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remembrance and confirmation, to compress, into the short space of a single Lecture, the principal reasons for believing that St. Paul was indeed an illustrious witness to the truth of Christianity, called by the crucified but glorified Saviour to be an Apostle; separated unto the Gospel of God by the direct interposition of its divine Author. I do this the more readily, because of late the old and often refuted objections to the character and authority of St. Paul have been repeated, with professions of respect for genuine Christianity, but, in reality, with a view to its entire destruction. That great Apostle of the Gentiles, to whom we are indebted, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, for the great body of Christian doctrine, is so powerful a witness for the truth as it is in Jesus, and so spiritual an interpreter of its doctrines, that while the authority of his writings remains entire, the philosopher and the freethinker, as they term themselves, find it impossible to pare down the Christian religion to their own standard of meagre, compromising morality: and therefore it only remains for them. to attack, first his inspiration, then his veracity, and lastly his motives; and to separate his system, as they call it, of Christianity, from that of his Divine Master, and his fellow-labourers

in the Gospel. Happily, the writings of St. Paul are abundantly sufficient, at once to establish the justice of his claim to the office of an Apostle, and to show the perfect consistency and agreement of his preaching with the Gospel delivered to the Apostles by the Lord Jesus. Let us take a short survey of the history of this great teacher of Christianity: if it only serves to draw your attention to his character, as a follower and servant of our common Lord and Master, it will not be without its use.

He was born at Tarsus, a town in Cilicia, of Jewish parents, of the tribe of Benjamin. He calls himself an Hebrew of the Hebrews,* that is, sprung from Hebrew parents, both on the father's and the mother's side; not having one of his parents a Gentile, as Timothy had, nor even a proselyte, but being a genuine true-born Jew. His name was originally Saul; which he exchanged for that of Paul, when he afterwards began to preach amongst the Roman colonists in Asia; probably because the latter name was more familiar to Gentile ears, to which his preaching was to be chiefly addressed, than the Hebrew Saul. The time of his birth is uncertain: he is described as a young man at the martyrdom of

* Phil. iii. 5.

Stephen: he may then have been about thirty years of age; and, consequently, younger by a very few years than our blessed Lord himself. St. Paul received his education, or at least completed it, at Jerusalem; where he says that he was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel,* an eminent teacher of the law; that is, was a constant attendant upon his lectures. This is a Jewish mode of expression: so we read in St. Luke, that Mary sat at the feet of Jesus, and heard his words. He was taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers; that is, was instructed in the traditional interpretation of Scripture, the only kind of learning in esteem amongst the Jews. He was, like his preceptor Gamaliel, of the sect of the Pharisees;† the chief depositaries of tradition, and the chief corrupters of the word of God.

We know nothing further of St. Paul's early life; but we are sure, from what we do know of his education, and from his own confession, that it was such as would prejudice him against the Christian faith. And his prejudices soon displayed themselves in acts of open hostility. He is first mentioned as being present at the stoning of Stephen, and as consenting unto his † Acts xxvi. 5.

* Acts xxii. 3.

death. After which, says the sacred historian, he made havock of the Church, entering into every house, and haling men and women, committed them to prison. St. Paul afforded a striking instance of the insufficiency of conscience, unenlightened and unaided, as a guide of human life. That he acted conscientiously in persecuting the Church of Christ, there can be no doubt, He declared before Agrippa, I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth; and he adds, that he had punished the saints oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme:* and thus he fulfilled the prediction of our Saviour; The time cometh that whosoever killeth you, will think that he doeth God service.†

An interesting question arises on this part of the Apostle's history, as to the degree of sinfulness which he incurred by persecuting the Church of God, and the nature of God's mercy vouchsafed to him. But although interesting, it is not by any means necessary to be solved; for the case of Paul was, in all its bearings, a special and peculiar case: and although we are bound to be followers of him, as he also was of Jesus, it is not necessary, either for the regulation of our practice, or the

* Acts xxvi. 9.

† John xvi. 2.

confirmation of our hopes, to determine the nature and magnitude of his sin before conversion, or the mode and kind of the divine mercy in effecting that conversion. Yet this we may safely say; that St. Paul's ignorance was culpable, when in zeal and rage he persecuted the Church of God; because there was evidence enough within his reach, to prove the truth of the Gospel, of which he did not avail himself: yet this ignorance, although sinful, lessened the malice of its effects, and disposed him towards pardon; that is, to find it, not to deserve it. Let us not, however, build upon the example of St. Paul in this respect, nor imagine that a vincible and voluntary ignorance, will render us fit objects of God's special grace. Those who will not search for the Spirit in his Word, cannot expect to feel its enlightening influence in their hearts. We do not excuse unbelief in any case; but we boldly condemn that unbelief, which declines a careful examination of the evidences of truth.

In the year following the martyrdom of Stephen, Saul received a commission from the chief council of the Jews, to go to Damascus, in search of persons professing the religion of Jesus Christ; that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring

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