The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1903-01-25
THIS is St. Paul's day.
To-day is discussed in ser

IT. HIS is st. PauTs day
To-day is discussed in sermon
OF lesson in all churches in
Chrfstendom the man who figured in
the most Tnomentous and dramatic
event in Christian history since the
Ascension.
one morning nineteen hundred years
ago. on the famous Damascus road
highway which still gropes uncer-
tainly. between Damascus and JeTusa-
lena man named PauI-or Saul-un-
derwent an apocalypse.
Stripping the story Of its miracu-
Ious halo, the drama in which this
man appeared on the Damascus road
is st1u more thrilling than any Of those
wonderful affairs which the Wagner
ian genius fmagines as being played
in the twilight Of the gods
To-day the event is being commem-
grated in some hundred thousand
Observation-Disclosures the various
roads through Christendom.
This Saul of Tarsus was the
abIest of the contemporaries Of the
Christ. and gave his last and best
care to tending the vine Of Christian
fty planted on the TibeT and trained
over the imperial arch of Rome.
Exactly who was Saul, and what
were his surroundings
Can one at this late day CLEAN
enough of his history and personality
TO mentally picture, with near ap-
proach to correctness. that most ire
nendous event-his conversion on the
Damascus road2
Yes.
Damascus ana its neighborhOod-
more than any other city on earth
is sleeping to-day under the Asian
sun just as it slept many ages ago.
Never has the disturbing word siren
uous been invested with vital and
practical meaning there. Damascus
and the Damascus road are a tri7e
more worn than in the time of Saul
Otherwise the famous tentmaker
would feel pretty much at home If he
happened around Damascus to-day.
Who He Was.
Saul was born in Tarsus. Of CiIicia.
he was Of the tribe of Benjamin, and
as he himself informed the sanhedrim
when brought before it for trial
was Pharisee and the son OF
a Pharisee- The Pharisees were the
militant nationalist Of the race; the
Sadducees those who We're content 10
barter a dream OF freedom for d mess
of Roman pottage. The difference be
tween the sects was much the same
as exists to-day between the ardent
Zionist and the co-reugiontst who vii
not accept the hope Of re-estabiishina
the One goverumc-t in Palestine.
But Saul was also "a Roman He
must have learned the Latin Ian
guage. as well as Greek, which was
the everyday tongue Of Tarsus
Hebrew he knew as a matter oil
course. for we fine him answering
Festus and Agrippa as readily as he
preached TO the Atheueans.
His Appearance.
John Of Antioch, writing in tn.
ElAtA fEAlNAl J - 80 tL-AA aAA Wa
round-shouldered with an aquiIin,
nose, mixed pale and red complexion
and an ample beard He himsel
often mentions his infrmities. an,
the conclusion is necessarily that II
was one OF those zeaIots whose feTz
spirits support q frau tenement O
clay
A Sir GaIahad.
SO Paul was d sig GaIahad Of tn
old dispensauon. who in after year
recommended ceubacy as a stat
holier in itself than that OF marriage
and tells biuatly Of his own single
ness in his rough and fervent way
His words are Greek without TIA
Greciau polish Of construction.
He drew on Hebrew for his figure