Paulus of Galen the physician. Soon after the accession of M. Aurelius
(A.D. 161) Galen paid his first visit to Rome, where he stayed for three
or four years. Among other persons whom he met there was L. Sergius
Paulus, who had been already consul suffectus about A.D. 150, and was
hereafter to be consul for the second time in A.D. 168 (on this latter
occasion as the regular consul of the year), after which time he held
the Prefecture of the City [296:1]. He is probably also the same person
who is mentioned elsewhere as proconsul of Asia in connection with a
Christian martyrdom [296:2]. This later Sergius Paulus reproduces many
features of his earlier namesake. Both alike are public men; both alike
are proconsuls; both alike show an inquisitive and acquisitive
disposition. The Sergius Paulus of the Acts, dissatisfied (as we may
suppose) alike with the coarse mythology of popular religion and with
the lifeless precepts of abstract philosophies, has recourse first to
the magic of the sorcerer Elymas, and then to the theology of the
Apostles Barnabas and Saul, for satisfaction. The Sergius Paulus of
Galen is described as 'holding the foremost place in practical life as
well as in philosophical studies;' he is especially mentioned as a
student of the Aristotelian philosophy; and he takes a very keen
interest in medical and anatomical learning. Moreover, if we may trust
the reading, there is another striking coincidence between the two
accounts. The same expression, 'who is also Paul' ([Greek: ho kai
Paulos]), is used to describe Saul of Tarsus in the context of the Acts,
and L. Sergius in the account of Galen. Not the wildest venture of
criticism could so trample on chronology as to maintain that the author
of the Acts borrowed from these treatises of Galen; and conversely I
have no desire to suggest that Galen borrowed from St Luke. But if so,
the facts are a warning against certain methods of criticism which find
favour in this age. To sober critics, the coincidence will merely
furnish an additional illustration of the permanence of type which forms
so striking a feature in the great Roman families. One other remark is
suggested by Galen's notices of his friend. Having introduced him to us
as 'Sergius who is also Paulus,' he drops the former name altogether in
the subsequent narrative, and speaks of him again and again as Paulus
simply. This illustrates the newly-published Cyprian inscription, in
which the proconsul of that province is designated by the one name
Paulus only.
2. The transition from General Cesnola's _Cyprus_ to Mr Wood's _Ephesus_
carries us forward from the first to the third missionary journey of St
Paul. Here, again, we have illustrative matter of some importance. The
main feature in the narrative of the Acts is the manner in which the
cultus of the Ephesian Artemis dominates the incidents of the Apostle's
sojourn in that city. As an illustration of this feature, it would
hardly be possible to surpass one of the inscriptions in the existing
collection [297:1]. We seem to be reading a running commentary on the
excited appeal of Demetrius the silversmith, when we are informed that
'not only in this city but everywhere temples are dedicated to the
goddess, and statues erected and altars consecrated to her, on account
of the manifest epiphanies which she vouchsafes' ([Greek: tas hup' autês
geinomenas enargeis epiphaneias]); that 'the greatest proof of the
reverence paid to her is the fact that a month bears her name, being
called Artemision among ourselves, and Artemisius among the Macedonians
and the other nations of Greece and their respective cities;' that
during this month 'solemn assemblies and religious festivals are held,
and more especially in this our city, which is the nurse of its own
Ephesian goddess' ([Greek: tê trophô tês idias theou tês Ephesias]); and
that therefore 'the people of the Ephesians, considering it meet that
the whole of this month which bears the divine name ([Greek: ton
epônumon tou theiou onomatos]) should be kept holy, and dedicated to the
goddess,' has decreed accordingly. 'For so,' concludes this remarkable
document, 'the cultus being set on a better footing, our city will
continue to grow in glory and to be prosperous to all time.' The sense
of special proprietorship in this goddess of world-wide fame, which
pervades the narrative in the Acts, could not be better illustrated than
by this decree. But still the newly-published inscriptions greatly
