Lydia, like many of
the women of her time, was an earnest seeker after religious truth. When
Paul came to Philippi, on the first Sabbath he went to the place of
prayer, "and spake unto the women which resorted thither." This is a
remarkable expression, inasmuch as it seems to indicate that only women
were present, an extremely unusual congregation in the ancient world.
But Paul, unlike the Jewish rabbis, did not deem a gathering of women
unworthy of his most solicitous efforts. Lydia justified his exertions,
for she became a convert to Christianity and was baptized with her whole
household. She was a person of considerable means. The selling of purple
was a very remunerative business. In gratitude for the new light which
she had received, and desirous to learn more of the Gospel, Lydia
importuned the Apostle and his friends to take up their abode in her
house, which, at least for the time, became the gathering place of the
church in Philippi.

There is no possibility of overestimating the debt that Christianity
owes to the fostering care of the early female converts. Its story has
never been written from the standpoint of the women; if it could be so
written, it would be seen that the labors of love which were
accomplished by the feminine nature were no less fruitful than those
which are recorded of the more public masculine activities.

While Paul was in Philippi, he encountered another woman, of a station
and occupation very different from that of Lydia. She was a slave girl,
who was in all probability what is known nowadays as a clairvoyant. The
people believed that she was inspired by the Pythian Apollo. The
narrative in the Acts of the Apostles says that she "was possessed of a
spirit of divination," and that "she brought her masters much gain by
soothsaying." There seems to have been a company or syndicate which, by
means of the mysterious powers of this girl, traded upon the
superstitions of the people. But Christianity was in opposition to this
form of spiritualism. The girl, we are told, followed Paul and his
friends and gave loud testimony to their divine mission. Very likely she
heard the Apostle's preaching, and received an impression that resulted,
owing to the peculiar condition of her mind, in an acute perception of
the true character of the missionaries. Paul, however, had no desire to
be introduced by any such medium as this. He exorcised the evil spirit
which, according to Jewish notions, possessed th