mark 8. 2)^^, 37). Not even the weakest and
meanest of human lives may be injured with impunity;
"Whosoever shall cause one of these little ones that believe
on me to stumble, it were better for him if a great millstone
were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea"
(Mark 9. 42). And even the spirit of contempt shown
toward our fellow men brings down the judgment of God
(Matt 5. 21, 22). Only gradually are we seeing the tre-
mendous meaning for our social life of this teaching of
Jesus, which has slowly been reversing the practice of the
ages. The protection of property was the chief interest of
law and government in his day. Gradually under this prin-
ciple we are making human welfare our chief aim.

The second principle of brotherhood is the law of grace The law of
and good will. Here too it is the spirit of the Father that ^od^^ui
determines what the sons should be. We are to show the
forgiving spirit to men as he shows it to us (Matt 6. 12-15).
And it is not to be a grudging or limited forgiveness. As
God forgives us freely and constantly, so we are to forgive,
not seven times, but seventy times seven. Jesus enforces
this by the parable of the wicked servant, who owed his
king the enormous sum of ten millions of dollars. Such a
sum he could not think of paying. According to the cruel

92 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

law of the time, it meant not simply prison but slavery for
himself and family. Instead his lord remits the whole. The
servant, however, finds a man who owes him a few dollars,
and throws his poor creditor into prison because he cannot
pay this. We are to practice toward men the mercy that
God shows to us (Matt i8. 21-35).

The strongest statement of this law of grace and good
will is found in Matt 5. 38-48. Just as Jesus ruled out
legalism between God and man, so here between man and
his fellow men. He puts aside the old give-and-take, "an
eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth." He stands for
justitia, and not jus, for righteousness, and not rights.
Against the assertion of rights and the use of force to obtain
them Jesus sets up his new principle : unconquerable good
will and trust in the power of love. It is easy to mistake
these words by taking them literally, as Tolstoy did. By
these figures of speech, by drastic statement, Jesus is trying
to contrast a new principle with the old. As always, it
is a spirit that he stands for, and not a set of rules that he
is giving. The spirit of legalism says, "I will give what I
get." God does not treat men that way. He shows men
good, not to repay what they have earned, but because this
spirit of mercy is his own nature and is right in itself.
So we are to show to all men a good will which no evil
on their part can overcome : not resistance, not force when
kindness fails, but unfailing love all the time.
The law of The final law is that of service and sacrifice. The com-

mon rule with men is, Let us get what we can. Jesus' rule
was, Let us give what we can. He illustrates it from the
social life. To Jesus it seemed a sort of profanation of
that hospitality which he himself was glad to receive to
make it, as it commonly is, simply a give-and-take affair.
"When thou makest a feast, bid the poor, the maimed, the
lame, the blind: and thou shalt be blessed: because they
have not wherewith to recompense thee" (Luke 14. 12-14).
Such hospitality had in it the real joy of serving and giv-

service and
sacrifice

THE LIFE WITH AIEN 93

ing. Such a spirit of unselfish service Jesus appreciated
wherever he saw it. He rebuked the narrow spirit of the
disciples who were suspicious of some man who was curing
demoniacs, but not a member of their company. The man
was serving men, that was the great matter. Even a cup
of cold water counted if given in this spirit (Mark 9. 38-41).

This unselfish service was no mere duty for Jesus. It Service as tiie
was a life, and the only way to achieve life. There are
several instances where he set this forth. According to
Mark, there were two occasions when the question of posi-
tion came up among the disciples. Once the brothers, James
and John, came to him asking that they might have chief
places with him when he should come as King in triumph
(Mark 10. 35-45). Another time the disciples quarreled
among themselves (Mark 9. 33-41), For them the coming
Kingdom still meant power and rule. "In my kingdom,"
says Jesus, "the way to reign is to serve. The chance to
serve is the real throne of life. That man is first who
serves best."

The same principle Jesus set forth in even more search- Losing and

• , • A 1 ..... finding

mg manner on another occasion. At the turnmg pomt m his
career Jesus began telling his disciples that instead of his
winning an earthly triumph, his enemies were to gain their
ends, and he must sufifer at their hands and die. In an-
swer to their protest he gave them this searching lesson. To
try to save your life when duty brings danger or death is
simply to lose it ; and to give up your life in daily service
or in some supreme devotion is to find it. Against the
real life thus found the whole world cannot be weighed in
value (Mark 8. 31-37). Keeping is losing, spending is
gaining: that was Jesus' law of life.

Most important of all is the fact that this is the animat- Service and
ing principle of Jesus' own life. On the one hand is the l^sus'^iife
spirit of service. That was life's meaning for him, the op-
portunity of spending it for others. He was a servant
(Mark 10. 45). On the other hand was his confidence in

94 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

the power of love as against all use of force. He had fought
that out in the wilderness ; he would not use the kingdoms
of this world. To that principle he remained true. When
they laid hands of force on him at last, he bowed to it ;
he knew that it was coming. He himself met alike the love
of his friends and the deed of his enemies with love alone
in return. The years since then have shown which was
stronger, his weapon or that of his foes.

DIRECTIONS FOR READING AND STUDY

The relation of religion and ethics: Matt 2.2. 34-40; 12. 1-8;
Mark 2. 23-28; 3. 1-5.

The law of reverence: Mark 8. 36, 2>T, 9- 42; Matt 5. 21, 22.

As to the law of grace and good will, read Matt 6. 12-15 ;
18. 21-35 ; 5. 38-48.

As to the law of service and sacrifice, read Luke 14. 12-14; Mark
9. 33-41; 10. 35-45; 8. 31-37-

What indications do you find in history and in modern social
and legislative reforms of the reverence for human life which
Jesus represents? Is this growing?

From concrete incidents in Jesus' own life, show that his actual
method was the use of love and good will rather than force?
How was that foreshadowed in the temptation experience?

CHAPTER XIV
FOES AND CONFLICTS

One of the paradoxes in Jesus' life is seen in the fact conflicts
that, despite his spirit of love, and his message of good
will, his own life was one of conflict, a conflict that deep-
ened and grew more bitter till it brought about the end.
This conflict appears in different forms and degrees : there
is the misunderstanding of his family and friends ; there
is the attitude of the Galilsean populace, changing from early
enthusiasm to later disappointment and indifference ; and
there is the early and growing enmity of the scribes and
Pharisees. These conflicts bring the element of change and
movement into Jesus' life, and at last hurry him on to
his death.

The first opposition that appeared was that of the Phari- The Phar-
saic party. Mark shows this at the very beginning, when conflict about
Jesus healed a man upon the Sabbath. The conflict about ^^^ ^^^
the Sabbath was the most frequent cause of their attack.
Usually it was because Jesus followed the higher law of
mercy and healed upon the Sabbath (Mark 2. 23-28; 3.
1-6; Luke 14. 1-6; 13. 10-17). They criticized him equally,
however, for failing to keep other laws. He and his dis-
ciples kept none of the regular fasts, nor did they follow
the innumerable rules about ceremonial washings (Mark
2. 18-22; 7. 1-5).

The study of Jesus' teaching and practice shows the real a different
ground for these differences. It was not simply personal reiighfn'°° °*
hostility. It was a wholly different conception of rehgion
and righteousness. For Jesus' opponents religion was a
sum of laws that God had given, and of rules or traditions
handed down by the fathers, which made clear the ap-
plication of the laws, and which were almost more sacred

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

The new
religion

The spirit of
Pharisaism

than the laws themselves. A religion of life and the spirit
faced here a religion of law and tradition. The great teach-
ings of the prophets about love and mercy and justice had
not been forgotten by the Jews ; but the formal and cere-
monial stood side by side with the ethical and spiritual, and
in actual practice the latter were lost in the routine per-
formance of the former.

Jesus did not begin an attack upon legalism and for-
malism, but he left them at one side. He did not fast or
observe the rules of washing, nor do we hear that he ever
offered sacrifice. He paid no regard to ceremonial purity.
He sat at table with sinners and publicans (Mark 2. 15) ;
he touched the leper (Mark i. 41) ; he did not mind that the
woman with the issue of blood touched him (Mark 5. 27,
34). His principles were clear. Religion for him was (i)
not outward forms but an inner spirit; (2) not rules per-
formed for God but service wrought for men; and (3) the
oneness with the Father of his children, who show to God
reverence and trust and to men his own spirit of mercy
and good will. Such fundamental difference had to bring
conflict. With it went another fact : Jesus was conscious
of bringing in a new age. He came with a message of joy,
a ministry of deliverance and gracious service (Luke 4.
18-21). The bridegroom was here; why should the sons
of the bridechamber fast? The new life was here; why
try to press it into the old forms (Mark 2. 18-22) ? To the
Pharisees he was the revolutionist, overturning the old that
was sacred. In his own heart he knew himself as the bringer
of a new life and a new day.

Besides all this was the difference between his own spirit
and that of the Jews. He calls the latter the leaven of the
Pharisees (Luke 12. i). In the terrible indictment of Matt
23 he charges the Pharisees with being hypocrites, religious
actors. Religion meant to him humble reverence for God
and loving good will to men. He found in them the oppo-
site. They were selfish at heart, desiring applause and pref-

FOES AND CONFLICTS

erence. They did not care for men. They bound excessive
burdens upon them. They put their formal rules before
plain human obligations, and the very multitude of their
rules, which made them so strict and pious, was actu-
ally a means to defeat the real spirit of the law (Mark 7.
8-23). Finally he charged them with willful spiritual blind-
ness (Matt 12. 2,2-}^']'). He had been casting out demons.
They declared that he was in league with Satan, and that
was the reason Satan's angels obeyed him. He saw in
the charge simply their willful refusal to see the truth.
He charged them with the sin of sins, the sin against the
Holy Spirit. It was not their rejection of him. It was the
fact that they saw the light and called it darkness. They
were sinning against the Spirit of God who was speaking to
them. The man who thus willfully perverts his conscience
shuts the only door by which God gets in. That was what
he meant when he spoke of the evil eye and the darkened
life (Matt 6. 22, 23).

In the same chapter follows another charge which Jesus The sin of the
sets forth in the striking parable of the empty room (Matt empty room
12. 38-45). They had been asking for signs. He refused
them. It was not light that they needed, but obedience.
They were like the man who had been set free from an
unclean spirit, who tried to keep his soul clean and fair
and well ordered, but who would let nothing in. The last
state of that man was a life of evil far worse than the first.
These men were not guilty of the common vices. They
prided themselves upon the order of their life ; but their
souls were empty, and when he came with the truth of God
and the call to devote their lives, they shut the door. The
fair outside did not deceive him. They were like the fresh
whitewashed graves, seeming without, full of corruption
within.

These were not the only conflicts in Jesus' life. He had The conflict
to face as well the misunderstanding and opposition of his and family
friends and neighbors, and even his own family. At one

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Jesus
demands
supreme
allegiance

time his friends tried to carry him off, declaring that he
was beside himself (Mark 3. 20, 21). He had not begmi
his ministry at Nazareth, and when he went back at length
the fame of his preaching and healing had preceded him.
His fellow villagers listened to him with wonder, but he
read their unexpressed thought: Show us some of these
wonders that we have heard of from Capernaum. Their
proverb, "Physician, heal thyself," he answered with an-
other, "No prophet is acceptable in his own country." "And
they rose up and cast him forth out of the city" (Luke 4. 16-
30). Still harder was the break with his own family, which
may have occurred before the Nazareth incident. It was
reported to him while he was preaching that his mother
and brothers were without the house and had sent for him.
But there was a tie even deeper than that which bound him
to mother and brothers. It was the tie of loyalty to the
work for his brother men in the kingdom of God. In answer
he looked around at the gathered company in the house and
said, "Behold, my mother and my brethren ! For whosoever
shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and sister,
and mother" (Mark 3. 31-35).

These experiences evidently lie back of the words of
Jesus reported by Matthew as given in connection with the
sending out of the twelve disciples on an independent mis-
sionary tour of their own (Matt 10). Matthew has prob-
ably brought together here, after his custom, sayings spoken
on various occasions, but bearing upon one theme — the work
of the Christian apostle. Such words may well have been
used by the church in later years as an address of ordina-
tion or commission, when apostles or missionaries were sent
forth, and they have probably undergone some changes in
this usage. But the message itself seems to come from
Jesus' own experience. His call was to a supreme allegiance :
"He that doth not take his cross and follow after me is not
worthy of me." Such loyalty might mean the breaking of all
other ties. That had been his own lot: "I came not to send

FOES AND CONFLICTS 99

peace, but a sword." "I came to set a man at variance
with his father, and the daughter against her mother, and
the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law." They must
not hesitate to share what he had borne: "A disciple is not
above his teacher, nor a servant above his lord." But they
were to share his faith and courage also: "Fear them not
therefore. Be not afraid of them that kill the body, but
are not able to kill the soul. The very hairs of your head
are numbered." This chapter may be joined with the story
of the temptation as a bit of the autobiography of Jesus : the
wandering life, here received, there rejected, with no sure
place for shelter ; the bitter experience of malice and hatred
from men and misunderstanding even from nearest kindred ;
the courage to speak every hidden word, and the assurance
that his life was in his Father's hand who marked his
every step.

DIRECTIONS FOR READING AND STUDY

As to the attack upon Jesus, read Mark 2. 23-28; 3. 1-6; Luke
14. 1-6; 13. 10-17. State the charges against Jesus as you think
the Pharisees might have framed them from their standpoint.

As to Jesus' criticism of the Pharisees, Mark 7. 8-23 ; Matt.
12. 22-45.

Read Mark 3. 20, 21, 31-35; Luke 4. 16-30; Matt 10.

CHAPTER XV

The inner
circle of
friends

Jesus'
desire for
fellowship

JESUS AND HIS FRIENDS

One of the outstanding features in Jesus' life is the
group of his friends and disciples. At the very beginning
of his ministry we find these figures. According to the
first chapter of John, Jesus meets his first disciples in the
following of the Baptist. It is to the home of one of these,
Simon, that he goes when he returns to Galilee to begin
his ministry, and here he invites Simon and his brother
Andrew, together with the other two brothers, James and
John, to join his circle (Mark i. 16-20). A little later a
publican, Levi, is added to the number, who is probably
the Matthew of Matt 9. 9 and 10. 3. From this time on
we find Jesus always with a circle of followers. They are
with him when the crowds follow him in Galilee. They
accompany him on his journeys outside the province. They
are the companions in the quiet days, and, though they
protest against his going, they follow him to Jerusalem.

What was the meaning of this special circle ? It marked,
for one thing, the friendly, deeply human nature of Jesus.
There was in him not only a general love for humankind
and a compassion for the needy, but this special capacity
for friendship and the desire for it. "Ye are they that have
continued with me in my temptations," he says (Luke 22.
28). At the Last Supper together he says, "With desire I
have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer"
(Luke 22. 15). At special moments in his life he takes
with him the three who stood nearer to him apparently than
the others — Peter and James and John (Mark 5. 37; 9. 2;
14. 33) ; and in the garden of Gethsemane he misses the
watchful sympathy which he craved in that hour of need
(Mark 14. 37).

100

JESUS AND HIS FRIENDS lOi

Deeper than this personal question was the purpose con- The purpose
cerned with his work. Mark puts very simply this double °^J^l^°''^^
purpose: "He appointed twelve, that they might be with
him, and that he might send them forth to preach" (Mark
3. 14). The stress of Jesus' work was upon his teaching.
He must teach men the nature of the Kingdom, and what
the life of the Kingdom was, and how to make ready for its
coming. The changing throngs could not give him the
best opportunity for such work. He must have men who
could stay with him, whom he could lead by constant patient
tuition not only into an understanding of his message but
into a sharing of his spirit, into the life that he himself lived
with God. They were to take his yoke upon them and learn
of him (Matt ii. 29). That is the reason for their name,
disciples or learners.

The second purpose was to train these men for work — The training
"that he might send them forth to preach." There was at
least one occasion upon which Jesus thus sent them forth.
Matthew and Luke report this with extended statements
of the instructions that Jesus gave (Matt 10. 1-42; Luke 10.
1-20). As the statements agree in other respects, it may
very well be that they refer to the same occasion, though
Matthew speaks of twelve and Luke of seventy. How far
beyond Jesus looked in this purpose we do not know. So
much is clear, that in the early church this inner circle was
regarded first of all as preachers, as those sent forth to
proclaim the message.

It is this double purpose of Jesus that explains the demand The demand
that he made upon these disciples. It is not always clear
in any given passage whether Jesus is speaking of what
is required of all who would enter the Kingdom, or simply
of what he asks of those who were to go with him. When
he asks the rich young ruler to sell all his possessions and
give them to the poor, it is because he wanted him to be-
come one of his companions (Mark 10. 21). Upon the
men of this inner circle he made a special demand. They

I02

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

How the
inner circle
was formed

The training
and its fruit

must leave their homes and their business and follow him
(Mark i. 17. 18; 10. 28-30). They must be men of single
and unswerving devotion (Luke 9. 57-62). They are to go
forth teaching and healing, like their Master, taking no
provision and trusting to hospitality where they go. They
must be pure men and fearless, ready to sufifer, and yet
with faith that they are in their heavenly Father's care.
And they must stand ready to sever any tie or face any
foe as this loyalty may demand.

The inner circle was not composed simply of those who
came of their own accord. They were chosen by Jesus.
In some cases men asked to be enrolled, like the scribe
(Matt 8. 19), and the Gadarene demoniac whom Jesus
healed (Mark 5. 18, 19). Not all were accepted, for Jesus
sent the latter home. They were probably all Galilaeans ex-
cept Judas. We know, however, little of the circumstances
of any of them except the first five named above. The
limited group of the twelve was probably not fixed at the
very first. But even after the selection of the twelve there
was both a smaller and a larger group. The smaller group
that was especially dear to Jesus was composed of Peter,
James, and John. In the larger group there were men be-
sides the twelve. Aside from the reference in Luke 10. i,
we read in Acts i. 21 of others that were in the company
of Jesus. There were certain women also who were mem-
bers of the company for at least a part of the time — Mary
Magdalene, Joanna the wife of Chuzas, Susanna, and others,
who assisted also in meeting the expenses of the traveling
group (Luke 8. 1-3). Some of the women followed him
later to Jerusalem and we find them present at his death
(Mark 15. 40, 41).

The Galilsean ministry showed less and less promise of
permanent fruit, and Jesus turned more and more to the
training of the inner circle. The final issue justified his
plan. It was not an easy task. He had to lament their
hardness of heart, their slowness to see the real spirit of

JESUS AND HIS FRIENDS 103

his work, his real aim. But in the end he won. Only one
of the number failed him. Even the shock of his death
could not overthrow their conviction. After the first few
days we find them rallying the other disciples and stand-
ing forth before the people who had put Jesus to death
as a malefactor, declaring their faith in him as the promised
Messiah. We try in vain to imagine what those weeks and
months meant during which Jesus gave himself to this little
group. There were long days when they traveled together
or remained in quiet retirement, when he poured forth
for their ears alone the wealth of his teaching. More im-
portant still must have been the deepening impress of his
personality, his tenderness and sympathy, his courage in
face of every danger and disappointment, his simple steady
faith in God, his deep sense of the Father's presence and
his fellowship with the Father. There is one fact that shows
as no other what the power of his person must have been:
These men who walked and talked and ate and slept with
him in that simple human fellowship were the ones who
declared when he was gone that he was Master and Lord
and King.

DIRECTIONS FOR READING AND STUDY

Read Matt 10. 1-42 and Luke 10. 1-20. On this basis state (1)
what the work of the disciples was to be as they went out; (2)
what qualities of character he demanded of them.

Make a list of the friends of Jesus outside of these immediate
disciples, and mention any homes where he was wont to be en-
tertained.

CHAPTER XVI
TURNING POINTS

Early
popularity

Opposition
from Phar-
isees and
Herodians

We can now see the rough outline of the course of events
in Jesus' ministry. The period of popularity came first, the
time when the crowds thronged about him wherever he
went, following him out even to desert places. The quickly
spreading reports brought the people not only from thickly
settled Galilee, but from Judaea to the south and beyond
Jordan to the east and the districts about Tyre and Sidon
to the north (Mark 3. 7, 8). There were various reasons
for this. John the Baptist had already stirred the people
and they were ready to listen. Many were moved without
doubt by Jesus' message. But there were less creditable
reasons too. They hailed him as a healer and worker of
signs.

Side by side with this popularity there were from the
beginning misunderstanding and criticism and opposition.
The opposition came from the Pharisaic party, headed by
their professional teachers, the scribes. On the part of the
latter there was jealousy, on the part of both the opposition
to a religion that was directly opposed to the authority of
law and tradition for which they stood. Meanwhile Jesus
realized how little real understanding the people showed.
Even his family and friends looked upon him as one beside
himself. He confounded the Pharisees at first, but they
persisted in the attack. They charged him with being in
league with the devil. Leaders from Jerusalem came down
to watch him, perhaps sent by the Sanhedrin (Mark 7. i).
These accused him of violating the rules of their religion
and so sought to stir up the people against him. And finally
opposition came from another quarter. The Jewish lead-
ers got in touch with adherents of Herod (Mark 3. 6).

104

TURNING POINTS

105

Desertion by
the people

Herod had put John to death, why should he not lay hold
of this new disturber? He himself had begun to ask about
Jesus, and to wonder superstitiously whether this were not
John come to life again.

Meanwhile the tide was turning with the people. The
opposition of the leaders was taking effect. Jesus had re-
fused to listen to their clamor for signs or let himself become
a mere healer. Some perception of his real message must
have come to them ; it was not what they wanted to hear.
The fourth Gospel preserves a tradition of how the crisis
came. Together with the first three Gospels, it tells the
story of how Jesus fed the multitude, moved by pity for
the crowds that had gathered, hungry and far from home.
Such a deed stirred them with enthusiasm and they wanted
to make him king (John 6. 15). It showed how little his
teaching had accomplished, how hopeless the task was of
doing anything with the populace. What John states the
other Gospels imply. Matthew and Luke give his lament
over Capernaum, Bethsaida, and Chorazin. These had been
the center of his work. Here he had done his preaching
and healing. But the repentance that he had looked for
had not come. "Woe unto thee, Chorazin ! woe unto thee,
Bethsaida ! for if the mighty works had been done in
Tyre and Sidon which were done in you, they would have
repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes" (Matt 11. 20-24;
compare Luke 10. 13-15).

And so there came the first turning point in Jesus' plan Decision to
of work. He decided to leave Galilee. On the one hand
was the failure of his appeal to the people. On the other,
the danger that threatened from Herod. The leaders of
church and state were both lying in wait for him. How he
regarded the latter is shown by a passage which Luke has
preserved, though he assigns it to a later time (Luke 13.
3i'33)- Some Pharisees had told him of die danger from
Herod. His answer was: "Go and say to that fox, Behold
I cast out demons and perform cures to-day and to-mor-

leave Galilee

io6

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

The faithful
circle

Did Jesus
turn to the
Gentiles?

row, and the third day I am perfected. Nevertheless I must
go on my way to-day and to-morrow and the day follow-
ing." It was not a counsel of fear that moved him to leave
Galilee, His life was in God's care who had planned its
"to-day and to-morrow and the day following." But neither
would he be reckless of danger and tempt God (Matt 4.

5-7).

But while he had not moved the people to repentance
or won them to his message, his ministry had not been a
failure. Side by side with his denunciation of the cities
there is his thanksgiving for those who had seen and be-
lieved: "I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
that thou didst hide these things from the wise and under-
standing, and didst reveal them unto babes" (Matt 11. 25).
During these days Jesus had gathered around him the circle
of disciples, and these now went with him on his journey.
Here was his work for the next weeks, to use the quiet of
the days thus spent together for the instruction and training
of these men upon whom so much was to depend.

The course of their wandering, according to Mark, was
northward from Galilee through the regions about Tyre and
Sidon, then southward again to the Sea of Galilee and down
to Decapolis, probably passing on the east side of the lake.
This journey into Gentile lands raises the question of Jesus'
relations to those outside of Israel. Was this another turn-
ing point from Israel to the Gentiles ? The one incident that
we have from Jesus' stay in the region of Tyre and Sidon
points the other way (Mark 7. 24-30; Matt 15. 21-28).
Jesus had entered a house and did not wish his presence
known. His fame had reached these parts, however, as
appears from the statement that among the crowds in Gali-
lee there had been visitors from these districts of Tyre
and Sidon. And so a woman, a Gentile, who heard of his
presence, searched him out and implored his help for her
daughter. According to Matthew's report, Jesus at first
was silent, and then in answer to her persistence said :

TURNING POINTS 107

"I was not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of
Israel. But she came and worshiped him, saying, Lord,
help me. And he answered and said, It is not meet to take
the children's bread and cast it to the dogs. But she said.
Yes, Lord : for even the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall
from their master's table." The harshness of Jesus' answer
is more apparent than real. The term he used for the
Gentiles was not the opprobrious epithet, "dogs," but the
diminutive, "little dogs" — a rather playful term. But though
he yielded to the woman and praised her faith, yet there
remains his first unwillingness, so unlike his usual attitude,
and his statement that he was sent only to the Israelites.

How did Jesus conceive his relation to those outside of Jesus' work
Israel? Did he proclaim a kingdom that was only for ^raeT*
Israel? We must discriminate in our answer. Jesus felt
that his own mission was to Israel, and when he sent the
twelve out upon their special mission he limited them in
the same way: "Go not into any way of the Gentiles, and
enter not into any city of the Samaritans" (Matt 10. 5, 6).
Just what Jesus' reason for this was we cannot say with
certainty. It may have been a limitation of territory, that
he did not wish to work outside of the bounds he had set.
He did not refuse to help Gentiles as such, for he had
already healed the centurion's servant (Matt 8. 5-13), and
the Samaritan leper was cleansed as freely as the others
(Luke 17. 11-19), There may have been the conviction that
Israel, the people of the law and of special privilege, must
first be called to repentance. How could he expect a re-
sponse from the Gentiles, when Israel did not answer to his
message ?

One thing is clear — there was no national limitation in HisKingd
Jesus' thought of the Kingdom. John had declared that "°''«^^*i
membership in Israel was not enough (Matt 3. 8, 9). Jesus
approved and went farther. He promises deliverance not
from the empire of Rome but from the kingdom of evil.
And the Kingdom is to belong not to Jews or to Greeks,

io8 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

but to the poor in spirit, the meek, the merciful, the pure
in heart (Matt 5. 3-9). Moreover, it is the idea of God
that rules Jesus' thinking- and not that of the Kingdom. And
God is not the Lord of Israel, but the Father of all men.
Neither in the nature of God nor in Jesus' conception of
religion is there anything national or limited. His religion
is universal.

Whatever the reason for limiting his work to Israel,
Jesus' own attitude was not limited in its sympathies.
He rejoiced over the faith of the pagan centurion and
the Syrophoenician woman, and over the Samaritan leper
that came back to speak his gratitude (Luke 7. i-io; 17.
11-19). His own experience showed him Israel's refusal
and the open hearts outside his people. He condemned
the Jews with examples taken from the Gentiles, Nineveh
and the Queen of Sheba, Naaman and the widow of
Sarepta, and the Samaritan who proved the neighbor to
the man that fell among thieves (Matt 12. 41, 42; Luke 4.
25-27; Luke 10. 30-35). For the most part the examples
come in the latter part of his ministry, when his heart was
moved alike by the response that he found among individual
Gentiles and Samaritans whom he touched, and by the un-
responsiveness of Israel. It is in the last Jerusalem days
that he speaks of the temple as "a. house of prayer for all
the nations," and declares in the parable of the vineyard,
"The kingdom of God shall be taken away from you, and
shall be given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof"
(Mark 11. 17; Matt 21. 43). Even before this he had
said, when praising the centurion's faith, "Many shall come
from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abra-
ham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven ; but
the sons of the kingdom shall be cast forth into the outer
darkness" (Matt 8. 11, 12). The great commission, there-
fore, which Matthew reports as being given by the risen
Christ, is in harmony with Jesus' principles: "Go ye there-
fore, and make disciples of all the nations" (Matt 28. 19).

TURNING POINTS

109

The second turning point in Jesus' work that fell within
these days came at Caesarea PhiHppi (Mark 8. 27-38). It
marked, not a change in his plans, but a stage in their
progress. It probably fell within the later days of this
period of wandering. Jesus had turned back again after
having come south to Decapolis, and had led his company
far to the north, where lay the city of Czesarea Philippi
among the headwaters of the Jordan. Here came perhaps
the greatest hour in Jesus' ministry. The cities of Galilee
had not turned at his preaching. The established forces of
his native land were against him, Pharisees on the one hand,
Herodians on the other. His life was in danger. He must
have been considering before this the road to Jerusalem
and what it would mean for him. He had turned from
other work to give himself to these men. He had asserted
no claims. He had lived with them and taught them and
loved them. Did they understand him? What did they
think of him? Would they be true to him? It was one
thing to call him Master at the height of his popu-
larity. What would they say about the fugitive and wan-
derer?

Here at last he puts them to the test. "Who do men say
that I am? And they told him, saying, John the Baptist;
and others, Elijah; but others, One of the prophets. And
he asked them, But who say ye that I am ? Peter answereth
and saith unto him. Thou art the Christ." It was no
allegiance of lips that Jesus wanted. It was no personal
honor that he craved. Christ means Messiah, Anointed
One, but it was not this title that he wished. He had
brought them to see that the hope of Israel lay in him, in
what he was and what he stood for. They had much yet
to learn, but he had bound them to himself; and they had
made the confession not in some hour of triumph when the
multitudes wondered at his healings, but here in his hour
of loneliness and reversal. It was the moral and spiritual
power of his own person which had wrought this.

The crisis
at Caesarea
Philippi

The
confession

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

The meaning
of the
confession

The first
proclamation

It is not easy to overestimate the importance of this
scene which Mark has given us so simply. It has been
called the hour of Christianity's birth. The Christian reli-
gion has always been more than a sum of teachings coming
from its founder, or an ideal of life set forth by him. He
himself has been the center, as one in whom men put their
trust, upon whom they built their hopes. It was the first
Christian confession. It was, indeed, the beginning of the
Christian Church.

The story of Csesarea Philippi makes certain one other
fact — that Jesus had not previously proclaimed himself as
Messiah or allowed himself thus to be proclaimed. Our
Gospels here state explicitly : "Then charged he the dis-
ciples that they should tell no man that he was the Christ"
(Matt i6. 20). Later he publicly proclaimed himself as
Messiah by the mode of his entrance into Jerusalem ; but
that was at the close. It is true that there are earlier
references to the Messiahship on the lips of Jesus or accepted
by him from others ; but it must be remembered that the
Gospels were written not to give the record of Jesus' life in
chronological order, but to set him forth as Messiah and
Saviour, that men might believe on him. It was natural,
therefore, that the writers should use these terms in the
earlier as well as latter part of his ministry, just as we find
them indifferent to the order of time in arranging their
materials, whether of works or teaching.

DIRECTIONS FOR READING AND STUDY

Read John 6. Note the difference in the style of Jesus' speech
as reported here, and the difference in circumstances and form of
Peter's confession. Note, however, the similar outline of events,
giving in order Jesus' popularity, his withdrawal for a time, the
falling away, and the confession of Peter.

The woes over the cities: read Matt 11. 20-25; Luke 10. 13-1S,
21. Note that these cities have not only been reduced to ruins, but
that even their site has been a matter of dispute.

As to Jesus' wanderings, read Mark 7. 24-31 ; Matt 15. 21-28.

TURNING POINTS in

As to Jesus and the Gentiles, read Matt 8. 5-13; Luke 17. 11-19;

Matt 12. 41, 42; Luke 4. 25-27; 10. 30-35.

As to the confession at Csesarea Philippi, read Mark 8. 27-38;
Matt 16. 13-20.

Read the story of the feeding of the multitudes given in Mark
8. 1-9. Compare with that of Mark 6. 30-44. Note points of
resemblance and contrast. Some scholars consider these stories
doublets, describing the same event with such changes as might
easily come from oral tradition. Give reasons for or against this
view. Would the disciples have asked the question of Mark 8. 4
if the feeding of the five thousand had occurred but a little while
before?

CHAPTER XVII

The third
turning point

Why Jesus
turned to
Jerusalem

Jesus true to
his principles

FACING JERUSALEM

Two events were noted in the last chapter that formed
turning points in Jesus' work — his turning from GaHlee and
his acceptance of the title of Messiah. To these there is
now joined a third: Jesus decides to go to Jerusalem and
foretells his suffering and death. "He began to teach them,
that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected
by the elders, and the chief priests, and the scribes, and be
killed, and after three days rise again. And he spake the
saying openly" (Mark 8. 31, 32).

We do not know when Jesus formed this resolution to
go to Jerusalem. He saw it apparently as the will of his
Father, which he read in the course that his life had taken.
Other doors were closed to him. In Galilee, where his
work had begun with such promise, there were now the
conspiring Pharisees and Herodians, and a people that had
turned from him. To go to Gentile lands was to give up
his mission. Only the way to Jerusalem was open. There
he would make the last appeal to his people. The issue of
that appeal, however, he clearly foresaw, and for that he
had to prepare his disciples. The spirit that had opposed
him in Galilee was far stronger in the city. He had met
its emissaries, who had come down to censure and oppose
(Mark 7. i). With them he would find the priestly party,
with whom he had as little in common as with the Pharisees.
He knew that his journey meant death.

The journey, though perhaps a change in his plans, was
not a change in his spirit or method. Here, again, the
story of the temptation outlines his later life. The finger of
God pointed to Jerusalem, it was his to go. His duty was
not to save himself, but to trust God; not to find his own
way, but to obey. If God's way led to Jerusalem and death,

FACING JERUSALEM 113

then suffering and death were a part of God's plan and of
his work. His death, then, was to accompHsh what his Hfe
had failed to do. Some glimpse of the greatness of his
spirit comes to us as we look at this step. There is his
independence of thought. His spiritual insight is his own ;
it is not dependent upon others. Neither the Old Testament
nor the teachers of his day knew anything of a suffering
Messiah. Yet at the moment wdien he takes his place before
his disciples as Messiah he begins to declare that he is a
Messiah that must serve and suffer and die.

Though the traditional thought of the jMessiah did not Suggestions
help him here, he seems to have found guidance from other /n^jgaiah
sources. He had seen what had happened to John and
read in it his own end (Matt 17. 9-13). That had been the
fate of faithful messengers in the past, as he told them later
at Jerusalem (Matt 2;^. 29-36). He was not to escape it.
It is not unlikely too that he found light and help in the
great words of the writer of the second part of the book
of Isaiah. He had gained inspiration from this source
before. In this book were the words that he had read in
the synagogue at Nazareth and had made the program of
his life (Isa 61. i, 2) ; and another verse from this writer
echoes in the answer that he sent back to John (Isa 58. 6;
see Luke 4. 18, 19; 7. 22). In this same book is the
wonderful passage about the suffering servant. From the
very beginning it was applied to Jesus by the church. He
himself seems to have found in it light upon the strange
path that he was now to take. That it was not regarded as
a Messianic passage by the Jews would have made no differ-
ence to him. Two of its great thoughts reappear in his
words in these days. First, he called himself a servant.
"The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to
minister" (Mark 10. 45; Isa 52. 13). "I am in the midst
of you as he that serveth" (Luke 22. 27). Second, he
declared that he was to "give his life a ransom for many"
(Mark 10. 45"). The same thought appears in the prophet;

114

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

The transfig-
uration meant
a preparation

Jesus
prepares
his disciples

in some way the suffering of the servant is to be for the
healing and forgiveness of men : "He was wounded for our
transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities ; the chas-
tisement of our peace was upon him ; and with his stripes
we are healed" (Isa 53. 5).

The story of the transfiguration seems to come imme-
diately after the confession at Csesarea Philippi and before
the journey toward Jerusalem. It was Jesus' own prepara-
tion for the hard days that were before him, and it has a
certain correspondence with the experience at the baptism
and in the wilderness. In this case, as then, he was passing
through a period of conflict. What he had settled then in
principle he was now to put to its last application. The
way of obedience and trust and service was to become the
way of death. It was an hour of struggle, and, as was his
custom, he went apart to pray, taking with him Peter and
James and John. What that hour of prayer meant, how
he won his victory, and how the strength came to him from
his Father we do not know, except that here too a voice
came to him, and he knew that this course that he had
chosen was his Father's will. But even the dulled disciples,
heavy with sleep, awoke at last and knew that God was in
the place. And so Jesus gathered strength, as in the wilder-
ness and the garden, for the days that lay before him (Mark
9. 2-8; Matt 17. 1-8; Luke 9. 28-36).

At no place do we see so clearly the work that Jesus
wrought with his disciples. He did not simply tell them
that he must go to Jerusalem and die. He began patiently a
course of instruction. We do not know how long a time
elapsed from this declaration until their actual arrival at
Jerusalem. It seems to have been deferred long enough to
give opportunity for their training and to insure his presence
there at the time of the great feast of the passover. It was
no easy test to which he subjected them. They had fol-
lowed him on his wanderings after the tide had turned
against him. That was hard enough. That he accepted the

FACING JERUSALEM 115

role of Messiah must have stirred a tumult of hope and
ardent imagination in their hearts. Now he declared that
his Messiahship meant suflfering and death. No wonder
that Peter protested. Jesus' answer is significant: "Get
thee behind me, Satan ; for thou mindest not the things of
God, but the things of men" (Mark 8. ^2)- ^'^e might
translate the words, "You are not thinking God's way, but
man's way." There is a certain passion in Jesus' response
that suggests a deeply stirred soul. It seems to reveal the
struggle through which he had just passed. Jesus saw,
indeed, in the suggestion of Peter that he should turn from
all this, the same subtle tempting spirit of evil that he had
faced in the forty days of temptation. Here, as there, Jesus
perceived the real issue. It was no indifferent matter of
ways and means. The whole principle of life was at stake.
That principle he now set forth in sharp and paradoxical
phrase: "Whosoever would save his life shall lose it; and
whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's
shall save it" (Mark 8. 35).

The disciples stood the test. They followed him when The principle
he turned toward Jerusalem. And yet he had to return to "^ service

•' -^ ^ and sacrifice

his theme again and again, now to set forth his great prin-
ciple of giving and serving, again to declare what it was to
mean for his own life. They did not understand how such
a fate could happen to the Messiah (Mark 9. 30-32). Since
Jesus had declared himself as Messiah, the old popular
dreams and hopes seemed to revive in them. They began
disputing as to the relative positions they were to hold in
his kingdom (Mark 9. 33-37). Two of them, James and
John, boldly took the matter into their own hands and went
to him, asking that he should promise them first and second
places in the new realm (Mark 10. 35-45). All this he
patiently met by his teaching. He called the twelve and
put a child in the midst, teaching the lesson of humility. He
laid down again his great life principle: "If any man would
be first, he shall be last of all, and servant of all" (Mark

ii6

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

The journey
to Jerusalem

The

demand of
discipleship

9. 35; Matt 18. 1-5). There is more sorrow than anger in
his rebuke of the sons of Zebedee. He points to his own
example: "Which is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he
that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? but I am in the
midst of you as he that serveth" (Luke 22. 27).

There is little definite knowledge of the events of the
last journey to Jerusalem. Here, as elsewhere, it is not
certain except in a few cases, that the materials grouped
together by the evangelists are in the right order of time.
Luke gives us the picture of the Master leading on, fearless
and with fixed purpose : "When the days were well-nigh
come that he should be received up, he steadfastly set his
face to go to Jerusalem" (Luke 9. 51). And Mark gives
us the picture of the disciples : "And Jesus was going
before them : and they were amazed ; and they that followed
were afraid" (Mark 10. 32).

Jesus' teaching during this period concerned not only the
law of service and its meaning for his own life in the suffer-
ing and death that awaited him ; he also pointed out what
the demand of discipleship was. Most of the sayings in
which he demands the supreme surrender, the whole-hearted
decision for himself and God, come within this period. His
disciples were to be like men on their way to execution
carrying their own cross; they were to come to him with
their lives in their hands, ready to live the life or give it as
might seem necessary (Mark 8. 34). Only so would they
really find their life. And what else mattered in comparison
with life. Better to lose all else, the right eye even, or the
right hand, than to lose life itself (Mark 9. 43-48). And
from his immediate followers he demanded absolute decision.
There was no time for them to be making farewells or
burying the dead. He wanted no men who tried to plow
while looking back at the same time (Luke 9. 57-62). It
was probably on this journey that he met the rich young
ruler and asked him to give up his riches and join their
company (Mark 10. 17-22).

FACING JERUSALEM

117

Two incidents are given us connected with Jesus' passing The healing
through Jericho on this last trip to Jerusalem. One is the * "*^ °
story of the healing of the bhnd beggar, Bartimaeus, that
is, son of Timseus. It is the last deed of healing which is
described to us. It happened probably as they were leaving
Jericho, though Luke sets it at their entrance. There was
an accompanying crowd from the city. Learning the mean-
ing of the excitement, the beggar raised his voice and called
upon Jesus: "Thou son of David, have mercy on me." It
was the cry to which Jesus was wont to respond, the cry of
faith and need, a cry which rang only the louder when they
tried to stop him. And Jesus healed him (Mark 10. 46-52).

The other incident is that of Zacchseus, a chief publican jesusand
and rich (Luke 19. i-io). What Jesus saw was not the *^®p"^'*«=*°
publican but the man, the man who could forget his wealth
and station and dignity in his eagerness to see Jesus. That
Jesus read his spirit aright is seen by the issue. To Jesus the
publican declares : "The half of my goods I give to the poor ;
and if I have wrongfully exacted aught of any man, I
restore fourfold." It was but another instance of Jesus'
open eye and ready welcome for that humility and earnest
desire which were the open door to the kingdom. And
though he was almost at the door of Jerusalem, with all its
narrowness and watchful enmity, he did not hesitate to go
in and lodge with this publican and sinner. Indeed, it is
probable that he spent the Sabbath day with him, as his
entrance into Jerusalem seems to have been on Sunday.

