critic, before he pass sentence upon their general character, should summon up, in ideal presence, not a New England auditory, nor a Scottish, but a German. He should attend to the impressive and venerable rites with which the delivery of the sermons was accompanied, to the music from thrilling and deep-toned instruments, from the powerful choir of men, and the still more affecting one of boys.† The best comment, however, that can be made on the preaching of Dr. Tholuck is this; it is often instrumental, through the Divine blessing, in effecting that radical transformation of character, without which no man can see the Lord.

of the Church, the Christain lyric poets, present him their most beautiful flowers, and lay at his feet the most apposite expressions. Nor are allusions to unsanctified poets rejected from his sermons, but the world, willing or unwilling, is made serviceable to the sacred orator. There is given to Dr. Tholuck the power of enchantment over mind. His discourses possess, in a degree altogether peculiar, every thing which secures the most powerful, immediate impression upon the hearers. We can very easily imagine how often a student, having never before listened to an animated discourse, which penetrated into the inmost soul, and who has therefore gradually accustomed himself to look upon a certain kind of dullness and tediousness as belonging to the very essence of a sermon, and constituting its edifying quality, when he has once strayed into Dr. Tholuck's church, would hang with fixed eye upon the lips of the preacher, and be confounded at the new and wonderful power of language with which he was addressed.'

The following is a condensed description of the rites, more impressive probably upon Germans than they would be upon us, which were connected with the delivery of the fourth sermon in this volume. "We sat," says Prof. Sears, "directly in front of the pulpit, and when the congregation paused, we could just hear, at the altar at our extreme left, the accents of the preacher uttering the Lord's prayer; then suddenly voices of melody broke upon our ear from the orchestra in the gallery of the opposite extreme of the house. The preacher and the choir were facing each other, and responding; while the whole congregation, standing, occupied the vast space between.-During the responses the organ was silent. Then followed that which is called the chief song,' in which everything, that could utter a sound, united. In these shouts of the multitude, and tumultuous clangor of the instruments, which appear like an attempt to carry the heart by storm, there is, in my opinion, something too gross and physical to have the happiest effect. Before the hymn was concluded, the preacher was standing in the pulpit in true German style, in a fixed posture, with his hands clasped before his breast, and his eyes turned upward," &c.

ON THE

LIFE, CHARACTER, AND STYLE

OF THE

APOSTLE PAUL.

DESIGNED AS AN

INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF THE PAULINE EPISTLES.

BY

DR. A. THOLUCK,

PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY IN THE ROYAL UNIVERSITY OF HALLE.

EDINBURGII:

THOMAS CLARK, 38 GEORGE STREET.

MDCCCX L.

EDINBURGH:

Printed by JAMES BURNET.

NE

OF THE

APOSTLE PAUL.

DESIGNED AS AN

INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF THE PAULINE EPISTLES.

CHAPTER I.

EARLY LIFE OF THE APOSTLE.

Importance of this investigation.-Time of Paul's earliest residence at Jerusalem.--Object of it. His education in Greek Literature. -Quotations from the Greek Poets.-His Greek chirography.

THAT part of the life of Paul which is delineated in the book of Acts, and which relates to his agency, during the later periods of his life, in preaching the Gospel, has been fully exhibited in modern works, as in those of Hemsen and Neander.† Neander, in particular, has examined the subject, with constant reference to the results which flow from it, for the interpretation of the sacred writings. The events which occurred in the life of Paul before his conversion, and the circumstances of his early training, have not been investigated with equal accuracy. Such an investigation, however, is needed by the interpreter of Paul's Epistles, because, by means of it, the whole image of the man is made to stand out so much the more visibly before the eye, and very many

See Note A, at the close of this Treatise.

† [Life of Paul, by Hemsen, and History of the Establishment and Progress of the Christian Church, by Neander. Hemsen's account of Paul's early life is inserted at the end of this Treatise. -TR.]

of his peculiar characteristics are so much the more easily explained.

66

In reference to the education of the apostle, the first question of importance is, at what period of his life did he go to reside at Jerusalem. Eichhorn and Hemsen suppose, that he did not go to reside there until the thirtieth year of his age. As at the time of the martyrdom of Stephen, he was still called a young man, and as this designation supposes that he might then have been in his thirtieth year, but could not have exceeded it; † so it must be maintained, according to these writers, that he went to Jerusalem but a short time be-' fore this martyrdom, and also that very little could be said concerning any influence which he had then received from the school at Jerusalem, and from Gamaliel. But how can we adopt this opinion, when the apostle, in opposition to it, utters these words, "Born indeed in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up, ávarepaμuévos, in this city at the feet of Gamaliel." It follows by necessity from this passage, that the apostle went to the capital city in the period of his boyhood. How early in his boyhood, cannot be determined. Certainly, however, too early a date must not be assigned, as Jerusalem furnished no special opportunity for the education of children. Neither in their capital city," nor generally among the Jews, do schools for boys and children appear to have been in existence at that time. They were first established shortly before the destruction of Jerusalem by Jeschu Ben Gamla. The training of lads was, until this period, a private business, and committed to parents and friends. We may therefore fix the date of Paul's first journey to Jerusalem, at that period of his youth, when the Rabbinical system of education be

*Acts vii. 58.

Zell, in his Observations on Aristotle's Ethics, vol. II. p. 14, having occasion to explain the wide extent of the phrase vέoc rais, makes the following good remark, "The ancients extended the period of youth too far; we transgress the laws of nature, in making this period too short."

I See Paul's speech, recorded in Acts xxii. 3.