The epistles of Paul the apostle : a sketch of their origin and contents
Findlay, George G. (George Gillanders), 1849-1919
yatCla (wilt “Will in OP ue - ~<Tas Q he 2 a OF: 5 a ah veh pet) Da he Sen 300KS FOR BIBLE STUDENTS. Edited by the REV. ARE HUR “Ee eGR GOR, BPISTLES OF PAUL THE APOSTLE. By GeEorGE G. FInpDray, B.A. LONDON: C. H. KELLY, 2, Cast_e Street, City Roap, E.C. 1895. BOOKS FOR BIBLE STUDENTS. Editor: Rey. ArtuuR E. GReqory. The Epistles of Paul the Apostle: A Sketch of their Origin and Contents. By GrorGE G. FINDLAY, B.A. Small crown 8vo, 2s, 6d. Fifth Thousand. The Theological Student: A Handbook of Elementary Theology. With List of Questions for Self-Examination. By J. ROBINSON GReGory. 2s. 6d. Fifth Thousand. The Gospel of John: An Exposition with Critical Notes. By T, F. Lockyer, B.A. 2s, 6d. Second Thousand. The Praises of Israel: An Introduction to the Study of the Psalms. By W. T. Davison, M.A., D.D. 28. 6d. Third Thousand, The Wisdom-Literature of the Old Testament. By W. T- Davison, M.A., D.D. 28. 6d. Second Thousand. From Malachi to Matthew: Outlines of the History of Judea from 440 to 4.B.c, By Professor R. WapDy Moss, Didsbury College, Manchester. 2s. 6d. Second Thousand. An Introduction to the Study of Hebrew. By J. T. L. Macas, -A., Prizeoman in Hebrew and New ‘Testament Greek, London University. 5s. In the Apostolic Age: The Churches and the Doctrine, By Ropert A. Watson, M.A., D.D. Qs. 6d. The Sweet Singer of Israel: Selected Psalms with Metrical Para- phrases. By BenvaMin Gregory, D.D. 2s. 6d. The Age and Authorship of the Pentateuch. By Wit11a™ Spiers, M.A., F.G.8., etc. 383. 6d. IN PREPARATION. The Books of the Prophets, By Professor Groran G. Frxpray, B.A. The Synoptic Gospels. By Marcus D. Buerz, D.D., Professor of New Testament Mxegesis in Boston University, U.S.A. The Writings of St. John: A Sketch of their Origin and Contents, By Professor Groner G, Finpray, B.A. An Introduction to the Study of New Testament Greek, By J. H. Mouton, M.A., Fellow of King's College, Cambridge, The Epistle to the Hebrews. By W. L. Warkinson. The Ministry of the Lord Jesus. By T. G. Seipy, Author of ‘The Imperfect Angel.” The Evidences of Christianity. By Professor J. SHaw Banks, Headingley College. A Manual of Modern Church History. By Professor W. F, Siater, M, Loyxpos : CHARLES H. KELLY, 2, Castir Sr., Crry Rp., B.C. June 1895, i ©5 THE EPISTLES ) &Y i Shami “e ae PAUL THE APOSTLE: A SKETCH OF THEIR ORIGIN AND CONTENTS, BY GEORGE G. FINDLAY, B.A., TUTOR IN BIBLICAL LITERATURE “AND EXEGESIS, HEADINGLEY COLLEGE. Author of Commentaries on the Epistles to the Galatians and Ephesians (Expositor’s Bible), to the Colossians (Pulpit Commentary), and I. and IT, to the Thessalonians (Cambridge Bible) ; and of the Fernley Lecture for 1894 on Christian Doctrine and Morals. SIXTH THOUSAND. LONDON: CG. H. KELLY, 2, Casrum Srreet, Crry Roap, E.C. 1895 Printed by Hazell, Watson, & Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury. erst Cc (fe ee vot TO MY STUDENTS, PAST AND PRESENT, FOR WHOM THE LECTURES EMBODIED IN THIS LITTLE VOLUME WERE PREPARED, 334759. PREFACH. HY another book about St Paul? We have Commentaries, Lives, and Introductions to the great Apostle in abundance. This book comes under none of these desiynations ; and it fills a place that, so far as the writer knows, is unoccupied. It seeks to weave the Epistles together into an historical unity, to trace out the life that pervades them, alike in its internal elements and external movements and surround- ings; and to do this in a volume of small compass, and free from technical detail and phraseology. Bibliographical references and extended criti- cal discussions are excluded by the limits of the work. Conclusions must be given, where School of Theology a1 1 at Claremont vili PREFACE. reasons are ansupplied, or only hinted; and conjecture has often to supply the lack of sure knowledge. The writer has striven to assert nothing more strongly than the evidence war- rants. But it is difficult to be brief, and yet not too positive. These pages may claim, at any rate, to be the outcome of many years of constant study and teaching devoted to the subject. G. G. F. NOTE TO THE THIRD EDITION. HIS work has been revised throughout for the present issue. Some additions have been made to it: a short section has been appended to Chapter IT, upon the Language of St Paul; anda Postscript at the end of the work, upon the Locality of St Paul's Galatians, occasioned by the “ South Galatian theory ” of Prof. W. M. Ramsay, who in his able and brilliant work on The Church in the Roman Empire identifies the “Galatians” of the epistle with the churches of Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Derbe, and Lystra. An improved map is also inserted. For the preparation of the Index I am indebted to my friend Mr O, F. Hunter, B.A., of this College. G. G. F. HEADINGLEY, May 24th, 1895, TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION : CHRONOLOGY ° e ° e Object of the Handbook — Date of Paul’s Conversion—First Period of Paul’s Public Ministry — Second—Third — Fourth—Fifth Periods—Chronological Table. CHAPTER II. FORM AND STYLE OF PAUL'S WRITINGS Personal and Incidental Writings — Style Attractive but Difficult—Order and Con- tents of Epistles—Language of Paul. CHAPTER III. TO THE THESSALONIANS . . . ° e Date and Connexion of the Two Letters— Occasion— Character and A ffinities— Analysis of the Epistles—Paraphrases, PAGE 38 x CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV. THE