Volume IV

Tabular Memoir of St. Paul

Vol. IV, plate

Begins on Vol. IV, plate

Year of Our Lord	Recorded Events in Chronological Order	Where Recorded
1-5	Born at Tarsus, the capital of Cilicia	Acts xxii. 3.
Tarsus.	Learns the trade of tentmaking	Acts xviii. 3.
Jerusalem.	Taught according to “the perfect manner of the law of the fathers” by Gamaliel	Acts xxii. 3.
31 and 32	While still a “young man” he participates vigorously in the persecution of Christians	Acts vii. 58; viii. 1, 3.
33	Yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter, he seeks and obtains a commission from the high-priest to go into Damascus on his cruel errand of persecution	Acts ix. 1, 2; xxii. 4, 5; xxvi. 9-12.
Near Damascus.	Near Damascus, a vivid miraculous light shines from heaven and blinds him, and Saul and his company fall to the earth	Acts ix. 3,4,8; xxii.6.
	JESUS appears to him and converses with him, directing him to go into the city to learn what he shall do	Acts ix. 4-6; xxii. 10; xxvi.14-18; 1Cor.xv.8
Damascus.	He arises and is led into Damascus, where he remains blind three days	Acts ix. 7-9; xxii. 11.
	Ananias, being sent by the LORD, comes to Saul, restores his sight and baptizes him	Acts ix. 10-18; xxii. 12-16.
In Arabia and Damascus.	Then, being thus born again, he retires to Arabia for a season, and returning to Damascus, at once enters upon his Apostolic labors, preaching CHRIST in the synagogues of Damascus, exciting the amazement of the multitude, and increasing the more in spiritual strength, he confounds the Jews	Acts ix. 20-22; Gal. i. 17.
36	The Jews of Damascus lie in wait day and night to kill him, but he escapes by being let down in a basket at night	Acts ix. 23-25; 2 Cor. xi. 33.
Jerusalem.	He proceeds to Jerusalem, where the Disciples are at first afraid of him, but being convinced of the change in his character, receive him into their fellowship	Acts ix. 26-28.
Tarsus.	He preaches boldly; the Jews of Jerusalem seek his life, and he escapes to his native city	Acts ix. 29, 30.
43 Antioch.	Barnabas goes to Tarsus after him, and they proceed to Antioch, where they remain a whole year and establish the first Gentile Church (here the title Christian is first applied to the Disciples)	Acts xi. 25, 26.
44	Paul and Barnabas carry relief to the poor brethren in Judea	Acts xi. 29, 30.
Antioch.	Having fulfilled their charge, they return to Antioch, John Mark accompanying them	Acts xii. 25.
45 Salamis.	Paul and Barnabas are set apart by the Church at Antioch, as commanded by the HOLY GHOST, for missionary work among the Gentiles; they start on their first tour, taking Mark with them; at Salamis they preach in the synagogue	Acts xiii. 1-5.
Paphos.	At Paphos, Elymas (Bar-jesus), the sorcerer, is struck blind, and Sergius Paulus, the proconsul, is converted	Acts xiii. 6-12.
Perga.	Then they go to Perga, in Pamphylia, where Mark leaves them	Acts xiii. 13.
46 Antioch.	Thence they go to Antioch in Pisidia, where Paul preaches with good effect a powerful sermon to the Jews, which, by request of the Gentiles, he repeats to them the following Sabbath with marked success	Acts xiii. 14-48.
Iconium.	Thence to Iconium, where they make a great many converts	Acts xiii. 51-xiv. 1.
Lystra and Derbe.	They go to Lystra and Derbe; at the former, Paul cures the man who had been lame from birth	Acts xiv. 2-10.
	The people regard the Apostles as gods, and are with difficulty restrained from offering sacrifice to them	Acts xiv. 11-18.
47 Derbe.	Not long after, some Jews, from Antioch (in Pisidia) and Iconium, induce the fickle people of Lystra to stone Paul; they leave him, supposing him dead, but he recovers miraculously, and he and Barnabas go to Derbe	Acts xiv. 19, 20.
48 Antioch.	Thence they go again via Lystra, etc., to Perga, in Pamphylia, and into Attalia, and then return to Syrian-Antioch. Thus ends Paul’s first Missionary Tour, and he remains at Antioch for about four years	Acts xiv. 21-28.
52	Paul attends the Church Council held at Jerusalem to decide about the circumcision of the Gentile converts	Acts xv. 1-21.
Antioch.	Paul, with a number of others, goes back to Antioch, bearing the decision to the Gentile Churches in Syria and Cilicia	Acts xv. 22-35.
53	His Second Missionary Tour commences	Acts xv. 36-40.
Derbe and Lystra.	He passes through Syria and Cilicia to Derbe and Lystra, where he meets with Timothy, whom he takes with him on his tour.	Acts xvi. 1-3.
	He travels from city to city, accomplishing much good	Acts xvi. 4-7.
Troas. Philippi.	At Troas, Luke joins the company, and in response to a vision Paul goes into Macedonia; at Philippi, Lydia is converted, she and her family are baptized, and she constrains the Apostle and his party to abide at her house	Acts xvi. 8-15.
	Paul exorcises a spirit of divination from a young girl, whose masters bring him and Silas before the magistrate; they are beaten and cast into prison, their feet being put in stocks	Acts xvi. 16-24.
