Paul "spent some time" at Antioch, and during this stay, as we are inclined to believe, his collision with Peter (Gal. ii, 11-14), of which we have spoken above, took place. When he left Antioch, he "went over all the country of Galatia and Phni'gia in order, strengthening all tlie disciples," and giving directions concerning the collection for the saints (1 Cor. xvi, 1). A.D. 51. It is proliable that the J'Jjnstle to the Galatians was written soon after this visit. See Ga- latians, Epistle to. When he was with them he had found the Christian communities infested by Judaizing teachers. He had "told them the truth" (Gal. iv, 16), he had warned them against the deadly tendencies of Jewish exclusiveness, and had reaffirm- ed the simple Gospel, concerning Jesus Christ the Son of God, which he had preached to them on his first visit {to irpoTipov, Gal. iv, 13). But after he left them the Judaizing doctrine raised its head again. The onh' course left to its advocates was to assail openly the authority of Paul ; and this they did. They represented him as having derived his commis- sion from tlie older apostles, and as therefore acting disloyally if he opposed the views ascribed to Peter and James. The fickle minds of the Galatian Chris- tians were influenced by these hardy assertions ; and the apostle heard, when he had come down to Ephesus, that his work in Galatia was nearly undone, and his converts were partially seduced from the true faith in Christ. He therefore wrote the Epistle to remon- strate with them— an Epistle full of indignation, of
PAUL
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Paul's Third Missionary Route.
warning, of direct and impassioned teaching. He re- calls to their minds the Gospel which he had preached among them, and asserts in solemn and even awful language its absolute truth (i, 8, 9). He declai'es that he had received it directly from Jesus Christ tlie Lord, and that his position" towards the other apostles had always been that, not of a pupil, but of an independent fellow-laborer. He sets before them Jesus the Cruci- fied, the Son of God, as the fulfilment of the promise made to the fathers, and as the pledge and giver of freedom to men. He declares that in him, and by the power of the Spirit of sonship sent down through him, men have inherited the riglits of adult sons of God ; that the condition represented by the law was the in- ferior and preparatory stage of boyhood. He then, most earnestly and tenderly, impresses upon the Ga- latians the responsibilities of their fellowship with Christ the Crucified, urging them to fruitfulness in all the graces of their spiritual calling, and especially to brotherly consideration and unity.
This Letter was, in all probability, sent from Ephe- sus. This was the goal of the apostle's journeyings through Asia Minor. He came down upon Ephesus from the upper districts (ra avioTipiKci fUpt]) of I'hrygia. What Antioch was for " the region of Syria and Cilicia," what Corinth was for Greece, what Rome was, we maj' add, for Itah' and the West — that Ephesus was for the important province called Asia. Indeed, with refer- ence to the spread of the Church Catholic, Ephesus occupied the central position of all. This was the meeting -place of Jew, of Greek, of Roman, and of Oriental. Accordingly the apostle of the Gentiles was to stay a long time here, that he might found a strong Church, which should be a kind of Mother- Church to Christian communities in the neighboring cities of Asia. See Ephesus.
A new element in the preparation of the world for the kingdom of Christ presents itself at the beginning of the apostle's work at Ephesus. He finds there cer- tain disciples {rivthj f-ia^ijidc) — about twelve in num- ber— of whom he is led to inquire, "Did ye receive the Hoh' Ghost when ye believed ? Thej' answered, No, we did not even hear of there being a Holj' Ghost. Unto what then, asked Paul, M'ere ye baptized ? And the}' said. Unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, Jehu baptized with the l)aptism of repentance, saj'ing to the people that they should believe on him who was com- ing after him, that is, on Jesus. Hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus, and when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holj' Ghost came upon them, and they began to speak with tongues and to prophesy" (Acts xix, 1-7). — It is ob- vious to compare this incident with the apostolic act of Peter and John in Samaria, and to see in it an as- sertion of the full apostolic dignity of Paul. But be- sides this bearing of it, we see in it indications which suggest more than the}' distinctly express, as to the spiritual movements of that age. These twelve dis- ciples are mentioned immediately after Apollos, who also had been at Ephesus just before Paul's arrival, and who had taught diligently concerning Jesus (^rd Trepi Tov 'lijaov), knowing only the baptism of John. But Apollos was of Alexandria, trained in the intelli- gent and inquiring study of the Hebrew Scriptures, which had been fostered by the Greek culture of that capital. We are led to suppose therefore that a knowl- edge of the baptism of John and of the ministry of Jesus had spread widely, and had been received with favor by some of those who knew the Scriptures most thoroughly, before the message concerning the exal- tation of Jesus and the descent of the Holy Ghost had been received. What the exact belief of Apollos and