FOUR EVANGELICAL EPISTLES . ‘. The Conflict with Peter—Paul’s Apostleship disputed— Practical Topics—Genuineness of these Epistles. CHAPTER V. THE FIRST TO THE CORINTHIANS Date and Occasion—Character and Sespe— Central Principle—Analysis of the Epistle —Paraphrases. CHAPTER VI. VHE SECOND TO THE CORINTHIANS Interval between 1 and 2 Corinthians—Titus’ Report from Corinth — Characteristics — Analysis—Paraphrases. ® CHAPTER VII. TO THE GALATTANS Place of the Galatian Epistle—Paul’s Con- nexion with Galatia —Character of the _ Galatians—Judaizers in Galatia—Analysis— Paraphrases.. PAGE 54 7] 94 114 CONTENTS. xi CHAPTER VIII. PAGE TO THE ROMANS : : : . ‘ ae bol Occasion of Romans—The Roman Church— Threefold Conclusion — Analysis — Para- phrases. CHAPTER IX. TRANSITION TO THE THIRD GROUP. ; a LO Address at Miletus—Situation of the Apostle —The Colossian Heresy. CHAPTER X. THE EPISTLES OF THE FIRST IMPRISONMENT a Wie | Connexion of Colossians and Ephesians—Ephe- siansa Circular letter—Analyses—Philemon — Philippians—Paraphrases. CHAPTER XI. THE THREE PASTORALS . ; . . . 200 Object of the Pastorals—Connexion with Earlier Epistles—Authenticity—Order and Date—Analyses—Paraphrases, ; xii CONTENTS. CHAPTER XII. GENERAL SURVEY . . ° : °. Paul as an Evangelist—Growth of his Doctrine —Characteristics of Four Groups. CHAPTER XIII. APPENDIX.-—THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS Destination of the Epistle—Its Date—Aim and Character—Author—Analysis, POSTSCRIPT. THE LOCALITY OF ST PAUL’S ‘‘ GALATIA ” INDEX PAGE 225 257 288 295 THE EPISTLES OF PAUL. ae CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION, Tis the object of this handbook to furnish, in a form as brief and clear as possible, a connected view of the epistles of St Paul. We shall look at them in their historical order and continuity, as an expression of the living mind of the great apostle of the Gentiles and a part of his life-work. We shall seek to understand their environment, the combination of circum- stances under which they originated, and the condition of the young Christian communities to which they were addressed. We shall treat the letters as an organic whole, viewing each in its relation to its companions and to the general teaching of the author, and endeavouring to trace out their internal unity and pervasive spirit. We shall follow the progress of the writer’s I 1 2 THE EPISTLES OF PAUL. thought, and the application of his governing principles to the changing conditions of life around him, and to the growing necessities of the work of God committed to his charge. These epistles will afford us, if we succeed in our attempt, a mirror of the apostle himself in his inner history and experience, in the varying moods of his sensitive and ardent nature, in the advance of his powerful intellect and the mighty working of the Spirit of Christ upon him; a mirror also, on the other hand, of the state and development of the infant churches of the Gentiles which he had begotten, and nursed through the early and imperilled stages of their existence. At the same time, while keeping these wider aims before us, the letters themselves: will be our proper study. Our chief object will be to grasp and master each of them in its special significance and character, as in turn they come under review. It will be possible, as we hope, without entering upon the details of exposition, to analyse the epistles in such a way as to bring out their salient features and distinctive import, so that we may appreciate each for its own sake, and may discern what they severally contribute to Christian doctrine and to the wealth and life of the Church, as well as to our acquaint- ance with St Paul and the apostolic age. If we INTRODUCTION. 3 accomplish less than we design, and our ambition should prove too large to be compassed in so small a space, the reader must be pleased to accept what is here offered him as an essay towards the end proposed, and as the opening up of a path which it will remain for himself to pursue to its goal. It is something if this sketch suffices to indicate to the student the method by which the subject should be ap- proached, and the ideal that he must place before himself, even though the results immediately attained fall short of its realization. The path which we have marked out is indeed no new or untrodden way. We are entering into the labours of many devoted Pauline scholars. The life and writings of this apostle have engaged of recent years the attention and re- search of men of all schools of Christian learning, to an extraordinary degree. The work thus accomplished is so far complete, and the material accumulated for the elucidation of the subject so extensive and well-digested, that little remains to be done except to gather up and bring to a focus the results now ascertained. It ought not, therefore, to be very difficult for us, within these narrow limits, to take such a rapid but comprehensive survey of the field as we have above indicated. 4 THE EPISTLES OF PAUL, In the two opening chapters we shall aim at two things. (1) We shall draw out a chrono- logical outline of the apostle’s life, supplying a framework into which to fit the epistles pro- visionally, so that each may have its definite place in our mental image of the times. For in compositions of this class, more than in any other, a preliminary knowledge of the occasion and date of writing is indispensable for the understanding of their contents.