enhance the effect. The patron deity not only appears in these as 'the
great goddess Artemis,' as in the Acts, but sometimes she is styled 'the
supremely great goddess ([Greek: hê megistê theos]) Artemis.' To her
favour all men are indebted for all their choicest possessions. She has
not only her priestesses, but her temple-curators, her essenes, her
divines ([Greek: theologoi]), her choristers ([Greek: humnôdoi]), her
vergers ([Greek: skêptouchoi]), her tire-women or dressers ([Greek:
kosmêteirai]), and even her 'acrobats,' whatever may be meant by some of
these terms. Fines are allocated to provide adornments for her;
endowments are given for the cleaning and custody of her images; decrees
are issued for the public exhibition of her treasures. Her birthday is
again and again mentioned. She is seen and heard everywhere. She is
hardly more at home in her own sanctuary than in the Great Theatre. This
last-mentioned place--the scene of the tumult in the Acts--is brought
vividly before our eyes in Mr Wood's inscriptions. The theatre appears
as the recognized place of public assembly. Here edicts are proclaimed,
and decrees recorded, and benefactors crowned. When the mob, under the
leadership of Demetrius, gathered here for their demonstration against
St Paul and his companions, they would find themselves surrounded by
memorials which might stimulate their zeal for the goddess. If the
'town-clerk' had desired to make good his assertion, 'What man is there
that knoweth not that the city of the Ephesians is sacristan of the
great goddess Artemis?' he had only to point to the inscriptions which
lined the theatre for confirmation. The very stones would have cried out
from the walls in response to his appeal.
Nor is the illustration of the magistracies which are named by St Luke
less complete. Three distinct officers are mentioned in the
narrative--the Roman proconsul ([Greek: anthupatos]), the governor of
the province and supreme administrator of the law, translated 'deputy'
in our version; the recorder ([Greek: grammateus]) or chief magistrate
of the city itself, translated 'town-clerk;' and the Asiarchs ([Greek:
Asiarchai]), or presidents of the games and of other religious
ceremonials, translated 'the chief of Asia.' All these appear again and
again in the newly-discovered inscriptions. Sometimes two of the three
magistracies will be mentioned on the same stone. Sometimes the same
person will unite in himself the two offices of recorder and Asiarch,
either simultaneously or not. The mention of the recorder is especially
frequent. His name is employed to authenticate every decree and to fix
every date.
But besides these more general illustrations of the account in the Acts,
the newly-discovered inscriptions throw light on some special points in
the narrative. Thus where the chief magistrate pronounces St Paul and
his companions to be 'neither sacrilegious ([Greek: hierosulous]) nor
blasphemers of our goddess' [299:1], we discover a special emphasis in
the term on finding from these inscriptions that certain offences (owing
to the mutilation of the stone, we are unable to determine the special
offences) were treated as constructive sacrilege against the goddess.
'Let it be regarded as sacrilege and impiety' ([Greek: estô hierosulia
kai asebeia]), says an inscription found in this very theatre [300:1],
though not yet set up at the time when the 'town-clerk' spoke. So again,
where the same speaker describes the city of Ephesus as the 'neocoros,'
the 'temple sweeper,' or 'sacristan of the great goddess Artemis,' we
find in these inscriptions for the first time a direct example of this
term so applied. Though the term 'neocoros' in itself is capable of
general application, yet as a matter of fact, when used of Ephesus on
coins and inscriptions (as commonly in the case of other Asiatic
cities), it has reference to the cultus not of the patron deity, but of
the Roman emperors. In this sense Ephesus is described as 'twice' or
'thrice sacristan,' as the case may be, the term being used absolutely.
There was indeed every probability that the same term would be employed
also to describe the relation of the city to Artemis. By a plausible but
highly precarious conjecture it had been introduced into the lacuna of a
mutilated inscription [300:2]. By a highly probable but not certain
interpretation it had been elicited from the legend on a coin [300:3].
