:,} t i<)' V \ I ; . I i ■ ■' '. '''% 'K^ i i / / = I \- ■ 1 i; ! 1 '■ ' ' Kg w • PI i w. i i )0 New Words LEY Ictioncury are fn England 'Otes of Dr. of the Work. 3. Scientific and Technics! Terms. — In order to secure tlie nimoet rompleteness and accuracy of definition, this department baa been snbdlvided among eminent SchoIaTH and Kxi)ert£, including Prof.Dana, Prof. Lyman, tc. 4. Etymology. — The eminent philo- loglat, Dr. C. F. Mahh, has devoted flvn yeurs to perfwAlng this departmi^nt. The Volume contains 1628 pager,, more than 3000 Illustrations, and i6 sold for Oae Gumea. It will be found, on comparison, to be one of the cheapest Volumes ever issued. Cloth. 21s.: half-bound in calf, SQs.; calf or half-niBsia 31». 6d. ; rusnia, £2. * To b« obtained through oA Boohsellert. Vised and im- NOAH POBTEB, the most useful of the cheapest i based as far as pies. In all casa ipelMng it given. lis has been en- /■ebstek and Mr. her scholars. 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Besides the matter comprised in the Webster's Guinea Dictionary, this volume contains the following Appendice*, which will show that no puins have been spared to make it a complete Literary Reference-book ; — A Fronoimcing Vocabulary of Greek and Latin Proper Names. By ftofeasor Thaohek, of Yale College. An Etymological Vocabulary of Mo- dem Geographical ^ames. By the Rev. C. H. Wheeler. Containing : — i. A List of Prefixes, Terminations, and Formative A Brief History of the English Lan- ga&ge. By Professor James Hadlet. This Work shows the Philological Rela- tions of the'English Language, and traxses the progress and influence of the causes ' which have brought it to its present coc- dition. Principles of Pronunciation. By Professor GtOodeiiju and W. A. Wheeleb, M.A. Including a Synopsis of Words differently pronounced by different au- thorities. CL Short Treatise on Orthography. By ABTETUB W. WRiciHT. Including a Complete List of Words that are spelt in two or more ways. 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TEANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN BY J, E. RYLAND. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON: GEOKGE BELL & SONS, YOEK STEEET, COVENT GAEDEN. 1884. LOlfDON: PEINTZD BY WILUAM CXOWIB AND SONS, LIMTTBD. ETAMro&D STBKHT AJCD caASOQ CEOiS. .Ml^j^ ^-f 10 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. Only a few words seem necessary by way of preface to the i following translation. It was begun towtirds the close of ^ 1840; but early in the present year the Translator having requested Dr. Neander to favoui* him with any corrections or additions which he might have made to the second edition ^(published in 1838), was informed, in reply, that a third p edition was passing through the press: at the same time, an .^ offer was most kindly made of forwarding the proof-sheets, -ntiles — the Jewish Goetae — the disciples of John the Baptist rebaptized 215 — 213 State of the Galatian Churches — Paul's Epistle to the Galatians written by his own hand — Asserts his independent apostleshiiJ — States the relation of Chrinianity to Judaism and Heathenism — Warns them against seeking for justification by the law — Date of this epistle 219 — 228 State of the Church at Corinth— Causes uf its disorders ; superficial conversion, general immorality, divisions occasioned by false teachers 227, 226 Parties in the Corinthian Church— The Petrine— The Pauline— That of Apollo.^ —That of Christ < ■J2;.— 24J VOL. I. b jiy CONTENTS. PACK Disputes in the Corinthian Church — Meat offered in sacrifice to idols — Marriage and celibacy — Litigation in heathen courts of justice — Irregularities at the celebration of the Agapae — Overvaluation of extraordinary gifts— Opposition to the doctrine of the resurrection 241 — 253 Paul's second visit to Corinth — His last Epistle to the Corinthians 253 — 256 The First Epistle to the Corinthians — Occasioned by certain questions proposed by the Cliurch. relative to the epistle not now extant — Its contents — On parties — On meat offered to idols — On marriage and celibacy — On slavery — Its date 257—264 Paul's plans for his future labours — Mission of Timothy to Macedonia and Achaia — Return of Timothy — Titus sent to Corinth — Popular Commotion at Ephesus against Paul — Demetrius — Alexander — The Asiarchs — Paul leaves Ephesus 265—274 Paul in Macedonia — Titus brings information respecting the Church at Corinth — The Second Epistle to the Corinthians 274 — 278 Paul in IDyria — In Achaia — His intention of visiting Rome — His Epistle to the Romans — Sent by the deaconess Phoebe — State of the Church at Rome — con- tents of the epistle 278—295 Chapter VIII. — The fifth and last Journey of Paul to Jerusalem — Its immediate Consequences — His Imprisonment in Palestine. Paul at Philippi— Meets the overseers of the Ephesian Church at Miletus — His farewell address 295—300 Paul's journey to Jerusalem — Ilis conference with James and the elders of the Churcli — His Nazarite's vow — The rage of the Jews — His rescue by the Roman tribune — Ilis appearance before the Sanhedrim 301 — 308 Paul's imprisonment at Cjesarea — His appearance before Felix — Appeals to Caesar — Address to King Agrippa — Sent to Rome — Duration ol his con- finement SOS- 313 Chapter IX. — Paul during his first Confinement at Home, and the Development during that period of the Churches fount'.td by him. Paul's relation to the Roman State — To the Church at Rome — And to other Churches — His care of the Asiatic Churches — Date of the Epistles to the Colossians, Ephesians, and Philemon — Epaphras his fellow-prisoner 314 — 319 False teaihers at Colossae — Peculiarities of the party — The germ of Judaizing Gnosticism — Allied to the sect ofCerinihus — Paul's Epistle to the Colossians 319 — 328 Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians — Sent by Tychicus — A general Epistle to the Churches in Lesser Asia 329 Paul's Epistle to the Philippians 330, .331 Chapter X. — Paul's Labour! after his Tieleaxc,froiii his first Confinement at Rome, to his Martyrdom. Evidence of Paul's release from his first confinement at Rome — Testimony of Clemens of Rome — The Second Epistle to Timothy — Causes of the Neronian persecution 331—337 Paul's labours after his relea^e — In Ephesus — In Macedonia — The First Epistle to Timotliy — Paul in Crete — The Epistle to Titus — Paul in Nicopolis — In Spain — His Sei'ond imprisonment— The Second Epistle to Timothy — The date of h'S martyrdom — The Epistle to the Hebrews written by an apostolic man of •-tio Pauline Bchool 338—343 CONTENTS. BOOK IV. A REVIEW OF THE LABOURS OF JAMES AND PETER DURlNtt THIS PERIOD. Chapter I. — The Character of James — Remarks on his Epistle. PAGI Wljether he was a brother or only a near relation of the Lord, and identical with the Apostle? Dr. Schneckeiiburger's h)pothesis that there was only one James, examined 349 — 354 James distinguished by the strictness of his life ; hence called The Just — The testimony of Hegesippus 354 — 356 His epistle important for illustrating the state of the Jewish Christian churches 356, 357 Reasons for believing that it was not written with a reference to Paul's doctrinal views 357—361 The epistle addressed to churches consisting entirely or chiefly of Jewish believers, mostly poor 362 — 364 The Christian doctrines imperfectly developed in it — Its importance in connexion with the other writings in the New Testament 365, 368 The Martyrdom of James 366, 367 Chapter II. — The Apostle Peter. His parentage — Natural character — Call to the apostleship 36S — 372 His labours in propagating the Gospel 372, 373 His First Epistle 374, 375 Probable spuriousness of the Second Epistle 376 Traditions respecting Peter's martyrdom at Rome 377 — 38J BOOK V. THE APOSTLE JOHN AND HIS MINISTRY AS THE CLOSING POINT OF THE APOSTOLIC AGE. His education — Maternal influence— Early piety — General character — Contem- plative yet ardent — His piety moulded by personal intercourse with the Saviour 384 — 3B8 His labours among the churches in Lesser Asia 388, 389 Errors prevalent in these churches, practical and theoretical — Especially the Judaizing — The Antinomian, the anti-Judaizing Gnostic, and the Cerinthian .190 — 394 Tradition of John's banishment to Patmos — Authorship of the Apocalypse ...395 — 399 John's writings — Their general character — His Gospel 399 — 403 His First Epistle 403—408 His Second Epistle — Injunctions respecting intercourse with false teachers. ..408, 40!) His Third Epistle— Diotrephes 409, 410 Traditions respecting John's labours preserved by Clemens AJexandrinus and Jerome — The close of the Apostolic Age 411 — 413 BOOK VI. THE APOSTOLIC DOCTRINE. The living unity of the doctrine of Christ combined with a variety in the forma of its representation — Three leading varieties — The Pauline, the Jacobean (with the intermediate Fetrine), and the Johannean 414 ivi rONTENTS Chapter I. — The Pauline Doctrine. 1. The connexion and contrast of Paul's earlier and later standing-point are con- tained in the ideas of biKatuaiwrt and t/ofxot, which form the central point of his doctrine 41fc The (iiKuioffi'.