DIRECTIONS FOR READING AND STUDY

As to the impending suflfering and death and its meaning, read
Matt 17. 9-13; 23. 29-39; Isa 52. 13 to 53. 12.

As to the transfiguration: Mark 9. 2-8; Matt 17. 1-8; Luke 9.
28-36.

As to the principle of service and sacrifice : Mark g. 33-37 ; 10. 35-
45 ; Luke 22. 24-27.

The predictions of suffering and death: Mark 8. 31-38; 9. 3032;
ID. 32-34.

The Jericho incidents: Mark 10. 46-52; Luke 19. i-io.

CHAPTER XVIII
CLOSING DAYS

The accounts
of the last
week

Three
features

Jericho to
Bethany

We have noted in our study how fragmentary the records
of Jesus' life are. The opening events are reported quite
fully, perhaps because they occurred at Capernaum, the
home of Peter and other disciples. For the long period of
his wanderings after leaving Galilee there is little that can
be definitely placed. Now, in the last week of his life, the
accounts suddenly become very full again. In the four
Gospels about one third of the space is given to these events,
inclusive of the resurrection stories. There are several
reasons for this. The events took place in a great city
before many eyes. The city was the home of John Mark,
probably the first writer of a complete gospel story. More
important, however, is the fact that these were days of
intensest interest to the disciples, and these events became
central for the faith of the church. What happened at this
time sank deep into their hearts. Moreover, the days were
crowded with teaching and incident.

Three outstanding features mark Jesus' w^ork : First, he
asserts quietly but unmistakably his Messianic claim. Sec-
ond, he speaks a final and urgent message of warning.
Third, he openly enters into conflict with the leaders of the
people, scribes, Pharisees, and priests. By the first and
third steps in this course, instead of shunning the danger,
he himself helps to hasten the end.

The journey from Jericho was probably made in the
early morning before the heat of the day came on. It was
a steep road, rising some thirty-five hundred feet in the
fifteen miles of distance. There must have been a score or
more in Jesus' company. Besides the twelve there were
a number of women (Luke 8. 1-3; Matt 20. 20) ; and there

118

CLOSING DAYS

119

were probably other disciples accompanying. Jerusalem was
not a strange city to Jesus. Whatever may be the case as
to the ministry in Jerusalem, recorded by the fourth Gos-
pel, as a loyal Jew Jesus would have made at least an an-
nual trip thither to one of the feasts, such a trip as that
taken when he was twelve years of age. A couple of
miles outside the city lay the village of Bethany. Accord-
ing to John II, I, it was here that Mary and Martha
lived, and at their house the company probably now
waited till preparations could be made for the entry into
the city.

There is a passage in Zech. 9. 9 which describes the The meaning
entry of the Messianic King into Jerusalem: "Rejoice o'^^^^'i^y
greatly, O daughter of Zion ; shout, O daughter of Jeru-
salem : behold, thy king cometh unto thee ; he is just, and
having salvation ; lowly, and riding upon an ass, even upon
a colt the foal of an ass." With evident purpose Jesus
sends to a nearby village and has brought to him an ass.
On this a coat is spread and, mounting it, he rides into the
city. For those who might understand, it was the first
public assertion of his Messiahship. At the same time it
set forth the manner of Messiah that he was, coming humble,
unarmed, upon a lowly beast.

How far the multitudes perceived this we do not know.
John says (12. 16) that even the disciples did not under-
stand this at first. So much at least they understood, that
this was their Master's entrance into the city of which he
was to be King. Meanwhile the people that filled the city
in thronging crowds at the passover time, coming not only
from Judsea and Galilee but from parts far beyond, had
heard of Jesus' presence and came out to meet him. What-
ever else was present, the dominant note was enthusiasm.
They joined the disciples in spreading garments and
branches in the way, and raising the cry : "Hosanna ;
Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord : Blessed
is the kingdom that cometh, the kingdom of our father

The reception
by the
multitude

I20 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

David: Hosanna in the highest" (Mark ii. i-ii). Before
this he had charged with silence any who would have
greeted him as Messiah, Now he had no word to say, ex-
cept to respond to the displeasure of the Pharisees at this
demonstration by declaring, 'Tf these shall hold their peace,
the stones will cry out" (Luke 19. 39, 40).
Cleansing Unwilling as yet to trust himself to his foes, Tesus with-

the temple o j ' j

drew for the night to the quiet and safety of Bethany. Ap-
parently, his first visit on the next day was to the temple.
Here he saw again what had probably often stirred his
soul. His work now brought him into contact with the
priestly party, and the opposition is as sharp as with the
Pharisees. If religion was a matter of form and pride with
the Pharisees, it was a matter of position and power and
profit with the priests. To retain its place, the priestly
party had shown itself quite ready to enter into bargains
with the 'Romans. One of their sources of profit was
the cause of what now met Jesus' eyes. In kindly
consideration for the poor, the law provided that a pair
of doves would be acceptable as an offering from these
(Lev 5. 5-10). The temple party found this a chance for
profitable traffic. Still another chance came with the re-
quired payment of the temple tax. For this only the
coins were accepted that Israel herself had once minted, and
Roman money had to be exchanged for these. So the
temple courts were filled with the money-changers and
sellers of doves, all this being a monopoly of the priests.
Stirred with anger, Jesus drove them out, "Is it not writ-
ten," he said, "My house shall be called a house of prayer
for all nations? But ye have made it a den for robbers"
(Mark 11, 17). Apparently, his righteous anger joined
to the approval of the multitudes left them no desire for
resistance, nor did they dare to call the temple officers.
"They could not find what they might do; for the people
all hung upon him, listening" (Luke 19. 47, 48; Mark 11.

15-19)-

CLOSING DAYS

121

The second aspect of these last days of Jesus' ministry The lament

is the note of warning. It appears in the double lament over
Jerusalem. The first of these Luke gives us as spoken
by Jesus at the time of the triumphal entry. As he drew
nigh the city, he wept over it. He was about to make his
last appeal, but the city did not recognize its day of visi-
tation. Soon the day of warfare would come, and its foes
would overthrow it (Luke 19. 41-44). The other is placed
by Matthew after the woes against the Pharisees. Its beau-
tiful words show his distress for the city and his confidence
as to his ultimate triumph: "O, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that
killeth the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto
her ! how often would I have gathered thy children together,
even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and
ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you deso-
late ! For I say unto you, ye shall not see me henceforth,
till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of
the Lord" (Matt 23. 37-39).

The same message is given in several parables. The
first of these is placed by Luke on the last journey to
Jerusalem (19. 11-27). Matthew's parable of the talents
may be simply a variant of the same (25. 14-30). Luke's
story of the nobleman who went to get his kingdom is the
history of Archelaus. .\t his death Herod had bequeathed
Judaea and Samaria to his son Archelaus. The latter had to
go to Rome to have his title to the realm confirmed. There
he was opposed by an embassy from Judsea, against whom,
however, he was successful. All this Jesus uses to enforce
his lesson of stewardship. He is the King who is to depart
and leave the interests of the Kingdom in their trust.
And they are to answer for the use they make of their
pounds.

The parable of the fig tree is a similar warning, addressed
not to the disciples but to the nation. Israel was the un-
fruitful fig tree having its last opportunity. "Let it alone
this year also, till I shall dig about it and dung it ; and if it

and the
warning

Parables of
warning

Fig tree and
vineyard

122

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Days of
conflict

The tribute
money

bear fruit thenceforth, well ; but if not, thou shalt cut it
down" (Luke 13. 1-9). The story of the cursing of the
fig tree is nothing more than this same parable acted in-
stead of spoken (Mark 11. 12-14, 20-23). Jesus sees a
fig tree in full leaf, but finds no fruit as he comes in search.
He pronounces a curse upon it, and they find it withered
as they pass the next day. As a mere act of petulance this
is inconceivable. Some have thought that the whole story
as found in Matthew and Mark grew out of Luke's parable
just noted. The other alternative would be to conceive it
as the same parable put into action, as the old prophets
were wont to do. The parable of the Lord's vineyard is
more a parable of judgment than of warning. The figure
was familiar (Isa 5. i; Psa 80. 8), Israel was like a
vineyard intrusted by its master to the care of husbandmen
who were to make some return of its fruits. Jehovah had
been sending his servants, the prophets, and looking to
Israel for fruitage. Instead they had beaten and slain them.
Now he had sent his Son, and they would put him to
death. There could be but one end — that the vineyard
should be taken from them and given to others. Here again,
with the warning, is the assertion of Jesus' own Messiahship
(Mark 12. 1-12).

The third outstanding aspect of these last days was Jesus'
open conflicts with his enemies. Again and again they
tried to entrap him. "By what authority doest thou these
things?" they asked him (Mark ii. 27-33). He met them
wi'th another question: "The baptism of John, was it from
heaven, or from men?" His own authority, he felt, was
like that of John, from God himself. But they dared not
answer his simple question. To say from God was to con-
demn themselves, for they had not believed John ; to say
from men would stir against them the people who held John
a prophet.

Their second question seemed more cleverly planned:
"Is it lawful to give tribute unto Csesar or not?" (Mark 12.

CLOSING DAYS

123

13-17). To say yes would arouse the people; to say no
would give them ground for lodging charges with the
Romans. Jesus' action was as simple as it was unanswer-
able. He called for a coin and asked them what image it
bore. They answered, "Caesar's." "Render unto Caesar
the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that
are God's," was his reply. His answer was not an effort
to divide matters between church and state, nor yet a mere
clever device to confound them. They were quibbling ; his
whole passion was to have men yield to God the things
that were God's.

The incident with the Sadducees shows how Jesus could The question

. of the

take a trifling, absurd query and lift it to moral and spir- sadducees
itual heights (Mark 12. 18-27). They brought him the im-
possible and foolish case of a woman who, in accordance
with the old law (Deut 25. 5-10), had been married in turn
to seven brothers. 'Tn the resurrection whose wife shall
she be of them ?" they asked. It was their effort to laugh
out of court the doctrine of the resurrection, in which they
did not believe. Jesus left their absurdities to one side.
He simply replied : "You do not know the Scriptures or
the power of God : and as to the life to come, have you
not read the word, I am the God of Abraham, and the God
of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of
the dead, but of the living."

The climax of his controversy was reached in the seven The seven
woes in which he denounced the Pharisees (Matt 23. 13- '*'°^^
36). Matthew, who gives them most fully, is probably right
in placing them here. Here, at the close of his ministry,
he shows forth the inner spirit of that whole system of rules
and formalism into which the religion of his people had de-
generated. These words could have only one result — an
open enmity that should end in his death.

No passage in the Gospels is more difficult to interpret Jesus'
than the thirteenth chapter of Mark and its parallels. Jesus J^e'^J'jJf,'^ '"
and his disciples were leaving the temple, the splendid

124

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Jewish
apocalypses

Jesus and

apocalyptic

thought

building which was the pride of all the Jews. Deeply
impressed, one of them said to him, "Teacher, behold, what
manner of stones and what manner of building." Then
Jesus made the startling answer which was the basis of one
of the charges made against him in his trial : "There shall
not be left here one stone upon another, which shall not
be thrown down." A double thought was probably in
Jesus' mind : first, that city and temple were doomed to
destruction at the hands of Israel's enemies ; second, that
the temple and what it stood for was to make place for
a truer faith. The natural question of the disciples was,
"When shall these things be? and what shall be the sign
when these things are all about to be accomplished?" Then
follows a discourse, different from the customary direct and
simple teachings of the Master, describing the woes that
are to come and the strange signs that are to herald them.

The whole passage resembles strongly a class of writ-
ings well known among the Jews at this time, called
apocalyptic. An apocalypse is an uncovering of secret
things, especially of the future. The books of Daniel and
Revelation are examples within our Bible. The minds of
the people were filled with apocalyptic ideas at this time.
The writings were generally marked by three features : ( i )
a certain circle of ideas including those of judgment, resur-
rection, the overthrow of the devil and his angels, the de-
struction of the earth, and the appearance of a new heaven
and a new earth; (2) the discussion of times and seasons
and the signs of these events; (3) imaginative descriptions
of the glories of the new age.

If we are to judge Jesus' relation to all this, we must
look at his teaching as a whole, remembering how easily
in individual cases his teachings might be unconsciously
changed by those who handed them down in the years
before they were written out. In his clear and definite
teaching he shows some agreement with this apocalyptic
thought and some differences. ( i ) Jesus believed with these

CLOSING DAYS 125

writers that the rule of God was coming and that there was
to be a new earth. That was his teaching of the kingdom
of God. (2) Jesus beHeved that he was to come again,
and that he was to judge men. When he knew that
suffering and death were before him, he began at the same
time to declare that he should come in glory and that he
was to be the judge of men (Mark 8. 38; j\Iatt 25. 31-46;
26. 64). (3) He believed that this coming was near at hand
(J\Iatt 10. 23; Mark 9. i). But (4) the whole spirit and
tone of Jesus' teaching was different. Although, like the
early church and Paul, he thought that the coming was near
at hand, yet he did not deal in figures and calculations.
'*But of that day or that hour knoweth no one, not even the
angels in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father" (Mark
13- 32)- (5) His interest was not in drawing pictures of
physical glories. A fragment from an ancient writer shows
us what some of these dreams were. In this Jesus is re-
ported as having said : "The days will come in which vines
shall grow having each ten thousand branches, and in each
branch ten thousand twigs, and in each twig ten thousand
shoots, and in every one of the shoots ten thousand clusters,
and on every one of the clusters ten thousand grapes, and
every grape when pressed will give five and twenty metretes
of wine." Jesus did not talk of the future to bring such
visions to men, but to strengthen them against coming
trial and to call them to watchfulness and earnestness.

Many scholars believe that these words of Mark 13 be- Does this
long only in part to Jesus. It may very well be that the Represent
question of the disciples led Jesus to speak of the future,
to tell them of the days of trial that he foresaw, that he
might forewarn and prepare, as well as to declare his own
confidence in the future. With their own minds full of
these apocalyptic hopes, the changes may easily have crept
in, or even teachings have been added which they assumed
to represent his thought. In the end we must fall back
upon the body of Jesus' teachings and their unmistakable

126 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

moral and spiritual emphasis, so different from the apoc-
alyptic dreams that filled men's minds at that time.
The picture It was probably at this time that Jesus drew the great

o ju gment j\^(_igi-iient sccne given in Matt 25. 31-46. Here, as in the
other picture teaching of Jesus, it is a mistake to seek a
special meaning in every detail. Two great truths stand
out. The first is the fact of judgment. The second is the
principle of judgment. Here nothing is said of nation-
ality, Jewish or Greek, nothing of creeds or forms of prac-
tice; men are judged by the spirit of love and helpfulness,
and the service done to the needy Jesus accounts as a serv-
ice rendered to himself.

DIRECTIONS FOR READING AND STUDY
The Messianic King. Read Mark 11. i-ii; Luke 19. 39, 40; Mark

II. 15-19.

Words of warning: Read Luke 19. 41-44; Matt 23. 37-39; Luke
19. 11-27; Matt 25. 14-30; Luke 13. 1-9; Mark 11. 12-14, 20-23;
Mark 12. 1-12.

Conflicts: Read Mark 11. 27-33; 12. 13-27; Matt 23. 1-36.

The future: Read Mark 13; Matt 25. 31-46.

State in your own language Jesus' charges against the Pharisees
as given in Matt 23. 1-36.

CHAPTER XIX
THE LAST HOURS

The last hours were at hand. No one knew it better The plot
than Jesus. The elements of power were arrayed against
him : on the one side the priestly party, or Sadducees, whom
his deed at the temple had angered ; on the other the Phari-
sees, with their leaders, the scribes, who had opposed him
from the beginning. The two parties were usually bitterly
opposed to each other ; now they were ready to join hands
(Alark 14. i, 2; Matt 26. 1-5). For the present they feared
the people, the crowds of the pilgrims who were present
for the passover and who favored Jesus ; but they were
waiting their chance. Jesus had been spending his days
during this last week in the city, teaching in the courts of
the temple where the people gathered. The first night he
had gone to his friends in Bethany, after that apparently
to some house upon the Mount of Olives (Mark 11. 11;
Luke 21. 37, 38). The circumstances gave Judas his op-
portunity. A double motive probably prevailed with this
disciple in the deed which has made his memory a shame.
Like many others, he had been moved at first by the preach-
ing of Jesus. But while the others of the twelve stood loyal,
he could not meet the test when Jesus began to declare that
his kingdom was not to mean earthly power and that suffer-
ing and death impended. It is likely that a certain angry
resentment at Jesus' course made his natural avarice more
ready to respond when the temptation came to gain a re-
ward by taking Jesus' foes to this place of his retirement.
And so he bargained with them for his thirty pieces of
silver (Mark 14. 10, 11).

Mark and Matthew both give the incident of the anointing The anointing
at this place (Mark 14. 3-9). It may have occurred that

127

128

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

The supper-
was it the
passover?

Another
warning

first day of Jesus' entry after he had returned to Bethany.
John tells us that it was Mary of Bethany who brought
the costly ointment and poured it over his head, breaking
the bottle as though she would not have it subject after
this to any common use. To the prosaic disciples it seemed
a foolish, wasteful deed. Here, as so often, Jesus shows
his appreciation of the finer aspects and deeper meanings
of life as he rebukes them. For him it was a deed worthy
to be told wherever his gospel was proclaimed. In this
hour when he faced his great trial, such an act of tender
and gracious love moved his heart. "She hath anointed
my body beforehand for the burying."

The last crowded days must have left Jesus little time
for his disciples. With the end drawing near he felt the
need of such time both for fellowship and for instruction.
"With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you
before I suffer," Luke reports him saying (22. 15). All
the Gospels report in detail the last supper which they ate
together. It was held in the upper room of the house of
some friend in the city (Matt 26. 17-19). Whether this
supper was the passover, scholars are not agreed. The
synoptic Gospels state this definitely, but there are strong
reasons to the contrary. Had this been the night of the
passover, the Jewish leaders would not have been abroad,
but would all have been at their homes, according to strict
custom. Neither could any trial have been held on the
following day, for the day was holy like a Sabbath day.
In this case the right tradition seems to be that of the fourth
Gospel, which definitely fixes the following day as the pass-
over (John 13. I, 29; 18. 28). In the symbolism of the
early church the Lord's Supper was looked upon as the
Christian passover, and that is the probable ground for the
tradition as to date which the synoptic Gospels follow.

There was one element of discord in the company that
gathered about the table. No doubt Jesus had made more
than one attempt to stem the change which he had seen

THE LAST HOURS 129

taking place in Judas in these last days. Now he saw that
it had been in vain. Perhaps he wished to make a last
appeal ; possibly, failing of that, to remove Judas from the
company that he might have these hours in unmarred fel-
lowship. The fourth Gospel states that Judas left during
the evening. In any case. Jesus warns his disciples once
more of the approaching danger by telling them that one
of their own company should betray him, one that was
taking food with him from the same dish.

Then followed another lesson, a parable which was to be The new
acted again and again in the long years to come (Mark 14.
22-25; Matt 26. 26-29; Luke 22. 15-20). As so often in
the past, Jesus used a picture to set forth the truth, this
time, however, putting it in action. Taking a piece of bread
during the supper, he broke it and said, "This is my body."
And giving them in turn the cup of wine, he said, "This
is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for
many." The act and the simple words were full of mean-
ing. Here was another v^ord of warning to prepare his
disciples for his coming death. Here, again, was an inter-
pretation of that death. Though the hatred and evil of
men might bring it about, Jesus knew that his death was
the will of the Father and for the saving of men. To the
words, "poured out for many," Matthew adds "unto remis-
sion of sins." Though the action of Jesus came so simply,
there was evident deep solemnity and consciousness of what
this meant. He spoke of a new covenant that he was estab-
lishing. Long years before Jeremiah had spoken of such
a day, when Jehovah was to write his law not upon tablets
of stone but in the hearts of men. Jesus knew that this
new day for men had come. The oldest record of these
events comes not from the Gospels but from the apostle
Paul, writing some twenty years after this time (i Cor 11,

23-25)-

From the upper room the little company started out for a final
the Mount of Olives where they had been spending the last *^™'°«

130

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

The praying
in the garden

Arrest,
desertion,
and denial

few nights. Jesus' thought was still with his disciples.
One had already deserted him. Despite all efforts to pre-
pare them, he foresaw how it would be with the others.
You shall all be offended in me, he told them. Peter, ready
as ever, insisted that he at least would be loyal. Jesus
knew that the end was at hand. Before cock crow, he says
to Peter, that is, before early morning, "Thou shalt deny
me thrice" (Mark 14. 26-31).

They had reached the Mount of Olives now and the place
called Gethsemane. Jesus knew upon what errand Judas
had gone. Flight would have been easy. His enemies did
not care so much for his life as simply to be rid of him.
But Jesus had settled long since where his path lay. Though
there was no hesitation, there was, however, a shrinking
and a deep anguish of spirit. It was not simply the horror
of a terrible death. There was the deep concern for his
disciples that had been weighing upon him, and for his
people. For this hour he had prepared in the temptation.
To this he had looked forward in that night of prayer on
the mount of transfiguration. To these two great hours of
struggle the third and hardest was now added. "My soul
is exceeding sorrowful even unto death," he told the three
disciples whom he had asked to watch with him. Prone
on his face he prays. The passion of his soul trembles
through his prayer: 'Tf it be possible, let this cup pass
away from me." Yet the deep undercurrent is the same
as in that prayer which he taught his disciples. There is
perfect confidence, and there is utter surrender to the will
of God: "Abba, Father, . . . not what I will, but what
thou wilt" (Mark 14. 32-42; Matt 26. 36-46; Luke 22.

39-46).

In the distance Jesus heard his enemies approaching.
Worn out with the strain of the week, the disciples had
slept while he prayed. While he was yet calling them,
Judas came leading a band of soldiers and servants from
the Pharisees and the priests. What Jesus foresaw took

THE LAST T TOURS 131

place ; the disciples were panic-stricken. "They all left
him and fled" (Mark 14. 43-52). Mark adds the curious
incident of the young man who followed with only a linen
cloth flung about him, and who fled naked when they tried
to seize him. It is an interesting possibility that this was
Mark himself, that the disciples had taken the Last Sup-
per at his mother's home (see Acts 12. 12), and that the
young man, awakening from sleep, had followed them. If
so, then the suggestion is correct that we have in this
anonymous reference "the monogram of the artist in a dark
corner of the painting." Peter, a little braver than the
rest, followed to the house of the high priest, where Judas
was first taken. Luke tells the story of his denial simply
but vividly. Sitting in the light of the fire that had been
kindled in the court, one after another of the servants, see-
ing Peter, charged him with being a follower of Jesus the
Galilsean. Three times Peter uttered this denial. "And the
Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remem-
bered the word of the Lord, how that he said unto him.
Before the cock crow this day thou shalt deny me thrice.
And he went out and w^ept bitterly" (Luke 22. 54-62).

DIRECTIONS FOR READING AND STUDY

The plot: Mark 14. i, 2, 10, 11; read also Matt 27. 3-10.

The anointing: Mark 14. 3-9.

The Last Supper: Mark 14. 12-25; Luke 22. 15-20; compare
I Cor II. 23-25.

Warnings: Mark 14. 26-31; Luke 22. 35-38.

At Gethsemane: Mark 14. 32-52.

The denial: Mark 14. 66-72.

Write down the instances found in these passages of Jesus' at-
tempt to prepare his disciples for the end.

CHAPTER XX
THE TRIAL AND CRUCIFIXION

The course The accouiits of the trial of Jesus do not wholly agree.

According to Mark and Matthew, Jesus was at once taken to
the house of the high priest and thus brought before the San-
hedrin while it was yet night. John may be right in stating
that he was first taken to Annas, former high priest, father-
in-law of Caiaphas and probably the real leader in the move-
ment against Jesus. A night meeting would be irregular,
but they were in great haste. The next day was the pass-
over. The preparations for the feast began on this the pre-
ceding day and so the latter part of this day was sacred.
They must not trench upon the sacred day, and they must
run no risk of trouble being made by the people in Jesus'
favor. At any cost Jesus must be brought before the
Roman governor for judgment immediately. So the lead-
ers may have been gathered at once, and the formal judg-
ment not passed till morning, as Luke 22. (^ suggests.

The Even now they were scrupulous about the formal rules

of procedure. In their own minds the case was settled:
Jesus had flouted sacred laws and customs. He had set their
authority at naught in cleansing the temple. He had con-
demned them as faithless in his parables. But they must
find a charge upon which they could condemn him to death
and they must have two witnesses agree. In this they
failed. Then at last the high priest challenged Jesus with
the question, "Art thou the Christ?" Jesus had been silent.
Now he must respond if he was to be true to himself; and
there was confidence and courage in his answer: 'T am:
and ye shall see the Son of man sitting at the right hand
of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven." With

132

conviction

accusation
before Pilate

THE TRIAL AND CRUCIFIXION 133

such assurance Jesus faced the end. To them it was blas-
phemy, and they forthwith passed their sentence.

They next had to secure a sentence from Pilate. The The
Sanhedrin had large powers of local government, but not
that of the sentence of death. Before Pilate Jesus' offense
had to be given a political turn. Not blasphemy was the
charge, but that as Messiah he conspired to be king. Pilate's
position in Jerusalem was not an easy one. Rome had no-
where a people more difficult to handle. It was apparent
to him from the first that there was no real treason here.
The poor peasant who stood before him must have seemed
to him only a harmless fanatic. But these fierce leaders
of the Jews, insistent and stirring up the people, were by no
means harmless, and Jewish tumults were not to be courted.
So Pilate wavers between the desire to release Jesus and
the fear of consequences.

The court seems to have been held before the palace. Piiate,
Pilate's first judgment was, "I find no fault in this man." Herod, and

JO' ^ the people

The priests then added another charge, that he was stirring
up the people from Galilee to Judaea to revolt. Pilate
grasped at the word Galilee. If this was a Galilasan the
case belonged to Herod, who was at the time in the city. So
at last Jesus met that crafty, cruel ruler whom he had called
"that fox." Before Herod's shallow curiosity, however,
Jesus kept silence, and Herod had no deeper interest. So
back to Pilate Jesus went, and the governor sought again
to release him. And now the people came into action.
Their favor had been short-lived ; they had no room for
a Messiah who could not defend himself. Pilate appealed
to them, offering to release Jesus according to a certain
custom ; but the people, stirred up by the priests, called for
another prisoner and began to raise their cry against Jesus,
"Crucify, crucify." Cowardly at heart, Pilate at last passed
sentence of death.

And now for tlie third time that morning Jesus suffers The mocking
mockery and abuse. This meek and silent figure in peasant's °' ^^^"^

134

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

The way of
the cross

The

crucifixion
The seven
words

garb, yet claiming to be the Messiah, had stirred his foes to
brutal ridicule. They had mocked him in the court of
Caiaphas, striking the blindfolded captive and bidding him
name the man who struck him. Herod's soldiers had put
on gorgeous garments in mockery. Now Pilate hands him
over to his men and, after the brutal custom of the time,
Jesus suffers the cruelty of scourging. The soldiers in play
give him crown and robe and a reed for scepter, and then
change their mock homage to blows and insult.

All this did not last long, for Mark says the crucifixion
took place at nine. The criminal himself was usually com-
pelled to bear the heavy timber upon which he was later
hung. Jesus was evidently too weak for this. The name
of the man who bore the cross is probably remembered
as being later a disciple. Broken though he may have been,
Jesus still had a word for the few women who followed
him lamenting, and for the city whose end he saw.

Crucifixion was a mode of death made terrible by pro-
longed suffering, to which was added the shame of a
form of execution reserved for slaves and lowest criminals.
In the presence of the deeper agony of spirit the mere de-
scription of physical suft'ering is out of place. It was the
common place of execution to which Jesus was led, and
two robbers suffered the penalty at the same time. In few
words the Gospels have given us the picture: the hardened
soldiery gambling for his garments, his enemies jeering
at him. the crowds looking on, and the women who had fol-
lowed him from the north sorrowing at a distance. The
four Gospels report seven words of Jesus spoken from the
cross. In only one case, however, do two of the Gospels
report the same word. Two words are reported as spoken
to others : one to the penitent thief, "Verily I say unto thee,
To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise"; and one given
by John, spoken to his mother and a disciple: "Woman,
behold, thy son," and "Behold, thy mother." Three words
of prayer are reported: "Father, forgive them; for they

THE TRIAL AND CRUCIFIXION 135

know not what they do"; "My God, my God, why hast
thou forsaken me?" "Father, into thy hands I commend my
spirit." The fourth Gospel adds two other words: "I
thirst," and "It is finished." The wine and myrrh, offered
to deaden the senses and to lessen the pain, Jesus refused.
He wished to keep his full consciousness to the last. In-
stead of the suffering- which often lasted two or three days,
Jesus' death came after but three hours, and then, appar-
ently, suddenly. "Jesus cried again with a loud voice, and
yielded up his spirit."

His death showed again how he had been able to bind Friends
men to him. From all the cruelty and brutality and indif-
ference of that hour, there stands forth the devotion of
the women from Galilee who watched the scene from afar.
And to them must be joined Joseph of Arimathsea, evidently
a man of wealth and prominence, probably a member of
the Sanhedrin. Joseph had the courage to ask for the
body from Pilate, and provided the tomb in which it was
buried.

As he had lived, so Jesus died, in the spirit of love for The spirit
men for whose saving he counted this death, and in utter ^ death
confidence and obedience toward God. One word seems to
indicate that this confidence left him for at least a moment
— the cry which Matthew and Mark report: "My God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" The inference is
probably wrong. The story of the temptation shows how
Jesus, in the days of struggle before his ministry, used the
words of the Scriptures for guidance and strength. Here
in his last trial, they come again to his lips. It is the
twent}'-second psalm that he is repeating. But the psalm,
of which these evangelists repeat but the first verse, is a
song of faith and not simply a cry of anguish:

Our fathers trusted in thee :

They trusted, and thou didst deliver them.

They cried unto thee, and were delivered :

They trusted in thee, and were not put to shame.

136 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

The meaning What Jcsus hopcd for from his death was not wanting.
It did for men what his life alone had not accomplished.
The cross, symbol of shame for that day like the guillotine
or gallows for ours, became the center of the message of his
disciples and the symbol of honor for the ages following.
From the first men saw in his death, as did he, not a tragic
accident or the triumph of his foes, but some great purpose
of God. It wrought the sense of sin and the feeling of peni-
tence which he had wished to call forth. It stood forth as
the crowning deed of his love in which they saw the love
and mercy of God. It fixed forever the ideal of his life
as that of love and service, and the ideal of the Christian
life for those who were to follow him.

DIRECTIONS FOR READING AND STUDY

Before the priests: Mark 14. 53-65; Luke 22. 63-71.

Before Pilate and Herod: Mark 15. 1-20; Luke 23. 1-25.

Crucifixion and burial: Mark 15. 21-47; Matt 27. 32-66; Luke
23. 26-56.

Write briefly in your own words the story of the trial, incorpo-
rating the items from the three synoptic Gospels.

PART III
THE JERUSALEM CHURCH

137

CHAPTER XXI
THE BEGINNINGS OF THE CHURCH

What Jesus' enemies were concerned about was not The plan of
simply to wreak vengeance upon an individual who had of- J®^"^' ^°^^
fended them. They wanted to put a stop to a movement
that threatened to endanger their position as leaders. The
simplest way was to kill the Master. His disciples, a
group of enthusiasts without training or standing, could
very well be disregarded. None of them were, therefore,
molested. When they had gibbeted the leader they felt the
matter was disposed of.

So, indeed, it seemed. Nothing is more certain than Disheartened
the fact that the disciples were utterly perplexed and dis- '®"p*^
heartened by the sudden events of the day. Face to face
with the terrible reality, Jesus' warnings had little effect.
A Messiah seized by his foes, humiliated, scourged, bound
to a cross — how could such a thing be? They could not
think of him as the Messiah now, but as "a prophet mighty
in deed and word before God and all the people." They
had "hoped that it was he who should redeem Israel," but
their dream was over (Luke 24. 13-21).

Just as certain, however, is the fact that almost at once The sudden
a radical change took place. The scattered company gath- ^^^^^^
ered together. The perplexity was gone. Instead there
were men with a clear and confident conviction. The fear
had vanished. In the city in which their ^Master was killed,
before the people that had seen his shameful death, they
were ready to speak their faith in him. And it was not
simply an old faith regained; there was a courage and a
joy that surpassed the old days. They were not mere fol-
lowers now, they were leaders. And all this was not a
passing enthusiasm. Under tlicse men as leaders a great

139

140

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

The
resurrection

Differences
in the records

movement began which in a couple of generations spread
throughout the whole empire. What was the cause of this
transformation ?

The first cause was the conviction that Jesus was living.
That was the center and foundation of all else. From
all the New Testament writings that touch this period we
hear the same word : Jesus rose from the dead on the third
day and appeared to his disciples. The earliest and most
important record is that of Paul in his first letter to the
Corinthians, written some twenty years after Jesus' death.
Paul undoubtedly received this word directly from Peter,
whom he visited at Jerusalem only a few years after Jesus'
death (Gal i. i8). He declares to the Corinthians that
what he preached to them was the common faith of the
church as he himself had received it — "that Christ died
for our sins according to the Scriptures ; and that he was
buried ; and that he hath been raised the third day accord-
ing to the Scriptures ; and that he appeared to Cephas ; then
to the twelve; then he appeared to above five hundred
brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain until
now, but some are fallen asleep ; then he appeared to James ;
then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to the child un-
timely born, he appeared to me also" (i Cor 15. 3-8). The
other reports are found in the book of Acts and the four
Gospels.

When we come to a closer stud}' of these records we are
met by two questions : How are we to reconcile the apparent
differences in these accounts ; and, How are we to conceive
the manner of the resurrection and of these appearances?
It may be stated at the very first that only by violence can
these accounts be harmonized in their details, Matthew
gives the appearances in Galilee, Luke in Jerusalem, while
the last part of Mark's Gospel has been unfortunately lost
to us, as the note given in our American Standard Revised
Edition indicates. There have been differences of inter-
pretation likewise as to the manner of the resurrection and

BEGINNINGS OF THE CHURCH

141

the appearances. Our oldest witness, Paul, lays no stress
upon the physical. He believes, of course, in a bodily
resurrection, but he will not dogmatize about the nature
of that body. He seems to put Jesus' resurrection in
line with the resurrection of the saints, of which he says:
"It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body"
(i Cor 15. 20-53). In the same way Paul classes Jesus'
appearance to him on the way to Damascus with that to
the disciples after his resurrection. Luke, on the other
hand, emphasizes the physical, even to the extent of pic-
turing Jesus as eating (Luke 24. 39-43).

To the first question we may answer : While it is not pos-
sible to reconcile these differences now, neither is it neces-
sary. In the years that elapsed between these events and
the writing of the Gospels, it was inevitable that such dis-
crepancies should arise. The fundamental fact, however, is
clearly held by all these writers. The very discrepancies
emphasize the central agreement. Nor is it important to be
able to answer the second question. The actual issue is
whether we believe in the reality of the spiritual world.
If the physical is all there is of life, then these stories are
mere hallucinations. But if the real Hfe be the personal
and spiritual, then the manner of these appearances is not
vital, and to attempt to decide is simply to try to answer
the unanswerable. The one clear fact, without which the
wonderful story of early Christianity is a mere riddle, is the
fact that these disciples were following a living Lord, and
not a dead and defeated leader.

What this conviction meant that Jesus was living we
cannot overestimate. If he were living, then he was the
Messiah, then his death was part of the will and plan of
God. Then too Jesus would come again and establish his
Kingdom upon the earth. It is this confidence in the second
appearing of Jesus and in his final triumph, that fills the
whole early church with hope and joy. The Christians are
those who wait for the appearing of their Lord.

The central
question

What the
faith meant

142

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

The

resurrection
and the
ground of
faith

The gift
of the Spirit

What is the relation of these narratives of the resur-
rection to Christian faith to-day? Are they not its foun-
dation? And if so, are not these discrepancies a serious
hindrance ? To this we must answer : The conviction of the
living Christ is central for Christian faith to-day. But the
foundation of that conviction is not primarily the story of
the appearances. It is, rather, the personality of Christ
itself ; it is this life that shines forth in the Gospels, con-
vincing us of its reality and of the God whom it shows
forth, and proving its reality by what it did for the early
church and for the generations since, and by what it will
do to-day for those who surrender to it. The real founda-
tion is not a historical argument or proof ; it is this personal
moral conviction and experience.

Next to their conviction of the living Christ, there is an-
other great fact that stands at the beginning of the Chris-
tian church and accounts for the transformation of these
men. That was the gift of the Spirit. These disciples be-
lieved that their Lord would some time return in glory, but
their religion was not simply one of waiting. Their Master
was the exalted Christ at the right hand of God and he
had given to them the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God
was in their midst and in their hearts now. God was not
a doctrine, he was a presence. Religion was not a mere
duty, it was a life which they already possessed. There is
a spirit of enthusiasm that fills these pages of Acts, a spirit
of joy and a sense of power. "And day by day, continuing
steadfastly with one accord in the temple, and breaking
bread at home, they took their food with gladness and
singleness of heart, praising God, and having favor with
all the people. And they were all filled with the Holy
Spirit, and they spake the word of God with boldness. And
the multitudes of them that believed were of one heart and
soul: and not one of them said that aught of the things
which he possessed was his own; but they had all things
in common. And with great power gave the apostles their

BEGINNINGS OF THE CHURCH 143

witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great
grace was upon them all" (Acts 2. 43, 46, 47; 4. S^SS)-

This full measure of enthusiasm and power had not Pentecost
been granted the disciples at once. Nor did they begin
their ptiblic work immediately after the assurance that
Jesus was risen. They were to wait together in Jerusalem
in prayer until they were prepared for the great task. "Ye
shall receive power, when the Hoh' Spirit is come upon
you : and ye shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in
all Judaea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the
earth" (Acts i. 8). This was the word of the risen Christ
to them. Luke describes how he was seen by the dis-
ciples for the last time and then taken from them (Acts i.
6-1 1 ; Luke 24. 51). The idea of an ascension distinct from
the resurrection appears only with Luke, not being men-
tioned by Paul or in the other Gospels. Obedient to the
word, the disciples gathered together daily in prayer in
Jerusalem, one hundred and twenty of them in number.
Pentecost was the name given by Greek-speaking Jews, or
Hellenists, to the feast that came on the fiftieth day after
the passover. The climax of their waiting came on that
day, "And when the day of Pentecost was now come, they
were all together in one place. And suddenly there came
from heaven a sound as of the rushing of a mighty wind,
and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And
there appeared unto them tongues parting asunder, as of
fire ; and it sat upon each one of them. And they were
all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with
other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts
2. 1-4).

For Christian thought the word "Pentecost" means now The two
not a Jewish but a Christian festival. The name commonly ^^^^
used in English is Whitsunday. The day has been called the
birthday of the Christian Church. That is going too far.
That day might be fixed at the time when Peter and the
others first confessed Jesus as the Christ. But Pentecost

144

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

When was
the Spirit
given?

The gift of
tongues

was the beginning of Christianity as a mihtant and con-
quering fellowship. The conviction that Jesus was living
and the gift of the Spirit go together as the two great
facts that explain the being and power of the early church.
The first named gave the church its great hope ; the second
added to the hope for the future an actual possession for
the present. While they still looked forward, they were
nevertheless conscious of a rule and presence of God in the
world and in their life. Religion was a possession, not a
mere hope.

Two questions arise in connection with Luke's description.
According to the accounts in Acts, the Spirit had not been
given to the disciples before. This is not the uniform New
Testament conception. The fourth Gospel declares that on
the very first day of the resurrection Jesus breathed upon
his disciples and said, "Receive ye the Holy Spirit" (John
20. 22). More important is the word that Jesus spoke to
Peter after his confession at Csesarea Philippi: "Flesh and
blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but thy Father who is
in heaven" (Matt 16. 17). It was God's Spirit who had
shown this to Peter. All true life in men is due to the
Spirit of God. In this case it was simply an unusual ex-
perience under unusual conditions, marking the beginning
of a new epoch.

The gift of tongues of which Luke speaks is one that
we find mentioned elsewhere, especially in Paul's letters.
Luke conceives it as the ability to speak in foreign lan-
guages. Visiting Jews in Jerusalem, coming from many
countries, were attracted by what had happened here in Pen-
tecost, and as they came together Luke declares they heard
the disciples speaking the varied tongues which these vis-
itors represented. Paul's description of the gift of tongues
is quite different (i Cor 14. 1-33). It was a rapt ecstatic
utterance, coming from men under strong spiritual excite-
ment. Of themselves these utterances did not convey any
meaning, either to Christians or to others. Outsiders coming

BEGINNINGS OF THE CHURCH 145

in and listening would naturally think these people mad ; and
while Paul believed it to be the work of the Spirit, he
rated it below that earnest but ordered and intelligible speak-
ing which he called prophesying.

