ulence of his
persecuting spirit, consented to the death of Stephen, who was no
ignorant Galilean, but a learned Hellenist; nor is there evidence that
the bitter and relentless young pharisee was touched either by the
eloquence or blameless life or terrible sufferings of the
distinguished martyr.

The next memorable event in the life of Saul--at that time probably a
member of the Jewish Sanhedrim--was his conversion to Christianity, as
sudden and unexpected as it was profound and lasting, while on his way
to Damascus on the errand already mentioned. The sudden light from
heaven which exceeded in brilliancy the torrid midday sun, the voice of
Jesus which came to the trembling persecutor as he lay prostrate on the
ground, the blindness which came upon him--all point to the
supernatural; for he was no inquirer after truth like Luther and
Augustine, but bent on a persistent course of cruel persecution. At once
he is a changed man in his spirit, in his aims, in his entire attitude
toward the followers of the Nazarene. The proud man becomes as docile
and humble as a child; the intolerant zealot for the Law becomes broad
and charitable; and only one purpose animates his whole subsequent
life,--which is to spend his strength, amid perils and difficult labors,
in defence of the doctrines he had spurned. His leading idea now is to
preach salvation, not by pharisaical works by which no man can be
justified, but by faith in the crucified one who was sent into the world
to save it by new teachings and by his death upon the cross. He will go
anywhere in his sublime enthusiasm, among Jews or among Gentiles, to
plant the precious seeds of the new faith in every pagan city which he
can reach.

It is thought by Conybeare and Howson, Farrar and others that the new
convert spent three years in retirement in Arabia, in profound
meditation and communion with God, before the serious labors of his life
began as a preacher and missionary. After his conversion it would seem
that Saul preached the divinity of Christ with so much zeal that the
Jews in Damascus were filled with wrath, and sought to take his life,
and even guarded the gates of the city for fear that he might escape.
The conspiracy being detected, the friends of Saul put him into a basket
made of ropes, and let him down from a window in a house built upon the
city wall, so that he escaped, and thereupon proceeded to Jerusalem to
be indorsed as a Christian brother. He was especially