^n of his earlier standing-point depended on the observance of the Mosaic law (vofuKri) — The Christian biKaiaavvt] and ^m)] correlative ideas 417 'I'he fundamental principle of his late standing-point — No righteousness by the works of the law available before God — No essential distinction between the ritual and moral 4'p7a vof^Lov — The idea of the law as a unity ; an outward rule of action, requiring not effecting obedience — Applicable to the universal law of I onscience 418 Works the marks of the state of the disposition; but the law can effect nochnnge m the disposition — Hence ep^a. i^o/iou are set in contrast to epya dyaO(i (Eph. ii. lOl 419 The law not deficient as a. standard of duty 419 2. The central-point of the Pauline anthropology — Human nature in opposition CD the lais> a. The nature of sin. CT(ipf — o-apKiKor — The disunion in human nature not necessary — but voluntary and blameworthy 420 irapKiKor does not import merely the predominance of the senses, or sensual appetite — Sometimes equivalent to i/.ux""'fi i" opposition to the 0iXov izvcvixa ; but sometimes the body as the organ of sinful tendencies 421, 422 h. Origin of sin and death. The consciousness of sin and of the need of redemption presupposed as a universal fact; hence the origin of sin seldom adverted to, but the idea of an original state of perfection, and the voluntary fall of the first man, lies at the basis of Paul's doctrine 422, 423 The first man not the representative of human nature generally — The origin of sinful desire from apparent guiltlessness (Rom. vii. 9) not referable to Adam 424 According to Rom. v. 12, the sinful direction of the will was produced by Adam's voluntary act, from original smlessness, and continues itself in the whole development of the race 425, 426 Through sin death comes upon all men, not by an essential change in the physical organization of man, but in man's view of death — Death appears not as a step in the development of life, but as a consequence of the with- drawraent of the divine lite through sin 427, 428 c. Suppression by sin of the natural revelation of God. The original affinity to God not destroyed but suppressed —The use of the works of creation in awakening the religious sentiment — Religious suscep- tibility injured by sin — the origin of idolatry — Deterioration of man's moral nature, yet the power of convenience not destroyed 428 — 430 d. The state of disunion. Two contending principles in human nature — Spirit and flesh — States of bondage — Either uncunscious, living without law, or conscious, living under the law — Rom. vii. a delineation of both these states, taken from Paul's own experience, but applicable to all mankind 430 — 433 I, Preparatives for Redemption — Judaism and Heathenism. a. Judaism — Preparative in two ways — By awakening an anxiety for redemp- tion, and by pointing to the means by which it would be effected — Only one universal ))urpose of God, who reveals his redeeming grace in its promi.se and its fulfilment — F.iith, one univer.sal condition — The fundamental relation between God and man not altered by the law, which served partly to repress the outhreakings of sin — partly to excite the consciousness of sin 434 435 b. Heathenism. Juil.ii.tm a progressive revelation, but heathenism only a development of nature— Though idolatry suppresyed the original revelation ol God in the CONTENTS. . xvil PAGB works of Nature, stil! the law of conscience remained (of which the Mosaic law was a representative), and with that a sense of the need of redemption — Partial fulfilment of the law by heathens 437—439 e. Hindrances and conditions of salvation in both Jews and Heathens. The gross security of heathenism — The legal righteousness of Judaism — The sign-seeking of the Jews, and the wisdom-seeking of the Gentiles — Re- demption the object of the whole history of mankind — Attestations to the imiversal need of redemption in Christ's discourses as recorded in the three first Gospels ~. 439—144 I. The Work of Redemption. A. Its accomplishment by Christ, both actively and passively 444 — 446 o. The life of Christ exhibits the destruction of sin, and the realization of the law in human nature 446 6. The sufferings of Christ (constantly to be viewed in connexion with his own life) 446—449 B. The results of the work of Christ. a. Reconciliation with God. The life and sufferings of Christ a revelation of the eternal love of God — Men, once the enemies of God, become through Christ objects of divine love 449, 450 Possibility of reconciliation as merely subjective — A change in the dispo- sition of man towards God effected by the work of Christ — But even on this supposition the amendment in man is the effect, not the cause of God's love; 2 Cor. V. 20 431 But this view inadequate and untenable— The sense of the wrath of God has an objective basis — A revelation of the divine holiness 452 The distinction between napea-n and a0eo-ir 453, 454 The divine holiness revealed in Christ in a twofold manner 454, 455 6. oVo\i5Tpa)(T(r and M joined with subjective sanctilication — K\.iToi the outward and inwanl call ron»i't at fhis time. But from a comparison with the 9th verse, it is evident that KaToiKun is not to be understood altogether in the same sense in botli verses ; that in the latter, those are spoken of who haii their residence elsewhere, and were only sojourning for a short time in Jerusalem. And if we grant that the persons spoken of belonged to the number of the Jews who formerly dwelt in other lands, but for a long time past had settled in Jerusalem, as the capital of the Theocracy, then it is clear that, by the inSriixovvTfs 'Paifiaiot, we must understand such as for some special cau.se were just come to Jerusalem. Further, there were also those called Proselytes, who were found in great numbers at Jerusalem, for some special occasion, and this could be no other than the feast of Pen- tecost. Doubtless, by "all the dwellers at Jerusalem," v. 14, who are THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN PALESTINE. 5 feast was celebrated, -whose object so nearly touched that which especially occupied their minds at the time, and must therefore have raised their anxious expectations still higher — the Jew^ish Pentecost, the feast which was held seven weeks after the Passover. This feast, according to the original Mosaic institution, related only to the first fruits of Hai-vest ; nor is any other reason for its celebration adduced by Jose- phus and Philo — in this respect, only a distant resemblance couid be traced between the first fruits of the natural Crea- tion, and those of the new Spiritual Creation ; this analogy, it is true, is often adverted to by the ancient Fathers of the Church, but before the fulfilment of the Saviour's promise, must have hee.i very far from the thoughts of the disciples. But if we venture to credit the Jewish Traditions, ' this feast had also a reference to the giving of the law on Mount Sinai f hence, by way of distinction, it has been called the feast of the joy of the Law.^ If this be admitted, then the words of Christ respecting the new revelation of God by him, the new relation established by him between God and Man, which he himself under the designation of the New Covenant* placed in opposition to the Old, — must have been vividly recalled to the minds of the disciples b}' the celebration of this feast, and, at the same time, their anxious longing would be more strongly excited for that event, which, according to his promise, would confirm and glorify the New Dispensation. As all who pro- fessed to be the Lord's disciples (their number then amounted distinguished from the Jews, are meant all who were then living at Jerusalem, without determining whether they had resided there always, or only for a short time. The whole narrative, too, gives the impression that a greater multitude of persons than usual were then assembled at Jerusalem. ' \Vhich may be found collected in a Dissertation by J. M. Danz, in Meuschen's Novum Testamentum e Talmude illustratum, p. 740. ' That they are justified in making such a referencCj may be concluded Vom comparing Exodus xii. 1, and xix. 1. » rninn f^noir. * The word Siad7}Kr}, n'"!?, which has been used to denote both the Old and the New Dispensation, is taken from human relations, as signify- ing a covenant or agreement; but in its application to the relation between God and man, the fundamental idea must never be lost sight of, namely, that of a relation in which there is something reciprocal and conditional, as, in this case, a communication from God to man is con- ditiouated by the obedience of faith on the part of the latter. 6 THE CHUISTIAN CHURCH IN PALESTINE. to one hundred and twenty)^ were wont to meet daily for mutual edification, so on this solemn day, they were assembled in a chamber,- which according to Oriental customs was specially assigned to devotional exercises. It was the first stated hour of prayer, about nine in the morning, and, ac- cording to what we must suppose was then the tone of the disciples' feelings, we may presume that their prayers turned to the object wiiich filled their souls — that on the day when the Old Law had been promulgated with such glory, the New also might be glorified by the communication of the promised Spirit. And what their ardent desires and prayers sought for, what their Lord had promised, was granted. They felt elevated to a new state of mind, pervaded by a spirit of joy- I'ulness and power, to which they had hitherto been strangers. and seized by an inspiring impulse, to testify the grac^ oi ' Without doubt, tho-^e expositors adopt the right view who suppose, that not merely the apostles but all the believers were at that time assembled; for though, in Acts i 26, the apostles are primarily in- tended, yet the nadr^Tai collectively form the chief subject (i. 15), to which the anavrfs at the beginning oi the second chapter necessarily refers. It by no means follows, that because, in ch. ii. 14, the apostlea alone are represented as speakers, the assembly was confined to these alone ; but here, as elsewhere, they appear the leaders and representa- tives of the whole church, and distinguish themselves from the rest of the persons met together; Acts ii. 15. The great importance of the fact which Peter brings forward in his discourse, that the gifts of the Spirit, which, under the Hid Covenant, were imparted only to a select class of persons, such as the prophets, — under the New Covenant, which removes every wall of separation in reference to the higher life, are com- municated without distinction to all believers— this great fact would be altogether lost sight of, if we confined every thing here mentioned to the apostles. Tiiroughout the Acts, wherever the agency of the Spirit is manifested by similar characteristics in those who were converted to a living faith, we perceive an evident homogeneity with this first great event. * Such a chamber was built in the eastern style, with a flat roof, and a staircase leading to the court yard, vwtp^oy, n'^r. According to the narrative in the Acts, we must suppose it to have been a chamber in a private house. Hut, in itself. tliLre is nothing to forbid our supposing that the disciples met together in the Temple at the first hour of prayer during the feast; their proceedings would thus have gained much in not.iricty, though not in real importance, as Olshausen maintains; for it perfecily accorded with the genius of the Christian Dispensation, not being restricted to particular limes and places, and obliterating the distinction of profane and sacred, that the first effusion of the Holy Spirit .should take place, not in a temple, but in an ordinarj dwelling. THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN PALESTINE. 