[5] Historiographer is used purposely by the author to denote a specialist for the occasion.
[6] "Goad" is the word used in the Douay Testament and in the late revisions of The Protestants.
[7] Cor. 15:8--"As unto one born out of due time, He appeared unto me also."
[8] Another question that here presents itself is--How could it have happened that, Jerusalem being under one government, and Damascus under another (if so the case was), the will of the local rulers at Jerusalem found obedience, as it were of course, at the hands of the adequate authorities at Damascus? To the question how this _actually_ happened, it were too much to undertake to give an answer. For an answer to the question how it may be _conceived_ to have happened, reference may be made to existing English practice. The warrant issued by the constituted authorities in Jerusalem expected to find, and found accordingly in Damascus, an adequate authority disposed to back it. In whatsoever Gentile countries Jews, in a number sufficient to compose a synagogue, established themselves, a habit naturally enough took place, as of course, among them--the habit of paying obedience, to a considerable extent, to the functionaries who were regarded as rulers of the synagogue. Few are or have been the conquered countries, in which some share of subordinate power has not been left, as well to the natives of the conquered nation as to any independent foreigners, to whom, in numbers sufficient to constitute a sort of corporate body, it happened from time to time to have become settlers. After all, what must be confessed is--that, in all this there seems nothing but what might readily enough have been conceived, without its having been thus expressed.
[9] It is well known that this dogma of Original sin--a disease that the human family enjoys by sad inheritance, Christ treated with negligible indifference. He dealt with the problems of man in a social state, as socially conditioned only. A human being conditioned as isolated from neighbors, friends and society, he did not as he scientifically could not deal with, He discoursed upon social duties, however sublimely, N.B.
Acts 18:15, "But if thy brother shall offend against thee, go and rebuke him between thee and him alone, If he shall hear thee thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them then tell it unto the church. And if he neglect to hear the church, let him be to thee as the heathen and publican, Amen I say unto you, Whatsoever you shall bind on earth, shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed also in heaven."
Now without quibbling about the translation this scheme of social arbitration contains the ultimate of justice, It contains the only working hypothesis within any social condition of mankind. There is no such thing as justice in the abstract or concrete, It is like heat and electricity, a mere mode of motion, a form of action. And when a controversy between Citizens is fairly submitted to the judgment of normal men the voice of their consciousness, being the ultimate organ of nature's Creator, must be "binding" so far as man is concerned socially.
And as there does not appear to the natural man any appeal to heaven, the arbitrament of man in the special case carries the seal of the eternities and forecloses all further controversy. The speech of the honorable Consciousness of Man is the voice of the Creator of his personality.--Ed.
[10] Since what is in the text was written, maturer thoughts have suggested an interpretation, by which, if received, the sad inferences presented by the doctrine, that misdeeds, and consequent suffering that have had place, could by a dip into a piece of water be caused never to have happened, may be repelled. According to this interpretation, the act of being baptized--the bodily act--is one thing; an act of washing away the sins--the spiritual act--another. The effect produced is--not the causing the misdeeds and sufferings never to have had place, but the causing them to be compensated for, by acts productive of enjoyment, or of saving in the article of sufferings, to an equal or greater amount.
CHAPTER II.
MOTIVE, TEMPORAL ADVANTAGE--PLAN.
How flourishing the state of the church had at this period become, will be seen more fully in another place. Long before this period,--numbers of converts, in Jerusalem alone, above three thousand. The aggregate, of the property belonging to the individuals, had been formed into one common fund: the management--too great a burden for the united labours of the eleven Apostles, with their new associate Mathias--had, under the name so inappositely represented at present by the English word _deacon_, been committed to seven trustees; one of whom, Stephen, had, at the instance of Paul, been made to pay, with his life, for the imprudence, with which he had, in the most public manner, indulged himself, in blaspheming the idol of the Jews--their temple.[13] Of that flourishing condition, Paul, under his original name of Saul, had all along been a witness. While carrying on against it that persecution, in which, if not the original instigator, he had been a most active instrument, persecuting, if he himself, in what he is made to say, in Acts xxii. 4, is to be believed,--"persecuting unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women;"--while thus occupied, he could not in the course of such his disastrous employment, have failed to obtain a considerable insight into the state of their worldly affairs.
