"Granny's Chapters" (on scriptural subjects) / The New Testament, with a Sketch of the Subsequent History of the Jews.

by Lady Mary Ross

However that might be, "Gallio cared for none of those things": though, as governor and judge of a province, he was neglecting his duty by allowing any man to be treated in such a way. Soon after this, St. Paul left Corinth for a time.

When St. Paul left Corinth, soon after the affair with Gallio, it would seem that he went to the island of Crete, or Candia, and there left one of his companions, called Titus, to direct the affairs of the Christian Church in that country. We know nothing of Titus, except that his parents were Gentiles, and that he was converted to Christianity by St. Paul, who would not allow him to be circumcised, lest it should be thought a proof of the necessity of circumcision, which the Church had declared to be unnecessary for those heathens who embraced the Gospel. Titus was highly esteemed by St. Paul, who speaks of him as his "partner" and "fellow helper"; showing that he greatly helped him in his work.

We do not exactly know where St. Paul went to from Crete: there is reason to believe that in trying to return to Corinth he encountered a storm, and was driven by the wind to the western coast of Greece, and there shipwrecked, and forced to take refuge in the city of Nicopolis. Here the Apostle determined to spend the winter, that he might preach the Gospel to the inhabitants of Illyricum—a country to the north, forming the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. From Nicopolis he appears to have written the Epistle to Titus, giving him directions as to his own conduct, and telling him what sort of men he must choose to help him in teaching the people of Crete. St. Paul also told Titus to be very careful to teach all who became Christians, that they must try to be good, and lead holy lives, following in all things the example of the Lord Jesus Christ.

From Nicopolis, in due time, St. Paul went back to Corinth. In the Book of Acts we read nothing of this little journey of St. Paul's. St. Luke does not of course tell us everything that the Apostle did, and he speaks as if he had remained at Corinth all the time. Speaking of St. Paul's final departure from Corinth, St. Luke says, "And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila; having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow." This vow must either have been a vow of Nazaritism, already mentioned (vol. ii. p. 108), which St. Paul had on some occasion taken in order to please the Jews; or some other vow, which he had made in acknowledgment of the goodness and mercy of God. Cenchrea was a small sea-port, not far from Corinth; and from thence St. Paul and his company, with Aquila and Priscilla, sailed to Syria; and then proceeded to Ephesus, a large town in Lydia. Ephesus was particularly celebrated for its beautiful and magnificent temple, erected in honour of the heathen goddess Diana, and set apart for her worship. This Diana, one of the pretended deities of the heathen, was supposed to rule all things belonging to the chase—to be the goddess of hunting. The moon was looked upon as a sign, or symbol, of Diana; and under this form she was also worshipped.

St. Paul, as usual, preached in the synagogue at Ephesus, and "reasoned with the Jews," who seem to have listened willingly, and even wished him to stay on. But "when they desired him to tarry longer time with them, he consented not; but bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast" (of the Passover) "that cometh, in Jerusalem: but I will return again unto you, if God will. And he sailed from Ephesus. And when he had landed at Cæsarea, and gone up, and saluted the church" at Jerusalem, and kept the Passover, "he went down to Antioch," a.d. 54; thus ending his Second Apostolic Journey, which had occupied about four years.

St. Luke has mentioned the places at which St. Paul made any long stay during this time; but as we have already seen, he does not notice all his short visits to other places. In the same way, St. Luke tells us all the most remarkable events that took place during these four years; but of course he cannot tell us everything that the Apostle did or said: just as the Gospels, though they tell us all things needful for us to know, do not relate every word that Jesus said, or every miracle that He worked; because, as St. John remarks, "if they should be written every one of them, the world itself could not contain the books that should be written."

After St. Paul had spent some time at Antioch, he began his Third Apostolic Journey: "he departed, and went over all the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples,"—that is, he went again to all those places where he had before established Churches, or companies of believers, to see how they were going on, and to encourage them to persevere in their endeavours to serve the Lord faithfully. But in the mean time the Church at Ephesus was not left without a teacher; for Aquila and Priscilla remained there, and were no doubt of great use in reminding others of all that St. Paul had taught them: and of one good work done by them St. Luke gives us an account; for we read, "And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus. This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John."

Alexandria was a famous city, built by Alexander the Great, in the north of Egypt, and celebrated for the many learned men who lived in it. Apollos had there studied the Scriptures of the Old Testament, and being "eloquent," able to speak well, he taught them diligently in Ephesus. But he seems to have heard only of the Baptism of John, and to have known only that men were to receive the baptism of repentance, of which John spake, to prepare them for believing in the Messiah, of Whom John was the messenger, or forerunner. But Apollos does not seem to have understood that the Messiah had come, or to have known of His promise, to give the Holy Spirit to those who would believe in Him and be baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Apollos was fervent in spirit, full of zeal; and so, as far as he knew, he taught diligently. "And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue." When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, "they took him unto them," probably to reside in their house, "and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly,"—that is, they explained all that he was ignorant of; they spake to him of Jesus and of His Baptism, and showed him that the sins of all who believed, and were baptized, would be forgiven. Apollos listened gladly to the words of Aquila and Priscilla, and then wished to go into Greece, to teach others the things he had learnt. And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the members of the Church at Ephesus wrote to those of Corinth, to receive him into their company.

At Corinth, Apollos, by his earnestness and faith, "helped them much which had believed through grace": nor was this all, "for he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publicly, shewing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ."