PEOPLE'S EDITION. a< 
 
 (First time Translated into English.) 
 
 SAINT 
 
 BY 
 
 ERNEST RENAN, 
 
 MEMBER 0V THE FKEJfCH ACADEMY. ~" 
 
 COMPLETE EDITION. 
 
 Xonbon : 
 
 THE TEMPLE COMPANY, 
 
 6, BOOKSELLEKS' Row, W.C.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE ..... v 
 
 INTRODUCTION ....... vii 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 I. First Journey of Paul The Cyprus Mission . . 1 
 
 II. Continuation of the First Journey of Paul The 
 
 Galatian Mission ..... 14 
 
 III. First Affair in regard to Circumcision. . J ^2 
 
 IV. Slow Propagation of Christianity : Its Introduction at 
 
 Rome. ..... . ' 57 
 
 V. Second Journey of Paul Another Sojourn at Galatia. 68 
 
 VI. Continuation of the Second Journey of Paul The 
 
 Macedonian Mission ..... 79 
 
 VII. Continuation of the Second Journey of Paul Paul at 
 
 Athens ...... 98 
 
 VIII. Continuation of the Second Journey of Paul First 
 
 Sojourn at Corinth ..... 126 
 
 IX. Continuation of the Second Journey of Paul First 
 
 Epistles Interior Condition of the New Churches. 136 
 
 X. Return of Paul to Antioch Quarrel between Peter 
 and Paul Counter-Mission organised by James, 
 Brother of the Lord . 165
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 XI. Trouble in the Churches of Galatia ... 1 
 
 XII. Third Journey of Paul Foundation of the Church at 
 
 Ephesns ...... 14 
 
 XIII. Progress of Christianity in Asia and Phrygia . . 26 
 
 XIV. Schisms in the Church of Corinth Apollos First 
 
 Scandals . . . . . .37 
 
 XV. Continuation of the Third Journey of Paul The Great 
 
 Contribution Departure from Ephesus . . 69 
 
 XVI. Continuation of the Third Journey of Paul Second 
 
 Stay of Paul in Macedonia . . . .81 
 
 XVII. Continuation of the Third Mission Second Stay of 
 
 Paul at Corinth The Epistle to the Komans . 93 
 
 XV III. Return of Paul to Jerusalem .... 118 
 
 XIX. Last Stay of Paul at Jerusalem His Apprehension . 125 
 
 XX. Captivity of Paul at Csesarea of Palestine . . 142 
 
 XXI. Paul's Voyage as a Prisoner .... 151 
 
 XXII. A Glance over the Work of Paul 159
 
 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 So far as the Translator is aware, this is the 
 first time that M. Renan's work, " Saint Paul," 
 the third of the series of seven of " The Origins 
 of Christianity," has been done into English. At 
 any rate, no English copy is to be found in the 
 principal public libraries of either the United 
 Kingdom or the United States. Being a 
 " People's Edition," like the Temple Company's 
 previous translations of " The Life of Jesus " 
 and " The Apostles," following the example 
 set by M. Renan himself in the " Vie de Jesu," 
 the notes have been omitted in the body of 
 the work. To have given the notes as in the 
 original would have swollen the work to such 
 proportions, that it would have been impossible 
 to produce it at a shilling a volume, and there- 
 fore would have defeated the object had in view
 
 vi TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 in publishing it to wit, to put it into the 
 hands of the masses. But in every other par- 
 ticular introduction and text both the pre- 
 sent two volumes are a complete reproduction 
 in English of the original. It is also the 
 intention of the publishers to produce, within 
 the next twelve-months, the other four books 
 of the series of " The Origins of Christianity," 
 by M. Renan, in shilling volumes. 
 
 In a preface of this kind it is unnecessary to 
 enter into any details as to the scope of M. 
 Re'nan's present work. The author himself has 
 done this for the reader in his own inimitable 
 manner in the introduction. It remains only to 
 say that the first volume, or part, ends with the 
 quarrel between Peter and Paul, and the mission 
 organised by James, the brother of the Lord, 
 in opposition to the missions conducted by 
 Paul, and the second completes the work. 
 
 W. M. T.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 CRITICISM OF ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS. 
 
 THE fifteen or sixteen years of religious history comprised in this volume 
 in the embryonic age of Christianity, are the years with which we are 
 best acquainted. Jesus and the primitive Church at Jerusalem re- 
 semble the images of a far-off paradise lost in a mysterious mist. On 
 the other hand, the arrival of St Paul at Rome in consequence of the 
 step the author of the Acts has taken in closing at that juncture his 
 narrative, marks in the history of Christian origins the commencement 
 of a profound darkness into which the bloody glare of the barbarous 
 feasts of Nero, and the thunder of the Apocalypse, cast only a few 
 gleams. In particular, the death of the Apostles is enveloped in ail 
 impenetrable obscurity. The era of the missions of St Paul, on the 
 other hand, especially of the second mission and the third, is known to 
 us through documents of the greatest value. The Acts, till then so 
 legendary, became all at once quite authentic. The last chapters, com- 
 posed in part of the narrative of an eye-witness, are the sole complete 
 historical writings which we have on the early times of Christianity. 
 In fine, through a privilege very rare in similar circumstances, those 
 years provide us with documents, the dates of which are absolutely 
 authentic, and a series of letters, the most important of t which have 
 withstood all the tests of criticism, and which have never been sub- 
 jected to interpolations. 
 
 In the introduction to the preceding volume, we have made an ex- 
 amination of the Book of Acts. We must now discuss seriatim the 
 different epistles which bear the name of St Paul. The Apostle informs 
 us himself, that even during his lifetime there were in circulation in his 
 name several spurious letters, and he often took precautions to prevent 
 frauds. We are, therefore, only carrying out his intentions in subject- 
 ing the writings which have been put forth as his to a rigorous 
 censorship. 
 
 There are in the New Testament fourteen of such epistles, which it 
 will be necessary at the outset to divide into two distinct categories. 
 Thirteen of these writings bear in the first sentence of the text the name 
 of the Apostle. In other words, those letters profess to be the works of
 
 viii SAINT PAUL. 
 
 Paul, so that there is no choice between the following two hypotheses ; 
 to wit, either Paul is really the author, or they are the work of an 
 impostor, who wished to have his compositions passed off as the work 
 of Paul. On the other hand, the fourteenth epistle, the one to the 
 Hebrews, does not bear the name of Paul in the first sentence of the 
 text (superscription)* ; the author plunges at once in medias res without 
 giving his name. The attribution of that epistle to Paul is founded 
 only on tradition. 
 
 The thirteen epistles which profess to belong to Paul may, in regard 
 to authenticity, be ranged into five classes : 
 
 1. Epistles incontestable and uncontested. These are the Epistles 
 to the Galatians, the two Epistles to the Corinthians, and the Epistle 
 to the Romans. 
 
 2. Epistles that are undoubted, although some objections have been 
 taken to them. These are the two Epistles to the Thessalonians, and 
 the Epistle to the Philippians. 
 
 3. Epistles of a probable authenticity, although two grave objections 
 have been taken to them. This is the Epistle to the Colossiaus, to 
 which is annexed the note to Philemon. 
 
 4. Epistle doubtful. This is the epistle addressed to the Ephesians. 
 
 5. Epistles false. These are the two Epistles to Timothy, and the 
 Epistle to Titus. 
 
 We have nothing to remark here regarding the epistles of the first 
 category ; critics, the most severe, such as Christian Baur, accept them 
 unreservedly. We shall hardly insist on discussing the epistles of the 
 second class either. The difficulties which certain modern writers have 
 raised against them, are merely those slight suspicions which of course 
 it is the duty of the critic to point out frankly, but without being deter- 
 mined by them when stronger reasons should sway him. Now, these 
 three epistles have a character of authenticity which outweighs every 
 other consideration. The only serious difficulty which has been raised 
 against the Epistles to the Thessalonians, is deduced from the theory of 
 the Anti-Christ appended in the second chapter of the second Epistle 
 to the Thessalonians, a theory which seems identical with that of the 
 Apocalypse, and which consequently assumed Nero to be dead when 
 the books were written. But that objection permits of solution, as we 
 shall see in the course of the present volume. The author of the 
 Apocalypse only applied to his times an assemblage of ideas, one part 
 of which went back even to the origins of Christian belief, while the 
 other part had reference to the times of Caligula. 
 
 The Epistle to the Colossians has been subjected to a much more 
 serious fire of objections. It is undoubted that the language used in that 
 epistle to express the part played by Jesus in the bosom of divinity, as 
 creator and prototype of all creation, trenches strongly on the language 
 of certain other epistles, and seems to approach in style the writings 
 attributed to John. In reading such passages one believes himself to 
 be in the full swing of gnosticism. The language of the Epistle to the 
 Colossians is far removed from that of the undoubted epistles. The 
 
 * In a note, the author defines " superscription " to mean, the first phrase of the 
 texts, and "title" as the heading of each chapter. Translator.
 
 INTRODUCTION. IX 
 
 vocabulary is a little different ; the style is more emphatic and more 
 round, and less abrupt and natural. At points it is embarrassed, decla- 
 matory and overcharged, similar to the style of the false Epistles to 
 Timothy and to Titus. The ideas are scarcely those which one would 
 expect to meet with in Paul. Nevertheless, justification by faith 
 occupies no longer the first place in the predilections of the Apostle. 
 The theory of the angels is much more developed ; the aeons begin to 
 be created. The redemption of Christ is no longer simply a terrestrial 
 fact, it is extended to the entire universe. Certain critics have been 
 able to discern in many passages either imitations of the other epistles, - 
 or the desire of reconciling the peculiar bias of Paul to the different 
 schools of his own (a desire so apparent in the author of the Acts), or 
 the inclination to substitute moral and metaphysical formulas, such as 
 love and science, for the formulas of faith and works which during the first 
 century had caused so many contests. Other critics, in order to explain 
 that singular mixture of things agreeable to Paul, and of things but 
 little agreeable to him, have recourse to interpolations, or assume that 
 Paul confided the editing of the epistle in question to Timotheus. It is 
 certain that when we sift to the bottom this epistle, as well as the one 
 to the Philippians, for a continued account of the life of Paul, we are 
 not quite so successful as in the great epistles of certain authenticity 
 anterior to the captivity of Paul. In the latter, the operation furnished, 
 so to speak, its own proofs ; the facts and the texts fit the one into the 
 other without effort, and seem to recall one another. In the epistles 
 pertaining to the captivity, on the contrary, more than one laborious 
 combination is required, and more than one contradiction has to be 
 silenced ; at first sight, the goings and comings of the disciples do not 
 agree, many of the circumstances of time and place are presented, if we 
 may so speak, backwards. 
 
 Nevertheless, there is nothing about all this which is decisive. If the 
 Epistle to the Colossians is, as we believe it to be, the work of Paul, it 
 was written during the last days of the life of the Apostle, at a date 
 when his biography is very obscure. We shall show later on that it is 
 quite admissible, that the theology of St Paul, which, from the Epistles 
 to the Thessalonians to the Epistle to the Romans, is so strongly de- 
 veloped, was developed still further in the interval between the Epistle 
 to the Romans and his death. We shall show likewise, that the most 
 energetic expressions of the Epistle to the Colossians were only a short 
 advance upon those of the anterior epistles. St Paul was one of those 
 men who, through their natural bent of mind, have a tendency to pass 
 from one order of ideas to another, even though their style and their 
 manner of perception present sentiments the most fixed. The taint 
 of gnosticism which is to be found in the Epistle to the Colossians is 
 encountered, though less articulated in the other writings of the New 
 Testament, particularly in the Apocalypse, and in the Epistle to the 
 Hebrews. In place of rejecting some passages of the New Testament 
 in which are to be found traces of gnosticism, we must sometimes 
 reason inversely, and seek out in these passages the origin of the gnostic 
 ideas which prevailed in the Second Century. We may, in a sense, 
 even say, that these ideas were anterior to Christianity, and that
 
 X SAINT PAUL. 
 
 nascent Christianity borrowed from it more than once. In a word, the 
 Epistle to the Colossians, although full of eccentricities, does not embrace 
 any of those impossibilities which are to be found in the Epistles to 
 Titus and to Timothy. It furnishes even many of those notions which 
 reject the hypothesis as being false. Of this number is surely its 
 connection with the note to Philemon. If the epistle is apocryphal, 
 the note is apocryphal also ; yet few of the pages have so pronounced 
 a tone of sincerity ; Paul alone, as it appears to us, could write that little 
 master-piece. The apocryphal epistles of the New Testament, those, for 
 example, to Titus and to Timothy, are obscure and heavy. The Epistle 
 to Philemon resembles in nothing these fastidious imitations. 
 
 Finally, we shall soon show that the epistle written to the Ephesians 
 is in part copied from the Epistle to the Colossians, which leads to the 
 supposition, that the editor of the Epistle to the Ephesians firmly 
 regarded the Epistle to the Colossians as an original apostolic. Note, 
 also, that Marcion, who is in general so well informed in his criticism on 
 the writings of Paul, Mareion who so justly rejected the Epistles to 
 Titus and to Timothy, admits without question in his collection the 
 two epistles of which we have just been speaking. 
 
 Infinitely more strong are the objections which can be raised against 
 the Epistle written to the Ephesians. And first of all, note that this de- 
 signation is nothing if not certain. The epistle has absolutely no seal of 
 circumstance ; it is addressed to no one in particular ; those to whom 
 it was addressed occupied a smaller place in the thoughts of Paul for the 
 moment than his other correspondents. Is it admissible that Paul 
 could have written to a Church with which he had relations so intimate, 
 without saluting anybody, without conveying to the brethren the salu- 
 tations of the brethren with whom they were acquainted, and parti- 
 cularly Timothy, without addressing to his disciples some counsel ; 
 without speaking to them of anterior relations, and without the com- 
 position presenting any of those peculiar features which constitute the 
 most authentic character of the other epistles ? 
 
 The composition is addressed to converted Pagans ; but the Church 
 at Ephesus was, however, in great part Judseo-Christian. When we 
 remember with what eagerness Paul in all his epistles seized on and 
 invented pretexts for speaking of his ministry and of his preaching, we 
 experience a lively surprise in seeing him throughout the course of a 
 letter addressed to these same Ephesians : " that for the space of three 
 years he did not cease, night and day, to exhort with tears," lose every 
 opportunity which was presented to him of reminding them of his so- 
 journ amongst them ; in seeing him, I say, obstinately confining himself 
 to abstract philosophy, or, what is more singular, to the lifeless formulas 
 most suitable to the growth of the first Church. How different it is 
 in the Epistles to the Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, and Thessa- 
 lonians, even in the Epistle to those Colossians, whom, however, the 
 Apostle only knew indirectly. The Epistle to the Romans is the only 
 one which in this respect resembles a little the epistles in question. Like 
 them, the Epistle to the Romans is a complete doctrinal expose ; whilst 
 with the epistles addressed to those readers who had received from him 
 the Gospel, Paul supposes always the basis of his teaching to be known,
 
 INTRODUCTION. . XI 
 
 and contents himself with insisting upon some point which is related to 
 it. How does it come about that the only two impersonal letters of St 
 Paul are, in the one case, an epistle addressed to a Church which he had 
 never seen, and in the other, an epistle addressed to the Church with 
 which he had the most extended and continuous relations ? 
 
 The reading of the Epistle to the Ephesians is, therefore, sufficient 
 to awaken the suspicion that the production in question had not been 
 addressed to the Church at Ephesus. The evidence furnished by the 
 manuscripts changes these suspicions into certainty. The words ev 
 'Efafftf), in the first verse, were introduced about the end of the fourth 
 century. The Vatican manuscript, and the Codex Sinaiticus, both of 
 the fourth century, and whose authority, at least, when they are in. 
 accord, are more important than that of all the other manuscripts to- 
 gether, do not contain these words. A Vienna manuscript, the one 
 which is designated in the collection of the Apostle Paul by the figures 
 67, of the eleventh or twelfth centuries, presents them erased. St 
 Basil attests that the ancient manuscripts which he was able to consult 
 did not have these words. Finally, the witnesses of the third century 
 prove, that at that epoch, the sentence of the said words in the first 
 verse was unknown. If then everybody believed that the epistle of 
 which we are speaking had been addressed to the Ephesians, it was in 
 virtue of the title, and not in virtue of the superscription. A man who, 
 in spite of the a priori dogmatic spirit which is often carried into the 
 correction of the holy books, had frequently flashes of true criticism, 
 Marcion (about 150 A.u.) contended that the epistle addressed to the 
 Ephesians was the Epistle to the Laodiceans, of whom St Paul speaks 
 in the Epistle to the Colossians. That which appears the most certain 
 is, that the epistle entitled Ephesians was not addressed to any special 
 Church, and that if it belongs to St Paul, it is a simple circular letter 
 intended for the churches in Asia which were composed of converted 
 Pagans. The superscription of these letters, of which there are several 
 copies, might present, according to the words, rots oftcriv, a blank 
 destined to receive the name of the church to whom it was addressed. 
 Perhaps the Church at Ephesus possessed one of these copies of which 
 the editor of the letters of Paul availed himself. The fact of finding 
 one such copy at Ephesus appeared to him a sufficient reason for writing 
 at the head npos 'E</>e<n'oi*s. As it was omitted at an early date to 
 preserve a blank after o&criv, the superscription became : rots ajiois rots 
 ofiaiv, -)(a.l iriffTots, a rather unsatisfactory reading, which was supposed 
 to rectify in the fourth century, in inserting after otiaiv, in conformity 
 with the title, the words ev 'E^eVy. 
 
 This doubt in regard to the recipients of the epistle addressed to the 
 Ephesians might be very readily reconciled with its authenticity ; but 
 critical reflection upon this second point excites more suspicion. One 
 fact which confronts us at the very threshold, is the resemblance which 
 is to be remarked between the epistle addressed to the Ephesians and 
 the Epistle to the Colossians. The two epistles fit the one into the 
 other. Which is the epistle that has served for the original, and which 
 is to be considered as an imitation ! It looks indeed as if it were the 
 Epistle to the Colossians which was the original, and the Epistle to the
 
 Xli SAINT PAUL. 
 
 Ephesians the imitation. The second epistle is more fully thought out ; 
 the formulas in it are exaggerated ; everything that distinguishes the 
 Epistle to the Colossians among the epistles of St Paul is more pro- 
 nounced still in the epistle addressed to the Ephesians. The Epistle to 
 the Colossians is full of special details. It has a dictum which cor- 
 responds well with the historical circumstances in which it must have 
 been written ; the Epistle to the Ephesians is altogether vague. We 
 can understand how a general catechism might be drawn from a parti- 
 cular letter, but not how a particular letter might be drawn from a 
 general catechism. In fine, the 21st verse of chapter vi. of the Epistle 
 to the Ephesians takes it for granted, that the Epistle to the Colossians 
 was previously written. It being admitted that the Epistle to the 
 Colossians was a work of St Paul's, the question then may be stated 
 as follows : How could Paul waste his time in counterfeiting one 
 of his own works, repeating himself, to make an ordinary letter out of a 
 topical and special letter ? 
 
 Though this is not altogether impossible, it is not very probable. 
 The improbability of such a conception is diminished if we suppose that 
 Paul delegated that task to one of his disciples. Perhaps Timothy, for 
 example, may have taken the Epistle to the Colossians so as to apply it, 
 and to make of it a general composition which could be addressed to all 
 the Churches of Asia. It is difficult to speak with assurance on this 
 point : for it is also supposable that the epistle may have been written 
 after the death of Paul, at an epoch when people set about seeking out 
 apostolic writings, and when seeing the small number of such writings, 
 people were not over scrupulous in producing new ones, imitating, 
 assimilating, copying, and in diluting writings previously held to be 
 apostolic. Thus the second general Epistle of Peter was manufactured 
 out of the first epistle, and out of the Epistle of Jude. It is possible 
 that the epistle addressed to the Ephesians owed its origin to the same 
 process. The objections which have been raised against the Epistle to 
 the Colossians, both as regards language and doctrines, are addressed 
 principally to the latter. The Epistle to the Ephesians, in respect of 
 style, is sensibly different from the undisputed epistles. It contains 
 favourite expressions, gradations which only belong to it ; words 
 foreign to the ordinary language of Paul, some of which are to be found 
 in the Epistles to Timothy, to Titus, and to the Hebrews. The sen- 
 tences are diffuse, feeble, and loaded with useless words and repetitions, 
 entangled with frivolous incidents, full of pleonasms and of encumbrances. 
 The same difference is apparent in the ideas. In the epistle directed to 
 the Ephesians, gnosticism is plainly manifest. The notion of the 
 church conceived as a living organism is developed in it in such a way 
 as to carry the mind to the years 70 or 80 ; the exegesis is foreign to 
 the custom of Paul. The manner in which he speaks of the " holy 
 Apostles " surprises one. The theory of marriage is different from that 
 which Paul expounded to the Corinthians. 
 
 On the other hand, it must be said, that the aim and the interest 
 the counterfeiter might have had in composing this piece is not alto- 
 gether apparent, inasmuch as it adds little to the Epistle to the Colos- 
 sians. It seems, moreover, that a forger would have written a letter
 
 INTRODUCTION. Xlll 
 
 plainly addressed and circumstantial, as was the case with the Epistles 
 to Timothy and Titus. That Paul wrote or dictated this letter is 
 almost impossible to admit ; but that some one may have composed it 
 during his lifetime, under his eyes, and in his name, is what cannot be 
 declared as improbable. Paul, a prisoner at Rome, is able to charge 
 Tychicus to go and visit the Churches of Asia, and to remit several 
 letters the Epistle to the Colossians, the Note" to Philemon, and the 
 Epistle, now lost, to the Laodicaeans ; he could, besides, remit to him 
 copies of a sort of circular letter in which the name of the destined 
 church was left in blank, and which could be the epistle addressed 
 to the Ephesians. On his way to Ephesus, Tychicus could shew this 
 open letter to the Ephesians ; and it is permissible to suppose that 
 the latter took or retained a copy of it. The resemblance of this epistle 
 to the Epistle to the Colossians was, as if that a man who had written 
 several letters at intervals of a few days, and who, being pre-occupied, 
 with a certain number of fixed ideas, had relapsed, without knowing it, 
 into the same expressions ; or, rather, as if that Paul had charged either 
 Timothy or Tychicus in composing the circular letter to make it fit in 
 with the Epistle to the Colossians, and to exclude everything of a 
 topical character. The passage, Colossians iv. 16, shows that Paul 
 sometimes caused the letters to be carried from one church to another. 
 We shall see presently that a similar hypothesis must be made use of 
 to explain certain peculiarities of the Epistle to the Romans. It 
 appears that, in these last years, Paul adopted encyclical letters as a 
 form of writing well adapted to the vast rural ministry that he had 
 to fulfil. In writing to one church, the thought occurred to him that 
 the things which he indited might be suitable for other churches, and he 
 so arranged matters that the latter might not be deprived of them. 
 We come in this way to regard the Epistle to the Colossians and the 
 Epistle addressed to the Ephesians, taken together, as a pendent to the 
 Epistle to the Romans, as a sort of a theological exposition, which was 
 destined to be transmitted in the form of a circular letter to the 
 different churches founded by the Apostle. The Epistle to the Ephe- 
 sians had not the same degree of authenticity as the Epistle to the 
 Colossians ; but it had a more general application, and it was pre- 
 ferred. In very early times it was taken for a work of Paul's, and 
 for a writing of high authority. This is proved by the use which is 
 made of it in the first epistle attributed to Peter, a treatise whose 
 authenticity is not impossible, and which, in any case, belongs to the 
 apostolic period. Among the letters which bear the name of Paul, 
 the Epistle to the Ephesians is probably the one which was the first 
 cited as a composition of the Apostle of the Gentiles. 
 
 There remain the two Epistles to Timothy and the Epistle to Titus. 
 The authenticity of these three epistles present some insurmountable 
 difficulties. I regard them as apocryphal productions. To prove this, 
 I would point out that the language of the three writings is not that 
 of Paul. I would take note of a series of turns and expressions either 
 exclusively peculiar, or particularly dear to the author, which, being 
 characteristic, ought to be found in similar proportions in the other 
 epistles of Paul, or, at least, in the proportion desired. Other expres-
 
 XIV SAINT PAUL. 
 
 sioiis, which bear in a kind of way the signature of Paul, are lacking in 
 this. I would particularly point out that these epistles embrace a 
 multitude of inconsistencies, both as regards the supposed author and 
 the supposed recipients. The ordinary characteristic of the letters 
 fabricated with a doctrinal intention is, that the forger sees the public 
 over the head of the pretended recipient, and writes to the latter 
 about things of which he is entirely conversant, and to which the forger 
 desires the public to listen. The three epistles under discussion partake 
 in a high degree of this character. Paul, whose authenticated letters are 
 so particular, so precise ; Paul, who, believing in the near end of the 
 world, never supposed that he would be read in after ages. Paul was 
 herein a general preacher, just enough interested in his correspondent to 
 make sermons to him which had no relation to himself, and to address 
 to him a small code of ecclesiastical discipline in view of the future. 
 But these arguments, which of themselves ought to be decisive, I can 
 afford to pass over. I shall only make use of, in proving my thesis, 
 reasonings which are more or less material. I shall attempt to demon- 
 strate that there is no possible means of putting these into the known 
 frame, or even into a possible frame of the life of St Paul. A very 
 important preliminary observation is the perfect similarity of these three 
 epistles, the one to the other a similarity which compels the admission 
 that either all three are authentic or all three must be rejected as 
 apocryphal. The particular features which separate them widely from 
 the other epistles of St Paul are the same. The odd expressions in the 
 language of St Paul, which are to be remarked in them, are to be dis- 
 covered equally in the three. The defects which render the style 
 unworthy of St Paul are identical. It is a curious enough fact that 
 each time St Paul takes the pen to write to his disciples he forgets his 
 habitual mannerisms, falls into the same looseness, the same idioms. 
 The groundwork of the ideas gives rise to a similar observation. The 
 three epistles are full of vague counsels, of moral exhortations, of which 
 Timothy and Titus, familiarised by daily intercourse with the ideas of 
 the Apostle, had no need. The errors which are combatted in them are 
 always a sort of gnosticism. The predilections of the author in the 
 three epistles do not much vary ; we see the jealous and anxious care 
 of an orthodoxy already formed and of a hierarchy already developed. 
 The three narratives are sometimes a repetition of one another, and 
 copies of the other epistles of St Paul. One thing is certain, namely, 
 that if the three epistles had been written at the dictation of Paul, they 
 belong to the same period of his life a period separated by long years 
 from the time when he composed the other epistles. Any hypotheses 
 which place between the three epistles in question an interval of three 
 or four years, for example, or which placed between them some one of 
 the other epistles which are known to us, ought to be rejected. To 
 explain the similarity, the one to the other, of the three epistles, and 
 their disimilarity to the others, admits of but one possible construction, 
 and that is to suppose that they were written in a space of time some- 
 what short, and a long time after the others at an epoch when all the 
 circumstances which surrounded the Apostle had been changed, when 
 be had become old, when his ideas arid his style had undergone modifi-
 
 INTRODUCTION. XV 
 
 cation. Certainly one might succeed in proving the possibility of such 
 an hypothesis, but that would not resolve the question. The style of a 
 man may change ; but from a style the most striking and the most 
 inimitable that ever existed, one cannot fall into a style prolix and 
 destitute of vigour. In any case, such an hypothesis is formally 
 excluded by what we know for certain of the life of Paul. We proceed 
 now to demonstrate this. 
 
 The first Epistle to Timothy is the one which presents the fewest 
 individual traits, and nevertheless, did it stand alone, we would not be 
 able to find in it an incident in the life of Paul. Paul, when he was 
 reputed to have written this epistle, had left Timothy for a long time, 
 for he had not written to him since he went away (i. 3). The Apostle 
 quitted Timothy at Ephesus. Paul at that same time had departed for 
 Macedonia. Not having time to combat the errors which had begun to 
 spread at Ephesus, the chief of which were Hymenseus and Alexander 
 (i. 20), Paul had left Timothy in order to combat these errors. The 
 journey which Paul made was to be of short duration ; he calculated 
 to return soon to Ephesus (iii. 14, 15 ; vi. 13). 
 
 Two hypotheses have been proposed in order to include this epistle in 
 the contexture of the life of Paul, such as those which are furnished by 
 the Acts, and confirmed by the certain epistles. According to the one, 
 the journey from Ephesus into Macedonia, which separated Paul and 
 Timothy, is the one which is narrated in Acts xx. 1. That journey took 
 place during the third mission. Paul remained three years at Ephesus. 
 He left in order to see once more his churches in Macedonia, and those 
 in Achaia. It was, it is said, from Macedonia or Achaia that he wrote 
 to the disciple whom he had left in Ephesus, giving him full powers. 
 This hypothesis is inadmissible. First, the Acts inform us (xix. 22) 
 that Timothy had gone in advance of his master into Macedonia, where 
 in fact Paul joined him (2 Cor. i. 1). And then is it probable that, 
 almost on the morrow of his departure from Ephesus, Paul should have 
 given to his disciple the instructions of which we read in the first Epistle 
 to Timothy. The errors which he singled out in it he had himself been 
 able to combat. The turn of the verse (1 Tim. i. 3) is not compatible 
 with a man who is about to depart from Ephesus after a long sojourn. 
 Besides, Paul announces the intention of returning to Ephesus (iii. 14 ; 
 iv. 13) ; but Paul, in quitting Ephesus, had the fixed intention of going 
 to Jerusalem without passing again through Ephesus (Acts xix. 21 ; 
 xx. 1, 3, 16 ; 1 Cor. xvi. 4 ; ii. 1, 16). Let us add, that if we suppose 
 the epistle to be written at that moment, everything about it becomes 
 awkward ; the defect of the apocryphal letters, which are anything but 
 precise, in which the author holds up to his fictitious correspondent 
 things au courant of what was about to be ; such a defect, I say, is 
 carried so far as to be absurd. 
 
 In order to avoid this difficulty, and above all to explain the intention 
 announced by Paul of returning to Ephesus, people have had recourse 
 to another explanation. It is supposed that the journey from Mace- 
 donia, mentioned in the verse (1 Tim. i. 3), is a journey not recounted 
 in the Acts which Paul would have made during his three years' sojourn 
 at Ephesus. It is certainly permissible to believe that Paul was not
 
 XVI SAINT PAUL. 
 
 all that time stationary. It is supposed, then, that he made a joxirney 
 into the Archipelago, and through there, at the same sweep, a link was 
 designed to be attached to the Epistle to Titus in a manner more or less 
 conformable to the life of Paul. We do not deny the possibility of 
 such a journey, although the silence of the Acts presents, it is true, a 
 difficulty : yet, we cannot deny that it is here where the embarrass- 
 ments begin which are found in First Timothy. By accepting this 
 hypothesis, we understand less than if we had adopted the former one 
 as to the meaning of the verse i. 3. Why does he tell Timothy what he 
 already knows quite well ? Paul had just passed two or three years at 
 Ephesus, and he will soon again return there. What ! signifies these 
 errors he has suddenly discovered at the moment of departure, which he 
 leaves Timothy at Ephesus to settle. By the latter hypothesis, more- 
 over, the first Epistle to Timothy should have been written about the 
 same time as the great authentic epistles of Paul. What ! is it on the 
 morrow of the Epistles to the Galatians, and on the eve to the Corin- 
 thians, that Paul could have written such a milk-and-water amplifica- 
 tion ? He must have dropped his habitual style in setting out from 
 Ephesus ; he must have found it again on returning there, in order to 
 write the letters to the Corinthians, excepting on one occasion, a few 
 years after, when he took up again the pretended style of the journey 
 for the purpose of writing to the self-same Timothy. The second to 
 Timothy, by the admission of everybody, could not have been written 
 before the arrival of Paul at Koine, a prisoner. Accordingly there must 
 have elapsed several years between the First Epistle to Timothy and 
 that to Titus, on the one hand, and the second to Timothy on the other. 
 This could not be. The three narratives have been copied the one from 
 the other ; but how are we to suppose that Paul, after an interval of 
 five or six years, in writing to a friend, should make extracts from old 
 letters ? Would that be a proceeding worthy of a master of the epis- 
 tolary art, one so ardent and so rich in ideas ? The second hypothesis 
 is then, like the first, a tissue of improbabilities. The verse (1 Tim. i. 3) 
 is a maze from which the apologist cannot extricate himself. That verse 
 raises an impossibility in the biography of St Paul. We must find an 
 instance where Paul, in going into Macedonia, could only have touched at 
 Ephesus ; that instance has no existence in the life of St Paul previous 
 to his imprisonment. Let us add, that when Paul is reputed to have 
 written the epistle in question, the Church of Ephesus possessed a com- 
 plete organisation of elders, deacons, and deaconesses ; this church even 
 presents the usual appearances of a community already grown old with 
 its schisms and errors, nothing of all of which is applicable to the times 
 of the third mission. If the first to Timothy was written by Paul, we 
 must throw it into an hypothetical period of his life posterior to his 
 imprisonment, and beyond the scope of the Acts. This hypothesis, in- 
 volving also the examination of the two other epistles of which we have 
 just been speaking, will be reserved by us till later on. 
 
 The Second Epistle to Timothy furnishes many more facts than the 
 first. The Apostle is evidently in prison at Rome (i. 8, 12, 16, 17 ; 
 ii. 9-10). Timothy is at Ephesus (i. 16-18; ii. 17 ; iv. 14-15, 19), 
 where the false doctrines continue to increase through the fault of
 
 INTRODUCTION. xvii 
 
 Hymenseus and Philetus (ii. 17). Paul has not been long at Rome and 
 in prison, whence he gives to Timothy in the form of news certain details 
 about a journey into the Archipelago he had just made ; at Miletum he 
 has left Trophimus sick (i. 11, 20) ; at Troas he has left several things 
 with Carpus (iv. 13), Erastus remained at Corinth (iv. 20). At Rome 
 the Asiatics, among others Phygellas and Hermogenes, have abandoned 
 him (i. 15). Another Ephesian, on the other hand, Onesiphorus, one of 
 his old friends, having come to Rome, sought him out, and found him, 
 and cared for him in his captivity (i. 16-18). The Apostle is filled with 
 a presentiment of his near end (iv. 6-8). His disciples are far removed 
 from him. Demas has forsaken him to pursue his worldly interests, 
 and is departed unto Thessalonica (iv. 10) ; Crescens to Galatia (ibid.), 
 Titus unto Dalmatia (ibid.) ; and he has sent Tychicus to Ephesus (iv. 
 12) ; only Luke is with him (iv. 11). A certain Alexander, a copper- 
 smith from Ephesus, did him much evil, and opposed him actively ; 
 this Alexander has set out again for Ephesus (i. 14-15). Paul has 
 already appeared before the Roman authorities ; on this occasion no one 
 has assisted him (iv. 16), but God has aided him, and delivered him from 
 out of the mouth of the lion (iv. 17). In consequence of this, he begs 
 Timothy to come before the winter (iv. 9, 21), and to bring Mark with 
 him (iv. 11). He gives him at the same time a commission which is to 
 bring him his cloak, the books, and the parchment which he left at 
 Troas with Carpus (iv. 13). He recommended him to salute Prisca, 
 Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus. He sends to him the 
 greetings of Pudens, of Linus, of Claudia, and of all the brethren 
 (iv. 21). 
 
 This simple analysis suffices to point out some strange incoherencies. 
 The Apostle is at Rome ; he has just made a journey of the Archipelago, 
 he gives to Timothy the particulars of it, as though he had not written 
 to him since the journey. In the same letter he speaks to him of his 
 prison and of his trial. Will any one say that this journey into the 
 Archipelago was the journey of Paul the captive, narrated in the Acts ? 
 But in this journey Paul did not traverse the Archipelago, neither could 
 he go to Miletum, nor to Troas, nor, above all, to Corinth, since at the 
 elevation of Cnide, the tempest drives the vessels upon Crete, then upon 
 Malta. Will any one say that the voyage in question was the last 
 voyage of St Paid, a free man, his return voyage to Jerusalem in com- 
 pany with the deputies charged with accusing him ? But Timothy was 
 in that voyage at least from Macedonia (Acts xx. 4). More than two 
 years rolled away between that voyage and the arrival of Paul at Rome 
 (Acts xxiv. 27). Can we conceive that Paul would recount to Timothy 
 as being news, things which took place in his presence a long time 
 before, when, in the interval, they had lived together, and had hardly 
 been separate ? Far from being left sick at Miletum, Trophimus 
 followed the Apostle to Jerusalem, and was the cause of his arrestment 
 (Acts xx. 29). The passage, 2 Tim. iv. 10, 11, compared with Col. v. 
 10, 14, and with Philemon 24, forms a contradiction not less serious. 
 How could Demas have forsaken Paul when the latter wrote the second 
 to Timothy, seeing that epistle was posterior to the Epistle to the 
 Colossians and to the Epistle to Philemon ? When writing these two 
 VOL. I. 6
 
 XV111 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 last epistles Paul has Mark near him ; how, in writing to Timothy 
 could he therefore say, "Take Mark and bring him with thee : for 
 he is profitable to me for the ministry ? " On the other hand, we have 
 established the fact, that it is not allowable to separate the three letters ; 
 but in the manner it has been treated by some there would be three 
 years at least between the first and the second to Timothy, and it is 
 necessary to place between them the second to the Corinthians and the 
 Epistle to the Romans. One single refuge then remains here for the 
 first to Timothy, and that is to suppose that the second to Timothy was 
 written during a prolongation of the life of the Apostle of which the 
 Acts makes no mention. This hypothesis may be demonstrably possi- 
 ble, but a multitude of inherent difficulties to the epistle would still 
 remain. Timothy is at Ephesus, and (iv. 12) Paul says dryly, " I have 
 sent Tychicus to Ephesus," as if Ephesus was not the place of destina- 
 tion. What could be more barren than the passage 2 Tim. iii. 10-11 ? 
 Nay, what could be more inexact ? Paul was only associated with 
 Timothy in the second mission, but the persecutions which Paul under- 
 went at Antioch in Pisidia, at Iconium, and Lystra took place during 
 the first mission. The real Paul writing to Timothy would have had 
 many other mutual experiences to put him in mind of. Let us add, 
 that he would not have dreamt of losing his time in recalling them to 
 him. A thousand improbabilities rise up on every side, but it is useless 
 to discuss them, for the hypothesis itself is in question, and according to 
 which our epistle would be posterior to the appearance of Paul before 
 the council of Nero. This hypothesis, I say, ought to be discarded, as 
 we shall demonstrate when we come to discuss, in its turn, the Epistle 
 to Titus. 
 
 When Paul wrote the Epistle to Titus, the latter was in the island of 
 Crete (i. 5). Paul, who had just visited that island, and had been very 
 much dissatisfied with the inhabitants (i. 12, 13), left his disciples there, 
 in order to complete the organisation of the churches, and to go from 
 city to city to establish presbyteri or episcopi (i. 5). He promised Titus 
 to send him soon Artemas and Tychicus ; he begged his disciples to 
 come, when he had received these two brethren, to rejoin him at 
 Nicopolis where he calculated to pass the winter (iii. 12). The Apostle 
 next recommends his disciple to bring diligently Zenas and Apollos, and 
 to take great care of them (iii. 13). 
 
 And here, again, with every phrase difficulties present themselves. 
 Not a word for the faithful Cretians nothing but hurtful and unbefitting 
 severity (i. 12, 13) fresh declamations against errors, the existence of 
 which the churches recently established had not dreamt of (i. 10 et 
 euivi) errors Paul, absent, saw and was better acquainted with them 
 than Titus who was on the spot details which presumed Christianity 
 to be already old and completely developed in the island (i. 5, 6) trivial 
 recommendations bearing upon points quite clear. Such an epistle 
 would have been useless to Titus, as it did not contain a single word 
 that he ought not to have known by heart. But it is by direct argu- 
 ments, and not by plausible inductions, that the apocryphal character 
 of the document in question can be made clear. 
 
 If it is wished to connect this letter with the period in the life of Paul
 
 INTRODUCTION. XIX 
 
 known through the Acts, the same difficulties are experienced as in those 
 which precede. According to the Acts, Paul only touched at Crete 
 once, and that was when shipwrecked. He made but a very short stay 
 there, and during the stay he was a captive. It is surely riot at this 
 moment that Paul was able to commence the founding of churches in 
 the island. Besides, if it were the voyage of Paul as a captive which 
 is related (Tit. i. 5), Paul, when he wrote, ought to be a captive at 
 Rome. How could he say from his prison at Rome that he intended to 
 pass the winter at Xicopolis ? Why did he not make, as was his cus- 
 tom, some allusion to his being in the condition of a prisoner ? 
 
 Another hypothesis has been tried. It has been attempted to connect 
 the Epistle to Titus and the Epistle to Timothy the one to the other. It 
 has been premised that these two epistles were the results of the epi- 
 sodical voyage, which St Paul might have composed during his sojourn 
 at Ephesus. No doubt this hypothesis may go a very little way to ex- 
 plain the difficulties in the first to Timothy, but we must investigate it 
 to see whether the Epistle to Titus can lend it any support. 
 
 Paul was at Ephesus for a year or two. During the summer he 
 formed the project of making an apostolic tour, of which the Acts has 
 made no mention. He left Timothy at Ephesus, and took with him 
 Titus and the two Ephesians, Artemas and Tychicus. He went first 
 into Macedonia, then from there to Crete, where he founded several 
 churches. He left Titus in the island, charging him to continue his 
 work, and to repair to Corinth with Artemas and Tychicus. He made 
 there the acquaintance of Apollos, whom he had not seen before, and 
 who was on the point of setting out for Ephesus. He begged Apollos 
 to go a little way out of his straight route so as to pass through Crete, 
 and to carry to Titus the epistle which has been preserved. His plan 
 at that moment was to go into Epirus, and to pass the winter at 
 Nicopolis. He sends to inform Titus of that plan, announces to him 
 that he will see again Artemas and Tychicus in Crete, and begs him, as 
 soon as he shall have seen them, to come and rejoin him at Nicopolis. 
 Paul then made hi.s journey into Epirus. He wrote from Epirus the 
 first to Timothy, and charged Artemas and Timothy to take it with 
 them ; he enjoined them likewise to pass through Crete, so as to give at 
 the same time the notice to Titus to come and join him at Nicopolis. 
 Titus repaired to Nicopolis, and the Apostle and his disciple returned 
 together to Ephesus. 
 
 With this hypothesis we can in a fashion give an account of the cir- 
 cumstances contained in the Epistle to Titus, and the first to Timothy. 
 Nay, more, we obtain two apparent advantages by it. It serves to ex- 
 plain the passages of the Epistles to the Corinthians, from which it 
 appears, at first glance, to result that St Paul, in going to Corinth at 
 the end of his long sojourn at Ephesus, went there for the third time 
 (1 Cor. xvi. 7 ; '2 Cor. ii. 1 ; xii. 14, 21 ; xiii. 1) ; it serves further to 
 explain the passage in which St Paul pretends to have preached the 
 Gospel as far away as Illyrium (Rom. xv. 19). There is nothing sub- 
 stantial about these advantages, nor anything to compensate for the 
 injuries done to probability in order to obtain them ! 
 
 First, this pretended episodical voyage, so short that the author of
 
 XX SAINT PAUL. 
 
 the Acts did not judge it proper to speak of it, must have been very con- 
 siderable, since it embraced a journey into Macedonia, a voyage to Crete, 
 a sojourn at Corinth, and wintering at Nicopolis. This must have taken 
 almost a year. Why, then, does the author of the Acts say that the 
 sojourn of Paul at Ephesus extended over three years (Acts xix. 8, 10 ; 
 xx. 31). Doubtless these expressions do not exclude short absences, but 
 they exclude a series of journeys. Besides, in the hypothesis we are 
 discussing, the voyage to Nicopolis should have taken place before the 
 second Epistle to the Corinthians. Yet, in that epistle, Paul declares 
 that Corinth is, at the date when he wrote, the extreme point of his 
 missions towards the west. Finally, the itinerary which has been traced 
 of the journey of Paul is not very natural. Paul went first into Mace- 
 donia the text is formal (1 Tim. i. 3) and thence he repairs to Crete. 
 In going from Macedonia into Crete, Paul must have cruised about the 
 coast, either at Ephesus in which case the verse, 1 Tim. i. 3, is denuded 
 of meaning or at Corinth, in which case we cannot conceive why he 
 wanted to return there immediately after. And how is it that Paul, in 
 desiring to make a journey from Epirus, speaks of the winter which he 
 must pass, and not of the journey itself ? And this sojourn at Nicopolis, 
 how is it that we do not know more about it ? To suppose the Nico- 
 polis in question to be the one in Thrace, on the Nestus, only adds to 
 the confusion, and does not possess any of the apparent advantages of 
 the hypothesis discussed above. 
 
 Some exegites think to remove the difficulty by modifying a little the 
 journey required by this hypothesis. According to them, Paul went 
 from Epirus into Crete, from there to Corinth, then to Nicopolis, then 
 to Macedonia. The fatal verse, 1 Tim. i. 3, is opposed to that. Let 
 us suppose a person starting from Paris, with the intention of making a 
 trip to England, by the banks of the Rhine in Switzerland and in 
 Lombardy. That person, having arrived at Cologne, would he write to 
 one of his friends in Paris : " I have left you at Paris, and am going to 
 Lombardy 1 " The conduct of St Paul, in any of these suppositions, is 
 not less absurd than the route of such a one. The journey of Tychicus 
 and Artemas into Crete is not susceptible of proof. Why did Paul not 
 give to Apollos a letter for Timothy ? Why did he delay writing to 
 him through Tychicus and Artemas ? Why did he not fix a time with 
 Titus when he should come to join him, seeing that his projects were 
 arrested ? These journeys from Corinth to Ephesus, all made by way of 
 Crete, for the lack of an apology, are not at all natural. Paul, in this 
 hypothesis of the episodical journey, in whatever manner we may regard 
 the itinerary, gives and holds back perpetually ; he does things without 
 due consideration ; he extracts only from his wanderings a portion of 
 their advantages, reserving for future occasions that which he could 
 very well accomplish at the moment. When these epistles are in 
 question, it seems that the ordinary laws of probability and of good sense 
 are reversed. 
 
 All attempts to include the Epistles to Titus and Timothy in the 
 work of the life of St Paul traced by the Acts are tainted with 
 insoluble contradictions. The authentic epistles of St Paul explain, 
 suppose, and penetrate one another. The three epistles in question
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXI 
 
 rnay be compared to a small round apart, punched out by a severe 
 critic ; and this is so much the more singular when two of them, the 
 first to Timothy and the one to Titus, should happen just in the middle 
 of that whirl of affairs, so very consecutive and so well known, which 
 have reference to the Epistle to the Galatians, the two to the Corinthians, 
 and that to the Romans. Several also of the exegites who defend the 
 authenticity of these three gospels have had recourse to another hypo- 
 thesis. They pretend that these epistles ought to be placed at a period 
 in the life of St Paul of which the Acts makes no mention. According 
 to the latter, Paul, after having appeared before Nero, as is implied in 
 the Acts, was acquitted, which is very possible, nay, even probable. Set 
 at liberty, he resumed his apostolic career, and went into Spain, which 
 is likewise probable. According to the critics, of whom we are speak- 
 ing, Paul, at that period of his life, made a fresh journey to the Archi- 
 pelago the journey which is referred to in the Epistles to Timothy and 
 Titus. He returned again to Rome, and was there made prisoner a 
 second time, and from his prison wrote the second to Timothy. 
 
 All this, it must be owned, resembles much the artificial defence of 
 an accused person who, in order to answer objections, is driven to 
 invent an assemblage of facts which have no connection with anything 
 that is known. These isolated hypotheses, without either support or 
 force, are in the eyes of the law a sign of culpability, in criticism the 
 sign of apocryphy. Even admitting the possibility of that new voyage 
 to the Archipelago, it would take no end of pains to bring into accord 
 the facts related in the three epistles ; these goings and comings are 
 susceptible of very little proof. But such a discussion is useless. It is 
 evident, in fact, that the author of the second to Timothy knew well 
 how to speak of the captivity mentioned in the Acts, and to which 
 allusion is made in the Epistles to the Philippians, Colossians, and 
 Philemon. The similarity of 2 Tim. 9-22 with the endings of the 
 Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon proves it. The personnel 
 which surrounded the Apostle is nearly identical in both cases. The 
 captivity, from the midst of which Paul is reputed to have written the 
 second to Timothy, finishes with his liberation (2 Tim. iv. 17-18). Paul 
 in this epistle is full of hope ; he meditates new schemes, and is pre- 
 occupied with the thought, which, in fact, he is full of during the whole 
 of his first (and only) captivity, namely, to perfect evangelical preach- 
 ing to preach Christ to all nations, and in particular to peoples of the 
 far west. If the three epistles were of so far advanced a date, we 
 cannot conceive why Timothy should always be spoken of in them as a 
 young man. We are able, besides, to prove directly that the voyage to 
 the Archipelago, posterior to the sojourn of Paul at Rome, did not take 
 place. In such a voyage, indeed, St Paul would have touched at 
 Miletum ('2 Tim. iv. 20). Now, in the fine discourse which the author 
 of the Acts attributes to St Paul at the end of the third mission, while 
 passing through Miletum, he makes Paul say, " And now. behold, I 
 know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of 
 God, shall see my face no more " (Acts xx. 25). But it is not argued 
 that Paul was deceived in his previsions, so that he had to change his 
 opinions, and to see again a church to which he thought he had said ^
 
 XX11 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 final adieu. This is not the question, however. It matters little to us 
 whether Paul may or may not have uttered these words. The author 
 of the Acts was well acquainted with the routine of Paul's life, although, 
 unfortunately, he has not judged it proper to inform us of it. It is 
 impossible that he could have put into the mouth of his master what 
 he knew very well could not be verified. 
 
 The letters to Timothy and to Titus are therefore refuted by the 
 whole context of the biography of Paul. When they are forced 
 into it by one party, they are thrust out of it by another party. Even 
 if an express period in the life of the Apostle were created for them, 
 the result would not be any more satisfactory. These epistles refute 
 themselves ; they are full of contradictions ; the Acts and the authentic 
 epistles would be lost if we could not succeed in creating another hypo- 
 thesis to uphold the epistles of which we are speaking. And may it 
 not be alleged that a forger could not have thrown a little more spright- 
 liness into these contradictions ? Demo of Corinth, in the second 
 century, has a theory not less chimerical in regard to the journeys of 
 St Paul, inasmuch as he makes him arrive at Corinth and to depart 
 from Corinth for Rome in the company of St Peter, a thing utterly 
 impossible. There is no doubt that the three epistles in question were 
 fabricated at a period when the Acts had not yet gained full authority. 
 Later, the canvas of the Acts was embellished, like the author of the 
 fable of Theckla did about the year 200. The author of our epistles 
 knew the names of the principal disciples of St Paul ; he had read 
 several of his epistles ; he had formed a vague idea of his journeyings ; 
 justly enough, he is struck by the multitude of disciples which sur- 
 rounded Paul, and whom he sends out as messengers in every direction. 
 But the details which he has invented are false and inconsistent : they 
 always represent Timothy as being a young man ; the imperfect notion 
 he has of a journey Paul made into Crete makes him believe that Paul 
 had founded churches there. The personnel which he introduces into 
 the three epistles is peculiarly Ephesian ; we are tempted at moments 
 to think that the desire to exalt certain families of Ephesus and to 
 depreciate some others belonging to it was not altogether singular in 
 a fabricator. 
 
 The three epistles in question, were they apocryphal from one end 
 to the other ? or were they made use of for the purpose of composing 
 authentic letters addressed to Titus and to Timothy, that they should 
 have been diluted, in a sense, to conform with the ideas of the times, 
 and with the intention of leading the authority of the apostles to the 
 developments which the ecclesiastical hierarchy took ? It is this that 
 is difficult to decide. Perhaps, in certain parts, at the close of the 
 second to Timothy, for example, letters bearing different dates have 
 been mixed up ; but even then it must be admitted that the forger has 
 given himself plenty of scope. Indeed, one consequence which is 
 derived from what precedes, is that the three epistles are sisters, 
 that, to speak accurately, they are one and the same work, and that no 
 distinction can be drawn between them in anything that regards their 
 authenticity. 
 
 It is quite otherwise with the question of finding out whether some
 
 INTRODUCTION. XX111 
 
 of the data of the second to Timothy (for example, i. 15-18 ; ii. 17, 18 ; 
 iv. 19-21) have not a historical value. The forger, though not knowing 
 all the life of Paul, and not possessing the Acts, might have, notably 
 on the last days of the Apostle, some original details. Especially do 
 we believe that the passage in the second of Timothy (iv. 19-21) has 
 much importance, and throws a true light upon the imprisonment of 
 St Paul at Rome. The fourth gospel is also, in one sense, apocryphal ; 
 yet we cannot say that on this account it is a work destitute of historical 
 importance. As to that which it possesses of chimera, according to our 
 ideas of such supposititious works, it must, on no account, be discarded 
 from the New Testament. This ought not to occasion the least scruple. 
 If the pious author of the false letters to Timothy and to Titus could be 
 brought back and made to assist amongst us in the discussions of which 
 he has been the cause, he would not be forbidden ; he would respond, 
 like the priest of Asia, author of the Romance of Theckla, when he found 
 himself pressed into a corner : convictum atque confessum id se amore 
 Pauli fecisse. 
 
 The time of the composition of these three epistles may be placed 
 about the year 96 to 100. Theophilus of Antioch (about the year 170) 
 cited them expressly. Ireneus, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, ad- 
 mitted them also. Marcion, on the contrary, rejected them, or did not 
 know them. The allusions which are believed to have been found in 
 the epistles attributed to Clement of Rome, to Ignatius, to Polycarp, 
 are doubtful. There were floating about at that epoch a certain number 
 of hemitetic phrases, ail facts; the presence of those phrases in a writing 
 does not prove that the author has borrowed them directly from some 
 other writing in which he has found them. The agreements which we 
 remark between certain expressions of Hegesippe and certain passages 
 in the epistles in question are singular ; one does not know what conse- 
 quence to draw from them, for if, in those expressions, Hegesippe has 
 in his eye the first Epistle to Timothy, it would seem that he regarded 
 it as a writing posterior to the death of the Apostles. However that 
 may be, it is clear that when he had collected the letters of Paul, the 
 letters to Titus and to Timothy, he enjoyed full authority. Where 
 were they composed * Probably at Ephesus ; probably at Rome. The 
 partisans of this second hypothesis may say that, in the East, people 
 do not commit errors which are remarked ou. Their style bristles with 
 Latinisms. The intention which prompted the writing, to wit, the 
 desire of augmenting the force of the hierarchical principle, and of the 
 authority of the Church, in presenting a model of piety, of docility, 
 of "ecclesiastical spirit," traced by the Apostle himself, is altogether 
 in harmony with what we know of the character of the Roman Church 
 from the first century. 
 
 It only remains for us now to speak of the Epistle to the Hebrews. 
 As we have already said, that epistle does not belong to Paul ; but it 
 ought not to be put in the same category as the two epistles of Timothy 
 and Titus, the author not seeking to pass off his work for a writing 
 of Paul. What is the value of the opinion which is established in the 
 Church, and according to which Paul is the author of this maudlin 
 epistle ? A study of the manuscripts, an examination of the ecclesi-
 
 XXIV SAINT PAUL. 
 
 astical tradition, and an intrinsic criticism of the piece itself will 
 enlighten us on that point. The ancient manuscripts bear simply at 
 the head of the epistle, II/>6s TZppalovs. As to the order of transcription, 
 the Codex Vaticanus and the Codex Sinaiticus representing the Alex- 
 andrine tradition, place the epistle among those of Paul. The Grseco- 
 Latin manuscripts, on the contrary, exhibit all the hesitation which 
 still remained in the West during the first half of the middle ages, 
 as to the canonicity of the Epistle to the Hebrews, and, by consequence, 
 its attribution to Paul. The Codex Hoernerianus omits it ; the Codex 
 Augiensis gives it only in Latin after the epistles of Paul. The Codex 
 Claramontanus puts the epistle in question outside the list, as a sort 
 of appendix, after the stichometry general of the writing, a proof that 
 the epistle was not found in the manuscript from which the Claramon- 
 tanus was copied. In the aforesaid stichometry (a very ancient compo- 
 sition) the Epistle to the Hebrews does not appear, or, if it appears, 
 it is under the name of Barnabus. In fine, the errors which abound 
 in the Latin text of the Epistle of the Claramontanus are sufficient to 
 awaken the suspicion of the critic, and prove that that epistle was 
 only included gradually, and as if surreptitiously, in the canon of the 
 Latin Church. But there is uncertainty even as to the tradition. 
 Marcion did not have the Epistle to the Hebrews in his collection of 
 the epistles of Paul : the author of the canon attributed to Muratori 
 omits it in his list. Irenseus was acquainted with the writing in question, 
 but he did not consider it as belonging to Paul. Clement of Alexandria 
 believed it was Paul's ; but he felt a difficulty in attributing it to him, 
 and, to get out of the embarrassment, had recourse to a not very 
 acceptible hypothesis : he assumes that Paul wrote the epistle in 
 Hebrew, and that Luke translated it into Greek. Origen admits 
 also, in a sense, the Epistle to the Hebrews as belonging to Paul, but 
 he recognised that many people denied that it had been written by the 
 latter. Nowhere in it could he discover the style of Paul, and supposes, 
 almost as Clement of Alexandria does, that the origin of the ideas 
 belonged solely to the Apostle. "The character of the style of the 
 epistle," says he, "has not the ruggedness of that of the Apostle." 
 This letter is, as regards the arrangement of the words, much more 
 Hellenic, as everybody must avow who is capable of judging of the 
 difference of styles. . . . As for me, if I had to express an opinion, 
 I should say that the thoughts are the Apostle's, but that the style and 
 the arrangement of the words belong to some one who has revoked 
 from memory the words of the Apostle, and who has reduced to writing 
 the discourse of his master. If, then, any church maintains that this 
 epistle belongs to Paul, it has only to prove it ; for the ancients must 
 have had some reason to go on in handing it down as the work of Paul. 
 As to the question Who wrote this epistle ? God alone knows the 
 truth. Amongst the opinions which have been transmitted to us by 
 history, one appears to have been written by Clement of Alexandria, 
 who was Bishop of the Romans ; another by Luke, who wrote the Gospels 
 and the Acts. Tertullian does not observe the same discretion : he 
 unhesitatingly puts forward the Epistle to the Hebrews as the work 
 of Paul. Ga;us, a priest of Home, St Hippolytus, St Cyprian, did not
 
 INTRODUCTION 7 . XXV 
 
 place it among the epistles of Paul. During the innovation, quarrels 
 in which, for many reasons, this epistle might have been employed, it is 
 not even mentioned. 
 
 Alexandria was the centre where the opinion was formed that the 
 Epistle to the Hebrews should be intercalated in the series of the 
 letters of Paul. Towards the middle of the third century Dion of 
 Alexandria appeared to entertain no doubt as to Paul being its author. 
 From that time this became the opinion most generally accepted in 
 the East ; nevertheless, protestations did not cease to make themselves 
 heard. The Latins especially protested vigorously ; particularly the 
 Roman Church, who maintained that the epistle did not belong to 
 Paul. Eusebius hesitated much, and had recourse to the hypothesis 
 of Clement of Alexandria and Origen ; he was inclined to believe 
 that the epistle had been composed in Hebrew by Paul, and translated 
 by Clement of Rome. St Jerome and St Augustine have been at pains 
 to conceal their doubts, and rarely cite that part of the canon without 
 a reservation. Divers documents insist always in giving as the author 
 of the work either Luke, Barnabas, or Clement. The ancient manu- 
 scripts of Latin production sufficed, as we have seen, to attest the 
 repugnance which the West experienced when this epistle was put 
 forward as a work of Paul's. It is clear that when we have made, 
 if we may so speak, the editio princeps of the letters of Paul, the 
 number of letters must be fixed at thirteen. People were no doubt 
 accustomed very early to place after the thirteen epistles the Epistle to 
 the Hebrews an anonymous apostolic writing, whose ideas approached 
 in some respects those contained in the writings of Paul. Hence, one 
 had only a step to take to arrive at the conclusion that the Epistle 
 to the Hebrews belonged to the Apostle. Everything induces the belief 
 that this induction was made at Alexandria, that is to say, in a Church 
 relatively modern as compared with the Churches of Syria, Asia, Greece, 
 and Rome. Such an induction is of no value in criticism, if the clear, 
 intrinsic proofs are perverted by another party in attributing the epistle 
 in question to the Apostle Paul. 
 
 Now, this is in reality what has taken place. Clement of Alexandria 
 and Origen, very good judges indeed of the Greek style, could not 
 find in our epistle the semblance of the style of Paul. St Jerome is 
 of the same opinion ; the fathers of the Latin Church who refused to 
 credit that the epistle was Paul's, all gave the same reason for their 
 doubts : propter styli sermonis que distantiam. This is an excellent 
 reason. The style of the Epistle to the Hebrews is, in a word, different 
 from that of Paul ; it is more oratorical, more periodic ; the diction 
 contains a number of idiomatic expressions. The fundamental basis 
 of the thoughts are not far removed from the opinions of Paul, especially 
 Paul as a captive ; but the exposition and the exegesis are quite distinct. 
 There is no nominal superscription, which was contrary to the usage of 
 the Apostle ; characteristics which one always expects to find in an 
 epistle of Paul's are wanting in the former. The exegesis is particularly 
 allegorical, and resembles much more that of Philo than that of Paul. 
 The author has imbibed the Alexandrian culture. He only makes use 
 of the version called the Septante ; from the text of this he adduces
 
 XXVI SAINT PAUL. 
 
 reasons which exhibit a complete ignorance of Hebrew ; his method of 
 citing and of analysing Biblical texts is not in conformity with the 
 method of Paul. The author, moreover, is a Jew ; he fancies himself 
 to be extolling Christ when he compares him to a great Hebrew priest ; 
 Christianity is to him none other than perfected Judaism ; he is far 
 from regarding the Law as abolished. The passage ii. 3, where the 
 author is placed among those who have only indirectly heard of the 
 mysteries of the life of Christ from the mouth of the disciples of Jesus, 
 does not accord at all with one of the most fixed pretensions of Paul. 
 Let us remark, finally, that, in writing of the Christian Hebrews, Paul 
 must have deviated from one of his rules the most fixed, which was, 
 never to perform a pastoral act upon the soil of churches Judaeo- 
 Christian, so that the apostles of circumcision might not, on their side, 
 encroach upon the churches of uncircumcision. 
 
 The Epistle to the Hebrews was not, therefore, written by St Paul. 
 By whom and where was it written ? and to whom was it addressed ? 
 We shall examine all these points in our fourth volume. For the 
 present, the simple date of a writing so important interests us. Now, 
 this date has been determined with sufficient decision. The Epistle to 
 the Hebrews was, according to all probability, anterior to the year 70, 
 inasmuch as the Levitical service of the temple is represented in it as 
 being regularly, and without interruption, continued. On the other 
 hand, at xiii. 7, and even at v. 12, there would appear an allusion to 
 the death of the apostles, of James, the brother of the Lord, for 
 example ; at xiii. 13, there seems to be recorded a deliverance of 
 Timothy posterior to the death of Paul ; at x. 32, and suiii, and 
 probably at xiii. 7 there is, I think, a distinct mention of the perse- 
 cutions of Nero in the year 64. It is probable that the passage xiii. 7, 
 and following, contains an allusion to the commencements of the revolt 
 of Judea (year 66), and a foreboding of the misfortunes which are to 
 follow ; this passage implies, moreover, that the year 40, after the death 
 of Christ, had not passed, and that this term was drawing near. Every- 
 thing, therefore, combines to support the hypothesis that the editing 
 of the Epistle to the Hebrews took place between the years 65 and 70, 
 probably in the year 66. 
 
 After having discussed the authenticity, it remains now for us to dis- 
 cuss the integrity of the epistles of Paul. The authentic epistles have 
 never been interpolated. The style of the Apostle was so individual, 
 and so original, that every addition would fall off from the body of the 
 text by reason of its own inertness. In the labour of publication which 
 took place when the epistles were collected, there were, nevertheless, 
 some operations, the import of which must be taken into account. The 
 principle upon which the editors proceeded appears to have been : 1st, 
 to add nothing to the text ; 2d, to reject nothing which they believed 
 to have been dictated or written by the Apostle ; 3d, to avoid repeti- 
 tions which could not fail, especially in the circular letters, but contain 
 identical statements. In like manner, the editors would appear to have 
 followed a system of patching up, or of intercalating, the aim of which 
 seems to have been to save some portions which would otherwise have 
 been lost, Thus the passage (2 Cor. vi. 14 viii. 1) forms a small para-
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXVll 
 
 graph which breaks so singularly the sequence of the epistle, and which 
 disposes one to believe that it has been clumsily pieced in there. The 
 last chapters of the Epistle to the Romans presents facts much more 
 striking, and which will require to be discussed with minuteness ; for 
 many portions of the biography of Paul depend upon the system which 
 is adopted in regard to these chapters. 
 
 In reading the Epistle to the Romans, after quitting chap, xii., we 
 experience some astonishment. Paul appears to have departed from his 
 habitual maxim, " Mind your own business." It is strange that he 
 gives imperative counsels to a church he has not founded, and which 
 resembles so closely the impertinence of those who seek to build upon 
 foundations established by others. At to the close of chap, xiv., some 
 peculiarities still more capricious make their appearance. Several 
 manuscripts que sint Gresbach after St John Chrysostom, Theodoretus, 
 Theophylactus, CEcumenius, fix on that place as the finale of chap. xvi. 
 (verses 25-27). The Codex Alexandrians, and some others, repeat twice 
 this finale once at the end of chap, xiv., and once more at the end of 
 chap. xvi. 
 
 Verses 1-13 of chap. xv. excite anew our surprise. These verses re- 
 peat and take up quietly again what has preceded. It is hardly to be 
 supposed that they should be found in the same letter as the one which 
 precedes. Paul repeats himself frequently in the course of the same 
 disquisition ; but he never returns to a disquisition in order to repeat 
 and to enfeeble it. It must also be added that verses 1-13 appear to 
 be addressed to Judseo-Christians. St Paul there makes concessions to 
 the Jews. How singular it is that, in verse 8, Christ is called Sdxouoy 
 Hfpiroyr)s ? We might say that we have here a resume of chapters xii., 
 xiii.,xiv. , for the use of Judaeo-Christian readers, which Paul has seized 
 on, to prove by texts that the adoption of the Gentiles did not exclude 
 the privilege of Israel, and that Christ had fulfilled the ancient promises. 
 The portion, xv. 14-33, is evidently addressed to the Church of Rome, 
 and to this Church only. Paul expressed himself there without reserve, 
 as was proper in writing to a Church which he had not seen, and the 
 majority of which, being Judaeo-Christians, was not directly under his 
 jurisdiction. In chapters xii., xiii., xiv., the tone of the letter is firmer; 
 the Apostle speaks there with mild authority ; he makes use of the verb 
 Hapaxa\i, a verb, no doubt, of a very mitigated nature, but which is 
 always the word he employs when he speaks to his disciples. 
 
 Verse 33 makes a perfect termination to the Romans, according to 
 Paul's method of making terminations. Verses 1 and 2 of chapter xvi. 
 might also be admitted as a postscript to the Epistle to the Romans ; 
 but what follows verse 3 creates veritable difficulties. Paul, as though 
 he had not closed bis letter with the word Amen, undertakes to salute 
 twenty-six persons, not to speak of five churches or groups. In the 
 first place, he never thus puts salutations after the benediction and the 
 Amen as the finale. Besides, the salutations here are not the common 
 salutations that one would employ in addressing people one has not seen. 
 Paul had evidently had relations the most intimate with the persons he 
 s-alutes. Each of these persons has his or her special characteristics ; these 
 have laboured with him ; those have been imprisoned with him ; another
 
 XXV111 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 has been a mother to him (doubtless in caring for him when he was 
 sick) ; he knows at what date each has been converted ; all are his 
 friends, his fellow-workers, his dearly beloved. It is not natural that 
 he should have so many ties with a Church in which he has never been, 
 one that does not belong to his school, with a Church Judseo-Christian, 
 that his principles forbade him labouring for. Not only does he know 
 by their names all the Christians in the Church to which he is address- 
 ing himself, but he knows also the masters of those who are slaves, 
 Aristobulus, Narcissus. Why does he designate with so much assur- 
 ance these two houses, if they are at Koine, a place he has never been ? 
 Writing to the churches which he has founded, Paul salutes two or 
 three persons. Why does he salute so considerable a number of brothers 
 and sisters of a Church which he has never visited ? 
 
 If we study in detail the persons he salutes, we shall discover still 
 more evidence that this page of salutations has never been addressed to 
 the Church at Rome. Amongst them we find no persons that we know 
 who formed part of the Church at Rome, and we find amongst them 
 many persons who assuredly never belonged to it. In the first line we 
 encounter Aquila and Priscilla. It is universally admitted that only a 
 few months elapsed between the compilation of the first chapter of the 
 Corinthians and the compilation of the Epistle to the Romans. Now, 
 when Paul wrote the first chapter to the Corinthians, Aquila and 
 Priscilla were at Ephesus. In the interval, that apostolic couple were 
 able, it is said, to set out for Rome. This is very singular. Aquila 
 and Priscilla were of the party which was at first chased from Rome 
 by an edict ; we find them afterwards at Corinth, then at Ephesus ; 
 they return to Rome without their sentence of expulsion having been 
 revoked, on the morrow of the day when Paul had just said adieu to 
 them at Ephesus. This is to attribute to them a life much too nomadic; 
 it is the accumulation of improbabilities. Let us add, that the author 
 of the second apocryphal epistle of Paul to Timothy supposes Aquila 
 and Priscilla to he at Ephesus, which proves that tradition has located 
 them there. The little Roman martyrology (the source of posterior 
 compilations) has a memorandum, of date the 8th July " In Asia 
 Minori, Aquilae et Priscilla; uxoris ejus." This is not all. Au. v. 5, 
 Paul salutes Epenetus, "the first-born of Asia in Christ." What ! the 
 whole Church of Ephesus has gone to Rome to take up its abode ! The 
 list of names which follows, applies equally as well to Ephesus as to 
 Rome. Doubtless the first Church at Rome was principally Greek by 
 language. Amongst the world of slaves and freedmen from which 
 Christianity was recruited, the Greek names even at Rome were ordi- 
 nary ones. Nevertheless, in examining the Jewish inscriptions at Rome. 
 P. Garrucci has found that the number of proper Latin names doubled 
 that of Greek names. Now here, of twenty-four names, there were 
 sixteen Greek, seven Latin, one Hebrew, so that the quantity of Greek 
 names is more than double that of Latin names. The names of the 
 chiefs of the houses of Aristobulns and Narcissus are Greek also. 
 
 The verses, Romans xiv. 3-10, were therefore not addressed to the 
 Church of Rome ; they were addressed to the Church at Ephesus. The 
 verses 17-20 could not have been addressed to the Romans either. St
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXIX 
 
 Paul there makes use of the word, which is habitual to him, when he 
 gives an order to his disciples (?ra/)axaXtD) ; he expresses himself with 
 extreme acerbity in regard to the divisions sown by his adversaries ; we 
 see that he is there en famille ; he knows the condition of the Church to 
 which he addresses himself ; he is delighted with the good reputation 
 of this Church ; he rejoices over her as a master would over his pupils 
 (f<f>vfjuv Kaipw). These verses have no sense, if we suppose them ad- 
 dressed by the Apostle to a church which must have been strange to 
 him. Each sentence proves that he had preached to those to whom he 
 wrote, and that they were solicited by his enemies. Those verses could 
 only have been addressed to the Corinthians or to the Ephesians. The 
 epistle, at the end of which they were found, was written from Corinth ; 
 those verses, which constitute the close of a letter, had, therefore, been 
 addressed to Ephesus. Seeing that we have shown that the verses 3-16 
 were likewise addressed to the faithful at Ephesus, we obtain thus a 
 long fragment (xvi. 3-20), which must have formed part of a letter to 
 the Ephesians. Hence it becomes more natural to connect with these 
 verses, 3-20, verses 1, 2 of the same chapter verses which might be 
 considered as a postscript after the Amen, except that it is better to be 
 attached to that which follows. The journey of Phrebe becomes thus 
 more probable. Finally, the somewhat imperative commands of xvi. 2, 
 and the motive with which Paul applied them, are better understood 
 when addressed to the Ephesians, who were under so many obligations 
 to the Apostle, than to the Romans, who were not indebted to him for 
 anything. 
 
 The verses 21-24 of chapter xiv. could not, any more than that which 
 precedes, have made a part of the Epistle to the Romans. Why should 
 all these people, who had never been to Rome, who had never known 
 the faithful at Rome, salute the latter ? What could these unknown 
 persons say to the Church of Rome ? It is important to remark that all 
 the names are those of Macedonians or people who could have become 
 acquainted with the Churches of Macedonia. Verse 24 is the close of a 
 letter. The verses (xvi.) 21-24 can then be the finish of a letter ad- 
 dressed to the Thessalonians. 
 
 The verses 25-27 give us a new finale, which contains nothing topical, 
 and which, as we have already said, is found in several manuscripts at 
 the end of chapter xiv. In other manuscripts, particularly in the Boer- 
 nerianus and the Augiensis (the Greek part), this termination is want- 
 ing. Assuredly that piece did not constitute a part of the Epistle to 
 the Romans, which terminates with verse (xv.) 33, nor of the Epistle to 
 the Ephesians, which terminates with verse (xvi.) 20, nor of the Epistle 
 to the Churches of Macedonia, which finishes with the verse (xvi.) 24. 
 We arrive, then, at the curious result that the epistle closes four times, 
 and in the Codex Alexandrinus five times. This is absolutely contrary 
 to the practice of Paul, and even to good sense. Here, then, is a diffi- 
 culty proceeding from some peculiar accident. Must we, with Marcion 
 and with Baur, declare apocryphal the two last chapters of the Epistle 
 to the Romans ? We are surprised that a critic so acute as Baur should 
 be contented with a solution so crude. Why should a forger invent such 
 insignificant details ? Why should he add to a sacred work a list of
 
 XXX SAINT PAUL. 
 
 proper names ? In the first and second centuries the authors of apo- 
 crypha had almost all some dogmatic motive ; apostolic writings were 
 interpolated either with a view to some doctrine, or to establish some 
 form of discipline. We believe we shall be able to propose a theory 
 more satisfactory than that of Baur. In our view, the epistle addressed 
 to the Romans was (1 ) not addressed entirely to the llomans, and (2.) 
 was not addressed to the llomans only. 
 
