2. Arriving at Rome (Acts 28. 16) he took up his work as nearly as possible according to his regular method. 1.) He found a home and employment (Acts 28. 16). 2.) As he could not go to the synagogue he sent for the chief Jews and preached the gospel to them (Acts 28. 17-24). 3.) He then turned to the Gentiles (Acts 28. 28-31). 4.) Some results of his ministry in Rome (Phil 1. 12-18).
3. The Epistles of Paul's Imprisonment at Rome. The order of these is uncertain, but they belong rather to the close of the period than to its opening.
1.) Ephesians; called by S. T. Coleridge "the divinest composition of man;" written A. D. 62; its subject, "The mystical union of Christ and his church."
2.) Philippians; the most affectionate of all Paul's letters; written A. D. 62; its subject "The character of Christ's followers."
3.) Colossians; written to a church that Paul had never seen; about A. D. 62; subject, "Christ the Head of the Church."
4.) Philemon: a personal letter to a friend at Colossæ concerning a runaway slave Onesimus, whom Paul sent back, "no longer a slave, but a brother beloved."
V. Paul's Later Years. The record is uncertain, and almost unknown. It is probable, though not certain, that Paul was set free about 63 A. D.
1. His years of liberty. 63 to 67 A. D. Shall we speak of a fifth journey? We find hints or expectations of his being at Colossæ (Philem. 22); Miletus (2 Tim. 4. 13); Nicopolis, north of Greece, on the Adriatic Sea (Titus 3. 12). Tradition states that at this place he was arrested, and sent from it a second time to Rome.
2. His last epistles. It is not certain that all the "pastoral epistles" were written by Paul. 1.) They are unlike his other writings in their style. 2.) His doctrinal views are not prominent in them. Yet on the whole, they show a reasonable probability of Paul's authorship.
1.) First Timothy was written during the period of liberty, between 63 and 66 A. D., as a book of counsels to a minister, Timothy, in charge of the church at Ephesus.