If there is any contradiction here, we must give Paul the Was it speech
preference. He is a witness at first hand, writing of what lan^ag^?
he himself has seen and known. Luke, in these first chapters,
is using material that has been handed down to him. Even
in Luke's narrative there are some things that suggest that
what occurred is not different from what we find with Paul.
If these visitors had heard the disciples speaking in foreign
languages, they would not have charged them with drunken-
ness (Acts 2. 13). Peter, replying to this charge, makes no
reference to the foreign speech at all. No one can say that
such a miracle could not have occurred. Within Christian
writings, however, miracles must be judged by the principles
of the Christian faith and according to their moral meaning
and spiritual value. Such a gift of foreign speech would
have had two possible meanings, one to convince these
outsiders, the other to aid the disciples in later foreign
missionary work. It failed to do the first and we find no
reference anywhere to the latter. It was not the foreign
speech, but the preaching from a heart filled with the
Spirit like Peter's, that won the many that were added
that day.

Peter's speech shows that the early church saw in this The spirit
experience the fulfillment of the prophecies, found not only ^^ ^^^
with Joel 2. 28, 29 but elsewhere, which set forth the gift of
the Spirit as the mark of the Messianic age. For many
years Israel had felt herself without the living voice of a
prophet. God was far away. Men had only his laws. In
the new age it was to be different ; God was to speak again
with men and dwell with them. It was not merely, then,
that they had seen their risen Lord and that they rejoiced
in the hope of his coming ; tiiey had with them day by day
this witness and inspiration of God's presence.

146 NEW TEST/VMENT HISTORY

DIRECTIONS FOR READING AND STUDY

As to the resurrection, read for general statements i Cor. 15. 3-8;
Acts I. i-ii.

Appearances in Jerusalem: Matt 28. i-io; Luke 24. 1-53.

Appearances in Galilee : Matt 28. 16-20.

The gift of the Holy Spirit: Acts i. 12-14; 2. 1-21.

Compare i Cor 14. 1-33 as to the speaking with tongues ; note
the points of likeness and difference between this and the picture in
Acts 2.

CHAPTER XXII
THE FAITH AND THE MESSAGE

The book of Acts is the principal source of our knowledge The book
of this earliest period, a work written some fifty years after
the death of Christ. As with most of the New Testament
writings outside the Epistles, the book itself does not give
the name of the author ; but early tradition assigns this and
the third Gospel to Luke, a physician and for some time com-
panion of Paul on his journeys. As in the Gospel, the
author uses various sources at his command. Only a small
part of the material comes from direct personal observation.
This latter is included in what are called the *'we sections,"
such as the journey to Rome, where the pronoun "we" is
constantly used. These parts are vivid, full of detail, and
of the greatest value. The earlier portions are of a more
general character, and show a tendency to idealize which
is very natural with one who looked back with reverence to
those first days.

The book shows a definite plan and much skill in composi- Plan and
tion. Its purpose is to show how the gospel, rejected by all
but a small number of the Jews, spread throughout the
Roman world from Antioch to Rome. It is not a general
history of the church, nor is it described correctly by the
name that the church has given it, "The Acts of the
Apostles." There were other apostles that worked besides
Peter and Paul, but their work did not bear upon the plan of
the author, and so he passes them by. No doubt he was
governed in this also by the materials that he had at hand.
Whatever the reason, it must be constantly remembered
that this book gives us onl}- scenes from the early church,
not a full history. We know nothing of the beginnings in
Galilee or in Rome, nothing of how the great church in

147

scope

148

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

The disciples
remain Jews

What was
new: Jesus

Africa arose. We can see that such a man as Barnabas
had a long hfe of active service, but we know only a frag-
ment of his work, and then merely because he touches
Paul. Even of Paul himself, there is less than a decade of
his life for which we have anything like a full record.

The conviction that their Master was living was what
brought together the scattered disciples. But the little com-
pany that gathered thus did not think of themselves as
forming a new church or beginning a new religion. In
their own mind they were still good and loyal Jews. They
did not give up any of their old faith or separate themselves
from their own people. They went to the temple at the
hour of prayer. They spoke in the temple about Jesus to
those who would listen. They kept the laws of the old
religion as they had always done. Peter was shocked at
the suggestion that he should eat meat that was not cere-
monially clean. They were astonished when the report was
brought back that uncircumcised Gentiles (that is, Gentiles
who were not even proselytes to the Jewish faith) had
believed and received the Holy Spirit. It is clear that these
first disciples had not yet grasped the full meaning of what
had come to them.

What, then, was new in their faith and their message?
We may answer in a word : Jesus the Christ. "Jesus of
Nazareth, a man approved of God unto you by mighty works
and wonders, him, being delivered up by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye did crucify and slay.
The things which God foreshadowed by the mouth of all the
prophets, he thus fulfilled. This Jesus did God raise up.
God hath made him both Lord and Christ. Being by the
right hand of God exalted, and having received of the
Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he hath poured
forth this, which ye see and hear. Repent that your sins
may be blotted out ; that he may send the Christ, who hath
been appointed for you, even Jesus ; whom the heaven must
receive until the times of the restoration of all things."

THE FAITH AND THE MESSAGE 149

These words are taken from the reports of Peter's speeches The faith and

^N rr^i • • 1 . ii its defense

(Acts 2. 14-40; 3. 12-26). They give us in substance the
faith of this early church — the message which they preached,
and the answer to the taunts of their foes who mocked at
the idea of a Messiah that had been crucified. We may
state this faith as follows : ( i ) Jesus lives ; God has raised
him from the grave. (2) The resurrection is the evidence
that Jesus is the Messiah ; God has made him Christ and
Saviour by raising him from the dead. (3) His sufferings
and death were no accident or defeat, but according to the
purpose of God and the word of the Scriptures ; his death
was for the sins of men. (4) This Jesus is coming again
as the Messiah, when he shall judge men and shall set up
his kingdom ; repent, therefore, and make ready. (5) Those
who repent and believe shall receive forgiveness of
their sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit; this gift, be-
stowed by Jesus, is the second evidence that he is the
Messiah.

All these conceptions center in Jesus. Jesus lives ; Jesus ci»nst the
is the Messiah ; Jesus died for men ; Jesus is coming again ;
Jesus gives the Spirit. Jesus is the creed of the early church.
His personality and his mastery of these disciples explain
all else. The resurrection is important, but only as the
resurrection of this Jesus whom they had known. He fills
the whole horizon of their thought and faith. He deter-
mines their thought of God : God is one whose spirit is like
that of Jesus ; he is "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ." He determines their hope of the future, the hope
that filled the early church with confidence and joy ; Jesus
was to come and bring the new heaven and the new earth.
He determines their thought of religion. It is true they
still go to the temple and keep the old laws. But that was
the outer form of their life. His spirit and his teachings
rule them; and we see this in the life of the new com-
munity: its reverence and joy, its spirit of brotherhood and
good will.

I50

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

What the
Gospels show

The oral
gospel

The interest
of the
disciples

There are other writings besides Acts which throw light
upon the thought and faith of the first community; these
are the first three Gospels. Our present Gospels were not
written during this time, but the beginnings reach back to
these first years. They show us how deeply the disciples
appreciated the living memory of Jesus of Nazareth. They
did not simply think of a risen Christ or dream of his return.
They cherished his word. They recalled the stories of his
deeds of mercy and love. They kept alive his spirit.

At the beginning there were no written Gospels. Every-
thing was passed on by word of mouth. The Oriental has
always had a marvelous memory for words. We do not
have it because we do not need it in this day of books. There
were present in the first community not only the twelve but
others who had been witnesses "concerning all that Jesus
began both to do and to teach." The living testimony of
these men would naturally be prized above any writings.
For the future there was no concern, since they thought
the return of the Lord so near at hand.

The first interest of these disciples would be in telling
the story of Jesus' life and deeds. Their preaching to others
would naturally begin with this, just as Peter does at the
house of Cornelius: "J^^us of Nazareth, how God anointed
him with the Holy Spirit and with power: who went about
doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil ;
for God was with him" (Acts lo. 38). We can see here
what points were emphasized : the anointing with the Spirit
at his baptism, his deeds of healing, especially with the
demoniacs, and whatever else showed his power and so
indicated that he was the Messiah. The story would natur-
ally end with his death, which was for the salvation of men,
and his resurrection, which proved him to be the Messiah
of God. The words of Jesus would be just as carefully
preserved as the story of his deeds. But while the story of
his life was used in the preaching and winning of converts,
the words of Jesus were used especially in the teaching of

THE FAITH AND THE :MESSAGE 151

the disciples who had been won. Such a word would
always be decisive so far as faith and duty were concerned.

These stories of Jesus* deeds and collections of his words The sources
are what appear a generation later in our Gospels. They
show us more than anything else how the personality of
Jesus stamped itself upon these disciples. The narrative
is so simple that it is easy to miss its unique value and mean-
ing. The Gospels nowhere try to describe or analyze or
define. They are simply witnesses. They let Jesus speak
to us and walk before us. And so thej^ bring us what no
description and no definition of any creed could bring: the
living Christ himself. It makes little difference just how
long it was before these oral traditions were set down in
writing, or how they were combined in our present Gospels ;
these words and this picture carry in themselves the con-
viction of their reality.

We must read these Gospeis to understand what the early The witness
church was thinking of, and not merely Paul's letters and f°jtjj° ^^^ ^
the book of Acts. They were telling men not simply of the
resurrection, but how Jesus had mercy upon the demoniacs,
how he fed the hungry and blessed little children, and how
he said to men, "Your sins are forgiven." These disciples
may have kept the old law, but we must remember that it
was they who gathered the sayings like those of the Sermon
on the Mount and handed them down. They told one
another the story of the good Samaritan, of the righteous-
ness that was more than that of the Pharisees, of the poor
in spirit and the meek and merciful who were to inherit tiie
earth, and of the love that was to be like God's love and
go out to the evil and the good. No one of the stories of
Acts tells us so much of the real spirit of the first disciples
as this.

DIRECTIONS FOR READING AND STUDY

Read Peter's speeches, Acts 2. 14-40; 3. 11-26; and the prayer
of the disciples, Acts 4. 23-31,

152 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Make a list of the names or descriptive titles used in referring
to Jesus in these passages.

Read Psa 22 and 69, and Isa 52. 13 to 53. 12.

From these passages select such verses as might have seemed
to the early church to describe and foretell the sufferings and death
of Jesus, or give any reason for the same.

CHAPTER XXIII
THE LIFE OF THE FIRST COMMUNITY

What impresses us most in the life of the first com- Fellowship
mimity is its spirit of fellowship. It is the picture of a
family that meets us here. "The multitude of them that
believed were of one heart and soul. And they continued
steadfastly in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the
breaking of bread and the prayers." They called each
other brother and sister. They greeted one another with a
kiss. In larger or smaller groups they took frequent, if
not daily, meals together. It was a fellowship of life as well
as faith and worship. They cared for the poor. "Not one
of them said that aught of the things which he possessed
was his own. Neither was there among them any that
lacked."

Some of the phrases which Luke uses in this narrative Not
have led certain students to believe that this was a case of *=°™™"°»^"
strict community of goods, or communism. He says : "All
that believed were together, and had all things in common ;
and they sold their possessions and goods, and parted them
to all, according as any man had need" (Acts 2. 44, 45).
A little scrutiny will show that Luke is generalizing here
from particular instances, and that there was no fixed rule.
John Mark's mother, evidently a prominent member of the
community, retained her home (Acts 12. 12). Peter defi-
nitely tells Ananias that he was under no necessity of selling
his property. What we have here is not a formal order,
but a great spiritual impulse, a movement of spontaneous
love and devotion which impelled men to share what they
had with all that were in need. Probably the feeling that
the coming of the Lord was near at hand had its influence
also. One man is noted especially, because he sold a piece

153

154

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

The care for
the poor

Gatherings
for worship

The worship
free

of ground and i^ave over the proceeds. It was this that
was the undoing- of two other disciples. They saw the
esteem and honor that came to Barnabas through his
generous deed and coveted it for tliemselves. So they sold
their property too. They could not, however, bear to give
over all the proceeds. They wanted to have the applause
for generosity and yet keep some of the money. Their
sudden and tragic end made a deep impression.

Whatever there was of communism here disappeared very
soon, and we do not hear of it elsewhere. But the churches
elsewhere followed this first example in the care of the poor.
Everywhere this same spirit of love appeared. Back of the
need of the individual believer there stood always the re-
sources of the whole community. At Jerusalem there seemed
to be special occasion for such help. Part of it may have
been due to the fact that the disciples that came from
Galilee would have lost their regular means of support. At
any rate, it is one of Paul's special tasks later on to send
gifts to the mother church.

Of formal services of worship we read nothing. The
disciples participated in the worship of the temple. Their
own gatherings were in their homes. We read that they
"continued steadfastly in the apostles' teaching and fellow-
ship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers." This sug-
gests the nature of their gatherings. The teaching would
concern the words and deeds of Jesus, including the vision
of the risen Lord, and the exposition of Old Testament
passages which foretold all this. Then, as they were moved
by the Spirit, there would be prayer and exhortation.

All the worship of the early church must be thought of
as wholly free and spontaneous. These disciples were Jews,
and so accustomed to the worship of the synagogue. That
worship was informal and democratic, giving opportunity
for any one to speak who had a message, and laying special
stress upon the reading of Scriptures and teaching. Besides
this, there was in the early church the belief in the gift of

LIFE OF THE FIRST COMMUNITY 155

the Spirit as belonging to all disciples. It was not office or
education that determined whether one should speak or pray,
but the impulse of the Spirit.

The words "breaking of bread" have a religious meaning The Lord';
here, as is indicated by their connection with prayers. The
reference is to the Lord's Supper, as in Acts 20. 7, 1 1. How
the Lord's Supper was celebrated we do not know. It seems
that here, as later at Corinth (i Cor 11. 20-22), the Lord's
Supper was a part of a common meal which was taken
together. Apparently, the disciples met together for such
meals quite frequently. The exact form of ceremony we
cannot tell. If we follow the suggestion of Paul's words
written but a score of years later (i Cor 11. 23-25), the
leader at some place in the meal took a loaf of bread and
broke it, repeating the words: "The Lord Jesus in the night
in which he was betrayed took bread ; and when he had
given thanks, he brake it, and said, This is my body, which
is for you : this do in remembrance of me." The broken
bread was then distributed to be eaten by those present.
Then the leader would take a cup of wine and add: "In like
manner also the cup, after supper, saying. This cup is the
new covenant in my blood : this do, as often as ye drink it,
in remembrance of me." Perhaps at first they used the
simpler words of the earliest gospel : with the bread, "Take
ye : this is my body" ; and with the wine, "This is my blood
of the covenant, which is poured out for many."

Besides this simple service, one other form was in use Baptism
from the beginning, that of baptism. It marked the recep-
tion of new members into the fellowship. The simple form
used at first was into the name, or upon the name, of Jesus.
It was not till later that the church used the form in Matt
28. 19, "In the name of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Spirit." The baptism into the name of Jesus
meant that the believer confessed himself as belonging to
the risen Lord.

How was the early church organized? Was it episco-

^56

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

The twelve

The seven
and the
brothers
of Jesus

palian or congregational? Such questions do not apply at
this period. There was no formal organization at all. There
was a company of disciples, and they had their leaders, as any
such company will have. The leaders in this case were
very naturally the twelve. The later church has usually
called them simply the apostles, but there were other apostles
besides them. Strictly speaking, the apostles were the men
who gave their time wholly to missionary work; as such
they were the founders of Christian communities. Paul is
one of them, though he was not one of the twelve. In i Cor
15- 5- 7> he mentions first the twelve and then the apostles
as though these two did not mean the same. Barnabas too
is an apostle (Acts 14. 14). The twelve were, of course,
of the number of the apostles, for Jesus had chosen them
not only to be with him but to carry his message.

This seems to have been the distinct function of the
twelve at Jerusalem. They were witnesses, teachers. When
one was to be selected in Judas's place, the requirement is
put forward that he is to be one of those who had been
associated with Jesus and so could be a witness (Acts i. 21,
22). But the apostles did not choose him. It was the
church that came together and decided as to the choice by
means of lot. The twelve, of course, exercised other leader-
ship besides that of teaching. They had supervision at
first of the poor relief, but it was the church, and not the
twelve, that selected the men to take their place in this.
They were to give themselves to prayer and teaching (Acts
6. 4). From their association with Jesus and selection by
him, the twelve would naturally be the leaders and spokes-
men of the community in general matters.

Besides the twelve there were "the seven," who were chosen
to look after the daily meals for the poor. Perhaps this
daily ministration, for which the phrase "serve tables" is
also used, may have had to do with the arranging of the
daily common meals for the whole company. The seven are
not called deacons, and were perhaps only a provisional

LIFE OF THE FIRST COMMUNITY 157

committee. One other name becomes more and more promi-
nent as time passes — James, the brother of Jesus. The
brothers of Jesus had not believed on him from the first.
Indeed, they even considered him beside himself. Paul
tells us that Jesus appeared to his brother James after the
resurrection, and the brothers of Jesus are found in the
early church almost from the beginning. Their relation to
Jesus would naturally win for them special regard. With
James, however, there must have been in addition a strong
gift of leadership. Later church writers speak of him as
the first bishop of Jerusalem, but we read nothing of any
bishop at Jerusalem or of the election of James to this or
any other office.

It has been a common conception that these first disciples a brother-
after the resurrection met together and organized the Chris- organization
tian Church. By some it has been held that supreme
authority was given to Peter or to the twelve, or that during
the days before his ascension Jesus gave to his disciples a
divine plan of organization. What has just been noted shows
nothing of this kind. Strictly speaking, there was no separate
church at first, only a community of disciples, who felt
themselves one, but still counted themselves a part of the
Jewish people. The twelve were not church officials, and
neither Peter alone nor they all together exercised any su-
preme authority. They were teachers and witnesses because
they had been with Jesus. When a step of importance had
to be taken, the body of disciples took it, as in filling Judas's
place or appointing the seven. There was no plan of bishops
and elders and deacons which they knew of as a law for
the church. What Paul says later describes the even simpler
life of these first days: "Ye are the body of Christ, and
severally members thereof. And God hath set some in the
church, first apostles, second prophets, thirdly teachers, then
miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, divers
kinds of tongues" (i Cor 12. 28). This is not a list of
offices to be found in every church. These disciples formed

158 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

a brotherhood, one body of Christ with one Spirit in them
all, and in the life of that brotherhood they all took part
each as he was led by this Spirit. The careful organization
of the church was to come later,

DIRECTIONS FOR READING AND STUDY
Read Acts i. 15-26; 2. 41-47; 4. 23 to 5. 11; 6. 1-6.

CHAPTER XXIV
FROM JEWISH SECT TO CHRISTIAN CHURCH

The most interesting question in New Testament history Jewish sect
is, How did the Jewish sect become the Christian Church?
Here at the beginning stands the Httle Christian community
at Jerusalem. Its members are loyal Jews. They have a
hope and a life which other Jews have not; but still they
think of themselves as Jews, and they keep the rules of the
religion of their people. They wovild have welcomed Gen-
tiles that might have come to them, just as the Jews wel-
comed such converts. But they would have expected such
converts to keep the Jewish laws of religion as they did ;
in other words, first to become Jews. In a brief generation
the change takes place. The community at Jerusalem
gives place to the church of the empire. Christianity is,
being preached, not as a Jewish hope, but as good news for
all men. Nothing is said about being a Jew or keeping
Jewish rules, but only about faith in Christ, and about
living a new life of love in the Spirit of God. It is Chris-
tianity as a universal and spiritual religion.

This is the greatest crisis in the life of Christianitv. The The forces
change did not take place without a struggle. Two great change
forces were at work to bring it about. The first was the
pressure of outward events, the persecutions of the Jews,
which showed the disciples that the new was really dif-
ferent from the old. The second was the inner force of the
spirit of the new religion itself. This was the main cause
in the change. It was this spirit, working through men
like Stephen and Barnabas and Paul, that made the new
faith a world faith.

The first years of the Christian community at Jerusalem a time
were, on the whole, a period of peace. Luke reports only "* ^^^'^^

159

i6o NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

two cases of persecution. The first instance occurred in
connection with the heahng of a lame man at the temple
by Peter and John. Attracted by the event, the people
gathered together and were addressed by the apostles, who
called them in the name of Jesus to repent and look for-
ward to the coming of Jesus as Messiah to restore all things.
Upon this the temple guards arrested them for making a
disturbance and the next day they were brought before the
Sanhedrin. It is not the Pharisees, the old foes of Jesus,
that are proceeding against the disciples here, but the
Sadducees. Worldly and at heart religiously indifferent, the
Sadducees probably cared very little about the disciples
preaching the resurrection. They did fear the results that
might come from the development of such a movement, to
which they thought they had put an end with the death
of Jesus (Acts 3. 1-26).

GamaUei Despite the warning given the apostles, the movement

continued to grow. A second time the Sadducees, or temple
party, laid hold upon the leaders and put them in jail.
At this juncture, Luke tells us, it was the counsel of Ga-
maliel that saved them: "Refrain from these men, and let
them alone : for if this counsel or this work be of men, it
will be overthrown: but if it is of God, ye will not be
able to overthrow them ; lest haply ye be found even to be
fighting against God." Gamaliel was a rabbi of highest
standing, and his advice was followed (Acts 5. 12-42).

The reason Tlicsc cascs, after all, were but incidents. The Christian

community had relative peace and so a good opportunity
for that rapid growth of which Luke speaks. The Sad-
ducees came to look upon them as harmless enthusiasts, or
else were deterred from action against them by their grow-
ing favor with the people. The Pharisees, who had been
so bitter against Jesus, showed no hostility. The reason
for this is not far to seek. These disciples offered no criti-
cisms, but kept the law as good Jews, went to the temple,
and observed hours of prayer and rules of purity.

for peace

FROM JEWISH TO CHRISTIAN i6i

But a change was takinsf place within the church itself. "^^^

. , ^^ , , ■ • HeUenists

Among the many new members that came to it were m-

cluded Greek-speaking Jews, or Hellenists. We hear of
them in connection with the appointment of the seven.
They were newer members of the community and their
widows were being neglected in the distribution of relief.
A majority of the seven then appointed were probably
Hellenists, and Stephen is usually reckoned with them.
These Hellenists were Jews who had lived abroad but had re-
turned to Jerusalem. This return indicated their devotion
to their country and its faith. At the same time their life
in other lands and their use of the Greek tongue would
tend to make them more open-minded. Among these men
we can reckon probably Philip, who carried the gospel to
Samaria ; Barnabas, whose name is put before that of Paul
in the account of the first mission across the sea; and
Stephen, the first martyr.

It was Stephen who brought on the crisis. What he Stephen's
taught we cannot definitely know. We have only the ac-
cusations of his enemies and Luke's report of his speech,
which at best is fragmentary, being broken oflf at the point
where he was beginning to set forth his own position.
Stephen did not anticipate Paul's teaching. He did not
oppose the law by saying that men were saved by grace
alone through faith, and not by keeping the law. He spoke
of the law as "Hving oracles." But he aroused their enmity
at two points. ( i ) The temple, he declared, was only tem-
porary and not really necessary. God did not dwell in
houses made with hands. Probably Stephen went back
here to the word of Jesus about the destruction of the
temple. Now, as then, it aroused their fury. The temple
and its inviolability were at the heart of their faith. Jere-
miah had made such an attack once and suffered for it
(Jer 7. 1-15 ; 26. 8, 9). At this point perhaps his opponents
interrupted him with fierce accusations : He was speaking
against the holy place and against the law. Stephen may

teaching

i62 NEW TESTAAIENT HISTORY

•well have had Jeremiah in mind when he answered, and
still further stirred their hostility. (2) "You charge me
with opposing the law. It is you that oppose it. You are
like your fathers, always resisting God when he spoke
through the prophets, receiving the law but never keeping
it" (Acts 6. 8 to 7. 53).
The charges fhis last charge also reminds us of Jesus' teaching in
his attack upon the Pharisees and in the higher righteous-
ness which he demanded. Both these points are reflected
in the charges which they preferred when they brought
him before the council: "This man ceaseth not to speak
words against this holy place, and the law: for we have
heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy
this place, and shall change the customs which Moses de-
livered unto us" (Acts 6. 13, 14).

The attack upon the temple had stirred the Sadducees ;
what he had said about the law aroused the Pharisees. The
trial had been before a formal session of the council. Now,
apparently, the session broke up in confusion. To their
minds he had himself confirmed the charge of blasphemy
made against him. Whether with Roman consent or not,
we do not know, but they hurried him forth and inflicted
the penalty provided by their law, death by stoning. Luke
shows us the spirit of this first disciple who sealed his wit-
ness with his death : "And they stoned Stephen, calling upon
the Lord, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And
he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay
not this sin to their charge" (Acts 7. 54-60).
What Stephen wrought more by his death than by his teach-

Sght mg in life. He brought to a close the day when Chris-

tianity could live on undisturbed as a harmless Jewish sect.
In their formal charges the witnesses may have been false,
as Luke suggests. In the main point they were right: this
new movement meant an end to the temple and to the cus-
toms of Moses. What was more important, Stephen helped
not merely their enemies but the church herself to see the

FROM JEWISH TO CITRTSTIAN 163

meaning of the faith. In the first place came the fact of
persecution. It did not matter that most of the disciples
had not shared in the insight of Stephen or held his views.
They found themselves driven forth on account of the
temple and the law, though they reverenced both. They
had to face the question : What is our real faith, Jesus the
Alessiah and the hope of his coming, or ]\Ioses and the
temple and the laws? And they saw how clearly Christ and
the hope of the Kingdom and the new fellowship stood first,
and how much they meant. In the second place, Stephen
initiated the first missionary period. True, there was no
such clear purpose in their minds as when Paul set forth.
But an ardent living faith drives to utterance. "They
therefore that were scattered abroad went about preaching
the word" (Acts 8. 1-4).

The period of persecution and expansion thus went hand Persecution
hi hand. The driving force back of the persecution was ^pansion
the Pharisees, and the leader in the movement was a young
man named Saul, who had been present at the stoning of
Stephen. The apostles apparently remained in Jerusalem
in hiding. Many of the disciples scattered throughout
Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, some probably going far-
ther. There must have been little groups of disciples be-
yond these limits even before this time ; we read of dis-
ciples at Joppa, Lydda, Caesarea, Damascus, and Antioch.
The real work of expansion did not come through formally
appointed missionaries or through the apostles. For the
most part, it was done by common men and women, speak-
ing as they had opportunity to those whom they met in their
ordinary work of life. It was a great lay movement, and
such, indeed, Christianity remained for the first century.

A few figures, however, stand forth. The first is Philip, PWiip
not one of the twelve but one of the seven, for the twelve
were in Jerusalem. His first mission was to Samaria, his
next southward as far as Gaza (Acts 8. 5-40). Only two
incidents are given from these journeys. Near Gaza Philip

i64 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

met an Ethiopian, a man of high official position at home,
and a proselyte, who was just returning from Jerusalem.
The reference to Isaiah shows us how the early Christians
were already interpreting the Old Testament in relation to
Christ. The story of Simon Magus gives us a side-light
upon conditions at that time. It was a day of many religions
and much superstition throughout the empire. There were
all manner of priests and prophets and charlatans, and peo-
ple were ready to believe almost any magic or mystery.
Simon was but one of many who fed on this spirit, which
was for him a source of livelihood. In PhiHp he recognized
a superior power, and even more so in Peter and John when
these came down from Jerusalem. To be able to give the
Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands seemed to him just
another profitable device, and he was willing to pay well for
the secret. All this was not so much a sign of great wick-
edness as a picture of what religion meant to many in that
day — not faith and righteousness, but magical rites and
mysteries of all kinds. Similar cases are met later in
Paul's work : Elymas, the sorcerer, and the soothsaying girl
(Acts 13. 6; 16. 16).
Barnabas The qucstiou of Pctcr's relation to this expansion must

be considered later on. Luke shows us clearly that this
new movement in the church was a lay movement. The
spread of the gospel was not through appointed ministers
and missionaries, but simply through those "that were scat-
tered abroad." These went as far as Phoenicia and the
coast near by, the great city of Antioch to the north, and
the island of Cyprus. Of all this work we have but one
definite item. At Antioch these disciples preached not only
to Jews but to Gentiles also. Their success here was so
great, and their preaching to the Gentiles such an inno-
vation, that the church at Jerusalem had to take notice
of it. Fortunately, it was Barnabas whom they sent down,
himself a Hellenist from the island of Cyprus that lay off
this coast. "He was a good man, and full of the Holy

and Antioch

FROM JEWISH TO CHRISTIAN 165

Spirit and of faith." Even greater success followed his
coming until the burden and the opportunity drove him to
look for aid. And so he took a step which helps to usher
in another period. "He went forth to Tarsus to seek for Saul ;
and when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch.
And it came to pass, that even for a whole year they were
together with the church, and taught much people; and
that the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch"
(Acts II. 19-26).

DIRECTIONS FOR READING AND STUDY

As to Peter and John, read Acts 3. 1-26: 5. 12-42.

As to Stephen: Acts 6. 8 to 7. 60. Compare Jer 7. 1-15; 26. 8, 9.

As to Philip: Acts 8. 1-40.

As to Antioch, read Acts 11. iQ-26.

Locate the following places upon the map and note the enlarg-
ing circle: Samaria (city), Gaza, Lydda, Joppa, Caesarea, Damas-
cus, Antioch, Cyprus.

The Ethiopian was reading the Scriptures in the Greek, that is,
the Septuagint version. Compare Acts 8. 32, 2^ with Isa 53. 7, 8,
and note the difference in the versions.

PART IV

PAUL AND THE CHURCH OF
THE EMPIRE

167

CHAPTER XXV
THE MAN AND HIS TASK
In the story of the beginnings of Christianity there is Paul's place

in N. T.
history

one man who claims a larger space than all others of that "^ ^' ^

first century put together. Some have looked upon him as
the one true interpreter of Jesus, others as the man who
turned the new faith aside from the simple teaching of
Jesus, yet no one has disputed his importance. In any his-
tory of New Testament times his thought and work fill the
main place after the study of Jesus. What makes this more
remarkable is certain facts about this man. He was not
one of the twelve. He had no such standing as belonged to
one who had associated with Jesus. He had been, indeed,
a persecutor of the new way. He began his work on his own
account. The mother church at Jerusalem gave him no
credentials. There were times, in fact, when the recognized
leaders of the church, Peter and James, were opposed to him.

There are two reasons why this special attention is given Our
to Paul. In the first place, we are in better position to ofpaui^^
know him than any other figure of the New Testament.
The picture of Jesus, it is true, stands out clear and definite.
And yet our oldest Gospels were written a full generation
after his death, they give us his words in Greek, while he
spoke Aramaic, and of his life they report but a few months
or years. Of his followers almost all, even of the leaders
like the twelve, are but names to us. Paul is the exception.
It is true that most of our knowledge of his life is limited
to a period of seven years. And yet there is probably no man
of antiquity who is better known to us. It is not simply that
so large a part of the book of Acts is given to him, nor yet
the fact that we possess writings from his own hand. It is
the character of these writings. This man was not writing

169

I70 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

for a public press, nor for unknown readers, nor for pos-
terity. He was not producing "literature," or thinking of
style or of the impression he would make. We see a soul
of deep passion, of strong conviction, and transparent sin-
cerity pouring forth its thought and feeling. And this
man's thought is never mere thought, no theoretic theology ;
it is his faith and his experience. Not the Confessions of
Augustine, nor the letters of Luther, nor the Journal Intimc
of Amiel reflect so truly or transparently the man.
His The second reason for the space given to Paul is the im-

importance pgrtancc of the man. It was this man, not one of the
twelve, who saw the meaning of Christianity as a univer-
sal religion and freed it from Judaism, who saw it as a spir-
itual faith and freed it from Jewish rule and law. It was
he who carried it out into the great Roman world and es-
tablished it province by province about the Mediterranean.
When in his last years he was looking toward Rome and
Spain, he could speak of those things "which Christ wrought
through me, for the obedience of the Gentiles, by word and
deed, in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of
the Holy Spirit ; so that from Jerusalem, and round about
even unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of
Christ" (Rom 15. 18, 19).
The Jew Our first question about such a man is, Where did he

come from, and what was his preparation for such a work?
Scattered here and there we find not a few references that
help us answ^er these queries. Three times Paul speaks of
his race (Rom 11. i ; 2 Cor 11. 22; Phil 3. 5). To say that
Paul was a Jew means as little for that time as it does now.
There were Jews then, as now. loyal to every tradition of
their faith. There were Jews, especially in the dispersion,
who were of a more liberal cast, as well as some who had
turned from the faith of their fathers. Though Paul's home
was in the dispersion, in Tarsus of Cilicia, he belonged in the
first class. "A Hebrew of the Hebrews" he calls himself.
In such a home the native Aramaic tongue was spoken.

THE MAN AND HIS TASK 171

which was not the rule with the Jews dwelUng ahroad. The
Pharisaic standard prevailed, the strictest observance of the
law. As to his own life, he could appeal to those who knew
him at Tarsus and at Jerusalem (Acts 26. 4, 5). He had
completed his education at Jerusalem under the noted
teacher Gamaliel, perhaps at the home of an elder sister
(Acts 22. 3; 23. 16).

Paul was a Hellenist, a Greek Jew. However strict the The Greek
home might have been, the fact remains that he spoke
Greek as well as Hebrew, that his early Hfe was passed in
a great city, and that he had a knowledge of the world
of his day and its thought that none of the twelve could
have had. A language is never a lifeless vehicle ; it al-
ways involves a certain direct contact with another life and
knowledge of it. The Greek tongue was the channel
through which there poured the rich life of that old world.
True Paul was not a student of Greek rhetoric or literature.
He did not attend the great university at Tarsus, which could
be mentioned with the schools at Athens and Alexandria.
But this language that he knew was still open door and
open window for the thought of the wide Roman world.
When Paul went out to preach the gospel it was more than
a mere language that he possessed.

Paul was a Roman. Like many Jews he had two names. The Roman
It is interesting to note that it is not by his Hebrew name
Saul, but his Roman name Paul, that he is best known. Far
more important than the name is the fact that Paul was a
Roman citizen, and was one by birth. How the family had
obtained this privilege we do not know. It suggests a fam-
ily not only of standing but of some means. Roman citi-
zenship was by no means so common yet in the empire.
For Paul it meant more than a welcome protection in his
work. It had its effect upon his spirit and character. He
is not simply a Hebrew of Hebrews ; he is a man of Tarsus,
"a citizen of no mean city." It gives him an imperial out-
look. The world of the twelve is Palestine ; Paul's world

172 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

is the empire, and it is the empire that he plans to take
for Christ.

The equip- All this means an unusual equipment for a great task.

^^task' The soil from which Christianity sprang was Judaism. No

Greek or Roman could have been its interpreter. For that
a Jew was needed, and Paul was more of a Jew than were
the twelve. But it needed not only a Jew, but a Jew who
had found out where Judaism failed. Here again Paul's
experience fitted him. His very strictness as a Pharisee
made him see the failure of the law, and saved him from
such half-way positions as James and Peter could take.
At the same time Paul's life as Hellenist and as Roman
fitted him for the task that was waiting: to take this re-
ligion freed from Judaism, to interpret it to the world of
Greek thought, and to plant it in communities throughout
the great world of Roman life. The fruits of his toil show
his fitness for the task. Besides all this there was his per-
sonal charater, an unusual combination of strong traits.
He had the strength of will that could stand alone and that
never knew defeat. He had a deep religious nature that
enabled him to speak the new message from his own heart.
He had the insight into the meaning of the new faith and the
ability to state it. He had the master mind to plan the
planting of a church throughout the empire, and the patience
and skill and tact to carry out that plan.

DIRECTIONS FOR READING AND STUDY

As to Paul the Jew: 2 Cor ii. 22; Rom 11. i; Phil 3. 5; Acts
22. 3; 23. 16; 26. 4, 5; Gal I. 14; Rom 8. 2; 9. 1-5.

As to Paul the Hellenist: Acts 17. i6-34- Paul meets these
Greeks as a Palestinian Jew could not have done. Note his tact and
courtesy, and his skill in finding a point of contact for his message.

As to Paul the Roman: Acts 16. 36-39; 21. 39; 22. 25-29; 25.
10-12.

CHAPTER XXVI
CONVERSION AND CALL

For some men life unfolds in a simple and direct prog- a twice-bom
ress from beginning to end. These have been called the ™^
once-born men. There are others whose life is marked by
a great break, a revolution through which at last they find
tiieir true selves. These are the twice-born men, and such was
Paul. His whole life falls into two distinct parts, divided
by his conversion. Neither his thought nor his work can
be understood without reference to that experience.
Through that experience Paul won his message, for his
burning message is, first of all, something that he himself
lived and achieved; and in that same experience he ob-
tained his call.

Paul was a young man at the time of Stephen's death. The opponent
It seems that his residence was then in Jerusalem, and that
he had remained there after finishing his course under
Gamaliel, If so, he was in Jerusalem during the time of
Jesus' public ministry. In any case, so devoted a Jew
would have been at the passover, whether living in Jeru-
salem or at Tarsus. All this makes it probable that Paul
had seen Jesus and was in the city at the time of his
death. He knew the first Christian community and its
teachings. So strong a nature as his could not take a
passive attitude. He opposed the new movement with all
his might, and for two reasons. In the first place, it
was a delusion. It believed in a dead Messiah. Its Mes-
siah was one that the law called accursed because he had
been put to death upon a tree (Deut 21. 22, 23). In the
second place, these Nazarenes were setting up something
beside the law and above it. Stephen's teaching made that
clear, and Paul consented to his death.

How did the change come in Paul's faith? That it was

173

J 74

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Preparation
for conver-
sion: negative

sudden does not imply that there was no preparation for
it. There was, first of all, a negative preparation. Paul
had found out that his religion of the law was a failure.
It is true he was very zealous : "I advanced in the Jews'
religion beyond many of mine age among my countrymen,
being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my
fathers" (Gal i. 14). But it has often been noted that men
may be most intolerant of others when they have become
uncertain of their own position. They are fighting enemies
both within and without. Of this fight in Paul's case we
have a picture from his own hand in Rom 7. It is hard
to put ourselves back into this chapter. The law was for
this young man the special gift with which God had distin-
guished his people, raising them by its possession far above
the nations. That law was his religion. To keep it was
the way of life. Because of such obedience the Messiah
and the new kingdom were to come. In sober fact, how-
ever, the law had brought him not life but death. Paul
was too honest and too deeply in earnest to deceive him-
self. The law, in the first place, stirred up his evil de-
sires. The very commandments became simply occasions
for his sinning, just as too many rules in a schoolroom will
provoke boys to the opposite (Rom 7. 7-11). In the second
place, the law served to make plain his hopelessness. It
showed him that there was another law in him, a law
of selfishness and impurity and sin. His conscience told
him that the law was right and good, but his own life
followed another law. "I consent unto the law that it is
good. But I am carnal, sold under sin. The good which
I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I
practice" (Rom 7. 14-23). And this brought him face to
face with the third fact: the law is good, but it has no
power. It can stand above me commanding and condemn-
ing, but it cannot help me. What I need is a new law
within me, such as that of which Jeremiah spoke. "Wretched
man that I am! who shall deliver me out of the body of

CONVERSION AND CALL 175

this death?" (Rom 7. 24). This is Paul's interpretation
of his old life. Paul is not merely theorizing here. There
are years of earnest effort and bitter disappointment back
of these words.

The second preparation for the change was positive. Paul The positive
probably knew Jesus and certainly knew the first disciples. P''®P^''*t'°'^
Paul was not the kind of man to carry on such a campaign of
persecution without a study of this movement which he
opposed, and without adjusting himself to its claims. Fur-
dier, he had seen these men. Earnest, but restless and dis-
satisfied, he saw the enthusiasm and joy and peace of
these disciples. He saw Stephen full of joy and peace in
the very moment of his death. With a man of his deep
religious nature such impressions would register them-
selves deeply. These men possessed what he had been striv-
ing for in vain.

With all the preparation, the change came not gradually The
but with a sudden crisis. There are five notable references ^=^^"®°'^
to this event in his letters — Gal i. 15-17; i Cor 9. i ; 15. 8;
2 Cor 4. 6. And three accounts are given in the book of Acts :
9. 1-19; 22.4-21 ; 26. 9-18. These accounts differ in details.
They agree in the main. In his persecution of these Naza-
renes he had taken a commission from the Sanhedrin and was
on his way to Damascus. On the road he had a vision of the
risen Christ. Luke speaks of a voice, but the vision is the
central fact and the one to which he himself refers. He saw
the Lord. Luke says that Paul began at once to preach
Christ in Damascus (Acts 9. 20). Paul declares that he first
went away into Arabia. The latter was undoubtedly the
case. A new experience had come to him that was to
change his faith and his life. It was like Paul, both as
man of thought and man of action, that he should look
its meaning full in the face and shape his life accordingly.
For such thought he goes into Arabia.

The vision of the risen Christ meant even more to Paul The changed
than it did to the disciples at Jerusalem. Jesus is not dead of Christ

176 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

but living. He is not the deluded and defeated leader;
he is the Messiah, "declared to be the Son of God with
power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrec-
tion from the dead" (Rom i, 4), The vision thus removed
from Paul's path his first stumbling-block. The cross was
the second stone of stumbHng, as Paul found it later with
his countrymen when he preached to them. He who died
upon the tree was accursed. Now, however, he saw that
the curse was borne for men. The death was not God's
condemnation of this man, but God's love for all men, that
men might be saved from their sins. Hence the death on
the cross, which had been his stumbling-block, was to be-
come the center of his message. For him it was to be the
unsurpassed measure of God's love, the supreme deed by
which God sought to win men to himself.
The changed But all this had a decisive meaning for Paul's own re-
ligious life. It was not simply that he had been mistaken
in persecuting the Messiah. His whole life and effort had
been wrong. No wonder he spent his three days at Da-
mascus without food and drink. He saw his whole life as
a failure. He had thought of religion simply as something
to be done. With all his heart he wanted to be righteous,
but the righteousness was to be his own doing. And he
had thought that by such doing and such righteousness
his people might bring in the Kingdom and cause the Mes-
siah to come. All that was changed. The Messiah was
already here. God had sent his Son, not because they had
earned it, but just because of his own love and mercy.
That was the great difference — the changed thought of
God. Paul had come here to Jesus' thought of God as the
loving Father. What had been for Jesus the simple ex-
pression of direct faith, Paul had gained through this
struggle and by the vision of the cross: God is not the
giver of laws justifying men only as they have kept all
his commands. He is the God of mercy, the Father. He
sent his Son into the world that he might reconcile men

idea of
religion

change meant

CONVERSION AND CALL 177

to himself. The righteousness that men cannot earn he
gives.