Samaria--the field of the exploits and renown of the great sorcerer Simon, distinguished in those times by the name of _Magus_--Samaria, the near neighbour and constant rival, not to say enemy, of Jerusalem;--is not more than about five and forty miles distant from it. To Paul's alert and busy mind,--the offer, made by the sorcerer, to purchase of the Apostles a share in the government of the church, could not have been a secret.
At the hands of those rulers of the Christian Church, this offer had not found acceptance. Shares in the direction of their affairs were not, like those in the government of the British Empire in these our days, objects of sale. The nine rulers would not come into any such bargain; their disciples were not as cattle in their eyes: by those disciples themselves no such bargain would have been endured; they were not as cattle in their own eyes.
But, though the bargain proposed by the sorcerer did not take place, this evidence, which the offer of it so clearly affords,--this evidence, of the value of a situation of that sort in a commercial point of view, could not naturally either have remained a secret to Paul, or failed to engage his attention, and present to his avidity and ambition a ground of speculation--an inviting field of enterprise.
From the time when he took that leading part, in the condemnation and execution, of the too flamingly zealous manager, of the temporal concerns of the associated disciples of that disastrous orator, by whom the preaching and spiritual functions might, with so much happier an issue, have been left in the hands of the Apostles--from that time, down to that in which we find him, with letters in his pocket, from the rulers of the Jews in their own country, to the rulers of the same nation under the government of the neighbouring state of Damascus, he continued, according to the Acts ix. 1; "yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord."
Of these letters, the object was--the employing the influence of the authorities from which they came, viz. the High Priest and the Elders, to the purpose of engaging those to whom they were addressed, to enable him to bring in bonds, to Jerusalem from Damascus, all such converts to the religion of Jesus, as should have been found in the place last mentioned. In his own person the author of the Acts informs us--that, by Saul, letters to this effect were _desired_[14]. In a subsequent chapter, in the person of Paul, viz. in the speech, to the multitude by whom he had been dragged out of the Temple, in the design of putting him to death, he informs us they were actually _obtained_[15].
It was in the course of this his journey, and with these letters in his pocket, that, in and by the vision seen by him while on the road--at that time and not earlier--his conversion was, according to his own account of the matter, effected.
That which is thought to have been already proved, let it, at least for argument's sake, be affirmed. Let us say accordingly--this vision-story was a mere fable. On this supposition, then, what will be to be said of those same letters?--of the views in which they were obtained?--of the use which was eventually made of them?--of the purpose to which they were applied? For all these questions one solution may serve. From what is known beyond dispute--on the one hand, of his former way of life and connections--on the other hand, of his subsequent proceeding--an answer, of the satisfactoriness of which the reader will have to judge, may, without much expense of thought, be collected.
If, in reality, no such vision was perceived by him, no circumstance remains manifest whereby the change which so manifestly and notoriously took place in his plan of life, came to be referred to _that_ point in the field of time--in preference to any antecedent one.
Supposing, then, the time of the change to have been antecedent to the commencement of that journey of his to Damascus--antecedent to the time of the application, in compliance with which his letter from the ruling powers at Jerusalem the object of which was to place at his disposal the lot of the Christians at Damascus, was obtained;--this supposed, what, in the endeavour to obtain this letter, was his object? Manifestly to place in his power these same Christians: to place them in his power, and thereby to obtain from them whatsoever assistance was regarded by him as necessary for the ulterior prosecution of his schemes, as above indicated.
On this supposition, in the event of their giving him that assistance, which, in the shape of money and other necessary shapes, he required--on this supposition, he made known to them his determination, not only to spare their persons, but to join with them in their religion; and, by taking the lead in it among the heathen, to whom he was, in several respects, so much better qualified for communicating it than any of the Apostles or their adherents, to promote it to the utmost of his power. An offer of this nature--was it in the nature of things that it should be refused? Whatsoever was most dear to them--their own personal security, and the sacred interests of the new religion, the zeal of which was yet flaming in their bosoms, concurred in pressing it upon their acceptance.
With the assistance thus obtained, the plan was--to become a declared convert to the religion of Jesus, for the purpose of setting himself at the head of it; and, by means of the expertness he had acquired in the use of the Greek language, to preach, in the name of Jesus, that sort of religion, by the preaching of which, an empire over the minds of his converts, and, by that means, the power and opulence to which he aspired, might, with the fairest prospect of success, be aimed at. But, towards the accomplishment of this design, what presented itself as a necessary step, was--the entering into a sort of _treaty_, and forming at least in appearance, a sort of junction, with the leaders of the new religion and their adherents--the Apostles and the rest of the disciples. As for _them_, in acceding to this proposal, on the supposition of anything like sincerity and consistency on his part, _they_ would naturally see much to gain and nothing to lose: much indeed to gain; no less than peace and security, instead of that persecution, by which, with the exception of the Apostles themselves, to all of whom experience seems, without exception, to have imparted the gift of prudence, the whole fraternity had so lately been driven from their homes, and scattered abroad in various directions.
