The life and work of St. Paul

EPISTLE TO THE ROMAN3, AND THEOLOGY OF ST. PAUL. 453
of the Epistle, its freedom from those outbursts of emotion which we find in
others of his writings, is perfectly consistent with its having originated ia
historic circumstances; in other words, with its having been called forth,
as was every one of the other Epistles, by passing events. St. Paul was on
his way to Jerusalem, and his misgivings as to the results of the visit were
tempered by the hope that the alms which he had collected would smooth the
way for his favourable reception. Borne was the next place of importance
which he intended to visit. How would ho be received by the Christians cf
the great city? "Would they have heard rumours from the Pharisees of
Jerusalem that he was a godless and dangerous apostate, who defied all
authority and abandoned all truth ? It was at any rate probable that, even if
he had not been represented to them in the most unfavourable light, he would
have been spoken of as one who was prepared to abandon not only the peculiarities,
but even the exclusive hopes and promises of Judaism. To a great extent
this was true ; and, if true, how serious, nay, how startling,
quences which such a belief entailed ! They wore views so contrary
were the conse-
to centu-
ries of past conviction, that they at least deserved the most careful statement,
the most impregnable defence, the most ample justification, from the ancient
scriptures.
Such a defence, after deep meditation on the truths which God's
Spirit had revealed to his inmost soul, he was prepared to offer in language
the most conciliatory, the most tender in language which betrayed how little
the unalterable fixity of his conviction had quenched the fire of his patriotism,
or deadened the quickness of his sensibility. 1 He expresses an inextinguishable
love for his countrymen, and a deep sense of their glorious privileges, at
the very moment that he is explaining why those countrymen have been temporarily
rejected, and showing that those privileges have been inexorably annulled.
2 He declares his readiness to be even " anathema from Christ " for
the sake of Israel, in the very verses in which he is showing, to the horrified
indignation of his Jewish readers, that not the physical, but the spiritual seed
of Abraham, are alone the true Israel of God. 3
1 "We see," g^ys Dr. Davidson,-" a constant conflict between his convictions and feelings
; the former too
deep
to be changed, the latter too strong to be repressed, too ardent
to be quenched by opposition of the persons he loved" (Introdn, i. 127).
2 We can judge what the Jewish estimate of these privileges was by such passages of
the Talmud as Yebhamoth, f. 47, 2 ; supra, p. 227.
3 There can be no more striking contrast to the whole argument of the Epistle to the
Romans than the following very remarkable passage in the Abhdda, Zara . (f 3, col. 1
3),
which will serve to show to what infinite heights above the ordinary Rabbinism of his
nation St. Paul had soared. I appeal to any candid and learned Jew which is noblest,
truest, divinest, manliest the tone and the reasoning of the Epistle to the Romans, or
the bigotry and frivolity of the following passage :
"
In the days of the Messiah, the Holy One, blessed be He, holding the roll of the
Law in His bosom, will call upon those who have studied it to come forward and receive
their reward. Instantly the idolatrous nations will appear in a body (Isa. xliii. 9), but
will be told to present themselves separately with their Scribes at the-j head, that they
may understand the answers severally addressed to them. The Romans, as the most
' '
renowned of all, will enter first. What has been your occupation ? will be demanded
of them. They will point to their baths and forums, and the gold and silver with which
they enriched the world, adding, '
All this we have done that Israel may have leisure for