* Furnishing ourselves beforehand with a scheme of the apostle’s history, gathered from a cursory view of the epistles and comparison of them with the Acts of the Apostles, we shall return to the closer study of the letters, prepared to trace the course of events that gave birth to each, the links of connexion which bind them together, and the nature and extent of their various con- tributions to the teaching of the New Testament. (2) Furthermore, and as our second preliminary business, we shall take account of the literary form and characteristics of St Paul’s letters, their peculiar style of expression and the mould into which they are cast. * In following Paul’s career, we need also to have the map constantly before us. The Zeacher’s Bible and other cheap editions of the Scriptures supply this want. CHRONOLOGY. 5 THe CHronotocy or Sr Paui’s Lirn. The apostle’s conversion to Christianity is variously dated by different critics, some fixing it as early as 35, others as late as 41 a.v. Its date is determined : (1) partly by its connexion with Stephen’s martyrdom, which, it is supposed, took place about the end of Pontius Pilate’s governorship (36 4.D.), when his authority was so weak that such a proceeding as the judicial murder of Stephen becomes accountable, or in the interregnum that preceded the arrival of Pilate’s successor (36-38 A.D.) ; (2) partly by counting backwards from the date of the council at Jerusalem (on the assumption that the meet- ing of Acts xv. 1-29 and that of Gal. ii. 1-10 are one and the same) the periods of three and fourteen years* furnished by Gal. i. 18 and ii. 1, —and the council appears on other grounds to * It must be borne in mind that ancient computations of time were inclusive, the starting-point and the terminus of the period computed being both reckoned in counting the distance. So that, ¢.g., any event of the year 38 would be described as ‘‘ three years after” any event of the year 36, although the former should have occurred in October and the latter in September. (The Jewish civil year began in October.) At this rate, it is evident that the two successive periods of three and fourteen years, stated by St Paul, need not have amounted to more than an actual interval of fifteen years, 6 THE EPISTLES OFF PAGE, have taken place in 51 a.p.; and (8) partly again by reference to 2 Cor. xi. 82, where Paul tells us that Avretas, king of Petra in Arabia, was occupying Damascus at the time of his escape from that city, which ensued on his return thither (Acts ix. 23-25) after his retreat, and sojourn in Arabia (Gal. i. 17,18). Now Aretas, it is shown, cannot have occupied Damascus earlier than 37 aA.p. (when the death of the Emperor Tiberius was attended with consider- able unsettlement in the eastern parts of the Empire) ; and the Arab chief does not appear to have held that city at the time of Saul’s previous journey thither. These data taken singly seem precarious ; but they lend confirmation to each other, and we infer from them that the conversion of Saul of Tarsus to the faith of Jesus Christ took place in the year 36 of our Lord. It may have come about a year sooner or a year later; but the margin of un- certainty can hardly extend beyond this limit. It was, then, within six, or at the most seven years of Christ’s ascension that this great event happened, when the ascended Jesus led captive this powerful and determined enemy of His name, and through him bestowed upon men gifts amongst the choicest and most fruitful with which His Church has ever been enriched. In _CHRONOLOGY. 7 Paul’s conversion the full import of the new faith revealed itself; a world-wide revolution was effected in the germ. Referring the conversion of Saul to the year 36, his first subsequent wsit to Jerusalem took place in 38 a.p. (Acts ix. 26-30; Gal. i. 18, 19), when he “ made acquaintance with Cephas, and abode with him fifteen days,” and also “saw James, the Lord’s brother,” but did not become known to the Judean church at large (Gal. i. 22), though he “disputed” in the Hellenistic synagogues. After this the future apostle retired to Tarsus, and spent some years engaged in evangelistic work in “the regions of Syria and Cilicia,” near to his native place (Gal. i. 21-23). First Periop oF Pavut’s Pusiic Ministry. He reappears in the narrative of the Acts, when fetched by Barnabas to help him at Antioch (Acts xi. 25, 26). This must have been in 43 A.D. ; for Barnabas and Saul laboured in Antioch together “a whole year” before the prediction by Agabus of the famine in Judea. This calamity occasioned their going up to Jerusalem, during the persecution of the church there by Herod Agrippa I., which was terminated by the sudden death of this king (Acts xii.). Now, at this point in our chronology we touch solid 8 THE EPISTLES OF PAUL, ground ; for we know from secular history that Herod died at Ceesarea in April 44 a.p. At this period Paul made his second visit as a Christian to Jerusalem, assisting Barnabas in bringing relief to the famine-stricken brethren in Judwa (Acts xi. 27-30, xii. 25). This was probably a hurried and secret visit : it was “to the elders” that the contribution from Antioch was officially sent ; and coming at such a time, with a contribution of money for the proscribed Christian flock, the delegates would avoid public notice. It is likely that St Paul saw hardly any one at Jerusalem, except the elders ; for Peter was at this time in hiding (Acts xii. 17), or still confined in prison, and the other apostles probably absent. Indeed, it is quite possible that Paul did not even set foot in the city. At any rate, he still remained “ un- known by face to the churches of Judexa ” (Gal. i. 22). This errand had no bearing on St Paul’s relations to the elder apostles, and was irrelevant to his purpose in Gal. i. andii. Hence he passes it over without mention in that epistle. He refers there to two important visits to the Holy City, which brought him into close relations with St Peter and the leaders of the mother church—the first taking place in the third year after his conversion, which we have noticed in CHRONOLOGY. 