difference seemed to the enlightened Paul, the
bitterer were the contests,--even as many of the schisms which
subsequently divided the Church originated in questions that appear to
us to be absolutely frivolous. The question very early arose, whether
Christianity should be a formal and ritualistic religion,--a religion of
ablutions and purifications, of distinctions between ceremonially pure
and impure things,--or, rather, a religion of the spirit; whether it
should be a sect or a universal religion. Paul took the latter view;
declared circumcision to be useless, and freely admitted heathen
converts into the Church without it, in opposition to those who
virtually insisted on a Gentile becoming a Jew before he could become a
Christian.

So, to settle this miserable dispute, Paul went to Jerusalem, taking
with him Barnabas and Titus, who had never been circumcised,--eighteen
years after the death of Jesus, when the apostles were old men, and when
Peter, James, and John, having remained at Jerusalem, were the real
leaders of the Jewish Church. James in particular, called the Just, was
a strenuous observer of the law of circumcision,--a severe and ascetic
man, and very narrow in his prejudices, but held in great veneration for
his piety. Before the question was brought up in a general assembly of
the brethren for discussion, Paul separately visited Peter, James, and
John, and argued with them in his broad and catholic spirit, and won
them over to his cause; so that through their influence it was decided
that it was not essential for a Gentile to be circumcised on admission
to the Church, only that he must abstain from meats offered to idols,
and from eating the meat of any animal containing the blood (forbidden
by Moses),--a sort of compromise, a measure by which most quarrels are
finally settled; and the title of Paul as "Apostle to the Gentiles" was
officially confirmed.

The controversy being settled amicably by the leaders of the infant
Church, Paul and Barnabas returned to Antioch, and for a while longer
continued their labors there, as the most important centre of
missionary operations. But the ardent soul of Paul could not bear
repose. He set about forming new plans; and the result was his second
and more important missionary tour.

The relations between Paul and Barnabas had been thus far of the most
intimate and affectionate kind. But now the two apostles
disagreed,--Barnabas wishing to associate with them his