On the occasion, on which Paul himself speaks, what was the persuasion which it was his endeavour to produce? It was--that, for a number of years, commencing from the moment of his conversion,--with no persons, who, to this purpose, could be called _Jews_, had he, to any such purpose as this, had any intercourse: for, this being admitted, it followed, of course, that, if, on the subject of the religion of Jesus, he had really received the information he declared himself to have received, it was _not_ from the Apostles, that he had had it, or any part of it. "On them (says he) I am perfectly independent: to them I am even superior. With Jesus _they_ had no communication but in a natural way; with the same Jesus _I_ have had communication in a supernatural way:--in the way of '_revelation_.' My communication with him is, moreover, of a date posterior to theirs--to any that they can pretend to: in so far as there is any contrariety between that I teach and what they teach, it is for theirs, on both these accounts--it is for theirs, to yield to mine. From God is my doctrine: in opposition to it, if either they, or any other men presume to preserve, let the curse of God be on their heads. ver. 8. Accordingly, at the time of my first visit to Jerusalem after my conversion, no communication had I with them, for, no such communication, teaching as I did from revelation, could I stand in need of, I had already passed three years at least in Arabia, teaching to the Gentiles there my peculiar doctrine. This peculiar doctrine, as I made no scruple of teaching it to those Gentiles, as little, on the occasion of that visit of mine to Jerusalem, did I make any scruple of teaching it to Jews as well as Gentiles. True it is, I did not then teach it publicly:--I did not teach my peculiar doctrine, so publicly as they did theirs. But, as to this comparative secrecy, it had for its cause the advantage of being free from opposition; for, had the fact of my teaching this doctrine so different from theirs--been known to them,--they might have opposed it, and thus my labours might have been lost." Whether, in the representation here given of what he says to his Galatians, there be any misrepresentation, the reader may judge.