Search for the Apostles #21
The Apostle Paul
OTHER THAN THE TWELVE PAUL This NOTED Apostle, while he was not one of the Twelve, nor could he possibly be described as a sub-Apostle, is in a specail class and both deserves and has received adequate coverage in terms of his biography. Almost all theological libraries have full and complete biographies of St.Paul and there is no reason to repeat here what is so readily available elsewhere. We shall, present only those traditions about St.Paul which are not commonly known, or which are not dealt with adequately in the standard biographies. ST.PAUL IN PETRA The fact that St.Paul went to Arabia after his escape from Damascus is attested in Galatians 1:17. There is a very real possibility that the "Arabia" mentioned is that area far to the south of Amman, Jordan, that had as its chief city, Petra. This was the capitol city of King Aretus who significantly is mentioned by Paul in 2 Corinthians 11:32. It is difficult to imagine St.Paul spending time in Arabia Petrea (as it was known) without staying in the glorious city of Petra itself. It was the only city worthy of the name at that time in an otherwise barren desert area. Here he re-ceived from Jesus Christ, he said, those special revelations of the gospel of grace which gave such freedom and power to the churhes he organized. PAUL IN SPAIN In his letter to the Romans, St.Paul indicated an intention to visit Rome "on his way to Spain," (Romans 15:28), but his first imprisonment prevented that. If he was released after his first trial he may well have gone there and beyond. Why should he have wanted to go to Spain? Because it was the westernmost portion of Europe and there were colonies of Jews there. Some were slaves, imprisoned as political prisoners by Herod Antipas. The Epistle of Clement and the Muratori Fragment both imply this possibility and assert that St.Paul visited Spain. Eusebius mentions, as Sir William Ramsey also points out, a gap in the life of St.Paul between A.D.61 and 65. In this time he could have gone to Spain and elsewhere as well. "The Acts, however, of all the Apostles are written in one book, Luke, to the most excellent Theophilus, includes events because they were done in his own presence, as he also plainly shows by leaving out the passion of Peter, and also the departure of Paul from the City on his journey to Spain." ("A New Eusebius," J. Stevenson, p.145 One great authoritative biography, "The Life and Epistles of the Apostle Paul," by Conybeare and Howson, which is as widely accepted a biography of St.Paul as any, emphatically asserts that St.Paul did indeed go to Spain, spending at least two years there, (p.679). ST. PAUL IN ROME The Apostle's first imprisonment was really not a stay in a prison as such. Rather, Acts 28 tells that Paul lived two years in his own house, ministering to all who came to see him, of whom there must have been many. After his release, travels and second arrest he was placed in the Mamertine Prison, a grim building which still exists, that was constructed for political prisoners a hundred years before St.Paul's incarceration there. "St.Paul was sent to Rome in the second year of Nero, [i.e. A.D. 56], in which date agree Bede, Ivo, Freculphus Platina, Saliger, Capellus, Cave., Stillingfleet, Alford, Godwin De Proesulibus, Rapin, Bingham, Stanhope, Warner, Trapp. We believe this to be the true date. ("St.Paul in Britain, Rev.R.W.Morgan, p.60) "The evidence on this subject, though (as we have said) not copious, is yet conclusive so far as it goes; and it is all way. "The most important portion of it is supplied by Clement, the disciple of Paul mentioned in Phil.iv.3, who was afterward bishop of Rome. This author, writing from Rome to Corinth, expressly asserts that Paul had preached the gospel IN THE EAST AND IN THE WEST, that he had instructed the whole world [i.e. the Roman empire, which was commonly so called] in righteousness,' and that he 'had gone to THE EXTREMITY OF THE WEST before his martyrdom. "Now, in a Roman author the 'extremity of the' West could mean nothing short of Spain, and the expression is often used by Roman writers to denote Spain. Here, then, we have the express testimony of Paul's own disciple that he fulfilled his original intention (mentioned Rom.xv.24-28) of visiting the Spanish peninsula, and consequently that he was liberated from his first imprisonment at Rome. "The next piece of evidence which we possess on the subject is contained in the canon of the New Testament, compiled by an unknown Christian about the year A.D.170, which is known as