There were analogies too which supported it. Thus the Magnesians are
styled on the coins 'sacristans of Artemis' [300:4]; and at Ephesus
itself an individual priest is designated by the same term 'sacristan of
Artemis' [300:5]. Nor did it seem unlikely that a city which styled
itself 'the nurse of Artemis' should also claim the less audacious title
of 'sacristan' to this same goddess. Still probability is not certainty;
and (so far as I am aware) no direct example was forthcoming. Mr Wood's
inscriptions supply this defect. On one of these 'the city of the
Ephesians' is described as 'twice sacristan of the Augusti according to
the decrees of the Senate and sacristan of Artemis' [301:1].
One other special coincidence deserves notice. The recorder, desirous of
pacifying the tumult, appeals to the recognized forms of law. 'If
Demetrius and his fellow-craftsmen,' he says, 'have a matter against any
one, assizes are held, and there are proconsuls [301:2]. Let them indict
one another. But if you have any further question (_i.e._, one which
does not fall within the province of the courts of justice), it shall be
settled in the lawful (regular) assembly.' By a 'lawful (regular)
assembly' ([Greek: ennomos ekklêsia]) he means one of those which were
held on stated days already predetermined by the law, as opposed to
those which were called together on special emergencies out of the
ordinary course, though in another sense these latter might be equally
'lawful.' An inscription, found in this very theatre in which the words
were uttered, illustrates this technical sense of 'lawful.' It provides
that a certain silver image of Athene shall be brought and 'set at every
lawful (regular) assembly ([Greek: kata pasan nomimon ekklêsian]) above
the bench where the boys sit' [301:3].
With these facts in view, we are justified in saying that ancient
literature has preserved no picture of the Ephesus of imperial
times--the Ephesus which has been unearthed by the sagacity and
perseverance of Mr Wood--comparable for its life-like truthfulness to
the narrative of St Paul's sojourn there in the Acts.
I am tempted to add one other illustration of an ancient Christian
writer, which these inscriptions furnish. Ignatius, writing to the
Ephesians from Smyrna in the early years of the second century, borrows
an image from the sacred pageant of some heathen deity, where the
statues, sacred vessels, and other treasures, of the temple are borne in
solemn procession. He tells his Christian readers that they all are
marching in festive pomp along the Via Sacra--the way of love--which
leads to God; they all are bearers of treasures committed to them,--for
they carry their God, their Christ, their shrine, their sacred things,
in their heart [302:1]. The image was not new. It is found in Stoic
writers. It underlies the surname Theophorus, the 'God-bearer,' which
Ignatius himself adopted. But he had in his company several Ephesian
delegates when he wrote; and the newly-discovered inscriptions inform us
that the practice which supplies the metaphor had received a fresh
impulse at Ephesus shortly before this letter was written. The most
important inscriptions in Mr Wood's collection relate to a gift of
numerous valuable statues, images, and other treasures to the temple of
Artemis, by one C. Vibius Salutaris, with an endowment for their
custody. In one of these (dated A.D. 104) it is ordained that the
treasures so given shall be carried in solemn procession from the temple
to the theatre and back 'at every meeting of the assembly, and at the
gymnastic contests, and on any other days that may be directed by the
Council and the People.' Orders are given respecting the persons forming
the procession, as well as respecting its route. It must pass through
the length of the city, entering by the Magnesian Gate and leaving by
the Coressian [302:2].
[FOOTNOTES]
[1:1] _Supernatural Religion; An Inquiry into the Reality of Divine
Revelation._ Two Vols. Second Edition, 1874. [Subsequent editions are as
follows, Third and Fourth Editions (1874), Fifth and Sixth Editions
(1875), Third Volume (1877), Complete Edition, in Three Vols. (1879).]
[3:1] Iren. v. 36. 1, 2.
[4:1] _S.R._ II. p. 328 sq.
[4:2] _Canon_ p. 63, note 2.
[4:3] The Greek is [Greek: Einai de tên diastolên tautên tês oikêseôs
... kai dia touto _eirêkenai ton Kurion_ en tois tou patros mou monas
einai pollas k.t.l.]
[4:4] [Tacitly corrected in ed. 4 (II. p. 328) where the sentence runs:
'But ... there is this distinction etc.' See below, p. 56.]