No man knew better than Paul himself how decisive that What the
change was. What he had prized before, he now put aside :
his Hebrew lineage, his zeal for the law, his strict Phari-
saic life. In place of the old pride is a new spirit. There
is the humility and reverence of one who takes the great
gift of God's forgiveness and love, which no effort of his
had been able to earn. And there is the joy and confidence
of one who has found the meaning of life, its treasure and
its strength. He sets forth the contrast and the change in
his life in a fine passage : "We are the circumcision, who
worship by the Spirit of God, and glory in Christ Jesus,
and have no confidence in the flesh. Though I might also
have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh
that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more :
circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the
tribe of Benjamin, a Plebrew of the Hebrews ; as touch-
ing the law, a Pharisee ; concerning zeal, persecuting the
church ; touching the righteousness which is in the law,
blameless. But what things were gain to me, those I counted
loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but
loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord: for w^hom I have suffered the loss of all things,
and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and
be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which
is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ,
the righteousness which is of God by faith : that I may
know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fel-
lowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his
death ; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrec-
tion of the dead. Not as though I had already attained,
either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I
may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of
Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have ap-
prehended : but this one thing I do, forgetting those things

178

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Paul finds
his lifework

Conversion
and call

which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things
which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize
of the high calhng of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil 3. 3-14).

In this experience Paul found not only the answer to his
own needs, but his lifework as well. He was not a man
who did anything by halves. His religion had been his
chief interest up to this time, despite the struggle and dis-
satisfaction of his life. There was far greater reason why
he should give himself absolutely to the cause of this new
faith. Here was the answer to his own needs, and he
wanted others to have it. But his call was not simply to
preach ; it was to preach to the Gentiles. The twelve were
at Jerusalem ; that was not his place. He saw what they
had not discerned : this faith was a world faith, not a
Jewish faith. Judaism with its laws and ceremonies belonged
to the past. This was a message of the God and Father
who loved all men, and who asked of men only that they
should put their trust in him. He had found not simply
the Messiah to whom the Jews had looked forward, but
the Saviour who belonged to the world. They at Jeru-
salem, had not seen it ; let them preach to the Jews. It
was his task, laid on him by direct command of God him-
self, to take this message into the world. No one among
all his fellows had been a more zealous and devoted Jew
than he. Now, however, he says, "It was the good pleasure
of God, who separated me, even from my mother's wom.b,
and called me through his grace, to reveal his Son in me,
that I might preach him among the Gentiles" (Gal i. 14,
15). That did not mean that he was not to preach to
Jews. It did mean that he was to go out into the Roman
world and not to stay in the land of his fathers.

The work of the great apostle cannot be understood until
we appreciate his profound conviction as to the direct com-
mission that he had from God. To this call he goes back
again and again. When some of the Jewish Christians from
Jerusalem attack his authority, and insinuate that he

CONVERSION AND CALL 179

is an upstart and an innovator without credentials from the
mother church or recognition from the real apostles, he
begins his letter of defense by writing himself as "Paul,
an apostle (not from men, neither through man, but through
Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the
dead)" (Gal i. i). He tells the story of that call before
King Agrippa in defense of his life, and sums up the
passion and devotion of his whole life in the phrase:
"Wherefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the
heavenly vision" (Acts 26. 16-20). The call was like a
compelling power, not a choice of his own: "Necessity is
laid upon me; for woe is unto me, if I preach not the
gospel" (i Cor 9. 16). And this was his strength in the
midst of terrible obstacles and persecutions which were a
constant accompaniment of his work. Back of all these was
the consciousness that he was an apostle sent forth of
God (i Cor 4. 9-13). An apostle was one who had seen
Christ, and who had received from him the commission to
bear his gospel. The vision and the commission had come
to him, and with all his personal humility he set that
commission proudly side by side with those of Peter and
James and John (Gal 2. 7-9).

DIRECTIONS FOR READING AND STUDY

Paul's life as a Jew under the law : Rom 7.

The three accounts of the conversion in Acts: g. 1-19; 22.
4-21 ; 26. 9-18.

Paul's own references to the same: Gal i. 15-17; i Cor 9. i; I5- 8;
2 Cor 4. 6; Phil 3. 3-14.

Compare the four accounts of the conversion and Paul's course
immediately thereafter as given in Acts and Galatians. Note the
agreement and the dififerences. The preference naturally is to be
given to Paul's own account in Galatians.

Read Gal i. 1-17; i Cor 4. 9-13.

CHAPTER XXVII
DAMASCUS, SYRIA, AND CILICIA

The periods Paul's life falls naturally into four periods : ( i ) The

years before the conversion; (2) seventeen years of quiet
labor in Damascus, Syria, and Cilicia; (3) seven years of
world mission; (4) five years of imprisonment. These last
years may have been followed by a brief period of liberty
and a second imprisonment, but of this we cannot be cer-
tain. The third period is the only one of which we have
any detailed knowledge. Fortunately, these are the years
of Paul's great achievements, where it is most important
for us to know.

The sources We have two sources of knowledge for our study of
Paul's work — his letters and the book of Acts. These ac-
counts supplement each other. Acts gives an outline of
Paul's life, and connects this with the growth of the church
as a whole. But we learn very little from Acts about the
real life of the Pauline churches. Because Luke is de-
scribing the spread of the church, he tells simply how the
churches were founded. The letters, on the other hand,
tell us how these churches grew, what their life was, and
how the new religion met the many questions that con-
fronted it in the Roman world. Where Luke and Paul
differ, we must follow the latter; for Paul writes of what
he knows at first hand, while Luke is largely dependent
upon others and writes at a much later period. There are
three places in which such differences may appear: (i)
Luke emphasizes the part played by the Jerusalem church,
and her authority and supervision. Paul's letters show how
the great Gentile church grew up apart from the founding
or direction of the Jerusalem leaders. (2) Luke is inclined
to emphasize the idea of harmony. The letters reveal the

180

DAMASCUS, SYRIA, AND CILICIA i8i

conflict that shook the church in the first generation :
whether Christianity was to be a world faith and a reH-
gion of the spirit, or a Jewish sect and a rehgion of the
law. (3) Occasionally there seems to be a difference in
order of events. Paul, for example, declares that he went
up to Jerusalem at the close of the fourteen years in Syria
and Cilicia, and that he had his conference with the apostles
at this time. Luke places this conference after the first mis-
sionary journey.

The first three years of this period Paul spent in Damas- Damascus
cus. Through Ananias, he came in touch with the disciples
there and probably began preaching at once. His work
ends with a persecution, the first in the long list that he was
to suffer. Instigated by the Jews, the governor tried to
seize him, and Paul escaped only by sudden and secret
flight (2 Cor II. 32, 33; Acts 9. 23-25).

Then follows Paul's first visit to Jerusalem since his The first
conversion (Gal i. 18-23). Despite Acts 9. 26-30, we Je^^s^em
must accept Paul's statement here, that he did not take
up any public work or come before the church as a whole.
He spent two weeks in quiet with Peter, meeting only
James in addition. Beyond doubt he laid before Peter his
own work and his conception of the gospel, and this can
hardly have been without influence upon the latter. Peter
had something to give Paul in return. True, Paul em-
phatically asserts his independence of the Jerusalem apostles
so far as his gospel is concerned; but that does not mean
that Paul would not welcome eagerly what Peter could tell
him as to the life of Jesus, and especially his teachings.
Paul's gospel was not dependent upon such details, but his
letters show that he was not indifferent to them. The story
of the suffering and death of Jesus would be of especial
interest, and this he used in his preaching (Gal 3. i). He
mentions other facts about the life of Jesus in his letters.
Probably in his preaching to Gentiles in particular he would
narrate the outline of Jesus' life. More important than

1 82

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Syria and
Cilicia

The work

this is the remarkable insight into the inner spirit of Jesus,
his love and patience and humility, which Paul shows even
in passages where the name of Jesus is not mentioned,
such as I Cor 13. Besides this Paul would be interested in
the teachings of Jesus. A word of Jesus stood for Paul
beside the Old Testament as a word of authority. He must
have welcomed, therefore, all that Peter could tell him from
his rich memories of personal intercourse with Jesus.

Fourteen years follow of which we know equally little.
During all this time Paul tells us that he kept away from
Jerusalem, working in Syria and Cilicia. The latter was his
home province and it was natural that he should go back
to Tarsus to begin. The center of the Syrian territory was
Antioch. It was a great city, ranking next to Rome and
Alexandria in importance. Here East and West met and
all nations were found mingled together, including many
Jews. It was a commercial center of first rank. In these
respects it resembled Corinth and Ephesus, like them join-
ing to its wealth great luxury and profligacy. It is sig-
nificant for Paul's work, that just as Antioch became his
center now, so for the last period of his work Corinth and
Ephesus were his headquarters. To Antioch Paul comes
upon invitation of Barnabas.

Paul's plan of work during these fourteen years was
probably not very different from that of the seven years
that follow. He did not simply remain in the cities, but,
making Tarsus and Antioch his centers, traveled up and
down the coast and through the surrounding regions. We
have one passage from his own hand which probably re-
fers at least in part to this period. In it he gives a mov-
ing picture of his life of unremitting toil, of hardship and
constant danger, as he goes from place to place planting
his little communities of disciples and watching over them.
The experiences of sea and shipwreck may well have
come in this time, as much of his travel would naturally
be by vessel. "Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as

DAMASCUS, SYRIA, AND CILICIA 183

one beside himself) I more ; in labors more abundantly, in
prisons more abundantly, in stripes above measure, in deaths
oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.
Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice
I sufifered shipwreck, a night and a day have I been in the
deep ; in journeyings often, in perils of rivers, in perils of
robbers, in perils from my countrymen, in perils from the
Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in
perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren ; in labor
and travail, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in
fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Besides those things
that are without, there is that which presseth upon me daily,
anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not
weak? who is caused to stumble, and I burn not?" (2 Cor
II. 23-29).

We have called these years the time of quiet labor. They significance
were, however, by no means lacking in importance. In two ° ^ ^^"°
respects they were of the greatest significance for Paul's
work, (i) Paul himself was being trained for his great
position of responsibility and leadership. He was a young
man when he began ; he was a tried veteran when he con-
cluded. These years of work and thought showed him the
wealth of the Christian religion, and ripened in him those
thoughts with which his later letters are filled. (2) Paul
was firmly establishing a strong Gentile church, and was
doing this on a basis of freedom from the Jewish law.
When he went up to Jerusalem at the end of these years
the Gentile church was already a fact, and the mother
church could do no less than recognize it.

A chronological outline of Paul's life may be added chronological
here. These dates are only approximate, and vary somewhat
with different scholars. Paul was probably born about the
same time as Jesus, and was converted from two to five
years after Jesus' death.

I. Period of youth and preparation.
II. Seventeen years of quiet work, 35 to 52.

outline

i84 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

(i) At Damascus, three years.

(2) In Cilicia and Syria, with headquarters at Tarsus
and Antioch, fourteen years.

III. The missionary journeys, 52 to 59.

(i) A brief journey through Cyprus and Galatia.

(2) Work in Macedonia and Achaia, with headquarters
at Corinth for one and a half years.

(3) Work in Asia with headquarters at Ephesus for two
years.

IV. The years of imprisonment, 59 to 64.

(i) At Caesarea, two years.

(2) On the way to Rome, one year.

(3) In Rome, two years.

DIRECTIONS FOR READING AND STUDY

Read Gal i. 15-23; Acts 11. 19-26; 2 Cor 11. 23-29.
Trace upon the map the journeys so far referred to: Jerusalem
to Damascus and return, Jerusalem to Tarsus, Tarsus to Antioch.

CHAPTER XXVIII
GENTILE AND JEWISH CHRISTIANS
Some twenty years had now elapsed since the death of Jewish

and Gei

churches

Jesus. The church was well established through two large ^*^<^^"*''^

districts. The first district had for its center Jerusalem,
and included the churches of Judaea, Samaria, Galilee, and
the cities of the adjoining coast lands such as Caesarea and
Joppa. These churches were predominantly Jewish. The
second district was to the north, and included Syria and
Cilicia. These churches were predominantly Gentile. At
the head of the former work were James and Peter. At the
head of the latter was Paul.

These two divisions of the church were not merely geo- The question
graphical. Nor were they racial, a matter of Jew and
Gentile. The real question at issue was : What is Christi-
anity? The immediate question, however, was that of the
Jewish law. The life of the faithful Jew was regulated
by innumerable laws. Besides the religious feasts and cere-
monies, there were endless restrictions about what was
clean and unclean applying to food and places and per-
sons. To these rules the Jew was accustomed from his
childhood. They were looked upon as sacred and unchang-
ing, as given by God through Moses. What should the
Christian do about these rules?

The first disciples probably thought nothing about the How the
matter. The rules were more or less a habit of life, and thev *i"^^*'°°

' " arose

continued them. It was another matter when the gospel
spread to the Gentiles. Plere two serious questions arose :
( I ) Must the Gentiles be circumcised and keep the Jewish
laws in order to be Christians? (2) If the Gentile converts
do not keep the law, how can the Jewish Christians who
keep the law associate with them? For the great object

185

1 86

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Peter and
Cornelius

The sihiation
at Antioch

of the law was to keep ceremonially clean ; to associate
with those who did not keep the law would render a man
unclean in the same way as if he did not keep the law
himself.

These questions the church had not fairly faced and
settled. Luke, it is true, tells us that this whole matter was
met by Peter. He gives us the story in Acts lo. i to ii. i8.
There he tells how Peter, in obedience to a vision, goes to
Caesarea and preaches the gospel to a Gentile, a Roman
centurion named Cornelius. The latter is called "a devout
man," that is, a Jewish proselyte, though apparently not
circumcised. Peter goes in to this man, and baptizes him
and his household, though such association meant cere-
monial impurity to a Jew. On his return he is remonstrated
with by the brethren at Jerusalem. In reply he tells of
the vision that he had of the clean and unclean meat, and
the words that came to him, "What God hath cleansed,
make not thou common." The church then acquiesces in
this position. As a matter of fact, however, this was the
whole cause of Paul's conflict. If the church did take this
position at this time, they did not maintain it. It seems
quite likely that Luke has put this story concerning Peter
at an earlier date than where it really belongs.

The real crisis came at Antioch at the close of this period
of Paul's work. So long as he was not disturbed from
without, Paul had felt no need of raising the question. He
had preached his gospel of faith to the Gentiles without
asking them to keep the law. He had probably allowed
Jewish Christians to take their own course. There was no
harm in his eyes in keeping the law so long as men saw
clearly that they were not saved by this, but by their trust
in Christ, and so long as these Jewish Christians were
ready to associate with their Gentile brethren. The church
at Antioch was mainly Gentile and the Jewish Christians
did not hesitate to sit down with these Gentiles at the
Christian meals which they ate together. This was the

GENTILE AND JEWISH CHRISTIANS 187

"liberty in Christ Jesus" which Paul preached and which
the Jewish brethren accepted.

It was men from the Jerusalem church that brought about judaizers
the crisis. The church there, it seems, had been moving jg^^^jg^i
backward toward Judaism rather than away from it. Among
the new converts were not a few Pharisees, and there was
an increasing element that stood for strict observance of
the law (Acts 15. 5). They had at least the example of
James, if not his leadership. This party sent representa-
tives down to Antioch to find out what the practice there
really was. Paul calls them false brethren, "who came in
privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus,
that they might bring us into bondage" (Gal 2. 4; Acts
15. 2). These men began teaching Paul's converts that they
could not expect to be saved if they did not keep the law,
putting circumcision as the sign and test of the whole (Acts
15. i). They probably attacked Paul's authority at the same
time, declaring that he was no genuine apostle, but that the
true apostles were at Jerusalem, and that these kept the
law.

Paul decided to act at once and went up to Jerusalem. Why Paul
He had a threefold reason for going, (i) The immediate 7^°*!?
reason was that he saw his work in danger, and he wanted
to secure freedom for carrying on that work among the
Gentiles. He did not ask for authority, for he believed that
his authority came direct from God. He simply wanted
recognition of the fact that his right to proclaim this gospel
was on a par with theirs. (2) Paul wanted to maintain
fellowship wath the mother church for the sake of his Gentile
converts. That church was the living link with a great past.
They represented a heritage of which Paul the Christian
was as proud as Paul the Jew had been : the whole story
of Jehovah's dealings with his people, the words of prophet
and psalmist, and all the rest of the Scripture. The Chris-
tian Church was but the continuation of that history, the
true Israel. The Old Testament was its Sacred Scripture.

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

The

Jerusalem
conference:
the agree-
ment

The decree

The mother church joined these pagan converts to that past.
(3) And, finally, Paul believed in the one church and the
one fellowship of Christian believers. By this he did not
mean one organization or one central authority. He never
submitted his churches to direction from Jerusalem or
elsewhere. The unity was that of the Spirit and of fellow-
ship. Then, as later, he did all that he could to maintain it.
The body of Christ was one. The disciples were all brothers
and members one of another.

Luke gives us some interesting material in his account of
the Jerusalem meeting (Acts 15), but we must turn to Paul
to get the real meaning of that occasion. Of the details we
cannot be sure. It seems that there were two gatherings.
Paul and Barnabas reported their work before the church
as a whole. The Judaizing disciples raised their demand
that Gentile converts should keep the law. Paul had with
him a Greek convert, Titus, who was not circumcised.
Their request that Titus should submit to the rite Paul flatly
refused. Then, however, Paul lays the matter before Peter
and James and John in private conference. From them he
asks the recognition of his right to preach the gospel to
the Gentiles, and that there should be fellowship between the
Gentile churches and Jerusalem. Face to face with the
story of his great work, these men cannot say no. They see
the Spirit of God in what Paul is doing and they give him
the hand of fellowship. They will preach, as before, to the
Jews ; he to the Gentiles. Paul has won his first great point,
freedom to carry on his work. In return he promises to
remember the poor at Jerusalem, a promise that he loyally
carried out.

Luke relates, in addition to this, that the church issued a
formal decree requiring that the Gentile Christians should
"abstain from the pollutions of idols [that is, from meat
that had been offered to idols], and from fornication, and
from what is strangled, and from blood" (Acts 15. 20). If
such a decree was given at this time, it does xiot appear to

GENTILE AND JEWISH CHRISTIANS 189

have had any particular effect. Certainly, it did not solve
the problem of the relations of Jews and Gentiles. Paul
does not mention this in speaking of the conference, nor
does he refer to it later when he takes up, with the Corinthian
church for example, one of the matters here referred to.
The decree as such seems to have had no authority for him.
It is quite possible that such a decree was issued later and
sent to the churches of Syria and Cilicia. It was certainly
not carried by Paul west of the Taurus.

The agreement at the Jerusalem conference was really a The new
compromise, not a solution. How insufficient it was soon ^jf^'^^*'
appeared. Peter in the course of his work came to Antioch,
where the Jewish Christians had associated freely with
their Gentile brothers. When Peter came down he did the
same. Into this scene of fellowship there came some of the
Judaizing Christians from Jerusalem. Paul says they came
from James, \\niat they said we do not know. They may
have admitted that the Gentiles could be Christians without
keeping the law. But they insisted that a good Jew must
keep the law and dare not associate with such Gentiles.
What right had he to throw over the sacred law of Moses?
Why should he give up the heritage of the fathers that had
set Israel apart, and put himself on a plane with the Gentiles?
With such arguments they not only sv>^ept Peter off his feet,
but the rest of the Jewish Christians, and even Paul's old
friend, Barnabas.

Here, at last, the real issue appears, and it is Paul that The real
brings it out. The real question is not that of dividing
territory, Jewish and Gentile, or recognizing each other's
work. The question is. What is Christianity? Or, as Paul
puts it, How shall a man be justified? Paul does not simply
take the defensive. He attacks Peter. Peter is dissembling,
playing a part. Peter believes as truly as Paul that he is
saved not by keeping rules, but by faith in Christ ; by the
mercy of God, and not by what he earns through keeping
the law. But if Peter expects to be saved by this, why does

I90 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

he try to compel these Gentiles to keep the law? (Gal 2.
14-16).
Two results Just what the issue of the matter was at Antioch we do

not know. Two results are plain, (i) The Jerusalem
agreement turned Paul definitely toward the larger Gentile
world. The final and greatest period of his ministry now
begins. From Antioch he moves on to Galatia, from Galatia
to Macedonia, Achaia, and Asia, while beyond these his
eyes rest upon Rome and distant Spain. (2) The conflicts
with the Judaizers continue, and form Paul's severest trial.
But there is never any doubt in Paul's mind as to his right
or as to the final issue. History justifies him. The gospel
which moves through the Roman world is a gospel that is
free from Judaism and Jewish law. And Christianity ceases
to be a Jewish faith and becomes a world religion.

DIRECTIONS FOR READING AND STUDY

Read Gal 2; Acts 15. 1-35.

Compare carefully these two accounts. Some scholars hold that
Luke is following the common custom of writers of his day in
composing the speeches that are assigned to Peter and James, either
using materials that he had on hand or setting forth what he
assumed to be their position.

CHAPTER XXIX
PAUL THE MISSIONARY

Now there begin the seven years of work which mark the Seven great
crown of Paxil's ministry Into these seven years is crowded ^^^^^
an achievement beyond what many great men have wrought
in a hfetime. One province after another Paul lays claim
to in the name of Christ. With restless energy he carries
the message, assisted by a group of workers. Nor is he
content to be a mere wandering preacher. As he goes he
establishes Christian communities, and over these he keeps
watch, dispatching one or the other of his assistants, or^
sending letters like those which have come down to us under
his name.

Beneath all these varied activities there lay a definite plan, The conquest
which comes to the surface again and again. Paul did not ° ^ empire
strike out at random into the Gentile world. His plan was
nothing less than to win the whole empire, and to do this
by planting the church in order in the Roman provinces that
surrounded the IMediterranean. In an interesting passage,
written to the Romans about the close of this period, he
tells of these plans. "God sent me," he says, "to be a
minister to the Gentiles. This mission I have fulfilled from
Jerusalem around as far as Illyricum. I have one last task
here, to take to Jerusalem the money that I have collected
for the church there. This done, I shall start for Spain,
stopping on the way at Rome to see you as I have long
wished to do" (Rom 15. T4-33). This imperial plan appears
in the way in which Paul refers to his work. As a rule, he
does not mention the cities where he works, but speaks,
rather, of the provinces. He refers to Asia, not to Ephesus,
to Macedonia and Achaia, not to Corinth and Philippi ( Rom
16. 5 ; I Thess i. 7).

191

192

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Paul saw the It was a great conception, this winning of an empire for
c^tianity ^^^^ "^^^ faith. Paul has been called a second Alexander,
moving westward instead of eastward in this march of con-
quest. More than anything else it brings to light the differ-
ence between him and the Jerusalem leaders, and the
significance of Paul's idea of the gospel. With the excep-
tion of Peter, it seemed that they were content to remain
at Jerusalem, praying and waiting for the heavens to open
again and Christ to return. Paul saw the wealth and the
meaning of the new faith as they did not, a religion of life
and power for all men and not alone the Jews. That concep-
tion was back of the mission: 'T am not ashamed of the
gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every
one that believeth ; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek."
That was why he felt himself sent to all the Gentiles and
counted himself "debtor both to Greeks and to Barbarians"
(Rom I. 13-17).
Certain limits This general plan had certain limits. ( i ) Paul would
not go where others had laid the foundation (Rom 15. 20).
That is why he makes it plain to the Roman church that he
is simply stopping off to see them on his way to Spain
(Rom 15. 24). (2) Paul would not work in Jewish terri-
tory. This may help answer the question sometimes raised.
Why did not Paul, who swept around the circle of the sea
from Jerusalem to Spain, go south to Egypt, especially to
Alexandria? The reason may be that Alexandria was so
much of a Jewish city. It had a large and prosperous Jewish
population, which had its separate quarter, even having
its own city walls inclosing it. (3) One other element
enters into Paul's plans. He felt that the return of the
Lord was near. The time was short. He had to give his
message and start the work and care for it from a distance
as well as he could. But he could not remain, he must
hurry on.
Missionaries The missionary was not a strange figure in that age. It
woiid ^°°^'' was a day of religious ferment. The old national religions

PAUL THE MISSIONARY 193

were passing away. New cults were coming in, especially
the mystery religions from the east. Traveling merchants
and soldiers were often zealous propagators of such faiths.
There were also traveling teachers of rhetoric and philo-
sophy. The Jewish missionaries were probably the most
active. Jesus spoke of the Pharisees as compassing sea
and land to make one proselyte. The bitterness of the Jews
against Paul was caused largely by his success in making
converts and in drawing away the proselytes whom they
had won.

Paul's first act in coming to a city would be to find quarters Paul's
for himself. Ordinarily, he planned to stay for some period g^^.'support
and so sought a place where he could carry on his trade of
tent-maker. For to his many burdens he added this other,
that of self-support. From only one church, that at Philippi,
was he willing to take aid. He believed in the right to such
support for Christian apostles. He defended the principle
and his own right to this later on. But for himself he
would not assert this claim. "We bear all things, that we
may cause no hindrance to the gospel of Christ" ( i Cor 9.
1-18). Paul probably had a double reason. He did not
want to be confounded with traveling rhetoricians who
talked simply for hire, and he wanted to remove all ground
for misunderstanding and criticism of his motives on the
part of his Jewish enemies.

Paul's next task was to find a way of approach for his Paul and the
message. That led him naturally to the synagogue. He ^^^^^"^^
did not consider this a violation of his agreement to go to
the Gentiles. Apparently, that meant to Paul simply that
he was to keep away from Jewish territory. But here, where
none of the apostles from Jerusalem came, there was no
reason why he should not speak to the Jew^s. This, however,
was not the main reason for his presence in the S}-nagogue.
Jewish missionary work had been carried on for years, and
while the Jews were hated by many, tlierc were others who
\\'ere attracted by their lofty moral and religious teachings.

194

NEW TESTA^IENT HISTORY

After the
synagogue

Paul as
speaker

These adherents or sympathizers afforded some of Paul's
first and best converts.

In the free worship of the synagogue there was always
opportunity for such a visitor to speak. Naturally, Paul
could not continue his preaching permanently in the syna-
gogue. Some Jews he won, but the major part would
refuse his message. Often they followed him from one city
to the other and turned the Jews against him. But he had
found interesting hearers among the proselytes, and now
through these he could meet other Gentiles. So his work
was continued usually in the house of some well-to-do con-
vert. Thus in Philippi he was guest of Lydia, at Thessa-
lonica he used the house of Jason, and at Corinth that of
Titus Justus (Acts i6. 15; 17. 7; 18. 7). In Ephesus we
read that he continued in the synagogue three months.
Apparently, Paul's success there demanded a larger room
than a private house could afford, and so he spoke in a
public hall, "the school of Tyrannus" (Acts 19. 8. 9). One
of the oldest manuscripts of Acts adds to these verses the
words "from the fifth to the tenth hour," that is, from eleven
to four. Paul, it would seem, rented for this part of the
day a hall which was given to other uses as well.

Judged by the common standards of his day, Paul was
not a great speaker. It was a day when rhetoric and oratory
were carefully cultivated, and of these things Paul made no
pretense. His enemies said that he was rude of speech, that
his speech was of no account and his bodily presence weak
(2 Cor II. 6; 10. 10). Paul makes no denial. He says
to the Corinthians: "I was with you in weakness, and in
fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my
preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom" ( i Cor
2. 3, 4). At Athens they called him a babbler (Acts 17. 18).
It is a fair question, however, whether the fault did not He
in the artificial standards of the time rather than with Paul
himself. Simple, direct, unpolished, even rude, his speech
probably was. But it met the final test : he stirred men's

PAUL THE MISSIONARY 195

hearts and swept them off their feet. 1 le carried the council
of Jerusalem, though he stood there almost alone. And how
many a later company, Jew and Gentile, cultured and pagan,
was home down by the earnestness and sincerity and moral
power of his address. Earnestness and spiritual power
were the mark of Paul's speech. The man was wholly lost
in his message. Men did not listen to fine phrases, they
heard a man, and a man afiame with his thought. Some
might call him mad, but others trembled (Acts 26. 24;
24. 25). With this earnestness went a power of will that
made Paul commanding when he spoke as when he acted.
Back of all else was the utter devotion of his soul and his
utter dependence upon God. Men felt that God was speak-
ing through this man, and he could call the Corinthians to
witness that though in weakness, yet his speech was "in the
demonstration of the Spirit and of power."

But though Paul's speech was plain and direct, with no His
regard for niceties of style, there were times when it must ^"^"^'^'^^
have risen to heights of real eloquence. We are justified
here in drawing conclusions from his letters ; for these were
spoken, not written, being dictated by him. Even with the
limitation of slow dictation, Paul's letters show us passages
where his soul, kindling at the great truths he is consider-
ing, rises to speech of beauty as well as power. Such is the
simple but beautiful song of love that lifts itself above the
controversies of the Corinthian church (i Cor 13). Such are
the passages which interrupt again and again his argument
in the letter to the Romans. "Who shall separate us from
the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or anguish, or persecu-
tion, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Even as
it is written,

For thy sake we are killed all the day long;
We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

Nay, in all these things we are more than concjuerors
through him that loved us. Eor I am persuaded, that neither

196 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things
present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor
depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us
from the love of God, which is in Jesus Christ our Lord"
(Rom 8. 35-39).

What Paul said in his sermons we cannot know with
certainty. Not one of them lies before us. His letters are
not sermons. He writes in these to companies of Christians,
discussing special questions of faith and life. We find
theology in them and practical maxims, but this is quite
different from what he would bring to a group of Gentiles
to whom he was preaching the gospel for the first time.
And yet we are not left without some real knowledge. Brief
as it is, such a summary as that given us in Acts of the
sermon at Athens is suggestive of Paul's method in a par-
ticular situation. And of much more importance are some
of his references and passages in the epistles (i Thess i. 9,
10; Acts 14. 15-17; Rom I. 18 to 2. 16; I Cor 15. i-ii).
Paul's The passages just noted suggest what his preaching to the

message Gcntilcs was. We may distinguish certain parts in this

message : ( i ) Paul proclaimed to them the living God. He
probably did not say much about idol-worship. He did not
need to. That was a dying faith. It was enough to bring
to them the word of that God who had made the world and
ruled in history ; who had sent his prophets and in these
latter days had sent his Son to show forth his mercy, whom
also he had raised from the dead. (2) He preached to
their conscience. With searching words he set forth their
sin. It was not mere sin of ignorance. God had not left
himself without a witness. There was an inner law that he
had written in their hearts. But they had darkened this light
by their disobedience, and had turned to their sinful desires.
All this God had passed over, but now he was calling men
to repent ; the day of judgment for men's sins was at hand.
(3) He preached Jesus Christ. However Paul began, his
sermon always tended to this. Here was his real message.

PAUL THE MISSIONARY 197

All else was preparation. "We are ambassadors therefore,"
he says, "on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating
by us : we beseech you on behalf of Christ, be ye reconciled
to God. Him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our
behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in
him" (2 Cor 5. 20, 21).

Here Paul had reached the heart of his message — "Christ, Christ
and him crucified." For him this was no mere phrase or """''^^
formal doctrine as it is so often to-day. It was a gift of
life that he was bringing to men, and of life here and now.
That was what it had meant to him. It had changed his
whole life. He probably did not dwell upon Jesus' words and
deeds as man. He told how God had sent his Son to men, of
his death, and how God had raised him from the dead. Then
he set forth the meaning of all this. It was God's love for
men. God had done this to win men to himself. This God
in his mercy was willing to receive them all as his children,
to give them forgiveness and life. He asked only faith in
return, that men should trust him and give themselves
to him. That life was theirs here and now : forgiveness,
and peace, and the Spirit of God in their hearts. But
besides this there was a hope : very soon this Jesus was
to return and set up his final and full kingdom upon the
earth.

There is no indication that men responded to this message Failures
in the mass. In i Cor i. 18-31 is given a picture of the
failure and success of Paul's appeal. Paul declares that his
message of the crucified Christ was a stumbling-block to
the Jews. They wanted signs, that is, indications of power.
How could they accept a Messiah who, instead of over-
throwing Israel's enemies, had himself suffered death? The
Greeks, he said, thought his preaching foolishness. They
wanted wisdom, fine rhetoric, and philosophical speculation,
or strange m\stcries such as the new religions from the
East afforded. Paul brought them a simple message of a
God who showed his love to men and called them to repent.

198

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Success

Lower
classes won

The
brotherhood

And Others would draw back at this moral demand, the call
to leave sin, to live a new life of righteousness.

But there were others that were won : some of them by
the ethical appeal, smitten in their conscience by his search-
ing words ; many of them by his message of the living God,
the God of love and power who could save them from their
sins and from death. It was a day when the old faiths were
breaking down, and especially upon the common folks the
burdens and misery of life rested heavily. What men wanted
from religion was help, redemption from these ills. That
was what Paul promised : Christ the power of God and the
wisdom of God.

Paul tells us that most of these converts, at least in
Corinth, were from the poorer classes. Early Christianity,
as a whole, was a lower and middle-class movement. "Not
many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many
noble" responded. Every great and permanent religious
movement has followed this order. It has never filtered
down from an upper few, but has had its origin in the great
masses in which the real strength of any generation lies.

The little bands of converts Paul gathered together.
Among them were a few of wealth and station. Such a
convert would ofifer his house as a meeting place for the
little brotherhood. Over these circles Paul watched. To
them he sent his messages, rebuking, exhorting, comforting,
teaching, encouraging. And these little communities, with
their spirit of love for each other, with the evident joy and
peace of their new faith, formed in turn an attractive power
that drew others from without. At the same time their mem-
bers became themselves missionaries to propagate the new
religion with zeal and enthusiasm. And when they moved
to other places they kindled new fires. It was not Paul and
Peter and Barnabas alone that spread Christianity. They
were but leaders of a great company. The new religion
was a great lay movement. Jesus was a layman. Paul was
a layman, who never asked ordination from anybody. And

PAUL THE MISSIONARY 199

the great work of spreading the faith in the first generation
was done by men and women whose names have long since
been lost to us, but whose work remains to this day.

DIRECTIONS FOR READING AND STUDY

Read Rom 15. 14-33. Locate upon the map the provinces of
Syria, Cilicia, Galatia, Macedonia, Illyricum, Achaia, Asia. lUyricum
lay along the eastern shore of the Adriatic, extending north to
Italy. The region is marked Dalmatia upon our map. We have
no record of Paul's work there.

As to Paul's trade and support of self, read Acts 18. 1-4; i Cor
9. 1-18.

For a typical synagogue experience, read Acts 13. 13-16, 42-52.

Concerning Paul as a speaker, read i Cor 2. Read Rom 8. 35-39
as illustration of what he may have meant by i Cor 2. 6, 12.

As to Paul's message, read i Thess i. 9, 10; Acts 14. 15-17;
Rom I. 18 to 2. 16; I Cor 15. l-li.

Read i Cor i. 18-31.

CHAPTER XXX
GALATIA

Paul's
method

First journey:
the company

The seven years of Paul's world mission have usually
been divided into three missionary "journeys." This, how-
ever, is misleading. It leads us to think of Paul as wander-
ing from place to place, stopping a few days or weeks,
preaching a few sermons, then passing on, and at the end
of each tour coming back to Antioch. Such was not his
method. Paul's plan was, rather, to take the great Roman
provinces one at a time, and to stay long enough in each to
firmly establish the work, leaving it then in charge of others
though retaining a general supervision. It is true his stay
was often cut short by opposition. But he spent a year and
a half in Achaia with his headquarters at Corinth, and
twice that time in Ephesus. He probably spent some months
in Macedonia, mainly at Philippi. Antioch practically ceased
to be his headquarters during this period. It is a better plan
of study to take up the provinces one at a time, studying in
turn Galatia, Macedonia, Achaia, and Asia.

We need not suppose that Paul mapped out from the
very first his whole plan of campaign. It is to Cyprus, the
old home of Barnabas, that they turn first, and their atten-
dant is John Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. John Mark,
the traditional author of our second Gospel, may also have
come originally from Cyprus. But it has been noted that his
home was in Jerusalem, where his mother's house was a
meeting place for the disciples. Barnabas had for years
been a leader. He was a man of broad and unselfish spirit.
That is shown by the sale of his field, the money for which
he gave to the Jerusalem church, and by the way in which
he yielded later to the leadership of his companion in this
journey.

200

GALATIA 20I

The little band of three was sent forth by the Antioch Cyprus
church with prayer and benediction. From Seleucia, the
port of Antioch, to Salamis of Cyprus, where they landed,
was about one hundred and twenty-five miles. There were
a good many Jews in the island and here at Salamis they
preached in the synagogues. They traversed the island from
east to west, probably something over a hundred miles of
journey. Luke has but one incident of their whole stay, the
story of the magician, Bar-Jesus, a Jew who was in the
company of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. He makes no
note of conversions, and we learn nothing more of Cyprus
beyond the fact that Barnabas and Mark made a return
visit some time later (Acts 13. 1-12).

"Now Paul and his company set sail from Paphos, and Paulas
came to Perga in Pamphylia : and John departed from them
and returned to Jerusalem" (Acts 13. 13). In these words
Luke marks the change that now comes ; Paul is taking
the leadership and is moving on to wholly new fields. Bar-
nabas goes with him. John Mark, perhaps dissatisfied that
Paul should take his cousin's place, possibly unwilling to
face the hardships of this new field, turns back again. From
this time on there is no question of leadership. Paul's com-
pany changes ; he has many helpers through this period, but
there is only one directing spirit.

Paul had now reached the mainland with his face toward in Gaiatia
that West which he was to win for Christ. For the present,
however, it is not so large a circuit that they make. They
do not stop in Perga, where they land, but press on to
Antioch of Pisidia, lying straight to the north, about a
hundred miles inland. Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe, to which
thev go next, lie to the east and south and rather close
together. Through these four cities they then retrace their
steps, stopping, however, this time at Perga. They set sail
not from Perga but from Attalia near by, and so return to
Antioch.

We must not, however, measure the length of their stay

202

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Work with
Jews and
Gentiles

Paganism
at Lystra

in Galatia by Luke's brief record. The apostles must have
spent some months at least in this visit. We read of their
work in Antioch, that "the word of the Lord was spread
abroad throughout all the region" (Acts 13. 49). Luke
reports that they stayed a long time at Iconium, and that
they preached not only in Lystra and Derbe but in the
country round about (Acts 14. 3, 6). In the main centers
Paul turned first to the synagogue, as usual, for here in
Galatia also there were Jews to be found in the larger cities ;
in Antioch and Iconium the synagogues are specially men-
tioned. But his main interest was in the Gentiles, and when
he went into the "region round about," it was Gentile
mission work.

One incident of this contact with paganism Luke gives us.
At Lystra Paul healed a lame man. When the people saw
what Paul had done, they began shouting, "The gods are
come down to us in the likeness of men." The old myths
abounded in tales of gods appearing among men, and it was
in such remote places that the old faiths were strongest.
Here at Lystra they cultivated especially the worship of
Jupiter. As the people used their native tongue, the disciples
could not understand their cries, and before they knew what
was happening the priest of Jupiter was present with his
garlands and his oxen ready to make a sacrifice. To such
people Paul had to bring his message. The words that Luke
reports in this connection may well have been his common
mode of approach in speaking to pagan hearers. They show
his skill and tact, and the broad sympathy that enabled him
to come into contact with men upon whom the Jew, proud
of his faith, would commonly have looked with utter scorn.
"We bring you good tidings, that ye should turn from these
vain things unto a living God, who made the heaven and the
earth and the sea, and all that in them is : who in the genera-
tions gone by sufifered all the nations to walk in their own
ways. And yet he left not himself without witness, in that
he did good and gave you from heaven rains and fruitful

GALATIA 203

seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness" (Acts

14. 15-17)-

Traveling through such a countr}' involved great hard- Hardship and
ship, heightened by Paul's efforts to support himself. Here, "'='""p^°^^
as later, Paul met the opposition of the Jews. Once his
life was endangered. After the brief enthusiasm at Lystra,
the Jews from Antioch and Iconium stirred up the people
against him and he was stoned and left for dead. It was
enough for Paul, however, that in all these places he was
able to gather his groups of converts. His devotion to them
is seen in the fact that when he reaches Derbe in the East,
he does not push on to Tarsus and home. Despite hardship
and the treatment he has received, he retraces his course,
that he may comfort and build up these little companies.
They in turn were devotedly attached to him. How they
had received him is indicated by Gal 4. 12-20. He inti-
mates there that he had had plans which would have taken
him farther, and was detained in Galatia because of health.
Perhaps it was a trouble with his eyes. In any case, he calls
to their mind how they received him "as an angel of God,
even as Christ Jesus," and that so far from despising
him because of his illness, they were ready to pluck out
their eyes and give them to him. As for him, he counts
them his little children, whom he has brought forth in toil
and pain.

