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Story of the life of st. Paul, the apostle, by M.F.S.
Story of the life of st Paul the apostle by MFS Author:Mary Seymour 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: STOEY OF THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL, THE APOSTLE. . . I CHAPTER I. A Yeab had scarcely passed after the death of Christ, when a young man of honourable ... more »birth and great learning visited the city of Jerusalem at the tune of the religious festivals, and there discovered that people of every rank were being attracted to a new faith— the faith which Jesus had taught from His own lips while He dwelt on earth, and which His Apostles were now preaching in the midst of danger, difficulty, and unbelief. Saul was filled with the fiercest indignation. His father was a Pharisee who had carefully trained his son in their strict and austere rules. From his earliest years he had been instructed in the laws and traditions of the Jews by Gamaliel, the most noted teacher of that day, and he had far excelled his companions in the acquirement of that knowledge which was so highly valued by the sect to which he belonged; and now, in his first anger and hot zeal, the young man believed it his duty and his glory to root out the Christian truth which he deemed heresy, and to destroy all who avowed themselves followers of Jesus of Nazareth. Tarsus, in Cilicia, was Saul's native city, and he must have been dwelling there during the period of our Lord'spublic ministry, for no record exists of Ms having witnessed any of the wondrous scenes connected with the life and death of Christ; and it is supposed that, after completing his studies at Jerusalem, he returned to his home, remaining there until the year 35, when his career of persecuting cruelty began by the martyrdom of St. Stephen, about the time of the Feast of Pentecost. The Scripture narrative does not mention Saul's name as one of those who took Stephen captive, but probably he was among the number who listened to that speech before the co...« less