Muratori's Canon. In this document it is said in the account of the Acts o f the Apostles that 'Luke relates to Theophilus events of which he was an eye-witness, as also, in a separate, place (semote) [viz. Luke xxii. 31-33], he evidently declares the martyrdom of Peter, but (omits) THE JOURNEY OF PAUL FROM ROME TO SPAIN. "In the next place, Eusebius tells us, 'After defending himself successfully, it is currently reported that the Apostle again went forth to proclaim the gospel, and afterward came to Rome a second time, and was martyred under Nero.' "Next we have the statement of Chrysostom, who mentions it as an udoubted historical fact that 'Paul after his residence in Rome departed to Spain.' "About the same fime Jerome bears the same testimony, saying that 'Paul was dismissed by Nero, that he might preach Christ's gospel in the West.' "Against this unanimous testimony of the primitive Church there is no external evidence whatever to oppose. Those who doubt the liberation of Paul from his imprisonment are obliged to resort to a gratuitous hythesis or to inconclusive arguments from probability." ("Life and Epistles of the Apostle Paul," Conybeare and Howson, p.679-680) One great authoritative biography, "The Life and Epistles of the Apastle Paul," by Conybeare and Howson, which is as widely accepted a biography of St.Paul as any, emphatically asserts that St.Paul did indeed go to Spain, spending at least two years there: "St.Jerome tells us: "It ought to be said that at the first defence, the power of Nero having not yet been confirmed, nor his wickedness broken forth to such a degree as the histories relate concerning him, Paul was dismissed by Nero, that the gospel of Christ might be preached also in the West. As he himself writes in the second epistle to Timothy, at the time when he was about to be put to death, dictating his epistle as he did while in chains; 'At my first defence no one took my part, but all forsook me: may it not be laid to their account. But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me; that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and that all the Gentiles might hear, and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion'--clearly indicating Nero as a lion account of his cruelty .... He then, in the fourteenth year of Nero on the same day with Peter, was beheaded at Rome for Christ's sake and was buried in the Ostian Way, the twenty-seventh year after our Lord's passion." ("The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers" Jerome, p.363) Some details may be available regarding the place of residence of St.Paul in Rome during his first visit: "Baronius has the following note upon the Titulus: -- 'It is delivered to us by the firm tradition of our forefathers that the house of Pudens was the first that entertained St.Peter in Rome, and that there the Christians assembling formed the Church, and that of all our churches the oldest is that which is called after the name of Pudens.'" ("St.Paul in Britain," Rev.R.W. Morgan, p.59) "That the palace of Claudia was the home of the Apostles in Rome appears agreed upon by all ecclesiastical historians - even Robert Parsons, the Jesuit, admits. 'Claudia was the first hostess or harbourer both of St.Peter and St.Paul at the time of their coming to Rome.' See Parsons' T"hree Conversions of England,' vol. i. p.16." (Ibid.) George F.Jowett broadens our knowledge of the historically based traditions of St.Paul in Rome when he writes: "Yet we can still turn to the pages of the Martyrologies of Rome, The Greek Menologies and the Martyrologies of Ado, Usuard and Esquilinus, and therein read their glorious stories, noting the Natal Days of each, therein described. "They are as follows: "May 17. Natal Day of the Blessed Pudens, father of Praxedes and Pudentiana. He was clothed with Baptism by the Apostles, and watched and kept his robe pure and without wrinkle to the crown of a lameless life. "May 17. Natal Day of St. Pudentiana, the virgin, of the most illustrious descent, daughter of Pudens, and Disciple of the Holy Apostle St.Paul. "June 20. Natal Day of St. Novatus, son of the Blessed Pudens, brother of St.Timotheus the Elder and the Virgins of Christ, Pudentiana and Praxedes. All these were instructed in the faith by the Apostles." ("The Drama of the Lost Disciples," George F. Jowett, p.130) "The most authentic record of which can still be seen and read is on the wall of the ancient former Palace of the British, the sanctified church of St.Pudentiana. The Memorial was carved on its walls following the execution of Praxedes in