to the Western text, the journey from Sidon to Myra took fifteen days. The accepted text states that they met adverse winds which retarded their progress and compelled them to sail south of the Island of Cyprus, rather than skirt the shores of Syria and Asia Minor. From the first Paul seemed to have won the respect and later the genuine affection of the Roman official in whose charge he had been placed. With his usual enthusiasm and energy the apostle entered heartily into the discussion as to whether or not they should venture to continue their belated voyage along the southern shores of Crete. Paul's experience and good judgment led him to oppose this plan, but the counsel of the captain and the owner of the ship overruled his advice. The reference to the Feast of the Atonement indicates that they were venturing beyond the open season for sailing, and the event signally confirmed the wisdom of Paul's counsel. The vivid description of the storm and shipwreck needs no interpretation. Above it all Paul rises sane and serene, again the master of the situation. In the hour of crisis, as so often in his experience, his dauntless faith expressed itself first through a heavenly vision and then through words of cheer and inspiration. Here we see the reasons why Paul gained an invincible hold upon the affections and wills of men. Good faith, good fellowship, and unceasing confidence in the unlimited power and the constant guidance of a kindly Providence inspired him and all to whom he spoke. Even the venomous serpent, probably still paralyzed by the cold, seemed to the onlookers to have no power over this man who was in such close league with the Infinite. Even the sick were given new hope and health by his sympathetic touch. The miracles which Luke records seem but commonplaces in the life of Paul. As we have already seen, the apostle himself regarded them simply as incidental proofs of his divine commission. Before their three months' sojourn was over, not only the governor but also the entire population of the little island of Malta were vying with each other in showing hospitality to the Roman prisoner who had appealed to Cæsar.

V. Paul's Journey to Rome. After Paul and his strange company had spent three winter months in Malta they set out on an Alexandrian ship for Rome. Instead of going around to the mouth of the Tiber they entered the Bay of Naples and landed at Puteoli. It was a period when the beautiful Italian springtime was just bursting forth in its glory. Puteoli was at this time the favorite watering resort of the Roman nobility whose magnificent villas skirted the Bay

PAUL'S JOURNEY TO ROME

of Naples. Dearer to the heart of Paul than the beauties of nature and the creations of man was the hearty welcome which he received from the Christian brothers residing there. His friend, the Roman centurion, allowed him to spend the week with them. On his arrival a messenger had evidently been sent to inform the Christians at Rome, for, as he proceeded on his journey, a deputation met him at the Forum of Appius, forty-three miles south of Rome. To Paul this evidence of their loyalty was a great inspiration. More as a triumphant conqueror than as a prisoner under a serious charge, he proceeded along the famous Appian Way toward the Imperial City which he entered at the Porta Capæna. Thence he probably proceeded through the heart of the city, viewing the Palatine with its stately palaces on the left, past the old Forum toward the northern side of the city where was situated the camp of the pretorian guard.

VI. The End of the Race. Luke states that for two years Paul lived in his own hired house, receiving all that came to him, preaching the Kingdom of God, and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ, quite openly and without hinderance. This remarkable freedom may have been due to the influence of his friend the Roman centurion. It was entirely in keeping with the Roman custom of the period. Tacitus states in his Annals (63) that Gallio, the brother of Seneca, who had been proconsul of Achaia during Paul's activity at Corinth and who, like the great apostle, met his death at the hands of Nero, was thus kept under guard, not in his own hired house but in the house of a Roman officer. One of Luke's chief aims was to show that, while the hand of Christian fellowship had been freely extended to the Jews, they had almost invariably taken the initiative in persecuting the Christians. He, therefore, departs from the direct narrative to tell us that Paul, soon after his arrival, called together the leading Jews of Rome, stated his case, and appealed to their sense of justice. Not having received any news from their fellow Jews in Palestine, they were at first inclined to accept his story, but the majority of them refused to accept his teachings. Luke's condensed narrative leads us to imply that Paul in the end failed to win that support from the Jews at Rome which he sorely needed. It was so contrary to his characteristic tact to upbraid them for their failure to accept the Christian faith that it is probable that this portion of the narrative has been somewhat colored by Luke's apologetic purpose. The significant fact underlying the narrative is that Paul fully recognized the peril of his position and the importance of conciliating, if possible, the Jews

