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A History of Christianity in the Apostolic age
A History of Christianity in the Apostolic age Author:Arthur Cushman McGiffert Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III THE CHRISTIANITY OF PAUL1 Paul was born in Tarsus, the capital of the province of Cilicia, in Asia Minor, and one of the great literary centres... more » of the world.2 It is not without significance that his native place was a large and important city, renowned for its educational advantages, and proud of its Greek culture and uncommon devotion to intellectual pursuits. It would be a most surprising thing if a man of Paul's mental calibre had not been more or less affected by the atmosphere which prevailed in such a place, and if he had not revealed throughout his life the influence of his early surroundings. That he got the greater part of his education in Jerusalem seems to be implied in Acts xxii. 3, and is confirmed by all that we know of him from his epistles. But in spite of that fact, his pride in his native place, and his affection for it, remained with him,3 and his subsequent career shows that his student life in Jerusalem did not efface the impression of the years spent at home in Tarsus, and did not stifle the instincts and impulses acquired there. That he had a regular Greek education may well be doubted. It was not the custom for strict Jews to give their children such a training, and Paul's epistles betray neither a wide knowledge of Greek literature nor a command of good Greek style.1 And yet, even without such an education, there must have been much in the general culture of the community whose influence a youth of his intellectual alertness could not help feeling, even unconsciously to himself. It is certain that his manners were those of a citizen of the world familiar with the habits of good society, that he had the facile adaptability of a cosmopolite, and that he felt himself at home amid all surroundings and in association with all classes of people...« less