face in the flesh 9. There is no account in the Acts of St. Paul's having been in Italy or at Rome till he was carried there a prisoner from Judæa. It is said indeed of him the last time he was at Ephesus, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome. This is exactly agreeable with what he writes in his Epistle to the Romans, which, as we observed before, was sent from Corinth when he was just entering upon his journey to Jerusalem with the collection for the poor saints. In the beginning of the Epistle he tells them, it was his desire and prayer to come to them; that he longed to see them; that he had often purposed to come; and that, as much as in him lay, he was ready to preach the gospel to them that are at Rome also3. And at the end of the Epistle says, it was his resolution to come to them immediately after he had been at Jerusalem: Whenever I take my journey into Spain, I will come to you—but now I go Jerusalem to minister unto the saints—When therefore I have performed this, and have sealed unto them this fruit, I will come by you into Spain.

to

In the same Epistle he says, From Jerusalem, round about to Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ". Which is a general confirmation of the whole history of his travels in the book of Acts. For in that History he is said to have gone through Syria, Cilicia, and most if not all

a Ch. ii. 1.
t Ch. xv. 24-28.

r Acts xix. 21.

s Rom. i. 10-15.

a Rom. xv. 19.

the countries in Peninsular Asia, to have come over into Europe, and to pass through Macedonia into Greece. Now Beroa, the last city in which St. Paul is said to have preached in Macedonia, could not be far from Dessaretia, which was part of the ancient Illyricum. At the same time I must own, it does not seem at all improbable to me, that St. Paul might, in one of his journeys through Macedonia, (for St. Luke relates his passing through Macedonia three times,) make an excursion into some of the nearer parts of Illyricum, and plant the gospel among them, though not taken notice of in the History of the Acts. It is certain, however, that during St. Paul's life the gospel was preached even in the remoter parts of Illyricum, and not improbably by the apostle himself after his release from his first imprisonment at Rome. For in his Second Epistle to Timothy, written when he was a second time prisoner in that great city, he informs him that he had sent Titus to Dalmatia ".

St. Paul says, in his First Epistle to the Corinthians, Unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews". Of this we have three in

x Vid. Cellar. N. O. Ant. 1. 2. c. 13. vol. 1. p. 656-660.

y All that St. Luke says of his second journey is this: And when he had gone over those parts, and had given them much exhortation, he came into Greece. Acts xx. 2. All that is said of his third journey is, that whereas he intended to have sailed from Greece into Syria, knowing that the Jews laid wait for him, he changed his mind, and passed through Macedonia. Ver. 3, &c. At either of these times might he make an excursion into Illyricum, but most probably in his second journey.

2 2 Tim. iv. IO.

a 1 Cor. ix. 20.

I

stances in the Acts of the Apostles; his circumcising of Timothy, his shaving his head at Cenchrea ©, and purifying himself in the temple with those four men which had a vow on them d.

b Ch. xvi. 3.

c Ch, xviii. 18.

d Ch. xxi. 24. 26.

CHAP. XII.

A further confirmation of principal facts.

THROUGH the good providence of God there are some pieces yet extant, written by the persons concerned in the facts recorded in the History we are treating of, which contain an ample confirmation of almost all the things related therein, as I have already in great part made appear to you. I would now further observe the agreement there is between the Acts and the Epistles in the names and descriptions of St. Paul's fellow-labourers and

converts.

§. 1. In the History of the Acts, Barnabas is joined with St. Paul in the commission given him to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. And St. Paul, writing to the Galatians, says, When James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision. It is related in the Acts, that Paul and Barnabas having preached to the Gentiles, and being returned to Antioch, after some time spent there, went up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders to consult them whether it were necessary to circumcise the Gentile converts? This journey is mentioned by St. Paul in his Epistle to the Galatians: Then fourteen years after (i. e. after his conversion) I

a Ch. xiii. 2, 3, 4.
Acts xiv. 26. 28. and xv. 2.

b Gal. ii. 9. Vid. 1 Cor. ix. 6.

went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also. And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles. And adds afterwards, that he would not suffer Titus, being a Greek, to be circumcised d.

When Paul and Barnabas were sent to the Gentiles, they took with them John, whose surname was Mark, to be their minister; who left them after they had passed through the island of Cyprus £. When they were setting out a second time to preach to the Gentiles, and visit the churches they had planted, Barnabas determined to take Mark again with them; but Paul thought it not proper, because he had so soon quitted them, and went not with them to the work. Upon which they parted, Barnabas taking Mark, and sailing to Cyprus. Mark is several times named in the Epistles. In one of them he is said to be sister's son to Barnabas ", which may explain to us the reason why Barnabas was so much set upon taking him with them. The apostle Peter, speaking of him, calls him my soni; probably because converted by him to the Christian faith. He was with St. Paul at Rome during his first imprisonment there, and had by that time fully regained his esteem. For both in his Epistle to Philemon, and in that to the Colossians, he calls him his fellow-labourer1; and desires of the Colossians, that if he came among them, they would give him a kind reception. That, notwithstanding his

d Gal. ii. 1, 2, 3.

f Ch. xiii. 13.

i 1 Pet. v. 13.

h Col. iv. 10.

Acts xii. 25. and xiii. 5.
Acts xv. 36, &c.
k Ver. 24.

1 Ch. iv. 11.