third year after his conversion; (ix. 30.) and ten years afterwards we find him still at Tarsus, when Barnabas went thither and brought him to Antioch. During this period the gospel was making its way in many parts of the three quarters of the world, though as yet none of the apostles had travelled beyond Judæa: and when we come to consider the state of philosophy at that time, and the fashion which prevailed of catching at any thing new, and of uniting discordant elements into fanciful systems, we shall not be surprised to find the doctrines of the gospel disguised and altered; and that according to the language of that age many new heresies were formed. The gospel in those days and in those countries may be compared to small vessels drifting without a pilot, where conflicting currents altered their course, and rocks and shoals awaited them on every side. In the midst of such dangers we cannot wonder that many were carried about with every wind of doctrine, (Eph. iv. 14.) and that some made shipwreck of their faith. (1 Tim. i. 19.) The example of Rome, the seat of empire and of science, may serve to illustrate what has here been said. We read, that among the multitudes assembled at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, there were strangers of Rome, both Jews and proselytes, (Acts ii. 10.) i. e. descendants of Abraham, who lived at Rome, and inhabitants of Rome, who were Jewish proselytes. There can be no doubt, that all these men would carry back with them a report of what had happened at Jerusalem: and some of them would carry also the doctrines which they had embraced. From this time we have scarcely any mention of Rome in the Acts of the Apostles, till St. Paul arrived there as a prisoner twenty-five years after our Lord's ascension. It seems almost demonstrable, that no apostle had preceded him in a visit to that city: and it is equally plain, that Christianity had made great progress there long before his arrival: we cannot therefore wonder, when the masters of the field were so long absent, if many tares grew up together with the wheat. We know what was the case at Corinth, where the great apostle himself planted the church, (1 Cor. iii. 6, 10. iv. 15.) and at his first visit continued a year and six months teaching the word of God among them: (Acts xviii. 11.) and yet in the fourth year This may be inferred from Romans i. 11. where St. Paul says, For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift. The xapioμara πveVμarikà seem to have belonged exclusively to the apostles: and from this passage we learn, that the Romans had not as yet received them. But we may prove the point more conclusively from Rom. xv. 18-22. where St. Paul seems evidently to say, that at that time at least he should not have built upon another man's foundation, if he had preached at Rome. This Epistle was written three years before his voyage to that city: but there is no evidence, that any other apostle went thither in the interval. d I have supposed St. Paul to have gone to Rome A. D. 56. Priscilla and Aquila joined him at Corinth ten years before: and if they were already Christians, (which is not certain,) it is probable that it was against the Christians, more than against the Jews, that the decree of Claudius was directed. (Acts xviii. 2.) St. Paul wrote his Epistle to the Romans A. D. 53. and at that time their faith was spoken of throughout the whole world, (i. 8.) and their obedience was come abroad unto all men, (xvi. 19.) After this testimony, it is not necessary to refer to the salutations at the end of the Epistle, which shew how numerous the Christians were at that time in Rome. We may remember also, that he found some brethren at Puteoli, when he landed there: (Acts xxviii. 13, 14.) and the open manner, in which he was received by the Christians at Rome, shews that at that time at least the gospel met with little opposition. after he left them, (having perhaps visited them again during the interval,) he heard that there were divisions and contentions among them; (1 Cor. i. 10, 11.) and that some said, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ. (12.) We know also that St. Paul was the first apostle who visited Galatia; (i. 6. iv. 19.) and he himself testifies, that they received him as an angel of God: (iv. 14.) and yet within four years of his second visit he was obliged to write and reprove them for being removed from him that called them into the grace of Christ unto another gospel. (i. 6.) I do not mean that St. Paul was the first person who introduced Christianity in Galatia or at Corinth : the observations, which I have made, would prepare us for the contrary, and there is evidence that he found the seeds of the gospel already sown: but if they had the benefit of his personal presence among them, being taught by him as the truth is in Jesus, (Eph. iv. 21.) and yet listened to false teachers who corrupted the word, how much more must this have been the case, in places which the apostle did not visit so soon, and where, as in Rome, the gospel made its way for five and twenty years, with nothing but the zeal of individuals to spread it, and subject to all the fancies which those individuals might adopt? It seems plain from St. Paul's own words, that some years before he went to Rome, he had heard of false doctrines being introduced among them, or he would not have said so earnestly to them at the end of his Epistle, Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences, contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned, and avoid them: (xvi. 17.) and again, I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil. (19.) It is my intention to inquire into what St. Paul here calls the divisions and offences which endangered the early church. The inquiry will in some respects be painful, as every thing must be, which speaks of division where union should prevail, and which shews how easily the unlearned and the unstable may corrupt the holiest truths. It is indeed painful to reflect how short was the duration of that peaceful and heavenly calm, when the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and one soul. (Acts iv. 32.) It seemed, as if the words of the heavenly host were then beginning to be accomplished, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. (Luke ii. 14.) But the vision of the Angels was scarcely more transient than those peaceful days. The following chapter begins with recording the death of two disciples for avarice and falsehood: and the next with the murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews. Diversity of doctrine soon followed; and from those days to the present, as St. Paul foretold in the text, men have arisen, speaking perverse things, to draw disciples after them. It is my intention to confine myself to the apostolic times; to those times, when it pleased God to teach mankind by his special messengers, what they are to practise and what they are to believe: but those times will also furnish us with an awful warning, as to what we are to fear and what we are to avoid: they will teach us to mistrust the wisdom of man, when it is not enlightened and sanctified from above: they will |