It seems quite certain that it was to these churches that The letter to
the epistle to the Galatians was written. We have already
studied the first two chapters of this letter in connection
with the Jerusalem conference. We do not know when it
was written, probably not long after the founding of the
churches, for Paul reproaches them with removing so
quickly from his gospel (Gal i. 6). The thought of the
letter is not always easy to follow. We are not concerned
to-day about Jewish laws and rules and their relation to
Christianity, and the letter at first does not seem of interest.
But it is different when we appreciate the importance of

the Galatians

204

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

The
opposition

The answer:
a gospel
from God

Salvation
by faith

the fight that Paul is waging here. It was not the question
of a few churches in Asia Minor, but whether Christianity
was to be a universal and spiritual religion or a Jewish sect.
And our interest increases as we catch the earnestness and
passion of the man, which make these words live for us
despite nineteen centuries that lie between. The gospel that
he preached and the churches that he had founded with toil
and danger of life he now saw imperiled by men who dis-
regarded the Jerusalem agreement and invaded his terri-
tory. He throws every resource into this fight. Logic,
Scripture, sarcasm, bitter denunciation, tender appeal — he
uses them all in this effort.

His enemies were not Jews but Judaizing Christians,
bitterly opposed to Paul because he did not ask his converts
to keep the law. Their argument seems to have been this :
This man Paul is not a genuine apostle. The real pillar
apostles are at Jerusalem, and they keep the law. Jesus is
the Jewish Messiah, foretold in the Jewish Scriptures. You
Gentiles may believe on him, but if you want the full gospel,
if you want to be real sons of Abraham, you must keep the
sacred law ; and, first of all, you must be circumcised. To
this Paul makes reply in his letter, pouring forth a stream
of passionate declaration and entreaty, with no concern
for order or phrase. It falls, however, into three main
parts.

1. Paul's assertion of his independent apostleship: "My
gospel did not come from men but from God, and there is
no other gospel. I never took instruction or authority from
the other apostles at Jerusalem. But they have recognized
my apostleship to the Gentiles and have given me the hand
of fellowship" (Chs. i and 2).

2. "The Christian is saved by faith, not by the law :
When you were converted you received the Spirit. It was
the sign of your new life ; but you received it because you
trusted, not because you had kept the law. Why not con-
tinue the same way? The men of faith are the real sons of

GALATIA 205

Abraham, not the men of the law. The law by itself means
simply a curse, for it condemns every man unless he keeps
every letter of it ; and that no man can do. There is only
one thing to do, to trust in the love of God as he comes in
Jesus Christ. The Christian is not a servant keeping a law ;
he is a son living with his Father, You are all sons of God,
through faith in Christ Jesus. Do not let anyone make a
slave of you again. The Christian life is not circumcision
or uncircumcision ; it is faith working through love" (3. i
to 5. 12).

3. The last part of Paul's letters is always given to The life
practical advice. It is so here. He has said that Chris- °
tianity was not a sum of laws but a life of freedom and a
new spirit, the spirit of sonship. That freedom, he declares,
does not mean license. It is simply an inner life that we
live, instead of a set of rules imposed from without. But
we must live out that inner life, we must walk by the
Spirit. "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-
sufifering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-
control" (5. 13 to 6. 18).

Characteristic of this letter is its close. So possessed
is Paul with the great question at issue that he comes back
to it again. The last words, from 6. 11 on, were added
by his own hand. The rest of the letter had been dictated,
as was his custom. If the sickness to which he refers in this
letter was a trouble with his eyes, it would explain his
using an amanuensis, and making large letters when he
himself wrote (6. 11).

DIRECTIONS FOR READING AND STUDY

Read Acts 13 and 14.

Follow carefully upon the map the line of journey. Using the
scale of miles make an estimate of the total distance traveled.

Name in order the Galatian cities visited, and one or two inci-
dents in connection with each.

Give a brief outline of Paul's life as he reports it in Gal i
and 2.

2o6 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Give the outline of Paul's argument in the second section, Gal
3. I to 5. 12, by means of five or ten key verses selected from this
passage.

In the last section, 5. 13 to 6. 18, select five or six individual
verses which seem to you best to sum up Paul's idea of the Chris-
tian life.

CHAPTER XXXI
MACEDONIA

Macedonia forms the next stage in Paul's campaign. Macedonia
Galatia was but one of a number of provinces in Asia
Minor. The westernmost of these was called Asia, and
held a number of cities besides its great center, Ephesus.
But Luke tells us that Paul on his journey through Asia
Minor felt himself under a definite guidance of the Spirit
which led him past one district after another upon his way
to Macedonia.

Of the journey toward Macedonia we know little. After The
Paul's return to Antioch from Galatia, he proposed to g°^pa„°o^s
Barnabas that they start out to revisit the churches they
had established. Barnabas was willing but wished to take
John Mark along. Paul demurred to this, since Mark had
failed them on the previous trip. So they parted company,
Luke says, after "a sharp contention." Barnabas and Mark
went to Cyprus. Paul started out with Silas. This time
he went by land. First they visited the churches of his
old field, Syria and Cilicia. From Tarsus they pressed
on over the Taurus range to the little communities which
he had just founded in Galatia, and which lay not far be-
yond. At Derbe he secured another companion for his
journey, Timothy, a convert of his previous visit, the loyal
and affectionate companion and helper of his remaining
journeys.

So Paul came at last to Troas and to the Hellespont. The gospel
Though he had felt himself under compulsion of the Spirit. ^^^^
we need not assume that it was a blind leadership for Paul.
He saw that his journey was tending to Europe. Mace-
donia and Achaia were the Roman provinces into which
the Grecian land was divided, and these now lay before

207

2o8 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

him. He was beginning a new period in his life. His
labors till then had not led him far afield. Cilicia was the
province of his native city Tarsus. Syria lay between Tar-
sus and Jerusalem, no doubt often traversed by the young
man on his way to Jerusalem and back. Cyprus could be
seen in clear weather from Antioch. Derbe, in the east-
ern end of Galatia, was not more than one hundred and fifty
miles' journey from Tarsus. He had never gotten far
from this little corner of the Mediterranean, near whose
angle Tarsus and Antioch lay. Now he was facing not
only new provinces but a new continent. He was be-
ginning not only a new epoch in his life but a new epoch
for Christianity. Born in the Orient, the new faith was to
have its fullest expression in the West. Here it was to
shape mighty organizations, to mold new institutions of
government and society, and centuries later to start out
again from this new center upon a conquest of the world.
To-day the cradle of Christianity has little to show. The
eastern lands of Syria, Asia ]\Iinor, and Egypt, where first
she had her strength, now show either the rule of the Mos-
lem or a Christianity of a distinctly inferior type. W^e
cannot but ask the question: What if there had been no
Paul with his companions to carry the new faith west-
ward in that early day of its enthusiasm and power?
The need Paul liimsclf could make no such forecast of history.

What did he think of as he looked out for the first time upon
the famed TEgean Sea and upon the circle of historic lands
that surrounded it? Did he think of Troy, but a few miles
distant, immortalized by Homer's song? Or did he recall
the time when East and West had met here in one of the
crises of history, when Xerxes had marshaled his millions
which the nobler, bolder life of the West had driven back
again? Or did he think of Socrates and Plato and Aris-
totle? Deeply as Paul realized the importance of the
new step, it was not these thoughts that filled his mind.
What he saw was a people whom all their art and phil-

Greek also

MACEDONIA 209

osophy and noble history had not been able to save from
superstition and moral degradation. He faced them, as
later on toward Rome itself, his heart filled with the cour-
age and enthusiasms of a great message, his spirit burdened
with the sense of a high obligation. These lands of light
needed exactly what the rude folks of Galatia did, whom
he had just left behind. 'T am debtor both to Greeks and
to Barbarians, both to the wise and the foolish. So much
as in me lies I am ready to preach the gospel to you
also. . . . For I am not ashamed of the gospel : for it
is the power of God unto salvation to every one that
believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek" (Rom i.
14-16).

Such thoughts must have prepared him for the vision The vision
that came by night, the man of Macedonia who stood be- ^°^ ^^^ '*"
fore him saying, "Come over and help us." The vision at
least found him ready. .\t once he sought a ship for
Macedonia, sailed from Troas by way of the island of
Samothrace, and on the following day landed at Neapolis.
It seems likely that Luke joined the little company at Troas,
and some have held that he was the "man of Macedonia."
In any case, we note that at this period there suddenly
begin the so-called "we" portions of the book of Acts
(Acts 16. 10).

In various ways the Macedonian churches occupied a The
special place in Paul's work. The people themselves were Macedonian

. . churches

of a sturdier, smnpler life than Paul found in such centers
as Corinth and Ephesus. At the same time, though there
was full share of hardship and danger, Paul's enemies,
the Judaizers, seem largely to have left him alone in this
field. There was a solidity about this work, and it grew
without great disturbance or crisis. Above all, there was a
closeness of personal relation between the churches and the
apostle which does not appear elsewhere in such measure.
Luke tells us of only three cities where Paul stopped on
this tour: Philippi, Thcssalonica, and Berea. It was prob-

210

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Patil's special
relations
to the
Philippians

ably on a later occasion that Paul pressed farther north
and west to Illyrictim.

Philippi was Paul's first stopping place. Apparently, he
arrived the first part of the week, and so was there some
days before the Sabbath. The Jews, because they were
few in number, had no s}nagogue here but only a place
of prayer, whose location at the riverside was for con-
venience in the matter of the ceremonial washings. Here
the disciples met a number of women and opened conver-
sation with them, and here Paul's first convert in Europe
was won — Lydia, a seller of purple. Under the compulsion
of her generous hospitality, Paul broke his rule, gave up
his lodging and his work, and was entertained with his party
in Lydia's house. So began the relation of special friend-
ship which sets Philippi apart from Paul's other churches.
This was the only church from which Paul took gifts. So
sure was he of their friendship that he knew there would
be no misunderstanding. They sent him gifts more than
once during his stay at Thessalonica which followed ; and
a little later at Corinth they helped him again (Phil 4. 15,
16; 2 Cor II. 8, 9). One of the last pictures that we have
of Paul shows him a prisoner at Rome receiving Epaphro-
ditus, a member of the Philippian church, who brings him
again their love and their bounty; and the letter which he
writes them in acknowledgment is one of the most attract-
ive of his epistles. There is little additional that we know
of the Philippian church. Paul visited it later on several
occasions. We know the names of some of its members.
Lydia must have been a woman of some means to be able
to entertain the disciples as well as have meetings of the
church in her house. Besides her we know Epaphroditus,
who brought the gifts to Rome; Synzygus. whose name
is translated ''yokefellow," but whom Paul is probably ad-
dressing as his "true Synzygos" with a play upon the name ;
two women, Euodia and Syntyche; and Clement (Phil 2.

^5; 4- 1-3)-

MACEDONIA

211

To establish such close relations there must have been Paul and the
a stay of some months. Luke, according to his custom, g°", '"^^'"^
tells only of the beginning of the work and of the way in
which it was brought to a close. The latter was not due
to trouble from the Jews, but to a conflict with superstition
and greed. There was a young woman in the city, a servant
or slave, who had the power of ventriloquism. This, as
we learn from Plutarch, was what was meant by calling a
person a python, which is the Greek word used here.
The people thought that the girl was demon-possessed and
had the power of soothsaying. The girl herself was prob-
ably unbalanced and thought the same. At any rate, her
masters used her misfortune to make money. When Paul
by his commanding word healed her, her masters found
their source of profit gone and in revenge brought charges
against the disciples.

The charge was that of bringing in new and unlawful charges and
customs, and probably referred to their teaching a religion '"p"^"'^'"^^
that was not allowed. Philippi was a Roman colony with
consequent special privileges, and was exceedingly proud of
the fact. On such a serious charge Paul and Silas were
sent by the inferior judges to the highest magistrates, who
in a Roman colony were the praetors. These, without process
of trial, and probably without even giving Paul the chance
to assert his Roman citizenship, caused them to be beaten
and flung into jail. Luke does not seem to have been with
them at this time, the "we" portions ending just before
this. He gives us, however, the graphic story of how the
earthquake shook the prison and loosed the stocks in which
Paul and Silas had been held, opening the prison doors,
and of the jailor's attempted suicide and subsequent con-
version.

Meanwhile the praetors had had time to reflect upon Release and
their summary and illegal action, and in the morning they ^^"
sent the lictors to the jailor with word to let the prisoners
go. But Paul knew too well what his right of citizenship

212 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

involved. The praetors had committed a double illegality:
first, in proceeding without a trial; second, in beating a
Roman citizen, who by special law would be exempt from
such dishonoring punishment in any case. Rome had a
long arm and a regard for law, as these officials well knew.
So there was nothing for the proud prsetors to do but
themselves to come to the prison, upon Paul's demand, in
person to lead out the prisoners, and to beseech the scorned
Jews, whom they had but yesterday treated so contempt-
uously, to leave the city. And so the disciples left; not in
haste, however, for they first went to the home of Lydia,
where a farewell meeting of the little church was arranged.
Thessaionica From Philippi Paul goes to Thessalonica, passing b}', for
some reason not known to us, the cities of Amphipolis and
Apollonia. Here there was a synagogue, and for three
weeks Paul was permitted to speak each Sabbath to the
Jews gathered there. After that he probably worked some
time longer in the city among the Gentiles. His converts
numbered only a few Jews, but included a large number
of proselytes, "devout Greeks," as Luke calls them, and a
number of "chief women." The mission was a notable
triumph. Here again it was Judaism that prepared the soil
for Paul, and we need not wonder that the Jews who did
not believe were stirred to anger against him. He was
winning away the Greeks who gathered about them, and
so they resorted to active measures. Not wishing to appear
alone, they succeeded in stirring up a rabble which pro-
ceeded to the house of one Jason, where Paul and Silas
lodged. Not finding these, they took Jason and some other
disciples before the magistrates. Their charge was that
the Christians proclaimed Jesus as king, which showed
disloyalty to Csesar. The charge was dismissed, the magis-
trates simply requiring Jason to give bond; but the dis-
ciples felt that the danger was not past and so sent Paul and
Silas away by night.

Two letters written to the Thessalonians have been pre-

MACEDONIA 213

served for us. They are of greatest interest because they The oldest
are probably the oldest writings that we possess from Paul's jg^^^^ ^'^
hand, as well as the oldest Christian writings of any kind.
At this time the letter to the Galatians had not yet been
penned, and the earliest of our Gospels was not written
till at least fifteen years later. The first letter is so in-
timate, so personal, so direct and practical, that it gives
us a fine insight into the apostle's own spirit and the
method of his work. All the circumstances add to the in-
terest. Paul had left the Thessalonians suddenly, without
even the chance for farewell as at Philippi. His stay with
them had not been long. He had not had much time to
instruct them in the new faith, and most of them were
Gentiles. Moreover, they were even then facing persecution.
And so these questions filled Paul's soul : Would they
stand fast? Would they hold to the simple truth? Would
they lead the life that belonged to the Christian faith? He
had tried to return for a visit but failed. When he reached
Athens he could endure it no longer, and sent Timothy
back to them. He himself pushed on to Corinth, and to
Corinth Timothy came at last. His news filled Paul's heart
with joy. True, there were problems ; they could hardly
be wanting in a church like this. But the church was stand-
ing fast. Paul writes his letter at once, a letter full of joy,
of tenderness as of a mother toward her children, and of
appreciation of their faith and love and loyalty. Not all
the narratives of Acts can give us the insight into Paul's
heart that a single chapter here afifords.

More than half of the letter is taken up with personal Reminiscence
reminiscence and suggestion, which is the more remark-
able when we realize how anxious Paul was "to perfect that
which was lacking in their faith." The opening words show
the fine tact and courtesy which this man of deep passion
and stern will could show. 'T always thank God for you
in my prayer," he begins, "remembering \ our faith and love
and patience. The other churches in Macedonia and

214

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Good news

Instruction
and advice

Achaia have all heard of how the gospel came to you in
power, of how you turned from idols to the living God,
and how you have stood faithful. And you know what
my life was with you. There was no flattery, no greed for
money or honor. We came not to assert authority, but to
love and serve. We were like a nurse with her babes, like
a father with his children, loving you, working day and
night, that we might not burden you, faithful in our teach-
ing, unblameable in our lives. And you took our word
not as man's word, but as God's word. And you proved
your faith by suffering, just as your brethren in Judaea"
(i Thess I. I to 2. i6).

"We were deeply bereaved in leaving you, and I Paul tried
more than once to come to you again. So we finally sent
Timothy from Athens to encourage you. You remember
that we had forewarned you of such trials. But when
Timothy came just now with the good news, we were com-
forted by your faith. For now we live, if you stand fast.
You are our glory and our joy. How can we thank God
for all the joy that we have in you? May God bring us
to you again. May he make your hearts abound in love,
and may he establish you in holiness until our Lord Jesus
shall appear with the saints" (2. 17 to 3. 13).

The second part of the letter, chs. 4 and 5, Paul de-
votes to instruction and practical direction. He speaks
first of the sin of social impurity, which the Greeks took
so lightly: "God called us not in uncleanness, but in sanc-
tification." Then he takes up the question of the second
coming. This teaching had evidently stirred up great in-
terest. Some were inclined to neglect their work : What
need of toil if the end be so near? Paul admonishes these
to be quiet, and attend to their business, and to work with
their hands, that they may thus commend the new faith
to those without. Others were concerned about their friends
who might die in the interval before die end. Would they
not be excluded from the Kingdom when Jesus came? Paul

I^IACEDONIA 215

said no, for the dead in Christ were to rise first. Others
were eagerly discussing the time of his coming. To these
Paul says : "The time no one knows. It is enough for
us to watch and be sober, trusting in him 'who died for us,
that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together
with him.' " And then in short, strong words he crowds
together the many things he would say to them: "Be at
peace, admonish the disorderly, encourage the faint-hearted,
support the weak, render to no one evil for evil, follow
after that which is good, rejoice always, pray without ceas-
ing, in everything give thanks."

It is not hard to see why such a faith should spread, a conquering
Here was the dynamic of a great enthusiasm, a spirit of faith,
devotion, and brotherhood. And joined to this was a sober,
earnest life with the noblest moral ideals. And these two
things the Roman world needed — a living faith and moral
power. What Paul did here he did everywhere : he showed
that these were inseparable in the Christian faith. The
second letter to the Thessalonians must have followed after
a very brief interval, as it shows substantially the same
situation.

Berea, to which Paul went directly from Thessalonica, Berea
is the only other Macedonian church of which we know.
Berea was a much smaller place, and it is likely that Paul
stopped there in order to be near to Thessalonica, hoping
to be able to return. Paul's stay could not have been very
long, for the Thessalonian Jews could easily follow him.
Here at Berea he had a larger success with the Jews. They
were more open minded, and tested Paul's teaching of Jesus
as the promised Messiah by a study of their Scriptures. As
usual, Paul won converts from among the proselytes, both
men and women. In all such cases it must be remembered
that these were not necessarily close adherents, but that
under this term we include many who were but loosely at-
tached, though their minds had been prepared by some
knowledge of the purer Jewish faith.

2i6 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

DIRECTIONS FOR READING AND STUDY

Read Acts 15. 36 to 17. 15.

Read First Thessalonians.

Note upon the map Paul's fields of labor up to this time and
their location relative to Tarsus.

Trace the route of Paul's journey to Macedonia; note the
provinces in Asia Minor vi'hich he passed by; locate Philippi, Thes-
salonica, and Berea.

Write a synopsis of First Thessalonians, summing up each para-
graph of the letter in a sentence or two.

CHAPTER XXXII
ACHAIA

Berea was Paul's last stopping place in the northern Paul at
province of Macedonia. He left it accompanied by some * ^°^
of the newly won disciples, Silas and Timothy not being
with him. Turning at first toward the sea, they went
finally to Athens, and here, for a time at least, Paul seems
to have been left alone. What stirred him most in this
great city was not its far-famed works of art, whose
broken fragments still move our wonder to-day, nor yet
its traditions of a noble philosophy. Of that noble philos-
ophy not much was left. The Epicureans whom Paul met,
though they counseled moderation and virtue, found the
meaning of life in pleasure. Stoicism was the self-centered
])hilosophy of a few strong souls. It had no message of serv-
ice to fellow men and no word of help from God. For the
Athenians as a whole, however, these questions of truth or
faith had become simply matters for fine speech and in-
teresting debate. They "spent their time in nothing else,
but either to tell or to hear some new thing." What
moved this Jew of pure faith most was the scene of shrines
and temples and statues, "the city full of idols."

Here at Athens also there were Jews, and Paul met them The
and "the devout persons," or proselytes, at the synagogue, fpeech^^
Athens, however, gave him a freer opportunity to speak
to the people. The central market place was where they
were accustomed to congregate, and here the apostle spoke
with all that would listen. Luke reports to us a special
address that Paul gave. Scholars are not agreed whether
the Areopagus was a hill to which Paul was taken, Alars'
Hill, or whether it means a council, or court, which was to
pass upon Paul's teaching. Probably it was the latter.

217

2l8

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

The few words that Luke gives are at most a fragment
or a summary. But even so they are very suggestive. With
fine tact Paul finds a point of contact, the altar to the
unknown God. He tells them of the God of all nature
and all life, who is not shut up in temples. This brings
him to his message of Jesus, through whom the word of
righteousness and repentance comes now to men, and whom
God has approved by his resurrection.

The response What wc have is really the introduction to Paul's true
message. It may be that he was interrupted. In any case,
Paul seems to have found no large response. A few con-
verts are spoken of, but we learn nothing at this time or
later of a church at Athens. There is no reason to be sur-
prised at this. Paul's message demanded moral earnest-
ness and humility. Jesus himself had set these as the gate-
way to life in such passages as the Beatitudes : the meek
were to inherit the earth, and those that hungered and
thirsted after righteousness. To all this the Athenian
spirit was in greatest contrast.

Corinth From Athens Paul goes to Corinth. The way had not

yet opened for him to go back to Thessalonica. It pointed
clearly to Corinth, and yet Paul at the beginning seems to
have contemplated only a brief stay in the great city. It
was a special vision, such as that which called him to
Macedonia, that now showed him that he was to remain
a longer period in Achaia before going north again.

Here at Corinth Paul was again at one of the centers
of the empire. Antioch, Corinth, Ephesus were the great
cities that he touched before he reached Rome. From
Athens to Corinth was a brief journey, but a great change.
Athens was the quiet city of culture, proud of its past,
the university town. Corinth was the busy metropoUs.
It had been destroyed, had lain in ruins for a century,
and been rebuilt but a hundred years before. The old pop-
ulation was largely gone. It was a modern city. Roman
colonists were here and Roman officials, for it was the

ACHAIA

219

capital of Achaia. It had its philosophers and rhetoricians,
as well as Athens. It had a strategic position for trade,
lying on the isthmus and commanding two harbors. Goods
were commonly transhipped to avoid the dangerous journey
around the coast. It was a great commercial center and
had large wealth. Like all such cities of the time, it had
its masses of the poor, vastly outnumbering all the rest. A
writer somewhat earlier than this reports four hundred and
sixty thousand slaves. It was upon such a pyramid of op-
pression and wretchedness that the wealth of the great
Roman cities rested. And that wealth brought in its train
profligacy and vice. Corinth had even more than her share.
Her very name had become a byword : men who led lives
of indulgence and vice were said to Corinthianize.

It was in a state of depression that Paul entered the Paurs mood
city. His work in Macedonia had been broken off. He ^°<i "^^^^-^s^
had not been able to get back to Thessalonica. He had
had little result from his labor in Athens. "I was with
you," he tells the Corinthians, "in weakness, and in fear,
and in much trembling" (i Cor 2. 3). If he was stirred
by the idolatry of Athens, he was deeply moved here by
the shame and sin of the life about him. What could he do
with his gospel of the cross, coming to these Greeks with
their wisdom and their eloquence? And what could any
gospel do with a city so sunken in sin? If such questions
came to Paul in moments of depression, he had his answer.
He may have distrusted himself, but he did not doubt his
message. He could not compete with these Greeks in fine
speaking; he had only what they would call the foolish-
ness of the cross. But that message he would give simply,
directly, "not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demon-
stration of the Spirit and of power." "I determined not to
know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him
crucified."

The result justified the faith. What the fine rhetoric The gospel
of the Corinthians could not do, or the philosophy of Athens, °^ ^°^^^

220 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

that his simple message accomplished. It seemed a mes-
sage of weakness; it was, in fact, a message of power. It
seemed foolishness ; it had in it, in reality, the deep wisdom
of God. Its great test was this, that it could meet the wick-
edness even of Corinth, and overcome it. All this Paul
brings in the letter which he writes later on to the Corin-
thians. We understand his daring speech, his paradoxes,
by remembering these circumstances. "For the word of
the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us
who are saved it is the power of God. Hath not God made
foolish the wisdom of the world? Jews ask for signs, and
Greeks seek after wisdom : but we preach Christ crucified,
unto Jews a stumbling-block, and unto Gentiles foolishness ;
but unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ
the power of God, and the wisdom of God" (i Cor i. 18-25 ;
2. 1-5). Corinth showed Paul the power of the new faith
over against the worst conditions of the old world.

Paul's work Paul's work began at Corinth much as elsewhere. He

first sought a place in the Jewish quarter where he could
carry on his trade. Here he found one Aquila with his
wife, Priscilla. The emperor Claudius had driven the Jews
from Rome but a short time before this, and these people
had come from Rome to Corinth. Whether they were
already Christians or not, we do not know. Paul's first
reason for stopping with them was because they had the
same trade. Gifts from Philippi supplemented what he
thus earned. He did not win many of the Jews, for the
church that we see later at Corinth was mainly Gentile.
His work, when he left the synagogue, was carried on in the
house of a proselyte who lived next to the synagogue, and the
nearness probably helped to aggravate the anger of the Jews.
Paul also won over Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue. With
these he gained many converts among the Corinthians, and
quickly established a strong church.

Before GaUio The proconsul of the province at this time was Gallic,
a brother of the noted Stoic philosopher Seneca. The hos-

ACHAT A 221

tility of the Jews culminated at last in an effort to convict
Paul of serious charges before this Gallio. It is prob-
able that here, as elsewhere, they tried to make it appear
that there was something politically dangerous in Paul,
'i'o Gallio it was a quarrel among the Jews, and he drove
them out witii scant patience. The Jews were never pop-
tilar. In this case their discomfiture emboldened some of
the Corinthian bystanders, who improved the occasion by
beating up Sosthenes, who had been elected ruler of the
synagogue to succeed Crispus when the latter became
Christian.

DIRECTIONS FOR READING AND STUDY

Read Acts 17. 13 to 18. 18.

Write a paraphrase of Paul's speech at Athens.

Read i Cor i and 2.

Note what Paul has to say in praise and in criticism of the
Corinthians in these two chapters.

From what Paul says in these two chapters, try to determine
what his style of preaching was. and the qualities which it possessed
and which it lacked.

in between

CHAPTER XXXIII
ASIA

Asia One Roman province near at hand Paul had not yet

touched, that of Asia. Paul uses this name always in the
Roman sense, meaning the political province that occu-
pied the western part of Asia Minor and included many
cities besides its populous capital, Ephesus. He had passed
by this province on the way to Macedonia. He had estab-
lished his churches in Galatia to the east and in Greece to
the west. Now he turned to this his last Eastern field.

Journeys He did not, however, begin his work at once upon leav-

ing Corinth. First he planned to go to Jerusalem and report
to the apostles concerning his work. Ephesus was upon
his way, and his friends Priscilla and Aquila accompanied
him to that city. These remained in Ephesus, evidently
locating for their business. Paul stopped long enough to
speak in the synagogue and then pressed on, shipping from
there to Cassarea, from which place he went overland to
Jerusalem. On the way back he stopped with his old friends
at Antioch also, but the stay at both places must have been
brief. His real work lay in his new fields, where he had
had such marvelous success. First of all, he was anxious
to see his Galatian converts. It had been several years
since he had left them. During that time his enemies had
been busy. His letter, which we studied, had been written
to them probably from Corinth and but a short time before
this. Now he visits them again and for the last time. His
road was probably through Tarsus, as when he visited
them on the way to Macedonia. On that journey he moved
north when he reached Pisidian Antioch. This time, when
he left them, he went directly west toward Ephesus (Acts
i8. 18-23; 19- i)-

222

ASIA 223

The work at Ephesus ranks in importance with that at scanty
Corinth. Unfortunately, Paul has left us very little in-
formation concerning: it. The letter marked in our Bible
"to the Ephesians" was probably not addressed to this
church. As the margin of our American Standard Re-
vision indicates, the oldest manuscripts omit the phrase
"at Ephesus" from the first verse. In any case, the letter
throws no light upon the church at all, and lacks wholly
the local allusions, in which Paul's other letters abound.
When we consider that Ephesus was Paul's headquarters
for three years, the account in Acts is quite meager. The
Corinthian letters were written during these three years,
though not all from Ephesus, and gives us some important
items.

To these scanty sources some scholars have added an- As to
other writing. They hold that the last chapter of our °'^^'^^
letter to the Romans has been added to this by mistake and
is really a note which Paul addressed to the Ephesian
church. The reasons for this can be readily seen. In this
chapter is a long list of names of persons to whom Paul
sends greetings. They are all known to him personally.
Would he have known that many in Rome, w^iere he had
never been? With all the ease of travel in the Roman world
this would not be likely with the relatively small numbers
of a Christian community. Three of these names, more-
over, point naturally to Ephesus. The first two are Prisca
(or Priscilla) and Aquila, who were with Paul in Ephe-
sus. A third is Epaenetus, "the first fruits of Asia," that is,
Paul's first convert in Asia, which with Paul means Ephesus.

What we have here, then, in Rom 16 is a writing dif- a letter of
ferent in character from any other writing of the New
Testament. It is one of the "epistles of commendation"
to which Paul refers in 2 Cor 3, i. These were very common
in the early church, especially a little later. Between the
little Christian communities men and women were con-
stantly passing back and forth. These disciples were cared

224

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Synagogue
and the
school of
Tyrannus

for by the brothers of the church wherever they went, and
would not think of stopping at a pubHc inn. Among them
would be leaders of the church, including apostles and dis-
ciples. The churches would help these on their way, as
Paul expected help from the Roman church on the way to
Spain. To prevent imposture, letters of commendation or
introduction were written, and were either sent direct or
given to the person whom they concerned, just as is done
to-day. Paul's enemies in Corinth had probably brought
such letters from Jerusalem. In a similar way Paul writes
to commend Timothy and later on Titus to the Corinthian
church, and letters from Ephesus paved the way for Apol-
los when he went to Corinth (Acts i8. 2"]^. Phoebe was a
prominent member of the church at Cenchreae, one of the
ports of Corinth. It may have been during Paul's last
three months' visit at Corinth that she decided to go to
Ephesus. Paul sends with her this letter of introduction.
At the same time he takes opportunity to send greetings
to his many friends there, naturally selecting those who
were most prominent in the church or with whom he had
close personal relations. Among the latter would be Rufus
and his mother; Paul says, "his mother and mine," Prob-
ably Paul had lodged with her and received her motherly
care. This brief note, as we shall see, has not a few
suggestions as to Ephesus.

Paul sought his first opening at Ephesus, as usual, in
the synagogue. For three months he used this as his place
of teaching. He may have had some hope of winning the
Jewish colony entire for the new faith. In any case, they
gave him a ready hearing. Even at the end of this time
he was not compelled to leave, and we hear nothing of
open opposition from the Jews. In contrast with the situ-
ation elsewhere, it seems that during this whole period the
converts simply met in the synagogue. When, however,
a portion of the Jews refused his message, Paul separated
the disciples and used the school of Tyrannus for his

ASIA

225

Apollos and
the disciples
of John

teaching. This use of a pubHc hall was also unique. It
fits in with the general picture that we have of a great
success on Paul's part in this field.

Still another new feature in Paul's experience in Ephe-
sus was his meeting with certain men who had become
Christians apparently without direct contact with either the
Jerusalem teaching or his own. One of these was Apollos,
whom Aquila and Priscilla had found and instructed in
the Pauline gospel and sent on to Corinth before Paul
arrived, but whom we find later there with Paul. Then
there are twelve disciples whom Paul himself finds. These
men, we are told, knew only the baptism of John. It
seems probable that they knew of Jesus' life teaching ;
Apollos "taught accurately the things concerning Jesus."
They did not, it would seem, know Paul's gospel — that
Jesus died, that his death was for the sins of men, that
he arose again, and that the new life of the Spirit was
given to those who believed. They may have preached
John's word of repentance and judgment, but not Paul's
word of salvation by the grace of God.

Apollos represents a new type that was to have great The Greek
influence in the church. He stands for the Greek spirit, ^e"church
with its eloquence, its rhetoric, and philosophy. In Alex-
andria, whence he came, this spirit had entered the Jew-
ish circles. We may think of Apollos' thought and style
as being somewhat like that of the letter to the Hebrews,
finding in the Old Testament all manner of types and
suggestions of the gospel and setting this forth in beau-
tiful language. No wonder that he was popular with the
men of the Greek spirit at Corinth, though we of to-day
would prefer the "rude" speech of Paul (Acts 18. 24-28).
The Christian message, then, even if in imperfect form, had
reached such widely separated places as Ephesus and Alex-
andria apart from the work of Paul or the other apostles.
It was spreading through the empire by many roads of
which we know nothing to-day.

226

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Two early
disciples

Success at
Ephesus

Opposition

One other line we trace, which leads apparently to Jeru-
salem (Rom i6. 7). Paul speaks of Andronicus and Junias
as fellow Jews, as men who had been in prison with him,
as men who had been Christians before Paul was, and as
apostles. These were probably of the original company
of disciples at Jerusalem. They too may have represented
Christianity in Ephesus before Paul. Now we find them
working in hearty cooperation.

All this suggests a picture of harmony and peace, as
well as of great success. Paul gathers about him not only
many converts but a fine group of workers. These carry
the message throughout the province. Epaphras is one of
these, who bore the gospel to Colossse, Laodicea, and Hier-
apolis, cities to which Paul sends messages later. Paul
mentions others as his "fellow workers" — Priscilla and
Aquila, Urbanus, women like Tryphsena, Tryphosa, and
Persis (Rom 16. 3, 9, 12). Luke declares that. "all they
that dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews
and Greeks" (Acts 19. 10). As an illustration of Paul's
success, he tells how the people who had been convinced
by his message brought their books of magic and burned
them, just as we read a few years ago of the great bon-
fires of pipes made by the Chinese who had given up opium.
Luke declares that the value of these books was fifty thou-
sand pieces of silver. What we gather from Paul's letters
points to the same large results from the Ephesian labors.
He declares that "a great door and effectual" was opened
to him. Because of his labors he cannot at first go to
Corinth himself. That he should stay three years at Ephe-
sus is sufficient proof of the fruitful field that he found.

But there are darker sides to the picture also. While
we know little of detail, it is evident that Paul nowhere
faced greater foes or was in greater personal danger than at
Ephesus. It is not the Jews and their plots that trouble Paul
here, for he seems to have met from these considerable
response and little resistance. It is, rather, paganism and its

ASIA 227

business interests. The ])ri(lc of Ephesiis was its magnificent
temple of Diana, or Artemis, whose foundations were some
three hundred and thirty feet long, which was surrounded
by a magnificent double row of columns, and boasted among
its adornments the work of such artists as Praxiteles. Tlie
central treasure was the image of the goddess, supposed to
have fallen from heaven. Certain strange characters in-
scribed upon this image were held to have magic power.
The religions of Asia Minor were on a very low plane,
and Ephesus was a center of the immorality and super-
stition. This had its profitable side. A big business was
done in reproductions of the shrine, in copies of the magical
characters found upon it, and in other magical books and
articles. Paul's preaching had made inroads into this traffic.
It was not merely a question of his converts, but of the
popular influence he might exert as his teaching spread.
Demetrius the silversmith, who organized the mass meet-
ing in protest, may have been the head of his guild for
that year. He and his friends secured the popular sup-
port by the appeal to religious passion and prejudice and
local pride. The local officials, however, seem to have
been distinctly favorable to Paul's position, aside from fear-
ing the results if such disorders should be reported to
Rome. Paul, however, was in no personal danger in this
case, the disciples and the local officials both persuading him
to remain away.

He himself reports far more serious dangers. He Personal
gives us no definite statement as to what the perils "^^sers
were, but it is evident that his very life was at stake.
He declares that Priscilla and Aquila "laid down their own
necks" for his life (Rom 16. 4). He writes the Corinthians
from Ephesus about standing in jeopardy every hour, and
adds : "If after the manner of men I fought with beasts
at Ephesus, what doth it profit me [that is, if the dead
are not raised]?" i Cor 15. 30-32). Later he says, "We
would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning our af-

of the work

228 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

fliction which befell us in Asia, that we were weighed down
exceedingly, beyond our power, insomuch that we despaired
even of life : yea, we ourselves have had the sentence of
death within ourselves, that we should not trust in our-
selves, but in God who raiseth the dead: who delivered us
out of so great a death" (2 Cor i. 8-10). It seems, then,
that Paul's life was more than once in danger, and he ma\'
even have fought with the wild beasts in the arena. In
any case, here w^as a ministry upon a larger scale both
of success and of danger than had marked Paul's work
before.
The extent The Asian ministry thus marks another stage in Paul's

career. His enemies declared that he had persuaded the
people "not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all
Asia." The interest of the Asiarchs, prominent provincial
officials, showed that his influence had reached high quar-
ters. Churches like those at Colossse, Laodicea, and Hier-
apolis, founded by his helpers, looked to him as their apostle.
The lower strata he reached also as in Corinth, for he
refers to the slaves connected with two households, those of
Aristobulus and Narcissus (Rom 16. 10, 11). As elsewhere,
the church was divided into smaller groups which met in
particular private houses. Thus Priscilla and Aquila had
a "church in their house" (Rom 16. 3-5). When Paul
speaks of "Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hernias,
and the brethren that are with them," it is not unlikely that
here too he is speaking of groups that met in different
houses and mentioning the leaders of five such circles. In
any case, it was a large and strong church that he left be-
hind. It is interesting to note the number of women here
mentioned, remembering that the list is not one of members
but of leaders in the church and special friends. Here,
as usual, Priscilla is named before her husband Aquila.
However conservative Paul may have been in principle,
in practice it is evident he gave generous recognition
to the noble women of his churches, and these women

ASIA 229

played a large part in the church of the empire from the
beginning.

DIRECTIONS FOR READING AND STUDY

Acts 18. 18-23; 19. I. Trace Paul's journey from Corinth to
Jerusalem and back to Ephesus. Note the former fields of labor
through which he passes.

Rom 16. Of those to whom Paul sends greetings here, which
seem to be simply his personal friends? State the total number
of names and the proportion of women.

Acts 18. 24 to 19. 41. Tell the story of Demetrius and the mob.
This theater had a seating capacity of about twenty-five thousand.

CHAPTER XXXIV
THE LIFE OF AN EARLY CHURCH— I

Occasion
of the
Corinthian
letters

The moral
problem of
the early
church

Of no one of the early churches have we so full a knowl-
edge as of the church at Corinth. We owe this to the
preservation of the letters to this church which are
contained in our New Testament. Paul was working at
Ephesus soon after leaving Corinth. The two cities were
joined by a great highway of the sea, with vessels con-
stantly passing back and forth, auvl it was not hard for Paul
to keep in touch with the church. Paul had received a
letter from the Corinthians and had written one in return,
both lost to us. A second letter was written him by the
church, asking his judgment on various questions. About
the same time Chloe, apparently a well-to-do Christian
woman, sent some of her servants or slaves, also presumably
Christians, and these informed Paul of serious conditions
that had arisen in tlie life of the church. Later three other
members of the church came, Stephanas, Fortunatus, and
Achaiacus, the two last named being probably slaves of the
first. Apollos too, who had been working at Corinth, came
to Paul at Ephesus, and Paul, himself prevented from going
by the importance of his new work at Ephesus, had sent
Timothy as his personal representative. All this had taken
place before Paul sat down to write the letter which we now
have. It is a good instance of Paul's care of his churches
and at the same time a picture of the freedom of travel
which characterized the age.

More important than these incidents is the picture of the
life of a Christian church in the Roman world, and the
problems which the Christian religion faced in thus estab-
lishing itself. Christianity was a new way o^ living. Paul's
first message to men concerned their relation to God: "We

2.30

THE LIFE OF AN EARLY CHURCH 231

beseech you on behalf of Christ, be ye reconciled to God"
(2 Cor 5. 20). But he did not stop with this. The new
religion was a life to be lived out among men. It meant
a new conduct and character. It was a moral revolution.
"If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old
things are passed away; behold, they are become new"
(2 Cor 5. 17). Paul's greatest task was to show his con-
verts what this new life meant. The old religions had little
to say about right living. Often their influence lay upon
the wrong side. The temple of Aphrodite at Corinth, for
example, had a thousand women attached to it who were
giving themselves to a life of shame as part of the service
of the goddess. The Corinthian converts had no trouble
in accepting the new doctrines and sacraments, but it was
not so easy to teach them that the new faith meant purity
and sobriety and uprightness. Nor was that all. Paul had
the further task of teaching them what the new spirit
meant in the thousand and one activities and relations of
life. These Christians had to live in the pagan world and
touch its life on every side. The political life, the social
life, the business life was pagan in spirit and practice. They
could not leave this world ; how should they live the new
life in the midst of it?