9 its place ; and a second, following the first “ at an interval of fourteen years,” when the status of Gentile Christians and of St Paul as their apostle was under discussion (Gal. ii. 1-10). Now, the mission of charity referred to in Acts xi. 29, 30 fell in the middle of this period of fourteen years,—about 44 a.p. “‘ Barnabas and Saul, when they had completed this service, returned from Jerusalem, taking along with them John Mark” (Acts xii. 25), who was “ Barnabas’ cousin ” (Col. iv. 10, R.V.). For some time longer they continued their labours in Antioch and the neighbourhood, St Paul’s work extending beyond Syria to his native district of Cilicia (Gal. i. 21). At length came the call of the Spirit which drove the Gentile missionaries farther afield, and gave the signal for the commencement of Paul’s wider career (Acts xiii. 1-4). The first mis- sionary journey of Barnabas and Paul together took them from Antioch through the island of Cyprus and the south-east of Asia Minor, and back by sea to Antioch again (Acts xiil., xiv.). This extensive tour occupied the greater part of a year (or two years?), from early spring to autumn—the period during which navigation, and travel in the highlands of Asia Minor, were possible. But it is impossible to determine to 10 THE EPISTLES OF PAUL. which of the years between 44 and 51 A.D. it belonged. The language of St Luke would lead us to date the expedition at an earlier rather than a later position in this interval ; if we assion it to 46 a.D., we are sufficiently near the truth. The historian tells us that “no small time” elapsed between the return of the mis- sionaries from this voyage and their going up to Jerusalem on the question of Gentile circum- cision (Acts xiv. 28). For some years longer, therefore, the apostle Paul remained by the side of Barnabas, laying securely the foundations of Gentile Christianity in the Greeco-Syrian city of Antioch, which was the metropolis of the East, and at this time inferior in its magnitude and wealth only to Rome and Alexandria. If St Paul spent eighteen months of his brief apostleship con- tinuously at Corinth, and above two years at Ephesus, it was not too much to devote the first seven years of his public ministry to Antioch. Here “ the disciples were first called Christians ” (Acts xi. 26); and Antioch, rather than Jeru- salem, is the mother city of Christian missions and of the Church cecumenical. It was the head-quarters and starting-point of St Panl’s whole Gentile evangelism. While remaining at Antioch, the apostle probably undertook CHRONOLOGY. II other minor expeditions in the neighbouring regions, resembling that described in Acts xiii, xiv., but which it was not necessary for St Luke to relate. To the time of the first recorded missionary journey belong the addresses reported in Acts xii. and xiv., delivered at the Pisidian Antioch and at Lystra in Lycaonia, which are of great value as examples of Paul’s missionary preach- ing. The so-called “Council of Jerusalem” (Acts xv.; Gal. ii.) is the next critical event in the apostle’s life and in the annals of the primitive Church. It took place in the year 51 (or, possibly, 50) a.p., at a point of time half-way between the ascension of Christ and the fall of Jerusalem. This conference between Barnabas and Paul, as delegates of the church at Antioch, and the chiefs of the church at Jerusalem resulted in the formal recognition of Gentile Christianity in its distinctive character and independence of the Mosaic law. An under- standing was brought about, under the auspices of “James, Cephas, and John,” between the conservative Judean school and those who shared in the more advanced and enlightened views of the apostle of the Gentiles ; while the latter, in spite of the prejudices that had been 12 THE EPISTLES OF PAUL. excited against him, was acknowledged in his plenary apostleship by the three “pillars” at Jerusalem and admitted to a footing of equality with themselves. Thus his position and that of the new, free Gentile communities was made secure, and a platform was laid for the widest possible extension of the gospel throughout the heathen world. Srconp Preriop or Paut’s Ministry. From this point, therefore, St Paul’s plans took a wider range and his gospel had free course. He set out on the second missionary journey independently of Barnabas, but accom- panied by Silas (or “Silvanus,” as in 1 and 2 Thess. i. 1; 1 Pet. v. 12) of Jerusalem (Acts xv. 36-41) ; Timothy joining them at Lystra on the way (Acts xvi. 1-3), and Luke apparently attending them at a later period of the journey, from Troas to Philippi (Acts xvi. 10-17, for it is in this part of the journey that the writer of the Acts speaks in the first person plural). The primary object of this tour was to confirm the churches already founded in south-eastern Asia Minor, and to deliver to them the letter of the council at Jerusalem (Acts xv. 36, 41, xvi. 4, 5). But when the missionary band had reached the limit of the former excursion, instead of CHRONOLOGY. 