the second century, the last surviving member of the original Christian band and the youngest daughter of Claudia and Pudens. "Inscribed in these few words is told the noble, tragic story: "'In this sacred and most ancient of churches, known as that of Pastor (Hermas), dedicated by Sanetus Pius Papa (St.Paul), formerly the house of Sanctus Pudens, the Senator, and the home of the holy Apostles, repose the remains of three thousand blessed martyrs which Pudentiana and Praxedes, virgins of Christ, with their own hands interred.'" (Ibid., p.128 ) "The Martyrologies inform us that the Pudens, after retrieving the body of Paul, interred it on their estate on the Via Ostiensa road. We know from the historic records of the Emperor Constantine, first Christian Emperor of Rome, that he, knowing where the mutilated body of Paul lay, caused it to be excavated. He had it placed in a stone coffin, and over the spot built a church, still known as St.Paul's without-the-walls, meaning the church and his body are outside the city walls of Rome. The original church perished and a larger one was built on the site. Fire destroyed this in 1823. In the present church built after the fire, but still bearing its ancient name, a Benedictine priest is ever on guard before a grille on the floor of the High Altar. On occasion, for the benefit of special visitors, the priest moves the grille, lowering a light through the floor into a cell beneath, revealing to the eyes a crude slabstone on the floor bearing the name 'Pauli.'" Ibid., p.179,180) There are no competing traditions for another place of martyrdom for St.Paul than Rome. The book of Acts certainly leaves St.Paul in Rome. An interval between his first and final imprisonments there is clearly indicated and attested by the early Church fathers. It is equally clear that Constantine erected a church building over the place where he reburied St.Paul, and the relics of the body of the Apostle seem certainly to have been placed in the crypt under the altar of St.Paul's outside-the-Walls on the Ostian Way, not too far from the place of his martyrdom at Tre Fontana. "According to tradition, St.Paul, who suffered mardom on a site known as the Aquae Salviae, now the Abbey of the Three Fountains, was buried in praedio Lucanae, that is to say, in a little cemetery beside the Ostian Way, about one thousand paces from the gate of the same name. A 'cella memoriae' was probably erected over his tomb. Constantine transformed these 'cellae memoriae' of the Apostles Peter and Paul into basilicas; the Liber Pontificalis, in fact, records that the emperor 'fecit basilicam S ancto Paulo Apostolo cuius corpus recondidit et conclusit in arca sicut Sancti Petri.' "Pope Sylvester I is said to have consecrated the church on the same day on which the basilica of St.Peter was consecrated, on November 18th, 324. In the Acts of St.Sylvester rich donations made to the church by Constantine are also recorded; the first church was probably quite small and faced on to the Ostian Way. "In 386 an imperial edict of Valentinianus II, Theodosius and Arcadius to the prefect of Rome stated that the church was to be enlarged, in accordance with the sanctity of the site, the concourse of pilgrims and their devotion. It added that the new church 'si placuerit tam populo quam Senatui' was to be extended towards the plain rather than towards the nearby slope. The construction was entrusted to a certain Ciriades known as the 'mechanicus' or 'Professor of mechanicus,' who built a church with five aisles, eighty columns and a huge porch, probably similar to that of the ancient basilica of St.Peter. The church was consecrated by Pope Siricius in 390. It was finished, according to the inscription on the triumphal arch, whose mosaic ornament was commissioned and paid for by Galla Placidia, under Honorius in 395 and restored by Pope Leo the Great, after it had been damaged either by an earthquake or by fire. An incription mentiones the restorations carried out under Pope Leo the Great by the priest Felix and the deacon Adeodatus, and another records important works commissioned by a certain Eusebius." ("St.Paul's Outside the Walls of Rome," Cecilia Pericoli Ridolfini, p.3) Mary Sharp presents the Catholic version of the death of St. Paul: "The history of St.Paul is fully recorded in the New Testament (except for his visit to Spain which is implied by the Epistle of Clement and asserted in the Muratori fragment and legend has added little to it. It is believed that he was martyred outside the Ostian Gate on the same day that St.Peter was