10. Subsequent History. — (1.) Later Epistles. — We might naturally expect that Paul, tied down to one spot at Rome, and j-et free to speak and write to whom he pleased, would pour out in letters his love and anxiety for distant churches. It has hence been sup- posed by some that the author of the extant Epistles wrote very many which are not extant. But of this there is not a particle of evidence ; nor were the cir- cumstances of Paul after all very fiivorable for extend- ed epistolarj' correspondence. It is difticult enough to connect in our minds the writing of the known Epistles with the external conditions of a human life ; to think of Paul, witli his incessant chain and soldier, sitting down to write or dictate, and producing for the world an inspired epistle. But it is almost more difficult to imagine the Christian communities of these days, sam- ples of the population of Macedonia or Asia Minor, receiving and reading such letters. Yet the letters
PAUL
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were actually -written ; and they must of necessity be accepted as representing tlie Itind of communications wliich marked the intercourse of the apostle and his fellow-Christians. When he wrote, he wrote out of the fulness of his heart; and the ideas on which he dwelt were those of his dail}' and hourly thoughts. To that imprisonment to which Luke has introduced us — the imprisonment which lasted for such a tedious time, although tempered by much indulgence^belongs cer- tainly the noble group of Letters to Philemon, to the Colossians, to the Ephesians, and to the Philippians, and probably also that peculiar one, the Letter to the Hebrew Christians. The first three of these were written at one time and sent by the same messengers. Whether that to the Philippians was written before or after these we cannot determine ; but the tone of it seems to imply that a crisis was approaching, and therefore it is commonly regarded as the latest of the four.
Paul had not himself founded the Church at Colos- sse. But during his imprisonment at Rome he had for an associate — he calls him a '"fellow-prisoner" (Phi- lemon 23) — a chief teacher of the Colossian Church named Epaphras. He had thus become deeply inter- ested in the condition of that Church. It happened that at the same time a slave named Onesimus came within the reach of Paul's teaching, and was convert- ed into a zealous and useful Christian. This Onesi- mus had run away from his master ; and his master was a Christian of Colossas. Paul determined to send back Onesimus to his master; and with him he deter- mined also to send his old companion Tj'chicus (Acts XX, 4), as a messenger to the Church at Colossa; and to neighboring churches. This was the occasion of the letter to Philemon, which commended Onesimus, in language of singular tenderness and delicacj% as a faithful and beloved brother, to his injured master; and also of the two letters to the Colossians and Ephe- sians. That to the Colossians, being drawn forth bj' the most special circumstances, may be reasonably supposed to have been written first. It was intended to guard the Church at Colossaj from false teaching, which the apostle knew to be infesting it. For the characteristics of this Epistle we must refer to the special article. The end of it (iv, 7-18) names several friends who were with Paul at Rome, as Aristarchus, Marcus (Mark), Epaphras, Luke, and Demas. See Co- lossians, Epistle to the. For the writing of the Epistle to the Ephesians there seems to have been no more special occasion than that Tychicus was passing through Ephesus. The highest characteristic which these two Epistles to the Colossians and Ephesians have in common is that of a presentation of the Lord Jesus Christ, fuller and clearer than we find in previ- ous Mritings, as the Head of creation and of mankind. All things created through Christ, all things coherent in him, all things reconciled to the Father by him, the eternal purpose to restore and complete all things in him — such are the ideas which grew richer and more distinct in the mind of the apostle as he meditated on the Gospel which he had been preaching, and the truths implied in it. In the Epistle to the Colossians this divine Headship of Christ is maintained as the safeguard against the fancies which filled the heavens with secondary divinities, and which laid down rules for an artificial sanctity of men upon the earth. In the P'pistle to the Ephesians the eternity and univer- sality of God's redeeming purpose in Christ, and the gathering of men unto him as his memliers, are set forth as gloriously revealed in the Gospel. In both, the application of the truth concerning Christ as the Image of God and the Head of men to the common relations of human life is dwelt upon in detail. See Ephesians, Epistle to the.
The Epistle to the Philippians resembles the Second to the Corinthians in the efl'usion of personal feeling, but dififers from it in the absence of all soreness. The
Christians at Philippi had regarded the apostle with love and reverence from the beginning, and had given him many proofs of their affection. They had now sent him a contribution towards his maintenance at Rome, such as we must suppose him to have received from time to time for the expenses of "his own hired house." The bearer of this contribution was Epaphro- ditus, an ardent friend and fellow-laborer of Paul, who had fallen sick on the journey or at Rome (Phil, ii, 27). The Epistle was written to be conveyed by Epaphrodi- tus on his return, and to express the joj' witli which Paul had received the kindness of tlie Philippians. He dwells therefore upon their fellowship in the work of spreading the Gospel, a work in which he was even now laboring, and scarcely with less effect on ac- count of his bonds. His imprifonment had made him known, and had given him fruitful opportunities of declaring his Gospel among the imperial guard (i, 13), and even in the household of the Cajsar (iv, 22). He professes his undiminished sense of the glory of follow- ing Christ, and his expectation of an approaching time in which the Lord Jesus should be revealed from heav- en as a deliverer. There is a graciovs tone running through this Epistle, expressive of humility, devotion, kindness, delight in all things fair and good, to which the favorable circumstances under which it was writ- ten gave a natural occasion, and which helps us to un- derstand the kind of ripening which had taken place in the spirit of the writer. See Philippians, Epistle to the.