 St Paul, advancing in his career, had acquired a taste for encyclical 
 epistles, designed to be read in several churches. We presume that 
 the intention of the Epistle to the llomans was an encyclical of this 
 kind. St Paul, when he had reached his full maturity, addressed it 
 to the most important churches, at least to three of them, and, as an 
 exception, addressed it also to the Church of Rome. The four endings 
 falling at verses, xv. 33, xvi. 40, xvi. 24, xvi. 27, are the endings of 
 different copies despatched. When the epistles came to be published, 
 the copy addressed to the Church of Rome was taken as a basis ; but 
 in order not to lose anything, there was annexed to the text thus 
 constituted the various parts, and notably the different endings of the 
 copies which were set aside. In this way many of the peculiarities 
 are explained : (1) The double use made of the passage xv. 1-13, with 
 the chapters xii., xiii., xiv., chapters which, being appropriate only to 
 the Churches founded by the Apostle, are not to be found in the copy 
 sent to the Romans, whilst the passage xv. 1-13, not being appropriate 
 to the disciples of Paul, but, on the other hand, perfectly adapted 
 to the Romans ; (2) Certain features of the epistle which were only 
 partially adapted to the faithful of Rome, and which went even the 
 length of indiscretion, if they had been addressed only to the latter ; 
 (3) The hesitation of the best critics on the question in distinguishing 
 whether the epistle was addressed to the Pagan converts or to the 
 Judaeo-Christians, a hesitation quite simple by our hypothesis, since 
 the principal parts of the epistle had been composed for the simultan- 
 eous use of several churches ; (4) What surprises is, that Paul should 
 compose a piece so singularly important for a Church with which he 
 was not acquainted, and in respect of which his title could be contested ; 
 (5) In a word, the capricious peculiarities of the chapters xv. and xvi., 
 these nonsensical salutations, these four endings, three of which are 
 certainly not to be found in the copy sent to Rome. We shall see, 
 in the course of the present volume, how far this hypothesis is in accord 
 with all the other necessities of the life of St Paul. 
 
 We must not omit the testimony of an important manuscript. The 
 Codex Bcernerianus omits the name of Rome in the verses 7 and 15 
 of the first chapter. We must not say that the omission is there made 
 in view of its being read in the churches ; the Boernerian manuscript, 
 the work of the philologers of St Gall, about the year 900, proposed 
 to itself a purely exegetic aim, and was copied in a very old manuscript. 
 I regret that I have not been able to find room in the present book 
 to give an account of the last days of the life of St Paul ; to have done 
 that, it would have been necessary to largely increase the size of this 
 volume. Moreover, the Third Book would have thus lost somewhat 
 of the historical solidity which characterises it. After the arrival of
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXXI 
 
 Paul at Rome, in fact, we cease to tread on the soil of incontestable 
 data ; we begin to grope in the obscurity of legends and of apocryphal 
 documents. The next volume (fourth volume of the beginnings of 
 Christianity) will contain the end of the life of Paul, the occurrences 
 in Judea, the arrival of Peter at Rome, the persecution of Nero, the 
 death of the apostles, the apocalypse, the taking of Jerusalem, the 
 compilation of synoptic gospels. Then, a fifth and last volume will 
 comprise the compilation of writings more ancient than the New Tes- 
 tament, the interior movements of the Church of Asia Minor, the 
 progress of the hierarchy and of discipline, the birth of the gnostic 
 sects, the definitive constitution of a dogmatic orthodoxy and of the 
 episcopate. When once the last book of the New Testament has been 
 reduced to writing, when once the authority of the Church constituted 
 and armed with a sort of touchstone to discern truth from error, when 
 once the small democratic confraternities of the early apostolic age have 
 abdicated their powers into the hands of the bishop, then is Christianity 
 complete. The infant will grow still, but he will have all his members ; 
 he will no longer be an embryo : he will acquire no more essential 
 organs. At the same time, however, the last bonds which attached 
 the Christian Church to its mother, the Jewish synagogue, has been 
 snapped ; the Church exists as an independent being ; she has nothing 
 left for her mother but aversion. The history of the origins of Christi- 
 anity ends at this moment. I trust that I shall be spared for five 
 years to finish this work, to which I have wished to devote the most 
 mature years of my life. It will cost me many sacrifices, especially in 
 excluding me from the instruction of the College of France, a second 
 aim I had proposed to myself. But one must not be too exacting ; 
 perhaps he to whom, of two designs, it has been given to realise one, 
 ought not to rail against fate, the rather if he has understood these 
 designs AS DUTIES.
 
 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 FIRST JOURNEY OF PAUL THE CYPRUS MISSION. 
 
 JOURNEYING from Antioch, Paul and Barnabas, having 
 with them John, arrived at Seleucia. The walk from 
 Antioch to the latter city is a short day's journey. 
 The route follows at a distance the right bank of 
 the Orontes, winding its way over the outermost 
 slopes of the mountains of Pieria, and crossing by 
 fords the numerous streams which descend from the 
 latter. On all sides are copses of myrtles, arbutus, 
 laurels, green oaks ; while prosperous villages are 
 perched upon the sharply-cut ridges of the moun- 
 tains. To the left, the plain of Orontes unfolds to 
 the eye its splendid cultivation. On the south, the 
 wooded summits of the mountains of Daphne bound 
 the horizon. We are already beyond the borders of 
 Syria. We stand now on soil classical, smiling, 
 fertile, civilised. Each name recalls the powerful 
 Greek colony which gave to those regions so high a 
 historical importance, and established there a centre 
 VOL. I. A
 
 2 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 of opposition, which sometimes assumed a violent 
 form against the Semitic genius. 
 
 Seleucia was the port of Autioch, and the chief 
 northern outlet from Syria towards the west. The 
 city was situated partly in the plain and partly on 
 the abrupt heights, facing the angle made by the 
 deposits of the Oroutes at the foot of the Coryphas, 
 about a league and a half to the north of the mouth 
 of the river. It was here that the hordes of depraved 
 beings, creatures of a rotten secularism, embarked 
 every year to invade Rome and to infect it. The 
 dominant religion was that of Mount Casius, a 
 beautiful, regularly-shaped summit, situated on the 
 other side of the Orontes, with which was associated 
 various legends. The coast is inhospitable and 
 tempestuous. The gulf wind descending from the 
 mountain tops, and giving the waves a back stroke, 
 produces always a deep ground swell. An artificial 
 basin, communicating with the sea by a narrow 
 channel, protects the ships from the recurring shocks 
 of the waves. The quays, the mole formed of enor- 
 mous blocks still standing and waiting in silence the 
 not far distant day when Seleucia shall again become 
 what she was formerly one of the grandest depots 
 in the globe. In saluting, for the last time with his 
 hand the brethren, assembled on the dark sands of 
 the beach, Paul had in front of him the beautiful 
 section of the circle formed by the coast at the 
 mouth of the Orontes ; to the right, the symmetrical 
 cone of Casius. from which was to ascend three 
 hundred years later the smoke of the last Pagan 
 sacrifice ; to the left, the rugged steeps of Mount 
 Coryphas ; behind him, in the clouds, the snows of
 
 SAINT PAUL. 3 
 
 Taurus, and the coast of Cilicia, which forms the 
 Gulf of Issus. The hour was solemn. Although for 
 several years Christianity had extended beyond the 
 country which was its cradle, it had not yet reached 
 the confines of Syria. The Jews, however, con- 
 sidered the whole of Syria as far as Amaua as 
 forming part of the Holy Land, sharing its preroga- 
 tives, its rights, its duties. This was the moment 
 when Christianity really quitted its native soil, and 
 launched forth into the vast world. 
 
 Paul had already travelled much, in order to 
 spread the name of Jesus. He had been for seven 
 years a Christian, and not for a single day had his 
 ardent conviction been lulled to rest. His departure 
 from Antioch with Barnabas, marked, however, a 
 decisive change in his career. He began then that 
 Apostolic life, in which he displayed unexampled 
 activity and an unheard-of degree of ardour and of 
 passion. Travelling was then very difficult, when 
 it was not done by sea ; for carriage roads and 
 vehicles hardly existed. This is why the propaga- 
 tion of Christianity made its way along the banks 
 of the large rivers. Pouzzoles and Lyons were 
 Christianised when a multitude of towns in the 
 vicinity of the cradle of Christianity had not heard 
 tell of Jesus. 
 
 Paul, it seems, journeyed almost always on foot, 
 existing doubtless on bread, vegetables, and milk. 
 What a life of privations and of trials is that of 
 a wandering devotee ! The police were negligent 
 or brutal. Seven times was Paul put in chains. 
 Hence he preferred, when practicable, to travel by 
 water. Certainly, when it is calm, these seas are
 
 4 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 delightful ; but they suddenly have also their foolish 
 caprices. One is run aground in the sand, and all 
 that is then left for one to do is to seize on a plank. 
 There were perils everywhere. " In labours more 
 abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more 
 frequent, in death oft. Of the Jews five times re- 
 ceived I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten 
 with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered ship- 
 wreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep. 
 In journeyiugs often, in perils of waters, in perils of 
 robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils 
 by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the 
 wilderness, in perils on the sea, in perils among 
 false brethren. In weariness and painfulness, in 
 watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings 
 often, in cold and nakedness : I have known all " 
 (2 Cor. xi. 23-27). The Apostle wrote that in the 
 year 56, when his trials were far from being at an 
 end. For nearly ten years longer was he to lead 
 that existence, which death alone could worthily 
 crown. 
 
 In almost all his journeys Paul had companions ; 
 but he systematically refused the assistance from 
 which the other Apostles, Peter, in particular, drew 
 much consolation and succour I mean a companion 
 in his Apostolic ministry and in his labours. His 
 aversion to marriage proceeded from a feeling of 
 delicacy. He did not wish to burden the Church 
 with the support of two persons. Barnabas followed 
 the same rule. Paul reverted often to that fact 
 he cost nothing to the Churches. He deemed it 
 perfectly just that the Apostle should live upon 
 the community, that the catechist should share
 
 SAINT PAUL. 5 
 
 everything in common with the catechised ; but 
 he was sensitive about it ; he had no desire to 
 make capital out of that which was legitimate. His 
 constant practice, with one single exception, was to 
 earn his subsistence by his own labour. With Paul 
 this was a question of morals and of good example ; 
 for one of his maxims was : " That if any one would 
 not work, neither should he eat " (2 Thess. iii. 10- 
 12). He added to it also a naive sentiment of 
 personal economy, fearing that people might re- 
 proach him with what he cost, exaggerating his 
 scruples, in order to anticipate murmurs ; for people 
 had come to be very circumspect in regard to ques- 
 tions of money, because of having to live among 
 those who thought much of it. In every place 
 where Paul took up his abode, he settled down and 
 returned to his trade of tent-making. His exterior 
 life resembled that of an artisan who makes a tour 
 of Europe and scatters around him the ideas with 
 which he is permeated. 
 
 Such a mode of life, which has become impossible 
 in our modern society for any but a working man, 
 was easy in societies in which either religious con- 
 fraternities or commercial aristocracies constituted 
 a species of freemasonry. The life of Arab travel- 
 lers d'Ibn-Batoutah, for example greatly re- 
 sembled that which must have been led by St Paul. 
 They wandered from one end of the Mahometan 
 world to the other, halting in every large town, en- 
 gaging there in the avocation of judge or physician, 
 getting married, finding everywhere a hearty wel- 
 come, and the chance of employment. Benjamin of 
 Tudela, and the other Jewish travellers of the Middle
 
 6 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 Ages, led a similar life, going from Jewry to Jewry, 
 and entering at once upon terms of intimacy with 
 their hosts. These Jewries were distinct quarters, 
 enclosed often by a gate, having a religious chief, 
 who had an extended jurisdiction. In the centre 
 there was a common court, a place ordinarily used 
 for meetings and for prayers. The relations which 
 exist amongst the Jews in our own day, present still 
 something of the same character. In every place 
 where Jewish life is established and well-organised, 
 the journeys of Israelites are made from ghetto to 
 ghetto, bearing with them letters of recommendation. 
 That which takes place at Trieste, at Constantinople, 
 at Smyrna, is, in this respect, the exact picture of 
 that which took place in the time of St Paul at 
 Ephesus, at Thessalonica, at Rome. The new-comer 
 who presents himself on Sabbath at the synagogue, 
 is remarked, surrounded, questioned. He is asked 
 where he hails from, who was his father, and what 
 news he brings. In almost all Asia, and in a part of 
 Africa, the Jews have thus exceptional facilities for 
 travelling, thanks to the species of secret society 
 which they form, and to the neutrality they observe 
 in the intestine quarrels of the different countries. 
 Benjamin of Tudela arrived at the end of the world 
 without having seen any other thing save Jews ; 
 Ibn-Batoutah without having seen anyone except 
 Mahometans. 
 
 These little coteries constituted excellent mediums 
 for the propagation of doctrines. Each knew his 
 neighbour well, each closely watched the other ; 
 nothing could be further removed from the vulgar 
 freedom of our modern societies, in which men
 
 SAINT PAUL. 7 
 
 come in contact with each other so little. The di- 
 visions of parties were made conformable to religion 
 on every occasion when politics was not the para- 
 mount consideration in a city. A religions question 
 dropping into one of those faithful Israelitish com- 
 munities, set everything on fire, and settled schisms 
 and strifes. Most frequently a religious question 
 was but a firebrand which was eagerly laid hold of 
 by reason of previous hatreds a pretext that was 
 taken for reckoning up and denouncing one another. 
 The establishment of Christianity was not discussed 
 outside the synagogues, although the world as far 
 as the coasts of the Mediterranean was already full of 
 it, when Paul and the other Apostles set out upon 
 their missions. These synagogues had ordinarily 
 little to distinguish them ; they were like the other 
 houses, forming with the quarter of which they 
 were the centre and link a small vicus (village) or 
 angiport (small alley). One thing distinguished these 
 quarters ; this was the absence of ornaments of sculp- 
 ture vivant, which necessitated recourse for decora- 
 tion to expedients, crude, pronounced, and false. But 
 that which more than anything else designated the 
 Jewish quarter to new-comers disembarking at the 
 port of Seleucia or Caesarea, was the type of race 
 young women decked in gaudy colours, white, red, 
 and green no medium tints ; matrons with pleasing 
 figures, rosy cheeks, slightly embonpoint, with kindly, 
 maternal eyes. Having landed, and received a 
 warm welcome, the Apostles awaited the Sabbath. 
 They then betook themselves to the synagogue. It 
 was a custom, when a stranger appeared intelligent or 
 eager to make himself known, to invite him to address
 
 8 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 to the people a few words of edification. The Apostle 
 took advantage of this custom, and expounded the 
 Christian thesis. Jesus had proceeded precisely in 
 the same manner. Astonishment was at first the 
 general feeling. Opposition did not manifest itself 
 until a little later, not until some conversions had 
 taken place. Then the elders of the synagogues re- 
 sorted to violence; sometimes they ordered to be 
 applied to the Apostles the cruel and shameful 
 chastisements which were inflicted on heretics ; at 
 other times they made an appeal to the authorities 
 to have the innovator either expelled or beaten. The 
 Apostle did not preach to the Gentiles until after he 
 had preached to the Jews. The converts from pagan- 
 ism were in general the least numerous, and yet they 
 almost all were recruited from the classes of the popu- 
 lation which were already in contact with Judaism, 
 and had been brought to embrace it. 
 
 This proselytism, as we see, was confined to 
 the towns. The first apostles of Christianity did 
 not preach in couutry places. The countrymen 
 (pagani) were the last to embrace Christianity. 
 The local patois, which the Greek had not been able 
 to root out in the country districts, was in part the 
 cause of this. To tell the truth, the countryman 
 living outside the towns, was quite a rare thing at the 
 time when Christianity first began to spread. The 
 organisation of that Apostolic religion, consisting of 
 assemblies (ecclesia), was essentially urban. Islam- 
 ism itself was also par excellence a religion of the 
 town. It is not complete without its grand mosques, 
 its schools, its ulemas (doctors), its muezzins (the 
 callers to prayers).
 
 SAINT PAUL. 9 
 
 The gaiety, the sprightliness of heart, which 
 these evangelical odysseys breathed, were some- 
 thing new, original, and charming. The Acts of the 
 Apostles, the expression of that first transport of 
 the Christian conscience, is a book of gladness, of 
 serene fervency. Since the Homeric poems, no 
 work so full of such genuine sensation had ap- 
 peared. A morning breeze, an odour of the sea 
 if I may be allowed to say so inspiring a sort of 
 cheerfulness and power, permeated the whole book, 
 and made it an excellent compagnon de voyage, an 
 exquisite breviary for him who followed the ancient 
 landmarks along the seas of the south. It was the 
 second poem of Christianity. The lake of Tiberias 
 and its boatfuls of fishermen had furnished the first. 
 Now a current more powerful, aspirations towards 
 more distant lauds, allure us on to the high seas. 
 
 The first point at which the three missionaries 
 touched, was the island of Cyprus, an ancient, 
 mixed country, where the Grecian race and the 
 Phoenician race, planted first side by side, had 
 finished by nearly exterminating one another. It 
 was the native country of Barnabas, and that cir- 
 cumstance doubtless had much to do in determining 
 the direction in which the mission should make its 
 first advance. Cyprus had already received the 
 seeds of the Christian faith : in any case, the new 
 religion included several Cypriotes in its fold. The 
 number of Jewries there was considerable. It should, 
 however, be remembered that the whole circle of 
 Seleucia, Tarsus, and Cyprus was by no means exten- 
 sive ; and the small group of Jews scattered over 
 those points, represented nearly what would be the
 
 10 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 parent families established at St Brieuc, Saint-Malo, 
 and Jersey. Paul and Barnabas, then, set out for 
 the countries with which they were already more or 
 less familiar. 
 
 The Apostolic band disembarked at the ancient 
 port of Salamis. They traversed the whole island 
 from east to west, inclining towards the south, 
 probably following the sea coast. It was the most 
 Phoenician portion of the island, containing the 
 towns of Citium, Amathonte, and Paphos, old Semi- 
 tic centres whose original customs had not yet been 
 effaced. Paul and Barnabas preached in the syna- 
 gogues of the Jews. One single incident of the 
 journey has only been left on record. It occurred at 
 Neo Paphos, a modern town, which had been built 
 at some distance from the ancient town, so celebrated 
 for the worship of Venus (Palaepaphos). Neo 
 Paphos was at that time, as it would seem, the resi- 
 dence of the Roman pro-consul who governed the 
 island of Cyprus. This pro-consul was Sergius 
 Paulus, a man of illustrious birth, who, it appears, 
 although it occurred often with the Romans, per- 
 mitted himself to be amused with enchantments, and 
 the superstitious beliefs of the country in which 
 chance had placed him. He had near him a Jew 
 named Bar-jesus, who passed himself off for a 
 magician, and gave himself a title which is trans- 
 lated as elim, or " sage." He produced there, it is 
 said, scenes analogous to those which took place at 
 Sebaste between the Apostles and Simon the ma- 
 gician. Bar-jesus was a bitter opponent of Paul 
 and Barnabas. Later tradition asserts that the 
 cause of this feud was the conversion of the pro-
 
 SAINT PAUL. 11 
 
 consul. It is related that in a public discus- 
 sion, Paul, in order to silence his adversary, was 
 obliged to strike him with temporary blindness, and 
 that the pro-consul, moved by that great wonder, 
 was converted. 
 
 The conversion of a Roman of that order at this 
 epoch is a thing absolutely inadmissible. Paul 
 doubtless took for faith the manifestations of in- 
 terest which Sergius took in him ; mayhap even 
 he mistook irony for favour. The Orientals do not 
 understand irony. Their maxim, moreover, is that he 
 who is not for them is against them. The curiosity 
 exhibited by Sergius Paulus appeared in the eyes of 
 the missionaries as a favourable disposition. Like 
 many other Romans, Paulus might be very credulous. 
 Probably the sorceries to which Paul and Barnabas 
 had more than once recourse, but which we are un- 
 fortunately precluded from believing, appeared to 
 him very striking and more wonderful than those of 
 Bar-jesus. But, from a feeling of astonishment to 
 conversion, is a long step. The legend appears to 
 attribute to Paulus Sergius the reasonings of a Jew 
 or of a Syrian. The Jew and the Syrian regard the 
 miracle as the proof of a doctrine preached by the 
 Thaumaturgus. The Roman, if he was instructed, 
 regarded the miracle as a trick with which he could 
 amuse himself, and, if he was credulous and ignor- 
 ant, as one of those things which happened now and 
 then. But the miracle was to him no proof of doc- 
 trine. Absolutely destitute of theological sentiment, 
 the Romans could not imagine that a dogma could 
 be the aim that a god proposed to himself in work- 
 ing a miracle. The miracle was to them either a
 
 12 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 fantastical, although natural, thing (the idea of 
 the laws of nature was strange to them, unless 
 they had studied the Grecian philosophy), or an 
 act revealing to them the immediate presence of 
 divinity. If Sergius Paulus had actually believed 
 in the miracles of Paul, the reasoning that he would 
 have employed would have been, " That man is very 
 powerful: he is probably a god;" and not, "The 
 doctrine which that man preaches is the truth." In 
 any case, if the conversion of Sergius Paulus rested 
 upon motives so flimsy, we are doing an honour to 
 Christianity in not calling it a conversion, and in strik- 
 ing off Sergius Paulus from the number of Christians. 
 What is probable is that he had for the mission a 
 benevolent regard; hence the mission retained for 
 him the recollection of a wise and good man. The 
 supposition of Saint Jerome, that after this Saul 
 should have taken from Sergius Paulus his name of 
 Paul is mere conjecture : we must not say, how- 
 ever, that that conjecture is improbable. It was 
 from this moment that the author of the Acts sub- 
 stituted the name of Paul for that of Saul. Pro- 
 bably the Apostle adopted Sergius Paulus as his 
 patron, and took his name in token of clientship. 
 It is possible, too, that Paul, following the example 
 of a great many Jews, had two names the one 
 Hebrew, the other obtained by vulgarly Greciauising 
 or Latinising the first (in like manner as the Josephs 
 called themselves Hegesippe, etc.) and that it 
 was only at the moment when he entered into 
 relations more intimate and more direct with the 
 Pagan world, that he began to bear the single name 
 of Paul.
 
 SAINT PAUL. 13 
 
 We do not know how long this Cyprus mission 
 lasted. The mission had, evidently, no great im- 
 portance, inasmuch as Paul never speaks of it in 
 his epistles, and that he never dreamt of seeing 
 again the churches that he had founded in the island. 
 Probably he regarded the latter as belonging to 
 Barnabas more than to himself. The first essay at 
 apostolic journeying, in any case, was decisive in 
 the career of Paul. From that time he assumed the 
 tone of master : till then he had been as a subordin- 
 ate to Barnabas. The latter had been longer in the 
 Church : he had been his introducer and his guaran- 
 tor ; people were more certain of Barnabas. In the 
 course of the mission the roles were exchanged. 
 The talent of Paul for preaching necessitated that 
 the office of speaking should devolve almost entirely 
 on him. Henceforward, Barnabas was no more 
 than a companion of Paul, one of his suite. With 
 admirable self-abnegation that truly holy man lent 
 himself to everything, leaving everything to his 
 intrepid friend, whose superiority he recognised. 
 Not so with John. Disagreements, which soon 
 ended in a rupture, broke out between him and 
 Paul. We do not know the cause of them. Pro- 
 bably the teachings of Paul on the relations of the 
 Jews and the Gentiles shocked the Jerusalemitish 
 prejudices of John, and appeared in contradiction 
 with the ideas of Peter, his master. Probably, also, 
 that ever-increasing self-sufficiency of Paul was in- 
 supportable to those who each day saw it become 
 more pervading and imperious. 
 
 Nevertheless, it is not probable that Paul from 
 his time either took, or allowed himself to be giveu,
 
 14 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 the title of Apostle. Up till now, that title had 
 only been borne by the Twelve of Jerusalem ; it 
 was not considered as transferable ; it was believed 
 that Jesus alone Jiad the power to bestow it. Paul, 
 no doubt, had already often said to himself that he 
 also had received it directly from Jesus, in his vision 
 on the road to Damascus; but he had not yet openly 
 arrogated to himself so lofty a pretension. It re- 
 quired the grossest provocation of his enemies to 
 constrain him to an act which at first he would have 
 regarded as one of temerity. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 CONTINUATION OF THE FIRST JOURNEY OF PAUL 
 THE GALATIAN MISSION. 
 
 THE mission, satisfied with what it had accom- 
 plished at Cyprus, resolved to attack the neigh- 
 bouring coast of Asia Minor. Alone amongst the 
 provinces of that country, Cilicia had heard the new 
 gospel, and possessed churches. The geographical 
 region that we call Asia Minor had no unity. It 
 was composed of peoples greatly diverse, both as 
 regards race and social status. The western part 
 and the entire coast were embraced, from a remote 
 antiquity, in the great vortex of that common civil- 
 isation of which the Mediterranean was the centre. 
 Since the decadence of Greece, and of the Ptolemaic 
 Egypt, these countries were held to be the countries
 
 SAINT PAUL. 15 
 
 the most lettered that then existed, or, at least, for 
 countries which produced the greatest number of 
 men distinguished in literature. The province of 
 Asia, notably the ancient kingdom of Pergamus, 
 was, as is said to-day, at the head of progress. But 
 the centre of the peninsula had been partly civilised. 
 Local life had continued there as in the times of 
 antiquity. Many of the indigenous languages had 
 not yet disappeared. The state of public opinion 
 was very backward. To speak the truth, the whole 
 of the provinces had but one common characteristic, 
 and that was boundless credulity, an extreme pen- 
 chant for superstition. The ancient religions, under 
 their Hellenic and Roman transformation, retained 
 many of the traits of their primitive features. Several 
 of those religions still enjoyed great popularity, and 
 possessed a certain superiority over the Greco- 
 Romau. No other country has produced so many 
 theurgists and theosophists. Apollonius of Tyana 
 was preparing there, at the period at which we are 
 now arrived, his strange fate. Alexander of Aboni- 
 teichas and Peregriuus Proteus began soon to seduce 
 the provinces ; the one by his miracles, his pro- 
 phecies, and his great demonstrations of piety ; the 
 other by his legerdemain. Artemidorus of Ephesus 
 and JElius Aristides presented the strange spectacle 
 of men combining sincere and truly religious senti- 
 ments wth ridiculous superstitions and the ideas of 
 charlatans. In no part of the empire was the pious 
 reaction which was brought about at the end of the 
 first century in favour of the ancient religions, and 
 opposed to positive philosophy, more pronounced. 
 Asia Minor was, next to Palestine, the most religious
 
 16 SATNT PAUL. 
 
 country in the world. Entire regions, such as 
 Phrygia, cities such as Tyana, Venusisum, Comana, 
 Csesarea in Cappadocia, Nazianzus, were equally 
 wedded to mysticism. In many places the priests 
 were still all but sovereigns. 
 
 As for the life politic, there was not even a trace 
 of it. All the towns, as if in emulation, were striving 
 to outdo each other in their immoderate adulation 
 of the Caesars, and of the Roman functionaries. The 
 appellation of " friend of Caesar " was prized. The 
 cities were disputing with childish vanity the pomp- 
 ous titles of " metropole," of " very - illustrious," 
 conferred by imperial rescripts. The country had 
 submitted to the Romans without a violent con- 
 quest, at least without national resistance. History 
 does not record a single serious political rising. 
 Brigandage and anarchy, which for a long time had 
 obtained in Taurus, Isauria, Pisidia, impregnable 
 strongholds, had come to an end by yielding to the 
 power of the Romans and their allies. Civilisation 
 had spread with a supernatural rapidity. The traces 
 of the beneficent actions of Claudius, and of the grati- 
 tude of the population towards him, despite certain 
 tumultuous agitations, were encountered at every 
 turn. It was not as in Palestine, where the ancient 
 institutions and manners offered a furious resistance. 
 If we except Isauria, Pisidia, the parts of Cilicia 
 which still retained a shade of independence, and 
 up to a certain point in Galatiu, the region had lost 
 all national sentiment. It had never had a dynasty 
 of its own. The old provincial features of Phrygia, 
 Lydia, and Caria had been dead for a long time 
 as political units. The artificial kingdoms of Per-
 
 SAINT PAUL. 17 
 
 gamus, of Bithynia, of Pontus, were likewise dead. 
 The whole peninsula had gladly accepted the Roman 
 domination. 
 
 We might add with thankfulness ; for never, in 
 fact, had domination been legitimated by so many 
 benefits. " Providence Augustus " was, in good 
 truth, the tutelary genius of the country. The cult 
 of the Emperor, that of Augustus in particular, and 
 of Livia, were the dominant religions of Asia Minor. 
 The temples to those terrestrial gods, always asso- 
 ciated with the divinity of Rome, were multiplied 
 everywhere. The priests of Augustus, grouped by 
 provinces, under archbishops (ap^ispsTs, a sort of me- 
 tropolitans or primates), succeeded later in forming 
 a clergy analogous to that which became, beginning 
 with Constantine, the Christian clergy. The poli- 
 tical Testament of Augustus had become a kind of 
 sacred text, a public precept, which, with beautiful 
 monuments, were entrusted with making offerings on 
 behalf of all and of perpetuating them. The cities 
 and the tribes were rivals for the epithets which 
 attested the recollection that they preserved of the 
 great Emperor. Ancient Ninoe di Caria argued with 
 his old Assyrian religion of Mylitta, in order to 
 establish his connection with Caesar, son of Venus. 
 There was in all this servility and baseness ; but 
 over and above, there was the sentiment of a new 
 era a happiness which they had not up till now 
 enjoyed, and which, in fact, endured afterwards for 
 centuries unchanged. A man who probably assisted 
 at the conquest of his country, we mean Dionyseus 
 of Halicarnassus, wrote a history of Rome, to de- 
 monstrate to his countrymen the excellencies of the 
 VOL. I. B
 
 18 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 Roman people, to prove to them that that people 
 were of the same race as themselves, and that its 
 glory formed a part of theirs. 
 
 After Egypt and Cyrenica, Asia Minor was the 
 country in which there were most Jews. They 
 formed there powerful communities, jealous of their 
 rights, easily alarmed by persecution, having the 
 vexatious habit of always complaining of the Roman 
 authority, and of fleeing for protection outside the 
 city. They had succeeded in making themselves 
 toll-gatherers with strong guarantees, and were in 
 reality privileged, as compared with other classes of 
 the population. Not only in fact was their religion 
 free, but many of the ordinary imposts, which they 
 pretended they could not pay conscientiously, were 
 not exacted from them. The Romans were very 
 favourable to them in these provinces, and almost 
 always took their part in the conflicts that they had 
 with the inhabitants of the country. 
 
 Embarking at Neo Paphos, the three missionaries 
 sailed towards the mouth of the Cestrus in Pam- 
 phylia, and, ascending the river for a distance of 
 from two to three leagues, arrived at the eminence 
 of Perga, a great and flourishing town, the centre 
 of the ancient worship of Diana, almost as much re- 
 nowned as that of Ephesus. This religion had a 
 great resemblance to that of Paphos, and it is not 
 impossible that the relations of the two towns, 
 establishing between them a line of ordinary navi- 
 gation, may have determined the sojourn of the 
 Apostles. In general, the two parallel coasts of 
 Cyprus and Asia Minor seemed to correspond the 
 one to the other. They were the two divisions of
 
 SAINT PAUL. 19 
 
 the Semitic populations, mixed with divers elements 
 which had lost much of their primitive character. 
 
 It was at Perga that the rupture between Paul 
 and John was consummated. John left the mission 
 and returned to Jerusalem. This act was doubtless 
 painful to Barnabas, for John was his relative. But 
 Barnabas, accustomed to submit to everything on 
 the part of his imperious companion, did not aban- 
 don the grand design of penetrating into the heart 
 of Asia Minor. The two Apostles plunged into the 
 interior, and travelling always to the north, between 
 the basins of Oestrus and of Eurymedou, traversed 
 Pamphylia, Pisidia, and pressed on as far as moun- 
 tainous Phrygia. It must have been a difficult and 
 perilous journey. That labyrinth of rugged mountains 
 was guarded by a barbarous population, accustomed 
 to brigandage, whom the Romans had with difficulty 
 subdued. Paul, accustomed to the aspect of Syria, 
 must have been surprised at the romantic and pic- 
 turesque Alpestrine regions, with their lakes, their 
 deep valleys, which may be compared to the envir- 
 ons of Lake Maggiore and of Tessiu. At first one is 
 astonished at the singular route of the Apostles a 
 route which shunned the large centres of population 
 and the routes the most frequented. There is little 
 doubt that they followed in the tracks of the Jewish 
 emigration. Pisidia and Lycaonia had towns, such as 
 Antioch in Pisidia, and Iconium, in which great 
 colonies of Jews had established themselves. There 
 the Jews made many conversions ; far away from 
 Jerusalem, and freed from the influence of Pales- 
 . tine fanaticism, they lived on good terms with the 
 Pagans. The latter came to the synagogue ; mixed
 
 20 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 marriages were not infrequent. Paul had been able 
 to learn from Tarsus what advantageous conditions 
 the new faith would find here, in order to establish 
 itself and to fructify. Derbe and Lystra are not 
 very far from Tarsus. The family of Paul might 
 have had some relations, or, at all events, have been 
 well known in these scattered cantons. 
 
 Departing from Perga, the two Apostles, after 
 a voyage of about forty leagues, arrived at Antioch 
 in Pisidia or Antioch-Csesarea, in the very heart of 
 the high plateaus of the peninsula. This Antioch had 
 continued to be a town of mediocre importance until 
 it was raised by Augustus to the rank of a Roman 
 colony, with Italian jurisdiction. It then became very 
 important, and changed in part its character. Till 
 now it had been a town of priests, similar, it would 
 seem, to Comana. The temple which had rendered it 
 famous, with its legions of temple slaves and its rich 
 domains, was suppressed by the Romans (twenty- 
 five years before Christ). But this grand religious 
 establishment, as is always the case, left deep traces 
 on the manners of the population. It was doubtless 
 in the train of the Roman colony that the Jews had 
 been drawn to Antioch in Pisidia. 
 
 According to their custom, the two Apostles pre- 
 sented themselves at the synagogue on Sunday. 
 After the reading of the Law and the prophets, the 
 presidents, seeing two strangers who had the ap- 
 pearance of being pious, sent to them inquiring if 
 they had a few words of exhortation to address to 
 the people. Paul spoke, and expounded the mystery 
 of Jesus, his death and his resurrection. The im- 
 pression he made was marked, and they besought
 
 SAINT PAUL. 21 
 
 him to come the following Sabbath and continue his 
 discourse to them. A great multitude of Jews and of 
 proselytes followed them out of the synagogue, and 
 during the whole week Paul and Barnabas did not 
 cease to exercise an active ministry. The Pagan 
 population heard tell of the incident, and their 
 curiosity was excited. 
 
 The following Sabbath the whole city assembled 
 at the synagogue ; but the sentiments of the ortho- 
 dox party had much changed. They repented of the 
 tolerance that they had shown the previous Sunday ; 
 the eager multitude irritated the notables ; a dispute 
 accompanied with violence began. Paul and Bar- 
 nabas bravely withstood the tempest ; they were 
 not permitted, however, to speak in the synagogue. 
 They retired protesting. " It was necessary that the 
 word of God should first have been spoken to you," 
 said he to the Jews ; " but seeing ye put it from 
 you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting 
 life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles" (Acts xiii. 46). 
 From that moment, in fact, Paul became more and 
 more confirmed in the idea that the future was not 
 for the Jews but for the Gentiles ; that his ministry 
 on new soil bore much better fruit ; that God had 
 specially singled him out to be the Apostle to the 
 nations, and to spread the glad tidings to the ends 
 of the earth. His great soul had the special char- 
 acteristics of expanding itself and of working inces- 
 santly. The soul of Alexander is the only one I 
 know that had that gift of expansive buoyancy, that 
 indefinable capacity of wishing and of embracing. 
 
 The disposition of the Pagan population was 
 found to be excellent. Many were converted and
 
 22 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 were found in the first attempt to be perfect Christians. 
 We shall see the same thing take place at Philippi, 
 at Alexandra Troas, and in the Roman colonies in 
 general. The disposition that these good and 
 religious peoples had for a refined religion, a dis- 
 position which up till then had been manifested 
 through conversions to Judaism, was evinced now 
 through conversions to Christianity. Despite its 
 strange religion, and perhaps on account of a re- 
 action against that religion, the population of Antioch, 
 like that of Phrygia in general, had a sort of pen- 
 chant in the direction of monotheism. The new 
 religion, not exacting circumcision and not insisting 
 upon certain paltry observances, was much better 
 calculated than Judaism to attract the pious Pagans ; 
 thus, favour was quickly brought over to its side. 
 These scattered provinces, lost amongst the 
 mountains, little accustomed to authority, without 
 historical celebrity and without any importance 
 whatever, were an excellent soil for the faith. A 
 Church, somewhat numerous, was established. An- 
 tioch in Pisidia became a centre of propagandism 
 whence the doctrine irradiated everything around. 
 
 The success of the new Gospel amongst the Pagans 
 culminated in putting the Jews into a fury. A pious 
 intrigue was formed against the missionaries. Sev- 
 eral of the most considerable of the women of the 
 city had embraced Judaism ; the orthodox Jews pre- 
 vailed upon them to speak to their husbands, so as 
 to obtain the expulsion of Paul and Barnabas. The 
 two Apostles, in short, were banished from the city, 
 and from the territory of Antioch in Pisidia, by a 
 municipal decree.
 
 SAINT PAUL. 23 
 
 Following apostolic usage, they shook the dust 
 off their feet against the city. They then directed 
 their steps towards Lycaonia, and reached, after a 
 march of about five days across a fertile country, 
 the city of Iconium. Lycaonia was, like Pisidia, an 
 ignorant country, little known, which had conserved 
 its ancient customs. Patriotism had by no means 
 died out there ; manners were pure, and minds 
 serious and honest. Iconium was a city of ancient 
 religions and of old traditions traditions which, in 
 many points, approached even those of the Jews. 
 The city, still very small, had just received, or was 
 about to receive, from Claudius, when Paul arrived 
 there, the title of Colony. A high Roman function- 
 ary, Lucius Pupius Praesens, procurator of Galatia, 
 had himself called the second founder, and the city 
 changed its ancient name for that of Claudia or of 
 Claudiconium. 
 
 The Jews, doubtless, because of that circumstance 
 were numerous there, and had won over many par- 
 tisans. Paul and Barnabas spoke in the synagogue : 
 a Church was organised. The missionaries made 
 Iconium a second centre of a very active apostle- 
 ship, and dwelt there a long time. It was there that 
 Paul, according to a very popular romance during 
 the first half of the third century, must have con- 
 quered the most beautiful of all his disciples, th'e 
 faithful and tender Thekla. But the story has no 
 foundation to rest on. One asks oneself why, if it 
 was by an arbitary choice, the Asiatic priest, the 
 author of the romance, selected for the scene of his 
 narrative the city of Iconium. Even to-day the 
 Greek women of that country are celebrated for
 
 24 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 their charms, and exhibit the phenomena of endemic 
 hysteria, which the doctors attribute to the climate. 
 However this might be, the success of the Apostles 
 was very great. Many Jews were converted; but 
 the Apostles made always more proselytes outside the 
 synagogue, from amongst those sympathetic popu- 
 lations, who had become dissatisfied with the old 
 religions. The spotless morality of Paul charmed 
 the good Lycaonians ; their credulity, moreover, 
 disposed them to receive with admiration that which 
 they regarded as miracles, and the supernatural gifts 
 of the Spirit. 
 
 The tempest which had forced the preachers to 
 quit Antioch in Pisidia, broke out afresh at Iconium. 
 The orthodox Jews sought to stir up the Pagan 
 population against the missionaries. The city be- 
 came divided into two parties. There was a riot : 
 people spoke of stoning the two Apostles. They 
 took flight, and quitted the capital of Lycaonia. 
 
 Iconium is situated near an intermittent lake, at 
 the entrance of the great steppe which forms the 
 centre of Asia Minor, and which has, even up till now, 
 rebelled against all modes of civilisation. The route 
 towards Galatia, properly speaking, and Cappadocia, 
 was closed. Paul and Barnabas essayed to compass 
 the foot of the arid mountains which form a half circle 
 round the plain on the south side. These mountains 
 are none other than the northern back of the Taurus ; 
 but the central plain being raised considerably above 
 the level of the sea, Taurus attains on that side 
 only a moderate elevation. The country is cold 
 and monotonous ; the soil, now swampy, now sandy, 
 or cracked by the heat, is painfully dismal. Alone,
 
 SAINT PAUL. 25 
 
 the mass of the extinct volcano, called now Kara- 
 dagh, stands like an island in the middle of that 
 boundless sea. 
 
 Two small, obscure towns, the position of which 
 is uncertain, became then the theatre of the activity 
 of the Apostles. These two small towns were called 
 Lystra and Uerbe. Dropped down in the valleys of 
 the Kadaragh, in the middle of poor people de- 
 voted to the raising of flocks, in the neighbourhood 
 of the most notorious haunts of brigands that an- 
 tiquity had known, these two towns stood entirely 
 isolated. A civilised Roman felt himself there to be 
 in the midst of savages. The people spoke Lyca- 
 onian. Few Jews were to be found there. Claudius, 
 by the establishment of colonies in the inaccessible 
 regions of Taurus, gave to these outlandish cantons 
 more order and security than they had ever before 
 had. 
 
 Lystra was the first to be evangelised. A singular 
 incident happened there. In the first days of the 
 sojourn of the Apostles at that town, the rumour 
 had spread that Paul had performed a miraculous 
 cure on a lame person. The credulous inhabitants, 
 and the friends of the person on whom the miracle 
 had been wrought, were thereupon seized with a 
 singular idea. It was believed that the Apostles 
 were two divinities who had taken human form in 
 order to walk about among mortals. The belief in 
 their descent from the gods was widely spread, 
 especially in Asia Minor. The life of Apollonius of 
 Tyana became soon to be regarded as the sojourn of 
 a god upon earth. Tyana was not far from Derbe. 
 An ancient Phrygian tradition, consecrated by a
 
 2 6 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 temple, an annual feast, and pretty recitations, made 
 Zeus and Hermes to wander thus about in company. 
 People applied to the Apostles the names of these 
 two divine travellers. Barnabas, who was taller 
 than Paul, was Zeus; Paul, who was the chief 
 speaker, was Hermes. There was just outside the 
 gate of the town a temple of Zeus. The priest, 
 warned that a divine manifestation had taken place, 
 and that his god had appeared in the town, took 
 steps to have a sacrifice. The bulls had already 
 been led to the spot, and garlands placed on 
 the front of the temple, when Paul and Barnabas 
 arrived on the scene, rending their clothes and pro- 
 testing that they were only men. The Pagan races, 
 as we have already said, attached to a miracle a 
 totally different sense than did the Jews. To the 
 latter, the miracle was a doctrinal argument ; to the 
 former, it was the immediate revelation of a god. 
 The aim of the Apostles, when they were preaching 
 to people of that kind, was less of preaching Jesus 
 than of preaching God ; their preaching thus became 
 again purely Jewish, or rather deistical. The Jews 
 addicted to proselytism, have always felt that that 
 which in their religion is adapted to the univers- 
 ality of mankind is at bottom only monotheism ; that 
 all the rest, Mosaic institutions, Messianic ideas, etc., 
 form, as it were, a secondary series of beliefs, constitut- 
 ing the peculiar appanage of the children of Israel, a 
 sort of family heritage, which is not transmissible. 
 
 As Lystra had only a few or no Jews of Palestine 
 origin, the life of the Apostle was there for a long 
 time very tranquil. One family in that town was 
 the centre and the school of the highest piety. It
 
 SAINT PAUL. 27 
 
 was composed of a grandmother named Lois, of a 
 mother named Eunice, and of a young son named 
 Timothy. The two women professed, undoubtedly, 
 the Jewish religion as proselytes. Eunice had been 
 married to a Pagan, who probably was dead before 
 the advent of Paul and Barnabas. Timothy, in the 
 society of these two women, advanced in the study 
 of sacred literature, and in the sentiments of the 
 most ardent devotion ; but as he visited frequently 
 the houses of the most devout proselytes, his parents 
 had not had him circumcised. Paul converted the 
 two women. Timothy, who might be fifteen years of 
 age, was initiated into the Christian faith by his 
 mother and his grandmother. 
 
 The reports of these conversions spread to Icouium 
 and to Antioch in Pisidia, and re-awakened the anger 
 of the Jews of these two cities. They sent emis- 
 saries to Lystra, who provoked a disturbance. Paul 
 was seized by the fanatics, dragged outside the city, 
 stoned, and left for dead. The disciples came to his 
 rescue. His wounds were not serious. He re-entered 
 the town, probably by night, and on the morrow set 
 out with Barnabas for Derbe. 
 
 They made there a long stay, and won over a 
 great many souls. These two Churches of Lystra and 
 of Derbe were the first Churches that were composed 
 almost entirely of Pagans. We can readily conceive 
 what a difference there must have been between 
 these Churches and those of Palestine, formed in the 
 bosom of pure Judaism, or even that of Antioch, 
 encircled by a Jewish leaven and in a society al- 
 ready Judaised. Here there were subjects com- 
 pletely unprejudiced, honest country folks who were
 
 28 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 very religious, but of a turn of mind quite different 
 from that of the Syrians. Up till now, the preaching 
 of Christianity had prospered only in the large towns, 
 where there lived considerable populations plying 
 their trades. Henceforward, churches were planted 
 in the villages. Neither Iconium, nor Lystra, nor 
 Derbe were considerable enough in which to plant 
 a Church to be compared to that of Corinth or of 
 Ephesus. Paul was in the habit of designating the 
 Christians of Lycaonia by the name of the province 
 in which they dwelt. But this province, we mean 
 Galatia, understood the word in the administrative 
 sense in which the Romans had applied it. 
 
 The Roman province of Galatia, in fact, by no 
 means embraced simply that country, peopled with 
 Gallic adventurers, of which the town of Ancyra was 
 the centre. It was an artificial agglomeration, cor- 
 responding to the transient reunion which was 
 effected at the hands of the Galatian King Amyntas. 
 This personage, after the battle of Philippi, and the 
 death of Dejotarus, received from Antony, Pisidia, 
 then Galatia, together with a part of Lycaonia and 
 of Pamphylia. At the end of his reign (twenty-five 
 years B.C.) Amyntas, outside of Galatia properly 
 speaking, possessed Lycaonia and Isauria, including 
 even Derbe, the south-east and the east of Phrygia, 
 with the towns of Antioch and Apolloiiia, Pisidia 
 and Cilicia Trachsea. All these countries at his death 
 formed a single Roman province, with the exception 
 of Cilicia Trachsea and the Pamphylian towns. The 
 province which bore the name of Galatia in the 
 official nomenclature, at least under the first Caesars, 
 included therefore for certain (1) Gi-alatia, pro-
 
 SAINT PAUL. 29 
 
 perly speaking, (2) Lycaonia, (3) Pisidia, (4) Isauria, 
 (5) Mountainous Phrygia, with the towns of Apol- 
 lonia and Antioch. This state of things lasted for 
 a long time. Ancyra was the capital of this large 
 group, embracing almost the whole of central Asia 
 Minor. The Romans were not indisposed, in order to 
 decompose nationalities, and to efface recollections, 
 thus to change the ancient geographical accepta- 
 tions, and to create arbitrary adminstrative groups 
 analogous to our departments. 
 
 Paul was accustomed to make use of the admini- 
 strative name to designate each country. The coun- 
 tries he had evangelised, from Antioch in Pisidia to 
 Derbe, were called by him " Galatia ;" and the Chris- 
 tians of these countries were to him " Galatians." That 
 name was to him extremely dear. The Churches 
 of Galatia were numbered amongst those for which 
 the Apostle had the most affection, and which had 
 for him the greatest personal attachment. The re- 
 collection of the friendship and the devotion which 
 he had found at the houses of these good people, was 
 one of the deepest impressions of his apostolic life. 
 
 Several circumstances enhanced the keenness of 
 these recollections. It appears that during his so- 
 journ in Galatia, the Apostle was subject to attacks 
 of weakness, or of the malady which frequently over- 
 took him. The solicitude, the attentions of the 
 faithful proselytes, touched him to the heart. The 
 persecutions that they had to suffer together served 
 to create between them a strong bond. That little 
 Lycaonian centre had in its way great importance : 
 St Paul loved to revert to it, as being his first 
 creation. It was from there that he drew later on
 
 30 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 two of his most faithful companions, Timotheus and 
 Gaius. 
 
 He was for four or five years thus absorbed within 
 a quite limited circle. He thought less then of those 
 grand rapid journeys, which towards the end of his 
 life became with him a sort of passion, in order to 
 establish firmly the Churches which might serve him 
 as a base of operations. We do not know whether 
 during that time he had any relations with the 
 Church at Antioch, whose mission he had received. 
 The desire of seeing again that mother church was 
 awakened in him. He determined to make a journey 
 thence, and proceeded by the opposite route to the 
 one he had already passed over. The two mission- 
 aries visited for the second time Lystra, Iconium, 
 Antioch in Pisidia. They took up anew their abodes 
 in these towns, confirming the faithful in the faith, 
 exhorting them to perseverance, to patience, and 
 teaching them that it was only through tribulation 
 that they could enter into the Kingdom of God. 
 For the rest, the constitution of these scattered 
 Churches was very simple. The Apostles chose from 
 amongst each of them elders who after their depart- 
 ure were depositaries of their authority. The cere- 
 mony of their departure was touching. There were 
 fastings and prayers, after which the Apostles recom- 
 mended the faithful to God, and departed. 
 
 From Antioch in Pisidia, the missionaries once 
 more attained to Perga. There, it appeared, they 
 made now a mission which was crowned with success. 
 The city processions, pilgrimages, and grand annual 
 panegyrics were often favourable to the preaching 
 of the Apostle. From Perga they reached in a day
 
 SAINT PAUL. 31 
 
 Attalia, the great port of Pamphylia. There they 
 embarked for Seleucia ; then they returned to great 
 Antioch, where they had, by the grace of God, been 
 liberated five years before. 
 
 The mission field was by no means a wide one. 
 It embraced the Island of Cyprus in the sense of 
 its length, and in Asia Minor a broken line of 
 about a hundred leagues. It was the first instance 
 of an apostolic journey of that kind: nothing was 
 pre-arranged. Paul and Barnabas had to wrestle 
 with the greatest external difficulties. We must 
 not look upon these journeys like those of a Francis 
 Xavier or of a Livingstone, backed up by rich as- 
 sociations. The Apostles resembled much more the 
 Socialist workmen, spreading their ideas from tavern 
 to tavern, than the missionaries of modern times. 
 Their trade was forced upon them as a necessity. 
 They were compelled to halt in order to pursue it, 
 and to regulate themselves according to the localities 
 in which they found work. Hence from delays, from 
 dull seasons, there was much time lost. In spite of 
 the enormous obstacles, the general results of that 
 first mission were immense. When Paul had re-em- 
 barked for Autioch, there were there churches of 
 Gentiles. The great step had now been made. All 
 acts of that kind which had taken place anteriorly 
 had been more or less undecided. For all that, 
 they were obliged to give an answer, more or less 
 plausible, to the pure Jews at Jerusalem, who main- 
 tained that circumcision was the preliminary obli- 
 gation of the Christian profession. Now the question 
 had assumed a different form. Still another fact of 
 the highest importance was brought to light ; that
 
 32 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 was the excellent disposition 'which they had been 
 able to discover among certain races, attached to 
 mythological religions, to receive the gospel. The 
 doctrine of Jesus was evidently going to profit 
 by the species of charm which Judaism had until 
 now exercised upon the pious Pagans. Asia Minor, 
 in particular, was destined to become the second 
 Christian ground. After the disasters which were 
 soon to break up the Churches of Palestine, she was 
 to be the principal home of the new faith, the 
 theatre of the most important transformations. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 FIRST AFFAIR IN REGARD TO CIRCUMCISION. 
 
 THE return of Paul and Barnabas was hailed in the 
 Church of Antioch by a shout of joy. The whole 
 street of. Singon was en fete: the Church was 
 assembled. The two missionaries related their ad- 
 ventures and the things which God had done by 
 them. God Himself, said they, "had opened the door 
 of faith unto the Gentiles " (Acts xiv. 27, 28). They 
 spoke of the Churches of Galatia, which were almost 
 wholly composed of Pagans. The Church of Antioch, 
 which had for a long time on his account recognised 
 the legitimacy of the baptism of the Gentiles, ap- 
 proved their conduct. They remained there several 
 months, resting from their labours, and refreshing 
 themselves at that source with the apostolic spirit. 
 It was then, it appears, that Paul converted and
 
 SA1XT PAUL. 33 
 
 adopted as a disciple, companion, and fellow-worker, 
 a young uncircumcised man named Titus, who had 
 been born of Pagan parents, and whom we find 
 henceforth always with him. 
 
 A serious dissension, which nearly destroyed the 
 work of Jesus, broke out at that time, and threw thej 
 nascent Church into great disorder. This dissension! 
 embraced the very essence of the situation. It was\ 
 inevitable. It was a crisis that the new religion 
 could not fail but pass through. 
 
 Jesus, in raising religion to the highest summit it 
 had ever attained, had not stated very distinctly 
 whether or not he would remain a Jew. He had not 
 indicated what he desired to conserve of Judaism. 
 Sometimes he asserted that he had come to confirm 
 the Law of Moses, at others, to supplant it. To speak 
 the truth, this was, for a great poet like him, an in- 
 significant detail. When one has reached the point of 
 knowing the Heavenly Father, Him whom one adores 
 i;i spirit and in truth, one no longer belongs to any 
 sect, to any particular religion, or to any school; 
 one has the true religion : all practices become of no 
 account; one does not despise them, for they are the 
 symbols of what has been or is still respectable ; but 
 one ceases to regard them as intrinsic attributes. 
 Circumcision, baptism, the Passover, unleavened bread, 
 sacrifices, all these become equally secondary matters : 
 one thinks no more about them. None of the un- 
 circumcised, moreover, had identified themselves 
 with Jesus, or his life ; the question did not hence 
 call for solution. Like all men of genius, Jesus con- 
 cerned himself with mind alone. Practical ques- 
 tions of the highest importance, questions which 
 VOL. I. C
 
 34 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 appeared paramount to inferior minds, questions 
 which caused the acutest pain to men of application, 
 had no existence for him. 
 
 At his death the confusion was general. Aban- 
 doned to themselves, deprived of him who had been 
 for them all a living theology, they returned to the 
 practices of Jewish piety. There were men who 
 were devout to the highest degree ; but the devo- 
 tion of the times was Jewish devotion. They pre- 
 served their customs, and fell again into those petty 
 observances that ordinary persons looked upou as 
 the essence of Judaism. The world regarded them 
 as holy people ; and by a singular change of front, 
 the Pharisees, who had served as a butt for the 
 keenest satires of Jesus, became almost reconciled to 
 his disciples. It was the Sadducees who showed them- 
 selves to be the irreconcilable enemies of the new re- 
 ligion. The strictest observance of the Law appeared 
 to them the first condition of being a Christian. 
 
 Very soon people encountered, in looking at things 
 from this point of view, the greatest difficulties. 
 For as soon as the family of Christians increased in 
 numbers, it was exclusively amongst the people of 
 non-Israelitish origin, amongst the sympathetic ad- 
 herents of Judaism who were uncircumcised, that 
 the new faith found the readiest access. To oblige 
 these to become circumcised was out of the question. 
 Peter, with admirable practical good sense, recog- 
 nised this clearly. On the other hand, timorous per- 
 sons, such as James, the brother of the Lord, looked 
 upon it as supreme impiety to admit Pagans into the 
 Church, and to eat with them. Peter put off as far 
 as he was able all solution of the question.
 
 SAINT PAUL. 35 
 
 For the rest, the Jews 011 their part found thern~ 
 selves in the same situation, and had taken up a 
 similar position. When proselytes or partisans came 
 to them from all parts, the question presented itself 
 to them. Some advanced minds, honest laymen 
 ignorant of science, removed from the influence of 
 the doctors, did not insist upon circumcision. Some- 
 times even they dissuaded the new converts from 
 the practice. These simple-minded and good souls 
 desired only the salvation of the world, and sacri- 
 ficed all the rest to this. The orthodox, on the con- 
 trary, with the disciples of Schammai at their head, 
 declared circumcision to be indispensable. Opposed 
 to the proselytising of the Gentiles, they did 
 nothing to facilitate the cause of religion ; on the 
 contrary, they manifested towards the converts a 
 certain coldness : Schammai drove them out of his 
 house, we are told, with a baton. This division was 
 clearly manifested in respect of the royal family of 
 Adiabene. The Jew named Ananias who converted 
 her, and who was by no means a savant, dissuaded 
 Izate strongly against circumcision. " One can live as 
 perfectly," said he, " as a Jew can without circumci- 
 sion; to adore God was the thing really important." 
 The pious Helene was of the same opinion. A 
 rigorist, named Eleazar, declared, on the contrary, 
 that if the king did not undergo the rite, he was an 
 impious person ; that the reading of the Law was 
 of no avail, if one did not observe it, and that the 
 highest precept was circumcision. The king, at the 
 risk of losing his crown, followed this advice. The 
 petty kings who embraced Judaism, in view of the 
 rich marriages that the family of Herod offered, suV>
 
 3(5 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 rnitted to the same rite. But true piety was of a 
 less facile composition than politics and avaricious- 
 ness. Many of the pious converts led the Jew- 
 ish life, without being subjected to the rite which 
 was reputed by the vulgar as the opening of the 
 door to excesses. It was indeed for them a source of 
 perpetual embarrassment. Society bigots, in whom 
 prejudices are strong, are accustomed to represent 
 their religious practices as matters of good taste, of 
 superior education. Whilst in France the devout man, 
 in order to avow his piety, is compelled to conquer a 
 sort of shame, and of human respect, with the Mussul- 
 mans, on the other hand, the man who practises his 
 religion is the gentleman ; he who is not a good Mus- 
 sulman is not the person that he ought to be. His 
 position is analogous to that of a boorish, ill-man- 
 nered countryman with us. Similarly, in England 
 and in the United States, he who does not observe 
 the Sabbath, is put to the ban in good society. 
 Amongst the Jews, the position of the uncircumcised 
 was still worse. Contact with such a being was in , 
 their eyes something insupportable ; circumcision 
 appeared to them an obligation for everyone who! 
 wished to live amongst them. He who would not! 
 submit to it, was a creature of low quality ; a sort of 
 impure animal that people avoided ; a wretch with 
 whom a man of good standing could hold no relations. 
 The grand duality which is the very essence of 
 Judaism, was revealed in this. The Law, which was 
 essentially restrictive, and made for the purpose of 
 isolating, was totally different in spirit from the Pro- 
 phets, dreaming of the conversion of the world, and 
 embracing the widest fields. Two words borrowed
 
 SAINT PAUL. 37 
 
 from the Talmudic tongue well defines the difference 
 that we have indicated. The agada, the opposite of the 
 halaka, designates popular preaching, proposes to it- 
 self the conversion of the heathen, in opposition to 
 the learned casuistry which only thinks of the strict 
 execution of the Law, without aiming at converting 
 anyone. To use the language of the Talmud, the 
 gospels are the agadas the Talmud, on the contrary 
 is the highest expression of the halaka. It is the agada 
 which has conquered the world and made it Chris- 
 tian. The halaka is the source of orthodox Judaism, 
 which still endures without seeking to extend itself. 
 The agada is represented as a thing principally 
 Galilsean ; the halaka as a thing peculiarly Hieroso- 
 lymitish. Jesus, Hillel, the authors of apocalypses 
 and apochryphas, are agadists, pupils of the Prophets, 
 inheritors of their infinite aspirations ; Schammai, 
 the Talrnudists, the Jews posterior to the destruc- 
 tion of Jerusalem, are the halakistes, the adherents of 
 the Law, with its strict observances. We shall see, 
 up to the time of the supreme crisis of the year 70, 
 the fanaticism of the Law increasing each day, and, on 
 the eve of the great national disaster, terminating in 
 a sort of reaction against the doctrines of St Paul, in 
 those " eighteen measures " which afterwards ren- 
 dered impossible all intercourse between the Jews and 
 the non-Jews, and opened the sad history of exclusive 
 Judaism, hateful and hated, which was the Judaism of 
 the Middle Ages, and is still the Judaism of the East. 
 It is clear that, for nascent Christianity, here 
 was the point upon which its future depended. 
 Judaism did it or did it not impose particular 
 rites upon the multitudes which professed it 1 Did
 
 38 SAIXT PAUL. 
 
 it establish a distinction between the monotheistic 
 basis which constituted its essence, and the observ- 
 ances with which it was surcharged? Tf the former 
 party had triumphed, as the Schammaites wished it 
 would, the Jewish propaganda would have been 
 wiped out. It is quite certain that the world would 
 not have become Jewish, in the narrow sense of the 
 word. That which constituted the attraction of 
 Judaism, was not its rites, which did not differ in 
 principle from those of other religions ; it was its 
 theological simplicity. We accept it as a sort of 
 deisrn, or religious philosophy ; and, in fact in the 
 mind of a Philo, for example Judaism was itself 
 very closely associated with philosophical specula- 
 tions. With the Essenians it had reassumed the 
 form of a social Utopia ; with the author of the poem 
 attributed to Phocylides, it had become a simple 
 catechism of good sense and of honesty ; with the 
 author of the treatise of " The Empire of Reason," a 
 sort of Stoicism. Judaism, like all other religions 
 founded primarily upon caste and tribalism, was 
 encumbered by practices destined to separate the 
 believer from the rest of the world. These practices 
 did not offer any obstacle until Judaism justly 
 aspired to become the universal religion, without 
 either exclusion or separation. It was as Deism and 
 not as Mosaicism that it was to become the universal 
 religion of humanity. "Love all men," said Hillel, 
 " and draw them together with the Law ; act not 
 otherwise than you would not wish that others 
 should act to you. Here is the whole Law, the 
 rest is the commentary of it." When we read the 
 treatises of Philo, entitled, " Of the Contemplative
 
 SAINT PAUL. 39 
 
 Life," or "That Every Honest Man is Free;" when 
 we read even the Sibylline verses written by the 
 Jews, we are confronted with an order of ideas which 
 have nothing specially Jewish about them, with a 
 world of general mysticism which is not more Jewish 
 than Buddhist or Pythagorean. The Pseudo-Pho- 
 cylide goes the length of suppressing the Sabbath. 
 We feel that all these men, ardent for the ameliora- 
 tion of humanity, seek to reduce Judaism to a 
 general morale, to strip it of all that it possesses of 
 individuality, and of everything that would make of 
 it a restricted religion. 
 
 Three capital reasons, in fact, rendered Judaism a 
 thing very exclusive. These were, circumcision, the 
 prohibition of mixed marriages, and the distinction 
 between meats permissible or forbidden. Circum- 
 cision was for adults a painful ceremony; a cere- 
 mony, moreover, not without danger, and disagree- 
 able to the last degree. That was one of the 
 reasons which interdicted the Jews from leading! 
 a life in common with other races, and made of\ 
 them a separate caste. At the baths and at the 
 gymnasiums, most important places in ancient cities, 
 circumcision exposed the Jews to all manner of 
 affronts. Every time that the attention of the 
 Greeks or the Romans was drawn to the subject, 
 it was the signal for outbursts of pleasantry. The 
 Jews were very sensitive about it, and avenged them- 
 selves by cruel reprisals. Many, in order to escape 
 the ridicule, and wishing to pass themselves off for 
 Greeks, attempted to dissimulate their original mark 
 by a surgical operation, the details of which have 
 been preserved to us by Celsus. As for the converts
 
 40 SAIN'T PAUL. 
 
 who submitted to that initiatory ceremony, there 
 was only one course left to them that was, to 
 conceal themselves to escape the sarcasms. No 
 man of the world could resign himself to such a 
 situation, and this was without doubt the reason that 
 the conversions to Judaism were much more numer- 
 ous among the women than among the men, the 
 former not being subjected at first to an experience 
 shocking and repulsive in every respect. We find 
 many instances of Jewish women married to Pagans, 
 but there is not a single instance of a Jew married to 
 ; a Pagan woman. Hence the origin of much of the 
 jeering. The necessity made itself felt by a broad 
 casuistry which brought peace into troubled house- 
 holds. 
 
 Mixed marriages were the origin of difficulties of 
 the same kind. The Jews regarded these marriages 
 as pure fornication. It was the crime that the 
 kanaim punished with the dagger, simply because the 
 Law in not prescribing for it any particular punish- 
 ment, left its repression in the hands of zealots. 
 Although bound by faith and love of Christ, two 
 Christians could thus be hindered from contracting 
 marriage. The Israelite converted to Jesus who 
 wished to espouse a sister of the Grecian race, ex- 
 pected that union, holy in his eyes, to be called by 
 the most outrageous names. 
 
 The prescriptions as to meats being pure or im- 
 pure were not of the least consequence. We can 
 judge of this by that which still happens in our own 
 time. Nudity being no longer a part of modern 
 manners, circumcision, for Israelites, is not subjected 
 to these inconveniences. But the necessity of slaugh-
 
 SAINT PAUL. 41 
 
 tering for themselves continues to be for them very 
 embarrassing. It requires of those who are strict 
 not to eat with Christians, and, consequently, to be 
 sequestered from general society. That precept is 
 the principal cause which still places Judaism, in 
 many countries, in the position of an exclusive sect. 
 In countries where Israelites are not separated from 
 the rest of the nation, it is a rock of offence ; for, to 
 understand it, it is sufficient on this point to have 
 seen Puritan Jews arriving from Germany or Poland, 
 who are shocked at the licences their co-religionists 
 permit on this side of the Rhine. In cities like Salon- 
 ica, in which the majority of the population is Jewish, 
 and where the wealth is in the hands of the Jews, 
 the actual trade of the community is on this account 
 rendered impossible. A Jewish law, the relic of in- 
 numerable centuries during which the responsibili- 
 ties of property were an essential part of religious 
 legislation, stamped the pig with a brand of infamy, 
 which had no raison d'etre in Emrope. That old anti- 
 pathy, having its origin in the East, appeared puerile 
 to the Greeks and the Romans. A multitude of other 
 prohibitions had descended from a time when one of 
 the pre-occupations of the leaders of civilisation was 
 to constrain their subordinates from eating things 
 unclean, or from touching carrion. The hygiene of 
 marriage, in fine, had given room for the enacting 
 of a code of legal impurities for women sufficiently 
 complicated. The characteristic of these kind of 
 prohibitions is their survival from times when they 
 had a raison d'etre, and of their becoming at length 
 so vexatious that they might have had their origin 
 in what was proper and salutary.
 
 42 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 One particular circumstance gave to the prohi- 
 bitions in regard to meat much gravity. The flesh 
 provided for the sacrifices made to the gods was 
 considered as impure. But these meats, after the 
 sacrifices, were often carried to the market, where it 
 became very difficult to distinguish them ; hence the 
 inextricable scruples. The strict Jews did not regard 
 as lawful the indiscriminate provisioning of them- 
 selves in the market. They held that the seller should 
 be questioned as to the origin of the meat, and that 
 before accepting the dish the host should be ques- 
 tioned as to how it had been supplied. The imposing 
 of that load of casuistry upon converts had evidently 
 been carried too far. Christianity would not have 
 been Christianity if. like the Judaism of our day, it 
 had been compulsory to have slaughtering done 
 separately, or if the Christian could riot, without 
 violating his vow, eat with other men. When one 
 has discovered in that network of difficulties reli- 
 gions supercharged with prohibitions pertaining to 
 life ; when one has seen the Jew in the East ; the 
 Mussulmans separated by their ritualistic laws, as if 
 by a wall, from the European world, where they 
 might take their place, one can comprehend the 
 immense importance of the questions which were 
 decided at the time at which we are now arrived. 
 The question to be decided was, whether Christian- 
 ity should be a religion of formulas, a religion of 
 ablutions, of purifications, of distinctions between 
 things pure and things impure, or, on the other 
 hand, the religion of mind, the idealistic cult, which 
 has killed or shall kill by degrees materialistic reli- 
 gions, all formularies, all ceremonies. Or, better still,
 
 SAINT PAUL. 43 
 
 the question to be decided was whether Christianity 
 was to be a petty sect or a universal religion ; whether 
 the idea of Jesus had disappeared in consequence 
 of the incapacity of his disciples ; or whether that 
 idea, by virtue of its original force, could triumph 
 over the scruples of backward and narrow minds, 
 which were ready to have it replaced and obliterated. 
 The mission of Paul and Barnabas had presented 
 the question with such a force that there was no 
 way of avoiding a solution. Paul, who in the first 
 period of his ministry had, it appears, preached cir- 
 cumcision, now declared it useless. He had sur- 
 reptitiously admitted Pagans into the Church ; he 
 had constituted Churches composed of Gentiles ; 
 Titus, his intimate friend, had not been circumcised. 
 The Church at Jerusalem could not longer close its 
 eyes to facts so notorious. Broadly speaking, this 
 Church was, on the point with which we are now 
 engaged, hesitating, or favourable to the party the 
 most backward. The conservative senate was 
 there. In close proximity to the Temple, in per- 
 petual contact with the Pharisees, the old Apostles, 
 timid and narrow-minded, could not accept the pro- 
 foundly revolutionary theories of Paul. Many of 
 the Pharisees, however, had embraced Christianity 
 without renouncing the essential principles of their 
 sect. For such persons, the supposition that one 
 could be saved without circumcision was blasphemy. 
 To them the Law seemed to remain in its entirety. 
 They had been told that Jesus had come to fulfil 
 the Law, not to abrogate it. The privileges of the 
 children of Abraham appeared to them intact : the 
 Gentiles could not enter into the kingdom of God
 
 44 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 without being previously affiliated with the family of 
 Abraham ; in a word, before becoming a Christian, it 
 was necessary to be made a Jew. Never, we can 
 see, had Christianity had to resolve a more funda- 
 mental doubt. If one could have credited the 
 Jewish party, the love feast even, the common re- 
 past, would have been impossible; the two sections 
 of the Church of Jesus would not have been able to 
 commune the one with the other. From the theo- 
 logical point of view, the question was still more 
 serious ; the question was to know whether one 
 could be saved through the works of the Law or by 
 the grace of Jesus Christ. 
 
 Some members of the Church of Judaea having 
 arrived at Antioch without, as it would appear, any 
 mission from the apostolic body provoked discussion. 
 They proclaimed loudly that one could not be saved 
 without circumcision. It is necessary to recall that 
 the Christians, who had at Antioch a name and a dis- 
 tinct individuality, had nothing of the kind at Jeru- 
 salem; that which did not oppose whoever came from 
 Jerusalem had not in the whole Church much force, 
 for the centre of authority was there. People were 
 greatly excited. Paul and Barnabas resisted in the 
 most energetic manner. There were long disputes. 
 To bring it to an end, it was decided that Paul and 
 Barnabas should go to Jerusalem to consult with 
 the Apostles and the Elders on the subject. 
 
 The question had for Paul a personal importance. 
 His action until now had been almost entirely inde- 
 pendent. He had only spent a fortnight at Jerusalem 
 since his conversion, and for eleven years he had not 
 put a foot in it, In the eyes of many he was a sort
 
 SAINT PAUL. 45 
 
 of heretic, teaching cm his owii account, and scarcely 
 in communion with the rest of the faithful. He 
 declared proudly that he had had his revelation, his 
 apostleship. To go to Jerusalem was, in appearance 
 at least, to forfeit his liberty, to subject his apostle- 
 ship to that of the Mother Church, to learn from 
 others what he knew through his own and personal 
 revelation. He did not deny the authority of the 
 Mother Church ; but he defied it, because he was 
 acquainted with the obstinacy of some of its mem- 
 bers. He therefore took precautions so as not to be 
 trapped. He declared that in going to Jerusalem 
 he would not submit to any dictation ; he even 
 feigned, following a pretension that was habitual 
 to him, that in this he was obeying a command of 
 Heaven, and of having had a revelation on the 
 subject. He took with him his disciple Titus, who 
 shared all his opinions, and who, as we have said 
 above, was not circumcised. 
 
 Paul, Barnabas, and Titus set out on their journey. 
 The Church at Antioch accompanied them on their 
 route as far as Laodicsea-on-the-sea. They followed 
 the coast of Phoenicia, then traversed Samaria, find- 
 ing at every step brethren, to whom they recounted 
 the marvels of the conversion of the Gentiles. 
 There was great joy everywhere. In this way they 
 reached Jerusalem. This was one of the most 
 solemn hours in the history of Christianity. The 
 grand doubt was now to be solved. The men 
 upon whom rested the whole future of the new 
 religion were going to be ranged face to face. 
 Upon their grandeur of soul, upon their uprightness 
 of heart, deperrled the future of humanity.
 
 4(5 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 Eighteen years had rolled on since the death of 
 Jesus. The Apostles had grown old. One of them 
 had suffered martyrdom. Others probably were 
 dead. We know that the deceased members of the 
 apostolic college were not replaced ; that the college 
 was abandoned as soon as they disappeared. On 
 the part of the Apostles, they formed themselves into 
 a college of elders, in which authority was divided. 
 The " Church," the reputed depository of the Holy 
 Spirit, was composed of the Apostles, of the elders, 
 and of all the brethren. Amongst the simple-minded 
 brethren themselves there were degrees. Inequality 
 was perfectly admissible ; but that inequality was 
 altogether moral ; it was neither a question of ex- 
 ternal prerogative nor of material advantage. The 
 three principal " pillars," as we have said, of the 
 community were still Peter, James, the brother of 
 the Lord, and John, the son of Zebedee. Many 
 Galileeans had disappeared. They had been replaced 
 by a certain number of persons belonging to the 
 party of the Pharisees. ' Pharisee " was synony- 
 mous with "devotee"; but all the best saints 
 Jerusalem were also strong devotees. Lacking the | 
 mind, the finesse, the grandeur of Jesus, they had, 
 after his death, fallen into a kind of stupid bigotry, 
 a state similar to that which their master so strongly j 
 combated. They were incapable of irony ; they had 
 almost, forgotten the eloquent invectives of Jesus 
 against the hypocrites. Some had developed into a 
 sort of Jewish Indian priests, after the manner of John 
 the Baptist and of Bauou, monks totally addicted to/ 
 formulas, and at whom Jesus, certainly, if he had been 
 still alive, could not have aimed sarcasms enough. J
 
 SAINT PAUL. 47 
 
 James, in particular, who was surnamed the Just, 
 or " the brother of the Lord," was one of the 
 most exact observers of the Law that there was. 
 According to certain traditions most doubtful, it 
 is true he was even an ascetic, practising all 
 the Nazarene abstinences, observing celibacy, drink- 
 ing no intoxicating liquors, eschewing flesh, never 
 cutting his hair, forbidding himself the unctions 
 of the baths, wearing neither sandals nor gar- 
 ments of wool, clothed in plain linen. Nothing, 
 we see, was more contrary to the idea of Jesus, 
 who, at least from the death of John the Baptist, 
 declared affectations of that kind perfectly vain. 
 Abstinence already in favour with certain branches 
 of Judaism became the fashion, and formed the 
 dominant trait of the fraction of the Church which, 
 later on, was to be connected with a pretended 
 Ebiou. The pure Jews were opposed to those absti- 
 nences ; but the proselytes, particularly the women, 
 inclined much to them. James did not budge from 
 the Temple ; he remained there alone, it is said, for 
 long hours in prayer, until the patulla of his knees 
 had contracted, so as to resemble those of the 
 chamois. It is believed that he passed his time 
 there after the manner of Jeremiah, a penitent for 
 the people, weeping for the sins of the nation, and 
 turning aside the chastisements that threatened them. 
 He had only to raise his hands to heaven to perform 
 miracles. He had been suruamed the Just, and also 
 Obliam, that is to say, " Itampart of the people," 
 because it was supposed that it was his prayers 
 which prevented the Divine wrath from sweeping 
 everything away. The Jews, as we are assured,
 
 48 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 held him in the same veneration as the Christians. 
 If that singular man was really the brother of Jesus, 
 he must have been at least one of those inimical 
 brothers who abjured him and wished him arrested ; 
 and it is probable to such recollections that Paul, 
 irritated at a mind so narrow, made allusion when 
 he wrote concerning these pillars of the Church at 
 Jerusalem : " Whatsoever they were, it maketh no 
 matter to me; God accepteth no man's person" 
 (Gal. ii. 6). Jude, the brother of James, was, it 
 seems, in entire agreement with his ideas. 
 