With the Christians at Damascus, that projected junction was actually effected by him: but, in this state of things, to return to Jerusalem was not, at that time, to be thought of. In the eyes of the ruling powers, he would have been a trust-breaker--a traitor to their cause: in the eyes of the Christians, he would have been a murderer, with the blood of the innocent still reeking on his hands: no one would he have found so much as to lend an ear to his story, much less to endure it. In Damascus, after making his agreement with his new brethren, there remained little for him to do. Much had he to inform himself of concerning Jesus. Damascus--where Jesus had already so many followers--Damascus was a place for him to _learn_ in: not to _teach_ in:--at any rate, at that time.
Arabia, a promising field of enterprise--Arabia, a virgin soil, opened to his view. There he would find none to abhor his person--none to contradict his assertions: there his eloquence--and, under the direction of his judgment, his invention--would find free scope: in that country the reproach of inconsistency could not attach upon him: in that foreign land he beheld his place of quarantine--his school of probation--the scene of his novitiate. By a few years employed in the exercise of his new calling--with that spirit and activity which would accompany him of course in every occupation to which he could betake himself--he would initiate himself in, and familiarize himself with, the connected exercises of preaching and spiritual rule. At the end of that period, whatsoever might be his success in that country, such a portion of time, passed in innocence, would at any rate allay enmity: such a portion of time, manifestly passed, in the endeavour at any rate to render service to the common cause, might even establish confidence.
At the end of that time, he might, nor altogether without hope of success, present himself to the rulers of the church, in the metropolis of their spiritual empire: "Behold, he might say, in me no longer a persecutor, but a friend. The persecutor has long vanished: he has given place to the friend. Too true it is, that I was so once your persecutor.
Years spent in unison with you--years spent in the service of the common cause--have proved me. You see before you, a tried man--an ally of tried fidelity: present me as such to your disciples: take me into your councils: all my talent, all my faculties, shall be yours. The land of Israel will continue, as it has been, the field of _your_ holy labours; the land of the Gentiles shall be mine: we will carry on our operations in concert; innumerable are the ways in which each of us will derive from the other--information, assistance, and support."
To Arabia he accordingly repaired: so, in his Epistle to the Galatians, Gal. i. 17, he himself informs us: in that little-known country, he continued three whole years--so also, in the same place, he informs us.
There it was, that he experienced that success, whatever it was, that went to constitute the ground, of the recommendation given of him by Barnabas to the Apostles. From thence he returned to Damascus: and, in that city, presenting himself in his regenerated character, and having realized by his subsequent conduct the expectations raised by his promises at the outset of his career[16]; he planned, and as will be seen, executed his expedition to Jerusalem: the expedition, the object of which has just been brought to view. "Then," says Paul himself, "I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days."
Gal. 1:18. There, says the author of the Acts, Acts 9:27, 28, "Barnabas took him and brought him to the Apostles...and he was with them coming in and going out of Jerusalem."
AT DAMASCUS, NO SUCH ANANIAS PROBABLY.
This same Ananias--of whom so much has been seen in the last chapter--Paul's own imagination excepted, had he anywhere any existence?
The probability seems to be on the negative side: and, in the next section, as to whether Paul's companions on the road are not in a similar predicament, the reader will have to judge. But let us begin with Ananias.
At Damascus, at any rate--with such power in his hands, for securing obsequiousness at the hands of those to whom he was addressing himself--with such power in his hands, Paul could not have had much need of anything in the shape of a vision:--he could not have had any need of any such person as the seer of the correspondent vision--Ananias.