[5:1] [The author's defence is dealt with, pp. 53 sq, 126 sq.]
[5:2] [The question is discussed below, p. 142 sq, where the author's
subsequent explanation is considered.]
[5:3] [This charge is withdrawn in ed. 4 (II. p. 328 n. 3), but
objection is still taken to the words 'they taught' as conveying 'too
positive a view of the case.' On the character of this withdrawal see
below, p. 53 sq.]
[5:4] Our author has already (II. p. 326) accused Tischendorf of
'deliberately falsifying the text by inserting, "say they."'
Tischendorf's words are, 'Und deshalb sagen sie habe der Herr den
Ausspruch gethan.' He might have spared the 'sagen sie,' because the
German idiom 'habe' enables him to express the main fact that the words
are not Irenæus' own, without this addition. But he has not altered any
idea which the original contains; whereas our author himself has
suppressed this all-important fact in his own translation. [On this
treatment of Tischendorf see below, pp. 55 sq, 128, 138. The language is
modified in ed. 4 (II. p. 326) 'Tischendorf renders the oblique
construction of the text by inserting "say they" referring to the
Presbyters of Papias,' where the point of grammar is silently conceded.]
The reader may compare _S.R._ II. p. 100, 'The lightness and inaccuracy
with which the "Great African" proceeds is all the better illustrated by
the fact, that not only does he accuse Marcion falsely, but he actually
defines the motives for which he expunged the passage which never
existed etc.... he actually repeats the same charge on two other
occasions.'
[6:1] _S.R._ II. p. 334.
[6:2] [On the wording of this footnote in ed. 4 see below, p. 58. It is
omitted in ed. 6, where see II. p. 333.]
[6:3] [See further on this subject below, pp. 53 sq, 126 sq.]
[7:1] _c. Cels._ i. 8.
[7:2] _c. Cels._ viii. 76.
[7:3] _S.R._ II. p. 231 sq. [So also the Complete Edition (1879) II. p.
229 sq.]
[7:4] There is also another aorist in the part of the sentence, which
our author has not quoted, [Greek: allo suntagma ... en hô didaxein
epêngeilato.]
[8:1] [Tacitly corrected in ed. 6 (II. p. 46).]
[8:2] [Some of the grammatical errors are corrected in ed. 6 (II. p.
63), where however new mistranslations are introduced, as [Greek:
pollachôs] 'in divers parts', and [Greek: houtô makarizetai ... hoti
opsetai ton theon] 'becomes so blessed that he shall see God'.]
[8:3] [[Greek: to rhêma] from 'Reason' becomes 'Word' in ed. 6, but
[Greek: zêtêsantes] still remains 'they who inquire' (ii. p. 265).]
[8:4] II. p. 296 sq. [Corrected in ed. 6.]
[8:5] II. p. 193. [Corrected in ed. 6.]
[8:6] I. p. 448, comp. p. 455. [The latter passage is struck out in ed.
6 (see I. p. 455); the former becomes 'committed no error'. See below,
p. 163.]
[8:7] II. p. 384.
[8:8] [But in ed. 6 (II. p. 384) I see that my translation is tacitly
substituted.]
[8:9] [Defended as a 'paraphrase' (see below, p. 129), but corrected in
ed. 6, which also omits the first clause.]
[9:1] [Other errors in translation are given below, p. 129.]
[9:2] I. p. 113. The last words ran 'certainly a late interpolation' in
the first edition (I. p. 103). Thus the passage has undergone revision,
and yet the author has not discovered the contradiction. [The author's
own explanation of this discrepancy is given below, p. 124. In ed. 6 (I.
p. 113) the sentence ends, 'and it is argued that it was probably a
later interpolation,' while in the Complete Edition (I. p. 113) it is
further qualified 'argued by some.']
[10:1] II. p. 421. [The argument in favour of the genuineness is
expanded in the Complete Edition (II. pp. 419-423).]
[10:2] [See below, p. 163 sq.]
[11:1] _S.R._ I. p. 276. [And so throughout all the editions.]
