Lives of the apostles of Jesus Christ

by David Francis Bacon

Such was the beginning of the propagation of the gospel in Greece,——such was the foundation of the first church ever planted east of the Hellespont; and thus did Europe first receive the doctrines of that faith, which now holds in all that mighty division of the world, a triumphant seat, and constitutes the universal religion of the nations that hold within themselves the sources of art, learning,——all the refinements of civilization,——and of the dominion of half the globe. Four pilgrims entered the city of Philippi, unknown, friendless, and scorned for their foreign, half-barbarian aspect. Strolling about from day to day, to find the means of executing their strange errand, they at last found a few Jewish women, sitting in a little retired place, on the banks of a nameless stream. To them they made known the message of salvation;——one of the women with her household believed the gospel, and professed the faith of Jesus;——and from this beginning did those glorious results advance, which in their progress have changed the face of Europe, revolutionized the course of empires, and modified the destiny of the world!

An incident soon occurred, however, which brought them into more public notice, though not in a very desirable manner. As they went out to the usual place of prayer on the bank of the stream, they at last were noticed by a poor bedeviled crazy girl, who, being deprived of reason, had been made a source of profit to a set of mercenary villains, who taking advantage of the common superstition of their countrymen about the supernatural endowments of such unfortunate persons, pretended that she was a Pythoness, indued by the Pythian Apollo with the spirit of prophecy; for not only at Delphi, on his famous tripod, but also throughout Greece, he was believed to inspire certain females to utter his oracles, concerning future events. The owners and managers of this poor girl therefore made a trade of her supposed soothsaying faculty, and found it a very profitable business, through the folly of the wise Greeks of Philippi. This poor girl had her crazy fancy struck by the appearance of the apostolic company, as they passed along the streets to their place of prayer, and following them, perceived, under the impulse of the strange influence that possessed her, the real character of Paul and his companions; and cried out after them, “These men are the servants of the most high God, who show us the way of salvation.” This she did daily for a long time, till at last, Paul, annoyed by this kind of proclamation thus made at his heels, turned about, and by a single command subdued the demoniac influence that possessed her, and restored her to the freedom of sense and thought. Of course she was now no longer the submissive instrument of the will of her mercenary managers, and it was with no small vexation that they found all chance of these easy gains was forever gone. In their rage against the authors of what they deemed their calamity, they caught Paul and Silas, as the foremost of the apostolic company, and dragging them into the forum or courthouse, where the magistrates were in session, they presented their prisoners as a downright nuisance: “These men, who are Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city; and teach customs which are not lawful for us to adopt nor observe, if we are to maintain the privileges of Roman citizens.” What the latter part of the accusation referred to, in particular, it is not easy to say, and probably there was no very definite specification made by the accusers; for the general prejudice against the Jews was such, that the mob raised a clamor against them at once; and the magistrates seeing in the apostles only some nameless foreign vagabonds, who having come into the city without any reasonable object in view were disturbing the peace of the inhabitants, had no hesitation whatever in ordering them to be punished in the most ignominious manner, and without any question or defense, conforming to the dictation of that universally divine and immaculate source of justice,——the voice of the people,——instantly had them stripped and flogged at the discretion of their persecutors. After having thus shamefully abused them, they did not dismiss them, but cast them into prison, and set their feet in the stocks.

“Philippi was a city of Macedonia, of moderate extent, and not far from the borders of Thrace. It was formerly called Crenides, from its [♦]numerous springs, from which arises a small stream, mentioned Acts xvi. 13, though it is commonly omitted in the maps. The name of Philippi it received from Philip, father of Alexander, who enlarged it, and fortified it as a barrier town against the Thracians. Julius Caesar sent hither a Roman colony, as appears from the following inscription on a medal of this city, COL. IUL. AUG. PHIL. quoted in Vaillant Num. æn. imp. T. I. p. 160, and from Spon Misc. p. 173. See also Pliny, L. IV. c. ii. and the authors in Wolfii Curae, πρωτη της μεριδος της Μακεδονιας πολις, ‘the first city of that district of Macedonia:’ but in what sense the word πρωτη, or ‘first,’ is here to be taken, admits of some doubt. Paulus Æmilius had divided Macedonia into four districts, and that in which Philippi was situated, was called πρωτη, or the first district. But of this district, Philippi does not appear to be entitled, in any sense, to the name of πρωτη πολις. For if πρωτη be taken in the sense of ‘first in respect to place,’ this title belonged rather to Neapolis, which was the frontier town of Macedonia, towards Thrace, as appears from Acts xvii. 1. And, if taken in the sense of ‘first in respect to rank,’ it belonged rather to Amphipolis, which was the capital of this district of Macedonia, as appears from the following passage Livii History Lib. XLV. 29. [a]Capita regionum, ubi concilia fierent, primae regionis Amphipolin, secundae Thessalonicen], &c. But the difficulty is not so great as it appears to be. For, though Amphipolis was made the capital of the first district of [♠]Macedonia in the time of Paulus Æmilius, and therefore entitled to the name of πρωτη, it is not impossible that in a subsequent age, the preference was given to Philippi. Or even if Amphipolis still continued to be the capital of the district, or the seat of the Roman provincial government, yet the title πρωτη may have been claimed by the city of Philippi, though it were not the very first in point of rank. We meet with many instances of this kind, on the medals of the Greek cities, on which we find that more than one city of the same province, assumed the title of πρωτη. St. Luke, therefore, who spent a long time at Philippi, and was well acquainted with the customs of the place, gave this city the title which it claimed, and which, according to the custom of the Greek cities, was inscribed probably on its coins. Hence it appears that the proposal made by Pierce to alter πρωτη της μεριδος to πρωτη μεριδος, is unnecessary.” (Michaelis’s Introduction, Vol. IV. pp. 152–154. Marsh’s translation.)