crucified, and that when his head was struck off it bounced three times on the ground and at each place a fountain of water sprang up, the first hot, the second warm and the third cold. The spot is still venerated as the 'Tre Fontane,' and the fountains remain, though there is little difference in temperature. He was originally buried on the Via Ostian where the basilica of St.Paul-outside- the-Walls nnow stands. When the Christian tombs were threatened with desecration in the Valerian persecution, it is said that the bodies of SS Paul and Peter were taken, on 29th June 258, to a place called 'Ad Catacumbtas' on the Appian Way. If this was so, the body of St.Paul was later returned to its original place, but but his head, along with that of St.Peter, was taken to the basilica of St.John Lateran." ("A Traveller's Guide to Europe," Mary Sharp, p.173 ) ST. PAUL IN ENGLAND? The idea that St.Paul and other Apostles may have visited and ministered in England does not find much serious consideration or even interest among most church historians. They may be quite right, but there is too much evidence of at least the bare possibility of Apostolic journeys there for serious scholars to dismiss the whole question out of hand. (A whole lot of evidence there is that Israel Britain DID receive the Gospel only early after the start of the NT Church of God in 30 A.D. - Keith Hunt) The least the questing mind of the scholar can do is to examine what evidence, tradition and legends do exist and determine how much, if any validity they might have. As has been noted before (see the Chapter on St.Simon Zelotes) Britain was a relatively bighly developed country by the time the first Phoenicians visited it more than a millennium before the Apostolic age. Recent discoveries on the Greek mainland reveal British importance firmly dated 1500 B.C. (see National Geographic, May 1972, p.707) (But Briatin was not settled until king Brutus from Troy came with his people to dwell in Britain. The Trojan people were from a branch of the House of Judah. Brutus and his people were Jews - Keith Hunt) By the Roman period Britain was a land of mines, cities, roads, schools, government, armies with advanced technology, etc. Seneca, the mentor of Nero, made large investments in Britain during the early Apostolic age. Why should some of the Apostles not have traveled there? They certainly went to many other equally distant and strange places, such as Russia, India and the Balkan countries, This writer while in Bath, England, purchased in 1971 a silver coin of Nero found in the Roman baths, at Bath. The existence of such firm evidence assures us that Roman civilization, as evidenced by its coinage, had spread widely in Britain well before the climax of the age of Apostolic labours. Such a find does not prove that the Apostles, or even Christians, were in England at that time, but it is beyond cavil that such a thing was entirely possible. "'From, India to Britain,' writes St.Jerome (A.D.378), 'all nations resound with the death and resurrection of Christ'." (Jerome, "In Isaiam," c. liv.: also, "Epistol.," xiii. ad Paulinum.) "In A.D.320, Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea, speaks of Apostolic missions to Britain as a matter of notoriety: 'The Apostles passed beyond the ocean to the isles called the Brittanic Isles'." (Eusebius, "De Demon-stratione Evangelii," lib. iii, as quoted in "St.Paul in Britain," Rev. R.W.Morgan, p.108) The Rev.R.W.Morgan also writes: " 'There are six years of St.Paul's life to be accounted for, between his liberation from his first imprisonment and his martyrdom at Aquae Salviae in the Ostian Road, near Rome. Part certainly, the greater part perhaps, of this period was spent in Britain, in Siluria or Cambria, beyond the bounds of the Roman Empire; and hence the silence of the Greek and Latin writers upon it.'" ("St.Paul in Britain," Morgan, p.175) Perhaps the enthusiasts for this interpretation of history go too far. (Not at all too far, it's just that so-called "scholars" do not want to know the truth about Britain, and why some of the apostles were swift to go there and preach the Gospel. Britain was part of the "Lost House of Israel" - Keith Hunt) Their supporting quotations range from the early church fathers to the lesser known modern writers in Christian history. These are examples of both: "Eloquently St.Clement sums up the magnitude of the achievements of the Apostle to the Gentiles. Being one of the original Bethany band that dwelt at Avalon with Joseph, he knew St.Paul intimately, and long before he followed in the