[11:2] [See below, p. 111.]
[11:3] i. pp. 444-485.
[11:4] [The subject is treated at length below, p. 142 sq.]
[12:1] I. p. 441.
[12:2] [On Hegesippus see below, pp. 34 sq, 42.]
[12:3] [On Justin Martyr see below, p. 43.]
[12:4] In I. p. 360, there is a foot-note, 'For the arguments of
apologetic criticism the reader may be referred to Canon Westcott's work
_On the Canon_ pp. 112-139. Dr Westcott does not attempt to deny the
fact that Justin's quotations are different from the text of our
Gospels; but he accounts for his variations on grounds which are' ['seem
to us' ed. 6] 'purely imaginary.' I can hardly suppose that our author
had read the passage to which he refers. Otherwise the last sentence
would doubtless have run thus, 'but he accounts for his variations by
arguments which it would give me some trouble to answer.'
[13:1] II. p. 411.
[13:2] Our author himself refers to this saying for a wholly different
purpose later on (II. p. 416).
[14:1] II. p. 408. Our author says, 'It is clear that Paul is referred
to in the address to the Church of Ephesus: "And thou didst try them
which say that they are Apostles and are not, and didst find them
false."' He seems to forget what he himself has said (p. 395), 'No
result of criticism rests upon a more secure basis ... than the fact
that the Apocalypse was written in A.D. 68, 69,' _i.e._, after St Paul's
death. This theory moreover is directly at variance with the one
definite fact which we know respecting the personal relations between
the two Apostles; namely, that they gave to each other the right hands
of fellowship (Gal. ii. 9). It is surprising therefore that this
extravagant paradox should have been recently reproduced in an English
review of high character.
[14:2] 1 Cor. x. 7, 8, 14, 21. When the season of persecution arrived,
and the constancy of Christians was tested in this very way, St Paul's
own principles would require a correspondingly rigid abstinence from
even apparent complicity in idolatrous rites. There is every reason
therefore to believe that, if St Paul had been living when the
Apocalypse was written, he would have expressed himself not less
strongly on the same side. On the other hand these early Gnostics who
are denounced in the Apocalypse seem, like their successors in the next
generation, to have held that a Christian might conform to Gentile
practices in these matters to escape persecution. St Paul combats this
spirit of license, then in its infancy, in the First Epistle to the
Corinthians.
[14:3] [On the diction of the Fourth Gospel see below, p. 131 sq.]
[14:4] II. p. 445.
[15:1] [_The Authorship and Historical Character of the Fourth Gospel_
(1872). Macmillans.]
[15:2] Our author (II. p. 444) speaks of 'the works of imagination of
which the world is full, and the singular realism of many of which is
recognized by all.' Is this a true description of the world in the early
Christian ages? If not, it is nothing to the purpose.
[15:3] II. p. 389. 'Apologists' lay stress on the _difference_ of theme.
[See below, p. 131 sq.]
[15:4] [He does however mention the term elsewhere; see below, p. 123.]
[15:5] II. p. 468, and elsewhere.
[16:1] II. p. 451.
[16:2] [These passages are added without comment in the Complete Edition
in a note on II. p. 453.]
[16:3] [On this point see below, p. 131.]
[17:1] II, p. 472 sq; comp. pp. 186 sq, 271. [The statement stands
unchanged in the Complete Edition (II. p. 474 sq).]
[17:2] [See further, p. 99 sq.]
[17:3] II. p. 421. Travellers and 'apologists' alike now more commonly
identify Sychar with the village bearing the Arabic name Askar. This
fact is not mentioned by our author. He says moreover, 'It is admitted'
['evident' ed. 6] 'that there was no such place [as Sychar, [Greek:
Suchar]], and apologetic ingenuity is severely taxed to explain the
difficulty.' This is altogether untrue. Others besides 'apologists'
point to passages in the Talmud which speak of 'the well of Suchar (or
Sochar, or Sichar);' see Neubauer _La Géographie du Talmud_ p. 169 sq.
Our author refers in his note to an article by Delitzsch _Zeitschr. f.