 To sum up, the Church at Jerusalem had been 
 more and more broadened by the spirit of Jesus. 
 The dead weight of Judaism had borne it down. 
 Jerusalem was for the new faith an unwholesome 
 centre, and would have ended by destroying it. In 
 that capital of Judaism, it was very difficult to cease 
 being a Jew. Moreover, new men, like St Paul, all 
 but systematically avoided residing there. Forced 
 now, under pairi of being separated from the primi- 
 tive Church, to come to confer with their elders, they 
 found themselves in a position full of hardship ; and 
 the work, which could not live except by the power 
 of concord and of abnegation, ran an immense risk. 
 
 The interview, in fact, was singularly protracted 
 and embarrassing. People listened favourably at 
 first to the account that Paul and Barnabas gave 
 of their missions ; for everyone, even the most 
 Judaised, was of opinion that the conversion of the 
 Gentiles was the harbinger of the Messiah. The 
 curiosity to see the man of whom so much was being 
 said, and who had led the sect into so new a path, 
 at first very lively. They glorified God for
 
 SAINT PAUL. 49 
 
 having made an Apostle out of a persecutor. But 
 when they came to circumcision, and the obligation 
 of practising the Law, dissension broke out in all its 
 force. The Pharisean party set forth its pretensions 
 in the most uncompromising manner. The party 
 in favour of emancipation responded with triumph- 
 ant force. They cited the cases of several uncir- 
 cumcised persons who had received the Holy Ghost. 
 If God made no distinction between Pagans and 
 Jews, how could they have the temerity to do it 
 for him ? How could that be held for unclean which 
 God had purified? Why impose a yoke on the con- 
 verts that the race of Israel had not been able to 
 bear ? It was through Jesus that one was saved, and 
 not through the Law. Paul and Barnabas advanced 
 in support of that thesis the miracles which God 
 had wrought for the conversion of the Gentiles. But 
 the Pharisees objected with no less force that the 
 Law was not abolished ; that one never ceased to be 
 a Jew ; that the obligations of a Jew remained ever 
 the same. They refused to hold relations with 
 Titus, who was uncircumcised ; they openly accused 
 Paul of infidelity, and of being an enemy of the Law. 
 The most admirable characteristic in the histories 
 of the origin of Christianity is that that radical arid 
 serious division, embracing a question of the first 
 importance, did not occasion in the Church a com- 
 plete schism, which would have been its ruin. The 
 eager and impulsive mind of Paul had in this junc- 
 ture a splendid opportunity of displaying itself ; his 
 sound practical sense, his sagacity and his judg- 
 ment, remedied everything. The two parties were 
 eager, excited, almost cruel to one another; nobody 
 VOL, I, D
 
 50 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 rejected his advice ; the question was not yet shaped ; 
 people remained united in the common work. A 
 superior bond, the love that everyone had for Jesus, 
 the remembrance which all entertained for him, were 
 stronger than the divisions. The most fundamental 
 dissension that was ever produced in the bosom of 
 the Church, did not lead to reprobation. This is a 
 great lesson that succeeding centuries have seldom 
 been able to imitate. 
 
 Paul understood that in large and heated as- 
 semblies he could never succeed, because that there 
 narrow minds would always have the sway, and 
 because Judaism was too strong at Jerusalem for 
 one to hope to be able to extort from it a conces- 
 sion of principles. He went and saw separately 
 all personages of consideration, in particular, Peter, 
 James, and John. Peter, like all men who exist 
 for the most part on elevated sentiment, was 
 indifferent to questions of party. These disputes 
 grieved him ; he wished for union, concord, and 
 peace. His timid and rather contracted mind de- 
 tached itself with difficulty from Judaism ; he would 
 have preferred that the new converts had accepted 
 circumcision, but he saw the impossibility of such a 
 solution. Deep and tender natures are always un 
 decided: they sometimes even have resort to a little 
 dissimulation. They desire to please everybody no 
 question of principle seems with them to outweigh 
 the value of peace. They let themselves be carried 
 away by different parties, and to making contra- 
 dictory promises and engagements. Peter sometimes 
 committed this by no means heinous fault. With 
 Paul, he was for uncircumcision. ; Avith the strict
 
 SAINT PAUL. 51 
 
 Jews, be sided with the partisans of circumcision. 
 The soul of Paul was so grand, so sincere, so full of 
 the new zeal which Jesus had brought into the 
 world, that Peter could not fail to sympathise with 
 him. They loved each other, and when they were 
 together, it was as sovereigns of the future of the 
 entire world that they divided between them. 
 
 It was doubtless at the close of one of their conver- 
 sations that Paul, with the exaggeration of language 
 that was habitual to him, said to Peter, " We can 
 understand one another : yours is the gospel of cir- 
 cumcision ; mine is the gospel of uucircumcision." 
 Paul laid hold of these words later on as a sort of 
 regular treaty, which ought to be accepted by all 
 the Apostles. It is difficult to believe that Peter and 
 Paul should dare to repeat outside their private 
 conversations words which would have injured to 
 the highest degree the pretensions of James, and 
 probably even those of John. But the words were 
 uttered. These large schemes, which were hardly 
 those of Jerusalem, struck greatly the enthusiastic 
 soul of Peter. Paul made upon him the greatest 
 impression, and won him over completely. Up to 
 this time Peter had travelled little ; his pastoral 
 visits had not, it seems, been extended beyond 
 Palestine. He must have been about fifty years 
 of age. Paul's eagerness for travelling, the re- 
 citals of the apostolic journeys, the projects that had 
 been communicated to him in regard to the future, 
 fired his zeal. It was from this time that Peter was 
 seen to absent himself from Jerusalem, and to lead 
 in his turn the wandering life of apostleship. 
 
 James, with the sanctity of a life so equivocal, wag
 
 52 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 the chief of the Jrulaistic party. It was through 
 him that almost all the conversions of Pharisees had 
 been made : the exigencies of that party were im- 
 posed on him. Everything tends to the belief that 
 he did not make any concession upon the dogmatic 
 principle ; nevertheless, a moderate and conciliatory 
 opinion soon began to make itself manifest. The 
 legitimacy of the conversion of the Gentiles was 
 admitted : it was declared that it was useless to be 
 disquieted in regard to what concerned circum- 
 cision; it was only necessary to maintain a few 
 interesting prescriptions, the morale or the sup- 
 pression of which would shock too keenly the Jews. 
 In order to reassure the Pharisean party, it was 
 remarked that the existence of the Law was not for 
 the sake of compromise, seeing that Moses had from 
 time immemorial, and would always be, for the people 
 to be read in the synagogues. The converted Jews 
 thus remained submissive to the entire Law, and the 
 exemptions only concerned the converted Pagans. 
 In practice, however, people were to avoid shocking 
 those who had ideas the most contracted. It was 
 probably these moderate persons, the authors of that 
 harmless contradiction, who counselled Paul to in- 
 duce Titus to let himself be circumcised. Titus, in 
 fact, had become one of the principal difficulties of 
 the situation. The converted Pharisees of Jerusalem 
 willingly supported the idea that, far removed from 
 them, at Antioch, or in the depths of Asia Minor, 
 there were Christians uncircumcised. But in their 
 midst at Jerusalem, to be obliged to associate with 
 them, and thus to commit a flagrant violation of that 
 Law to which they were attached to the bottom of
 
 SAINT PAUL. 53 
 
 their hearts, this was Avhat they could iiot cou- 
 seut to. 
 
 Paul took the most infinite precautions in acceding 
 to this demand. It was indeed owned that it was 
 not as a matter of necessity that the circumcision of 
 Titus Avas demanded, as Titus would remain a 
 Clmstiau even if he did not submit to that rite ; but 
 it was asked of him as a mark of condescension for 
 the brethren whose consciences were pledged, and 
 who otherwise could not hold relations with him- 
 Paul consented, but not without uttering some severe 
 words against the authors of such an exaction, 
 against those false brethren who only had entered the 
 Church to diminish the extent of the liberties created 
 by Jesus. He protested that he would in nothing 
 submit his opinions to theirs ; that the concession he 
 had made was for once only, for the sake of the 
 general good, and of peace. With such reservations 
 he gave his consent, and Titus was circumcised. 
 
 That concession cost Paul much, and the sentence 
 in which he spoke of it is the most original that he 
 ever wrote. The language that it cost him seemed 
 not to be able to run oif his pen. The sentence, at 
 first sight, appeared to mean that Titus was not 
 circumcised, whilst it implied that he was. The re- 
 membrance of that painful moment often returned to 
 him ; that semblance of returning to Judaism ap- 
 peared to him sometimes as a denying of Jesus ; he 
 re-assured himself by saying, " And unto the Jews 
 I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews." 
 Like all men who possess a multiplicity of ideas, 
 Paul set little store by forms. He perceived the 
 vanity of everything which was not a thing of the
 
 54 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 soul, and when the supreme interests of conscience 
 were at play, he, usually so stubborn, abandoned 
 all else. 
 
 The capital concession which involved the circum- 
 cision of Titus, appeased much of the ill-feeling. 
 It was admitted that in distant countries in which 
 the new converts had no daily intercourse with the 
 Jews, it would be sufficient if they abstained from 
 blood, together with meats offered in sacrifice to the 
 gods, or suffocated, and that they observed the same 
 laws as the Jews in regard to marriage, and the 
 relations between the sexes. The use of pork meat, 
 the interdiction of which was everywhere the symbol 
 of Judaism, was left free. It was almost the embodi- 
 ment of the Noachic precepts ; that is to say, which 
 it was supposed had beeu revealed to Noah, and 
 which were imposed on all proselytes. The idea 
 that the blood was the life, that the blood was life 
 itself, inspired in the Jews an extreme horror for 
 meats from which the blood had not been let. To 
 abstain from these was for them a precept of na- 
 tural religion. Demons were supposed to be par- 
 ticularly greedy of blood, so in eating meat not bled 
 people ran the risk of having for companion of the 
 food they partook of a demon. A man who about 
 that period wrote under the usurped name of the 
 celebrated Greek moralist Phocylides a short course 
 of Jewish natural morals, simplified the usages of the 
 non-Jews, by seizing upon similar solutions. That 
 bold impostor did not essay to convert his reader 
 to Judaism ; he sought merely to inculcate on him 
 the "Noachical precepts," with some greatly modi- 
 fied Jewish rules in regard to meat and to marriage.
 
 SAIXT PAUL. 55 
 
 The first of these rules was altered by him to 
 accord with hygienic requirements and alimentary 
 convenience, to the abstaining from things forbidden 
 or unclean ; the second had reference to the regulat- 
 ing and the purifying of sexual relations. All the 
 rest of the Jewish ritual went for nothing. 
 
 For the rest, that which issued from the assembly 
 at Jerusalem was only agreed to by word of mouth, 
 and was not even stated in very strict terms, for we 
 shall see them frequently set aside. The idea of dog- 
 matic canons emanating from a council was not yet 
 heard of. By reason of profound good sense, these 
 simple people attained to the loftiest pinnacle of 
 policy. They saw that the only way of escaping 
 great questions was to leave them unresolved, to 
 take a middle course which would please no one, 
 and to leave problems to wear themselves out, and 
 to die from inherent error. 
 
 People were content to be separated. Paul ex- 
 plained to Peter, James, and John the gospel that 
 he preached to the Gentiles ; the former entirely 
 approved of it, finding nothing in it to repri- 
 mand, and not attempting to add anything there- 
 to. Paul and Barnabas were heartily given the 
 right hand of fellowship ; their immediate right 
 divine to the apostleship of the Pagan world was 
 admitted ; people recognised in them a sort of 
 peculiar grace for what was the special object of their 
 vocation. The title of Apostle of the Gentiles, which 
 Paul had already assumed, was, as he assures us, 
 officially conferred on him ; and without doubt people 
 accorded to him, at least by tacit assent, the fact 
 which ho prized the most, to wit, that he had had
 
 56 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 his special revelation as direct as those who had 
 seen Jesus ; in other words, that his vision on the 
 way to Damascus was of as much importance as the 
 other appearances of Christ risen from the dead. 
 All that was required of the three representatives 
 of the Church of Antioch in return, was not to 
 forget the poor at Jerusalem. The church of that 
 city, in fact, by reason of its communistic organisa- 
 tion, its particular responsibilities, and the misery 
 which reigned in Judea, continued as if at its 
 last gasp. Paul and his party accepted gladly that 
 idea. They hoped by a kind of contribution to 
 shut the mouth of the intolerant Hierosolymitish 
 party, and to reconcile it with the thought that 
 he existed for the Church of the Gentiles. By 
 means of a trifling tribute they purchased liberty 
 of thought, and remained in communication with 
 the central Church, outside of which one did not 
 dare hope for salvation. 
 
 In order that no doubt should remain as to the 
 reconciliation, it was decided that Paul, Barnabas, 
 and Titus, in returning to Antioch, were to be 
 accompanied by two of the principal members of 
 the Church at Jerusalem, Judas Bar-Saba and Sil- 
 vanus or Silas, charged with disavowing the brethren 
 from Judea, who had created the trouble in the 
 Church at Antioch, and to render witness to Paul 
 and Barnabas, whose services and devotion were 
 recognised. The joy at Antioch was very great. 
 Judas and Silas held the rank of inspired prophets : 
 their inspired speech was appreciated extremely by 
 the Church at Antioch. Silas was so much charmed 
 with that atmosphere of life and of liberty, that he
 
 S.MXT PAUL. 57 
 
 had no desire to return to Jerusalem. Judas alone 
 returned to the Apostles, and Silas attached him- 
 self to Paul by the bonds of confraternity, which 
 each day became more fast. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 SLOW PROPAGATION OF CHRISTIANITY: ITS 
 INTRODUCTION AT ROME. 
 
 AN idea which, above all things, it is necessary to 
 get rid of, when the question at issue is the propa- 
 gation of Christianity, is that that propagation had 
 to be made by succeeding missionaries, and by 
 preachers similar to those of modern times, who have 
 to go from city to city. Paul and Barnabas and 
 their companions were the only ones who sometimes 
 proceeded in this manner. The rest was done by 
 workmen whose names remain unknown. By the 
 side of the Apostles who attained celebrity, there 
 was thus an obscure apostleship. whose agents were 
 not dogmatists by profession, but who were none the 
 less most efficacious. The Jews of the period were 
 nomads par excellence. Merchants, servants, small 
 tradesmen, visited all the large towns of the coast, 
 pursuing their calling. Active, industrious, polite, 
 they brought with them their ideas, their good 
 example, their advancement, and dominated those 
 populations, degraded in the eyes of the religious, 
 with all the superiority that the enthusiastic man
 
 58 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 possesses amongst those that are indifferent. Those 
 affiliated to the Christian sect travelled like the other 
 Jews, and carried the glad tidings with them. It 
 was a sort of confidential preaching, and much more 
 persuasive than any other. The gentleness, the 
 gaiety, the good humour, the patience of the new 
 believers, caused them to be received gladly every- 
 where, and conciliated the minds of people. 
 
 Rome was one of the first points attacked in this 
 manner. The capital of the Empire had heard the 
 name of Jesus long before all the intermediate 
 countries could have been evangelised, just as a 
 high summit is illuminated when the valleys lying 
 between it and the sun are still in darkness. Home 
 was, in fact, the rendezvous of all the Oriental re- 
 ligions, the point of the Mediterranean with which 
 the Syrians had the most intercourse. They arrived 
 there in enormous bands. Like all poor populations 
 going up to attack the large cities in quest of for- 
 tune, they were obedient arid humble. With them 
 disembarked troops of Greeks, Asiatics, and Egyp- 
 tians, all speaking Greek. Rome was literally bi- 
 lingual. The language of the Jewish world and of 
 the Christian world of Rome was for three centuries 
 Greek. Greek was at Rome the language of all that 
 was most wicked and most honest, of all that was 
 the best and the most base. Rhetoricians, gram- 
 marians, philosophers, noble pedagogues, preceptors, 
 servants, intriguers, artists, singers, dancers, brokers, 
 artisans, preachers of new sects, religious heroes 
 they all spoke Greek. The old Roman burgess class 
 lost ground each day, swamped as it was by this 
 flood of strangers.
 
 BAINT PAUL. 59 
 
 It is in the highest degree probable that about the 
 year 50 several Jews from Syria, already Christians, 
 entered the capital of the Empire, and disseminated 
 their ideas there. In fact, among the good ad- 
 ministrative measures of Claudius, Suetonius placed 
 the following : 
 
 " He expelled the Jews from Rome, who, at the 
 instigation of Chrestus, indulged frequently in riots." 
 Certainly, it is possible that there might have been 
 at Rome a Jew named Chrestus who fomented 
 troubles amongst his co-religionists, which led to 
 their expulsion. But it is much more probable that 
 the name of Chrestus was none other than that of 
 Christ himself. The introduction of the new faith 
 provoked, doubtless, in the Jewish quarter at Rome, 
 altercations, quarrels, scenes analogous, in a word, to 
 those which had already taken place at Damascus, 
 at Antioch in Pisidia, and at Lystra. Wishing to 
 put an end to these disorders, the police were 
 compelled to take measures for the expulsion of 
 the perturbators. The chiefs of police may have 
 inquired superficially into the nature of the quarrel, 
 which interested them so little; a report ad- 
 dressed to the Government may have proved that 
 the agitators called themselves Christiani, that is to 
 say, partisans of a certain Christus ; that name being 
 unknown, it may have been changed into Chrestus, 
 in consequence of the custom of unlettered persons 
 giving to the names of strangers a form appropriate to 
 their habits. Hence, in order to come to a conclusion 
 that there existed a man of that name, who had been 
 the provoker and the leader of the riots, was but a 
 short step to take ; the inspectors of police might
 
 60 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 have overlooked the fact, and, without further in- 
 quiry, pronounced sentence of banishment against 
 the two parties. 
 
 The principal Jewish quarter in Rome was situated 
 on the other side of the Tiber ; that is to say, in the 
 part of the city the poorest and the most filthy, 
 probably in the neighbourhood of the actual Porta 
 Portese. Here Avas situated formerly, as in our own 
 times, the port of Rome, the place where merchan- 
 dise was unloaded which had been brought from 
 Ostia in flat boats. It was the quarter of the Jews 
 and of the Syrians, " nations born to servitude " as 
 is remarked by Cicero. The first nucleus of the 
 Jewish population at Rome had, in fact, been formed 
 of freedmen, descendants, for the most part, of those 
 who had been carried prisoners to Rome by Pompey. 
 They had passed through slavery without changing 
 any of their religious habits. That which is admirable 
 about Judaism, is that simplicity of faith which makes 
 the Jew, though transported a thousand leagues from 
 his country, at the end of many generations a Jew 
 still of the purest type. The intercourse between 
 the synagogues of Rome and those of Jerusalem was 
 continual. The first colonies had been reinforced 
 with numerous emigrants. These poor people dis- 
 embarked by hundreds at Ripa, and lived there 
 by themselves in the quarter adjacent to Trans- 
 tevere, serving as street porters, engaging in small 
 commerce, exchanging matches for broken glasses, 
 and presenting to the haughty Italian population a 
 type which, later, should become to them too familiar 
 'that of a mendicant skilled in his art. A Roman 
 who respected himself never put his foot into these
 
 SAINT PAUL. Gl 
 
 debased quarters. It was treated as a snbnrb given 
 up to contemned classes, and to disreputable avoca- 
 tions ; tanneries, sausage factories, steeping troughs, 
 were relegated there. So the unfortunates lived 
 quite tranquilly in that despised corner, in the midst 
 of bales of merchandise, infamous taverns, and of 
 litter porters (Syrians), who had here their general 
 quarters. The police did not enter it except when 
 the quarrels were bloody, and when they were re- 
 peated too frequently. Few of the quarters of Rome 
 were so free ; politics had nothing to do with it. 
 Not only was religion practised in ordinary times 
 without opposition, but every facility was at hand 
 for active propagandism. 
 
 Protected by the contempt which they inspired, 
 little sensitive to the railleries of the people of the 
 world, the Jews of Transtevere led thus a very ac- 
 tive, religious, and social life. They possessed some 
 kakamim (schools) ; nowhere was the ritual and cere- 
 monial of the Law more scrupulously observed ; the 
 synagogues had the most perfect organisation that 
 has been known. The titles of "father" and of "mother 
 of the synagogue " were much prized. Some rich 
 converts took biblical names ; they converted their 
 slaves along with themselves ; the Scroll Avas ex- 
 plained by the doctors ; they built places of prayer, 
 and showed themselves to be proud of the considera- 
 tion they enjoyed in that little world. The poor Jew, 
 when begging, found the opportunity, in a trembling 
 voice, to whisper into the ear of the grand Roman 
 dame a few sentences of the Law, and often gained 
 over the matron, who had given him a handful of 
 small change. To observe the Sabbath and the Jew-
 
 62 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 ish feasts was, according to Horace, the character- 
 istic which classes a man amongst the weak-minded, 
 that is to say, with the multitude, units multorum. 
 Universal benevolence, the felicity of reposing with 
 the just, assisting the poor, purity of manners, the 
 sweetness of family life, the mild perception of death, 
 which Avas considered as a sleep, are the sentiments 
 which are found on the Jewish inscriptions, together 
 with that special note of touching unction of hum- 
 ility, certain hope, which characterises Christian 
 inscriptions. There were many Jews, men of the 
 world, rich and powerful, such as Tiberius Alex- 
 ander, who attained to the highest honours of 
 the empire, and who twice or thrice exercised an 
 influence of the first order in public affairs, and 
 had even, to the great chagrin of the Romans, his 
 statue in the Forum ; but the latter were no longer 
 good Jews. The Herods, although ostentatiously 
 practising their religion at Rome, were also far from 
 (it was only through their relations with the Pagans) 
 being true Israelites. The poor remained faithful, 
 esteeming these worldlings as renegades ; in like 
 manner, we see in our day the Polish or Hungarian 
 Jews treat with severity the aristocratic French 
 Israelites who have deserted the synagogue, and 
 have had their children educated in Protestantism, 
 so as to make their circle more exclusive. 
 
 A world of ideas were thus propounded on the com- 
 mon wharf where was unloaded the merchandise of 
 the whole world ; but all this is lost in the tumult of a 
 large city like London or Paris. Certainly the proud 
 patricians who, in their promenades upon the Aven- 
 tine, cast their eyes to the other side of the Tiber,
 
 SAINT PAUL. 63 
 
 could not suspect that the future was being prepared 
 in the pile of poor houses erected at the foot of Jani- 
 culura. The day when, under the reign of Claudius, a 
 certain Jew, initiated in the new beliefs, placed foot 
 on the ground opposite the Emporium, that same day 
 no one knew in Rome that the founder of a second 
 Empire, another Romulus, lodged at the gate on a 
 bed of straw. Near the gate was a kind of lodging- 
 house, well known to the people and the soldiers, 
 which went under the name of Taberna meritoria. 
 There was shown here, in order to attract the credul- 
 ous, a pretended fountain of oil, issuing from the 
 rucks. Very soon that fountain of oil was regarded 
 by the Christians as symbolical. It was pretended 
 that its appearance was simultaneous with the birth 
 of Jesus. It appears that later on the Taberna was 
 made into a church. Who knows whether the old- 
 est souvenirs of Christianity were not connected with 
 that tavern ! Under Alexander Severus we see the 
 Christians and the tavern-keepers contending for a 
 certain spot which had formerly been public, and 
 which that good Emperor adjudged to the Christians. 
 One feels that one is here upon the natal soil of an 
 old popular Christianity. Claudius, about that time, 
 struck with the " progress of foreign superstitions," 
 believed that he was performing an act of good con- 
 servative policy in re-establishing the soothsayers. 
 In a report made to the Senate, complaint was 
 made of the indifference of the times for the ancient 
 usages of Italy, and for good discipline. The 
 Senate invited the Pontiffs to see whether it was 
 possible to re-establish the old customs. Every- 
 thing went well, in consequence, and it was be-
 
 64 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 Jieved that these respectable impostures were saved 
 for all eternity. 
 
 The great question of the moment was the attain- 
 ment of Agrippa to power, the adoption of Nero by 
 Claudius, and his ever-increasing fortune. No one 
 thought of the poor Jew who uttered for the first 
 time the name of Christus in the Syrian colony, and 
 expounded the faith which brought happiness to 
 those amongst whom he was living. Others came 
 unexpectedly. The letters from Syria, brought by 
 the newcomers, spoke of the movement which was 
 increasing more and more. A small group was 
 formed. Everbody ' smelled the garlick." These 
 ancestors of the Roman prelates were poor prole- 
 tariats, filthy, undistinguished, ill-mannered, clothed 
 in dirty smock-frocks, and had the bad breath of 
 people who are ill-fed. Their hovels had that odour 
 of misery which exhales from persons poorly nour- 
 ished and clothed, and huddled up in a small room. 
 They soon became numerous enough to make a 
 noise. They preached in the ghetto, and the orthodox 
 Jews resisted them. What with the tumultuous 
 scenes which were taking place ; what with the scenes 
 recurring night by night ; what with the Roman 
 police being interviewed ; what with (little caring 
 to know what was the cause of the trouble) address- 
 ing a report to the superior authority, and laying 
 the troubles to the account of a certain Chrestus, 
 whom it was impossible to get hold of; what with 
 the expulsion of the agitators having been decided 
 on nothing than that could have been more plausi- 
 ble. The passage of Suetonius, and, better still, 
 that of the Acts, would seem to imply that all the
 
 SAINT PAUL. 65 
 
 Jews were driven out on that occasiori ; but such 
 a thing is not to be supposed. The likelihood is 
 that the Christians, the partisans of the seditious 
 Chrestus, were alone expelled. Claudius, in general, 
 was favourable to the Jews, and it is even not im- 
 possible that the expulsion of the Christians, of 
 which we have just been speaking, took place at the 
 instigation of the Jews the Herods, for example. 
 These expulsions, however, were always only tem- 
 porary and conditional. The tide arrested for the 
 moment always returned. The edict of Claudius was 
 jn any case of little consequence, since Josephus 
 does not mention it, and in the year 58 Rome had 
 already a new Christian Church. 
 
 The founders of the first Church at Rome, de- 
 stroyed by the decree of Claudius, are unknown. But 
 we know the names of two Jews who were exiled 
 in consequence of the emeutes of the porta Portese. 
 They were an old pious couple, the one Aquila, 
 originally a Jew from Pontus, following the same 
 calling as St Paul, that of an upholsterer, the other 
 Priscilla, his wife. They sought refuge at Corinth, 
 where we soon see them en rapport with St Paul, 
 whose intimate friends and fellow-workers they soon 
 became. Aquila and Priscilla are hence the two oldest 
 known members of the Church at Rome. But they 
 are hardly remembered. Legend, which is always un- 
 just, because it is always swayed by political motives, 
 has expelled from the Christian Pantheon these two 
 obscure workers, in order to attribute the honour of 
 the foundation of the Church of Rome to a name 
 more illustrious, corresponding better to the proud 
 pretensions of universal dominion which the capital 
 VOL. I. E
 
 66 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 of the Empire, now become Christian, could not ab- 
 dicate. For us, it is not at the theatrical Basilica, 
 which has been consecrated to St Peter, it is at the 
 porta Portese, that ancient ghetto, where we really find 
 the starting-point of Western Christianity. It is 
 the traces of those poor wandering Jews, who carried 
 with them the religion of the world, those men 
 who hardly dreamt, in their misery, of the kingdom 
 of God, we must search out and embrace. We do 
 not contest with Rome its essential title ; Rome was 
 probably the first spot of the Western world, and 
 even of Europe, where Christianity was established. 
 But in place of these proud and magnificent churches, 
 in place of these insulting devices, Christus vincit, 
 Christus regit, Christus imperat Christ conquers, 
 Christ reigns, Christ governs it would be much 
 better to erect a little chapel to the two good Jews 
 of Pontus who were expelled by the police of 
 Claudius for belonging to the party of Chrestus. 
 
 After the Church of Rome (if it was not even an- 
 terior) the most ancient Western Church was that of 
 Pouzzoles. St Paul found Christians there about 
 the year 61. Pouzzoles was in a certain sense the 
 port of Rome ; it was at least the place where the 
 Jews and the Syrians disembarked who came to 
 Rome. This strange soil undermined by fire ; these 
 Phlegethou fields ; that sulphur bed ; these caverns 
 -full of burning vapours, which seemed the breath of 
 hell; these sulphurous waters; these myths of giants, 
 and of demons buried in the burning valleys, a sort 
 of Gehennas ; these baths, which appeared to the 
 austere Jews and the enemies of all nudity the 
 acme of abomination, greatly impressed the imagina-
 
 SAINT PAUL. 67 
 
 tions of the new emigrants, and have left a deep 
 trace on the apocalyptic compositions of the times. 
 The follies of Caligula, of which we still see traces, 
 left also in these places terrible recollections. 
 
 One capital feature, in any case, as we have already 
 had occasion to remark, is that the Church at Rome 
 was not, like the Churches of Asia Minor, of Mace- 
 donia and of Greece, a foundation of the school of 
 St Paul. It was a Judaso-Christian creation, con^ 
 nected directly with the Church at Jerusalem. Paul 
 was never here on his own ground ; he found in 
 that great Church many shortcomings, which he 
 treated with indulgence, but which offended his 
 exalted idealism. Attached to circumcision, and to 
 exterior practices ; Ebionitish by its taste for abstin- 
 ence, and by its doctrine more Jew than Christian 
 in regard to the person and the death of Jesus ; 
 strongly attached to millenianisrn, the Roman Church 
 presented in its early days the essential traits which 
 have distinguished it during its long and marvellous 
 history. The direct daughter of Jerusalem, the 
 Roman Church had always an ascetic, sacerdotal 
 character, which was opposed to the Protestant ten- 
 dency of St Paul. Peter was its veritable chief; 
 then, being penetrated by the political and hier- 
 archical spirit of old Pagan Rome, it became, in truth, 
 the new Jerusalem, the city of the pontificate, of 
 religion, hierarchical and solemn, of material sacra- 
 ments, which are their own justification, the city of 
 ascetics, after the manner of Jacques Obliam, with 
 its callosities on the knees and its plates of gold on 
 the forehead. She was to be the church of authority. 
 If it can be believed, the special sign of the apostolic
 
 68 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 mission, was the showing of a letter signed by the 
 Apostles, the producing of a certificate of orthodoxy. 
 The good and the evil that the Church at Jerusalem 
 did for infant Christianity, the Church of Rome did 
 for the Church universal. It was in vain that Paul 
 addressed to them his beautiful epistle, in order to 
 explain to them the mystery of the cross of Jesus and 
 of salvation by faith alone. That epistle the Church 
 at Rome did but vaguely comprehend. But Luther, 
 fourteen and a half centuries later, comprehended it, 
 and opened a new era in the secular series of the 
 alternative triumphs of Peter and Paul. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 SECOND JOURNEY OP PAUL ANOTHER SOJOURN 
 AT GALATIA. 
 
 HARDLY had Paul returned to Antioch, when he set 
 about forming new projects. His ardent soul could 
 not brook repose. On the one hand, he proposed to 
 enlarge the rather limited field of his first mission : 
 on the other, the desire to see again his dear Churches 
 of Galatia, to confirm them in the faith, pursued him 
 incessantly. The tenderness of which that strange 
 nature appeared in some respects to be lacking, had 
 been transformed into a powerful faculty of loving 
 the communities which he had founded. He had for 
 his Churches the sentiments that other men have for 
 that which they love the most. This was indeed a 
 special gift of the Jews. The feeling of association
 
 SAINT PAUL. 69 
 
 with which they were imbued caused them to give 
 to the esprit de famille applications altogether novel. 
 The synagogue and the church were thus what 
 the monastery was in the Middle Ages, the beloved 
 house, the hearth of the warmest affections, the roof 
 under which people sheltered, that which they held 
 most dear. 
 
 Paul communicated his design to Barnabas. But 
 the friendship of the two Apostles, which had been 
 proof against the severest tests, which no suscepti- 
 bility of amour propre, no freak of character had been 
 able to lessen, received now a cruel blow. Barnabas 
 proposed to Paul to take John, suruamed Mark, with 
 them : Paul flew into a passion. He could not 
 pardon John for having abandoned the first mission 
 at Perga, at the moment when it had entered upon 
 the most perilous stage of the journey. The man 
 who had once refused to go on with the work, ap- 
 peared to him as unworthy of being enrolled anew. 
 Barnabas defended his cousin, whose motives, in fact, 
 it is probable Paul judged with too much severity. 
 The quarrel waxed very hot : it was impossible to 
 come to an understanding. That old friendship 
 which had been the condition of the evangelic preach- 
 ing, gave place for a time to a miserable question of 
 individuals. To speak truly, it is allowable to sup- 
 pose that the rupture was based on deeper reasons. 
 It is a miracle that the always increasing preten- 
 sions of Paul, his pride, his eagerness to be absolute 
 chief, had not twenty times already rendered rela- 
 tions impossible between two men whose reciprocal 
 positions had entirely changed. Barnabas had not 
 the genius of Paul ; but who can tell whether in the
 
 70 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 true hierarchy of souls, which is regulated by the 
 order of goodness, he did not occupy a still higher 
 rank 1 When we recall what Barnabas had been to 
 Paul ; when we think that it was he who at Jerusa- 
 lem had silenced the not altogether groundless de- 
 fiances of which the new convert was the object ; 
 who went to seek at Tarsus the future Apostle, as 
 yet isolated and uncertain of his path ; that he 
 introduced him into the young and active life of 
 Antioch ; that, in a word, he made him an Apostle, 
 one cannot help from seeing in that open rupture 
 a motive of secondary importance, a gross act of in- 
 gratitude on the part of Paul. But the exigencies of 
 the work were too powerful for him. What man of 
 action is there that has not once in his life committed 
 a great crime of the heart ? 
 
 The two Apostles then separated from each other. 
 Barnabas and John embarked at Seleucia for Cyprus. 
 History from this point loses sight of his wanderings. 
 While Paul marches on to glory, his companion, fall- 
 ing into obscurity the moment he quitted him who 
 illuminated him with his rays, wears himself out with 
 the labours of an unrecorded apostleship. The enor- 
 mous injustice which often regulates the things of 
 this world, presides over history like as over every- 
 thing else. Those who undertake the role of self- 
 devotion and unostentation, are ordinarily forgotten. 
 The author of the Acts, with his ingenuous con- 
 ciliatory policy, has, without wishing it, sacrificed 
 Barnabas to the desire that he entertained of recon- 
 ciling Peter to Paul. By a sort of instinctive lack 
 of the principle of compensation, diminishing and 
 subordinating on the one hand the importance of
 
 SAINT PAUL. 71 
 
 Paul, the author has, on the other, enhanced the 
 importance of Paul, at the expense of a modest fellow- 
 worker, who had not a part cut out for him, and 
 who was not weighted in history with the unequal 
 weights which result from the arrangements of 
 parties. Hence arises the ignorance in which we 
 are placed as to what belongs to the apostleship of 
 Barnabas. We only know that that apostleship 
 continued to be very active. Barnabas remained 
 faithful to the grand rules which Paul and he had 
 established during their first mission. He did not 
 take with him in his peregrinations female com- 
 panions ; he lived always by his work, never accept- 
 ing anything from the Church. He again encountered 
 Paul at Antioch. The imperious temper of Paul pro- 
 voked a fresh discord between them ; but the nature 
 or sentiment of the holy work carried all before it ; 
 the communion between the two Apostles remained 
 intact. Labouring each in his own way, they re- 
 mained in communication the one with the other, 
 mutually informing one another of their labours. In 
 spite of the greatest dissensions, Paul continued 
 always to treat Barnabas as a fellow-worker, and 
 to consider him as dividing with himself the work 
 of the apostleship of the Gentiles. Ardent, hot- 
 headed, and susceptible, Paul soon forgot, when the 
 great principles to which he bad devoted his life 
 were not in question. 
 
 In place of Barnabas, Paul selected for his com- 
 panion Silas, the prophet of the Church at Jerusalem, 
 who had remained at Autiocb. He was probably not 
 sorry at the defection of John, who, it seems, wished 
 to be near Peter. Silas possessed, it is said, the title
 
 72 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 of a Roman citizen, which, joined with his name of 
 Silvanus, induced the belief that he was not of Judea, 
 or that he had already had occasion to familiarise 
 himself with the world of the Gentiles. 
 
 Both departed recommended by the brethren to the 
 grace of God. These forms were not at that time 
 vain. People believed that the finger of God was 
 everywhere ; that each step of the Apostles of the 
 new kingdom was directed by immediate inspiration 
 from Heaven. 
 
 Paul and Silas journeyed by land. Taking to the 
 north, across the plain of Antioch, they traversed 
 the defile of Amanus, the Assyrian passes ; then 
 rounding the bottom of the Gulf of Issus they 
 crossed the northern ridge of Amanus by the 
 Amanida pass ; then traversed Cilicia, passing pro- 
 bably through Tarsus, crossing Taurus doubtless 
 by the celebrated Cilician passes one of them the 
 most frightful mountain pass in the world ; pene- 
 trating thence into Lycaonia ; finally reaching 
 Derbe, Lystra, and Iconium. 
 
 Paul found his dear Churches in the state in which 
 he had left them. The faithful had persevered, and 
 their numbers had increased. Timotheus, who was 
 but an infant at the time of his first journey, had 
 become an excellent subject. His youth, his piety, 
 and his intelligence, delighted Paul. All the faithful 
 of Lycaonia were one in their testimony of him. 
 Paul attached him to himself, loved him tenderly, 
 and always found in him a zealous collaborateur, or, 
 rather, a son. (Paul himself made use of this ex- 
 pression.) Timotheus was a man of great candour, 
 modesty, and reserve. He had not assurance enough
 
 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 73 
 
 to undertake the chief roles ; he lacked authority, 
 especially in Greek countries, where the minds of 
 the people were frivolous and fickle ; but his self- 
 denial rendered him a deacon and secretary, without 
 an equal, to Paul. Paul also declared that he had 
 not another disciple who was so completely according 
 to his heart. Impartial history is compelled to with- 
 hold, to the advantage of Timotheus and of Bar- 
 nabas, a portion of the glory monopolised by the all- 
 absorbing personality of Paul. 
 
 Paul, in attaching Timotheus to himself, foresaw 
 some grave embarrassments. He feared that, in his 
 communications with the Jews, the uncircumcised 
 state in which Timotheus was, could only be a source 
 of repulsion and of trouble. It was, in fact, known 
 everywhere that his father was a Pagan. A multi- 
 tude of timorous people would not wish to hold in- 
 tercourse with him : the quarrels, which had hardly 
 been laid to rest by the interview at Jerusalem 
 would be revived. Paul recalled the difficulties he 
 had experienced in regard to Titus. He resolved to 
 prevent these ; and, in order to avoid being brought 
 later to make a concession to the principles he had 
 recoiled from, he circumcised Timotheus himself. 
 This was altogether in conformity with the prin- 
 ciples which had guided him in the affair of Titus, 
 and which he always practised. But he had never 
 been induced to say that circumcision was necessary 
 to salvation, for, in his eyes, that would have been an 
 error of faith. Yet circumcision being in itself not 
 a wicked thing, he thought that it might be practised, 
 in order to avoid scandal and schism. His great 
 rule was that an apostle ought to be all things to all
 
 74 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 men, and to yield to the prejudices of those whom he 
 wished to gain over, when these prejudices in them- 
 selves were merely frivolous, and did not contain 
 anything absolutely reprehensible. But, at the same 
 time, as if he had a presentiment of the tests that 
 the faith of the Galatians was about to be put to, 
 he made them promise never to listen to another 
 teacher but himself, and to anathematise all other 
 teaching save his own. 
 
 From Iconium Paul went probably to Antioch in 
 Pisidia, and completed thus the visit of the principal 
 Churches in Galatia, founded during his first journey. 
 He resolved then to enter upon new territory ; but 
 grave doubts restrained him. The thought of 
 attacking the west of Asia Minor, that is to say, the 
 province of Asia, came into his mind. It was the 
 part of Asia the most populated. Ephesus was the 
 capital of it ; it contained the beautiful and flourish- 
 ing cities of Smyrna, Pergamos, Magnesia, Thyatiras, 
 Sardis, Philadelphia, Colossus, Laodicsea, Hierapolis, 
 Trallas, Militis, in which the centre of Christianity was 
 soon to be established. It is not known what turned 
 away Paul from carrying his efforts in that direction. 
 " The Holy Spirit," says the writer of the Acts, 
 " forbade him going to preach in Asia." The 
 Apostles, it must be borne in mind, were reputed 
 to obey, in choosing the direction of their courses, 
 inspirations from on high. Sometimes there were 
 real motives, reflections or positive indications which 
 they dissimulated under this language. Sometimes 
 there was also the absence of motives. The opinion 
 that God made known to man his volitions by means 
 of dreams, was widespread, just as it is yet in our
 
 SAINT PAUL. 75 
 
 day in the East. A dream, a sudden impulse, an 
 unpremeditated movement, an inexplicable noise 
 (bath-kol), appeared to them as the manifestations 
 of the Spirit, and decided the route of the preaching. 
 What is certain was that, from Antioch in Pisidia, 
 instead of going in the direction of the brilliant 
 provinces of the south-east of Asia Minor, Paul 
 and his companions plunged more and more into 
 the centre of the peninsula, which contained pro- 
 vinces much less celebrated and less civilised. They 
 traversed Phrygia Epictetus, passed probably through 
 the towns of Syunadas and ^Ezanas, and reached the 
 confines of Mysia. There their indecision returned. 
 Would they turn to the north towards Bithynia, or 
 continue west and enter Mysia? They essayed 
 first to enter Bithynia, but untoward events super- 
 vened, which they took for the indications of the will 
 of Heaven. They imagined that the spirit of Jesus 
 did not wish that they should tarry in that country. 
 They then traversed Mysia from one end to the 
 other, and arrived at Alexandria Troas, a consider- 
 able port almost opposite Tenedos, and not far from 
 the site of ancient Troy. The apostolic band made 
 thus, in almost a single journey, a distance of more 
 than a hundred leagues, across a country little known, 
 and which, destitute of Roman colonies and Jewish 
 synagogues, did not present to them any of the 
 facilities which they had found elsewhere. 
 
 These long journeys in Asia Minor, full of sweet 
 ennuis and mystical dreams, are a singular mixture 
 of sadness and of charm. Often the route is hard : 
 certain cantons are peculiarly rugged and barren. 
 Other parts, on the contrary, are full of freshness,
 
 76 SAINT PAUL, 
 
 and do not correspond at all to the ideas that we 
 are accustomed to embrace in that vague word 
 East. The mouth of the Orontes marks, both in re- 
 lation to nature and in the relation of races, a well- 
 defined line of demarcation. Asia Minor, both for 
 aspect and for the style of landscape, recalls Italy, or 
 our South, at the eminence of Valence, or of Avignon. 
 The European is not out of his native climate there, 
 as he is in Syria or in Egypt. It is, if I dare say so, 
 an Aryan country, not a Semitic country, and it is 
 not to be doubted that one day it will be occupied 
 anew by the In do - European race (Greeks and 
 Armenians). Water there is abundant : the towns 
 are almost inundated by it. Certain points, such as 
 Nymphi, Magnesia in Siplya, are veritable paradises. 
 The smooth mountain slopes, which bound almost 
 everywhere the horizon, present such varieties of 
 infinite forms, and sometimes of fantastic freaks, that 
 they would be taken for idle fancies if an artist dare 
 to imitate them. There are summits indented like 
 the teeth of a saw, sides torn and slashed, strange 
 cones, and perpendicular walls, in which are finely 
 exposed to view all the beauties of the stone. Thanks 
 to the numerous chains of mountains, the waters are 
 living and sparkling. Long rows of poplars, small 
 plane-trees, in the wide surface of the winter torrents, 
 superb stumps of trees, into which the feet plunge 
 into pools, and which jut out in dark tufts from 
 the foot of each mountain, are the solace of the 
 traveller. At the source of each stream the cara- 
 vans stop to water. The journey continues for days 
 and days upon the narrow lines of antique pave- 
 ment which for centuries have borne travellers so
 
 SAINT PAUL. 77 
 
 diverse, and sometimes fatigued; but the halts are 
 delicious. A repose of an hour, a piece of bread 
 eaten upon the banks of these limpid streams, run- 
 ning in beds of pebbles, sustains one for a long time 
 
 At Troas, Paul, who in certain parts of that 
 journey seems not to have followed any well-defined 
 plan, fell once more into fresh incertitudes as to which 
 route he should choose. Macedouia.appeared to him to 
 offer a fine harvest. It appears that he was confirmed 
 in that idea by a Macedonian whom he encountered 
 at Troas. He was a doctor, an uncircumcised prose- 
 lyte, by the name of Lucanus or Lucas. This Latin 
 name would lead one to believe that the new dis- 
 ciple belonged to the Roman colony of Philippi ; his 
 rare knowledge of nautical geography and of navi- 
 gation would, however, rather incline to the idea 
 that he was a Neapolitan : the ports and all the 
 coast of the Mediterranean appeared to have been 
 remarkably familiar to him. 
 
 This man, to whom was reserved so important a part 
 in the history of Christianity, since he was to be the 
 historian of the original Christians, and since his judg- 
 ment, self-deceptive as to the future, was to regulate 
 the ideas that were formed in the early times of the 
 Chui'ch, had received a sufficiently careful Jewish 
 and Hellenic education. He had a gentle and 
 conciliatory mind, a tender and sympathetic soul, a 
 modest temperament, inclining to self-effacement. 
 Paul loved him much, and Luke, on his part, was 
 always faithful to his master. Like Timotheus, Luke 
 appeared to have been born expressly to be the com- 
 panion of Paul. Submission and blind confidence, 
 unbounded admiration, a desire to be submissive)
 
 78 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 unlimited devotion, were his habitual sentiments. It 
 might be said that it was this absolute abdication of 
 himself that made le moine hibernais in the hands of 
 his abbot. The ideal of " the disciple " was never so 
 perfectly realised. Luke was literally fascinated by 
 the superiority of Paul. 
 
 His affability as a man of the people proclaimed 
 itself incessantly ; his idle fancy showed him always 
 to be a model of perfection and of happiness ; an honest 
 man, a good master in his family, of which he was 
 the spiritual head ; a Jew at heart, who was con- 
 verted with all his house. He loved the Roman 
 officers, and unhesitatingly believed them to be 
 virtuous. One of the objects he admired the most 
 was a good centurion, pious, benevolent towards the 
 Jews, well served, well obeyed. He had probably 
 studied the Roman army at Philippi, and had been 
 much struck with it. He naturally supposed that 
 discipline and the hierarchy were things of a moral 
 order. His esteem for the Roman functionaries was 
 also great. His title of doctor supposes that he 
 possessed medical knowledge, which is proved be- 
 sides by his writings, but only implies a scientific 
 and rational culture, as little of medicine was un- 
 derstood then. What Luke was par excellence was 
 " the man of firm will " the true Israelite at 
 heart, he to whom Jesus brought peace. It is he 
 who has transmitted to us, and who probably com- 
 posed, those delicious canticles of the birth and of 
 the infancy of Jesus, those hymns of the angels, of 
 Mary, of Zachariah, of old Simeon, in which shone out 
 in tones so clear and so joyous the happiness of the 
 new alliance, the Hosanna of the pious proselyte,
 
 SAINT PAUL. 79 
 
 the accord re-established between the fathers and 
 the sons in the enlarged family of Israel. 
 
 Everything tends to the belief that Luke was 
 touched by grace at Troas ; that he was attached 
 from that time to Paul, and persuaded him that he 
 would find in Macedonia an excellent field. His 
 words made a great impression upon the Apostle. 
 The latter believed he saw in a vision a Macedonian 
 standing up, who invited him, saying unto him, 
 " Come over and help us." This was received by 
 the apostolic group as a command of God that they 
 should go to Macedonia, and they waited only a 
 favourable opportunity to depart thence. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 CONTINUATION OF THE SECOND JOURNEY OP PAUL 
 THE MACEDONIAN MISSION. 
 
 THE mission entered here upon entirely new ground. 
 It wan what was called the province of Macedonia; 
 but these regions had not formed a portion of the 
 Macedonian kingdom since the time of Philip. 
 They were, in reality, portions of Thrace, anciently 
 colonised by the Greeks, then absorbed by the 
 powerful monarchy the centre of which was at 
 Pella, and which was included for two hundred 
 years in the great Roman unity. Few countries 
 in the world were, in fact, purer in race than the 
 countries situated between Heemus and the Medi-
 
 80 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 terranean. That they were composed of diverse 
 branches was true, but each genuinely belonged to 
 the Indo-European family, which were superimposed 
 on it. If we except some Phoenician influences 
 coming from Thasos and from Samothracia, almost 
 nothing foreign had penetrated into the interior. 
 Thrace, which was in great part Celtic, had remained 
 faithful to the Aryan life : she preserved the ancient 
 religions, under a form which appeared barbarous to 
 the Greeks and Romans, but which, in reality, was 
 only primitive. As for Macedonia, it was probably 
 the region the most honest, the most serious, the 
 most pious of the ancient world. It was orginally 
 a country of feudal boroughs, not of large inde- 
 pendent towns ; but it was the one of all admini- 
 strations which had best conserved human morality, 
 and placed the most forces in reserve for the 
 future. Monarchical through steadfastness of mind 
 and through abnegation, filled with antipathy for 
 charlatanism and for the frequent barren agitations 
 of small republics, the Macedonians presented to 
 Greece the type of a society analogous to that of the 
 Middle Ages, founded upon loyalism, upon faith in 
 legitimacy and heredity, and upon a conservative 
 spirit, equally removed from the grovelling despot- 
 ism of the East, and from that democratic fever 
 which, inflaming the blood of the people, wears out 
 quickly those who abandon themselves to it. Thus, 
 disencumbered from the causes of social corruption 
 that democracy almost always brings in its train, 
 and yet free from the iron' chains which Sparta had 
 invented to fortify herself against revolution, the 
 Macedonians were the people of antiquity who most
 
 SAINT PAUL. 81 
 
 resembled the Romans. They recall in some other 
 respects the German barons, brave, dissipated, 
 rude, proud, faithful. If they realised but for a 
 moment what the Romans knew how to establish 
 in a durable manner, they would have less honour in 
 having survived from their attempt. The little 
 kingdom of Macedonia, without factions or seditions, 
 with its good interior administration, was the most 
 solid nationality that the Romans had to combat in 
 the East. A strong patriotic and legitimist spirit 
 reigned there to such a degree that after their de- 
 feats we see the inhabitants take fire with a 
 singular facility against the impostors who pre- 
 tended to continue their old dynasty. 
 
 Under the Romans, Macedonia remained a soil 
 worthy and pure. It furnished to Brutus two ex- 
 cellent legions. We do not see the Macedonians, 
 like the Syrians, the Egyptians, the Asiatics, rush- 
 ing to Rome in order to enrich themselves with the 
 fruits of their evil practices. Despite the terrible 
 substitution of races which followed, it can be said 
 that Macedonia has always preserved the same 
 character. It is a country placed under the normal 
 conditions of European life, wooded, fertile, watered 
 by splendid rivers, possessing interior sources of 
 wealth ; whilst that Greece, meagre, poor, singular 
 in everything, has only left its glory and its beauty. 
 A land of miracles, like Judea and Sinai, Greece 
 flourished once, but is not capable of flourishing 
 again. She has created something unique, which 
 cannot be renewed. It appears that when God 
 has been manifested in a country, He withers it 
 up for ever. A land of klephts and of artists, 
 VOL. I. F
 
 82 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 Greece can take no more an original part the day 
 when the world enters into the channels of wealth, 
 of industry, of abundant consumption : she only 
 produces genius. In running over it one is aston- 
 ished that a powerful race was able to live upon 
 that pile of arid mountains, in the middle of which 
 is a ground-work of valley where there is some 
 humidity, a little plain, a kilometre in extent, font 
 crier au 'miracle. Never has there been seen so 
 plainly the opposition which exists between opul- 
 ence and high art. Macedonia, on the contrary, 
 will one day resemble Switzerland or the south of 
 Germany. Its villages resemble clumps of gigantic 
 trees. She has everything that is required for 
 becoming a country of great culture, and of great 
 industry vast plains, rich mountains, verdant 
 prairies, extended views, very different from those 
 charming little mazes of the Greek site. Solemn 
 and grave, the Macedonian peasant has no longer 
 anything of the assurance and the vivacity of the 
 Hellenic peasant. The women, beautiful and chaste, 
 work in the fields like the men. We might say 
 a people of Protestant peasants. It is a fine and 
 strong race, laborious, steady, loving their country, 
 and full of hope for the future. 
 
 Embarking at Troas, Paul and his companions 
 (Silas, Timotheus, and probably Luke) set sail with 
 a fair wind, touched the first evening at Samo- 
 thracia, and the morrow approached Neapolis, a 
 town situated upon a small promontory opposite the 
 Isle of Thasos. Neapolis was the port of the great 
 city of Philippi, situated about three leagues thence 
 in the interior. It was the point where the great
 
 SAINT PAUL. 83 
 
 Egnatin road, which traversed Macedonia and 
 Thracia from west to east, touched the sea. Taking 
 this road, which they did not need to quit until 
 reaching Thessalonica, the Apostles ascended the 
 paved and cut slope in the rocks which overlook 
 Neapolis, crossed the little chain of mountains which 
 forms the coast, and entered the beautiful plain in 
 the centre of which stands, detached upon a pro- 
 jecting promontory of the mountain, the city of 
 Philippi. 
 
 This rich plain, the lowest portion of which is 
 occupied by a lake and by marshes, communicates 
 with the basin of Strymon from behind Pangee. 
 The gold mines which, at the Hellenic and Mace- 
 donian epoch, had made the country celebrated, were 
 now almost abandoned. But the military importance 
 of the position of Philippi, squeezed in between the 
 mountain and the morass, had given to it a new 
 life. The battle which ninety-four years before the 
 arrival of the Christian missionaries had opened its 
 gates, brought to it an unexpected splendour. 
 Augustus had established there one of the most con- 
 siderable Roman colonies, under the jus italicum. 
 The city was much more Latin than Greek. Latin 
 was there the common tongue ; the religions of 
 Latium seem to have been transported thither 
 intact. The surrounding plain, scattered " with 
 towns, was equally, at the epoch at which we 
 have now arrived, a kind of Roman canton, thrown 
 into the heart of Thracia. The colony was in- 
 scribed in the Voltiriian tribune. It had been 
 formed principally of the wrecks of the Antonine 
 party, which Augustus had cantoned on these coasts ;
 
 84 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 it was mixed there with portions of the anciently 
 founded Thracia. In any case, it was a hard-work- 
 ing population, living orderly and peaceably ; besides, 
 it was very religious. The confraternities flourished 
 there, particularly those under the patronage of the 
 god Sylvain, who was considered as a sort of 
 tutelary genius of the Latin domination. The 
 mysteries of the Bacchus of Thracia embraced ex- 
 alted ideas in regard to immortality, and made the 
 population familiar with the views of a future life, 
 and of an idyllic paradise, very similar to those 
 which Christianity had spread. Polytheism was less 
 complicated in these countries than elsewhere. The 
 religion of Sabazius, common at Thracia and to 
 Phrygia, in close rapport with the ancient Orpheism, 
 and yet detached from the syncretism of the times 
 from the Dionysian mysteries, included the germs 
 of monotheism. 
 
 A certain infantile taste for simplicity prepared the 
 way for the Gospel. Everything indicated habits 
 honest, serious, and amenable. One felt himself to 
 be in a centre analogous to that in which the agro- 
 nomic and sentimental poetry of Virgil was created. 
 The ever green plain was favourable for the various 
 culture of vegetables and flowers. Splendid foun- 
 tains, springing from the foot of the mountain of 
 shining marble which crowned the city, spread, when 
 properly directed, shade and freshness. The thickets 
 of poplars, willows, of fig trees and cherry trees, and 
 wild vines, exhaled the sweetest odours, and scented 
 the brooks which abounded on all sides. Moreover, 
 the prairies, which were overrun or covered with 
 large roses, exhibited troops of heavy white-eyed
 
 SAINT PAUL. 85 
 
 buffaloes, with enormous horns, their heads just out 
 of the water; whilst the bees and the swarms of 
 black and blue butterflies gyrated from flower to 
 flower. Panga, with its majestic summits covered 
 with snow till the middle of June, lay stretched out 
 as if it would touch the city across the morass. 
 Beautiful ranges of mountains bounded the horizon 
 on all the other sides, discovering only an opening 
 through which the sky disappeared, and showing in 
 the clear distance the basin of Strymon. 
 
 Philippi offered to the mission a most appropriate 
 field. We have already seen that in Galatia the 
 Roman colonies of Antioch in Pisidia and Iconium 
 had received very favourably the new doctrine. We 
 shall observe the same thing at Coriuth and at Alex- 
 andria -Troas. The population, which had been long 
 settled, and having for a long time local traditions, 
 showed few signs of innovations. The Jewry of 
 Philippi, if there was one, was inconsiderable ; at 
 most, it was limited probably to the women cele- 
 brating the Sabbath. Even in the towns in which 
 there were no Jews, the Sabbath was usually cele- 
 brated by some people. In any case, it seems clear 
 that there was no synagogue here. When the 
 apostolic band entered the city, it was on the first 
 day of the week. Paul, Silas, Timotheus, and Luke 
 remained some days within doors, awaiting, accord- 
 ing to custom, the Sabbath day. Luke, who knew 
 the country, remembered that the people who had 
 adopted Jewish customs were wont to assemble on 
 that day without in the suburbs, upon the banks of 
 a small rivulet, quite enclosed, which issued from the 
 ground a league and a half from the city, from an
 
 86 SAINT 
 
 enormous boiling spring, and which was called 
 Gangas or Gangites. Perhaps it had there the an- 
 tique Aryan name of the sacred river (Ganges). 
 What is certain is that the peaceful scenes recounted 
 in the Acts, and which marked the first establish- 
 ment of Christianity in Macedonia, took place at the 
 same spot where a century before had been de- 
 cided the fate of the world. Gangites was the 
 spot in the great battle in the year 42 before Jesus 
 Christ, where were placed the foremost ensigns of 
 Brutus and of Cassius. 
 
 In towns where there was no synagogue, the 
 meetings of those who were affiliated to Judaism 
 were held in small hypethre constructions, or fre- 
 quently simply in the open air in enclosed spaces, 
 which were called proseuckce. People loved to estab- 
 lish these oratories near the sea or rivers, so as to 
 have facilities for ablutions. The Apostles repaired 
 to the place indicated. Many women, in fact, re- 
 sorted there for devotion. The Apostles spoke to 
 them, and announced to them the mystery of Jesus. 
 They were listened to attentively. One woman, in 
 particular, was touched. " The Lord," says the 
 writer of the Acts, " opened her heart." She was 
 called Lydia or Lydian, because she was from 
 Thyatira. She traded in one of the principal pro- 
 ducts of Lydian industry purple. She was a pious 
 person, of the order of those who were called 
 " believing in God," that is to say, a Pagan by birth, 
 but observing the precepts denominated "de Nod." 
 She had herself baptised, with all her house, and 
 did not cease until she induced, by much entreaty, 
 the four missionaries to take up their abode with
 
 SAINT PAUL. 87 
 
 her. They remained there some weeks, teaching 
 each Sunday at the place of prayer, upon the banks 
 of the Gangites. 
 
 A small Church, almost wholly composed of 
 women, was formed. It was very pious, very 
 obedient, and most devoted to Paul. Besides Lydia, 
 this Church embraced within its bosom Euodias and 
 Syntyche, who fought valiantly with the Apostle 
 for the Gospel, but who were contentious sometimes 
 in regard to the ministry of deaconesses. Epaph- 
 roditus, a courageous man, whom Paul treated as 
 a brother, a fellow-worker, a companion in arms ; 
 Clement, and others still, whom Paul called "his 
 fellow-workers, and whose names," said he, "are 
 written in the book of life." 
 
 Timotheus was also much beloved by the Philip- 
 pians, and he had for them a great devotion. It 
 was the only Church from which Paul accepted 
 pecuniary succour ; because it was rich, and was 
 little burdened by poor Jews. Lydia was undoubt- 
 edly the principal author of these gifts. Paul ac- 
 cepted them from her, for he knew her to be strongly 
 attached to him. This woman gave with her heart 
 one had not to fear reproaches on her part, nor for 
 an interested return. Paul preferred, doubtless, to 
 be indebted to a woman (probably a widow), of 
 whom he was sure, than to men towards whom he 
 would have been less independent, if he had had 
 some acquaintance with them. 
 
 The absolute purity of Christian manners dis- 
 armed all suspicion. Perhaps, however, it _is not 
 too audacious to suppose that it is Lydia whom 
 Paul, in his Epistle to the Philippians, calls "^my
 
 88 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 dear spouse." That expression can be taken, if one 
 so desires, as a simple metaphor. Is it, neverthe- 
 less, absolutely impossible that Paul may have con- 
 tracted with that sister a union more intimate ? 
 The only thing that is sure is that Paul did not take 
 this sister with him in his journeys. Notwithstand- 
 ing this, one whole branch of ecclesiastical tradition 
 has claimed that he was married. 
 
 The character of the Christian woman appeared 
 more and more. To the Jewish woman, sometimes 
 so strong, so devoted ; to the Syrian woman, who 
 is indebted to the soft languor of a distempered 
 organisation for the flashes of enthusiasm and of 
 love ; to Tabitha, Mary Magdalen, succeeded the 
 Greek women, Lydia, Phoebe, Chloe, vivacious, 
 gay, active, amiable, distinguished, open-hearted to 
 all, yet nevertheless discreet. Their master apart, 
 to whom they were subordinate, capable of the 
 greatest things, because they were contented to be 
 the fellow-labourers of the men and their sisters, 
 and to aid them when they performed worthy actions. 
 These Greek women, of a fine and healthy race, 
 experienced at the turn of life a change which 
 transformed them. They became pale, their eyes 
 wandered unwarily ; covering then with a black 
 veil the bauds of thick hair which bounded their 
 cheeks, they gave themselves up to austere cares, 
 and they brought with them an animated and in- 
 telligent ardour. The " servant," or Greek deacon- 
 ess, surpassed even her of Syria and of Palestine in 
 courage. These women, guardians of the secrets of 
 the Church, ran the greatest dangers, endured every 
 torment, rather than divulge anything. They ere-
 
 SAINT PAUL. 89 
 
 ated the dignity of their sex, and justly too, because 
 they did not speak of their rights ; they did more 
 than the men, in assuming the air of limiting them- 
 selves to serving the latter. 
 
 An incident happened which hastened the depar- 
 ture of the missionaries. The city began to speak 
 of them, and public imagination already dwelt upon 
 the marvellous virtues which were attributed to 
 them. One morning, as they were repairing to the 
 place of prayer, they encountered a young slave 
 probably a ventriloquist who passed for a pro- 
 phetess in predicting the future. Her masters made 
 a great deal of money from that ignoble perform- 
 ance. The poor girl, either because she possessed 
 indeed a spirit of divination, or because she was 
 tired of her infamous calling, had no sooner per- 
 ceived the missionaries than she started to follow 
 them, uttering loud cries. The faithful pretended 
 that she was rendering homage to the new faith and 
 to those who preached it. She repeated this several 
 times. At length one day Paul exorcised her. The 
 girl, calmed, pretended to be freed from the spirit 
 which tormented her. But the anger of her masters 
 was extreme. Through the healing of the girl they 
 lost their livelihood. They entered a process against 
 Paul, and Silas as his accomplice, and caused them 
 to be taken to the agora, before the duumvirs. It 
 would have been difficult to have a claim for in- 
 demnity upon such peculiar grounds. The plaintiffs 
 laid special stress on the facts of the trouble caused 
 in the city, and of illegal preaching. " They preach 
 customs," said they, " that we are not allowed to 
 follow, inasmuch as we are Romans." The city, in
 
 90 SAINT t> AtiL. 
 
 fact, was under the Italian law, and religions became 
 the more straitened the nearer people were to the 
 Roman city. The superstitious population, excited 
 by the masters of the prophetess, made at the same 
 moment a hostile manifestation against the Apostles. 
 These sort of petty uprisings were frequent in 
 ancient towns. The newsmongers, the unemployed, 
 the " plunderers of the agora" as Demosthenes had 
 already denominated them, lived on them. The 
 duumvirs, believing that they were dealing with 
 ordinary Jews, condemned without informing them- 
 selves of, or inquiring into, the position of the 
 accused Paul and Silas to be beaten. The lictors 
 divested the Apostles of their garments, and beat 
 them cruelly in public. They were next cast into 
 prison, put in one of the innermost cells, and had 
 their feet made fast in the stocks. Whether they 
 had not been allowed to speak in their own defence, 
 or whether they purposely had courted the glory of 
 suffering humiliation for their Master, it does not 
 appear that either Paul or Silas took advantage of 
 their title of citizens before the tribunal. It was 
 during the night in the prison that they declared 
 their rank. The jailor was much troubled. Thus 
 far he had treated the two Jews with harshness, 
 now he found himself in the presence of two Romans, 
 Paulus and Silvanus, unlawfully condemned. He 
 washed their wounds, and gave them to eat. It is 
 probable that the duumvirs were informed at the 
 same time, for early in the morning they sent the 
 lictors to order the jailor to release the captives. 
 The Valerian and the Porcian laws were express. 
 The application of stripes to a Roman citizen con-
 
 SAINT PAUL. $1 
 
 stituted a grave offence. Paul, taking advantage of 
 this circumstance, refused thus to leave his confine- 
 ment. He demanded, it is related, that the duumvirs 
 should themselves come and give him his liberty. 
 The embarrassment of the latter was serious enough. 
 They came and besought Paul to quit the city. 
 
 The two prisoners, once at liberty, repaired to the 
 house of Lydia. They were received as martyrs. 
 They addressed to the brethren a few parting words 
 of exhortation and consolation, and departed. In 
 no city had Paul ever been so beloved, and had so 
 much loved. Timotheus, who was not implicated in 
 the prosecution, and Luke, who played a secondary 
 part, remained at Philippi. Luke did not see Paul 
 again until five years after. Paul and Silas, having 
 departed from Philippi, followed the Egnantin road, 
 which led to Amphipolis. This was one of the most 
 beautiful day's journey Paul ever experienced. In 
 leaving the plain of Philippi, the road enters a 
 smiling valley, dominated by the peaks of Panga. 
 People there cultivated flax and the plants of the 
 most temperate countries. Large villages were to 
 be seen in every indentation of the mountain. The 
 Roman road was made of marble flagstones. At 
 each step, almost under every plane tree, deep wells 
 filled with water coming from the snowy vicinage, 
 and filtered through the thick layers of perme- 
 able earth, presented themselves to the traveller. 
 Through the openings in the white marble rocks 
 issued rivulets of incomparable limpidity. It is in 
 such a place that one learns to place pure water in 
 the first rank of the gifts of Nature. Amphipolis 
 was a large city, the capital of a province, and
 
 92 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 about an hour's journey from the mouth of the 
 Strymon. The Apostles do not appear to have 
 stopped there, probably because it was a purely 
 Hellenic city. 
 
 From Amphipolis the Apostles, after leaving the 
 estuary of Strymon, proceeded between the sea and 
 the mountain across the thick woods and the prairies 
 which extend to the sand of the sea shore. The first 
 halt, under the plane-trees, near a cooling fountain 
 which issues from the sand, a few steps from the sea, 
 is a delicious place. The Apostles then entered Aulon 
 of Arethusa, a deep rent, a kind of Bosphorus cut 
 perpendicularly, which served as an outlet from the 
 interior lakes to the sea, and passed, probably with- 
 out knowing it, by the side of the tomb of Euripides. 
 The beauty of the trees, the freshness of the air, the 
 rapidity of the waters, the strong growth of the ferns 
 and shrubs of all kinds, recall the prospect of Grand 
 Chartreuse or of Gresivaudan, thrown into the 
 bottom of a furnace, the basin of the lakes of 
 Mydonia, in fact, is torrid ; having, it is said, sur- 
 faces of molten lead; the snakeweeds, raising their 
 heads out of the water and seeking the shade, im- 
 printing there only a few wrinkles. The flocks, to- 
 wards the south, crowded together round the foot of 
 the trees, seem used up. If it were not for the hum 
 of the insects and the song of the birds, which alone 
 in creation can resist such oppression, it might be 
 regarded as the kingdom of the dead. Traversing 
 the small town of Apollonia without halting, Paul 
 skirted the south side of the lakes, and continuing 
 almost as far as the bottom of the plain whose de- 
 pressed centre they occupy, he arrived at the foot of
 
 SAINT PAUL. 93 
 
 the small range of heights which form the east side 
 of the gulf of Thessalonica. When one attains the 
 summits of these hills, the summit of Olympus is seen 
 in all its splendour. The foot and the middle 
 regions of the mountain are blended with the azure 
 of the sky ; the snows of the summit appear an 
 ethereal dwelling suspended in space. But, alas ! 
 the holy mountain had been already disenchanted. 
 Man had ascended it, and had seen clearly that the 
 gods no longer dwelt there. 
 
 When Cicero, in his exile at Thessalonica, saw 
 their white summits, he knew that there was there 
 only snow and rocks. Paul, doubtless, had no 
 regard for these enchanted places of another race. 
 A great city was before him, and from experience he 
 divined that he would find there an excellent base 
 for establishing something grand. 
 
 Since the Roman domination, Thessalonica had 
 become one of the most important ports of the 
 Mediterranean. It was a very wealthy and populous 
 city, it had a grand synagogue, serving as a religious 
 centre to the Judaism of Philippi, of Amphipolis, 
 and of Appollonia, all of which had only oratories. 
 Paul followed here his usual practice. During three 
 consecutive Sabbaths he spoke in the synagogue, 
 repeating his uniform discourse on Jesus, proving 
 that he was the Messiah, that the Scriptures had 
 found in him their fulfilment, that he had of necessity 
 to suffer, that he was risen again. Some Jews were 
 converted ; but the conversions were numerous 
 especially among the Greeks " fearing God." It 
 was always this class which furnished to the new 
 faith its most zealous adherents.
 
 94 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 The women came in crowds. All that was best in 
 the feminine society of Thessalonica had already 
 observed for a long time the Sabbath and the Jewish 
 ceremonies ; the elite of those pious dames ran to 
 the new preachers. The ordinary phenomena of 
 thaumaturgia, of glossology, of the gifts of the Holy 
 Spirit, of mystical effusions, and of extases were pro- 
 duced. The Church of Thessalonica soon rivalled 
 that of Philippi in piety, in delicate attentions to the 
 Apostles. Paul expended nowhere more ardour, 
 tenderness, and penetrating grace. This man, 
 naturally vivacious and passionate, possessed in his 
 mission a sweetness and surprising calmness. He 
 was a father, a mother, a nurse, as he himself said ; 
 his austerity, his rudeness, served only to enhance his 
 charm. Stubborn and harsh natures have, when they 
 wish to be unctuous, unequal powers of seduction. 
 Severe language, never descending to flattery, has 
 much more chance of being made agreeable, with 
 women in particular, than softness, which is often 
 the indication of feeble and interested views. 
 
 Paul and Silas lived with a certain Jesus, an 
 Israelite by race, who, according to the usage of the 
 Jews, had Grecianised his name to that of Jason ; 
 but they would accept nothing but lodgings. Paul 
 laboured night and day at his calling, in order to cost 
 the Church nothing. A rich purple merchant of 
 Philippi and the sisterhood would, otherwise, have 
 been grieved if others than they had furnished to the 
 Apostles the things necessary to live upon. On two 
 occasions, during the sojourn at Thessalonica, Paul 
 received from Philippi an offering which he accepted. 
 That was altogether against his principles. His rule
 
 SAINT PAUL. 95 
 
 was to maintain himself, without receiving anything 
 from the Churches ; but he would have made a scruple 
 about refusing this present of the heart : the pain 
 that he would have given to pious women stopped 
 him. Perhaps, however, as we have already stated, 
 he preferred to contract obligations from the women, 
 who never restrained his action, except in regard to 
 men like Jason, in respect of whom he desired to 
 preserve his authority. 
 
 Nowhere, it seems, so much as at Thessalonica, 
 had Paul succeeded in realising his ideal. The 
 population to which he addressed himself was chiefly 
 composed of laborious workmen. Paul entered 
 into their spirit. He preached to them order, labour, 
 and to hold firm in the sight of the heathen. A 
 complete new series of precepts were added to his 
 lessons ; to wit, economy, application to business, in- 
 dustrial honour founded upon ease and independence. 
 By a contrast, which ought not to surprise us, he 
 revealed to them at the same time the most fantastic 
 mysteries of the Apocalypse, such as it had been 
 described to them. The Church at Thessalonica was 
 a model that pleased Paul to cite, and whose good 
 odour spread everywhere, like a perfume of edification. 
 There were nominated, besides Jason, Gaius, Aris- 
 tarchus, and Secundus ; Aristarchus was circumcised. 
 
 That which had happened twenty times before 
 happened again at Thessalonica. The discontented 
 Jews fomented trouble. They employed a baud of 
 idlers, of vagabonds, of those silly women of every 
 description who in ancient cities passed the day 
 and night under the columns of the basilicas, ready 
 to make a noise for whoever paid them for it. They
 
 96 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 went in a body to assail the house of Jason. They 
 called loudly for Paul and Silas. As they did not 
 find them, the rioters seized Jason, together with 
 some of the faithful, and brought them before the 
 poliarcs or magistrates. The most confusing cries 
 were raised. " Revolutionists are in the city," said 
 some, " and Jason has received them." " All these 
 people," said others, " are in revolt against the edicts 
 of the Emperor." " They have a king they call 
 Jesus," said a third party. The trouble was great, 
 and the poliarcs were not without fear. They com- 
 pelled Jason and the faithful who had been arrested 
 with him, to give bail, and sent them away. The 
 following night the brethren led Paul and Silas out 
 of the city, and had them conducted to Beraea. 
 The persecutions of the Jews against the little 
 Church continued, but they only served to consoli- 
 date it. 
 
 The Jews of Beraea were more liberal and better 
 educated than those of Thessalonica. They listened 
 willingly, and allowed Paul to expound tranquilly 
 his ideas in the synagogue. For several days it 
 was to them a lively source of curiosity. They 
 passed the time in perusing the Scriptures, in order 
 to find there the texts cited by Paul, and to see if 
 they were correct. Many were converted, among 
 others a certain Jew, named Sopatros or Sosipater. 
 son of Pyrhus. Here, nevertheless, as in all the 
 other churches of Macedonia, the women were in the 
 majority. The converts all belonged to the Greek 
 race, to that class of devout persons who, without 
 being Jews, practised the Jewish ceremonies. Many 
 Greeks and proselytes were converted also, and the
 
 SAINT PAUL. 97 
 
 synagogue for once remained peaceable. The storm 
 came from Thessalonica. The Jews of that city, 
 having learned that Paul had preached with success 
 at Bereea, came to the latter city, and renewed there 
 their plotting. Paul was again obliged to depart 
 hurriedly, and without taking Silas with him. Many 
 of the brethren of Bersea accompanied him as an 
 escort. 
 
