Lives of the apostles of Jesus Christ

by David Francis Bacon

“Undergirding the ship.’ verse 17. We learn from various passages in the Greek and Roman writers, that the ancients had recourse to this expedient, in order to save the ship from imminent danger; and this method has been used in modern times. The process of undergirding a ship is thus performed:——a stout cable is slipped under the vessel at the prow, which can be conducted to any part of the ship’s keel, and then fasten the two ends on the deck, to keep the planks from starting. An instance of this kind is mentioned in ‘Lord Anson’s Voyage round the World.’ Speaking of a Spanish man-of-war in a storm, the writer says, ‘They were obliged to throw overboard all their upper-deck guns, and take six turns of the cable round the ship, to prevent her opening.’ (p. 24, 4to. edition.) Bp. Pearce and Dr. Clarke, on Acts xxvii. 17. Two instances of undergirding the ship are noticed in the ‘Chevalier de Johnstone’s Memoirs of the Rebellion in 1745–6, London, 1822, 8vo. pp. 421, 454.” (Williams’s notes on Pearson, p. 85.)

They now found that they had struck on the island of Melita, (now Malta,) which lies just south of Sicily, in the direct track in which the eastern gale must have blown them. The uncivilized inhabitants of this desolate spot received the shipwrecked voyagers with the kindest attention, and very considerately kindled a fire, to warm and dry them, after their long soaking in cold water. The dripping apostle took hold with the rest to make the fire blaze up, and gathered a bundle of dry sticks, for the purpose; but with them he unconsciously gathered a viper, which was sheltering itself among them from the cold, and roused by the heat of the fire, now crept out upon his hand. He, of course, as any other man would, gave a jerk, and shook it off, as soon as he saw it,——a very natural occurrence; but the superstitious barbarians thought this a perfect miracle, as they had before foolishly considered it a token of divine wrath; and having looked on him as an object of horror, and a wicked criminal, they now, with equal sense, adored him as a God.

Another incident of more truly miraculous character, occurred to Paul soon after, in the part of the island on which they were wrecked, which had the effect of gaining him a much more solid fame. The father of Publius, the Roman officer who governed the island, as the deputy of the praetor of Sicily, was at that time very sick of the dysentery; and Paul, going to see him, laid his hands on him and prayed,——thus effecting a complete recovery. This being known, other diseased persons were presented as the subjects of Paul’s miraculous powers, and the same cures following his words, he with his associates soon became the objects of a far more rational reverence than had been excited by the deliverance from the viper. The reverence too, was extended beyond mere empty honor. The shipwrecked apostolic company having lost all their baggage and provisions, were abundantly provided with everything that they needed, by the grateful contributions of the islanders;——and when, after a stay of three months, Paul and his companions departed, they were loaded with things necessary for the voyage.

PUTEOLI. Acts xxviii. 13, 14.

Sailing, on the return of spring, in another Alexandrine vessel, of the same very common name borne by that in which they were shipwrecked, they came next to Syracuse, on the east side of the island of Sicily, and after a stay of three days, turned through the Sicilian strait to Rhegium, on the main-land directly opposite the island. There Paul first saw the soil of Italy, but did not leave the vessel for his land journey, till they came, with a fresh south wind, to Puteoli, a port in the bay of Naples. Here they found Christians, who invited them to rest among them for a week; after which they journeyed along the coast, on the noble road of Pozzuoli and Baiae, for about a hundred miles, to Appius’s Forum, a village about eighteen miles from Rome. At this place, they were met by a number of brethren from the church of Rome; and having journeyed along the Appian way, to the Three Taverns,——a little stopping place a few miles from the city,——they were received by still another deputation of Roman Christians, come out to greet the great apostle, whose name had long been known among them, and whose counsels and revelations they had already enjoyed by his writings. This noble testimony of the esteem in which they held him, was a most joyful assurance to Paul, that, even on this foreign shore, a stranger and a prisoner, he had many near and dear friends; and his noble spirit, before probably depressed and melancholy, in the dark prospect of his approach to the awful seat of that remorseless imperial power that was to decide his doom, now rose to feelings of exultation and gratitude. Entering the vast imperial city, the prisoners were remanded by the centurion to the custody of Burrhus, the noble and influential praefect of the praetorian guard, who was, ex-officio, the keeper of all prisoners of state, brought from the provinces to Rome. Burrhus however, was as kind and accommodating to Paul as Julius had been, and allowed him to live by himself in a private house, with only a soldier as an attendant guard.

After three days, Paul invited to his lodgings the chief men of the Jewish faith, in Rome, and made known to them the circumstances under which he had been sent thither, and his present relations to the heads of their religion in Jerusalem. In reply, they merely stated that they had received no formal communications respecting him, from Jerusalem, nor had those of their brethren who had arrived from Judea spoken ill of him. They expressed also a great desire to hear from him the peculiar doctrine, for entertaining which he had been thus denounced, of which they professed to know nothing, but that there was a universal prejudice against it. A day was accordingly appointed for a full conference on these very important subjects,——and at the set time, Paul, with no small willingness, discoursed at great length on his views of the accomplishment of all the ancient prophecies respecting the Messiah, in the life and death of Jesus of Nazareth. His hearers were very much divided in opinion about these points, after his discourse was over,——some believing and some disbelieving. Leaving them to meditate on what he had said, Paul dismissed them with a warning quotation from Isaiah, against their prejudices, and sternly reminded them, that though they did reject the truth, the waiting Gentiles were prepared to embrace it, and should receive the word of God immediately. They then left him, and made his words a subject of much discussion among themselves; but the results are unrecorded. Paul having hired a house in Rome, made that city the scene of his active labors for two whole years, receiving all that called to inquire into religious truth, and proclaiming the doctrines of Christianity with the most unhesitating boldness and freedom; and no man in Rome could molest him in making known his belief to as many as chose to hear him; for it was not till many years after, that the Christians were denounced and persecuted by Nero.

HIS EPISTLES WRITTEN FROM ROME.

With these facts the noble narrative of Luke ceases entirely, and henceforth no means are left of ascertaining the events of Paul’s life, except in those incidental allusions which his subsequent writings make to his circumstances. Those epistles which are certainly known and universally agreed to have been written from Rome during this imprisonment, are those to the Philippians, the Ephesians, the Colossians, and to Philemon. There are passages in all these which imply that he was then near the close of his imprisonment, for he speaks with great confidence of being able to visit them shortly, and very particularly requests preparation to be made for his accommodation on his arrival.

There is good reason to think that the epistles to the Ephesians, to the Colossians, and to Philemon, were written about the same time and were sent together. This appears from the fact, that Tychicus is spoken of in both the two former, as sent by the apostle, to make known to them all his circumstances more fully, and is also implied as the bearer of both, while Onesimus, the bearer of the latter, is also mentioned in the epistle to the Colossians as accompanying Tychicus.