13 returning home they boldly marched forward through the heart of the peninsula. Leaving Lycaonia to the south, they traversed Phrygia and Galatia (Acts xvi. 6), in a direction appar- ently from south-west to north-east. In Galatia the apostle’s health broke down, and he was compelled to halt. Here, in all probability, he spent the winter; he was received with the kindest hospitality, and preached with great success (Gal. iv. 12-15, iii. 1-5). Leaving Galatia, Paul and Silas struck out westwards, intending to attack the important Roman pro- vince of Asia, with its famous capital, Ephesus. But they were “ forbidden by the Holy Spirit ” ; and a similar intimation stopped them on their way to the populous province of Bithynia, lying to the north-east (Acts xvi. 6, 7). So it came to pass that in the spring of the year 52 the travellers found themselves in Troas, fronting Europe and the western seas, where the cry from Macedonia reached their ears. At its summons they crossed the Aigean, to take possession in the name of Christ of a new continent, the home of the world’s imperial races, the nurse of civilization and the arts of life. The graphic narrative of St Luke, in Acts xvi. 11 to xviii. 18, enables us to follow closely the track of the missionaries, and to witness 14 THE EPISTLES OF PAUL, their adventures and successes from Troas all the way to Corinth. Here St Paul “sat down for eighteen months,” and “stayed yet many days further ” (Acts xviii. 11, 18—probably from autumn 52 to summer 54); and this city, the political and commercial capital of Greece, be- came, after Antioch, the second great centre of the Gentile Christian mission. The arrival of Aquila and his wife at Corinth, in consequence of the expulsion of the Jews from Rome by the Emperor Claudius (Acts xviii. 2), and the gover- norship of Gallio in the province of Achaia at this point bring the sacred narrative into contact with secular history. These coincidences, while not supplying very definite marks of time, yet, so far as they go, sustain the correctness of our chronology. The churches of Galatia, Macedonia, and Corinth were the product of St Paul’s second missionary journey. And to this period belong the firstfruits of the apostle’s literary labours— the two enistles to the Thessalonians. Add to these the address on Mars’ Hill (Acts xvii. 18-31). THIRD PERIOD oF Paut’s Ministry. A brief and unimportant fourth visit to Jeru- salem is indicated in Acts xviii. 22, 23; after CHRONOLOGY. 15 which the apostle “went down to Antioch.” He “spent some time” in that city—probably the winter of 54-55 a.p.; and it was, we believe, at this time, in the interval between the second and third missionary journeys, that the conflict took place at Antioch between SS. Peter and Paul, which the latter apostle describes in Gal. ii. 11-21. Our reasons for this opinion will afterwards appear. St Paul started from Antioch, on his third smis- sionary journey, in the spring of 55 a.p. He journeyed overland, “traversing the Galatian country and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples,” and therefore, we may presume, visit- ing the Lycaonian churches also on his way (Acts xviii. 23). He was able now to carry out the purpose—postponed three years before by the Divine monition, which then directed his course to Europe—of coming down by way of the Phrygian highlands to Ephesus. Here he arrived (Acts xix. 1) in the latter part of the year 55. And he remained in or about Ephesus for some two years and a half (compare the notes of time given us in Acts xix. 8, 10 and xx. 31), in which time a large and flourishing church was established in this great capital, and “almost the whole of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks” (Acts xix. 10). The 16 THE EPISTLES OF PAUL. churches of the Lycus valley—Colosse, Laodicea, and Hierapolis—where Paul himself had not been (Col. i. 5-7, ii. 1), were proofs of the far- reaching influence of the apostle’s Hphesian ministry, and of the abundant harvest which his labours yielded in this well-chosen soil. The tumult in the theatre at Ephesus some- what hastened St Paul’s departure. He left Asia in the spring of 58, travelling, as before, by way of Troas to Macedonia (Acts xx. 1; 2 Cor. ii 12). Here he must have stayed a considerable time (Acts xx. 2; 2 Cor. i. 23), longer than at first he intended. It was prob- ably during this summer that St Paul com- pleted the evangelization of Macedonia, and made the excursion into Illyricum referred to in Rom. xv. 19. The autumn of 58 found him in Corinth again, to which he devoted the three months of winter (Acts xx. 3). Harly in the year 59 Paul set out, by way of Macedonia, on the memorable veyage to Jerusalem which concluded the third and culminating period of his Gentile mission. By easter he was already at Philippi (Acts xx. 6), where Luke rejoined him ; for he now resumes the “we” dropped at Philippi six years before (Acts xvi. 17). To this epoch (55-59 a.p.) belong the founding of the churches of Asia (¢.¢. the Roman province CHRONOLOGY. 