	At midnight the prison doors are miraculously opened and their bonds loosed; the jailer is converted; he and his family are baptized.	Acts xvi. 25-34.
Th'ss'l'nica	In the morning they are released, and depart from Philippi, going to Thessalonica, where Paul makes many converts	Acts xvi. 35-xvii. 4.
Berea.	Paul and his company go to Berea, where they are very successful	Acts xvii. 5-12.
54	Thence to Athens, where Paul delivers a powerful sermon, making, however, but few converts	Acts xvii. 13-34.
Corinth. 55	He soon goes to Corinth; here preaches on the Sabbaths; among the converts, considerable in number, is Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue; the LORD appears to Paul and encourages him in his work; he remains in this city a year and a half.	Acts xviii. 1-17.
Eph., etc.	He goes to Ephesus; thence, touching at Cæsarea, he hastens to Jerusalem, and returns to Antioch	Acts xviii. 18-22.
	After a brief rest, he makes a rapid tour (the third) through Galatia and Phrygia	Acts xviii. 23.
56 Ephesus. 58	He goes again to Ephesus, where he baptizes in JESUS’ name twelve of St. John Baptist’s disciples, and they receive the HOLY GHOST; he preaches upwards of two years in the school of Tyrannus; “GOD wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul;” his success here is wonderful, especially after GOD has discomfited certain vagabond Jewish exorcists who strive to work miracles similar to his	Acts xix. 1-20.
59	Paul leaves Ephesus and visits Macedonia and Greece; then returns to Philippi	Acts xix. 21-xx. 5.
60 Troas. Miletus.	He goes to Troas, where Eutychus is killed by a fall from the window of a room where Paul was preaching, and is restored to life by the Apostle; he sails to Miletus; here he sends for the pastors of the Church at Ephesus and delivers to them a solemn charge, moving them so that they “wept sore and fell on Paul’s neck and kissed him.”	Acts xx. 6-38.
Cæsarea.	Thence they sail to Cæsarea, where Agabus foretells what awaits Paul at Jerusalem; nevertheless he goes to Jerusalem	Acts xxi. 1-26.
Jerusalem.	Paul is seized and cast out of the Temple by a mob, but is rescued by a Roman officer; as he is being dragged to the castle, he is granted permission to speak to the multitude, and, standing on the steps, makes his defence in a speech that for grand eloquence and power has seldom been equaled	Acts xxi. 27-xxii. 29.
	Being arraigned before the Sanhedrim, Paul skilfully sets his judges at variance, and is again taken in charge by the Roman authorities; the LORD appears to him and encourages him, telling him that he is to bear witness in Rome	Acts xxii.30-xxiii.11.
	A conspiracy is entered into by certain Jews to kill Paul, but is frustrated by his nephew and the Roman officer, Lysius	Acts xxiii. 12-35.
Cæsarea.	He is arraigned before Felix; Tertullus makes a plausible speech of accusation, which Paul effectually answers; Felix defers the case; he keeps Paul a prisoner for two years, and on vacating his office leaves him bound	Acts xxiv.
62	Paul is arraigned successively before Festus and Agrippa; though guilty of no crime, he having appealed unto Cæsar, they cannot release him	Acts xxv., xxvi.
Malta.	Paul is sent, a prisoner, on board a ship bound for Rome; predicts the perils of the voyage; they are wrecked on Melita	Acts xxvii.
	Here Paul is bitten by a viper without injury; cures the father of Publius of a fever, and heals others	Acts xxviii. 1-10.
63 Rome.	They sail after three months’ delay for Rome, where they arrive without further incident, and Paul is delivered to the captain of the guard, who suffers him to live by himself with but a single soldier as guard	Acts xxviii. 11-16.
65	Paul preaches to the chief of the Jews, and subsequently he continues to teach in his lodging; he dwells two years in his own hired house, “preaching the kingdom of GOD and teaching those things which concern the LORD JESUS CHRIST, with all confidence, no man forbidding him	Acts xxviii. 17-31.

Here ends St. Paul’s history as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. There are no certain particulars of the remainder of his life. It does not appear that he was tried during this imprisonment. It is probable that, on his release in 65, he made another Missionary Tour through Greece and Asia Minor, and possibly through Spain; some have thought he also visited Britain, but though not impossible, the evidence is very unsatisfactory. Soon after this he was again carried to Rome as a prisoner, and was not treated with kindness and consideration, as during the first imprisonment, but as a felon (2 Tim. ii. 9). He was beheaded A. D. 67 or 68, during the persecutions of Nero, when between sixty-three and sixty-seven years of age. There has been much discussion as to the chronology of St. Paul’s life; without entering into the question, we have taken the dates as they appear in the standard editions of the Bible; it is possible (and we think probable) that two years should be subtracted from each date given.