them bound unto Jerusalem. But upon his arrival at that city, instead of executing his commission, he all at once professed himself a Christian, one of that sect which he had come thither to persecute; was baptized, and straightway preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God. But all that heard him were amazed, and said, Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the Chief Priests? Well might they be surprised, both Jews and Christians; the one party, that the zealous and active Pharisee, the commissioned agent of the great adversaries of the Gospel, should all at once desert his office, forsake his religion, and become an avowed defender of those notions which he had undertaken to persecute and suppress; the other, at seeing the bitter enemy, the relentless persecutor of the brethren, now ranged on their side, and encouraging them by his powerful eloquence to maintain their faith in Jesus Christ. I say, it might well surprise them: it was, in fact, a change so total, and so marvellous; so contrary to all human probability; so difficult to be accounted for on any known and ordinary principles of action, that

if we had possessed no certain information as to the causes of it, we might have said boldly, This could never have happened without a miracle. St. Paul himself has declared that his conversion was miraculous; and has described the manner of it in words which I need not repeat, for the history of that wonderful transaction must be familiar to you all. It is related by St. Paul himself, and by his companion St. Luke, with a substantial agreement as to facts, but with a trifling difference in the circumstances, which proves that it is no studied fabrication. It is said, in the ninth chapter of the Acts, that when the heavenly vision appeared to Saul, and Jesus spake to him from heaven, the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man, (it should rather be translated hearing a sound;) whereas, in the twenty-second chapter, St. Paul himself says, And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid, but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me. The two accounts, which have been cited as opposing each other, may thus be reconciled and combined: "The men who journeyed with St. Paul, saw the great light from heaven, but did not discern the form of Jesus; and heard a sound, but did

not distinguish the voice or words of Jesus." St. Paul referred to this miracle on several occasions: it seems never to have been called in question by his contemporaries. He related it, when, no doubt, some of those who accompanied him upon his journey, and witnessed it, were living.

It is only in later times that unbelievers have called in question the cause of St. Paul's conversion: the reality of it, one would have thought, was evident beyond dispute: yet even that is now denied, and his conversion to Christianity maintained to have been only an outward and pretended change. Now, if St. Paul's account of his own conversion were not true, he must have been either an impostor, or an enthusiast, self-deceiving, or deceived by others. That he was an impostor, is a supposition so improbable, that it requires a greater stretch of faith to believe it, than to admit his miraculous conversion. He could have no reasonable motive to undertake such an imposture, nor any hope of carrying it on with success. He had himself done all in his power to inflame the animosity of the chief men of the Jews against the Christians, and to beat down the religion of the cross; and he had done it with sincerity of intention; for all

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his prejudices of education taught him to consider, as impious and profane, any doctrine which weakened the authority of the law of Moses; and, as he declares of himself, he verily thought that he ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Is it credible, nay, is it possible, that such a person, in the height of his mistaken zeal, fresh from the death of the first martyr, breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, having had no previous conference with an apostle or inspired teacher; should all at once, upon his journey, conceive the notion of embracing that profession, and with it persecution? That he should determine to put himself at the head of that sect, which he had till that moment regarded with contempt and aversion, is surely too absurd a proposition to be entertained. What could have been his motives? Was he in love with obloquy and persecution? Did he expect that this defection from the Jewish rulers would secure to him an unusual degree of indulgence and regard? did he imagine that the Christians had been duly prepared to receive him with cordiality, by his kind forbearance towards them?

We are told that he had formed a scheme of personal ambition: a strange ambition; to

become the leader of a detested and persecuted sect. But where are the marks and symptoms of this ambitious spirit in St. Paul? The honourable and holy ambition of converting sinners, of propagating the Gospel amongst the heathen, of saving souls unto the Lord--that indeed he did possess in an eminent degree. But it had no reference to his own aggrandizement or honour; for we find him declaring, that as long as true Christianity was taught, and embraced, and maintained, it was a matter of indifference to him who preached it.* He had one object in view, the salvation of his brethren. This was not a narrow, selfish spirit, but a liberal and enlarged philanthropy; not like those philosophers, whose aim has been, not so much the investigation of truth for the general good of mankind, as the establishing of their own reputation by the display of their reasoning or eloquence; not the improvement of the world, but the establishment of a sect, to be called by their names. the Apostle's object? To give currency to doctrines not his own: to persuade his brethren to rely for their acceptance with God, not upon himself, but solely upon the merits of another person to magnify, not his own name, but the

*Phil. i. 18.

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