7 redemption, of which now for the first time they had right perceptions. Extraordinary appearance.s of nature (a con- junction similar to what h;is happened in other important epochs of the history of mankind) accompanied the great process then going on in the spiritual world, and were synr boUc of that which filled their inmost souls. An earthqutiko attended by a whirlwind suddenly shook the building ii\ which they were assembled, a symbol to them of that Spirit which moved their inner man. Flaming lights in the form of tongues streamed through the chambei", and floating down- wards settled on their heads, a symbol of the new tongues of the fire of inspired emotion, which streamed forth from the holy flame that glowed within them.' The account of what took place on tliis occasion, leads us back at last to the depositions of those who were present, tlie only persons who could give direct testimony concerning it. And it might happen, that the glory of the inner life then imparted to them, might so reflect its splendour on surround- ing objects, that by virtue of the internal miracle (the eleva- tion of their inward life and consciousness, through the power of the Divine Spirit), the objects of outward perception appeared quite changed. And thus it is not impossible, that all which presented itself to them as a perception of the out- ward senses, might be, in fact, only a perception of the pre- dominant inward mental state, a sensuous objectiveness of what was operating inwai'dly with divine power, similar to tlie ecstatic visions which are elsewhere mentioned in Holy Writ. Whatever may be thought of this explanation, what was divine in the event remains the same, for this was an inward process in the souls of the disciples, in relation to which everything Dutward was only of subordinate significance. Still, there is nothing in the n&rrative which renders such a supposition necessary. And if we admit, that there was really an earth- quake which frightened the inhabitants out of their houses, it is easily explained how, though it happened early in tha morning of the feast, a great multitude would be found in the streets, and the attention of one and another being attracted to the extraordinary meeting of the disciples, by degrees, a ' Gregory the Great beautifully remarks : " Ilinc est quod super pastores primos in linguarum specie Spiritus Sanctus insedit, quia nimirum quos replsverit de se protinus loquentes facit." Lib. i. Ep. -11. 8 THE CHUTSTTAj; CHURCH IN PALESTINE. p-eat crowd of persons, curious to know what was going on, would collect ai-ound the house.' The question may be asked, By what was the astonishment of the bystanders especially excited'? At first sight, the words in Acts ii. 7—11 appear susceptible of but one interpretation, that the passers-by were astonished at hearing Galileans who knew no language but their own, speak in a number of foreign languages, which they could not have learnt in a natural way' — that, therefore, we must conclude that the faculty was impai-ted to believers by an extraordinary operation of Divine power, of speaking in foreign languages not acquired by the use of their natural Aiculties. Accordingly, since the third century » it has been ' The question is, How are we to explain the difficult words t^s $a»T)s ravTt}s, in Acts ii. 6 1 The pronoun rairifs leads us to refer the words to what immediately preceded, the loud speaking of the persons assembled. Hill tlien the use of the singular is remarkable. And since verse 2 is the principal subject, we may refer the pronoun Tuinris to that; the ytvofxefi^s of verse 6 seems also to correspond to the iytyero of verse 2. Not only is it more easy to refer the pronoun ravrris to what immediately precedes in verse 4, but also verses 3 and 4 rather than verse 2, contain the most striking facts in the narrative ; it also entirely favours this construction, that cpaiy^ must be understood of the noise made by the dis- ciples in giving vent to their feelings, and must be taken as a collective noun, signifying a confused din, in which the distinction of individual roices would be lost. ^ The words give us no reason to suppose that the by-standers took offence at hearing the disciples speak of divine things in a different language from the sacred one. ' By man^ of the ancients it has been supposed— what a literal inter- pretation of the words ii. 8 will allow, and even favours — that the miracle consisted in this, that, though all spoke in one and the same language, each of the hearers believed that he heard them speak in his own , n'iav fiiv «{7jx«'cr0ai (paiv^v, iroWas Se aKovfjOai. Gregory Naz. oral. 44, f. T15, who yet does not propound this view as peculiarly his own. It has lately been brought forward in a peculiar manner by Schneckenburgcr, in his Beitriigen zur Einleitung ins Neue Testament (Contributions towards an Introduction to the New Testament), p. 84. Tlic speakers, by the power of inspiration, operated so power- fully on the feelings of their susceptible hearers, that they involun- trjily translated what went to their hearts into their mother-tongue, ;ind understood it a.^ if it hail been spoken in that. By the element of inspiration, the inward communion of feeling was so strongly brought r>rth, that the lingual wall of separation was entirely taken away. But in order to determine the correctness of this mode of explanation, it may be of uv in rrj eKifKriala. trpocprjTLKa xopiV/iara ex4povTt Kal ra fivar-qpia rod 6€ov iKSirtyov- fievaiv, quos et sjiiritales apostolus vocat." Though some persons think the term TracToSoTrorj undoubtedly refers to the languages of various nations, I do not see how that can be, according to its use at that time, though the original meaning of the word might be so understood. It is particularly worthy of notice, that h-enaaus represents this gift as one of the essential marks of Christian perfection, as a characteristic of the spiritales. We cannot well comprehend how he could suppose any thing 80 detached and accidental as speaking in many foreign languages, to stand in so close and necessary a connexion with the essence of Chris- tian inspiration. Besides, he speaks of it as one of those gifts of the Spirit, which continued to exist in the church even in his own times. He evidently considers the yXwa-aats \a\f7v as something allied to irpo(pr}T(v(iy. To the latter, he attributes the faculty of bringing to liijht the hidden thoughts of men, and to the former that of publishing divine mysteries. He .sees nothing but this in the gift of tongues at the effusion of the Holy Spirit, and, in reference to that event, places together " prophetari et loqui Unguis,' 1. iii. c. 12. Tertullian demands of Man-ion to point out among his followers proofs of ecstatic inspiration : " Edat aliquem psalmum, aliquam visionem, aliquam orationcm dunfaxat spiritualera in ecstasi, i. e. amentia, si qna Ungate inicrpretatio aeccsscrit." Evidently in this connexion, the term liuijun, expressing speaking in an ecstasy, which, since what is spoken in this stale cannot be generally intelligible, an interpretation must aecompany. Tertullian also, in the same passage {adv. Marcion, THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN PALESTINE. 17 understanding with the lower self-consciousness for the time lay dormant. After having attempted to clear np these different points, we shall be better able to give a sketcli of the wiiole scene on that memorable day. The shock of the earthquake occasions the concourse of many persons in the streets from various quarters, as the festival had brought Jews and proselytes from all parts of the world to Jerusalem. The assembling of the disciples attracts their notice ; by degi'ees a crowd of curious inquirers is col- lected, many of whom probably enter the assembly in order to inform themselves accurately of the affiiir. The disciples now turn to these strangers, and, constrained by the impulse of the Spirit, announce to them what filled their hearts. The impression made by their words varies with the dispositions of their hearers. Some feel themselves affected by the energy of inspiration with which the disciples spoke, but can give no clear account of the impressions made by the whole affair. Instead of asking themselves, " Whence proceeds that power with which we hear these men speak who were not educated in the schools of the scribes'?" their wonder is directed only to what was most external. How comes it to pass that these Galileans speak in foreig-n tongues 1 Others, who have been impressed 1. V. c. 8). applying the words in Ii^alah xi. 2 to the Christian church, joins prophetari with Unguis loqui, and attributes both to the Spiritus agnitionis, the Trpev/jia yvdo-fois. It further appears from what has been Baid, that the gift of tongues was considered as still existing in the church ; and it is strange that the Fathers never refer to it apolo- getically, as an undeniable evidence to the lieathen of the divine power operating among Christians, in the same manner as they appeal to the gift of healing the sick, or of casting out demons, although the ability to speak in a variety of languages which could not be acquired in a natural way, must have been very astonishing to the heathen. In Origen, in whose times the Charismata of the apostolic church began to be considered as something belonging to the past, we find the first trace of the opinion that has since been prevalent, yet even in him the two views are mingled, as might be done by the distinction of the two- fold mode of interpretation, the literal and the spiritual. Compare Ep. ad Eoman. ed. De la Eue, t. iv. f. 470. 