The Bible Story Part 272

The white columns of the famous temple of Minerva, always a landmark to Greek sailors, are still seen upon the headland.

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THE ISLAND OF NAXOS.

Photograph taken by Dr. C. W. Bill. Owned by Arthur S. Cooley, Ph.D., and used by his kind permission.

The mountains of the island of Naxos must often have been seen by Paul on his voyages. The Aegean Sea is almost deserted now, but in cla.s.sic times it was crowded with the commerce of the East.

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THE CAPTAIN OF THE NEW FAITH IN THE HANDS OF HIS FOES

I

THE JEWS STIR UP A RIOT.

_Paul, in Great Peril, is Saved by a Roman Officer_.

(When Paul reached Jerusalem he wors.h.i.+ped, as was his custom, in the temple. But he had many enemies who said that he was a traitor to the Jewish faith because he was friendly with people who were not Jews.)

Paul's enemies stirred up all the mult.i.tude, and laid hands on him, crying out, "Men of Israel, help: This is the man, who teacheth all men everywhere against the people, and the law, and this place: and moreover he brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath defiled this holy place."

For they had before seen with him in the city Trophimus the Ephesian, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple. And all the city was moved, and the people ran together: and they laid hold on Paul, and dragged him out of the temple: and straightway the doors were shut.

And as they were seeking to kill him, tidings came up to the chief captain of the garrison, that all Jerusalem was in confusion. And forthwith he took soldiers and centurions, and ran down upon them: and they, when {434} they saw the chief captain and the soldiers, left off beating Paul. Then the chief captain came near, and laid hold on Paul, and commanded him to be bound with two chains; and inquired who he was, and what he had done. And some shouted one thing, some another, among the crowd: and when the captain could not know the truth for the uproar, he commanded him to be brought into the castle. And when he came upon the stairs, he was borne by the soldiers on account of the violence of the crowd; for the mult.i.tude of the people followed after, crying out, "Away with him."

And as Paul was about to be brought into the castle, he saith unto the chief captain, "May I say something unto thee?"

And he said, "Dost thou know Greek? Art thou not then the Egyptian, which before these days stirred up to sedition and led out into the wilderness the four thousand men of the a.s.sa.s.sins?"

But Paul said, "I am a Jew, of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city: and I beseech thee, give me leave to speak unto the people."

II

ON THE CASTLE STAIRS

_Paul Defends Himself Before the People_.

When the officer gave him leave, Paul, standing on the stairs, beckoned with the hand unto the people; and when they were all silent, he spoke unto them in the Hebrew language, saying, "Brethren and fathers, hear ye the defense which I now make unto you."

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CITY OF SALONICA Copyright by Underwood & Underwood and used by special permission.

This is the city known in Paul's time as Thessalonica, which has come into such prominence during the great European war (1916).

The apostolic city at which we are now arrived was known in the earliest periods of its history under various names. Under that of Therma it is a.s.sociated with some interesting recollections. It was the resting place of Xerxes on his march; it is not unmentioned in the Peloponnesian war; and it was a frequent subject of debate in the last independent a.s.semblies of Athens. When the Macedonian power began to overshadow all the countries where Greek was spoken, this city received its new name, and began a new and more distinguished period of its history. A sister of Alexander the Great was called Thessalonica, and her name was given to the city of Therma, when rebuilt and embellished by her husband, Ca.s.sander, the son of Antipater. This name, under a form slightly modified, has continued to the present day. The "Salneck" of the early German poets has become the Saloniki of the modern Levant. Its history can be followed as continuously as its name. When Macedonia was part.i.tioned into four provincial divisions by Paulus Emilius, Thessalonica was the capital of that which lay between the Axius and the Strymon. When the four regions were united into one Roman province, this city was chosen as the metropolis of the whole. Its name appears more than once in the annals of the Civil wars. It was the scene of the exile of Cicero, and one of the stages of his journey between Rome and his province in the East. Antony and Octavius were here after the battle of Philippi; and coins are still extant which allude to the "freedom" granted by the victorious leaders to the city of the Thermaic gulf. Strabo, in the first century, speaks of Thessalonica as the most populous town in Macedonia. Lucian, in the second century, uses similar language.

Before the founding of Constantinople, it was virtually the capital of Greece and Illyric.u.m, as well as of Macedonia, and shared the trade of the Aegean with Ephesus and Corinth. Even after Constantinople was built and reigned over the Levant we find both pagan and Christian writers speaking of Thessalonica as the metropolis of Macedonia and a place of great magnitude.

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And when they heard that he spoke unto them in the Hebrew language, they were the more quiet: and he saith,--

"I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, at the feet of Gamaliel, instructed according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for G.o.d, even as ye all are this day: and I persecuted this Way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the elders: from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and journeyed to Damascus, to bring them also who were there unto Jerusalem in bonds, to be punished. And it came to pa.s.s, that, as I made my journey, and drew nigh unto Damascus, about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me. And I fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, 'Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?' And I answered, 'Who art thou, Lord?' And he said unto me, 'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.' And those who were with me beheld indeed the light, but they heard not the voice of him that spoke to me. And I said, 'What shall I do, Lord?' And the Lord said unto me, 'Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do.' And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus. And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well reported of by all the Jews that dwelt there, came unto me, {438} and standing by me said unto me, 'Brother Saul, receive thy sight.' And in that very hour I looked up and saw him. And he said, 'The G.o.d of our fathers hath appointed thee to know his will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear a voice from his mouth. For thou shalt be a witness for him unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on his name.' And it came to pa.s.s, that, when I had returned to Jerusalem, and while I prayed in the temple, I fell into a trance, and saw him saying unto me, 'Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: because they will not receive of thee testimony concerning me.'

"And I said, 'Lord, they themselves know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee: and when the blood of Stephen thy witness was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting, and keeping the garments of them that slew him.' And he said unto me, 'Depart: for I will send thee forth far hence unto the Gentiles.'"

And they gave him audience unto this word: and they lifted up their voice, and said, "Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live." And they cried out, and threw off their garments, and cast dust into the air.

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SYRACUSE.

Photograph taken by Arthur S. Cooley, Ph.D., and used by his kind permission.

Paul's s.h.i.+p touched here on her way to Rome, remaining in the harbor three days.

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PUTEOLI.

Photograph taken by Arthur S. Cooley, Ph.D., and used by his kind permission.

This was one of the ports of Rome, where the great corn s.h.i.+p on which Paul sailed discharged her cargo. This city was on the northern sh.o.r.es of the famous Bay of Naples. Across the bay was the naval station of Rome, where the imperial fleet lay at anchor. "The angry neighbor of Naples was not then an unsleeping volcano, but a green and sunny background to the bay. No one could have suspected that the time was so near when the admiral of the fleet at Misenum would be lost in its fiery eruption; and little did the apostle dream, as he looked from the 'Twin Brothers'' deck across the bay, that a ruin like that of Sodom and Gomorrah hung over the fair cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii at the base of the mountain, and that the Jewish princess, who had so lately conversed with him in his prison at Caesarea, would find her tomb in the ruins."

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III

A CITIZEN OF THE EMPIRE

_The Roman Officer Discovers that Paul is a Fellow-Citizen, and Offers an Apology_.

The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, bidding that he should be examined by scourging, that he might know for what cause, they so shouted against him. And when they had tied him up with the thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, "Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned?"

And when the centurion heard it, he went to the chief captain, and told him, saying, "What art thou about to do? for this man is a Roman."

And the chief captain came, and said unto him, "Tell me, art thou a Roman?"

And he said, "Yea."