(10) Voyage to Rome. His cause. however, having by that appeal been placed in the hands of the emperor, it was necessary that he should go to Rome, and thither accordingly Festus sent him. His voyage was long and disastrous. Leaving Cxsarea when the season was already consider ably advanced, they coasted along Syria as far as Sidon, and then crossed to Myra, a port of Lyda; thence they sailed slowly to Cniduc; and thence, in consequence of unfavorable winds. they struck across to Crete, and with difficulty reached a port on the southern part of that island called 'The Fair Haven,' near the town of Lasea.
There Paul urged the centurion. under whose charge he and his fellow-prisoners had been placed, to winter; but the place not being very suitable for this purpose, and the weather prom ising favorably, this advice was not followed, and they again set sail, intending to reach Phcenice, port in the same island, and there to winter. Scarcely had they set sail, however, when a tempest arose, at the mercy of which they were driven for fourteen days in a westerly direction, until they were cast upon the coast of Malta, where they suffered shipwreck, but without any loss of life. Hospitably received by the natives, they abode there three months, during which time Paul had a favorable opportunity of preach ing the gospel. and of showing the power with which he was endued for the authentication of his message by performing many miracles for the advantage of the people.
On the approach of spring they availed them selves of a ship of Alexandria which had win tered in the island, and set sail for Syracuse, where they remained three days; thence they crossed to Rhegium, in Italy; and thence to Puteoli, from which place Paul and his com panions journeyed to Rome.
(1 1) At Rome. Here Ile was delivered by the centurion to the captain of the guard. who per mitted him to dwell in his own hired house un der the surveillance of a soldier. And thus Ile continued for two years, 'receiving all that came to him, preaching thc kingdom of God, and teach ing those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ. with all confidence, no man forbidding him' (Acts xxi:t7; (12) Martyrdom. At this point the evangelist abruptly closes his narrative, leaving us to glean our information regarding the subsequent history of the Apostle from less certain sources. Tradi tion steadfastly affirms that he suffered martyrdom at Rome, and that the manner of his death was by beheading (Tillcmont, .1/jmoires, p. 324):
but whether this took place at the close of the imprisonment mentioned by Luke. or after a sec ond imprisonment incurred subsequent to an in tervening period of freedom and active exertion in the cause of Christianity, has bccn much dis cussed by modern writers. If, on the evidence fur nished by the allusions in the Second Epistle to Timothy, we adopt the supposition above stated, it will follow that Paul, during the interval be tween his first and second imprisonments, under took an extensive apostolic tour, in the course of which lie visited his former scenes of labor in Asia and Greece, and perhaps also fulfilled his purpose of going into Spain (Rom. xv :24-28). He probably also visited Crete and Dalmatia (comp. Greswell, vol. ii, pp. 78-mo).
(13) Literature Concerning Paul. On the writings of the apostle Paul, see the articles in this work under the titles of his different epistles: Pearson, An7zales Paulini, 4to Lond. 1688, translated by J. M. Williams, 12mo. Cambridge. 1826; J. Lange, Conzment. Hist. Hernzeneut. de Vita et Epistohs Ap. Pauli, 4to Ha 1718; Mac knight, Translation of tlze Apostolical Epistles, vol. vi, 8vo, vol. iv, 4to; Lardner, Works, vol. vi, 8vo, vol. iii, 4to; More, Essay on St. Paul, 2 vols.; Tate, Continuous History of St. Paul (prefixed to a new edition of Paley's Hora. Patti 8vo, Lond., 1840; Schrader, Der Ap. Paulus, 3 th. 8vo. Leip. 183o; Hemsen, Der Ap. paulus, 8vo. Gott. 183o; Tholuck, Vermischte Schriften, bd. ii. (translated in the Edinburgh biblical Cabinet, vol. xxviii.; Binney, Lectures on St. Paul, 1866; Howson, Metaphors of SI. Paul, 1868; Companions of St. Pa:11,187r; Smith, Voy age of St. Paul; Lewin, Life and Letters of St. Paul, 1874; Conybeare and Howson. Life of St. Paul. W. L. A.
2. Credibility of His Writings. In some direc tions there has arisen a tendency to discredit the testimony of Paul as well as that of many other Biblical writers. It has been claimed that in order to learn precisely what were the teachings of the apostles in reference to the Christ we must confine ourselves to thc first three gospels; that thc hook of the Acts does not give an account of tjlings as they actually occurred ; and that no doctrine of the New Testament should be emphasind unless it is clearly taught in the books of Matthew, Mark, or Luke. We are asked to reject, or consider of doubtful authority, those special themes which seem to have appealed very strongly to the minds of Peter. Paul and John.