THE CHAPTER I HE one great dominating figure in the Christian religion overshadowing every other is Saul of Tarsus, better known as Saint Paul. To this man's indomitable will and marvelous capacity for organization, Christianity owes its existence. It was Saul who put new life into the fast waning movement led by Peter and James, and who, by defining the basic principles of the new creed and the form of worship, transformed a simple ideal into a world religion. While the apostles in Jerusalem were content to argue and discuss with their Jewish brethren Jesus' claim to the Messiahship, offering as proof the miracles he performed, Paul, ignoring all physical manifestations, portrayed a spiritual Redeemer according to his own conception. He fashioned a Christ of his own and a system of belief of his own. He never alluded to Mary, Mother of Jesus, or expressed his belief in a divine birth. His idea was to find one common ground for all people. "So we being many are one body in Christ and everyone members of one another."1 Though ungainly in appearance, being short of stature with crooked legs, bushy eyebrows and long nose, he nevertheless could sway a crowd by the magic power of speech and his keen quick wit. "Romans, XII:5, 10; Galatians, III:28. Saul was born of Jewish parents in the Greco-Syrian city of Tarsus, about the year ten (Christian era).2 At that period of history Tarsus was the leading city in the Roman Province of Cilicia in Asia Minor. It was known as the seat of great learning and philosophy, rivaling such centers of influence as Athens and Alexandria. According to the historian Strabo, its fame as a city of culture even exceeded that of the metropolitan cities of Macedonia. Following the destruction of Solomon's temple, many of the inhabitants fled from Jerusalem and sought refuge and shelter among their Pagan neighbors. As a result of this exodus, Tarsus, as well as other cities of Asia, counted among its citizens many Jews who, while remaining loyal to the faith of their fathers, were not altogether impervious to Gentile influence. Many of them became Hellenized in so far that they used the Greek language in their daily intercourse as well as in their religious services, and otherwise tacitly adopted many of the manners and customs of their Pagan neighbors. They were known among their Aramaic-speaking brethren as "Hellenists," had their own synagogue in Jerusalem, where services were conducted in the Greek language for their benefit. Under these conditions, and subjected to these Pagan influences, Saul passed his boyhood days. Little is known of his family, except the meager facts gleaned from Saul himself. His father, a citizen of Rome, and a man of wealth and standing in the community, was a strict observer of the Jewish laws and customs. 2Acts, XXII:2. Though surrounded by devotees of Epicurus and Zeno, he nevertheless remained a devoted disciple of the Pharisee cult. This was confirmed by Saul on an occasion when, accused of being an Apostate, he replied: "Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they of the seed of Abraham? So am I, a Pharisee and the son of a Pharisee, circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel and of the tribe of Benjamin." In accordance with an unwritten law, every Jewish boy, no matter how high his social station, was expected to learn a trade and to this custom Saul was no exception. He was apprenticed to a manufacturer of tents, in which craft he soon became a master. As the son of wealthy parents, however, he was not expected to earn his livelihood by his handiwork. Desirous that his son should become learned in the law, an ambition shared by every pious Jew, and at the same time remove from him the baleful influence of Paganism, his father sent Saul to Jerusalem. There at the feet of the famous Gamaliel, grandson of Hillel, Saul was to become an expounder of Jewish lore. Romans, XI:1. |