they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord. From Pamphilia they went down into Attalia, and thence sailed to Antioch.1

There they abode a long time with the disciples. Then certain men, which came down from Judea, persuaded the believing gentiles to be circumcised and observe the law of Moses. Paul and Barnabas opposed this teaching, and were sent, by unanimous consent, to the apostles and elders at Jerusalem, to have the question determined. Passing through Phenice and Samaria, they published the conversion of the gentiles, and caused great joy unto all the brethren. At Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and declared all things that God had done with them. However, as certain of the sect of the Pharisees, which believed, were strongly inclined to Judaize, Simon Peter, James, and the other elders handled with great zeal the question proposed to them, and at last decided, by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, that chosen and experienced brethren should be sent to the gentiles, entrusted with a letter requiring them to cast off all other burdens, except abstaining from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication.2

Paul, therefore, and Barnabas, with Judas, surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, were sent to Antioch, and delivered the epistle of the apostles and elders to the multitude of believers among the gentiles, who, when they had read it, rejoiced for the consolation. Judas and Silas, being also prophets, comforted the brethren with many words, and confirmed them, and after a while returned in peace to Jerusalem. Notwithstanding, Paul and Barnabas preached the word of the Lord for some time at Antioch. On their departure from thence, they separated; Barnabas, with Mark and John, embarked for Cyprus, while Paul, having chosen Silas for his companion, went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches, and commanding them to observe the commands which the apostles and elders had given. He then came to Derbe and Lystra, and there, to obviate the subtle scruples of the Jews, circumcised Timothy, who 1 Acts xiv. 7-25. (A.D. 45, 46.) 2 Acts xiv. 26-xv. 29. (A.D. 50.)

was the son of a gentile. Passing through Phrygia, Galatia, and Mysia, he came down to Troas, and, warned by a vision in the night, crossed over into Macedonia. He preached at Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, where Lydia, a seller of purple, who worshipped God, listened to the things which were spoken of Paul, and believing, and being baptized with her household, she constrained the apostles, by her repeated entreaties, to lodge

with her.1

As Paul, with his companions, was going forth to prayer, he was met by a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination, who brought her masters much gain by soothsaying. This girl followed them exclaiming, "These men are the servants of the most high God, which show unto us the way of salvation.' Having done this for many days, Paul being grieved, said to the spirit: "I command thee, in the name of Jesus Christ, to come out of her." And he came out the same hour. But when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they were in a great rage, and caught Paul, and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers, and accused them of causing disturbances in the city by introducing customs foreign to the manners of the Romans. The excited populace also joining in the attack upon these innocent men, they were scourged, and, by order of the magistrates, thrust into the inner prison, with their feet made fast in the stocks. At midnight, Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God; and soon received his special assistance. For suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bonds were loosed. At this sight, the gaoler was terrified beyond measure, and having heard from the lips of Paul the grounds of his faith, believed and was baptized with all his household. The magistrates of the city feared, when they heard that the apostles were Romans, and, releasing them from prison, desired them to depart out of the city. Being set free, they went to the house of Lydia, and then departed for Thessalonica by way of Amphipolis and Apollonia. At Thessalonica, on three sabbath-days, Paul entered the Jews' synagogue, and publicly 1 Acts xv. 32-xvi. 15. (A.D. 51, 52.)

reasoned with them out of the scriptures, alleging that "Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.” Many, both Jews and gentiles, believed and joined the company of Paul and Silas. But the bigoted Jews, moved with envy, stirred up the multitude against them, and accused Jason and the other brethren, whom they drew before the rulers of the city. But the rulers, when they had taken security of Jason, and of the other, let them go. And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea; and thence, as the Jews had raised tumults there also, the brethren conducted Paul to Athens. Here he waited for Silas and Timothy, whom he had left at Berea. Meanwhile, he disputed in the synagogue with the Jews and devout persons, and preached in the market-place every day to those who came to hear him. Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans and Stoics disputed with him. For the Athenians, and strangers which were there, spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing. Then Paul, standing in the middle of the Areopagus, rebuked the Athenians for their idolatry and superstition, and began to speak of the altar on which he had found an inscription: "To the unknown God." These words he took for the text of his expected discourse, and announced to them the true God, who, in former times, was unknown to the world; then, saying much in a few words, he preached earnestly the faith, and the hope of the resurrection.'

