The life and work of St. Paul

162 THE LIFE AND WORK OF ST. PATTL.
by exhorting the believers to cleave to the Lord with purpose of heart.
His ministry won over converts in still lai'ger numbers, for, as Luke adds
"
with emphatic commendation, he was a good man, and full of the Holy
Ghost and faith."
The work multiplied in his hands, and needed so much wisdom, knowledge,
and energy, that he soon felt the need of a colleague. Doubtless, had he
desired it, he could have secured the co-operation of one of the Apostles, or of
their trusted adherents. But Barnabas instinctively perceived that a fresher
point of view, a clearer insight, a wider culture, a more complete immunity
from prejudices were needed for so large and delicate a task. Himself a
Grecian, and now called upon to minister not only to Grecians but to Greeks,
he longed for the aid of one who would maintain the cause of truth and
liberality with superior ability and more unflinching conviction. There was
but one man who in any degree met his requirements it was the delegate of
the Sanhedrin, the zealot of the Pharisees, the once persecuting Saul of Tarsus.
Since his escape from Jerusalem, Saul had been more or less unnoticed by the
leading Apostles. We lose sight of him at Csesarea, apparently starting on his
way to Tarsus, and all that Barnabas now know about him was that he was
living quietly at home, waiting the Lord's call. Accordingly ho set out, to
seek for him, and the turn of expression seems to imply that it was not with-
out difficulty that he found him. Paul readily accepted the invitation to
leave his seclusion, and join his friend in this new work in the great capital of
Syria.
To his
Thus, twice over, did Barnabas save Saul for the work of Christianity.
self-effacing nobleness is due the honour of recognising, before they
had yet been revealed to others, the fiery vigour, the indomitable energy, the
splendid courage, the illuminated and illuminating intellect, which were
destined to spend themselves in the high endeavour to ennoble and evangelise
the world.
No place could have been more suitable than Antioch for the initial stage
of such a ministry. The queen of the East, the third metropolis of the world,
the residence of the imperial Legate of Syria, this vast city of perhaps 500,000
souls must not be judged of by the diminished, shrunken, and earthquake-
shattered AntaMeh of to-day. 1
It was no mere Oriental town, with low flat
roofs and dingy narrow streets, but a Greek capital enriched and enlarged by
Roman munificence. It is situated at the point of junction between the chains
of Lebanon and Taurus. Its natural position on the northern slope of Mount
Silpius, with a navigable river, the broad, historic Orontes, flowing at its feet,
was at once commanding and beautiful. The windings of the river enriched
the whole well-wooded plain, and as the city was but sixteen miles from the
shore, the sea-breezes gave it health and coolness. These natural advantages
had been largely increased by the lavish genius of ancient art. Built by the
SeleucidsB 2 as the royal residence of their dynasty, its wide circuit of many
miles was surrounded by walls of astonishing height and thickness, which had
1 It IB now a fifth-rate Turkish town of 6,000 inhabitants. (Porter's Syria, p. 668.)
8 B.O. 301, Apr, 23,