 The warning given by the synagogues of Mace- 
 donia was such that sojourning in that country 
 seemed to have become impossible to Paul. He saw 
 himself tracked from city to city, and the rioters 
 to spring up, as it were, from under his feet. The 
 Roman police were not very hostile to him; but 
 they acted in the circumstances according to the 
 habitual practice of police. When there was dis- 
 turbance in the street, they would blame everybody, 
 and without fretting themselves in regard to that 
 which served as the true pretext for the excitement, 
 they would beg of people to be quiet or to move on. 
 It was in effect an encouragement to disturbance, 
 and to establish in principle that it only needed a 
 few fanatics to deprive a citizen of his liberty. The 
 policeman never stands much on philosophy. Paul 
 hence resolved to depart, and to go to some distant 
 country, where the hatred of his adversaries could 
 not follow him. Leaving Silas and Timotheus in 
 Macedonia, he, with the Beraeans, directed his steps 
 towards the -sea. 
 
 Thus ended that brilliant Macedonian mission, 
 
 the most successful of any that Paul had so far 
 
 accomplished. Churches composed of entirely new 
 
 elements had been formed. It was no longer the 
 
 VOL. I. G
 
 98 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 easy-going Syrian woman, the good-natured Lyca- 
 onian woman ; it was the subtle, delicate, elegant, 
 spiritual races, who, prepared by Judaism, embraced 
 now the new religion. The coast of Macedonia was 
 completely covered with Greek colonies. The 
 Greek genius had there borne its choicest fruits. 
 These noble Churches of Philippi and of Thessa- 
 lonica, composed of the most distinguished women 
 of each city, were unquestionably the two greatest 
 conquests that Christianity had yet made. The 
 Jewish woman was outstripped. Submissive, retired, 
 and obedient, participating little in religion, the 
 Jewish woman was not easily converted. It was 
 the woman " fearing God," the Greek woman, 
 wearied of the godesses brandishing their spears 
 on the summit of the Acropolis, the virtuous woman 
 turning her back on a worn-out Paganism, and seek- 
 ing the pure religion which was decked in celestial 
 garments. These were the second foundresses of 
 our faith. Next to the Galileans who followed Jesus 
 and served him, Lydia, Phoebe, the unknown pious 
 women of Philippi and of Thessalonica are the true 
 saints to which the new faith owed its most rapid 
 progress. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 CONTINUATION OF THE SECOND JOURNEY OF PAUL 
 PAUL AT ATHENS. 
 
 PAUL, accompanied still by the faithful Berseans, 
 sailed for Athens. From the end of the Gulf of
 
 SAINT PAUL. 99 
 
 Thermais to Phalera, or to Piraeus, the voyage with 
 a small craft is three or four days' sailing. The route 
 passes the foot of Olympus, of Ossa, and of Pelion. 
 It follows the sinuosities of the interior sea which 
 Euboea separates from the rest of the ^Egsean Sea. 
 The singularly narrow strait of Euripus is passed. 
 On each bank we skirt that truly holy ground where 
 perfection is at once discovered, where the ideal has 
 really existed, that soil which has seen the noblest 
 of races found at once art, science, philosophy, and 
 politics. Paul, no doubt, experienced in landing there 
 that species of filial sentiment which cultivated men 
 experience when touching this venerated soil. It 
 was another world : his holy ground was elsewhere. 
 Greece had not recovered from the terrible blows 
 which she had received during the last centuries. 
 Like the sous of Earth, these aristocratic tribunes 
 had torn one another to pieces. The Romans had 
 completely exterminated them. The ancient fami- 
 \ lies had nearly disappeared. The ancient cities of 
 \Tn"eEes and of Argos had become poor villages ; 
 Olympus and Sparta had been humiliated ; Athens 
 and Corinth were the sole survivors. The country 
 was almost a desert. The pictures of desolation 
 which we gather from the descriptions of Polybius, 
 Cicero, Strabo, and Pausauias are heart-rending. 
 The appearances of liberty which the Romans had 
 left in the towns, and which only disappeared under 
 Vespasian, were little else than irony. The^ wicked 
 administration of the Romans had ruined everything. 
 temples were no longer maintained. At each 
 
 step there were pedestals from which the conquerors 
 had stolen the statues, or which adulation had conse-
 
 100 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 crated to the new rulers. Peloponesus, in particular, 
 had been struck dead. Sparta had killed her. 
 Ruined by the proximity of that foolish Utopia, 
 that poor country never sprang into life again. At 
 the Roman epoch, moreover, the administration of 
 the large cities had absorbed and had superseded 
 the numerous small ruling centres: Corinth attracted 
 to itself all the life. 
 
 The race, if we except Corinth, had, however, re- 
 mained quite pure. The number of Jews outside of 
 Corinth was inconsiderable. Greece had received 
 but a single Roman colony. The invasions of slaves 
 and of Albanians, which have so completely changed 
 the Hellenic blood, did not take place till later. The 
 old religions were still flourishing. Some women, 
 unknown to their husbands, practised much in secret, 
 inside the gymnasiums, the foreign superstitions, 
 especially those of the Egyptians. The sages, 
 however, protested. " What a God," said they, 
 " he must be who is pleased with the surreptitious 
 homage of married women ! A wife ought not to 
 have other friends besides those of her husband. 
 The gods, are they not our best friends 1 " 
 
 It seems that, either during the voyage or at the 
 moment of his arrival in Athens, Paul regretted 
 having left his companions in Macedonia. Perhaps 
 that new world astonished him, and he found him- 
 self there too much isolated. What is certain is, that 
 in dismissing the faithful Berasans he charged them 
 to request Silas and Timotheus to come and join 
 him at the earliest possible moment. 
 
 Paul found himself then at Athens for some days 
 alone. This had not happened to him for a long
 
 SAINT PAUL. 101 
 
 time. His life had been as a whirlwind, and he had 
 never journeyed without having two or three com- 
 panions. Athens to the world was something 
 unique at all events, something totally different 
 from anything that Paul had seen before ; hence, he 
 was extremely embarrassed. In waiting for his 
 companions, he amused himself by roaming, in the 
 widest sense, over the city. The Acropolis, with its 
 infinite number of statues, which covered it and 
 which constituted it a museum such as had never 
 been seen before, must, in particular, have been to 
 him a subject of the deepest reflection. 
 
 Athens, although she had suffered much from 
 Sylla, although, like Greece, she had been pillaged 
 by the Roman administrators and was already in 
 part despoiled by the gross avidity of its masters, 
 presented the appearance of being still ornamented 
 by almost all her master-pieces of art. The monu- 
 ments of the Acropolis were intact. Some clumsy 
 additions of detail, quite a sufficient number of 
 mediocre works which were already glittering in 
 the sanctuary of high art, some silly substitutions, 
 which consisted in placing Romans on the pedestals 
 of ancient Greeks, had not changed the sanctity of 
 that immaculate temple of the beautiful. Poecile, 
 with its brilliant decorations, was as fresh as it was 
 at the first. The exploits of the odious Carinus 
 Secundus, the purveyor of statues for the gilded 
 House, did not commence until some years after, and 
 Athens suffered less from it than did Delphos and 
 Olympus. The false taste of the Romans for col- 
 onaded cities had not penetrated here. The houses 
 
 were poor and by no means commodious. That
 
 102 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 exquisite city was likewise an irregular city, with 
 narrow streets which were the conservators of the 
 old monuments, people preferring archaic souvenirs 
 to streets scientifically laid out. Some of these mar- 
 vellous things affected Paul but little ; h_e_saw the 
 only perfect objects which had ever existed, which 
 shall ever exist, the Propyleum, that chef-d'oeuvre of 
 grandeur; the Parthenon, which absorbed every 
 other grandeur save its own ; the Temple of Victory, 
 without wings, worthy of the battles which it con- 
 secrated ; the Erechthaeum, a prodigy of elegance and 
 of finish ; the Errhephorse, these divine young Avomen 
 with a bearing so full of grace ; he saw all that, and 
 his faith was not overcome, nor was he shaken. With 
 the prejudices of the iconoclastic Jew, insensible to 
 plastic beauties, blind to them, he regarded these 
 incomparable figures as idols. " His spirit," says his 
 biographer, " was stirred in him when he saw the city 
 wholly given to idolatry." Ah ! thou lovely and per- 
 fect images, true gods and true goddesses, tremble I 
 Behold the man who lifted against you the hammer I 
 The fatal words had gone forth : " Ye are idols I " 
 The error of that pitiful little Jew was your death- 
 warrant ! 
 
 Surrounded by so many things which he did not 
 understand, there were two which greatly struck 
 the Apostle : first, the very religious character of the 
 Athenians, which was manifested by a multitude of 
 temples, altars, and sanctuaries of every description, 
 tokens of a tolerant eclecticism which they carried 
 into religion ; in the second place, certain anonymous 
 altars which were erected to the "unknown gods." 
 These altars were quite numerous at Athens and in
 
 SAINT ?AUL. 103 
 
 the environs. Other cities of Greece had them as 
 well. Those at the port of Phalera (Paul had seen 
 them on landing) were celebrated. They were 
 incorporated in the legends of the war of Troy. 
 They bore this inscription : 
 
 ArNn2TOI20EOI2. 
 
 " To the unknown gods." Some of them were even 
 thus inscribed : 
 
 "To a God unknown." These altars owed their 
 existence to the extreme scrupulousness the Atheni- 
 ans had for things religious, and to their habit of 
 seeing in everything the manifestation of a mys- 
 terious and special power. Fearing to offend, 
 without knowing it, some god of whose name they 
 were ignorant, or of neglecting a powerful god, or, 
 better, wishing to obtain a favour which might de- 
 pend upon a certain divinity with whom they were 
 unacquainted, they either erected anonymous altars, 
 or placed up the afore-mentioned inscriptions. It is 
 possible, too, that these fanciful inscriptions came 
 from the altars which were originally anonymous, to 
 which, in the work of making a general census, had 
 to be affixed some such an epigraph, for lack of the 
 knowledge of that which properly belonged to them. 
 Paul was greatly surprised at these dedications. In- 
 terpreting them with his Jewish mind, he understood 
 them in a sense that did not belong to them. He 
 believed that they had reference to a god called par 
 excellence " The Unknown God." He saw in that
 
 104 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 Unknown God the God of the Jews, the only 
 God, towards whom Paganism itself might have had 
 some mysterious aspirations. This idea was the 
 more natural, because in the eyes of Pagans that 
 which in particular characterised the God of the 
 Jews was, that he was a God without name, a doubt- 
 ful God. It was further probable that it was in 
 some religious ceremony, or in some philosophical 
 discussion, that Paul heard the hemistiche : 
 
 ToD yap ^al y'svog eajy.iv, 
 
 borrowed from the hymn of Cleanthes to Jupiter, or 
 from the Phenomena of Arsetus, and which were fre- 
 quently used in the religious hymns. He grouped 
 in his mind those shades of local colouring, and sought 
 to compose a discourse on them appropriate to his 
 new auditors : for he felt that here it was necessary 
 for him to modify greatly his preaching. 
 
 Certain it is, Athens was far from being then what 
 she had been for centuries, the centre of human 
 progress, the capital of the republic of mind. True 
 to her ancient character, this divine mother of art 
 was one of the last asylums of liberalism and of the 
 republican spirit. She was what might be called a 
 city of opposition. Athens was always on the side 
 of the lost cause. She energetically declared for 
 the independence of Greece, and for Mithridates 
 against the Romans, for Pompey against Csesar, for 
 the republicans against the triumvirs, for Antony 
 against Octavius. She raised statues to Brutus and 
 to Cassius by the side of those of Harmodius and of 
 Aristogiton ; she honoured Germanicus to the point 
 of compromising herself ; she merited the insults of
 
 SAINT PAUL. 105 
 
 Piso. Sylla plundered her in an atrocious manner, 
 and dealt the final blow to her democratic constitu- 
 tion. Augustus, although merciful to her, did not 
 show her any favour. Her title as a free city was 
 never taken away, but the privileges of free cities 
 were diminished gradually under the Caesars and 
 the Flavii. Athens was thus in the condition of 
 a city suspected and disgraced, but justly en- 
 nobled through her disgrace. At the advent of 
 Nerva, there began for her a second life. The world, 
 having returned to reason and to virtue, recognised 
 its mother. Nerva, Herod Atticus, Adrian, Anton- 
 ine, Marcus Aurelius, restored her, endowing her 
 even with monuments and new institutions. Athens 
 became again for four centuries the city of philoso- 
 phers, of artists, of genius, the holy city of every 
 liberal soul, the pilgrim city of those who loved the 
 beautiful and the true. 
 
 But let us not anticipate events. At the sad 
 moment at which we are now arrived, the ancient 
 splendour had disappeared, and the new had not yet 
 dawned. She was no longer " the city of Theseus," 
 and was not yet " the city of Adrian." In the century 
 before our era, the philosophic school of Athens had 
 been very brilliant ; Philo of Larissa, and Antiochus 
 of Ascalon, had continued or modified the academy ; 
 Cratippus taught there peripatetics, and understood 
 how to be at once the friend, the master, the con- 
 soler, or the protege of Pompey, of Caesar, of Cicero, 
 and of Brutus. Romans, the most celebrated and 
 most eminent in business, attracted to the Orient by 
 ambition, halted at Athens to listen to the philoso- 
 phers in vogue. Atticus, Crassus, Cicero, Varro,
 
 106 SAINT' 
 
 Ovid, Horace, Agrippa, Virgil, either studied or re- 
 sided there as amateurs. Brutus passed there his 
 last winter, dividing his time between the peripatetic 
 Cratippus and the academician Theomnestus. Athens 
 was, on the eve of the battle of Philippi, a centre 
 of opinion of the highest importance. The instruc- 
 tion which was given there was entirely philosophic, 
 and much superior to the insipid eloquence of the 
 school of Rhodes. That which was indeed prejudi- 
 cial to Athens was the advent of Augustus and the 
 universal pacification. The precepts of philosophy 
 were from that time suspected the schools lost their 
 importance and their activity. Rome, on the other 
 hand, by reason of the brilliant literary evolution 
 which she had achieved, became for some time semi- 
 independent of Greece in regard to objects of thought. 
 Other centres were formed : as a school of varied 
 instruction, Marseilles was preferred. The original 
 ^philosophy of the four great sects had come to an end. 
 Eclecticism, a sort of flabby, unsystematic style 
 of philosophising, had commenced. If we except 
 Ammonias of Alexandria, the master of Plutarch, 
 who founded about that time at Athens a species of 
 literary philosophy, which was to become the fashion, 
 beginning with the reign of Adrian, there was no one 
 illustrious about the middle of the first century in the 
 one city of the world which had produced or attracted 
 the most celebrated men. The figures which were 
 now consecrated with deplorable prodigality on the 
 Acropolis were those of consuls, of pro-consuls, of 
 Roman magistrates, and of members of the Imperial 
 family. The temples which were erected there were 
 dedicated to the goddess Rome, and to Augustus.
 
 SAINT PAUL. 107 
 
 Nero had even his statues there. Artists of talent hav- 
 ing been attracted to Rome, the Athenian works of the 
 first century were, for the most part, of a mediocre 
 quality that is surprising. Still those monuments, 
 such as the clock of Andronicus Cyrrhestica, the por- 
 tico of Athene Archegetes, the temple of Rome and 
 of Augustus, the mausoleum of Philopappus, were 
 either a little anterior or posterior to the time when 
 Paul saw Athens. Never had the city, during its 
 long history, been more mute and peaceful. 
 
 She preserved, nevertheless, a great portion of 
 her nobility. She still occupied the first rank in 
 the regard of the world. Despite the harshness of 
 the times, the respect for Athens was profound, and 
 everyone bowed to her. Sylla, though so terrible in 
 consequence of her rebellion, had pity on her. Pompey 
 and Caesar, before the battle of Pharsalia, caused it to 
 be proclaimed by a herald that all the Athenians were 
 to be spared, as priests of the goddesses Thesmo- 
 phoria. Pompey gave a large sum of money to adorn 
 the city ; Caesar refrained from avenging himself on 
 her,and contributed to the erection of one of the monu- 
 ments. Brutus and Cassius, who comported them- 
 selves as private persons, were received and flattered 
 as if heroes. Antony loved Athens, and liked to re- 
 side there. After the battle of Actium, Augustus par- 
 doned her for the third time, and his name, like that 
 of Csesar, was inscribed on an important monument. 
 His family and entourage were looked upon at Athens 
 as benefactors. The Romans were at great pains to 
 prove that they left Athens free and honoured. 
 Spoiled children of fame, the Athenians lived thence- 
 forward on the recollections of their past history.
 
 108 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 Germanicus, while he resided at Athens, wished to 
 be preceded by only one lictor. Nero, though not 
 superstitious, did not dare to enter the city, for fear 
 of the fairies which lived under the Areopagus, of 
 those terrible "Semnes," which the parricides dreaded. 
 The recollection of Orestes made him tremble. He 
 dare no more affront the mysteries of Eleusis, at the 
 threshold of which the herald proclaimed that the 
 profligate and the impious were to be careful not to 
 approach. Noble foreigners, descendants of dethroned 
 kings, came to spend their fortunes at Athens, and 
 were delighted to find themselves decorated with 
 high-sounding and mocking titles. All the small 
 barbarian kings emulated one another in rendering 
 service to the Athenians, and in restoring their 
 monuments. 
 
 Religion was one of the principal causes of this 
 exceptional favour. Essentially municipal and poli- 
 tical in its origin, having for its basis the myths 
 relating to the foundation of the city and to its 
 divine protectors, the religion of Athens was at first- 
 only the religious consecration of patriotism and of 
 the institutions of the city. It was the cult of the 
 Acropolis. " Aglaure " and the oath which the 
 young Athenians took upon the altar had no other 
 meaning; just as if religion with us consisted in 
 drawing the conscription, in drilling, and in honour- 
 ing the colours. It soon became insipid enough ; it 
 possessed nothing infinite, nothing that touched 
 man through his destiny, nothing universal. The 
 railleries of Aristophanes against the gods of the 
 Acropolis proved by themselves alone that every 
 race could not be brought into subjection. The
 
 SAINT PAUL. 1 00 
 
 women were turned early in the direction of petty 
 foreign devotions like those of Adonis. The mys- 
 teries, in particular, were successful ; philosophy in 
 the hands of Plato was a kind of delicious mytho- 
 logy, whilst art created for the multitude images 
 really admirable. The Athenian gods became the 
 gods of beauty. The old Athene Poliade was but 
 a mannikin, without apparent arms, swathed in a 
 peplos, like the old virgin Loretta. Lorentia accom- 
 plished an unexampled miracle ; she made realistic 
 statues after the model of the Italian and Byzantine 
 Madonnas, adorned with appropriate ornaments, 
 which were at the same time marvellous master- 
 pieces. Athens succeeded in possessing, after a sort, 
 one of the most perfect religions of antiquity. This 
 religion underwent at that time a kind of eclipse, 
 on account of the misfortunes of the city. The 
 Athenians were the first to profane their sanctuary. 
 Lachises stole the gold from the statue of Athene. 
 Demetrius Poliorcetes was installed by the inhabitants 
 themselves in the opisthodome of the Parthenon. 
 He harboured his courtesans near himself, and people 
 were amused at the scandals that such surroundings 
 must have caused to the chaste goddess. Aristio, 
 the last defender of the independence of Athens, 
 permitted the immortal lamp of Athene Poliade to 
 be extinguished. Such, however, was the glory of 
 that unique city, that the universe seemed to take 
 to heart the adoption of her goddess, at the moment 
 when she deserted her. The Parthenon, through 
 the acts of foreigners, regained her honours. The 
 mysteries of Athens were a religious attraction for 
 the whole Pagan world.
 
 110 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 But it was principally as a city of schools that 
 Athens exercised a peculiar fascination. That new 
 destiny, which, through the assiduity of Adrian and 
 Marcus Aurelius, came to possess a character so 
 decided, had been begun two centuries before. The 
 city of Miltiades and Pericles had been transformed 
 into a university city, a sort of Oxford, the resort 
 of all the young noblesse, who scattered the gold 
 in handfuls. It contained nothing but professors, 
 philosophers, rhetoricians, pedagogues of every de- 
 scription, sophmores, tutors, gymnasts, pcedotribes, 
 hoplomatcs, masters of fencing and of riding. 
 From the time of Adrian the cosmetists or prefects 
 of the students assumed to a certain extent the 
 importance and the dignity of the archons. People 
 fixed the date of the years through them : the old 
 Greek education, destined in principle to form the 
 free citizen, became the pedagogic law of the human 
 species. Alas ! she produces henceforth little else 
 than rhetoricians ; bodily exercises, formerly a real 
 occupation of the heroes upon the banks of the 
 Illissus, become now a mere matter of pose. A circus 
 grandeur, the gestures of Franconi, have replaced 
 solid grandeur. But it is the peculiar attribute of 
 Greece to have ennobled everything. Even the work 
 of the schoolman became with her a moral ministry. 
 The dignity of the professor, in spite of more than 
 one abuse, was one of her creations. The jeunesse 
 dorde knew, sometimes, how to remember the fine 
 discourses of its masters. She was, like all youths, 
 republican ; she flocked to the appeal of Brutus ; she 
 was mown down at Philippi. The day was em- 
 ployed in declaiming on tyranny and on liberty, in
 
 SAINT PAUL. Ill 
 
 celebrating the noble death of Cato, and making a 
 eulogy on Brutus. 
 
 The population was always sprightly, spirituelle, 
 curious. Everyone lived in the open air, in per- 
 petual contact with the rest of the world, breathing 
 
 i. * O 
 
 under smiling skies, a serene atmosphere. The 
 strangers, who were numerous and eager after 
 knowledge, evinced great activity of mind. Publicity, 
 the journalism of the ancient world if one may be 
 permitted to make use of such an expression, had its 
 centre at Athens. The city not being commercial, 
 everybody had but one care, which was to learn the 
 news, to be made au courant of what was said and 
 of what was being done in the universe. It is very 
 remarkable that the great development of religion 
 did not destroy rational culture. Athens might have 
 been at once the most religious city of the world, 
 the Parthenon of Greece, and the city of philo- 
 sophers. When we see in the theatre of Dionyseus 
 the marble arm-chairs which surround the orches- 
 tra bearing each the name of the priesthood the 
 titulary of which came to sit there, we should say 
 that here was a city of priests ; and yet it was 
 pre-eminently the city of free-thinkers. The religion 
 which was practised had neither dogmas nor holy 
 writ. They had not for physics the horror that 
 Christianity has always evinced, and which has led 
 it to condemn positive researches. The priest and 
 the Epicurean atomist, except for a few broils, lived 
 happily enough together. The true Greeks were 
 perfectly contented with such accord, founded not 
 upon logic, but upon mutual tolerance and mutual 
 regard.
 
 112 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 This was for Paul a species of existence altogether 
 new. The cities in which he had up till now preached 
 were for the most part commercial cities, resembling 
 Leghorn or Trieste having large Jewries rather 
 than brilliant centres, cities of the great world and 
 of great culture. Athens was profoundly Pagan ; 
 Paganism was bound up with every pleasure, with 
 every interest, with every glory of the city. Paul 
 hesitated a great deal. Timotheus arrived at length 
 from Macedonia ; Silas, for reasons which we do not 
 know, was not able to come. 
 
 There was a synagogue at Athens, and Paul dis- 
 puted in it with the Jews, and with the " devout 
 persons ; " but in such a city any successes in the 
 synagogue counted for little. That brilliant agora 
 in which was displayed so much mind, that portico 
 Pcecile in which was asked every conceivable ques- 
 tion, tempted him. He spoke there not as a preacher 
 addressing himself to the multitude assembled, but 
 as a stranger feeling his way putting forth his 
 ideas timidly, and seeking to create for himself some 
 point d'appui or basis. " Jesus and the resurrection" 
 (anastasis) appeared foreign words, and destitute of 
 sense. Several of them, as it would appear, took 
 anastasis for the name of a goddess, and believed 
 that Jesus and Anastasis were some new divine 
 couple that these Oriental dreamers had come to 
 preach. Some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers, it 
 is said, came near and listened. 
 
 This first contact of Christianity with Greek 
 philosophy was riot very happy. We have never 
 seen a better example of how men of mind ought 
 to distrust themselves and to guard against laugh-
 
 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 ing at an idea, however foolish it may seem to 
 them. The bad Greek spoken by Paul, his in- 
 correct and halting phraseology, were not reasons 
 for making him accredited at Athens. The philo- 
 sophers turned their backs disdainfully at his Jbar- 
 barojis . speech. " He is a babbler " (spermologos) 
 said some. " He is a preacher of strange gods," said 
 others. No one could have suspected that this 
 babbler would one day supplant them, and that, 
 four hundred and seventy-four years later, their 
 professorships would be suppressed as useless and 
 injurious, in consequence of the preaching of Paul. 
 What a grand lesson ! Proud of their superiority, 
 the Athenian philosophers disdained the questions 
 oT^popular religion. In their midst superstition 
 flourished. Athens almost equalled, in that respect, 
 TihlTlnost religious cities of Asia Minor. The aris- 
 tocracy of thinkers cared little for the social wants 
 which made themselves felt under the cover of so 
 many unpolished religions. Such a renunciation ia 
 always punished. When philosophy declares that 
 she will not occupy herself with religion, religion 
 responds by extinguishing her ; and this is just, for 
 philosophy is something only when she shows to- 
 humanity the way, when she takes up seriously the 
 infinite problem which is the same for all. 
 
 The liberal spirit which reigned at Athens assured 
 Paul of complete security. Neither Jews nor Pagans 
 attempted anything against him ; but that tolerance 
 was even worse than hatred. However, the new 
 doctrine produced a lively reaction, at least in the 
 Jewish society : here it could find only curious and 
 blase auditors. It appears that one day the auditors 
 VOL. I. H
 
 114 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 of Paul, wishing to obtain from him a sort of official 
 exposition of his doctrine, conducted him then to the 
 Hill of Mars, and summoned him there to say what 
 religion he preached. It is indeed possible that there 
 is some legend here, and that the celebrity of the 
 Areopagus may have led the narrator of the Acts, who 
 had not been an eye- witness, to select this illustrious 
 audience to enable him to deliver on his heroes a 
 pompous discourse, a philosophic harangue. This 
 hypothesis, nevertheless, is not necessary. The 
 Areopagus had retained, under the Romans, its 
 ancient organisation. It had even seen its prero- 
 gatives increased, .as a result of the policy which 
 led the conquerors to suppress in Greece the ancient 
 democratic institutions, and to replace them by the 
 Councils of Notables. The Areopagus had always 
 been the aristocratic corporation of Athens : it 
 gained what the democracy lost. Let us add that 
 people were living in an epoch of literary dilet- 
 tanteism, and that that tribunal, by its classic cele- 
 brity, enjoyed a great prestige. Its moral authority 
 was recognised by the entire world. The Areo- 
 pagus thus became again, under Roman domination, 
 what it had been at different times in the history 
 of the Athenian Republic, a political body, almost 
 divested of judicial functions, the real senate of 
 Athens, intervening only in certain cases, and con- 
 stituting a conservative nobility of retired function- 
 aries, Beginning with the first century of our era, 
 the Areopagus figures in the inscriptions as head 
 of the powers at Athens, superior to the Council of 
 Six Hundred, and to the people. The erection of 
 statues, in particular) were made by it, or at least
 
 SAINT PAUL. 115 
 
 with its authorisation. At the epoch at which we 
 are now arrived, it had just decreed a statue to 
 Queen Berenice, daughter of Agrippa I., with whom 
 we shall soon see Paul en rapport. It seems that the 
 Areopagus exercised also a certain superintendence 
 over instruction. It was a chief council of religious 
 and moral censure, before which was brought all that 
 concerned laws, manners, medicine, luxury, sedile- 
 ship, the religions of the city ; and there is nothing 
 unlikely in the fact that when a novel doctrine was 
 promulgated, that the preacher should be invited to 
 come and make his declarations before such a 
 tribunal, or at least to the place in which it held its 
 sessions. Paul, it is said, stood up in the middle of 
 the assembly and spoke thus : 
 
 " Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things 
 ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and 
 beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this 
 inscription : 'To THE UNKNOWN GOD.' Whom, 
 therefore, ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto 
 you. God that made the world, and all things 
 therein, seeing that he is lord of earth, dwelleth not 
 in temples made with hands, neither is worshipped 
 with men's hands, as though he needed anything, 
 seeing he giveth to all life and breath, and all 
 things. And hath made of one blood all nations of 
 men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and 
 hath determined the times before appointed, and 
 the bounds of their habitation. That they should 
 seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, 
 and find him, though he be not far from every one 
 of us. For in him we live and move and have our 
 being ; as certain also of your own poets have said,
 
 116 
 
 ' For we are all his offspring.' Forasmuch, then, as 
 we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think 
 that the godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or 
 stone, or graven by art of man's device. And the 
 times of this ignorance God winked at ; but now 
 commandeth all men everywhere to repent. Because 
 he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the 
 world in righteousness, by that man whom he hath 
 ordained ; whereof he hath given assurance unto all 
 men, in that he hath raised him from the dead " 
 (Acts xvii. 22-31). 
 
 At these words, according to the narrator, Paul 
 was interrupted. Hearing him speak of the resur- 
 rection of the dead, some mocked, and others said : 
 " We will hear thee again of this matter." If the 
 discourse which we have just related was really 
 delivered, it must indeed have produced a very 
 singular impression upon the cultivated minds which 
 heard it. That almost barbarous speech, now in- 
 correct and formless, now scrupulously correct ; 
 that unequal eloquence, strewn with happy fancies 
 and disagreeable failings ; that profound philosophy, 
 verging into beliefs the most singular, extending, 
 seemingly, to another world. Immensely superior 
 to the popular religion of Greece, such a doctrine 
 rested chiefly upon grounds below the level of the 
 current philosophy of the century. If, on the one 
 hand, it extended the hand to that philosophy 
 through the elevated notion of divinity, and the 
 beautiful theory which it proclaimed of the moral 
 Unity of the human mind, on the other it embraced 
 in part supernatural beliefs that no informed mind 
 was able to admit. In any case, it is not sur-
 
 SAINT PAUL. 117 
 
 prising that Christianity had not any success, in 
 Athens. The motives which were to work the suc- 
 cess of Christianity, were elsewhere than in the circle 
 of letters. They were lodged in the hearts of pious 
 women, in the secret aspirations of the poor, the 
 slaves, and the afflicted of every description. Before 
 philosophy could approach the new doctrine, it 
 was necessary that philosophy itself should be much 
 debased, and that the new doctrine should be re- 
 nounced from the grand chimera of the near judg- 
 ment, that is to say, from the concrete ideas with 
 which from its first formation it had been surrounded. 
 
 Whether it was delivered by Paul, or by one of 
 his disciples, this discourse, in any case, shows us 
 an endeavour, almost the only one in the first cen- 
 tury, made to reconcile Christianity with philosophy, 
 and even, in one sense, with Paganism. Affording 
 proof of a breadth of views most remarkable amongst 
 the Jews, the author discovers in all races a sort of 
 innate sense of the divine, a sort of secret instinct 
 of monotheism which might lead to the knowledge 
 of the true God. To be believed in, Christianity is 
 nothing more than natural religion, which one 
 arrives at by consulting simply his own heart, and 
 by interrogating himself conscientiously the twoi- 
 sided idea which was soon to reproach Christianity 
 with deism, and to inspire a pride of which it had 
 been shorn. 
 
 This is the first example given of the tactics of cer- 
 tain apologists of Christianity, in advance of philo- 
 sophy, using or feigning to use scientific language 
 speaking with complaisance or politeness of reason, 
 described by the other side ; wishing to have it
 
 118 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 believed, by means of skilfully grouped quotations, 
 that in the main it might be understood by lettered 
 people ; but which led to misunderstandings that 
 were inevitable, for they plainly declared their 
 opinions, and spoke of their supernatural dogmas. 
 One can already perceive the effort to translate 
 into the language of Greek philosophy Jewish and 
 Christian ideas ; one can foresee Clement of Alex- 
 andria and Origen. Biblical ideas, and those of 
 Greek philosophy, aspired to embrace one another ; 
 but in order to that many concessions had to be 
 made ; for that God in which we live and move is 
 far removed from the Jehovah of the prophets, and 
 from the celestial father of Jesus. 
 
 The times were far from being ripe for such an 
 alliance ; at any rate, it was not to take place at 
 Athens. Athens, at the point which it had reached 
 in history, that city of grammarians, of gymnasts, 
 and of fencing-masters, was likewise as ill adapted 
 as it was possible to be, for receiving Christianity. 
 The power over vassals, the hardness of heart of 
 the schoolman, were unpardonable sins in the eyes 
 of grace. The pedagogue is the least convertible 
 of men ; for he has a religion of his own, which is 
 routine, faith in old authors, and a taste for literary 
 exercises. This satisfies him, and extinguishes in 
 him all other desires. There has been found at 
 Athens a series of Amns-portraits of cosmetics of 
 the second century. The latter are composed of fine 
 men, grave, majestic, with the noble and yet Hellenic 
 mien. From the inscriptions we learn of the honours 
 and pensions which were conferred on them : the 
 truly great men of the ancient democracy never had
 
 SAINT PAUL. 119 
 
 so many of them. Assuredly if Paul had en 
 countered some of the predecessors of these superb 
 pedants, he could not have had any more success 
 than would have had during the Empire a romanc- 
 ist imbued with neo- Catholicism, attempting to 
 convert to his views a Universitarian attached to 
 the religion of Horace, or than would in our own 
 days a socialist humanitarian declaiming against 
 English prejudices before the fellows of Oxford or 
 Cambridge. 
 
 In a society so different from that in which he 
 had lived till now, in the midst of rhetoricians and 
 professors of dialectics, Paul found himself, indeed, 
 from home. His thoughts constantly reverted to the 
 dear Churches of Macedonia and Galatia, where he 
 had discovered such an exquisite religious sentiment. 
 He thought many times of departing for Thes- 
 salonica. A lively desire carried him thence, the 
 more so, as he had received news that the faith 
 of the young Church had been subjected to many 
 severe tests, and he feared that the proselytes 
 might succumb to the temptations. Some obstacles, 
 that he attributed to Satan, prevented him from 
 carrying out that project. When he could no longer 
 forbear, as he himself said, he parted once more 
 with Timotheus, whom he sent to Thesealonica 
 to confirm, exhort, and to console the faithful, and 
 remained alone again at Athens. He laboured there 
 afresh, but the soil was unpropitious. The sprightly 
 Athenian mind was diametrically opposed to that 
 tender and profound religious disposition which was 
 made for conversions and which was predestined to 
 Christianity. The truly Hellenic ground was little
 
 120 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 inclined to the doctrine of Jesus. Plutarch, living in 
 an atmosphere purely Greek, had not the least wind 
 of it, though living in the first half of the second 
 century. Patriotism, attachment to old recollections 
 of country, turned the Greeks against exotic re- 
 ligions. " Hellenism " became an organised, almost 
 rational religion, which admitted a great part of 
 philosophy. The " gods of Greece " appeared to wish 
 to be regarded as the universal gods of humanity. 
 
 u^hat which characterised the religion of Greece 
 formerly, that which still characterises it in our day, 
 is the want of infinity, of the unconfmed, of compas- 
 sion, of feminine softness. The profoundness of 
 - ..German and Celtic religious sentiment is lacking 
 in the true Hellenic race. The piety of Greek 
 orthodoxy consists in practices and in exterior 
 signs. The orthodox Churches, sometimes very 
 elegant," have none of the terrors which one feels 
 in a Gothic Church. In that Oriental Christianity 
 there are no tears, prayers, or outward compunctions. 
 The funerals there are almost gay. They take 
 place at night, or at the setting of the sun, when 
 the shadows have become lengthened, accompanied 
 with songs in a medium key and a display of bright 
 colours. The fanatical gravity of the Latins is 
 distasteful to those brisk, cheerful, and sprightly 
 races. The infirm one is not cast down ; he 
 watches death softly approach; all about him is 
 smiles. Herein lies the secret of that divine gaiety 
 of the Homeric poems and of Plato the narration 
 of the death of Socrates in Pha3don shows hardly a 
 taint of sadness. Life produces its flower, then 
 its fruit; what is wanted more! If, as it can be
 
 .SAINT PAUL. 121 
 
 maintained, the pre-occupation of death is the most < 
 important characteristic of Christianity and of modern 
 religious sentiment, then the Greek race is the least 
 religious of races. It is a superficial race, treating 
 life as a thing devoid of the supernatural, and. with- 
 out any reserved plan. Such simplicity of concep- 
 tion is owing in a great measure to the climate, 
 to the purity of the atmosphere, to the aston- 
 ishing joy that one breathes, but even more 
 .so to the instincts of the Hellenic race, finely 
 idealistic. Anything a tree, a flower, a lizard, Ja 
 tortoise, calls up the recollection of a thousand 
 metamorphoses which have been sung by the poets ; 
 a jet of water, a small crevice in the rock which is 
 called a cave of the nymphs; a well with a drinking- 
 cup at the brink; an arm of the sea so narrow 
 that the butterflies cross it, and nevertheless navi- 
 gable for the largest ships as the Bosph'orus ; orange 
 groves, cypress trees, whose shades are reflected on 
 the sea ; a small pine wood in the midst of rocks 
 suffices in Greece to produce the contentment 
 which is awakened by beauty. People walk in the 
 gardens during the night to listen to the nightin- 
 gales ; sit down in the clear moonlight to play the 
 flute ; go to drink the pure mountain water, carrying 
 with them a piece of bread, and a flask of wine, 
 which is drunk while singing. At family feasts, there 
 is suspended above the doors a crown of branches, 
 in keeping with hats decked with flowers; on 
 days of public festivals, thyrsi are carried, adorned 
 with leaves ; the days are passed in dancing, play- 
 ing with tame goats ; these are the delights of the 
 Greeks, the pleasures of a race, poor, economical,
 
 122 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 eternally young, inhabiting a charming country, 
 finding its welfare within itself, and in the gifts 
 that the gods have given it. The shepherd's song 
 or pastoral, after the manner of Theocritus, was in 
 the Hellenic countries a reality. Greece always de- 
 lighted in that unpretentious species of delicate and 
 amiable poetry, the species the most characteristic 
 of her literature, the mirror of her own life, though 
 almost always silly and artificial. Good humour and 
 the delights of life are Greek traits par excellence. 
 This race is always twenty years old ; for she, indul- 
 gere genio is not the heavy drinking of the English, 
 or the gross diversions of the French; it is sim- 
 ply to think that nature is kind, that one can and 
 one ought to unbend to it. For Greece, in fact, 
 nature is a counsellor of elegance, a mistress of 
 justice and of virtue : " concupiscence." The idea 
 that nature induces us to do evil is to her a not-sense. 
 The taste of personal adornment which distinguishes 
 the palicar, and which is exhibited with so much 
 innocence in the Greek girl, is not the pompous 
 vanity of the barbarian, the vulgar pretension of 
 the bourgeois, swollen with the ridiculous pride of an 
 upstart ; it is the pure and delicate sentiment of 
 unsophisticated youth, which feels itself to be the 
 legitimate heir of the true inventors of beauty. 
 
 Such a race, one can understand, would have 
 received Jesus with a smile. It was a subject these 
 exquisite children were incapable of learning from us 
 serious, profound, really simple, devotion without 
 glory, goodness without parade. Socrates is a 
 moralist of the first order, but he has nothing to 
 do with the history of religion. The Greek always
 
 SAINT PAUL. 123 
 
 appears to us a little cold and heartless ; he has 
 wit, action, subtlety, but has nothing of the pensive 
 or the melancholic. On the other hand, with us 
 Celts and Germans, the source of our genius is 
 6ur~ heart. Our deepest recesses (au fond de nous) 
 resemble a fairy fountain, a fountain clear, fresh 
 and deep, in which is reflected the infinite. With 
 the Greek, love of self and vanity is mixed with 
 everything ; vague sentiment is unknown to him ; 
 reflection upon his own destiny appears to him un- 
 profitable. Pushed to the length of caricature, scr 
 incomplete a mode of understanding life as it is con- 
 ditioned, at the Roman epoch, the grceculus esuriens, 
 grammarian, artist, charlatan, acrobat, physician, 
 amuser of the whole world, greatly resembling the 
 Italian of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; 
 at the Byzantine epoch, the theological sophist mak- 
 ing religion degenerate into subtle disputes ; in our 
 day, the modern Greek, sometimes foolishly vain 
 and ungrateful ; the orthodox fathers, with their 
 egotistical and materialistic religion. Unfortunate 
 he, who arrests that decadence ! Shame to him who, 
 in front of the Parthenon, dreams of holding it up to 
 ridicule ! Nevertheless, this has to be acknowledged : 
 Greece was never seriously Christian, nor is she to 
 this day. No race in our Middle Ages was less ro- 
 mantic, more destitute of chivalrous sentiment. Plato 
 built all his theory of the beautiful en se passant 
 without reference to woman. To think of a woman 
 in order to be incited to do great things ! a Greek 
 would have been surprised at such language. For 
 him, he thought of men assembled around the agora, he 
 thought of his country. In this respect the Latins
 
 124 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 were nearer to us. Greek poetry, incomparable in 
 the grander species of it, such as the epic, the tragic, 
 the disinterested lyric .poetry, had not, it seems, the 
 sweet elegaic note of Tibullus, of Virgil, of Lucretius, 
 a note so much in harmony with our sentiments, so 
 closely related to that which we love. 
 
 The same difference is found between the piety of 
 St Bernard, of St Francois d'Assise, and that of the 
 saints of the Greek Church. These splendid schools 
 of Capadocia, of Syria, of Egypt, of the Fathers of 
 >the desert, approximate the philosophical schools. 
 The popular holy writings of the Greeks are more 
 ^mythological than those of the Latins. The majority 
 .of the saints represented in the iconostase of a 
 Greek house, before which a Jamp burns, are not 
 -great authors, great men like saints of the West : 
 -they are often fanciful beings, old gods transfigured, 
 or at least a combination of historic and mytho- 
 logical personages, like St George. And that 
 admirable temple of St Sophia ! It is an Aryan 
 temple : the whole human species might have made 
 its prayers there. Not having had either people, 
 inquisition, scholasticism, or Middle Age barbarism, 
 .-having always preserved a leaven of Arianism, 
 Greece rejected with greater facility than any other 
 country a supernatural Christianity, just as those 
 Athenians of former times were at once (thanks to 
 a sort of vivacity which was a thousand times more 
 profound than the seriousness of our dull races) the 
 most superstitious of peoples, and the nearest ap- 
 proach to Rationalism. The popular Greek songs 
 are still to-day charged with Pagan images and 
 ideas, Differing so widely from the West, the East
 
 SAINT PAUL.; 125 
 
 remained during the Middle Ages, and down to 
 modern times, true " Hellenists ; " at bottom more 
 Pagan than Christian, living on a religion of old 
 Greek patriotism, and of old authors. These Hel- 
 lenists were, in the fifteenth century, the promoters 
 of the Renaissance in the West, to which they affixed 
 Greek texts, the basis of all civilisation. The same 
 spirit has presided, and will continue to preside, over 
 the destinies of new Greece. .When we have studied 
 fully that which made of us bears the caul of a 
 cultivated Hellene, we see that there is in him very 
 little Christianity : he is Christian in form, as a 
 Persian is a Mussulman, but at bottom he is " Hel- 
 lenist." His religion is the adoration of the ancient 
 Greek genius. He pardons every heresy to philo- 
 Hellenism, to him who admires its past : he IB 
 much less a disciple of Jesus and of St Paul, than 
 of Plutarch and of Julian. 
 
 Wearied by his little success at Athens, Paul, with- 
 out awaiting the return of Timotheus, departed for 
 Corinth. He had not formed at Athens any consider- 
 able Church. There were only a few isolated persons, 
 among others a certain Dionyseus, who belonged, it is 
 said, to the Areopagus, and a woman, named Daman's, 
 who had adhered to his doctrines. This was, then, in 
 his apostolic career, his first and almost only check. 
 
 Even in the second century the Church at Athens 
 is of little importance. Athens was one of the cities 
 which was converted the last. After Constantine, 
 she is the centre of opposition against Christianity, 
 the bulwark of philosophy. By a rare privilege she 
 preserved the temples intact. These prodigious 
 monuments, protected through the ages, thanks to
 
 126 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 a sort of instinctive respect, were to come down to 
 us as an eternal lesson of good sense and honesty, 
 given by artists of genius. Even to day we feel 
 that the Christian covering which is spread over 
 the old Pagan foundation is very superficial. It is 
 hardly necessary to modify the actual names of the 
 churches at Athens to find again the names of the 
 ancient temples. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 CONTINUATION OF THE SECOND JOURNEY OF PAUL 
 FIRST SOJOURN AT CORINTH. 
 
 DEPARTING from Phalera or Pireeus, Paul arrived at 
 Cenchrea, which was the port of Corinth on the 
 JEgean Sea. It is a pretty enough little harbour. 
 It is surrounded by verdant hills and pine woods, 
 and is situated at the extremity of the Gulf of 
 Saronia. A beautiful open valley, nearly two leagues 
 in extent, reaches from that port to the great city 
 built at the foot of the colossal dome from which can 
 be seen the two seas. 
 
 Corinth was a field much better adapted than 
 Athens to receive the new seed. It was not like 
 Athens a sort of sanctuary of thought, a city sacred 
 and unique to the world ; it was even hardly a 
 Hellenic city. Ancient Corinth had been raised to 
 the foundation by Mummius. For a hundred years 
 the soil of the Achaian Confederation was desert. 
 In the year 44 B.C. Julius Ceesar rebuilt the city and 
 made it an important Roman colony, which he
 
 SAINT PAUL. 127 
 
 peopled principally with freedmen. This is equiva- 
 lent to saying that the population was very hetero- 
 geneous. It was composed of a conglomeration of 
 those people of every sort and of every origin who 
 loved Ceesar. The new Corinthians remained for a 
 long time strangers to Greece, where they were re- 
 garded as intruders. Their entertainments were the 
 brutal games of the Romans, which were repulsive to 
 the real Greeks. Corinth became thus a city like so 
 many others on the shores of the Mediterranean, 
 very populous, wealthy, brilliant, frequented by 
 many strangers, a centre of commercial activity, one 
 of those conglomerate cities, in short, which no 
 longer contained patriots. The dominant trait which 
 made its name proverbial was the exceeding corrup- 
 tion of manners which was remarked there. In this 
 again it constituted an exception among the Hellenic 
 cities. The purely Greek manners were simple and 
 gay, and could on no account be held to be luxurious 
 and debauched. The affluence of the mariners who 
 were attracted thence by the two ports, had made of 
 Corinth the last sanctuary of the religion of Venus 
 Pandemos, the remnant of the ancient Phoenician 
 establishments. The sacred temple of Venus had 
 more than a thousand sacred courtesans ; the whole 
 city was like a vast pandemonium, where the 
 numerous strangers, the sailors particularly, resorted 
 to spend their wealth foolishly. 
 
 There was at Corinth a colony of Jews, who were 
 probably established at Cenchrea, one of the ports 
 which was used in trading with the East. A short 
 time before the arrival of Paul, a colony of Jews who 
 had been chased from Rome by the edict of Claudius,
 
 128 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 had disembarked, and among the number were 
 Aquila and Priscilla, who, it seems, at that time 
 already professed the faith of Christ. From all this 
 there resulted a concomitance of circumstances most 
 favourable. 
 
 The isthmus formed between the two masses of 
 the Greek continent has always been the seat of a 
 world-wide commerce. It was, moreover, one of 
 those emporiums, quite irrespective- of race or of 
 nationality, designed to be the headquarters, if I 
 might say so, of infant Christianity. New Corinth", 
 precisely because of its having few Hellenic nobility, 
 was a city already semi-christianised. With Antioch, 
 Ephesus, Thessalonica, and Rome, she was an eccle- 
 siastical metropolis of the first rank. But the im- 
 morality which reigned in it should at the same 
 time have presaged that the first abuses of the 
 history of the Church would be produced there. In a 
 few years after, Corinth presented to us the spectacle 
 of incestuous Christians, and of drunken people seated 
 at the table of Christ. Paul divined quickly that a 
 long sojourn at Corinth would be necessary. He 
 resolved hence to take up there his fixed abode, and 
 to prosecute his trade of upholsterer. Now, strictly 
 speaking, Aquila and Priscilla followed the same 
 trade as Paul. He went there to live with them, 
 and the three set up a small shop, which was stocked 
 by them with ready-made articles. 
 
 Timotheus, whom Paul had sent from Athens to 
 Thessalonica, soon rejoined him. The news from 
 the Church at Thessalonica was excellent. All the 
 faithful were confirmee] in the faith and in charity, 
 and in their attachment to their master. The per-
 
 SAINT PAUL. 129 
 
 secutions of their fellow-citizens had not shaken 
 them ; brotherly love was extended throughout 
 Macedonia. Silas, whom Paul had not seen since 
 his flight from Bersea, had probably been joined by 
 Timotheus, and returned with the latter. What is 
 certain is, that the three companions found them- 
 selves reunited at Corinth, and that they lived there 
 for a long time. 
 
 The effort of Paul was, as usual, first directed to 
 the Jews. Each Sabbath he spoke in the syna- 
 gogue. He found there dispositions greatly diverse. 
 One family, that of Stephenephorus or Stephauus, 
 was converted, and were all baptised by Paul. The 
 orthodox resisted energetically, to the extent of 
 injuring and of anathematising them. One day, 
 finally, there was an open rupture ; Paul shook the 
 dust off his raiment upon the incredulous of the 
 assembly, made them responsible for the conse- 
 quences, and declared to them that, seeing they 
 closed their ears to the truth, he would go unto the 
 Gentiles. Having uttered these words, he left the 
 hall. He taught henceforth in the house of a certain 
 Titus Justus, a man that feared God, whose house 
 was contiguous to the synagogue. Crispus, the 
 chief of the Jewish community, belonged to the 
 party of Paul. He was converted with his whole 
 house, and Paul baptised him himself, a thing of 
 rare occurrence. Many others, both Jews and 
 Pagans, who " feared God," were baptised. The 
 number of converted Pagans appeared to be here 
 relatively considerable. Paul displayed prodigious 
 zeal. Several divine visions which came to him 
 during the night fortified him. The fame of the 
 VOL. I. I
 
 130 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 conversions he had made at Thessalonica, never- 
 theless, preceded him, and had favourably disposed 
 the religious society iu his favour. The super- 
 natural phenomena was not wanting : there were 
 some miracles. Innocence was not the same thing 
 here as at Philippi and at Thessalonica. The corrupt 
 manners of Corinth crossed sometimes the threshold 
 of the Church ; at any rate, all those who entered it 
 were not equally pure. But, in return, few of the 
 Churches were more numerous ; the community of 
 Corinth irradiated the whole province of Achaia, 
 and became the home of Christianity in the Hellenic 
 peninsula. Without speaking of Aquila and of 
 Priscilla almost received in the rank of apostles 
 and of Titus Justus, of Crispus, of Stephanus men- 
 tioned above the Church numbered in its bosom 
 Gaius, who was himself also baptised by Paul, and 
 who extended hospitality to the Apostle during the 
 second sojourn of the latter in Corinth ; Quartus, 
 Achaicus, Fortunatus, Erastus, rather an important 
 personage, who was treasurer of the city ; a woman 
 named Chloe, who had a numerous household. We 
 have only vague arid uncertain notions about a 
 certain Zenas, a doctor of Jewish law. Stephanus 
 and his household constituted the most influential 
 group, the one which had the most authority. All 
 the converts, nevertheless, with the probable ex- 
 ception of Erastus, were simple people, without 
 much instruction, without social distinction, drawn, 
 in a word, from the humblest ranks. 
 
 The port of Cenchrea had likewise a Church. 
 Cenchrea was in great part peopled by Orientals. 
 There one could reverence Isis and Eschmoun, while
 
 SAINT PAUL. 131 
 
 the Phoenician Venus was not neglected. It was 
 like Calamaki in our days, less a city than a mass 
 of shops and inns for seafaring men. In the midst 
 of the corruption of these filthy hovels of seafarers, 
 Christianity wrought its miracle. Cenchrea pos- 
 sessed an admirable deaconess, who, one day, as we 
 shall see later on, concealed under the folds of her 
 woman's garments the whole future of Christian 
 theology which was to rule the faith of the 
 world. She was named Phoebe. She was an active 
 person, never at rest, always eager to render service, 
 and who was very precious to Paul. 
 
 The sojourn of Paul at Corinth was for eighteen 
 months. The beautiful rock of Acrocorinth, the 
 snowy summits of Helicon and of Parnassus, remained 
 for a long time in his regards. Paul contracted in 
 that new religious family some deep friendships, 
 although the taste of the Greeks for disputation 
 displeased him ; while on more than one occasion his 
 natural timidity had been increased by the disposi- 
 tion of his auditors for subtlety. He could not detach 
 himself from Thessalonica, from the simplicity he 
 had found there, from the lively affections he had 
 left behind him there. The Church at Thessalonica 
 was the model which he never ceased to preach, and 
 towards which he always reverted. The Church at 
 Philippi, with its pious women, its rich and good 
 Lydia, was not allowed to be forgotten. That 
 Church, as we have seen, enjoyed a singular privi- 
 lege ; which was, to nourish the Apostle when his 
 labour did not suffice so to do. At Corinth he 
 received from her fresh assistance. As if the rather 
 sprightly nature of the Corinthians, and of the
 
 132 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 Greeks in general, had inspired him with distrust 
 he did not wish anything of this kind from them, 
 although more than once he found himself reduced 
 to want during his sojourn amongst them. 
 
 It was with difficulty, nevertheless, that the anger 
 of the orthodox Jews, always so active, was re- 
 strained from breaking out. The preachings of the 
 Apostle to the Gentiles, his broad principles in 
 regard to the adoption of all those who believed, 
 and their incorporation into the family of Abraham, 
 irritated to the highest pitch the partisans of the 
 exclusive privilege of the children of Israel. The 
 Apostle, on his part, was not very sparing in hard 
 words. He announced to them that the anger of 
 God was going to break out 'against them. The 
 Jews had recourse to the Roman authorities. 
 Corinth was the capital of the province of A chain, 
 comprising the whole of Greece, and which ordin- 
 arily was joined to Macedonia. The two provinces 
 had been made by Claudius senatorials, and in virtue 
 of which they had a pro-consul. That position was 
 filled at the time of which we speak by one of the 
 most amiable and best-instructed men of the century 
 Marcus Annans Novatus, elder brother of Seneca, 
 who had been adopted by the rhetorician L. Junius 
 Gallio, one of the litterateurs of the society of 
 Seneca : Marcus Anneeus Novatus took hence the 
 name of Gallio. He had a great mind and a noble 
 soul, was a friend of the poets and of the celebrated 
 authors. Everyone who knew him adored him. 
 Statius called him dulcis Gallio^ and probably he was 
 the author of some of the tragedies which issued 
 from that literary roof. He wrote, it seems, upon
 
 SAINT PAUL. 133 
 
 questions of physics. His brother dedicated to him 
 his book on Anger and Happy Life ; people attri- 
 buted to him one of the most intellectual works of 
 the period. It appears that it was his high Hellenic 
 culture which led to his selection under the learned 
 Claudius for the administration of a province which 
 all governments, somewhat enlightened, surrounded 
 with delicate attentions. His sanctity obliged him 
 to abandon the post. Like his brother, he had, 
 under Nero, the honour of expiating by his death 
 his distinction and his honesty. 
 
 Such a man was little disposed to welcome the 
 demands of fanatics coming to ask the civil 
 power, which they protested against in secret, to 
 rid them of their enemies. One day Sosthenes, the 
 new ruler of the synagogue, who had succeeded 
 Crispus, brought Paul before the judgment seat, 
 and accused him of preaching a religion contrary 
 to the law. Judaism, in fact, which had old author- 
 isations, and all sorts of guarantees, pretended that 
 the dissentient sect, as soon as they had made a 
 schism in the synagogue, enjoyed no longer the 
 charters of the synagogue. The situation was one 
 which would have brought before the French law 
 liberal Protestants in the day when they separated 
 themselves from recognised Protestantism. Paul 
 was going to answer, but Gallio restrained him, 
 and, addressing the Jews, said : " If it were a 
 matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, ye Jews, 
 reason were that I should bear with you ; but if it 
 be a question of words and of names, and of your 
 law, look ye to it, for I will be no judge of such 
 matters." An admirable response, worthy of being
 
 134 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 set up as a model to civil governments when they 
 are invited to meddle with religious questions. 
 Gallio, after he had pronounced it, gave orders to 
 drive away both parties. A great tumult ensued. 
 Everybody was seized with the desire to fall upon 
 Sosthenes, and he was beaten before the judgment 
 seat, and no one could tell whence the blows pro- 
 ceeded. Gallio paid little heed, and caused the 
 place to be evacuated. The sage politician had 
 avoided entering into a dogmatic quarrel ; the well- 
 educated man refused to mix himself up with a 
 quarrel of vulgar people ; and when he saw violence 
 break out, he sent everyone away. 
 
 No doubt it would have been wiser not to appear 
 so disdainful. Gallio was well inspired in declaring 
 himself to be incompetent in a question of schism 
 and of heresy, but yet men of mind have sometimes 
 little prescience. It was discovered later that the 
 quarrel of these abject sectaries was the great affair 
 of the century. If, instead of treating a religious 
 and social question with that unceremoniousness, 
 the government would take the trouble to make 
 an impartial investigation, to establish solid public 
 instruction, and to discontinue giving an official 
 sanction to a religion which has become completely 
 absurd ; if Gallio had been disposed to take into 
 account what it was that constituted a Jew and a 
 Christian, to read Jewish books, to keep himself 
 au courant of what was passing in the subterraneous 
 world ; if the Romans had not been so narrow- 
 minded, so little addicted to the study of science, 
 many misfortunes would have been avoided. How 
 very singular ! There was, in the case now under
 
 SAIXT PAUL. 135 
 
 consideration, 011 the one hand, a man who was one 
 of the most intellectual and the most studious ; on 
 the other, a soul which was one of the most robust 
 and the most original of his time, and they passed 
 the one before the other without either being 
 touched; and, surely, if the first blows had fallen 
 upon Paul instead of upon Sosthenes, Gallic would 
 have been equally regardless of the fact. One of 
 the things which causes the most faults to be com- 
 mitted by people of the world, is the superficial 
 disgust which badly educated and unmannerly 
 people inspire in them ; yet manners are only a 
 matter of form, and those who have them not are 
 found sometimes not to be destitute of good sense. 
 The society man, with his frivolous sneers, passes 
 continually, without knowing it, the man who is 
 going to create the future ; they do not belong to 
 the same world ; yet the common error of society 
 people is to think that the world which they see is 
 the entire world. 
 
 These difficulties, however, were not the only ones 
 that the Apostle had to encounter. The Corinthian 
 mission was thwarted by obstacles which, for the 
 first time, he had met with in his Apostolic career, 
 obstacles proceeding from the bosom of the Church 
 itself, from intractable men who had been introduced 
 to it, and who opposed him, or from many Jews who 
 had been attracted to Jesus, but more attached than 
 Paul to legal observances. The false spirit of the 
 degenerated Greek who, starting from the fourth 
 century, corrupted Christianity so much, was already 
 making itself felt. The Apostle then called to mind 
 his beloved Churches at Macedonia, that unlimited
 
 136 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 docility, that purity of morals, that frank cordiality, 
 which had procured for him at Philippi and at Thes- 
 salonica such happy days. He was seized with an 
 ardent desire to go and see once more the faithful 
 of the Lord, and when he received from them an 
 expression of the same desire, he could hardly re- 
 strain himself. In order to comfort himself in this 
 embarrassment, and to protect himself from the im- 
 portunities of those with whom he was surrounded, 
 it pleased him to write to them. The epistles dated 
 from Corinth bear the imprint of a kind of sadness, 
 praises of the most lofty description for those to 
 whom Paul wrote ; but these letters were completely 
 silent, or contained some unfavourable allusions to 
 those from whose midst he wrote. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 CONTINUATION OF THE SECOND JOURNEY OF PAUL 
 FIRST EPISTLES INTERIOR CONDITION OF THE NEW 
 CHURCHES. 
 
 IT was at Corinth that the apostolic life of Paul 
 attained its highest degree of activity. To the cares 
 of the grand Christianity which he was engaged in 
 founding, he had just added the prepossessions of 
 the communities that he had left behind him. A 
 sort of jealousy, as he has told us himself, devoured 
 him. He thought less at that moment of founding 
 jiew Churches than of caring for those which he had
 
 SAINT PAUL. 137 
 
 created. Each of his Churches was to him as a bride 
 which he had promised to Christ, and which he 
 wished to preserve pure. The power that he claimed 
 over these little corporations was absolute. A cer- 
 tain number of rules, which he regarded as having 
 been laid down by Jesus himself, was the sole can- 
 onical law anterior to himself that he recognised. 
 He was thought to have divine inspiration for add- 
 ing to those rules all those which the new circum- 
 stances called for, and which had to be got over. 
 But his example, was it not a supreme rule to 
 which all his spiritual children had to conform 
 themselves ? 
 
 Timotheus, whom he employed to visit the Churches 
 that were far away from him, could not, had he been 
 indefatigable, satisfy the immense ardour of his 
 master. It was then that Paul conceived the idea 
 of supplying by correspondence what he was pre- 
 vented from saying through himself or through his 
 principal disciples. There did not exist in the 
 Roman Empire anything which resembled our postal 
 establishment for private letters. All correspond- 
 ence was forwarded incidentally or by express. St 
 Paul hence made it a point to take everywhere with 
 him persons of the second order, who could be used 
 as messengers. Correspondence between the syna- 
 gogues already existed in Judaism. The envoy 
 charged with bearing the letters was himself a digni- 
 tary drawn from the synagogues. The epistolary 
 style formed amongst the Jews a style of literature 
 which was continued amongst them down to the heart 
 of the Middle Ages, as a consequence of their disper- 
 sion. Without doubt, from the period when Chris-
 
 138 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 tianity was extended to the whole of Syria, Christian 
 epistles existed ; but in the hands of Paul these 
 writings, which up till then had not, for the most 
 part, been preserved, were, equally with his speak- 
 ing, the instruments of progress 1 in the Christian 
 faith. It was held that the authority of the Epistles 
 equalled that of the Apostle himself ; every one of 
 them was to be read before the Church assembled ; 
 some were even of the character of circular letters, 
 and were communicated successively to various 
 Churches. The reading of the correspondence thus 
 became an essential part of the office of the Sabbath. 
 And it was not merely at the moment of its reception 
 that a letter served thus for the edification of the 
 brethren ; deposited in the Church archives, it was 
 taken from there on days of assembling, and read 
 as a sacred document, and as a perpetual source of 
 instruction. The epistle was thus the form of primi- 
 tive Christian literature. It was an admirable form, 
 perfectly adapted to the conditions of the times, and 
 to the natural aptitude of Paul. 
 
 The condition of the new sect, in fact, did not at 
 all permit of connected discourse. Infant Christian- 
 ity was altogether deduced from texts. The hymns 
 even were composed by each for himself, and were 
 not written. People believed in watching for the 
 final catastrophe. The sacred books, which we call 
 the " Scriptures," were the books of the ancient 
 Law. Jesus had added no new book. He must re- 
 turn to fulfil the ancient Scriptures, and to open an 
 age in which he himself would be the living book. 
 Letters of consolation and of encouragement were 
 the only means which could produce a similar state
 
 SAINT PAUL. 1 39 
 
 of mind. If already, about the time at which we 
 are arrived, there had been more than a small 
 booklet, designed to assist the memory in regard to 
 " the sayings and doings " of Jesus, these booklets 
 were of an entirely private character. They were 
 not authentic, official writings universally received in 
 the community ; they were notes of which persons 
 an courant of events took little account, and were 
 considered as altogether an inferior authority to 
 tradition. 
 
 Paul, as regarded himself, had not a mind adapted 
 to the composition of books. He had not the patience 
 that is required for writing ; he was incapable of 
 system ; the labour of the pen was disagreeable to 
 him, and he preferred to delegate it to others. Cor- 
 respondence, on the contrary, so obnoxious to those 
 who are accustomed to employ art in putting forth 
 their ideas, suited well his feverish activity, and the 
 necessity of expressing on the spur of the moment 
 his impressions. Now brisk, crude, polite, snarlish, 
 sarcastic, then suddenly, tender, delicate, almost 
 roguish and coaxing ; happily expressed and polished 
 to the highest degree ; skilful in sprinkling his lan- 
 guage with reticences, reserves, infinite precautions, 
 malignant allusions, and ironical dissimulations, he 
 came to excel in a style which required above every- 
 thing original impulses. The epistolary style of 
 Paul is the most individual that we have ever had. 
 Its language, if I dare say so, is ground up (hoyee), 
 without a single consecutive phrase. It would be 
 impossible to violate more audaciously, I do not say 
 the genius of the Greek language, but the logic of 
 human language. It might be described as a rapid
 
 140 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 conversation stenographed and reproduced without 
 corrections. Timotheus was quickly trained to fulfil 
 for his master the functions of secretary, and as his 
 language came to resemble somewhat that of Paul, 
 he replaced him frequently. It is probable that in 
 the Epistles and perhaps in the Acts we have more 
 than one page of Timotheus ; but such was the 
 modesty of that singular man, that we have no cer- 
 tain marks by which to single them out. 
 
 Even when Paul corresponded directly he did not 
 write with his own hand ; he dictated ; sometimes when 
 the letter was finished he re-read it. His impetuous 
 soul carried him away at such moments ; he made 
 marginal additions to it, at the risk of injuring the 
 context and of producing suspended and entangled 
 sentences. He transmitted the letter thus effaced, 
 regardless of the numberless repetitions of words and 
 of ideas which it contained. With his marvellous 
 fervour of soul, Paul has yet a singular poverty of 
 expression. A phrase besets him, he recurs to it in a 
 page at every turn. It was not sterility, it was 
 contentiousness of mind and complete indifference 
 to the requirements of a correct style. In order to 
 avoid the numerous frauds to which the passions of 
 the times gave place, the authority of the Apostle 
 and the material conditions of antique epistolography, 
 Paul was in the habit of sending to the Churches a 
 specimen of his writing, which was easily recog- 
 nisable ; this done, it was sufficient for him, accord- 
 ing to a usage then general, to put at the end of his 
 letters some words in his own hand as a guarantee 
 of its authenticity. 
 
 There is no doubt that the correspondence of Paul
 
 SAINT PAUL. 141 
 
 was considerable, and that what is remaining of it 
 to us, constituted only a small portion. The religion 
 of the primitive Churches was so detached in every- 
 way, so purely idealistic, that people did not realise 
 the immense value of such writings. Faith was 
 everything : each one carried it in one's heart, and 
 cared little for stray leaves of papyrus, which, be- 
 sides, were not holograph. These epistles were for 
 the majority mere occasional pieces ; nobody sus- 
 pected that one day they would become sacred 
 books. It was only towards the end of the life of 
 the Apostle that people bethought themselves of 
 retaining his letters because of their intrinsic merit, 
 of passing them on and of preserving them. Then 
 each Church guarded preciously its own, consulted 
 them often, had regular lecture's on them, allowed 
 copies to be taken of them ; still, a multitude of 
 letters of the first period were irrecoverably lost. 
 As for the letters on the responses of the Churches, 
 all have disappeared ; and it could not be otherwise. 
 Paul in his wandering existence never had any other 
 archives than his memory and his heart. Two 
 letters only of the second mission remain with us : 
 they are the two epistles to the Church at Thes- 
 salonica, Paul wrote them from Corinth, and joined 
 with his own name in the superscription those of 
 Silas and Timotheus. They have the appearance 
 of being composed at a short interval from one 
 another. They are two productions full of unction, 
 tenderness, emotion, and charm. In them the 
 Apostle does not conceal his preference for the 
 Churches of Macedonia. He made use of them to 
 give utterance to that love for glowing expressions
 
 142 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 for images the most eudearing ; he represents him- 
 self as the kind nurse cherishing her children in 
 her bosom, as a father charging his children. 
 
 This was indeed what Paul was for the Churches 
 he had established. He was an admirable mission- 
 ary, and, what was more, an admirable director of 
 consciences. Never did he appear to better advan- 
 tage than in having the charge of souls ; never did 
 anyone take up the problem of the education of 
 man in a more enthusiastic and thorough manner. 
 But it must not be thought that he acquired that 
 ascendency through fawning and flattery. No ; 
 Paul was blunt, disagreeable, and sometimes ill- 
 tempered. In no respect did he resemble Jesus; 
 he had not his charming indulgence, his habit of 
 excusing everybody, his divine incapacity of seeing 
 evil. He was often imperious, and made his authority 
 to be felt with a haughtiness which shocks us. He 
 commanded, lie blamed severely, he spoke of him- 
 self with assurance, and unhesitatingly held himself 
 up as a model. But what haughtiness ! what purity ! 
 what disinterestedness ! Upon the last point he 
 is painfully minute. Ten times he reverts with pride 
 to the apparently puerile fact that he had cost no 
 man anything, that he had never eaten gratis the 
 bread of any one, that he had laboured day and 
 night with his hands, although he might well have 
 done like the other Apostles and lived by religion. 
 The bent of his zeal was a love of souls, in a manner 
 infinite. 
 
 The kindness, the innocence, the fraternal spirit, 
 the unlimited charity of the primitive Churches are 
 a spectacle which will never again be seen. It was
 
 SAINT PAUL. 143 
 
 wholly spontaneous, unconstrained, and yet these 
 little associations were as solid as iron. Not only 
 could they resist the perpetual bickerings of the Jews, 
 but their interior organisation possessed surprising 
 force. In order to understand them, it is necessary 
 to think, not of our grand churches open to all, but 
 of religious orders endowed with a most intense 
 individual life, of confraternities firmly consolidated, 
 in which the members by turns embraced, animated, 
 quarrelled with, loved, hated one another. These 
 Churches had a kind of hierarchy : the oldest 
 members, the most active, those who were en rapport 
 with the Apostle, enjoyed a precedence ! But the 
 Apostle himself was the first to repress everything 
 which had the appearance of domineering ; he held 
 himself to be only " the promoter of the common 
 joy." The " elders " were sometimes elected by the 
 common voice that is to say, by a show of hands, 
 sometimes installed by the Apostle, but always con- 
 sidered as chosen by the Holy Spirit, that is to 
 sa y> by that superior instinct which directed the 
 Church in all its acts. People began already to call 
 them " deacons " (episcopi, a word which in the 
 language of politics had passed into the eraues), and 
 to consider them as " pastors " charged with the con- 
 duct of the Church. Certain of them, moreover, were 
 regarded as having a sort of speciality for teaching ; 
 these were catechists, going from house to house, 
 and imparting the word of God in private admo- 
 nitions. Paul made it a rule, at least in particular 
 cases, that the catechumen, during his instruction, 
 was to share all that he possessed in common with 
 his catechist.
 
 144 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 Full authority belonged to the Church assembled. 
 This authority was extended to the minutest details 
 of private life. All the brethren watched one an- 
 other, corrected one another. The Church assembled, 
 or at least those who were called " the devout," re- 
 primanded those who were in fault, consoled the 
 cast-down, and undertook the office of directors, 
 clever and skilled in the knowledge of the heart. 
 Public penitences had not yet been instituted ; but 
 they no doubt already existed in embryo. As no 
 exterior force restrained the faithful, nor prevented 
 them from splitting up or abandoning the Church, 
 we should have thought that such an organisation, 
 which appears to us insupportable, in which is only 
 to be seen a system of espionage and of accusa- 
 tion, would speedily have come to an end. But 
 nothing of the kind. We do not find, at the period 
 at which we have now arrived, a single example 
 of apostacy. Everyone submitted humbly to the 
 sentence of the Church. He whose conduct was ir- 
 regular, or who had strayed from the traditions of 
 the Apostles, or who was not attentive to his duties, 
 was marked; he was avoided; no one would hold 
 communion with him. He was treated as an enemy, 
 though he was at the same time admonished as a 
 brother. This isolation covered him with shame, 
 and he repented. The gaiety in these little com- 
 panies of good people living together, always 
 sprightly, occupied, eager, loviug and hating much, 
 the gaiety, I say, was very great. Verily the words 
 of Jesus had been fulfilled ; the reign of the meek 
 and lowly had come, and had been manifested by the 
 extreme felicity which overflowed from every heart.
 
 SAINT PAUL. 145 
 
 People had a perfect horror of Paganism, but were 
 very tolerant in their treatment of Pagans. Far from 
 fleeing from them, people sought to attract them 
 and to gain them over. Many of the faithful had 
 been idolaters or had parents who were ; they knew 
 with what good faith one might be in error. They 
 recalled their honest ancestors, who had died with- 
 out having known saving truth. A touching cus- 
 tom, baptism for the dead, was the consequence 
 of that sentiment. People believed that in being 
 baptised for those of their ancestors who had not 
 received holy water, they conferred on them the 
 merits of the sacrament ; thus the hope of not being 
 separated from those that they loved was not frus- 
 trated. A profound idea of solidarity dominated 
 everyone ; the son was saved through his parents, 
 the father through the son, the husband through the 
 wife. People could not be brought to condemn a 
 man of good intentions, or who through any side 
 way whatever clung to the saints. 
 
 Manners were severe, though not sad. That 
 virtuous gloom which the rigorists of modern 
 times (Janissaries, Methodists, etc.) preach as a 
 Christian virtue, had no existence then. The rela- 
 tions between men and women, far from being 
 interdicted, were multiplied. One of the scoffs of 
 the Pagans was to represent the Christians as ef- 
 feminate, deserting common society for the conven- 
 ticles of young women, old women, and children. 
 Pagan nakednesses were severely condemned. The 
 women, in general, were closely veiled : not a single 
 precaution for protecting timid chastity was omit- 
 ted ; but the bashful woman is also a voluptuous 
 VOL. I. K
 
 146 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 woman, and the ideal dream which is in man is sus- 
 ceptible of a thousand applications. When we read 
 the Actes of St Perpetue, the legend of St Dorothy, 
 we see that they are the heroines of an absolute 
 purity ; but how little do they resemble a Port 
 Royal female religionist ! Here, one-half of the in- 
 stincts of humanity is suppressed ; there, these 
 instincts, which later on came to be regarded as 
 Satanic suggestions, had received only a new direc- 
 tion. It can be said that primitive Christianity was 
 a sort of moral romanticism, a powerful revulsion 
 of the faculty of loving. Christianity did not 
 diminish that faculty ; it took no precautions against 
 it ; it did not place it under suspicion it nourished 
 it with air and with light. The danger of these 
 liberties was not yet manifest. In the Church, the 
 bad Avas, in some sort, impossible, for the root of 
 evil, which is wicked desire, was taken away. 
 
