The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-04-13
A MAN MADE OVER.
The International Sunday School Les
son for April 18 Is The CONVEX
sion of SAUL Acts 9:l-3O.
BY WILLIAM T. ELIIS.

A few weeks ago I met on a west
bound train a young Philadelphia ply
stefan of an old family and embody-
nj in himself the best traditions of
culture, who was en- route to China
to serve as a MEDICAL missionary of
the University of Pennsylvania. He
answered the old criticism that only
men are missionaries. The
man most suitable for the service of
the Kingdom of Heaven is the one
possessing the most force, brains and
education.
That is why the present notable les
son is a familiar bit Of Christian his
tory-it relates the extraordinary man
ner in which the assistant, the scholar
and the cosmopOlite, Saul of Tarsus,
became a soldier Of Jesus Christ,
against whom he had been fighting. It
is q great day for two worlds when
a powerful personality goes all the
way into the service of God. This
event on the highroad to Damascus
is the most important item of Chris
tan history after. the resurrection of
Christ. Next to Jesus himself, this
transformed prosecutor. Saul. las been
the mightiest figure In Christian his
tory.
Making Ready for a Big Work.
All the conditions that contribute
to the making of a forceful
are aids to Christian character and
service. That is why the gentleman
sc~holar-athlete, DR.. Grenfell, is so eX-
traordinary a missionary. The pecu-
liar training Of Saul. designed to make
him a ~singulariy efficient man of the
world or Jewish t~heOlOgian, admirably
fitted him for his unique position i n
the early church.
No experience is aver wasted. This
brilliant young man had been brought
up in TarsuS, one of the three seats
Of learning of his time. although his
scholastic education was acquired in
Jerusalem under the great Gamaliel.
He was a city man. used to the best
society, the son of a wealth. father
and an inheritor of the latter's Ro-
man citizenship. He had acquired
a touch of the Greek culture, but
Yet he had not lost his Jewish abb
horrence of idolatry. as he had seen it
at Tarsus. a center Of Paal worship
His native city was famous for its
cloth, and Saul. like all well-trained
Hebrew boys, whatever their wealth.
learned the trade Of tent-making,
which later stood him in good stead.
SO notable were the abilities of this
Jealous young student-whose age
was about the same as that of the
Nazarene with whom his life was to
be identiied-that he was early made
a emh of the S~andhedrin. the high
est official body in Jewry.
Linked Up to a Martyr.
Pack of every life and work lie
other lives and works. Al talk Of
'self-made men" is aside from the
mark for no man makes himself: he
is the product and expression of other
lives than his own. Saul was linked
up to Stephen, the first martyr. Prob
ably his career as a prosecutor, Off
cially commissioned to harry the
Christians wherever he could find
them, dates back to that event. 1t
was at this scene that he first APP
peared to the historians eye: not
throwing stones. Of course, for he was
a gentleman. and that was work for
the rahhle, but landing to one side
-f lending cOuntenance to the crime, and
even guarding the "a . Of the
SWeatylHaOb. His responsibility as a
leader and adviser was greater than
tina Of any mere hurier of deadly mis-
siles.. We are still very prone to blame
mobs for crimes. forgetting the re-
sponsihility Of the men who have
created the conditions and impulses
leading to the crimes. Nevertheless
the same qualities of initiative and
daring and feariessness which made
Saul chief among the foes Of Jesus,
added value to his discipleship when
he later devoted his trained mind and
sensitive spirit to the service Of Christ.
AS Dr.. Martha Tarbell says. in her
capital m Of the character OF
Paul: He was a born leader Of men.
His originality Of thought made him a
philosonher. his spiritual insight mad"
him a theOlOgian. New conditions and
difficulties presented themselves Wher-
ever he went. but he was equal to
any and whether talking
to q few women by the riverside al
Philippi. or to many philosophers on
the Areopagus at Athens. he could do
all things through Him who strength
ened him. And yet this intellectual