1. vii. f. 602, de Oratione, § 2, tom. i. f. 199. The opposition to Montanism, which had subjected the y\(i(Tcraii \a\f7v to abuse, as in the Corinthian Church, might con- tribute to sink into oblivion the mote ancient interpretation. The ^evoiptave'iv, the \a\e7i/ 4Ky iiSivts, accordini,' to the meaning of the word 'Jjn. See Bleak's review of Mayeriiotrs Hist. Kritischer Einleitang in die hehraischm Schriflen, in the Studicn und Kritiken. 1836, iv. 1021. THE CHKiSTIAN CHURCH IN PALESTIJTE. J 9 all witnesses, and has been exalted to heaven by tlie divine power. From the extraordinary appearances which have filled you with astonishment, you perceive, that in his glorified state he is now operating with divine energy among tiiose who believe on him. The heavenly Father has promised that the Messiah shall fill all who believe on him with the power of the divine Spirit, and this promise is now being fulfilled. Learn, then, from these events, in which you behold the prophecies of the Old Testament fulfilled, the nothingness of all that you have attempted against him. and know that God has exalted him whom you crucified to be Messiah, the ruler of God's kingdom, and that, through divine power, he will overcome all his enemies." The words of Peter deeply impressed many, who anxiously asked, What must we do 1 Peter called upon them to repent of their sins, to believe in Jesus as the Messiali who could impart to them forgiveness of sins and freedom from sin, — in this faith to be baptized, and thus outwardly to join the com- munion of the Messiah ; then would the divine power of faith be manifested in them, as it had already been in the commu- nity of believers ; they would receive the same gifts of the Holy Spirit, the bestowment of which was simultaneous with the forgiveness of sins, and freedom from sin ; for the promise related to all believers without distinction, even to all in distant parts of the world, whom God by his grace should lead to believe in Jesus as the Messiah. A question may be raised, Whether by these last words Peter intended only the Jews scattered among distant nations, or whether lie included those among the heathen themselves who might be brought to the faith 1 As Peter at a siibsequent period, opposed the propagation of the gospel among the heathen, thei^e would be an appai'ent inconsistency in his now making such a reference. But there is really no such con- tradiction, for the scruple which clung so closely to Peter's mind was founded only on his belief that heathens could not be received into the community of believers, without first becoming Jewish Proselytes, by the exact obseiwance of the Mosaic law. Now, according to the declarations of the pro- j)hets, he might expect that in the Messianic times the heathen would be brought to join in the worship of Jehov;ili, so that this sentunent might occur to him consistently with 20 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN PALESTINE. the views he then held, and he might express it without giving offence to the Jews. Yet this explanation is not absolutely necessary, for all the ihvee clauses (Acts ii. 39) might be used only to denote the aggregate of the Jewish nation in its full extent ; and we might rather expect that Peter, who had been speaking of the Jews present and their children, if he had thought of the heathen also, would have carefully distinguished tiicm from the Jews. On the other hand, the description, " AU. that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call," appears too comprehensive to justify us in confining it to persons originally belonging to the Jewish nation. Hence, it is most probable, that in Peter's mind, when he used this expression, there floated an indistinct allusion to believers from other nations, though it did not appear of sufficient importance for liim to give it a greater prominence in his addi'ess, as it was his conviction, that the converts to Christianity from heathenism must first become Jews. CHAPTER IT. THE FIRST FORM OP THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY, AND THE FIRST GERM OF THE CONSTITUTION OP THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. The existence and first development of the Christian church rests on an historical foundation — on the acknowledgment ot the f;ict that Jesus was tlie Messiah — not on a certain system of ideas. Hence, at first, all those who acknowledged Jesus sis the Messiah, separated from the mass of the Jewish people, Rnd formed themselves into a distinct community. In the coui-se of time, it became apparent who were genuine, and who were fiilse disciples ; but all who acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah were baptized without fuller or longer instruction, such as in later times has preceded baptism. There was only one article of faith which formed the peculiar mark of the Christian profession, and from this ])oint believers were led to a clearer and perfect knowledge of the whole contents of the Christian faith, by the continual enlighteuing of the THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN PALESTINE. 21 Holy Spirit. Believing that Jesus was the Messiah, they ascribed to him tlie whole idea of what the Messiah was to be, according to the meaning and spirit of the Old Testament promises, rightly understood ; they acknowledged him as the Redeemer from sin, the Ruler of the kingdom of God, to whora their whole lives were to be devoted, whose laws were to be followed in all things ; while he would manifest himself as the Ruler of God's kingdom, by the communication of a new divine principle of life, which to those who az'e redeemed and governed by him imparts the certainty of the forgiveness of sins. This divine principle of life must (they believed) motdd their whole lives to a conformity with the laws of the Messiali and his kingdom, and would be the pledge of all the blessings to be imparted to them in the kingdom of God until its consummation. Whoever acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah, received him consequently as the infallible divine prophet, and implicitly submitted to his instructions as com- municated by his personal ministry, and aftei'wards by his inspired organs, the apostles. Hence baptism at this period, in its peculiar Christian meaning, referred to this one article of faith, which constituted the essence of Christianity, as baptism into Jesus, into the name of Jesus ; it was the holy rite which sealed the connexion with Jesus as the Messiah. From this signification of baptism we cannot indeed con- clude with certainty that there was only oue form of baptism. StiU, it is probable that in the original apostolic formula no reference was made except to this one article. This shorter baptismal formula contains in itself every thing which is further developed in the words used by Cluist at the institu- tion of baptism, but which he did not intend to establish as an exact formula ; the reference to God, who has revealed and showTi himself in and by the Sou, as a Father ; and to the Spirit of the Father, whom Christ imparts to believers as the new spirit of life ; the Spirit of holiness, who by virtue of this iutervention is distinguished as the spirit of Christ. That one article of faith included, therefore, the whole of Christian doctrine. But the distinct knowledge of its contents was by no means developed in the minds of the first converts, or freed from foreign admixtures resulting from Jewish modes of thinking, which required that religious ideas should be stripped of that national and carnal veil with 22 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN PALESTINE. which they were covered. As the popular Jewish notion of the Messiah excluded many things which were charac- teristic of this idea, as foiTaed and understood in a Christian sense, and as it included many elements not in accordance with Christian views, one result was, that in the first Chris- tian communities which were formed among the Jews, various discordant n jtions of religion were mingled ; there were many eiTors ai'ising from the prevailing Jewish mode of thinking, some of which were by degi'ees corrected, in the case of those who sun-endered themselves to the expansive and pmifying influence of the Christian spirit ; but in those over whom that spirit could not exert such power, these errors formed the germ of the later Jewish-Christian (the so- called Ebiouitish) doctrine, which set itself in direct hostility to the pm'e gospel. Thus we ai'c not justified in assuming that the Thi'ee Thousand who were converted on one day, became trans- formed at once into genuine Christians. The Holy Spmt operated then, as in all succeeding ages, by the publication of divine tnith, not with a sudden ti'ansforming magical power, ~) but according to the measure of the free self-detemiination of tlie human will. Hence, also, in these first Christian societies^ as in all later ones, although originating in so mighty an operation of tlie Holy Spirit, the foreign and spm'ious 'nere mingled with the genuine. In fact, in proportion to the might and energy of the operation, many persons were more easily canied away by the fii-st impressions of divine truth, whose hearts were not a soil suited for the divine seed to take deep root and develop itself ; and in outwai'd appearance, there were no infalhble marks of distinction between genuine and merely apparent conversions. The example of Ananias and Sapphira, and the disputes of the Palestinian and Hel- lenistic Christians, evince even at that early period, that the agency of the S])iri.t did not presen'e the church entirely pure from foreign admixtures. It happened then, as in the gi-eat religious revivals of other times, that many were bonie along by the force of excited feelings, without having (as their sub- sequent conduct proved) their disposition effectually pene- trated by the Holy Spirit. The form of the Christian community and of the public Christian worsliip, the archetype of all the later Christian THE CHRISTIAN CHOBCH IN PALESTINE. 