THE

WESLEYAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL MAGAZINE.

IF

PRACTICAL PAPERS.

THE EARLY LIFE OF ST. PAUL.

BY W. R. BURGESS.

F we may judge from the various works which have been published in our own and preceding days, there would seem to exist a strong desire to know something of the early days of those who have been men of mark, and who have stamped their impress upon the age in which they lived; to ascertain if the bud gave promise of the beautiful flower, the twig of the healthy and vigorous tree. The poet says, "The child is father to the man," and men like to see whether those bold and distinctive features which characterised the man, were indicated or foreshadowed in the child; whether the germ precociously displayed itself, or was only made manifest when the sun and the rain and the dew of education and opportunity or necessity had matured it, and when circumstances called it forth.

There is in the lives of great men a fascination; their greatness, their goodness, or their usefulness has acted as a charm upon their fellows and upon posterity. And it is not wonderful that the aspiring or the ambitious, who envy their greatness, or who would emulate their goodness or their usefulness, should desire to see the rough diamond which became so polished and brilliant a gem, and to learn something of the process by which the transformation was effected. We look at the brewer in Huntingdon, and wonder how he became the great Oliver Cromwell, Protector of the realms of Great Britain. We look at the lad of Newcastle who was once content to earn two-pence a day, and marvel how he became the George Stephenson who was the father of our railway system. We look at the stonemason of Cromarty, and inquire how he became the eloquent Hugh Miller, whose lectures on Geology charmed the most learned and fashionable audiences of Edinburgh. We look at the wild and vicious tinker of Elstow, and ask by what means he was transformed into the author of the "Pilgrim's Progress." And now we propose to look at one who VOL. IX. NEW SERIES.-October, 1874.

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was a "Hebrew of the Hebrews," and of the straitest sect of the Pharisees, but who, by the grace of God, became a follower of that Jesus Whom he had persecuted, and the great "Apostle of the Gentiles."

I shall confine myself to that portion of the life of St. Paul which precedes his conversion, and which includes his childhood and his youth; the place and circumstances of his birth, his ancestry, the method and incidents of his education, some of the customs of the times; and the scenery and associations by which he was surrounded.

In the absence of well-authenticated statements, either in Scripture or ancient history, many of the circumstances connected with the early life of St. Paul must be involved in some obscurity. The narrative in the Acts of the Apostles, and the allusions in the Epistles, are so meagre, that if we were confined to these sources of information, our conception of the subject would be of the most bare and imperfect character. Sufficient, however, is told us, with the references to the customs of the times, and the facts with which historians are familiar, to fill in the outline which has been supplied. It is fair to infer that the training of St. Paul, and other incidents of his birth and education, would be similar to those of his contemporaries who were placed in the same circumstances, social, political and religious. It is upon this assumption that this sketch is founded, in the hope that the study may not be useless or uninteresting.

The province of Cilicia, in which Tarsus, where Paul was born, is situated, is divided into two parts; Western or Rough Cilicia, and Eastern or Plain Cilicia. The first is formed by the offsets of Mount Taurus, which come down in large masses to the sea. Its inhabitants were notorious for their robberies; the Northern portion providing innumerable strongholds for marauders by land; and the Southern, with its excellent timber, its cliffs and small harbours, a home for pirates.

The Eastern Cilicia was a rich and extensive plain, remarkable for its prolific vegetation. It was almost on the border land of these two districts that Tarsus was situated.

Cilicia was at this time a province of Rome. Rome's conquered countries were subjected to different kinds of treatment. Those provinces which were rich and productive, or especially important in a military point of view, were placed under a Roman governor; those which were only worthless and troublesome, were often entrusted to a native Prince, who, though nominally independent, was

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really subservient and often tributary to Rome. Cilicia belonged to the former class. Its richness and fertility made it valuable in a commercial sense, whilst its position on the highway to the East, gave it military importance. It was the high-road of trading caravans and warlike expeditions. Through it Cyrus marched to depose his brother from the Persian throne, 401 B.C.

Tarsus, the capital of the whole province, was situated on the banks of the river Cydnus, which flows in a cold and rapid stream from the snows of Taurus. This river was noted for the coldness of its waters; bathing in which Alexander nearly lost his life. Tarsus is itself a place of great historical interest. It is supposed to have been originally founded by the Syrians; afterwards it came into the power successively of the Greeks and the Romans. Its situation rendered it at all times a place of importance, as it was easily accessible by sea and land, was the capital of a fertile country, and was in the direct route to the East. It was a distinguished seat of Greek philosophy and literature, and from the number of its schools and learned men, was ranked by the side of Athens and Alexandria. By the Emperor Augustus it was made a free city.