at Rome. The abrupt ending of Luke's narrative is in itself ominous. If Paul had been liberated by the Roman emperor, Luke would have been the first to proclaim this fact, for it would have conserved as nothing else could one of the chief aims for which he wrote. Luke, on the other hand, was not writing a book of martyrs. Nothing is said of the death of Peter, the other leading character in his history. The death of James is passed over with the barest mention. The martyrdom of Stephen alone is recorded in detail because of its powerful influence on the expansion of the Christian church. The tradition that Paul was released to preach in the West cannot be traced earlier than the end of the second Christian century and was probably based on the apostle's expression of the hope, in Romans 1524, that he might live to visit Spain. The long delay of Paul's trial is in perfect keeping with all that we know about Nero and especially the early, irresponsible years of his reign when he spent practically all of his time in the pursuit of pleasure and left the direction of public affairs to his old teacher Seneca, the Stoic philosopher, and to Burrus, the pretorian prefect. This long delay also gave Paul's Jewish foes, of whom the heads of the priestly hierarchy at Jerusalem were the chief, an opportunity to collect ample evidence against him. There was much that they could present to blacken his character in the eyes of the Roman officials, who, in dealing with a prisoner charged with stirring up sedition, were not so much concerned with motives as with acts. Even Luke's narrative indicates that wherever Paul went he aroused bitter opposition which frequently expressed itself in mob attack and popular uproar. In II Timothy 4 we evidently have notes from the closing days of Paul's life. In 414 the apostle speaks of Alexander the blacksmith: "He has done me a great harm; the Lord will pay him back for what he has done. Beware of him for he has been bitterly hostile to everything that I have said." It is not impossible that this is Alexander the Jew of Ephesus, who, according to Acts 1933, was put forward as spokesman when the silversmiths and tradesmen of that temple city rose up to mob Paul and his associates. In II Timothy 416, 17 Paul adds pathetically: "The first time there was no one to defend me, but all deserted me. May this not be brought up against them! But the Lord supported me and gave me strength.

I was rescued from the jaws of the lion." In the light of 11 we see him alone, with only the faithful Luke to comfort him, fighting his last great fight. Pitted against him were the same foes that had, under the shadow of Roman authority a quarter of a century before,

THE END OF THE RACE

hunted to death his innocent Master. The analogies between the two
scenes are strikingly close. The actors and setting alone are different.
Jesus faced death at the capital city of his nation. Paul the Roman
citizen died at the capital of the empire to which he owed allegiance.
Clement of Rome, who lived near the close of the first century, wrote:
"Paul by his example pointed out the prize of patient endurance,
he won the noble renown, which was the reward of his faith, having
taught righteousness to the whole world and having reached the
farthest bounds of the West. And when he had borne his testimony
before the rulers, he departed from the world and went into the holy
place, having been found a notable example of patient endurance.”
Tertullian, who wrote in the second century, is more explicit: "Paul
has for his crown the same death with John (the Baptist)." And
Origen, early in the third century, states definitely that Paul "suf-
fered martyrdom in Rome under Nero." Paul was probably beheaded
at Rome in 57 or 58 A.D., early in the reign of Nero. In II Timothy
46-8 we have his final song of triumph: "I am already being poured
out as a drink offering and my time to go has come. I have fought
the good fight, I have run the race, I have kept the faith. Hence-
forth there is left for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord,
the righteous judge, shall give me on that great day-and not only
to me but to all who have loved the thought of his appearing."

ing

§ CLXIV. THE LAST LETTERS OF THE AGED PRISONER Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ and Timothy our brother, Greetto our beloved fellow-worker, Philemon, to our sister Apphia, Phito our fellow-soldier, Archippus, and to the church which lemon meets in your house. May grace and peace be granted you all from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

1-3)

giving

I always give thanks to my God when I mention you in Thanksmy prayers; for as I hear of your love and faith which you giv manifest toward the Lord Jesus and to all the saints, I pray that their participation in your faith may result in their gaining a clear knowledge of all the good we enjoy through our relations to Christ. For I have had great joy and comfort in your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.

Therefore, although in Christ I might be quite free toward you to command you to do what is fitting, I appeal to

clem

ency toward Onesi

mus

(8-14)

Appeal you rather on the ground of love. So as Paul, the old man, for who is now a prisoner for Christ Jesus, I appeal to you on behalf of my spiritual child who was born while I was in chains-Onesimus! Once you found him worthless, but now, true to his name (Profitable), he is worth something both to you and to me. I am sending him back to you, though it means parting with my very heart. I would have liked to keep him with me, that in your stead he might serve me during my imprisonment for the gospel; but I wish to do nothing without your consent, so that this kind act of yours might not be done under compulsion but of your own free will. Perhaps it was for this very reason that he was parted from you for a while, that you might receive him back for good, no longer as a slave but something more than a slave -a brother, peculiarly dear to me, but even dearer to you both as a human being and as a fellow Christian! Therefore if you regard me as a partner, then receive him as you would me. And if he has done anything dishonest or owes you any sum, put that down to my account: 'I, Paul, write this with my own hand, I will pay it back.' (I say nothing of the fact that you owe me, over and above, your very soul.) Yes, brother, let me have some return from you in the Lord! Refresh my heart in Christ.

For considerate treatment (15-20)

Paul's

hope

(21-22)

Con

I write you, trusting in your obedience. I know you will do even more than I say, and at the same time get quarters ready for me, for I hope that through your prayers I may be sent back to you!

Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ, salutes you, as cluding do also Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke, my fellow

saluta

tion

(23-25)

ing
(Col.

workers.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

Greet- Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy, our brother, to the consecrated and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossæ. May grace and peace be granted to you from God our Father.

11, 2)

Thanks

We always give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord giving Jesus Christ, when we pray for you because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which you cher

(3-8)