 The position of catechist was often filled by 
 women. Virginity was regarded as a state of 
 sanctity. This preference accorded to the celibate 
 was not a negation of love and of beauty, like that 
 which found place in the barren and unintelligible 
 asceticism of later centuries. It was, in a woman, 
 that just and true sentiment which virtue and beauty 
 prize more the more that it is concealed ; so that 
 she who has not found that rare pearl of strong 
 love giiards, by a sort of pride and of reserve, its 
 beauty and moral perfection for God alone, for God 
 conceived as jealous, as the co-partner of close 
 secrets. Second marriages, though not forbidden, 
 were regarded as a mark against one. The 
 popular sentiment of the century ran in that
 
 SAINT PAUL. 147 
 
 groove. The beautiful and touching expression of 
 a-JpZtos became the ordinary word for " spouse." 
 The words Virginius, Virginia, Tiapdsvi^os, indicating 
 the husbands who had not formed other alliances, 
 became terms of eulogy and of tenderness. The 
 spirit of the family, the union of husband arid wife, 
 their reciprocal esteem, the recognition by the hus- 
 band of the cares and the foresight of his wife, per- 
 meated in a touching manner the Jewish inscriptions 
 which in this only reflected the sentiment of the 
 humble classes, amongst which the Christian pro- 
 paganda recruited converts. It is a singular thing 
 that the most elevated ideas on the sanctity of mar- 
 riage have been spread in the world by a people 
 amongst whom polygamy had never been univer- 
 sally interdicted. But it required, in the fraction of 
 Jewish society in which Christianity was formed, 
 that polygamy should actually be abolished, since 
 the Church did not seem to think that such an 
 enormity needed to be condemned. 
 
 Charity, brotherly love, was the supreme law, and 
 common to all the churches and all the schools. 
 Charity and chastity were par excellence Christian 
 virtues, virtues which made a success of the new 
 gospel, and converted the entire world. One was 
 commanded to do good to all : nevertheless, co-reli- 
 gionists were regarded as being worthy of preference. 
 A taste for work was held to be a virtue. Paul, a 
 good workman, vigorously reproved indolence and 
 idleness, and repeated often that naif proverb of a man 
 of the people : " He that would not work, neither 
 should he eat." The model that he conceived was a 
 punctual artisan, peaceable, applying himself to his
 
 148 SAINT PAUL. ' 
 
 work, eating tranquilly his mind at ease the bread 
 that he earned. But how far are we from the primi- 
 tive ideal of the Church at Jerusalem, wholly com- 
 munistic and monastical, or even from that of Antioch, 
 wholly preoccupied with prophecies, with super- 
 natural gifts, with apostleship ! Here the Church is an 
 association of honest workmen, cheerful, content, not 
 jealous of the rich, for they are more happy than the 
 latter, for they know that God does not judge like 
 the worldly, and prefers the honest soiled hand to 
 the white and intriguing hand. One of his principal 
 virtues was to conduct his affairs orderly ; " that ye 
 may walk honestly toward them that are without, 
 and that ye may have lack of nothing." There were 
 some members of the Church, of whom St Paul had 
 heard tell, who worked not at all but were busy- 
 bodies, and who are severely reprimanded. That 
 combination of practical good sense and of delu- 
 sion ought not to surprise. The English race, in 
 Europe and in America, does it not present to us the 
 same contrast, so full of good sense as regards the 
 things of this world, so absurd as regards things 
 pertaining to heaven ? Quakerism, even, com- 
 menced with a tissue of absurdities, and retained 
 them until the day, thanks to the influence of Wil- 
 liam Penn, it became something practical, great, 
 and fruitful. 
 
 The supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as 
 prophecy, were not neglected. But we can well see 
 that in the Churches of Greece, composed of Jews, 
 these fantastic exercises possessed no longer much 
 sense, and we can believe that they soon fell into 
 desuetude. Christian discipline turned on a kind of
 
 SAINT PAUL. 149 
 
 deistic piety, which consisted in serving the true 
 God, in praying arid in doing good. A powerful 
 hope gave to these precepts of pure religion the 
 efficacy that they of themselves never could possess. 
 The dream that had been the soul of the movement 
 inaugurated by Jesus, continued still to be the funda- 
 mental dogma of Christianity; everybody believed 
 in the near future of the kingdom of God, in the 
 unseen manifestation of a great glory, from the 
 midst of which the Son of Man would appear. The 
 idea that people had of that marvellous phenomena 
 was the same as in the tinies of Jesus. A great 
 storm that is to say, a terrible catastrophe was 
 near at hand : that catastrophe would strike all those 
 whom Jesus would not have saved. Jesus was to 
 show himself in the heavens as " king of glory, 
 surrounded by angels." Then the judgment was to 
 take place. The saints, the persecuted, were to go 
 and range themselves about Jesus, in order to enjoy 
 with him eternal rest. The unbelievers who had 
 persecuted them (the Jews especially), were to be the 
 prey of fire ; their punishment was to be eternal 
 death. Chased from before the face of Jesus they 
 were to be hurried away to the abyss of destruction. 
 A destroying fire, in short, was to be lighted and 
 was to consiime the world and all those who had 
 rejected the gospel of Jesus. That final catastrophe 
 was to be a kind of great and glorious manifesta- 
 tion of Jesus and his saints, an act of supreme 
 justice, a tardy reparation for the iniquities which 
 had been up to that time the rule of the world. 
 
 Objections were naturally raised against this 
 strange doctrine. One of the principal of them
 
 150 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 arose from the difficulty of conceiving what should 
 be the portion of the dead at the moment of the 
 advent of Jesus. Since the visit of Paul, there had 
 been several deaths in the Church at Thessalonica, 
 and these first deaths had made, on all sides, a very 
 deep impression. Was it necessary to compassion- 
 ate, and to regard as excluded from the kingdom of 
 God, those who had thus disappeared before the 
 solemn hour ? The ideas upon individual immor- 
 tality and a special judgment were yet too little 
 developed to enable people to sustain any such ob- 
 jection. Paul responded with remarkable clearness : 
 
 " That ye may walk honestly towai'd them that are without, and that 
 ye may have lack of nothing. But I would not have you to be ignor- 
 ant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, 
 even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died 
 and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring 
 with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we 
 which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not pre- 
 vent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from 
 heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump 
 of God : and the dead in Christ shall rise first ; then we which are alive 
 and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet 
 the Lord in the air ; and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 
 
 People sought to discover the day of that grand 
 appearance. St Paul condemned these inquisitive 
 speculations, and made use of them in order to show 
 the almost worthlessuess of the words themselves 
 which people had attributed to Jesus. 
 
 " But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I 
 write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the 
 Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace 
 and safety ; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon 
 a woman with child ; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are 
 not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are
 
 SAINT PAUL. 151 
 
 all the children of light, and the children of the d t iy ; \ve are not of the 
 night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others ; but 
 let us watch and be sober." 
 
 The preoccupation of that near catastrophe was 
 extreme. The enthusiasts believed that they had 
 discovered the date by means of special revelations. 
 There existed already several apocalypses ; people 
 went even the length of causing forged letters of the 
 Apostle to be circulated, in which this end of things 
 was announced, 
 
 " Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon 
 shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by 
 letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man de- 
 ceive you by any means ; for that day shall not come, except there come 
 a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition. 
 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that 
 is worshipped ; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing 
 himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I 
 told you these things ? And now ye know what withhol eth that he 
 might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth'already 
 work ; only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 
 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume 
 with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his 
 coining ; even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all 
 power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of un- 
 righteousness in them that perish ; because they received not the love o 
 the truth that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send 
 them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie." 
 
 We see that in these texts, written twenty years 
 after the death of Jesus, only a single essential ele- 
 ment has been added to the description of the day of 
 the Lord such as Jesus had conceived it, namely, the 
 character of an Anti-Christ, or false Christ, which was 
 to spring up before the grand appearance of Jesus 
 himself a sort of satanic Messiah, who was to work
 
 152 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 miracles, and desire to be worshipped. Apropos of 
 Simon the Magician, we have already met with the 
 singular idea that the false prophets worked miracles 
 exactly like the true prophets. The opinion that the 
 judgment of God would be preceded by a terrible 
 catastrophe, by the spread of impiety and abomina- 
 tions, by the passing triumph of idolatry, by the 
 advent of a sacrilegious king, was, however, very 
 ancient, going back as far as the first origins of the 
 apocalyptic doctrines. Gradually that ephemeral 
 reigii of evil, the precursor of the final victory of 
 the good, which would happen to the Christians, 
 would be personified in a man who was conceived 
 to be the exact converse of Jesus, a sort of Christ 
 of the infernal regions. 
 
 The type of that future misleader was composed 
 partly from recollections of Antiochus Epiphanes, 
 such as is presented in the book of Daniel, com- 
 bined with the reminiscences of Balaam, of Gog 
 and Magog, of Nebuchadnezzar, and partly from 
 ideas borrowed from the circumstances of the times. 
 The ghastly tragedy that Rome enacted at that 
 moment, in face of the world, could not fail but to 
 excite greatly the imaginations of men. Caligula, 
 the anti-deity, the first emperor who sought to be 
 worshipped during his life, suggested in all probability 
 the circumstance to Paul, when the aforesaid person 
 exalted himself above all the pretended gods, all the 
 idols, and took his seat in the temple of Jerusalem, 
 desirous of being regarded as God himself. The 
 Anti-Christ was thus conceived in the year 54 as a 
 continuer of the foolish sacrilege of Caligula. Reality 
 affords but too many opportunities to explain away
 
 SAINT PAUL. 153 
 
 such presages. A few months after Paul wrote that 
 strange passage, Nero came to the throne. It was 
 in him that the Christian conscience should see later 
 on the hideous precursor of the coming of Christ. 
 What was the cause, or rather who was the per- 
 sonage, that alone, in the year 54, still prevented, ac- 
 cording to St Paul, the appearance of Anti-Christ 1 ? 
 This has been left in obscurity. The question 
 here asked may perhaps have been a mysterious 
 secret, no strange thing in politics, which the faithful 
 discussed among themselves, but which they did 
 not commit to paper, for fear of compromising one 
 another. A letter being seized would have sufficed 
 to bring about the most atrocious persecutions. 
 Here, as in other points, the habit which the early 
 Christians had of not writing down certain things, 
 has created for us irremediable obscurities. It has 
 been supposed that the personage in question 
 was the Emperor Claudius, and we have seen in the 
 language of Paul a play of words on his name, 
 Claudius = qui claudit. = 6 xaTi^uv. At the date 
 when that letter was written, in fact, the death 
 of poor Claudius circumvented by fatal snares laid 
 by the villainous Agrippa seemed only to be a 
 question of time ; everybody expected it ; the Em- 
 peror himself spoke of it ; dark presentiments 
 showed themselves at every turn ; natural pro- 
 digies like those which, fourteen years later, struck 
 so forcibly the author of the Apocalypse, tormented 
 the popular imagination. People spoke in terror 
 of the monstrous foetus, of a son which had the 
 long claws of a sparrow-hawk ; all this made people 
 tremble for the future. The Christians, like ordinary
 
 154 SAINT PAttL. 
 
 people, participated in these terrors ; the prognosti- 
 cations, and the superstitious fears of natural calami- 
 ties, were the essential causes of the Apocalyptic fears. 
 That which is clear; that which still is revealed 
 for us in these inestimable documents; that which 
 explains the wonderful success of the Christian 
 propaganda, is the spirit of devotion, the high mor- 
 ality which reigned in those little Churches. They 
 might be compared to those reunions of the Moravian 
 brothers, or to pious Protestants addicted to the 
 extremest devotion, or, again, to a sort of third order 
 of a Catholic congregation. Prayer and the name of 
 Jesus were constantly on the lips of the faithful. 
 Before each act, before partaking of food, for ex- 
 ample, they pronounced a short benediction or short 
 act of grace. It was looked upon as an injury done 
 to the Church, to bring an action before the civil 
 judges. The belief in the near destruction of the 
 world raised a revolutionary ferment which carried 
 into every mind a great portion of its sourness. 
 The invariable rule of the Apostle was, that it was 
 necessary for one to abide in the state to which one 
 had been called. " Is any person called (being) cir- 
 cumcised, let him not dissimulate circumcision ; is 
 any person called uncircurncised, let him not be 
 circumcised ; is anyone a virgin, let her remain 
 a virgin ; is anyone married, let such remain 
 married ; is anyone a slave, seek not to be made 
 free; and even if one can obtain one's freedom, 
 let such a one remain in slavery. The slave who is 
 called, is the free servant of Christ ; the free man 
 who is called, is the slave of Christ." A marvellous 
 resignation has taken possession of souls, which
 
 SAINT PAUL. 155 
 
 rendered everything indifferent, and shed over all 
 the weariness of that world, extinct and forgotten. 
 
 The Church was a permanent source of edifica- 
 tion and of consolation. It must not be imagined 
 that the Christian gatherings of those times were 
 modelled after the cold assemblies of our days, in 
 which the unforeseen, the individual initiative, had 
 no part. It is rather of the English Quakers, the 
 American Shakers, and the French Spiritualists, that 
 one must think. During the meeting all were 
 seated, and each spoke when he felt inspired. The 
 inspired one would then rise up, and deliver, through 
 the impulse of the Spirit, discourses of various 
 forms, which it is difficult for us to distinguish to- 
 day psalms, canticles of acts of grace, eulogies, 
 prophecies, revelations, lessons, exhortations, con- 
 solations, and treatises on language. These im- 
 provisations, considered as divine oracles, were 
 sometimes chanted, sometimes delivered in a speak- 
 ing tone of voice. Each invited his neighbour to 
 do this ; each excited the enthusiasm of others : it 
 was what was called singing to God. The women 
 remained silent. As every one believed oneself to 
 be constantly visited by the Spirit, every image, 
 every throb which crossed the brain of the be- 
 lievers, seemed to contain a deep meaning, and, with 
 the most perfect imagination in the world, they 
 drew a true nourishment of soul from pure illusions. 
 After each eulogy, each prayer thus improvised, the 
 multitude had a collective inspiration through the 
 word Amen. In order to mark the diverse acts of 
 the mystic seance, the president interposed, either 
 by the invitation Oremus (let us pray) ; or by a sigh
 
 156 SATNT PAUL. 
 
 directed towards heaven Sursum Corda ! or in re- 
 calling that Jesus, according to his promise, was in 
 the midst of the assembled Dominus Vobiscum. 
 The cry, Kyrie Eleison, was also repeated frequently 
 in a suppliant and plaintive tone. 
 
 Prophecy was esteemed a high gift : some women 
 were endowed with it. In many cases, especially 
 when the matter in hand had reference to philology, 
 people hesitated ; people sometimes even believed 
 themselves to be dupes of a cunning device of the 
 evil spirits. A particular class of the inspired, or, as 
 was said, of the " spiritual," were charged with the 
 interpretation of these fantastic outbursts, to find 
 sense in them, to discern the minds from which 
 they proceeded. These phenomena had great effi- 
 cacy in the conversion of Pagans, and were regarded 
 as the most demonstrative miracles. The Pagans, 
 in fact at least those of them who were supposed 
 benevolent were drawn into the assemblies. Then 
 there would often follow strange spectacles. One 
 or several of the inspired would address the in- 
 truder, address him alternately with rudeness or 
 with gentleness, reveal to him inner secrets which 
 he believed he himself only knew, and unfold to 
 him the sins of his past life. The wicked were 
 astonished, confounded. The shame of that public 
 manifestation, which in that assembly had been ex- 
 posed in a state of spiritual nudity, created between 
 him and the brethren a strong bond, which was not 
 again to be broken. A sort of confession was some- 
 times the first act which was done in entering the 
 sect. The intimacy, the affection which such exer- 
 cises established between the brothers and the
 
 SAINT PAUL. 157 
 
 sisters, was without reserve : all became indeed as 
 one person. It required nothing less than a per- 
 fect spirituality to hinder such relations from spring- 
 ing up, and to check abuse. 
 
 We can conceive the immense attraction that a 
 soul-movement so active would exercise amongst a 
 society freed from moral bonds, especially amongst 
 the common classes, who were neglected equally by 
 the state and by religion. Hence the grand lesson 
 which is to be derived from that history for our 
 century ; the times resemble each other ; the future 
 belonged to the party who took up the masses and 
 educated them. But, in our days, the difficulty is 
 indeed greater than it has ever been. In antiquity, 
 upon the coasts of the Mediterranean, material life 
 could be simple : the wants of the body were 
 secondary and easily satisfied. With us, the wants 
 are numerous and imperative ; popular associations 
 are weighed to the earth as with a weight of lead. 
 It was the sacred feast, " the Lord's Supper " espe- 
 cially, that had an immense moral efficacy ; it was 
 considered as a mystic act by which all were in- 
 corporated with Christ, and as a consequence united 
 in the same body. There was hence a perpetual 
 lesson of equality, of fraternity. The sacramental 
 words which were connected with the last supper 
 of Jesus were present to all. It was believed that 
 that bread, that wine, that water, were the body and 
 blood of Jesus himself. Those who partook of it were 
 accounted to eat Jesus, were united to him, and 
 bound to him by an ineffable mystery. The prelude 
 to it was the giving of the " holy kiss," or " kiss 
 of love," without any of the scruples which came
 
 158 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 to trouble the innocence of another golden age. 
 Ordinarily the men gave it to one another, and 
 the women gave it amongst themselves. Some 
 Churches, however, pressed the holy liberty to 
 the point of not making any distinction of sexes in 
 the kiss of love. Profane society, little capable of 
 comprehending such purity, made this the occasion 
 of divers calumnies. The chaste Christian kiss 
 awakened the suspicious of the libertines, and soon 
 the Church was constrained to the point of taking 
 severe precautions ; but in the beginning it was an 
 essential rite inseparable from the Eucharist, and 
 completing the high signification of the symbol of 
 peace and love. Some abstained from it in youth, 
 and in the time of mourning and of fasting. 
 
 The first cenobitic Church at Jerusalem broke 
 bread every day. Twenty or thirty years after, 
 people had come to celebrate the holy feast only 
 once a week. This celebration took place in the 
 evening, and, according to the Jewish usage, by the 
 light of numerous lamps. The day chosen for this 
 was the day following the Sabbath, the first day of 
 the week. This day was called the " day of the 
 Lord," in remembrance of the "resurrection," and 
 also because it was believed that on the same day 
 God had created the world. Alms were done, and 
 collections made on this day. The Sabbath, which 
 all Christians probably celebrate still in a manner 
 not equally scrupulous, was distinct from the day 
 of the Lord. But without doubt the day of rest 
 tended more and more to be confounded with the 
 day of the Lord, and it is permissible to suppose 
 that in the Churches of the Gentiles, who had no
 
 SAINT PAUL. 159 
 
 reason to prefer Saturday, that change was already- 
 made. The ebonim of the East, on the contrary, 
 rested on Saturday. 
 
 Little by little the supper tended to become 
 purely symbolical in form. At the first it was a real 
 supper, at which each ate as much as he wanted, 
 only with an elevated mystic intention. The 
 supper was prefaced by a prayer. As at the dinners 
 of the Pagan fraternities, each brought his basket 
 and consumed what he brought : the Church, no 
 doubt, furnishing the accessories, such as hot water, 
 pilchards, that which was called the ministerium. 
 People loved to think of two invisible servants, 
 Irene (Peace) and Agapt (Love), the one pouring 
 out the wine, the other mixing it with hot water; 
 and, perhaps, at certain moments during the repast, 
 one would be heard to say, with a sweet smile, to 
 the deaconesses (ministry), that from which they 
 derived their names : Irene, da calda (hot water) 
 Agapt, misce me (pour me out). A spirit of delicate 
 reserve and of discreet sobriety presided at the 
 feast. The table at which people sat was in the 
 form of a hollow semi-circle, or of a crescent, sigma 
 (a symbol) ; the elder was placed in the centre ; 
 the cups or saucers which were used for drinking 
 out of were the objects of particular care. The 
 bread and the wine, which were blessed, were 
 carried to the absent by the minister of the diocese. 
 In time the supper came to be no more than a 
 ceremony. People ate at home to appease hunger ; 
 at the assembly people eat only a few raouthfuls, 
 drank only a few sups, in view of the symbol. 
 People were led by a kind of logic to distinguish
 
 160 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 the common fraternal repast from the mystical act 
 which consisted solely of a fraction of bread. The 
 fraction of bread became each day more sacramental ; 
 the supper, on the contrary, in proportion as the 
 Church increased, became more profane. Sometimes 
 the supper was reduced almost to nothing, and in 
 being thus reduced, lost all the importance of a 
 sacramental act. Sometimes the two things sub- 
 sisted, but separately ; the supper was a prelude or 
 a sequel to the eucharist ; people dined together 
 before or after the communion. Then the two cere- 
 monies were separated entirely : the pious repasts 
 were acts of charity towards the poor, sometimes 
 the remnants of Pagan usages, and had no longer 
 any connection with the eucharist. As such, they 
 were in general suppressed in the fifth century. The 
 " eulogia " or "consecrated bread" remained, then, 
 the sole souvenir of a golden age in which the 
 eucharist was invested with the more complex forms 
 and less purely analytic. For a long time still, 
 however, the custom was preserved of invoking the 
 name of Jesus in drinking, and people continued to 
 consider as a eulogy the act of breaking bread and 
 of drinking together, which were the last traces, 
 and the traces well-nigh effaced, of the admirable 
 institutions of Jesus. The name which, at the first, 
 the eucharistic feast bore, expressed admirably all that 
 there was in that excellent rite of divine efficacy 
 and of salutary morality. They were called agapce 
 that is to say, " loves " or " charities." The Jews 
 the Essenians especially had already attached a 
 moral sense to the religious feasts ; but in passing 
 into the hands of another race, these Oriental
 
 SAINT PAUL. 161 
 
 usages took an almost mythological significance. 
 The mythriatic mysteries which began soon to be 
 developed in the Roman world had for its principal 
 rite the offering of bread and of the cup, over which 
 were pronounced certain words. The resemblance 
 was such, that the Christians explained it as a ruse 
 of the devil, who wished by this means to have the 
 infernal pleasure of counterfeiting their most holy 
 ceremonies. The secret bonds between all these 
 things are very obscure. It was easy to foresee 
 that grave abuses would so quickly be mixed up 
 with such practices that one day the feast (the 
 agapce, properly speaking) would fall into desuetude, 
 and that there would only remain the eucharistic 
 wafer, the sign and memorial of the primitive insti- 
 tution. One could no longer be surprised to learn 
 that that strange mystery should be the pretext for 
 calumnies, and that the sect which pretended to 
 eat, under the form of bread and wine, the body and 
 the blood of its founder, should be accused of renew- 
 ing the feasts of Thyestes, of eating infants covered 
 with pastry, and of anthropophagistic practices. 
 
 The annual feasts were always the Jewish feasts, 
 especially Easter and Pentecost. The Christian 
 Easter was generally celebrated on the same day as 
 the Jewish Passover. Nevertheless, the cause which 
 had transferred the holy-day of each week from the 
 Saturday to the Sunday regulated also Easter, not 
 from usage and Jewish souvenirs, but from the sou- 
 venirs of the passion and of the resurrection of Jesus. 
 It is not impossible that, from the time of Paul, in 
 the Churches of Greece and Macedonia, that change 
 had already been effected. In any case, the thought 
 VOL. I. L
 
 162 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 of that fundamental feast was profoundly modified. 
 The passage of the Red Sea became a thing of little 
 account after the resurrection of Jesus ; people no 
 longer thought of it, except to find in it a figure of 
 the triumph of Jesus over death. The true Paschal 
 Lamb was henceforth Jesus, who had been offered 
 up for all ; the true unleavened breads were truth, 
 justice ; the old leaven had lost its power, and ought 
 therefore to be rejected. For the rest, the feast of 
 the Passover had indeed undergone more anciently 
 with the Hebrews an analogous change of significa- 
 tion. It was certainly in its origin a feast of spring- 
 time, which was connected by an artificial etymology 
 with the remembrance of the flight from Egypt. 
 
 Pentecost was also celebrated on the same day 
 as with the Jews. Like Easter, that feast took 
 a signification altogether new, which put into the 
 shade the old Jewish idea. Right or wrong, people 
 believed that the principal incident of the Holy 
 Spirit upon the assembled Apostles had taken place 
 on the day of Pentecost which followed the resurrec- 
 tion of Jesus ; the ancient harvest festival of the 
 Semites became thus in the new religion the feast 
 of the Holy Ghost. About the same time that feast 
 underwent an analogous transformation amongst the 
 Jews; it became with them the anniversary of the 
 promulgation of the law upon Mount Sinai. 
 
 No edifice had been built or any building rented 
 expressly for the meetings ; no art, consequently 
 no images. The assemblies took place in the houses 
 of the brethren the best known or who had a room 
 well adapted for the purpose. People preferred for 
 this the apartments which, in Oriental houses,
 
 SAINT PAUL. 163 
 
 formed the first floor, and corresponding to our 
 drawing-room floor. These apartments are high, 
 containing numerous windows, very fresh, very 
 airy ; it was here that one received one's friends, 
 where one held feasts, where one prayed, where 
 one laid out the dead. The groups thus formed 
 constituted " domestic churches," or pitius coteries 
 full of moral activity, and resembling greatly those 
 " domestic colleges," examples of which were to be 
 found about that time in the bosom of Pagan 
 society. All great things are thus founded in in- 
 considerable centres, where one is tightly squeezed 
 the one against the other, and where souls are 
 warmed by a powerful love. 
 
 Up to this time Buddhism alone had elevated 
 man to this degree of heroism and of purity. The 
 triumph of Christianity is inexplicable, if it is 
 studied only in the fourth century. 
 
 It happened with Christianity as happens almost 
 always in human things : it succeeded when it 
 began to decline morally ; it became official 
 when it no longer had anything to rest upon except 
 itself; it came into vogue when its true period of 
 originality and of youth had passed, away. But i* 
 did none the less merit its high recompense : it had 
 merited this by its three centuries of virtue, or by 
 the incomparable predilection for the good which 
 it had inspired. When we think of that miracle, no 
 hyperbole about the excellence of Jesus appears 
 illegitimate. It was he, always he, who was the in- 
 spirer, the master, the principle of life in his Church. 
 His divine mission grew each year, and this was 
 but just. He was no longer only a man of God, a
 
 164 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 great prophet, a man approved and authorised of 
 God, a man powerful in works and in speech ; these 
 expressions which suffice, which were sufficient for 
 the faith and the love of the disciples of early times, 
 passed now for silly fables. Jesus is the Lord, the 
 Christ, a personage entirely superhuman, not yet 
 God, but very near being it. One lives in him, one 
 dies in him, one rises in him ; almost everything that 
 one says of God, one says of him. He was in truth 
 already a divine personality, and when it is wished 
 to identify him with God, it is only a question of 
 words, a mere " communication of idioms " as the 
 theologians say. We shall see that Paul himself 
 attained to this : the most advanced formulas that 
 are to be found in the Epistle to the Colossians ex- 
 isted already in germ in the older epistles. "For to 
 us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all 
 things, and we in him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, 
 by whom are all things and we by him" (1 Cor. 
 viii. 6). Again, and Jesus shall be the logos, creator; 
 the most exaggerated of the consubstantialists of 
 the ninth century could already be foreshadowed. 
 
 The idea of the Christian redemption in the 
 Churches of Paul underwent a similar transformation. 
 People knew little of the parables or the moral 
 teachings of Jesus : the Gospels did not yet exist. 
 
 Christ, having lived, is not to the Churches some- 
 thing approaching a real personage : he is the image 
 of God, a heavenly minister, having taken upon him- 
 self the sins of the world, charged with reconciling 
 the world to God ; he is a divine reformer, creating 
 all things new and abolishing the past. It is death 
 for all ; all are dead through him to the world and
 
 SAINT PAUL. 165 
 
 ought no longer to live, except for him. He was 
 rich iii all the richness of divinity, and he became 
 poor for us. All Christian life ought hence to be a 
 contradiction of the human sense : weakness is the 
 true strength, death is the true life ; cardinal wisdom 
 is folly. Happy he who carries in his body the dying 
 of Jesus, he who is continually exposed to death for 
 Jesus' sake. He shall live again with Jesus; he 
 shall see his glory face to face, and shall be trans- 
 formed unto him, rising uninterruptedly from glory 
 to glory. The Christian thus lives in the hope of 
 death and in a state of perpetual groaning. In pro- 
 portion as the exterior man (the body) falls into ruin, 
 the interior man (the soul) is renewed. One moment 
 of tribulation is worth more to him than an eternity 
 of glory. What matters it that his terrestrial house 
 is dissolved ? He has in Heaven an eternal house, 
 not made with hands. Terrestrial life is exile ; death 
 is return to God, and equivalent to the absorption 
 of all that is mortal in life, but the treasure of hope 
 which the Christian carries in earthen vessels, until 
 the great day when all shall be made manifest before 
 the judgment seat of Christ, he must tremble. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 RETURN OF PAUL TO AXTIOCH QUARREL BETWEEN 
 PETER AND PAUL COUNTER-MISSION ORGANISED 
 BY JAMES, BROTHER OF THE LORD. 
 
 PAUL, however, felt the necessity of revisiting the 
 Churches of Syria. It was three years since he had
 
 166 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 left Antioch ; notwithstanding that his stay there 
 had been shorter than formerly, this new mission 
 had become much more important. The new 
 Churches, recruited from lively, energetic popula- 
 tions, brought to the feet of Jesus homage of an 
 infinite value. Paul had just recounted all this to 
 the Apostles, and bid them attach themselves to 
 the Mother Church, the model of all others. In 
 spite of his taste for independence, he felt sure that, 
 outside of the communion of Jerusalem, there was 
 only schism and dissension. The admirable mixture 
 of opposite qualities which could be discerned in 
 him, allowed him to ally, in the most unexpected 
 fashion, docility with pride, revolt with submission, 
 severity with gentleness. Paul chose as a pretext 
 for his departure the celebration of the Passover of 
 the year 54. To give the utmost solemnity to his 
 resolution, and to avoid the possibility of changing 
 his decision, he made a vow to celebrate that Easter 
 at Jerusalem. The mode of performing vows of 
 this kind was to shave the head, and to undertake 
 to say certain prayers, and to abstain from wine 
 during thirty days before the festival. Paul said 
 good-bye to his Church, had his head shaved at 
 Cenchrea, and embarked for Syria, He was ac- 
 companied by Aquila and Priscilla, who intended to 
 stop at Ephesus, and perhaps also by Silas. As for 
 Timothy, it is probable that he did not go away 
 from Corinth or from the shores of the ^Egean Sea. 
 We find him again at Ephesus within a year. 
 
 The ship stayed for some days at Ephesus. Paul 
 had time to go to the synagogue and to dispute 
 with the Jews. They begged him to stay ; but he
 
 SAINT PAUL. 167 
 
 put forward his vow, arid declared that at any cost 
 he would celebrate the festival in Jerusalem ; all they 
 could get from him was a promise to return. He 
 took leave then of Aquila and Priscilla, and of those 
 with whom he had already entered into relationships, 
 and took ship again for the Caesarea of Palestine, 
 whence he speedily made his way to Jerusalem. 
 
 There he celebrated the festival in the way in 
 which he had vowed to do. Perhaps this Hebrew 
 scruple was a concession, like so many others, that 
 he made to the spirit of the Church at Jerusalem. 
 He hoped by an act of great devotion to obtain 
 pardon for his daring, and to conciliate the Judaisers. 
 The discussions were scarcely pacified, and peace 
 was only kept for the sake of business. It is pro- 
 bable that he profited by the opportunity to remit to 
 the poor people in Jerusalem a considerable amount 
 of money as alms. Paul, as usual, stayed for a very 
 short time in the metropolis : here there were sus- 
 ceptibilities which could not have failed to bring 
 about divisions if he had prolonged his stay. He, 
 accustomed to live in the exquisite atmosphere of 
 his truly Christian Churches, found here, under the 
 name of Brethren of Jesus, only Jews. He thought 
 that they did not give a sufficiently exalted place to 
 Jesus ; he grew indignant that, after Jesus, people 
 should be found to attribute any value whatever to 
 those things which had existed before him. 
 
 The head of the Church of Jerusalem was now 
 James, the brother of the Lord. It was not that the 
 authority of Peter had diminished, but he was no 
 longer resident in the city. Partly in imitation of 
 Paul, he had embraced the active apostolic life. The
 
 168 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 idea that Paul was the Apostle of the Gentiles, and 
 Peter the Apostle of the Circumcision, had more and 
 more gained ground. In accordance with this idea, 
 Peter went about preaching the Gospel to the Jews 
 all over Syria. He carried about with him a sister, 
 as spouse and deaconess, thus giving the first ex- 
 ample of a married Apostle an example which the 
 Protestant missionaries more lately followed. John, 
 surnamed Mark, appeared always also as his disciple, 
 his companion, and his interpreter, a circumstance 
 which causes it to be generally believed that the Prince 
 of the Apostles knew no Greek. Peter had in some 
 sort adopted John-Mark, and treated him as a son. 
 
 The details of the pilgrimage of Peter are unknown 
 to us. What was told about him in later days is 
 mainly fabulous. We only know that the life of the 
 Apostle of the Circumcision was, like that of the 
 Apostle of the Gentiles, a series of trials. It may 
 be believed also that the itinerary which serves as 
 foundation for the fabulous acts of Peter a journey 
 which conducts the Apostle from Jerusalem to 
 Caesarea, from Csesarea along the coast by Tyre, 
 Sidon, Beyrout, Byolos, Tripoli, Antaradus to Lao- 
 dicea-upon-the-sea, and from Laodicea to Antioch 
 is but imaginary. The Apostle certainly visited 
 Antioch ; we think even that he used it as his head- 
 quarters after a certain date. The lakes and the 
 ponds formed by the Orontes and the Arkenthas 
 about the town, which furnished to the lower classes 
 of the people fresh water fish of inferior quality, 
 perhaps afforded him the opportunity of again 
 taking up his old trade of fisherman. 
 
 Many of the brothers of the Lord, and some
 
 SATNT PAUL. 169 
 
 members of the Apostolic College, travelled even 
 from the bordering parts of Judsea. As Peter, and 
 in a different manner to that of the missionaries of 
 the school of Paul, they travelled with their wives, 
 and lived at the cost of the Churches. The trade 
 which they had exercised in Galilee was not. like 
 that of Paul, of a nature to enable them to subsist 
 upon it, and they had abandoned it a long time ago. 
 The wives who accompanied them, who were called 
 " sisters," were the origin of those novices, a kind of 
 deaconesses and of nuns, living under the direction 
 of a clergyman, who played an important part in the 
 history of ecclesiastical celibacy. 
 
 Peter having thus ceased to be the resident chief 
 of the Church of Jerusalem, several members of the 
 Apostolic Council having in the same way taken up 
 with an itinerant life, the first place in the Mother 
 Church was given up to James. He was thus " the 
 bishop of the Hebrews," that is to say, of that part of 
 the disciples who spoke the Semitic languages. That 
 did not comprise the chief part of the universal Church : 
 no one had been exigent enough to claim the right to 
 such a title, people being divided between Peter and 
 Paul ; but his presidency of the Church at Jerusalem, 
 joined to his quality of brother of the Lord, gave 
 James an immense power, since the Church at Jeru- 
 salem always remained the centre of concord. James 
 was, moreover, very old ; some ambitious movements, 
 too much prejudice, were the consequences of such a 
 position. All the faults which must later make the 
 Court of Rome the flail of the Church, and the prin- 
 cipal agent of its corruption, were already germinat- 
 ing in this primitive community of Jerusalem.
 
 170 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 James was a worthy man in many respects, but 
 with a narrow mind, that Jesus would have assuredly 
 pierced with his keenest railleries, if he knew him, 
 or even if he knew him as he has been represented 
 to us. Was he really the brother, or only a cousin- 
 german of Jesus 1 All the witnesses in this respect 
 agree so well together, that one is forced to believe 
 the latter hypothesis. But, in that case, Nature 
 must have played one of her most fantastic 
 tricks. Perhaps this brother, being converted only 
 after the death of Jesus, possessed less of the true 
 tradition of the Master than those who, without 
 being his relations, had accompanied him in his 
 lifetime. It is less surprising that two children 
 born of the same mother, or of the same family, 
 should have been at first enemies, then reconciled ; 
 should remain so profoundly diverse, that the only 
 known brother of Jesus would have been a kind 
 of Pharisee, an ascetic exterior, a devotee tainted 
 with all the absurdities that Jesus attacked without 
 mercy. One thing is certain, namely, that the per- 
 son who has been called up to this time "James, 
 brother of the Lord," or "James the Just," or the 
 " Rampart of the People," was in the Church of 
 Jerusalem the representative of the most intolerant 
 Jewish party. Whilst the active Apostles travelled 
 all over the world, in order to conquer it for Jesus, 
 the brother of Jesus, at Jerusalem, did all that was 
 possible to destroy their work, and to contradict 
 Jesus after his death, in a more profound fashion 
 perhaps than he had done in his lifetime. 
 
 This society of half-converted Pharisees, this 
 world which was in reality more Jewish than
 
 SAINT PAUL. 171 
 
 Christian, living around the temple, preserving the 
 old practices of the Jewish religion, as if Jesus had 
 not declared them vain, formed unbearable com- 
 pany for Paul. That which particularly annoyed 
 him was the opposition of all this class to his mis- 
 sionary work. Like the Jews of the strict observ- 
 ance, the partisans of James did not wish to make 
 proselytes. The ancient religious parties often had 
 such contradictions. On the one hand, they pro- 
 claimed that they alone had possession of the truth; 
 on the other, they only wished to enlarge their 
 sphere : they pretended to preserve the truth for 
 themselves. French Protestantism presents in our 
 days a similar phenomenon. Two opposite parties, 
 the one desiring, before everything else, the preser- 
 vation of old customs ; the other capable of gaining 
 to Protestantism a world of new adherents being 
 produced in the bosom of the reformed Church. The 
 conservative party has waged, in a second ground, 
 a war to the knife. It has repulsed with scandal all 
 that has resembled an abandonment of the family 
 traditions, and it has preferred to the brilliant des- 
 tinies that are offered to them, the pleasure of re- 
 maining a little club, without importance, shut up, 
 composed of well-thinking men, that is to say, of 
 men partaking of the same prejudices, and regarding 
 the same things as aristocratic. The feeling of 
 defiance that the members of the old party of 
 Jerusalem experienced before the stern missionary 
 who introduced to them multitudes of new brethren 
 without titles of Jewish nobility, must be something 
 analogous. They looked upon themselves as over- 
 ruled, and instead of falling at the feet of Paul,
 
 172 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 and thanking him, they found in him a disturber, 
 an intruder who forced his way with men recruited 
 from every place. More than one hard word, it 
 seems, had been exchanged. It is probable that 
 at this moment James, the brother of the Lord, 
 conceived the unsuccessful project of overthrowing 
 the work of Jesus, I mean the project of a counter 
 mission charged to follow the Apostle of the Gentiles, 
 to contradict his dogmas, to persuade converts that 
 they must be circumcised and practise all the Law. 
 Sectarian movements are not produced without schisms 
 of this kind ; when one recalls the heads of Saint- 
 Simonianism quarrelling amongst themselves, but yet 
 remaining ardent Saint-Simonians, and as such volun- 
 tarily reconciled \>y the survivors after his death. 
 
 Paul avoided these scandals by setting out as 
 soon as possible for Antioch. It was probably then 
 that Silas left him. The latter was the founder of 
 the Church at Jerusalem. He remained there, and 
 henceforth attached himself to Peter. Silas, as 
 the compiler of the " Acts," appears to have been a 
 conciliatory man, oscillating between the two parties 
 and in turn attached to each of the two chiefs ; 
 a thoroughly good Christian, and of the opinion 
 which in triumphing saved the Church. Never, in 
 fact, did the Christian Church bear in its bosom a 
 cause of schism so deep as that which agitated it at 
 this moment. Luther and the most fossilised scholar 
 differed less than Paul and James. Thanks to some 
 gentle and generous spirits Silas, Luke, Timothy 
 all the attacks were softened, all the heartburnings 
 concealed. A beautiful tale, cairn and dignified, has 
 not allowed it to be seen that the fraternal under-
 
 SAINT PAUL. 173 
 
 standing in these years was traversed by such 
 terrible rente. 
 
 At Antioch Paul breathed freely. He there met 
 with his old companion Barnabas, and without doubt 
 they felt great joy at seeing each other ; for the 
 motive which had separated them for a short time 
 was not a question of principle. Perhaps Paul also 
 found at Antioch his disciple Titus, who had not 
 shared the second journey, but who henceforth 
 attached himself to hirn. The recital of miraculous 
 conversions wrought by Paul astonished the young 
 and active Church. Paul, for his part, felt a lively 
 joy at revisiting the town which had been the cradle 
 of his apostleship the places where, ten years be- 
 fore, he had conceived the Church which had con- 
 ferred on him the title of Missionary of the Gentiles. 
 An incident of the greatest gravity was soon to in- 
 terrupt these sweet effusions, and to revive with a 
 degree of gravity those divisions which up to then 
 had been lulled for a moment. 
 
 Whilst Paul was at Antioch, Peter arrived there. 
 This at first only redoubled the joy and cordiality. 
 The Apostle of the Jews and the Apostle of the 
 Gentiles loved each other as very good and very 
 ardent natures always love each other, when they 
 found themselves in relation to each other. Peter 
 communicated without reserve with the converted 
 Pagans, and even, in open violation of the Jewish 
 law, he did not object to eating with them ; but soon 
 this good understanding was disturbed. James had 
 executed his fatal project. Some brethren, provided 
 with letters of recommendation signed by him as 
 the chief of the Twelve, and as the only one who
 
 174 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 had the right to authorise a mission, set out from 
 Jerusalem. Their pretext was that one could not 
 preach the doctrine of Christ if he had not been to 
 Jerusalem to compare his doctrine with that of 
 James, the brother of the Lord, and if he did not 
 carry an attestation from the latter. Jerusalem was, 
 according to them, the source of all faith, of every 
 apostolic commission : the true apostles lived there. 
 Whoever preached without a letter of authority from 
 the chief of the Mother Church, and without having 
 sworn obedience to him, ought to be repelled as a 
 false prophet and a false apostle, as an emissary of 
 the devil. Paul, who had no such letters, was an 
 intruder, boasting of personal relations with them 
 without reality, and of a mission the title to which 
 he could not produce. He alleged his visions, con- 
 tending even that the fact of having seen Jesus in a 
 supernatural fashion was worth much more than the 
 fact of having known him personally. " What can be 
 more chimerical ? said the Jerusalemites. No vision 
 was so valuable as the evidence of the senses : 
 visions are not actualities. The spectre that he saw 
 was perhaps an evil spirit : idolaters had visions as 
 well as saints. When the apparition was questioned, 
 it answered all that was wanted ; the spectre shone 
 for an instant, and then disappeared quickly ; there 
 was no time to talk to it at leisure. The mind of 
 the dreamer was not his own : in that state volition 
 ceases. To see the Son out of the flesh ! but that is 
 impossible : one would die of it. The superhuman 
 brightness of that light would kill. Even an augel, 
 to make himself visible, is obliged to assume a body!" 
 The emissaries cited on this head a number of
 
 SAINT PAUL. 175 
 
 visions which had been seen by infidels and heretics, 
 and concluded from them that the chief Apostles, 
 those who had seen Jesus, had an immense superi- 
 ority. They even declared that they could show 
 texts of Scripture proving that visions came from 
 an offended God, whilst to converse face to face was 
 the privilege of his friends. " How can Paul assert 
 that by an interview of an hour Jesus had rendered 
 him capable of teaching'? It needed a whole year 
 of lessons for Jesus to form his Apostles. And if 
 Jesus really appeared to him, how did he know that 
 he did not teach the reverse of the doctrine of Jesus? 
 Let him prove the reality of the interview which he 
 had had with Jesus, by conforming himself to His 
 precepts, by loving His Apostles, by not declaring 
 war with those whom Jesus had chosen. If he 
 wished to serve the truth, let him make himself the 
 disciple of Jesus' disciples, and then he could be a 
 useful auxiliary." 
 
 The question of ecclesiastical authority and of 
 individual revelation, of Catholicism and of Protest- 
 autism, showed itself with a real grandeur. Jesus 
 had settled nothing clearly in this matter. So long 
 as he lived, and throughout the first years following 
 his death, Jesus was so essentially the soul and body 
 of His little Church, that no idea of government or 
 of constitution offers itself. Now, on the contrary, it 
 was necessary to know if there was a power re- 
 presenting Jesus, or if the Christian conscience re- 
 mained free ; if to preach Jesus, subscription to 
 articles of faith were necessary, or if he had the com- 
 mand received from Jesus sufficed. As Paul did not 
 offer any other proof of his immediate mission than
 
 176 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 his affirmation, his position was weak in many ways. 
 We shall see with what prodigies of eloquence and of 
 activity the great innovator, attacked in every quar- 
 ter, will face all assaults and maintain his position 
 without absolutely breaking with the Apostolic Col- 
 lege, whose authority he recognised each time that 
 his liberty was not straitened. But the struggle 
 rendered him less amiable to us. A man who dis- 
 putes, resists, speaks of himself; a man who main- 
 tains his opinion and his prerogative, who gives 
 pain to others, who denounces them to their face, 
 such a man is antipathetic to us. Jesus, in such a 
 case, yielded everything, escaped from his difficulty 
 by some charming word. 
 
 The emissaries of James arrived at Antioch. 
 James, while admitting that converted Gentiles 
 could be saved without observing the Law of Moses, 
 in no way admitted that a true Jew, a circumcised 
 Jew, could, without sin, violate the law. The scan- 
 dal of the disciples of James was at its height when 
 they saw the chief of the Churches of the circumci- 
 sion act like a true Pagan, and destroy those exterior 
 compacts that a respectable Jew looked upon as 
 titles of nobility and marks of his superiority. They 
 spoke keenly to Peter, who was much frightened. This 
 man, profoundly good and just, wanted peace above 
 everything : he scarcely knew how to contradict 
 anybody. This made him changeable : at least he 
 was so to all appearance ; he was easily disconcerted, 
 and did not know how to find a quick reply. Al- 
 ready, from the life of Jesus, this kind of timidity, 
 coming from awkwardness rather than from want of 
 heart, had led him into a fault which cost him many
 
 SAINT PAUL. 177 
 
 tears. Knowing little about argument, incapable of 
 holding up his head against contradiction, in difficult 
 cases he was silent and hesitated. Such a kind of 
 temper made him again commit a great act of feeble- 
 ness. Placed between two classes of people, one of 
 whom he could not content without annoying the 
 other, he isolated himself completely, and lived apart, 
 refusing all communications with the uncircumcised. 
 This manner of acting keenly wounded the converted 
 Gentiles. What was graver still, was that all the 
 circumcised imitated him ; even Barnabas allowed 
 himself to follow this example, and avoided uncir- 
 cumcised Christians. 
 
 Paul's anger was extreme. When we recall the 
 ritual meaning of the meal in common, refusing 
 to eat with a part of the community meant ex- 
 communication. Paul broke out into reproaches, 
 treated this kind of thing as hypocrisy, accused 
 Peter and his imitators of falsifying the meaning of 
 the gospel. The Church must soon assemble : the 
 two Apostles would meet there. To his face, and 
 before all the assembly, Paul violently apostrophised 
 Peter, and reproached him for his inconsequence. 
 " If thou," said he to him, " being a Jew, livest after 
 the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why 
 compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?" 
 
 Then he developed his favourite theory of the sal- 
 vation coming by Jesus, and not by the Law, of the 
 abrogation of the Law by Jesus. It is probable that 
 Peter did not answer him. Exactly, it was Paul's 
 advice ; as all men who seek by innocent artifices 
 to get out of a difficulty, he did not pretend to be 
 right ; he only wanted to satisfy one side, and not to 
 VOL. I. M
 
 1 78 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 alienate others. In this manner one only succeeds, 
 as a general rule, in being in opposition to everybody. 
 
 Only the removal of the envoys of James made an 
 end to the disagreement. After their departure, 
 good Peter began again without doubt to eat with 
 the Gentiles as before. These singular alternatives 
 of violence and of fraternity are one of the features 
 of a Jewish character. Modern critics conclude 
 from certain passages in the Epistle to the Galatians 
 that the quarrel between Peter and Paul absolutely 
 made them contradict each other, not only in the 
 " Acts " but in other passages from the Epistle to the 
 Galatians. Ardent men pass their life in disputing 
 with each other, without ever actually quarrelling. 
 It is not necessary to judge these tempers after the 
 manner of things whose actions happen in our time 
 between men well educated and susceptible upon the 
 point of honour. This last word, in particular, has 
 scarcely ever had any meaning to the Jews. 
 
 It seems certain, nevertheless, the quarrel of 
 Antioch left deep traces. The great Church on the 
 borders of the Orontes was split in two, if we are 
 permitted to explain thus, that in two parishes there 
 was on the one hand the parish of the circumcised, 
 on the other, that of the un circumcised. The 
 separation of these two portions of the Church con- 
 tinued for a long time. Antioch, as they tell us 
 later, had two bishops, one appointed by Peter and 
 the other by Paul. Evhode and Ignatius are named 
 as having filled up after the Apostles that office. 
 
 As for the animosity of the emissaries of James, 
 it only increased. The quarrel of Antioch left them 
 a feeling, the indignant expression of which, a cen- 
 tury after, one still finds in the writings of the
 
 SAINT PAUL. 179 
 
 Judseo -Christian section. The eloquent adversary 
 who had almost destroyed the Church of Autioch, 
 without any real reason became their enemy. They 
 vowed vengeance, which even in his lifetime raised 
 up for him troubles without number, and after his 
 death bloody anathemas and atrocious calumnies. 
 Passion and religious enthusiasm are far from over- 
 coming human weaknesses. On leaving Antioch, 
 the agents of the Jerusalemite party vowed to 
 overthrow the foundations of Paul, to destroy his 
 Churches, and to throw down what he had built up 
 with so much labour. It seems that on this occa- 
 sion new letters were sent from Jerusalem in the 
 name of the Apostles. It is possible that a speci- 
 men of those hateful letters may have been pre- 
 served for us in the Epistle of Jude, brother of 
 James, and like him " brother of the Lord," which 
 forms part of the canon. It is a manifesto of the 
 most violent description against nameless adver- 
 saries, who are presented as rebels and impure men. 
 The style of this piece, which comes much nearer 
 to classic Greek than that of the greater portion 
 of the writings of the New Testament, has much 
 analogy with the style of the Epistle of James. 
 James and Jude did not probably know any Greek : 
 the Church of Jerusalem had perhaps Hellenic secre- 
 taries for communications of this kind. " Beloved, 
 when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the 
 common salvation, it was needful for me to write 
 unto you and exhort you, that ye should earnestly 
 contend for the faith which was once delivered unto 
 the saints. For there are certain men crept in un- 
 awares, who were before of old ordained to this 
 condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of
 
 180 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only 
 Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. I will there- 
 fore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew 
 this, how that the Lord, having saved the people 
 out of the land of Egypt, afterwards destroyed them 
 that believed not. And the angels which kept not 
 their first estate, but left their own habitation, he 
 hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness 
 unto the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom 
 and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like 
 manner, giving themselves over to fornication, are 
 set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of 
 eternal fire. Likewise also these filthy dreamers 
 defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of 
 dignities. Yet Michael the archangel, when, contend- 
 ing with the devil, he disputed about the body of 
 Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusa- 
 tion, but said, the Lord rebuke thee. But these 
 speak evil of things which they know not, but what 
 they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things 
 they corrupt themselves. Woe unto them ! for they 
 have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after 
 the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the 
 gainsaying of Core. These are spots in your feasts 
 of charity, when they feast with you, feeding them- 
 selves without fear : clouds they are without 
 water, carried about of winds ; trees whose fruit 
 withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by 
 the roots. Raging waves of the sea, foaming out 
 their own shame ; wandering stars, to whom is 
 reserved the blackness of darkness for ever. And 
 Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of 
 these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten 
 thousand of his saints, to execute judgment upon all,
 
 SAINT PAUL. 181 
 
 and to convince all that are ungodly among them of 
 all their ungodly deeds which they have committed, 
 and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners 
 have spoken against him. These are murmurers, 
 complainers, walking after their own lusts ; and their 
 mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's 
 persons in admiration because of advantage. But, 
 beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken 
 before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: how 
 that they told you there should be mockers in the last 
 time who should walk after their own ungodly lusts." 
 Paul from this moment was for a section of the 
 Church one of the most dangerous of heretics, a 
 false Jew, a false Apostle, a false prophet, a 
 new Balaam, a Jezebel, a villain who prophesied 
 (lit. preluded) the destruction of the temple 
 in two words, a Simon Magus. Peter was angrier 
 than all, and was always busy in fighting him. 
 They were accustomed to designate the Apostle of 
 the Gentiles by the sobriquet of Nicholas (Con- 
 queror of the People), a name akin to Balaam. This 
 seemed a happy nickname ; a Pagan seducer, who 
 had visions although an infidel, a man who per- 
 suaded people to sin with Pagan women, appeared 
 the true type of Paul, this false missionary, this 
 partisan of mixed marriages. His disciples for the 
 same reason were called Nicolaitans. Far from 
 forgetting his character of persecutor, they insisted 
 on it in a most odious fashion. His gospel was a 
 false gospel. It was of Paul that the question was 
 raised, when the fanatics of the party talked be- 
 tween themselves in innuendoes of a person whom 
 they called " the apostate," or " the enemy," or 
 " the impostor," the forerunner of Anti-Christ, that
 
 182 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 the chief of the Apostles follows in his footsteps to 
 repair the evil which he does. Paul was " the 
 frivolous man " of whom the Gentiles, having seen 
 their ignorance, have received the doctrine which 
 is opposed to the Law ; his visions, which he calls 
 " depths of God," they qualified as " the depths of 
 Satan ;" his Churches, they named "the synagogues 
 of Satan ; " in spite of Paul, they proclaim boldly 
 that the Twelve only are the foundation of the 
 Church of Christ. A whole legend begins from this 
 time to be formed against Paul. They refuse to 
 believe that a true Jew could have been capable 
 of committing such an atrocity as that of which 
 he had been guilty. They pretended that he had 
 been born a Pagan, and that he had been made 
 a proselyte. And why? Calumny is never with- 
 out plenty of reasons for it. Paul was circumcised 
 because he wished to marry the daughter of the 
 High Priest. The High Priest, being a wise man, 
 having refused her to him, Paul, out of spite, began 
 to declaim against circumcision, the Sabbath, and 
 the Law. . . . That is the reward which one ob- 
 tains from fanatics for having served their cause, 
 otherwise than they understand it ; let us say 
 rather, for having saved the cause which they lost by 
 their narrow spirit and their foolish exclusiveuess. 
 
 James, on the contrary, became for the Judseo- 
 Christian party the head of all Christianity, the 
 bishop of bishops, the president of all the good 
 Churches, of those that God had truly founded. 
 It was probably after his death that they created 
 for him this apocryphal character ; but there is no 
 doubt that the legend in this case may be based in 
 several respects upon the real character of the hero.
 
 SAINT PAUL. 183 
 
 The grave and rather emphatic delivery of James ; 
 his manners, which recalled a sage of the old world, 
 a solemn Brahmin or an antique mobed ; his pomp- 
 ous and ostentatious sanctity made him conspicuous 
 in the popular eye, an official, holy man, even 
 already a species of Pope. The Judaeo-Christians 
 accustomed themselves to believe that he had been 
 clothed with the Jewish priesthood ; and as a sign 
 of the High Priest was the petalon or breastplate 
 of gold, they decorated him with it. " The Rampart 
 of the people," with his golden breastplate, thus 
 became a sort of Jewish bonze, an imitation High 
 Priest, for the use of the Judaeo-Christians. They 
 supposed that, as the High Priest, he entered, by 
 virtue of a special permission, once a year into the 
 sanctuary ; they even pretended that he belonged 
 to the sacerdotal race. They asserted that he had 
 been ordained by Jesus the bishop of the Holy City ; 
 that Jesus had entrusted him with his own epi- 
 scopal throne. The Judaeo-Christians made a good 
 many of the people of Jerusalem believe that it was 
 the merits of this servant of God which held off the 
 thunderbolt which was ready to burst on the people. 
 They nearly went as far as creating for him, as for 
 Jesus, a legend founded upon biblical passages, 
 where they pretended that the prophets had spoken 
 of him in parables. 
 
 The image of Jesus in this Christian family 
 became smaller year by year, whilst in the 
 Churches of Paul it took more and more colossal 
 proportions. The Christians of James were simple, 
 pious Jews hasidim believing in a Jewish mission 
 of Jesus ; the Christians of Paul were good Chris- 
 tians in the sense which has prevailed ever since.
 
 184 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 The Law, the temple, sacrifices, high priests, all 
 became indifferent to them. Jesus has replaced 
 everything else, abolished everything else ; to attach 
 a meaning of sanctity to what has been before, is to 
 do injury to the merits of Jesus. It was natural 
 that to Paul, who had not seen Jesus, the wholly 
 human figure of the Galilean Master should trans- 
 form itself into a metaphysical type much more 
 easily than for Peter and the others who had talked 
 with Jesus. To Paul, Jesus is not a man who has 
 lived and taught; He is Christ who has died for 
 our sins, who saves us, who justifies us ; He is an 
 altogether Divine Being : we partake of Him ; we 
 communicate with Him in a wonderful manner; He 
 is for man Wisdom and Righteousness, Sautification 
 and Redemption ; He is the King of Glory, All 
 Powerful in Heaven and Earth, which is soon to be 
 delivered to Him ; He is only inferior to God the 
 Father. If this school only had written the Scrip- 
 tures, we should not touch upon the person of Jesus, 
 and we might doubt its existence. But those who 
 know Him, and who guarded His memory, possibly 
 wrote about this time the first notes upon which 
 these Divine writings (I speak of the Gospels) which 
 have made the fortune of Christianity, and which 
 have transmitted to us the essential features of the 
 most important character which has ever been known. 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 COLSTON AND COMPANY, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH.
 
 SAINT PAU L 
 
 VOL. II.
 
 ERRATA. 
 For Chaps. I. II. III. IV., read XI. XII. XIII. XIV.
 
 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 TROUBLE IN THE CHURCHES OF GALATIA. 
 
 THE emissaries of James, having left Antioch, bent 
 their steps towards the Churches of Galatia. The 
 Jerusalemites had for a long time known of the 
 existence of these Churches ; it was even with 
 regard to them that the question of the circumcision 
 was first raised, and that what was called the 
 Council of Jerusalem was held. James had pro- 
 bably recommended his confidential agents to attack 
 this important point, it being one of the centres of 
 Paul's power. 
 
 Success was easy for them. These Galatians 
 were men easy to seduce ; the last one who had 
 come to speak to them in the name of Jesus was 
 almost certain to be right. The Jerusalemites had 
 soon persuaded a great number of them that they 
 were not good Christians. They incessantly re- 
 peated to them that they ought to be circumcised. 
 VOL. II. A
 
 2 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 and to observe all the Law. With the puerile vanity 
 of fanatical Jews, the deputies presented circum- 
 cision as a corporal advantage ; they were proud 
 of it, and did not admit that one could be as much 
 a man without this privilege as he ought to be. 
 The habit of ridiculing the Pagans, representing 
 them as inferior beings and badly brought up, in- 
 troduced these grotesque ideas. The Jerusalemites 
 poured out at the same time against Paul a flood 
 of invective and disparagement. They accused him 
 of posing as an independent Apostle, although he 
 had received his mission from Jerusalem, or else 
 they had seen him at different times betake himself 
 to the school of the Twelve, as a disciple. Was 
 not his coming to Jerusalem a recognition of the 
 superiority of the Apostolic College ? What he 
 knew he had learnt from the Apostles; he had ac- 
 cepted the rules which they had drawn up. This 
 missionary who pretended to dispense with circum- 
 cision, knew very well the need of preaching and of 
 practising it. Turning his concessions against him, 
 they alleged cases when they had seen him recog- 
 nise the necessity of Jewish practices ; perhaps they 
 did not recall in particular the facts relative to the 
 circumcision of Titus and Timothy. How could he, 
 who had never seen Jesus, dare to speak in the name 
 of Jesus 1 It was Peter, it was James, who ought 
 to be held to be the true Apostles the depositaries 
 of revelation. 
 
 The consciences of these good Galatians were 
 troubled. One party abandoned the doctrine of 
 Paul, yielded to the new doctors, and were cir- 
 cumcised ; the other party remained faithful to their
 
 SAINT PAUL. 3 
 
 first master. The trouble, in all these cases, was pro- 
 found : they said the harshest things to each other. 
 
 This news on reaching Paul filled him with anger. 
 Jealousy, which formed the basis of his character, 
 and susceptibility, often already put to the test, were 
 excited in the highest degree. It was the third time 
 that the Pharisaical party of Jerusalem attempted 
 to demolish his work as he accomplished it. The 
 kind of cowardice which there is in attacking weak, 
 docile men without defence, and who only lived in 
 confidence on their master, revolted him. He could 
 restrain himself no longer. At the same time, the 
 daring and vehement Apostle dictated that admirable 
 epistle, that may well be compared, except for the art 
 of writing, with the most beautiful classical works, and 
 in which his impetuous nature is painted in letters of 
 fire. The title of " Apostle " that he had at first 
 taken timidly, he now took as assumed in defiance, 
 to reply to his adversaries, and in the maintenance 
 of what he believed to be the truth. 
 
 "PAUL AN APOSTLE (NOT OF MEN, NEITHER BY 
 MEN, BUT BY JESUS CHRIST, AND GOD THE FATHER, 
 WHO RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD) ; AND ALL THE 
 BRETHREN WHICH ARE WITH ME, UNTO THE CHURCHES 
 OF GALATIA : 
 
 " Grace be to you and peace from God the 
 Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave 
 himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from 
 this present evil world, according to the will of God 
 and our Father : to whom be glory for ever and 
 ever. Amen. 
 
 " I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him 
 that called you into the grace of Christ unto another
 
 4 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 gospel : which is not another ; but there be some 
 that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel 
 of Christ. But though we, or an augel from heaven, 
 preach any other gospel unto you than that which 
 we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 
 As we said before, so say I now again, if any man 
 preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have 
 received, let him be accursed. For do I now per- 
 suade men, or God ? or do I seek to please men ? 
 for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant 
 of Christ. 
 
 " But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which 
 was preached of me is not after man. For I neither 
 received it of man, neither was I taught it, but 
 by the revelation of Jesus Christ. For ye have 
 heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' 
 religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the 
 Church of God, and wasted it : and profited in 
 the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine 
 own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the 
 traditions of my fathers. But when it pleased God, 
 who separated me from my mother's womb, and 
 called me by his grace, to reveal his Son in me, that 
 I might preach him among the heathen ; immediately 
 I conferred not with flesh and blood : neither went I 
 up to Jerusalem to them which were Apostles 
 before me ; but I went into Arabia, and returned 
 again unto Damascus. Then after three years I 
 went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with 
 him fifteen days. But other of the Apostles saw 
 I none, save James, the Lord's brother. Now the 
 things which I write unto you, behold, before God, 
 I lie not.
 
 SAINT PAUL. 5 
 
 " Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and 
 Cilicia ; and was unknown by face unto the Churches 
 of Judsea which were in Christ; but they had 
 heard only, that he which persecuted us in times 
 past, now preacheth the faith which once he 
 destroyed. And they glorified God in me. 
 
 " Then, fourteen years after, I went up again to 
 Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me 
 also. And I went up by revelation, and com- 
 municated unto them that gospel which I preach 
 among the Gentiles, but privately to them which 
 were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, 
 or had run in vain. But neither Titus, who was 
 with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be 
 circumcised : and that because of false brethren 
 unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy 
 out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that 
 they might bring us into bondage, to whom we 
 gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour : that 
 the truth of the gospel might continue with you. 
 But of these who seemed to be somewhat (what- 
 soever they were, it maketh no matter to me. God 
 accepteth no man's person), for they who seemed 
 to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me ; 
 but contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel 
 of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as 
 the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter (for 
 he that wrought effectually in Peter to the Apostle- 
 ship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me 
 toward the Gentiles), and when James, Cephas and 
 John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace 
 that was given unto me, they gave to me and 
 Barnabas the right hands of fellowship ; that we
 
 6 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 should go unto the heathen, and they unto the 
 circumcision. Only they would that we should re- 
 member the poor ; the same which I also was for- 
 ward to do. 
 
 " But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood 
 him to the face, because he was to be blamed. For 
 before that certain came from James, he did eat with 
 the Gentiles ; but when they were come, he with- 
 drew and separated himself, fearing them which 
 were of the circumcision. And the other Jews dis- 
 sembled likewise with him ; insomuch that Barnabas 
 also was carried away with their dissimulation. But 
 when I saw that they walked not uprightly accord- 
 ing to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter, before 
 them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner 
 of the Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why com- 
 pellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? 
 We, who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the 
 Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the 
 works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, 
 even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we 
 might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by 
 the works of the law ; for by the works of the law 
 shall no flesh be justified. But if, while we seek to 
 be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found 
 sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin ? God 
 forbid. For, if I build again the things which I 
 destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I 
 through the law am dead to the law, that I might 
 live unto God. I am crucified with Christ ; never- 
 theless I live ; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me ; 
 and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by 
 the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave
 
 SAINT PAUL. 7 
 
 himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God, 
 for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is 
 dead in vain. 
 
 "0 foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that 
 ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus 
 Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among 
 you ? This only would I learn of you, Received ye 
 the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing 
 of faith ? Are ne so foolish 1 Having begun in the 
 Spirit are ye now made perfect by the flesh ? Have 
 ye suffered so many things in vain ? if it be yet in 
 vain. He therefore that ministereth to you the 
 Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it 
 by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith ? 
 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted 
 to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that 
 they which are of faith, the same are the children 
 of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God 
 would justify the heathen through faith, preached 
 before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee 
 shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be 
 
 of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham 
 
 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, 
 shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be 
 revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster 
 to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified 
 by faith, but after that faith is come we are no longer 
 under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of 
 God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you 
 as have been baptised into Christ have put on Christ. 
 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond 
 nor free, there is neither male nor female ; for ye are 
 all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye are Christ's, then
 
 8 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the 
 promise. Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a 
 child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be 
 lord of all ; but is under tutors and governors until 
 the time appointed of the father. Even so we, when 
 we were children, were in bondage under the 
 elements of the world: but when the fulness of the 
 time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a 
 woman, made under the law, to redeem them that 
 were under the law, that we might receive the 
 adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God 
 hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, 
 crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more 
 a servant but a son, and if a son then an heir of 
 God through Christ. 
 
 "Howbeit then when ye knew not God, ye did ser- 
 vice unto them which by nature are no gods. But 
 now after that ye have known God, or rather are 
 known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and 
 beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be 
 in bondage ? Ye observe days, and months, and 
 times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have 
 bestowed upon you labour in vain. 
 
 " Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am ; for I am as 
 ye are : ye have not injured me at all. Ye know 
 how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the 
 gospel unto you at the first. And my temptation, 
 which wasjn my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; 
 but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ 
 Jesus. Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? 
 for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, 
 ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have 
 given them to me, Am I therefore become your
 
 SAINT PAUL. 9 
 
 enemy, because I tell you the truth? They zeal- 
 ously affect you, but not well ; yea, they would ex- 
 clude you, that ye might affect them. But it is 
 good to be zealously affected always in a good 
 thing, and not only when I am present with you. 
 My little children, of whom I travail in birth again 
 until Christ be formed in you, I desire to be present 
 with you now, and to change my voice ; for I stand 
 in doubt of you 
 
 " Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith 
 Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again 
 with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I, Paul, say un- 
 to you that, if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit 
 you nothing. For I testify again to every man 
 that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the 
 whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, 
 whosoever of you are justified by the law: ye are 
 fallen from grace. For we, through the Spirit, wait 
 for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Jesus 
 Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor 
 uncircumcision, but faith, which worketh by love. 
 
 " Ye did run well ; who did hinder you that ye 
 should not obey the truth? This persuasion cometh 
 not of him that calleth you. A little leaven leaven- 
 eth the whole lump. I have confidence in you 
 through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise 
 minded; but he that troubleth you shall bear his 
 judgment, whosoever he be. And I, brethren, if I 
 yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer perse- 
 cution? Then is the offence of the cross ceased? I 
 would they were even cut off which trouble you. 
 
 "For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; 
 only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but
 
 10 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 by love serve one another. For all the law is ful- 
 filled in one word, even in this : Thou shalt love 
 thy neighbour as thyself. But if ye bite and devour 
 one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one 
 of another. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, 
 and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the 
 flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against 
 the flesh : and these are contrary the one to the 
 other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would] 
 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the 
 law. Now, the works of the flesh are manifest, 
 which are these : Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, 
 lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, 
 emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envy- 
 ings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such 
 like ; of the which I tell you before, as I have also 
 told you in times past, that they which do such 
 things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But 
 the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffer- 
 ing, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temper- 
 ance : against such there is no law. And they which 
 are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affec- 
 tions and lusts." .... 
 
 Paul wrote this epistle at a single sitting, as if 
 filled with an interior fire. According to his habit, 
 he wrote with his own hand, in postscript, 'Tie see 
 how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own 
 hand." 
 
 It seems natural that he should finish with the 
 usual salutation ; but he was too much animated : 
 his fixed idea possessed him. The subject being 
 exhausted, he again returns to it with some keen 
 remarks :
 
 SAINT PAUL. 11 
 
 " As many as desire to make a fair sheic in the flesh, 
 they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they 
 should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. For 
 neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law, 
 but desire to have you circumcised that they may glory in 
 your flesh. But God forbid that 1 should glory, save in 
 the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world 
 is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. For in Christ 
 Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncir- 
 cumcision, but a new creature. And as many as walk 
 according to this rule, peace be upon them, and mercy, 
 and upon the Israel of God. From henceforth let no 
 man trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the 
 Lord Jesus. Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ be with your spirit. Amen." 
 
 Paul despatched this letter at once. If he had 
 taken an hour's reflection, it is doubtful whether he 
 would have let it be sent. We do not know to 
 whom it was entrusted ; Paul doubtless had it carried 
 by one of his disciples, whom he charged with a 
 journey into Galatia. The Epistle, in fact, is not ad- 
 dressed to a particular community ; each of those little 
 Churches of Derbe, of Lystra, of Iconium, of Autioch 
 iii Pisidia, was not considerable enough to serve as 
 a metropolis to the others ; the Apostle, on the other 
 hand, gives no instruction to the receivers as to the 
 manner of circulating his letter. The effect that the 
 letter produced upon the Galatians is also unknown. 
 Without doubt it confirmed the party of Paul ; it 
 probably, however, did not entirely extinguish the 
 opposite party. Almost all the Churches henceforward 
 will be divided into two camps. The Church of 
 Judasa will maintain its pretensions until the fall of
 
 1 2 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 Jerusalem (A.D. 70). It is only at the end of the 
 first century that a true reconciliation will come 
 about, partly at the expense of Paul's glory, which 
 will during nearly a hundred years be cast into the 
 shade, but for the full triumph of its fundamental 
 ideas. The Judaeo-Christians, from this moment will 
 only be a sect of old fanatics, dying out slowly and 
 obscurely, and only ending towards theend of the fifth 
 century in the remoter districts of Syria. Paul, in 
 revenge, will be nearly disavowed. His title of 
 Apostle, refused him by his enemies, will be feebly 
 defended by his friends. The Churches which no- 
 toriously owe their foundation to him, will wish it to 
 be thought that they were founded by him arid by 
 Peter. The Church of Corinth, for example, will do 
 the most flagrant violence to history to show that 
 she owes her origin to Peter as well as to Paul. 
 The conversion of the Gentiles will pass for the col- 
 lective work of the Twelve ; Papias, Polycrates, 
 Justin, Hegesippus seem to labour to suppress the 
 share of Paul in the work, and nearly ignore his ex- 
 istence. It is only when the idea of a canon of new 
 sacred writings will be established that Paul will re- 
 gain his importance. His epistles will then emerge 
 in some way from the archives of the Churches to be- 
 come the base of Christian theology, which they will 
 renew from age to age. 
 
 At the distance at which we now stand, the victory 
 of Paul appears complete. Paul recounts to us, and 
 perhaps exaggerates, the injuries that have been 
 done to him. Who will tell us the injuries of Paul ? 
 The mean intention which he attributes to his ad- 
 versaries of following in his footsteps to carry away
 
 SAINT PAUL. 13 
 
 for themselves the affection of his disciples and to 
 glorify themselves afterwards over the circumcision 
 of these simple men, is not this a travesty? May not 
 the recital of his relations with the Church of Jeru- 
 salem, different as it is from that of the Acts, be a 
 little arranged for the needs of the moment? The 
 pretence of having been an Apostle by divine right 
 from the very day of his conversion, is it not his- 
 torically inaccurate ? in this sense, that the convic- 
 tion of his own apostleship slowly took possession 
 of him, and arrived at its completion only after his 
 first great mission. Was Peter really so much to 
 be blamed as Paul asserted? The conduct of the 
 Galilean Apostle, on the contrary, was not it that 
 of a conciliatory man, preferring brotherliness to 
 principle, wishing to content everybody, yielding to 
 avoid scandal, and blamed by all, precisely because 
 he was right. We have no means of answering 
 these questions. Paul was very egotistical ; it is 
 not impossible that he more than once attributed to 
 a private revelation what he had learnt from his 
 elders. The Epistle to the Galatians is so extra- 
 ordinary a work, the Apostle there paints himself 
 with so much artlessness and truth, that it would 
 be absolutely unjust to turn against him a document 
 which does so much honour to his talent and his 
 eloquence. The cares of a narrow orthodoxy are 
 not ours ; to others belong the right of explaining 
 how one can be a saint, whilst abusing the ancient 
 Cephas. Paul is not degraded from the companion- 
 ship of great men when he is proved to be some- 
 times hasty, passionate, pre-occupied with his own 
 defence, and fighting his enemies. In everything
 
 14 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 that is truly Protestant, Paul has the faults of a 
 Protestant. It requires time and much experience 
 to enable him to see that each dogma is not worth 
 the trouble of violent resistance and of wounding 
 charity. Paul is not Jesus. How far we are from 
 thee, dear Master. Where is thy tenderness, thy 
 poesy 1 Thou who didst consider the lilies, dost 
 thou recognise as thy disciples these disputants, 
 these men who are so bitter about precedence, who 
 wish that every body should originate with them 
 alone. They are men, thou wast a God. Where 
 should we be, if thou wert known to us only by the 
 simple letters of him who calls himself thy Apostle. 
 Happily, the perfumes of Galilee still live in some 
 faithful memories. Perhaps already the Sermon on 
 the Mount is written on some secret sheet. The un- 
 known disciple who bears this treasure truly bears 
 the future. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THIRD JOURNEY OF PAUL FOUNDATION OF THE 
 CHURCH AT EPHESUS. 
 
 LESS great, less possessed by the sacred genius which 
 had seized upon him, Paul was made use of in these 
 barren disputes. To reply to little minds, he was 
 obliged to make himself as mean as they were : 
 these miserable quarrels had absorbed him. Paul 
 scorned them as a man of superior genius should. 
 He went straight forward, and left time to decide be-
 
 SAINT PAUL. 15 
 
 tween him and his enemies. The first rule for a man 
 devoted to great things, is to refuse mediocre men 
 the power of turning him aside from his way. 
 Without discussing with the delegates of James as 
 to whether it were right or wrong to preach to the 
 Gentiles and to convert them, Paul only thought 
 of beginning again, even at the risk of encounter- 
 ing new anathemas. After some months passed at 
 Antioch, he departed on a third mission, on this 
 occasion to his dear Galatiau Churches. At times 
 he was in great perplexity with regard to these 
 Churches ; he regretted having grieved them by using 
 harsh language to them ; he wished to change his 
 tone, to correct by the gentleness of his words the 
 asperity of his letter. Paul wished above all things 
 to dwell at Ephesus, which he had only touched at 
 first in order to constitute a preaching centre such 
 as there was at Thessalonica and Corinth. The field 
 of that third mission was thus very nearly that of 
 the second. Asia Minor, Macedonia, and Greece 
 were the provinces that Paul in some sort assigned 
 to himself. 
 