23 Cultus. arose at first, without any preconceived plan, from the pecuhar nature of the higher hfe that belonged to all true Christians. There was, however, this difference, that the first Christian community formed as it were one family ; the power of the newly awakened feeling of Christian fellow- ship, the feeling of the common grace of redemption, out- weighed all other personal and public feelings, and all other relations were subordinated to this one great relation. But, in later times, the distinction between the church and the family became more marked, and many things which were at first accomplished in the church as a family community, could latterly be duly attended to only in the naiTower communion of Christian family life. The first Christians assembled daily either in the Temple, or in private houses ; in the latter case they met in small companies, since their numbers were already too great for one chamber to hold them all. Discourses on the doctrine of salvation were addressed to believers and to those who were just won over to the faith, and prayers were offered up. As the predominant consciousness of the enjoyment of redemption brought under its influence and sanctified the whole of earthly life, nothing earthly could remain untransformed by this relation to a higher state. The daily meal of which believers partook as members of one family was sanctified by it.^ They commemorated the last supper of the disciples with Chi'ist, and their brotherly union with one another. At the close of the meal, the president distributed bread and wine to the persons present, as a memorial of Christ's similar dis- tribution to the disciples. Thus eveiy meal was consecrated to the Lord, and, at the same time, was a meal of brotherly love. Hence the designations afterwards chosen were, h'nrroi' Kvplou and dyd-rn].^ ' The bypothesi.s lately revived, that such institutions were borrowed from the Essenes, is so entirely gratuitous as to require no refutation. * li\ Acts ii. 42, we find the first general account of what passed in the assemblies of the first Christians. Mosheim thinks, since every thing else is mentioned that is found in later meetings of the church, that the Koiuutv'ia refers to the collections made on these occasions. But the context does not favour the use of the word Koivwvia in so restricted a signification, which, therefore, if it were the meaning intended, would require a more definite term. See Meyer's Commentary. We may most naturally consider it as referring to the whole of the social Chris- tian intercour.^e, two principal pans of which were, the common meal 24 THE CHRISTIAZT CHURCH IN PALESTINE. From ancient times an opinion has prevailed, which is ap- parently favoured by many passages in the Acts, that the spirit of brotherly love impelled the first Christians to renounce all their earthly possessions, and to establish a perfect intercommunity of goods. When, in later times, it was perceived how very much the Christian life had receded from the model of this fellowship of brotherly love, an earnest longing to regain it was awakened, to which we must attribute some attempts to effect what had been realized by the first glow of love in the apostolic times — such were the orders of Monkhood, the Mendicant Friars, the Apostolici, and the Waldenses in the 12th and 13th centiuies. At all events, supposing this opinion to be well founded, this practice of the apostolic chm'ch ought not to be considered as in a literal sense the ideal for imitation in all succeeding ages ; it must have been a deviation from the natural course of social development, such as could agree only with the extraordinary manifestation of the divine life in the human race at that particular period. Only the spirit and disposition here manifested in thus amalgamating the earthly possessions of numbers into one common fund, are the models for the church in its development through all ages. For as Cliris- tianity never subverts the existing natural com-se of develop- ment in the human race, but sanctifies it by a new spirit, it necessarily recognises the division of wealth (based on that development), and the inequalities arising from it in the and prayer. Luke mentions prayer last of all, probably because the connexion between the common meal and prayer, which made an essential part of the love-feast, was floating in his mind. Olshansen maintains (see his Commentary, 2d ed. p. 629), that this interpre- tation is inadmissible, because in this enumeration, every thing relates to divine worship, as may be inferred from the preceding expression SiSaxr)- But this supposition is wanting in proof. Ac- cording to what we have before remarked, the communion of the church, and of the family, were not at that time separated from one another; no strict line of demarcation was drawn between what belonged to the Christian Cultus in a narrower sense, and what related to the Christian life and communion generally. Nor can the reason alleged by Olshauseu be valid, that if my interpretation were correct, the word Kowmuia must have been placed first, for it is altogether in order that that should be placed first, which alone refers to the directive func- tions of the apostles, that then the mention should follow of the reciprocal Christian communion of all the members with one another, aud that of this communion two particulars should be especially noticed. THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN PALESTINE. 25 social relations , while it draws from these inequalities materials for the formation and exercise of Christian virtue, and strives to lessen them by the only true and never-failing means,' the power, namely, of love. This, we find, agrees with the practice of the churches subsequently founded by the apostles, and with the directions given by Paul for the exercise of Christian liberality, 2 Cor. viii. 13. Still, if we are disposed to consider this community of goods as only the effect of a peculiar and temporary manifestation of Christian zeal, and foreign to the later development of the church, we shall find many difficulties even in this mode of viewing it. The first Christians formed themselves into no monkish fra- ternities, nor lived as hermits secluded from the rest of the world, but, as history shows us, continued in the same civil relations as before their conversion ; nor have we any proofe that a commujaity of goods was universal for a time, and was then followed by a return to the usual arrangements of society. On the contrarj^, several circumstances mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, are at variance with the notion of such a relinquishment of private property. Peter said ex- pressly to Ananias that it depended on himself to sell or to keep his land, and that even after the sale, the sum received for it was entirely at his own disposal. Acts v. 4. In the 6th chapter of the Acts, there is an account of a distribution of alms to the widows, but not a word is said of a common stock • As the influence which Christianity exercises over mankind is not always accompanied with a clear discernment of its principles, there have been many erroneous tendencies, which, though tiostile to Chris- tianity, have derived their nourishment from it, — half-truths torn from their connexion with the whole body of revealed truth, and hence mis- understood and misapplied ; of this, the St. Simonians furnish an example. They had before them an indistinct conception of the Chris- tian idea of equality ; but as it was not understood in the Christian sense, they have attempted to realize it in a different manner. Tliey have striven to accomplish by outward arrangements, what Christianity aims at developing gradually through the mind and disposition, and have thus fallen into absurdities. Christianity tends by the spirit of love to reduce the opposition between the individual and the community, and to produce an harmonious amalgamation of both. St. Simonianism, on the contrary, practically represents the pantheistic tendency, of which the theory is so prevalent in Germany in the present day ; it sacrifices the individual to the community, and thus deprives the latter of its tnia vital importance. 2G THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN PALESTINE. for the support of the whole body of believers. We find in Acts xii. 1 2, that Mary possessed a house at Jerusalem, which we cannot suppose to have been purchased at the general cost. These facts plainly show, that we are not to imagine, even in this first Christian society, a renunciation of all private pro- perty.