I. 15,16.

Rom.

10, 2.

20 He opposed the Church from religious motives.

GALAT. by zeal, not indeed according to knowledge, still by a zealous admiration of the traditions of his fathers. This is his argument;-if my efforts against the Church sprung not from human motives, but from religious though mistaken zeal, why should I be actuated by vain-glory, now that I am contending for the Church, and have embraced the truth? If it was not this motive, but a godly zeal, which possessed me when I was in error, much more now that I have acknowledged the truth, ought I to be free from such a suspicion. As soon as I passed over to the doctrines of the Church and shook off my Jewish prejudices, I manifested on that side a zeal still more ardent; and this is a proof that my conversion is sincere, and that the zeal which possesses me is from above. What other inducement could I have to make such a change, and to barter honour for contempt, repose for peril, security for distress? none surely but the love of truth.

διά τινα

οἰκονο μίαν.

Ver. 15, 16. But when it pleased God, Who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the brethren, immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood.

Here his object is to shew, that it was by some secret providence that he was left for a time to himself. For if he was set apart from his mother's womb to be an Apostle and to be called to that ministry, yet was not actually called till that juncture, which summons he instantly obeyed, it is evident that God had some hidden reason for this delay. What this purpose was, you are perhaps eager to learn from me, and primarily, why he was not called with the twelve. But in order not to protract this discourse by digressing from its immediate scope, I must entreat your love not to require it at my hands, but to search for it by yourselves, and to beg of God to reveal it to you. Moreover I partly discussed this subject when I discoursed before you on the change of his name from Saul to Paul; which, if you have forgotten, you will fully gather from a persual of that volume. At present let us pursue the thread of our discourse, and consider the proof he now adduces that no natural event had befallen him, that God Himself had providentially ordered the

Occurrence.

Vid. Hom. de Mut. Nom. t. iii. p. 98. Ed. Ben. vid. supr. Preface.

And was called as capable though not as worthy. 21

And called me by His grace.

15.

It was, he says, on account of his excellent capacity that God called him; as He said to Ananias, for he is a chosen vessel Acts 9, unto Me, to bear My name before the Gentiles, and kings, that is to say, capable of service, and the accomplishment of great deeds. And he gives this as the reason for his call; at the same time he every where ascribes it to grace, and to God's inexpressible mercy, as in the words, Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, not that I was sufficient or even serviceable, but that in me He might shew forth all 1 Tim. long-suffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on Him to life everlasting. Behold his overflowing humility; I obtained mercy, says he, that no one might despair, when the worst of men had shared His bounty. For this is the force of the words, that He might shew forth all long-suffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on Him.

To reveal His Son in me.

1, 16.

10, 22.

Christ says in another place, No man knoweth who the Son Luke is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal Him. You observe that the Father reveals the Son, and the Son the Father; so it is as to Their glory, the Son glorifies the Father, and the Father the Son; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee, John 17, and as I have glorified Thee. But why does he say, to reveal His Son in me, and not to me? it is to signify, that he had not only been instructed in the faith by words, but that he was richly endowed with the Spirit ;-that the revelation had enlightened his whole soul, and that he had Christ speaking within him.

That I might preach Him among the heathen.

For not only his faith, but his election to the Apostolic office, proceeded from God. The object, says he, of His thus specially revealing Himself to me, was not only that I might myself behold Him, but that I might also manifest Him to others. And he says not merely, "others," but, that I might preach Him among the heathen, thus touching beforehand on that great ground of his defence which lay in the respective characters of the disciples; for it was not necessary to preach alike to the Jews and to the heathen.

1. 4.

GALAT.

I. 17.

Prov.

Is. 5,

21.

Rom. 12, 16.

22

We must dwell on S. Paul's sense, not on his words. Immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood. Here he alludes to the Apostles, naming them after their physical nature; however, he may have meant to include all mankind.

Ver. 17. Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were Apostles before me.

These words weighed by themselves seem to breathe an arrogant spirit, and to be foreign to the Apostolic temper. For to give one's suffrage for one's self, and to admit no man to share one's counsel, is a sign of folly. It is said, Seest 26, 12. thou a man wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool than of him; and, Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! and Paul himself in another place, Be not wise in your own conceits. Surely one who had been thus taught, and had thus admonished others, would not fall into such an error, even were he an ordinary man; much less then Paul himself. Nevertheless, as I said, this expression nakedly considered may easily prove a snare and offence to many hearers. But if the cause of it is subjoined, all will applaud and admire the speaker. This then let us do; for it is not the right course to weigh the mere words, nor examine the language by itself, as many errors will be the consequence, but to attend to the intention of the writer. And unless we pursue this method in our own discourses, and examine into the mind of the speaker, we shall make many enemies, and every thing will be thrown into disorder. Nor is this confined to words, but the same result will follow, if this rule is not observed in actions. For surgeons often cut and break certain of the bones; so do robbers; yet it would be miserable indeed not to be able to distinguish one from the other. Again, homicides and martyrs, when tortured, suffer the same pangs, yet is the difference between them great. Unless we attend to this rule, we shall not be able to discriminate in these matters; but shall call Elijah and Samuel and Phineas homicides, and Abraham a son-slayer; that is, if we go about to scrutinize the bare facts, without taking into account the intention of the agents. Let us then inquire into the intention of Paul in thus writing, let us consider his scope, and general deportment towards the Apostles, that we may arrive at his present meaning. Neither