office of his beloved friend Linus, as Bishop of Rome. He writes: " To leave the examples of antiquity, and to come to the most recent, let us take the noble examples of our own times. Let us place before our eyes the good Apostle, Peter, through unjust odium, underwent not one or two, but many sufferings; and having undergone his martyrdom, he went to the place of glory to which he was entitled. Paul, also, having seven times worn chains, and been hunted and stoned, received the prize of such endurance. For he was the herald (of the Gospel in the West as well as in the East), and enjoyed the illustrious reputation of the faith in teaching the whole world to be righteous. And after he had been in the extremity of the West, he suffered martyrdom before the sovereigns of mankind; and thus delivered from this world, he went to his holy place, the most brilliant example of steadfastness that we possess.'" 'Extremity of the West' was the term used to indicate Britain. "Capellus, in 'History of the Apostles,' writes: "'I know scarcely of one author from the time of the Fathers downward who does not maintain that St.Paul, after his liberation, preached in every country of the West, in Europe, Britain included.'" ("The Drama o f the Lost Disciples," George F. Jawett, p.196) However there is more solid evidence for an early Christian tradition of Apostolic evangelism in Britain -- possibly that of St.Paul. "TERTULLIAN, A.D. 155-222, the Early Father, the first great genius after the Apostles among Christian writers, writing in A.D.192, said: 'The extremities of Spain, the various parts of Gaul, the regions of Britain, which have never been penetrated by the Roman Arms, have received the religion of Christ.'" (Tertullian, :Def. Fidei," p.179)" ("St.Joseph of Arimathea at Glastonbury," Rev. Lionel Smithett Lewis, pp.129,130) "ORIGEN, another Early Father (A.D.185-254), wrote: "'The divine goodness of Our Lord and Saviour is equally diffused among the Britons, the Africans, and other nations of the world." (Ibid) "ST.CLEMENT speaks of Paul going to 'the extremity of the West, then returning to Rome and suffering martyrdom before the sovereigns of mankind.' "Jerome and Chrysostom refer to Paul travelling to the extreme West and Theodore, the Syrian bishop of the fifth century, tells us that he 'preached Christ's Gospel to the Britons and others in the West' "Even the Pope, wishing to please some important British visitors, in 1931, 'Advanced the theory that if was St.Paul himself, and not Pope Gregory, who first introduced Christianity into Britain'. We hailed that piece of news reported in The Morning Post, of March 27, with delight. We knew the truth, but here was the Pope voicing it too, an unprecedented event" ("Our Neglected Heritage, The Early Church," Gladys Taylor, p.67) (The truth of the matter concerning the introduction of Christianity into Britain can be found in-depth in various other studies on this Website - Keith Hunt) WHAT WAS THE APPEARANCE OF ST. PAUL? There is absolutely no proof of how any Biblical personalities looked in their person except for a few Caesars whose coins and statues survive. However, a study of St.Paul has been made and some interesting concepts have developed. For example, Boyce W. Blackwelder has penned the following: "The apocryphal 'Acts of Paul and Thecla,' written in the third century, has a portraiture of Paul which describes him as 'of a low stature, bald (or shaved on the head, crooked thighs, handsome legs, hollow eyed; had a crooked nose; full of grace; for sometimes he appeared as a man, sometimes he had the countenance of an angel.' (1:7) "This is the earliest description of Paul's features which we have in Christian literature. Callan says, 'In the fourth century Paul is ridiculed in the Philopatris of the Pseudo-Lucian as the bald-headed, hooknosed Galilean who trod the air into the third heaven and learned the most beautiful things.' (Philopat. 