12 WORKS OF ST. CHRYSOSTOM. [CHAPTER I. Is it true, however, that he did not go up thither P 1 nay, he went up, and not merely so, but in order to learnsomewhat of them. When a question arose on our present subject in the city of Antioch, in the Church which had from the beginning shown so much zeal, and it was dis cussed whether the Gentile believers ought tobe circumcised,orwereundernonecessity toundergo the rite, this very Paul himself and Silas2 went up. How is it then that he says, I went not up, nor conferred ? First, because he went not up of his own accord, but was sent by others; next, because he came not to learn, but to bring others over. For he was from the first of that opinion, which the Apostles subsequently rati fied,that circumcisionwasunnecessary. Butwhen these personsdeemed him unworthy of credit and applied to those at Jerusalem he went up not to be farther instructed, but toconvince the gain- sayers that those at Jerusalem agreed with him. Thus he perceived from the first the fitting line of conduct, and needed no teacher, but, pri marily and before any discussion, maintained without wavering what the Apostles, after much discussion, (Actsxv: 2,7.) subsequently ratified. This Luke shows by his own account, that Paul argued much at length with them on this subject before he went toJerusalem. But since the breth ren chose to be informed on this subject, by those at Jerusalem, he went up on their own 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 jour ney was not to gain any additional instruction. Ver. 17. " But I went away 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 behooved them to spread the word every where. Thus this blessed man, fervent in spirit, straightway undertook to teach wild barbarians,3 choosing a life full of battle and labor. Having said, " I went into Arabia," he adds, " and again I returned unto Damas cus." Here observe his humility; he speaks 1 [Paul here simply means he did not go to Jerusalem before he began preaching. G. A.]* Of those who were sent with St. Paul from Antioch to Jerusa lem, Barnabas is the only one named in Acts xv : 2, and it would rather seem from Ver. 22, that Silas was then at Jerusalem, and did not accompany St. Paul till his return from thence. 3 [" This journey is to be looked upon not as having for its object a quiet preparation,but as a first experiment ofextraneous ministry." Meyer. Farrar, Life and Work .of Paul. Ch. xi. takes theoppo- site view and says. " No one, I think,who reads this passage atten tively can deny that it gives the impression ofan intentional retire ment from human intercourse." So also Schaff, who says it was a sort of substitute for the three years intercoursewith Jesus enjoyed by the other Apostles. Ap. Ch. 236. G. A.] not of his successes, nor of whom or of how many he instructed. Yet such was his zeal immediately on his baptism, that he confounded the Jews, and so exasperated them, that they and the Greeks lay 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 murder, which was a manifest sign of Paul s superiority. But Christ suffered him not to be put to death, pre servinghim for his mission. Of these successes, however, he says nothing, and so in all his dis courses, his motive is not ambition, nor to be honored more highly than the Apostles, nor because he ismortified at being lightly esteemed, but it is a fear lest any detriment should accrue to his mission. For he calls himself, " oneborn out of due time," and, " the first of sinners," and "the last of the Apostles," and, "not meet to be called an Apostle." And this he said, who had labored more than all of them ; which is real humility ; for he who, conscious of no excellence, speaks humbly of himself, is candid but not humble ; but to say so after such trophies, is to be practised in self-control. Ver. 17. " And again I returned untoDamas cus." But what great things did he not probably achieve in this city? for he tells us that the governor under Aretas the king set guards about the whole of it, hoping to entrap this blessed man. Which is a proof of the strongest kind that he was violently persecuted by the Jews. Here, however, he says nothing of this, but mentioning his arrival and departure is silent concerning the events which there occurred, nor would he have mentioned them in the place I have referred to, (2 Cor. xi: 32.) had not cir cumstances required their narration. Ver. 18. "Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem 4 to visit Cephas." What can be more lowly than such a soul ? After such successes, wanting nothing of Peter, not even his assent, but being of equal dignity with him, (for at present I will say no more,) he comes to him as his elder and superior. And the only object of this journey was to visit Peter ; thus he pays due respect to the Apostles, and esteems himself not only not their better but not their equal. Which is plain from this journey, for Paul was induced to visit Peter by the same feeling from which many ofour breth ren sojourn with holy men : or rather byahum- bier feeling for they do so for their own benefit, but this blessed man, not for his own instruc tion or correction, but merely for the sake of 4 [First visit to Jerusalem, Acts ix:z6. For a reconciliation of the two accounts of this visit see Handy Com. on Gal. Excursus A (by Sanday). G.A.]