[♦] “numerons” replaced with “numerous”

[♠] “Macodonia” replaced with “Macedonia”

“‘Where prayer was wont to be made.’ xvi. 13. This proseuchae signifies an oratory, a place appointed for prayer; in heathen countries, they were erected in sequestered retreats, commonly on the banks of rivers (as here) or on the sea-shore. Josephus has preserved the decree of the city of Halicarnassus, permitting the Jews to erect oratories, part of which is in the following terms:——‘We ordain that the Jews, who are willing, both men and women, do observe the Sabbaths and perform sacred rites according to the Jewish law, and build proseuchae by the seaside, according to the custom of their country; and if any man, whether magistrate or private person, give them any hinderance or disturbance, he shall pay a fine to the city.’ (Josephus, Antiquities, lib. xiv, cap. 10.) (Al. 24.)

“Many commentators, viz. Grotius, Drs. Whitby, Doddridge, and Lardner, agree with Josephus, Philo, and Juvenal, that these places of worship were synonymous with synagogues. But Calmet, Prideaux, and Hammond, contend that they were nearly the same, yet there was a real difference between them; the synagogues were within the cities, while the proseuchae were without, in retired spots, particularly in heathen countries, by the river-side, with galleries or the shades of trees for their only shelter. Prideaux considers them to be of greater antiquity than the synagogues, and that they were formed by the Jews in open courts, that those who lived at a distance from Jerusalem might offer their private worship as in the open courts of the Temple or Tabernacle. In the synagogues, Prideaux observes, public worship was performed, and in the proseuchae private prayer was used to be made. It is highly probable that these proseuchae were the same which are called in the Old Testament ‘high places.’ (Hammond on Luke vi. 12, and Acts xvi. 13–16. Calmet’s Dictionary voce proseucha. Prideaux’s Connec, part i. book iv. sub anno 444. vol. I. pp. 387–390. edition 1720.) (Horne’s Introduction.)

“‘And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira.’ verse 14. It is a remarkable fact, that among the ruins of Thyatira, there is an inscription extant with the words ΟΙ ΒΑΦΕΙΣ, the dyers. Wheler’s Journey into Greece, vol. iii. p. 233. Spon, Miscellanea Eruditae Antiquitates, p. 113; from whence we learn that the art and trade of dyeing purple were carried on in that city.” (Horne’s Introduction.)

Here was fine business for the apostle and his companion! “Come over into Macedonia and help us!” Such were the words of deep agonizing entreaty, in which the beseeching Macedonian had, in the night-vision, summoned the great apostle of the Gentiles to this new field of evangelizing labor. Taking that summons for a divine command, he had obeyed it——had crossed the wide Aegean, and sought in this great city of Macedonia, the occasions and the means of “helping” the idolatrous citizens to a knowledge of the truth as it was in Jesus. Week after week they had been inoffensively toiling in the faithful effort to answer this Macedonian cry for help; and what was the result and the reward of all these exertions? For no crime whatever, and for no reason except that they had rescued a gentle and unfortunate spirit from a most degrading thraldom to demoniac agencies, and to men more vile and wicked than demons, they had been mobbed,——abused by a parcel of mercenary scoundrels,——stripped naked in the forum, and whipped there like thieves,——and at last thrown into the common jail among felons, with every additional injury that could be inflicted by their determined persecutors, being fettered so that they could not repose their sore and exhausted bodies. Was not here enough to try the patience of even an apostle? What man would not have burst out in furious vexation against the beguiling vision which had led them away into a foreign land, among those who were disposed to repay their assiduous “help,” by such treatment? Thus might Paul and Silas have expressed their vexation, if they had indeed been misled by a mere human enthusiasm; but they knew Him in whom they had trusted, and were well assured that He would not deceive them. So far from giving way to despondency and silence, they uplifted their voices in praise! Yes, praise to the God and Father of Jesus Christ, that he had accounted them worthy to suffer thus for the glory of his name. “At midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises to God, and the prisoners heard them.” In the dreary darkness,——inclosed between massive walls, and bound in weighty fetters, their spirits rose in prayer,——doubtless for those persecutors whom they came over to “help,” and not for themselves,——since their souls were already so surely stayed on God. To him they raised their voices in praise, for their own peace and joy in believing. Not yielding like those inspired by the mere impulses of human ambition or wild enthusiasm,——they passed the dreary night, not

“In silence or in fear.——