peace this is what led him finally to victory. All European history, from the end of the first century to the present day, has been different because Paul of Tarsus was born and became a Christian. He was a man of prodigious energy and zeal, an indefatigable worker, stern and uncompromising in facing wrong, a hater of lies and half-truths, a powerful opponent of sins of the flesh and of those of the heart and mind as well; yet tender and generous, loving and gentle toward those, to win whom for Christ he gave up everything in the world. He was a man in whose life the spirit of Jesus was manifest, in spite of all hindrances and limitations and the defects of a thoroughly human character. He is one of whom we cannot read without admiration and gratitude for his lifework in spreading the Christian religion among the Gentiles. STUDY TOPICS 1. Read Colossians 1:1-23; 2:1-23; 4:7–18; and Ephesians 1:1-14; 3: 1–21; 4: 1–7; 6: 10-24. Summarize the main points in your notebook. 2. Read the whole Epistle to the Philippians and the Epistle to Philemon. Make a list, from these epistles, of Paul's companions in Rome. Write a brief description of Paul's character as revealed in these two letters. 3. Review Paul's life and missionary career. Write a sketch of five hundred words briefly summarizing it. 4. Draw a map showing the expansion of early Christianity up to the death of Paul, as far as we know it from the New Testament. Color in red the cities and regions noted on the earlier map (Chapter XI) and in blue those evangelized later. Paul's journeys may be shown by dotted lines. 5. Paul was an unfailing optimist-not with the "chronic optimism," however, of mere good spirits (for once there was a time when he had been full of despair, that is, before his conversion). His hopefulness was a part of his religion. Do you think this ought to be a part of every Christian's religion? Why? 6. Write in your notebook a sketch of Paul's character, telling what interests or impresses you most about him. Are these characteristics which you would like to imitate in your own life? 7. Choose the passage you like best in Paul's Epistles, and memorize it. CHAPTER XXIV CHRISTIANITY IN THE DAYS OF NERO THE persecution of the Christians in Rome under Nero was a signal for persecution elsewhere. Heretofore, as we have seen, the government more than once, through the provincial officials, shielded the Christians from the onslaughts of their Jewish opponents or the violence of popular fanaticism. The early Christians were among the most loyal subjects of the empire. Their attitude is well expressed in the epistle, written probably some time later, known as First Peter: "Be subject to every constituted authority for the Lord's sake; whether it be to the emperor, as supreme, or to governors, as appointed by him for the punishment of evildoers and the honoring of them that do well. . . . Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king."-1 Peter 2: 13-17. Prayers were offered in Christian worship for the emperor's safety and the security of the empire. But all of a sudden, the "powers that be" were turned against the church, and henceforth the disciples of Christ are made to realize that every one of them may at any time be called upon to bear witness "even unto blood." We have no account of the persecution in the New Testament, for Luke's second volume, the book of Acts, closes with the year 61. Nevertheless, it contains some letters and an old Christian prophecy which in an interesting way throw light upon Christian thought and |