and ander the ahow of doubt he ahatters the (ounda-
tiona of ChriatiaJiitf. He begins by sajing that the
apostasy of his beloved teacher to whom hia loyal
Bp!rit bad foimerlj clung, has amazed him beyond
measure and aroused in hitn manf serious leflectiona.
He can only conceive four poaaible motives for such
a aurpriaing step. Either Paulus haa been actuated
by ambition, love of wealth, pomp, and the satisfac-
tion of the senses, or else by doubt of the truth of
Judaism upon philosophic grounds, and has re-
pounced therefore the religion which afforded him so
little freedom and aeourity ; or else he has foreseen
through the latest cruel perseoutions of the Jews in
Spain, the total extinction of the race ; or, finally, be
may have become convinced of the truth of Christi-
anity. The writer enters therefore into an eiamina-
tion based upon bis acquaintance with the character of
bis former master, as to which of these four motives
ia most likely to have occasioned the act. He cannot
believe that ambition and covetousness prompted it,
" For I remember when you used to be aurrounded
by wealth and attendants, you sighed regretfully
for your previous humble station, for your retired
life and communion with wisdom, and regarded your
actual brilliant position as an unsatisfactory sham
happiness. Neither can AUorqui admit that Paulus
had been disturbed by philosophic acepticism, for to
the day of his baptism he had observed all the Jew-
ish customs and had only accepted that little kernel
of philosophy which accords with faith, always re-
jecting the pernicious outward shell. He must also
discard the theory that the sanguinary persecution of
the Jews could have made Paulus despair of the pos-
Biblc continuation of the Jewish race, for only a small
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NOTES.
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