In all these matters Paul shows a marvelous patience. Paul's swu
He knows he is dealing with children. They are still babes, "*
and he does not expect everything at once. He is skillful
too. He holds up the highest principles, but he shows the
greatest tact and common sense in application. All fanatical
extremes are absent. More wonderful still is his faith. He
knows with what materials he has to deal in the Corinthian
church. In writing them he mentions a long list of those
who cannot enter the Kingdom of God — fornicators, idola-
ters, adulterers, efifeminate, abusers of themselves with men,
thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, extortioners. And
then he adds, "And such were some of you" ( i Cor 6. 9-11).
Moreover, most of his converts were taken from the lower

232 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

social classes, from the great proletariat of Corinth. And
yet before such folks Paul holds the highest ideals of Chris-
tianity, nor abates from them one whit. It is for these
people that he sets forth his lofty ideal in the marvelous
chapter on love (i Cor 13). He believes that even such
people can be made over in the spirit of Christ.

The problems that appear in the Corinthian letters may
be taken up under two heads: (i) Moral problems; (2)
Problems of church life. We shall take these up in the order
noted.
Against The first problem that Paul had to handle was a pecul-

impunty j^j.jy distressing one. Apparently the servants of Chloe

informed him of this, that a member of the church had
actually married his stepmother upon his father's death.
And the church had permitted this without proceeding
against this member. That does not mean that they de-
fended such a deed. Individually they may have condemned
it, but Paul demands that this man must be put out of their
fellowship. With such men they might have to associate
in the world without, but the Christian fellowship had a
different meaning (i Cor 5. 1-13). Back of this lay the
broader question, the general matter of social immorahty.
Here was the prevalent sin of the Grecian world, for which
Corinth was especially notorious. Paul's warnings do not
imply that this sin had appeared in the church, but it shows
how great a task Christianity had that the apostle should
deem it necessary to solemnly warn the church upon this
subject. "Be not deceived. The unrighteous shall not in-
herit the kingdom of God." It was an echo of the old
prophetic message : Religion means righteousness. But Paul
went further. The Christian was one who had received the
Spirit of God. How could he dishonor the body in which
that Spirit lived ? "Know ye not that your body is a temple
of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have from
God?" That was Christianity's first fight in the Roman
world: it stood for purity of Hfe (i Cor 6. 9-20).

mamage

THE LIFE OF AN EARLY CHURCH 233

Paul's next question took him into the business world. The gospel
He found his Corinthian converts indulging- in sharp busi- *°^ business
ness practices, defrauding each other, and going to law.
Has Christianity anything to say as to business? Paul did
not go into the question in detail. He had no such occasion
for this as we have now. But he made clear the principle:
Religion has something to say about business. Brotherhood
must be taken into business life. Neither fraud nor un-
righteousness nor extortion has any place in the kingdom
of God (i Cor 6. i-ii).

Christianity had to meet the question of the family. The As to
Corinthians had raised several questions as to marriage.
There was an extreme party in the church, it appears, whose
effort to be holy had carried them so far that they did not
believe in marriage or in maintaining the relation of hus-
band and wife. For them everything that had to do with
the flesh was sinful. Paul denies this asceticism. Marriage
is not sinful, though he feels that with the end so near at
hand it would be better for Christians to remain unmarried,
as he is. Others apparently thought that a Christian
husband or wife whose partner was unconverted should
take a divorce. This too Paul declares against ( i Cor 7.
1-40).

In the matter of womanhood Christianity also rendered The place
a great service in setting up a new ideal. Social immorality
in that day was widely prevalent, as we have seen. Divorce
was common and on the increase. The father was not only
the head of the household but the absolute master and ruler.
Children and women had no rights. A woman had no
standing before the law except as belonging to some man,
father, husband, brother. In Greece education and freedom
belonged only to the class of women called hctairce, who
purchased these privileges with their honor. In some points
Paul was still the conservative Jew : The head of the woman
is the man, he sa\s, and the woman is the glory of the man
as the man is the image and glory of God (i Cor 11. 3, 8,

of child and
woman

234

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Christianity
and slavery

As to meat
offered to
idols

9). But Paul knows the deeper Christian truth — that every
human personahty is sacred : "There can be neither Jew nor
Greek, there can be neither bond nor free, there can be no
male and female; for ye all are one in Christ Jesus" (Gal
3. 28). Here lies in principle that position toward which
woman has been moving since that day. For the woman,
as for the child and the slave, Christianity meant emancipa-
tion. All were alike children of God, and the words
"brother" and "sister" set them all upon the same
plane.

Slavery Paul touches upon with only a few words ( i Cor
7. 20-24). He bids the slave remain contented in his posi-
tion. Christianity was not a political movement. It would
have had short shrift in the Roman world had it been such.
But it had a message that concerned slavery. ( i ) The slave
knew himself as Christian to be a free man : "He that was
called in the Lord being a bondservant, is the Lord's freed-
man." (2) Within the Christian Church the slave was a
brother. The servants of Chloe and the slaves of Stephanas
came to Paul not as mere letter-carriers, but as trusted
Christian brothers. Within the church it was brother and
sister, not master and servant. When Paul, later on, writes
from Rome the charming letter to Philemon and sends back
the runaway slave whom he has won to Christ, he sends him
back "no longer as a servant [slave], but more than a
servant, a brother beloved." It sometimes happened, indeed,
in the early church that slaves held the highest office. (3)
In these ideals Christianity set free the silent forces which
were at last to make slavery impossible.

Paul's discussion of the question of the eating of meat
that had been sacrificed to heathen gods shows how difficult
the situation of the Christian was in the midst of the life
of a pagan world. When an animal was sacrificed it was
customary, after certain portions had been given to the
priests, to use the rest for a feast which might be held in
the temple or at home. Sometimes the meat was ofl^ered

answer

THE LIFE OF AN EARLY CHURCH 235

for sale in the market. To such feasts the Christians would
be invited by their unbelieving friends, or they might un-
wittingly buy such meat in the markets. Was it wrong to
partake in either case?

Paul does not answer with a simple yes or no. He is not Paul's
giving rules ; he is setting up principles of conduct. He
discusses these questions in two passages here (i Cor 8.
1-13; 10. 14-33) and in Rom 14. He declares (i) that
idols are nothing at all. The meat ofifered to idols cannot
therefore be unclean. The Christian by his knowledge is
lifted above these things. When you go into a market tc
buy meat, therefore, or when you are at the table of a
friend, you need not stop to inquire whether the meat offered
you has been sacrificed to an idol. (2) But there is some-
thing besides a man's own conscience, and that is his brother.
There are Christians who have not gained this knowledge.
To them eating meat that has been offered to idols seems
like falling back into the old idol-worship ; and your eating
may lead them to do what would be against their own
conscience and so injure them. In such case the brother is
more important than the meat. The meat is a small matter.
"The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but
righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." And
your knowledge is not the most important thing. There is
something greater than knowledge, and that is love. "Knowl-
edge puffeth up, but love buildeth up." Therefore, says
Paul, "If meat causeth my brother to stumble, I will eat
no flesh for evermore, that I cause not my brother to
stumble." (3) But while an idol is nothing at all, and meat
offered to idols is not as such unclean, it is quite a different
matter for Christians to participate in the old idol feasts.
How should the Christian go from the Lord's Supper over
to some pagan festival, as though by accepting Christ
he had simply added another god and another feast?
Flee idolatry, Paul says ; it is nothing but the worship of
demons.

236 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

DIRECTIONS FOR READING AND STUDY

As to social morality, read i Cor 5. 1-13; 6. 9-20.
As to marriage, read i Cor 7. 1-40.
As to slavery, read i Cor 7. 20-24.

As to pagan feast and meat offered to idols, read i Cor 8. 1-13;
10. 14-33; Rom 14.

CHAPTER XXXV

THE LIFE OF AN EARLY CHURCH— H

The second class of problems that Paul met at Corinth Problems of
were those that concerned the common church life. The t*»^ •=^"'^<=^
new religion was not simply an individual life but a life in
fellowship. Upon that fellowship Paul laid the greatest
stress. In fighting the enemies of this fellowship he knew
that he was fighting for Christianity itself. The Roman
world of that day, like our own world, was strongly indi-
vidualistic. The old bonds were breaking and men were
seeking the life of individual freedom. That was especially
true of the Greeks. Like our own age, they were inclined
to underestimate religion as a social fact and Christianity
as a fellowship. This fellowship Paul saw assailed by
several dangers.

There was the trouble that came from the "advanced" As to
women of the congregation (i Cor ii. 2-16; 14. 33-36),
They had heard from Paul that Christianity meant not the
bondage of rules but the freedom of the spirit. Why should
they, then, submit to the old restrictions upon women, such
as that which required them to wear a veil in public and
forbade them taking part in open meetings? The question
was, in fact, the same as that with the progressives who
felt they could eat meat offered to idols. It was a purely
individualistic point of view, which thought only of the
individual conscience and liberty. What these women failed
to consider was the eflfect upon others and upon the church
as a whole. There was only one class of Corinthian women
which appeared unveiled upon the street and spoke in public,
and that was the hcfaircv. For Christian women to do this
meant not only to shock some of their Christian friends,

2Z7

women

238

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Church
suppers and
the Lord's
Supper

As to

spiritual

gifts

l)iit to bring suspicion upon the Christian community. As
a matter of fact, the Christians were often slandered simply
because they were a mingled company of men and women
meeting in private. Paul's argument, indeed, is not one
that would appeal to us to-day. He argues more as a Jewish
rabbi than as a Christian apostle. But his practical con-
clusion is both sane and Christian. The only mistake has
been to try to make a permanent law for the church out of
his practical counsel to the Corinthians.

The same individualism appears in the troubles in con-
nection with the church suppers. It was apparently the
common Christian practice to meet in a fellowship supper,
just as has been noted at Jerusalem. As a part of this
supper or in connection with it, there was a memorial of
the Last Supper of the Lord with his disciples, what we
call the Lord's Supper, or the H0I3' Communion. There
were probably prayers offered and at a given time such
words were repeated as Paul gives here (i Cor 11. 24, 25),
and bread and wine were passed to all present. The Cor-
inthian church was made up mostly of the poor. It had,
however, some people of means. Some of these brought to
these suppers their rich and abundant foods and wines, and
feasted by themselves while the poor brethren looked on
hungry and envious. They were simply turning the whole
into such a pagan feast as they had long been accustomed
to. It was pure selfish individualism without thought of
the idea of fellowship or the feelings of their poor brethren.
"This is not a mere feast." Paul says ; "it is a supper with
deep and solemn meaning. It is proclaiming the Lord's
death; think of that and of your brethren. If you are
hungry, eat at home" (i Cor 11. 17-34)-

The quarrel about "spiritual gifts" was simply another
manifestation of the same spirit, joined to a certain pride
and love of display which was characteristically Greek
(i Cor 12 and 14). In Paul's teaching, as with the Jeru-
salem apostles, the gift of the Spirit to believers was the

THE LIFE OF AN EARLY CHURCH 239

great fact of the new life. Their religion was not simply
a hope of what Jesus would do upon his second appearing ;
it was a great possession reaUzed in this life. This gift
was the source of that spirit which marked so strongly the
early church, its joy amid all persecution, its peace and love
and hope, and its inextinguishable enthusiasm. The pos-
session of this Spirit manifested itself in different gifts, or
forms of Christian activity and usefulness. Prophecy and
speaking with tongues were two forms of these gifts which
attracted especial attention in the Corinthian church.
Prophecy was not prediction, but a form of earnest speech
or exhortation upon spiritual themes to which the speaker
felt himself driven as by a kind of inspiration. The speaking
with tongues, as we have seen, was a kind of rapt, ecstatic
utterance of an incoherent kind, whose meaning was under-
stood neither by speaker nor listener.

Here was a great power in the early church ; but here was The danger
also the possibility of serious danger. The enthusiasm
might easily lead to fanaticism and disorder, and the spiritual
gifts to spiritual pride. The test of true religion with
Jesus was obedient trust in God and the loving service of
men. In the new atmosphere these simple homely qualities
were in danger of being lost. These conditions actually
existed in the Corinthian church. Nothing shows Paul's
sanity and moral insight better than the way in which he
faced them.

The Corinthians, it seems, were very proud of their gifts, Pride and
especially of the speaking with tongues. To order and ^''^°^^^^
reverence they paid no attention in their meetings, nor did
they care whether their prophesying and speaking with
tongues was of any help to others. Each man thought that
it was of first importance when he felt moved by the Spirit
to make himself heard. Nor did one wait upon the other.
Two or three of the men with tongues would be speaking
their strange medley at the same time. It is easy to imagine
what visitors thought when they came in, especially when

240 NEW TESTAxMENT HISTORY

they saw women taking part in these disorders. With all
this there was naturally a good deal of pride and conten-
tion.
Paul's Here, again, Paul does not simply give commands. He

principles g^^g ^p gj-g^t Christian principles. ( i ) True Christian gifts
have their source in one Spirit, the Spirit of God. There
should, therefore, be no conflict and no question of distinc-
tion of greater and less. Rather there should be perfect
unity. The church is the body of Christ. As the body has
different members — feet, hands, and the like — so the church
needs different gifts. But all belong together and each
must seek to serve the whole, not to live for himself. We
are members one of another. (2) The purpose of the gifts
is service. The test of their value is the good they do.
This test shows the gift of tongues to be of very little value.
The man himself may enjoy it, but it does not help others,
since they do not understand; and it injures the church,
since any visitors hearing it simply say, "These people are
mad." But if these people hear a prophet (that is, a preacher
or exhorter), then the truth strikes home to their con-
science, and they declare, "God is among you indeed." (3)
The final principle Paul illustrates in the thirteenth chapter,
one of the most beautiful writings in all Christian literature.
He calls it the most excellent way, the gift that is above all
the other gifts of the Spirit, the spirit of love. For the
Corinthians the presence of the Spirit meant the strange
utterance and the striking accomplishment. For Paul it
meant moral character and life, and these he sums up in
the word which Jesus used, love. All your showy gifts, he
declares, and all the knowledge of which you are so proud,
is worth nothing without this spirit of love. And this love
is very different from the spirit you have shown. It is
patient and kindly ; it has no jealousy or pride ; it is modest
and humble, full of hope and of faith in men. And when
all your tongues and prophecies are done away, this love will
last (i Cor 13).

THE LIFE OF AN EARLY CHURCH 241

The last question that Paul takes up is that of the resur- The
rection. He had learned that some among the Corinthians ^^^'^'^®<=*'°'^
were casting doubt upon the idea of a resurrection from the
dead. To the Greek mind it seemed absurd to talk of the
body being raised again when it had wasted away in the
earth. Here was the Greek spirit at work again, logical,
critical, speculative, setting up a philosophy of its own in
the place of Christianity. The issue for Paul was not a
matter of one form of doctrine as against another. It was
Christianity itself as a historical fact that was at stake :
was there a living Christ, and had God really come to men
in him? He brings forth three considerations, (i) What
I have preached to you, the Christ who died and rose again,
is the faith of the whole church, of the first disciples and
all. "Whether then it be I or they, so we preach, and so
ye believed" (i Cor 15. i-ii). (2) We need not be
troubled about the physical body that decays or how it shall
be raised. It is not the natural body that is raised but a
spiritual body, such as it will please God to give (15. 35-
49)' (3) Without this hope we have nothing. If there
be no resurrection, then there is no living Christ. And if
there be no living Christ, then our faith is empty. But now
the faith is ours with its glorious hope. "Death is swallowed
up in victory. O death, where is thy victory? O death,
where is thy sting? Thanks be to God, who giveth us the
victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (15. 12-19, 29-32.
50-58).

Such were the dangers that confronted the early church Christianity's
from without and within: persecution of enemies, the con- Problems and

* power

stant environment of a debased life with which they still
had to associate, the pull of the old habits, the peril of
fanaticism, and the great gulf between the lofty Christian
principles and these folks taken out of the lowest classes of
paganism. Why did not Christianity fail? Because it had
forces greater than all these. Deeper than the jealousy and
strife was the new spirit of brotherhood and love that bound

242

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

The question
of Second
Corinthians

The four
letters

them together. Stronger than the lure of old evil in the
world about or in their own hearts was the purifying and
transforming power of the new Spirit. And not the least
part of the answer to the question is the leadership of such
a man as Paul, whose marvelous religious experience and
power was joined to such wisdom in practical leadership.

We have little knowledge of the later history of the Corin-
thian church. The second letter, as we have it, is very
hard to understand. The first nine chapters are very
different from the last four. The former are full of a spirit
of kindliness and confidence and suggest a perfect reconcilia-
tion between Paul and the church. The last four chapters
take us into an atmosphere of strain and strife, where Paul
is fighting for his apostleship. It seems probable that in
later years, when Paul's writings were collected, two or
three letters were joined together here. At that later time
men did not care about the history of the church, but simply
to have Paul's words.

Following out this idea, scholars have suggested that we
probably have four letters from Paul represented in our
two epistles. They would divide them as follows:

1. The first letter: 2 Cor 6. 14 to 7. i. This is con-
sidered a fragment of the first letter that Paul wrote, it
being his answer to a question from the church as to their
relation to unbelievers as indicated in i Cor 5. 9-13. Note
how these verses interrupt the order of thought; 7. 2 fol-
lows naturally upon 6. 13.

2. The second letter : our First Corinthians. As we have
seen, this was written in answer to further questions from
the church and because of information that Paul had re-
ceived from messengers.

3. The third letter: 2 Cor 10 to 13. The Corinthians
had not followed Paul's directions. Timothy had failed in
his visit. The strife of the parties had continued and Paul's
Judaizing enemies had come in and attacked his authority
^nd his apostleship. Even when Paul visited them person-

THE LIFE OF AN EARLY CHURCH 243

ally from Ephesus he had met opposition, and from one man
at least even insult. This third letter is Paul's defense and
assertion of his authority. It is an impassioned appeal, and
should be placed beside his letter to the Galatians. He
appeals to his labors, exceeding those of all others (11. 16-
33). He points to his experiences (12. 1-6). He calls to
witness the wonderful work he had done among them
(12. 11-13). He denounces his enemies in the sharpest
terms (11. 13-15), He declares that he will come a third
time to them, and that then he will not spare (13. i-io).

4. The fourth letter : 2 Cor i to 9, omitting the fragment
of six verses marked above as the first letter. It seems that
Paul had made his third visit, that his enemies gave way,
that the church punished the offender referred to in i Cor 5,
and the old relations were established. The echo of the
past controversies, and the deep feelings they had stirred,
may still be heard in these fine chapters ; but the letter itself
is full of Paul's usual spirit of joy and peace and confidence,
with expressions of deep and tender affection. It has also
some of his most beautiful expressions concerning his gospel
and his ministry: "It is God, that said. Light shall shine
out of darkness, who shined in our hearts, to give the light
of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ" (2 Cor 4. 6). "Now the Lord [that is, Jesus] is the
Spirit : and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the
glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from
glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit" (3. 17, 18).
"God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself"
(5. 19). "And he died for all, that they that live should no
longer live unto themselves, but unto him who for their
sakes died and rose again" (5. 15).

Paul's work at Corinth was not in vain. The Corinthians The later
formed one of the strongest, if not the strongest Pauline co^tj,^*
church. One of the earliest Christian writings that we have
outside the New Testament is a letter written to the Corin-

244 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

thians about fifty years after the founding of the church by
one Clemens, writing for the church at Rome. Clemens
speaks of the church in highest terms : "Who ever dwelt
even for a short time among you, and did not find your
faith to be as fruitful of virtue as it was firmly established ?
Who did not admire the sobriety and moderation of your
godliness in Christ? And who did not rejoice over your
perfect and well-grounded knowledge?" From his refer-
ences it appears that Paul's name was held in highest esteem
and his letters read in the church.

DIRECTIONS FOR READING AND STUDY
As to the position and conduct of women, read i Cor ii. 2-16;

14. 33-3^-

As to the Lord's Supper and the church fellowship meals, read
I Cor II. 17-34.

As to spiritual gifts and the disorders in the church services,
read i Cor 12, 13, and 14.

As to the resurrection, read i Cor 15.

Read the four chapter letter, 2 Cor 10 to 13; select from these
chapters all that concerns Paul's life, experience, and person, and
write this out in an ordered statement.

Read through the last letter, 2 Cor i to 9 ; select five or six verses
aside from those quoted in this chapter, which reflect Paul's con-
ception of his ministry and of the gospel.

CHAPTER XXXVI

PAUL AS PASTOR AND CHURCH ORGANIZER

Paul was no mere wandering preacher moving from place The
to place, making a few converts and then passing on. Rather ^^^°^ ^^'^

^ ° . . . administrator

he was a great religious statesman ; his aim was to plant
Christianity throughout the empire. To this end he moves
from province to province: Syria, Cilicia, Galatia, Mace-
donia, Achaia, Asia. For this reason he enters upon the
great cities ; we can mark the steps of his work by their
names : Damascus, Tarsus, Antioch, Corinth, Ephesus,
Rome. For this reason too we find Paul keeping his churches
under most careful supervision. Paul is a great pastor and
administrator. Acts shows us the preacher ; the letters
reveal the pastor. They give us a most lifelike picture of
Paul's watchful care of his churches and of the constant
thought and labor which this involved. Letters are passing
back and forth ; messengers are being received ; one and
another of Paul's helpers are sent on special missions ; or
Paul himself is planning to revisit the old fields. A single
church like that at Corinth received at least four letters
and three visits from Paul himself, besides sending letters
and messengers again and again and being visited by Titus
and Timothy.

There is no finer aspect to Paul's character than his The pastoral
pastoral spirit. Here, as so often, we must stop and marvel ^"'"^
at the many-sidedness of the man. This great statesman
founding an empire, this missionary of restless zeal, this
profound thinker whose ideas have shaped the Christian
thought of centuries, was at the same time the thoughtful
pastor and friend, bearing upon his heart the care of all
the little communities that he had established. His glowing
words on love are no mere rhetoric (i Cor 13). This love

245

246 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

is the mainspring of his own life. The moving catalog of
his hardships and sufferings he ends with these words :
"Besides those things that are without, there is that which
presseth upon me daily, anxiety for all the churches. Who
is weak, and I am not weak? who is caused to stumble, and
I burn not?" (2 Cor 11. 28, 29). The same spirit appears
in another passage: "For though I was free from all men,
I brought myself under bondage to all, that I might gain
the more. And to the Jews I became a Jew, that I might
gain the Jews; to them that are without law, as without
law, . . . that I might gain them that are without law.
I am become all things to all men, that I may by all means
save some" (i Cor 9. 19-22). Nothing reveals this spirit
better, or shows the real Paul more clearly, than the words
in which he bares his heart to the Thessalonians (i Thess
2. 5-12).
Tact and Next to the spirit of love, we must admire Paul's tact

kindliness ^j^^j kindliness in his relation to his churches. Paul under-
stood "the gentle art of praising." He knows how effective
praise is in the training of men. All his letters begin with
words of generous recognition. "I thank my God upon all
my remembrance of you," he writes the Philippians, "always
in every supplication of mine on behalf of you all making
my supplication with joy, for your fellowship in furtherance
of the gospel from the first day until now" (Phil i. 3-5).
Even with the Corinthians, despite all he has to correct, he
finds ground for such appreciation : "I thank God always
concerning 3^ou, for the grace of God which was given you
in Christ Jesus ; that in everything ye were enriched in him,
in all utterance and all knowledge ; so that ye come behind in
no gift" (i Cor i. 4-7). The same tact and skill is shown
in the way in which he handles the matter of the collection
for the poor at Jerusalem (2 Cor 8 and 9). He holds up
the Macedonian churches to stir up emulation. He reminds
the Corinthians that they had really been the leaders in
this and praises their progress in other graces. He appeals

PAUL AS PASTOR 247

to the example of Jesus, to their love for him, to the praise
he has given them before others. But nowhere does he
rebuke them for their slowness after their first start, or
issue a blunt command.

To this tact and kindliness Paul adds courage and in- courage
sight. He never draws back from any needed rebuke, *°** "isight
whether the quarrelsomeness of his dear Philippian friends
(Phil 4. I, 2) or the disorders and immorality of the Corin-
thians. And yet he is too wise to indulge in mere rebuke.
Like Jesus, he penetrates to the spirit that is back of the
fault and then sets up the principle of the higher life. He
confronts the quarrelsome Philippians with his great appeal:
"Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus"
(Phil 2. 5-1 1 ). Before the immoral Corinthians he holds
up the great spiritual principle : "Your body is a temple of
the Holy Spirit which is in you, and ye are not your own"
(i Cor 6. 19, 20).

There is one other great service which Paul rendered The church
besides this personal oversight, and that was the organiza- "^^amzer
tion of his churches. Christianity was more than a new
faith implanted in the hearts of so many men and women.
It was a new fellowship, a society which bound its members
together with the closest ties. And these people were joined
not simply locally in scattered communities ; they were one
in a growing brotherhood that stretched throughout the
empire, a brotherhood of such strength that it stood firm
when the storms of later years swept the empire itself from
its foundations. There are three questions to be asked
concerning this work of Paul. How were the local Chris-
tian communities organized by him? How were these
scattered communities related to each other? And what
was the relation of the Pauline churches to the other Chris-
tian communities, especially the churches under the Jeru-
salem apostles?

What strikes us first in reading Paul's letters is that so Little
little is said about organization or officers. No doubt this organization

248

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Many gifts,
one Spirit

Overseers

is partly due to the fact that Paul felt that the present age
was to last but a short time. The more important reason,
however, lay in Paul's thought of the church. The church
for him was not a matter of officials and organization ; it
was a fellowship in the Spirit. It was the Spirit that was
the life of the church and that gave it guidance.

This Spirit belonged to all Christians as such. There was
no higher or lower among them, for one Spirit filled them
all. This same Spirit, however, showed itself in different
manner with different people, fitting them for different
forms of service. "Now there are diversities of gifts, but
the same Spirit. And there are diversities of ministrations,
and the same Lord. ... To one is given through the Spirit
the word of wisdom ; and to another the word of knowledge,
according to the same Spirit ; to another faith, in the same
Spirit ; and to another gifts of healings, in the one Spirit ;
and to another workings of miracles ; and to another
prophecy ; and to another discernings of spirits ; to another
divers kinds of tongues ; and to another the interpretations
of tongues. God hath set some in the church, first apostles,
secondly prophets, thirdly teachers, then miracles, then gifts
of healings, helps, governments, divers kinds of tongues"
(i Cor 12. 4-10, 28).

In this long list we have the various kinds of activities
represented in the Corinthian church. The apostles stand
first, men specially commissioned to preach the gospel
throughout the whole church. The prophets are the inspired
preachers. The teachers are those who have the task of
instruction, probably explaining the Old Testament in its
Christian meaning and applying Christian truths to daily
conduct. The speaking with tongues has already been con-
sidered. In the midst of this list occurs the word "govern-
ments" (i Cor 12. 28). It probably refers to those who
directed the temporal affairs of the little Christian com-
munity. Even in the simplest community, some one was
needed to provide the place of meeting, to arrange for the

PAUL AS PASTOR 249

care of visiting apostles or prophets or other brethren, to
collect and distribute the money for the poor, and attend to
similar duties. Stephanas was such a man, of whom Paul
writes, "I beseech you, brethren (ye know the house of
Stephanas, that it is the first fruits of Achaia, and that they
have set themselves to minister unto the saints), that ye
also be in subjection unto such, and to every one that
helpeth in the work and laboreth" (i Cor 16. 15, 16). In
Cenchrese it was a woman, Phoebe, who performed this
service (Rom 16. i, 2). In a larger community there would
be several such. These are meant by the ''overseers" men-
tioned in Phil I. I, translated "bishops" in our version.
There is little doubt that in Paul's usage of the terms these
are the same as the presbyters, or elders. This work would
naturally fall to people of means and liberal spirit, such as
those in whose houses the little groups of disciples gathered,
or to the older disciples.

If we consider all these passages, certain interesting facts Their place
stand out. (i) These officers are for Paul not so much «°d meaning
people of authority as people who serve. It is the service,
not the authorit}', that Paul emphasizes with Stephanas.
That is, Paul's test here as with every gift is, "To each one
is given the manifestation of the Spirit to profit withal."
It is the service of the church, and not authority over the
church, that Paul is concerned with. He is expressing here
simply the principle of Jesus: "If any man would be first,
he shall be last of all, and servant of all" (Mark 9. 35).
(2) These offices, like all others, are gifts of the Spirit.
God helps one man to prophesy, he helps another to serve
the church in these practical aft'airs. (3) These men are not
placed above others in the church. In direct contrast with
the later thought of the church, these overseers, or bishops,
seem to have been placed pretty well down in the list. In
Corinth, at least, the church seems to have thought more
of the gifts of prophecy and of tongues. Paul finds it
necessary here and elsewhere to exhort the church to appro-

250

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Increasing
importance

Early
democracy

ciation of the service of these men and to a proper respect
for them. It was natural that the people should think more
of the spiritual gifts than of these everyday affairs with
which the overseers, or bishops, concerned themselves.

As the church grew the work of these men increased in
importance. The supervision of the poor funds, the pro-
vision for place of meeting, for the common meals, and
other church matters added to their influence. The other
gifts were matters of individual endowment and would
change ; these men formed a permanent body. Other duties
would naturally be added, such as the supervision of the
worship and matters of church discipline. Meanwhile, as
the church at Corinth shows, the gifts of prophecy and of
tongues might easily lead to excesses and even fraud. After
Paul's day conflict arose between the men who appealed to
their inspiration by the Spirit and the regular officials, and
the church decided for the officials.

Paul's day was still one of freedom and spontaneity. The
life of the local church was democratic. The picture of the
worship in the Corinthian church shows that any one might
take part as he felt moved by the Spirit. More significant
is the fact that when matters are to be decided Paul calls
upon the church as a whole. It is to the congregation as a
whole that he addresses his letters and arguments and
appeals. Nowhere does he ask any officer or body of offi-
cials to take any action or pass any decision. Furthermore,
Paul himself does not decide for the church. It is true, he
is an apostle and these are his churches, the children whom
he has begotten in toil and pain. Pie argues and appeals,
he praises and censures, he sometimes makes demands ;
but he never comes forward simply with command and the
assertion of authority. They are a church of God and the
Spirit of God is in them. When Paul has a word of Jesus
to quote, then that is final (i Cor 7. 10). He distinguishes
carefully between this and his own authority ( i Cor 7. 12.
25, 40). As for the authority of any central church council

PAUL AS PASTOR

251

or other body, that is nowhere so much as suggested.
Neither the church at Jerusalem nor the twelve apostles have
any right of rule in Paul's churches.

What, then, was the relation between the scattered com-
munities? Were they simply so many individual congrega-
tions? On the contrary, no man of his generation seems to
have had so clear an idea of the unity of the church or laid
such stress upon it as Paul. It is the doctrine of the Spirit
again which gives the answer. The churches are one in a
real sense, not because of officers placed over them or a
central authority which unites them, but because they have
one spirit which is their life and which unites them in the
one body of Christ.

This spirit of unity Paul seeks to further in every possible
manner. He knows no Christian life that is not a life in
the Christian fellowship. He seeks to promote that fellow-
ship in every possible way, and first of all within the single
Christian community. His letters abound in exhortations
to kindliness and patience and mutual helpfulness and serv-
ice, and no man has ever so glorified the spirit of love and
fraternal loyalty. He seeks to promote the same spirit
among the churches, that they may all be united in one
fellowship. His collection for the Jerusalem church is the
great evidence of this desire. The space which this occupies
in his letters shows how much pains he gave himself in
this. And no opposition of the Judaizing brethren from
Jerusalem ever made him swerve from this self-assumed
task.

The constant travel of Christians was the most important
practical means of securing this unity among the scattered
brotherhoods. First among these were the twelve and the
other apostles. Two of these he found in Ephesus (Rom
16. 7). We know little of the work of the twelve, but it
seems that others besides Peter traveled about the church
(i Cor 9. 5). The prophets too went from church to church.
But more important still were the travels of disciples of

The Spirit
and church
unity

Paul's
interest
in unity

Practical
unity, how
secured,
its value

252 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

the rank and file. Such were Priscilla and Aquila, whose
names we find connected in turn with Pontus, Rome. Cor-
inth, and Ephesus. One of their moves was due to perse-
cution suffered as Jews ; the others were presumably for
reasons of business. Such traveling and visiting kept alive
the sense of brotherhood and of a vital unity. The Chris-
tians knew what was happening to their brethren all through
the empire. Paul tells the Thessalonians that their faith
is known not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every
place. He informs the Corinthians that the Macedonians
know of their first collections for Jerusalem. To the Romans
he writes that their "faith is proclaimed throughout the
whole world" (Rom i. 8). By such mutual acquaintance
and interest the bond of brotherhood became very definite
and very strong. Nothing added more to the power and
attractiveness of the new religion than this spirit of fra-
ternity, both in the local church and throughout the empire.
The new disciple found himself at once received into a
community that was more of a family than a mere organiza-
tion. On the first day of the week they met for worship in
which each might have a part. During the week they
sat down at common meals. When one disciple was in
need, the love, the sympathy, and the material help of the
whole brotherhood were behind him. And he soon realized
that the little fellowship of his own city was part of a greater
fellowship that embraced the Roman realm. Rome itself
began at last to take notice, not so much of Christianity's
creed, as of the power of this great fraternity.

DIRECTIONS FOR READING AND STUDY

Note Paul's qualities as a pastor as revealed in i Thess 2. 5-12.

Select two good illustrations of Paul's praise of his churches.
In what letter does Paul omit this praise from the introduction?

Read 2 Cor 8 and g and make a list of the different motives to
which Paul here appeals.

Read i Cor 12. 4-10, 28; Eph 4. 11, 12; Phil i. i; Acts I4- 23.

Make a list of the gifts, or offices, mentioned in these passages.

PAUL AS PASTOR 253

Which of these are represented in the accounts of the Jerusalem
church?

What significance, if any, is there in the fact that no two of
these lists agree? Does it suggest the absence of fixed forms of
church life and organization?

CHAPTER XXXVII

PAUL THE LETTER-WRITER

Importance of
the letters

AUdue
to special
occasions

A STUDY of the New Testament shows that about one
fourth of its contents are assigned to the apostle Paul. The
influence of these writings has been in even greater pro-
portion. The writings of no other Christian man can be
set beside those of Paul in this regard. The great leaders
of Christian thought, like Augustine and Calvin, have always
looked to him. In the great religious movements within
the church, like those led by Luther and Wesley, it is
Paul's message that has been revived. There is not a city
where Paul founded Christianity that could be called a great
Christian center to-day; but these letters, directed to these
churches, have been a ferment for Christian thought and a
guide for Christian life through all these years ; nor do they
show signs of diminishing power to-day. If the test of
inspiration be the power to inspire men, then these writings
must be placed among the first of all writings wrought by
the Spirit of God.

Probably no one dreamed less of such a future for these
writings than Paul himself. A distant posterity was farthest
from his mind when he wrote. Certainly he had no thought
that his letters would ever be included in a new collection
of sacred writings to be placed side by side with the Sacred
Scriptures of his people. He never thought of his words
as being on the same plane with the Old Testament or the
words of Jesus. Neither did Paul ever think of his letters
as words of literature or treatises on theology. Paul's writ-
ings all had a special occasion for their composition in some
practical need. They were simply a part of his missionary
work. Paul was not theologian and not author ; he was

254

letters lived

PAUL THE LETTER-WRITER 255

just apostle and missionary. These letters are all connected
with a definite situation. Now he writes to thank the
Philippians for their gifts, or to send his love to the Thessa-
lonians and encourage them in their persecutions. Now it
is to answer questions that the Corinthians have sent him,
or to call the Galatians back from their errors. Usually, he
has more than one purpose. But always there is a definite
end, and the letters move on toward this and in earnest and
practical fashion.

If we ask why these letters have lived, they themselves Why the
will give us the answer. It is not due to any claim that
Paul made for them or any theory of inspiration that his
churches held about them. It is due to what the letters are
in themselves. They are the noblest expression of that
Spirit of God which Paul and his disciples believed was
working in their midst. It is true that Paul is treating
matters that are local and questions that were often tem-
porary. We are not troubled to-day about meats offered
to idols, nor are we divided about the question of keeping
the Jewish law. But these passing questions were all
considered by Paul in the light of great Christian principles.
We do not need Paul's discussion as to whether a Christian
may eat such meats, but we need his great principle still :
Knowledge puffeth up, but love buildeth up. The Jewish
law is behind us, but we have not yet caught up with Paul's
great truth, that life is a spirit lived out in freedom and not
a matter of rule and routine. And as in matters of conduct,
so in matters of faith : the varying needs of each one of
these little brotherhoods is only another occasion for Paul
to set forth in new form the eternal truths of his gospel.
Paul himself was not unconscious of what he was offering.
He sees the larger company behind those whom he is im-
mediately addressing. He directs this letter not to one
church, but to a whole province (2 Cor i. i). He arranges
to have his letters passed on from church to church, or
exchanged among them (Col 4. 16).

256

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

How

written

The usual
arrangement

Paul's letters were dictated (Rom 16. 22; Gal 6. 11 ; i Cor
16. 21). This may have been due to trouble with his eyes, or
to the fact that his hands roughened with work were not
adapted to the pen, or simply that he let another write for
him while he plied his tent-maker's needle. The habit, in
any case, explains some qualities in Paul's style. They have
a certain lack of literary finish, but there are a directness
and vigor and vividness that more than compensate for this.
We hear Paul speaking as we read. His arguments are
often dramatic. He sets his opponents before him and
questions them. He breaks out in impassioned utterance.
Sometimes he begins sentences without completing them,
as though he had been interrupted in his dictation. To be
fully appreciated, these letters should be read aloud, or
recited.

While Paul follows no rule, most of his letters fall natur-
ally into three parts, aside from the salutation, (i) The
introductions are used by Paul to establish relations with
his readers. They are models of Christian courtesy and tact
and skill. Here is the letter to the Romans. Paul is paving
the way for a later visit. He begins with an appreciation
of their faith, which "is proclaimed throughout the whole
world." He tells them how he has long since wished to see
them, and has been prevented. He wants to preach his
gospel to them also, to "impart some spiritual gift." And
then, lest he might seem to assume too much, he hastens to
make the service mutual : he is to comfort them and they
are to comfort him (Rom i. 8-15). In these modest, friendly,
appreciative words Paul strikes just the right note for the
letter to a church upon which he had no claim as founder.
(2) The doctrinal part comes second. It is never abstract
or general, but always a discussion of Christian truth in
relation to the particular needs of a given church. (3) The
practical exhortations come last. They form the finest body
of ethical teachings and practical maxims to be found in
Christian literature. Thev are Paul's answer to the im-

PAUL THE LETTER-WRITER 257

portant questions as to the meaning of the new faith for
the relations of daily hfe.

Though the letters almost all have these three elements Differences in
of the personal, the doctrinal, and the practical, yet Paul
follows no fixed rule in writing. Each letter, indeed, stands
by itself and reveals a new aspect of this great man. Some
are written to churches which he does not personally know
and so are less personal and more objective, as well as more
doctrinal: such are Romans, Colossians, and Ephesians,
Some are mainly practical and ethical, like First Corinthians.
Two are letters of controversy and self-defense — Galatians
and what we have called Third Corinthians, that is, 2 Cor
10 to 13. These are full of passionate appeal, of argument
and denunciation. And, finally, there are the more intimate
personal letters: First Thessalonians, written to the little
company of Christians which he had been compelled to
leave so suddenly but a few months before ; Philippians,
the letter of friendship to his most loyal church ; and Phile-
mon, the only letter preserved which Paul wrote to a
private individual. The last two may be taken for closer
study as examples of Paul's art as a letter-writer.

Paul's letter to the Philippians is the great friendship The friend-
letter of the New Testament. With no church did Paul ^^'p^^""
have so close a relation. Here he had accepted private
entertainment from Lydia contrary to his rule. And they
formed an exception also in the gifts which they sent him
again and again. He had revisited them twice and no doubt
had written them as well, but these earlier letters are lost.
At the time of this letter Paul had reached Rome as a
prisoner. The Philippian friends had learned of his situa-
tion and had sent one of their number, Epaphroditus, to
bring him money and to help care for him. Epaphroditus
had fallen seriously ill at Rome. He was recovered now,
but was homesick, and Paul prepares to send him back.
He plans also to send Timothy to them a little later, as soon
as he knows how his trial is coming out. Meanwhile he

258

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Outline of
Philippians
Personal

Exhortation

A message

Warnings

writes this letter, Paul's love letter some German scholars
have called it. He tells them of his affection, of his need,
of his appreciation. And yet he is still the faithful mis-
sionary and pastor, who tells them frankly of their needs
at the same time. We may outline the epistle as follows :

1. Introduction and personal items: In my every
prayer I thank God for you, remembering your help. May
God make your love abound more and more and add to it
wisdom. My imprisonment has been really an opportunity.
It has given me the chance to preach to all the soldiers of
the pretorian guard and it has encouraged others. I do
not know what the end of my trial will be, whether life or
death. I do not even know which I wish for myself. I
should like to go and be with Christ, but I am ready to stay
here and serve (i. 1-26).

2. An exhortation : Live worthily of the gospel of Christ,
undisturbed by persecutions. And complete my joy by
giving up all divisions and jealousies and pride. Instead
of such selfish quarrelings, let each show in his life the
spirit that Jesus showed. He left his high estate and became
a servant of men, though that service led him even to death.
That is why God has exalted him and why every knee is to
bow before him. Work out your salvation with fear and
trembUng. Live the pure life despite the sin that is about
you (i. 27 to 2. 18).

3. A message: I expect to send Timothy to you in a
little while. I am hoping to come to you myself before long.
It seemed necessary to send back Epaphroditus now. Honor
him for his work (2. 19-30).

