21. What crime takes its name from him?

22. What is said of Peter and John in verse 25?

23. What further is said of Philip in this chapter? 26-40. 24. What is the last that we read of Philip? xxi. 8.

25. Do we hear most of him as deacon, or as evangelist?

NOTES. Acts viii. 1. And at that time there was a great persecution. The stoning of Stephen was immediately followed by an attack on the whole church. This was the first great assault on the Christian community, although the apostles had been persecuted before. And they were all scattered abroad. By "all" we need not understand every individual, but only that so many fled that the church in Jerusalem was, for the time being, broken up. Many of those who fled returned, no doubt, when the persecution ceased. — Except the apostles. Why the twelve remained at Jerusalem is not clear. Perhaps they hoped for the speedy manifestation of the Messiah there, in his second coming. The fact that they could so remain, shows that the persecution was as yet fitful, the action of a mob rather than of the authorities, and that in Jerusalem it spent itself in breaking up the Christian assemblies, except as Saul (ver. 3) pushed his inquisition further." — Abbott.

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5. Philip. Three persons of this name are mentioned in the New Testament, Philip the tetrach, Philip the apostle, and Philip the deacon, or evangelist. The last of these is evidently referred to here. Much more is related of him as an evangelist, or preacher, than as a deacon, and it is by the former title that we prefer to designate him. - The city of Samaria, or, as Noyes renders it, "a city of Samaria." Not the city Samaria, for this had been destroyed by Hyrcanus more than a century and a half before, and another, called Sebaste, built on its site. Some city in the province of Samaria, probably Sebaste or Sychar, is meant. - Preached Christ unto them. "Proclaimed unto them the Christ." Revised translation. "The term 'Christ' in the New Testament ought, in a multitude of cases, to receive the definite article before it, where it has been omitted by the translators. The grand question was whether the Messiah, the Christ, the Promised, Expected One, had actually appeared; and the preaching of the early disciples was clearly directed to the point, as here by Philip, to identify Jesus as the Christ." - Livermore.

9. Simon. "The history of this individual is involved in great obscurity, and little reliance can be put upon many of the traditions preserved concerning him by the early Christian fathers. He is usually termed Simon Magus, from his practising magical arts. The magi, wise men, were distinguished for their knowledge of astronomy and astrology, by which they professed to calculate the fortunes of individuals; and for their acquaintance with the powers of nature and the remedies of diseases, by which they could astonish mankind, and impose upon their credulity, as being possessors of more than mortal power. They could therefore act

as jugglers and, by their knowledge of some of the facts of natural philosophy, play tricks of legerdemain.’ Livermore. - Used sorcery, and bewitched the people. "A man practising sorcery, and amazing the

people."-Noyes.

17. Then they laid their hands on them.

"There is no reason to believe imposition of hands, except as

that there was any particular virtue in the a sign or token. It was a custom, not an essential. Jesus put his hands upon the children he blessed. The apostles laid their hands upon the seven deacons, when they were set apart for their office. The act was symbolical of a blessing invoked and conferred."- Livermore.

20. Thy money perish with thee. "This is not an anathema, a consignment of Simon to destruction, for in the next sentence Peter admonishes him to pray for forgiveness. The apostle declares that Simon is for destruction, if he does not escape by repentance, and repels the proffered money by an expression which is weakened by attempting to give to the language a literal construction.". Abbott.

HINTS TO TEACHERS. (1.) The stoning of Stephen was a signal for the first general persecution of the Christian community. (2.) Persecution in this case, as usual, had the opposite effect from what was intended. (3.) The first Christian Missions are now established. (4.) To be a Christian is to have the spirit of Christ, not to make a profession of religion and join the church.

REFERENCES. Neander's "Planting and Training of the Christian Church" (Bk. II.); Milman's "History of Christianity" (Bk. II. Ch. I.); Schaff's " History of the Apostolic Church" (pp. 214-216); Renan's "Apostles" (Ch. IX.); "Bible for Learners" (Vol. III. Bk. II. Ch. III.); Commentaries on the Acts; Bible Dictionaries (art. Philip the Evangelist, Simon Magus, Samaria, Samaritans, Sorcerer). On Simon Magus see also Norton's "Genuineness of the Gospels " (abridged edition, pp. 189–195).

THE PRESENT SERIES OF LESSONS.

THE Tenth Series of Sunday-School Lessons, of which this is the first monthly part, will contain forty-three Lessons, about twenty of which will be based on selections from the Acts of the Apostles, and the rest on selections from the New Testament Epistles. Those based on the Acts will be largely historic, and designed chiefly to give sketches of Christianity in its early years; those based on the Epistles will be chiefly practical. We are confident that the whole will form an interesting and profitable course of study.

Published by the Unitarian Sunday-School Society, 7 Tremont Place, Boston. Price, $2.00 a hundred.

[Entered as second-class mail matter.]

GOLDEN TEXT: Lead me in thy truth and teach me; for thou art the God of my salvation. —Ps. xxv. 5.

1. Where was the apostle Paul born?

He was born in the city of Tarsus in Cilicia.
2. In what religion was he brought up?
He was brought up in the Jewish religion.
3. Where was he sent to be educated?
To Jerusalem.

