66

"cerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyfelf alfo walkeft orderly, and keepest "the law. Then Paul took the men, and

"the next day, purifying himself with them, "entered into the temple." Nor does this concurrence between the character and the inftances look like the refult of contrivance. St. Paul, in the epiftle, defcribes, or is made to describe, his own accommodating conduct towards Jews and towards Gentiles, towards the weak and over-fcrupulous, towards men indeed of every variety of character; to "them that are without law as without law, "being not without law to God, but under "the law to Chrift, that I might gain them "that are without law; to the weak became "I as weak, that I might gain the weak; I

66

am made allthings to all men, that I might "gain fome." This is the fequel of the text which stands at the head of the prefent number. Taking therefore the whole paffage together, the apoftle's condefcenfion to the Jews is mentioned only as a part of his general difpofition towards all. It is not probable, that this character fhould have been made up from the inftances in the

Acts,

Acts, which relate folely to his dealings with the Jews. It is not probable that a sophist fhould take his hint from those instances, and then extend it so much beyond them : and it is ftill more incredible, that the two inftances in the A&ts, circumftantially related, and interwoven with the history, fhould have been fabricated in order to fuit the character, which St. Paul gives of himfelf in the epistle.

"in

No. VIII.

Chap. i. 14-17. "I thank God that I "baptized 'none of you but Crifpus and "Gaius, left any should say that I baptized my own name; and I baptized also "the household of Stephanas: befides, I "know not whether I baptized any other; "for Christ sent me not to baptize, but to "preach the gofpel."

It may be expected that thofe whom the apostle baptized with his own hands, were converts distinguished from the rest by some circumstance, either of eminence, or of connection with him. Accordingly, of the three

names

names here mentioned, Crifpus, we find from Acts xviii. ver. 8, was a "chief ruler "of the Jewish fynagogue at Corinth, who "believed in the Lord, with all his house.' Gaius, it appears from Romans xvi. 23, was St. Paul's hoft at Corinth, and the hoft, he tells us," of the whole church." The household of Stephanas, we read in the fixteenth chapter of this epiftle, "were the firft fruits of Achaia." Here therefore is the propriety we expected: and it is a proof of reality not to be contemned; for their names appearing in the feveral places in which they occur, with a mark of distinction belonging to each, could hardly be the effect of chance, without any truth to direct it: and, on the other hand, to suppose that they were picked out from these pasfages, and brought together in the text before us, in order to display a conformity of names, is both improbable in itself, and is rendered more so, by the purpose for which they are introduced. They come in to affift St. Paul's exculpation of himself, against the poffible charge, of having affumed the cha

*

racter

1

racter of the founder of a separate religion, and with no other vifible, or, as I think, imaginable defign*.

No.

* Chap. i. ver. 1. "Paul called to be an apostle of Jefus Chrift, through the will of God, and Softhenes, "our brother, unto the church of God, which is at "Corinth."-The only account we have of any perfon who bore the name of Softhenes, is found in the eighteenth chapter of the Acts. When the Jews at Corinth had brought Paul before Gallio, and Gallio had difmiffed their complaint as unworthy of his interference, and had driven them from the judgement feat; "then all the "Greeks," fays the historian, "took Softhenes, the chief "ruler of the fynagogue, and beat him before the judge

ment feat." The Softhenes here spoken of was a Corinthian; and if he was a Chriftian, and with St. Paul when he wrote this epiftle, was likely enough to be joined with him in the falutation of the Corinthian church. But here occurs a difficulty. If Softhenes was a Chriftian at the time of this uproar, why fhould the Greeks beat him? The affault upon the Christians was made by the Jews. It was the Jews who had brought Paul before the magiftrate. If it had been the Jews alfo who had beaten Softhenes, I should not have doubted but that he had been a favourer of St. Paul, and the fame person who is joined with him in the epistle. Let us fee therefore whether there be not fome error in our prefent text. The Alexandrian manuscript gives rares alone, without of Eλnes, and is followed in this reading by the Coptic verfion, by the Arabic version, published by

Erpenius,

No. IX.

Chap. xvi. ver. 10, 11. "Now, if Timo"theus come, let no man despise him."Why despise him? This charge is not given