17 of Asia, corresponding to western Asia Miner in modern geography), with Ephesus for their metropolis; and the writing of the Galatian, the two Corinthian, and the Roman epistles—the greatest products of the apostle’s pen, and docu- ments whose authorship is beyond all dispute. To the year 59 and the time of the journey to Jerusalem belongs the pastoral address to the Hphesian elders recorded in Acts xx. This forms the transition to the following period. Fourts Perriop or Paut’s Ministry. It was Pentecost, 59 a.p., when the apostle paid his fifth visit to Jerusalem (Acts xx. 16, xxi. 17), bringing with him the contributions that the Gentile churches had made for the relief of their poorer brethren in Judzea (Acts xxiv. 17; Rom. xv. 25-27, 31, etc.). “The Jews from Asia” present at the feast (Acts xxi. 27-30), his old Ephesian enemies, recognized him in the Temple, and made a murderous assault upon him, setting the whole city in an uproar. He was with difficulty rescued by Captain Claudius Lysias and the Roman guard; was tried before the Sanhedrin without result, and then despatched for safety to Ceesarea, the residence of the Pro- curator; tried again ineffectually before Felix, and detained for two years, until the expiry of 2 18 THE EPISTLES OF PAUL. Felix’s governorship and the arrival of his successor, Festus (61 a.p.). Failing to obtain justice from the new Procurator, he “ appealed to Caesar” in the exercise of his right as a Roman citizen, and thus secured the fulfilment of his long-cherished hope of seeing Rome (Acts xix. 21; Rom. xv. 23). Onur calculations, drawn from St Luke’s data, are verified at this point by certain statements of Josephus, from which we gather that Festus succeeded Felix as Procurator of Judea in the summer of 60 or 61 A.D.,—probably the latter. St Paul’s speeches of defence are important documents for this fourth period of his apostle- ship: (1) before the people, delivered from the Temple steps, Acts xxii. ; (2) before the Jewish Sanhedrin, Acts xxiii. ; (3) before the Procurator Felix, Acts xxiv.; (4) his appeal to Cesar at the court of Festus, Acts xxv.; (5) his apology before Herod Agrippa IL, in the presence of Festus, Acts xxvi. The voyage to Rome, narrated in the last chapters of the Acts, occupied the autumn and winter of 61-62 a.p. There the historian leaves him, after “two whole years” still awaiting trial. Meanwhile, he was allowed to “ live in his own hired house, receiving all that came to him; preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching the CHRONOLOGY. 19 things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, no man forbidding him.” So the story ends. Whatever be the real explanation of this abrupt, yet seemingly designed conclusion, it is scarcely consistent with the supposition that the imprisonment terminated with the apostle’s death. There was nothing in the nature of the charges against him, nor in the policy of the Roman Government, likely to lead to such an issue ; unless, indeed, the Emperor had some personal ground for hostility against the Chris- tians. Such hostility did exist, as we know, in the closing years of Nero’s reign, after the great fire at Rome in 64 a.p. And tradition points to this later period as the time of the apostle’s martyrdom. Moreover, the epistles to Philemon and to the Philippians—the former probably, and the latter certainly, written from Rome after Paul had been in confinement there for a con- siderable time—express a decided expectation of release (Phil. ii. 238, 24; Philem. 22), in entire contrast to the language of 2 Tim. iv. 5-8, 18. The apostle arrived a prisoner at Rome early in the year 62, after wintering in Malta. Two years longer he remained there in military custody (Acts xxviii. 16, 30), under the accusation of the ° Jews of Jerusalem. This added to the two years of detention at Caesarea, and the time occupied 20 THE EPISTLES OF PAUL. on the voyage, amounts to nearly five years (59-64 a.p.), out of the best part of St Paul’s life, spent in captivity through the malice of his fellow-countrymen. This fourth period of his ministry, the time of his prison-life, was not, however, the least fruitful. To it we owe the epistles to the Ephesians, Colossians, and Phile- mon, with that to the Philippians. Firta Periop or PAut’s MINISTRY. The narrative of St Luke leaves it open to us to suppose, what other historical indications lead us confidently to believe, namely, that the apostle was released from his captivity at Rome,* and that his ministry was prolonged to a fifth period, extending from 64 to 66 or 67 a.v. Of this last stage of his life the epistles to Timothy and Titus are our only memorials. For these letters it is quite impossible to find a fit place at any earlier point in St Paul’s history. They lie outside the field of his work as that is presented to us in the Acts of the Apostles. St Luke’s guidance having failed us, it is only in a conjectural way that we can represent * If he was so released, it must have been before the great fire of July 64,—probably in the spring of that year. Had he remained in Rome up to that time, he would inevitably have fallen a victim to the Neronian persecution in the following autumn. That he did thus perish many historians assume. CHRONOLOGY. 21 to ourselves the apostle’s course in these last years of his ministry. In accordance with his intention and previous custom, it is likely that on his release he made it his first business to revisit the churches already established, those of Macedonia and Asia Minor in particular (Phil. ii. 24; Philem. 