that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God and wasted it.” As there is no doubt what “the faith” was, which he preached after his conversion, so there is no doubt what “the faith” was “which once he destroyed.” Within three years after the commencement of his ministry, he saw James the Lord’s brother, and abode with Peter fifteen days; and at the expiration of the fourteen years, _all_ the Apostles were ready to give him the right hand of fellowship. As there is no doubt what “faith” _he_ preached (which was the same which he had destroyed), so there is none as to what faith the _others_ preached, and _had_ preached from the beginning. _His conversion was within six years of the Crucifixion._ As he from that time preached Jesus and the Resurrection, there is no doubt but that Jesus and the Resurrection were preached during the six years before his conversion. Hence, from Paul’s four Epistles (whose genuineness is beyond controversy), we are inevitably carried back to the first ministry of _any_ of the Apostles, for the time when the doctrine of the Resurrection was _first_ proclaimed. This conclusion is reached without recourse to the testimony of either of the Evangelists; and believers may say with Renan, though in a different spirit, “Thanks to the Epistle to the Galatians!” If from this Epistle the _precise_ commencement of the ministry of Peter and John cannot be determined, it must be inferred that it was before, and apparently some time before, Paul’s conversion, which, as has been seen, was _within six years_ of the Crucifixion. For this reason, as well as many others, the importance of Paul’s testimony can hardly be overestimated.