PAUL
571
PAUL
nian who called them to come and help his country
(Acts, xvi, 9-10).
Paul continued to follow on European soil the method of preaching he had employed from the be- ginning. As far as possible he concentrated his efforts in a metropolis from which the Faith would spread to cities of second rank and to the country districts. Wherever there was a synagogue he first took his stand there and preached to the Jews and proselytes who would consent to listen to him. When the rupture with the Jews was irreparable, which always happened sooner or later, he founded a new Church with his neophytes as a nucleus. He remained in the same city until persecution, generally aroused by the intrigues of the Jews, forced him to retire. There were, however, variations of this plan. At Philippi, where there was no synagogue, the first preaching took place in the uncovered oratory called the proscuche, which the Gentiles made a reason for stirring up the persecution. Paul and Silas, charged with disturbing public order, were beaten with rods, imprisoned, and finally expelled. But at Thessalo- nica and Berea, whither they successively repaired after leaving Philippi, things turned out almost as they had planned. The apostolate of Athens was quite exceptional. Here there was no question of Jews or synagogue, Paul, contrary to his custom, was alone (I Thess., iii, 1), and he delivered before the areopagus a specially framed discourse, a synopsis of which has been preserved by the Acts (xvii, 2.3-31) as a specimen of its kind. He seems to have left the city of his own accord, without being forced to do so by persecution. The mission to Corinth on the other hand may be considered typical. Paul preached in the synagogue every Sabbath day, and when the violent opposition 'of the Jews denied him entrance there he withdrew to an adjoining house which was the property of a proselyte named Titus Justus. He car- ried on his apostolate in this manner for eighteen months, while the Jews vainly stormed against him; he was able to withstand them owing to the impartial, if not actually favourable, attitude of the proconsul, Gallio. Finally he decided to go to Jerusalem in fulfillment of a vow made perhaps in a moment of danger. From Jerusalem, according to his custom, he returned to Antioch. The two Epistles to the Thessalonians were written during the early months of his sojourn at Corinth. For occasion, circum- stances, and analysis of these letters see Thessalo-
NI.\NS.
(3) Third mission (Acts, xviii, 23-xxi, 26).— Paul's destination in his third journey was obviously Ephesus. There Aquila and Priscilla were awaiting him, he had promised the Ephesians to return and evangelize them if it were the will of God (Acts, xviii, 19-21), and the Holy Ghost no longer opposed his entry into Asia. Therefore, after a brief rest at Antioch he went through the countries of Galatia and Phrygia (Acts, xviii, 23) and passing through "the upper regions" of Central Asia he reached Ephesus (xix, 1). His method remained the same. In order to earn his living and not be a burden to the faithful he toiled every day for many hours at making tents, but this did not prevent him from preaching the Gos- pel. As usual he began with the synagogue where he succeeded in remaining for three months. At the end of this time he taught every day in a class-room placed at his disposal by a certain Tyrannus "from thi- fifth hour to the tenth" (from eleven in the morn- ing till four in the afternoon), according to the inter- esting addition of the "Codex Beza;" (Acts, xix, 9). This lasted two years, so that all the inhabitants of Asia, Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord (Acts, xix, 20).
Naturally there were trials to be endured and obsta- cles to be overcome. Some of these obstacles arose from the jealousy of the Jews, who vainly endeavoured
to imitate Paul's exorcisms, others from the super-
stition of the pagans, which was especially rife at
Ephesus. So effectually did he triumph over it, how-
ever, that books of superstition were burned to the
value of .50,000 pieces of silver (about $9000). This
time the persecution was due to the Gentiles and in-
spired by a motive of self-interest. The progress of
Christianity having ruined the sale of the little facsim-
iles of the temple of Diana and statuettes of the god-
dess, which devout pilgrims had been wont to pur-
chase, a certain Demetrius, at the head of the guild
of silversmiths, stirred up the crowd against Paul.
The scene which then transpired in the theatre is
described by St. Luke with memorable vividness and
pathos (Acts, xix, 23-40). The Apostle had to yield
to the storm. After a stay at Ephesus of two years
and a half, perhaps more (Acts, xx, 31: Tpierlav), he
departed for Macedonia and thence for Corinth,
where he spent the winter. It was his intention in
the following spring to go by sea to Jerusalem, doubt-
less for the Pasch; but learning that the Jews had
planned his destruction, he did not wish, by going
by sea, to afford them an opportunity to attempt his
life. Therefore he returned by way of Macedonia.
Numerous disciples divided into two groups, ac-
companied him or awaited him at Troas. These
were Sopater of Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus of
Thessalonica, Gains of Derbe, Timothy, Tychicus
and Trojihiraus of Asia, and finally Luke, the historian
of the Acts, who gives us minutely all the stages of
this voyage: Philippi, Troas, Assos, Mitylene, Chios,
Samos, ^Iiletus, Cos, Rhodes, Patara, Tyre, Ptole-
mais, Ca-sarea, Jerusalem. Three more remarkable
facts should be noted in passing. At Troas Paul
resuscitated the young Eutychus, who had fallen from
a third-story window while Paul was preaching late
into the night. At Miletus he pronounced before the
ancients of Ephesus the touching farewell discourse
which drew many tears (Acts, xx, 18-38). At Cse-
sarea the Holy Ghost by the mouth of Agabus, pre-
dicted his coming arrest, but did not dissuade him
from going to Jerusalem.
St. Paul's four great Epistles were written during this third mission: the first to the Corinthians from Ephesus, about the time of the Pasch prior to his departure from that city; the second to the Corin- thians from Macedonia, during the summer or autumn of the same year; that to the Romans from Corinth, in the following spring; the date of the Epistle to the Galatians is disputed. On the many questions oc- casioned by the despatch and the language of these letters, or the situation assumed either on the side of the Apostle or his correspondents, see Corinthians, Epistle to the; Gal.\tians, Epistle to the; RoMAN.s, Epistle to the.
D. Caplivily (Acts, xxi, 27-xxviii, 31).— Falsely accused by the Jews of having brought Gentiles into the Temple, Paul was ill-treated by the populace and led in chains to the fortress Antonia by the tribune Lysias. The latter having learned that the Jews had conspired treacherously to slay the prisoner sent him under strong escort to Csesarea, which was the resi- dence of the jirocurator Felix. Paul had little diffi- culty in confomxling his accusers, but as he refused to purchase his liberty Felix kept him in chains for two years and even left him in prison, in order to please the Jews, until the arrival of his successor, Festus. The new governor wished to send the prisoner to Jerusalem there to be tried in the presence of his accusers; but Paul, whowas acquainted with the snares of his enemies, appealed to Caesar. Thenceforth his cause could be tried only at Rome. This first period of captivity is characterized by five discourses of the Apostle; The first wa-s delivered in Hebrew on the steps of the Antonia before the threatening crowd; herein Paul rehates his conversion and vocation to the Apostolate, but he was interrupted by the hostile
