ve obliged him
to retire. "When he spake boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus, and
disputed against the Grecians, they went about to slay him--which, when
the brethren knew, they brought him down to Caesarea, and sent him forth
to Tarsus." [63:1]

The apostle now laboured for some years as a missionary in "the regions
of Syria and Cilicia." [63:2] His native city and its neighbourhood
probably enjoyed a large share of his ministrations, and his exertions
seem to have been attended with much success, for, soon afterwards, the
converts in these districts attract particular notice. [63:3] Meanwhile
the gospel was making rapid progress in the Syrian capital, and as Saul
was considered eminently qualified for conducting the mission in that
place, he was induced to proceed thither. "Then," says the sacred
historian, "Barnabas departed to Tarsus to seek Saul, and when he had
found him he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass that a whole
year they assembled themselves with the Church, and taught much people;
and the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch." [63:4]

The establishment of a Church in this city formed a new era in the
development of Christianity. Antioch was a great commercial mart with a
large Jewish, as well as Gentile, population; it was virtually the
capital of the Roman Empire in the East--being the residence of the
president, or governor, of Syria; its climate was delightful; and its
citizens, enriched by trade, were noted for their gaiety and
voluptuousness. In this flourishing metropolis many proselytes from
heathenism were to be found in the synagogues of the Greek-speaking
Jews, and the gospel soon made rapid progress among these Hellenists.
"Some of them (which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that
arose about Stephen) were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which when they were
come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, [64:1] preaching the Lord
Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number
believed and turned unto the Lord." [64:2] The followers of Jesus at
this time received a new designation. They had hitherto called
themselves "brethren" or "disciples" or "believers," but now they "were
called Christians" by some of the inhabitants of the Syrian capital. As
the unconverted Jews did not admit that Jesus was the Christ they were
obviously not the authors of this appellation, and, in contempt, they
probably styled the party Nazarenes or Galileans; but it is easy