[Sidenote: Colet points out the marks of St. Paul's own character.]
[Sidenote: Colet's personal interest in St. Paul.]
Instead of following the current fashion of the day, and displaying analytical skill in dividing the many senses of the sacred text, Colet, it is clear, had but one object in view, and that object was to bring out the direct practical meaning which the apostle meant to convey to those to whom his epistles were addressed. To him they were the earnest words of a living man addressed to living men, and suited to their actual needs. He loved those words because he had learned to love the apostle--the _man_--who had written them, and had caught somewhat of his spirit. He loved to trace in the epistles the marks of St. Paul's own character. He would at one time point out, in his abruptly suspended words, that '_vehemence of speaking_' which did not give him time to perfect his sentences.[80] At another time he would stop to admire the rare prudence and tact with which he would temper his speech and balance his words to meet the needs of the different classes by whom his epistle would be read.[81] And again he would compare the eager expectations expressed in the Epistle to the Romans of so soon visiting Rome and Spain, with the far different realities of the apostle's after life; recalling to mind the circumstances of his long imprisonment at Cæsarea, and his arrival at last in Rome, _four years_ after writing his epistle, to remain a prisoner two years longer in the Imperial city before he could carry out his intention of visiting Spain.[82] He loved to tell how, notwithstanding these cherished plans for the future, the apostle, being a man of great courage, was prepared, 'by his faith, and love of Christ,'[83] to bear his disappointment, and to reply to the prophecy of Agabus, that he was ready, not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of his Master, if need be, instead of fulfilling the plans he had laid out for himself.
[Sidenote: Circumstances of the Roman Christians.]
And whilst investing the epistles with so _personal_ an interest, by thus bringing out their connection with St. Paul's character and history, Colet sought also to throw a sense of reality and life into their teaching, by showing how specially adapted they were to the circumstances of those to whom they were addressed. When, for instance, he was expounding the thirteenth chapter of the Epistle, he would take down his _Suetonius_ in order to ascertain the state of society at Rome and the special circumstances which made it needful for St. Paul so strongly to urge Roman Christians 'to be obedient to the higher powers, and to pay tribute also.'[84]