S. Paul conferred not with men, as being taught of God. 23

formerly, nor in this case, did he speak with a view of disparaging the Apostles or of extolling himself, (how so? when he included himself under his anathema?) but always in order to guard the integrity of the Gospel. Since the troublers of the Church said that they ought to obey the Apostles who suffered these observances, and not Paul who forbade them, and hence the Judaizing heresy had gradually crept in, it was necessary for him manfully to resist them, from a desire of repressing the arrogance of those who improperly exalted themselves, not of speaking ill of the Apostles. And therefore he says, I conferred not with flesh and blood; for it would have been extremely absurd for one who had been taught by God, afterwards to refer himself to men. For it is right that he who learns from men should in turn admit men into partnership. But he to whom that divine and blessed voice had been vouchsafed, and who had been fully instructed by Him Who possesses the treasures of wisdom, wherefore should he afterwards confer with men ? it were meet that he should teach, not be taught by them. Therefore he thus spoke, not arrogantly, but to exhibit the dignity of his own commission. Neither went I up, says he, to Jerusalem to them which were Apostles before me. Because they were continually repeating that the Apostles were before him, and were called before him, he says, I went not up to them. Had it been needful for him to communicate with them, He, who revealed to him his commission, could have given him this injunction. Is it true, however, that he did not go up thither? nay, he went up, and not merely so, but in order to learn somewhat of them. When a question arose on our present subject in the city of Antioch, in the Church which had before shewn so much zeal, and it was discussed whether the Gentile believers ought to be circumcised, or were under no necessity to undergo the rite, this very Paul himself and Silas went up. How is it then that he says, I went not up, nor conferred? of his own accord, but was sent by others; next, because he

c Of those who were sent with St. Paul from Antioch to Jerusalem, Barnabas is the only one named in Acts 15, 2, and it would rather seem from ver. 22, that

First, because he went not up

Silas was then at Jerusalem, and did not accompany St. Paul till his return from thence.

I. 17.

24 He understood from the first what the Apostles ratified at last.

GALAT. came not to learn, but to bring others over. For he was from the first of that opinion, which the Apostles subsequently ratified, that circumcision was unnecessary. But when he was deemed unworthy of credit by these persons, who inclined to those at Jerusalem, he went up not to be farther instructed, but to convince the gainsayers that those at Jerusalem agreed with him. Thus he perceived from the first the fitting line of conduct, and needed no teacher, but, primarily and before any discussion, maintained without wavering what the Apostles, after much discussion, subsequently ratified. Acts 15, This Luke shews by his own account, that Paul argued much at length with them on this subject before he went to Jerusalem, But since the brethren chose to be informed on this subject, he went up on their account, not on his own. And his expression, I went not up, signifies that he neither went at the outset of his teaching, nor for the purpose of being instructed. Both are implied by the phrase, Immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood. He says not, I conferred, merely, but, immediately; and his subsequent journey was not to gain any instruction.

2.

Ver. 17. But I went into Arabia.

Behold a fervent soul! he longed to occupy regions not yet tilled, but lying in a wild state. Had he remained with the Apostles, as he had nothing to learn, his preaching would have been straitened, for it behoved them to spread the word every where. Thus this blessed man, fervent in spirit, straightway undertook to teach wild barbarians, choosing a life full of difficulty and labour. Having said, I went into Arabia, he adds, and returned again unto Damascus. Here observe his humility; he speaks not of his successes, nor of whom or of how many he x. instructed. Yet such was his zeal immediately on his baptism, Acts 9, that he confounded the Jews, and so exasperated them, that

κατή.

22 et

seq.

they and the Greeks laid in wait for him with a view to kill him. This would not have been the case, had he not greatly added to the numbers of the faithful; since they were vanquished in doctrine, they had recourse to violence, which was a manifest sign of Paul's superiority. But Christ suffered him not to be put to death, preserving him for his mission. Of these successes he says nothing, and so in all his discourses, his motive is not ambition, nor to be honoured more highly