For the purpose of aiding the operation of those considerations of worldly prudence, which these powers of his enabled him to present, to those whom it concerned,--there might be some perhaps, who, for yielding to those considerations, and thus putting themselves under the command of this formidable potentate, might look for an authority from the Lord Jesus. But, forasmuch as, in this very case, even at this time of day, visions, _two_ in name, but, in respect of probative force, reducible to _one_--are so generally received as conclusive evidence,--no wonder if, at that time of day, by persons so circumstanced, that _one_ vision should be received in that same character. At Damascus, therefore, on his first arrival, there could not be any occasion for any such corroborating story as the story of the vision of Ananias. At Damascus--unless he had already obtained, and instructed as his confederate, a man of that name--no such story could, with any prospect of success, have been circulated: for the purpose of learning the particulars of an occurrence of such high importance, the residence of this Ananias would have been inquired after: and, by supposition, no satisfactory answer being capable of being given to any such inquiries,--no such story could be ventured to be told.
Such was the case, at that place and at that time. As to any such evidence, as that afforded by the _principal_ vision, viz. Paul's own,--perhaps no such evidence was found necessary: but, if it _was_ found necessary, nothing could be easier than the furnishing it. As to the _secondary_ vision, viz. that ascribed afterwards to a man of the name of Ananias,--at that time scarcely could there have been any need of it--any demand for it; and, had there been any such demand, scarcely, unless previously provided, could any such correspondent supply have been afforded.
In other places and posterior times alone, could this supplemental vision, therefore, have been put into circulation: accordingly, not till a great many years after, was mention made of it by the author of the Acts:--mention made by him, either in his own person, or as having been related, or alluded to, by Paul himself. Even the author of the Acts,--though in this same chapter he has been relating the story of Ananias's vision,--yet, when he comes to speak, of the way, in which, according to him, Paul, by means of his protector and benefactor Barnabas, obtained an introduction to the Apostles, viz. all the Apostles, in which, however, he is so pointedly contradicted by Paul himself,--yet speaks not of Barnabas, as including, in the recommendatory account he gave them, of Paul--his vision, and his merits--any mention of this supplemental vision:--any mention of any Ananias. Acts 9:27.
At Damascus, howsoever it might be in regard to the Christians--neither to Jews, nor to Gentiles, could the production, of any such letters as those in question, have availed him anything. Such as had embraced Christianity excepted, neither over Gentiles nor over Jews did those letters give him any power: and, as to Jews, the character in which--after any declaration made of his conversion--he would have presented himself, would have been no better than that of an apostate, and betrayer of a highly important public trust. To men of both these descriptions, a plea of some sort or other, such as, if believed, would be capable of accounting for so extraordinary a step, as that he should change, from the condition of a most cruel and inveterate persecutor of the new religion, to that of a most zealous supporter and leader,--could not, therefore, but be altogether necessary. No sooner was he arrived at Damascus, than, if the author of the Acts is to be believed, he began pleading, with all his energy, the cause of that religion, which, almost to that moment, he had with so much cruelty opposed. As to the story of his vision,--what is certain is--that, sooner or later, for the purpose of rendering to men of all descriptions a reason for a change so preëminently extraordinary, he employed this story. But, forasmuch as of no other account of it, as given by him, is any trace to be found;--nor can any reason be found, why that which was certainly employed afterwards might not as well be employed at and from the first;--hence comes the probability, that from the first it accordingly was employed.
ON DAMASCUS JOURNEY--COMPANIONS NONE.
In the preceding chapter, a question was started, but no determinate answer as yet found for it: this is--what became of the men, who--according to all the accounts given by Paul, or from him, of his conversion vision--were his _companions_ in the journey? At Damascus, if any such men there were, they would in course arrive as well as he, and at the same time with him. This circumstance considered, if any such men there were,--and they were not in confederacy with him,--the imposition must have been put upon _them_: and, for that purpose, he must, in their presence, have uttered the sort of discourse, and exhibited the sort of deportment, mentioned in the above accounts.
To this difficulty, however, a very simple solution presents itself. _He had no such companions._ Neither by name, nor so much as by any the most general description,--either of the persons, or of the total number,--is any designation to be found anywhere:--not in the account given in the Acts; not in any account, given by himself, in any Epistle of his; or, as from himself, in any part of the Acts. In the company of divers others, a man was struck down, he says, or it is said of him, by a supernatural light: and, at the instant, and on the spot, has a conversation with somebody. Instead of saying who these _other_ men are, the credit of the whole story is left to rest on the credit of this _one_ man:--the credit, of a story, the natural improbability of which, stood so much need of collateral evidence, to render it credible.
Not till many years had elapsed, after this journey of his were these accounts, any one of them, made public: and, in relation to these pretended companions--supposing him interrogated at any time posterior to the publication of the account in the Acts,--after the lapse of such a number of years, he could, without much difficulty, especially his situation and personal character considered, hold himself at full liberty, to remember or to forget, as much or as little, as on each occasion he should find convenient.