 He set out from Antioch, accompanied probably 
 by Titus. He followed the same track as on his 
 second journey, and visited for the third time the 
 Churches of the centre of Asia Minor Derbe, Lystra, 
 Iconium, Antioch in Pisidia. He speedily re- 
 gained his authority, and soon effaced such false 
 impressions as still remained, and which his enemies 
 had sought to raise against him. At Derbe he took 
 as assistant a new disciple, named Gaius, who fol- 
 lowed him. These good Galatiaus were full of 
 docility, but weak in the faith. Paul, accustomed
 
 16 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 to express himself with firmness, treated them with 
 a severity that sometimes even he himself was afraid 
 they would take for harshness. He had scruples ; 
 he was afraid that he had spoken to his children 
 in a manner that perhaps did not express clearly 
 enough the affection there was for them in his heart. 
 The motives that had made him in his second 
 journey abstain from preaching the gospel to pro- 
 consular Asia existing no longer, Paul, after having 
 finished his tour in Galatia, set out for Ephesus. 
 This was in the middle of the summer. From 
 Antioch in Pisidia, the most natural route to follow 
 should have led him to Apamea-Cibotus, and thence 
 into the basin of the Lycus, to the three neighbouring 
 towns of Colosse, of Laodicea, of Hierapolis. These 
 three towns for some years will form an active 
 centre of Christian work, and Paul will be in close 
 communication with them. But for the moment he 
 did not stop here, and made acquaintance with no 
 one. Going round the rock of Cadmus, he passed 
 into the valley of Meander, towards the inns of 
 Carura, a great highway of the roads of Asia. 
 There^e, a beautiful and easy route, leads, in three 
 days, by Nysa, Trail es and Magnesia, to the summits 
 of the chain which separates the waters of the 
 Meander from those of the Caystre. A ravine, where 
 the ancient road and the torrent dispute the narrow 
 space, descends into <: the prairie of Asia," sung of 
 by the Homerides, that is to say, into the plain where 
 the Caystrus forms a lagoon before reaching the sea. 
 It is a beautiful Greek site, with a clear horizon, 
 formed sometimes of fromfive to six mountain heights, 
 or bounded by low hills. The swans and the beautiful
 
 SAINT PAUL. 17 
 
 birds which met there at that time even as now 
 gave all the charm of antiquity. There, partly in 
 the marshes, partly hanging to the declivities of 
 Mount Coressus, supported, besides, by Mount 
 Prion and its surroundings on another little iso- 
 lated hill, rose the immense town destined to be the 
 third capital of Christianity after Jerusalem and 
 Antioch. 
 
 We have already had occasion several times to 
 remark that Christianity was most readily accepted 
 in the smaller towns of the Roman Empire. The 
 policy of that Empire had been to multiply isolated 
 municipalities ; isolated as regards race, religion, and 
 patriotism. Ephesus was like Alexandria, Antioch, 
 and Corinth, a typical town of this kind. It is easy 
 thus to imagine what are still, in our days, the great 
 towns of the Levant. What strikes the traveller 
 when he goes through these labyrinths of infectious 
 bazaars, of narrow and filthy courtyards, of temporary 
 structures, which do not seem expected to last long ? 
 it is the litter of a noble, of a political, and even of 
 a municipal spirit. In these swarms of men, vulgarity 
 and good instincts, idleness and activity, impertin- 
 ence and amiability, meet each other: everything is 
 found there excepting what constitutes an old local 
 aristocracy ; I would say glorious remembrances cul- 
 tivated in common. With all that, there is much 
 gossiping, prattling, levity ; nearly everybody knows 
 everybody else, and the people for ever occupy 
 themselves with each other's business ; there is some- 
 thing active, passionate, unsteady, a vain curiosity 
 of frivolous folk, greedy after the smallest novelty, 
 ever ready to follow the fashion, never capable 
 VOL, II, B
 
 18 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 of setting it. Christianity was a fruit of that species 
 of fermentation which usually arises in societies 
 of this kind, where men, freed from the pre- 
 judices of birth and race, take up more readily 
 the philosophical attitude which calls itself cosmo- 
 politan and humanitarian, than the peasant, the 
 burgess, the noble, or feudal citizen can do. Like 
 the Socialism of our days, like all new ideas, Chris- 
 tianity germinates in what may be called the corrup- 
 tion of great towns. This corruption, in fact, is 
 often only a plainer and freer life, a greater indication 
 of the hidden forces of humanity. 
 
 Formerly, as now, the Jews in such mixed towns 
 held a very conspicuous position. That place was, 
 to a small extent, what Smyrna and Salonica are 
 at the present day. Ephesus especially possessed a 
 very populous Jews' quarter. The Pagan inhabitants 
 were fanatical enough, as happens in all towns which 
 are centres of pilgrimages and famous rites. The 
 devotion to Artemis of Ephesus, spreading over the 
 entire world, supported several considerable indus- 
 tries. But the importance of the town as the capital 
 of Asia, the movement of business, the wealth of the 
 people, of every race, made Ephesus a very useful 
 centre for the diffusion of Christian ideas. These 
 ideas found nowhere a better reception than in the 
 populous commercial cities, full of strangers, visited 
 by Syrians, Jews, and that population of uncertain 
 origin who from time to time have commanded all 
 the ports of the Mediterranean. 
 
 For centuries Ephesus had been nothing more 
 than a purely Hellenic town. Formerly Ephesus 
 had shone in the first rank, the least artistic among
 
 SAINT PAUL. 19 
 
 the Greek cities ; but now and then she had allowed 
 herself to be seduced by the manners of Asia. The 
 town always had a bad reputation among the Greeks. 
 Corruption, the introduction of luxury, was, accord- 
 ing to the Greeks, a result of the "effeminate manners 
 of Ionia ; at this time, and in this way, Ephesus was 
 the centre and the abridgment of Ionia. The domi- 
 nation of the Lydians and of the Persians had 
 destroyed energy and patriotism alike. Ephesus, like 
 Sardis, was the most advanced point of Asiatic 
 influence upon Europe. The excessive importance 
 which the worship of Artemis took there, extin- 
 guished the scientific spirit, and favoured the over- 
 flowing of all superstitions. It was an almost 
 theocratic town ; the fetes there were numerous 
 and splendid ; the right wing of the temple peopled 
 the town with courtesans. The scandalous sacer- 
 dotal institutions maintained there appeared each day 
 more devoid of all sense of shame. That brilliant 
 country of Heraclites, of Parhasins, perhaps of Apella, 
 was only a town of porticoes, of stadia, of gymnasia, of 
 theatres, a town of common-place sumptuosity, in 
 spite of the masterpieces of painting and of sculp- 
 ture that she still guards. 
 
 Although the gate had been spoilt by the 
 engineers of Attalus Philadelphus, the town in- 
 creased rapidly, and became the principal emporium 
 of the region on this side of the Taurus. It was 
 the port of landing for what came from Italy and 
 Greece, a sort of hostelry or mart on the threshold 
 of Asia. Produce of every kind was heaped to- 
 gether there, and the town became a cosmopolitan 
 one, where the socialistic ideas gained ground
 
 20 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 among the men who had lost all idea of patriotism. 
 The country was extremely rich ; the commerce 
 immense; but nowhere was public spirit at a lower 
 ebb. The inscriptions breathed the most shameful 
 servility, the most absolute submission to the 
 Romans. 
 
 It has been called the meeting-place of harlots 
 and their prey. The town swarmed with magicians, 
 diviners, mummers, and flute players ; eunuchs, 
 jewellers, sellers of amulets and medals, and ro- 
 mancers. The title of " Ephesian novels " designated, 
 like that of " Milesian fables," a species of litera- 
 ture, Ephesus being one of the towns which was 
 especially chosen as the scene of love romances. 
 The softness of the climate, in fact, put aside serious 
 things : dancing and music remained the sole oc- 
 cupation. Public life degenerated into bacchanalian 
 festivities : there was no such thing as study. The 
 most extravagant miracles of Apollonius are re- 
 puted to have happened at Ephesus. The most 
 celebrated Ephesian of the time at which we have 
 now a-rrived was an astrologer named Balbilas, 
 who possessed the confidence of Nero and Ves- 
 pasian, and who appears to have been a scoun- 
 drel. A beautiful Corinthian temple, whose ruins 
 can be seen at the present day, was raised about 
 the same period. It was perhaps a temple dedi- 
 cated to poor Claudius, whom Nero and Agrippa had 
 just " drawn to heaven with a hook," according 
 to the happy word of Gallio. 
 
 Ephesus had already been reached by Christianity 
 when Paul went to sojourn there. We have seen 
 that Aquila and Priscilla had remained there, after
 
 SAINT PAUL. 21 
 
 having set out from Corinth. This pious couple, 
 to whom, by a singular destiny, it was reserved to 
 figure in the origin of the Churches of Rome, of 
 Corinth, of Ephesus, formed a little nucleus of dis- 
 ciples. Of this number, doubtless, was that Epaen- 
 etus whom St Paul calls " the first-fruits of Achaia 
 unto Christ," and whom he loved so much. Another 
 much more important conversion was that of a Jew 
 named Apollonius or Apollos, originally of Alex- 
 andria, who had settled at Ephesus a little after 
 the first journey of Paul. He had acquired in the 
 Jewish schools of Egypt a profound knowledge of 
 the Scriptures, an ingenious manner of interpreting 
 them, a sublime eloquence. He was a kind of 
 Philo, in quest of new ideas which then dawned 
 on all parts of Judaism. In his journeys, he found 
 himself of the same belief with the disciples of John 
 the Baptist, and had received their baptism. He 
 had also heard them speak of Jesus, and it seems 
 certain that from that time he accorded to the latter 
 the title of Christ ; but his idea of Christianity was 
 incomplete. On his arrival at Ephesus he betook 
 himself to the synagogue, where he had much suc- 
 cess by his lively and inspired delivery. Aquila 
 and Priscilla heard him, and were enraptured to 
 receive such an auxiliary. They took him aside, 
 instructed him more fully, and gave him more pre- 
 cise ideas upon certain points. As they were not 
 very clever theologians themselves, they did not 
 dream, it seems, of re-baptising him in the name of 
 Jesus. Apollos formed around him a little group, 
 whom he taught his doctrine, corrected by Aquila 
 and Priscilla, but on whom he merely bestowed
 
 22 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 the baptism of John, the only one he knew. After 
 some time he wished to pass into Achaia, and the 
 brethren of Ephesus gave him a very warm letter of 
 recommendation to those of Corinth. 
 
 It is under these circumstances that Paul arrived at 
 Ephesus. He lodged with Aquila and Priscilla, as 
 he had already done at Corinth ; associated himself 
 anew with them, and worked in their shop. Ephe- 
 sus was justly celebrated for its tents. The artisans 
 of this trade probably inhabited the poor suburbs 
 which extend from Mount Prion to the steep hill of 
 Aid-Solonk. There doubtless was the first Christian 
 household ; the apostolic basilicas were there, the* 
 venerated graves of all Christianity. After the 
 destruction of the temple of Artemis, Ephesus 
 having exchanged its Pagan celebrity for an equally 
 celebrated Christianity, and having become a town 
 of the first order in the memories and legends of 
 the new worship. Byzantine Ephesus was wholly 
 grouped round a hill which had the advantage of 
 possessing the most precious monuments of Chris- 
 tianity. The old site being exchanged from an 
 infectious marsh, where an active civilisation had 
 ceased to regulate the course of the waters, the 
 old town had been abandoned little by little ; its 
 gigantic monuments, in consequence of their near- 
 ness to navigable canals and the sea, had been 
 made use of as quarries, and thus the town had 
 been displaced for nearly a league. Perhaps the choice 
 of a domicile which some poor Jews in the reign of 
 Claudius or Nero had made was the first cause of 
 this removal. The most ancient Turkish conquest 
 continued the Byzantine tradition ; a great Mussul-
 
 t PAUL; 2 
 
 man town sticceeded to the Christian town, which 
 still exists in the midst of so many memories of ruin, 
 fever, and oblivion. 
 
 Paul was not here, as he was in his first missions, 
 in the midst of a synagogue, ignorant of the new 
 mystery, which he must endeavour to gain over. 
 He had before him a Church which had been formed 
 in the most original and spontaneous fashion, with 
 the aid of two good Jewish merchants, and of a 
 strange doctor, who was still only half a Christian. 
 The company of Apollos was composed of about 
 twelve members. Paul questioned them, and per- 
 ceived that their faith was still incomplete : in 
 particular, they had never heard of the Holy Ghost. 
 Paul completed their instruction, re-baptised them 
 in the name of Jesus, and " laid his hands on them." 
 The Spirit immediately descended on them ; they 
 spake with tongues, and prophesied like perfect 
 Christians. 
 
 The Apostle sought to enlarge this little circle of 
 believers. He was not afraid of finding himself here 
 in the presence of the intellectual and scientific 
 spirit which had stopped him short at Athens. 
 Ephesus was not a great intellectual centre. Super- 
 stition reigned there without any control ; every- 
 body lived in foolish preoccupations of demonology 
 and theology. The magic formulas of Ephesus 
 (Ephesia Grammata) were celebrated, books of sorcery 
 abounded, and a number of men employed their time 
 in these foolish puerilities. Apollonius of Tyana 
 was at Ephesus about this time. 
 
 Paul, according to his habit, preached in the 
 synagogue. During the space of three months,
 
 24 . SAINT PAUL. 
 
 he did not cease each Sabbath to teach the Kingdom 
 of God. He had little success. They did not come 
 against him Avith riotings or seventies, but they re- 
 ceived his doctrine with insulting and scornful words. 
 He then resolved to renounce the synagogue, and re- 
 united himself to part of his disciples in a place which 
 they called 2^0X75 Tupdwov, " The school of one Tyran- 
 nus." Perhaps it was a public spot there, one of those 
 scholce or semicircular vaults (or apses), which were 
 so numerous in ancient towns, and which served 
 as xystes for conversation and free instruction. Per- 
 haps, on the other hand, it served as a private hall 
 of a personage of a grammarian, for example 
 named Tyrannus. In general, Christianity profited 
 very little by these scholce, which nearly always 
 formed parts of the hot baths and gymnasia. 
 The favourite place of the Christian propaganda, 
 after the synagogue, was the private house, the 
 chimney corner. In this vast metropolis of Ephe- 
 sus, preaching might, however, be done openly. 
 During two years, Paul did not cease to speak in 
 the Sc/iola Tyranni. This prolonged teaching in a 
 public place, after a little time, made noise enough. 
 The Apostle supplemented it by frequent visits to 
 the houses of those who had been converted or 
 touched. All pro-consular Asia heard the name of 
 Jesus, and several Churches, subordinate to Ephe- 
 sus, were established around. They also spoke of 
 certain miracles effected by Paul. His reputation 
 as a worker of miracles had reached such a point 
 that people eagerly sought for the "handkerchiefs 
 and aprons" which had touched his garment, to 
 apply them to the sick. They believed that a
 
 SAINT PAUL. 25 
 
 medical virtue was exhaled from his body, and was 
 so transmitted. 
 
 The taste of the Ephesians for magic introduced 
 episodes still more shocking. Paul was believed 
 to have a great power over devils. It appears that 
 the Jewish exorcists sought to steal his charms and 
 to exorcise " in the name of Jesus whom Paul 
 preacheth." There is a legend of the misadventure 
 of these quacks, who pretended to be sons or dis- 
 ciples of a certain High Priest named Scaeva. Hav- 
 ing wished to drive out an evil spirit by means of 
 the aforesaid formula, they were grossly insulted 
 by the possessed man, who, not content with that, 
 threw himself upon them, tore their clothes in 
 pieces, and beat them soundly. The degradation 
 of the popular mind was such, that many Jews 
 and many Pagans believed in Jesus for such a poor 
 motive. These conversions took place above all 
 among the men who occupied themselves with 
 magic. Struck by the superiority of Paul's formula, 
 the lovers of occult sciences came to him to ex- 
 change confidences concerning their practices. Many 
 even brought their books of magic and burnt them ; 
 they valued at fifty thousand pieces of silver (drach- 
 mae) the price of the Ephesia Grammata burnt in 
 this manner. 
 
 Let us turn our eyes away from these sad shadows. 
 All that is done by the popular ignorant masses is 
 spotted with unpleasantness. Illusion, chimera, are 
 the conditions of the great things created by the 
 people. It is only the work of wise men which 
 can be pure ; but wise men are usually powerless. 
 We have a physiology and a medicine very superior
 
 26 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 to that of Paul ; we are disengaged from a crowd 
 of errors of which he partook, alas ! and it is to be 
 feared that we may never do a thousandth part 
 of what he did. It is only when humanity as a 
 whole shall be instructed, and reach a certain point 
 of positive philosophy, that human affairs will be 
 led by reason. One would never understand the 
 history of the past if one did not refuse to treat as 
 good and great, movements in which many mean 
 and equivocal features are mixed up. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 PROGRESS OF CHRISTIANITY IN ASIA AND PHRYGIA. 
 
 THE ardour of Paul during his stay at Ephesus was ex- 
 treme. There were difficulties every day, numerous 
 and animated adversaries. As the Church of Ephesus 
 was not purely a foundation of Paul, it counted in its 
 bosom the Judeeo-Christiaris, who, upon important 
 points, resisted energetically the Apostle of the Gen- 
 tiles. They were like two flocks accusing each other, 
 and denying to each other the right of speaking in 
 the name of Jesus. The Pagans, for their part, were 
 discontented with the progress of the new faith, and 
 already manifested themselves as dangerous. On 
 one occasion, in particular, Paul ran so grave a 
 danger that he compares the position in which he 
 was on that day to that of a man exposed to wild 
 beasts. Perhaps the incident happened at the
 
 SAINT PAUL. 27 
 
 theatre, which would render the expression alto- 
 gether just. Aquila and Priscilla saved him, and 
 risked their heads for him. 
 
 The Apostle forgot all however, for the word of 
 God had become fruitful. All the western part of 
 Asia Minor, especially the basins of the Meander and 
 the Hermus, was covered with Churches at this time, 
 of which, without doubt, Paul was in a manner more 
 or less direct the founder. Smyrna, Pergamos, Thya- 
 tira, Sardis, Philadelphia, probably Tralles, thus re- 
 ceived the germs of the faith. These towns had 
 already important Jewish colonies. The gentleness 
 of manners, and the great tediousuess of provincial 
 life, in the heart of a rich and beautiful country, dead 
 for centuries to all political life, and pacified nearly 
 to a level, had prepared many souls for the joys of 
 a pure life. The softness of the Ionian manners, so 
 inimical to national independence, was favour- 
 able to the development of moral and social ques- 
 tions. These good populations, without military 
 spirit, effeminate, if I dare say it, were naturally 
 Christian. The family life appears to have been 
 very strong among them ; the habit of living in the 
 open air, and, for the women, upon the threshold of 
 their door, in a delicious climate, had developed great 
 sociability. Asia, with its Asiarchs, presidents of 
 the games and spectacles, seemed a pleasure com- 
 pany, an association of diversions and fetes. The 
 Christian population even to-day has the charm of 
 gaiety ; the women have the clear complexion, the 
 vague and sweet eyes, beautiful blonde hair, a retir- 
 ing and modest disposition, involving the sentient life 
 of their beauty.
 
 28 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 Asia became thus, in some sort, the second pro- 
 vince of the kingdom of God. The towns of this 
 country, apart from its monuments, did not perhaps 
 differ essentially then from what they are to-day 
 clusters of wooden houses without order, with open 
 balconies covered with an inclined roof; quarters 
 often placed in tiers one upon the other, and always 
 intermingled with beautiful trees. The public build- 
 ings necessary in a hot country to a life of pleas- 
 ure and repose, were of a surprising grandeur. 
 There were not here, as in Syria, artificial construc- 
 tions, very little adapted to the comfort, walled 
 towns, rendered necessary by the predatory habits 
 of the Bedouin. Nowhere does the fulness of a 
 sure and satisfied civilisation show itself in more 
 imposing forms than in the ruins of these " magni- 
 ficent cities of Asia." Every time that the beauti- 
 ful countries of which we speak, are crushed into 
 pieces by fanaticism, war, or barbarity, they will 
 become mistresses of the world by richness ; they 
 hold nearly all the sources of it, and thus force the 
 great number of the more noble people to mass 
 themselves up among them. Ionia, in the first 
 century, was very populous, and covered with 
 towns and villages. At this period, the misfortunes 
 of the civil wars were forgotten. With powerful 
 associations of workmen (spyaaiai, ffuvtpyagai, ffupfSiuaiis^ 
 analogous to those of Italy and Flanders in 
 the Middle Ages, they name their dignitaries, raise 
 public monuments, erect statues, construct works of 
 public utility, found charitable institutions, give 
 every kind of sign of prosperity, of welfare, of 
 moral activity. Side by side with the manufacturing
 
 SAINT PAUL. 29 
 
 towns, such as Thyatira, Philadelphia, Hieropolis 
 principally engaged in the great industries of Asia, 
 carpets, the dyeing of cloth, the wool, leather, was 
 developed a prosperous agriculture. The varied 
 products of the districts of the Hermus and the 
 Meander, the mineral riches of Imolus and of Mes- 
 sogio, source of the treasures of the old Assyrian 
 town Lydia, had produced at Tralles above all an 
 opulent middle-class, which contracted alliances with 
 the kings of Asia, almost even became itself royal. 
 These upstarts ennobled themselves in a more hon- 
 ourable manner by their literary labours and their 
 generosity. It is true that we must not look in 
 their works for either delicacy or Hellenic perfection. 
 We feel, in contemplating such parvenu monuments, 
 that all noble aess was lost when these people were 
 raised. The municipal spirit, however, was still 
 very energetic. The citizen who had become king, 
 or reached C&sar's favour, contended for an official 
 position in the city, and expended his fortune in 
 embellishing it. This movement of construction was 
 in full force in the time of St Paul, partly on account 
 of the earthquakes which, notably in the reign of 
 Tiberius, had desolated the country, and which neces- 
 sitated much repairing. 
 
 A rich province of Southern Phrygia, in particular 
 the little basin of the Lycns, a tributary of the 
 Meander, was soon formed into active Christian 
 centres. Three towns close to each other Colossus 
 or Colosse, Laodicea upon the Lycus, and Hieropolis 
 there diffused the Word of Life. Colosse, which had 
 formerly been of most importance, seemed to de- 
 cline ; it was an old city which remained faithful to
 
 30 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 the ancient manners, and which would not change 
 them. Laodicea and Hieropolis, on the contrary, 
 became, under the Roman rule, very considerable 
 towns. The summit of this beautiful country is Mount 
 Cadmus, the father of all the mountains of Eastern 
 Asia, massive and gigantic, full of dark precipices, 
 and crowned with snow throughout the year. The 
 waters which flow from it nourish upon the slopes 
 of the valleys orchards full of fruit trees, which are 
 traversed by rivers abounding in fish, and bright- 
 ened by tame storks. The other side exhibits the 
 strangest freaks of nature. The petrifying quality 
 of the water of one of the tributaries of the Lycus, 
 and the enormous mineral stream which falls in a 
 cascade from the mountains of Hieropolis, have 
 sterilised the plain and formed crevasses, grotesque 
 caverns, beds of subterranean rivers, of fantastic 
 basins, like petrified snow, serving as a reservoir to 
 the waters, which glisten with all the colours of the 
 rainbow : deep trenches through which roll a series 
 of resounding cataracts. On this side the heat is 
 extreme, the soil being simply a vast plain paved 
 with limestone ; but upon the heights of Hieropolis 
 the purity of the air, the splendid light, the view of 
 the Cadmus, floating like an Olympus in a dazzling 
 atmosphere, the burning summits of Phrygia vanish- 
 ing in the blue of heaven in a rosy hue ; the open- 
 ing of the Meander, the oblique sections of Messogio, 
 the distant snowy summits of the Imolus, are ab- 
 solutely dazzling. Saint Philip lived there; Paphas 
 also ; there Epictetus was born. All the valley of 
 the Lycus offers the same character of dreamy 
 mysticism. The population was not originally
 
 SAINT PAUL. 31 
 
 Greek ; it was partly Phrygian. There was also, 
 it would appear, around the Cadmus an ancient 
 Semitic establishment, probably an annexe of Lydia. 
 This peaceful valley, separated from the rest of the 
 world, became for Christianity a place of refuge. 
 Christianity underwent, as we shall see, grave trials. 
 
 The evangelist of these regions was Epaphroditus 
 or Epaphras of Colosse, a very zealous man, a friend 
 and fellow-worker with Paul. The Apostle had only 
 passed through the valley of the Lycus, he had 
 never remained there ; but these Churches, composed 
 chiefly of converted Pagans, were not less com- 
 pletely dependent on him. Epaphras exercised 
 upon the three villages a sort of episcopacy. 
 Nymphadore, or Nymphas, who gathered a Church 
 in his house at Laodicea ; the rich and benevolent 
 Philemon, who, at Colosse, presided over a similar 
 conventicle ; Appia, deaconess of this town, perhaps 
 the wife of Philemon ; Archippus, who also filled an 
 important function there, recognised Paul as chief. 
 The last appears even to have worked directly with 
 Paul. The Apostle called him his " companion in 
 arms." Philemon, Appia, and Archippus must have 
 been relatives or in intimate connection with each 
 other. 
 
 Paul's disciples travelled constantly, and reported 
 to their master. Each one, though hardly con- 
 verted, was a zealous catechist, spreading around 
 him the faith with which he was filled. The delicate 
 moral aspirations which prevailed in the country 
 propagated the movement like a train of gunpowder. 
 The catechists went everywhere ; as soon as they 
 were received, they were jealously guarded ; all and
 
 32 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 each tried to supply their wants. A cordiality, a 
 joy, au infinite benevolence, prevailed by degrees, 
 and touched the hearts of all. Judaism, besides, 
 had preceded Christianity in these regions. Jewish 
 colonies had been founded there by exiles from 
 Babylon two centuries and a half before, and had 
 perhaps carried there some of those industries 
 (carpet-making, for example) which, under the 
 Roman emperors, produced in the country so much 
 wealth and so many strong associations. 
 
 Did the preaching of Paul and his disciples reach 
 Great Phrygia, the region of Azanes, of Synnades, 
 of Colia, of Dociraius 1 We have seen that in his 
 two first journeys, Paul preached in Phrygia Parorea ; 
 that in his second journey he traversed Phrygia 
 Epicteta without preaching ; that in his third 
 journey he traversed Apamea, Cibotos, and Phrygia, 
 called at a later date Pacatiana. It is extremely 
 probable that the remainder of Phrygia, as well as 
 Bithynia, owed to Paul's disciples the seeds of 
 Christianity. About the year 112, Christianity ap- 
 pears in Bithynia as a worship which had taken 
 root, which had penetrated all the ranks of society, 
 which had invaded the villages and the rural dis- 
 tricts, as well as the towns and cities, and had 
 brought about a long cessation of the official wor- 
 ship, so that the Roman authority was reduced by it 
 to command the restoration of Pagan sacrifices. 
 Some of the proselytes returned to the temples, and 
 the victims, now made slaves, found buyers here and 
 there. About the year 112, some men, on being 
 asked if they were Christians, replied that they had 
 been, but they had ceased to be " more than twenty
 
 SAINT PAUL. 33 
 
 years ago" a clear proof that the first Christian 
 preaching took place during the lifetime of Paul. 
 
 Phrygia was thenceforward, and remained for 
 three hundred years, an essentially Christian country. 
 There first begins the public profession of Chris- 
 tianity ; there, from the third century, are to be 
 found upon monuments exposed to every one's 
 eyes, the word XPH2TIANO2 or XPI2TIANO2: these 
 epitaphs, without openly avowing Christianity, ex- 
 hibit Christian dogmas in a veiled form ; there, from 
 the time of Severus the Second, great towns adopted 
 upon their coins biblical symbols, or, rather, assimi- 
 lated their old traditions to biblical story. A large 
 number of the Ephesian and Roman Christians came 
 from Phrygia. The names which are shown oftenest 
 upon the Phrygian monuments are old Christian 
 names names belonging specially to the Apostolic 
 age, those which fill the martyrology. It is very 
 probable that this prompt adoption of the doctrine of 
 Jesus was natural to the race and to the former reli- 
 gious institutions derived from the Phrygian people. 
 Apollonius of Tyana had, it is said, temples among 
 these simple populations: the idea of gods clothed in 
 human form appeared very natural to them. What 
 remains of ancient Phrygia often breathes something 
 of religion, of morality, of depth, of something ana- 
 logous to Christianity. Some good workers, near 
 to Cotia, made a vow " to the saintly and just 
 God ; " not far from there, another vow is addressed 
 to " the holy and just God." Such an epitaph in 
 verses of this province, not very classical in style, 
 incorrect and bad in form, seems imprinted with a 
 very modern sentiment of a touching kind of 
 VOL. II. G
 
 34 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 romance. The country itself differs much from the 
 rest of Asia. It is sad, austere, sombre, bearing 
 the profound imprint of old geological catastrophes, 
 burnt, or rather incinerated, and agitated by fre- 
 quent earthquakes. 
 
 Poutus and Cappadocia heard the name of Jesus 
 at about the same time. Christianity illuminated all 
 Asia Minor like a sudden fire. It is probable that 
 the Judaeo-Christians laboured on their part to 
 spread the Gospel there. John, who belonged to 
 this party, was received in Asia as an Apostle with 
 authority superior to that of Paul. The Apocalypse, 
 addressed in the year 68 to the Churches of Ephesus, 
 of Smyrna, of Pergamos, of Thyatira, of Sardis, of 
 Philadelphia, and of Laodicea-upon-the-Lycus, is 
 obviously written for Judaso-Christians. Without 
 doubt, between the death of Paul and the compo- 
 sition of the Apocalypse, there was in Ephesus and 
 in Asia a second Judaeo-Christian mission. Other- 
 wise, if Paul had been during ten years the sole 
 chief of the Churches of Asia, we should find it diffi- 
 cult to understand why he had been so quickly for- 
 gotten there. St Philip and Paphias, the glories 
 of the Church of Hieropolis ; Miletum, the glory of 
 that of Sardis, were Judaeo-Christian s. Neither 
 Paphias nor Polycrates of Ephesus quote Paul ; the 
 authority of John has absorbed everything, and John 
 is for these Churches a great Jewish priest. The 
 Churches of Asia in the second century, the Church 
 of Laodicea especially, are the scene of a contro- 
 versy which attacks the vital question of Chris- 
 tianity, and the traditional party of which, shows 
 itself very distant from the ideas of Paul. Mon-
 
 SAINT PAUL. 35 
 
 tanism is a kind of return towards Judaism in the 
 heart of Phrygian Christianity. In other words, in 
 Asia, as in Corinth, the memory of Paul, after his 
 death, appears to have suffered during one hundred 
 years a kind of eclipse. The very Churches which 
 he had founded abandoned him, as one who had gone 
 too far, so that in the second century Paul appears 
 to have been discarded. 
 
 This reaction must have set in shortly after the 
 Apostle's death, perhaps even before. The second 
 and third chapters of the Apocalypse are a cry of 
 hate against Paul and his friends. This Church of 
 Ephesus, which owes so much to Paul, is praised be- 
 cause " it cannot bear with them which are evil," for 
 having known how to " try them which say they are 
 apostles and are not, and have found them liars," for 
 hating " the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also 
 hate," adds the celestial voice. The Church of 
 Smyrna is congratulated on being the object of the 
 insults of men " which say they are Jews, and are 
 not, but are the synagogue of Satan." " But I have 
 a few things against thee," says the Divine voice to 
 the Church of Pergamos, " because thou hast there 
 them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught 
 Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the children 
 of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to 
 commit fornication. So hast thou also them that 
 hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans." "Notwith- 
 standing, I have a few things against thee," says the 
 same voice to the Church of Thyatira, " because thou 
 sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a 
 prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to 
 commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto
 
 36 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 idols. And I gave her space to repent of her forni- 
 cation; and she repented not. . . . But unto you 
 I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have 
 not this doctrine, and which have not known the 
 depths of Satan, as they speak ; I will put upon you 
 none other burden." And to the Church of Philadel- 
 phia, " Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of 
 Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do 
 lie ; behold, I will make them to come and worship 
 before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee." 
 Perhaps the vague reproaches addressed by the All- 
 Seeing to the Churches of Sardis and Laodicea, in- 
 cluded also some allusions to the great debate which 
 broke up the Church of Jesus. 
 
 Let us say, then, if Paul had been the only mis- 
 sionary of Asia, one could not conceive that, so soon 
 after his death (even supposing that he was dead 
 when the Apocalypse appeared), his adherents could 
 be represented as in a minority in the Churches of 
 this country ; one could not conceive that the Church 
 of Ephesus, of which above all he was the principal 
 founder, would have bestowed on him an insulting 
 nickname. Paul, as a rule, refused to trespass on 
 the ground of others, to preach to, and to work in, 
 the Churches which he had not established. But his 
 enemies did not observe the same discretion. They 
 followed him step by step, and applied themselves to 
 destroy his work by insults and calumny.
 
 SAINT PAUL. 37 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 SCHISMS IN THE CHURCH OF CORINTH APOLLOS 
 FIRST SCANDALS. 
 
 AT the same time that he took his share in the vast 
 propaganda which gained Asia to the worship of 
 Jesus, Paul was absorbed by the gravest pre-occupa- 
 tions. The care of all the Churches that he had 
 founded, weighed upon him. The Church of Corinth 
 especially inspired him with the gravest disquiet. 
 During the three or four years which had elapsed 
 since the departure of the Apostle from the port of 
 Cenchrea, trouble of every kind had incessantly 
 agitated this Church. Greek levity had indeed pro- 
 duced certain phenomena which had nothing to do 
 with the points that Christianity had touched. 
 
 We have seen that Apollos, after a short stay at 
 Ephesus, where Aquila and Priscilla had worked at 
 his Christian education, had set out for Corinth, with 
 urgent letters from the brethren in Asia to those of 
 Achaia. The knowledge and the eloquence of this 
 new doctor were much admired by the Corinthians. 
 Apollos equalled Paul in his knowledge of the Scrip- 
 tures, and he greatly surpassed him in his literary 
 culture. The Greek which he spoke was excellent, 
 whilst that of the Apostle was extremely defective. 
 He had also, it seems, the exterior gifts of the orator, 
 which failed in Paul, the imposing attitude, the easy 
 eloquence. What is quite certain is, that at Corinth 
 he had remarkable success. His arguments with the 
 Jews upon the question of knowing if Jesus was the
 
 38 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 Messiah, were regarded as very strong, and he made 
 many conversions. 
 
 Apollos and St Paul appeared, among the new sect, 
 in different aspects. They were the only well-in- 
 structed Jews in the Jewish manner who had embraced 
 the doctrine of Jesus. But they came from different 
 schools. Paul came from the Pharisaism of Jerusalem, 
 corrected by the liberal tendencies ot Gamaliel. 
 Apollos came from the Judseo-Hellenic school of 
 Alexandria : such things we know by Philo ; per- 
 haps he was already instructed in the theories of the 
 logos, and was the introducer of these theories into 
 Christian theology. Paul had the kind of feverish 
 ardour, the intense fanaticism, which characterises 
 the Jew of Palestine. Natures like that of Paul only 
 change once in their life ; the direction of their fana- 
 ticism once found, they press on without ever devi- 
 ating or examining anything. Apollos, more curious 
 and more critical, was ready to inquire into every- 
 thing. He was a man of talent rather than an Apostle. 
 But everything makes one believe that he joined to 
 this talent great sincerity, and that he was a very 
 affectionate man. At the time of his arrival at 
 Corinth he had not seen St Paul. It was only by 
 Aquila and Priscilla that he knew the Apostle of 
 whom soon, without wishing it, he was going to be 
 the rival. 
 
 Among the light-hearted and brilliant populations 
 of the shores of the Mediterranean, factions, parties, 
 divisions are a social necessity. Life without that, 
 appears tedious. These people are bent on procuring 
 for themselves the satisfaction of hating and of 
 loving, of excitement, of jealousy, of triumphing
 
 SAINT PAUL. 39 
 
 over an opponent, even in the most trivial matters 
 The object of the division is insignificant ; it is the 
 division that is wanted, and that is sought for its 
 own sake. Personal questions become, in societies of 
 this kind, all important. When two preachers or 
 two doctors meet in a little town of the south, the 
 town divides into two parties on the merits of each 
 of them. The two preachers, the two doctors, may 
 be warm friends ; they will not prevent their names 
 from becoming the signal of keen contests, the 
 banners of two opposing camps. 
 
 It was thus at Corinth. The talent of Apollos 
 turned all heads. His manner was absolutely differ- 
 ent from that of Paul. The latter charmed by his 
 boldness, his passion, the keen impression of his 
 ardent soul ; Apollos by his speech, which was 
 elegant, correct, and assured. Some people, who 
 did not greatly love Paul, and who perhaps did not 
 owe their conversion to him, highly preferred 
 Apollos. They treated Paul as an unpolished man, 
 without education, a stranger to philosophy and 
 polite learning. Apollos was their doctor ; they 
 swore only by Apollos. The disciples of Paul, 
 doubtless, replied eagerly, and undervalued the new 
 doctor. Although Paul and Apollos were in no wise 
 enemies, although they regarded themselves as 
 fellow-labourers, and although there was no differ- 
 ence of opinion between them, their names became 
 thus the ensigns of two parties, who quarrelled in 
 spite of the two doctors, with quite sufficient 
 vivacity. The bitterness continued, even after the 
 departure of Apollos. He, in fact, fatigued perhaps 
 by the zeal displayed for him, and showing himself
 
 40 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 above all these petty rivalries, left Corinth, and re- 
 turned to Ephesus. He there found Paul, with 
 whom he had long conversations, and consolidated 
 a friendship which, without being that of the dis- 
 ciple or of the intimate friend, was one of two great 
 souls, worthy of understanding and of loving each 
 other. 
 
 That was not the only cause of trouble. Corinth 
 was a place much frequented by strangers. The 
 port of Cenchrea saw great numbers of Jews and 
 Syrians disembark every day, many of whom were 
 already Christians, but of another school than that 
 of Paul, and by no means well disposed to the 
 Apostle. The emissaries of the Church of Jeru- 
 salem, whom we have already met at Antioch and 
 in Galatia, upon the footsteps of Paul, had reached 
 Corinth. These new-comers, great orators, full of 
 boasting, fortified with letters of recommendation 
 from the Apostles of Jerusalem, rose against Paul, 
 scattered suspicions upon his honesty, questioned or 
 denied his title of Apostle, and pushed their indeli- 
 cacy so far as to maintain that Paul himself did not 
 believe that he was really an Apostle, since he did 
 not profit by the ordinary privileges of an Apostle. 
 His disinterestedness was made use of against him. 
 They represented him as a vain, frivolous, inconstant 
 man, speaking and menacing without much effect ; 
 they reproached him with glorifying himself when- 
 ever opportunity offered, and of appealing to pre- 
 tended favours from Heaven. They scoffed at his 
 visions. They dwelt upon the fact that Paul had 
 not known Jesus, that he had not, in consequence, 
 any right to speak of Him.
 
 SAINT PAUL. 41 
 
 At the same time, they represented the Apostles 
 of Jerusalem, especially James and Peter, as the 
 true apostles, the arch-apostles, in some way. The 
 new-comers, simply because they were of Jerusalem, 
 claimed a relationship with Christ after the flesh, 
 considering the bond that they had with James and 
 with those whom Christ had chosen in His lifetime. 
 They held that God had established a single Doctor, 
 who is Christ, who had instituted the Tw T elve. 
 Proud of their circumcision and of their Jewish 
 descent, they sought to impose as much as possible 
 the yoke of legal observances. There was thus at 
 Corinth, as there was nearly everywhere else, a 
 " party of Peter." The division was profound. " I 
 am of Paul," said some; "I am of Apollos," said 
 others ; " I am of Cephas," said others still. Some 
 people, finally, wishing to pose as superior spirits to 
 these qnarrellers, created a very spiritual title for 
 themselves. They invented as the name by which 
 they would designate themselves, that of the " party 
 of Christ." When the discussion got warm, and 
 when the names of Paul, Apollos, Peter (Cephas) 
 crossed them in the battle, they intervened with the 
 name of that One whom they forgot. "I am of 
 Christ," said they, and, as these juvenilities did not 
 exclude at the bottom a truly Christian spirit, the 
 remembrance of Jesus had a powerful effect in 
 restoring concord. The name of this "party of 
 Christ " involved nevertheless something of hostility 
 against the Apostle, and a certain ingratitude, since 
 those who were opposed to the "party of Paul" 
 seemed to wish to efface the trace of an apostleship 
 to which it owed its knowledge of Christ,
 
 42 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 Contact with the Pagans caused to the young 
 Church no small dangers. These dangers came from 
 Greek philosophy and from bad morals, which every- 
 where assailing the Church in some degree, here 
 penetrated it and undermined it. We have already 
 seen that at Athens philosophy had stopped the pro- 
 gress of the preaching of Paul. Corinth was far from 
 being a town of as high culture as Athens ; there 
 were, however, many well instructed men there, who 
 received the new doctrines very ill. The cross, the 
 resurrection, the approaching restoration of all things, 
 appeared to them follies and absurdities. The faith 
 of many was shaken, and the attempt to bring about 
 an impossible reconciliation altered the gospel. The 
 irreconcilable struggle between positive science and 
 the supernatural elements of the Christian faith 
 began. This contest will only finish by the com- 
 plete extinction of positive science in the Christian 
 world in the sixth century ; the same contest will 
 be revived with positive science on the threshold of 
 modern times. 
 
 The general immorality of Corinth produced upon 
 the Church the most disastrous effects. Many 
 Christians had not been able to break themselves 
 away from loose habits, which, from being common, 
 had almost ceased to be thought culpable. They 
 talked of strange and almost unheard of scandals even 
 in the assembly of the saints. The bad habits of the 
 town crossed the walls of the Church and corrupted 
 it. The Jewish rules about marriage, which all 
 parts of the Christian Church proclaimed imperative 
 and absolute, were violated : Christians even lived 
 publicly with their mothers-in-law. A spirit of vanity,
 
 SAINT PAUL. 43 
 
 of frivolity, of disputation, of foolish pride, reigned 
 among many. It seemed as if there was not another 
 Church in the world, so much did this community 
 walk in its own ways without caring for others. The 
 gifts of the Spirit, speaking with tongues, prophesy- 
 ing, the gift of miracles, formerly subjects of so much 
 edification, degenerated into shocking scenes. Hence 
 arose strange disorders in the Church. The women, 
 formerly so submissive, were here very bold, almost 
 claiming equality with the men. They wished to pray 
 aloud, to prophesy in the Church, and that without 
 a veil, their long hair disordered, making the assembly 
 witness of their ecstasies, of their drunken effeminacy, 
 of their pious lubricities. 
 
 But it was the agapes (love feasts) or mystic feasts 
 above all which gave an opportunity for the most 
 crying abuses. The scenes of rioting which followed 
 the Pagan sacrifices were there reproduced. Instead 
 of all things being common, each ate the part that 
 he had brought ; some went nearly drunk, others 
 very hungry. The poor were covered with shame ; 
 the rich seemed by their abundance to insult those 
 who had nothing. The remembrance of Jesus and 
 of the high significance which he had given to this 
 repast appeared forgotten. The corporal state of the 
 Church was for the rest bad enough ; there were 
 many sick and several had died. Death, in the state 
 in which the mind of the faithful then was, caused 
 much surprise and hesitation ; sickness was held as 
 a trial of faith or as a chastisement. 
 
 Had four years then sufficed to take all the virtue 
 out of the work of Jesus ? Certainly not. There 
 were still edifying families, in particular that of
 
 44 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 Stephanas, who was entirely devoted to the service 
 of the Church and was a model of evangelical activity. 
 But the conditions of Christian society were already 
 much changed. The little Church of saints of the 
 latter day was thrown into a corrupted, frivolous 
 world very little given to mysticism. There were 
 already bad Christians. The time was gone by when 
 Ananias and Sapphira were struck dead for having 
 kept back some little property. The sacred feast of 
 Jesus had become a debauch, and the earth did 
 not open to devour him who went out drunk from 
 the table of the Lord. 
 
 These evil tidings reached Paul one upon another, 
 and filled him with sadness. The first rumours only 
 mentioned some faults against good morale. Paul 
 wrote on this subject an epistle that we no longer 
 have. He therein forbade to the faithful all communi- 
 cation with persons whose life was not pure. Some 
 ill-intentioned men affected to give to this order a 
 meaning which rendered it impossible to be executed. 
 " Are we at Corinth then," said they, " to have com- 
 munications with irreproachable people only ? . . . . 
 But what is he thinking of? It is not only from 
 Corinth, it is from the world that we must depart." 
 Paul was obliged to revert to this order, and ex- 
 plain it. 
 
 He knew the divisions which agitated the Church 
 a little later, probably in April, by the brothers whom 
 he called " them which are of the house of Chloe." 
 Just at this moment he thought of leaving Ephesus. 
 Some motives which we do not know detained him 
 there for some time. He sent into Greece before him, 
 with powers equal to his own, his disciple Timothy,
 
 SAINT PAUL. 45 
 
 accompanied by several brothers, amongst others a 
 certain Erastus, probably another than the treasurer 
 of the town of Corinth, who bore the same name. 
 Although the principal object of their journey was 
 Corinth, they passed through Macedonia. Paul in- 
 tended to take this journey himself, and, according 
 to his custom, he caused his disciples to precede him 
 to announce his arrival. 
 
 Shortly after the message of Chloe, and before 
 Timothy and his companion had arrived at Corinth, 
 new envoys from this town came to find Paul. 
 These were the deacon Stephanas, Fortunatus, and 
 Achaicus, three men very dear to the Apostle. 
 Stephanas was, according to the Apostle's expres- 
 sion, "the first fruits of Achaia," and since the 
 departure of Aquila and Priscilla, he had held the 
 first rank in the community, or at least in the party 
 of Paul. The envoys brought a letter asking for 
 explanations with regard to the former Epistle of 
 Paul, and for solutions of divers cases of conscience, 
 in particular touching marriage, the meats sacrificed 
 to idols, spiritual exercises, and the gifts of the 
 Holy Ghost, The three envoys added by word of 
 mouth details of the abuses which had been intro- 
 duced. The annoyance of the Apostle was extreme, 
 and, regardless of consolation that the pious mes- 
 sengers gave him, he lost his temper in the pre- 
 sence of such feebleness aud levity. He had fixed his 
 departure for after Easter, which was probably two 
 months later on ; but he wished to pass through 
 Macedonia. He could not even now be at Corinth 
 in less than three months. He immediately re- 
 solved to write to the sick Church, and to reply
 
 46 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 to the questions they had addressed to him. As 
 Timothy was not with him, he took as a secretary 
 a disciple unknown to the others, named Sosthenes, 
 and, by a delicate attention, he wished that the 
 name of this disciple should figure in the subscrip- 
 tion of the letter along with his own. 
 
 He began by an appeal to concord, and, under 
 the appearance of humility, by an apology for his 
 preaching, 
 
 "Now this I say, that every one of you saith, 
 I am of Paul ; and I of Apollos ; and I of Cephas ; 
 and I of Christ. Is Christ divided ? was Paul cruci- 
 fied for you ? or were ye baptised in the name of 
 Paul ? I thank God that I baptised none of you 
 but Crispus and Gaius ; lest any should say that 
 I baptised in mine own name. And I baptised also 
 the household of Stephanas : besides I know not 
 whether I baptised any other. For Christ sent me 
 not to baptise, but to preach the gospel : not with 
 wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be 
 made of none effect. For the preaching of the cross 
 is to them that perish, foolishness ; but unto us 
 which are saved it is the power of God. For it 
 is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, I 
 will bring to nothing the understanding of the 
 prudent. Where is the wise ? where is the scribe 1 
 where is the disputer of this world ? hath not God 
 made foolish the wisdom of this world ? For after 
 that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom 
 knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of 
 preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews 
 require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. 
 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a
 
 SAINT PAUL. 47 
 
 stumbling-block, and uiito the Greeks foolishness ; 
 but unto them which are called, both Jews and 
 Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of 
 God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than 
 men ; and the weakness of God is stronger than 
 men. For ye see your calling, brethren, how that 
 many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, 
 not many noble are called : but God hath chosen the 
 foolish things of the world to confound the wise ; 
 and God hath chosen the weak things of the world 
 to confound them which are mighty ; and base 
 things of the world, and things which are despised, 
 hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, 
 to bring to nought things that are : that no flesh 
 should glory in his presence. . . . 
 
 " And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not 
 with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring 
 unto you the testimony of God. For I determined 
 not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ 
 and him crucified. And I was with you in weak- 
 ness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my 
 speech and my preaching was not with enticing 
 words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the 
 Spirit and of power ; that your faith should not 
 stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of 
 God. Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that 
 are perfect ; yet not the wisdom of this world, nor 
 of the princes of this world, that come to nought 
 but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even 
 the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the 
 world unto our glory ; which none of the princes of 
 this world knew ; for had they known it they would 
 not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is
 
 48 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither 
 have entered into the heart of man, the things 
 which God hath, prepared for them that love him. 
 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit : 
 for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep 
 things of God. For what man knoweth the things 
 of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him ? 
 even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the 
 Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the 
 spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God ; 
 that we might know the things that are freely 
 given to us of God. Which things also we speak, 
 not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but 
 which the Holy Ghost teacheth ; comparing spiritual 
 things with spiritual. But the natural man receiv- 
 eth not the things of the Spirit of God : for they 
 are foolishness unto him : neither can he know them, 
 because they are spiritually discerned. But he that 
 is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is 
 judged of no man. . . . 
 
 " And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as 
 unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto 
 babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not 
 with meat; for hitherto ye were not able to bear 
 it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet 
 carnal : for whereas there is among you envying, 
 and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and 
 walk as men ? For when one saith, I am of Paul, 
 and another, I am of A polios, are ye not carnal ? 
 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but minis- 
 ters by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to 
 every man ? I have planted, Apollos watered ; but 
 God gave the increase. So then neither is he that
 
 SAINT PAUL. 49 
 
 planteth anything, neither he that watereth, but God, 
 that giveth the increase. . . For we are labourers 
 together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye 
 are God's building. According to the grace of God 
 which is given unto me, as a wise master-builder, 
 I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth 
 thereon. But let every man take heed how he 
 buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no 
 man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. . . . 
 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and 
 that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you ? . . . Let no 
 man deceive himself. If any among you seemeth 
 to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that 
 he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is 
 foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh 
 the wise in their own craftiness. And again, The 
 Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they 
 are vain. Therefore let no man glory in men. For 
 all things are yours ; whether Paul, or Apollos, or 
 Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things 
 present, or things to come, all are yours; and ye 
 are Christ's ; and Christ is God's. 
 
 " Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers 
 of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. . . . 
 But with me it is a very small thing that I should 
 be judged of you, or of man's judgment ; yea, I 
 judge not mine own self. . . but he that judgeth me 
 is the Lord. . . . Therefore judge nothing before 
 the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring 
 to light the hidden things of darkness, and will 
 make manifest the counsels of the hearts : and then 
 shall every man have praise of God. 
 
 " And these things ) brethren, I have in a figure 
 VOL. II. D
 
 50 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes, 
 that no one of you be puffed up for one against 
 another. . . . Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye 
 have reigned as kings without us : and I would to 
 God ye did reign, that we also might reign with 
 you. For I think that God hath set forth us, the 
 Apostles, last, as it were, appointed to death : for 
 we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to 
 angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, 
 but ye are wise in Christ ; we are weak, but ye are 
 strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised. 
 Even unto this present hour Ave both hunger, and 
 thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have 
 no certain dwelling-place ; and labour, working 
 with our own hands ; being reviled, we bless ; being 
 persecuted, we suffer it ; being defamed, we entreat ; 
 we are made as the filth of the world, and are the 
 offscourings of all things unto this day ! 
 
 " I write not these things to shame you, but as 
 my beloved sons I warn you. For though ye have 
 ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not 
 many fathers ; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten 
 you through the gospel. Wherefore I beseech you, 
 be ye followers of me. For this cause have I sent 
 unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and 
 faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into re- 
 membrance of my ways, which be in Christ, as I 
 teach everywhere in every Church. Now some are 
 puffed up, as though I would not come to yon. But 
 I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will 
 know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, 
 but the power. For the Kingdom of God is not in 
 word, but in power. What will ye ? Shall I come
 
 SAINT PAUL. 51 
 
 unto you with a rod, or in love, and in the spirit of 
 meekness '? " 
 
 After this general apology, the Apostle approaches 
 each of the abuses which he had had pointed out to 
 him, and the questions which had been put to him. 
 It is for the incestuous an extreme seventy. 
 
 "It is reported commonly among you that there 
 is fornication among you, and such fornication as is 
 not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one 
 should have his father's wife. And ye are puffed 
 up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath 
 done this deed might be taken away from you. For 
 I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have 
 judged already, as though I were present, concern- 
 ing him that hath so done this deed. In the name 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered to- 
 gether, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, to deliver such an one unto Satan for 
 the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be 
 saved in the name of the Lord Jesus." 
 
 There can be no doubt : it is a sentence of death 
 that Paul pronounces. Terrible legends were circu- 
 lated as to the effect of the excommunications. It 
 is to be remembered, besides, that Paul seriously 
 believed in the working of miracles. By only deliv- 
 ering to Satan the body of the blameable, he doubt- 
 less believed himself to be indulgent. 
 
 The order that Paul had given in a preceding 
 letter (lost) to the Corinthians, to avoid the shame- 
 less, had brought about mistakes. Paul developed 
 his idea. The Christian has not to judge the world 
 without, but to be severe only upon those who are 
 within. A single spot on the purity of life ought
 
 52 SAINT PAUL; 
 
 to be sufficient to exclude one from the Christian 
 society; it is forbidden so much as to eat with the 
 delinquent. Thus it may be seen in a convent, a 
 congregation of pious persons, occupied in watching 
 and judging each other, much more than in a church, 
 in the modern sense of the word. The whole 
 church, in the eyes of the apostle, is responsible 
 for the faults committed within its bosom. This 
 exaggeration of severity had its reason for its exist- 
 ence in ancient society, which sinned in so many 
 other ways. But we feel that such an idea ot 
 sanctity is narrow-minded, illiberal, contrary to the 
 morality of him whom we formerly called " a good 
 fellow;" a morality whose fundamental principle 
 is to busy oneself as little as possible with other 
 people's conduct. The question is only to know if 
 society can exist without censuring bad manners, 
 and if the future will not bring back something 
 analogous to the ecclesiastical discipline that modern 
 liberalism has so jealously suppressed. 
 
 The ideal type of moral perfection, according to 
 Paul, is a man gentle, honest, chaste, sober, charit- 
 able, unfettered by riches. Humility of condition 
 and poverty are almost necessary for one who 
 would be a Christian. The words " miser, greedy 
 one, thief," are nearly synonymous ; at least the 
 vices which they designate are liable to the same 
 reproach. The antipathy of this little world for the 
 great profane society was strange. Paul, following 
 in that the Jewish tradition, reproves as an act un- 
 worthy of the faithful, any reference to the courts 
 of law. 
 
 "Dare any of you, having a matter against
 
 SAINT PAUL. 53 
 
 another, go to law before the unjust, and not before 
 the saints ? Do ye not know that the saints shall 
 judge the world? and if the world shall be judged 
 by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest 
 matters ? . . . Know ye not that we shall judge angels ? 
 How much more things that pertain to this life ? If 
 then ye have judgments of things pertaining to the 
 life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in this 
 church. I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there 
 is not a wise man among you ? No, not one that 
 shall be able to judge between his brethren ? But 
 brother goeth to law with brother, and that before 
 the unbelievers. Now therefore there is utterly a 
 fault among you, because ye go to law one with 
 another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? Why 
 do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded'? 
 Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your 
 brethren ! " 
 
 The relations of the sexes were a matter of the 
 gravest difficulty. The apostle was occupied with 
 them constantly, when he wrote to the Corinthians. 
 The coldness of Paul gives to his morality some- 
 thing sensible, but at the same time monastic and 
 narrow. The sexual attraction is in his eyes an evil, 
 a shame. Since it cannot be suppressed, it must be 
 regulated. Nature, for Saint Paul, is evil, and grace 
 consists in contradicting and mastering it. He has, 
 nevertheless, beautiful expressions as to the respect 
 that man owes to his body : God will raise it. the 
 bodies of the faithful are the temples of the Holy 
 Ghost, the members of Christ. What a crime then 
 it is to take the members of Christ to make them 
 the members of a harlot ! Absolute chastity is most
 
 54 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 valuable, virginity is the perfect state ; marriage has 
 been established as a lesser evil. But, from the time 
 when it is contracted, the two parties have equal 
 rights over each other. The interruption of conjugal 
 relations ought only to be admitted for a time and in 
 view of religious duties. Divorce is forbidden, save 
 in the case of mixed marriages, where the unbeliever 
 first retires. 
 
 Marriages contracted between Christians and un- 
 believers may be continued. " For the unbelieving 
 husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbeliev- 
 ing wife is sanctified by the husband," in the same 
 manner that the children are sanctified by the 
 parents. One can, moreover, hope that the faithful 
 spouse will convert the unfaithful. But new mar- 
 riages can only be between Christians. All these 
 questions will present themselves under the most 
 singular light, since the end of the world was be- 
 lieved to be at hand. In the state of crisis which 
 existed, pregnancy and the begetting of children 
 appeared anomalies. There is little marrying in 
 the sect, and one of the most untoward consequences 
 for those who had associated these was the impossi- 
 bility of establishing their daughters. Many mur- 
 mured, finding that thing unbecoming and contrary 
 to custom. To prevent greater evils, and out of 
 regard for the fathers of families, who had on their 
 hands marriageable daughters, Paul permitted mar- 
 riage, but he did not conceal the contempt and dis- 
 gust which he had for that estate, which he found 
 disagreeable, full of trouble, and humiliating. 
 
 " The time is short ; it remaineth, that both they 
 that have wives be as though they had none ; and
 
 SAINT PAUL. 55 
 
 they that weep, as though they wept not ; and they 
 that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not ; and they 
 that buy, as though they possessed not : and they 
 that use this world, as not abusing it, for the fashion 
 of this world passeth away. But I would have you 
 without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth 
 for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may 
 please the Lord : but he that is married careth for 
 the things of the world, how he may please his wife. 
 There is a difference also between a wife and a virgin 
 The unmarried woman careth for the things of the 
 Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in 
 spirit : but she that is married careth for the things 
 of the world, how she may please her husband. And 
 this I speak for your own profit ; not that I may cast a 
 snare upon you, but for that which is comely, and that 
 ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction." 
 
 Religious exaltation always produces such senti- 
 ments. Orthodox Judaism, which, however, showed 
 itself opposed to celibacy, and which treated marri- 
 age as a duty, had doctors who reasoned like Paul. 
 
 / * 
 
 " Why should I marry ? " said Rabbi ben Azai. " I am 
 in love with the Law ; the human race can be per- 
 petuated by others." Later on, as will appear, Paul 
 expressed upon this subject much juster thoughts, 
 and saw in the union of man and wife a symbol of 
 the love of Christ for his Church ; he placed as the 
 supreme law of marriage the love of the man on the 
 one hand, and the submission of the woman on the 
 other ; he recalled the admirable chapter of Genesis 
 in which the mysterious attraction of the two sexes is 
 explained by a philosophical fable of a divine beauty. 
 The question of the meats offered to idols is re-
 
 56 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 solved by St Paul with great good sense. The 
 Judaso Christians held that total abstinence from 
 such meats was a duty, and it appears that it had 
 been agreed at the Council of Jerusalem that they 
 should be generally forbidden. Paul has broader 
 views. According to him, the circumstance of a 
 piece of meat having been part of a sacrificed beast 
 is insignificant. The false gods being nothing, the 
 meat which is offered to them is not defiled. Any 
 meat exposed in the market may be bought freely, 
 without there being any need for asking questions 
 as to the origin of each morsel. A reserve, however, 
 ought to be made : there are scrupulous consciences 
 which take that for idolatry ; and the enlightened 
 man ought to be guided not only by principle, but 
 also by charity. He ought to forbid himself the 
 things which are permitted, if weak brethren are 
 scandalised by it. Knowledge exalts, but charity 
 edifies. " All things are lawful unto you, but all 
 things are not expedient ; but all this edify not. 
 Let no man seek his own, but every man another's 
 wealth." It is one of the favourite ideas of Paul, and 
 the explanation of several episodes of his life, in 
 which one sees him subdue himself, out of regard for 
 timorous persons, to observances which he did not 
 consider of the least value. *' If the meat that I eat," 
 says he, " innocent as it is, scandalizes my brother, I 
 will renounce eating it for ever." 
 
 Some faithful people, however, went a little further. 
 Constrained by family relationships, they took part 
 in the festivities which followed the sacrifices, and 
 whicji took place in the temples. Paul blames this 
 custom, and, according to a method of reasoning
 
 SAINT PAUL. 57 
 
 familiar to him, starts on a different principle from 
 that which he had just before admitted. The gods 
 of the nations are devils; to participate in their 
 sacrifices, is to have commerce with devils. One 
 cannot at the same time participate at the table of 
 the Lord and at the table of devils, or drink the cup 
 of the Lord and the cup of devils. The feasts which 
 are held in the houses are not of the same import- 
 ance : it is not necessary to go there, nor to disquiet 
 oneself about the providing of meats ; if you are 
 told that any meat has been sacrificed to the gods, 
 from a scandal which must result, abstain from it. 
 In genera], avoid that which can be a stumbling- 
 block for the Jew, the Pagan, the Christian ; subor- 
 dinate in practice one's own liberty to that of others, 
 all the while maintaining one's rights ; in everything 
 seek to please all. 
 
 " Follow my example," he continues. " Am I not 
 an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus 
 Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord? 
 If I be not an apostle unto others, yet, doubtless, I 
 am to you : for the seal of mine apostleship are ye 
 in the Lord. Mine answer to them that do examine 
 me is this, Have we not power to eat and to 
 drink ? Have we not power to lead about a sister, 
 a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brethren 
 of the Lord, and Cephas? Or I only and Barnabas, 
 have not we power to forbear working ? Who goeth 
 a warfare anytime at his own charges ? who planteth 
 a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or 
 who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of 
 the flock ? ... If we have sown unto you spiritual 
 things, is it a great thing that ye shall reap your
 
 58 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 carnal things ? If others be partakers of this power 
 over yon, are not we rather ? Nevertheless, we have 
 not used this power ; but surfer all things, lest we 
 should hinder the gospel of Christ. . . . What is my 
 reward then "? Verily, that, when I preach the 
 gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without 
 charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel. 
 And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might 
 gain the Jews ; to them that are under the law, as 
 under the law ; to them that are without law, as 
 without law (being not without law to God, but 
 under the law to Christ), that I might gain them 
 that are without law. To the weak became I as 
 weak, that I might gain the weak : I am made all 
 things to all men, that I might by all means save 
 some. . . . Know ye not that they which run in a 
 race run all, but one receiveth the prize. So run, 
 that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth 
 for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now 
 they do it to obtain a corruptible crown ; but we an 
 incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly ; 
 so fight I ; not as one that beateth the air : but I 
 keep under my body, and bring it into subjection : 
 lest that by any means, when I have preached to 
 others, I myself should be a castaway." 
 
 As for the question of the place of women in the 
 church, we can easily see that the Apostle will 
 decide it with his unyielding harshness. He blames 
 the bold efforts of the Corinthian women, and recalls 
 them to the practice of other communities. Women 
 ought not to speak or even ask questions in church. 
 The gift of tongues is not for them. They ought 
 to be submissive to their husbands. If they wish to
 
 SAINT PAUL. 59 
 
 know anything, let them ask their husbands at 
 home. It is also shameful for a woman to appear 
 Avithout a veil in church, unless she be shorn or 
 shaven. The veil is moreover necessary " because 
 of the angels." It was supposed that the angels 
 present at divine service are capable of being 
 tempted by the sight of the hair of women, or at 
 least of being distracted by this sight from their 
 duty, which is to bear to God the prayers of 
 the saints. " The head of every man is Christ ; 
 and the head of the Avoman is the man ; and the 
 head of Christ is God. . . . For a man indeed 
 ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is 
 the image and glory of God ; but the Avoman is 
 the glory of the man. For the man is not of the 
 Avoman ; but the woman of the man . . . but all 
 things of God." 
 
 The related observations on the " Supper of the 
 Lord" have an immense historical interest. This 
 feast became more and more the essential part of 
 Christian Avorship. More and more also it spread 
 abroad the idea that Jesus himself Avas eating there. 
 That, Avithout doubt, Avas metaphorical; but the 
 metaphor in the Christian language of this time 
 Avas not openly distinct from the reality. In every 
 case this sacrament Avas in a great degree a sacra- 
 ment of union and of loA r e. 
 
 " The cup of blessing Avhich Ave bless, is it not the 
 communion of the blood of Christ ? The bread 
 Avhich we break, is it not the communion of the 
 body of Christ ? For Ave being many are one 
 bread, and one body : for we are all partakers 
 of that one bread. Behold Israel after the flesh :
 
 60 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 are not they which eat of the sacrifices par- 
 takers of the altar? . . . For I have received of 
 the Lord that which also 1 delivered uuto you. 
 That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he 
 was betrayed : And when he had given thanks, he 
 brake it, and said, ' Take, eat : this is my body, which 
 is broken for you : this do in remembrance of me.' 
 After the same manner also he took the cup, when 
 he had supped, saying, ' This cup is the new testa- 
 ment in my blood : this do ye, as oft as ye drink it 
 in remembrance of me.' For as often as ye eat this 
 bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's 
 death till he come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat 
 this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, 
 shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 
 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of 
 that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth 
 and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damna- 
 tion to himself, not discerning the Lord's body." 
 
 The penalty incurred by not acknowledging the 
 high sanctity of the Supper of the Lord is not 
 eternal damnation there are temporal trials, or even 
 death death being often an expiation which saves 
 the soul. " There are perhaps," adds the Apostle, 
 " among you many feeble men, sick, and numerous 
 deaths. If we judge ourselves, we shall not be 
 judged. But the judgments of the Lord are cor- 
 rections which preserve us from being judged with 
 the world," that is to say, condemned in eternity. 
 For the moment the Apostle limits himself to ordain- 
 ing that those who corne to the agapes shall wait for 
 each other, that they must eat at home to satisfy 
 their appetite, and that they must guard the mystical
 
 SAINT PAUL. (31 
 
 signifiance of the Lord's Supper. He will " set the 
 rest in order " when he comes to them. 
 
 The Apostle then traces the theory of the mani- 
 festations of the Spirit, Under the badly-defining 
 names of " gifts," " services " (offices), and " powers," 
 he arranges thirteen functions, constituting all the 
 hierarchy and all the forms of supernatural activity. 
 Three functions are openly designated and sub- 
 ordinated to each other. They are, 1st, the function 
 of an apostle ; 2d, that of a prophet ; 3d, that of a 
 teacher. Then come gifts, services, or powers which, 
 without conferring so elevated a permanent char- 
 acter, serve for perpetual manifestations of the 
 Spirit. These are, 1st, the word of wisdom ; 2d, 
 the word of knowledge ; 3d, faith ; 4th, the gifts of 
 healing ; 5th. the power of working miracles ; 6th, 
 the discerning of spirits ; 7th, the gift of speaking 
 in divers kinds of tongues ; 8th, the interpretations 
 of tongues thus spoken ; 9th, the works of charity ; 
 10th, the cares of administration. All these functions 
 are good, useful, necessary ; they ought neither to 
 undervalue nor to envy each other. All have the 
 same source. All the " gifts " come from the Holy 
 Ghost, all the " services " come out from Christ, all 
 the " powers " come from God. The body has several 
 members, and yet is one ; the division of functions 
 is necessary in the Church as in the body. These 
 functions can no more be divided from each other 
 than the eye can be divided from the hand, or the 
 head from the feet. All jealousy between them is 
 therefore misplaced. Without doubt they are not 
 equal in dignity, but they are justly the most feeble 
 members which are the most necessary ; they are
 
 62 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 the feeblest members which are the most honoured, 
 the most carefully surrounded, God having wished 
 to establish in this way a compensation, so that there 
 might be neither schism nor jealousy in the body. 
 The members ought to be careful of each other ; if 
 one suffers, all suffer. The advantages and the glory 
 of one are the advantages and the glory of the other. 
 To what good besides are these rivalries ? There is 
 a way open to all, a gift which has an immense 
 superiority over all others. 
 
 Borne along by a truly prophetical inspiration 
 beyond the confused ideas and blundering which he 
 had just exposed, Paul then wrote this admirable 
 page, the only one in all Christian literature which 
 can be compared to the discourses of Jesus. 
 
 " Though I speak with the tongues of men and of 
 angels, and have not charity, I am become as sound- 
 ing brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have 
 the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries 
 and all knowledge ; and though I have all faith, so 
 that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, 
 I am nothing. And though 1 bestow all my goods 
 to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be 
 burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. 
 Charity suffereth long, and is kind ; charity envieth 
 not ; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 
 doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her 
 own, is not easily provoked, think eth no evil ; 
 rejoieeth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth ; 
 beareth all things,' believeth all things, hopeth all 
 things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth ; 
 but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail ; 
 whether there be tongues, they shall cease ; whether
 
 SAINT PAUL. b3 
 
 there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we 
 know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when 
 that which is perfect is come, then that which is in 
 part shall be done away. When I was a child, I 
 spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought 
 as a child ; but when I became a man, I put away 
 childish things. For now we see through a glass 
 darkly, but then face to face ; now I know in part, 
 but then shall I know even as also I am known. 
 And now abideth faith, hope, and charity, these 
 three ; but the greatest of these is charity." 
 
 Versed in experimental psychology, Paul went 
 a little further. He had said, "Brethren, leave 
 illusions. These inarticulate stammerings, these 
 ecstasies, these miracles, are the dreams of your 
 infancy. That which is not visionary that which 
 is eternal is what I have just preached to you." 
 But then if he had not been of his time, he would 
 not have done what he did. Is it not already a 
 great deal to have indicated this capital distinction 
 of eternal religious truths, which are infallible, and 
 of those which, like the dreams of the first age, 
 come to nought? Has he not done enough for 
 immortality by having written this sentence, " The 
 letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life?" Woe to 
 him who would stop on the surface, and who, for 
 the sake of two or three visionary gifts, would for- 
 get that in this strange enumeration among the 
 diaconies and the charismata of the primitive Church, 
 are the care of those who suffer, the administration 
 of charitable funds, reciprocal assistance! Paul 
 enumerates these duties in the last place, and as 
 humble things. But his piercing glance can still
 
 64 SAINT PAUL 
 
 read the truth here. " Take care," says he, " that 
 our humblest members are justly the most honoured." 
 Prophets, speakers with tongues, doctors, you will 
 pass. Deacons, devoted widows, administrators of 
 the good of the Church, you will remain : you build 
 for eternity." 
 
 In the laying down of rules relative to spiritual 
 exercises, Paul shows his practical spirit. He puts 
 preaching highly above the gift of tongues. Without 
 absolutely denying the reality of the gift of tongues, 
 he makes on this subject reflections which are equi- 
 valent to blaming it. The gift of tongues does not 
 speak to men ; it speaks to God. No one can under- 
 stand it; it only edifies him who is speaking. Preach- 
 ing, on the contrary, serves for the edification and 
 consolation of all. The gift of tongues is only good 
 if it be interpreted that is to say, if other faithful 
 people specially endowed for that intervene, and 
 know that they hold the sense of it. By itself, it is 
 like indistinct music ; we hear the sound of the flute 
 or cithara, but know not the piece that these instru- 
 ments are playing. It is like a badly-blown trumpet : 
 it makes a great noise, but as it says nothing clear, 
 nobody obeys the uncertain signal or prepares for 
 the combat. If the tongue does not give clearly 
 articulated sounds, it does but beat the air ; a dis- 
 course in a tongue that no one understands has no 
 meaning. Thus much of the gift of tongues is with- 
 out interpretation. Moreover, the gift of tongues 
 in itself is barren ; the meaning of it remains without 
 fruit. 
 
 " Else when them shalt bless with the Spirit, how 
 shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned
 
 SAINT PAUL. 65 
 
 say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he under- 
 standest not what thou sayest? For thou verily 
 givest thanks well, but the other is not edified. I 
 thank my God I speak with tongues more than ye 
 all ; yet in the Church I had rather speak five words 
 with my understanding, that by my voice I might 
 teach others also, than ten thousand words in an 
 unknown tongue. Brethren, be not children in 
 understanding; howbeit in malice be ye children, 
 but in understanding be men. ... If therefore the 
 whole Church be come together into one place, and 
 all speak with tongues, and there come in those that 
 are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that 
 ye are mad ? But if all prophesy, and there come 
 in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is 
 convinced of all, he is judged of all ; and thus are 
 the secrets of the heart made manifest ; and so fall- 
 ing down on his face he will worship God, and 
 report that God is in you of a truth. How is it 
 then, brethren ? When ye come together, every one 
 of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, 
 hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all 
 things be done unto edifying. If any man speak in 
 an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most 
 by three, and that by course ; and let one interpret. 
 But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence 
 in the Church, and let him speak to himself and to 
 God. Let the prophets speak two or three, and 
 let the other judge. If anything be revealed to 
 another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace. 
 For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may 
 learn and all may be comforted. And the spirits of 
 the prophets are subject to the prophets. For God 
 VOL, II, E
 
 66 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all 
 churches of the saints. . . . Wherefore, brethren, covet 
 to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues. 
 Let all things be done decently and in order." 
 
 Some strange noises, which were called the gift 
 of tongues, and in which were mixed Greek, Syriac, 
 the words anathema maran atha, the names of "Jesus, 
 of Lord," greatly embarrassed simple men. Paul, 
 when consulted on this subject, practised what was 
 called " the discerning of spirits," and to distinguish 
 in this confused jargon what might come from the 
 Spirit and what might not. 
 
 The fundamental dogma of the primitive Church, 
 the resurrection, and the approaching end of the 
 world, hold a considerable place in this epistle. 
 The Apostle returns to it eight or nine different 
 times. The renewal will be by fire. The saints 
 will be the judges of the world, even of the angels. 
 The resurrection, which of all Christian dogmas was 
 the most repugnant to the Greek spirit, is the object 
 of particular attention. Many, whilst admitting the 
 resurrection of Jesus, his approaching appearance, 
 and the restoration that he was about to accomplish, 
 did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. 
 When there was a death in the community, it was 
 to them a scandal and an embarrassment. Paul had 
 no difficulty in showing them their illogical position : 
 " If the dead be not raised, neither is Christ raised 
 any the more all hope is vain." Christians have 
 much more cause to complain than other men ; the 
 truly wise are those who say, " Let us eat and drink, 
 for to-morrow we die." The resurrection of Jesus 
 is the guarantee of the resurrection of all. Jesus
 
 SAINT PAUL. 67 
 
 has made the first step, his disciples will follow him 
 in the day of his glorious manifestation. Then will 
 begin the reign of Christ : all other power but his 
 will be destroyed. Death will be the last enemy 
 that he will vanquish: all will be submitted to him, 
 God alone excepted, who has submitted all things 
 to him. The Son, in fact, will be eager to render 
 homage to God, and to submit himself to him, that 
 God may be all in all. 
 
