THE SABBATH. 7 



moreover, were not uncommon. Jesus himself had to 

 quell such contentions. His exhortations to humility 

 were frequent. 'He that is least among you shall be 

 greatest of all.' There were also conflicts upon points 

 of doctrine. Among communities so diverse in tem- 

 perament and antecedents differences were sure to arise. 

 The point of difference which concerns us most had 

 reference to the binding power of the Jewish law. 

 Hero dissensions arose among the apostles themselves. 

 Nobody who reads with due attention the epistles of 

 Paul can fail to see that this mighty propagandist had 

 to carry on a lifelong struggle to maintain his authority 

 as a preacher of Christ. There were not wanting those 

 who denied him all vocation. James was the head of 

 the Church at Jerusalem, and Judeo-Christians held 

 that the ordination of James was alone valid. Paul, 

 therefore, having no mission from James, was deemed 

 by some a criminal intruder. Tiie real fault of Paul 

 was his love of freedom, and his uncompromising re- 

 jection, on behalf of his Gentile converts, of the chains 

 of Judaism. He proudly calls himself ' the Apostle of 

 the Gentiles.' He .ays to the Corinthians, ' I suppose 

 I was not a whit behind the chiefest apostle. Are they 

 Hebrews ? So am I. Are they Israelites ? So am I. 

 Are they of the seed of Abraham ? So am I. Are they 

 ministers of Christ? I am more ; in labours more 

 abundant, in s- tripes above measure, in deaths oft.' He 

 then establishes his right to the position which he 

 claimed by recounting in detail the sufferings he had 

 endured. I leave it to you to compare this Christian 

 hero with some of the * freethinkers ' of our own day, 

 who, ' more intolerant than the intolerance they de- 

 precate,' flaunt in public their cheap and trumpery 

 theories of the great Apostle and the Master whom be 

 served. 