FLIGHT FROM DAMASCUS: CAUSES--FALSE--TRUE.
ACTS ix. 19-25.
And when he had received meat he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus.--And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God.--But all that heard him were amazed, and said: Is not this he that destroyeth them which called on his name in Jerusalem; and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests?--But Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ.--And after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him.--But their laying await was known of Saul. And they watched the gates day and night to kill him.--Then the disciples took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket.
The conception, which it was the evident design of this passage to impress upon the mind of the reader, is--that, as soon almost as he was arrived at Damascus, Paul not only went about preaching Jesus, but preaching to that effect openly, and without reserve, in all the synagogues: and that it was for this preaching, and nothing else, that "the Jews," thus undiscriminating is the appellation, purposely it should seem, employed, "went about to kill him:" that thereupon it was, that he made his escape over the wall, and having so done, repaired immediately to Jerusalem.
In this conception, there seems to be evidently a mixture of truth and falsehood.
That he addressed himself, in a greater or less number, to the disciples,--must assuredly have been true: to the accomplishment of his designs, as above explained, intercourse with them could not but be altogether necessary.
That, when any probable hope of favourable attention and secrecy were pointed out to him--that, in here and there an instance, he ventured so far as to address himself to this or that individual, who was not as yet enlisted in the number of disciples,--may also have been true: and, for this purpose, he might have ventured perhaps to show himself in some comparatively obscure synagogue or synagogues.
But, as to his venturing himself so far as to preach in all synagogues without distinction,--or in any synagogue frequented by any of the constituted authorities,--this seems altogether incredible.
To engage them to seek his life; to lie in wait to kill him; in other words, to apprehend him for the purpose of trying him, and probably at the upshot killing him,--this is no more than, considering what, in their eyes, he had been guilty of, was a thing of course: a measure, called for--not, for preaching the religion of Jesus; not, for any boldness in any other way displayed; but, for the betraying of the trust, reposed in him by the constituted authorities at Jerusalem: thus protecting and cherishing those malefactors, for such they had been pronounced by authority, for the apprehending and punishing of whom, he had solicited the commission he thereupon betrayed. Independently of all other offence, given by preaching or anything else,--in this there was that, which, under any government whatever, would have amply sufficed--would even more than sufficed--to draw down, upon the head of the offender, a most exemplary punishment.
In this view, note well the description, given in the Acts, of the persons, by whose enmity he was driven out of Damascus; compare with it what, in relation to this same point, is declared--most explicitly declared--by Paul himself.
By the account in the Acts, they were the persons to whom he had been preaching Jesus; and who, by that preaching, had been confounded and provoked. Among those persons, a conspiracy was formed for murdering him; and it was to save him from this conspiracy that the disciples let him down the wall in a basket.
Such is the colour, put upon the matter by the author of the Acts. Now, what is the truth--the manifest and necessary truth, as related--explicitly related--by Paul himself? related, in the second of his letters to his Corinthians, on an occasion when the truth would be more to his purpose than the false gloss put upon it by his adherents as above? The peril, by which he was driven thus to make his escape, was--not a murderous conspiracy, formed against him by a set of individuals provoked by his preaching;--it was the intention, formed by the governor of the city. Intention? to do what? to put him to death against law? No; but to "_apprehend_" him. To apprehend him? for what?
Evidently for the purpose of bringing him to justice in the regular way--whatsoever was the regular way--for the offence he had so recently committed: committed, by betraying his trust, and entering into a confederacy with the offenders, whom he had been commissioned, and had engaged, to occupy himself, in concert with the constituted authorities of the place, in bringing to justice.
"In Damascus," says he, 2 Cor. xi. 32, 33, "the governor under Aretas the king kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me. And through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his hands."
And on what _occasion_ is it, that this account of the matter is given by him? It is at the close of a declamation, which occupies ten verses--a declamation, the object of which is--to impress upon the minds of his adherents the idea of his merits: viz. those which consisted in labour, suffering, and perils: merits, on which he places his title to the preference he claims above the competitors to whom he alludes:--alludes, though without naming them: they being, as he acknowledges therein, ministers of Christ, and probably enough, if not any of them Apostles, persons commissioned by the Apostles. Greater, it is evident, must have been the danger from the ruling powers of the place, than from a set of individual intended murderers:--from the power of the rulers there could not be so much as a hope of salvation, except by escape: from the individuals there would be a naturally sufficient means of salvation; the power of the rulers presenting a means of salvation, and that naturally a sufficient one.