22). Then we can imagine him spending a happy winter once more amongst his old friends at Antioch (64-65 a.p.). With the spring the great apostle would set out to conquer new fields for Christ ; and we are strongly inclined to think that he fulfilled his cherished purpose (Rom. xv. 24) of preaching the gospel in the far-off land of Spain, the western limit of the then known world. It is only on this assumption that we can understand the words written about thirty years later by Clement of Rome—a sober writer, not given to rhetorical flights—when he says (1 Hpistle, § v.): “ Paul having taught righteousness to the whole world, and come to the limit of the west, and borne witness before the rulers, so departed from the world and went to the holy place.” How long St Paul stayed in Spain, if he went there, we cannot tell. When he wrote his letter to Titus, he had recently evangelized the island of Crete, which would naturally lie on his way in the return voyage from the west (Tit. i. 5). 22 THE EPISTLES OF PAUL, At the time of writing this epistle, St Paul was setting his face westwards again, intending to ‘winter at Nicopolis” (ch. iii. 12), a port of Hpirus opposite the Italian coast. The epistle to Titus is so nearly allied to the first epistle to Timothy, that it is highly probable they were composed about the same time. And the latter was addressed to Timothy at Ephesus, where the apostle had recently left him in charge, while “journeying to Macedonia” (1 Tim.i. 3). The reference to Corinth in 2 Tim. iv. 20 suggests that the writer on this same journey had called there also. From Macedonia or Achaia, we con- jecture, these two epistles (1 Tim. and Titus) were despatched to Ephesus and Crete respectively. Whether the apostle ever reached his winter- quarters at Nicopolis we know not. 2 Timothy is so closely connected in thought with the other two Pastorals that it seems more likely to us that the writer was re-arrested and hurried to Rome—possibly through the machinations of his enemies in Ephesus (2 Tim. i. 15, iv. 14)— soon after writing to his two helpers. There we find him, in the last chapter of his. letter to Timothy, some time “ before winter,” anticipating his need of “the cloak and the books left at Troas,” begging his “dear child Timothy” to hasten to his side. He has made a first successful CHRONOLOGY. 23 defence; but is nevertheless expecting, what the persecuting rage of Nero now rendered certain, that his present trial will end with his death (ch. iv. 16-18). “ The time of my departure,” he writes, “is come. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith ! . . . The Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and bring me safe unto His heavenly kingdom. To Whom be the glory for ever and eyer... Amen.” Tradition says that he died by beheading. Let us now summarize our chronological results. EVENTS OF PAUL’S LIFE. A.D. LEADING EVENTS OF GENERAL HISTORY. Saul’s conversion. 36 Deposition of Pontius Pilate. Saul in Arabia. 37 Death of the Emperor TI- BERIUS, and accession of Caius (CALIGULA). First visit to Jerusalem, 88 Aretas in possession of and acquaintance with Damascus, Peter, and with James, the Lord’s brother, 40 Caligula attempts to set up his statue in the Temple at Jerusalem. Saul in Cilicia, 41 Death of Caius, and ac- cession of CLAUDIUS. Herod Agrippa I, made king of the whole of Palestine. 24 FIRST PERIOD OF PAUL’S PUBLIC MINISTRY. SECOND PERIOD. THIRD PERIOD. THE EPISTLES, OF (PAUE. EVENTS OF PAUL’S LIFE. Saul joins Barnabas at Antioch. Barnabas and Saul visit } Jerusalem, with’ help against the approach- ing famine, at the time of Herod’s persecution. Barnabas ‘and Saul's ex- pedition \to_ Cyprus, Pisidia, and. Lycaonia. First missionary jour- ney. Conference of Barnabas and Paul with James, Peter, and John, at Jerusalem, Second missionary jour- ney, of Paul and Silas, through Asia Minor, Macedonia, and Greece. EPISTLES TO THE THES- SALONIANS. Collision between Peter and Paul at Antioch. Third missionary journey, of Paul with ‘Timothy and ‘Titus, \\ through Asia Minor to Ephesus, then to Macedonia and Corinth. EPISTLES TO THE Co- RINTHIANS, GALA- TIANS, AND ROMANS, A.D. 43 dt 46? 48 51? 52-54 53 53 54 Winter 54-55 ? 55-59 57 58-59 LEADING EVENTS OF GENERAL HISTORY. Conquest of Britain by the Romans com- menced. King Herod dies; Judea placed again under a Roman Procurator. Herod Agrippa II. made King of Chalcis; his power afterwards ex- tended, Felix appointed Procu- rator of Judza, Expulsion of the Jews from Rome. Gallio Proconsul of Achaia. Death of CLAUDIUS, and accession of NERO, Jonathan, the High Priest, assassinated by the Sicarti (Dagger- men). CHRONOLOGY. 25 EVENTS OF PAUL'S LIFE. A.D. LEADING EVENTS OF GENERAL HISTORY, Voyage to Jerusalem, 59 arrest, and imprison- ment at Czsarea. Nero kills his mother Agrippina. Appeal to Cesar, and 61 Festus appointed Proc- voyage to Rome. urator. Revolt of Boadicea in Britain. Two years of captivity 62? Martyrdom of James at at Rome: EPISTLES Jerusalem, TO THE COLOSSIANS| 62-64 AND PHILEMON AND EPHESIANS, also PHIL- IPPIANS. FOURTH PERIOD, Fourth missionary jour-| 64-66? ney. Churches of Asia 64 Great fire of Rome, July Minor, Macedonia 19-25; horrible perse- and Greece revisited ; cution of Christians. Spain (?) and Crete evangelized. 65 Nero in Greece, EPISTLES TO TIMOTHY 66? AND TITUS. p 66 Outbreak of the Jewish war against Rome. FIFTH PERIOD. Martyrdom of St Paul. | 66 or67 ? 68 Murder of NERO. 68,69 | Civil war in the Empire. 70 Fall of Jerusalem. It will be seen that we divide the epistles into four groups :— First. The two to the Thessalonians, written in the year 53 A.D. Second. 