4. What did you learn about Stephen in one of these Lessons?

5. While they were stoning Stephen what did Paul do?

He stood by consenting to the cruel deed.

6. What did he do soon after to other Christians?

He persecuted them.

7. What is it to persecute any one?

8. To what city, a long distance from Jerusalem, did he go to persecute the Christians there?

To the city of Damascus.

9. What took place while he was on the way to Damascus? He became a Christian himself.

10. What is this great change in him called?

It is called the conversion of Paul.

1. In what city was the apostle Paul born? Acts xxii. 3. 2. How does he speak of Tarsus? xxi. 39.

3. What account can you give of Tarsus?

4. What trade did Paul learn? xviii. 3.

5. To what sect did he belong? xxvi. 4, 5; Phil. iii. 5. 6. Where was he sent to be educated?

7. Who was his teacher? xxii. 3.

8. What is related of Gamaliel in v. 33–40?

9. What else can you say of Gamaliel?

10. What other name had Paul? xiii. 9.

11. What part did he take in the stoning of Stephen? vii. 58; viii. 1.

12. How is Paul's persecution of the followers of Jesus described in viii. 3?

1,

13. For what purpose did he set out for Damascus? ix.

2.

14. How far is Damascus from Jerusalem, and how long time would the journey occupy?

The distance is 136 miles, and the journey would occupy a week. 15. What accounts are given of Paul's conversion as he approached Damascus? ix. 3-18; xxii. 6–16; xxvi. 9-19.

16. May not reflection while on the long and lonely road from Jerusalem to Damascus have done much to produce the change that came over him?

17. What is the essential fact in Paul's conversion?

THE EARLY LIFE OF PAUL. The apostle Paul was born in Tarsus, the capital of Cilicia, a province in the south-east of Asia Minor. It was situated in a fertile plain on both banks of the Cydnus, a cold and rapid stream rising in the Taurus Mountains. It was a place of commercial importance, and noted for its schools of philosophy, which are said to have rivalled those of Athens and Alexandria. Paul himself speaks of it as no mean city." The date of his birth is uncertain. He is alluded to as a young man at the time of Stephen's death, which took place not far from A.D. 35. From this expression we infer that he was then under forty years of age, while from the prominent part which he took in the persecution that followed, and the commission which he received not long after to go to Damascus, we infer that he was at least thirty. In the Epistle to Philemon, written about A.D. 62, he calls himself "Paul the Aged," from which we infer that he was then not less than sixty. A sermon attributed to Chrysostom says that he was born A.D. 2, but both the genuineness of the ser

mon and the accuracy of the statement are doubtful. It may be regarded as highly probable, however, that he was born not more than five years from this date, and that he was between thirty and forty years of age at the time of his conversion. Every Jewish boy was required to learn a trade, and Paul learned to be a tent-maker. What education he received in Tarsus is not definitely known, but it is probable that he was sent to some Jewish school, since his father, who was a strict Pharisee, would be afraid of the influence of the schools of the Gentiles. When Paul was not far from thirteen he was sent to Jerusalem and put in charge of Gamaliel, one of the most noted doctors of the law. Here he remained, it is probable, for several years and then went back to his native city. While Paul was in Jerusalem, sitting at the feet of Gamaliel, Jesus was in Nazareth, working with his father at the carpenter's trade. Perhaps both these boys were in the city at some of the great festivals, but at the time Jesus taught there it is probable that Paul had returned to Tarsus. At the death of Stephen we again hear of Paul in Jerusalem. No doubt he was one of those who disputed with Stephen; that he helped bring him before the Sanhedrim, heard there his address, and participated in hurrying him away to death. At any rate he took charge of the murderers' garments and approved of their wicked work. In the general persecution which followed Paul took a prominent part. He entered house after house and dragged men and women to prison. "He made havoc of the church," and after months had passed was yet breathing out threatening and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord." He was "so exceeding mad against them" that he asked of the high priest authority to go to Damascus - a week's journey from Jerusalem - to seize and bring to trial any followers of Jesus that he might find there.

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THE CONVERSION OF PAUL. To examine in detail the accounts of Paul's conversion would require far more space than we can command. We will only remark that we believe it to have been the result of anxious questionings, deep inward struggles, and earnest prayers along the road from Jerusalem to Damascus; that what took place near the end of the journey was the culmination of a change which he had been undergoing unconsciously, it may be, for days. As to the phenomena that accompanied his conversion we take it that they were for the most part subjective-experienced only by Paul-and that the accounts we have of them are in some respects inaccurate. The following remarks by Abbott on the essential fact in the accounts of Paul's conversion are worthy of attention: "The essential fact in this narrative is the spiritual change wrought in the character of Saul; and this change there is no possible room to doubt. His unquestionably authentic letters indicate both the original nature and the subsequent Christian experience of the man. He was by birth a Hebrew; was educated at Jerusalem, at the feet of Gamaliel; belonged to the strictest of the two parties into which the Pharisees were divided; was a believer in its ascetic philosophy, and zealous in its