Note here, by the by, one of the many exemplifications, of that confusion which reigns throughout in Paul's discourses: the result, of that mixture, which, in unascertainable proportions, seems to have had place--that mixture of nature and artifice. It is at the end of a long list of labours, sufferings, and perils, that this anecdote presents itself. Was it accordingly at the end of them that the fact itself had taken place?--No: it was _at_ the very commencement: or rather, so far as concerned preaching, _before_ the commencement. Only in the way of allusion--allusion in general terms--in terms of merely general description, without mention of _time_ or _place_, or persons concerned,--are any of the other sufferings or perils mentioned: in this instance alone, is any mention made under any one of those heads: and here we see it under two of them, viz. _place_ and _person_: and moreover, by other circumstances, the _time_, viz. the _relative_ time, is pretty effectually fixed.
Immediately afterwards, this same indisputably false colouring will be seen laid on, when the account comes to be given, of his departure for Jerusalem: always for preaching Jesus is he sought after, never for anything else.
According to this representation, here are two governments--two municipal governments--one of them, at the solicitation of a functionary of its own, giving him a commission to negotiate with another, for the purpose of obtaining, at his hands, an authority, for apprehending a set of men, who, in the eyes of both, were guilty of an offence against both. Instead of pursuing his commission, and using his endeavours to obtain the desired cooperation, he betrays the trust reposed in him:--he not only suffers the alleged malefactors to remain unapprehended and untouched, but enters into a confederacy with them. To both governments, this conduct of his is, according to him, matter of such entire indifference, that he might have presented himself everywhere, as if nothing had happened, had it not been for his preaching:--had it not been for his standing forth _openly_, to preach to all that would hear him, the very religion which he had been commissioned to extinguish.
In such a state of things, is there anything that can, by any supposition, be reconciled to the nature of man, in any situation,--or to any form of government?
Three years having been passed by him in that to him strange country, what, during all that time, were his means of subsistence? To this question an unquestionable answer will be afforded by the known nature of his situation. He was bred to a trade, indeed a handicraft trade--tent-making: an art, in which the operations of the architect and the upholsterer are combined. But, it was not to practise either that, or any other manual operation, that he paid his visit to that country. When he really did practise it, he took care that this condescension of his should not remain a secret: from that, as from everything else he ever did or suffered, or pretended to have done or suffered, he failed not to extract the matter of glory for himself, as well as edification for his readers. In Arabia, his means of subsistence were not then derived from his trade: if they had been, we should have known it:--from what source then were they derived?[17] By the very nature of his situation, this question has been already answered:--from the purses of those, whom, having had it in his power, and even in his commission, to destroy, he had saved.
And now, as to all those things, which, from the relinquishment of his labours in the field of persecution to the first of his four recorded visits to Jerusalem, he is known to have done, answers have been furnished:--answers, to the several questions _why_ and by what _means_, such as, upon the supposition that the supernatural mode of his conversion was but a fable, it will not, it is hoped, be easy to find cause for objecting to as insufficient.
ARABIA-VISIT--MENTIONED BY PAUL, NOT ACTS.
Not altogether without special reason, seems the veil of obscurity to have been cast over this long interval. In design, rather than accident, or heedlessness, or want of information,--may be found, it should seem, the cause, of a silence so pregnant with misrepresentation. In addition to a length of time, more or less considerable, spent in Damascus, a city in close communication with Jerusalem, in giving proofs of his conversion,--three years spent in some part or other of the contiguous indeed, but wide-extending, country of Arabia--(spent, if Paul is to be believed, in preaching the religion of Jesus, and at any rate in a state of peace and innoxiousness with relation to it)--afforded such proof of a change of plan and sentiment, as, in the case of many a man, might, without miracle or wonder, have sufficed to form a basis for the projected alliance:--this proof, even of itself; much more, when corroborated, by the sort of certificate, given to the Church by its preeminent benefactor Barnabas, who, in introducing the new convert, to the leaders among the Apostles, for the special purpose of proposing the alliance,--took upon himself the personal responsibility, so inseparably involved in such a mark of confidence.
In this state of things then, which is expressly asserted by Paul to have been, and appears indubitably to have been, a real one,--considerations of an ordinary nature being sufficient--to