4. Some warnings : Beware of those Judaizers who teach
that you must be circumcised and keep the law. If the law
were worth anything, I should have been saved. No one
can boast purer Hebrew blood or stricter obedience than I.
But when I found Christ, these things were mere refuse to
me. Now I have only one purpose— to gain the life that
is in him. Like the runner I have only one goal ; I press on

PAUL THE LETTER-WRITER

259

Final
exhortations

Letter to
Philemon

to lay hold of that for which Jesus once laid hold of me.
Beware also of those who say we are delivered from all
law, whose only law is self-indulgence. We are citizens of
heaven; we must not follow things of earth (3. 1-21).

5. Further exhortations: Stand fast. Let Euodia and
Syntyche agree. Live in joy and in trust, and God's peace
shall keep you. Whatever is good, note and follow; and
what I have stood for, that do (4. 1-9).

6. Thanksgiving: I rejoice in your gift to me; you have a message"
not had the chance for some time to send to me. For myself

I do not complain; I can do all things in God's strength.
You are the only church that has ever thus served me. And
all your needs shall be supplied from God's riches as they
are in Christ (4. 10-23).

The letter to Philemon stands alone in the New Testament.
It shows the value placed upon Paul's words from the first
that such a letter should have been preserved, for it is purely
personal and has no discussion of doctrine or declarations
as to moral principles. It is probably from the same period
as Philippians. Paul is a prisoner at Rome. As that letter
shows us, Paul was free to preach not only to the soldiers
of his guard but to any who might visit his rooms. Men
called the Rome of that day the sewer into which all the
empire emptied its filth. Then, as now, the big city was a
better hiding place for the runaway than was the desert.
Among Paul's hearers one day was a runaway slave, such
a man as might loiter idly on the edge of a Salvation Army
street meeting in our time. Some word of Paul's gospel
reached this man. He became a disciple. Very naturally,
he told his story and confessed his fault. Then it appeared
that this slave belonged to an old friend of Paul, one, indeed,
who had been converted by the apostle, a certain Philemon
who lived in Colossge, and who was probably won by Paul
while the latter was at Ephesus. Philemon was well to do.
He not only had servants but was able to entertain. Paul
writes asking him to have lodgings ready for him, for he

A runaway
slave

26o

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

A unique
letter

The appeal
for a slave

was evidently expecting to be released and to travel to
Alacedonia and Asia. Philemon was not only a Christian
but had been an active helper of Paul. Archippus, to whom
Paul twice refers, may have been his son (Col 4. 17).
Apphia was probably his wife. The letter suggests a Chris-
tian home of the best type.

Under the circumstances Paul writes this brief epistle.
This charming letter, playful yet serious, appealing as a
friend when he might have demanded as an apostle, honor-
ing the friendship by his confident request, pathetically
referring to himself as "being such a one as Paul the aged,
and now a prisoner also of Christ Jesus," the next moment
punning upon the name of the slave — this letter is not out-
ranked by any letter of friendship in literature, and at the
same time thro\\s still further light upon this many-sided
man.

'T thank my God always for you," Paul writes, "remem-
bering your faith and your service to the church. I might
come with a command ; instead I am bringing a request
for friendship's sake on behalf of this convert of mine, your
slave Useful (that is, Onesimus). So far, indeed, he has
been Useless to you ; now, however, he is useful to both
you and me. I should have liked to keep him, but I wanted
your goodness to be free and not of compulsion. And this
may be why he left you as a slave — that he might return
as a brother. If you count me a partner, receive him as you
would myself. If you have lost anything by him, charge
that to my account. I know you will do even more than I
ask. Prepare a lodging for me, for I hope to come to you
soon."

DIRECTIONS FOR READING AND STUDY

Read and compare the introductions to First Corinthians, Colos-
sians, and First Thessalonians. What is common to them? Why-
should that of First Thessalonians be longer?

Read carefully Philippians and note its intimate and personal
character. Make a list of the passages in which Paul sets forth

PAUL THE LETTER-WRITER 261

his personal faith and purpose. Write an account of Paul's rela-
tions with the Philippians on the basis of Acts 16. 11-40; 2 Cor
II. 8, 9; and Philippians. Select eight or ten passages from Philip-
pians which reveal his personal regard for this church.

Read Philemon. Does Paul expect Philemon to set Onesimus
free? What bearing has the Christian religion had upon the
problem of slavery?

CHAPTER XXXVIII
PAUL THE PRISONER

Last visit to
Macedonia
and Corinth

The close The scvcn great years of Paul's work were drawing to a

close. Long before this Paul had fixed his eye upon Rome
and the West. It was about this time that he wrote to Rome
and told them of his plans : He had fully preached the gos-
pel from Jerusalem and round about even to Illyricum.
Now he was planning for Rome and Spain. To Rome,
indeed, Paul was to come, but only as a prisoner,

Luke tells us that Paul left Ephesus after the tumult
which Demetrius had stirred up. His missionary work in
these regions was finished, but there were two reasons why
he could not go at once to Rome. In the first place, he
wished to revisit the churches in Macedonia and Greece.
It was about this time that affairs at Corinth had reached
a crisis. Timothy's visit had been followed by Paul's. Paul
had written again (2 Cor 10 to 13). He had sent Titus
and was anxiously awaiting word from him. Now he pre-
pares to go to Corinth himself by way of Macedonia.
Troas is his first stop, but he has not heard from Titus
and so goes on to Macedonia to meet him. There he hears
good news at last and writes his last letter to the Corin-
thians (2 Cor I to 9). The letter did not reach Corinth
very much before Paul.

The collection Paul's sccond reason for delay was the collection that
he was making for the Jerusalem church. This was one
reason for his visit to the Macedonian churches. With all
his insistence upon his independent authority as an apostle
and the truth of his gospel, Paul never once surrendered
his ideal of the church as one body of Christ and one fel-
lowship. Under his direction the churches had been gath-
ering these offerings for some time. Now the money was

262

PAUL THE PRISONER 263

all to be brought together and taken to Jerusalem. The
big offering was to be Paul's proof of loyalty, and Paul
looked forward to it as the means that should cement the
Gentile churches and the Jewish churches together. And
yet Paul was not wholly sure of the issue. He knew the
element in Judsea that had sought almost everywhere to
block his work, that had attacked him by every possible
means both in his gospel and in his person. These men
would oppose him when he returned ; how would the church
as a whole stand? He knew too that he would be in dan-
ger from the Jews. How deeply concerned he was is seen
from his letter to the Romans written at this time: "I be-
seech you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the
love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your
prayers to God for me ; that I may be delivered from them
that are disobedient in Judsea, and that my ministration
which I have for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints"
(Rom 15. 30, 31).

Paul had intended to sail directly from Corinth to Syria.
A plot laid against him by the Jews compelled him to leave
earlier than he intended. He had apparently fixed the
date when he wished to arrive in Jerusalem, and now he
uses the extra time at his disposal and returns through
Macedonia. At Troas he is joined by those who are to
accompany him to Jerusalem, and the group that starts
for Jerusalem numbers at least nine. Luke was probably
with Paul, and in addition there were seven representatives
of the churches whose offerings were being taken. From
Macedonia there came Sopater of the Berean church, and
Aristarchus and Secundus of Thessalonica. Gains of Derbe
and Timothy of Lystra represented Galatia, while from
Ephesus there came Tychicus and Trophimus (Acts 20. 4).
These men were to be the living testimony to Paul's work
which he could show to the Judaean Christians. But Paul's
chief desire for their presence was that he might i)revent
all possible criticism as if he were profiting by these col-

264

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Warnings
of danger

Meetings
by the way

lections. These men were themselves to bear the funds.
They were witnesses to Paul's disinterestedness.

As the journey to Jerusalem proceeded, Paul received
repeated warnings of the danger to which he was exposing
himself. Everywhere that Paul had labored his attitude
against the law was known by the Jews. It was not a case
of Judaizing Christians, but of the hostility of the Jews
themselves. Paul had asserted that Jesus was the end
of the law to those that believed. His mission had every-
where been in competition with the Jews. They had seen
him lead away their best adherents and sympathizers among
the Gentiles, the people who had given the synagogue stand-
ing and support. They were his bitter enemies. Restrained
elsewhere by Roman authority, would they not here in
Judaea wreak their vengeance upon him? Some of these
men would be at Jerusalem, for the city always held large
numbers of Jews of the dispersion returning for a longer
or shorter stay. In any case, his work had long since been
reported. Characteristic was the warning which Paul re-
ceived when the party landed at Csesarea. Here a Christian
prophet from Judsea took Paul's girdle and bound the hands
and feet of the apostle. It was his symbolic way of declar-
ing the captivity that awaited Paul.

The story of this journey as given by Luke shows also
that Paul's deep affection for his churches was returned
by them. We read of the meeting at Troas, from which
place the company started, and how Paul spoke till mid-
night and then till morning. It was their last time to-
gether and they found it hard to part. At Miletus he meets
the Ephesian elders. "And they all wept sore, and fell
on Paul's neck and kissed him." At Caesarea they pleaded
with Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. His answer shows
the mutual affection : "What do ye, weeping and breaking
my heart?" But all this could not move Paul from his
purpose : "I am ready not to be bound only, but also to
die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus."

PAUL THE PREACHER

265

From Csesarea Paul went up to Jerusalem, his little with the

company being increased by some members of the Cesa-
rean church and by one Mnason, a native of Cyprus and
an early convert, who was to be Paul's host in the city.
To the assembled church Paul reported his work. He
had not seen them for three years. He told them of the
establishment of the work in Ephesus, of its spread through-
out Asia, and of its continued development in Macedonia
and Achaia. Then his associates handed over their gifts.
It must have been a large offering. It had been two years
in the gathering. Much of it had come out of the poverty
of its donors. The apostle, who would not take a penny
for himself, had given constant care and effort to this.
Would the Jerusalem church accept it in like spirit ? Would
the gift with his story of the work make them feel that
his churches were really one with them? And would they
overlook their scruples on the one hand and overrule the
little group that had been making him so much trouble by
their attack?

Paul was doomed to a measure of disappointment. They
received him kindly and they praised God for the progress
of the gospel, but they could not forget their concern for
the law. James, the brother of Jesus, seems now to have
become the recognized head of the church. No one else
is mentioned beside him. It is a striking fact that the
two leaders who now faced each other, James and Paul,
were neither of them of the twelve. James stood for rever-
ence for the law. The church had become more conserva-
tive. The Jewish leaders now saw no cause for persecution.
Many thousands of the Jews had joined the new faith,
which did not mean to them any separation from the old.
And so the leaders made a request of Paul. What troubled
them was not the reception of the Gentiles, nor even that
Paul had not required the law of these. "The report is
around," they said, "that you tell the Jews that are con-
verted that they do not need to keep the law. We have

Jerusalem
church

21^

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

The tumult
in the temple

Addresses to
people and
Sanhedrin

something to propose that will show that you keep the
law as a faithful Jew. Here are four poor men who have
just completed their term of the Nazirite vow. Do you
now join them, shaving your head and paying for their
offerings." Paul has been criticised for entering upon this
plan. He had certainly not been walking "orderly, keep-
ing the law." And yet this accommodation to the prejudices
or weakness of others was in line with his practice all
these years; he had been a Jew to the Jews, and to those
without the law as without law.

It was this decision, however, that brought on the crisis.
Following the old law in this case (Num 6. 13-20), Paul had
gone into the temple. Certain Jews, who had known him
in Ephesus, had seen him a few days before in company
with Trophimus of Ephesus, a Gentile and one of those who
had come with the offering. Evidently, they had recog-
nized Trophimus also. Now, seeing Paul in the temple,
they concluded at once that he had taken Trophimus also
into the sacred place. It was an offense punishable by
death, and they would have inflicted the penalty at the
time had not the Roman guards rescued him. It was not
simply hatred of Paul that was involved here. Most of
the mob probably knew no more than that some one was
charged with desecrating the holy place. But that was
enough. The sanctity of the temple was more to them
than life, and the experience of the last years with the
Romans had kept their fear of desecration alive and their
passions aflame. The captain himself could make nothing
of the tumult. Only one man was cool ; that was Paul.
It was not the first time he had faced an angry mob, or
even death. He was not thinking of safety now. He asked
of the Roman captain permission to speak, and before the
angry mob he undertook a defense of his life and his
faith.

It speaks eloquently of the courage and commanding
power of the man that he could win a hearing at such a

PAUL THE PRISONER 267

moment, but one need not wonder that his words did not
help his case with the excited crowd, or that they did not
listen long-. They heard him while he told of his conver-
sion. It was not the reference to Jesus as the Messiah that
brought the speech to an abrupt end, but the mention of
the Gentiles. At that all the excitement broke loose again.
The captain, seeing that no light was to be gotten here,
carried off his prisoner and prepared to scourge him. It
was the brutal method used in some cases to secure a con-
fession. With a Roman citizen, however, it was never
permitted, and Paul's declaration of his citizenship stopped
the proceeding. The captain made a final attempt to get
light upon the matter the next day by calling a meeting
of the Sanhedrin and setting Paul before it. This too ended
in a tumult. They were in no mood to give such a man
a hearing, and Paul soon saw this. Luke reports that he
divided the enemy by his declaration that the trouble arose
because he believed in the resurrection, thus setting the
Pharisees of the council against the Sadducees ; the ground
for such a declaration would be his preaching of the resur-
rection of Christ,

In this way Paul's imprisonment began. It was per- in prison
haps the most trying period of his life. Dangers Paul
did not fear, nor even the threat of death. He had long
since given himself up to his Master for life or death.
It was from prison that he wrote, "For me to live is
Christ, and to die is gain." But this was neither life nor
death. Beyond the sea were his churches still needing
his guidance. To the west were fields that he had planned
to reach. But he must remain for five years a prisoner,
held by the bitterness of his foes on the one hand, on the
other by the weakness, selfishness, or indifference of his
judges.

A plot against Paul's life, which his nephew brought to Before Feiis
the captain, caused his immediate transference out of Jew-
ish territory to the safer confines of Csesai'ea. the official

268

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Before Festus

Speeches
before Felix
and Agrippa

residence of the procurator. Thus Paul retraced his jour-
ney of a few days before. The procurator at this time
was Antonius Felix, a man who had once been a slave.
Cruel and incompetent, the historian Tacitus declares that
he kept the temper of a slave while wielding kingly power.
Here Paul's enemies from Jerusalem, led by the high priest
Ananias, brought their charges against him, having engaged
as advocate one TertuUus, apparently a Roman. They
charged him with stirring up insurrection, with profaning
the temple, and with being a ringleader of the new sect of
the Nazarenes. Paul admits the last, though denying any
wrong in it. The two first he challenges them to prove.
Felix simply postponed the case. He held Paul, however,
as a prisoner with a double motive, Luke says — desiring to
placate the Jews, with whom he had had trouble enough,
and hoping for money from Paul. Apparently, he was not
unkindly disposed toward Paul. The latter had consid-
erable liberty, his friends were permitted access to him,
and Felix himself called Paul to him more than once.

After two years Felix was succeeded by Festus. The
first visit which the latter made in his province was to
Jerusalem. This was his chief city and the chief problem
of his administration. To the demand of the Jews that
Paul should be sent to Jerusalem for trial, Festus replied
that he would try him in Csesarea. So there was another
trial at Csesarea which established as little against Paul as
the first. Instead, however, of setting Paul free, Festus
now proposed to agree to the request of the Jews and take
the case to Jerusalem. And so at length Paul made use of
his privilege as a Roman citizen and demanded that he
be tried at the imperial court at Rome.

Luke tells us of two other speeches that Paul made dur-
ing this time. The first was before Felix and his wife
Drusilla, the other was after the coming of Festus on the
occasion of a visit from Agrippa and his sister Bernice.
Drusilla, Agrippa, and Bernice were children of Agrippa I

PAUL THE PRISONER 269

and great-grandchildren of Herod the Great, the last two
especially of notorious immorality. It was significant of
Paul that he should be willing to speak to them, that he
should reason of "righteousness, and self-control, and judg-
ment to come," and that his defense before Agrippa should
become a sermon on repentance and faith in Christ. Paul
could forget his own safety and everything else in the one
passion of his life — the preaching of his gospel.

The journey to Rome was destined to prove a long one. The voyage
We have a vivid and detailed account of it, which gives *° ^°™®
us a better picture of sea travel in that day than any
other writing that has come down to us. We owe this
to the fact that Luke was Paul's companion. Aristarchus
of Thessalonica was also with him. There were a number
of other prisoners, which presupposes a good company of
soldiers by way of guard. The centurion in charge was
named Julius. It was not possible to get a ship direct to
Italy, and so a coasting vessel was taken which would
take them to a port from which they could transship for the
longer voyage. This latter was done at Alyra, a port on
the southern coast of Asia Minor, where they found one of
the many vessels that plied between Alexandria and Italy
and with the usual cargo of wheat. It must have been a
large vessel for that day, as it had in addition to its cargo
two hundred and seventy-six people on board.

From the first the voyagers suffered through untoward storm and
winds. They beat along the coast until they reached Cnidus, ^'*'p*''**=''
from which place they made for the island of Crete, reach-
ing at last the harbor Fair Havens. The season was ad-
vanced and Paul urged that they winter here. But the
liarbor hardly deserved its good name, and it was decided
to make for Phoenix, further along the coast. They had
not gotten far from Fair Havens when a storm from the
northeast swept down upon them. The task of the seaman,
without compass or steam, was hard enough in that day
in any case. Now they were swept on day after day with-

270 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

out sun or stars even to let them know their course. The
ship's company seems to have reached a stage of despair
where they would not even eat. In the night Paul had
one of those visions which marked more than one turning
point in his life. He told them of the vision the next day,
how the angel of the God "whose I am, whom also I
serve," had told him to be without fear, that he was to
reach Rome and that the company should also be saved.
The shipwreck itself is described with vivid detail by Luke.
In these moments of peril the commanding figure was
not captain of vessel or of soldiers, but the prisoner, Paul.
Pie prevented the sailors from leaving the boat, and it was
consideration for him that caused the centurion to check
the plan of the soldiers, who wanted to kill the prisoners
lest they escape.
Malta It was the island of Malta, south of Sicily, where they

to Rome landed. The winter season was spent here, three months

in all, after which they shipped for Rome in another Alex-
andrian vessel which had wintered in the island. At the
port of Puteoli they left the boat, the remaining journey
of about one hundred and thirty miles being made on foot.
They found disciples at Puteoli and the kindly centurion
permitted a stay of a week. Meanwhile word was sent on
to Rome. Some of the Roman brethren came out forty
miles on the road, as far as the Market of Appius, to meet
Paul, and still others were waiting him at The Three Tav-
erns, a little farther on.
Prisoner For two years Paul was kept a prisoner in Rome awaiting

at Rome j^j^ ^^j^j^ They were not idle years. We know of at

least four letters dispatched during this time — those to the
Philippians, the Colossians, the Ephesians, and Philemon.
A large measure of freedom was allowed him. A soldier,
a member of the pretorian guard, was with him constantly,
but Paul lived in his own rented quarters and could re-
ceive visitors as he wished. Of these there must have
been a great number, Luke tells of the conference that

PAUL THE PRISONER 271

Paul had with the leaders of the Roman Jews. The Chris-
tians would naturally come to him, and, in addition, Paul
used his opportunity to preach the gospel to guard and
visitor and whomever he might reach.

The church at Rome is one of the signs of the rapid The church
spread of Christianity. We have no knowledge at all a'^°™-
as to how it was founded. Its membership was largely
Gentile. It was from this church that Priscilla and Aquila
had come, and Paul had probably met other members be-
fore this. His letter to this church had been written from
Corinth some three years before. There must have been
a considerable Christian community even then. Paul's own
labors added to that number. The constant change of his
guard enabled him to give his message to the Pretorian
troopers (Phil i. 13). Onesimus must have been a type
of others from the lower classes that he won. The mes-
sage spread even to the servants of the imperial household
(Phil 4. 22), and Paul's courage emboldened other disciples
to a more active ministry (Phil i. 14). Nero's persecution
a little later shows that the church had become strong
enough to attract public attention.

The close of Paul's life is hidden from us. Of one thing The close
we are certain, though it is not told us in the New Tes-
tament itself: Paul suffered martyrdom at Rome. This
we learn from the letter written by Clement of Rome, a
message of the Roman church to that at Corinth dating
from the last years of the first century. But what the
events were connected with his death we do not know.
There are two theories which scholars hold. Some con-
sider that Paul was acquitted at his first trial, that he car-
ried out his plan of a visit to Spain and to his old churches
in the East, and suffered martyrdom at Rome after a sec-
ond imprisonment and trial. Others hold that Paul was
condemned and suffered death at the close of this first im-
prisonment.

Connected with this question is the problem of what

272 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

are called the pastoral epistles — First and Second Timothy
and Titus. Many scholars hold that these letters do not
come from Paul's hand in the form in which we now have
them. Their argument is that the conditions reflected here
indicate a later period in the life of the church, and that
the language and the form of teaching do not correspond
with Paul's other writings. Many of these scholars, how-
ever, hold that we have here portions of Pauline letters to
which other matter was later added.

In any case, these letters do not describe for us the ac-
tual close of Paul's life or determine the time. That re-
mains hidden from us. We do know, however, that which
concerns us most. That is the character and life and
achievement of this man. He has drawn for us his own
picture in those letters in which he pours out his soul.
Luke has portrayed him for us in such scenes as those of
his voyage to Rome: the kindliness, the helpfulness, the
faith, the courage, the mastery of himself and of others,
the natural leadership that made him inevitably the first
in any company whether of ship and soldiery or of his own
disciples. And most eloquent of all, we have the witness
of what he wrought, a Christianity made conscious of its
independence and its power, of its world-saving message
and its world-embracing fellowship, and established on firm
foundations throughout the empire.

DIRECTIONS FOR READING AND STUDY

Read Acts 20 to 28.

Make a list of Paul's addresses as reported in these chapters,
giving for each the place, the occasion, and the persons present.

Trace upon the map Paul's journey from Troas to Jerusalem and
from Cassarea to Rome. Make a list of the places stopped at upon
each journey.

CHAPTER XXXIX

PAUL THE MAN

Paul is the best-known man of his age and one of the
most interesting men of all ages. He had the greatness
of a man with a single purpose. His life was given to
only one end — he was a missionary of the gospel of Christ.
But to that one task he brought a marvelous diversity of
gifts, and it is this many-sided character of the man that
makes his personality so interesting. Preacher, teacher,
theologian, missionary, church founder and organizer, poet,
logician, mystic, moralist : he w^as all these and more.

I. We may study him first as man of mind, the great
thinker and teacher of Christianity. He had the keenness
and mental alertness which belonged to the Greek, joined
to the spiritual vision of a Hebrew prophet. His first
great deed was to interpret Christianity. It is one of the
strange facts of history, that this man who never knew
Jesus personally saw the meaning of Christianity as none
of the twelve did. He awoke Christianity to self-conscious-
ness. He gave her a message and a voice. He interpreted
Christianity to the mind of the Roman world. He showed
them Jesus not simply as Jewish IMessiah but as the Saviour
of the world. Christianity was first of all a great experi-
ence to him, but he had also the power to interpret that
experience.

But this man of mind was not a man of mere logic.
With all his keen intellect, he was not concerned wdth
theory or speculation. His concern is with truth as it
bears upon life. His great conceptions of religion all root
in his own experience. And Paul was a psychologist ; he
knew how to read the meaning of what his own soul had

273

The many-
sided Paul

The man
of mind

The inter-
preter of
Christianity

Life, and not
mere logic

274

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Will and
character

The leader

gone through and to draw its lesson for others. To this
was joined his experience as missionary, preaching to
others the truth that had made his own Hfe. Sometimes,
it is true, we hear the Jewish rabbi speaking in his argu-
ments, but the great truths for which Paul stands had this
vital source. It is this that has made Paul so great an
influence in the Christian thinking of the centuries.

II. We may consider Paul, in the second place, as a
man of will. It is his strength of will that first of all
impresses us. We feel that the personality of Paul is one
of the great forces of history. This man had a clear pur-
pose and an indomitable spirit back of it. The will of
the man is seen in the greatness of that purpose. It is
no less than the establishment of the new faith throughout
the empire, and that by his own effort. No hardship, no
toil, no danger holds him back. Beaten by Jews and by
Romans, stoned, shipwrecked, imprisoned, fighting against
illness, against the doubt of fellow Christians and the re-
lentless hostility of the Jews, he moves on unswerving and
with undaunted will. He had no organization back of him.
To disarm criticism he supported himself by labor. And
for this great work he had but a few years at command.
Yet he carried out his plan in the main. His great cam-
paign might well be placed beside that of Alexander or
Napoleon, while in the permanency of his work he surpassed
them both.

The study of Paul's life shows his strength as a leader
at every stage. He is everywhere the master of men and of
circumstances. In rude Galatia or cultured Athens, be-
fore the Philippian praetors or the angry mob of his coun-
trymen, facing royal judges or in the presence of imminent
death, he is always the same, unmoved by danger, unawed
by authority. His independence is the more remarkable
when we think of his position. His only credentials as he
began his mission were his story of a vision. That was
enough, however, for him. That vision and call lie back

PAUL THE MAN 275

of his independence and his courage. He was an apostle
"not from men, neither through man, but through Jesus
Christ and God the Father." For that reason there was a
deep humility joined to his independence. It is not his
own strength but God's grace. "When I am weak, then
am I strong," he said. "I can do all things in him that
strengtheneth me." "We have this treasure in earthen ves-
sels," he declares, "that the exceeding greatness of the
power may be of God."

On its moral side, then, this strength of will is simply Devotion
an absolute devotion to high purpose. His life has but
one meaning — the preaching of the gospel. "One thing
I do," he says. He has no other interest in life. We hear
nothing of his family, except a casual reference to his
nephew. He seems to have cut the ties of home as of
nation. He has no friends except his fellow workers. "I
count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowl-
edge of Christ Jesus my Lord. I press on, if so be that I
may lay hold on that for which also I was laid hold on by
Christ Jesus. For me to live is Christ."

HL And yet this man of keen intellect and inflexible The man
will was also a man of heart. Indeed, it is here that we
find the real Paul. In depth of feeling and range of re-
ligious experience and emotion it would be hard to find
another to place beside him. Not that Paul is a flawless
saint. His passionate feeling seems sometimes to have
led him to a severity of judgment and a denunciation of
his opponents which do not accord with his own teachings;
and he may have erred on the other side in indulgence
toward those he loved. If there be such defects, they are
only incident to his strength. And in this emotional side
of his nature Paul's strength largely lay. He was no man
of cold calculation and shrewd prudence. He loved with
the tenderness of a woman and the devotion of a mother,
and he could fight with all the passion of his nature. It
made him the most loved and the most hated of men. He

of heart

276

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

The place
of his
experience

The range
of experience

bound his friends to him for Hfe, and he gained enemies

who pursued him to his death.

Paul's religious experience is the first and deepest ele-
ment in this side of his nature. Out of this experience
came his message and his restless activity. Paul will never
be understood so long as men think of him as primarily
a great theologian or church organizer. He was first of
all a Christian. Doctrine and institution are always sim-
ply forms in which life expresses itself. The life itself is
greater than all its forms, Paul did an incalculable service
to the church in expounding the meaning of the new faith,
but we must always distinguish between these doctrines of
Paul and the living faith which they seek to set forth. Plis
letters show us again and again how all his thought and
service flow out of this inner spring. "For the love of
Christ constrained! us ; because we thus judge, that one
died for all, therefore all died ; and he died for all, that
they that live should no longer live unto themselves, but
unto him who for their sakes died and rose again. Where-
fore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature : the old
things are passed away; behold, they are become new.
We are ambassadors therefore on behalf of Christ, as though
God were entreating by us" (2 Cor 5. 14, 15, 17, 20).

With this depth of Paul's religious life there went an
equally wonderful range. What he preached to men he
himself had passed through. His speech may have lacked
polish, but we do not wonder that it was with power. He
himself was the sinner, like those to whom he spoke. Out
of his own heart he spoke of the burden of guilt and the
bondage of evil : "The good which I would I do not :
but the evil which I would not, that I practice. Wretched
man that I am ! who shall deliver me out of the body of
this death?" (Rom 7. 19, 24). The deliverance which he
proclaimed he himself rejoiced in : "I thank God through
Jesus Christ our Lord. There is therefore now no con-
demnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. For the law

PAUL THE MAN 2^^

of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the
law of sin and death" (Rom 7. 25; 8. i, 2). When Paul
speaks of the new life that is given to the believer, of
the new spirit that lives in man's heart and makes a new
creature, this too is out of his own experience: "It is no
longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me : and that life
which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which
is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up
for me" (Gal 2. 20).

Besides the religious life, Paul's emotional nature may Patriot
be studied in his relations with men. Whichever way we
turn, we note his depth and power of feeling. He loved
his nation. This man who made Christianity universal,
who made it his life task to carry the gospel to the Gen-
tiles, who was held as a traitor to his race for so doing,
was, in fact, the most ardent of patriots. He declares that
devotion in the most solemn words : "I say the truth in
Christ, I lie not, my conscience bearing witness with me
in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceas-
ing pain in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were
anathema from Christ for my brethren's sake, my kinsmen
according to the flesh." And with all his work for the
Gentiles, Israel yet remained for him a nation by her-
self: "Whose is the adoption, and the glory, and the cov-
enants, and the giving of the law, and the services of God,
and the promises, whose are the fathers, and of whom is
Christ as concerning the flesh" (Rom 9. 1-5).

Here, as elsewhere, Paul is a man of contrasts. His Contrasts
depth of feeling could show itself in fierce indignation and
bitter denunciation, overwhelming his antagonists. "Be-
ware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of
the concision." "Such men are false apostles, deceitful
workers, fashioning themselves into apostles of Christ. And
no marvel ; for even Satan fashioneth himself into an angel
of light." "If any man preacheth unto you any gospel other
than that which ye received, let him be anathema" (Phil

27% NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

2,. 2; 2 Cor II. 13, 14; Gal 1.9). Yet side by side with
this he shows the greatest tenderness and patience and per-
sonal humility. In the very midst of the rebuke of his
Galatians he calls out to them, "My little children, of
whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you"
(Gal 4. 19). In the same section in which he writes so
sternly to the Corinthians, he declares : *T seek not yours,
but you : for the children ought not to lay up for the parents,
but the parents for the children. And I will most gladly
spend and be spent for your souls" (2 Cor 12. 14, 15). Nor
could anything suggest a more beautiful relation than the
passage addressed to the Thessalonians where he speaks of
his relation to them as being like that of a father with his
sons, a nurse with her own children (i Thess 2. 7-12).
Equally attractive is the picture of his unselfish devo-
tion, that weighs him down at the thought of their sorrow,
and makes him forget his own troubles in the joy over
their welfare : "Ye are our glory and our joy. Now we
live, if ye stand fast in the Lord. For what thanksgiving
can we render again unto God for you, for all the joy
wherewith we joy for your sakes before our God?" (i Thess
2. 20; 3. 8,9).
The friend Of Paul's tact and thoughtfulness and courtesy, men-

tion has already been made. We have yet to speak of him
as a friend. The traditional view pictures Paul as a stern
and lonely man, pursuing his solitary task as he traverses
land and sea. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
He could stand alone when needed, but that was the
measure of his courage and devotion, not the sign of his
desire. One is surprised in counting up the names of his
associates and friends that appear in his letters. They are
here by the score. They appear first of all as the com-
panions of his journeys and assistants in the supervision
of his churches. Barnabas is the first of these whom we
meet. Titus, Timothy, Silas, and Luke are others. Paul
looked for young men especially to help him in this work.

PAUL THE MAN

279

They were not subordinate officials to the great apostle.
They were his friends, his sons, and he pours the wealth
of his affection upon them. How considerate he was of
them is shown, for example, by his thoughtful treatment
of Epaphroditus (Phil 2. 25-30), and by the letter with which
he sent Onesimus back to Philemon. And the letters show
how this strong man craved the sympathy and companion-
ship of these coworkers. In addition to these were the
associates whom Paul found in every place where he re-
mained any length of time for work. Of these too there
is a long list : Lydia of Philippi, whose guest Paul was ;
Priscilla and Aquila, of tried devotion ; Stephanas, Paul's
first convert in Corinth ; Philemon, convert and friend and
prospective host ; Rufus of Ephesus, whose mother was a
mother to Paul; and with them many others.

It is not hard to understand how Paul drew such peo-
ple to himself. It was because the love which was central
in his teaching was also central in his life. No one quality
of the Christian life was so emphasized by Paul in his
writings. For him it was the supreme element in the Chris-
tian character. At the same time it was the very life of
the Christian fellowship. It was not organization and
officers that made the church with Paul, but the indwelling
spirit of Christ which was love. So love is "the bond of
perfectness" for the individual as for the church. "Put on
therefore, as God's elect, holy and beloved, a heart of com-
passion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, long-suffering; for-
bearing one other, and forgiving each other, if any have
a complaint against any ; even as the Lord forgave you, so
also do ye ; and above all these things put on love, which
is the bond of perfectness" (Col 3. 12-14). Such fine ex-
hortations come again and again, finding their fitting climax
in the great chapter on love (i Cor 13). And all this
teaching is but the expression of the apostle's own spirit.

Such was Paul the man. the most human figure, next a human
to Jesus, that the New Testament or the whole Bible brings ^^"**

28o NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

to us. It is this intensely human character that has made
him so attractive to those who have really come to know
him. In his words echo the deepest needs of the human
heart, its cries and its despair. He shows us our aspira-
tions too, man aiming at the highest. He makes us feel that
we too may die to sin and live to God and so run as
to attain. And yet there is no cold flawlessness about him.
This man of deep passions and broad sympathies and human
weakness and need lived upon our own earth. "Not that I
have already attained, or am already made perfect: but I
press on."

DIRECTIONS FOR READING AND STUDY

Find in Romans or Galatians a chapter which illustrates Paul's
power of thought or argument.

Select three scenes from Acts which illustrate Paul's self-pos-
session or strength of will.

Name two letters which show Paul as a friend, and mark sev-
eral appropriate passages in each.

Make a list of friends and associates of Paul as given in Romans,
First Corinthians, Philippians, and Colossians. Note that these
names occur regularly in the closing chapter.

From the book of Acts find the names of one or more com-
panions of Paul for each of his missionary journeys, his last trip
to Jerusalem, and his voyage to Rome.

PART V
THE LATER CHURCH

281

CHAPTER XL
THE FAITH OF THE LATER CHURCH

The years between 60 and 70 mark a turning point in a turning
the life of the first-century church. The three greatest ^°"''
leaders were taken away, Paul, Peter, and James. Paul
suffered martyrdom in Rome between 64 and 68. Peter
met the same fate, according to ancient tradition, at about
the same time. James, the brother of Jesus, had been put
to death by the Jews just before this, despite his faithful
observance of the law. The Jewish war began in 66, and
in 70 the city was taken and the temple destroyed ; thus the
link was broken which had joined the Gentile churches to
the mother church at Jerusalem.

When we move past this year 70 into the second genera- Scanty
tion of the Christian Church, we find no books to guide ^°^J';^^

' ° and lesser

US like the Gospels and the Acts and the letters of Paul, importance
We have a good many New Testament writings from this
period, but they do not give us history. We do not know
the leaders who took the place of Paul and Peter and James.
The author of the letter to the Hebrews must have been a
man of learning and ability, but not even his name is pre-
served. The many workers mentioned by Paul all pass
from our sight. We hear no more of the gifted and elo-
quent Apollos. On this account the treatment of this period
in a New Testament history may be brief. There is a
second reason for brevity. Deeply interesting though the
story would be if we could read it, it could not compare
in importance with that already considered. The vital
history of the beginnings of Christianity is forever linked
to two names. The first is its Founder, whose message and
spirit and life and death were the creative fact that brought
forth all that followed. The second is the great apostle,

283

284

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Three
subjects

Jewish
Christianity

James:
Christianity
as a new law

who saw the meaning of that life, who proclaimed the good
news throughout the world, who set forth for all time the
great truths of the faith, and who established the fellowship
which we call the church.

While we have little in the way of historical events, there
are other matters of interest to consider in this closing
period of New Testament history. These will be taken up
under three heads : the faith of the later church, the life of
the later church, and its writings.

In taking up the faith of this second period, we turn
first to Jewish Christianity. The great controversy within
the church of the first generation was that concerning the
law: Was the Christian bound to keep the Jewish law?
In the second generation this question entirely disappears.
One reason for this was the great and steady advance of
Gentile Christianity. The other was the lessening impor-
tance of Jewish Christianity. The Jerusalem Christians
left the city before its capture and so escaped destruction ;
by so doing they gained, however, the bitter enmity of
their fellow Jews and had to suffer a great deal of per-
secution.

The epistle of James gives us a good picture of the faith
of these Jewish Christians. It was formerly held by many
scholars that this letter was an attack upon Paul and his
doctrine that man was saved by faith : "Ye see that by works
a man is justified, and not only by faith" (James 2. 24).
But there is no thought of opposition to Paul here. The
writer has not really grasped Paul's great doctrine. To him
religion is essentially a law according to which men are to
live. True, it is a higher law ; he calls it "the perfect law,
the law of liberty." But Paul's great words of grace and
the Spirit are wanting here. Religion is something to be
done. Within these limits it is full of fine maxims and
practical truth, with many echoes of the Sermon on the
Mount and other gospel passages ; but it is not the good
news that conquered the world. In later years this idea

FAITH OF THE LATER CHURCH 285

of Christianity as a new law gained an increasing place in
the whole church. At this time it seems especially charac-
teristic of Jewish Christianity.

Turning to the Gentile churches, the first question is, Gentile
Did Paul's influence last? Did the great doctrines for Christianity

. . Paul's

which he stood remain as the church's conception of Chris- influence
tianity? In large measure yes. (i) Christianity remained
the universal religion for which Paul fought, not a mere
variety of the Jewish faith. (2) Paul established once for
all the conception of Christ as being on the one hand truly
man, born of woman, and on the other the eternal Son
of God and the Saviour of men. (3) Paul's doctrine of
the Spirit as ethical remained. He saved Christianity from
the danger of fanaticism by insisting that the Spirit was
the Spirit of Christ, that it meant love and righteousness
and not emotional ecstasy and physical excitement. (4)
The Gentile church remained as Paul had founded it ;
Christianity stood, not simply for individual faith and ex-
perience, but for an ordered and organized fellowship, em-
bracing all believers in its unity, and joined in a life of
mutual love and service.

And yet the church did not keep the level of Paul's Paul's central
highest thought. That was Paul's answer to the question, ^^^'^^^^^
How shall a man be saved ? Paul said : ( i ) A man is saved
by God's grace. God is the Father. He is not a master
whose help men must first earn. He is not an unwilling
power, whom men must compel by sacrifice. He is the God
of mercy, loving the world, giving his Son. forgiving the
sins of men. "God was in Christ, reconciling the world
unto himself." (2) A man is saved through faith; we
might say trust instead. God's part is graciously to give;
man's part is with love and trust to receive. Religion is
not a proud and self-satisfied doing. It is a loving, self-
surrendering trust of the soul. (3) All this means a new
spirit in a man. It is the man made over, the "new^ crea-
tion," Paul says ; but not made over from without by effort

286 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

or knowledge. The new spirit which makes the man is
God's Spirit in him. You may also call it the spirit of
Christ. That is what it is : the love and purity and obedience
and kindness which were the spirit of Jesus upon earth,
(4) And this spirit which is God's gift, is our task at the
same time. The Christian must live it out day by day:
"If we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us also walk."
It means obedience, but not to an outer rule. The law is
within us, and the life is one of freedom.
The In three respects the church moved down to a lower level :

lower level ^j-j Faith instead of being a personal trust came to be a
belief in the doctrines of the church. Faith as a personal
deed gives place to "the faith," which is a sum of doctrines.
First Timothy shows the beginnings of this. (2) There
appear, as has been noted in James, the beginners of a new
legalism. It is not a falling back into the Jewish law, but
it is an overemphasis upon Christianity as a new law, and a
failure to see clearly that the right doing must spring from
an inner spirit. (3) The freedom of the spirit gives place
more and more to the authority of the church as an external
and legal institution, whose officers are to rule and govern
in all things. In the period which we are studying only
the beginnings of this movement are apparent. In part it
was inevitable. Indeed, Paul himself helped prepare the
way. The church had to move forward on these three lines :
to define its faith in creeds, to emphasize rules of conduct
and require obedience, and to perfect and establish its
organization. Paul himself, however, was not lost from
the church. Though the church fell below his standards,
yet he remained as a leaven within her life, even in the
Roman Catholic Church. His religion of the spirit has
always been a protest against the overemphasis of creed
and rules and organization, and has broken forth suc-
cessfully again and again in the great reformation move-
ments.
Hebrews The New Testament contains two monuments which wit-

FAITH OF THE LATER CHURCH 287

ness to the abiding influence of Paul in this period. The
first is the writing called "The Epistle to the Hebrews."
The title, which is not a part of the book itself, is hardly
correct. It is a treatise rather than an epistle, and it was
probably for Christians in general rather than for Jewish
Christians. It was not written by Paul, but it shows his
spirit and influence. Christianity is set forth as the world-
religion, existing from the beginning. Judaism was simply
its stage of preparation ; after the prophets comes the Son.
And all the ceremony of Judaism is only the symbol of the
spiritual and eternal which is in the Son. Christianity is
the religion of redemption, and Christ is the final sacrifice
which puts an end to all others. Paul wrote merely letters ;
this is a literary and theological product, but it has not the
freshness or life or power that Paul's letters possess.

