now to be no more allowed. "Now God commanded all men every where to repent," and prepare for that Judgment, to which they would be called before the Throne of Christ. "Because," as the Apostle told the Athenians, "God hath appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness, by that man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men in that He hath raised Him from the dead." Thus wisely and gently, yet faithfully and solemnly, did the holy Apostle lead his hearers, step by step, from the dark abyss of their own idolatry up to the glorious doctrine of the resurrection and the final judgment, those blessed and animating, yet stupendous truths, which form the great object of Christian expectation, as they did the great subject of Apostolic preaching.

E. I long to know how that grave assembly received it: I think Athenian Christians would be more interesting to me than any others.

M. I am afraid you will be disappointed when I add, that "some mocked, when they heard of the resurrection of the dead." Their thoughts could not rise so far beyond the level of what they had hitherto seen or heard. Nothing new with them was possible. And can we wonder at this, when we recollect that the true God was to them "Unknown." They had not heard, you know, of His wonders in Egypt, nor of His miracles in Canaan.

E. If they had heard, as we have, how Enoch and Elijah were taken up into heaven without dying, and how the dead had often been restored to life again by the Almighty at the prayer of his servants, perhaps they would have believed, Mamma.

M. Possibly they might; but these events and the doctrine of the Apostle were altogether new to them, and most difficult and incomprehensible. But it probably was not so much the novelty of this doctrine of the resurrection which offended the Athenian philosophers, as the fear of that awful judgment, which St. Paul connected so closely with it. They did not wish to believe so solemn a truth; and none will wish to believe it, but those who truly repent them of their sins, and look to God continually to blot them out in the blood of the Redeemer. The Apostle's hearers at the Areopagus shrunk from this heart-searching doctrine; some deriding him as one who preached impossibilities, and some of a grave sort and more enlarged views not at once rejecting the doctrine, but promising to hear the Apostle again at some future time. Such, Edward, was the decision of this famous assembly, or rather their utter inability to come to any decision on the subject. It was beyond their reach; "such knowledge was too high for them," above the most gifted and most cultivated talents of any uninspired man. It was spiritual knowledge, of which human nature in itself is not capable. Ridicule from some, hesitation from others, constituted the whole of St. Paul's success at the Areopagus. Yet some there were even here, who believed the word of eternal truth, "and clave unto him." Amongst these, two are particularly mentioned ;One, an Areopagite of the name of Dionysius, one of the very judges apparently of that great court in the precincts of which St. Paul had been preaching. It is said by some ancient writers, that, being after

wards thoroughly instructed by the Apostle, he was made the first bishop of Athens.

E. And who was St. Paul's other convert?

M. A woman of high rank, it would seem, by the name of Damaris. Thus St. Paul's visit to Athens was not altogether fruitless, although not productive of that effect which we might have expected. For human wisdom and learning are often impediments to that knowledge which is life eternal; the knowledge of "the only true God, and of Jesus Christ, whom He has sent 1."

E. I have always felt a great respect for the Greeks, Mamma, on account of their wisdom; but now I see that the most ignorant person amongst us who knows the Gospel of Christ is wiser than they.

M. And should not this teach us to moderate our value even for the best earthly things, since they may so easily prove hindrances to us in the way of life. Yes, even learning and knowledge, pleasant and desirable as they are, may be snares to us, if not taught to submit with implicit reverence to the word and wisdom of God. The philosophy of the heathen world was much of it good and excellent of its kind ; so excellent that it has survived the lapse of ages, and will perhaps even yet remain for ages yet to come. Yet even that must pass away at last, for there is nothing in it which can stand the test of eternity. It is "the word of our God alone, which shall stand for ever 2."

See Acts xvii. 22-34.

1 John xvii. 3.

2 Isaiah xl. 8.

237

TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY EVENING.

ST. PAUL AT CORINTH.

E. I hope St. Paul made some stay at Athens, Mamma, and that we shall hear more of what passed in that celebrated city.

M. He was not in this case driven away by persecution, as he had been from all those places where the Jews had any influence; but his reception had not been warm, and his prospect of doing good was probably not very great: he departed, therefore, from Athens leaving, as some suppose, the care of the believers to Dionysius. We have then no excuse, Edward, for lingering at Athens; nor will you I think be unwilling to follow the great Apostle to Corinth, which has almost as many interesting associations connected with it as the capital of Attica.

E. Corinth was the chief city of Achaia, I think, and situated on the Isthmus which separates the Peloponnesus from Attica?

M. Here St. Paul met with Aquila and his wife Priscilla, who were just come from Rome, having been driven from it by a decree of the emperor Claudius, commanding all Jews to leave that city for alleged tumultuous conduct. They were Christian Jews, and proved afterwards valuable helpers of the Apostle in his great work, as we learn in his Epistle to the Romans, where he makes most honourable and affectionate mention of them, saying: "Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my helpers in Christ Jesus: who have life laid down their own necks: unto whom not

for

my

only I give thanks, but also all the Churches of the Gentiles 1."

1

E. But these Christian Jews did not die for St. Paul, did they?

M. The expression" laid down their necks" seems merely intended to express the perils incurred by them on his account; and it is supposed that the Apostle alluded to some great dangers, which they had encountered in defending him from the Jews in a tumult raised against him at Corinth. Now it happened that Priscilla and Aquila had followed the same trade as St. Paul, for they were tent-makers;—a happy circumstance; as it led to his living under the same roof with them, that they might pursue their occupation together.

E. I should have thought that St. Paul would have had occupation enough as an Apostle.

M. All Jews taught their children some trade, that, wherever they went, they might be able to support themselves: indeed, it was a common saying among them, "He that teaches not his son a trade, teaches him to be a thief." St. Paul would be very anxious of course not to bring discredit upon the Gospel of Christ therefore, he was particularly careful to avoid the reproach of idleness, and would rather work with his own hands, notwithstanding all his other labours, than be burdensome to his converts, who were the only persons likely to assist him. Add to this, he seems to have been particularly anxious not to accept of any assistance from the Church of Corinth, allowing the brethren from Macedonia to assist him when he

1 Rom. xvi. 3.