4. _The Case of the Judaizing Party against Paul:_ "It is remarkable, therefore, that the Judaizing emissaries should so soon have gained so great a hold over a church consisting mainly of Gentile Christians; and the fact that they did so proves not only their indefatigable activity, but also their skill in the arts of conciliation and persuasion. It must be remembered, however, that they were by no means scrupulous as to the means which they employed to effect their objects. At any cost of falsehood and detraction, they resolved to loosen the hold of St. Paul upon the affection and respect of his converts. Thus to the Galatians they accused him of want of uprightness in observing the Law himself whilst among the Jews, yet persuading the Gentiles to renounce it, they argued that his motive was to keep his converts in a subordinate state, excluded from the privileges of a full covenant with God, which was enjoyed by the circumcised alone; they declared that he was an interested flatterer, 'becoming all things to all men,' that he might make a party for himself; and above all, they insisted that he falsely represented himself as an Apostle of Christ, for that he had not, like the Twelve, been a follower of Jesus when he was on earth, and had not received his commission; that, on the contrary, he was only a teacher sent out by the authority of the Twelve, whose teaching was only to be received so far as it agreed with theirs, and was sanctioned by them; whereas his doctrine (they alleged) was now in opposition to that of Peter and James, and the other 'Pillars' of the Church. By such representations they succeeded, to a great extent, in alienating the Galatian Christians from their father in the faith; already many of the recent converts submitted to circumcision, and embraced the party of their new teachers with the same zeal which they had formerly shown for the Apostle of the Gentiles; and the rest of the Church was thrown into a state of agitation and division"--hence the Epistle to the Galations. (The Life and Epistles of St. Paul, Conybeare and Howson, p. 522.) Footnotes 1. This could well be classed as a controversial epistle, for it is, one may say, fiercely controversial in spirit throughout. Renan refers to it as Paul's "terrible epistle." LESSON VII. SCRIPTURE READING EXERCISE. _BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.(Continued.)_ ANALYSIS. REFERENCES.