THE VISIBLE FORM LAID ASIDE
“My prison walls cannot control
The flight, and freedom of the soul.”
Again Saulus was face to face with Nero. Since his first acquittal the
Apostle had made long and important missionary journeys, laboring
earnestly for the spread of the New Faith. But at length, upon the
testimony of informers, he was arrested by the magistrates of Nicopolis,
and again sent to Rome for trial before Cæsar.
Great events had taken place in the world’s metropolis since the former
trial. A conflagration—probably instigated by Nero—had destroyed nearly
half the city, and the Christians were charged with the wholesale
incendiarism. Their number was now considerable, and they had become
recognized as a peculiar sect, distinct from the Jews, and were popularly
counted as grossly superstitious and disloyal. Bitterness and persecution
were meted out to them.
Instead of living in his own hired house, as aforetime, Saulus was
incarcerated in the dungeon of the Mamertine prison, and his friends were
denied the privilege of visiting him. But his indomitable spirit rose
above all outward things, and his last letter, written to Timotheus while
on the verge of the Unseen, is full of triumph. Pessimism, doubt, and fear
had no place in his soul. There was no such thing as defeat.
With perfect confidence in the inherent power of Truth, and its final
supremacy, he was aware that its progress was not dependent upon the
bodily continuance of himself or any other person.
During his final hours in the seen form he was calm and joyful. Even the
sleep of his last night on the rock floor of his dungeon was sweet and
refreshing.
The final scene, which took place in the early morning, was secret and
sudden. Saulus, with the few who had him in charge, passed out upon the
Appian Way, through the gate, which after nineteen hundred years is yet
called by his name, by the pyramid of C. Cestius, and on about three
miles, to a green and level spot known as Aquæ Salviæ, where they halted.
The face of the martyr already shone with a heavenly light! He had
ascended a Mount of Transfiguration, and his inner vision was opened! The
realm of physical sensation and suffering was left behind, and now he
looks out and up, and behold the whole Invisible is visible! He has
already landed upon the Delectable Shore! Here is a new and real Universe!
Hands are clasped with those who had passed before!
A warm unison of love thrills through reunited souls!
Things that seemed lost are found!
Stephanos was by his side, and gave him love and cheer!
What new spiritual activities and delightful ministries of loving service!
How the former missionary journeys shrink by comparison with new
opportunities now opening!
What glorious and far‐reaching vistas!
How many problems solved and mysteries made clear!
What a golden sunshine of harmony, beauty, and love!
What unending cycles of spiritual progress and activity stand out and wind
upward forever!
* * * * * * * * * *
The hallowed place of the translation is now marked by the magnificent
church—resplendent with colored marbles of great richness—of San Paolo
fuori le Mura.
FOOTNOTES
1 Besides the history contained in the New Testament Scriptures, the
grateful obligations of the author are due, in varying degree, to
Farrar’s “Life and Work of St. Paul,” his “Darkness and Dawn;” the
“Life and Epistles of St. Paul,” by Conybeare and Howson; “Paul the
Missionary,” by the Rev. W. M. Taylor, D.D.; “The Ideas of the
Apostle Paul,” by Rev. James Freeman Clarke, D.D.; various works by
Stanley, Jowett, Arnold, Martineau, Lytton, and Brewer; besides
Josephus, Strabo, and other ancient historical authorities.
2 There were only seven of the Rabbis to whom the Jews gave the title
of Rabban; and three of these were Gamaliels of this family, who
each in turn rose to the high distinction of _Nasî_, or President of
the School.
3 A ten‐minute hour‐glass.
4 Professor Plumptre supposes the _Urim_ to have been “a clear and
colorless stone set in the breastplate of the high priest as a
symbol of light, answering to the mystic scarab in the pectoral
plate of the ancient Egyptian priests, and that the _Thummim_ was an
image corresponding to that worn by the priestly judges of Egypt, as
a symbol of truth and purity of motive. By gazing steadfastly on
these, he may have been thrown into a mysterious, half‐ecstatic
state, akin to hypnotism, in which he lost all personal
consciousness, and received a spiritual illumination and insight.”
5 It is probable that no race—whatever its religion—ever existed,
among which there were not some who craved mystical and psychical
developments, and who often carried them to excess. Temperaments of
ardent and imaginative quality are swayed with an overpowering
desire to delve into the future and unseen. We may well suppose that
the Rabban would have disapproved of the excesses of this society
had he been aware of them; but what teacher, ancient or modern, was
ever able to curb and control, or even to find out, the devices of
his youthful students?
It is well known that crystal‐gazing and some other mechanical
expedients, under certain conditions, produce hypnosis,
clairvoyance, visions, trances, and other unusual and abnormal
psychical phenomena. In many cases they seem to include truthful
hints and foregleams of future events or distant scenes. Like
attracts like, and sometimes gives it symbolic embodiment. An
objective vision may come from subjective roots, and its creations
often haunt the consciousness.
6 It may seem that healing as depicted in this case was very sudden;
but the recorded works of Peter, John, and many others, which took
place during this era of great spiritual uplift and exuberant faith,
should not be overlooked.
7 Canon Farrar, in his “Life and Work of St. Paul,” says, “The part
which he [Saul] played at this time in the horrid work of
persecution has, I fear, been always underrated.... So thorough was
his search, and so deadly were its effects, that, in referring to
it, the Christians of Damascus can only speak of Saul as ‘he that
devastated in Jerusalem them that call on this name,’ using the
strong word which is strictly applicable to an invading army which
scathes a conquered country with fire and sword.”
