653. Apakah Paulus dibebaskan dalam sidangnya di hadapan Kaisar di Roma?

Pertanyaan: 653. Apakah Paulus dibebaskan dalam sidangnya di hadapan Kaisar di Roma?

Nampaknya dari II Tim. 4: 6 bahwa Paulus dihukum. Namun, ada alasan yang baik untuk percaya bahwa Paulus dibebaskan pada akhir dua tahun yang disebutkan (Kisah Para Rasul 28:30). Kemudian ia tampaknya pergi ke Efesus dan tempat lain, menembus hingga Spanyol. Klemens, murid rasul Paulus, yang disebutkan dalam Fil. 4: 3, mengatakan bahwa ia pergi ke "ujung Barat," yang pada saat itu berarti Spanyol. Ia diteror dan khawatir oleh kesalahan yang merayap ke gerejanya, dan diyakini tidak tinggal lama di satu tempat. Yeromeus mengatakan bahwa Paulus "dibebaskan oleh Nero agar ia dapat memberitakan Injil Kristus di Barat." Ketika kembali, ia tampaknya mengunjungi Efesus dan Kreta lagi. Sebuah ayat dalam Suratnya kepada Titus (3:12) menunjukkan niat untuk menghabiskan musim dingin di Nikopolis, sebuah kota di pantai barat Yunani. Dipercaya bahwa ia melakukannya, dan ditangkap di sana dan dibawa kembali ke Roma. Penahanan keduanya, seperti yang kita ketahui dari dua surat kepada Timotius, yang diyakini ditulis pada saat ini, tampaknya jauh lebih berat. Penganiayaan Nero terhadap umat Kristen sedang marak, dan Paulus tidak bisa, dan tidak mengharapkan, lolos dari hukuman. Dipercaya bahwa ia dihukum mati pada akhir Mei atau awal Juni, 68, lima tahun setelah ia dibebaskan dari penahanan pertamanya.

Question: 653. Was Paul Acquitted at His Trial Before the Emperor at Rome?

It would appear from II Tim. 4 : 6 that Paul was condemned. There is good reason, however, for believing that Paul was acquitted at the end of the two years mentioned (Acts 28:30). He then appears to have gone to Ephesus and other places, penetrating as far as Spain. Clement, the apostle Paul's disciple, mentioned in Phil. 4: 3, says that he went to "the extremity of the West," which at that time would mean Spain. He was harassed and worried by errors creeping into his churches, and did not, it is thought, stay long in one place. Jerome says that Paul was "dismissed by Nero that he might preach Christ's Gospel in the West." Returning, he appears to have again visited Ephesus and Crete. A passage in his Epistle to Titus (Tit. 3:12) indicates an intention to spend a winter at Nicopolis, a city on the western coast of Greece. It is believed that he did so, and was arrested there and taken again to Rome. His second imprisonment, as we gather from the two epistles to Timothy, which, it is thought, were written at this time, appears to have been much more severe. Nero's persecution of the Christians was raging, and Paul could not, and did not, expect to escape condemnation. It is believed that he was put to death late in May or early in June, 68, five years after he was released from his first imprisonment.

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