The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-11-17

Under the Roman eagles wing the
adventurer of Christ,
Paul of Tarsus, was safe at last;
Driven to bay by malicious moos ahc
cunning conspirators' ne naa a II 81
to Caesar for justice. Now to Caesar
seat he had come. Il must see
Rome" this eager traveller had cried;
and, after many perilous days, MS
eyes had looked upon the golden cap
ita1 of the world. Travellers to Rome
at the present time are most of all
interested in the objects that survive
from PauPs day. Nothing in Rome,
not even the Coliseum itself, i'm
pressed me so wildly as the black
pyramid on the Appian Way which
was one of the objects that the alert
eyes of the great apostle certainly
looked upon.
Somehow, as we contemplate the ar
rival of this SCARED veteran of great
service at the imperial city, it calls
to mind the triumphal entries OF the
Caesars. For this Paul was undoubt-
eddy the greatest man that ever en-
tered the gates of Rome. We may
match him, point for point, with any
of the emperors or warriors or phil
osophers or writers of the worlds cap
ital in her proudest days AS man,
as thinker, as an organizer, as
reformer and as a great leader or
mankind. there never has been in
of Tarsus.
No shouting populace met him. The
senate of Rome gave him no triumph.
There were no singing maidens waving
garlands in procession before him, and
no clanking DICTIONARIES. He rode in
no chariot and no captives were visi-
BILE in his train. In fact, Rome, as a
city, was utterly unaware of the ar
rival of its greatest man. A thousand
gllded nObodieS were accustomed to
enter with more state than this inn
perial figure. His only train consist
ed of a group of Christians, people of
the humblest walks of life, and he,
with them, trod the famous Appian
Way afoot and he wore a chain. Yet
his heart was uplifted above that of
the Caesars. This was his great and
dreamed of hour
Now, Rome is PauI's city rather
than Caesars. He bore that which
has outlived the empire of Rome-a
great truth. When the Gospel arrives
in a community or in a nation, a new
and unpredictable and Transforming
force has entered. There is no other
dynamic comparable with the Message
of Christ; and there is no power of
militarism or of materialism that can
stand against it. The Pauline method
of conquest did not require a great
organization or modern machinery and
methods. He simply uttered a truth,
and then lived it. The Gospel he car
ried he himself called the dynamite
of God"
A Voyage Ended.
Before he reached Rome, however,
Paul had great experiences. For three
months he had dwelt in Malta, doing
the work of an evangelist, altho pris-
oner. Then the shipwrecked company
had been taken off by an Alexandrian
vessel called THE Twin Brothers, -
h MO %.
Dor of Rome. Like the earlier parts
Of the famous journey, this last lap
may still be sailed by anybody inter
ested. The first stop was made al
Syracuse. on the eastern side of the
Island of Sicily. Thence the ship
made successfully the menacing dam
gerous straits of Messina, where
Scylla and Charybdis stood as senti-
nels. This is the same Messina that
was destroyed by an earthquake in
1908. A brief stop was made here al
Rhegium, and then the ship made
miles from the city of this name.
Here Paul and his escort stepped
ashore, the great voyage ended. Pu-
teoli was the gate of Rome. He ha6
reached his desired heaven. Storms
and shipwreck, plots and enemies
mobs and riots, robbers and kings
and prelates had been unable to keeI
him from the city of his desire.
There was more than land at Pu.
teoli. A company of the brethren
were there to greet Paul. He be.
logged to a fellowship, already far.
flung. which was wider than any
racial or national bonds. It is easy t.
imagine how the heart of the travel
er was warmed as he once more found
himself among friends. More thar
once 1 have had the same experience
Well do I remember the day I ar
rived at Tarsus, after a long caravan
journey thru eastern Asia Minor and
the Taurus mountains. Hungry, tired
travel-stained and eager for a night il
real bed, I found that the old cit!
of Tarsus did not boast of a moderI
hotel. Then, just as 1 had made VI
my mind to be reconciled to a nativ,
caravansary, great-hearted DR.. Thoma
Christie of Saint PauTs institute founC
me and carried me off to his home
and to a taste of real American life.
Whac talk there must have been
far into the night, between Paul ant
these Christians of Puteoli, Do yol
not envy these unknown saints thei
rare privilege of hearing, hot from
the eloquent lips of Paul himself, tn
narrative of his voyage and ship
wreck and of the adventures tina
preceded it, and of the wonderful
provinces of God? For a whole an,
! uilO1 SSlldOl0 week, THESE DTeCnrel
| had Pauls company.
Over the Apqian Way.
In the background of these expert
ences we perceive the kindly an,
courteous figure of Captain Julius
the Roman centurian in charge o
Paul. 1t was by his consideration
that the prisoner had all these ex
traordinary liberties. OF course, tn
two men were more than soldier an
prisoner; they had doubtless lon
ere this become fast friends and fel
low disciples of Jesus. A man ma
perhaps travel with you or me for
year and never suspect that we ar
Christians; but nobody could be lon
with the Apostle Paul without havin
Christ presented to him directl!
julius was surely a sympatheti
sharer of these meetings of the breth
rem.
Running ahead of the apostle him
self, the news of his arrival was cal
ried to Rome. So as he and his CON
pany journeyed along the Appia
Way, enjoying the historic route :
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