11. Второе путешествие апостола Павла (51 – 54 гг. по Р. X.)

Before the start of the second journey, a division occurred between the apostles Paul and Barnabas. Barnabas wanted to take his nephew John Mark with him, but Paul did not agree to this. This, however, did not in any way disrupt Paul’s friendly relations with his former companions (Col. 4:10), and the division of labor only served to make the preaching more successful. Barnabas and Mark went to the island of Cyprus, and Paul, taking Silas with him, went to visit the Churches founded in Asia Minor (in Derbe, Lystra, Iconium and Antioch of Pisidia). After this, the Apostle Paul intended to preach in other regions of Asia Minor, but the Spirit of God showed him a different path. In the seaside city of Troas, after prayer at night, the apostle had a vision, namely: a certain Macedonian man appeared before him and asked him: “Come to Macedonia and help us.” Paul realized that the Lord was calling him to preach in the country of Macedonia. Here he founded churches in Philippi, Thessalonica, or Thessaloniki, and Veria, and then in the famous cities of Greece: Athens and Corinth. His employees were, in addition to Silas, Luke and Timothy. In Philippi, the apostle drove out an evil spirit from one maidservant-soothsayer. Her masters, who received a large income from hunters to find out the future, accused Paul and his companion Silas of preaching a new faith, prohibited by Roman laws, and the authorities, without examining the matter, ordered them to be beaten and put in prison. That night Paul and Silas stood up to pray. The mournful prison resounded with the sounds of Christian chants. The prisoners listened to them in silent awe. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken, the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were loosened. The prison guard, waking up and seeing that the doors of the prison were open, drew a sword and wanted to kill himself. But Paul called out to him loudly: “Do yourself no harm, we are all here!” The guard demanded fire, ran into the prison and fell in trepidation at the feet of Paul and Silas: “My Lords! What should I do to be saved? “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you and your whole house will be saved,” the apostles told him. The guard invited them to his place, washed their wounds and immediately baptized himself and his household. The next day, the city leaders, having come to their senses, sent the prison guard an order to release the apostles; but Paul said: “We, Roman citizens 17, were publicly beaten and thrown into prison without trial, and now we are being secretly released?! No, let them come and take us out themselves.” The leaders got scared, came to the prison, apologized to the apostles and asked them to leave the city. In Thessalonica, the apostles had great success in preaching, but suffered a lot from the unbelieving Jews. In Veria, the Jews turned out to be more thoughtful than the Solunians: they listened with zeal to the sermon of the apostles and carefully examined the holy books to see if they agreed with the words of the apostles. And many of them believed. There were also many noble Greeks, men and women, who believed. Arriving in Athens, the Apostle Paul was troubled in spirit at the sight of many idols. He preached first in a Jewish synagogue, then talked daily in the square with those he met. Some of the Epicurean 18 and Stoic 19 philosophers entered into scientific disputes with them. And some disdainfully asked each other about the apostle: “What does this vain guy want to say?” Others also said half contemptuously: “It seems he is preaching about foreign deities.” However, the apostle's sermon seemed worthy of attention to many, and he was invited to the Areopagus 20. Here the apostle, before the eyes of the educated world, spoke a speech that fully shows the greatness of his gifts, both natural and grace-filled, and serves as a model of Christian preaching for all times. “Athenians,” Paul exclaimed, “I see from everything that you seem to be especially devout; for, passing and examining your shrines, I also found an altar on which is written: “To the unknown God.” This, which you honor without knowing, I preach to you. God, who created the world and everything in it, being the Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in churches made by hands and does not require the service of human hands, as if He needed anything, Himself giving to all life, breath and everything... From one blood He brought forth the entire human race to live on the whole face of the earth, appointing predetermined times and the limits of their habitation, so that they would seek God, if they would not feel Him and find Him, although He is not far from each of us, for We live and move and have our being in Him, as some of your poets said: “We are His generation.” If we are His kind, then we should not think that the Divinity is like gold, or silver, or stone, which received its image from the art and invention of man.” After this, the apostle reveals the ways of Divine Providence regarding the pagans: “Hitherto God left people to themselves and allowed times of ignorance to be, now He commands all people everywhere to repent.” Salvation is proclaimed to all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Whom God testified and glorified by raising Him from the dead. And those who do not take advantage of the message of salvation await the judgment of the Lord through this same great Man predestined by Him. Some of the listeners (probably of the Epicurean school), at the words of the apostle about the resurrection of the dead, could not hide their disbelief and allowed themselves to laugh at the preacher of truth. Others said: “We’ll listen to you about this at another time.” However, the apostle’s words also found good ground. Some immediately believed and joined the apostle. Among them was Dionysius the Areopagite (i.e., a member of the supreme court), a later famous teacher of the Church, bishop and martyr. The holy apostle worked especially hard in Corinth, whose inhabitants were distinguished, on the one hand, by their education and refined secularism, and on the other, by their extreme licentiousness. The apostle stayed in the house of the Jews Aquila and Priscilla. This was a very pious family (home church, as the apostle later called it). Their occupation was making tents. These tents, like screens, were used when stopping during travel to protect from the heat of the sun. The Apostle knew this craft and helped his hospitable hosts, so he was not a burden to anyone and fed from the labors of his hands. Every Saturday in the synagogue he preached about the Lord the Savior. Many of the Jews and proselytes believed, but most of the Jews opposed his teaching and slandered the apostle. “Your blood is on your heads: I am clean; from now on I am going to the pagans,” the apostle said to the Jews hostile to him and opened a meeting in the house of a certain Justus, a proselyte convert. The Lord appeared to him and said: “Don’t be afraid, speak up, don’t be silent. I am with you, and no one will harm you." Through the labors of the apostle, a Church was founded in Corinth, which in its glory surpassed even that of Antioch. From Corinth the apostle went to Jerusalem for the holiday, as some think, of Pentecost. At the end of the second journey of the Apostle Paul, the writing activity of this great apostle began. From Corinth he sent two messages to Thessalonians 21. – The Apostle Paul had the important right of a Roman citizen at that time. – The Epicureans (so-called after the philosopher Epicurus) were distinguished by their unbelief: “There are either no gods at all,” they taught, “or they are just idle and careless spectators of the world; everything in the world depends on chance; the soul of a person disappears with the death of the body; the purpose of life is pleasure." Such wise men, of course, could not like the sermon about the Crucified One. – The Stoics (so-called from the pillars of the building where the founder of their school, the philosopher Zeno, taught) taught that the whole world is living matter; the human soul is supposedly a transitory part, or a manifestation of the universal soul of the deity. The highest thing in a person is reason. He who acts for reasons of reason is virtuous and should be calm and happy in all circumstances. The pride of the Stoics is as contrary to the spirit of the Gospel as the licentiousness of the Epicureans. – Areopagus – from Greek means the hill of Ares – the god of war. Here was the highest judicial seat, overseeing the implementation of laws, morals, and worship. – In the 1st letter, the apostle convinces the Thessalonians to be firm in all persecution and suffering and to wait for the second coming of Christ for their consolation and strengthening in their lives. In the 2nd Epistle, the apostle, by the way, reveals the signs of the second coming of Christ. You might be interested in: