Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-08-28
Golden Text: 81 press toward the
mark for the prize of the high call
ing of God in Christ Jesus" Phil.
S:14.


S:14.
To treat the life of Paul in the
space of a newspaper article is an
impossible task. 1t will be necessary
therefore to Gull from his life here
and there the outstanding facts, and
leave the details to be filled by de-
vout minds during the coming days.
oa'f We are introduced to him as the
young man at whose feet Stephen S
clothes were placed when he suffer
: ed a martyrs death. Saul was then
a member of the Sanhedrim, al
though still young man. He had
q been whipped by Stephen in debate
on the question at issue-as to
whether the religious privileges of
the Jews were to be made available
for other nations, and concerning
the carpenter-prophet from Nazareth
r whom stephen declared to be the
p Son of God and the Messiah, which
= assertion was denied by Saul. In
otense in his convictions, he had be-
come the chief aCcuser of stephen,
and later the chief instigator of the
terrific persecution which followed
~ Stephens death,
- What was there back of this to
explain this extreme position? In
. the making of this man, who now
revealed certain traits, and who had
been chosen to a position of great
est confidence and responsibility,
? many elements had figured.
20" He was foreign born. His parents
< had been dong enough in Tarsus to
, be the recipients of the highest
gift-the freedom of Roman citizen
ship. His father must have render
ed some signal service to the gov
eminent to have been accorded this
= honor. They were evidently people
of wealth, for they had been able
to give Saul unusual advantages.
=, He had been educated at the Uni
versity of Tarsus which was recog
nized as one of the greatest centers
of culture in the world-not the
: largest. but great because Of the
q fact that five of the greatest teach
egg in the world were members of
1.-THE faculty. Athenodorus was one
-, of its teachers. And Saul prot1ted
by his opportunities; among other
things he was one of the most ac-
c6mplished of linguists. Besides be-
. ing familiar with the classics, from
< u
letters or speeches, he could speak
, -fuently in the vernacular of He
brew, Aramaic and Greek, and prob
ably Latin.
e. His religious training was equally
= as fine. AS a student in the Uni
Versity of Jerusalem he sat at the
= feet of their greatest teacher-Gama-
. -liel, and knew the Jewish laws and
traditions by letter. Nor was his
learning just bookish-he was very
e practical in his piety and had
genius for religion. No doubt
Gamaliel looked upon him as his
= most promising pupil and his prob
able successor. He kept the law in
his own life-"as touching the law,
fblameless." he could afterwards say
q of himself.
: q : There was one other element that
,entered into the making of this man
a., --he was reared in a city that was
rather cosmopolitan. Saul knew
little of country life; he makes few
references to nature; but he is fully
: acquainted with the games, with
~ Roman organization, with Roman
laws, with. the things that go to
make a citizen of the world.
Not one of these qualifications and
. characteristic went unused. The
man of intense Jewish traditions, Of
2 marked Grecian culture, of pro
nounced Roman characteristics, of
cosmopolitan outlook was the result
Of the years of training and inherit
ance. These brought him into a
- place of leadership. He was lead.
her, born and trained to leadership.
900 But the man was not yet made.
He was still in the process of the
making. The last elements came in
A very unexpected way. In fact it
would have been the very thing that
would have been considered would
: never happen-but it did. 1t was
the vision of Jesus that came to him
on the Damascus road. He needed
- that vision to make him a real man;
and it made anew man of him. Oh!
sit required some adjustments after
= 1.-THE elements had entered his life;
but each of the preceding elements
still had a place and they all worked
q together perfectly. The man was a
new man in Christ Jesus The fin.
ishing touches, the polishing, came
&, during the succeeding years. The
process was very trying al times, in
fact most of the time; but it was
has become the outstanding man of
the whole world. No mere man, no
other man except the Goldman, has
the place in the worlds thought that
Paul still has.
-. The Mission of the Man
Physically he was not much of a
man. Baldheaded, bowlegged, low
of stature, with shaggy eyebrows
that met, a large nose, and stokily
built" is the description that has
come down to us in "the acts
of Paul and Theda." The Corinthi-
ans rather sneered at his BODILY
presence once q Cor. 1879; he him
self refers to the stigmata which
awere left in his body by the terrific
trials and prosecutions through
which he had gone e Cor. 1926,
and seems to have feIt the fraflity Of
his body at times as an earthen yes
sci and as a tabernacle in which he
groaned q Cor. Al and $40. But
,withal he was so full of grace that
he looked at times like an angel
The natives on the Island of Melita
took him for a god. One forgot his
physical appearance and weakness
when he began - speak.
- He had some physical disa bility
that he could never overCOme-"the
thorn in the flesh" j was truly a
messenger of Satan to knock him
down every time he thought Of the
unusual relations that had been his,
God allowed it to keep him humble.
But Satan's purpose was different,
1t was probably epilepsy. The an
clients used to dread that disease so
much that whenever they saw any
lone in an attack they would spit on
the ground to keep from taking it,
Just as you knock on wood to keep
some sickness from coming to you
when you boast you haven't had it.