 " But some man will say, How are the dead raised 
 up? and with what body do they come? Thou fool, 
 that which thou sowest is not quickened except it 
 die : And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not 
 that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance 
 of wheat, or of some other grain : but God giveth it 
 a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his 
 own body. All flesh is not the same flesh: but there 
 is one kind of flesh of man, another flesh of beasts, 
 another of fishes, and another of birds. There are 
 also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial : but the 
 glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the 
 terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, 
 and another glory of the moon, and another glory 
 of the stars : for one star differeth from another in 
 glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It 
 is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption ; 
 it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory ; it is sown 
 in weakness, it is raised in power : It is sown a 
 natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. . . . Be- 
 hold, I shew you a mystery ; we shall not all sleep, 
 but we shall be changed, in a moment, in the twink- 
 ling of an eye, at the last trump : for the trumpet 
 shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incor-
 
 68 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 ruptible, and we shall be changed. For this cor- 
 ruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal 
 must put on immortality. So when this corruptible 
 shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall 
 have put on immortality, then shall be brought to 
 pass that saying that is written, Death is swallowed 
 up in victory. death, where is thy sting? 
 grave, where is thy victory ? . . . But thanks be to 
 God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord 
 Jesus Christ." 
 
 Alas! the Christ came not. All died one after 
 another. Paul, who was believed to be one of those 
 who would live till near the great appearance, died 
 in his turn. We shall see how neither faith nor hope 
 stopped for that. No experience, however desolat- 
 ing it may be, appears decisive to humanity, when 
 it is concerned with these sacred dogmas in which 
 it finds, not without reason, its consolation and joy. 
 It is easy for us to find that after a time that these 
 hopes were exaggerated ; it were well, nevertheless, 
 that those who have partaken of them had not been 
 so clear sighted. Paul tells us candidly that, if he had 
 not counted upon the resurrection, he would have 
 led the life of a peaceable citizen, wholly occupied 
 with his vulgar pleasures. Some sages of the first 
 order Marcus Aurelius, Spinoza, for example have 
 gone further, and have practised the highest virtue 
 without hope of reward. But the crowd is never 
 heroic. It has needed a generation of men per- 
 suaded that they would not die, it has needed the 
 attraction of an immense immediate reward, to draw 
 from man that enormous sum of devotion and of 
 sacrifice which has founded Christianity. The great
 
 SAINT PAUL. 69 
 
 chimera of the approaching- kingdom of God has 
 been thus the maternal and creative idea of the new 
 religion. We shall soon assist at the transformation 
 that the necessity of things will bring about in this 
 belief. About the years 54-58 it had attained its 
 highest degree of intensity. All the letters of Paul 
 written about this time are, so to speak, impregnated 
 with it. The two Syriac words Maran atha " The 
 Lord is at hand," were the passwords amongst 
 Christians, the lively and short expression that 
 they used to each other to encourage one another 
 in their hopes. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 CONTINUATION OF THE THIRD JOURNEY OP PAUL THE 
 GREAT CONTRIBUTION DEPARTURE FROM EPHESUS. 
 
 PAUL, according to his habit, added to the end of 
 the letter : 
 
 " The salutation of me, Paul, with mine own hand. 
 If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him 
 be anathema. MARAN ATHA." 
 
 He confided his letter to Stephanus, Fortunatus, 
 and Achai'cus, who had brought that of the Corin- 
 thians to him. Paul thought the three deputies 
 would reach Corinth in nearly the same time as 
 Timothy. He feared that the youth and timidity of 
 his disciple were badly received in the mocking 
 society of Corinth, and that they did not accord 
 him enough authority. The Apostle recommended
 
 70 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 them in the most pressing way to treat Timothy as 
 himself, and expressed a desire to see him again as 
 soon as possible. He did not wish to leave Ephesus 
 without his valuable companion, whose presence had 
 become a sort of necessity to him. 
 
 Paul strongly urged Apollos to join Stephanas, 
 and to return to Corinth, but Apollos wished rather 
 to postpone his departure. From this moment we 
 lose sight of him. Tradition, however, continues to 
 regard him as a disciple of Paul. It is probable, in 
 truth, that he continued his apostolic career, putting 
 to the service of the Christian doctrine his Jewish 
 erudition and his elegant style. 
 
 Paul, however, revolved in his mind boundless 
 projects, in which he believed, according to his con- 
 stant habit, that he saw the dictates of the Spirit. 
 There happened to Paul, what often happens to 
 persons accustomed to a species of activity. He 
 could not leave what had been the occupation of his 
 life. Travelling had become necessary to him : he 
 sought occasions for it. He wished to revisit Mace- 
 donia, Achaia, then to visit Jerusalem anew, then to 
 set out to try new missions in countries farther off, 
 and not yet reached by the faith, such as Italy and 
 Spain. The idea of going to Rome tormented him. 
 " I must see Rome," he often said. He foresaw 
 that the centre of Christianity would one day be 
 there, or at least that decisive events would happen 
 there. The journey to Jerusalem was another pro- 
 ject which greatly pre-occupied him for more than 
 a year. 
 
 To calm the jealous feelings of the Church of Jeru- 
 salem, and to fulfil one of the conditions of the peace
 
 SA.INT PAUL. 71 
 
 which was signed at the time of the interview of the 
 year 51, Paul had prepared a great contribution in 
 the Churches of Asia Minor and of Greece. We have 
 already seen that one of the bonds which marked 
 the dependence of the provincial Churches on those 
 of Judaea, was the obligation of alms. The Church 
 of Jerusalem, partly through the fault of those who 
 composed it, was always in distress. Mendicants 
 abounded there. In the earliest ages, the leading 
 characteristic of Jewish society was that there was 
 neither poverty nor riches. For two or three cen- 
 turies, there had been at Jerusalem rich, and conse- 
 quently poor, people. The true Jew, turning his 
 back on Gentile civilisation, became day by day more 
 destitute of resources. The public works of Agrippa 
 II. had filled the town with starving masons ; build- 
 ings were demolished merely for the sake of not 
 leaving thousands of workmen without work. The 
 Apostles and their companions suffered like everyone 
 else by this state of things. It was necessary that 
 the suffering Churches, active, laborious, should save 
 these holy men from dying of hunger. Whilst sup- 
 porting impatiently the pretensions of the brethren 
 of Judaea, their supremacy and their titles of nobi- 
 lity were not doubted in the provinces. Paul had for 
 them the greatest regard. " You are their debtors," 
 said he to his faithful ones ; " for if the Gentiles have 
 been made partakers of spiritual things with the 
 saints of Judaea, their duty is all the more to minister 
 to them in carnal things." It was, moreover, an 
 imitation of the custom which had for a long time 
 obtained among the Jews of all parts of the world, 
 to send contributions to Jerusalem. Paul thought
 
 72 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 a large alms, which he would himself carry to the 
 Apostles, would cause him to be much better received 
 by the old college who pardoned him with so much 
 reluctance for doing great things without their assist- 
 ance, and would be, in the eyes of these hungry 
 nobles, the best mark of submission. How could 
 they treat as schismatics and rebels those who gave 
 such substantial proofs of generosity, and of frater- 
 nal and respectful sentiment ? 
 
 Paul began the gathering about the year 56. He 
 wrote of it first to the Corinthians, then to the 
 Galatians, and without doubt to other Churches. He 
 returned to it in his new letter to the Corinthians. 
 There were in the Churches of Asia Minor and Greece 
 people in easy circumstances, but none with large 
 fortunes. Paul knew the economical habits of the 
 world in which he had lived. The insistauce with 
 which he presents his maintenance as a heavy charge 
 with which he was not desirous to burden the 
 Churches, proves that he himself suffered from the 
 petty embarrassments of poor men, obliged to be 
 careful about trifles. He thought that if, in the 
 Churches of Greece, they waited his arrival before 
 collecting the alms, the business would be a failure. 
 He still wished each one on Sunday to put aside an 
 amount proportioned to his means, for this pious end. 
 This little treasure of charity thus constantly added 
 to, must wait his arrival. Then, the Churches 
 would elect deputies, whom Paul would send with 
 letters of recommendation to bear the offering to 
 Jerusalem. Perhaps even, if the result were worth 
 the trouble, Paul would go in person, and in that 
 case, the deputies would accompany him. So much
 
 SAINT PAUL. 73 
 
 honour, and so much happiness, to go to Jerusalem, 
 to travel in company with Paul, greatly agitated the 
 believers. An emulation in well-doing, skilfully en- 
 couraged by the great master in the art of the di- 
 rection of souls, kept everybody on the alert. This 
 contribution was, during some months, the thought 
 which sustained life, and made all hearts to beat. 
 
 Timothy soon returned to Ephesus, as Paul had 
 desired him. He brought the news later than that 
 of the departure of Stephanas ; but there is reason to 
 believe that he had left the town before Stephanas 
 went there on his return ; for it is by Titus that 
 Paul learnt later the effect that his new letter had 
 produced. The situation at Corinth was always 
 very strained. Paul modified his projects, resolved 
 to touch first at Corinth, to remain there a little 
 time, afterwards to accomplish his journey from 
 Macedonia, to make a second and longer sojourn at 
 Corinth, and afterwards, resuming his first plan, to 
 set out for Jerusalem, accompanied by Corinthian 
 deputies. He believed that he ought to inform the 
 Church of Corinth immediately of his change of 
 resolution. He charged Titus with a message and 
 the most delicate communications for the rebellious 
 Church. The disciple was at the same time to press 
 for the realisation of the contribution that Paul had 
 ordered. Titus, it would seem, at first declined ; he 
 feared, like Timothy, the giddy and inconsiderate 
 temper of the men of Corinth. Paul reassured him, 
 told him what he thought of the qualities of the 
 Corinthians, extenuated their faults, dared to promise 
 him a warm reception. He gave him for a com- 
 panion a " brother " whose name is not known to us.
 
 74 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 Paul was near the last days of his stay at Ephesus ; 
 nevertheless it was agreed that he should Avait in 
 this town for the return of Titus. 
 
 But new trials had just compelled him anew to 
 modify his designs. Few periods in the life of 
 Paul were so troubled as this. For the first time he 
 found the limit overrun, and avowed that all his 
 strength had departed. Jews, Pagans, Christians, 
 hostile to his supremacy, appeared to be sworn to- 
 gether against him. The situation of the Church of 
 Corinth gave him a kind of fever; he sent messenger 
 after messenger to it; he daily changed his resolution 
 with regard to it. Sickness, probably, befell him 
 there: he believed he was about to die. A riot 
 which had taken place at Ephesus still further com- 
 plicated the situation, and obliged him to set out 
 without awaiting the return of Titus. 
 
 The temple of Diana offered a terrible obstacle to 
 the preaching of the new cult. This gigantic estab- 
 lishment, one of the wonders of the world, was 
 the life and reason for existence of the entire town, 
 by its colossal riches, by the number of strangers 
 whom it attracted, by the privileges and celebrity 
 which it conferred upon the city, by the splendid 
 festivals of which it was the occasion, by the trades 
 which it maintained. Superstition had here the most 
 sure of guarantees, that of material interest, never so 
 happy as when it can disguise itself under the pre- 
 text of religion. 
 
 One of the industries of the town of Ephesus was 
 that of the silversmiths, who made little shrines of 
 Diana. Strangers carried away with them these 
 objects, which, placed afterwards upon their tables
 
 SAINT PAtfL. 75 
 
 or in the interior of their houses, represented to them 
 the celebrated sanctuary. A great number of crafts- 
 men were employed in this work. Like all manu- 
 facturers living by the piety of pilgrims, these 
 workmen were very fanatical. To preach a religion 
 opposed to that which had enriched them, appeared 
 to them a piece of frightful sacrilege ; it was as if in 
 our days one were to declaim against the worship 
 of the Virgin at Fourvieres or la Salette. One of the 
 formulas in which were summed up the new doctrine 
 was : " The gods made with hands are not gods." 
 This doctrine had become sufficiently public to cause 
 anxiety to the silversmiths. Their chief, named 
 Demetrius, excited them to a violent manifestation, 
 maintaining that he himself acted before a.ll for the 
 honour of the temple that Asia and the whole world 
 worshipped. The workmen rushed into the streets, 
 crying, " Great is Diana of the Ephesians ! " and in a 
 short time all the town was filled with confusion. 
 
 The crowd was borne along to the theatre, the 
 ordinary place of assembly. The theatre of Ephesus, 
 whose immense outline, despoiled of nearly all its 
 completeness still to be seen on the flanks of Mount 
 Prion was perhaps the greatest in the world. It is 
 estimated that it must have held at least 56,000 
 people. As the immense seats were formed in the 
 side of the hill, an enormous crowd could in an in- 
 stant spread itself over from the top and completely 
 innundate it. The lower part of the theatre, more- 
 over, was surrounded by colonnades and open porti- 
 coes ; and being in the neighbourhood of the forum, 
 of the market, of several gymnasia, the whole place 
 was always open. The tumult was at its height in
 
 76 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 an instant. Two Christians of Thessalonica, Cains 
 and Aristarchus, who had joined Paul at Ephesus and 
 were attached to him as companions, were in the 
 hands of the rioters. Great was the trouble among the 
 Christians. Paul wished to enter into the theatre and 
 harangue the people ; his disciples begged him to do 
 nothing of the kind. Some of the rulers who knew 
 him also persuaded him not to commit such an im- 
 prudence. The most diverse cries were heard in the 
 theatre ; the majority did not know why they had 
 come. There were many Jews, who put forward a 
 certain Alexander, who made a sign with his hand 
 demanding silence ; but when they recognised him 
 as a Jew, the noise was redoubled ; during two hours, 
 no other cry was heard but "Great is Diana of the 
 Ephesians ! " It was with difficulty that the chan- 
 cellor of the town could make them listen to him. 
 He represented the honour of the great Diana as 
 beyond all reproach ; besought Demetrius and his 
 workmen to have a trial of those who he believed 
 had displeased them, begged everybody to return to 
 the legal ways, and showed the consequences that 
 such seditious movements might bring upon the 
 town, if they could not justify themselves in the 
 eyes of the Roman authority. The crowd dispersed. 
 Paul, who had fixed his departure some days from 
 that time, did not wish to prolong this perilous situa- 
 tion. He resolved to take his departure as soon as 
 possible. 
 
 In terms of the letter which he had sent by 
 Titus to the Christians of Corinth, Paul would first 
 of all embark for that town. But he Avas cruelly 
 perplexed : the anxieties that he had because of
 
 SAINT PAUL. 77 
 
 Achaia, rendered him undecided. At the last mo- 
 ment, he again changed his route. The time did not 
 appear to him opportune for a visit to Corinth ; there 
 was much discontent, and a disposition to proceed 
 with vigour. Perhaps his presence might provoke 
 revolt and schism. He did not know what effect his 
 letter had produced, and he was very anxious about 
 it. He believed himself, moreover, to be stronger at a 
 distance than near at hand : his presence impressed 
 people very little ; his letters, on the contrary, were 
 his triumph. In general, men who have a certain 
 timidity, prefer to write rather than speak. He pre- 
 ferred then not to go to Corinth until he had seen 
 Titus again, but rather to write anew to the indocile 
 Church. Thinking that severity is exercised better 
 at a distance, he hoped that his new letter would 
 bring his adversaries to a better state of mind. The 
 Apostle resumed, therefore, his former plan of travel- 
 ling. He summoned the faithful, addressed his fare- 
 wells to them, gave orders that, when Titus should 
 arrive, he should be sent to Troas, and set out for 
 Macedonia, accompanied by Timothy. Perhaps he 
 took, as assistants from thence, the two deputies of 
 P^phesus, Tychicus and Trophirnus, charged to bear 
 to Jerusalem the offerings of Asia. This must have 
 been in the month of June in the year 57. Paul's 
 sojourn at Ephesus had lasted three years. 
 
 During so long an apostleship, he had had time to 
 give to this Church a strength proof against all trials. 
 Ephesus will be henceforth one of the metropolitan 
 cities of Christianity, and the place in which its most 
 important transformations will occur. It was neces- 
 sary, moreover, that this Church should be exclusively
 
 78 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 Pauline, like the Churches of Macedonia, and the 
 Church of Corinth. There were those who worked 
 against him at Ephesus, enemies there were for cer- 
 tain, and in ten years we shall see the Church of 
 Ephesus cited as a model for having known how to 
 do justice to " those who call themselves apostles 
 without being so," for having unmasked their impos- 
 ture, and for the vigorous hate that it bore to the 
 " Nicolaitans,'"' that is to say, to the disciples of Paul. 
 The Judseo-Christian party existed without doubt at 
 Ephesus from the first year. 
 
 Aquila and Priscilla, the assistants of Paul, con- 
 tinued after his departure to be the centre of the 
 Church. Their house, in which the Apostle had 
 dwelt, was the place of meeting of all that was most 
 pious and zealous. Paul was pleased to celebrate 
 everywhere the merits of this respectable couple, to 
 whom he recognised that he owed his life. All the 
 Churches of Paul had for them a great veneration. 
 Epasnetus, the first Ephesian whom they converted, 
 came after them ; then a certain Mary, who appears 
 to have been a deaconess, an active and devoted 
 woman ; then Urbane, whom Paul names his co- 
 operator ; then, Apelles, to whom Paul gives the title 
 "approved in Christ;" then Rufus, "chosen in the 
 Lord," who had an aged mother, whom the Apostle, 
 out of respect, called " My mother." Besides Mary, 
 other women, true sisters of charity, were vowed to 
 the service of the faithful. These were Tryphena 
 and Tryphosa, " who labour in the Lord ; " then 
 Persis, particularly dear to Paul, and who had 
 valiantly worked with him. There were still Amplia- 
 tus or Amplius, the Jew Herodion, Stachys, beloved
 
 SAINT PAUL. 79 
 
 by Paul ; a Church or conventicle composed of Asyn- 
 critus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, and many others ; 
 another Church or a little society composed of 
 Philologus and Julia, of Nereus and " his sister " 
 (that is to say, probably his wife), of Clympas and of 
 several others. Two great houses of Ephesus, those 
 of Aristobulus and of Narcissus, counted among their 
 slaves several of the faithful. Finally, two Ephesians, 
 Tychicus and Trophimus, were attached to the 
 Apostle, and were henceforth in the number of his 
 companions. Androuicus and Junia were also at this 
 time at Ephesus. These were members of the primi- 
 tive Church of Jerusalem ; St Paul had the greatest 
 respect for them " because they had been in Christ 
 before him." He calls them " of note among the 
 Apostles." It is a new detail that in the trial that 
 Paul calls " his battle against the beasts," they pro- 
 bably had shared of his prison. 
 
 At a much more perilous time appeared Artemas, 
 who is said to have been a companion of Paul ; Alex- 
 ander the coppersmith, Phygellus Hermogenus, who 
 seems to have left an evil reputation behind him, 
 provoked schisms or excommunications, and to have 
 been considered as traitors in the school of Paul ; 
 Onesiphorus and his house, who, on the contrary, 
 would have shown themselves more than once full 
 of love and devotion towards the Apostle. 
 
 Several of the names which have just been enumer- 
 ated are the names of slaves ; thus much we see in 
 their peculiar designations, in which is the ironical 
 emphasis which make them so like to the grotesque 
 names that are given to negroes in the colonies. It 
 is not improbable that there were already among
 
 80 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 the Christians many persons of servile condition. 
 Slavery, in many cases, did not induce so complete 
 an attachment to the master's house as our modern 
 domesticity. The slaves of certain categories were 
 free to mix together, to associate to a certain extent, 
 to form brotherhoods, a kind of tontine or club, in view 
 of their funerals. It is not impossible that several 
 of the pious men and women who had given them- 
 selves up to the service of the Church were slaves, 
 and that the hours that they gave to the diaconate 
 were those that their masters allowed them. At the 
 time in which these events happened, the servile class 
 comprised many polished, resigned, virtuous, well-in- 
 structed persons. The highest lessons on morality 
 came from slaves; Epictetus passed a great part of his 
 life in servitude. The Stoics, the sages, spoke as 
 did St Paul to the slave : " Remain as thou art ; do 
 not think of setting thyself free." It is not necessary 
 to judge of the lower classes in the Greek towns by 
 our populace of the same age, dull, brutal, sensual, 
 incapable of distinction. This refined, delicate, 
 polished something that one feels in the relations of 
 the first Christians is a tradition of Greek elegance. 
 The humble workmen of Ephesus, whom St Paul 
 salutes with so much cordiality, were without doubt 
 persons of a gentle nature, with a touching honesty, 
 relieved by excellent manners and by the peculiar 
 charm that there is in the civility of the poorer 
 classes. Their serenity of soul, their content, were 
 perpetual sermons. " See how these Christians love 
 one another ! " was the exclamation of the Pagans, 
 surprised at this innocent and tranquil air, at this 
 profound and attractive gaiety. After the preaching
 
 SAINT PAUL. 81 
 
 of Jesus, it is the divine work of Christianity ; it is 
 his second miracle, a miracle drawn truly from the 
 living forces of humanity, and of that in it which is 
 best and most holy. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 CONTINUATION OF THE THIRD JOURNEY OF PAUL 
 SECOND STAY OF PAUL IN MACEDONIA. 
 
 PAUL, on leaving Ephesus, probably went by land, 
 for at least part of the way. He had calculated, in 
 fact, that Titus, going by sea from Ephesus to Troas, 
 would have reached this latter point before him. 
 This calculation was not verified. Arrived at Troas, 
 he did not meet Titus there, which caused him a 
 lively concern. Paul had already passed by Troas ; 
 but it does not appear that he had preached there. 
 This time he found very favourable dispositions. "A 
 door was opened unto me of the Lord." Troas was 
 a Latin town in the style of Antioch in Pisidia and 
 of Philippi. A certain Carpus welcomed the Apostle 
 and lodged him at his house ; Paul employed the 
 days during which he was waiting for Titus, in 
 founding a Church. He succeeded admirably, for, 
 some days afterwards, a company of the faithful 
 accompanied him to the shore, when he set out for 
 Macedonia. It was about five years since he had 
 embarked from the same port, at the demand of a 
 Macedonian man whom he had seen in a vision. 
 Never assuredly had a dream counselled greater 
 things or brought about more beautiful results. 
 VOL. II. F
 
 82 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 This second stay of Paul in Macedonia must have 
 occupied six months, from June to November 57. 
 Paul employed himself all this time in confirming 
 his beloved Churches. His principal residence was 
 at Thessalonica ; he was constrained, however, to 
 dwell also for some time at Philippi and at Berea. 
 Troubles which had filled the last months of his 
 stay at Ephesus seemed to pursue him. During 
 the first days after his arrival he had no rest. His 
 life was a continual struggle : the gravest apprehen- 
 sions stood in his way. These cares and afflictions 
 did not assuredly come from the Churches of Mace- 
 donia. There were not more perfect Churches, more 
 generous, more devoted to the Apostle ; nowhere 
 had he met with so much heart, nobleness, and sim- 
 plicity. He found a good many bad Christians 
 sensual, earthly, on whose account the Apostle ex- 
 pressed himself with much vivacity, calling them 
 " enemies of the Cross of Christ : whose end is 
 destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose 
 glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things," 
 and upon whom he denounces eternal ruin ; but it is 
 doubtful if they belonged to the actual flock of the 
 Apostle. It is from the side of the Church of Corinth 
 that these great anxieties come. He fears more and 
 more lest his letter may not have stirred up the in- 
 different, and may have armed his enemies. 
 
 Titus at last rejoined him, and consoled him for 
 all his griefs. He brought, in a word, good news, 
 although the clouds were far from being wholly dis- 
 sipated. The letter had produced the most profound 
 effect. At its reading, Paul's disciples had listened 
 in tears. Nearly all had testified to Titus, whilst
 
 SAINT PAUL. 83 
 
 shedding tears, the profound affection that they bore 
 for the Apostle, sorrow for having grieved him, the 
 desire of seeing him again, and of obtaining pardon 
 from him. These Greek natures, unsteady and in- 
 constant, came back to the right path as quickly as 
 they had left it. His expressions frightened them. 
 They supposed that the Apostle was armed with the 
 most terrible powers ; before his threats, all those 
 who owed their faith to him, trembled and sought 
 to exculpate themselves. They had not indigna- 
 tion enough against the guilty ; each sought by his 
 zeal against others to justify himself, and to turn 
 aside the severity of the Apostle. Titus was over- 
 whelmed by Paul's disciples with the most delicate 
 attentions. He came back enchanted by the recep- 
 tion that they had given him, by the fervour, by the 
 docility, by the goodwill that he had found in the 
 spiritual family of his master. The subscription was 
 not much advanced, but there was a hope that it 
 would be fruitful. The sentence pronounced against 
 the incestuous had been softened, or rather Satan, 
 to whom Paul had given them up, did not execute 
 the decree. The sinner was allowed to live on ; the 
 Apostle had the credit of giving an indulgent consent 
 to what was after all a mere following of the course 
 of nature. They did not even chase him absolutely 
 from the Church, but they avoided having relations 
 with him. Titus had conducted all this business 
 with consummate prudence, and as skilfully as Paul 
 would have done it himself. The Apostle never 
 experienced keener joy than at the reception of this 
 news. During some days, he altogether lost his self- 
 command. He repented of having grieved such good
 
 84 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 souls ; then, on seeing the admirable effect that his 
 severity had produced, he became full of joy. 
 
 This joy was not unmixed. His enemies were far 
 from yielding ; the epistle had exasperated them, 
 and they made the keenest criticisms upon it. They 
 noted that it was hard and insulting to the Church ; 
 they accused the Apostle of pride and vanity ; "His 
 letters," said they, "are severe and energetic; but 
 his figure is mean, and his speech without authority." 
 They attributed to personal hate his rigour to- 
 wai'ds the incestuous. They treated him as a foolish, 
 extravagant, conceited and indiscreet man. The 
 changes in his plans of journey were presented as 
 proofs of instability. Agitated by this double news, 
 the Apostle set about dictating to Timothy a new 
 letter, destined, on the one hand, to lessen the effect 
 of the first, and to bear to his beloved Church, which 
 he believed himself to have wounded, the expression 
 of his paternal sentiments, on the other to reply to 
 the adversaries who had failed for the moment to 
 carry away the hearts of his children from him. 
 
 As for his enemies, Paul knew that lie had not 
 disarmed them. At each instant there are lively 
 and smart allusions to these people " which corrupt 
 the word of God," above all, to those letters of re- 
 commendation which they have turned to his de- 
 triment. His enemies are false apostles, deceitful 
 workers, who disguise themselves as the apostles of 
 Christ. Satan sometimes changes himself into an 
 angel of light ; therefore is it astonishing if his 
 ministers transform themselves into ministers of 
 righteousness ? Their end shall be according to 
 their works. They pretend that he has not known
 
 SAINT PAUL. 85 
 
 the Christ. He does not agree with them ; because 
 for him his vision on the road to Damascus has been 
 a true personal relationship with Jesus. But, after 
 all, what does it matter ? Since Christ is dead, all 
 are dead with Christ, to carnal considerations. For 
 himself, he no longer knows anyone according to the 
 flesh. If he has known Christ after the flesh, he 
 knows him no more. Let them not force him to be 
 other than he is. When he is amongst them, he is 
 humble, timid, embarrassed ; but he hopes they will 
 not oblige him to use the arms which have been 
 given to him to destroy every fortress opposed to 
 Christ, to destroy all scorners who raise themselves 
 against the knowledge of God, and to submit every 
 thought to the yoke of Jesus ; it is easy to see that 
 he knows how to punish disobedience. Those who 
 describe themselves as of the party of Christ ought 
 to remember that he, Paul, is also of the school of 
 Christ. The power that the Lord has given him to 
 edify, do they wish to oblige him to use it to de- 
 stroy? They try to make the Corinthians believe 
 that he seeks to frighten them by his letters. Let 
 those who use this language take care lest he be 
 forced to write to them in even severer terms. It is 
 not of the number of men who vaunt themselves 
 and who have just hawked about right and left their 
 letters of recommendation. His letter of recommen- 
 dation is the Church of Corinth. This letter, he 
 bears in his heart ; it is legible for all ; it is not 
 written in ink, but by the Spirit of the living God, 
 not upon tables of stone, but upon the tables of 
 the heart. He only measures it in its proper pro- 
 portion, he only compares it himself. He only arro-
 
 8b SAINT PAUL. 
 
 gates to himself authority over the Churches which 
 he has founded ; he is not like men who wish to 
 extend their power over countries in which they 
 have not shown themselves in their own person, 
 and who, after having yielded to him, Paul, the 
 Gospel of the Circumcision, have just now gathered 
 the fruit of a work which they had at first opposed. 
 Each to his own ground. He need not boast of the 
 works of others, nor vaunt himself verbosely and 
 without measure ; the portion that God apportioned 
 to him is beautiful enough, since it has been his lot to 
 bear the Gospel to Corinth ; and still he hopes to go 
 farther away. But it is in God alone that he finds 
 his glory. 
 
 This modesty was not feigned. But it is difficult 
 for a man of action to be modest ; he runs the risk 
 of being taken literally. The least egotistical of the 
 Apostles is incessantly compelled to speak of him- 
 self. He calls himself an abortion, the least of the 
 saints, the least of the Apostles, unworthy of that 
 name, since he has persecuted the Church of God ; 
 but do not believe that for all that he resigns his 
 prerogative. 
 
 " But by the grace of God I am what I am : and 
 His grace which was bestowed upon me was not 
 in vain ; but I laboured more abundantly than they 
 all : yet not I, but the grace of God which was with 
 me. . , . 
 
 " For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very 
 chiefest Apostles. But though I be rude in speech, 
 yet not in knowledge ; but we have been thoroughly 
 made manifest among you in all things. Have I com- 
 mitted an offence in abasing myself that ye might be
 
 SAINT PAUL. 87 
 
 exalted, because I have preached to you the gospel 
 of God freely ? I robbed other Churches, taking- 
 wages of them to do you service. And when I was 
 present with yon, and wanted, I was chargeable to 
 no man : for that which was lacking to me, the 
 brethren which came from Macedonia supplied : and 
 in all things I have kept myself from being burden- 
 some unto you, and so will I keep myself. As the 
 truth of Christ is in me, no man shall stop me of this 
 boasting in the regions of Achaia. Wherefore? be- 
 cause I love you not ? God knoweth. But what 
 I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion 
 from them which desire occasion ; that wherein they 
 glory, they may be found even as we. . . ." 
 
 Arming himself with the accusation of madness, 
 that his adversaries raised against him, he accepts 
 for a moment this position which they have lent 
 him, and, under the mask of oratorical irony, he 
 makes the madman throAV in the face of his adver- 
 saries the harshest truths. 
 
 * " I am a fool, it is agreed ; very well, bear with 
 my folly for a moment. You that are wise, ought to 
 be indulgent to fools. And then, you shew so much 
 tolerance for men who put you into servitude, 
 who devour you, who extort your money, and who, 
 after that, are puffed up with pride, and strike you in 
 the face. Let us go on, since it is the fashion to 
 sing one's own glory, let us sing ours. All that can 
 be said in this kind of folly, I can say like them. 
 They are Hebrews ; so am I. They are Israelites ; 
 so am I. They are of the race of Abraham ; so am 
 
 * This is the latter part of the 2d Epistle to the Corinthians, freely 
 rendered. No literal translation gives the sense. TiUNS.
 
 88 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 I. They are ministers of Christ (ah ! I speak as a 
 fool), I am more. In labours' more abundant, in 
 stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, 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 suffered shipwreck, a 
 night and a day I have been in the deep ; in journey- 
 ings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, 
 in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the 
 heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wil- 
 derness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false 
 brethren ; in weariness and painful ness, in watchings 
 often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold 
 and nakedness. And outside of these accidents, 
 shall I recall my daily anxieties, the care of all the 
 Churches ? Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who 
 is offended, and I burn not 1 ? . . . But I only wish 
 to glory in my infirmities .... it is in our in- 
 firmities that the strength of Christ is more mani- 
 fest. That is why I glory in my infirmities, in my 
 injuries, in my necessities, in my persecutions, in my 
 sufferings for Christ, for when I am weak in the 
 flesh I am strong in Christ. 
 
 " Truly I am become a fool in glorying ; you have 
 compelled me. I should have been exempt from it, if 
 you had wished to charge yourselves with my apology 
 to those who attack me. I am nothing ; but I yield 
 in nothing to the very chiefest Apostles. Truly I 
 have wrought the signs of an Apostle among you 
 in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty 
 deeds. For what is it wherein ye were inferior to 
 other Churches, except it be that I myself was not 
 burdensome to you f Forgive me this injustice. It is
 
 SAINT PAUL. 89 
 
 the third time that I have announced my approach- 
 ing arrival to you. This time I will not be burden- 
 some to you ; for I 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 very gladly 
 spend and be spent for you ; though the more 
 abundantly I love you the less I be loved. 
 
 " But if it be so, it may be said I have not been 
 directly in your charge, but, crafty rogue that I am, 
 I have skilfully swindled you of the silver that I 
 refused to accept. Did I gain anything by any of 
 those whom I have sent to you ? I sent Titus to 
 you, and with him a brother whom you know. Did 
 Titus make a profit out of you ? Walked we not in 
 the same spirit and in the same steps ? . . . For I 
 fear lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as 
 I would, and that I shall be found unto you such 
 as ye would not : lest there be debates, envyings, 
 wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, 
 tumults. And lest when I come again, my God will 
 humble me among you, and that I shall bewail many 
 which have sinned already, and have not repented 
 of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness 
 which they have committed. This is the third time 
 I am coming unto you ... I told you before, and 
 warn you, absent as present, the second time ; and 
 being absent now I write to them which heretofore 
 have sinned, and to all other, that, if I come again, I 
 will not spare: since ye seek a proof of Christ 
 speaking in me . . . Therefore I write these things 
 being absent, lest being present I should use sharp- 
 ness, according to the power which the Lord hath 
 given me,"
 
 90 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 - Paul, we see, had reached that great state of 
 exaltation in which the religious founders of the first 
 order lived. His thoughts lifted him out of himself. 
 The manner in which to execute the contribution for 
 the poor of Jerusalem was at this time his consolation. 
 Macedonia showed an exemplary zeal in it. Those 
 excellent souls gave with a joy, with an eagerness, 
 which ravished the Apostle. Nearly all the members 
 of the sect had suffered in their little way through 
 having adhered to the new doctrine ; but in their 
 poverty they still knew how to find something for a 
 work which the Apostle designated as excellent. 
 The hopes of Paul were more than fulfilled ; the 
 faithful nearly went down on their knees, to beg the 
 Apostle to accept the necessarily small donations 
 which they were able to offer. They would have 
 given themselves, if the Apostle would have accepted 
 them. Paul, pushing his delicacy almost to exag- 
 gerated refinement, and wishing, as he said, to be 
 irreproachable not only before God but before men, 
 requiring that they should choose at the election 
 deputies charged to carry the offering of each 
 Church, carefully sealed, so as to disperse the sus- 
 picions that malevolence would certainly cast upon 
 him, concerning his management of considerable 
 funds. These deputies followed him already every- 
 where, and formed around him a kind of escort 
 always ready to execute his missions. They were 
 those whom he calls " the envoys of the Churches, 
 the glory of Christ." 
 
 Cleverness, suppleness of language, the epistolary 
 dexterity of Paul, were employed entirely in this work. 
 He employed to recommend it to the Corinthians the
 
 SAINT PAUL. 91 
 
 most moving and tenderest phrases ; he commanded 
 nothing ; but, knowing their charity, he allowed 
 himself to give them advice. It was a year since 
 they had begun; he was now anxious himself to 
 finish ; goodwill did not suffice. It is not a question 
 of worrying oneself to put others at ease. The rule 
 in such affairs is equality, or rather reciprocity. For 
 the moment, the Corinthians are rich and the saints 
 of Jerusalem are poor, it is for the former to help the 
 latter, the latter will help the former in turn. Thus 
 he himself will verify the saying : " He that gathered 
 much had nothing over, and he that gathered little 
 had no lack." 
 
 Paul prayed the faithful Titus to return to Corinth 
 and to continue the work of charity there which he 
 had so well begun. Titus had desired this mission 
 and received it with eagerness. The Apostle gave 
 him two companions, whose names we do not know. 
 One was of the number of the deputies who had 
 been elected to bear the offering from Macedonia to 
 Jerusalem ; u his praise," says Paul, " is in the Gospel 
 throughout all the Churches." The other was a 
 brother " whom Paul had oftentimes proved diligent 
 in many things, but now much more diligent, upon 
 the great confidence which he had in the Church of 
 Corinth." Neither of these indications suffices to 
 settle who is meant. Paul prayed the Corinthians 
 to keep up the good opinion which he had tried to 
 give of them to these three persons, arid employs to 
 excite their generosity a little charitable manoeuvre 
 which raises a smile. 
 
 " For I know the forwardness of your mind, for 
 which I boast of you to them of Macedonia, that
 
 92 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 Achaia was ready a year ago ; and your zeal hath 
 provoked very many. Yet have I sent the brethren, 
 lest our boasting of you should be vain in this behalf; 
 that, as I said, ye may be ready : lest haply if they of 
 Macedonia come with me, and find you unprepared, 
 we (that we say not, ye) should be ashamed in this 
 confident boasting. Therefore I thought it necessary 
 to exhort the brethren, that they would go before unto 
 you, and make up beforehand your bounty, whereof 
 ye had notice before, that the same might be ready 
 as a matter of bounty, not as of co vetousness. But this 
 I say, he which soweth sparingly, shall reap also spar- 
 ingly ; and he which soweth bountifully, shall reap 
 also bountifully. Every man according as he pur- 
 poseth in his heart, so let him give ; not grudgingly, 
 or of necessity : for God loveth a cheerful giver. . . . 
 Now he that miuistereth seed to the sower, both minis - 
 ter bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, 
 and increase the fruits of righteousness. . . . For the 
 administration of this service not only supplieth the 
 want of the saints, but is abundant also by many 
 thanksgivings unto God ; whilst by the experiment 
 of this ministration, they glorify God for your pro- 
 fessed subjection unto the Gospel of Christ, and for 
 your liberal distribution unto them, and unto all men ; 
 and by their prayers for you, which long after you for 
 the exceeding grace of God in vain. Thanks be unto 
 God for His unspeakable gift I " 
 
 This letter was carried to Corinth, by Titus and 
 by the two brethren who accompanied him. Paul 
 remained still for some months in Macedonia. The 
 times were still very hard. Scarcely ever has there 
 been a Church which has not had to contend with
 
 SAINT PAUL. 93 
 
 ever-recurring difficulties. Patience is the recom- 
 mendation that the Apostle addresses the oftenest. 
 " Tribulations, distresses, pangs, cudgellings, prisons, 
 bad treatment, vigils, fastings, purity, long-suffering, 
 honesty, sincere charity, such is our life; sometimes 
 honoured, sometimes despised, sometimes slandered, 
 sometimes respected ; held as impostors, as well as 
 truthful ones ; as unknown, yet well known (of God) ; 
 as dying, whilst we live ; as men whom God chastises 
 and yet we do not die ; as sorrowful, yet always re- 
 joicing ; for poor, yet making many rich ; as having 
 nothing, and yet possessing all things." Joy, concord, 
 hope without limit, made suffering light, and inaugur- 
 ated that delicious reign of "the God of love and 
 peace " that Jesus had announced. Above a thousand 
 meannesses, the spirit of Jesus shines in these groups 
 of saints with infinite brightness and sweetness. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 CONTINUATION OF THE THIRD MISSION SECOND STAY OF 
 PAUL AT CORINTH THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 PAUL, according to our calculation, set out from 
 Macedonia, and came to Greece at the end of Nov- 
 ember or the beginning of December 57. He had 
 with him the delegates chosen by the Churches of 
 Macedonia to accompany him to Jerusalem, and to 
 carry himself and the alms of the faithful, amongst 
 others Sopater or Sosipater, sou of Pyrrhus of Berea, 
 a certain Lucius, a certain Tertius, Aristarchus, and 
 Secundus of Thessalonica. Jason of Thessalonica his,
 
 94 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 host since his first voyage, accompanied him also, 
 it seems. Perhaps, finally, the deputies of Asia 
 Tychicus, and Trophimus of Ephesus, Caius from 
 Derbe, were already with him. Timothy about this 
 time did not leave him. All these made a kind of 
 apostolic caravan of a very imposing aspect. When 
 they had rejoined Titus and the two brothers who 
 had accompanied him, Corinth truly possessed all 
 the leaders of the new movement. Paul, conformably 
 to his former plan, which he had several times modi- 
 fied, but which he finished by carrying out in its 
 essential lines, passed in this town three months of 
 the winter 57-58 (December 57, January and Feb- 
 ruary 58). The Church of Athens was so small 
 that Paul, according to all appearance, did not visit 
 it, or at least hardly stopped there. 
 
 The Apostle, not having any longer at his disposal 
 the kindly hospitality of Aquila and Prisoilla, lodged 
 this time at the house of Caius, whose house served 
 for the meetings of the whole Church, and to whom 
 he was attached by a bond then held very sacred. 
 Stephanas was perhaps dead or absent. Paul always 
 observed at Corinth much reserve, for he did not feel 
 himself to be on very firm ground. Seeing the danger 
 that association with the world offered in a town so 
 corrupted, he reverted always to broad principles, 
 and advised avoiding all relations with the Pagans. 
 The welfare of the souls at such a time was his only 
 rule, the only end which he proposed to himself. 
 
 It is probable that the presence of Paul at Corinth 
 calmed altogether the dissentients, who, for several 
 months gave him much anxiety. A bitter allusion 
 which he made about this time to "those who vaunt
 
 SAINT PAUL. 95 
 
 themselves of works that Christ has not done by 
 them," and of others, " who build upon another man's 
 foundations," show, however, that a vivid impression 
 of the evil works of his adversaries rem-iined with 
 him. The business of the subscription had gone 
 forward as he desired Macedonia and Achaia had 
 contributed a large sura. The Apostle had at last 
 an interval of repose ; he utilised it by writing, 
 always under the form of an epistle, a kind of 
 summing up of his theological doctrine. 
 
 As this great document interested all Christianity 
 equally, Paul addressed it, chiefly to the Churches 
 which he had founded, and with which he could 
 communicate at this time. The Churches favoured 
 with such an address were four in number at the 
 least. One was the Church of Ephesus ; a copy was 
 also sent into Macedonia ; Paul even had an idea of 
 addressing this piece to the Church of Rome. In all 
 his copies, the body of the epistle was nearly the 
 same ; the moral recommendations and the saluta- 
 tions varied. In the copy destined for the Romans, 
 in particular, Paul introduced some varied readings 
 suited to the taste of this Church which he knew was 
 very much attached to Judaism. It is the copy ad- 
 dressed to the Church of Rome which served as the 
 basis of the constitution of the text, when the col- 
 lection of the epistles of St Paul was made. Hence, 
 the name that the epistle in question bears to-day. 
 The publishers (if we may be permitted so to call 
 them) only copied at one time the parts common to 
 all ; however, as they would themselves be scrupulous 
 not to lose anything which came from the pen of the 
 Apostle, they gathered together at the end of the
 
 96 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 copy princeps, the parts which varied in the different 
 copies, or which they themselves found in more than 
 one of them. 
 
 This precious writing, the foundation of all Chris- 
 tian theology, is mainly that in which the ideas of 
 Paul are exposed in better order. There appears 
 in full daylight the great idea of the Apostle : there 
 the law is put on one side ; works are of no value ; 
 salvation comes only from Jesus, Son of God, raised 
 from the dead. Jesus, who, in the eyes of the 
 Judeeo-Christian school, is a great prophet, come to 
 fulfil the law, is, in the eyes of Paul, a divine appari- 
 tion, rendering useless all that has preceded him, 
 even the Law. Jesus and the Law are for Paul two 
 opposite things. He who accords to the Law excel- 
 lence and efficacy is a traitor to Jesus. To overthrow 
 the Law, is to exalt Jesus. Greeks, Jews, Barbarians, 
 all are equal ; the Jews are first called, then the 
 Greeks : all are saved only by faith in Jesus. 
 
 What can man do, indeed, if he be left to himself? 
 One thing only he can sin. And at first, in that 
 which concerns Pagans, the spectacle of the visible 
 world and the natural law written in their hearts 
 would suffice to reveal to them the true God and 
 their duties. By a voluntary and inexcusable blind- 
 ness, they have not worshipped the God whom they 
 knew well ; they have lost themselves in their vain 
 thoughts ; their pretended philosophy has only been 
 idle speculation. To punish them, God has aban- 
 doned them to the most shameful vices, to sins 
 against nature. The Jews are no more innocent ; 
 they have received the Law, but they have not 
 observed it. Circumcision does not make the true
 
 SAINT PAUL. 97 
 
 Jew ; the Pagan who observes the natural law well 
 is worth much more than the Jew who does not 
 observe the Law of God. Have not the Jews then 
 some prerogative ? Without doubt, they have one : 
 it is to them that the promises have been made ; 
 the unbelief of many among them does not prevent 
 these promises from being fulfilled. But the Law by 
 itself cannot bring about the reign of justice; it has 
 served merely to create the offence and to put it in 
 evidence. In other words, the Jews, like the Gen- 
 tiles, have lived under the dominion of sin. 
 
 Whence then does justification come? From faith 
 in Jesus, without distinction of race. All men were 
 sinners ; Jesus has been the propitiatory victim ; His 
 death has been the redemption that God has accepted 
 for the sins of the world, the works of the law not 
 having been able to justify the world. God is not 
 only the God of the Jews, He is also the God of the 
 Gentiles. It was by faith that Abraham was justi- 
 fied, since it is written, " He believed, and it was 
 accounted to him for righteousness." Justification 
 is free ; one has no right to it by merit ; it is an 
 imputed grace and au all-merciful act of the 
 Divinity. 
 
 The fruit of justification, is peace with God, hope, 
 and consequently patience, which enables us to show 
 our glory and our happiness in tribulation, according 
 to the example of Christ, who has died for sinners, 
 and by whose blood we have been justified. If God 
 has so loved men that He has given His son to die for 
 them when we were sinners, what will He not do now 
 that they are reconciled ? 
 
 Sin and death were brought into the world by one, 
 VOL, II, G
 
 98 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 man, Adam, iu whom all have sinned. Grace and 
 salvation were brought into the world by one Man, 
 Christ, in whom all are justified. Two typical men 
 have existed, "the first Adam," or the earthly 
 Adarn, the origin of all disobedience ; " the second 
 Adam," or the heavenly Adam, the origin of all 
 justice. Humanity divides itself between these two 
 leaders of the human race, some following the 
 earthly Adam, others the spiritual Adam. The 
 Law has served only to multiply offences, and to 
 make sinners conscious of them. It is grace which, 
 superabounding where offence has abounded, has 
 effaced all, so that one may almost say that, thanks 
 to Jesus, sin has been happiness and has only served 
 to bring to light the mercy of God. 
 
 But, it will be said, let us sin then that grace may 
 abound ; let us do evil, that good may come. That, 
 says Paul, is what they assert of me, thus falsifying 
 my doctrine. Nothing is further from my thoughts. 
 Those who have been baptised in Christ are dead to 
 sin, buried with Christ, to rise again and live with 
 Him that is to say, to lead a new life. Our " old 
 man," that is to say, the man that we were before 
 baptism, has been crucified with Christ. Because the 
 Christian is not under the Law, it does not follow 
 that he may sin. From the slavery of sin, he has 
 passed to the service of righteousness; from the 
 way of sin unto death, to the way of life. The 
 Christian, moreover, is dead to the Law ; for the Law 
 created sin. In itself, it was good and holy, but it 
 made sin known ; it aggravated it, so that the com- 
 mandment which should have created life, created 
 death, A woman is an adultress if, whilst living with
 
 SAINT PAUL. 99 
 
 her husband, she fails to keep her marriage vow ; but 
 after the death of her husband, adultery is no longer 
 possible. Christ, in breaking down the letter of the 
 Law, has taken us from under the Law and won us 
 to himself. Dead to the flesh, which was in sin, being 
 dead to the Law, he who cast off sin, the Christian has 
 only to serve God " in newness of spirit, and not in 
 the olduess of the letter." The Law was spiritual, but 
 man is carnal. There are two parts in man one 
 which loves and wishes to do well, the other which 
 does evil, without that other man wishing to do it. 
 Does it not often happen that we do not that we 
 would, while the evil that we would not, that we do ? 
 Is it that sin innate in man, acts in him without his 
 wishing it. " The inner man," that is to say, reason, 
 would obey the law of God; but concupiscence is 
 ever at war with reason and the law of God. " 
 wretched man that I am ! Who shall deliver me 
 from the body of this death ? I thank God through 
 Jesus Christ our Lord ! " 
 
 The true Christian, being delivered from the Law 
 and from concupiscence, is then safe from damnation, 
 by the mercy of God, who has sent His only Son to 
 take upon Him a body of sinful flesh like our own, to 
 destroy sin. But this deliverance does not take place 
 if he destroy not his life according to the flesh, and 
 live according to the Spirit. The wisdom of the flesh 
 is the great enemy of God ; it is even death. The 
 Spirit, on the contrary, is life. By Him we have 
 been made the adopted sons of God, whereby we 
 cry Abba, that is to say, " Father." But, if we are the 
 sons of God, we are also His heirs, and joint heirs 
 with Christ. After having partaken of His sufferings,
 
 100 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 we shall also partake of His glory. What are all 
 the sufferings of this present time compared with the 
 glory that shall be revealed in us? The whole 
 creation waits for this great revelation of the sons of 
 God. It hopes, I say, to be delivered from the 
 .bondage under which it groans, subject as it is to 
 infirmity and corruption, and to pass into the 
 glorious liberty of the sous of God. We also, who 
 have received the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we 
 ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the 
 moment in which our elevation to the position of the 
 sons of God shall be complete, and when our body 
 shall be delivered from its frailty. It is hope which 
 saves us ; but we do not hope for that which we see. 
 Let us persevere patiently in this hope for the invis- 
 ible, with the help of the Spirit. We know not what 
 we should pray for; but the Spirit makes up for our 
 weakness, and makes intercession for us with God 
 with groaniugs which cannot be uttered. God, who 
 seeth the heart knoweth how to divine the desires of 
 the Spirit, and to separate its indistinct and inartic- 
 ulate sighs. 
 
 What a motive of assurance, moreover ! It is by a 
 direct act of God that we are destined for the meta- 
 morphosis which will make us like His Son, and who 
 will make of all living a body of brethren of whom 
 Jesus will be the first born. By His foreknowledge, 
 God knows His elect beforehand ; those whom He 
 knows, He predestinates ; those whom He predes- 
 tinates, He calls ; those whom He calls He justi- 
 fies; those whom He justifies He glorifies. Let us 
 be tranquil : if for us God has not spared His only 
 Son, but has delivered Him to death, what can He
 
 SAINT PAUL. 101 
 
 refuse us? Who will be in the day of Judgment 
 the accuser of the elect ? God, who lias justified 
 them 1 Who will condemn them ? Christ, who has 
 died and risen again, who is seated at the right 
 hand of God, who intercedes for us ? Impossible ! 
 "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? 
 shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, 
 or nakednes, or peril, or sword? For I," adds Paul, 
 "am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor 
 angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things pre- 
 sent, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor 
 any other creature, shall be able to separate us from 
 the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." 
 We see to what a complete rupture with Judaism 
 Christianity has reached in the hands of Paul. Jesus 
 has not been so far off assuredly. Jesus has boldly pro- 
 claimed that the reign of the Law is ended, that the 
 worship in spirit and in truth of God the Father only 
 remains. But, with Jesus, poetry, sentiment, imagery, 
 and style are essentially Jewish. He continues in a 
 direct line Isaiah, the psalmists, the prophets of the 
 time of the captivity, the author of the Song of Songs, 
 and sometimes the author of Ecclesiastes. Paul only 
 continues Jesus, not as he was by the side of the 
 lake of Genuesareth, but Jesus such as he conceives 
 Him, such as he has seen Him in his inner vision. 
 For his old co-religionists he has only pity. The 
 "perfect" Christian, the " enlightened " Christian, is 
 in his eyes the one who knows the vanity of the Law, 
 its uselessness, the frivolity of its pious practices. 
 Paul would wish to be anathema for his brothers in 
 Israel; it is for him a great sadness, a continual 
 heartache to dream of this noble race, raised so high
 
 102 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 in glory, which had the privilege of adoption, of 
 alliance, of the Law, of the true worship, of the 
 promises, which has had patriarchs out of whom 
 Christ has come in the flesh. But God will not fail 
 in His promises. Even though one is of the seed of 
 Israel, he is not necessarily a true Israelite; he is 
 heir to the promises by the choice and calling of 
 God, not by the accident of birth. There is no 
 injustice in that. Salvation is the result, not of 
 human efforts, but of the mercy of God. God is free 
 to have mercy on whom He will, and to deal hardly 
 with whom he will. Who will dare to ask of God 
 the reason for His choice ? Can the vessel of clay 
 say to the potter: Why hast thou made me thus? 
 Hath not the potter the power, with the same lump, 
 to make two vessels, one for honourable uses, the 
 other for dishonourable ? If it please God to prepare 
 man to show His power by crushing him, as He did 
 Pharaoh, He is the master, the rather that thereby He 
 shows forth His mercy towards those whom He has 
 prepared and called to glory. But He makes this 
 choice, without stopping for any consideration of 
 race or of blood. 
 
 If the Jewish people, moreover, see themselves 
 supplanted, it is their own fault. They have too 
 much confidence in the works of the Law ; they 
 believe that they will by these works be justified. 
 The Gentiles, disembarrassed of this stone of stum- 
 bling, have entered more easily into the true doctrine 
 of salvation by faith. Israel has sinned by too much 
 zeal for the Law, and by having placed too much 
 reliance upon the personal justification which it 
 acquires by works. Thus it has been made to forget
 
 SAINT PAUL. 103 
 
 that justification is from God only, that it is the 
 fruit of grace and not of works ; which has made 
 it misunderstand the instrument of that justifica- 
 tion which is Jesus. 
 
 Has God then cast off his people? No. God, it 
 is true, has found it good to blind and to harden the 
 greater part of the Jews. But the corner-stone of 
 the elect has been taken out of the breasts of Israel. 
 Besides, the perdition of the Hebrew people is not 
 definitive. This perdition has had for its only ob- 
 ject the salvation of the Gentiles and the creation 
 of a salutary emulation between the two branches of 
 the elect. It is a happiness for the Gentiles that the 
 Jews had for a time failed in their vocation, since it 
 is through their fault, and thanks to their weakness, 
 that the Gentiles have been substituted for them. But 
 if the falling away of the Jewish people, if a moment 
 of delay on its part has been the salvation of the 
 world, what will be its introduction in a mass into 
 the Church '? This will truly be the resurrection. 
 If the first-fruits be holy, the whole mass is holy 
 also ; if the root be holy, the branches are holy also. 
 Some branches have been cut off, and in their place 
 have been grafted branches of the wild olive, which 
 have thus become partakers of the root and of the 
 sap of the olive tree. Take care, oh, wild olive ! lest 
 thou grow proud at the expense of the branches 
 which have been cut off! It is not thou that bearest 
 the root ; it is the root that bears thee ! Yes, thou 
 wilt say, but the branches have been cut off so that 
 I may be grafted. Doubtless ; they have been cut off 
 for want of faith ; it is to faith that thou owest all ; 
 beware lest thou grow proud; tremble. If thou
 
 104 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 dost not persevere, thou also wilt be cut off. If they 
 come to the faith, God is perfectly well able to re- 
 graft them on their own trunk. Israel has been 
 blinded till the crowd of the Gentiles can be re- 
 ceived into the Church ; but after that, Israel will 
 be saved in turn. The gifts of God are without 
 repentance. The friendship of Israel and of God 
 has suffered an eclipse, so that the Gentiles may in 
 the interval receive the Gospel ; but the calling of 
 Israel, the promises made to the patriarchs, will 
 have their effect none the less. God will use the 
 incredulity of some for the salvation of others ; then 
 those whom He has rendered faithless, He will save 
 in their turn ; all which goes to prove that salvation 
 on His part is purely an act of mercy, and not a 
 result at which one will arrive by right of birth, or 
 by works, or by the free choice of his reason. God 
 will not take counsel of anyone ; He has not any 
 account to render to anyone. " the depth of the 
 riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God ! 
 How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways 
 past finding out ! For who hath known the mind 
 of the Lord I or who hath been His counsellor ? . . . 
 For of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all 
 things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen." 
 
 The Apostle, according to his habit, ends by moral 
 applications. The worship of the Christian is the 
 worship of reason, without other sacrifice than that 
 of himself. Each must present to God a pure 
 sacrifice, and worthy of being favourably accepted. 
 The spirit of the Church must be modesty, concord, 
 mutual responsibility : all the gifts, all the duties are 
 intimately associated with it. The body has many
 
 SAINT PAUL. 105 
 
 members ; all the members have not the same office, 
 but all have need of each other. Prophets, deacons, 
 doctors, preachers, benefactors, superiors, delegates, 
 for works of mercy are equally necessary, provided 
 that they exhibit in the discharge of their functions the 
 simplicity, zeal, and cheerfulness that these functions 
 require. Charity without hypocrisy, brotherly kind- 
 ness, politeness and kind attentions, activity, fervour, 
 joy, hope, patience, amiability, concord, humility, par- 
 don for injuries, love of our neighbours, eagerness to 
 assist the needs of the saints; to bless those who per- 
 secute you, to rejoice with those who rejoice, to weep 
 with those who weep, to conquer evil, not by evil, but 
 by good : such is the moral, in part inculcated in the 
 ancient Hebrew books, that Paul preached after 
 Jesus. It would seem that at the period in which 
 Paul wrote this epistle, various Churches, above all 
 the Church of Rome, reckoned amongst their num- 
 ber certain disciples of Judah the Gaulonite, who 
 denied the legitimacy of the Roman tribute, and who 
 preached revolt against the Roman authority; pos- 
 sibly also the Ebionites, who absolutely opposed the 
 reign of Satan and the reign of the Messiah to 
 each other, and who identified the present world 
 with the empire of the devil. Paul replied to them, 
 as a true disciple of Jesus : 
 
 " Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. 
 For there is no power but of God : the powers that 
 be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore re- 
 sisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God : 
 and they that resist shall receive to themselves 
 damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good 
 works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid
 
 106 SAlNt PAUL. 
 
 of the power ? do that which is good, and thou shalt 
 have praise of the same : for he is the minister of 
 God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is 
 evil, be afraid ; for he beareth not the sword in vain : 
 for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute 
 wrath upon him that doeth evil. AVherefore ye must 
 needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for 
 conscience' sake. For for this cause pay ye tribute 
 also : for they are God's ministers, attending con- 
 tinually upon this very thing. Render therefore to 
 all their dues ; tribute to whom tribute is due ; 
 custom to whom custom ; fear to whom fear ; honour 
 to whom honour." 
 
 This was written in the fourth year of Nero. This 
 prince had not yet afforded a reason for every subject 
 to curse him. His government had been the best 
 since the death of Augustus. At the moment when 
 Paul, with much good sense, took up the defence of 
 the tax against the Jewish theocracy, Nero softened 
 its rigour, and even sought to apply to it the most 
 radical reforms. The Christians at this date had not 
 themselves complained of him, and it may readily be 
 believed that at a time when the Roman authority 
 served his plan rather than made an obstacle to it, 
 Paul had sought to prevent tumultous movements 
 which might lose all, but to which the Jews of Rome 
 were much inclined. These seditions, the arrests, 
 and the punishments which were its consequences, 
 threw the new sect into the greatest disfavour, 
 and made the adepts confound them with thieves 
 and the disturbers of public order. Paul had too 
 much tact to be a rioter : he wished that credit 
 should be given to the name of Christian, that a
 
 SAINT PAUL. 107 
 
 Christian should be a man of order, in good odour 
 with the police, of good reputation in the eyes of 
 Pagans. This was what made him write that page, 
 equally singular in the eyes of a Jew and of a 
 Christian. Yet in it may be seen, however, with a 
 rare simplicity, that there was in the very essence 
 of this nascent Christianity something politically 
 dangerous. The theory of the divine right of all 
 the powers that be is candidly laid down. Nero has 
 been proclaimed by St Paul a minister, an officer of 
 God, a representative of Divine authority. The 
 Christian, whilst he is allowed to practise his religion 
 openly, will be a subject, by no means a citizen. I 
 do riot intend to utter any censure here ; but no one 
 can do two things at once ; policy is not everything, 
 and the true glory of Christianity is to have created 
 a whole world out of itself. But see to what we 
 expose ourselves with these absolute theories! "The 
 minister of God," of whom all honest men must seek 
 approbation, whose sword is only terrible to the 
 wicked, will become in a few years the Beast of the 
 Apocalypse, the Antichrist, the persecutor of the 
 saints. 
 
 The strange situation of the spirits, the persuasion 
 which thev held that the end of the world was close 
 
 r 
 
 at hand, explaining for the remainder this haughty 
 ihdifference. 
 
 " And that, knowing the time, that now it is high 
 time to awake out of sleep : for now is our salvation 
 nearer than when we believed. The night is far 
 spent, the day is at hand : let us therefore cast off 
 the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour 
 of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day ; not in
 
 108 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and 
 wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye 
 on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for 
 the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof." 
 
 The contest of Paul against his adversaries, who 
 were more or less Ebionites, can be traced in part in 
 his letter relating to the abstinence from meats, and 
 to the observance of new moons, of Sabbaths, and 
 of days. Ebionism, which at this period had its 
 principal centre at Rome, held greatly to these 
 external practices, which were in truth only a con- 
 tinuation of the practices of the Essenes. They 
 were scrupulous, ascetic persons, who not only 
 practised the legal ordinances with regard to meats, 
 but who obliged themselves to eat only vegetables 
 and to drink no wine. It is necessary to remember 
 that Christianity recruited itself among very pious 
 persons, and, as such, much given to devotional 
 practices. In becoming Christians, these persons 
 remained faithful to their ancient habits ; or rather, 
 the adoption of Christianity was for them only an 
 act of devotion (religio) the more. Paul in this new 
 epistle, remained faithful to the excellent rules of 
 conduct which he had already traced among the 
 Corinthians. In themselves, these practices are 
 perfectly vain. But what is of the greatest import- 
 ance, is not to offend these feeble consciences, not to 
 trouble them, not to argue with them. He whose 
 conscience is enlightened must not despise him 
 whose conscience is feeble. The timorous conscience 
 must not be permitted to judge the large conscience. 
 Let each follow his own judgment, the right thing is 
 what one believes to be right before God. How shall
 
 SAINT PAUL. 109 
 
 one dare to judge his brother? It is Christ who will 
 judge us all ; each will only have to answer for him- 
 self. The distinction of meats rests upon nothing ; 
 all things are pure. But what is of importance is that 
 no one should cause scandal to his brother. If, in eat- 
 ing the permitted meats, you aggrieve your brother, 
 take care ; for the sake of the question of meats, do 
 not lose a soul for whom Christ died. The kingdom of 
 heaven has nothing to do with eating and drinking; 
 it sums itself up in justice, peace, joy, edification. 
 
 The disciples of Paul were occupied for several 
 days in copying this manifesto, addressed to differ- 
 ent Churches. The epistle to the Churches of Mace- 
 donia was written by Tertius. The Macedonians 
 who accompanied Paul and the Corinthians who had 
 relations with the Churches of the north of Greece, 
 profited by the occasion to salute their brethren. 
 The Epistle to the Ephesians contained the nominal 
 salutation of Paul to nearly all the Christians of this 
 great Church. As there was little communication 
 between Corinth and Macedonia on the one hand, and 
 Ephesus on the other, the Apostle does not speak to 
 the Ephesians of the world which surrounds him ; 
 but he vigorously recommends to them Phoebe, who 
 probably carried the letter to them. This poor 
 woman set out on a painful voyage in winter across 
 the archipelago, without any other resource than the 
 recommendation of Paul. The Church of Ephesus 
 was begged to receive her in a manner worthy of 
 the saints, and to provide for all her needs. Paul 
 had probably some anxieties about the intrigues of 
 the Judseo-Christian party at Ephesus ; for, at the 
 end of the letter, he added in his own handwriting:
 
 110 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 " Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause 
 divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye 
 have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such 
 serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly ; and 
 by good loords and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the 
 simple. For your obedience is come abroad unto all 
 men. I am glad, therefore, on your behalf: but yet I 
 ivou/d have you wise unto that which is good and simple 
 concerning evil. And the God of Peace shall bruise 
 Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ be with you. Amen." 
 
 We have seen that St Paul in writing this 
 most important Epistle had intended to send it to 
 the Church of Rome. This Church had reformed 
 itself since the Edict ofClaudian, and much that was 
 good had been said of it. It was not very numerous, 
 and was chiefly composed of Ebionites and Judaao- 
 Christians ; it also contained in its ranks Proselytes 
 and converted Pagans. The idea of addressing a 
 dogmatic writing to a Church which he had not 
 founded, was bold, and altogether contrary to the 
 habit of Paul. He much feared lest they should see 
 in his attempt something indiscreet ; he forbade him- 
 self all that might recall the tone of a master speak- 
 ing with authority ; he made no personal salutations. 
 With these precautions, he thought that his title, 
 henceforth recognised as the Apostle of the Gentiles, 
 gave him the right to address a Church which he had 
 never seen. The importance of Rome as capital of 
 the Empire pre-occupied him : for several years he 
 nourished the project of betaking himself thither. 
 Not being able to execute his design as yet, he wished 
 to give a mark of sympathy to this illustrious Church,
 
 SAINT PAUL. Ill 
 
 which contained a class of the faithful of whom he 
 considered himself the pastor, and announced to it 
 the good news of his future arrival. 
 
 The composition and despatch of the Epistle writ- 
 ten " to the Romans " occupied the greatest part of 
 the three months of the winter, which Paul passed 
 this year at Corinth. They were, in a sense, the 
 best employed weeks of his life. This Epistle became, 
 later, on the summing up of dogmatic Christianity, the 
 declaration of war by theology against philosophy, 
 the chief inducement to a class of eager spirits to 
 embrace Christianity as a means of setting reason at 
 defiance, whilst proclaiming the sublimity and credi- 
 bility of the absurd. It is the application of the 
 merits of Christ which justifies ; it is God who works 
 in us to will and to do of His good pleasure. Here is 
 the overthrow of reason, which, essentially Pelagian, 
 has for its fundamental dogma, liberty, and the per- 
 sonality of merit. Very well, then, the doctrine of 
 Paul, opposed to all merely human sense, has been 
 really liberty and salvation. It has separated 
 Christianity from Judaism ; it has separated Pro- 
 testantism from Catholicism. Pious observances, 
 persuading the devotee that by them he is justified, 
 have a double disadvantage : in the first place, they 
 kill morality by making the devotee believe that 
 there is a sure and easy way of entering Paradise in 
 despite of God. The hardest-hearted Jew a selfish 
 and malicious usurer, let us say imagined that by 
 observing the Law he would force God to save him. 
 The Catholic of the time of Louis XL imagined that 
 with masses he took proceedings against God as by 
 a bailiffs summons, so that, rogue though he might
 
 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 be, he had the game in his o\vu hands, and could 
 compel Almighty God to admit him into His com- 
 pany. To this impiety, in which Judaism was upset 
 by Talmudism, in which Christianity was upset by 
 the Catholicism of the Middle Ages, Saint Paul has 
 administered the most efficient antidote. According 
 to him, we are justified, not by works, but by faith ; 
 it is faith in Jesus which saves. That is why this 
 doctrine, apparently so paltry, has been that of all 
 the reformers the lever by means of which Wycliff, 
 John Huss, Luther, Calvin, St Cyran have over- 
 thrown the ancient tradition of blind confidence in 
 the priest, and in a kind of exterior justice, which 
 has nothing to do with a change of heart. 
 
 The other practical inconvenience is the multipli- 
 cation of scruples. Practices, supposed to have 
 a value by themselves, ex opere operate, independ- 
 ently of the state of the soul, open the door to all 
 the subtleties of a meticulous casuist. Legal work 
 becomes a prescription, the success of which depends 
 upon its punctual execution. Here again Talmud- 
 ism and Catholism are agreed. The despair of the 
 Jewish devotees of the time of Jesus and of St 
 Paul was the fear of not observing the whole Law 
 the apprehension of not being in order. It was be- 
 lieved that the holiest man sins, that it is impossible 
 not to prevaricate. They almost regretted that God 
 had given the Law, since it only served to bring 
 about transgressions ; they confessed to the singular 
 idea, that God had laid down all these laws with the 
 sole purpose of creating sin, and of making all the 
 world sinful. Jesus, in the opinion of His disciples, 
 had made easy the entrance to this kingdom of God
 
 SAINT PAUL. 113 
 
 which the Pharisees had made so difficult, to enlarge 
 the door of that Judaism which they had narrowed so 
 much. Paul, at least, does not imagine any other way 
 of suppressing sin than by suppressing the Law. His 
 reasoning has something of that of the Probabilists : 
 to multiply obligations is to multiply offences ; to 
 relax rules, to render them as broad as possible, is to 
 prevent offences, since we do not violate precepts 
 by which we do not consider ourselves bound. 
 
 The great torment of delicate souls is scrupulous- 
 ness : he who eases them of it is all-powerful over 
 them. One of the most common customs of devotion 
 amongst the pious sects in England, is to think of 
 Jesus as of Him who disemburdens the conscience, 
 reassures the guilty, calms the sinning soul, delivers 
 it from the thought of evil. Overwhelmed by the 
 consciousness of sin and of condemnation, Paul in 
 the same way finds peace in Jesus only. All are 
 sinners, even to the last, by reason of their descent 
 from Adam. Judaism, by its sacrifices for sin, had 
 established the idea of accounts as it were opened 
 between man and God, of remission and of debts ; 
 a false enough idea, for sin does not remit itself, it 
 carries its punishment with it ; a crime committed 
 will last until the end of time, only the conscience 
 which has committed it can atone for it and produce 
 altogether contrary acts. The power of remitting 
 sins was one of those that they believed to have 
 been conferred by Jesus on His disciples. The 
 Church had nothing more precious than it. To have 
 committed a crime, to have a tormented conscience, 
 was a motive to make oneself a Christian. " Here is 
 a law which delivers you from sin, from which you 
 VOL. II. H
 
 114 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 could not be delivered by the Law of Moses." What 
 could be more tempting to the Jews? One of the 
 reasons which confirmed Constantine in Christianity, 
 was, it is said, the belief that Christians alone could 
 absolve the soul of a father who had killed his son. 
 The merciful Jesus, pardoning all, according even a 
 kind of preference for those who have sinned, ap- 
 peared in this troubled world as the great comforter 
 of souls. They took it upon themselves to say that 
 it was well to have sinned, that all remission was 
 gratuitous, that faith alone justified. 
 
 One peculiarity of the Semitic tongues explains 
 such a misunderstanding, and excuses this morally 
 incomplete psychology. The form hiphil signifies at 
 the same time the effective and the declarative, so 
 that Tiasdik can say equally " to render justice," and 
 " to declare justice," to remit a sin which has been 
 committed, and to declare that he has not committed 
 it. "Justice" is, according to this idiom, not only 
 that he who is absolved from a sin, but that he who 
 is calmed in his own eyes, iieetl no more trouble 
 himself with the sins which he may have committed, 
 or with precepts which he may have violated un- 
 known to himself. 
 
 When Paul despatched this terrible epistle, he had 
 nearly fixed the day of his departure. The gravest 
 anxieties assailed him ; he had a presentiment of 
 grave accidents, and he applied to himself often the 
 verse of the psalm, " Yea, for thy sake are we killed 
 all the day long ; we are counted as sheep for the 
 slaughter." Some very precise accounts, which were 
 only too certain, represented to him the dangers he 
 was likely to meet with from the Jews of Judsea.
 
 SAINT PAUL. 115 
 
 He was not even confident as to the dispositions of 
 the Church of Jerusalem. He had found this Church 
 so many times ruled by mean prejudices that he 
 feared a cold reception, which, seeing the number of 
 half-confirmed believers who accompanied him, would 
 produce a disastrous effect. He constantly asked 
 for the prayers of the faithful that God would cause 
 his offering to be favourably received by the saints. 
 To place timid provincial neophytes thus in imme- 
 diate contact with the aristocracy of the capital, was 
 an idea of supreme temerity. Guided by his admir- 
 able integrity, Paul none the less persisted in his pro- 
 ject. He believed himself bound by an order of the 
 Spirit. He said with emphasis that he was going to 
 Jerusalem to serve the saints ; he represented him- 
 self as the deacon of the poor of Jerusalem. His 
 principal disciples and the deputies, each bearing 
 the offering of his Church, were around him, ready to 
 set out. They were, we shall remember, Sopatros of 
 Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus of Thessalouica, 
 Caius of Derbe, Tychicus and Trophimus of Ephesus, 
 and finally Timothy. 
 
 At the moment when Paul was going to embark 
 for Syria, the reasonableness of his fears became 
 visible. A plot formed by the Jews was discov- 
 ered to carry him off or kill him during the journey. 
 Iii order to disconcert this project, Paul privately 
 changed his route, and decided to return by Mace- 
 donia. The departure took place about the month 
 of April of the year 58. 
 
 Thus ended this third mission, which, in the opin- 
 ion of Paul, finished the first part of his apostolic 
 projects. All the oriental provinces of the Roman
 
 116 SATNT PAUL. 
 
 Empire, from its extreme limit towards the east near 
 to Illyria, Egypt always excepted, had heard the 
 Gospel. Not once had the Apostle departed from his 
 rule of preaching only in the countries where Christ 
 had not yet been named, that is to say, where other 
 Apostles had not passed ; all his work had been origi- 
 nal and belonged to him alone. The third mission 
 had had for its field the same countries as the second ; 
 Paul turned a little in the same circle, and began to 
 find himself in the right. He now delayed the ac- 
 complishment of the second part of his projects, that 
 is to say, of proclaiming the name of Jesus in the 
 western world, for we may say that the mystery hid- 
 den from eternity was known to all nations. 
 
 At Rome he had been anticipated, and, moreover, 
 those of the circumcision formed the majority in the 
 Church. It was as universal pastor of the Churches 
 of the Gentiles, and to confirm the converted Pagans, 
 and not as founder, that he wished to appear in the 
 capital of the empire. He only wished to go thither 
 that he might enjoy for a time the company of the 
 faithful, and rest and edify himself among them, after 
 which he would take, according to custom, new com- 
 panions who should follow him in the latter part of 
 his journey. Beyond, it was to Spain that he carried 
 his eyes. Spain had not yet received Israelitish 
 emigrants ; the Apostle wished, this time, to abandon 
 the rule which he had observed, until now, of 
 following the track of the synagogues and of 
 the earlier Jewish establishments. But Spain was 
 Considered as the western boundary of the world ; 
 so that as Paul believed himself authorised to 
 conclude that since he had been in Achaia and in
 
 SAINT PAUL. 117 
 
 Macedonia, and that he had reached Illyria in the same 
 way, when he will have been into Spain he would be 
 able to say with truth that the name of Jesus has 
 been preached in all the ends of the earth, and that 
 the preaching of the Gospel was fully accomplished. 
 We shall see that circumstances independent of 
 his will prevented Paul from realising the second 
 part of the grand plan that he had proposed to 
 himself. He was from forty-five to forty-eight years 
 of age ; he had certainly still found time and 
 strength to found in this Latin world one or two 
 of those missions that he had conducted in the 
 Greek world with so much success ; but the fatal 
 journey to Jerusalem upset all his designs. Paul 
 felt the perils of this journey : everybody around 
 him felt them. He could not, nevertheless, renounce 
 a project to which he attached much importance. 
 Jerusalem must lose Paul. It was one of the most 
 unfavourable of conditions for nascent Christianity 
 to have its capital in a home of such exalted fanati- 
 cism. The incident which, ten years later, completely 
 destroyed the Church of Jerusalem, rendered to 
 Christianity the greatest service that it has ever 
 received in the course of its long history. The life- 
 or-death question was to know if the growing sect 
 would or would not disengage itself from Judaism. 
 Now if the saints of Jerusalem, grouped around the 
 temple, might always remain the aristocracy, and, so 
 to speak, " the Court of Rome " of Christianity, this 
 great rupture would not have occurred ; the sect of 
 Jesus, like that of John, would have died out obscurely, 
 and Christians would have been lost amongst the 
 sectarian Jews of the first and second century.
 
