The life and work of St. Paul

262 THE LIFE AND WOKE OF ST. TATTL.
l involved ; tho grace of the Holy Spirit descended like a flame into his heart,*
and the gentle boy of Lystra was henceforth the consecrated companion of
toils and wanderings, of which the issue was the destined conversion of the
world.
The mission opened with every circumstance of encouragement. The
threefold cord of this ministry was not quickly broken. At each city which
they visited they announced the decisions arrived at by the Apostles and
elders at Jerusalem, 3 and the Churches were strengthened in the faith, and
grew in number daily.
In this way they traversed " the Phrygian and Galatian district." * There
has been much speculation as to the towns of Phrygia at which they rested,
but in the absolute silence of St. Luke, and in the extreme looseness of the
term " Phrygian," we cannot be sure tliat St. Paul preached in a single town
of the region which is usually included under that term. That he did not
found any church seems clear from the absence of allusion to any Phrygian
community in the Now Testament. The coujecturo that he travelled on this
occasion to the far distant Colosste is most improbable, even if it be not ex-
cluded by the obvious inference from his own language. 6
All that we can
reasonably suppose is that after leaving Iconium he proceeded to Antioch in
Pisidia since there could be no reason why he should neglect to confirm the
Church which he had founded there and then crossed the ridge of the
Paroreia to Philomelium, from which it would have been possible for him
either to take the main road to the great Phrygian town of Synnada, and
then turn north-eastwards to Pessinus, or else to enter Galatia by a shorter
and less frequented route which did not run through any Phrygian town of
the slightest importance. It does not seem to have been any part of St. Paul's
plan to evangelise Phrygia. Perhaps he may have originally intended to make
his way by the road through Apamea, to Colossae and Laodicea, and to go
down the valley of the Maeandor to Ephesus. But if so, this intention was
hindered by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 8 Such providential hindrances
to a course which seemed so obvious may well have been mysterious to St.
Paul ; but they appear less so to us when, viewing them in tho light of history,
* 1 Tim. L 18, ii/a crrpaTevi} ft> ourai? TIJI' KO.)C>I%> trrparfiav cf. IV. 14 vi. 12.
', ',
3 "
2 Tim. i. 6, ava^u-rrupftv (= to fan into fresh flame," xvpt'u? roii? avOpajctif 4>u