^ Therefore, when we are told, "The whole multitude of believers were of one heart and of one soul, and had all things common," &c., it is not to be understood literally, but as a description of that brotherly love which repressed all selfish feehngs, and caused the wealthier believers to regard their property as belonging to their needy brethren, so ready were they to share it with them. And when it is added, " that they sold their possessions, and distribution was made to eveiy man according as he had need," it is to be understood accord- ing to what has just been said. A common chest was estab- lished, from which the necessities of the poorer members of the church were supplied, and perhaps certain expenses incurred by the whole church, such as the celebration of the Agapse, were defrayed ; and in order to increase their contributions, many persons paited with their estates. Probably, a imion of this kind existed among the persons who attended the Savioui*, and ministered to his necessities, Luke viii. 3 ; and a fund for ' Or we must assume, that as the power of the newly awakened feeling of Christian fellowship overcame everj' other consideration, and wholly repressed the other sacral relations that are based on the constitution of human nature, which after a while resumed their rights, and became appropriated as special forms of Christian fellowship, and that as the church and family life were melted into one, it would well agree with the development of a state so natural to the infancy of the church, that by the overpowering feeling of Christian fellowship, all distinction of property should cease, which would be accomplished from an inward im- pulse without formal consultation or legal prescription. But after expe- rience had shown how untenable such an arrangement was, this original community of goods would gradually lead to the formation of a common fund or chest, which would not interfere with the limits of p^'ivate pro perty. But in the Acts these two gradations in the social arrangements of the church might not be distinctly marked, nor would it be in oul power to trace step by step the process of development. Still, we want sufficient grounds for this assumption. The poverty of the church at Jerusalem has indeed been adduced as an ill consequence of that original community of goods. But this cannot be taken as a sure proof of the fact ; for sinci- Christianity at first found acceptance among the poorer classes, and the distress of the people at Jci-usalem in those times must have been extreme, it can be explained without having recourse to such K supposition. THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN PALESTINE. 27 Similar purposes was afterwards formed by public collections in the apostolic chm'ches.' This practice of the first Christians, as we have remarked, has been rendered memorable by the fate of Ananias and Sapphira. Their example shows, how far the apostles were from wishing to extort by outward requirements what ought to proceed spontaneously fi'om the power of the Spirit ; they looked only for the free actings of a pure disposition. A man named Ananias, and his wife Sapphira, were anxious not to be considered by the apostles and the church as inferior to others in the liberality of their contributions. Probably, a superstitious belief in the merit of good works was mingled with other motives, so that they wished to be at the same time meritorious in God's sight. They could not, however, prevail on themselves to surrender the whole of their pro- perty, but brought a part, and pretended that it was the whole. Peter detected the dissimulation and hypocrisy of Ananias, whether by a glance into the secret recesses of his heart, imparted by the immediate influence of God's Spirit, or by a natural sagacity derived from the same source, we cannot decide with certainty fi'om the nai'rative. Nor is it a question of importance, for who can so exactly draw the hne between the divine and the human, in organs animated by the Holy Spirit? The criminality of Ananias did not consist in his not deciding to part with the whole amount of his property ; for the words of Peter addressed to him show that no exact measm-e of giving was prescribed ; each one was left to contribute according to his peculiar circumstances, and the degi-ee of love that animated him. But the hypocrisy with which he attempted to make a show of gi'eater love than he actually felt — the falsehood by which, when it took pos- session of his soul, the Christian life must have been utterly polluted and adulterated — this it was which Peter denounced, as a work of the spirit of Satan, for falsehood is the fountain of all evil. Peter charged him with lying to the Holy Spirit ; with lying not to men but to God ; since he must have beheld in the apostles the organs of the Holy Spirit speaking and acting in God's name — (that God who was him- self present in the assembly of believers, as a witness of his 1 This is confessedly no new view, but one adopted by Heumann, Mosheim, and others before them. 28 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN PALESTINE. intentions) — and yet thought that he could obtain credit before God for his good works. Peter uttered his solemn rebuke with a divine confidence, springing from a regard to that holy cause which was to be preserved from all foreign mixtiu-es, and from the consciousness of being in an office enti-usted to him by God, and in which he was supported by divine power. When we reflect what Peter was in the eyes of Ananias, how the superstitious hypocrite must have been con- founded and thunderstruck to see his falsehood detected, how the holy denunciations of a man speaking to his conscience with such divine confidence must have acted on his terrified feelings, we shall find it not very difficult to conceive that the words of the apostle would produce so great an effect. The divine and the natural seem here to have been closely connected. ^Vhat Paul so confidently asserts in his Epistles to the Corinthians, of his ability of inflicting punishment, testifies of the conscious possession by the apostles of such divine power. And when Sapphira, without suspecting what had taken place, three hours after, entered the assembly, Peter at first endeavoured to rouse her conscience by his interrogations : but since, instead of being aroused to con- sideration and repentance, she was hardened in her hypocrisy, Peter accused her of having concerted with her husband, to put, as it were, the Spirit of God to the proof, whether he might not be deceived by their hypocrisy. He then menaced her with the judgment of God, which had just been inflicted on her husband. The words of the apostle were in this instance aided by the impression of her husband's fate, and striking the conscience of the hypocrite, produced the same effect as on her husband. So terrible was this judgment, in order to guard the first operations of the Holy Spirit, before the admixture of that poison which is always most prejudicial to the operations of divine power on mankind ; and to secure a reverence for the apostolic authority, which was so important as an external governing power for the development of the primitive church, until it liad advanced to an independent steadfi^stness and maturity in the fiiith. The disciples had not yet attained a clear understanding of that call, which Christ liad already given them by so many intimations, to form a Church entirely separated from the existing Jewish economy ; to that economy they adhered THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN PALESTINE. 29 as much as possible ; all the foniis of the national theocracy were sacred in their esteem, it seemed the uatui-al elcmenc of their religious consciousness, though a higher principle of life had been imparted, by which that consciousness was to be progressively inspired and transformed. They remained out- wardly Jews, although, in proportion as their faith in Jesus as the Redeemer became clearer and stronger, they would inwardly cease to be Jews, and all external rites would assume a different relation to their internal life. It was their belief, that the existing religious forms would continue till the second coming of Christ, when a new and higher order of things would be established, and l^iis great change they expected would shortly take place. Hence the establishment of a distinct mode of worship was far from entering their thoughts. Although new ideas respecting the essence of true worship arose in their minds from the light of faith in the Redeemer, they felt as great an interest in the Temple worship as any devout Jews. They believed, however, that a sifting would take place among the members of the theocracy and that the better part wovdd, by the acknowledgment of Jesus as the Messiah, be incorporated with the Christian community. As the believers, in opposition to the mass of the Jewish nation who remained hardened in their unbelief, now formed a community internally bound together by the one faith in Jesus as the Messiah, and by the consciousness of the higher life received from him, it was necessary that this internal union should assiime a certain external form. And a model for such a smaller community within the great national theocracy already existed among the Jews, along with the Temple worship, namely, the Synagogues. The means of religious edification which they supplied, took account of the religious welfare of all, and consisted of united prayers and the addresses of individuals who applied themselves to the study of the Old Testament. These means of edification closely corresponded to the nature of the new Christian worship. This form of social worship, as it was copied in all the religious communities founded on Judaism, (such as the Essenes,) was also adopted to a certain extent at the first formation of the Christian church. But it may be disputed, whether the apostles, to whom Christ committed the chief direction of a%irs, designed from the first thai 30 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN PALESTINE. believers should form a society exactly on the model of the synagog-ue, and, in pui-suance of this plan, instituted pai-ticular offices for the government of the church cor- responding to that model — or whether, without such a preconceived plan, distinct offices were appointed, as cir- cumstances required, in doing which they w^ould avail them- selves of the model of the synagogue, with which they were familial". The advocates of the first scheme (particxdarly Mosheim) proceed on the undeniably correct assumption, that the existence of certain presidents at the head of the Christian societies, under the name of Elders {-rrpea^ivTepoi), must be pre- supposed, though their appointment is not expressly men- tioned, as appears from