CHAPTER XVI

BEFORE THE AREOPAGUS

LEAVING Philippi, accompanied by Silas and Timothy, Paul journeyed southwestward along the fine military and commercial highway, called the Via Egnatia, which crossed from the Ægean to the Adriatic over the Balkan peninsula. Passing by Amphipolis, near the mouth of the Strymon River, thirty miles from Philippi, and going on through Apollonia, thirty miles beyond, they reached Thessalonica, nearly forty miles farther still. This city (modern Saloniki, famous in the recent European war) stood at the head of the Thermaic Gulf, and was at that time the residence of the governor and the seat of the government of the whole Macedonian province.

IN THESSALONICA AND BEREA

Here Paul and Silas remained for a considerable time -Luke says for three weeks. A gift of money from the tiny church in Philippi made possible the continuation of this visit (Philippians 4: 15-16).

"Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of Jews; and Paul, as his custom was, went in unto them, and for three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures, opening and alleging that it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise again from the dead; and that "This Jesus, whom,' said he, 'I proclaim unto you, is the Christ.' And some of them were persuaded and consorted

with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few. But the Jews being moved with jealousy, took unto them certain vile fellows of the rabble; and gathering a crowd, set the city in an uproar; and assaulting the house of Jason, they sought to bring them forth to the people. And when they found them not, they dragged Jason and certain brethren before the rulers of the city, crying, "These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also, whom Jason has received; and these all act contrary to the decrees of Cæsar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.' And they troubled the multitude and the rulers of the city when they heard these things. And when they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go."-Acts 17:1-9.

"Another king, one Jesus."-The charge that the Christian missionaries were "acting contrary to the decrees of Cæsar" means that they were refusing to pay divine honors to the Emperor, not that they disclaimed civil allegiance or refused to obey the laws on account of their loyalty to Jesus. Divine honors were claimed in the name of the Roman Emperor, at that time, because he was looked upon as the incarnation of the "genius of the empire." This worship was held to be a patriotic duty. And among pagans, who worshiped "gods many and lords many," there seemed nothing sacrilegious or wicked in worshiping one more, even though he were a human being like themselves. But for Christians such an act was blasphemy. There was only one God, and no imperial decree could justify the offering of worship to any other. This was one of the great causes for the persecution of the early Christians. We see it in its earliest beginnings here at Thessalonica.

The letters to the Thessalonians.-Brief as was Paul's stay in Thessalonica, the seed was sown, and soon after we see a flourishing Christian church in that city. The earliest letters of Paul which have come down to us were the two which he addressed to these new converts, Jason and his friends. These letters are in our New Testament and were written from Corinth, shortly after Paul's departure from Thessalonica. He wrote to encourage them to continue steadfast in the faith, in the face of persecution (1 Thessalonians 1:1-6; 2:14-16). Some of them were so interested in the preaching of the coming of the kingdom of God and Christ's return that they gave up their work and became "busybodies" and got into trouble. To them Paul repeated his word of command, "If any will not work, let him not eat" (2 Thessalonians 3: 10). No doubt the letters contain other echoes of Paul's preaching, and we can imagine him saying (as well as writing) such admonitions as the following:

"Brethren, we beg you to honor those who work among you, presiding over you in the Lord and maintaining discipline; hold them in special esteem and affection, for the sake of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. We beseech you to keep a check upon idlers; encourage the faint-hearted, sustain the weak, never lose your temper with any; see that none pays back evil for evil, but always follow what is kind to one another and to all the world; rejoice at all times; never give up prayer; thank God for everything—such is His will for you in Christ Jesus; never quench the fire of the Spirit; never disdain prophetic revelations, but test them all, retaining what is good and abstaining from whatever kind is evil."-1 Thessalonians 5:12-22. It was very hard for Paul to leave his new friends in