The Footsteps of St Paul Author:John Ross Macduff 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: No, no; the manger of Bethlehem, the carpenter's shop at Nazareth, the cross of Calvary, the fishermen disciples—all shocked the pride of the young Pharisee. The... more » very thought of a Messiah so lowly seemed an in-; suit to God and to the whole Jewish nation. He had thought, at first, that the new religion of this " one Jesus" would soon be forgotten—that, after this death of shame and humiliation, all his other followers would, like his apostles, have forsaken him and fled. But when he saw the sect growing daily in strength, he resolved to do God service, by entering with his whole soul on the work of persecution. There was a holy man who rose into note at this time among the disciples of Jesus ; his name was Stephen, one of the seven deacons of the infant Church, chosen to take charge of the money collected for the relief of the poor. He is described by Jerome, and some of the early fathers, as a person of great learning and eloquence. In Scripture he is spoken of as " a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost." He was bold in the cause of his crucified but now exalted Lord. He went day after day into the synagogue, disputing with the learned men and doctors, and trying to shew them, from their own Old Testament scriptures, that Jesus was the true Messiah. We are told (in Acts vi. 9, 10) that among these synagogues into which he entered was that of " the Cilicians;" and we have reason to believe, that among those whom this " devout man " addressed, was one who had again left his native Tarsus and come up to Jerusalem. It is more than likely that the "young man Saul" (who is now again brought before our notice) often, Acts vii. 58. and agai.i disputed with Stephen ; that all the powers of argument he had learned so well under Gamaliel's teaching were put in force ; but t...« less