6. Evangdistic ZoJo?-.— Paul's personal efforts for the spread of the Gospel consisted chiefly in oral preaching, enforced witli eloquence of the heart. He did not usually occupy iiimself with baptism (1 Cor.
PAUL
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i, 14 sq.), but left this ceremony to his companions and attendants (oi CiaKovuvvrtf; avrtjj, Acts xix, '22; oi ffvvtpyoi avroii, Rom. xvi, 21; I'hil. ii, 25; Phile- mon "i-l), of whom he graduallycollected a considerable number (Acts xx, 4 ; Philemon 24), and used them as emissaries (Acts xix, 22 ; xvii, 14 ; 1 Cor. iv, 17 ; Phil, ii, 25 ; 1 Thess. iii, 2). After he parted with Barnabas and Mai'k (Acts xv, 37 sq.) he numbered among them especially Silas (comp. Acts xv, 40), Timothy (xvi, 1 sq.), Luke the physician, Titus, Demas, Erastus, and Epaphroditus. He lirst came in contact with the original apostles of Jesus and the Mother-Church in Jerusalem through Barnabas (ix, 27), but he renewed his acquaintance with them by frequent tarrjing in that city (xv, 4; Gal. ii; Acts xxi, 18). In his fun- damental view of the invalidity of the Mosaic law for Christians, Paul disagreed with some of the apostles, and on this ground had at one time a dispute with Pe- ter at Antioch (Gal. ii, 11 sq. ; see Bockel, De contro- versia inter Paul, et Petr. Leips. 1817, and Winer, Co7n- ment. ad loc), and continued always to be an object of suspicion to the Jerusalem Christians (Acts xxi, 21). But this did not prevent him from making collections wherever he could in V)ehalf of the poor Christians in Jerusalem and Judtea (Rom. xv, 25 sq. ; 1 Cor. xvi; 2 Cor. viii sq. ; Gal. ii, 10; Acts xxiv, 17). He ex- tended his apostolic labors from Sj'ria to the north and north-west (Rom. xv, 19), where he could not fear to disturb the sphere of work of others (2 Cor. x, 16 ; Rom. XV, 20) ; but even there he was not, it seems, al- together unaffected by the authorities of the Church in Palestine (1 Cor. i, 12 ; iii, 22). His whole life was a struggle against adversaries as wily as they were vmwearying (Scharling, De Paullo ejiisq. adversariis, Havn. 1830). Not only did the Jews in Palestine and elsewhere persecute their former companion with the whole weight of their national and religious hatred (Acts ix, 23; xiii, 50; xiv, 5 sq. ; xvii, 5; xviii, 12; xxi, 27 sq. ; xxiii, 12), but even within the Christian Church itself, openly and secretly, Judaizing Chris- tians and philosophizing Christians opposed him ; and while Paul was defending Christian freedom against the stiff legality of the former, he was compelled to rescue the historical l)asis of Christianity from the er- rors of the latter. Like other great teachers, too, he was forced sometimes to meet misunderstanding of his own instructions (1 Cor. xv, 10; viii, 9). Although Paul saw the necessary end of the Jewish ritual, yet, in dealing with the weak, he was no bigoted opponent of it (ix, 19, 20) ; he not only had Timotln' circum- cised (Acts xvi, 3), but himself fullilled a Jewish vow (xxi, 24 sq. ; see Nazarite, and Lakemacher, Observ. vi, 3G4 sq.). Only where Jewish prejudices pressed in with bold demands, and threatened serious trouble, did he manifest severity (fial. ii, 4 sq.). On the other hand, his opponents left nothing untried to diminish his apostolical authority, descending even to slander (2 Cor. i ; comp. x). Tliey had even forged letters under Paul'-s-name (2 Thess. ii, 2 ; see Neander, i, 281). Thus his life was reallj' a series of continuous strife and danger (2 Cor. xi, 23 sq.).
7. Visits to Corinth. — From several passages of 2 Corinthians (ii, 1 ; xii, 14, 21 ; xiii, 1, 2) it has ap- peared to many tliat before the writing of that epistle Paul had twice visited Corinth, and that one of these visits had been after tlie Churcli there had fallen into an evil state. The words (2 Cor. xii, 14) rpirov rovro iroiiitoc tx(o tX^th' irfwr vjuu^ are usuall}- explained as meaning only, " I am a third time prepiired to come," and in accordance with this it is tliought that rpirov rovro 'ipxojiai (2 Cor. xiii, 1) may be rendered "This third time I am purposing to come to you ;" so that it is not of a third visit, but simph' of a third pur- pose to visit that Paul speaks. Against this the fol- lowing arguments are urged : (1) That though tpxn- /(«( may signify " I am coming" in the sense of "pur- posing to come," the wliole phrase rpirov rovro tpxo-