32.  Did then his actual efforts fall short of his preliminary zeal?  Were they directed by courage, but not by prudence, or by skill, while he shrank from danger?  Or, in spite of their unexampled perfection on all these points, was there left in him some trace of irritation?  Far from it.  He was at once completely reconciled, and took part in every plan and effort.  He removed all the thorns and stumbling blocks which were in our way, upon which the enemy relied in their attack upon us.  He took hold of one, grasped another, thrust away a third.  He became to some a stout wall and rampart,57    Jer. i. 18. to others an axe breaking the rock in pieces,58    Ib. xxiii. 29. or a fire among the thorns,59    Ps. cxviii. 12. as the divine Scripture says, easily destroying those fagots who were insulting the Godhead.  And if his Barnabas, who speaks and records these things, was of service to Paul in the struggle, it is to Paul that thanks are due, for choosing and making him his comrade in the strife.

Ἆρ' οὖν προεθυμήθη μὲν οὕτως, ἠγώνισται δὲ τῆς προθυμίας ἔλαττον; Ἢ διαγωνίζεται μὲν ἀνδρικῶς, οὐ συνετῶς δέ; Ἢ πεπαιδευμένως μέν, ἀκινδύνως δέ; Ἢ πάντα μὲν ταῦτα τελείως καὶ ὑπὲρ λόγον, ὑπελείπετο δέ τι τῆς μικροψυχίας ἐν ἑαυτῷ λείψανον; Οὐδαμῶς. Ἀλλ' ὁμοῦ τὰ πάντα καταλλάττεται, βουλεύεται, παρατάττεται: λύει τὰ ἐν τῷ μέσῳ σκῶλα καὶ προσκόμματα, καὶ οἷς ἐκεῖνοι θαρροῦντες καθ' ἡμῶν ἐστρατεύσαντο: τὸ μὲν προσλαμβάνει, τὸ δὲ κατέχει, τὸ δὲ ἀποκρούεται: γίνεται τοῖς μὲν τεῖχος ὀχυρὸν καὶ χαράκωμα, τοῖς δὲ πέλεκυς κόπτων πέτραν, ἢ πῦρ ἐν ἀκάνθαις, ὅ φησιν ἡ θεία γραφή, ῥᾳδίως ἀναλίσκον τοὺς φρυγανώδεις καὶ ὑβριστὰς τῆς θεότητος. Εἰ δέ τι καὶ Βαρνάβας, ὁ ταῦτα λέγων καὶ γράφων, Παύλῳ συνηγωνίσατο, Παύλῳ χάρις τῷ προελομένῳ καὶ συνεργὸν ποιησαμένῳ τοῦ ἀγωνίσματος.