Acts si. 30. The question arises, Whether even, earlier traces cannot be found of the existence of such Presbyters 1 The appointment of deacons is indeed first mentioned as designed to meet a special emergency, but it seems probable that their office was already in existence. It may be presumed, that the apostles, in order not to be called off from the more weighty duties of their office, appointed ft-om the beginning such almoners ; but as these officers liitherto had been chosen only from the native Jewish Christians of Palestine, the Christians of Jewish descent, who came from other parts of the Roman Empire, and to whom the Greek was almost as much their mother tongue as the Aramaic, — the Hellenists as they were termed, — beheved that they were unjustly treated. On their remonstrance, deacons of Hellenistic descent were especially appointed for them, as appears by their Greek names. As the apostles declared that they were averse from being distracted in their purely spiritual employment of prayer and preaching the word by the distribution of money, we may reasonably infer that even before this time, they had not engaged in such business, but had transferred it to other persons appointed for the purpose. Still earlier, in Acts v., we find mention made of persons under the title of rtwrtpoi, veavi(TKou who considered such an employment as caiTying a corpse out of the Christian assem- bhes for burial as belonging to their office, so that they seem to have been no other than deacons. And as the title of younger stands in contrast with that of elders in the church, the existence of servants of the church {liaKovoi), and THE CHRISTIAN CHURCn IX PALESTINE. 31 of nikag eldei's (irpefffjuTepoi), seems here to be equally pointed out. But though this supposition has so much plausibility, yet the evidence for it, on closer examination, appears by no means conclusive. It is far from clear that in the last quoted passage of the Acts, the narrative alludes to persons holding a distinct office in the cliurch ;' it may very natui'ally be understood of the younger members who were fitted for such manual employment, without any other eligibility than the fact of their age and bodily strength. And, therefore, we are not to suppose that a contrast is intended between the sei-vants and iniling Elders of the chiu-ch, but simply between the younger and older members. As to the Grecian names of the seven deacons, it cannot be inferred with certainty from this circumstance that they all belonged to the Hellenists for it is well known that the Jews often bore double names, one Hebrew or Ai-amaic, and the other Hellenistic. Still it is possible, since the complaints of the partial distribution of alms came from the Hellenistic part of the church, that, in order to infuse confidence and satisfaction, pure Hellenists were chosen on this occasion. But if these deacons were appointed only for the Hellenists, it would have been most natm'al to entrust their election to the Hellenistic pai't alone, and not to the whole church. ^ Even after what has been urged by Meyer and Olshausen, in iheu- Commentaries on the Acts, against this view, I cannot give it up. In accordance with the relation in which, anciently, and especially among the Jews, the young stood to their elders, it would follow as a matter of course, that the young men in an assembly would be ready to perform any service which might be required. I do not see why (as Olshausen maintains,) on that supposition, any other term than vedmpoi should have been used — for, if Luke had wished to designate appointed ser- vants of the church, he would not have used this indefinite appella- tion; — nor can I feel the force of Olshausen's objection, that in that passage of the Acts, the article would not have been used, but the pro- noun rives. Luke intended to mark, no doubt, a particular class of persons, the younger contradistinguished from the elder, without determining whether all or only some lent their assistance. But Ols- hausen is so far right, that if these are assumed to be regularly appointed servants of the church, they cannot be considered as the forerunners of the deacons chosen at a later period, for manifestly these vionepoi held a far lower place. I am glad to find an acute advocate of the view I have taken in Rothe ; see his work on the Commencement of the Christian Church, p. 162. 32 THE CHEISTIAN CHURCH IN PALESTINE. Hence we are disposed to believe, that the church was at first composed entirely of members standing on an equality with one another, and that the apostles alone held a higher rank, and exercised a directing influence over the whole,, which ai'ose from the original position in which Christ had placed them in relation to other believers ; so that the whole an'angement and administration of the affairs of the church proceeded from them, and they were first induced by par- ticular circumstances to appoint other church officers, as in .he instance of deacons. As in the government of the chixrch in general the apostles at first were the sole directors, all the contributions towards the common fund were deposited with them (Acts v. 2), and its distribution, according to the wants of individuals, wa-s altogether in their hands. From Acts vi. 2, it cannot be positively inferred, that the apostles had nc; hitherto been occupied with this secular concern. That passage may be understood to intimate that they had hitherto attended to this business without being distracted in their calling as preachers of the Word, as long as the confidence universally reposed in them, and the unity pei-vading the church, lightened this labour ; but it assumed a very different aspect when a conflict of distinct interests arose between the members. Meanwhile, tlie number of the believers increased so gi'eatly, that it is probable, had there been no other reason, that the apostles could not manage the distribution alone ; but con* signed a part of the business sometimes to one, sometimes to another, who either offered themselves for the purpose, or had shown themselves to be woi*thy of such confidence. Still this department of labour had not yet received any regular form. But as the visible church received into its bosom various elements, the opposition existing in these elements gradually became apparent, and threatened to destroy the Christian unity, until by the might of the Chi'istian spirit this oppo- sition could be counterbalanced, and a higher unity developed. The strongest opposition existing in the primitive church, was that between the Palestinian or purely Jewish, and the Hellenistic converts. And though the power of Christian love at first so fused together the dispositions of these two parties, that the contrariety seemed lost, yet the original THE CHRISl'IAN CHURCH IN PALEST1N1G. 33 difference soon made its appearance. It showed itself in this respect, that the Hellenists, dissatisfied with the mode of distributing the alms, were mistrustful of the others, and believed that they had cause to complain that their own poor widows were not taken such good care of in the daily distribution,' as the widows of the Palestinian Jews ; whether the fact was, tliat the apostles had hitherto committed this business to Palestinian Jews, and these had either justly or unj ustly incurred the suspicion of paitiality, or whether the want of a regular plan for this business had occasioned much irregularity and neglect of individuals, or whether the com- plaint was grounded more in the natural misti'ust of the Hellenists than in a real grievance, must be left undetermined, from the want of more exact information. These complaints, however, induced the apostles to establish a regular plan for conducting this business, and since they could not themselves combine the strict oversight of individuals, and the satisfaction of each one's wants,^ witli a proper attention to the principal object of their calling, they thought it best to institute a par- ticular office for the purpose, the first regular one for adminis- tering the concerns of the church. Accordingly, they re- quired the church to entrust this business to persons who enjoyed the general confidence, and were fitted for the office, animated by Christian zeal, and armed with Christian pru- dence.^ Seven such individuals wei'e chosen ; the number being accidentally fixed upon as a common one, or being adapted to seven sections of the church. Thus this office originated in the immediate wants of the primitive church, ' Neither from the expression SiaKovla, vi. 1, nor from the phrase SiaKoveiv rpavi^ais, can it be inferred Avith certainty that the apostles alluded only to the distribution of food among the poor widows. We may be allowed to suppose that this was only one of the Tables of the service they performed, and that it is mentioned to mark mora pointedly the distinction between the oversight of spiritual, and that of secular concerns. 2 That they were required to undertake the business alone, instead of entrusting it to deputies, cannot be proved from the language in the Acts. ■' Acts vi. 3. The word -nvevixa (which is the true reading, for dyloi} and Kvp'iov appear to be only glosses) denotes that inspiration for the cause of the gospel which is requisite for every kind of exertion for the kingdom of God ; aocpia signifies, that quality which is essential for this ofBce in r-articular. and imports in the New Testament, wi.sdom or prudence VOL. I. I> 34 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN PALESTINE. and its special mode of operation was marked out by the peculiar situation of this first union of believers, which was in some points dissimilar to that of the Jewish S3magogue, or of later churches. As it was called for by the pressure of circumstances, it certainly was not intended to be perfectly correspondent to an office in the Jewish synagogue, and can by no means be considered parallel to that of a common servant of the synagogue (Luke iv. 20), termed jirt, \i5i3^, -naa rv)z\^ It was of higher importance, for at first it was the only one in the church besides the apostolic, and required a special capability in the manage- ment of men's dispositions, which might be employed in ser- vices of a higher kind, and was such as without doubt belonged to the general idea of uocpia. Neither was this office altogether identical with that which at a later period bore the same name," but was subordinate to the office of presb^'ters. And yet it would be wrong to deny that the later church office of this name developed itself fi.