Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 11.djvu/628

 PAUL

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PAUL

gclization of the Gentiles, Barnabas and Saul embark for Cyprus, preach in the synagogue of Salaiiiina, cross ilic island from e:ist to west (li)ul)lli's.s followinf; the southern eoast, and reach I'aphns. tlic rcsidrnce t>f the proconsul Sergius I'aulus, wlu-rc a t^udden change takes place. After the conversion of the Roman pro- consul, Saul, suddenly become Paul, is invariably mentioned before Barnab;is by St. Luke and mani- festly assumes the leadership of the mission which Harnab;is h;ui hitherto directed. The results of this change are soon evident. I'aul, doubtless concluding that Cvi)rus. the natural dc])(>ndencv of Svria and Cilicia.'woulil emlirace the faitli of Clirist wlien these two countries should be Christian, chose Asia IMinor as the field of his apostolate and sailed for Perge in Pamphylia, eight miles above the mouth of the Ce.s- trus. It was then that John Mark, cousin of Barna- bas, dismayed perhaps by the daring projects of the Apostle, abandoned the expedition and returned to Jerusalem, while Paul and Barnabas laboured alone among the rough mountains of Pisidia. which were in- fested by brigands and crossed by frightful precipices. Their destination was the Roman colony of Antioch, situated a seven days' journey from Perge. Here Paul spoke on the vocation of Israel and the providen- tial sending of the Messias, a discourse which St. Luke reproduces in substance as an example of his preaching in the synagogues (Acts, xiii, 16-41). The sojourn of the tw'O missionaries in Antioch was long enough for the word of the Lord to be pubhshed throughout the whole country (Acts, xiii, 49). When by their in- trigues the Jews had obtained against them a decree of banishment, they went to Iconium, three or four days distant, where they met with the same persecution from the Jews and the same eager welcome from the Gentiles. The hostility of the Jews forced them to take refuge in the Roman colony of Lystra, eighteen miles distant. Here the Jews from Antioch and Iconium laid snares for Paul and having stoned him left him for dead, but again he succeeded in escu|)ing and this time sought refuge in Derbe, situated about forty miles away on the frontier of the Province of Galatia. Their circuit completed, the missionaries retraced their steps in order to visit their neophytes, ordained priests in each Church founded by them at such great cost, and thus reached Perge where they halted to preach the Gospel, perhaps while awaiting an opportunity to em- bark for Attalia, a port tnclve miles distant. On their return to Antioch in Syria after an absence of at least three years, they were recei\fil with transports of joy and thanksgiving, for God had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.

The problem of the status of the Gentiles in the Church now made itself felt with all its acuteness. Some Judeo-Christians coming down from Jerusalem claimed that the Gentiles must be submitted to cir- cumcision and treated as the Jews treatcil proselytes. Against this Paul and Barnabas protest rd and it was decided that a meeting should be held at .Jerusalem in order to solve the (luestion. At this assembly Paul and Barnabas represented the community of Antioch. Peter pleaded the freedom of the Gentiles; James up- held him. at the same time dem.-inding that the Gen- tiles .should abstain from certain things which espe- cially shocked the Jews. It w:i,s derided, fiist, that the Gentiles W'cre exempt from the Mosaic law. Secondly, that those of Syria and Cilicia must abstain from things sacrificed to idols, from blooil, from things strangled, and from fornication. Thirdly, that this injunction was laid upon them, not in virtue of the Mosaic law, but in the name of the Holy Ghost. This meant the complete triumph of Paul's Ideas. The re- striction imposed on the ( iintile converts of Syria and Cilicia did not concern his Churches, and Titus, his companion, was not compelled to be circumcised, de- spite the loud protests of the Judaizers (Gal., ii, 3-4). Here it is assumed that Gal., ii, and Acts, xv, relate to

the same fact, for the actors are the same, Paul and Barnabas on the one hand, Peter and James on the other; the discussion is the same, the question of the circumcision of the Gentiles; the scenes are the same, Antioch and Jerusalem; the date is the same, about A. D. 50; and the result is the same, Paul's victory over the Judaizers. However, the decision of Jerusalem did not do away with all ditlicidties. The (|Ucstion did not concern only the Gentiles, and while exempting them from the Mosaic law, it was not declared that it would not have been counted meritorious and more perfect for them to observe it., as the decree seemed to liken them to Jewish [jro.selytes of the .second class. Furthermore the Judco-Christians, not having been included in the verdict, W( re still free to consider them- selves bounil to the observance of the law. This Was the origin of thedisi]ute which shortly afterwards arose at Antiocli lietwei'u Peter am I I'aul. The latter taught openly that the law was abolished for the Jews them- selves. Peter did not think otherwise, but he consid- ered it wise to avoid giving offence to the Judaizers and to refrain from eating with the Gentiles who did not observe all the prescriptions of the law. As he thus morally influenced the Gentiles to live as the Jews did, Paul demonstrated to him that this dissimu- lation or opportuneness prepared the way for future misunderstandings and conflicts and even then had regrettable consequences. His manner of relating this incident leaves no room for doubt that Peter was per- suaded by his arguments (Gal., ii, 11-20).

(2) Second mission (Acts, xv, 36-xviii, 22). — The beginning of the second mission was marked by a rather sharp discussion concerning Mark, whom St. Paul this time refused to accept as travelling compan- ion. Consequently Barnabas set out with Mark for Cyprus and Paul cho.se Silas or Silvanus, a Roman citizen like himself, and an influential member of the Church of Jerusalem, and sent by it to Antioch to deliver the decrees of the Apostolic council. The two missionaries first went from Antioch to Tarsus, stop])ing on the way in order to promulgate the deci- sions of the Council of Jerusalem; then they went from Tansus to Derbe, through the Cilician Gates, the de- files of Taurus, and the jilains of Lycaonia. The visitation of the Churches founded during his first mission passed without notable incidents excejjt the choice of Timothy, whom the ,\postle while in Lystra persuaded to accompany him, and whom he caused to be circumcised in order to facilitate his access to the Jews who were numerous in those jilaccs. It was probably at Antioch of Pisidia, although the Acts do not mention that city, that the itinerary of the mission was altered by the intervention of the Holy Ghost. Paul thought to enter the Province of Asia by the valley of Meander which separated it by only three days' journey, but they passed through Phrygia and t he country of Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Ghost to preach the word of God in Asia (.\cts, xvi, 6). These words (ttip tppvylav Koi ToKaTiKrjii Xiipap) are variously interpreted, according as we take them to mean the Galatians of the north or of the south (see Galatians). Whatever the hypothe- sis, the missionaries had to travel northwards in that portion of Galatia properly so ealleil of which Pcssi- nonte was the capital, and the only (|ues(ion is as to whether or not they preached there. They did not intend to do so, but as is known the evangelization of the Galatians was due to an accident, namely the illness of Paul (Gal., iv, 13); this fits very well for fialatians in the north. In any case the missionaries having reached the upper part of Mysia (kot4 Mvirlav), attempted to enter the rich Province of Bithynia which lay before them, but the Holy Ghost prevented, them (Acts, xvi, 7). Therefore, passing through Mysia without stopping to preach {vap^KBbvTes) they reached Alexandria of Troas, where God's will was again made known to them in the vision of a Macedo-