Page:Life and voyages of the Apostle Paul.pdf/6

Rh thee the knowledge of those truths which thou hast blindly and ignorantly persecuted; but who now is willing to receive thee by baptism into his church, and make thee a member of his body.”

This was no sooner said, than there fell from his eyes thick films resembling scales, and he received his sight; and after baptism conversed with the Christians of Damascus. Nor did he only converse with them; he also, to the great astonishment of the whole church, preached the gospel to those Christians he came with an intention to destroy, at the same time boldly asserting, that Jesus was the Son of God; and proving it to the Jews, with such demonstrative evidence, that they were confounded, and found it impossible to answer him.

The miraculous convert, at the instance of the divine command, retired into Arabia Petræa, where he received a full revelation of all the mysteries of Christianity; for he himself declares that he conversed not with flesh and blood. Having preached in several parts of that country some time, he returned again to Damascus, applying himself, with the utmost assiduity, to the great work of the ministry, frequenting the synagogues there, coufutingconfuting [sic] the objections commonly made by the descendants of Jacob against Jesus of Nazareth, and converting great numbers of Jews and Gentiles.

He was remarkably zealous in his preaching, and blessed with an extraordinary method of reasoning, whereby he proved the fundamental points of Christianity beyond exception. This irritated the Jews to the highest degree; and at length, they prevailed on the governor of Damascus to have him put to death.

In this distress his Christian friends tried every method that offered to procure his escape, and as the gates of the city were strictly guarded, they let him down from the window of a house in a basket over the wall.

Having thnsthus [sic] escaped from his malicious persecutors, he repaired to Jerusalem, and on his arrival addressed himself to the church. But they knowing well the temper and principles of the persecutor, shunned his company, till Barnabas brought him to Peter, who was not yet cast into prison, and to James, bishop of Jerusalem, informing them of his miraculous conversion, and that he had preached the gospel with boldness in the synagogues of Damascus; upon which they gladly received him, and entertained him fifteen days.

During this interval, he was remarkably assiduous in preaching the gospel, and confuting the Hellenist Jews with the greatest courage and resolution. But being warned by God in a vision, that his testimony would not be received at