Then Dionysius the Areopagite, with his wife Damaris, and a few others, clave unto the apostle and believed his words. Paul afterwards departed from Athens and came to Corinth, where he testified to the Jews and the Greeks that Jesus was the Christ, and earnestly devoted himself to the ministry of preaching; and he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath. Meanwhile Silas and Timotheus arrived from Macedonia. Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, convinced by the arguments of Paul, believed and was baptized, with all his house, and many of the Corinthians. And Paul entered into a certain man's house named Titus the Just, whose house joined hard to the synagogue. 1 Acts xvi. 16-xvii. 31. (A.D. 52.)

Obedient to the commands of God made known to him by a vision in the night, Paul continued there a year and six months, teaching constantly the word of God. There lived at Athens a Jew, of the name of Aquila, born in Pontus, and his wife Priscilla; Paul, being a tent-maker as well as Aquila, assisted them in their labours, and thus gained a living by the work of his own hands. Paul then took leave

of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria, and came to Ephesus. He then went to Cesarea, and thence came to Antioch; and after he had spent some time there, he departed, and went over the country of Galatia and Phrygia strengthening the disciples.1

CH. II. Life of St. Peter, from the Acts of the Apostles, and the Recognitions of St. Clemens Romanus.

THUS far I have made brief extracts from the history of the primitive church as related by Luke in the Acts of the Apostles, as far as the account of Paul's baptizing at Ephesus, in the name of the Lord Jesus, those disciples who had before received the baptism of John. He afterwards remained there for three months with those who, filled with the Holy Ghost, spake with tongues and prophesied; he himself continually setting forth the kingdom of God, to the profit of many: and then departing thence, for the next two years he preached the gospel boldly in every part of Asia, and performed in the name of Jesus Christ a number of miracles on the sick and demoniacs.2 I must now have recourse to other works, and collect some short notices of the apostles generally, from authorities which are considered authentic, and are used by the church.

The Creator of all things only knows the degrees of rank and the respective merits of the apostles; and He, who searches the secrets of the human heart, has apportioned to each the rewards of his labour. The word apostle signifies sent; for Christ sent them to preach the gospel throughout the world, in order that, as fishermen's nets haul shoals of fishes from the depths of the sea, the apostle's preaching might draw from the pit of perdition to the light of life, 1 Acts xvii. 34-xviii. 23. (A.D. 52-55.)

2 Acts xix. 1-10. (A.D. 54-57.)

those who were lost in the depths of sin. Their names are these: Simon Peter, and Andrew his brother; James, the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; James, the son of Alpheus, and Philip; Thomas and Bartholomew; Levi, Matthew, and Simon the Canaanite; Judas Thaddeus and Matthias.1

Peter, called the first, the greatest in dignity, the keybearer, he who zealously obeyed Christ, and followed him with his whole heart-he it was who filled the highest seat in the company of the apostles. He was the son of Jonas or John, and born at Bethsaida, a village near the lake of Gennesaret, in the province of Galilee. To announce his future dignity and illustrious power, he received three names. The significations of the three words indicated the many virtues vouchsafed to him by Heaven; for Simon means obedient, Peter acknowledging, and Cephas a head." Thus Simon, by the obedience with which, as soon as he heard the Lord's commandment, he attached himself to him, leaving all things, and ready to follow him to death, rose to the knowledge of the ineffable divinity. Inspired by Heaven, he ardently desired to be acquainted with divine things, above the powers of human intellect, and in the sincerity of his faith loudly proclaimed a glorious confession, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." therefore, was honoured above measure by Christ himself, made the head and foundation of the church. The generous Benefactor, who had inspired him divinely with the knowledge of himself, rewarded with the highest rank and authority the faith of a pure heart to which his mouth had given utterance by that confession. "Blessed art thou," said he, "Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven."

He

a

Truly blessed, indeed, is Simon, that is to say, the obedient, who is also called Barjona, that is to say, the son of dove, the symbol of the Holy Ghost. "An obedient man,' saith Solomon, "boasts his victories."

1 Acts i. 13, 26. (A.D. 33.)

2 We are not aware that Peter is synonymous with agnoscens in any language. As for the Syro-Chaldaic word Cephas, it is by a mere abuse of its similarity that it can be connected with the Greek word κɛpaλǹ, caput, a head. Matt. xvi. 16, 17.