Page:Lives of the apostles of Jesus Christ (1836).djvu/337

 death of all the other apostles, John survived alone, so long, it was desirable for all the Christian churches in the world, that the only living minister of the word who had been instructed from the lips of Jesus himself, should reside in some such place, where he might so easily be visited by all, and whence his instructions might quickly go forth to all. His inspired counsels, and his wonder-working prayers, might be sought for all who needed them, and his apostolic ordinances might be heard and obeyed, almost at once, by the most distant churches. But the circumstance, which more especially might lead the wanderer from the ruined city and homes of his fathers, to Ephesus, was the great gathering of Jews at this spot, who of course thus presented to the Jewish apostle an ample field for exertions, for which his natural and acquired endowments best fitted him.

In the account given in the Acts of the Apostles of Paul's visit to Ephesus, particular mention is made of a synagogue there, in which he preached and disputed daily, for a long period, with great effect. Yet Paul's labors had by no means attained such complete success among the Jews there, as to make it unnecessary for another apostle to labor in the ministry of the circumcision, in that same place; for it is especially mentioned that Paul, after three months' active exertion in setting forth the truth in the synagogues, was induced by the consideration of the peculiar difficulties which beset him, among these proud and stubborn adherents of the old Mosaic system, to withdraw himself from among them; and during the remainder of his two years' stay, he devoted himself, for the most part, to the instruction of the willing Greeks, who opened the schools of philosophy for his teachings, with far more willingness than the Jews did their house of religious assembly. And it appears that the greater part of his converts were rather among the Greeks than the Jews; for in the great commotions that followed, the attack upon the preachers of Christianity was made entirely by a heathen mob, in which no Israelite seems to have had any hand whatever; so that Paul had evidently made but little impression, comparatively, on the latter class. Among the Jews then, there was still a wide field open for the labors of one, consecrated, more especially, for the ministry of the circumcision. The circumstances of the times, also, presented many advantages for a successful assault upon the religious prejudices of his countrymen. The great Center of Unity for the race of Israel throughout the world, had now fallen into