-om the fii-st, and might be traced back to it.^ Although, as is usual in such affairs, when the ecclesiastical system became more complex, many changes took place in the office of deacons ; for example, the original sole appointment of deacons for the distribution of alms, became afterwai'ds subordinate to the influence of the presb}i;ers, who assumed the whole manage- ment of church affairs,* and though many other secular employments were added to the original one, yet the funda- mental principle as well as the name of the office remained. ^^ ' Sec Rothe s admirable Remarks, p. 166. ^ As Chrysostom observes in his fourteenth Homily on the Acts, § 3. ■• As the Second TruUanian Council, c. 16, which was occasioned by a special object, that tlie number of deacons for large towns might not be limited to seven. * From Acta xi. 30, nothing more is to be inferred, than that when presbyters were appointed for the general superintendence of the church, the contributions intended for the church were handed over to them, as formerly to the apostles, when they held the exclusive management of affairs. It may be fairly supposed that the presbyters entrusted each of the deacons with a sum out of the common fund for distribution in his own department. ' I find no reason (with Rothe, p. 166) to doubt this ; for the name was well ailapted to denote their particular employment, and to dis- liuguish them from persons acting in a more sul)ordinate capacity, as vTriiptrai. Nor is it any objection to this, that in Acts xxi. 8 they are merely called The Seven, for as the name of deacon was then the usual THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN PALESTINE. oO In later times, we still find traces of the distribution of alms being considered as the peculiar employment of deacons.' Here, as in many other instances in the history of the church, human weakness and imperfection subsei-ved the divine wisdom, and promoted the interests of the kingdom of God ; for by this appointment of deacons for the Hellenistic part of the chm-ch, distinguished men of Hellenistic descent and education were brought into the pubhc service of the church, and the Hellenists, by their freer mental culture, were in many respects better qualified rightly to understand and to publish the gospel as the foundation of a method of salvation independent of Judaism, and intended for all men equally without distinction. The important consequences residting from this event will appear in the course of the history. The institution of the ofiice of presbyters was similar in its origin to that of deacons. As the chm-ch was continually in- creasing in size, the details of its management also multiplied ; the g-uidauce of all its affairs by the apostles could no longer be conveniently combined with the exei'cise of theii- peculiar apostolic functions ; they also wished, in accordance with the spirit of Christiauitj^, not to govern alone, but preferred that the body of behevers should govern themselves under their gTudance ; thus they divided the government of the chm-ch, which hitherto they had exercised alone, with tried men, who formed a presiding council of elders, similar to that which was known in the Jewish synagog-ues under the title of c':pi, vpeafivrepoi.^ Possibly, as the formal appointment of deacons appellation of a certain class of officers in the church, Luke uses this expression to distinguish them from others of the same name, just as TJte Ticclve denoted the apostles. ' Hence, at the appointment of deacons, it was required, that they should " not be greedy of hltliy lucre," 1 Tim. iii. 8. Origen, in Matt. t. xvi. § 22, ot SidKoyoi Stomovvns to t-^s sKKXTjcrias xp'^A"»''"a; and Cyprian sa.\s of the deacon Felicissimus, peciinice commissce sibi J'rau- dator. Even in the apostolic age, the deacon's otiice appears to have extended to many other outward employments, and most probably the word avTiKj]^eis, ' Helps,' denotes the serviceableness of their offica 1 Cor. xii. 28. * Bauer has lately maintained, that the general government of the affairs of the church did not enter originally and essentially into the idea of 7rpeyters was equal to the number of places of assembling, and to these subdivisions of the collective body of believers, is entirely groundless, and in the highest degreo improbable. THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN PALESTINE. 37 formation. If we are justified in assuming that the mode adopted in the assembUes of Gentile Christians — which, in ac- cordance with the enhghtened spirit and nature of Chris- tianity, was not confined to one station of hfe, or to one form of mental cultivation — was also the original one, we might from that conclude, that from the first, any one who had the ability and an inward call to utter his thoughts on Christian topics in a public assembly, was permitted to speak for the general improvement and edification.' But the first church differed from the churches subsequently formed among the Gentiles in one important respect, that in the latter there were no teachei-s of that degree of illumination, and claiming that respect to which the apostles had a right, from the posi- tion in which Christ himself had placed them. Meanwhile, though the apostles principally attended to the advancement of Christian knowledge, and as teachers possessed a prepon- derating and distinguished influence, it by no means follows, that they monopolized the right of instructing the churcli- In proportion as they were influenced by the spirit of the Gospel, it must have been their aim to lead believers by their teach- ing to that spiritual maturity, which would enable them to contribute (by virtue of the divine life communicated to aU by the Holy Spirit) to their mutual awakening, instruction, and improvement. Viewing the occurrences of the day of Pentecost as an illustration of the agency of the Di-vane Spirit in the new dispensation, we might conclude that, on subse- quent occasions, that spiritual excitement which impelled believers to testify of the di\ane life, could not be confined to the apostles. Accordingly, we find tliat individuals came for- ward, who had already devoted themselves to the study and interpretation of the Old Testament, and to meditation on divine things ; and when, l)y the illumination of the Holy Spirit, they had become familiar with the natiue of the gospel, they could with comparative ease develop and apply its truths in public addresses. They received the gift for which there ' That in the Jewish Christian churches, public speaking in their as- gemhlies was not confined to certain authorized persons, is evident from the fact, that James, in addressing believers of that class who were too apt to substitute talking for practising, censured them, because so many without an inward call, prompted by self-conceit, put themselves for- ward in their assemblies as teachers. 281.235 38 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN PALESTINR. was an adaptation in their minds — the xapiTfia hdaak-aXlac, and, in conseqvience of it, were inferior only to the apostles in aptitude for giving pul)lic instruction. Besides that connected intellectual development of truth, there were also addresses, which proceeded not so much from an aptness of the under- standing improved by exercise, and acting with a certain uni- I'ormity of operation, as from an instantaneous, immediate, inward awakening by the power of the Holy Spirit, in which a divine afflatus was felt both by the speaker and hearers : to this class belonged the Trpuiuri-tiai, the j^optc/un Trpofrjrelac. To the ])ro])hets also were ascribed the exhortations (napauXiiaeic), which struck with the force of instantaneous impression on the minds of the hearers.' The cudaKaXoi might also possess the gift of 7rpo(j)T)Ttt'i. but not all who uttered particular in- stantaneous exhortations as prophets in the church, were capable of holding the office of ^ilaatc^iXoi.- We have no pre- cise information concerning the relatibn of the ^uaerKaXoi to the presbyters in the primitive church, whether in the ap- pointment of presbyters, care was taken that only those who were fnrnished with the gift of teaching should be admitted into the college of presbyters. Yet, in all cases, the oversight of tlie propagation of the Christian faith — of the administra- tion of teaching and of devotional exercises in the social meetings of believers, belonged to that general superintendence of the church which was entrusted to them, as in the Jewish Bynagogues ; although it was not the special and exclusive office of the elders to give public exhortations, yet whoever might speak in their assemblies, they exercised an inspection over them. Acts xiii. 15. In an u})istle written towards the end of tlie apostolic era to an early chm-ch composed of Chris- tians of Jewish descent in Palestine (the Epistle to the Hebrews), it is presupposed that the rulers of the church had from the fn-st i)rovided for the delivery of divine truth, and watched over tlie spiritual welfare of the church, and therefore had the care of soiils. ' Tlie Lcvite Josc>, who distinguished himself by his powerful ad- dresses in the church, was reckoned among the prophets, and hence was called by the apostles n.j^2? i3, BaQva.0as,and this is translated in the Acts (iv. 36) vlbs iTayaK\i\(rews = vlos i:oo(p-r\Telas. ' In Acts xi.\. C, as a manifestation of the spiritual gifts that followed eoHversioii, ^oo