The life and work of St. Paul

THE SECOND VISIT TO COfclNTH. 423
journey. Theasalonica had contributed no less than three to the little band
Jason, his fellow-countryman, if not his kinsman, whose house at St. Paul's
first visit had been assaulted by a raging mob, which, failing to find his guest,
had dragged him before tho Politarchs ; Aristarchus, who had shared with
him the perils of Ephesus, as ho subsequently shared his Toyage and shipwreck ;
aiid Secundus, of whom no particulars are known. Besides these, Beroea had
despatched Sopater, a Jewish convert, who is one of those who sends his
greetings to the Roman Christians.1 In Corinth itself he was again looking
forward to a meeting with some of his dearest friends vith Titus, whose
with Luke the beloved
courage and good sense rendered him so invaluable ;
physician, who was in all probability the delegate of Philippi; with Trophimus,
an Ephesian Greek, the fatal but innocent cause of St. Paul's arrest at Jeru-
salem, destined long afterwards to start with him on his voyage as a prisoner,
but prevented from sharing his last sufferings by an illness with which he
was seized at
a Miletus and with the ;
many Corinthian Christians Justus,
Sosthenes, Erastns, TertiuB, Quartus, Stephanas, Fortunatus, Achaicus, and
lastly Gaius of Corinth, with whom St. Paul intended to stay, and whose open
house and Christian hospitality were highly valued by the Church.
The gathering of so many Christian hearts could not fail to be a bright
point in the cloudy calendar of the Apostle's life. What happy evenings
they must have enjoyed, while the toil of his hands in no way impeded the
outpouring of his soul ! what gay and genial intercourse, such as is possible
in its highest degree only to pure and holy souls! what interchange of
thoughts and hopes on the deepest of all topics
! what hours of mutual con-
solation amid deepening troubles ; what delightful Agapse ; what blessed
partaking of the Holy Sacrament; what outpourings of fervent prayer!
For three months St. Paul stayed at Corinth, and during these three months
he wrote, in all probability, the Epistle to the Galatians, and certainly
the Epistle to the Romans two of the most profound and memorable of all
his writings. 3 And since it was but rarely that he was his own amanuensis
1 Rom. xvi. 21.
2 2 Tim. iv. 20.
The exact sense which St. Paul attributed to ov/ye^t ia uncertain.
* The subtle indications that the Epistle to the Galatians was written nearly at the
same time as the Second Epistle to the Corinthians consist of casual reflections of the
same expression and pre-occupation with the same order of thought. The tone, feeling,
style, and mode of argument show the greatest similarity. Compare, for instance
2 CORINTHIANS. GALATIANS. 2 CORINTHIANS. GALATIANS.
i. 1
. 1.
xi. 2 iv. 17.
xi. 4...
6.
xi. 20 v. 15.
v. 11
xii. 11
.10.
ii. 6.
xii. 20, 21
ii. 7
v. 20, 21.
vi. 1.
v. 15 ... ... ii. 20.
viii. 6 ii. 3.
v. 21 lii. 13.
xiii. 5 vi. 4.
ix. 6 vi.8.
v. 17 vi. 15.
These are but specimens of coincidence in thought and expression, which might be almost
indefinitely multiplied. To dwell on the close resemblance between Galatians and
Romans is needless. It was noticed a thousand years ago. The Epistle to the Galatians
is the rough sketch, that to the Romans the finished picture. The former is an impassioned
controversial personal statement cf the relation of Gentile Christians mainly
to one legal obligation circumcision ; the latter is a calm, systematic, general treatise