Far greater than the letter to the Hebrews is the group of johannine
writings which includes the Gospel and the three epistles *"*"'^^
of John. These four writings belong together, and they too
bear eloquent witness to Paul's influence. Ancient tradition
ascribes them to the apostle John. Many scholars think
that while they represent the tradition of John's teaching,
the writings themselves were composed by one of his dis-
ciples, or by another John than the apostle. We know but
little of John's life. One tradition states that he suffered
early death as martyr like his brother James. The more
common tradition holds that he spent his last years in
Ephesus, beloved by all and of great influence ; that he
wrote the Gospel and epistles at Ephesus and the Revelation
while in exile at Patmos ; and that he died an aged man at
the close of the century.

Why was the Gospel of John written ? For twenty or The fourth
thirty years the church had had three accounts of the words ^"ge^an/"'^"
and deeds of Jesus, our present synoptic Gospels. Though character
the fourth Gospel gives us mainly incidents from Jerusalem,
instead of from Galilee, it does not add enough to the knowl-
edge of Jesus' life to have been written simply as a supple-

288 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

ment to the other three. The author himself gives us his
purpose. Out of the many wonders which Jesus wrought
he has selected certain '"signs" ; and "these are written,
that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God ;
and that believing ye may have life in his name" (John 20.
30, 31). This is the double purpose — to set forth Christ
and to show the life that men have through him. As we
read this Gospel carefully we see that it is quite a different
work from the synoptics. It is still in the form of a story
of Jesus' words and deeds; but it is far more of a sermon
than a biography. Each sign or saying of Jesus is like a
text from which John preaches his sermon and proclaims
his faith in Christ and his conception of Christ. For that
reason he does not concern himself to distinguish sharply
between his own words and those of Jesus. This can be
seen, for example, in the third chapter, where one cannot
separate definitely the words of Jesus, of John the Baptist,
and of the evangelist. The Gospel is a great confession of
faith, a great sermon like one of Paul's. The words and
deeds of Jesus are like a window, through which the evan-
gelist seeks to show us his vision of the eternal. He is
neither biographer nor theologian ; he is a preacher. What-
ever he writes he sets forth that we "may believe," and that
we "may have life in his name."
The occasion The faith that is here set forth is nothing more than
for the Gospel p^yi'g teaching concerning Christ, but there was special
reason for its declaration at this time. Almost all the later
writings of the New Testament show us that with the last
years of the first century many different forms of doctrine
arose which claimed to be Christian teaching, but which
differed from the earlier faith of the church. There were
teachers who declared that because Jesus was divine he
could not have suffered and died. These men made his life
a mere show, and so denied the actual humanity of our
Lord. This was called docetism. There were others, on
the contrary, especially among the Jewish Christians, who

FAITH OF THE LATER CHURCH 289

denied his divinity. He was to them simply a great teacher,
a prophet as others before him.

Over against these two, John sets forth his great message Jesus as
in his epistles and Gospel. Jesus is for him the eternal Son 1^%^^ ^nd as
of God who was with the Father from the beginning, and true man
who has come to be the life and light of men. This is the
message of his prologue (i. 1-18). This is his theme,
whether he reports the words of Jesus or tells of his deeds.
Thus the deeds which he reports are "signs." They are not
thought of primarily as deeds of mercy wrought to help men,
but as signs of the divine power and majesty of Jesus.
There are seven such deeds, finding their climax in the
raising of Lazarus. Similarly, the words of Jesus which
he reports do not concern themselves so much with the
duties of men, as in the sermon on the mount, but are,
rather, a setting forth of the same theme of Jesus' own
person and its meaning. In lofty speech and beautiful
figure this is proclaimed again and again : 'T am the living
bread" ; "Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give
him shall never thirst" ; "I am the light of the world" ; 'T
am the door of the sheep" ; "I am the good shepherd" ;
"I am the resurrection, and the life" ; "I am the way, the
truth, and the life" ; "I am the true vine" ; 'T have overcome
the world." At the same time John sets forth just as
clearly the real humanity of Jesus. He shows him to us
hungry and weary as he rests by the well, weeping by the
grave of his friend, struggling in the garden, suffering and
dying upon the cross. All this is but Paul's great message
of the Christ "who was born of the seed of David according
to the flesh, who was declared to be the Son of God with
power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrec-
tion from the dead" (Rom i. 3, 4). But while Paul finds
his theme in the resurrection and the living Christ, John
turns back to the Jesus who walked on earth, and shows us
his glory in that earthly life. That was John's great
service, to join together the Jesus of Nazareth whom the

with Christ
in God

290 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Gospels set forth with the divine Christ whom Paul pro-
claimed, and to declare that these two were one.
The life John's Other purpose was, as he states it, to set forth

Christ so that men believing might have life. As we read
these pages, we feel the same spirit that speaks to us in
Paul's letters : this man writes of that which is his own life,
and which he wishes us to have. Chapters 14 to 17 set this
truth forth especially. No passages in the New Testament
have been more cherished by Christians or have had a
deeper influence. That is why this Gospel has been called
from early days "the spiritual Gospel." It has been the
great book of personal devotion. One need only begin
with the fourteenth chapter and mark the familiar passages
to realize the place that this book has filled : "Let not your
heart be troubled. In my Father's house are many man-
sions. I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one
cometh unto the Father, but by me. Whatsoever ye shall
ask in my name, that will I do. I will pray the Father,
and he will give you another Comforter, even the Spirit of
truth. If a man love me, he will keep my word: and my
Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and
make our abode with him. Peace I leave with you ; my
peace I give unto you : not as the world giveth, give I unto
you. I am the vine, ye are the branches : he that abideth in
me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit." And in all
this, the question is not whether John is giving us the
literal speech of Jesus, any more than Paul in his preaching.
The message of John is essentially that of Paul, and the
real question is whether they are setting forth the mind and
spirit of Jesus. That such a book should come from the
closing years of the first century is testimony, not only to
the abiding influence of Paul's teaching, but even more to
the abiding power of the spirit of Christ.

DIRECTIONS FOR READING AND STUDY

Mention six dangers or faults against which the readers are
warned in James. Here as elsewhere cite chapter and verse.

FAITH OF THE LATER CHURCH 291

Make a list of the passages in First Timothy which refer to
doctrine or teaching or the faith.

Read the prologue of the fourth Gospel, John i. 1-18, and make
a list of John's various statements about Christ.

Make a list of the seven miracles, or "signs," recorded in John,
beginning with the marriage feast at Cana and ending with the
raising of Lazarus.

Make a list of at least eight of the sayings of Jesus concerning
himself, such as "I am the living bread," as found in John.

From John 14 to 17 select ten or more individual verses or
passages which set forth the ideal of the life of the disciple in
relation to God or Christ.

Two
questions

The bishop
and his
authority in
the year 150

CHAPTER XLI
THE LIFE OF THE LATER CHURCH

We have no such writings as Paul's letters to the Co-
rinthians to give us the picture of the life of the church
in the last part of the century. Some facts we may gather
from the late epistles and the book of Revelation. Aside
from these we have only the writings outside the New Tes-
tament which come from the early part of the second cen-
tury. Two questions call for answer: (i) What was the
inner life of the church? (2) What was its place in the
empire ?

There are two words around which we may gather the
story of these last years of the first century and opening
decades of the second. They are bishops and martyrs. The
first word suggests the change that took place in the inner
life and organization of the church. The different steps of
this change we cannot tell, but we do know the marked
contrast between the church of 150 and the churches
at the time of Paul's death. The churches of Paul
had only the simplest organization, as we have seen.
Men talked of service, not of authority. This service
was of many kinds, but it was all the gift of one Spirit.
The inspired prophets and teachers of the Word stood first.
But the Spirit belonged to the whole church. A century
later all this is changed. We find three ofiiices in each
church — bishop, elders, and deacons; but the authority is
in the hands of the one man, the bishop. He is no longer
the simple overseer. He has taken up within himself the
various duties that at first belonged to different men or to
the church as a whole. The practical affairs of the church
are still in his hands, but these are of greatly increased
importance. He has charge of the worship. Men are be-

292

LIFE OF THE LATER CHURCH 293

ginning to feel that the inspiration is no longer in the
church as a whole, or in certain prophets and teachers, but
in the bishop. The simple, unregulated worship is gone.
There is no longer any chance for the irregularities that
appeared at Corinth. The bishop presides at the service,
which follows a regular order, and it is he that preaches.
He has charge of the church discipline. The apostles and
eyewitnesses are gone. He represents the tradition of what
the true faith is. Instead of a group of overseers or elders,
this bishop stands alone. Just what the position of the elders
is we do not know. The deacons are simply the officers who
carry out the bishop's directions. As yet, however, the
bishop is not placed over any district or diocese ; he simply
directs the life of the one congregation.

All this took place very gradually. We do not know Some
the steps, but we know some of the causes, (i) There *=^"^^®
was the decline of faith in immediate inspiration. The
first outburst of enthusiasm gradually passed. There was
a lessening number of prophets who felt themselves directly
inspired. (2) There was found to be a need of regulating
these inspired leaders. Paul had met this at Corinth. The
inspiration did not always seem to be genuine or profitable
to the church. All manner of things could be said and
done and the claim made that they were inspired. Early writ-
ings show that some of these "prophets" made their in-
spiration a means of living ofif the church, and rules had
to be adopted to guard against this. The conflict between
the "officials" and the "inspired" leaders lasted through the
second century, but long before the end the regularly
chosen officials had taken the first place. (3) The same
need of order appeared in other respects. As the church
grew, its practical interests increased in importance and
number. Matters of discipline, of the care of the poor,
of protection in times of persecution, of representation of
the local church so that it could act with other churches,
and other like interests demanded responsible men in per-

294

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

The case of
Diotrephes

Moral life ;
charity

Public
worship

manent position. With the second century questions of
doctrine became ever more important. Over against all
manner of vagaries and strange teachings these officials
stood as the custodians and guarantors of the faith handed
down from the apostles.

It has been suggested by some that the third epistle of
John is a witness of the early stage of the controversy be-
tween the regular official, or bishop, and the inspired proph-
ets. Diotrephes seems to have been such an official who
refused to welcome the traveling prophets when they came :
"Neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and them
that would he forbiddeth and caste h them out of the church"
(3 John 10). He is censured as a church boss, "who loveth
to have the preeminence." Gains, to whom the letter is
addressed, is bidden to receive the "brethren and strangers,"
and to set them forward on their journey. All these changes
occurred gradually, and they were in process during the
last years of the first century.

In its moral life the church seems to have made steady
advance. Roman critics of Christianity like Pliny admit the
moral excellence of the life of its followers. The writings
of this time all show the constant emphasis upon the pure
and true life. The charity of the church was especially rich
and beautiful. And yet there was wisdom in its exercise.
The traveling brother was cared for two or three days. If
he did not pass on then, he was to work ; but the church
was to help him find employment. The church had followed
in the line of Paul's teaching: "If any will not work, neither
let him eat" (2 Thess 3. 10). No doubt the industry and
sobriety which the church inculcated helped to make it an
economic force in the empire.

The regular worship of the church was on the first day of
the week. Though more and more under the direct leader-
ship of one official, it was still a very simple service. Lessons
were read from the prophets of the Old Testament. New
Testament writings were not yet placed by the side of this

LIFE OF THE LATER CHURCH 295

as Sacred Scripture, but there is little doubt that in different
parts of the church letters of Paul or portions of gospel story
were read, the latter being" called the ''memoirs of the
apostles." In earlier days the prophets and other inspired
leaders would speak ; later this fell to the officials. The
church had inherited the psalms from the synagogue and
used these in her service. To these she added Christian
hymns. It is perhaps a portion of one of these that we have
in I Tim 3. 16:

He who was manifested in the flesh.

Justified in thf spirit,

Seen of angels.
Preached among the nations,

Believed on in the world,

Received up in glory.

The Lord's Supper was celebrated in the morning. The
regular church supper, known as the love feast, or agape,
had been separated from the former and was held in the
evening.

From the close of this period, that is, about the middle The
of the second century, dates the first formal creed of the '^^l^^^'
church so far as known, probably originating in Rome. It
was used by the candidate for baptism. The earliest baptism
was with the simple words, "in the name of Jesus." Later
the baptism was "in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit." This trinitarian formula
was now expanded into a creed which still moved about the
three persons of the Trinity. "I believe in God the Father
almighty; and in Christ Jesus his only begotten Son, our
Lord ; born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, crucified
under Pontius Pilate and buried, arising on the third day
from the dead, seated on the right hand of God, whence
he cometh to judge the living and the dead. And I believe
in the Holy Spirit, the holy church, the forgiveness of sins,
tlic resurrection of the flesh." Like everything else at this

296

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Lord's Day
and Sabbath

Martyr
beginnings
under Nero

Continued
hostility

time, this creed was referred back to the apostles and so was
called the Apostles' Creed.

The first day of the week was regularly used for worship,
and this may have been the case from the first. Its Christian
name was Lord's Day (Rev i. 10). It was never called the
Sabbath day, and was never by the early Christians identified
with the latter. Paul had classed the Sabbath days with
other Jewish customs made obsolete by the gospel (Col 2.
16, 17; Gal 4. 9, 10). As Sunday was not the Sabbath day,
the Christians did not refrain from labor upon it. It was
first of all a day of worship and gladness. Gradually it
came to be a day of rest. But it was centuries before any
one thought of confounding the Christian Lord's Day with
the Jewish Sabbath, or of applying the fourth commandment
to the former.

The other word about which the history of this period
may be centered is that of martyr. It is the time of begin-
ning persecutions on the part of the state. The word
"martyr" means simply "witness," and the martyr was one
who gave witness to his faith at peril or at cost of his life.
It was Nero that began this persecution. The great con-
flagration at Rome occurred in the year 64. Rightly or
wrongly, the popular mind charged Nero with the deed.
Nor were the people satisfied even when he began to re-
imburse those that had suffered loss and to rebuild the city
in splendid manner. They wanted some one to suffer for
the crime. Nero picked upon the Christians for this pur-
pose. They were poor, they were disliked. The people
were ready to see them suffer, especially as their death
was made a public sport; and Nero diverted attention
from himself.

This of itself was simply an episode, but it seems that
what Nero began in this special manner became a more or
less settled attitude of hostility to the Christians on the part
of the state. We are not sure of the date of the later
writings of the New Testament, but Peter, large portions of

LIFE OF THE LATER CHURCH 297

First Timothy, James, and Revelation all come within this
time, and all of these refer to persecutions.

Almost exactly a century after the burning of Rome, Evidence
Pliny was sent by the emperor Trajan to be governor of ^^°^^^°y
Bithynia and Pontus in Asia Minor. There he found that
the Christian religion had spread very widely, not simply
in the cities where it was always strongest, but in villages
and country also. The temples were being deserted, and
trades that depended upon the temple patronage were being
interfered with, such as the sale of fodder for animals kept
for sacrifice. Pliny writes to inquire just how he is to
proceed against the Christians, and whether he has been
taking the right course. He does not ask whether he should
proceed against them, but simply how ; and the whole cor-
respondence, which has been preserved for us, suggests
that the hostile attitude of the state toward the Christians
was a recognized policy.

Why should the empire have persecuted the Christians? Reasons
It was not religious intolerance, for the empire welcomed ho'stiu^^
and adopted all manner of faiths from all lands. It was
not the crimes of the Christians. Whenever serious investi-
gation was made, as by Pliny, the popular charges were
seen to be unfounded. The real reason was political, with
popular hatred pushing on the officers of the state. The
one thing upon which Rome insisted was the unity of the
empire and absolute reverence for her laws and order. With
these interests Christianity seemed to interfere.

And first with the principle of unity. The first fault of Opposition
the Christians was that they stood for a unity which was £eu^^^'^°
not that of the empire. It was the unity of their faith, andorgan-
their brotherhood, of the kingdom of God. The Romans
wanted no other bond of unity than that of the empire.
With religious societies and religious meetings there was
no interference. But other associations were most carefully
watched. Benefit clubs among the poor, such as those with
burial funds, were about the only associations tolerated, and

298

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

The emperor
cult

Opposition

and

prejudices

these were strictly controlled. It was the fear of anything
like a common political association among the people which
countries like Russia and Turkey show in our own day.
The Christians kept the laws of the empire. They planned
no insurrection. The church was no political organization.
And yet the government discerned rightly that here was a
force that in its final spirit was opposed to the spirit of
autocracy that belonged to Rome. Nevertheless the church
in the end might have saved the empire, if her help had been
called upon soon enough. Rome relied upon an external
and autocratic power to hold the empire. That was not
enough. It was the decay of the people that caused her
doom, and the church might have changed that decay into
life.

Later on the refusal of the Christians to worship the
emperor was a charge brought against them. But this too
was looked upon as political and not religious. The worship
of the emperor was simply one part of the plan to assert
and secure the political unity of the empire. This emperor
cult is referred to in Rev 13 as the worship of the beast.

Back of this principle of the state there lay the strong
prejudice of the people which was shared by officers and
emperors as well. The prejudice took many forms, (i)
There was the opposition, such as Paul met at Ephesus,
of tradesmen whose business suffered by the spread of
Christianity with its hostility to pagan worship and to the
practice of vice. Then, as now, there were large profits
joined to such practices, and we need only think of the
hostility shown to-day by those who make profit from com-
mercialized vice in saloon and gambling den and brothel.

(2) There was no doubt personal opposition from those
whose families had been divided, who saw believers separat-
ing from fathers and mothers and brothers and sisters
because of the new faith. Enemies could only explain this
strange power over converts by charging sorcery and magic.

(3) There were unfounded charges that were raised against

LIFE OF THE LATER CHURCH 299

the Christians for centuries. The Lord's Supper, with its
wine used as symbol of blood, was made the occasion for
the story that Christians killed little children and drank
their blood, just as the charge of ritual murder against the
Jews still persists in Russia to-day. Profligacy was charged
because of the secret meetings at which both sexes were
present. (4) More than anything else, it was the inflexible
attitude of the Christians about certain matters that angered
the people and brought the severe condemnation of even
men like Pliny and later on the emperor Marcus Aurelius.
Aside from Judaism, Christianity represented here some-
thing wholly new in religion, for ,\vhich even Marcus
Aurelius had no comprehension. For the Romans religion
was a matter of social custom and convention. Its forms
could be changed or added to at will. To add a new form
or a new god might be very wise and safe. It might even
be well to erect an altar to an "unknown god," lest one
should have been overlooked. In any case, there was no
possible harm in such conformity. For the Christians reli-
gion was a principle of conscience and a supreme loyalty
to one God : "We must obey God rather than men." To
others the attitude of the Christians seemed nothing short
of willful perversity and wicked obstinacy. Especially did
this appear when they were brought up for trial. Often all
that was asked was to pour out a little wine before a shrine
of the emperor, or to deny the Name with which they were
called, the name of Christ. Such refusal angered officials
as well as people. To the former it seemed highly
dangerous : it was the spirit of insubordination which in an
individual might not be serious, but in a great and growing
fellowship meant danger to the empire.

For this reason, as we learn from Pliny's letters, it was The crime
thought enough to convict a man of being a Christian, even ^1**.^'°^ *

, , , , . Chnstian

though no special crimes were charged against him. Over
against this, the Christian leaders of the second century
pleaded that they might be convicted upon the proof of

300

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Apocalypses
and their
character

The meaning
of Revelation

crime, not by the charges of prejudice. Their position is
nobly voiced by a word of Justin Martyr that has come down
from the middle of this century: "It is our maxim that we
can suffer harm from none, unless we be convicted as doers
of evil, or proved to be wicked. You may slay us, indeed,
but you cannot hurt us. But, lest any should say that this
is a senseless and rash assertion, I entreat that the charges
against us may be examined ; and if they be substantiated,
let us be punished as is right." He pleads that "neither by
prejudice nor desire of popularity from the superstitious,
nor by any unthinking impulse of zeal, nor by that evil
report which has so long kept possession of your minds,
you may be urged to give a decision against yourselves."

The book of Revelation is a writing born out of this
situation of persecution and danger. It may be studied
either as an apocalypse of the future, giving us prediction
of what is to be, or as a book of religion written to strengthen
faith and give comfort. All apocalypses have this double
character. They come out of times of great persecution
and danger. Their purpose is to encourage the faithful lest
they fall away. The method of these books is that of visions.
The writers are prophets who see. They use pictures and
symbols constantly. These pictures are not original with the
individual writer. They are more or less the common
language of such productions.

While we cannot interpret with certainty all the symbols
of the book, its general meaning on the apocalyptic side is
clear. It sets forth the story of the future in pictures.
Rome has been persecuting the Christians. Her time is now
fulfilled. She is the Babylon that is to be destroyed. The
world is hopelessly evil. Salvation is to come not by the
growth and spread of the Christian faith, but by a great
catastrophe which is to destroy the present world. Then
the New Jerusalem is to be let down out of heaven. In it
the saints are to be gathered together and God is to dwell
with them in the city of light.

LIFE OF THE LATER CHURCH 301

All this apocalypticism represents something taken over Limitations
from the Jewish church of which Christianity was gradually "^ *^® ^°°^
ridding itself. More and more the church saw that the
world was to be changed and the kingdom was to come by
gradual moral and spiritual conquest, and for this reason
many opposed the reception of this book into the New
Testament.

But all this must not hide from us the real message of The double
the work. That lies in its practical purpose which is ap- ""^^^^^e
parent all the way through. The book was probably written
about 95, in the reign of Domitian, but it reflects the con-
ditions of Nero's persecution as well. The disciples are in
danger. They are facing the demand that they should
worship the beast, that is, the image of the emperor, or
else be put to death (Rev 13. 15). The writer sets before
them the end that is near at hand. He brings a message of
warning : the Lord is coming as a thief in the night ; let
his followers cleanse themselves from all evil, for he will
give to each one according to his works. But above all he
writes for encouragement, that he may help believers to
remain faithful.

The words of warning are found especially in the mes- warnings to
sages to the seven churches of Asia Minor to which the ^^ ^1^^°

° _ _ _ churches

writing is addressed. These opening chapters give us a
picture of the church life of the time. On the whole, the
picture is encouraging. Three dangers are in these warn-
ings. There was the danger of simple indifference, the loss
of spiritual life: "Thou hast a name that thou livest, and
art dead" (3. i). "I know thy works, that thou art neither
cold nor hot" (3. 15). There was the danger of sinful
laxness, such as appeared at Corinth, joining in the old idol
feasts and pagan practices. This is probably what is meant
by the reference to the Nicolaitans (2. 6), to Balaam
(2. 14, 15), and to "the woman Jezebel" (2. 20). Such
faithlessness is called fornication, after the manner of the
Old Testament prophets. The third danger was that of

302

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Three causes
of encour-
agement

The faith of
the book

apostasy. It is significant of the higher moral Hfe of the
churches that the references are not to common immorahties.

The dominant note, however, is that of encouragement.
Let the disciples be faithful, first of all, because of the sure
reward. "To him that overcometh, to him will I give to
eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God."
"Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown
of life" (2. 7, 10). In varied phrase there is set forth again
and again the reward for "him that overcometh." The
second cause for encouragement for the persecuted Chris-
tians is the coming overthrow of Rome and the powers of
evil. Rome is "Babylon the Great," "the woman drunken
with the blood of the saints," "the great city, which reigneth
over the kings of the earth" (17. 5, 6, 18). But her hour
is come. The kings of the earth and the merchants who
shared in her wealth shall look on and mourn her destruction
and her torment. Not so the saints : "Rejoice over her, thou
heaven and ye saints, and ye apostles, and ye prophets; for
God hath judged your judgment upon her" (18. 9-20).
The final cause for encouragement is the vision of the glory
that awaits the saints, the new heaven and new earth that
are to come when the old is destroyed, "And I saw the
holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from
God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And
I heard a great voice out of the throne saying, Behold, the
tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell with
them, and they shall be his peoples, and God himself shall
be with them, and be their God" (21. 1-4).

The real message of the book lies not in the visions of
destruction nor in other prophecies of things to come.
Neither do we find it in the elaborate pictures of the new
Jerusalem, with its equal length and breadth and height.
Rather it is in that great faith which breathes through all
Messianic and apocalyptic hope from the Old Testament
prophets on: No forces of evil can stand out against the
power of God. Whatever the oppression and the burden

LIFE OF THE LATER CHURCH 303

now, God and good and righteousness shall rule in the
earth.

The persecution of the Christians continued intermittently Extent of
long after this period. The actual number of the martyred pe'^^ecutjon
was not so large. There were probably fewer Christians
that lost their lives in any one persecution than there were
Chinese Christians who suffered at the hands of the Boxers
or Armenian believers at the hands of the Turks in these
last years. But the danger was an always present one,
though active persecution came and went ; and it was held
over the Christians by the all-embracing power of the great
empire.

More important than the actual number slain was the Effects
effect upon the life of the church. In times of active perse-
cution not a few fell away. The church as a whole proved
steadfast, and the noble example of loyal martyrs was of
the deepest influence. Men remembered such words as those
of Polycarp, who suffered in 166: "Fourscore and six years
have I served him, and he has done me no wrong. How,
then, can I speak evil of my King, who saved me ?" Through spread of
all these years Christianity spread steadily. It entered the Christianity
army. From the cities it spread to village and country.
It began with the lowest ranks, but it reached some of wealth
and high station. There is good reason to hold that Flavins
Clemens, consul and cousin of the emperor, who was exe-
cuted by Domitian, suffered that fate for being a Christian,
as was also his wife Flavia Domitilla. "We are but of
yesterday," writes Tertullian proudly a century or so later,
"and yet we already fill your cities, islands, camps, your
palace, senate, and forum. We have left you only your
temples."

DIRECTIONS FOR READING AND STUDY

Look carefully through James, First Peter, and Heb lo to 12,
finding in each of these one or more references to persecution of
the Christians. Note especially Heb 11. It is not a theological
study of faith, but has a practical purpose. What is this?

304 NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Read Rev i to 3. Make a list of some things commended and
some criticized in these churches, giving references. Make a list
of the passages containing the v^rord "overcometh," and note the
different rewards promised.

Read Rev 7. 9-17 and 14. 1-5. Note that these passages reflect
the impression made upon the church by the death of the martyrs,
and offer encouragement by the picture of their reward.

Read Rev 18 as to the fall of Rome. Compare Isa 14. 3-20 and
the lament over the fall of Babylon.

Read Rev 21. i to 22. 5 for the description of the New Jeru-
salem. Note the effort that is made to picture this to the eye.

CHAPTER XLII
THE MAKING OF THE NEW TESTAMENT

If the church at the time of Paul's death be compared Two great
with the church of the year 200, two great changes will be *^ *°^**
noted. The first of these has just been discussed. It is
the change from the simple brotherhood to the ecclesiastical
institution, from the free guidance of the Spirit and its
democracy to the single bishop in each church with his
supreme authority. The second change came with the mak-
ing of a Christian Scripture, our own New Testament.
The church of the year 50 had its gospel, but it was not a
writing or a book. The church of the year 200 had its
collection of sacred writings which it placed by the side of
the Old Testament.

No other deed of the early church was so important as The New
this. We cannot conceive the history of Christianity without ^s^^t^eTrelt
these Christian writings. Nor can we overestimate what the gift from the
treasure is that has been thus bequeathed to us. We need e"'y<=^"ch
only think of two of its parts — the Gospels and Paul, The
great fact of Christianity is Christ. It is not some doc-
trine about him, nor some institution developed by his
followers. The great creative fact from which all else
sprang is the life and spirit and teaching of Jesus. That is
what the Gospels bring us. They simply set Jesus before us,
and let him walk and speak and work his great deeds.
Next to him stands Paul, not the creator but the matchless
interpreter. No one experienced the meaning of the new
faith in such fullness and depth as he ; no one set it forth
with such clearness and power. Every religious movement
undergoes change. It develops creeds and ceremonies and
institutions, and it has need of these. But often the life
itself dies beneath the weight of all this, or else its spirit

305

3o6

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Dangers

Two
questions

The gospel
at first not
written

is radically changed. Christianity has not escaped this
danger, but it has always had its New Testament, the writ-
ings that set forth the great creative source in Jesus and
the first and greatest interpretation in Paul. And so it has
always kept the means for its own reformation.

The gaining of the New Testament as a fixed collection
of sacred writings was not without its danger as well, as
history has shown. There was the danger that men should
worship the letter of these writings and lose the spirit which
they were meant to preserve. There was the danger of
the idea of the sacredness of the letter, a theory that was
taken from Judaism. There was the possibility that the
book and its words might take the place of the Christ and
his gospel as Paul stood for them. But the making of the
New Testament, in any case, was inevitable, and we have
simply to ask how it came about. Here, again, we must
go beyond the apostolic age into the second century in
order to understand what the first century had begun.

There are two distinct questions to be considered: First,
How did these writings come to be composed? Second,
How did the church come to regard these writings as
sacred, to form them into a collection, and to set them by
the side of the Old Testament?

It was the living word that counted in the early church
and not the writing. Jesus himself neither wrote nor
ordered the writing of his sayings. When he sent his dis-
ciples forth it was to preach. They were to win men by
the living word. They needed no authority of book. They
had simply to bear the good news to men. It was the same
with Paul as with the first disciples, and it remained the
same for the first century and longer. It was a practical
necessity that caused men to take the pen, and the writing
was distinctly secondary to the spoken word. How this
came about with Paul has already been seen. The apostle
could not always be present with the various churches.
Sometimes he sent special messengers. Often he wrote to

MAKING OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 307

them to say what lie would otherwise have spoken face to
face.

The story of the writing of the Gospels is largely hidden The
from us. What Luke tells us in his opening verses is very ^^uinings
interesting. He says that many had undertaken to write the
gospel story before him. He indicates that these, like him-
self, were not eyewitnesses, but had to depend upon what had
been handed down by those who were, and he seems to
imply that he had used all these accounts as well as other
material to make a complete and ordered story. What these
earliest accounts were we do not know. They probably
precede all of our Gospels except, possibly, Mark. We
have one ancient tradition coming indirectly from a church
father named Papias, and dating about a century after Jesus'
death. Papias says: "Matthew composed the oracles [or
sayings] in the Hebrew language, and each one interpreted
them as he could." He also tells us that Mark wrote down
accurately, though not in order, everything that Peter re-
lated of the things said or done by Christ. In addition to
this, scholars have carefully compared the Gospels them-
selves to gain what light they could. They have found evi-
dence that at least two of these Gospels, Matthew and Luke,
have used earlier writings, and not simply as sources, but
by incorporating their materials with very little change.
One of these sources was Mark's Gospel itself. Another
seems to have been a collection of the sayings of Jesus.

With these suggestions we can outline the probable story The oral
of the forming of our present gospel accounts, dividing this ^^°^
into three stages :

I. The oral period came first. The disciples who had
known Jesus told the story of his life and death in preaching
to others, and repeated his teachings for the instruction
and guidance of believers. Repeated over and over again,
the parables of Jesus, his pointed sayings, and stories like
those of his healings, would come to have fixed forms.
There was no thought of writing and for two reasons : first.

3o8

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

The first
writings

Completed
Gospels

because the church would naturally prefer the living voice
of one who had seen and heard Jesus ; and, second, because
all were expecting the speedy return of Christ and so had
no thought of writings to preserve his words for the future.
This may have lasted for years, but the need of writings
soon appeared. The church was spreading rapidly. There
were not enough of these eyewitnesses to go around. As
the years passed too they began to diminish by death. What
was more natural than to secure in writing brief collections
of the sayings of Jesus, or stories of his deeds and particu-
larly of his death? Before this individual believers had
probably written down for their own use sayings or stories
heard from a Peter, a John, or another first disciple.

2. Thus we have the period of the first writings. One
of these was the collection of sayings of which Papias
speaks, made by Matthew or by some disciple upon the
basis of Matthew's teaching. Another was the simple story
of Jesus' deeds as we have it in the Gospel of Mark, written
probably by John Mark, with Peter as his sponsor. Other
and briefer collections of sayings and accounts of incidents
were made, but we have no individual knowledge of them.

3. As a third stage we have our present completed
Gospels. It should be remembered that none of these gives
in itself the name of the author. The names at the head
of these writings in our English Bibles are simply the
tradition of the church. Here, again, we can 'only speak of
probabilities. Mark is probably the oldest Gospel and sub-
stantially the same as the story just referred to. Matthew
comes next, bearing this name because it contains the col-
lection of sayings which came from the apostle. The com-
piler, however, used not only this collection, but large
portions of Mark, and other materials as well. Luke also
used these two sources, the sayings and Mark. He had
other sources, however, in addition, as he indicates, and
from these he gets such stories as those of Dives and
Lazarus, the good Samaritan, and the prodigal son, which

MAKING OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 309

he alone gives. These three Gospels, in the order named,
were probably written in the years between 50 and 90, such
a source as Matthew's collection of sayings being still earlier.

It is quite probable that the other New Testament writings
all had some special occasion for their composition, just
as the letters of Paul. Revelation was written to strengthen
the Christians against persecutions. First John was directed
against particular heresies which it attacks specifically. The
fourth Gospel had a similar practical and immediate purpose.

But the story of how these writings were composed does what was
not answer our second and main question: How did the fii^iauthomy

^_ in the early

church come to make a special collection of them, to include church: oid
these and no others, and to set them on a level with the Old Testament

and Jesus?

Testament as sacred writings? Nothing was farther than
this from the minds of the writers. The early church had
two authorities. The first was the Old Testament, especially
the prophets, which it interpreted from the Christian point
of view. The Old Testament was the Bible of the early
church, and for over a hundred years it was its only Bible.
This alone was read in its worship as Sacred Scripture. To
it the appeal was made in argument as we see from Paul.
The second authority was the words of Jesus. This too was
final, and stood even above the Old Testament. Nothing
shows more the complete mastery that Jesus had over his
disciples than this fact. These Jews, brought up from child-
hood to reverence the law and the prophets as the absolute
and final word of God, yet retained and accepted the word
of Jesus when he set himself above this and declared. "But
I say unto }Ou." Neither Paul nor any of the evangelists
thought of putting their words as final authority for the
church by the side of the Old Testament or the words of
Jesus.

In a sense too the word about Jesus, the gospel, or good The gospel
news, was authority. This was what they believed, the
faith that made the Christians one. But this authority be-
longs to the gospel as a living word, not to an\- writing as

authority

3IO

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Authority and
inspiration

Letters and
Gospels used
in worship

such that brings it, whether the story according to Mark or
the sermon according to Paul as given in his letters. For
a century and more this remains true. The early writers are
very careful to quote the exact words of the Old Testament.
Not so with the writings of the New Testament. Here it
is the thought that counts, not the words. It is not these
writings that they hold sacred, but the gospel in these
writings. "I delivered unto you first of all," Paul says, "that
which I received" (i Cor 15. 3). These men were anxious
to hand down the message that they had received, the pure
gospel, and the writings were a help to this, but they had
not made a Bible of the writings.

All this does not mean that the writers did not feel that
they were inspired, that they were moved by the Spirit of
God. They felt this just as truly as did the teachers and
prophets at Corinth of whom we have studied. That faith
was universal in the early church. Nor did it cease with
our writings. Clement, who writes about 95 for the Roman
church to the church at Corinth, makes the same kind of
claim that the writer of Revelation makes (22. 18, 19).
But neither of these men would have put their writings on
a level with the Old Testament. Such a declaration as
that of I Tim 3. 15-17 refers plainly to the Old Testament,
the sacred writings which Timothy had studied from his
youth. We see the same distinction in First Corinthians.
Paul feels that he has the Spirit of God, but he distinguishes
carefully between the Old Testament to which he appeals,
the words of Jesus, and his own judgment (i Cor 7. 10, 12,
25, 40 ; 9. 9). Aside from the sense of inspiration, there was
a special respect given to the authority of the apostles
from the beginning, and this grew with the passing years.
Clement of Rome feels that he is speaking by the Spirit of
God, but he does not think of placing himself beside an
apostle like Paul.

The use of these writings in the worship of the church
was the first step that prepared the way for their valuation

MAKING OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 311

as Scripture. Such a use must have been very early, and
came about very naturally. When one of Paul's churches
received a letter from him, they were certainly not con-
tented with reading it once. It would be read again and
again as they met for worship, till it was fixed in their
minds. It would be referred to later to help settle questions
that arose. Thus Clement in his letter from Rome advises
the Corinthians to take up again Paul's letter to them. What
Paul suggests to the Colossians (4. 16), that they exchange
letters with the Laodiceans, must have taken place between
other churches. Small collections of Paul's letters would
thus be made. In the absence of Paul these would be read
to the congregation. In the same manner any church might
count itself fortunate to possess one of the Gospels, so that
they might hear the words of Jesus or stories of his deeds.

Such use does not imply that these writings were as yet They come to
regarded as "Bible." The Old Testament was the Bible »'«^«g"^ed

° as Scripture

and was read as such in the service. The epistles and
Gospels came in the place of the sermon. They were not
the sacred text from which men preached ; they were rather
the message itself, the gospel which was read when no one
was present to give it with living voice. It was in the
second century that the change took place. It was a gradual
and natural change. Read so long by the side of the Old
Testament, the writings began to share the position of the
former. The church, moreover, began to see that her real
message, the truth which justified her, lay in these Christian
books ; and more and more reverence was being attached
to the men of the first age who wrote them.

It was another cause that hastened this process and com- Marcion and
pelled the church to take definite action. We have noted ^gsJ^Qt
the rise of heresies in connection with the writings of John
by which they were opposed. About the middle of the
second century these began to seriously threaten the church.
The most notable leader was Marcion. He joined an
appreciation of Paul with a strange mixture of wild specula-

312

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

He compels
the church
to act

The task of
the church

The two
Standards

tion. He claimed, of course, to represent the true Christian
tradition. The Old Testament he threw out altogether.
Then he set up a Christian collection, or canon, in its stead.
This included the Gospel of Luke with ten epistles of Paul,
omitting the pastoral letters. Even from these he cut out
the passages that did not agree with his position.

The first Christian canon was thus made by a heretic.
The word "canon" originally meant a rule for measuring.
As applied to the Scriptures it means the collection made
according to a given rule and including the writings that
are held as sacred and authoritative. The church was thus
compelled to face the question which for years had really
been present: What are the writings that really represent
the Christian tradition and authority? It needed a definite
body of Scriptures to oppose to Marcion and others like him.

The first task of the church here was not to make a
collection. That was already made, for the church possessed
all these writings. The real problem was that of exclusion.
There were many other writings current among the churches
besides those of our present New Testament. Some of
these had only local currency. Others were quite widely
used. The epistle of Hermas and the Gospel of the Hebrews
were among the latter. On the other hand, some of the
books of our New Testament were not generally accepted.
Such were Revelation, Hebrews, Jude, Second Peter, and
Second and Third John. Two influences seem to have
shaped the decision of the church in its selections. One
was the extent to which these writings had been used in
the worship of the church. The other w^as the apostolic
character of the writings. What the church wanted was
to state and to guard the true tradition. Marcion had ap-
pealed to one apostle. They wished to bring forward the
authority of them all. The book of Acts aided in this, as
it was held to set forth the acts of all the apostles. There
were, of course, writings long held in high esteem and used
in the worship of the church that did not come or claim

how done

MAKING OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 313

to come from the apostles. In case of Mark the authority
of Peter was called upon ; in case of Luke and Acts the
author was vouched for by his association with Paul.

We must not picture this work as being done at one time when and
or by unanimous consent. It was not decided by some
imiversal church council. The discussion and differences as
to the books mentioned above continued for a matter of two
centuries. The main work, however, was done within a
period of fifty years. By the year 200 the large part of the
church accepted the canon substantially as we have it now.
Two great divisions were taken in without question : the
four Gospels with Acts, and the thirteen letters of Paul.
Of the other writings First John and First Peter were
generally received. Revelation was opposed in some quar-
ters because of its views on the second coming. Hebrews
was not generally received until it was attributed to Paul.
There was thus practically no question about the great and
essential parts of our New Testament.

Looking back, one cannot but say that the church was
guided in this work by the same Spirit by which the early
church had felt itself controlled. It is our duty, it is true,
to distinguish between the various writings in the New
Testament. Some of these works, like James and Revela-
tion, were criticized by the great reformers, especially
Luther. But this was because they tried to apply one fixed
standard to them all. The relative value of these books is
suggested by the attitude of the early church. We place
first, as they did, the Gospels and Paul and in this order.
Roughly speaking, the books about whose acceptance there
was some question are those which are of lesser value to-
day. An equally important question is often asked : Were
not valuable writings omitted, writings that might have
equal claim to be inspired? There were other Christian
writings of value, some of them preserved for us, but there
is not one of these which could command the support of
scholars if the canon were being formed anew to-day.

A BRIEF BIBLIOGRAPHY

Introductory and General

Huck: Synopsis of the First Three Gospels.
Hastings or Standard: Dictionary of the Bible, one volume.
Hall : Historical Setting of the Early Gospel.
Mathews: History of New Testament Times.
Wood and Grant : The Bible as Literature : An Introduction.
Introduction to the New Testament; briefer, by Bacon or Peake;
larger, by Moffatt or Jiilicher.

Jesus

Life of Jesus, Rhees, Gilbert, Holtzmann, and others.
Kent : Life and Teaching of Jesus.
Stevens : Teaching of Jesus.

Paul and the Apostolic Age

Histories of the Apostolic Age; briefer, by Ropes and Purves;

larger, by McGiffert and Weizsacker.
Dobschiitz: Christian Life in the Primitive Church.
Rhees: Life of Paul.

Weinel : Saint Paul, the Man and His Work.
Ramsay: The Church in the Roman Empire, and Saint Paul the

Traveler and Roman Citizen.
Deissmann : Saint Paul.

Huck's Synopsis is of special value in the study of the Gospels.
The student who can buy but one book should have the Dictionary
of the Bible.

314

Date Due

It 16 '4

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Piw^iy,

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