The second missionary journey was immediately preceded by the Apostolic Conference at Jerusalem on the question of the admission of the Gentile converts without the rite of circumcision (Ac 15). The interval between the Conference, from whicli St. Paul proceeded immediately to Antioch, and the beginning of the journey, was very brief and spent at Antioch. The Conference itself would thus appear to have been held in 49-50.
The chronology of the years between the con- version of the Apostle and the Conference at Jeru- salem may now be approached from another point of view. The item furnished by the allusion to the
*The researches of W. M. Ramsay and A. Haniack have contributed much toward this result (of. Ramsa.y, St. Paul, 1895, lAike the Physician, 190S ; Harnack, Luke the Physician, 1907, The Acts of the Apostles, 1909, The Dale of the Acts and of the Synoptic Gospels, 1911).
t Although in Ac 193 the period of his active work in the synagogue is said to be three months and in Ac 1910 his teach- ing in the school of Tyrannus two years, the further detail in Ac 1922 (' for a season ') would tend to confirm the conclusion reached here that the 'three years ' of Ac 20^1, though possibly reckoned in the Hebrew sense of ' parts of three,' were in real- ity more nearly three entire years than a whole year with mere fragments of the year preceding and the year following.
' ethnarch of Aretas ' at Damascus (2 Co 11*^; cf. above) lixes as the latest limit for the conversion of St. Paul the year 36, but admits of several years' latitude for the earlier limit. In determin- ing this earlier limit much depends on the identi- fication of the journey to Jerusalem alluded to in Gal 2^^-. Two questions must be answered here :
(1) When did the 14 years begin — at the conversion or after the three years mentioned in Gal 1"?
(2) Are these full years in each case, or are they reckoned after the Hebrew plan, with parts of years at the beginning and end counted in the number as separate years? The answers to these questions yield respectively longer or shorter periods between the conversion and second visit of the Apostle to Jerusalem. The longest period ad- missible is 17 years ; the shortest, 12. The smaller of these figures is excluded almost certainly by the datum found in connexion with the control of Damascus by Aretas, which does not admit of a later date for the conversion than 36. The longer period necessitates the very early date of 32 or 33 for the conversion. This is favoured by W. M. Ramsay, who fixes the conversion in 33. But there are intermediate possibilities. The interval may have been 13, 14, or 15 years ; which would bring the conversion in any one of the years 34-36, with the probability in favour of the earlier dates.
The Conference at Jerusalem arose out of the conditions produced by St. Paul's preaching during the first missionary journej'. This is shown by the place given it by St. Luke, and also by the fact that it was during this journey that the preaching of the gospel met with large success among the Gentiles, and that a definite movement to preach to the Gentiles independently of the Jews was inaugurated (Ac 13^^ 14-''). From these considerations it would be natural to draw the inference that no very long interval separates the end of the journey from the Conference. In spite, therefore, of ' the long time ' alluded to in Ac 14^^, it is safe to fix the limits of the first missionary journey at 47-48.
Between the date of the conversion of St. Paul and the beginning of the first missionary journey it is possible to identify the date of one more in- cident, viz. the visit to Jerusalem, Avith the aid in relief of the famine. Computations independent of the life of St. Paul lead to the placing of this date in the year 45-46 (cf. IV. 1). For reasons given in rehearsing these computations it is im- possible to identify this visit with that made in Gal 2'. This must be regarded as the prolonged visit for purposes of conference and thorough in- terchange of views with the leaders of the Jeru- salem church of which the author of Acts gives an account in ch. 15. The chronology of the life and work of St. Paul yielded by the above items may therefore be put as follows :
A.D.
Conversion . . . 34-35
Visit to Jerusalem with aid tor famine-stricken church .... 45-16
First missionary Jour- ney .... 47-48
Conference at Jerusa- lem ... . 49-50
Second missionary jour- ney .... 61-54
Third missionary Jour- ney .... 54-57
VII. Apostolic Church Dates.—!. Pente- cost.— It is manifestly the intention of the author of Acts to begin his narrative A\'ith the significant event of Pentecost. Just as he had closed his Gospel with the account of the Resurrection of the crucified Jesus, he opens his second treatise with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. For the Apostolic Age, Pentecost becomes the epoch-
A.D.
Arrest at Jerusalem • 58
Imprisonment at Cjb- sarea . . . 58-60
Removal to Rome . 60
Imprisonment at Rome 60-62
Release . . .62