I shall give an extract from Conybeare and Howson, which describes the scenery of this famous place ::—“We have the great satisfaction of knowing the exact scenery in the midst of which St. Paul's childhood was spent. The plain, the mountains, the river and the sea still remain to us. The rich harvests of corn still grow luxuriantly after the rains in spring. The same tents of goats' hair are still seen covering the plains in the busy harvest. There is the same solitude and silence in the intolerable heat and dust of the summer. Then, as now, the mothers and children of Tarsus went out in the cool evenings, and looked from the gardens round the city, or from their terraced roofs, upon the heights of Taurus. The same sunset lingered on the pointed summits. The same shadows gathered in the deep ravines. The river Cydnus has suffered some changes in the course of eighteen hundred years. Instead of rushing, as in the time of Xenophon, like the Rhone at Geneva, in a stream of two hundred feet broad through the city, it now flows idly past it on the East. The channel which floated the ships of Antony and Cleopatra is now filled up; and wide unhealthy lagoons occupy the place of the ancient docks. But its upper waters still flow, as formerly, cold and clear from the snows of Taurus; and its waterfalls still break over the same rocks, when the snows are melting, like the Rhine at Schaffhausen. We find pleasure in thinking that the footsteps of the young

Apostle often wandered by the side of this stream, and that his eyes often looked on these falls. We can hardly believe that he who spake to the Lystrians of the 'rain from heaven,' and the 'fruitful seasons,' and of 'the living God, Who made heaven and earth and the sea,' could have looked with indifference on beautiful and impressive scenery. Gamaliel was celebrated for his love of nature; and the young Jew who was destined to be his most famous pupil, spent his early days in the close neighbourhood of much that was well adapted to foster such a taste. Or if it be thought that in attributing such feelings to him we are writing in the spirit of modern times; and if it be contended that he would be more influenced by the realities of human life than by the impressions of nature,—then let the youthful Saul be imagined on the banks of the Cydnus where it flowed through the city in a stream less clear and fresh, where the wharves were covered with merchandise, in the midst of groups of men in various costumes, speaking various dialects. St. Basil says, that in his day Tarsus was a point of union for Syrians, Cilicians, Isaurians, and Cappadocians. To these we must add the Greek merchant, and the agent of Roman luxury. And one more must be added-the Jew, even then the pilgrim of commerce, trading with every nation, and blending with none. In this mixed company Saul, at an early age, might become familiar with the activities of life and the diversities of human character; and even in his childhood make some acquaintance with those various races, which in his manhood he was destined to influence.”

Tarsus is now a poor and decayed town, inhabited by Turks, but not so much fallen as many other anciently great towns of the same region, the population being estimated at thirty thousand. Some remains of the ancient city may still be seen.

It is impossible to fix with precision the date of St. Paul's birth, as it is not given either by himself or by the author of the Acts of the Apostles, nor is any reliable statement made by ancient historians. In the account of the death of Stephen, it is said that his clothes were laid at the feet of "a young man whose name was Saul." According to the Bible chronology this event took place in the year 33. All men under forty were considered young men, and it has been thought probable that he was born about the year 2 of the Christian era. It is most likely that his birth took place either in the last years of that Herod who reigned when Christ was born, or of Archelaus who reigned in his stead at the return from Egypt. It is of little consequence to determine the exact date.

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Of the parentage of the Apostle we are also left in ignorance; except that his father and mother were Jews of the purest extraction. He says that he was circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews." It is probable that, during some of the dispersions of the Jews, his parents had left the land of their fathers, and though settling at Tarsus, amidst an alien population, had maintained intact the purity and separateness of their race. What were their names we know not. It is singular that the only mention the Apostle makes of his mother is when he speaks of himself as set apart from his mother's womb, that he might preach Christ among the heathen. He alludes to his father, and speaks of his sister, and we read of his "sister's son;" and he sends salutations to other of his kinsmen, but as to his mother he is silent. Whether she died in his infancy, or lived to see him in his manhood, herself remaining unconverted, or whether she believed and obeyed the Saviour, are questions we cannot answer.

On the eighth day, according to Jewish law, he was circumcised. Doubtless as his mental faculties developed, he would be trained according to the rules for the diligent education of children laid down by Moses in the sixth and eleventh chapters of Deuteronomy. "These words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates." Thus would he be early taught all the glorious memories of the past, and the great anticipations of the future; how that "the Lord had made a covenant with Jacob, and gave Israel a law, which He commanded our forefathers to teach their children; that their posterity might know it, and the children which were yet unborn, to the intent that when they came up they might show their children the same; that they might put their trust in God, and not to forget the works of the Lord, but to keep His commandments."

In all that long train of events which make up the history of the children of Israel, he would be duly instructed, his hopes would be excited, his imagination fired, and his mind stored. The triumphant hymns of Zion, the lamentations by the waters of Babylon, the prophetic praises of the Messiah, would be the songs around his cradle; and above all, the glorious history of his own