12) Cone notes that John of Antioch, writing in the sixth century, preserves the tradition that Paul was 'round shouldered, with a sprinkling of gray on his head and beard, with an aquiline nose, grayish eyes, meeting eyebrows, with a mixture of pale and red in his complexion ...' "Scholars generally agree that the traditional view regarding Paul's personal appearance is correct. HoIzner speaks of 'the small, emaciated figure of the man from Tarsus! Giordani describes Paul as 'small of stature and all nerves;' a man 'infirm in health' with 'a miserable physique.' He depicts Paul 'with his sore eyes' as a sight 'repulsive! Shaw, as quoted by Callan, speaks of Paul's 'insignificant stature, his marred vi- lion, his weak and often distorted frame.' Stalker observes that Paul appears to have been small of stature, and that his bodily presence was weak. He says 'This weakness seems to have been sometimes aggravated by disfiguring disease.' "Callan writes: 'St.Paul, according to the persistent tradition of the Church, was anything but commanding and beautiful in his physical appearance. Glimpses, doubtless, of the great soul within could be caught now and then, or frequently by his friends, as sunbeams are seen through openings in prison walls; but for all that the bodily make-up of the man was homely and poor.' "The idea that Paul was of inferior stature may, in some respects, be confirmed in references gleaned from his own writings. In Second Corinthians 10:10, Paid quotes what his opponents said of him to the effect that 'his letters ... are weighty and powerful; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.' Probably this was not a groundless statement, for even Paul's opponents would hardly dare to speak thus of him in one of his congregations without a basis in fact. "What about Paul's health? Scholars hold opposite opinions with regard to this question. Some biographers are sure that Paul must have been exceptionally robust or he could not have endured the rigors of missionary work over a vast area for a period of approximately thirty years. Craig says, 'A man who could trudge mountain and valley day after day, endure shipwreck and imprisonment, hardship and persecution, was no weakling.' "Other authorities, on the contrary, are convinced that Paid was physically weak and frail throughout his life. Callan, following Hayes, thinks Paul was a chronic invalid, but that God's grace was upon the Apostle in such measure that physical deficiencies were overcome. "If Paul did not have a hardy appearance, this must have been a difficult problem for him when he worked among peoples of the Greek tradition which held that a vigorous body was essential to a normal personality. "There is no question but what the painful bodily sufferings which Paul endured (cf. 2 Cor.11:23-27) left lasting physical effects (Gal.6:17; 2 Cor.4:10). There must have been terrible scarmarks remaining from the scourgings, and from the stoning at Lystra which was so severe that the perpetrators thought Paul had been killed (Acts 14:19)." ("Toward Understanding Paul," Boyce W. Blackwelder, p.15-17) (Well brethren, friends, and "scholars" I've got news for you. It makes NO DIFFERENCE what Paul looked like from whatever weaknesses of the flesh, or physical trials he went through, the Eternal Holy One used him to do a work few ever did, and further more, used him to write 14 whole books of the New Testament. And further to that, he will one day, in the resurrection, have a PERFECT HOLY GLORIFIED BODY, as all the children of God will - Keith Hunt) ST. PAUL AND THE WRITINGS OF ST.LUKE Eusebius has an interesting observation about the relationship of these two great Apostolic figures: "....But at some he was present, and so he set them down. The third book of the Gospel, that according to Luke, was compiled in his own name on Paul's authority by Luke the physician, when, after Christ's ascension, Paul had taken him to be with him like a legal expert. Yet neither did he see the Lord in the flesh; and he too, as he was able to ascertain events, begins his story from the birth of John." ("A New Eusebius," J. Stevenson, p.144) ...................... Entered on this Website June 2008 NOTE: So we end the book by McBirnie, who spent years in researching where the Twelve Apostles and others like Paul, went to, in preaching and teaching the Gospel of Christ to Israelites and the Gentiles. They did indeed go forth and did as it was written of them, "turn the world upside down." So it is for us, in this last age (as for them in the first age) to go forth and turn the world upside down and inside out, with the truths of our Lord. It's time, to be ZEALOUS in doing the work of God, while it is day, for the night comes when no person can work. The Eternal has said His Word will go forth and not return until Him void. That time is NOW, for it is also written, that the day will come when people will look for the Word of God, and will not find it. YOU, need to APPRECIATE and LOVE and HUNGER for TRUTH and RIGHTEOUSNESS, for to you it is at present made freely available. That WEALTH of the Word of Truth and Light is on this Website. Keith Hunt June 2008 |
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