Conybeare and Howson, in their “Life and Epistles of St. Paul,” say,
“That temporary protection which had been extended to the rising
sect by such men as Gamaliel was now at an end. Pharisees and
Sadducees, priests and people, alike indulged the most violent and
ungovernable fury.... The eminent and active agent in this
persecution was Saul.... His fame as an inquisitor was notorious far
and wide.”
A few passages from the New Testament (Revised Edition) are noted:—
Acts viii. 3. But Saul laid waste the church, entering into every
house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.
Acts ix. 1, 2. But Saul, yet breathing threatening and slaughter
against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, and
asked of him letters to Damascus unto the synagogues, that if he
found any that were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring
them bound to Jerusalem.
Acts xxii. 4. And I persecuted this Way unto the death, binding and
delivering into prisons both men and women.
Acts xxvi. 10, 11. And this I also did in Jerusalem: and I both shut
up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the
chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my vote
against them. And punishing them oftentimes in all the synagogues, I
strove to make them blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against
them, I persecuted them even unto foreign cities.
Galatians i. 13. For ye have heard of my manner of life in time past
in the Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the
church of God, and made havock of it.
1. Timothy i. 13. Though I was before a blasphemer, and a
persecutor, and injurious: howbeit I obtained mercy, because I did
it ignorantly in unbelief.
8 As to the historic literalism of the external phenomena said to be
connected with this notable inner transition, the author has no
desire to dogmatize either pro or con. It is the privilege and right
of every one to make his own interpretation. But however exact in
outward detail the somewhat variable records may be supposed to be,
we think that all will agree that the external setting does not
transcend the realm of incidental unimportance.
9 Gal. i. 16, 17. Immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:
neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before
me; but I went away into Arabia.
Says Canon Farrar in his “Life and Work of St. Paul,” “It is
difficult to conceive of any change more total, any rift of
difference more deep, than that which separated Saul the persecutor
from Paul the Apostle; and we are sure that—like Moses, like Elijah,
like our Lord Himself, like almost every great soul in ancient or
modern times to whom has been intrusted the task of swaying the
destinies by moulding the convictions of mankind,—like Sakya Mouni,
like Mahomet in the cave of Hira, like St. Francis of Assisi in his
sickness, like Luther in the monastery of Erfurdt—he would need a
quiet period in which to elaborate his thoughts, to still the tumult
of his emotions, to commune in secrecy and in silence with his own
soul.... Even on grounds of historic probability, it seems unlikely
that Saul should at once have been able to substitute a propaganda
for an inquisition.... And so Saul went to Arabia—a word which must,
I think, be understood in its popular and primary sense to mean the
Sinaitic peninsula.”
10 If Paul, under similar circumstances, was able to foretell the
result of a shipwreck, as related in the Biblical narrative, why
should not an equally gifted and illumined soul in like manner be
clear‐sighted? The higher perception in man is an orderly attainment
rather than an unearned supernatural bestowment.
11 Both introduced in the third chapter.
12 The Biblical narrative repeatedly confirms the supposition that Paul
was, by nature and experience, subject to trances and visions, or,
as translated into modern parlance, he was a “psychic.” It is
evident that this, in legitimate form, is not inconsistent with
Apostolic devotion and spiritual attainment.
The recorded experience of Swedenborg’s departure from the body
during a trance, and witnessing a large fire in Stockholm, three
hundred miles distant, may be mentioned as an illustration in this
line, among thousands with which history abounds. While in
Gottenburg on the 19th of June, 1759, he saw and described in detail
the progress and final control of the conflagration, which was
afterwards completely verified.
13 The Biblical account of this transaction (Acts xxii. 17‐21) is brief
and natural, and there is no claim or indication that the trance was
peculiar or miraculous. Paul, in his visions, guidances, and
miracles, never assumed to be more than human, or unlike other
imperfect men, in his experiences.
Has anything done greater harm to the Bible than the glamour that
has been put upon it, and the distance which has been assumed
between the events therein related and those which are common to all
mankind? The laws which govern the psychical, moral, and spiritual
experiences of men are uniform and unchangeable. Otherwise the whole
higher economy is chaotic and unreliable.
If an exalted vision of the Divine, a guidance from the inner Spirit
of Truth, a miracle of healing, or an interview with one who has
passed into the Unseen—one or all of these—is possible in one age,
then, under _like conditions_, it is possible for all time. If the
Bible were brought near and humanized, it would become clear,
practical, and harmonious. Its teachings and history would be
spiritually natural and evolutionary. The grandest work of the
present time is its rescue from the literalism, strangeness, and
dehumanization with which it has been burdened. It is thereby
honored and made congruous. The multitude of warring sects has come
from its literalization. It is a natural and simple record of the
experiences of men of varying condition, some of whom were
spiritually developed in eminent degree. It is inspired because it
inspires.
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE
Variations in spelling or hyphenation were not changed.
The following changes have been made to the text:
page 45, single quote changed to double quote after “Defend him!”
page 153, “occuping” changed to “occupying”
page 182, “houshold” changed to “household”
page 425, “proanos” changed to “pronaos”
page 458, quote mark added after “circles.”