Luth. Theol._ 1856 p. 240 sq. He cannot have read the article, for these
Talmudic references are its main purport.
[18:1] [The whole question of Sychar in treated at length below, p. 133
sq, where also the author's explanation of his meaning is given.]
[18:2] II. p. 419. [This whole section is struck out in the Complete
Edition (see II. p. 417), but the error survived ed. 6 (II. p. 419).]
[18:3] ['never once' ed. 6 (II. p. 424).]
[19:1] II. p. 423 sq.
[19:2] Credner _Einl._ I. p. 210 '...hat er es nicht für nöthig
gefunden, den Täufer Johannes von dem gleichnamigen Apostel Johannes
auch nur ein einziges Mal durch den Zusatz [Greek: ho baptistês] zu
unterscheiden (i. 6, 15, 19, 26, 28, 29, 32, 35, 41; iii. 23, 24, 25,
26, 27; iv. 1; v. 33, 36; x. 40, 41).'
[19:3] [For the author's own explanation of this error see below, p. 124
sq.]
[20:1] _S.R._ I. p. 459.
[21:1] _Canon_ p. 264. The words of Clement (_Strom._ vii. 17) to which
Dr Westcott refers, are: [Greek: Kathaper ho Basileidês, kan Glaukian
epigraphêtai didaskalon, hôs auchousin autoi, ton Petrou hermênea].
[21:2] _S.R._ II. p. 44 sq. The words which I have enclosed in brackets
were inserted in the Second Edition. A frank withdrawal would have been
worth something; but this insertion only aggravates the offence. [After
having been partly re-written in ed. 6 (II. p. 44), the whole section is
cut out in the Complete Edition (see II. p. 44).]
[22:1] [For the author's explanation of his language see below, p. 123
sq.]
[22:2] [This point is reverted to below, pp. 134, 187 sq.]
[22:3] [Our author's explanation of the term is given below, p. 134.]
[23:1] [One such list is dealt with in full, p. 65 sq.]
[24:1] _Essays in Criticism_ p. 57.
[24:2] _Paulus_ p. 469 sq (1st ed.).
[24:3] _Nachapost. Zeitalter_ II. p. 135.
[24:4] _Theolog. Jahrb._ XV. p. 311 sq, XVI. p. 147 sq.
[25:1] _Zur Kritik Paulinischer Briefe._ Leipzig, 1870. The author's
conclusions are supported by an appeal to the Hebrew, Arabic, Syriac,
and Armenian languages. The learning of this curious pamphlet keeps pace
with its absurdity. If the reader is disposed to think that this writer
must be laughing in his sleeve at the methods of the modern school to
which he belongs, he is checked by the obviously serious tone of the
whole discussion. Indeed it is altogether in keeping with Hitzig's
critical discoveries elsewhere. To this same critic we owe the
suggestion, that the name of the fabulist Æsop is derived from
Solomon's "_hyssop_ that springeth out of the wall," 1 Kings iv. 33:
_Die Sprüche Salomo's_ p. xvi. sq.
[25:2] _e.g._ respecting the date of the book of Judith, on which
depends the authenticity of Clement's Epistle (I. p. 222), the date of
Celsus (II. p. 228), etc.
[25:3] [See further, p. 141.]
[27:1] [Our author objects to this conclusion; see below, p. 138 sq.]
[27:1] II. p. 484.
[27:2] II. p. 487 sq.
[27:3] II. p. 486.
[27:4] II. p. 487 sq.
[27:5] II. p. 489.
[28:1] _S.R._ II. p. 490.
[29:1] _S.R._ I. p. xiv.
[30:1] II. p. 492.
[30:2] II. p. 492.
[30:3] II. p. 492.
[32:1] I. p. 212. The references throughout this article are given to
the fourth edition. But, with the single exception which I shall have
occasion to notice at the close, I have not observed any alterations
from the second, with which I have compared it in all the passages here
quoted.
[32:2] Euseb. _H.E._ iv. 26, 27.
[34:1] _S.R._ I. p. 432.