 118 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 RETURN OF PAUL TO JERUSALEM. 
 
 PAUL and the deputies of the Churches set out then 
 from Cenchrea, having with them the contributions 
 of the faithful for the poor of Jerusalem, and took 
 their way towards Macedonia. This was in some 
 sort the first pilgrimage to the Holy Land, the first 
 journey of a troop of converted pious people to the 
 cradle of their faith. It seems that the ship, during 
 a part of the voyage, was chartered at their expense, 
 and that it obeyed their orders ; but it must have 
 been a simple decked boat. They made fifteen or 
 twenty leagues a day ; each evening they stopped 
 to pass the night amongst the islands or the ports 
 which bestrew the coast, and slept in the taverns 
 near the shore. There were often many people 
 there, and amongst the number good men who were 
 not far from the kingdom of God. The barque, 
 meanwhile, with its elevated poop and prow, was 
 drawn upon the sand or anchored under some 
 shelter. 
 
 We do not know if the Apostle touched at Thessa- 
 lonica this time ; but it is not probable that he did, 
 since it would have been far out of his way. At 
 Neapolis Paul wished to visit the Church of Philippi, 
 which was a very short distance from it. He went 
 forward with his companions, and asked them to wait 
 for him at Troas. As for himself, he went to Philippi, 
 celebrated Easter there, and rested with the persons 
 whom he loved the most in the world, during the 
 seven days in which they ate unleavened bread. At
 
 SAINT PAUL. 119 
 
 Philippi Paul again found the disciple who, at the 
 time of his second mission, had directed his first 
 steps in Macedonia, and who, most probably, was 
 none other than St Luke. He took him with him 
 again, and thus added to the journey a chronicler 
 who has transmitted to us impressions of it with in- 
 finity of charm and of truth. 
 
 When the days of unleavened bread were finished, 
 Paul and Luke re-embarked at Neapolis. They had 
 evidently contrary winds, for they took five days to 
 go from Neapolis to Troas. In this last town, all the 
 apostolic company was complete. There was, as we 
 have already said, a Church at Troas; the Apostle 
 passed seven days with it, and consoled it much. 
 An incident added to the general emotion. The 
 morning of departure was a Sunday ; in the evening 
 the disciples met together according to custom, to 
 break bread. The room in which they were was one 
 of those lofty chambers which are so agreeable in the 
 East, especially in the sea-ports. The meeting was 
 numerous and solemn. Paul saw everywhere signs 
 of his future trials. In his sermon he spoke much of 
 his approaching end, and declared to those present 
 that he bade them an eternal farewell. This was 
 in the month of May ; the window was open, and 
 numerous lamps lighted the room. Paul spoke all 
 the evening with an indefatigable enthusiasm ; at 
 midnight he was still speaking, and they had not 
 broken bread, when suddenly a cry of horror was 
 raised. A young man named Eutychus, seated upon 
 the ledge of the window, had allowed himself to fall 
 into a profound sleep and dropped from the third 
 floor upon the ground. They raised him, and they
 
 120 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 believed him to be dead. Paul, convinced of his 
 miraculous powers, does not hesitate to do what 
 Elisha is said to have done : he stretched himself 
 upon the fainting man, he put his chest upon his 
 chest, his arms upon his arms, and soon announced 
 in an assured tone that he for whom they weep is 
 still alive. The young man, in truth, had only been 
 bruised by the fall ; he did not take long to come to 
 himself again. The joy was great, and all believed 
 it a miracle. They remounted into the upper room, 
 broke bread, and Paul continued their conversation 
 until sunrise. 
 
 Some hours afterwards the ship set sail. The depu- 
 ties and the disciples only were on board, Paul pre- 
 ferring to travel on foot, or at least by land, from 
 Troas to Assos (about eight leagues). Assos was to be 
 their meeting-place. From this time forth, Paul and 
 his companions never separated. On the first day, 
 they went from Assos to Mitylene, where they put 
 in ; on the second, they followed the Straits between 
 Chios and the Peninsula of Clazomeues ; on the third 
 they touched at Samos ,' but, for a reason which we 
 do not know, Paul and his companions preferred to 
 pass the night at the anchorage of Trogyle, under 
 the promontory of the neighbouring Cape, at the foot 
 of Mount Mycala. They had thus passed before 
 Ephesus without landing there. It was the Apostle 
 who had wished it: he feared lest the friendship of 
 the faithful of Ephesus might hinder him, and that he 
 could not tear himself away from a town which was 
 very dear to him ; but he much wished to celebrate 
 Pentecost at Jerusalem, and twenty-three or twenty- 
 four days having elapsed since Easter, there was no
 
 SAINT PAUL. 121 
 
 time to be lost. On the morrow, a short sail brought 
 the faithful company from Trogyle to one of the 
 ports of Miletus. There Paul felt deep misgiving as 
 to the propriety of having passed without giving 
 any sign of his existence to his beloved community 
 of Ephesus. He sent one of his companions to in- 
 form it that he was some leagues from it, and to in- 
 vite the elders or wardens to come to him. They 
 came with eagerness, and when they were re-united, 
 Paul addressed to them a touching discourse, which 
 was a summary, and the last words of his apostolic 
 life. 
 
 " Since the day when I first came into Asia, you 
 know what I have been for you. You have seen me 
 serve God in humility, in tears, in temptations, and 
 using all my strength to preach unto the Jews and 
 Gentiles the return to God and faith in our Lord 
 Jesus Christ. And now, behold I go bound in the 
 spirit unto Jerusalem. I know not what awaits me; 
 I only know that, from town to town, the spirit an- 
 nounces to me that bonds and afflictions wait upon me. 
 But it matters little to me ; I am going to sacrifice 
 my life voluntarily, provided that I finish my course, 
 and that I accomplish the mission that I have re- 
 ceived of the Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of 
 the grace of God. Oh, you to all of whom I have 
 preached the Kingdom of God, I know that you will 
 no more see my face ; I protest then from this day, 
 that I am innocent of the loss of those who will 
 perish ; for I have never neglected to make known to 
 you the will of God. Take heed therefore unto your- 
 selves, and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost 
 hath made you overseers; be true pastors of the
 
 122 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 Church that the Lord has purchased with His own 
 blood ; for I know that after my departure shall 
 grievous wolves enter in, not sparing the flock. And 
 from the midst of you shall men arise, speaking per- 
 verse things, to draw away disciples after them. 
 Therefore watch, and remember that by the space of 
 three years I ceased not to warn everyone night 
 and day with tears. And now, I recommend yon to 
 the grace of God, who is able to give you a place 
 among the heavenly bodies. I have coveted no 
 man's silver, or gold, or apparel. You know that 
 these hands have ministered unto my necessities, 
 and unto those of my companions. I have shown 
 you how by work one can still support the weak, 
 and to justify the words of the Lord Jesus : ' It is 
 more blessed to give than to receive.' " 
 
 All then fell on their knees and prayed. Only 
 stifled sobs were heard. The words of Paul, " You 
 will see my face no more," had pierced them to the 
 heart. The elders of Ephesus in turn approached 
 the Apostle, bent their heads on his neck and 
 embraced him. They then conducted him to the 
 port, and only left the shore when the ship set sail, 
 taking the Apostle far from that ^Egean sea which 
 had been the scene of his contests and the theatre 
 of his prodigious activity. 
 
 A good wind abaft carried the apostolic company 
 from the port of Miletus to Cos. On the morrow 
 they reached Rhodes, and on the third day Patara, 
 upon the coast of Lycia. There they found a ship load- 
 ing for Tyre. The little coasting that they had done 
 along the coast of Asia had much delayed them, and 
 their journey would have been indefinitely protracted
 
 SATNT PAUL. 123 
 
 if they were to continue along the coasts of Pam- 
 phylia, Cilicia, Syria, and Phoenicia. They therefore 
 preferred to take the shorter route, and, leaving their 
 first ship there, they embarked on that which was 
 about to sail for Phoenicia. The western coast 
 of Cyprus was directly in their way. Paul could 
 see from afar that Neo-Paphos, which he had visited 
 thirteen years before, at the beginning of his 
 apostolic career. He left it upon his left, and, after 
 a voyage of probably six or seven days, he arrived 
 at Tyre. 
 
 Tyre had a Church, dating from the first missions 
 which followed the death of Stephen. Although 
 Paul had had nothing to do with its foundation, he 
 was known and loved there. In the quarrel which 
 divided the rising sect, in that great rent between 
 Judaism and the strange child to which Judaism had 
 given birth, the Church of Tyre was decidedly of 
 the party of the future. Paul was very well received, 
 and passed seven days there. All the faithful of 
 the place dissuaded him strongly from going to 
 Jerusalem, and asserted that they had manifesta- 
 tions of the Spirit absolutely contrary to the plan. 
 But Paul persisted, and chartered a ship for 
 Ptolemais. On the day of his departure, all the 
 faithful, with their wives and children, conducted 
 him out of the town to the shore. The pious com- 
 pany knelt down on the sand and prayed. Paul 
 bade them farewell ; the Apostle and his companions 
 re-embarked, and the people of Tyre returned sadly 
 to their homes. 
 
 They reached Ptolemais the same day. There 
 also were some brethren ; he saluted them and
 
 124 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 stayed for a day with them. Then the Apostle left 
 the sea. Going round Carmel, he reached in one 
 day Caesarea in Palestine. They stayed at the 
 house of Philip, one of the seven primitive deacons, 
 who for many years had been settled at Csesarea. 
 Philip had not taken, like Paul, the title of Apostle, 
 although in reality he had exercised the functions 
 of one. He contented himself with the name of 
 " Evangelist," which designated apostles of the 
 second rank, with the much more coveted title of 
 " one of the seven." 
 
 Paul found here much sympathy, and remained 
 several days at Philip's house. Whilst there, the 
 prophet Agabas arrived from Judaea. Paul and he 
 had known each other at Antioch fourteen years 
 before. Agabas imitated the manners of the ancient 
 prophets, and affected to act in a symbolical fashion. 
 He enters in a mysterious manner, approaches Paul, 
 takes from him his girdle. They followed his move- 
 ments with curiosity and terror. With the girdle of 
 the Apostle that he had taken, Agabas bound his own 
 legs and hands. Then suddenly breaking the silence 
 he said, in an inspired tone, " Thus saith the Holy 
 Ghost, so shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the 
 man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him 
 into the hands of the Gentiles." The emotion was 
 of the liveliest kind. The companions of Paul and 
 the faithful of Csesarea with one voice begged the 
 Apostle to give up his journey. Paul was inflexible, 
 and declared that chains could not frighten him, 
 since he was ready to die at Jerusalem for the name 
 of Jesus. His disciples saw plainly that he would 
 not yield, and finished by saying : " The will of the
 
 SAINT PAUL. 125 
 
 Lord be done." Then they began their preparations 
 for departing. Many of the faithful of Caesarea 
 joined themselves to the caravans. Mnason, of 
 Cyprus, a very old disciple, who had a house at 
 Jerusalem, but who at this moment was at Caesarea, 
 was of the number. The Apostle and his following 
 should lodge at his house. They mistrusted the 
 welcome they would receive from the Church : there 
 was much trouble and apprehension in all the 
 company. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 LAST STAY OF PAUL AT JERUSALEM HIS 
 APPREHENSION. 
 
 PAUL entered into that fatal town of Jerusalem for the 
 last time, some days, it seems, after the feast of Pen- 
 tecost (July 58). His company, formed of delegates 
 from the Churches of Greece, of Macedonia, and of 
 Asia, of his disciples, and of the faithful of Caesarea 
 who had wished to accompany him, were sufficient 
 to give a warning to the Jews. Paul began to be 
 well known. His arrival had been waited for by the 
 fanatics, some had probably received from Corinth 
 and Ephesus notice of his return. Jews and Judaeo- 
 Christians appeared to have agreed to slander him. 
 They everywhere represented him as an apostate, as 
 the desperate enemy of Judaism, as a man who ran 
 all over the world to destroy the law of Moses, and 
 the biblical traditions. His doctrine upon meats sac- 
 rificed to idols everywhere excited angry passions.
 
 126 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 They maintained that he disobeyed the decrees of 
 the Council of Jerusalem as to the observances con- 
 nected with meats and marriage. They represented 
 him as a second Balaam, sowing scandal before the 
 sons of Israel, teaching them to practise idolatry, 
 and to cohabit with Pagans. His doctrine of justifi- 
 cation by faith and not by works was energetically 
 repudiated. Whilst they admitted that converted 
 Pagans were not obliged under the Law in its entirety, 
 they maintained that nothing could exempt a Jew 
 from the duties inherited by him. But Paul thought 
 nothing of this view ; he gave himself the same liber- 
 ties as his converts ; he was no longer a Jew in any 
 degree. 
 
 The first brethren that the new arrivals met on the 
 day of their arrival had welcomed them cordially. 
 But it is already very remarkable that neither the 
 apostles nor the elders came to meet the one man, 
 who, accomplishing the boldest oracles of the prophets, 
 had brought the nations and the far-off isles, tri- 
 butaries to Jerusalem. They waited for his visit 
 with a coldness more politic than Christian, and Paul 
 had to pass alone, with some humble brethren, the 
 first evening of his last stay at Jerusalem. 
 
 St James the Great was, as we have already seen, 
 the sole and absolute head of the Church of Jeru- 
 salem. Peter was certainly absent, and very probably 
 established at Autioch ; it is probable that John, ac- 
 cording to his custom, had accompanied him. The 
 Judgeo-Christian party reigned thus without any 
 counter-balances at Jerusalem. James, blinded by 
 the respect of everyone who surrounded him, proud 
 moreover, of the bond of relationship which united
 
 SAINT PAUL. 127 
 
 him to Jesus, represented a conservative principle of 
 weighty solemnity, a kind of obstinate papacy in his 
 narrow mind. Around him, a numerous party, more 
 Pharisaical than Christiam, carried the taste for the 
 observances of the Law to nearly the same degree as 
 the zealots, and imagined that the new movement 
 had for its essence a redoubling of devotion. These 
 exalted ones gave themselves the name of " the poor," 
 Ebionim, ima^u/, and gloried in it. There were 
 many rich people in this community, but they were 
 unpopular; they were considered to be as proud 
 and tyrannical as the Sadducees. Fortunes, in the 
 East, scarcely ever have an honest origin ; of every 
 rich man it may be said, without much chance of 
 mistake, that he or one of his ancestors has been a con- 
 queror, or a thief, a usurer, or a rogue. The associa- 
 tion of ideas which, especially amongst the English 
 everywhere collocates honesty with richness, has 
 never been found in the East. Judaea, at least, 
 thought of things in the opposite sense. For the 
 saints of Jerusalem, " rich " was synonymous with 
 " enemy " and " evil-doer." The ideal of impiety was 
 in their eyes the opulent Sadducee, who persecuted 
 them, dragged them before the tribunals. Passing 
 their life around the temple, they were like good little 
 brotherhoods, occupied in praying for the people. 
 They were, in every case, pronounced Jews, and 
 certainly Jesus would have been surprised if he could 
 have seen what his doctrine had become in the hands 
 of those who boasted kinship with Him both in the 
 Spirit and in the Flesh. 
 
 Paul, accompanied by the deputies of the Churches, 
 went to see James on the morning after his arrival.
 
 1 28 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 All the elders were assembled in the house of St 
 James. They gave each other the kiss of peace. 
 Paul presented the deputies to James: they gave 
 the money which they had brought. Then he re- 
 counted the great things that God had done in the 
 Pagan world by his ministry ; the elders gave thanks 
 to God for them. Was the reception, however, what 
 they had a right to expect"? We may doubt if it 
 were. The author of the Acts has so completely 
 modified, in view of his system of conciliation, the 
 recital of the assembly of Jerusalem in 51, that one 
 must believe that he has in like manner greatly modi- 
 fied in his recital the events which he himself took 
 part in. In the first place, his inaccuracy is shown 
 by comparing his accounts with the Epistle to the 
 Galatians. In the second, there are grave reasons 
 for supposing that he has in like manner sacrificed 
 truth to the necessities of policy. At first, the appre- 
 hensions that Paul showed beforehand as to the tem- 
 per with which the saints of Jerusalem would receive 
 his offering could not have been without some founda- 
 tion. In the second place, the account of the author 
 of the Acts contains more than one suspicious feature. 
 The Judseo-Christians are there represented as the 
 enemies of Paul, almost as much so as the pure Jews. 
 These Judaso-Christians have the worst opinion of 
 him ; the elders did not conceal the fact that the re- 
 port of his arrival was annoying to them, and might 
 provoke a manifestation on their part. The elders 
 do not say that they share in these prejudices ; but 
 they excuse them, and in every case it is easy to see 
 from their words that a great proportion of the Chris- 
 tians of Jerusalem, so far from being ready to welcome
 
 SAINT PAUL. 129 
 
 the Apostle, needed to be calmed and reconciled to 
 him. It is remarkable also, that the author of the 
 Acts speaks only of the collection after a time and in 
 the most indirect fashion. If the offering had been 
 welcomed as it should have been, why does he not 
 say so, when Paul in three of his epistles devotes 
 entire pages to this object ? It is hardly to be denied 
 that Simon Magus, in the majority of the cases in 
 which Christian tradition refers to him, may be the 
 pseudonym of the Apostle Paul. The story accord- 
 ing to which this impostor wished to buy apostolic 
 powers with money, may very possibly be a transla- 
 tion of the ungracious reception accorded by the 
 Apostles of Jerusalem to the collection of Paul. It 
 would perhaps be dangerous to affirm so much, but 
 it is quite conceivable that an assembly of ill-dis- 
 posed elders may have represented the generous act 
 of one who was not of their opinion, as an attempt at 
 corruption. 
 
 If the elders of Jerusalem had not been narrow- 
 minded in the extreme, how is the strange discourse 
 which the author of the Acts attributes to them, and 
 which betrays all their embarrassment, to be ex- 
 plained? The presentation, in fact, was scarcely 
 complete, when they said to Paul : " Thou seest, 
 brother, how many thousands of Jews there are 
 which believe ; and they are all zealous of the Law : 
 and they are informed of thee that thou teachest all 
 the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake 
 Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their 
 children, neither to walk after the customs. What 
 is it therefore 1 From all sides they come to learn of 
 thy arrival. Do therefore this that we say to thee : 
 VOL. II. I
 
 130 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 We have four men which have a vow on them ; them 
 take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges 
 with them, that they may shave their heads : and all 
 may know that those things whereof they were in- 
 formed concerning thee are nothing, but that thou 
 thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the Law." 
 
 Thus to him who brought to them the homage of 
 a world, these narrow souls replied only by a mark 
 of defiance. Paul ought to expiate by a mummery 
 his prodigious conquests. It was necessary that 
 he should give some satisfaction to this littleness 
 of mind. He must do this in company with four 
 mendicants, too poor to afford to have their heads 
 shaven at their own expense. They were under a 
 vow, and, according to the superstition, he must 
 recognise them as his companions. Such is the 
 strange condition of humanity, that no one need 
 be astonished by such a spectacle. Men are too 
 numerous for it to be possible to establish any- 
 thing in this world, without making concessions to 
 mediocrity. To conquer the scruples of the weak, 
 one must be either utterly disinterested, or very 
 powerful. Those whose position obliges them to 
 reckon with the crowd are led to demand of great men 
 independent of singular inconsequences. Every 
 thought vigorously avowed is in the government of 
 the world an embarrassment. Apology, proselytism 
 themselves, when they imply a little genius, are, 
 for conservative folk, suspected things. See those 
 eloquent laymen who in our days have attempted 
 to enlarge Catholicism and to reconcile it with the 
 sympathies of a part of society which was until 
 then closed to Christian feeling ; what have they
 
 SAINT PAUL. 131 
 
 obtained from the Church to which they have brought 
 crowds of new adherents ? A disavowal. The suc- 
 cessors of St James the Great have found it prudent 
 to condemn them, even whilst profiting by their 
 success. They have accepted their offering without 
 thanks ; they have said to them as to Paul : 
 " Brethren, ye see these thousands of old believers 
 who hold to things that you pass by in silence : when 
 you speak to men of the world, take care, leave the 
 novelties which scandalise them, and sanctify your- 
 selves with us." 
 
 What was Paul to do, placed thus between his great 
 principle of the inutility of works and th e immense 
 interest he had in not breaking with the Church of 
 Jerusalem 1 ? His position was cruel. To submit 
 himself to customs that he held to be useless and 
 almost an insult to Jesus since if he had allowed it 
 to be believed that salvation is obtainable by any- 
 thing other than the merits of Christ, he would have 
 to put himself in flagrant contradiction with the 
 doctrine which he had everywhere preached, and 
 which in his great general epistle especially he had 
 developed with an unparallelled force. Why, besides, 
 did they ask him to put in force a disused rite, one 
 devoid of all efficacy, and nearly an absolute negation 
 of the new dogma? To show that he is really a 
 Jew, to refute in a peremptory fashion the rumour 
 spread abroad that he has ceased to be a Jew, that 
 he no more holds by the law and traditions ? Now, 
 assuredly, he admits them no more. Was not con- 
 nivance at this misunderstanding unfaithfulness to 
 Christ ? All that must have caused Paul to hesitate, 
 and agitated him profoundly. But a higher principle,
 
 132 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 which dominated his life, made him conquer his re- 
 pugnance. Above his opinions and private senti- 
 ments, Paul placed charity. Christ has delivered us 
 from the Law ; but if in profiting by the liberty that 
 Christ has given us, we offend our brother, it is much 
 better to renounce this liberty and to return to 
 slavery. It is in virtue of this principle that Paul, 
 as he says, makes himself all things to all men, a 
 Jew with the Jews, a Gentile with the Gentiles, 
 In accepting the proposition of James and of the 
 elders, he applies his favourite principle ; he submits 
 himself then. Never, perhaps, in the life of the 
 Apostle, did he make a more considerable sacrifice to 
 his work. The heroes of practical life have other 
 duties than those of contemplative life. The first duty 
 of the latter is to sacrifice action to ideas, to say 
 what they think, or do not think, in the exact 
 measure in which they think it ; the first duty of 
 the others is frequently to sacrifice their ideas, 
 sometimes even their most definite principles, for 
 the good of the cause the triumph of which they 
 have at heart. 
 
 What they asked Paul, besides, was less to shave 
 his head and become a Nazarite himself, than to pay 
 the expenses of four Nazarites, who had nothing 
 wherewith to pay for the sacrifices offered on occa- 
 sions of this kind. This was a work much esteemed 
 among the Jews. There were around the temple 
 troops of poor men who had made vows, and who 
 expected some rich man to pay for them. "To 
 shave a Nazarite " was an act of piety, and occasions 
 are cited in which powerful personages, as an ex- 
 pressing of thankfulness for a blessing from heaven,
 
 SAINT PAUL. 133 
 
 made thousands of them shave ; ranch the same as 
 in the Middle Ages it was meritorious to pay men to 
 make pilgrimages and to enter into monastic life. 
 Paul, in the midst of the poverty which reigned in 
 the Church of Jerusalem, passed for a rich man. He 
 was asked as a rich devotee, and to prove publicly 
 that he remained faithful to the practices of his 
 country. James, much inclined towards exterior 
 observances, was probably the inspirer of this 
 grotesque idea. They urged, furthermore, that such 
 observances had nothing to do with converted 
 Pagans. His only motive in complying was that 
 they should not allow it to be believed that the 
 frightful scandal of a Jew not practising the Law 
 of Moses was possible. So great was the fanati- 
 cism inspired by the Law, that such a phenomenon 
 appeared more extraordinary than the overturning 
 of the world and the total overthrow of creation. 
 
 Paul then placed himself in the company of the 
 four poor men. Those who accomplished such vows 
 began by purifying themselves, afterwards they en- 
 tered into the temple, remained shut up there for a cer- 
 tain number of days, according to the vow that they 
 had made a period of from seven to thirty days 
 abstained from wine, and cut off their hair. When the 
 term of days was reached, they offered sacrifices that 
 were paid for at a sufficiently high price. Paul sub- 
 mitted himself to all. On the morrow of his visit to 
 James's house, he betook himself to the temple, and 
 got his name inscribed for seven days ; and then 
 fulfilled all the customary rites, greater during these 
 days of humiliation, in which, by a voluntary weak- 
 ness, he accomplished with men in rags an obsolete
 
 134 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 act of devotion, which when at Corinth or at Thes- 
 salonica he had denounced with all the force and 
 independence of his genius. 
 
 Paul was already at the fifth day of his vow, when 
 an incident which was only too easy to foresee 
 decided the remainder of his career, and engaged 
 him in a series of troubles, which he ended only with 
 his death. 
 
 During the seven days which had elapsed since his 
 arrival at Jerusalem, the hate of the Jews against 
 him was terribly exasperated ; they had seen him 
 walk in the town with Trophimus of Ephesus, who 
 was one of the uncircumcised. Some Jews of Aia, 
 who recognised Trophimus, spread the rumour that 
 Paul had introduced him into the temple. That 
 was assuredly false, besides to have done so would 
 have exposed him to certain death. Paul had un- 
 doubtedly not for a moment thought of making his 
 Christians share in the religious practices of the 
 temple. These practices were for him absolutely 
 barren : their continuation was almost an insult to 
 the merits of Christ. But religious hate needs little 
 stimulus when a pretext is wanted for acts of violence. 
 The populace of Jerusalem were soon persuaded that 
 Paul had committed a crime which could only be 
 washed out in blood. Like all the great revolu- 
 tionists, Paul discerned the impossibility of living- 
 The enmities that he had raised began to league 
 themselves: the chasm was deepening around him. 
 His companions were strangers at Jerusalem; the 
 Christians of that city held him for an enemy, and 
 opposed themselves to him nearly as bitterly as did 
 the fanatical Jews. In analysing carefully certain
 
 SAtNT PAUL. 135 
 
 features of the account as given in the Acts, in tak- 
 ing notice of the reiterated warnings which during all 
 his return voyage, exposed to Paul the snares pre- 
 pared against him at Jerusalem, we ask ourselves 
 if these Judseo-Christians, whose malevolent temper 
 was asserted by the elders, and from whom they 
 feared a hostile demonstration, did not contribute 
 to increase the storm which was about to burst 
 upon the Apostle. Clemens Romanus attributes 
 the loss of the Apostle "to envy." It is frightful 
 to think so, but it agrees well with the iron law 
 which will rule human affairs until the day of the 
 final triumph of God. I perhaps deceive myself, 
 but when I read the twenty-first chapter of the 
 Acts, an invincible suspicion rises within me ; some- 
 thing, I do not know what, tells me that Paul was 
 lost by these "false brethren" who overran the 
 world in his footsteps, to oppose his work and to 
 represent him as another Balaam. 
 
 Be that as it may, the signal of the riot came from 
 the Jews of Asia who had seen him with Trophimus. 
 They recognised him in the temple whilst he ac- 
 complished the proscribed rite with the Nazarites. 
 " Help, help ! children of Israel I " cried they. " Here 
 is the man who preaches everywhere against the 
 Jewish people, against the Law, against this holy 
 place. Here is the profaner of the temple he who 
 has introduced Pagans into the sanctuary." The 
 whole town was soon in an uproar. A great crowd 
 assembled. The fanatics seized Paul ; their resolute 
 intention was to kill him. But to shed blood in the 
 interior of the temple would have been a pollution of 
 the holy place. They dragged Paul then outside
 
 136 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 the temple, and had scarcely got there when the 
 Levites closed the doors behind him. They took it 
 to be their duty to beat him. Such indeed would 
 have been his fate if the Roman authority, who alone 
 maintained any shadow of order in this chaos, had 
 not intervened to tear him from the hands of the 
 madmen. 
 
 The procurator of Judaea, ever since the death of 
 Agrippa the First, resided habitually at Csesarea, a 
 Roman town, ornamented with statues, an enemy 
 of the Jews, and opposed in all ways to Jerusalem. 
 The Roman power at Jerusalem was, in the absence 
 of the procurator, represented by the tribune of the 
 cohort, who resided with all his armed force in the 
 tower of Antonia, at the north-west angle of the tem- 
 ple. The tribune, at this time, was a certain Lysias, 
 Greek or Syrian by birth, who, by protections bought 
 with money, had obtained from Claudius the title of 
 Roman citizen, and had since then added to his name 
 that of Claudius. At the news of the tumult, he ran 
 with some centurions and a detachment, by one of 
 the staircases which placed the tower in communica- 
 tion with the outer courts. The fanatics then ceased 
 to strike Paul. The tribune seized and bound him 
 with two chains, asked him who he was, arid what he 
 had done ; but the tumult prevented a word being 
 heard. The Jewish riot was something frightful. 
 Those strong irritated figures, those large eyes start- 
 ing from their sockets, those gnashings of teeth, those 
 vociferations, those men flinging dust into the air, 
 tearing their clothes or throwing themselves about 
 convulsively, gave the looker-on the idea of demons. 
 Although the crowd was unarmed, the Romans were
 
 SAINT PAUL. 137 
 
 not altogether free from a certain fear of such mad- 
 men. Claudius Lysias gave the order to lead Paul 
 to the tower. The excited crowd followed them, 
 uttering cries of death. At the foot of the staircase, 
 the press was such that the soldiers were obliged to 
 take Paul in their arms and to carry him. Claudius 
 Lysias tried in vain to calm the tumult. He some- 
 what hastily concluded, or it was perhaps suggested 
 by ill-informed persons, that the man whom he had 
 arrested Avas the Jew of Egypt who, a short time 
 before, had led out with him into the desert some 
 thousands of zealots, announcing to them that he 
 would immediately realise the kingdom of God. 
 They did not know what had become of this im- 
 postor, and at any riot they fancied they might see 
 him re-appear among the agitators. 
 
 When they had reached the door of the tower, 
 Paul spoke in Greek to the tribune and begged him 
 to let him speak to the people. The latter, surprised 
 that the prisoner knew Greek, and recognising at 
 least that he was not the Egyptian false prophet, 
 granted his request. Paul then, standing upon the 
 staircase, made a sign with his hand that he wished 
 to speak. Silence was obtained, and, when they 
 heard him speak Hebrew (that is to say Syro-Chal- 
 dean), they redoubled their attention. Paul re- 
 counted, in the form which was habitual to him, the 
 history of his conversion and of his calling. They 
 soon interrupted him ; the cries, " Kill him ! kill 
 him ! " began again ; the anger was at its height. 
 
 The tribune commanded the prisoner to enter the 
 citadel. He understood nothing of this aifair; though 
 a brutal and mean soldier, he thought to explain it
 
 138 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 by torturing him as being the cause of all the trouble. 
 They seized Paul, and had already tied him upon the 
 post to receive the blows of the scourge, when he 
 declared to the centurion who presided at the torture, 
 that he was a Roman citizen. The effect of this 
 word was always very great. The executioners re- 
 ceded ; the centurion referred to the tribune ; the 
 tribune was very much surprised. Paul had the 
 appearance of a poor Jew. " Is it true that thou art 
 a Roman citizen ? " Claudius asked him. "Yes." " But 
 I paid a large sum to obtain that title." " But I was 
 free born," replied Paul. The stupid Claudius began 
 to be afraid ; his poor brain tortured itself to find 
 any meaning in this business. Outrages against the 
 rights of Roman citizens were punished very severely. 
 The very fact of having tied Paul to the post with 
 the view of flagellation was an offence, an act of 
 violence which would have remained unknown if it 
 had been done by an obscure man, might now be- 
 come a very grievous matter. Finally Claudius hit 
 upon the idea of convoking for the morrow the 
 high priest and the Sanhedrim, in order to know 
 what complaint they made against Paul, because 
 he himself could find none. 
 
 The high priest was Ananias, son of Nebedes, who 
 by a rare exception had filled this high office for ten 
 years. He was a man very much respected, in spite 
 of his gluttonous habits, which were proverbial among 
 the Jews. Independently of his office, he was one of 
 the first men of the nation ; he belonged to that 
 family of Hanan, which one is sure to find upon 
 the judicial bench whenever it is a case of condemn- 
 ing the Christians, the popular saints, the innovators
 
 SAINT PAUL. 139 
 
 of all kinds. Ananias presided over the Assembly. 
 Claudius Lysias ordered Paul to be released from 
 his chains, and caused him to be brought in : he 
 himself looking on. The discussion was extremely 
 tumultuous. Ananias flew into a passion, and, for a 
 word which appeared to him blasphemous, ordered 
 his assessors to smite Paul upon the mouth. " God 
 shall smite thee, thou whited wall," replied Paul, 
 " for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and 
 commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law? " 
 " What ! revilest thou God's high priest ? " said the 
 assistants. Paul, changing his mind, said : " I wist 
 not, brethren, that he was the high priest, for if 
 I had known I should not have spoken thus ; for it 
 is written, 'thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler 
 of thy people.'" This moderation was skilfully 
 calculated. Paul had remarked, indeed, that the 
 assembly was divided into two parties, animated 
 by very diverse sentiments towards him : the high 
 Sadducee clergy were absolutely hostile to him ; 
 but he could make himself understood to a certain 
 point by the Pharisee middle-class. "Brethren," 
 cried he, "I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. 
 Do you know why they accuse me ? For my hope 
 in resurrection of the dead." It was putting the 
 finger upon an open sore. The Sadducees denied 
 the resurrection, the existence of angels and of 
 spirits; the Pharisees admitted all. The stratagem 
 of Paul succeeded marvellously ; war was soon in 
 the assembly. Pharisees and Sadducees were more 
 eager to fight amongst themselves than to destroy 
 their common enemy. Many Pharisees even took 
 up the defence of Paul, aud affected to find the
 
 140 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 recital of his vision probable. "Finally," said 
 they, " what complaint have you against this man "? 
 Who knows if a spirit or an angel has not spoken 
 to him ? " 
 
 Claudius Lysias assisted open-mouthed at this 
 debate, utterly unmeaning as it was for him. He 
 saw the moment when, as on the night before, Paul 
 was about to be torn to pieces. He therefore gave 
 orders to a squadron of soldiers to descend into the 
 hall, to rescue Paul from the hands of those present, 
 and to reconduct him to the tower. Lysias was 
 much embarrassed. Paul, however, rejoiced in the 
 glorious witness that he had just borne to Christ. 
 The following night he had a vision. Jesus appeared 
 to him arid said : " Be of good cheer : for as thou 
 hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear 
 witness to me also at Rome." 
 
 The hate of the fanatics, during this time, did not 
 remain inactive. A certain number of these zealots 
 or hired murderers, always ready to draw the dagger 
 in defence of the Law, conspired to kill Paul. They 
 bound themselves by a vow, under the most terrible 
 anathemas, neither to eat nor to drink whilst Paul 
 remained alive. The conspirators were more than 
 forty in number ; they .took their oath on the morn- 
 ing of the day which followed the assembly of the 
 Sanhedrim. To gain their ends, they went to the 
 priests, explained to them the plan which they had 
 formed, agreed with them to intervene with the 
 Sanhedrim to ask the tribune for a new appearance of 
 Paul on the morrow. The conspirators proposed to 
 seize their opportunity and kill Paul on the way. 
 But the secret of the plot was ill kept ; it came to
 
 SAINT PAUL. 141 
 
 the knowledge of a nephew of Paul, who lived in 
 Jerusalem. He ran to the barrack and revealed all 
 to Paul ; Paul had him led to Claudius Lysias by a 
 centurion. The tribune took the young messenger 
 by the hand, led him aside, obtained from him all the 
 details of the plot, and sent him away, commanding 
 him to keep silence. 
 
 From this time Claudius Lysias no longer hesitated. 
 He resolved to send Paul to Caesarea; on the one 
 hand, to do away with all pretext for disturbances in 
 Jerusalem, and, on the other, to extricate himself by 
 transferring this difficult affair to the procurator. 
 Two centurions received orders to form an escort 
 capable of resisting any attempts at carrying Paul 
 off. It was composed of two hundred soldiers, of 
 seventy cavalry, and of two hundred of those police- 
 men who served at what were called the custodia mili- 
 taris, that is to say, men who guarded prisoners, 
 fastened to them by means of a chain going from the 
 right hand of the captive to the left hand of his 
 guardian. Horses were also ordered for Paul, and 
 the whole were to be ready by the third hour of the 
 night (nine o'clock in the evening). Claudius Lysias 
 wrote at the same time to the procurator Felix an 
 elogium, that is to say, a letter, to explain the affair 
 to him, declaring that, for his part, he only saw in 
 all that some trifling questions of religion, without 
 anything that deserved death or imprisonment ; that, 
 moreover, he had announced to the accusers that they 
 were also to present themselves before the procurator. 
 These orders were promptly executed. A forced 
 march was made in the night, and in the morning 
 the troop reached Antipatris, which is more than
 
 142 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 half-way from Jerusalem to Csesarea. There, all 
 danger of surprise having disappeared, the escort 
 divided itself: the fonr hundred infantry, after a halt, 
 returned to Jerusalem ; the detachment of cavalry 
 alone accompanied Paul to Csesarea. The Apostle 
 thus re-entered as a prisoner (beginning of August 
 58) the town which he had left twelve years before, 
 in spite of sinister forebodings that his habitual 
 courage prevented him from listening to. His dis- 
 ciples rejoined him after a little time. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 CAPTIVITY OF PAUL AT C^SAREA OF PALESTINE. 
 
 FELIX then governed Judaea with the powers of a 
 king and the soul of a slave. He was the freedman 
 of Claudius, and brother of that Pallas who had 
 made the fortune of Agrippina, and of Nero. He 
 had all the immorality of his brother, but not his 
 administrative talents. Named, by the influence 
 of Pallas, procurator of Judaea, in 52, he there 
 showed himself cruel, debauched, greedy. Nothing 
 was above his ambition. He was successively 
 married to three queens, and kinsman by marriage 
 of the Emperor Claudius. At the period at which 
 we are, his wife was Drusilla, sister of Herod 
 Agrippa II., whom he had carried off by infamous 
 practices from her first husband, Aziz, King of 
 Emesus. There was no crime of which he was not 
 considered capable ; people even went as far as 
 accusing him of practising brigandage on his own
 
 SATXT PAUL. 148 
 
 account, and of using the dagger of the assassin to 
 gratify his hatreds. Such are the men upon whom 
 the highest functions have devolved since Claudius 
 gave up everything to the freedmen. They were 
 no longer Roman knights, grave functionaries like 
 Pilate, or Coponius ; they were covetous lackeys, 
 proud, dissolute, profiting by the political abasement 
 of that poor old Oriental world to gorge themselves 
 at their ease, and to wallow in the mud. Never 
 since has anything so horrible and so shameful 
 been seen. 
 
 The chief of the squadron who had led Paul away, 
 delivered up to Felix, on his arrival, the elogium 
 and the prisoner. Paul appeared for an instant 
 before the procurator, who asked him of what 
 country he was. The elogium assigned to the ac- 
 cused a privileged situation. Felix said that he 
 would hear the cause when the accusers should have 
 arrived. Whilst waiting, he commanded that Paul 
 should be guarded, not in the prison, but in the 
 ancient palace of Herod the Great, which had now 
 become the residence of the procurators. At this 
 moment, doubtless, Paul was trusted to a soldier 
 (frumejitarius), who was placed over him to guard him 
 and to present him whenever required. 
 
 At the end of three days, the Jewish accusers 
 arrived. The high priest Ananias had come in person, 
 accompanied by some elders. Hardly knowing how to 
 speak Greek and Latin, and full of confidence in the 
 official rhetoric of the time, they had taken as an as- 
 sistant a certain Tertullus, an advocate. The hearing 
 took place immediately. Tertullus, according to the 
 rules of his profession, began by the captatio bene-
 
 144 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 volentice. He impudently praised the government 
 of Felix, spoke of the happiness that they enjoyed 
 under his administration, of the public gratitude, and 
 he begged him to listen with his habitual kindness. 
 Then he approached his subject, treated of Paul 
 as a pest, as a disturber of Judaism, as the chief of 
 the heresy of the Nazarenes, as a busybody, ever 
 occupied in exciting sedition amongst his co-re- 
 ligionists throughout the world. He insisted upon 
 the alleged violation of the temple, which consti- 
 tuted a capital crime, and maintained that in seeking 
 to take possession of Paul, they had only wished 
 to judge him according to the Law. 
 
 Upon a sign from Felix, Paul then began to speak. 
 He argued that his conduct in the temple had been 
 that of the most peaceful Jew, that he had not 
 disputed there or brought the mob together, that he 
 had not preached once at Jerusalem, that he was, in- 
 deed heretical if it be heretical to believe all that is 
 written in the Law and the Prophets, and to hope 
 for the resurrection of the dead ; at bottom, the 
 only crime of which they accused him was believing 
 in the resurrection ; " but," added he, " the Jews 
 themselves believe in that. . . ." With regard 
 to the Jews, it was a skilful apology, clever rather 
 than sincere, since, avoiding the real difficulty, it 
 sought to make out that there was an under- 
 standing when there was nothing of the kind, thus 
 evading the question at issue in a fashion which 
 has since been often imitated by Christian apologists. 
 Felix, who interested himself very little about the 
 dogma of the resurrection, remained indifferent. 
 He abruptly broke up the sitting, declaring- that he
 
 SAINT PAUL. 145 
 
 would not decide anything until he had been better 
 informed, and had seen Claudius Lysias. In the 
 meantime, he ordered the Centurion to treat Paul 
 with gentleness, that is to say, to leave him un- 
 changed, in the state of custodia libera, and to per- 
 mit his disciples as well as his friends to approach 
 him and to serve him. 
 
 Some days after, Felix and Paul again met. 
 Drusilla, who was a Jewess, desired, it is said, to 
 hear the Apostle expound the Christian faith. Paul 
 spoke of justice, of temperance, of judgment to 
 come. The subjects were not altogether agree- 
 able to these new catechumens. Felix, himself, 
 appears to have been afraid : " That is enough for 
 the moment," said he to Paul ; " I will make you 
 come to me at the proper time." Having learned 
 that Paul had brought with him a considerable sum 
 of money, he hoped to obtain from him or his friends 
 a heavy bribe for his release. It appears that he 
 saw him several times, and he sought to suggest 
 this idea to him. But the Apostle not lending 
 himself to it, Felix wished at least to gather some 
 profit, for his popularity was much shaken. The 
 greatest pleasure that one could do for the Jews 
 was to persecute those whom they regarded as their 
 enemies. He therefore kept Paul in prison, and 
 even put him in chains. Paul passed two years 
 in this way. 
 
 The prison, even with the augmentation of the 
 chain and of the soldier (frumentarius), was far 
 from being then what it is to-day, a total privation 
 of liberty. Everyone who had pecuniary resources 
 could arrange with his gaoler and might attend to 
 VOL. IT. K
 
 146 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 his business. In any case, he saw his friends, he 
 was not rigorously confined ; in short, he might be 
 pretty much as he pleased. There is no doubt 
 consequently, that Paul, although a prisoner, con- 
 tinued his apostleship at Cassarea. Never had he 
 had with him such disciples. Timothy, Luke, 
 Aristarchus of Thessalonica, Tychius and Trophimus, 
 carried his orders in all directions, and helped with 
 the correspondence that he kept up with his Churches. 
 In particular, he charged Tychicus and Trophimus 
 with a mission for Ephesus. Trophimus, it appears, 
 fell ill at Miletus. 
 
 As a consequence of the stay that they thus made 
 in Palestine, the most intelligent members of the 
 Churches of Macedonia and of Asia found them- 
 selves in prolonged relations with the Churches of 
 Judsea. Luke, in particular, who until then had 
 not left Macedonia, was initiated into the traditions 
 of Jerusalem. He was without doubt vividly im- 
 pressed by the majesty of Jerusalem, and he ima- 
 gined the possibility of a reconciliation between the 
 principles maintained on the one side by Paul, on 
 the other by the elders of Jerusalem. He thought 
 that the best thing was to forget reciprocal injuries, 
 to prudently veil these wrongs, and to speak no 
 more of them. The fundamental ideas which must 
 preside at the editing of his great manuscript pro- 
 bably then developed themselves in his mind. By 
 these various contacts, a uniform tradition was 
 established. The Gospels were elaborated by the 
 intimate communication of all the parties which 
 constituted the Church. Jesus had created the 
 Church ; the Church created him in its turn. That
 
 SAINT PAUL. 147 
 
 grand ideal which was to dominate humanity for 
 centuries, truly went out from the bowels of 
 humanity by a kind of secret agreement amongst 
 all those to whom Jesus had bequeathed His Spirit. 
 
 Felix finally succumbed, not under the indigna- 
 tion that his crimes must have produced, but before 
 the difficulties of a situation against which not even 
 a procurator could make head. The life of a Roman 
 governor at Caesarea had become insupportable ; 
 the Jews and the Syrians or Greeks fought inces- 
 santly ; the most honest man could hardly hold the 
 balance between such ferocious hatreds. The Jews, 
 according to their custom, complained at Rome. 
 They there exercised a sufficiently strong influence, 
 especially with Poppaea, and, thanks to the intrigues 
 which Herod Agrippa II. directed, Pallas had lost 
 much of his credit, above all since the year 55. He 
 could not prevent the disgrace of his brother : he 
 only succeeded in saving him from death. They 
 gave as a successor to Felix a firm and just man, 
 Porcius Festus, who arrived in the month of August 
 of the year 60 at Caesarea. 
 
 Three days after his disembarkation, he betook 
 himself to Jerusalem. The high priest Ismael, son 
 of Phabi, and all the party of the Sadducees (that 
 is to say, the high priesthood), surrounded him, and 
 one of the first demands that they addressed to 
 him was relative to Paul. They wished him to be 
 brought back to Jerusalem, and they had arranged for 
 an ambuscade to kill him on the way. Festus re- 
 plied that he was about shortly to set out for 
 Csesarea, that it was consequently better that Paul 
 should remain there, but that, as the Romans never
 
 148 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 pronounced a sentence without the accused being 
 confronted Avith his accusers, it would be necessary 
 that those of the notables who wished to charge 
 Paul should come with him. At the end of eight 
 or ten days he returned to Csesarea, and, on the 
 morrow, he caused Paul and his adversaries to 
 appear before his court. After a confused debate, 
 Paul maintaining that he had done nothing against 
 the Law, or against the temple, or against the 
 Emperor, Festus proposed to him that he should 
 re-conduct him to Jerusalem, where he could, under 
 his surveillance and his high jurisdiction, defend 
 himself before a Jewish court. Festus undoubtedly 
 did not know of the project of the conspirators ; he 
 hoped, by this dismissal, to disembarrass himself of 
 a tedious cause, and to do an agreeable thing for 
 the Jews, who asked from him so urgently for the 
 transfer of the prisoner. 
 
 But Paul carefully guarded himself from accept- 
 ing. He was possessed by the desire of seeing Rome. 
 The capital of the world had for him a powerful 
 and mysterious charm. He maintained his right to 
 be judged by a Roman tribunal, protested that no 
 one had any right to deliver him to the Jews, and 
 pronounced the solemn words : " I appeal unto 
 Csesar." These words, pronounced by a Roman citi- 
 zen, did away with all provincial jurisdictions. The 
 citizen, in whatever part of the world he was, had 
 the right of being taken to Rome to be judged. 
 The governors of provinces, moreover, often referred 
 to the Emperor and his council the causes of re- 
 ligious law. Festus, surprised at first by this appeal, 
 conversed for a moment with Tiis assessors, then
 
 SAINT PAUL. 149 
 
 replied by the formula : " Hast thou appealed unto 
 Caesar? unto Csesar shalt thou go." 
 
 The sending of Paul to Rome was from this time 
 decided, and they only waited for an opportunity 
 for him to set out. A singular incident occurred in 
 the interval. Some days after the return of Festus 
 to Csesarea, Herod Agrippa II. and his sister Ber- 
 nice, who lived with him, not without a suspicion 
 of infamy, came to salute the new procurator. They 
 remained for several days at Csesarea. In the 
 course of the conversations that they had with the 
 Roman functionary, the latter spoke to him of the 
 prisoner whom Felix had left him. " His accusers," 
 said he, " have not charged against him any of the 
 crimes that I was waiting to see established. There 
 is nothing in all this business but subtleties relative 
 to their superstitious, and of a certain Jesus who is 
 dead, and whom Paul affirms to be living." " Truly," 
 said Agrippa, " I have for a long time wished to 
 hear this man speak." " Thou shalt hear him to- 
 morrow," replied Festus. 
 
 On the morrow, then, Agrippa and Bernice came 
 to the tribunal with a brilliant suite. All the officers 
 of the army, and the chief people of the town, were 
 present. No official procedure could take place 
 after the appeal to the Emperor, but Festus declared 
 that, according to his principles, the sending of a 
 prisoner to Rome must be accompanied by a report. 
 He pretended to wish for fuller information for the 
 report that he had to make in this case ; he alleged 
 his ignorance of Jewish affairs, and declared that 
 he wished to follow in this matter the advice of 
 King Agrippa. Agrippa invited Paul to speak.
 
 150 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 Paul then made, with a certain oratorical com- 
 placency, one of those discourses that he had 
 repeated a hundred times. He esteemed himself 
 happy in having to plead his cause before a judge 
 as well instructed in Jewish questions as was 
 Agrippa. He intrenched himself more strongly than 
 ever in his ordinary system of defence, asserted 
 that he said nothing that was not in the Law and 
 the Prophets, maintained that he was persecuted 
 only because of his belief in the resurrection, the 
 faith which is that of all the Israelites, which gives 
 a moving motive for their piety, a foundation for 
 their hopes. He explained, by quotations from the 
 Scriptures, his favourite propositions the know- 
 ledge that Christ must suffer, that he must be the 
 first to rise from the dead. Festus, a stranger to 
 all these speculations, took Paul for a dreamer, a 
 clever man in his way, but wandering and chimeri- 
 cal. "Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning 
 doth make thee mad." Paul invoked the witness of 
 Agrippa, who was more versed in Jewish theology, 
 knowing the prophets, and whom he supposed in- 
 structed in the facts relative to Jesus. Agrippa 
 replied evasively. A grain of pleasantry mixed itself, 
 it seems, in the conversation. " Almost thou per- 
 suadest me to be a Christian," said Agrippa. Paul, 
 with his usiial wit, took the tone of the court, and 
 finished by wishing that they all resembled him. 
 "Except these bonds," replied he, with a gentle 
 irony. 
 
 The effect of this courteous sitting, so different 
 from the audiences in which the Jews figured as 
 prosecutors, was finally favourable to Paul. Festus,
 
 SAINT PAUL. 151 
 
 with his Roman good sense, declared that this man 
 had done nothing wrong. Agrippa was of opinion 
 that, if he had not appealed to the Emperor about 
 it, they might have released him. Paul, who wished 
 to go to Rome conducted by the Romans them- 
 selves, did not withdraw his appeal. They then 
 put him, with some other prisoners, in the guard of 
 a centurion of the cohort prima Augusta Italica, 
 named Julius, who must have been an Italian. 
 Timothy, Luke, and Aristarchus of Thessalouica 
 were the only disciples who travelled with him. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 PAUL'S VOYAGE AS A PRISONER. 
 
 THE party embarked upon a ship of Adramythium in 
 Mysia, which was returning thither. At one of the 
 intermediate ports, Julius counted on finding a ship 
 about to sail for Italy, and on taking passage in it. 
 It was about the time of the autumnal equinox, so 
 that they had a rough voyage in prospect. 
 
 On the second day they arrived at Sidon. Julius, 
 who treated Paul very kindly, allowed him to go 
 down into the town, to visit his friends and to re- 
 ceive their attentions. The route had been to take 
 the open sea and to gain the south-west point of 
 Asia Minor ; but the winds were contrary. It was 
 necessary to run to the north, sailing close to Phoe- 
 nicia, then to go to the coast of Cyprus, leaving it on 
 the port hand. They followed the channel between 
 Cyprus and Cilicia, traversed the gulf of Pamphylia,
 
 152 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 and arrived at the port of Myra in Lycia. There 
 they left the Adramytian ship. Julius having found 
 one of Alexandria which was about to sail for Italy, 
 made a bargain with the captain, and transported 
 his prisoners thither. The ship was very full : there 
 were on board 276 persons. 
 
 Navigation from this time was most difficult. 
 After several days they had only reached Cnidns 
 The captain wished to enter the port, but the 
 north-east wind did not allow him, and it was 
 necessary to allow himself to be carried under the 
 isle of Crete. They soon recognised Cape Salmon e, 
 which is the eastern point of the island. The island 
 of Crete forms an immense barrier, making of the 
 portion of the Mediterranean that it covers at the 
 south, a kind of large port, sheltered from the 
 tempest coming from the archipelago. The captain 
 had the very natural idea of profiting by this ad- 
 vantage. He still followed the eastern side of the 
 island, not without great perils ; then, getting the 
 island on the windward side, he entered the calm 
 waters of the south. There was a little port there 
 very deep, shut in by an islet, and bordered by 
 two sandy beaches between which a point of rocks 
 juts out, so that it seems divided into two parts. It 
 is what is called Kali Limenes (the Fair Havens) ; 
 near to it was a town named Lasasa or Alassa. 
 They took shelter here ; the crew and passengers 
 were excessively fatigued, so that they made a rather 
 prolonged stay in this little port. 
 
 When it was a question of setting out again, the 
 season was far advanced. The great fast of the 
 Atonement (Kippour), in the month of Pisri (October),
 
 SAINT PAUL. 153 
 
 had passed ; this fast marked for the Jews the limit 
 after which maritime journeys were not safe. Paul, 
 who had acquired much authority upon the ship, and 
 who, moreover, had had long experience of the sea, 
 gave his opinion. He predicted great dangers and 
 disasters if they re-embarked. 
 
 "Nevertheless the centurion" (we cannot be as 
 much surprised by the fact as the narrator of the 
 Acts) " believed the master and the owner of the ship, 
 more than those things which were spoken by Paul." 
 The port of Kali-Limenes was not a good one to 
 winter in. The general opinion was that they must 
 try, in order to pass the winter months there, to gain 
 the port of Phoeuice, situated upon the southern 
 coast of the island, where the men who knew those re- 
 gions promised good anchorage. A day when there 
 was a breeze from the south they believed to be the 
 favourable one ; they weighed anchor, and tacked 
 along the side of the island, as far as Cape Littinos; 
 then they sailed with a fair wind towards Phoenice. 
 
 The crew and the passengers believed themselves 
 at the end of their troubles, when suddenly one of 
 those sudden hurricanes from the east, that the 
 sailors of the Mediterranean call Euroclydon, smote 
 the island. The ship was soon unable to keep her 
 head to the wind : the seamen had to run before it. 
 They passed near a little isle named Clauda ; they 
 put themselves for a moment under the shelter of 
 this isle, and profited by the short respite to hoist up 
 with great difficulty the boat, which every moment 
 ran the risk of breaking up. They then took pre- 
 cautions, in view of that shipwreck which all held to 
 be inevitable. They bound the hull of the ship with
 
 154 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 cables, they struck the yards, and abandoned them- 
 selves to the wind. The second day, the tempest 
 was quite as great ; wishing to lighten the ship, they 
 threw the cargo overboard. On the third day, they 
 disencumbered themselves of the furniture and uten- 
 sils that were not necessary for working the ship. 
 The following days were frightful, they did not see 
 the sun for a moment, or a single star ; they did not 
 know where they were going. Besides being strewn 
 with islands, the Mediterranean presents between 
 Sicily and Malta to the west Pelponnesus and Crete, 
 to the east, southern Italy and Epirus ; to the north, 
 the coast of Africa ; to the south, a large square of 
 open sea, where the wind meets with no obstacle, 
 and rolls the sea into enormous waves. It was that 
 place that the ancients often called the Adriatic. 
 The general .opinion of the men on board was that 
 the ship was running upon the Syrtes of Africa, where 
 loss of life and goods was certain. All hope seemed 
 gone ; no one dreamt of taking any food ; it was, 
 moreover, impossible to prepare it. Paul alone re- 
 mained confident. He was convinced that he should 
 see Rome, and that he would appear before the 
 tribunal of the emperor. He encouraged the crew 
 and passengers; he even said, it appears, that a 
 vision had revealed to him that not a person should 
 perish, God having granted to him the life of all, in 
 spite of the mistake that they had made in leaving 
 the Fair Havens against his advice. 
 
 On the fourteenth night, indeed, after leaving this 
 port, towards the middle of the night, the sailors 
 believed that they recognised the land. They cast 
 the lead, and found twenty fathoms; a short time
 
 SAINT PAUL. 155 
 
 after it was fifteen fathoms. They believed that 
 they were about to run upon the rocks ; at once four 
 anchors were thrown from the poop ; they lashed the 
 rudders, that is to say, the two large paddles which 
 projected from the two sides of the quarter-deck ; 
 the ship stopped ; they waited anxiously for the day. 
 The sailors then, profiting by their skill in the work, 
 wished to save themselves at the expense of the pas- 
 sengers. Under the pretext of throwing the anchors 
 from the bow, they launched the boat, and tried 
 to get on shore. But the ceuturion and the soldiers, 
 warned, it is said by Paul, of this disloyal conduct, 
 opposed themselves. The soldiers cut the cables 
 which held the sloop, and let it go adrift. Paul, 
 however, spoke consolingly to all, and assured them 
 that no one would suffer in his body. During these 
 crises of maritime life, existence is as it were sus- 
 pended ; when they are ended, we perceive that we 
 are dirty and hungry. For fourteen days scarcely any- 
 one had taken any nourishment ; it might have been 
 from emotion ; it might have been from sea-sickness. 
 Paul, in waiting for the day, advised all to eat, in 
 order to give themselves strength, in view of the 
 work which remained to be done. He set the ex- 
 ample himself, and, like a pious Jew, broke bread, 
 according to custom, after a prayer of thanksgiving, 
 which he offered in the presence of all. The pas- 
 sengers imitated him, and took heart again. They 
 still lightened the ship, throwing into the sea all the 
 corn which remained. 
 
 Day at last appeared, and they saw the laud. It 
 was deserted: no one could make out where he was. 
 They had before them a bay, having at its extremity
 
 156 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 a sandy beach. They resolved to run aground upon 
 the sand. The wind was in their favour. They 
 then cut the cables of the anchors, and allowed them 
 to get lost in the sea ; they loosed the ropes which 
 bound the rudders, hoisted the foresail, and steered 
 towards the shore. The ship fell upon a neck of 
 land beaten on two sides by the sea, and there 
 remained. The prow sank into the sand and re- 
 mained immovable ; the poop, on he contrary, beaten 
 by the waves, bumped and dislocated itself at each 
 blow from the sea. Safety under these conditions is 
 easy enough upon the shores of the Mediterranean, 
 the ebb and flow of the tide being inconsiderable. 
 The grounded ship made a shelter, and it is easy to 
 establish communication with the land. But the 
 presence of prisoners where there were so many 
 passengers aggravated the situation. They might 
 save themselves by swimming, and escape their 
 guardians ; the soldiers, therefore, proposed to kill 
 them. The honest Julius rejected this barbarous 
 notion. He ordered those who knew how to swim 
 to cast themselves into the sea and to gain the land, 
 in order to aid the escape of the others. Those who 
 did not know how to swim escaped upon planks and 
 wreckage of every kind ; nobody was lost. 
 
 They soon learnt that they were at Malta. The 
 island, having submitted to the Romans for a long 
 time, and already much Latinised, was rich and 
 prosperous. The inhabitants showed themselves 
 humane, and lighted a large fire for the unfortunate 
 castaways. The latter, indeed, were shivering with 
 cold, and the rain continued to fall in torrents. A 
 very simple incident, exaggerated by the disciples of
 
 SAINT PAUL. 157 
 
 Paul, then took place. In taking a bundle of sticks 
 to throw into the fire Paul at the same time took up 
 a viper. They believed that it had bitten his hand. 
 The idea got into their heads that this man was a 
 murderer, followed by Nemesis, who not having been 
 able to overtake him by means of the tempest, had 
 pursued him on land. The men of the country, as it 
 appears, waited to see him any moment swell and fall 
 dead. As nothing happened, they decided, it is said, 
 to look upon him as a god. 
 
 Near the bay in which the ship had got wrecked 
 were the lands of a certain Publius, princeps of the 
 municipality that the island formed with Gaul. This 
 man came to find the castaways, or at least a party 
 of them, of whom were Paul and his companions, 
 gathered in his homestead, and he treated them 
 during three days with much hospitality. Here soon 
 happened one of those miracles that the disciples 
 of Paul believed they saw at every instant. The 
 Apostle cured, they say, the father of Publius by the 
 imposition of hands, he suffering from fever and 
 dysentery. His reputation of wonder-worker spread 
 in the island, and they brought to him sick people 
 from all sides. It is not said, however, that he 
 founded a Church there. These low African popu- 
 lations could hot raise themselves above their sensu- 
 ality and gross superstition. 
 
 The ancient coasting trade of the Mediterranean 
 came to a standstill during the winter. The fright- 
 ful voyage that they had just made offered no en- 
 couragement to take to the sea again. They re- 
 mained for three months at Malta, from the 15th 
 of November 60 to the 15th of February 61 or there-
 
 158 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 abouts. Then Julius negotiated fur the passage 
 of his prisoners and of his soldiers upon another 
 Alexandrian ship, the Castor and Pollux, which had 
 wintered in the port of the island. They reached 
 Syracuse, where they remained for three days ; then 
 sailed with a fair wind towards the straits, and 
 touched at Rhegium. On the morrow, a good wind 
 blew from the south and bore the ship in two days 
 to Puteoli. 
 
 Puteoli, as we have already said, was the port of 
 Italy most frequented by the Jews. It was there 
 also that ships from Alexandria discharged their 
 cargoes. There had been formed there at the same 
 time as at Rome, a little Christian society. The 
 Apostle was very warmly welcomed by it, and en- 
 treated him to stay for seven days, which, thanks 
 to the kindness of the good centurion Julius, who 
 was much attached to him, was possible. They 
 subsequently set out for Rome. The rumour of 
 Paul's arrival was spread amongst the faithful of 
 that city, to some of whom he was already, since the 
 sending of his epistle, a known and respected master. 
 At the relay, at the stage called Appii Forum, forty- 
 three miles from Rome, upon the Appian Way, the first 
 deputation reached him. Ten miles further on, to set 
 out from the Pontiue Marshes, near a spot called " The 
 Three Taverns," on account of the hostelries which 
 were established there, a new group came to join. 
 The joy of the Apostle declared itself by lively ex- 
 pressions of thanks. The holy flock traversed not 
 without emotion the eleven or twelve leagues which 
 separated " The Three Taverns " from Port Capeua, 
 and always following the Appian Way, by Aricia and
 
 SAINT PAUL. 159 
 
 Albania, the prisoner Paul entered Rome in the 
 mouth of March in the year 64, in the seventh year 
 of the reign of Nero, under the consulship of Caesen- 
 nius Pastus and Petronius Tarpilien. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 A GLANCE OVER THE WORK OF PAUL. 
 
 PAUL has still three years to live, and those three 
 years will not be the least busy of his laborious exist- 
 ence. We shall even see that his apostolic career 
 had in all probability an extension. But these new 
 journeys he made in the west, not in the countries 
 which he had already visited. These journeys, if 
 they really took place, were, besides, without appreci- 
 able results for the propagation of Christianity. At 
 this point we can therefore estimate the work of 
 Paul. Thanks to him, a part of Asia Minor had re- 
 ceived the seed of Christianity. In Europe, Mace- 
 donia has been very deeply penetrated, Greece breaks 
 upon its borders. If we add to that Italy, from 
 Puteoli to Rome, already furrowed by Christians, we 
 shall have the picture of the conquests effected by 
 Christianity in the sixteen years that this book em- 
 braces. Syria, we have seen, had previously received 
 the word of Jesus, and possessed organised Churches. 
 The progress of the new faith had been really mar- 
 vellous, and although the world at large occupied it- 
 self very little with it. the followers of Jesus were 
 already important to those without. We shall see 
 them, towards the middle of the year 64, occupy the
 
 160 SAINT PAtfL. 
 
 attention of the world, and play a very important 
 part in its history. 
 
 In all this history, nevertheless, it is important 
 to avoid a mistake which the reading of the Epistles 
 of Paul, and the Acts of the Apostles, almost neces- 
 sarily produces. One would be tempted from 
 such a reading to imagine conversions en masse of 
 of numerous Churches, of entire countries adopting 
 the new religion. Paul, who often speaks to us of 
 rebellious Jews, never speaks of the immense ma- 
 jority of Pagans who had not knowledge of the faith. 
 In reading the journeys of Benjamin of Tudela, one 
 would also believe that the world of his time was 
 peopled only with Jews. Sects are subject to these 
 optical illusions ; for them, nothing exists besides 
 themselves; the events which happen amongst them 
 appear to them to be the only events interesting the 
 universe. Persons who have had relations with 
 ancient St Simonians are struck with the facility 
 with which they consider themselves the centre of 
 humanity. The first Christians lived so shut up in 
 their own (little) circle, that they knew scarcely any- 
 thing of the profane world. A country was accounted 
 evangelised when the name of Jesus had been pro- 
 nounced there, and when a tenth of the people were 
 converted. A Church often did not number more 
 than twelve or fifteen persons. Perhaps all the con- 
 verts of Saint Paul in Asia Minor, in Macedonia, and 
 Greece, did not much exceed a thousand. That 
 small number, that spirit of secret companionship, of 
 a little spiritual family, was truly what constituted 
 the indestructible strength of those Churches, and 
 made of them so many fertile germs for the future.
 
 SAINT PAUL. 161 
 
 One man contributed more than any other to that 
 rapid extension of Christianity. That man has torn 
 up the swaddling clothes so narrow and so prodigi- 
 ously dangerous by which he was surrounded from 
 his birth ; he has proclaimed that Christianity was 
 not a simple reform of Judaism, but that it was a 
 complete religion, existing by itself. To say that 
 he deserves to be placed in a very elevated rank 
 in history, is to say what is self-evident ; but it 
 is not necessary to call him a founder. Paul welT* 
 said that he was the least of the Apostles. He had 
 not seen Jesus, he had not heard His voice. The 
 divine logia, the parables, he scarcely knew. The 
 Christ who personally revealed himself to him is his 
 own ghost ; he listens to himself, thinking that he 
 hears Jesus. 
 
 Even to speak only of his exterior character, Paul 
 must have been in his lifetime less important than 
 we think him. His Churches were either not very 
 solid, or else they denied him altogether. The 
 Churches of Macedonia and of Galatia, which are 
 truly his own work, were not very important in the 
 second and third century. The Churches of Corinth 
 and of Ephesus, which were not so exclusively his, 
 went over to his enemies, or are not founded canoni- 
 cally enough if they have been founded only by him. 
 After his disappearance from the scene of his Apos- 
 tolic contests, we shall see him almost forgotten. 
 His death was probably held by his enemies as the 
 death of a firebrand. The second century hardly 
 speaks of him, and seems systematically to seek to 
 efface his memory. His Epistles are read little, and 
 are only considered authoritative by a much reduced 
 VOL, IJ. L
 
 162 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 group of Churches. His partisans themselves greatly 
 weaken his pretensions. He left no celebrated dis- 
 ciples ; Titus, Timothy, and those others who made 
 for him a kind of court, disappear without any noise./ 
 To tell the truth, Paul had too energetic a person-! 
 ality to form an original school. He always crushed 
 his disciples : they only played around him the partj 
 of secretaries, of servants, of couriers. Their respect! 
 for their master was such that they never dared to 
 teach freely. When Paul was with his flock, he 
 existed alone ; all others were crushed or seen only 
 through him. 
 
 In the third, fourth, and fifth centuries Paul will 
 grow singularly : He will become the doctor in an 
 eminent degree, the founder of Christian theology. 
 \The true president of those great Greek Councils 
 Which made of Jesus the keystone of metaphysics, 
 |was the Apostle Paul. 
 
 / But in the Middle Ages, everywhere in the west, 
 his fortune will undergo a strange eclipse. Paul will 
 scarcely say anything to the heart of the barbarians ; 
 out of Rome, he Avill not be remembered. Latin 
 Christianity will scarcely pronounce his name, except 
 as coupled with that of his rival. St Paul, in the 
 Middle Ages, is in some sort lost in the glory of 
 St Peter. Whilst St Peter moved the world and 
 made it tremble and obey, the obscure St Pou plays 
 a secondary part in the grand Christian poesy which 
 fills cathedrals and inspires popular chants. Scarcely 
 anybody before the sixteenth century utters his 
 name ; he scarcely appears in monumental inscrip- 
 tions; he has no devotees, they build hardly any 
 churches to him, they burn no wax-tapers to him.
 
 SAINT PAUL. 163 
 
 His associates, Titus, Timothy, Phoebe, Lydia, have 
 little place in public worship, especially in that of 
 the Latins. He has no legend which is worth any- 
 thing. To have a legend, it is necessary to have 
 spoken to the heart of the people to have struck 
 their imagination. Now, what does salvation by 
 faith say, or justification by the blood of Christ? 
 Paul was too little sympathetic with the popular con- 
 science, and also perhaps too well-known in history 
 for a halo of fables to form around his head. Talk 
 to me of Peter, who bends the necks of kings, 
 breaks empires, walks upon the asp and the basilisk, 
 treads under foot the lion and the dragon, holds the 
 keys of heaven ! 
 
 The Reformation opens for St Paul a new era of 
 glory and authority. Catholicism itself returns, by 
 studies more extended than those of the Middle 
 Ages, to juster views upon the Apostle of the Gen- 
 tiles. From the sixteenth century, the name of Paul 
 is everywhere. But the Reformation, which has 
 rendered so many services to science and reason, 
 has not been known to create a legend. Rome, 
 throwing an obliging veil upon the rudenesses of 
 the Epistle to the Galatiaus, elevates Paul upon a 
 pedestal nearly equal to that of Peter. Paul 
 nevertheless does not become the saint of the 
 people. What place will criticism give to him ? 
 What rank will be assigned to him in the hierarchy 
 of those who serve the ideal. 
 
 The ideal is served by doing good, by discovering 
 the true, by realising the beautiful. At the head of 
 the sacred procession of humanity, walks the good 
 man, the virtuous man ; the second rank belongs to
 
 164 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 the man of truth, knowledge, philosophy ; then comes 
 the man of beauty, the artist, the poet. Jesus appears 
 to us, under His celestial halo, as an ideal of goodness 
 and beauty. Peter loved Jesus, understood him, and 
 was, it seems, in spite of some failings, an excellent 
 man. What was Paul 1 ? He was not a saint. The 
 dominating feature of his character is not goodness. 
 /"""He was proud, unbending, unsociable ; he defends 
 / himself; self-assertive (as we say to-day); he uses 
 | harsh words ; he believes himself right ; he holds to 
 his opinions ; he quarrels with various people. He 
 was not a scholar ; one can even say that he has 
 injured science by his paradoxical contempt of 
 reason, by his eulogy of apparent folly, by his 
 apotheosis of transcendental absurdity. Neither 
 was he a poet. His writings, works of the highest 
 
 L originality, are without charm : the form is harsh 
 and almost devoid of grace. What was he then? 
 
 He was eminently a man of action, a strong soul 
 invading, enthusiastic, conquering a missionary, a 
 propagator, all the more ardent because lie had at 
 first displayed his fanaticism on the opposite side. 
 Now the man of action, noble as he is when he acts 
 for a noble aim, is less near to God than one who has 
 lived for the pure love of truth, of the good and the 
 beautiful. The Apostle is naturally rather narrow- 
 minded; he wished to succeed, he made sacrifices 
 for that end. Contact with reality always soils one 
 a little. The first places in the kingdom of heaven 
 are reserved to those whom a ray of grace has 
 touched, to those who have only adored the ideal. 
 The man of action is always a feeble artist, for he 
 has not for his only aim that of reflecting the
 
 SAINT PAUL. 165 
 
 splendour of the universe. He could not be a scholar, 
 for he regulates his opinions on grounds of political 
 utility ; he is not even a very virtuous man, for he 
 is never irreproachable, the folly and wickedness of 
 men forcing him to make a compact with them. 
 Above all things, hejigjio^ajmiable ; the most charm- 
 ing of virtues, reserve, is forbidden to him. The 
 world favours the daring, those who help themselves. 
 Paul, so great, so honest, is obliged to bestow on 
 himself the title of Apostle. He is strong in actions 
 through his faults ; he is weak through his virtues. 
 In short, the historical personage who has most 
 analogy with St Paul, is Luther. Both alike were 
 violent in language, both displayed the same passion, 
 the same energy, the same noble independence, 
 the same frantic attachment to an proposition once 
 embraced, as infallible truth. 
 
 I still persist in maintaining that, in the creation 
 of Christianity the part of Paul ought to be treated 
 as much inferior to that of Jesus. It is necessary 
 even, according to my idea, to put Paul on a lower 
 plane than Francis of Assisi, and the author of the 
 "Imitation," who both saw Jesus very nearly. The 
 Son of God is unique. To appear for a moment, to 
 make a sweet and pro-found impression, to die very 
 young, that is the life of a god. To wrestle, to dis- 
 pute, to conquer, that is the life of a man. After 
 having been for three hundred years the Christian 
 doctor in an eminent degree, thanks to orthodox 
 Protestantism, Paul seems in our days near the end 
 of his reign : Jesus, on the contrary, is more living 
 than ever. It is no more the Epistle to the Romans 
 which is the recapitulation of Christianity, it is the
 
 166 SAINT PAUL. 
 
 Sermon on the Mount. True Christianity which will 
 last eternally comes from the Gospels, not from the 
 Epistles of Paul. The writings of Paul have been a 
 danger and a stumbling-block, the cause of the chief 
 faults of Christian theology. Paul is the father of 
 the subtle Augustine, of tjie arid Thomas Aquinas, 
 of the soTflbre Calviuist, of the bitter Jansenist, of 
 the ferocious theology which condemns and predes- 
 tinates to damnation. Jesus is the father of all 
 those who seek in dreams of the ideal the repose of 
 their souls. That which gives life to Christianity, 
 is the little that we know of the word and of the 
 person of Jesus. The man devoted to the ideal, the 
 divine poet, the great artist, defies alone time and 
 revolution. Alone he is seated at the right hand of 
 God the Father for eternity. 
 
 Humanity, thou art sometimes just, and certain 
 of thy judgments are good ! 
 
 THE END.
 
 
 
 TIL 

 
 SEP 19 1985
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL UBHARY FACILITY 
 
 A 000636793 2