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Gala- tians, and Romans, written probably in this order, between the spring of 58 and of 59 a.p. 26 THE EPISTLES OF PAUL, Third. Colossians, Philemon, and Ephesians, written contemporaneously, and Philippians after some interval, from Rome, probably in the year 63. Fourth. The three Pastoral epistles—1 Timo- thy, Titus, 2 Timothy—following in close suc- cession in the last year of the apostle’s life, —i.e. as nearly as we can judge, in 66 A.D. The composition of the thirteen letters extended over some thirteen years ; and the four groups appear to have been separated by similar intervals of time. The epistle to the Hebrews does not appear in the above scheme. It does not bear St Panl’s name ; and it is difficult to believe that it is his composition. We shall add a supplementary chapter on this epistle. It will also form the subject of a later volume, by a very able hand, in this series. CHAPTER II. THE FORM AND STYLE OF PAUL'S WRITINGS. HE teaching of the apostle Paul has come down to us in the shape of a bundle of his letters, thirteen in number, addressed some of them to individual friends and helpers in his work, but most of them to the Christian societies that he had founded. ‘They are not treatises, directed to the proof of theological doctrine ; nor are they homilies, devoted to the enforcement of specific practical duties: they are letters of a friend to his friends, of the absent missionary and pastor to his flock.* Their peculiar cha- * The epistle to the Romans is an exception to this rule, and approaches in some degree the form of a systematic doctrinal treatise. But even with this church the apostle has many personal ties, on the strength of which, and in order to prepare for his coming, he addresses to it his great theological letter. The Colossian Christians he felt to be, through Hpaphras, as his own children in the faith, though he had never set eyes upon them. 27 28 THE EPISTLES OF PAUL. racter and construction, and the mode in which the apostle’s views are set forth in them, are determined by their epistolary form. PERSONAL AND INCIDENTAL WRITINGS. We must keep before our minds the fact that we are dealing with personal documents, writings which originate in the relationship of the writer and readers. The mutual acquaintance and affection of the two parties, their common in- terests and affairs, supply the basis on which rest the communications that pass between them. The personal element is the primary and essential factor in all genuine epistles. It is from this personal standpoint that all questions, whether of theology or morals or church administration, that arise in St Paul’s letters are, in reality, approached. They come before us in the shape in which they actually emerged, as problems exercising the minds of St Paul and his friends and converts, as, in fact, the questions of.the hour to them. By means of the epistles we can watch and trace these questions springing out of the constitution and surroundings of the young apostolic churches, and presenting themselves one after another for discussion and settlement. So these writings give to the subjects of which they treat the FORM AND STYLE OF PAUL'S WRITINGS. 29 living interest and actuality that. belong to the career of the great apostle, and to his labours in the care and shepherding of his strangely mingled flock. With this personal origin is connected the fact that St Paul’s epistles are incidental writings. They were not composed, as letters between friends sometimes may be, according to a fixed plan and at regular intervals ; but, as occasion arose, to meet some passing necessity, to give expression to some feeling or wish that possessed the writer’s mind at the time. He writes to Corinth, because the church there has written to him asking a number of urgent questions (1 Cor. vil. 1, viii. 1, xii. 1), and because it “ has been shown to him by Chloé’s people that there are strifes amongst” them (1 Cor. i. 11) ; to the Colossians, since Epaphras, their minister, has come to Rome, telling him of the love borne to him by the churches of the Lycus valley which he has never seen, and describing the insidious error that endangered their faith (Col. i. 4-9, iv. 12, 13) ; to Philippi, on the occasion of Epaphroditus arriving with a welcome contribution to his need from its affectionate people (Phil. ii. 25, 30, iv. 18). And yet through these disconnected and seemingly casual letters of St Paul—thrown off on the spur of the occasion, and under the most 30 THE EPISTLES OF PAUL. various circumstances—in the intervals of travel, in prison, or from his winter quarters—there runs one master purpose, one great system of truth, one ever-widening and deepening concep- tion of human life and the things of God. The variety of circumstances—one might almost say, of accidents—to which the epistles owe their origin, and the entire absence of plan and arrangement on the writer’s part in their com- position, make the unity and the continuous march of thought that we find in them the more impressive. StyLze ATTRACTIVE, BUT DIFFICULT. The style of the epistles, while due chiefly to the writer’s temperament and training, is yet determined to a large extent by the conditions above described. It is said, “The style is the man”; and this is eminently true of epistolary style. Hence, not unfrequently, the letters of a gifted writer are more attractive than his laboured works, just because of the absence in them of literary effort and artifice, because they are written out of the freedom of the heart and are the frank and spontaneous expression of the man. 