and hatred of his former friends and companions, and be exposed to poverty, hardships and persecutions. Under such circumstances it seems the very acme of absurdity, to suppose that St. Paul became "a declared convert to the religion of Jesus, for the purpose of setting himself at the head of it, and of acquiring power and opulence"." Yet this is what Gamaliel Smith has ventured to assert, and has been guilty of the grossest misrepresentation in the vain attempt to substantiate the charge. Engaged in a common cause, and united by a sense of their common danger, the first disciples, agreed soon after the death of Christ, "to have all things common, neither said any of them, that ought of the things which he possessed was his own." Among other arrangements, dictated by charity and benevolence, it appears that provision was made, out of the public funds of the Christian community, for the indigent widows who belonged to it.

b Commenting upon 1 Tim. v. 9. Paley has the following excellent remarks: "It is not altogether unconnected with our general purpose, to remark in the passage before us the selection and reserve which St. Paul recommends to the governors of the church of Ephesus, in the bestowing relief upon the poor, because it refutes a calumny which has been insinuated, that the liberality of the first Christians was an

artifice

ACTS vi. 1-5.

And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. 2. Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. 3. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.

artifice to catch converts; or one of the temptations, however, by which the idle and mendicant were drawn into this society: "Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old, having been the wife of one man, well reported of for her good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints' feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work, but the younger widows refuse." (ver. 9, 10, 11.) And in another place, If any man or woman that believeth have widows, let them relieve them, and let not the church be charged, that it may relieve them that are widows indeed." And to the same effect, or rather more to our present purpose, the Apostle writes in his second Epistle to the Thessalonians: "Even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither let him eat, i. e. at the public expense: for we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busy-bodies; now them that are such, we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread." "Could a designing or dissolute poor take advantage of bounty regulated with so much caution; or could the mind which dictated those sober and prudent directions be influenced in his recommendations of public charity, by any other than the properest motives of beneficence." Hora Paulinæ.

D

4. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. 5. And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antiocha.

Now, if St. Paul before his conversion knew of the above circumstances, if he was aware that the Christians had all things in common, and that the greatest care and circumspection were exercised in regard to their temporal affairs, then was it in the highest degree improbable, that a desire of opulence could have induced him to join the disciples of Christ. If, on the other hand, he knew nothing of their affairs, • then must he have been equally uninfluenced by considerations of gain. Either supposition affords a refutation of Gamaliel Smith's absurd calumny. But fertile in invention, and ever ready to impute base motives to the Apostle, Gamaliel Smith says, St. Paul, while occupied in persecuting the disciples, could not have failed to have obtained "an insight into their

• These officers were appropriately called Deacons: for the Greek word Aiakovos literally signifies, a minister or servant properly at table, and hence it was properly applied to those ministers whose more especial business it was to take care of and minister to the wants of the poor. See Mr. Robinson's note on Acts vi. 2.

to the Apostles.

secutor of the

worldly affairs," and that he had probably heard of the offer of Simon Magus the sorcerer Now while Paul was a perChristians, he was certainly one of the last persons to whom the disciples would have revealed the state of their affairs; but if he had heard of the offer of Simon Magus, and the utter detestation and contempt with which that offer, and he who made it, was treated by the Apostles, he certainly could have expected no worldly advantages, or sinister gains, by joining men of such inflexible integrity. Really, when I see Gamaliel Smith making such groundless, and malevolent, attacks upon the character of St. Paul, I can scarce forbear saying to him, as the Apostle Peter did to the sorcerer above-mentioned, "Thy heart is not right in the sight of God: repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. For I perceive thou art in the gall of bitterness, and the bond of iniquity."Worldly gain, then, not being St. Paul's motive for becoming a convert to the Gospel, let us next enquire, whether he appears to have been influenced by the desire of power or ambition. Now all power, as well as wealth, at the time of St. Paul's conversion was with

the enemies of Christianity, and not unfrequently exerted with the most ruthless severity against those, who espoused the religion of Jesus. To the authority of Jews and Heathens, equally opposed to the propagation of the Gospel, there seemed not the slightest prospect that the Christians could offer any successful resistance; nor was it till three centuries had rolled away after the birth of Christ, that a period was put to the long train of sanguinary persecutions, carried on at various times against them. It may be said, however, that civil authority was not what St. Paul desired, but that having a thirst for command, he wished to exercise a sort of spiritual sway over the Christian community, and to this end declared himself a convert. Had he, however, been actuated by such a motive, it is evident that he might have attained his object more safely and effectually, by continuing to adhere to the religion in which he had been educated, and in which he had made no inconsiderable proficiency: or if he had been ambitious of applause, he might with his acquirements, have established a reputation as a teacher, by embracing the philosophy of the heathen. But St. Paul was so far from coveting dominion, that we shall find him ready on numerous occasions to consult with the other Apostles; that his humility was as conspicuous